Hey, guys!

Here's the chapter 5 of this fanfic. I thought it would be shorter than the last one, but it turned out to be almost the same length. Sorry if you don't like long chapters. There won't be much action, but the characters learn more about each others, in a certain way. TVD Character(s) will appear and be mentioned, and SPN Characters will too.

Anyways, I hope you'll like the chapter even though it's more of an informative one.

It's been three weeks now since the Winchesters left Elena in Atlanta, after the Djinn case. It has been a rough one for the three hunters: Sam had been really beaten up and he had been weak for a few days afterward. Dean, obviously, had been hurt as well, but more mentally than physically. Spending a few days with Elena made him annoying and annoyed... But the person that changed the most was Elena. Sam and Dean refused to leave Elena alone after what she has been through, so Sam convinced her to let them stay for at least three days until she felt better. During the several days the three hunters spent together, Dean and Sam had noticed a change in her behavior. Of course, they didn't know how she behaved on a daily basis, but they surely knew her attitude was odd.

The Brunette barely ate, barely slept, always woke up shaken from nightmares she didn't want to tell them about, but the weirdest was how mean she was towards them, even towards Sam, for whom she had developed respect... But that was over, apparently. It wasn't annoyance or tasteless sarcasm... It was hatred. And it hurt the younger brother. Dean, of course, tried to reassure him by telling Sam what Elena told him the night they have found her before Sam came back with food.

"Who is going to miss me, if I die?"

"You'd miss me just because I'm supposed to be your guardian."

"This is all my fault..."

Dean told his brother that Elena felt guilty for bringing them into her mess, and he even confessed what she said about her dreams, that the Djinn wasted it and that now she couldn't have a pleasant dream anymore. It explained why she woke up sweaty and scared every night. He knew he wasn't supposed to reveal this, but Sam didn't understand her behavior at all, and he was almost ready to give up on trying to understand her, almost ready to refuse Castiel's 'Guardian' proposition, whatever it meant.

Dean's smile rose when the Impala crossed the welcoming sign of Sioux Falls, knowing that in a few minutes they'd be home. Once again, his thoughts drifted to Elena, wondering if she still had a real home... Because her dreams were her home. After the few days they've spent with her, Dean was a bit sad to leave her but relieved to get away from her as well. She was really... Intense. But still, he was sad because he finally got to know her a bit more, and staying around her was already a victory... Despite her behavior.

He wished Sam knew how thankful he was for convincing her that they should stay.

When Dean climbed out of the Impala, all those worries flew away, and a smile appeared on his face. As he glanced at the old and broken house in front of him, he sighed.

"Sammy, we're home."

Richmond, Virginia

As the Brunette parked her car, she winced at her shoulder, having made a wrong move.

"Dammit." She cursed in a low voice, rubbing the top of it softly.

Three weeks have passed already since the Djinn incident, and her shoulder still hurt. She has done everything Sam told her to do: small moves, ointments, and rest. Hell, she even had to pause her hunter occupation. But it didn't get better.

She was really messed up.

Elena closed her eyes shut. She shouldn't think about it. She didn't allow herself... And yet, the thoughts still came back into her mind, and as she recalled the night she passed a few weeks ago into this warehouse, her good mood vanished slightly.

Ever since the Djinn tricked her, almost killing her in the process, Elena has lost her appetite and she was restless. She desperately needed positive in her life. Before all of this, when Elena closed her eyes to sleep at night, sleep came easily and in her dreams, she met her whole family and friends, all safe and alive, and even if it was just a simple dream, it reassured her to see them happy. But now... When she closed her eyes she saw something completely different...

Elena gasped awake, her body shaking from the cold. When she tried to pull the blankets up her body, she noticed that they were gone. When she finally looked around her, she wasn't even laying on a bed, but on the dirty floor. Standing up, she decided to take a look around the house, out of curiosity. Her house was sleazy, with dust and blood splatters everywhere on the walls.

"Mom? Dad?"

When she searched for her friends and family, she didn't find them. The whole house was rotten and bloody as if it's been a very long while it hadn't been habited, and if it has ever been habited, it was by a messy serial killer... And it looked frightening.

"Jeremy? Where are you?"

Suddenly, as she reached the ground floor, she heard laughs coming from the backyard. It made her blood curl into her veins, but she somehow knew she had to go find out who was laughing and why. When she finally arrived in the backyard, which, by the way, looked as destroyed as the inside of the house, she barely saw anything, the garden being choked by a thick layer of fog. As she advanced towards the bottom of the garden, she saw someone, a girl probably, digging a hole into the wet ground. She was laughing wickedly.

"Excuse me, but who are you? Have you seen my family?" Elena rose her voice faintly.

When the girl turned and stared into Elena's eyes, the fog suddenly vanished, revealing finally who she was and why she was digging a hole into the ground.

What she saw before her eyes made Elena become speechless. A perfect reproduction of herself was standing in front of her. Her hair and clothes were the same, but there was only one detail that stood out. The Elena holding the shovel had mud all over her hair and clothes, and the mud was mixed with blood, which wasn't even dried yet.

"W-what is going on?" Elena stared at her double, wide-eyed.

Then, the mud-and-blood covered Elena looked at Elena's hands...

Elena looked down... And out of nowhere, she was holding the shovel into her hands, and her hair was sticky, and her clothes smeared with mud and blood. As she looked up, the bloody Elena was gone, but then, the brunette noticed the hole dug into the ground...

She decided to take a look inside... Trying to ignore the horrid smell, she leaned above the hole and screamed at the sight of her family and friends' bodies, dead and bloody inside of the hole. As she fell onto the ground crying, the voices of her beloved ones reached her ears, echoing through the garden and invading her head.

"We died for you..."

"This is all your fault..."

"Ma'am?"

"Is this how you show your gratitude?"

"Ma'am... You can't park here."

"You're such a disappointment..."

"Ma'am! Are you okay?"

Elena suddenly snapped out of her reverie as a hand shook her shoulder through her open car window. Feeling threatened, she quickly drew her gun out of her inner pocket and aimed it at the man, who raised his hands in surrender, a shocked expression on his face.

"Hey! Calm down!"

When Elena realized what she had done, she widened her eyes and dropped the gun on her lap raising her hands as well. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I was lost in my thought and..." She trailed off, shooting an apologetic look at the man, who finally lowered his hands to his sides.

"It's okay, I must've startled you. I just wanted to warn you that you can't park here. Doctors' parking places." He chuckled.

"Oh. I'm sorry I didn't know that. I'll move my car." Elena nodded, turning on the engine. "Thank you." she smiled faintly, still shaken by what happened.

"Thank you... For not shooting me." He chuckled slightly, then left.

It was only when the guy left that Elena noticed she was holding her breath. "Damn, that was close." she breathed then left, trying to find a new place for her car.

"Ah, the Winchesters!" Bobby smiled widely, opening the door wider so that the two brothers could come in, smiles plastered on their faces as well. As the old hunter hugged the Dean and Sam, he patted their backs, really happy to see them there. "It's been a long while!"

"Yeah, we missed you too Bobby." Sam grinned and closed the door behind them.

As the two hunters followed Bobby into the living room, they both felt relieved. This place was certainly old and kinda dusty but it was their home, and Bobby was their adoptive father. When John was being a pain in the ass or when he had to go hunt alone, Dean and Sam always ended up here.

"Push the journals aside and sit down, boys. I'll go get somethin' to drink." Bobby went to the kitchen, and in a flash he was back with three opened beer bottles. After handing two bottles to the Winchesters, he sat down at his desk, looking at both of them. "So, what's up?"

With that, Dean and Sam told Bobby what happened since the last time they saw each others, telling him about the creatures they killed, if it was hard or not, and Bobby listened closely, just as he always did when they spoke together. He would casually throw remarks here and there, reacting to their speech, taking part in this moment.

"That's all?" Bobby took a sip from his beer bottle. "What about that angel guy, Castiel?

"Nah, nothing really interesting. We haven't seen him in a while now." Dean shrugged, and glared at Sam when he spoke up, a bright smile on his face.

"He gave Dean a girlfriend." Sam laughed, and then winced as his brother's elbow collided with his ribs. "Ouch."

"What's that, again?" Bobby sat up, looking at Sam, obviously amused by the two fighting.

"Well. About two or three months ago, Dean made us cross the whole country because he had a dream about some girl, but he didn't know why. So we got there, and Castiel arrived and told us that she was our guardian or something." Sam paused, glancing at Bobby.

"A guardian? The fuck?"

"I know right ? Anyway, since that day we've met a few times..." Sam paused again and then chuckled. "And when you put Elena and Dean in the same room, they look like brats fighting over a piece of candy, or horny teenagers, I don't know yet." Sam laughed again, but this time he ducked Dean's elbow.

"Sammy." Dean grunted, obviously grumpy because he got called a brat and a horny teenager.

"Am I wrong ? I mean, Elena's got some talent, she teases you during a split second and you instantly snap."

"That's because she's a bitch." Dean lifted his head and crossed his arms as if he wanted to show his brother that he wasn't touched.

"Well, as long as she's not dangerous..." Bobby shrugged, the ghost of a smile hovering on his face. He was always amused when Sam and Dean fought.

"She is dangerous! She punched me in the face!" Dean's eyes widened as he recalled the night they hunt a werewolf in Nashville, while Sam snorted.

"You stole her case!"

"And I saved her!""

"But you called her weak, Dean!"

Dean's mouth opened as he was about to fight back but suddenly, he closed his mouth and shook his head slightly. "Touché."

"Who are the brats now?" Bobby chuckled and finished his beer, imitated by the two brothers sitting on the couch.

"But really, she's dangerous?" The old hunter asked again, serious now.

"I don't know, really. Sam thought for a moment, unsure of what to say. Elena was, indeed, complicated. Her mood and attitude changed so frequently that he didn't know if he had to trust her or not. "She's kinda both, I guess."

"Yeah, and she's got a thing for vampires. She's been hunting just vampires and a few werewolves since she started. Dean retorqued as he played with his empty beer bottle. "What kind of hunter do that?"

"Hey, do you remember that piece of paper we saw in her notebook? The one full of weird names and coordinates?" Sam tapped his brother's forearm lightly. "It was about the... Dammit! The..." Sam frowned as he didn't remember the name. They wanted to ask Bobby about them but now that they could, they forgot the name.

"The Originals? Yeah, that's it!" Dean hit his thigh once, glancing at Bobby. "Ever heard of 'em?"

When they looked at the hunter sitting at his desk, he was watching them with a stunned look across his face. He even looked a little pale.

"Bobby?" Sam asked, frowning at his adoptive father.

"The Originals..." Bobby muttered to himself. I thought that was a legend..."

"Bobby, spill the beans." Dean stood up and walked to the desk, leaning against it. He watched as the hunter stood up from his desk, and walked over his bookshelf.

"You gotta read this by yourselves."

When Elena entered the hospital hall, her stress level went up. She hated hospitals since she was a little kid. The sterile smell and the fake smiles of the whole staff made her cringe. To her, doctors were liars and hypocrites. They first told you what you wanted to hear, and then slowly eased you into the real situation, the one where you're really screwed, and they did this with so much skill that you didn't feel like you were in a bad situation.

When she arrived at the reception, she did her best not to look too bitter, put a smile on her face and spoke up to the lady behind the counter.

"Hello, I'm here to see Jeremy Gilbert. Can you give me the number of his room, please?"

"Are you a family member or a friend?" She asked, staring up at the brunette. "I need to know, his sister asked us to filter the entries. Only family and close friends." She held up the list and chuckled a little.

"Well, I'm the sister. Elena Gilbert."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm new here and I didn't know what you looked like... Room 324, ICU."

"Thank you."

After a few minutes, she finally found the elevators and he right unit and Elena was now walking down the corridor. She was going to see her brother again, and she was torn between happiness, sadness and shame. Why shame? Because it's been a really long while since she hasn't visited. Of course, her huntress job didn't allow her to be there every week, but she still felt guilty for not being there for Jeremy the whole time.

But she couldn't change that.

When she finally entered the room 324, her breath increased and her eyes started to shine with tears. Jeremy was laying in his hospital bed, sleeping peacefully. His hair was messy but clean, and he had a slight stubble on his chin. He wore hospital green scrubs. Suddenly, Elena thought that it wasn't his color at all. It made him look paler than he already was. The room was quiet except for the beeping machine that showed Jeremy's steady heartbeat, and the respirator that sent oxygen straight to Jeremy's lungs through a big tube plunged into his throat. All those tubes and needles repelled Elena, but she stepped closer.

Sitting down on the chair beside him, she took his pale hand into her unharmed one.

"Hey, Jer."" she whispered, stroking his hand slowly, the same way she did when he was little and that he had the flu. Of course, it was just a hand stroke, but she was afraid to hurt him. "How are you? I've missed you." She continued, knowing that he wouldn't answer. But she didn't care. She needed normality.

During a few minutes, Elena kept stroking Jeremy's hand, trying to warm it up. When she was with Jeremy, she tried not to think too much about happened to him, about who hurt him. Her anger would be too strong and she would waste that rare moment with her baby brother.

"Elena?" a voice came from the door. When the brunette turned to see who it was, her eyes widened and her mouth popped open, in shock.

As she let go of Jeremy's hand carefully, she stood up and almost ran to that person she hasn't seen in ages.

"Bonnie."

"Here you go, boys. The Originals." Bobby dropped a thin file on his desk, opening it in front of the two brothers. There were only a few pages and they were all written by hand. The handwriting looked really ancient.

"That's all you got?" Dean asked as Sam and himself looked at the file closely, stunned by what they had in front of their eyes.

"Yeah. I shouldn't even own that." The old hunter chuckled. "There's just a family tree, something about a curse and about a certain bloodline called the Doppelgängers."

The three hunters were staring at the file, remaining silent for a little while. When Sam leaned down to read in details, he instantly looked up at Bobby, his brows creased.

"Ancient English?"

"Yeah, I've made a translation a few years ago, I didn't know it would actually be useful." Bobby shrugged, taking a piece of paper from the end of the file.

"Why so?" Dean folded his arms across his chest.

"I thought it was bullshit. I mean, let me read you the translation and you'll see, this thing is crazy." Bobby paused, looking at the two brothers. "It was all written by a certain Trevor during the 17th century. He was a vampire and the servant of Niklaus and Elijah at that time, two of the five children we're talkin' about." Bobby paused and pointed at their names on the family tree. "He fled and wrote everything he knew about this family:

It all happened about 1000 years ago. Esther was one of the first witches in the World. Her husband was named Mikael and, together, they had five children: Henrik, Rebekah, Kol, Elijah, and Niklaus. The family fled Europe because of the Plague and arrived in a land where everyone was strong and lived healthily for the rest of their lives." He paused. "I've made some research and the town is now called Mystic Falls, it's in Virginia."

"Mystic Falls?" Sam asked. "That's where Elena is from."

"Well, maybe she thought it was a legend and she was making research about that?" Dean shrugged.

"I'm not done. The crazy stuff isn't there yet." Bobby interrupted them, not keeping his eyes off his translation. "When the family arrived there, they realized that the people living on this land shifted into wolves during the full moon. Ring a bell?"

"Werewolves." Dean guessed, receiving a nod from Bobby.

"One night, Henrik and Niklaus snuck out and decided to watch them shift in the woods, and Henrik died, attacked by a werewolf. Mikael, got mad as hell, made his wife Esther create a spell to turn his children and himself into creatures, stronger, faster, more dexterous than the werewolves and also the gift of immortality."

"Just that? Isn't he a little demanding?" Dean chuckled and rolled his eyes as Sam shot him an annoyed look.

"Esther created a spell using things such as the Sun's energy for life, and a variety of tree, a white oak, for immortality. To complete the ritual, Mikael made his children drink wine laced with the blood from a girl named Tatia Petrova, and he killed them."

"And the award for the Father of the Year goes to..."

"Shut up and listen." Sam silenced his brother, attentive to what Bobby was saying.

"When his children woke up, they were in transition, which meant that they were in a state between human and immortal," Bobby explained, frowning at the paper he was holding. "Mikael forced them to drink human blood to complete the transition." As he was done, Bobby rubbed his forehead and looked at the two brothers. "That's is how, boys, the first vampires on Earth were created."

Dean and Sam stared at each others for a moment, looking extremely confused.

"So what, vampires were created with a witch spell?" Dean said in disbelief. "Friggin' witches, I swear."

"Actually, they're not like the ones you boys are hunting." Bobby corrected. "It's another species, they're entirely different."

"How come we've never heard about that before?" Dean raised his hands, a little mad at what Bobby revealed them.

"They're really discreet. See that?" Bobby took the file in his hand and waved it. "It's the only document in the World about this Family. For the vampires themselves, they're mentioned in Legend books, but no one ever took them seriously."

"The real question isn't why we've never heard about them, but how can we kill them? I suppose that if we cut their heads off, it won't work, right?" Sam said as he leaned against the desk, his head starting to hurt. That was really unexpected.

"Beheading actually works, but there are other things, such as wooden stakes..."

"Cliché." Dean cut off Bobby, obviously not buying the story he told them.

"Wooden stakes," Bobby insisted, tired of hearing Dean make remarks about everything he was saying. "But an Original Vampire can't be killed with a simple wooden stake. It has to be a White Oak stake, but unfortunately, they've burnt the only tree in the world." He paused, looking only at Sam now.

"Clever move: they can't be killed." He sighed. "What else?"

"Vervain is a plant that can burn them and protect humans from being compelled..."

"Compulsion?" The younger brother questioned the old man.

"Basically, if a vampire compels you to slit your own throat, you'll do it without a second thought unless you've consumed vervain before. Sun burns them as well, but I've heard that some vampires can walk in the sun, and no one knows why..." Bobby added.

"Sammy, you're not actually believing this, aren't you? That's bullshit! I thought you were smarter than that!" Dean shook his head angrily, staring at his brother in disbelief. Even with the handwritten file in front of his eyes, he just couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that witchcraft could actually do this and that there were two different kinds of vampires. Today wasn't the day he'd start believing that.

"Dean, why don't you believe it? Maybe we've never met them because we didn't know they existed and that we didn't look for them?""

"Fine, let's ask this Trevor. I'm sure he'd be glad to help us if he ever exists."

"He's probably still hiding." Bobby threw in.

"Seriously?" Dean snorted. "Obviously."

Bobby sat down at his desk, watching the two brothers fight again.

"Why don't you ask this Elena girl?" He asked, and leaned his head to the side as Sam and Dean suddenly stopped and looked at him. The easiest solution was right in front of their eyes and they didn't even see it.

"We will." Sam nodded, but then, he remembered something Bobby said about what was in the file.

"Bobby? What about the Doppelgänger thing?" Sam sat down on the couch he was sitting a while ago.

"I haven't found a lot about that, but apparently, Tatia Petrova, the girl used to turn them all into vampires, is the first member of a bloodline which was created to break a curse."

"Do you know what curse?" Sam gave it a shot, almost sure that Bobby didn't have the answer to his question.

"I don't, but I personally think it has something to do with this family."

"Dammit." Sam cursed in a low voice; Dean was partially right: this story was crazy as didn't know what to think anymore. In one hand, it was weird that they've never heard of them before, and on the other hand, the story was so detailed that it would be sick if someone actually made that up. The only thing he knew was that they had to ask Elena about them and depending on her answer, they'll believe it or not.

Suddenly, the living room was quiet, even Dean didn't say anything; the three hunters were just thinking by themselves. After a long silence that felt like ages, Dean finally spoke up.

"Alright, we'll ask Elena. The fact that she comes from Mystic Falls and that she has information about those Originals can't be a coincidence. It's too big." Dean shook his head, wondering what situation Elena got herself into.

Standing up, Dean didn't even look a the two other hunters before leaving the room. His brains were boiling. Dean loved the mysterious side of Elena the Sexy Huntress... But he was really unsure about that mystery. Why did she have all those information about the Originals into her hunting book? Why was she obsessed about hunting only vampires? She had something to hide, and Dean knew it. But this time it didn't seem to be an innocent secret, it seemed to be a big and dangerous one... Probably dangerous for her, but maybe for everyone around her as well?

"I'm so glad to see you, Bons!" Elena almost jumped into her best friends's arms, tears already threatening to fall down her cheeks. She didn't even remember the last time she has seen her friend.

"Me too." Bonnie smiled wide as she hugged the brunette back.

"Look at you." Elena pushed Bonnie at arm length, observing her. Elena had to admit it : Bonnie was stunning. Her dark skin was perfect, and her hair was cut at shoulder length and it was very shiny. Her outfit suited her really well and she actually looked like a grown-up. She wasn't the cute but shy friend she was when they were back at school. "You look gorgeous." Elena smiled, hugging her friend briefly one more time before letting go of her.

Elena quickly turned to grab a second chair for her friend, not wanting her to return the compliment. The huntress already knew that she wasn't gorgeous anymore. Her hair was thrown up into a ponytail most of the time, her face was makeup-free (she did make some exceptions and put a little bit of mascara on sometimes, but that was all), she mostly wore worn-out and dark-coloured clothes and every inch of skin she exposed was laced with thin scars or small bruises. The hunter life was tough, and she didn't want Bonnie to see how neglecting she was with her own body.

"You look good as well." Bonnie smiled as she sat down. "You look strong."

"Doing my best." Elena shrugged a little, and looked at her brother laying asleep on the hospital bed.

"What happened to your arm?" Bonnie asked.

"I fell from a ladder." Elena shook her head, chuckling softly. It wasn't entirely true, but she didn't tell the whole truth either. Lying became easy.

The two friends fell silent for a moment. Even though they were still best friends, life broke them apart and they hardly found something neutral to talk about. Something different than the supernatural topic. Their lives were so different now.

"So you're coming to see him often?" Elena finally broke the silence, looking at Bonnie.

"I try to come at least three times a week." She answered, a faint smile on her face.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For visiting him. I'll never be able to redeem myself on that one." Elena paused, taking a deep breath. "I know I'm a horrible person. I mean, I leave my own brother alone in a hospital room and I don't visit him often enough..." Elena wiped her eyes roughly, staring at her brother's chest raising and lowering. "I wish I could be there for him all the time. I really do. But I..." Her voice trailed off as her throat clenched with emotion, not able to talk properly.

"I know." Bonnie reached for Elena's hand and squeezed it tightly into hers. "I know you care about him. I just don't understand why you're so eager to find them." Bonnie explained, hoping that Elena won't get mad again. Everytime they saw each others, the two girls would always fight against the same subject : Jeremy and Elena's occupation.

"I have to kill him." Elena said, her teeth already gritted in anger. "I am the one who made Damon compel Jer to go to Denver. I am the one who put my own brother into Kol's claws. Kol almost killed my brother. It's his turn now. And I won't miss."

Bonnie sighed, exasperated. Elena was so stubborn.

"So you think he's going to let you kill him like that? That's what you think?"

"I'm strong enough now." Elena tried to calm down.

"No, you're not." Bonnie stood up, staring down at Elena angrily now. "You've just told me that you wished you were there for your brother, but what if you die? Do you think he'd want this for you?"

"Don't talk for him." Elena stood up as well, and now it was her turn to look down at Bonnie. The dark-skinned woman was smaller than her, but she wasn't weak, and Elena knew that.

"You think I'm not mad at Kol and Klaus? You think I let bygones be bygones on the fact that Klaus asked his brother to kill Jeremy?" Bonnie spat, glaring at Elena angrily. "I love him so much, Elena, and I'm so angry that I would kill him myself if I had the strength to do so... But I don't. We don't." She paused, pointing at Elena, her anger lowering a little bit. "Why don't you enjoy Jeremy's company while he's still there? We never know what can happen." Her voice was barely a whisper now.

Elena stared at her best friend, her angry expression replaced by a sad one. As tears were flowing down her cheeks, she tried to wipe them but her hands were too shaky. Letting herself fall back into her chair, she put her face into her hands, a sob escaping her lips. "I'm sorry" Elena whispered, feeling guilty for yelling at her friend, but for not being there for her brother as well.

She knew that Bonnie was totally right about the situation, but she just couldn't live while knowing that Kol and Klaus were out there, having fun and hurting other people, destroying other lives. She had to stop them. When Elena started hunting, it was only a way to leash out her rage against vampires, but with time, it became more like a duty. A duty to help people and protect them against those creatures. She wasn't even looking for the Originals, until she started finding more and more cases about bodies drained of their blood. Killing sprees. Just like Stefan and Klaus did after the ritual... And that was the moment she knew that they had to be stopped. Even Stefan, no matter how much she cared for him.

"God, you look so tired." Bonnie interrupted Elena in her thoughts as she pushed a strand of her long hair away from her friend's face. "What happened to you?" She added, her face showing worry for her friend.

When Dean finally decided to go back home, the night has fallen and the air became cold. As he stepped into the living room, the two hunters watched him closely, not saying a word about him being gone for three hours without telling him where he went.

Dean didn't go too far, he just went to that bar downtown. He had a couple of beers and thought for a while about flirting with the new barmaid, but he didn't. She physically looked like someone he knew... Long brown hair, hazelnut eyes, slim and toned body... But her mentality wasn't the same at all. Her behaviour towards Dean was too obvious : she talked to him for a good thirty minutes about many boring things, pulled down on her shirt to show more cleavage when she thought he couldn't see her, or making some innuendos, but all she got was Dean's ignorance.

Dean didn't want her. He wanted Elena. Before that night, he hadn't noticed how attracted he felt about the wild huntress, he only thought it was curiosity or sexual attraction. But if it was only about sex, why didn't he feel attracted to the barmaid that looked a lot like her? He could have just pretended it was Elena instead of that slutty barmaid, but it felt oddly wrong.

"Dean, you with us?" His brother's voice snapped him out of his own thoughts.

"Yeah." He responded, sitting down on the couch.

"Where were you?"

"I had a couple drinks at the bar, nothing much. Dean shrugged, looking at the two hunters. "What about you?"

"Nothing much. We tried to find some other information about..." Sam suddenly stopped talking and looked past Dean's shoulder.

"I have a case for you."

When Dean turned, he was face to face with a baby-blue-eyed angel staring right back at him.

"Cas? What are you doing here?"

"I have a case for you." Castiel repeated, his voice monotone.

When the Angel started speaking, Dean rose his hand in front of him and stopped him from speaking more.

"Before you speak," Dean folded his arms. "We want to know what's going on with Elena and this whole Guardian thing."

Suddenly, Castiel's face turned pale, and he stared at the three hunters in front of him, speechless.

"Come on, Cas. You told us it was important for us to find her and you don't come yell at us when we aren't with her? Something's wrong, right?"

"I-I am not allowed to tell you" Castiel mumbled, looking down at his feet.

Why did the angel looked so worried?

"You have to tell us, Castiel." Sam advanced and looked at him with furrowed brows. "It's about our safety," Sam added, knowing that this simple fact would make Castiel speak. He'd proved them many times that the Winchester's safety was important for him and for the people upstairs, so why not play on that string?

"The..." Castiel cleared his throat. "The plans are a bit compromised at the moment. Heaven is trying to fix this as soon as possible." The angel answered by rote.

"What else? And don't pull out a made-up sentence like the one you just said. You sound like a friggin answering machine."

"I can't say much, I'm sorry." He apologized, then vanished into the air.

"Dammit, Cas!" Dean rubbed his eyes with one hand, starting to get tired of this whole story about the Guardians and the Originals.

"Here's your case." Bobby showed a small paper to the two boys. Castiel had left the paper on his desk before vanishing. How nice.

Sam sighed and looked at his brother warily.

Things were getting complicated.

"So... You've heard of Caroline?" Elena stared into her cup of coffee.

She heard Bonnie sigh.

"Of course not." She answered, not daring to look at her friend either. "Damon's trying to find her, but I haven't heard of him in a while, so..."

It was Elena's turn to sigh. As she fell silent, she recalled the last time she has seen Caroline. It was the night after the full moon... The night after she killed Tyler...

"What do you mean by 'he's gone.'?" Caroline breathed, staring into Elena's eyes.

Bonnie Damon, Caroline and Elena were gathered into the Salvatore boarding house's huge living room, and Bonnie and Damon they were focused on the talk going on between the two best friends. They looked warily at the two girls, knowing that this talk wouldn't end well.

"He's dead, Caroline. I'm so sorry." Elena's tears rolled down her cheeks like a waterfall.

"How?" Caroline whispered, plopping down on the couch. She was in shock and the girl remained frozen, drained of all her energy.

"When Tyler and I were in the cellar, I remembered that I had left the wolfsbane bottle at your house, and it was too late to get it..."

"And?" Caroline looked up, as if she already knew what Elena was going to tell her.

"He was too strong and the chains were too old. He told me to run away but.." Her breathed grew raspy. "But I tried to calm him down first... And when he broke free, I ran away and sprained my ankle..."

"Keep talking, Elena." The vampire stood up. She knew.

"Tyler was about to kill me..." Elena's sob blocked her throat, not allowing her to speak properly.

"So you killed him instead?"

Elena was looking down, crying into her hands. She didn't dare to look at Caroline anymore.

"Say it."

As Elena kept crying, Caroline growled and grabbed her throat, cutting Elena's air flow. As the doppelgänger's face became red, she dropped her on the floor, leaning down to take a closer look at the miserable-looking brunette laying on the floor. When Damon tried to intervene and stop Caroline from harming her friend more, Elena raised her hand towards Damon, telling him that she was okay. As she sat up, Elena stared into her bestfriends eyes and without flinching, she spoke:

"I killed him."

That was the hardest thing Elena had to do in her whole life. She knew that Caroline was hurt, and it was her fault. Now she had to face the consequences, even if they were way harder to face than what she could handle.

"I'm sorry, Care." Elena breathed as she wiped her wet cheeks.

When Elena looked at her blonde friend, she noticed that she didn't shed any tears. The Caroline Forbes Pride. She'd rather cut her own arm off than cry in public. Even in front of Elena, or Damon or Bonnie, who were at this point watching the fight closely, hoping that Caroline won't hurt Elena more. They understood the vampire's grief, but Elena was already so hard on herself that Caroline would be sure her friend suffered from what she had done already.

Suddenly, Caroline closed her eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on something in her mind, something unreachable for the three other people in the room. As Bonnie and Elena glanced at each other questioningly, Damon's eyes widened and he launched himself at Caroline, shaking her vigorously by her shoulders. The Salvatore vampire understood what the blondie was doing, but it was too late.

"Don't do that! Please Caroline, don't!"

"What's wrong?" Bonnie walked towards Damon, but the vampire kept her at arms length behind him.

"Don't come closer. She turned her emotions off."

Elena gasped loudly and quickly advanced towards her best friend, a hurt look showing in her face. She didn't mean to hurt her this much. She didn't mean to push her best friend to deny the only thing that made her be who she was. Caroline was one of the most loving, caring, and delicate girls Elena has ever met. And now, because of her, she had to let go of all her qualities and remain void of any emotion.

"Caroline..." She started.

"Don't." Caroline snapped, and grabbed Elena by her collar. "Look at me in the eyes." She paused, and Elena actually got scared by the anger showing into Caroline's gray-blue orbs. "The next time you'll cross my way, you'll be dead before you even have the time to scream for help."

"Care, you can't leave like tha-" Bonnie spoke up.

"And you two," Caroline cut Bonnie off, gesturing to Damon and her friend after letting go of Elena. "If I catch you looking for me, you'll be next." After finishing her sentence she disappeared, slamming the door behind her.

Elena felt dizzy, and before she could fall down and hit the Mansion's floor, two strong arms were wrapped around her torso, sitting her down on the couch Caroline sat on a few minutes ago.

"She's gone..." Elena's voice was so weak that only Damon could hear it.

"I know..." Damon said, not unwrapping his arms from around Elena.

Bonnie too, was in shock. As she sat down on the couch facing the two other people in the room, her face was really pale.

"She's gone..." Elena repeated, this time her voice breaking into a loud sob.

"I'll do anything to find her, I promise..." Damon soothed her. "I'll bring her back, okay? I'll find her..." The vampire stroked Elena's hair softly, and looked at Bonnie, who wore a concerned look on her face.

Caroline was serious about the death threat, and Bonnie wasn't sure at all if she wanted Damon to risk his life finding her. Recently, Damon changed a lot, and in a good way. It surprised everyone. He had been a true friend, not the dick he was when he first arrived in town. He was part of their group now, and he was the almost-official boyfriend of Elena. His life had value now, and Bonnie didn't know if Elena could support seeing someone sacrificing himself for her again.

Elena's thoughts were interrupted by Bonnie's hand laying on her arm.

"Don't worry. She will forgive you and realize that you didn't mean to do this at all. She'll come back." The dark-haired woman smiled, hope showing in her eyes.

Elena smiled at her friend and squeezed her hand. Bonnie Bennett always had the right words to make people feel better. Elena wished she had that quality. It would make everything easier in her life.

A knock on the door reached the two bestfriend's ears and the two of them turned to the door, and as Bonnie and Elena noticed who it was they both stood up.

"Afternoon, ladies. I'm Dr. Stevens, Jeremy's new main doctor. The handsome man in a white blouse said, and advanced his hand for the girls to shake it. After shaking Bonnie's hand, he advanced towards Elena, but recoiled for a moment.

Elena did too and, feeling her cheeks heating up suddenly, she chuckled a little.

"Well, Mrs. Gun." Dr. Stevens chuckled a little and shook her hand nonetheless.

It was the man from the parking. The man she accidently almost shot in the face before getting inside of the hospital.

"Hello. I'm Jeremy's sister and..." She paused, looking at his apologetically. "Sorry about earlier."

"It's okay. I wasn't expecting this at all but I have my part of wrongs," He shrugged. "I startled you."

Elena sighed, relieved that he wasn't mad at her. When she looked at her friend, she shot her the famous 'I'll tell you later' look. When Bonnie nodded back, Elena smiled at her and they both turned to the doctor.

"Let's talk about Jeremy now." Dr. Stevens cleared his throat slightly. "Jeremy is in a coma since a few months now, and I am sure that waiting for a progression of his state – positive progression I mean – must be tiring for you."

"It is, but we would do anything for him." Bonnie smiled and held Elena's hand tightly, knowing that she felt guilty about not being a lot with her brother. She was there today and she didn't want her bestfriend to think that she wasn't a good sister.

"Well, this progression you were waiting for is there." Dr. Stevens smiled wide and turned some pages of Jeremy's charts.

Elena's heart beat so fast at this moment that she even heard her blood pulse into her ears. When she looked at her bestfriend, she smiled widely and she felt a huge wave of hope going through her.

"Tell us about it." Bonnie was suddenly smiling brightly.

"We have detected an activity in his brain." The doc paused, searching for easy understandable words to use. Basically, when a patient is in a coma because of brain death, there is no activity anymore. Jeremy's brain wasn't dead, but since he fell into this coma there wasn't much activity. But a few days ago we checked the activity in his brain and there was a slight change." He eyed them, hoping that they understood what he meant.

"So, is he going to wake up soon?" Elena said, looking at the doc almost pleadingly.

"Not in a near future," He frowned as her smile fell. "But his chance of waking up one day are getting bigger. We will keep you updated if something evolves, positively or not." He nodded at the two women and left the room, a smile on his face.

"Thank you!" Elena and Bonnie called after him, before falling into each other's arms.

Elena's eyes were wet with happy tears. Something positive, finally! She prayed so many times for her brother to be back that she had lost count. As she pulled back, the huntress looked at her friend, who was wiping her eyes as well. Without a second thought, she told her friend what she had in mind.

"If Jeremy wakes up, I promise that I'll quit."

"You'll... Quit?" Bonnie asked, not sure to understand well.

"If he wakes up, I won't be looking for Kol anymore. If he wakes up, I promise that our life will be the same as before."

Bonnie started laughing and hugged her friend again. Elena felt relieved for a moment. She was ready to get her life back, and forget her new made-up identity. She was ready to put down the guns and machetes, to forget everything she had learnt and everyone she had met.

When her thoughts lingered on the people she had met, her mind drifted to Sam and Dean Winchester... Was she going to forget them as well?

Now that she had promised something she would have never promised two hours ago, Elena didn't feel so sure anymore.

Was her old life, the life she needed?

The air was cold and the place was dark. It was an old house, abandoned by its previous owners. The floor was dusty and the wallpaper started peeling at the corners, humidity staining the walls. In the living room, there was a big wooden table. On this big wooden table, there were a few candles melting. They have been lit up for too long. And, hunched over these candles, a woman. She was chanting in a weird language and was staring at a map.

As the woman heard footsteps coming from behing her, her heart beat went faster, fear taking over.

"So, did you find her?"

"No, no I didn't." She stammered out. "The person you're looking for is not completely human, I-I don't know how it can be possible."

"So?"

"If she's not 100% human, I can't locate her. I don't have enough experience for that, I'm sorry." She finished her sentence and looked at the threatening man. "Please don't kill me. I have a family, I have children..."

"Darling, what you're saying is breaking my heart, but... you're useless now." The man smiled before snapping her neck with a simple wrist flick, watching the now dead witch collapse on the floor. "Bring me another witch!" He yelled with a strong accent, stomping his foot on the floor like a grumpy child.

"You've killed them all, Sir." One of his minions spoke up, looking afraid of his Master's reaction. He wasn't lying: all the witches captured that day were dead.

"Bollocks." The man cursed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Here you go! What did you think about this chapter? I know there wasn't much action but this chapter was needed.

Did you find out who was the mysterious man at the end? Come on, that's obvious! ;)

About the Originals' story, I know a lot of things have been revealed in the spin-off, but I have only said the things we knew after the S3.
About Jeremy's coma, I'm sorry if the medical terms are wrong. I'm not good at sciences haha.

I feel like this chapter has left some things uncleared, so if you feel lost, REVIEW! I'll DM you to answer your questions (unless it spoils the rest of the fic!) if you have a Fanfiction account, but if you're a guest I'll answer in the next chapter.

PS: Please, don't be mad at me if you find some spelling mistakes. I've done my best to avoid them but sometimes I miss them.

One last thing: please REVIEW! It always makes me happy to see if you like where the story is going.