A/N: Hello all! What a crazy few weeks, right? I was totally absorbed following the Queen's death and her funeral. As a true royalist, I was totally devastated, yet in awe of what I was witnessing. I'm so proud Elizabeth II was my queen. Anywayyyy, I hope this chapter isn't too confusing, Aella has a few rants in this chapter. Alsooooo, if anyone PMs me, please know that for some reason I am NOT getting alerts about these. So, if you do send me a PM, can you let me know on my profile or in the comments, because those I can see. I've asked Wattpad to fix it, but they're struggling. Enjoy and please let me know your thoughts xoxo

RICHMOND, VA

From her position up front, Aella grimaced as they pulled into an underground car park and out of the beautiful sun. Damon seemed to agree with her as he parked up where Rose pointed him to, "Back entrance? How convenient."

Aella looked in disbelief between the two vampires, "This was the road trip? I skipped out on a Captain Jack Sparrow movie binge to sit in the most boring car trip for an hour with Mr. Keep-the-radio-turned-off and Miss. Bopping-down-every-time-she-thought-the-sun-could-hit-her? Fun!"

Damon rolled his eyes as he got out of the car, "Jack Sparrow is an idiot."

Aella gasped with absolute fury as she ran around the car to poke Damon, "One, It's Captain Jack Sparrow, and two, he is an absolute genius." Damon ignored her and met Rose at the back of the car. Skipping over to the two, she questioned casually, "So... What's the sitch?"

The two vampires raised their eyebrows in sync, and Aella looked at the two in disbelief for a second time in two minutes. Groaning out loud, she went on, "Kim Possible?" The two shared a look of confusion, "Call me, beep me, if you want to reach me?" When neither admitted to knowing what she was going on about, Aella rubbed her eyes with annoyance before she looked at the vampires and said seriously. "Kim Possible was one of the most respected secret agents, who not only saved the world from maniacs like Dr. Drakken and Shego, she also attended school while cheerleading and having an absolute ass-kicking friendship with Ron who had a naked mole-rat as a pet. How did you miss its awesomeness?!"

Rose, who was still learning how passionate Aella could be with such things, gaped at the witch while Damon simply shrugged, "I had a life."

As if the answer was acceptable, Aella looked at Rose, hip jutting out and foot-tapping as if waiting for Rose's excuse. When a look of incredulity crossed her features, Rose answered, "I was running for my life for 500 years?"

Aella rolled her eyes. Yeah, that was a good excuse. Still, she whined lowly, "But it was a naked mole-rat called Rufus, and he was awesome."

Damon simply patted her head and gestured for Rose to lead on, which she did as a pouting Aella followed. As they walked, Damon questioned, "How do you know this Slater guy is even here?"

Rose shrugged as she tossed over her shoulder, "I called him. He's here. He's always here."

Aella raised a brow when Damon smiled, "Good." Before he rushed towards Rose and pushed her against the wall, making Rose look up at him in astonishment and Aella gasp.

"Damon!" Aella stomped her foot. "Why am I never told the plan?"

Damon ignored her as he threatened Rose, "Just one thing. If you're setting us up in any way, I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat. It's something I'm very good at. Then she..." He nodded to a bored Aella, "Will find some way to bring you back, cos she's freaky like that, and I will do it all again, just slower and even more painful."

Before Aella could applaud his threat, which even caused her to shift unsteadily on her feet, Rose turned the tables. Suddenly Damon was pressed against the wall with his arm twisted behind his back, causing him a great deal of pain. "I'm older than you and stronger." A smile appeared on Aella's face at the strong bitch within Rose she could see finally appearing, "Don't get on my bad side." When she released Damon, she nodded at Aella for the lack of attack from the teen as she looked between the two, "You can trust me."

She walked to the closest door; Damon rubbed his arm and glared at the teen witch. Aella could only shrug at him, "What?"

"Thanks for the backup," he grunted, and it made Aella smile before she skipped over to Rose.

"Hey, Rose?" The vampire held a hand to the door handle, she didn't pull it open but looked to Aella instead, and the witch continued. "Do you think you can do that to Damon again?" She held up her phone, "I totally missed it, and Stefan would just love to see Damon getting taken down."

Rose looked at Damon, "Is she serious?"

Aella nodded with a bright smile as Damon -still rubbing his shoulder- grumbled out, "Unfortunately."

Rose decided to ignore the question entirely and opened the door. When Damon and Aella entered the room, their eyes widened at its brightness, "Whoa. What about the sunlight?"

"Double-paned and tempered," Rose proudly showed off the cafe. "UV rays can't penetrate. You see the appeal now?"

"It's like a vampire haven," Aella nudged Damon with a smirk before she sang lowly, "It's just another night at the Vampire Club."

Damon scowled down at her; he hated that song. Once Aella had heard the song, she sang it around the house, causing him to leave in protest several times. Another reason for his hatred was that she had added it as his ringtone for her, and he had no clue how to stop it.

"-We also have free Wi-Fi," A voice came from behind them.

When the three turned, Aella and Damon with uncertainty while Rose did so with a smile, they faced a scruffy-faced vampire that Aella could not deny was a little cute. The stranger winked at Aella, "And thank you for not going with a cliche song like Monster Mash or Ghostbusters."

While Aella smiled brightly at the compliment, Damon continued to scowl. Seeing the look on the raven-haired vampire's face, Rose quickly pulled the new vampire into a hug, "Hey, how are you?"

Rose's friend squeezed her tight. Aella could see it was a hug between good friends. "Good. I saw you come; what are you doing here?"

"Mmm, it's a long story," She pulled back, turning slightly to face Damon, "but I want you to meet...."

"Damon Salvatore," The vampire smiled in wonderment as he looked Damon up and down. "Turned 1864 in Mystic Falls by Katherine Pierce aka Katerina Petrova." Not seeing the wide eyes of Aella and Damon or realizing how creepy he sounded, he turned to Rose and continued. "So I take it I was right, what I told you about the tomb under the church was true?"

Damon and Aella shared worried glances at how much this vampire knew about Damon after only one look. What concerned them, even more, was when he looked at Aella and questioned, "You. I don't know who or what you are?"

Before Damon could tell the witch to shut her mouth, Aella smiled nervously and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, "I'm an Abominable Snowman. But it's more of a wintertime thing. You know, seasonal."

Damon rolled his eyes while the strange vampire laughed, "A Voltaire song and a Teen Wolf quote in the span of a few minutes. I like you."

Damon's eyes darted to Rose; he wanted this vampire's attention off of Aella. Now. Rose seemed to understand him, and she smiled with thanks at the vampire, "Yes, you were right about the tomb. Thank you for the tip."

The praise took the vampire's attention off Aella, and he looked to Damon, "It's nice to meet you, maybe. I'm Slater." He then turned back to Rose, "What's going on, Rose? Where's Trevor?"

Rose paled, Damon looked away, and Aella laughed nervously, "Oh boy... Awwwkward."

MYSTIC FALLS WOODS

Stefan was confused. He honestly believed Caroline had called him because she was genuinely worried about Tyler and herself. He wasn't sure when the deceit began. As much as he talked with Aella about Lexi, it was nice to share stories about him and her with another friend. He thought Caroline did, too, until it became darker, and Caroline was doing all she could to keep him sitting with her.

When he stood for the third time and stepped away from Caroline, pulling him down for the third time, he felt a little betrayed by the blonde, "What are you doing, Caroline?"

"What?" The blonde questioned in surprise, but the shifting of her eyes showed him it was all an act.

Stefan shook his head, "No, Caroline. I've played your game; you have two seconds to come clean."

"What do you mean?"

Stefan laughed with astonishment at her continued deceit, "At first, I wanted to believe the whole innocent act, me telling you about Lexi and you genuinely wanting to know more about me." He saw her eyes close with defeat and painfully knew it had all been a lie, "But then again, I should know by now how good you are at providing a distraction on demand. So what are you keeping me from? Is it Aella?"

Caroline quickly shook her head. She felt awful now she could see the hurt in his eyes and didn't want him thinking about Aella the same, "No. It's... Elena."

Stefan relaxed for only a second that this fiasco had nothing to do with his girl, until he tensed with recognition at her final word, "Elena? What do you mean, Elena? Where is she?"

"I can't tell you," Caroline sadly bit her lip. She'd promised Elena.

Stefan stepped closer to Caroline, finished with the game she was playing, "You can't tell me? Are you kidding me?"

Caroline only shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I... I can't tell you."

"Caroline!" Stefan growled in frustration. "Elena was kidnapped, she could have been killed, and you're seriously not gonna tell me where she is?"

"She's not in any danger," Caroline tried to ease his worry for their friend. "I would not have let her put herself in danger."

Stefan froze at her words, "'Put herself in danger?' Where? What do you...?" When she didn't answer him, he pulled out his phone. "I guess you're not my friend like you've been pretending to be all day, I guess...."

"What are you doing?" Caroline frowned, watching him press the buttons on his phone. Then, when she saw the photo he was about to call, she froze, "Not Aella!"

Stefan shrugged like a parent who could no longer handle his teenage daughter, "Well, she's the only one you'll listen to."

Caroline dove for the phone, but Stefan held it about his head, thumb hovering over the call button, "No!" Caroline pleaded, "I'll tell you. I'll tell you. Just don't call Aella."

Stefan waved her on with his free hand, his thumb not moving from the call sign, "Then spill, Judas."

Caroline's eyes widened at the name, "Judas?" She pouted. "You've been dating Aella too long." Stefan only shrugged, "... Elena's with Katherine."

Stefan closed his eyes, anger taking hold of his body. He roughly put his phone away and turned to run towards the tomb when Caroline held his arm, "Stefan... I am your friend, but I'm also Elena's friend. I'm sorry."

Stefan pulled his arm away and began making his way to the tomb without a word to Caroline. The blonde only watched him disappear through the trees, wondering if she'd just ruined her friendship with Stefan.

RICHMOND, VA

It was quiet as Slater absorbed what Rose had explained to them. They sat in front of the enormous UV-free windows, empty coffee cups upon the table.

"Poor Trevor," Slater sadly shook his head. He glanced at Rose. "And you said, Elijah...."

Rose numbly nodded at the question, not wanting to describe that moment ever again. Unfortunately, Aella missed the cue as she gestured for another coffee and casually commented, "Oh, Elijah totally Anna Boleyn-ed him."

While Rose seemed to pale, Slater looked at her strangely while Damon simply raised a brow, "Did you learn about the Tudors this week?"

Aella proudly nodded, eyes going wide when the waitress brought her another coffee. She relished the coffee in her mouth as Slater turned to Rose, "And you're sure Elijah's dead?"

"Beyond dead."

Aella nodded; with her mouth full of coffee, she pointed with agreement at Damon's words.

Slater woefully played with his empty coffee cup, "Trevor was a good man; he helped me with my dissertation on sexual deviance in the Baroque period." Aella looked at Damon wide-eyed at Slater's words. He waved her off as the vampire continued talking, "I was schooling for my Psych Ph.D."

"Slater's been in college since '74," Rose added as if that made up for the strange vampire's words.

Aella looked at the vampire suspiciously, "You've chosen to go to school for 40 years?" She looked back at Damon and mouthed behind a poorly placed hand, 'That's not normal.'

Slater nodded at her question, choosing to ignore what he and Rose had watched her badly mouth, "I started attending when I turned. I have 18 degrees, 3 master's and 4 PhDs."

Damon raised a very unimpressed brow, "The point?"

"Exactly," Slater waved excitedly at Damon. It caused Aella to lean back from the vampire, suddenly not so happy to be in his company. This dude seriously chose to attend school for 40 years? Pure madness. "I mean, what is the point? What should I be doing with my eternity?" He looked between Aella and Damon, "If you have an answer, please enlighten me."

Aella opened her mouth to answer him when Rose jumped in, "We need your help." It caused Aella to pout and Damon to laugh as he realized Rose was learning how to deal with someone like Aella. "If someone wanted to get in touch with Klaus, how would you hook him up?"

Slater didn't flinch at her question; he simply answered, "Craigslist."

Aella choked on her coffee which Damon asked wearily, "Really?"

"Seriously," Slater laughed. The noise made Aella nervous as she began nudging her chair in Damon's direction. "I respond to a personal ad to get sent to somebody who knows somebody who knows Elijah, who's dead, and that's where my connection ends.

Aella looked to the vampire once she was closer to Damon, "Craigslist?! Knows a guy that knows a guy?!" She spun on Damon, her face closer than he wanted, pupils heavily dilated as she hissed, "That's the two things bad guys say...." She raised one finger, "Craigslist...." Then, she raised a second finger, "Knows a guy. Translation: We're gonna be murdered."

"We're not going to be murdered," Damon scolded her as he pushed her face away with his palm. He glanced at Slater and Rose threateningly, "Right?"

Between the Mexican standoff, neither vampire nor witch noticed the man watching them from across the street, his eyes firmly fixed on Aella.