Summary: All Celia Saltzman wanted was her mother back in her life. Moving to Mystic Falls and making new friends had never been part of the plan. Neither was finding new family. After finding out the truth about what happened to her mother, Celia soon discovers that it wasn't the only secret that lies within her family.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize here. TVD belongs to L.J. Smith and the CW.
Setting: TVD AU
Notes:
Six
"We probably should take a vampire just in case." Elena suggested out loud.
"That's why I'm going." Damon smirked at her.
"No you're not." Ric glared at him.
Celia sighed shaking her head. "Dad, it's either him or Stefan. No offense, but I don't exactly feel comfortable leaving him alone in a town with newly turned Caroline after he tried to kill her."
"Ouch, but point taken." His smirk fell as he glanced over at her.
"Alright fine. Damon you sit in the front. Girls, you can sit in the back." Ric gave in with a sigh.
Stefan smiled softly at them. "It'll be fine. You don't have to worry about things here. Bonnie made a daylight ring for Caroline. I'll help Care adjust while you're gone."
She smiled at him. "Thanks Stefan. We'll be back as soon as we can."
The four of them got into Ric's car and he started the drive down to North Carolina. It was a surprisingly calm drive. When the Welcome to North Carolina sign came into view, Celia took a deep breath. She held it together until they pulled up to Duke's campus. The closer they got to Isobel's office, the harder it felt for her. Celia completely froze when they reached the door to her mother's office.
"Is she okay?" Elena asked appearing concerned.
Celia bit her lip. "I just haven't been here since Mom disappeared. Even though I know the truth now, it's still hard."
"Sweetheart, come here. It's alright. God I should have thought about that before I agreed to this trip. It's okay. You don't have to go inside if you don't want to." Ric took his daughter into his arms comforting her.
She relaxed in her father's embrace sighing softly. "I know, but I do want to go inside. I'll be okay. I just wasn't expecting it to hit me so hard."
"Well you have us so you're not going in there alone." Elena assured her sister.
Celia smiled softly at her. "Thanks."
The door suddenly opened and a pretty brunette smiled at her. "Celia!"
She pulled away from her dad and hugged her. "Vanessa! It's so good to see you."
Vanessa returned the hug smiling a bit more. "It's so good to see you too. Ric, you as well. I hope you guys are doing good."
"Hey Vanessa. Yeah we're doing pretty good. Thanks." He smiled softly at her.
Celia perked up a bit as she pulled away. "Oh this is Vanessa. She is.. was.. Mom's intern turned assistant."
She smiled softly at the younger girl. "Isobel was a very big inspiration for me and she has some big shoes to fill which I can only hope I do her justice."
"Thanks again for letting us come by on such short notice." Ric nodded at her.
Her blueish green eyes gazed around the office as memories came flooding back. "Hey Vanessa, do you mind if I take a few mementos from here?"
Vanessa's features softened at that. "It's not a problem. Of course I don't mind, Celia. Take whatever you want."
Celia's face lit up with a smile. "Thanks."
She went around the office putting a few things in her bag. A thin black book with Petrova on the front in silver caught her eye as she went by one of the bookshelves. She made sure no one was looking before placing it into her bag as well. Suddenly Vanessa pulled out a small crossbow aiming it right at Elena. Without even thinking about it, Celia stepped in front of her sister.
Vanessa narrowed her eyes not taking her gaze off of Elena. "I can't believe you brought Katherine here."
She shook her head. "This isn't Katherine. It's Elena. She's my sister."
"No!" Damon called out suddenly appearing in front of Celia letting the arrow hit him right in the back.
Annoyed that his daughter almost got hurt, Ric took the crossbow from Vanessa. He pulled her aside explaining Elena to her. Meanwhile Damon leaned forward over Isobel's desk with the arrow still protruding from his back. It was Elena who opted to remove the arrow while Celia chose to distract the handsome vampire. Elena grasped the arrow and Celia leaned forward silencing Damon's bitching with a kiss. The Gilbert girl removed the arrow and a moment later the kiss was broken. Damon stood up straight and shuddered.
"That bitch is dead."
Celia smacked his arm not caring if he was upset. "She didn't mean to shoot you. She genuinely thought Elena was Katherine. You can't fault her for trying to protect herself."
"Fine. Only because you obviously care about her." He rolled his eyes.
She then turned toward the other woman. "Hey Vanessa, did Mom ever mention thinking that I was in danger or needing to protect me?"
An unsure look appeared on her face. "Well yes and no. She never mentioned needing to protect you outside of the usual parental worries. However she did discover something that she believed might put you in danger."
"What did she find?" Ric was concerned yet curious all the same.
She sighed then pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. "I don't know all of the details. I don't even know where she found this. I shouldn't even be showing this to you. All I know is that she found this and became obsessed."
"The Sun and Moon curse." Ric unfolded the parchment taking a look at what it said.
Vanessa nodded her head. "Isobel was obsessed with figuring out what this all meant. When she finally did, well, she would have done anything to protect Celia."
"And where does Katherine fit into all of this?" Damon asked narrowing his eyes at her.
She bit her lip. "Isobel invited her here out of the blue. I don't know what they were talking about, but I just left for the day. I didn't find out until later that she was Katherine. You don't go through with this line of work without hearing stories about Katherine Pierce."
Celia gave her a curious look. "Did Mom ever tell you what they talked about?"
Vanessa sighed softly. "Not in specifics, no. Although she was concerned that your new allergy could be putting you in danger."
"Right. We probably shouldn't talk about that in front of the vampire." Ric gestured toward Damon.
She gave them a confused look. "Allergy? What allergy? Oh wait. Mom made me tea that one day and i had an allergic reaction. Weird though because I'm not allergic to other teas."
"You're allergic to vervain?" It had only taken him a few moments to realize what Ric hadn't wanted him to know.
"It's not that unusual. People can be allergic to it. Just means there is no way to protect her from being compelled." He admitted with a sigh.
Celia hesitated before calling her mother later that night. "Hey Mom."
"Hello sweetheart. How are you?" Isobel smiled hearing her daughter's voice.
She sighed feeling a bit better hearing her. "I'm okay. I was looking through some pictures and I guess I just really missed you."
"I miss you too, honey. We'll meet up soon. I promise." She assured her.
Celia glanced around debating if she should tell her before finally just giving in. "I met Katherine."
"So I've heard. I told her to leave you be. She didn't hurt you did she?"
She shook her head though her mother couldn't see her. "No she didn't hurt me. She just made me even more curious."
"I bet. Katherine was telling the truth. You don't need to dig any further, honey." Isobel assured her.
Celia frowned at her words. "Why do I feel like there is so much more that you aren't telling me?"
"I've got to go, but I'll talk you soon. I love you, Celia."
She smiled softly at that. "Alright. I love you too, Mom."
"Hey." Caroline smiled brightly at her as she sat on the Gilbert's porch swing a few days later.
Celia smiled at her in return. "Hey. How are you?"
"I'm doing okay. I feel like I can't stop eating, but Stefan's been a big help with helping me adjust." She admitted.
Her smile fell a little. "Care, I'm so sorry. This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't asked Damon to give you his blood."
"Hey no, I don't blame you. It's okay. I might not even be alive if you hadn't of done that. So thank you." Caroline assured her.
Celia nodded her head. "We're all glad that you're okay, Caroline."
"I don't exactly agree with you dating Damon either now that I have my memories back, but I'm not going to judge you either. He seems different with you."
She bit her lip lightly. "I'm sorry he did all that to you, Care. No one deserves that. Especially not you."
"I know. I'm not mad at you. I promise." She reassured her with a smile.
They then made their way back inside the house where Jenna, Ric, The Salvatores, Elena, Jeremy, and Mason were hanging out. Of course it was Damon who suggested that they should play a game which ended up being Pictionary. Celia rolled her eyes playfully when all of her boyfriend's drawings were wolf related. It was bad enough he had tried to get Mason to interact with silverware earlier. When the get together was over, Celia had opted to stay behind to help with clean up. The guys left including her Dad which she thought was odd, but she didn't question it too much. Damon had been the last to leave. He gave her a kiss then tried to act nice by kissing Jenna's hand, but she really wasn't buying it that much. Of course it didn't take long for the guys to end up at the boarding house or for Mason to fall into their little trap.
When he came to, Mason was surprised to find himself chained to a chair. "What do you want?"
"What are you?" Damon asked with a curious look on his face.
His eyes turned a golden hue glowing a bit. "What do you do think? I'm a werewolf and you're a vampire."
Stefan folded his arms across his chest. "So you triggered it."
He sighed as his eyes returned to their normal hue. "Yeah a few months ago. It was a complete accident. I didn't mean to kill him. Katherine comforted me."
"Yeah I'm pretty sure Katherine manipulated you into turning." The older Salvatore chuckled.
Mason shook his head at him. "No she wouldn't do that. Katherine loves me."
"What does she want, Mason?" Ric asked torturing him with wolfsbane a bit.
He cried out in pain then sighed. "The moonstone. She gave it to George Lockwood and it's been with the family ever since. It's how she survived the church fire."
"And where is the moonstone?" Damon asked.
Mason panted a bit. "She already has it."
The younger Salvatore brother eyed him curiously. "Why does she want the moonstone?"
He shrugged his shoulders the best that he could. "I don't know. She just said that it would get her freedom."
"Has Tyler triggered his werewolf curse yet?" Ric asked.
Mason shook his head. "No. He doesn't know. He has no clue. I've been doing my best to keep him from finding out."
The three of them knew they couldn't free Mason. He would either rat them out or try to kill them. It was Damon who shoved his hand into Mason's chest ripping out his heart. They got rid of the body and cleaned up the mess agreeing not to tell anyone.
Ric had just walked into the Gilbert house when the phone rang. Jenna answered it while he greeted the three teens in the living room. Something about the way Jenna was talking caught the girls attention and they turned just in time to see the older woman stabbing herself into the stomach. They rushed to her side assessing the situation and it was Elena who grabbed the phone only to hear Katherine's voice. She hung up and they quickly got Jenna to the hospital. They were relieved to hear that the knife hadn't done damage to any vital organs. Jenna was patched up and ordered to take it easy. After they got her settled comfortably back at home, the girls went up to Elena's room and called the Salvatores who rushed over.
"I just don't understand. I don't understand why she is doing any of this." Elena sighed.
Her shoulders shrugged at that. "Neither do I. Although I really do think we should tell Jenna the truth now."
"Look, we have a plan to get rid of Katherine for good. Don't go to the masquerade ball at the Lockwoods tonight. Just stay here." Damon told them.
Celia rolled her eyes at him. "Oh please. Don't you think she'll be suspicious if both of us aren't there? Plus this is Caroline's first formal event since she turned. I promised that I would be there."
The younger Salvatore nodded his head. "Alright I have a better idea. Celia go to the ball with Damon. Elena can stay home with Jenna. Katherine would expect that at the very least."
"I don't know. I don't like being left out, but I guess it would be good to stay here tonight." She relented agreeing with them.
"I still think you both should stay here, but what do I know?" He threw his hands up in the air and left.
Elena helped Celia get ready for the masquerade ball. She was wearing a dark emerald dress with matching gloves and a black lace mask over her eyes. Her light brown hair hung in loose waves around her shoulders. Damon's jaw dropped when he returned to pick her up. She blushed smiling softly at him. Celia promised to keep in touch with Elena then left with her boyfriend to the ball. They slow danced then Damon reluctantly left her side to enact the plan to trap Katherine. In the meantime, Elena had showed up outside. Jeremy did his best to stall her.
Katherine smirked after realizing she couldn't leave the room. "Isn't this cute? The brother who loved me too much and the brother who didn't love me enough."
"And the evil bitch vampire who only cared about herself."
She smiled playing with his tie. "When did you get so cute? What happened to the old Damon?"
"He died." Damon narrowed his eyes at her.
Katherine smirked dropping his tie. "Good. That Damon was a bore."
He pulled out a wooden stake and they began to fight. As Katherine got stabbed with the stake, blood appeared on Elena's shirt. It didn't take long for Jeremy to realize what was happening so he ran inside and up to the room where they were in. He explained what was happening to his sister and Celia, who had been watching from outside the room, ran outside to check on Elena. Katherine smirked taunting them as she dug the stake into the palm of her hand. While Bonnie entered the room with her cousin Lucy who had previously been working with Katherine, two unknown figures attacked Celia and Elena knocking them out. Lucy used her magic to knock out Katherine and unbind her from Elena. They moved her over to the old church trapping the vampire inside unaware that she had manipulated Tyler into triggering his curse. The Salvatores and Jeremy returned to the parking lot only to find that the two sisters were now gone. All that remained was Celia's crumpled mask.
Elena came to first and was unsure of what was going on. She calmed down a bit when she saw Celia beside her still unconscious. The brunette laid her sister's head in her lap stroking her hair gently. She could hear a male and a female voice. It sounded as if they were bickering. Neither voice sounded familiar to her. Celia stirred awake and her sister sighed in relief. As she sat up, the two people walked in.
"Please. I don't know what you two want, but my sister didn't do anything. Just let her go." Elena pleaded with them as the two girls got to their feet.
"Shut up! We've been running for over five hundred years. You two are buying us our freedom." The short haired woman told her.
Celia rubbed her head glancing around in confusion. "What's going on?"
"I don't know. Are you okay?" She looked at her sister in concern.
She nodded her head. "Yeah I'm alright. Are you?"
"I'm fine." Elena gave her a reassuring look.
"He's here." The man spoke up catching their attention.
A taller man in a nice suit walked in only to look stunned when he saw Elena. "This isn't a trick? It's the real deal?"
"It's the real deal." The woman gave him a hopeful look.
He walked over to the two girls sniffing Elena then touching her hair. "You're not Katerina."
"I'm Elena." She grasped her sister's hand.
The man turned to look at the other girl. "And who might you be?"
Celia looked right back at him. "Her sister Celia. Half. Same Mom, different Dads."
"Celia!" She looked at her sister.
She gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry. I ramble when I'm nervous sometimes."
He just smiled and turned back toward the other two. "Rose, Trevor, you betrayed me. You betrayed my family. I do however appreciate this gift of the doppelganger though."
"We're truly sorry, Elijah." Rose bowed to him then shrieked in horror when he decapitated Trevor with one smooth chop.
Elijah cleaned himself off then looked over at her. "Leave now, Rose, and never look back."
Celia watched the woman leave then glanced over at the man. "What do you want with us, Elijah?"
He studied her for a moment. "I'm most interested in the doppelganger."
Before either of the girls could ask why, a noise was heard from downstairs. Elijah went to go investigate leaving the two sisters alone. Hearing the Salvatores voices made the two girls move closer to the steps. Their eyes widening when they saw Elijah get staked right into a wall with a long wooden pole. Seeing his skin turn grey, the girls felt safe enough to walk out to the top of the stairs. The guys glanced up only to see them and sighed in relief. The girls hurried down the stairs and jumped into their boyfriends' arms. They made sure the girls were alright then escorted them out of the building explaining that Bonnie used a locator spell to help find them. They took the sisters back to Mystic Falls unaware that Elijah was coming to and removing the stake from his body.
Ric was relieved that both of the girls were safe and sound. When he tried to take Celia home, she refused to leave Damon and Stefan's sides. She knew Elijah was gone, but the whole experience still left her shook. Celia simply just felt safer being close to the two Salvatore brothers. Ric gave in unwilling to make his daughter feel unsafe. Both girls ended up staying at the boarding house that night. It eased their minds at least. Damon filled Celia in on what she had missed with Katherine and assured her that the two doppelgangers were no longer bound by a spell. She was relieved to hear that. The next morning she stole a blood bag from his stash then went home. She grabbed her bag then headed off into the woods.
Katherine stepped out from the shadows looking surprised to see her. "Well you're about the last person I expected to see here."
Celia took in her disheveled appearance then sat down in front of the open tomb in the ruins of the old church. "Hello to you too."
Her hair was a bit messy and she was still in her dress from the night before as she sat down as well. "Hello. What do you want?"
She passed a bottle of blood over to her then pulled out the Petrova book. "This belongs to you."
Katherine took the bottle drinking some of the blood then softened when she saw the book. "Yeah it does."
Celia slid the book over to her. "I'm here because I would like to hear your side of the story."
She opened the book looking through it stopping when she saw a drawing of her family. "It's a sad one."
Her head nodded at that. "I would still like to hear it, if you don't mind."
The vampire sighed shaking her head. "We were a big family in Bulgaria. This was back in the day when arranged marriages were all the rage. I fell in love with a stablehand and I became pregnant. It was a girl. A beautiful baby girl. I barely even got to hold her before my father ripped her away from me. Once I healed from the delivery, my family sent me away to England. That's where I met these two noblemen or so I thought. Elijah and Klaus. They were brothers or half brothers as it were."
Celia's eyes widened when she heard the name. "They were vampires, weren't they?"
She nodded her head. "Yes. I was smitten with Elijah. One night he told me the truth. Klaus wanted to sacrifice me to break his spell because I was a doppelganger. Elijah was going to save me. I got scared and stole the moonstone. Trevor helped me escape. We ended up in this little shack. Rose freaked out and wanted to return me. I cut myself and she fed me her blood. Selfishly I turned myself afterward. I ran home to Bulgaria, but by the time I got there my whole family had been slaughtered. Klaus' doing, I'm sure of it."
Her head tilted slightly. "Your daughter?"
Katherine shrugged her shoulders. "I could never find her. Over the years, as far as I can tell, Klaus genuinely believed the doppelganger line ended with me so he had no reason to seek out my daughter. The fact that Isobel, Elena, and you even exist means that he never found her thankfully. Anyway I've been running ever since. I've changed my name and my backstory to protect myself."
Celia bit her lip in thought. "Did you ever actually love the Salvatores?"
She nodded her head. "I did love them. Perhaps not as much as they loved me, but I did love them."
The younger brunette sighed softly. "Katherine, Elena and I were kidnapped last night. Our kidnappers were Trevor and Rose. They gave us to Elijah and he killed Trevor. Luckily the Salvatores came to our rescue and staked Elijah."
Katherine looked genuinely surprised to hear that. "I'd say you have some time before Klaus finds out, but not much. It's very possible that Elijah knows the location of Elena, but Klaus doesn't yet. You never know with those two."
Celia eyed her curiously. "Why did you turn Caroline?"
She tilted her head smirking slightly as she took another sip of blood. "Because it's fun and I needed a vampire."
Her eyes rolled at that. "I should get going."
Katherine nodded her head. "Thank you."
As Celia entered the Gilbert house a short while later, she was stunned to see Elijah standing there alive and well. "You."
Jenna handed him a box then smiled when she saw her. "Oh hey sweetie. He's an historian doing research on Mystic Falls. Just giving him some old maps and files about the town that were here."
She smiled at Jenna then grabbed a box. "Let me help you with that. Oh my father is a member of the town's historical society. I can probably point you in the right direction."
The auburn haired woman sighed in relief. "Thank you. That should be it."
He nodded his head at her and smiled softly. "Thank you, Miss Sommers."
The fear that had coursed through her last night was quickly twisting into anger as she carried the box outside to what she assumed to be his car. Elijah followed her and they put the boxes inside of the car. She wasn't sure what to make of his sudden appearance, but she now understood why Katherine referred to him in the present tense. Somehow the vampire knew that he wouldn't go down that easily.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Celia narrowed her eyes at him. "You've got some nerve showing up here and getting Jenna to let you inside. Look, I get that you want to take my sister, but lying your way into her house isn't right."
Elijah studied her for a moment then smiled slightly. "You're right. My apologies. For what it's worth, I had no idea they were going to kidnap you both until after it was done. I'm not trying to take Elena. I'm trying to protect her."
She rolled her eyes unsure if she believed him. "Like you protected Katherine?"
His eyes widened a little. "So you've spoken to Katerina."
Celia nodded her head. "I've heard her side of things, yes."
He sighed at that. "I had the means to protect Katerina, but she ran off before I could save her."
Somehow she believed it and she wasn't sure what to do with that. "Stay away from Jenna and Jeremy then maybe I'll believe you."
Elijah smirked as he watched her walk away. "I think you already do, Miss Saltzman."