Written 2012 by VeGirl
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I want to say thanks to ImRamdom04 as well. Hope you'll enjoy!
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It was late afternoon, almost dinnertime, when we got back to the boarding-house. We stopped on the way and picked up some Thai-food. Stefan and Elena met us in the parlour and we went to the kitchen to sit down by the big table where we ate the dinner.
"Any news about Klaus?" Damon asked, not knowing how we should break the news.
"No, haven't heard anything," Stefan said. "But he's not really the kind of person that calls ahead..."
"So, where have you two been..." Elena asked.
"We've been cuddled up at Emma's hotel." Damon was quick to answer and glanced a look in my direction. I smiled secretively at him and chewed lightly on my lower lip.
We were almost finished with dinner when Damon and I started to twist and turn, not knowing where to start telling them. He nodded at me and I shook my head and nodded back at him.
"Okay, what's going on?" Stefan said, looking at us both.
Damon didn't really know where to start. "You have been visiting this house more frequent than I had over the years... did something changed just before I came back, this time?" he asked, and I was impressed by the lead-in.
"What do you mean?"
"Some sort of wiring or something electrical?" I suggested and Damon looked at me nodding.
"What's going on?" Elena asked impatient.
"Please think hard, you too in your house, Elena. Did something get installed that summer before you two met?"
They both looked at us like we had lost our minds, but then Elena said: "Nothing since the smoke detectors..."
"Ah, smoke detectors!" both Damon and I exclaimed.
"Yes, that's right, Zach installed smoke detectors..." Stefan added thoughtfully.
"Bingo!" I said.
"Explain yourself!" Stefan said and his voice was hostile.
Damon pulled out the floor-plans of the house, with the markings he and I had put there.
"Oh, there is probably one outside the cell in the basement as well..." I said as we were about to explain.
"You know about the cell in the basement?" Stefan said and glared at Damon, who looked innocent and then annoyed.
"You and I are going on a fast check of the house. We're looking extra at these spots and we're also checking for more smoke-detectors. We believe there are cameras in the house..." Damon finally explained.
"Cameras?" Elena cried out. I nodded and put a finger in front of my mouth for her to keep quiet. "Why? And how do you know?" she whispered and looked around the room.
"I don't think there are any in here..." We all looked around and didn't find any in the kitchen.
"We're hopefully safe here..."
"So, you and I are going on a quick sweep of the house and take out a few of these cameras, but not all of them. I believe some sort of company will get in touch with us if they don't 'work properly'." Damon said.
Wow, I hadn't thought of that! "You and I will distract the footage," I told Elena. "We'll go in the parlour, so the guys can get around fast and not be detected," I suggested.
"Stop! You have to explain!" Elena was irritated to say the least.
"Later! Are you all ready?" Damon asked and we rose from the table and stopped by the kitchen door. "And... Action!" he said while Elena and I got out.
"... and when we just got in bed, my friend called and interrupted us!" I made up as we went into the parlour. It suddenly hit me, that if this was on air sometime in the future, my friend would see me talking about her. "Anna!" I exclaimed with a gesture. Elena wasn't really into this whole acting-thing and she looked at me cautious.
"Did you know I kissed him?" she asked and looked guilty.
I didn't understand at first. "Damon? Yes, he told me," I lied. "I know you're good friends. You have really been there for each other now when Stefan's been gone," I said sincerely and hugged her before we sat down in one of the couches.
"Thank you. I wouldn't want to ruin anything between the two of you." She said soft and I almost forgot that this was supposed to be a distraction from the other stuff that was going on in the house.
"Don't worry about it Elena," I said and hugged her again. "Can I tell you about Anna now? It's so typical her to call just at the wrong time and it's not the first time," I babbled on and laughed. Elena smiled but something was still bothering her and could I really blame her, with the bomb Damon and I had dropped?
"He's a great guy, but you have to be careful," she said quiet.
I looked questioningly at her. "What do you mean?"
She looked around us, leaned closer and whispered. "Damon..."
"Damon?" I blurted out. "Damon is a sweet guy, he's been nothing than good to me." I noticed self how hard my voice became. "I trust him!"
"Don't," she said quietly, and that was the moment the kitchen door opened and Damon and Stefan joined us in the parlour.
"What are you two talking about?" Damon asked, popped down on the couch and put his arm around me.
"Oh, just girl-talk," I said dismissively.
"I did the dishes, honey," he said and kissed me on the cheek.
"Yeah, right!" Stefan muttered and sat on the armrest.
"See, that's why I say; 'Stefan's an insufferable martyr that needs to get his ass kicked' Sweetie Pie; kick his ass for me," he whispered loud enough for the others to hear.
"I think you should be nice to your brother, it's not like you're going to get another one..."
Stefan started to laugh. "I'm glad you showed up here Emma, you're a breath of fresh air"
"Elena glared at him. "That goes for you too; you're not likely to get another brother either."
"Are you ganging up on us?" the brothers looked at us and then at each other. "It seems that we have to teach them a lesson," Stefan said, smiled his bad boy smile and started to change into his vampire-face. He looked really scary as he tilted his head to the side. Damon looked a little surprised first, but smiled and changed as well.
"We'll get you a head start..."
Elena and I looked a little alarmed at each other and then started to run through the house, out the door and around the house. I had remembered that I had never seen the back of the house on tv, so to the back it was.
When we rounded the last corner, Damon and Stefan was suddenly in front of us, their face looking human again without any predator-hint at all.
"Are we clear here?" Damon said, looking at me like I was some kind of an expert.
"I think so, I've never seen this part of the garden on tv."
"Okay now, back to business; we took out two cameras in my room, one in the hallway and three in Stefan's room." Damon did the briefing. "We decided to keep the one in the parlour, to see if we perhaps can track the signal."
"We're going to Elena's house to check it out..."
"You think I have cameras in my house?!" she blurted out, shocked.
"Yes your parents did put in fire detectors, and I know there are cameras in your house, in your living room and kitchen, in your bedroom and in Jeremy's room," I informed them.
She stared at me with fierce eyes that almost scared me more than the brother's vampire-face. "And how do you know that?" Her voice was cold as ice.
"I've... seen you..." I nearly stuttered as I explained and felt like a peeping Tom. She gasped and looked like she was about to scratch my eyes out.
"Elena, it's not her fault!" Damon stepped in front of me. "She's just an innocent bystander, and what I understand there's a lot of viewers, right?" he said and turned to me.
"Err... yes, the show is very popular..." I had to snap out of the intimidated state, that wouldn't help anyone.
"So, tell them what you know." Damon encouraged, standing by my side, and I had to tell them about my favourite TV-show and all the things Damon and I had figured out that morning.
They just stared at us and me in particular. "So, that's how I know about the cell in the basement and other stuff..."
"Yes, unfortunately it seems I even know stuff about you guy's that you don't know about each other..." I said with an apologizing look. Stefan looked on edge all of a sudden.
"Don't worry, I would never, ever betray you or tell anything to anybody," I assured them.
"We better make sure nobody else know that you know." Stefan's voice was cold and detached and his whole look was almost scaring me.
Elena just stared at me. "You've been watching us on your tv? That's weird!"
"Tell me about it! It's weird that you're not actors, just playing the parts of Elena, Stefan and Damon..." I rolled my eyes. "I kept calling Damon 'Mr Somerhalder' the first night, but he just looked strange at me."
"There are actors that play us?"
"Yes, allegedly..."
"Who are they?"
And then I had to explain everything again, all over. Everything that was the truth as far as I knew it.
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