Not About You

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ric nodded slightly. "The lycanthrope."

"Like werewolves?" Caroline sounded slightly stunned.

"I told you," Lucy said, drawing out the middle word.

"No. Absolutely not," Damon denied. "Way too Lon Chaney."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You are literally the personification of Nosferatu."

Damon frowned and nudged her side. "At least give me Bela Lugosi."

"But she's right, Damon. How do you know they don't exist?" Stefan asked.

"I've been on this planet for over 160 years and have never seen one. If they're real, where are they?"

Lucy smirked. "Living in the Lockwood mansion apparently."

"We were hoping Isobel's research might give us some answers as to what we're actually dealing with," Stefan told Ric.

He shrugged and sighed. "All of her research is still in her office at Duke since she's technically still a missing person."

Lucy found it odd that they hadn't cleaned out the woman's office but didn't find it worth mentioning. "Who's up for a road trip?"

***

In the end it was decided that Stefan and Caroline would remain behind while the rest of them went to Duke. Ric parked in front of the anthropology building and they were met by a grad student when they walked in.

"Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier."

"Oh, yes. Vanessa Monroe. Research assistant." Her gaze ran over the three of them, lingering on Damon. "Let me get Isobel's keys."

Her and Alaric exchanged some more conversation about Isobel that Lucy didn't really pay attention to until Vanessa finally unlocked Isobel's office. They walked into a large room and again Lucy was surprised that the area wasn't being used for something else by now. She wondered if Isobel had compelled them to keep her office open.

"Look around. I'll get the light," Vanessa said before leaving.

Damon and Lucy were looking through the papers and books on one of the shelves when Damon spoke up. "Where did she go?"

Lucy glanced toward the door to see the other woman walk in with a crossbow in hand. She shoved Damon to the side just in time for an arrow to embed itself in one of the books between them. After a stunned beat, Ric pushed Vanessa up against the wall with the crossbow shoved against her chest so she couldn't use it again.

Damon's jaw was tight as he yanked the arrow out of the book and looked it over before tossing it to the floor. Lucy drew the gun from the back holster she'd donned before they left the house. She pointed it at the now panicking woman. "See, I can shoot people, too."

Ric sighed. "Really, Lucy? I'm trying to calm her down."

"Calm her down? No one shot at her."

Damon's lips twitched as he pushed the gun down by the barrel. "Easy, kitten. Let's find out why she tried to kill me first, yeah?"

She huffed and put the gun away. "Talk," she said as she glared at Vanessa.

Ric backed off, taking the crossbow with him.

"I freaked, okay? Damon Salvatore died in 1864. I've read Isobel's research. I've seen pictures. You're supposed to be dead." She pointed at Damon.

"If you've read her research then you know exactly how it's possible," Ric said with a weak smile. "Surprise."

Once Vanessa's shock had worn off, she got to work helping them dig through the piles of research. Lucy flipped through some of the papers while the others gathered everything Isobel had on Mystic Falls. She paused when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to find a message from Caroline.

Stefan wants me to kill bunnies ☹

A laugh burst from her and she handed the phone to Damon. He grinned and replied to the message. She glanced at the reply when he handed her phone back.

Tell him you're a vegetarian so you need to hunt humans instead

Lucy rolled her eyes and slipped her phone back into her pocket. "You can work on that with her when we get home."

"Just because she's your bestie."

"I can't find anything directly about werewolves in Mystic Falls, but I found this." Vanessa handed the journal she was looking at to Lucy.

The Curse of the Sun and the Moon. Lucy shrugged. "I already know about this but we'll take it with us."

Damon moved to stand behind her, glancing over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. "Know about what, sweetheart?"

"It's a curse that limits werewolves to the full moon and vampires to the night. It was placed by an ancient shaman because the supernatural creatures were terrorizing the humans. Elijah told me about it." Lucy frowned as she tried to remember all the details but they honestly hadn't talked about it that much.

"If werewolves were so prevalent, why haven't I met one?" Damon asked.

"Big war. Vampires hunted them almost to extinction," Lucy explained and Vanessa nodded. There must have been something in Isobel's files about it.

"Why?" Ric asked.

"Because werewolf bites are fatal to vampires." Lucy kept her eyes on her boyfriend as she spoke.

He stared at her for a long moment. "Oh."

"Believe me yet, zanzara?" Lucy asked.

He frowned, his brow furrowing with the gesture. "Did you just call me mosquito in Italian?"

Lucy simply grinned.