There you go guys the next chapter! So here we find out if there is the cure! WOOOP! Thank you for reading, it means so much and here we go!

There's a point in every story, where the majority of the story has built up to a particular moment and you know as reader that this can either be amazing for the characters or something can go horribly wrong, changing everything. It's kind of what I felt like on that first day in Italy. All of this, all of my hopes and dreams for my future with Elena had led up to whether all of this could be true or not. It's nerve wracking, it's terrifying but at the end of the day you just have to know whether this is going to be amazing, whether it's the truth. Even if everything goes wrong, like it does the majority of the time, you still have to take the risk to find out.

We had been driving for what felt like a century when in reality it had only been a few hours, Stefan and Alaric's constant bickering over which directions to take was definitely making this little trip seem longer than it needed to be. We had rented a car that I had insisted on driving considering they couldn't even decide on who should drive so naturally, I just pushed them into the nearest car I could find and paid the guy. Now, they were still arguing about which turn I had to take next. All I felt like doing was driving the car into the nearest post just to shut them up.

"It's this one!" Stefan argued, glancing at the map. I thought arguing about direction was something much too childish for him to be taking part of but clearly I was wrong.

"The GPS clearly says it's the one after." Alaric pointed out and I glanced towards it. He was right.

"Look, I told you guys I'm following the GPS." I nodded towards them. "Now can you please shut up?"

They both fell silent and I heard Stefan sigh as he tossed the map in the backseat. Honestly, the most stressful part of this trip was supposed to be meeting this used-to-be-vampire – probably should learn his name before I enter his house- and finding out how he managed to transform himself back into a human being but the most stressful part was dealing with my little brother and my so called best friend. My fingers started tapping against the steering wheel as I turned the music up, drowning out everything else other than the sun that was beating in through the windows and the music.

"5 minutes away." Alaric informed me as his hand reached out to turn the music dial down. So much for peace.

"Okay." I nodded briefly. This is it. "So which one you two lovely idiots called this guy and told him we were coming?"

Silence.

"I thought you were doing it." Alaric shrugged and looked back down at the GPS, his sandy hair falling over his forehead.

"Me?" I asked in disbelief. "I thought you guys were organising this trip. 'Don't worry, Damon. We got it all sorted, Damon.' Clearly not."

"We'll just have to knock." Stefan said, pointing out the obvious.

"I guess we will."

A few minutes later and a lot more arguing, we were finally outside a little cottage in the middle of nowhere. The cottage was small surrounded by acres and acres of land. There was a small vines twisting and turning on the house and up and around the white window panes. A stone wall surrounded the land and the house, probably protecting it from trespassers like us who just showed up announced when they wanted something. Shutting the car door shut, I turned my phone off and placed it back in my pocket. I couldn't afford any interruptions when I was talking to this man. I had to convince him to help me.

Finally quiet, Alaric and Stefan followed behind me as I walked up the gravel path that reminded me of something out of a fairy tale story. I let out a breath when I came to the front door that resembled more of a large glass window rather than an actual door. This was it. Inside this cottage was the answer to the question I had been asking myself for days and days. The next time I would be walking through this door my fate would be sealed; I would either be extremely happy or very angry. And with that oddly comforting thought I knocked on the door.

A few seconds passed before I heard any movement inside but then I heard a groan and the sound of footsteps as the man who would undoubtedly change my life made his way to the door. A sight of man who could only be about ten years older than me stood behind the glass, his blond hair a mess and his dark eyes glancing from me, to Stefan, to Alaric and then back at me.

"Uh, we're here about the cure." Stefan coughed, raising his eyebrows.

"Subtle." Alaric muttered under his breath causing Stefan to roll his eyes at him. Oh God, not this again.

The man behind the door seemed to stare at his for a few more moments before holding his hand out to turn the door handle, to let us in to his home. I could feel myself relax. I was one step closer.

"Vampires." He glanced at me and Stefan. His voice was soft and should have belonged to much older man than what he appeared to be. "And, a vampire hunter."

"How?" Alaric whispered.

"I've been around a very long time." He nodded, opening the door for us to step inside. "I know who people are. You're all the same even as a human I can notice it. Come on in."

We shuffled in behind him, me first then Stefan and Alaric, who shut the door behind him. We followed the carpet into the living area which was covered with various different patterns and I raised my eyebrows at Stefan. There were old vases on the fire places, on the tables, on the carpets and pictures of a woman and this man plastered all around the room. Some of them were taken of them kissing which I could only assume was this man's partner but the photos were taken around the 1940s judging from their outfits. He gestured with his arm for us to sit down on the green leather sofa. Me and the man, who I really had to find out the name of, sat in the arm chairs that were opposite each other and Stefan and Alaric were forced to cosy up on the sofa. The sight of their embarrassed faces would have made me laugh in any other circumstances but I just couldn't bring myself to do anything. I hadn't been this nervous in my life.

"So you want to know about the cure for vampirism?" He tilted his head, looking between Stefan and I. "I'm guessing it's for you. You have that tortured look about you," His dark eyes landed on Stefan before switching back to me. "But then again, you have that look in your eyes that show that's not the real you. There's a front you put up isn't it?"
"Look is this a therapy session or we are actually going to talk about this cure?" I leaned forward in my seat and stared at the man in front of me. I had no idea of what to make of him. My eyes flared as he broke out into a smirk. "If there's even a cure."

"Oh, there's a cure." He smiled again, holding his hands in front of him as if he was weighing his options. "You want it then?"

"Ding ding!" I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my seat. "We have a winner."

"He's grumpy." Stefan said. "We just want to know how you cure vampirism and then we will be on our way. So can you help us?"
"I can help you." He sighed, dropping his hands and placing them on his lap. "When I began my search for the cure it was only heard in stories and many vampires humiliated me for trying to find a way to become human again. Why would I want to be a feeble human when I was one of the most powerful creatures on earth? I hated who I was. I was consumed by blood lust and I was murdering people just so I could survive. Power had never influenced me like it had done with other men. I didn't want to be a vampire. The vampire that had turned me had left me to rot in some alley way in England during the 1500s.

"I only started to hear rumours over the cure during the end of the 1800s so you could imagine I latched on to the idea of there being one after desperately praying and searching for one. A witch, Mary-Anne, told me where I could find the ingredients for a spell that could give me what I wanted but that they were would be hard to find. It took years for me to track down a black rose, a powerful supernatural item, that is the ultimate ingredient to the spell. Eventually, I found it in some other dimension that Mary-Anne sent me to after I was unable to find it in this dimension.

"I don't remember much of the dimension other than everything was dark and at first, I thought it was a trick. Mary-Anne was a witch after all and they're not the friendliest to vampires as we do tend to use them for own personal gain. However, I still searched for this rose. I had to. I didn't want to be this monster anymore so I continued to look on. I continued my search for the infamous black rose because I had no other option and then I found it. She allowed me three hours to find it before she would start the spell back up and bring me back. I only had to wait for a few minutes before I was thrown back in this world with the rose in my hand.

By this time it was around 1930, almost 40 years had passed since I had begun my search. Mary-Anne was getting much older now as she had only been young woman when I had found her. She was getting sick from all the magic, all of her power, she was using on me. I refused to be the result of another woman's death especially after she had helped me so much. So, I stopped the process and she gave me a list of the other things I would need for the spell, herbs mostly, and I left her behind. I only saw her once again before she died.

I travelled around the US for ten years and eventually settled in New York during the 40's. It was then that I met the most amazing girl, Elisa, and soon after spending time with her I fell in love with her. She was starting to age and I knew there was a way for me to age with her. Of course she knew what I was but she was terrified of what the spell would do to me and she said to me that she would rather me stay as vampire. Elisa was scared that if I become human that she would lose me and she couldn't bear to lose anyone else. She had lost many family members to death and she was alone in this world. We stayed together for a few years until I let her go. She wanted a family. She deserved to have the life that she wanted and if I stayed with her she couldn't. So I let her go." He coughed a little, his eyes glazing over as if he was lost somewhere else in time. I looked away from him because there was no doubt that he was thinking of his time with her. "She married, had children and grandchildren. She retired and moved to this little cottage, something that she left to me in her will. She left me a letter when she had died saying how she wished she hadn't be so scared for me to become human. Sometimes she found herself wishing that it was me she had spent her life with but of course, it hadn't worked out that way. The only reason that I hadn't turned back into a human when she had been alive because I could switch off the part of me that cared. It was only recently that I did turn back to a human. I had made my peace with what happened and my regrets."

He rose from his chair and slowly walked to the cupboard next to him. He unlocked it with a key that he kept his back pocket before opening the doors, a wave of dust crashing into the room. I could feel Stefan and Alaric's gaze on me but I didn't take my eyes off the man in front of me. He seemed to tell us far less of his life than the actual reality. I could tell from the way he walked around the room and the distant look in his eyes, it was a look that I mirrored. His hands reached into the cupboard and pulled out a black box before standing up with it, he blew onto the lid and swirls of dust poured down to the floor.

"Here are the ingredients for the spell." He walked over to me and I held out my hands completely unaware of what I was doing. "It's complicated but in this box is all that Mary-Anne wrote down for me. There are petals from the rose and the herbs needed along with the incantation. The only thing you need to provide is your blood, something very valuable to your heart and if it's a person you need their blood too, and then you will be human. Also, make sure that your reason for being human is good. You need to have good intentions."

"Why?" I breathed, glancing down at the box. This was all I needed for me to have the life Elena and I wanted. It was all I need right here in this box and he was just giving it to me. "I don't even know you're name."

"Because you remind me of me." He simply stated with a smile. "You don't like what you've become either and neither does he." He gestured over to Stefan. "It's clear in your eyes. Something is holding you back but something is pushing you to want this. It's Nathaniel by the way, my name."
"Damon." I told him and then pointed towards the others. "Stefan, my brother and Alaric, my friend."

"Pleasure to meet you." He waved towards us. "Now, go and do what you want to do. Don't wait like I did."

"I can't thank you enough." I told him and I meant every single word. He gave me the one thing that I thought I could never get again; a bright future.

After exchanging numbers and saying 'thank you' over a million times, we finally left the small little cottage behind and went back to the car. The leather seats scorched us when we sat down and I immediately unrolled the windows down. Stefan had the box in the back with him and was checking everything was inside it, going by the list that was already in there. I smiled, for the first time in my life everything seemed to be falling into place.

"So, does anyone else feel like celebrating?" I raised my eyebrows, smirking.

"Let's go." Alaric grinned, catching my eye.

"Let's go."

Okay, sorry it was a little short but it's just what I wanted for this chapter. Did you like it? Love it? Please review to let me know what you thought & thank you again for taking time out to read.

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Love,

Lauren xXx