Back to some action...

ELENA

Two weeks after Alys's return, I was alone at home for the weekend. Jenna was on a business trip, and Ric had invited Jeremy to a baseball game. They both were planning on staying at his apartment in Greenville overnight, so I had the entire house to myself. I had invited Alys over for the evening to watch some movies. Bonnie and Stefan had planned going on a double date with Caroline and Matt, so the happy couples were out of the picture, and for once, I didn't want to feel like a fifth wheel.

I had just come back from the grocery store and was stowing away a few bags of crisps and sweets for later, when I heard a totally unfamiliar voice behind me purr: "Hello Elena!"

Startled, I turned around, and the cookie jar dropped from my hands. Standing in the middle of my kitchen, in skinny jeans and high heels, was Katherine. I recognized her even though she looked totally different from when I had last seen her in the tomb. Healthy and alive. And almost exactly like me. It was like staring into a mirror, except that her curly hair had a honey-golden color and her eyes a greenish tint.

"I see you're impressed," she said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Amazing, isn't it?" She bent her head to the side, eying me taxingly with a haughty expression. "Frankly, I think blond suits us better," she said after a moment of thought, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. "The plain brown looks kind of dull to me. I don't believe Damon really liked it. He always had such a good taste."

"Katherine..." I was finally able to murmur, my mind racing. Her mentioning Damon had a weird effect on my heartbeat. Was he here, too? Why had they come back? And why was she standing in my kitchen now, and not he?

"I'll ask him," Katherine said, thoughtfully looking at her hair, and it took me a moment to realize she was still musing about its color. "From what I understand, I can always color it any shade I like. Oh the pains we go through to please the man we love!" She sighed theatrically, then her eyes narrowed. "Tell me – what did you do to please him?" Her voice was all silk and honey and stood in utter contrast to the spitefulness of her words.

"I don't know what you mean," I said icily. "Damon left with you. So it seems pretty clear to me where his interests lie."

"That's what one would think... And indeed, I have no idea why he should concern himself with you at all. Yet there must be something to explain why he has suddenly become so – soft." Katherine's voice was disdainful, but it also carried a note of disappointment. Yet it was more the disappointment of child at the malfunctioning of a toy than the regret of a woman disillusioned with the man she loved.

I was quiet for a second, trying to process the implications of her complaint. She clearly was unhappy about something she saw in Damon, something that had not been there back then. From his and Alys's descriptions, he has been young, reckless, and rebellious when he got to know her. Now, a century and half later, he was a grown man, shaped by the experiences he had made, controlled and sure of himself. Did she find fault with that? I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess he just grew up," I said, pitying her a bit. She might be about 170 years old, but she was still a young girl at heart, not having had the chance to mature.

Pity clearly wasn't something Katherine had come for. Her eyes were mere slits now and turned a degree colder. "Did you know he was keeping me away from my hometown so I wouldn't learn about your existence?" she asked accusingly.

I looked at her in surprise. So it wasn't Damon who had brought her here? Did he even know that she had come?

"Then how did you find out?" I was getting more and more confused about this conversation. Had she come here out of curiosity? But her demeanor clearly was antagonizing, though I had done nothing to earn her dislike.

"I'm not stupid, Elena. There was obviously something going on here that Damon didn't want me to know. And I understand how those fancy cellular devices work by now. I checked his phone and Alys's, and wondered who this Elena might be. And when I came here, hiding myself behind my new sunglasses, I just observed for a while – until this waiter in the bar called me Elena and asked what I had done to my hair. I compelled a few people and asked around, especially about you. And then I saw you – my Doppelgänger. Who would have guessed! And a Gilbert, of course! That surely explains it."

"Surely explains what?"

Katherine waved her hand in a gesture of disdain. "Who do you think fathered the child I got pregnant with?

"He was a Gilbert?"

"Jonathan Gilbert, to be precise. He was a grave mistake, though. When I told him that our tryst had left me compromised, he simply didn't care and told me that was my problem. Heartless son of a bitch. Things would have gone completely differently if I hadn't toyed with him. Some mistakes really haunt us for eternity – at least if you're a vampire. Damon was very reluctant to give me any specifics about how the tomb was sealed or why he only managed to open it now. He blamed it on the comet. But I'm familiar with Emily's magic, and I picked up a thing or two from her. I know that dark spells like that always require human blood. And I had a lot of time to think before hunger, pain and solitude first drove me crazy, then slowly made me desiccate. They must have used the child. And thus it had to be a descendant of hers that was needed to undo the spell. Emily was brilliant like that. You are the first and only remaining human descendent of mine and the Gilbert's bloodline. That why you're a copy of me. It's all about balance."

"I still don't understand why you're here now..."

An unholy glint crept into her eyes, and her stance changed from relaxed to menacing. "Because I want back what's mine!" she said, determined. "And in order to achieve that, I'm afraid I need you out of the picture. Don't take it personally!"

And with that, she suddenly pounced on me like a wild cat, all teeth and nails. She went straight for my throat, tearing into it and starting to suck hard. I didn't even have time to scream. But just as suddenly and unexpectedly as she had started her attack, she ended it– gagging and coughing and doubling over. She let go of me and I stumbled backwards against the kitchen counter. Katherine clutched her throat with one hand and I saw blood on her fingers. And then she threw up the blood she had taken from me.

I had no clue what was going on, and neither did she. Before I even had a chance to get my mind working again she was gone, as if she had dematerialized out of my kitchen. It could have been a bad dream if my blood wasn't still freely running between my fingers and staining the kitchen floor.

I weakly pulled myself up and grabbed a clean towel from the drawers, pressing it to the open wound on my neck. It was soaked pretty soon. Panicky, I grabbed the phone from my jeans pocket and speed dialed Stefan's number. Fortunately, he picked up immediately. Hearing that I had been attacked and was in need of help, he was already on his way when I felt my legs give in.

He made it over sooner than any ambulance could have, and he had better means to fix me. Upon finding me sprawled on the floor, short of fainting from shock and blood loss, he slashed his palm and doused my wound with his blood. When he pressed his wrist to my lips, I obediently swallowed about two or three times before the coppery taste made me gag. I couldn't help it – this blood sucking was definitely not my thing.

"God – Elena, this looks nasty. What happened?" Stefan helped me into a sitting position and offered me a glass of water. I gladly accepted it to wash away the metallic taste. Feeling the cool liquid running down my throat helped to chase away the sickness that was still threatening to make me hurl.

"It was Katherine," I said taking a deep breath and closing my eyes briefly. "She tried to kill me."

"Here, come on, let me help you to the couch, you look like you're going to pass out any second." Stefan put me down on the sofa, positioning my legs on the arm rest a little higher than the rest of my body. Then he got a wet towel from the kitchen and began to gently clean away the blood from my neck. The wound had closed by now, thanks to his blood.

"Katherine, you say?" Stefan said with a frown. "Damon's Katherine? Did he bring her back?"

"I don't think he even knows she's here."

"Why would she come and try to kill you? And how did you manage to fight her off?"

"I don't know. And I didn't. She just started coughing up my blood all of a sudden. It was almost like she couldn't tolerate it." I told him what I remembered of our short conversation. "Maybe it's got something to do with the Doppelgänger thing. Stefan, it was creepy: She looks exactly like me!"

"I just don't understand what she did that for. Doesn't she know that you're a descendant of hers? She'd still be in the tomb if it wasn't for you."

"She said she wants back what is hers, and for that, I had to go."

"What, does she think she can take your place? As if none of us would notice anything?"

"I don't know what she meant. I'm not even sure if she's mentally stable." Stefan got out his phone and started dialing. "Who are you calling?"

"Alys. She needs to get in touch with Damon and tell him to get his ass back here at once. This is his mess. He has to set it right."

About half an hour later, Alys arrived. She had already spoken to Damon. "He is on his way. He told us to stay put and not let Elena out of our eyesight – great piece of advice, I wish he had done that with Katherine. According to Damon, she left Fells Church three days ago, supposedly for New York. He hadn't expected her to come here."

"Three days ago? Is that how long she's been sneaking around here, spying on us? What for? And why did she leave Fells Church all by herself?"

"I don't know. Damon was rather brusque on the phone. Maybe they had a fight. God, I don't even want to think about what might have happened if Stefan hadn't gotten here so quickly..."

I gave Stefan's hand a quick squeeze. "Or if you hadn't such a great control over your blood issues as you obviously do now," I added. "You remained totally calm..." I was extremely grateful for both circumstances.

"Well, finding my sister bleeding to death on the kitchen floor didn't exactly stir my blood lust. It just momentarily stopped my heart from beating."

There was another knock on the door and Stefan went to open. It was Bonnie, carrying two big grocery bags. Stefan had called her after phoning Alys, figuring that I needed my friend – and hoping that Bonnie could provide us with some answers as to what had happened with Katherine.

"What are you bringing?" I asked, when she headed straight for the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter. "Are you planning on making dinner?" It was a very considerate gesture, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to eat anything.

Bonnie smiled enigmatically and gave me a brief hug before opening her bags and pulling out two almost equally big bags of – salt. Stefan eyed them dubiously. "Whatever it is you're going to make, I think I'm not hungry."

"This is not for cooking. I need it for a spell I'm going to weave. A protection spell, to be precise." She turned to look at me. "Do you remember what I told you about Damon not being able to enter our house? No vampire can, unless he's invited in. We're going to do the same with your house. If I had done that earlier, Katherine wouldn't have been able to enter." She turned to Stefan and Alys. "You both need to get out of the house for a couple of minutes, or you're going to suffer a brain aneurism. Though it won't damage you permanently, it would still hurt pretty badly..."

Stefan and Alys aquiesced and headed for the door. Bonnie gave me one bag of the salt. "Here, you can start at the front and go to the right, I'll go left. We need to draw a circle of salt around the house. The line doesn't have to be thick, but there mustn't be any gap in it. Here, just like that..." She started her line, going slowly backwards and pouring a small amount of salt into a small but visible line. It was easy enough. We soon had finished the circle and went back to the front door.

"That's it?" I asked a little perplexed, when Bonnie picked up the remaining salt und was about to get back into the house. "No blood, incantations in Latin or some chanting?"

Bonnie smiled. "Blood magic is dark magic," she explained. "This is white magic, it's all about protection. And no, no incantations are needed – you could have done it by yourself. It's your heart's intention and the fact that the house is rightfully yours that do the trick. Everybody can do it. I told you – it's easy."

"And is it going to work?"

Bonnie looked at Stefan and Alys, who had observed us from the front lawn. "See if you can enter now..."

They tried the front door, but were halted right at the threshold. There seemed to be an invisible wall right in front of them, forbidding them to enter. "It works!" I exclaimed in amazement. Truth to tell, I hadn't really believed it would.

"Of course it does," Bonnie said with a slight frown. "Now you have to invite them in. But be careful – there is no specific formula for that – from "come on in" to "why don't you wait in the living room" everything serves as an invitation. So you have to mind your words so as not to accidentally invite someone in who you don't entirely trust."

"Stefan, Alys, would you please come into the house again?" I asked, smiling a little at the absurdity of it. Both were able to enter. "This is great! We should do the same to Caroline's and Matt's house."

"Yes, we could do that. Though they might ask us why."

"We'll just tell them you're practicing your juju. Caroline will love it, and Matt will think that you finally turned into a nutcase like Sheila, but he'll still like you."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks!"

A little over two hours after Alys's phone call, Damon knocked on the door. He must have driven with reckless disregard for his Camaro and for speed limits on his way, as the drive from Fells Church to here under normal conditions took at least three and a half hours.

Opening the door and coming face to face with him after not having seen him for nearly two months did funny things to my stomach. I acted on impulse, threw my arms around him and pulled him into tight a hug.

Whatever reception he had expected, it clearly wasn't that. He returned my embrace a little hesitantly at first, but then pulled me closer in a gesture that bespoke immense relief, worry and something else.

"Elena," he murmured into my hair, still hugging me tightly and enveloping me in the unique scent of his. God, how I had missed it. When he let go of me, it was only to give me a scrutinizing once-over. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly and brushed my hair aside to get a look at the wound. "Did Alys take care of it?"

"Actually, Stefan did. He was great! You would have been proud of him!"

"If the whole chewing-on-Bonnie-thing enabled him to save you today, he was definitely worth my effort." His eyes locked with mine again. "This is the third time that a vampire went for your neck with cruel intentions," he said gravely, before adding in a voice that was dead serious: "I won't allow a fourth."

Feeling that this was getting a little too intense, I took a step backwards to put a little distance between us again. "I'm really glad you came," I said a bit awkwardly and motioned to the kitchen. "I bet Alys will be happy to see you, too." I had expected him to follow me and only turned at his sudden gasp of surprise when the protective barrier blocked his way. "Oh my, I'm sorry! Bonnie's protective spell – I had completely forgotten about it! Damon, would you please come into my house?"

DAMON

A little reluctantly, I put my foot forward again, half expecting another jolt of painful energy race through my body. But the invisible wall was gone, and I was able to enter. "You had Bonnie weave a proprietor's spell?" I asked, impressed. "Then how the hell did Katherine get in here?"

"We only did it recently," Elena explained. "It was Bonnie's idea."

"Smart witch," I murmured, mentally congratulating Bonnie for instantly knowing what to do and taking action. Yet it didn't sit well with me that I found myself indebted once again to a Bennett witch – for protecting a girl because I had failed miserably in doing so myself. Hopefully, Bonnie would prove to be more trustworthy than Emily had been.

As soon as I shut the door behind me, Alys came from the kitchen, and again I found myself in a – somewhat reluctant – embrace. "What's with all the hugging?" I asked, probably sounding irritated, while in truth, I was just plain confused. Alys might hug me out of politeness or the feeling that it was the right thing to do – I was her brother, after all. But Elena... it still had me utterly amazed.

The list of my shortcomings was long: I had made her an accomplice in bringing my lost lover back to life – something she had selflessly done because of me. Then I had left her, riding off into the sunset with Katherine and without even giving Elena a proper goodbye or at least a 'thank you'. Worst of all, I had miserably failed at protecting her from the very person whose life she had saved, and had allowed her to become a target of Katherine's hatred and revenge. After all these failings on my part, I had expected anything: A slap in the face, a scene, angry tears and furious shouting. Definitely reproachful scorn or visible disdain. But instead, she had just thrown herself into my arms as if I wasn't her tormentor, but her salvation.

And I was amazed how good that had felt. Her warmth, the softness of her body, the sweet, alluring scent of her hair and her skin... I wished I had a right to hold her close to me forever. But I didn't have any rights with her, just an obligation. This time, I would make sure that Elena was safe.

Clearly, Stefan didn't have any misgivings about who deserved the guilt for the Katherine situation. Although he had been the one to make sure that I came back, he wasn't happy about it. For once, I couldn't blame him. Yet he still got on my nerves with his broody expression, his righteous demeanor and his hero-hairdo. I didn't get any hugs from him, and neither from Bonnie, the ever judgy little witch. I was definitely okay with that. As long as they helped keeping Elena safe, I was willing to put up with them.

"So – what exactly happened when Katherine tried to suck you dry?" I asked, after having listened to a more detailed recount of events than during my brief phone conversation with Alys.

"She gagged, clutched her throat and doubled over in pain."

I frowned, unable to make sense of that. "She gagged on your blood?"

"Yes. It was as if she couldn't tolerate it, or if I had something vile in it. But I haven't eaten any onions or garlic lately. Maybe there is something wrong with my blood..."

"Believe me," I said, remembering the two times I had gotten a taste of it, "there is absolutely nothing wrong with your blood. On the contrary: It's delicious." Stefan threw me a killing glance which I returned with a contented smirk.

"This is really strange," Alys mused. "I've never heard of anything like it. Don't you have any idea, Bonnie?"

"I'm sorry, no." Bonnie shrugged her shoulders regretfully. "Although this does have a taste of magic to it, just like this whole Doppelgänger thing does. I'll go through Emily's grimoire. Maybe I'll find something in there."

"Until you come up with something, Elena can't leave the house alone anymore," I said firmly, just so everybody was clear on that. "We'll move back to the boarding house tomorrow, and she's gonna stay put until we figure out a way to keep her safe, or until Katherine is no longer a threat."

"You think you can talk her out of killing me?" Elena asked, throwing me a hopeful glance. As if anyone could talk Katherine out of anything. She clearly overestimated Katherine's redeeming qualities and my influence on her if she believed that. I had never been able to influence Katherine much while were still on good terms – which we definitely weren't anymore. Especially not after the stunt she pulled on Elena.

"No," I said, smashing her hope that there might be redemption for an evil vampire. "But I can always kill her."

ELENA

Feeling much more at ease now that Damon was here, my appetite returned. Given that none of us had eaten anything this evening, I decided to cook us some pasta. It probably wouldn't come up to Damon's haute cuisine, but it would fill our stomachs and gave me something to do apart from wringing my hands nervously and trying not to stare at him that much.

I opened the drawer to get a knife for cutting the tomatoes. I hadn't even touched it yet when suddenly a severe, burning pain sliced my left arm. I gasped in shock and out of reflex my right hand flew to grab my wrist. I saw in horror that the white cotton of my cardigan was slowly turning red, although the material was still in one piece. Before I could even fully register what was happening, there was another sharp pain, this time on my right arm. It felt as if I was being sliced with a razor-sharp knife. I let out a scream of terror as much as one of pain.

"Elena!" Stefan gasped, shocked. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything! It just... ahh!" Another cut this time on my stomach. I doubled over, and hell broke loose. Everybody jumped at me, trying to help. But they all were just as clueless as to what was happening as I was. The pain kept coming at regular intervals, just giving me time to get used to one cut before the next one came, in a cruel, calculated rhythm. I was crying now, feeling utterly helpless. There were a couple of slashes on my arms, two on my stomach, and one on each leg. I lost count and dropped to the floor, writhing in pain. Damon pulled me up on his lap, forcing his wrist into my mouth. I had a fleeting deja-vu as I swallowed his blood. At this moment I'd do anything to make it stop.

"Alys – close the curtains, quickly!" Damon suddenly commanded. "Bonnie – can you weave another protection spell around Elena, just like you did with the house? There is some salt left on the counter." He took his wrist away and lifted my head. "Stefan, help her!" Then he jumped to his feet and was out the door at vampire speed.

I had no time to really think about his weird reaction. The pain was slowly subsiding as Stefan and Alys bared my wounds and liberally doused them with their blood. But more cuts were mysteriously appearing everywhere on my body out of thin air, as if a vengeful spirit was cutting me with searing fury.

And all of a sudden, it was over. The slicing stopped as abruptly as it had begun. When I was able to form a coherent thought again, I found myself almost entirely covered in blood. Most of it wasn't mine – the cuts had been only superficial. But with Stefan and Alys both putting their bleeding hands on me in order to make it stop, I looked as if I had been slaughtered - it was a bloodbath.

Damon reappeared. "It was Katherine," he said curtly. "She's gone now, but you'd better find a way to get some kind of protection up, Sabrina, because I'm pretty sure she'll pull that trick again."

"Katherine?" I asked weakly, slowly sitting up and wiping my tears away. Probably smearing more blood in my face.

Damon gave me scrutinizing glance. "Wow. You look butchered!" he said with his usual flippancy, trying to mask his too obvious worry. When he turned to Alys and Stefan, his frown deepened. Both looked extremely pale, a thin net of veins shadowing their eyes. "Stefan, Alys, why don't you just take yourselves elsewhere for a moment?" Damon suggested. "I've got this. We'll get Elena and this mess cleaned up, alright? Come on, upsy-daisy."

He helped me to my feet and ushered me up the stairs. "Take a shower. I hope you are not to attached to these..," he pointed to my skirt and the cardigan, "because you'll never get the stains out."

"I'll douse them in bleach," I muttered, before opening the bathroom door.

"Are you going to be okay?" Damon asked softly. I nodded. I wasn't really injured. Those cuts had all been superficial, hurting, but not doing much harm. Now with all the vampire blood on and in me, they were all quickly closing and healing.

"I'm sorry, Elena," he said, the look in his eyes expressing the full range of emotions that the simple and often abused words rarely conveyed: Heartfelt sympathy, deep regret, a sincere apology and the plea for forgiveness. And I knew he was not only referring to Katherine's attack and the fact that I got hurt.

"I know," I said, just as simply, and I really did. "Thank you." For regretting. For apologizing. For being there again.

"You're welcome." He went downstairs again and I stepped into the shower. By the time I had washed all the blood off, almost all traces of my injuries had faded to thin, white lines. I quickly blow-dried my hair and pulled it up in a messy bun. After changing into a comfortable pair of sweat pants and a shirt I headed down again.

The mess in the kitchen was cleaned, and Alys and Stefan were taking care of our dinner. They were looking composed, but concerned.

I accepted the steaming pot of coffee that Alys offered me and sat down on the sofa, pulling my legs up to stop the shivering. "So – does anybody have a sensible explanation as to what just happened here? How could Katherine possibly have anything to do with it?"

"She was outside," Damon said, handing me a blanket. "Cutting herself with a knife." His expression was gloomy, though I could see that he was trying not to let his concern show. "Looks like you and her are bound to each other, somehow."

"She inflicted those wounds on herself?" I asked, flabbergasted. "Why?" Was she a psychopath? None of her actions made any sense to me. "And how could her cutting herself have an effect me?"

"As to the how..." Bonnie said slowly, "... there are binding spells like that. Very complicated magic, bordering on the dark arts. But I can't see how Katherine could have accomplished something like that in the short time she knew about Elena's existence. Above all, she would have needed a witch. And a very good reason to convince her to do this..."

"If this is a spell, it's definitely none of Katherine's doing," Damon said with utter conviction. "Elena is mortal. No vampire would ever tie his life to a mortal. This was done to her. Just when, why and by whom, that's the tricky question. I bet she didn't even know about it herself – until she tried to kill Elena by sucking her dry."

"You mean she couldn't do so because she was hurting herself on doing so?" Alys asked.

"If they are bound to each other, everything that hurts Katherine is instantly reflected on Elena, and the other way round," Bonnie explained. "To her, it must have felt as if she was biting herself and drinking her own blood."

"She probably only realized then that something was amiss," Damon mused. "Knowing Emily and being familiar with the work of witches, she probably had her suspicions. I guess she came back here tonight to find out if it was true."

Stefan frowned. "But her suspicion would have been proven by cutting Elena once – if she was observing us. Why keep doing it, again and again?"

I shuddered. "Because she hates me," I said slowly, thinking back to how malicious and furious the attack had felt. I failed to comprehend how great her hatred must be to keep hurting yourself, just to make someone else suffer. What had I done to her?

"She knows now she can't kill Elena, as she intended to do," Alys mused. "Because it would be her death, too. But she definitely can hurt her..."

"And she most likely will," Damon said, his voice carefully devoid of emotion. "It's not you she hates – it's me. I broke up with her, and she probably blames you for that. She's punishing both of us by making you suffer and thus making me pay."

I could only stare at him in bewilderment. He'd broken up with Katherine? After only two months after having her back – how did that happen? Could it really be that it had to do with me? Why else would she be able to get back to him by making me suffer, as he had insinuated?

Damon seemed to feel guilty. He had been warned that Katherine might wreak havoc again, and this happening now was surely something he must be blaming himself for. Or was there more to it?

"Oh my," Alys muttered, "breaking up with Katherine – that's begging for trouble. She obviously is a vindictive bitch, which really fits into the picture I've come to have of her. Still, I have to congratulate you on that decision. I never liked her."

"Well, that sure explains part of the why, but I still don't get the how," Stefan said, still frowning deeply as he pondered the issue. I looked from him to Alys and then Bonnie in amazement. No one seemed to find it remarkable that Katherine projected her hatred on me – or that Damon had practically admitted that her hurting me was getting to him. I needed to figure this out. But for the moment, we had more pressing matters at our hands than worry about anyone's love lives, and I was getting tired and confused.

"I think a talk to Elijah is in order..." Damon said, already planning our next move. "If anyone knows about Katherine, her child and what really happened before she got married to Lockwood, it's him. I wonder if he also knew Emily..."

"Yes," Stefan agreed, "but before, we have to make sure that Elena is safe for the night. Bonnie – have you figured anything out about a protection spell yet?"

"A shield against magic should do it. It just needs an energy source to feed it."

"What kind of source?"

"Well, the only source available to us right now is the energy of living souls. Elena herself can feed it, but she'll need help. I can tie all of us in, so that the energy will also be taken from whoever is in her vicinity. We could take turns every few hours, otherwise this will be too exhausting."

"Let's do it!" Damon got up. "Do I need to get any more salt?"