Author's note: I've italicized the name of the character when I change POV. I've actually finished the entire story, but I'm posting chapters as I finish editing them. Expect somewhere around 10 chapters posted over five days or so. (That might change depending on the number of reviews I get….lol)
Chapter One:
Elena:
Elena toyed with the necklace as she brushed her hair, deciding if she wanted to wear it or carry it with her. Her fingers caressed it. It represented some of the best moments in her life. A love that she'd thought she would have forever. The necklace was a symbol of the bond she felt with Stephan.
She still loved him. Even though he'd done horrible things to her…she still loved him. The problem was that she loved someone else, and if she let it, Damon's love was going to consume her completely. She didn't know if she was ready for that…but she did know that she couldn't allow the sweet puppy love she felt for Stephan stop her. Using Stephan's love to avoid exploring this thing with Damon was selfish.
She wasn't sure what she needed to do about Damon…but she knew it was time to let Stephan go. She put the necklace on. She'd give it back to him once she finished ripping his heart out. She closed her eyes. Stephan deserved the truth. And so did Damon. But it was going to be hard…really hard…to let him go…to hurt him.
But Damon made her heart sing. Nothing else was really important compared to that. There was no such thing as 'could have' or 'what if'. She was here, in this moment, and she needed to tell Stephan the truth. She picked up the phone to dial when she heard a low noise. She looked around. Funny, it kind of sounded like….chanting. A moment later, the world went dark.
Elena:
She woke up in the dark, her head pounding, stomach tied in knots, the taste of blood in her mouth. A sweet voice was in her ear. "Lay back, don't try to move." She followed the advice. Her head was spinning terribly. Another voice, one that was more familiar, sent a chill of dread up her spine as the light in the room increased.
"She looks exactly like me Emily."
Emily Bennett sighed softly. "She's another doppelganger Katherine, like you. She must be your however many times great-granddaughter."
Katherine hissed. "Klaus will…"
Emily smoothed her hand across Elena's forehead. "Klaus is still half a world away with no reason to think there is a living doppelganger. He's in Rome at the Vatican library at the moment." Elena heard Katherine let out a deep breath.
Elena decided to chance opening her eyes. Hopefully, if she threw up she'd hit Katherine instead of Emily.
Katherine's eyes were bright with curiosity, and looked friendly enough, though Elena knew the Katherine's face held few if any clues to understanding her. The things she had done to Damon and Stephan were bad enough…what she'd done to the rest of her vampire 'family' during the 1860s was much worse.
Emily touched the necklace. "I'm so sorry…I used a spell…" Her eyes met Elena's and she nodded. "And it brought me back to 1864?" She tried to sit up and found out she could. The women seemed a bit surprised. "I'm friends with your descendant, Bonnie." A look of pleasant surprise flashed across Emily's features.
Katherine looked poised to ask all kinds of questions about the future, but Emily stilled her. "Knowing the future can change it. This is dangerous."
Katherine shrugged. "All I want to know is if this attempt to nullify Klaus is going to work."
Elena ran a finger along her necklace. "I've met Klaus. He killed me." Katherine raised one perfect eyebrow. "That's rather unexpected…you seem to be alive and walking about."
Elena tried to answer but she choked a bit. Emily raised a glass to her lips. Elena took a drink. "It's complicated."
Emily nodded. "Isn't everything? Katherine, I can send her back, but it's going to take time and energy." Katherine sighed. "And you have little of either to spare what with watching Klaus' every move, and working on…the other spell we discussed." Emily nodded. Katherine turned. "In the meantime, we'll need to do something with my look-a-like." She appraised Elena for a moment and a mischievous look came over her face. "She'll be safer with us, we can't leave her in a shed with all these vampires and werewolves running about…so I suppose I just acquired a twin sister." Elena noticed her mouth hanging open and shut it quickly. "I'm staying with a local family, the Salvatores."