Briana's POV

"Oh, bad timing," I moaned, dropping Damon flat on his ass.

He scrambled to get up, but it didn't save him any embarrassment. I failed to hide a laugh behind a cough. He lightly rammed his shoulder into my arm. I gave him a look that said I was going to rip his shoulder blades out and use them to slit his own throat. Or something like that.

"We received notice that the doppelganger would be here," said the man in front, three in all. The guy had a deep, commanding voice, but it didn't dim my confidence. All of them looked the same. Dark hair, dark, eyes, dark clothes... it all blurred into three people who wanted to steal my lover's brother's girl.

"Yes, she is-" I began smoothly.

"Briana!" hissed Damon, standing in front of the deathly silent Elena like a shield. He turned to the men. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. She's not up for grabs." His tone frightened me the slightest bit, a little pinch in the back of my mind.

"Well, I'm sorry to inform you," said the minion, "but I'm here to take the doppelganger. And I will."

He would've if not for the disgusting squelch and tearing sound that came from his chest. When he dropped, there was him, holding his heart in one hand. Thick globs of blood dripped from his hand and pooled at his shiny Italian shoes, which he seemed only slightly dismayed about. He wore black suit-pants and a crisp blue dress shirt, buttoned up to rest the perfectly pressed folds at the top on his collar bone. His smile was tight and small, but irritated, and his hair was styled so delicately it made me feel self-conscious.

"Elijah," I gasped, scooping up my fedora and smashing it on my head, the lip pulled over my eyes, just as his gaze turned lazily to me.

"Hello," he droned. As if he wasn't somebody I hadn't seen in over two centuries. As if I wasn't somebody he hadn't seen in a millennium.

"Wait, we were just about to-" started one of the three nameless men, just before Elijah reached out and ripped their two hearts out as well. He dropped them carelessly on their lifeless body once they slumped to the hardwood floors.

"Die?" he said, walking casually towards us. "Yes, I know. I also know you," he pointed to a shivering Elena, "you," he pointed distastefully to Damon, scowling, "but not you." He gestured to me, and a quick glance around showed Rose had already disappeared.

"How ironic," I murmured, dipping my head as low as possible without tipping the hat off.

I don't know why, but I just couldn't bare to have him see me yet. It must be because if he told Klaus of me, he probably would fear what I am (not that he knew) and never bring his other family here. Of course. That's it. He put his finger under my chin, causing me to tremble.

"And why is that?" Before he could force my head up, Damon miraculously sensed my fear and stepped in between us, a tight fit. I was pressed completely to the back of him.

"What- you want Elena, too?" he said threateningly, menacingly. Elijah gave a wry, hateful grin and chuckled.

"Surprisingly, no." His voice was smooth, like caramel, and quiet, as if he wanted you to lean in and hang on to every important word he said. "But you people are doing such a terrible job at keeping her safe that I thought I should come back and tell you to bring her to her house. Don't let her go."

And then he was gone. I turned to the others.

"What the fuck just happened?" I said. Nobody else seemed to know.

* * * * *

The ride home was silent. Rose was found hiding in Stefan's car that she and Damon had drove here in, which he wasn't too happy about considering she'd left us with Elijah, but she drove it home anyway because he wanted to ride with us. He was afraid I might take Elena again, or something stupid like that. It's odd how he could be so tense with me after just saving me from the recognition of my own brother. Damon didn't say a word the entire way, not even to his 'one and only love'. 'Only love' my ass. I bet he thought he'd never love another back in 1864.

When we got back to Mystic Falls, he dropped her off and walked her to the door like she was some precious southern belle, and then hopped back in the car. He didn't move; he just sat there, his hands gripping the wheel so tightly that his knuckles were somehow whiter than his already ivory skin. His mouth was down-set in a Stefan-like frown.

"What were you thinking?" he hissed, so softly it was even hard for me to hear him.

I sighed, "I was thinking... that if I could get a hold of people who knew where Klaus was, that I could follow them to where they were carting the doppelganger-"

"Elena," he forced through his teeth. He was positively seething.

"Whatever. I could follow them to Klaus and my family, kill them, and then it's all over. Or maybe that once Elena was dead- which she will be eventually- that he'd feel secure enough to wake up his family anyway." I finished and flashed a brilliant smile. He cut me a glare that said he wasn't swaying towards my side.

"But don't you already know everything?" he asked, and then recognition dawned in his eyes.

"Yes, I do, but it would simply b-be easier-"

"You don't know where they are, your family," he accused softly, "do you?" I pursed my lips and clenched my jaw.

"The person I had watching them was discovered and killed. I lost track of them after that."

My voice was quiet and small. I hated the fact that Jane had been murdered. By Mikael, another vampire hunter to say the most! From what I heard, he had just seen her and been so angry at losing Klaus again that he'd killed her. Damon seemed to get the point that I was still in pain from losing my third and final friend to my own father.

There was a low rumble as he started the car, the whine of rubber on the pavement. I gulped, unsure of why I was so worried what he thought of what I'd done. Guilt was weighing on me, but I'd promised Elena that I would cover for her if we got caught. And we did. So I would.

We waited until the car was parked safely in the garage to scream at each other. The moment the door slammed shut behind us, leaving us in the driveway, staring out at the trees, he lost it. My explanation hadn't sated him.

"I'm going to go inside-"

"What is wrong with you?!" he burst, obviously waiting until we were somewhere secluded to start going crazy. "I thought we could trust you!" I laughed maniacally, which only seemed to enrage him further.

"Trust me? You just met me!" I returned, throwing my fists back, my fangs extending.

His expression matched mine, his teeth dangerously sharp, scarlet veins protruding from his eyes. Endlessly frustrated, he threw his hands up in the air and continued, "And? It doesn't take years to know whether or not you trust somebody. I thought you were better than this, Briana!"

"I thought you were better than this, Annice."

I stared down my brother Niklaus, who was cradling Rebekah's head as though I was the one who had done something wrong. Something like betrayal flickered on his face.

"What have I done?" I scoffed. "She was insulting me like she was better than me. Nobody deserves to be treated like that, especially not by the likes of her. I am your sister, too!" He pinched his lips and brushed some fine blond hair from her face. She moaned, using this stupid fight to her every advantage.

"Half," she coughed, while Klaus looked torn between who he should comfort. Maybe- but no. I wouldn't dare share the secret of his birth in a petty argument such as this. How he was born of the other tribe.

"You little wench," I snarled.

All I'd been doing was walking lazily down the dirt pathway, my olive dress swishing around my ankles, when she walked up.

"Shouldn't you be washing my dress," she'd shot off, sneering at me, "or perhaps cooking the meal for tonight?" A couple of girls strolling by hid their mouths behind their hands and giggled. My face burned up in blooming rage.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to get my hands dirty washing your filthy clothes, Rebekah, I might catch whatever's gotten you so disgustingly sick," I'd said coolly. She'd gone slack-jawed with shock, knowing well that I rarely ever let myself fight with her. I was at the end of my patience, though.

"I- I," she stammered, "am perfectly healthy! Honestly, I think moving from one man to the next is a disgusting thing, don't you... whore?"

I cried out, furious. One man! I'd laid with one man, and we were still romantic! There hadn't been a day when I didn't think of Aaron. Fire shot through my veins, and I attacked, causing her and the small group of girls to gasp in shock. My legs out first, the sole of my foot colliding with her chest and knocking the air from her in one quiet hush. She flew back, landing on her back end and rolling over herself a few times. I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly, my cheeks inflamed with shame at what I'd just done. Mother would kill me.

Which brought me to know, while Klaus cradled a whining half-sister, and my mother trampling people in her rush to find her two favorite children, her face nearly as red as mine with anger. My jaw clenched, I stared deeply into Klaus' dark eyes.

"No, Niklaus. I was never better than this."

Damon's POV

I couldn't believe her. After all we'd been through, she kidnapped Elena! I just- can't believe we'd actually trusted her. And by 'we' I mean me! She usually only talked to me. I don't even know of a time she spoke with Elena save for when she stopped Stefan from killing that Amber girl at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant.

"I thought you were better than this, Briana!" I screamed, white hot anger making my teeth go sharp and my vision go red.

She recoiled as if I'd slapped her, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. For a moment she just stood there, as if thinking or remembering something, and then she collected herself.

Her entire form flickered for a second just after she turned to look at something over my head. When she returned, she was holding something in her hands. It was bright yellow and fluttery, tweeting indignantly. A finch. Briana cooed motherly things to it, brushing her finger over it's small bird head. I waited for her to do something that had any relevance to the conversation.

"I act," she crooned, still looking at the bird, "I take, and I kill as I need to. If I please, then I will steal away what- or whomever I want. I am stronger than you. And smarter. I don't need a humanity switch that will always be banking on the edge of ON and OFF."

There was a small crack, and she opened her palm. Calmly, she laid the bird down in the grass, its tiny beak turned towards the earth with a drop of blood leaking from the corner. For some strange reason, it made me irreparably sad. "No," she crooned, "I was never better than this."