CHAPTER THREE | ORIGINAL SIN

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ELENA HAD RETURNED HOME FROM WHITEMORE SHORTLY AFTER EVELYN AND DAMON FOUND THE SAFE EMPTY. They had urged her that it was okay and they would handle it, but Elena felt a duty toward Stefan— especially since she had been having dreams about him drowning over the last three months. Evelyn did feel a little awkward having the doppelganger in the same house while she and Damon were all over each other, but Elena assured Evelyn that she was absolutely fine with them being together.

Damon laid on his side and admired Evelyn silently while she slept. He knew that she was gorgeous, he said it enough times a day himself, but there was something even more breathtaking about her when she slept. A chuckle left his lips once he saw her begin to stir awake. "Morning,"

"Hello, you." Evelyn groggily spoke as she rolled over and leaned her head against Damon's bare chest. The Salvatore gently brushed the hair away from Evelyn's face and tucked it behind her ear while she smiled. "How'd you sleep?"

"Oh, perfectly." Damon shrugged with a smirk on his face as he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Especially when I woke up at four in the morning to hear you mumbling about how much you loved me; how perfect I was. Oh, and what was it you said about my eyes."

"Shut up. I don't talk in my sleep." Evelyn narrowed her eyes toward Damon. "You're lying."

"Trust me, you do." He stated plainly. Then, she grabbed a pillow from behind her and smacked him over the face with it.

Their laughter immediately came to a halt when Evelyn caught sight of Katherine, who was lurking at their door. Once the doppelganger knew she had been noticed, she stepped further into sight. "I had a dream about Stefan." The doppelganger admitted after she heard a few irritated sighs leave the couple's lips.

"That's brilliant. Go see a psychologist. Goodbye, Katherine." Damon rolled his eyes and shooed her out with his left hand, but the Pierce woman didn't take that as a hint to leave. Instead, she stayed leaned against the wooden door frame.

Katherine narrowed her eyes at Damon and shook her head. "No, no. It was vivid as hell. He was walking into a bar with a red neon sign—"

"—Yo, Mystic Meg. Get an address with your visions?" Evelyn fired back before she laid her head back down onto her pillow with an irritated look on her face.

"Route 29. Joe's bar." The voice of Elena Gilbert joined in the doorway of Damon and Evelyn's bedroom. Evelyn gave Damon a glance when she heard Elena. "I think I had the exact same dream."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

It wasn't long before Damon and Evelyn met with Elena downstairs to plan their route to find Stefan. Evelyn noticed Elena was stood with her eyes fixed on Stefan's daylight ring. "So, I've found nine bars along route 29, and none of them are called Joe's," Damon explained as he wandered into the room.

"I had a feeling there was something wrong all summer and I ignored it." Elena sighed out as she dropped Stefan's daylight ring back down onto the table. "But, I was right, Stefan was in a safe; probably killed whoever it was that found him. Guys, I know it sounds crazy that I'm following some psychic dream but it's the only lead that we have."

"I mean, it is crazy." Evelyn scoffed under her breath with a smile as she turned to Elena. "But, not even I can deny the fact that something's definitely going on."

"Shot-gun!" Katherine Pierce yelled as she wandered into the room with a handbag over her forearm. "What? I get car sick in the backseat. Another charming, human side-effect that Elena stuck me with."

"Please, tell me that she's not coming." Elena gritted her teeth and glanced between Damon and Evelyn.

"Trust me, Evelyn and I have no interest in Katherine's wellbeing, but for some reason, Silas wants her real bad. And, if Silas wants her, I want her more." Damon explained while Evelyn folded her arms across her chest.

"Perhaps we should put her ass in a safe and drop her to the bottom of the quarry." Evelyn rolled her eyes and narrowed them toward Katherine once she heard her scoff.

"Do you really think I wanna take a road trip with the two of you? America's most boring, self-righteous vampires." Katherine snapped, then chuckled. "Just remember, Damon wouldn't have to be a bodyguard if you hadn't have shoved that cure down my throat, Elena."

The doppelganger scoffed. "You were trying to kill me!"

"I will admit, though. I take great pleasure knowing you wasted your one shot at a human life on me."

"Alright, play nice!" Damon yelled out before Katherine and Elena could argue once more. "Or, I'm gonna revisit Evelyn's quarry idea."

"I wanna find Stefan just as much as you do. And, not just because I don't wanna be a pawn that you can trade-off for his life. I care about him. I always have."

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Evelyn hated the fact that she was sharing a car with not one of Damon's ex-girlfriends, but two. Though she felt completely secure in their relationship that it didn't really phase her— she just hated the fact that they were never alone. As they pulled up to a bar, Elena nodded slowly as she admired the setting. "This looks exactly like it did in my dream."

"Right. Okay, well, let's go find Stefan." Evelyn nodded in Elena's direction as they all stepped out of the car, without Katherine.

The doppelganger raised an eyebrow and glanced between Evelyn and Damon, who were completely okay with leaving Katherine Pierce asleep in the backseat of Damon's car. "Are we really just going to leave her in the car?"

"The only time she shuts up is when she's sleeping. I didn't wanna disturb our peace and quiet." Damon answered back then he grabbed Evelyn's hand and wandered into the bar.

As the trio walked inside, they saw a woman stood behind the bar with a bandage on her neck that immediately caught Evelyn's eye. "Can I get you something?"

"Yeah, sure." Damon shrugged, set his sights on the bandage, and then started to compel her. "Why don't you tell me what happened to your neck, Jo?"

"Some sicko attacked me, bit me, told me to run so I did and when I looked back he was on fire." The bartender, that went by the name of Jo, explained as a look of fear washed over her face.

"The sun must've come up. He doesn't have his daylight ring." Elena whispered softly to the two vampires beside her.

"Then what happened?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow in Jo's direction, hopeful for some more information on the missing Salvatore brother.

"Some woman shoved him into a truck and drove away."

The Salvatore furrowed his brows at the mention of an unknown woman. "Did you know this woman?"

"No. She was driving Cam Peterson's truck. He lives about ten miles down that dirt road out back." She watched the three vampires roll their eyes before she poured a shot and shoved it in front of Damon. "Here. You look like you could use one of these."

"Hm. I could. Thank you." Thankfully, Damon took the shot glass and poured the contents down his throat. After a split second, he began to violently cough and gag. "Vervain."

"What the hell was that for?" Evelyn spun round and attempted to lunge at the woman behind the bar but that was before somebody else walked in.

"I told him to pour her a drink or I'd kill her." A strong accented woman began as she pointed a gun straight at Elena, just as Katherine Pierce wandered into the bar. "Which one of you is Katherine Pierce?"

"She is." Katherine pointed straight for Elena who just shook her head.

"Katherine is a compulsive liar, but I need her alive."

Evelyn sped straight at the woman and pinned her against the wall, then she turned her eyes back to Katherine. "Katherine, get out of here!" Evelyn screamed just as Elena and attempted to help Evelyn hold her, but she was too strong and the pair were thrown across the room before she disappeared, hot on Katherine's trail.

"Eve, are you okay?" Damon ran over to his girlfriend and helped her up from the ground just as Elena got up to her feet. "Wonderful. Now we've got a vampire bounty hunter to deal with."

"Let me guess, Eurobitch was not part of the dream." Evelyn turned her eyes to Elena who shook her head, breathlessly.

"I've never seen her before. But I guess, I'm gonna have to go and help Katherine." Elena shot the pair a look before speeding out of the bar.

"I need to help them. Chances are, they'll both be dead by the end of the day if I don't." Evelyn sighed heavily, though Damon looked reluctant to let her go. "Hey. Damon, I need to do this. You need to go find Stefan."

"Wait. Wait." Damon grabbed hold of Evelyn's hand and yanked her back toward him. "Any sign of trouble, you let her go, do understand me? I don't care how bad Silas wants Katherine, she's not worth a hair on your head. You got me? Okay? Kiss me." The two pressed their lips against each other. "Go!"

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Elena and Evelyn were determined to find Katherine before the vampire bounty hunter did. The pair sped through the forest, occasionally stopping to get a sense of their location and as they did, they saw Katherine perched on a log. Elena stepped forward and grabbed Katherine by the shoulders, to turn her around.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really glad it's you two. Katherine breathlessly sighed in relief. Despite how much she hated Elena and Evelyn, she was thankful that the two came to her rescue.

Evelyn furrowed her brows as she noticed Katherine jittering around. "Is there a problem, Katherine?"

"My leg is cramping, and I'm freezing. Do I mind If I, uh— can I borrow your jacket?" The Pierce raised an eyebrow at the leather jacket Evelyn was wearing, but Evelyn just shook her head.

"Let's go, before she doubled back." Elena rolled her eyes and started off in the direction of the bar, but Katherine's voice stopped her.

"Why didn't you kill me? I mean, you both hate me. So, why not?" Katherine yelled out as Evelyn and Elena glanced at each other.

"As much as I hate you, Katherine, I'm not prepared to give Silas what he wants. So, while the cure is running through your veins, I will do everything in my power to keep you from him."

"Exactly. Now, let's—" Elena's body dropped to the ground just behind Evelyn, who turned around to see the woman for the bar. She gave her a sarcastic wave and then snapped Evelyn's neck, too.

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"So, today at least today wasn't a total bust." Evelyn sighed as she wandered into the parlor where she saw Damon sat across from an unconscious Stefan, who he had managed to retrieve from Qetisyah. "We got Stefan back."

"Hm. He's got his daylight ring back, we're all set for a picnic." Damon sarcastically smirked as a small chuckle left Evelyn's lips.

"I just wish I could've stopped that bitch some getting Katherine. I mean, God knows what she's gonna do with her." Evelyn ran a frustrated hand through her hair as Damon shook his head. "I'm serious, Damon."

"Yeah, so am I. I meant it when I said you let her go if there was even a sniff of trouble. I just—" The Salvatore strode forwards and grabbed Evelyn by the hand. "I don't know what I would've done if she killed you, Eve, because you are my life."

"And you, Damon Salvatore, are mine. You have been since the moment we met." Evelyn threw her arms over Damon's shoulders and closed the gap between their lips. She felt a fire ignite inside of her when her lips brushed against Damon's, but a small grunt from behind them caused them to part.

They turned around and noticed Stefan had slowly sat up on the couch behind them, with a bewildered look across his face. "Welcome back, brother." Damon glanced over Evelyn's shoulder.

"Stefan, we're so glad to have you back." Evelyn beamed with happiness as she attempted to move toward Stefan to hug him, but he just stepped back. "What's wrong?"

The Salvatore furrowed his brows at Damon and Evelyn, who were both unrecognizable to him. He had absolutely no recollection of their faces or the house that they were in. "Uh, I'm sorry. I—I have no idea who you people are."

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