A/N: I am so, so, SOOO so sorry for the wait. There was a recent death in my family and I really have been flying back and forth between my hometown and here for the past two months. I had no time whatsoever to try to focus on writing. I've basically been an emotional wreck. But I'm back, and I hope to put out for you all at least every month. I even threw in a little lemony stuff if this chapter just to cheer myself up :) So, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Vampire Diaries.

I walked downstairs to get some coffee brewing, and just in a thong and one of Damon's button ups. I mean, it's okay for me to walk around half naked with my boobs and ass hanging out, right? Yeah. If I was ALONE.

"Damon, I'm putting the coffee on an- WOAH, TEENAGERS!" I froze, then pulled the shirt over my bum as I ran up the stairs. I hurriedly got my clothes on, starting with my plain black bra and a periwinkle bando, a pair of grey skinny jeans that show my ankles, and a small white t shirt with bold black lettering, and some white socks and my periwinkle vans. I went into the bathroom to pin a little section of my hair with a matching periwinkle bow, and was greeted by Damon chuckling and flopping his hair around with some product. I scowled in his direction.

"Oh, did I forget to mention? Stefan and Elena are over," he smirked. I back-handed his side and put my hands on my hips, that were now (somewhat) covered by this small shirt and said,

"I was barely dressed, and you let me go downstairs?! Jerk."

He wiped his hands off placed his hands atop mine, "Sorry, Carabear," and kissed my pouting lips. I sighed and leaded him downstairs

"Sorry about that. You probably didn't need to see my cleavage so... up close and personal."

Stefan slowly sat down on the couch and sighed out, "Yeeeaahhhhhhh, probably not."

"Well, you're dressed now," Elena said quickly, "So, what are you thinking about this whole mystery with the Lockwoods?"

Damon crossed his arms, "I don't really know what we can do, to be honest... rather than investigate further."

"Echem," I interrupted, "And who would be the best person to call for help investigating? Put your hands down, chillens, because the answer is Alaric. I've already called him, and he should be here any minute," I took this moment to sit myself down on Damon's knee. He's sitting on the single chair between both couches.

"Now isn't she the best?" Damon asked. Stefan and Elena rolled their eyes in response but I kissed D on the cheek. Before it got anymore awkward, there was a knock on the door. I went and let him in,

"Thanks for coming, Ric," I greeted, "Can I get you something to drink?"

Damon continued, "Coffee? Bourbon? Bourbon in your coffee?"

Ric ignored Damon rudely and walked down the few steps, then sat on the couch across from Stefan and Elena, "So Cara called me and said you need my help?"

"Yeah," Stefan replied, "We were hoping you could help shed some light on the Lockwood family."

Ric looks at him, surprised, "Now why would I know anything about the Lockwood's?"

"Well you wouldn't," I said, "but your dead/not dead vampire-wife might."

"Isobel's research," Stefan started, "from when you guys were at Duke together- you said that she spent years studdying the town?"

Alaric sighed and crossed his legs, "Isobel's research about here... in Mystic Falls... is rooted in folklore and legend. At the time I thought most of it was... Well, fiction."

"Like that amazing vampire story," I added. Damon's hand found my bare midriff and he pulled my gently to lean against his chest, and quickly kissed my shoulder. I smiled.

Elena pulled her knees up to her chest and asked, "Aside from vampires, what else did Isobel find?"

"Lycanthrope," he answered simply.

Stefan, Damon and I shared a look. Elena dropped her legs, "Like... werewolves?"

"Wait, that can't be possible," I interrupted.

"Why not?" Stefan asked.

I got off of Damon's lap and crossed my arms, then sat on the arm of the chair, "I've been on this planet for over five hundred and sixty years, and I've never come across one. Which would be basically impossible, because if lycanthrope existed..." I took a breath and redirected my thoughts, "From my little knowledge about the subject, I know that they would have been living in their peak of popularity when I was still human. If werewolves really are real, I should've known. How could I miss something like that?"

There was a moment of silence, and all of us thought. Ric jumped over my question, "Well, why suspect the Lockwoods?"

Damon leaned forward next to me on his elbows and explained, "The vervain didn't affect the Mayor on Founder's day, but the Gilbert device did."

"And it affected his son Tyler," I added.

"And at the school carnival, his Uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he mauled one of the carnival workers," Stefan added. Elena stayed quietly playing with her hair... I mean, I don't expect her to actually contribute something useful to the conversation any time soon.

I clear my throat, "We were hoping Isobel's research could help us discover exactly what was so inhuman about this Mason guy."

Ric shrugged, "Well all her things are still at Duke. I mean her office is still there, but she's technically missing still."

"So can we get access to it?" Damon asked.

Ric lolled his head from side to side, still no answer. I took over,

"Ric, we need to know what we're dealing with. Especially now, I need to find out why I wasn't aware of any of this... how they hid it so well. And if this wolf-man thing is true I've seen enough movies to know that it's not good."

"It means," Damon started, "that Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney, and that Tyler punk may just *very*well*be* Lon Chaney Junior. Which means all the Bela Lugosi's, meaning us, are totally screwed."

I whispered to Damon, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I think Elena's a bit too young for that analogy..."

She rolled her eyes at me. I smirked then Ric broke the awkward again by standing and stating,

"So Cara, Damon and I will head over to Duke to look into Isobel's work. Alright?"

I got off of Damon's lap and brushed my butt, "Sure, let me just get my pho-"

"I'm coming, too," Elena said.

I glared over to her, "Uhh... What?"

"I want to take the opportunity to learn... you know, about my mother." I ain't buyin this crap..

Damon got up and discretely pleaded to Stefan, "Stefan, you should come too. I mean, Elena surely doesn't want to leave you behind,"

Elena stood up in protest, "But Caroline's still on the edge and she doesn't have a daylight ring. Stefan, don't you need to help her before we leave her alone for a whole day?"

Shit this means she wants to come with us alone ewwww she's after Damon ewwww no.

Stefan stood up slowly, "Yeah, you're right. I'll give you a ride home first, so you can tell Jenna that you're leaving for the day. Ric, you can pick her up from there?"

Damn, no way out of this. I buried my face in Damon's chest, hugging him around the waist and mumbled, "This sucks."

Damon fingered his hands through my hair and let out an annoyed sigh, then tucked me under his arm, "Alright! You can get out of our house now. Cara and I will meet you two at Duke in, say... Two hours."

"Okay, see you there," Alaric said cautiously, then ushered Stefan and Elena out the door. Damon and I stayed quiet for a moment, and I listened to what they were saying outside;

Stefan: "You sure you want to go with them?"

Elena: "Yes, Stefan. I'm sure I'll be fine spending the day with your brother and Mr. Saltzman."

*echem* FORGET ANYONE?

Stefan: "I mean, obviously you know how Cara and Damon are around each other. You sure you want to be around all that... inappropriate behavior?"

Elena: "Uhh.. But I could discover so many things about Isobel on this trip, and I don't want to miss that kind of opportunity."

Stefan: "Okay, Elena. Just be careful... I don't want to take you home for Jenna to find you with mental scars."

Elena: laughing awkwardly, "I don't think it'll bother me that much, really. Let's just go.."

So Stefan doesn't seem to like the idea of her coming... Maybe he's starting to see Elena's weird and unnatural feelings for my Damon. I stepped out from under Damon's arm and placed my hands on his chest, trailing them up and down and looking up to his eyes, "So a whole day with a history teacher and his love-struck student... What are we gonna do?"

He sighed, not catching my hint, "I really don't know, Cara. It's gonna be one helluva day."

I scrunched my nose, "Well we better get going," I pecked his lips and turned upstairs to get my phone. While I was up there I realized I had no makeup on, so quickly applied some mascara and tinted lip gloss. I grabbed my phone from the bed and slid it in my back pocket, then turned out the light on my way out and met Damon downstairs.

"You wanna take the Camaro?"

"Yeah, I'll drive," he replied, then grabbed his keys and we headed out. I slid in the passenger seat and flipped on some music, singing along quietly with Damon drumming along to the music, too. We drove through and out of Mystic Falls, and once we got on the freeway to start our two-hour drive to Dunham, VA where the Duke campus is at, Damon spoke.

"Babe,"

"Yeah?"

He casually moved his hand off the steering wheel and over to my leg, "You think maybe we could take a detour?" Yes! maybe he didn't miss the hint after all..

I smiled and took his hand to lace with mine, "Sure, definitely. What exactly did you have in mind?"

Damon glanced at me while a wide smirk spread across his face- he looked as devious as the Cheshire Cat ! But his face changed quickly and he took his hand back, covering his mouth as he cleared his throat, "Oh, well I thought we'd stop at a mall 'cause I need a couple of things, you could help me out."

My smile dropped.

"Oh. Uh, yeah, sure hun.. Whatever you need."

He smiled, then leaned over to kiss my cheek, "Awesome."

Well the whole time we were waiting for an exit with a shopping center, I had my head leaned against the window as I thought to myself, Why the hell is Damon acting like such a goody goody? As far as I'm concerned he's the one who should be making the derogatory moves towards random, spur of the moment sex... And he wants to go shopping? Something must be up because seriously... And so on.

We came off an exit about half way through our little trip to a teeny tiny mall with a Gap, Kohl's, Aeropostale, Victoria's Secret, and Payless Shoesource.

Damon pulled the car in near the food court and Kohl's and got out. I quickly caught up with him and grabbed his arm as we walked quickly across the parking lot,

"You really think you're gonna find what you need here, D?" He looked at me weird, with squinty eyes and pursed lips. I dropped my hands into my pockets and continued, chuckling, "I mean, where are you going to find anything up to par with your Gucci silk v-necks? Victoria's Secret?"

He smiled wide again.

What is up with these big freaking grins?

"Yep," he opened the door to the complex and looked around a bit, until dragging me into the most deserted VS I've ever seen

"Damon, what are you doing?"

Before he could answer an eager employee came over and greeted us, "Hi, what can I help you two with today?"

Damon put his arm around my shoulders, effectively locking me beside him, "Hi, erm... Joleesa? I was wondering what you could get my fiance here for our very special wedding night," he smirked.

Wait what.?

My head jerked to the side and I look up at him, squinting my eyes. The woman, Joleesa, who looks maybe thirty something, smiles and says, "Oh, how sweet! Yes, we have a large selection of wedding lingerie. If you'd like to wait out here, sir, I could take-"

"Cara," I interrupted, "My name's Cara. Thanks I can uh, speak for myself hereon," I chuckled lightly but shot a glare at Damon, who was just starting to loosen his grip on me.

"Of course, Cara. So I can show you various types of lingerie for your night.. Do you have anything in mind?" She asked politely.

I smiled casually, "Not really. To be honest, this was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing... Damon here thought it was a good time."

Damon shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

Joleesa asked him, "Well, are you planning on being a part of this? Or is it more of a.. surprise?"

I blushed a teeny bit. I mean, this lady is so comfortable with talking about our sexual preferences so out in the open, and I'm just...

Oh wait. The same. Haaaaa

"Oh, I'm definitely a part of this. Victoria's Secret is my favorite store to shop with Cara at- I am not missing out," he answered not taking his eyes off me. I smirk.

Okay, he got the hint after all. I mean, lingerie shopping was not my idea- I figured we could just stop and do it in the car... But this? I like.

Joleesa took my hand warmly and said, "Alright, well let's see what we can find in your size. That would be?"

"34D, a medium in panties," Damon answered. I chuckled and Joleesa blushed. That's my man.

"Right, well how about you, Damon, wait here and we'll pick out a few items. Then you can come see in the dressing room?" Joleesa said, worded like a statement, yet spoken like a question.

Hmm. I'll have to use that- it's like a silent demand.

Damon nodded and kissed my cheek, then sat himself on the chair by the door, "Don't get too crazy, babe. Or get crazy. Whichever works."

I winked and then turned away as Joleesa lead me to a section of the store- it seemed to be all white. Oh.. That's right, I'm shopping for wedding lingerie. Why am I shopping for my wedding? Like I know when that's gonna happen.

Joleesa says to me, "You and your fiance seem very in love."

I smiled, "Thanks. We are."

As she's pulling different items for me, she asks, "So how long have you two been together?"

"A long while... Let's just say it feels like a century," I chuckled and she laughed. Get it? Cause it's been, like, over a century! Say, a hundred and sixty eight years? Yeah, that seems right.

"Alright, well here are some things in your size- I just grabbed an item from each basic bridal style. You know; corsets, slips, garters..."

"Right,"

"Great. Now, I'm just going to set you up in this changing room," She guided me to the largest corner room, with three mirrors, "and tell Damon to come over."

I stood there, in the dressing room, and she stood right outside... looking at me...

"Oh, sorry, I'll just give you some privacy then," she smiled weakly and left... Thank god. That was a little awkward for a moment. I take off my clothes, luckily I'm wearing a thong so it won't show when I try on the new stuff. As I'm unclipping the first piece, a white sparkly sea-shell cupped bra with rhinestones that extends over my ribs, and matching panties with straps, Damon says outside the door, "Just knock when you're ready."

I smile, and take of my bra and replace it with this mega push-up, added the panties, then checked myself in the mirror. Scrunched my hair a bit, turned to face the door with my hip jutted out, and knocked two times.

Damon slowly opened the door, and as he caught sight of me his eyes gaped.

I smirk, "You like?"

His eyes darkened and he took a step forward, "I could ravage you right here, darling," he said in a raspy tone.

I winked, then shut the door in his face. I could hear him groan and slump down in his seat in response as I took of the first item. The next one is a white silk babydoll covered in black lace, and has black fluff around the breast and bottom hem, that only comes to my upper thigh. I took off my bra and slipped it over my head then knocked again. Damon fumbled with the doorknob a bit and opened the dressing room door quickly.

"I love this one, very comfy," I smiled sweetly, and rand my hands up and down my curves, just to tease. His eyes followed my hands intently, and when he tried to reach out and touch me I placed my hands on his shoulders and pushed him out slowly, "Wait till we get home tonight, there's still one more outfit." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, then closed the door again. This last one goes all out with the bridal style, it's a sheer white full top with a sweetheart push-up neckline. It's got a very romantic design with lace, and a satin ribbon making a corset down the front. It has matching panties with the same lace and satin design and it even comes with a matching bridal garter. THIS is what I would wear on our final wedding night.

I didn't bother knocking on the door, I just opened it without warning. Damon got right out of the chair and took me in... I smiled, feeling little pools in my cheeks where my dimples are. Damon's jaw went a little slack and without a word he stepped inside the dressing room and shut the door, then pulled me by the waist against him and kissed me passionately. I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him closer, wrapping one leg around his waist and he pushed me down onto the neck in the dressing room.

As I unbutton his shirt, Damon unclips the back of my corset, not bothering with the ribbon. I can feel his growing erection when he leaned into me, moving his arms from behind me as the corset falls to the ground. Our lips still attached, I push his shirt off and go for his zipper as he trails one hand to my back, pushing me closer to him, and the other grasping my large breast. I pull his hips closer to me with my leg and push his dark jeans down his muscular legs and reach into his boxers and grab him tightly, and he groans loudly, breaking our kiss. I put my free hand up to his mouth and whisper,

"If we're gonna do this, we're doing it quietly. There's still someone out there..."

He nods, then moves his hand from my boob down to the panties, taking them off quickly without damage. Then he kisses me again as I move my hand up and down his hardening cock and he removes my thong. Damon breaks the kiss and licks and kisses his way down to my left breast and sucks on my nipple until it hardened. I bit my lip, suppressing my moan as he moves his hand to my entrance and spreads my wetness around. I moved my hand up to my right boob and squeezed when he took his hard cock and rammed into me. I broke the skin on my lip and grunted, moving my hand to the bench for support as Damon penetrated me fast and hard.

He busied his mouth on my breasts and moved one of his hands to the wall behind us to balance himself as I moved my leg from his waist and expertly lifted it over his shoulder, and he pushed into me even deeper. Damon moaned loudly, and I quickly took his mouth to mine and kissed him quiet. The knot in my belly was clenching and I could feel Damon throbbing inside me, so I bit my lip again and then he suckled on it, driving us both over the edge. I moved my hands from the bench and grabbed his shoulders tightly and Damon buries his face in the crook of my neck. I sighed with happiness and Damon slowly pulled out of me. He pulled his boxers and pants up quickly and was the first one to speak,

"That was amazing," he whispered.

My breath heavy, I found my underwear and slid then back on, "Completely.. but we gotta get out of here!" I whispered back as Damon buttoned up his shirt as I put my bra and bando on, then wriggled into my jeans. Damon helped me stand and helped me into my tank top, then fixed the bow in my hair and he said,

"Yep, but we've gotta checkout first," He kissed me again and did the fly on his pants, walking out of the dressing room as I stumbled into my vans. I quickly gathered allt he things in the dressing room, and followed him out into the store, then- DAMMIT I'VE GOT A LIMP! Oh well. I catch up to him, and we head to the front of the store where Joleesa is sat at the checkout counter with her feet up and on her cell phone. I place the stuff on the counter with a smile and she drops her feet, and puts her phone away in embarrasment... If only she realized what we just did!

She clears her throat, "Did you like anything?"

"We'll take it all," Damon says, whipping out his wallet. I look at him questioningly and he just winks back.

Joleesa starts to bag everything, then adds everything up on the register, "All together, that'll be... Three fourty-nine, ninety-nine." Damon hands her his card and she rings it up and hands it back. She prints the receipt and hands me the large pink striped bag.

"Thank you," I say.

"Thank you, have a wonderful day!"

We turn and walk away, and Damon notices my limp and grips my waist. I Look up to him and as we walk out of the dumpy mall he says, "I can't believe she didn't hear us."

I chuckled and got into the passenger seat, very carefully, and laughed, "I know... we got lucky!"

Damon pulled out of the parking lot and replied with a smile, "We sure as hell did." I leaned over and kissed his cheek, then took his hand in mine and rested them on his leg. Now, time to go back to college.

XXxXxXXxxxXXxXxXXx

We pulled up to the main square of the Duke campus and got out of the car, Alaric and Elena were already waiting for us outside the door.

"You two are late, as usual," Ric stated.

I limped over to him, "Sorry, we had to make a short pit stop." Ric sighed and we walked in the doors.

Elena trotted over to my right, where Damon is walking alongside me, "Hi Damon."

He coughed awkwardly and moved closer to me, wrapping his arm low on my waist. I smiled, then looked past him and stuck my tongue out at Elena.

"So," Ric started, "Isobel was oficially employed by the anthropology department, given that most paranormal phenomena was rooted in folklore." He led us into the main office type of area, whre there was a woman, maybe in her early twenties, dealing with files.

"Excuse me, hi," he greeted, "I'm Alaric Saltzman- I called earlier?"

She turned away from her work and said hello, "Yes, of course, I'm Vanessa Monroe- research assistant in folklore..." Her eyes turned away from Ric and trailed down my husba- err, fiance. I smiled and twirled my hair with my left hand, making sure the sun glinted off the glorious rock Damon picked out for me. She quickly said,

"Oh, uh, let me just grab Isobel's key-"

"Sorry, these are my friends," Alaric pointed us out, "Damon and Cara, and a student of mine Elena. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition?"

"No, please. Isobel's office is right through there," she pointed to our right, then continued, "Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student, she was... Brilliant. One of the reasons I went into folklore."

Ric smiled sadly and Vanessa's eyes dropped to the floor.

"I have to ask.. uh, has there been any news?"

Ric cleared his throat, "No. No I'm afraid not."'

There was a bit of a sad pause, then she lead us into her office, "It's this way."

The small room was filled head to toe with books and art. there was a tall,, thin window in the far left hand side, and in the center featured a large oak desk and vintage rug.

"Feel free to look around. Fascinating, isn't it?" Vanessa commented.

Damon went to a bookshelf and I went over to he smaller desk under the window, checking out some fossils and such. It all got very quiet, then Damon asked, "Where'd she go?"

Just as those words left his mouth, Elena gasped and I turned to see here standing two feet away from me with a wooden cross bow. Before I had thought to react Damon sped in front of me and caught the arrow in his back. Alaric pushed Vanessa into a wall as I helped Damon get up onto a chair.

"Pull it out! Cara, I can't reach the damn thing so just... Argh... pull it out, it hurts," He grunted, getting on the chair and turning his head behind me.

"Sorry, this is gonna hurt too," I pressed my lips against his to distract him from me yanking the arrow from his back. I broke the kiss and he stood up, stretching his shoulder.

"Ahh," he shook it off, "That did hurt."

I scoffed, and threw the arrow to the ground, "That bitch is deeeaaad," I turned around to go find her but Elena was standing in my way with her arms crossed over her little chest.

"Uh, you're not going to kill her."

I smirked and walked past her, "Watch me."

"You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again!"

Damon laughed, then slowly stopped as his back was still healing, "Please, it'd be a favor."

"What make you think that has any power over me? You are severely overestimating yourself," I told her.

She brushed off our comments, "Oh right, I forgot I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively."

I scowled, "That was years ago. So shut your mouth, honey, before I kill you instead." She quieted at that and I walked over to Damon and we went back to the office area where Alaric had went with Vanessa. She was sat in a chair and we walked in on them talking, this is what we heard,

"Katherine Pierce can't be alive, and Damon and Cara Salvatore DIED in 1864! Okay, I- I read Isobel's research-"

"Which mean you know just how possible this is," Alaric interrupted. Elena walked over to her and said,

"I'm Elena Gilbert. Isobel's daughter and a descendant of Katherine Pierce. And this is Cara *almost Salvatore, and Damon Salvatore, who you just shot."

I leaned over the table in front of Vanessa and warned, "I'd be extra nice to me right now."

"Look, we need your help. We need to see all of Isobel's research, anything related to Mystic Falls," Damon demanded. We all looked to each other, and Vanessa agreed with a nod. Damon walked away a moment on the phone, just outside the door, as Ric, Elena, Vanessa and I stayed in the study. Vanessa went over to a shelf and pulled out a cardboard box with papers and files and book inside. Walking over to where Elena and I had started going through some things, she said,

"This box tracks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in eighteen sixty-four," she humphed it down onto the small desk we were working on.

"Is this all you have on Katherine?" Elena asked.

She sighed, "All that I'm aware of." We kept going through the boxes a minute, and Elena came across some dried vervain. I flinched a little when she lifted a stem- then Elena glanced at Damon, then me, and back to Vanessa.

"Here," Elena said to her, "You should take this."

Vanessa took the poisonous flower and smirked, "Does this really work?"

"No," Damon and I replied simultaneously. Elena crumbled some in her hand and threw it at me. What the-

"Oww! fuck you," I muttered under my breath, the sizzle going away from my skin. Vanessa looked at me wide eyed, the glanced back to Damon who was still outside the room.

"Wait, can he hear us?"

"Noo," I whisper yelled, "That would be creepy," He looked over his shoulder and smirked at me, I smiled back. We held the stare as Vanessa asked,

"Can you guys read minds too?" Vanessa asked me. Damon walked into the room and opened his mouth to reply, but I interrupted him and said,

"You know, if you want to see me naked, you could just ask."

He winked and Elena rolled her eyes, "No, that they can't do. But she can tend to be a first-rate pervert."

Damon plopped down next to me and grabbed my chin, then kissed me quickly. Elena rolled her eyes again and Damon just smirked devilishly at her. We continued looking through the boxes, finding nothing, when Vanessa broke the silence.

"So, what's the real story between the whole love-square? I mean, you can't blame me for being curious," she smiled. I turned to her,

"You mean how Stefan's crush on me ended with him teaming up with Katherine?"

"Or how Katherine turned me to try and get me to leave Cara for her?" Damon chipped.

Vanessa gasped excitedly, "So it was all true? The wedding broken up by sibling jealousy? Just like Isobel told me?!"

Damon scoffed, "Not really something to get excited about, missy."

I stood up and walked over to another bookshelf, "Kind of the beginning of our eternal life together completely screwed up."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," she said. Not very believable. Like, does she care? Uhh no, probably not. Damon walked up behind me and I was digging through another box,

"Any luck?" he whispered in my neck.

I sighed and tilted my head back onto his shoulder, "There's nothing in here about Katherine that we don't already know."

He looked down at me and was gonna say something, but Ric called us over.

"Hey guys, you should check this out," Ric handed Vanessa a large book and Damon and I walked over.

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls, but here are some records of some of the lesser known legends," she handed Damon the book, "Anything from Scandinavian skin walkers to the Martial DeRetz." Then she pointed to a spot on the page, "Tonalytsi limetsli, which roughly translates to the curse of the sun and moon."

"That's Native American," Alaric chipped.

"Aztec," I corrected, being the language geek I am.

Vanessa pointed out the odd drawings in the book, "It explains one origin of a werewolf cures traced to Virginia. The short story; 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible. Until, an Aztec Shamen cursed them. Making vampires slaves to the sun, and werewolves slaves to the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, whoever's unlucky enough to be under the werewolf curse, turns into a wolf."

"And they control the transformation?" Damon asked.

"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse," I pointed out. So six hundred years ago- that's about twenty years before I was born.

"Werewolves will attack humans," Vanessa started again, "but instinct from hundreds of years of rivalry, they'll hunt their prey of choice- vampires." Damon and I looked at each other with wide eyes.

I leant over the desk on my elbows and said, "Well, if werewolves are hunting vampires we'd know about it."

"...Not if there aren't many werewolves left alive," she replied, "Hundreds of years ago vampires almost to extinction."

"Why would they do that?" Elena asked.

"To protect themselves. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires," she stated. I stood back up, stumbling a bit into Damon but he caught me, stabling me with his hand on my shoulder. I turned around in his arms, and stood on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear, "So if the Lockwood's are werewolves... we're screwed."

He brushed my hair back, "Yeah, but we can protect ourselves. We'll leave if we have to- go back to London for a few years."

I shook my head, "We couldn't leave with this mess going on. They need someone older than Stefan to help with this mess, don't they?" Damon pulled me into a tight hug, and I could feel everyone's judging eyes around us, but I don't care. "Yeah. They're all hopeless without us," he replied.

"Hey, did you study anything about doppelgangers?" Elena asked.

Vanessa started, "Well... the word means a lot of different things to different cultures. But typically, a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of one's self."

Elena sighed, "Did Isobel have anything related to the link between me and Katherine?"

"That book," she pointed to the one on the table where Damon and I are standing near, "is the only one we've got on her, unfortunately."

"But, I can tell you that doppelganger usually torment the poeple they look like..." Vanessa started, "Like they're trying to undo the other's life . It's not exactly uplifting."

"And more things we already know... I just wanna know why we look alike!" she whined.

"Sorry, girl. You three can stay here, but I'm supposed to lock up at 7:30, so be out in five minutes. I'm gonna take a breather," she said, then walked out. Alaric followed her for some unknown reason.

Damon rolled his eyes at Elena's childish behavior.

"Head-scratcher, isn't it?" I commented sarcastically.

She turned around, whipping her hair dramatically, "Do you know something? Or are you just being yourself?"

I jotted my hip out into a kick-stand, "If I did know anything, I wouldn't tell you- not with that attitude."

She just scoffed, crossed her arms, and huffed into her seat. What a child.

Damon sighed, knowing what I was thinking, "Would you stop pouting if we told you?"

Elena immediately stood up, "Yes! What do you know?"

I went over the the bookshelf I was at earlier, and pulled out the large book I'd found earlier. It had PETROVA written on the spine- Katherine's real name. We started to walk out of the building, and I handed her the book as we stepped into the parking lot.

"Petrova... I saw this on the shelf," she stated.

"Katherine originally came from Europe- Petrova was here real name. Katerina Petrova, to be exact," I told her. Damon and I figured that if we give her the info, it could move this whole show along the road.

"How did you know that?" she asked.

"Back in the day, I spotted one of her family heirlooms left in Stefan's bedroom- her name was engraved on it," Damon answered.

"But seriously, let us know what you find. I'm very curious myself," I told her.

"Thank you." At that, we left.

A/N: That's all for now! Sorry, I really couldn't think of a better way to end it rather than walking away from Elena. I will work my hardest to pump this next chapter out soon, it's gonna be a good one! Everyone pray that I have a snowday tomorrow- is I get that entire day I will surely be able to give another chapter in the next 48 hours. Please leave me lots and lots of reviews! They're really one of the only things that makes me smile day to day.

Lots of Love :)