DAMON’S POV
“Thanks for coming, Ric.” Stefan says and I see Ric and Elena walking into the living room.
Elena takes a seat on the couch next to Stefan and I turn to Ric.
“Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Bourbon? Bourbon in your coffee?” I ask and he ignores me, as usual. He’s probably mad at me for killing Ashley’s brother. Everyone is.
“Elena mentioned you needed my help.” He says, looking at Stefan.
“Yeah, we were hoping you could help shed some light on the Lockwood family.” Stefan says.
Ric’s face turns up in confusion. “Now, why would I know anything about the Lockwood’s?” He asks as I finish pouring myself a drink.
I step down the two stairs and walk over to Stefan and Ric. “Well, you couldn’t. But your dead, not dead vampire wife might.” I say, smirking at him.
“Isobel’s research from when you guys were at Duke together.” Elena explains to Ric for me.
“You said that she had spent years researching this town.” Stefan adds.
“Isobel’s research in Mystic Falls is rooted in folklores and legends, but at the time I thought much of which was fiction.” Ric tells us and I nod.
“Like that amazing vampire story.” I tease and he rolls his eyes.
“Aside from vampires, what else?” Elena asks, ignoring my jokes. She’s mad at me too. Again, everyone is.
“The lycanthrope.” Ric speaks up and my head snaps up at him.
“Wait, like werewolves?” Elena asks.
I shake my head and lean against the wall. “No way, impossible, way to Lon Chaney.”
“Is it?” Stefan asks and I shoot him a look.
“I’ve been on this planet one hundred and sixty some odd years, never came across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?” I ask and everyone stares at me.
“Why do you suspect the Lockwoods?” Ric asks.
“Because vervain didn’t affect the mayor at founder’s day but the Gilbert device did and it affected his son Tyler.” I explain for like the fiftieth time.
“And at the school carnival, his uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought with one of the carnival workers.” Stefan adds.
Thankfully Stefan was able to witness that because I missed it. Apparently, Uncle Mason did some weird jump move and broke up the fight.
“It suggests it’s some sort of a supernatural entity.” Stefan finishes.
“We were hoping that Isobel’s research could help us figure out what it is.” Elena says to Ric.
He nods and looks at Elena. “Well, all her things are still at Duke. I mean her office is still there, she’s technically still missing.”
“So can we get access to it?” I ask and Ric looks uncomfortable. “Ric, we need to know what we are dealing with. If this wolf men thing is true, I’ve seen enough movies to know it’s not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney junior, which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed.”
When I finish speaking, I hear the front door open and close.
Everyone’s heads snap up and I hear the click of heels on the floor. I take a deep breath when I see Ashley come around the corner.
“Hey, sorry I’m late.” She apologizes innocently as she smiles at everyone…but me.
Why would Stefan pull her into this?
“Hey, that’s alright. We were just planning a trip to Duke.” Stefan says and she nods.
Stefan must have filled her in on everything because I sure as hell haven’t talked to her. I can feel the tension in the room as everyone looks back and forth between the two of us.
Elena finally speaks up and I’m thankful.
“Wait, I can’t go today.” She says, looking at Stefan. “I promised Caroline that I would help her get through the next couple of days.
“I can do it.” Stefan tells her and she shakes her head.
“No, Stefan. I told her I would be there. You can help but I want to be there, as her friend.”
“Elena.” I say angrily as I stand from the wall and walk over to her. “We need to get this information, ASAP, which means that vampire 101 can wait until we get back.”
“No, Damon. It can’t.” She says, standing from the couch.
“I’ll go.” I hear a voice behind me and I turn around to see Ashley still not looking at me.
“That’s okay, Ashley.” Elena says politely.
“No, Elena. You and Stefan can help Caroline. I’ll go with Ric and Damon. I’ll bring back anything from Isobel’s stuff that might help you.” She says with a smile, but I know it’s killing her.
It’s killing me too.
ASHLEY’S POV
I don’t want to go with him. But I need to go. For Elena. She wants information from her mother and everyone else wants information about the Lockwood secret.
Elena needs to be with Caroline, so I’ll take one for the team.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Elena asks me as she sits on my bed, watching me pack a small bag.
“Which part? Digging through you birth mother’s life work or going to Duke with Damon?” I asked her and she gives me a weak smile.
“Either, both.”
“Well, I’m not sure about the second part but then again, Ric is a good buffer. We can bond in our anti Damon solidarity. I wish you or Stefan were coming though.”
She looks up at me with concern. “You know what? Maybe we should wait a couple of days, huh? Wait until Caroline is less of a danger and then we could all go together.” She suggests and as appealing as that sounds I shake my head.
“No, Elena. Trust me. I’ll be fine. This needs to be done. We don’t exactly have a lot of time before we figure out what Tyler and Mason are by accident.” I say and she nods.
“Call me if you need anything.” She says and I smile at her.
“Trust me, I will.” She laughs and we walk down the steps.
I get down stairs and I see Ryan talking to Ric. “So, this is a school field trip?” Ryan asks and I take a deep breath.
That must be what Ric told him but I hate lying to him.
“Ryan, can I talk to you for a second?” I ask and he nods, following me to the kitchen, leaving Elena with Ric.
“Ashley, what’s going on?” He asks.
“I need to go with Ric to Duke. We need to pick up some research about all of this stuff. I know that that’s the last thing you want me to do right now, but I need you to trust me.” I confess, deciding to leave Damon out of this.
He looks at me, his lips pressed together in a firm line. “Please be careful.” He says and I nod.
“I will. Just stay here and please don't—"
“Ashley, I’m not gonna tell anyone about this. I realize that you and I still have a lot we need to talk about, but I’m trusting you. I’m trusting that you’re keeping yourself safe.” He says and I’m so grateful that he finally understands.
“I’ll be fine. I love you.” I say, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“I love you too.” He whispers and I pull away, heading back to Ric.
I say goodbye to Ryan again before Elena and I follow Ric down to the car. I see Damon get out and I turn around really quickly to make sure that Ryan isn’t watching.
“Sorry you can’t come too, Elena.” Damon remarks and I roll my eyes, turning to Elena.
“Remember, call me if you need anything.”
“Oh, I’ll take really good care of her.” Damon says from behind us.
“Bye.” I smile, hugging Elena.
“Okay, time to go.” Damon says, holding the car door open for me.
I look at Elena one more time and give her a reassuring smile before climbing into the back of the car. Damon closes the door and slides into the passenger seat as Ric starts the car. Here we go.
***
“How are you doing back there?” Damon asks me, turning around in his seat. “You know this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly.” He adds when I don’t answer and I scoff at him before looking away.
“I don’t think she’s pretending. You did kill her brother.” Ric speaks up and I mentally thank him.
“There is a huge asterisk next to that statement; he came back to life.” Damon says rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, thanks to a ring that you didn’t know he had.” I say firmly.
“Why are you so sure I didn’t know?” He fires back.
“Did you?”
“Yes.” He smirks.
“You’re lying.”
“Ashley, I saw the ring! It’s a big tacky thing. It’s hard to miss.” He says and I turn to look back out the window, not in the mood for this.
***
We arrive at Duke and I follow Ric into the building with Damon trailing behind.
“So, Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenon is rooted in folklore.” Ric explains as we get inside.
There is a woman with light brown hair, sitting at a desk and Ric clears his throat. “Excuse me, hi. I’m Alaric Saltzman, I called earlier.”
“Yes, of course.” She stands smiling at him. “I’m Vanessa Monroe, research assistant, comparative folklore.” She introduces herself and her eyes land on me.
“Uh, let me just grab Isobel’s keys.” She says, her eyes still on me. I shift under her gaze and Ric notices.
“These are my friends, Ashley and Damon. I hope this isn’t too much of an imposition.” He says as she finally stops looking at me.
“Oh, please, Isobel’s office is right through there.” She says, grabbing the keys. “Isobel was one of my first professors. I’m a grad student, she was brilliant and one of the reasons I went into folklore. Uh, I have to ask, has there been any news?” She asks, turning to Ric.
“No, I’m afraid not.”
She nods and sticks a key in a door. “It’s this way.”
She opens the door and I’m taken back by all of the bookshelves and antique looking things here. I hope I’m able to find something for Elena while Damon and Ric are looking for werewolf stuff.
“I’ll grab the light, feel free to look around. It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” Vanessa says before leaving the room.
I walk over to a shelf and my eyes begin to scan the spines of the books, trying to find anything that could help Elena find out more about herself and Katherine.
“Where did she go?” Damon asks.
I hear a noise in the doorway and I turn around to see Vanessa standing there with a crossbow aimed at me. I gasp as she pulls the trigger.
I close my eyes, anticipating the pain, but it never comes. I hear Damon groan and I open my eyes to see him standing in front of me, with an arrow in his back.
Ric grabs Vanessa and holds her against the wall while Damon looks at me with confusion.
Why would she try to kill me?
I look into Damon’s eyes and I see something I haven’t seen in a while; concern.
He takes a deep breath and shifts uncomfortably. I guess I should help him get the arrow out of his back. He bends down, leaning on a table as I come up behind him. I place my hands on the arrow and he yells in pain.
“Pull it out.” He demands, gritting his teeth. “I can’t reach it, Ashley. Just pull the damn thing out. It hurts.” I take a deep breath and rip the arrow from his back as he screams.
“That bitch is dead.” He says, standing up.
“You’re not gonna kill her.” I argue back.
“Watch me.”
“You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again.” I threaten and he stops, turning to face me.
“What makes you think that has any power over me? Because I took an arrow in the back for you? You’re severely overestimating yourself.”
“Right. I forgot that I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively. Fine, go ahead, do whatever you want.” I say firmly trying to get through to him.
“You’re trying to manipulate me.”
“If by ‘trying’ you mean ‘telling the truth’, okay, guilty.” I respond with no emotion.
I look at him for a moment before leaving the room. I need to find out why this chick tried to kill me. I walk into the other room and Vanessa is speaking to Ric.
“Please! I freaked out, okay? Alright, you would have done the same thing, it’s not possible! Damon Salvatore died in 1864. Okay, I read Isobel’s research.”
“Well, then you should know just how possible this is.” Ric says and I stand in the doorway. “Why did you go after Ashley?” He asks for me.
“She looks like someone. Now that I see her, I know it’s not her. I’m sorry.”
“Who do I look like?” I ask carefully.
“You don’t…well…not really. It’s not possible.” She whispers and I look at Damon before turning back to Vanessa.
“Who?” I ask again.
“Melanie Roberts…but…she’s dead. It just messed with my head, seeing Damon…I thought…” She trails off and I look at Ric who’s just as confused at me.
I have no idea who this Melanie Roberts chick is but this girl must have been afraid of her. I guess she thought that Damon was dead so that wouldn’t make it too strange for this Melanie person to be alive too.
I take a careful step closer to her to calm her down.
“I’m Ashley Scott.” I clarify as Damon walks in. “And this is Damon Salvatore who you just shot.”
“I would be extra nice to me right now.” Damon smirks.
“Look, we need your help. okay? We need to see all of Isobel’s research, anything related to Mystic Falls.” I tell her calmly and she nods.
I want to know who this Melanie girl is that I ‘look like’ but this woman is a little too shaken up for that conversation. Whoever it is, they’re dead, but her seeing Damon alive made her think that I was this mysterious person.
***
I continue searching through the books and artifacts to find anything about Katherine, but at the same time, I’m keeping my eye out for anything with the name Melanie Roberts on it.
“This box checks Katherine’s arrival to Mystic Falls in April 1864.” Vanessa says, handing me a box of books.
“Is this all there is about her?” I ask, wanting to make sure I get all that I can for Elena.
“All that I’m aware of.” She says and I look into the box to see a small piece of vervain. I look over at Damon in the other room and then back to Vanessa.
I lower my voice and hand her the plant. “Here, take this.”
“Does vervain really work?” She asks quietly.
“Nope, not at all.” Damon calls to us and I roll my eyes.
“Can he hear us?” She asks me, still whispering.
“No, that would be creepy.” He says again.
“Can he read minds too?” She asks and I shake my head as Damon speaks up again.
“You know, if you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask.” He says.
“No, that he can’t do. He is very capable of being a first rate jackass, though.” I say, raising my voice to make sure that he heard every word.
I walk back into the other room to look for anything else that might have anything to do with Elena and Katherine’s history.
“Any luck?” Damon asks and I turn to him.
“There’s nothing in here about Katherine that we don’t already know.” I tell him.
“Ah, man, you know, it’s a bummer we’re not friends anymore because I could tell you what I know.” He says teasingly and I try to fight a smile.
“Now who’s manipulating who?” I ask and he smiles. “Do you know anything about this Melanie Roberts person?” I ask him.
“Nope. This is the first I’ve heard of it. I’m sure it’s nothing. This woman studies history. It’s very possible that she came across a photograph of one of your relatives who may have looked like you.”
He’s probably right. My mind flashes back to that picture of my relatives from 1864. I should really ask Damon about it but now isn’t the time.
“But why was she so afraid of me? She tried to kill me.” I tell him and he looks at me.
“Ashley, relax. She knew what I was so seeing you with me probably made her think that this Melanie person became a vampire. It’s nothing.” He says and for some reason that reassures me.
I decide to drop it.
“Hey guys, check this out.” Ric says from behind us and we both turn to him. He’s looking at something with Vanessa.
“There’s no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls, but here are some records of the lesser known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin-walkers to the Marechal de Retz.” Vanessa explains as she hands Damon a book of drawings.
I peak over his shoulder to look at it and he playfully tries to shield me from it.
“Which roughly translates into the ‘curse of the sun and the moon.’” Vanessa continues and I look at Ric.
“It’s Native American.” He says.
“Aztec.” Vanessa clarifies. “It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story: 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by the werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming impossible until the Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves 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, who ever's lucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf.”
“Can they control the transformation?” Damon asks.
“If it were a choice, it wouldn’t be called a curse.” Vanessa says before reading. “Werewolves will attack humans but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice; vampires.”
Damon scoffs and walks behind me. “Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it.”
“Not if there aren’t that many werewolves left alive.” She reads again. “Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction.”
“Why would they do that?” I ask.
“To protect themselves. Legend has it that a werwolf bite is fatal to vampires.” She says and my mouth falls open as I turn to Damon who has seemed to tense up.
***
I continue looking through boxes and I find a picture of Katherine. I turn to Vanessa who is reading something.
“Hey, have you done any research on dopplegangers?”
“Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures, but typically a doppleganger is a living, breathing double of oneself.” She explains and I nod.
“Did Isobel have anything that explained the link between her daughter and Katherine?” I ask and she lifts her head in understanding.
“That’s all she had on Katherine, unfortunately, but I can tell you that dopplegangers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It’s not exactly uplifting.” She says and I think about everything Katherine has done to Elena.
“And more things we already know. Just…I want to know why they look alike.” I say in frustration.
“Head scratcher, isn’t it?” Damon chimes in.
“Do you know something, or are you just being yourself?” I ask.
“Well, if I know anything, I’m not gonna tell you, not with that attitude.” He answers and I roll my eyes and sigh.
“That’s good Damon, and this is coming from someone who wants to be my friend, but you know what? Friends don’t manipulate friends, they help each other.” I tell him before turning away and looking for something.
Anything that I can bring back to Elena.
***
I walk out of the building empty handed. Elena is going to be so disappointed.
Ric is talking to Vanessa and when I reach the car and pull the handle, it’s locked and won’t open. So…I pull with more force, because I’m frustrated.
“Here. Allow me.” Damon says from behind me as he unlocks the door. He opens it with a smile but I look away. “You’re not gonna be able to hate me forever.”
“Can we just go?” I say impatiently.
“You didn’t dig deep enough.” He says, holding out an old dusty book.
I frown at him and take the book, looking at the spine. Petrova.
“Petrova? I saw this on the shelf.” I say in confusion.
“Katherine originally came from Europe. Petrova was her real name. Katerina Petrova, to be exact.”
“How did you know that?” I ask him.
“Back when, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom. Men snoop too, you know. Let me know what you and Elena find. I’m very curious myself.” He says and I turn to get in the car.
He grabs my wrist, spinning me around to face him. “You have every right to hate me, I understand but you hated me before we became friends. It would suck if that was gone forever. So, is it? Have I lost you forever?”
I’m not sure what to say. There are so many parts of me that want to forgive him but at the same time, he killed my brother. Whether Ryan came back or not, I could never forgive anyone for that.
“Thank you for the book, Damon.” I say quietly before turning again to get in the car.
This time, he doesn’t stop me.
***
“Hey, do you guys mind if we stop here real quick?” Ric asks and I look up from my lap to see that we’re in front of Elena’s house. “I really need to see Jenna.” He adds and I smile.
“That’s fine, Ric. I can walk home.” I tell him as he parks the car.
I go to get out of the car and I see Damon getting out too. I begin to walk down the sidewalk and I notice his presence next to me. We don’t say anything as we walk to my house, but I’m glad that he’s here.
We reach my front porch and Damon walks me to the door.
“Road trips work well for us.” He says and I smile lightly.
“This doesn’t mean that things are back to the way they used to be, Damon.”
“Oh come on! You know I chipped a little bit off of your wall of hatred.” He says and I know he’s right. It’s actually more than just a little bit but I can’t admit that.
“I need to know the truth.” I say and he looks into my eyes. “When you broke Ryan’s neck, did you know about the ring?”
He’s quiet for a minute and then his head falls. “No. No, I didn’t. Katherine really pissed me off and I snapped and I got lucky with the ring. I don’t know what I would have done if he didn’t have it, Ashley. I’m sorry.” He says and I nod.
I know it’s hard for him to apologize but this breaks me down.
“Thank you for being honest with me…and the answer to your question, about our friendship is yes…you have lost me forever.” I say and he glares at me.
“But you knew that already, didn’t you? You used me today.” He says and I let out a deep breath. I didn’t mean to but I guess I did.
I knew I could never forgive him.
“You had information about Katherine that I needed to get for Elena.”
“I thought friends don’t manipulate friends.” He uses my own words against me. “I thought you were different, guess I was wrong.” He says before turning and walking away.
I stand on my porch for a minute before walking inside. I close the door, locking it and then leaning against it. I feel tears in my eyes as my body slides down the door so that I’m sitting on the ground.
I couldn’t forgive him. Yet here I am feeling like he’s the one that just rejected me.
I don’t know why he makes me feel this way but no matter what he does, I can never truly forget about him.
***Author's Note***
Comment and vote!
~Haley