DUALITY

Prologue

AN: Warnings? I think this is a pretty tame chapter for warnings, but death is mentioned if you're not comfortable with that. Btw ty sooooo much for reading this book! Drop a comment or a vote if you like what you read.😮‍💨😭🫶🏾

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Yvette did not like Mystic Falls, Virginia. Unfortunately, her sister, Amelie, did. As a result, here they were, knocking on the door of their old friend's house.

Mystic Falls was surrounded by lush forests, rolling hills, and vast, picturesque landscapes. Everything was in one place—it was a community. Newcomers were quickly and easily spotted. Yvette hated the thought. She hated the odd insects. She hated the looks. She hated the lack of variety. She hated Mystic Falls.

Amelie, on the other hand, loved the town. She loved the mix of historic and modern architecture. She loved the town's rich heritage. She loved the local businesses. She loved the quaintness. She loved Mystic Falls.

And there they were...

It was strange to think they were in Venice with their mother just last week.

Their mother.

The woman was now positively dead.

The witches had attacked them, and their mother saved them.

When the sisters debated on where to go for brief solace, Amelie instinctively thought of Mystic Falls . While the safety aspect of the town was debatable, it was free from witches who wanted to kill their kind.

That counted as safe in Amelie's eyes. Well, safe enough.

The last they heard of Mystic Falls, it was home to Bennett witches. More recently, however, they knew that their long-time friend, Stefan Salvatore was back in his hometown.

So they went to his house.

His brother, Damon, opened the door with his trademark smirk. He wore an off-black cotton top with a black, unbuttoned jacket and black jeans.

"You look unbelievably Damon like," Yvette spoke first.

Damon gave her a fake smile. "Good to see you too, Evie."

Amaryllis rolled her eyes in exasperation, wondering where her friend was. "Where's Stefan?" She voiced her thoughts.

"I don't know," he told her as he shrugged, making a move to leave.

Yvette gave him a pointed look. "Where do you think you're going?"

"The hospital." Damon replied curtly.

Amelie was about to speak when Damon sped off. "Well," she began, "that was not how I wanted this to go."

"We've tried, let's go," Yvette announced, not even attempting to hide her smile. She went to the car.

"Vieeeee," Amelie said in a warning tone.

Yvette rolled her eyes. "What should we do then?"

Amelie's eyes lit up, and she rushed over to her sister, wearing a big smile. "We're going to the hospital!"

"You are the most peculiar person," Yvette said with a chuckle. She wondered why someone would be this excited to go to a hospital.

Amelie, however, wasn't excited to go to the hospital. She was excited because she had more time to convince her sister to stay.

"Let's go then," Amelie told her sister as she entered the driver's seat.

Yvette rolled her eyes at Amelie but entered the car nonetheless.

The Mystic Falls Hospital was uncomfortable for the sisters. Amelie in particular had taken a disliking the antiseptic smell that permeated the air, finding it overpowering and unsettling. The sight of clinical white walls and the constant hum of medical machinery was what made Yvette uneasy, feeling as though they she was surrounded by alien technology, having never been to a hospital before.

When they finally spotted Damon, he was next to a blonde... and Katherine? The same thought ran through both of their heads at the sight of the vampire: Wasn't she supposed to be locked in a tomb?

Yvette walked closer to the three, just in time to hear Damon say, 'You got to be kidding me.' She looked at him as his eyes moved between the two women he was with, and he walked away.

She followed him, motioning for her sister to join her. They both blocked his path. "Since when was Katherine not trapped?" Amelie asked him.

Damon rolled his eyes and sighed. "Since 1864."

Yvette scoffed, and her expression became sour. "The bitch was never trapped." She realised and sighed.

"There you go," Damon sarcastically praised.

"So you're finally with the love of your life?" Amelie asked, feeling sceptical. "It doesn't sound very," she paused, looking for a word, "Katherine-like."

"That's not Katherine, it's Elena." Damon rolled his eyes.

Amelie looked at her sister and looked at Damon. "The Petrova line supposedly died with Katherine, no?" She asked Yvette.

"What are you talking about?" Damon asked. He knew Katherine's original surname was Petrova, but how did they know? Before the sisters could say something, Elena came over.

"Why were you acting so weird?" She asked Damon. She was going to speak more when she noticed the new faces. She gave Damon a look that seemed to say, 'Who are these?'.

"Meet Evie and Millie." Damon rushed through an introduction. "We have to get to your place," he told Elena.

"Those are not our names," Yvette spoke, glaring at the male vampire.

Elena was overwhelmed by everything that was happening. First it was Caroline, John and Katherine. Now, there were two new faces, and Damon had delivered the last statement with a hint of worry. "I-"

Amelie could see that the doppelgänger's mind was working overtime, so she spoke. "Focus on one thing."

Her voice knocked Elena out of her trance. She turned to Damon. "Why?" She asked Damon.

"Let's just go." He responded.

Elena looked apprehensive but she calmed down and sighed. If Damon was this eager to leave, it must be important.

"Ok." She told him, nodding and taking his hand.

Yvette looked at Amelie, and Amelie looked back at her with the same expression. So much for seeking peace in Mystic Falls, they thought.

"Damon is quite rude," Yvette told her sister matter-of-factly.

Amelie nodded her head. "I'm aware." She smiled a bit. "Let's leave this wretched place."

"Finally!" Yvette exclaimed. "A sensible thing came out of your mouth."

Amelie gasped, feigning offence before rolling her eyes.

It was beginning to look like Yvette and Amelie would stay in Mystic Falls. The sisters had promised their mother they would go to a safe place.

Mystic Falls, with all its happenings, was safe for them. And Stefan was a good friend. They did not have a lot of people they trusted enough to go to at a time like this. They needed that.

"Wait," Yvette said as they walked out of the hospital door. "Where even is Stefan?"