(2) Just Magic (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Fifteen

Later; Elena is looking in a box and finds a picture of Katherine, she picks it up before she turns to Vanessa who lingers close by. It's all a little weird. Doing the research and seeing it all in person it two totally different things.

"Hey, have you done any research on doppelgängers?" Elena asks her. Vanessa moves closer to Elena.

"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures, but typically a doppelgänger is a living, breathing double of oneself"

"Did Isobel have anything that explained the link between us and Katherine and Ally?"

"That's all she had on them, unfortunately, but I can tell you that doppelgängers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting." Vanessa answers. Elena raises an eyebrow but sighs in agreement. Though it explains Katherine and how she has been behaving it doesn't really explain Ally or her behaviour. She's not tried at all to screw with Cassandra at all. That they know of, of course. Elena glances at Cassandra who is going over another of Isobel's bookshelves.

..........

Cassandra lets out a sigh as she finds yet another bookshelf pointless and unhelpful. There is nothing here that is going to help them with the Lockwoods. The only hint of there being werewolves in Virginia is that Aztec story. She slumps her shoulders and rubs her forehead, closing her eyes. Of course, this was never going to be easy, nothing has been so far, why should it start now?

"Buttercup" Damon states, she hums and turns to face him. He hands Cassandra a book and she raises an eyebrow at him as she takes it, turning it to look at the spine where the word 'Petrova' is written down the length of it. She traces the name and looks at him.

"Petrova?" She asks him, he hums.

"Ally and Katherine....originally came from Europe. Petrova is their real name. Alina and Katerina Petrova, to be exact" He answers, she hums a little.

"How did you know that?"

"Back when, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom" He answers as he brushes her hair back over her shoulder. "Men snoop too, you know. Let me know what you find, I'm very curious myself." She opens up the book and lets out a breath and gives Damon a look.

"It's in....what is this? Latin?" She asks him, he shrugs.

"No idea" He answers. She looks down at the book. She hopes there I some kind of app on her phone that is going to help her here, though even with it, it is going to take her ages to translate this whole book.

"Thanks" She offers, he hums and nods.

............

Elena, Cassandra and Damon walk up the porch, returning home. It's dark now. Cassandra will likely not have that much time to get started on the book. Plus she is actually rather tired and wants to crash with some ice cream.

"Road trips work well for us" Damon teases, Elena gives him a look before heading inside, Damon turns to Cassandra who shrugs.

"It wasn't going to be that easy" She points out, he shrugs.

"Kinda hoped it would be" He argues and touches her arm. "You staying here tonight?"

"Yeah, I want to get started on this book" She admits. "And you're a huge distraction" She teases, he pokes her nose and smirks at her before leaning closer and kissing her softly, his arm curling around her back to pull her closer.

.................

There is a translation programming on her laptop open, a notebook filled with notes and ideas. Cassandra sits on her bed, the Petrova book open in her lap. She rubs at her face and then groans. She has no idea what she is doing. Translating is hard. She falls backwards and lets out a breath. She's not sure she's smart enough to do something like this. She should have taken Damon's offer of his bed up. That would have been a more fun night.

..........

Damon wakes to the rustling of parchment pages. He frowns and turns over to find Cassandra sat reading that book. Again. It's been days since their road trip and she has barely set that thing down. He should never have given it to her.

"Have you slept at all?" He asks as he sits up. She's in the same position he left her in when he fell asleep. She hums a little and shrugs. She's not actually sure any more. "You've been working on that non-stop for days" Damon points out, pulling the book away from her. "Take a break" She lets out a breath and looks at him. "It's not going anywhere" he teases as he closes the book and sets it aside. "Why are you so hung up on it anyway?" He asks, she shrugs a little, he gives her a look. She sighs.

"It's my family history" She answers. "My ancestors...And..." She lets out a breath. "Maybe it has an explanation as to where my powers come from" She points out. Damon softens a little. "There has to be a reason, right?" He touches her arm and she glances at him. "It's not just random" He shrugs.

"Maybe" He agrees. "But do you really think they'd write it down?" He brushes her hair over her shoulder.

"I don't know" She whispers and lets out a breath. She just wanted a good explanation as to why she has these powers. She looks down at her hands bouncing a ball of energy over her fingers. Damon touches her wrist and slides his hand into hers.

"It doesn't matter where they came from" He offers.

"You don't get it" She argues. "It's not happening to you....."

"So tell me" He counters. "Explain it to me so I do get it" She sighs and turns a little so she is facing him.

"It's like a part of my history is missing" She motions to her head. "That there is a link missing and I can't...I don't feel connected to my powers. If I understood where they came from, why I have them, then maybe I would have better control, because I would be....connected to them. If that makes sense"

"When you put it like that...yeah, it makes sense" he pokes her cheek and gives her a look. "Tell me how to help"

"You can't help me" She argues, he gives her a look. She sighs and tilts her head. "Do you read Latin?"

"No, I do not" Damon answers.

"Then you can't help me" She counters and leans closer, kissing him as her hand picks up the book again. He groans and snatches at her wrist, she smirks back at him.

"One day," He tells her. "Give me your full attention for one day" He nudges her nose. "I'll make it worth your while" He coos and wiggles his eyebrows at her, she hums a little and then leans closer to him, pressing her lips to his, releasing the book to wrap her arms around his neck. He smirks against his lips. Victorious.