"That's Elena Gilberts car."

Damon nodded as they both got out the car, unsurprised that Agent LaSalle recognised Elena's vehicle. He and Agent Kensi had probably made a note of each car and each visitor that had come to the Boarding House since they'd moved in.

"I'll call for an ambulance." Damon told him pulling out his phone.

Agent LaSalle nodded and began to head for Elena's car.

"I'll check on her, see what condition she's in. Tell them the cars upside down and we might also need Fire & Rescue to get her out of the car."

He jogged over to the overturned car and knelt down by the drivers side, the shriek Elena let out indicated she was awake and alert, but probably not okay. With half an ear on the quiet conversation between Agent LaSalle and Elena, Damon dialled Nine-One-One, and started going through the process of reporting the accident to the operator and letting them know that they definitely needed an ambulance and probably Fire & Rescue as well. The Operator assured him that they were on their way and that she'd alerted the Sheriff as well and she was enroute to the crash site. Damon thanked her and hung up, heading over to the car where Agent LaSalle was talking to Elena soothingly.

"… the emergency services are on their way and they're gonna get you out of there, okay Elena?"

Damon crouched down and tried to smile as reassuringly as he could at Elena.

"How ya doing in there?"

"Damon?"

"Yeah."

"I'm stuck. It's my seatbelt, I can't get it."

"Okay, you need to try and stay calm, okay Elena. Fire & Rescue are five minutes out, and there gonna get you out of there, okay?"

"I hit someone… there was a man… I hit a man. But then he got up, and… who was that?"

"We don't know. We're gonna figure it out, but in the meantime, I need you to tell anyone who asks that it was a deer, okay?"

"But it was a man!"

"It was a vampire, Elena. So, you need to tell everybody else it was a deer. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Good. I can hear the sirens now, you're gonna be okay. Do you want me to call Jenna? Have her meet you at the hospital?"

"I don't… Yeah, I want Jenna, please?"

"Okay, I'll call her and let her know."

He heard a car come down the road and pull to a stop, a glance over his shoulder showed him that it was the Sheriff. He stood up and looked over at Agent LaSalle.

"Stay with her, and I'll go fill the Sheriff in."

He nodded. Damon jogged towards Liz, who had got out of her car and was walking towards them. The sirens were getting louder, and Damon could see flashing lights now, so he knew they were close.

"Damon, what happened here?"

"It's Elena Gilbert, we came across the crash and called it in."

"Oh God. Is she okay?"

"Conscious and alert, Chris is with her, keeping her talking."

"Good, did she say what happened? How she lost control of the car?"

Damon frowned and gave Liz a serious look, nodding his head.

"She said she hit a man."

The Sheriff glanced around for sign of a body and looked at Damon in confusion when there was nothing.

"Could she have been mistaken?"

"I don't think so Sheriff. When we pulled up there was a figure standing next to Elena's car, it was too dark to see them clearly, but they sped away as soon as we arrived. Too fast to be human. Sheriff… Liz, I think she hit a vampire."

"Oh God… how sure is she it was a man?"

"I told her there was no body on the road, so it couldn't have been a person. I've managed to convince her that it was a deer, that she probably startled it into running but lost control when she swerved."

"I see. Thank you, Damon."

A fire truck and an ambulance pulled up by the crash and Liz glanced over at them and turned back to Damon.

"I've got to handle everything here. I'll come by and interview you and your friend tomorrow? If that's convenient?"

"That's fine. Elena asked me to call her Aunt Jenna. Let her know what happened and have her meet her at the hospital. I have her number."

"That would be very helpful, thank you. As soon as the scene is clear enough, you and your friend can go."

Damon nodded and as the Sheriff walked away to liaise with the fireman and paramedics, he pulled out his phone to call Jenna and give her the basics. Car crash, hurt but alive Elena, hospital.

One of the main differences between Britain and America, was that Maya was allowed to practice magic at home. America was split into four different zones, roughly corresponding with the four time zones not including Alaska or Hawaii, which each had a single school, their magical populations being small enough not to support more than that.

Some of the schools were boarding schools like Ilvermony, some of them had a mixture of day students and boarders, like the Academy and the Salem Witches Institute, and some were purely day schools. Some parents, preferred to homeschool their children, and there were several Native American tribes who preferred to teach their magical children themselves. Because of this mixture of different schools and approaches to teaching, the 'Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery' which was law in Britain, would be distinctly unreasonable in America.

It wasn't to say that MACUSA didn't monitor underage magic because they did, they just didn't monitor it the same way that Britain did. The way the law was written, was that students were allowed to practise spells that they had already been taught in classes. As long as they showed a minimum of proficiency in said spell and their teacher had given them permission to practice said spell at home, then it was allowed. MACUSA's Office for the monitoring of underage magic were responsible for ensuring students were following the rules.

If a student was found practicing a spell at home that they didn't have permission for they would receive a written warning, three written warnings and you would be banned from practicing magic at home for six months. They were also the ones responsible for dealing with anything that went wrong when a student was practicing, if they were called to the same student more than three times in a six-month period, then it was a three month ban on practicing at home, and the student had to pass a written and practical test before being given permission to practice once more.

Maya was of the opinion that this was a much better way of doing things than in Britain. Especially since in Britian the way they detected magic meant that it was only ever muggleborn or muggle-raised students who got punished. Since if they detected magic around an underage child in a magical household, they would automatically assume it was performed by the child's parents or an of-age witch or wizard living in the house. Maya had written to Aunt Cissa as soon as she'd understood how the rules and laws for underage magic worked in America and suggested she should try and get something similar implemented in Britain. Aunt Cissa had promised she would as soon as Fudge was out of office and someone who wasn't such a, quote/unquote "complete and unmitigated disaster" was in.

MACUSA's laws also meant that she could practice at home in addition to the four and a half hours of practical lessons she did each week at the academy. Well three hours if you only counted Wixen magic, since there was absolutely no laws against her doing channeler magic whenever she wanted to, except for Damon's rules about a responsible adult being present when she did practice. Unless it was 'Big Magic' then it changed from responsible adult to a responsible adult of the magic-user variety. Enzo was today's responsible adult. Maggie wasn't back from work yet, Damon was in the kitchen helping Dobby with dinner, and Stefan was in his room. Bemoaning having chosen to go back to high school and doing his homework, at least according to Enzo who had joined Maya in the living room.

Himiko had spent today's lesson teaching Maya about switching spells, a variety of spell which fell under the rather broad banner of transfiguration. It was a spell that at its most basic, switched one item for something else. You could use them to switch parts of an object, plant, animal, or person for something else as well, such as switching a snake's fangs for gumdrops. But that was much more advanced magic than what she was currently learning. Himiko had told her to start small, put two items about a foot apart and switch them, once she had the hang of that she could gradually increase the distance and the complexity of the objects and eventually distance and complexity would stop mattering, up to a point at least.

Currently she had two pieces of paper, one pink and one green so she could tell the difference easily set at each end of the sofa. If she was successful, each piece of paper would disappear from it's current location and reappear where the other had previously been.

"Commutatio."

When it came to magic, especially when you were first learning and practicing a spell, intent, visualisation, and focus were the keys to success. As Maya said the spell, her intent was fixed on switching the two pieces of paper, she was visualising the successful result of the spell, and she was focused, at least until someone repeatedly rang the doorbell without stopping.

The first part of the spell worked, both pieces of paper disappeared, then her focus was marred by the discordant jangling of the doorbell and the rest of the spell went awry. Rather than each reappearing where the other would be, they both reappeared in the exact centre of the space between them, screwed up into a ball.

"Ugh"

Enzo's lips quirked into a small smile, the doorbell was still ringing and most of his attention was focused on the hallway and front door that was outside the living room. Whoever it was had better go away soon, she wanted to get this spell down before tomorrow, and she needed to practice without someone holding their finger to the doorbell.

"Dobby says it's Elena, Damons going to see what she wants."

Maya pulled a face making Enzo chuckle. She had been left decidedly underwhelmed by her 'official' introduction to Elena last Thursday. When Maya had complained about her to Damon, Maggie, and Enzo, about how her thoughts had been consumed with Stefan, and Maya's suspicion that maybe it was because the muting spell she had performed was wearing off, they hadn't been convinced. Maggie had pointed out that Stefan was an attractive guy, which had made Maya and both Damon and Enzo roll their eyes, and that Elena was a teenage girl, who would likely be attracted to Stefan with or without a spell binding them together. Maya hadn't been convinced, Caroline was a teenage girl who was attracted to Stefan as well, and her thoughts weren't constantly revolving around him whenever she came over to the house.

Enzo's face went from amused to alarmed in an instant.

"Dobby."

Dobby appeared in the living room as soon as Enzo said his name, and looked enquiringly at the vampire.

"Take Maya's magic books and her wand up to her room please. Damon's bringing Elena in here." He added in response to the curious look Maya sent him, "And ask Stefan to come down, please."

Dobby nodded and accepted the wand Maya held out to him, disappearing along with her books a second later. Just in time as Damon pushed the door open and ushered a clearly frightened Elena into the room. Damon sent a questioning look at Enzo who nodded subtly. Maya attempted to use her legilimency on Elena but all she got was fear, worry, and something about vampires. She slammed her occlumency shields back up before the other girls fear could overwhelm her.

"The vampire Elena hit with her car; it appears he's stalking her."

Damon had told them about the car accident he'd come across on his way home the other night. Well, he'd pretty much told Maya the basics, she knew he'd gone into detail with the others because they were still discussing it on and off. Not so much the car accident, but who the vampire or vampires, as they suspected there was more than one, could be.

"What happened?"

Enzo's question had clearly been aimed at Damon, at least to Maya's mind, but Elena answered it.

"I was walking back to my car, Jenna's car, I'm borrowing it. I'd been at the Grill with Bonnie, and then I went to get some accessories for the outfit I'm wearing to the Decade Dance tomorrow night. I got a phone call, and I didn't recognise who it was from and then they said I'd hit them with my car, and there was this figure, this guy watching me, only I couldn't see his face because he had a hooded sweatshirt on with the hood drawn forward. He started coming towards me and I got in my car and drove straight here."

Stefan came into the room before any of them could say anything in reply to Elena's story.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

Elena shook her head and practically threw herself at Stefan who instinctively wrapped his arms around her in a hug as she shook her head and let out a pathetic sob. Maya scowled and then rolled her eyes when Damon shook his head slightly in warning. She could see the amusement in his eyes, so she knew he wasn't angry, but she stopped scowling and adopted a neutral expression as Stefan guided Elena onto the sofa and sat down next to her.

"Sorry. I'm just scared."

"It's okay Elena, you didn't do anything wrong."

Elena nodded and wiped her eyes, Stefan went to grab the box of tissues off the desk, he hesitated for a moment and picked something else up showing it to Damon, who nodded in agreement.

"Why me? What does he want with me? A-and if he's trying to kill me, then why call first?"

Stefan pressed the box of tissues he'd collected into Elena's hands and grimaced.

"That's because we're predators Elena. We hunt. We stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill. I want you to take this."

Maya saw him hold out the vampire-detecting compass to Elena who took it with a frown.

"This is Jeremy's pocket watch. How did you get it?"

"We took it from Logan Fell, who must have taken it from you."

Elena opened it and stared at the inside with confusion.

"What happened to it?"

"Well, it's not just a watch. It's a sort of compass, but points to vampires."

Elena watched as the needle compass span and landed on Stefan, before spinning again and landing on Damon, then Enzo, then back to Stefan.

"Why did my father have it?"

"Gilberts were one of the founding families, and back in 1864, they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires. The compass was used to find us."

"Did you know them?"

"Yes. I want you to keep this. That way, you'll know if you're ever in danger."

Elena nodded.

"Thank you."

"Logan Fell couldn't tell us anything. Not about who turned him, who killed him, nada. So, we still don't have a clue who is behind all this." Damon said, gaining Elena's attention. "Stefan will escort you home tonight, if the compass starts moving, call one of us immediately. I'll keep looking into the old journals, see if I cant figure out who this might be."

"The old journals?"

"We think." Stefan answered, "That whoever this vampire is, they might also have been around in 1864, and somehow escaped being rounded up with the others. Damon's been going through the old journals we have access to, seeing if they might contain a name, or a clue, or anything."

"Oh."

Stefan smiled and held out his hand.

"Come on, lets get you home before Jenna gets worried."

Damon paced up and down the living room of Elena's house. Stefan was once again comforting Elena on a sofa, different venue, same show, Enzo was sprawled in on of the armchairs, watching it all with an amused smirk.

"How did he get in?"

"He was invited in."

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan explained.

Enzo let out a soft whistle of appreciation and Damon nodded, it was a creative solution, he'd give the guy that.

"Well, he gets points for that. Did he say what he wanted?"

"No. He was too busy trying to kill me."

"Do you have any idea who this is?" Stefan asked.

Damon shook his head.

"None. Dad's journal was a bust. Did you see his face? Recognise him?"

"No. He was gone before I could get a good look at him."

Damon sat on the arm of the couch, contemplating the problem. He'd been invited into the house, which meant until he was dead, all the Gilberts were in danger. Not just Elena but Jenna and Jeremy too.

"Damon. He was invited in."

He nodded. They needed to kill this vampire asap. Enzo straightened up, smirk dropping away and a serious look replacing it.

"We need to kill him." He said.

Damon and Stefan both nodded in agreement, Elena gave him a startled look.

"Then we go get him tonight," Damon peered down at Elena, "You up for it?"

"What do I have to do?"

"Let Stefan take you to the dance. We'll see who shows up."

"That's a bad idea." Stefan warned, thinking of all the people at the dance who could get hurt if things went south.

"Till we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot."

"I'll do it."

Damon took out his phone and sent a text to Agent Blye explaining the situation and what they were planning. Her reply came less than a minute later. Her team would hang back and only move in if absolutely necessary, to prevent Elena, or anyone else for that matter, finding out about them.

"Okay. Let's go."

Damon, Enzo, and Stefan sketched out the plan on the way to the school. Stefan would stick by Elena as much as possible, Damon would be present in the hall as well acting as a 'chaperone' and keeping an eye out. Enzo would be their surprise backup if things went south.

"Ready?" Damon asked as he parked the car.

"Nope." Elena replied cheerfully.

"Elena, we don't have to do this, we can figure something else out." Stefan told her, looking anxious.

She shook her head.

"No. This isn't just about me. Jenna and Jeremy are in danger too. I can do this. Let's go stake a vampire."

"That's the spirit, love." Enzo said with a laugh.

Enzo got out of the car and headed off. Once he was out of sight, Damon, Stefan, and Elena got out of the car and headed inside to the hall. Stefan and Elena went to join Caroline and Bonnie on the dancefloor, Damon himself kept to the edges of the hall keeping an eye out for anyone familiar who might be the vampire they were hunting.

"Yeah, I don't recognize you." Damon shot a curious look at the man who'd just approached him, as he continued talking, introducing himself. "How'd you get roped into chaperoning? Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new history teacher."

Damon took the hand the man held out and shook it.

"Ah, the, uh, cursed faculty position." He replied.

"So, I've been told."

"Damon. Salvatore."

"Salvatore, as in, uh, Stefan?"

"He's my little brother. I'm his legal guardian, hence the chaperoning."

"He's very bright, very knowledgeable about history."

"That's my little brother, smart as a whip."

"So, legal guardian? No parents?"

"Not anymore."

"You, uh – you live here your whole life?"

"On and off. Travel a bit."

"Really? Where? Around the states?" Damon shot him an appraising look, the new teacher was kind of nosy, "Heh. I'm sorry. I'm nosy. I...I don't mean to pry. Look, it was nice meeting you."

"You, too."

"Enjoy the rest of the dance."

Damon watched him leave, wondering what that had all been about. He shrugged it off for now and continued to walk around the edges of the hall, keeping half an eye on Stefan and Elena and the other eye pealed for anyone he recognised.

"Damon!"

He turned in the direction of the call and saw Caroline along with her friend Bonnie, Sheila's granddaughter.

"Hello Caroline, Don't you look fabulous?"

"Why thank you. This is Bonnie, Bonnie Bennett." She gestured to her friend, "Bonnie, this is Damon, Stefan's older brother."

Bonnie held her hand out, Damon accepted it noticing the way her eyes widened slightly and knew she'd sensed something.

"Bennett? You must be Sheila's granddaughter, she's spoken about you, very proud."

"You know grams?"

"Yeah, for a while now, fascinating woman, so many stories to tell."

"Yeah, yeah she is."

"Anyway, we're leaving now. It's not as much fun when you don't have a date to dance the night away with." Caroline said, "It was great seeing you Damon, tell Maya, I'm looking forward to Sunday."

"I will. Stay safe."

The girls left and Damon turned back to the dancefloor, in the time he'd been occupied by Caroline and Bonnie, both his brother and Elena had disappeared. He swore under his breath and took off out of the hall, pulling his phone out and texting Enzo and Stefan. Hopefully Elena would stick to the plan. He'd told her that if she got separated from them and whoever her stalker was made an appearance, she was to head to the cafeteria, where Enzo would be lying in wait to surprise him. Damon headed that way, as soon as no more students were around, he sped up, and burst into the cafeteria, just as Enzo plunged a stake through the vampires stomach.

Elena looked shaken but unharmed. Stefan was standing between her and the vampire, as soon as he saw Damon had arrived and the situation was under control, he turned and offered her comfort.

Damon prowled towards the vampire as Enzo hauled him to his knees.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun."

At Damon's nod Enzo dug the stake in causing the vampire to groan in pain.

"What do you want with Elena?"

"She looks like Katherine."

"What?" Elena gasped.

Damon looked over his shoulder and saw Elena staring at Stefan in shock.

"What's he talking about Stefan?"

So clearly when Stefan had been confessing all, he hadn't actually confessed all. Damon shook his head; well, it was for his little brother to deal with now.

"Stefan, why don't you take Elena somewhere and explain and Enzo and I will deal with this bozo."

Stefan nodded and guided an unresisting Elena out of the cafeteria. Damon turned back to the vampire who despite the pain he was in, seemed quite amused by the situation.

"You know Katherine?"

"Oh. You thought you were the only ones." He laughed, "You don't even remember me."

"Why are you in town?"

"To get in the tomb."

"How are you planning on doing that? The crystal was destroyed."

The vampire shook his head, Damon gave Enzo another nod and he twisted the stake around, drawing a gasp of pain.

"The grimoire."

"What grimoire?"

"Emily's grimoire."

"Where is it?"

Without prompting Enzo drove the stake in deeper, eliciting more groans and gasps from the vampire.

"Check the journal. The journal. Johnathan's Journal. Johnathan Gilbert's."

"Who are you working with?"

"No. You're gonna have to kill me."

Enzo and Damon tried for a little longer to get answers out of him, but he refused to tell them anymore. Damon walked forward, pulled the stake out of his stomach, and drove it through his heart. At the sound of a door opening, Enzo and Damon turned around and saw someone through the windows on the doors.

"Go. I got this." Enzo said.

Damon nodded and headed off, seeing the nosy teacher from earlier he vamp sped in front of him causing him to stop abruptly.

"Uhh…Hey."

Damon caught the guys gaze with his own and used his compulsion so he would get truthful answers.

"What were you doing?"

"Looking for Ms. Hilden"

"Why are you in Mystic Falls?"

"I got a job as a teacher."

"Do you know what I am?"

"You're my students brother."

"Is everything you're telling me the truth?"

"Yes."

"Then forget we had this conversation."

With the teacher dealt with Damon headed outside to meet Enzo, they had a body to deal with and a grimoire to discuss. They were definitely in for a long night.