I loved this chapter and I hope you guys do to.
Damon and Stefan are convinced that something is supernaturally wrong with the Lockwood's. They believe that the research Isobel did at Duke will provide us some answers. I wish Stefan was the one that would go with us, but he's staying back to give vampire lessons to Caroline and that meets a car ride with Damon.
Elena is taking forever to get to the car, wanting all the last alone time she can get with her boyfriend. "You know if you eat all of your road snacks before we hit the road you won't have anything to eat later."
"Shut up Damon." I continue to munch on my bag of chips. I'm stressing eating and I would like to do it without hearing his annoying yet amazingly seductive voice. Finally, they make it to the car.
"Sorry, you can't come too Stef." Damon eggs his brother on.
"Call me if either of you needs anything." I wave at Stefan as I continue to eat.
"Oh, I'll take really good care of both of them." Damon winks at me and I flip him off. Elena responds by having a mini make-out session right in front of us.
"You know we could do the same thing if you would stop eating a whole bag of chips." Damon states.
"I'll have better luck with my chips."
"Alright, that's enough. Time to go." Damon opens the passenger door and we head off.
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Didn't even make it thirty minutes into the drive when Damon resorts to annoying us. "How are you two doing back there?" He goes to reach for my leg but I smack his hand away.
"Leave them alone." Alaric scolds Damon, but he doesn't listen.
"You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."
"I don't think they're pretending. You did kill their brother."
"There's a huge asterisk next to that statement. He came back to life."
"Yeah, because the fact you snapped his neck isn't an issue." I sarcastically remark back to him.
"And thanks to a ring that you didn't even know he was wearing." Elena points out.
"Why are you so sure I didn't know?"
"Did you?" Elena asks and I perk up wanting to know the answer.
"Yes."
"You're lying." I say.
"Sofia, I saw the ring. Big tacky thing. It's hard to miss." I notice Alaric looking down at his wring.
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Alaric pulls up to Duke and I'm in awe of its beauty. "So, Isobel was officially employed by the Anthropology Department, given that most paranormal phenomena rooted in folklore. Excuse me. Hi, I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier." We follow behind Rick as he approaches a young woman.
"Yes, of course. I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant. Comparative folklore." I get a weird feeling she gives Elena and Damon. "Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys."
"I'm sorry. These are my friends, Sofia, Elena, and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."
"Please, Isobel's office is right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant. One of the reasons I went into folklore." I wish the same Isobel this woman knew was the one we met. She sounded like someone so full of knowledge and obviously, an inspiration to Vanessa, but a disappointment to me. "I have to ask...has there been any news?"
"No. No, I'm afraid not." Alaric quickly answers.
"It's right this way." We follow her into Isobel's office. "I'll grab the light. Feel free to look around. Fascinating, isn't it?" Elena and I gravitate to some books on one of the shelves.
"Where did she go?' Damon ask. Elena and I turn around as she aims a crossbow at us. We expect to feel some pain but Damon speeds in front of us taking the arrow in his back. Alaric goes to restrain Vanessa taking the crossbow from her hands.
"Pull it out. I can't reach it. Sofia or Elena."
"You do it. I can't." Elena instructs me.
"Just pull the damn thing out. It hurts." I grab hold of it and one swift motion pull it out. "Whoo! Ahh. That bitch is dead." I stand in front of him placing my hand on his chest keeping him from moving.
"Don't take another step." I warn.
"As much as this bossy attitude is a turn on, but Sofia move before I make you move."
"There are other ways to get things done than through killing someone."
"And I can't wait to hear your no killing solution, but right now I'm not going to listen."
"If you touch her I will cause an aneurysm."
"You don't know how."
"Want to test me?"
"I like this. You're talking to me again." He strides over to me and Elena has left the room. Damon is now leaning over me with his hand trying to snake its way around my waist.
"I'm serious Damon. Stop."
"You didn't seem to mind when that Tyler kid has his hands all over you."
"When did...Were you spying on me at the carnival? You were. Why? You obviously don't care about me!"
"And that's where you're wrong." He whispers.
"Don't kill her Damon, we need her to answer some questions."
"Like you asking me not to kill has any power."
"I'm not saying I have any power, but I'm asking as someone who I thought was becoming your friend. Spare her life."
"What is with you? You say you hate me. You refuse to speak to me and then you save me. What game are you playing Sofia?" He leans down even closer to me and I try to keep some level of distance between us.
"The only one playing games is you, Damon." I stand my ground as I look into his captivating eyes. I push past and go to the other room to join the others.
"I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter." I hear Elena explaining to Vanessa.
"And this is my sister." She motions for me to stand with her.
"Hi, Sofia Gilbert thanks for almost killing my sister." I greet her.
"We're descendants of Katherine Pierce."
"And this dick you shot is Damon Salvatore." I introduce him as he comes to stand next to me.
"I'd be extra nice to me right now."
"Look, we really need your help." Elena brings the conversation back on topic.
"We need to see all of Isobel's research. Anything related to Mystic Falls." I explain to her.
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Vanessa gets on board with helping us and I'm anxious to see what we find. "This box tracks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864." I was slightly disappointed to see the lack of information. I thought for someone who has been around for so long would have more information.
"Is that all there is about her?" Elena asks.
"All that I am aware of." I spot the vervain and I see Damon's not looking at us.
"Here." I hand her the herb. "Take this."
"Does vervain really work?" Elena nods her head.
"Nope! Not at all." Damon calls from another room.
"Can he hear us?"
"No! That would be creepy!"
"Can he read minds too?"
"You know if you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask."
"No. That, he can't do. He's very capable of being a first-rate jackass." I bum hips with Elena and Vanessa finds this amusing. Damon looks slightly hurt but right now things do not revolve around his sensitive feelings.
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We've been going through books and all of Isobel's notes and still find nothing of value to us. "Any luck?" Damon whispers into my ear. I smack him away.
"Nothing in here about Katherine that we don't already know."
"Ah, man. You know it's a bummer that the three of us aren't friends anymore. Because I can tell you what I know."
"Playing games again Damon." I point out.
"Hey, guys check this out." Elena and I leave Damon's side and head over to Alaric and Vanessa.
"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls. But here are some records of some of the lesser known legends." She passes the book to Elena and me. "Everything from Scandinavian Skinwalkers." Vanessa points to an image. "Roughly translates into The Curse of the Sun and the Moon."
"It's Native American."
"Aztec." Vanessa confirms. "It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story 600 years ago, the Aztec's were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside. Made farming and hunting impossible. Until an Aztec Shaman cursed them. Making vampires slaves to the sun and wolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night, and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, whosever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse, turns into a wolf."
"Can they control the transformation?" Damon asks.
"If it were a choice, they wouldn't call it a curse. Werewolves will attack humans. But instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice...vampires." That grabs all of our attention. A supernatural being that is designed to kill vampires is not a pleasant finding.
"Well... if werewolves are hunting vampires I would know about it."
"Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of year ago, vampires hunted them to extinction."
"Why would they do that?" Elena speaks up.
"To protect themselves." I point out and Vanessa nods.
"Sofia's correct. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."
"Ooh." Things just took a turn for the worse.
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Elena called to warn Stefan about the new discoveries. Now we're diving back into the research on Katherine and Elena comes across an old photo of her and it is weird how identical they are to each other. "Hey, have you done any research on doppelgangers?"
"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures. But typically, a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself."
"Did Isobel have anything that'd explain the link between Katherine and my sister?" I ask Vanessa.
"That's all she had on Katherine unfortunately." We hang our heads low knowing we wish we had more.
"But I can tell you, that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like. Trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting."
"And more things we already know."
"We just want to know why Elena looks like her."
"Head-scratcher, isn't it?"
"Do you have something you want to say to the group?" I ask Damon.
"Well, if I know anything I'm not going to tell either of you. Especially with Sofia's attitude."
"Keep it up Damon, you're already on thin ice with me."
"I've never been on good terms with you."
"You were starting too." I can feel everyone looking to us and I brushed it off and headed to look at another book to get away from Damon.
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We find somethings out but left with still unanswered questions on others. Alaric is saying his thanks to Vanessa for helping us and Elena and I are trying to get in the car, but it's locked. "Here, let me." Damon unlocks the car. I move to get in but he blocks me. "You're not going to be able to hate me forever."
"I don't hate you, Damon."
"Then why avoid me and refuse to be nice to me."
"I can't just forget and forgive what you did. I need some time and...And you're not making it easier by playing all these games with me." He purses his lips. Elena tries to get me to get in the car but Damon pulls something out.
"Here, you two didn't dig deep enough." He hands us a book.
"Petrova?" I ask.
"I saw this on the shelf." Elena states not understanding why he's giving this to us.
"Katherine originally came from Europe. Petrova was her real name. Katerina Petrova to be exact."
"How did you know that?" I ask.
"Back when I saw it engraved on an old heirloom. Men snoop too you know." He winks at me. "Let me know what you find, very curious myself." Elena takes the book and heads to her side of the car. Damon blocks me again. "You have every right to hate me. I understand. You hated me before and we started to get close and become more than just friends." He takes my hand and this time I don't take it away. "It would suck to know I've lost you forever. I care for you Sofia, more than I have for anyone in years. So, have I lost you forever?"
"Sofia." Elena calls.
"Thank you for the book Damon and for not killing Vanessa." I head in not looking at him. I have this conflicted feeling again like I did before. I moved past them once can I do it again? Things are different now. I know he's impulsive and that scares me but I can't deny the feelings I have for him. Jeremy is safe but that was just luck. I want to believe that Damon isn't just wanting me because Katherine turned him down. I want to know that his feelings for me are more than just an easy fix to his lonely heart.
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Damon walks us to the door and Elena heads inside but I'm not done. "I just need you to answer some things for me."
"Okay."
"Did you know Jeremy was wearing his ring?"
"No. I didn't." That hurt just a little, but I can't hold that against him. Damon sees I'm upset and he takes my hands holding them close to his heart.
"Katherine pissed me off and I wasn't thinking."
"What did she do?" I feared what I was about to hear.
"Sof..."
"No, I want to know. What did she do?"
"We kissed and we would have done more than that if she hadn't said she never loved me and it was already Stefan." I feel a tear fall and Damon reaches to catch it. "Please don't cry. I don't want you to cry."
"How am I supposed to give into my feelings for you when you run back to your ex?"
"I'm not running back to her I..."
"You confessed some feelings to me and we kissed and I thought we would talk and see what we meant to each other but I must not mean anything if she can come back after abandoning you for a century and just drop everything to be with her."
"Sofia. Please, I..."
"Damon, I can start to forgive you for Jeremy." He breathes a sigh of relief. "I just don't know if I can start to love a man who loves someone else."
"My love for Katherine isn't real and I've forgotten about her."
"She hasn't forgotten about you. And...Damon let's just work on being friends." Damon looks sad as I say this. I want something with Damon but I'm not going to force the one thing he possibly can't give me.
"So, I haven't lost you?"
"I'm still your friend Damon, but I can't be the person you love."
"Because you're afraid?"
"No, I'm just not sure you can love me the same way I want you to love me."
"Which is?"
"I can't tell you that Damon. Only you can know for sure." He nods and leans down and everything is like Deja vu with the other time we were on the porch together.
"I will work on proving to you how much you mean to me. But for now, I will settle on friendship." He kisses my cheek and I feel for a second that he wants to brush his lips on mine but I pull my head back. I can't give into the attraction I feel towards him.
How will Elena react to Damon and Sofia still being friends?