The Sacrifice

The Return - 2

"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon asks Stefan as he paces the kitchen.

 "No" Stefan replies. "Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance" Damon mutters.

 "She said she fooled one of us at least. What does that- What does that mean?" Stefan asks.

 "She pretended to be Elena too. When I showed up earlier tonight"

 "I told Jeremy. I can't lie to him anymore" Elena says as she approaches us. "Are you all right?" Stefan asks. 

"No I'm not. I thought with all the tomb vampires gone things would get better" She admits. "We all did" I muttered, but I guess with vampires nothing gets better. 

"Katherine was in this house that means she's been invited in. What are we going to do?" Elena asks in worry. "Move" Damon says with a smirk.

 "Very helpful" I scolded. "Katherine wants you dead there is zero you can do about it you would be dead, but you're not. So clearly she has other plans'' Damon says, proving a point. 

"And we need to find out what those plans are and not provoke her in the process" Stefan explained with a huff. 

"What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?" I ask Damon with an eyebrow raised.

 "To risk another frown line encroached on a very crowded forehead we...kissed" Damon admits. "And you thought it was me?" Elena questions surprised and confused.

Jesus Christ Damon Salvatore. 

 "What do you mean you kissed?" Stefan questions. "Well, you know" Damon said, bringing his fingers to his lips, he pouted them and put two fingers underneath. 

"when two lips pucker and they-" He's cut off my Stefan who lunges at him, Damon sees it coming and gets out of the way.

 "Don't be obvious Stefan" I can only roll my eyes and bite back my tongue at his words. Elena stands up when Stefan makes a move toward Damon, holding a hand out to stop him.

 "Stefan he kissed Katherine. Not me" She assures him. Elena turns and looks over her shoulder at Damon. "I wouldn't do that" 

"We don't have time for this guys'' I argue as I step next to Elena. 

"John must know something. There has to be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him" I say, trying to prove a point. 

"She's Katherine. She loves playing games and you're fooling yourself if you think you're gonna find out what she's up to. Unless she wants you to know" Damon argues back. 

"No actually Ariel's right. John could know something through Isobel" Stefan argues back defending me. "Your mother" 

Tsk, I don't like how that sounds. 

"She was in touch with Katherine, so maybe we can go to the hospital and talk" 

"I've got a better idea" Damon starts. Elena and I look over our shoulders at him. "And what's that?" We both ask in unison.

 "I'm just gonna ignore the bitch. See ya" He says with a grin and turns away. 

"And that's smart?" Elena shoots at him. "If Katherine thinks she's being ignore, it'll lure her out. She'll make a move" 

"Oh yeah. And then what?" Stefan asks. 

"Stake her, rip her head off. Something poetic. We'll see" 

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Despite my arguing, Matt didn't come home last night. He stayed all night with the Sherriff and Caroline at the hospital. 

Lets see, if I were to give you a list of all the pros and cons of today it would be a very short list. 

PROS : Caroline is now better thanks to Damon. 

CONS : The evil doppelganger is back, John is in the hospital, and among other things. But Katherine takes top on the list. 

"Ready for this?" Stefan asks me and Elena as we stand just outside of Johns hospital room. We only glance at each other in response.

We walk in were John rests, with a bunch of devices hooked up to him. I sigh a ragged breath. 

"John?" He stays still, when he opens his eyes he gasps, scrambling for the remote at the sight of Elena. Stefan grabs his hand, stopping him from pressing the button. 

"I'm Elena, I'm not Katherine." Elena states.

 "We know she did this to you, we need to know why" I ask. 

 "Where is she?" John asks in pants. "You tell us," Stefan says, crossing his arms.

 "I don't know" John replies and starts to sit up straighter against the pillows. Stefan puts a hand on his shoulder and puts him back down.

 "You're a little too weak to play tough guy, why don't you just sit back, answer a few questions" Stefan says as we make way for Elena, who grabs John's hand and places his ring into his palm. 

"Please?" She says. 

"Tell us why she's here," I continue. "What does she want?" When John doesn't respond Stefan adds. "She'll try again, we can't help you if you don't confide in us" John scoffs and gives him a side eye.

 "In you?" He questions. "In your daughters then" Stefan replies. 

Again that word, the plural.

 "My daughters should have driven a stake to your heart by now" John answers coldly. "I haven't spoken to Katherine directly. She never trusted me"

 Shocked there. 

"So either kill me or get out. Cause I can't stand the sight of you with my daughters'' John directs toward Stefan. 

"You see the problem with such hatred? It's gonna get you killed" Elena says in tears before she runs away. 

I'll go after her in a second. I brush the hair out of my eyes and look at John. Now that I know he's my father I see the resemblance. 

I have his blond hair, I don't have his eyes, that I inherited from Grayson. But I also have Isobel's pale white skin. I might not be a Donavan, I might not be my mother's biological daughter, but she's my mother, my real mother.

  "You might be my biological father. But you'll never be the dad to me that Zach Salvatore ever was. That word "Father" or "Dad"? That title is earned, and so far all you've done is prove how much of a bad one you are" I spit out at him before running after Elena.