“Arianna, it’s been too long.” Fredrick smirks taking a few steps towards me. I back away and look around for any weapon. 

“You’re dead. This is just a dream.” I shake my head, trying to wake up. I think about bolting upright in my bed but it doesn’t work. I’m stuck in this nightmare. “You can’t hurt me, this is just a dream.” I repeat hoping to convince myself. 

“Oh, I think I can darling.” he laughs speeding in front of me and grabbing my hair, pulling my head back. “Just like old times.” he snarls before sinking his teeth into my neck. I scream and shut my eyes, begging myself to wake up. Why can’t I wake up?! 

Once he’s done with me, he throws me down to the ground. He wipes the blood off his face and gives me a bloody grin. “I hear you’re dating Damon Salvatore? How is that? Has he cheated yet?” 

“Just get out of my dreams! It’s been months! I just want to forget!” I scream standing up done with being thrown around. I feel something underneath my jacket and pull out a wooden stake. I look at it for a second before looking back to Fredrick.  “Pay back.” I smirk before taking a few steps forward stabbing the stake into his heart. 

I watch in satisfaction as he falls to his knees and turns grey and veiny. I pull the stake out and stab it back into him again. I scream louder in fury and keep staking him, over and over again. I want him to feel the pain I felt. 

Finally I let his body fall to the ground and I look down at him, panting hard. I scream in horror when his dead body transforms to Caroline’s. “Care?!” I sob. “Oh God.” I whisper but suddenly she opens her eyes. What the…? 

She sits up, still grey and veiny, looking over at me with red eyes. “This is your fault Aria. Katherine killed me because I knew you, it’s your fault! I hate you!” she growls standing up with the stake in her hand. 

“No, Caroline!” I scream just before she stabs the stake down into my heart. I gasp in pain and look down at the stake protruding from my heart. I fall to my knees, pulling it out and throwing it to the ground. When I look back up, instead of Caroline, I see Damon.  “Damon, help me.” I beg, looking up at him. 

“Why? Because I love you?” he laughs coldly, leaning down to eye level with me. “Why would I ever love you when I have Katherine? I don’t need you Ari, I never will.” he smirks before ripping my heart out. 

Both metaphorically and literally. 

I bolt up in bed, sweating or crying, I’m not sure if it’s sweat running down my face or tears. I look around my room making sure nothing is there, it’s not like that was real though. It just felt so real…especially what Damon said. I feel like that’s so possible. He will just dump me for Katherine one day. I mean you can’t even really compare Katherine and I. Katherine is a 500 year old, badass vampire while I’m just a 16 year old, snarky teenager. How long will Damon put up with me. 

I jump like 10 feet in the air when I hear something starting to buzz on my nightstand. I calm down when I see it’s just my phone ringing. I wince as I see Damon’s caller ID come up. I look over at the clock and see it’s already 10:30am. I take a deep breath and answer the phone. 

“Finally, I’ve been calling you forever.” Damon groans. 

“Sorry, I was uh…sleeping.” I say nervously not wanting to think about that terrible nightmare. 

“What’s wrong? Don’t try to act like nothing is, I can tell by your voice. Did the nightmares come back?” Damon questions worried. Ugh, why does he know me so well?

I smile a little at how cute that is. “Yeah but I’m old enough to handle some nightmares. What are you calling about anyway?” I ask changing the subject. 

“Come to my house we’re having a little meeting about what your boy Tyler Lockwood is.” Damon grumbles into the phone sounding jealous. Doesn’t he know by now, I feel nothing for Tyler.

“Who’s we?” I frown. 

“You, me, Stefan, Elena, and Alaric.” Damon answers. 

“Elena? I don’t think I should come, she’s pissed at me.” I sigh. 

“Yeah, well screw her then. See yeah in an hour.” Damon says before I hear the line go dead. I roll my eyes and toss the phone down on my bed. I guess I don’t really have a choice about facing Elena. She is my God damn sister after all. 

————————————————

“Thanks for coming Ric, may I get you something to drink? Coffee, bourbon? Bourbon and coffee?” Damon smirks leading Ric into the living room. Elena and Stefan are sitting together on one couch while Damon, Ric, and I sit on another. Elena hasn’t said one word to me today. She’s barely even looked at me. 

“No thanks…Elena mentioned you needed my help.” Ric states coming to sit down next to me. 

“Yeah, we were hoping you could help shed some light… on the Lockwood family.” Stefan explains. 

“Now, why would I know anything about the Lockwood’s?” Ric asks, narrowing his eyes. 

“Well, of course you wouldn’t. But your dead, not really dead, vampire wife might.” I smirk looking over at Ric. 

“Isobel’s research, from when you guys were at Duke together.” Elena tells him sending a glare my way. Seriously? Was a glare needed Elena? 

“You said that she has spent years researching this town.” Stefan explains filling in the blanks. 

“Isobel’s research here in Mystic Falls was rooted in folklore and legend. At the time I thought most of which was fiction.” Ric sighs. 

“Like that amazing vampire story.” Damon smirks while Ric just rolls his eyes. 

“Aside from vampires, what else was there?” I ask. 

Ric pauses a moment, hesitating. “The Lycanthrope.”

“Wait, like werewolves? Like Jacob from Twilight?” I question amused, werewolves can’t be real. But then again, there’s vampires and witches. 

“No way, impossible.” Damon frowns, leaning up in his seat. 

“Is it?” Stefan asks looking over at his brother. 

“I’ve been on this planet 160 some odd years and never come across one. If werewolves exist, were the hell are they?” Damon looks over at Ric, challenging him. 

“Well, why do you suspect the Lockwood’s?” Alaric questions, trying to convince Damon. 

“Because vervain didn’t affect the Mayor on Founders Day but the Gilbert device did. And it affected his son Tyler.” Damon explains to Ric. If Tyler is a werewolf, why didn’t he tell me before? Actually, how could I have not noticed…

“And at the school carnival, his Uncle Mason, exhibited inhuman behavior when he followed one of the carnival workers. That suggest that he’s some sort of supernatural.” Stefan adds to Damon’s explanation. 

“We were hoping that Isobel’s research could figure out what they are.” Elena states. 

“Well, all of her things are still at Duke. I mean her office is still there, she’s technically still missing.” Ric casts a look at Damon but Damon ignores it completely. 

“So can we get access to it?” Damon questions wanting to hurry up this conversation. Alaric doesn’t answer but by the look on his face it’s a no. “Ric we need to know what were dealing with. If what you said is true, I’ve seen enough movies to know it’s not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real life werewolf and that Tyler punk may just be werewolf jr. Which means I am totally screwed.” Damon glares at Ric causing me to frown. What did Damon do to make him totally screwed? He probably tried to kill them or something stupid like that. Typical Damon stuff.

————————————————-

I throw my stuff in the bag and shoot a glare at Damon. “Why does Elena need to come with us? Can’t it just be me, you, and Ric?” 

Damon shrugs, “I don’t think she trusts us on a road trip together.” 

“We’ve been on road trips together before.” I point out, zipping up my bag and plopping down on my bed. 

“But we weren’t together on those other ones.” Damon smirks, coming to sit down next to me. 

“Errrrr, she’s going to ruin my trip.” I whine, laying my head down on his shoulder. 

“It’s not supposed to be a fun trip Ari, we’re going to Duke to do some research. I know your curious about Katherine and your lineage.” Damon shrugs causing my head to bounce up. I stand up and glare at him. 

“I do want to find out, just not with Elena. She’s super pissed at me right now.” I argue. 

“Well, you’ll have me there to protect you from her judgement rays.” Damon teases, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. 

I laugh, “Judgement rays? That’s the best you could come up with?” Damon gives me a fake hurt look before heading out my door. I roll my eyes and grab my bag, following him down the stairs. We have to wait in the car while Elena and Stefan say there goodbyes. Stefan can’t come because he needs to take care of Caroline. I’m really thankful he’s doing it though. 

Alaric is trying to sort things out with Jenna so I’ll give him some time for that. I really ship Jenna and Alaric together. Jenna needs a guy like him. 

I walk out onto the porch and smirk when I see the front seat still open. Hell, even the driver side is free. Damon is leaning against the car in a very sexy way. Oh, listen to yourself Aria. 

“Oooo, can I drive?” I ask, batting my lashes at Damon. He rolls his eyes and wraps his hand around my waist, pulling me towards him. 

“You may be my incredibly sexy girlfriend but I don’t trust your driving skills.” Damon teases causing me to glare at him. 

“I liked the start of that sentence but the second you said don’t trust, I got pissed.” I smile coldly while giving him my best glare. Damon smirks and kisses me on the lips quickly. 

“I know you love me, it’s hard not too.” he whispers in my ear. I roll my eyes and shove him back. I was about to reply but stopped when I saw Stefan, Elena, and Alaric walk out. Elena’s evil glare is being shared by both Damon and I. Wonderful, she’s still pissed. 

“Sorry you can’t come too, Stef.” Damon teases, earning a more fierce glare from Elena. I’m surprised Damon is not on fire right now with the way Elena is glaring at him. Alaric probably doesn’t want to be in any of this drama, so he just heads to the drivers side. Damon will let him drive but not me! Wow…

“Call me if you need anything.” Stefan tells Elena, smiling gently at her. 

“Oh we’ll take real good care of her Stefan.” Damon smirks, trying to bait them. Elena glares at Damon before turning to Stefan, then making out. Very passionately I might add. 

“Two can play at that game Lena.” I whisper before pulling Damon towards me. We melt into each other’s kiss and Damon pushes me against the car. I smile against his lips and wrap my arms around his neck. I wrap my legs around him and he holds my thighs, still keeping me pushed up against the car. We hear someone clear there throat but that doesn’t stop us, it falls on deaf ears. 

After another really loud cough, Damon and I finally pull away breathless. We both smirk at each other before he releases me and I jump to the ground. I look over at Stefan and Elena who look seriously pissed. 

“Don’t play a game Lena, if you can’t win.” I smirk before hoping in the backseat. If Elena wants to play like that, well, game on. 

——————————————-

“How are you two doing back there?” Damon questions, looking back at Elena and I through the mirror. 

“Not great, I’m going to burn up if Elena keeps shooting glares my way.” I snap, glaring at her. 

Damon sighs, “You know this whole pretending to hate Aria thing, it’s getting a little silly. I mean I know you already hated me but lay off Aria.”

“I don’t think she’s pretending, you two practically had sex out there just now. The guy she hates is dating her sister.” Alaric points out. 

“Oh come on Elena! I hated Stefan for a while but you kept dating him!” I seethe. 

“Stefan is not a monster!” she yells back causing me to get even more pissed. 

“I’m so hurt.” Damon mumbles sarcastically from the front. 

“Sure, he isn’t. He is just a ripper that can’t control his cravings, who killed hundreds of people. Actually, he killed a whole damn town! At least my boyfriend doesn’t want to eat me when we make out!” I growl and earn a shocked looked from Elena. This is a stupid thing to fight over but Elena is just so difficult. 

“He can control it perfectly fine Aria and all that stuff was in the past. How many people has Damon killed since he got to Mystic Falls?” Elena questions, shooting a glare at Damon. 

“Go to Hell Elena.” I smirk before turning around and looking out the window. Elena has a point but I’m never going to admit that of course. I love Damon and I don’t think anything could ever change that. I don’t get why she just can’t accept our relationship?

——————————————-

“So, Isobel was officially employed by the Anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenons are rooted in folklore.” Alaric explains as we walk into, what I’m guessing was Isobel’s old office or study room. “Excuse me, hi, I’m Alaric Saltzmen. I called earlier.” he says to the young women when we enter the room. 

She looks up from the filling cabinet, startled. “Yes, of course, I’m Vanessa Monroe. Research assistant…I’m sorry let me grab Isobel’s keys.” she smiles nervously, her eyes flickering at all of us.

“I’m sorry these are my friends Elena, Aria, and Damon. I hope this isn’t too much of an intrusion.” Alaric says apologetically and smiles, hoping to persuade her with his charm that he should be saving for Jenna.

“Please, Isobel’s office is right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors, I’m a grad student, she was brilliant. It was one of the reasons I went into folklore. I have to ask….has there been any news?” she looks down at the ground then back up to Ric. 

“No, I’m afraid not.” Ric says quickly, almost too quickly. 

Vanessa nods a little, “It’s this way.” she smiles, heading over to a room. We follow her into the room, and I can’t help but feel weird. Almost like I’m intruding, this place is from when Isobel was human. When she had feelings. 

“I’ll grab the light, feel free to look around. Fascinating, isn’t it?” Vanessa smiles before walking off. Damon mumbles what sounds like an uh huh, and picks up some tea pot. Elena and I head towards a bookshelf in the hallway. 

“Where’d she go?” I hear Damon ask before I hear footsteps behind me. Elena and I spin around to see Vanessa pointing a crossbow at Elena. Elena gasps and without even thinking, I jump in front of Elena. I hear her release the arrow and close my eyes, waiting to feel the arrow pierce my skin. I hear a whoosh and open my eyes to see Damon standing in front of me, having taken the arrow in his back. 

“Damon.” I say nervously as he winces in pain and falls to the ground. I see Alaric pin Vanessa to the wall but I could care less about it right now. I lean down next to Damon, worried. He groans and I look up at Vanessa with hatred. 

That bitch tried to kill me and ended up shooting Damon. She is so dead.

—————————————

“Pull it out, I can’t reach it Aria.” Damon sighs, I wince and prepare myself to pull it out. It’s just weird, you know? “Pull the damn thing out Ari, it hurts.” Damon says more forcefully causing me to pull the arrow from his back. He makes some weird noise and straightens his back. 

“That bitch is dead.” Damon says, turning around towards the door. 

“Your not going to kill her.” Elena glares at him coming into the room. 

“Watch me.” Damon smirks, pushing past her. Elena looks over at me to stop him but I just shrug. I think she deserves it. 

“You let him do this Aria and I swear, I will never speak to you again.” Elena tells me, overreacting. Why is she being like this? We’ve known this girl for 10 minutes and she’s already tried to kill us. 

“What makes you think that has any power of me? Because I almost took an arrow for you? Because I’m your twin? Elena, not everyone bows down at your feet.” I glare, taking a step towards her. 

“Your really going to let him kill an innocent girl? What have you become Aria? What has he made you into?” Elena questions, shaking her head. 

“Innocent girl?” I laugh, “She tried to kill you Elena, with a crossbow. If that’s your definition of innocent…” I choose to ignore her other questions because truth to be told, I don’t know what he’s turned me into. 

“Please Aria, I’m asking you not to let him do this. Aria, when did it become okay with you to let Damon kill people? Innocent or not.” Elena looks into my eyes, trying to get me to break. It takes a lot more than Elena disappointed in me to break me. I look at her for a few moments before rolling my eyes and following Damon to where Ric and Vanessa are. 

When we walk in the room, I see Vanessa’s eyes widen in fright. “I’m Arianna Gilbert, and that’s my sister Elena Gilbert. We’re Isobel’s daughters, descendants of Katherine Pierce. We’re not her dumb-ass. And this is Damon Salvatore, who you just shot.” I glare at her, smiling coldly. I don’t need to convince Damon not to kill her, he won’t. He’s not that murderous. 

“I’d be extra nice to me right now.” Damon smirks, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I’m pretty sure I see Elena physically cringe. 

“Look we need your help, we need to see all of Isobel’s research. Anything related to Mystic Falls.” Elena commands, trying to be the good cop. 

Vanessa looks between all of us before her eyes settle on Damon. “If I help you guys, you won’t kill me right?” 

“I won’t let him.” Elena smiles, sending a sharp glance at Damon. I roll my eyes, can’t they see? Damon is not going to kill her, if he was, she would be dead by now. 

“Alright then, you guys can go check out Isobel’s office. I’ll see if I can find anything specific for you.” Vanessa says, getting up and heading towards her office again. I follow her but a little more cautious this time. Who knows what she’s going to lead us into. 

We walk into the room and Vanessa goes strait to a shelf, picking a big box up. “This box, tracks Katherine’s arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864.” Vanessa explains as she walks over to Elena and I. 

I raise my eyebrows at how empty the box is, “Wow, Katherine really was a ghost.” 

“Is this all there is about her?” Elena questions, disappointed. 

“Well that I’m aware of.” Vanessa sighs and I can tell she wants to find out more. Why does she care so much? Out of curiosity? How lame. 

Elena picks up a few vervain leaves/plant things… I’m not good at science okay? “Here, take this.” Elena smiles, always trying to be nice. 

Vanessa looks at it for a moment before smiling back, “Does vervain really work?”

“Nope! Not at all!” Damon yells from the other room while Elena just nods her head. 

“Can he hear us?” Vanessa asks, leaning towards Elena like that will help or something. 

“No, that would be creepy.” Damon whispers but loud enough for us to hear. I smile a little and shake my head, it is kind of creepy but more so annoying. 

“Can he read minds too?” Vanessa sighs. 

“If you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask.” Damon smirks turning around and winking at me. I glare back at him but can’t help but laugh a little. 

Elena also glares at him, not amused at all. “No. That he can’t do.” then she turns back to Vanessa, smiling a little. “But he is very capable at being a fist rate jackass.” Vanessa laughs a little but I look at my sister shocked. She never swears,