Chapter 3

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Note: Previously, in "The Salvatore Sister," Damon asks a skeptical Stefan to join him and Elena on their journey to find Natalia.

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Elena stole glances at Damon as he drove. It had been nearly two hours since they left Mystic Falls, and she couldn't help but be concerned about him. It wasn't that she was having second thoughts about this, far from it, she just didn't want Damon to be disappointed if things didn't turn out the way he hoped. Of course, suppose they did find Natalia, but she had no memory of either Damon or Stefan? After all, it had been over a hundred and fifty years since all three siblings were together, and even though she might be a vampire, she might have lost all of her memories, especially the good ones.

Smiling slightly, she gently took Damon's hand and squeezed it, letting him know that she was there for him. She was about to say something when she heard Damon's phone go off. Blinking, she picked it up and saw a text message. That's strange, who would be texting them?

"I know you're looking for me."

Elena was puzzled by the message. It couldn't be from Natalia, could it? That was impossible, since she didn't have Damon's number. Stefan eyed the message Elena was reading curiously. "Who's the message from?"

"I don't know," she replied. "It just says, 'I know you're looking for me.'"

"It's from Talia," said Damon. "She's trying to contact me somehow."

"How, Damon? How can she be trying to contact you?" said Stefan. "For one, she doesn't know your number."

"Maybe whoever she's been living with all these years gave her my number."

Stefan shook his head. "I just hope that this isn't a trick."

"And why would our own sister trick us, Stefan?" said Damon. "She practically raised us after Mom died. This has to be Talia. If she didn't survive, I probably wouldn't be feeling her presence right now."

Elena listened to the brothers going back and forth and then, curious to see where the message would take them, decided to reply back. She typed in her reply:

"Natalia, if this is you, tell us where you are so that we can find you."

After she had typed in the reply, Elena pressed "Send," and waited for the sender to message back. She only hoped that what she did was the right thing. Damon glanced over at Elena just after she replied to the mysterious text.

"What did you do?"

"I replied back," said Elena. "Damon, if you're right, this could lead us to Natalia."

"That message could've been sent by anyone, Elena," said Stefan before Damon could say anything. "How do we know we're not being led into some kind of trap?"

Just then, Elena felt the phone vibrate in her hand and looked at the screen. She had gotten a response to her text. Damn, that was faster than she thought. Her curiosity eating at her, Elena looked at the message:

"Yes, it's me. I'm due north of where you are, in the woods. I'll meet you in the clearing in 15 minutes."

"You were right, Damon," she said. "It is from Natalia. She says in the woods to the north of where we are, and we're to meet her there in fifteen minutes."

Damon nodded and, not wasting a second, kicked the car into high gear. He couldn't let Natalia's request go unanswered, especially not after he had spent all of these years looking for her.

Elsewhere...

Natalia stood in the clearing, watching for any sign of Damon. It had been almost fifteen minutes since she sent that text message and she was full of hope that he'd come to her. Astrid stood nearby, eyeing her protoge carefully.

"You're certain that your brother will come?"

Natalia nodded. "He'll be here, Astrid. If I know my brother, he'll waste no time in granting my request. It would be rude of him not to. I've waited a hundred and fifty years for this."

Sensing a familiar presence coming toward them, she added, "See? What did I tell you?"

No sooner did she complete that sentence than Damon approached from between two trees that stood near the entrance to the clearing. When his icy blue eyes met the ones belonging to his long-lost twin, he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Talia."

Natalia smiled at him. "Hello, brother."

"I was right, you did survive," said Damon. "But, I don't get it. Why didn't you contact me?"

"I wanted to, believe me," said Natalia. "I just...didn't think you would want to see me again." She nodded toward Astrid. "This is Astrid, the vampire who turned me. Astrid, this is my twin brother, Damon, the one I told you about."

Astrid nodded. "It's nice to finally meet you, Damon. Natalia couldn't stop talking about you." She then sensed two other visitors heading this way. "It would seem that we are going to have more guests." She looked at Natalia. "Are you sure that Damon was the only one you sent that text message to?"

"Yes, I only had Damon's number," said Natalia. "Unless, of course, he didn't come here alone." She gave Damon a curious look. "Who else is with you, Damon?"

"Someone that has doubted that you had survived," said Damon. "But, I managed to talk him into coming with me." Not taking his eyes off Natalia, he added, "Come on out, Stefan."

Natalia blinked. "Stefan?"

The youngest Salvatore brother stepped out and his green eyes widened when he saw that Damon had been telling the truth. "Oh God, so it wasn't a trick after all."

"What did I tell you, Stef?" said Damon. "Our sister survived, and she's a vampire thanks to her friend, Astrid."

Natalia smiled, but then sensed another presence and when she saw Elena stepping out beside Stefan, she immediately thought that Katherine had tagged along.

"Katherine, what are you doing here?"

Elena blinked. "I'm not Katherine. I'm Elena."

"Oh, so you're using a fake name, are you?" said Natalia. "Well, it's not working, you bitch, because I see right through your lie." She pinned Elena against a tree before either Damon or Stefan could stop her, extending her fangs. "You have hurt my brothers for the last time!"

Before she could harm the girl, Damon grabbed Natalia and pulled her away. "Talia, no, she's telling the truth. She really isn't Katherine. Her name is Elena, and she's Katherine's doppelganger. I know you think it's Katherine, but it's not."

"Doppelganger?" Natalia looked at Astrid. "Astrid, you know the Petrova line better than anyone. Tell me, is it possible for a doppelganger to exist?"

Astrid nodded. "While I have never seen one until now, this girl here does prove that a doppelganger does exist. And it would appear that she is different from Katerina."

Damon let Natalia go. "You see? I was telling the truth. And I happen to love Elena more than anything. Her love for me, unlike Katherine's, is genuine, not fake."

Natalia looked at Elena, her fangs retracting. "My sincerest apologies, Elena. I didn't mean to attack you like that. It's just...you look like a woman I hate and that was why I flew into that rage."

"I understand," said Elena. "Being a doppelganger isn't exactly a picnic for me."

"Still, I hope this doesn't prevent us from being friends."

Elena nodded. "It won't as long as you don't attack me again."

Stefan took the opportunity to look at Astrid. "Astrid, may I ask you something?"

"You may, young one." Astrid eyed Stefan curiously, not sure what he was going to ask her.

"How long have you been a vampire?"

"I was turned in the year 1212, in the thirteenth century," said Astrid. "I was seventeen at the time, so I'm roughly about eigrht hundred and seventeen years old. And, no, I don't remember exactly who the vampire was that turned me. All I know is my life was forever changed that night."

"I only asked because there are vampires known as Originals," said Stefan. "And I was curious to see if you were one as well."

"I know of them, if that's what you're getting at. I hunted with them for a time." Astrid smiled. "The one who interested me was Elijah. He had such a kind soul, not like his wild brother, Niklaus. But, I suppose that came from living among wolves."

Stefan nodded. At least he now knew a little more about the one who turned his sister. Astrid smiled at him, but then shifted her attention back to Damon. She was curious about the elder Salvatore brother and although she wanted to test his strength, she told herself to bide her time. After all, she didn't want to disrupt anything. At least not yet.

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