Vampire Diaries 1. Pilot

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.

A/N: This was just an idea I had and I need feedback. Review please. I'd like to know what you guys think about it.

* * *

Chapter One: Pilot

Lying on the ground in her backyard, Trinity shifts to fold her hands behind her head. She sighed as she gazed up at the night sky. She took a deep breath; lettings the scents in the air flood her senses. Her nose wrinkled as she caught a bitter scent. She sat up, looking towards the woods not too far behind her house. _Vampire. _She thought. She gazed deeper into the woods but did not see anything. Taking another deep breath, she closed her eyes, and focused only on her hearing. She heard the beat of rapid footsteps…no. Hooves. She then heard a lighter patter of footsteps before hearing a thump. The fleeing animal was no more.

_A vampire who drinks animal blood. _Trinity opens her eyes. _Great. _She thinks, grimacing. _Just what I need. _She gets up from the ground and walks towards her house. She goes to the door and twists the handle only to find it locked. She rolls her eyes. _Wonderful. _She walks down the porch steps and look up at the house; seeing a window open. She grins and her bends down, her body shifting forms, growing smaller. A black cat swishes its tail back and forth before leaping onto house, making several jumps before finally reaching the window seal. The cat slips inside, jumping to the bedroom floor. Trinity, now human; stands from the floor. _Now where's that vervain? _She thinks as she walks out of the bedroom.

* * *

The next morning Trinity walks down the stairs, preparing to go to school. She rolls her eyes. _Just what I need. _She thought. _School. _Going to school wasn't something she ever looked forward to. It's not because she hates it, but she was basically invisible there. To the students and the teachers. She can actually guarantee that the same people that she's known for years don't even know her name. She remembers her first day of school when she moved here six years ago. The teachers hardly noticed that they had a new student much less the class. She didn't mind the solitude but it would be nice to have at least one person to talk to.

She sighs and picks her backpack up from the counter and leaves the house. She goes to the garage and looks at her choices. _Motorcycle or Car?_ Her eyes go back and forth before settling on the motorcycle.

* * *

Pulling into the school she notices that even though she gets some looks, there's not as much as she hoped for. Everyone is busy greeting their friends after the long summer. Pulling into the parking space, she cuts the engine and gets off of the bike. Pulling her helmet off of her head she shakes her long black hair out, running her fingers through it to make sure she has no helmet hair.

She walks into the school and heads towards her locker. She drops her things off and heads towards the office to ask for a change in her schedule. She passes Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett on the way.

"It's a hot back." Bonnie tells her friend.

Upon entering her senses are assaulted with the bitter scent she caught last night. She looks up to see a young man standing at the front desk.

"Your records are incomplete." The secretary tells him. "You're missing immunization records, and we do insist on transcripts."

"Please look again. I'm sure everything you need is there." He tells her.

The secretary looks down at the papers in her hands. "Well, you're right. So it is."

Trinity looks down and speaks under her breath. "I hope you don't plan on using compulsion for everything."

The young man tenses and turns to looks at her. His face curls in confusion. "Do I know you?" He asks.

Trinity shakes her head. "No." She goes to step around him but he grabs her wrist. Trinity rolls her eyes. "This isn't the time nor the place for this talk." She looks at the hand holding her, taking notice of the ring. _Lapis Lazuli. _She thinks.

"But we will talk." He says.

Trinity nods. "Yes. I'm Trinity."

"Stefan." He nods, letting go of her wrist.

* * *

Bonnie tilts her head at the exchange. "Who is he talking to?"

Elena shakes her head. "I don't know, maybe they're both new?"

Bonnie nods and continues. "I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar."

"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" Elena asks.

"Pretty much." She grins.

Elena smiles before she hears a voice from down the hall. "Jeremy, good batch, man."

She frowns and turns back to Bonnie. "I'll be right back."

* * *

Trinity motions towards the desk. "Are you finished?" She asks him.

Stefan turns back to the secretary. "Thank you." He tells her.

"You're welcome." She smiles.

He turns back to Trinity. "After school?"

Trinity shakes her head. "It won't take too long. If I see you at lunch, I'll tell you then."

He nods his head and walks out of the office.

Trinity steps towards the secretary. "Hi." She smiles.

* * *

Trinity sits in the back of the class, resting her head on her hand as the teacher drones on.

"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional Deep South. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union." He says.

She looks around the room and sees Stefan staring at Elena. _I hope he's not hungry. _She gazes out the window and tunes the teacher out.

* * *

At lunchtime, Trinity grabbed a bottle of water and an apple before heading outside. She finds a spot under a tree, away from the other students. She sits down and takes a book from her bag, opening to the marked page; taking bites from her apple every now and then.

It's not long before a voice causes her to break away. "May I sit here?"

Trinity looks up to see Stefan standing above her. "Sure." She nods, scooting over a bit.

Stefan sits down and looks at the book in her hand. "The Great Gatsby." He says.

Trinity nods. "If I wasn't so disgusted by the people in the book, it might actually be a favorite."

"The decline of the American dream too much for you?" He teases.

"More like the hollowness of the upper class." She says, setting the book down. "But it's not my book that you want to talk about."

"No." Stefan says. "Not really. How do you know-" He says quietly.

"That you're a vampire?" Trinity asks. Stefan nods. "I could smell it."

Stefan's face curls in confusion. "You can smell it." He says dubiously.

"It's kind of a bitter scent given that you're dead." She says. "But under that you smell a bit like," She leans in a little, sniffing. "Cucumbers…maybe a bit of coconut."

"How…" He trails off. "You're not human."

Trinity's face curls. "Well I consider myself pretty human. I just can't say that I'm human all the time."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a shape shifter." She shrugs. Stefan opens his mouth only to close it again. This goes on for another moment before she speaks again. "I change into animals." This earns another fish impression. "Are you gonna get that out anytime soon?"

"How?" He asks.

She shrugs again. "I've been able to do it since I was a kid. I freaked out the first time it happened."

"What happened?"

"I was just sitting in front of the TV, watching this tiger documentary. I was playing around, acting like a tiger. The next thing I know, I am one." She chuckles, remembering how she frantically stumbled around the room before running head first into a wall; dazing herself enough to turn back.

"Do your parents know?"

Trinity's face sobers. "I'm an orphan." She tells him. "My parents died when I was three."

Stefan looks down. "I'm sorry."

Trinity shakes her head. "It's okay. You didn't know. What I am worried about is your diet."

"I only feed on animals." He tells her.

"Which is why I'm worried." She says. "I'm not going to be in the woods one day only to get bitten."

"I wouldn't hurt you."

"How?" She asks.

"Well…you can tell me when you're going out and what you shift into. Then I won't hunt anything that might be you."

"Sometimes I change while I'm there. How will you tell the difference?"

"I guess I'll just have to learn your scent." He says.

Trinity nods. "I guess you will.

"Is it a family thing?" Stefan asks. "Shape shifting?"

Trinity nods. "I don't know why it showed up. Apparently I'm the first in generations. All I have is what's been left in journals. I don't have any other family to ask."

"Are you adopted?" He asks.

She shakes her head. "I got emancipated last year. I don't have to live with a caretaker anymore." The bell rings. They stand from the ground. Trinity goes to walk away but Stefan stops her.

"Wait." He says, taking out his phone. "What's your number?"

"Why?" She asks.

"Well we're friends now." He says. "Friends usually exchange phone numbers."

Trinity blinks. "Yeah." She says nonchalantly, hiding her excitement. "Sure." She pulls out her phone. They exchange numbers before Trinity bids goodbye. "I have to head to math."

"With Wilson?" Stefan asks.

"Yeah." She nods.

"That's where I'm headed."

Trinity smiles. "Well let's go."

* * *

Trinity and Stefan sit next to each other at the back of the class.

The teacher passes out a worksheet. "This is a partner's assignment. One will do the evens, while the other will do the odds. When you're finished I want you to check each other's work. You will do your work on a separate piece of paper and circle the answers. Write your partner's name at the top right of the page. This is just a refresher of what you learned last year before we move on." She says. The students begin to look around a move their desk.

Stefan looks at Trinity. "Partner's?" He asks.

Trinity nods and scoots her desk closer to his. "What's your last name?" She asks, holding her pencil above the paper.

"Salvatore." He answers. "Yours?"

"Clairborn."

"So how long have you been in Mystic Falls?" He asks. "Were you born here?"

Trinity shakes her head. "I was born in France. My family moved back to the states when I was two. I lived in Washington for a while before I decided for a change of scenery. I've been here since I was ten." She explains. "What about you?"

"I was born here, but I've only been back for a few months." He says. They work in silence for a few minutes before he speaks again. "So about your…talent." He says. "I believe you, but it's just-"

"Something you have to see?" She finishes.

He nods. "Yeah."

"Call me when you have time." She says. "We'll meet somewhere and I'll show you."

Stefan smiles and continues his work.

* * *

Later that day Stefan walks to Elena's house and walks up her porch steps. He stands in front of the door as it opens.

"Oh." Elena says, surprised when she sees Stefan.

"Sorry, I was about to knock. I wanted to apologize for my disappearing act earlier. I know it was…strange." He says.

"No worries. I get it, blood makes you squeamish."

He nods. "Um, something like that. How's your leg?"

"Oh, it's fine. Just a scratch, barely. How did you know where I lived?"

He shrugs. "It's a small town. I asked the first person I saw. Um, I thought you might want this back." He hands her the diary.

"Oh, I must have dropped it. I…thank you." She says, taking it in her hands.

"Don't worry, I didn't…read it."

"No?" She asks. "Why not? Most people would have."

"Well, I wouldn't want anyone to read mine."

"You keep a journal?"

"Yeah, if I don't write it down, I forget it. Memories are too important." He tells her.

"Yeah. I'm just gonna, um, you don't have to stay out there."

"I'm fine. Sorry, were you going somewhere?" He asks.

"Yeah, I'm meeting a friend. Do you want to come?" She smiles.

He nods. "Do you mind if I invite someone?"

"Sure." She smiles again.

They head down the porch steps as Stefan pulls out his phone.

* * *

Trinity looks up from her book as her cellphone rings. She grabs it off the coffee table and answers it. "Hello?"

"_Hey." _She hears.

"Stefan?" She asks. "Time to meet already?"

* * *

Elena glances at Stefan as he talks on the phone.

"Not quite." He says. "I'm heading out with Elena, I was wondering if you want to meet us."

* * *

"Are you sure I'm invited?" Trinity asks furrowing her brow, having never spoken two words to the girl.

* * *

"Absolutely." Stefan smiles.

* * *

Trinity's silent for a moment before speaking. "Okay." She says. "Where?"

* * *

"Hold on a sec." He says before turning to Elena. "Where are we going?"

"Mystic Grill." She answers. "It's where everyone hangs out."

"Mystic Grill." Stefan says into the phone.

* * *

Trinity nods. "I know where it is. Meet you there."

* * *

"Alright." Stefan says. "Bye." He hangs up and turns to Elena. "She said she'll meet us there."

Elena nods. _She?_

* * *

Matt and Bonnie are at the Grill, talking.

"How's Elena doing?" He asks her.

"Her mom and dad died. How do you think? She's putting on a good face, but it's only been four months."

"Has she said anything about me?"

"Oh, no." Bonnie shakes her head. "So not getting in the middle. You pick up the phone and call her."

"I feel weird calling her. She broke up with me."

"Give it more time, Matt."

He looks over her shoulder, seeing Elena enter the Grill with Stefan. "More time, huh?" He walks over and holds his hand out. "Hey, I'm Matt, nice to meet you."

"Hi. Stefan." They shake hands.

"Hey." Elena greets, a bit awkwardly.

"Hey." He says back.

They stand in silence before Elena speaks up. "There's Bonnie." She says. "We should find a table." She walks away, Stefan following after her.

* * *

Stefan sits at the table watching Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie chat before he sees Trinity enter the Grill. Her eyes scan the crowd and he holds his hand up, signaling her over.

* * *

Trinity sees Stefan surrounded by Elena and her friends. _Oh boy. _She thinks, as she walks over. She plasters a smile on her face. _Just breathe._

Stefan stands from his seat when she walks over. "Hey." He greets.

"Hi." She grins. He pulls a chair from the table. "Such a gentlemen." She teases.

"Always." Stefan smiles, sitting back down. He looks to the other girls. "Ladies, this is my friend Trinity." He introduces her.

"Hello." Trinity smiles.

Caroline has a big fake smile on. "Hi!" She says. "So…you know Stefan?"

Trinity nods. "Yeah. We go way back." She says, turning to look at Stefan; her brown eyes glinting in amusement. "How long has it been?"

Stefan inwardly smiles before feigning a wondering look. "About…nine hours?" He asks.

The smile on her face grows. "Yeah." She nods, looking back at the girls. "We're good friends." She says before chuckling along with Stefan.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asks Stefan.

"Mm-Hmm." He nods. "And moved when I was still young."

"Parents?" Bonnie asks.

"My parents passed away."

"I'm sorry." Elena frowns. "Any siblings?"

"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle." He answers.

"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow." Caroline tells him.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Bonnie explains.

Stefan looks at Elena. "Are you going?"

"Of course she is." Bonnie jumps in.

He turns to Trinity. "What about you?"

Trinity starts a little at that. "Oh…um."

"You're both new. It's a great way to meet new people." Caroline says.

Trinity gives an awkward smile. "Actually I've lived here for the past six years." She reveals.

Their eyes widen. "Oh." Caroline says. "Maybe we just never crossed paths before."

Trinity nods. _I've had at least two classes with all of you every year since I moved here._ She thinks. "Yeah."

"You should come." Bonnie tells her. Trinity hesitates a bit. "We'll keep you company."

"Sure." Trinity said.

* * *

The next day Trinity sits in History class, listening to the teacher.

"The battle of willow creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle?" He asks. "Ms. Bennett?"

"Um…a lot?" Bonnie guesses. "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett. Mr. Donovan. Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?" He says.

"It's ok, Mr. Tanner." Matt shakes his head. "I'm cool with it."

"Hmm. Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

"I'm sorry, I…I don't know." She says.

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break." He says.

Trinity frowns. _Jesus. She honestly doesn't know the answer and the first thing he brings up is her parents dying? I forgot how much of a dick this guy was. _She thinks before deciding to answer.

"There were 346 casualties." She says, speaking in sync with Stefan. The class turns to look at them.

"Unless you're counting local civilians." Stefan says. Trinity nods in agreement.

"That's correct. Mister…" He trails off.

"Salvatore." Stefan says.

"And Miss…"

"Clairborn." Trinity tells him.

The teacher nods before looking at Stefan. "Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

"Distant."

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually, there were 27, sir." Trinity says.

"Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss." Stefan finishes. "The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner." The classes chuckles at this.

"Hmm." Mr. Tanner's jaw clenches.

* * *

Trinity is walking down the hallway when she hears her name called. She turns around to see Stefan heading towards her. "Yeah?" She asks when he catches up.

"I was wondering if I could go to yours after school. We'll go to the party together?"

Trinity nods. "Sure. And hey, I can even show you that thing." She says.

Stefan nods. "Yeah." He says. "Just text me your address and I'll head over."

* * *

Trinity is cleaning up in the kitchen when she hears a knock on the front door. She walks over to the door and opens it with a smile on her face. "Hey!" She greets when she sees Stefan.

"Hey." He smiles. "I didn't realize we lived so close to each other."

Trinity takes a deep breath before stepping to the side. "Realize that this solidifies our friendship." She says. "Come in." Stefan steps through the threshold. "Follow me." She says, leading him to the backdoor.

"Nice house." He says looking around.

"Thanks." She says. "I decorated it myself." She opens the backdoor, waiting for him to step through before closing it behind her. "We'll need to be in the woods for this." She walks towards the trees.

"Why?" Stefan asks.

"Well some of the animals I turn into aren't from this region, endangered, or hunted. And I have no desire to be trapped or killed." She shrugs. "At least they'll try to kill me. You'll learn that I'm a bit harder to put down."

"How?"

"I'm stronger than the average person." She tells him. "I'm pretty sure that I can bench press my motorcycle. I heal very quickly. My senses are to the extreme and I'm pretty sure that I can keep up with you in a race, or at the very least, close behind you." She finally stops walking and turns to him. "Name an animal."

"What?" Stefan asks, confused.

"Name an animal and I'll turn into it."

Stefan thinks for a moment. "You said the first animal you turned into was a tiger. I think that's something I'd like to see."

Trinity smirks and before turning and walking away from him. She turns around and runs towards him, leaping into the air.

Stefan watches in awe his friend changes into a large tiger. It lands on the ground taking a few steps forward, releasing a roar. He stumbles back a few steps at the sound. The tiger sits back on its haunches, staring at Stefan. He stares at it for a moment longer. "Trinity?" The tiger…Trinity, nods her head. He slowly walks towards it, reaching a hand out. "Can I?" Trinity tilts her head down. Stefan runs his hand through the soft fur. "In all my life, I can honestly say that I've never petted a tiger." Trinity tilts her head up and licks his hand. Stefan chuckles.

Trinity leans back and shifts into her human form. "Cool right?"

"Amazing." Stefan says.

"Well I have to get ready for the party."

"Oh." Stefan says. "I guess I'll go."

"What are you crazy?" Trinity asks. "I've never been to a party and I don't have any girlfriends. You're helping me." She grabs his hand and leads them back towards the house.

* * *

Stefan and Trinity arrive to the party looking around. "Are you sure that this outfit is okay?" Trinity asks looking down at her clothes.

"You look great." Stefan tells her.

* * *

"People look up to me. I have to set an example." Elena tells Bonnie.

"Just admit it, Elena." She says.

"Oh, ok, so he's a little pretty." Elena shrugs.

"He has that romance novel stare."

"Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul." Elena says in a narrative tone. She chuckles a bit before sobering. "But what about Trinity?" She asks. "They've known each other a day and they already seem close."

Bonnie nods. "Yeah. But I get more of a friend vibe her, not a future romance vibe."

* * *

"Hey! You made it!" Caroline says, smiling at Stefan.

"We did." Stefan says.

"Well, let's get you a drink." Caroline says.

"Well I'm-" Stefan starts but Caroline grabs his arm.

"Oh, come on." She says dragging him off, Trinity following behind them.

* * *

"So where is he?" Bonnie asks.

"I don't know. You tell me, you're the psychic one."

"Right, I forgot. Ok, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate." She closes her eyes.

"Wait, you need a crystal ball." Elena picks up a beer bottle and hands it to Bonnie, their hands brushing.

"Ahh!" Bonnie gasps.

"What?" Elena asks.

"That was weird. When I touched you, I saw a crow."

"What?"

"A crow. There was fog, a man. I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it." She rushes out. "Yeah? Ok, I'm gonna get a refill." She walks away.

* * *

Trinity catches sight of Elena. "There's your girl." She says to Stefan. He looks over at her longingly. "Go." She motions towards her. Stefan turns to look at her ready to argue. "I'll be fine." She smiles. He nods his head before making his way over.

* * *

"Ok. Bonnie!" Elena calls after her before turning to see Stefan.

"Hi." He smiles.

"Hi."

"I did it again, didn't it?" He asks sheepishly.

"Yeah." Elena nods.

"I'm sorry. You're upset about something."

"Oh, uh, no, it's Bonnie. She's…you know what? Never mind. You're…here."

"I'm here." He nods.

"You know, you're kind of the talk of the town."

"Am I?" He asks.

"Mm-Hmm." Elena nods. "Mysterious new guy, oh, yeah." She smiles.

"Well, you have the mysterious thing going, too. Twinged in sadness." He notes.

"What makes you think that I'm sad?"

"Well, we did meet in a graveyard." He tells her.

"Right. Well, no, technically we met in the men's room. You don't want to know, it's…it's not exactly party chit-Chat."

"Well, I've never really been very good at, uh, Chit-chat."

"Last spring…my parents' car drove off of a bridge into the lake. And I was in the backseat and I survived, but…they didn't. So that's my story." She tells him.

"You won't be sad forever, Elena." He looks into her eyes.

* * *

Trinity stands by the fire drink in hand; watching the people around her.

"Hi." She hears.

She turns to see Bonnie. "Hi." She smiles.

"I'm glad that you could make it." Bonnie says.

"Yeah it's pretty cool."

"So how come I've never seen you around before?" Bonnie asks.

Trinity looks down for a moment before looking back up. "I'm more of the wallflower type." She says.

"Do we have any classes together?"

"History." Trinity tells her. "Last year was English. The year before Science, and so on, and so on."

Bonnie looks at her in shock. "Really?"

Trinity nods. "Like I said; wallflower."

* * *

Stefan and Elena stand on a bridge talking. "I like Bonnie; she seems like a good friend." He says.

"Best friend in the world." Elena nods. "And Trinity?" She asks, trying to subtly find out information.

"Yeah." He says. "She's made it clear that she's my new 'bestie'. Her words. And Matt, he can't seem to, uh, take his eyes off of us."

"Matt's that friend since childhood that you start dating because you owe it to yourselves to see if you can be more."

"And?"

"And then my parents died, and everything changes. Anyway, Matt and I, together we just, I don't know, it wasn't, um…it wasn't…" She trails off.

"Passionate." He says.

"No. No, it wasn't passionate…hey, um, are you ok? Um, your eye, it just, it's…" She says.

Stefan turns away. "Oh, um…yeah, no. It's, um, it's nothing. Um, are you thirsty? I'm gonna get us a drink."

* * *

Elena waits for Stefan as Matt walks up to her. "Looking for someone?" He asks.

"Hey." She says.

"When you broke up with me, you said it was because you needed some time alone. You don't look so alone to me." He says.

"Matt, you don't understand. It's…"

"That's ok, Elena. You do what you have to do. I just want to let you know that…I still believe in us. And I'm not giving up on that."

"Matt…" She says, but he walks away.

* * *

Trinity is still talking to Bonnie before she stops and looks around.

"Is everything alright?" Bonnie asks.

Trinity takes a deep breath through her nose, catching a bitter scent in the air. _That's not Stefan. _She thinks. She tries to pin point it. It's too muddled by the number of people, the drinks, and the fire. She looks back at Bonnie. "I'm fine." She says. "Maybe just a bit too much to drink." She shakes her head. "I need to go." _I have to find Stefan._

* * *

Stefan heads back over to Elena but is intercepted by Caroline. "Hey! There you are. Have you been down to the falls yet? Because they are really cool at night. And I can show you. If you want." She says.

"I think you've had too much to drink." He tries to go around her but is stopped.

"Well, of course I have. So-"

"Caroline. You and me, it's not gonna happen. Sorry." He walks away.

* * *

"I was wondering who abducted you, but now I know." Elena says, seeing what happened.

"Is she like that with, uh, all the guys?" He asks.

"No. You're fresh meat. She'll back off eventually." She looks over his shoulder. "Hmm. God, you gotta be kidding me!"

"What is it?" Stefan turns to look.

"My brother."

"The drunk one?"

"That would be the one. Excuse me."

"Need some help?"

"Trust me; you're not going to want to witness this. Jeremy! Jeremy!" She walks away.

* * *

Trinity walks around, her eyes finally landing on Stefan. She walks towards him. "Stefan." She says.

"Hey." He greets. "Having fun?"

"There's another one."

His face curls in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I caught another scent." She tells him. "Another. Bitter. Scent."

Stefan's face dawns in realization and they hear calls for help. They turn seeing Jeremy and Elena carrying a girl out of the woods.

"Somebody help!" Elena calls.

"Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?!" Matt says, rushing over to his sister.

"What happened to her?" Tyler asks.

"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt yells.

"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler shouts.

"It's her neck. Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood." Elena says.

"Put this on her neck." Someone hands her a rolled up jacket.

"Vicki, Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me." Matt says.

Stefan watches the scene in horror. Trinity grabs his arm, pulling him away from the crowd and leaving.

* * *

After dropping Trinity off, Stefan walks into the boarding house.

"What's going on?" Zach asks, seeing his face.

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me." He heads upstairs. Stefan walks into his bedroom before stopping. "Damon."

A man stands by the window. "Hello, brother." He smirks.

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?"

"Wait till you see what I can do with the fog."

"When'd you get here?" Stefan asks.

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day at school. Your hair's different. I like it."

"It's been 15 years, Damon." Stefan sighs.

"Thank god. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads." He teases.

"Why are you here?"

"I miss my little brother."

"You hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."

"I've managed to keep myself busy." He shrugs.

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you." Stefan tells him.

"Ah. That can be a problem…for you." He says.

"Why are you here now?"

"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word…Elena." He walks around the room. "She took my breath away. Elena. She's a dead ringer for Katherine. Is it working, Stefan? Being around her, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?"

"She's not Katherine." He tells him.

"Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended. And your new little friend. What's her deal?"

"Leave Trinity out of this."

"Tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"

"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not gonna work."

"Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?"

"Stop it." Stefan says, growing frustrated.

"Let's do it. Together. I saw a couple girls out there. Or just, let's just cut to the chase; let's just go straight for Elena!"

"Stop it!"

"Imagine what her blood tastes like!" Damon shouts. Stefan turns away as his face begins to change. "I can."

"I said stop!" Stefan tackles Damon through the window only to land on the hard pavement.

Damon stands by the bushes. "I was impressed. I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face thing. It was good."

"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die." Stefan says, standing up.

"That's a given." Damon shrugs.

"Not here. I won't allow it."

"I take that as an invitation."

"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?"

"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word."

"Just stay away from Elena."

Damon looks down. "Where's your ring?" He asks. Stefan looks at his empty hand. "Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof, ashes to ashes. Relax. It's right here." He holds it out. Stefan slides it back onto his finger and looks up, only to be thrown into the garage door. "You should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again. I think we woke Zach up. Hmm. Sorry, Zach!" He says walking away.

* * *

Trinity locks up her house before heading upstairs to go to bed. She lays down staring at the ceiling. _Why do I feel like this will be that last peaceful moment for a long time?_


	2. Night of the Comet

A/N: I loved the reviews! Thank you guys so much! The more you review the more I write. Here's the next chapter! :)

* * *

Chapter Two: Night of the Comet

Trinity walks down the stairs the next morning; ready for school. She pulls her cellphone out and dials Stefan. It rings a few times before he picks up.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey Stefan." Trinity greets. "I'm about to head out. Do you want me to drop by and pick you up?"

* * *

Stefan thinks for a moment, knowing that Damon was now in Mystic Falls put him on edge. "Why don't I meet you at your house? I can get there in time and we'll ride together."

* * *

Trinity's brow furrows at his answer. "Okay." She drags out before shrugging it off. "Be here in ten or I'm leaving without you."

She hears Stefan chuckle on the other line. _"I'll be there."_

"Alright, bye." She says.

"_Bye." _He hangs up.

Trinity walks into the kitchen, eager for her morning hot chocolate. She never understood why everyone loved coffee so much. _I guess I just have more energy than most people._ She frowns at the memory of a teacher suggesting that she see an ADHD specialist to her caretaker. _I guess it comes with the territory of being a shapeshifter._

She takes a sip, closing her eyes and hums at the taste. _A dash of cinnamon and a splash of milk always does the trick. _She's cleaning the mug and putting it away when she hears a knock on the door. She smiles, grabbing her bag and skipping to answer it. Throwing the door open, she beams at the sight of Stefan. "Hey buddy!" She steps out, closing the door behind her before locking it. "Let's go!" She walks pass him, jumping pass the steps to the ground.

"Someone's happy." Stefan notes with a small smile on his face.

"It's the buildup of energy." Trinity explains. "I haven't been out in the last few days. I'm usually out running or whatnot, but with the arrival of vampires I've been inside more than usual."

"Is there any other way to burn off the energy?"

"Well I guess sex would work." She shrugs. "Why? Are you offering?" She winks playfully.

Stefan chuckles. "I'm afraid my heart is already spoken for."

Trinity raises an eyebrow. "Wow. Already? One day and Elena Gilbert already has you whipped." She grins. "Come on. We got school to go to."

Stefan follows after her. "I wouldn't say whipped." He defends.

"Too late Stefan." Trinity says, unlocking her car. "It hasn't even been a week and you're already saving yourself for her." They get in. "If that's not whipped, I don't know what is." She finishes, driving away.

* * *

Trinity sits in History class, doodling in her notebook as Mr. Tanner talks.

"Originally discovered nearly 5 centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over 145 years. Now, the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Gilbert?" He asks, seeing that they're not paying attention, staring at each other instead. They shake their heads and focus on the lesson.

Trinity chuckles under her breath. She stares at Stefan's back, speaking lowly so only Stefan can hear. "Like I said; whipped." She chuckles again when she sees him tense slightly. When class ends she stands from her seat. "See you at lunch." She says as she walks pass Stefan.

* * *

Trinity sees Stefan sitting on a table not too far from Matt and Elena. She walks over and takes a seat at the table. "Hey Stefan."

"Hey." He greets.

She looks over at Matt and Elena and then back to him. "Don't you know that it's rude to eavesdrop?"

"I need to find out if his sisters okay." He explains. Trinity nods and listens in on the conversation as well.

* * *

"They're keeping her overnight to make sure there's no infection, but she should be able to come home tomorrow." Matt tells Elena.

"That's good news." She says.

"Yeah." He nods.

"Did you get in touch with your mom?" Elena asks.

"Called and left a message. She's in Virginia Beach with her boyfriend, so…we'll see how long it takes her to come rushing home."

"Vicki's lucky that she's ok."

"I know, and now there's talk of some missing campers." Matt says.

* * *

At that, Trinity and Stefan tense a bit, knowing what the attacks were linked to.

* * *

"Bye." Elena calls after her. She looks back to Matt. "Did she say what kind of animal it was that attacked her?"

"She said it was a vampire."

* * *

Trinity's eyes snap to Stefan, who has a worried look on his face.

* * *

"What?" Elena asks with disbelief.

"Yeah, she wakes up last night and mutters 'vampire' and then passes out." He explains.

"Ok, that is weird." She says.

* * *

Trinity and Stefan don't stick around any longer.

* * *

Matt enters Vicki's room to see an empty bed; he turns around and jumps a bit at the sight of Vicki standing before him. Suddenly she starts screaming hysterically. "Whoa! Vick. Vicki, hey. Vick, it's Matt. Hey, what's wrong?" He tries to console her.

"No! No! Get off! No! No! No!" She screams. Matt is at a loss and leaves the room to find a nurse.

Once he's gone, Stefan enters the room. He looks into Vicki's eyes. "It was an animal that attacked you. It came out of the night and jumped you. You blacked out. It's all you remember." He tells her.

"It's all I remember." She repeats.

"An animal attacked you. You blacked out. It's all you remember. It's all I remember."

"Nurse! I need help! It's my sister." Matt tells her. He quickly leads her to the room only to find Vicki lying in bed; sleeping.

"She seems fine." The nurse says.

Matt turns around, seeing a glimpse of Stefan in the hallway. He leaves the room to follow after him. Stefan speeds to a room with blood in it and his face begins to change, but he continues on. Matt enters the room a few seconds later only to find it empty with the window open.

* * *

Trinity sits in her car when Stefan quickly opens the door and gets in, slamming it closed behind him. She looks at his face, seeing the tense look upon it. "What happened? Are you okay?" She asks. Stefan is silent as takes breathes deeply. She looks at him with a confused expression before it dawns on her. _Of course. _She thinks. _It was a hospital. _"It's the blood, isn't it?" Stefan nods. She rolls down her windows and rubs his shoulder. "Just breathe." She says, taking her hand back and starting the car; driving off.

They stay silent for a few minutes before Trinity speaks again. "Did it work?" She asks.

Stefan nods. "Yeah. It did."

"Are you sure it's gonna stick?" She questions. "No offence, but being attacked by a vampire is a pretty traumatizing experience and because of your diet, you're not at your strongest."

"It's gonna hold." He says, a bit stronger.

Trinity glances at him. "Okay." She says. "So, what did you get up to last night?"

"Nothing." He says looking away slightly.

Trinity glances at him again before smiling coyly. "That look on your face doesn't say nothing."

Stefan opens his mouth and closes it. "I went to Elena's." He finally said.

"Ooh la la." Trinity smiles.

"It wasn't like that." Stefan shakes his head. "I just wanted to make sure that she was okay."

* * *

Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena are at the Grill, talking. "Well, I was talking to grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity." Bonnie explains.

"Yeah, and then you poured grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." Caroline dismisses before turning to Elena. "So then what?"

"So then nothing." Elena says.

"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Caroline says.

"Nope." She shakes her head. "We didn't go there."

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we are your friends. Ok? You are supposed to share the smut."

"We just talked for hours." Elena tells her.

* * *

"Seriously?" Trinity says, exasperated. "Nothing?"

"We just talked." Stefan tells her.

Trinity shakes her head as she pulls up to her house. "You're really serious about this aren't you?"

Stefan nods. "I am." He says as they get out.

"I'll drop by yours in a bit, I need an outfit for the comet event and I want to show you my choices."

"I can just stay here." Stefan says.

Trinity tilts her head. "Why don't you want me to come to your house?" She asks plainly. Stefan struggles to answer. "What aren't you telling me?"

Stefan looks at her for a moment before sighing. "The other vampire in town, the one that attacked Vicki." He starts. "It's my brother, Damon."

"Your brother." She says. Stefan nods. "And you're just now telling me. Now I'm definitely coming over."

Stefan shakes his head. "No."

"You can't hide me forever Stefan." Trinity tells him. "Sooner or later we're going to run into each other and I rather it be on my terms than his. He won't try anything with you there. He doesn't know that _I _know what you are, does he?"

"No." He says.

"So lighten up. Go home, I'll get my choices and bring them over to you in a bit." She says. Stefan looks at her worriedly. "I can take care of myself. You know that."

He sighs, seeing that he's not going to be able to convince her to stay. "Fine." He says. "But I'll wait here. You get your clothes and we'll go together."

"Deal." She smiles.

* * *

"Ok, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Ok, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex." Caroline says.

"Profound." Elena nods sarcastically before standing up.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asks.

"Caroline's right. It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was going to do." Elena says.

* * *

Trinity lays her clothes on Stefan's bed, looking over them again. "Shoot." She says. "I'm missing one." She turns to him. "I'll be back." She walks out.

"Do you really need to go all the way back for another outfit?" Stefan calls after her.

"You wanted to be my friend Stefan, this comes with the territory!" She yells.

* * *

Elena arrives at the Salvatore boarding house and walks up the steps. She knocks on the door but no one answers. Behind her a car pulls up. She turns around to see Trinity getting out with clothes in her hands. "Hi." She says, a little nervous.

"Hi!" Trinity beams. "Are you going in?" She motions towards the door.

"Oh." Elena says. "I knocked but nobody's," The door swings open. They look at the empty doorway. "home." She finishes.

"I've only been gone for like ten minutes." Trinity says, walking in.

"You and Stefan were here?" Elena asks, cautiously following.

"Yeah, he's helping me pick an outfit for tomorrow night."

"Oh." Elena says, not sure what to think about the two together. "You guys must get along really well."

"Dare I say it." Trinity says. "He has been upgraded to best friend status."

Elena nods, looking around the house. "Stefan?" She calls. "Stefan?" They hear a noise and turn to face it, seeing a raven on the stair rails. A bitter scent fills Trinity's nose, this time it's not covering the cucumber scent that she's used to. This is more of a peppermint. They turn around to see a man standing in front of him.

"I…I'm sorry for barging in. The door was…" Elena looks back. "Open." She looks forward again.

Trinity shrugs. "I was already invited."

"You must be Elena. I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." He says.

"He didn't tell me he had a brother." Elena says.

"He told me." Trinity shrugs, attempting to keep the situation light.

"And you must be Trinity." He says, his eye glinting a bit.

"I am." She says with a smile. _Yeah. _She thinks. _He's definitely up to no good._

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag." He says, before motioning behind them. "Please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."

Trinity and Elena follow, looking around at the size of the house. "Wow. This is your living room?" Elena asks, amazed.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste." His eyes shine as he looks at Elena. "I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

"The last one?" Elena asks.

"Yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend?" He says. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

"Nope." Elena says.

"They've known each other for less than a week." Trinity jumps in, wanting to put a stop to the obstacles Damon was trying to make in Stefan's life. "I'm sure that they don't know all the nitty gritty details of each other's lives."

"Well, I'm sure it'll come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end." He says.

"You say it like every relationship is doomed to end." Elena says.

"I'm a fatalist." He says before looking behind them. "Hello, Stefan."

They turn to see Stefan standing at the entrance of the living room. "Elena." He says. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"I know. I should have called, I just…" She trails off.

"Oh, don't be silly. You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But…I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker." Damon teases.

"Thank you for stopping by, Elena. Nice to see you." Stefan says.

"Yeah, I should probably go. It was nice to meet you, Damon." Elena says.

"Great meeting you, too, Elena." He smiles.

She goes to leave the room but Stefan is blocking the entrance, staring at his brother. "Stefan? Stefan?" He steps to the side as Elena leaves the house.

Trinity puts her things down and follows after her. "I'll be right back." She says to Stefan.

* * *

Elena is walking towards her car when she hears someone calling her name. "Elena!" She turns around to see Trinity. "Yeah?" She asks.

Trinity stops in front of her. "Don't take anything Damon says seriously. You're not a rebound." She tells her. "Stefan really likes you."

"Yeah?" Elena asks.

Trinity nods. "He talks about you a lot."

"He does?"

Trinity smiles. "You have nothing to worry about." She tells her. Elena nods, feeling a bit better. "You don't have to worry about me either."

"What do you mean?"

"I know that you're a little bit worried about me and Stefan."

Elena shakes her head. "No-" She starts.

"It's okay." Trinity says. "I get it. You like him and seeing another girl around him all the time has got to be a little nerve-wracking."

"A little." Elena admits.

Trinity shakes her head, a smiling again. "I'm not interested in Stefan." She says. "Can I tell you something?" She asks.

Elena nods. "Sure." Trinity leans forward, whispering in Elena's ear. Elena's brows furrow before they shoot up, her eyes widening. "Oh!" Trinity pulls back smiling. "Oh!" She says again.

Trinity nods. "Oh."

"I have nothing to worry about."

Trinity shakes her head. "Nothing."

Elena nods, smiling. "Okay." She says. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah." Trinity nods.

"Bye." Elena waves, going to her car.

"Bye." Trinity waves back.

* * *

Trinity walks back into the boarding house to see Stefan and Damon gone. She grabs her clothes and heads to Stefan's room. "What the hell?" She says when she sees him. "Could you be any creepier? You so owe me for the damage control I just did."

"What?" Stefan asks.

"I just saved your future love life." She answers.

"How?"

"By quelling all the doubts Damon just gave her." Trinity shrugs. "Well most of them. Who's Katherine?"

Stefan shakes his head. "I'll explain later." He gets up and gives her a hug. "Thank you."

"Like I said; you owe me. I accept payments in chocolate and gummy worms." She says, pulling out of the hug. "Now help me choose an outfit."

* * *

Bonnie and Elena hand out programs for The Night of the Comet. "Tonight, night of the comet." Bonnie smiles.

"Would you like a program?" Elena asks a passerby.

"He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie asks.

"Or text." Elena says. "But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part."

"That's an important milestone in any relationship."

"Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway."

"When is it ever right?"

"I'm not ready, Bonnie." Elena tells her.

"Who is?"

"At least I put myself out there."

"Is that what you're calling it?"

"What do you mean?"

"All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie says.

* * *

The next day, Trinity walks down the stairs, talking on the phone. Stefan just finished explaining about Katherine. "All I can say is that your life sucks and that I wish you luck. I'll see you tonight." She says. "You have some making up to do with Elena."

"_Thanks again."_ Stefan says.

"No problem, thanks for helping with the outfit." Trinity says. "Bye."

"_Bye." _Stefan says.

* * *

Stefan walks downstairs, ready to leave when he sees Zach. "What is Damon doing here? Why did he come home?" He asks.

"'Cause I came home. He wants to make my life miserable. That's how he enjoys his." Stefan explains.

"Well, he's putting us all at risk. This girl in the hospital could talk." He argues.

"She won't. I took care of her." Stefan tells him.

"You're sure?"

"I'm not sure, Zach. I don't know how well it worked. I'm not as strong as Damon."

"So what happens if it doesn't work?"

"I don't know. I'll deal with it."

"Is she worth it Uncle Stefan? This girl you came back for."

* * *

Caroline walks over to Bonnie and Elena. "Hey, I got some candles." She says, holding one out. Bonnie takes it.

Elena walks over to Matt, who's lighting his own candle. "Hi."

"Hey." Matt says, handing her a candle.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She walks to find someone to ignite it, who is none other than Stefan. "Hi." He says.

"Hi." She says.

"You know, that comet…it's been traveling across space for thousands of years. All alone." He tells her.

"Yeah." Elena nods. "Bonnie says it's a harbinger of evil."

"I think it's just a ball of…snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every 145 years, it gets to come home. I'm sorry about yesterday. I wasn't myself."

"You seem to spend a lot of time apologizing."

"Well, I have a lot to apologize for. Yesterday, that wasn't about you, ok?"

"You didn't tell me that you had a brother." Elena says.

"We're not close. It's, uh…it's complicated."

"Always." Elena nods. "He told me about your ex, Katherine."

"What did he say?" Stefan asks, hiding his worry.

"That she broke your heart."

"That was a long time ago."

"When you lose someone, it stays with you, always reminding you of how easy it is to get hurt."

"Elena…" He trails off.

"It's ok, Stefan. I get it. You have no idea how much I get it. Complicated brother? Check. Complicated ex? Check. Too complicated to even contemplate dating, double check. It's ok. We met, and we talked, and it was epic, but…then the sun came up and reality set in so…" She walks away.

Trinity sees what happens and walks towards him. "Are you okay?" She asks. Stefan stays silent and looks down. "Don't give up on her. She lost her parents, her brother's acting like a brat, and her ex-boyfriend still wants to be with her. That's a lot to deal with. She not rejecting you, she's just being cautious. Come on." She says, grabbing his arm and leading him away. "We'll see if we can find something to cheer you up."

* * *

They walk around for a bit before Matt walks up to them. "Hey." He says.

"Hey." Stefan greets.

"Have you seen my sister?" He asks.

They shake their heads. "No, sorry." Trinity says.

"I can't find her. She's missing."

"We'll keep an eye out for her." Stefan tells him.

"Hey. I saw you at the hospital yesterday." Matt says.

"Did you?" Stefan asks.

"What were you doing there?"

Trinity jumps in. "I was picking up a prescription and Stefan came with me."

Matt looks at her. "Really?" He says, skeptically. He looks back at Stefan. "You know, Elena and I, we've known each other for a long time. We might not be together right now, but I look out for her. And I'll always look out for her."

Stefan and Trinity hear voices coming from a roof near them.

"_You really have to stop screaming." _Damon says.

"_No, please, stop. Don't…" _They hear a girl, Vicki.

"_Shh. I got you."_

Stefan focuses on Matt again. "Excuse me." He walks away.

Matt eyes follow him before Trinity interrupts. "I'll help you look." She says.

* * *

Stefan sees Damon and Vicki. He jumps onto the roof.

"No! No!" Vicki screams as Damon holds her on the edge of the roof, jerking her back and forth playfully.

"I gotta do it. I'm not gonna drop you." He looks at Stefan "Not bad. Have you been eating bunnies?"

"Let her go." Stefan demands.

"Shh." He hushes her before looking at Stefan. "Really? Ok." He jerks her again.

"No! No, no, no!" Vicki screams.

"Uhh!" Damon groans, rolling his eyes. "Relax."

"What's happening?" She asks.

"I don't need her to be dead, but…you might." He tells Stefan before looking into her eyes. "What attacked you the other night?"

"I don't know." She shakes her head. "An animal."

"Are you sure about that? Think. Think about it. Think really hard. What attacked you?"

"A vampire." She answers.

"Who did this to you?"

"You did!" She shouts.

"Wrong!"

"Don't." Stefan pleads, seeing what Damon is about to do.

"It was Stefan." He says.

"Don't." Stefan pleads again, desperately.

"Come here." Damon brings her closer. "Stefan Salvatore did this to you."

"Stefan Salvatore did this to me." She repeats. Stefan watches on in horror.

"He's a vampire. A vicious, murderous monster." Damon tells her.

"Please, Damon. Please don't do this." Stefan begs.

Damon looks at him. "If you couldn't fix it before, I don't know what you can do now." He rips the bandage off her neck and throwing her towards Stefan.

"Aah!" Vicki screams as she hits the floor and the wound begins to bleed again.

"Uhh! Your choice of lifestyle has made you weak. A couple of vampire parlor tricks is nothing compared to the power that you could have, that you now need. But you can change that. Human blood gives you that."

"No!" Vicki screams.

"You have two choices. You can feed and make her forget. Or you can let her run, screaming 'vampire' through the town square." Damon says.

"That's what this is about? You want to expose me?"

"No! I want you to remember who you are!"

"Why? So what, so I'll feed? So I'll kill? So I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again? You know what, let her go. Let her tell everyone that vampires have returned to Mystic Falls. Let them chain me up, and let them drive a stake through my heart, because at least I'll be free of you." Stefan tells him.

"Huh. Wow." Damon says before walking closer to Vicki. "Come here, sweetheart."

"No!" She scramble back.

"It's ok." He says before leaning forward and whispering in her ear. He pulls back and Vicki has a look of confusion on her face.

"What happened? Where am I? Oh, I ripped my stitches open. Ah…" She touches the wound lightly.

"You ok?" Stefan asks.

"I took some pills, man." She smiles, blinking slowly. "I'm good." She says before leaving.

"It's good to be home. Think I might stay a while. This town could use a bit of a wake-up call, don't you think?" Damon asks.

"What are you up to, Damon?"

"That's for me to know and for you to…dot, dot, dot. Give Elena and Trinity my best."

* * *

Stefan talks to Matt and Trinity at the Grill. "She said you found her wandering around." Matt tells him.

"Yeah." Stefan nods.

"So, um, thanks." Matt says, a bit awkwardly.

"I better be getting home." Trinity says. "Bye guys." She walks away.

"Bye." They call after her.

"Uhh." Caroline groans. "It's just so much drama. Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?"

"Yeah." Bonnie nods.

Stefan walks up to her. "Excuse me. Hi."

"Hi." Bonnie says.

"Um, have you guys seen Elena?" He asks.

"I think she went home. I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number and her email. She is big on texting, and you can tell her…'I said so'." Bonnie says.

"Thank you." Stefan hands her his phone. Their hands brush and Bonnie freezes. "You ok?" He looks at her.

"What happened to you?" She asks before shaking her head. "That's so rude. I'm sorry. Excuse me."

"Yeah, she kind of wigs out. It's like her thing." Caroline explains.

* * *

Elena stands outside the Salvatore Boarding House and rings the doorbell.

"Hi." Stefan greets when he sees her.

"Hey."

"Would you like to come in?" He asks.

"The comet's actually this way. Sorry for barging in. Especially after earlier." She tells him.

"No, no." He shakes his head. "I'm glad you're here. The way we left things…I didn't like it."

"See, the thing is, I got home tonight planning on doing what I always do, write in my diary, like I have been since my mom gave me one when I was 10. It's where I get everything out, everything I'm feeling. It all goes in this little book that I hide on the second shelf behind this really hideous ceramic mermaid. But then I realized that I'd just be writing things that I should probably be telling you."

"What would you write?"

"I would write…_'Dear diary, today I convinced myself it was ok to give up. Don't take risks. Stick with the status quo. No drama, now is just not the time. But my reasons aren't reasons, they're excuses. All I'm doing is hiding from the truth, and the truth is that…'_ I'm scared, Stefan. I'm scared that if I let myself be happy for even one moment that…the world's just going to come crashing down, and I…I don't know if I can survive that."

"Do you want to know what I would write? _'I met a girl. We talked. It was epic. But then the sun came up and reality set in. Well, this is here.'_" He says before kissing her.

* * *

Trinity sits down to read but her leg keeps bouncing up and down. She shakes her head, setting down the book and opens her window. She steps back, before jumping forward, shifting into an eagle and flying out her window. She lets out a loud cry as she soars through the air. As she's flying she hears a scream from the town below.


	3. Friday Night Bites

Chapter Three: Friday Night Bites

Trinity runs in circles around her house, in the shape of a small Labrador. The doorbell rings and she brings herself to an abrupt stop. She slides across the wooden floor, she paws the ground in the attempt to stop, but slides head first into a wall. She releases a small whine. She gathers her bearings, shaking her head back and forth before shifting back into her human form. She stands up, raising a hand to her head. "Damn." She whispers. She puts her hand down and walks to the door. "Hey." She greets when she sees Stefan.

He looks at her curiously. "What was that noise?"

Trinity looks down sheepishly. "That was me." Stefan stares at her. "In the shape of a puppy…sliding into a wall." Though he tries to fight it, a small laugh escapes his lips. Trinity rolls her eyes. "Let it out." She says. Stefan burst into laughter. Trinity nods her head. "Yeah, yeah. It's hilarious."

Stefan finally sobers, a smile still on his face. "Alright." He says. "Why were you a puppy?"

"I was trying to run off the energy. I was an eagle last night, but it wasn't enough." She explains, grabbing her bag and closing the door behind her.

"Why don't we go out to the woods sometime?" Stefan asks. "You could run while I feed."

Trinity nods her head. "I'd like that." She says, getting into the car.

* * *

In front of the school, Bonnie talks to Elena. "I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow." She says.

"You were the one who said to go for it." Elena tells her.

"Now I'm saying take it slow."

Elena looks at her. "Why the about-face?"

Bonnie shakes her head. "It's not an about-face. You're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field."

"Oh, because I'm so that girl." Elena said sarcastically.

"What about Trinity?" Bonnie asks. "They hang out all the time. Don't you think that something might happen?

Elena shakes her head. "First of all, you're the one who told me that they are only friends. Second; I talked to Trinity, and she's made it _very _clear that she's not into Stefan. Seriously, what are you not saying?"

"It's stupid." Bonnie says.

"Bonnie…" Elena gives her a searching look.

"What?"

"Spit it out." Elena urges.

"I accidentally touched Stefan." She says. "And got a really bad feeling."

"Is that it? Bonnie." Elena chides.

"It was bad bad!"

"Is the whole witch mojo thing again?"

"You know what? I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."

"And I love you for it, I do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year, and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that."

Stefan and Trinity walk up. "Good morning, Elena. Good morning, Bonnie." He says.

"Hey guys." Trinity gives a small wave.

"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later." Bonnie walks away.

"Bonnie, wait…" Elena calls after her.

They watch her go, Stefan turns to Elena. "She doesn't like me very much."

"She doesn't know you." Elena tells him. "She's my best friend. She's just looking out for me. But when she does, she will love you."

* * *

On the football field, Tyler talks to Matt. "Look…there's Elena and her new boyfriend. Now, what are they doing? Oh, they're walking, walking, walking. Yep. Right into the sunset."

"You're a dick." Matt says.

"While you just stand there looking like one of those little yard trolls."

"Gnomes." Matt corrects him.

* * *

"Here's what we're going to do. Are you free tonight?" Elena asks them.

"Yes." Stefan says, Trinity nods.

"Perfect. Dinner, my house. 8:00. You, me, Trinity, and Bonnie. You two will spend some quality time and she'll get to see what a great guy you are. Mission accomplished." Elena tells them. Trinity and Stefan nod in agreement.

* * *

"Hey, what am I supposed to do, Ty?" Matt asks. "She made her choice."

"Let her know she made the wrong one." He pulls his arm back.

"What are you doing?" Matt asks when he sees him aiming at Stefan. "Ty, don't. Ty, don't! Ty! Don't!" Tyler throws the ball.

* * *

Stefan and Trinity hear a whistling sound coming towards them. Stefan turns around and catches the ball, throwing it back with an impressive speed. Tyler catches the ball and moves back a few steps at the force.

Elena's mouth opens in shock and awe. "That throw was insane. I didn't know you played football."

"I used to. It was a long time ago." Stefan shrugs.

"So why don't you try out for the team?"

"Yeah, I don't think so." Stefan shakes his head.

"So you don't like football?"

"No, I love football. I think it's a great sport. But in this case, I don't think football likes me. You saw Tyler over there, and we both know how Matt feels."

"They don't know you. To them, you're mysterious loner guy. Wouldn't hurt to be part of. Make some friends." Elena says.

"I have a friend." He motions towards Trinity who smiles. "Says the girl who spends her alone time writing in a cemetery."

"Hey, come on." She smiles. "There's more to me than just gloomy graveyard girl. There's a whole other Elena that you have yet to meet. She was into everything, very busy."

"Well, I look forward to meeting her. And when will that be?"

"Soon." Elena says. "She's working on it."

"I do think you should join Stefan." Trinity says.

Elena points to her, still looking at Stefan. "See? She agrees with me."

"If only to get back at the rest of them by showing how good you are and blocking them from ever getting scouted." She finishes.

Elena drops her hand. "Don't join for that reason."

Stefan shakes his head. "I won't."

* * *

Bonnie doodles number in her notebook. '8','14', and '22'.

Trinity sighs as Mr. Tanner talks. _I can't stand his voice. Or his face. Just him altogether._

"World war II ended in…anyone got anything? Miss Juan?" He gets no answer. "1945."

Elena leans over. "Psst. FYI…our team sucks. They could use you." She tells Stefan.

"Can't." Stefan says.

Trinity shifts her body to the side and glances at Stefan behind her. "Come on." She smiles.

"Pearl Harbor?" Mr. Tanner asks.

"I'm a loner." He tells them.

"Miss Gilbert?" Mr. Tanner asks.

"Hmm? Pearl Harbor?" Elena asks. "Um…"

"December 7th." Stefan says.

"1941." Trinity finishes.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert." He says, sarcastically.

"Anytime." They say in sync.

"Very well." Tanner says, a challenging look in his eyes. "The fall of the Berlin wall."

"1989." They say.

"I'm good with dates, sir." Stefan says, Trinity nods.

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act." He says.

"1964." Trinity answers.

"John F. Kennedy assassination."

"1963." Stefan tells him.

"Martin Luther King." Tanner shoots.

"'68." Trinity smiles.

"Lincoln."

"1865." Stefan says.

"Roe vs. Wade."

"1973." She tells him.

"Brown vs. Board."

"1954." Stefan answers.

"The battle of Gettysburg."

"1863." Trinity's smile grows bigger.

"Korean war."

"1950 to 1953." They answer, though Trinity does it with a bit more attitude.

Tanner slaps a desk in front of him. "Ha! It ended in '52."

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53." Stefan tells him.

"It was." Trinity nods with a smug grin on her face.

"Look it up, somebody. Quickly." Tanner tells the class.

They search through their books and a student pulls out his phone, typing the question in before raising his hand. "It was 19…53." The class cheers.

* * *

"How did you know all of that?" Elena asks on their way out of class.

"Years and years of crossword puzzles. It's a loner thing." Stefan says.

"Oh the woes of having no friends." Trinity says.

* * *

On the football field, Stefan looks at the team, while Elena is with the cheerleaders. Trinity sits in the bleachers with a book in her lap. She watches as Mr. Tanner offers Stefan a spot on the team. In his words 'just to see him get knocked on his ass'. _I guess he's still pissed about class. _She thinks. A she smells a bitter peppermint and turns towards the cheerleaders to see Caroline step out of Damon's car. _Great car. Nice American muscle. I wonder if he's trying to compensate for something?_

* * *

"Uh…" Elena trails off.

"Oh, my God. That must be the mystery guy from the grill." Bonnie says.

Elena shakes her head. "That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore."

"Salvatore, as in Stefan?" Bonnie asks.

"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." She gives a smug smile as she passes them. "Sorry I'm late, girls. I, uh, was busy. All right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say? And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8." She looks at Elena as she fumbles a bit. "Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today? Ok?" Elena stops and walks to the side. "Keep going! Ok. Do it again from the top. And 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8."

Trinity turns away and winces as she watches Stefan get sacked by Tyler.

* * *

Stefan walks into his bedroom only to see Damon sitting in a chair, reading his journal. "How were tryouts? Did you make the team?" He asks. "Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many…adjectives."

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asks.

"I've come to apologize. I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and…I want us to start over." He says. "We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us."

"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon."

"Of course it doesn't. I saw Elena today, btw. That means 'by the way'. She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts." Stefan's face shows his anger. "Just…simmer down, I didn't even go near her." Damon says. "I saw Trinity too. Watching you from the bleachers. Looks like you got a fan. I wonder what Elena will think. But it doesn't matter. I've got my own cheerleader now." He stands from his seat. "Ooh, that reminds me…I gotta run. I have a date." He rubs his hands together. "Sweaty palms. Wish me luck." He leaves.

* * *

Elena and Bonnie are in the kitchen, taking containers out of bags. "You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial breaks come on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial. And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture." Bonnie tells her.

"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." Elena dismisses.

"Fine. Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. Three numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?"

"Maybe we should play the lottery. Have you talked to your grams?"

"She's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?"

"I don't want to be a witch." Elena shakes her head.

"And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody." Bonnie shakes her head as Elena pours food from a take-out container into a bowl.

"Ok, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena looks around the kitchen.

"Little drawer on your left."

Elena opens the drawer, surprised to see that Bonnie was right. She shakes her head. "Ok, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times."

"Yeah, that's it." Bonnie nods. They hear the doorbell ring.

"Ok, they're here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal loving self." Elena says, going to answer the door.

Bonnie stays in the kitchen. "Birthday candles." She whispers to herself and opens a drawer, finding the birthday candles.

* * *

Elena, Stefan, Trinity, and Bonnie sit around the table. "Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asks Stefan.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." He says.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and-" Elena says.

"Yeah, I heard." Bonnie interrupts her.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena says, changing the subject.

"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad. Hmm." She answers shortly.

"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool." Elena tells them.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie says.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s." Stefan says.

"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie tells him.

"Really? Salem witches?" Trinity asks.

"Yeah." Bonnie nods.

"I would say that's pretty cool." She says.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie asks.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan explains.

Bonnie nods, a smile growing on her face. "Yeah, they are."

The doorbell rings and Elena gets up to answer it. "I wonder who that could be."

She opens the door to see Caroline and Damon on the other side. "Surprise!" Caroline smiles, a cake in her hands. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert." She walks in.

"Oh." Elena says, shocked.

"Hope you don't mind." Damon grins.

Stefan and Trinity walk into the entrance way. "What are you doing here?" Stefan asks.

"Waiting for Elena to invite me in." Damon says.

"Oh, yeah, you can-" Elena starts.

"No, no, no. He can't, uh…he can't stay. Can you, Damon?" Stefan asks.

"Get in here." Caroline says.

"We're just…finishing up." Stefan tries again.

"It's fine. Just come on in." Elena says.

Damon takes a step over the threshold. "You have a beautiful home, Elena."

"Thank you." Elena says.

* * *

They all sit around the table, their plates empty. "I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething. But good for you. Go for it." Caroline says.

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it." Damon says.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines." Caroline says.

"I'll work with her. She'll get it." Bonnie says.

"I guess we can put her in the back." Caroline shrugs.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon tells her.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun." Caroline says. "And I say that with complete sensitivity."

The table sits in silence for a moment. "Wow." Trinity says.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon says.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon." Stefan tells him.

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up. Mmm." He hums.

"Okay." Trinity says. "We get it. We're all sad orphans with complicated past." Damon looks at Trinity. "Next subject?"

"You're an orphan as well?" He asks.

Trinity rolls her eyes. "Damon, find a new topic."

Damon puts his hands up. "My bad." He says, before leaning forward in his seat. "Trinity, I don't believe we've had the pleasure to spend much time together. Stefan likes to keep you all to himself." Bonnie and Caroline look between Trinity and Stefan before looking at Elena, who seems unfazed by the comment. "What are your interest? Any hobbies? Deep dark secrets you want to share?"

Trinity shrugs, but is glad to be on a new topic. "I read a lot."

Stefan nods. "She enjoys a lot of classics."

"Shakespeare?" Damon asks.

Trinity lets out a noise of disgust. "He's a good writer, there's no doubt about that. But I'm not one for tragedies and he doesn't have the best view of women. I like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, Bram Stoker, and Anne Rice."

"Bram Stoker and Anne Rice." Damon says. "Are you a vampire fan?"

Trinity shrugs. "It's not really the vampires or the supernatural at all. Both authors are great at what they do; they know how to draw the readers in."

"So it's the sex." Damon says, his eyes glinting.

Trinity meets his eyes, unfazed. "In Dracula; one of the main themes was the threat of female sexual expression. Society ruled that a woman only had two options; to be a virgin or to be a wife and mother. If she was neither, she was considered a whore. A model Victorian woman was turned and slain, but not because she was a vampire. But because the men who slew her were afraid to be associated with society's scorn. I just think that they were afraid to give into their own desires." She shrugs.

Damon smiles at her. "You have a very interesting view."

"It's basic human nature, we are pleasure seekers." She explains. "Whether it is physical, emotional, or mental; we never shy away from something that makes us feel good." Caroline shifts a bit, uncomfortable with how closely Damon looks at Trinity. Elena and Bonnie look between the two, though Elena has a slight look of confusion on her face. Stefan watches Damon worriedly.

* * *

Elena's in the kitchen washing the dishes when Damon walks in with a glass. "One more." He says, holding it out.

"Oh, thank you." Elena reaches for it but it falls before she can get a grip. Damon catches it before it hits the ground. "Nice save." She laughs.

"I like you. You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time." Damon says.

"Earlier, did you mean…Katherine?" Elena asks.

"Mm-hmm." He nods.

"How did she die?"

"In a fire. Tragic fire."

"Recently?"

"Well, it seems like it was yesterday."

"What was she like?"

"She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department. She was just very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive." Damon explains

"So which one of you dated her first?" Elena asks.

"Nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine. I'd quit cheerleading if I were you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I saw you at practice. You looked miserable." He changes the subject.

"You saw that?"

"Uh-huh." He nods.

"I used to love it. It was fun. Things are different this year. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore."

"So don't let it. Quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta-da." He shakes his hands.

"Some things could matter again."

"Maybe. But…seems a little unrealistic to me." He shrugs.

"I'm sorry. About Katherine. You lost her too." Elena tells him. Damon's face sobers at her words.

"Hey. Need some help?" Bonnie asks walking in, Trinity behind her.

"Sure, why not?" Damon smiles.

* * *

Stefan and Caroline sit in the living room. "Matt tries, but he's just having a really hard time. You have to understand that they were each other's first. You know, like, from the sandbox." Caroline says.

"That's a really nice scarf." Stefan looks at her neck.

"Mm." Caroline touches the scarf with the tips of her fingers. "Thank you, it's new."

"Can I see it? I mean, would you mind taking it off?"

"Oh, I can't." She says.

"Why not? You ok?" Stefan asks.

"Um…All I know is that I can't take it off."

"What are you two kids talking about?" Damon walks in.

"I was just commenting on her scarf." Stefan says.

"Hmm. Hey, you know, um, Elena, Trinity, and Bonnie are finishing up the dishes. Why don't you go see if you can help?" Damon says.

"Does it look like I do dishes?" Caroline asks.

"For me?" Damon says.

"Hmm…I don't think so." She shakes her head.

He looks into her eyes. "Go see if Elena needs help in the kitchen." He compels her.

"You know what? I'm gonna go see if Elena needs some help in the kitchen." She smiles.

"Great." Damon says, watching her walk away.

"They are people, Damon. She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to." Stefan tells him.

"Sure she does. They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking."

"All right, you've had your fun. You used Caroline; you got to me and Elena, good for you. Now it's time for you to go."

"That's not a problem. Because…I've been invited in, and I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night and I'll do with your little cheerleader whatever I want to do. Because that is what is normal to me." Damon tells him. "And Trinity? I like her. She has spunk. I might even try to take your spot as her best friend, though I may add benefits."

"Stay away from her Damon." Stefan tells him.

Damon smiles. "Since when do I ever do what you tell me to?"

* * *

The next night Trinity walks around, seeing everyone in homecoming spirit. "Having a nice time?" She hears.

She turns around to see Damon. "I guess."

"Well I must say, you look great." His eyes trail up and down.

_Oh no. _Trinity thinks. "Enjoy the game." She goes to walk away.

"I'll keep you company." He says. "It would be a crime to leave a woman so beautiful by herself."

Trinity sighs. "Damon, trust me when I say that you are barking up the wrong tree."

"Why?" He asks, moving in front of her. "Is it because you have feelings for my brother?"

Trinity snorts at that. "Oh God no. Me and Stefan will never happen."

"Because of Elena?"

"Because Stefan has a quality that is a major turn off. A total deal breaker."

"And what is that?" Damon leans in.

Trinity leans in as well, putting her lips next to his ear. "A penis." She whispers, patting him on the shoulder and walking away. Damon's face is shocked.

* * *

Elena walks towards Stefan. "Ooh. Look at you. You look hot in your jersey." She says.

"What happened? No more cheerleader?" He says, seeing her in casual clothes.

"I quit. I'm a quitter."

"No, hey, you're not a quitter. You suffered a great loss. You're not the same person. You should be looking ahead. You should be starting over. Ok? I hope you don't think this is too soon or too weird, but…I, uh, I wanted you to have this." He takes out a necklace holding it up.

"Oh, my God, it's beautiful." Elena breathes.

"It's something that I've had forever, and, uh, I've never wanted to give it to anyone until now. I'd very much like it if you'd wear it for me, for…good luck." Stefan tells her.

"Is that rose that I smell?" She asks.

"No, it's, uh…it's an herb. It's nice, huh?" Stefan asks.

"I love it."

"And, uh, I wanted to thank you for pushing me to try out for the team. It feels really good."

"We're a pair. I quit, you start."

"Right." He nods. "We're a work in progress. We'll figure it out." Elena pulls him in for a kiss.

Caroline walks up to them. "And you're not in uniform because?"

* * *

Trinity hears people shouting and the scent of blood fills her nose. She walks towards the commotion to see Jeremy and Tyler fighting. Tyler is pulled back by Stefan and Jeremy grabs a broken beer bottle and slashes it him. Stefan steps in the way, putting his hand up; being cut instead.

"What the hell, Jeremy? Put your head up, you're bleeding." Elena tells him.

"I'm fine!" She shrugs her off.

"Yeah, you smell fine." Elena says, sarcastically.

"Just stop, ok?" He walks off.

"Come on, man. Come on." Matt drags Tyler away.

"Oh, my God, your hand." Elena walks towards Stefan.

"No, no, no, it's fine." Stefan tells her.

"Is it deep? How bad is it? Come on!" She picks up his hand but sees no wound. "But…I saw it, it was…" She trails off, confused.

"He missed. It's not my blood." He wipes it on his pants. "See? I'm fine."

"No, no, no. I…I saw it." Elena shakes her head. "The glass cut your hand. It was…"

Trinity walks over. "I saw the whole thing Elena. Jeremy didn't cut him." She says. Elena looks at her, confused.

"It's ok. I'm ok. It's almost kick-off time, all right? So, um, I'll, uh, I'll see you after the game." Stefan walks away.

"I'm going to go to the restroom." Trinity says, walking away as well.

* * *

Elena walks up to Bonnie. "Hey! Where you been?" Bonnie asks.

"Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious, no-joke response?" She asks.

"Of course. What is it?" Bonnie looks at her, concern in her eyes.

"The bad mojo. When you touched Stefan and you had that reaction…"

Bonnie shakes her head. "You know what, forget I said that. Your little dinner party plot totally won me over."

"No, Bonnie, seriously." Elena says. "What was it? Did you see something, or…"

Bonnie sighs. "It wasn't clear like a picture. Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about…8, 14, 22."

"Yeah?"

"When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling. And it vibrated through me, and it was cold, and it…" She trails off.

"And what?" Elena asks.

"It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like."

* * *

Elena closes the door to her car and turns around. She jumps when she sees Damon standing behind her. "You scared me. What are you doing here?" She asks.

"I'm hiding from Caroline." He tells her.

"And why is that?"

"I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen."

"That could be a sign."

"Well, she's awfully young."

"Not much younger than you are."

"I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture. I think she'd drive me crazy." Damon says.

Elena's eyes narrow. "Caroline does have some really annoying traits, but we've been friends since the first grade and that means something to me."

"Duly noted. I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention." He tells her.

"Yes, it is." Elena says. "Otherwise you wouldn't put an alternate meaning behind everything you say."

"You're right. I do have other intentions, but so do you." He looks into her eyes.

"Really?" Elena asks, plainly.

"Mm-hmm. I see 'em. You want me." Damon tells her.

"Excuse me?" Elena asks.

"I get to you. You find yourself drawn to me. You think about me even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you even dreamed about me. And right now…you want to kiss me." He closes his eyes as he leans in, only to receive with a hard slap in the face. He jerks back.

"What the hell? I don't know what game you're trying to play with Stefan here, but I don't want to be part of it. And I don't know what happened in the past, but let's get one thing straight…I am not Katherine." Elena says strongly before walking away.

* * *

Stefan stands in the lot outside the locker room. "You gonna be able to play?" Matt asks when he sees him.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good." Stefan nods.

"Uh, what you did back there…you had Jeremy's back."

"Ah, he's a messed-up kid. Somebody's gotta look out for him." Stefan says.

"I know." Matt nods. "This week at practice I was a dick."

"Had your reasons."

"No excuse." He shakes his head. "Good luck tonight. We're lucky to have you." He into the locker room.

"Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, 'rah, rah, go team, yeah!'" Damon mocks.

"Not tonight." Stefan shakes his head, turning around to face him. "I'm done with you."

"Nice trick with Elena. Let me guess…vervain in the necklace? I admit; I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Guess I could just seduce her the old-fashioned way." He shrugs. "Or I could just…eat her."

"No. You're not gonna hurt her, Damon."

"No?" Damon asks.

"Because deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you. That you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."

"Who's pretending?"

"Then kill me." Stefan tells him.

"Well, I'm…I'm tempted." Damon says.

"No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me. After 145 years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity." Stefan explains.

"Salvatore!" Tanner says, behind Stefan. "What the hell? We've got a game to play!"

Damon looks at him. "If that's my humanity…then what's this?" He speeds behind Tanner and bites into his neck. Tanner screams.

"No!" Stefan yells.

Damon drops the body to the floor. "Anyone, anytime, any place." He says before disappearing.

* * *

"Tanner's M.I.A. I think he had a little bit too much beer." Tyler tells Matt as her gets his pads ready.

"Don't talk to me right now, all right? I'm pissed at you." Matt says.

"What's your problem?"

"What's my-" Matt asks in disbelief. "You're my problem, all right? You're a bully. A freakin' 12-year-old bully, man. And I'm sick of it. I mean, what was that about tonight? What's beating up the new guy going to prove? Or screwing with my sister or pummeling my girlfriend's kid brother."

"Girlfriend?" Tyler says. "Look, I don't know how to tell you this, but she dumped your ass." Matt punches him and he stumbles back a few steps. "Are you for real?! You want to hit me? I'm on your team."

"This was over the line. Even for you." He says, walking out of the locker room. He stops at the sight of Tanner's body. "Somebody help!" He calls.

* * *

The police arrived. Bonnie looks at the scene. She sees a pennons "BLDG 8", the car says "FHT 14" and on the ground, the number 22. Bonnie face falls in horror.

* * *

In the car park Elena talks to Stefan and Trinity. "What kind of animal could be doing all this? Why would it come out of the woods and attack someone in the middle of town?" She asks.

"I don't know. I don't know." Stefan says, still distracted by what just happened.

"I was so sure that you cut your hand. I saw it." Elena shakes her head.

"I'm gonna be fine. I'm gonna be fine, ok? We're fine. That's what matters." Stefan pulls her into a hug.

Trinity hugs them both when they separate. "I'm gonna head home." She says. "You two stay safe."

"You too." Elena says.

"See you later." Stefan nods.

* * *

Stefan sits in his bedroom, writing in his diary. _'I thought there was hope that somewhere deep inside, something in Damon was still human, normal. But I was wrong. There's nothing human left in Damon. No good, no kindness. No love. Only a monster who must be stopped.'_

* * *

Damon is in Elena's bedroom, watching her sleep.

* * *

Trinity sighs as she realizes that because of Damon, she won't be able to roam the woods anymore.


	4. Family Ties

A/N: You guys are all so great. I have loved your reviews so much, that I'm updating twice in the same day! You guys earned it. I'd also like to thank everyone who followed/favorite me. You guys are my muses!

* * *

Chapter Four: Family Ties

Elena wakes up when she hears a noise. She walks downstairs. "Hello? Jeremy? Hello?"

She goes to the living room when she hears the TV. _"This is Logan Fell coming to you live from the streets of Mystic Falls with breaking news of another deadly animal attack. The wild animal terrorizing the citizens of Mystic Falls has claimed another victim, local high school student Elena Gilbert. Police are certain that forensic evidence will confirm that this is the same animal responsible for recent attacks."_

"You know what's coming next." Damon says from behind her. She runs towards the door to escape but Damon appears in front of her. She screams.

* * *

Stefan snaps awake from his nightmare. "Ah!"

"Bad dream?" Damon asks, sitting on a chair across the room.

"Ah." Stefan regains his breath.

"Do you know how easy it was to get into your head just now? You really need some human blood. It might even the playing field. Football reference. Too soon." Damon mocks.

Stefan launches a knife at Damon, hitting him in the chest.

Damon looks down at it and pulls it out. "All right, I deserved that. But I just wanted to let you know, they caught the culprit. The animal responsible for killing Coach Tanner and all those people." He stands from his seat, twiddling the knife.

"What are you talking about?" Stefan gets out of bed.

"It was a mountain lion. Really big one." He holds his hands out. "It attacked a hunter this morning. It's all over the news. 'Deadly beast captured. All's well in Mystic Falls.'"

"Why would you cover your tracks?"

"I've decided to stay a while. I'm just having way too much fun here with you and Elena."

"Can't touch her now." Stefan reminds him.

"Well, the vervain keeps me out of her head. Maybe that's not my target. Believe it or not, Stefan, some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style and my charm and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift. Except maybe Trinity." He says. "You know, with her being gay and all. But all hope is not lost." He stabs Stefan in the stomach. Stefan groans, and almost falls to his knees. "This is John Varvatos, dude. Dick move." Damon says, leaving.

* * *

Stefan writes in his diary as he listens to the sheriff on TV. _"I can confirm that a 12-Foot puma mountain lion attacked a hunter and was subsequently shot and killed. The hunter is in stable condition."_

'_The real animal is still out there, waiting for me, challenging me to fight back, to stop him. But how do I stop a monster without becoming one myself?'_ He writes.

* * *

Jenna watches the reporter on the TV. _"To repeat, the animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught."_

"Scum ball. Scum bucket." Jenna says.

"Who are you talking to?" Elena asks, walking in.

"Him." Jenna motions towards the screen. "The news guy, also known as Logan 'Scum' Fell. Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"

Elena looks at the screen. "Oh, no way. You and him? He's cute."

"He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him. What are you doing with that?" She asks, seeing the box in Elena's hands.

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display.

"Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?" Jenna asks, as she looks through the box.

"Originally it was Great-Great-Grandma Mary's wedding ring."

"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on ebay?" Jeremy asks, walking in.

"You're not gonna find out." Elena tells him.

"That stuff is mom and dad's. You can't just give it away." Jeremy says.

"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy." Elena defends. The doorbell rings and Elena goes to answer. She opens the door, revealing Stefan.

"Hi." He greets.

She kisses him. "Hi." She smiles.

* * *

Stefan and Elena are in her bedroom, kissing when Stefan catches a glimpse of his face in the mirror. His eyes are changing and veins pop out around them. He pulls away, keeping his face hidden from Elena.

"Are you ok?" She asks.

Stefan turns around. "I'm good. Sorry."

"Maybe we should press pause." Elena tells him.

He nods. "Yeah, you're probably right. That was getting a bit…"

"Yeah." Elena agrees.

"Yeah."

"How do you look in a suit?" She asks.

"I can pull one off."

"How about tomorrow night? Will you be my date to the founder's party?"

"They still do that?" Stefan asks, a little surprised.

"Have you been before?"

"No, the Salvatores don't get invited anymore."

"Well, this year, there's this heritage project that meant a lot to my mom. She was really involved in the founder's council, and it was her favorite party. I know it sounds really boring, but-"

Stefan cuts her off. "I would be honored to accompany you, Miss Gilbert."

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Salvatore."

* * *

Stefan knocks on Trinity's door. "Hi." He greets when she opens it.

"Hey." She smiles, stepping back so he can walk in. She closes the door. "What's up?" She asks, walking to the kitchen.

"I was wondering if you were going to the founder's party tonight?" He asks.

"I wasn't planning on it." She shakes her head. "Why?"

"I'm going. And if I'm going, Damon's going."

"You need help making sure that Damon doesn't cause any trouble." She realizes.

"Yes." Stefan nods. "Also the parties were boring when I was human, somehow that hasn't changed in a hundred years."

"I thought it was founder's and their guest only?" She says.

"You can get in."

Trinity sighs. "Fine. I'll go." She relents. "But since I am going stag, then you owe me a dance…and chocolate…and gummy worms."

"Thanks you." Stefan says.

* * *

At the Salvatore house, Zach walks into Stefan room and sees Damon. "I didn't know you were here." He says.

"Just going through Stefan's homework. Boy, this country sure has dumbed down in the last hundred years. Why he wants to go to high school is beyond me. I mean, in the seventies, he went Ivy League. Harvard, I understood. Actually, no. I didn't get that either." He sees the look on Zach's face and sighs. "Go ahead, purge. Get it out. What's on your mind?"

"Why are you here, Damon?"

"To spend time with you, Zach. Family's important." He smiles.

"I know you. You always have a motive. So tell me, what is it this time?"

"You are in no position to question me." Damon walks towards him.

"I didn't mean to upset you."

"This is not upset, Zach." Damon says.

Stefan walks in. "What's going on?"

"Having a family moment, Stefan. Spending some quality time." Damon said before leaving.

"Hey, are you ok?" Stefan asks, seeing the look on Zach's face.

"No, I'm not. And neither are you. How many more people have to die before you see that?" Zach says.

"I see it. All right, Zach, I see it."

"Then why aren't you doing anything about it?"

"I can't, Zach. I can't. It would take human blood. It's the only way that I could stop him, and I can't do that."

"The vervain could weaken him if he ingested it. It would help get you the upper hand."

"Vervain hasn't grown here since 1865. Damon saw to that. The little I had, I gave to Elena." Zach looks at him. "What?" Stefan asks.

* * *

Stefan and Zach are down in the cellar. Stefan is shocked to see it full of vervain. "You've been growing it." He says.

"It's just something that's been passed down through the generations. Blood only runs so deep when you're related to vampires. Damon would kill me if he knew that I had it." Zach tells him.

"But you're telling me." Stefan says. "Why?"

"Because I trust you. And you're gonna need it if you want to get rid of him."

* * *

Bonnie holds up nail polish in front of Elena. "Delicate flower vs. Naughty vixen."

"Tough call. Can we mix them?" Elena asks.

"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy-ish."

"I am…ish. Tonight's going to be a good night. But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door." Elena says.

"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night." Bonnie says, taking a seat next to Elena on the bed.

"Bonnie, out with it."

"Ok, but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story."

"Uh-Huh." Elena says, already knowing that whatever Damon said most likely isn't true.

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?"

"I know that they both dated her and that's why they have issues."

"Yeah, they both dated her, only she chose Damon. And that drove Stefan mad, he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon."

"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's." Elena says.

"I just wanted you to know."

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business."

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business."

"Stefan is none of those things." Elena shakes her head.

"Yeah?" Bonnie asks. "How do you know?"

* * *

Stefan is in his room, getting dressed when Damon walks in. "Do they still wear ties at this thing?"

"Why are you even going?" Stefan asks.

"It's only fitting. We were at the very first one, remember?"

"I think it's better if we don't draw attention to ourselves."

"So you should stay here. I'll see to it Elena has a good time." Damon smiles. Stefan picks up a glass of Scotch and takes a sip. "My goodness, I've driven you to drink."

"Can't seem to rid myself of you. What else am I supposed to do, besides go about living my life?" Stefan says, taking another drink.

"Go about living my life. See, therein lies your eternal struggle. You're dead, dude. Get over it." He leaves.

* * *

Trinity holds a dress up to her body. "I'm an innocent, respectful young woman." She holds up another dance. "I'm a sexy, seductress who will steal your husband." She hums. "I wonder what I have that's a mix of both." She walks to her closet, searching through her clothes. "Yes!" She says, pulling out a blue dress. "This will go nice with silver." She picks up a pair of heels.

* * *

Damon sits in a chair in Stefan's bedroom. "It's cool not growing old. I like being the eternal stud."

"Yes, being a 150-Year-Old teenager has been the height of my happiness." Stefan says sarcastically.

"You cracked a funny, Stefan. I should have a drink to celebrate. 1864. You and Katherine were the perfect couple. It was hell watching you dance with her." Damon pours himself a drink.

"My happiness was short-lived, as you well know."

"I remember. I left the party early, I was waiting for her. The night you dropped her off, I was waiting just inside. You were such a gentleman, gave her a kiss on the cheek. And what she really wanted was…" Damon holds up his drink. "Oh, well. Here's to history repeating itself, huh?" Stefan watches him as he lifts it to his lips only to drop the glass. Damon stands from his seat. "I admire your effort, Stefan. Pouring yourself a drink then spiking the bottle with vervain." He starts to leave the room. "I'm not some drunk sorority chick. You can't roofie me. But I can't help but feel a little used. I thought we were having a moment. I have to go to the party angry. Who knows what I'll do?" He smiles as he leaves the room.

* * *

"That was his favorite scotch. I'm sorry, I thought it would work." Zach says.

"I wasn't counting on it." Stefan tells him.

"You knew it would fail?"

"Did what I wanted. It lowered his guard. You won't expect me to try again so soon."

"I doubled what I put in the scotch." Zach hands him a vial of liquid vervain.

* * *

A black cat; Trinity circles the Lockwood property. She sees an open window and bounds towards it, leaping through it. She's in an empty room of the house. Shifting back into her human form she walks out the door and heads to the party.

* * *

At the party, Elena is looking at the rings in a glass case. Stefan walks up behind her. "Your parents?"

Elena looks at him. "There's a lot of history here."

Trinity walks towards them. "Hey!" She smiles.

"Hey." Elena turns to look at her. "You look great!" She grins.

"Thank you." Trinity says.

* * *

Jenna sips her champagne as Logan walks up to her. "Jenna."

"Hello Logan." She sighs.

"It's good to see you."

"I thought I might see you here."

"You knew it."

"I dreaded." Jenna says.

"But were secretly hoping." He smiles.

"And now that I have…" She tries to walk away but he steps in front of him.

"Whoa, hey, not so fast. I know you. You have a lot more insults in you, I can tell."

"Your hairline's receding." Jenna tells him.

"No, it's not." He shakes his head. "You want to have lunch?"

"Nope." She says, shortly.

"You haven't changed a bit."

"Oh, yes, I have. I'm meaner now." She tells him before walking away.

* * *

Elena is reading the first registry, Trinity and Stefan behind her. "The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration." Wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names; Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood." She looks closer. "Is that Damon Salvatore? And, look, Stefan Salvatore."

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Damon says as her and Caroline walk up to them.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan shakes his head.

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family." Elena tells him.

"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance. And Damon won't dance with me." Caroline says.

"Mm-Mmm." Damon hums.

"Could I just borrow your date?" Caroline asks Elena.

"Oh, uh…" Elena trails off.

"I don't really dance." Stefan says.

"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all." Damon interjects.

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Caroline asks.

"It's up to Stefan." She says. Caroline drags him off before he could answer.

Damon looks at Elena. "I want to apologize to you for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you."

Trinity's head jerks back. "What?!" She asked. "You tried something with her too?"

Elena looks at Trinity. "What do you mean?"

"He kept trying to flirt with me before I finally told him that I was gay!" She says. They look at Damon with frustration in their eyes.

"There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm…acting out, trying to punish Stefan." He tells them.

"For what?" Elena asks.

"It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers." He explains.

* * *

Stefan and Caroline are on the dance floor. "Damon told you to ask me to dance. Didn't he?" Stefan asks.

"Now why would he do that?"

Stefan leads her away and picks up a couple of champagne glasses. "Would you like one?"

"Ok, just tell me if you see my mom." Caroline takes a glass.

* * *

"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town." Damon says. "Until the war. There was a battle here-"

"The battle of Willow Creek." Trinity says.

"Right." Damon nods.

"I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside." Elena tells him.

"What the history books left out; was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood." He explains.

"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" Elena asks.

"A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" His eyes cloud.

"Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you, but I can't get in the middle of it, Damon. I just…I hope you two can work it out." Elena tells him.

"I hope so, too." Damon says. She turns away, looking for Stefan in the crowd.

"But it's a two way street." Trinity tells him, quietly. "You both have to be willing to settle it. If you stop trying to ruin his life, maybe you both will finally be able to settle it. Hating your brother won't bring her back. If she dated both of you, then that means she cared for each of you. Would she really want either of you hurt?" Trinity asks, trying not to let Damon know how much she knew. _But of course, if she's anything like Stefan made her sound like then she probably would. _Damon looks at her as she and Elena walk away, he follows after him.

* * *

Bonnie stairs at a candle and her eyes widen as it lights by itself.

* * *

Damon, Elena, and Trinity walk up to Stefan and Caroline. "What'd we miss?" He asks.

"We were just chatting." Caroline tells them.

"Drink, Damon?" Stefan holds out a glass.

Damon looks him in the eyes. "No, thanks, I'll pass."

"Stefan, do you have another dance in you?" Elena asks.

"Absolutely." He leads her out onto the dance floor.

"Excuse me." Trinity says, walking away.

"They look so cute together." Caroline gushes.

Damon watches on, a look of annoyance in his eyes. "Don't talk, please."

* * *

Trinity walks around the party and her grimaces at a scent in the air. She looks around and sees Jenna talking to Logan Fell. _Ugh. You can smell the sleaze on him._

* * *

Stefan and Elena are on the dance floor. "I hope Damon didn't drive you too crazy." He tells her.

"No, actually, he was on good behavior. He even apologized and explained why he is the way he is. And it all goes back to Katherine."

"Hmm."

"So tell me about her. What happened?" Elena asks.

"It's not something I like to talk about." Stefan shakes his head.

"I get that. I do. I just want you to know that you can. I mean, I burden you with all of my drama, and I want you to do the same."

"I know. Thank you." He says, but makes no move to continue.

"The truth is, Stefan…" She sighs. "I don't really know that much about you, and I'd really love it if you would open up to me."

"Damon said something, didn't he? He likes to play games and cause trouble, Elena."

"This isn't about Damon." Elena shakes her head. "It's about me trying to get to know you. Look, you're the mystery guy, and I like that. But with mystery comes secrets, and this thing with Katherine."

"Let it go. I don't want to talk about it." Stefan stops dancing.

"Well, then, say something about yourself. Anything. Otherwise, I'm left with nothing but what other people tell me."

"Don't you see what Damon has done here? He's trying to get you to turn against me."

"Well, then I guess it's working." She walks away from him.

* * *

"This is my fault. I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter." Bonnie says.

"It's not your fault. I just…I feel terrible because I said that I wouldn't get in the middle of it, and that's exactly what I did. I got all snotty." Elena tells her.

Mrs. Lockwood walks up to them. "Elena, honey, there you are. I notice the watch still isn't in the collection."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood. I, um, I couldn't find it." She lies, hiding that she gave it to Jeremy. "I guess it's still packed up in my parents' stuff somewhere."

"I see." She nods. "Well, please let me know if you do find it."

"Ok." Elena says.

* * *

Caroline walks around, finding Damon in an empty room. "Where have you been?"

"Ah. Looking for you." He says.

"Your brother barely danced with me for five minutes-"

"Ok, just a minute. Stand right…" He angles her in front of the door. "there." Before he looks picks up a false bottom in a dresser, picking up a necklace.

"Um, you're not supposed to touch. What is that?"

"It's a very important crystal." He tells her.

"Well, how did you know that it was there?" Caroline asks.

"Because I put it there."

"When?"

"A long time ago. Tonight, I'm taking it back, thanks to you."

"Well, what's it for?"

"Never you mind."

"You can't just steal it." She says.

"It's not stealing if it's mine. Come on." He goes to lead her away before stopping, looking at her neck. "Well..."

* * *

In the living room Mrs. Lockwood is talking to the help. "Look around. What's missing? The flames, the candles. Why aren't they lit? There's matches in the kitchen."

Bonnie watches the scene with a frown on her face. "Bitch." She turns around and sees the candles lit.

* * *

Elena walks into the bathroom and sees Caroline, touching up her makeup. "Hey."

"Hey. So how are things with Stefan?" Caroline asks.

"Great. Just great."

"Really? Well, my radar must be off, 'cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes…" Caroline leans forward into the mirror.

Elena frowns as she sees a bruise on Caroline's back. "What is that?"

"Hmm?" Caroline asks, she feels Elena tug on her dress and jumps away. "Don't!" She yells but Elena moves more of the dress, seeing various bruises and bite marks covering her body.

"Oh god, Caroline, what happened?"

"Nothing, ok?! That is nothing."

"Did somebody hurt you?"

"No, ok, nothing. It just…my mom would kill me."

"Did Damon hurt you?" Elena asks, enraged.

"No! Of course not! Just leave me alone, ok, Elena?!"

Elena leaves the room to find Damon.

* * *

Trinity sees Elena walking with determination and anger on her face. She steps in front of her. "Elena, what's wrong?"

"Not right now Trinity." Elena walks around her. Trinity follows after. Elena sees Damon and shoves him. "God! There is something seriously wrong with you. You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother, the sheriff. You got it? Stay away from her." She marches away. Trinity glares at Damon before walking away as well.

* * *

Elena sees Stefan and walks up to him. "I'm sorry. I take it all back. You're completely right about Damon."

"What did he do?" Stefan asks, concerned.

"There are bruises all over Caroline's body. Bite marks, and he has her all confused and messed up in the head." She looks at Stefan's face. "You don't look surprised."

"Um…I'm handling it." He says.

"Handling it? Stefan, you should be having him arrested." She tells him.

"Elena, please. I…I don't expect you to understand."

"I don't understand anything, Stefan. So why don't you just clear it up for me?"

"Look, there are things that you don't know, ok? Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. And I may never be able to. And I just need you to trust me."

Elena shakes her head. "Trust is earned. I can't just hand it over."

"I'm so sorry. I have to go." Stefan says before walking away. Trinity meets Stefan's eyes and follows him.

* * *

Damon drags Caroline outside. "Don't! She took it off and I got flustered, ok?! I didn't know what to say. But I swear, ok, I did not tell her. I just told her that you didn't mean to hurt me." Caroline tells him.

"You make me crazy, you know that?" Damon says.

"It's ok. I forgive you. I swear I didn't say-"

Damon cuts her off. "Shh, shh, shh. Unfortunately…I am so over you now." He bites into her neck and she screams. He jerks back and stumbles before falling to the ground. "What the hell?" He groans as his vision blurs.

Stefan and Trinity walk out from behind a tree. "You know, I couldn't spike your drink…" He says.

"So he spiked hers." Trinity tells him.

* * *

Caroline wakes up. She stands, seeing Damon's crystal on the ground and picks it up. Elena walks up from behind her. "Caroline? There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." She sniffs.

Elena looks at her face. "Caroline, what happened?"

"I'm fine."

"No. You're shaking. Caroline…What-"

"I'm fine!" Caroline can't control her breathing as tears begin to streak down her face.

"Caroline, come here, come here." Elena pulls her into a hug.

* * *

Stefan looks at Damon, who lays passed out on the ground of the cellar. "I did what I had to do…to protect Elena, to protect everyone. Yes, Damon, the headline reads 'Deadly beast captured. All is well in Mystic Falls.'" He closes the door and locks it before walking away.

Trinity is waiting at the top of the stairs. "What now?"

Stefan looks at her. "Now, we finally go running." A large smile forms on Trinity's face.

* * *

A tiger roars as it bounds through the woods. Stefan runs after Trinity a small smile on his face.

* * *

The founder's sit in a council room.

"Thank you for staying so late." Mr. Lockwood tells the group of people.

"Did you get the Gilbert watch?" Sheriff Forbes asks Carol.

"She claims it's packed away in her parents' things." Mrs. Lockwood tells them.

"I can get it." Logan speaks up from his seat.

"Good." Liz nods. "We're going to need it."

"Are you sure?" Mr. Lockwood asks.

Liz looks at him. "5 bodies all drained of blood? I'm certain."

"They've come back." Logan says.


	5. You're Undead to Me

Chapter Five: You're Undead to Me

Damon wakes up on the floor of the cellar. He looks at his empty hand. "Where is my ring?" He groans.

"You won't be needing it anymore." Stefan says, looking through the small window of the cell.

"How long have I been here?" Damon asks.

"Three days."

"What are you doing?"

"During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgment. They sought to reeducate them rather than to punish them."

"You know what will happen if I don't…" He takes a weak breath. "Feed on blood."

"You'll grow weaker and weaker. Eventually you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. Ever." Stefan points out.

"So what, you're just going to leave me in the basement, forever?"

"I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak. Once your circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in 50 years, we can reevaluate."

"I'm stronger than you think."

"You always have been. But you're not stronger than the vervain. And we both know it. I'm sorry. Didn't have to be this way." Stefan says before walking away.

* * *

Elena wakes up and walks to the bathroom. She opens the door to see Vicki wearing only a t-shirt and underwear, brushing her teeth.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm almost done." She says.

Elena shakes her head. "It's-it's ok. Take your time." She closes the door.

* * *

Vicki walks into Jeremy's room. "I think you might be in trouble."

"What did you do?" He asks, lounging on his bed.

"Oh, she saw me." She gets in, snuggling next to him.

"I'm a drug-using delinquent." He puts his arm around her. "A girl in bed doesn't really rank."

* * *

Elena walks downstairs, seeing Jenna in the kitchen. "Jenna! Are you aware of what's going on upstairs?"

"Uh-huh." She nods.

"And you have no objection?"

She pours a cup of coffee. "He could be craftier about it, at least make an effort to sneak her in and out. Oh, and just so you know; I won't be home for dinner."

"Oh, so you're actually going to do it. You're gonna go out with Logan." Elena says.

"I'm going to show up and torture him, yes. And have you heard from Stefan? Jenna asks.

"Not since that very vague message three days ago. 'Hi, um, Elena, I, um, have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days.'"

"Haven't you called him?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. Not going to, either."

"And you're ok with everything?"

"No, I'm not ok with any of it. But I'm not gonna cry about it, either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not gonna be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy."

"Ok, then." Jenna looks at her, concern in her eyes.

"I'll be fine."

* * *

Trinity knocks on the door of the Salvatore house. She waits a few moments before Zach answers. "Yes?"

"Is Stefan here?" She asks, having never really spoken to the man.

Zach steps back, letting her. "Stefan!"

Stefan comes down the stairs. "Hey Trinity."

"How is he?" She asks.

"He's awake." He tells her before turning to Zach. "He's weak, but it's probably best to stay out of the basement. He's Damon. I'm not sure how dangerous he still might be." Zach looks at Stefan and shock and looks at Trinity. "It's okay, she knows."

Zach opens and closes his mouth, looking at Stefan. "You're going to school?"

"Came here to live a life. It's about time I get back to that." He tells him. "And Elena, if she's still speaking to me."

"Why haven't you called her?" Zach asks.

"What am I supposed to do, feed her another lie? I hate lying to her, Zach. I'm not good at it. She already thinks I'm hiding something." Stefan says.

"What choice do you have? You came here because you wanted to live as normal a life as you could. You knew this was going to be a part of it." Zach says.

"I personally think that you should just tell her. She's from a founding family, it's already in their journals." Trinity says.

Stefan shakes his head. "I don't want to bring her into this."

Trinity looks at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry, but you already brought her into this when you decided to stay in Mystic Falls."

* * *

Caroline is in her bedroom, talking to Bonnie. "I remember the party. Damon came up behind me, and he was kissing my neck, or biting my neck. I passed out. It's like there's holes in my memory lately. It's just weird. Maybe I let him bite me."

"Why would you do that?" Bonnie asks, staring at the candle in her hands.

"Can we just not talk about it, ok? I don't want to talk about Damon. I don't want to talk about any of it. Just want to go back to normal. What are you doing with that candle?"

Bonnie looks up. "Um…nothing. What's this?" She picks up a necklace.

"Damon gave it to me. Or he was going to give it to me. All I know is, it's mine now."

"It's ugly." Bonnie says, looking at the yellow crystal.

"Well, get your hands off it."

* * *

Caroline talks to students at school. "The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want, in your face, sexy. I mean, it's a fund raiser, for god's sake."

"Unbelievable. It's like nothing happened." Elena says, watching the scene.

"Lies and denial." Bonnie says.

Stefan walks up to Elena. "Hey."

"Hey. You know, I gotta go…be somewhere right now." Bonnie says before walking away.

"I'm so sorry I haven't called." Stefan tells Elena.

"No worries. I'll live."

"I was dealing with Damon."

"And did you…deal with Damon?" She asks.

"Yes." He nods. "Yeah."

"For four days?" Elena asks, dubiously.

"You have every right to be upset with me. But can I explain it all to you? Please."

"Sure." She nods. "When?"

"I gotta be home after school, but The Grill, four o'clock?"

"Ok." Elena agrees.

"Thanks."

Caroline walks up to them. "Stefan, where is Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do."

"He's gone, Caroline." He tells her.

"When is he coming back?" She asks.

"He's not coming back. I'm sorry."

"This is a good thing, Caroline." Elena says.

"I know that." Caroline walks off.

* * *

Elena walks into the Grill, looking for Stefan. Not seeing him she walks towards Matt. "Hey, Matt, um, have you seen Stefan?"

"Nope." He says. "If you want to kill some time, um, you can rack." Elena looks unsure. "Come on. We haven't played in forever. I'll let you break." She nods and picks up a pool cue.

* * *

Zach walks down the stairs to the cellar; he looks in through the small window. "I'm full of vervain. I've been putting it in my coffee for 16 years. My blood will only make you worse. Damon?"

"So it was your vervain. Good for you. Good for you. Family only runs so deep." Damon groans from his spot on the floor.

"We're not family, Damon. Only in the most dysfunctional sense. In fact, I avoided having a living, breathing, loving family because of you."

"I don't guess I could talk you into bringing me a rabbit or something? I'd settle for Stefan's diet at this point."

"You know I can't do that."

"You succeeded, Zach. I'm shutting down. You're like your grandfather. He didn't like it when I came to visit, either."

"But you don't visit, Damon. You appear, unannounced, reminding me that this isn't my house; that you're just permitting me to live here. Hell, that you're permitting me to live." Zach says.

"Someone had to mow the lawn." Damon jokes.

"I came to say good-bye, Damon."

Damon snaps up and reaches through the opening, grabbing Zach's neck. "Unlock it. Unlock the door, Zach." He says as Zach chokes.

Stefan appears, separating the two. Damon falls to the ground in exhaustion. "Keep it up, Damon. The more energy you expend, the faster you'll go." He says.

* * *

Trinity walks into the Grill, seeing everyone busy with friends. She walks to the bar and takes a seat, looking at the crowd. Her brow furrows a bit when she sees Elena and Matt playing pool together, smiling and laughing.

* * *

"And there's Vicki, all nonchalant in the bathroom like it's no big deal that they're hooking up." Elena says after taking her shot.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Your brother and my sister, that's weird." Matt says.

"Yeah." Elena says, checking her phone.

"How late is he?" Matt asks.

"Hitting the hour mark. Hope there's nothing wrong. Which means I'm not talking boy problems with you."

"Good. I mean, it's not like we were ever best friends or anything." Matt says, sarcastically.

"Ok. Here goes…" She takes a breath. "What do you think of Stefan? Is he a good guy?"

"Why? What's he done?" Matt asks, concerned.

"Not any one thing. He's just so secretive all the time. I think there's something that he doesn't want me to know, which makes me want to know all the more." Elena says. "I mean, it's clear that he talks to Trinity about it…and I get that. She's his best friend and I'm his girlfriend. But what's so horrible that he can freely tell her, but keep from me?"

"Like what? Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a clown suit in his trunk?"

"No, of course not." Elena says.

"Do you think that he has something going on with Trinity?"

Elena shakes her head. "Believe me when I tell you that she is _so _not interested in Stefan." She says. "But what do we know about him, really?"

"He's great at football. A little bit of a loner." Matt shrugs. "And as much as I hate saying it, he might be a nice guy."

"So you think I'm just being paranoid?"

"I think you should talk to him."

Stefan walks up at that moment. "Talk to who?" He asks before looking at Elena. "I'm so sorry that I'm late."

"What happened?" She asks.

"I got held up."

"Is everything ok?"

"There was this thing with my uncle."

"And you couldn't call and tell me that you were going to be an hour late?"

Matt puts his pool cue down. "Ok. You two have fun." He says before walking off.

"I'm really sorry. It was unavoidable." Stefan tells her.

"What was unavoidable?" She asks, but Stefan makes no move to answer. She sets her pool cue down. "Ok." She turns to leave.

Stefan grabs her arm. "Oh, uh, Elena, please…"

She looks at him. "No, Stefan, don't you get it? Every question gets a vague non-answer. What is so awful that you're afraid to tell me?"

* * *

Trinity sits up in her seat. She stands up and begins to make her way closer to the couple.

* * *

An old man looks at Stefan, his eyes filled with awe. "I know you. My god."

Stefan is confused. "I'm sorry?"

"I know you." The man says again. "How can it be?"

"I think you have the wrong person, sir." Stefan says, an uneasy look on his face.

"You haven't aged a day." The man grabs his arm.

"I'm sorry. Excuse me." He leads Elena away. "Hey, can we…can I take you home and we can talk about it? Is that ok?" He asks.

"Wait, what was that?" Elena asks.

"I-I don't know. Uh, nothing." He deflects.

Elena nods her head. "Right, nothing. Ok, um…I gotta go, Stefan. Excuse me." She leaves.

* * *

Trinity walks up to Stefan. "I just saw what happened." She says, taking a glance at the old man. "He recognized you?" Stefan doesn't answer, still looking at the door. Trinity sighs. "If you want things to get better, you have to tell her something." Stefan tenses. "I'm not saying tell her the _big _thing. But at least explain Katherine. That's all she ever hears about. If you don't let her know that you're _truly _over her, then you won't ever be able to move forward in your relationship with Elena."

* * *

Elena is in her bedroom, writing in her diary. _"I tried. I want so much to make things right, but every instinct in my body is telling me to be careful. What you don't know can hurt you."_

* * *

Logan walks into the Mystic Grill and walks over to Sheriff Forbes. "Evening, Sheriff." He greets. "Anything?"

Liz sighs. "We went over the entire west side of the lake. All the caverns by the falls were clean. No signs of habitat."

"Well, they're staying in town." Logan figures.

"We canvassed all abandoned buildings and warehouses."

"There has to be a private residence." He says.

"And that much harder to locate, if not impossible. These creatures are smart. They know how to go undetected." She tells him.

"Well, someone who only comes out at night should eventually become obvious."

"What about the watch?"

"I'm working on it."

"I knew the Gilberts. That watch is passed down to the men in the family." She informs him. "I'd start with Jeremy."

* * *

Logan waits at a table and sees Jenna. "Hey, Logan." She greets.

He stands and pulls out a chair for her. "I can't believe you really came."

"You have an hour." She tells him. "Make it count."

* * *

Elena walks out of her room to see Jeremy in the hallway. "You ok?" He asks.

"Is Vicki in there?" She looks at his closed door.

"Don't answer a question with another question." He says. She tilts her head at him. "Maybe. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm miserable." Elena tells him.

"Well, you should go get something to eat."

* * *

Elena walks towards the kitchen, smelling something cooking. "Jenna? Jenna?" She calls, but enters to see someone else. "Stefan? What are you doing here?"

"Dinner." He tells her, moving around the kitchen. "Jeremy told me that chicken parmesan is one of your favorites, and I happen to be a good cook. The Italian roots demand it. I can even make my own homemade mozzarella. Only tonight, it is unfortunately store bought. Sorry."

"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish." She says.

"You want to know me, right?" He asks. "Well, I figure if you're going to dump me, you should at least, um, know who you're dumping. So let's start with Katherine."

"Stefan…"

"She was…the most beautiful girl that I had ever met. She had this perfect olive skin. And she had this laugh. It was ridiculous. I mean, her laugh made you laugh. And she was fun. She knew how to have a good time. But Katherine was also very impatient and entitled and selfish, and, um, and impulsive. Enter Damon. He claims that he was with her first. I don't know." He shrugs before continuing. "I do know that I did some things that…I'm not proud of. And my biggest regret…is not being able to make it right before she died. I miss her, but…" He looks into her eyes. "I'm no longer crippled by her loss."

* * *

"It was very nice what you did for Stefan. Very romantic." Vicki says when Jeremy enters the room.

"Well, I was feeling romantic." He shrugs.

"Look what I found." She holds up a bottle of pills. "Elena Gilbert." She reads. "Take one tablet every 4 to 6 hours, as needed for pain."

"Those are left over from the car accident." Jeremy says.

"So she won't miss them." She pours the pills on the bedside table and picks up a pocket watch to crush them.

Jeremy stops her. "No not with that, that's an antique." He takes the watch. "I feel like we're always getting high."

"That's the beauty of choice." Vicki smiles.

"I really hope you're not one of those guys who, now that we're together, tries to change everything about me." She groans.

"No." Jeremy shakes his head.

"Good."

* * *

Stefan talks to Elena while he prepares their food.. "I'm an avid reader, a huge Fitzgerald fan, "The Great Gatsby", his masterpiece. But I'm no snob. I love some good Grisham. I think Seinfeld is the best American television show for the past 50 years, but I love Lucy is all-time. 'The loving cup' episode was the best, I think. Huge Scorsese fan. I can watch Taxi Driver over and over again."

"Here, let me." Elena takes a knife to cut the garlic.

"As far as music, it's pretty much across the board. Um, Dylan, Hendrix, Patsy, Willie. Oh, Kanye. You know what; I even like that one Miley song. Easy." He looks at Elena, who was staring at him with a look on her face.

"I didn't say anything." She raises her hands before continuing. Hey, this is for the garlic bread, right? Because I'm not eating garlic unless you agree to, too."

"Are you kidding? I love garlic."

Elena accidentally cuts her finger. "Ow! Ahh."

"You ok? Um…" His eyes start to darken.

"Yeah. Think so." She looks at him. "Your face…"

He turns away. "I-I, uh, I think I got something in my eye." He tries to gain control.

"Stefan." Elena says. "Hey. Stefan! Um, I think that my paranoia has turned into full-blown hallucinations."

He turns around, his face normal again. "Part of your charm."

* * *

Caroline talks on her phone.

"_Caroline. Caroline." _Damon's voice whispers.

"No, Tiki, do not do the one-piece, ok? I've seen it on you. Trust me." She pauses before speaking again. "Yeah, but you're going for stripper pole vibe this year." She says.

"_Caroline."_ Damon's voice calls again.

"Yeah, maybe we should wash the cars in slow motion… no."

"_Caroline."_

She looks around her room at the sound. "What? Oh, um, no, sorry. Um, so I'll just see you tomorrow. Two-piece. Ok, bye." She hangs up and jumps when she sees a crow at her window. "Shoo, shoo!" She waves her arms. "Shoo! God!"

* * *

Damon lies on the floor of the Cellar. "I bet you're feeling pretty good about yourself, aren't you?"

Stefan looks at him through the small window. "Not particularly."

"You won. You got the bad guy. Now nothing could come between you and Elena. Except the truth." He tells him. "The lies will catch up to you, Stefan. As long as you keep lying to yourself about what you are."

"The beauty of you in there and me out here…is that I can walk away." He says before leaving.

* * *

Trinity waits for Stefan outside in her car. "How did everything go last night?" She asks when he enters.

"Good." He nodded. "You were right. I just needed to open up about myself. It's not like everything that I tell her will lead straight back to what I am."

"Imagine how easy your relationship would be if you had just realized that sooner." She smiles as she drives off. "I think I need to make a public announcement that I'm gay though. Apparently you can't be friends with someone as hot as I am, without sleeping with me."

Stefan looks at her. "Damon was serious when he said that you were gay?"

Trinity nods. "Yeah, I thought you knew."

Stefan shakes his head. "I didn't."

"Must've slipped my mind." She says. "I already told Elena. Why do you think she's so okay with us being together all the time?"

"Really?"

She nods. "Mm-hmm. Really it's your fault for not noticing. What kind of best friend are you?" They both chuckle.

* * *

Caroline talks to the students in the parking lot. "No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. Are not running a charity here? No, we are not."

Stefan and Trinity walk up to Elena. "Hi." They greet.

"Hey!" Elena smiles.

Caroline walks by and looks at them. "The event is called sexy suds, you know." She says before walking off.

"Did we just get scolded?" Stefan asks.

Elena nods. "And judged, yeah."

"Wow." Trinity says.

Elena motions to Stefan sweatshirt. "I'm sorry, but I guess you're going to have to take that off."

"I think you have to go first." Stefan says.

"I'll go first!" Trinity smiles before taking her shirt off, revealing a royal blue bikini top. The sun shine on her olive toned skin.

Elena follows her lead, but gets tangles in her shirt a bit before it finally comes off. "Ok. Ok, um…sorry." She says, a little embarrassed. "So not sexy. Ugh."

"I disagree." Stefan says, looking at her.

"Me too." Trinity speaks up. Stefan and Elena look at her. "Oh no need to worry." She looks at Stefan. "I'm too much for her." She teases before walking off.

* * *

Matt looks on as Stefan and Elena talk.

"Uh-uh." Bonnie shakes her head. "No. None of that tortured pining stuff."

"I'm just observing."

"Mm-hmm." She looks at a girl. "Oh. Tiki. This one's yours." She motions to a car.

"Why do I always get the homely ones?" She turns to the car owner. "Just to be clear, your car's a P.O.S. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a P.O.S." Tiki tells him.

"You don't have to be rude." Bonnie says.

Tiki scoffs. "Rude is uglying up the road with that junk."

Bonnie glares at her and suddenly the water from a nearby bucket explodes on Tiki.

"Whoa!" She shouts. "What the hell?"

Matt laughs. "Wet and wild, Tik."

* * *

Trinity fills up a bucket of water before making her way back over to Stefan and Elena. She pauses as a scent fills her nose. Her mouth curls in disgust. She looks around to see Logan Fell, once again talking to Jenna. _Ugh. I hope she's not with him. _She thinks. She shakes her head and continues on. "Got the refill." She says, setting the bucket down. Stefan dips his sponge into the soapy water.

"You're getting soap in that." Elena says, looking at his ring.

He looks at it. "Oh, it's fine." He shrugs before continuing.

"I noticed at Damon has one, too." She says. "Is there a story behind it?"

"Yeah, it's the family crest from the Italian renaissance." He tells her.

"Hmm. What's the stone?" She asks.

"Lapis Lazuli." Trinity says. Elena looks at her. "I recognized it when I met him."

"Oh. You should really take it off. I could put it in my bag." Elena says.

Stefan shakes his head. "No, it's-it's fine, really. Thanks, though."

"Ok. I'm gonna get some towels." She says.

"Ok." Stefan nods.

* * *

Elena walks up to Caroline. "Hey, we're out of towels and those shimmy things."

"I'll go get some more. Mind the money." She says getting up from her seat. Elena takes her spot as she walks away.

Caroline stops as she hears Damon's voice again. _"Caroline. Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me. Help me." _She walks in the direction of the voice.

* * *

Elena looks at the man in front of her. "That'll be $20." She looks at him closer. "I saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of mine, at the grill?"

"Well, I-I thought it was somebody I knew." He says.

"Stefan Salvatore."

The man looks shocked at the name before he shakes his head. "Nah, it can't be. It's just my mind playing tricks on me."

"Where do you think you'd seen him before?" Elena asks.

"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house."

"Oh." Elena nods.

"Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack."

She looks at him. "The attack?"

"His uncle got killed. Mauled by an animal in the woods."

"His uncle, Zach?" Elena asks.

"Mm-mmm." The man shakes his head. "Joseph."

Elena looks at him, confused. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't think I'm familiar with the story."

"Oh, how could you?" He asks. "I mean, this happened years ago."

Tiki walks up. "Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom wants you home. Ok?"

"Ah." He groans before walking off.

Tiki looks at Elena. "He wasn't bugging you, was he? He's a little alzheimery.

"No, he was sweet." Elena catches up with the man. "Hey, sir, I'm sorry. Um, are you sure that the man that you saw, that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?

"Yes. I remember his ring and his brother-"

"Damon?" Elena asks.

"Yeah. Stefan and Damon Salvatore."

"When was this?"

"It was early June, 1953. Yeah. June, 1953." He says. Elena looks at him, shocked.

* * *

Stefan looks up as Elena walks back over. "Caroline finally freed you, huh?" He asks.

"Uh, I don't know where she went. She abandoned me." She says. "Hey, I realized earlier, I had no idea that your family was from Italy."

"No? Last name Salvatore didn't do it for you?" Trinity asks.

"Right." Elena nods. "Duh. Are there any other Salvatore's in Mystic Falls?"

"My uncle Zach." Stefan shrugs.

"Where did everyone else go?" Elena asks.

"Kinda just spread out."

"Hmm." Elena hums.

"Why?" Stefan asks.

"I'm just trying to learn more about you." She says.

"Hmm." He nods.

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" Jeremy asks as Vicki drags him through the woods.

"We can't hide out in your room all the time." She says. "Welcome to my other favorite party place."

He looks around. "What, a cemetery?"

"Yeah. It's cool, huh?"

"Yo, Vick!" A boy calls.

"What's up, Jared?" She smiles.

He looks at Jeremy. "You baby-sitting, Donovan?"

"This is Jeremy. He's cool." She says.

He hands her a blunt. "Smoke up."

* * *

"Where did Elena go?" Trinity looks around.

Stefan shrugs. "She probably went to the bathroom."

* * *

"Do you have access to old news stories, say, fifties?" Elena asks Logan.

"Yeah, at the station. Between the archives and the internet, we pretty much have everything."

"I have this report way past due. It'd be a life saver."

"Heading there now. Let's go." He says.

Elena turns to Jenna. "If anyone asks, you don't know where I went. I don't want Caroline to know that I left."

* * *

Caroline walks down the steps of the cellar. "Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me." She hears.

"Damon? Damon? Damon?" She looks in the cellar and sees him lying on the ground. "Oh, my god! What is this? How did I know that you were here?"

"Because I wanted you to. Very, very badly." He says. "Let me out of here. Please."

"You bit me."

"You liked it. Remember?"

"Why do I keep remembering the same things, but in different ways?"

"You remember what I want you to remember. And now that the vervain has passed out of your system, you won't remember what you're about to do."

"What am I about to do?"

"You're gonna open the door." He compels her.

She releases the lock as Zach grabs her. "No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!" He tells her. She runs up the stairs. Damon runs out the cellar and snaps, his neck.

He tosses Zach's dead body to the side and runs after Caroline. He is close to her when she runs into the sun shining from the open door way. Damon falls to the ground and groans as the sun burns his skin. He scoots out of the way of the light. Caroline escapes.

* * *

Tiki holds a broom out to Bonnie. "Sweeper duty."

"What?" Bonnie asks.

"We have to clean the pavement."

"It's a car wash. By definition; the pavement's clean."

"But not dry."

"And I'm doing this why?" Bonnie asks, taking the broom.

"Caroline bailed, so that leaves me in charge. Fabulous." She smiles before walking off.

Bonnie glares at her and looks at Tiki's car. She glares even harder and is entranced as it catches fire.

* * *

Trinity and Stefan look up at the scent. Stefan's eyes widen as he sees Bonnie. He runs over, Trinity following behind him. "Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie! Hey." He grabs her.

Bonnie blinks a few times before focusing. "What just happened?"

"You were in some kind of a trance." Trinity says.

"Did I do this?" She asks, looking at the burned car.

"I think so, yes." Stefan says.

"Nobody else saw, did they? Don't tell anybody. Please." She begs them.

"We won't." Trinity says softly, trying to calm her.

* * *

"We digitized all our archives last year. You can pull all the remote footage right up on screen. What is it exactly you're looking for?" Logan asks, sitting in front of a computer.

"An incident from 1953." Elena says. "If it even happened; at the old Salvatore boarding house."

Logan's cell phone rings. "Sorry, one second." He answers it. "Yeah? All right, be right there." He stands up and looks at Elena. "I gotta go. You believe there's actual news to cover in this town? All right, use keywords to search the database. It's pretty easy to navigate. And Brady down in tech will help you out with anything you need."

"Ok."

"All right?" He goes to leave but looks back at her. "Oh, hey. Could you put in a good word for me with Jenna?"

Elena nods. "You got it."

"All right. Good luck." He says before leaving.

* * *

Jeremy sighs in annoyance.

"What?" Vicki asks from her spot next to him.

"I'm stoned in a cemetery."

Vicki shrugs. "They don't mind, they're dead. Let me take this up a notch." She looks at a boy not too far from them. "Hey, Tony." She tosses him a bottle of pills.

He catches it. "Oh! Nice. Vickies from Vicki. Ha!" He laughs.

The girls next to him reads the bottle. "Well, thank you, Elena Gilbert, whoever you are."

Jeremy looks at Vicki. "You took those from the house?"

"She wasn't using it." She says.

"She's gonna notice if they're gone. That's not cool." Jeremy tells her.

"It's no big deal, Jer."

"Yeah, it kinda is, Vick." He stands up.

"Damn, dude." A boy says.

"Vicki brought the party police." Tony announces.

She looks at him. "Shut up, Tony." Jeremy shakes his head and begins to walk away. She walks after him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad."

"Well, what are we doing, partying in a cemetery with a bunch of losers?" He asks.

"Those are my friends."

"They're waste of space small-town lifers."

"Yeah?" She asks. "What am I?"

"You're different, Vick."

"No, you are." She tells him. "You're the kid with the big house who's acting out because his parents died. Guess what? You'll get over it. You will pull yourself together, move on, and one day tell your kids stories about your dark period growing up. And I'll still be here, waiting tables at the grill, partying at the cemetery with a bunch of waste of space small-town lifers."

"Look-" Jeremy start but Vicki cuts him off.

"Go home, Jeremy. If I want to feel like crap about myself, I'll just go back to Tyler." She walks away.

* * *

Stefan walks up to Matt. "Hey, have you seen Elena?" He asks.

Matt shakes his head. "No, not for a while."

"You think she went home?"

"Thanks." He goes to walk away but Matt stops him.

"Hey. I'm not saying this for you. I'm saying it for her. But she's big on trust. So whatever you're holding back from her, the more you try to hide it, the more she won't stop till she figures it out."

* * *

Elena watches an old recording on the computer. _"This is Michael Fell reporting to you from the Salvatore boarding house, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy. Ok, they're bringing out the bodies. See if you can get closer. Is that the nephew?" The camera zooms in on a man in the background. _Elena's mouth drops in shock as she sees Stefan.

* * *

Sheriff Forbes walks in the hallway and stops when she sees Caroline in her bedroom. "I didn't see you at the car wash."

"Left early." Caroline says.

"Honey, are you ok? Anything you want to talk about? Is it a boy thing?"

"Mom, if I want to talk boys, I'll call dad. At least he's successfully dating one." Caroline says. Liz's face crumble in hurt.

* * *

Stefan and Trinity head to the cellar. They pause when they see Zach's dead body at the bottom. "Zach! Oh, no, Zach…" Stefan hurries down, taking the body in his arms. Trinity stays at the top of the stairs in shock, having never seen a dead body before.

* * *

Elena sits on her bed, writing in her diary. _"Dear diary, I'm not a believer. People are born, they grow old, and then they die. That's the world we live in. There's no magic, no mysticism, no immortality. There's nothing that defies rational thought."_

* * *

Bonnie goes to her grandmother. "I don't know what's happening to me." She cries.

Sheila brings her in for a hug. "I know, dear."

* * *

Logan steals the watch from Jeremy's room. "Logan? Logan?" Jenna's voice calls.

* * *

"_People are supposed to be who they say they are. And not lie or hide their true selves."_

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Jeremy asks seeing him in his room.

Logan turns to look at him. "Oh, hey, man. Just looking for the bathroom."

* * *

"_It's not possible. I'm not a believer, I can't be. But how can I deny what's right in front of me? Someone who never grows old…"_

* * *

_Flashback_

"_June, 1953." The old man says._

* * *

"_Never gets hurt…"_

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Oh, my god, your hand! Is it deep? How bad is it?" Elena picks up his hand but sees no wound._

* * *

"_Someone who changes in ways that can't be explained…"_

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Hey, um, are you ok? Your eye. Your face." Elena points out._

* * *

"_Girls bitten…"_

* * *

_Flashback_

"_What is that? Oh, my god, what happened to you?" Elena looks at Caroline's bruised body._

"_It's nothing!" Caroline says._

* * *

"_Bodies drained of blood…"_

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Did she say what kind of animal it was?" Elena asks Matt._

"_She said it was a vampire."_

* * *

"Donovan?" A boy holds a blunt toward Vicki.

She shakes her head. "No, I'm good."

They look at the cooler to see that they're out of drinks. "Not it." He says.

"Not it." Others call.

"Ah, Vicki." He says.

Vicki goes to the car and sees Damon on the ground, coughing. "Hey, man, you ok?"

"Come here. Come here." He says.

She walks a little closer. "You don't look good."

"Come closer. I have something…" He coughs. "That I have to tell you." He coughs again.

Vicki leans down, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I got you, I got you. It's ok. It's ok." She releases a scream as Damon bites her.

* * *

Stefan takes a stake out of a drawer and walks towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Trinity asks.

"I'm going to find Damon." He says. "This has to end."

"I'll go with you."

Stefan stops and looks at her. "No. It's too dangerous."

"I want to help." Trinity tells him.

Stefan thinks for a minute. "Go to Elena's house and protect her."

Trinity nods and follows behind Stefan as he heads to the door. He opens it, revealing Elena on the other side.

"What are you?" She asks.

Trinity and Stefan look at her in shock.


	6. Lost Girls

A/N: I'd like to start off by saying thanks for the all the reviews, follows, and favorites. And to also give a shout out to Kira Tsumi, An Amber Pen, RavieSweetie14, Shining Ruby, grapejuice101, Edwardluver2000, Sabine Christensen, and all the guests. You guys have been so great. It makes me very happy to read your reviews. Which is why I'm thanking you with another update in the same day!

* * *

Chapter Six: Lost Girls

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864 _

_Stefan is waiting on the doorstep. A carriage arrives and a servant steps out to help Katherine down._

"_You must be Miss Pierce." Stefan kisses her hand._

_She smiles. "Please, call me Katherine."_

* * *

"What are you?" Elena asks looking at Stefan, she looks at Trinity. "What are you?"

"You know." Stefan realizes.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do, or you wouldn't be here." Trinity says.

"It's not possible. It can't be." Elena shakes her head.

"Everything you know…and every belief that you have is about to change. Are you ready for that?" Stefan asks.

"What are you?" Elena asks.

"I'm a vampire." He answers.

"I shouldn't have come." Elena runs away.

Stefan appears in front of her. "No. Please."

"No. No." She backs away. "How did you do that?"

"Please don't be afraid of me." Stefan begs.

"Elena, it's okay." Trinity says from behind her.

"Let me go." Elena says.

"No. Elena, there's things that you have to know and understand." Stefan says.

"Let me go!"

"Elena, please." Stefan says.

She runs around him and to her car.

Trinity watches her drive away. "We have to go after her." She looks at Stefan.

Stefan nods. "I know."

* * *

Elena closes her bedroom door and turns around. She jumps back when she sees Stefan and Trinity.

"Elena. I would never hurt you. You're safe with me." Stefan tells her.

"All those animal attacks, those people who died-" She starts.

"That wasn't him." Trinity explains. "That was Damon."

"Damon?" She asks.

"Yes." Stefan nods. "I don't drink human blood. That's not how I choose to survive, but Damon does. I'll explain everything to you, but I beg you, Elena, do not tell anybody."

"How can you ask me that?" Elena asks.

"Because you knowing this, is dangerous for so many reasons. You can hate me, but I need you to trust me." Stefan says.

"Just go. Just go, please. Go." Elena tells him. "If you mean me no harm, then just go."

"I never wanted this." Stefan says. Elena stares at him, waiting for him to leave. Trinity grabs Stefan's hand and they disappear.

* * *

Damon burns the dead bodies at the cemetery. He picks up a cellphone and dials a number.

"_Hello." Stefan answers._

"I want my ring."

* * *

Trinity looks at Stefan, hearing Damon's voice on the phone.

"Where are you?" Stefan asks.

* * *

Damon looks at the burning bodies. "I'm at the sizzler. I had the buffet. Where's my ring?"

"_I don't have it. Where are you? What have you done?"_ Stefan asks.

"No, what have you done? You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done, whoever I've sucked dry is on you, buddy. And Trinity, once I find her."

* * *

Stefan goes to reply but Trinity motions for him not to. She waves her hands in front of her. _'Don't mention me.' _She mouths.

Stefan nods. "You're being careless. How many more animal attacks is this town gonna believe, huh?"

"_I know how to cover my tracks, Stefan. Where's my ring?"_

"I gave it to Zach to hide. Probably shouldn't have killed him."

Damon pauses. _"Ah, you almost got me. Where is it?"_

"I'll get it back, but I need time."

"_What, did you FedEx it to Rome? Where is it? I want my ring, Stefan, or my next stop's Elena's."_

"I already want you dead. Don't give me another reason to make it happen."

"_Don't give me another reason to rip you apart." _Damon growls.

"Yeah? Is that gonna be before or after you get your ring back?"

"_Just get it."_ Damon hangs up.

Stefan looks at Trinity. "You need to go home. Damon's not invited, you'll be safe.

Trinity shakes her head. "I'm not letting you deal with him by yourself."

"Trinity-"

"No Stefan." She interrupts. "I'm stronger than I look, and if I have to kick your ass to prove it to you, I will."

Stefan sighs. "At least for tonight."

Trinity looks at him. "Fine." She relents. "But call me when you talk to Elena." She says, hugging him and walking to the door. She turns back. "If she can't handle it, I'll rip the off of her so you can compel her." Stefan shakes his head. "It's either that or we leave."

"We?" Stefan asks.

"You really think that I would let you leave without me?" She smiles before leaving.

* * *

Stefan, Trinity, and Elena sit by a window in the Grill.

"You just don't wanna die, do you?" Elena asks. "You said you would explain everything. That's why I asked you to meet me here. When you google 'vampire,' you get a world of fiction. What's the reality?"

"I can tell you whatever you wanna know." Stefan asks.

"But just to make it clear," Trinity says. "I'm not a vampire."

Elena looks at her. "What are you?"

"We'll get to that later." She says. "It's one of those things that you would have to see to believe."

Elena looks back at Stefan. "I know you eat garlic."

"Yes." Stefan nods.

"And somehow, sunlight's not an issue." Elena says.

A waitress sets drinks down in front of them. "Here's your drinks."

"Thank you." Elena says. The waitress walks away.

"We have rings that protect us." Stefan explains.

"Crucifixes?"

"Decorative."

"Holy water?"

"Drinkable."

"Mirrors?"

"Myth."

"You said you don't kill to survive." Elena says.

"Animal blood keeps me alive, but not as strong as Damon. It can be very powerful."

"And yet you let him get involved with Caroline?"

"Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me."

"He was hurting her."

"He was feeding on her. He was able to take away her memories of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have."

"Is that supposed to make it ok?"

Stefan shakes his head. "No. no, none of this is ok, Elena. I know that."

"Are there any others, aside from you and Damon?" She asks.

"Not in Mystic falls, not anymore."

"Not anymore?"

"There was a time when this town was…very much aware of vampires, and it didn't end well for anybody." Stefan explains.

"That's why it's important that you don't tell anyone." Trinity says.

"I can't promise that." Elena says.

"Elena…" Stefan says. "Give me today. I will answer any questions that you have, and when it's over, you can decide for yourself what you wanna do with what you know. It'll be your choice."

* * *

Sheriff Forbes and Logan look at the burnt bodies in the cemetery. "Never smelled one this bad before." Logan says.

"It tried to cover its tracks."

"Are you sure?"

She nods. "I'm positive. You only burn a corpse to try to hide cause of death, and there are no shell casings."

"We know who they are?"

"Doc will have to check their dental records."

"What story should I run?" He asks.

"Drug deal gone bad. It's not too big a stretch."

"I got the Gilbert watch."

"Good." She nods.

A policeman walks up to Liz, handing her a wallet. "Found this in the brush about 10 yards away."

She looks at the I.D. "Vicki Donovan." She sighs.

"You know her?" Logan asks.

"I went to high school with her mother."

"Think she's one of these?" He looks at the bodies.

"I hope not."

* * *

At the boarding house, Vicki is passed out the couch as Damon leaves Stefan a message on his phone. "Where are you, Stefan? I'm trapped at the house, and I'm getting really bored and really impatient, and I don't do bored and impatient. Bring me my ring." He hangs up and looks at Vicki. "Damn it. Aw, don't get blood on the couch." He groans.

"Please." She whispers.

He leans closer, looking at her neck. "I got you good, didn't I?" He asks. "Well, you're not gonna be any fun today. I'm so gonna regret this." He bites into his wrist and holds it to her mouth. "Drink up. Drink it up. Don't drip. There you go. Good girl. That's it."

* * *

Elena drives her car, Stefan in the passenger seat and Trinity in the back. "Stop here." He says. He gets out the car when she does.

"What are we doing here?" Elena asks as she follows after him, a little nervous.

Trinity puts a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay." She smiles before moving closer to Stefan.

"I want to show you something." He says.

"In the middle of nowhere?" Elena asks, looking at the abandoned building and the field surrounding it.

"This…" Stefan shakes his head. "Didn't used to be nowhere. Used to be my home."

"It looks so…" Elena trails off.

"Old? It's because they are." Stefan says.

Elena looks at him. "Wait. How long have you…"

"I've been 17 years old since 1864."

"Oh, my god." She breathes.

"You said you wanted to know. I'm not gonna hold anything back. Half a century before the boarding house was even built, this was my family's home. Damon and I…we were both born here. The Salvatore brothers, best of friends."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864_

"_Wait. Where did you learn this game?" Stefan asks._

"_Camp outside Atlanta. One of the officers picked it up at Harvard. Catch." He throws him the football._

"_Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What are the rules? What are the rules?" Stefan asks as Damon runs at him, tackling him to the ground._

"_Who needs rules?" They hear. The look to see Katherine at the top of the porch steps. "Mind if I join you?" She asks._

"_Uh, well, you could, uh." Stefan stutters. "You could get hurt. My brother likes to play rough."_

_Katherine walks down the steps towards Stefan. "Somehow, I think that you play rougher." She snatches the ball from his hand and runs off. Stefan stares after her._

"_Why are you just standing there? That is a girl who clearly wants to be chased." Damon asks. Stefan says nothing. "If you don't do it, I will." He runs, Stefan following after him._

* * *

"You knew Katherine in 1864?" Elena asks. "Damon made it seem like…"

"Damon was trying to make you think that…I was still heartbroken. He saw that I was happy with you, and he wanted to ruin it." Stefan says.

"All because you loved the same girl 145 years ago?"

Stefan shakes his head. "She wasn't just any girl."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864_

_Katherine runs out of the maze. "Ha! I win. What's my prize?" She asks Stefan._

"_What would you like it to be?" They hear. They turn around to see Damon._

"_They extended your leave?" Stefan asks._

"_I was simply having too much fun to return to battle." Damon smiles._

"_Your commitment to the confederacy is inspiring." Stefan says sarcastically._

"_Well, this works out wonderfully for me." Katherine says._

"_How's that, Miss Katherine?" Damon asks._

"_Now I'll have both of you here to keep me entertained. First and foremost, I'll need someone to escort me to the founder's ball."_

_Damon and Stefan speak at the same time._

"_With pleasure."_

"_I would be honored."_

_They look at each other._

_Katherine smiles. "The smart and kind Salvatore brothers both coming to my rescue. How will I ever choose?"_

* * *

"She chose me." Stefan says. "I escorted her to the ball at the original Lockwood mansion."

"The first founder's party…" Elena realizes. "Where you signed the registry."

"I didn't care that I had gotten something that my brother wanted. I didn't even care if it hurt him. I only knew that I wanted her."

"So he was upset." Elena says.

Stefan shakes his head. "That's the thing about Damon. He doesn't get mad. He just gets even."

* * *

Vicki walks down the stairs. "Oh, man. That shower was so great." She smiles and hears music playing. "What did you give me?"

"Some blood." Damon says. "You loved it."

"I did? Wait. I'm confused." She looks around. "How did we get here?"

"We were in the woods. You were drunk. I attacked you. Then I killed all of your friends and brought you here, gave you same blood. You loved it. And now we're gonna party till the sun goes down." He compels her.

"Ok. Um, but first, can I have another hit? That blood was so good."

"Only if I can." He bites into his wrist.

* * *

"What Damon wants, Damon usually gets. I didn't know it at the time, but…" Stefan says. "Turns out that night…Katherine was with him, too."

"Kinda skanky isn't it?" Trinity asks.

"So he stole her from you, not the other way around?" Elena asks.

"Turns out she wasn't ours to steal." Stefan says.

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, Virginia, 1864_

_Stefan and Katherine are in bed, kissing. "I will love you forever." Stefan promises._

"_Forever is a very long time, you know." She smiles._

"_Not long enough." He shakes his head. She bites into his neck._

* * *

_Stefan wakes up the next morning._

"_Good morning." Katherine smiles. She looks at her servants. "Clear the room, please." She looks at Stefan, who has a fearful look on his face. "You're upset."_

"_Your face, it was like a demon." He stands from the bed._

"_But you're not afraid." She says walking closer to him._

"_Get away from me. Get away." He backs away._

"_It doesn't change the way you feel about me. You will not tell anyone." She compels him._

"_I-"_

"_Shh." She strokes his cheek. "We will go on exactly as we have."_

"_Yes. We will go on."_

"_You have no idea of the future I have planned for us, Stefan. You, me, and Damon. No rules."_

* * *

"She could control my mind and Damon's." Stefan explains. "She compelled each of us to keep the secret from the other. She wanted all of us to be together forever. Didn't work out that way, but…Damon and I." He takes a breath. "Looks like we're stuck with each other…like it or not." He removes a ring from a crack in between bricks.

"Is that Damon's ring?" Elena asks.

Stefan nods. "I took it from him, but I have to give it back."

"No." She shakes her head. "Don't, Stefan. Keep it hidden."

"Elena, if I don't give it to him, he'll retaliate in the only way that he knows he can hurt me."

"And how is that?"

"By hurting you." He answers. Elena doesn't have anything to say to that.

Trinity claps her hands. "Well, now that we're done with that." She looks at Elena. "Wanna see something cool?"

"What do you mean?" Elena asks.

"Trinity is a shapeshifter." Stefan explains.

Trinity nods. "I can turn into animals." Elena looks a bit skeptical. "Like I said; it's something that you have to see to believe."

She jumps forward, shifting into a black panther. Elena stumbles back a few steps as it paces towards her.

"It's okay." Stefan says. "It's still Trinity." Elena pauses as Trinity walks up to her, tilting her head down. "Pet her." Elena looks at him. "She turned into a tiger and roared at me the first time I saw. You got the better deal."

Elena slowly reaches her hand out and runs it over the soft fur. Trinity purrs, sniffing Elena's hand and licking it. "This isn't real." Elena breathes.

Trinity backs up and shifts back to her human form. "I could always bite you." Trinity shrugs. "We could go the hospital and they can tell you how _real _you wound is." She says sarcastically. "But now that I know your scent, I can find you easier." Elena has an uneasy look on her face. "Oh calm down. Stefan is going to Damon and I'll be with you in case he decides to focus his anger elsewhere."

* * *

Sheriff Forbes is at the Lockwood house, talking to the mayor. "We're working on the burn bodies."

"Doc I.D. the bodies?" He asks.

"A few townies. Notorious druggies."

"I suppose that'll make it easy for people to buy the story." He nods. "And Vicki Donovan?"

"She's not one of the deceased."

"Where the hell is she?"

"I wish I knew." She shrugs.

"Sorry I'm late." Logan walks in.

"You have the watch?" Mr. Lockwood asks. Logan hands it to him. The mayor takes it in his hands, and takes off the face of the watch. "It's ready." He hands it back.

"That's it?" Logan asks.

"Yes. That's it." He says. The watch is now a compass.

* * *

Vicki is dancing. "I am so over Tyler, so over him. I knew from the beginning that I was only a piece of ass to him, but I thought maybe if he got to know me better, he might see something more." She says. "But no. Now, Jeremy, on the other hand, that's all he's ever seen in me is something more, and I like that."

"Jeremy, huh?" Damon asks. "Elena's brother?"

"Yeah. yeah. So, Elena used to date my brother, and they were always together, so Jeremy would always be hanging around and crushing on me and-" She looks at him. "Hey, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're, like, totally cool and so hot."

"I know."

"Don't you wanna be in love?"

"I've been in love. It's painful and pointless and overrated. Except when it isn't. No more talking. Let's dance." He grabs her hand, leading her around.

"My mom spends most of her time in Virginia beach with Pete. He drives trucks. I don't remember my dad, but from what I gather, he's not worth remembering."

"Your life is so pathetic."

"Yeah. I mean, I'm the screwed-up one. Matt's got it so easy. He's the golden boy. I mean, he's gonna get a football scholarship and marry Elena and have a lawn mower and some babies, and when I think of my future, I just come up blank."

"You are so damaged."

She nods. "Yep."

"I mean, you don't have one hint of self-esteem."

"Nope, none."

"I think I know what can help you."

"So what's that?" She asks.

"Death." He snaps her neck.

* * *

Later on she wakes up. "What happened?" She asks.

"We were dancing, and then…then I killed you." Damon says.

"What?"

"You're dead."

"I'm dead?"

"Yeah, well, let's not make a big deal out of it. Drank my blood, I killed you, and now you have to feed in order to complete the process. You're wasted. You don't wanna be out there all alone. You're about to get really freaky."

"Ok, I had a really good time. I just wanna go home." She tries to leave the room but Damon steps in front of her.

"You're gonna start craving blood, and until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You have to be careful."

"Come on, move." She says, stumbling a bit.

"See? You're already starting to fall apart."

"And I'm going home now."

He shrugs and steps away. "Ok, fine. I'm just warning you. Actually, you know what? You should go. In fact, if I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house."

"Yeah, whatever." She leaves.

"Bye. Tell Elena I said hi. And if you see Stefan, tell him to call me." He calls after her.

* * *

The doorbell rings at the Gilbert house. "Coming!" Jeremy calls.

He opens the door to see Vicki. "Hey." She walks in, rubbing her eyes. "The sun is killing me. My eyes are on fire."

"Where have you been?" Jeremy asks, worried.

"It's good. Everything's good."

"Did something happen?"

"I'm hungry. What do you got to eat?" She walks pass him and into the kitchen.

"You're high? Vicki, it's the middle of the day."

"Could you just not talk so loud?" She groans. "My head, it hurts. I need quiet."

* * *

"The mind control…" Elena says. "You said Katherine used. Do you ever do that to me?"

Stefan shakes his head. "No. That necklace, it contains an herb called vervain. It protects you from being compelled. I wanted to protect you from Damon's influence. But I also wanted to…Protect you from me. All right, and you should never take that necklace off…because no matter what happens after today, no matter how you feel about me…you'll know that you were free to make your own choice."

* * *

Matt walks into the Gilbert house. "Where is she?"

"Come this way." Jeremy says.

They see Vicki going through food in the kitchen. "What's she on?"

Jeremy shakes his head, shrugging. "I don't know."

"Hey, Vic. How you doin'?" Matt asks her.

"Not good, Mattie. I hurt."

"Ok, where's it hurt?" He walks closer.

"My gums. My jaw hurts. My gums…there's something in my gums, and it hurts."

"Ok, well-" He reaches towards her but she pushes him away.

"No. Just leave me alone."

"Come on, Vic. Don't be like that. Let's get you home."

"Just turn it off!" She yells.

"Turn what off?" Jeremy asks her.

"The talking, the chatter, just turn it off." She looks towards the TV which is too low for Matt and Jeremy to hear. Jeremy grabs the remote and turns it up.

"…_horribly. 3 bodies were found dead in what is believed to be a drug deal gone awry. The bodies have yet to be identified. They were discovered earlier today over at the old Mystic Falls cemetery." _The reporter says.

"That's where we were last night." Jeremy says.

"What happened, Vic?" Matt asks.

"…_homicide, and are fast under way looking for suspects. They're asking anyone with information…"_

"I'm calling the cops." Matt says.

"No. Don't." Vicki tells him.

"What happened after I left last night, Vick?" Jeremy asks, she roughly shoves him into the counter.

"Dude, are you ok?" Matt asks.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." He says.

"Damn, Vick." Matt says.

Elena, Trinity, and Stefan walk in. "What's going on?" She asks.

"She's really messed up." Matt explains.

Stefan takes a closer look at her. "Elena, back up. Vicki, look at me. Focus. You're gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be fine." He says. He looks at Jeremy and Matt when she calms down. "Guys, take her up to bed. Shut the blinds. She's gonna be ok."

"Come on. Come on." Jeremy and Matt take lead her away.

"You know what's wrong with her?" Elena asks.

"Yeah." He nods.

"What is it?"

"She's transitioning."

"Transitioning to what?"

"A vampire." Trinity says.

"What?!" Elena asks.

"Damon must have gotten to her." Stefan says. "She's new. She hasn't completed her transformation yet."

"H-how does she do that?"

"She has to feed on human blood."

"And what if she doesn't?"

"She'll die. She may only have a few hours."

"She's upstairs with him right now." Elena moves to leave but Stefan stops her.

"It's ok. She doesn't know what's happening to her yet."

"So when is she gonna know?"

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything. A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back, and then she'll know she has to make the choice."

"The same choice you made?" She asks.

* * *

Vicki lies on the bed. "I'm sorry I'm so much trouble."

"Aw, you just-you need to sleep it off, ok?" Jeremy says.

"No." She jumps up and leaves the room, pushing Matt out of the way.

"Vick. Vick!" He follows after her.

"She was fine, and then she just-she just freaked out." Jeremy says.

"I'm gonna go look for her. Call me if you hear anything." Matt leaves the house.

"I can track her." Stefan tells Elena.

"Go." She says.

"Trinity-" He starts.

She nods. "I'll stay here."

* * *

Liz's phone rings. "Yeah?"

"_I think I got something. It's pointing towards the old cemetery."_ Logan tells her.

"Headed your way." She hangs up.

* * *

"Maybe we should check in with Matt." Jeremy says.

"He'll call when he finds her." Elena tells him.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"We wait. We're supposed to wait."

"I don't know what's wrong with her."

"She'll be fine. It'll all be fine." Elena says. The doorbell rings and Elena goes to open it.

"Elena no!" Trinity tells her too late.

Elena sees Damon and tries to close the door, but he holds it open. "Jeremy, go upstairs." She tells him. He leaves.

Trinity grabs Elena's hand, pulling her behind her.

"You're afraid of me. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess. Stefan finally fessed up." Damon says.

"Stay away from me." Elena tells him.

"Hey, there's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in? Oh, wait. Of course I can. I've been invited. We can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not gonna kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda." He looks around. "So…where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki." Trinity tells him.

"Don't look at me with those judgey little eyes." He says. "Girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her."

"Did you thank Katherine?" Elena asks.

"Mmm. Got the whole life story, huh?" He asks.

"I got enough."

Damon scoffs. "Oh, I doubt that. Tell my brother I'm looking for him. Oh, tip for later; be careful who you invite in the house." He leaves.

* * *

Stefan finds Vicki in the cemetery. "Vicki."

She looks up. "I'm starting to remember things, what he is, what he said. I remember you. The hospital, the-the rooftop, it's all coming back."

"I'm so sorry. Damon had no right to do this to you."

"He said that I need to feed. What will happen if I don't?" She asks.

"You'll fade quickly…and then it'll all just be over."

"I'll be dead." She cries.

Stefan puts a hand on her shoulder. "Hey."

"I don't want this."

"I know. It'll be ok." He says. "You're gonna be ok. I can help you."

"Is it better?" She asks. "Will I be better? I wanna go home. Will you take me home?"

"Ok." Stefan nods, before he is shot several time. "Ah!" He yells.

"No!" Vicki screams.

Logan comes out of the trees, his gun trained on Stefan. He goes to shoot him again, but Damon appears behind him and bites into his neck. He drops his body and picks up the gun. "It's wood." He looks at the bullets. "They know. If anyone's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me." Damon walks towards Stefan. "My ring." He holds out his hand.

Stefan takes the ring out of his pocket and hands it to him. He looks over to see Vicki drinking Logan's blood. "No! No! Vicki!"

She stands up, blood staining her face. "I'm sorry." She says, before disappearing.

"Oops." Damon says, sarcastically.

* * *

Liz's walks from the trees to find Logan's body. "My god…the watch." She says looking over his body. "Find the watch."

* * *

Stefan arrives at Elena's house and sees her and Trinity waiting on the porch steps.

"You're bleeding." Elena says as she and Trinity stand up.

"No, it's ok. It's ok." He says. "I'm ok. I couldn't stop her. I tried."

"What does that mean?" She asks.

"She fed, and then I lost her."

"Oh, my god."

"I'll take care of it. I'll find her, and i will show her that she can live like I do. I will make sure that she does not hurt anybody, Elena. I promise you."

"What do I tell my brother and-and Matt?"

"We'll come up with a story." Trinity says.

"You mean we'll come up with a lie." Elena corrects.

"I'm so sorry." Stefan says.

"I gave you today just like you asked. And I understand that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I promise I will keep your secret, but…" She shakes her head. "I can't be with you, Stefan. I'm sorry. I-I just can't…" She walks into her house and closes the door, tears falling from her eyes.

Stefan stares at the closed door with a broken look on his face. Trinity grabs his hand. "Let's go." She says, pulling him away.


	7. Haunted

Chapter Seven: Haunted

Tyler walks to the parking lot. "See you bro!" He waves before opening the door to his car.

"Hi Ty." He hears behind him.

He turns around to see Vicki. "Whoa Vicki? Everyone's looking for you." He tells her, walking over.

She nods. "I know." She says, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

"What's wrong Vic?"

"I'm so cold."

Tyler takes a closer look at her. "Are you on drugs?" He asks. "Everyone thinks you're off on a bender."

"I wish."

"What happened in those woods ,Vicki? Those kids that were killed." He says. "What did you see?"

"I'm so scared." She shivers.

"Come here. It's okay. I'll take you home." Tyler says, coming closer.

"I can't control it."

"Control what?"

"I am so hungry, Ty." She says. "And it won't go away."

He looks into her eyes. "What are you on? What drugs did you take?"

She looks at his neck. "I want it. I am so hungry,Ty."

"Okay, look." Tyler says. "I'll get you something to eat. Just sit back. Look, let just get you home, Vicki." He puts his arm around her but she begins to struggle against him. "Okay, what is wrong with you?!"

"Aah! Let go of me!" She yells, pushing him away. She goes to attack him but Stefan appears holding her back. Damon standing behind him.

Tyler watches in confusion. "What's going on here, Stefan? What's wrong with her?

"You don't talk." Damon tells him, walking forward.

Tyler glares at him. "Screw you, dude."

Damon looks at him in annoyance. "Dude really? Dude." He mocks.

"Damon, don't." Stefan says.

Damon turns to look at him. "Oh come on. Who's gonna miss this idiot?" He turns back to face Tyler, who punches him in the face. Damon looks at him with fury in his eyes.

"Don't you hurt him!" Vicki yells.

Damon takes Tyler by the neck. "Forget what you saw here tonight. None of us were here." He throws Tyler though the air.

Tyler lands on the ground, groaning. He looks around to see that the parking lot is empty.

* * *

Elena wakes up and stretches her arms. She gets up and goes to the bathroom, seeing Jeremy there. "Sorry." She goes to leave.

"Oh, no, it's cool, I'm done." He says.

"You're up early. Where are you going?" Elena leans on the doorway.

"Police station." He answers. "They're organizing the search party for Vicki, so…"

"Wait. Shouldn't you be going to school?" She asks, standing straight.

Jeremy scoffs. "What? You're kidding me, right?"

"You shouldn't skip school. If they find her, we'll know. That's what cellphones are for."

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, you're lips keep movin'. I don't know why."

* * *

Matt is on his way out the house when his cellphone rings. "Yeah?"

"_Matty?"_ Vicki asks.

"Vicki." Matt breathes. "Where are you? Are you okay?" He asks, worried.

"_Yeah. I'm okay."_

"Tell me where you are, and I'll come to get you."

"_No."_ She says. _"Matty, I just need some time to figure things out. Just know that I am okay, okay? Please don't worry about me." _She hangs up.

* * *

Vicki looks up from the phone in her hand. "I don't understand why I have to stay cooped up here. Why can't I just go home?"

"Because you're changing ,Vicki." Stefan says. "And it's not something you wanna do alone."

"There's nothin' about that Logan guy I killed in here. Not a word. Someone's covering it up." Damon walks in, tossing the newspaper to the side. He looks at the compass in his hand.

"What is that?" Vicki asks.

"This is a very special, very old compass." He holds it up. "What was Logan Fell doing with it? Aren't you curious?" He asks Stefan.

"Well, if you're so worried that somebody's onto you, why don't you just leave town, Damon?" He says.

"We should be all worried." Damon tells him.

"Hey, um, I'm hungry. Do you have anything to eat?" Vicki asks.

Stefan hands her a mug. "Here."

"What is it?" Vicki asks.

"It's what you're craving."

Damon scoffs. "Don't lie to the girl. It's so not what you're craving, but it'll do in a pinch." He says. "Right, Stef?"

"What is it?" She asks again, looking at the mug with an uneasy expression.

"Yeah, what is it?" Damon asks. "Is it a skunk? Saint Bernard? Bambi?"

"Go on." Stefan tells her. "Give it a try." She lifts the mugs to her lips and grimaces a bit at the taste. She takes another drink, longer this time.

"She's new. She needs people blood. She can't sustain on that stuff." Damon says.

Vicki nods. "Yeah, why can't I have people blood?"

"Yeah." Damon says.

"Because it's wrong to prey on innocent people, Vicki." Stefan explains.

"You don't have to kill to feed." Damon tells her. "Just find someone really tasty and then erase their memory afterwards. It's so easy."

Stefan shakes his head. "No,no ,no. There's no guarantee that you can control yourself, okay? It takes years to learn that. You could easily kill somebody, and then you have to carry that with you for the rest of your life, which, if I haven't made clear, is _eternity_."

"Don't listen to him. He walks on a moral plane way out of our eye line. I say snatch, eat, erase." Damon snaps his fingers.

Vicki looks at Damon before Stefan turns her back. "Hey, look at me. We choose our own path. Our values and our actions, they define who we are."

Damon sighs. "Okay, count Deepak. I am outta here." He leaves.

"Can I have some more?" Vicki asks, holding up the empty mug.

* * *

Trinity walks up the porch steps to the boarding house. She sees Elena standing in front of the door. "Elena?" She asks.

Elena turns around. "Hey." She brushes her hair out of her face. "I just came to talk to Stefan."

Trinity nods. "Me too." They stand in silence for a moment and Trinity motions towards the door. "You gonna ring the bell?"

"Oh." Elena nods. "Right." She pushes the doorbell. They wait for a few moment and Damon answers the door. "Is Stefan here?" She asks.

"Yep!" He smirks, angling himself in front of the doorway.

"Where is he?"

"And good morning to you, little miss 'I'm on a mission'."

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?" Elena asks.

"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire glib and arrogant?" Damon retorts. Trinity rolls her eyes.

"If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead." Elena says.

Damon nods. "Yes, you would."

"But I'm not."

"Yet."

"Where is Stefan?" She asks again.

Damon steps out of the way. "He's upstairs singing 'The Rain in Spain'. Knock yourself out." Elena walks passed him and Trinity goes to follow but Damon grabs her arm. Elena turns to look at her.

"It's okay." Trinity says. "Go." Elena looks at her cautiously before walking deeper into the house. Trinity yanks her arm from Damon's grip.

"You helped my brother vervain me." Damon says.

Trinity shrugs. "Yep." She pops her lips.

"I should kill you."

"But you're not going to." Damon wraps a hand around her neck, only for her to remove it and throw him towards the lawn.

Damon lands hard on the ground. "Okay." He says, standing up and regaining his breath. "Someone has a few tricks up their sleeves."

"Leave me alone Damon." She shakes her head, rolling her eyes. She walks into the house and shuts the door.

* * *

"Stefan?" Elena calls as she looks around. "Stefan?"

"Yes." Stefan appears before her.

"Where is Vicki?" She asks.

Trinity walks up behind her. "She's upstairs. I can smell her from here."

"What happens now?" Elena asks them. "Because my brother is out there searching for her with the rest of the town. What do I tell him?"

"I'm working with her, but it's gonna take time." Stefan explains. "She has a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this."

"So, she's a vampire with issues? What am I supposed to do? Because I'm lying to everyone that I care about. What's gonna happen to her?"

"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe." Stefan tells her.

"How long is that?" Vicki asks, appearing behind him.

Stefan looks at her. "We can talk about that later." He says.

Elena looks at her. "Hey Vicki. How are you?"

Vicki scoffs. "How am I? You're kidding, right?" She asks before walking away.

Trinity turns to Elena. "I don't like her." She says before turning to Stefan. "Do I have to play nice?" Stefan sighs.

* * *

Bonnie is talking with her grams. "Was our family burned in the witch trials?"

She shakes her head. "No, the girls that were persecuted in Salem were entirely innocent. You have to have more than ignorance to trap a real witch."

"How did we end up in Mystic Falls?"

"Our family fled Salem in 1692 and relocated here. Our ancestors lived in secrecy for over a hundred years. It's important that we still do."

"Well Grams, everybody knows you're a witch."

She smiles. "They also know it's absurd, can't be true. I'm just a kooky lady that teaches occult at the university. No one really believes. They just poke fun. And let 'em . Just don't let 'em know the truth."

"Where's the witchcraft? I mean, you've been talking history for 2 days. I wanna get to the fun part." Bonnie says.

"It's not meant to be fun. It's real and it's serious, and you must understand it before you practice it. Aren't you late for school?"

* * *

A man and a woman sit in the Mystic Grill, talking. "We should have never trusted that Logan…" He shakes his head. "Weasel with the watch."

"How many are we dealing with?" The woman asks.

"Well, the coroner thinks one. Something about the wound radius and the jaw pattern."

"Are we in danger?" The woman asks. "I mean, if it found the watch, then it knows we know, and could it come after us? A-and should I even be saying 'it'? Or-or is it a he or a she?"

"If it has any historical knowledge of the town, then it'll know where the watch came from, so yes, we could very much be in danger."

"So what do we do?"

The man sighs. "Just keep it quiet. We can't have the entire town aware of this. We need to find him before he finds us."

* * *

Tyler and Matt are at the helping set up the school Halloween Festival.

"Hey man!" Tyler greets.

Matt turns to him. "Hey!"

"I heard they're putting together a search party for Vicki."

Matt shakes his head. "She just called. She's okay."

"Ooh good. That's great. I figured you must have been goin' out of your mind."

Matt nods. "Little bit. Yeah."

"I was just gonna offer. You know, if there's anything I could do."

Matt shakes his hand. "I appreciate it."

* * *

Caroline walks up to Bonnie. "I have got your costume. It's all here." She holds it up.

Bonnie looks at the witch costume. "Seriously?"

"Come on. Can someone please be excited that it's Halloween? I just wanna have fun, you know, just some silly, fluffy, Damon free fun."

Bonnie holds up a necklace. "Hey, isn't this the one you got from Damon?"

Caroline nods. "Yep. Wear it. Toss it. I don't care. I just want it gone. Hey, have you seen Elena? Do we know what she's wearing?

"I was with Grams all weekend. I haven't talked to her. Maybe she's with Stefan."

"Riding to his castle on his white horse." Caroline sniffs.

Bonnie shakes her head. "Don't be bitter. It provokes wrinkles."

* * *

Trinity and Elena watch as Stefan deals with Vicki.

Stefan hands a mug to Vicki. "Coffee is our friend. It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our body so we're not cold to the touch."

"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" She asks.

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis one day at time."

"Oh god!" She groans. "Don't start with that whole 12 steps thing. School counselor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me."

"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki."

"So you've never tasted human blood?"

He shakes his head. "Not in a long time."

"How long?"

"Years and years. I'm not proud of my past behavior." He says looking down.

"Does this sketchy feelings ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover. This daylight thing is a bitch. I need more blood. Where's your bathroom ? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead." She gets up and walks to the bathroom.

He looks at them. "I'm going to, uh…I'm gonna get her some more. All right. I'll be quick." He leaves the room.

Vicki walks back in. "False alarm. My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird." She takes out her cellphone.

"Hmm, who are you calling?" Elena asks.

"Jeremy."

"Vicki, you can't see Jeremy anymore."

"Oh come on don't you start. I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see."

"Even though you could hurt him?"

"I would never hurt Jeremy."

"I know you think that but I can't take the risk. You're gonna have to let Jeremy go now."

"Oh really?" Vicki says. "And how long have you been preparing a 'you're not good enough speech'? I'm presuming it predates the whole vampire thing."

"All I am saying is Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Vicki." Elena says, strongly.

Vicki slams Elena against the wall, her hand wrapped around her throat. Trinity jumps into action, separating the two and pinning Vicki against the wall. She releases a feral growl. "Don't. Touch. Her." Vicki cowers and tries to escape from Trinity's hold.

"Let me go!" She yells. Trinity wraps a hand around her neck and growls again. Elena watches the scene in shock, watching the pleasant girl she knew act more beastlike than she's ever seen.

Stefan appears behind her. "Trinity." He lays a hand on her arm. She looks at him before returning her gaze to Vicki. She growls again before she throws her to the ground. Vicki frantically backs away, before she stands and disappears upstairs.

Trinity looks at Stefan and smiles, her whole demeanor changing. "Just wanted to scare her." She shrugs.

Stefan releases a sigh of relief before hugging her. "You had me worried."

Trinity chuckles and steps away. She looks at Elena, who has a look of fear in her eyes. Trinity slowly steps towards her. "I was just acting Elena. She's a vampire now. She thinks that she can do whatever she wants because she has nothing to fear. I just showed her that she was wrong. She won't touch you now."

Stefan nods. "What Trinity did was a good thing. Vicki wouldn't have responded the same way if I had tried that."

"It's like good cop, bad cop." Trinity says. Elena calms down and nods. Trinity puts a hand on her shoulder. "You ok?" Elena nods. Trinity smiles and removes her hand.

"She's on edge. Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. And then when you throw in her other issues…" Stefan explains Vicki's behavior.

"How long before it settles? Hours? Days? Weeks?" Elena asks.

"There's no rule book." He says.

"Well, how long before you learned to control it?"

"A while." He answers. But I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own. The thing is; it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new. It's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire…it can all blur into one urge, hunger."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that Jeremy can't see her, not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him." Trinity explains.

"Or worse." Elena says.

"I'm not gonna let anybody get hurt." Stefan says.

"I need to get going." Elena sighs, heading to the door.

"Elena…" Stefan says.

She looks at him. "Please Stefan. There's only so much I can take." He sighs as she walks out the door.

Trinity rubs his back. "It'll get better.

* * *

Damon walks into the house to see Trinity sitting on the couch, reading a book. "You." He points, walking towards her.

"Me." She says, not looking away from the book.

He snatches it out of her hands and she looks at him in annoyance. "How did you do that this morning?"

"What?" She sighs.

"You know what."

Stefan walks in. "What's going on?" He looks between the two.

"He wants to know how I kicked his ass." Trinity explains.

"You did not!" Damon says.

Trinity looks at him. "You're not the only supernatural's in town."

"And what are you?" He asks.

"She's a shapeshifter." Stefan says.

"Really?" Damon scoffs.

Trinity stands from her seat. "Really. I can turn into animals."

"Prove it."

"Fine!" She says. "Move that." She points to the coffee table. Stefan and Damon move the table to the side. Damon stands in front of her as Stefan moves to the side of the room. "Step back." She says. Damon sighs in annoyance and he takes a few steps back. Trinity takes a breath, thinking about what animal she should change into.

"Any day now." Damon says.

Trinity rolls her eyes before smirking. _Lions, and tigers, and bears. Oh my! _She thinks. She shifts into a large black bear, falling onto all fours. Damon's eyes bug at the sight and he takes a few steps back. Stefan releases a chuckle. Trinity stands up, her form dwarfing Damon and Stefan. She swipes at the air in front of her, releasing a low growl. She falls back to the floor and returns to her human form. "Believe me now?" She raises her eyebrows at Damon.

He regains his composure before he hums and leaves the room. Trinity follows him with her eyes before turning to Stefan. She gives him a look that says, '_really?_'

Stefan chuckles again and shrugs, shaking his head.

"I'm gonna get out of here." Trinity says. "I brought a costume for the Halloween Festival. I'm going as a Greek goddess."

"Which one?"

"Aphrodite." She answers. "I thought that it was fitting, seeing as I'm going to spend most of the night trying to subtly convince Elena to take you back." She tilts her head. "Well that, and I'm super hot."

"See you later." Stefan smiles.

"You too." She leaves.

* * *

Damon hears music playing and walks in the room. "What are you doing?" He asks Vicki.

She stares at the ceiling. "Just contemplating the next hundred years." She sits up to look at him. "Why did you do it?"

"I was…bored." He says.

"You did this to me out of boredom?"

"It's one of the pitfalls of eternity."

"Now I'm bored. And all I can think about is blood. I just want some blood. I can't think about anything else. What is that about?"

"That'll ease up. You've been cooped up all day. Let's go." He says, walking out of the room.

"Where?" She follows.

"Your life was pathetic. Your afterlife doesn't have to be."

"What are you doing?" Stefan asks when he sees them.

"She's been cooped up in your room all day." Damon explains. "She's not Anne Frank."

Stefan shakes his head. "No, no, no. Hey…now's not the time for this."

"If you're gonna teach her. Teach her. Show her what it's all about."

"She could hurt someone."

"I'm not takin' her at Disneyland. We're going in the front yard. Come on." He says, walking onto the lawn.

"Bad idea Damon." Stefan follows behind him.

"She's a vampire Stefan, she should know the perks."

"Like what?" She asks.

"Like…" Damon disappears from in front of her to the other side of the yard.

"Whoa. How did you do that?" She laughs.

"Come on Vicki, live a little. No pun intended." She disappears.

Damon and Stefan look around.

"Uh…" Stefan says, not seeing her.

Damon grimaces and looks at Stefan. "My bad."

* * *

Vicki knocks on her front door. "Matt." She calls.

Matt looks through the small window on the door. "Vicki? Is that you?" He opens the door.

"Hey."

"Get in here."

"In a minute. I-"

"Please come inside. I've been worried." She walks in and he hugs her. "Thank god you're okay. Where were you, Vic?" He asks, stepping back.

"It's not a big deal. Drop it already."

"Three people were murdered in the woods. The cops were lookin' for you. They wanna question you."

"They know where I live."

"Everyone was worried about you."

"I'm back now. Just let it go."

Matt looks at her, exasperated. "Are you kidding? I had a freakin' search party out lookin' for you while you were off on your crazy drug trip, and you want me to let it go?"

"My head hurts." She brings her hands to her head.

"You think?" He says. The doorbell rings and Matt goes to answer it. "Stefan, what are you doing here?"

"Is Vicki home?" He asks.

"Yeah." Matt nods.

"Can I see her, please?"

Vicki whispers to Matt. "Don't let him in. I don't want him in here."

Matt turns to look at her. "Did he do something to you?"

"No." She shakes her head. "I just don't want him in here."

"Just let me come in so I can explain myself." Stefan says.

Matt looks at him. "Look, I don't know what's going on but I think you should leave now."

"Matt-"

"Please…" Matt says. "Now, Stefan." He closes the door.

* * *

Jeremy is in the kitchen, talking on his cellphone. "You gotta call me, Vic. I don't get it. What's going on with you? Just…" He says as Elena enters the room. "Just call me please." He hangs up.

"Hey. So um…" She pauses. "Do you wanna hang out tonight? We could go to the, uh, Halloween thing at school. Could be fun"

"Cool. Sure. Sounds uh…sounds fun." He nods. "Can't wait."

"I know you're upset about Vicki. I heard she call Matt. But you can't be with her. She needs to get better. The best thing you can do for her is let her go."

"What does that even mean, 'let her go'? Oh, okay, sure. Since we're such experts on letting people go, right?"

"I know you may not see it, but trust me Jer. It's for the best."

"Look, for months after mom and dad died, I felt like crap, like 'nothing really even mattered' crap. Now all of a sudden, I get these moments and things started to feel just a little bit better, and Vicki was in every single of 'em. So you may not see it, but trust me. Keeping me away from her is not for the best." He leaves the room.

* * *

Tyler walks towards Bonnie and Caroline, holding cups in his hands. "Cider for the ladies. It's a Lockwood special."

Bonnie shakes her head. "No way. Last year I was hung over until thanksgiving."

"Lightweight." Caroline takes a cup. "I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with." She says before taking a gulp.

"Sounds like a plan." Tyler smiles.

"You went with the last year's costume too, huh?" Matt asks Elena, looking at her nurse outfit.

"Yeah. I didn't know that I was coming till an hour." She says.

"Me neither." He looks at Jeremy. "And you're going as…you." Jeremy sighs and walks away, almost bumping into Trinity.

Trinity watches him walk away before turning to Matt and Elena. "What's his problem?" She asks. They just stare at her with open mouths. "What?"

"You look…" Matt looks at her costume. She's wearing a white bandeau halter top that shows all of her stomach, revealing nicely toned abs. Her skirt is floor length with slits up the sides to her hips, seamed in gold. She wears a small golden crown on top of her black wavy locks.

She looks down at her outfit. "Oh yeah!" She says. "I went as Aphrodite. What do you think?"

"You look great!" Elena smiles.

"Thank you!" Trinity grins. "What was that about?" She points to the direction Jeremy went.

"He's not talking to me right now. We got onto fight."

"Yeah, I got into it with Vic too, when she got home." Matt nods. Trinity and Elena looks at him when he says that. "I'm trying not to smother her tonight, but part of me didn't wanna let her out of my sight."

"She's here?" Elena asks.

"Yeah, you can't miss her. She's a vampire."

"Where did Jeremy go?" Elena looks around.

"Elena what's the matter?" Matt asks, confused.

"I…I've gotta find him." She walks away, Trinity following after her.

"Can you find him?" She asks Trinity.

Trinity shakes her head. "Not in this crowd. I've barely met him; I don't know his scent well enough."

* * *

Vicki walks around the school and stops. She turns and sees Stefan. "What, you're following me now?"

"You didn't really give me a much of choice." He tells her.

"You let me out of here."

"You shouldn't be here Vicki. Crowds like this, it make it even harder for you to keep yourself under control."

"I'm fine."

"Really?" Stefan asks, skeptically.

"Mm-hmm." She nods.

"No headache? Your stomach's not screaming at you? You're not feeling lightheaded or anxious or cranky like if someone looks at you the wrong way you could just rip their head off? Do you wanna know what that's called?" He walks closer to her. "It's called hunger and it's only gonna get worse and worse every minute that you pretend like it's not controlling you."

* * *

Trinity grabs Elena's arm and leads her into the school. There; they find Stefan and Vicki.

"Thank God." Elena sighs.

"What's the matter?" Stefan asks.

"I lost track of Jeremy. I was worried."

"What's goin' on?" Matt asks, looking at him and Vicki.

"Hey. Uh, everything's fine." Stefan tells him.

"I told you to quit bothering me." Vicki says.

Elena looks at her and shakes her head. "No. Vicki, don't do this."

"Matt, he won't leave me alone." She tells him in a distressed voice, backing away.

Matt steps forward. "You need to back off, man."

Trinity grabs his arm. "Matt, it's…it's okay."

He shrugs her off and glares at Stefan. "No, it's not okay. What the hell is your problem?"

Elena looks around. "Stefan. She's gone." She says.

* * *

Jeremy walks around the festival, listening to the recorded screams and roars. He turns around and jumps back when he sees Vicki. "Whoa. Vic, you scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry. I'm sorry." She says.

* * *

Damon arrives at the party and looks around. He makes eye contact with Bonnie, who glares at him. He walks up to her. "So where…where'd Caroline run off to?"

She scoffs. "Do yourself a favor, Damon, and don't ask me about Caroline."

"Oh, Bonnie." He smirks. "So loyal."

"Just stay away from her."

His smirk drops as he looks at the necklace around her neck. "Where'd you get that?"

"From a friend."

"Caroline." He nods. "You know that's mine, don't you?"

"Not anymore." She says.

"Funny. I'd like it back, please." He holds his hand out.

"I'm not giving it to you. I'll give it to Caroline, and she can give it to you if she feels like it."

"Or I could just take it right now." He wraps his hand around it but it burns him. Bonnie backs away with fear in her eyes and leaves.

* * *

"What are we gonna do?" Elena asks.

"We'll split up and look for her." Stefan says. Trinity nods and they go in separate directions.

* * *

Elena opens a door to outside. She looks at the parked buses. "Jeremy?" She calls.

* * *

"I was so worried about you." Jeremy says.

"I'm fine now, but…" She trails off, staring at his neck. She shakes her head. "I gotta leave."

"Wh-what? Where?" He asks.

"I gotta get out of here. I just…" She shakes her head. "I can't live at home with Matt. He just doesn't get it."

"No, you can't. You can't just leave."

"Come with me. If you come with me, we can be together forever." She leans towards his neck and tries to bite him.

He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Okay. Yeah. Ow. You're taking that costume a little too far." She looks at him. "What? What is it?." She shoves him against the bus. "Vicki! Vicki, what the hell?! Oh, my god. No!" He says, feeling her fangs pierce his neck. "Stop! Vicki! No! Aah!"

"Vicki, no!" Elena yells as she runs towards them.

Trinity appears and throws Vicki off of him. Stefan appears a second later. They look around, not catching sight of the young vampire.

Stefan looks at Elena and Jeremy. "Go. Get inside. Go!"

They attempt to run but Vicki throws Elena into a pile of wooden pallets, while throwing Jeremy to the side. "Ahh!" Elena screams. She groans in pain and presses a hand to her stomach as it bleeds.

Vicki steps towards her but stops as a stake pierces her. She looks down in shock.

Jeremy watches in horror as her skin greys and veins appear. Her body falls to the ground, revealing Stefan holding a stake. "Vicki?" Jeremy says, before become hysterical. "Vicki! Vicki! Vicki!"

"Get him out of here." Elena says.

"I'll stay with her." Trinity tells Stefan.

Stefan nods and goes to Jeremy.

* * *

Damon's cellphone rings. He looks at the caller I.D. and rolls his eyes. "What?" He answers.

"_I need your help."_ Stefan says.

* * *

Bonnie walks into her Gram's house, shaken.

"What happened to you?" Sheila asks.

"I did something. I don't know. It came from my necklace." She rips it off her neck, throwing it onto the table.

Sheila looks at it in shock. "Where'd you get that?"

"It's part of my costume. It's a piece of junk."

"That piece of junk belonged to one of the most powerful witches of our family. Let me show you. There she is. Emily Bennett, your great-great-great-great-grandmother. And there's your necklace."

* * *

Trinity is trying to calm a crying Elena when Damon comes.

"You should go. I got this." He says.

"You did this." Elena walks over to him. This is your fault!" She pushes him.

"You confuse me for someone with remorse." She goes to smack him but he catches her wrists. "None of this matters to me. None of it."

Trinity separates them and roughly pushes him back. "People die around you. How could it not matter?" Elena asks. "It matters, and you know it."

Damon looks at her. "You need to leave. Your wounds are bleeding, and you need to leave."

"Come on Elena." Trinity leads her away.

* * *

As they make their way through the crowd they run into Matt. "Elena! Hey, have you seen…whoa." He looks at her appearance. Wh-what happened?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing. Some idiot with some fake blood got me. I'm gonna go home and shower."

"I…I can't find Vicky. She totally bailed on me." He shakes his head.

"We don't know where she is." Trinity tells him.

"Is this what I'm in for?" He sighs. "A lifetime of worrying about her?"

"You're a good brother, Matt." Elena says.

"Yeah." He nods. "Maybe she went home."

"Maybe." She says, before she and Trinity walk away.

* * *

When they get to her car Trinity holds her hand out for the keys. Elena hands them over with shaky hands. Trinity unlocks the car and leads Elena to her seat before walking over to the driver's side. She starts the car and drives for a few minutes before stopping. "Let it out." She says.

Elena's lips quiver before she burst into tears. Trinity rubs her back and turns away as a lone tear rolls down her face. She quickly wipes it away before looking back at Elena. "How do you deal with this?" Elena asks.

Trinity is silent for a moment. "I don't know." She breathes. "This is new to me too." Elena looks at her. "I've known about the supernatural for years but I've only been involved since Stefan moved here. When he came, I didn't feel alone anymore." She tells her. "Do you know that I found out that I could shape shift by myself? I only had what was in my family's journals. Even then I'm the first in generations." She shrugs. "I would've always been alone. So even though all of these horrible things are happening, Stefan's my best friend. I finally have someone to share this with. And I don't ever want to change that." They sit in silence and Elena composes herself. Trinity starts the car again and continues driving.

* * *

They arrive at the Gilbert house. Trinity gives Elena her keys back as walk up the porch steps to see Stefan waiting there.

"Where is he?" Elena asks.

"Inside." He says.

Elena heads upstairs. She sees Jeremy lying in his bed, tears rushing down his face. "Do you understand what happened tonight?" She asks.

He shakes his head. "No. I don't understand. I mean, I know what I saw, but…I don't understand."

"She was going to kill me…"

"Now she's dead. Vicki's dead." He cries.

"I'm so sorry, Jer."

"Make it stop. It hurts." He sniffs.

"Shh, shh, shh, shh. It's okay. It's okay." She rubs his back.

"Why does everybody have to die on me?"

"Oh, my god. Come here." She takes him in her arms.

* * *

Stefan and Trinity wait on the porch outside. Elena steps out. "Are you okay?" She asks him.

"I, uh…I wanted to help her. But instead…" He looks down before looking back up. "Uh…how's he doing?"

"He's a mess." She says. "I don't want him going through this again. He's just a kid."

"Elena, what can I do? I…what can I do to help? I'll do anything." He tells her.

"Can you make him forget?" She asks.

"Elena." He sighs.

"Stefan, please. I don't know how he'll ever get past this. I just want him to forget everything that happened."

"If I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work." He says. "Because of who I am, because of how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right."

Damon walks up to them. "I can do it." He says, looking at Elena. "If this is what you want…I'll do it."

She nods. "It's what I want."

"What do you want him to know?"

"I want you to tell him that Vicky left town, and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's gonna miss her, but he knows it's for the best."

Damon nods and goes inside.

Elena looks at Stefan. "Part of me wishes that I could forget, too…forget meeting you. Finding out what you are and everything that's happened since."

Stefan looks heartbroken but he nods. "If that's what you want."

"Yes, it is. Because I don't want it to be like this." She says. "I don't wanna feel like this. But I can't. With everything that's happened…I can't lose the way I feel about you."

Damon comes outside. "It's done." He tells her.

They bid their goodbyes before leaving.


	8. 162 Candles

Chapter Eight: 162 Candles

Stefan eyes snap open when he hears a loud thump. He looks around to see a book on the ground. He turns his head when he hears a noise. He cautiously steps out of his bed. "Damon?" He calls. He is suddenly slammed to the ground. Stefan eyes go wide. "Lexi!"

The blonde female on top of him smiles. "Hi."

"What are you doing here?" He asks, smiling back.

"How could you even ask that?"

"I missed you."

"Happy Birthday."

* * *

Later, Stefan and Lexi are in his room talking.

"Stop ." She puts her hand up. "I don't know, some freak shot at me with wooden bullet. I bail in under sixty. And why is a news reporter hunting vampires?"

"I don't know who knows about us." He shrugs. "That guy did. There could be others. Do me a favor while you're there, please be careful."

"Why stay? I'm headed to New-York for the week-end. Bon Jovi in the Garden. 'Wanted dead or alive', it's our theme song. It'll be blast." She smiles.

"Do you think he would actually remember us? That was a pretty crazy week-end huh?"

"We can make him remember us. Come on, let's go. I mean, what's keeping you here?"

"I told you her name is Elena."

"Let's hope she's better than the last girl you got all sprung over."

"You didn't even know Katherine."

"Cause if I did I'd kick her ass. Little bitch." She says. "Speaking of…where's Damon?"

"Inflicting misery somewhere. You gonna be ok here alone? Cause I got some things I gotta take care of." He stands up.

"It's not exactly like I can go anywhere. And you and Damon are the only ones whit these nifty little daylight rings. I have a mood ring from '75." She says. "Trade ya."

Stefan shakes his head. "Doesn't work that way and you know it."

"Yeah."

"Hey Lex, I'm really glad that you came here."

"What are we doing for your birthday? It's not every day a guy turns a hundred and sixty-two years old."

"Really?"

She nods. "Oh yeah. And when do I get to meet the chick you replaced me with?"

"I didn't replace you and her name is Trinity." Stefan tells her. "And if you try to greet her like you did me, I imagine the turn out of that being very bad."

"Because she's a shape shifter?" Lexi asks sarcastically.

Stefan smiles. "You'll believe it when you see it."

* * *

Sheriff Forbes sits in an interrogation room, questioning the teens. "Where did Vicki say she was going?"

"She didn't." Jeremy shrugs.

"Did she tell her brother where she's going?"

* * *

Matt shakes his head. "No she didn't say anything to me. She told Jeremy to tell me that she was leaving town."

"Is there anyone I can talk to that may know what happened to her prior to her living town?"

"Stefan Salvatore may know he came by the house to see her but she wouldn't talk to him."

"What was he doing there?"

* * *

"I was trying to help, I knew that Elena was worried about her brother, he was dating Vicki and she had drug problem so I tried to help." Stefan says.

"So you got involved because Elena asked you to?"

* * *

"I asked Stefan to help I thought that by helping Vicki he was helping my brother." Elena says

* * *

"What was her behavior like those last few days before she left?"

"Up and down." Matt says. "Very sketchy, like she was coming down from some major party."

"Any signs of aggression or violence?"

* * *

"Not that I remember." Jeremy tells her.

* * *

Stefan shakes his head. "No."

* * *

"No." Elena tells her.

* * *

"So you believe that Vicki has really left town?"

"Yes." Matt nods.

* * *

"Yes." Stefan says.

* * *

"Yes." Elena says.

* * *

"I'll miss her but…" Jeremy sighs. "I think it's for the best."

* * *

Stefan is waiting for Elena in front of the police station, talking to Matt. "I was trying to help her Matt. That's all." He says. Matt shakes his head and walks away.

Elena walks out of the station, Jenna and Jeremy by her side. "I'll meet you guys at the car."

"Ok." Jenna nods.

Elena walks up to Stefan. "You okay?" He asks.

"I don't think the sheriff suspected anything. Jeremy had no memory at all. All he knew was what Damon made him know." She says. Stefan nods. "I can't do this Stefan." She sighs. "Every time I look at Matt or Jeremy, all I think; is that Vicki is never gonna come back. And they'll never know why. Around you people get hurt and people die. I can't I just…it's just too much…"

"Why don't we go somewhere and talk about it." Stefan says.

She shakes her head. "No, Stefan you have to stay away from me."

* * *

Trinity arrives at the boarding house. She walks in and closes the door behind her. "Stefan?" She called.

Trinity hears a noise. Her nose is filled with a bitter scent. _Vampire._ She thinks. It's neither Stefan nor Damon. This scent is new. Instead of the cucumber and peppermint that she's grown used too, this is a jasmine scent. She notices a blur coming her way out of the corner of her eye. Trinity dodges; shifting into a tiger as she does so.

Lexi stops and her eyes widen. _Okay, Stefan wasn't kidding. _She puts her hands up. "Nice kitty." She says. "I'm a friend of Stefan's, my name is Lexi."

_Oh so this is Stefan's other best friend. _Trinity realizes. _Well, she got to have her fun. It's only right that I have mine. _She slowly walks towards Lexi, growling. Lexi backs up a few steps, seeing the tiger advance. Trinity releases a bellowing roar. Lexi goes to run out of the room but Trinity jumps in front of her, shifting back to her human form. She smiles. "Hi, I'm Trinity."

Lexi's mouth opens and closes before she chuckles. "You got me."

Trinity nods, chuckling along. "Yeah, I did." She sobers. "So Stefan told me about you. He left out the fact that you were so beautiful." She smiles.

Lexi chuckles. "Thank you, but I'm seeing someone."

"Well damn." Trinity shrugs. "If that doesn't work out, give me a call."

Lexi looks at Trinity. "I like you."

Trinity smiles and holds her hands out. "Progress."

Lexi shakes her head, a small smile on her face. "I feel like we're going to get along great."

* * *

Later; Lexi and Trinity lie in Stefan's bed, talking.

"He's the first one I told about myself. Before then I only had my family's journals to go by." Trinity tells her. "He's the first person to accept me for me. I promised myself that I would always be there for him."

"You know he wasn't always so controlled as he is today." Lexi says.

"What do you mean?"

"He's a ripper. When he gets a taste of human blood, he can't stop. It's like a frenzy. He feeds so violently that he ends up ripping people apart. It makes it dangerous for others to be around him when he's like that. I've had to help get him back on the wagon a couple times."

"Well that makes it even better." Trinity says.

"What do you mean?" Lexi asks, confused.

"Stefan can't feed from me. No vampire can."

"How?"

"As a shapeshifter I'm ever changing; making my blood unstable. If a vampire tries to feed from me, their body would instantly reject it. They would upchuck until it was out of their system." She explains. "If Stefan ever falls off the wagon again, I'm one of the only people who can be around him without worrying about instant death."

"You really are the perfect friend for Stefan." Lexi breathes.

Trinity shrugs. "I try. Let's talk about the look on your face when I shifted."

"It was a surprise." Lexi laughs.

"You pull off the deer in head lights looks so well. Are you sure that you're a vampire and not a shapeshifter?"

"Well how did Stefan handle it?"

"He looked so freaked out the first time I shifted." Trinity laughed. "You should've seen his face."

"If it was anything like mine, I understand."

"He was trying to keep his cool but I noticed his hand trembling a bit, the first time he pet me."

"He got to pet you? All I got was a roar."

"I roared at him too, but to make you happy I'll do this." Trinity shifted into a black panther.

Lexi gasped before she cautiously reached a hand out. Trinity shuffled closer to Lexi. She let out a purr as Lexi's hand traveled over her fur. She sniffed her hand, licking her fingers to get used to her scent. An idea popped into her head, and Trinity suddenly shifted into a chimpanzee. Lexi smiles as she watches Trinity walk around the bed, making teasing sounds at her. Trinity begins jumping up and down on the bed. Lexi notices that she is a little too close to the edge and opens her mouth to warn her. She is too late as she watches Trinity topple over the edge, letting out a loud shriek of surprise before her body hits the floor with a loud thump. Lexi laughs as she crawls over to see if her new friend is okay.

Stefan walks in and is instantly confused at the sight of his best friend laughing at a monkey on the floor, rubbing its head. "Uhh." He trails off.

Lexi looks at him, a large smile still on her face. "Why didn't you tell me how hilarious she was?"

Trinity; still a monkey, stands up and walks over to Stefan. She takes his hand and leads him further into the room. She shifts into a capuchin monkey and leaps onto his shoulder. Stefan looks from Trinity to Lexi. "So I see that you guys have been having fun."

"Yeah she's great." Lexi says. Trinity claps her hands in agreement. Lexi relaxes back on the bed, seeing the look on Stefan face. "So this Elena girl." She says. "She'll come around. I'm sure of it. Have you had sex yet?"

"No." He shakes his head.

Lexi holds in a laugh when she sees Trinity copy the gesture. "Sex always work. I mean, you'll rock her world so hard with your vamp sex. She'll be yours forever."

"Yeah, but see, this isn't about sex or…or compulsion or any of our other tricks. She has to want to be with me on her own terms."

"Wow." Lexi raises her eyebrows. "That sounded all mature and grown-up." She says, taking a pack of blood from her suitcase.

"I'm not getting any older." He shrugs, jarring Trinity a bit. Trinity smacks his head after she regains her footing.

Lexi takes a sip of blood and holds the bag out to Stefan. "Want some?"

"No thank you." He says, a serious look on his face.

"Relax I didn't kill anyone for it. This doctor I went out with a few times, he's my supplier. Oh don't judge ok? Listen I tried the animal diet lasted three weeks."

"It doesn't matter." He shakes his head. "'Cause if I started again…I just don't know if…"

"You could stop."

"Lexi I'd never judge you."

"I'm just jealous of your restraint. I have none. I delight I hedonism. Speaking of which, what are we doing tonight?"

"Funny you should ask." Damon says, walking in. He shoots a questioning look at the monkey on Stefan shoulder before her shakes his head.

"Well I wasn't asking you." Lexi rolls her eyes.

"There's a party at the Grill. You'll love it. Banquettes, tacky wait staff, all Stefan's friends." He continues.

"Oh I don't want a birthday party." Stefan says.

Trinity lets out a loud shriek before jumping off of Stefan's shoulder, shifting back into her human form. "It's your birthday?!" She yells. "And you didn't tell me? Best friends don't do that."

"Trinity-" Stefan starts.

She puts her hand up. "Hush. I have to go and find you a present before the night is over." She says, walking out the room. "I'll see you at the Grill." She calls.

Stefan looks at Damon. "I don't want a party."

"Well, it's not for you. It's a party party." Damon says. "No one's gonna know it's your birthday. Caroline's throwing it."

"Damon, stay away from Caroline."

"We're friends it's cool. It's important for the town to see us out and about like normal folk. We need to blend." He looks at Lexi's stock of blood. "I prefer mine at 98.6." He says before walking out.

Lexi looks at Stefan. "Let's go. Please?" She asks.

* * *

Lexi walks out of the shower. "I'm almost ready."

Stefan shakes his head. "I can't believe you actually think that we should go on this thing."

"Sorry to asking you to run outside midday without your ring. I mean seriously, it's a party.

"A party that Damon wants us to go to." He says. "So my question is why? I think he's up to something.

"Who cares?" She shrugs. "What can he possibly of all those people in a public place?"

"He knows how to keep a low. Believe me."

"Ok so he'll behave. Come on." She says. "One day a year I get you, one day that you're not brooding and existing in your own head."

"It's my birthday yeah?"

"It's my day and that guy that jump naked in the Trevi fountain and got drunk on the torch of the statue of Liberty. That guy can take a break from all of his worrying one night, and go to a stupid party. So quit your whining and go get ready."

* * *

Elena arrives at Stefan's house and knocks on the door.

"It's open come on in." Lexi calls, still in her towel. She pauses when she sees Elena. "Oh My God! How…how…who?"

"I'm Elena who are you?" Elena says with a guarded looks.

"Lexi, I'm a friend of Stefan's."

"Is he here?"

"He's in the shower, do you want to wait?"

Elena feels a pang of hurt and shakes her head. "No."

"I'll tell him you stopped by."

"That's okay." Elena says before rushing out the house.

* * *

Lexi goes to Stefan bedroom, furious. "Are you out of your freaking mind?" She asks him.

"What are you talking about?"

"I've just met Elena, you have some serious explaining to do. You have some serious emotion damage."

"No it's not what you think, she's not Katherine." He tells her.

"So they're related 'cause they can be twins."

"I don't know."

"You don't know or you didn't find out?"

"No. Maybe I don't want to know. I have no desire to tie Elena to Katherine .Ok yes; the resemblance is what drew me in. But that's it. Katherine and Elena may look the same at the outside but at the inside they are completely different."

"So Elena is not a raging bitch then huh?" She asks.

"No. Elena is…Elena's warm and she's…she's kind, and caring, and she's selfless and it's real and honestly when I'm around her…I completely forget what I am."

"Oh my god! You're in love with her." Lexi says.

Stefan pauses for a moment before nodding. "Yeah I am."

* * *

Trinity walks around the store, searching for a present for Stefan. She looks at the jewelry before smile crosses her face. "Perfect." She breathes.

* * *

People are at the Grill, having fun and laughing.

Caroline turns to Damon. "Amazing party right?"

"Glad you thought of it." He says, scanning the crowd.

"Well, are you having good time?"

He looks at her. "Do you have my crystal?"

"No."

"Then I'm not having a good time." Damon sees Lexi and walks over to her. "Where's my brother?"

She rolls her eyes in annoyance. "He said he'd meet me here."

"Buy you a-" He goes to say, but Lexi walks off.

* * *

Elena opens her door to find Stefan standing there.

"Hey." He greets.

She brushes a strand of hair away from her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Lexi said that you came by and you seemed upset."

"The girl in the towel." She says.

"The girl in the towel?" His face curls in confusion before realization sets in. "Oh no, no, no, no, not like that." He says. "She's not exactly a girl; she's just 350 years old."

"You mean she's a…"

"And she's my oldest friend. Nothing romantic. Ever."

"Okay, well…she kept stop staring at me." She says. "It was weird."

"Yeah well I've talk about you a lot so…I guess she felt like she knew you. So why'd you come by?"

"It was…it was a mistake."

"Elena, talk to me."

"I can't." She sighs. "Stefan I can't and that's the problem I'm keeping all these secrets from everyone. I can't even tell my best friend. Do you know how hard that is? It's like I need to talk to someone but the only person I can talk to is you and-"

"I want you to know that I will always be here for you. You can come to me about anything okay?" He says. "And if you don't feel comfortable with that, Trinity is always willing to lend an ear."

"Well, thank you for coming by."

"Hey." He says. "Do you need a ride to the Grill tonight?"

"Are you going to Caroline's party?"

"Lexi's dragging me and…it's my birthday."

"Really? Whoa happy birthday then." She says.

"Thank you." He nods.

"Actually I…I think I'm gonna stay in tonight."

"Well have…have a good night." He says before leaving.

* * *

Caroline walks up to Bonnie. "Bonnie I've been looking for you. I'm totally sorry to do this I know it's so Indian giver and, we're not supposed to say that anymore but I need my crystal back."

"Why?" She asks. "You said you hated it."

"Then I saw it on you and I realize how great it is and I've got three outfits I can coordinate it with so…"

"I can't give it back to you." Bonnie shakes her head.

"Well I didn't want to tell you this but I'm you friend." Caroline says. "When you wear it make you look fat. There; I said it, but it's because I'm your friend so…"

"I'm sorry Caroline, I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? Bonnie it's mine."

"I thought you said it was Damon's."

"It is."

"So he's the one who really wants it back."

"No maybe just…" She tries to take the necklace from Bonnie's neck, only to receive a shock. She snatches her hand back. "Are you wearing polyester?"

Bonnie looks at her in disbelief. "You were really gonna pull it from my neck, what the hell is wrong with you?" She walks off.

"Argh!" Caroline lets out in frustration.

* * *

Stefan walks into the Grill and sees Matt, who tries to walk away. Stefan stops him. "Matt, just hear me out please I just trying to help Vicki, I went through something similar once, I'm really sorry."

Matt sighs. "Don't be it's not the first time she's run off. Turns out Vicki's like her mother; I can't count on either of them, thanks for trying."

* * *

Damon walks up to Caroline. "Where is it?"

"Bonnie won't give it to me."

"So rip it off her neck." He scoffs.

"I tried. It shocked me."

"Damn it. Why does it do that? I need that crystal."

"Why have you been like this? I'm so good to you and I'd do anything, it's just some stupid necklace."

"No you are the only stupid thing here. And shallow. And useless." He says before walking off, leaving Caroline with a hurt look on her face.

* * *

Lexi is dancing when Stefan walks up to her. "Okay, I'm gonna need a little more foot movement." She says as he continues to stand in front of her.

"Yeah not really interested in making a fool out of myself."

"Come on you're not that bad."

"Do me favor." He tells her. "Tell me if you see Damon with camera phone."

"Right." She nods, and they start dancing together.

* * *

Damon walks outside the Grill. He sees a couple walking into an alley.

"Where are we going?" The girl asks.

"No one's gonna see us." The boy says before kissing her.

She pulls back. "Did you hear something?"

He shakes his head. "No it's cool. There's no one coming down here."

Damon appears behind him and bites into his neck. The girl screams.

* * *

Stefan throws a dart at the board. "Woo!" He puts his hands in the air, seeing he got a bull's-eye.

"Nice." Lexi smiles.

Trinity appears behind him. "Happy Birthday." She says, holding out a small box. Stefan takes it from her. "If I had more time to gift search, I would've got something a lot cooler." Stefan opens the box to see two necklaces in the shape of a broken heart; one with the sun on it and the other with the moon. "They're friendship necklaces that change color with you mood." She lifts them from the box. "I'm the sun." She takes hers and holds the other out to Stefan. "And you're the moon."

"Lexi looks at the gift. "Cool." She says. She snatches it from Stefan's hand. "I'll put it on you." She says.

"Thank you." Stefan says as she fastens it around his neck. "And thank you." He says to Trinity as he takes the necklace from her hand; motioning her to turn around. She turns and lifts her hair up. Stefan puts the necklace on her and turns her back around.

Trinity lifts up her half of the necklace and Stefan lifts up his. They connect it together, creating a full heart. "Best friends forever." She smiles before hugging him. Stefan laughs as he lifts her from the ground.

* * *

Elena watches from a distance as Damon walks up to her. "Stefan smiles, alert the media." He says.

"You haven't given him a lot of reasons to be happy lately." She tells him.

"No. You're right. Poor Stefan. Persecuted throughout eternity by this depraved brother. Does it get tiring being so righteous?"

"It flares up in the presence of psychopaths."

"Ouch! Consider this psychopath's feelings get hurt."

"What did you do to my brother?" She asks.

"I'm gonna need a less vague question."

"When you did what you did to Jeremy's memory of Vicki, what else did you do to him?"

"You asked me to take away his memory of fangs and all the bad stuff. You wanted me to take away his suffering."

"But he's acting different. He seems okay with everything and a little too okay. I mean he's studying, he's not doing drugs, he's not drinking, are you sure you didn't do something else?"

"Elena, I took away the suffering."

* * *

Lexi walks up to the bar. "Two shots of tequila. Make that three."

"I need to see some ID." The bartender says.

She looks into his eyes. "No you do not."

"That'll be…"

"Free." She says.

"On the house."

"Thanks." She smiles, walking away with the shots in her hands. She sits down at a table. "The famous Elena, Oh!"

"Towel girl." Elena says.

Lexi shrugs. "I've been called worse." She hand a shot to Elena. "Here."

"Yeah." Elena says, taking the drink. "I didn't know that you guys could drink."

"Oh yeah." She nods. "It helps curb the cravings for the purpose makes lot of lushy vamps."

"I've never seen Stefan drunk he always seems so…"

"Uptight?"

Elena nods. "But now with you…"

"Well that's the benefit of knowing someone for over a hundred years. You can just be yourself."

"Yeah." Elena says, looking down. "He can't be himself with me."

"Well not yet; the first step is him telling you, the rest comes with time."

Elena looks at her. "You seem so sure."

"The love of my life was human. He went through what I imagine you're going through; denial, anger and so on…" She explains. "But at the end of the day love really did conquer all. Are you going to drink that?" She points to the shot in Elena's hand.

Elena holds it towards her. "Go for it." She watches at Lexi quickly drinks it. "I'm scared." She says.

"But you're here…because you crazy about him. I get it okay? I mean what's not to love. Listen. Take it from someone who's been around a long time. When it's real, you can't walk away." She goes to leave when Elena stops her.

"Hey Lexi, It's been really nice meeting you." She says.

Lexi smiles before rejoining Stefan and Trinity, who are playing pool. "Yep sorry I drank yours." She tells them.

"Thank you." Stefan smiles at her.

Lexi sighs, rolling her eyes. "You weren't supposed to be listening. I was feeling epic, whatever."

Elena walks up to Stefan. "Hi!" She smiles.

"Hey you came."

"I could not miss your hundredth and…whatever birthday."

Trinity turns to Lexi. "I'll be right back, just have to go to the restroom."

Lexi nods. "I'll be at the bar." She walks over and orders a few shots. She takes a seat next to Damon, passing him the drinks. "All right, the shots are snatch. I need you to answer to a question. What are you really doing in Mystic Falls?"

"You have to try the brittle. It wins awards." He deflects.

"Cut the crap."

"Ok. I have a diabolical master plan."

"What is it?"

"If I told you wouldn't it be very diabolical, would it?"

* * *

Sheriff Forbes comes in with the girl from the alley. "Look around, let me know if you see him." She tells her. The girls points to Lexi. The sheriff nods and walks up to Lexi, sticking a syringe in her side. Lexi groans and begins to fall to the floor. Two officers catch her.

"What are you doing?" Damon feigns shock.

"Thank you for the vervain." Liz tells him. "Now if you'll excuse me." They drag Lexi out of the building.

Stefan looks over. "Oh my god." He says.

"What is it?" Elena asks, turning around.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry." He walks away, Elena follows after him.

* * *

Trinity exits the bathroom and sees Stefan leave out the back door. She makes her way out just in time to see Damon shove a stake through Lexi's chest.

"Oh my god!" Stefan says.

Lexi looks at him with a look shock. "Why?" She whispers.

"It's part of the plan." He says before letting her body fall to the ground.

* * *

Stefan has a look of anger and determination on his face as he walks down the alley.

"Stefan!" Trinity and Elena call.

He looks at them. "He killed her, he killed Zach, he killed Tanner he turned Vicki, I have to kill him."

"No you can't do that." Elena says.

"Why are you trying to save him Elena? He's never gonna change. Do you see that? He's not gonna change." He says.

"She's not trying to save him; she's trying to save you." Trinity explains.

"You have no idea what this will do to you, please Stefan."

"Everywhere I've been pain and death follow, Damon follows me no more."

"Stefan please." Elena says. "Please just talk to me. Let me be here for you. Talk to me."

He shakes his head. "No. You were right to stay away from me." He leaves, Trinity following after him.

* * *

Stefan walks into the boarding house with Trinity behind him.

"Told you I'd take care of it." Damon says. Stefan shoves a stake through his stomach. Damon groans and falls to the ground. "Come I did this for you. To get 'em off our trail."

"You never do anything for anyone but yourself." Stefan tells him.

"You missed." Damon groans.

Stefan shakes his head. "No. You saved my life I'm sparing yours, we're even. And now we're done." He leaves the room.

Trinity walks up to Damon. He rolls his eyes. "I can do without a lecture."

She slowly shakes her head. "If you were as angry at Stefan as you say you are; he would've been dead by now. But it's been a 145 years and he's still here. You can only do so much until he breaks Damon. He has watched you kill so many people, just to upset him; even your own family. But tonight wasn't necessary. If you wanted the council off your back so much, you would've snatched a random nobody off the street and turned them. Used them to distract the council. But no, you waited for the one day where Stefan would be at his happiest. It's his birthday, and for the rest of eternity he will only remember two things; the death of his best friend and the brother who killed her. You may not feel it now, but you will regret this Damon. That, I promise you." She says before walking upstairs.

* * *

She finds Stefan sitting on his bed with tears in his eyes. She sits down next to him and pulls him into her arms. A sob breaks free as he wraps his arms around her, clinging to her desperately. She closes her eyes at her friend's pain. She rubs his back and gently rocks him as he cries.


	9. History Repeating

Chapter Nine: History Repeating

Trinity opens her eyes; finding herself on Stefan's chest in the form of a Labrador pup. It takes her a moment to remember shifting to this form last night. She scrambles on his chest from a moment, moving closer to his face. She licks Stefan a few times in the attempt to rouse him from his sleep. His face crinkles a bit before he turns away. Trinity releases a small bark and licks his face again.

Stefan's brows furrow before his eyes open. He blinks the bleariness away before looking at Trinity. "Good morning." He greets. Trinity gives a small yip and licks his chin.

Damon enters the room. "Rise and shine. You'll be late for school." He says, holding up a cup of coffee.

Stefan picks Trinity up, setting her to the side as he sits up. "What…what are you doing?" He asks.

"Peace offering." He smiles. "Come on you need it for blood circulation. Does dead flesh good?" Stefan continues to look at him in suspicion. He sighs. "All right. I'm sorry."

Stefan stands from the bed and Trinity hops to the floor. He goes to walk past Damon. "Step aside, please."

"I got the town off our back." He tries to explain. "It was for the greater good, but I'm sorry. And to prove it, I'm not gonna feed on human…for at least a week. I'll adopt the Stefan diet, only nothing with feathers."

"I realize that 'cause killing your closest and oldest friend is beyond evil, and yet somehow, it's worthy of humor." Stefan says.

"Are you mimicking me?" Damon asks.

"Yes Stefan, now that the secret society of vampire haters is off our back, I can go back to my routine of 'how can I destroy Stefan's life' this week."

"And I can go back to sulking and Elena-longing and forehead brooding. This is fun. I like this." Damon says.

"And I will finally reveal the ulterior motive behind my evil and diabolical return to Mystic Falls."

"Yeah I'm done." Damon says walking away. He turns back. "That's just like you, Damon. Always have to have the last word."

Trinity shifts back into her human form. "We'll stay home from school today." Trinity says. "You need time and I'll be by your side the whole way."

Stefan shakes his head. "I'm not going back to school."

"What?"

"I'm done. I'll find some way to get Damon to leave-"

"And you're leaving too?"

Stefan sighs. "Trinity-"

"Well I'm going with you." She says, and continues on when he goes to speak. "It's not like I have anything keeping me here. No family, no friends; it's not like anyone's going to notice if I'm gone. I just need you to compel a few people that I'm transferring." She pauses. "Or if you give me a little time, I can test out and graduate."

"You can't-"

"Hey, I'm your best friend and I'm not going to let you go through this alone."

Stefan looks at her. "I'm not going to be able to change your mind am I?" She shakes her head. He sighs. "Fine."

"I am going to go home and change and you are going to clear one of your drawers out."

"Why?" He asks, confused.

"Because if I'm going to be staying here, I want to have a change of clothes." She says, leaving.

* * *

Trinity walks into her room and heads straight to the closet. She pulls a duffle bag off of the shelf and sits it on her bed. She opens it up before she begins grabbing clothes to pack into it. A few minutes later she sighs as she packs a shirt into the bag. _Wow. _She thinks. _I'm leaving Mystic Falls. _She wonders where she and Stefan will go. She doesn't want to go anywhere too quiet, the last thing that Stefan needs is more time to brood.

_I would like to leave high school though. _She thinks. One of the perks of having no friends meant that she had a lot of time on her hands. She has spent most of the years studying ahead for all of her classes. She can test out whenever she wants. The only reason she still goes to the school is because she has nothing better to do with her time. She shakes her head as she packs the last piece of clothing into her bag before zipping it up.

* * *

When Trinity enters the boarding house, she sees Stefan walking down the stairs. "Where are you going?"

"Elena sent me a message. I'm going to the school to talk to her."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Trinity asks. "Not to talk to her, but for support and if needed a quick getaway ride."

"Thanks." Stefan says.

Trinity sets her bag down. "I'm driving." She says. As they walk down the steps something occurs to her. "I'm always driving you around. You're a 162 years old, shouldn't you have a car?"

"I do have a car." Stefan says.

"Really?" Trinity asks, skeptically as she gets into the car. "Why don't you ever drive then?"

Stefan gets into his seat. "I don't like to call attention to myself. It's not really something you can drive without being noticed."

Trinity snorted. "So that means it's either ridiculously expensive or really old. And you're not the flashy type."

"I like the old models." Stefan says.

"Hey it's cool." Trinity chuckles. "I'm sure my grandfather did too."

"I'll take you for a spin sometime."

"Now you're offering a young, beautiful girl a ride in your car?" Trinity asks with a smile on her face. "Stefan, you dirty old man."

Stefan laughs for a bit before sobering. "Thank you." He says.

"For what?"

"For making me laugh. For taking my mind off things."

Trinity shrugs. "It's what I'm here for."

"Where do you wanna go?" He asks. "When we leave."

Trinity shrugs. "I've never been to Italy." She says. "Maybe Tokyo." She smiles. "That would be cool."

"Why Tokyo?" Stefan asks.

"Why not? We've got nothing but time on our hands." She says, pulling into a parking spot. "Here it is." She looks at Stefan. He releases a sigh and a sad look covers his face. "You don't have to do this right now. We can come back."

He shakes his head, composing himself. "No." He says. "This has to be done."

Trinity takes his hand and gives it a squeeze. "I'm right here."

He nods, squeezing back. "I'll be back in a few." He says, letting go and getting out of the car.

* * *

Elena sees Stefan standing outside of the school. She walks up to him. "You weren't in class. I was worried." She says.

"I got your message, and sorry I didn't get back to you, but…what I wanna say shouldn't be said over the phone." He explains.

"A simple 'I didn't kill my brother' text would've sufficed." She says.

"I didn't kill my brother, as much as he deserved it. He has you and Trinity to thank for that."

"So what did you wanna tell me?"

Stefan pauses before he finally answers. "I won't be coming to school anymore. I'm gonna back off and keep my distance. It's the right thing to do."

"Back off from school or from…" Elena trails off as she realizes what he's saying. "Thank you for telling me?"

"It's better this way."

She lets out a frustrated sigh as she nods. "Yep. I got it."

"You're angry." Stefan says. "Good. It's easier if you hate me." He says before walking away.

* * *

Trinity looks at Stefan as he sits in his seat. "How'd it go?" She asks.

"She's angry."

Trinity shakes her head. "It won't last for long." She says, pulling out of the parking lot.

"What do you mean?"

"I see how you guys look at each other. What's she's feeling right now? It's all going to fade as soon as she realizes that she may never see you again."

"No she's-"

"Stefan." She interrupts. "She found out that you were a vampire, and you offered to make it go away. She could've gone back to living her normal life, but instead she chose you. She didn't want to forget the feelings that she has for you. That means something." She says. "Now she just has to decide what's more important. The fact that you're a vampire and the life that comes with it, or should she deny herself the happiness that she's been missing because of her fear of you and your world? Our world." Stefan's eyes cloud in thought. "But there's one thing you need to know about." He looks at her. "If this gets deep." She says. "Deeper than it already is…you need to tell her about Katherine."

Stefan looks down. Suddenly his phone buzzes. He takes it out and answers it. "Elena." He says. Trinity glances at him. "What?" He asks. "Sure, I'll be right there." He says before hanging up.

"What's wrong?" Trinity asks, seeing a look of worry on his face.

"Head to Elena's."

"Why?"

"Damon."

Trinity rolls her eyes as she turns the car around.

* * *

Elena opens her door to see Stefan and Trinity. "Thanks for coming. I wouldn't have called if it wasn't important."

"I know that." Stefan says as he and Trinity walk in.

Elena leads them to her bedroom and closes the door. Trinity and Stefan listen as she explains what's been happening to Bonnie, and Damon's involvement with it. "He threatened her Stefan." She says.

"What would want Damon with Bonnie?" He asks.

"She has this necklace. Caroline got it from Damon, and she gave it to Bonnie, and now Damon wants it back. He's tormenting her."

"Over a necklace?" Trinity asks, skeptical.

Elena shakes her head. "It's not just any necklace. It has to do with Bonnie's heritage. It belonged to one of her ancestors who've lived here since the Civil War." She looks at Stefan. "When you and Damon lived here."

Stefan eyes light up in realization. "Her name was Emily. She was Katherine's handmaid and a witch."

"You know about Bonnie?" She asks.

Stefan nods. "The first night that you invited me over for dinner, I made the connection."

"And if that didn't do it, the whole; setting a car on fire with her mind thing did." Trinity says.

"And now…Damon knows…and for some reason he wants that necklace." Elena says.

"What does it look like?" Trinity asks.

"It's…an antique iron setting with…"

"With an amber crystal." Stefan finishes. "I know it. It belonged to Katherine. Emily gave it to her, all which means that…"

"What?" Elena asks.

"I don't know." He shakes his head. "But I'm gonna find it out. Let me talk to Damon."

"Will he tell you?"

"I'll get it out of him." He says.

"I'll stay here." Trinity says. Elena looks at her. "You get Bonnie over here and I'll stay with you."

"Bonnie doesn't know about you. I don't think she'll trust you." Elena says.

"Which is why I'm not going to be looking like myself." Trinity explains. "I'll be the cute little puppy that you found outside. You're just keeping me until you find the owner. She'll be none the wiser."

Elena thinks for a minute before nodding. "Okay." She says.

"I'll be back." Stefan says before leaving.

* * *

He arrives at the Grill to see Damon sitting at the bar, drinking. He walks up to him. "So Stefan…you know, I been thinking. I think we should start over, give this brother thing another chance. We used to do it, oh, so well once upon time." Stefan mimics.

Damon sighs. "I don't know Damon. I can't trust you to be the nice guy. You kill everybody and you're so mean. You're so mean and…" Damon trails off before rolling his eyes. He looks at Stefan. "You're really hard to imitate, and then I have to go the lesser instead."

Stefan looks at the waitress. "Can I get a coffee, please?" He asks. The waitress nods and he looks back to Damon. "So what's with the bottle?"

"I'm on edge. Crash diet, and I'm trying to keep a low profile."

"You could always just leave; find a new town to turn into your own personal gas and sip."

"I'll manage. You don't have to keep an eye on me."

"I'm not here to keep an eye on you."

"So why are you here?" Damon asks.

Stefan shrugs. "Why not?"

* * *

Elena gets off the phone. "She's coming, but Caroline was with her so she's coming as well."

Trinity nods. "That's fine." Trinity says from her seat on the bed.

Elena paces a bit before breaking the silence. "Stefan's not coming to school anymore."

"I know."

"He says that he's backing off."

"I know…isn't that what you wanted?" Trinity asks. Elena pauses and struggles for an answer. "At some point you're going to have to choose between your fear and your happiness." Trinity sighs. "Let's just talk about something else, ok?"

Elena nods, and sits on the bed. "So…you're a shapeshifter."

Trinity nods. "I am."

"Is there anything you can do? I mean besides the obvious."

Trinity shrugs. "I've been working on partial shifting."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to obtain an animal quality without shifting into the actual animal." She explains. She holds her hand up in front of Elena. She concentrates for a moment before her nails begin changing. They grow darker as they into long sharp claws. Trinity smiles as she clicks them together. She returns them to their natural state. "The journals say that some possess the ability to shift into other humans, but that hasn't been done in centuries. It's extremely rare and none were ever quite sure how they achieved it." She shrugs. "Other than that; I've got some extra speed, strength, and senses. Which I have to say, is probably the most annoying. Some people's scents are just foul."

"You can…smell people?" Elena asks.

Trinity nods. "Every scent it unique. It's possible to have similarities when you're related to someone but it's never quite the same."

"What do I…"

"Smell like?" Trinity finishes. Elena nods with a slightly nervous look on her face. "A little sweet really." Trinity says. "And cinnamon."

"Really?"

"Really." Trinity says. They hear the doorbell ring. "I guess that's my cue." Trinity stands and shifts into a chocolate Labrador.

Elena's heart melts a bit at the sight of the puppy. Trinity yips before racing down the stairs to the front door. She barks as she braces her paws on the door.

"Stop." Elena chuckles a bit. Trinity looks at her and Elena swears she sees a glint of amusement in her eyes. Elena hesitates before picking Trinity up. She opens the door to let in Caroline and Bonnie.

They look at her in confusion. "When did you get a dog?" Caroline asks as they walk in.

Elena closes the door. "I found her outside. I'm just keeping her until I find the owner."

"No collar?" Bonnie asks, scratching the puppy behind its ear.

Trinity fights to keep her eyes from rolling back. _Dogs really are serious about how good a spot that is. _She thinks. Her tongue lolls out as she pants.

Elena sets Trinity on the ground. "No."

"So what's his name?" She asks.

"Her." Elena corrects. "And I don't know." Trinity darts past them and into the kitchen.

Bonnie watches her go. "How about Rocket?" She says before following after her.

* * *

Elena, Caroline and Bonnie sit at the table. Trinity sits in the corner of the room, watching them.

"I'm sorry." Caroline breaks the silence. "There. I said it. If you want the ugly-ass necklace, keep it. It's yours."

"Will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?" Bonnie asks, sheepishly.

Caroline looks at her in disbelief. "You threw it away?"

"I know it sounds crazy but the necklace was giving me nightmares." Bonnie explains. "I had to get rid of it."

"You could've just given it back to me."

"Why so you could give it back to Damon?" Elena asks.

Caroline shakes her head. "Screw Damon. Are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?"

"Mine's in my bag." Bonnie says.

"So Elena." Caroline says. "How long do you think this fight with Stefan's gonna last…is it like a permanent thing?"

"I don't know Caroline." Elena shakes her head.

"Is it about Trinity?"

"No." Elena answers.

"Are you sure nothing's going on between them? No girl hangs around a guy that much without something starting."

"I don't have to worry about Trinity."

"Did she tell you that?"

"Yes." Elena says, beginning to feel frustrated.

"How do you know that she wasn't lying to you?"

Trinity stands from her spot on the ground and walks over to Elena. She nudges her ankle to get her attention. Elena looks at her and Trinity tries her best to nod, trying to communicate that it's okay to tell them. She barks and nods again.

Elena gives an imperceptible nod before looking back at Caroline. "Because she's gay." She answers.

Caroline and Bonnie look at her in shock. "Really?"

Elena nods. "Really. She told me that I have nothing to worry about."

"Well I didn't expect that." Caroline says, looking through Bonnie's bag. "I thought that she was stuck in the friend-zone and trying to edge you out."

"She actually does what she can to keep us together." Elena answers.

"Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?" Caroline asks.

Bonnie and Elena look at her in shock.

"What?!"

"Caroline!"

Caroline holds up the necklace. Bonnie's eyes widen at the sight. "I'm not lying to you, Caroline. I swear." She says.

Elena nods. "It's true. I watched her throw it into a field."

"Then explain it." Caroline says.

"Emily." Bonnie tells her.

"Who's Emily?"

"The ghost."

"The ghost has a name now?"

"Caroline, please." Elena says.

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone." Bonnie says.

"What is going on?" Caroline asks. "Why am I not a part of this talk? You guys do this to me all the time." She sighs.

"That's not true." Elena says.

Bonnie nods. "Yes it is. I can't talk to you. You don't listen." She tells Caroline.

"That's not true!"

"I'm a witch."

Caroline scoffs. "And don't we all know it."

Bonnie sighs, shaking her head. "See that's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to tell you something. You don' even hear it." She stands from her seat and walks out the room.

Caroline looks at Elena. "I listen. When do I not listen?"

* * *

Stefan throws the dart, getting a bulls-eye.

"Lucky shot." Damon says.

"More like a skill carefully honed over many decades." Stefan tells him.

"You're beating me."

"Yeah. It's because I'm better than you."

"I'm onto you. Reverse psychology. It's a little transparent goal, I admire the effort."

"You prefer the brooding forehead?"

"Seriously, what game do you think you're playing?"

"That's funny, considering the fact that I've been asking you that for a month. That's frustrating isn't it?" Stefan asks.

"Touché." Damon says.

* * *

Caroline walks up to Bonnie. "Bonnie. Look it's just not me. I don't believe in the…but if you do, then…okay. I'm in. That' s all it takes for me to jump onboard, because I consider you to be my best friend. And I'm saying this knowing that Elena's in the kitchen listening to my every word. I didn't know how this was for you, but I'm listening now. Elena, you can come in now." She calls. Elena walks into the room, Trinity following behind her. "We're done. There is just way too much drama in this room. So what do you guys wanna do?" She thinks for a moment before smiling. "I have an idea. Why don't we have a meeting?"

Bonnie shakes her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on. Let's summon some chick's spirit. This Emily has some serious explaining to do." Caroline says.

* * *

They all sit in a circle on Elena's bedroom floor. The lights turned out and a candle lit in the front of them. Trinity lies on her front paws on Elena's bed.

"What are we doing?" Bonnie asks.

Elena shrugs. "I don't know."

"Be quiet and concentrate." Caroline tells them. "Close your eyes. Now take a deep breathe. Bonnie, call to her."

"Emily you there?"

Caroline sighs and rolls her eyes. "Really? 'Emily you there?' That's all you got? Come on."

"Fine. Jeez." Bonnie says before closing her eyes. "Emily I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen." The candle goes out.

The stare at it in shock. "Did that just…" Elena trails off.

Caroline nods. "Yeah. It just happened."

Bonnie shakes her head. "It's just the air conditioning."

"Ask her to show you a sign." Caroline says before closing her eyes. "Emily if you're among us, show us another sign."

Nothing happens. "See." Bonnie says. "It's not working. I'm done. Get the light. Please get the light on?" Bonnie asks, standing up.

Elena and Caroline stand as well. "Hold on. I got it." Elena says.

Bonnie looks at the floor. "You guys." She calls. "The necklace…it's gone."

* * *

Stefan and Damon walk onto the football field.

"What are we doing here?" Damon asks.

"Bonding." Stefan says, holding up a football. "Catch." He throws it to Damon, who catches it and continues to look at him. "Give it a try."

"Don't forget who taught you how to play this game." Damon says. He throws the ball to Stefan who grunts at the force. "That hurt." He frowned.

"Downside of my diet…actually getting hit hurts a little bit."

"I'm impressed Stefan. Fun, booze, and darts. Sentimental football, and now starry night. What do you want, Stefan?"

"It wasn't real Damon. Our love for Katherine. She compelled us. We didn't have a choice. It took me years to sort that out, to truly understand what she did to us."

"We are not talking about that tonight."

"What do you want with Katherine's crystal?" Stefan asks.

Damon looks at him. "How do you know about that?"

"Elena knew." He says. "Come on, you tell me."

"How do you know it was Katherine's?"

"Emily gave it to her on her last night. I was with her, and you weren't. I was the last one to see her. Now, what do you want with Katherine's crystal?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"We had other things on our mind."

Damon's face hardens. "I could rip your heart out and not think twice about it."

"I've heard that before."

"I have a bigger surprise, Stefan. I'm gonna bring her back." He reveals. Stefan looks at him in shock.

* * *

Elena looks at the floor before looking back up. "Fun's over, Caroline. You made a point and I get it. Now give it back." She says.

"What? Well I didn't have it." Caroline says. "What? What happened?"

"I don't know." Elena says before she hears a noise. She walks into the hallway. "Jeremy, are you home?" She calls.

"Guys." Bonnie says, seeing the necklace on the bathroom floor. She walks towards it and Trinity begins barking. She hops of the bed and towards Bonnie but the door closes before she reaches her. "You guys open the door! Help me!" Bonnie yells, banging on the door.

Trinity backs away as a high pitch sound assaults her ears. She whines as she attempts to cover them.

"What's going on Bonnie?" Elena asks.

"Bonnie!" Caroline calls.

Elena looks at Trinity whimpering on the ground before she looks at Caroline. "Try the other door. I'll check the hallway." She runs out of the room.

"Bonnie! Bonnie! Unlock the door!" Caroline yells.

Elena bangs on the door. "Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie! Open the door!" She shouts, hearing Bonnie scream before the door finally opens. Bonnie looks at her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Bonnie says.

Caroline scoffs and shakes her head. "Unbelievable. You were totally faking it."

"Caroline. Come on." Elena says.

"No, you scared the hell out of me!"

Elena looks at Bonnie, seeing the blank look on her face. "Bonnie?"

"I'm fine. Everything's fine." Bonnie says again.

* * *

"How can you bring Katherine back?" Stefan asks.

"Before Katherine and the others were killed in the church, you remember what it was like in this town?"

"I remember the fear and the hysteria."

"Townspeople were killing vampires one by one. When they came for Katherine, I went straight to Emily said, 'I'll do your anything. Name price; just protect her.' She did." Damon tells him.

"How?"

"She did some kind of spell with the crystal. And while the church was burning, we thought Katherine was burning in it. She wasn't."

"But I saw her go inside."

"There's a tomb underneath the church. The spell sealed Katherine in the tomb, protecting her."

"Are you telling me that Katherine's alive?"

Damon shrugs. "If that's what you wanna call it. She 's been trapped in a mystical holding cell for the last century and a half, but you're an expert on a starving vampire, so how do you think she's doing? Stefan did you? Know that witches can use celestial events to draw energy into their magic? Me neither. But in order to give the crystal power, Emily used the comet was passing overhead, and in order for that crystal to work again…"

"The comet had to return." Stefan finishes.

"Downside…long time in between comets, and a pair of hiccups along the way with the crystal. Comet passed the goal, and then I got the crystal. And Caroline got the crystal, and now Bonnie has the crystal and here we are."

"Why would Emily…why would she do this for you?"

"Because she knew they were gonna come for her, too, and she made me promise her that her lineage would survive."

"I remember." Stefan nods. "You saved her children."

"It's the only thing keeping me from ripping Bonnie's throat out. To get out my crystal back. Well, a deal's a deal. You wanna go throw some more?" He holds up the football.

* * *

"I can't believe I fell for it." Caroline shakes her head.

"Are you okay?" Elena asks Bonnie.

"I must go." Bonnie leaves the room.

"She's leaving. I'm leaving." Caroline leaves the room as well.

"You guys can't leave." Elena says, following after them.

"I can." Caroline says. "I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night."

"Thank you for having me." Bonnie tells Elena. "I'll take it from here." She says before walking down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Elena asks. Trinity walks up behind her. "Bonnie! Bonnie!" She calls. Trinity nudges her leg. Elena glances at her before looking back up. "Emily?" Emily turns to look at her. "Oh my god." Elena says, realizing that her friend is possessed.

"I will not let him have it. It must be destroyed." She says before leaving.

"Wait!" Elena calls, racing down the stairs and trying to open the door.

Caroline walks up to her. "What's happening?"

"I don't know…" Elena backs up. "The door, it's not…" They scream as the door opens.

Jeremy walks in. "What the hell?"

Caroline shakes her head. "I'm outta here." She leaves.

Elena walks outside, watching her go. Trinity shifts into her human form. "Call Stefan." She tells Elena.

Elena puts the phone to her ear and hears Stefan's voice. _"What's wrong?"_

"It's Bonnie."

"_What happened?"_

"Emily's possessing her." Elena tells him. "She said something."

"_What did she say?"_

"She said 'I will not let him have it. It must be destroyed. And then she just left.'" Elena explains.

"_Where do you think she went?"_

"I don't know." Elena says. Trinity taps her arm and points in the direction Emily went. "Fell's church, by the old cemetery that's where she took Bonnie in her dreams. We have to help her, Stefan."

"_Just stay there. I'm gonna go find her."_

* * *

Stefan puts his phone away and looks up to see that he is now alone on the football field.

* * *

Damon walks towards Emily. "Hello Emily. You look different."

"I will not let you do it." She tells him.

"We had a deal."

"Things are different now. I need to protect my family."

"I protected your family. You owe me." He growls.

"I know. I 'm sorry."

"You're about to be a lot more than that." He rushes towards her only to be thrown back and impaled upon a tree branch.

Stefan sees Damon pinned to the tree.

"It hurts." Damon groans. "This is why I feed on people."

"Stefan." Emily greets.

"Hello Emily." He nods, while helping Damon off the tree.

"These people do not deserve this. They should never have to know such evil."

"What do you mean evil?" Stefan asks.

"Emily. I swear to God I'll make you regret this." Damon growls.

"I will not let you unleash them into this world."

"Them." Stefan says. He looks at Damon. "What part of the story did you leave out?"

"What does it matter?" He asks.

"Emily, tell me what you did." Stefan says.

"To save her, I had to save them." Emily explains.

"You saved everyone in the church?"

"With one comes all."

"I don't care about that." Damon says. "I just want Katherine."

"I knew I shouldn't have believed a single word that comes out of your mouth." Stefan tells him. "This isn't about love. This is about revenge.

"The two aren't mutually exclusive." He shrugs.

"Damon, you can't do this."

"Why not? They killed 27 people, and they called it a war battle. They deserve whatever get."

"27 Vampires, Damon. They were vampires. You just can't bring them back."

"This town deserves this."

"You're blaming innocent people for something that happened 145 years ago." Stefan tries to reason.

"There is nothing innocent about these people, and don't think for a second it won't happen again. They already know too much." Damon says before looking at Emily. "And they'll burn your little grandwitch right next to us when they find me. Trust me."

"Things are different now." Emily says.

"Don't do this." Damon begs.

"I will not free them. I cannot." She cast the necklace into the air. "Incidia!" It explodes.

"No!" Damon yells. "No please!"

"Bonnie!" Elena yells as she and Trinity come into view.

"No!" Damon yells and flashes to Bonnie, biting into her neck. Stefan throws him off and kneels by her.

Elena kneels down, staring at her friend in horror. "She's alive, but barely. I can save her." He says, biting into his wrist and pressing it to Bonnie's mouth.

"Her neck, it's healing." Elena breathes, watching on in amazement.

Damon watches on, a look of defeat on his face. "Katherine never compelled me." He says. They look at him. "I knew everything, every step of the way. It was real for me. I'll leave now." He walks away.

"I don't understand, Elena." Bonnie says. "He attacked me. And his face was like…"

"How do you feel?" Elena asks. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just this blood…" She looks at Stefan with fear in her eyes.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." He says.

"What's going on?"

"I'll explain everything, okay? Let's just get out of here." Elena says, helping Bonnie stand. Bonnie looks at Stefan with caution. "Look at me. Trust me. He's not going to hurt you. Come on." She leads her away before walking back towards Stefan. "Is she in risk of becoming…" She trails off looking at Stefan.

He shakes his head. "No. She has to die with my blood in her system, so keep an eye on her tonight and make sure that nothing happens and once it leaves her system, she'll be fine."

"I'm gonna tell her the truth." Elena says.

"Are you sure?" Trinity asks.

"I can trust her. I need someone to know, someone to talk to. I can't live in secret."

"I know that." Stefan says. "You shouldn't have to."

"You saved her life. I'm sorry, Stefan. I thought that…I couldn't be with you, I can. You do not have to push me away. I can do this." She says.

"I can't. I have to leave." Stefan tells her. "Too many people have died. Too much has happened."

"What? No." She shakes her head. "I know you think you're protecting me but…"

"I have to. Coming home was…it was a mistake. I can't be a part of your life anymore." He says.

"Don't go Stefan. Please…you don't have to go. This is your home. Please don't go." She tears begin to roll down her face. She looks at Trinity. "You're his best friend. Tell him." She urges.

Trinity looks at her. "I'm going with him." She says, a sad look on her face. "We're leaving."

"Goodbye Elena." Stefan says before he and Trinity walk away.

"You're just gonna walk away. Don't walk away, Stefan!" She calls after him.

* * *

Trinity sits on the football field with Damon and Stefan, who both have broken looks on their faces.

* * *

Elena explains everything to Bonnie.

* * *

Jenna opens her door to see Logan.

"Hello Jenna." He greets.

"Logan!" She says, surprised.

"Aren't you gonna invite me in?" He asks.


	10. The Turning Point

Chapter Ten: The Turning Point

"Why are you here Logan?" Jenna asks.

"I missed you. I was out of town."

"Yeah." She rolls her eyes. "I got the email."

"You got an email?" He asks, confused.

"You didn't send an email?"

"I can explain. Just invite me in and I tell you everything."

She shakes her head. "I'm not gonna invite you in. Forget it!"

"Come on Jenna. It's me!"

"The answer is no!"

"I know you. You're always one step from 'maybe', tidy nasty 'yes'."

She scoffs. "You've just pointed it out that I've no self-control. Clever strategy!" She says before slamming the door in his face.

* * *

Logan walks down the street when a woman passes him. "Good evening." She greets before she stops and looks at him. "Hey, you're the guy from the news, Logan Fell." She smiles. "I watch you every night. Oh, I used to, I mean. You've been missing from my TV."

He shrugs. "I took some time off."

"I noticed. I'm Daphne."

Logan looks up and down the street before looking at her. "Hey you know something, Daphne?"

"No, what?" She asks before feeling Logan's teeth tear into her neck.

* * *

At the boarding house, Trinity sits in the living room with Stefan and Damon.

"So any ideas where you're gonna go?" Stefan asks Damon.

"I don't know." Damon says. "London, maybe! See some friends."

"You don't have any friends, Damon."

"You're right Stefan. I only have you. So, where we're going?"

"_We _are not going anywhere. Trinity and I are leaving, and I'm gonna live my life as far away from you as possible."

"But we're team! We could travel the world together. We can try 'The Amazing Race'" Damon says.

Trinity looks up from her book. "Oh!" She says. "That's a good idea. Add that to the list." She tells Stefan.

"That's fine! Seriously, where you're going because we are not staying in this town." Stefan tells Damon.

They hear the doorbell ring and look at each other in confusion. Stefan gets up and answers the door.

Sheriff Forbes is on the other side. "I'm here to see Damon."

Stefan gives a confused nod. "Sure, ok." He steps back as Damon comes to the door.

Damon smiles. "Sheriff, what a surprise!"

"Sorry to bother you, but we need to talk." She says.

"Come in."

* * *

Damon and Liz walk in the garden. "I hope you understand the secrecy." Damon tells her. "Stef doesn't know about this yet and I'd like to keep it that way."

She nods. "Of course, kids are too young to be brought into this."

"So, what you need?"

"There's been another attack." Liz says. A worried look forms on Damon's face. "A female victim, throat tore out, completely drained of blood. If it's repeater…"

"I'm sorry I don't understand. I thought we solved that problem when…I staked the blond one."

"I think that she must have turned someone, or multiple someone's." She shakes her head. "I don't know. The story for the town is another animal attack but I'm not sure how long we can keep lying to them. The council is in uproar. We thought we were passed this."

"What we do?"

"You're the only one who has ever taken on a vampire. We were hoping you could tell us."

* * *

Elena and Bonnie are at school, watching Matt and Caroline talk.

"Did I miss something?" Elena asks.

"They've been hanging out." Bonnie tells her.

"Kind of weird, don't you think?"

"She needs someone nice like him as opposed to a vampire like Damon."

Elena nods. "Yeah, how are you doing with all that?"

"I'm freak out. Damon attacked me and I could be death right now but I'm also grateful."

"Huh?" Elena says, confused.

"To Stefan. He saved my life, and…have you seen him?"

"Not since he told me he's leaving." Elena shakes her head and sighs. "For all I know, he's probably gone."

"He wouldn't leave without saying goodbye." Bonnie says. "Maybe Trinity could convince him to stay."

"She's going with him." Elena explains. "He thinks he's protecting me; a clean break and all that."

"So what're you gonna do?"

"What am I supposed to do? I've already beg to don't go. If I ask him, I'm being self-fish. It is what it is."

"Maybe, it's for the best!"

"What? Why?"

"I mean what kind of future could you have with him even if he stayed?" Bonnie asks. As she finishes speaking a sign falls down the words '_The Promise of Your Future' _on it.

Elena looks at Bonnie. "Did you…"

Bonnie shakes her head. "No, I swear."

* * *

Damon holds the door open. "Thank you for stopping by."

"Let me know if you need anything." Liz says, stepping out the door.

"Absolutely." Damon smiles and closes the door. He turns around and Stefan grabs him by his shirt.

"What's wrong with you? You killed somebody?"

Damon pushes him back. "A: Don't touch me, B: If I had, I wouldn't be so obvious about it, C: There's another vampire in town."

"That's impossible." Stefan says.

"Obviously not!"

"Who could it be?" Trinity asks.

"What do we care? We're leaving anyway, right?"

Stefan shakes his head. "No, I can't leave now and you know that. How are we supposed to find this person?"

"Don't." Damon says. "I'll handle with this."

* * *

Elena walks out of the school, saying goodbye to a friend. She turns around and sees Stefan and Trinity standing in front of her.

"Hi." Trinity greets.

"We need to talk." Stefan tells her.

Stefan, Trinity and Elena sit at a picnic table.

"So you have no idea who it could be?" Elena asks.

"None, but it must somebody now because leaving a body like that…rather sloppy or he's trying to send a message." Stefan explains.

"Are you sure it's not Damon?" she asks.

"I'm never sure about Damon, but he's been trying to keep low profile so it's just doesn't make any sense to me."

"He would've had to show and change clothes." Trinity says. "The way the body was torn up was messy. I would've smelled the blood on him."

"So what are you gonna do?" Elena asks.

"Damon is tracking right now." Stefan tells her. "Look, I promised you the truth so I wanna tell you…I want you to be careful."

"When I saw you I thought you were coming to say goodbye."

"Not yet."

"I might as well get my goodbye out the way right now." Trinity says. "It was nice knowing you Elena." She smiles. "Took us a while to actually have a conversation, but it's been good. I'm gonna miss you."

Elena gives a sad smile. "I'll miss you too."

* * *

Caroline stands in front of a few warehouses with Damon. "So what we do now?" She asks.

"Just wait. I'll be there in a…" Damon looks around.

"Can you hurry? I've things to do."

"Can you give me a minute?"

Caroline looks at the compass in her hand. "So why did you need me to do this?"

"Because I interfere with the signal." He says before disappearing.

Caroline follows the compass to a warehouse. Damon appears in front of her. "Can I go now? This has burned out the half of my day."

"You do that. Take your car and go home. And forget me to ask you to do this." He compels her.

"Ok, bye now." She smiles.

"Bye." Damon says before walking inside. He looks around and is shot several times. He grunts in pain as he falls to the ground.

Logan walks from out of the shadows, aiming a gun at him. "I've got tons of these wooden bullets, so don't try nothing funny."

"You don't wanna do this, trust me." Damon groans.

Logan shoots him again. "That's what you get."

"For what?"

"You made me like this!"

"I killed you. I didn't turn you."

"See, I know what you and your brother are. I've been watching the two of you. I knew you'd appear and I'm glad that you did because I've got some questions."

"Me first." Damon says. "Who turned you?"

"How should I know? Last thing I remember, I'm about to stake your brother and then you killed me. That's it! Until I wake up in the ground behind a used car dealership on highway 4. Somebody buried me."

"It happens." Damon sighs from his place on the ground.

"You bit me. It had to be you!"

"You must've had vampire blood system when you died. I didn't do that! Some other vampire found you, gave you their blood."

"Who?"

"That's what I wanna know."

"Dude, it's like the welcome wagon was waiting with a pancake and a handbook. It's been a huge learning process. One minute, I'm a small town news guy on the rise and next thing I know, I can't get into my house because my full bulk won't go through the door."

"You have to be invited in." Damon tells him.

"I know. I live alone."

"Oh, that sucks!"

"So now, I'm at the Ramada, watching pay-per-view all day, eating everything inside including house-keeping."

"It could be worst."

"All I can think about is blood and killing people. I can't stop killing people, I can keep killing and I like it. I'm conflicted."

"Welcome to the club." Damon sighs. "Wait! Cops found one body."

"I left one. I was tired but I've hidden the rest of bodies. They're back there." He motions behind him.

Damon lifts his head to see a pile of bodies. "You're kidding?"

Logan shrugs. "They pile up."

* * *

Trinity slides on her jacket. "So what are we supposed to do at the career fair? Just wait around and see if some psycho starts attacking people?" She asks Stefan. "I'm not good with crowds, I don't know if I'll be able to pick up a scent."

"He won't try anything in public." Stefan tells her.

"I hope not." Trinity says as they leave.

* * *

"Why am I so overly emotional? I can think about my ex-girlfriend. I wanna be with her and bite her and stuff." Logan says.

"You probably love her. Anything you felt before will be magnified now. You have to learn how to control that!" Damon says.

"What about walking in the sun? I'm a morning person. You can walk in the sun, which by the way; is pretty cool. The council will never suspect you. That's not in the journals."

"The journals?"

"Yeah, the founding fathers said pass out journals to the kids. Come on man, you got to tell me. How can you walk around in the sun?"

"Who turned you?" Damon asks, avoiding the question.

"How do you walk in the sun?"

"Who turned you?"

"You know, I've been really nice so far but I will kill you!" Logan says, frustrated.

"And you'll never know. You won't answer my question!"

"You first!"

"It seems we have been in an impasse then, doesn't it?"

"I've things to do, people to kill. Guess I better get a head start." Logan says before leaving.

* * *

Elena walks around the school career fair when she sees Stefan and Trinity. She walks over to them. "I'm guessing you're not here to plan future. You're looking out for me."

"I hope that's ok." Stefan says. "You know I wanted to be a doctor before it happened, but I couldn't."

"The blood." Elena nods.

"Yeah." Stefan sighs. "I've dabbled in a bunch of different things, though."

"Didn't love anything enough to stick to it?" Elena says moving onto the next booth.

"That's my cue." Trinity says before walking away.

Stefan follows Elena. "No, I-I loved it all. I just…I had to move on before anybody could notice that I wasn't getting any older."

"How long before that would happen?"

"A few years, usually. Sometimes shorter."

Elena looks at him. "And you always left?"

"I didn't have a choice." Stefan says. Elena looks away. "So, what about…what about you?" Stefan smiles, changing the subject. "What are your, uh, plans for the future?"

Elena shoots him a frustrated look. "I don't wanna talk about my future, Stefan. Because everything you're saying is making it perfectly clear that you're not gonna be in."

"Elena, it's not that I don't wanna be in it."

"You can't, I get it. I heard you the first time and the second time, and I appreciate you looking out for me but, please, if you're gonna leave, then just go."

Trinity walks up to them. "I found a scent but I lost it." She looks around. "There's too many people. All the perfume, food, drinks." She looks back at Stefan. "I couldn't get a lock on it but he's here."

Jenna walks up to them. "Hide me."

"What's going on?" Elena asks.

"The scum Fell has landed."

"Logan's here?" Elena says.

Stefan and Trinity looked shocked. "Wait, Logan Fell?" Stefan asks. He looks around the hall and spots Logan. Logan smirks at him and waves.

"Stefan, what's going on?" Elena asks.

Logan approaches them. "Jenna, are you dodging me?"

She rolls her eyes. "It's a form of self-preservation."

"Um, Elena, why don't you and Jenna go somewhere else?" Stefan asks, sending her a look.

"Yeah." Trinity pats Stefan's arm. "I'll go with them."

Elena nods and grabs Jenna's hand. "Let's go." She's says before they walk away.

Logan watches them leave and turns to face Stefan. "What are you doing here?" Stefan asks.

"You know, your brother asked me the same thing. In fact, why don't we just skip past all that 'who turned me' stuff and get the answer that I want? How can I turn into a day walker?"

"Damon and I are the only two that I know of."

"But you're both very cagey on the 'how', which tells me that there is a way. You know, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm quite the celebrity in this town. It would be very, very easy for me to expose you." Logan says.

Stefan leans forward. "You wanna know how you can walk around in the sun?"

"I do." Logan nods.

"You can't. Don't ever threaten me again." Stefan says before walking past him.

* * *

Elena, Jenna, and Trinity stop in another part of the school.

"When Logan came to the house, what did he say?" Elena asks.

Jenna rolls her eyes. "Fake flattery. Stupid, dimpled grin. Puppy dog eyes."

"I'm serious, Jenna. How did he act? What did he say?"

"He was the usual Logan, was charming, a little more manic than usual. He kept trying to convince me to let him in." Jenna says. Trinity and Elena look at her. "What?"

"Ok, listen to me very carefully. Do not, under any circumstances, talk to him again. I'm serious, Jenna, like ever!" Elena says.

Alaric; the new history teacher, walks up to them. "Hey Elena. Trinity. Jenna." He greets.

"Hi Mr. Saltzman." Elena says. Trinity nods at him.

He turns to Jenna. "Yeah, I was hoping to see you tonight."

"Career night is the new bowling." Jenna smiles. Alaric laughs.

"Ok, um, excuse us." Elena says before grabbing Trinity's hand and walking away.

* * *

Stefan is outside of the school, talking to Damon on the phone.

"_Logan Fell is a vampire and when I find him again, I'm gonna destroy him limb by limb." _Damon says.

Elena and Trinity walk out of the school. Elena looks around and Trinity taps her arm and points to Stefan.

"What happened? Are you ok?" Stefan asks. He sees Elena and Trinity walking over.

"_No, I'm not ok. I was ambushed. I was shot._ _Now, I'm vengeful. Just got to find him."_

"Well, there's no need. He's here at the school."

"_You're kidding me. Why the hell is he there?"_

"He's working the crowd."

"_Well, I'll be right there."_ Damon says before hanging up.

Elena looks at Stefan and crosses her arms over her chest. "So...anything you'd like to share?" She asks looking between Stefan and Trinity.

* * *

Caroline leads Liz to a booth at the Career Fair.

"What are you doing?" Liz asks.

"Following my future." Caroline says, walking up to a booth. "There it is." She smiles.

"Broadcast journalism?"

"Yes." She nods. "Broadcast journalism." Liz shoots her a skeptical look. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You don't even read the paper."

Caroline walks out angrily without a word. Liz pursues her, but Logan comes up from behind her. "Liz."

She gives him a surprised look. "Logan." Liz starts to pull out her gun.

"What are you gonna do stake me? Bury me in another shallow grave? What would the email say this time?"

"I didn't have a choice."

He takes a threatening step towards her. "You bitch! I died for you, for this town. You've known me since I was six and you swept me under the rug like dirt."

"You knew what you were getting into."

"I was one of you."

"And now you're one of them."

Logan starts to leave, but turns around and whispers into Liz's ear. "Watch your back, Sheriff." Logan smiles and finally leaves.

Liz takes out her phone and calls her deputies. "Get a backup team to the school immediately. Keep it within the circle. It's a V5." She hangs up quickly.

* * *

Caroline is outside of the school, leaving a message for Bonnie on her phone. "Bonnie, where are you? I'm ready to go. I'll be outside." She hangs up.

Logan pulls up next to Caroline in an SUV. "Hey, damsel in distress, need a ride?"

She feigns a look of awe. "Oh my God. Logan Fell, channel 9, is that you?" She gasps.

"I used to baby sit you, Caroline Forbes. Don't mock me."

"Well, I was supposed to go home with Bonnie, but I can't find her."

"It's not a problem, really. It's on my way."

"Okay." Caroline nods and gets into the car, not seeing Matt looking at her from the front of the school. "You know, this is fate."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm interested in broadcast journalism. So can I ask you a couple questions?"

"Anything you want. But first, buckle up."

"Ok." Caroline reaches around for her seatbelt when Logan slams her head against the window, leaving a blood smear on the glass and knocking her unconscious.

* * *

Stefan, Trinity, and Elena are walking down the hallway when Matt walks up to them. "Hey." He greets.

"Hey, have you seen Logan Fell, the news guy?" Elena asks.

"Yeah. He just gave Caroline a ride home." He says before walking away.

"Stay here." Stefan says before walking away. Trinity goes to follow him. "Stay with her, just in case he decides to double back."

Trinity nods. Elena watches him leave with a look of anguish on her face. "It'll be okay." Trinity says but Elena still looks worried. Trinity put a hand on her shoulder. "I heard the conversation while he was on the phone. Logan pissed off Damon, they're both after him. He won't get away." Elena nods. "I read something in my journals…vampires get stronger with age. Logan is new, he won't stand a chance against either of them."

* * *

Sheriff Forbes is driving in her car. Her phone rings and she answers it. "Where are you?"

"_Your daughter has expressed an interest in journalism. I think it's important to foster young minds." _Logan tells her.

"What do you want?"

"_The satisfaction of turning your daughter into a vampire."_

* * *

Logan pulls up to an intersection. Stefan flashes to the car and pull him out of his seat, throwing him onto the pavement. Logan gets up and Damon comes out of the woods, shooting a gun at Logan, who screams and falls to the ground.

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" Damon smirks. He looks at Stefan and nods towards the car. "Get her out of here."

Stefan goes around to the passenger's side to retrieve Caroline.

"_Logan, what happened?! Logan?" _Liz asks.

Damon runs over to the car and picks up Logan's phone. "Sheriff, yeah, it's Damon."

"_Where is Caroline?"_ She asks, worried. Stefan grabs Caroline a flashes out of the area.

"She's ok. I'm on Elm Street." He says before hanging up. He opens Logan's trunk and grabs a tire iron. "Gonna try this one more time." He walks back towards Logan. "Who turned you?"

"I told you I don't know."

"This tire iron here could take your head clean off." Damon says before getting ready to swing. "Is that your final answer?"

"How can you side with them?"

"I don't side with anyone. You pissed me off. I want you dead. Who turned you?"

"I don't know!"

"Oh, well. You're screwed." Damon starts to swing the tire iron towards Logan's head.

"Wait, wait! I do know."

"You're lying."

"You think you're the only one who wants to get in that tomb underneath the old church?"

"If you're lying to me, I will end you."

"I am not lying. There is another way to break the spell. We can help you. Meet me at the old church."

They hear sirens in the distance. Damon looks at Logan. "Take me down. Make it look real. Make it look real!" Logan throws Damon against his car and speeds off.

Sheriff Forbes gets out of her car. "Where is she?"

"She's ok. My brother's taken her home." Damon groans. "I'm sorry, Sheriff. I just wasn't strong enough."

* * *

Stefan walks into the school and sees Elena and Trinity. They walk over to him. "Caroline?" Elena asks.

Stefan leads them farther away from the crowd. "She's ok. I took her home. She was shaken up. But all she knows is Logan attacked her. Nothing else." He tells him.

"Where's Logan?" She asks.

"Damon's dealing with him."

"As in…"

Stefan nods with a serious look on his face. Trinity looks between them before speaking. "It's been a while since I've been out for a run. You know, stretch my legs, all four of them." She pats their arms. "See you later." She smiles and walks away.

"You saw what happened tonight, right?" Stefan asks Elena. She touches his arm, trying to soothe him. He crosses his arms, making her retract her hand. "I mean, you understand why we can't be together? You see it?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to see a lot of things, Stefan. Come on. I'll, uh, I'll give you a ride."

"Uh, I can get home."

"I know."

"All right." He nods. "That would be nice."

* * *

Elena pulls up to the boarding house and cuts the engine. She looks at Stefan. "What I said before about you leaving. It was harsh."

Stefan shakes his head. "No, no. You had every right."

"You asked me what I wanted my future to be. I wanted to be a writer. My mom sort of pushed me into that direction from the time I was able to read. She supported me, encouraged me, bought me my first journal, and then she died. And I can't see myself being a writer anymore. That was something that we shared. I know that you think you put all of this bad stuff into my life, but my life already had it. I was buried in it."

"This is different."

"It doesn't make it any less painful." Elena tells him. Stefan gets out of the car. Elena remains in the car for a moment, but eventually gets out. Stefan walks up the driveway towards the house. "No!" Stefan stops. "You don't get to make that decision for me. If you walk away, it's for you, because I know what I want. Stefan, I love you."

Stefan still has his back towards Elena. Elena waits for a moment, tears sparkling in her eyes, afraid that Stefan will walk away. Stefan finally turns around with tears in his eyes. He quickly walks over towards Elena, grabs her face in his hands and kisses her passion. The two continue to kiss as they make their way into the front room of the Salvatore house. Elena removes her scarf and tosses it to the floor. Elena runs her hands through his hair and Stefan holds her face to his as they continue to kiss. Suddenly, Stefan feels his eyes changing and he stops kissing her. Elena breathes heavily as Stefan rests his head on her shoulder. Stefan, also breathing heavily, finally pulls away and turns around so Elena cannot see his vampire face.

Elena tries to pull him back to face her. "Don't."

"Elena, I can't…"

"Yes, you can." She touches his face. "Don't hide from me."

Stefan turns his face towards hers. Elena still has her hand on his cheek. Stefan's eyes are red and the veins still crawl towards his eyes. Elena looks at him with no fear. She gently touches the veins around his eyes and kisses him. When she pulls away, Stefan's face has become normal again. Elena smiles and takes Stefan's hand. She looks back at him as she leads him up to his bedroom. They stop on the landing and begin to kiss again.

Finally, they make it to Stefan's bedroom where they being removing each other's clothing. Stefan gently lowers Elena onto the bed and they continue to kiss with intense passion. Stefan and Elena's hands intertwine as they start to make love. Elena explores the muscles on Stefan's back and traces her finger against his lip while Stefan kisses her neck. Elena's face shows nothing but pure pleasure as the two have sex for the first time.

* * *

Logan exits the warehouse. He walks to his car but hears a loud clang from behind him. He turns around to investigate and when he turns back towards his car, Alaric is blocking his way. Logan backs up. "Who are you?"

"A friend of Jenna's."

"Jenna sent you?"

"No, I came on my own."

"Ah, I get it. Well, buddy, I know you think this makes you brave. But actually it makes you pretty stupid."

Alaric shrugs. "Either way, here I am."

"What do you want?"

"Jenna's a good person. She deserves the best. I'm here to make sure she gets it."

"Was that supposed to be a threat? Couldn't you throw a punch? Maybe provoke me a little?"

"I'm not a violent guy by design."

"Well, you're not a very smart one, either."

"How's that?"

Logan turns his back to Alaric, who slowly takes the hidden stake out from inside the sleeve of his jacket. "'Cause you have no idea who you're talking to." Logan starts to vamp out. He turns around and goes to attack Alaric.

Alaric stakes Logan. Logan falls to the ground dead. Alaric looks shocked at what he was capable of and quickly gets out of there.

* * *

Trinity runs through the woods in her tiger form. She spots a rabbit and bounds towards it.

* * *

Caroline is asleep in her bed. Liz strokes her hair as she watches her sleep. Liz's phone goes off and she leaves the room to answer it. "Yeah, I'll be right there." She hangs up and quietly closes Caroline's door.

* * *

Stefan is holding Elena in his arms and stroking her hair. Elena is wearing Stefan's shirt and looking around the room from the comfort of Stefan's arms. "I've never been in your room before."

Stefan hums. "Well, it hasn't changed much over the years."

"Do you leave everything here when you come and go?"

"It's the only place that…that has remained constant. This room holds every memory that I've ever thought was important enough to hold on to."

Elena smiles and snuggles into Stefan's chest. Stefan kisses her head. "A lot of memories." Elena looks up at him.

Stefan kisses her forehead. "Yep. Are you thirsty or anything?"

"A little. You? Uh…"

Stefan laughs. "I'm fine. Let me get you something to drink, ok?"

"Ok."

They kiss. Stefan gets up and leaves the room. Elena snuggles up against a pillow and smiles brightly. Soon she gets up and starts exploring Stefan's room. Elena finally comes across the picture of Katherine. She picks it up and sees they resemblance. Teary eyed, Elena puts the picture down and leaves.

* * *

Damon paces around the old church, waiting for Logan when his phone rings. "Hello."

* * *

Liz is on the other end. She is outside of the warehouse. "I just wanted to say thank you. I don't know how you did it."

"_Um, not following."_

"We found Logan's body up by the old Fell warehouse. He's been disposed of. He was hoarding victims, innocent victims."

"_What?"_

"This town owes you so much. So do I." Liz says before hanging up.

* * *

Damon looks at his phone in shock.

* * *

Stefan comes back in his room with a glass of water. "Elena?" He asks, seeing that the room is empty. He sees the picture of Katherine and Elena's necklace on top of it. He picks up the necklace and the picture. He looks around, worried.

* * *

Elena is driving down a deserted road, crying. She sees someone in the middle of the road. She slams her brakes, but the person hits her windshield. Her car flips, landing upside down on the road. She is stuck in her seat, the man she hit gets back up and starts to approach her.


	11. Bloodlines

A/N: I LOVE the reviews that I've been getting. I would really love to reach 50 for the first time. I hope you guys enjoy this update (especially since it's the second one today) and the surprise I have at the end of the chapter.

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Bloodlines

Elena sees the man she hit stand and begin to walk towards the car. Suddenly she hears a threatening growl. Out of the corner of her eye she sees large paws walk towards the man. He takes a few steps back and runs off. She sees a tail swish back and forth before the animal turns around and begins walking towards her. She screams.

Trinity; now in her human form leans down. "Elena it's okay. It's just me."

"Trinity?" Elena asks, tears in her eyes.

Trinity looks away from Elena. "A little help?" She asks someone.

Damon leans down. "You look stuck."

"It's my seatbelt. I can't get it." Elena breathes harder.

"Shh." Trinity shushes her. "We're gonna get you out of there." She grips the seatbelt.

Damon nods. "I want you to put your hands on the roof. Just like that. You ready? 1, 2, 3." Trinity rips the seatbelt and Damon takes Elena out of the car. "Are you ok? Can you stand? Is anything broken?"

"Uh-uh." Elena shakes her head.

He puts Elena down but she can barely stand. Damon catches her before she falls to the ground. "Whoa, you're fading fast, Elena. Elena, look at me." He grabs her face.

Trinity steps closer. "Elena!" She calls.

"I look like her…" Elena whispers.

"What?" Damon asks. Trinity eyes widen in realization. Elena faints and Damon lowers her to the ground. "Upsy-daisy." He picks her up and begins to carry her away.

"Where are you taking her?" Trinity follows after him.

"I'm on my way out of town. I'm not making any detours."

"No way. You're not taking her anywhere."

Damon turns to look at her. "What are you gonna do to stop it? The way I see it, you have two options. One; you can run to Stefan while I take Elena. Two; you can come with, and at least you can watch her. What's it gonna be?" He asks. Trinity stares at him with conflict in her eyes. "She's obviously found out about Katherine, which means she might not want to see Stefan anyway. So get in the car or get lost." He puts Elena in the back seat.

Trinity sighs and walks towards the car. She gets in with Elena.

"Gonna cuddle her?" Damon asks.

Trinity rolls her eyes. "I need to check her for injuries." She leans over Elena, grabbing her chin. "If there's any internal bleeding, I'll be able to smell it."

Damon shrugs and closes the door. "I'll be back in a minute."

Trinity winces and puts her hands over her ears when she hears the car scraping against the pavement. Damon comes back, dusting off his hands. He gets into the driver's seat and starts the car.

* * *

In the morning Elena groans as the light hits her eyes. She wakes up finding her head in Trinity's lap. She sits up and notices Damon driving.

"Morning." Damon looks in the rearview mirror.

"Where are we?" Elena asks, looking out the window and seeing only green fields.

"Georgia." Damon answers.

"Georgia? No, no." Elena shakes her head. "No, we're not. Seriously, Damon. Where are we?"

"Seriously, we're…we're in Georgia. How ya feeling?" He asks.

Elena grabs her side. "I-I"

"There's no broken bones." Trinity says. "I checked."

"But my car…there was a man…I hit a man. But then he got up, and…who was that?"

"That's what we'd like to know." Damon says.

"Where is my phone? OK. We really need to go back. Nobody knows where I am." She pauses. "Pull over. I mean it, Damon. Pull over! Stop the car!"

He groans. "Oh you were so much more fun when you were asleep." He pulls over. Elena gets out of the car, limping weakly. She begins to fall but Damon and Trinity catcher her. "Hey."

She looks at him. "I'm fine. We have to go back."

"Oh come on. Look. We've already come this far…"

"Why are you doing this? I can't be in Georgia. I wrecked my car. I have to go home." She looks at Trinity. "Why did you let him take me?"

Trinity sighs and looks away. "I'm definitely going to lose best friend points for this." She looks at Elena. "You found out about Katherine-"

"You knew?"

Trinity nods. "I didn't agree with how Damon did it, but you do need some time away. You're probably going through a lot and from my experience it's always best to get away for a bit, clear your head."

"This is kidnapping." Elena tells her.

Damon rolls his eyes. "That's a little melodramatic, don't you think?"

"You're not funny. You can't do this. I'm not going to Georgia." She shakes her head.

"You're _in _Georgia. Without your magical little necklace, I might add. I can very easily make you…agreeable." Damon says.

Trinity glares at him. "What are you trying to prove?"

A cellphone rings. Elena looks at Damon. "That's my phone."

Damon takes it out, nodding. "Mmm. It's your boyfriend. I'll take it." He puts it to his ear. "Elena's phone!"

"_Where is she? Why do you have her phone? Is she ok?" _Stefan asks, worried.

"Elena? She's right here. And, yes, she's fine."

"_Where are you? Let me speak to her."_

"He wants to talk to you." Damon holds the phone out towards her. Elena shakes her head. "Yeah. I don't…I don't really think she wants to talk to you right now."

"_Damon, I swear to God, if you touch her-"_

Trinity snatches the phone out of Damon's hand. "Stefan, it's alright."

"_Trinity?"_ Stefan asks. _"What are you doing there?"_

"I'll look out for her." Trinity says, avoiding the question. She hangs up and hands Damon the phone.

"Look, no one knows where I am. Can we please just go back?" Elena asks Damon.

"We're almost there."

"Where is there?!" She asks, frustrated.

"A little place right outside of Atlanta. Oh, come on, Elena. You don't wanna go back right now. Do you? What's the rush? Time-out. Trust me. Your problems are still going to be there when you get home. Look. Step away from your life for 5 minutes. 5 minutes!" He holds up his hand.

Trinity sighs and rolls her eyes. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with him."

"Am I gonna be safe with you?" Elena asks him.

"Yes." Trinity and Damon say.

"You promise not to do that mind control thing with me?"

"Yes." Damon sighs.

"Can I trust you?"

"Get in the car." Damon says, dodging the question. "Come on."

* * *

Outside the high school, Stefan sees Bonnie and walks over to her. "Bonnie."

"Stefan…" She looks surprised and a little confused.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"I haven't seen you lately. How are you doing with everything?"

"I'm fine. It's all fine." She answers.

"Good." He nods. "Yeah."

"Are you back in school?"

"No. Actually I came here to find you. I was hoping you could help me with something. A spell."

"Stefan, look, I know Elena's okay with all of this, and I appreciate what you did to help me." She shakes her head. "But I'm not really ready to dive into it with you just yet."

"I understand that. But I need your help. It's Elena. She's with Damon." That gets Bonnie's attention. "I have Elena's necklace. I was just hoping you could use this to make some sort of a connection. I just need to know that she's okay."

"How do you know I can do this?"

"Because I've known a few witches over the years. I've seen what they can do."

"I'm still new at it."

"It's okay. Give it a shot."

"Okay." She takes a deep breath and nods. "All right." Bonnie takes the necklace and closes her eyes, trying to make something happen. She opens her eyes. "There's nothing. Nothing's happening. Usually there's an image or…tell me if anyone's looking."

"Okay." Stefan stays, his eyes scanning the area. Bonnie picks up a leaf and tries to make it float. It doesn't work. "What is it?"

She shakes her head. "Something's wrong."

"With Elena?"

"With me. There's something wrong with me." She grabs her things. "I have to go. I'm sorry, Stefan. I can't help you." She walks away, leaving Stefan staring after her.

* * *

"So, where's my car?" Elena asks from the backseat.

"I pulled it off to the side of the road." Damon answers. "I don't think anyone will bother it."

"What about that man in the road? Was he a…" She trails off.

Trinity nods. "He was. I could smell it on him."

"What do I smell like?" Damon asks.

"Like peppermint. But it's little bitter on account of you being dead and all." Trinity answers.

"Did you know him?" Elena asks Damon.

"If I've never met him, I wouldn't know him. I mean, it's not like we all hang out together at the Vamp Bar & Grill." He pulls up outside a bar.

"Where are we?" Elena looks at the sign _'Bree's Bar'._ "You brought us to a bar? Damon, we're not old enough. They're not going to let us in."

"Sure they will." He says as the get out of the car.

The enter the bar and a woman looks at them. "No. No, it can't be. Damon. My honey pie." She runs up to him, jumping into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist. She pulls him in for a deep kiss. Elena looks away and Trinity face crinkles in disgust. She gets down and releases him. "Listen up everybody! Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness!" She pours everyone's shots. "Drink up!" Damon and Bree shoot their alcohol. "Ahh. Whoo!" She looks at Elena. "So, how'd he rope you in?" She pours Elena a shot.

"I'm not roped in." Elena says. "Actually, I'm dating his-"

"Honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped. Either way, just enjoy the ride." She turns to Trinity. "What about you?" She begins to pour Trinity a drink.

She puts her hand up. "I don't drink."

"Come on." Damon says.

Trinity rolls her eyes. "Okay, let me put it this way. I can't drink." She tells them. "Due to my…condition, I can't get drunk. I burn everything off too quickly. If it's possible for me to get drunk, I'm pretty sure that I'd have to drink this place dry and I don't have the patience for that."

"Really?" Damon asks. "That sucks."

"Tell me about it. I get the horrible taste and none of the benefits."

"Ok. So, how did you two meet?" Elena asks Bree.

"College." She answers.

Elena turns to Damon. "You went to college?"

He smiles. "I've been on a college campus, yes."

"About 20 years ago, when I was a sweet, young freshman, I met this beautiful man, and I fell in love. And then he told me about his little secret, made me love him more. Because, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody."

Damon leans towards them. "She's a witch." He whispers.

"Changed my world, you know." Bree tells him.

He smirks. "I rocked your world."

She looks at Elena and Trinity. "He is good in the sack, isn't he? But mostly he's just a Walk-Away Joe." She looks at Damon. "So, what is it that you want?"

* * *

Jeremy is at the library, looking for a book. Suddenly, some books fall down in front of him. A girl appears from the other side of the bookshelf. "Oh my god. I am so sorry. There was this one book wedged between the other, and so I pulled and then kaplunk, kaboom." She gestures. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He says. They both kneel down to pick up the books at the same time and knock into each other's heads.

The girls grabs her head. "Ahh! I'm Anna."

Jeremy rubs his own head and laughs. "I'm Jeremy."

* * *

At her grandmother's house, Bonnie looks through old spell books. She looks up when Sheila walks in. "Thank God you're back."

"And hello to you, too. What's the matter?"

"My powers are gone, Grams. I can't do anything, even when I concentrate. And there's nothing in in any of these books that can tell me how to get them back."

"Hang on, now. Just calm down. Tell me what happened." Sheila sits down, across from Bonnie.

"I can't."

"We keeping secrets now?"

"I have to. I'm sorry. I promised. Please, help me."

She sighs. "Well, first of all, there's nothing in any of these that's gonna help you. If you're blocked, it's in here." She taps Bonnie's forehead. "You gotta clear it out, then you're back in business."

"Clear what out?"

"Whatever's got you so scared."

* * *

"I need to call Jenna." Elena tells Damon. He hands her the cellphone.

"I'll go with you." Trinity says.

"I don't need a bodyguard."

"And I don't need to smell beer, sweat, and sex in the air. So I'm going to go outside and get some air." Trinity tells her.

They walk out of the bar and Elena calls Jenna. "Hi, Jenna. I'm so sorry."

"_Where are you? Why didn't you call?"_

"I was so tired last night. I fell asleep at Bonnie's. And then this morning, I just wanted to get to school."

"_Are you okay?"_

"You know, Stefan and stuff." Elena sighs.

* * *

While they're outside Damon looks at Bree. "Come on, there's gotta be another way."

"After all these years, it's still only Katherine. How do you even know she's still alive?"

"Well, you help me get into that tomb, and we'll find out."

"I already did. 20 years ago. Remember? Three easy steps: Comet. Crystal. Spell."

"There's a little problem with number two. I don't have the crystal."

She shrugs. "That's it, Damon. There is no other way. It's Emily's spell."

"What about a new spell with a new crystal that overrides Emily's spell?"

She shakes her head. "It doesn't work that way, baby. Emily's spell is absolute. You can't get into that tomb."

* * *

Bonnie is at the old Fell church, where Emily destroyed the crystal and Damon attacked her. She turns around when she hears a noise. "Hello? Anybody here?! Aah!" She screams when the below her feet gives way.

* * *

Elena looks at Trinity. "So you knew about Katherine?"

Trinity sighs. "Stefan told me."

"And you just…didn't think it was something I needed to know?"

Trinity steps towards her. "I told Stefan to tell you before it got any deeper. But then you were too afraid to be around him."

"I wasn't afraid."

Trinity raises her voice. "You were afraid to deal with all that came with Stefan and his life! We thought that we were leaving and now we're obviously not, so yeah; I can see how that detail may have slipped his mind!" She steps away and takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry." She says. "I don't know everything that's going on between you and Stefan, but I don't want to be in the middle. He vents to me and ask for advice, but that's all. If you want to know more, you have to go to him."

Elena nods. "Okay…and I'm sorry too. I forget that even though you're…what you are…that you are new to this stuff too. You're already dealing with enough. You don't need our relationship drama as well." Elena's phone rings and she answers.

"_Elena, is that you?" _Stefan asks.

She sighs. "I'm here."

"_Where are you?"_

"You lied."

"_Not until I explain, please."_

"So, you didn't lie?"

"_Just tell me where you are, so that I can come get you."_

"How am I connected to Katherine, Stefan?"

"_I honestly don't know."_ Stefan sighs.

"And I'm supposed to believe that?

"_It's the truth. I…listen-"_

Elena hangs up. Damon comes out of the bar. "You ok?"

"Don't pretend to care. I know you're gloating inside." Elena tells him.

* * *

Bree turns on the blender and takes out her phone. "Hey, it's Bree. You're never gonna guess who walked into my bar."

* * *

Bonnie wakes up just outside the tomb, and searches for a way out. "Ow. Hello?! Anybody?!" She looks around but sees no exit. "Ahh!"

* * *

Stefan walks up to the porch and knocks on the door, Grams answers. "Hi." He greets.

"Can I help you?" Sheila asks.

"I'm Stefan." He holds out his hand and she shakes it. "I'm a friend of Bonnie's. Her dad told me that she might be here."

"She was. Not anymore."

"Do you know where she went?"

"No. But you do."

"I'm sorry?"

"I told her to face down her fear. And I'm sensing now that you know exactly why she was scared. You know what I am. And yet you offered me your hand, which means you wanted me to see that I can trust you."

"Can you?"

"I trust you'll keep her safe. You'd better be on your way, then. I'm not going to invite you in. I'm sure you understand why."

* * *

Anna gestures to the bookshelves. "This aisle is local and state history. And Civil War is one over. What do you need?"

"Local. 1860s." Jeremy says. "Do you work here?"

"Nope. You want reference. This way. Um, home-schooled. I study here for a 'mock-school environment.' Ah, here we go. Original settlers, town archives, Founders' stuff. It's all here. So, what's your topic?"

"The town's fear and hysteria surrounding the war and how it influenced certain writers of the time."

"You might want to focus that."

"The origin of local folklore and myths."

She smiles. "You mean the vampires?"

* * *

Damon, Trinity, and Elena are eating.

Elena looks at Damon. "Let's just say that I'm descended from Katherine…does that make me part vampire?"

"Vampires are dead." Trinity says. "They can't procreate."

Damon eats a fry. "But we love to try. No, if you were related, it would mean Katherine had a child before she was turned."

"Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?"

"Kinda creepy if you ask me." Damon says.

Trinity sips her soda. "From how they both described her, you're exact opposites. If he wanted a replacement, aside from looks he's doing a poor job of it."

Damon watches Elena remove the pickles from her burger. "Come on, what? You don't like pickles? What's wrong with you?" He takes picks them up and eats them.

"How can you even eat?" Elena asks. "If technically you're supposed to be…"

"Dead?" Damon whispers before laughing. "It's not such a bad word. As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally."

Elena pauses. "This nice act. Is any of it real?"

Bree interrupts them. "Here you go." She hands Damon a beer.

"Thank you."

"I'll have one too." Elena says.

Damon looks surprised. "Hmm?"

"Time out, remember? For 5 minutes? Yeah, well that 5 minutes is going to need a beer."

He smiles. "There you go."

* * *

"You're kidding me, right? There's no such thing as vampires." Jeremy says.

"Well, there's not a lot of documentation, but the stories have been told since the Civil War. My granddad used to tell me all these creepy stories when I was little. And he said that his granddad told them to him."

"Yeah, that would be folklore. Vampires are a metaphor for the demons of the day!"

"Which are?"

"The union soldiers! I've read the stories myself. They talk about the enemy, the demons that attack at night."

"That sounds like vampires to me."

"Allegorical vampires. Which is what it is. Creative expression during a very volatile time. I mean, a country at war doesn't want realism. They want fantasy. Thus, vampire fiction."

"Man, you're smart. I gotta give it to you; when I first saw you, I missed it."

"Yeah. I've had a rough go of it lately, but I'm just now getting back to my old self."

"Well, good luck on your paper. I gotta get home." She pauses. "You know, my great grandfather actually showed me a journal once of an ancestor, and he had written all of this creepy stuff about vampires. It was actually really believable."

"Wait. A journal?"

"Yeah? Why?" She asks.

"Are you sure you have to go?"

* * *

Bonnie walks around, trying to get a signal on her phone. "Come on, phone!" She sighs, seeing that she has no bars. "Great! Great." Bonnie slowly moves closer to the door with the pentagram, hearing whispers and groaning coming from it. Stefan jumps down into the hole and taps Bonnie on the shoulder. She screams.

"Bonnie! BONNIE!" He yells.

"Get away from me!" She screams, not seeing who it is.

"It's me! It's Stefan."

"Stefan?" She relaxes. "The ground gave way, and I fell…"

"It's ok. It's ok. Calm down. Come on, let's get you out of here."

"How?"

"Just close your eyes. Trust me." Stefan wraps his arms around her firmly and jumps. When they land, he releases her. "You can open your eyes now."

She opens her eyes and looks around, seeing that they're out of the tomb. "Whoa."

"I didn't want to scare you."

"How did you know where I was?"

"Well, your grandmother told me what you were doing. I guessed the where."

"I heard them…down there…behind the door." She looks at him. "Are they in pain?"

"In the beginning…yes. But not anymore. They've starved to the point of desiccation."

"But if they have blood-"

"That's not going to happen, Bonnie. They can't get out. Emily saw to that when she had you destroy the crystal. You're safe."

* * *

Bree pours everyone a shot. "Ready…go!"

They all shoot. Elena downs hers quickly, claps her hands, and does a little dance. "That's 3!" She looks at Damon and pouts playfully. "Aw, do you need a bib?"

"Sorry I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol."

"Whatever. All right. Who's next? Another round, Bree."

"Honey, you should be on the floor!" A woman tells her.

"I am not even drunk." Elena says, a slight slur in her words. "My tolerance is, like, way up here." She holds her hand in the air and jumps.

"All right. Here you go." Bree pours another round of shots.

* * *

Trinity watches as Elena plays a game of pool. She walks over and leans in a bit. "I'll be in the restroom." She says into her ear.

Elena nods as Trinity walks away. Her cellphone rings. "Hello?"

"_Elena?" _Jenna asks.

"Jenna! Hold on, it's loud in here."

"_Elena, where are you? Are you okay?"_

"Huh? Yeah. No, I'm good. Everything's fine. Hold on, I can't hear you."

"_No, it's not fine! I got a call…"_

Elena goes outside. She falls and drops her phone. She picks it back up. "Hello?" Someone comes up behind her and covers her mouth. She drops her phone.

* * *

"Hey, where's your girl?" Bree asks.

Damon looks around. "Hmm. She was right back there."

* * *

Damon leaves the bar. He looks around and sees Elena's phone on the ground. He picks it up. He walks around the bar, over to an electrical building.

Elena is hanging on to a tank. "Damon, no!"

A man attacks him with a wooden plank. It was a trap.

* * *

Trinity walks out of the restroom and looks around. She walks over to Bree. "Where are Damon and Elena?" She asks.

Bree points to the door. "They must've left."

Trinity hurries outside. She hears a scuffle in the back and a new scent in the air. She runs over to see a man hitting Damon repeatedly with a wooden plank. The man lifts it to hit Damon again when Trinity grabs it and throws it away. Shifting her nails into claws, she sinks them into his stomach.

"Ah!" He yells.

Trinity pushes him into the wall and wraps her free hand around his neck. She releases a threatening growl. "Who are you?" Trinity and Damon ask.

"That's perfect! You have no idea." The man grunts, looking at Damon.

"What are you talking about? What did he do?" Trinity asks, sinking her claws deeper.

He groans. "He killed my girlfriend." He looks back at Damon. "What did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you?!"

"Nothing." Damon sighs.

"I don't understand." Elena says.

"My girlfriend went to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her. Got it?"

"Lexi? Lexi was your girlfriend?" Trinity asks. The man nods as much as he could with her hand around his throat.

"She told me about you. She said that you were human." Elena tells him.

He looks at her. "I was."

"Lexi turned you?"

"If you want to be with someone forever, you have to live forever."

"She loved you. She said that, 'when it's real, you can't walk away.'"

"You can join her." Trinity says, slowly pressing her claws into his neck.

"Don't. Don't, please, don't hurt him!" Elena yells. "Lexi loved you! And she was good! And that means you're good too. Trinity please don't kill him, he doesn't deserve to die."

Trinity looks into Elena's pleading eyes before looking back at the man. She harshly pulls her hand from his stomach and lets him go. "Get out of here, and don't ever come back." She growls. He leaves. Elena rushes over to Damon, who is still on the ground.

* * *

"Well, now, look who's returned from battle." Sheila says, seeing Stefan and Bonnie walking up the steps. "Can I talk to your friend for a minute?"

Bonnie turns to Stefan. "Thank you." She says before walking into the house.

"I appreciate your help, Stefan."

"You're welcome, Sheila."

She smiles. "I wasn't sure you remembered."

"October 1969."

"I was barely a teenager!"

He nods. "And you were leading what was probably the only anti-war sit-in within miles of Mystic Falls." She hums. "You know, when you spoke, people were mesmerized. I know I was."

"Until the cops showed up." She chuckled before sobering. "You took a big risk coming to see me earlier. Letting me read you, realize who you were. It could have gone in a completely different way."

"Your family has a very long history of keeping my secret. I knew that I could trust you if you believed I was worthy of your trust."

"Bonnie knows, doesn't she?"

He sighs. "Yes." He nods.

"Please understand, our loyalty can only extend so far. This town won't be easy on any of us if they figure it out. And I'll protect my own before anybody else."

"I know that."

"As long as we're clear. Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, Sheila."

* * *

Trinity walks out of the bar, having washed the man's blood from her hands. She passes Damon.

"I'm gonna say goodbye." He says.

She nods and continues to the car. She sits in her seat and sighs, running a hand through her hair.

Elena looks at her from the backseat. "Are you okay?"

Trinity stares at her hands in her lap. "I don't know." She shakes her head. "I've never done that before. I guess it's something I'm going to have to get used too. Apparently, Mystic Falls is vampire central again."

Elena scoots forward in her seat and lays a hand on Trinity's shoulder. "Thank you." She says. "You are one of the nicest people I've ever met and you were ready to kill someone to protect us."

Trinity looks at her. "I wasn't going to let him hurt you. You may be Stefan's girlfriend but…you're my friend too. Or at least I think you are."

Elena nods, squeezing her shoulder. "I am your friend." She smiles and sits back in her seat. Trinity gives a small smile back before looking out the window, her face covered in worry.

Damon comes out of the bar and gets into his seat. "Next stop: Mystic Falls." He says, driving off.

* * *

As they're driving Elena looks at Damon. "So, why did you bring me with you?"

"Well, you're not the worst company in the world, Elena. You should give yourself more credit." He says.

"Seriously?"

"You were there in the road, all damsel-in-distress-like. And, I knew it would piss off Stefan. And…you're not the worst company in the world, Elena."

"I used to be more fun."

"You did okay."

Trinity smirks at him. "I saved your life."

He nods, rolling his eyes a bit. "I know."

"And don't you forget it!"

* * *

Stefan is sitting in his bedroom when Elena walks in. "Hi."

He stands up. "Hi."

"You could have told me."

"I wanted to tell you."

"You said no more lies. Only the truth. I can handle the truth, Stefan. As crazy as it is, I can handle the fact that you are a vampire. And that you have a vampire brother. And that my best friend is a witch. I can accept the fact that the world is a much more mysterious place than I ever thought possible. But this…this lie, I cannot take. What am I to you? Who am I to you?" She asks.

"You are not Katherine. You are the opposite of everything that she was."

"And when did you figure that out? Before you kissed me? Before we slept together?"

"Before I met you."

Elena looks confused. "What?"

"The first day of school. When we met. It wasn't for the first time, Elena."

"Then when was it?"

Stefan pauses. "May 23, 2009."

"But that was…"

"That was the day your parents' car went off the bridge."

"You were there?"

"Every couple of years I come back here, to see Zach and see my home. Last spring, I was out in the woods, by old Wickery Bridge. And I heard the accident. All of it. I was fast getting there, but not fast enough. The car was already submerged. Your dad was still…he was still conscious. I was able to get to him, but he wouldn't let me help him, until I helped you."

Elena begins to cry. "Oh my god. When I woke up in the hospital, nobody could figure out how I got out of the car. They said it was a miracle."

"I went back for them. But it was too late. I couldn't…I couldn't save them. When I pulled you out, I looked at your face. You looked like Katherine. I couldn't believe the resemblance. After that, I spent months making sure that you weren't her. I watched you. I learned everything that I could about you. And I saw that you were nothing like Katherine. And I wanted to leave town, but, Elena, I couldn't. I couldn't leave without knowing you. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you. I wanted to. But you were so sad."

"Why do I look like her?"

"Elena, you've been through so much."

"Why do I look like her, Stefan?" She asks again, stronger. "What are you not telling me?"

"It didn't make any sense to me. You were a Gilbert. She was a Pierce. But the resemblance was too similar. And then I learned the truth." He pauses. "You were adopted, Elena."

She looks at him in shock and sits down. He joins her. "How do you know all this?" She asks.

"Your birth certificate from the city records. It says Elena Gilbert, Mystic Falls General. But there's no record of your mother ever being admitted. There's no record of her ever being pregnant."

"What else do you know?"

"For me to go any further, I would've had to look into the Pierce family, and I couldn't do that. It's too much of a risk. If someone found out I was asking about Katherine…listen to me." He looks into her eyes. "It doesn't matter. You are the woman that I love. I love you." He tells her. Elena kisses him. Stefan cradles her in his arms as she cries.

* * *

Now back home, Elena walks in and Jenna turns around.

"I don't set a lot of rules, Elena. Not with you. I trust you to tell me the truth. Where were you? Why would you lie to me about it? I thought that we were closer than that." Jenna says.

Elena sighs. "Now is not the time you want to talk to me about lies." She walks away.

Jenna follows after her. "Don't do that. Don't turn this back on me. I didn't do anything."

Elena stops on the staircase and turns around. "Ok, question; am I adopted?" She asks. Jenna gives her a shocked look that quickly turns guilty. "I trust you to tell me the truth too, Jenna. How could you not tell me? I thought we were closer than that."

"Elena, I didn't…they asked me not to."

"I don't want to hear it!" Elena walks up the stairs and into her room.

* * *

Alaric is sitting at the bar, drinking, when Damon walks up.

"Bourbon." He orders.

Alaric takes a closer look.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Isobel is in bed, and Alaric is getting ready to leave._

"_I love you." She says._

"_I'm going to be late tonight." He tells her._

_Alaric returns and goes to the bedroom. He sees Damon drinking Isobel's blood._

* * *

_Present_

Alaric recognizes Damon as the vampire who killed Isobel. He goes to set his drink on the bar, and his hand is visibly shaking.

* * *

Trinity flips through her family's journals and stops at a passage.

_Vivificantem_

_Only the greatest of shifters have gone through this. To truly realize their power and obtain it. Those who have are recognized among shifter's as leaders; as elders, for they become immortal and receive a gift. The only elder in our family disappeared over a millennia ago. Laylah; gifted with clairvoyance was the last elder before our species began do decline. We were dying, our powers were no longer being granted to our children, and families were forgetting their histories. Shifters were becoming rare. Some say, that the Great Laylah worked with one of the strongest witches to save us. That she gave up her powers and sealed them for the Potential; the next elder for our species. For this shifter would go through the Vivificantem. They would be fit for a leader. Loyal, strong, loving, smart. They would be our hope. They will continue our race. If they do not succeed, they will be our end._

_Laylah revealed the steps of her Vivificantem. She had to bear through strong aggression and extreme protectiveness for those she cared for. Her emotion's heightened, and she experienced the full force of every feeling, happiness, sadness, rage, desire. She was pushed to the brink of desperation in her mind, body, and soul. It was her will alone that allowed her to achieve her Vivificantem._

_I imagine that this will be very difficult for the Potential. For not only must they control their power, but the power of our greatest elder as well._

Trinity stares at the journal in shock and horror.


	12. Unpleasantville

Chapter Twelve: Unpleasantville

Elena and Stefan are lying on Elena's bed together, conversing about the previous day's events.

"Stefan, who was that man in the road?" Elena asks.

"I don't know." Stefan says. "Do you remember anything else about him?"

"I wish. I never really saw his face. He was wearing a hoodie. All I can remember is that there was these black boots coming towards me. And then Trinity showed up."

"I brought some vervain for, um…for you and Jenna." He grabs a box from the end of the bed. Elena sits up straight. Stefan opens the box up. "And, um, I made this bracelet for Jeremy, few extra ones for friends." He hands Elena the bracelet. "You can put it in jewelry, or you can even put it in food or drink, but as long as it's in you or on you, a vampire cannot control you." He hands Elena a small vial of liquid vervain.

Elena picks up a dried up branch of vervain from the box. "Wow. So much to remember."

"I know, but there's another vampire in town. So until we find out who it is and what he wants, we have to be careful." He tells her. Elena nods understandingly.

* * *

Downstairs, Jeremy is sketching at the dining room table. The doorbell rings and Jeremy gets up to answer it. A pizza delivery guy waits on the front porch.

"Hey. It's gonna be $22." He says.

"Elena, I need the money!" Jeremy calls. He looks at the pizza guy. "Uh, here. Come in. Just put it on the table." Jeremy walks back into the dining room.

The young man stands on the front porch for a moment longer before crossing the threshold into the house. He places the pizza on the table while Elena comes down the stairs, retrieving the money from her wallet.

"Hi. Um, keep the change." Elena hands him the money.

He walks backwards towards the door. "Thanks. And you have yourself a good night." He says, leaving. Elena smiles and shuts the door. He turns around a pulls the hood of his sweater over his head. It's the vampire that caused the accident.

* * *

Stefan walks into the library; books are strewn haphazardly across the room. When he enters, he sees Damon, looking through the shelves and tossing aside books. Stefan stops and looks at him. "What are you lookin' for, Damon?"

"Not your concern." Damon says, still looking through the books.

"No, but putting Elena in harm's way, that is my concern."

"Hmm." He hums. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Atlanta."

He looks at Stefan. "Oh, yeah. Elena, Trinity, and I…we had blast."

"I get it. You're just bitter because one of us gets to be with the person that we love, and poor Katherine is just out of reach. Unless there's another way for you to get into that tomb. Is that what Bree said?"

"You're pathetic when you're fishing."

"And you're transparent when you're deflecting."

"Don't you have school?" Damon grabs another book off the shelf. Stefan walks out of the room and Damon looks up and watches him leave.

* * *

At school, Jeremy smiles at the 'A' marked on his paper.

"Surprised?" Alaric grins. "It's a good essay. Your thoughts are clear, and your argument is well laid out. It's just, uh; you don't actually think there are vampires in Mystic Falls." He sits down at his desk.

"No. I mean, I think statistically there's been more animal attacks, mysterious deaths, uh, people gone missing, more than any other place in the whole commonwealth of Virginia."

"It's conjecture, but creative, which is why you got the 'A'. I just wouldn't get too, uh, caught up in the whole conspiracy theory of it all."

"Ah, I won't." Jeremy stops and looks back at Alaric.

"Oh, uh, Jeremy, the source that you cited for the 1860s info, uh, Jonathan Gilbert…?"

Jeremy stops and looks back at Alaric. "Oh, my ancestor's journal?"

"I'd really like to see that sometime."

"Really?"

"A first-person account of the Civil War? That's like, uh, porn for a history teacher." Alaric says.

Jeremy retrieves the journal from his backpack. "You think my essay's creative, wait till you get a load of this thing." He tosses the journal onto Alaric's desk."

Alaric picks it up carefully. "Thank you." Jeremy nods and exits the room. Alaric looks at the journal and unbinds it with curiosity.

* * *

Out in the front courtyard, Elena and Caroline are walking across the lawn together. Caroline is observing the necklace around her neck which Elena just gave her. "It's so pretty. Thank you. God, it'll go with, like, everything. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. Just a little friend gift." Elena and Caroline sit down at a table.

"Lesbian friend necklace? Cause we're freaky like that?" Caroline winks at Elena, playfully.

"Your friendship is important to me."

"Why are you being so mushy?"

"Because you've been avoiding me, and I wanted you to know that whatever is going on with you and Matt, it's ok."

"I was gonna talk to you about that. I was, but there's just not much to say. You know, we've hung out a couple times. That's it, but…I just feel like we've peeked as friends." She says. Elena nods. "This is weird. I shouldn't be talking to you about this. It's weird. It's weird, right?"

"It's a little weird, but…" Elena chuckles. "If it's what you and Matt want, then it's not about me."

"But it's all about you. Matt's not over you, and we all know it."

"I'm with Stefan now. Matt understands that. He knows he has to move on." Elena unwraps her sandwich and Caroline looks at her, unconvinced.

* * *

Matt is sitting at the bar, filling out a job application. A young man walks over to him from the other side of the bar and places a tray of glasses down. "Matt Donovan. What do you know?"

"Ben McKittrick." Matt smiles. "What's up, man?"

"Rough season, bud."

"Yeah. It's kind of hard to recover when you have to forfeit half your games."

"You gonna be workin' here?"

"Yep, followin' in your footsteps, minus the state championship."

"Well, we can't all be Football Gods."

"Yeah."

"So what's the plan? Cook line?"

"Busboy."

* * *

Stefan sits on Trinity's bed, watching her pace back and forth in her room. "Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yes." Trinity says. She stops and shakes her head. "No. No I'm not okay." She begins pacing again. "Maybe I'm just overreacting, it could be anyone."

Stefan stands up and puts his hands on Trinity's shoulder's, stopping her pacing. "Trinity, you haven't told me anything." He looks into her eyes. "What's wrong?"

Trinity sighs and takes the journal off of her desk. She opens it up to the page from last night. She hands it to Stefan. "Read that."

Stefan gives her a confused look, but reads the passage. He looks up at Trinity. "What does this mean?"

"Vivificantem." Trinity says. "It's Latin for the word quickening. It's when we become aware of our full power. It's rare. _Very _rare. It's hard enough figuring out how to shift into another person. _This _is very different. It's like…an awakening."

"You become immortal."

She nods. "But it can't be me, right?" She asks. "Maybe it's someone else."

"Then why are you so worried?" He asks

"What I did in Atlanta…I meant to push him away, but instead I plunged my hand into his body." Tears begin to fill her eyes. "Stefan I was so _angry. _I've never done anything like that before. I wanted to kill him. I almost did." She cries. "The journal said that I would be overprotective. If anyone that I care about is in danger, I'm ready to kill for them…and die for them. You, Elena…for some reason Damon." She brushes her tears away. "I don't know what to do."

Stefan holds her face in his hands. "I'll help you through this." He tells her. "I'm right here." Tears continue to roll down her face and Stefan brings her into his arms.

* * *

At the Grill, Elena and Bonnie are having dinner at a table.

"I can't believe you're adopted. I never saw that coming." Bonnie says.

"And it gets weirder. I looked at my birth certificate. It lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as my birthparents. None of it makes any sense."

"Which is why you should ask Jenna." Bonnie tells her. Elena groans. "First of all, the Elena I know would always want the real truth, good or bad."

"And second of all?"

"You just found out your boyfriend is a…" She leans forward. "Vampire." She whispers. "So unless your birthparents are aliens…" Elena laughs. "How bad could it be?"

"Ah, ok, look, I have to go to the store. My outfit for the dance is severely lacking accessories." Elena gets up.

"Ok, I'll pay the bill."

"Ok. Bye." Elena leaves.

Bonnie gets up to pay. "Bye." She starts to walk away from the table when Damon approaches her. She stops and looks at him. "What do you want from me?"

"I think we need a fresh start."

"You tried to kill me."

"But I didn't, and if I wanted to, I would have. Does that not count for anything?"

"You know, I can start fires with my mind. Fires kill vampires, right?" She asks, a concerned look forms on Damon's face. "Just stay the hell away from me."

Ben walks over to Bonnie and Damon. "Everything ok over here?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Damon says.

"I wasn't talkin' to you." He tells him. Damon, controlling his urge to kill Ben, grimaces, and walks away. Ben moves to stand in front of Bonnie.

"Thank you." Bonnie smiles.

"Anytime, Bonnie."

"Wait. You remember me?"

"I didn't graduate that long ago. You're makin' me feel old."

"No, sorry." Bonnie shakes her head. "I didn't…I didn't mean that. I just…I didn't know you knew me."

"I always know a pretty face." He tells her. Bonnie smiles.

* * *

Outside of the Grill, Elena is walking through the parking lot. Her cell phone starts ringing and she retrieves it from her purse. "Hello."

"_Hello, Elena."_

"Hey, who's this?" She reaches her car and takes her keys out of her purse.

"_You hit me with your car." _Elena freezes. _"Is that a new one?" _Elena, mouth hanging open, looks behind her. She sees the man in the hoodie approaching her. _"You got away from me. You won't next time." _Elena quickly unlocks the car door, gets in, ignites the engine, reverses, and speeds off down the road, right past the man, who watches her drive off as he walks across the road.

* * *

Elena is as the boarding house, talking to Trinity and Stefan. "Why me? What does he want with me? A-and if he's trying to kill me, then why call first?"

"He wants you to know. It's better if you squirm." Trinity says, sitting on the arm of the couch.

Stefan walks around the couch and faces Elena. "That's because we're predators, Elena. We hunt. We stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill. I want you to take this." Stefan sits down on the table in front of Elena and pulls out the vampire compass. Stefan hands the compass to Elena.

She looks at it. "This is Jeremy's pocket watch. How did you get it?"

"I took it from Damon, who took it from Logan, who must have taken it from you."

Elena opens it up and observes the contents, confused. "What happened to it?"

"Well, it's not just a watch. It's a…it's a sort of compass, but it points to vampires." Stefan gently takes Elena's hands in his own, showing her how the compass works. The needle whirs around on the compass and finally clicks into place, pointing at Stefan.

Elena looks up at him in shock. "Why did my father have it?"

"Gilberts were one of the founding families, and back in 1864, they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires. The compass was used to find us."

"Did you know them?"

"Yes. I want you to keep this. That way, you'll know if you're ever in danger." He says. Elena nods. Stefan caresses her cheek. Elena smiles and pulls Stefan in for a kiss. After they pull apart, Elena smiles at Stefan again.

"And on the bright side." Trinity says before tilting her head. "Or dark. Due to a nifty thing called the 'quickening', I'm going to tear apart any idiot who threatens anyone I care about."

"Quickening?" Elena asks in confusion.

Stefan looks at her. "It's a long story."

"I'll tell you while you we get ready for the dance." Trinity tells her.

* * *

Jenna, dressed up in a cute '50s outfit, is cleaning up the living room.

Elena and Trinity walk in. "You go ahead, I'll be up in a minute." Elena tells her. Trinity nods and walks upstairs.

"Spoke to the insurance company. Car's totaled. You can keep using mine for now." Jenna says.

"So you're coming to the dance?" Elena asks.

Jenna smiles. "Alaric asked me to help chaperone." She walks around the couch and leans against it.

Elena, not looking at her, picks up an apple and is about to take a bite, but turns around and looks accusingly at Jenna. "Why didn't you tell me, Jenna?"

Jenna looks slightly startled by this sudden change of topic. "Your mom was gonna do it eventually. I never thought I'd have to."

"If my mom were here right now and I asked, she'd tell me the truth."

"Your dad was about to leave the office one night when this girl showed up. She was 16, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her baby, and he gave her a place to stay, but a few days later, she disappeared. And there you were. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby. I-it just wasn't happening. All Miranda ever wanted was to be a mom."

"Well, why were my parents' names on the birth certificate?"

"Your dad was a doctor, Elena. He took care of it. They didn't wanna lose you, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation."

"What else do you know about her? The girl?"

"Just her name. Isobel."

* * *

Damon is sitting at a desk in the library, jotting down names of the Founders of Mystic Falls. Stefan walks into the library, holding something behind his back. Damon looks at him, seeing his 50's styled hair. "You got the hair right." Stefan drops a journal down on the desk in front of Damon. "Why are you bringing me dad's journal?"

"'Cause you were looking for it."

"And why would I want it?"

"Gee, I don't know, Damon. Maybe you wanna do a little bit of posthumous bonding. Go ahead. Enjoy it. Read it. I have. Nowhere in it does it say anything about Katherine, or the tomb, or how to open it."

Damon grabs the journal from the end of the desk and flips through the pages. "I'm not surprised. Man could barely spell his own name."

"I'm really sorry that it won't be of any help with your diabolical plan, the sequel." Stefan says. Damon smirks. "You know, I could help you."

"You? Help me? Aw, I don't know. Seems a little unnatural."

"I'll do anything to get you out of this town, even release Katherine."

"What about the other 26 vampires?"

"No, no, no. They can't come. They have to stay put, but Katherine, I would consider that."

"What are you doin'? Hmm? What's your angle?" Damon asks him.

"Think about it."

"Why would I trust you?"

"See that's your problem, Damon. You apply all of your shortcomings to everybody else. If history's any indication, there's only one liar among us." Stefan grimaces at Damon, pats the journal, and leaves the room.

* * *

"So you'll just lose control?" Elena asks Trinity.

She shrugs. "I guess. I'd need one of you guys to call me back if I do. The journal said that it will get more intense as time goes on." She slides the red skirt up her legs. She looks at her low cut black shirt in the mirror and puts on a leather jacket. She looks around the room. "Crap." She says.

"What?" Elena asks.

"I forgot my necklace and headband." She says. "I'll be back in a few."

Elena nods as Trinity leaves.

* * *

Elena is in her bedroom, adding the finishing touches to her '50s hairstyle. She walks into the bathroom and blow dries her hair as she pulls a round brush through it. In her bedroom, Elena has left the vampire compass on her bed. Suddenly, the needle starts to whirl around, but Elena cannot hear it over the noise of the blow dryer. Elena, satisfied with her hair, turns the dryer off and walks out of the bathroom. The needle of the compass is pointing at her closet which Elena is heading towards. She opens the closet, dramatically the compass starts whirring again, and no one is hiding in the closet. Elena retrieves a pink scarf from a hanger. Elena shuts the closet door and walks over to her doorway, poking her head into the hall.

"Hey, Trinity." She sees no one out there. "Trinity? Jenna? Jeremy?" She calls.

No one responds to Elena. The compass's needle continues to spin around and Elena, hearing the noise, turns her head towards the compass. She finally sees the needle spinning out of control. Elena walks over to the bed, quickly, and picks up the compass, looking at the needle. She picks up her phone and dials Stefan's number before quickly walking out of the room."

Damon, still sitting at the desk, hears Stefan's phone go off. He walks over to it and picks it up, seeing that it's Elena. "Stefan's phone. How may I help you?"

Elena quickly walks down the stairs and anxiously speaks to Damon. "Where is he?"

"_He's on his way to you. Forgot his phone."_

Elena sighs. "Oh, thank God. This compass was spinning." Behind her, a hooded figure crawls on the ceiling. "Stefan must be here. Thank you.

"_You're welcome."_

Elena hangs up. Suddenly, the man jumps down from the ceiling. Elena spins around and gasps. He grabs Elena and extends his fangs, getting ready to bite her neck. Elena screams.

A roar sounds through the house as Trinity appears. She throws the man off of Elena. He lands hard on the floor and hesitates before speeding out the house. Trinity stares at the open door in fury, breathing deeply, her claws extended. Elena stands from the ground and looks at Trinity. Her friends kind chocolate eyes are now pitch black.

Trinity strains her jaw and opens her mouth, revealing sharp teeth and growls.

Elena takes a slow step towards her. "Trinity." She says, but her friend doesn't show any sign of hearing her. "Trinity!"

Stefan walks in from the kitchen. "What happened?" He sees that Trinity is not in control. "Trinity?" He asks. Trinity growls, still staring at the door.

"Trinity he's gone." Elena says. "You saved me. I'm not hurt." She walks closer to her. "Trinity." She puts a hand on her arm. "It's okay."

Trinity looks at her before blinking, her eyes fading to their original color. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Stefan asks.

She shakes her head. "I remember catching a new scent, and then everything went black."

"A vampire was in the house." Elena says.

"What?" Stefan asks.

* * *

Stefan, Trinity, and Elena have been joined at the house by Damon; who paces around the living room while Stefan and Elena sit on the couch next to each other. Trinity sits on the arm of the couch.

"How did he get in?" Damon asks.

"He was invited in." Elena tells him.

"He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night." Stefan says.

"Well, he gets points for that." Damon shrugs. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No. He was too busy trying to kill me."

"And you have no idea who this is?" Stefan asks.

"No." Damon tells him. Stefan looks unconvinced. "Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company."

"You think there's more than one?" Elena asks.

"We don't know." Trinity tells her. Damon leans an arm on Trinity's shoulder.

"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan says.

Damon and Trinity nod, understanding what Stefan is hinting at. "Then we go get him tonight." He says before looking at Elena. "You up for it?"

"What do I have to do?"

"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance. We'll see who shows up."

"That's a bad idea." Stefan says.

Trinity shakes her head. "It's a good one. He likes to play and Elena doesn't know what he looks like. He wouldn't be able to resist taunting her. To be in the same room with her not knowing it. It's child's play. He's an amateur."

"Till we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it." Damon says. "It's worth a shot."

"I'll do it." Elena nods. Stefan looks anxious. Damon nods, agreeing. Elena grabs Stefan's hand in her own and looks at him. "I'll be with the three of you. I'll be safe."

Stefan nods and looks up at Damon, who shrugs his shoulder.

"We just have to hope that I don't freak out and murder him in front of everybody." Trinity says.

"I'll stay in sight." Elena tells her. "You'll be fine."

* * *

The students of Mystic Falls are dressed in their best '50s getups and dancing to "This Magic Moment". Caroline and Bonnie are dancing together on the dance floor. Elena and Stefan, arms linked, walk into the dance, with Damon and Trinity standing on the other side of Elena. They look around the dance floor for any sign of danger. Alaric spots Damon from the other side of the room and the smile falls from his face as he recognizes who Damon is.

Suddenly, Jenna approaches Alaric. "Alaric."

He turns to her and smiles. "Hey, look at you."

"I figured I'd stand out less if I dressed up."

He laughs. "Liar."

"Ok, I'm a sucker for the decade dance. I went to school here, you know. They do the 60's and 70's, too, FYI."

"Oh. Can't wait. Can I get you a drink? I hear the punch is real boss." Alaric smiles and the two of them share a laugh. They walk off together.

* * *

Elena is standing by the punch bowl, nervously fidgeting with her earring. Trinity pulls her hand down. "Calm down." She says. Caroline and Bonnie approach them.

"Having fun?" Elena asks.

"No, but this took about 2 hours, so I'm at least staying half of that." Caroline says, causing them to laugh.

Bonnie looks off into the distance. "What's Damon doing here?"

Elena, Caroline, and Trinity turn to look at Damon, who is standing with Stefan. Elena turns back around. "He wanted to come. I promise. He'll behave."

"So what is this, like, a threesome now, you and the Salvatore brothers?" Caroline asks.

"Actually Damon came with me." Trinity says. "Mystic Falls doesn't have a lot of lesbian's and I didn't want to be a third wheel."

"And if I'm gonna be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon." Elena says. "It's not like I can kill him.

"There's a thought." Bonnie says, still staring at Damon.

"Mmm. I'll help." Caroline and Bonnie clink their glasses together. Elena looks down, trying hard not to smile at her friends' comments.

* * *

Bonnie, Trinity, and Caroline are still mingling around the punch bowl. Damon approaches them. "Hi, Bonnie. Wanna dance?"

"I'm out of here." Bonnie and Caroline look at him with disgust. Bonnie starts to walk away but Damon blocks her with his body.

"Please give me another chance."

Bonnie doesn't respond and moves around Damon, walking away from him. Caroline glares at Damon. "Back off, Damon." She follows Bonnie.

Trinity looks after them. "Wow. They totally hate you."

Stefan and Elena walk up to them. "Where did they go?" Elena asks Damon.

"I don't know."

"What did you say to them?" Stefan asks.

I was perfectly polite. Elena…would you like to dance?"

"I would love to." She answers. Damon smirks. Elena looks up at Stefan. "May I have this dance?"

Stefan lends her his arm and she takes it. Elena looks up Damon with a devilish smile. Damon rolls his eyes. Elena and Stefan go onto the dance floor. Stefan twirls Elena around and pulls her into him. Elena wraps her arms around his neck, smiling brightly, as they sway to the music. Across the room, the man in the hoodie watches Elena.

Damon turns to Trinity. "Would you like to dance."

She sighs. "Realize that I am saying yes out of pity."

He grabs her hand. "Good enough for me."

* * *

Elena and Stefan are still on the dance floor. Elena still has her arms wrapped around Stefan's neck and Stefan has his hands placed on her hips. While they dance, Stefan looks around for any signs of the vampire.

"Shouldn't you guys be able to sense each other or something?" Elena asks.

"No." Stefan says. "Doesn't work that way. Trinity may be able to catch his scent, but she's not good with crowds. See him anywhere?"

"Not unless he has a pompadour."

"Heh. Wow. Not one of the better fashion trends."

"Come on. I'm sure you looked great back then. Are there pictures?"

"No. Burned. Buried."

"Seriously, what was it like, the fifties? Cause in my mind, I have this picture of somewhere between 'American Bandstand', 'Grease'. It's all varsity sweaters and milkshakes."

"Well, that and, you know, McCarthyism and segregation and nuclear arms race."

"Ok, but there were poodle skirts?"

"There were poodle skirts." Stefan spins Elena around and pulls her back in.

She smiles. "You're so teaching me how to do the hand jive."

He shakes his head. "No. That's not gonna happen."

"Ooh!" Elena rests her head on Stefan's shoulder as Stefan continues to watch out for the vampire.

* * *

"Got anything?" Damon asks Trinity.

"You mean other than a headache?" She groans. "I can hardly get passed the colognes and perfumes in the air. What is up with people thinking that drowning themselves in a false scent will make them anymore attractive?" She rests her head on Damon's chest; who pats her head. She steps back when the song ends.

"Thank you for the dance." He says.

"You know, when you aren't up to a diabolical plan that would end up screwing everyone over; you're not that bad."

"Thanks?" Damon says.

Trinity smiles and grabs his hand, pulling him to the side. "We'll just stand back and watch, hopefully the idiot will walk right past us and I'll be able to catch his scent."

* * *

Stefan and Elena are both smiling broadly as they continue to dance to a fast paced song. Damon and Trinity watch them from off the dance floor.

Alaric approaches Damon. "Yeah, I don't recognize you. How'd you get roped into chaperoning? Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new history teacher." Alaric and Damon shake hands.

"Ah, the, uh, cursed faculty position." Damon says.

"So I've been told."

"Damon. Salvatore."

"Salvatore, as in, uh, Stefan?"

"He's my little brother. I'm his legal guardian, hence the chaperoning."

"I hear he's very bright, not that I've had a chance to see for myself."

"Well, his attendance record's a little spotty. Family drama."

"No parents?"

"Mm." Damon shakes his head. "It's just the two of us now."

"You, uh…you live here your whole life?"

"On and off. Travel a bit."

"Really? Where? Around the states?" Alaric pries. Damon and Trinity look at him with raised eyebrows. "Heh. I'm sorry. I'm nosy. I-I don't mean to pry. Look, it was nice meeting you."

"You, too."

"Enjoy the rest of the dance." Alaric pats Damon on the arm and walks past him.

Damon and Trinity watch him leave. "That was weird." Trinity says.

"Yes it was."

* * *

At the Mystic Grill, Caroline and Bonnie are sitting at a table. Bonnie stares at Ben behind the bar and Caroline sulks. "Tonight was so much better on paper."

"Ah, you're just feeling sorry for yourself. Go and talk to him. Be bold and fearless."

"Yeah, this coming from the girl who's been eye stalking the bartender."

"You're right." Bonnie boldly gets up and walks over to the bar. Caroline watches her, looking impressed. Bonnie stops in front of the bar and speaks to Ben. "Hi."

"Twice in one day. Lucky me." He says with a flirty smile.

"I'm proving something to my friend."

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"That you don't have to sit around and wait for a guy to come up to you."

"Does that mean that you're asking me out on a date?"

"Does that mean you want me to?"

"Well, what did you have in mind?"

Bonnie hesitates before speaking. "Do you like karaoke?"

"No." He answers. Bonnie's face falls. "But I would really like to go on a date with you." Ben leans closer towards Bonnie and smiles. Bonnie smiles back, flirtatiously.

* * *

At the dance, Anna carries three stacks of paper cups over to Jeremy who takes them from her.

"You don't go to school here. You know, you don't have to help." Jeremy tells her.

"Oh, I don't mind. It's fun. Oh, um, yeah. Before I forget, can I borrow your ancestor's journal?"

"Why?"

"You said I could read it."

"Uh, I don't have it."

"Oh. Well, obviously you didn't bring it here, uh, but I can walk you home."

"No. I mean, I gave it to my history teacher."

"Wait. Why did you give it to him?"

"Because he wanted to read it."

"You know, you shouldn't be giving that to just anybody."

"But I should give it to you?"

"Loan. Loan it to me."

"Well, I loaned it to Mr. Saltzman."

"Maybe he's in his classroom. We can get it back."

"What's the big deal with this stupid journal?" Jeremy leans across the table towards Anna. Suddenly, Anna's eyes begin to change. His face crinkles in confusion. "Your eyes."

Anna blinks and turns around. "Um, there's something in it. Forget it. I-I gotta go." She leaves.

* * *

Elena and Stefan are swaying on the dance floor and looking around for the vampire. "Maybe he's not gonna show." She says.

"You mean we did all this dancing for nothing?"

Elena throws her head back and moves her hands down to Stefan's chest. "Ahh. The horror." She says, making them both smile.

"I'm really sorry for all this."

"It's my choice. I decided to be here. I officially signed up for it, so I don't wanna hear you apologizing anymore." She makes her point by poking Stefan in the chest as she says the last few words. Suddenly, the music starts to pick up. Stefan looks up at the speakers, realizing he will have to dance faster. Elena smiles broadly, grabs Stefan's hands and starts to twist her hips, but Stefan remains still. "Show me how it's done in the fifties."

"Uh, no."

"Come on. One move?"

Stefan shakes his head. Elena nods persistently. Stefan shakes his head again. Elena groans and starts to walk off the dance floor, but Stefan grabs her by the arm and twirls her back towards him. He picks Elena up and dips her on one side and then the other, holding her in the dip for a moment. Elena smiles up at him, surprised. Stefan straightens them back up and places Elena on the floor, grabs her face in his hands, and kisses her with intense passion.

"Now you remember that, because it's never gonna happen again." He tells her. Elena giggles and they kiss again.

* * *

Anna is walking down the darkened corridors of the school. She stops at the end of one and sees the man in the hoodie at the other end. Anna flashes over to him.

He looks down at her with a devilish smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get the journal, as in sticking to the plan, something you're not doing." She sighs. "Leave the girl alone."

"I like her. She looks like Katherine."

"She's not Katherine, okay? Katherine is in the tomb."

"I know, but until we open that tomb, I got her to play with."

"Don't be stupid. That girl is with the Salvatore brothers and whatever the hell that other girl is."

"The Salvatore's don't scare me. They never have."

"Please, Noah. Don't do this. You're gonna ruin everything."

"You got nothing to worry about. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. You will get what you came for. Just let me have my fun." He says as if it's an acceptable excuse. "She looks like Katherine." Noah walks past Anna, placing his hood over his head.

* * *

Back out on the dance floor, Damon has found another girl to dance with. He gropes her bottom and they glide across the dance floor. Elena watches from the punch bowl with Stefan. She laughs and looks up at Stefan. "You really can't take him anywhere, can you?"

"Uh, no." He shakes his head. "Where's Trinity?"

"She went to the restroom; she'll be back in a minute." Elena looks across the floor and sees Noah in his hoodie. She turns back to Stefan. "Stefan." She says. "The back corner."

Stefan looks in the corner. "Get Damon." He says before quickly walks across the dance floor, pushing students out of his way. The boy in the hoodie has exited the dance and walks down a crowded corridor into another darker corridor. Stefan enters the corridor and sees the boy turn the corner. Stefan jogs after him. When they are in the darkened corridor, he flashes over to the boy, grabs him by his hoodie and slams him into the lockers.

"What did I do?" The boy asks with a blank expression.

Stefan looks at the boy, confused. "Where is he?"

"I was getting a soda, and then this guy gave me his hoodie."

Stefan looks around, realizing he's been tricked into leaving Elena alone.

* * *

Elena walks across the dance floor, searching for Damon. Her cell phone rings. She takes it out of her pocket and answers it.

"_Hello, Elena." _Noah says. Elena pauses on the floor, terrified. _"Here's what you're going to do." _She looks around her for the source of the call. _"There's an exit door behind you. You have 5 seconds."_

"No." She tells him.

"_Or your brother dies." _Elena looks over at the punch bowl where Jeremy is serving punch. Elena sees Noah standing near him, on his phone. _"I can snap his neck so fast I bet there's not even a witness. Now, start walking."_

Elena starts backing up towards the door. "Don't you dare touch him."

"_Keep walking. Through the door."_

Elena keeps walking backwards across the floor. Noah starts walking past Jeremy. Elena, worried, continues to watch him, but Noah passes Jeremy without even touching him. She hangs up her phone and runs out the exit. Elena runs down the corridor, looking behind her to see if Noah is following. She turns into another corridor and comes to a set of doors. She attempts to open the doors but they are chained shut. She turns back around and sees Noah walking calmly towards her. Elena rushes down a different corridor and opens the door to the cafeteria. She runs across the room and tries to open another set of doors which are also locked. Across the room, Noah flings open a set of double doors and before Elena can move, he flashes towards her. Elena attempts to bolt but Noah grabs her by her hair and Elena screams and struggles to get away.

* * *

Trinity looks away from the bathroom mirror and towards the door where she's heard the muffled scream. She leaves the bathroom.

* * *

Noah pulls Elena towards him then throws her across a table. Elena lands hard on the floor. Noah tosses the table aside and strides towards Elena. Elena frantically grabs at a pencil on the floor and sits up. Noah grabs Elena from off the floor and pushes her against the wall. He extends his fangs and prepares to bite her, but Elena stabs him in the stomach with the pencil. Noah, unprepared for this, takes the pencil out of his stomach and starts towards Elena again. Elena prepares to attack again and Noah raises his hand to defend himself, but Elena's pencil weapon goes straight through the palm of his hand. Noah looks down at his hand and while he's distracted, Elena stabs him with another pencil and pushes Noah to the floor. As Noah struggles to get up, Elena walks backwards and bumps into a mop bucket. She turns around and grabs the mop from the bucket and uses her knee to break the handle in two to create a stake. Noah rips the pencil out of his hand and gets up. He flashes towards her only to be interrupted by Trinity, who sinks her claws into his stomach; glaring at him with black eyes. He grunts as Damon and Stefan walk into the room. She rips her hand away from him and tosses him to the ground.

"Hey, dickhead!" Damon calls. Noah looks back at Damon, who has a stake in his hand. "Nobody wants to kill you. We just wanna talk."

Noah smiles, undeterred from his injury and rushes back towards Elena. Damon throws the stake to Stefan, who grabs it and stakes Noah in the stomach. Noah grunts and falls to his knees. Damon walks over towards Elena and Stefan so they can interrogate Noah. Trinity growls at him.

"Now you feel like talkin'?" Stefan asks.

"Screw you." Noah tells him.

Trinity walks behind him and stick her claws into his lower back. "Ahh!" He screams. She uses her free hand to hold on to his shoulder.

She digs her hand deeper into his body, squeezing a bit before pulling her hand back out. "That's a lumbar spinal injury." She tells them. "He won't be going anywhere for a while."

Stefan nods and digs the stake in deeper. Noah groans in pain. "Wrong answer. Why are you doing this?" Stefan asks.

"Because it's fun."

Trinity growls and Stefan digs the stake in a little bit more. "What do you want with Elena?"

"She looks like Katherine." He says.

Stefan, Trinity, Elena, and Damon all look shocked.

"You knew Katherine?" Damon asks.

"Oh. You thought you were the only ones." He laughs and gasps at the pain of his wounds. "You don't even remember me."

Damon leans over towards Noah. "Tell me how to get in the tomb. Hmm?"

"No." He says. Stefan leans back down and drives the stake in deeper. Trinity holds him up when he begins falling over. "The grimoire."

"Where is it?" Damon asks.

Stefan drives the stake in deeper. Noah gasps. "Check the journal. The journal. Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's."

* * *

Outside of the cafeteria, Anna looks in, looking helplessly as Noah is tortured.

* * *

Damon stands up and grimaces.

"Who else is working with you?" Trinity asks, slowly dragging a claw down his face, a line of blood following after.

* * *

Out in the hallways, a door open. Anna hears this and runs off before she is caught. Alaric appears from down the corridor and walks towards the cafeteria.

* * *

"Who else is there?" Damon asks.

"No." Noah shakes his head. "You're gonna have to kill me."

Damon looks at Stefan, rolls his eyes, and nods. Stefan removes the stake from Noah's stomach. Stefan waits for a moment then stakes Noah in the heart. Elena gasps in shock. Trinity releases her grip on Noah, letting him fall to the ground as he begins to dessicate.

"What do we…how are you gonna find the others now?" Elena asks.

"He had to die." Damon tells her.

"But…"

"Elena." Stefan says. "He's been invited in."

Trinity is still staring at the body. "What's up with her?" Damon asks.

Stefan and Elena look over to Trinity. Stefan takes a slow step towards her, his hand raised. "Trinity." He says. She looks away from the body, and up at him as he lays a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. It's done. We're safe." He watches as the black fades away from her eyes, revealing chocolate orbs once again.

"It happened again?" She asks.

Stefan nods. "You were better this time. You had more control."

"Maybe it was because you were expecting it." Elena says. Trinity nods.

They hear a door open and see Alaric coming through one of the door's windows. Stefan looks at Damon. "Go. I got this."

Damon walks out of the cafeteria. Stefan wraps his arm around Elena, comforting her. Trinity wipes off her hands on Noah's hood.

* * *

Outside, Alaric is quickly walking down another corridor. Damon turns the corner and sees him. He flashes in front of Alaric and Alaric stops abruptly. He clears his throat. "Hey."

Damon starts to compel him. "What were you doing?"

"Looking for Ms. Hilden."

"Why are you in Mystic Falls?"

"I got a job as a teacher."

"Do you know what I am?"

"You're my student's brother."

"Is everything you're telling me the truth?"

"Yes."

"Then forget we had this conversation." Damon walks away.

Alaric stands still for a moment, shaken by the encounter; he looks down at his closed hand and opens it, revealing the vervain.

* * *

Stefan, Trinity, and Damon are leaning against a doorway, facing each other, in a corridor, as they talk about the night's events.

"There's no way that idiot was workin' alone." Damon tells them.

"You are." Trinity says, causing Damon to grimace.

"So the grimoire…that was Emily's, right?" Stefan asks. "That's what you need to reverse the spell. When the founding families burned her, they took her things, and you were hoping that dad's journal would tell you where it is."

"Look at you puttin' the pieces together. Good for you. I was half-right. Well, it's out there now. Let the games begin." Damon says.

"My offer still stands."

"Yeah, with some hidden caveats, no doubt."

"No. Nothing hidden about it. No lies. No deception. I'm there when you open up that tomb, you and Katherine go, and the other 26 vampires die."

"If I agree?"

"I'll help you." Stefan says. Damon looks at Trinity.

She sighs. "I have nothing to do with this, but since Stefan's my friend; I'll help as well."

He looks back at Stefan. "Why should I trust you?"

"Because I'm your brother."

"No." He shakes his head. "That's not gonna cut it."

"Because I want you gone."

Damon pauses for a moment, thinking. He nods. "Ok."

Stefan nods, sealing the terms to their agreement.

* * *

After Damon is gone and out of earshot Trinity looks at Stefan. "We're not helping him are we?"

"No." Stefan shakes his head.

She sighs. "I'm telling you right now, I don't think that this is gonna turn out well. But I got your back."

He loops an arm around her shoulders. "And I got yours."

* * *

Alaric and Jenna walk up the stairs of the front porch and stop outside the front door. Jenna hands Alaric his letterman jacket, which she had slung over her shoulder. "Thank you. I needed that." She says.

"Well, thank you for…for coming. I-I really appreciate it. You made the evening much more…well, you made it, period."

"I'm glad I could help."

"And thank you for putting up with all that wife talk. I-I gotta stop doin' that. It doesn't bode well for dating."

"Is that what this was, a date?"

"No." He shakes his head. "Definitely not a date."

Her face falls. "Oh."

"But Friday…you, me, and dinner and a movie, that could be a date. How about it?"

She smiles. "Works for me." She laughs a bit. "Uh, you can talk about your wife all you want. It's gonna take time to heal. We should just be ourselves."

"Still, I think I'll keep the Isobel talk to a minimum."

"Isobel?"

"Yeah." He says. "That was her name."

"Where was Isobel from?"

"Virginia. I mean, not too…not too far from here, actually."

Jenna looks at Alaric as if something has clicked into place.

* * *

Now back home, Elena sits on the couch, pulling her scarf through her hands.

Stefan is in the kitchen, making tea for Elena. "Doing ok?"

She turns around and looks at him. "Is it weird if I say yes?"

"Is it true?"

"I should feel more upset or scared or something, but I…feel kind of exhilarated.

"It's the adrenaline. You'll crash soon enough." Stefan walks back into the living room.

"Yeah, I guess." She says before a proud smile forms on her face. "I fought back tonight. It felt good."

"I wish you didn't have to fight at all."

"Still…" She trails off.

Stefan sits down next to Elena and hands her the mug of tea which she gratefully takes. Elena puts the mug to her lips to take a sip. He turns to her and places his hand on her leg. "I need to tell you something, and I don't know how you're gonna feel about it."

Elena pulls the mug away from her mouth and looks concerned. "What?"

"I told Damon that I'd help him get into that tomb to get Katherine back. But it was a lie. I let him believe that he could trust me."

"Well, then why would you be worried about telling me?"

"Because he can be very persuasive, and you two have bonded lately."

She scoffs. "That doesn't mean I trust him. It's gonna take a lot more than just a road trip and a rescue for me to forget who Damon is and everything he's done."

"I don't wanna be his enemy, Elena, but I can't let him do it."

"Then don't, and I'll help you, whatever it takes. Ok?"

"Ok. Come here." Stefan wraps his arms around Elena and pulls her in. Elena snuggles his shoulder.


	13. Children of the Damned

A/N: For those of you who have been wanting to know who Trinity is paired with, it will be a surprise. But believe me when I tell you that you will most likely know when you see it. I'm planning on doing the whole series, so season 1 will mostly focus on friendship. Remember that Trinity has never really had friends before, and is mostly trying to play this by ear. What I can say is that she isn't going to suddenly fall in love with Damon, but she is forming a bond with him. Not as close as she is with Stefan of course, but still close considering that she includes him in her little circle of friends.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Children of the Damned

At the boarding house, Trinity sits on the couch; reading.

Damon walks over to her and takes a seat at the end of the couch, sitting her feet in his lap. "So what was the big deal with you last night?"

"Stefan didn't tell you?" Trinity asks, not looking away from the book.

"Tell me what?"

"Long story short, I've started a rare process to becoming immortal. This process however, sucks; as it makes me over-protective, over-emotional, and at some point; genuinely crazy."

"Sucks for you." Damon says.

"Indeed."

"So…how long until you become immortal?"

"It could take months…years even." She tells him. "It all depends on the person."

He shrugs before standing up. "I'm going to wake Stefan and Elena, coming?"

"No." She shakes her head. "If I step one foot into that room before it's aired out, the only thing I'm gonna be smelling is…" Her face scrunches in disgust. "_Them."_

"Oh yeah." Damon says. "You have that keen sense of smell that's useless in large crowds." Trinity rolls her eyes. He walks past her, patting her head. "Be back in minute."

* * *

Stefan and Elena are snuggled up in bed. Elena awakens and Stefan wakes up shortly after this and kisses Elena on the cheek as she pulls his arm tighter around her. "Mmm. Good morning." She says.

"I could get used to this."

Damon walks through the door. "Rise and shine, sleepyheads."

Elena and Stefan both sit up, startled at Damon's presence at the end of Stefan's bed. Both of them pull the sheets up to their chins, covering up any parts they may not want Damon to see.

"Damon! Please!" Elena says.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asks.

"Oh, stop being smutty." Damon teases.

Stefan pulls the sheets further up on Elena, making sure she's covered up properly. "Seriously, get out of here!"

"If I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it. Now listen, we have some very important business to discuss."

"And it has to be right now?" Elena asks.

"Well, we have lots to do, now that we're all friends and working toward a common goal." He says. Stefan and Elena exchange looks. Damon gets up from the end of the bed and turns around to face them. "So, in order to open the tomb, we need to find the journal to get the grimoire to undo the spells. First things first-since you are Elena Gilbert, you're on journal duty."

"Since when am I helping?"

"Well, Stefan's helping, and you've taken up residence in Stefan's bed, ergo…"

"You don't have to do anything that you don't want to do." Stefan tells her.

"I'll look for it tonight." Elena lies back down in the bed, pulling the sheets over her face.

"Good." Damon smiles.

"How do we know that this journal will hold the location of the grimoire?" Stefan asks. "We're really going to take the word of this vampire? He seemed like a bit of a dimwit."

"In lieu of any other options…"

Elena suddenly pulls the sheets down and sits up. "OK, what exactly is a grimoire, anyway?"

"It's a witch's cookbook."

"Every spell that a witch casts is unique unto itself, so every witch would document their work." Stefan explains.

"Yeah. Cookbook."

"What about our mystery vampire? Dimwit obviously wasn't working alone, so whoever's out there knows who we are."

"And I don't like that disadvantage, so…" He claps his hands. "Chop, chop." He starts walking backwards. "You know, I really like this whole ménage a threesome team thing. It's got a bit of a kink to it." He chuckles. "Don't screw it up." He says before leaving.

After a second, Elena looks over at Stefan. "He doesn't-" She starts but Stefan places his finger to his lips and points to his ear, indicating that Damon could still hear them. "Oh, right, yeah."

Stefan grabs her hand and kisses it, then starts to get out of bed. "OK."

Elena pulls him back into bed. "Oh no. Come here." She kisses him.

"We shouldn't-"

"Shh." Elena places her finger to his lips, then points to her ear, as Stefan did earlier. They both smile and continue to kiss each other as they pull the covers over their heads.

* * *

Damon sits back in his spot on the couch.

"We won't be seeing them for another hour, will we?" Trinity asks.

"Nope." Damon says, popping one 'p'. They sit in silence for a moment before he snatches the book out of her hands.

"Give it back!"

"No." He stands up, throwing it on a nearby table. "Entertain me."

"I'm not some circus act, go entertain yourself."

"Do something exciting." He says. "Change into something."

Trinity looks at him in annoyance before she smiles. She stands from the couch. "Okay."

Damon has a concerned look on his face. "I don't like that smile."

"Then you're about to like this even less." Trinity says. "I suggest you run." She leaps towards him, shifting into a jaguar.

Damon stumbles back and runs out of the room as Trinity chases him. He escapes into the yard and glances behind to see Trinity gaining on him. He runs into the woods and looks around him. He looks back and forth, not seeing Trinity. He suddenly feels a weight on his back and throws the creature into a tree.

The monkey screeches as it hits the tree. Trinity shifts back into her human form as she falls to the ground. "Ahh!" She groans. "You dick! What did you go and do that for?!"

"My bad." Damon says, walking over to her. "It was a reflex."

He helps her up. "Ahh." Trinity stretches. "I'm going to feel that later."

"We should head back inside."

She nods. "Yes we should."

* * *

Anna is lying in a motel bed, her phone to her ear, as she leaves a message for Jeremy. "Hey, it's me again. Anna. Stalker chick and foosball champion. I'll be at the Grill later, if you want, you know, a rematch, or whatever."

Ben comes out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He looks over at Anna as he dries his hair with another towel. She hangs up her phone. "Who are you calling?"

"Jeremy Gilbert."

"You're not, like, into him, are you?" Ben asks, a little jealousy in his voice.

"I need him for something. Get over it."

Ben walks over to the window and pulls the curtain back. The sun burns him, his skin starts to smoke, and he reacts quickly. "Oh! Mmm! Damn it!"

Anna rolls her eyes. "Dude, you gotta stop doing that."

"I know. I just-I keep forgetting."

"You're new. You'll get it."

Ben sees an open journal lying next to Anna and picks it up. He lies in the bed next to her as he examines the contents. "You found the Gilbert journal?"

"Does that look like the Gilbert journal?"

"Well, it's old and musty, and how am I supposed to know the difference?"

"I don't know, I figured maybe, just maybe, you've been paying a little bit of attention since we met."

He scoffs. "You know, you don't have to talk down to me. I'm not stupid."

Anna gets up and walks over to the mini fridge. She extracts a bottle of blood and walks back over to Ben, sitting down on the edge of the bed, and handing him the blood. "Here. Drink. I don't want you getting itchy around the witch. She can sense if you're weak."

Ben uncaps the bottle and gulps down the blood. He scrunches his face up as he examines the bottle. "When can we go hunting again? This tastes old. I want fresh blood."

"When we get that tomb open, you can kill anyone you want. For now, just stay focused on Bonnie while I try to get the journal back from Jeremy's teacher."

"Why did you choose me?"

"I needed someone in a position to be my eyes and ears. Small town bartender fit the bill."

"There are plenty of bartenders to choose from. Why me?"

"You were sad, Ben. You lacked purpose. You needed me."

* * *

Elena is combing through boxes of old family memorabilia. Stefan and Trinity sit at the breakfast bar, watching her. "Do you think Damon really believes us?" She asks. "That we're trying to help him?"

"I don't think Damon knows what to believe. Trust isn't something that comes naturally to him." Stefan tells her.

"Why aren't we actually helping him?" Trinity asks, making Stefan and Elena look at her. "I'm just saying I don't see a reason not to. He gets Katherine, we kill the rest, and everyone goes on with their lives happily ever after. Damon will be distracted so by her that he won't have time to make your life a living hell. And I pretty sure that the last thing she'd want to do, is spend time in the same town that she's been locked under for the last 145."

"It's not going to turn out like that." Stefan tells her.

"You know…I really think that Damon believes that everything he's done, every move that he's made, he's done for love. It's twisted, but kind of sad." Elena says.

"There are other ways to get what you want. You don't have to kill people. Damon has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others. For 145 years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life, he's done something to make me regret that. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"So what do you think will happen if the tomb gets opened and Damon gets Katherine back?"

"I think that no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people will die." He says.

Trinity raises her hand. "Question." She says. Elena and Stefan look at her. "Since I consider the three of you in my crazy little circle of protection, what do I do if you fight each other?" She's met with silence. "I can't try to protect all of you from each other."

Elena and Stefan exchange a look. "It may be best if we keep you out of this one." Stefan says.

Trinity nods. "I'll stand by and support you, but if something goes wrong I won't be any help. I might actually make it worse."

Elena exhales loudly and picks up a photo from the box. Stefan gets up and stands behind Elena, examining the photo. "That's Jonathan Gilbert." Trinity gets up and stands next to him.

Elena looks down into the box, puzzled. "What's this?" She opens up a wooden box. What appears to be a muzzle is contained within it.

"What the hell?" Trinity asks.

Stefan looks as if he recognizes the device, but doesn't explain as Jeremy enters the room shortly after. "What are you guys doing?"

Elena looks at him. "Hey. Just going through some stuff, feeling sentimental. Dad had this old family journal from years ago. I thought I'd dig it up."

Jeremy sits down on the kitchen counter. "Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"

"Yeah, what do you know about it?"

"I just did a history report on it."

"Oh. So where is it now?"

"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman. He wanted to see it." He answers. Trinity, Elena, and Stefan exchange looks.

* * *

Elena sits in her bedroom with Trinity while Stefan's gone. "How long will her be gone?" Elena asks.

"It shouldn't be long. Just a quick in and out I guess." Trinity says as she paces back and forth.

"Then why are you so anxious?"

"It's the buildup of energy." Trinity answers. "I'm used to being a lot more active, but I haven't found the time to go out for a good run in a while. Damon helped this morning but it wasn't enough."

"Damon helped?" Elena asks, skeptically.

Trinity shrugs. "He didn't mean to. He kept telling me to entertain him and I turned into a jaguar and chased him through the woods."

"And how'd that go?"

"Not well since I ended up being tossed into a tree?"

"What?!"

"I surprised him." She grimaces as she rubs her back.

"Are you hurt?" Elena asks, concerned.

Trinity shakes her head. "No, just a bit stiff. Would you mind rubbing it for me?"

"Sure." Elena says, only to pull back in surprise when Trinity shifts into a jaguar. Trinity hops onto the bed and faces away from her. Elena tentatively reaches out before putting her hands on Trinity back, rubbing the muscles. Trinity begins to purr quite loudly. "Shh!" Elena hushes her. "Someone might hear you." Trinity quiets down a bit but her body still shakes with the force of her purrs.

After a few minutes, Trinity hops of the bed. She shifts back into her human form and stretches. "Ahh, you are a goddess."

"Thanks?" Elena chuckles.

Trinity sniffs. "Something's cooking."

Elena looks at her closed door and then at Trinity. "You can smell that?"

She nods. "Yeah. I smell tomatos. Let's go." She leaves the room, Elena walking after her.

* * *

At the high school, Alaric has taken the journal to the teacher's lounge to make copies. He takes the printed pages and the journal off the copier and walks over to a locker to place the printed pages in. Out in the dark hallway, Anna walks down the length of the corridor. Alaric closes the locker and walks out of the teacher's lounge and back to his classroom. He tosses the journal onto the desk and sits back down. Alaric grabs some papers in a tray and begins to grade them. Anna flashes past his classroom.

Alaric looks up. "Hello?" He gets up and goes out into the hallway to look around. "Hello?" He calls again. Anna is hiding behind a wall, close by, waiting. "Someone there?" He turns to his right and begins to walk down the corridor, giving Anna the opportunity to flash into his classroom.

Alaric turns around and quickly walks off to the teacher's lounge. He opens his locker and takes out a duffel bag which he retrieves a blow dart gun from, modified to use wooden stakes. Alaric takes one of the wooden stakes and inserts it into the blow gun. He cocks the gun and walks back to his classroom. Before entering, he hides up against the wall out in the corridor next to the classroom door. Swiftly, he turns into the doorway, points the gun, and shoots the dart. Stefan, without effort, grabs the stake and stares at Alaric. Alaric begins to reload another stake into the gun as Stefan watches him. Alaric looks down and cocks the gun, moving towards the doorway as he does so.

Stefan flashes around him and blocks his way. Alaric looks up at him and Stefan grabs him by his shirt. "You shouldn't have done that." He pushes Alaric into the desk and takes the gun from him. Alaric scrambles up from the floor, ready to fight. "Have a seat." Alaric hesitates, but Stefan points at a chair, insisting that he does as he is told. Alaric sits down in a desk. Stefan examines the gun. "What is this, compressed air?" He asks. Alaric doesn't respond. "Did you make it yourself? Who are you?" Stefan moves closer, making Alaric flinch. "I'm not going to hurt you…unless you try that again." Stefan hands him the gun and pulls one of the desk upright and sits on top of it, looking at Alaric. "Now…who are you?"

"I'm a teacher."

"Are we gonna have to do this the hard way?"

"I'm also a historian. And while researching Virginia, I…made a few discoveries about your town."

"So you show up like Van Helsing. Come on. Tell me the truth."

"My wife was a parapsychologist. She spent her life researching paranormal activity in this area. It was her work that led me here."

"Where's your wife?"

"Dead. A vampire killed her."

"Where's the Gilbert journal?"

"What do you want with it?"

"Where is it?"

"It's on my desk."

"No, it's not."

Alaric looks over at his desk and sees that the journal is missing. He looks back at Stefan. "It was on my desk."

* * *

Anna is looking through the journal, while Ben gets ready for his date with Bonnie. He stands up and walks over to Anna. "Anything?"

"Not yet. Just a lot of gibberish. Yeah, some people just shouldn't journal."

"I thought this Gilbert was the brains." He leans over to look at the journal.

Anna looks up at him. "Don't you have a date?"

He smiles. "Yep. Wish me luck." Ben moves in to kiss Anna, but she pushes him away, not taking her eyes off the journal. Anna continues to read on as Ben walks out of the room.

* * *

Damon is slicing a tomato and talking to Jenna, who is sitting on a counter with a glass of wine in hand. "My father never approved of anyone I dated, which only made me want them more of course. What about you?"

"There were a few guys. Logan isn't the only loser I've dated."

"They ever find him? Or is he still missing?"

"He's not missing. He's in the Bahamas working on his tan. Very entitled, that one. Marches to his own drum." Jenna drains the remainder of her wine. "He's a Fell. They're all snooty."

Damon chuckles and walks over to Jenna, pouring more wine into her glass. She raises her glass to him and he turns back around to continue cooking. "Hello, Elena."

Jenna turns around right when Elena enters the kitchen. She is shocked to see Damon there. "Oh yeah, Damon's here." Trinity whispers to her.

"Hey. Where have you been?" Jenna smiles. "We're cooking dinner."

"Is Stefan with you?" He asks.

"Um…he'll be here soon." Elena leans against the counter which Jenna is sitting on and watches Damon with distaste.

* * *

Stefan and Alaric are still conversing in the classroom. "How long have you been aware of me?" Stefan asks.

"I learned just recently. What about your brother?"

"You met Damon."

"Who do you think killed my wife?"

"Are you certain it was Damon?"

"I witnessed it."

Stefan sighs, shaking his head. "If you're here for revenge, this is going to end very badly for you."

"I just want to find out what happened to my wife."

"I thought you just said that Damon…"

"Yeah. I saw him draining the life out of her. He must have heard me coming. He just…disappeared. So did her body. They never found her."

"Damon can never know why you're here. He'll kill you without blinking."

"I can take care of myself."

Stefan scoffs. "No, you can't. I can help you. If you let me."

* * *

Damon places something at the dinner table and heads back to the kitchen. Elena is helping Trinity carry plates and silverware the table and Damon deliberately bumps into her. "Whoa. Mmm."

Elena gives and annoyed smile and shakes her head as she continues on past him to place the plates at the table. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"You know what. That move was deliberate." She says.

"Well, yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the sink." He says. Elena looks back at him and scoffs, Trinity rolls her eyes. Damon, now at the stove, stirs a boiling pot of water. "Speaking of Stefan, where is he? He's missing family night, which I am enjoying immensely." Elena walks back into the kitchen to gather more dinnerware. Damon pauses briefly before changing the topic. "Is it real?"

"Is what real?"

"This renewed sense of brotherhood." He takes the spoon out of the pot and tastes the sauce. "Can I trust him?"

She looks him in the eye. "Yes, you can trust him." She says before walking back to the table to place the napkins.

Damon flashes over to her. Elena turns around and looks up at him. "Can I trust him?" He asks. Trinity looks at them.

"I'm wearing vervain, Damon. It's not going to work."

"I'm not compelling you. I just want you to answer me. Honestly."

"Of course you can." She moves around Damon and back into the kitchen.

Damon looks at Trinity. "What about you?"

"I'm fine with it as long as the tomb vampires are destroyed." She says. Elena walks back into the room.

"There was a time when I trusted him more than anyone." He tells them.

"Trust breeds trust. You have to give it to get it." Elena says. Trinity nods in agreement.

"Are you lecturing me?"

She places a hand on her hip. "Do you need to be lectured?"

"I just want her back. I'm sure you can understand that."

"I can understand that you would do anything for her, yes."

Elena walks past Damon and places a bowl on the table. Damon threateningly makes his next statement, close behind Elena's back. "Then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way." He looks between her and Trinity before he walks away, leaving Elena looking disturbed.

Trinity walks up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about him. I'm pretty sure it will be pretty psychologically damaging to kill the carbon copy of the woman you're in love with." She says. Elena looks at her in horror. "But Stefan and I will never let him get that close."

* * *

Later on, Damon and Jeremy are sitting in the family room playing a video game.

"You said you never played this thing before." Jeremy complains.

"I'm a fast learner. Quick reflexes." Damon says. Jeremy's phone goes off. He pauses the game and takes out his phone, but ignores the call, he tosses his phone aside and un-pauses the game. "Who are you dodging?"

"This girl Anna. She can be, uh, persistent."

"Is she hot?"

Jeremy shrugs. "Yeah, yeah, but she can be weird."

"Hot trumps weird, trust me." Damon tells him. Jeremy smiles and laughs.

In the kitchen, Jenna, Elena, and Trinity are talking. Damon eavesdrops in on their conversation with his vampire hearing.

"He is ridiculously hot!" Jenna whispers, making him smirk.

Elena shushes her before looking over at him. "He's an ass." She says. Damon rolls his eyes and stops listening.

* * *

"Is this going to be some double date thing. You, Stefan, Trinity, and Damon?" Jenna asks.

Trinity shakes her head. "Never gonna happen. I'm gay."

"Really?" Jenna asks.

She nods. "Really."

"Is there anyone that you've got your eye on?" She asks.

Elena looks up in interest. "Do you?"

"Well there are some that I find attractive, but one hasn't really caught my interest."

"Well what do you look for in a woman?" Jenna asks.

Trinity thinks for a minute. "Well…she has to know how to have fun…I like confidence…it's great if we have a lot in common but still be able to show each other new things."

Jenna and Elena nod. "What would she look like?"

"I'd like her to be the same height as me or taller. I like blondes and brunettes. Sometime redheads." She winks at Jenna, who chuckles. "But really, it's the personality that counts."

Elena continues going through things in a box while Jenna helps out. "What are you doing with all this stuff?" She asks.

"I thought there might be something about my birth parents."

"Have you told Jeremy?"

"I will. When the time is right." Elena closes up the box. The doorbell rings. "That's Stefan."

Damon quickly gets up from the couch and walks over to the door. Jeremy watches him go, agitated. "Dude!"

Elena opens the front door, Damon right behind her. Stefan looks at Damon, confused to why he's at the house, then to Elena, who shrugs.

"Well?" Damon asks.

* * *

At the Mystic Grill, Ben and Bonnie are sitting at a table, drinking coffee.

"Admit it. I can't sing." He says.

"No. You were great."

"Come on, I totally trashed a Metallica song."

"Well, first mistake, Metallica karaoke?"

"Well, at least I could admit it."

"The woman with the tattoos loved you."

"Yeah, well, next time, I'm going to throw out my Pearl Jam."

"Next time?"

"Yeah. So, uh, what are your friends up to tonight?"

"They're all doing their own thing. Caroline's at her dad's, Elena's with her boyfriend."

"Elena Gilbert, right?"

"Yeah." She nods.

"Yeah, I remember. You guys used to hang out."

"She's my best friend."

"Yeah, my friends, they all moved away after graduation, and I didn't. So we just kind of drifted apart."

"Oh. Elena and I are bonded for life. I can't imagine it any other way."

"That tight, huh?"

"She's my sister. I mean, I'd die for her."

Ben sips his coffee, a glint in his eyes.

* * *

Stefan, Damon, Trinity, and Elena walk out onto the front porch to talk.

"Who took it?" Damon asks.

"I don't know."

"You know what? It's that teacher. There's something really off about him."

Stefan shakes his head. "No, he doesn't know anything. Somebody got to it right before me."

"Who else knew it was there?" Damon asks. Stefan looks through the window at Jeremy, but doesn't say anything. Damon looks at Jeremy also and begins to walk back into the house.

"No. Damon, leave him out of it!" Elena says.

"Why, what's the big deal?"

"Damon!"

Damon walks into the house, the others right behind him. Damon sits on the arm of the sofa to speak with Jeremy. "So…I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?"

"Huh?"

"Don't ask questions, just spill."

Jeremy chuckles. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" Elena asks him.

"Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?"

"Who else did you tell?"

"Just that girl, Anna."

"The hot, weird one?" Damon asks.

"Yeah."

"Wait, who is Anna?" Stefan and Trinity ask.

"That's what I want to find out." Damon says. Elena's phone starts ringing and she goes off to answer it, leaving Damon to question Jeremy.

"How do you know her?"

"I just know her. She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight."

"Perfect. I'll drive. Come on."

"O-Okay." Jeremy gets up from the couch and follows Damon out of the house.

* * *

Elena walks up the stairs and into her room, answering her phone. "OK, I'm alone. Give me all the deets, Bonnie. I'm dying."

"_It's going great. He's a perfect gentleman."_

"Gentleman, huh?"

"_I know! Boring, huh? I just want to grab him and lay one on him."_

"So, why don't you?"

"_'Cause I'm a chicken."_

She laughs. "You're a powerful witch goddess. Come on, seize the day, Broomhilda."

Bonnie chuckles. _"Okay. I'm going to text you later with more details."_

"You better." Elena hangs up. Stefan and Trinity enter Elena's room. Elena looks at them. "Where's Damon?"

"He left to track down Jeremy's friend Anna, see if there was anything there." Trinity tells her.

"Aren't you going to go with him? If he gets to the journal before we do, then…"

Stefan pulls out a stack of papers. "Doesn't matter."

Elena looks at the papers in Stefan's hands. "What is that?"

"It's a copy of it."

"How did you get it?"

"Well, Mr. Saltzman made a copy and was kind enough to loan it to me."

Elena looks unconvinced. "He did?"

"Not exactly, but I got it." Stefan tells her. Elena chuckles.

* * *

Anna walks into the Grill and spots Jeremy, leaning against a pool table. "You just couldn't live without me, huh?"

"Well, I kinda miss my daily dose of cute stalker chick."

"Oh, funny."

"Let's play." Jeremy and Anna set up the pool table. Damon is at the bar, listening in on them, he looks away with an expression of recognition on his face. He realizes that he knows who she is.

* * *

Stefan and Elena are looking through the copied pages of the journal in Elena's room. Trinity paces back and forth in the form of a cat.

"Here's a reference that he wrote about Emily." Elena says. "The Fell family believed it should be I, not them, who protected the witch's spell book. But I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter. They mocked my fear, but it was Giuseppe Salvatore who-" She looks at Stefan. "Is that your father?"

Stefan sits down next to her. "Yeah." He takes the pages from Elena and continues to read aloud. "It was Giuseppe Salvatore who removed my fear. He told me he would protect the secret of the spell book. He said he would carry it to his grave." Stefan looks up from the pages, his brow furrowed.

* * *

Anna unlocks the door to the motel room and enters. As she shuts the door, Damon appears behind it. Damon grabs Anna by the throat and flashes her into a wall. Anna also grabs a hold of Damon's throat. Both of them groaning and make choking noises as they tightly hold onto the other's throats.

"OK, I give. OK." Damon chokes out. Anna releases him and he releases her. Damon coughs and rubs his neck. "Damn. You're strong for a little thing."

"I was wondering how long it would take you to find me." She places her bag on the counter and sits down, looking at Damon.

"How long have you been here?"

"I arrived around half-past comet, watching you screw up every chance you had to open that tomb."

"How did you know about the spell?"

"I didn't say much back then, which means I heard everything."

Damon moves closer to Anna, trying to intimidate her. "So if you've been here the whole time, then why are we just crossing paths right now?"

She gets up and walks around the room. "I like to use others to do my dirty work. Who's that girl that hangs around you guys? She's not from Mystic Falls, but she's definitely not human. Who is she?"

"No one you need to know." He deflects. "And use other for your dirty work? Like Logan Fell? Oh, yeah, thanks for that, by the way. Little bastard shot me."

"Logan was an idiot."

"Mm-hmm."

"We slipped him some blood when he started getting all poser slayer with that compass. I needed his family's journal. I couldn't let him die."

"What'd you want with the Fell journal?"

"I thought it contained the location of the witch's spell book. I was wrong. According to her journal, Honoria gave the grimoire to Jonathan Gilbert. And, according to this…" She walks over towards the counter, opens her bag, and takes out the Gilbert journal. "He gave it to your father. So now you're going to help me find it."

"Why would I help you?"

"'Cause you and I both want that tomb open." She opens up a page and hands him the journal.

He reads the passage. "Hmm." He shuts the journal and places it back on the counter. "Sorry. I work alone." He leaves.

* * *

Ben walks over to Bonnie, the pair of them getting ready to leave. "Well, the check's paid. I'm all yours tonight. What do you want to do?"

"This." Bonnie kisses Ben, but after a moment she pulls away quickly, looking at him with fear.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Sorry. I just should have waited until the end of the night to do that."

"I didn't mind."

She gives an awkward chuckle. "You know, I'm starting to get tired."

"Do you want go?"

"I was going to say let's have some more coffee, get a caffeine buzz, and, I don't know, go out and do something crazy."

"Hmm, like what?"

"Like anything."

"Okay."

"I'm going to run to the restroom."

"Okay."

"All right."

Ben sits back down at the table as Bonnie takes her jacket back off. Bonnie heads towards the restroom, looking back at Ben, she quickens her pace and glances back to make sure he isn't following her. She turns her head back around, still walking quickly, but Ben has blocked the entrance to the restroom, his face in its full vampire form. Bonnie gasps, but before she can scream, he claps a hand over her mouth and drags her into the restroom, without anyone noticing.

* * *

At the old cemetery, Stefan continues to shovel the dirt out of the grave. Elena stands beside the deep hole, beaming the flashlight down so Stefan can see what he is doing. She smiles and starts shaking her head.

Stefan looks up at her. "What?"

"Not many girls can say they've done this."

Stefan continues to dig. His shovel hits something solid and it makes a loud thud. Stefan looks up at Elena with apprehension. He scraps the dirt off of the coffin with the shovel and tosses the shovel out of the grave. He kneels down on the coffin, wiping the dirt away with his hands.

Elena kneels down to get a better look, holding the beam steady. Stefan opens the lid of the coffin. She breathes heavily. "Is that it?"

Stefan retrieves the grimoire, which is cradled in his father's arms. He shuts the lid of the coffin and tries to regain his composure, his eyes watery. He stands up and places the grimoire on the dirt next to Elena.

Elena kneels down; shining the beam on the grimoire and Stefan rips the cover off. He carefully turns the pages of the grimoire, looking for the spell. "Well, what do you know?" They hear. Elena and Stefan, startled, turn around to see Damon, his lips curled up in a snarl. "This is an interesting turn of events." He looks around. "Where's Trinity?"

"She didn't come. I can't let you bring her back." Stefan tells him. "I'm sorry."

"So am I. For thinking for even a second that I could trust you."

"Oh. You're not capable of trust. The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."

"Of course I was going to do it by myself, because the only one I can count on is me! You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan. But you…" Damon looks back at Elena, hurt. "You had me fooled. I expect that Trinity already knew about this, she won't leave Stefan's side no matter what." Elena looks away, ashamed. "So what are you going to do now? Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out."

"You won't kill her." Stefan says.

Damon nods, knowing Stefan is right. Instead, he flashes over to Elena and grabs her in a chokehold. "I can do one better." He bites his wrist and forces Elena to drink his blood. Elena struggles. "Give me the book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck. And you and I will both have a vampire girlfriend."

"Let her go first."

Damon pulls his wrist away from Elena's mouth. "The book!"

"I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me."

"Problem is, I no longer trust that you'll give it back!"

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will." He says. Damon, still keeping Elena in a chokehold, nods at Stefan. "Ok." Stefan says, his eyes filled with terror. He slowly places the book on the ground and reaches out for Elena. Damon places his face against Elena's hair, looking as if he might not let her go, but slowly he pulls his arm away from her. Elena slowly edges to the side of the grave, then quickly jumps over it and into Stefan's arms. Stefan wraps her in a warm embrace. Elena looks at Damon, terrified, and Stefan and her walk out of the woods together.

Damon watches them go and picks up the grimoire. He looks down at Giuseppe's grave for a moment longer then runs off with the grimoire in hand.

* * *

Stefan leans against the doorway in the bathroom as he watches Elena who is searching the drawers for an Aspirin.

"Aspirin must be downstairs." She says. "Is my head supposed to hurt like this?"

"Oh, you'll be fine. That was just a small amount of blood. It should pass out of your system by tomorrow."

She walks towards Stefan, who rubs her back. She looks up at him. "Are you okay?"

"Damon was right. This is, uh…this is my fault." He says. "I put my faith in my father, but Damon put his faith in me, and I destroyed that. This is my fault."

She caresses his face. "You didn't do anything wrong. Don't forget that."

"Okay." He brushes a hand across her face. Elena groans and holds her head. "I'm going to get you that aspirin."

"Okay."

He kisses her forehead and leaves the room. Elena lies down on her bed.

* * *

Stefan makes his way downstairs and into the kitchen. Jenna is sitting at the dining room table. Stefan smiles at her.

"You know you're not staying the night, right?" She tells him.

Stefan leans against the doorframe. "We're just going to hang out for a little while."

"You're lucky I like you. Keep the door open."

"You got it. Hey, do you have any aspirin?"

"Yeah." Jenna gets up and rummages through the cabinets.

Jeremy enters the room. "Oh, hey, Stefan." He looks around the room. "Where'd she go?"

"She went to the bathroom." Jenna tells him

"Where'd who go?" Stefan asks.

"He has a friend over."

"Anna." Jeremy says.

Stefan pauses as realization sets in his eyes. He runs over to the staircase and when he is out of Jeremy and Jenna's sight, he flashes to cover the remainder of the length to Elena's room. "Elena!" He looks around the room and sees that her window is wide open and Elena is nowhere in sight.

* * *

Trinity's phone ring and she picks it up. "Hey Stefan." She greets. She silent for a moment. "What?!" She says, her eyes darkening.


	14. Fool Me Once

Chapter Fourteen: Fool Me Once

Elena groggily awakens. She spots Ben sitting in a chair by the end of the bed, sleeping. She gasps and sits up frantically. Elena looks around for a way out and stares at the front door. She looks from Ben to the door, estimating if she can make it without waking him. Quietly, she slides off the bed and slowly steps over Ben's outstretched leg. She slowly backs up to the door, keeping an eye on Ben. Elena unlocks the deadbolt on the door, looking back at Ben occasionally. She turns the lock on the door and prepares to open it.

"I wouldn't." Ben says, making her gasps and spins around. Ben inches towards Elena and uses his compulsion on her.

"Don't try to escape. Don't even move. Do you understand?"

"I understand." She feigns.

Ben scoffs and turns around to get a bottle of blood out of the mini fridge. Elena opens the front door and bolts out, but Anna blocks her escape. Anna grabs Elena by the hair and pushes her back into the motel room. "Seriously?!" She asks.

"I told her not to move! I did that eye thing that you taught me!"

"And forgot the lesson about vervain! She dates a vampire, Ben. Duh!" She pushes Elena up against a wall and opens the bathroom door.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Elena asks.

"Does it matter?" Anna forcefully pushes her into the bathroom and shuts the door.

Elena flips the light switch and calmly searches the room for another exit. She looks over towards the bathtub and sees Bonnie lying in it, unconscious. Elena rushes over to her. "Bonnie?" She lifts her friends head up. "Oh my god!"

* * *

Damon is in the study, reading through Emily's grimoire. Stefan enters the room with an anxious look on his face. Damon does not look up at him.

"Anna took Elena." Stefan tells him.

"Yeah, I got that from your 600 voicemails."

Stefan strides across the room towards Damon. "Damon, all night long, every single street in town, I've been searching. Trinity's going around town trying to find a scent. What if your blood hasn't passed out of her system?"

"Well, then at least you know you'll see her again."

"Please." He sits down on the sofa, next to Damon. "What do you know? You were with Anna; you must know where she living. Just tell me where I can find her."

He looks up at Stefan. "Nope. You can go. Really."

"You know, all I can remember is hating you. There might have been a time when that was different, but your choices have erased anything good about you." Stefan tells him. Damon lays the grimoire down and gives his attention to Stefan. "But see, I also know you have just as much reason to hate me. This all began with me. Katherine got taken away from you because of me. And I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

"So please, just tell me what you know."

"Huh."

"It's Elena, Damon." He pleads. "If you know something, tell me."

Damon stands up and Stefan mimics him, looking at Damon with anxiety. "I mean this sincerely." Stefan nods, anticipating his answer. "I hope Elena dies." He says before walking past him and leaving the room.

* * *

Elena wets a cloth in the sink and places it on Bonnie's forehead. Bonnie slowly opens her eyes. "Bonnie?" She asks.

"Elena?"

"Oh, you're okay!"

"My head…"

"Come here." Elena pulls her upright.

"Oh my god! Ben is a-"

"Shhhh." Elena gestures at her ear and points toward the door. "They can hear." She gets up and turns on the tap. She kneels back down next to Bonnie.

"I'm so stupid!"

"No, he had all of us fooled!"

"What's going on? Why are we here?"

"It must have something to do with the tomb and Emily's spell book."

"Spell book?" Bonnie asks.

"Damon said it could be used to open the tomb."

"Why didn't I know about any of this?"

"I was trying to keep you out of it, hoping it would never come to this."

"Come to what?"

"They need a witch to break the spell and let the vampires out."

"No way!"

"I know." She says. Suddenly, Ben bursts through the door. Elena grabs Bonnie's shoulders protectively. He turns the tap off.

"You're wasting your time. I'm not gonna help you." Bonnie tells him.

He smiles devilishly and grabs Elena. Bonnie reaches out to try to pull her back, but Ben manages to pull Elena away from her. "That's why she's here. Motivation for you to behave. You know, you shouldn't be so desperate. You made it too easy." He pushes Elena out of the room, roughly. Bonnie gets up from the tub. Ben shuts the bathroom door. "She wants to talk to you."

Elena stumbles into the motel room. Anna leans against a table, looking at Elena. "Well, well. Elena Gilbert. You really are Katherine's doppelgänger. You must have the Salvatore boys reeling."

"Who are you?" Elena asks.

"I'm Anna. Your brother may have mentioned me." She says. "I mean, we're like, practically dating."

* * *

Damon knocks on the front door.

Sheila opens it. "Yes?"

"Hi there. I'm, uh, looking for Bonnie."

"She's not here."

"Oh, well do you know when she-" He starts but she cuts him off.

"Never."

He chuckles. "You have quite an opinion for someone who doesn't know me."

"You got some nerve knocking on a Bennett witch's door and asking her for anything."

"What'd I do?"

"Spirits talk, Mr. Salvatore, and so does my granddaughter. You are no friend to us. Now get off my porch."

Damon takes a step closer to Sheila. "Step outside and say that."

Sheila stares at him. Suddenly, Damon feels an exploding pain and groans, holding his head. Damon starts to back up and Sheila steps out onto the porch. "I am not Bonnie. You don't wanna mess with me." She says before going back into her house, slamming the door shut. She leans against the closed door, breathing heavily.

* * *

Anna peers out the curtain, looking outside.

"Bonnie's not gonna open the tomb." Elena tells her.

"Oh, I think she will."

"Do you really want Katherine out that bad?"

Anna looks over at her. "Trust me. No one I know wants to see that girl again. Except Damon, the love-struck idiot."

"Then what is it? Or who is it?"

"My mother's in there." She says, walking closer to Elena. "Katherine couldn't help herself. She just had to toy around with both of the Salvatore brothers. And when she got caught, so did my mother. I watched Jonathan Gilbert take her away."

"I'm sorry." Elena tells her, sincerely.

"You really mean that, don't you?" Anna chuckles. "Yeah, I think we'll skip the dead mom bonding so you can start serving a purpose."

"Which is what?"

"Leverage. This belong to you?" Anna holds up Elena's phone. Elena tries to grab it from her, but Anna pulls it away. "Ah-ah!" She walks across the room, dialing a number on the phone. The phone rings and Stefan picks up from the other end.

"_Elena? Are you okay?" _He asks.

"She's fine. For now. Tell me you have the grimoire and she'll stay fine."

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon enters the room and leans against the doorframe.

"I can get it." Stefan says.

"_Which means your brother has it. And I have the witch. So one of you had better meet me in the very public town square in 30 minutes so we can safely discuss how fun it's gonna be to work together." _Anna hangs up.

Stefan looks back at Damon who sighs. "Go ahead. Grovel again. Oh, wait no…I don't care." He says before leaving the room.

* * *

Trinity walks into the Mystic Grill and scans the crowd. She heads to the restroom and stops when she catches a bitter scent. She looks around, trying to find the source. Walking closer to the bar, she only sees humans. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, the scent is still there. She looks around before leaning over the bar, seeing an apron. She reaches over and takes it in her hand before rushing out of the Grill. She steps outside and presses the fabric to her face; her eyes darken as she breathes in the scent. She takes out her cellphone and dials Stefan.

* * *

Anna knocks on the bathroom door. "I'm leaving." She calls. Ben opens the door to the bathroom and leads Bonnie out. "Keep them buttoned down. Compulsion won't work. Just use violence."

"Right. I got that." He says, watching her leave. He pushes Bonnie onto the bed. "Sit. Behave." He leans against the dresser. "So you're the key to this. Literally. The one who opens the door. Tell me, how long have you been a witch?"

"Is there anything to drink here?" Elena asks.

Ben gets up and walks over to Elena. "Are you offering?" He asks only to be met with a black stare. "There's water on the night stand."

Elena picks up the glass of water and starts to take a drink.

"Hey. Can I have a sip?" Bonnie asks.

Elena pulls the glass away from her mouth, understanding what Bonnie plans on doing. She hands over the glass. Bonnie takes it and tosses the water on Ben. Bonnie turns the water into flames. Ben yells and pats the flame down on his arm. Elena and Bonnie get up and run to the door. Bonnie makes it to the door and opens it, ready to run out, but Ben grabs Elena before she is able to make it out.

"Come back in! Shut the door!" He orders.

Bonnie slides back into the room. "Don't hurt her!"

"Don't make me!" He growls. Bonnie shuts the door behind her. "Lock it!"

* * *

Anna is walking through the Town Square.

Jeremy sees her from the Grill and runs over to her. "Anna! Hey-uh, what happened to you last night?"

"Sorry, I had to leave. I told your sister to tell you." She says.

"I haven't seen her."

"Well, I gotta run, so…" She turns to leave.

"Hey, do you wanna go to a party tonight?"

She turns around. "Go to what?"

"Oh, the guy who's throwing it is a total douche, but it's supposed to be fun. I figured, you know, safety in numbers."

She chuckles. "So, you're finally ready to go out with me, are you?"

"It's been a while since I've been to a party, and I kind of want to get back out there. And not be such a-a loner. And, uh, I like you. You're fun, and you're also kind of strange and lurky but, uh, I guess I like that, too. So, yeah, you should come to the party. With me. It's in the woods by that old cemetery."

Anna looks interested. "Oh. It's there, huh? That sounds cool. Uh, I'll meet you."

"Oh. Okay! Great." He smiles. Anna starts to walk away. Jeremy watches her. "Cool."

"Ok."

She glances back at him and Jeremy leaves. Anna sits down on a bench, waiting and looking around.

Suddenly, Damon appears next to her, sitting on the bench. "Got a hot date or are you just plan on nabbing the entire Gilbert family?"

"A party, right next to the old cemetery. Isn't that nice of them? Lots of warm bodies for starving vampires."

"I told you. I work alone."

"Yeah, so do I. But you're minus a witch and I'm minus a spell book. So what do you say?"

"Stefan will come after you, you know that. For messing with Elena."

"Then he won't be too happy if I kill her when I don't get what I want." She gets up and starts to walk away.

Damon scrunches up his face and sighs. "When do you want to do this?"

Anna smiles and turns around, laughing at Damon. "God, it's like 1864 all over again. You Salvatore's are truly pathetic when it comes to women. Tonight. After sundown. Meet me at the church." She tells him before leaving.

* * *

Elena and Bonnie have resumed their seats on the beds. Ben paces in front of them. "Witches don't have eternal life, right?" He asks. "So you guys can die."

"Yep. We can die." Bonnie tells him.

"Ah. That sucks." He says. Suddenly a long screech sounds against the window. Ben looks at it. "What was that?" Bonnie and Elena shrug, moving away a bit. Ben cautiously looks at the window when the door bangs open, revealing Trinity with Stefan behind her, who rips the curtain open. Ben screams and ducks between the beds, hiding from the sun.

"Stefan!" Elena says as she and Bonnie dash out the door.

"Let's get outside!" He ushers them out. Trinity stares down Ben as she walks closer, claws out. Stefan gently grabs her hand and leads her towards Elena and Bonnie. "Stay with them, I'll deal with this." He tells her before walking back into the room. He looks down at Ben. "When the sun goes down, leave town. If I ever see you again, I will kill you." He says before leaving.

* * *

At Sheila's house, Bonnie and her Grams sit at a table, conversing.

"I'm sorry. About all of this." Bonnie tells her.

Sheila smirks. "Not as sorry as they're gonna be."

Stefan, Trinity, and Elena enter the room. "So what do we do now?" Elena asks.

"Well, for now, you need to stay here." Stefan tells them.

"A prisoner, in my own home?" Sheila shakes her head. "I don't think so."

"We can't protect you if you leave the house." Trinity says.

"We'll protect ourselves."

"We need to let him have Katherine back." Elena says. "He's not going to stop until he gets her. If we help him, maybe that ends it."

"No!" Bonnie says. "He doesn't deserve to get what he wants."

"What other choice do we have?" Elena looks up at Stefan.

"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems. As much as we tried to do to stay out of it." Sheila comments. "I'll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will be all over."

"We still have to get Damon to agree." Stefan tells her.

"He already agreed once." Trinity says.

"Yeah, and then we double crossed him. So now he's angry."

"He's hurt. There's a difference. I think I know what I have to do." Elena says, looking at Stefan.

* * *

Anna walks back up to the motel room. She sees that the door is wide open and Elena and Bonnie have escaped. "You've got to be kidding me." She walks in and looks over at Ben, who is still crouched between the two beds, his hoodie over his head.

"It was Stefan and some other chick. There was nothing I could-"

Anna holds her finger up at him. "Shut up! Stop talking." She drags a hand down her face and takes a seat. "Without the witch, we don't have Damon or the grimoire. Damon's not gonna stop. He'll find a way in. And we're gonna be there when he does."

* * *

Damon puts on his jacket, preparing to leave. Elena enters the room and removes her scarf. Damon looks up at her. "I'm gonna have to change the locks. You stage a jailbreak?" He asks, picking up the grimoire.

"Stefan and Trinity." She tells him.

"Ah, brother. Ever the white knight. Along with his noble steed."

"I convinced Bonnie to help you."

"I doubt that."

Elena walks around the edge of the study towards the stairs, leading to the sunken part of the room where Damon is. "I'm not gonna say that I'm sorry we got the grimoire without you last night, because I'm not really."

"Well, at least you're honest."

"I was protecting the people I love, Damon. But so were you, in your own, twisted way. And as hard as it is to figure, we're all on the same side, after the same thing." She walks down the stairs.

"Not interested." Damon starts to leave.

"Yes you are, because you were willing to work with us yesterday."

He turns around. "Fool me once, shame on you."

"Okay, when we were in Atlanta, why didn't you use your compulsion on me?"

Damon places the grimoire on a table and walks towards Elena, crossing his arms. "Who's to say I didn't? Trinity watching us the whole time."

"You didn't. I know you didn't. But you could have. You and I…we have something. An understanding. And I know that my betrayal hurt you, different from how it is with you and Stefan, but I'm promising you this now, I will help you get Katherine back."

He groans, unconvinced. "I wish I could believe you."

Elena unclasps her necklace, takes it off, and holds it in her hand, showing it to Damon. "Ask me if I'm lying now." She places the necklace down on a table and waits for him to respond.

"You know Anna won't stop, by the way, no matter what I do." He tells her.

"Then we'll deal with it."

He picks up Elena's necklace and clasps it back around her neck. "I didn't compel you in Atlanta because we were having fun. I wanted it to be real. I'm trusting you. Don't make me regret it." He says before walking away.

* * *

Elena and Damon arrive at the woods and see over a dozen students drinking and chatting. "The Duke party. I forgot. I hope they stay clear of the church." She tells him.

"Your hope, not mine."

Matt and Caroline walk up to them. "Elena, hey!" He greets.

"Elena! Oh my God, where have you been?" Caroline asks intertwining her fingers with Matt's. Elena acknowledges this action.

"Long story, no time to tell it." Damon says.

"I wasn't talking to you." She glares at him.

"Sure you were." He smirks.

"We haven't met. I'm Matt." He holds out his hand for Damon to shake.

"Matt, there's a reason we haven't met. You and I are going that way." Damon grabs Elena's arms and starts dragging her away.

Elena looks back at Matt and Caroline as she's being pushed along. "Ah, I'm sorry, guys." Matt and Caroline watch them go.

* * *

Stefan and Trinity climb up from the tomb with shovels in hand. "Cleared the debris away. Set the torches like you asked. We can get down now." Stefan tells them. He takes Trinity's shovel and sets them against a rock.

Cans of gasoline lie nearby and Bonnie looks at them. "What is that?"

"It's everything I need to destroy them." Stefan hands Sheila a flashlight.

"Are you sure that Damon will come back with her?"

Damon whistles. They turn and look at him. "Brother. Witches. Lassie." He says as he strides past them with the grimoire, Elena trudging along behind him. Damon descends the stairs into the tomb.

Elena walks over to Stefan. "Everything okay?" He asks.

"I just want to get this over with." She says before turning to Bonnie. "Are we ready?"

"I guess so."

* * *

Jeremy walks around the party; he turns around and sees Anna standing behind him. He is startled but chuckles. "Thank God."

"Weird hello but, okay. What's the matter?" She asks.

"Uh, nothing. Nothing, just…" Anna crosses her arms over her chest and looks at Jeremy, unconvinced. "It's nothing."

"Come on, let's walk." Jeremy and Anna walk off with their arms around each other.

* * *

Sheila is lighting the torches. Bonnie stands next to her. Trinity, Stefan, Damon, and Elena watch from the entrance.

"Air. Earth. Fire." Sheila says.

"Water." Bonnie holds up a water bottle and Sheila takes it, sprinkling the water on the floor.

"That's it?" Elena asks. "Just water from the tap?"

"As opposed to what?" Sheila asks.

She shrugs. "I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something."

Sheila smirks at Elena. Damon pulls out a blood bag and unravels it.

"What's that?" Stefan asks.

"It's for Katherine." He says. "Gotta have something to get her going. Unless your girl's offering a vein to tap." He looks back at Elena, who looks at him, un-amused. Stefan sighs and Damon whispers his next sentence to him. "Admit it…you can't wait to get rid of me."

Stefan chuckles. "I can't wait to get rid of you."

"Hmm."

Bonnie looks up at them from the ground. "We're ready."

* * *

Jeremy is leaning against a tree.

Anna is standing in front of him. "This place is wild."

"You kinda like dead people, huh?"

"I'm strange, remember?" She says. Jeremy squirms a bit. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah. This place makes me think about someone."

"A dead someone?"

"No, no, just…someone I used to know. So, uh, hey." He chuckles. "We made it all of what, 37 minutes, in that party?"

"Not your scene?" She laughs.

Jeremy pushes himself into a standing position. "I'm not really sure what my scene is anymore. So what do you say? You, uh, you wanna be part of my non-scene?"

"I would happily be a part of your non-scene, except, uh, I'm leaving."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. My mom and I are moving away."

"Oh. Uh…that's-that's a bummer."

"Yeah?"

"Well, yeah."

"So, guess this is goodbye."

"I guess it is." Jeremy and Anna lean into each other and kiss. She pulls away, her face transforming. Jeremy looks at her, alarmed. "Anna, your face!"

She turns around. "It's nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing." He says. Ben hits Jeremy from behind. He falls to the ground, unconscious.

Anna sighs. "You didn't have to hit him that hard."

"Yes, I did."

"Grab him and let's go. I'm taking him to meet my mother."

* * *

Bonnie and Sheila are reciting a spell, their eyes shut and hands interlocked.

"What are they saying?" Damon asks.

"Sounds Latin." Stefan says.

Elena shakes her head. "I don't think it's Latin."

"I recognize a couple words." Trinity says. "It might be Latin."

After a few more seconds of the witches reciting the spell, the torches flare up. Elena grabs onto Stefan's arm. "What's happening?"

The door to the tomb creaks open. Sheila and Bonnie stop chanting and look up. "It worked!" Bonnie says.

"Of course it worked." Sheila tells her.

Damon looks at Stefan. "We have some fires to build."

Stefan looks back at Elena, gently touching her shoulder. "I'm gonna go get the gasoline, I'll be right back."

Elena nods and Stefan ascends the stairs out of the tomb. Damon looks from Trinity, Bonnie, and Sheila to Elena. "You ready?"

"What?" Elena asks.

He looks at Bonnie and Sheila. "You think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" He grabs Elena.

"Don't take her in. I'll bring the walls down." Sheila tells him.

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't. You think I trust you?"

"As much as I trust you."

"Enough. Both of you." Elena says. "Look, he needs leverage. He needs to know that you're not going to shut the door when he gets inside. I get it. I'll go."

"I'll go with you." Trinity says.

Damon grabs a torch from the circle. "May I?"

Elena nods at Sheila and Bonnie, reassuringly, and follows Damon into the tomb, Trinity beside her.

* * *

Stefan runs over to the gasoline and starts to gather the cans up.

Suddenly, someone speaks to him. "Dark down there?"

Stefan straightens up, looking at Ben. Jeremy, unconscious, lies at Ben's feet. "Thought I told you to leave."

"I considered it. Then I thought, screw you."

"Hey, hero." Stefan turns around and sees Anna. "I'm going down there to get my mother."

"I can't let you do that." He tells her.

"Well, Ben's about to make a main course out of Elena's little brother. So, you can stop me or him. Your choice." Anna flashes into the tomb.

* * *

Damon, Trinity, and Elena are down in the tomb, searching for Katherine. They hear whispers throughout the tomb.

"What is that?!" Elena asks.

"They can sense you. Now, where is she?" Damon walks away, leaving them behind.

"Damon!" Elena calls. Trinity places a hand on her arm.

* * *

Anna descends the stairs into the tomb.

Bonnie looks over at her. "Hey, you're not going in there!"

"You think you can stop me?"

"Bonnie…" Sheila says. Bonnie steps aside. Anna grabs a flashlight from the ground and runs into the tomb.

Bonnie turns and looks at Sheila, angered. "Why did you let her go in?"

"Because she isn't coming out, baby. None of them are."

* * *

Above the tomb, Stefan and Ben are in a tense conversation. "Do you really think that she cares about you? Hm? You're disposable."

"I don't care. She already gave me what I want."

"Are you going to say 'eternal life'? You really that stupid?"

Ben moves closer towards Stefan. "You know, I've heard about you. You don't feed. You're not strong enough to beat me." He rushes at Stefan who thrusts his arm, easily knocking Ben to the ground. Stefan picks up the hose connected to the gasoline can. Ben gets up and looks at Stefan. "Is that all you got?"

"No. I got this." Stefan ignites the torch and sets Ben on fire. Ben screams and flails around, before finally falling to the ground, dead.

* * *

Elena and Trinity still searching for Damon. "Damon?" Elena whispers. "Damon!"

They continues to hear the whispering around Them. Startled, she falls; pulling Trinity down with her. Elena quickly gets back up. Her flashlight beam lands on one of the mummified vampires. As she walks around the room, she sees more and more vampires.

"Elena, no!" Trinity says. As she gets to her feet.

Panicked, Elena falls down next to one of the mummified vampires, her beam lands on him and she gasps in shock. The vampire's eyes open and are bloodshot with hunger. Elena screams loudly and gets up, looking around for an exit. Her beam of light lands on Anna who is standing right behind her.

* * *

Stefan walks back down into the tomb and looks around. "Where's Elena and Trinity?"

"Damon took them inside." Bonnie says.

"What?!" Stefan runs towards the entrance of the tomb.

Sheila grabs his arm. "Stefan! If you go in there, you won't come out."

"What did you do?"

"Opening the door didn't remove the seal, it just opened the door."

"What's the seal?"

"Some seals keep vampires from entering. This one keeps them from coming out."

"Elena's human. She can leave. Anna and Katherine can't. Damon can't. What about Trinity? Would she count?" He looks at them. "You were never planning on breaking the spell, were you?"

"I told you. I will protect my own. It's a spell for vampires. Elena and Trinity can get out. That's all that matters."

* * *

Anna steps towards Elena, shining her flashlight on her. "You must have a taste for it. You scream and shriek and even bother to escape, but then you just come right back to it."

Trinity growls and leaps towards her. She tackles Anna to the ground and they roll around, struggling for an upper hand. Anna shoves her hard into a wall. Trinity grunts in pain and falls to the ground.

Elena walks backwards as Anna stands from the ground and bumps into Pearl. Anna sees her mother and kneels down next to her, caressing her arm. "Mother! Mother. Your boyfriend did this, you know."

"His father did."

Anna stands up and faces Elena. "And Jonathan Gilbert. I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life. I had Jeremy all ready to go but…" Elena gasps and turns around, bolting from the room, but flashes in front of her, grabs Elena by the wrist, and bites down. Elena screams loudly. Trinity roars and bounds towards Anna, separating the two.

* * *

In the ante-chamber, Stefan hears the commotion echo through the tomb, he dashes in.

Bonnie chases after him. "Stefan!" She calls. Sheila blocks Bonnie from entering the tomb. "You can't just leave him in there, Grams!"

"He made his choice!"

"No. Here." She picks up the grimoire and looks desperately at her Grams. "Just show me what to do. I'll do it."

"We are not strong enough. Even if we were able to bring the seal down, there's no guarantee that we could get it back up again."

"You said it yourself; many things can fuel a witch's power. Help me or I'll do it alone."

* * *

Trinity stands in front of Elena; guarding her. She growls at Anna as her body shifts its features. Her nails turn into claws and her teeth lengthen.

Anna steps back in shock. "What the hell are you?" She asks.

Trinity growls louder as fur begins to appear. She takes a step towards Anna when Stefan runs in and over to Elena. Trinity, seeing that he's there, flashes over to Pearl and hold her around the neck.

"No!" Anna screams. Trinity lifts her hand up, claws at the ready. "No! Please no!"

"Trinity!" Elena calls from Stefan's arm. Trinity hesitates. "It's her mother." Elena tells her. "She's the only one she wants." Trinity growls again. "Trinity, we all know what it feels like to lose a parent. Would you really wish that on someone else?" Trinity growls again, lower this time. "Come back to us…please." Elena begs.

Trinity puts her hand down and lets Pearl go. She backs away from her, looking cautiously at Anna as she goes to stand by Stefan and Elena.

Anna rushes to her mother's side and dips her fingers into the drops of blood from Elena's wounds. She presses them to her mother's mouth. "Come on." She whispers, repeating the process.

"Anna." Pearl groans after a minute. Anna caresses her face in her hands and crying happily. "Annabelle."

* * *

Bonnie and Sheila are looking through the grimoire when Elena and Trinity; back to her human form, exit the tomb. "Elena, Stefan…" Bonnie says.

"He's right behind me." She says. Bonnie and Sheila look at the entrance to the tomb. Elena and Trinity turn around and see Stefan standing in the doorway. Elena walks up to him, worried. "Stefan, what are you doing?"

"It's gonna be okay. We'll fix it." Bonnie tells her.

"What is it?" Trinity asks, stepping closer.

"I can't." He says.

"Can't? Can't what?" Elena asks.

"The spell's still up. We can't get them out yet." Bonnie says.

"You went in there not knowing if you could come back out?" Elena looks at him. Stefan looks down, not answering. "Oh, my God."

"I heard you guys."

"We can't leave him in there. We promised him. Both of us."

"I know."

"Even if we're able to break through the seal, we won't be able to hold it for long." Sheila tells them.

Stefan goes back into the tomb to find Damon.

* * *

Damon is still searching the tomb for Katherine. Frustrated, he kicks the dirt on the floor. "She's not here."

Stefan walks up to him. "Damon."

"She's not here."

"What?"

Damon pulls out the blood bag. "She's not here!" He throws it at the wall, the blood splatters across it. He looks at Stefan with anguish.

* * *

Sheila and Bonnie are reciting the spell to lift the seal as Elena circles around them, Trinity stands anxiously by the entrance of the tomb. The torches flare up and Elena looks towards the tomb. "I think it's working."

Anna exits the tomb with Pearl, who is still weak. A growl build in Trinity's chest. "I just wanted my mother back. Jeremy's fine. He's outside. I won't touch him." Anna tells them before leaving.

The torches begin to falter. "Bonnie, keep going!" Sheila urges before turning to Elena. "They better hurry."

"Stefan, they can't hold it much longer!" Trinity calls. The torches extinguish themselves. Bonnie looks faint and Sheila doesn't look much better. Elena and Trinity run back into the tomb.

* * *

"Damon, we need to get out of here." Stefan tells him.

"It doesn't make sense. They locked her inside." He mutters to himself.

"If we don't leave now, we're not getting out."

"How could she not be in here?"

"It's not worth spending all of eternity down here. She's not worth it!"

"No!" Damon angrily pushes Stefan away.

Elena and Trinity rush into the room. "Damon! Please." Elena cries. He looks at her for a minute before moving.

* * *

Bonnie and Sheila are still chanting the spell to keep the seal down. Bonnie stops for a moment, gasping for air and keeling over. "Oh my God. I can't!"

"Yes, you can."

They continue chanting. Damon exits the tomb first, followed by Elena, who turns around and embraces Stefan when he exits. Trinity is the last to leave. The door to the tomb closes and the torches die out.

* * *

Stefan, Trinity, and Elena exit the tomb and run over to Jeremy, who is waking up.

"He's okay." Trinity says. "I can hear his heartbeat."

Elena and Stefan kneel down next to Jeremy, who groans.

"He's all right." Stefan says.

Damon exits the tomb, looking completely miserable. Elena gets up and walks towards him. She wraps his arms around him and places her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

* * *

Sheila walks unsteadily to her room.

Bonnie gently grabs her arms to guide her. "Hey, let me help you."

"Oh, I'm fine. You don't need to coddle me, baby."

"It was a big spell, Grams. I could tell it took a lot out of you."

"I'll be fine." Sheila continues to walk unsteadily towards her bed as Bonnie looks on with worry.

* * *

Elena carries a glass of water and an Aspirin into Jeremy's room and hands it to him. "How's your head?"

"Uh-it's alright. I just…I wish I knew how I passed out. I didn't drink that much, I swear."

"And you don't remember anything?"

"The whole things pretty cloudy. I just…I know how this looks. I'm-I'm sorry." He says.

"No, Jeremy, don't be sorry. You didn't do anything, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"I've got to head on over to Bonnie's for a little bit, but is there anything that you need?"

"No, I'm just…I'm gonna crash."

"Okay, well, Jenna's here and I'll be back soon." Elena leaves.

Jeremy gets up from his bed and goes to his computer. He googles the word 'Vampire'.

* * *

Stefan walks Trinity to her porch. "Are you gonna be alright?" He asks.

She turns to him. "Yeah." She says. "At least this is over and done with. Now I don't have to worry about hulking out everyday…at least for a little while. When it starts to get worst…" She shakes her head. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"I'll be there." Stefan tells her. "I always will."

She brushes her hair away from her face. "I feel bad for Damon. He dedicated his life to find the girl he was in love with and…she just wasn't there."

"Yeah." Stefan sighs.

"Go to him." Trinity tells him. "He needs you."

Stefan nods and gives her a hug before leaving.

* * *

Pearl and Anna go back to the motel room. Anna turns on the light and gets a shock when she sees Damon sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. "You knew Katherine wasn't in there." He says.

"You wouldn't have helped me." She tells him. He flashes over to Pearl and grabs her by the throat. "No! No!"

"Why do you get a happy ending?"

Anna rushes towards him. "Damon, please! You wouldn't have helped me, you know you wouldn't have!"

Damon grabs a hold of Anna, restricting her movement. "Why do you get it and I don't?"

"The guard." Pearl whispers, bringing their attention to her. "The one at the church. The one who locked us in. She promised to turn him. He was obsessed with her. She had him under her spell, like everybody else. He let her go."

Damon releases Anna and Pearl. Anna wraps her arms around Pearl and looks up at Damon. "Last I saw her was Chicago. 1983. She knew where you were Damon. She didn't care." She tells him. Damon is utterly hurt by this new piece of information. "Sorry." She embraces Pearl while Damon leaves the motel room.

* * *

Elena is at Sheila's house, talking on the phone with Stefan, who is at the boarding house. "I just got to Bonnie's."

"_Everything alright?"_

"Yeah. How's Damon? Is he gonna be okay?"

"_I don't know. Can I call you later?"_

"Yeah, of course."

* * *

Stefan walks into the parlor. Damon is sitting down, staring blankly at the fire. Stefan sits down next to him. They sit together in silence.

* * *

Bonnie enters Gram's room carrying a cup of tea for her. "Here you go, Grams." She places the tea on the nightstand and pulls the covers up over Sheila. She looks down at her Grams and gets the feeling that something is wrong. "Grams?" Bonnie sits down on the bed and starts to shake Sheila. "Grams! Grams, wake up! Grams! Grams!" She sobs. "Elena!" Elena dashes into the room, bewildered. "Help! Wake up! She's not breathing! She's just not breathing! Please, wake up!" Elena runs out of the room and grabs the phone, dialing 911. Bonnie gets up as well. "I'm gonna fix it! It's okay, I can fix this!"

"Yes, I need an ambulance to Oak Street. It's an emergency, quick." Elena says into the phone. Bonnie grabs the grimoire and flips through the pages, trying to find a spell to bring her Grams back. Elena walks back into the room and gently grabs Bonnie's shoulders. "Bonnie…Bonnie."

"No! No! I can fix it! Grams, I can fix this!"

"Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie." Bonnie continues to sob as Elena wraps her arms around Bonnie, trying to comfort her.

* * *

Down in the tomb, the blood bag that Damon threw drips down from the wall. A vampire sits below the pool of blood on the wall and it drips down towards him. The vampire gets up, opens the door of the tomb, and is able to walk out. He looks up at the ceiling, finally free.


	15. A Few Good Men

Chapter Fifteen: A Few Good Men

A man is backpacking through the woods near the church ruins. He hears the sounds of twigs snapping and turns around, coming face to face with Harper, the vampire from the tomb, who still looks hungry. "Jeez! You scared me."

"Do you know what day it is?"

"Saturday."

"And what year?"

"It's 2010. Are you OK?"

"Thank you."

"Wait, what's your name?"

"It's Harper, sir."

The man inches closer to Harper, observing him. "How did you get out here? And why are you dressed like that?"

"You seem like a very nice person. I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

Harper extends his fangs and bites down on the man's neck. The man screams loudly.

* * *

Harper has killed the man. He has also taken his clothing. He pats himself down when a cell phone goes off in his pocket. Confused, Harper takes the phone out and throws it down onto the ground. He quickly leaves the woods.

* * *

Elena is sitting on the porch swing, her journal laid out on her lap and her phone up to her ear as she leaves Bonnie a voicemail. "Hey, Bonnie, it's me just checking in, seeing how you're doing. We miss you here. Don't let your aunt drive you too crazy." Jenna walks up onto the porch and stops to look at Elena while sipping her coffee. "Come home soon. Love you." She hangs up.

"What are you doing out here? It's cold."

"Thinking, writing. The, uh, funeral for Bonnie's grandma, it brought back a lot about mom and dad. I was wondering…you said that you would do some digging about them, the adoption."

"Right."

"So did you? Dig?"

"Come on inside." They go inside. Jenna pulls out her laptop and sits down at the dining table and Elena stands next to her, removing her jacket. "Your dad kept everything from his medical practice…records, logs, old appointment books." She pulls out a journal and opens it, showing a page to Elena. "I found an entry from the night you were born. Patient and a birth date. Isobel Peterson."

"Do you think that's her real name?"

"Pregnant teenage runaway? Probably not. First name, maybe. But where'd she get Peterson? Classmate? Best friend? So I binged it." She pulls up the internet and types in a name in the search engine. "I searched for all the Petersons in this area born the same year as Isobel, found three. Two men and a woman; Trudie, who lived in Grove Hill, Virginia."

"That's not far from here."

"Well, watch this." Jenna types something else into the search engine and pulls up an image of Isobel from high school.

"Isobel." Elena looks at the picture with a smile. "She was a cheerleader."

"Trudie still lives there." She hands Elena a post-it note. "This is her address."

"What about Isobel?"

"I couldn't find anything about her." Jenna says. Elena looks disheartened as she sits down at the table. Jenna briefly pauses before divulging new information. "Listen. There's something else. Mr. Saltzman; Ric, his wife was from around here, and her name was also Isobel."

"Wait. 'Was', as in…"

"She died."

* * *

Later, Elena is putting away clothes in her drawer. Trinity sits on her bed.

Stefan stands behind Elena as they discuss this new turn of events. "Alaric's wife might have been your mother?"

She sighs. "It can't be true, right? I mean, the coincidence alone is just crazy." She turns around to look at Stefan and holds up the post-it note. "I have the address for her friend Trudie."

"You wanna talk to her." Trinity says.

"I don't know. I…I-I don't know. If it's true and they are the same person, that means that my birth mother is dead, and I don't know if I could handle that."

"Elena, did Jenna tell you anything about Alaric's wife? How she died?" Stefan asks.

"Just that she was killed and the case was never solved." Stefan nods at this prior knowledge. Elena looks at him, surprised. "You knew that already?"

"The night at the school when he attacked me, he told me some things about her death."

"Well-"

"No, no." He gently grabs Elena's wrists. "It's not possible. The coincidence is…it's too much. Now, listen, if you do decide to go talk to Isobel's friend, I'll go with you. Ok?"

"I just don't know what I'm gonna do yet."

Elena wraps her arms around Stefan's neck and they embrace each other lovingly. "I should get going. I gotta go deal with Damon."

"How's he doing?" Trinity asks.

"He's dealing in his own way." He says, before leaving.

* * *

When he's gone, Trinity turns to Elena. "If you want to go check out that address, I'll go with you."

"Really?"

She nods. "It doesn't seem like something you should do alone. And this way you still have a protector if Stefan can't make it."

"Thank you." Elena smiles.

"It's nothing."

* * *

Damon is feeding off a young sorority girl. There are other girls dancing to the music in the room. All of the girls have bite marks up and down their bodies. Damon comes up for air after feeding.

"How do I taste?" She asks.

He gives her a drunken smile. "Oh, so much better than your friends. But shh. Don't tell them. They might get jealous." Suddenly, the lights come on. Stefan enters the room. "No! Buzzkill Bob." Damon groans. Stefan turns the music off. Damon looks up at him blearily. "Greetings."

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah."

"Without the Tri-Delts."

"Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of them. They're really good at keeping secrets." He says but Stefan gets his way. Him and Damon converse in a private corner while the girls lounge around on the sofas. Damon has a bottle of booze in hand. "You're worried about me. That's nice. Don't be. There's no need. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? I spent the last 145 years with one goal: get in that tomb. I succeeded. Granted, Katherine wasn't in there to be rescued, but why dwell? You know, it's so liberating not having a master plan, because I can do whatever the hell I want."

"That's kind of what I'm afraid of."

"Relax. I haven't killed anyone in…" He sighs. "Too long."

"Those girls?" Stefan asks.

"Will end up in their dorm with headaches, think they blacked out. Business as usual. Predictable you didn't pull me over here for a pep talk. So drink up." He pushes the bottle into Stefan's chest. "Spill it, brother."

Stefan grabs the bottle and places it to his side. "There was a woman you may have known a few years back named Isobel in North Carolina at Duke."

"You wanna discuss the women in my past right now? Seriously?"

"You killed her."

"What's your point?"

"I just…just wanna know if you remember anything about her."

"Oh, it's like a needle in a haystack, Stefan."

"Well, think hard. It's important."

Damon grasps Stefan's shoulder and whispers in his ear. "Nothing is important, not anymore." He claps Stefan on the shoulder and pulls away, grabbing the bottle from Stefan's hand. "Great chat. I have to go and exploit some women in the name of grief, which I'm sure you understand. 'TTFN', said the Tri-Delt. Heh." Damon walks back to the girls.

* * *

Elena holds up the Post-It note with Trudie's address and then looks up at the house which matches the address. She and Trinity walk up to the front door. Elena prepares to knock, but hesitates for a moment. Finally, she works up the courage, and knocks on the door.

Elena shakes her head and turns away when Trinity grabs her arm. "It's gonna be okay."

Elena looks at her for a moment before nodding. She looks forward when Trudie opens the door. "Trudie? Tru-trudie Peterson?"

"Yes?" She says.

"Uh, my name is Elena Gilbert." She says before motioning to Trinity. "This is my friend Trinity. I wanted to talk to you about Isobel Flemming."

"Well, I haven't heard that name in years. How do you know her?"

"I think that, um, well…do you know if she had a baby that she gave up for adoption?"

"My god. You're her daughter." Her eyes widen and she laughs. "I was just gonna make some tea. Would you like some?"

"Sure."

"Uh, the kitchen's this way." Trudie backs away from the door, anticipating their entrance. Trinity frowns inwardly as she hears the woman's heart pumping. They step over the threshold and Trudie releases her breath, shutting the front door with a quick nervous glance outside.

Elena removes her jacket. Trudie walks into the room from the kitchen. "I wasn't gonna come. I didn't think I was, but I was driving, and I hit this stoplight, and it made me think about when I was learning how to drive and then my mom would always warn me about this blind turn on the left-hand side, and then I was thinking about my mom, and…I had your address. I'm sorry for barging in."

"It's no problem. Um, just a surprise, though." Trudie tells them as they sit at the table. "I haven't thought about Isobel in years."

Trinity's nose crinkles as she smells vervain in the air. "When was the last time you saw her?" She asks.

"About 17 years ago, when she left to go have you." She looks at Elena. "We kept in touch for a while, but, well, you know, people drift apart."

"And you don't know where she ended up?" Elena asks.

"She was in Florida for a while. She was on her own. I know it wasn't easy."

"Do you have any idea who my father is?"

Trudie shakes her head. "I could never get her to fess up. Anyway, she finally pulled it together, got into college on a scholarship."

"Where did she go?"

"Somewhere in North Carolina. Duke, I think. Smart girl, smart school." The kettle starts whistling from the kitchen. "Let me just grab that." Trudie gets up and goes into the kitchen, looking back at Elena and Trinity. She takes her phone out of her pocket and texts 'She's here' to an unknown number.

* * *

Trinity looks at Elena. "She has vervain." She whispers.

"What?" Elena asks, shocked.

"I can smell it all over the house, it's in the tea." Trinity tells her.

"What do we do?"

"We find out as much as we can about your birth mother, maybe try to find out a little more after that. And then we leave. When she comes back, don't let anything on. Act normal." She says. Elena nods and fiddles with her hands. Trinity takes her hand and gives a comforting squeeze. "It's okay."

* * *

Stefan mills around in the Town Square. Alaric walks up to him. "Thanks for meeting me. Something's come up."

"Jenna told you." Stefan realizes.

He nods. "Yeah."

"So it's true. Your wife Isobel was Elena's birth mother."

"What does Elena know?"

Stefan sighs, crossing his arms over his chest. "About your wife?"

"About everything. About you, your brother."

"She knows what I am, and she knows that you know about the vampires."

"Does she know about Damon and Isobel?"

He shakes his head. "No. I couldn't tell her, not until I was sure."

"You said you'd help me."

"I asked Damon without saying too much. He doesn't remember."

"Ask him again."

"Damon is not stable right now."

"You know, he murdered my wife, or at the very least made a meal out of her. When has he been stable?"

"I'm telling you not to push this."

"Give me a reason not to." Alaric says.

"Your survival. How's that for a reason? I'll handle it, but for now, I need you to let it go."

"Is that what you'll tell Elena? Let it go?"

Stefan moves closer to Alaric until they are merely inches apart. "Leave Elena out of this." He says in a threatening voice.

"I need to know what happened. I think you would, too."

Stefan exhales and backs away. "I need something more than just your wife's name. A picture, something I could show Damon." Alaric retrieves a photo of Isobel from his wallet and hands it to him. Stefan takes it and walks away.

* * *

Elena, Trinity, and Trudie are looking through an old yearbook. Trudie points out a picture of her and Isobel. "Ah. They came to the games for us. The football team hadn't won in years. We were the stars. Well, Izzie was. But I was a damn good backup."

Elena smiles. "Heh. This is great. Thank you."

"You're welcome." She looks at their teacups. "You haven't touched your tea."

"Oh. Yeah." Elena picks up her teacup, exchanging a look with Trinity as she drinks the tea. Trudie waits for Trinity to take a sip as well. "What is this?" Elena asks her.

"Oh, it's just some herbal mixture."

"Vervain?" Trinity asks. Trudie doesn't respond.

"You know." Elena says.

"Know what?" She feigns ignorance.

"You didn't invite us in, and you're serving vervain tea. You know." Trinity tells her.

Trudie stands up. "I think that you should probably leave."

They place down their teacups. "Wait. What are you not telling me?" Elena asks.

"Please leave. Now!"

The get up and leave the house. As they walk to the car, Elena grabs her keys from her purse. Trinity looks at a man standing in the middle of the road with suspicion. Elena unlocks the car door and she and Trinity get in. She ignites the engine and drives off. The man slowly walks down the street towards where Elena was parked.

* * *

After a few minutes of driving Trinity speaks up. "Pull over." She says.

"Why?" Elena asks, eyes on the road.

"Your heart is hammering and your hands are shaking." Trinity tells her. "Pull over. I'll drive."

Elena sighs before pulling over to the side of the road. She speaks after she and Trinity switch seats. "There's something we're missing."

"There is."

"Trudie knows about vampires. How?"

Trinity shakes her head. "We have a lot of question and barely and answers. We need to find out more. Like how she died for one." Elena nods.

* * *

The doorbell rings and Trudie answers the door. The man from the middle of the road is on her front porch. "May I help you?" She asks.

"Thank you for the text."

Trudie looks surprised. "You're welcome. I didn't tell her anything. I-I kept my promise."

"Good."

"The girl, though, she-she knew something. Her friend did too."

"That won't be a problem. She won't get any closer to the truth."

"Good. So I'm done?"

"Yes. You're done." Trudie starts to close the door, but the man grabs a hold of it and starts pushing it back.

Trudie struggles to shut it. "No, I won't invite you in! You can't come in!"

"I'm not a vampire, so, yes, I can." The man flings the door open, forcefully, causing Trudie to land on the stairs. He enters the house.

"I don't understand. I did what you told me. I did my part!"

"And now I have to do mine." He says.

Trudie yells and starts running up the stairs. The man pursues her and grabs her by her hair. He throws her down the stairs and she tumbles to the bottom floor. A pool of blood forms around Trudie's head. The man descends the stairs and steps over Trudie's dead body, leaving the house.

* * *

Harper walks into the middle of the square and looks around, overwhelmed by the changes over the past century and a half. He looks over at a bench where a woman sits. The woman and he exchange long looks, as if they know each other. She nods her head slightly and Harper walks away.

* * *

Elena enters Stefan's room. "Stefan."

"Better. Me." Damon walks out of the bathroom, without a shirt on.

"You look, um…" Elena trails off.

"Dashing? Gorgeous? Irresistible?" He walks across the room, closing the space between him and Elena.

She pushes him back when he gets uncomfortably close. "Wrecked. You look wrecked."

"No reason why. Do you know that I am one of Mystic Falls' most eligible bachelors?"

"Huh."

"Yep."

"How are you doing?"

"Never better. Yep." He puts on a button up shirt. "What can I do for you? I'm a barrel of favors today. It's my newfound purpose…how can I help people?"

"I'm just meeting Stefan. We're going to the fundraiser. Trinity's going to meet us there."

Damon struggles to button up his shirt, but is too drunk to do so. He turns around, looking at Elena. "Help a guy out, will you? Can't get this."

Elena sighs and walks over to Damon. She grabs the front of his shirt and begins buttoning it up. "So I found out who my birth mother is"

"Eccch. Who cares?" He groans. Elena looks at him, hurt. "She left you. She sucks."

Elena and Damon exchange glances for a moment, then she looks over Damon's shoulder and smiles. "Stefan. There you are." She walks over to Stefan, who smiles at her.

Damon starts to put his jacket on. "Uhh. I need a bigger jacket. Wow. You know, an occasional sorority girl might, um, you know, help fill you out a little bit." Damon throws the jacket onto Stefan's bed and leaves the room.

"He's fine." Elena says.

"He's Damon."

"Maybe this heartache will be good for him. It'll remind him that he has one, even if it doesn't beat."

"Won't hold my breath."

Elena smiles and laughs. "So I went to see Trudie Peterson." Stefan's face becomes stony. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't plan it, but I had Trinity with me."

Stefan nods after a moment. "How was it?"

"She has vervain. She knows about vampire stuff, and it can't be a coincidence."

"It isn't. This is Alaric's wife." Stefan takes out the picture of Isobel that Alaric gave to him and hands it to Elena.

She looks at it. "This is her. This is Isobel. He gave this to you?"

"Everything he knows about vampires, he learned from her. He believes that she was killed by one."

"Oh, my god."

"Listen, Elena, there's a lot about Isobel that Alaric can tell you, but I need you to hold off a little while before you talk to him."

"Why?"

"I know that it's a lot to ask of you, but will you do that for me?" He asks. Elena nods.

* * *

Carol Lockwood is on the stage, talking into a microphone, introducing the Fundraiser. "Tickets for the raffle are now on sale. All proceeds benefit the annual Founder's Day celebration."

* * *

Jenna walks up to Alaric, who has a drink in his hand. "That's a good look for you."

"What? Embarrassed and uncomfortable?"

She smiles. "Yep. That's-that's the one."

"Hey, look, um, I'm, uh, sorry about earlier. It was just kind of a-a shock."

"No, I'm sorry for dropping it on you, but I felt like you should know."

"No, I get it."

"At some point, maybe you and Elena could talk. I'm sure she'd like to hear about Isobel, what she was like."

"Yeah." He nods, an uneasy look on his face.

"Uh…or not. No pressure."

"I don't know if that's a-a great idea." He clears his throat. "At least not…not for a while." Jenna nods, understandingly.

* * *

Stefan walks downstairs where Damon is putting on a bigger jacket.

"Where'd our girlfriend go?" Damon asks.

"She's on her way to the Grill. I, uh, wanted to talk to you." Stefan pulls out the picture of Isobel and hands it to Damon, who looks at it with his usual smugness. "This is the woman, Isobel, from North Carolina. Remember her now?"

"Who wants to know?"

"I do."

"Who else wants to know?"

"Did you kill her?"

"Sorry. Don't know her." Damon walks past Stefan and looks back at him. "Hey, are you coming? The Real Housewives of Mystic Falls await."

* * *

Damon and Carol are talking at the Grill. "I've got the big date planned. It's a romantic dinner, secluded spot somewhere woodsy." He tells her.

"You're making me think I should buy a ticket."

"Well, you are in charge. You could always rig it." Damon says this with a sly smirk before he spots Liz entering the Grill. "Mmm. Pardon me." He rubs Carol's arm before walking over to Liz. They retreat into a corner.

Liz has a folder in her hand. "I ran the check on the history teacher. You want this before or after your big debut?"

"How's it look?"

Liz hands Damon the folder and he begins looking through it. "He checks out. Couple of speeding tickets. It's a rough story, though. Turns out his wife went missing a few years back in North Carolina."

"North Carolina? She have a name?"

"Yeah. Isobel." She flips back to a page containing Isobel's photo.

Damon looks at it. "Isobel." He looks out into the Grill at Alaric with a mischievous look on his face.

* * *

Trinity walks to the table she finds Elena and Jenna at. "Hey." She greets.

"Hi." They smile.

Trinity looks at the stage and looks at Jenna. "So did you get a ticket? We all know that you're hot for the teacher." She says, making Jenna laugh.

"Maybe I just came to watch him embarrass himself."

"Or to scope out your competition." Elena adds.

* * *

Stefan enters the Grill as Carol introduces each of the bachelors on stage. "And what do you do, Bachelor Number 3?"

"Yeah, I'm a plumber."

"Well, isn't that wonderful? We could always use more plumbers. Moving on." She says. "Number 4, 'Alaric Saltzman'. Wow. That's quite a mouthful. What do you do, Alaric?"

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High."

"Oh, beauty and brains, ladies. This one's a keeper." She smiles. "What do you teach?"

"History."

"History. Oh, well, give us a fun fact about Mystic Falls, something crazy."

Alaric looks over at Damon, who places his hand up to his ear, sarcastically anticipating a response. "Uh, well…" He fumbles.

Carol pulls the microphone away. "He's probably saving the best stories for his date." She moves down the line. "And last, but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."

* * *

Stefan stops in the middle of the room and looks at Elena, who smiles at him and waves from a table she is sharing with Jenna and Trinity. Stefan smiles back and waves, then looks back at the stage.

* * *

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card." Damon tells her.

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?"

"Oh, yeah. L.A., New York. Couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually. I think-I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you, Ric?" He turns to look at Alaric, who does the same. "Yeah, 'cause I-I know your wife did." He tells him. Stefan becomes alert and looks over at Elena. Her face starts to falter. Trinity looks at Elena with concern. Stefan makes his way over to her. "I had a drink with her once. She was-she was a great girl. I ever tell you that? Cause she was…delicious. Mmm! Mmm mmm mmm."

* * *

Elena's mouth hangs open. Her eyes filled with tears as she stares at Damon. Jenna looks over at her. "Are you ok?"

"I just need some air." Elena gets up.

"I'll go with you." Trinity says, following her. They walk past Stefan and out of the Grill. Stefan follows after them.

* * *

Outside, Trinity watches as Elena paces around. Stefan exits the Grill and approaches them. Elena turns to face him.

"Elena." He says.

"He killed her? Damon was the vampire that killed her?"

"I don't know what happened. Alaric said that they never found the body."

"Oh, my god. Stefan."

"I know. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you. But I just…I wanted to know more."

"I was feeling sorry for him, hoping that this whole Katherine thing would change him. I'm so stupid."

"He doesn't know about the connection to you. I thought about confronting him, but he's already so on edge."

"Why are you protecting him?"

"Because you're not the only one hoping that he might actually change." Trinity says.

Elena shakes her head slightly as her and Stefan look at each other. Elena looks over Stefan's shoulder and back up at him, but does a double take when she recognizes the man from earlier down the street.

Trinity looks as well. "That man."

Stefan turns around and looks at the man, who watches them. "We saw that man outside of Trudie's." Elena tells him.

"Get back inside. Come on." Stefan gently pushes Elena back inside the Grill, waiting for Trinity to go as well before following.

* * *

Elena walks back into the Grill, still upset and shocked. As she continues walking and not paying attention to where she's going, she runs right into Damon. Trinity steadies her.

"Whoa. Easy there. Buy a ticket like everyone else." Damon teases.

Elena glares at him. "Did you enjoy that? Rubbing it in to Alaric Saltzman?"

"What?" He asks, confused.

"Just as I was starting to think that there was something redeemable about you."

Stefan walks up to them. "Elena." He shakes his head. Trinity puts a hand on her shoulder.

Damon looks between the three. "Am I missing something here?"

"Did I forget to mention earlier when we were talking about my birth mother? The one that gave me up?"

"Mm-hm." He nods.

"Her name was Isobel." Damon's face falters. "Go ahead. Reminisce about how you killed her." Elena rams into Damon's shoulder as she walks past him.

"Elena." Trinity follows after her. Stefan and Damon exchange looks and Stefan leaves to follow them.

* * *

Outside, Elena has left the Grill, Stefan and Trinity behind her.

"Come on. Let's get you home." Stefan says.

"Yeah, let's go Elena." Trinity agrees.

Elena stops abruptly when she sees the man from earlier standing in front of her. Trinity takes Elena's hand and tugs her back a few steps. Stefan sees him too and stands slightly in front of Elena, placing his hand out to protect her.

"I have a message for you." The man tells Elena with a blank face.

"What?" She asks.

"Who are you?" Stefan asks.

He ignores their questions. "Stop looking."

"Stop looking for what?" Trinity asks.

"She doesn't want to know you. She doesn't want to talk to you."

"Isobel?" Elena says.

"You need to stop looking. Do you understand?"

"She's alive? Does that mean she's a-" Elena starts to inch forward, but Stefan puts his arm back to keep her behind him.

"Elena, he's under compulsion." He tells her.

"Do you understand?"

She nods. "Yes. I do."

"Good." The man looks down the street. Trinity follows his gaze with her eyes. "I'm done now." The man steps backwards into the road. A large truck blares its horn. Trinity wraps her arms around Elena and turns her away as the truck hits the man.

A moment after the incident, they run into the middle of the street. People around them are yelling. Stefan kneels down and looks at the man. Elena sees a phone that must have fallen out of the man's pocket and picks it up. Stefan quickly stands up and grabs Elena's arm. "Come on. Let's get out of here. Come on." He says. Elena places the phone in her pocket as she Stefan and Trinity drag her off.

* * *

Carol holds up a ticket and reads the number. "37649."

Many of the women in the crowd make disappointed sounds. Jenna raises her hand. "That's me."

"Congratulations." Jenna walks up to Carol and takes her ticket. "And Bachelor Number 5, Damon Salvatore." She pulls out a ticket. "37552. Would you look at that? 37552. What are the chances? Me." She looks around for Damon. "Where'd he go?"

Alaric walks over to Jenna who hands her ticket to Caroline. "I'll call you later." He tells her before leaving.

* * *

Damon walks across the parlor and prepares to make a drink. Quietly, Alaric enters the room with a stake in his hand. "Are you really this stupid?" He finishes pouring his drink and turns around to look at Alaric who is standing behind him. "Guess so." He takes and drink, places his glass down, and flashes to Alaric, throwing him across the room. Alaric lands on the floor, heavily, but quickly gets back up, ready to attack. "You gonna put down the stake?" Alaric remains in an attacking stance. "Wow. That's courage." He walks towards the man.

"Where's Isobel? What have you done to my wife?"

"You want me to tell you I killed her? Would that make you happy? Because I think you know what happened."

"I saw you feeding on her."

"Yeah, I did, and I wasn't lying. She was delicious." He smiles. Alaric rushes at Damon, who hits him in the stomach. Alaric keels over falling back onto the floor. "Oh, come on. What do you think happened? Not an inkling? Never considered the possibility?" Alaric looks up at him. "I turned her." He reveals.

"Why?"

"She came to me. All pathetic, looking for vampires. There was something about her, something I liked. There was something special."

"You turned her because you liked her?" Alaric ask in disbelief.

"No, I slept with her because I liked her. I turned her because she begged me to. Yeah. But you knew that, too, didn't you? Hmm. I guess she wasn't happy at home, wasn't happy with life in general, wasn't happy with you." Alaric rushes at him again, but Damon grabs the stake from Alaric's hands and stabs him in the chest, puncturing his lung. Alaric yells in pain. "Ah, this is a shame. We're kindred spirits, abandoned by the women we love. Unrequited love sucks." He removes the stake from Alaric's chest, who wheezes. "Sounds like I got a lung. Which means I get to sit here and watch you die." He tosses him to the floor. Alaric gasps for air and places his hands over his wound. Damon throws the stake down, grabs his drink, and sits down on the sofa as he watches Alaric take one last breath before he dies.

* * *

Stefan and Trinity walk up to the porch, when she puts her hand on Stefan's chest. "I smell blood. Fresh." She opens the door and they walk in.

* * *

Damon takes a swig from his glass as he looks at Alaric's dead body. Stefan and Trinity walk in the room and look at Alaric. They rush over to the body and kneel down next to it, checking for a pulse. "What happened? What did you do?" Stefan asks.

"Do what? He attacked me."

Stefan sits up and looks at Damon. "Damon."

"All I did was tell him the truth. His wife didn't want him anymore. It's not my fault he couldn't handle it."

"Like you've been handling Katherine?" Trinity says.

"I'm handling it fine. You know what? Isobel came to me. She found me. And if she's related to Elena, that means she's related to Katherine. Maybe Katherine sent her to me."

"Stop it. You don't have to keep looking." Stefan tells him.

"Damon you're reaching." Trinity says.

"Can't be a coincidence Isobel sought me out. Mm-mmm. Can't." He points to Alaric. "I'm assuming you'll take care of this." Damon gets up and leaves the room.

Stefan, exhausted by Damon's actions, sits down next to Alaric's body. Trinity looks at Alaric's body with a look of confusion. "What the hell?" She asks. Stefan looks at her. She bends closer to Alaric's chest. _How is his heart beating again?_

Suddenly, they see Alaric's fingers move. Trinity backs up. Stefan furrows his brow and leans over Alaric. Suddenly, Alaric gasps back to life, panting heavily. He sits up, confused. "What happened? What's going on?"

"You were just…" Stefan trails off. "Did Damon turn you?"

"No. I-I went for him and then he, uh-he stabbed me."

"You went for him with just a stake? Are you stupid?" Trinity asks.

Stefan shakes his head. "No, no, no. You must have vampire blood in your system. Somebody slipped it to you."

Alaric flexes his fingers. "No. It's, uh, it's something else."

"Then how?"

"I, uh…" Alaric looks down at the ring on his right hand. "Isobel." He breathes. "This ring protected me."

"That's impossible." Trinity says.

"I know."

* * *

Elena is in her bed. She picks up a picture in a frame from her bedside. The picture is of her and her parents. She looks at it for a moment then places it down on her lap. She grabs the cell phone that she took from the man that was run over. Elena opens the phone and finds the last number that was dialed. Before she can change her mind, Elena calls the number and places the phone to her ear.

After a few rings, a woman picks up on the other end. _"Was there a problem? Did you find her? What's going on?"_

"Isobel?" Elena asks. Isobel hangs up without another word. Elena shuts the phone, tears in her eyes.

* * *

Harper is walking down a path through the woods. He approaches a house and knocks on the door. The woman that Harper saw in the Town Square earlier answers the door. "Pearl, it's Harper." She calls.

Pearl and Anna walk to the front door and woman goes back into the house. "I'm glad you found us. Ms. Gibbons, this gentleman is a friend of mine." Miss Gibbons comes up from behind Pearl. "May he come in?"

"Any friend of Pearl's is a friend of mine. Please do. Come in." The compelled woman smiles.

"Annabelle, close the door, please." Pearl says. Harper enters the house and walks off with Pearl and Miss Gibbons. Anna looks at into the woods as she shuts the door.


	16. There Goes the Neighborhood

Chapter Sixteen: There Goes the Neighborhood

At the high school, Stefan talks to Trinity and Elena. "Damon hasn't said a word to me. Every time I try to talk to him he shuts me down."

"Do you think he's still trying to find Katherine?" Elena asks.

"I don't know." Stefan shakes his head.

"He waited a 145 years only to find out that Katherine could not care less. I mean it's gotta hurt, right?" Trinity says.

"And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." Elena sighs.

"You have every reason to be upset with him. Have you thought any more about what you're going to do?" Stefan asks.

"About what? Isobel, my vampire birth mother, who's related to my vampire ancestor Katherine, who screwed over your vampire brother? Nah…I haven't thought about it at all." She says, sarcastically.

"I'm sorry I brought it up."

"It'd just be nice if we could get through one day without having to deal with any of it."

"Yeah." Trinity agrees with her.

"No vampire mother or brother."

"No vampires at all?" Stefan smiles.

"No vampires but you. I just want to get us back to normal stuff like school and homework and here's a thought: fun."

"Ooh, that sounds good to me, when do we start?" They laugh and say their goodbyes.

* * *

Later, Caroline speaks to Stefan and Elena. "I'm thinking nothing huge, just a dinner at the Grill maybe a late movie."

"You mean like a double date?" Stefan asks.

"Two pair out on a Friday night coupled. Yeah a double date." Caroline nods.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Elena asks her.

"Why not? We all haven't gone out together before and I don't want it to be uncomfortable for us. Look the couple dynamics have changed and there's been a little awkwardness between you, Matt, and me and I just think it's important that we get over it."

"I don't know."

"I think that sounds like a great idea." Stefan says.

Elena turns to him. "You do?"

"Yeah. A nice evening out with friends. Sounds fun, as in 'fun'."

Elena looks back at Caroline. "A double date it is."

"Ok. So, we will see you tonight." Caroline smiles.

"Ok." Elena says as she watches her friend walk away. She looks at Stefan. "Ok."

* * *

Damon enters the house to find Anna and Pearl are waiting for him.

"Hello Damon." Pearl greets.

"Ever hear of knocking?"

"An invitation wasn't necessary. I'm surprised that no living person resides here. Is it just you and your brother?"

"Yeah. How do you keep out unwelcome vampires?" Anna asks.

"I kill them." Damon runs towards Pearl and tries to strangle her.

Pearl twists his wrist, hearing the bones breaks and pushes him to the floor. "Have a seat, Damon. I was hoping we could have a word."

"Sure."

* * *

Jeremy is on his computer chatting on a vampire's website. 'How do you become a vampire?' He types in. He waits a moment before he gets a couple replies.

'Brad Pitt changed me.'

'Go to Vegas ask for Wayne Newton.'

'How do you kill a vampire?' He types in.

'The blood of Paula Abdul.'

'Serious answers only please.' He types.

'Stake in the heart always works.'

Jeremy's eyes light up at the answer. 'You're a believer?'

'Aren't you?'

* * *

"We've taken up residence at a farmhouse just outside the town. It'll suffice for now." Pearl tells Damon.

"All 25 vampires?"

"Not all, some. I imagine that a few have already left town. Others are probably still in the woods or like us acclimating."

He looks between Pearl and Anna. "How did they get out of the tomb?"

"I think the witch screwed up that part of her hocus pocus." Anna says.

"I understand from Anna that the founding families still have a secret council?" Pearl asks.

"And you're a part of it." Anna says.

Damon scoffs. "That's ridiculous."

"I've been in Mystic Falls since the comet, Damon. I'm up to speed."

"And so am I." Pearl says. "And now that you've infiltrated the council, I'll need to know everything they know. Starting with a list of the names of all the council members and their families."

"And everyone you've supplied with vervain." Anna adds.

"Yes, that will have to stop immediately."

"Also, who and what that little guard dog of yours is."

"What exactly are you trying to achieve?" Damon asks.

"Mystic Falls is our home, Damon. They took that from us. Our land, our home. It's time we rebuild." Pearl tells him.

"What, are you crazy? It was 1864. Wake up woman. The world has moved on."

"As a reward for your help I'm willing to give you what you want most."

"I want nothing."

"Katherine."

Damon shakes his head. "You wouldn't even know where she was. You've been under the ground for the last century and a half."

"Katherine and I were best friends long before we came to Mystic Falls, Damon. I know how she thinks, I know her patterns, I know where to find her."

"I no longer have any desire to see Katherine ever again. And there's no way in hell I'm gonna play the role of your little minion."

Pearl gets up and pushes Damon on the couch. "I'm not asking for your help, Damon. Finding Katherine was just a mere gesture of kindness. The rest is non-negotiable." She puts her fingers in Damon's eyes and pushes him on the floor. "I have four hundred years on you, little boy. I'll rip you from limb to limb without even blinking and you know it. I'll be in touch." Pearl and Anna leave the house.

* * *

Stefan knocks on Elena's door. She smiles when she opens it. "You got me flowers!"

"I figured it's a date, why not do it right? I would have driven too but you're the one with the car."

"You know, you think that for someone who was around when the car was invented you would have one."

"Oh, I have one. I just never drive it."

"You know, it's not too late to cancel."

"Why we would do that?"

"I don't know, it just seems surreal. Like maybe we weren't meant to get to the normal part."

"That's exactly why we're going to do it. We're going to go out, have some fun and try to remember that we don't have to be so serious. Listen, when I decided to stay here and to get to know you, it so that I could do things like this. Bring my girlfriend flowers, take her out on a date, and try to be normal."

"Have you ever even been on a double date before?"

"Oh, absolutely. '72, Hef and the twins."

"What?" Elena asks, shocked.

"Yeah…playmates. I got Miss June."

"Are you serious?"

* * *

Trinity walks into her basement in a tank top and yoga pants. She looks towards the punching bag towards the back of the room. _I'm glad I kept some stuff from that home gym phase. _She thinks. _Now I just have to find a focus for my emotions. This seems like a good idea, due to my recent aggression problems. _She walks towards a dresser and pulls her drawer open, finding the wrap she was searching for. After a few minutes, she finally has her hands wrapped. She stands in front of the punching bag, and throws a hard jab.

* * *

Jenna is waiting for Anna and Pearl in front of her brother in law's office.

"Miss Sommers?" Pearl asks.

"Yes. Hi Pearl." Jenna smiles and shakes her hand.

"Hi. This is my Daughter, Annabelle."

"Of course, Jeremy's friend."

"Nice to see you, Miss Sommers." Anna smiles.

"Oh, Jenna, please. This property was in my brother in law's family for generations. It's one of the originals structure in Mystic Falls. It used to be one of those old fashioned drugstore thingies."

"An apothecary?" Pearl asks.

"Yeah."

"You don't say." Pearl comments as Anna's attention is on Jeremy walking down the street.

"Sorry if it's a little musty." Jenna unlocks the door. "No one has been here for months."

"I'll use my imagination." Pearl enters the office and turns back. "Annabelle?"

Anna looks away. "I'm coming mother." She walks through the door.

* * *

"I hate this house." Frederick comments.

"It's better than the tomb." Beth-Anne says.

"I didn't stay locked up for a hundred and forty five years to end up locked here."

"Maybe you should quit complaining." Harper tells him.

Frederick gets up and walks toward Harper. "You're going to stop me?"

"Let it be Frederick. You heard what Pearl said." Beth-Anne warns him.

"I don't care what Pearl said." He looks back to Harper. "What you got boy?" Harper gets up and pushes Frederick on the couch. Frederick pushes Harper against the wall. "Try that again."

Pearl arrives and strangles Frederick. "Back off. Back off! We don't fight each other. Those are the rules."

"And I'm tired of your rules. I want out of this house. Why can't we go out on the town?"

"Eventually. But for now we have to keep a low profile."

"No one knows who I am."

"The Salvatore brothers do."

"And I wish to hell that I could run into them. They're the reason we were caught in the first place."

* * *

At the Mystic Grill, Elena, Stefan, Caroline, and Matt sit at a table.

"So, Matt, How do you like working here?" Elena asks.

"It's not that bad. Wait staff is pretty good and they can't keep a bartender to save their lives. I actually put my mom up for a job."

"How has that been? Having Kelly back?"

He sighs. "You know, same old Kelly. She's trying, sort of."

She turns to Stefan. "Kelly and my mom were best friends growing up. That's how Matt and I first met, we shared a crib together."

"You're kidding?" Stefan says.

"No, we have known each other our whole lives." Matt tells him. Elena and Matt look each other. Caroline sighs. Everyone turn their heads and sees Damon, Kelly and Jenna drinking together. "You got to be kidding me." Matt groans.

* * *

Trinity, now sweaty punches the bag harder and harder. She backs away and takes a deep breath. _This isn't working. I have to find some way to control this. I need to be able to remember what goes on during those blackouts, to try to have some form of control. _An idea pops into her head. _This is gonna be bad, but it's a start. _She closes her eyes and begins to picture Stefan, Elena, and Damon. Her mind runs through scenarios, all of them ending with the three, beaten, broken,…dead. Her eyes snap open, revealing pools of black instead of the warm chocolate they usually are.

* * *

Frederick and Beth-Anne are going out the house. Harper catches them. "Where are you going?"

"Beth-Anne and I are going out for a bit. Hit the town, kick up our heels."

"We're not supposed to leave. Miss Pearl made that very clear."

"You're going to stop me?" Frederick asks. He waits for a moment. "I didn't think so."

Harper watches them while they leave the house.

* * *

Hearing someone knock on the door, Jeremy goes down the stairs and opens the door. "Anna?" He asks.

"Surprised?"

"I thought you and your mom were leaving town."

"Change of plans. Sorry, I thought you'd be psyched."

"No, no, no. I mean…I am. Of course I am."

"Alright then, step aside." Anna enters in the house.

* * *

Caroline, Elena, Stefan and Matt are at the pool table. They're watching Damon, Kelly and Jenna.

"At least they're having fun." Caroline says.

"They're drunk." Elena tells her.

"Remember when Elena's parents busted us here after the homecoming?" Matt asks with a smile on his face.

Caroline laughs. "Oh my god yes!"

Elena turns to Stefan. "Well, we were wasted; it was the first time I ever got drunk. I blame Matt."

"Her parents got seated at the next booth." He explains.

"And Matt had me pretend that I was choking so we could get away."

"Except that her dad was a doctor so he jumped up to save her."

"And I ran, slipped on the wet floor and bit it in front of everyone. Do you remember that? 3 stitches, a hangover for days and I was grounded from seeing this one." She points to Matt. "For a week." Matt and Elena look at each other and laugh.

Caroline looks down for a moment. "I'm gonna go to the restroom. Elena?"

* * *

Jenna sees them on their way to the restroom. "Hide. We're not here."

"Why? Where'd we go?" Kelly asks.

"Children under our care. Five o'clock. This is not good." Jenna groans.

Kelly turns her head and sees them. "Damn!"

* * *

"What made you and your mom decide to stay in town?" Jeremy asks.

"She got this business opportunity; she's going to open up a little store. It has always been her dream. So yeah we're staying. And I'm thinking about going back to high school, so you'll be seeing a little more of me."

"Yeah?"

"Enough of homeschooling. I'd like to be a normal teen for once. But I have to ask my mom first, she'll have an opinion."

"Well, I wish you were there now. I actually have to write another paper. I was thinking about squeezing one more out on 'the vampire in Mystic Falls'." He watches her face.

"Really? Haven't you exhausted the subject?" Anna asks.

"No, I want to go deeper, you know. I want to understand why people were labeled as vampires back in the day. I mean, maybe there's such a thing has vampires, they're just different from the way we always thought they were."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, maybe they're normal and good, just outsiders you know? Um, misunderstood."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Don't you think it could be possible? You did give me all that info."

"Jeremy, I made it up ok? You were all cute and floppy and I wanted to make a good impression."

* * *

Trinity sits on all fours, breathing heavily. She looks up to see the decimated basement. _I knew this wasn't a good idea. _She thinks. _I need some air. And a bite to eat. _She stands up and carefully steps around the destroyed equipment. _I gotta replace this stuff. _She thinks as she walks up the stairs.

* * *

"Is there anything you're not good at?" Matt asks.

"Double dating." Stefan says. "This is all kind of new to me. I usually keep to myself. I don't always fit in."

"That's because you're that guy."

"What guy?"

"The guy who seems like he has everything, so the people that don't, kind of run the other way."

"Is that what I seem like?"

Matt nods. "Pretty much."

"Hmm…what a dick!"

"Yeah." Matt chuckles.

* * *

Elena is washing her hands. Caroline is standing behind her. "So um, what are you doing?"

"What?" Elena asks, turning to look at Caroline.

"Well the point of this was to show him how much you care about Stefan. You know, not to hopscotch down memory lane."

"I was just trying to make conversation."

"Try less." Caroline leaves the restroom, Elena run after her.

* * *

"Caroline." Elena is walking after Caroline, she passes Frederick.

He sees her and catches her arm. "Katherine?"

Elena looks at him, hiding her shock. "I'm sorry, you have the wrong person."

Caroline is waiting for Elena. "Elena, come on!"

"My mistake." He lets her go.

They return to the pool table with Matt and Stefan. Frederick looks at her. "How's everything going?" Elena asks.

"Matt's cheating." Stefan answers.

"No need, I'm awesome." Matt smiles.

"Stefan Salvatore." Frederick whispers.

Stefan looks at her. "Everything's okay?"

"Everything's great." She writes him a text message and shows it to him. 'That man over there just called me Katherine.'

Stefan walks toward them but they're already gone.

* * *

Elena parks her car at the boarding house. "So, you didn't recognize him, you haven't seen him before?" Stefan asks.

She shakes her head. "No, there was nothing familiar about him at all."

"Right, let's call it a night. OK? Send Matt and Caroline home? We can call Trinity. You'll give her your shirt so she can learn the scent."

"No, the whole point of the night was to not have to deal with this stuff. We need to get through one night. One normal night."

"You're sure?"

"No, I'm not sure, but I don't know what else to do. Look, if there's another vampire in town, he'll still be here tomorrow. We'll deal with it tomorrow."

"OK." Stefan nods. Matt and Caroline arrive. Matt parks his car. "It's them. Come here." He pulls her in for a kiss.

* * *

Caroline, Matt, Stefan and Elena enter the living room. "This is much better than watching Damon visit cougar town." Caroline comments before turning to Matt. "No offence."

"Don't remind me." Matt groans before turning to Stefan. "Man I've always wanted to see what it looks like in this place."

"Yeah, I guess it's a bit much." Stefan shrugs.

"Yeah, my entire house could fit in here. Like twice"

"Feel like I've been here before. It's weird." Caroline says as she looks around.

Elena squirms with an uncomfortable look on her face before she changes the subject. "Do you guys want to watch a movie or something?"

"Whoa; these are great!" Matt says as he walks towards Stefan's miniature cars collection.

"This is uh…a little hobby of mine." Stefan says.

"I did the entire Mustang series when I was 9."

"You like cars?"

"It's an understatement."

"Come with me."

* * *

Trinity is at the Grill. "Thank you." She says, as she takes the to-go bag. She turns and sees Damon, Jenna, and Kelly.

"So, the thing about cherries, you have to…" Kelly puts her finger on Damon's lips. She puts a cherry in her mouth. "Oh my goodness." He takes the cherry out of Kelly's mouth with his mouth. "That's amazing, you were fast."

"That would be my cue." Jenna says, getting up.

Kelly keeps her eyes on Damon. "You're given up already?"

"Oh yeah." She leaves the bar. "See you guys."

Trinity shakes her head and follows Jenna out of the exit.

* * *

Stefan opens the garage door. "Prepare yourself, my friend." He removes a tarp from a car.

Matt's jaw drops. "Wait, how do you have this?"

"Got passed down through the family." He opens the car's door.

"Why don't you…I mean…why don't you drive it?"

"Well, it doesn't run. I mean, it's not that I could figure out."

"Why would you keep a car that doesn't run?" Caroline asks.

"Be more of a girl right now?" Matt says, making her laugh.

"Hey, want to come take a look at this for me?" Stefan asks him.

"Elena, remember the old Camaro you're dad used to have?" Matt asks.

"Of course." She nods.

"I built and rebuilt that engine 20 times."

"Wow." Stefan says.

"I don't like sports cars; they're too hard to make out in." Caroline says.

Matt looks at Elena and speaks before thinking. "It wasn't that bad." Elena and Matt look at each other, uncomfortable. Caroline leaves the garage. Elena goes after her. He looks at Stefan. "I'm sorry man."

"No, no, no. Don't worry about it. You and Elena, you guys have a history and ignoring it doesn't do anybody any good."

"She's good with you. You know, I wasn't sure but she's happy and I'm glad." He smiles. "Alright, let's take a look at this."

* * *

Jenna walks out of the Grill. She breaks her heel.

Frederick looks at her. "Need some help?"

"Damn it! Stupid shoe."

He kneels down. "Pick up your other foot." He breaks the other heel and gives it to Jenna. "Here you go." He stands.

"Thanks, I think."

"Was that Damon Salvatore you were with?"

"The one and only. You know him?"

"We go way back. He still live out by Miller Lane?"

"He lives in the old boarding house by Wickery Bridge. He's still in there if you want to say hi."

"I prefer to stay here and talk to you." He says.

Trinity walks out of the Grill. "Jenna hey." She smiles, keeping her face composed as she catches the scent of the man.

"Hey Trinity." Jenna smiles.

Trinity motions to her car on by the curb. "I'm heading home, do you wanna ride?"

Jenna nods. "Yeah. Thanks."

"It's nothing."

"Why don't we stay here?" Frederick tries to compel them. "Talk some more?"

Trinity shakes her head. "I don't think so stranger danger." She says, unlocking her car. She waits for Jenna to get in before driving off.

Frederick watches the car leave. Beth-Anne arrives behind him. "Vervain…making it hard to find something to eat in this town." He says.

* * *

"Caroline…" Elena says.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You're being ridiculous."

"And insecure and stupid. But that doesn't change the fact that Matt's always gonna be in love with you and I'm always gonna be the back-up."

"You're not the back-up."

"Yes I'm. I'm Matt's Elena back-up; I'm your Bonnie back-up."

"Now it's about me and Bonnie?"

"You don't get it." Caroline says, frustrated. "Why would you? You're everyone's first choice." They look at each other.

Stefan and Matt pull up in the Porsche. They get out of the car. "Piece of cake!" Matt looks at Caroline.

"You know what? Why don't you guys go ahead and take it for a spin?" Stefan says.

"Really?"

He nods. "Yeah."

"Caroline?" Matt asks. She nods, before the get into the car.

Stefan and Elena watch them go. He embraces Elena. "You alright?"

"If it's not vampires, its girlfriends." She wraps her arms around him.

* * *

Jeremy and Anna are in the kitchen. "Alright. Roast beef, turkey, what do you want?" He asks.

"Let's do the works. Pile it high."

"Ok, I like your style. Will you grab the bread for me?"

"Ok." She turns to get the bread. Jeremy cuts his hand with a knife. "What are you doing?"

"It's just a cut. Can you hand me that towel?"

She looks uncomfortable. "I can't."

"You got a problem with blood Anna?" He shows her his bloody hand and walks towards her. "What's the matter? It's just blood, Anna."

She grabs him by the neck and pushes him against the fridge. "What are you doing?" Her face changes.

His face lights up. "I knew it." He shows her his hand. "Go for it." She takes his hand and begins to drink. Jenna enters. Jeremy rushes towards her. "Jenna! Hey, what's up?"

"Regret. Make sure you lock that up." She says, walking upstairs. Jeremy looks back into the kitchen, Anna has gone. He looks at his hand and smiles.

* * *

"Did I just pass the driveway?" Matt asks.

"Uh…no, I think it's up there."

"This is an amazing car. Did I pass?" He asks. Caroline looks at him in confusion. "The whole double date thing was obviously a test to see how I would do around Elena."

"I don't know. You were reminiscing about the Elena years the whole night so…"

"Caroline that stuff came before. It's not just gonna go away."

"I know that okay? I know."

"No, you don't. Because, you're letting Elena turn you into a crazy person. Look it's my fault. I made it pretty clear early on that Elena still means something to me. But all that talk, that was just two old friends and some memories. Tonight wasn't about me and Elena. I was there because I wanted to be with you. And I don't know what this means or what we are but I do know that you are the only person I want to be in this car with right now. And I don't even know if that makes sense because I'm not really that good at expressing myself."

She shakes her head. "No, no. I think you're doing just fine." She kisses him.

* * *

Damon and Kelly enter the boarding house. Damon makes a drink, takes a sip, and hands it to Kelly.

"Now that you've got me here." She takes a sip. "What are you gonna do with me?"

"I'm going to…going to do this." He kisses her. He pushes her against the wall. They kiss each other.

Caroline and Matt enter the house and interrupt them. "Mom?!"

"Damon?!"

"Oh my god, Matt!" Kelly says, embarrassed. "Oh my god." She takes her things and leaves. Elena and Stefan arrive.

"I got to…" Matt says.

"It's fine, just go." Caroline says.

"I'll take her home." Elena motions to Caroline.

"Thanks, man." Matt gives the keys to Stefan and leaves. Caroline, Elena and Stefan look at Damon, who sips his drink.

* * *

A hawk flies into an open window of the Salvatore house. Trinity shifts into her human form.

* * *

Elena and Stefan walk out to her car. "Sorry I'm bailing." She says.

"Just wish you let me drive you home."

"Normal people don't have chaperones or bodyguards or baby-sitters. We're normal tonight, remember?"

"I know, I just get so worry about you."

"Stefan, I can't live every minute afraid that someone is gonna come after me. I won't, it's not living."

"Okay. Call me when you get home safe." He takes her face in his hands and kisses her. Stefan opens her car door for her and Elena gets in.

"Bye Stefan." Caroline waves.

"Goodbye." He closes the car's door. He watches them leave and goes back inside. Frederick watches him while he closes the door.

* * *

Trinity walks down the stairs. "When did you get here?" Stefan asks.

"About ten minutes ago. I was waiting for you guys to finish saying goodbye." She answers.

They walk into the living room and Stefan looks at Damon.

"Don't look at me like that." Damon groans.

"Are you crazy?" He asks.

"Save the lecture. Look-"

Frederick jumps through the window, jumps on Stefan and stabs him with a piece of glass. Damon pushes him off Stefan and starts to fight with Frederick. Stefan removes the piece of glass. Beth-Anne arrives and begins to fight with Stefan. Trinity's eyes go black as pulls her off him and holds her down, claws around her throat. Stefan breaks the leg off of a chair and stabs her in the heart. Damon sends Frederick across the living room. Frederick looks at the three and then looks at Beth-Anne, who is dead and flees.

"That was what I was gonna tell you about." Trinity says.

"I remember them from 1864. They were in the tomb." Stefan says.

"Yeah…about that." Damon says, causing them to look at him.

* * *

Elena is in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. Jeremy walks in. "How was your night?" She asks.

"Ah…same old. Same old…you?"

"Yep."

* * *

Pearl is taking a bottle of blood from the fridge when Frederick arrives. "So, where is Beth-Anne?" She asks.

"She won't be coming back." He tells her.

"What happened? Where is she?"

"Well, you were right." He looks at Anna. "We shouldn't have left."

"No." Pearl says. "Hungry?" She holds up the bottle. Frederick is still looking at Anna while Pearl is pouring blood in a glass. She puts the glass down and takes a wooden spoon out of the drawer. She flashes to Frederick and stabs him with the spoon. He groans and keels over. She snatches the spoon out and throws it into the sink. She picks up her glass and sits down. "Next time you'll listen to me."

Anna aims a smug smile at Frederick.

* * *

Elena is on the phone with Stefan. "I'm home, teeth brushed, and ready for bed. Safe and sound."

"_Good, good. I'm glad."_

"Is everything alright? You sound serious."

"_No, no, no, no. Not tonight, you still have a few minutes left of normal. I'll tell you about it tomorrow okay?"_

"I had a really nice time on our date tonight."

"_Such a liar."_

She chuckles. "No, I'm serious. In a way it was exactly what it was supposed to be."

"_I had a really nice time too."_ They say their goodbyes and hang up.

* * *

Trinity and Stefan watch as Damon drags Beth-Anne's body into the fireplace. He looks at them. "Could you help me out a little bit?"

* * *

Jeremy enters his bedroom and is startled to see Anna there. "What the hell?" He asks.

"I could have killed you!"

"Yeah, but you didn't."

"I should have."

"But you didn't."

"How did you know?"

"I knew this girl. Vicki. She was attacked by an animal, a bite to the neck. She started acting crazy, weird, and it seemed like drugs, but then you showed me those articles. And then I saw your face and how it changed the night in the cemetery when I kissed you."

"You know you can't tell anyone, right?"

"Who would believe me?"

"You'd be surprised." She tells him.

"Why didn't you kill me?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm a sucker for guys like you."

"Like what?"

"Lost. Why would you confront me about it? Why would you risk it?"

"Because if it was true, maybe it's true about Vicki. And also because…I want you to turn me."


	17. Let The Right One In

A/N: Over 50 reviews! Thanks so much! I love to read what you guys think about this story, it's great to see feedback. Hopefully it will be 100 reviews soon. The more you review, the more I update. Here's the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Let the Right One In

A storm is starting outside. Elena is asleep in her bed. The wind from the storm blows her bedroom window open and Elena wakes with a start. She goes over to the window and closes it.

* * *

In Jeremy's room, Anna is looking at the storm outside of his window. "I love storms." She says.

"Is that a vampire thing? Cause I read vampires don't like running water."

"It's only Dracula. Yeah. He was a complete wuss. Never showered. Very smelly."

"Seriously?" He asks.

Anna rolls her eyes. "First rule about vampires, don't believe anything you read."

"You gotta tell me more. I gotta know."

"No, you don't. Cause you're not gonna be one."

"Come on, you can't keep saying 'no' to me."

"Look, I'm not gonna turn someone who learned everything he knows about vampires from Netflix."

"That's not true, and you know it."

"Why do you even want this? Give me one good reason."

"Cause I…" He trails off.

"Hmm. Let me know when you can finish that sentence."

Elena knocks on Jeremy's door and enters his room. Anna leaves. "Hey, you're still up." She says.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Looks like the there's a big storm rolling in. Can you help make sure all the windows are closed?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Sure." He nods.

* * *

Trinity walks into Stefan's room and plops onto his bed. "Wakey, wakey." She shakes his shoulder.

Stefan's rubs the sleep from his eyes. "Good morning Trinity." He groans. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I can't sleep with rain this hard." She tells him. "I need you to take my mind of things so I don't focus on my hearing. It's annoying you know. Like that clock that you can hear ticking from across the room; but instead of a clock, its millions of drums."

"I can see how that would be annoying." Stefan says.

She nods. "I know. So…" She drags out the word. "Since you're old as dirt, you know how to ballroom dance right?"

"Yes?" He says.

She holds up her iPod. "I was just thinking that since we have time to spare, that you can teach me."

"No."

"What?!" She asks. "Just like that? You didn't even think about it."

"I don't dance."

"Lie."

"Okay. I don't like to dance." He tells her. "And why do you want to learn anyway?"

"Because it's something that requires focus but is still fun to do." She explains. "So please, please teach me." She pleads. When Stefan doesn't answer she shifts into a puppy and looks at Stefan with big, wide eyes.

Stefan shakes his head. "Fine." He says. Trinity pounces on him and licks all over his face. Stefan chuckles. "Okay, okay."

Trinity gets off of him and shifts back into her human form. "Thank you." She says. She walks over to his stereo and plugs her iPod in. She turns around and stands in the middle of the room. "Get up."

Stefan sighs as he goes to join his friend.

* * *

Pearl comes to talks with Frederick.

"We're running low on blood." He tells her. "You might wanna send Anna to the hospital for some more."

"I'll send her out for some tomorrow."

"Maybe I could go with her. If the storm keeps it dark enough, I might be able to go out during the day, no sun and all."

"I'm afraid not after your stunt at the Salvatore house last night."

"He and his brother deserved it." He defends.

"And where did that get you? Your girlfriend Beth-Anne is dead. And you have no one to blame but yourself. We cannot live our lives about revenge. We have to have better control of our emotions."

"I understand, Miss Pearl. I just wish I knew what you were up to."

"I'm going to make an exploratory visit into town tomorrow to assess who's under the influence of vervain and who isn't. Anna tells me that the players haven't changed much. It's still the Lockwood's, the Forbes, the Fell's…"

"We should kill every last one of them." He says.

"We are smarter than that, Frederick. These people are not our enemies. We don't hold grudges and resentments. We'll get our town back. We just have to have patience." She tells him before leaving.

Frederick looks at the other vampires that enter the room. "You heard her. No revenge. Patience. Self-control. She seems to have it all figured out, doesn't she?" He holds up a stake.

* * *

"Okay, you're getting it." Stefan says. "Now, one more time." He leads Trinity around the room. "I've never heard this song before, what is it?"

"It's called 'Anywhere'." She tells him. "By Evanescence."

"It's nice." He says.

They dance for a few more minutes before Trinity speaks up. "Elena's here. I've gotten used to her scent." She steps away from him. "Thank you for the lesson."

Stefan lifts her hand and presses a kiss to it. "You're very welcome."

Trinity smiles and turns off the stereo. "This was nice. We should do this more often."

"I don't know about that."

"Oh come on, it could be our thing." She says. "Don't act like you didn't have fun."

Stefan sighs. "Maybe I did."

"It will be our little secret." She tells him. "No one has to know that Stefan Salvatore: brooding extraordinaire, likes to dance and have fun." She teases.

* * *

Damon boards up the window that Frederick and Beth-Anne broke through. Stefan, Trinity, and Elena watch him. "I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night." He says.

"Yeah. And then what? We turn to the rest of that house of vampires and say, 'Oops. Sorry?'" Stefan asks. Trinity laughs.

"I can't believe you made a deal with her." Elena shakes her head.

"It was more like a helpful exchange of information. And it's not like I had a choice. She's…scary. Besides, she's gonna help me get Katherine back." Damon says, making Trinity roll her eyes.

"Of course she is. Damon gets what he wants, as usual. No matter who he hurts in the process."

"You don't have to be snarky about it."

"I woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires have been released from the tomb. I've earned snarky." She says with an annoyed look on her face.

"How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"

"I'm not blaming you, Damon. I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities." She smiles.

"Ouch." He says.

"This isn't being very productive." Stefan says. "We're gonna figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires. Yeah? Hmm." Damon leaves the room.

Stefan embraces Elena. "I'm sorry. He just makes me so cranky." Elena tells him.

"I know. He makes everybody cranky."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"Damon, Trinity, and I are gonna handle everything. I promise." He tells her. Trinity nods.

"Well, what about me? I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"That's exactly what you're gonna do, because that's what going to keep you safe." Trinity says.

"Which means nothing if you're not safe, too." Elena tells them.

"What do you mean? I'm perfectly safe." Stefan says. "I have Damon, the self-serving psychopath on my side."

"And me and Stefan are like the super BFF's. We have each other's backs." Trinity says.

"Well, that's comforting." Elena smiles.

"And I totally have an idea on how to get rid of the tomb vampires." Trinity speaks, making Stefan and Elena look at her. "But I will admit, that it will only work if you're 100% sure that we can get away with arson in broad daylight." She finishes, causing them to roll their eyes.

* * *

Eventually, Elena leaves. Trinity watches Damon fix a clock when Stefan walks downstairs in a hoodie.

"Hunting party?" Damon asks.

"That guy did a number on me last night when he stabbed me. I gotta get my strength back up." He explains.

"I've got 2 liters of soccer mom in the fridge." Damon offers and looks at Stefan blank face. "No?"

"We'll talk when I get back?"

"All right. Give my regards to the squirrels." He says as Stefan leaves. He turns to Trinity. "Does it bother you that he eats all of your cousins?"

* * *

Stefan is out hunting. He turns around and there are vampires surrounding him. Frederick stabs him in the stomach with a stake. "Aah!" He yells in pain.

* * *

After a while Trinity turns to Damon. "He only got stabbed. What could be taking him this long?" She asks.

"Call him." He tells her.

"I can't, my phones dead."

Damon takes out his cellphone and puts it to his ear. He frowns after a moment. "He's not answering." He says before redialing. "Nothing."

Trinity has a worried look on her face. "Try Elena, maybe he's with her."

He dials Elena and puts the phone to his ear. "It went to voicemail."

"Try again." Trinity stands up, grabbing her jacket.

"Voicemail."

"Grab your keys." She says. "We're going over there." She take his phone. "I'll keep trying while you drive."

* * *

"She's still not picking up." Trinity says as Damon drives to the Gilbert house. "What if he's not there?"

"Keep your hopes up." He tells her.

* * *

Elena's phone rings. She notices its Damon and ignores it. She hears a knock on the door and answers it. Damon and Trinity enter.

"You're ignoring me." He says.

"The 6 missed calls? Sorry. My phone is dead." She tells him sarcastically.

"Is Stefan here?" He asks. Trinity looks at him and shakes her head.

"No." Elena says. "Why? Something wrong?"

"He went out in the woods and didn't come back. I can't get him on his phone. We figured he was here with you." He explains.

Elena dials him. "It's going straight to voicemail. Where could he be?"

Damon sighs. "You're not going to like what I'm thinking."

* * *

Damon pulls up to Miss Gibbon's house and turns to Trinity. "Keep her here." He points at Elena. He gets out of the car and walks up the poor. He bangs on the door. "Pearl! Open this door. I swear to God I'll bust through and rip your head off."

Frederick opens the door. "Pearl's not home." He says before looking up at the sky. "Hmm. Beautiful weather. Not a ray of sun in the sky.

"Where's my brother?"

"Billy." He calls. Two vampires drag Stefan into the hallway.

* * *

"What are they saying?" Elena asks.

Trinity shakes her head. "I don't know. I can't hear around the rain."

* * *

"You're dead." Damon has a murderous look on his face. He tries to enter the house but bounces back.

"Whoa. I'm sorry. You haven't been invited in. Miss Gibbons?" Frederick calls.

The woman walks up to them. "Yes, Frederick, honey?"

"Never let this bad man in." He compels her.

"I'll never let him in."

"Ugh!" Stefan groans.

"145 years left starving in a tomb, thanks to Katherine's infatuation with you and your brother." Frederick tells him. "First few weeks, every single nerve in your body screams with fire. The kind of pain that can drive a person mad. Well…I thought your brother might want to get a taste of that before I killed him. Billy."

Billy stabs Stefan with a stake. "Uhh! Aah!" Stefan yells.

"You have a nice day." Frederick smiles, shutting the door in Damon's face.

* * *

Elena gets out of the car when she sees Damon approaching. "What happened? Where is he?" She asks.

"They have him. I can't get in." He tells them. Trinity gets out of the car.

"Why not?" Elena asks.

"Because the woman who owns the house is compelled to not let me in."

"I can get in." Trinity says as her eyes begin to darken.

"Me too." Elena says.

Trinity starts to walk towards the house when Damon grabs her. "You're not going in there." He says before turning to Elena. "And neither are you."

"I'm going!" Elena argues.

Trinity growls and struggles in Damon's hold. "You're not going in there." He tells them.

"Why are they doing this? What do they want with him?" Elena asks.

"Revenge. They want revenge."

"We gotta do something."

"I know."

"We can't let them hurt him. We gotta get him out of there."

"I know. Elena, I know. But I don't know how to get him out." He tells her. "But right now, I need you to help get her under control. She's gonna get herself killed if she goes in alone." He says as Trinity thrashes in his grip.

Elena nods and walks closer to them. "Trinity." She calls. Trinity thrashes again. Elena steps closer, taking her face into her hands. She looks into her eyes. "We're going to get Stefan." Trinity growls. "But we need you to calm down. You need to be in control so we can save him." Trinity continues to struggle. "Trinity please. We're going to save Stefan, but right now we need _you. Stefan _needs you."

Trinity stops struggling as the color in her eyes return. "Let go of me." She whispers. Damon releases her and steps back, Elena doing so as well.

Elena sighs. "Thank you."

* * *

The tomb vampires are tying Stefan up in the basement. "Vervain on the ropes." Frederick says.

Stefan thrashes and scream at the pain. "Aah! Unh!"

"That's gotta sting. Speaking of…" Frederick holds up an eye dropper filled with vervain. He puts a few drops into Stefan's eyes.

"Aah!"

Harper walks in. "This isn't right!"

"He killed Beth-Anne. One of us, Harper. And don't you think for a second he wouldn't kill you if he had the chance. Pearl says we're not here for revenge, right? I say that's exactly what we're here for. Starting with this." Frederick drags a knife across Stefan's chest.

"Aah! Aah!"

"And then his brother. And anyone else that gets in our way."

"This isn't right!" Harper holds him back.

"You're gonna want to let go of me!"

"Miss Pearl will be home soon."

He pushes him back. "Miss Pearl is no longer in charge." He turns to the others. "Tie him up! And then stake him down."

* * *

Alaric is walking down the hallway when Damon appears. Alaric stops in his tracks.

"Well, don't you look…alive." Damon says.

"You can't hurt me." He says.

"Oh, I can hurt you, all right."

"Mr. Saltzman. We need your help." Elena speaks. Alaric turns to look at her and Trinity.

* * *

They go into Alaric's classroom to talk. "Stefan's in the house. Damon's a vampire. He can't get in. Trinity can, but she'd be alone." Elena explains. "We need you. I would go, but…"

"But your life is valuable." Damon says before turning to Alaric. "Yours, on the other hand is…"

"Stefan told me about your ring." She says.

"What about it?" Alaric asks.

"Let me recap…you tried to kill me. I defended myself. You died. Then according to my brother, your ring brought you back to life. Am I leaving anything out?" Damon asks.

"Yeah. The part where I try and kill you again. Only this time, I don't miss." Alaric glares at him.

"Mr. Saltzman. Please. It's Stefan."

"I'm sorry, Elena. But it's not my problem."

"That's a shame. Because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife." Damon says.

Alaric looks at him. "You're lying."

"Am I? Why don't you ask her for yourself? Coward. Come on, Elena. Trinity." Damon says and they start to leave.

Alaric speaks up. "All right! Wait. I'll go."

* * *

Alaric pulls out his arsenal of vampire weapons. Trinity sits at the back of the room with a dark look on her face.

"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night." Damon says.

"I've you to thank for that." Alaric tells him.

"What are these?" Elena points.

"Those are tranquilizer darts filled with vervain." He explains.

"Just get me in. I'll get Stefan out." Damon says.

Elena turns to him. "That's your plan? You're just gonna take them all on yourself?"

"Well, I'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully. And I'll have Trinity with me." He turns to look at her as she struggles to keep her rage under control. He turns back. "Hopefully."

Elena takes one of the vervain darts. "Whoa. What are you doing?" Alaric asks.

"I'm going with you guys."

"No. No. No. No. No way." Damon shakes his head.

"You need me. I'll get in. You could distract them, and then I'll get Stefan out."

"You'll get yourself killed. You're not going in there."

"I'm going."

"So, when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can. I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me. You'll basically just be in the way."

"Damon, now is not the time to be the lone ranger."

"I'll have Tonto with me." He motions back to Trinity. Elena continues to look at him. He sighs. "Fine. Elena, you can drive the getaway car. You're not going in the house."

"You can't stop me. It's Stefan we're talking about here. You don't understand."

"Oh, I understand. I understand. He's the reason you live. His love lifts you up where you belong. I get it." He rolls his eyes.

"Can you just not joke around for 2 seconds?"

"I can't protect you, Elena. I don't know how many vampires there are in there." He snaps his fingers. "That's how long it takes you to get your head ripped off. I have to be able to get in and get out. I can't be distracted with your safety. Or this will end up a bloodbath that none of us walk away from…including Stefan. I know. I get it. I understand."

"If we're gonna go, let's go." Alaric tells them.

* * *

Alaric knocks on the door. After a moment Frederick answers it. "Oh, good, someone's home. Uh, could I use your phone? My car broke down a few miles up the road. This was the first house I saw."

"Well, lucky you."

"Yeah. Lucky me. It's no trouble, is it?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Great. Whew." He walks into the house. "Hey, man, I really appreciate it. It's rough out there."

"Billy, show our visitor where the phone is in the kitchen. And get me something to drink."

"Yeah. Sure thing." He nods. "Hey, Miss Gibbons, this guy wants to use your phone."

She smiles. "Oh, sure, honey. It's right there."

"Thanks." Alaric walks towards the phone; Billy comes at him with a stake. Alaric is too quick for him and grabs the stake and stabs him with it.

"Aah!" Billy yells. Alaric turns on the faucet and starts the blender to create noise.

"What's happening?" Miss Gibbons asks.

"I'm really sorry. But you're gonna need to invite a friend of mine inside." Alaric opens the door and Damon and Trinity are standing outside.

"Oh, I'm sorry. He's not allowed in the house." She says.

"I know that. But you've gotta make an exception."

"Get her out of the house. Now!" Damon says. Alaric pushes her towards him. "Miss Gibbons, tell me the truth. Are you married?"

"No." She shakes her head.

"Parents, children, anyone else who lives on this property?"

"No. It's just me."

"No? Good." Damon breaks her neck and steps through the threshold. Trinity, eyes dark, steps over the body.

"You were supposed to compel her." Alaric glares.

"It doesn't work that way…"

"She is human."

"And I'm not! So, I don't care. Now, get out of here. And get rid of the body!"

* * *

Elena is waits in the car. She pulls a vervain syringe from her purse and examines it. A tree branch falls onto the car's windshield, making her gasps.

* * *

"Billy, what's the holdup?!" Frederick calls. He tells two other vampires to go see what is up.

* * *

They enter the kitchen and one turns off the sink and blender. He approaches the pantry. Damon opens the door and stakes him. "Aah!"

Trinity, on the floor in the form of a mouse, shifts back into her human form. Claws ready, she puts her hand into the other vampire's chest and rips out his heart.

* * *

Alaric runs back to the car. He opens the door and sees Elena isn't there. He grabs his bag and leaves. "Damn it, Elena!"

* * *

Elena jumps onto the porch. She stays by the wall to keep herself hidden. She starts to move on, but hears Frederick. "Billy, Jacob, Tom, get back in here!" Elena runs past the door and goes down a staircase that leads to the cellar. She tries to open the door, but it is locked. She busts out one of the windowpanes, unlocks the door and opens it. A man is standing guard by a door at the end of the hallway. Elena gets her vervain syringe out and is ready to attack, but Damon gets to the man first.

He sees Elena. "Are you insane?"

Another vampire appears behind her, but a hand covers his mouth as his heart is ripped out. His body falls to the ground, revealing Trinity.

* * *

Caroline, stuck in the rain, gets out of her car and walks around to retrieve a signal on her cell phone. She finally gets a signal, but slips and falls down the bank of the river. She pulls herself up by grabbing what she thinks is a tree branch. Instead she sees it's the decomposing body of Vicki. "Aah! Aah!" She screams.

* * *

Stefan and Harper are still trapped. "Uhh. Thank you. For trying to help me." Stefan says.

"They just needed somebody to blame. Someone to punish."

The door opens and Damon, Elena, and Trinity enter the cellar.

"Elena…" Stefan says, weakly. "You shouldn't be here…"

"She was supposed to stay in the car." Damon says and goes to stake Harper.

"Unh! No. No. No. Not him." Stefan tells him.

"Whatever. Let's get you down." He goes to untie Stefan.

"There's vervain on the ropes." He says.

Trinity swipes her claws at the ropes, making him fall to the ground. "Uhh!" He grunts. Elena goes to his side.

"All right, let's go. Clothes on." Damon says.

"Wait." He stops them.

Damon sighs. "What? Guys, come on. We have to get out of here."

Stefan and Elena pull the stakes out of Harper's legs. "Uhh!"

"Come on, we gotta go." Damon urges.

"The other one." Stefan says.

A vampire enters the room but Trinity quickly rips his heart out as well. "Uhh!"

"Can you get him in the car?" Damon asks Elena.

"Yeah."

"All right, go."

"What about you guys?"

"You rescue, we'll distract. Go."

* * *

Frederick looks around, suspicious. "Turn that down. It's too quiet." Just as he says that, one of the vampires is staked. "Spread out. Now. You two, back of the house. Go. Check out both rooms. Cellar, now."

* * *

Elena is carrying Stefan to the car.

"Uhh." He groans.

"Can you make it?"

"Uhh! Unh." They fall down. Elena cuts herself on a rock. "Ohh. You ok?"

"Yeah. Come on, keep going. Come on." Elena pulls Stefan up and they continue onwards.

* * *

Frederick sees another staked vampire in the dining room. Damon catches him by surprise. They fight. Damon gets Frederick on the floor and starts punching him. Two vampires come up from behind and pull Damon off. Trinity grabs a vampire by his neck and rips his throat out with her claws. She turns around and begins to fight another. Frederick flees. The vampires and Damon start fighting. One of them approaches Damon from behind. Damon doesn't see him, but Alaric shoots at the vampire with a dart.

"I'm going after Frederick!" Damon tells them.

* * *

Elena and Stefan arrive at the car. "Come on, it's right over here." She puts Stefan in the car and goes around to the driver's side. She sees the ignition has been removed. "Stefan…"

Frederick busts the window on Stefan's side out and drags him out. He starts beating him. "This is for Beth-Anne." He stabs Stefan with a branch.

"Aah!"

"And this is for the tomb."

"No!" Elena plunges the vervain syringe into Fredericks back.

"Ugh! Unh!" He stumbles back and falls to the ground.

"Stefan…" She sits down next to Stefan.

"Unh. Uhh." He groans and his eyes close.

Elena pulls out the branch. "Stefan…Stefan…no, Stefan. Stefan, Stefan. Stefan! Stefan!"

* * *

Alaric is reloading his dart gun. A vampire attacks him. They wrestle to the ground. Alaric stabs him with a vervain syringe. Trinity picks him up and braces her claws on his neck before ripping his throat out, leaving his head dangling. Alaric looks on in horror as she drops the body to the ground.

Damon comes back into the hallway. "Frederick's gone."

"Let's get out of here." Alaric stands up.

"I'm gonna kill him." He says. They leave the house to see more vampires approaching. "How many of those vervain darts do you have left?"

"One."

"Not gonna be enough." Damon tells him. Trinity growls.

* * *

At the Mystic Grill, Mayor Lockwood gets a phone call. "Alright, give me 10 minutes. And keep it out of the news till I get there. Grab your stuff." He looks at Tyler. "We gotta go."

"Kinda got half a burger left." Tyler says.

"They found Vicki Donovan."

"Are you serious? Where was she?"

"Storm unearthed the grave off county road. They just brought her body down to the morgue."

Jeremy turns from where he was standing, nearby. "Wait. She's dead?"

Mayor Lockwood ignores him. "Come on, we gotta go."

* * *

Elena is shaking Stefan, trying to get him to wake up. "Stefan, please. Stefan! Oh, Stefan, please get up. Get up, Stefan. Stefan." She sees that Frederick is getting up. She notices the cut on her hand and puts it up to Stefan's mouth for him to drink. "Here."

"Elena, please run." Stefan whispers.

"No."

"Please."

"Stefan. My wrist. Here. Take my wrist. You need more blood."

"Go, Elena. Run. Run…"

"No. I trust you." Elena gives Stefan her wrist. He drinks her blood.

* * *

Pearl and Anna come home, looking shocked at the scene.

"So, what you said to get me to do this, about my wife. It was a lie, wasn't it?" Alaric asks.

"Yep." Damon says.

"Stop. What's going on here?" Pearl says before looking at Damon. "What did you do?"

"Me? Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing my brother."

"Trust me. The parties responsible for this will be dealt with."

"Our little arrangement doesn't work unless you learn to control them."

"This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Well, it did. If I had a good side…not a way to get on it." Damon says before he, Trinity, and Alaric leave. Trinity growls as she passes them. Anna and Pearl look at her, taking notice of her bloody hands.

* * *

Frederick is regaining his strength. He grabs another branch and walks towards Stefan. Stefan gets up and pins Frederick to a tree. He takes the branch from Frederick and repeatedly stabs him in the heart. "Argh! Ahh! Aah! Aah!"

"Stefan. Stefan!" Elena tries to make Stefan stop. Stefan turns around; his face is still in its vampire form. Elena is frightened by him. Stefan stops, a horrified look on his face.

* * *

Elena is staring out Stefan's window when he approaches her. "How are you doing?" She asks.

"I'm ok. The wounds have mostly healed."

"Good." She nods.

"Elena…"

"Yeah?"

"What you did today, coming to help me…you could have been killed."

"I know."

"And what I did, I'm sorry that…I'm sorry that you had to see it."

"I've just never…you were like this other person. And it's my fault. I made you…"

"What? No. no. no. no. You didn't make me do anything. You were saving my life. And I was saving yours." Stefan caresses her face. "Everything's gonna be ok."

Elena's phone rings and she answers it. "Hey, Jer…what-what's going on? Oh, no."

* * *

People gather at the Donovan's house.

Caroline brings coffee to Matt. "I made you some coffee."

"Thanks."

"Are you…is there anything I can do?"

"I just, uh…I need to be alone right now."

Elena arrives, she hugs Matt. "Matt…"

* * *

At the Mystic Grill. Damon joins Alaric at the bar. "That was fun." He says. Alaric glares at him. "Oh, don't look at me like that. I know you hate me. Guess what? Everyone hates me. But you can't deny it. We were bad ass." He say, only for Alaric to punch him and walk away. "Uhh. Happens."

* * *

Elena and Jeremy return home. "Jer…are you ok?" She asks.

"I'm gonna go get some sleep." He goes to his room and sees Anna there.

"What are you doing?" She asks.

"My…my friend Vicki…she's…she's dead."

"Vicki? The one you thought was a…"

"Yep. Turns out she's been dead all along."

"She's the reason you wanted to turn? You wanted to be with her?" She asks with a betrayed look on her face. Jeremy looks away.

"Look, I'm sorry." He looks back to see that Anna is gone.

* * *

Trinity sees Damon on the porch. "Hey." She says, a dull look on her face.

Damon turns to her. "Where have you been?"

"Cleaning up." She answers. "There was a lot of…blood."

"Yeah. That happens when you repeatedly rip out hearts and throats." He says. Trinity shivers.

They walk into the house and Trinity looks up. "I smell blood." She says.

They rush Stefan's room and see empty blood bags scattered around. They then see Stefan, sitting on the floor, drinking from another blood bag.


	18. Under Control

Chapter Eighteen: Under Control

Loud music plays while Stefan exercises in his bedroom.

Damon enters with a glass of blood in his hands. "Could you turn it up a little bit? It's not annoying yet."

"Sorry." Stefan says.

Damon switches off the music. "When are you going back to school?"

"Soon." He answers while doing push-ups.

"Oh come on. Just drink already. Come on, this self-detox is not natural." He puts the glass next to Stefan.

"Can you get that away from me please?"

"How long did it take you to wean yourself of it the last time you indulged?" Damon asks. Stefan ignores him. "That's not good."

"I'll be fine; it just takes a little bit of time."

"I don't get it; you know, you don't have to kill to survive. That's what blood banks are for. I haven't hunted in a human in…God, way too long."

"Oh, I'm impressed." Stefan rolls his eyes.

"It's completely self-serving. I'm trying to get the town off the trail of vampires which is not very easy considering that there is an entire tomb of them running around."

"What are we planning on doing about that?"

"We are not going to do much of anything if you don't have your strength. There's nothing wrong with partaking in a healthy diet of human blood from a blood bank. You're not actually killing anyone."

"I have my reasons."

"Well, what are those holier than thou reasons? You know, we never actually discussed this. You know, I'd- I'd love to hear this story." Damon sits down on the couch.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you? Watching me struggle?"

"Very much so." Damon smiles.

"I hate to break it to you Damon but…I actually have it under complete control."

"You do? Well, then you should just carry on, making the rest of us vampires look bad." He gets up. "Have a great day, Stefan." He leaves the glass of blood on the table. Stefan stares at the glass. Damon returns. "Oh, hey, almost forgot something. Oops." He takes the glass and leaves. He drinks and relishes in the taste of the blood.

* * *

Elena is walking out of the house. "Come on Jeremy, going to school! Walking out the door now!"

Jenna walks up to her. "Forgot this." She hands her a thermos.

"Thank you." She opens the door and sees her uncle John, his hand poised to knock.

"Elena!" He smiles.

"Uncle John! Hi." She greets, an awkward smile on her face.

"Jenna." He greets.

"John, you made it." Jenna feigns happiness.

"I said I'll be here before noon." He enters the house.

"Oh what you say and what you do are typically two very different things."

Jeremy comes down the stairs. "Uncle John, what's up?"

"Hey!" He smiles. Jeremy slaps him on the shoulder and leaves. "I had some business in town; I thought that a visit was in order."

"How long are you staying?" Elena asks.

"I don't know yet."

"Ok, well, I'm gonna go to school, I'll see you later." She leaves, exchanging a look with Jenna as she closes the door.

"So what's up with Jeremy?"

"He just lost a friend, so try to be sensitive." Jenna says.

He laughs. "I'm always sensitive."

"Right, so really how long are you staying?"

"Can you at least pretend that you're happy to see me?"

She plasters a fake smile on her face. "Oh my god John! It's so good to see you. How have you been?" She says with enthusiasm before becoming serious again. "No, I can't."

"Do you really think that I was just gonna sign the papers and send them back?"

"Actually I did."

"I'm not going to let you sell my brother's office."

"It's not up to you or me; it belongs to Jeremy and Elena."

"Yeah but they're minors, so I get the final say, being that I'm the estate's trustee."

* * *

Elena talks to Matt in the hallway. "He said his trip is open ended."

"Uncle John, I never really liked that guy." He says.

"Does anyone?"

"I'm here for moral support if you need me."

"Thanks, I think I'll suffer this one alone; you've been through enough."

"Thank you by the way, for just…for everything you did at Vicki's funeral and the memorial. I couldn't have done it without you."

"Of course Matt." She says and pauses for a moment. "So, was Caroline still baking for you guys, around the clock?"

"She finally went to her dad, which is a good thing because my mom was going to strangle her if she dropped off one more lasagna." He closes his locker and they leave.

* * *

Damon arrives and meets the rest of the council for a meeting.

"The coroner's office has officially ruled Vicki Donovan's death a drug overdose. Her family has been notified, the truth will stay in this room and we can put this behind us." Liz tells them.

"Thank you Sheriff. And on to a more pressing issue, John Gilbert has asked to say a few words." Mayor Lockwood says. Damon's eyebrows go up in surprise. "Welcome back John, it's good to see you."

"Hello everyone, it's wonderful to see you, I wish it were under better circumstances. As a founding family member I find it's my duty to report some very distressing news." He says.

Damon leans towards Liz, speaking under his breath. "He's a Gilbert?"

"Elena's uncle. His name is John but I call him Jackass."

"A hospital blood bank in the neighboring county of Amherst has reported several break ins over the past two weeks. 7 hunters, 4 campers and 2 states employees have been reported missing as well. All of this within a 75 mile radius of Mystic Falls." John tells them when Mayor Lockwood cuts in.

"Okay okay, no need to get alarmed right at this moment."

"Meaning he doesn't want to cancel the Founder's Day kickoff party." Liz whispers to Damon.

"You think all of your problems are over but I'm here to tell you, nothing's been solved." John says. Damon has an uncomfortable look on his face.

* * *

Trinity walks into Stefan's room. "Shouldn't you be at school?" Stefan asks.

"I would be…but my best friend is going through a crisis right now."

"It's not a crisis."

"Lexi told me Stefan." She says. He stares at her. "She told me how you were-"

"I'm not like that anymore. I have it under control." He tells her.

"If you say so. But if you don't, I'll be the one to deal with you."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know _all _of what Lexi did to get you back on the wagon, but I promise you that you won't like the way I do it." She tells him.

* * *

Alaric talks to Elena in his classroom. "I made a copy of a paper Jeremy wrote for me. I think you should take a look at it." He gives the paper to Elena.

She reads the title: '_Fact or Fiction: The Truth About Vampires in Mystic Falls'_. "Jeremy wrote this?" She asks.

"He's very clear that he didn't think it was real."

"I really hope you're right because I've done so much to protect him from all of this." She gives him back the paper.

"So, how do you deal with it?"

"What do you mean?"

"With all the lies and the secrets. You have to lie to everyone who's important to you."

"It's not safe for them to know the truth. So, yes I keep it from them, but it's only because I love them."

Alaric thinks for a moment. "I think Stefan is a good guy. But at the end of the day he's still a vampire."

"I know it's hard to understand but Stefan is different. He would never do anything to hurt me."

* * *

Later, Elena is in her bedroom with Stefan. "Why would he write a report on vampires? Do you think he's starting to remember?"

"Damon took away those memories for good; you don't have to worry about that. I tell you what, why don't you just ask him?"

"I…I can't."

"Why not? I mean if he doesn't know anything then it's just an innocent question."

"I don't even know how to talk to him anymore. I mean, we used to be a lot more open with each other. But now, with all these secrets just piling up…you know, I haven't even told him that I am adopted yet."

"Maybe it's time you start opening up to him. I'm not saying you should tell him everything but at least try to find out what he does know and be prepared for it."

She rubs his shoulder. "What about you, how are you doing?"

"Much, much better. I'm still, you know…a little jittery, a little bit on edge but I'm gonna be okay."

"I've been really worried about you and I missed you."

"I just needed to lay low for a little while and let my body readjust. It's only been a few days."

"It feels like a lifetime." She kisses him.

"I've missed you too." They start kissing more passionately. Stefan lays Elena down on the bed. Elena rolls over and lays on top of him. Stefan, somewhat aggressively, rolls her back over so he's on top. He stops kissing her.

"Stefan, what's wrong? Stefan?"

His face starts transforming. He throws himself against the wall, breaking a lamp in the process.

* * *

Trinity walks downstairs when she hears rapid knocking on the door. She opens it and sees Stefan. "What's wrong?" She asks. Stefan walks past her and into the house. She watches him pace back and forth. "What happened?"

"I had a problem with Elena." He says.

"Okay?"

"We were kissing and the only thing I could focus on was the blood pumping through her veins."

Trinity stops his pacing and drags him to the couch to sit down. "Just stop and breathe." She says. "How bad was it?"

"I got out of there before I could do anything."

"So you stopped. That's good. That's progress." She nods. "How do you usually handle this?"

"I find some things to take the edge off."

"Good, because my way is a last resort."

* * *

Elena opens the door when she hears someone knocking. "Oh good you're here." She says when she sees Damon.

"You ask I come. I'm easy like that." He says. Elena points upstairs. Damon sees Jeremy eating in the kitchen and raises his voice. "No Elena, I will not go to your bedroom with you." She catches his arm. He laughs and go upstairs with her. Jeremy looks at them. Elena and Damon enter her bedroom. "Ah, just like I remember." He picks up a teddy bear from her dresser.

"Stop messing around."

He lies on her bed and takes the teddy bear with him. "Did you know that your uncle has been kicking it with the Founder's Council?"

"What?"

"Yep."

Elena sighs. "Perfect, we'll just add it to the growing list of how everything is falling apart."

Damon looks at the broken lamp. "What happened right there?"

"Uh…nothing." She says, looking uncomfortable making Damon look at her. "Look Damon, I'm worried about Stefan. He says that everything's okay but he's clearly struggling. How long is it gonna take before he goes back to normal?"

"A few days. Give or take."

"It's been a few days."

"Give then, I don't know. What's the big deal?" He gets up and gives her the teddy bear.

"He's not himself, Damon."

He walks towards her dresser and looks inside. "Well, maybe his problem is that he has spent too long not being himself." He takes a bra from the drawer.

Elena takes it from him and put it back. "Please don't make me sorry for asking you."

He takes a picture from the mirror; she tries to take it back. "It is what it is Elena. The Stefan you know was 'good behavior Stefan', 'reign it in Stefan', 'fight against his nature into an annoying excessive level Stefan' but if you think there isn't another part to this then you have not been paying attention."

Elena takes back the picture. "He's not you, not even close."

"Well, he doesn't want to be me." He steps closer to her, looking into her eyes. "That doesn't mean that deep down that he's not." He leaves.

* * *

At the boarding house, Stefan is looking for a book. He has a stressed out look on his face. He takes a drink from a glass of scotch.

* * *

Elena knocks on Jeremy's door. "Hey." She greets when he opens it.

"What's up?"

"Do you have some time to talk?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Not here. Come on; let's get out of the house."

* * *

Elena and Jeremy walk by a lake.

"I just can't believe mom and dad never told you that you were adopted." He says.

"I'm sure they would have eventually."

"Why were you worried about what I thought?"

"Because…I don't know. It's weird. Going your whole life thinking you're related by blood to someone."

"Does it bug you that we're not?"

"No, Jer…you're my brother, that's all that matters." She tells him, making him smile. "So, Mr. Saltzman said you've been doing great in history now."

"Yeah, yeah he's really been helping me out. He gave me some extra credit and stuff."

"He loved your vampire paper."

"He thought I had a clever angle."

"What drew you to that subject matter?"

He shrugs. "I don't know, boredom or maybe I'm just as nuts as the long line of Gilbert crazies."

"Gilberts aren't crazy."

"Easy for you to say, you're not one." He teases.

She stops. "Ouch." She hits him with her shoulder. He runs away before she can hit him again and Elena chases after him.

* * *

Trinity walks into Stefan's room to see him getting dressed for the Founder's Day kick-off party. "You're going?" She asks.

"I have to." He tells her. "Why are you dressed?"

"Just in case. I was hoping that you weren't going." She sighs. "Looks like I'll be right there with you then."

"You don't have to."

"I don't mind…yeah I do. It's so boring. But you're my friend and your pain is my pain. Or is that twins?"

Stefan chuckles. "Thank you." His hands shake as he buttons his shirt.

She walks up to him and moves his hands, buttoning the shirt herself. "I expect at least _two _dances from you." She steps back when she finishes.

* * *

Stefan, Trinity, and Damon walk into the party. "Oh god! I shouldn't be here." Stefan says.

"Come on, don't be a downer, it's a party for the founding families! That would be us. That would be rude to skip it." Damon tells him.

"I really liked you a whole lot better when you hated everybody."

"Oh I still do. I just love that they love me." He laughs, making Trinity roll her eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, I'm fine."

"No cravings? No urges? Is that whiskey you've been drinking all day doing its job?" Stefan laughs. "We are who we are Stefan. Nothing's gonna change that"

"Ah! Nothing will make you happier to just see me given up, huh Damon?"

He shrugs. "Whatever, it's inevitable."

"Well, I'm gonna find Elena." He leaves.

"Don't embarrass me young man!" Damon calls after him. Stefan takes a glass of champagne and drinks it.

Trinity turns to Damon with annoyance in her eyes. "Really?" She asks before walking away.

* * *

Stefan is at the bar drinking. Elena arrives. He sees her and puts the glass on the bar before he waves to her.

"Hey!" She smiles.

"Hey. How are you?" He kisses her on the cheek.

"Are you drunk?"

"Okay, I know it's a little weird but it's really helping me. The alcohol takes the edge off."

"You're totally that drunk high school guy at parties sneaking booze." She teases.

"I totally am, yeah."

"How worried do I need to be?"

"Oh no! You don't need to be worried. It's just until the cravings go away. Listen, I think we should enjoy it while it lasts. Would you like to dance with me?"

"You hate dancing. I usually have to beg you."

"No, no, no you have to beg the sober me. The drunk me there is no begging necessary."

She looks at the dance floor. "There's really no one dancing."

"That's because they need something better to dance to. I'll be right back." He leaves just as Kelly arrives.

"Yeah…that's not gonna work. I already tried to bribe the guy with 20 bucks and a date. He said Carol Lockwood has complete control over the music choices." She says.

Elena looks at Stefan, who is compelling the DJ. "You'd be surprised what Stefan can accomplish when he puts his mind to it." The music changes to upbeat dance music.

"Thank God!" Kelly says, walking onto the dance floor.

Stefan grabs Trinity and begins dancing with her.

Damon walks up to Elena and looks at the scene. "Have I entered an alternate universe where Stefan is fun?"

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"Eventually. One way or another." They look at each other, and go back to watching Stefan. Damon smiles.

* * *

Later, Matt walks up to Elena. "When did this happen?" He motions to the people on the dance floor.

"DJ had a change of heart."

"Do you want to dance?"

"I don't know."

"Yes." He pulls her.

"Matt!" She laughs as he catches her waist and makes her dance.

* * *

Damon walks up to Liz. "You know I love a woman in uniform but I have to side with this one. You look…you look smashing."

She laughs. "Thank you Damon. Cheers! I needed that. You know I had my doubts about you at first but like everyone else on the council you've won me over."

"Thanks Liz. It's really nice how welcoming the council has been. I like my life here in Mystic Falls. Starting to feel like home again."

"Well, you're not gonna like what I have to tell you. Jonathan Gilbert's claims check out. Blood bank, the missing people, all of it's true. We might have a problem."

Jeremy arrives and interrupts them. "Excuse me Sheriff. I was curious if there's been any more information about what happened to Vicki Donovan?"

"It was an overdose, Jeremy." She tells him.

"Yeah, but her body was buried. Somebody must have done that." He says. Damon looks away, uncomfortable.

"We're aware of that. The investigation is ongoing but there's nothing more I can tell you at this time. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He walks away.

* * *

Elena and Matt are dancing when he spins her way, into Stefan arms before he leaves.

"Please dance with your alcoholic vampire boyfriend." Stefan says.

They dance and Elena accidentally runs into a man. "Wow! Watch it!" He tells her.

"I'm sorry, my fault, I'm clumsy."

"Then get off the dance floor."

"Excuse me?"

"That no way to talk to a lady." Stefan tells him.

"Whatever." He goes to walk away but Stefan catches his arm and compels him.

"I think you need to apologize."

"I'm sorry." He starts to leave, but Stefan grabs him again.

"Now say it like you mean it."

"I'm really, really sorry."

"Stefan, it's fine." Elena says.

"Now walk away." Stefan pushes him. The man leaves. Elena touches Stefan's arm. He caresses her face. "You alright?" He asks. Elena nods.

* * *

Trinity grabs Stefan's arm as he walks around. "Keep it cool." She says.

He smiles at her. "I'm doing fine."

"This is what you call fine?"

"This is what I call me having fun."

"I've seen you have fun Stefan, this is you being an ass."

"Why don't you get off my back?" He asks. "When I need you, I'll tug your leash." He tells her before walking away. Trinity looks after him with an offended look on her face.

* * *

Damon is at the bar. Elena joins him. "Have you noticed what your brother has been up to?" She asks.

"No, I have been too preoccupied with yours." He says, making her look at him. "Jeremy has been asking questions about Vicki Donovan's death."

"He knows that her death was ruled an overdose."

"Really?" He asks before mimicking Jeremy. "Oh but sheriff, someone buried her. Who would do that?" Damon says. "I know I know! Me! I mean I could compel him but he's wearing vervain." He looks at Elena.

"No, I don't want you to compel him."

"If he keeps asking questions…"

"Damon, no I'm serious. I'm not going to do that to him again. I'll handle it."

Damon takes a rose and gives it to her. "Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you." She takes the rose and they share a look before he leaves.

* * *

John Gilbert passes Trinity in the hallway and she looks after him. She's never talked to John before, but she knew enough about him to dislike him. He was the type of person who liked to stick his nose where it doesn't belong and then tell all for his own entertainment. If that wasn't enough, his arrogant, self-satisfied demeanor did it for her. Every time he came to town, he left with more than one person pissed at him. She sticks to the walls and decides to follow him.

* * *

Damon is on the balcony. John joins him. "Damon, right?"

"John." He turns to look at him.

"We didn't get the chance to meet at the council meeting."

"Yeah. It's a pleasure. Are you enjoying the kick-off?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot how much fun these small town celebrations can be."

"Yeah. When was the last time you were here?"

"Hasn't been that long, my brother's funeral. How long have you been in town?"

"Oh, not long at all."

"So what do you think Damon? You know this vampire problem is real, right? It's a potential blood bath."

"I wouldn't overreact John."

"Oh, I think it's like 1864 all over again, vampires running amok. I guess we're just gonna have to hunt them down, throw them in a church and burn them to ash."

"That's the story, huh?"

"Part of the story, yeah."

"Oh, there's more?"

"Oh, there's a lot more. See, it seems there was a tomb under the church, where vampires were hidden, waiting for someone to come along and set them free. But then you already knew that didn't you?" John asks. Damon doesn't look at him. "I mean, you're the one that did it."

"And you're telling me this why?"

"I just thought we get the introduction outs of the way."

"You know that I could rip your throat out before anyone would notice?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, okay. But you probably ingest vervain so…"

"Why don't you take a bite to find out?"

Damon smiles. "It's not worth my time." They look at each other and smile. Damon starts to leave but he rushes towards John, breaks his neck, and throws him off the balcony.

Trinity watches the scene in horror. She follows Damon as he leaves. "Are you crazy or just stupid? That was a founding family member."

Damon scoffs. "They're just going to think dear old Uncle John took a tragic fall."

"Yes, dear old Uncle John. _Elena's _Uncle John. Do you think that she's not going to care that you just killed one of her family members?"

Damon's face falters a bit before he covers it and moves on.

* * *

Jeremy is sitting on a couch.

Elena sits down next to him. "Jer? I heard about your conversation with Sheriff Forbes."

"No one is trying to figure out what happened to her. They all want to believe that she OD'ED."

"The coroner's office confirmed it. If that's what they said happened then…"

"Is that what you believe?" He asks.

"What do you think happened?"

"I think somebody killed her and buried her body and I don't think we should write it off just 'cause it's easy."

"They're just doing what they can to move on."

"The truth is the only thing that's gonna help people to move on."

"Jer, just let it go, okay? Whatever it was she's gone now."

He looks at her. "Whatever it was? So you don't think it was an overdose?"

Elena realizes her mistake. "Yes…I do."

"Is there something you're not telling me?" He asks, making Elena look away. "Why aren't you looking at me?"

She looks at him. "Stop it, that doesn't mean anything."

"If there was something else you would tell me, right?"

Elena pauses before answering. "Of course I would." She tells him before leaving.

Jeremy watches her with suspicion in his eyes.

* * *

Elena is walking through the hallway and Matt comes up to her. "Who knew I've been missing all the fun at the Founder's parties?" He asks.

"This is rare, believe me."

"Is it bad that I'm enjoying myself?"

"No, it's great that you are enjoying yourself. Thanks for making me dance."

"Hey, it's normal." He hugs her before pulling back. "Air, I need some air. Come with me?"

Elena looks out into the crowd and sees Stefan, who is drinking. She looks back to Matt. "Sure."

"You haven't seen my mom have you?"

"No, not in a while." She looks at Stefan again before they walk out. Elena sees Kelly and Tyler. "Oh my god."

She and Matt stare in shock as the two kiss. Matt rushes over and pulls Tyler back. "What the hell are you doing man?"

"Matt?!" Kelly yells.

"Mom!" He screams, enraged.

"Whoa dude calm down." Tyler tells him. Matt punches Tyler on the face. They begin to fight and in the fight they push Kelly on the floor. Tyler hits Matt again and again and again.

"Matt! Stop it! Tyler! Stop it, you're hurting him! Somebody help us." Elena yells. More people begin to come out.

Alaric comes out and sees the scene. He pulls Tyler away. "What the hell is that?" He asks. Elena goes towards Matt.

The Mayor comes out. "I'll take it from here; I'll take it from here." He turns to Tyler. "Are you hurt? Go get cleaned up its okay." He tells him. Tyler leaves. "Everything is fine. Come on everybody let's get back to the party let's go. Come on, have a good time!"

Elena looks at Matt's bloody nose. "Are you okay?"

"Where is she?" He asks.

Elena glances around before looking back to him. "I don't know. Put your head up."

* * *

Stefan is still drinking when Damon walks up to him. "You want to hear the bad news or the really bad news?" Damon asks him.

"Actually, I don't want any news Damon."

"Alright, let me rephrase. Do you want to hear how the council is back in vampire mode or how I just killed Uncle John Gilbert?"

"What?" He asks.

"Great party by the way, huh?" He smiles and walks off.

Stefan goes after him, but stops. He sees Kelly crying and bleeding. He approaches her. "Is everything alright?"

"No. I ruined it, I always ruin it. What is wrong with me?" She cries. Stefan gets down on his knees and stares at the blood coming out of Kelly's forehead. He touches the blood on her forehead and she pulls back. "What are you doing?"

He finally comes around. "Uh, I'm sorry." He gets up and leaves. He walks outside and stares at the blood on his fingers before he licks them clean.

* * *

Damon and Trinity are still inside when the see John Gilbert entering. "You got to be kidding me." Damon groans.

Trinity looks at him. "That's your mess." She says before walking away.

* * *

Mayor Lockwood is talking to the crowd. "Thank you all, thank you very much, thank you. Thank you all for joining us tonight in just a few moments we will officially begin the countdown to our upcoming founders' day celebration and it's a very special one this year. The one hundred fiftieth birthday of our town and I would like to welcome back one of our town favorite's sons to do the honors of ringing our official charter bell. John Gilbert, would you please join me up here?"

John steps up and Damon looks at him. "One hundred and fifty years of community, prosperity, family. We take care of each other, we look after each other, protect each other." John stares at Damon. "It's good to be home."

Trinity shakes her head and walks towards Alaric. "Look at his right hand." She says.

"Who's?"

Damon walks up. "Towns favorite's son. Look at his ring."

Alaric finally sees it. "Well, it looks like mine."

"Yeah, and that would be a big coincidence if he didn't just came back from the death 5 minutes ago."

"Where the hell did you get that ring?" Trinity asks.

"Isobel, my wife."

"Who gave birth to Elena, under the medical care of the esteemed DR Grayson Gilbert, John's brother!" Damon pieces together.

They look at John. "Do you think John knew Isobel?" Alaric asks.

"I think John knows a lot of things."

* * *

Stefan is in the parking lot. He turns to leave but he bumps into the man he compelled earlier.

The man pushes him. "Sorry about that man. I really am terribly sorry."

"You don't want to do this man." Stefan says.

The man pushes him again. "I'm sorry about that too. All I can do is apologize. What's that about?"

"Get out of my way. Please."

"No girl to show off for now? I see what how this is." He tries to hit Stefan but Stefan catches his hand and pushes the man on the floor. His face changes. The man sends him a fearful look. "What are you, man?"

* * *

Jeremy walks up the stairs and goes into Elena's bedroom, he looks everywhere but he doesn't find what he is looking for. He finally looks besides the painting and find Elena's diary and begins to read it.

* * *

Stefan looks at the unconscious man on the ground. He leaves when he hears Elena.

* * *

"Stefan? Stefan?" She sees the man on the ground and runs over to him. "Hey! Are you okay? What happened?"

The man gets up. "My arm. I lost my balance and fell. I'm clumsy."

* * *

Tyler's father walks up to him. "Let's go." He says.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I don't even know what happened. I was drinking and…I lost control. I can't explain it."

The mayor slaps him in the face. "That is the last time you ever embarrass this family." He growls.

* * *

Matt is packing his mother's suitcase when Kelly walks in.

"What are you doing?" She asks. "Matt don't."

"I can't do it anymore mom so just go alright? You've done it before. More times than I can count."

"I'm not leaving you. Matty!"

"Mom!" He yells. "Don't you get it? I'm better off without you."

She cries. "No, tonight was…God, I'm so sorry. I know I failed you and I failed Vicki but I won't do it to you again. I promise I'll get it together."

"I want you out of the house and my life by morning." He tells her before leaving.

* * *

Damon, Trinity and Alaric watch John leave. "You guys deal with him, I'm going to find Stefan." She says before walking away. After a while, she doesn't spot him at the party. She take out her cellphone and dials his number.

_"Not right now Trinity."_

"Stefan? Where are you?"

_"I just had to get out of there. I'm fine."_

"Well I'll come over-"

_"No. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'll see you tomorrow." _He say before hanging up.

* * *

Damon and Alaric follow after him. "Going somewhere?" Damon asks.

John turns around. "I've never liked to be the last one to leave a party. It's too desperate. You're going to kill me again or you're gonna let Mr. Saltzman do your dirty work?"

"Okay, you obviously know who I am." Alaric says.

"I do. Alaric Saltzman, a high school history teacher with a secret."

"Sure know a lot for someone who just got to town." Damon comments.

"More than you can imagine, Damon. My knowledge of this town goes beyond anything that you." He looks at Damon and turns his gaze to Alaric. "Or you. Or the council knows. So, if you're planning on some clever high speed snatch ring vamp kill move, know that if I die, everything I know goes to the council including the fascinating little tale of the originals Salvatore brothers and their present day return to Mystic Falls."

Damon is too shocked for words.

"How did you get that ring?" Alaric ask.

"I had inherited one, my brother Gray had the other. This was his." He holds up his hand. "And I wouldn't have given mine to Isobel if I had known she'd hand it over to another guy."

"So you did know her." Damon says.

"Who do you think send her your way when she wanted to become a vampire?"

"You sent her?"

John smiles. "Guilty. Why, did you think someone else send her? Maybe Katherine Pierce?"

"How do you know about Katherine?"

"How do I know anything Damon?"

"What do you want?"

"So many questions. It was a pleasure meeting you, Ric. I've heard so much about you." John leaves. Damon and Alaric look at each other and watch him.

* * *

At home, Jenna and Elena walk up the stairs. "Not so excited that we have another month of these Founder's day events." Jenna sighs.

"Tell me about it." Elena says before walking into Jeremy's room. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." He says, shortly.

"Are you sure?"

He sighs. "I'm fine Elena." He tells her in a calmer voice.

She leaves and goes into her bedroom. She closes the door and jumps when she sees Stefan. "Oh my god you scared me!"

"Sorry. I'm sorry that I ran off earlier."

"What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Uh, no."

"Talk to me." She closes the bathroom door and rejoins Stefan. "Stefan, tell me."

"I tried so hard to keep it together tonight and it was working, it was working but then Matt's mom, she got hurt and she was bleeding and I had her blood on my hands."

"And then what happened?"

"And then that guy in the parking lot, I wanted to feed on him and it took everything inside of me not to do it."

"But you didn't?"

"No, but I wanted to. Elena, my head is pounding. I feel like my skin is on fire. I have this hunger inside of me that I've never felt before in my entire life and all I keep thinking about is how I promised that I would never keep anything from you, and so I'm telling you this."

"That's okay; I need you to tell me these things."

"But I don't want you to see me like this; I don't want you to know that this side of me exists."

"Stefan, you're gonna get through this. I'm gonna help you pull through. It's gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay." She takes his face between her hands but he rejects her and gets up.

"No, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry, I can't, I'm afraid of what I could do to you."

"I'm not." She goes towards him and takes again his face between her hands. "Stefan, I'm not." She looks into his eyes and kisses him. "I'm not, okay?"

They embrace each other. "I love you so much."

"I love you too."

* * *

Damon is on the couch, in front of the fire, a glass in his hand. He hears Stefan walk in. "We have a problem Stefan and when I say problem I mean global crisis. It seems Uncle John has…" He trails off when he sees Stefan. "You don't look so good. It's different this time, isn't it? The need is too strong. Of course it would be after all these years." He puts the glass of blood on the table, looks at Stefan and gets up. He touches his shoulder and looks at him. "Have a good night brother." He says before leaving.

Stefan looks at the glass before he picks it up and drinks the blood.


	19. Miss Mystic Falls

A/N: Another chapter! Can't wait for your reviews!

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Miss Mystic Falls

Stefan is parking his car; Elena sees him and joins him. "Nice car." She smiles.

"Thought it was a waste to leave it in the garage." He kisses her.

"I didn't know you were coming back today."

"You know, I woke up this morning and I was feeling great and I figured it was time for me to get back into things."

"Does that mean you're okay now, with all the cravings?"

"Yeah, I mean the worst part is over so…now all I want to do is just spend as much time with you as possible."

"I'm okay with that." She pulls him in for a kiss.

"Hey, thank you for helping me get through the rough patch."

"You're welcome." She looks into his eyes. "We're gonna be late."

"Okay, uh, you know what? I'll catch up with you, I'm gonna grab my stuff. I'll be right behind you."

"Okay." She leaves.

When she's gone, Stefan opens his trunk revealing many blood bags, along with his back pack. He grabs his stuff and closes the trunk.

* * *

Trinity sees Stefan in the hallway. "You're back at school?"

"I thought it was about time to come back."

She sends him an uneasy glance. "Really?"

"Yeah, I feel great." He smiles. "We better head to class."

She nods. "Yeah, we should."

* * *

Damon, John and Sheriff Forbes are talking in the founder's hall.

"There was a disturbance at the hospital blood bank last night; some of the supply was compromised." Liz tells them.

"Compromised? You mean stolen?" Damon asks.

"We almost missed it. The inventory records were altered but when the night manager was questioned he had no recollection of changing them."

"Meaning that the vampire who stole the blood used mind control to hide the theft." John explains.

"I know what you meant." Damon says.

"We wouldn't have noticed had John not alerted us to recent discrepancies in other hospital blood banks in the county."

"How lucky for us, we have John." He looks at the man.

"We're stepping up security at the hospital, giving the guard vervain to prevent this from happening again."

"Sheriff, may I offer a suggestion?" John asks. "Why don't Damon and I put our heads together? We can track down whoever is doing this."

"Truthfully I can use the extra hands. Is that something you would be willing to do?"

"Well, of course, I mean if it'll help." Damon says.

"I think we could make a good team, don't you think Damon?" He smiles.

"John, whatever I can do to help keep this town safe; even if it means spending time with you." He returns the smile.

* * *

"Okay, this week we're gonna set outside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founder's day." Alaric tells his class. "Apparently the community leader's feel it's more important than World War II, but hey what do I know?"

Bonnie interrupts him and enters the classroom. "Sorry I'm late."

"Well, it looks like we will be at full occupancy today. Welcome home, Bonnie." He smiles.

Bonnie sits down and smiles at Elena, Trinity sends her a small wave, but when she looks at Stefan her smile fades. He smiles at her but she tries not to look and him and turns her head. Elena and Stefan share a confused glance.

* * *

At the boarding house, the doorbell rings.

Damon answers the door and sees Anna. "I suppose I should be grateful, you learned how to use the bell."

"I'm here on behalf of my mother." She walks past him and into the house.

"On behalf of or in spite of?"

"I'm sorry about what the other vampires did to Stefan. Abducting him, torturing him…it wasn't supposed to go down like that."

"You're playing house with half of a tomb of really pissed off vampires. What do you think was going to happen?"

"My mom is devastated; they tried to over throw her."

"Why isn't she here telling me this?"

"She doesn't really do apologies."

"Well, it's a coincidence, 'cause I don't do forgiveness. Just run along. And if you're going continue playing house with these little vampires pets, you might wanna stop robbing the blood bank dry because they're onto it."

Her face curls in confusion. "I haven't been to the local blood bank in at least a week."

"Then it's one of your others."

"The others are gone, Damon."

"Well, where did they go?"

"They weren't cut out for this town. After what happened with your brother my mom kicked them out and they took off. It's just us and Harper now."

* * *

Bonnie is walking, reading papers; Elena is running after her. "Bonnie!"

"Hey." She greets.

"Hey, I tried to grab you after class but you already taken off. How are you? How's your family?"

"We're dealing, it's been hard." She tells her.

"Everyone here really missed you."

"Yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Grams' funeral and, honestly after you told me the tomb spell failed I just didn't really want to come back."

"I hope that you understand why I called…I wanted you to know before you came home."

"I understand why. I just…shouldn't know." Bonnie says, sending them into silence.

"I know it's been really hard…" Elena starts but is interrupted by Caroline.

"Bonnie! Bonnie! Thank god you're home!" She pulls the girl into her arms. "I know we talked everyday but I missed you." Elena looks hurt at this news. "How are you doing?"

"Better." Bonnie nods. "Better. You know, glad to be back and trying to keep myself busy."

"Well, I can help with that. Major wardrobe problem. You need to help me pick up the perfect dress for the Founder's court."

"The Founder's court? Did I miss something?" Elena asks.

"The Founder's court! You know, Miss Mystic Falls. They announced it today and you and I are both on it."

"Oh my god! We signed up for that so long ago…I completely forgot." Elena says.

"So, are you dropping out then?" Caroline asks with a hopeful look on her face.

"I can't."

Caroline looks at Bonnie. "No?"

"Her mom is the one who wanted her to enter."

* * *

Stefan is back from school.

Damon walks up to him. "How was school?"

"Fine."

"Yeah? Same old, same old? Nothing new? No stories to bring home?"

"You're making small talk, why?"

"You seem awfully chipper lately, less doom and gloom, a little more pep in you step."

"And you think it's because I drank human blood again."

"I don't want to brag but I would definitely take responsibility for this new and improved you."

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble but I'm clean."

"Yeah, not possible." Damon shakes his head.

"Not only isn't possible but it is quite true."

"Stefan, just be serious for a second. You spent the last century and a half being a poster child for Prozac and now you expect me to believe that this new you has nothing to do with human blood. Nothing."

"I'm clean."

"You're lying!" Damon says.

Stefan shrugs. "Believe what you want." He walks away, Damon looks at him with suspicious eyes.

* * *

Elena is in the kitchen, talking on the phone with Stefan. "I'm sorry for the short notice; I didn't even know that the contest was coming up much less that I would be in it."

"_I will be happy to escort you anyway."_

"My mom was really into this Founder's day stuff. She was even Miss Mystic in her day. I kind of want to do it for her."

"_It'll be great, we'll have fun."_

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, I love you."

"_I love you too."_

* * *

Stefan hangs up and looks at the blood bag in his hand. He opens a drawer and hides it. He walks down to the basement and opens the fridge, which is filled with blood bags.

Damon looks at him from the shadows. "Well well, he's a liar and a thief. So, when were you gonna share?"

"Go ahead, help yourself."

"No, no, no I'm talking about the fact that you're a closet blood junkie."

"So, I'm drinking blood again. You're the one that shoved it on me, what's your problem? I have it under control."

"Under control? You robbed the hospital!"

"So, what's your point?" He shrugs.

Damon sighs. "Fine, whatever man, drink up. Just remember, we're trying to keep a low profile. Why don't you just walk up to Sheriff Forbes and ask her to tap a vein?"

"Have my actions negatively impacted you? I can't imagine what that must feel like." Stefan asks, amusement in his eyes.

"Yeah, what's Elena thinks about the new…you? And Trinity?"

"Nothing's changed; I'm still the same person."

"Clearly." Damon doubts.

"Elena doesn't need to know anything yet. Neither of them do."

"You've been off the human stuff for years, Stefan. If you're having trouble controlling-"

"I'm not having trouble."

"Who do you think you're talking to? I know what it's like. That Jekyll and Hyde feeling, that switch, sometimes it goes off and you snap. Right now is not a good time for me to be worried about you snapping."

"I know that it pains you to see this but I'm fine, okay? I'm fine." He takes a pouch from the fridge. "So please, do me a favor and back off." He closes the fridge and leaves.

* * *

Carol Lockwood and two others woman are interviewing the girls who are in the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. "This year's queen will have the special honor of taking stage at the one hundred fiftieth founder's day gala. Before we crown our winner, we'd like to get to know a bit more about each of you."

* * *

"I'm on the MF beautification comity; I volunteer at the poor soup kitchen." Caroline smiles.

* * *

"I recognize that I haven't been as involved this year that I used to be." Elena says.

* * *

"I implemented this year's go green campaign at school." Caroline continues.

* * *

"I've been distracted and I let a lot of things slide." Elena tells them.

* * *

"I don't think it's wrong for me to win two years in a row." A girl shrugs.

* * *

"I was surprised to have been selected since I'm not from one of the founding families." Amber says.

* * *

"But I'm aware of what an honor this is and I want you to know that I take it seriously." Elena nods.

* * *

"I worked for the recycling program and was in charge for the police's this year raffle." Caroline grins.

* * *

"Just because my D.U.I. made my community service mandatory doesn't mean that I was any less committed." Tina Fell says.

* * *

"This was really important to my mother." Elena says. "She believed in community, family, honor and loyalty. It's the legacy she left for me."

* * *

Damon hears the doorbell ringing and goes to answer it.

"Hey partner!" John smiles and enters the house.

"What do you want?"

"You haven't returned any of my calls."

"Most people take that as a hint."

"Where do we start looking for vampires?"

"How do you act John? You obviously don't care about catching vampires, you're here talking to me."

"Actually, I care very much."

"What Isobel say about that? I mean, considering that she is one."

"Isobel and I share a mutual interest. The original Jonathan Gilbert has an invention that was stolen by a vampire. That vampire was then burned alive in Fell's church, or so Jonathan thought and the invention was lost forever. But then the vampires weren't killed, were they? They were trapped and now they're free, thanks to you which means the invention is retrieval."

"What is it?"

"The only thing that matters is that I want it back and you're going to help me if you want your secret safe."

"Why bring me into it John? I mean, I don't know what you are talking about much less who has it."

"Oh come on Damon! You were around back then, you know who these people are, what they look like. He was friendly with a woman who turned out to be a vampire. Her name was Pearl. Does that ring a bell?"

Damon pauses. "I'm not playing anymore. Get out. Get out."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know, I only entertain this whole blackmail scheme thing of yours because I thought that you and Isobel could lead me to Katherine but see, now I know you've no idea where Katherine is, because if you did you would know that Katherine and Pearl were best friends. See, you don't know everything, do you John?" Damon smiles.

"I'll tell the entire council what you are." He threatens.

"Go for it! I'll kill every last one of them. Then I'll sever your hand, pull your ring off, and I'll kill you too. Do you understand that?"

Trinity walks down the stairs when John leaves. "He's so friendly." She says sarcastically.

"Isn't he?"

"He doesn't know about me. If it comes down to it, I'll snatch the ring off his finger. You can handle the rest."

"What happened to not killing Elena's uncle?"

"I think it's obvious whose safety I'd choose."

"Oh so you do care about me." Damon smiles.

She rolls her eyes. "For some unexplainable reason…yes. I do care about you."

"Well that just warms my heart."

"Shut up Damon."

"No. Let's keep talking about how much you love me."

Trinity shifts into a cheetah and chases after him.

"Okay, so you want to run." He yells as he runs out of the house. "No need to get aggressive."

* * *

Carol Lockwood is teaching dance moves to the girls who are in the Mystic Falls pageant and their partners. "Honor your partner. Stay focus, right hand around. Flirt with your eyes."

Elena and Stefan laugh. "This is ridiculous." She says.

"You're only saying that because you don't know how to do it." He smiles.

"Sorry. Only one of us was around when the dance was invented."

"Ouch!" He spins Elena around and catches her in his arms.

"No! No! There's no touching during this part." Carol says. "It's about the simple intimacy of the near touch. Very nice, Amber!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood!" She smiles.

"If you ask me, the 'near touch' is overrated." Stefan tells Elena.

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"Is that a bad thing? Would you prefer me to be brooding and tortured?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining." She moves closer to him.

Stefan steps back. "Oh, no touching!" He smiles and they go back to dancing.

* * *

Caroline and Bonnie walk in the hallway. "The Fell cousins don't have a shot and Amber Bradley is only on the court so the pageant doesn't look like its founding families only which of course it is. So that leaves Elena which totally has the sympathy vote since her parents died. How can I compete with that?" She asks.

Bonnie nods. "Very nice, very sensitive."

"Oh I'm sorry, this must sound really unimportant. In light of everything."

"It's okay, I get it, you want to win."

"Well, my grandmother was Miss Mystic and both of my aunts. My mom is the only one who didn't get the gene and I want this. I actually deserve this."

They enter the dance room and see Elena and Stefan leaving.

"Bonnie. Hey." Elena smiles.

"Hey, how are you?" Stefan asks.

Bonnie ignores them, creating a tension in the air with the couple.

"I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt, he had to work today." Caroline explains.

Elena looks at Bonnie. "Bonnie, do you have a minute?"

"We only have 30 minutes for rehearsal."

"It'll only take a minute, please?" She asks. Bonnie nods and they walk out of the room. "Bonnie, you have to tell me what's wrong."

"It's not worth talking about."

"What do you mean not worth it? You barely said ten words to me and you won't even look at Stefan. Is that what it is? Is it Stefan?"

"Listen, Elena, I can't just pretend that everything's okay. Everything my Grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb. And now they're out which means she died for nothing." Bonnie says.

Elena looks at her with sympathy. "I'm so sorry Bonnie. What can I do to make it better?"

"That's just it, there's nothing you can do. I blame him, Elena, him and Damon and I'm not gonna put you in a situation where you have to choose sides. I'm just having a hard time with it, okay?"

Both are unaware that Stefan is listening to him.

* * *

Stefan is walking across the campus. He gets to the basketball court. One of the players has injured himself and is bleeding. Stefan tenses up and can't turn away from the scene. Alaric touches his shoulder only to have a hand wrapped around his neck. Stefan holds him for a moment before he realizes who it is. He steps back.

"Stefan! Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. I was just…I was feeling a little sick." He leaves, Alaric watching after him.

* * *

Elena walks down the stairs with her dress in her arms. She hears someone knock on the door.

"Hey." She smiles at Alaric.

"Hi."

"I heard you're driving."

"Yeah I am. Let me get that for you." He takes the dress from her.

"Thanks."

He enters the house and closes the door. "How…how is Stefan?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, he seems on edge."

"He went through a lot, he was in bad shape for a while but he's bouncing back now." She looks at him.

John walks in. "Alaric. Hey buddy, what are you doing here?"

"I'm the chauffeur."

"I thought I was driving."

Jenna walks down the stairs. "No need, we're going with Ric."

"Are we ready?" Elena asks.

"Jeremy can ride with you." She tells him.

* * *

Anna walks out of the founder's hall.

Damon joins her. "In the running for Miss Mystic Falls?"

"Sometimes you have to wear uncomfortable heels to blend in. I remember this event from 1864, I was supposed to enter before everything happened."

"Ah, nostalgia's a bitch."

"If you're just gonna mock me can you move along please?"

"John Gilbert thinks your mom stole an artifact from Jonathan senior, senior back in 1864."

"What are you, his errand boy?"

"I don't know what it is but I don't want him to have it."

"I could ask her but you know, you've made it pretty clear that you don't trust us so why should I even bother?" She asks.

"Because you want to stay in Mystic Falls and John Gilbert's in town, making that impossible. Find out where it is. He leaves, you can buy a welcome mat."

Trinity walks up to them. "I'll even bring a welcome basket. Some flowers, a few blood bags…do you like A+?" She asks.

* * *

The girls are putting their make up on. Jenna is curling Elena's hair.

"Thanks for helping me." Elena tells her.

"Don't thank me until you're sure your hair isn't gonna burn off." Jenna jokes.

"You know I remember when my mom and I were first applying for this, she was so excited."

"So were you if I recall."

"I was. She just made it sound like so much fun. Lots has changed since then."

"I hate to break it to you, but it's a little late for cold feet."

"I don't have cold feet. I just…I think I'd be enjoying it a lot more if she was here."

"Well I tell you one thing; your hair would have a better chance if she was."

"Okay, I should go put my dress on. Be careful with that thing, don't hurt anybody." She gets up and leaves. Caroline's eyes follow her, a sad look on her face.

* * *

Jeremy is outside, alone, John joins him. "You look miserable." He says.

"Are there really a whole month of these events that I'm supposed to show up at?" Jeremy asks.

"You could fight it if you want but it's part of being a Gilbert."

"Yeah, you mentioned you know a lot about the family. You know anything about our ancestor Jonathan Gilbert?"

"Prolific writer, crazy inventor. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I read his journal."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, I actually found it in all dads' stuff."

"Well, it's surprising. Most of them are locked away."

"There are more of them?"

"Jonathan Gilbert journaled his whole life. Right down to the bitter, insane, drunken end. He had a lot of demons."

"And did you read them?"

"I've browsed, yeah."

"What did you think about what he wrote?"

"Crazy ramblings of a mad man, of course." He turns his head and sees Anna. "She's very pretty."

She sees Jeremy and leaves. "Yeah, uh she's a friend of mine. Excuse me." He follows after her.

* * *

Elena enters a room to put her dress on. Amber is already there, a nervous look on her face.

"Are you okay, Amber?" Elena asks.

"I hate being the center of attention. I get panic attacks."

"Do you need some privacy so you can change?"

"Actually I'm just- I'm gonna go get some air." She leaves and closes the door.

Elena takes her dress, and looks up to see Damon in the mirror. "Hey, you can't be back here."

"We need to talk."

"Does it have to be right now?"

"Normally I would have a completely different outlook of what I'm about to tell you but since it could really inconvenience me, I'll squeal."

"What are you talking about?"

"Stefan's still drinking human blood."

"What?!" She asks.

"Yeah, a month ago I would have rejoiced but with the council back on the alert, it is not a good time for Stefan to fly off the handle."

"I know he's been a little edgy but he said that was normal."

"He has a fridge full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house. And he's avoiding Trinity so she doesn't find out."

She sits down on the couch. "Oh my god."

"He has no idea what normal is, his entire existence isn't normal. Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood but he spent all this time fighting it when he should have been learning to control it and now it's controlling him instead." Damon explains.

"I can't believe this. I mean, it's Stefan that we're talking about here."

"Stefan on human blood Elena; he'll do anything, he'll say anything because he's not gonna want to stop. Trust me."

* * *

Jeremy runs after Anna. "Anna!"

She turns around. "What is it?"

"Come on, don't be like that."

"Why not? You were basically using me to turn you into a vampire so you could be with someone else."

"No, I wasn't using you."

"Really? And how would you like to define it?" She asks.

"Look, I don't think it's any worse than you becoming friends with me so you could give your mother my blood."

She looks shocked. "How do you know that?"

"It's not important."

"Seriously Jeremy, what do you know?"

"Everything, I know everything."

* * *

"This is all my fault; I'm the one who fed him the blood in the first place." Elena says.

Stefan enters, interrupting them. "What's going on in here?"

"I was just filling Elena on your extra-curricular activities." Damon says.

Stefan laughs. "What are you talking about?"

"I know about the blood, Stefan." She tells him. Stefan has a stone look on his face.

Damon looks between them. "I'm uh-I'll be downstairs, drinking." He leaves.

* * *

Damon walks up to Trinity at the bar. "So I have something to tell you."

"Stefan's on human blood." She says quietly, taking a sip of her drink.

"You knew?"

"I suspected. You just confirmed it."

He looks at the drink in her hand. "I thought you couldn't get drunk?"

She lifts the glass. "Here's to me trying."

"How'd you even get it?"

"I flirted with the bartender."

Damon looks at the blond at other end of the bar. "Nice."

"Mm-hmm. I would talk to her more, but I have to make sure that my best friend doesn't go on a murderous rampage, exposing you, that the council doesn't try to hurt either of you, exposing me, and that Elena doesn't try to protect us, killing her."

"Oh relax. Everything will be fine."

Trinity looks at him in annoyance. "Thanks Damon. Now I have to prepare for the worst, because you just jinxed the entire night."

* * *

Stefan smiles at Elena. "I was going to tell you."

"When?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine, the blood, it doesn't change anything."

"It's changing you."

"Why? Because I kept it a secret from you? Come on Elena, look, giving the way you're reacting right now, can you really blame me for doing that?"

"Are you hearing yourself right now?" She asks in disbelief. "You've been stealing blood and lying and you say that everything's fine? Everything's not fine, Stefan!"

"So what-so you and Damon all of a sudden have everything figured out then?"

"It's not about Damon. It's about what's happening to you."

"I know and I'm telling you that I'm fine. I'm fine. Please, come on. Elena I thought you… I thought you believed in me."

Someone knocks on the door, Mrs. Lockwood walks in. "Elena, let's go. The line up's starting."

"I just…I need a minute."

"You're not even dressed yet. Escorts wait downstairs, Stefan."

He looks at Elena and leaves.

* * *

Stefan goes into the bathroom and slams the door. He puts his fist into the mirror and breaks it.

Amber walks in and sees the scene. "Oh God, sorry!"

Stefan's face changes and rushes towards her.

* * *

The escorts, the mayor and a crowd of people are waiting for the girls. "Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore." He introduces. Tina goes down the stairs.

* * *

Upstairs Caroline and Elena are waiting.

"Has anyone seen Amber?" Carol asks.

Elena looks into the crowd below. "Do you see Stefan down there?"

Caroline looks over. "Nope, just my boring fill in escort."

"What happened to Matt?"

"They wouldn't let him out of work. Wait, what happened to Stefan?"

"I don't know, he just disappeared somewhere, I don't know. What am I doing? I never should have gone through with this."

"What do you mean?"

"I need to find Stefan, this isn't me, I'm not this person anymore."

Caroline shakes her head. "No, no, no way, no. You had your chance to drop out and believe me I was all for it because there is no way that I could beat you. Elena, you're doing this because it was important to your mom."

"Miss Caroline Forbes and her escort Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton." Mayor Lockwood calls. She looks at Elena and goes down the stairs.

"Elena, you're next." Carol tells her.

* * *

"You're missing Elena's introduction." Anna says.

"I don't care." Jeremy shakes his head.

"So, she has no idea you read her journal?"

"She keeps things from me, I'm gonna keep things from her."

"What are you gonna do now? Now that you know everything that she's been hiding from you?"

"I don't know. There's a part of me that's so angry, you know, that she covered up what happened to Vicki and erased my memory but there's also this other part of me that's glad. I…I don't want to remember Vicki like that."

"As a monster?"

"No, as someone who wanted to hurt me."

"When I met you, you were just a part of my plan to get my mother back but then things changed…All the time we spent together…I would never do anything to hurt you, not now. You know that right?"

"Yeah I know that."

They look at each other and smile. John is behind them, and heard everything.

* * *

Stefan is in the parking lot with Amber; he has her by the arm and is walking with her.

"Where are we going?" She asks.

"I don't know."

"I'm in the ceremony."

He pushes her against his car. "Not now you're not." He compels her.

"You're standing in the parking lot with me."

"I'm in the parking lot with you."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm not very good to be around right now, I'm a little bit on the edge. I've been drinking the human stuff and it's really screwing with my head. She knows now. God! She wasn't supposed to found out, I didn't want her to found out, now everything's ruined. No doubt my best friend knows too. I'm disappointing them both."

"You seem sad."

He laughs. "I'm not sad. I'm freaking hungry!"

* * *

Elena is waiting upstairs.

"Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mister Stefan Salvatore." Mayor Lockwood announces.

* * *

Damon and Trinity look for Stefan. "He's not here. Go." She says. He nods and walks off.

* * *

Elena goes down the stairs and looks for Stefan but she doesn't see him. Damon takes Stefan's place to escort Elena. She smiles and joins him. "Where is Stefan?" She whispers.

"I don't know." He takes her hand and they join the other girls and their escorts downstairs.

* * *

"What is she doing with Damon?" Jenna asks.

"I have no idea." Alaric answers.

* * *

"What are we gonna do?" Elena asks.

"Right now, we just have to get through this." He says.

The girls and their escorts begin to dance. Elena and Damon dance, they look at each other and smile.

* * *

Trinity sees the two and sighs. _This is going nowhere good. _She thinks as the dance ends.

* * *

Stefan is still in the parking lot with Amber. "I don't hurt people. I don't do that. I'm the good brother."

"Do you want to hurt me?"

He looks at her. "I want to kill you, I want to rip into your skin and I want to feed on your blood." He touches her hair and looks at her neck. "Under your skin, pulsating, floating." He says, trailing his fingers down his neck. "Your carorid artery right here. If you puncture this just right you can control the blood flow. It takes practice but it doesn't have to make a mess, you don't have to waste any."

"What's stopping you?"

"If I do this, if I give in, there's no going back."

"Then don't."

"I just want one taste; that's all I need, I just want one taste." His face changes."

"One taste." She nods. He bites into her neck.

* * *

The girls stand on the stage.

"Where is Amber?" Caroline asks.

"I don't know." Elena says.

"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community." Mayor Lockwood says. The crowd applauds. "So, without further a due it is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Miss Caroline Forbes!"

She has a shocked look on her face and she and Elena laugh.

"Congratulations!" Elena smiles.

"I actually won!" They embrace each other; the mayor puts the banner around her shoulder.

* * *

John and Sheriff Forbes are in the bathroom where Stefan was earlier.

"There is blood on the glass." He points out.

"Get me Damon Salvatore." She tells him.

* * *

Stefan is still in the parking lot with Amber. He pulls back from her neck. "I can't do this."

"What's the matter?" She asks.

"I can't do this." He shakes his head.

"It's okay, it doesn't hurt that much, just not so hard next time."

"Oh god, oh god, oh god! I can't stop." He touches her face. "Why aren't you afraid of me?"

"You told me not to be."

"What? What's your name?"

"Amber."

"Listen to me, Amber. I need you to be afraid of me. I need you to run like hell do you understand me? Run, run now!"

She runs away.

* * *

Damon and Trinity wait for Elena.

She walks up to them. "What is it, did you find him?"

"There were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom." He explains. "There was blood and that Amber girl is missing."

Bonnie watches the conversation from nearby.

"Oh my god! He wouldn't hurt her, he won't!"

"Let's just find him, okay? Let's get your coat come on!" Trinity says. They leave, Bonnie follows them.

* * *

Amber is running but she falls into Stefan. "You said to run!"

"I changed my mind." She screams and he bites her.

Elena, Trinity, Damon, and Bonnie arrive.

"Stefan!" Elena and Trinity call. He releases her and looks at them.

"Stefan, come on get control. It's okay, come on. Breath through it man." Damon rushes towards him but Stefan catches him and throws him into the wall. Trinity places Elena slightly behind her as her eyes go back and forth, wondering who to protect.

"Stefan, stop it!" Elena yells as Damon gets up.

All the sudden Stefan holds his head, groaning in pain. Trinity looks towards Bonnie and her eyes begin to darken.

Elena follows her gaze and looks back at Trinity. She wraps her arms around her. "No. She's our friend. She's not trying to hurt us."

Trinity closes her eyes as she struggles to remain in control.

Bonnie stops her spell and Stefan looks at them, shame in his eyes.

"It's okay. Stefan." Damon tells him. Stefan runs away.

* * *

The police arrive. Damon, Trinity, Bonnie, and Elena are still outside.

"She doesn't remember what happened." Liz tells Damon.

"It's a good thing the girls got here when they did, she lost a lot of blood."

She looks at the girls. "You didn't see anything?"

"No, we just found her and then called Damon." Elena says.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Bonnie asks.

"It looks like it yeah. Why don't you girls get back to the party? Damon and I can take it from here."

"Okay." Elena says and they leave.

"They didn't see the bite mark?" Liz asks.

"No, I got here before they got too close. There was too much blood, they couldn't see it clearly." Damon tells her.

* * *

Bonnie goes to her car, Elena follows her. Trinity waits back.

"Bonnie, can we talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Bonnie, please!"

"I told you I wasn't gonna make you choose but I need to make the choice for myself. Please just leave me alone." She gets into her car and drives off.

Elena watches with sad eyes. Trinity walks up behind her. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Elena sighs and runs a hand through her hair.

* * *

Jeremy is still talking to Anna when Jenna calls him. "Jer, are you ready?"

"Just a sec."

She leaves and runs into John. "Who's that girl with Jeremy?" He asks.

"His friend, Anna."

"What's her story?"

"Why so nosy?"

"I'm just curious; he really seems to like her."

"She's new in town, I think. She and her mom Pearl, the family who you're so rudely trying to prevent from buying Grayson's building."

He looks at the couple. "Her mother's name is Pearl?"

"Yes, so?"

"Well, I believe I already know all about her."

* * *

Alaric walks outside and Elena is waiting for him. "Good, there you are. Jenna wanted me to get the car." He sees the look on her face. "What happened?"

* * *

Damon and Trinity walk into the boarding house and see Anna.

"All right now, this is getting weird." He says.

"We're here to talk." She says and Pearl appears next to her.

"Not in the mood, today's been a no good, very bad day." He tells them.

"Annabelle tells me you're looking for something I took from Jonathan Gilbert."

He looks at her. "I'm listening." She gives him the device. "What is it?"

"Jonathan was passionate about his inventions. He confided in me that he had created a detection device meant to track down the town's vampire element."

"It was a pocket watch." Trinity tells her.

"That's what it turned out to be yes. But that's not what I stole. I discovered my mistake when I saw the watch in Jonathan's hand, the night they took us, its stile pointed at me."

Damon looks at the device. "So what is this?"

"I have no idea but now it's yours."

"What's the catch?"

"There is no catch. My daughter wants to stay here. I want to stay here. You refused to trust us and for good reason. Consider this an apology." She tells them before they leave.

* * *

Stefan enters his bedroom and paces back and forth, trying to calm down. He looks up when Elena walks in. "You shouldn't be here." He tells her.

"I know."

"Now you know."

She shakes her head. "That wasn't you."

"Oh, it was absolutely me. A monster, a predator, that's who I am Elena."

"That's what the blood makes you."

"The blood brings out what's inside of me and if you think any differently then you're an idiot."

"I know this isn't you Stefan."

"I wanted to drain every ounce of blood from that girl's body."

"No."

"It's who I am Elena."

"No, you can't scare me off."

"Why would you risk it? Why would you come here?"

"Because I did this, this is my fault; I'm the one who made you drink the blood."

"All you did was expose me to who I really am."

"This isn't you."

"Stop saying that!" He shouts. She starts to walk closer and he steps back. "Don't get any closer to me."

"I'm not gonna let this happen to you." She walks closer.

"Stop."

"Stefan, I'm not gonna give up on you! I believe in you!"

"Stop!" He roughly pushes her into the wall and slams his fist into the space next to her head. "Stop!" He sees the fear in her eyes and steps back; horrified at his actions. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It's okay." She whispers.

He puts his head on her shoulder and begins to cry. "I don't know what's happening to me."

"It's okay, Stefan. It's okay. You're gonna be okay." She takes a vervain dart and stabs him with it.

He falls to the ground. Damon and Trinity walk in. "Sure you want to do this?" Damon asks.

Elena nods, tears in her eyes. "I'm sure."

* * *

Damon and Trinity place him in the cell in the basement. He closes the door. "There's no guarantee it's going to work."

"It has to." Elena says.

"What I have planned isn't going to be pretty." Trinity tells them.

Damon sighs and looks towards the stairs. "Coming?"

Elena shares a look with Trinity. "We're gonna stay here." She says as they sit down.

Damon looks at her and sits down too.


	20. Blood Brothers

Chapter Twenty: Blood Brothers

"So what do you plan to do?" Damon asks Trinity.

"I'm going to speed up the process of getting the human blood out of his system."

"How?" Elena asks.

Trinity shakes her head before turning to Damon. "Do you have a bucket or some small trashcan?"

Damon has a confused look on his face. "Why?"

"I'm going to need it." She tells him. "To avoid a mess." Damon flashes upstairs and back with a small bucket in his hand. Trinity takes it from him. "Thank you." She walks to the door of the cell. "Lock it behind me." She enters the cell. She walks to Stefan unconscious body and kicks him in the side. "Wakey, wakey!"

Stefan groans and opens his eyes. He looks at his surroundings. "What am I doing here?"

Trinity sets the bucket down. "Call this a detox of sorts." She tells him. "You went off the wagon, endangered yours and Damon's safety, and acted like a dick. I'm here to get all that blood out of your system."

"You can't." Stefan says. "You have to wait it out."

Trinity clicks here tongue. "Not with me you don't. Lexi told me what she used to do to you. Now I can't do everything she did, but I can promise that it will be unpleasant. You'll be begging for a bunny by the time I'm done." She tells them. Elena and Damon watch through the small window in the door.

"And what do you plan to do?"

Trinity holds her hand up and shifts her nails into claws. "I'm going to give you what you crave. Blood." She drags a claw across her wrist.

"I don't think that's going to work." Damon says.

"Keep the door locked." She orders him. She walks closer to Stefan and grabs him by the hair, putting her wrist to his mouth. She feels Stefan taking several gulps. "Yeah that's it." Suddenly Stefan begins to choke. He pulls away from Trinity's wrist and gags. "Why Stefan? What's wrong?" She asks in a fake innocent voice, pulling the bucket to him. Stefan vomits blood into the bucket. Damon and Elena watch with wide eyes. Trinity cuts deeper into her wrist when it begins to heal before she pulls him back and places it to his mouth.

He tries to push her off but she catches his arms and breaks them. "Ahh!" He screams.

She places her wrist back to his mouth. He tries to pull away but she keeps a hold on his hair. "Drink it!" She orders, forcing her blood down his throat. She pulls her wrist away and stands from the bed as Stefan vomits. "I admit this is a bit disappointing. I mean…you've been fun Stefan all week right? Been dying for a taste of some blood." She picks him up and holds him against the wall. "You said that if you needed me, you'll tug my leash." She throws him to the ground. "I have a bit of a problem though. I like to bite. Apparently so do you." She cuts her wrist again and holds it out. "Now drink."

"No." He coughs out.

"Drink it or I paralyze you and make you drink it." She tells him. "Now!" She grips him by his throat. Stefan slowly places his mouth on her bleeding wrist and drinks. He tries to pull away after a little bit but she holds him there. "No, we're not done yet." She says. "Just a little bit more."

After a minute she finally lets him pull away and he vomits blood into the bucket before passing out from exhaustion.

Trinity looks at him before picking up the bucket and walking to the door. "Let me out." Damon and Elena step back and open the door. She walks past them and sets the bucket down.

"What the hell was that?" Damon asks.

"I'm a shapeshifter. We're ever changing, which makes our blood unstable. Vampires can't drink it, their bodies will reject it."

"Well, that makes me glad that I never bit you."

"Will he be okay?" Elena asks.

"He'll be fine. Just weak and delirious." She tells her. "I did my part. It's up to you now."

* * *

Stefan hallucinates due to the lack of blood.

* * *

_Flashback: Woods 1864_

_The town is capturing vampires._

"_We have to get to the church. They're waiting." A man says._

_Stefan turns to Damon. "Circle around that way. I'll distract them. Go." He turns to the group of men. "Over here! There's another one! Quick! Help me!"_

"_Arm yourselves." Jonathan tells them. The men follow Stefan. Only one man is standing guard over the carriage containing the vampires. Damon hits him and knocks him out. Stefan returns. Damon grabs the keys out of the man's pocket and unlocks the carriage._

"_We don't have long." Stefan tells him._

"_Katherine. Katherine." They lift her out of the carriage. They untie her and take off the muzzle that covers her mouth._

"_We're going to get you out of here. Damon, hurry. Hurry." He hears a gunshot and sees his brothers body on the ground. He rushes over to him. "No! No. Damon."_

"_Come on. Let's go." A man says._

"_Uhh!" Stefan runs and grabs a gun, but he is shot down too._

* * *

Stefan drifts in and out of consciousness.

"Stefan. Stefan." Damon calls.

"Stefan." Elena says.

"I love you, Stefan." He hears Katherine and Elena say.

* * *

_Katherine is taken back into the carriage._

* * *

Damon leads Elena out. She looks at him through the bars.

* * *

Later they sit in the cellar. Elena is watching Stefan. "It's so hard to see him locked up like this."

"You're the one who wanted us to lock him up." Damon says.

"You helped."

"I couldn't have him running around chewing on people while the town was looking for vampires, now, could I?"

"It had nothing to do with you actually caring about him?" Trinity asks.

"Your thing, not mine."

* * *

_Flashback: Quarry 1864_

_Stefan awakes with a start. He opens his shirt and sees the bullet wound is gone. He also sees a ring on his hand and examines it. _

_Emily is there. "Katherine had me make that for you weeks ago." She tells him._

"_Where am I?"_

"_The quarry just north of town. My brother and I brought you here last night. We found you dead in the woods."_

"_Where's Damon? Am I…am I a…?"_

"_Not yet. You're in transition."_

"_But how? I…"_

"_You had Katherine's blood in your system when you died."_

"_No. I never…"_

"_She's been compelling you to drink it for weeks, Stefan."_

"_And Damon?"_

"_No compulsion was necessary. He drank from her willingly." She says. He rejoins Damon by the river._

"_I woke up last night. I didn't know where I was. I went to the church. And I watched them drag her inside. Then they set fire to it. And the whole church went up into flames. They killed her, Stefan. She's gone." He says, heartbreak on his face._

* * *

_Present_

Damon looks at the object which Pearl gave him; Elena and Trinity walk into the living room. "Did you ever figure out what that is?" She asks.

"Nope. Whatever it is, it doesn't work." He tells them.

"Pearl didn't say anything else about it?"

"She thought she was stealing his vampire compass, but that was a pocket watch." Trinity explains.

"That Jonathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist. Have you spoken to your uncle lately?" He asks.

"I've been avoiding him, actually. That, and I've been here most nights."

"So, you'll be here again tonight?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes." He says. "Trinity, I'm used to, but you're a complete nuisance."

Elena chuckles. "See you later." She says before they walk out.

* * *

Jeremy is walking to class when Anna appears. "Hey. Surprise."

"What are you doing here?" He asks.

She holds up a piece of paper. "Picking up this."

"A class schedule?"

"Starting tomorrow, I'm officially a student here."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No. I finally beat my mom down."

He chuckles. "But why would you want to go to high school? It blows."

"Do I really need to answer that?"

"You'd suffer through all this just to hang out with me?"

"Yeah. I would."

"That's, um…" He trails off.

"Stupid? Pathetic? Old lurky me?"

"It's awesome. It's awesome." He smiles and kisses her.

* * *

Damon brings a bottle of blood for Stefan. "Brought you something to eat...100% Stefan diet approved. You know what will happen if you don't eat. You'll get all rotting and crusty."

"I'm not hungry."

"Of course you are. We're eternally hungry. I know what Trinity did _might _have been a little traumatizing. I completely understand being skeptical at first, but we both know you're hungry. Take it. The human blood is out of your system. You want to explain why you're still in here? Feeling sorry for yourself? Come on. Drink up." He says. Stefan makes no move to take the bottle. "Fine. Starve. What do I care?" Damon leaves.

* * *

He enters the kitchen and his phone rings. "Hello?"

"_Hey, it's Alaric Saltzman."_

"Before I hang up, how did you get this number?"

"_Ah, it's a mystery. Listen, I've, uh, been doing some digging on Elena's uncle. You interested?"_

"What kind of digging?"

"_I've got an old friend from Duke who studied criminology when we were there together. Let's just say he's become a very proficient digger."_

"Well, did he find anything?"

"_Well, I had him run a track on John's cell records. He was getting a call from a number…the same number that Elena dialed to get Isobel. And then the number was disconnected."_

"Isobel knows John. Whatever. We knew that."

"_Right. Well, after that, he started getting calls from a new number. And I had my friend run a geotrack. Got the address. It's…it's an apartment in Grove Hill."_

"Isobel's in Grove Hill?"

"_I don't know. I thought we could take a look and see what we find."_

"Perfect. Give me the address."

"_Oh, so you can go without me? No. I don't think so."_

"I'm not going with you. You tried to kill me."

"_Yeah, well, you did kill me."_

"Hold on." Damon is getting another call. "What?"

"_I'm just grabbing some clothes, and then I'll be right over." _Elena says._ "How's Stefan?"_

"Extra broody. Hold on." He goes back to Alaric. "You drive. Pick me up in an hour."

"_Done."_

Damon hangs up. He goes back to talking to Elena on the phone. "He won't eat anything."

"_He has to eat. What's his favorite…kind of, um…?"_

"His favorite kind of what?"

"_Type of animal blood that he prefers?"_

"Ew. Gross." He says.

"_Your joking doesn't help."_

"Helps me. Now, hurry up. I can't baby-sit all night. I have things to do."

"_I would say, 'drop dead', but…"_

"Ha ha. Stefan likes…puppy blood…little golden retriever puppies with cute, floppy ears. That's his favorite."

* * *

Elena hangs up on Damon, scoffing at him. She closes her closet door and John is standing behind it. "Sorry." He says.

"Uncle John. I didn't see you there."

"I thought we could talk. We haven't had a chance to catch up."

"I'm actually just heading out, so…"

"Well, it won't take long."

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Well…I know you know."

"Know what?"

"It's really silly to keep pretending. What do you think your mother would say? If she knew you were dating a vampire?"

"Which mother?" She asks, watching the shock take over Johns face.

* * *

Stefan sits on the floor of the cell.

* * *

_Flashback: Quarry_

_Stefan gets a pail of water. He brings it over to where Damon is sitting. They wash out their shirts with the water._

"_I bet Jonathan Gilbert has told father by now. Wonder how he took the news that we're dead." Stefan says._

_Damon scoffs. "As if he cares. He betrayed us."_

"_He thought he was protecting us, Damon. He thought he was protecting this town."_

"_God. This sun hurts my eyes."_

"_It's part of it. The muscle aches, the sick feeling…Emily says it's our bodies pushing us to feed, to complete the transition."_

"_That's not gonna happen."_

"_Is that your choice, then? To die instead?"_

"_Isn't it yours? This was all to be with Katherine. But she's gone. I want it over."_

* * *

_Present_

Elena goes down to the basement to see Stefan. "How you feelin'?" She sees the unopened bottle of blood. "Damon says you need to drink that. You need it, Stefan. You can't survive without it."

"I don't want to survive."

"What? Don't say that."

"I'm sorry, Elena. No more. After what I've done, it has to end. I just want it over."

* * *

Elena is sitting in the living room and talking to Damon and Trinity. "He's just being dramatic. He's not gonna starve himself." He says.

"Why would he say that?" She asks.

"He feels bad about hurting that girl." Trinity tells her.

"It's a very typical Stefan martyr stuff. It will pass."

"Will it? Because he seemed to be in a lot of pain." She says.

"Yeah. Well, that will pass, too, once he eats."

"I didn't mean physical pain"

He sighs. "I know what you meant. Look, are you gonna be ok here if I have to run out? I have to go to an errand with the teacher."

"The teacher? Alaric? Are you two friends now?"

"I don't have any friends, Elena."

"Right."

"You should, um, you should stay up here. You shouldn't be down there by yourself."

"I won't be by myself, I'll have Trinity."

"You know…you're very trusting of him, given the circumstances."

"So are you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be leaving."

"I won't be long."

* * *

At the Mystic Grill, Pearl joins John at a table. "Hello, Mr. Gilbert."

"Pearl. What a pleasure. I must admit, I'm surprised that you came."

"Jenna tells me that you wanted to discuss the sale of the building in person."

"Still, revealing yourself to me like this, it took quite a risk."

"I'm not stupid, Mr. Gilbert. You knew who I was when you requested the meeting. So, Damon tells me that you're looking for the device I took from Jonathan. I'm sure you realize I have no intention of giving it to you."

"That's why I wanted to meet you. I'm planning on changing your mind."

"Really? How so?"

"With my Gilbert charm. I know that you have a weakness for it. May I buy you a drink?" He smiles.

* * *

Jeremy and Anna are talking in his bedroom. "So, your mother was in love with Jonathan Gilbert, and he betrayed her?" He asks.

"Yup."

"And now my uncle John wants this invention-device thing that she gave to Damon."

"That's pretty much it."

"John mentioned there were more Gilbert journals. I bet that's how he knows everything."

"Do we have to talk about this all night? I've told you everything. I probably shouldn't have, 'cause that could get us both in a lot of trouble."

"I'm not gonna say anything."

"Your uncle John wants us dead."

"Oh, you don't know that."

"Yes, I do. He's a hater, Jeremy."

"Well, I'm not."

"No. You're something else entirely."

"Oh, yeah? What would that be?"

"My weakness." She kisses him. Their kisses begin to grow more passionate and they begin to remove their clothes.

"I don't want Jenna to walk in on us."

"Jenna's in the kitchen. She just opened the refrigerator."

"Wait. You can hear that? That is so cool." He goes back to kissing her.

* * *

Damon and Alaric are at the apartment. "This is the one here. The records show it was paid 3 months in advance." Alaric tells him.

"This is where it gets tricky. I may or may not be able to get in." Damon says.

"Yeah, how does that work? You always have to be invited in?"

"By the owner or the person of entitlement. Short-term rentals and hotels are a bit of a gray area. You kind of gotta play it by ear."

He chuckles. "Could we not kill anyone tonight, please?"

"You mean, you just brought me along for my company?" Damon opens the door.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home."

"Yeah. I'm good. No permanent resident, apparently." Damon opens the fridge and sees blood bags. "Uh, Ric, we have company."

A man jumps on Alaric, who stabs him with wooden knuckles. The man attacks again.

Damon throws him off of Alaric. "Boys, boys, that's enough. I know you."

The man looks at him. "Damon?"

"Your name is Henry. You were in the tomb."

"Yes, sir. What are you doing here?"

* * *

_Flashback: Salvatore House 1864_

_Stefan approaches his house. He hears Jonathan and his father talking._

"_May I offer you a drink, Mr. Gilbert?" He hears Giuseppe asks._

"_Thank you, Mr. Salvatore."_

"_This won't take much longer."_

"_I want to make sure the founder's archives are accurate."_

"_Be sure you document the loss of civilian life in the church."_

"_They were hardly civilians, Mr. Salvatore."_

"_As far as anyone needs to know, they were. As the record keeper for the council, what you write will be passed down through generations. Certain details should be kept only between you and me."_

"_For example?"_

"_My sons. They will be remembered as the innocent victims of the Battle of Willow Creek, not for their shame."_

"_Certainly, Mr. Salvatore."_

* * *

_Present_

Elena walks back down to the cellar.

"You know, Damon hasn't fed me vervain in a while. I could be at those bars in a flash, and you'd be dead." He tells her.

Trinity appears behind her. "And I'll be here to stop you."

"Please just go away. I don't want you here." He says. Elena enters the cell. "What are you doing? Get out of here." Trinity stays by the door.

"No."

"You're taking a stupid risk. I could hurt you."

"Then I'm stupid. You need to drink this." She holds out the bottle.

"Elena, get out of here, or you'll regret it."

"Drink."

"I said get out!" His face changes and he knocks the bottle from her hand.

"No."

* * *

Damon and Alaric talk with Henry.

"So, how do you know John Gilbert?" Henry asks.

"Well, I've known him for years. He's a good friend. How do you know him?" Damon asks.

"I met him right after I got out of the tomb. He's been helping me out."

"Helping you out how?" Alaric asks.

"Adapting. It's a whole new world…cars, computers, . There's so much to learn. He helped me get this place."

"So, do you live here alone or is there someone else here?"

"That's my friend's very…passive-aggressive way of asking, uh, do you know a woman named Isobel?" Damon asks him.

"Uh, no. No, I don't know an Isobel. I know John. He's my only real friend. He really showed me the ropes... how to use a microwave, separate my whites."

"What else do you do for him?"

"I help keep an eye on things…you know, with the others."

"The others?" Damon asks.

"From the tomb. They're still pissed at the founding families for trying to burn them alive. I'm cool, but those tomb boys, they want revenge."

"What does John want with them?" Alaric questions.

"He's just keeping an eye on them, you know? Trying to make sure they stay out of trouble."

"Well, that's John. Heh. He's such a do-gooder."

Henry receives a call. "That's John now."

"Oh. Hey, let me talk to him." Damon says.

"All right." He hands him the phone. "Yeah. Are you gonna answer that?"

Alaric shakes his head.

"What's going on?" Henry looks between the two. He runs at Alaric. Damon grabs him. Alaric stakes him.

"'Let's not kill anyone tonight'. Your words. Just pointing that out." Damon says.

* * *

John returns to the table. "My apologies."

"No apologies necessary. So, tell me, Mr. Gilbert, why should I let you have the device?"

"Because I can help you. I'm connected around here. The town council's eating out of my hand. They do whatever I say. And I know that you just want to live your life. Complete with a white picket fence, and I can help you do that."

"But the device doesn't work. Why would you even want it?"

"It's a family heirloom. Call me sentimental."

"Jonathan was ahead of his time."

"I read his journals. They're very extensive. He actually wrote about you. You were his one regret. He loved you, and he hated himself for what he did to you."

"You're lying."

"No. On his last days, he wrote how sorry he was. You were the only woman he ever loved. Good God." He gets fed up. "You vampires…you're so emotional. Jonathan Gilbert hated you. His only regret was that he didn't drive a stake through your heart himself."

"I gave it to Damon."

"What?"

"I gave your device to Damon. Why don't you ask him for it yourself? I'm sure he'd be delighted to give it to you. And then, Mr. Gilbert, may you rot in hell." She leaves.

* * *

Elena is sitting in the cellar with Stefan. Trinity had gone upstairs to give them some privacy. "Talk to me, Stefan. Why are you doing this?"

"I'm making the decision I should have made years ago."

"What are you talking about?"

"You have to feed in order to complete the transition."

"I know that."

"It was a choice I shouldn't have made." He says.

* * *

_Flashback: Salvatore house, 1864_

_Stefan enters his father's office._

"_Dear God." Giuseppe looks at him in shock._

"_Even in our death, you only feel shame?"_

"_You're one of them now."_

"_No. Father, I came to say goodbye."_

"_I watched you die."_

"_You were there when we were shot?" Stefan asks._

"_I pulled the trigger myself."_

"_You killed your own sons?"_

"_You were both dead to me the moment you sided with the vampires. I only thank God that your mother isn't alive to see the disgrace you've become."_

"_I haven't turned yet. I don't want to. I'm going to let myself die, father. Please."_

"_Yes, you are." Giuseppe gets out at stake and attempts to stab Stefan, who throws him against the wall. The stake has impaled his father. "Uhh!"_

_Stefan rushes towards him. "Father, I didn't mean to."_

"_Get away from me." He snarls._ _Stefan removes the stake from his father's chest. He sees the blood on the stake and his fingers. He licks his fingers. He touches his father's wound and licks more blood from his fingers. His eyes start to transform. "Ohh. Ohh."_

"_Uhh. Uhh! Oh, God. What's happening to me?" Stefan feels the fangs that have grown in his mouth._

* * *

_Present_

"How can you even look at me right now?" He asks.

"You need to be able to talk about these things, Stefan. I need to hear them. Come upstairs. We can talk about it more, and we'll keep talking as long as you need."

"You're so sure I'm ready."

Elena pulls out Stefan's ring and places it on the cot next to him. "And when you feel the same way…I'll be upstairs."

* * *

Damon goes through things in the apartment. "Find anything yet?"

"No, I looked everywhere. The place is…the place is clean." Alaric says.

"Well, I found this." He holds up a yogurt. "Behind the blood in the fridge."

"Oh, man, this was a real dead-end."

"I wouldn't beat myself up over it, man. What did you think you were gonna find, huh? Isobel with a cigar and slippers?"

"Oh, man. I…I gotta stop this. I can't…I can't keep searching for her."

"Really? After only 2 years? That's actually…moderately healthy."

"What are you going on? 146?"

"Well, I figure the 200 mark is probably a good stopping point."

"Ahh. I mean, no answer is enough. I keep thinking I wanna know why, when, you know, the precise moment. When my wife decided life with me wasn't enough."

"She charmed me, your wife Isobel. She talked a good game, man. She was smart. She had this excitement in her eyes. I probably should have known there was something different about her, some tie to Katherine. There had to be some reason I didn't kill her."

"That's enough, Damon. I don't wanna hear anymore. I just don't want to waste any more of my life. Searching for answers that I really don't want. I'm through with Isobel. I…I'm done with all of this. Yeah."

* * *

Anna enters her home. She sees her mother. "Hey. What's the matter?"

"I need you to pack your things. We're leaving."

"What? No." Anna says.

"I was wrong to think that we could make a home here. It's time for us to move on."

"But I don't want to move on. I want to stay."

"We can't stay. There's too many people here who know the truth…too much history."

"So, what, you're just gonna give up, pack us up, and move us out?"

"It's not safe here. You know that."

"Please."

"Is this is about Jeremy?" She asks.

"No. It's about me finally getting to build a life for myself. Please, mama."

"You gave me my life back. I am just trying to protect yours. I can't force you. It's your decision."

* * *

At the boarding house, Elena writes in her diary.

Damon walks in. "Ugh. God. You're still here?"

"Were you expecting anything else?"

"No. Ahh." Damon picks up Elena's legs and sits down on the couch. He places her legs over his lap. He looks around. "Where's Trinity?"

"Sleeping." She answers. "So, how was the 'errand'?"

"Futile. Although, I think I witnessed the teacher having an existential crisis. Has Stefan eaten yet?"

"I thought you didn't care."

"Chalk it up to morbid curiosity."

"I think he's getting there. But he's got a lot of guilt that he has to deal with. And it doesn't help that you've spent the last 145 years punishing him for Katherine getting caught."

"This is my fault now?"

"No, it's no one's fault, Damon. I'm just…saying you're not exactly innocent. You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable."

Damon gets up. "Let me ask you a question. In all this important soul-searching and cleansing of the demons of Stefan's past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?"

"He said there was more."

"Yeah. That's an understatement."

Elena gets up and walks towards him. "Damon…Damon. Tell me."

* * *

_Flashback: Quarry 1864_

_Stefan returns with a girl._

"_What are you doing? Who is that?" Damon asks._

"_I brought her for you. She's a gift. Have a seat, please."_

"_What have you done, Stefan?"_

"_Damon, I've been to see father. He came at me. I didn't know my own strength. There was blood everywhere. He was dying, and the blood was too strong. I needed it. I had to have it."_

"_You fed."_

"_Yes. And it's incredible. My body is exploding with power, Damon."_

"_No."_

"_I can hear things from far away. I can see through the darkness. I can move, like it's magic. And the guilt, the pain…Damon, I can turn it off. Like a switch. Katherine was right. It's a whole another world out there, Damon."_

"_Katherine is dead, Stefan. There's no world without her." He tells him._

"_No. You can turn that off, too. You don't have to feel that pain anymore."_

"_I don't want it."_

"_You're weak. You'll be dead soon. You need this."_

"_No."_

"_You'll die."_

"_No. I can't."_

"_Please. I won't let you die."_

"_No. I can't."_

"_Don't fight it. We can do this…together." He pulls the girl closer. Damon drinks the girl's blood._

* * *

_Present_

"From the moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person. I suppose I should thank him. It's been a hell of a ride. Heh." Damon says.

"Oh, my God. He said he wanted to die. That's why he won't feed. Now I understand why, but…"

"His choice. If he's stupid enough to make it, so be it."

"Don't do that. Ok? Don't pretend like you don't care."

"Where are you going?" He asks when she leaves the room.

* * *

Elena goes down into the cellar. Stefan is gone, but his ring is still on the cot. Elena picks it up and runs out of the cell.

* * *

Jeremy is in his bed, asleep. He wakes when Anna joins him. "Hey."

"It's getting impossible to sneak up on you." She says.

"Nice try, though."

"Sorry I woke you."

"That's ok. You only woke me halfway."

"So, listen. I…" She rubs his shoulders.

"That feels good."

She kisses him. "Goodbye."

* * *

Stefan is at the quarry where Damon turned.

* * *

_Flashback: Quarry 1864_

_Stefan and Damon are both vampires now._

"_How do you feel?" Stefan asks._

"_You were right. It is a whole new world."_

"_We can explore it together." He smiles._

"_You got what you wanted…you and me for all eternity. But here this, brother. I will make it an eternity of misery for you."_

"_Damon!" Stefan calls but he leaves._

* * *

_Present_

Stefan looks weak.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Emily walks up to Stefan. "You've transitioned."_

"_You'd have rather found me dead?"_

"_Katherine saved my life once. I owed her. That doesn't mean I'd wish her curse on anyone."_

"_It feels more like a gift."_

"_That will change."_

"_Why is that?"_

"_Because even in death, your heart is pure, Stefan. I sense that about you. That will be your curse." She turns and leaves._

"_Emily, wait."_

* * *

_Present_

Stefan is still at the quarry. Elena approaches him. "Stefan. Damon told me the rest of the story. I thought I might find you here."

"I should have died that night, just like I had chosen. I should have let Damon die, too." He says.

"But you didn't. And if you die now, it's not gonna change what happened."

"Every single person that's been hurt…every single life that's been lost, it's because of me."

"The night that my parents died…I blew off family night so that I could go to some party. I ended up getting stranded, and they had to come pick me up. That's why we ended up in the car at Wickery Bridge. And that's why they died. Our actions are what set things in motion. But we have to live with that."

"I made a choice, Elena. Because of that choice, a lot of people were hurt."

"You also made a choice to stop, to reject the person that the blood made you. You made a choice to be good, Stefan."

"No. Please don't do that."

"That's the person who jumped in the water to save the family whose car had driven off the bridge."

"Please. Don't make this all ok."

"That's the person who saved my life."

"You don't understand, Elena."

"Then tell me."

"It hurts me. It hurts me, knowing what I've done, and that pain…that pain is with me all the time. And every day, I think that if I just…if I just give myself over to the blood, I can make that pain stop. It would be that easy, and every day, I fight that. And I am so terrified that one day, I'm not gonna want to fight that anymore, Elena. And the next time I hurt somebody…it could be you."

"There will be no next time."

"You don't know that."

"Maybe I don't. But what I do know. Is that you can take this, throw it in the quarry, and let the sun rise. Or you could take this ring and put it on and keep fighting." Elena gives him his ring and kisses him. "It's your choice." She starts to walk away.

"Elena." Stefan puts on his ring and runs to Elena and kisses her passionately.

* * *

Harper prepares the luggage of Pearl. "Thank you, Harper."

"You're welcome."

"Annabelle should be back in a minute. You know, you don't have to come with us if you don't want to."

"This was never my home, Miss Pearl. I was just a soldier who was left to die. You saved me. I'm coming with you.

"Let me help you with these." She opens the door and receives a stake in her chest.

* * *

Elena and Stefan walk into the library. Damon is sitting there. "Little boy lost." He says.

Elena turns to Stefan. "I'll be upstairs, OK?"

"Ok."

"Good night, Damon." She leaves the room.

"Thank you." Stefan tells him.

"No, Stefan, thank you. You're back on Bambi blood, and I'm the big badass brother again. All is right in the world."

"I mean it. Thank you. For…helping them take care of me."

"You brood too much. Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do, it's not your fault. I own them. They belong to me. You are not allowed to feel my guilt."

"Do you feel guilt?"

"If I wanted to, it's there. Emily waited till after I turned to tell me she'd been successful in protecting Katherine with her spell. She didn't want me to know about the tomb. She thought it would impact my decision."

"She didn't want either one of us to turn. She said it was a curse."

"Witches…judgy little things."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asks.

"'Cause I didn't want you to know. 'Cause I hated you and I still do."

"I know."

"But not because you forced me to turn."

"Then why?"

"Because she turned you. It was just supposed to be me, Stefan…just me."

* * *

Anna enters the house. "I'm back." She sees her mother and Harper. She rushes over. "Oh! Mom! Mama! Uhh! Please don't leave me again. No. Please wake up. You have to wake up. No."

* * *

In the woods, John is on his phone. "Sheriff Forbes, it's John Gilbert. Sorry to call so late. I have an update about the vampires."

* * *

At the Grill, Alaric sits at the bar, drinking alone when a woman sits next to him. "Hello, Ric." She greets.

Alaric stares at her in shock. "Isobel."


	21. Isobel

A/N: Seventy reviews! I love you guys. The more reviews I get, the more I update. I would really love to reach 100 reviews for the first time ever, so here's a little incentive.

* * *

Chapter Twenty: Isobel

"It's good to see you. You look good. I hear that you're a high school history teacher? How is that?" Isobel asks.

"Where have you been, Isobel?"

"I don't have any reasons that are gonna comfort you. I don't have any explanations that are gonna satisfy you. I wanted this."

"It's that simple?" Alaric questions.

"Yeah. You were supposed to mourn me, and move on."

"You were my wife, and I loved you. How could I not search for you?"

"Because I wasn't lost, Ric." She takes a paper and writes something down. "I understand that you know my daughter Elena and I hear that she's been looking for me. So…" She hands him the paper. "I want you to arrange for a meeting with us."

Alaric looks at the paper. "You want me to deliver a message?"

She smiles. "Yeah."

He throws the paper. "Screw you. You selfish bitch." He gets up and leaves. He walks to his car and Isobel follows after him. "What do you want from me?"

"I told you."

"I'm not gonna do anything for you."

She wraps a hand around his neck and holds him against his car. "You better tell Elena that I want to meet or I'm gonna start killing the citizens of this town one by one and I'm gonna start with your history students. Got it?" She throws him on the floor and gives him the paper. He gets up and looks it.

* * *

Elena is on the phone with Damon. "I'm supposed to help build the Miss Mystic float for the Founder's Day parade. If I don't I get the wrath of Caroline but I wanted to check in first."

"_Well, I'm doing great, thanks for asking."_

"Checking on Stefan."

"_Oh, him? Oh, he's...he's terrible."_

"What's the matter?" She asks, worried.

"_He's just back to boring, straight-laced, off the junk. You've successfully cured him of anything that was interesting about his personality."_

"Don't forget who helped me."

"_I hate myself. Did Uncle John mention anything to you about my field trip with the history teacher?"_

"No. I'm still been avoiding him. Why? What's he up to?"

"_I don't know. But I'd love if you could find out for me."_

"I've got to go I'm late."

"_Have fun with the Mystic queen, I know I did." _

Elena rolls her eyes and hangs up.

* * *

Damon gets up and gives the phone to Stefan. "Elena called." He smiles and leaves the room. Stefan looks at him and then at his phone.

Trinity inwardly sighs. _Things are gonna get a lot more complicated._

* * *

In the cafeteria, Alaric is giving papers to students. "So these are the specs for the History department. For the founder's day float we'll be recreating the battle of Willow Creek. Tyler has been nominated at the head of the production design."

"By whom?" Tyler asks.

"By me. I've seen your sketches and they're good."

"I'm not really into the…"

"Well, you just pick your team, be creative and…" He sees Elena, Stefan, and Trinity. "Don't screw up." He says before walking towards them.

* * *

"Great!" Tyler sighs and turns to Matt. "You want to help me out with this?"

"Not really, no."

* * *

"Hey Mr. Saltzman." Elena smiles.

"Come with me. We need to talk." He says. The three students share a look with each other and follow Alaric.

* * *

"Alright show me." Bonnie says.

"Let's reference last year's Miss Mystic float." Caroline types. "This is what they did last year." She turns her laptop towards Bonnie. "And this is exactly what we don't want to do."

"Ew. Okay! So, what are we doing?"

"Southern classic elegance."

"Gone with the Wind?"

"How'd you know?"

"You channel Scarlett, daily."

"So true!" They laugh. Caroline looks around. "Where's Elena? She's supposed to be helping."

"I don't know."

"Okay, what's the deal?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. You and Elena are fighting. Spill!"

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing. You know this whole float is supposed to be about friends creating something together and everyone is fighting. Matt and Tyler hate each other, you and Elena are on the outs and I don't like it! And I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong."

"I can't talk about it, Caroline, I'm sorry." She says.

* * *

Damon walks into Alaric's classroom. "Damon, thanks for coming." He says.

"Sorry I'm late. My dog ate my uh…never mind." He jokes. He looks at the serious looks on their faces. "What's with all the furrowed brows?"

"I saw Isobel last night."

"Isobel is here?" He asks. Alaric nods. "In town?" He looks at Elena, a hint of concern on his face.

* * *

John parks his car and enters in the house. He walks into a room and sees man and a woman are dancing. Isobel is watching them. "You're late." She says.

"I didn't realize there was a schedule. What's with the side show?"

"Cherie is a little jazz singer that I picked up in a blues bar in Brooklyn. And I got the cowboy at a gay rodeo in Amarillo."

"He's gay?"

"Not right now, he's very good to me." She turns to the couple. "Hey Cherie? _Cassez vous!" _The couple leaves. "I'm teaching them French." She sees the disapproving look on his face. "Oh! I can smell the judgment coming off of you."

"Well, they're people, Isobel, and you're treating them like dolls."

"If we're gonna be partners you really have to stop being such a hater."

"We're in a partnership together because we share a mutual goal. Don't ever confuse that for an acceptance of your lifestyle."

"My lifestyle? So, I assume that you still don't have the invention."

"I'll get it. I said I would."

"Uh, you threatened to expose Damon Salvatore, that didn't work. You killed that Pearl lady, still no invention. I really don't think that your plan is working, John."

"Well, you being here is not going to help anything."

She slaps him across the face and he falls to the ground. "You failed, John. I'm gonna take it from here." She leaves.

John sits up and watches her walk away.

* * *

"Did you ask her about Uncle John? Are they working together?" Damon asks Alaric.

"No."

"No they're not?"

"No I didn't ask."

"What about the invention?"

"Didn't ask."

"Did she know about the tomb vampires?"

"I don't know."

"Did words completely escape you?"

"No, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions."

Damon turns to Elena. "What did she want?"

"She wants to see me, Damon."

"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting. We don't know why or what she wants." Stefan says.

Damon keeps his eyes on Elena. "You don't have to see her if you don't want to."

Stefan, confused by this sudden sensitivity, looks at Damon and then at Elena. Trinity turns away, trying to find something else to pay attention to.

"I don't really have a choice." She says.

"She's threatened to go on killing spree." Alaric tells him.

"Oh! I take it that's not okay with you guys."

"I want to do it. I want to meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it." Elena says, looking at Damon.

* * *

Elena is sitting alone. Stefan is standing at the pool table with Trinity. He watches after Elena.

"Can you hear me?" Elena speaks in a low tone. "Thanks for coming, I'm nervous." Stefan smiles her and Trinity winks before racking the balls. "I'm happy that you're here. I love you." He mouths 'I love you' back.

Isobel arrives and sits down across from Elena. "Hello Elena. You look just like her, that's eerie."

"You've met Katherine?"

"She found me after I turned. Genetic curiosity, I suppose. She would be fascinated by you."

Elena looks at Isobel's necklace. "Is that how you can walk in the day?"

"Katherine helped me obtain it."

"Who's my father?"

"Not important." She dismisses. "He was a teenage waste of space."

"A name would be nice."

"It would, wouldn't it? You ask a lot of questions."

"Why did you compel that man to kill himself? Right after he told me to stop looking for you."

"Dramatic impact. I wish it would have been more effective."

"Human life means that little to you?"

"Means nothing to me. It's just part of being what I am."

"No it's not. I know other vampires, that's not true."

"Your new boyfriend over there by the pool table? Stefan Salvatore. Why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon? Or are you enjoying them both like Katherine did?" She asks. Elena is shocked by the question. Stefan looks uncomfortable.

* * *

Damon and Alaric stand outside of the Grill. "We should be in there." Damon says.

Alaric shakes his head. "No, Isobel made it clear we're not to step a foot inside."

"I'm not going to kill her in a crowd restaurant."

"You're not going to kill her period!"

"She ruined your life and you still want to protect her?"

"She's my wife." Damon looks at him. "_Was_ my wife. I looked for the woman I married but she wasn't there. Whoever that is, she's cold and detached."

"Yeah, she's given up her humanity."

"Yeah, see, I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity, he's a good guy. And you're a dick and you kill people but I still see something human in you. But with her there was…nothing."

"You can turn it off, like a button you can press. I mean, Stefan's different. He wants the whole human experience. He wants to feel every episode of How I Met Your Mother, so he shuts his feelings out. The problem is, as a vampire, your instinct is not to feel. Isobel chose the easier road. No guilt, no shame, no regret. I mean, come on, if you could turn it off, wouldn't you?"

"You haven't."

"Of course I have Ric. It's why I'm so fun to be around." He smiles.

* * *

"Why did you want to meet me?" Elena asks. "Can't be to just catch up."

"Because I'm curious about you. But the real reason is: I want what your uncle wants. Jonathan Gilbert's invention."

"How do you know my uncle?"

"I used to spend a lot of time here when I was younger. John had a crush on me for years. He was the first one that told me about vampires."

"So what made you want to be one?"

"It's a very long list of reasons, Elena. All of which I'm sure you've thought about."

"No."

"That was your first lie. It's inevitable, you're going to get old, Stefan won't." Elena looks at Stefan, who has a sad look on his face. "Forever doesn't last very long when you're human."

"I'm sorry but I don't have what you're looking for."

She gets up but Isobel catches her arm and forces her to sit down. "Sit down." Stefan begins to walk towards them. Trinity casually passes by and takes a seat at the booth behind them. "And tell your boyfriend to walk away. I want the invention."

"I don't have it."

"I know that but Damon does and you're going get it for me."

"He's not going to give it to me."

"Then the blood will be on your hands." She stands from her seat. "It was nice meeting you Elena." She leaves.

Tears begin to run down Elena face. Trinity stands and puts a hand on her shoulder. Stefan is walking towards them. Bonnie arrives; Elena gets up and looks at her. Stefan arrives behind Elena and Trinity. Elena looks at him and then looks at Bonnie, who looks at Stefan and leaves.

* * *

Jeremy is on the phone. "Hey Anna. Where are you? What's up? Uh…give me a call when you get this." He hangs up.

"How is Anna?" Jenna asks. "I like that girl, she has fire."

"I don't know. She won't return my calls."

John enters in the kitchen. "Girl trouble?"

"No, no trouble. Anna just owes me a call, that's it."

"Is that the girl that I show you with at the founder's pageant? You two are getting hot and heavy. When was the last time you saw her?"

"Why?" Jeremy asks, suspicion in his eyes.

"I was just making conversation. No one else in this house likes me. At least I can talk to you especially if you need someone to talk to about girls."

"Oh please! I'm eating." Jenna leaves the kitchen.

"So seriously, how well do you know Anna?" John asks.

"I know Anna extremely well."

"I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. I'm here to answer any questions that you have, to help you in any way I can."

"Why?"

"Because your dad would want me to."

"I'm good." He leaves.

* * *

At Isobel's house, Damon is shirtless, playing strip poker with Cherie. "Oh, oh Cherie, you won again. I hope I'm wearing my good underwear." He gets up and begins to remove his belt.

Isobel walks in. "And it's just one blast from the past after another. No, no, no." She says. Damon begins to close his fly. "_Degage_ Cherie." Cherie gets up and leaves the room.

"It's good to see you, Isobel. I was just having fun with your naughty little minion."

"How did you find me?"

He walks towards her. "Search for the neighborhood bank owned foreclosures and found the most expensive one."

"Oh I should have known. You're the one who taught me that. What are you really doing here?"

"Well you caused quite a stir, you blew into town. Saw everyone except for the man who made you. I'm a little hurt." He leans towards her.

"I'm so sorry." She twists Damon's head around. "Did you bring the device?" She lets him go.

"Heh. Ow. What are you doing with John Gilbert?"

"We dated a few times when we were young. He was a little bit in love with me."

"I'm sure. One of the many. Now, this little invention what do you want with it?"

"Oh, me personally? I don't want anything with it. I'm just doing what I'm told. You know Damon we're on the same side." She takes his face in her hands.

"Oh yeah? What side is that?"

"Katherine's. She wants John Gilbert to have the device and I think that you know that she's not happy when she doesn't get what she wants."

Damon throws her off. "Why are you doing her dirty work?"

"Don't kill the messenger. We both know that you can't control Katherine. She does what she wants."

"So do I."

"Oh really Damon? You do?" She leans in. "What should we do now?"

They laugh and begin to kiss each other. Damon slams her on the floor. "Now that I have your attention, listen up. You do not come into my town; threaten the people I care about. Going after Elena? Bad move. You leave her alone or I will rip you to bits because I do believe in killing the messenger. You know why? Because it sends a message. Katherine wants something from me? You tell that little bitch to come get it herself." He spits before leaving.

* * *

Elena is walking down the stairs when she hears someone knocking on the door. "Hi." She says when she sees Bonnie.

"Hey. I couldn't sleep last night. You were obviously upset about something and I just walked away. It's not me. That can't be us. You're my friend, Elena. If you need me I'm here for you and I'm sorry I couldn't show you that yesterday."

"I met my birth mother."

"Oh. Was it…are you okay?"

Elena cries and Bonnie embraces her.

* * *

Matt is building the float when Tyler walks up to him. "Hey man. So Caroline tells me you've been on your own for the past two weeks. Is everything okay?"

"You're asking me about my mom. Seriously? Look, man, why don't I just give tell her to give you a call when she comes back to town?"

"Dude, that's not what I meant okay? I'm just trying to…I don't know what to say."

"Good men, don't say anything. You're a dick, end of the story."

"I know." He says but Matt walks away. "Whatever."

* * *

In a classroom, Bonnie is leafing through Emily's spell book when Elena walks in. "Hey! Thanks for meeting me. I wanted you to see this." She holds up the spell book.

"Is that Emily's spell book?"

"I've been going through it since Grams died. Check this out."

Elena looks at the page. "That's the vampire compass."

"Yeah, according to Emily, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic. Compass, rings and the mystery device you told me about."

"Yeah that's it. Well, a part of it. Damon only has the one piece."

"Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine. But she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed. This was the only way she could think of to help. To let Jonathan Gilbert believe that he'd actually invented these devices."

"Does it say what it does?"

Bonnie reads the page and her face curls in confusion. She looks at Elena. "Are you sure this is what Isobel wants?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Why?"

"This is a weapon. Against vampires."

Elena looks surprise.

* * *

Jeremy is walking down the school hallway. "Elena!" He calls.

She turns towards him. "Hey, have you seen Stefan? I need to find him."

"No, not lately. Listen, do you have a second?"

"Yeah. What's up? What's going on?"

"Well, it's Anna. I've left her all this messages and she hasn't gotten back to me, not even a text."

"Anna? I didn't know that you guys were still friends."

"We're more than friends. Look, something could be seriously wrong and if you know anything you've got to tell me."

"I haven't talked to her, Jer." She tells him.

"Are you lying to me right now?"

"Why do you say that?"

"'Cause that's what you do. Lying. You lie about everything. I know what Anna is and I know that you know. So tell me, do you have any idea where she is?"

"No, but Jer…" He walks away. "Jeremy wait!" She turns around and Isobel is standing right behind her. "Isobel. What are you doing here?"

"I'm your mother, Elena. I want to be more involved in your life."

"I don't want you in my life."

"I understand that. You already have a lot of people that you care about but I've been studying. Let's see if I got this right." She looks at Bonnie. "There is the witchy best friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one." She looks at Jeremy. "Oh…sad little brother Jeremy." She watches Caroline. "And there's Caroline…obnoxious Caroline. I got all of my info from her by the way. She had no idea who I was and she wouldn't stop yapping. I don't see Trinity: the gay best friend, but I'm sure we'll meet later. Oh…" She looks at Matt. "And there's Matt, friend, ex, yappy's future ex. Lots of connection there."

"Matt is not involved in this."

"He's involved with you, isn't he?"

"Look, you shouldn't be here. You need to leave."

"No, I have some friends here too. Look, you see that man over here, standing next to Matt by the Float? His name is Frank, he's very handsome and he's also quite handy and he'd noticed that the axles are a little rusty, which is very dangerous. So, all you have to do is apply a little bit of pressure and…"

"No!" Elena yells. Frank jumps on the trailer above Matt. Matt's arm gets crushed. Elena tries to run for him, Isobel grabs her.

"Get this trailer! Come on guys help me!" Matt screams.

Tyler rushes to help him with some friends. They try to remove the trailer. Stefan arrives to help. They remove the trailer. Matt gets free. Caroline rushes to see Matt.

"Caroline, call an ambulance." Stefan says.

"Why are you doing this?" Elena asks.

"I'm showing you how easy it is to hurt the people that you care about."

"And you're doing this just because of Jonathan Gilbert's invention?"

"Hand it over and all will be stop."

"I told you, Damon is not going to give it to me."

"I think that you underestimate how much Damon cares about you."

"He'll kill you before he gives it up."

"Is that before or after I kill your brother Jeremy?"

Elena turns to see Jeremy. He has disappeared. "Jeremy?" She calls. Trinity walks up to her. "Jeremy?!" She turns around and Isobel is gone.

"Elena, what's wrong?" She asks.

* * *

"The ambulance is saying in 15-20 minutes." Caroline says.

"I have my car. I can take him to the hospital." Tyler tells her.

"Caroline can take me." Matt says.

"I didn't drive."

"I'll wait. It's fine."

"You will not wait okay?! You need to see a doctor, Tyler is driving. End of story."

"Fine!"

"Go!"

"I'll bring my car around." Tyler says.

Matt looks at Caroline.

* * *

John walks into Isobel's house and sees suitcases in the entry. "I see you're packing. That's a good sign."

"It won't be long now." She says.

"Did you get the missing piece? Where is it?"

"I don't have it yet."

"Then, why did you call me here?"

She walks into another room and John follows her. "Because I have the next best thing." She enters the room; revealing Jeremy, along with Cherie and Franc.

"What the hell are you doing?" John asks, seeing his nephew.

"Getting what I want."

"Yeah, but he is my nephew and you're going let him go right this second!"

"That gaudy ring on your finger, comes off."

"Come on Isobel, I know you okay? It's me John. You can't hurt a kid."

"I'll kill him to prove you wrong."

"Really? Are you that far gone? Look, I know you've changed but the old Isobel is somewhere in there, isn't she? Come on let him go."

Isobel turns to her minions. _"Faites le souffrir." _Cherie and Franck beat John and throw him on the floor. Isobel catches his hand and remove his ring. "Nice try. We'll see how you do without this." She leaves the room.

Jeremy looks at John, who is on the floor, bleeding.

* * *

Bonnie, Trinity, Elena, and Stefan stand in a classroom.

"Where is the device?" Bonnie asks.

"Damon has it. He's going to be difficult to reason with." Stefan tells her.

"We'll go to him, I'll talk to him." Elena says.

"He's not just gonna hand it over, especially if it's harmful to vampires."

"What if it's not?" Trinity speaks. They all share a look.

* * *

"Absolutely not." Damon says.

"Just hear me out." Elena pleads.

"I'm not gonna give the device to Isobel so she could give it to John who is going to turn it to kill me. I like being a living dead person."

"But it'll be useless, Bonnie can take its power away."

"I don't trust her."

"I can remove the original spell." Bonnie tells him.

"John and Isobel will never know." Elena says.

"No, I'll get Jeremy in my own way."

"Really? How are you going to do that? Because Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door." Stefan tells him.

Damon turns to Bonnie. "Are you even up for this? I mean no offense, you're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."

"I've been practicing."

"It's not piano lessons, honey."

"What's your favorite book?"

"What?"

"Name a book, any book."

"Name a book…how about 'Call of the wild', Jack London?" He says. Bonnie turns and looks at the library. A book flies and lands in Damon's hands. "Jack London. Great parlor trick."

"We're doing this, Damon. And we're doing it my way. Now give me the device. We're wasting time!" Elena says.

He turns to Bonnie. "I don't trust you, I tried to kill you."

"You're right, you can't trust me."

"But you can trust me." Elena tells him. He looks at her and Stefan looks between the two. Damon gives her the device. "Thank you."

Trinity puts a hand to her head, feeling a headache coming on.

* * *

John is lying on the ground. Jeremy walks towards him with a towel. "Here you go."

"Thank you."

"What is she after?"

"Your ancestor invented a weapon, a device that's extremely harmful to vampires and we've been trying to get it."

"Why?"

"Because there's a group of vampires from a long time ago that wants revenge on this town."

"But why would a vampire help you kill other vampires?"

"She has her own reasons for wanting them dead. Look Jeremy, no one ever thought vampires would return to this town. Not in modern times, but they have and we have to destroy them."

"All of them? No, there are some good ones out there."

"There's no such thing."

"I don't believe that."

"Well, your dad did. And as his son that should mean something to you."

"How did my father know about all this?"

"Who do you think told me about the family history?"

* * *

Bonnie sets the device near the spell book and begins casting. The others watch her. "Done." She gives the device to Elena.

"Great, now what?" Damon asks.

"Now we give it to Isobel." Elena answers.

* * *

Elena is waiting for Isobel at the town square.

Isobel appears behind her. "Where is the device?"

Elena turns around. "Where is my brother?"

"This isn't a negotiation. Where is the invention?"

"Where is my brother?"

"Do you really think that I came alone?" Franc and Cherie appear behind Elena.

"Did you really think that I came alone?" Damon, Stefan, and Trinity appear behind Isobel.

She looks at them. "For god sakes, call home."

"What?"

"Call home and ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."

Elena takes out her phone and calls home.

"_Hello?"_

"Jeremy, are you okay?"

"_Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Uncle John hit his head. It was an accident."_

"_We're all laughing." Jenna calls out._

"_But yeah I'm okay."_

"I'll be home soon, alright?"

"_Yeah." _He hangs up.

"You were never gonna hurt him." Elena says.

"No, I was going to kill him. Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."

"But you took a risk with Damon. How did you know that he was gonna give it to me?"

"Because he's in love with you." She reveals. "So is Trinity." She smirks.

Trinity's face curls in confusion. Damon squirms uncomfortably and looks at Stefan, who is upset.

Elena gives the device to Isobel. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact."

"Goodbye, Elena. As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She got out. But we all know that you're not Katherine. You may have a chance with her though." She glances at Trinity before leaving.

Stefan and Trinity walk up to her and he takes her in his arms. She looks at Trinity and then at Damon, who looks down and leaves. Stefan looks after him.

Trinity turns to the couple. "Excuse my language, but what she told you was bullshit." Elena looks at her. "Not about Damon." She shakes her head. "I actually saw that coming. I mean about me. I mean…I love you Elena, but not like that. Isobel was just being a bitch."

Elena chuckles. "Thank you Trinity." She says. Stefan looks at her with relief in his eyes.

* * *

Elena walks into Jeremy's room. "Jeremy we have to talk about all this."

"No, we really don't."

"I don't know what Anna told you but there are things that you need to know."

"Yeah? Because I'm pretty sure that your journal covered it."

"You read my journal?"

"And save me the speech about invasion of privacy because I read a section about Damon erasing my memory, about what happened to Vicki."

"Jeremy, please, you don't understand. The night that Vicki died, it was like mom and dad died all over again. It was all over your face and it hurt so much to see you like that. I just wanted to take away your pain. I'm so sorry."

"Get out!"

"No Jeremy."

"Elena! Just get out. Please."

She steps out and turns around. "Jer, I-" He closes the door in her face.

* * *

Alaric walks down the empty school hallway and sees Isobel. "What do you want?" He asks.

"I totally get it, you, here as a history teacher. It's good."

"What the hell are you doing? You act like you don't care and yet here you are hunting me down."

"I'm leaving. I just thought I said goodbye."

"You couldn't be bothered the first time so why now?"

"You hate me. Good."

"Does that make it easier for you? I mean what is the whole point of this exercise?"

"What did you expect? You spent all this time trying to track me down. What did you think you would find?"

"The woman who gave me this." He holds up his hand with the ring. "I mean you act like you don't care but you care enough to protect me after you left."

"I was a different person back then."

"Right! And that person is gone. The woman that I married, the woman I loved, she's just…she's gone." He removes his ring and throws it at her. "You expect me to believe that?" He throws the vervain on the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm ring free, I'm vervain free. So, either kill me or compel me because I don't believe it. Not for a second."

She pushes him against the wall. "I wanted this, I needed this and I'm going to regret it forever. This was my mistake, not yours." She compels him. "You're not going to remember this. I loved you, I did and when I think about what I gave up it hurts. But now your heart is free of me, it's easier this way. Goodbye Ric." She puts the ring on his finger, touches his face and leaves.

* * *

Jeremy is going to bed when Anna appears. "Anna? What are you doing here?"

"My mother. She's dead." She cries.

"What?"

"She was killed."

"Oh my god Anna. Hey I'm so sorry."

"I know I'm not supposed to be here but I don't have anywhere else to go."

He embraces her. "It's okay."

* * *

Damon is pouring himself a glass of scotch when Stefan arrives. "Would you like one? Say it, whatever it is, purge, get it out."

"It's about what Isobel said." Stefan says.

"What about?"

"Well, I know that you and Elena have bonded and I know that she cares about you and…I know you care about her."

"Well, this is going in an interesting direction."

"I'm just concerned about Elena being hurt. She considers you a friend."

"Same here, Elena is a very good friend. Actually, she might qualify as my only…friend. Is that a problem? I mean, you have Trinity."

"So, at the risk of sounding like uh…like a jealous boyfriend."

"Oh, there's no risk, you do."

"History will not be repeating itself where Elena is concerned. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Sure. Sure."

Stefan flashes towards him. "Do you understand?"

"Whatever you say man, I mean honestly we're just friends and as a friend I wasn't looking forward to telling her the truth anyway so, I'll let you do it."

"What truth?"

"About John. Because I know you guys don't like to keep secrets from each other."

"What are you talking about?"

"Am I the only one around here who has the ability to put two and two together? Isobel! Hello? She dated John when she was 15; she gets pregnant and ends up at the doctor's office of John's brother. Now, what do you think John's role is in all this? I mean, go ahead, and think about it, I'll wait. Did you get it? You there yet?"

"So you think that John is Elena's father?"

"Ding, ding, ding!"

"What proof do you have?"

"I don't need any proof, that's a DNA test for John, Elena and Maury Povich to deal with but I know how well you deal with these bombs so…sleep tight." He starts to leave but turns around. "Oh and when you do tell Elena and she needs a friend to talk to about anything, I'm here for her." He leaves. Stefan watches him.

* * *

John is sitting on the couch when his phone rings. "Hello?"

"_On your doorstep you'll find what you've been looking for." _Isobel tells him.

"And my ring?"

"_Don't screw this up. You know what you have to do, John."_

He opens the door and picks up the envelope. "I got it. I won't fail."

"_You better not. Katherine wants all of those tomb vampires dead, and I want to add two more to that list."_

He opens the envelope and takes out his ring, placing it on his finger. "Let me guess."

"_Stefan and Damon. I don't want this life for her."_

"That was always part of the plan. Consider them gone."

"_She's our daughter, John. We owe that to her."_

"I know." He hangs up.

* * *

At the Grill, Caroline and Bonnie sit at a table. "So you're not going to tell me what happened?" Caroline asks.

"I did something bad, Caroline, and I lied about it." Bonnie tells her.

"To who?"

"To Elena. I pretended to do something I didn't really do."

"What are you talking about?"

"I couldn't do what she wanted me to do. It wasn't right. Grams would have never done it, so I couldn't either. But when Elena finds out, she's never gonna forgive me."


	22. Founder's Day

A/N: I just really wanted to finish season one for you guys, therefore I'm updating three times in the same day. Still hoping to reach the 100 review mark!

* * *

Chapter Twenty Two: Founder's Day

Elena is getting dressed the for Founder's Day Parade. She puts her necklace on as Jenna helps Elena get into her dress. "Ouch, this dress hurts." She says as Jenna tightens the corset.

"Suck it in, baby."

* * *

At the high school everybody is preparing for Founder's Day. Carol Lockwood is supervising. "No, no, no, no, no! It's all wrong! The marching band should be in front of the Historic Society. Matt, get up on the float. Boys, I asked you to put chairs on the Founder's Float. Ladies! Time to get on the float." She says.

Stefan is standing alone, waiting when Damon walks up next to him. "Look at you, all retro." He says.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan sighs.

"Why wouldn't I be here? Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, Isobel is gone and it's Founder's Day! I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl."

"Don't start with me, Damon."

"Oh, you started this Stefan with that whole 'I'm insecure, leave Elena alone' speech. I'm enjoying that."

"As long as you heard it."

"What? You have no sense of humor, Stefan."

"Actually I've no sense of 'Damon humor'."

"'Damon humor'… Hey look, I get it, I get it. I'm the better, hotter, superior choice and you're scared, now that Katherine is out of the picture, that I'm gonna turn all my attention to Elena. But don't worry, Elena is not Katherine."

"You're right, she's not."

Just then, they see Elena approaching, looking exactly like Katherine. They are both awestruck. She smiles at them and curtsies.

Trinity walks up to them and sees Elena. "Wow. That must be quite a head trip."

* * *

Jeremy is in his bedroom, putting his clothes on for Founder's day when Anna walks in. "Anna." He smiles.

"Look at you." She drags her eyes up and down his frame.

"I know, it's stupid, huh? I'm part of the parade; but how are you? I've been so worried and I feel awful."

"Why? You didn't kill my mother, your uncle did."

"Are you sure it was him?"

"Who else would have done it?"

"He doesn't understand, Anna, it's who he is. He hates all vampires. He's just doing what he thinks is right."

"Are you defending him?"

"No, no way. It's just…I do understand where he's coming from. He's convinced all the tomb vampires want revenge on this town and he's just…he's trying to protect it."

"They do want revenge, or at least they did, but that's why we separated from them. My mom wasn't after revenge; she just wanted her life back. I have to get out of this town, Jeremy."

"You're leaving?"

"I've been thinking…you could come with me. I could turn you. I mean…you said you wanted me to. Here." She gives him a vile of blood. "It's my blood. If you die with it in your system, you'll come back."

"Anna…"

"I know you, what it's like for you…being alone, always feeling empty inside, no one to understand. But when you're a vampire, you don't have to feel that way. You can shut it off. I can show you how."

"I wanted to, I did." He turns away from Anna, missing the sad look on her face. "But I don't think I can. Sorry." He looks at the vile and looks up to see that Anna is gone.

* * *

Elena's face is filled with shock and confusion as she takes in the information Stefan just told her. "John?! Is that even possible?"

"There is no proof, but he dated Isobel when she was a teenager and he was the one who brought her to your dad's office for the delivery." He says.

"My whole life I've never liked this man. I…"

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I just…I wanted to tell you before Damon dropped it on you on some typically inappropriate way."

"No, I'm happy that you told me, I just…I really hope that it's not true. What I am supposed to do? Do I just…confront him and say 'are you my biological father?'"

"I guess." He says. "When you're ready."

"I'm never gonna be ready. Stefan, I have enough problems with the family that I actually care about. Jeremy hates me, and why wouldn't he? My journal gave him every single reason to."

"He's just hurt, he's confused."

"He's never going to forgive me for Vicki, for taking away his memories, for lying to him."

"He's your brother, he'll forgive you. Just give him some time."

* * *

Damon and Trinity walk around. "So did he give you the speech?" He asks.

Trinity looks at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"The 'stay away from my girlfriend' speech."

"I didn't get one."

He looks at her. "Why?"

"Because I'm not in love with Elena." She tells him. "I mean, she's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but…I like my women with more attitude…fire."

"One of these days we're going to a bar…or a club. I want to see how you do in the field. Of course, that might be a little hard with me as your wingman. They would forget that you were there."

She laughs. "I love how modest you are."

"One of my many attractive qualities."

* * *

Caroline is taking pictures with Matt after the Founder's Day Parade, in their Civil War costumes.

Bonnie holds up the camera. "Say cheese!"

Caroline turns to Matt. "Oh wait! Hide your cast, it's not era-appropriate!"

"Seriously?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, fine." He sighs. Bonnie takes the picture when Tyler walks up.

"I want one with Bonnie now." Caroline says.

"Here, I can take it." Tyler holds out his hand for the camera.

Matt looks at him. "I'll be on the float." He says before walking away.

Tyler looks at Caroline. "I said I was sorry!"

"You made out with his mother and then you beat him to a pulp. You're gonna have to do a little bit better than sorry." She looks at him and leaves.

* * *

Elena is running after Jeremy. "Jeremy! I was wondering where you were. You look great, and you guys did a really great job on the float."

"Go away, Elena." He says.

"Jeremy, come on! Please! I don't want it to be like this between us."

"Why don't you have Damon erase my memory again? Then I could go back to being your in-the-dark little brother."

"Jer, please."

"Just don't! You can't fix this that easily; something like this doesn't just get fixed." He looks at her and leaves.

* * *

The floats are parading. Carol Lockwood commentates. "Let's give a big hand to the Mystic Fall's high school Marching Band!" The marching band and the cheerleader's parade, everyone applauds and scream. "And for a little local history, Mr. Saltzman's students have recreated Virginia's Battle of Willow Creek." The float arrives on the street. Jeremy and Tyler are in it; they wave to the crowd and pretend to shoot at each other. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls Court and their handsome escorts." Elena, Stefan, Caroline and Matt, and the rest of the Mystic Falls Court and their escorts are on the float; they laugh and wave to the crowd. "This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls. Aren't they beautiful?"

* * *

Bonnie is in the crowd. She smiles and waves at Elena. Elena smiles and waves back to Bonnie. Damon walks in front of Bonnie and stops, smiles and waves to Elena. She rolls her eyes and looks away. Trinity rolls her eyes from her spot next to Damon. Elena looks at Stefan waves to the rest of the crowd. Damon turns around and sees Bonnie.

"What do you want?" Bonnie asks.

"Just watching the parade." He says. She begins to walk away. "Where are you going?" He and Trinity follow after her.

"Away from you."

"I wanna say something to you."

"Just leave me alone!"

"Thank you. The device that Emily spelled could have killed me. I don't take what you did lightly so…thank you."

"I did it for Elena."

"I know that, but I'm still very grateful. And…I owe you." He says looking into her eyes. He puts his arm around Trinity's shoulders. "Enjoy the parade." He tells her as they leave.

"Let's cheer for the Mystic Fall's high school football team. Alright! Let's show them our support, everybody!" Carol says.

* * *

In Grayson Gilbert's office, John talks to the mayor while preparing the device. "This is the key. Once inserted, the device will be activated. It will work only once, for an estimated time of 5 minutes."

"Yes, how does it work?" He asks.

"It's a high-pitched frequency that humans can't hear. Any vampires within a five-block radius will be incapacitated, exposing them. At that time, the sheriff's deputies will inject them with vervain and bring them here, when we will finish them off."

"And you're certain they're attacking tonight?"

"I have a source. One of the vampires from the tomb confirmed the attack."

* * *

In another building, the tomb vampires are having a meeting. The leader is speaking and pointing at a map of the Town Square. "Everybody listen up! The plan stays the same. We wait until the firework start; until then, we blend in. Stay a part of the celebration; they'll never see us coming."

* * *

"They want revenge for what our ancestors did in 1864. It makes us their target." John explains.

* * *

The leader is showing the other vampires a plan of the Mystic Fall's Town Square. "This area here is the stage. This is where the Founding Families are gonna be. Any questions?"

* * *

"We're taking an enormous risk. We're talking about our families, John!" Mayor Lockwood says.

* * *

Anna walks in. "Anna? What are you doing here?" The leader asks.

* * *

"This is the only way to draw them out and kill them… all of them." John says.

* * *

Damon and Trinity are at the Mystic Grill. They see Elena walk in, back in her normal clothes. Damon walks towards her. "I like you better like this. The period look, it…didn't suit you."

"Is that an insult?" She asks.

"Actually Elena, it is a compliment of the highest order."

"Look, I know Stefan is worried about our…friendship."

"Did he mention something to you too?"

"No, did he mention something to you?"

"No, nothing worth repeating."

"So, I think you should stop with the flirty little comments and that eye-thing that you do."

He smiles. "What eye thing?"

"Don't make me regret being your friend okay?" She tells him. Damon looks hurt by this. She sees Jeremy sitting alone and walks towards him. "I don't believe that we can't fix this. I lied, I was wrong. But you're my brother, Jer, and I love you, and I have to fix it. So just tell me, what can I do?"

"You go to hell, Elena." He gets up and leaves, Damon and Trinity looking after him.

Trinity walks up to Damon. "We should go handle that."

He looks at her. "I thought you were a goodie two shoes?"

"We'll blame it on the Quickening." She pauses in thought. "You know, it might actually be that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, before I would try to talk to him. Now all I want to do is kick his ass."

Damon smirks. "I knew there was a reason I liked you." He walks ahead, missing the troubled look on Trinity's face.

* * *

In the town square, Damon follows behind Jeremy, Trinity walking next to Damon as he mocks him. "I have so many emotions, but I don't have any way to express them. Being a teenager is so hard!"

Jeremy turns around. "You're a dick!"

"You do not talk to me like that! I'm not your sister. And for now on." He grabs his arm. "Don't talk to your sister that way either."

"So, you're going to kill me just 'cause I hurt Elena's feelings?"

"Cut her some slack." Trinity says.

"She erased my memories."

"No, I did! She was protecting you." He tells him.

"It wasn't her call to make."

Trinity scoffs. "Oh please! You were a mess. I'm pretty sure that your sister didn't want to come home to find your dead body after you offed yourself."

Jeremy tries to walk away but Damon holds his arm. "Let go of me before I cause a scene."

"You'll be unconscious before you even got a word out." He threatens.

Stefan arrives. "Let him go." Damon releases him and Stefan puts himself between the two. "Are you alright?" He asks Jeremy.

"Yeah."

Stefan turns to Damon. "What my brother is trying to say is, don't blame Elena for this. Damon turned Vicki, I killed her. She was a threat to you, and she was a threat to your sister. I'm sorry that it happened, I wish that it hadn't." Damon looks at Stefan, a little surprised that he was taking the blame.

"You shouldn't have made me forget…" He walks away.

"Good cop, bad cop, I like it." Damon says.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asks, looking between him and Trinity.

"He's being a punk."

"Elena's relationship with her brother is none of your business. So stay out of it!"

"Oh, there's only one 'do gooder' role available. My bad. I'm sorry." He laughs.

"Get over yourself. We both know you're not doing this for the right reasons."

"You see, there you go with that little jealousy act again. What are the right reasons, Stefan? Enlighten me, please!"

"Well, see Damon, it's only real when it comes from your desire to do the right thing for nothing in return, and I know that it is an entirely foreign concept to you. I completely understand that you wouldn't get it." He leaves.

* * *

Sheriff Forbes is talking with John and Mayor Lockwood. "You want to use our town as bait? It's too dangerous, it's insane!" She closes the door.

"We've gone over the plans with all your deputies, they're all on board." The mayor tells her.

"You've gone behind my back?"

"Yeah, because we knew this is exactly how you'd react."

"Our children are here."

"Liz, we need to do this. We have no choice; this is the reason for the secret council. Our Founding Fathers created the secret council for just this purpose!" John says.

"I'm the Sheriff, it's my call and I say no."

"Richard, let me speak to the Sheriff alone." The mayor looks at them and leaves.

"John, you're not thinking clearly, I'm not gonna change my mind about this." She turns her back and goes toward her desk. John hits her of the back of her head and she falls to the ground, unconscious. He removes her guns and handcuffs her to the radiator. He looks at her and leaves.

* * *

Damon and Trinity walk around the town square. Anna walks up to them. "You're still around?" He asks.

"There's something you need to know. The vampires from the tomb are planning an attack tonight."

"How do you know this?" Trinity asks.

"I went to them. They think I'm with them but I'm not. They want the Founding Families dead."

"When is this supposed to happen?" Damon asks.

"When the firework start." Damon pauses in thought. "John Gilbert wants to use that invention on them."

"Then we can't be here!"

"It doesn't work, it's been deactivated." Trinity says.

"Well, then a lot of people are gonna die."

"Where are they right now?" Damon asks.

"They're already here, Damon."

* * *

The tomb vampires are meeting in front of a building. "Remember, we don't know which of them ingests vervain. It's not about the feed, it's about the kill. You know what to do." The leader says.

* * *

Damon and Trinity walk towards Alaric. "Ric!" He calls.

"Yeah?"

"You keep those nifty little vampire darts in the car?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Because this square is crawling with tomb vampires. I think we might need a stake or two."

"Yeah, got it." He leaves. They see Stefan and Elena, Damon grabs her hand.

"What are you doing?" She asks.

"Saving your life. Fifteen words or less…tomb vamps are here, Founding Families are their target." He turns to Stefan. "Get her out of here, now!" They start to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"That's more than fifteen words, Stefan." Trinity says as they walk away.

* * *

"Wait, Jeremy is out here somewhere." Elena says.

"Let's go find him, come on!" Stefan leads her away.

* * *

At the Grill, Tyler is at the pool table. Matt and Caroline are sitting at a table, looking at him.

"There was this time, freshman year, when Bonnie and I were in a fight and we swore that we would never talk again." Caroline tells him.

"Caroline, give it a rest."

Mayor Lockwood walks in and goes towards Tyler. "What are you doing here? I told you to go home."

"I decided not to."

He grabs Tyler's arm and begins to shout. "If I tell you to do something, you do it!"

"Let go of me!"

Caroline walks up. "Mayor, is everything okay?" She asks, Matt behind her.

The mayor looks at them. "Please Tyler; I need you to go home, now. Take your friends with you."

"Why? What's going on?" Matt asks.

"I can't explain. All of you need to get home, now. Please."

"Yeah, okay." Tyler nods.

The mayor gives him his car's keys. "Here, take my car, it's out back. Caroline, Matt, go with him." He says before leaving.

* * *

Anna sees Jeremy in front of the restrooms and walks towards him.

"Anna what are you doing here? My uncle could see you." He tells her.

"I don't care about that. I needed to find you. Come here." She pulls him into the restroom.

* * *

In the town square, Mayor Lockwood is giving his speech. "For one hundred and fifty years, Mystic Falls has been the kind of town that everybody wants to call home: safe, prosperous, welcoming. And we have the Founders to thank for that. That's why I'd like to dedicate this evening's firework display to their legacy."

Everyone applauds, the tomb vampires are in the crowd, looking at the Mayor. He looks at one of the deputies.

* * *

In the Grayson's office, John waits for the signal. "Get in position." He tells a deputy. He goes towards the device as the man leaves.

* * *

"Enjoy the show!" The firework starts. Mayor Lockwood and his wife begin leaving, the tomb vampires following them. Bonnie runs into one of them.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry." He says.

"I'm sorry." He leaves and she looks at him, getting a vision of what he is. She begins to follow after him.

* * *

John is preparing the device when Damon and Trinity walk in. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" Damon asks.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do." He smirks.

They go towards him but John activates the device. They fall to the ground. Damon holds his head, screaming.

"Ahh!" Trinity screams before she blacks out.

* * *

Stefan falls to the ground, holding his head. "Stefan, what's going on? What's happening?" Elena asks.

"My head!"

"What?"

"My head!" He screams.

* * *

Damon is on the floor, holding his head and screaming. John is preparing a syringe with vervain.

* * *

Anna grabs her head and begins to scream. "Anna what's wrong? Anna!" Jeremy asks.

"Please, make it stop!"

* * *

The tomb vampire's leader falls, and one of the deputies injects him vervain.

* * *

John injects vervain into Damon before doing the same to Trinity.

* * *

Tyler is driving when he suddenly hears the device. "What the hell is that?"

"What's the matter?" Caroline asks.

"That noise!"

"Wait, what noise?" Matt asks. Tyler lets go of the wheel, and grabs his head, screaming.

"Tyler! Tyler!" Caroline yells. He loses control of the car.

"Dude, hey! Caroline, the wheel!" Matt shouts. She tries to grab the wheel, Tyler screams. The car crashes into a wall.

* * *

Stefan is on the floor, holding his head. Elena's with him. A deputy runs toward him but Alaric runs interference and talks to him. "Hey, I got this one. There's one over there. Take this, go! Go! Go!" The deputy leaves. Alaric goes toward them and helps Stefan to get up. They go toward the stairs.

"I don't know what happened, he just dropped." Elena tells him.

"Yeah, he's not the only one. The cops have gotten everyone who's gone down, injecting them with vervain."

"What?" They pause before looking at Stefan. "They're rounding up the vampires."

* * *

Carol Lockwood is with her husband, who's on the floor. "Please help him, he just went down." She says. The deputies inject him vervain.

* * *

"Ahhhhhhhh my head!" Anna screams.

Deputies enter. "I got one." One says into the radio.

They inject her with vervain, the other holds Jeremy. "Hey, what are you doing? What are you doing? Hey, leave her alone!" He shouts. The deputy takes her, the other stays with Jeremy. "Leave her alone! Anna!"

* * *

The device stops. John takes everything back and goes in the basement. Damon and Trinity are on the floor, unconscious. Deputies bring in more vampires. "The device is done; the only thing keeping them down is vervain. We don't have much time, let's finish this." He says.

* * *

Damon begins to wake up; one of the Deputies is pouring gasoline everywhere. John begins to leave but Anna catches his leg. She's on the floor. He looks at her. "Anna." Damon turns his head and looks at them. John turns to the deputy. "You can head up; I'll take it from here." The man leaves and Anna tries to get up. John takes a stake from behind his back.

"Please…no!" She pleads.

He stakes her, Damon looks at him. John pours more gasoline. He goes up the stairs and pours a trail of gasoline up them. He goes out of the basement, lights a match and throws it on the gasoline. A fire starts. Some of the vampires begin to burn. Damon looks at them and turns his head, seeing Trinity unconscious.

* * *

Stefan is better. "Are you okay?" Elena asks.

"It was like needles were piercing my skull and it just stopped."

Alaric walks up to them. "I saw at least 5 vampires go down. They're taking them to your family's old building."

"It's the Gilbert's device. It has to be." Stefan says.

"But how did he get it to work? Bonnie un-spelled it." Elena says.

"Maybe she didn't." Alaric tells her.

"She did, we saw her do it!"

Stefan shakes his head. "No, no, no he's right. Think about it. We asked Bonnie to deactivate a device that could protect people against vampires."

"So we could protect you."

"And Damon. Vampires. Where is Damon?" He looks around. "Where's Trinity."

"I don't know. I haven't seen them since this started." Alaric says.

"Can you get my brother, take him home?" Elena asks.

"Of course."

"Let's go." She and Stefan walk off.

* * *

Sheriff Forbes is still handcuffed to the radiator when Carol walks in. She rushes over to her. "Liz, are you okay?"

"There's a key on my…"

"What's going on?!"

"There's a key in my belt, I need you to get it."

She takes out the key. "I've been looking everywhere for you, something happened to Richard. They took him."

"Who took him?"

"Your deputies. I don't understand, he's not a vampire!"

Liz unlocks her handcuffs and stands. "Let's go!"

* * *

The basement is on fire. Damon looks around him and sees the mayor. "Mayor. Is that you?"

The man looks at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a vampire. What's your excuse?" The mayor looks confused. "No, really. The vervain didn't affect you, you're not a vampire, what the hell are you?" The mayor scoots backwards to get away from Damon. He bumps into the tomb vampires' leader, who is waking.

"Mayor Lockwood!" He snaps the man's neck.

Damon moves as much as he can and looks at Trinity. "Trinity." He calls. "Trinity! Wake up!" She remains unconscious.

* * *

Matt and Caroline are out of the car; an ambulance arrived, Tyler is on the ground, unconscious.

"Hey, are you okay?" Matt asks her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

"No, they need to check you out."

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine. They're helping Tyler."

The paramedics are examining Tyler. One of them opens one of Tyler's eyes, it flashes amber-gold before going back to brown. "What the hell?!"

"What's wrong?" Matt asks.

"His eyes!"

They look at him when suddenly, Tyler wakes up. "What happened?"

"Dude, don't scare me like that!" Matt turns his head, and sees that Caroline is on the ground, unconscious. "Caroline! Guys, over here! Caroline, wake up!"

* * *

Elena and Stefan are walking when suddenly Stefan stops. "Wait, wait, wait, I can hear them. The building is on fire." He tells her.

"What?"

"The building's on fire!"

* * *

"Trinity! Trinity!" Damon calls. Her eyes begin to open. "You're almost there, come on!" He says.

"Damon?" She groans.

"I'm here."

She coughs. "Where are we?"

"We're at the Gilbert office. The device was never un-spelled." He tells her. "You must've went down because of your hearing."

Trinity holds her head. "What do we do?" Damon tries to get up but a beam falls in front of him.

He weakly makes his way towards Trinity. "We're gonna be okay." He reaches his hand out. Trinity reaches out as well, weakly grasping his fingers.

* * *

Elena and Stefan walk towards John. "Where is Damon?" She asks.

"With the rest of them, where he should be. It's over for Damon, and his little girlfriend." He tells her.

"Trinity? She's not a vampire! You're crazy!"

"Why? Because I'm doing what should have been done a hundred and forty five years ago? This is the right thing, Elena." He sees Stefan looking at the building. "Go ahead, you won't make it out. It'll save me the trouble of killing you myself."

Stefan turns to Elena. "You know the building well, is there another way in?"

"Utility door, there's one around the side."

He goes toward the building, Elena goes to follow him but John catches her arm. "You take one more step and I'll alert those deputies that they missed a vampire."

"I'm asking you not to."

"That doesn't mean anything to me."

"As my father, it should."

He pauses. "You know."

"I wasn't sure, now I am." She looks at him and goes toward the building.

* * *

Stefan runs towards the emergency door but Bonnie arrives. "Hey, you can't go in there!" He opens the door. "The fire will take you out."

"They're my family, Bonnie!" He goes into the building, he tries to open the basement's door but the doorknob is too hot.

Bonnie is looking at the building when Elena arrives. "Stefan!"

"Elena, you can't go in there!"

"Bonnie, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry I lied to you."

"Trinity is in there too!"

"What?!" Bonnie gasps.

"She has enhanced hearing; she went down with the rest of the vampires!" She tries to go in but Bonnie catches her arm.

"_Ex spiritum intacullum, in terrum incendium, fes matos salvis adisdum!"_

"Bonnie, I've got to get in there!"

Bonnie is still reciting the spell.

* * *

In the building, Stefan can finally open the door but the fire is too large. Suddenly, the flames diminish, thanks to Bonnie's spell. Stefan goes into the basement and finds Damon and Trinity.

"Come on, hurry!" He picks Damon up fire man style and holds Trinity close to him before flashing out of the basement.

* * *

Outside, Bonnie finishes her spell and looks at Elena.

"Bonnie…Bonnie, what is it? Are they gonna be okay?" She asks. The trio come out of the building and Elena runs towards them. "Oh my god!"

* * *

Elena is standing in the Grill when Stefan walks up to her. "The fire is out. The story is the building's old wiring is what caused it." She tells him.

"Did you see where Damon went?"

"He took Trinity home and after that he just disappeared."

"Figures."

She embraces him. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I try so hard…to hate him. I guess it's just pointless."

"You care about him, so do I. But I love you Stefan, and I know that you are worried about that."

"I just…you know, I know my brother."

"But I love you, Stefan."

"I know the trouble he can cause."

She takes his face in her hands. "I love you Stefan, you!" She looks into his eyes and kisses him. "You have nothing to worry about, okay?" She kisses him again. "Jenna called, Jeremy's home, I'm just gonna run over to the school to pick up my dress, my clothes and the rest of my stuff and then I'll check on him."

* * *

Jeremy is on his bed looking at the vial. He gets up and puts it in his drawer. He turns his head and sees Damon. "What are you doing here?"

"Anna's dead." Damon tells him.

"I figured that once they took her away."

"I know you cared about her."

"Yeah, I did."

"I saw her killed. I was watching and all I could think about was…I wanted to help her, but I couldn't."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"I took away your suffering once before. I can do it again, but it's your choice."

"Look, I know you think you took it away, but it's still there. Even if I can't remember why. I still feel empty, and alone, and making me forget won't fix it. It won't fix what's really wrong."

"What I did to Vicki was wrong. I'm sorry for my part."

"Anna said that vampires don't have to feel pain; that they could turn it off, if they shut out their humanity."

"It's very true."

"Is it easier that way?"

"Is what easier?"

"Life."

"Life sucks either way, Jeremy. But, at least if you're a vampire, you don't have to feel bad about it if you don't want to."

"Is that what you did?"

"I did it for a…I did it for a very long time and life was a lot easier." He tells him before leaving.

* * *

At the hospital, Matt is sitting alone in the hallway, Tyler sits down next to him. "Hey man. I'm so sorry. Look, I don't even know what happened."

"It's okay man. She'll be alright."

Sheriff Forbes arrives and Matt gets up. "What's happening? Is she alright?" He asks her.

"There was some internal bleeding; they're taking her into surgery."

"What else did they say? Is she gonna be okay?"

"They're gonna do everything they can." He looks at her and sits down. "Tyler, have you talked to your mom?"

"I left her a message telling her I was here."

"You need to call her."

"What is it?"

"…It's your dad."

* * *

Jeremy is in the bathroom, looking in the mirror with the vial of Anna's blood in his hand. He opens it and drinks the blood. He finds Elena's pain pills from her car accident and pours them on the counter. He picks one up, preparing to take it.

* * *

Stefan walks out of the Grill and sees Bonnie. "Oh, hey."

"Hey."

"You…you just missed Elena." He tells her.

"I was looking for you actually."

"Oh."

"Elena is my best friend, and because she loves you, I couldn't let you or Damon die in that fire, and Trinity was an accident."

"I'm very grateful Bonnie, I hope you know that."

"I do…but I hope you know that things have to change. Damon has to change."

"We both want the same thing."

"We both want to protect the people we care about. The difference is, for you, Damon is one of them. You saw what I was able to do tonight. I know who I am now, and if Damon spills so much as one drop of innocent blood, I'll take him down. Even if I have to take you with him."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Let's hope it doesn't."

* * *

Damon walks out of the house and sees Elena.

"What are you doing here?" She asks.

"Failed and feeble attempt at doing the right thing."

"Which was…?"

"It's not important. Let me take this for you." He takes the dress and her bag, and sets it down.

"Thank you."

"You know, I came to this town wanting to destroy it. Tonight, I found myself wanting to protect it. How does that happen? I'm not a hero, Elena. I don't do good. It's not in me."

"Maybe it is."

"Nah, it's reserved for my brother, and Trinity, and you…and Bonnie…who, even though she has every reason to hate me, still helped Stefan save me."

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Because she did it for you. Which means that somewhere along the way, you decided that I was worth saving. And I wanted to thank you for that."

"You're welcome." He kisses her on the cheek; they look at each other. He hesitates and then he kisses her. They kiss each other and then Jenna opens the door and interrupts them. They stop and Damon tries to hide himself. "Hi…"

"It's late, you should probably come inside." She says. Elena looks at Damon, grabs her dress and goes into the house. Jenna closes the door. "What are you doing?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

* * *

Outside, Damon looks at the house, touches his lips and leaves.

* * *

Jeremy is in the bathroom, he's taken all the pills. He goes into his bedroom, lies on the bed and passes out.

* * *

John is in the kitchen, he opens the fridge and when he closes it he sees Elena. "You scared me." He says.

"Sorry."

"You know…I first met Isobel when I was a teenager. I fell in love with her instantly; although I'm pretty sure she never loved me. She was special. A part of why I hate the vampires so much is because of what she became, how it ruined her. And I never would have sent her to Damon had I known she wanted to turn." He explains. She looks at him while she puts away dishes. "It's my fault. I'm telling you this because I hoped maybe you'd understand."

"Thank you."

"Can I help?"

She looks at his ring. "Sure." She cuts his fingers off of his ring hand with the knife she was putting away, and pushes him against the sink. John screams in pain. Elena's eyes turn red and the veins under her eyes swell, and fangs start to emerge.

"Katherine?!"

"Hello, John." Her face changes and she stabs him. "Goodbye, John."

* * *

Elena opens the door; she's on the phone with Stefan. "I looked everywhere. Yeah, someone definitely took my stuff. I'm just gonna check on Jeremy before I go to the hospital. Can you meet me there? Okay, I love you Stefan." She enters the house. "Jeremy?! Are you up?" She hears a noise coming from the kitchen and walks towards it.


	23. The Return

A/N: Season 2 is here! 84 reviews! 50 favorites! 63 Follows! Thank you guys so much. Since I really want to reach the 100 review mark, if I have them before the end of the day, I'll update again. Believe me when I tell you, you're gonna want to.

* * *

Chapter Twenty Three: The Return

Elena enters to find John on the floor, bleeding badly. She rushes over to him and tries to stop the bleeding. She grabs the phone and calls 911.

"_911, what's your emergency?"_

"Hi, I-I need an ambulance to 2104 Maple Street." She says in a panicked voice.

John sees Katherine watching the scene. "Behind you." He whispers.

"What?" Elena asks.

"Behind you!"

Elena turns around and gasps but she sees no one there. She grabs the bloody knife and cautiously approaches the hallway. Katherine speeds around, frightening Elena, before she runs out the door. Elena is terrified, and then she remembers Jeremy. "Jeremy!" She races up the stairs to his room. "Jeremy! Jeremy!" She rushes to his bed and shakes him. "Please, Jeremy, wake up!"

He takes a deep breath as his eyes snap open.

* * *

John is taken away in the ambulance. Stefan arrives at the house. The officer tries to keep Stefan from entering.

"He's okay." Elena says.

Stefan follows Elena upstairs to Jeremy's room. "What happened?"

"He said that Anna gave him her blood and then he took these pills and now…I mean he looks fine but then again so do you. So, I just…I don't know."

Stefan takes Jeremy's face in his hands and examines his eyes. "Look at me."

"I'm fine, okay? I feel exactly the same." Jeremy says.

"Should I call a paramedic up here? What should I do?" Elena asks.

Stefan looks at Jeremy's eyes. "No, he's fine."

"You mean I'm not a vampire? Damn it!"

"Don't say that Jeremy!" Elena tells him. "Jer, why would you want that?"

"Did you hear about Anna, what happened to her tonight? She's dead."

"Jeremy, Jeremy. Come here, sit down." Stefan pushes Jeremy back down on the bed. He grabs his face in his hands and makes him look at him. "I am very sorry about Anna but it's very important that you listen to me right now. With every passing moment, Anna's blood is leaving your system. If you try to kill yourself right now, you could _really_ die." Jeremy looks away. "Hey!" He slaps him. "Do you understand me?!"

"Stefan…" Elena says.

Jeremy nods. "Yeah, I understand."

"Good." Stefan gets up and stands next to Elena.

"What about the pills that he took?"

"He didn't take enough to die so Anna's blood actually healed him, I bet."

A policeman knocks on the doorframe of Jeremy's room. "Miss Gilbert?"

"I'll be right there."

"You need to be at the hospital." Stefan tells her.

"But…"

"No, no, no, I'll stay here with Jeremy."

"No, I don't need a babysitter." He interjects.

"Yes, you do." Elena says.

* * *

Trinity dries her hair as she walks out of the bathroom. She checks her phone and sees missed calls and texts from Stefan. When she finishes checking them she tosses her phone to the bed and starts getting changed so she can head to the hospital.

* * *

Matt is sitting alone outside of Caroline's room.

Bonnie arrives and walks over to him. "How is Caroline?"

"She's not good, Bon."

"What happened?"

"We were driving and Tyler heard this noise and he got…"

"A noise?"

"He got this migraine or something and he lost control of the car and…I thought that Caroline was fine and then…and then she wasn't so…"

* * *

Sheriff Forbes is at the hospital desk. Damon walks over to her. "Liz, I came as soon as I got the message. Is she okay?"

"She's in surgery, it's…they're doing everything they can. I need your help Damon."

"Sure, anything Liz."

"Mayor Lockwood is dead. They thought he was a vampire. They put him in the basement."

"Mayor Lockwood was a vampire?"

"No, no. A mistake was made, they said he dropped like the others when John's device went off but he…he couldn't have been a vampire, I've known the man my whole life and now Carol Lockwood is gonna want answers and all I can think of right now is Caroline and…" She begins to cry.

"It's okay. It's okay." Damon hugs Liz as she weeps.

* * *

Trinity walks into the hospital and sees Elena heading towards Bonnie. She glares at the witch.

* * *

"Bonnie. How's Caroline?" Elena asks.

"She's weak. They don't know if she's going to make it."

"What?" She asks, tears in her eyes. Bonnie hugs her.

* * *

Damon steps up next to Trinity. "I should rip her head off." She growls.

Damon frowns and looks at her. "Are you okay?"

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "I…I'm fine."

* * *

"Is there something that you can do? Like a spell or something?" Elena asks Bonnie.

Damon and Trinity walk over. "She doesn't know how, do you?" He says, looking at Bonnie.

"No, I don't."

"No, you don't because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that."

"Well, I can take down a vampire, that spell was easy to learn." She glares at him.

Trinity steps towards her. "Oh I dare you."

"Trinity…" Elena says.

"No! Because of this little witch bitch, I almost died."

"I didn't know that it was going to affect you.

Trinity scoffs. "And that's supposed to make it better? You lied to our faces!"

"Trinity, not now!" Elena says.

She pauses and looks at Bonnie. "Lie to me again, and it won't be just vampires that you have to worry about." She glares.

Damon looks between the two before speaking. "I can give Caroline some blood."

"No, no way." Elena says.

"No, just enough to heal her. She will be safe in the hospital and it will be out of her system in a day, she will be better Elena."

Elena shakes her head. "It's too risky, I can't agree to that."

"Do it." Bonnie says. She looks at Elena's shocked face. "This is Caroline. We can't let her die. Do it."

"If I do this, you and me, call a truce?" He asks.

"No. But you'll do it anyway. For Elena." She walks away.

Trinity sighs. "I need some air." She leaves.

Damon turns to Elena. "I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now but we should talk about what happened tonight."

She nods. "Yeah, one of the tomb vampires got into the house and almost killed John."

"What? When? What are you talking about? After I left?"

"You were there?"

"Come on, Elena, you know I was."

"When were you at the house?"

"_Really?_ Earlier, on the porch, we were talking, all cathartic, feelings exposed. Come on, we kissed, Elena."

She sighs. "Okay, I don't have time for this Damon."

"If you want to forget what happened fine but I can't."

Jenna arrives. Damon moves away while Jenna glares at him, but listens in. "Elena, I came as soon as I got your message. How is John?"

"Where have you been?"

"At the fire department, I had to fill out a report. I told you earlier."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

She shakes her head. "No, Jenna, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

A look of realization forms on Damon's face and he groans, making two women look at him. "Mmm, you _got_ to be kidding me." He realizes that he has said that out loud. He looks at both Jenna and Elena and walks away.

* * *

Jeremy is asleep; Stefan paces beside his bed, still watching out for him. He hears the front door open and goes downstairs. He sees Elena. "Hey! How was Caroline?"

"Not good." She embraces him. "Just what I needed." She tries to kiss him, but Stefan, realizing it's Katherine, grabs her by the back of her neck and bares his fangs at her. He throws her on the couch. Katherine gets up without missing a beat.

"Katherine." He glares.

"At least I fooled one of you." She smirks. He rushes over to her and pushes her against the wall. "Feel better?" He pushes her against another wall as someone begins to open the front door. Stefan is distracted by this and Katherine takes the opportunity to grab his arm, bend it behind his back, and throw him down on the floor. She smiles and rushes out of the house.

Elena, Trinity, and Damon enter the house. Stefan is on the floor but stands up immediately. "Stefan?" Elena asks.

"Elena."

"What happened?"

"Katherine happened." Damon says.

* * *

Damon, Trinity, and Stefan are in the kitchen.

"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon asks him.

"No."

"Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance." Trinity says.

"She said she fooled one of us, at least. What does that mean?"

"She pretended to be Elena too when I showed up earlier tonight." Damon tells him.

Elena walks in and Stefan goes towards her. "I told Jeremy, I can't lie to him anymore." She tells him.

"Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not alright. I thought that with all the tomb vampires gone things would get better."

"I know. We all did."

"Katherine was in this house, that means she's been invited in, what are we gonna do?"

"Move." Damon says.

Elena rolls her eyes. "Very helpful, thank you." She sits down.

"Katherine wants you dead; there's zero you can do about it; you would be dead but you're not. So clearly she has other plans."

"Right and we need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke her in the process. What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?" Stefan asks.

"To risk another frown line encroaching on a very crowded forehead. We…kissed." He reveals.

Everyone stares at him. "And you thought it was me?" Elena asks.

"What do you mean you kissed?" Stefan glares at him.

"Well, you know, when two lips pucker and they go." He puckers his lips and makes kissing noises. Stefan flashes but Damon flashes as well and stands next to Elena and Trinity. "Don't be obvious, Stefan."

Stefan starts towards Damon again but Elena gets up and puts her hand in front of Stefan. "Stefan wait, he kissed Katherine, not me." She looks at Damon. "I wouldn't do that. We don't have time for this guys."

"Later." Stefan promises.

"John must know something. There has to be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him."

Damon scoffs. "She's Katherine. She loves to play games and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's been up to before she wants you to know."

Stefan shakes his head. "No, actually Elena's right, John could know something through Isobel. Your mother, she was in touch with Katherine so maybe we can go to the hospital and get him to talk."

"I've got a better idea." Damon speaks.

"What's that?" She asks.

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch. See you." He picks up his jacket.

"That's what I was gonna do." Trinity says. "Ignore the problem and hopefully it'll go away."

"Is that smart?" Elena asks.

"If Katherine thinks she's been ignored it will lure her out, she'll make a move."

"Yeah? And then what?" Stefan asks.

"Stake her; rip her head off, something poetic. We'll see."

* * *

At the hospital, Bonnie talks with Matt. "You've been here all night?"

"Yeah, with the sheriff." He tells her.

"No one else?"

"Stefan's brother Damon stopped by late last night."

"How is Caroline today?"

"See for yourself." He smiles.

They go in Caroline's room and see that she's awake and looking completely healthy. "Jersey Shore's on." She beams. Bonnie hugs her. "Careful, still a little sore."

"Sorry."

"It's okay but they say I'm healing really quick."

"My turn." Matt says, leaning in to kiss her. Bonnie cries tears of joy.

"Oh, isn't he cute?" She looks at Bonnie. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm just happy you're okay."

"Oh, I love you guys!"

"We love you." Bonnie smiles and they form a group hug.

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Carol is talking to Liz and Damon. "I want to know exactly who's responsible for killing my husband."

"I'm looking into it but you have to be straight with me. Is there any reason Richard was affected by the vampire device?" Liz asks.

"What are you implying? That he was _one of them_?"

"No, no. No one's implying that." Damon tells her.

"Your deputy screwed up, plain and simple which makes you responsible."

"Carol…"

"Your husband is the one who helped John Gilbert execute his idiot plan in the first place." Liz defends.

"Liz…" Damon tries to calm them down.

"Someone got my husband killed."

"We're all on edge here. You've suffered a great loss. The whole town has. We have to stick together, okay? Trust each other, we'll get through this." He tells them.

* * *

Tyler is at the front door, greeting guests. A big jeep drives up to the front of the mansion and a man steps out. "So the black sheep returns." Tyler smiles.

"Tyler?"

"Yeah."

"What happened to you? In my mind you're twelve years old."

"Then that's two years older than the last time you saw me, Uncle Mason." He hugs him.

"Good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too. Come on inside."

* * *

Stefan and Elena are walking down the hallway to John's room. "Ready for this?" He asks before they enter the room.

"John?" She calls, softly. He opens his eyes and panics when he sees Elena. He tries to press the button to call the nurse, but Stefan grabs his hand and takes it away from him. "I'm Elena. I'm not-I'm not Katherine."

"We know she did this to you." Stefan says.

"We need to know why."

"Where is she?" John asks.

"You tell us." Stefan replies.

"I don't know." He tries to sit up but Stefan pushes him back down.

"You're a little too weak to play tough guy. Why don't you just sit back and answer a few questions?"

Elena places the Gilbert ring into John's hand. "Please, tell us why she's here. What does she want?" John doesn't respond.

"She'll try again; we can't help you if you don't confide in us."

"In you?" John sneers.

"In your daughter then."

"My daughter should have driven a stake through your heart by now." He looks at Elena. "I never spoke with Katherine directly, she never trusted me." He looks at Stefan. "So either kill me or get out because I can't stand the sight of you with my daughter."

"You see the world with such hatred. It's gonna get you killed." Elena walks out of the room.

Stefan is alone with John. Stefan hesitates, and then he rushes over to John and chokes him. "You may be okay with dying but I have a better plan for you." He bites his wrist and puts it in John's mouth and forces his blood down John's throat. "You now have my blood in your system; all I have to do is kill you. Now take my advice. Leave town. Elena doesn't want you here. You've got about 24 hours before the blood leaves your system, that's enough time to disappear or so help me God, I will turn you into a vampire and I will watch you hate yourself more than you already do." He releases him. John gasps in horror. "The clock starts now." He leaves the room.

* * *

Trinity walks into the Lockwood mansion after shaking Tyler's hand.

* * *

Damon is watching Mason and Carol as he talks with Liz. "Who's the guy with Carol?" He asks.

"It's the mayor's younger brother, Mason Lockwood."

"Is he on the council? Like John Gilbert was when he rolled in?"

"He's nothing like John. For one, he's not an ass. He's not a believer either. He wants nothing to do with the council. He's too preoccupied finding the perfect wave."

"Thanks." Sheriff Forbes walks away. "See you." He continues to watch the duo.

* * *

Katherine walks towards the entrance of the Lockwood house. Tyler stops her and grabs her hands in appreciation. "Hey Elena, thanks for coming. Come on in." She enters the house, smiling.

* * *

Elena and Stefan are outside, walking away from the hospital. "Hey, I just have to swing by home to pick up Jenna and Jeremy so we can go to the Lockwood's. How did you leave him there, John?"

"I…I asked him to leave town."

They stop walking and look at each other. "Asked? You threatened him."

"Yeah, I threatened him."

"Good. I want him gone, Stefan. I know that I shouldn't feel that way but I don't want someone like that in my life. Or Jeremy's life."

"I know."

She embraces him. "So what now?"

"Now." They pull apart. "I need to go find Damon."

"Please Stefan, don't fight with him."

"No Elena, he tried to kiss you. I'm not okay with that."

"That's not the problem, Katherine is. She's already messing with both of your heads and Damon is not stable when it comes to her. The last thing we need is to make things worse."

* * *

Trinity is in the bathroom, drying her hands when someone walks in. A bitter, ginger scent fills her senses. She looks up and sees Katherine. _So this is her. It is so much weirder seeing her in person. _She thinks.

"Trinity, hey." Katherine smiles.

_I better play along. _"Hey Elena." She smiles back.

"How've you been? After the whole, nearly being burned alive thing."

"Pissed." Trinity answers. "I've been really pissed."

Katherine steps closer to her. "Well it's over now. We don't have to worry about that anymore."

"No. We just have to worry about Katherine." Trinity watches her face.

Katherine feigns worry. "What do you think she's here for?"

"Well Damon thinks she wants you dead, but why drag it out? I think Stefan's right; she must have something else planned."

"Are you worried? About what she might do?"

"Speaking from experience with vampires who suddenly come to Mystic Falls? It's probably gonna be something evil, and devious, that leaves a lot of death in its wake."

Katherine brings a hand up and brushes the hair away from Trinity's face, her hand lingering on her cheek. "We'll be okay." She looks into her eyes.

Trinity fails to fight back a shiver. "Yeah." She blinks, trying to keep control over her emotions. Katherine begins to lean in and Trinity backs away.

Katherine let's her hand fall. "I'm sorry. I don't…I thought-"

"That you could trick me into thinking that you were Elena?"

Katherine feigns confusion. "Trinity what are you-"

"I know you're not Elena, I can smell it on you."

Katherine lets her façade drop. "Well that wasn't expected."

"What are you doing here?"

"What everyone else is." She says. "Paying my respects."

"Why don't we try the truth this time?"

Katherine tilts her head. "You're not scared of me." She steps closer. "You're either very brave or very stupid."

"Well right now, I'm very _annoyed." _Trinity tells her. "What do you want?"

Katherine smirks before she flashes at Trinity, pinning her to the wall. "Just to have a little fun." She answers before slamming her head into the wall, letting Trinity drop to the ground; unconscious.

* * *

Damon and Bonnie are talking. "Did you know the Gilbert device affected Tyler Lockwood?" She asks.

"Well, I know it took the mayor down."

"Don't you want to know why?"

"Yes Bonnie, I would love to know why a non-vampire was tortured by the vampire torture device that you let John Gilbert use against us. Speaking of your guilt, how's Caroline?"

"She's much better."

"You're welcome."

"No, you're welcome."

"Why am I welcome?"

"You live to see another day."

"No good deal goes unpunished with you, does it?"

"Doesn't undue the bad. I know what you are Damon, you might have Elena and the sheriff and everybody else fooled but not me. One wrong move and I'm gonna take you out."

"Now you need to stop with the witches' brew. You're starting to believe your own press."

She looks at him and Damon groans and holds his head in pain. She stops after a minute. "Oh, I'm sorry, you were saying?" She walks out to the front porch and over to Katherine, who Bonnie thinks is Elena. "Oh my god! Damon drives me crazy. He's walking around like he's some kind of hero for healing Caroline when it's his fault all of this happened in the first place."

"I'm sorry Bonnie. What Damon's done is just awful."

She takes a deep breath. "Okay, better. Hateful Damon moment over." Bonnie touches her arm and immediately senses that she is not Elena. "I've got to find Tyler and pay my respects. I'll be back."

"Okay."

Bonnie walks away as Katherine watches her go. She walks into a room and immediately dials Elena on her phone.

"_Hello?"_

"Elena? Where are you?"

"_Bonnie, I know I'm late. I'm getting in the car now. I'll be there in five." _She hangs up.

Bonnie is shocked. She turns around to leave but sees Katherine behind her. She gasps.

"We haven't officially met. I'm Katherine."

"I know who you are."

"Of course you do. You're the best friend right? I've been putting all the pieces of Elena's life together. Isobel told me it was a bit of a puzzle. I do know who Jenna and Jeremy are and I met that delicious ex-boyfriend Matt, who's sweet on Caroline, the very sexy Trinity, and then there's you, the vampire-hating Bennett witch. Did I do good?" Bonnie tries to leave the room, but Katherine flashes around her and blocks her way out. Bonnie uses her aneurism inducing spell on Katherine. Katherine feigns being hurt before standing straight. "I've been around a long time Bonnie; you're gonna have to do better than that." She grabs Bonnie by the throat and pushes her against the wall. She vamps out. Bonnie opens the doors with her powers to expose them to the other guests. Katherine's face goes back to normal. "Nice."

Stefan is standing outside the doorway. "Katherine."

She looks at him. "Stefan."

"Leave her alone."

"Okay." She releases her and leaves the room. Katherine traces her finger across his chest as she walks past him.

Bonnie and Stefan look at each other before he follows Katherine out into the main room. "What are you doing here?"

She grabs a drink off a tray. "After the way you treated me last night, I thought that a public place would be less violent."

"You're taking this a little far, don't you think? Elena could walk in at any moment."

"Mmm, but that's part of the fun, Stefan." She picks up a cherry from the food table. "Damon's here, somewhere. I've been avoiding him." She puts the cherry in her mouth, but when she sees Matt, she takes it back out.

Matt walks up to them. "Hey guys."

Katherine smiles. "Hey Matt. I heard that Caroline is doing much better. Her recovery was practically miraculous, you must be so relieved."

"I am. Thanks Elena." He leaves.

"Uh! His eyes are so blue!" Katherine comments.

"You need to leave now." Stefan tells her.

"You're hurting my feelings, Stefan. Damon was much happier to see me; then again he thought I was your girlfriend so…"

"Katherine, I'm not doing this with you."

"Okay, how about we don't have a couple's fight in front of all of your friends? Walk with me."

"Just tell me what you're doing here."

"Maybe I missed you. Is that an acceptable reason?"

"What game are you playing?"

"Why, you want to play with me?"

"I don't know. How can I play if I don't know the rules?"

"No rules, Stefan. Don't you remember? No rules." Katherine walks out of the room and looks back at Stefan. He looks at her. She holds her hand out for him. Stefan walks towards her. She smiles and turns around, still holding her hand out for Stefan to hold. He walks right past her, ignoring her silent request to hold hands. Katherine drops her hand and follows him.

* * *

Bonnie walks into the bathroom and sees Trinity on the floor. "Oh my god." She rushes towards her and kneels beside her. "Trinity!" She shakes her.

After a few tries, Trinity finally begins to wake. "Ugh." She groans.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm…fine." She sits up and puts a hand to the back of her head.

"Here, let me help-"

"I said I'm fine."

Bonnie looks at her. "Trinity, I'm sorry for what I did."

"I don't want to hear it."

"But-"

"Look, we both know that if you had the chance to redo this, you'd make the same choice. You'd just save Caroline and the Mayor first." She says. "So please, go waste your guilt on someone who cares."

Bonnie stands up, a hurt look on her face and leaves.

Trinity sighs. _What the hell is going on with me? _She thinks about Katherine. _I almost lost control, and it wasn't about anger this time._

* * *

Elena, Jenna and Jeremy arrive at the Mansion.

Jenna looks around. "Looks like the whole town has turned out."

"Yeah. Well he is…he was the mayor." Elena says.

"Why don't they save it for the funeral?" Jeremy asks.

"That's what people do. The Lockwood's were here for us when we went through this. It'll be quick; we'll drop off the food and pay our respects and go." Jenna tells them.

"In and out? It sounds like a plan."

Elena sees Damon. "You guys go ahead, I'll be right there, okay?" She walks towards him. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"Great Elena. Walking on the sunshine, thanks for asking." He says sarcastically.

"Damon."

"Elena."

"We should be able to talk about this. Damon, we're close enough now. I really want to know how you are doing."

"I kissed you; I thought you kissed me back. Doppelgänger hijinks ensued. How do you think I'm doing?"

"I think that you're hurt."

"No, I don't get hurt, Elena."

"No, you don't admit that you get hurt. You get angry and cover it up and then you do something stupid."

"You're scared. You think Katherine is gonna send me off the deep end, don't you? I don't need her for that." He begins to leave but stops. "You know, why…why is it such a surprise that I would kiss you?

"That's not a surprise. I'm surprised that you thought I would kiss you back."

"Now I'm hurt."

Damon turns to leave again, but Bonnie runs up to them. "Elena!"

"Bonnie, what happened?"

* * *

Katherine and Stefan are outside, walking. "The Lockwood's have a lot more land than they used to. The possessions from all the tomb vampires built them quite a fortune." She says.

"Yeah, why did you want them dead? You're the one who turned most of them."

"There's nothing more annoying than a vengeful vampire, Stefan. Just ask John Gilbert." They both stop walking.

"You haven't changed at all, have you?"

"But you have. You're stronger. Meaner. It's sexy."

"Don't flirt with me Katherine. I'm not Damon; I haven't spent one hundred and forty five years obsessed with you."

"Yeah, based on your choice of women, I'd say otherwise. Although I'll admit it does bother me that you've falling in love with someone else."

"I was never in love with you, Katherine. You compelled me. So none of my feelings were real."

"Believe what you want, Stefan, but I know the truth and deep down, so do you." Katherine presses her finger against his chest.

"The truth? Well the truth is, you're the same lying, selfish, manipulative bitch that you've always been. So, whatever it is that brought you here, why don't you just get on with it and leave town? Because if you don't, I will hunt you down and I will rip your heart out."

"You want to know why I'm here Stefan? I came back for you."

"Well the problem, Katherine, is that I hate you."

She takes an iron stem from the ground and stabs him in the stomach with it. "You hate me, huh? That sound like the beginning of a love story, Stefan, not the end of one." She removes the iron stem and flees.

* * *

Elena and Stefan are sitting on a bench on the Lockwood grounds. Elena is wiping Stefan's wound with a cloth. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, it will heal."

"That's not what I meant."

"I was trying to figure her out. I was playing along and I let her get to me."

Damon walks over. "I tried to track her but she's gone. Oooh, cover up, Fabio." Stefan pulls his shirt down. "We got a crazy ex on the loose." He looks at Elena. "You better watch out, looks like Katherine is trying to _steal your guy_."

"That's not what's happening." Stefan says.

"Isn't it? I mean it's only fair since I went after your girl."

"I'm gonna go check on Jenna and Jeremy. Let me know when you guys are done." Elena leaves.

"So what's it gonna be huh? Fight to the death?" He pretends to punch with his fists as Stefan snorts. "Go ahead, make your threats, stake your claim."

"I'm not gonna fight you."

Damon looks at him, confused. "Why?! I'd fight me."

"Katherine is gonna try to play us against each other, you do know that right?"

"Brother, don't you worry, our bond is unbreakable."

"We need to stay united against her. So yes, as much as I would like to kill you, I'm not gonna fight you."

"I kissed Elena."

"Because you feel something for her, because you actually care and I'm not gonna let Katherine come in here and destroy that part of you that is finally, after all of this time, willing to feel something. She will try to break you, she will try to break us and how we respond to that will define us. It's our choice. So no, I'm not gonna fight you." He looks at Damon and leaves.

* * *

John is preparing his luggage when Jeremy enters the room. "Jeremy."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm packing, leaving."

"So, you figured you'd kill all your evil vampires and then you leave town?"

"Not all, but enough. For now. Can you tell Elena I said goodbye?"

"Why don't you tell her yourself?" He says.

"You know Jeremy, I was taught to hate them, the vampires. That's what I know; that's what your father knew."

"My father would have seen things differently."

"No, he may have done things differently but there's no other way to see it."

"That ring on your finger, the one's that supposed to protect you, that was my father's right?"

"Yeah."

"Then why didn't it protect him, why is he still dead?"

"What happened to your parents wasn't supernatural, it was an accident. There's nothing that can save us from that."

"I wonder what he'd think of all this, of me."

"He would think that you're still young. You're still finding yourself but you are a Gilbert and you've been exposed to this town's darkest secret and with that comes responsibility."

"I don't believe in that family legacy stuff."

"Sooner or later you'll have to."

* * *

Tyler is in his father's office. He picks up a picture of him with his parents and looks at it. Suddenly, he smashes it against the desk. He proceeds to break all the other things on the desk. Carol walks in the room in shock. "Tyler! What are you doing?"

"I hate him."

"Oh, don't say that, honey." She gently touches his shoulder to try and calm him.

Tyler shoves her onto the couch. "Let go of me!" Mason enters the room and rushes over to Tyler. He pushes him down on the floor. "Get off of me!"

"Hey, Tyler! Hey, hey!"

"I said get off me!"

"Tyler!"

"Get off me!"

"Look at me. Look at me. Calm down. Settle down." He says. Tyler stops fighting him.

Carol gets up, but is still in shock. "Oh, God."

* * *

Damon walks into the living room and pours himself a drink. He starts to walk out but stops. "Very brave of you to come here." He turns his head.

Katherine is sitting on the couch. "I wanted to say goodbye."

"Leaving so soon?"

"I know where I'm not wanted."

"Don't pout. It's not attractive on a woman your age."

She scoffs. "Ouch." Damon finishes his drink and starts to walk out of the room.

Katherine flashes in front of him. "What, no goodbye kiss?"

"Why don't I kill you instead? What are you doing here?"

"Nostalgia, curiosity, etc."

"I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners, Katherine. What are you up to?"

"Trust me Damon, when I'm up to something, you'll know it. Come on. Kiss me. Or kill me. Which will it be, Damon? We both know that you're only capable of one." She inches closer towards his lips. He turns and walks away. She rushes in front of him again and grabs him by the throat. She pushes him down to the floor and lies on top of him. "My sweet, innocent Damon." He turns himself on top of her and grabs her by the throat. After a few seconds of hesitation, he kisses her. "That's more like it." They continue to kiss. Katherine flashes Damon against the wall. She rips his shirt open and pulls him back in. Damon knocks books off a nearby table and pushes Katherine down onto the table.

He continues kissing her neck, then pauses. "Okay, wait, brief pause." Katherine pushes him off of her and stands up. "I have a question. Answer it and it's back to fireworks and rockets red glare. Answer it right and I'll forget the last one hundred and forty five years that I've spent missing you. I'll forget how much I loved you, I'll forget everything and we can start over. This could be our defining moment because we have the time. That's the beauty of eternity." He gently caresses her face. "I just need the truth, just once."

"Stop. I already know your question and its answer. The truth is…I've never loved you. It was always Stefan." She takes his hands off her face and leaves an upset Damon standing there.

* * *

Elena exits her bathroom and goes into her bedroom and startles when she sees Damon there. "Oh god, you scared me."

"Just doing my part in the neighborhood watch."

"Thanks. For, um, for looking out for us. For me."

"That's me, your trusty bodyguard. Calm in crisis."

"Have you been drinking?" She asks. Damon holds his forefinger and thumb a small distance apart, indicating that he has been drinking a little. "And you're upset. That's not a good combination."

"No, I'm not upset. Upset is an emotion specific to those who care."

"Come on, Damon. That's a lie. You care."

Damon looks up at her. "You're surprised that I thought you would kiss me back? You can't imagine that I believed that you would want to?"

"Damon…"

"That what we've been doing here means something? You're the liar, Elena. There is something going on between the two of us and you know it." He gets up and walks towards her. "And you're lying to me, and you're lying to Stefan, and, most of all, you're lying to yourself. I can prove it."

"No." He grabs her face in his hands and kisses her. She squirms uncomfortably before she is finally able to pull back. "Damon, don't! What's wrong with you?"

"Lie about this."

"Stop it! You're better than this, come on."

"That's where you're wrong." He tries to kiss her again, but Elena is prepared this time and pushes him back.

"No, no, no, Damon! I care about you. Listen to me, I care about you. I do but…I love Stefan, it's always gonna be Stefan."

Jeremy hears the commotion and looks in the doorway. "Elena, what's going on in here?"

Damon and Elena look at him. Elena pulls her wrists out of Damon's grasp. "Nothing, Jeremy. It's okay, just go back to bed."

"No, it's not okay, Elena." He looks at Jeremy and then at Elena. "He wants to be a vampire." He rushes at Jeremy and pushes him against the wall.

"No, Damon, stop it!" Elena yells.

He chokes Jeremy. "You want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares just goes away, all you have to do is flip the switch and snap!" He snaps Jeremy's neck, who falls on the floor, dead.

"Damon! NO!" Elena screams. She rushes over to Jeremy and cries. Damon looks at her and leaves. Elena clutches Jeremy in horror and then she notices John's ring on Jeremy's finger. She is slightly relieved by this.

* * *

Tyler is sitting on the couch; Mason enters the room and sits down across from him. "Your mom's out. I think she popped a couple of pharmaceuticals."

"I didn't mean to freak her out. I don't know why I get like this."

"It's the curse of being a Lockwood."

"So how'd you get the chill gene?" He asks.

"I didn't. I've just learned how to manage it."

"I don't want to be like this anymore."

"None of us do. That's why it's a curse, Tyler."

* * *

Elena is on the floor, cradling Jeremy in her arms. Stefan is standing behind her. "He saw the ring, that's why he did it. He knew." He tells her.

"He didn't see the ring."

"It's Katherine. She got under his skin. She undid everything that was good about him."

"There's nothing good about him. Stefan, not anymore. He's decided what he wants. He doesn't want to feel, he wants to be hated, it's just easier that way. He got his wish."

* * *

Damon is at the boarding house. He throws his jacket onto the chair and pours himself a drink. He throws the glass into the fireplace.

* * *

"I hate him, Stefan." Elena cries.

Stefan kneels down next to her and comforts her. "I know. I know." He kisses her on the shoulder. Jeremy wakes up. Stefan takes his face and looks in his eyes.

"Is he okay? Stefan, is he okay?" She asks.

"He's okay. Shhh, you're okay."

"He _killed_ me! Damon killed me!" Jeremy gasps.

Elena hugs him and smiles. "It's okay. Oh God."

* * *

Caroline is in bed, sleeping. She wakes up and sees Katherine. "Elena?"

"Hey Caroline."

"What are you doing here?"

"My name is Katherine. I was hoping you could give the Salvatore brothers a message for me."

"What are you talking about? What message?"

"Game on."

"What?"

Katherine grabs one of Caroline's pillows and pushes it down over her face. Caroline screams and struggles until she runs out of air and dies. Katherine takes the pillow off and places it next to Caroline. She walks out of the room.

* * *

Trinity lies on a blanket in her backyard. She sighs as she looks up at the stars. She suddenly feels a presence next to her. She turns her head and sees Katherine lying next to her. "What are you doing here?"

Katherine leans up on one elbow, looking down at Trinity. "I'm here for you." She smirks as she brushes a strand of hair from Trinity's face.

Trinity's eyes flutter and she struggles to keep them from darkening. "Stop that!"

"Why? You obviously don't want me to." Katherine purrs, letting her hand glide across her face.

Trinity opens her eyes. "Stop!"

"Make me."

Trinity growls and her eyes go dark. She pauses before pressing her lips to Katherine's.

Katherine rolls on top of her as they kiss hungrily only for Trinity to reverse their positions. She rips Trinity's shirt down the middle. Trinity releases another growl as they begin tearing each other's clothes off.


	24. Brave New World

A/N: Ahh! We did it! 105 reviews! Thank you guys so much! As promised, the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter Twenty Four: Brave New World

At the hospital, Caroline wakes up with a start. She gets out of bed and walks into the hallway. She sees a nurse and walks towards her. "Excuse me? Where is everyone?"

"It's the middle of the night honey."

"It is? Oh, uh…have you seen my mom?"

"She left after dinner with your boyfriend and then your friend Elena stepped by."

"She did? Yeah, she did but she said her name was Katherine. Can I just get something to eat?"

"Breakfast comes around seven."

"But I'm hungry."

"You should go back to sleep."

Caroline begins to walk back to her room but stops. She turns back around. "What is that smell?"

"Back to bed." The nurse leaves but Caroline stays in the hallway. She looks everywhere and sees a blood pouch in a patient's room. She goes toward the pouch and touches it but the nurse arrives. "What are you doing in here?"

"I don't know."

"You need to go back to bed." She takes Caroline to her room and leaves.

Caroline sits down on her bed and takes the blood pouch from her pocket. She drinks but she doesn't like it and, disgusted, throws the pouch on the floor. She looks down at the pouch on the floor, climbs down from her bed and picks it up. She starts drinking again and her fangs appear.

* * *

Trinity groans as she wakes up, trying to block the sun from her eyes. She blearily blinks and her eyes snap open when she notices she's outside. She looks at surroundings and sees shredded clothes scattered around the yard. She looks down and clutches the blanket to her naked body. She reaches for a piece of fabric, smelling a bitter ginger scent on it. Realization sets in her eyes and her face fills with horror. "Oh god no." She whispers.

She rushes into the house and up the stairs. Dropping the blanket away she hurries into the bathroom and turns on the shower, stepping in before the water has time to adjust. She lets the water run over her skin. "No, no, no, no, no."

* * *

At the high school, everyone is preparing the carnival. Bonnie and Elena are taking care of everything.

"Katherine looked just like you, it was freakish." Bonnie tells her.

"She is my ancestor." Elena says. "Hey, I moved the student booth into the cafeteria."

"Your vampire ancestor and she didn't just resemble you like a family member would. She was you."

"I don't know, I can't explain it. It's creepy, that's all I got."

"How do you know she's not still out there pretending to be you?"

"I don't but I could sit here and be tortured by the not-knowing or I could get these prizes to the ring toss."

"Have you talked to Trinity?" She asks.

"Not really, why?"

"At the Lockwood's, I found her knocked out on the bathroom floor."

"What?!"

"She didn't tell you?"

"No. Did she run into Katherine?"

Bonnie shakes her head. "I don't know, she must have. She hasn't been willing to talk to me, or look at me really since Founder's Day."

Elena sighs. "It's gonna take her some time. She's been going through a lot. Putting her life or someone's that she cares about in danger isn't safe."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember what I told you? About the Quickening?" Elena asks.

Bonnie nods. "Yeah."

"I've seen how she is when she's protecting me." Elena pauses. "She's not in control of herself. If she sees someone as an enemy, she'll kill them. Me or Stefan have to be able to calm her down before that point."

"She'd kill someone just like that?"

"If she thinks that she's protecting us."

Bonnie nods before changing the subject. "Have you talked to Damon since he killed Jeremy or tried to kill Jeremy?"

"No Bonnie, I haven't and I won't and I don't want to talk about Damon or anything else that's vampire related okay?" She gives a bag full of plush to Bonnie. "I'm human. And I have to do human stuff. Otherwise, I'm going to go crazy."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'll focus. We have to make Caroline proud or she will kill us. I don't know how she does all of this."

"Well because she's not human, obviously."

"Obviously." They laugh.

* * *

Jeremy and Stefan are in the hallway, Jeremy leans against his locker.

"It's the same as the bracelet Elena gave you." Stefan explains.

"It protects me from compulsion."

"Vervain is toxic to vampires."

"Like poison?"

"Yeah, it's very poisonous. It keeps them out of your head."

"But why vervain?"

"Don't know, certain natural herbs and roots and other elements are just harmful to vampires."

"Like a stake to the heart?"

He nods. "Right but it has to be wood."

"You're pretty confident in yourself, telling me all the different ways I could kill you."

"Jeremy, if I thought you wanted to kill me we would be having a much different conversation."

"Yeah, Damon is the one that deserves it."

"I want you to forget about Damon, all right? He's hundred times stronger than you and right now he's not stable. You got to try to move forward."

"I was killed by a vampire and brought back by a magic ring. How do you move forward from that?"

"Right. Well, today we have a nice little distraction courtesy of the slave driver Elena." He says as she walks up. "Hello Elena."

"Hey." She greets and turns to Jeremy. "Did you…"

He sighs, nodding. "Yeah, yeah, I set up the gold fish toss all three hundred gold fish. It's gonna be epic!" He says sarcastically before leaving.

Stefan turns to her. "He's gonna be alright, he's just been through a little bit of an ordeal."

"I was just hoping that this carnival would reel him back into the land of a high school teenager."

"That was what we were doing here?"

"Yes, we all are. We're going to be boring high school students who live in a world where the 'v' word is not uttered."

"Got it." He nods.

"Then later you're going to take me to the Ferris wheel, we're gonna ride to the very top and then you're gonna kiss me and my heart will flutter like a normal high school girl. Do you see a running theme here?"

"Yeah I know, I'm seeing it and I'm liking it but I have a quick question. Uh, what do we do about Damon?"

"Uh, no 'D' word okay? That has been deleted from the list of topics that we can discuss."

"Unfortunately Katherine showing up has been a little bit of an odd place, little off-kilter, kind of dangerous. Who knows what he's up to?"

"Have you seen Trinity?" She asks.

He shakes his head. "Not since yesterday. Why?"

"Bonnie told me that she found her in the bathroom unconscious at the wake."

Stefan's face grows concerned. "What happened?"

"We think she must've ran into Katherine."

"Why didn't she tell us?"

Elena shakes her head. "I don't know."

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Damon is in the living room with Carol Lockwood. "So I understand John Gilbert has left town. Have they found the vampire that attacked him?" She asks.

"Well, the sheriff has asked me to take the lead on that and I promise you I will get to the bottom of it."

"Which brings me to my next subject. With Richard gone, I'll be acting as interim mayor until the elections and I'm going to need someone to spearhead out the council. I'd like that person to be you."

"Whatever you need Carol. As a founding family member it's something that's very close to me so I would be honored to help keep this town safe from vampires." He says. Mason and Tyler enter the house. Carol closes the door of the living room. "Is it safe to talk?"

"It's my brother-in-law, Mason. He's still visiting. I just don't want him to hear us. He didn't want any part of the council when he lived here and I see no reason to bring him into it now." She explains. Damon listen's in on their conversation.

* * *

"When was that? Like seven?" Tyler asks.

"Six. I don't count the last one. You crawled it." Mason smirks.

"What?"

"I think Grandma Lockwood actually passed you, in her walker."

"Yeah, okay. Shoes off. Mud, my mom…"

"Yeah, yeah." Mason sits down and removes his shoes. "So all this anger and aggression you're talking about, you notice a difference when you exercise?"

"Dude, I play 3 varsity sports. I work out 4 times a week and run 3, I'm gonna say no."

"Do you have episodes? What happens exactly?"

"Starts out normal, I get angry, typically over nothing. I'm an angry guy. I know it just amplifies and I just go off."

"You black out?"

"Yeah, it's like I go blind with rage."

"Is there a pattern? Like once a month, only at night?" Mason asks, concerned.

"All I know is I loose myself, you know? For that time I become something else and I hate it."

* * *

Damon is still listening when Carol interrupts. "More tea? Damon?"

He looks at her. "Oh yes, please. Thank you Carol."

* * *

At the hospital, Caroline is in her room. The curtains are drawn except for the small ray of light trickling from the window. Caroline tries to put her hand in the light, but withdraws it painfully when it burns.

Matt arrives with a tray of food. "Your mom said you're not eating."

"It's gross."

"It's hospital food; it's supposed to be gross." He walks towards her to kiss her but there's the sunlight between them. "he also said you're getting released tomorrow morning."

"Morning? I need to get out tonight."

He shakes his head. "No, the carnival is going to happen without you, Caroline. I know it's hard for your neurotic control freak personality to process but Bonnie and Elena have it."

"I'm not neurotic."

"Yeah you are but it's cute so…"

"Look, it's not about the carnival okay? It's just that this place is just really depressing."

"It's because you're sitting in the dark." He begins to open the curtains.

"No don't!" Matt opens the curtains. Caroline runs to the opposite wall and presses herself flat against it to avoid the light.

"What the hell?"

"Just close it, please."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Close it!"

He closes the curtains. "I'll just come back later, okay?" He tells her before leaving.

* * *

Damon is pouring a blood pouch in a glass when he sees Stefan walk in. "Care for one?"

"No, thank you. I'm not hungry, just ate."

"Are you worried that one day, all the forest animals are gonna band together and fight back? I mean, surely they talk."

"I'm just happy that's a blood bag and not a sorority girl supplying your dinner."

"I like this. You, walking on eggs shells around me because you think I'm gonna explode. Very suspenseful. Is Elena worried too? I bet I'm your every conversation."

"Have you heard from Katherine?"

"I think the Lockwood's have a family secret because the Gilbert device affected them but vervain didn't so they're not vampires, they're something else." He deflects.

"Is this your new obsession?"

"You'd rather some unknown supernatural element running rampant upon our town." He sees the look on Stefan's face. "Fine, I'll drop it."

"We haven't seen the last of Katherine, you do know that right? We have no idea what she's up to."

"Sure we do. She came back to profess her undying eternal love for you so I'm gonna let you deal with her because I have more important things to do like explode. Cheers!" He takes a drink.

* * *

Trinity finishes cleaning up her back yard and throws the shredded clothing into the garbage can. She walks back into her house and begins to head upstairs when she hears the doorbell. She goes back down and opens the door, revealing Stefan.

"Hey." He says.

"Hi." She lets him in.

"I wanted to make sure that you were okay. Bonnie told Elena about yesterday. Was it Katherine? Are you hurt?" He sees the look on her face. "What's wrong?" He walks closer.

She looks down. "I-uh."

"Trinity." He tilts her head up. "What?"

She looks at him, tears in her eyes. "I slept with Katherine." She whispers.

Stefan's face curls in confusion before it goes blank. He drops his hand away. "What?"

"I didn't mean to." Tears begin to run down her face.

"How…why?"

"It's the Quickening." She says. "It's been progressing and now it's not just anger I lose control with anymore." She begins to talk faster. "My emotions are a mess and I can't control them."

"Trinity."

"I didn't mean to. She just showed up and I couldn't stop myself." She begins talking even faster. "I don't even remember it happening. I don't even remember giving up my virginity-"

"Virginity?" Stefan asks. "You were a virgin."

"Yes!" She cries. "And because of this _fucking _Quickening I don't even remember it! I hoped that it would be with someone I loved. Or at least someone that I know and liked. But I gave it to someone who I don't even know and is most likely going to try to kill me. And-"

Stefan pulls her into a hug. "I'm sorry." He says.

She buries her face into his neck. "For what?"

"I said that I was going to be there for you, but I wasn't." He tells her, tightening his grip. "And for that, I am _so sorry._"

"I'm not mad. I don't blame you. You were going through a lot."

"I should've been there." He pulls back and takes the friendship necklace from underneath his shirt. "That's what this promises right?"

She lifts up her necklace and connects the heart. "Right." She sniffs.

"You're my sun and I'm your moon. I'm never going to leave you alone again." He promises. "I'm gonna be there from now on." He pulls her back into his arms as she cries.

* * *

At the hospital, Caroline is putting on her jewelry. She puts on the necklace Elena gave to her but it burns her skin so she throws it on the floor.

The nurse walks in and picks it up. "That's pretty."

"Yeah, my friend gave it to me." The nurse leaves, Caroline drinks blood from a pouch. She looks at her in the mirror, her face is changing and her fangs appear.

She screams and the nurse comes back in. "What's wrong?"

She wraps her hand around the nurse's throat and pins her to the wall. "You can't tell anyone, you can't tell anyone!" She compels her.

"I can't tell anyone."

Caroline pulls back. "You'll do what I say?"

"I'll do what you say."

"Good, because I'm starving." She leans in and bites the nurse's neck.

* * *

That night at the carnival, Elena is talking with Bonnie. "The ring toss is out of Bart and Homer dolls and team Jacob T's." Bonnie tells her.

"Okay, I can grab some from the science club. Also we lost a speaker in the karaoke booth."

"Hey, all good Elena, take a beat, look around. This is a huge success."

"You mean I can do more than just freak vampire havoc?"

"Go figure." They laugh.

Elena looks at a man who is repairing one of the stands. "Hey, Carter, right? You're with the carnival."

"That'll be me."

"Okay, great."

He looks at Bonnie. "Wow, what do you need beautiful?"

"What do you know about karaoke speakers?"

"Why don't you show me the problem?"

"Yeah Bonnie, show him the problem." Elena says.

"Okay, come on." They leave and Elena smiles.

* * *

At the mansion, Mason is in his brother office, looking for something. He searches everywhere in the room.

Tyler walks in. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, just killing time, waiting for you."

"You looking for something?"

"Yeah actually. You know where I can find any family artifact stuff? Heirlooms?"

"You drained your trust fund already?"

"I did that when I was 22. No, I'm just looking for this old piece of my mom's. My dad gave it to her when they got married. It's a sentimental value. Probably passed down to your dad. It should still be in the house here somewhere."

"What's it look like?"

"It's a moon stone; it's about the size of a hockey puck. Old, ugly, minimal monetary value."

"Hey man, whatever. Ask my mom I guess."

"Yeah, cool, I'll do that. You're ready?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Jeremy is buying popcorn when Damon walks up to him. "Jeremy, it's so good to see you alive."

"Aren't you a little old for a high school carnival?"

"A hundred and fifty years too old."

"You're pretty funny cracking jokes when I could I don't know…blow the whole lid off this thing by telling someone what you really are."

Damon catches him and takes him away from the crowd. "So please tell me that that is not a threat."

"Maybe it is." He shows him the ring and Damon chokes him from behind.

"This is what we're not gonna do: we're not gonna walk around like we are invincible when it's this easy for me to end you." He releases him. "If you want to tell people what I really am go ahead and try." He holds up Jeremy's ring that he stole it from his hand. "I will shove this ring so far up your ass; you'll really have something to choke on." He throws the ring at Jeremy and leaves.

* * *

Caroline is dressed and on the phone. "The doctor said I'm good as new. He signed me out. He said that I didn't have to wait 'til morning, so call me when you get this." She hangs up; the nurse is sitting on Caroline's bed. She has a bandage on her wound on the neck. "It's dark, thank god. I'm so sorry about that." She looks at the bandage. "Okay, now what's the story?"

"My husband likes to get kinky."

"Yes, good. Okay, so I'm gonna take off. I'm the committee chair for the carnival and I'm worried it's a complete disaster. I mean god bless Elena, she does not understand the word fabulous." She takes her bag. "Once again I'm so sorry about that and if you could just forget that I bit you that would be great because I'm going to…"

"Forget what?" The nurse asks, compelled.

"I don't know how that works but it's brilliant." She smiles and leaves.

* * *

"So Damon killed Jeremy?" Trinity asks as they walk around the carnival.

"Yeah." Stefan says.

"But the ring brought him back to life. Did he see it?"

Stefan sighs. "I don't know." They see Damon watching Tyler arm wrestle. "Oh great, his new obsession." They walk up to him. "You're lurking."

"I'm observing." Damon defends.

"More like obsessing." They watch as Tyler wins.

"He's got strength."

"He's a triple letter varsity athlete, of course he has strength." Trinity says.

"You're reaching." Stefan talks him.

Mason walks up to arm wrestle Tyler. "I bet I could beat you." He says. Trinity frowns as she picks up a new scent, but can't pin point it due to the crowd.

"Enter the uncle." Damon says.

"That's ridiculous." Stefan shakes his head.

Mason beats him. "Okay, he's the champ, who wants to go next?"

"Stefan wants to go." Damon speaks.

"Yeah, sure, I'll…give it a shot." Stefan walks up to the table.

"Get him Stef!" Trinity and Damon shout.

"My brother and my friend over there think I can beat you."

Mason smirks. "They're wrong." They start the wrestling, both putting in hard pressure. Mason beats him.

Stefan walks back over to Damon. "You didn't put in any effort at all."

"Yeah, actually I did."

"Come with me." Damon leads them to a hallway. "Is he…?"

Stefan shakes his head. "No, no, it wasn't that kind of strength but it was more than human, if that make sense."

"He must've been the scent that I picked up." Trinity says. "I've never smelled something like that before. It's one thing to have a woodsy scent but there was something else with it."

"What is up with that family? They're not vampires, what the hell are they?" Damon asks.

"Maybe they're ninja turtles." Stefan jokes.

"You're not funny."

"Or zombies, werewolves." He continues. Trinity looks up at that, her brow furrowing in thought.

"No comedic timing at all." Damon turns his head and sees Carter repairing something.

Stefan and Trinity follow his gaze. "What? What are you up to?" Trinity asks.

"Since this is reality and there's no such thing as werewolves or combat turtles."

"I said ninja turtles, actually."

Damon goes towards Carter. "Hey you!"

"I have a name."

"Yeah I don't care." He catches his shoulders and compels him. "I need you to pick a fight with someone, a kid named Tyler Lockwood."

"Damon, don't do this." Stefan says.

"It's just an experiment. Get him mad, don't back down no matter what he does, okay?"

"I won't back down."

"I know you won't." He releases him, Carter leaves.

"Do you realize someone is going to get hurt right?" Stefan asks.

"No, someone is going to get mad, as in rage."

"What's that going to accomplish?" Trinity asks.

"That Tyler kid is incapable of walking away from a fight. Let's see who intervenes, maybe it's the ambiguous, supernatural mystery uncle."

* * *

Damon is walking alone in the hallway when he sees Caroline. "Hey Blondie, they let you out?"

"I remember." She says.

"What do you remember?"

"I remember how you manipulated me, you pushed me around, abused me, erased my memories, fed on me."

"You're crazy."

"Memories have been coming back, in pieces."

"You can't remember. It's impossible, I mean unless you're becoming a…"

She smiles. "I have a message from Katherine, she said 'Game on."

"Wait…"

She pushes him with strength and he goes flying to the other end of the hallway. "You suck." She says before leaving.

* * *

Damon walks up to Elena. "Elena."

"What do you want, Damon?" She asks.

"I know I'm the last person you want to see right now but I need you to come with me."

"Whatever it is I'm not interested."

"Yeah, I need you to come with me right now, Elena." She follows him.

* * *

Tyler is going in the parking lot; Stefan and Trinity follow him and hide to observe the scene. Carter arrives and pushes Tyler. "Watch where you are going." Tyler tells him.

"You got a problem?"

"Yeah, you walked right into me."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"You're kidding right?" Carter pushes him again. "You better back off!" Carter pushes him. "You hit me again, I swear to god." Carter punches him in the face and they begin to fight.

Mason arrives and pushes Carter away. "Hey Tyler! Tyler! What the hell man?" He struggles with him but Carter punches him in the face and pushes him against a car. Mason leaps a far distance over Tyler and towards Carter, his eyes glowing yellow.

"Your eyes." Tyler whispers. Mason hits Carter and he falls to the ground. Mason and Tyler leave.

Stefan and Trinity walk out to help Carter. "You alright man?" Stefan asks.

"Why did I just do that?"

"You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Trinity tells him.

* * *

Caroline walks up to Matt at the ring toss. "What are you doing here?" He asks.

"They discharged me, all better."

"How do you feel?"

"I feel pretty good."

"Yeah, 'cause earlier you were…"

"I'm all better." She kisses him. "All better."

"Okay, you want to give it a shot?" He gives her a ring. She throws it towards a bottle but ends up breaking three of them. "Woah, hey, nice shot, killer."

"They must already have been broken." She says. He hugs her and she stares at his neck. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

"I got to go." She walks away but he follows after her.

"Wait Care, are you okay, I mean…"

"Just leave me alone!" She leaves.

* * *

Elena, Stefan, Trinity, and Damon are in a classroom talking about Caroline.

"How did this happen?" Stefan asks.

"Well, I fed her blood and Katherine obviously killed her and A plus B equals…"

"But why?" Elena asks.

"Because Katherine is a manipulative nasty little slut."

"And she said 'game on'? What does that even mean?" Trinity asks.

"It means she's playing dirty, she wants us to know."

Elena looks at him. "But why Caroline?"

"I don't know."

"Caroline must be completely out of her mind, she doesn't even know what's happening to her." Stefan says.

"Oh I think she does. All of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

"We have to find her."

"Yep and kill her."

"You're not gonna kill Caroline." Elena tells him.

"She knows who we are. She's officially a liability, and we've got to get rid of her."

"Damon, absolutely not." Stefan says.

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan? Caroline, of all people, will not make it as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter. Guys come on, we all know how this story's gonna end, just flip to the last chapter and…"

"It's not an option Damon." Elena presses.

"No? Your silence is deafening, Trinity." He says, making Stefan and Elena look at her. "Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki? Talk about a town where story repeats herself. You know I'm right."

She pauses before speaking. "I don't want her to die. But if we can't control her then…"

"We're not gonna kill her." Stefan says. Trinity looks as him before nodding.

"It's the only way." Damon says. He watches the others walk out of the room.

* * *

Caroline is alone crying when she sees Carter. He's bleeding.

"Hey, is everything okay?" He asks.

She looks at the blood. "I'm so sorry."

"What?"

She rushes over him and bites him, drinking until he dies.

* * *

Matt is talking to Bonnie. "She's obviously pissed at me for something but for what, no clue."

"What happened?" She asks.

"She freaked out and she's been like that all day. Cool one minute and crazy and neurotic the next."

"She almost died; it's bound to mess with her head. Plus, she's Caroline."

"Yeah, I'm used to the insecurities and all that. It's who she is, love it or hate it but this seemed I don't know…different. I can't explain it."

* * *

Damon is looking for Caroline; he finds a broken tree branch on the ground and picks it up.

* * *

Elena, Trinity, and Stefan are looking for her too. "You agree with Damon, don't you?" Elena asks. "Stefan?" He punches the side of a trailer. "Stefan. Hey."

"Damon's right, not about what we should do but about what's gonna happen. Katherine's already decided Caroline's death sentence." He says.

"We can't let it end that way. She's doing this to me, isn't she?"

"No, she's doing it to me."

* * *

Mason and Tyler walk into the mansion. "Well, we're home. Safe territory, enough with the silence." Tyler tells him.

"I told you to leave it alone."

"What was that move you pulled?"

"Brazilian martial arts, I took some classes a while back."

"Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not lying."

"I saw something!"

"You didn't see anything."

"I saw your eyes, they glowed."

"Reflection of a car headlight maybe, that's all."

"Reflection of a car headlight…"

"Yes."

"You really expect me to believe that?"

"Tyler! You want to know what you saw? You saw me get pissed off that I had to pull your delinquent ass out of a fight!"

Tyler glares at him and storms out.

* * *

Stefan, Trinity, and Elena are still searching for Caroline. Trinity looks up, noticing a scent in the air. She nudges Stefan and he takes a deep breath.

"Where could she be?" Elena asks. She looks at the duo. "What is it? Do you hear her? What's going on Stefan, what is it?"

"Blood." Trinity says.

"I can smell blood." He tells her.

* * *

Caroline is crying next to Carter's body when Damon arrives. She looks up and he sees the blood all over her face. "He's dead. I killed him. What's wrong with me?" She cries.

"Hey, hey it's okay. I can help you."

She stands up. "You can?"

"Yeah, I have to."

"What are you gonna do?"

"The only thing I can do. I'm gonna kill you."

"Please don't! I don't want to die!"

"Yeah, but you are already dead." He walks closer.

"No! I'm not. Don't say that, okay? Just help me!"

"Okay."

"Okay? Just help me please! Please, please!"

"Okay, okay." He embraces her and is about to kill her with the stake but Stefan arrives and rushes over to stand between them. "Stefan!"

Elena and Trinity stand with Caroline, who backs away. "Get away from me! You killed me!"

"No, no, no, no Caroline! That wasn't me. You know that! That was Katherine."

"No! Then why did she look like you?! And why, why did she do this to me?"

"Stefan, we've got to get her inside."

"It's okay Caroline, come with me." Stefan and Trinity begin to lead her away.

"She'll die; it's only a matter of time."

"Yeah, maybe so, but it's not gonna happen tonight." Stefan tells him.

"Oh yeah it is." He picks up the stake and rushes over them but Elena puts herself in front of Caroline.

"Damon, she's my friend."

Damon hesitates, staring at Elena who refuses to move. He drops his arm. "Whatever happens, it's on you."

Bonnie walks over and stares in shock. "Caroline?"

"It's okay, come on." Trinity says as she and Stefan lead her away.

Bonnie sees the blood on Caroline's face. "No, you're not; you can't be." She touches her and is horrified by the truth.

"Bonnie? Caroline asks.

Bonnie looks over and sees the body. "Oh god!"

"Bonnie…" Trinity and Stefan take Caroline away from the area to the bathroom. Trinity takes some tissues to wipe the blood of her face. Caroline starts washing away the blood too. "She hates me! Bonnie hates me."

"No, she's just in shock, we all are." Stefan tells her.

"And what about Matt?" She cries.

"Hush. One thing at one time, let's get this blood off, come on." Trinity says.

"I'm a m-m-murderer. I'm a monster!"

"Look at me." Stefan tells her. "Your emotions are heightened right now, it's part of the transformation, it's completely normal, I promise you okay?"

Caroline sees her face changing in the mirror and starts to panic. "Why does this keeping happening to my face?!"

"Look at me, look at me, look at me! Caroline, Caroline! Look at me! Look at my face, look at my face!" His face has changed too. "You see that? When you feel the blood rushing, you tell yourself that you're going to get through it, that you're strong enough. Yes, yes, no matter how good it feels to give yourself over to it, you fight it off, you bury it. Watch me, watch me." His face is normal again. "It's the only way you're gonna survive this thing. Try." She takes a few breaths and her face is normal again.

"That's good." Trinity says.

"Why did Katherine do this to me?"

"I don't know, I wish I did. Hey, hey, I promise you I will not let anything happen to you. Come here." He hugs her. Trinity rubs her back.

* * *

Bonnie shakes her head. "I can't believe this is happening."

Damon comes back with a shovel. "Come on, don't pout about it, I've got a body to bury." He looks at Elena. "I thought you were calling the shots, no? It sucks to be you, buddy."

Bonnie looks at him and gives him an aneurism; he takes his head between his head and falls to the ground. She opens the faucet with her powers and water flies out from the hose. "I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt."

"I didn't do this."

"Bonnie, it wasn't his fault." Elena says.

"Everything that happens is his fault Elena."

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" She asks. She creates a fire and it moves towards Damon. "Bonnie stop it!" Damon yells as the fire begins to burn his legs. "Bonnie, Bonnie, stop it! You're going to kill him!"

Trinity looks up and runs out of the bathroom. She sees the scene and flashes behind Bonnie, her claws around her neck. "Put it out." She growls.

"Trinity no!" Elena yells.

Trinity leans into Bonnie's ear. "I dare you to try your little brain fry on me. Let's see how much it will make my fist clench, wouldn't want that now would we?" She tightens her grip on Bonnie's neck.

"Trinity!"

"Put out the fire, or I'll rip your throat out." She says.

Elena jumps over the fire and over to them. "Bonnie!" She yells. Bonnie blinks and looks at her. "Trinity please let her go."

"Why should I?"

"Because this isn't us." She looks between the two. "This can't be us."

Trinity releases Bonnie, who hugs Elena. She watches the two leave and looks down at Damon. She walks over to him and helps him up. "Come on."

"Thanks." He groans.

* * *

Stefan walks up to Elena, who is at her locker. "Hey. Caroline is okay for now, I'm gonna check in on her later."

"What about the guy that she…" She trails off.

"It's taken care of."

"Damon's right, isn't he? It won't end well for her."

"No, I'm gonna make sure that he's wrong."

"I just can't believe what this day has turned into."

"Not your normal day, huh?"

"I was stupid to think that it could be. I mean, nothing about my life is normal. My best friend is a witch, my friend is a vampire and I have a doppelgänger who's hell-bent on destroying all of us."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's not your fault, Stefan. It's no one's fault you know? It is what it is." He caresses her face. "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just that…you know what? I'm fine. I'm gonna to call you tomorrow, okay? Good night Stefan." She walks away.

"Good night." He calls after her.

* * *

Carol is talking to Mason. "I think it's good for Tyler to have you in the house."

"I appreciate that Carol." He says.

"Oh, and I can see If I can dig up that stone you're looking for. It's bound to be tucked away in one of Richard's nooks and crannies." She goes up stairs.

Mason sees Tyler walk in. "Hey man, you heading up?"

"In a minute. Good night mom."

"Good night Tyler." She says before leaving.

"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier, we're all good?" Mason asks him.

"Yeah, we're good."

"Alright." He leaves.

Tyler goes into his father's office, closes the door and opens his father's safe hiding under the carpet. He takes a box inside and opens it, seeing the moonstone that Mason was looking for. He takes it from the box and puts it in his pocket.

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon is pouring a glass of scotch. Jeremy is sitting on the couch behind him. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asks.

"You don't lock your front door."

"Yeah."

Damon begins to lift the glass to his lips. "No I wouldn't…I laced it with vervain."

He sighs, putting the glass down. "Why would you do that?"

Jeremy has a stake in his hands. "So I could stake you…with this." He throws the stake onto the floor.

Damon picks it up. "You came here to kill me?"

"It's only fair, you killed me first."

"What made your wisen up?"

"My father hated vampires, my uncle too. They were absolute they knew exactly what they stood for and I figured maybe I should too. I mean, stand for something but killing you, what's that gonna do?"

"Look, I don't do the big brother thing very well. Sorry, I don't have any milk and cookies to offer you."

"Dick." Jeremy says and turns to leave.

"Wait." He calls. Jeremy turns around. "My father hated vampires too."

"He did?"

"For the same reasons your dad did. Only it was 1864, people knew how to whittle." He holds up the misshapen stake. "Did you do this?"

"Yeah I tried; it's a lot harder than it looks."

* * *

Caroline is lying on her bed when someone opens the window. She goes flashes next to it and sees that it's Matt. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if today's basket case period has expired."

"You know you should just go 'cause my mom is gonna be home soon."

"You've been dodging me all day. I mean, I'm more insecure than you are now."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that…you almost died and it really freaked me out and it got me thinking you know 'cause…I'm not in a position where I can lose someone else right now. I realized, even though today I wanted to throttle you, I'm pretty sure that I'm in love with you and now it seems like you don't feel the same way."

She kisses him and they embrace each other. Her face is changing so she takes a few breaths and her face becomes normal again.

* * *

Elena is sleeping; Stefan enters the room by the window. He kisses her on the cheek and she wakes up. "Hi. What time is it?" She asks groggily.

"It's almost dawn. Come with me."

* * *

They are at the carnival. It's empty. "Stefan what are we doing here? We could get caught."

"I compelled the guard to on break so I could kiss my girlfriend at the top of the Ferris wheel."

"Stefan…"

"We have to take these moments, Elena. What Katherine did to Caroline could just be the beginning and there are things with Tyler's family that we don't even understand yet and there's always the 'D' word but I came back to this town to start a life with you. We can't forget to live it."

"But Stefan, how are we gonna get to the top?"

"I guess you'll just have to hold on tight."

She wraps her arms around his neck and Stefan jumps to the top of the Ferris wheel and sits down. She laughs, then stops, looking at him with confusion. "What?"

"It's just so nice to see you laugh." He kisses her.

"It's not going to get any easier, is it?"

"No, it's not."

* * *

Trinity tosses and turns in her sleep.

* * *

_Flash_

_Katherine trailing kisses down her neck._

* * *

_Flash_

_Katherine's arms tighten around her as she moans._

* * *

_Flash_

_She slams Katherine to the ground as she growls. She leans in and kisses her._

* * *

Trinity's eyes snap open and she sits up, panting.


	25. Bad Moon Rising

Chapter Twenty Five: Bad Moon Rising

Stefan lets Alaric into the boarding house. "Thanks for coming, Ric."

"I get you something to drink? Coffee, bourbon? Bourbon in your coffee?" Damon asks.

"Elena mentioned you needed my help."

"Yeah, we were hoping you could help shed some light on the Lockwood family." Stefan tells him.

* * *

Tyler watches Mason leave the house.

* * *

"Now, why would I know anything about the Lockwood's?"

"Well, you wouldn't. But your dead not dead vampire wife might." Damon says.

Elena looks at him. "Isobel's research from when you guys were at Duke together."

"You said that she had spent years researching this town." Stefan says.

"Isobel's research here in Mystic Falls rooted in folklores and legends but at the time I thought much of which was fiction."

"Like that amazing vampire story." Damon smiles.

"Aside from vampires, what else?" Elena asks Ric.

"The lycanthrope."

"Wait, like werewolves?"

Damon scoffs. "No way, impossible, way too Lon Chaney."

"Is it?" Stefan asks.

"I've been on this planet one hundred and sixty some odd years, never came across one. If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"

"You also didn't know about shapeshifter's." Trinity says. "Compared to other vampire's, you are still young. So werewolves are either few in numbers or in hiding."

* * *

Mason is running in the woods, unaware of Tyler following him He goes into the ruins.

* * *

"Why do you suspect the Lockwood's?" Alaric asks him.

"Because vervain didn't affect the mayor at Founder's day but the Gilbert device did and it affected his son Tyler."

"And at the school carnival his uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought with one of the carnival's worker." Stefan says.

* * *

In the woods Mason walks out of the ruins. Tyler watches him leave and goes into them.

* * *

"It suggests it's some sort of a supernatural entity."

"We were hoping that Isobel's research could help us figure it out what it is." Elena tells him.

"Well, all her things are still at Duke. I mean her office is still there, she's technically still missing." He says.

"So can we get access to it?" Damon asks.

* * *

Tyler walks into the underground quarters of the ruins. He begins to take pictures.

* * *

"Ric, we need to know what we are dealing with. If this wolf men thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney junior which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed."

* * *

Matt is knocking on the door. Caroline is in the house but she can't answer because of the sunlight. "Caroline. Caroline!" He calls but receives no answer. He takes out is phone and calls her. She doesn't answer so he leaves a message. "Hey, I thought you said you were at home. Tyler is doing this whole thing at the swimming hole and I want us to spend the day together. Where are you? Call me." He hangs up and leaves.

* * *

Elena is packing for the trip to Duke. Stefan is with her. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asks.

"Which part? Digging through my birth mother's life work or going to Duke with Damon?"

"Either, both."

"Well, I'm not sure about the first part but then again Ric is a good buffer so we can bond in our anti Damon solidarity. And Trinity will be there to help keep me company. I wish you were coming though."

"You know what? Maybe we should wait a couple days, huh? Wait until Caroline is less of a danger and then I could go with you." Stefan says.

"It's okay that I'm going, right? And be honest because if it's not then I can just stay here and we can take care of Caroline."

"Listen, I want you to go okay? I do. You have questions about your lineage and about Katherine and…look I'm not gonna let the fact that Damon is going keep you from an opportunity to get some answers."

"You hate it though."

"I hate it but I love you."

"I love you too." She kisses him.

* * *

Jenna and Alaric are talking while waiting for Elena. "It's been a while." She says.

"Well, the school has been keeping me busy."

"I want you to know it means a lot to me that Elena has a connection to her mother. I appreciate you bringing her along today."

"Yeah, I figured it was time to take care of my wife's things you know. Look Jenna, I know things between you and I have been a little start and stop and I'm sorry for that but maybe once I can…" He trails off.

"Uh…no, don't do that. Not the half maybe apology hope for the future thing." They hear Damon honking. "Elena?! Are you coming?" She looks at Alaric. "Do what you need to do okay?"

Elena and Stefan walk down the stairs. "Hey, are you okay?" She asks her.

"Yeah, just, men and their baggage." Jenna says.

Elena and Stefan walk outside to see Damon standing by the car, Trinity in the back seat. "Sorry you can't come too, Stef." He says.

Stefan looks at Elena. "Call me if you need anything."

"Oh, I'll take really good care of her." He calls. Elena catches Stefan by the neck and pulls him into a deep passionate kiss. Damon's face goes blank. "Okay, time to go." He gets into the car.

Elena breaks away from the kiss and gets in as well.

* * *

Tyler is talking to his mother. "Have you ever been down to those old ruins in the woods?" He asks.

"The old Lockwood estate?"

"Yeah. What do you know about it?"

"It was the original plantation house. Beautiful antebellum architecture and if it hadn't burn to the ground we'd probably be living in it." She explains.

"What's the deal with the freaky underground cellar?"

"We don't talk about those kind of rooms."

"Why not?"

"Well, this is the South, honey, but no one likes to reminisce about the old slave days."

Mason walks into the room. "Hey. What you guys are talking about?"

"We were just talking about the old Lockwood property. Taking some friends over the swim hole." Tyler says.

"Well, be careful. If anything happens on the property the family is liable." Carol tells him.

"Of course."

* * *

At the Grill, Stefan and Bonnie sit at a table. "I don't know how to make a day-walking ring." She says.

"Emily made mine, she made Damon's too, instructions must be in the Grimoire."

"That doesn't mean I can cast the spell."

"Bonnie, you know how to drop vampires with a single look, okay? I think you can figure it out."

"Caroline killed someone, Stefan. I can't make it easier for her to do it again."

"No, we're not making it easier for her; we're just giving her the chance to survive. Listen, every day that she's cut off from her old life: from you, from Elena, from Matt, it'll make It that much harder for her to hold on to her humanity."

"And how do you know she won't hurt anyone else?"

"I don't, but if we don't do everything we can to help her or at least trust the fact that she can keep it together, we might as well just stake her right now."

"I don't know if I can trust her, not with this."

"Then trust me."

* * *

Damon, Elena, Trinity, and Alaric are in the car, driving to Duke. Damon looks back at Elena. "How are you doing back there? You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."

"I don't think she's pretending. You did kill her brother." Trinity comments as she looks out the window.

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement; he came back to life."

"Yeah, thanks to a ring you didn't know he was wearing." Elena tells him.

"Why are you so sure I didn't know?"

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"You're lying."

"Elena, I saw the ring! It's a big tacky thing, it's hard to miss." He says. Alaric frowns and looks at his ring.

Trinity sits on the far side of the car, avoiding looking at Elena. _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea._ She thinks. She had the option between helping Stefan with Bonnie and Caroline or to go to Duke with Elena. She had chosen the latter because she still gets the desire to put her fist through Bonnie's chest every time she sees her. She was now rethinking her decision due to the fact that the carbon copy of the woman she gave her virginity to was sitting two feet away.

* * *

Bonnie, Caroline and Stefan are in Caroline's bedroom. Bonnie has Emily's grimoire in her hands. Caroline has the ring in her hands. "So, I don't get to choose the ring I have to wear the rest of my life?"

"Hey, if you don't want it…" Bonnie says.

"No, no, she wants it." Stefan tells her.

"Now what?" Caroline asks.

"Now is the part where I explain the rules. The witch who spells the ring has the power to dispel it so if you ever do anything to hurt anyone…"

"I'm not gonna hurt anyone."

"You are a vampire that mean the urge to kill is a part of who you are. The minute you let it take over, I will stop you."

"Bonnie, you're supposed to be my friend."

"I can't ignore what happened okay? If you want to be friends, you have to prove that the Caroline I remember isn't gone. Now put the ring on the bed."

Caroline puts the ring on the bed. "Do you really think I meant to kill that guy at the carnival?"

"He's still dead. Now, do you want me to cast the spell or not?" Bonnie opens a little bit the curtain so the sun shines on the ring. She looks at the ring and closes her eyes a moment and finally opens them. "All done." She gives the ring to Caroline.

She takes the ring and puts it on her finger. "So that's it? I mean nothing witchy happened. You know, no flickering lights, no gust of wind. Have you even done this before?"

"Caroline." Stefan says.

"I just want to make sure that worked."

Bonnie pulls the curtains wide open, making Caroline flinch away. She turns to her friend. "It worked.

"What if it hadn't Bonnie?!"

Bonnie looks at Stefan. "She's all yours." She takes the grimoire and leaves.

* * *

The group arrives at Duke.

"So Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenon is rooted in folklore." Alaric tells them. They walk into the office and see a young woman. "Excuse me, hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman, I called earlier."

"Yes, of course. I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant comparative folklore." She looks strangely at Elena. "Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys."

"These are my friends Elena, Trinity, and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."

"Oh please, Isobel's office is right through there. Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student, she was brilliant and one of the reasons I went into folklore. Uh I have to ask, has there been any news?"

"No, I'm afraid not." She opens Isobel's office door, they follow her and enter the room. "I'll grab the light, feel free to look around. It's fascinating isn't it?" She leaves.

They look around the room. "Where did she go?" Damon asks.

Vanessa comes back with a crossbow and shoots an arrow at Elena but Damon puts himself in front of Elena to protect her. He receives the arrow in his back. Trinity catches Vanessa and pins her to the wall, growling.

* * *

Elena is removing the arrow from Damon's back. "Pull it out. I can't reach it Elena. Just pull the damn thing out. It hurts." He tells her. She grimaces before pulling the arrow out in one hard tug. Damon stands up. "That bitch is dead." He goes to enter the room but Elena steps in front of him

"You're not gonna kill her."

"Watch me."

"You touch her and I swear I will never speak to you again."

"What makes you think that has any power over me? Because I took an arrow in the back for you? You're severely overestimating yourself."

"Right." She nods. "I forgot that I was speaking to a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively. Fine, go ahead, do whatever you want."

"You're trying to manipulate me."

"If by 'manipulate' you mean 'tell the truth' okay, guilty." She looks at him and leaves.

* * *

Alaric and Trinity are with Vanessa. "Please! I freaked out okay? Alright, you would have done the same thing, it's not possible! Katherine Pierce can't be alive and Damon Salvatore died in 1864. Okay, I read Isobel's research." She explains.

"Well, then you should know just how possible this is." He tells her.

"If you even _breathe _wrong, I'll snap your neck." Trinity glares.

"Trinity." Alaric says.

"No. One wrong move towards Damon or Elena, and I'll _end _you." She finishes.

Damon and Elena walk into the room. "I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and a descendant of Katherine Pierce. And this is Damon Salvatore who you just shot."

"I'd be extra nice to me right now." He says.

"Look, we need your help okay? We need to see all of Isobel's research, anything related to Mystic Falls."

* * *

Caroline and Stefan are in the woods, hunting. "So what I do when I see the rabbit?" She asks.

"Chase it, catch it, feed on it." He tells her.

"Isn't killing cute defenseless animals the first step in becoming a serial killer?"

"Well, you sort of skipped the serial killer and went straight to vampire."

"Why isn't Trinity helping? Isn't she a vampire too?"

Stefan shakes his head. "She's a shapeshifter. She can change into any animal at will. Caroline, if you're not serious about all of this I think you should tell me."

"No I am. Look, I swear that I am okay? But it's just…I haven't been in the sun for days and everyone is at the swimming hole having fun and Matt is there! And he finally told me that he loved me but I have been blowing him off and now you want me to eat bunnies and I'm kind of freaking out okay?!" She says. Stefan begins to laugh. "And now you're laughing at me."

"No, no, I'm not laughing. None of this is funny, trust me. It's just that…"

"What?!"

"When someone becomes a vampire, all of their natural behaviors get sort of amplified."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…as a human I cared deeply for people, how they felt. If they were hurting I felt their pain and I felt guilty if I was the one who caused it and as a vampire all of that got…magnified."

"So you're saying that now I'm basically an insecure, neurotic control freak…on crack?"

"Well, I wasn't gonna say it like that but…hey, listen, let's hunt okay? And then after that we'll go to the swimming hole."

"Really?" She smiles.

"Yeah. Matt is the closest connection that you have to your humanity and I think that being around him is a good thing."

"Okay."

* * *

Vanessa brings a box over to Elena. "This box checks Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls in April 1864."

"Is that all there is about her?" She asks.

"All that I'm aware of." Seeing vervain in the box, Elena looks at Damon and gives some of it to Vanessa. "Here, take this." She whispers.

"Does vervain really work?" She asks.

Damon looks over from the other side of the room. "Nope, not at all." He says.

"Can he hear us?"

"No, that would be creepy."

"Can he read minds too?"

"You know, if you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask." He says making Trinity smack his arm, rolling her eyes.

"No, that he can't do. He is very capable of being a first rate jackass." Elena says.

Vanessa puts the vervain in her pocket and Damon smiles.

* * *

Everyone is at the swimming hole.

"Is it me or did Aimee Bradley's ass get hot?" Tyler asks Matt.

"All class."

"Where is Forbes?"

"I wish I knew."

"You guys are on the outs already?"

"No. We're fine. I'm fine. I'm just not sure what she is." He sees Mason drive up. "What's your uncle doing here?"

They walk to the car. "You busting us or you joining us?" Tyler asks him when he gets out.

"Neither. Hoping you can make sure everyone is out of here by dark."

"What happens after dark?"

"Someone ends up wasted and dead at the bottom of the lake." He says, making Tyler laugh. "You heard your mom. The family is liable if anything happens."

"Don't be a party killer."

"Hey, I didn't say you had to stop partying, I just said you had to take it elsewhere."

"Alright, we'll be out of here."

Mason begins to leave and passes Stefan and Caroline. He and Stefan exchange looks.

Caroline turns to Stefan. "Why are you looking at him with your serious vampire look?"

"My what? My 'vampire serious look'?"

"Hum hum. I mean it's different from your worried vampire look, neither of which stray too far from your 'hey-it's-Tuesday' look."

"I get it, okay. You think I'm…you think I'm too serious. Is that it?"

"I mean I was not gonna say it like that but…"

* * *

Matt is standing alone when Aimee walks up to him. "Hey Aimee."

"Thanks. You know, you're missing all the fun in the water."

He shows her his cast. "Not waterproof."

"Too bad. So, there's a full moon tonight. We're gonna light a fire later and tell ghost stories."

"Uh, I don't know."

Caroline walks up to them. "Matt."

He looks at her. "What the hell? I've been calling you."

"I know, I got held up but I'm here now." She looks at Aimee.

"Hi Caroline." She greets.

"Go find somebody single to stalk, Aimee." She compels her. Aimee leaves.

Matt turns to Caroline. "Seriously?"

"She was flirting with you."

"She's harmless; you don't have to be rude."

"You're mad?"

"You've been dodging my calls all day and you get to show up here and be the jealous girlfriend? It's kind of lame, Care." He shakes his head and walks away.

Stefan walks up to her. "Hey, I saw that. You compelled her."

"Yeah, she deserved it."

"Caroline, nobody deserves to have their mind messed with for shallow reasons."

"You know, why is everyone sticking up for Aimee freaking Bradley?"

"You're letting the jealousy to get the best of you."

"Oh, so now I have magnified jealousy issues, too. That's great."

"I told you this wasn't gonna be easy."

"Yeah, well, I might as well have stayed dead. My entire personality is killing me." She sees Stefan smile. "Shut up."

* * *

The group looks through Isobel's office for information.

"Any luck?" Damon asks.

Elena shakes her head. "There's nothing in here about Katherine that we don't already know."

"Ah, man, you know, it's a bummer we're not friends anymore because I could tell you what I know."

"Now who's manipulating who?"

"Hey guys, check this out." Alaric says.

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls, but here are some records of some of the lesser known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin-walkers to the Maréchal de Retz." Vanessa tells them. She mutters and Aztec phrase. "Which roughly translates into the 'curse of the sun and the moon'."

"It's Native American."

"Aztec. It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story; 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, who's ever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

"Can they control the transformation?" Trinity asks.

"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse. Werewolves will attack humans but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice; vampires."

"Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it." Damon tells her.

"You're not even 200, Damon. And you spend most of your time in cities." Trinity says. "It's not surprising that you wouldn't know."

"There aren't that many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction." Vanessa says.

"Why would they do that?" Elena asks.

"To protect themselves. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."

* * *

It's night. Everybody is leaving the swimming hole because Tyler asked them to. Matt is alone. Stefan and Caroline are looking at him. "He's mad at me." She says.

"Go talk to him. I'll wait." As she walks away his phone rings. "Hey." He answers.

"_Hi. Listen we've learned some stuff here and I know it's gonna sound crazy but I wanted to fill you in." _Elena says.

"What's up?"

* * *

Caroline walks up to Matt. "Still mad?"

"I thought we were past all this insecurity stuff, Caroline. I told you how I felt about you, what more do you need?"

"Nothing. Nothing. I don't need anything else. I'm sorry Matt, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so, so, so, sorry."

"I'm not kidding. I'm not gonna put up with the drama."

"No, no more drama. Just…I promise." She kisses him.

"Come on." He takes her hand and they walk away.

* * *

Stefan is still on the phone with Elena.

"_I don't know what that means or if we should even believe it but it's a full moon, Stefan. After what you saw Mason Lockwood do…"_

"I'll be careful."

"_There's one more thing."_

"What is it?"

"_According to the legend, a werewolf bite can kill a vampire."_

Stefan looks everywhere. He doesn't see Caroline or Matt. "Listen, I gotta go. I'll see you when you get home, okay?"

"_Okay."_

He hangs up and calls Caroline but she forgot her phone in her bag, in Matt's car. He goes in the woods.

* * *

Mason is chaining up himself into the Lockwood's old estate ruins but hears Aimee and Tyler arrive so he's forced to leave.

* * *

"Not much farther, Aimee." He says.

"Really Tyler? You dragged me all the way out here?"

"I had to move the party so I'm moving the party."

"Where are we going?"

"It's right around this tree."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yeah, come on." They enter the ruins.

"What is this place?"

"It's a ruin buried underneath my family's old estate. No one will know we're down here."

"Is everyone else coming?"

"Yeah, unless you'd rather I tell them not to."

"You're single, right?"

"Oh yeah."

"Let's go."

* * *

Mason is running through the woods and tries to chain himself to a tree. He looks at the moon and begins to scream. He runs toward his car and enters it, screaming. He closes the door. The car rocks back and forth as his screams turn into growling.

* * *

Elena is looking in a box and finds a picture of Katherine. "Hey, have you done any research on doppelgängers?"

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

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

She shakes her head. "That's all she had on Katherine, 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."

"And more things we already know. Just…I want to know why we look alike."

"Head scratcher, isn't it?" Damon says.

"Do you know something, or are you just being yourself?" Elena asks.

"Well, if I know anything, I'm not gonna tell you, not with that attitude."

"That's good, Damon, and this is coming from someone who wants to be my friend, but you know what? Friends don't manipulate friends, they help each other."

* * *

Tyler and Aimee are kissing when she pulls back. "Wait, wait. No, I'm sorry."

"What's the deal? Come on."

"No, no, no. Wait, wait, wait, I can't. I'm not into it."

"Then why did you come with me?" He asks.

"I don't know but I'm not even sure why I was flirting with you. I like Matt."

"Ouch. Um…okay."

"I'm gonna go."

"Yeah."

"Sorry." She says before leaving.

* * *

Stefan is in the woods, looking for Caroline when he hears an animal growling. He sees Mason's cars and goes toward it. He sees chains on the floor and looks into the car and sees yellow eyes. A wolf burst through the window, landing on top of him and runs off.

* * *

Alaric, Trinity and Vanessa are outside. "I trust you're not gonna say anything about this to anyone." He says.

"Or else Damon will kill me in my sleep? He gave me the 411, but if you need anything, you can call."

"Hopefully I won't have to." Trinity tells her.

"But if you do…"

"Listen, you don't want to get caught up in this. Really, it'll take over and will keep from being able to live your life." Alaric says.

"Isobel's disappearance…is it related to her research?"

"Isobel became her research. She wanted to become a vampire and she got her wish."

"I guess that would put a strain on a marriage." She says.

"Anyway, I was wondering what it would be like to come back here. It's…it's okay, it's really okay. It feels good to have her in my past. You know, it's time to move behind this."

* * *

Elena is at the car. She can't open the car but Damon walks up. "Here. Allow me." He unlocks the car. "You're not gonna be able to hate me forever."

"Can we just go?"

He gives her a book. "You didn't dig deep enough."

She looks at the book. "Petrova." She looks up. "I saw this on a shelf."

"Katherine originally came from Europe. Petrova was her real name. Katerina Petrova, to be exact."

"How did you know that?"

"Back when, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom. Men snoop too, you know. Let me know what you find, I'm very curious myself." She tries to get in the car but he stops her. "You have every right to hate me, I understand but you hated me before and we became friends. It would suck if that was gone forever. So, is it? Have I lost you forever?"

"Thank you for the book, Damon." She gets into the car.

* * *

Caroline and Matt are in the woods, talking. "This looks like the spot." He says.

"For what?"

He leans in and kisses her. He pulls back when he hears a faint howl. "Did you hear that?" She looks at him and kisses him again. She pushes him against a tree but Matt cuts himself on the bark. "Ah, damn."

"What happened?"

"I'm a klutz." He show Caroline his wrist. She stares at it. "What's the matter?" She puts it to her mouth and begins drinking. "Caroline? What are you doing? Ah! Caroline! Caroline!" She stops and looks at him, her face has changed. "Caroline! Your face!"

She bites him in the neck and drinks his blood but Stefan arrives and takes her away from Matt. "Stop it! Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Her face is normal again but Matt faints and falls to the ground. "Oh my god." She says.

"No, no, no, stop. Listen to me. We need to get out of these woods now. We need to leave."

"What was that?"

"Matt, stay down. Do not move." He says. They hear noise all around them. "You and me, we're gonna run. It's going to follow us; we need to lead it away from Matt. You need to run as fast as you can. Do you understand me? Go, go!"

They run and arrive to old ruins but Caroline stops. "Wait! What is it?!"

"It's a werewolf! He will try to kill us and he can!"

Tyler walks up. "Hey! What are you two doing?"

"What are you doing?" Stefan asks.

The werewolf rushes into Caroline. She falls on the floor, the werewolf is on her. Stefan rushes on the werewolf and pushes it off.

"No!" Tyler yells. The werewolf looks at him and leaves.

* * *

Caroline is compelling Matt. "You're not going to remember what I did to you or what you saw me become."

"We were just making out in the woods." He says, a blank look on his face.

"And then an animal attacked you and bit your neck."

"It's weird; it just came out of nowhere."

She walks back over to Stefan. "What are we gonna do about Tyler?" She asks.

"I took care of it and I will get Matt on vervain, it'll keep you from being able to compel him and also to keep you from drinking his blood."

"I can't believe I hurt him."

"I know."

"He is the one person on this entire planet that I never wanted to hurt."

"It's not going to get any easier. You're just gonna have to work that much harder."

"I shouldn't be with him, should I? Because if there is any danger…"

"I'm the last person to make that kind of decision for you. If I had followed my own advice, I would've walked away from Elena a long time ago."

"You ever think you should have?"

"I know I should have, I just can't."

* * *

The next morning, Tyler is in the woods. He looks at Mason's car and Mason arrives. "Wanna toss me those?" He asks.

He passes him a bag. "It was you?"

Mason nods.

* * *

Matt is alone at a table, Aimee arrives and talks with him. Caroline looks at them and walks up. "Seriously Aimee?"

"We were just talking."

"Oh, that's what you call it?"

"Yeah."

"Are you kidding me?" Matt asks.

"No, I'm not Matt. She's into you and anyone can see it."

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…I'm just gonna go." Aimee leaves.

Matt looks at Caroline. "Knock it off. What are you doing?"

"This isn't my fault Matt, okay? She's after you and I shouldn't have to put up with that."

"I thought you said no more drama?"

"Well, I lied."

"Just forget it, just forget all of it."

"So what, are you like breaking up with me?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's what I'm doing." He looks at her and leaves.

* * *

Jenna is in the kitchen when Alaric walks in. "Ric, I wasn't expecting you and Elena until later."

He wraps his arms around her and kisses her. "I should have done that this morning." He says before kissing her again.

* * *

Elena and Damon are on the porch. "Road trips work well for us." He says.

"This doesn't mean that things are back to the way they used to be, Damon."

"Oh come on! You know I chipped a little bit off of your wall of hatred."

"I need to know the truth. When you broke Jeremy's neck, did you know that he was wearing the ring?"

He looks at her and takes a deep breath. "No. No, I didn't. Katherine really pissed me off and I snapped and…I got lucky with the ring. I don't know what I would done of he wasn't wearing it. Elena, I'm sorry."

She sighs. "Thank you for being honest with me and the answer to your question, about our friendship is yes. You have lost me forever."

"But you knew that already, didn't you? You used me today."

"You had information about Katherine that I needed to know."

"I thought friends don't manipulate friends. You and Katherine have a lot more in common than just your looks." He looks at her and leaves.

* * *

Trinity walks up her porch and sees Katherine sitting on the bench. She ignores her and takes out her keys when they're snatched out of her hand.

"No hello?" Katherine holds the keys in her hand.

Trinity sighs. "What do you want?"

"What makes you think I want something? Maybe I'm just here to talk."

"But you're not, so why are you here?"

"You interest me." She says. "I know about all of your friends but surprisingly I don't know much about you. I don't like that."

Trinity sighs. "Leave me out of this Katherine. I don't want to play your game."

She smiles flirtatiously. "But you played with me oh so well the last time."

Trinity's face hardens. "That's not gonna happen again."

Katherine tilts her head. "Really? Because I remember how eager you were. How wild, passionate…and _new."_ Trinity's face blanches. "There are so many things that I could teach you." She purrs.

Trinity's eyes begin to darken before she snatches her keys from Katherine's grip and opens her door. She steps over the threshold and turns around. "Leave." She orders.

Katherine smile. "I'll see later." She says before she disappears.

Trinity closes the door before leaning against it, breathing heavily.

* * *

Caroline is asleep. She suddenly wakes up and sees Katherine. "Elena?" She asks.

"Nope, try again."

Caroline sends her a fearful look. "Katherine."

Katherine sits down on the bed and Caroline scrambles away from her. "Don't be frightened." Katherine smiles. "We're going to have so much fun together."


	26. Memory Lane

A/N: I was only going to update once today but I saw that there has been over 10,000 views! So here is a little treat for you guys.

* * *

Chapter Twenty Six: Memory Lane

At the Lockwood mansion, Stefan and Katherine are dancing. "Look who found his dancing shoes." She says. He tries to kiss her but she turns away. "No touching, Mr. Salvatore. Those are the rules."

"I thought you didn't believe in rules." He says. He sees Damon staring at them from across the room. "My brother is still upset that you chose me to escort you."

"Well, Damon needs to concede that his younger brother is a better dancer." She looks at Damon. "Looks like he found someone to occupy his time."

Stefan sees Elena with Damon. "Elena."

"Stefan, don't."

Elena leaves with Damon and Stefan follows after them. "Elena!" He opens a door and arrives at the Mystic Grill.

Elena is at the pool table. "It's your turn."

Stefan smiles but realizes that she was talking to Damon who walks from behind him. "Be prepared to lose." He kisses Elena.

Katherine in her dress from 1864 stands next to Stefan. "It hurts, doesn't it?" She asks. He looks at Elena and Damon. "Now you know how I feel. Don't fight it, Stefan. You loved me once. You can love me again." He is in 1864 again, at the Lockwood mansion. "I love you, Stefan. We'll be together again, I promise." She kisses him.

* * *

Stefan wakes up and sees 'Elena' on his chest.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asks.

"Yeah. Yes, bad dream. Get back to sleep." He flashes out of bed, knocking her off him. She sits back down. "Katherine."

"You have to admit I am getting better at this. It was easy to get inside of your head. Have you completely forsaken your nature?" He rushes over to her but she pushes him far back. He lands on hard on the floor. "Are we really gonna do this again? You both know I could rip you to shreds and do my nails at the same time."

"What do you want?" He stand up.

"I wanted to see you. I missed you, Stefan. Indulge me for a little while, please?"

"Why are you back in town?"

"3 reasons; you, you and you."

"You see, I can't quite get that down. Just kind of…gets stuck in my throat."

"Well, you know, it's the truth. Deep down inside that gorgeous body of yours there's the Stefan that fell in love with me too."

* * *

At the Grill, Elena sits alone at a table when Damon sits across from her. "What do you want?" She asks.

"So, this is where you spend your time when you're not stabbing people in the back."

"I tricked you into telling me the truth, that's not stabbing you in the back; it's using your own tactics against you." She gets up.

"Where are you going?"

"I made myself clear, Damon. I want nothing to do with you."

"Okay. See you at Jenna's barbecue."

"How did you know about Jenna's barbecue?"

"It was my idea. Jenna went to high school with Mason Lockwood so I figured a social gathering would be a good way to get to know the guy. So I told Rick to tell Jenna and…"

"Does Jenna know that you're going to be there because she's not exactly a fan of yours."

A woman arrives and gives him a box with a pie in it. "Perfect. Thank you. I'm hoping this peach cobbler will pave the way."

"What are you up to?"

"I'm gonna put some silver into Mason Lockwood and prove he is a werewolf. See you at the barbecue." He leaves.

* * *

At the mansion Tyler sees his uncle. "Hey, Mason, got a second?"

"No, man, barbecue at Jenna Sommers' house." He says.

"Come on man; give me two minutes, alright? You can't keep dodging me. I'm freaking out over here!"

"Tyler, what do you want me to say man? Yes, I turned into wolf. No, it's not gonna happen to you."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you're not gonna trigger the curse. Your dad didn't know anything about any of this neither did I until it happened to me."

"How does it get triggered?"

"Ignorance is bliss, trust me."

"You blow back into town with some supernatural family secret and you expect me not to ask questions?"

"I can't say anything more, I'm sorry, Tyler. It's just better for you if I don't."

"You ever find that moon stone?"

"Do you know where it is?"

"What's so special about it?"

"I told you, it was my mom's. It's sentimental. Look, just don't worry about it. Forget I even brought it up, alright? See you later." He leaves. Tyler takes the moonstone from his pocket and looks at it.

* * *

Katherine is in the living room, reading Stefan's journal.

He walks in. "You shouldn't read someone's journal."

"I know. I'm sorry. It was just too tempting, all of your inner thoughts and feelings, laying there on your desk for me to read."

He takes the journal from Katherine's hands and gives her a glass of blood. "Damon's private stock."

"That's right! You don't do human, I read that. I also read about your recent werewolf siting. That must have come as a surprise."

"What do you know about werewolves?"

"I know not to pet one. Their bite kills, Stefan. It's best to stay clear of them during a full moon." She tells him.

"And…how do you know this?"

"Who do you think was responsible for ridding this town of vampires in 1864?"

"Founding families."

"Spearheaded by?"

"The Lockwood's." Stefan realizes.

"You remember the Founder's Ball, don't you? The one that you were dreaming about?"

"I was your escort."

She nods. "That was before you and Damon knew about my little secret."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 1864_

_Founder's Ball_

"_Everyone will you please join me in raising your glasses to my good friend George Lockwood." Damon raises his glass. "George, thank you for so bravely defending the south."_

"_My honor Mr. Salvatore. After all, someone had to do it." He says._

_Katherine and Stefan are drinking when Henry walks up to them. "Can we have a word Miss Katherine?"_

"_Grab a glass, Henry. It's a celebration." She says._

"_Please, Miss Katherine." She sighs and follows him away. "I looked into those attacks from the other night. It wasn't vampires."_

"_That's good news, Henry. That means we have nothing to worry about."_

"_I'm afraid you don't understand. Those folks were torn apart in ways I've never seen before."_

"_Then…it won't be long before the founders drop an investigation."_

"_We'll leave town immediately. I'll tell the others."_

"_Relax, Henry. This town is our home and the vampires are my family. I won't let anything happen to us." She looks at George Lockwood._

* * *

_Present_

"From the moment I met George, I knew he'd be a problem." She says.

"So you're saying that all the Lockwood's are werewolves."

"The werewolf gene runs in the Lockwood family. Not that they're all wolves."

"How many werewolves are out there? I mean…is it just limited to the Lockwood's?" He asks.

"No, there are others. Not many. They're practically extinct. They mainly exist now in books and really bad movies." She drinks and puts the glass on the table. "My turn to ask a question." She takes Stefan's journal, takes her picture from it and shows it to Stefan. "Why did you keep this picture? Why not burn it? Tear it up? You want to know why I came back. Well I have a better question; why did you? For Elena? No. You came back here to fall in love with me all over again, didn't you?"

He moves toward her and caresses her face. "What is it about you that makes me still care?" She kisses him but he put a vervain dart in her back. She passes out on the couch.

* * *

Stefan chains Katherine to a chair in the basement cell. "Now, where were we? That's right; you were going to tell me why you came back to Mystic Falls, weren't you?"

"You don't have to do this." She says.

"Answer the question."

"I came back for you."

"We're gonna play by my rules now." He puts on gloves before picking up the vervain. He walks towards Katherine and brushes her cheek with it. Her skin burns and she screams. "Answer the question."

"You're going to torture me now?"

"I'll do whatever it takes to get you to tell me the truth."

"Later that night at the Founder's Ball…"

"I don't want to hear any more stories about the past."

"Yes you do, Stefan. That's exactly what you want to hear."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 1864_

_At the ball, Katherine is drinking alone when George Lockwood walks up to her._

"_She's all alone. Does this mean I can finally have you all to myself?" He asks._

"_Your father has outdone himself."_

"_Knowing father, he will want to throw a founder's party every year."_

"_I must admit, I'm rather surprised that you'd come looking for me." She smiles._

"_Because you are the rope in the Salvatore's brother's tug of war?"_

"_No, because I'm a vampire who could kill you in your sleep."_

"_I beg your pardon?"_

"_Relax, George. I know you know my secret."_

"_This conversation is over." He begins to leave but she catches his arm._

"_And I know your secret too and I know that you're extra strong, only not as strong." She releases him and smiles._

"_How do you know who I am?"_

"_You think that I would settle into a town without knowing my enemies?"_

"_What do you want?"_

_She smiles._

* * *

_Present_

"What did he want?" He takes a chair and sits down in front of her.

* * *

Elena and Jenna are in the kitchen. "Thanks for letting me invite Trinity. And Caroline too. She could use a day of distraction." She says.

"Well, she's not the plus one I'm worried about. Why is Damon coming?"

"Because Alaric is a pity taker. Come on Jenna, be nice."

"I'll be nice when Damon learns to keep his paws off you."

Mason walks in. "Good news! I found the shot glasses!"

"That would be my exit." Elena leaves.

"You're here for 10 minutes and I'm already back under the bleachers at the pep rally." Jenna smiles.

"Like old times, huh? Only I didn't swipe this bottle from my old man."

Alaric walks in. "Oh, the expensive stuff! I like you already." He smiles at the bottle in Mason's hand.

"Just happy to be invited."

"Thank Ric, it was his idea." Jenna says.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you know, I thought it would be nice to meet some of Jenna's high school friends. Dig up a little dirt."

"I've got dirt. I've got dirt."

"I have no secrets. Only dirty shame." She says.

Alaric raises his glass. "To dirty shame." They clink glasses.

Damon walks in. "Hey."

The smile is wiped off Jenna's face. "Damon."

"We were just doing shots. Let me give you a shot glass, buddy." Alaric says.

"Here. Use mine. " She leaves, Alaric following after her.

Damon looks at Mason. "She doesn't like me very much."

"We haven't met. Mason Lockwood." He sticks his hand out.

"Oh sure. Damon Salvatore." They shake hands.

"I know. I heard great things about you."

"Really? That's weird 'cause I'm a dick."

* * *

Trinity and Elena sit on the porch chairs.

"So how've you been lately?" Elena asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we've hardly spoken in a while. It's actually why I wanted you to come. I feel like you've been avoiding me."

Trinity shakes her head. "I haven't."

"Really? Because we spent hours riding in a car together and you barely said two words."

Trinity sighs. "I'm fine Elena." She looks ahead, keeping her eyes off Elena.

"Is it the Quickening?" She asks. "I've noticed that your attitude has been…not great. Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine."

"You know that you can talk to me, right?"

"I already talk to Stefan. But if he's unavailable for some reason, I'll talk to you." She sighs.

Elena pulls out her phone and calls Stefan. "Hey. Just checking in. Did you get my message about Jenna's barbecue? Call me when you can."

Caroline arrives and sits down with them. "Is that Stefan?"

"Yeah, he hasn't called me back. I'm trying to decide if I should be worried."

"I'm sure he's fine." She picks up the bowl of chips and begins eating them. "God! I cannot stop eating. Stefan says it's a great way to sublimate the cravings. It's horrible just fighting the urge for blood every minute of every day."

"I know that Stefan really hates that part of himself."

"Yeah and he hates that you're a constant temptation."

"He said that?"

"The desire to rip out your jugular every time he's with you? Trust me, it's there. It's why I had to break up with Matt." She says.

Trinity tilts her head, looking at Caroline.

Alaric walks out. "Hey! Food's ready, come get it."

Caroline smiles. "Finally, I'm starving." She goes inside.

* * *

"You know, we can sit here as long as you want. And when you start to desiccate, there's a tomb with your name on it." Stefan says.

"I've been doing all the talking, it's your turn. Do you pretend to be human when you're with Elena? Is that the appeal?" She asks.

"Actually, I don't pretend to be anything when I'm with her. That's the whole point. I get to just be myself."

"Does she know that you love me?"

"I don't."

"That's where you're wrong, Stefan. Don't you remember bringing me home that night? Your family had taken me in."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 1864_

_Salvatore House._

"_I had a lovely time, Stefan." Katherine smiles._

"_How long do you plan on staying in Mystic Falls?"_

"_As long as I'm wanted. Your father has been very kind to give me a shelter."_

"_How could he not? Losing your family in the fire, gratefully you made it to Atlanta."_

"_So, I gather I'm wanted?"_

"_Uh, very much so. I know…we've only known each other for a short while and I know I'm in competition for your affections but I've never met a woman quite like you. I look at you and I see an angel. I touch your skin and my entire body ignites. I kiss you and I know that I'm falling in love." He kisses her. "I am in love with you."_

"_There's so much you don't know about me, Stefan."_

"_More to learn and love."_

"_I must say good night."_

"_I have upset you?"_

"_No, you haven't upset me, you've just surprised me. Until tomorrow." She goes into her bedroom and sees Damon. He walks up to her and takes her face in his hand, kissing her. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I told you I would come."_

"_Well, I'm tired, you should go."_

_He steps back. "Did my little brother's confession overwhelm you?"_

"_You shouldn't eavesdrop."_

"_Is my love not enough?"_

"_I told you, I'm tired." She compels him. "I wish to be alone tonight. Please, leave."_

"_Good night Katherine." He leaves. She touches her lips._

* * *

_Present_

"Go ahead Stefan. Torture me, keep me captive, drain me of my blood until my body turns to dust. It'll never change the truth. I never compelled your love. It was real and so was mine." She tells him.

* * *

Damon draws a wolf with a tutu for their game of Pictionary.

"Dress! Ballerina!" Jenna shouts.

"Puppy! Puppy with a tutu!" Caroline guesses.

He shakes his head. "No, no."

"A dog! Hound-dog!" Jenna points.

"Dances with the wolves." Mason says.

Damon smiles. "Mason wins…again."

"How is that a wolf?" Jenna asks.

* * *

Elena and Trinity are in the kitchen. "Are you sure there's nothing bothering you?" She asks.

"Yes Elena, I'm sure." Trinity says.

Elena takes the pie from the box when Damon walks in. "Aunt Jenna is getting tipsy." He says.

"Will you stop plying her with alcohol?" She asks.

"I want her to like me."

"How is operation Lockwood?"

"He's my new BFF."

"I don't think that it's going to work." Trinity says.

Damon looks at her. "Why not?"

"If someone threw holy water on you and held a cross in your face, you'd snap their neck. Why would werewolves make their weakness world known?"

"We'll never know if we don't try." Damon says.

Jenna walks in. "There you are. Isn't this fun?" She asks with a slightly drunken smile.

"Yes, thank you so much for inviting me."

"Did I have a choice?"

"I know what you must think about me."

She shakes her head. "No, you don't. You've never dated you; I have dated many you's."

"I'm a work in progress." He sees Elena take out a cake knife from a set. "These are fancy."

"Thanks. My mother's silver set." Jenna smiles.

Elena looks at Damon as he takes a knife from the set.

* * *

"Hearing the truth after a century and a half of denial must be overwhelming." Katherine tells him.

"It wasn't real, I remember you compelling me."

"Only after I showed you who I really was. You were so scared of me; I had to take away your fear."

"Well, whatever feelings I had back then, they all turned to hate." He tells her.

"Love, hate, such a fine line, I can wait. Anyway, George Lockwood was causing all sorts of trouble. He used the vampires to cover up his own tracks. He told the founding families about us. But he was willing to strike a deal."

"What kind of a deal?"

"A deal to rid the town of vampires."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 1864_

_Katherine and George are walking in the grounds of the Salvatore estate._

"_I just spoke to Giuseppe Salvatore. The round up happens tonight." He tells her._

"_Good. Insists that they do a body count before the church is set ablaze."_

"_I will."_

"_27 vampires."_

"_Once the flames create chaos, crawl to the exit under the quire loft. I'll be there to set you free."_

"_Make sure you're not followed. I need everyone to believe I perished in that fire."_

* * *

_Present_

"You knew that they were gonna burn the vampires in the church?" Stefan asks.

"I practically lit the match."

"They were your friends, they were your family and you just sold them out."

"Without blinking."

* * *

Damon puts the pie on the table, with the silver cake knife. "Mason, why don't you start us off?"

"Sure." He looks at the knife before picking the slice up with his hands. "I apologize, I'm an animal." He smiles.

"So Mason, you and Jenna never dated?" Alaric asks.

"She was always lost in Logan Fell land."

She rolls her eyes. "My first mistake. Mason was a catch; he had girls lining up."

"Really? I always pegged you for a lone wolf." Damon says.

"I'm sure I wasn't half the lady killer you were. How about a toast? To new friends." He holds up his glass.

* * *

Elena, Trinity, and Caroline are in the living room.

"Would I be the worst friend in the world if I abandoned you and went to Stefan's?" Elena asks.

"You want to leave?" Caroline looks a bit panicked.

"It's just that he hasn't gotten back to me and I'm starting to get this bad feeling."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Elena."

"Damon's got it under control here."

"Take it from me, there's nothing worse than a clingy girlfriend."

"I'm not being clingy, I'm just concerned. You understand, right?"

"How about I drive you?"

"Yeah, okay, that'll be great, thanks. Trinity are you coming?"

"Sure." She gets up from her seat. They walk out and get into Caroline's car.

Caroline deflates a tire and gets in.

* * *

"What did George get in return? For giving you your freedom." Stefan asks.

"Something he wanted desperately."

"So you sent 26 of your friends to their death, just to fake your own? No, you were running from something. What was it?"

"Everyone has a past, Stefan. Mine needed to stay far, far away but thanks to you my plan nearly failed before it even began. Once George told me that the round up was imminent, I made sure I could see you one last time, but your father used your love for me against you, he poisoned your blood. Then Damon being Damon, nearly ruined everything."

"We came for you, we tried to save you."

"I didn't want to be saved."

"So then Damon and I died for nothing! For nothing!"

"No, Stefan, you died for love!"

* * *

Damon is in the kitchen when Mason walks in. "Jenna just brought out 'Guitar Hero'."

"Well, I just happen to like 'Guitar Hero'. So you my friend, are barking up the wrong tree."

"Okay. Enough with the innuendos, you win, you're hilarious."

"Thank you." He smiles.

"Come on, man. You don't think I know what this barbecue is about?"

"How do you know about me? Your brother was completely clueless."

"It doesn't matter; I'm not your enemy, Damon."

"You tried to kill my brother."

"That was a mistake."

"Really?" Damon asks, skeptical.

"There was confusion; I couldn't chain myself up in time. I have no control once I shift."

"What, no obedience school?"

"I'm serious. Let's not spark some age old feud that doesn't apply to us."

"You expect me to believe that you are in Mystic Falls planting peach trees?"

"I lost my brother, my nephew lost his father. I'm here for my family. Let's be above this." They shake their hands. Mason leaves and Damon takes a knife from the cutlery box.

* * *

Caroline is driving towards the boarding house.

"Thanks for this, I appreciate it." Elena tells her.

"Here we come, to the rescue."

"Why are you being so snippy?"

"That's my own drama. I'm sure that you two will beat the odds. Not that there is any study to pull odds from. What is the ratio of success vampire-human coupling? I'm guessing nil." She says.

"Okay Caroline."

"Sorry."

Elena turns up radio. "I love this song." Trinity nods her head to the beat.

Caroline pushes a button on her steering wheel. "What's playing?"

A radio voice over sounds. "Playing 'We Radiate' By Goldfrapp."

"Ta-da." She smiles. A tire burst and Trinity winces and rubs her ears. "Oh crap."

Elena sighs.

* * *

"No more takers for drinks at the grill? It's like I am with a bunch of adults here." Mason says.

"I prefer the term 'Role model'." Jenna jokes.

"Okay. Well, thanks for having me, it was awesome. Alaric, catch that game next week?"

"Yeah, I look forward to it."

"You know, I should probably head out too." Damon says as Mason leaves. "Jenna, you are a wonderful hostess." He kisses her hand.

"And you are a terrible artist."

"Is that the only thing that makes me terrible?"

"I'm still deciding."

"Good enough for me. Alaric, let's not catch that game next week." He leaves.

* * *

Elena, Caroline, and Trinity wait for the tow truck.

"Are you sure the tow's coming? We've been waiting forever." Elena says.

"I know, it's weird. They said they'd be here by now." Caroline tells her.

"Yeah. I'm just gonna call Jenna."

"No! Let me try the tow people again. And I'll use my mad girl voice."

"Can we just walk from here?" She looks down the road.

"We can." Trinity says.

"I can't just leave my car."

"We'll come back for it." Elena tells her.

"Just give me a minute, Elena."

"Caroline, what part of 'I'm worried about Stefan' didn't sink in?"

"What's the rush? Why are you hurrying to get to a relationship that will never work?"

"Okay, look. I know that you're upset over Matt but will you stop projecting it onto me and Stefan please?"

"I'm not projecting anything! You're human, he's a vampire. You're gonna be 70 and in diapers and he's still gonna be smoking hot and you will never have his children, Elena! And you are too maternal to not have children!"

"Where is this coming from?"

"I'm just trying to be your friend."

"Okay, well, do me a favor and stop trying." She says as the tow arrives. "There's the tow, I'm gonna walk."

"I'll go with you." Trinity says.

"No, Elena, don't!" She catches Elena's arm.

"Caroline, you're hurting me." She says. Trinity separates them.

"Don't leave me alone."

"What's wrong with you?"

A man walks up. "Hey there, someone called about a flat tire?"

Elena looks at Caroline. "She did." She turns and leaves, Trinity following after her.

* * *

Mason parks his car and gets out. He sees Damon walking up to him. "Damon? What? More dog jokes?"

"Nah, those got old." He stabs Mason with the silver knife.

Mason stumbles back a few steps. He looks at the knife and pulls it from his chest. "You know, I think it was werewolves who started this whole silver myth. Probably for moments like this."

"Dully noted." Damon says, looking uneasy.

"I was really looking forward to last call. Now you made an enemy."

* * *

"Are you gonna tell me why you came back here or you're just playing another game?" Stefan asks.

"Have you not heard a word that I've said? I've answered that question 5 times over now." Katherine rolls her eyes.

"Oh good, make it six."

"I want what I want Stefan and I don't care what I have to do to get it. My list of victims is a long one, and I have no problem adding one more name to that list."

"Come on Katherine. If you wanted Elena dead, you would have done it by now."

"Still can. If I have to, I will snap her neck like a twig and you know it." He rushes over with a stake but throws it away at the last moment. "I guess you don't hate me as much as you thought you did. I don't want you seeing Elena anymore. If you don't remove from your life, I will kill everyone that she loves while she watches and then I will kill her while you watch."

He rushes over to her again and wraps a hand around her throat. His face has changed and he has a stake in his hands. "Don't you ever think for one moment that I will not kill you."

She throws him against the wall and releases herself. "I have been sipping vervain every single day for the last 145 years. You caught me by surprise once, I wasn't gonna let it happen again. It doesn't hurt me, Stefan."

"What? Why?"

"I told you, I missed you Stefan. I just wanted to spend some time with you."

She hears Elena and Trinity enter the house. She smiles at Stefan and stakes him in the leg before leaving.

* * *

"Hello? Stefan?" Elena calls as they walk into the living room. "Stefan?" A familiar scent fill Trinity's nose and she and Elena turn around to see Katherine.

"You must be Elena."

"How is this possible? How do we look exactly alike?" Elena asks with wide eyes.

Katherine doesn't answer and looks at her from top to bottom. She goes to touch her but Trinity intercepts, grabbing her hand. "You're asking the wrong questions." She tells Elena before looking at Trinity. "I missed you. We really should get together again soon. We had _such _a fun night." She purrs.

Trinity releases her hand and steps back as Elena looks between the two.

"Elena?" Stefan yells. Katherine flees. He runs into the room to see only Elena and Trinity. "Are you okay?"

"Not really. Are you okay?" She asks.

"Not really." He pulls her into his arms.

Elena turns to Trinity. "What was she talking about?"

* * *

At the Grill, Caroline is in the bathroom, looking in the mirror when Katherine appears behind her. "Katherine."

"Care to share how you couldn't follow through with one simple task?"

"I tried okay? But I couldn't exactly kidnap my best friend."

"Occupy her. That's all I asked."

"I told her that her relationship was doomed and all that mortality stuff. I think…I really think that I got to her."

"I hope so because let's not forget. I already killed you once; I can easily do it again." She threatens.

* * *

Elena's mouth is open in shock. "So that's why you haven't been speaking to me? Or looking at me?"

Trinity nods. "Yeah." She says quietly. "It's kinda weird."

"I don't know what to say."

"Please, don't say anything. Let's just move on and hopefully the awkwardness will fade with time." She says.

"Has she been bothering you?" Stefan asks.

"Once. She wanted to know what I was."

"You shouldn't stay alone."

"What should I do? Stay here? Where she can walk in and out freely?"

"You didn't invite her in?" Elena asks.

She shakes her head. "We were outside."

"Oh." Elena says.

"Stop picturing it." She tells her and stands up. "I'm gonna get out of here."

"We'll go with you." Stefan says.

"I'll shift. She can't follow me then." She shifts into a hawk. Stefan opens a window and lets her out.

* * *

At the mansion, Tyler is searching online about the moonstone when he sees Mason walk in. "How was that barbecue?"

"Not great. Are you still pissed?" He asks.

"Are you still keeping secrets?"

"Yep."

"Then I'm still pissed. Hey, you know I was thinking about that stone you were looking for. I might know a couple places it could be."

"Do you think this is a joke? If you know where it is then tell me."

"Tell me how the curse's trigger."

"If I tell you, you won't be able to think about anything else. I don't want that for you."

"I think I can handle knowing."

"You think that you can handle it, tough guy? You have no idea."

"You want your stupid rock or not?!"

Mason pushes him against the wall. "Tell me where it is!"

"Tell me what triggers the curse!"

"You have to kill somebody! Human blood! You take another person's life away from them and then the curse is yours forever! Can you handle that?!"

* * *

Caroline is sitting alone at a table. Elena and Stefan enter. "Elena." She says.

"Hey." Stefan goes to a table while Elena talks with Caroline.

"Oh my god. I am so sorry about earlier today. I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay, Caroline. Everything that you were saying was right. It's just hard for me to hear, you know?"

"So…you're not mad at me?"

"You were just being a good friend…in your own way."

"My own head case, horrible way. Elena, I really am sorry."

Elena smiles and rejoins Stefan at a table. "I'm starving." He says.

"Well, spending the day with your jealous ex will do that to you."

"Listen, I know you're upset but we have to take her seriously. Today, was all about the lengths she would go to."

"If she was going to hurt me, she would have. I was standing right in front of her."

"Elena, you caught her off guard. It doesn't mean that you're safe."

"I'm not afraid of her."

"Well, you should be."

"If Katherine had her way, we'd be breaking up right now."

"If today taught me anything, is that Katherine is used to getting her way."

"You're not actually saying that we should what she says?"

"Listen, she's sadistic, okay? She threatened you, she threatened everyone."

"Yeah, no, I get it. She's dangerous. But every day that we are together, it's dangerous. Why are you giving her so much power over our relationship?"

"This is the reality of our situation."

"Well, reality sucks." She says. Caroline is listening in on their conversation. "This is what she wants. She wants us to fight. She wants to get between us."

"She already has, Elena." They look at each other and Elena leaves.

Damon is at the bar. He's heard everything. He walks out of the Grill and sees Katherine waiting for him.

"Bad day?" She asks.

"Bad century. I heard you were on the loose."

"What's the matter? Jealous I spent the day with Stefan?"

"I don't do jealous. Not with you, not anymore."

"Then why so pouty?"

"I tried to kill a werewolf, I failed. Now I feel like I'm not living up to my best self."

"Well, werewolves aren't easy prey."

"What do you know about werewolves?"

"Why don't you ask your brother? Don't try to be the hero, Damon. You'll end up dead."

"Been there, done that. At least this time it'll worth it."

* * *

Elena walks into her bedroom and sees Stefan. "Are you okay?" He asks.

She smiles and hugs him. "I hated that fight."

"I know me too. It felt too real."

She kisses him. "Did you see Caroline?"

"Yeah." He sighs.

"We were right. Katherine got to her. She was hanging on to every single word."

"It won't be long before Katherine gets a play by play."

"I wish I was wrong but I know Caroline too well. It was so obvious that something was up today."

"You're not wrong. It's pure Katherine. She's always finding somebody to do her dirty work."

"I think Damon was listening to us fight too. Are you gonna tell him that it wasn't real?"

"The only way Katherine is gonna believe it is if everybody believes it. That's the best way to make her think she's getting what she wants."

"All this…just to get you back."

He shakes his head. "It's not why she's here, okay? No matter what she says, I know her. Katherine doesn't care about anybody but herself, she never has. She's incapable of love. She's here for another reason."

* * *

Katherine is walking alone, looking at the moon.

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 1864_

_Katherine is in the woods. She turns her head and sees Damon and Stefan dead, on the floor. George Lockwood approaches._

"_George." She says._

"_Your carriage is just waiting."_

"_All done, George. Thank you."_

"_Now it's your part of the deal."_

"_If anyone learns of my escape, I will find you and I will kill you. Don't think that I won't." She gives him the moonstone._

"_We should take each other secrets to the grave. Now, you must hurry." He leaves._

_She hesitates, and then she runs toward Stefan's body. She touches his face and looks at him. "I love you, Stefan. We will be together again, I promise." She kisses him._

* * *

_Present_

Katherine touches her lips and smiles. _I could use a little fun right now._

* * *

Trinity hears a knock on her door and answers it, seeing Katherine.

"Hello lover." She greets. Trinity goes to close the door but Katherine slides a brick in-between it with her foot. Trinity tries to use her foot to push it back out but Katherine holds it there. "Don't be rude."

"I'm not inviting you in."

"You don't have to."

"Go away."

"You see; I'm not sure that you want me to. I mean, I can hear your heartbeat. It's racing and I know that it's not out of fear."

"Shut up."

"Don't be afraid to admit how much you want me. I'm in your thoughts, in your dreams…" She whispers.

"Shut up!" Trinity growls as her eyes darken.

"I bet right now, all you can think of is having me-" She is cut off as Trinity steps outside and smashes their lips together.


	27. Kill or Be Killed

Chapter Twenty Seven: Kill or Be Killed

_Flashback_

_One Year Ago: Emerald Coast, Florida_

_Mason stands from his seat at the bar. "Alright, Carlos. It's it for me." He pays and goes outside, not seeing a man follow him._

_As he is going to his car, the man pushes him. "Mason!"_

_He turns around. "Hey Jimmy. Easy. Let's get you home."_

"_Screw you!" He pushes him again. "I know about you and Marla."_

"_What are you talking about? You've had too much to drink." Jimmy tries to strangle him but Mason pushes him away. "Dude! What's up?! It's me, Mason! I'm not messing with Marla. You know that!" Jimmy punches Mason in the face. "You don't want to do this buddy."_

"_I'll kill you!" He throws Mason on the floor and kicks him in the stomach. Mason catches his arm and pushes him. Then, he carries him and slams him to the ground. Jimmy's head hits the pavement very hard._

"_Jimmy? Jimmy?" Mason asks, realizing that his friend is dead._

* * *

"Wait, the guy died? You killed him?" Tyler asks.

"He kept coming at me. He got in his head that I was sleeping with his girlfriend." Mason explains.

"Were you?"

He shakes his head. "No. No. I wouldn't do that, he was my friend. He was drunk and attacked me. It was self-defense."

"And it triggered the curse."

"On every full moon, I lose control. If I don't sedate myself and chain myself down, I'll kill anything in my path. You have to be careful. All it takes is an accident, a car wreck. Any death at your hands and you'll have a lifetime of this. You don't want it Tyler, trust me." He sighs. "Alright. Where is the moonstone? A deal is a deal. I answered your questions."

"Um, yeah, I'm not sure but I'm guessing it's in here." He walks over to his father's safe. "My dad, he was very kooky about his hiding spots but I figured most of them out over the years." He opens it. "It's all yours." Mason looks inside the safe but the moonstone isn't there. "Are you gonna tell me what's so important about this rock or what?"

"I told you, it's just something I want. Sentimental value."

"Yeah, I'm not really buying that. Why do you really want it?"

"Do you know where it is or not?"

"No, I figured it would be in here, man."

* * *

Trinity wakes up on the forest floor, seeing an arm wrapped around her. She quickly sits up and sees Katherine smirking at her. "You know, I was never really one for morning after's, but I really wanted to see your reaction." She says. Trinity scrambles away and tries to cover herself. "Why so shy?" She sees Trinity begins to stand and flashes over, pinning her to the ground. "Where are you going?"

"Let me go."

"You know, you were singing a whole different tune last night. But aren't you always? Telling me to leave one second and then tearing my clothes off the next."

"Shut up!"

"Are we really going to do this routine again? Why don't I just skip to the end?" She presses her lips to Trinity's, whose eyes darken before she wraps her arms around her.

* * *

Elena and Jeremy are in their bathroom. "I can't believe Tyler Lockwood is a werewolf." Jeremy says.

"We're not sure about that yet. The only thing we know for sure is that Mason Lockwood is." She tells him.

"It should be enough easy for us to figure it out."

"There is no us. I said that I wouldn't keep things from you anymore. That doesn't mean that I want you involved in it."

"By definition of being in this family, I'm involved."

"This is dangerous, Jeremy. You have to stay out of it, okay?"

"Alright. Just saying." He leaves.

Elena goes to her room and opens her closet. She closes it and jumps seeing Stefan standing there.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He says.

She closes the bathroom door and kisses him. "Hi."

"Hey." They embrace each other. "Are you ready for today?"

"No. I hate fighting with you, even if it's fake."

"I know but if Katherine thinks that we are fighting, then she will think that she's winning and it keeps her from following through with her threats."

"Yeah. But it doesn't make it any easier. Neither does knowing that Caroline will be there, reporting everything back to her."

"Hey, everything's gonna be okay. Yes, we have to keep up this ruse for a little while but the best way to keep Katherine from hurting anybody, from hurting you."

"Just promise me that she won't get her way with us. We can fake a fight, we can pretend that her threats are tearing us apart but none of it is real, okay?"

"Okay, how about this? Today, when we're fighting, if I say 'I can't do this anymore, Elena', what I'll really mean is that I love you."

"And when I say, 'Fine Stefan, whatever', well that means I love you too." They kiss.

* * *

Liz is taking care of some boxes when Caroline walks in. "Are you off today?" She asks.

"The historical society volunteer picnic is today. You're the one who signed me up."

"I know. I just assumed you'd bail."

"No. I'm gonna spend the whole day with my daughter."

"You're gonna pretend to be a mother?"

"I'll bring my gun if it gets rough. Come on, give me one day. I've been buried in work mode, I've barely seen you."

"Well be warned, I'm in a mood."

"Goody for me. What was Elena doing here so late last night?" She asks.

"Elena wasn't…" Caroline starts before she catches herself. "Yes um…Elena was here. She just needed to talk. Her and Stefan are going through a rough patch."

"Is everything okay with you?"

"I'm fine."

"It's just lately you seem different."

"I'm not different, I'm fine."

"I know you think I don't notice these things but I do. What's going on with you?"

"You know there's pretending to be a mother and then there's reality. Let's not push our luck, okay?" She leaves.

* * *

At the park, it's the Mystic Falls Historical Society Volunteer Day. Carol Lockwood is doing a speech. "This is all part of the historical society, continuing efforts to give back to the community. Thanks to the generous donation of the Fell family. We are now standing on the sight of our newest public park. Thank you to everyone who has shown up today to lend a helping hand. Thanks."

* * *

Mason is removing boxes from his trunk when he sees Stefan walk up to him. "Stefan right? The other Salvatore."

"The nice one. The one offering an apology."

"Not interested."

"Look, my brother acted impulsively."

"You think?"

"If you and Damon keep at each other throats, somebody innocent is going to get hurt and I don't want that. You have family here so I can imagine you'd want that either. So what do you say we just quit the whole alpha male fighting thing and call a truce?"

"I made that same offer to your brother. He turned it down with a knife."

"He made a mistake. I'm here to make sure that neither one of you make another one."

"Tell your brother to watch his back." He goes to leave.

Stefan catches Mason's arm. "Well, I'm guessing that he only has to worry about that during a full moon. Otherwise you're not as strong, am I right? Or you would have kill Damon by now. There's one of you. There's two of us. I think you're the one that needs to watch his back."

"If he comes at me…"

"He won't." Mason looks at him before shaking his hand and leaving.

Trinity walks up to Stefan. "You are officially my babysitter."

"What happened? Was it Katherine?" He asks, worried.

She nods. "Apparently my Quickening doesn't only make me crazy, it makes me easy." She says. "Kinda sucks that it only takes a few smooth words and a smile to get me to drop my-"

Damon walks up to them. "What are you doing?" He asks, Stefan.

"Negotiating peace on your behalf."

"I don't want peace."

"Consider it opposite day."

"Stefan, please tell me you don't seriously think a hand shake just solved our problem."

"No, actually I think that the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he's gonna drive a stake through your heart and then through mine, all because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him. So thank you, because we don't have enough problems." He walks away.

* * *

At the Grill, Jeremy sits at a table, looking at Tyler.

Sarah and Aimee are at the pool table. Sarah looks at Jeremy. "When did Jeremy Gilbert get so cute?"

"Oh no, stay away, that guy is damages goods."

Jeremy joins Tyler at his table. "Hey man, how have you been?" He asks.

"Since when?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen you much since your father's funeral. I just figured maybe you'd want…"

"I'm fine, Gilbert"

"Yeah, okay."

He starts to leave but Tyler stops him. "Wait, hold up. I'm sorry. Bad day, bad month. Listen, you were cool that day, at the wake. Thanks for that. I felt like kind of a freak show."

"Yeah, I know the feeling well. What are you doing here?"

"Distracting myself."

Aimee and Sarah walk over to them. "Hey, thanks for the text. Where too?" Aimee asks.

"My place. My mom is gone all day. Empty house, full stocked bar…" He tells her.

"Margaritas?"

"Sure." He looks at Jeremy. "You in?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm in"

"Let's do it." She smiles.

* * *

Mason is helping Liz. "Oh thanks Mason."

"Hey Sheriff, you've got a second?"

"I'm out of uniform. Let's go with Liz."

"Alright Liz. I was hoping to talk to you about the council."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know you and the others founding families have a secret council."

"If that were true then you'd know it's a secret and isn't discussed with non-council members."

"I know I rejected all that but it's only because I wanted a life outside of this town, not because I was a non-believer. Look, I know vampires exist and you have two of them living right under your nose."

"Really?" She asks skeptically.

"Yeah." He nods.

"Who would they be?"

"Damon and Stefan Salvatore."

She shakes her head. "That's impossible. I know Damon Salvatore. Do you know what he's done for this town?"

"I know it's a lot to digest."

"No. I watched him kill vampires. He's an ally; he's part of the council."

"Think about it. When did the vampire attacks begin? When Damon and Stefan Salvatore moved to town?"

"They walk in the sun, Mason."

"They've evolved. It's not 1864. They figured it out, Liz."

"No. Damon Salvatore is my friend."

"What if I can prove it to you?" They look at Stefan and Damon.

* * *

Elena and Caroline are talking, while painting a veranda. "So suddenly, she's in the running for mother of the year just when I'm trying to avoid her the most. I'm babbling, you don't want to hear all this." She says.

Elena looks at her. "Oh, no, sorry. Then what happened?"

"Well, I was a bitch which is part of the course with us. So, how are things with you and Stefan? Anything?"

"No, not since the fight. He's been pushing me away because he thinks that Katherine might get jealous enough to hurt me. I just don't know how to change his mind."

"You said that Katherine's dangerous. Maybe he's got a point."

"Yeah, I know that she's dangerous and I know that he's just trying to protect me but it feels like giving up and I just…"

"Just what?"

"I just thought that we were stronger than that." She sighs.

* * *

Damon walks up to Liz. "Hey, I saw you with Mason earlier. What was that about?"

"I just asked him to help with the cleanup in the woods."

"That's what I'm here for, put me to work. Should I go help him?"

"Oh no. You know, he's…I'm sure he's fine."

He looks at her. "Are you okay, Liz? You seem really upset."

"It's Caroline. We had a moment."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No, Damon. Thank you. It's just horrible parental skills paying off in spades."

* * *

Elena is painting a wall. She and Stefan stare at each other from a distance. Caroline looks between them. "Oh, oh. Longing looks are being exchanged."

"I'm gonna go talk to him."

"No, Elena. I think it's a bad idea." She says but Elena walks over to him.

Damon walks up to Caroline. "What's her problem?" He asks, looking at Elena.

"Don't worry about it."

"Why are you being such a bitch to your mom?"

"Don't worry about it."

* * *

Elena walks up to Stefan. "Do you still care about Katherine?"

"Oh look, cupcakes." Trinity says. "I'm gonna go get one." She walks away.

Stefan sighs. "Don't do this. Please don't turn this into something that it's not."

"So this is not for discussion. That's what you're saying?" She asks.

"No, I'm saying that this isn't up for discussion right now because we have ears on us." They look at Damon and Caroline, who both pretend that they're not listening.

"Okay, when?"

"I don't know."

"I saw her Stefan. It's like we are the same person. How could you hate her and be in love with me?"

"You're reaching. I'm not…I'm not Damon."

"How about we don't bring Damon into this right now?"

"You know, I can't…I can't do this anymore, Elena."

"Fine, Stefan. Whatever." She walks away.

* * *

Damon looks at Caroline. "Relationships are about communication."

She rolls her eyes and walks away as well.

* * *

Tyler and Jeremy are drinking as they watch Aimee and Sarah dance.

Aimee walks over to Tyler. "Where is mine?"

"Have at it." He walks her over to the bar.

"Thanks for having us over. I think Sarah's got a thing for Jeremy."

"Well, good for Sarah."

"Look, I'm really embarrassed about slutting it up with you that day at the swimming hole. I'm really not like that, I promise you."

"You don't need to apologize."

"Friends?"

"Yeah, sure." They clink their glasses together.

Sarah takes Jeremy's notebook. "Can I see?"

"No, no. No way."

"I want to see." Aimee says.

"Yeah, let's see. What's Van Gogh got going on?" Tyler asks.

"Okay, yeah. Check it out." He sighs.

She looks at Jeremy's drawings. "Scary demon wolf thing."

Tyler looks uncomfortable. "What's this about?" He takes the notebook and looks at the drawings.

"Just some sketches. You still draw, Tyler?" He asks.

"A little, but not much. You know, I've got something I'm actually working on. Come on, I'll show you."

"Yeah. Okay, sure."

They go in the office. "It's on the desk."

Jeremy looks on the desk but sees nothing. Tyler closes the door. "I don't really see anything."

Tyler rushes over him and pushes him against the wall, arm braced over his neck. "What were those pictures about?"

"I can't breathe." He struggles.

"Answer me! Why? Why wolf pictures?"

"Because…because I know."

"You know what? You know what Jeremy?!"

"I know what you are."

* * *

Mason takes a sip of Lemonade.

Damon walks up to him. "Hello, Mason. Working hard?"

"Doing my part."

"I heard you talked to Stefan."

"Nice guy."

"Yeah, a lot nicer than me."

"Nice is overrated."

"That's what I think."

"You have a good day, Damon." He walks away.

Stefan and Trinity walk up. "Please tell me that you were just bonding." Stefan says.

"So what's up this faux drama in your relationship?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, Stefan. You and Elena don't fight, especially not over me."

"Drop it, Damon."

"With pleasure."

A little girl walks up to Damon. "Would you like some lemonade?"

"Thank you, sweetie." He smiles and she walks away. He lifts the cup to take a sip.

Trinity smells a familiar scent. "Damon don't!" She says too late. Damon chokes and spits out the liquid, unaware of Liz watching them.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asks.

"Vervain. Vervain." He chokes out. Trinity pats his back.

* * *

Caroline walks up to Elena. "You okay?"

"No." She says.

"You know, maybe it's for the best."

"It's not for the best, Caroline. None of this is for the best. I'm sorry, okay? I…I don't mean to take it out on you. You're just being a good friend."

"No. I'm not. I'm not being a good friend at all." She looks up and sees her mom on the phone, leaving the park. "Is she leaving? Where is my mom going?"

* * *

Liz is on the phone. "Look, I can't talk here. Just get Jesse and meet me down the hill at the entrance. And bring a…yes we need it."

Caroline walks up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just have something…"

"You mean work? You've surprised me. You last longer than 5 minutes."

"It's important.

"It always is." She says, a disappointed look on her face. She walks back to Elena.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. Something's up."

* * *

Damon rinses his mouth out with water, an angry look on his face. "I don't know. Something's up."

"Listen to me! Sit! Sit!" Stefan says.

"I'm not listening anymore of your 'give peace a chance' crap. He's dead!"

"He tried this plain day Stefan, surrounded by the founding families." Trinity tells him.

"Okay. I don't like it. He's making threats. He could expose us. We need to put him down."

"Alright. Let's do it." Damon nods. He sees Mason going into the woods. "Woods. Trash duty. Come on." He turns to Trinity. "You keep a lookout; make sure no one comes near."

* * *

Caroline and Elena walk into the woods. "Where are you going? What's going on?" Elena asks. She feels a hand on her shoulder and jumps. She turns around and sees Trinity. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm wondering why you two are snooping."

Caroline shushes them. "I need to be able to hear better."

"Hear what?" Elena asks.

Trinity tilts her head, listening. "Something's wrong, Elena."

"Guys."

"Shh." They hold up their hands.

* * *

Mason is waiting in the woods when Stefan and Damon walk up.

"Don't look so surprised. You knew this was inevitable. Go ahead, run. I'll give you a head start." Damon says.

Mason ducks down and Stefan and Damon are shot.

* * *

"Oh god." Caroline says.

"What is it?" Elena asks.

"Stefan and Damon." Trinity answers.

"What?" She asks, worried.

* * *

Stefan and Damon lie on the ground. Liz and some of her deputies arrive. "Thank you, Mason." She injects Damon and Stefan with vervain.

* * *

"How do you know about all this?" Tyler asks.

"My uncle John left this old diary lying around. It was written by a crazy Gilbert ancestor who wrote about this curse that ran in your family." Jeremy explains.

"A curse about what?"

"Werewolves. It's crazy, right? But then, Matt was attacked by a wolf under a full moon and your uncle had just gotten back to town. It was too weird. Is it true?"

"About my uncle? Yeah."

"But you…you're not…"

"A wolf? I'm sorry, werewolf? No. I mean, not yet. Just saying that out loud, I sound insane."

"I don't think so but then again, I always did believe in the crazy stuff."

"According to my uncle, you have to trigger the curse. Somebody has to die at your hands, like a murder or an accident. I basically have to cause death and then boom; next full moon I'm howling on all fours."

"Is that why he came back? To tell you all this?"

"Yeah, right. He had to tell me. I caught him. He's not here for me." He takes the moonstone from his pocket and shows it to Jeremy. "He's here for this."

* * *

Liz, Mason and the deputies are going into the Lockwood's old estate ruins. The deputies are carrying Stefan and Damon.

"It's down the stairs to the left." Mason tells her.

"Careful. The wooden bullets and vervain won't keep them down for long. What is this place?" She looks around the dark room.

"Old slave quarters from the original Lockwood house."

"Thank you, Mason. I appreciate all you've done. We got it from here."

"You're gonna kill them, right?"

"Yes. That's why you should go. Here it's the council, not the law. You can't be a party to this. It's for your own protection."

"Liz, I don't care about…"

"I do and I'm not asking. Goodbye Mason."

"Don't take any chances." He leaves.

* * *

Trinity leads Elena and Caroline through the woods, tracking her friends scent when she suddenly stops.

"What is it?" Elena asks her.

"They've been here." She bends down and looks at a plant. There's blood on it.

"What?"

Trinity hears new steps approaching and stands, turning around and seeing Mason.

"What are you two doing out here?" He asks.

Elena walks forward a few steps but Trinity puts her arm out. "Have you seen Stefan?"

"Yeah Elena, I've seen him. Seen Damon too."

"Where are they?"

"You don't need me for that. I'll let your friend here sniff them out." He looks at Caroline. "Does your mother know what you are? I'm happy to tell her." Caroline goes towards him and he tries to make a grab for Elena. Trinity intercepts him and holds his arm in a painful grip. He struggles, trying to release himself. "What the hell are you?" He grunts and swings at her with his free arm. She catches it and throws him to the ground. She kicks him in the side, sending him flying into a tree. He falls to the ground, unconscious.

She growls and shifts her nails into claws before walking towards his body. Elena grabs her wrist. "Not now. Stefan and Damon need us." She nods and lets Elena pull her along.

* * *

Damon wakes up. Liz shoots him in the leg. "Ahh!" He groans.

"This is how it's gonna work. Answer me and you don't get shot, understand? How many of you are there?"

"Liz, please."

She shoots him again and he screams. "How did you fool us? How do you walk in the sun?" He doesn't answer. She shoots Stefan. "I will drag this out painfully."

"But you're my friend."

"Our friendship was a lie. Answer me and I'll kill you fast."

* * *

Elena, Trinity, and Caroline arrive at the ruins. "What is that?" She asks. Trinity goes to rush forward but Elena wraps her arms around her. "You can't move without hurting me." She tells her. She looks at Caroline, who has a horrified look on her face. "Caroline. Caroline, what is it?"

"My mom. She's killing them."

"What?! We have to stop her!"

"No, I can't. Elena, she's gonna find out about me. Elena!"

Elena and Trinity run into the ruins.

* * *

"Let's do this. Each with a stake in the heart, then burn them both." Liz says. They hear a noise. "Check it out."

One of the deputies goes towards the stairs and Trinity grabs him by the throat, growling. She lifts him off his feet before throwing him across the room into the wall.

Liz aims her gun at the entrance and fires a few times. Trinity jumps in front of Elena.

"No!" Elena screams as her friend falls into her arms, bringing them towards the ground.

"Elena! What are you doing?" Liz asks.

"You can't kill them. I'm not gonna let you." They hear a noise. The door closes by itself.

"What was that?" A deputy asks.

Liz looks at Elena. "Who else is with you?"

Caroline flashes around the room. She kills one of the deputies and punches the other one. She looks at Liz. "Hi mom."

Liz looks horrified at the blood on her daughters face.

"Trinity." Elena says.

Trinity breathes shallowly. "You have to take them out." She grunts. "Before I…heal." Elena grimaces and begins to dig her fingers into her friend's wounds. "Ahh!"

"I'm sorry." Elena says as she takes out the first bullet. She moves to the second wound and repeats the process. Trinity screams again. Elena drops the bullet to the floor. "Just one more time." She whispers. Trinity grits her teeth and holds in a scream as Elena takes the last bullet out. "It's done." She watches as the wounds slowly begin to heal.

"I'll be fine." Trinity groans. "Check on Stefan and Damon."

* * *

Damon and Stefan are now awake. Damon is feeding on one of the deputies and then he checks on his brother. Elena is sitting with Stefan. "You need to drink some deputy blood." He says.

Stefan shakes his head. "No. I'm gonna be fine. It's just gonna take a little bit longer."

"Damon's right you know. If there's ever time to break your diet…" Elena says.

"He said he didn't want it, okay?" Elena snaps.

"This is a most unfortunate situation." Damon says. "Two deputies dead and you." He looks at Liz. "What am I gonna do with you?"

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Caroline asks but she ignores her. "Mom? Mom? Please. Look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right? Mom, please. He will kill you."

"Then kill me."

"No!"

"I can't take this. Kill me now."

"But you were gonna drag it out so painfully." He grabs her.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Caroline yells.

"Damon, don't!" Stefan says.

"Damon, please!" Elena pleads. Trinity watches the scene in silence, not really caring about the outcome.

"Relax guys. No one is killing anybody." He looks at Liz. "You're my friend." He looks at the deputies. "We've got to clean this up."

* * *

Jeremy is looking at the moonstone. "What is it?"

"It's a moonstone. I looked it up online. It's a natural rock but there supposed to have all sorts of supernatural legends attached to them." Tyler explains.

"Why didn't you give it to him?"

"Because he wants it. I'm a dick that way. It's important to him for some reason but I don't trust the guy so I'm not just gonna hand it to him."

Aimee and Sarah walk in. "Found you!" Sarah smiles.

"Hey, you guys are missing all the drinking." Aimee says.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you two having a moment?"

"No, we're good." Tyler tells her.

"Hey, hey, what is that?"

"It's…woah, hey." He says as she takes the moonstone.

Aimee takes it from Sarah. "Pretty"

"Okay, let's not play with the rock." He says.

"Well, come and get it."

"Look, I'll play along for a little bit but seriously, give it back."

She passes the stone to Sarah. "Lookie here. Snooze, you lose." She runs and he goes after her.

"You're lucky. You're cute when you're drunk."

"I want Jeremy to come get it."

"Give me a break." He sighs.

"Sarah, don't be a bad drunk." Aimee tells her.

"Jeremy, come upstairs with me. See how a bad drunk I can be." She says.

"I'm good, thanks."

Tyler walks up the stairs and wrestles the moonstone from Sarah's hands. He finally manages to snatch it from her grip. She loses balance and falls down the stairs, hitting her head hard on the floor.

"Sarah!" Jeremy yells.

"Sarah, oh my god!" Aimee goes to her side.

"She fell!" Tyler says.

"She's not moving. Oh my god."

Sarah opens her eyes and laughs. "I fooled you."

"Oh my god."

She looks at Tyler. "You pushed me down the stairs!"

"Look, he didn't mean it okay? You got her?" Jeremy asks.

She gets up and leaves with Aimee.

* * *

Caroline walks into the boarding house with luggage in her hands. "Hey, sorry that took forever. I just didn't know how long my mom was gonna be here."

"Damon says it'll take three days tops for the vervain to leave her system. Maybe even sooner." Elena says. Stefan walks through the door.

"Hey! You get some bunny in you?"

He chuckles. "Yeah, I'm feeling much better, thank you."

"Did Trinity get home okay?" Elena asks.

He nods. "She fine. Just sore."

* * *

Damon is in the cell with Liz, watching her talk on the phone.

"A stomach bug. Yeah, it came on fast. I'll definitely be out tomorrow." She looks at Damon. "Or longer. I'll text you. Yeah. Good night." She hangs up and gives the phone to Damon.

"Thank you. It's not exactly the Ritz, but it's secure. Brought you a good thread count. And once the vervain is worked out of your system, I will compel you, you will forget everything and you will be a free woman." He explains. Caroline, Stefan and Elena listen from outside the cell.

"Can you keep Caroline far away from me please? I don't want to see her."

"She's your daughter, Liz."

She shakes her head. "Not anymore. My daughter's gone."

"You have no idea how wrong you are about that." He looks at Caroline. She leaves, Elena follows her.

* * *

Stefan sees the fridge and opens it. He takes a blood pouch and looks at it. Elena walks back in. "Stefan, I think that we should…what are you doing?"

"Katherine took a little vervain every day and built up a tolerance to it…I could do the same with blood. I could learn to control myself on it."

"But you can't, Stefan. You don't have to."

"I almost died tonight, Elena. Because I was too weak."

"But the last time that you drank human blood…"

"I told you I'll find a way to stop Katherine, didn't I? Well this is it; this is the only way because she's stronger than me. And unless I change this, I can't protect you."

"Can we talk about this later?"

"He can hear us wherever we are, because he drinks this. This is the only thing that can help me!"

"Are you serious? Are you pretending to fight? Because I can't tell if…"

"No, this is real. No more pretend."

She looks at him and leaves.

* * *

Caroline is alone in the living room. Elena rejoins her. "You want me to take you home?" She asks.

"I can't go home."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm scared."

"Why are you scared? Caroline, you can talk to me."

"Katherine's gonna be there and she's gonna want me to tell her everything that happened today. She told me I had to spy on you and report back to her."

"I know and I've been so mad at you. But then, I tried to put myself in your position so that I could understand why you would do this to me and to Stefan because he's been such a friend to you. Who did she threaten?"

"Matt, she threatened Matt and I'm so scared of her Elena! I am so scared of her."

"And you should be. Caroline, we all should be."

"Why is she doing this? What does she want?"

"That's the million dollar question." She hugs her.

* * *

At the mansion, Mason is leaving a message for Liz. "Hey Sheriff, its Mason Lockwood. I just want to make sure everything went okay today. I didn't see you later and…give me a call will you?" He hangs up and sees Tyler walk in. "Hey."

"I almost killed a girl today."

"What?"

"It was an accident. I was being stupid. She's okay though but there I was and just for a moment, for a split second, I hoped she would die. Look, whatever this is inside me, I don't want any part of it. I don't ever want to feel that way again, I won't, I can't."

"I know." He says. Tyler gives him the moonstone. "Thank you."

"Yeah."

* * *

Elena tucks a blanket around Caroline. She gets up and walks to the door. Damon intercepts her. "Caroline is sleeping on the couch." She tells him.

"I heard and you?"

"I'm going home." She goes to the door, but stops. "What you did for Caroline's mom, that's the Damon who was my friend." She opens the door to leave.

"Hey, Stefan didn't drink the people blood, if you were curious, but he needs to and deep down you know that."

* * *

Stefan is in the library and sees Elena. "You can come in."

"Do you really think that you can control it?"

"I don't know but if I don't try…"

"So a little bit every day?"

"Yeah, just a few drops of blood in my system. I think it's worth trying."

"So do I, but I don't want you to do it alone." She picks up a letter opener.

"What are you doing?"

She cuts her hand. "It's you and me, Stefan. Always." She holds her hand out.

He stares at it before he begins to drink her blood. His face changes. She pulls her hand away and kisses him. His face becomes normal again. They kiss again.

* * *

Mason is in the woods. A car is waiting for him. He gets in the car and sees Katherine in the driver's seat. "I've been waiting." She says.

* * *

_Flashback_

_One Year Ago: Emerald Coast, Florida_

_Mason's eyes are glowing yellow._

_Katherine walks over. "Mason? What happened?"_

"_Jimmy attacked me."_

"_What? Why?"_

"_He said that I hit on Marla."_

"_Why would he think that?" She wraps her arms around him._

"_He's dead. I killed him." He buries is face in her hair._

_She looks at Jimmy's body and smiles. "Everything's gonna be okay."_

* * *

_Present_

Mason tries to kiss Katherine but she pushes him away. "What was that stunt today that you pulled with Damon and Stefan Salvatore?" She asks.

"I thought you would be happy about that."

"I told you to stay away from them."

"Well their little friend has a little power of her own. I don't know what she is."

"Trinity?"

"Yeah." He says. "Why do you even care?"

"I don't want you to get distracted. I need you to find the moonstone." He smiles. "You got it?"

"I got it."

She kisses him.


	28. Plan B

Chapter Twenty Eight: Plan B

Elena and Stefan are in bed. Elena watches him sleep.

"You're staring." He says, eyes still closed.

"I'm gazing."

"It's creepy."

"It's romantic." She defends. He opens his eyes and looks at her before putting a pillow over his face. "Hey!" She laughs, taking the pillow off of his face. Stefan rolls on top of her and kisses her with passion. "Oh, this is bad of us."

"Yes, it is." He trails kisses down her neck.

"If Katherine finds out…"

He looks at her. "Katherine who?" He smiles and kisses her on the lips. Elena smiles too as she kisses him back.

* * *

Mason rolls Katherine over on the bed. His hands explore her body and he starts to kiss down her neck and chest. Katherine giggles. "Shhh." He stops kissing her stomach and looks at her. Katherine places her finger to his lips. "Ms. Flowers will think I'm a _floozy_ if I have a man in here."

"Why are you staying here?"

"Because I like this little bed and breakfast, don't you?"

"I love it."

Katherine rolls on top of him and they kiss passionately.

* * *

Elena rolls herself on top of Stefan and they continue to kiss. She pulls away. "Okay, I, um, I need be in the shower."

"Love it, let's go!"

"No, just me. I'm late. I'm decorating at the Lockwood charity thing."

"Well, what do you know. So am I."

"You think that's really a good idea to be at their house today? Mason Lockwood tried to kill you."

* * *

Katherine pushes Mason down on the bed and kisses his chest. Mason laughs. Katherine stops kissing him and looks down at him. "Where is the moonstone?"

"Somewhere safe."

"Don't you trust me?"

"I don't trust anyone."

* * *

"I don't trust Mason." Stefan says. "I want to be there today to keep an eye on him."

"Okay." She picks up a needle from her end table and sits up. "But then we can't touch or talk and no lingering stares."

"No, none of that." He rubs his hand up and down Elena's arm.

"What do you think will happen if Katherine finds out that we were fake fighting?"

* * *

"You scared I'm gonna kill you?" She asks.

Mason shakes his head. "No, you won't." She kisses his lips. She pushes his chin up and starts to kiss his neck before she starts to bite down. "Ow! Kath, easy!"

Katherine looks at him, feigning concern. "Did I hurt you? Sorry."

* * *

Elena pricks her fingertip with the point of the needle. "Ow."

"Did it hurt?"

"It's okay. A little bit every day to make you stronger, right?"

He takes her finger and drinks her blood.

* * *

Katherine licks the blood off of Mason's neck.

"What happens once I give you the moonstone?" He asks.

"We'll live happily ever after. I promise."

"I'll bring it tonight, I promise."

* * *

"I promise you, we're gonna get through this." He tells her.

"I love you, Stefan."

* * *

"You know I love you." Katherine tells him.

"I love you too."

* * *

Elena kisses Stefan passionately.

* * *

Mason and Katherine kiss.

* * *

Trinity opens her door and sees Stefan. "You called?" He walks in.

"I have a question to ask you."

"What is it?" He asks.

"I need to start staying at the boarding house."

"Has something happened?" He asks, a look of worried on his face.

"You mean besides sleeping with Katherine three times?" She asks. "She keeps showing up and I keep losing control. There's no point in staying here, I might as well invite her in. If I'm at the boarding house, then maybe she won't be as inclined to try it. You know, considering that Damon might try to put a stake through her heart. If he doesn't kill me first when he finds out."

Stefan shakes his head. "You shouldn't tell Damon."

"I don't plan too. But the truth will come out sometime. Hopefully I'll live through it."

"I'm glad that you're staying with us. We'll deal with Katherine, and this will all be over." He tells her taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

* * *

Damon hears someone knocking on the door. He opens it and sees Jeremy.

"I need to talk to you." He says.

"And why do I need to talk to you?" Damon tries to close the door on him.

Jeremy pushes it back open. "Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse. He's not a werewolf yet."

"Wow, fascinating. Not enough." He attempts to close the door again, but Jeremy pushes back.

"But Mason Lockwood is and he's looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend. That's why he's here."

"A moonstone?"

"And I know where it is."

"And you're bringing me this why?"

"Do I need a reason? Look, I just want to help, okay?"

"What's your sister say about this little discovery?" Jeremy doesn't answer. "Oh, you haven't told her, have you?"

"Well, Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all this." He tries to walk into the house. Damon pushes him out.

"And you're a Gilbert and you just can't help yourself. Wow. Your search for life's purpose is as obvious as it is tragic."

"You going to let me in or not?"

Damon steps aside and lets Jeremy in. He goes to closes the door but a hand stops it. "Hey." Trinity says as she walks in.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm bored."

Damon rolls his eyes and closes the door.

"So you're a shapeshifter?" Jeremy asks.

"Yeah."

"Can you turn into other people?"

"No. At least not yet. For now, it's just animals."

"Can I see?"

"Can you tone down the enthusiasm? I'm not a circus act." She leaps towards him, shifting into a wolf.

"Wow." He breathes. She begins growling. He looks at Damon. "What's wrong with her?"

Damon plays along with Trinity. "Oh, did we forget to mention that she's not in control once she shifts?" He asks with faux innocence. Trinity bares her large, sharp teeth and begins taking slow steps towards Jeremy. "You might want to run." Trinity leaps towards Jeremy whose eyes widen and he flees. Trinity chases after him. "Hide!" Damon calls. Jeremy slams a door behind him and Damon smiles before it's wiped off his face. "Trinity! No scratching at the doors!"

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, there are people everyone helping to set up for the Masquerade Ball. Inside, Jenna and Carol are talking.

"Jenna, thanks for helping wrangle the volunteers."

"Of course, it's for a good cause. Plus, I have always been a sucker for the Masquerade Ball."

"So was Richard. This was always his favorite party of the year."

Matt and Tyler carry a table into the room and almost drop it. "Wait, wait, wait, Tyler!"

Carol looks over at them. "Boys! Be careful with that! It's from the 1800s." She turns to Jenna. "Excuse me. Tyler!"

"Mom, we got it." Tyler and Matt continue to carefully move the table. Carol walks over to them.

Jenna walks into another room and sees Stefan. "Stefan, hey!"

"Hey."

"I'm cooking dinner tonight. Ric will be there, you should come."

"You know, Elena and I, we're kind of taking a…a pause."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Because that's not what it sounded like this morning." Stefan tries to muster a face of confusion, but fails to fool her. "Light sleeper. You know what? I heard nothing." She smiles and leaves.

* * *

Bonnie is outside, carrying a box. Elena sees her and walks over to her. "You're here."

"I'm here."

Elena takes some candles out of the box Bonnie us carrying. Bonnie glances around the yard. "Caroline's not coming. I told you."

"Just making sure."

"You know, eventually, you're gonna have to talk to her."

"Could you make it a little less obvious you're on her side?"

"There are no sides, Bonnie."

"Come on! Since Caroline became a vampire, we barely see each other. Losing Caroline was bad enough; I didn't think I'd lose you too."

"Come with me."

"Where?"

"Not here. Some place quiet. We have to talk." She holds her hand out. Bonnie takes it and they walk away.

* * *

Liz is lying on her cot in the cell. Caroline walks in and she sits up. Caroline walks over with a tray of food. "You didn't eat much." She says. Liz makes no move to speak to her. "Good news; Doctor Damon said the vervain is almost out of your system. So with any luck, you'll be freshly compelled and back in your own bed by tonight." Liz doesn't answer or look at her. "Are you really just gonna pretend like I don't exist?"

"Yes. So please, go."

She takes the tray and starts to walk away. "As usual, you don't care. Got it. Just like before I was a vampire. It's not like I died or anything." She starts to open the door when Liz speaks.

"Are you…are you really dead?"

She looks at her. "Yes and no."

"How is it possible?"

Caroline walks back into the room and shuts the door.

* * *

Upstairs, Alaric arrives with a box of Isobel's research.

"Ric!" Damon greets.

Alaric sees Jeremy. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping Damon. I'm the one who found out about the moonstone."

He looks at Damon and Trinity, who shrug before looking back at Jeremy. "Does Elena know you're here?"

"Not exactly."

Damon and Trinity walk up to the box. "What you got?" He asks as they start to dig through the items.

"This is Isobel research's from Duke. Her assistant sent it to me."

"Mmm, Vanessa. The hottie." He says taking out a book.

Alaric takes the book out of Damon's hands. "Vanessa, yes. Now, do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?"

"Sun and the moon, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

Jeremy walks over to them. "An Aztec curse? Cool."

"Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power. Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun." Alaric explains.

Damon wiggles his fingers, showing his daylight ring. "Most of them, anyway."

"According to the legend, the werewolf part of the curse is sealed with the moonstone." He shows him a map.

Jeremy takes it and looks at it. It has pictures showing the story of the Sun and the Moon curse. "What do you mean sealed?"

"It's a witch thing, whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse." Damon says.

"Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse." Ric says.

"If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we're idiots." Damon says.

"Who has the stone now?" Trinity asks.

"Tyler." Jeremy tells her.

"Can you get it?"

"Yeah."

"See, now your life has purpose." Damon says.

"So, you do believe it?"

"It's the same book that says a werewolf bite kills a vampire. Ignoring it would make me an even bigger idiot. Let's go." He finishes his drink and walks past them.

* * *

Elena and Bonnie are walking across the yard of the Lockwood estate. "I can't believe this." Bonnie shakes her head.

"It's a lot, I know. Katherine's doing everything that she can to drive me and Stefan apart and Caroline just got trapped in the middle."

They both sit down on a bench. "It's not that you and Stefan are pretending to fight. It's that I didn't even know you guys were fighting at all."

"I'm sorry, I don't want to keep things from you but you've made it pretty clear where you stand with the whole vampire thing."

"So that makes me the odd man out."

"No-no, Bonnie, of course not."

"I know where I stand, Elena. And I know where you stand. But where do we stand?"

"You're my best friend, Bonnie. I didn't mean to let this craziness with Caroline get in the way of that. But, she needs you too."

"Not yet, I just…she's a vampire, I can't. I think we should get back." Bonnie gets up and leaves. Elena sighs.

* * *

Mason is carrying a box. He sees Stefan, helping set up for the ball. "Hey, Stefan."

"Hey, Mason."

He places the box down on a table, shocked to see that Stefan is alive. "Wasn't expecting you here. Or anywhere."

"Yeah, I had this little accident. But I'm fine now."

"What did you do to Sheriff Forbes?"

"Oh, she's fine too, but from now on, you'll have to do your own dirty work."

"Not a problem." He walks away and accidentally runs into Bonnie. "Excuse me."

Bonnie continues to watch Mason as he walks away. A strange look spreads across her face, which Stefan notices. He walks over to her. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

She looks at him. "When I touched him, I saw something."

"What do you mean? Like a vision?"

"I saw Elena."

"You saw Elena?"

"He was kissing her."

He shakes his head. "No, Bonnie, Elena wouldn't kiss…" Stefan considers this for a minute, and his face changes from confused to understanding. "You didn't see Elena, you saw…Katherine."

* * *

Elena is sorting out masks. She sees Stefan and Bonnie talking. Damon and Trinity walk over to her. "Damon, what are you doing here?" She asks.

"Looking for my baby bro. Speaking of, would you tell yours to stop following me around?"

"What's going on?"

"Ask eager beaver." They walk away as Jeremy arrives.

"Jeremy, what is he making you do?"

"He's not making me do anything, Damon and I…"

"Uh, no. No way. No, no, no, no. There is no 'Damon and you'. There's Damon and whoever Damon is using, and those people, they end up dead. Whatever is going on Jeremy, I want you to stay out of it."

"I don't really care what you want, Elena. It's because of you that I'm in this mess in the first place, so I'm sorry, but you really don't get to tell me what I'm gonna do." He walks away.

* * *

Stefan is talking with Damon and Trinity.

"Katherine's with Mason Lockwood?" Damon asks.

"We missed it. He got into town right after she did. It makes perfect sense."

"I know, but Mason Lockwood?! Werewolf thing aside, the guy is a surfer. She's got to be using him. She has to be."

"Using him for what?" He asks.

"Mason Lockwood's looking for a moonstone that allegedly can break the full moon werewolf curse." Trinity tells him.

"Maybe Katherine wants it as well." Damon says.

"Why?"

"Well…no idea. That's the beauty of Katherine; she's always up to something."

"So, how are we gonna find this moonstone?"

"Jeremy is getting it from Tyler." Trinity tells him.

He looks at Damon. "Why would you involve Jeremy?" He walks past them and Damon slaps him on the shoulder.

"He's playing Indiana Jones. He involved himself." He calls. Stefan looks at him and shakes his head, making Damon scoff.

* * *

Matt is hanging up lanterns, outside. Tyler is standing next to him, holding the ladder. "She's this amazing girl one minute and then this raging, jealous freak the next." Matt says.

"Look, you know what I think of Caroline Forbes. She's an insecure, neurotic, bitchy little twit."

"Hey!"

"But the girl's got heart. She means well. You just gotta take the good with the bad sometimes." He finishes.

"Yeah. I'm gonna go get an extension cord. I'll be right back." He leaves.

Jeremy walks over to Tyler. "Hey man."

"Hey!"

"Hey, so I did a little research on that stone you showed me."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know. Curiosity, boredom."

"What did it say?"

"Well, it turns out that it's part of this Aztec legend but I want to make sure it's the same kind of stone. You think I could check it out again?"

"Nope. I gave it to my uncle."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because I'm done with legends and curses. I don't want anything to do with it, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah sure. It's probably…just, uh, stupid folklore anyways. Forget it."

* * *

Stefan, Damon, and Trinity have been listening to the whole conversation and look at each other. Damon is pissed, but Stefan just shrugs it off. Trinity sighs and shakes her head as they walk away.

* * *

Elena walks down the stone steps at the Lockwood Manor. She sits down as she continues to text Stefan. She asks him if everything's okay. Stefan receives it and texts her back saying that he's with Damon and Bonnie and that he'll fill her in later.

* * *

Stefan puts his phone away after texting Elena. He and Trinity look ahead at and Damon and Bonnie.

"Okay. This is as far as I go." Bonnie says.

Damon lets go of her. "Okay."

"What do you want?"

"A favor."

"Like that's gonna happen."

"So predictable." He looks at Stefan. "That's why I brought him."

* * *

Meanwhile, Elena receives Stefan's text and texts him back with "Damon and Bonnie? Fill me in now." She waits for him to text her back.

* * *

Stefan looks at Bonnie. "I know how you feel about helping us out, but since you're the one that linked Mason with Katherine, we finally have an opportunity to get an upper hand on both of them so, just hear us out."

"Pretty please?" Damon asks.

* * *

Elena looks at her phone. She still hasn't received a text. She grows impatient and ends up calling Stefan.

* * *

"I'm listening." Bonnie says.

Stefan's phone starts to ring. "I have to fill Elena in on what's going on." He looks at Damon and Trinity. "Can you play nice, please?"

He shrugs. "I guess."

He answers his phone. "Hey, what are you doing? You shouldn't be calling me."

"_I know, but I have no idea what's happening. Damon's got Jeremy into something and you've got Bonnie with you and I'm sorting stupid masquerade masks for Mrs. Lockwood."_

"Alright, it's okay. Hold on." He walks away.

* * *

"All you have to do is touch Mason Lockwood again to see if he gave Katherine the moonstone." Damon tells Bonnie.

"My visions don't work like that. I don't get to ask questions."

"How inconvenient." Trinity says.

Damon nods before continuing. "Although, let's talk about that little witchy juju thing you do with me. You know, the fun one where my brain burst into flames? What is that?"

"That's me giving you an aneurysm. Your blood vessels go pop, but you heal quickly; so, I do it over and over again."

"Is it vampire specific?"

"It'd work on anyone with a supernatural healing ability."

"Good. Good, good." He nods.

"Damon, I'm not gonna help you hurt him." She says, making Trinity roll her eyes.

"Mason Lockwood's a werewolf, Katherine's evil. They're the bad guys. Really? You're gonna play morality police with me right now? Let me put it to you another way; they're a threat to Elena. So you, witch, are gonna get over yourself and help us."

Stefan walks back over to them. "Yeah, he meant that as a question with a 'please' on the end."

"Absolutely." Damon smiles.

* * *

Mason walks down the front steps and towards his jeep. "Hey, can you move your van? I'm blocked in." He sees Bonnie trying to remove a table from the back of the truck and runs over to help her. "Hey, how did you get stuck doing that by yourself?"

"All the guys bailed. Something about draft picks. I don't know, I don't speak that language."

"Here, let me give you a hand." He grabs the table and starts to pull it out. Bonnie looks around and then at Mason. She uses her aneurysm spell on him. He grabs his head and yells in pain and falls down onto his knees. "I'm sorry."

Damon walks past Bonnie and knees Mason in the face. Mason falls to the ground, unconscious. He opens the passenger door and signals for Bonnie to get in. Trinity gets into the backseat. Stefan takes Mason's keys out of his pockets and throws them to Damon. Bonnie gets in Mason's jeep. Damon and Stefan put Mason in the trunk of the jeep. Damon gets in and drives off with Bonnie in the passenger seat.

* * *

Caroline is in the basement cell, talking with her mother "So, I mainly drink from blood bags. It's not as good as the fresh stuff but it beats the animal blood that Stefan's been trying to get me to drink."

"So, you steal the blood from the hospital?"

"Damon does. I've been pilfering his supply, so…"

"And as long as you have blood, you don't need to kill?"

"I want to. It's my basic nature now. But, on a healthy diet, I can control it. I'm getting better at it. I'm better than Stefan. He's a bit of a problem drinker. A blood-aholic."

"I don't want this for you."

"I know. But when life gives you lemons…" She giggles weakly and hears Damon enter the house. "Damon's home."

"You could hear that?"

* * *

Damon carries Mason over his shoulder; Bonnie and Trinity follow behind him. He places Mason into a chair.

Bonnie drops a bag on the couch. "Here's his bag. As requested."

He pulls out a sheet. "Okay, grab that corner." He tells Trinity.

"Why are you doing this?" Bonnie asks.

"Because I don't want to stain the carpet." He says.

"I knew you were gonna say something like that."

"Judging again." Trinity says. They pull a blanket over the rug. Damon walks over to Mason's bag.

"He's not gonna be out much longer." Bonnie says.

Damon takes chains from Mason's bag. "Woah. Looks like this guy's used to being tied up." Bonnie takes Mason's head in her hands.

"What are you doing?" Trinity asks.

"You're looking for a moonstone. I'm trying to help you find it."

"Oh, good, yeah. Find out if he gave it to Katherine, and find out where she is. And find out what they're gonna do with it once they get it." He says, tying Mason down into the chair.

Bonnie closes her eyes and concentrates while she touches Mason's head. "Somewhere small. dark. There's water."

"Like a sewer?" Trinity asks.

"No. Like a well? That can't be right. Yeah. It's a well."

"Why would it be in a well?" Damon asks.

Bonnie lowers her hands and opens her eyes. "I told you, I only get what I get." Mason grunts and grabs Bonnie by the wrist. She gasps. Trinity pulls his hand away. Bonnie starts to walk away. "That's it. That's all I got."

"Hey, judgey!" Damon calls. Bonnie turns around and looks at him. "Thank you." She walks out of the room. Trinity and Damon look at Mason. "Come on. Wake up, wolf boy." He punches him in the face.

* * *

Bonnie is quickly walking to the front door. Caroline comes up from the basement. "Hey!"

Bonnie stops and looks at her. "Hi. How's your mom? Elena filled me in on everything."

"I'm gonna take her home tonight."

"Caroline…uh…never mind, I've got to go." She starts to leave again.

"Did you find the moonstone thing?"

"Not yet. Hey, do you remember that old well where we used to play when we were kids?"

"Yeah."

"It's in the woods. Do you remember where?"

"On the edge of the old Lockwood property. Why?"

Bonnie pulls out her phone and texts Stefan. "I think that's where Mason is keeping the moonstone. I got to go."

"Well, I can come with you."

"No, it's okay." She looks at Caroline who is hurt and disappointed.

"Sure."

"Okay." Caroline smiles and they walk out of the house together.

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Matt and Elena are inside the house, sorting through costumes and masks.

"So, where's Caroline?" He asks. "This is like her thing. I can't believe she's not here."

"She had something else to do." She tells him.

"Is she seeing someone?"

"Matt, come on. No, she's not." She says. Stefan walks in with a box of masks and Elena looks at him.

Tyler walks into the room. "Anyone seen Mason?"

"He, uh, he took off. He said he wasn't sure when he'd be back." Stefan tells him.

"So weird." Tyler walks out of the room.

Stefan's phone goes off, he received a text from Bonnie. She tells him to look in the well, next to the old Lockwood property for the moonstone. Stefan looks at Elena. She walks towards him, but Stefan shakes his head and walks away. She sighs and goes back to sorting the costumes with a bit more ferocity.

Matt looks at her. "I'm not even gonna ask."

"I'll be right back." She runs out of the house.

* * *

Mason is chained down to the chair. Damon is heating up an iron poker in the fireplace. Mason struggles to get out of the chair. "Someone's feisty." Damon gets up.

Mason continues to struggle and thrusts the chair backwards, falling onto the floor. Trinity walks over to him. "What?!" He asks.

Damon walks over and sticks the iron poker into Mason's chest. Mason screams. "You can hurt. Good to know. I was afraid you were gonna be some beast mass with no affinity for pain."

Trinity pulls his collar down and looks at the wound. "Oh, but you heal quickly. Not good."

Damon shrugs. "Guess I'll just have to keep applying pain." He grabs Mason and pulls him back up with the chair. He walks back over to the fireplace and heats up the poker again. "So…Katherine. How do you know her? What is she up to?" Mason spits on the floor but says nothing.

"We have all day." Trinity says. Damon thrusts the white hot iron poker into his stomach. Mason grits his teeth and screams.

* * *

Stefan walks over to the well and looks down into it. Elena runs up behind him. "What's going on?" She asks.

He looks at her. "You shouldn't be here."

"I know, but I am. What's going on?"

"Bonnie thinks the moonstone is down here." Stefan pulls the lock off the iron grating. He then takes the grating off the top of the well. He turns on the flashlight. He and Elena look down the well. He sighs and looks at Elena. He jumps onto the edge of the well and Elena hands him the flashlight.

"Hey. Be careful."

"I'll only be down there for a minute." Stefan jumps into the well. Elena holds her breath, but when she hears Stefan safely splash at the bottom she breathes out. Stefan looks down at his arm and sees vapor rising around where the water touched him, his hands and arms burning. He presses himself up against the stone wall and shouts in pain. "Elena!"

She looks over. "Stefan?!"

"Elena!"

"Stefan, what's happening?!" She yells down. He attempts to climb out, but cannot. "What's going on in there?!"

"Vervain. Oh, God! Help!"

"Stefan!" She jumps off the from the edge of the well and tries to pick up the heavy chain on the ground. She isn't strong enough. "Stefan!"

Caroline rushes over to Elena. "Elena!"

"Caroline, Stefan's down there and the chain is rusted." Caroline starts to climb into the well, but Elena stops her. "No, no, no! You can't, it's filled with vervain. Caroline, we've got to get him out. Now!"

Caroline tries to process and grabs the chain from the ground while Elena climbs on the edge of the well.

* * *

Damon continues to heat the poker in the fire. "When did you two meet? Did she seduce you, tell you she loved you? You're supernatural so she can't compel you. I'm sure she used her other charms. Katherine's good that way." He says.

Trinity walks in front of Mason. "Damon, can I give him a makeover?" She asks, shifting her nails into claws. She takes his face in her hands. "I think he could use a wider smile, some piercings."

Jeremy walks in the room with a box. He sets it down on a table. "I thought I told you to leave." Damon says. Trinity lets go of Mason.

"I found something in Ric's box of stuff." He tells them.

"Ooh. What is it?" Damon walks over to him.

Jeremy takes out a plant. "I did a search on my phone. It's a plant. Aconitum Vulparia. It grows in the mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. Commonly known as aconite, blue rocket, and wolfsbane."

Damon opens the cloth and looks at the wolfsbane. "What else did you read?"

"Well, every source says something different. One myth says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus. Another one says that it protects people and another one says, well, it's toxic."

Mason groans, causing Damon to look over at him. "I'm guessing toxic." He takes the plant and walks towards Mason. "What's Katherine doing in Mystic Falls?" He doesn't answer. Damon brushes the end of the wolfsbane across Mason's cheek. It begins to burn and Mason screams. Jeremy looks uncomfortable by this method of torture. Damon pulls the wolfsbane away. "Why is she here?"

"She's here with me. Why do you ask, you jealous?" He asks.

Damon smirks. "How rude of me. You know, I just realized, I didn't offer you anything to eat." He shoves the wolfsbane into Mason's mouth. Mason grunts and groans in pain. "Yummy!" He stops. Mason spits up the wolfsbane and coughs.

"Hey Damon?" Trinity asks.

"What?"

"Remember how I explained my Quickening to you?"

"Yeah. You lose control and become consumed by your emotions. So what?"

"I just want you to remember that when this is over." She tells him.

* * *

Elena wraps the chain around herself and hooks it against one of the links. She looks at Caroline.

"I got you, okay?" She tells her.

Elena nods. "Yeah."

Bonnie runs up to them. "What's going on? You just took off in a blur."

"I heard Elena screaming. Help her, now!" She says. Bonnie grabs Elena's hand and helps lower her into the well. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Elena says. She is lowered into the well with the help of Caroline, who slowly reels her down.

Caroline loses hold of the chain for a second but grabs it just in time. "Sorry!"

"It's okay, keep going. Come on!" She calls. Caroline continues to lower Elena down into the well. Elena finds Stefan, he's unconscious. She unhooks the chain from around herself and puts it around Stefan. "Hey! Oh, Oh my God." She looks at his burned skin.

"Elena, what's going on down there?"

"Pull him up!" She yells. Caroline starts to pull the chain up from the well. Bonnie unties Stefan and, with the help of Caroline, places him on the ground. Elena turns the flashlight on.

"Elena? Ready for you!" Caroline calls.

"Hold on! I need to find the stone." She gropes around the cracks in the well for the stone.

"Hurry!"

Elena continues searching in the vervain-filled water. She finds a wooden box and picks it up. "Hold on! I think I found it!" She grabs the box and a snake inches towards her. It wraps onto her. Elena screams and throws the snake off of her. Another snake has crawled up her arm. She backs up against the wall and pulls the box out its hiding spot. She ties the chain around herself again.

"Elena! What's going on?!"

"I got it. Come on! Bring me up!" She yells. Caroline reels Elena up. Bonnie helps Elena when she finally gets out of the well. Elena looks down at Stefan. She jumps off the well and down to him. "Oh, god! Stefan!" She cradles his head under her arm. Bonnie and Caroline rush over to her. "Stefan! Stefan." She sees a rock nearby and grabs it. She cuts her hand with it. Caroline turns away. Elena places her wrist to Stefan's mouth. He opens his eyes and drinks from her. "I've got the stone, Stefan." She says. "Stefan, it's gonna be okay, everything's gonna be okay.

* * *

"Why do you want the moonstone?" Damon asks.

"Screw you!" Mason yells.

"Ahhh! Wrong answer!"

"If he was gonna say anything, he would have already!" Jeremy yells.

"I'm taking your eyes now." Trinity holds up her claws and walks forward.

"The well! You can find it there."

"I know where it is. I want to know what it does and why you want it." Damon says.

"I'm getting it for Katherine."

"Why?"

"She's gonna use it to lift the curse."

"Of the moon? Now, why would a vampire help a werewolf break a curse that keeps them from turning whenever they want?"

"So I wouldn't have to turn anymore."

"Why?"

"Because she loves me."

Damon laughs. "Now…now I get it. You're just stupid. Katherine doesn't love you. She's using you, you moron."

"She really doesn't love you." Trinity says. She turns to Damon. "Remember what I said." She turns back to Mason. "For someone who loves you so much, she sure doesn't show it. Unless it's an open relationship and you're fine with her sleeping with other people?"

"What are you talking about?" He asks.

Trinity leans down and looks him in the eyes. "I slept with Katherine." Damon and Jeremy look at her in shock. "Three times."

He laughs and shakes his head. "You're lying."

"Am I?" She asks. "I know that she has this cute little mole on her hip. She likes someone with a little strength." The smile on his face dies. "Oh and there's this spot behind her ear. If you lick it just right-"

Mason tries to jump towards her. "Shut up."

She stands up. "She doesn't love you."

"I'm done talking."

"Yes, you are." Damon says. He hands Jeremy the wolfsbane. "It's time to take a walk, Jeremy."

"I'm staying."

"No, you should go."

"I'm staying, Damon. He's had enough."

Mason looks at Jeremy. "Just help Tyler. Don't let this happen to him."

"Damon…" Jeremy tries.

He flashes over to him and grabs him by the throat. "You wanted to be a part of this? Well, here it is! Kill or be killed! The guy is a werewolf; he'd kill me the first chance he got! So, you suck it up or leave." He lets him go. Jeremy coughs. "He wants me to kill him, anyway. Don't you, Mason? It really is a curse, isn't it?" Jeremy gets up and leaves. "You know, I look at you I see myself. A less dashing, less intelligent version."

"I love her."

"Oh, I know! I've been where you are. But Katherine will only rip your heart out. Let me do it for her." Damon thrusts his hand into Mason's chest. Mason groans. He removes his heart from his chest. Mason's eyes go lifeless and his head falls down to his chest. Damon drops the heart before rushing at Trinity, gripping her by the throat and pinning her to the wall. "Now about you…"

"Let me go."

"You're a traitor."

"No. I'm. Not. I told Stefan and Elena. Why do you think I'm staying here? Katherine keeps showing up at my house. I can't control myself when I'm alone with her. If I was gonna give my virginity to someone, why would I choose Katherine of all people?"

"You gave your virginity to Katherine?"

"Not my choice." She grunts.

He lets go of her. "That's punishment enough."

* * *

Jenna and Alaric are in the kitchen, cooking dinner together. Alaric is chopping up food with a knife.

"You're pretty handy with that thing." She says.

He laughs. "Yeah, well, it's a skill. Here." He grabs a piece of food and feeds it to Jenna. He kisses her. "Where's the, um, where's the sea salt?"

"Table."

They kiss again. Alaric lays dinner plates down on the table. Elena opens the front door and quietly closes it. Alaric looks at her and mouths "Are you okay?" to her. Elena nods, placing a finger to her mouth, she walks up the stairs.

* * *

Caroline and Liz are sitting on the cot together. "So I pulled Stefan out of this well and he's all vervained and just rotted, but Bonnie wasn't mean to me once and I just…I really think it's progress, you know? I just…" She sees Liz staring at her. "What? I'm freaking you out."

"It's just that you've become this person…"

"Don't. Don't. We…we're just starting to get along…"

"This strong, this confident person." She finishes.

"Oh. Thank you."

"You don't have to take my memories away. I'll keep your secret. Look, if you're worried about them, just say you compelled me. I won't tell. I'll never do anything to hurt you."

"We never talk like this. Ever. And today meant so much to me."

"Me too."

"I know." She grabs Liz's hands in her own. "I know I can trust you, but you're never going to trust them." She cries and compels her. "I'm going to take you home. You're going to forget that I'm a vampire."

"I'm going to forget that you're a vampire."

"You'll remember you got sick with the flu. You had a fever, chills and ickiness, but I made you soup and it was really salty. We bickered. You got better and then your selfish little daughter, who loves you no matter what, went right back to ignoring you and all is right in the world."

* * *

Damon and Trinity roll up Mason's body in a blanket. Stefan walks in and shows them the moonstone.

"All this for that?" Damon asks.

"Yep." He tosses Damon the moonstone. "I see you've exercised your usual restraint."

"Had to be done."

"I actually agree with him." Trinity says. "He already tried to have you killed. He couldn't be trusted.

Damon takes Mason's phone and texts Carol on behalf of Mason. "Carol, big opportunity in Florida, I'm gonna be gone for a long time. Will send for my things once I get settled. Much love, Mason."

"Let's get rid of the body." Stefan says.

"Oh, last number dialed. I wonder who that could possibly be?" He pushes redial.

Stefan tries to stop him. "No, no, no! Don't provoke her!"

Katherine answers her phone, thinking its Mason calling. _"Mason, you should have been here an hour ago."_

Trinity watches as Stefan continues to try to get Damon off the phone, but Damon pushes him back. Stefan slaps his hand and walks away in frustration.

"Wrong boy toy." He says.

"_Damon. For once you've surprised me. I assume Mason is with you?"_

"He's right beside me! Although, his heart's across the room."

"_You shouldn't have."_

"I've had a very busy day today. I killed a werewolf, found a moonstone. Hey, did you know that he hid the moonstone in the bottom of a well full of vervain? I guess he didn't trust you very much. Although, he did love you. Poor guy. Hey, where are you? Because, you know, I could bring him over. Last goodbyes and all that."

"_You have no idea what you've just done."_

"Aww, did I put a kink in your master plan? I'm so sorry."

"_Do you honestly believe that I don't have a plan B? And if that fails, a plan C, then a plan D, and… you know how the alphabet works, don't you? Send my love to Stefan…and Trinity." _She hangs up.

Damon looks at them, frowning.

* * *

Elena walks downstairs and into the kitchen. "Where is Jeremy?"

"Oh, he went straight up to his room. He said he wasn't hungry." Alaric tells her.

She helps lay out the plates and looks over at Jenna, who is on the phone with someone. "Who is she talking to?"

"I don't know. Everything go okay today?"

"There were a few hiccups, but yeah."

"Of course, I understand. Elena, it's for you." Jenna hands her the phone.

"Who is it?" She asks. Jenna shrugs but doesn't say anything. Elena takes the phone and places it to her ear. "Hello?"

"_Hello, Elena." _Katherine greets.

Elena looks at Ric. Ric looks questioningly at her. She walks out of the room. "Katherine."

"_Did you enjoy your little rendezvous with Stefan this morning? I will always know, Elena. I will always be one step ahead of you. When are you gonna figure that out? Do you know how easy it was to get inside of your house? To replace Aunt Jenna's vervain perfume, to convince her to stop drinking her special tea?"_

Elena looks over at Jenna. Alaric wants to know what's going on, but Elena puts her hand up, gesturing to him to hold on. "No."

"_Jenna's been my little spy for days now. But unlike you, Jenna actually listens to me. So when I suggested that the world would be a much better place if she were to just-"_

Jenna holds a knife into the air. She points it at her stomach. Elena drops the phone. "Jenna, no!"

Jenna stabs herself in the stomach and falls to the floor.

"Jenna! Jenna!" Alaric yells as he and Elena rush over.

"_Well, you get the idea." _She hangs up.


	29. Masquerade

Chapter Twenty Nine: Masquerade

At the boarding house, Caroline is sitting on the couch. Damon gives her a glass of blood. "Here."

"I'm still shaking." She says before taking a drink.

Stefan and Trinity walk in. "What happened?" He asks, seeing the look on Caroline's face.

Damon smirks. "Go ahead, tell them. You're gonna love this."

"I saw Katherine today." She says.

"Where?" Trinity asks.

"At the grill. I just stopped by to gawk and…quasi-stalk Matt."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Grill_

_Matt sees Caroline staring. "Do you need a table?" He asks._

"_No, I'm not staying. I just needed to use the little girls' room."_

* * *

"Skip the teen drama and get to it." Damon interrupts.

She sighs. "Then I had to pretend to use the bathroom even though I didn't really have to go because I'm a doofus."

* * *

_Caroline is in the bathroom washing her hands when 'Elena' walks in. "Elena?"_

"_Hey, I saw you with Matt, are you okay?" She asks with a look on concern._

"_Yeah, you know…whatever." She tries to flash past her but Katherine catches her and pulls her back._

"_You're good. What gave me away? Was it the hair? Or was it my clothes?" She asks._

"_I know Elena is…I know Elena's at home."_

"_I need you to deliver a message."_

"_What was the message?"_

"_Tell Damon and Stefan that I want the moonstone or I will rip this town apart until it rains blood."_

* * *

"Tell him the rest of it." Damon says.

* * *

"_Tonight, at the masquerade ball." Katherine says._

* * *

_Present_

"She wants to do it in public. Killing Mason threw her off guard." Stefan says.

Damon smiles. "She's running scared. What she did to Jenna was desperate. She's out of tricks."

"We can't underestimate her. We have to play this smarter than her."

"Can we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?" Caroline asks.

Damon scoffs. "No, Katherine's not getting dick. I've had it. I'm gonna go to the masquerade ball and I'm gonna kill her, tonight." He looks at Trinity. "You don't have a problem with that do you?"

Trinity shrugs. "I barely know her." She says. _Maybe once she's gone I'll stop feeling so much._

"You're not gonna kill her." Stefan says.

Damon rolls his eyes. "Don't give me that goody-goody crap."

"You're not gonna kill her."

"Really?"

"Because I am."

* * *

Matt, Jeremy, and Elena are helping Jenna up the porch steps. "Easy. Grab the door Jer." Matt says.

Jenna sighs. "Hey, stop fussing, I'm fine."

"The doctors said that you have to take it easy." Elena tells her.

"Yeah, you don't want to rip your stitches, hemorrhage and die, alright?" Jeremy asks.

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, the only thing I'm gonna die from is embarrassment."

"No." Matt shakes his head.

"I walked into a knife. How does somebody do that?"

"It was a freak accident." Elena says.

"It happens." Jeremy adds.

Matt smiles. "Yeah, I mean I've done it like 20 times at the grill." Jenna laughs, and then winces in pain. "Okay, I'm being nice."

"Careful." Jeremy tells her.

"Easy, easy." Matt says as they put her on the couch. "What should I do with this?" He holds out a bag.

"I got it." Elena takes it from him and goes into the kitchen.

Jeremy follows her. "So what are we gonna do?"

"Make lunch."

"No, about Katherine."

"We're not gonna do anything, Jeremy."

"She tried to kill Jenna. We can't let her get away with that."

"Yes we can. If it keeps us safe then we can."

"And what if she tries something else?"

"She won't. Katherine hurt Jenna because I didn't do what she said. I'm not doing it now, me and Stefan are over. She wins, the end."

"You are being naïve and you know it." He starts to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"Out. I'll be back."

* * *

Katherine enters her bedroom carrying a shopping bag. Mrs. Flowers is helping her. "Where should I put these?" Sheasks.

"Right there. Thank you, Mrs. Flowers. You've been such a wonderful help."

"Oh, it's my pleasure dear. Let me know if there's anything else I can do."

"I will." She takes a dress from one of the bags. She pauses as she senses a presence in the room. She flashes over and pins a woman to the wall.

"Oh, Kat, chill." The woman; Lucy says.

"Do not sneak up on a vampire."

"Don't attack a witch. It's good to see you girl."

Katherine hugs her. "I'm glad you made it."

"You called, I came."

"Like you had a choice."

"Don't get all boss lady on me. You know I love you." She takes a mask from one of the bags. "Now, where does one wear this?"

"To a masquerade ball. Tonight. You want to be my date?" She ask, making Lucy smile. "What do you know about shapeshifter's?"

A look of confusion settles on Lucy's face. "What?"

"Shapeshifter's. People who can change into animals?"

"Like a werewolf?"

"No." She shakes her head. "I mean any animal at will."

Lucy shakes her head. "I've never heard of it before. Why?"

Katherine has a thoughtful look on her face. "No reason."

* * *

Caroline opens the front door to let Bonnie in. "Hey, come on in."

"I got Stefan's message."

He walks up to her. "Hey, you brought the grimoire, thank you."

She sees Damon, Trinity, and Alaric talking around a table full of weapons. "What's going on?"

Jeremy walks up to her. "We're gonna kill Katherine."

Bonnie has a shocked look on her face. "I can explain." Stefan tells her.

"Please."

"We're gonna kill Katherine."

* * *

Alaric shows a weapon to everybody. "This works with compressed air. The trigger mechanism is up here. I have two of these in a different size. For you I recommend this. It fits nicely under the jacket sleeve. You use the trigger when you're ready." He fakes killing a vampire. Damon and Stefan look at each other. "You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire."

* * *

Katherine is straightening her curly hair.

"What's with the hair?" Lucy asks.

"I'm impersonating my dull-as-dishwater doppelgänger Elena. She has the worst taste."

"Except in men. Isn't it a risk pretending to be her in front of the entire town?"

"I've gotten quite good at it actually and everyone's gonna be in masks. It's for some feed this, something charity. It's for a good cause Lucy."

"Hum, okay. Well, have you actually seen the moonstone before? I always thought it was some made up legend."

"I have seen it and I need you to help me get it back."

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do with it?" She asks. Katherine has an uncomfortable look on her face. "You want me to break the curse."

"Let's just get it first. All I really need from you is backup. I can't imagine that Damon and Stefan are just gonna hand it over without putting up a fight."

* * *

"I know you love Elena and you want to be with her but it's risky. Too many people could get hurt." Bonnie says.

"Look, I want Elena back, yes but it's more than that. What Katherine did to Jenna it crossed the line. She has to be stopped before it happens again." He tells her.

"I don't know, Stefan."

"Katherine knows me, right? She knows that I'm not gonna try something in a crowd full of innocent people so that gives me an edge. I could catch her by surprise."

"I could do a spell to trap her, like the tomb spell."

He nods. "Right. We can isolate her, away from the others. Please Bonnie."

She thinks for a moment. "Okay."

* * *

"You're welcome to hang out. Alaric's coming over. It's gonna be pizza and bad TV." Elena tells Matt as he stands to leave.

"I'd love to but I'm going to the masquerade party at the Lockwood's, aren't you?"

"Uh, no…not with what's going on with me and Stefan."

"I've got to go, there's something I got to do."

"What?"

"Just something, I can't talk about it but I've got to go."

"Okay. Well, have fun."

"Yeah. Me and a suit."

She laughs. "You look good in a suit."

"You and Stefan will work it out."

She sighs. "I don't think so, Matt. There's so much about me and Stefan that'll never work."

"You know I'm here for you, always."

She hugs him.

* * *

"Are you sure you guys don't want me there tonight?" Alaric asks.

"No, I need you to stay with Elena. I don't want her to know about this." Stefan says.

"Yeah." Trinity agrees. "She has a habit of getting into trouble when she tries to help."

"Okay. Well, I'll make sure she doesn't leave my sight."

"Alright, if anybody wants to back out, I'll understand." Stefan looks around.

"Yeah." Damon says. "Cold feet speak now. I don't want this going wrong if someone chicken's out. Caroline."

She scoffs. "I won't. Look, she killed me. Fair's fair. As long as there's no werewolf running around."

"Oh, I took care of Mason."

"As long as Tyler doesn't kill anyone, he won't turn." Jeremy tells them.

Damon looks at Trinity. "Are you sure you're okay with us killing your girlfriend?" He asks, making the others look at her in shock.

"Girlfriend?" Caroline asks.

Trinity sighs and rolls her eyes. "I lost control and ended up sleeping with Katherine a few times."

"What?" Bonnie asks.

"It's over and done with. We finish this tonight."

Stefan looks at Bonnie. "Bonnie? Are you with us?"

She pauses. "But no one gets hurt."

"Except Katherine." Damon cuts in. "Tonight Katherine gets a stake through her heart."

Trinity holds in her flinch at the words.

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, it's the masquerade ball. Everyone is wearing masks. Tyler is in his father's office when his mother walks in. "It's already packed out there. You know, we need to keep that door shut. Your father would be very unhappy if I let guests in here." She says, making him stand. She smiles. "Oh, look at you! So handsome."

He adjust is suit jacket. "Thanks. You look pretty good too mom."

"Oh, a compliment. I think I'll fall over."

"Listen, I'm sorry I've been a dick lately…a jerk lately. It's just…have you heard from Mason?"

"No and I don't think we're going to. He's coming, he's going, it's just his way. He's the exact opposite of your father."

"We should have cancelled this party."

"This whole masquerade theme was his idea. I don't know what it has to do with helping the homeless but once he made up his mind, he could really be a dick…a jerk. But I loved him and I know you did too. It's natural to feel abandoned. I just don't want you to feel alone."

"Come on, put your mask on. Let's just go out there and pretend to have some fun."

"I think I need a cocktail first."

* * *

Katherine and Lucy walk into the mansion before splitting up. Katherine takes a strawberry from a plate when Matt sees her.

"Elena?"

"Matt? You look dashing."

"I thought you said you weren't coming."

"I couldn't miss it. You really are hot in a suit. I would love to just…okay, here's the deal." She compels him. "Do you know what you have to do?"

"I'm gonna get Tyler Lockwood really drunk. I'm going to start a fight with him and I'm gonna beat him until he snaps." He says, eyes glazed over.

"And then?"

"I won't stop until he kills me."

"God, you're hot. Now go away."

"Thank you." He walks away.

* * *

Stefan, Damon, and Trinity are outside. They look around.

"Do you see her?" Damon asks.

Stefan shakes his head. "Nope. You're sure you can do this?"

"Who are you talking to?"

"Oh, I had the chance to kill her and I hesitated."

"Well that is the fork in the road between you and me my friend. I don't hesitate."

"You spent 145 years loving her, it could happen."

"I won't hesitate."

"Okay." He says and Damon walks away. He turns to Trinity. "Are you okay?"

She looks at him. "What do you mean?"

"You've only lost control like that in front of Katherine. More than once." He says. "You may not want to admit it, but you feel something for her." Trinity begins to shake her head. "You do." He says. "And that's okay. But are you sure that you can do this?"

She pauses in thought. "She's trying to hurt the people I care about." She says. "And I care about you a lot more than I care about her. So yes…I can do this."

Stefan nods.

* * *

Matt and Tyler are in his father's office with Aimee and Sarah. The girls are dancing. The boys are drinking.

"We're really not supposed to be in here." Tyler says.

"Yeah, I know but we really need to turn this party up. Another shot?" He asks.

"Hey, I want a shot." Aimee says.

"Me too and then we have to dance." Sarah adds.

"Yes."

"You know, usually it's me corrupting you. I like this." Tyler smiles and takes a drink.

"Okay, let's go party. Come on." Aimee puts on her mask on and they leave the office.

* * *

Jeremy is carrying a bag as he and Bonnie walk upstairs and into an empty room. "I thought this room could work." He says.

"It's perfect."

He takes a weapon from the bag. Bonnie sits down and takes out the grimoire. "Is that the spell book I read about in my family's old journal?"

"It's my ancestor, Emily's. The spell I'm doing here is similar to the one that sealed the vampires into the tomb." She opens the book.

Jeremy puts the bag in the closet. "Can you do all the stuff that's in there?"

"I mean it takes practice. I've worked on some small spells. Spells that only do good. I don't want to know too much. I don't particularly enjoy any of this, in case you haven't noticed."

"Yeah but you're 100% witch, that is so cool."

"It's anything but cool. Did your family journals tell you what happened to Emily? Or what about my Grams? It never ends well for people like me."

"If you feel that way, why help?"

"Because I don't want anyone else getting hurt and I don't know how to stay out of it."

* * *

Trinity walks towards the drinks table when someone grabs her hand. She turns around and sees Katherine.

"Dance with me." She smiles, pulling Trinity onto the dance floor.

"What are you doing?" She asks.

Katherine wraps her arms around Trinity and starts to sway. "Enjoying myself." Trinity tries to pull away but she holds her in place. "Dance with me or someone dies."

She sighs and stops struggling. "Someone's dramatic."

"So what's it like being a shapeshifter?"

Trinity looks at her in surprise. "How…?" _Caroline. _She thinks.

"So tell me." Katherine says. "What are the perks? I already know that stamina is one of them." She smiles flirtatiously.

Trinity sighs. "Speed, strength, senses. That's about it."

"Why do I feel like you're holding back?"

"Because I am." She says. "I mean, this is like our first date right? I'm not going to reveal everything." The song ends and Trinity steps away. "There. You got your dance."

"No kiss?" Katherine teases. Trinity rolls her eyes and walks away.

* * *

Jenna and Elena sit on the couch. "I feel like an invalid." She sighs.

Elena smiles. "That's because you are an invalid. Where's Jeremy? Isn't he hungry?"

"He already left for the Lockwood party."

"He went to that?"

"Yeah, I'm glad. He needs to have more fun. Lose some of that emo thing."

"I'm gonna get some napkins." She goes into the kitchen and sees Alaric. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"I haven't heard from anyone all day. It's like everyone's been avoiding me and now Jeremy's supposedly at the party? He hates stuff like that."

"I don't know what to tell you, Elena." His phone rings and she reaches out to grab it but he puts it in his pocket before she can.

"So then you'll be okay if I just head out, try to meet up with everyone."

"Wait, wait, wait." He says.

She looks at him. "What are you hiding, Ric?"

"Stefan asked me to keep an eye on you, just in case Katherine showed up while he was at the party."

"So Stefan's at the party too? He would never go to the party for himself; he did that stuff for me."

"Just let this one go. Okay Elena?"

* * *

Bonnie and Jeremy are going back to the party. "We need to let them know the room's ready." Suddenly she stops. "Do you feel that?"

"What's the matter? Are you cold?" He asks.

"No." She sees Lucy and walks towards her. "Excuse me, do I know you?"

"No, I'm a plus one, I know no one, but it's a great party though." She walks away.

Bonnie walks back to Jeremy. "Are you okay?" He asks.

"I just got a weird vibe. Let's find Damon."

* * *

Stefan is on the dance floor, alone. He sees Katherine walking down the stairs a long distance away. Then she suddenly appears behind him. "Dance with me." She tells him.

"No."

"Fine then tell me who I should kill." She looks around the room. "Him? Hmm, she looks delicious." She eats a strawberry. Stefan offers her his arm. She follows him and they dance. "It's a beautiful night."

"Why the charade?"

"How's Jenna? I certainly didn't expect her to survive that. Lucky girl. Clumsy. How does one stab oneself?"

"Katherine?"

"Huh?"

"I don't want anyone to get hurt tonight."

"Okay. Then give me the moonstone and nobody will."

"Well, you see, I don't have the moonstone on me. So, you and I will have to go get it together."

"Hmm. I have a better plan. You go fetch it and I will try not to kill anyone in the meantime."

"My way or you don't get it."

Aimee walks up to them. "Hey Stefan, I can't find Matt." She looks at Katherine. "Oh my god Elena! You look so pretty. I love that dress. You look gorge."

"Thank you. I love your necklace." She smiles.

"Oh, thanks."

"Oh it's twisted. Here, let me, here we go." She goes behind Aimee and she snaps her spine. "Paralyzed from the waist down." She says before another crack is heard. "And dead." She throws Aimee's body in Stefan's arms. "The moonstone, Stefan. Tick tock."

* * *

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go to bed. You good over there?" Elena asks the couple.

"Good night." Jenna says.

"Good night." She takes her car keys and quietly makes her way out of the house.

* * *

Stefan, Trinity, and Damon are in an empty room. "I put the body in the trunk for now." He tells them.

"We'll dump her when we get back." Damon says.

"This is exactly what I didn't want it, Damon."

"Stefan, it's collateral damage."

"Right, which is why we need to call it off."

"What? Who's hesitating now?" He looks at him. "Hey! Don't do this to me! This woman ruined our lives, she destroyed us!" He looks at Trinity. "She took your virginity and most likely screwed Mason directly after. Tonight it ends. We can do it together." He looks back to Stefan. "I got your back. Alright?"

"Alright."

* * *

Bonnie and Jeremy are waiting for the signal.

"So can you use do like a hocus pocus to ace a test?" He asks.

"I don't know that spell." She says.

"It'd be like the first one I'd learn or maybe like a sex spell or something. I don't know. Do you want to dance or something while we're waiting?"

"No! I mean no thank you."

Jeremy receives a message from Damon telling him that it's his turn.

* * *

Katherine is walking when Lucy rejoins her. "You didn't tell me there was another witch here."

"Didn't I?" She feigns innocence.

"No, you didn't. No one is supposed to know I'm involved. This changes things, Katherine."

Katherine turns to look at her. "This changes nothing. You're here because you owe your dear friend a favor. You wouldn't want to lose my friendship now, would you?"

* * *

Jeremy walks up to them. "Elena." He removes his mask and looks at Lucy. "Hey sorry, could I talk to my sister?" She leaves.

"What is it Jeremy?" Katherine asks, a false look of worry on her face.

"I have a message from Stefan."

Her eyebrows go up. "Oh?"

"He and Damon want you to meet them at the edge of the lake by the woods. They brought the moonstone."

Katherine drops her façade. "And why are you their little messenger?"

"Because they know I'm not afraid of you."

"Hmm, you Gilbert men, so courageous. How's John by the way? Were they able to sew his fingers back on?" She touches his tie, looks at him and leaves.

Jeremy is texting to Damon but Elena catches his arm. "What the hell is going on?" She asks.

* * *

Caroline is inside. She sees Matt with Sarah and Tyler. He stops, looks at her and leaves with them. She receives a text from Jeremy telling her that it's her turn.

She's walking in an empty part of the manor. She's going to open a door but Katherine walks up, catches Caroline's wrist and pushes her against the wall.

"What are Stefan and Damon up to?" She asks.

"What do you mean?"

"I've got Jeremy Gilbert luring me out to the lake. What's going on?"

"I don't know…nothing."

She strangles her. "Don't lie to me, Caroline. They're up to something, what is it?"

"I…" She chokes. "Wait, no, no, no! Okay. They're trying to kill you."

"I figured as much. Where is the moonstone?"

"Bonnie has it."

"And where is Bonnie right now?"

"I don't know." Katherine tightens her grip on her throat. "Okay. She's upstairs, she's upstairs!"

She releases her.

* * *

Elena is with Jeremy and Bonnie. "You guys are trying to kill her here?"

"We saw an opportunity and we knew we had to take it." He tells her.

"Okay, stop with the 'we', are you guys crazy? You're gonna get yourselves killed."

"We know what we're doing, Elena." Bonnie tells her.

"And how am I supposed to feel if one of you guys gets hurt because of me?"

"It's not just you anymore, Elena. She's messed with all of us, she has to be stopped." Jeremy says.

* * *

Katherine is dragging Caroline upstairs.

"Why do you keep dragging me into this? I don't want any part of it." She protests.

"Shut up!" They stop in front of a door. "Which room is it?"

Caroline points. "It's that one."

She goes into the room. Caroline stays outside. "Where is she?"

Caroline begins to laugh. "I did it. I really didn't think that I'd be able to fool you but I did it."

Katherine rushes over but she can't leave the room. She's trapped. "What the…? Stefan?"

He's in the room too, a stake in his hand. "Hello Katherine."

Caroline smiles. "Goodbye Katherine." She walks away.

"You don't really think that you can kill me with that now, do you?" She smirks.

"No, but he can."

Damon comes out of the closet, the compressed air weapon is his hands. He shoots Katherine, launching a stake in her back.

* * *

At the same time, Elena screams as an injury forms on her back.

* * *

Stefan rushes over and drives a stake through her arm.

* * *

Elena screams again.

"What's going on?" Jeremy asks.

Bonnies eyes widen. "Jeremy, it's Katherine. She's linked to Katherine, get them to stop! Now!"

He runs.

* * *

Stefan and Damon are fighting with Katherine. She tries to stake Damon but Trinity appears and catches her from behind. She falls to the floor with her, arms wrapped around her neck. She can't move.

Damon is about to stake her when Jeremy appears in the door way. "Stop! You're hurting Elena! Everything you're doing to her is hurting Elena!"

Damon stops, a look of shock on her face.

Katherine smiles as Trinity releases her and they stand. "You think you two are the only ones with a witch on your side? Wrong and something tells me that my witch is better than your witch." She takes the stake from Damon's hands.

Stefan looks at Jeremy. "Jeremy, go check on Elena. Make sure she's okay. Go!" He leaves.

"Let's all make sure poor Elena is okay. Just a little bit more pressure." She cuts her hand with the stake.

* * *

Elena scream as a wound appears.

* * *

Stefan hits Katherine's hand and throws the stake on the floor.

* * *

"Bonnie, it hurts." Elena cries.

"I can't break the spell, Elena. I'm sorry but I can try to take some of the pain away. Okay? Okay?" She takes Elena hand into hers. _"Ascinda, mulaf, hinto, ascinda…"_

* * *

Katherine takes the stake and is about to drive it through her stomach. "This is really gonna hurt."

"Wait!" Damon yells.

She sits down on the couch. "Okay. So, how about that moonstone?"

* * *

Jeremy runs up to the girls. "Are you okay?"

"Are they?" Elena asks.

"They're stuck in there with her." He looks at Bonnie. "You were right; Katherine had a witch link Elena to her."

"The girl I saw, the one inside! Stay with her, keep pressure on her shoulder!"

"Where are you going?"

"There's another witch here, I'm gonna find her!" She leaves.

Jeremy removes his ring and gives it to Elena.

"No." She says.

"Take it."

"No, Jeremy…"

"Elena, listen to me; you need this more than I do."

"No Jeremy. What I need is for you to be safe."

* * *

Katherine, Damon, and Stefan are trapped in the room. Trinity sits with them.

"The three of us together just like old times." Katherine says. "The brother who loved me too much and the one that didn't love me enough."

"And the evil slut vampire who only loved herself." Damon adds.

"What happened to you Damon? You used to be so sweet and polite."

"Oh that Damon died a long time ago."

"Good. He was a bore."

"Oh, why don't you two stop antagonizing each other?" Stefan says.

"Where is the moonstone?"

"What do you want with it?" Trinity asks.

Katherine ignores her and looks at Stefan and Damon. "Does Elena enjoy having both of you worship at her alter?"

The brothers exchange a look and look back to her. "That was really desperate, Katherine. Don't you think that we can see right through you?" Stefan asks.

"So it doesn't bother you that Damon's in love with your girlfriend?"

"Oh, stop it."

"Or what? You'll hurt me?" She gets up. "Come on, Stefan. Everything that I feel, Elena feels, so go ahead." She looks at Damon. "Or better yet, kiss me Damon. She'll feel that too." She then looks at Trinity. "Or maybe you could do that thing with your tongue. I'm sure she'll love that."

"You know, this whole Mason thing has me a bit confused. Why a werewolf? The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires so what's in that for you?" Stefan asks.

"Sorry about your pet wolf, probably should have kept him on a tighter leash." Damon smirks.

"I'll have to remember that for next time. He's not the only wolf in town." She says.

* * *

Sarah, Tyler and Matt are in the mayor's office.

"So, what happened to Aimee?" She asks.

Matt shrugs. "I don't know, she disappeared."

"She's probably drunk somewhere." Tyler says.

"Like me." He pours the alcohol on the floor.

"Whoa, don't do that."

"What man? It's a party." He takes the picture of Carol and Richard and looks at it. "Right dad? You know, looks like your dad wants to drink." He pours alcohol on the picture.

"Hey, that's not cool. What's wrong with you?"

"Come on, the guy was a dick."

"Come on, you're being mean. His dad's dead." Sarah says.

"Give me the picture!" He tries to snatch it but Matt won't let him.

"Remember how your dad used to slap you around?" He slaps Tyler.

"Are you kidding?"

"I'm just having fun." He smiles.

"Put the picture down now man." Matt throws the picture on the floor, breaking it. "Okay, you need to calm your drunk ass down right now!"

"Do something about it!"

"I'm not gonna fight you."

Matt rushes over him and throws him on the floor. Matt punches him in the face. Caroline is downstairs, she hears the fight. Tyler gets up and punches Matt.

Caroline walks in. "What is going on? Stop!" She puts herself between them. She pushes Matt on the floor. Matt gets up and rushes over Tyler but she stops him.

"I can't! Let me go, I have to finish!" He says.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tyler asks.

"Let me go!"

Caroline looks at him. Pushes him and elbows him hard in the face. He falls on the floor, unconscious. She goes toward him. "Matt?"

Sarah takes a letter opener from the desks.

Tyler looks at Caroline in shock. "How did you…?"

"Matt failed. If Matt fails, I can't." Sarah says.

Caroline sees her. "Tyler, look out!"

Sarah drives the letter opener into his chest. He pushes her and she falls. Her head hits the desk hard on the way down.

Tyler stares in shock at her still body. He kneels by her body. "No, no, no! Come on, wake up! Sarah, open your eyes, wake up! This can't happen, oh no, this can't happen. This can't be happening! Sarah! Sarah, get up! Sarah! Open your eyes! This can't be happening!" He realizes that she is dead. He grabs his head and screams.

"Tyler? Tyler?! Tyler, what's happening?" Caroline asks.

"Get away!"

"What's happening?!"

He raises his head, showing his amber eyes.

* * *

"Damn it! Where is that witch?" Damon asks.

Katherine smirks. "We could play charades."

"You bargained the moonstone." Stefan says quietly.

Damon looks at him. "What are you mumbling about over there?"

"When you struck a deal with George Lockwood, to help you fake your death, you told me that you gave George something that he needed. It was the moonstone, wasn't it?"

She smiles. "Good for you, Stefan. 2+2…and it would have worked, except that people found out that I wasn't in the tomb." She looks at Damon. "Thanks to you, by the way. Have I mentioned how inconvenient your obsession with me has been?"

He looks at the ceiling. "You and me both, honey."

"Why do you need it back?" Stefan asks.

"I love you in a suit, so dashing."

"What were you doing with it in the first place?" Trinity asks.

"You're wasting your breath." Damon says.

"Unless it wasn't yours to begin with." He realizes. "In 1864 you faked your death. Who were you running from, Katherine?" He says. Damon and Trinity look at her.

"In 1987 you were in Chicago, at a concert of all places with that wench, Lexi." She deflects. "Come on Stefan, don't look so surprised. Of course I checked in on you over the years. You were standing in the front row, dancing all night. You were watching Bon Jovi and I was watching you."

"Who were you running from?"

'I love you.' She mouths to Stefan.

* * *

Bonnie is looking for Lucy. She finally finds her and follows the girl into the dining room. "You looking for me?" She asks.

"Who are you?"

"Lucy."

"What are you doing here?"

She sighs. "I should have known I'd run into a Bennett."

"How do you know me?"

"You figure it out. Look, I have no interest in fighting you."

"Then stop the spell you put on my friend."

"Give Katherine the moonstone and I will."

"Why are you helping Katherine? Don't you know what she is?"

"Tell your friends to hand over the moonstone and all will be groovy."

"You're not leaving this room until you stop the spell!"

"Look, I don't want to hurt you."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Look, I don't have a choice. The bitch saved my life and now I owe her. I have to pay up." She goes to walk away but Bonnie catches her wrist. "You have the moonstone. I can sense it on you." She catches Bonnie's forearms. The room shakes, the lights flicker. "Do you feel that? You can trust me. Give it to me, it's okay."

* * *

Damon is pouring himself a glass of scotch.

"We're missing the party. I'll have one of those." Katherine says.

"Right away Miss Katherine." He says, giving her a glass.

"Thank you." She takes a drink when suddenly he pins her to the wall and goes to stake her.

Stefan and Trinity stop him. "No, no! Damon, don't!" He says as the push him away. Trinity looks at Katherine. _Was I protecting her or Elena?_

"Yes, Damon, please." Katherine says.

He glares at her. "The second the spell is lifted, I'm gonna drive a stake right through your heart."

"God, you're hot. When did you get so hot?"

Lucy walks in with the moonstone in hand. "Katherine, the spell on this room has been broken, you're free to leave."

She sighs and walks over to her. "Thank God."

"When I hand this over my debt to you is over."

"Done."

"I owe you nothing."

"I said done. Give it." She holds her hand out.

"I wouldn't do that." Damon says as Lucy hands her the moonstone.

The second it touches Katherine's skin it, she begins to choke.

Lucy glares at her. "You should have told me another witch was involved. She's a Bennett witch, Katherine, but I'm sure you knew that."

"Wait, Elena!" Stefan says.

"Elena's fine." She watches Katherine fall to the floor. "The spell is broken. She'll heal quickly, Bonnie's with her." Katherine continues to suffocate. "I apologize for my involvement." She leaves as Katherine falls unconscious.

* * *

Caroline explains to Carol what happened to Sarah, but she twists the truth. "Matt and I were fighting, we broke up you know, and Sarah was drunk and dancing and she just tripped. And then she wasn't breathing."

"Okay, your mom's on her way and we called Sarah's parents. It was an accident. It was a terrible, tragic accident." Carol says.

Tyler walks in. "Mom, the sheriff's here."

"I'll go prepare her, just don't leave. Just stay here okay? She's going to want to hear the story from you." She leaves.

Caroline looks at Tyler. "Matt's in the car, sleeping it off. I'll deal with him; I don't want him involved in any of this."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm fixing a very bad situation."

"Why? I did this. I killed her."

"No, you didn't mean to and I think it's best for everyone…"

"But she's dead! You don't know what that means."

"Actually, Tyler, I think I do."

"No, you don't, Caroline."

"Has your wound healed?"

He checks his wound but realizes that has healed. "How did you…?"

* * *

Lucy is leaving and Bonnie runs after her. "Please, wait."

She turns around. "Hey, I'm sorry about that spell. Damn vampires, they pull you into the middle of it every time."

"How do I know you? When I gave you the stone, how did I know I could trust you?"

"That feeling you got, you ever felt it before?"

"Being around family. My grams."

"My mother is Johanna, first cousin twice removed from Pauline, niece of Sheila aka…"

"Grams? We're related?

Lucy smiles. "Yeah, we kind of are. It's nice to meet you Bonnie. Seeing you tonight was a wakeup call for me. I got to stop letting vampires control me. So thank you for that." She walks away and Bonnie runs after, crying.

"Please, don't leave! I have so many questions. I don't want to be in the middle either. I hate it. How do I stay out of it?"

"Unlike me, you're one of the good ones, Bonnie. The middle of it is exactly where you need to be. You take care, cuz. Don't worry, you'll see me again." She leaves.

Jeremy walks up to Bonnie. "Hey, I was gonna head home, can I offer you a ride? Are you okay?"

"When did you get your driver's license?"

"I'm not a kid anymore, Bonnie."

She smiles. "I'd love a ride home."

* * *

Stefan walks up to Elena. "Elena."

"I'm okay, I'm okay. Bonnie took away the pain and I think I'm healing."

"I know but I think you should definitely see a doctor anyway."

"I will. I heard about Katherine, is it true? Is she really gone?"

"Yeah, I was so worried about you." He steps towards her but she pushes him away.

"Stefan…I…"

"Katherine being gone doesn't change anything for you, does it?" He asks.

"I want to be with you, Stefan. You know that but first, I need to wake up and know that the people that I love are safe. I need to feel safe. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I-I understand."

She walks away.

* * *

Katherine wakes up in the tomb under Fell's Church. She sees the moonstone on the floor next to her. She takes it and gets up. She tries to leave but there's some sort of barrier blocking her.

Damon appears. "Hello Katherine." He smirks.

"Where am I?"

"Where you should have been all along. I thought you'd have learned your lesson by now, messing with a Bennett witch."

"You should have killed me."

"Death would have been too kind." He begins to closes the door.

"No, Damon, don't. Damon, don't. You need me, Elena's in danger!" She yells.

He stops and looks at her. "From who?" She doesn't answer. "You're lying, you're always lying."

"Why do you think I haven't killed her? Because she's the doppelgänger, she needs to be protected."

"Then I'll protect her, while you rot in hell." He closes the door.

"No, Damon, don't! I'll do anything, please. Damon! You need me! Damon! You need me! You need me!" She cries and hits the door. She drops to the ground in terror.

* * *

At the Lockwood Mansion, Elena is in the parking lot. She talks on the phone with Jeremy. "Yeah Jeremy, I've got my car. Tell Bonnie that whatever she did, I'm starting to feel better. Yeah, you can drive her home. I'm just gonna go straight to bed. Okay." She hangs up, not seeing the mask man behind her.

He knocks her out and kidnaps her.

* * *

Trinity runs her hand through her hair and tosses and turns in bed, trying to fall to sleep.

* * *

_Flash_

_Katherine pulling her in for a kiss._

* * *

_Flash_

_She trails kisses down Katherine's neck._

* * *

_Flash_

_Katherine's eyes closing, ecstasy on her face._

* * *

Her eyes snap open and she sits up in bed. She rubs her hands down her face before getting up, putting on a pair a sweats and some shoes.

* * *

Katherine looks up as the tomb door begins to open. "What are you doing here?"

Trinity folds her arms across her chest. "I don't know. You tell me."


	30. Rose

Chapter Thirty: Rose

"You tried to kill me." Katherine glares.

Trinity scoffs. "Oh please, don't tell me you're mad about that." She says. "You crossed the line when you decided to hurt people I care about."

"Why are you here?"

She throws her hands up. "I'm not sure. I should be home and asleep in my bed, but apparently I can't stop thinking about you."

"Many people have the same problem."

"Shut up." Trinity steps closer to the tomb and sits on the ground. "So I'm gonna sit here and talk to you."

"Well I don't want to talk."

Trinity stands up and puts her hands on the door. "Enjoy eternity in the cold, dark, silence." She begins to close the door.

"Wait!"

Trinity stops. "Feeling talkative?"

Katherine sits on the ground. "Fine." She sighs.

Trinity takes her seat. "Great."

They sit in silence. "I thought you came here to talk."

"I don't know what to talk about." She shrugs. "I just couldn't sleep."

"Tell me more about being a shapeshifter."

"Why do you wanna know so much?

"Because I've never heard about anything like you before and neither has my witch."

"Why should I tell you? I'm sure you're going to try and find some way to manipulate me to your use."

"Can you turn into other people?" Katherine asks. Trinity is silent. "Are you going to say anything?"

"Vampires can't drink my blood."

Katherine pouts a bit at that before covering it up. "Why?"

"Because I'm ever changing. If I decided to tap a vein for you, you wouldn't be able to keep my blood down. You'd vomit until it was out of your system."

"That sucks."

"For you." She sighs.

"Is that all you're going to tell me?"

"On the shapeshifter subject? Yes."

"Well then tell me about yourself."

Trinity looks at her. "Really?"

"Well I'm not about to tell you my life story."

"That's not fair."

She shrugs. "You're the one who came here. You talk, I'll listen."

Trinity pauses before nodding. "Fine." She says. "My name is Trinity Ava Clairborn. I was born in France."

"What part?"

"Paris." She answers. "I don't remember any of it though. We moved back to the states when I was two. We lived in Washington. My parents died almost a year later."

Katherine's face crinkles in confusion. "Who do you stay with?" She asks.

"Myself. My family was very rich. My parents were crazy planners. They had a whole system set up in case they ever died earlier than expected. So they had a lot of money put away, caretakers handpicked for guardianship. It was all taken care of. When I was ten, I wanted a change of scenery…I ended up moving here. It's been a little over six years."

"How did you find out about vampires?"

"My family kept detailed journals. It told me how to recognize them by scent. Vampires have a bitter scent due to them being dead and all. It would mask their natural scent most of the time." She sighs.

"What do I smell like?"

Trinity looks at Katherine and moves closer, now inside of the tomb. She leans in, her nose lightly brushing her neck. "Like ginger." She pulls back and leans against the wall.

A small smile tugs at Katherine's lips. "How did you find out you were a shapeshifter?" Trinity looks at her. "It's an innocent question."

"When I was five, I was watching a tiger documentary. I was playing around, acting like a tiger, and the next thing I know, I am one." She shakes her head, a smile on her lips. "I completely freaked out. I was stumbling around, trying to figure out what happened to me. I ended up running head first into a wall. That dazed me enough to change back."

"Can I see?" Katherine asks.

Trinity thinks a bit before nodding. She stands from her spot and walks in front of Katherine. She shifts into her tiger form and takes slow steps towards the vampire.

Katherine reaches a hand out and pets her head. Trinity revels in the filling before moving closer, lying her head in Katherine's lap when she lies down. Katherine moves a hand up and down the tigers head. "Beautiful." She whispers. Trinity begins to purr, making Katherine body shake with the force.

After a while, Trinity's eyes begin to droop. "You better go home." Katherine says. Trinity looks at her. "It's late and I'm sure that you don't want any of your friends to find you here."

Trinity nods and stands up. She shifts back into her human form and steps outside of the tomb. She looks at Katherine. "Why were you so nice tonight?"

Katherine stands as well and shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe you bring out the best in me." She teases. "Or worse."

Trinity nods and goes to close the door before stopping. She steps towards Katherine and presses a soft kiss to her lips. "Wow." She breathes. _So that's what it feels like when I have control._

"Are you coming back?"

Trinity pauses in thought. "Yeah." She says. "I'm coming back."

"Bye."

"Bye." She closes the door.

* * *

An SUV is meeting another car. The man gets out of the car and goes over to the man in the SUV, who is wearing a cap and sunglasses. "Where is she?" Trevor asks.

"In the trunk, I did exactly what you said."

"Good, put her in the back."

The man opens the SUV trunk and then goes to his car. He opens the trunk. Elena is in it, unconscious. He takes her and puts her in the SUV trunk. Trevor sees her in the rear-view mirror and smiles. After putting Elena in the trunk, he rejoins Trevor.

"Thank you for your help."

"Is there anything else?"

"One more thing. Come closer, please." The man gets closer. "Closer." The man leans in and Trevor viciously bites into his neck, draining him and throwing him to the ground before driving away.

* * *

Jeremy is in the bathroom. He knocks on Elena's bedroom door. "Yo, Elena!" She doesn't answer so he goes into her room. She's not there.

* * *

Caroline is in her room, preparing for school. She turns to Damon. "So Sarah attacks Tyler and he pushed her away and she tripped and she fell and she hit her head."

"Does Matt remember anything?" He asks.

"Hmm, he thinks he blacked out but I think they were both compelled by Katherine. That's why I covered for Tyler and said it was an accident."

"Yeah, I don't understand that. The guy is a tool."

"Gee, duh. Tyler getting blamed for Sarah death just opens up questions that he can't answer and do you really think that it's a good idea for him to tell his mom he's a werewolf?"

"Well, no."

"And that werewolf road leads straight to Vampire Boulevard! I thought I was thinking fast on my feet."

"Where is your mom?"

"Leading the search party for Aimee Bradley. They haven't found her body yet."

"Oh, teens today and their underage drinking. Tragic. Wait, did you see Tyler's eyes turn yellow?"

"They were more gold with amber highlights."

"Oh." He says.

"Can he turn into a wolf now?"

"Only on a full moon but now he has increase strength and who knows what else. I wonder how much Mason told him. Does he know about us?" She doesn't answer, too busy texting. "Hey! What did you tell him?"

"Nothing, really. I don't think he knows much of anything. He seemed really freaked out and honestly, I felt kind of bad for him." She leaves the room and walks towards the door.

"He's got to know something."

"Alright, I'll ask him."

He flashes over to her and catches her by the collar. "No, you won't Caroline! He cannot know about us. A bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire, so don't be his friend! Do you understand me?"

"I understand. I'm late for school."

He lets go of her. "Right. If you want to drop the hint to your mom, that Aimee's body is at the bottom of a ravine with a cracked spine. Might save your mom some time." He opens the door for her and they leave.

* * *

At school, Tyler looks at the notices for Aimee and the memorial in front of Sarah's locker. He squirms uncomfortably before going to his locker. He turns the dial and accidently tears it off.

* * *

Stefan closes his locker when Jeremy walks up to him. "Hey Jeremy."

"Look, Elena's got to let me know if I'm supposed to cover for her. Jenna's cool with the two of you but you guys are pushing it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Elena. Look, I'm glad you guys are back together but if she's gonna sleep over…"

He looks confused. "Wait, wait…hold on a minute. We're not back together."

"Wait…she didn't stay at your place last night?"

"No, I mean I saw her at the party but that was it. She didn't sleep over."

"'Cause her bed hadn't been slept in and Mrs. Lockwood said that her car was still in the driveway. Where is she then?"

* * *

Trevor carries Elena into the house. She wakes up as he puts her on the couch, her hands and feet are bound. He removes the rope.

"What do you want?" She asks.

"Ssh."

"Please, I'm hurt."

"I know. Just a taste." He leans towards her, his face changing.

Rose walks in and he stops. "Trevor! Control yourself."

He sighs. "Buzzkill." He walks out of the room.

"What do you want with me?" Elena asks.

Rose walks closer. "Oh my god, you look just like her."

"But I'm not. Please, whatever you…"

"Be quiet!"

"But I'm not Katherine. My name is Elena Gilbert; you don't have to do this."

"I know who you are, I said be quiet."

"What do you want?"

Rose slaps her very hard, knocking her unconscious. "I want you to be quiet."

* * *

Stefan, Damon, and Trinity are outside the school, talking.

"This has Katherine written all over it." Stefan says.

"Katherine's in the tomb. Trust me; I'm the one who shut her in." Damon tells him.

"Did you?"

"Did I what, Stefan?"

"Well, I know the hold that Katherine has on you."

"She's in the tomb, period. End of story but she did say something to me right before I shut her in. I thought she was lying."

"What did she say?"

"Elena's in danger."

"What?" Trinity asks. "And you didn't think you should ask her to elaborate?"

"Everything she says is a lie. How am I supposed to know if she's gonna start spouting out the truth?"

"We have to go talk to her." Stefan says.

"No, no. Let me tell you how that's gonna go; we're gonna go ask her for help, she's gonna negotiate her release which we're gonna be dumb enough to give her and she's gonna get out and kill us! This is exactly what she wants!" Damon tells them.

"I don't really care."

"It's a bad idea, Stefan."

"It's Elena."

"I'm gonna look around town. See if I can find a scent." Trinity says.

* * *

Caroline is in the hallway. She sees the candles and the pictures at Sarah's locker.

Tyler walks up to her. "Caroline."

"Hey! How are you doing?"

"Not good."

"How's your mom? My mom said that she was pretty freaked out about everything that happened with Sarah."

"How did you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"About me. How did you know?"

"Know what? That you were upset? I thought I was doing a good thing by covering for you."

"That's not what I am talking about."

"Look, it was an accident? Okay? And I've got to run, just…please don't blame yourself." She walks away.

* * *

Elena is waking up. Rose and Trevor are upstairs, talking.

"How's the girl?" She asks.

"Still passed out."

"You didn't touch her, did you?"

"Give me some credit." He scoffs. "So, you called him?"

"No, I called one of his contacts. You know how this works."

"Did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?"

"They say he got it."

"Wonderful and what?" He asks. Elena gets up and walks up the stairs, listening in on their conversation.

"So that's it Trevor. He either got it or he didn't. We just have to wait."

"Look, it's not too late. We can leave it here. We don't have to go through with this."

"I'm sick of running!"

"Yeah? Well, running keeps us from dying."

"Elijah's old school. If he accepts our deal, we're free." Elena accidentally makes one of the boards squeak. Rose sees her. "You! There's nothing around here for miles. If you think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong. Understand?"

"Who's Elijah?" She asks.

"He's your worst nightmare."

* * *

Stefan is talking with Bonnie.

"I can't undo the tomb spell, Stefan. Even if I wanted to. It took both me and my Grams to undo it the first time."

"But I can open the door, right? I can talk to her?"

"Yeah but Damon's right. She's not gonna tell you anything, not without something in return."

"I know but Bonnie I have to do something. I have no idea who has Elena; I have no idea where she is."

Trinity walks up to them. "I couldn't find anything. I checked out the Lockwood's. Whoever took her must've had a car."

"What if there was another way to find her?" Bonnie asks.

* * *

Jeremy and Bonnie are in Alaric's class room. There is a map and a candle on the table. "How does this is work?" He asks.

"I'll use your blood to draw energy for the tracking spell. You're blood related; it'll make the connection stronger."

Stefan walks in. "Alright, Alaric said we've got to clear out of here within 10 minutes. I've got weapons, he stocked me up."

"Are you ready?" She cuts Jeremy's hand. His blood falls on the map. Bonnie concentrates herself to cast the spell. The blood drops merge into one and goes toward Elena's location. "There. She's there."

Jeremy looks at the map. "That's 300 miles away."

Stefan shakes his head. "No Bonnie. We need a more exact location than that."

"That's as close as I can get."

"We can map it, aerial view will show us what's around there, help us narrow down the area." Jeremy says.

He nods. "Perfect. Call me with whatever you find."

"No, no, I'm coming with you!"

"No Jeremy, you're not."

"No, I'm gonna just sit here. What if she's hurt okay?" He protests. Bonnie has a nosebleed but the guys don't see it. "Or worse? What if she's…?"

"She's not. You two go back to your house just in case. I'll call you the minute I find her."

"Well, you can't do this alone."

Damon and Trinity walk in. "He's not." She says.

Damon looks at Stefan. "Let's go."

"You're coming with me?" He asks.

"It's Elena."

* * *

Tyler is playing basketball with some friends. He sees Caroline and walks over to her.

"Hey." She greets. "Um…are you okay?"

"You lied to me earlier. Why?"

She sighs. "Look, Tyler…I think that you misunderstood me at the party. I get it, it was very traumatic."

"You're lying."

"Nope but I'm late." She turns to leave but he catches her arm.

"Hey!" She twists his arm and throws him on the ground. He gets up. "How did you…you're stronger than me?"

"Please, that was nothing." She scoffs.

"Listen, if you know something you've got to tell me because I can't handle this."

"I'm sorry, Tyler but I think that you're still in shock over Sarah dying and it's understandable."

He looks at her and leaves. He kicks a garbage can but he's so strong that the can flies into a car. Everyone looks at him. He looks at Caroline and leaves.

* * *

Damon drives down the road with Stefan and Trinity. "Alaric sure likes his weapons." He says. He looks at the container of vervain in Stefan's hands. "What the hell is that?"

"I don't know, it's a vervain bomb or a grenade launcher or something like that."

"Weird."

"Hey, how much further is it?" Trinity asks.

"About 80 miles."

"Who do you think took her?" Stefan asks.

"Someone from Katherine's past. She said she was running from someone. They got the wrong girl."

"Thank you for helping me."

"Can we not do the whole road trip bonding thing? The cliché of it all makes me itch."

"Oh, come on Damon. We both know that you being in this car has absolutely nothing to do with me anyway." Stefan says. Trinity sighs and puts her headphones in.

"The elephant in the room lets out a mighty roar."

"Well, it doesn't have to be an elephant. Let's talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"That's not true. I'm sure there is. Just get it out. I mean, are you in this car because you want to help your little brother save the girl that he loves? Or is it because you love her too? Hmm? I mean come on, express yourself. I happen to like road trip bonding."

"Keep it up, Stefan. I can step out of helping as easily as I stepped in."

He shakes his head. "No, you see that's the beauty of it. You can't."

* * *

Jeremy is in his bedroom with Bonnie. He's searching for the place on his phone.

"Alaric just left with Jenna." She tells him.

"He's getting her out of the house for a while so she doesn't ask questions about Elena. Look. I pulled this up based on that spot on the map." He shows her his phone. "There's nothing for miles except for this old house."

"Did you send it to Stefan?"

"Yeah. I hate sitting here, waiting like this."

"Hey, she's gonna be fine."

"You don't know that."

"No I don't." She gets up and rushes over to her handbag. She takes the grimoire and sits on Jeremy's bed with him.

"What are you doing?"

"There's something else I want to try."

"I don't get it."

"I need a candle. Grab Elena's hairbrush."

"Okay, yeah." He gets up. Bonnie takes a paper and writes something on it. Jeremy grabs Elena's hairbrush and a candle. "What's all this stuff for?"

"I know it's crazy but I might be able to get her a message." She crumples the paper and takes it in her hand. She puts her hand above the candle and opens it. She closes her eyes to cast the spell. Her nose begins to bleed.

"Bonnie? Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie!" The paper is burning. Jeremy's tries to stop her but she keeps going. The paper disappears. "Bonnie." She smiles and blacks out. "Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie!" He shakes her.

* * *

Rose is in a room when Elena walks in. "Why am I here?"

"You keep asking me these questions like I'm gonna answer them." Rose says.

"Why won't you?"

"That's another one."

"You got me, okay? It's not like I can go anywhere. The least you can do is tell me what you want with me."

"I personally want nothing; I'm just a delivery service."

"Delivery to who? Elijah?"

"Two points to the eavesdropper."

"Who is he? Is he a vampire?"

"He's one of the vampires, the originals."

"What do you mean the originals?"

"Again with the questions. Haven't the Salvatore's been teaching you your vampire history?"

"So you know Stefan and Damon?"

"I know of them. A hundred years back, a friend of mine tried to set me up with Stefan. She said he was one of the good ones. I'm more of a sucker for the bad boys though but I digress."

"Who are the originals?"

"Trevor and I have been running for 500 years. We're tired, we want it over. We're using you to negotiate ourselves out of an old mess."

"But why me?"

"Because you're a Petrova Doppelgänger. You're the key to breaking the curse."

"The curse? The sun and the moon curse?"

"Oh, you do know your history."

"What do you mean I'm the key? The moonstone is what breaks the curse."

"No, the moonstone is what binds the curse. The sacrifice is what breaks it."

"The sacrifice?"

"The blood of the Doppelgänger. You're the Doppelgänger. Which means, in order to break the curse you're the one who has to die."

* * *

Caroline walks into her house. "Mom?" She cautiously walks farther into the house. Tyler appears behind her and she turns toward him. "What are you doing here?"

"I know."

"Breaking and entering the sheriff's house? That move will win you an award."

"Go ahead. Keep dodging, keep changing the subject but I know. You're just like me, aren't you?"

"No."

"Keep it up but I'm not buying it. I saw how strong you were. I'm not leaving here until you tell me the truth."

"Tyler…"

"You're a werewolf. Say it!"

She laughs. "What?"

He pushes her against the wall. "Stop lying!"

"I'm not lying!"

"Say it!" He punches the wall next to her face.

She pushes him against the opposite wall, her face changing and throws him to the floor. "I'm not a werewolf, okay?" He looks at her in shock.

* * *

"Tell me more." Elena says.

Trevor walks in. "Captivity has made her pushy, eh? What do you want to know doppelicious?"

"Who were you running from?"

"The originals."

"Yeah, she said that. What does that mean?"

"The first family, the old world. Rose and I pissed them off."

"Mm-mm." Rose says.

"Correction, I pissed them off, Rose had my back and for over half a millennium, they wanted us dead." He tells her.

"What did you do?"

"He made the same mistake countless others did; he trusted Katerina Petrova." Rose tells her.

"Katherine." Elena says.

"The one and only, the first Petrova Doppelgänger."

"I helped her escape her fate and now I've, sorry, we've been marked ever since." Trevor says.

"Which is why we're not gonna make the same mistake again."

* * *

Bonnie is awake. Jeremy gives her a glass of water. "Here, drink this."

"Thanks." She takes a sip.

"What happened? You scared the hell out of me."

"It's nothing."

"It wasn't nothing, Bonnie."

"I've been doing a lot of magic lately. It wears me down."

"When I'm worn down, I take a nap. You were…you were unconscious."

"Witchcraft has its limits. If I push too hard, it pushes back."

"How do you know all this?"

"It's all in here; it's like a reminder that I'm not invincible. Please don't…don't tell anyone."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a weakness and I don't want certain people to know that."

"By certain people, you mean Damon." He says.

"I mean anyone that can hurt me."

"I won't tell anyone, okay? I promise."

"It's hard, you know? My grams is gone and my dad, he doesn't want to know about what I am. He hasn't since my mom left. I'm all alone in this."

"It's how I feel a lot of the time, alone." They look at each other. "Do you think that worked?"

"I have no idea."

* * *

Elena sits on the couch. She reaches into her pocket and finds the note Bonnie sent her. 'Stefan, Trinity, and Damon are coming for you.' – B

* * *

"We're getting close. Jeremy said there's an access road just past mile marker 6." Stefan says.

Damon drinks sips from blood bag. "If you want some, just ask."

"I want some."

"Ah, that's so sweet. You're gonna be all big and strong and save your girl but don't worry, I've got your back. It'll be fine."

"I'm not joking. I've been drinking a little every day. I'm slowly increasing my intake and building up my strength"

Damon gives him the blood bag. Stefan drinks. "Does Elena know you're drinking blood?"

"I've been drinking hers." He passes the bag back.

Damon's jaw clenches. "Hmm, how romantic." He takes a sip. "Since we're road trip bonding, remember the days when all you lived for was blood? You were the guy who ripped someone apart just for the fun of it."

"You mean when I was more like you?"

"Yes, Stefan, exactly. Back when you put blood into me so I could be a big bad vampire. I wonder if Elena would be so quick to open her veins to that guy. By the way, what happened to that guy? He was a hoot."

"I guess he found something else to live for."

* * *

Trevor enters the room with Rose and Elena. "He's here! This was a mistake." He says, an anxious look on his face.

"No, I told you I would get us out of this. You have to trust me." She tells him.

"No! He wants me dead, Rose!"

"He wants her more."

"I can't do this. You give her to him, he'll have mercy on you but I need to get out of here."

"Hey! What are we?"

"We're family, forever." He says. Someone knocks on the door and fear covers his face.

"You're scared." Elena says.

"Stay here with her and don't make a sound." Rose says and goes to open the door.

She sees Elijah. "Rose-Marie. Is there somewhere we can talk?" He asks.

"Yes, in here. You have to forgive the house."

"Oh, no, what's a little dirt? I completely understand. So tell me, what is it that gives you the courage to call me?"

"I wanted my freedom. I'm tired of running. You in a position to grant me that?"

"I have complete authority to grant pardon to you and your little pet. What is his name these days? Trevor. If I so see fit."

"Katerina Petrova?"

"I'm listening."

"She didn't burn in the church in 1864."

"Continue."

"She survived."

"Where is she?"

"You don't seem surprised by this."

"Oh, when you called and invited me into this armpit of civilizations, which is a mere 3 hours from the town we know as Mystic Falls, I surmise it had everything to do with Katerina. Do you have her in your possession?"

"No, but I have better. I have her Doppelgänger."

"That's impossible, her family line ended with her. I know that for fact."

"The facts are wrong."

"Well, show her to me." He says.

"Elijah, you are a man of honor, you should be trusted but I want to hear you say it again."

"You have my word that I will pardon you."

"Follow me."

He follows her into the room and sees Elena. He flashes over to her and smells her neck. "Human. It's impossible." He looks at her. "Hello there."

* * *

Stefan, Damon, and Trinity step out of the car.

"The house should be just beyond those trees." Damon points. "Wait." He says when they move to leave. "I got a lot more experience than you do with those sorts of things."

"What is your point?" Trinity asks.

"My point is, whoever has Elena is probably who was after Katherine in 1864 and before that."

"And?" Stefan asks.

"And it puts them at 500 years old and strong. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yeah, I'm certain I want to do it." He says. Trinity nods.

"Because if we go in that house, we may not come back out."

"Alright, then I won't come out."

"So noble, Stefan."

"I can't think of a better reason to die, but if you want to stay here, I'll totally understand." He says. They walk towards the house.

* * *

"We have a long journey head of us. We should be going." Elijah says.

Elena looks at Rose. "Please, don't let him take me."

"One last piece of business and we're done." He walks towards Trevor.

"I've waited so long for this day, Elijah. I'm truly, very sorry." He says.

"Oh no, your apologies not necessary."

"Yes, yes it is. You trusted me with Katerina and I failed you."

"Oh yes, you are the guilty one and Rose aided you because she was loyal to you and that now I honor. Where was your loyalty?"

"I beg your forgiveness."

"So granted." He says. Trevor smiles but Elijah smacks Trevor's head clean off his body. Rose cries. Elena is shocked.

"You…!" Rose says, a devastated look on her face.

"Don't, Rose, now that you are free." He looks at Elena. "Come."

"No, what about the moonstone?" She says.

He tilts his head. "What do you know about the moonstone?"

"I know that you need it and I know where it is."

"Yes?"

"I can help you get it."

"Tell me where it is."

"It doesn't work that way."

"Are you negotiating with me?" He looks at Rose.

She shrugs. "It's the first I've heard of it."

He tries to compel Elena but it doesn't work. He looks at her necklace. "What is this vervain doing around your neck?" He snatches the necklace from her neck and throws it. He takes her face in his hands and compels her. "Tell me where the moonstone is."

"In the tomb, underneath the church ruins."

"What is it doing there?"

"It's with Katherine."

"Interesting." They hear breaking glass from upstairs. "What is that?"

Rose shakes her head. "I don't know."

"Who else is in this house?"

"I don't know."

He grabs Elena and moves into the foyer. Damon, Stefan, and Trinity are flashing around the house.

Elijah throws Elena in Rose's arms. "Rose."

"I don't know who it is."

They hear Stefan's voice. "Up here." Elijah flashes up the stairs. A growl sounds through the house.

"Down here." He hears Damon's voice and flashes downstairs.

Elijah grunts as a stake goes through his hand. He pulls it out. Elena and Rose have disappeared. Elena is with Stefan. He tells her to be quiet. Damon is with Rose. He has his hand on her mouth.

"Excuse me. To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think that you can beat me." Elijah calls. "You can't. Do you hear that?" He breaks a wooden coat rack into a stake. "I repeat, you cannot beat me. So I want the girl, I'm gonna count to 3 or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?"

Elena appears at the top of the stairs. "I'll come with you, just please don't my friends, they just wanted to help me out."

He flashes up the stairs, stake in hand. "What game are you playing with me?"

She throws the vervain bomb in his face. It explodes. His skin burns but he heals immediately. He goes toward Elena but Stefan arrives and shoots him with the compressed air weapon. It doesn't hurt him so Stefan throws the weapon and rushes at Elijah. They fall down the stairs. Trinity pulls Elena away from the action. Elijah gets up immediately but Stefan stays on the floor. He goes toward Stefan but Damon arrives and stakes Elijah. He pushes him against the door. Elijah is dead and is pinned to the door with the stake. Rose sees it and leave. Damon tries to follow her.

"Just let her go." Elena says.

He looks at her and smiles. She smiles too and goes down the stairs and into Stefan's arms.

"Hey come here. Are you hurt? Are you okay?" He asks.

She embraces him and looks at Damon and Trinity. She mouths a 'thank you' and Damon mouths a 'you're welcome'. Trinity nods in acknowledgment.

* * *

Bonnie is sleeping in Jeremy's bed. Jeremy is looking at her and hears the front door. "Elena?" He calls. Bonnie wakes up and they rush out the door. Elena is going up the stairs. Bonnie rushes over to her and hugs her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. I'm okay." She looks at Bonnie. "She looks at Bonnie."

Bonnie cries and embraces her again. Then, Jeremy hugs her and kisses her cheek.

* * *

Damon is pouring himself a glass of scotch and takes a drink. He sees Stefan walk in. "Where's Elena?"

"She's home."

"And you're here why?"

"Because she wanted to be with Jeremy." He tells him.

"Here." He gives him a glass of scotch.

"Thanks. Listen, what Rose told Elena about the curse…"

"I know, we'll keep her safe."

"You know, the only way we're gonna be able to do that is if we're not fighting each other. We let Katherine come between us. If we let that happen with Elena, we're not gonna be able to protect her."

"Yes Stefan, I heard it all before."

"Hey."

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"For being the guy who made you turn 145 years ago."

"Enough Stef, it's late. Don't need to rehash that."

"You know what? I've never said it out loud. I guess I just need to say it and you need to hear it. I'm sorry. What I did was selfish. I didn't want to be alone. I guess I just needed my brother."

* * *

Caroline is still with Tyler. She walks in with a bottle of alcohol and two glasses. "You know, this sounds crazy but alcohol helps or at least it helps me. You know, with all that inside jittery stuff." She says.

"I'm hot. It's like my skin is on fire."

"Really? I never had any of that. I guess wolves are different. At the beginning, I was very, very emotional. Everything was heightened."

"I have that. How can you be a vampire?"

"How can you be a werewolf?"

"Who else is like you?"

"Just me. It's a really long story we can share another time. How many other werewolves are there?"

"Just me and my uncle Mason but he left town."

"Look, Tyler…you can't tell anyone, okay? Not about you, not about me. No one will understand."

"I know."

"I want to tell you about my mom and yours and the founding families and the council but I need you to promise me no one will find out about us. This is life and death, Tyler."

"I have no one else to tell. I'm sorry about earlier. It's just, I'm alone with this. It's gonna happen to me. On the next full moon, I'm gonna turn and I won't be able to stop it. I'm scared."

"Tyler…no…it's…" She hugs him.

* * *

Stefan is in the library. He hears noise and a vampire is running around him. He grabs a stake. "Who's there?"

Rose appears. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"Why are you here?" He glares.

"Lexi once told me that you're one of the good ones."

His face softens. "You knew Lexi?"

"Trevor was my best friend. For 500 years I have lived with one person and he's gone and I don't want to run anymore because I don't have anywhere else to run to."

"Well, I'm sorry but I can't help you."

"I don't need your help but I think you need mine. Elijah may be dead but this isn't over."

"What do you mean 'it's not over'?"

"It isn't over. The originals, they'll come for her. They have to. They're doing it for him."

"For who?"

"Klaus."

* * *

Elena in her pajamas. She walks into her bedroom and sees Damon.

"Cute PJ's."

She sighs. "I'm tired, Damon."

"I brought you this." He shows her the necklace.

"I thought that was gone. Thank you." She tries to take it but he moves it out of her reach. "Please give it back."

"I just have to say something."

She looks at him warily. "Why do you have to say it with my necklace?"

"Well, because what I'm about to say is…probably the most selfish thing I have ever said in my life."

She shakes her head. "Damon, don't go there."

"No, I just have to say it once. You just need to hear it. I love you, Elena and it's because I love you that…I can't be selfish with you. Why you can't know this. I don't deserve you but my brother does." He kisses her on the forehead. "God, I wish you didn't have to forget this but you do." He compels her and sheds a tear. Elena closes her eyes. When she opens them, Damon's gone and she has her necklace. She touches it and sits on her bed.

* * *

Elijah is still impaled but he wakes up and removes the stake from his chest.

* * *

Trinity opens the tomb door.

"Hey." Katherine smiles.

Trinity looks at her. "You were going to sacrifice her. You were gonna give her to whoever it is you were running from and she was gonna die."

The smile on Katherine's face dies. "Trinity…" She trails off.

"Thank you."

"For what?" She asks.

"For reminding me that no matter what feelings I may have for you…that I can't trust you." She starts to close the door.

"Trinity!" She yells, but Trinity ignores her. "Trinity!" The tomb door closes.


	31. Katerina

Chapter Thirty One: Katerina

_Flashback: 1490, Bulgaria_

_Katherine is delivering a baby. Her mother is helping her. "A little more dearest, a little more. Push…a little more. A little more. A little more." She pushes and screams. She delivers her baby. Her mother takes it. Her father is watching. "It's a girl."_

"_A girl. Please mother, let me see her."_

_Her father steps forward. "Woman, don't! What are you doing?" He says. She gives the baby to her husband._

"_Let me at least hold her once… just once." Katherine pleas._

"_Forget it! You have disgraced this family." He leaves the room with the baby._

_Katherine cries and screams. "Father, please! No, father, no!"_

"_No Katerina, it's better for her!" Her mother embraces her._

"_No mother, please…" She cries._

"_Let her go…let her go Katerina."_

"_Please, mama…"_

* * *

_Present_

Elena knocks on the door and Damon answers it.

"Hello, Elena."

"Is Stefan here? He called. He said it was important."

"Right this way." He lets her in. She sees Stefan and Trinity.

"Hey." He greets.

"What is this about?" She asks. She sees Rose walk in. "You."

They go into the living room and Elena sits down.

"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years and I don't know what's true and what's not true. It's the problem with all this vampire crap but Klaus, I know he's real." Rose says.

"Who is he?"

"He's one of the originals, he's a legend." Damon says.

"From the first generation of vampires." Stefan asks.

"Like Elijah?" She asks.

Rose snorts. "No. Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus. He's a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal."

"Klaus is known to be the oldest." Stefan says.

"Okay, so you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?"

Rose and Stefan speak at the same time.

"Yes."

"No."

"What they're saying is, I mean if what she's saying is true." Damon says.

"Which it is." Rose cuts in.

"And you're not saying it so I don't kill you."

"Which I'm not."

"Then we're looking at a solid maybe."

"Look, Elijah's dead, right? So no one else even knows that you exist." Stefan says.

"Not that you know of." Rose says.

"That's not helping." Trinity tells her.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him. I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction." Stefan tells her. "We don't know if he's real. For all we know he could just be some sort of stupid bed time story."

"The beginning of most legends have some truth though Stefan. You and Damon are still relatively young when it comes to other vampires." Trinity says.

Rose nods. "He's real and he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."

"Alright, we're shaking. You made your point." Damon says. Elena gets up.

"Where are you going?" Stefan asks.

"School. I'm late."

"Let me grab my stuff, I'll go with you."

"It's okay, I know where it is." She leaves.

Damon looks at Rose. "She's in denial."

Stefan sighs. "Shut up, Damon."

Trinity stands up. "I'm not going to school."

"Why?"

"I've got a lot of energy built up. I'm gonna go run, fly, swim, whatever I haven't decided what I wanted to be yet." She leaves.

* * *

Bonnie walks up to the school and drops one of her books.

Jeremy walks up to her and picks it up. "Here, I got it."

"Thanks. Where's Elena?"

"She's actually running late today. What are you doing later? You want to hang out at the grill, shoot some pool? The winner owns the table."

"Uh, why?"

"Why what?"

"Well, you never asked me to play a game of pool before so why now?"

"Uh, I don't know, I thought it'd be fun, never mind."

"No, hey, okay. Sure. It's just…"

"Just what?"

"It's just you're Elena's brother and…sure. It's just, I'm really bad at pool."

"Yeah, yeah. I thought you might be."

A boy walks up to them. "Excuse me! Do you guys know which way is the office?"

Jeremy nods. "Yeah, yeah. Through the double doors then straight ahead, quick left and then your first right. You must be new here."

"Yeah, I am. It's kind of hard to hide it. My name's Luka."

"I'm Jeremy, this is Bonnie."

"Hi, Bonnie." He smiles at hey, looking into her eyes.

Jeremy looks at them. "Anyway, Luka. I'm actually heading in that direction. Why you don't follow me? It can get confusing."

"Thanks man. It's nice to meet you Bonnie." He smiles at her and leaves with Jeremy.

* * *

Elena is walking through the woods with Caroline. "Tell everyone I wasn't feeling well and I went home from school." She says.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. I'm a terrible liar."

"And keep Stefan busy. I don't want him to know what I'm up to."

"I'm even worse at duplicity and you know this." Caroline says.

"You managed to keep me occupied when Katherine paid Stefan a visit."

"Yeah, because she threatened me. Not that I'm saying that you should use that as a tactic, it's… Stefan's gonna see right through me."

"Caroline, as my friend, do you promise or not?"

"You had to break out the girlfriend code. Okay. I promise."

"Okay."

"Why don't you want Stefan to know?"

"Because he would never be okay with me doing this." They go under the church ruins and stop in front of the tomb's door.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, I'm sure. She's the only one who knows the truth about Klaus. The only one who can tell me how to stop him."

"But you're asking for the truth from someone who's probably never giving it. Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. I can't just sit back and wait. I have to know, Caroline. Please." Caroline sighs and opens the door. "Katherine?" Elena calls. She looks at Caroline. "I'll be okay from here."

They hear a noise. Elena turns her head and looks towards the tomb. Katherine arrives and stops at the entrance. "Hello Elena. You come to watch me wither away? Goodbye Caroline."

Elena looks at her. "As long as I stay on this side of the door, she can't hurt me. Please." Caroline looks at them and leaves.

"Stefan know you're here?"

"I brought you some things."

"You came to bribe me? What is it that you want?"

"I want you to tell me about Klaus."

"Hmm, you've been busy."

"I also brought you this." She takes an old book from the bag. "It's your family history. It says in here that the family line ended with you. Obviously that's not true."

"You think that if you brought me some family keepsake that I'd open up?"

"I also brought you this." She takes a bottle of blood from the bag and shows it to Katherine, who rushes over towards Elena but she can't get out because of the spell. "You don't look so good. How long before your body shuts down? 10, 20 years? It must be painful to desiccate and mummify. I can't even imagine."

Katherine glares at her. "Forget it." She turns to walk away.

"Tell her Katherine." She hears. They turn to see Trinity walking into the tomb. She steps up to the entrance. "Tell her."

Katherine exchanges a long look with Trinity. Elena looks between the two of them, confusion on her face. Katherine sighs before taking a seat on the floor. Elena and Trinity sit down as well. Elena pours some blood into a glass and Trinity takes it and hands it to Katherine.

She quickly drains the glass. "You have the Petrova fire."

"More blood?" Elena asks.

Katherine puts the glass on the floor and Trinity takes it, passing it to Elena.

"It's a long story, Klaus and I. It goes all the way back to England, 1492, after I left Bulgaria or was thrown out." Katherine explains.

Trinity gives Katherine more blood. "Thrown out?"

"My family, your true ancestors, they disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at that time. I had a baby out of wedlock. The shame."

"It was kept secret?" Elena asks.

"Mhmm. My baby was given away. I was banished to England and I had to learn to adjust so I quickly became English. It was there that I caught the eye of a noble man name Klaus. I was taking with him at first until I found out what he was and what he wanted from me and then I ran like hell."

* * *

_Flashback: 1492, England_

_Katherine runs through the woods. She falls and hides behind a tree. Elijah and his men are looking for her._

"_She's here." He tells them. "Katerina! I know you're near, I can smell your blood. It's pointless to run, Klaus will find you wherever you are."_

_Trevor arrives and points them in a false direction. "This way. There is more blood over there." He watches as the men leave. Katherine gets up. She tries to leave but Trevor arrives, puts a finger on her mouth and pushes her against the tree. "Head east. I can't lead them astray anymore."_

"_I can't run anymore." She tells him._

"_Never mind. There's a cottage. You'll be safe there. Go now. Go!" _

_She flees._

* * *

_Present_

"So, what did Klaus want?" Elena asks.

"The same thing that he'll want from you. He wants to break the curse."

"By sacrificing the Petrova doppelgänger."

"He wanted to drain every single drop of blood from my body."

* * *

Damon walks into the living room and sees Rose crying. "Alright Rosebud. I need some answers." He looks at her tear stained face. "Oh please don't tell me you're crying 'cause your buddy Trevor lost his head."

"You've always been this sensitive?"

"Full vampire switch for this very reason. Takes the emotion out of it."

"Yeah, you switch yours, I'll switch mine."

"Is that a dig?"

"It's an observation. Being in love with your brother's girlfriend must be difficult."

"I'm not in love with anyone." He denies.

"You want to try that again?"

"Don't get on my bad side."

"Then show me your good side."

"How do I find Klaus?"

"You don't find Klaus, he finds you."

"Come on. Somebody's got to know somebody who knows where he is, right?"

"Add another two hundred somebodies to that and you're still not even close."

"Humor me. You got in touch with Elijah, how did you do it?"

"Through a very low somebody on the totem pole. A guy name Slater in Richmond." She tells him.

"Perfect. I'll drive."

"No. You forget not all of us can do sun."

"Then you drive. Come on."

* * *

At school, Caroline sees Stefan in the hallway. "Stefan!"

"Hey."

"Hey. Uh, I need to talk to you. Where are you going?"

"Well, Elena went home sick; I just want to go check up on her."

"Ditch her."

"I'm kind of worried about her."

"You know what? Of course you are. Go ahead, I'd…you know what? We can talk later."

"Uh, talk about what?"

"I might have done something."

"What did you do?"

"Told Tyler I'm a vampire." She admits.

* * *

Trinity gives another glass of blood to Katherine.

"What does the Petrova blood line have to do with Klaus?" Elena asks.

"It's really tedious but…" She drinks and sets down the glass. She has regained more of her color. "The curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova blood. Witches are crafty with their spells. The doppelgänger was created as a way to be able to undo the spell. Once the doppelgänger reappeared, the curse can be broken."

"So you ran before he killed you?"

"Something like that."

* * *

_Flashback: 1492, England_

_Katherine arrives at a cottage. She knocks on the door. "Help, please help me!" She calls. An old woman opens the door. "Please, help me."_

"_I don't invite strangers into my home."_

"_No, Trevor. He said that you'd help me."_

_Rose arrives. "Damn him. Always making promises I don't want to keep." She looks at Katherine. "Let the girl in. Bring her water and something to eat."_

_Katherine enters the house and sits down. "You must be Rose. Thank you. Trevor said to show you this." She shows her the moonstone. "To prove I am who I say and that you'd help me to freedom."_

"_You stole this from Klaus?" She asks, horrified._

"_It was to be part of the sacrifice ritual, so I grabbed it and made my escape."_

"_People do not escape from Klaus. Everyone who tries ends up back in his grasp and anyone who helps them dies."_

"_I know the risk you bring on yourself by giving me aid."_

"_I'm risking nothing. At nightfall, I'll bring you back to Klaus and beg him to show us both mercy." She grabs Katherine's arm and pushes her into an empty room._

"_No! No!" She yells as Rose closes the door._

* * *

_Present_

Rose and Damon pull into an underground parking lot. "Back entrance. How convenient." He says.

"That's the point. We can't all have little daylight rings."

"How do you know this Slater guy is even here?"

"I called him. He's here. He's always here." She tells him.

"Good." He pushes her against the wall. "Just one thing. If you're setting me up in any way, I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat. It's something I'm very good at."

Rose pushes him against the car. "I'm older than you and stronger. Don't get on my bad side." She releases him. "You can trust me."

They enter the coffee shop. "Whoa. What about the sunlight?"

"Double paned and temped. UV rays can't penetrate. You see the appeal now?"

Slater joins them. "That and the free Wi-Fi."

Rose smiles and hugs her. "Hey, how are you?"

"Good. I saw you come, what are you doing here?"

"Mmm, it's a long story but I want you to meet…"

"Damon Salvatore. Turned 1864 in Mystic Falls by Katherine Pierce aka Katerina Petrova. So I take it I was right, what I told you about the tomb under the church was true?" He asks.

"Yes. It was right. Thank you for the tip."

He looks at Damon. "It's nice to meet you, maybe. What's going on Rose? Where's Trevor?"

* * *

"Rose never ended up taking you back to Klaus, did she?" Elena asks.

"No, but not because she had a change of heart."

* * *

_Flashback: 1492, England_

_Rose enters the room and sees Katherine on the bed. "It's nightfall. Time to go." She notices that Katherine's hurt and bleeding. "When did this happen?"_

"_In the woods, I tripped."_

"_It's a lie, I would have smelled it." She finds a knife in Katherine's hand and takes it._

"_I'd rather die than go back to Klaus. Please, just let me die."_

"_If you die then Trevor dies with you." She bites her wrist and puts it in Katherine's mouth so she can drink her blood. Her wounds heal. Trevor arrives._

"_No. No!" Katherine yells._

"_Where is she?" He asks._

_Rose rushes over him and leaves Katherine alone. She pushes him against the wall. "You have set us both on the path of death. I only hope Klaus sees the honor in returning that girl to him." She tells him._

"_He will sacrifice her."_

"_Then so be it!"_

"_I love her, Rose."_

"_He'll kill you. He won't stop until he has all of our heads."_

"_Then we shall run until we die." They hear a noise in the room. They rush to see what's happened and find Katherine hanging from the ceiling by a rope. She's dead._

* * *

_Present_

"You killed yourself?!" Elena asks in disbelief. Trinity sighs and brushes a strand of hair away from her face.

"Klaus needed a human doppelgänger. As a vampire, I was no longer any use to him."

"But it didn't work. You didn't really escape, you've been running from Klaus ever since."

"I underestimated his peered for vengeance but living in a suitcase is better than dying so you can have your blood spilled over some silly little rock." She sees the look on Elena's face. "What's wrong? Afraid I'm right? You don't want to die? There's another way out." She cuts her wrist with her nail and watches it bleed. "Better hurry. Your opportunity is going, going, going and gone." She says as the wound heals. "I made the other choice."

* * *

_Flashback: 1492, England_

_Katherine wakes up._

"_What did you do, Katerina? I would have helped you live." Trevor tells her._

"_You would have helped me run. That was never going to be enough."_

"_It was enough for me."_

"_Do you not see, Trevor? She used you to help her escape and me to turn her. Klaus will see our role in this." Rose tells him._

"_And for that I'm sorry." Katherine says._

"_As am I…for this." She rushes over to Katherine with a stake but Katherine grabs the old lady and uses her as a shield. Rose stakes the old lady on the shoulder. _

_Katherine drinks the old lady's blood. "Please understand."_

"_You have just signed our death sentence."_

"_Better you die than I." She throws the old lady in Trevor's arms and flashes out of the cottage._

* * *

_Present_

Elena looks at her in disgust. "Rose and Trevor spent the last 500 years running because you used them. Trevor just got killed."

Katherine chuckles. "I never thought he would have lasted that long."

"You don't even care that you ruined their lives."

"I was looking out for myself, Elena. I will always look out for myself. If you're smart, you'll do the same." She opens the Petrova book.

* * *

At the Grill, Caroline and Stefan sit at a table.

"Sorry to drag you here but if I don't eat, I get those kill innocent people urges. Tyler totally has those too by the way." She says before taking a bite of her food.

"Yeah, what else did you say to him?"

"Not much. I was trying to keep the questions to a minimum. Are you mad?"

"Yes Caroline. As a matter of fact, I am a little mad. I mean, you put yourself a risk. If Damon finds out…"

"But you're not gonna tell him, are you?"

He shakes his head. "No, of course not. He would kill you."

She smiles. "Always looking out for me."

"Yeah. Well, you don't exactly make it very easy on me."

"Then why do you do it? Why are you such a good friend to me?"

"I don't know. I guess you…you remind me of someone. My best friend, Lexi."

"I…you have a friend? Other than Trinity?"

"You say that with such a discouraging amount of surprise, Caroline."

"No I just…sorry. I just…tell me about her."

"I will, some other time. I got to go."

"Wait! No! What do we do about Tyler? I don't want Damon to kill him 'cause there's a full moon coming up and Tyler is totally freaking out about it." She says.

* * *

Luka is sitting at a table with his father when he sees Bonnie. "Hey Bonnie." He smiles.

She stops and looks at him. "Hey, Luka. How was your first day?"

"It was great. I would like to introduce you to my dad."

She turns to him. "Hi, I'm Bonnie Bennett."

"Doctor Martin, Jonas Martin. It's nice to meet you Bonnie Bennett. Would you like to join us?" He asks.

"Oh, I'm meeting a friend but he's not here yet so…sure."

"Oh yes, please have a seat." Luka says.

She sits down next to him. "So, where did you move from?"

"Louisiana." Jonas tells her.

"That's a big change."

"I'll say." Luka chuckles.

"It's not so bad here."

"It's looking up." He smiles at her.

"Bennett, huh?" Jonas asks. "I knew some Bennett's when I did my residency in Massachusetts. Do you have any family from Salem?"

"Actually I do." She nods.

"What do you know? Small world, right?"

She sees Jeremy walk in and stands up. "Oh, there's my friend. It was nice to meet you, Doctor Martin."

"I will see you at school." Luka smiles.

"Yeah." She touches his shoulder and feels something. She leaves with Jeremy and turns her head to look at them.

"Sorry I was late, are you okay?" He asks.

She turns to look at him. "Yeah."

* * *

"And you're sure Elijah's dead?" Slater asks Damon.

"Beyond dead."

"Trevor was a good man; he helped me with my dissertation on sexual deviance in the Baroque period. I was schooling for my Psych PHD."

"Slater's been in college since '74." Rose tells him.

"When I was turned. I have 18 degrees, 3 masters and 4 PHD's."

"The point?" Damon asks.

"Exactly, I mean, what is the point? What should I be doing with my eternity? If you have an answer, please enlighten me."

"We need your help. If someone wanted to get in touch with Klaus, how would you hook him up?" She asks.

"Craigslist."

"Really?" Damon asks.

"Seriously. 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."

* * *

In front of the coffee shop, a man stops in front of a man who's playing guitar. He gives him money and takes his coins. He places the coins into his other hand. It's Elijah. He looks at Slater, Damon and Rose.

* * *

Bonnie and Jeremy are playing pool.

"You are bad." He smiles.

She returns it. "I told you."

"Well, feel free to cheat if you need your dignity back." He teases.

"Come on, hit the ball."

Luka walks up to them. "Alright, I got winner guys. I got winner."

"Get ready, this slaughter is almost over." Jeremy says.

Bonnie looks at him. "So where's your dad?"

"I'll see him back home."

* * *

"Okay, now I'm leaving." Stefan stands.

"Wait…!"

"No, no, no, Caroline, you have two seconds to come clean."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd believe the whole innocent act a little bit better if I didn't know how good you were at providing a distraction on demand. Where is Elena?"

"I can't tell you."

"You can't tell me? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm sorry but I…I can't tell you."

"Caroline! 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. I would not have let her put herself in danger."

"Put herself in danger where? What do you…? She's with Damon isn't she?"

Her face scrunches. "Ew, no."

"Then where…where is she? Listen, if you're my friend like you've been pretending to be all day, then you'll tell me where she is."

"Stefan, I am your friend but I'm also Elena's friend and I'm sorry but I'm not going to tell you where she is."

He looks at her and leaves.

* * *

"So how much of your little story is true?" Elena asks.

"I have no reason to lie, Elena. I have no reason to do anything but sit here and read and rot."

"Okay, assuming it's even partially true, that's the reason why you came back isn't it? Because you wanted to be the one to hand me over to Klaus."

"500 years on the run, I figured maybe he'd be willing to strike a deal."

"So you got Mason Lockwood to find you the moonstone." Trinity says.

"Right again."

"What else do you need to break the curse?" Elena asks.

"Hmm, look who is getting smarter." Katherine smirks.

"It's not just me or the stone, is it? Otherwise there would be no reason to trigger Tyler Lockwood's werewolf curse."

"Witches and their spells; so many ingredients, so many people to sacrifice."

"So you need a werewolf?"

"Believe it or not, they're hard to come by."

"What else?"

"A witch to do the spell. Mine bailed but Bonnie will do just fine."

"What else?"

"A vampire."

"Caroline." Elena realizes.

"It could have been anyone I suppose but I like the poetry of Caroline." She says. Trinity glares at her knees.

"So you were gonna just hand us all over to be killed?"

"Better you die than I." She tells Elena. She looks at Trinity, who won't make eye contact with her before standing and walking back into the tomb.

* * *

"Here's what I don't get; Elijah moved around during the day, which means the originals knew the secret of the day ring. Now why would Klaus want to lift the curse of the sun and the moon?" Damon asks.

"To keep the werewolves from lifting it. If a vampire breaks the sun curse then the werewolves are stuck with the curse of the moon forever and vice versa."

"But werewolves are extinct." Rose says.

"True. I've never seen one but rumor has it…"

"Not such a rumor." Damon says.

Slater's eyes widen. "Mystic Falls? God, I've got to visit this place. It sounds awesome."

Elijah is still in front of the coffee shop, listening to them.

"Awesome doesn't even begin to describe it. Can we stop the curse from being broken at all?" Damon asks him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if we make the moonstone useless, would it stop the curse from being broken?"

"Well, yeah, probably but why would you want to do that?"

"Tell me how."

"You think I'm gonna help you figure out how to do something that will piss off an original? And keeping them from walking in the sun?"

"You want to walk in the sun? I can make that happen if you help us."

* * *

Elijah is still listening to them. He throws the coins at the windows, shattering them. Slater and Rose's skin starts burning. Rose is screaming. Damon looks outside but Elijah is gone. Slater runs. Rose face is burned.

Damon puts a jacket over Rose's head and helps her get out of the coffee shop. He carries her to the car and puts her in the back of the car. "You're gonna be okay."

"I know." She says.

"Who's behind that?"

"I don't know. Where is Slater?"

"Iowa by now. Who the hell knows?"

"He's not behind this, he's a good guy, he wouldn't betray me."

"Who did it?"

"It's Klaus, don't you understand? You don't know this man, we're dead, we're all dead." She cries as her face heals.

* * *

Bonnie looks at Jeremy from across the Grill. He looks at her and they share a smile.

Luka walks up to her. "Hey Bonnie. I'm sorry about earlier, my dad is not very subtle with the whole Bennett/Salem question. He picked up on you, he was just fishing around, he didn't mean any harm."

"I felt something too." She tells him

"I know. That's why we're having this conversation right now. He uh… doesn't like for anyone to know." He unscrews the lid on the salt shaker and pours some salt on the table. "But we were both worry that you would bail us." He looks around and puts his hand above the salt. The salt floats up. "He just wants us to fit in here for once. It's tough Bonnie, being different."

Bonnie looks at him with wide eyes. "You're a witch?"

He smiles. "Well, we prefer the term warlock."

* * *

Elena picks up the glass and the bottle of blood as she and Trinity stand to leave.

Stefan rushes in. "Elena."

"Stefan, what are you doing here?" She asks.

He looks between her and Trinity. "I could ask you the same question."

"Caroline told you." She sighs.

"No, she kept your secret but it didn't take long for me to figure out what was the important that you'd have to keep it from me."

"I knew that you'd stop me."

"Listen to me, whatever she said to you is a lie. Do not listen to her. She's a liar, Elena."

"What if she isn't? You didn't hear what she said."

"You don't have to worry, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

"That's the problem, you won't but you'll die trying. How's that any better?"

Katherine walks back to the entrance. "There's nothing you can do, Stefan. I haven't even told you the best part of the story."

* * *

_Flashback: 1492, Bulgaria_

_Katherine arrives at her parent's home. She sees dead bodies lying around outside. She runs and enters the home. She finds her father dead and sees her mother, also dead. She rushes over to her, crying over her body. "No, no, no mama. No!"_

* * *

_Present_

"He killed them, my entire family, just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance on your friends, your family and anyone that you've ever loved." She says. Trinity looks at her in sympathy as Elena stares in horror.

Stefan turns Elena to him. "No, look at me. No, do not listen to her, okay?"

"Always the protector but even you must realize that she's doomed. There's nothing you can do to stop it unless of course you have this." She shows him the moonstone.

"What?" Elena asks.

Stefan slowly shakes his head. "Oh no, there it is. It's the ultimate lie, isn't it? You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?" He asks her.

"I didn't spin anything, Stefan. It's the truth."

"No, let me guess. You want to trade that stone for your freedom, you manipulative, psychotic bitch."

"My freedom? That's where you're wrong, Stefan. I don't want my freedom because when Klaus shows up to kill us all and he will, I'll be in the tomb, where no vampire will enter because they can't get out. I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town." She looks at Elena and Trinity before retreating back into the tomb.

Stefan looks at Elena.

* * *

Damon is drinking in the living room when Rose walks in. "I'm sorry about today. I didn't know that was gonna happen." She tells him.

"I believe you."

"I wish we could save Elena. I know that you want to."

"And I will."

She smiles. "You remind me of Trevor."

"Why? Why him?"

"Because he always talked a big game, he was always working on an angle but underneath it all, he was the best friend anyone could hope for."

"And where did that get him?"

"Dead and my loyalty to him almost got me dead too."

He gives her a glass of scotch. "To friendship."

"You're right to fight it, the way you feel about her."

"And why's that?"

"Because if you want to survive, you need to not care about anyone."

"Caring gets you dead, huh?"

"It might just be time to turn the switch off on your emotions."

"I will if you will." He looks into her eyes before pulling her into a kiss.

* * *

Jeremy is playing pool. He turns to look at Bonnie but she's not looking at him, she's talking with Luka. He looks at them and smiles before leaving.

* * *

Elena and Stefan walk up the front porch.

"Elena."

"I can't talk about it, Stefan."

"You have to. Don't shut me out. Elena, please."

She begins to cry. "I wanted to know the truth and I got it. It's not just me that's in danger. It's Caroline and it's Tyler and it's Bonnie. They're all part of breaking the curse. I can't blame anyone else anymore because it's not because you came into town or because you and I fell in love. That's not why everyone that I love is in danger. It's because of me, everything is because of me." He wraps his arms around her as she cries and kisses the top of her head.

* * *

Katherine is reading her family book. She finds a portrait of her with her parents and tears form in her eyes. She looks up at the sound of footsteps and sees Trinity. She looks away, hiding her tears.

"I'm sorry." Trinity says, taking a seat next to her.

She scoffs. "Now you're talking to me?"

"I'm still pissed at you. You set my friends up for the slaughter…" She pauses. "But I know that you had to relive some horrible memories by telling us." She says. "Why did you? You didn't have to?"

"You had blood." She answers.

"And you were ready to walk away to spite Elena. The truth this time."

"For you." She says quietly. "For some reason you've gotten under my skin." She looks at her. "I didn't want you mad at me anymore." She rolls her eyes. "A lot of help that was." She says sarcastically.

They sit in silence before Trinity takes her hand, intertwining their fingers. "This…is the only freebie you get." She whispers. "Tonight. No ulterior motives, no grudges…just us."

Katherine looks at her and nods.

* * *

Damon and Rose are curled up by the fireplace, under a blanket. Damon is shirtless. Rose is in her lingerie. "It's a lie, you know. There's no switch you can turn off. Sure when you're a newbie but after a couple of hundred years…you just have to pretend." She tells him. Her phone rings and she answers it. "Hello?"

"_Rose?"_ Slater asks.

"Slater? Are you okay?"

"_Yes, I took off, I'm sorry, I was freaking freaked."_

"No, I'm sorry to involve you."

"_Look, I want no part in any of this but I did some digging."_

"Okay, what did you find?"

"_You can destroy the curse but you need the moonstone."_

"How? What do you mean? I don't follow."

"_Can your friend get the moonstone? You need it."_

She looks at Damon, who nods. "Yes, he can get it. What next?"

"_You need a witch. Get the moonstone, a witch should be able to figure out the rest. Good luck, Rose."_ He hangs up.

Damon and Rose look at each other.

* * *

Slater puts the phone down and looks at Elijah.

"Very nicely done." He says.

Slater shrugs. "Thanks, I have a degree in theatre. How can you compel me? A vampire can't compel another vampire."

"I'm a special vampire."

"What, because you're an original?"

"Hmm, now I want you take this and drive it through your heart." He hands him a stake.

"But that would kill me forever."

"I know." He compels him. "But it's necessary." He watches as Slater drives the stake through his heart and falls to the floor, dead.

Jonas walks up. "Was it, really?"

"It had to be done. He delivered his message. Won't be long now."

They look at each other.

* * *

Katherine tangles her fingers in Trinity's hair as they kiss. She pulls back and takes her shirt off before pulling her back in.


	32. The Sacrifice

Chapter Thirty Two: The Sacrifice

Trinity opens her eyes, seeing the dark features of the tomb around her. She sits up, looking for her clothes.

"Leaving so soon?" Katherine asks.

"Time's up." She says as she begins to get dressed.

"Oh right, you're back to being mad at me." Katherine says as she begins to get dresses as well.

Trinity sighs. "You can't fault me for wanting my friends to live, just like I can't fault you for doing what you have to survive. But this will probably be our last peaceful moment."

"Just like that?" She asks. Trinity; now dressed, nods. "Fine."

Trinity begins to leave the tomb when Katherine pulls her back, kissing her. "I hope you don't die." She says.

A small smile tugs at Trinity's lips. "I'll miss you too." She says, kissing her again before closing the door.

* * *

Elena awakens from her slumber when she hears a noise coming from inside the house. Her bedroom door is slightly ajar. Elena lies back down, turns over in her bed, and shuts her eyes. In the bathroom, a towel is rustled by movement. Jonas appears in the doorway, looking at Elena. She jolts out of bed when she hears a door slamming loudly. Jonas has disappeared from the bathroom. Elena gets out of bed and slowly walks across her room. She quietly opens her door and walks out onto the landing. She looks around the landing for anything suspicious and quietly approaches Jeremy's room, looking in through the slight opening of the door. Suddenly, Elena hears a noise from behind her. She gasps and spins around. Alaric, shirtless and in his boxers, has also been startled by Elena's unexpected appearance on the landing. Elena and Alaric both try to catch their breath after the scare.

"Elena. Ahem." Alaric lowers the ice cream bowl he's been holding towards his nether region.

"I heard something." She says. He chuckles nervously. Elena avoids his gaze, embarrassed. Jenna walks up the stairs, wearing Alaric's shirt.

She runs her hand through her hair, embarrassed as well. "That was us. I'm sorry."

* * *

In Elena's bedroom, Jonas pulls out a handkerchief and collects some of Elena's hair from her brush.

* * *

"We didn't think anyone else was up." Alaric says.

"But here you are." Jenna adds.

"We were just…" He tries to explain the situation to Elena, but fails in his attempt. He sighs and holds out the ice cream bowl to Elena. "Chunky Monkey?"

* * *

Jonas also grabs some of Elena's jewelry and places it in the handkerchief. He folds the handkerchief and places it in his coat pocket.

* * *

"Well…" He chuckles nervously. "I'm naked. So I'm gonna go." Alaric walks past Elena and into Jenna's bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Elena starts to walk back towards her room.

Jenna, embarrassed, walks up the remainder of the stairs. "I'm really, really sorry." She says.

Elena turns around when she reaches her doorway. "It's okay, Jenna, don't worry about it."

"I know he's been staying over a lot. Are you…are you sure it's okay?"

"Seems like things are good."

Jenna smiles. "They're extremely good."

"Then I'm extremely okay with it."

* * *

Jonas, still in Elena's bedroom, grabs a picture of Elena in her cheerleading uniform, places it inside his jacket, and leaves the room quickly.

* * *

Jenna and Elena smile at each other and go back to their respective rooms. Elena gets into her bed. Jonas quietly hides in the bathroom, waiting for Elena to shut her eyes. Elena curls up in her blankets and drifts off to sleep. Jonas heads out of the bathroom, stopping to take a hand mirror, before he exits, placing the mirror in the waistband of his pants. He walks out of the bathroom, onto the landing, descends the stairs, and exits the house without a soul knowing he was there.

* * *

Damon and Stefan walk down into the tomb and look at each other. "Let's do it." He says. They grab the stone door; Damon taking the right side, Stefan taking the left. "1,2,3." They pull the stone door off the entrance of the tomb.

* * *

Elena opens the front door. Stefan and Damon are standing on the front porch.

"Hey. Uh, can we talk?" Stefan asks.

"Why?"

"We went to see Katherine." Damon tells her.

"Come on in." She steps aside and Stefan and Damon enter the house.

* * *

Stefan and Damon lean against the frame of the entrance, waiting for Katherine, who comes around the corner, looking hungry. "Please…come on in. There's plenty of room for all of us." She says.

"I'd rather poke my eyes out." Damon says.

"Mmm, they're such pretty eyes."

"We're here for the moonstone." Stefan says.

"Feel like tossing it over?" Damon asks.

"Tell you what, you get your little witch to hocus pocus me out of here, you can have whatever you want."

"I thought you liked it in here. Nice and safe where Klaus can't get to you." Stefan says.

"I've had time to reconsider."

"Meaning you're hungry."

"I'm starving, Damon. And dirty. But above all, I'm bored." She stumbles close to the entrance. "At least running from Klaus wasn't boring. So here's the deal; you get me out of here, you get the moonstone and I'll disappear from Mystic Falls forever." Stefan and Damon look at each other. Katherine starts to walk away. "Let me know what you decide." As she says this, she holds up the moonstone and stumbles back into recesses of the cave.

* * *

Elena, Damon, and Stefan stand around the island in the kitchen, talking.

"You don't believe her, do you?" She asks.

Damon scoffs. "No, of course not. We just want the moonstone."

"According to Rose's friend Slater, there's a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break." Stefan says.

"No spell, no doppelgänger sacrifice. Ergo, you live."

"How do you destroy it?" She asks.

"By releasing it from the moonstone."

"How do you guys even know this is gonna work?"

"Cause we have a crafty witch on our side." Damon tells her.

"You discussed it with Bonnie."

Stefan nods. "She agreed to do anything she could to help us."

"It's Katherine who has the moonstone. She's not gonna give it to you."

"We're gonna get it from her."

"Well, what he means to say is, we will pry it from her cold, dead hand if we have to." Damon clarifies.

"Bonnie just needs to find a way to release the seal long enough for us to get in, get the moonstone, and get out in time for her to return it."

"Wow. I mean, it sounds like you guys already have it all planned out." She says.

Damon nods. "Yep. We're awesome."

"Except for one thing. I don't want you to do it."

Stefan and Damon exchange looks. "What are you talking about? Elena, we don't have a choice." He says.

"What about Klaus?"

"We'll find him right after we get the moonstone."

"Is that before or after he kills everyone that I care about, including the two of you." She points from Stefan to Damon. The idea that Elena cares about him startles Damon.

"Elena, if we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your life." Stefan argues.

"I know. Everybody keeps saying that." She gets up and leaves the room.

* * *

Bonnie and Luka are walking together across the schoolyard. "So your Grams waited until you were in high school to tell you that you're a witch?" He asks.

"Well, she brought it up before but I just thought she was drunk." She says, making him laugh. "In my defense, she was."

"So, then, you're like, new?"

"New-ish. I still have some growing pains."

"Like?"

"Physically, it's become a lot harder. I have a bad reaction to it sometimes."

"Your nose bleeds?"

"Yeah. And I pass out sometimes." They stop walking and face each other.

"It's 'cause you're trying to do too much on your own. You need help."

"From what?"

"From nature. The elements. Just things that you can draw extra power from. Have you ever channeled another witch before?"

"What is that?"

"Say we put our energy together. We can double our strength. I'll show you, watch. Let me see that bracelet." Luka takes his backpack off his shoulder. Bonnie removes her bracelet while Luka removes the dog tags from around his neck. Bonnie skeptically holds out her bracelet to him. Luka takes it and places his dog tags in her hand. "Take this. Now, I want you to stand very still and concentrate."

"I don't get it."

"Ok. I know…"

"What are we doing?"

"We're channeling. The personal items will act as a talisman. Now concentrate."

Bonnie holds the dog tags tightly between her hands and shuts her eyes. Luka looks on at her, smiling. Bonnie hears a noise around her and opens her eyes, looking at Luka. "What is that?"

He smiles without saying a word and shuts his eyes. Bonnie continues to look at him. Other students are in the schoolyard talking as the wind starts to blow the leaves up. Bonnie gasps and shuts her eyes as the wind continues to blow, tossing student's papers about and tussling Bonnie's hair. Luka and Bonnie smile broadly as the wind dissipates. He laughs. "Pretty cool, huh?" He asks, making Bonnie laugh gleefully.

Jeremy approaches the two of them. "What's with that weather, huh?"

"It's global warming, man. I don't know. I got to go. See you later, Bonnie."

"Bye, Luka."

He picks his backpack off the ground. Bonnie smiles at him. "Bye." He smiles before leaving.

Jeremy walks around to face Bonnie. "The guy is weird, huh?"

"No, he's not." She looks down at her hands and sees that she still has Luka's dog tags. She is about to yell after him when her cell phone goes off. She takes it out of her pocket and looks at the message.

"What is it?"

"It's Damon."

* * *

Elena walks into the boarding house, not noticing a cat sneak in behind her and sees Rose coming down the stairs, tying a silk robe around her. "It's not nice to leave a girl naked so early in the morning." Rose looks up and sees that it's Elena, not Damon, standing in the hallway. "Whoa. Sorry, I thought you were…"

Elena looks away, embarrassed. "I, uh, sorry, I…"

"There's no one else here."

"Actually, I came to talk to you."

"Then I should probably get dressed." Rose smiles broadly and walks back up the stairs.

Elena sits on a couch in the living room when the cat jumps onto her lap. "Oh…" She jumps and looks at it in confusion. "Trinity?"

The cat moves from her lap and onto the space next to her. Trinity shifts back to her human form with a smile on her face. "Hi."

"What are you doing here?"

Trinity shrugs. "I was bored, saw you headed this way."

Elena looks down at her lap before looking back at Trinity. "Before…in the tomb. Katherine was going to walk away. She wasn't going to tell me anything. And then you showed up." She pauses. "Is there something going on between you and Katherine?"

Trinity sighs. "No. Or at least not anymore."

"So before…how…?" She trailed off. "Was it your Quickening?"

"It's complicated. It literally just ended, and only lasted a couple days." Trinity says. "I haven't betrayed anyone. We both knew where the lines were drawn. It was just something I needed to figure out for myself. Apparently, the more I fight a feeling, the harder it hits when I lose control. I have to accept them, deal with them, and move on."

"So…you have feelings for Katherine?" Elena asks, trying to absorb the words she just heard. Her brows furrow a bit at the slight tug in her heartstrings.

Trinity nods. "It's not going anywhere. That was made clear. She doesn't want to die; I don't want my friends to die…so it's over. Plus there's the whole, her still having feelings for Stefan thing. I can't compete with that and I don't want to." She sighs. "A part of me is relieved though."

"Why?"

"At least now it's not on my mind anymore. No more what if's. It was eye opening really."

"How?"

"Because I know that even though I care about her…" She pauses. "I'm not in love with her." Her heart clenches at the lie she just told. "Which is a good thing; because we both know that I'd kill her so you could live." She says. Elena looks at her, shocked. Trinity gives a sad smile. "This isn't some confession of love Elena." She shrugs. "I mean, there was the small crush I had on you when I was twelve but I got over that." Elena's eyes widen at the confession. "But really…I'm realizing how much I'm changing. How much I'm gonna change as the Quickening progresses. You've told me how I'm like when I'm angry. Katherine's seen me as something else. There's a lot more that gonna happen and…I don't know if I'll even recognize myself by the time it's over." She looks at her. "The one consistence is that I would do anything to protect you, and Stefan, and Damon." She says. "You guys keep me grounded."

After a moment Elena reaches over and takes Trinity's hand, squeezing it. "We'll always be there. _I'll _always be there." She looks her in the eye.

Trinity nods and takes her hand back, looking towards the entrance.

Rose; now dressed, enters the room.

* * *

"It's a bad idea." Rose and Trinity say after Elena finishes explaining her reason for being there.

"No, it's not. From what Stefan told me, your friend Slater obviously has more information about Klaus. You and Damon just gave up before you got it."

"Because somebody blew up a coffee shop with us in it." Rose says.

"There's more to learn. We just have to find a way to learn it."

"Why are you coming to me with this?"

"Because you owe me. One word from me, and Damon, Trinity, and Stefan could have killed you for kidnapping me." She says.

"Or maybe it's because you know that they wouldn't want you doing this. Even she-" She points to Trinity. "Doesn't want you to, but she's too loyal to stop you. And Damon and Stefan's moonstone caper gives you a chance to sneak away."

"We're having a disagreement, okay? They're willing to risk everyone that I love and I'm not. Trinity is at least trying to see it from my point of view. She wants to figure out a way to save everyone, not just me."

"But we both know what it would come down to if that's not an option." Trinity tells her.

"But you're making the effort. You're looking at the big picture instead of focusing on me."

"The only reason I'm still here and not telling Damon and Stefan is because we need to find out more about the originals, but they have tunnel vision when it comes to you."

"That's good enough for me."

"They're just trying to protect you." Rose says.

"And you've proven that you couldn't care less whether I'm protected or not. So, we're back to you taking me to Slater."

Rose sits down on the couch next to Elena. "What exactly do you hope to achieve by this?"

"How would you like to be able to walk during the daylight?"

"I've been a slave to shadows for 500 years, what do you think?"

"I think I know a witch who's willing to do whatever it takes to help, if you're willing to make a deal." Elena says.

* * *

Tyler is on the basketball court, shooting hoops. As he shoots for a basket and misses, Matt approaches, grabbing the basketball and carrying it towards Tyler. "Hey man, how you doing?"

"Good, you?"

"I'm pissed at myself for picking a fight with you. And feeling guilty for what happened to Sarah. I mean, I've been dodging you for days because I didn't know what to say to you."

"Don't worry about it, man."

"I'm really sorry. Please know that." Matt hands Tyler the basketball and walks away. After a few steps, Caroline approaches Matt. He stops to talk to her.

"Matt." She greets.

"Hey."

"How are you?"

"I…I've been better. I gotta…I gotta get to class." He quickly walks away.

"Ok." She says before walking over to Tyler.

"You two still on the outs?"

"Looks like it. You realize there's almost a full moon?"

"Vampires don't have enough problems; you want to take on mine?"

"Have you even thought about it? The whole…wolf thing? Do you know what you're gonna do?"

"I have a plan."

"Well…?"

"Kind of private."

"I'm student council vice president, head of the prom committee, not to mention I single-handedly organized this town's clean-up campaign. And you're really gonna turn down my help?"

* * *

At the boarding house, Bonnie speaks to Stefan, Jeremy, and Damon about their plan. "I might be able to lower the tomb spell long enough for you to get in there and grab the moonstone from Katherine."

"How? It took both you and your Grams last time, and look what happened to her." Jeremy asks.

"I'm well aware of what happened. I've learned a few new things."

"Bonnie…"

She deflects Jeremy's concern and looks over at Stefan. "How will you get it?"

"She hasn't been feeding. She's weaker. We're not." He says. Damon raises a glass of blood towards Bonnie.

"You wouldn't be underestimating her, would you?"

"It's a plan. Is it perfect?" Damon scoffs. "What plan is?"

"Let me do it." Jeremy says. "I've got my ring. I can get in, get out, no spells necessary."

"Gee, thanks, you 16-year-old child. Why didn't we think about that? Why are you even here?" He looks at Stefan. "Where's Trinity?"

"She finally has the time to work off a lot of energy." Stefan says. "If she's not in the woods, then she's in the skies."

"Maybe I can help better the plan. Do you have anything that belongs to Katherine?" Bonnie asks.

Damon looks over at Stefan, significantly.

* * *

Rose parks her car in an underground parking lot below Slater's apartment. She, Elena, and Trinity get out and ascend the staircase to the apartment. Rose bangs her fist on the door. "Slater? Slater, it's Rose. Open up!" After a moment she looks at them. "He's not home. Sorry."

Elena shakes her head. "Mm-mm. No. We didn't come all the way out here for nothing."

Rose sighs and pushes the doors open using her vampire strength. She gestures them forward. "After you."

Trinity walks in first and Elena and Rose follow in. Trinity nose scrunches at the smell.

Rose goes deeper into the apartment. "Slater?" She looks through a doorway and her face falls in shock. "I don't think he's gonna be much help."

Trinity and Elena rush to her and see Slater's dead body. Rose walks over to Slater's body and drags it away. Elena, regaining her composure, walks over to Slater's computer desk and picks up a bunch of papers.

Trinity walks over to her. "Looks like whoever blew up the coffee shop found him and killed him for his information."

Rose walks up behind Elena and watches as she shuffles through the papers. "Yeah, probably to stop him from helping people like us. The guy was a vampire almanac. Knowing too much information just bit him in the ass."

Elena shuffles through a few more papers before picking up a framed photo. Rose walks over to a set of windows and pulls back the curtains, startling Elena. "What are you…?"

"Tempered glass. U.V. rays can't penetrate." Rose looks out the window. "I used to just come here and watch the day."

Elena looks down at the framed photo which contains a picture of Slater and a girl. She looks back up at Rose. "I'm sorry about Slater."

"Any luck?"

She places the photo back on the desk and attempts to log into one of the computers. "Um…it's password protected. I can't get in."

"No, this is fine. Let's just go."

Suddenly, they hear a doorknob rattling from inside the apartment.

"Stay here." Trinity says as she and Rose walk past Elena.

Rose opens a set of doors and peers into the small hallway, seeing a girl hiding behind a corner. "Alice?"

"Rose!" The girl rushes into her arms, crying. "He's dead!"

* * *

Stefan re-enters the parlor room where Bonnie, Jeremy, and Damon wait for him. He has the picture of Katherine in his hands. "This belonged to Katherine. Found it with her things after I thought she was dead, but it was hers." He holds out the portrait of Katherine and Bonnie takes it. She places the portrait in a ceramic bowl and dips her fingers in a glass of water and lets the water droplets drip from her fingertips into the bowl. Flames sprout from the bowl. Bonnie shuts her eyes and begins to chant a spell in Latin.

"What will this do?" Damon asks.

She opens her eyes, watching the picture burn. "I can turn the metal into ash. Blow the ashes on her, and it'll incapacitate her for a minute or two. Long enough for you to get the stone and get out." Suddenly, Bonnie's nose starts to bleed. She raises her hand to her nose and wipes it away before anyone notices.

Bonnie pours the ashes from the bowl onto an end table. Stefan and Damon re-enter the room with supplies for the excursion.

"Still gotta get the torches." Stefan says.

Damon nods. "Alaric's stake gun's in my trunk. Bonnie?"

"Go ahead. I'm almost done." She tells them. Stefan leaves. Damon packs a few more things in a bag and follows Stefan out of the room.

Jeremy waits until they are unable to hear him before he speaks to Bonnie. "What are you doing?"

"Shh!"

"Hey, you're not strong enough."

Bonnie places a finger to Jeremy's lips to quiet him. When he doesn't continue to talk, she lowers her finger. "I'll be fine."

"You could get hurt."

"And Elena could die. I'll be fine. Promise. I promise."

"Here, I got this okay? Go get me, um, go get me something to put this in. All right?"

They smile at each other and Bonnie leaves to get a holding container for the ashes. Jeremy glances over his shoulder before pulling out his wallet and taking out a card. He uses the card to carefully scrap a handful of ashes into his wallet without Bonnie noticing.

* * *

Rose rubs Alice's hand comfortingly as the girl tries to regain her composure. Rose gets up and walks into another room where Elena and Trinity pour hot water into teacups. Rose sits down next to Elena. "She found him a few minutes before we did."

"How is she?"

"Overreacting." Trinity says. "Big time."

Elena looks at her. "Her boyfriend just died. There's no such thing as overreacting."

Rose shakes her head. "Those tears are for her. She didn't care about Slater." Elena looks at Rose, curiously. "She was only dating him long enough to see if he'd turn her."

Elena turns around and looks at Alice. Grabbing the cup of tea, Elena walks out of the room towards Alice and hands her the cup.

"Thank you." Alice takes the cup of tea as Elena sits down next to her. She looks at Elena with an air of familiarity. "You look really familiar. Did you know Slater?"

"Not personally, no. I just knew that he kept detailed records of all of his vampire contacts and I was hoping that he could point me towards Klaus."

"Doubtful. Klaus doesn't want to be pointed at."

"Do you know Slater's computer password?"

Alice looks at her, offended. "Are you seriously asking me that right now? I just saw my boyfriend with a stake through his heart."

"I understand that. Do you know his password?"

"Who do you think you are?" She looks away from Elena and takes a sip of her tea.

Elena looks over at Rose and her eyes light up with an idea. She looks back to Alice. "What if I could convince Rose to turn you?" Alice looks back up at her. Rose, hearing what Elena has said, looks over at her, disdainfully. Trinity tilts her head. "Will you show us his files then?"

* * *

Alice has managed to log on to Slater's computer, but all the files have been deleted. Elena, Trinity, and Rose stand behind her, watching.

"Someone's been here. The hard drive's completely wiped out." Alice tells them.

Trinity nods. "Yeah, probably whoever killed him." Elena runs a hand over her face and turns away. Trinity looks at her in confusion.

"Lucky for you, Slater was paranoid. Everything's backed up on a remote server."

Rose turns back to speak to Elena. "You know that she's not going anywhere near my blood, right?" She whispers.

"I know. She doesn't." She walks past Rose, who smiles at her deception. Elena leans down next to Alice to look at the computer screen.

"Kristen Stewart." The girl rolls her eyes. "God, was he obvious."

"These are all leads to vampires?"

Alice continues scrolling through the files. "Slater was obsessed. Almost as much as me."

Rose looks over. "What about that one? Cody Webber. They exchanged dozens of emails about Elijah."

"I could call him."

Elena hands the phone over to Alice. "Tell him that we're trying to send a message to Klaus. The doppelgänger is alive and she's ready to surrender."

Trinity and Rose look up, shocked. "What?!" They asks.

Alice gasps. "Oh, my God, I knew I recognized you."

"Get him the message, please." Elena quickly walks out of the room. Trinity looks at Rose and mouths 'Call Damon' before following after her.

* * *

Elena places her hands on a table and exhales heavily. Trinity walks in. "What are you doing?" She asks.

"I'm getting Klaus' attention."

"If Klaus knows that you're alive, he'll find you and he'll kill you." She tells her. Elena looks at her, but doesn't respond. Realization sets in Trinity's eyes. "Which is exactly what you wanted all along."

"It's either me or my family." Elena says. "Including you."

"So this whole charade is some suicide mission so that you could sacrifice yourself and save everyone else?" Trinity asks. "How does that sound like a good idea?"

Alice walks in. "Cody is on his way and he really wants to meet you." She tells Elena.

Trinity closes her eyes and sighs.

* * *

Katherine, hearing footsteps coming down into the tomb, walks over to the entrance. Jeremy walks down the steps and stands in front of the entrance, where Katherine can't reach him. "The youngest Gilbert. This is an intriguing surprise." She smirks.

"I'm here for the moonstone."

"Yeah, yeah, the moonstone. It's very popular today."

"Just give it to me."

She sighs. "Naïve little Gilbert. If you want it, you're gonna have to come here and get it."

Suddenly, Jeremy pulls a stake gun from out of his sleeve. He shoots the stake at Katherine, hitting her squarely in the stomach. She grunts in discomfort and clutches at the stake, ripping it out. Before Katherine can regain her composure, Jeremy throws the handful of ashes he took from Bonnie directly into her face. She gasps and falls to the floor, temporarily unconscious.

"I kinda figured you'd say that." He enters the tomb and pats Katherine down in search of the moonstone. "Come on, where is it?"

After realizing the stone is not on Katherine, he looks at the back of the cave. Turning on a flashlight, he shines the beam down the cave and slowly walks back into the crypt. He sees the moonstone lying on a stone ledge behind an iron gate. He opens the gate and grabs the moonstone from its place. He looks at it for a moment before turning around and dashing to the entrance of the tomb. As he enters the front portion, he sees Katherine, her eyes red with hunger, up from the ground. She flashes over to Jeremy, grabs him, and bites into his neck. Jeremy yells and throws the moonstone out of the tomb. Katherine gasps for air, blood dripping down her face.

* * *

Bonnie approaches Stefan and Damon who are waiting in the church ruins by the entrance to the tomb. "Sorry I'm late. I had to grab the grimoire from home."

Damon looks around before looking back at her. "Jeremy couldn't take the pressure, huh?"

"He said he'd be here."

Stefan and Bonnie descend the stairs to the tomb. Damon starts to follow but stops abruptly when his cell phone rings. He answers it. "Not a good time, Rose."

"_Don't be angry with me."_

"Why, what did you do?"

"_You need to get to Richmond immediately."_

"Tell me."

* * *

Now in the tomb, Stefan drops his bag and starts rummaging through it, but something catches his eye. He sees the moonstone lying nearby. "What the hell?"

"Is that the moonstone?" Bonnie asks. They rush over to it. Stefan picks it up.

Katherine, lips drenched in blood, comes to the entrance of the tomb. "I hate to interrupt." She says, making them look up at her. "But today has just been full of surprises." She pulls Jeremy out from behind the wall. His eyelids flutter and the bite mark on his neck oozes blood. Stefan rushes over to the entrance and Bonnie looks on in horror.

"I'm sorry. I took some powder." He weakly tells them.

"Don't worry, I know that he's wearing his ring, so no matter how many times I kill him, he'll just keep coming back for more. So, I'm going to be in the back playing with my new little toy." She shoves Jeremy back into the cave. "And you guys just give me a holler when you've got the tomb open."

* * *

Jonas has laid out all of Elena's trinkets that he stole from her bedroom on a table.

Elijah sits across from him. "So how exactly does this spell work?" He asks.

"Give me your hand." He holds up a silver knife. Elijah extends his hand out, palm facing up, and Jonas slices it open with the blade. "Place it here." Elijah places his bloody palm face down on the picture of Elena in her cheerleading uniform. "Now, take my hand." He extends his hand to Elijah who takes it. "Close your eyes. Relax your mind. And look for her." Elijah shuts his eyes. Jonas follows suit and begins chanting a spell in Latin.

* * *

Elena is gazing out a window. Suddenly, she sees Elijah's reflection walking towards her in the window. Elena gasps and turns around. She sees no one else in the room with her. Confused, she turns back and looks at the window and back into the room again.

* * *

Elijah's eyes fly open.

"You saw her, didn't you?" Jonas asks.

"I know exactly where she is."

* * *

In the tomb, Bonnie has set up a circle of torches in the antechamber. She lights them with a flame.

"Where the hell is Damon?" Stefan asks.

"We can't wait; we have to get him out of there."

"She's fed, she has her strength back."

"We still have what's left of the ash." She hands Stefan an envelope with the ash. "Do you think you can get close enough?"

He takes the envelope from Bonnie. "I don't have a choice."

"It's gonna take me some time."

"How long?"

"I don't know, a while."

"Just get me in there as soon as you can." He walks away.

* * *

Luka enters the apartment. Jonas is looking through a grimoire when he enters. Luka places his backpack on the table.

"So how was school?" Jonas asks.

"Riveting." He smiles.

* * *

Bonnie has the grimoire open, her eyes tightly shut, she begins chanting a spell in Latin. Stefan watches her.

* * *

Luka inhales sharply, feeling Bonnie channeling him.

Jonas looks back at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Luka touches his neck and feels that his dog tags are not there.

* * *

Bonnie, with Luka's dog tags clutched in one hand, continues chanting the spell.

* * *

Elena walks into the main room, sipping on a glass of water. She looks over at Alice, then turns around and gasps because Damon has snuck up from behind her. "What are you doing here?" He asks.

"What are you doing here?" She asks. Rose and Trinity enter the room. Elena turns around and looks at them angrily. "You called him?"

"I told her to." Trinity says.

"You said that you understood."

"She lied." He tells her. Elena turns around and looks at Damon.

Alice walks up to them, star-strucked. "Damon Salvatore."

He turns to Rose. "Get rid of her."

"No. Way." Alice says, still staring at him. Rose grabs Alice's arm and leads her out of the room.

He looks at Elena. "Come on. We're leaving."

"No."

"I said we're leaving."

"I'm not going with you."

"You do not get to make decisions anymore."

"When have I ever made a decision? You and Stefan do that for me. Now this, this is my decision."

"Who's gonna save your life while you're out making decisions?"

"You're not listening to me, Damon. I don't want to be saved. Not if it means that Klaus is gonna kill every single person that I love."

He grasps her arm tightly. "Get your ass out the door before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out myself."

Elena struggles and releases herself from his grip. "No!" She throws a punch at him.

Damon clutches her fist in his hand and moves in towards her. Elena gasps in shock. "Don't ever do that again." He releases her fist from his grasp and walks away. Elena stands there, horrified.

Trinity walks up to her. "The only reason I had Rose call him, is because I wasn't sure if I could knock you out and take you myself." She tells her, anger in her eyes. She shakes her head and follows after Damon.

* * *

Bonnie continues to chant the spell and the flames flare up.

Katherine, dragging Jeremy behind her, comes back towards the entrance. "Ohhh, something's happening." She says. Stefan looks at them.

Jeremy's eyes are wide. "Bonnie, no!" Stefan looks back at Bonnie, a look of alarm on his face. "You have to stop her, she's not strong enough!" They watch the flames flare higher.

"Maybe she is." Katherine says.

* * *

Luka is sitting at a table, doing homework, when suddenly, he feels Bonnie channeling him and he grimaces in pain.

Jonas places his hands on either side of the table and looks at Luka. "What's going on?"

"It's Bonnie Bennett. She's channeling me."

"Why would you let her do that?"

"You told me to bond with her, so I bonded." He groans in pain and his nose starts bleeding profusely.

"Oh, God."

* * *

Bonnie's nose is bleeding as well, but she continues to chant the spell.

Stefan walks over to her, concerned. "Bonnie…Bonnie…"

"You gotta stop her!" Jeremy yells. Katherine elbows Jeremy in the face and he falls to the floor.

Stefan looks back at Jeremy and sees he's okay. He looks back at Bonnie and grasps her arm. "You need to stop. Bonnie!"

* * *

Luka falls out of the chair and onto the floor, clutching his head in pain.

"Luka!" Jonas removes Luka's hands from his head and replaces them with his own. Luka finally seems to be okay if a bit weak.

* * *

Bonnie continues to chant the spell as Stefan tries to persuade her to stop.

"Bonnie!" Suddenly, Bonnie faints. Stefan gets down next to her and begins to shake her. "Bonnie. Bonnie, wake up, please. Bonnie, wake up. Bonnie."

"Yes, please because I'm still in here!" Katherine impatiently paces around inside the tomb. Bonnie finally wakes up.

"Are you okay? You all right?" He asks.

Bonnie, feeling fuzzy, sits up with Stefan's help. She uses Stefan's arm to stand herself up. "It didn't work." She looks into the cave, upset. Stefan holds onto her arms so she won't fall back down. "I'm not strong enough. Even with help, I can't do it."

"Ahhh, that's too bad, I'm still hungry." Katherine grabs Jeremy's shirt and pushes him up against the wall. She extends her fangs and prepares to bite Jeremy's neck.

Stefan flashes into the tomb, grabs Jeremy, throws him out, and restrains Katherine against the wall. "Go!"

Jeremy falls onto the ground and Bonnie kneels down and wraps her arms around him. They both look up at Stefan as he looks back at them. Katherine looks up at Stefan with a smug smile.

* * *

Damon opens a set of double doors and exits the bedroom. Elena, Trinity, and Rose look at him from their seats in the living area. "Time to go. Alice is soundly sleeping and won't remember a moment of this horribly stupid day." He says.

Suddenly, the front doors burst open and three men walk into the apartment. Damon turns his head to look at them as Rose, Trinity, and Elena stand up.

"We're here to meet the doppelgänger." Cody says.

"Thank you for coming." Elena attempts to walk towards them, but Damon and Trinity push her back.

"I will break your arm." He whispers to her before looking at Cody. "There's nothing here for you."

The man in the back suddenly drops to the floor, dead. Elijah stands behind him. The other two vampires look back at him. He flashes towards them, looking from one to the other. Rose gasps and flashes out of the apartment. Elijah looks over at Elena, Trinity, and Damon.

Damon has a shocked look on his face. "I killed you. You were dead."

"For centuries now." Elijah looks back at Cody. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Elijah."

"We were gonna bring her to you. For Klaus. She's the doppelgänger. I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus will want to see her."

"Does anyone else know that you're here?"

He shakes his head. "No."

"Well, then, you have been incredibly helpful." Elijah plunges his arm's into the two vampire's chest. They grunt as he rips their hearts out. The two vampires fall to the floor, dead, and Elijah lets their hearts drop from his hands. Damon and Trinity prepare to fight, but Elijah shocks them, by turning around and flashing out of the apartment. They look at each other with shocked expressions on their faces.

* * *

Elijah is standing at a window, looking out when he hears Jonas enters the apartment and shuts the door behind him. "Where's Luka?" He asks.

"Asleep."

"Your shadow spell was successful. I was able to track that girl. However, I did have a little run in with one of the brothers that killed me, and their little friend."

"I assume they didn't live to tell about it."

"Actually, I spared them. They'd die before they let anything happen to her. They all would. She'll be kept safe."

"For now."

"Well, that's precisely what we need her to be." He looks at Jonas. "Safe."

* * *

Jeremy and Bonnie enter the house from the back entrance. Jeremy clutches a rag to his bloody wound and Bonnie shuts the door behind them. He throws the rag across the kitchen. Bonnie follows him. "I'm home, okay? I don't need an escort to my room." He opens up the medicine cabinet and takes out a bandage.

"Oh, I don't know. Between here and upstairs there's still time for you to do something stupid."

"I already feel bad. I don't need you to berate me."

"Stefan is stuck in there, and I don't know how to get him out. What should I be doing?"

Jeremy places the bandage on his neck wound. "You should admit that you never should have tried this in the first place."

"I didn't have a choice, Jeremy!"

"Yeah, well neither did I." He walks past her and throws away the remains of the bandage.

Bonnie turns around to look at him. "Wha-why did you have to get involved?"

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Look, Jeremy…you can't feel that way about me."

"Don't."

"What?"

"Don't act like this is one-sided. Like…like I'm some kid that has a crush on his sister's friend. You could have died today." Jeremy walks closer to Bonnie and caresses her cheek with his hand.

"And you almost did."

"That was a chance I was willing to take." He moves in to kiss her.

"I can't. I-I can't." She says. He pulls away and removes his hand from her face. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah…"

Bonnie walks to the back door and pauses. She looks back at Jeremy for a moment, opens the door, and walks out.

* * *

Damon and Elena walk up the steps to the front porch.

She sighs. "Thank you for bringing me home."

"Well, your ride left you. I didn't want to leave you stranded." He says as they face each other.

"She was just scared. She didn't mean to run."

"Yes, she did. She's been running for 500 years."

"I can't believe Elijah's alive. Why do you think he killed those two vampires and just let us go?"

"If I had a dollar for every time some evil vampire surprised me." She walks towards the door, but Damon catches her arm before she opens it and turns her around so she faces him. "What you did today was incredibly stupid."

"Actually, the only thing that was stupid was that I got caught." Elena wriggles her arm out of his grasp and he lets her go. "I don't question why you and Stefan, and Trinity, and everyone else tries so hard to save me. You shouldn't question why I would try to save all of you." She tells him. Jeremy opens the front door. "Damon, good night, okay?" She's about to enter the house but stops when she sees Jeremy.

Damon looks at him. "What?"

"It's Stefan."

* * *

Elena bolts down the stairs of the tomb. She rushes towards the cave and looks in, but sees no one. "Stefan! Stefan!" She is about to enter the cave when Trinity comes up behind her and pins her to the wall.

"Don't you dare." She says as Damon enters behind her.

"Stefan's in there, Damon! How could you let this happen?"

"What are you talking about? I was too busy saving you from your crazy kamikaze mission." He says.

Stefan and Katherine are in the back of the cave, listening to Elena, Trinity, and Damon argue. Stefan paces around while Katherine twirls her hair between her fingers.

"You didn't even have to go after the moonstone in the first place!" She says.

"It was the right call, Elena." He defends.

"The right call? How was any of this the right call?!" She hits Trinity's chest with her fist. "Trinity, let go of me! Trinity, let go of me! Let go of me! Let go of me!" Elena repeatedly beats her fist into Trinity's chest, who keeps a calm face and restrains her. Elena becomes tired and desperately looks up at her. "Please."

"Are you done?" She asks. Elena breathes heavily. Trinity releases her from her grip and backs up. Elena looks into the cave and starts to move towards it.

Damon holds his hand up to block her way. "Don't." Elena snarls at Damon and stomps out of the tomb in a rage. They watch her go then looks back into the cave. Stefan walks over to the entrance. "Of all the idiot plans, Stefan."

"Yeah." He sighs.

"I'll find a way to get you out." He says, Trinity nodding in agreement.

"Ah, it's all right. I'll handle myself. Bonnie has the moonstone. Work with her. Try to figure out how to de-spell it."

"You martyr yourself in a tomb and I get partnered with a semi-competent witch. Wonderful."

"Keep Elena away from here."

Trinity scoffs. "Yeah. Cause that'll be easy."

"Promise me. No matter what happens. You'll protect her." He tells them.

"Promise." Damon says before he leaves the tomb.

Katherine emerges from the shadows and looks at Stefan. "That right there was the biggest mistake you've ever made." She says. Stefan silently walks past her into the recesses of the cave. Katherine exchanges a long look with Trinity, who looks at her with torn eyes before leaving as well.


	33. By the Light of the Moon

Chapter Thirty Three: By the Light of the Moon

Tyler is in his father's office. He's re-watching the video of Mason's transformation while he's preparing everything for the full moon. He takes his phone and calls Mason, but gets no answer. He leaves a message. "Mason, it's Tyler again. Look, your cell's voice mail is full. I need to talk to you. It's a full moon tomorrow and…I found your recording and I'm freaking out over here. So, just call me back, please."

* * *

At Mason's apartment, a woman walks into the room and listens to Tyler as he leaves a message on Mason's home phone's answering machine.

* * *

Elena is in her bedroom with Bonnie. She looks at the moonstone. "Now that you've got this back, what are you gonna do with it?" She asks.

"Right now, it's what is binding the Sun and the Moon Curse. If I can figure out a way to remove the spell from the stone, the stone becomes useless."

"And according to Katherine, Klaus becomes vengeful."

"Maybe. If he finds out."

"Bonnie, can't this wait? Stefan is stuck in the tomb with Katherine. We've got to get him out."

"Stefan wants me to focus on this."

"Don't listen to him. He thinks that he's protecting me, but he's wrong."

"I'm taking Stefan's side with this one. We're not gonna let you get used in some creepy sacrifice ritual."

Jeremy walks in. "What are you guys arguing about?"

Bonnie takes the stone from Elena's hand. "We're not arguing about anything." She puts the stone in her bag and looks at Jeremy. "I need a coffee." She gets up and leaves.

Elena looks at Jeremy. "What?" She asks.

"Why are you on some suicide mission?"

"I'm trying to prevent everyone else from getting hurt."

"Oh so, bringing Klaus the moonstone so you can get yourself killed is okay?" He shakes his head as he leaves.

Elena waits a beat and takes the moonstone from Bonnie's bag. She quietly hurries down the stairs, car keys in her hands.

Bonnie sees her. "Where are you going?"

Elena turns around. "Um, to see Stefan."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Really? Tell your face."

"Are you serious?"

Jeremy rejoins them. "She took the moonstone."

Elena looks between them. "How did you…?"

"We tested you, and you failed." Bonnie tells her.

"Klaus killed Katherine's entire family just because she crossed him. I can't let that happen." She says. Bonnie steps aside and lets her leave. Elena looks mildly confused as she walks down the stairs and opens the door to leave, but an invisible barrier prevents her. She's trapped. She turns around and looks at them. "What did you do?"

"It's for the best, Elena." Bonnie looks at Jeremy, whose smiling. Elena continues to try to break the barrier, to no avail.

* * *

Stefan is talking with Damon, who stands at the entrance of the tomb. "You trapped her in the house?"

Damon shrugs. "Trinity's idea. It's for the best. Trust me. Elena is on a martyr tear that rivals your greatest hits. You should be glad the witch and I are even getting along. I brought you this." He gives him a bag. "Care package: candles, lanterns and lunch." He shows him a bottle of blood.

"Give that to me and I'm just gonna have to share it with her."

Damon looks at Katherine, who stands not too far away. "Yeah…"

"You two are surprisingly calm, considering Klaus will hunt you down and kill you if you mess with his little plan." She tells them.

"I've been dead before. I got over it." He looks at Stefan. "Once we deal with this moonstone, we'll figure a way to get you out."

"Don't worry about me. Just make sure Elena's safe."

Damon looks at Katherine and leaves.

* * *

Stefan and Katherine sit in silence when they hear a roar echo through the tomb. They look at each other before standing. A large tiger walks in, a backpack in its mouth.

Stefan sighs. "Trinity, you shouldn't be here."

She shifts back to her human form. "Why not? It's not like I have anything better to do." She picks up the bag. "I even brought stuff to pass the time."

"Like what?" Katherine asks.

Trinity opens the bag, looking in. "Well, there's monopoly; the game that never ends, uno, a laptop so you guys can watch some movies-"

"What movies?"

"High School Musical." She answers dryly. "I got a little of everything. Some Alfred Hitchcock, The Breakfast Club, the X-men movies; that's a treat just for me."

Katherine walks closer. "I'm sure that we can find a different kind of…_entertainment." _She purrs. Stefan looks between the two.

Trinity ignores her and takes a few steps away before sitting on the ground. "So monopoly first?" She asks them.

"Trinity." Stefan says.

She sighs. "It's not like she can drink from me." She looks at Katherine. "If you were going to kill me, I would already be dead." She looks back at Stefan. "So sit down, and pick your piece."

Katherine smiles and sits close to Trinity. "I pick the car."

* * *

Carol sees Tyler about to leave. "Heading out?"

"Yeah…lunch at the Grill, I've got practice and I'll probably go out after. I'll be late." He says. Someone knocks on the door. Tyler opens it.

It's the woman who was in Mason's apartment. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Sorry. Rude. You have no idea who I am. I'm Jules, a friend of Mason's from Florida. You must be Tyler."

"Yeah. Nice to meet you."

"So, I know it's weird for me to just stop by but I'm trying to track down Mason."

"Mason's back in Florida. He has been for a while now." Carol tells her.

"See…that's the thing…he's not."

* * *

At the Grill, Jenna is sitting at a table with Alaric. "So now I'm playing historical society hostess to some writer who's doing his book on small town Virginia."

"Well that sounds…"

"Lame, yeah, but Carol Lockwood played the 'dead husband' card, said she was too busy to deal. Plus, my sister kept most of the archives, so there you have it." She kisses him and leaves. Tyler arrives and joins Caroline at a table. Alaric looks over at them.

"Hey." Tyler greets, a solemn look on his face.

"Hey. What's wrong?"

"This girl Mason knows stopped by the house. She said he never made it back to Florida. My mom is freaking out and she was on the phone with your mom when I left." He tells her. Alaric continues looking at them as he eavesdrops on their conversation. "We should get going."

"Yeah." She gets up and shares a knowing look with Alaric.

* * *

Damon walks into the Gilbert house and sees Elena in the living room. "You should really lock your door." He says. She ignores him. "Oh, come on, pouty. At least give me two points for ingenuity."

She gives him an irritated look. "Do you think this is funny?"

"Yes Elena. I find hilarity in the lengths that I have to go to repeatedly save your life." He says dryly.

"What does Stefan say about this? And Trinity?"

"It was her idea. And I'm pretty sure she's not here so she can avoid you yelling at her." He says. "As for Stefan; we had a good laugh."

"And what did he say about Elijah still being alive?"

He sits down next to her on the couch, putting his arm behind her head. "Yeah, that…I didn't tell him."

"Why not?"

"Well A; he can't do anything about it, and B;…what I just said." He tells her. Jeremy enters the room and sits down with them. "Where is Bonnie?"

Jeremy looks confused. "I thought she was meeting you."

He shakes his head. "No, she's on moonstone duty and I'm on Elena patrol."

"And who's on Tyler Lockwood and the full moon?"

"Vampire Barbie asked me if she could handle it, and I said, why not? Figured if she screwed up, he'll bite her and then I'll be rid of two of my problems."

"Hold on a second. Tonight's the full moon?" Elena asks.

Damon's phone rings. "Yep, but you were too absorbed with all your suicidal tendencies to notice." He gets up and answers. It's Alaric. "What?"

"_Sheriff Forbes has officially declared Mason Lockwood a missing person."_

"What? Why?"

"_Some girl from Florida showed up on the Lockwood's door step looking for Mason."_

"What girl?"

"_I don't know but she sure got everyone in a tizzy."_

"That's not good. Where are you?"

"_I'm at the Grill."_

"I'm on my way." He hangs up and rejoins Elena and Jeremy. "Change of plans. You babysit." Jeremy lies down on the couch, resting his head on Elena's lap. "Hey you know, you should get out, enjoy the sun. Oh wait, you can't." He smiles.

Elena throws a cushion at him and Jeremy laughs. She pushes him off of her and he rolls onto the floor.

* * *

In the woods, Caroline parks her car. Tyler gets out and opens the trunk to get his stuff. "Maybe he just stopped to go surf somewhere. Isn't that Mason's whole thing?" She asks.

"Maybe. This girl just seemed to think he would have called."

"I'm sure he's okay."

"Yeah, anyway…let's do this."

* * *

"So you'll call me as soon as you hear anything?" Jules asks Carol.

"Of course."

"Oh, I didn't get to say goodbye to your son."

"I'm afraid he's at the Grill with his friends. I'll let him know." She pauses. "Jules…let's hope for the best." Jules leaves. Carol closes the door.

* * *

Outside, Jules pulls away and stops her car outside of the gates of the Lockwood mansion. She calls someone on her phone. "Hey, I'm here. No one knows where Mason is. He's missing. You were right, Mason was lying, there's another werewolf…his nephew."

* * *

Jules walks into the Grill. She intercepts Matt. "Hey, excuse me. Crazy question; do you know Tyler Lockwood?"

* * *

Alaric and Damon are looking at from the bar. "Mmm, Mason's mystery woman." Damon says.

"Where is Mason anyway?"

"Decomposing in his truck."

"So you think she is a werewolf?"

"Well I hope not, being that it's a full moon, Ric, but we should definitely find out." He takes wolfsbane from his pocket.

"What is that?"

"Wolfsbane."

* * *

Caroline watches Tyler prepare the chains. "Tell me you brought the instruction manual."

"Tell me you brought the wolfsbane."

"Yes. Not an easy herb to find. This is it." She gives him the wolfsbane.

When he touches it, his skin burns, and he yelps and draws in his breath. "I have a water bottle in my bag; we can mix it in there." She mixes the wolfsbane in the water. "The guy at the hardware store said this set-up could hold up to 5,000 pounds."

"Is that more than a werewolf can pull?"

"I have no idea."

She hesitates before speaking. "Hey Tyler, how are you doing?"

"Still human." He takes off his shirt and turns away.

"Oh my god, you're not gonna get naked, are you?"

"It's elastic. What should I wear? I don't think it's like The Hulk, where I get to keep my pants."

Caroline blushes and looks away.

* * *

Bonnie knocks on the door of an apartment. Luka opens it. "Hi." She shows him his necklace.

He takes it. "I don't know what makes me more upset: that I showed you how to channel, or that you almost killed me."

"Luka, I'm so sorry. I wouldn't have done what I did unless it was really important. It's just that there are things that I…"

"I forgive you."

She walks in and they sit at a table, cluttered with books. "Wow. So much stuff. What is that? Is this a grimoire?"

"They're all grimoires."

"How did you get all these?"

"Witches from all over the world have collected their spells in grimoires, but over the centuries, most of them have gotten lost and my dad is obsessed with finding them, and making sure that our family's heritage stays intact."

"This can't all be your family's."

"Well the way he sees it, all witches are family. We're all bound together by a code of loyalty to help each other."

"So that's why you've been so nice to me."

He smiles. "That's one reason."

"Listen…do you know how to break the bind between a talisman and a spell?"

* * *

Jules is alone at the bar. Alaric joins her with a drink, pretending to be drunk. "Well hello. Can I have a scotch and whatever this beautiful woman is drinking."

She laughs. "No, one is my limit."

"Oh come on, it's not like I'm a freak. I'm just being friendly to somebody who's new to town."

"Okay, if you insist. How do you know I'm new?"

"Because I've never seen you here before and I am here every night."

Damon walks up to them. "Excuse me, is this guy bothering you?"

"I'm not bothering anybody." Alaric slurs.

"Perfect. Well…do it elsewhere." He says. Alaric looks at them. Damon smiles at Jules. "Don't worry, he's harmless. He's sort of the town drunk. And you know, when we get tired of him we just put him in a cab and send him back to wherever he came from."

While Damon is talking to her, Alaric puts wolfsbane in her glass. "Please don't talk about me like I'm not here." He gives the glass to Jules.

"Why are you here?"

"Thank you for the drink." She says.

Alaric raises his glass and leaves.

* * *

Stefan is lying on a bed. Katherine is looking at him. "So we're fasting now? We're so pious. How long have you actually gone without blood? I know you get desiccation in theory, Stefan, but in reality, it's much worse. Your heart still beats, struggling to pump whatever blood remains. When it's gone, your veins rub together like sand paper. It's excruciating."

He gets up. "The pleasure I'll get from watching you suffer is greater than any pain I'll ever feel."

She pauses. "It's stuffy, and I've been in this dress for days. You want to help me get out of it?" She asks. "Come on, Stefan. Don't be such a grump." She takes off her dress. "We're here together. May as well make the best out of it." She struts around in her bra and underwear. "You really think Damon is gonna rush to get you out? He's got what he wants; Elena."

"Stop."

"Given what's most certainly going out there, I'd say you're free to do whatever you want in here. Nobody will ever know." She kisses him. He kisses her back passionately. She takes off his shirt. He pushes her against the wall and kisses her neck and body. They go onto the bench and Stefan kisses her neck and body.

* * *

Suddenly, he wakes up with a gasp and looks at Katherine. "Stay out of my head."

Katherine smirks from her spot next to Trinity. "Maybe I can do eternity in here after all."

Trinity sighs. "Stop messing with him and watch the movie." She says, not taking her eyes off the screen.

Katherine looks at her. "Well you're not paying attention to me. I had to find other ways to entertain myself."

Stefan looks at them. "What is going on?" He asks.

Katherine smirks, taking Trinity's hand and playing with her fingers. "We found out how well we get along." She tells him.

Stefan looks at Trinity. "Are you…?" He trails off.

"No." She says. "As long as she is trying to kill my friends, no. But the moments in between…"

Stefan nods with a hard look in his eyes and turns away as he lies back down. Trinity looks at his back and sighs.

* * *

Elena goes down the stairs and finds Jenna searching in the closet. "Hey, what are you doing?" She asks.

"Perfect timing." She gives her a box.

"What is this stuff?"

"Your mom's files from the Historical Society. I got roped into helping Mrs. Lockwood and by roped, I mean very excited to participate." She closes the closet door.

Elijah is on the other side. Elena is very startled. He looks at her. "Hey, I'm Elijah."

"Elijah is in town doing research on Mystic Falls." Jenna smiles.

He steps closer to Elena. "It's a pleasure." They shake hands. Elena is visibly nervous.

"So you're welcome to stay here and rummage through this stuff or Elena and I could help you load it into your car."

"Or I can get someone to pick it up tomorrow."

She nods. "Also a good plan."

"Thank you so much for inviting me into your home, Jenna; and Elena…" He looks at her. "I hope to see you again sometime soon." He leaves.

Elena rushes upstairs to Jeremy's bedroom. She knocks on the door but Elijah catches her wrist. Jeremy opens the door and Elijah hides. "What is it?"

Elena pauses. "Jenna was just asking me to get you to help her with the boxes."

"Okay." He goes downstairs.

Elijah looks at Elena. "A wise choice."

"What do you want?"

"I think it's time you and I had a little chat."

* * *

"There's a B&B down the road and there's a motel on I-90 but you know, if you ask me, it's kind of a mistake." Damon says.

Jules shakes her head. "No, it's fine. I'm just here for the night. It's a long story; I'm looking for my friend."

"Who?"

"Mason Lockwood."

"I know Mason!" He smiles.

"You do?"

"Yeah. He's a great guy."

"He's missing."

"What do you mean? Like…I mean, missing, missing?"

"How do you know Mason?"

"Friends of friends." She doesn't touch her drink.

Damon looks at Alaric.

* * *

Tyler is shirtless, and he has chains wrapped around each wrist and ankle, as well as a chain looped around his neck, all attached to the walls of the underground cave. "What time is it?" He asks.

Caroline checks her phone. "Almost 8. What time does the moon crest or whatever?"

"Not for a while. Mason's journal said the first transformation can happen before the moon hits its apex."

"Does it say how long you'll actually be a wolf?"

"A few hours. Maybe more, maybe less." He tries to sit down next to her but he can't because of the chains. He takes the bottle of wolfsbane.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Yeah. Mason said it'll diminish my strength so I can't break free." He takes a few swallows, but he begins to choke and then starts to gag, vomiting on the ground. He falls to his knees as he coughs.

She gets closer to him. "Tyler…" She touches his back.

"No."

"Shhh…"

"Don't! Don't!" He yells. They look at each other. "I'm sorry."

She puts a hand to his face.

* * *

Elijah stands in Elena's bedroom. "Forgive the intrusion. I mean your family no harm."

"Why did you kill those vampires when they tried to take me?" She asks.

"Because I didn't want you to be taken. Klaus is the most feared and hated of the Originals, but those that fear him are desperate for his approval. If word gets out that the doppelgänger exists, there'll be a line of vampires eager to take you to him and I can't have that."

"Isn't that exactly what you're trying to do?"

"Let's just say that my goal is not to break the curse."

"So, what is your goal?"

"Klaus's obsession has made him paranoid. He's a recluse. He trusts only those in his immediate circle."

"Like you?"

"Not anymore."

"You don't know where he is, do you?" She realizes. "So you're trying to use me to draw him out."

"Well, to do that I need you to stay put and stop trying to get yourself killed."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"If I wasn't being truthful, all your family would be dead and I'd be taking you to Klaus right now. Instead, I'm here and I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

"What kind of a deal?"

"Do nothing. Do nothing, live your life, stop fighting and then, when the time is right, you and I shall draw out Klaus together and I shall make sure your friends remain unharmed."

"And then what?"

"Then I kill him."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. I'm a man of my word, Elena. I make a deal, I keep a deal."

"How are you gonna be able to keep everybody safe?"

"I notice you have a friend; Bonnie, is it? She seems to possess the gift of magic. I have friends with similar gifts."

"You know witches."

"Together, we can protect everybody that matters to you. So, do we have a deal?"

"I need you to do one more thing for me."

"We're negotiating now?"

* * *

Bonnie lights candles as she and Luka sit on a roof.

He looks at a grimoire. "You know, this is good. This is really good. There's a clear view of the moon and it's private."

"If anyone looks out, they're gonna think we're insane." She chuckles.

"Are we? So what is this mysterious talisman we're unbinding?" He asks. She shows him the moonstone. He takes it. "Oh, wow, a white rock. This is fascinating."

"Hey! I know it doesn't look like much…"

"What's it spelled with?" She doesn't answer. "Really? Help a girl out, she still keeps secrets."

"Sorry…"

"I'm just teasing you." He puts the stone in her hand and holds it. They close their eyes and cast a spell. The stone rises up and explodes in a shower of sparks. They both smile and laugh in wonder as sparks rain down around them.

* * *

Tyler is in writhing in pain. He tries to removes the chain, but Caroline is there, trying to comfort him. "Hey. Tyler. Tyler."

"I'm burning up. It burns!" He cries.

"I know. Just breathe through this, okay?"

"I'm trying. You should go. You should leave."

"Not yet."

He screams as his bones break. Caroline screams as well. "It hurts. It hurts." He cries.

* * *

"You know, listen, I'm really tight with the sheriff. If there's anything I can do to help locate Mason, I will. He's a great guy, and after his brother's funeral, he stuck around and helped his nephew and…" Damon tells her.

"Tyler?"

He nods. "Yep. Mason was with him the whole time. Helped him through all that grief." He pauses. "You haven't touched your drink."

"You know, I'm not much of a drinker. I should get going."

"Oh, come on. Look, one drink."

"It'll help me sleep."

"To sleep."

She sniffs the glass and sets it back on the bar. "You fool. You think you're clever, don't you?"

He drops his façade. "What do you want with Mason Lockwood?"

"He's my friend."

"Well, I'm sorry to inform you that you probably won't find him."

"And why not?" She asks.

"You should leave town."

"You're threatening me? On a full moon? How stupid are you?"

Alaric walks up to them. "Damon, how about that second round?"

"I think we're done, Ric." He looks at Jules. "You think I'm afraid of you?"

"No, I don't. That's your vampire arrogance. You should be. I sniffed you out the moment you entered this bar, along with your pathetic wolfsbane. I've been at this a long time, and any other night of the month, the situation would be reversed, but tonight is not the night to pick a fight with me. You've been marked." She leaves. Damon looks at Alaric.

* * *

Katherine looks at Stefan's sleeping form before turning to Trinity. She begins to kiss her neck.

Trinity squirms away. "No." She whispers.

Katherine smirks. "I can be quiet." She kisses her neck again.

Trinity leans away. "No."

Katherine sighs. "The moments in between, remember? Right now, I'm not trying to kill your friends."

"But my best friend is less than five feet away, and I don't feel comfortable."

"Are you ashamed?"

Trinity gives her a hard kiss before pulling back. "No. Am I torn? Yes." She says. "He need time to adjust to the bomb we just dropped and I don't think waking up to us making out will help."

"Fine." Katherine says, pressing another kiss to her lips before turning to the movie.

* * *

Tyler is on the floor. Caroline is next to him. "I want to help but I don't know what to do." She says.

"There's nothing you can do." He struggles to get up as his bones break. "Get out!"

"No!" She cries.

"Get out! I don't want to hurt you."

"No! No." She gets closer and embraces him.

* * *

Damon and Alaric walk out of the Grill, looking up and down the street. "Where is she?"

"Just let it go, Damon." Alaric sighs. "Don't be stupid."

"So what? Just let her get away? 'You've been marked' What the hell kind of wolf throw-down crap is that anyway?"

"Damon, look up! Just look up." He looks up at the full moon. "If this werewolf stuff is true, one bite and you're dead. One bite! Alright? Don't risk it. Just go home, lock your doors and we'll deal with it in the morning."

He nods. "Yeah." He says before leaving.

* * *

Tyler is on the floor as Caroline holds him. "It's okay. You'll fight through it, okay?"

Tyler's limbs spasm and more bones break. He screams in pain and Caroline tries to soothe him. "Leave!" He screams.

"No."

"Just go, please!"

"No, not yet."

"Just go!"

"I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."

He screams as his bones continue breaking. His eyes are yellow and his fangs are out. She leaves him. He gets up and looks everywhere around him. She closes the gate. Tyler rushes over to her. He removes his chains. She leaves as she sobs. Tyler screams. Caroline is still behind the door. She's crying. Tyler's transformation is over. He's a wolf. Caroline gets up when she doesn't hear anything, but suddenly Tyler tries to break the door. She leaves and flashes into the woods, still crying.

* * *

Damon walks into the boarding house and sees Rose. "You just can't stay away, can you?" He says.

"You don't answer your phone."

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize." She tells him.

"Just admit it, you don't have anywhere else to go."

"I'm sorry about Elena. I wasn't thinking straight. I didn't know that she had a death wish but I called you, I tried to make it right, okay? I'm sorry, Damon. And I have nowhere else to go."

"There's nothing here for you, Rose."

"Well, then…"

They hear something. They go in the living room to investigate. The window shatters as a wolf lunges into the living room. Damon grabs a sword hanging on the wall and swings it out. Rose pushes Damon out of the way; the wolf jumps on her, pushing her on her back on the floor, and chomps on her shoulder. Damon stabs the wolf with the sword, and the wolf flees the way it came.

"How bad is it?" He asks.

"It hurts."

He watches as the bite begins to heal. "It's healing."

"Oh my God, I thought a werewolf bite was fatal! I thought…" She begins to cry.

Damon embraces her. "You're gonna be okay."

* * *

Jonas sees Luka walk into the apartment. "You were successful?"

"Of course I was. She fell for the whole…show and didn't suspect a thing." He places the moonstone on the desk.

Jonas takes it. "Thank you, Luka."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to sleep."

"Wait. There's one more thing Elijah needs us to do before we lose the full moon."

* * *

Katherine runs her hands through Trinity's hair as she lies in her lap, asleep. She looks at Stefan. "Are we seriously not going to talk at all?"

"We could talk about how you regret all you've done to make my life miserable. Now you're dragging my best friend into it."

"What do you want me to say, Stefan? That I'm sorry for everything that I've done? Well I'm not, okay? It's called self-preservation. I've been looking out for myself for 500 years."

"Look where it has gotten you."

"Yes, I've done terrible things. I know that, but I do care about her. Even if you don't believe it."

"You want me to believe you? Show me. Do something. Prove to me that there's something inside of you that's actually worth trusting. Something that will make me trust you with my best friend." He tells her.

"And then what? You're still gonna hate me."

"Maybe and maybe I'll see what Trinity sees; that there's still hope for you after all."

"You're playing me."

"Am I?"

"You want to find Klaus? Kill him so that you can protect your precious Elena?"

"Let me guess; you know where he is."

"No, I don't, but I could help you find him."

"For a price I'm sure."

"Start with Isobel, Elena's mother. She was a research expert. She found me." She says. He looks at her, surprised. "You're welcome."

They hear that the door is being opened. They look at each other and Katherine gently moves Trinity before getting up. They go to the entrance and see Elijah.

Katherine is shocked and frightened at the sight of him. "Elijah."

"Good evening Katerina. Thank you for having the good sense to be frightened." He looks at Stefan. "Your release has been requested."

"What? By who?"

"The lovely Elena drives a hard bargain. However, we reached a peaceful agreement, she and I. Please." He gestures for Stefan to walk out of the tomb. "Come."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. I've had the spell lifted." He tells him. Stefan looks into the tomb and shares a look with Katherine before slowly walking out. Once he's out, Katherine rushes to get out too, but Elijah blocks the entrance. He compels her. "As for you however, you should not exit until I say so. When Klaus comes, he'll want to know exactly where you are." He looks at Stefan. "You're free to go. Elena will explain the arrangement to you. If she keeps her word, I'll keep mine." He tells him before leaving.

Katherine looks at him. "Stefan, no. Please don't let him leave me in here." She begs.

"Goodbye Katherine." He tells her. He looks at her. 'Take care of Trinity.' He mouths.

She nods before walking back into the tomb.

* * *

Caroline finally goes into the old Lockwood property to see if Tyler is back to being human. She goes into the cellar and sees him lying on the floor, naked. "Tyler?"

"Caroline." He groans.

"Tyler." She rushes over to him and puts a jacket over his shoulders. "You're okay. You made it. You didn't get out. You're okay."

Tears run down his face. "No, I'm not." He whispers. She takes him into her arms.

* * *

Elena is in her bedroom. She looks out her window she sees Stefan's reflection. She turns around and sees Stefan standing in the doorway.

"Elena? Hey."

She runs into his arms and kisses him. "Hey!" They kiss again and he lays her on the bed.

* * *

Damon is sitting on the couch. Rose rejoins him. "I talked to Caroline. She said Tyler was all locked up." He tells her.

"So it was Jules. The other werewolf, the one who attacked you."

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I picked a fight with her. She was coming after me."

"All's well that ends well."

"You're all healed?"

She nods. "Yeah. Seems that way."

"Rose…I'm happy that the legend was fake. Maybe the werewolves made it up to keep vampires away."

"Lucky me." She says as he lays a hand on her thigh. "I'm gonna stay and help you."

"Help me do what?"

"Save Elena, protect Elena, all things Elena."

"Really? Why?"

"Because I like you. I believe in friendship. I happen to have a vacancy in that department, and you can use all the friends you can get."

"Just friends?"

"Just friends."

She gets up but he catches her arms and kisses her. "Are you sure you can do that?" He asks.

"I don't love men who love other women. I think more of myself than that, but that doesn't mean I can't be your special friend." They laugh.

"I think I like you." He smiles before kissing her again.

She looks at her shoulder. "Ow."

He looks at her shoulder. There are open sores and blisters where she was bitten, and the veins and arteries in the area look blackened and diseased. They look at each other with terror in their eyes.

* * *

Trinity blinks her eyes as she awakens. She looks around the tomb. "Stefan?"

"He's gone."

She looks at Katherine who sits against the wall, knees pulled up to her chest. "What do you mean gone?"

"The spell was lifted."

"And you didn't want to wake me…?"

"I was compelled to stay here by Elijah, who wants to leave me for Klaus to find." She says, staring ahead with a blank look on her face.

Trinity moves closer to her. "We'll figure something out." She says, putting an arm around her.

Katherine leans her head on Trinity's shoulder, breathing in her scent and she fights back tears.


	34. The Descent

A/N: I'm back! I hope everyone had a great holiday. Here's the next chapter.

Chapter Thirty Four: The Descent

In the woods, Jules wakes up naked with blood on her lips. She stands to see mutilated bodies around her. She dresses up with some of the camper's clothes and puts the limbs together so she can make a fire. She's starting the fire when a policeman arrives. She pretends to cry.

He gets out of his car walks towards her. "Good morning. Is everything alright here?"

"It was an animal. A wolf. It came at us in the night."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. But my friends…they're all dead."

"I'm calling it in." He begins to walk back to his car but Jules hits him with a heavy branch. He falls to the ground and she hits him again, killing him.

* * *

Elena walks into the Stefan's bedroom. "Stefan? Stefan?" She stops. "You're standing right behind me, aren't you?"

"Yep." He grins. She turns around and kisses him. "Good morning."

"I don't want us to be apart anymore. Ever."

"Me neither, but…"

"Don't ruin the moment." She kisses him again and Stefan pulls away. "You're about to ruin the moment, aren't you?"

"I'm totally ruining the moment. Look, I can't just pretend like everything is okay."

"Katherine's locked away in the tomb."

Stefan's face darkens a bit when she says Katherine's name, thinking about her relationship with Trinity. "I know but we still have this pressing little issue of you being Klaus' human sacrifice."

She opens one of Stefan's drawers and takes out a vial of vervain. She pulls the cap off. "Yes but Elijah promised to keep me and everyone else safe as long as we play by his rules."

"Right. As long as you play by his rules."

She pours the vervain into a glass. "Please don't go after Isobel."

"Katherine said Isobel could have some answers and I just have a couple questions, that's all."

She adds water into the glass and takes a drink. "Stefan, I made a deal with Elijah."

"Right, you made a deal with him. I didn't make one. You should keep your deal."

"Why would you trust her anyway?"

"Because she was trying to prove a point."

"What?" She asks.

"That she really does care about Trinity. That she's not just using my best friend."

Elena looks shocked. "Trinity? She and Katherine are…" He nods. "But she told me that it was over. That she's not in love with her."

Stefan looks at her. "You knew?"

"When I went to talk to Katherine, she wasn't going tell me anything. I was going to give her blood and she chose to walk away…until Trinity told her to talk."

"Just like that?" He asks, skeptical.

"Just like that." She nods. "So they're still together?"

He sighs. "She said that as long as Katherine is trying to kill her friends, no. But the moments in between…yes."

"When did she tell you this?"

"When I was in the tomb. She came to visit me, or Katherine…or both of us, I guess."

"Where is she now?"

"Probably still there." He tells her. "She was asleep when Elijah let me out."

"You just left her?" Elena asks.

"Katherine is there to take care of her. It's not like it would be the first time."

"How do you feel about it?"

He pauses. "I want Trinity to be happy…but we all know that Katherine will only hurt her in the end." He says. "I'm worried about how she will be when it falls through."

"Because of her Quickening?"

"Some. But mostly because of her. Katherine is her first. And despite what Trinity says, she does love her. That much was clear. I don't want her to go through that kind of pain."

"So what do we do?"

"Nothing." He sighs. "We just have to let it take its course."

She nods before going back to the original subject. "Stefan, I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"When have I ever wanted somebody to get hurt?"

She shows him the glass. "Vervain. I made it light but are you sure? Just because Katherine built up a tolerance…"

"Yes, bottoms up." He takes the glass and drinks. He coughs as the liquid burns its way down.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"How can Elijah compel another vampire?"

"He's an original. I don't really know what that means. I don't think anybody really knows what that means. Well, except maybe Isobel. Maybe we should ask her." He kisses her and leaves.

* * *

Katherine and Trinity are still in the tomb.

"I should get going." Trinity says, but makes no move to remove Katherine's head from her lap.

"When will you be back?"

"Soon." She says. "I just have to take care of a few things." She gestures towards her dead laptop.

Katherine sits up. "I'll see you then." She leans in and kisses her. Trinity pulls back and presses a hand to her temple. "What?"

Trinity goes to answer but clenches her eyes shut as the pain in her head increases. "Ahh!" She falls to the ground.

* * *

Rose is in the library, a sick look on her face when Damon rejoins her. "I was born in 1450. That makes me 560 years old." She tells him.

"Well, if you were a bottle of wine…"

"So I can die. I've lived long enough."

"You know, if you're gonna be morn, I'm just gonna kill you myself just to put me out of your misery." He pours blood into a glass. "Come on, it's just a little werewolf bite."

"Just a little, fatal to a vampire werewolf bite." She sighs.

"Well, according to a legend which is notoriously unreliable source. Drink up." He gives her the glass of blood. "Blood heals."

She drinks it. "Yeah, it does feel like it's working."

"Let's have a look, come on. Let me see." He lifts her shirt, seeing the wound has gotten much worse.

"How is it?"

"Definitely better. Right, Elena?"

Elena walks in and looks shocked by Rose's wound. Rose looks at her. "Um, it's not bad." Elena lies.

"Where's Stefan?" Damon asks.

"He left. I need you to talk to him. He's convinced that he has to find Isobel but I think that's gonna upset Elijah."

"No, can do. I'm with Stefan on this one but if you could play nurse for a little while…"

"It's not necessary."

"It is necessary. Elena is a do-gooder. It's in her nature, she just can't resist." He leaves the room.

Elena looks at Rose for a second, and then follows him. "Damon. Is she gonna die?"

"Probably. The wolf bite caused some kind of infection and it's getting worse."

"Like poison?"

"I don't know, Elena. I'm not an expert in the field."

"I'm sorry." She tells him.

He shrugs. "Death happens. We come, we go. Sooner she dies the better. It's gloomy as hell in here."

* * *

Katherine looks down at Trinity as she holds her head. "What's happening?" She frowns.

"I don't know!" Trinity groans before passing out.

"Trinity!" Katherine shakes her.

* * *

_Flash_

_Trinity stands in the middle of a beautiful meadow._

* * *

_Flash_

_She squints at a figure in the distance._

* * *

_Flash_

_The sky darkens and the wind begins to blow harshly._

* * *

_Flash_

_The figure disappears._

* * *

_Flash_

"_Trinity." She hears a voice whisper._

* * *

Trinity's eyes snap open, seeing Katherine above her, a worried look in her eyes.

"What just happened?" Katherine asks.

Trinity sits up. "I don't know. How long was I out?"

"About half an hour." Katherine goes to bite her wrist but Trinity stops her.

"No. I'm fine."

"You just passed out from a headache. You're not fine." She argues.

Trinity shakes her head as she stands. "I need to…I need to go." She picks up her stuff.

"You just woke up, you need to rest."

"I'm fine." Trinity says as she leaves the tomb.

"Trinity!" Katherine calls.

* * *

Jules walks into the Grill and sees Liz at the bar. She walks up to her. "Sheriff Forbes, hi. I'm Mason Lockwood's friend from Florida."

"Jules, right?"

"Is there any news?"

She shakes her head. "No one's heard from him. I've opened an investigation. As soon as I hear anything I'll let you know."

* * *

Alaric sees them and dials a number on his phone. "Hey, Damon. The wolf is at the grill." He says, watching as she takes a seat a table.

Stefan joins him. He follows his gaze. "Is that the…?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just left Damon a message."

"So you're doing his dirty work for him now."

"She could have a cure for Rose. I couldn't find anything in Isobel's research except that it's fatal."

"Do you still know of a way to get in touch with Isobel?"

"Even if I did, she isn't gonna help."

"Katherine said that Isobel knew of Klaus."

"So this isn't about Rose, it's about Elena. I have an old number, probably out of service."

"No harm in giving it to me then?"

"You know you can't trust Isobel, even when it comes to Elena."

He nods. "I know that."

"Alright. I'm gonna see if I can find the number. If I do, I'll text it to you." Alaric tells him before leaving.

* * *

Trinity flips through her family's journals, trying to find something that explains what happened to her. She slams the book onto the table and runs a hand through her hair in frustration when she finds nothing. She sighs and grabs the keys to her bike before leaving the house.

* * *

Rose and Elena are in Damon's bedroom. Elena puts her in the bed.

"I hate this. I'm a vampire; I haven't had a cold in five centuries." Rose groans.

"Just get in bed." Elena says.

"We don't get sick. When we die, it's fast and sudden and it's certainly not drawn out in illness."

"You're not gonna die."

"Such a human thing to say." She watches Elena look around Damon's room. "You've never been in Damon's room before, have you?" Elena picks up a book, seeing that its 'Gone with the Wind.' "Not what you expected?"

"It's just a room with a bed. Maybe I expected there to be silk sheets." They smile at each other.

"You're lucky, you know. No one's ever love me the way you're loved." Rose tells her.

"I doubt that." Elena says.

"Trevor was my best friend. Nothing more. I spent all those years on the run from Elijah. I just never thought it was a good idea to set up roots. The whole idea of family is not exactly compatible with being a vampire. Why are you so eager to give up?"

"I'm not giving up on anything. Here." She gives her a glass of blood.

"What do you call this whole deal with Elijah?"

"I call it my best option."

"It's your easiest option."

"That's not fair."

"Do you really think that your witch friend destroyed the moonstone?"

"I spoke with Bonnie. I know that she had the help of another witch; unless you mean it's Elijah's witch so no, I don't."

"You really are determined to die, aren't you? At least I ran, you're not even trying." She closes her eyes. "I'm so tired." Elena gets up to leave but stops as Rose begins to talk in her sleep. "No, stop, wait. Tell them to prepare the horses."

"It's okay Rose. Just get some sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up."

"Trevor, don't be so stupid. You're never going to make it there before the sun." Suddenly she sits up. Her face covered in pain. "Elena, Elena, I need more blood."

"Yeah, of course, here." She gives her the glass of blood. Rose drinks but begins to throw everything up. "It's okay, everything's gonna be alright." She rushes to the bathroom. When Elena comes back she sees an empty room. She turns around only for Rose to attack her, slamming her hard against the wall.

"It's all your fault, Katerina. You Katerina, you did this."

"It's Elena. Rose, Rose! I'm Elena!" She chokes out.

"You betrayed us!"

"I'm not Katherine!"

Suddenly Trinity burst in and pushes Rose away.

Rose looks shocked. "Elena?"

"It's me, it's Elena."

Trinity looks between the two. "What the hell is going on?"

"Oh my god Elena. I'm so sorry. I don't know what's happening to me. I'm sorry." Rose cries.

"You're gonna be alright." Elena tells her.

"My mind, I'm…"

"It was just for a second."

"I'm sorry, don't be scared of me."

"I'm not. I'm not, but you need to rest."

Rose lies on the bed. "I'm scared."

"You're not alone. I'm right here." Elena shakes Trinity off when she tries to stop here from stepping closer to the bed.

"Here, where's here?"

"Damon's bedroom, you're in Damon's bedroom."

"I want to go home."

"Tell me about it."

"St. Austel's, 30 kilometers south of London. With fields and trees and horses."

"Sounds beautiful."

"When you live long enough, everything disappears. So much time wasted, I just wish I wouldn't have been so afraid." Rose says before dosing off.

Trinity grabs Elena's hand and drags her out of the room. "What the hell was that?" She asks.

"She was bitten by a werewolf."

"What?"

"You would've known that if you weren't so busy with Katherine." Elena says, keeping her voice in control, her stomach twisting at the thought of Trinity and Katherine.

Trinity sighs. "Katherine has been the least of my problems." She mutters.

"What?" Elena asks, hearing what she said.

Trinity shakes her head. "Nothing."

"Trinity, what did you mean?"

"Nothing that needs to be worried about right now." She tells her.

* * *

Stefan watches Jules from across the girl. He looks at the phone to see that Alaric texted him the number. He calls but no one answers, he decides to leave a message. "Isobel, it's Stefan Salvatore. I need to speak with you, it's about Elena. Please know that it's important." He hangs up and sees Damon, who begins walking towards Jules before he intercepts him.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asks him.

"I'm waiting for you. Listen, there's a lot of people here."

"Oh, damn. There goes my plan to rip her spleen through her back."

"Hey, listen, I know you're upset about Rose."

"Why does everyone think that I'm upset about Rose? I'm fine. I don't know if you know this but sometimes, vampires die. I'm gonna have a friendly chat with lady wolf, brother. Ease up." He walks over to Jules. Stefan's phone rings and he answers it, leaving the Grill.

Jules looks up at Damon. "Well, if it isn't the one I meant to kill…I'll have to get that right next time."

"You won't live to see another full moon unless…unless you tell me how to cure a wolf bite and then I won't kill you."

"Promise?"

"Yes."

"Bite me." She gets up but Damon catches her arm. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Then you are very, very stupid." He growls.

"How's your friend? Rose, is that her name? Have the chills started? The unbearable pain?"

"If there's a cure, tell me or start watching your back."

"Did I mention the dementia? It'll eat away at her brain. Soon she'll be rabid. You want a cure? I'll tell you the only cure that exists; take a stake and drive it through her heart." She leaves.

* * *

Elena and Trinity walk into Damon's room with new sheets. "We brought some clean sheets." She says. They look around and see that the room in empty. They sit the sheet down and search through the house. Elena calls Damon. "It's Elena, I'm worried about Rose. I think you should come home." She hangs up. She hears a noise and goes towards it. "Rose?" She walks into the basement. She finds an empty blood bag and picks it up. She goes farther into the basement and finds Rose drinking blood from a bag, many empty ones surrounding her. "Oh my god."

Rose looks up. "Katerina." She growls.

"No." Elena shakes her head. Rose stands up and Elena runs. "Rose, stop, stop, it's Elena. I'm not Katherine." Rose stops. "You're hallucinating. I'm not Katherine. I'm not Katherine."

Suddenly, Rose grabs her and pushes her to the floor. Trinity appears and wrestles Rose to the ground, struggling to keep her there. Elena pulls open a curtain, shining the sun on them. Rose screams and throws Trinity into a wall. "Run!" Trinity yells.

Elena flees but Rose appears before her and tries to bite her. Trinity flashes over and digs her claws into Rose's wounds. Rose screams and releases Elena, who grabs Trinity's hand and drags her up to Stefan's room. She locks the door and Trinity pushes furniture in front of it. Elena opens the window so the sun can enter the room.

Trinity breaks off the legs of a chair for makeshift stakes. She hands one to Elena. "She's over 500 years old, I can't take her." She says.

Rose tries to open the door. "Elena? I know that's you and not Katherine. Trinity, I'm so sorry. Please, I need your help." She calls.

Elena and Trinity stare at the door until she goes away. Elena sighs and sits on the bed, Trinity joins her. "So how did you end up on Rose watch?" She asks.

"Stefan's out trying to find Isobel and Damon's trying to find a cure." Elena tells her.

"Why does Stefan want to find Isobel?"

"Katherine told him that she may know something about Klaus." Elena says. "She didn't tell you?"

She shakes her head. "I must've been asleep."

"So you and Katherine…I thought that was over."

Trinity sighs. "So did I, but…there's a side of her that she doesn't show anyone. A side that still cares…even if we don't work out, I don't want her to lose that."

"Because you love her?"

Trinity brows furrow in thought. "I've never been in love before. But if this is what it feels like, then yes, because I love her."

* * *

It's now night and Trinity presses an ear to the door. "I don't hear anything." She says. She opens the door and goes downstairs, Elena cautiously following behind her. She sees the front door open when a familiar scent fills her nose and sighs in relief. "Damon's here." They turn around to see him standing behind them.

He looks at Elena. "Are you okay? Where's Rose?"

"I don't know." She says.

* * *

Rose is standing in the high school parking lot.

A man is throwing out some garbage and sees her. "Excuse me, are you okay?" He walks closer to her when she bites him, draining him before letting his body fall to the floor.

* * *

Damon joins the sheriff. The police have found the body. "Hey." He greets.

Liz looks at him. "Thanks for coming so quickly."

"No, I was close by. Liz, what happened?"

"A vampire. Luckily one of my deputies discovered the body before anyone else saw him."

"We have to secure the area then."

She turns to her deputies. "Don't cause a panic, but let's take this party into the cafeteria." She turns back to Damon. "I take the east side of the school, you go west?"

"Sure, okay."

* * *

Trinity walks with Elena, who is on her phone. "Hey, Stefan, it's me. I don't know where you are but please call me. It's important." She hangs up and sees Damon walk up to them. "Hey. Have you heard from him? Do you know what he's up to?"

"My baby brother is not exactly my priority right now. Take this." He gives her a stake. "Come on, let's go." They leave.

* * *

Two students are walking in the parking lot.

"Hey, what was going on back there with the police?" The boy asks.

"Some maintenance man had a heart attack. He just dropped dead." The girl shakes her head. She gets into the car and waits for her boyfriend but he doesn't join her. "Eddie?"

His body falls on the car. The girl screams and gets out of the car. Rose appears before her and bites her.

Damon arrives. "Rose, stop!" She rushes toward him but he catches her and pins her to the ground. "Rose, Rose! It's me, it's Damon. It's Damon."

Her face is normal again. She looks at the girl's body. "Did I do this? I never meant to hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anyone."

"I know."

She looks at Elena and Trinity. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Come on, let's get you home."

"No, I don't have a home; I haven't had a home in so long." She cries. "Oh make it stop, please make it stop! I hate it, make it stop!"

He carries her in his arms and they leave.

* * *

Rose and Damon are in his bedroom. "Hi there." He greets as she wakes up.

"I'm sorry."

"You went on a murderous rampage. It happens." He says as Elena walks into the room.

Rose looks at her. "I'm sorry, Elena. I don't like taking human life, I never have."

"You shouldn't be here." Damon tells her.

"It's the worst part about it; the hunt, the need to kill, the thirst, the pleasure it brings you afterwards. I wasn't meant to be evil. It hurts."

"Stop talking about it." He says.

"Damon's a lot like me. He wants to care but when he does he runs away from it. I'm sorry for what I've done today."

Elena nods. "I know."

"And you need to fight. I know that you're scared but you have to do it anyway." She coughs. Elena comes closer and puts her arm under her neck. "Why are you so nice to me?"

"Us humans." Elena says, a small smile on her lips.

"You can never forget it, what it's like to be human. It haunts me. It's the only thing that's kept me going. It doesn't hurt as much anymore." She says before her face contorts in pain and she begins to scream.

Elena looks at Damon. "What do we do?"

"Go." He says.

"Damon…"

"Just go, I got this."

She leaves and Damon gets in the bed with Rose, taking her into his arms.

"Oh god! Make it stop, make it stop! I can't take it anymore, make it stop!" Rose screams.

* * *

Trinity sees Elena walk out of the boarding house. "Are you ready to go?"

Elena nods and looks around. "Where's your car?" She asks.

"I didn't bring it." She hands her a helmet. "You're gonna need this." Elena takes the helmet, looking at it cautiously. "It's gonna be fine." She says as they walk towards her bike. She gets on and pats the space behind her.

Elena puts on the helmet and takes her seat on the bike. She wraps her arms around Trinity. "Not too fast."

Trinity starts the bike. "Where's the fun in that?" She asks, speeding away from the property.

* * *

"Who would have thought you'd be a nice guy?" Rose asks.

"I'm not nice. I'm mean. I like it" Damon tells her.

"You're lying."

"Shhh, just sleep. Just sleep."

Rose closes her eyes.

* * *

_Rose is in a dress, her hair is long. There are horses. She runs and sits down next to Damon. "This was my favorite place to come as a girl. How did you know?"_

"_Word gets around. You told Elena."_

"_Am I dreaming?" She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "The sun is so warm. I miss this. I miss being human."_

"_Humanity is not all it's cracked up to be."_

"_I had friends, I had a family, I mattered."_

"_You still do." He tells her._

"_No but you do. You built a life whether you want to admit it or not. I spent 500 years just existing."_

"_You didn't have a choice, you were running from Klaus."_

"_There's always a choice."_

"_You know, you're ruining a perfect day with your strange philosophical babbling."_

_She embraces him. "I'd like to enjoy the fresh air. Would you enjoy it with me?"_

"_For a while." He holds her in his arms. They hold hands._

"_Thank you."_

"_For what?"_

"_The pain's gone."_

"_I'm glad."_

"_Will I see them again? My family?"_

"_I think you'll see whoever you want to see."_

"_That would be nice. Maybe I'll see Trevor too. I'm not afraid anymore."_

* * *

In reality, Damon let's go of Rose's hand and pulls out a stake. He holds it over her heart as tears stream down his face.

* * *

_Rose gets up. "I'll race you to the trees."_

"_Well, you'll lose." He teases._

"_I'm older and faster."_

"_Oh, you think?" He gets up._

"_Well, I'm controlling this dream. Maybe I'll cheat."_

"_On the count of three. One, two…"_

* * *

Damon drives the stake through her heart, killing her.

* * *

Parked in the middle of nowhere. Sheriff Forbes joins Damon. He opens his trunk. "Here's your vampire." He looks at Rose's dead body.

Liz looks at him, shocked. "How did you find her?"

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that it's over."

"Thank you Damon. Once again, you've helped keep this town safe."

"I'll take care of burying the body." He closes the trunk.

* * *

At the Grill, Tyler sits across from Jules.

"Thank you for coming." She tells him.

"So what do you want from me?"

"Just to be your friend. Mason would have wanted that. I know about Mason and you."

"You know what?"

"I know you're a werewolf and I know your little friend Caroline is a vampire."

"How do you know about Caroline?"

"You can't sniff them out?" She asks, he doesn't answer. "Oh my god. You're brand new. How many times have you turned?" He remains silent. "Hey, I can help you."

"Do you know where Mason is?"

"He's dead, Tyler. He was murdered."

He shakes his head. "No."

"You want to know who murdered him?"

"Just stop."

"Your little blond vampire did."

"No, Caroline would never do this."

"She and her little vampire friends were behind it, Tyler."

"Caroline is the only vampire in town."

"Is that what she told you? She lied, this town is crawling with vampires but don't worry, we'll get them."

"Who are you?"

"I'm your friend. There are others like us and they're on their way."

* * *

Damon walks back into the house and sees Elena. "You were supposed to leave."

"I did but then I came back to make sure that you're okay." She gives him a glass of scotch.

"I appreciate the gesture. I'm just glad it's over." He drinks.

"You know I don't believe that." She says.

"Go home, Elena. Get some rest. It's a whole new day tomorrow."

"Damon, I'm your friend."

"I'm well aware of that."

"And a friend usually knows when their friend is hurting."

"What do you want to hear? That I cared about Rose? That I'm upset? Well I didn't and I'm not."

"There you go, pretending to turn it off, pretending not to feel. Damon, you're so close, don't give up."

"I feel Elena, okay? And it sucks! What sucks even more is that it was supposed to be me. Jules was coming after me."

"You feel guilty." She realizes.

"That would be human of me, wouldn't it Elena? And I'm not human. You want to talk about giving up? That's all you've done is given up! Go home. It's been enough doom, gloom and personal growth for one night."

"Okay, I will." She hugs him. "Goodnight Damon." She says before leaving.

* * *

Elena walks into her house and sees Stefan. "Stefan, you're home."

"Rose?" He asks. Elena shakes her head. "I…I called Isobel."

"I know."

"I'm sorry, I had to."

"It's okay. Did you find her?"

John walks into the room. "Not exactly. Hello Elena."

She looks at him, shocked. "Uncle John."

* * *

A girl is driving but she stops because a man is lying in the middle of the road. She gets out and rushes over to him. It's Damon. "Sir, are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm…lost." He says.

"And you're lying in the middle of the road?"

"Not that kind of lost." He sits up. "Metaphorically, existentially."

"Do you need help?"

"Well, yes I do. Can you help me?" He takes a flask from his pocket and drinks.

"You're drunk."

"No. Well, yes a little maybe." He admits. She starts to leave. "No please don't leave. I really do need help." He flashes in front of her and compels her. "Don't move."

"I don't want any trouble."

"Neither do I but all I got is trouble."

"Why can't I move?" She asks, fear in her eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Jessica."

"Hi Jessica. I have a secret, I have a big one and I never said it out loud. I mean, what's the point? It's not gonna change anything, it's not gonna make me good, make me adopt a puppy. I can't be what other people want me to be, what she wants me to be. This is who I am, Jessica."

"Are you gonna hurt me?"

"I'm not sure because you are my existential crisis. Do I kill you or do I not kill you?"

She begins to cry. "Please don't."

"But I have to, Jessica because I'm not human and I miss it. I miss it more than anything in the world! That is my secret but there is only so much hurt a man can take."

"Please, don't."

Tears form in his eyes. "Okay. You're free to go." She runs to her car but Damon rushes over to her and bites her. He drops her body to the ground.

* * *

Trinity walks into the tomb to see Katherine lying down, asleep. She sits by her and brushes the hair from her face.

Katherine opens her eyes at the touch. "You were gone a while."

Trinity sighs. "Yeah. My day was a lot busier than I expected." She says, caressing Katherine's face.

"What happened?"

"I fought and hid from a rabid 560 year old vampire."

Katherine sits up with a worried looks on her face. "What?"

"It's okay. She's dead."

"Who?"

"Rose. There's a werewolf in town. She got bit. She went crazy. End of story."

"Were you hurt?"

"No, she was too busy trying to kill Elena, thinking that she was you."

"And the werewolf?"

Trinity shrugs. "I don't know. She's probably still in town."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You mean other than passing out from extreme pain and then rushing out of here?" Katherine asks.

"I'm sorry." Trinity tells her. "I thought that there would be something in my family journals to explain what happened. There wasn't."

"So what does that mean?" She asks.

Trinity shakes her head. "I don't know."


	35. Daddy Issues

Chapter Thirty Five: Daddy Issues

Caroline leaves her house out and locks the door. She turns around to find Tyler waiting by her car. "Hey. How's it going?"

"We need to talk." He says.

"Yeah, we do. Listen…I've been thinking about it, and I don't want to over analyze. It was just one kiss, but Matt's still kind of in the picture. We can't go there, Tyler."

"Fine."

"Great. That's settled." She goes to open her car.

"What happened to my uncle Mason?"

She turns around. "What?"

"He's dead, and I want you to tell me what happened."

"I…I don't…"

"Then let me tell you; Stefan and his brother Damon killed him, because Stefan and Damon are vampires, just like you."

"Who told you that?"

"Is it true?"

"Let me explain."

"Did you know he was dead this whole time?"

"Please…"

"Did you know?!" He yells. She nods, and Tyler pushes her angrily against the car.

"I'm sorry, Tyler. I'm sorry."

"I trusted you!" He lets her go and storms away, leaving Caroline stunned and upset.

* * *

Trinity stands from the ground. "I have to go." Katherine stands as well and cups her face, kissing her. "Really." She says, but Katherine kisses her again. "I guess I can stay a bit longer."

Katherine smiles into the next kiss as she begins to lift Trinity's shirt.

* * *

Damon is in his bathroom, in the shower. He's listening to the news, and walks into his bedroom to watch. _"The authorities believe last night's assailant may also be related to the missing campers and Park ranger who have yet to be found, as well as 25 year old Jessica Koenig, reported missing this morning. The sheriff department says investigations are pending and no further comment will be made."_ The reporter says.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, John is in the kitchen, watching the same news channel on TV when he sees Elena walk in. "Good morning."

"What are you doing here?" She asks.

"Coffee?" He holds up a mug.

She shakes her head. "We're not doing that. We did that last night. No more avoiding. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to protect you. That's all I can say for the moment."

"What do you mean that's all you can say?"

"I'll tell you more when I'm convinced I can trust you."

Jenna and Alaric enter the room. "I'm late." She tells him.

"That's what you get for hitting the snooze three times!" Alaric chuckles.

She sees John. "What the hell?"

"Good morning to you, Jenna. Alaric…" He greets.

"It's okay I'm confused, right? Because we were not expecting you, like, ever." She says.

"Well, I got in late last night. Elena let me in."

"You know, I'm probably just gonna take off." Alaric shares a look with Elena before leaving.

"I'm still confused here." Jenna says.

"I decided to come back and stay for a while."

"Not here, you're not."

"Actually, you can't stop me from living here." He tells her.

"Actually I can, as legal guardian."

"Yeah, about that…Elena, you want me to explain the situation, or would you like to do the honors?" He asks.

Jenna looks between them. "Okay, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Jenna. I should have told you earlier, but-" Elena starts but John interrupts her.

"I'm Elena's biological father. There, now you know." He walks away, leaving Elena alone to deal with a confused Jenna.

"What?!" Jenna asks.

* * *

Damon and Trinity are in Stefan's bedroom. "You brought back John Gilbert? That was your big 'Save Elena' move?" Damon asks him.

"I went to go look for Isobel, and I get John instead. He said he can help us, and we're desperate."

"We're not that desperate, Stefan." Trinity says.

Damon nods in agreement. "The guy tried to barbecue us!"

"Damon, Bonnie's new witch friend is working with Elijah, so we have to assume that the moonstone was never destroyed. Elena is putting all of her faith into some deal that she made with Elijah to keep everyone safe. I mean, do you trust Elijah? I don't trust him. He's an Original, he can't be trusted. It's not like we can just go up and kill him, because apparently, he can't die!"

"I'm still waiting for the part where John Gilbert is the answer." Trinity says.

"He knew about the sacrifice, Isobel told him. He said he knew of a way to keep Elena safe."

"And how do we do that?" Damon asks.

"He's not talking. At least not to me anyway."

"Great work Stefan. Top notch. As if I didn't have enough problems."

"Hey, I'm sorry about Rose."

Damon shrugs. "Whatever. I knew the woman for 5 minutes."

"And you cared about her after 5 minutes." Trinity says.

"I wonder what that means?" Stefan asks.

Damon rolls his eyes. "It means I care, Stefan. It means I'm changing, evolving into a man capable of greatness. Better watch your back, because I may just have to go get a hero-hairdo of my own, and steal your thunder." He leaves. Trinity shakes her head and follows after him.

Stefan's phone buzzes and he checks it, seeing that it's a message from Caroline.

* * *

"So what's on the to-do list today?" Trinity asks Damon.

"I'm gonna find John and kill him."

"Alright."

He looks at her. "You're not going to give me a lecture? 'No Damon, you can't do that?'"

She shakes her head. "I agree with you. I don't see how John being here can help. His idea of protecting Elena is ridding all supernatural from her life, i.e. us."

"Well then, it looks like you're my sidekick today."

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, the doorbell rings. "I got it, Mom." Tyler opens the door, seeing its Jules and lets her in.

* * *

Stefan walks into Caroline's house. "What's wrong?" He asks.

"Tyler knows about you and Damon. He knows that Damon killed Mason. I didn't say a word." She tells him.

Stefan nods. "It's that woman, Jules. She had a run-in with Damon."

"Tyler was so upset. The look on his face, he was so betrayed."

"Wow, this is bad."

"You're not gonna tell Damon, are you?"

He shakes his head. "No! He already wants to kill him. He thinks all werewolves should die, and he's not wrong to think that, Caroline. I mean, what if Tyler tries to retaliate? He has every right to. He could get himself killed."

"Well, we're not gonna let that happen. We have to get to him and reason with him before he does something stupid. You have to talk to him. Just try to explain, you know? You always know the right things to say, okay? He and I…we're friends."

* * *

"I was right, wasn't I?" Jules asks. "Your little vampire friend, she was lying."

"What do you want?" He asks.

"I want you to understand that a vampire will never be your friend. It's our nature to be enemies."

"You know how stupid that sounds?"

"You need to leave here, it's not safe."

"I can't just run away with you. I don't even know you. My mom would freak. My life is here."

"Your old life. Your new life is just beginning. You have so much to learn."

"Like what?"

"How to survive. You've triggered the curse, Tyler. It's important you learn what it means to be a lycanthrope. We live by a code of loyalty; we take care of each other. It's my duty and honor to help you. Please let me."

* * *

Elena lets Damon and Trinity in. He looks around. "Where's John?"

"He's not here, he left." She tells him as she closes the door. "I don't know where he went. He just blew in, announced to Jenna that he's my dad, and then took off."

"That's public knowledge now?"

"Apparently?"

"Are you okay?" Trinity asks her.

"Yeah. Jenna's head spinning, but I'm okay."

"He said what he was doing here?" He asks.

"No. You know, Stefan thinks that he's telling the truth about wanting to help me." Elena says.

"Do you believe him?"

She shakes her head. "No, I don't believe him for a second."

"Neither do we." Trinity says.

"What are we gonna do?"

"Kill him." Damon says and turns to leave.

"Damon…" Elena sighs.

He turns around. "I'm joking." He pauses. "Okay, I'm a little serious."

"Damon!"

"I'm not gonna hurt him, Elena. I'm the good guy now, remember?"

"What does that mean?"

"I'm gonna have a civil conversation with your father." He and Trinity leave.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Elena says, following them.

* * *

Tyler is on the computer in his dad's office when he sees Stefan is in the room. He tries to leave, but Stefan stops him. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I just want to talk."

"Then why did you break in?" Tyler asks.

"Would you have let me in otherwise?"

* * *

Carol walks downstairs and gets ready to leave. "Tyler?" She calls.

* * *

Tyler tries to run, but Stefan stops him and pushes him against a table, his face changes. "Shh. Not a word."

* * *

"Tyler? I'm leaving for the memorial." She says before leaving.

* * *

Jules arrives at a RV and knocks on the door. "Brady?" She opens the door but sees no one there. She turns around to see him stand behind her. She smiles and kisses him. "This is a hard place to find."

"You told me to stay under the radar." He says.

"Thanks for coming."

"Are you sure these vamps killed Mason?"

"Positive. You have to be careful."

"I'm not afraid of a vampire."

"I know, baby, but I want the boy more than I want vengeance."

"I say let's get both." He kisses her.

* * *

Stefan releases Tyler. "Maybe we're getting off on the wrong foot here."

"What happened to Mason?" He asks.

"Tyler, there's a lot for us to talk about." He tries to leave but Stefan catches him. "I wouldn't do that. Without a full moon, you're no match for me."

* * *

In the Town Square, John joins Carol Lockwood at the memorial.

"It's good to have you back, John. We could really use you." She tells him.

"And the council? What are they doing?"

"Damon Salvatore is leading the council now. Talk to him. Excuse me." A woman arrives to talk to Carol. She leaves.

Jeremy walks by, and John stops him. "Jeremy, there you are."

"Looks like I slept through the homecoming."

"You didn't miss much. Let's say that no one's happy to see me would be an understatement."

"Look, things are different now. You can't come around and start up with all this anti-vampire stuff." He says.

"I have no intention of doing that. How's that ring been treating you?"

"Look, if this is what you came for, just take it and go." He hands him the ring, but John doesn't take it.

"What kind of a man would I be if I took that from you? You want to go grab some lunch?"

"I think I'll pass." He says and watches as John walks away. He sees Bonnie and smiles.

* * *

Jonas approaches Bonnie on the street. "Hello, Bonnie."

"I don't have anything to say to you, Dr. Martin, or your son." She tells him.

"You must be feeling very confused about us."

"There's nothing confusing about it. I trusted Luka, and he betrayed me. Elena told me you were both working for Elijah, so don't lie about it."

"I won't, but that doesn't mean we're not also looking out for you."

"Spare me the witch loyalty crap."

"You might not want to believe this, but Elijah is a man of his word. You can trust that he'll keep his end of the deal with Elena to keep you and your friends protected."

"You're right, I don't believe it."

Jeremy approaches them. "Is there a problem here?"

"Not at all." Bonnie says, and she and Jeremy leave, arm in arm.

"What was that about?" He asks.

"More lies."

* * *

At the Grill, Jenna and Alaric are talking at a table while they eat lunch.

"I can't believe it. Elena is my sister's husband's brother's daughter and her mother is my boyfriend's deceased wife. You can't make this stuff up." She says.

"It's definitely a little overwhelming."

"I can't believe that they kept it a secret. How is it even possible to keep a secret like that?"

John enters the Grill and joins them. "Hey you two. Do you think I can join you?"

"Do you have to?" Jenna asks.

"I guess I don't have to, but might as well. Look who's here." John turns his head and sees Elena, Damon, and Trinity.

* * *

Elena turns to Damon. "We just need answers. Please don't do anything stupid."

"Yeah, but stupid is _so_ much more fun." He says.

"Damon, I mean it. All I'm asking is that you try to keep it together. Be the better man."

"Okay then."

Trinity looks at Damon. 'Whipped.' She mouths.

He rolls his eyes and walks up to John. "John, buddy, how have you been?"

"I've been alright, Damon. It's good to see you."

* * *

"Look, about Caroline, no matter what her flaws are, when push comes to shove, you're gonna want that girl on your side. She's your friend, stop being a dick to her." Stefan tells Tyler.

"I thought vampires hated werewolves."

"That's some sort of leftover idea from another time. It doesn't have to be that way anymore. We go to the same school, we have the same friends. We keep the same secrets. This can work, Tyler. I mean, it's your home, it's my home too. I want this to work."

Tyler's phone rings. They stare at each other for a moment, before Tyler slips past Stefan and answers it. It's Jules. "Help, help!"

Stefan grabs the phone and throws it on the desk. "Who's number was that?" He asks but Tyler remains silent. "Damn it Tyler! I'm trying to save your life, can't you see that?"

* * *

Jules hangs up. She looks at Brady with a worried look on her face. "We have a problem."

* * *

At the Grill, John is lighting a candle for the victims. Damon and Trinity join him.

"So, John. Rumor has it that you know a lot, and won't say anything." Damon says.

"How do I know you can be trusted, Damon? Originals can compel vampires. And, according to Stefan, that's why Katherine's still in the tomb, because an Original has compelled her to stay there."

"Only because all of the vervain had left her system." Trinity says.

Damon smirks. "Stefan and I, on the other hand, are chock full."

John looks at him, shocked. "You guys are drinking vervain?"

"It's an acquired taste." He pauses. "I don't see that magic little ring on your stitched finger, so if you know something about Klaus, you better start talking, or I will kill you in your sleep."

"I can do a pretty good animal attack." Trinity adds.

"Is that any way to convince me that you and I are on the same side? First, I need to know that I can trust you, Damon, that I can count on you. Then we'll talk." He leaves.

Trinity looks at Damon. "I say we torture him and he decides which is more important, his trust or his life."

"Why couldn't you have been this fun when I first met you?" He asks.

* * *

Meanwhile, Caroline is in the parking lot.

Matt approaches her. "Hey! Hey!"

"Hey."

"I haven't seen you." He says.

"I'm not avoiding you, I swear."

"Yeah, you're avoiding me a little."

"Okay, maybe a little." She admits.

"Can we talk later? I mean, I'm heading to work right now, but maybe after, to clear some of this weirdness?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'd really like that. I'll just swing by when you're closing?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay, bye." She watches him walk away. Caroline goes to her car and senses that someone's behind her.

"Excuse me, Caroline right?" Jules asks.

"Yeah."

"I'm looking for Tyler. You haven't seen him, have you?"

She shakes her head. "No, not since earlier. Sorry."

"I know you're lying."

"Really? How? Is that one of your little wolf tricks?"

"Actually, it is."

"Well, I have a trick too." Her face changes and she turns around, but Jules sprays her with vervain. Caroline yells in pain and turns around again only for Brady to shoot her in the head.

* * *

Caroline wakes up in a cage in Brady's RV. She screams a little as she digs the bullet out of her head. She tries to unlock the cage, but sees Brady and stops.

"I see you got the bullet out. That was nasty. I got lots of wooden bullets, other toys. It's gonna be a long night, sweet pea." He shoots her and she screams.

* * *

"You want to be friends, great, we're friends. Will you go now?" Tyler asks.

"I don't know what else to say to you Tyler. I came back to this town because I wanted a life, I wanted to exist where I could have friends and where I could build a family. I have that here, we can both have that." Stefan says before his phone rings. He sees that its Caroline and picks up. "Hey. Is everything okay?"

"_That depends. How badly do you want to keep her alive?"_

"Who is this?"

"_Ask your brother. Where's Tyler?"_

"Jules? Where's Caroline?"

"_You made a mistake, Stefan. I'm gonna give you a chance to fix it."_

"Where is she?"

"_Right here. Want proof?"_

* * *

Jules joins Caroline and Brady. "He needs proof."

He shoots Caroline and she screams.

* * *

"What's happening?" Tyler asks, seeing the dark look on his face.

"Hurt her again and you're dead." Stefan growls.

"_I hurt her again, and she's dead. Bring Tyler to me, the clearing by Wickery Falls. You have 20 minutes until she dies." _She hangs up.

* * *

Damon is at the bar when Jenna joins him. She's with a woman. "So, my friend wants to meet you. Damon Salvatore, this is…"

He looks at her. "I know you. The news lady."

The woman nods. "Yeah, Andie Star. Nice to meet you. Can I buy you a drink, Damon?" She asks. Elena and Trinity watch them.

"My glass is all full, Andie. Thank you." He returns to the two girls.

"You totally blew her off." Elena says.

"I'm steering clear of all women at the moment."

"You didn't have to be rude." Trinity tells him.

"Trust me; it's in the best interest of women everywhere."

Elena's phone rings and she answers it. "Stefan? What is it?" She looks at Damon and Trinity.

* * *

They regroup in the restroom.

"Why am I just finding out about this now?" Damon asks.

"Stefan was worried that you-" Elena starts.

"That I'll what? That I'd kill him? Of course, it's what's need to happen."

"No, Damon, not Tyler. Do whatever you need to do to get Caroline back but just leave Tyler out of it, okay?" Elena says, Trinity nodding in agreement.

"Why? He's a werewolf, he needs to die. I'm willing to kill him, it's win-win."

She touches his arm. "Damon please, okay? Too many people are dead."

"You need to stop doing that." He tells her.

"Doing what?"

"Assuming that I'll play the good guy because it's you who's asking."

"Be the better man, Damon."

John enters the room and looks at them.

"Do you mind?" Trinity says.

"What's going on?" He asks.

"Nothing." Elena says.

"It doesn't look like nothing."

"Well guess what John, trust works both ways. Get out." Trinity tells him.

Elena sighs. "Look, we don't have time for this. We need to get Caroline back."

"_We_ don't need to do anything. We'll-" He motions between him and Trinity. "take care of it." He turns around and looks at John. "First dad duty; ground your daughter. Keep her here." He and Trinity leave.

"I'm coming with you." Elena tries to follow but John stops her.

"No, no, no, no, no. I'm with Damon on this one." He says and she tries to step around him. "No, stop, stop. You're not going anywhere. Just tell me what's going on."

* * *

Brady watches as Caroline cries. "So, How many vampires are there in this town anyway?" She doesn't answer, so he shoots her with a squirt gun filled with vervain. She screams. "No?"

"Why are you doing this to me?! Why are you doing this? Why?" She cries.

"You're a vampire. Why not?" She screams again when he shoots a wooden dart into her neck. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Let me out!"

"Excuse me? What was that?"

"Let me out!"

Brady leaves to join Jules outside. "Get it out of your system?" She asks.

He shakes his head. "No, I'm just getting started."

"Brady, let's be smart about this. I just want the boy. It's our duty to help him, it's who we are."

"You want to talk duty and honor? These are vampires. They cross one of us, they cross all of us. _That's_ who we are."

* * *

Elena storms out of the restroom, but John stops her. "You're not leaving this restaurant."

"You can't tell me what to do." She tells him.

"Yes I can. You want to know why? Because I'm here to make sure you stay safe."

"I've got that covered."

"Are you talking about the deal that you made with Elijah? Do you really think he's gonna keep his promise to you? Putting your faith in him was a dumb move."

"Are you saying I should put my faith in you? After everything that you did to Damon, Stefan, and Trinity?"

"We've had our differences, and I've made mistakes, but you and I, we're family."

"You don't get to use that word. That word is off-limits to you!"

He sighs. "Fine, but it doesn't change the facts."

"You're right. Facts are facts, so listen up; you may be my father, but I'm never going to be your daughter, you got that?" She leaves.

* * *

Jules is alone. Suddenly she hears something. "I know you're out there."

Stefan walks out of the woods with Tyler. "Where's Caroline?"

"Locked up tight."

"Let her go, and I'll release Tyler. It doesn't have to get any messier than it already has. I'm not your enemy, Jules."

"It's a little late to be waving the white flag, don't you think?"

"You need to leave town. No one else has to get hurt."

"I'm not leaving without Tyler."

"Tyler is free to make his own decisions, as soon as you release Caroline."

Damon and Trinity arrive. "My brother the peacemaker. Since Stefan got here before me I'm gonna let him try it his way before I resort to my way, which is a little bloodier. So give us Caroline."

"Let go of Tyler." She says.

"Give us Caroline. Without a full moon it's not an even fight and you know it. We will take you."

"I'm not so sure about that, tough guy." She whistles, and the rest of her pack walks out of their hiding places, all holding stakes and cross-bows. "Let's try this again. Give us Tyler."

Trinity looks at Tyler. "You heard her. Go. Get over there." He walks over to Jules.

"Which one of you killed Mason?" Brady asks.

"Uh, that'd be me." Damon raises his hand.

"Boys, make sure that one suffers."

Damon looks at Stefan. "We can take them."

"I don't know about that."

"Well then…" He rushes over Jules, but she flips onto the top of the RV. Tyler has gone inside. One of the werewolves tries to burn Stefan, but he takes the flamethrower from him and burns two werewolves with it. One of the werewolves jumps on Damon, but he rips his heart out before he gets to him. Trinity sinks her claws into a werewolf's stomach and disembowels him before moving on to another.

* * *

Inside the RV, Tyler sees Caroline in the cage. "Tyler, there's a latch on the door and I can't get to it." He hesitates. "Tyler?"

* * *

Outside, Stefan kills a werewolf. Another throws a stake at him but he catches it.

* * *

"Tyler, please!" Caroline begs. "Tyler?"

He finally walks toward the cage and opens it for her.

* * *

Stefan fights with one of the werewolves and drive his stake through his body. Another shoots an arrow at him, but he catches it and throws it in his neck. The werewolf falls on the ground. Trinity snaps a werewolf's neck and tosses his body to the ground before shoving her claws through another's neck. Another goes behind Stefan and drives a stake through his back. Stefan falls on the ground. Damon fights with Brady, but Jules arrives and shoots him with a wooden bullet. He falls to the ground.

* * *

Tyler opens the cage so Caroline can leave, but Jules catches her, pushes her against the RV and puts a gun to her back. Tyler sees Caroline being held at gunpoint, but he doesn't do anything. Brady grabs a stake and is about to kill Damon, but suddenly, all of the werewolves who are still alive, except Tyler, begin to scream in pain. They all grab their hands in their hands and fall to their knees.

"What's happening?" Caroline asks.

"What the hell is going on?" Tyler looks around.

Jonas Martin appears. He's casting a spell on the werewolves to give them all repeated aneurysms. Damon and Stefan get up from the ground. "Elijah made a promise to Elena. I'm here to see it's upheld. You need to go. Get out of here. Now." They leave. Jonas look at Tyler. "When your friends awaken, give them a message; They need to get the hell out of this town." He tells him before leaving as well.

* * *

Stefan walks Caroline to her doorstep. "So is your mom home?"

"No, she's at work." She tells him.

"I can come in, if you want me to."

"I'm fine, Stefan."

"You don't have to pretend with me. Anybody would be upset after what you went through tonight."

"I'm okay. I'm not girly little Caroline anymore, I can handle myself."

"Sure you can."

"I just really want to go shower so…"

"Okay."

"Goodnight." She says.

"Goodnight."

She walks inside and closes the door.

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon opens the door to find John on the front step. "What do you want?"

"We didn't finish our conversation."

"I'll bite." He reluctantly allows John into the house.

"I've been thinking. Personal feelings aside Damon, I think you and Stefan and Trinity will do all you can to protect Elena."

"I agree with that statement."

"So I come bearing gifts." He opens a folded cloth, which holds a silver dagger and a jar full of ash.

"What is that?"

"This is how you kill an Original. In this vial is ash from a white oak tree that dates back to the genesis of the Originals. The dagger must be dipped into the ash, and then plunged into their heart."

Damon takes the dagger. "How do you know all this, John?"

"Isobel. She's very good at finding out things. But, of course, you know that."

"Where is Isobel?"

"Let's just say if she accomplishes what she's attempting, Klaus will never set foot in Mystic Falls. Where Elena's concerned, you and I are on the same side." He leaves.

* * *

Caroline is in her bedroom and is looking at her wounds. Her phone rings, it's Matt. "Hi."

"_Hey. Did something happened?"_

"Oh my…I'm so sorry Matt."

"_Are you okay?"_

"Yeah. Something came up with Bonnie and she needed me, a friend thing. You understand?"

* * *

Matt turns his head and sees Bonnie and Jeremy laughing at a table. "Yeah, so you're with her right now?"

"_Yeah. So I'm not gonna make it tonight, but can I see you tomorrow?"_

"Yeah, sure. I hope everything works out. Goodnight." He hangs up.

* * *

Caroline hears knocking on the door and opens it, seeing Tyler.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"I'm fine."

"I had no idea they would come for you."

"Do you know what they did to me?" She asks.

"I'm sorry, but it's crazy now, okay? I don't know who to trust. You lied to me."

"I lied to protect my friends. I lied to protect _you_. Don't you get that?"

"Caroline…"

"You just stood there when they were going to kill us. You just stood there! You didn't do anything!"

"I didn't know what to do!"

"You help your friend, that's what you do."

"I'm sorry."

She shakes her head. "No, it's too late, because we're not friends anymore. And what happened to me tonight; that will never happen again. So, you take that back to your little werewolf pack and you get the hell out of my house!" She slams the door in his face.

* * *

Elena takes a bottle of water in the fridge and when she closes it, John is waiting for her on the other side of the door. "I'm sorry about earlier." He says.

"Enough, already." She sighs. "I don't want you here and I can't make that anymore clear."

"I didn't come here to fight with you, Elena."

"Yeah, I know, you're here to protect me. Got it, get in line."

"I thought you might want this. It was you mother's." He hands her a bracelet.

"Isobel?"

"No, your mother, Miranda. I remember her wearing it when she was young. I found it in a box, with some things that your dad left me. Here, it's yours now."

"Miranda and Grayson were your parents, Elena, and I know I'm nothing to you. You have no reason to believe me or trust me. I've done so many horrible things, but when you lost your parents, I lost my brother, my family. I lost my way. I know that I probably won't ever make things right with you, but I'm gonna do everything I can to protect you and protect this family." He leaves.

Tears stream down her face. She turns and sees Stefan. She rushes into his arms.

"Elena."

"Are you okay?" She asks.

"I'm fine."

"Did you hear that? I don't believe him, Stefan. I just don't. What happened tonight? How's Caroline?"

"I could use your help…"

* * *

Tyler knocks on the door of the RV. Jules let him in, and he joins her and Brady. "Hey, come on in." She says.

"I'm sorry about your friends." He sits down. "It's not always like this, is it?"

"No. Is it Brady?" She asks.

"No, man. You're living in vampire country, that's all. It's way better than this."

"Mason didn't tell me anything about it. He was gone. Dead I guess, before he could help me." Tyler says.

"I don't get what Mason was even doing here in the first place."

"His brother died. You know that, Brady." Jules says.

"Why was he stupid enough to stay and get himself killed?"

"Because of this rock he was trying to find." Tyler says.

Brady looks at him, confused. "What rock?"

"A moonstone."

Brady gives Jules a knowing look.

"I had no idea." She says.

"What?" Tyler asks.

Brady looks at him. "A moonstone? Did he find it?"

"Yeah." He nods.

"Where is it now?"

Tyler shrugs. "I couldn't tell you."

"What about that girl that was with the vampires?" Jules asks. "What is she?"

"Trinity?" He asks. "I've barely spoken to her. She hangs out with them a lot."

"She not a vampire." Brady tells him.

"She's a werewolf too?"

"We don't know what she is." Jules says. "And that could be a problem."

* * *

Stefan knocks on the door and Caroline opens it. "What's going on?" She asks.

"I was a bit worried about you, after everything you went through tonight."

"I'm fine."

"Good. But, just in case, I brought some back up."

Elena and Bonnie appear behind him. "We're gonna slumber it!" Elena smiles.

"We haven't done it in ages." Bonnie says.

Caroline cries. The girls all hug each other. Elena looks at Stefan, and mouths 'I love you'. He mouths 'I love you' as well.

* * *

Damon is taking a bubble bath with Andie Star.

"I can't believe you called me. I thought I was being way top forward when I had Jenna give you my number." She says.

"I like a woman who knows what she wants." He says.

"Thank you! So, what do you want Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome?

"I'm not that tall." He pauses. "I need a distraction."

"You can booty-call me anytime you want."

"You see, the thing is, Miss Sexy-Reporter-Girl, I have a problem I need help with. It's really messing with my mind."

"Oh, tell me about it."

"I'm in love with a woman I can never have."

"I knew it. I know how to pick them. So, why can't you have her? She's with another man, I assume?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point. The point is, I'm in love with her, and that drives me crazy. I'm not in control."

"You don't trust yourself around her?"

"I don't trust myself around anyone, Andie. I'm bad, Andie. I do things. I kill people." A look of fear crosses her face before he compels her. "Don't be afraid, you're okay."

"Why do you kill people?"

"Because I like it. It's in my nature, it's who I am. But then, I have to stay together to protect her, and she wants me to be the better man, which means I can't be who I am. Do you see the problem I'm having, Andie?"

"Well, maybe this is who you are now. Love does that Damon, it changes us."

"Just stop talking. Just kiss me, be my distraction." He kisses her. After a moment, Damon lunges forward and bites her on the neck and feeds on her.

* * *

In the tomb, Katherine is sitting on the ground, but she gets up when she hears a noise. She sees John.

"I know you were expecting someone else." He says.

Her shoulders slump in disappointment, expecting Trinity. "I sent Stefan to find Isobel."

"She got your message. She was busy, so she sent me instead."

"Does Stefan know that you're here right now?"

"No. No one does. This is between you, me, and Isobel."

"I want out of this tomb, John."

"I'm already on it."

* * *

Later that night, Trinity walks into the tomb.

Katherine looks up from the laptop. "I thought you weren't coming."

"Well there's never a dull day in Mystic Falls." She says as she sits down next to her, kissing her cheek before trailing a few kisses to her lips.

Katherine closes the laptop and looks at her. "What happened?"

"Got in a fight with a pack of werewolves."

"What?!"

"They kidnapped Caroline. We kicked ass until Elijah's witch came to save us."

"How come every time you leave here, you come back with a story about your near death experience?"

Trinity scoffs. "I would hardly call that a near death experience." She says before her face sobers.

"What?" Katherine asks.

"I killed people today."

"You've done that before."

"I've killed vampires in a vicious rage but tonight…I was in control. I knew exactly what I was doing."

"Trinity…if you hadn't killed them, they would've killed you and everyone you care about."

"I know." She nods. "But what about their families? With vampire's I can assume that all their families are dead. No one to miss them. But there's gonna be people who are wondering where their sons are, their brothers…"

"You can't think like that." Katherine tells her. "What about your family? They were standing between you and the people you consider family. There was nothing else for you to do." She says thinking of her own situation and her betrayal to Trinity. She pulls Trinity into her arms. "That's war. That's life. There's nothing you could change about it. You can only make your choice; kill or be killed."


	36. Crying Wolf

Chapter Thirty Six: Crying Wolf

In the woods, dead werewolves lie in a pile next to a bonfire. Brady carries another body of a dead friend over his shoulder and places him on the pile. He looks over at Jules, who is watching the fire burn the bodies; she looks up at him, sadly. Wordlessly, they walk over to Stevie, who is pacing in front of the trailer.

"Go ahead." Brady says. "Tell her."

Stevie turns to Jules. "Let me just preface this with a big disclaimer that screams, 'I should have known better.'"

"What is it, Stevie?" She asks.

"When Brady told me what that Tyler kid said about Mason being here for the moonstone, something clicked. There was this moment back in Florida when I suspected Mason was up to something because he was banging that hot, vampire chick Kathy and he didn't want anyone to know."

Jules looks agitated. "All right. Just get to the point, Stevie."

"That is the point, Jules. It's the sun and moon curse. Mason was asking me all kinds of questions about it, if it could be broken, and when that evil man-witch showed up last night, double-click. Witches, vampires, moonstone. They're putting everything in place to break the curse."

"We can't let them do that, even if we have to kill every last vampire in this town." Brady says.

* * *

At the Forbes house, Elena's cell phone goes off; waking up the trio of girls, Caroline promptly pushes her out of bed. "Go away!" She says.

"Ugh." Elena grunts as she lands on the floor. She shoots an angry look at Caroline and crawls across the floor towards her phone and takes it off the dresser. "Hello?"

Caroline and Bonnie look over at Elena from the bed, both incredibly annoyed with being awaken.

"Shhh." Bonnie glares through bleary eyes.

"Elena!" Caroline groans.

Elena drags herself out of Caroline's room and continues her conversation in the hallway.

"_How was the slumber party?" _Stefan asks.

"Good and much needed." She tells him before grinning. "When can you and I have one?"

"_Mmm. That can be arranged."_

"Okay. Now. Today. Take me far, far away."

"_Even with everything that's going on?"_

"Because of everything that's going on."

"_And you're sure this has nothing to do with dodging your father who just got into town?"_

"Uh, this has everything to do with that."

"_Well, in that case, where would you like to go?"_

Elena smiles as an idea comes to mind.

* * *

Trinity smiles as she gazes at Katherine's sleeping form before carefully moving away. She shifts into her puppy form and begins to quietly walk away when a voice stops her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Katherine asks, opening her eyes. Trinity turns and widens her eyes. Katherine shakes her head. "Don't give me the puppy dog eyes."

Trinity shifts back into her human form. "I didn't want to wake you."

"I was already awake. I just wanted to see how long you'd stare at me."

Trinity feigns an offended look. "I was not staring, I was gazing. It's totally different."

"You make a habit of watching girls sleep?"

"Relax." Trinity laughs. "I'm not gonna go all _twilight _on you."

Katherine sits up. "So you're leaving?"

"Yeah, just for a bit."

"Should I look forward to your story about how you fought the evil monsters and saved the town?"

"Don't jinx it." Trinity tells her. "It would be nice to have a peaceful day for once." She pauses. "Oh damn, I think I just jinxed it."

"What I'm more concerned about is that you were leaving without giving me a kiss."

"That didn't work out so well last time."

"Didn't sound like it." Katherine smiles.

Trinity steps closer and kneels down. "Once kiss, and then I'm leaving." She says. Katherine nods. Trinity leans forwards and presses her lips to Katherine's, who snakes a hand into Trinity's hair and pulls her to the ground, their lips still connected.

* * *

Andie checks her watch and puts on her jacket as she walks down the stairs. Damon follows behind her, carrying her scarf. "I'm late. This is such a crazy day." She says, checking her appearance in the mirror. "I'm, uh, covering the historical society's high tea."

Damon tosses the scarf into the air. "Ooh! Thrilling." He says sarcastically, catching the scarf. They walk together down the main hallway leading to the front door.

"Yeah. It's for some visiting writer. He's writing a book on small-town Virginia. It's a big snooze."

"Writer? What's his name?"

"Uh, Elijah Smith."

"Smith. He's using Smith?" Damon says to himself. Andie looks at herself, yet again, in a different mirror. Damon places the scarf around her neck and ties it. "Ok. You have your story straight in your mind, right?"

"I can't say that you bit me or drank my blood, just that we hit it off and I really like you. You are terrific, though. You're sweet, funny, you're honest."

He smiles before placing his hands on either side of her head, and compels her. "And you're falling hard."

"You might be the one." She tells him, an adoring look in her eyes.

"Perfect." Damon smiles and opens the front door for Andie. Alaric, not having knocked yet, stands on the front porch. "Have a great day, honey." He kisses her, they pull apart and Andie walks out the front door, acknowledging Alaric.

"Oh. Hey, Alaric. Later." She gets into her car and drives away.

Damon waves goodbye to her. Alaric moves to stand in front of him. "My new girlfriend." Damon explains. "Andie Star, action news."

"It's not called action news." Alaric tells him.

"I know. I just like saying it. Come on." He lets Alaric in and closes the door before leading him into the parlor. "So, John Gilbert gave me this to kill Elijah." He unrolls the dagger from its protective cloth. "Said you have to dip the dagger in the remains of an old white ash tree that dates back to the Originals, if there's any truth in that." He explains, handing the dagger to Alaric.

"So you think it's a setup?" He asks, looking at the dagger.

"It could be. Guy's a weasel. Wouldn't put anything past him." Damon turns around and heads to the bar. "What are you up to today, Mr. Saltzman?"

Alaric gets up and walks over to Damon. "Well, Jenna and I were supposed to go to her family's lake house, but somehow, we both got roped into doing this historical society thing at the Lockwood's."

"Where Elijah's the guest of honor."

"Tell me you're not gonna kill him at the tea party."

"No. That would be stupid." He says. Alaric shoots him a skeptical look. "I want to know his endgame before I kill him, but I do think it's time Elijah and I officially met." Damon annoyingly taps Alaric with the dagger, who looks on at him, clearly not amused.

* * *

At the Grill, Bonnie and Caroline sit at a table.

"Ok. So tell me about this big, witchy plan you've been cooking up." Caroline says.

"We still don't know the extent of what Elijah's up to."

"No, we don't."

"So, I'm gonna ask Luka to tell me what he knows." Bonnie tells her.

"And he's not gonna tell you anything."

"I didn't say he was gonna have a choice." She says. Caroline looks past her. "What?" She turns around and sees that Caroline is looking at Matt. Caroline gives him a small wave and a smile, but Matt's face remains stony and he walks away without any acknowledgement towards her. Bonnie turns back towards Caroline. "What was that about?"

"Uh, I don't know. I thought that we were…I don't know."

* * *

Trinity walks into her house and drops her keys onto a nearby table. She sets down her bag and begins heading towards the stairs when she sees a shadow. Stopping, she slowly steps towards the kitchen, claws out. Upon entering the kitchen, she sees nothing. Taking a deep breath she detects no unfamiliar scent in the air. She turns around only for a grey cloud of mist to rush through her. "Ahh!" She screams, falling into a cabinet and slipping towards the ground. Her muscles clench as an icy feeling fills her body. She clutches her head as whispers fill her eyes, the pain increasing with each voice.

"_Potentia."_

"_Salus."_

"_Spes."_

Trinity screams from the pain and blacks out.

* * *

_Flash_

_Trinity is back in the meadow. She sees a small pond and walks towards it. Looking into the pond she sees a sparkle and leans closer. Suddenly, a force pushes her into what is no longer a pond, but the wild waves of an ocean. Trinity tries to swim back up but the waves push her further down. Water fills her lungs and she begins to panic as she tries to reach the surface, only for the waves to beat against her once again. Her world begins to darken as a shrill ringing fills her ears._

Ring! A phone sounds.

Trinity's eyes snap open and she gasp, coughing as she desperately breathes in air. She reaches into her pocket and answers her phone. "Hello?" She pants.

"_What's up with you?" _She hears.

"Damon?"

"_Come over. We got an Original to deal with."_

"What?"

"_Elijah's in town, posing as a writer. With my handy new weapon from John; you, me, and Alaric are going to take him down. I'm gonna do a little research first and see what I can find out before I try it."_

"Do you really need me?" She asks.

"_What?"_

"Damon, I can't deal with this right now. Something…strange has been happening. I think it might be my Quickening. I'd only be a liability."

"_What's wrong?" _Damon asks, concern in his voice.

"I don't know." She answers. "But I'm going to find out."

"_Will you be okay?"_

"I'll be fine. Good luck with Elijah."

"_Thanks." He says. "And good look with your…weird, Quickening thing."_

"Thanks." She says. "Bye."

"_Mm-hmm." _He hangs up.

Trinity sets her phone down and leans against the cabinet, looking up at the ceiling.

* * *

In the woods, Jules is waiting outside the trailer, gazing off into the distance when Tyler walks up to her. "Tyler, hi."

"You're still here." He says.

"Is that all right with you?"

"That guy last night made it pretty clear that you needed to go."

"And we will soon." She tells him. Brady and Stevie walk around the other side of the trailer and approach them. Tyler looks at them, nervously. "Listen. We kind of need your help with something."

"We need you to help us find the moonstone." Brady says.

Tyler looks at them. "Somebody needs to explain to me what the big deal is about a rock."

"That rock helps break the curse of the sun and the moon." Stevie tells him.

"I don't know what that means."

"It's an old curse placed on both vampires and werewolves." Jules says.

"Vampires break the curse, they're free to walk in the sunlight, but we're stuck only turning at the full moon, aka werewolf Armageddon." Stevie explains.

"But if we break it, they're stuck as night-walkers, and we can turn whenever we want." Brady adds.

"Aka werewolf domination." Stevie smiles. Tyler sighs heavily.

"Tyler, if we can turn at will, that means we never have to turn at all, not if we don't want to." Jules says.

He looks at her. "I'd never have to turn again?"

"There's more." Brady says. "Stevie?"

"If those vamps are gearing up to break the curse, they must have also found the doppelgänger."

"The doppelgänger?" Tyler asks.

"Evil twin shadow person. We're betting Mason's hot, vampire chick Kathy knows all about it, so we need you to help us find Kathy. I-I have a picture. Mason brought her to the bar once. No one liked her. She was a vampire. Bad news." Stevie looks through his phone for the picture. "Right-right here. The girl next to Mason." He shows the picture of Mason and Katherine to Tyler.

Tyler looks at it and then up at Stevie with skepticism. "That's Elena Gilbert."

"You know her?" Jules asks.

"I've known her my whole life."

Jules and Brady exchange a look.

* * *

Trinity looks through her family journals and rereads an entry about the Quickening. _She was pushed to the brink of desperation in her mind, body, and soul. _She reads. Her eyes scan over the last few words. _Mind, body, and soul._

Trinity looks up. _Am I going crazy?_

* * *

Matt is bussing a table when Caroline walks up to him. "Hi." She greets.

"I'm…I'm working." He walks away and Caroline follows him.

"Yeah, I can see that, but can you work and talk?"

Matt stops abruptly and turns to face Caroline who stops as well. "What do you want, Caroline?"

"Uh, I want to talk about what we were supposed to talk about last night before I had to cancel on you. I want us to clear up the weirdness. I just want us to talk about us."

"Now you're just making it worse."

She places her hands on either side of her face. "Uh, I…I don't know what's going on, Matt."

"Where were you last night when you were supposed to be with me?" He asks.

"I…"

"And don't say you were with Bonnie because Bonnie was here, Caroline. I saw her."

Caroline is speechless. "Oh."

"Yeah." He turns around and walks away.

"Matt!" She struggles to find words and gives up.

Tyler approaches her. "Caroline."

She turns to look at him. "You stay away from me." She starts to walk away.

"It's important."

Caroline and Tyler knock shoulders, causing her bag to fall to the floor, spilling out its contents. She kneels down to retrieve her bag and things, while Tyler kneels down to help. "Just stop it, Tyler, ok? You're just…you're just making it worse."

As Tyler and Caroline place her things back in her bag, Tyler picks up her phone and swiftly puts it in his back pocket without her noticing. "Please, Caroline. I'm sorry about what happened, ok, but there's so much we need to talk about."

Caroline grabs her bag and gets up from the floor. "I said just leave me alone." She storms out of the Grill.

Tyler gets up from the floor and Matt approaches him. "The two of you want to get together, fine. There's nothing I can do about it, but do me a favor, and both of you stop lying about it." He says before turning around.

Tyler grabs his arm. "Matt, there's nothing going on."

Matt turns back around and grabs Tyler by the collar of his jacket. "Hey! I said stop lying." He releases Tyler and walks away.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Stefan and Elena are in the hallway with their bags packed, ready to leave. "Ready for our romantic weekend?" He asks.

"Beyond ready. Let's go before John shows up and pretends to be a concerned father."

"Mmm. I'll go put these in the car." He opens the front door and starts to walk out, but stops when he hears Elena's phone start to buzz.

Elena takes out her phone seeing that she has received a text message from Caroline. **"Need to talk. Where are you?"**

Elena sends a text back to Caroline saying, **"Headed to lake house w Stefan. U ok?"**

"Uh, please tell me there's nothing wrong." Stefan says.

Elena looks up at Stefan, but before she has time to comment, Caroline sends her another text. **"All good, never mind. Have fun."**

Elena looks relieved. "Nothing's wrong. Just Caroline." She smiles. "Come on. Let's go." She walks out the front door. Stefan shuts the door behind them and follows her.

* * *

In the woods, Tyler looks down at the texts he exchanged with Elena via Caroline's phone. "She's going to Dunham Lake. Her family has a house up there." He says.

Brady smiles. "Nice. Let's go get our doppelgänger." He walks away and Tyler reluctantly follows.

* * *

Elena and Stefan pull up to the lake house in Stefan's Porsche. Elena stares up at the house and sighs. Stefan looks at her with concern. "You all right?" He asks.

"I'm good." She says. "I just haven't been back here since before…"

"Oh, my god." He turns to fully face Elena, slinging his arm over the back of her seat. "Elena, listen, just say the word, all right? We'll get back on that highway, we'll go anywhere else."

She smiles and looks at Stefan. "I've always loved it here. I want it to stay that way; I was just…having a moment."

"Okay." Stefan squeezes her shoulder gently and they get out of the car and go up to the house.

Elena unlocks the front door and walks in. She looks around nostalgically and walks further into the house. Stefan, right behind her, comes up on the porch and stands awkwardly at the front door. Elena places her bags on a counter and looks over at him. "You don't have to wait out there. I'm all good."

"Oh, that's great because I'm, uh…I'm stuck."

"Oh, my god. You can't get in." She realizes.

"Not gonna be a very romantic weekend unless you, uh, invite me inside."

"Stefan, I can't."

"What?"

"My parent's left this place to John Gilbert. He's the only one who can invite you in. I'm sorry. I-I completely forgot."

"You're kidding me, right?"

Elena looks at him seriously for a moment, before she finally cracks a smile. "Stefan Salvatore, I hereby invite you into this home."

He gives her a disbelieving smile and shakes his head. "You are such a liar." He enters the house and picks Elena up.

She giggles. "Hey, hey, hey!" Elena kisses him and wraps her legs around his waist as he carries her over to the counter. They continue to kiss passionately as Stefan sits her down.

* * *

Trinity walks back into the tomb with a solemn look on her face.

Katherine looks up at her. "What's wrong."

"Oh nothing." Trinity says, sitting down next to her. "Just my deteriorating sanity."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"There's something that I didn't tell you about shapeshifter's." She says.

"What?"

"It's very rare. _Very _rare." She emphasizes. "Some of us go through a trial called the Quickening."

"What's that?"

"It's when a shapeshifter become immortal. Naturally. No vampire blood, no witches. It's an awakening of our power. They become an elder to their race."

"You're going to be immortal?" Katherine asks, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"If I survive it."

Katherine looks at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"The Quickening…going through it is very hard. It only started a few months ago. When I got angry, I blacked out and apparently killed any threat in sight. Only Elena and Stefan have been able to call me back when I get like that."

"Why?"

"Because they're my friends. My family, and I love them." She explains. "Part of my Quickening is being overprotective. I'd die to save their lives." She says, staring ahead. She misses the concerned and slightly horrified look in Katherine's eyes. "But another thing about it is that it's literally going to drive me insane. At least, that's what I read. Apparently it will drive me to the brink of desperation in mind, body, and soul."

"How do you become immortal?"

"If I have enough will power, I most likely won't kill myself."

"What?!"

"Like I said, I'm going insane."

"Does this have anything to do with why you passed out?"

Trinity shrugs. "Most likely."

"So…you just have to wait this out and bear through it?"

Trinity nods. "Pretty much."

"You said that it was an awakening of your power. What else can you do?"

"I don't know, but when someone goes through the Quickening, a gift is bestowed upon them."

"Does your journal's tell you what?"

"It's different with everybody. My ancestor, Laylah, had the gift of clairvoyance."

"She went through the Quickening too?"

She nods. "Yeah."

"So where is she?" Katherine asks. "If she's immortal, why isn't she here, helping you?"

"She dead."

"But you just said…"

"The only way an elder can die is if they give up their life willingly. They give their energy back to the earth, leaving it up to another to become the next elder."

"Why would they kill themselves?"

"I guess after a while it gets painful. Shapeshifter's can live longer than the average human. We might get an extra hundred years but we still age. We're not immortal." She explains. "They have to watch as all their friends and family die, over and over again. After a while, they want to join them."

"Well I guess you're lucky that you're friends with vampires." Katherine says.

"Yeah. I guess I am."

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, the Historical Society's Tea Party has commenced. Elijah and Carol are speaking with each other as they sip their tea.

"Have you spent much time in Richmond for your book? There's such a wealth of history there." She says.

Elijah shakes his head. "No, I'm focusing mostly on the smaller regions of Virginia. Lots of research. Strictly academic."

"That's fascinating."

* * *

Damon enters the house and Jenna intercepts him. "Damon, what are you doing here?" She asks.

Suddenly, Andie walks up to them, notepad in hand. Damon looks over at her and smiles. "Hi." She greets. "You came."

"Hi." He says.

"Hi."

Damon pecks Andie on the lips and Jenna looks at the two, surprised. "Thanks for introducing us, Jenna." He smiles and walks out of the room.

Andie smiles at Jenna and stands next to her as they watch Damon walk away. "Ahhh. Wow."

* * *

Damon approaches Carol and Elijah.

"Damon." Carol says.

"Carol." He smiles.

"What a surprise."

"Hi." He and Carol exchange kisses on the cheek.

"Hi." She turns to Elijah. "Elijah, I want you to meet Damon Salvatore. His family is one of Mystic Falls' founding families."

"Mm-hm." He looks at Elijah. "Such a pleasure to meet you."

"No. Pleasure's mine." He and Damon shake hands.

* * *

At the Grill, Luka is playing pool when Bonnie approaches him with two coffees in hand. "I come bearing coffee gifts." She hands one of the coffees to him and he accepts it.

"So you're talking to me now."

"I found out what your dad did, saving my friends from the wolf pack."

"Well, had I had known that's all it took…"

* * *

At the other end of the Grill, Caroline is sitting at a table.

Jeremy walks in and goes over to Caroline. "Hey. How's it going?" He asks.

"What are you doing here?"

"Bonnie called. I wanted to help. How's it going?" They look over at Luka and Bonnie.

"She's selling it and he's buying it. She's giving him the sex smile."

"All right, Caroline. I get it." He says shortly.

Caroline looks at Jeremy, noting his jealousy, and looks away with a knowing smirk.

* * *

"What do you say? You want to play a game?" Luka asks.

"Yeah." Bonnie nods.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Luka starts to move to set up the game, but suddenly he stumbles. He places his hands on the pool table to maintain his balance. "What's happening to me?"

Bonnie moves closer to him. "You'll be ok." Luka begins to fall over and Bonnie grabs his shoulders, trying to keep him upright. Jeremy and Caroline quickly walk over to help. "Why don't we go over here?" She starts to lead Luka around the pool table.

Jeremy approaches them first. "I got him. I got him." He says. Bonnie moves out of the way and Jeremy places Luka's arm around his shoulder and drags him away from the eyes of the bar patrons. "What kind of witch roofie was that?"

"A strong one." She smiles, satisfied with her abilities.

* * *

At the lake house, Elena stands on the dock, a large blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

Stefan walks up from behind her. "Having another moment?" He wraps his arms around Elena and kisses her on the cheek.

She smiles and places her hands on his arms. "Jeremy broke his arm diving off this dock when he was 6. My dad taught me how to fish right off the edge over there. So many memories. Do you ever think about us, what our future will be like, our memories?"

"I think there are a lot of conversations to be had about our future, about the kind of life we could have together."

"Now there's a box that we shouldn't open."

"Oh, we can open it. Whenever you're ready."

"No. I'd rather just be here…now." She says, stroking his arm with her thumb.

"You know, this is a future memory. It's where your boyfriend whispered to you that he loved you." He puts his lips by her ear. "I love you." He whispers.

She smiles as Stefan kisses her on the cheek. Elena grabs onto Stefan's arms, making their embrace tighter.

* * *

Trinity leans against Katherine, who holds her in her arms. "This is nice."

"It is." Katherine smiles, nuzzling the girl's hair.

"We should do this more often." Trinity says. "Just enjoy each other's company."

"I thoroughly enjoy your company every time I'm with you." Katherine playfully nibbles on her ear.

Trinity laughs. "You know what I mean." She sobers. "But I like this, being with you. It's nice."

"Just nice?"

"It's great." Trinity leans up, kissing Katherine on the cheek.

"Oh, you missed." Katherine smiles.

"Did I?"

She nods. "Mm-hmm." She presses her lips to Trinity's.

* * *

Alaric watches as Damon opens the door to the study and gestures for Elijah to enter. Damon follows Elijah in and shuts the door behind him.

John walks up to Alaric. "What's Damon doing with Elijah?" He asks.

Alaric shrugs. "How would I know?"

"Because you're his little helper."

"If you say so, John."

"Does Jenna know about your extracurricular activities? Maybe it's time we tell her. I mean, she can't stay in the dark forever."

"You're a dick." He says.

"I don't think you should sleep over anymore. It's inappropriate with children in the house, and that ring that Isobel gave you, that's mine. I'm gonna want that back."

Alaric smiles smugly at John, who walks away.

* * *

In the study, Elijah and Damon are speaking.

"What can I do for you, Damon?"

"I was hoping we could have a word."

"Where's Elena?" Elijah asks.

"Safe with Stefan. They're laying low, you know, bit of a werewolf problem." He says.

Elijah nods. "Oh, yeah, I heard about that."

"I'm sure you did since it was your witch that saved the day."

"You are welcome."

Damon sits down on the desk. "Which adds to my confusion on exactly why you're here."

"Why don't you just stay focused on keeping Elena safe and leave the rest to me." Elijah moves to exit the room, but Damon flashes in front of him, blocking the way out.

"Not good enough."

Elijah grabs Damon by the throat and flashes him into a wall. Damon, in retaliation, grabs Elijah's throat. Elijah grabs Damon's hand and easily pulls it off of his neck, making sure to crush it as he does so. Damon groans in pain. "You young vampires, so arrogant." He says, dropping Damon's hand from his own, but continues to hold him up against the wall by the throat. "How dare you come in here and challenge me?"

"You can't kill me, man. It's not part of the deal."

"Silence." Elijah grabs a pencil lying on the desk and stabs him in the neck. Damon clutches at the pencil and yells in pain. Elijah lets go of Damon, who falls against the desk and removes the pencil, painfully and puts his hand over the bloody wound. Elijah whips out a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes the blood off his hands. "I'm an Original. Show a little respect." He dangles the handkerchief in front of Damon, who grabs it hastily, and places it on his wound. "The moment you cease to be of use to me, you're dead, so you should do what I say. Keep Elena safe." He orders before leaving.

* * *

Stefan is preparing dinner in the kitchen. He looks over at Elena who is watching him from the couch, a glass of wine in her hand.

"My dad did all the cooking, too." She tells him.

"And your mom?"

Elena smiles. "She sat right here and watched. She couldn't cook either." She says, making Stefan smiles. She looks at the fireplace before looking back at Stefan. "Fire's dying."

"Oh, yeah. I'll go get more wood." Stefan stops chopping and walks towards Elena.

"I got it." She says.

"No, no. It's cold outside."

Elena gets up and walks over to Stefan, placing her hands on his chest. "So, I'll get a jacket." She turns around and walks off into her parent's old bedroom. Elena stops and looks over at the vanity. She picks up a bottle of perfume, uncorks it, and smells it. Stefan enters the room as she puts the cork back in and places the perfume bottle back on the vanity. "My mom's perfume." She turns around and walks over to the closet. "Jenna was supposed to pack all this up, but…she kept putting it off." She turns the light on in the closet and looks inside. "I don't blame her." She looks at the closet door and takes one of the sweaters off its hook before turning back to Stefan. "Here." She tosses it to Stefan, who catches it. "Bundle up. It was my great-granddad's." She tells him. He puts the jacket on and pops the collar. "And you look very hot in it."

"I look hot in your dead great-granddad's jacket?"

"Beyond hot." Elena smiles. Stefan walks over to her and kisses her, unexpectedly. She kisses him back awkwardly. Stefan and Elena walk back into the closet and continue to kiss. He pushes her into the back wall of the closet. Elena pulls away for a moment. "Stefan! It's my parents' bedroom."

He doesn't respond and kisses Elena again, who smiles and finally gives in, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back. Stefan hears a hollow thud when Elena's back hits the wall. He breaks their makeout session and looks up at the wall.

"What?" She asks.

Stefan raps his knuckles on the wall. Elena turns her head and watches him. "Huh."

She looks back at him. "What?"

"This is hollow inside." He tells her. Elena moves out of the way and Stefan breaks off one of the panels and removes the rest with ease. A hidden door lies behind the wall.

"What is it?"

"It's a really good hiding place." He breaks the lock off the door and opens it. He flips the light on and they see an arsenal of weaponry for hunting vampires within the hidden closet.

"Oh, my god."

* * *

At the Forbes house, Bonnie and Jeremy are kneeling next to Luka's unconscious body in the living room.

Caroline walks in with an armful of candles. "We only have, like, an hour or two before my mom gets home, and these are all I could find." She says. Jeremy stands up and Caroline hands him the candles, one by one.

"Place these evenly around the room." Bonnie tells them. Caroline hands the remaining candles to her.

Jeremy begins placing the candles around the room. "How does this work?"

"Um, I'll put him in a trance and ask him questions. It's like hypnosis."

"You sure you're strong enough for this?"

"That's what the candles are for. I'll draw power from the flames."

"I'll get the matches." Caroline starts to leave the room.

"I got it." Bonnie shuts her eyes and the candles flare up. Caroline turns around and smiles.

"Never gonna get used to that." Jeremy says.

Caroline places her hands on her hips and smiles. "Oh, come on. That's pretty hot, and you know it."

Jeremy smiles and Bonnie looks up at him. "I need a bowl of water."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll-I'll go get it." He leaves the room.

Caroline smiles broadly down at Bonnie, who looks up at her. "Ok. What was that? 'It's hot'?"

"He is so crushing on you." Caroline whispers.

"So?"

She sits down on the floor across from Bonnie. "So…what, you'd rather be with traitor warlock over here?"

"I'm not into Luka. It's just, you know, he understood me, and he was new and different."

"And you've known Jeremy since forever, and you only see him one way, as Elena's brother, but you're a witch, and I'm a vampire. You know, it's not like we're in any position…"

"To be picky."

She laughs. "No. To judge." They smile at each other. Jeremy walks back in the room with a bowl of water. Bonnie takes the bowl from him and places it on the floor by Luka's head.

"Looks like he's waking up." He says.

Bonnie dips her hands in the water and places them on either side of Luka's head. She shuts her eyes and performs a non-verbal spell which is shown to be working by the flames of the candles flaring up intensely. Luka starts to breathe heavily.

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon and Alaric are sitting in the library, drinking bourbon.

"Today was a bust." Damon sighs.

"Yeah. How's the throat?" Alaric asks.

"Sore."

"Yeah. That Elijah's one scary dude, but with nice hair. Hey. You want another one?" Alaric gets up, Damon hands him his glass, which he takes and walks over to the bar.

"He's gonna be hard to kill."

"Yeah. I'd think twice before I'd trust that dagger and some ashes to do the job." He pours more bourbon in their glasses. "You're gonna need more info."

"I'm out of sources."

"What's up with you and this news chick?" He hands Damon his glass.

"Ooh. She's got spunk, huh?"

Alaric sits back down on the couch and sends Damon a significant look. "Just don't kill her, please."

"If I did, who would report her death?"

"Just don't do it, all right? She's friends with Jenna, and it's bad enough that I'm lying to her about everything else. I hate the lies." He takes his phone out of his pocket and looks at it. "Oh, God. I got to go. I got to pick Jenna up." He stands up. "Don't worry. I'll, uh, show myself out."

Damon places his hands behind his head and shuts his eyes. "Good luck."

Alaric walks out of the library. Damon remains in his relaxed position until he hears a loud, crashing noise from the hallway. His eyes fly open and he walks out of the library and into the hallway. Out in the hallway, Damon sees that Alaric has a large knife plunged into his stomach. Alaric looks at Damon as he clutches at the knife and groans as he falls to the floor. Suddenly, from the rafters of the parlor's ceiling, Stevie drops down and stabs Damon in the neck with a syringe full of vervain.

Damon grunts but is not completely affected by the vervain and flashes around the room, crashing Stevie into several walls. Finally, he weakens and falls to the ground.

Stevie removes the syringe from his neck and stands up. "Whew! Damn, you're strong. It took the whole syringe." He says. Two more werewolves walk through the front and look down at Alaric's dead body. Damon, weak, but still awake looks up from the floor. "Grab that one. He's dead."

Jules enters the house with a shotgun over her shoulder. She looks down at Damon. "Hi, Damon. Nice to see you again."

* * *

Trinity trails kisses up Katherine's neck, leading to her lips. She pulls back and looks into her eyes.

"What?" Katherine asks.

"I…" She trails off, losing her nerve. "Never mind." She kisses her again.

* * *

Elena removes a journal from a bookcase in the hidden room. Stefan, leaning against the door-frame, watches her. "These must be the other Jonathan Gilbert journals. Jeremy had the one, but John said that there were others." She flips through the pages. "His whole life's in here." She says, looking around the room in awe.

"I'll go get the firewood. I'll let you have a moment." Stefan says.

Elena crouches down on the floor and grabs a handful of wooden bullets. Stefan leaves the room as she continues to examine the weaponry in the hidden room.

* * *

At his RV, Brady looks down at his phone, having received a text. "We're good to go." He walks to the door and looks back at Tyler, who is still sitting at the table. "You up for this?" Tyler doesn't respond or move from his spot. Brady sits down across the table from him. "These people have done nothing but lie to you. This girl that you've known since birth, she's with the vampires now, the ones who killed Mason. They're the enemy, and if they break that curse, well…all of us are as good as dead. Are you up for this?"

"Yes."

"Good. Because if you wuss out, you're gonna have me to deal with, you got it?"

Tyler nods.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, John pours himself a glass of wine in the kitchen as Jenna enters the kitchen. He looks up at her. "Where's Elena?"

"At the lake house for the weekend." She tells him.

"With Stefan?"

"Yes, with Stefan."

"And who gave her permission for that?"

"I did. Until you get a lawyer, file for guardianship, it's my call, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"I always knew you were lax with them, but I didn't think you were negligent."

"She wanted to get away from you, ok, and so do I, so I'll be staying with Ric." She turns around and starts to leave the room.

"'Cause he's such a great guy, right?"

Jenna, biting her tongue, turns back around and strides closer to John. "You are on dangerous ground."

"He's a liar, Jenna."

"What?"

"Did he ever tell you what happened to his wife?"

"She died."

John moves around the island in the kitchen and closes the gap between Jenna and himself. "Really? So they found her body?"

"What are you saying?"

"Why don't you ask Ric? I'd love to hear his answer. Have a great night." He walks out with purpose. Jenna turns around and looks at him with a hint of skepticism.

* * *

Alaric's body lies on the floor of the parlor room. Damon has been chained to a chair with a wooden spiked metal collar around his neck. He has become less weakened by the vervain, but is still unable to move much. He sees Ric's dead body on the floor and looks worried for a moment, before spotting the Gilbert ring on his finger. Damon sighs with relief and glances over to his right.

Stevie is standing there, holding the ends of two chains which attach to Damon's spiked collar. "Morning, sunshine." He says, walking in front of him. "I saw this movie once, some torture porn flick. Anyway, they had this collar device that was really cool, so I just modified it some with some wooden nails, and when I pull…" He pulls the ends of the chains forward. The wooden spikes insert themselves in Damon's neck, who groans in pain.

Suddenly, Jules speaks up from the corner. "So I hear you have the moonstone." She and two other werewolves walk farther into the room.

Damon laughs. "Oh, if you only knew the irony of this moment right now. Let me tell you how this is gonna go. You're gonna torture me, I don't talk, someone loses a heart. Last time, it was your boy Mason."

Stevie wraps the chains around his hand and Jules inches closer to Damon. "This time, it'll be you." She looks at Stevie and nods. He pulls on the chain again, impaling Damon's neck, making him groan in pain.

* * *

"How long is this gonna take?" Caroline asks.

Bonnie shakes her head. "I don't know. He's fighting me." She watches as Luka moves around, fighting the spell. Bonnie keeps her hands placed on either side of his head.

"Please stop. Please." He whispers.

Bonnie closes her eyes and Luka soon follows suit, successfully having been put into a trance. "There. All right. Why are you working with Elijah?" She asks.

"Klaus. We both want him dead."

"You want to kill Klaus, too. Why?"

"Because he has her and we have to get her away from him."

"Who…who are you talking about?"

"My sister."

"His sister?" Jeremy asks.

"Why does he have her?" Bonnie continues her questioning.

"He's searching for a way to undo the curse without the doppelgänger. He's forced generations of witches to help him for centuries."

"What has Elijah promised you?"

"If we help Elijah kill Klaus, he's promised to return her to us."

"And how do you kill Klaus? How do you kill an Original vampire?"

Luka starts to fight the spell again. "He'll kill me if I tell you. Don't make me."

"It's ok, Bonnie. We can find another way." Jeremy says.

"No." She puts Luka back in a trance. "How will you kill Klaus?"

"After the sacrifice, Klaus will be vulnerable, weak. It's our only chance."

Caroline looks confused. "After the sacrifice?"

"What do you mean, after?" Bonnie asks.

"Klaus will be vulnerable."

"But Elena will be dead."

"Yes. Elena has to die." He reveals.

Bonnie looks up at Jeremy, who shakes his head. "No." He whispers.

* * *

Trinity pants as Katherine trails kisses back up her body. "Wow."

Katherine chuckles. "Indeed."

Trinity looks at her with dark eyes before switching their positions. "My turn."

* * *

Stefan dumps an armful of wood onto the porch and returns to the garage. He opens the door, flips on the light, and walks in to get more firewood. Before he picks any firewood up, Stefan freezes. He stands back up and turns around. Brady is behind him, with a gun pointing straight at Stefan. Brady shoots him in the chest with a wooden bullet. Stefan falls to the floor and groans in pain. Tyler enters behind Brady.

"Keep him down. If he moves…" He hands the gun to Tyler, also giving him a stake. "Kill him." He leaves the garage.

Stefan continues to groan and writhe in pain. Tyler points the gun at him. "Don't move!"

"Just let me get the bullet out. It punctured my heart." He explains. "I need to get it out. I'm not gonna fight you."

Tyler moves around Stefan, keeping the gun pointed at him. He looks at the door before looking back. "I don't think so."

"Tyler, why are you doing this?"

"I can't let you break the curse."

"You know about the curse?" He asks.

"You're liars, all of you."

"No. I swear to you. We don't want to break the curse, Tyler. We don't want to do that."

"Oh, yeah? But I do." He shoots Stefan in the leg, making him yell in pain. "I can't be like this forever."

"Tyler, I'm just trying to save Elena."

"Elena will be fine!" He yells.

Stefan looks up at him, realization in his eyes. "They didn't tell you that part, did they? Who are the liars now?"

"Tell me what?"

"In order to break the curse, Elena has to die."

Tyler looks uneasy and begins to lower the gun.

* * *

Elena walks out into the living room, rubbing her arms due to the cold. She looks out the open front door for Stefan. "Are you growing the trees out there?" She shouts. Stefan doesn't respond. Elena glances around, nervously and begins to inch closer to the front door. "Stefan?" She continues to look out the door. Brady hides from view against the wall next to the front door. Quietly, Elena picks up a knife from the countertop and slowly walks to the front door and out on the porch. "Stefan, what are you doing out there?"

Suddenly, Brady comes up from behind Elena, who gasps in shock, turns around, and stabs him in the stomach with the knife.

He falls to his knees as Elena rushes back into the house, shutting and locking the front door behind her. Brady painfully removes the knife from his stomach. Elena rushes up the staircase. Brady kicks open the front door with ease. Elena rushes across the landing and into a room.

Brady enters the house and shuts his eyes. "I can smell you." He calls.

Elena, in a frenzy, removes her sweater and places it on the bed. She quietly exits and enters the room across the hallway, shutting the door softly behind her, and covering her mouth so Brady can't hear her breathing. Brady walks up the stairs, the knife clutched in his hand, he enters a room and sees Elena's sweater lying on the bed. He picks it up and sniffs it. Elena quietly opens the door from the other room and sneaks down the stairs. When she gets to the bottom, she looks back up, places her hands on the front door and slams it shut; trying to trick Brady into thinking she went outside. Brady hears the loud noise and turns his head. Elena rushes into her parent's room.

Brady descends the stairs and glares around the room. He enters Elena's parent's room and searches for her, eventually opening up the door to the hidden room. Suddenly, Elena comes up from behind him and stabs him in the shoulder with a wooden stake. He falls to the floor, again, and writhes in pain. Elena grabs the bloody knife and rushes out of the room. Brady removes the stake from his back and stands up. Elena runs out the front door with Brady close behind her. As he makes it out the front door, Stefan intercepts and plunges his hand into Brady's chest. Elena looks back in shock as Stefan rips his heart out and tosses it to the ground. Elena drops the knife and rushes towards Stefan.

"It's OK. It's OK. You're OK. You're OK." He wraps his arms around her.

Tyler walks around the corner. Elena looks up from Stefan's shoulder and sees him. "Tyler?" She asks, confused.

"I didn't know what they were gonna do to you. I didn't. I just…I don't want to be like this anymore." He says. Elena pulls away from Stefan and walks over to him. They stare at each other for a moment and Elena embraces him. Tyler wraps his arms around Elena. "I'm sorry, Elena."

"It's okay."

Stefan watches them and sighs in relief.

* * *

Jules leans against a shotgun as she talks to Damon. "You know what the great thing about buckshot is? It scatters through the body, maximum damage." She says. Damon looks at her with feigned intrigue. Jules lifts the shotgun up and points it at him. "Where's the moonstone?"

"Get over it, honey. You're never gonna get it."

"You looking for this?" Elijah, leaning against a banister, twirls the moonstone in his hand. Everyone turns to look at him. He walks down the stairs and places the moonstone on an end table and backs away. "Go ahead. Take it."

One of the werewolf's flashes towards the moonstone, but Elijah, being quicker, plunges his hand into the wolf's chest and rips out his heart. The wolf falls down onto the couch, dead. Two other wolves rush at Elijah, who without any effort, plunges his arms into their chests and rips out their hearts as well. Jules speeds out of the house before she is killed. Elijah walks over to Stevie, who crouches down and pulls his jacket over his face in fear. Elijah pulls him up from the ground. "What about you, sweetheart, hmm? You want to take a shot? Yes? No? Yes? Where's the girl?"

Damon looks around. "I don't know."

"It doesn't really matter." Elijah punches Stevie in the face and he falls to the floor. He then removes the chains strapping Damon down into the chair. "So you realize this is the third time I've saved your life now?"

Damon doesn't respond. Elijah turns around, grabs the moonstone, and walks out of the house.

* * *

Damon moves the chair back to its original place. He talks on the phone with Bonnie who is still at Caroline's house. "So he planned to kill her all along."

"_Yeah. The sacrifice is part of Elijah's plan."_

"Got it loud and clear." He hands up. Alaric suddenly comes back from the dead. "Finally. You missed all the fun." He says, picking up one of the chairs from the floor.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Jenna is at the dining room table, writing a paper. Her phone goes off and she answers it. "There you are. Are you OK?"

"_Yeah, sorry. I…I…I've just been grading papers. Honestly, uh…I fell asleep. I'm sorry. Jenna, I'm a jerk."_

"No. It's fine. I'm just glad you're OK."

"_Sorry. Tomorrow I'm all yours, OK?"_

"Sure. Sounds great."

"_All right. Good night, Jenna."_

"Good night." Jenna hangs up as well, looking at her phone with skepticism.

* * *

Stefan speaks on the phone with Damon.

"_It was straight from the witch's mouth. He was gonna go through with the whole sacrifice. You should probably just keep her away a little longer." _Damon tells him.

"Be careful. Try not to get yourself killed."

"_Yeah. It's been a day for that."_

Stefan hangs up and sees Elena walk into the room. "That was, um…that was Damon. We need to talk."

"What is it?" She asks.

"He learned that Elijah's planning for you to die in the sacrifice ritual."

Elena looks down and takes a deep breath before walking closer to him. "I know the deal I made, Stefan. Elijah's very careful with his words. He promised to protect my friends. He never said a word about me."

He looks at her. "You mean, you knew that you weren't gonna survive this?"

"If it comes down to the people that I love getting killed or me, I know what my choice is gonna be."

"Elena, how…how could you stand out there earlier with me, talking about making plans for our future, when you don't even expect to have one?"

"I'm sorry, Stefan. I'm just trying to keep the people that I love safe. I'm trying to keep you safe."

"No. What you're doing is you're being a martyr."

"How is that any different from when you say that you would die to keep me safe?"

"Because I've already lived. 162 years I have lived, and you've barely begun, and now you want to let yourself get killed? That's not heroic. It's tragic." Stefan gives Elena an indignant look and walks past her and out of the room.

* * *

Bonnie and Jeremy walk out of the living room.

"So will Luka remember anything?" He asks.

"No. He'll know he lost consciousness, that's all." She says.

"Should we wait for Caroline?"

"She was just gonna drop Luka back at the Grill. Said to lock the door on our way out."

"Yeah. Well, I hope she drops him hard." He walks to the front door but Bonnie remains where she was.

"Wait." She says. Jeremy turns and looks at her. "You're Elena's little brother, I've known you forever. You're that punk kid. I remember your awkward phase, and then your emo phase, your druggie phase." Jeremy laughs. "And overnight, you turned into this hot guy who's really sweet and…"

"You think I'm hot?" He walks over to her.

"With everything that's going on, you know, curses and sacrifice…"

"Enough already." He kisses her passionately and they pull apart after an intense moment.

Bonnie looks up at him. "Wow."

Jeremy smiles at her and pushes a strand of hair out of her face before kissing her again.

* * *

Carol walks up the stairs and flips the lights off. As she ascends the stairs, she hears a floorboard creak and looks back. "Hello?" She walks down the stairs. "Hello?" She looks at the table where a giant vase of flowers are and sees a letter from Tyler leaning against it. She picks the letter up and looks around for a sign of him.

* * *

Tyler enters the Grill and looks around. He sees Matt, placing dirty dishes into a bin, and walks up to him. "Matt."

"I'm not in the mood, man."

"I need to say something."

Matt faces Tyler. "All right. Say it."

"I've been going through a rough time, something I can't really talk about, and Caroline's been helping me through it. She's been there for me more than anyone's ever been there in my entire life, and I kind of fell for her. I don't know how anyone wouldn't, because she's pretty incredible. But she loves you, and she needs you, and to be honest, she deserves someone like you. So you be good to her, OK?"

"Yeah, man. Of course."

"See you around, Matt."

"Yeah."

Tyler walks out of the Grill. Matt watches him go, confused.

* * *

Caroline is sitting on her bed, flipping through a magazine, when she hears a sudden noise. She jerks her head up and gets out of bed. She walks out into the hallway. "Mom?" She calls. She walks over to the front door and looks out the window. She does not see anything and proceeds to lock the door and walk back into her room.

* * *

From a shadowy corner, Tyler watches Caroline, sighs, and walks off the porch. He walks down the street, bag slung over his shoulder, and approaches an idling car. He opens the passenger door and gets in. Jules looks over at him from the driver's seat. "I'm sorry about Brady and your friends, but if I'm gonna go with you, no more lies." He tells her.

She nods. "No more lies. You're doing the right thing."

"I can't stay here, not like this."

Jules puts the car in forward gear and drives off with Tyler, away from Mystic Falls.

* * *

"I have to go." Trinity says.

Katherine groans. "Again?"

"Hey." She smiles. "We got a whole day to ourselves. Apart from my weird shapeshifter drama, we were able to just enjoy the day. That's rare."

Katherine reaches out and brushes a strand of hair out of Trinity's face. "Yeah."

"So it's back to real life." Trinity says before pressing her lips to Katherine's, who moans and tries to deepen the kiss. Trinity pulls away. "Not this time." She kisses her cheek and stands up. "I see you later." She smiles and leaves the tomb.

Katherine sits up and leans against the wall, thinking of her plan on getting out of the tomb and hoping Trinity won't hate her too much.


	37. The Dinner Party

Chapter Thirty Seven: The Dinner Party

At the lake house, Elena is sitting on the sofa, reading one of Jonathan Gilbert's journals. _"With the dying embers of the fire at Fell's Church, the scourge of the vampires had passed. And though war raged all around us, our town was safe from the demons of the night…or so we thought." _She read. _"For the monsters we drove to their fiery deaths had begat new monsters."_

* * *

_Flashback: Gilbert House, 1864_

_Outside of the house, the Fells and Jonathan hear a creaking board being unsettled by footsteps. They look over at the window._

"_Did you hear that?" Honoria asks._

_Thomas walks over to the window and peers out. There is no one in sight. He picks up a knife from the table. "Stay here."_

"_No, Thomas."_

"_It's all right, dear, the vampires are all dead."_

"_Yes, Honoria…they burned in the church. We're safe now." Jonathan tells her._

_Thomas walks out of the house, leaving the front door open behind him._

_Honoria still looks worried. "Please, Jonathan. I'm worried."_

"_Very well. I shall go too." He gets up from the table and walks outside. Thomas is in the yard, searching around, with the knife pointed out in defense. Jonathan walks towards him. "I can prove there are no vampires." Thomas looks at him. Jonathan pulls out the vampire compass and holds it out. Nothing happens. "See?" For a moment, Thomas looks relieved. But, the arrow of the compass starts spinning around and around at an incredible speed. Jonathan looks down at it and tries to follow the direction the arrow is pointing. When he turns back around, Thomas has disappeared. "Thomas? Thomas?!" He walks down from the porch and looks around. His eyes are wide with fear. Suddenly, behind Jonathan, Thomas' body falls from the sky. Jonathan turns around and looks down at the body._

_Honoria comes out onto the porch and runs towards Thomas. "Thomas!"_

"_No, stay inside! Get back in the house!"_

_The vampire rushes onto the porch and grabs Honoria. He bites into her throat and drains her of her blood. She falls down on the floor, dead. Jonathan watches as the vampire slowly turns to look at him._

"I knew I was about to die. You cannot run from a vampire. I saw the vampire who killed me. I recognized him. It was Stefan Salvatore."

_Stefan walks over to Jonathan, blood running down his chin, bites him and kills him._

* * *

_Present_

Elena looks up from the journal with a shocked expression. She looks out the window at Stefan who is on the dock.

* * *

Stefan skips stones across the lake. His phone rings and he answers it. Damon is on the other end. "What's going on?"

"_Well, I showered. I shaved. Had breakfast. Very relaxed."_

"That makes one of us."

"_I did hear one piece of good news though. Tyler Lockwood ran away from home last night."_

"How do you know?"

"_Well, I heard it from Sheriff Forbes, who heard it from a very distraught Carol Lockwood, thus, ending our werewolf chapter, bringing us to…"_

"…killing Elijah." Stefan finishes.

"_Exactly."_

"Well, it's not going to be easy. He's crafty."

"_Well, I've got a crafty little dagger."_

"He's an Original. We don't know what all that encompasses."

"_Oh, trust me, Stefan. I'm gonna dot all my i's. I don't want any surprises."_

"Wow, Damon, tell me you're actually gonna be careful for once?"

"_Yes, Stefan, I've become you. How tragic for both of us. I'll get Trinity to help too if she's done with all that shapeshifter drama."_

"What's wrong with Trinity?"

"_Something about her Quickening. Got to run. I've a murder to plan. Busy day." _He hangs up.

Stefan lowers his phone and looks at it, before looking at Elena through the window and walking back to the house.

* * *

Trinity walks into the boarding house and goes into the parlor.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asks. "I thought you had that whole Quickening thing going on."

"I do." She sits down. "Now I just have to deal with it."

"What's going on?"

"Oh nothing, just slowly going insane."

"What?"

"I've had a couple of hallucinations." She tells him.

"About what?"

"Drowning. Hearing people that aren't there. The usual crazy stuff."

"Sucks for you." He takes a seat next to her.

"Tell me about it." She says. "I just got to deal with it."

Damon pauses. "Well you won't be dealing with it alone."

Trinity looks at him. "Damon Salvatore, is that care I hear in your voice."

He scoffs. "Oh please. You're our element of surprise for Elijah. Hopefully he hasn't been around long enough to know what a shapeshifter is."

"We were pretty good at staying hidden." She says. "Vampires aren't the friendliest creatures. We barely got along with witches."

"Too judgy?"

"Too talkative." She says. "Their idea of keeping a secret is telling all the other witches and hoping they keep the secret as well. The few who knew had a big problem with the natural immortality thing. They call themselves 'Servants of Nature' and apparently immortality isn't natural. There were only a few witches that my people trusted, and they were usually ostracized from the others."

"Which handles the whole secret keeping thing."

She nods. "It did."

"So we bear through it." He says. "You get crazy and I'll slap the sanity back into you."

"Slap me and lose an arm." She laughs.

* * *

Near the old Fell property, Jenna is taking Elijah on a tour of some of the historical sights of Mystic Falls. "The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence." She tells him.

"Ah, the Fells. One of the 'Founding Families'."

She looks at him. "Why do you say it like that?"

"My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier. It was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast, um, it was Salem, to be precise." He says.

"Massachusetts? As in the witch trials?"

"Which means the ever lauded founding families…they didn't actually found anything."

"Well, I bet it was the men who made a big deal about being founders back in 1860. Men are very territorial."

"Yes, they are."

Alaric walks up to the pair.

"Elijah, this is my friend, Alaric Saltzman." Jenna introduces them.

"Yeah, I got your message about walking Elijah here through the old property lines." He says. "I thought I would tag along. You know being a history buff and all. Where to next?"

"I'm pretty curious about the freed slave property owners. Some say, you know, the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of American history." Elijah says.

"Well, I only brought the surveys. I got that list in the car. Just give me a sec." Jenna walks back to her car, leaving the two men alone together.

"Alaric Saltzman." Elijah looks at him. "So you're one of those people on Elena's list of loved ones to protect."

"So is Jenna."

"You don't have to be jealous. I don't really pursue younger women." Alaric looks less than amused. "It's a joke, Ric, lighten up." He pats him on the shoulder and walks away.

"Right."

* * *

At the Grill, Bonnie sits alone at a table.

Jeremy walks in, smiling when he sees her. He walks over and sits down. "Hey, whatcha doin'?"

"Thinking about last night."

"Yeah, yeah. Me too." He smiles.

"It was a tough spell. I could feel it draining me. I need practice."

His face sobers as he realizes that she's not talking about their kiss. "Yeah, well, uh, maybe, I don't know…maybe you should come over tonight. We can practice. Get stronger."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks."

He sees Luka walk in. "Ah, incoming."

Luka walks over to their table. "You want to tell me what the hell happened yesterday?"

"Sorry?" Bonnie says.

"Don't play dumb. You both were here and…" He trails off.

"And?" Jeremy asks.

"And that's all I remember. One minute I'm playing pool and the next I'm waking up in a bathroom stall."

"Sorry, Luka, but everything seemed normal yesterday. I mean, I brought you a coffee and we played pool." She says.

"See, I think you're lying." He steps closer to her.

Jeremy gets up and shoves Luka away from Bonnie. "And I think you need to back off."

Luka looks at them and leaves.

* * *

Elena is still reading Jonathan Gilbert's journal. She jumps when she hears Stefan open the door and enter the room. He takes his jacket off and looks at her. "Are you still mad?" She asks.

"Yeah, I'm still mad." He tells her.

"We have a difference of opinion, Stefan. We're not always gonna agree on everything."

"Elena, you've agreed to sacrifice yourself to Klaus. To say that we have a difference of opinion is the understatement of the century."

"You would know."

He looks down at the journal. "What does Jonathan Gilbert have to say?"

"A lot. It's insane, the things he wrote in his journal." She hands it to Stefan, who opens it. "That he kept from the founding families. Stuff that nobody knows. Stuff that…you never told me."

Stefan looks down at what she just read and closes the journal. "We were, uh…we were angry at the founding families for what they did to Katherine. We wanted revenge. I didn't know about Jonathan Gilbert's ring yet. I didn't know that he would…" He sits down. "That he would survive."

"He describes you as a monster."

"That's what I was. I want you to know the truth…but I want you to hear it from me. In the weeks after I became a vampire, I relished in it. I took it to the darkest place I could."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 1864_

_Stefan is draining the blood from a woman. She dies and he lies back on the couch, breathing heavily. His shirt and chin are stained with blood. Nearby, two women dance while another woman plays the piano. Stefan gets up. "Who wants to die next?"_

_The two women walk over to him._

"_Me, I'm next."_

"_Me, you promised me."_

_He caresses their chins and then looks at the woman playing piano. He walks over towards her and grabs her face in his hands. "What about you? You know if you don't pick up the tempo, you're going to lose your head. Snap. Snap." The woman picks up the tempo. Stefan flashes over to one of the women who was dancing and starts to drink from her._

_Damon walks into the room. "Company, brother?"_

_Stefan stops drinking and looks at him. "I brought enough to share." He throws the other girl towards Damon, who grabs her._

"_Are you mad bringing them here when the entire town is hunting us?"_

_Stefan walks over to him. "Damon, if you're worried about the founding families, please don't be. They're all dead or about to be." He looks back at the woman he was drinking from. She smiles at him and he proceeds to start drinking from her neck again._

_Damon grabs the other woman's face in his hands and compels her. "Leave this place. Never think of it again." He walks over to Stefan and rips him off the other woman. He compels her as well. Stefan growls in fury. "Same for you. Leave this place. Never think of it again."_

"_Damon, don't be like this. I'm just having some fun."_

"_Staying alive is more fun, Stefan. We have to be more careful than this. More clever. Like Katherine was."_

"_Look where that got her."_

"_I'm done here. With you. I'm leaving town." He walks past him._

_Stefan flashes in front of Damon and grabs him by the shoulders. "You hate me. I know. I know. An eternity of misery and on and on. I know, but you don't have to leave town. Damon, I'll do better. I promise."_

"_No, you will get us killed. I'd rather leave you to do that to yourself." Damon pushes Stefan off of him and walks out of the house._

_Stefan looks after him, upset._

* * *

_Present_

"I wasn't myself then. I was full of guilt. What I did to my father, to my brother. I had to turn it off. It was the only way I could survive." He tells her.

"It sounds like you were Damon."

"I was worse."

* * *

At the Grill, Alaric, Damon, Trinity, and Andie sit at a table.

"Other than your lecture on the history of Mystic Falls, did you get anything out of Elijah?" Damon asks him.

"No, it was boring. Of course, Jenna thinks he's charming."

"You sounded jealous." He turns to Andie. "Does he sound a bit jealous?"

"Kinda do." She says, Trinity nods in agreement.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this here." Alaric glances over at Andie.

"Andie, she's been compelled not to divulge my secrets. Haven't you?" He asks.

"Uh-huh." She kisses him. "Mmm. My lips are sealed."

Trinity sighs, and Alaric stares at them in disgust. "This is too weird." He says.

"I just need the right opportunity." Damon sees Elijah and Jenna enter the Grill. "Ah, there's Jenna with her new boyfriend. Hi."

Elijah and Jenna walk up to their table. "Hey, guys." She greets.

"So I hear you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I've got papers to grade." Alaric puts down some money and gets up from the table.

"No, you know what? We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party." Andie says.

Damon smiles. "Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host. Say tonight. Maybe?"

"It's good for me. Jenna?"

"I don't know if tonight works…" Alaric tries.

"Yeah, I'm free." Jenna nods. "Trinity, are you coming too?"

"Of course she's coming." Damon smiles. "History's her favorite subject."

Trinity looks at him before smiling at Jenna. "Yeah."

"It'd be a pleasure." Elijah says.

"Great." Damon smiles.

* * *

Damon and Trinity walk into the tomb. Damon's face curls in confusion when he notices that Katherine's not desiccated and sees clothes in the tomb.

"I've been taking care of her." Trinity says. He shoots her an angry look. "What? She's been running from Klaus for 500 years, she has more information."

"And where has that gotten you?"

"It's proven a little difficult but she's been wearing down." She lies.

Katherine stands up. "What is it you want, Damon?"

He looks away from Trinity and towards Katherine. "Guess who's back in town? Your old friend, John Gilbert."

"Really. Why?"

"Says he loves his daughter, wants to protect her from Elijah and big, bad Klaus."

"Touching." She says, sarcastically. Trinity takes the bottle of blood and clothes from Damon, handing them to Katherine.

"Yeah, right. He told me this old wives tale about how to kill an Original."

Katherine quickly downs the blood before crushing the empty bottle and looks at him. "And you want to know if it's true. If it was, I wouldn't tell you." She puts on a jacket.

"Now, why not? I mean, you want Elijah and Klaus dead as much as we do." Trinity says.

"Klaus, yes. Elijah, no. He's compelled me to stay in here. If he dies, I'm stuck forever."

"Sucks for you." Damon smirks.

"Forget it, Damon. Killing Elijah would be a suicide mission. You can't do it."

"Can so."

"Can't." She goes to walk back into the tomb.

"Even with a dagger and a little white oak ash?"

She turns around, surprised. "No. Damon, if you kill Elijah, then I'm stuck in here forever."

"You're really scared."

"Just get me out of here first and then I'll help you. I'll…I'll help you kill Elijah or…or protect Elena. Whatever you want." She begs.

"I get you out of here and your ass is sipping Klaus-free margaritas on some unknown island somewhere." He scoffs. "No way."

"That's not true. I'll stay. Damon, please just don't do it."

"Well, thank you, you've told me everything I need to know."

"I've told you nothing."

"You have. You have indeed confirmed that it is possible to kill an Original, which I will do tonight. Guess who's coming to dinner?" He leaves.

Trinity sends Katherine a worried look before following after him.

They walk through the woods when Damon suddenly grabs Trinity by the throat and slams her into a tree. "You little traitor."

Trinity chokes and works to pry his hand away. "Let go of me."

"Do you think I'm stupid? You've been seeing Katherine."

"You don't know everything Damon?"

"What? Like how you were dumb enough to believe anything she's said? She's not your girlfriend; she's an evil bitch who's trying to kill Elena."

"She's stuck in the tomb."

"So that makes it better? I wonder how your Stefan is gonna feel when he finds out that you're in league with the bitch that wants his girlfriend dead."

"They already know." She chokes out.

Damon lets go and she falls to the floor, coughing. "What?"

"Stefan and Elena." She pants. "They already know."

"Then why didn't they tell me?"

"Because they knew how you'd react. As long as she's in the tomb it's okay. If she ever gets out, that's when it becomes a problem. We'll kill Elijah and Klaus, and I'll find some other way to get her out."

"What, so you can go away and live happily ever after?"

She stands up. "Maybe she is using me, but maybe she's not. You were ready to forgive her for everything she's done as long as she answered your question, as long as she told you which one she picked. You weren't happy with her answer but you were able to move on. I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering if she only cared because I was the only one who cared about her. And I'm never going to know that unless she gets out of that tomb."

"Oh my god." Damon groans. "You're in love with her." Trinity sighs and looks away. Damon walks closer, looking into her eyes. "This is going to blow up in your face, and I'm not going to be the one who picks up the pieces."

* * *

Elena leans against the back door, looking out at the lake.

Stefan walks up to her and hands her a mug of tea. "For weeks I kept spiraling. I was completely driven by the desire for blood. Hunt, prey, kill. That was all I knew."

"How come no one caught on to what you were doing?"

"Mmm. There was a war going on. The thing about wartime. Endless, anonymous blood supply."

* * *

_Flashback: The woods, 1864_

_A camp is set up for the sick and injured Civil War soldiers. Stefan drinks the blood from a dead body. He looks up and sees a hooded figure feeding a bowl of soup to another injured man. The hooded figure stands up and walks away into the woods. Stefan follows them. The hooded person stops and Stefan flashes away. They look behind themselves, but they don't see anyone. He starts rushing around the person and eventually falls down on top of them, but they are too quick and catch Stefan, pinning him to the floor. _

_The hooded figure is Lexi. Her face changed as she glares down at Stefan. "What kind of an idiot are you?"_

* * *

_Present_

"Alexia Branson, as she was known back then." He says.

"Lexi? Your best friend Lexi? That's how you met her? What was she even doing in Mystic Falls?"

"She had heard it was a good place for vampires. You know, had no idea that they'd all been massacred. Needed a place to crash, so I brought her home with me."

* * *

_Flashback: Salvatore house, 1864_

_Lexi and Stefan enter the Salvatore's house. "I'd say it isn't necessary to take me in, but you did try to eat me and well, with dawn coming, beggars can't be choosers." Lexi looks in the parlor room and sees the dead bodies of women lying around. "Or should they be?"_

"_I, um…I meant to dispose of those."_

_She sighs. "My god, you're a ripper."_

"_A what?"_

"_There are good parts of being a vampire and there are bad parts. You're the bad parts. Well…we're going to have to change that."_

* * *

_Present_

"Are you okay?" Elena asks, seeing the solemn look on his face.

"Talking about her brings up things that I'd rather forget."

"Like Damon killing her?"

* * *

At the boarding house, Jenna, Andie, and Trinity are preparing the table for the dinner.

"So what's going on with you and Alaric? I feel like there's some tension." Andie asks.

"I don't know. I really like him." Jenna says. "It's more than like and I want it to work, but I can't help but feel that he's hiding something from me. And then I've got John whispering things in my ear about him."

Trinity looks at her. "Like what?"

"Things I don't want to believe. Things I don't believe, not if they're coming from John's mouth."

"Oh. Well, there you go, then. Trust is the key to any relationship. I mean, I am so grateful that Damon tells me everything." Andie smiles before turning to Trinity. "What about you? You're quite the looker; you must have all the boys after you." Trinity and Jenna laugh. Andie looks at them. "What?"

Trinity sobers, a smile still on her face. "Wow, it's actually been a while since I've had to explain this." She looks at Andie. "I'm not interested in boys, I'm gay."

Andie looks shocked. "Oh! My bad." She chuckles. "Any special girl in your life?"

Trinity shakes her head. "No, not really."

Jenna looks at her. "Really? Because your blush says otherwise."

"It's complicated."

"How?"

"You ever date a guy that none of your friends like and is bad for you, but you think that there's more to him?"

"Yeah." Jenna nods. "Plenty."

"And how often were you right?"

Jenna grimaces. "Oh."

Trinity nods. "Yeah."

* * *

Damon and Alaric are in the library.

"This is a bad idea." Alaric says.

"There's no such thing as a bad idea. Just poorly executed awesome ones. Here." He hands Alaric a glass of scotch, but he refuses it.

"No. I don't like the idea of Elijah being in the same house with Jenna."

"Jenna's perfectly safe. Besides, it's just a fact-finding mission. It's totally harmless.

"Just a fact-finding mission?"

"Yeah."

"Listen, no sneak attacks. No surprise plans. Nothing that's gonna put Jenna in harm's way. Ok?"

"Scout's honor." Damon puts up his hand and grabs Alaric's shoulder, who looks at him, still suspicious.

Andie walks in. "Hey, Jenna needs help with the wine." She says. Damon looks at him, smiles, and pats his arm reassuringly. Alaric walks up the stairs. "Thanks."

"Yeah." He leaves the room and closes the door. Damon waits until he is sure he is gone before he walks over to a small trunk and opens it. He pulls out the silver dagger and white oak ash from inside.

Andie walks down to him. "What's that?"

"Dessert." He dips the dagger in the ash. "Elijah's stronger than me. Faster than me. It's all about the element of surprise."

"Ah, it's too bad. I like him. He's very old-school. Classy."

"Which is why you should encourage the gentlemen to take their after dinner drinks in here while you do coffee in the kitchen with the girls." Damon places the dagger with the glasses and the scotch, hiding it from view.

"Hmm. That is a little too sexist for me."

He turns around and looks at her. "Stop talking."

Andie smiles at him.

* * *

The doorbell rings and Jenna answers the door. John is outside on the porch and walks into the house. Damon walks out of the library and into the front hall. "Who invited him?" She asks.

Damon looks up. "John. Surprise. Leave."

"When Jenna told me she was coming to a dinner party for Elijah, I decided I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games." He says.

Alaric walks in and Damon and John look at him. "There are not going to be any games tonight, John. It's just a friendly dinner party." John looks back at Damon, who smiles.

"What he said."

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Jeremy opens the front door for Bonnie. "Hey." He smiles.

"Hey." She greets and he takes her bag. "Thanks. That thing weighs a ton. I'm starving. You guys have any…food?" She stops in front of the living room. There are candles lit and placed all over the room. She looks nervous. "Oh, God. Heh! This is a date."

Jeremy walks into the room and stands in front of her. "No, no it's not like a date, date. It's more of a hey, I kissed you, and I thought you liked it, um…hang thing."

"Jeremy, I need to make sure Elena is cool with us before anything else happens."

He turns away and places her stuff on the couch. "I didn't realize my sister had approval over who I'm with."

"She's my best friend. I tell her everything and this whole hang thing might freak her out."

"All right, all right, so we'll, um…we'll hang out, eat some food, work on some spells. It's not a big deal. But you did…you did like it, right?"

She smiles. "Yeah. I liked it."

* * *

Damon opens the door and sees Elijah.

"Good evening." Elijah greets.

"Thank you for coming. Please, come in."

"Just one moment. Can I just say that if you have less than honorable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider."

"No, nothing, nothing dishonorable. Just getting to know you." He says.

"Hmm. Well, that's good." He enters the house. "Because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal, if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house. Are we clear?"

"Crystal."

Elijah sees Jenna and smiles before walking over to her. "Jenna. Wonderful to see you again. How are you?"

She smiles back. "Nice to see you."

"You look incredible."

"Thank you."

Damon shuts the front door.

* * *

Damon, Andie, Elijah, Jenna, John, Alaric, and Trinity all sit around the table.

Jenna pours some wine for Damon. "I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town."

"Hmm, do tell." He says.

"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s. Over the next hundred years they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution." Elijah explains.

"Hmm. Because they were witches." Jenna adds.

"Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem." Andie says.

Damon smiles. "Andie's a journalist. Big on facts."

"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in the neighboring settlement, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned." Elijah explains. "Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire." He looks at the table. "Could you pass the…"

"I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society." Trinity says.

"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me." John speaks up.

"So, why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon asks.

"You know…a healthy historian's curiosity, of course."

"Of course."

He glances at Damon and smiles, nervously.

* * *

Elena is again sitting on the couch reading another one of Jonathan Gilbert's journals. Stefan walks into the house and over to her. "Jonathan Gilbert got crazier and crazier. I guess that's what happens when you spend your life obsessed with vampires." She puts the journal down and picks up another. She begins to read and as she does her brow furrows. "He researched the Originals."

"You're kidding." He walks over to the couch and sits down next to her.

"Later in life, look." She shows him the journal. "Pages and pages of questions and scribbles." Elena flips through the pages and eventually stops on one. A picture of the silver dagger has been drawn on it. "What's that?" She shares a look with Stefan before looking back down. "The wood from one tree and one tree alone, an ancient white oak would bring death to an Original vampire. When the tree burned, all hope was thought lost." She reads and looks at him. "He was trying to figure out how to kill an Original." She looks back down at the journal and continues to read out loud again. "But the ash from the tree was saved and witches forged a dagger to which the ash could be bonded. This alchemic bond provides the necessary poison."

Stefan gets up and stands in front of her. "Elena…"

"I wonder if this is true. I mean, do you think this dagger actually exists?"

"I know it does…" Elena looks up at him, shocked. "Because John gave it to Damon."

"John gave Damon the weapon that's supposed to kill Elijah? This one?" She points at the dagger on the page and Stefan nods. She starts to read aloud again. "It must be brandished by humans alone, for it will bring death to all demons who wield it."

Stefan grabs the journal from Elena and looks at it. He quickly grabs out his phone and dials Damon. "John's trying to get Damon killed."

* * *

"Would anyone care for some cognac? I have a bottle that I've been saving for ages." Damon gets up from the table.

"None for me thanks. Nine bottles of wine is my limit." Alaric says.

* * *

Stefan sighs in frustration as Damon doesn't answer. "Why is your phone off? Call me."

Elena looks up at him. "What's going on, Stefan?"

"Damon is planning on killing Elijah. Tonight."

* * *

The others start to get up. Damon looks at Andie.

"The gentlemen should take their drinks in the study." She says.

"I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company." Elijah smiles.

"I like you."

Jenna hands some plates to John. "Here you are, gentleman, make yourself useful. Hmm?" John takes the plates and walks off.

Alaric comes up behind Jenna. "Here, here. Put me to work."

"Um, I got it." She picks up the plates and starts to walk out of the room.

Alaric stops her. "Hey, Jenna, are you…are you ok?"

"Yeah, fine, Ric." She leaves the room.

John looks at Alaric and walks towards him. "I suspect this is my fault."

"What did you do now?"

"I merely mentioned that you haven't been completely honest with her about your dead wife."

"You son of bitch." Alaric grabs John by his shirt collar.

John grabs his wrists and pulls his hands off of him. "I think I've been very clear with you, Ric. I want my ring back." He walks out of the room.

Alaric's phone starts to ring and he answers it. "Hello? Slow down…slow down…Stefan?"

Trinity walks up to Alaric. "What's going on?" She asks, listening in on the conversation.

* * *

Damon and Elijah are in the library.

"So, let me guess." Damon says as he pours the drinks. "In addition to the moonstone, the doppelgänger, the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, you need to find this witch burial ground."

"Because I feel as though we've grown so close, Damon, I'll tell you yes. Do you know where it is?"

"Maybe. Tell me why it's so important." He hands Elijah a glass of scotch.

"We're not that close." He turns around and looks at the books. "It's quite a collection you have here."

"Hmm."

As Elijah has his back turned, Damon slowly and carefully grabs the silver dagger from the tray of glasses. "It's a funny thing about books. Before they existed, people actually had memories."

Alaric and Andie burst through the study doors. Damon quickly puts the dagger back down. "Gentlemen, we forgot about dessert." He says.

"Elijah." Andie holds her hand out for him.

"Miss Star…" He hands his glass to Damon, who drains it, and takes Andie's hand. He twirls her around and they walk out of the room together.

As soon as they leave, Damon smacks Alaric angrily. Alaric points down at the dagger. Damon doesn't understand what he means. Alaric walks over to a desk and writes something down on a piece of paper. He hands it to Damon who reads it. The paper says "The Dagger will kill you if you use it." Damon angrily throws the paper at Alaric and they walk out of the room.

* * *

Back in the dining room, Jenna pours coffee into a cup for John. Elijah and Andie enter the room.

"Sorry, guys, dessert is taking longer than I thought. I usually just unwrap food." Jenna says.

"It's fine." Trinity smiles and Jenna leaves.

"So…I know this is a social thing, but I…I would really love to ask you some more questions about the work that you're doing here." Andie tells him.

"I'd love to answer."

"Great, that's so great."

Damon and Alaric enter the room. Damon sits down and glares across the table at John.

"Ric, would you do me a favor and grab the notebook out of my bag?" Andie asks. Alaric walks over to her bag.

"Elijah, did John tell you he's Elena's uncle/father?" Damon asks.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that."

"Of course, she hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list." Trinity says.

"No Ric, it's in the front pocket. On the…you know what? Excuse me, guys. Sorry." Andie gets up to help Ric find her notebook.

"What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how do you intend on killing Klaus?" John asks.

"Gentlemen, there's a few things we should probably get clear right now. I allow you to live solely to keep an eye on Elena. I allow Elena to remain in her house living her life with her friends as she does as a courtesy. If you become a liability, I'll take her away from you and you'll never see her again."

Andie comes back with her notebook and sits down. "Ok. My first question is when you got here to Mystic-"

Alaric comes up behind Elijah and stabs the dagger through his heart. Elijah screams and dies. Everyone at the table gets up in shock. Alaric pulls the dagger out and places it on the table. He looks at Damon. "Now, get rid of him before Jenna comes back with dessert."

"All right."

* * *

Elena is standing outside. Stefan walks out and over to her. "Elena, we need to talk about this."

"What good is talking if you, Damon, and Trinity are just gonna lie to me? If you don't like my decisions, that's fine. There's nothing I can do about that but if you ever go behind my back again, I'll…"

"You're gonna what? Hmm? What are you gonna do, Elena?" He asks.

"It's my life."

"Yeah, exactly. It's your life and I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure that you live it."

"Then what? This…this…this trip through the past. You being honest. Was there any truth to that or were you just distracting me?"

"I was telling you about a time when I thought that everything was lost. When I had given up because that is exactly what you're doing right now."

"That is not what…"

"Yes, it is! Even if you don't want to admit it. You are giving up…and Lexi? She wouldn't let me give up. I'm not gonna let you."

* * *

_Flashback: 1864_

_Stefan and Lexi walk through a camp filled with injured and dead soldiers._

"_All of these men are dead or dying. What does that make you feel?" She asks._

"_Nothing. I feel nothing." He says._

"_Because you shut out the part of you that was human. The part that lets you feel."_

"_Is that not the point?"_

"_Well, there is a better way. You simply have to want it."_

"_Is it better?"_

"_Not at first. You can't choose what you feel. You have to let it all back in. The pain and the look in their eyes when you took their life. The cries of their loved ones."_

"_Why would I want to do that? Hmm?"_

"_Because once you can hurt, you can love. Love, Stefan. That's the point. Everything is intensified when you're a vampire. When we hurt, we really hurt. But when we love…" She smiles._

* * *

_Present_

"Lexi showed me that there was another way. And from that day forward, I started fighting for it. For my own survival." He places his hand on Elena's cheek. "That's all I want you to do. I just want you to fight for it." He kisses her on the forehead and leans his forehead against hers for a moment before walking back into the house, leaving Elena standing outside.

* * *

Alaric and Damon have moved Elijah's body down to the cellar.

"You said there wasn't going to be any violence." Alaric says.

"Says the guy that did all the killing." Damon starts to walk out, but Alaric grabs him.

"Hey, I took the shot because I saw an opening, not because I planned to do this with Jenna in the house. Now, you can't lie to me like that." He tries to leave again, but Alaric grabs him. "Hey, I am your friend, damn it. And you don't have any friends. So, no more lying."

Damon nods and leaves. Alaric looks down at Elijah's body, walks out, and closes the cell door behind him.

* * *

Elena is sitting on the couch, still reading Jonathan's journals. Stefan walks down the stairs and into the room. "Elijah's dead. Alaric did it." He sits next to her.

"Originals believed in truth and honor. It was forbidden for a vampire to kill another vampire. So, the dagger would take both lives. And as long as the dagger stays in place, the Original, for all intents and purposes, is dead."

Stefan rushes to his phone and calls Damon.

* * *

Damon rushes to the cellar and sees that Elijah has gone.

* * *

At the Martin's apartment, Elijah opens the door.

Jonas sees him. "What happened?"

"I need you to find Elena. Now."

* * *

Bonnie is doing a spell. There are candles placed between her and Jeremy. She closes her eyes and candles go out. She opens her eyes and hands. The flames are now in her palms. She closes her hands and the candles are relit.

"Now that is cool. How does it work?" He asks.

"It's called channeling. Siphoning power from something…another witch…the moon, an element."

"So, technically, you could channel me."

"What?" She asks.

"Well, I'm an element, sort of. I mean, isn't…isn't the human body mostly water?"

"You're right. Let's…see what happens."

They move closer together. Bonnie places her hand on Jeremy's chest. They smile at each other. Suddenly, the door bursts open and Jonas walks in. Bonnie and Jeremy stand up.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jeremy asks.

Jonas throws Jeremy against the wall with a wave of his hand.

"Jeremy!" Bonnie yells.

Jonas walks towards Bonnie. "What did my son tell you? What did he tell you?"

"He told me about your daughter. I know Klaus has her and I want to help you get her back. But I want us to work together. Please."

He grabs her face. "This is for your own good." Jonas closes his eyes and starts to chant a spell.

"No! No! No!" Bonnie tries to release herself from his grip, but cannot. He finally lowers Bonnie to the floor and releases her from his grip. She starts to cry.

"If any harm comes to my son because of what you did, you will answer to me." Jonas walks out of the house and slams the door with his powers. Jeremy falls down from the wall, having been released by Jonas, and he rushes over to Bonnie.

He gently holds her. "You ok? It's ok. What happened?" He caresses her face in his hands as she looks up at him.

"He took my powers."

Jeremy pulls her close to him and holds her.

* * *

Elijah walks up to the lake house. He kneels down and grabs some rocks. Elena starts to walk towards the front door, but Stefan grabs her by the arm. Elijah has gotten up outside and tosses the rocks from hand to hand.

Stefan hears him. "He's here."

Elijah throws the rocks at the door, breaking it off its hinges. Elena looks at Stefan. "You have to go. I need to talk to him alone."

"Elena…"

"Stefan, I'm ok. He can't come in the house."

Elijah walks closer towards the house. "You know, I might not be able to enter this house…but I'm a very patient man. I'll wait you out."

Elena slowly walks out from behind the wall. Stefan stays hidden there. She walks towards the front door but stays inside the house. "They shouldn't have done what they did."

"The deal is off."

"I'm renegotiating."

"You have nothing left to negotiate with." He looks amused as she pulls out a knife.

"I'd like to see you lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after the doppelgänger bleeds to death."

"Stefan won't let you die."

"No, he won't. He'll feed me his blood to heal me, and then I'll kill myself and become a vampire, just like Katherine did. So unless you want that to happen again, promise me the same as before…promise me…you won't harm anyone that I love. Even if they've harmed you."

"I'm sorry, Elena. I'm going to have to call your bluff."

Elena breathes out and points the knife to her stomach. Elijah watches her, unsure of what she will do. Elena looks up at him and stabs herself in the stomach. She screams in pain and falls to the floor. There is blood gushing everywhere. Elijah rushes towards the door, but stops at the doorway because he has not been invited in. Elena drops the knife on the floor and clutches her stomach.

"No! Yes. Yes, you can have your deal. Let me heal you." He says.

"Give me your word!"

"I give you my word."

Elena limps outside and into Elijah's arms. Suddenly, she stabs Elijah with the silver dagger and he falls to the ground, dead. Elena falls to the ground as well, weak from the blood loss. Stefan rushes out of the house, bites his wrist, and feeds Elena his blood. He places his chin on the top of her head.

Damon and Trinity walk up. They look at them. "Little tip. Don't pull the dagger out." He says.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Alaric walks into the kitchen and sees Jenna. "Where did John disappear to?"

"Maybe the same place the rest of the dinner party ran off to." She says.

"Look, Jenna, I'm, uh…I'm so sorry tonight was…"

"What happened to Isobel?"

"You know, John should have never brought that up."

"That's not an answer."

"He's just trying to stir up trouble."

"That's not an answer, either."

"I can't talk about this, Jenna."

"I keep thinking that maybe it's me. Maybe I'm reading into things. I should trust you. That's what a relationship is about, right? But then I think that maybe John is right and maybe you're not being honest with me. So…are you being honest?" Alaric purses his lips together and doesn't respond. Tears start to fall from Jenna's eyes. "Right, ok. Well, that was an answer." She walks out of the kitchen."

John enters behind Alaric. "Well, that was awkward." He says. Alaric turns around and glares at him. "You know, I can clear all this stuff up about Isobel tomorrow, if you want. Or not."

Alaric takes the ring off his finger and places it on the table. "You want it? Take it. It's yours. And after what you did to Damon…" He smirks. "You're gonna need it more than me." He walks out of the room.

* * *

Trinity and Damon carry Elijah's body down into the cellar. Elena is with them. Stefan wraps his arm around her.

Damon kneels down and searches through Elijah's jacket. "Uhh! What do we have here?" He pulls out the moonstone. "A little moonstone bar of soap. I'll hold on to this."

"So, that's it. I mean, as long as we keep the dagger in there, then he stays dead." Elena says.

Trinity nods. "Pretty much."

"Ok, then…good night." Elena starts to walk out, but turns around. They look at her. "You know, you guys want me to fight, fine, I'll fight. But if we're gonna do this; you can't keep anything from me anymore. From this moment on, we're doing it my way."

"That seems fair." Damon says. "Doesn't that seem fair Trinity?"

"I'm sorry for not telling you about Katherine." She says.

"You know?" Stefan asks.

Damon smirks. "I know."

"We'll do it your way." Trinity tells her.

Elena looks at Stefan.

"Okay." He says.

"Okay." She walks out of the basement.

Stefan, Trinity, and Damon look at each other.

"Seems like she's had a change of attitude. How did you get through to her?" Damon asks him.

"I told her a little story about when I was making the wrong decisions and somebody showed me there was a better way."

"Lexi?"

"Yeah. You remember her?" Stefan walks out of the room.

Damon sighs and Trinity pats him on the arm.

* * *

_Flashback: Salvatore house, 1864_

_Damon walks down the stairs and heads for the front door. Lexi walks in and stops him. "Going somewhere?"_

"_You must be the vampire I hear my brother complaining about." He says._

"_That would be me. And you must be the brother who hates him." She walks closer towards him._

_He puts his suitcase down. "We are at irreparable odds."_

"_You know the hate you're feeling towards Stefan? Towards everyone? You think you have it under control but you don't. It will get the best of you."_

_He picks his suitcase back up. "Help him. He needs it."_

"_I'll help him."_

_He opens the front door and walks out."_

* * *

_Present_

Damon enters his bedroom and hears the shower running. "Andie? I thought you left."

He walks into the bathroom. Katherine is in the shower; she walks out and stands in front of Damon, completely naked. Damon looks at her, surprised.

"Hello, Damon. Hey, do you have a robe?" She smiles.

"How did you get out?" He asks.

"I knew that if I begged you not to kill Elijah, that's exactly what you'd do. Little known fact…Originals can compel vampires. But as soon as they die, the compulsion wears off."

"And you knew."

"And I'm still here. I didn't run. I meant what I said, Damon. I'm going to help you." She looks down at her naked body. "So…how about that robe?"

* * *

Trinity walks by the room and a familiar scent feels her nose. She rushes into the room and sees Katherine, standing in front of Damon, naked.

Katherine smiles at her. "Miss me?"


	38. The House Guest

Chapter Thirty Eight: The House Guest

Elena bursts out of the bathroom, pulling on an undershirt. Stefan stands in the middle of his bedroom, buttoning up his shirt. She strides quickly over to a chair containing her backpack. "Stefan, we're late for school."

He smiles flirtatiously. "Let's be later."

"Stefan, it's school. Remember, that thing that we keep forgetting about?" She says. He walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her. "Hey!"

Stefan turns her around so she is facing him and pulls her in closer. "School?" He pulls her in for a deep kiss, Elena giggles when he pulls back. "Doesn't ring a bell." He growls and picks her up, carrying her over to the bed and continuing to kiss her.

She laughs. "Stefan!" He kisses her neck as Elena continues to laugh playfully. They fall down on the bed together.

"Stefan! Ok, 5 minutes, only 5 minutes."

He growls. "Five minutes?!" He kisses her again.

* * *

'Elena' is dressed and she's putting on her coat. She sees that Damon is reading one of Jonathan Gilbert's journals. "Good morning, Damon."

He looks at her and pushes her against the wall. "What are you doing here? I told you to leave."

"What is your problem?" She asks, shocked.

"You're wearing her clothes? Like that's going to work."

"You think I'm Katherine? Why would you think that? Katherine's in the tomb! Isn't she?" She asks, panicked.

Stefan walks up to them. "What the hell's going on here?"

"I don't know, you tell me. Is Katherine in the tomb or not?"

Stefan flashes back upstairs and over to Elena, pushing her against the wall.

"What are you doing?!" She asks.

"How could you do this?!"

"Stefan, you're hurting me!"

"Stop it, Katherine!"

"Stop what?" She walks into the room. Stefan and Elena look at her in shock. She smirks at Elena. "It's getting really easy being you."

Trinity and Damon walk in. "What the hell is going on?" She asks.

Elena looks at Katherine. "What is she doing here?"

"When we killed Elijah, it broke the compulsion and freed the bitch from the tomb." Damon explains.

"How's that possible?" Stefan asks.

"He's an Original. They have all sorts of special skills." Katherine smirks.

"I don't want you here." Elena says before looking at Stefan. "Get her out of here."

She scoffs. "You need me, Elena. You all do."

"Like hell." Stefan glares.

"We all want the same thing…Klaus dead. Yet here you all are, running around like chickens with their heads cut off."

"I don't need your help and I don't want it." Elena tells her.

"And that's incredibly stupid of you. Do you know where Klaus is? When he's coming, what he looks like?"

"If you know something, say it or get out." Damon says.

"Fine. Then I'll just go to the grill and have some lunch…maybe Aunt Jenna's free for a bite." She teases before walking out of the room.

Trinity gives them an apologetic look before following after her.

* * *

She finds Katherine in the bedroom that she uses. "What the hell was that?" She asks.

Katherine smiles. "I was just having a little fun."

"That's not having fun; that was pissing off people who already want to kill you."

"Are you mad?"

"Why would you do that?" She asks incredulously.

She shrugs. "Boredom."

Trinity shakes her head in disbelief. "I can't deal with this right now." She picks her bag up. "I have school." She walks out of the room.

"No kiss goodbye?" Katherine calls after her.

* * *

At the high school, Matt is putting ads for the Grill on the walls.

Caroline walks up to him. "Hey, Matt."

"Hey."

She looks at the poster. "Live band?"

"Yeah, business has been a little slow. The grill's trying to stay afloat."

"Aren't we all?"

"Have you heard from Tyler?" He asks.

"Not a peep. You?"

"No, not since he stopped by the grill to talk, and I've left messages on his cell phone."

"He stopped by to see you? What did he say?"

"Not much, really. I mean…I think to say goodbye without really saying good-bye. I just didn't know it."

"And that's all he said?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's all he said, Caroline. Why? I mean, is there something you want to tell me?"

"Yeah! I…I mean, no, I…it's just not that easy."

"I don't get it! Since when have am I the one that can express himself and you're the one at a loss for words?"

"No, you're right, and I'm sorry."

"You know how I feel. So it's your move. Just make a decision or leave me alone." He walks away.

* * *

Elena and Stefan are in the parking lot. They get out of his car.

"Why is she still here? She was free." She says. "Is she staying for Trinity?"

Stefan shrugs, sighing. "I don't know. What I _do_ know, is that she wants what we want…Klaus dead. Maybe she sees us as her only chance."

"Or maybe she's trying to lure you and Damon back into her web. And now she has Trinity too. I want her gone."

"So do I. But you're right, she stayed. Shouldn't we at least try to figure out why?"

"How? All she does is lie."

"Look, I hate it as much as you do, but she does make a point. We don't know anything about Klaus. She does."

"Right, but that doesn't mean I want her shacking up with you."

He embraces her. "Maybe we should stay at your place tonight."

"Hmm, I can't. I told Bonnie and Caroline that they could come over. Bonnie's freaked because she lost her powers and Caroline's having Matt drama again. It's kind of a girls' night. Maybe Katherine can join us."

He kisses her on the forehead and they leave.

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon is trying to burn Elijah's body but it doesn't work.

Katherine walks in. "Mmm, burning flesh. If you're trying to get the dagger back, you're wasting your time. He's indestructible."

"No kidding. How do you know so much about Original vampires?" He asks.

"Spent 500 years running from one."

"So when I told you my plan to kill Elijah, why didn't you warn me that I'd die if I used the dagger on him?"

"Oh, there's so many rules. It's all very confusing."

"Did you know I would die?"

"Did Elijah tell you his plan?" She deflects. "Did he have a dagger to kill Klaus with?"

"Why are you still here?"

"Because you haven't forcibly removed me." He points the flamethrower at her. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would."

"Damon, be smart. I want Klaus dead just as much as you do. More. If I wasn't be honest about helping, I'd be long gone by now, ok? You can hate me. But we want the same thing. And you know…I always get what I want." He lowers the flamethrower and she turns around, she looks back at him. "I wanted out of the tomb, didn't matter who paid the price. Of course I knew that you'd die." She walks out.

* * *

Trinity opens her locker and puts away her books. She thinks over what Katherine did this morning and slams it closed. She runs a hand through her hair in frustration before walking out of the school.

* * *

"She's out of the tomb?" Bonnie asks.

"Yeah." Stefan nods. "We're dealing with it, all right? Just be extra careful. She's gotten a little too good at impersonating Elena."

"With Katherine still around, we gotta find a way to get your powers back." Jeremy tells her.

Stefan looks at them. "Listen, I want to get the Martins on our side. I want to figure out a way for us all to work together now that Elijah's out of the picture."

Bonnie shakes her head. "It's impossible. They hate us."

"It's either win them over or somebody's going to end up dead. You think you can at least convince them to have a civil conversation?"

"I'll try."

"Thanks. Keep me posted." He walks away.

Bonnie turns to Jeremy. "Ok. I gotta get to class."

"All right, I'll see ya." He tries to kiss her but she laughs. "Come on. Elena's nowhere in sight."

She kisses him. "I'll tell her soon. I promise."

"Alright."

* * *

Trinity walks into her room and drops her bag onto the bed before shifting into a hawk and flying out the window.

* * *

At the boarding house, Katherine goes the drawers of Trinity's room. She holds up a bra not seeing a hawk land in the windowsill.

Trinity shifts into her human form. "What are you doing?"

Katherine turns around. "I thought you had school?"

"I couldn't focus." She walks closer. "Why are you going through my underwear?"

Katherine puts the bra back. "I was bored."

"Another case of boredom?"

Katherine looks at her. "I see you're still mad about this morning."

"What was that?" Trinity asks. "You get out of the tomb and the first thing you do is piss off the _exact _people who put you in there."

"If it bothers you so much how come I can't stay at your house?" Katherine feigns a look of thought. "Oh right, because you won't invite me in." She takes a few steps closer to Trinity when she doesn't respond. "No matter what you say, no matter what you feel, there is still a part of you that doesn't trust me." Trinity goes to speak but she continues. "Don't lie to me." She says. "Do you think I don't know about the lines you draw when it comes to us?" She leans in. "I had a little fun that you didn't agree with, but that's not the reason you're so angry. You could either tell me what's wrong so we can deal with it or you could brood in silence."

"Is it real?" Trinity whispers.

"Is what real?"

"What we have…is it real?"

Katherine leans back. "You think I'm using you?" She asks, masking her hurt.

"You have to understand that you are my first…everything." Trinity tells her. "The first time we met, you knocked me out. The second time, I lost control and we had sex. It kept repeating after that until you were in the tomb and everything…changed. For once I didn't have to worry about what you were doing, if anyone I cared about was gonna get pulled into some plot. I fell for someone who was trying to kill my friends. You have no idea how complicated this is from my side." Her eyes shine with tears. "But even after that, I don't want to stay away from you. After everything you've done. But my biggest fear is that this only started, because of the tomb. Because I was the only one who listened, who cared."

"That's what you think of me?"

"You have 500 years of experience. Why would you suddenly care about someone like me?"

Realization sets in Katherine's eyes. "That's what it is, isn't it?" She says. "Now that I'm out of the tomb, you think that I'll leave you."

Trinity shakes her head. "No. I wanted you out of the tomb."

"So you would know the answer." She says. Trinity looks down and Katherine tilts her head up. "Here it is." She pulls her in for a deep kiss. After a few long moments they pull back for air.

"So this means…?" Trinity asks. Katherine nods and kisses her again.

* * *

Alaric is in his classroom with Elena. "It was bad." He tells her. "You know, John planted all these seeds about Isobel and now Jenna knows I'm lying about something."

She shakes her head. "John's going to end up dead on the kitchen floor if he's not careful."

"Yeah, well, easier said than done. I gave him back his ring so…look, Jenna keeps asking about Isobel. You know, was she murdered? Why haven't they found the body? I mean, how much longer can she stay in the dark?"

"You think we should tell her the truth?"

"I'm saying I can't be with her and not tell her. It's not fair to her, and it's not the kind of relationship I want."

"Not to mention it's becoming more dangerous for her not to know. I just thought that we'd at least hold off until after we've dealt with Klaus. You know, and even then, how do we tell someone what we know? How does someone hear that?"

"Look, I'm sorry to put this on you. But I feel it's your decision to make. And whatever you decide to do, I'll respect it. I want to be honest with her. But until then, Jenna and I are done."

* * *

At the Mystic Grill, Jonas and Luka sit down across from Stefan and Bonnie.

"Thank you for coming." Stefan says.

"I didn't want to but my son made a case to hear you out." Jonas tells him.

"Bonnie said that you have information about Elijah." Luka speaks.

Stefan looks at Bonnie. "Elijah's dead. I'm sorry." He says. Jonas and Luka look at Bonnie and Jonas gets up but Stefan catches his shoulder. "Hear me out. We can help you."

"We know that Klaus has your daughter. I'm sorry about the way I had to get that information, but it's good that we know. We can all work together to get her back." Bonnie says.

Luka looks at her. "How?"

"I suspect that you and Elijah had a plan to kill Klaus. Let us help you carry it out. You can trust us. I give you my word. We all do." Stefan tells them.

* * *

Katherine is dressed while Trinity is in the shower. She decides to go downstairs. Walking into the living room, she sees Damon reading a journal. "What you up to?"

"None of your business." He says, not looking away from the page.

"We're pouting now? Are those the Gilbert journals?" He doesn't answer. "How am I supposed to help you if you won't tell me what you're up to?"

"Can you tell me where a bunch of witches were massacred in this town a couple centuries ago?" He asks.

"No."

"Then you can't help."

She tries to snatch a journal but he slaps her hand. She hits his arm and he pushes her onto a chair and holds it away from her. "If it's any consolation, I'm glad that you're not dead." She gets up. "Emily Bennett told me about the massacre. It was a big deal in witch folklore. When a witch dies violently, they release a mystical energy marking the place of their death with power."

"Elijah wanted to know the site of the massacre."

"What was he going to do when he found it?"

"I don't know. What did papa witch and baby witch have to say?"

Stefan walks in. "Isn't she gone or dead yet?"

"For the last time, I'm here to help." She says. "Can we skip the secrets, hmm?"

"Elijah had no weapon to kill Klaus but he believed that if a witch could channel enough power…they wouldn't need one."

"Like the power you get from a spot marked with a hundred dead witches?" Damon asks.

"We just need to find it." Stefan nods.

* * *

Katherine walks back into Trinity's room to see her in a towel. She walks up behind her and wraps her in her arms, planting a kiss on her neck. "Maybe I shouldn't have gotten dressed." She whispers into her ear.

Trinity giggles. "I remember protesting against it, but you wanted to do research."

Katherine nuzzles Trinity's hair. "Oh, but I see the error of my ways."

Trinity pulls away. "Too late. I'm getting dressed."

"No." She pouts.

"Yes." Trinity smiles. "You had your chance."

* * *

"But what if they can find the burial ground?" Luka asks, pacing around the apartment.

"They won't. We tried, Luka, for weeks." Jonas tells him.

"We don't have a back-up plan, though, dad, and we need to be doing everything we can to save Greta."

"We will save her but Elijah is the answer, not Stefan and his brother. Those people, they're our enemies. They need to be dealt with."

"You're going to kill them?"

"No. I'm going to let Elijah do it."

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Elena, Bonnie and Caroline are in the kitchen.

"Chinese food or pizza?" Caroline asks.

Elena scoffs. "Like you have to ask."

"I'll get it." She takes her iPad and stops, seeing a picture of her with Matt.

"I'll do it." Bonnie takes the iPad.

Elena looks at her. "Do you believe that Jonas is being sincere?"

"I don't know what to believe. I think he's at a loss. He's not sure who to trust."

"Join the club."

"Well, what are we going to do about this movie situation?" Caroline asks. "What about 'The Notebook'?"

"Caroline, how many times have you seen that movie?"

"That is so not the point."

"Well, yeah, I mean…" She sees Jenna walk into the kitchen. "Hey."

Jenna looks at them. "What's going on?"

"Girls' night."

"Oh."

"How are you doing?"

"You heard about my fight with Rick."

"He feels terrible."

"Is this some kind of disguised attempt to cheer me up?"

Elena looks at the girls. "No. No, this is about us girls hanging out and you know, we'll be here if you happen to want to talk, or…"

Caroline rolls her eyes. "Because I am a winner when it comes to successful relationships."

Jenna looks at her. "You, too?"

"You have no idea."

"Ok, then." She joins them and opens the fridge. "Where's Trinity? Wouldn't she want to be here?"

"She's busy." Elena says. "Why?"

"Well, she told me a little about the girl she's seeing. You guys think that she's bad for her, but Trinity sees more."

Caroline's face crinkles in confusion. "Trinity's not-" Elena nudges her, sending her a look.

Elena looks at Jenna. "She's actually with her now." She says. "Working things out."

"Well I hope it works out for her. She didn't say much, but I could tell that it's serious." Jenna sighs. "It's better than my situation. It's this whole Isobel thing. He's hiding something from me."

"To play devil's advocate, maybe there is a great reason why he's not telling you. Maybe he is just trying to protect you." Caroline says.

"Well, that's not his call to make. I mean, I deserve the truth. Everybody does."

"Sometimes it's harder than that."

"Not if it's somebody you care about, it isn't."

"You know what we need? Dancing. There is a band at the grill."

"I'm in." Bonnie says.

Jenna nods. "In."

"In." Elena agrees.

After Jenna leaves the kitchen Caroline and Bonnie turn to Elena.

"Who is Trinity seeing?" Caroline asks.

Elena sighs and looks at the table before looking back up. "Katherine."

"What?!" They say.

"Katherine?" Caroline asks. "She's with Katherine?"

"Why?" Bonnie asks.

Elena shakes her head. "I don't know. There's nothing we can do about it, she loves her. Me and Stefan just hope that she doesn't get hurt too bad."

"How can we still trust her?"

"I hate to say it, but Katherine's been helping because of Trinity. She's trying to prove that she actually cares about her."

"Really?" Caroline asks. "And Trinity fell for that?"

Elena sighs. "It's out of our hands. We just have to let it play out."

"Just like that?"

"Yes."

* * *

At the apartment, Jonas and Luka are sitting at a table.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, I would go if I could." Jonas says.

"No. I'm not strong enough to send you. I can do this."

"I'll stay anchored. Use all my energy. If you feel weak…"

"Dad. I want this just as much as you."

"Concentrate on Elijah. Picture him in your mind."

Luka closes his eyes. "I got it."

Jonas begins to cast the spell.

* * *

Luka is in the boarding house. He sees Katherine, Trinity, and Damon reading, but they do not see him.

"I'm in the Salvatore house. Elijah's body must be here." He says.

"What do you see?" Jonas asks.

"Elena, Trinity, and Damon. They're reading."

"Good. If Elijah's there, you'll sense him. Stay focused."

Luka nods and walks further into the house.

* * *

Katherine gets closer to Damon to read what he's reading.

"Can I help you?" He asks.

"I'm bored." She looks at the journal. "Emily Bennett was taken by the Council today. They kidnapped her from her home and took her to the same location her ancestors were burned a hundred years ago." She looks up. "So Emily died on the site of the massacre, too. Does it say where?" She tries to take the journal but he doesn't let her.

"Nope. You know this whole friendly, cooperative thing?"

"Mm-hmm." She nods.

"I don't buy it." He looks at Trinity. "And you're stupid for falling for it."

Katherine sighs. "I have no reason to lie to you, Damon."

"Lie."

"I'm hungry."

"You're the unwanted house guest. Go feed yourself."

She gets up and grabs Trinity's hand as she's walking by. She drags her to the basement and pulls her into a kiss. They do not see Luka.

Trinity pulls back, sensing something. Katherine looks at her and goes to speak but Trinity presses another kiss to her lips. She pulls back a little, leaving a miniscule space between them. "Something's wrong." She whispers.

* * *

Stefan rejoins Damon. "Well, nothing in any of these. Find anything?"

"Nope." He pretends so Katherine can't hear but he shows the journal to Stefan.

Stefan nods, pretending as well. "That's too bad."

"Yeah, bummer."

Trinity walks back upstairs and sees Stefan and Damon. "Guys."

* * *

Katherine goes in the cellar and looks at Elijah's body. She's about to leave when she hears the dagger. Luka's trying to remove it. Katherine doesn't see him but she rushes on the dagger and maintains it on Elijah's heart.

* * *

"Elena's fighting me." Luka says.

"What's wrong?" Jonas asks.

"She's stronger than me."

"That's because it's not Elena. It's Katherine Pierce. Luka…kill her."

"What?"

"She's a vampire. Find a stake and drive it through her heart."

* * *

Luka releases the dagger. Katherine releases it too and looks around the room. She sees a wooden chair being broken but doesn't see anyone. "Trinity!" She calls.

Luka drives a stake through her body but misses her heart.

Trinity and Damon arrive. "Katherine!" She goes to her and helps her remove the stake.

"What happened?" Damon asks.

"Damon." Katherine looks at Elijah's body. Luka's removing the dagger. Damon takes flamethrower and burns around the room.

* * *

Luka's body is on fire.

"Luka! Luka!" Jonas calls in horror.

* * *

Stefan rejoins them. "What are you doing?!"

"Some kind of crazy ass psychic witch attack!" Damon tells him. "Get over there and do something about it. Go!"

* * *

Jonas rushes over to Luka's burning body. "Oh, my God! Luka! Luka! I'm sorry. Please. Just wake up, son. Open your eyes." He says to the body of his dead son. He takes a grimoire and cast a spell. He cries when it fails.

* * *

At the Grill, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline and Jenna arrive and look at the band.

Jenna sees Alaric. "I need a drink." She goes to the bar.

Caroline sees Matt. "Hey, Matt." She greets, only for him to ignore her.

"Things just got real awkward." Bonnie says.

* * *

Alaric joins Jenna at the bar. "Jenna."

"Not tonight, Ric. Tonight I have traded you for señor tequila." She tells him.

"Yeah. Well, señor tequila's not going to be treating you very well."

"Well, the two of you have a lot in common."

"Look, Jenna, I hate that you're this upset with me."

"Yeah, well, it's your fault. Because whatever it is you're keeping from me, whatever you think I can't handle…you're wrong. 'Cause last year I was a grad student who smoked a lot of pot and couldn't keep a goldfish alive and now I'm a parent, so I think I can handle anything, Ric."

"Jenna…"

* * *

The other girls watch the band.

"He said the ball's in your court." Bonnie tells Caroline.

"Yeah, but I can't do anything about it."

"Why not? All you do is talk about how much you care about him."

"Yeah, but I am still keeping so many secrets."

"Alaric's in the same boat with Jenna and maybe that's our mistake. We're trying to protect the people that we love by keeping them out of it, but in the end, we're hurting them anyway." Elena says. Caroline takes off her jacket and goes to the stage. "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

Caroline take the microphone. "Hey, everybody. Let's hear it for the band! Weren't they awesome? So there's this guy. And, uh, he told me to tell him how I feel about him. Like it's so easy. Um, you know, just 'cause I talk a lot doesn't mean I always know what I'm actually talking about. Ah, like now, I'm feeling loopy and I don't really know how to express myself. I can sing. Yeah! Yeah. You know what, I'm going to sing."

Bonnie, Jenna, and Elena all look baffled.

"Sing?" Elena asks.

The singer walks up to Caroline. "Come on, off the stage."

She compels him. "You are going to let me live out my rock star fantasies, and you are going to be my back-up." She whispers something in his hear and starts singing "Eternal Flame". Matt looks at Elena and she smiles. He then joins Caroline on stage and kisses her. Bonnie, Elena and everyone screams and laughs.

* * *

Jonas is angry. He takes Elena's pictures and her hair brush to cast a spell to find her. Stefan enters the apartment and sees Luka's body.

Jonas glares at him. "You killed him." Stefan grabs his head in pain. "He's dead and I have no one. And now you're about to find out exactly what that feels like." He tells Stefan, who falls to the floor scream. He walks out and Stefan sees Elena's picture on the floor.

* * *

Damon gives Katherine a blood bag and drives a stake through her body.

"What the hell?!" She and Trinity ask.

"That's for not telling me the dagger would kill me. Next time…it goes in your heart."

"It was going to kill you?" Trinity asks but they ignore her.

"Is that how you treat someone who…" She removes the stake. "Is trying to help you?"

"You wanna help?" He asks. "Start talking."

"I'd love to, but you're not going to like it."

"Try me."

"Fine. John Gilbert and Isobel want you and Stefan out of Elena's life."

"That's old news." He tells her.

"Not the part where he offered me a deal. He knew that killing Elijah would get me out of the tomb, so he gave me a choice. Either I stay and help with Klaus, or he kills Stefan."

"But he still tried to have me killed."

"Right. That was part of the deal. I could only save one of you."

"So you chose Stefan. Of course you did."

"You wanted the truth, Damon. Would you rather I lie?"

* * *

Trinity helps Katherine clean up.

Katherine sighs and rolls her eyes. "Say it."

Trinity looks at her. "Really?!"

"I had to make a choice. I could only choose one. I keep my life, you keep your best friend."

"If John offers you another deal, I'll kill him and deal with the fallout."

* * *

Elena goes in the bathroom but Caroline and Matt are in it, kissing each other. "Ahh! Oh, sorry."

They pull apart. "Sorry Elena!" Caroline calls after her as she leaves.

Matt smiles. "You know, I really have to get back to work."

"Definitely."

* * *

Bonnie's going to the bathroom but Elena stops her. "I…I wouldn't. Caroline and Matt are…"

"In the bathroom?!"

"If they're happy, I'm happy." Elena smiles.

"Um, hey, speaking of happy, would it freak you out if I started dating your brother?"

"You're into my brother?"

"I know it's weird, but he's been so good and strong. He makes me happy and I really can't tell what you're thinking…right now."

"I'm thinking that…my brother has had more pain in his life than a hundred people's worth of pain, and…he deserves to be with someone as amazing as you."

"Really?"

"Really." She nods. Bonnie embrace her. Elena's phone rings, she answers it. "My phone. Hey, Stefan, I'm at the grill. I can't hear you. Hold…yeah." She leaves. Bonnie sees Jonas entering.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Katherine asks Damon.

"Luka Martin's dead. His father's going after Elena." He says. Trinity grabs her jacket, preparing to leave as well.

"I'm coming with you." Katherine says.

He looks at her. "No, you're not."

"Wait."

"I don't need your help. I don't want it."

"I know what we can do, Damon. You have to let me do it."

* * *

Bonnie walks up to the man. "Dr. Martin. You ok?"

"Where is she?" He asks.

"I don't understand."

"My son is dead."

"Whatever it is you think you need to do, there's a better way."

"They killed Elijah and they killed Luka and my only shot at getting my daughter back is if I have Elena."

"No. No, Dr. Martin."

Jonas breaks a few lights with his powers. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her."

He breaks the rest of the lights.

* * *

Caroline and Matt are kissing in the restroom when the light goes off.

"What the hell?" He asks.

"Mmm!"

He opens the door to see if the powers out in the grill. "The power's out."

"Even better."

"I wish, but I should probably go help." He says. She kisses him and he leaves. Stefan and Elena walk up to her. "Hey."

"We have a problem." Elena says.

"What's going on?"

"Jonas is here and he's after Elena." Stefan tells her.

Her eyes widen. "Oh, my God!"

"We have a plan, but I need to get Elena out of here."

"Well, what can I do?"

* * *

Alaric rejoins Jenna. "It's time to get out of here."

"I have to find Elena." She says.

"She's with Stefan, she's ok."

* * *

Bonnie is still talking with Jonas.

"No one's getting out of here until I have her." He says.

"Don't do this. Please don't do this."

He breaks all the bottles with his powers and sets fire to the bar. She tries to stop him but he puts his hand on her forehead and she falls on the floor, unconscious. Everyone is quickly exiting the building.

Matt tries to stop the fire but he sees Bonnie. "Bonnie! Hey, Bonnie!" He rushes over her. "Bonnie! Bonnie! Hey, Bonnie!" She wakes up. Matt helps her get up.

Elena and Stefan stop when they see Jonas.

"Dr. Martin! I'm so sorry about Luka. I never wanted that to happen, but…at least let us help you get your daughter back." She pleads.

He shakes his head. "Only Elijah can do that."

"You don't need Elijah."

He sets fire to another bar and turns to Stefan and Elena but Caroline jumps on him. Elena and Stefan leave. Caroline tries to bite Jonas but he provokes an aneurysm with his powers. Caroline screams.

Matt sees her. "Caroline!" He rushes over Jonas and pushes him against the wall. "Get away from her!"

"Matt, no!" She screams. Jonas breaks a bottle and stabs it into Matt's neck before walking away. Matt falls on the floor. Caroline cries and rushes over to him. "Matt! Matt! Oh! Oh, my God!" She tries to calm herself. "Just breathe Caroline…just breathe." Her face change, she bites her wrist and puts it in Matt's mouth. "You have to drink. Please, please."

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Bonnie and Jeremy are in the kitchen.

"Luka…I can't believe he's dead. After what we did to him." She says.

"No, after what he did to you. Look, I'm sorry, I know you feel bad about all of this but I don't." He tells her.

"I couldn't do anything to help. I was useless. I hated it." She sees Stefan and Elena enter the house. "Thank God." She sighs in relief.

"It's not over yet." Elena tells them.

"What's going on?" Jeremy asks.

"He'll explain." She goes upstairs.

"When did you guys get home?" Stefan asks.

"A few minutes ago." Bonnie tells him.

"Did you check the house?"

"And why would we check the house?" Jeremy asks.

* * *

Elena goes into the bathroom. Jonas is behind her. He grabs her and her face changes. She bites him. It's Katherine, posing as Elena. Stefan and Bonnie arrive.

Katherine drops the body. "You're welcome."

Bonnie goes toward Jonas's body. "You didn't have to kill him!"

"Yes, we did."

Bonnie gets closer to him and touches his face but suddenly he gets up and grabs her face. She screams. Stefan kills him.

* * *

Damon, Elena, and Trinity are downstairs.

"How did you guys convince her to do this?" Elena asks.

"We didn't. It was actually her idea." Damon tells her.

"Wow. That's…not good."

"No. No, that's not good at all."

Trinity sighs at the two. Stefan and Katherine come downstairs.

"Everything's taken care of." He says.

Katherine takes off Elena's necklace and holds it out to her. "I'm guessing you're going to want this back. But your pretty little outfit is going to need a good dry clean."

She takes her necklace from Katherine's hand. "You're going to have to get her out of here before Jenna gets home."

"Is that all you have to say to me?"

"This doesn't change the way I feel about you."

"I don't much like you, either, if we're going to be open and frankly, I'd be happy to see you dead but if we're going to try to take on Klaus, we kinda need you to be alive. So I'm not a threat to you, Elena. If any of you are going to believe anything, believe that."

* * *

Alaric and Jenna are on the porch.

"Thanks for getting me home. That was kind of crazy." She says.

"Jenna, are you going to be ok? Look, Isobel is dead and there things about her death that I can't tell you. That aren't for me to tell. You can be upset and hate me. I get it but just know that I love you. At least I can tell you that much."

"Good night, Ric."

"Good night." She enters the house.

Elena sees her. "Hey. You made it home."

"Tonight was very weird."

"Tell me about it."

* * *

Jeremy and Bonnie are in his bedroom. "I'm worried about you." He says.

"Don't be."

"No, I'm serious, Bonnie. The only witch that could've given you your powers back is dead, and…I think you have a serious case of denial going, and I want you to know that I'm here for you no matter what, and…" She kisses him. "Not that denial's the worst thing." She puts her hand on his chest. The lights flicker. "Did you…?"

"When he grabbed me…he gave me my powers back and something else. Jonas wants me to kill Klaus."

"And did he include a how?"

She nods. "Yeah. He did."

* * *

Trinity and Katherine walk up the porch steps.

"So why did you need me to walk you home?" Katherine asks.

"What you did today…was a good thing." Trinity opens the door and steps inside, turning to look at her. "Come in."

Katherine stares at her. "What?"

Trinity opens the door wider and steps aside. "Come in."

Katherine steps through the threshold and looks at Trinity. "What changed?"

"This is me trusting you." She says. "All I ask, is that you don't break it."

Katherine shuts the door before taking Trinity into her arms, pulling her in for a kiss.

* * *

At the Forbes house, Matt wakes up to see Caroline.

"Hi."

He looks at his bloody shirt and touches his neck. "What the hell? Your face…and all the blood. I…I drank your blood."

"You were dying. My blood healed you." She explains.

"What do you mean, it healed me? How can your blood heal me?"

"Because that's what vampire blood does for humans, and that's what I am. I'm a vampire, Matt."

"No."

"But it's all going to be ok, because I am going to tell you everything, and you're going to understand why I had to keep it from you, and we're going to be fine."

"We'll be fine?!"

"Yes, because we're together and we love each other."

"Vampires. Oh, my God. Vicki, oh, my God, at the hospital, I thought that she was tripping out."

"What?" She asks, confused.

"Vicki, she knew about vampires, and I…what…what did you do?"

"Nothing. Nothing! Matt!"

"I need to get out of here."

He tries to leave but Caroline stops him. "No, no, no! I can't let you leave. I cannot let you leave."

"What did you do to my sister?" He cries.

"What did you do?!"

"Nothing, Matt! You have to calm down! Matt!"

* * *

Jenna's in the kitchen, eating ice cream. Elena rejoins her. "Are John and Jeremy asleep?"

"I think so." Elena says.

"If I go to bed right now, there's a chance I'll wake up hangover-free." The doorbell rings. "Who's that?" She goes toward the door and opens it.

It's Isobel. "Hi. You must be Jenna." She smiles. Elena walks over, surprised. "I'm…Elena's mother." She looks at Elena.

"Isobel." She says.

Jenna looks between the two, shocked.


	39. Know Thy Enemy

Chapter Thirty Nine: Know Thy Enemy

"Hello, Elena. It's nice to see you again." Isobel smiles.

Jenna looks at Elena. "Again?" She asks. Elena is at a loss for words.

"So you're the woman who's dating my husband. I need to speak to Elena. May I come in?"

"N-n-no." Elena says. "Don't…don't invite her in."

"I need to talk to you, Elena."

"No!" She slams the door in Isobel's face and looks at Jenna, who's crying.

"You knew she was still alive? Ric? John? Did they know?"

"I can explain everything, Jenna."

She shakes her head. "No."

"No. Jenna, please." Jenna runs upstairs and she follows after her. "Jenna, please. Wait. Jenna, please wait." She pleads. Jenna goes inside her bedroom and slams the door, leaving Elena standing in the hallway. "Jenna, you have to talk to me. I…I need to explain what's going on. Jenna, please."

* * *

Jenna sits on the floor, crying.

* * *

Katherine looks at the pictures in Trinity's room. She sees a picture of a smiling couple an infant in the mother's arms.

Trinity walks in. "Snooping again?"

Katherine points to the picture. "Is this you?"

Trinity walks up to her. "Yeah."

"Your parents look happy."

"They were." Trinity says, a somber smile on her face.

"Got anymore baby pictures?"

Trinity laughs. "None that I'm showing you." She pulls Katherine away.

"So do I get a tour?" She asks. "We pretty much skipped straight to the bedroom."

"Sure." She says. "I can't wait to show you the bathroom."

"Why?"

"So we can use the Jacuzzi."

* * *

Trinity closes her eyes as she leans against Katherine. "This is just what I needed."

Katherine nips her ear. "A nice bath with your very sexy girlfriend?"

Trinity smiles. "That's the first time you ever said it."

"What?"

"Girlfriend."

"Well what did you think we are?"

"I didn't know how to bring it up. I've never been in a relationship before; I wasn't sure how to go about defining it."

"Well it's been defined."

"Say it again."

"I'm your girlfriend." She whispers into her ear. Trinity leans her head back and connects their lips. Their kiss grows more passionate when the phone rings. Trinity groans. "Leave it." Katherine says.

"It could be important." Trinity mumbles against her lips.

"They can call back later." She says, kissing her again. The phone stops ringing, only to ring again a minute later.

Trinity pulls back and reaches towards the wall near the Jacuzzi, pressing one of the many buttons. "Hello?" She asks.

"_Trinity?_" Stefan's voice rings through the room.

"Yeah Stefan?"

"_Isobel's back._"

"What?!"

"_Isobel just showed up on Elena's front doorstep._"

"What's she doing here?"

"_I don't know. That's what I'm gonna go find out._"

"I don't think that you should tell her that I'm here." Katherine says.

"_What? Why?_" He asks.

"It's better if she and John not know that I stayed in town after I got out of the tomb."

"_You're the one in cahoots with them. You made a deal with John that almost got me killed._" They hear Damon say.

"I did what I had to get out of the tomb. Now I'm reconsidering my alliance."

"_What do you know?_" Stefan asks her.

"I know that I want Klaus dead, which puts me squarely on team you. Besides, if you two ever need me to swap places with Elena again, the less people know that I'm here, the better. Think about it, Stefan. Come on. Be smart."

"Tell you what. Why don't you, uh…call Alaric and let him know that his wife just showed up on his girlfriend's doorstep." Trinity says. "I'll see you later." She presses a button and ends the call. "It's just one thing after the other." She sighs.

Katherine tightens her grip around Trinity waist. "We'll deal with it." She says. "This is our time. Just enjoy it while you can." She brings a hand up, tilting Trinity's head and kisses her.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Elena opens the door to Alaric.

"Hey. Is she up yet?" He asks.

"She won't come out of her room." She sighs.

"What'd you tell her?"

"Nothing. She won't talk to me."

"We're gonna have to fix this, Elena." They see Jenna coming downstairs.

"Hey." Elena greets.

"Jenna." Alaric says.

The woman shakes her head. "I don't want you here, Ric. You need to go."

"Ok, listen. I can't begin to imagine what you must be feeling right now."

"Rage and betrayal would pretty much cover it." She puts on her jacket and takes her bag.

"Where are you going?" Elena asks.

"I'm going to stay on campus. I have a thesis to write, and I don't want to be in this house."

"Jenna, please just stop. Let us explain to you exactly what is going on." Alaric pleads.

She ignores him. "Elena, I need you to go to the Lockwood's today and accept the historical society's check for your mom's foundation."

"Ok, but, Jenna, please just-" She's interrupted.

"I don't have it in me to hear any more lies from you." Jenna walks out and closes the door.

"Jenna, just…"

John comes out of the kitchen. "Let her go. It's better that she's not here, what with everything that's going on but maybe had you been a little more honest with her from the beginning, this…"

Alaric punches him in the face. "Sorry, Elena." He leaves.

Elena looks at John with a smile on her face. "You know this is your fault, right?"

He rubs his jaw. "Right."

* * *

Caroline leaves her house and goes to her car. She's on the phone with Stefan. "I can't find him anywhere. He's not at home. He's not answering his phone."

"_How could you let him go?" _He asks.

"My mom walked in. He took off. I didn't know what to do."

"_Did your mom hear anything?"_

"No. She just thinks we're fighting but he knows about me, and he's freaking out about Vicki."

"_All right. Listen. You have to find him. You have to calm him down. Compel him if you have to. Is he still on the vervain?"_

"I slip it into his soda when he's at work, but I didn't get to last night, so it's out of his system. He has a catering shift at the Lockwood's' today. I'm gonna try there." She hangs up and tries to call Matt but he doesn't answer.

* * *

Trinity moves the chess piece.

"I'm certain that there's something more exciting that we could be doing right now?" Katherine smiles at her.

"You're insatiable." Trinity laughs.

"Why don't you test that theory?" Katherine knocks the chessboard aside and pulls Trinity in for a kiss.

Trinity pulls back a bit. "You only did that because I was winning." She leans back in.

* * *

Elena and Stefan are in her bedroom. "Ah, this is bad. Between Isobel and Jenna and now Matt, this is disaster bad." She says.

"Yeah." He nods.

John walks in. "Elena, can you come downstairs, please? I need to talk to you."

She scoffs. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Please. It's important. You, too, Stefan."

They go downstairs and Isobel comes out of the kitchen. "I asked John for a do-over." She says.

Elena looks at John. "You invited her in?"

"She has information about Klaus. Please, just listen to her, ok?"

Elena looks at Stefan, who sighs. "All right. What do you know?" He asks.

* * *

They sit around the kitchen. "Since I was last here, I've been doing everything possible to find Klaus. We knew our best chance was to find him before he could find you." Isobel says.

"Best chance at what?" Stefan asks.

"Keeping Elena alive." John says.

Elena glares at him. "You don't get to talk, ok, not after everything you've done."

"Were you able to find Klaus?" Stefan asks.

"No. Nobody knows where he is but there are these rumors that are flying around. That a doppelgänger exists." Isobel explains.

"Which means any vampire that wants to get in favor with Klaus will be lining up to capture you." John says.

"I'm not buying any of this." She looks at Isobel. "The last time that you were here, you made it clear that you didn't give a damn about me. Now all of a sudden I'm supposed to believe that you want to help?"

"Isobel's been helping all along. Klaus has been obsessed with finding Katherine for centuries. All it would take was any one of those 1864 tomb vampires to spread the word around that Katherine was still alive and it would bring him straight here to Mystic Falls, where you were bound to be discovered, so we killed them." John explains.

"And almost killed Stefan, Damon, and Trinity in the process." She points out.

Isobel gets up and moves towards Elena. "I have a safe house that I can take you to. The deed is in your name. No vampires can get in without your permission, not even me. Let me help you."

"You wanna help? Then get the hell out of my house."

* * *

Katherine pulls away from a panting Trinity. "Why does everyone keep calling?" She growls.

Trinity reaches into the bedside table and picks up her phone. "Hello?"

"_Get over here." _She hears Damon say. _"We're going to those witch douches apartment."_

"Why?"

"_Bonnie says that they have a ton of grimoire's. I need you to go come in case I can't get in. If they have someone else there, I don't think baby Gilbert could handle it."_

She sighs. "I'll be over in a bit." She hangs up.

Katherine groans and lets her head fall to Trinity's chest. "You could be late."

"They need me." Katherine begins trailing kisses down her stomach. "I could be late."

* * *

Damon opens the door to the Martin's apartment. He checks to see if he can enter. "Yep. Everybody's dead." He walks in, the others following in behind him. He looks at Luka's corpse. "Hmm."

"Oh god." Trinity covers her nose at the smell of burnt, rotting flesh.

"We should pack up the grimoire's. They spent years collecting them. I wanna make sure they're safe." Bonnie says.

Damon is still looking at Luka's corpse. "You know, we could just get another match and cremate him."

"Don't be disrespectful. Not to him." She glares.

"Fine. I'll bury him."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Jeremy asks.

"According to Luka's dad, one of these contains a spell that'll let me harness the energy that's left behind when a witch dies violently." She explains.

"I didn't know you and father witch were so close." Damon says.

"We weren't but when he gave me my powers back, he gave me a message. If I can find the spot in town, where the old Salem witches were burned, I can harness their energy to use when I need it."

"Great. We'll have to put that on our list of things to do today. Harness ancient dead-witch power."

"You know where the witches were burned?"

"Did I forget to mention that?"

Jeremy is reading one of the grimoire's. "Are we gonna have to read through every one of these books till we find the right spell?"

"Not exactly." She looks at the shelf, closes her eyes and raises her hands. All of the books fall and one of them opens right in front of her. "It's this one."

"Great. Grab the rest. Let's go." Trinity says.

* * *

Isobel and her minion enter a house. She takes a bottle of 'wine' from the bag. "Merci, Mon Cherie." She feels that someone's there. She rushes over to the person and pushes her against the wall. It's Katherine.

Katherine pushes her back and strangles her. "Nice house."

"Nicest foreclosure in town." Katherine smiles and Isobel laughs. "Come here." They embrace each other. "It's good to see you, Katherine."

"I hear you've been busy."

"Yes, I have. I've been busy making a deal with Klaus to save your life." Isobel gives the bottle of 'wine' to Katherine. "Here. A vintner I knew in Avignon."

Katherine dips a finger into it and tastes it. "He's tasty." They move to the living room and she pours the blood into wine glasses. "So what was with the surprise visit to the Gilbert house?"

"John told me Ric was dating auntie vanilla. I got jealous."

"You have obviously got John wrapped around your finger if he invited you in the house."

"He thinks I'm helping him protect Elena, so he's been very useful in keeping me informed on everything that's been going on."

"So tell me what you know."

"You were right. I couldn't get anywhere near Klaus, but I found my way to someone in his trusted circle. One of his witches."

"Klaus and his witches." She sips the blood.

"He said that Klaus is willing to grant you your freedom if we deliver the moonstone and the doppelgänger."

"I can get the moonstone."

"You know Katherine; you'd be betraying your Salvatore boys again. I've also heard talk about a new one. A woman this time."

"I was more than willing to play it their way if I had to, but they're floundering. Their witch has lost her powers, and they've used their only weapon to kill Elijah. If I stick with them, I'm dead. You showing up changes everything." They raise their glasses and drink.

* * *

At the boarding house, Elena, Stefan, Trinity, and Damon are in the library.

"Do you really think that Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the doppelgänger?" Elena asks.

"Look, I don't trust a word that she says, but I think we'd be stupid to ignore the warning." Stefan says.

"You know, you should just stay here. It's better for us to keep an eye on you." Damon says.

Trinity raises an eyebrow. "What, in the house that any vampire can enter? No. Her house is safer."

"Well, then we'll stay there."

"So is that the plan?" Elena asks. "You guys will let me out of your sight again?"

"Let me know when you come up with a better one."

"Fine. Then one of you 3 bodyguards is gonna have to come with me to the Lockwood luncheon."

"That'd be me." Stefan says.

"Not me." Damon says.

"Or me." Trinity adds.

"We have witch stuff to attend to with Bonnie." He continues.

"Does that mean that you're taking her to the…" Elena trials off.

"Shh." Damon puts a finger to his lips.

Katherine walks in. "Don't get quiet on my account. If you have a plan to combat the impending vampire doom, please do tell." They stay silent. "Seriously, what is the plan to get us out of this mess, hmm? I delivered you a moonstone, a werewolf, and the dagger to lure and kill Klaus, and right now all you have is a moonstone. Or so you tell me."

"No, we have it." Damon says.

"Where is it?"

"It's in a very safe place."

"I've been honest with you. Time to return the favor."

"Let me be honest with you. Don't mistake the fact that we haven't set you on fire in your sleep for trust." He says. Elena sends her a smug smile.

Katherine looks at Trinity, who sends her an apologetic look. "Fine. Be that way." She leaves.

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Carol is speaking with Sheriff Forbes.

"The marshal hasn't been able to figure out what caused the fire at the scene, but he did find blood…no body, just blood." Liz says.

"You think vampires were involved?"

"I'm starting to assume the answer to that is always a yes."

Caroline interrupts them. "Mrs. Lockwood, uh, have you seen Matt? I thought he was working a catering shift at today's luncheon."

"No, I haven't, honey. Sorry. But if you see him, could you ask if he's heard from Tyler?"

"Yeah, of course. Um, still no word from him?"

"No. The note he left said he needed time to figure some things out, but I wish I knew where he was."

Caroline sees Stefan and Elena. "Um, excuse me." She walks over to them.

"Hey." Stefan greets. "Any luck finding Matt?"

"None. What if he tells somebody? What if he tells everybody?"

"No, we just gotta find him and make sure that doesn't happen." He looks at Elena. "Do you have any idea where he would be?"

"I wish I did, but he wasn't really one to run." She says.

"You know, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. You know, I was supposed to tell him at the right moment in the right way, and he was supposed to be ok with it because he loves me." Caroline says, a sad look on her face.

"We'll help you find him. I just have to accept this thing for Jenna."

"All right. Well, call me when you're done, and I'll be out looking for him." She leaves.

"Maybe he'll come around. You did." Stefan says.

* * *

Damon, Bonnie, Trinity, and Jeremy walk up to an abandoned house.

"Is this the spot Emily Bennett was killed, too?" Jeremy asks.

"Founders thought it was poetic burning her where the other witches burned." Damon explains.

"How do you know where the witches were burned?" Trinity asks.

"'Cause I tried to save her. Emily was just my key to getting Katherine back before I knew what a nasty little bitch Katherine was." He says, making her glare at him.

Jeremy laughs. "You sure it's the right place?"

Damon nods as they enter the house and walk around. Suddenly, Damon is unable to move. "Whatever witchy prank you're playing, don't. It's not funny."

"I'm not doing anything." Bonnie says.

"I can't move." His skin begins to burn. "Oh, my ring's not working. Do something."

She concentrates and closes her eyes. Damon can move again. "I don't think the witches like you being here."

"I guess this is the right place." Trinity says.

"I'm gonna go wait outside." He leaves.

* * *

Katherine is in Damon's room. She's searching for the moonstone. She goes through his closet and even checks the fireplace. She hasn't found it. She sighs and goes to wash her hands in the bathroom. She starts to leave, but suddenly stops. She digs in the bowl of soap bars that Damon has and finds the moonstone. She takes it out and smiles.

* * *

Alaric goes to his car and sees Isobel.

"Hi, Ric." She greets.

He glares at her. "Isobel. What do you want?"

"Just cleaning up some loose ends."

"Yeah, we don't have any loose ends."

"You may not. I do. I need to apologize to you."

"It's a little late for that."

"No, not for what I've done in the past. We're beyond that. Although I am sorry for outing you to your girlfriend. That was petty of me."

"Look, whatever jacked-up vampire amends that you're trying to make with me right now, I'm not interested."

"Of course not, because I compelled you to let me go. I realize that I don't wanna do what I have to do without you knowing how much I loved you and I did. I loved you so much. He's all yours."

A man appears behind Alaric and puts his hands next to Alaric's head. He falls on the floor, unconscious. Isobel leaves, a look of regret on her face.

* * *

"Wanna hurry it up in there?" Damon calls from outside the house. The door closes in response. "Screw you too, Emily. You know, you're all on your own in there." He leaves.

* * *

"Can you hand me the grimoire?" Bonnie asks. Trinity hands her the book.

Jeremy looks at her in concern. "Are you sure about this?"

"Are you worried about me?"

"Yeah, of course I am."

She kisses him. "I'm sure." She opens the grimoire and sees a letter. She takes it out and reads it. Voices begin whispering around them. Trinity looks around, hoping that she's not about to have a psychotic break.

"What is that?" Jeremy asks.

"Spirits of the witches who died here, I can feel them." Bonnie explains and Trinity sighs in relief.

"All right. What are they saying?"

"I can't tell." She walks out of the room and down into the basement. They follow after her.

"Where are you going?" Trinity asks.

She stops in the basement. "Here. This is it. Help me set the candles." The whispers get louder.

"What the hell are they saying?" Jeremy asks. She concentrates and closes her eyes before opening them again. "What is it?"

"Nothing." All the candles light up at the same time. "They're ready."

* * *

"And here to accept the donation to the Miranda Sommers-Gilbert scholarship fund is Elena Gilbert." Carol introduces. Elena walks up to her.

* * *

John is upstairs, talking to Isobel. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm creating a distraction." Her face changes and she rushes over to him, biting into his neck.

* * *

Elena is accepting the check. "The historical society was my mom's baby. She considered all of you family and would be honored and touched by this gift."

Everyone hears a noise. They rush over to the source of the noise and see John, unconscious on the floor. Elena is about to follow them but Katherine intercepts her and puts her hand on Elena's mouth.

"Nice dress. Mind if I borrow it?" She smiles.

* * *

Stefan is looking at John's body and sees the bite mark on his neck.

Carole walks up. "Please, let the sheriff do her job." She says as Liz walks up.

"Uh, he's-he's bleeding. Is he ok?" He asks.

Liz nods. "Yeah, I got it. I got it." She looks at John and turns to the crowd. "You know what? Let's all back off. He just needs some air. Everything's fine."

Stefan goes in the other room, looking for Elena. He sees her but it's Katherine posing as Elena. "You ok?" He asks.

"I'm calling Damon."

"Let's get out of here. Come on." They go to the car.

Katherine has the phone to her ear. "It's Isobel, Damon. It's gotta be."

"Tell him he needs to get over here and deal with John's body."

"You've got some serious explaining to do to the council about John being not so dead." She hangs up.

Stefan pushes her against the car. "Where the hell is she? Huh?"

She stabs him with a vervain syringe. "I'm sorry, Stef, but I can't have you following me." She tosses him into the shrubbery and leaves.

* * *

Jeremy looks at Trinity. "So…"

"What?" She asks.

"Why Katherine? She almost killed Jenna."

"Why Bonnie? She almost killed me."

Bonnie's eyes are closed. The voices around them keep getting louder. She begins to cry.

Jeremy looks at her. "Bonnie? You're scaring me." She screams. "Bonnie!" He and Trinity try to get closer but are thrown against the wall and Bonnie screams louder. Suddenly all the voices stop. They get up and rush over to Bonnie. "You ok?"

"I did it."

He embraces her. "It's okay."

* * *

Carol ushers the guests out of the mansion. "I'm sorry for the scare. It was just a bad fall. Paramedics are on their way."

Damon enters as every leaves. "Hey. How is he?"

Liz walks up to them. "He's dead."

Damon looks at the body and sees the ring. "He'll be fine in a couple hours."

"What are you talking about?" Carol asks. "Damon, he's dead."

"Well…here's the thing. John's ring, it's an old Gilbert family heirloom that protects its owner from death by a supernatural entity."

"But he's not breathing. He has no pulse."

"He will be. Trust me. We're gonna need a cover story…epileptic fit, alcohol binge, banana peel, whatever works. But right now I just have to get him out of here." He leaves with John's body.

* * *

Liz is on the phone with one of her deputies. "Yeah. It's a false alarm at the Lockwood's. Ok. Good. Thanks." She hangs up.

Matt's waiting for her at her car. "Sheriff Forbes."

"Matt, what's wrong?"

"I wanna see Vicki's file."

"What?"

"My sister, I want to see her file. I want to see how you covered up that she was killed by a vampire."

"Matt, you need to calm down. You're upset. You don't know…"

He grabs her. "Don't lie to me!"

She removes his hands and pins him to the hood. "Matt, you need to calm down now."

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon dumps John on the ground. He has blood on his hands and on his shirt and goes in the bathroom and washes his hands. He takes off his shirt when his phone rings. "Stefan? How'd I beat you and Elena home? What?" He looks into the soap bowl. The moonstone's not there. He throws the bowl on the ground in anger.

* * *

Isobel sits in her car when her phone rings. Elena is on the back seats, unconscious. "Are we good to go?"

"_I'm at your house, but we have to hurry. Damon knows your lodging tricks. It will take him all of 20 minutes to find out where you're staying."_ Katherine says.

"We'll be long gone before that."

"_Good. How far are you?"_

"I'm sorry, Katherine." She sees Elena wake up. "I had to do what I was told. He wanted the moonstone and he wanted you." She hangs up.

* * *

Katherine is as Isobel's house. "He? He who?" She turns around. The warlock is here. She rushes over him but he stops her with his powers. She screams and falls on the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Caroline is on her front porch. She's leaving a message to Matt. "Hey, Matt, if you're listening to this that means you've listened to the last 25 messages I've left you, which all say the same thing, so…call me." She enters the house and sees Matt. "You're here."

"Your mom brought me here." He says.

"My mom?"

"I accused her of covering up Vicki's death and she threatened to arrest me."

"Did you tell her anything else?"

"Nothing about you. I got the feeling she wasn't gonna believe anything I said, so I shut up. Then she brought me here to cool down, and then she got called away."

"Matt…"

She walks closer but he steps back. "Why'd you stick around if you're still scared of me?"

"Because I need to know more about Vicki, about you."

"I'll tell you anything you wanna know."

* * *

Bonnie, Trinity, and Jeremy walk out of the abandoned house.

"All right, well, there has to be something in the grimoire to help us translate that chant." He says.

"It was just a warning." Bonnie tells them.

"What kind of warning?" Trinity asks.

"It's not important."

Jeremy looks at her. "Uh, look, it is important to me, ok?"

"It's a lot of power to have access to. They're just telling me to be careful with it."

"Well, exactly how much power can you draw from a hundred dead witches?"

She closes her eyes and concentrates. The leaves fly around them. The sky turns black and we can hear the thunder. She opens her eyes and the weather goes back to normal. "The answer to your question is a lot."

* * *

Stefan and Damon walk up to Isobel's house.

"Think this is the house?" Stefan asks.

"Better be. It's the nicest foreclosure in town."

"Swear to God if she's not here…"

"Don't be such a pessimist." They enter the house.

"I got upstairs." He walks deeper into the house. Damon looks around and sees that nobody's there. He sees Isobel's luggage. Stefan rejoins him. "This is Isobel's stuff. It's definitely the right place."

"Where are they?"

"I don't know, Stefan."

They leave.

* * *

Isobel parks her car in the cemetery and gets out. "Just because you can't be compelled doesn't mean I can't force you to come with me."

Elena gets out as well. "So is that what happened? You were compelled to betray Katherine?"

"If I was, I couldn't tell you."

"So you lied. You did find Klaus, didn't you? He knows where I am now. Are you taking me to him?" They stop in front of a headstone. "What is this?"

It's Isobel's headstone. "My parents, your grandparents, they put it here when it became clear that the police weren't gonna find my body. They visit every week, and they bring flowers, even though there's no one buried here. The Isobel they knew is dead. So maybe there's a part of me that's buried here, the-the human part, the part that I abandoned when I-when I choose to become a vampire, the part that used to dream about the day that she'd know her daughter."

"What?"

Isobel shrugs. "And instead you got to meet the other part… the part that would betray her own flesh and blood." Her phone rings and she answers it.

"_I have Katherine and the moonstone. Is the doppelgänger safe?" _The warlock asks.

"Yes."

"_Then let her go."_

"Let her go?"

"_Klaus has everything he needs for now. Your part is finished. You did what he compelled you to do."_

"I'm done?"

"_You're done."_ He hangs up.

"Who was that?" Elena asks.

Isobel turns to her. "I'm so sorry, Elena…that I was such a disappointment to you." She takes off her necklace she screams and burn. Elena looks shocked.

* * *

Matt and Caroline are in the living room. "So after I hurt you in the woods, I made you forget and I promised myself I would stay away from you, but I-I couldn't…'cause I love you. I do. I love you, Matt, so much. God, I'm so sorry about what happened to Vicki. And I really wish you'd say something."

"I'm all alone." He says.

"No, you're not."

"My mom doesn't care, my sister's dead, and all of my friends are liars, and you're a…"

"I'm still me. I'm still me. It's just I'm just a little bit…" She sits down next to him but he gets up.

"Don't. No. This is too much. All of this is just too much. I don't want to know this."

"Tell me what I can do. Tell me what I can do. I…I want to help you."

"You can make me forget. You've done it to me before."

"I don't… I don't think that that's…"

"Please make me forget, Caroline. I don't wanna look at you and see what I'm seeing right now."

"But maybe after…"

"Just make me forget, Caroline!"

She cries. "Ok. Ok, Matt." She gets up and takes his face in her hands.

* * *

At the boarding house, Trinity is looking down at her hands.

Elena holds Isobel's necklace when Stefan walks up to her. "Is that Isobel's?" He asks.

"I never thought I would feel bad about her being dead, and yet…"

"She was your mother."

"Why did they let me go?"

"Well, anything John told Isobel, we have to assume that Klaus knows, right? So he knows that you're not gonna turn yourself into a vampire. He knows that you have us keeping you safe."

"He knows I'm not gonna run."

Damon walks in. "Which is why we need to take some precautions, 'cause we got played, all of us." He gives her a piece of paper.

"What's this?" She asks.

"It's the deed to our house." Stefan tells her. "It's in Zach's name. As soon as you sign it, it'll be in your name."

"You're giving me your house?"

"Isobel had the right idea with the safe house. You'll just stay here till it's all over. That way, you can control who gets invited and who doesn't."

"Although I'll be super pissed if you lock me out."

John wakes up and Damon flashes over to him, grabbing him by his shirt. "I swear I had no idea what she was gonna do." John says, he looks over at Elena. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"Damon, let him go. He and I need to talk." She says.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Jeremy is reading the grimoire. Bonnie rejoins him. "I told you to not worry about that." She says.

"A warning. That's all you felt like telling me? This is some kind of warning, Bonnie. It says if you use too much of your powers at once, it'll kill you. How much would it take to kill an Original?" He asks.

"All of it."

He shakes his head. "No. I'm not gonna let you do that."

"Jeremy, do you think I was born with these powers so I could float feathers and blow out candles? There's a reason I was called to do this."

"No one's called to get themselves killed. Plus Elena's not gonna let you die for her."

"That's why you're not gonna tell her."

"Do you even understand what you're saying right now?"

"It's not just for Elena, Jeremy. It's for you. It's for everyone. If I am the only one who can put an end to this, then it'll be my decision, no one else's. Mine." She leaves.

* * *

Matt rejoins Sheriff Forbes in her car. "I did it. I drank that vervain stuff. I went over there, and I got her to tell me everything. Then I asked her to take it away." He says.

"Thank you, Matt. I know this isn't easy, but… I'm glad you told me what happened last night. I want you to tell me everything she said."

"I feel like she died."

She cries. "She did."

* * *

John and Elena are talking.

"I always knew that she and Katherine were close, but I never realized that Isobel and her were working against me. Two of the world's most uncaring and selfish vampires, and yet they were genuinely friends." He explains.

"If that's what you thought of her, why did you ever put your trust in her at all?"

"Because I was there when she gave birth to you, Elena. I saw how heartbroken she was to give you up. And because she was the first girl I ever loved, and when she said she'd help keep you safe… I believed her. At this point, I will do whatever you want me to do. If you feel safer with me not around, then I'll go." She doesn't answer so he gets up, a sad look on his face.

"You screw up everything, John. Everything you touch just falls apart. But you're the only parent I have left so maybe I can learn not to hate you."

"Okay." He smiles.

* * *

Damon, Stefan, and Trinity are in the library.

"Hey, Bonnie said the spell worked. She's locked and loaded." Damon says.

Stefan nods. "At least something went right today. Katherine has no idea that Bonnie got her powers back and Isobel had no idea what you and Jeremy took Bonnie to do today. We're the only ones who know."

"That literally makes Bonnie our secret weapon." Damon and Stefan raise their glasses of scotch and clink them together.

Trinity stands up. "I'm gonna head home." She walks out.

* * *

At Alaric's apartment, Katherine wakes up and sees the warlock casting a spell on someone sitting in a chair. There are two vases. One is full of blood; the other is empty and knocked over on its side. She starts to get up and sees that Elena's necklace is gone. It's Alaric that is in the chair. He opens his eyes and gets up. The warlock bends down in a bow.

"Alaric?" She rushes over to the door but she's trapped.

He walks towards her. "Zdravei, Katerina." He takes her face in his hands. "I have missed you."

"Klaus!" She says, a horrified look on her face.

* * *

Trinity hears knocking on the door and opens it, seeing Stefan.

"Hey." He says.

She lets him in. "Hey."

"Are you okay?"

Tears well in her eyes and she shakes her head. "No." She says before breaking down.

Stefan takes her into his arms. "Shh." He runs a hand through her hair. "It's gonna be okay. I'm here."

* * *

Trinity wakes up, seeing Stefan in bed next to her, asleep. She gets up and heads to the bathroom. She looks in the mirror and sees dried tear streaks on her face. She turns on the faucet and washes her face off. When she's finished, she grabs a towel and sees an envelope drop to the floor. Drying her face off, she picks it up and opens it, pulling a letter out.

_Trinity,_

_I'm so sorry that I hurt you, it was never my intention. There are so many things that I wish I could tell you, but I don't have time. You once told me that you can't fault me for wanting to stay alive, so I hope that you could try to understand. But I do want you to know one thing. It was real for me._

_ -Katherine_

Tears begin to run down her face and she sits on the floor, leaning against the counter. Stefan walks in and takes a seat next to her. He takes the letter out of her hands. He sends her a silent look, asking to read it and she nods her head. After a moment he sets the letter down and pulls her into his arms as she cries. Trinity buries her face into his chest; he doesn't see her pupil dilate.


	40. The Last Dance

Chapter Forty: The Last Dance

Trinity is in the kitchen taking out a glass. She sees a shadow out of the corner of her eye. She turns her head. "Stefan?" She calls. She walks out of the kitchen. She turns her head when she sees a figure walk around the corner. She rushes to follow it. She runs up the stairs and looks around for the figure. She turns around and jumps in shock at the sight of Stefan.

"What's wrong?"

She looks back down the hallway and looks at him. "Where you…"

"What? Are you ok?" She walks further down the hallway. "Trinity."

She looks back and forth. "Someone was here. Something…" She looks around.

He grabs her shoulders. "Trinity…your eyes."

"What?"

He takes her face in his hands. "Did you take something?"

"No!" She sees the figure walk around the corner and pulls away from him. "Hey!" She chases after it, Stefan following after her. She looks around. "Where'd they go?"

"Trinity, no one is here." Stefan tells her.

"No, someone is." She shakes her head.

"Trinity…is this your Quickening?"

"What?"

"You said that it was progressing." He says. "You're seeing things that aren't there."

* * *

Klaus; in Alaric's body opens the closet and takes out two shirts. He turns to Katherine, who is tied to a chair. "Oh! Who is this guy, Safari Sam?" He holds up the shirts. "Ok, bad, or badder?"

"The dark colors suit you better." She says.

"Oh, thank you, honey. Ok, pop quiz. The dagger and white ash are in the Salvatore's possession, correct?"

"The dagger was used to kill Elijah. You'll find him in the basement of the Salvatore house."

"Ok, that dagger needs to stay exactly where it is. The last thing I need to do is resurrect Elijah. Ohh, that guy is a buzzkill."

"Don't forget you're on the outs with your girlfriend Jenna."

"Right. Elena's aunt. For all the lies about Isobel." He looks into her eyes. "What else?" He compels.

"Trinity."

"Ah! Stefan's best friend. What can she do?"

"She can turn into animals." She answers, glad that he left a hole in the compulsion. The last thing she wants to tell him about is Trinity's potential immortality.

"What?"

"She's a shapeshifter."

"A werewolf."

She shakes her head. "She can turn into any animal she wants."

He circles around her. "I've been around for a thousand years. How come I've never heard of such a creature?"

"I don't know. Apparently, she's the last."

Klaus's eyes shine with interest. "Well I can't let such a rarity go to waste can I. What else?"

"That's it."

He gets closer to her and touches her face. She flinches back. "Oh, so jumpy."

"Please, just…kill me. I've told you everything that I know."

"You see, I believe that you believe that, but what would you not know? What could they be keeping from you? Hmm? Anything? Tell me." He compels her.

"They were trying to see if Bonnie could find a way to kill an Original without a dagger."

"Bonnie the best friend? I thought you said she didn't have her powers anymore."

"She doesn't or didn't. I don't know. You kidnapped me, remember? I'm kinda out of the loop."

"Well, we'll have to get to the bottom of that."

"Please, just kill me, Klaus, and be done with it." She begs.

"And show you kindness? I've searched for you for over 500 years. Your death is going to last at least half that long." He takes a knife from his pocket. "I want you to take this knife…and stab yourself." She takes the knife stabs it into her thigh. "Now take it out." She takes it out and her wound heals. "Now while I'm gone, I want you to do that over and over and over again and if you get bored, switch legs."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go lay eyes on my precious doppelgänger." He kisses her forehead. "Oh, don't look so glum, Katerina. The fun is just beginning. Again." He leaves.

Katherine grunts as she stabs herself again.

* * *

At the boarding house; Elena, Trinity, and Bonnie sit with a lawyer. "Please sign here and here." He points.

Elena takes out a pen. "Okay."

"So this place is all yours? They just gave it to you?" Bonnie asks.

"For now. As sole owner, I'm the only one who can invite a certain type of person in here, if you know what I mean."

"Your own personal safe house."

"That's the idea."

"Wouldn't want to clean it." She says, making Elena laugh.

* * *

Stefan and Damon are waiting outside. "You really think Bonnie can take on Klaus?" Damon asks.

"She said she could channel enough witch's power to kill him. Elijah thought that would work and he was an Original, so…"

"We just need to find him."

"Yeah."

"Could she do one of those witch tracking spells?"

"Nope. Not without something that belongs to Klaus. Believe me, I already asked."

"Do you think he killed her?"

"Katherine? Probably."

"It's not like she didn't have it coming." He says. "I didn't get to tell Trinity 'I told you so' yet."

"You won't be able to." Stefan says. "Katherine left her a note. It's the first time she's ever showed that she truly cares. She apologized for hurting her. She said that it was real for her. When has she ever felt regret for anything?"

Elena opens the door and the lawyer leaves. "Thank you, Mr. Henry." She calls after him. She steps to the side so Stefan and Damon can enter. Her eyes widen. "I'm sorry. I completely forgot." She looks at Stefan. "Stefan. Would you like to come inside my house?"

"I would love to. Thank you." He says, entering the house. Elena looks at Damon.

He rolls his eyes. "What are we, 12?"

"One of us is. If I let you in, do you promise to obey the owner of this house?"

"No."

"Seriously, Damon. My way. You promised. I call the shots. No lies, no secret agendas. Remember?"

"Yes, Elena. Sure." He sighs.

"Then please, come in."

He enters and sees the amused look on Stefan's face. "Shut up."

Trinity and Bonnie rejoin them.

"Thanks." Elena says, taking her jacket from Bonnie.

"Wait, where are you going?" Stefan asks.

"To school."

"Huh?"

Damon shakes his head. "No, no, no. We didn't create a safe house for you to leave it."

"Yeah, guys, Klaus is out there. We know that." Stefan adds.

"Right. But where?" She asks. "No one knows. Look, I really appreciate what you guys are doing. And I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that I'll be safe here, but I'm not going to be a prisoner." She looks at Damon.

"Your way, Elena." He says.

"Don't worry, I'm ready. If he shows his face, I can take him. I know how." Bonnie says.

"And I can get Elena to safety while she does that." Trinity adds.

"The way I see it, next to Bonnie and Trinity is the safest place that I can be. Come on." They leave.

Stefan shares a look with Damon. "Wait, um, coming." He leaves with them.

* * *

Matt walks up to the Forbes house and knock on the door. Liz answers it. "Caroline left early for school." She says.

He nods. "I know. I came to see you. I don't know what to do. What to say, how to act around her."

"You can't let on that you know."

"She wants me to take her to the dance. What am I supposed to do?"

"Take her to the dance."

"I'll never get away with it. She knows me too well, she'll figure it out."

"Damn it, Matt, just do it. She's my daughter. She's my baby. I just, I need some time."

"I know, but…"

"Look, if what Caroline told you is true, she's not the only one. The Salvatore's are vampires. The Gilbert family is in on it. Tyler Lockwood is god knows what."

"A werewolf." He says. "Trinity is a shapeshifter."

She sighs. "There's no one in this town I can trust. I just need to take a beat and figure out what to do."

"That'll never fool her."

"Yes, you will. As far as she knows, you don't remember anything. Buy me some time. Please, Matt."

* * *

Everyone sits at their seats in the classroom. Elena takes the poster for the decade dance and shows it to Stefan with a smile. He shakes his head and she shows it to Bonnie, who nods yes. She turns to Trinity, only to see her staring out the window.

'Alaric' walks in. "Hello, class. What are we learning today?"

"With the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the sixties all week." Dana says.

"Right. The sixties." His eyes finally land on Elena and he stares at her before turning to the board. "The, uh, ahem…" He begins writing. "The sixties. I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but…actually, they kind of sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable. Uh, what else was there? The Cuban missile thing, the…we walked on the moon. There was Watergate."

"Watergate was the seventies, Ric. I-I mean, Mr. Saltzman." Elena says.

"Right. It all kind of mushes together up here, the sixties, seventies. Thank you, Elena."

* * *

Later, Caroline walks up to Dana. "Hey, Dana. Um, can you take care of these?"

"Sure."

"Ok, thank you." She gives her the posters and walks over to Matt. "Hey." He kisses her. "What was that for?"

"Just practicing for tonight." He says, making her laugh. "So I…found a suit. If you still want me to be JFK tonight."

"Perfect."

* * *

Trinity closes her locker and sees Elena. "Hey." She greets.

"Hey." Elena says. "How are you? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"I know how much you cared about Katherine-"

"Can we please not talk about that?" She asks. "So much is going on and I just need to put that out of mind."

"Trinity you can't just ignore this."

"Yes I can. I was wrong, you guys were right, end of story. There's nothing more to say."

"You can't just bury your feelings-"

"Elena!"

She sighs. "Fine. But you know that you can talk to me, right?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Bonnie and Jeremy are in the cafeteria.

"Did you tell Elena what it's going to take for you to do that Klaus spell?" He asks.

"No, and you're not, either."

"Well, she's gotta know you can't do it."

"You don't know I can't. Have a little faith in me." She says.

"That's not fair. You can't harness the power of a hundred dead witches. It'll kill you."

"Shh! We don't know that for certain. You promised to keep my secret, I'm trusting you. I'm going through with this, and if you tell anyone, I swear…"

"What? What are you gonna do?"

Elena and Trinity walk up to them. "Hey, Jer." Elena greets. "How you doing? Are you ok at the house alone with John?"

"It's not ideal." He gets up.

"You haven't heard from Jenna, have you?"

"It looks like she's staying on campus. Look I'm-I'm late for class." He leaves.

They two girls sit down with Bonnie. "What's going on?" Elena asks.

"I told him he had to dress up tonight and he got all uptight."

"Oh." She laughs.

Bonnie looks at Trinity, who is spaced out. Elena shakes her head, silently tell her to leave the girl be.

Dana walks up to them. "Hey, Elena, there you are. Ok. This is going to sound freaky, but this totally hot guy just asked me to ask you if you're going to the dance tonight."

"Tell him she has a boyfriend." Trinity finally speaks.

"You could at least meet him. He'll be at the dance tonight. Look for him. His name is Klaus."

They all look at her in shock.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Elena asks.

"His name's Klaus. I know the name's stupid, but I swear he's hot."

Bonnie looks around. "Where is he? Is he here?"

"I don't know."

"She's been compelled." Trinity says.

"But he wants to know if you'll save him the last dance. How cute is that?" Dana smiles.

"I'm not picking up a scent." Trinity says lowly.

* * *

At the boarding house, Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, Trinity, and Elena are in the living room.

"So we go to the dance, we find him." Damon says.

"Really?" Trinity asks. "How are we going to do that? We don't even know what he looks like."

"Something tells me he's not going to be 16 and pimply."

"He could be anywhere at any time. He compelled somebody at school." Stefan says. He looks at the girls. "He could be anywhere at any time. He compelled somebody at school." Someone knocks on the door and 'Alaric' enters.

"There you are." Damon says.

"Sorry I'm late."

"Hey, I need you to put me down as a chaperone at the dance tonight. Klaus made his first move."

"Ok, so we find him and then what, hmm? What's our plan of attack?" Elena asks.

"Me." Bonnie says. "I'm the plan. He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him."

"That's not going to be that easy." 'Alaric' tells her. "I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around."

"Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he…" Damon trails of before flashing over to Bonnie but she throws him on the other side of the room with her powers.

"Well, I was impressed." Stefan says.

"It doesn't matter if he's an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me." She looks at Elena. "I can kill him, Elena. I know I can."

* * *

'Alaric' walks into the apartment. "Ah, you're right. This witch is all juiced up and aiming to kill."

"That's terrible." Katherine says, looking at her bloody legs.

He looks at the warlock in the kitchen. "We're gonna have to kill her, Maddox." He opens a drawer. "Do you think this Alaric guy has anything vintage?" He looks at the shirts and sees that there's something under. He opens it and sees a lot vampire hunting weapons. "Crossbows, wooden bullets and automatics? Who is this guy, again?"

"He's the local vampire hunter." She answers.

"Ahh. Well, that explains the clothing."

Maddox walks over. "All I could find. Guy likes his bourbon." He gives him a glass.

"I knew there was something about him I liked. There's a high school dance and I'm gonna need you to take out witch bitch."

"If she has that much power, she can sense me coming from a mile away. I won't be able to get near her. You have to do it."

"In this body? I'm a haggard history teacher. She can easily hurt me. I mean, not me, Klaus me, but you know what I mean." He says, not aware that Katherine is listening closely.

"No witch could handle channeling that much power. It'll kill her. It would kill me. You just have to make her use it."

"You mean like provoking her to death?"

"Won't take long. Just keep attacking her until it kills her. His body, Alaric's, will last longer than hers will."

"How? He's human."

"I can help in that department. I can do a spell to protect you."

'Alaric' looks at Katherine, who lowers her head.

* * *

Caroline is all dressed up when Liz walks in. "There you are! You almost missed me. How do I look?" She asks.

Liz looks at her. "Jackie O?"

Caroline laughs. "Duh."

"You look good."

"Thanks." She looks at her. "Is everything ok?"

"Uh, just some work stress."

"Well, you work too much." They hear a knock on the door. Caroline answers it and sees Matt. "Mr. President." She smiles.

"Hey."

"Hi." She goes to kiss him but he looks at the sheriff and pulls back. Caroline laughs.

"Sheriff."

"Sorry."

"Have fun." Liz says.

"We will." Caroline smiles.

Matt looks at the sheriff and leaves.

* * *

Stefan and Elena are in his bedroom. She's looking through some boxes. "Your relatives were such packrats." She takes two outfits out and shows them to Stefan. "Ok, so what do you think? Twiggy or sexy hippy?"

"Ooh. You know it's not too late to back out, right?"

"And what, miss out on all the fun?"

He steps closer to her. "Hey."

She sighs. "All this time spent worrying about Klaus. I think I convinced myself that he's not real but he is."

"And tonight, we will put an end to him." He kiss her.

"I love you."

"I want you to tell me that when the night's over."

Damon passes by the room. "Any time tonight."

Elena picks up one of the outfits. "I'll take this to Trinity." She leaves the room. She walks down the hallway and knocks on one of the doors. "Trinity?" She opens it and steps in.

Trinity looks up from her seat on the bed. "You came back." She says in awe.

Elena's face curls in confusion. "I was in Stefan's room."

Trinity stands up and walks over to her. "I knew you would come back. You wouldn't just leave like that. You must've had a plan to help us with Klaus."

"Trinity?" She asks.

"We've got to tell the others." She smiles. "I'm so glad your back." She takes Elena's face in her hands and kisses her.

Elena pulls back a bit but can't escape her grip. "Trinity!" She says, shocked. Trinity backs her into the wall and kisses her again. "Umph!" Elena mumbles as Trinity kisses her and she drops the outfit to the ground, trying to push the girl away.

Suddenly Trinity is pulled back and thrown across the room. Stefan stands in between them. "What are you doing?" He growls.

Trinity stands from the ground. "Elena?"

"She thought I was Katherine." Elena says.

He looks at her. "Your Quickening is getting worse."

Trinity tangles her hands in her hair. "I don't know why this is happening so fast."

* * *

Everyone dances around the gym at the decade dance. 'Alaric' and walks up to Dana and her date.

"Nice outfit, Mr. Saltzman. Totally far out." She smiles.

"Thank you, Dana. Thank you. Now who is your date?"

"It's Chad, Mr. Saltzman, from third period." The young man says.

"Chad, of course. How would you and your friends like to earn a little extra credit?"

* * *

Bonnie and Jeremy are outside.

"Wait." He takes off his ring. "Look, I, um, I want you to have this."

"If you're asking me to go steady, I think that was the fifties." She teases.

"No, I'm serious, Bonnie."

"The ring won't work on me, Jeremy."

"But it was made by a witch."

"To protect from the supernatural, not for someone who is."

"Well, I have to do something. I can't just…I can't just let you get yourself killed."

"Just because a bunch of dead witches gave me a warning doesn't mean I'm going to die."

"So you're saying there's a 50/50 shot you won't? Look, I'm sorry. But…you know I don't have the best luck in the girlfriend department."

"Hey. Listen, I…I can't explain it. But I can feel them. I'm empowered, Jeremy, I can do this. I know I can. I'm strong enough." She embraces him and sees Damon and Trinity. She pulls away from Jeremy. "Hey."

"Evenin'" He greets and they walk in.

Elena and Stefan walk up to the couple. "Hey you two. Oh, you look nice." She embraces Bonnie.

"You too."

Stefan looks at them. "You guys ready to do this?"

* * *

Dana walks onto the stage. "Thanks for being here, everybody. We have a special shout-out tonight." She says. Elena, Stefan, Bonnie, Jeremy, Trinity, and Damon stop in front of the stage. "This is for Elena. From Klaus." A song starts playing. Elena looks stunned.

Damon scoffs. "That was a lame, cheap shot. He's just trying to bait us."

Elena looks around. "I know everyone here."

"I'm not picking up any new scents." Trinity tells them.

"Maybe he's not here." Stefan says. "Just wants us to believe that he is."

"It's a party, people. Blend. Let him come to us." Damon advises.

Bonnie nods. "Good idea." She takes Jeremy's arm.

"No, no, I really don't feel like dancing."

"Too bad." They go onto the dance floor.

Damon sees 'Alaric'. "There's Ric. We'll be back." He and Trinity walk over to him.

"Special dedication, huh? This guy's a little twisted." 'Alaric' says.

Damon shrugs. "I'm not impressed." Trinity nods in agreement.

He looks at them, a slight bothered look on his face. "No?"

"The need for theatricality says a bit about his character." Trinity tells him.

"What?"

"He's narcissistic. He wants all eyes on him."

"Let me know if you see anything out of whack." Damon says before they walk away. Alaric looks after Trinity.

* * *

Jeremy and Bonnie are dancing, so are Elena and Stefan. She sees Caroline and Matt arriving. "Caroline's here. They don't know what's going on. We have to tell her."

"I'm on it." He looks at Damon and leaves.

Damon takes Elena and they dance. "How you doing?"

"Um, freaking out a bit. You?" She asks.

"Cool as a cucumber. Come on, remember the last decade dance? The vampires were all, 'ahh!' And you were all, 'aahh!'"

She nods. "Right. And you won."

"Yes! We did." He makes some moves with her.

"You're good at this."

"I've got moves you've never seen." He says, making her laugh. "So how was your first girl kiss?"

She sighs. "Trinity can barely look at me."

"Might have something to do with you sharing the same face with the girl who ripped her heart out." He says. "I'll be sure to return to favor."

"Don't."

He looks at her. "Why?"

"Trinity's hurt, not vengeful."

* * *

Matt and Caroline are on the dance floor. "Dance with me." She says.

"I'm a really bad dancer."

She laughs and takes his arm. "I know better than that." They dance. "What?"

"You look really pretty tonight."

Stefan walks up to them. "Hey, guys."

"Hey, man, what's up?" Matt greets.

"Hey. Do you mind if I steal your date for a moment?"

"No, not at all. I'll get us something to drink."

"Thanks." Matt leaves and Stefan dances with Caroline.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

"Klaus is here."

Her jaw drops. "What?!"

"Yeah." He nods.

"Where?"

"We have no idea. But keep your eye out for anything that might be weird, ok?"

* * *

Bonnie and Jeremy are dancing when Damon walks up to them. "May I?" He asks. Jeremy looks at him and leaves. Damon dances with Bonnie.

"You heard Jeremy and me talking, didn't you?" She asks.

He nods. "So did Trinity. Is it true?"

"Yes."

"The part about you having a 50/50 shot of surviving? Is that true?"

"He was upset. I didn't want him to worry."

"So you lay it out on the line for Elena, no matter what."

"No matter what."

"Good."

"You can't tell her."

"Your secret's safe with me." He looks at Trinity who is not far away. She nods, letting him know that she hears them. "But I mean…with all that power, is there no way to increase your odds?"

"Careful, Damon. I might start to think you actually care." She teases.

"We wouldn't want that."

* * *

Elena walks up to Jeremy and looks at Damon and Bonnie. "What are they up to?" She asks.

"Who knows?"

"Is there something going on, Jer? You ok?"

"Fine. I'm fine." He leaves.

Stefan rejoins her. "Everything all right?"

"I'm not sure."

* * *

Jeremy is in the hallway when Stefan walks up to him. "Jeremy. What are you doing? Elena thinks we should stick together."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've got my ring. It's… it's Bonnie."

"What is it? Hey, you got something on your mind, spit it out."

"If Bonnie takes on Klaus, channeling all that energy's going to kill her."

"What?" He asks, shocked.

"But she doesn't want Elena to know, 'cause if Elena knows, she's gonna try to stop her. And it's Elena that could turn up dead, so…what am I supposed to do?"

* * *

Bonnie smiles as she watches Damon and Trinity dance.

Elena walks up to her. "I need to talk to you." They leave. Damon and Trinity share a look with Bonnie as she walks away.

Stefan walks up to them. "Come here, come here, come here." He leads them off the dance floor. "Please tell me you didn't know that Bonnie was on a suicide mission."

Damon sighs. "Oh, great. Jeremy told you and of course you told Elena."

"Yeah, I told her. You promised her no more secrets."

"I changed my mind."

He looks at Trinity. "What about you?"

"I agree with Damon."

* * *

Elena and Bonnie are outside. "How could you not tell me?"

"'Cause I knew how'd you react." Bonnie tells her.

"No. No way, it's not an option."

"It's our only option."

"Then we'll find another way, ok? Bonnie, you're not dying to save my life."

"I have the power to save you! If I don't use it and something happens, that would kill me more."

"I can't let you."

"Just answer one question… if the situation was reversed, would you do it for me?" Elena doesn't answer. "So you know why I have to."

"No. No!" Elena shakes her head.

* * *

Jeremy is in the hallway. Chad and three other students walk up to him. "What's going on, guys?" He asks.

"You ok, Gilbert? You don't look so good." Chad sneers.

"Dude, seriously? Wrong day, wrong guy."

They start fighting. The three other boys punch Jeremy. Stefan, Trinity, and Damon arrive.

One of the guys shoots a stake at Damon with a crossbow. "Hey idiots! Let me guess… Klaus says hi?"

The students hold up their weapons. Trinity takes a boys hand in a tight grip, making him drop his stake and backhands him, knocking him unconscious.

Stefan fights another student and Damon grabs a boy, ready to kill him. "No, no, no, no, don't kill him. He's compelled." Stefan says.

"So?"

"So, the whole thing's a distraction. Go find Bonnie and Elena. I got this. Go." Damon throws the guy against the lockers before leaving with Trinity.

* * *

'Alaric' sees Bonnie and Elena. "Elena!"

She looks at him. "What is it?"

"He has Jeremy."

"What?!" She and Bonnie say.

"Yeah, Klaus has Jeremy. Come on."

They follow him in the school and runs down a hallway. "Ok, so where are you taking us?"

"Just a little further."

"Wait…" She stops. "Something's not right."

"Where's Jeremy?" Bonnie asks.

He laughs. "I just had to get away from that dance. The sixties, ugh. Not my decade. I mean, whose call was that, anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz."

Elena looks at him. "Alaric. Are you on vervain?"

"Now why would you ask me that question, Elena?"

"He's being compelled." She says.

He shakes his head. "Nope. Try again."

"What's going on?"

"Ok, I'll give you a hint. I am not Alaric."

"Klaus." She realizes.

"Surprise!" He smiles.

"Oh, no. No, it's not possible."

"Just relax, Elena. I'm not here to hurt you. You're not on my hit list tonight." He looks at Bonnie. "But you are." She throws him against the wall with her powers. He gets up. "Now, did I mention that I knew a witch? You're gonna have to hit me a lot harder than that." He rushes over her so she throws him against a display case. He laughs. "By all means…fire away!" He gets up. "If you kill this body, I'll just get a new one. Maybe Jeremy."

"Go. Run. Run!" Bonnie yells. They run. Bonnie closes the doors with her powers.

Damon and Trinity see them. "What happened?" He asks.

"Klaus is in Alaric's body." Elena tells them.

"What?!" Trinity says.

"He's possessing it or something." Bonnie tells her.

He looks at Elena. "Go find Stefan. Now."

"Okay."

"Now." He says. She leaves the three. Damon looks at Bonnie. "Can you kill him?"

"He's got some kind of protection spell on him."

"You have the power of a hundred witches. Break it." Trinity says.

"I'm trying! If I kill Alaric, he'll just possess someone else. He knows I have my power. He's trying to kill me."

Damon shakes his head. "No. Klaus does not get to win tonight, no way. You still willing to do whatever it takes to kill him?"

* * *

Elena is on the dance floor, looking all around her. Caroline sees her. She's with Matt. "Hey! Are you ok?" She asks.

"Um…yeah. I'm just…I'm looking for Stefan." She sees him.

"Seriously, what's wrong?" Caroline asks.

"Uh, just, um, just stay with Matt, ok?" She leaves to rejoin Stefan.

"What was that about?" Matt asks.

"Oh, you know, just same old drama."

* * *

Bonnie is in the hallway, alone. She enters the cafeteria. 'Alaric' is sitting in a chair, a knife on his hand. "What took you so long?" He asks. "Now, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" She breaks his wrist with her powers. He pops them back into place. "The hard way. Got it." He gets up. She breaks his shoulder and he groans. "What? You'd kill your favorite history teacher?"

"It's what Alaric would want. And he'd want you to suffer first." Her nose begins to bleed.

"Look at you." She wipes her nose. "Is that all you got?"

"Let's find out."

* * *

Elena and Stefan are running in the hallway, Damon and Trinity walk up to them. "There you are." She says.

"What are you doing? Where's Bonnie?" Elena asks them.

"She's doing what she has to do." Damon tells her.

"What?"

"Where is she?" Stefan asks.

"Stefan, let her do this." He says.

"Damn it, Damon, where is she?!" He looks between him and Trinity.

Bonnie is still fighting 'Alaric'. Her nose is bleeding a lot. Elena and Stefan arrive. Bonnie shuts the doors so they can't come in.

"Bonnie, no!" Elena screams. The lights explode as Bonnie puts everything into it. Stefan tries to open the doors but he can't. Bonnie looks at Elena with a smile and then she falls on the floor. Everything stops. Elena and Stefan open the doors and rush over Bonnie. "No! Oh! Bonnie! Bonnie, Bonnie! Bonnie! Hey, hey." She takes Bonnie in her arms. Stefan looks around them. 'Alaric' is gone. "Stefan, she's not breathing!" She cries. "Stefan! Stefan, I can't find her pulse! Stefan! Do something, please! Stefan, please! Just give her blood, do something, please!"

"It's too late. I'm sorry."

"No! No. No, no, no, no, no! Bonnie! Bonnie, please, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She cries.

Damon and Trinity arrive. "Stefan, get Elena out of here. We'll deal with the body." He says.

Elena looks at him. "What do you mean, deal with it?"

"The sheriff can't know about this. Last thing we need is another mysterious death." Trinity says.

"This is Bonnie!"

Damon looks at Stefan. "Get her home. Now. So we can clean this up."

Stefan helps her stand. "Hey, hey, hey."

"No. Jeremy. Oh, my God, Jeremy. What about Jeremy?" She asks.

"I'll find him." Trinity tells her.

Elena gets up. She looks at Bonnie's body, crying and screaming. Stefan takes her and they leave. Damon closes Bonnie's eyes.

* * *

Trinity and Damon put Bonnie's body into the trunk.

Jeremy walks up to them. "Hey, I got your message, I can't find anyone. Where's Elena, where's Bonnie?"

Damon sighs. "We need to have a little talk."

* * *

Elena sits by the fireplace when Stefan hands her a glass. "Hey. Here, drink this."

"I can't." She says, her voice still a bit hoarse from crying.

"Yeah. Yeah, you can. Please drink this."

She takes the glass but cries. "This is my fault."

"No, no, no, no, no. No. Hey. This was Klaus. Listen to me. Klaus did this."

She looks up when Damon and Trinity walk in. She stands up. "What did you do with her?!"

He looks at Stefan. "Will you please calm her down?"

"Don't talk like I'm not standing right in front of you." She says.

"Please calm down." Trinity says.

"You knew! Didn't you? You knew that if she harnessed all that power, that she would die, didn't you?"

Damon sighs. "Yes. Yes, we knew." She slaps him. "You need to listen to me, and prepare for what I'm about to say. Bonnie had to die. Klaus using Alaric's body was a total surprise. She wasn't prepared for that. And he wasn't going to stop, and we weren't going to be able to stop him until he knew she was dead. He had to believe it."

* * *

At the witch house, Bonnie is laying on the floor. Jeremy is lighting candles. She wakes up. He rushes over and embraces her. They laugh with joy.

* * *

"She cast a spell. Bonnie's ok." Trinity says, taking Damon's hand and heads towards the stairs.

Stefan follows them. "You know, you could have told me."

They turn around. "How do I know when you're going to go blabbing things to your girlfriend?" He asks.

"You understand what you put her through?"

"See, that's why I didn't tell you. 'Cause you would have never been able to do it. Don't get me wrong, Stefan. I don't mind being the bad guy. I'll make all the life and death decisions while you're busy worrying about collateral damage. I'll even let her hate me for it. But at the end of the day, I'll be the one to keep her alive. Even Trinity agrees with me." He goes upstairs.

Stefan looks at Trinity, who sighs and goes upstairs as well.

* * *

Jeremy places his laptop on his legs. "You sure it's safe here?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Bonnie says. He takes something from his bag. "What is that?"

"It's MiFi. If we're gonna be stuck here, then we might as well have Internet."

"You don't have to stay down here with me."

"Hey, look, I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"I… I need you to talk to Elena for me. Tell her how sorry I am for what Damon, Trinity, and I had to do."

"Well, um…why don't you tell her yourself?"

* * *

Elena is talking with Bonnie via webcam. "Bonnie!"

"_Elena, Elena, I'm so sorry."_

"It's ok, it's ok. I just needed to see you for myself."

"_There wasn't enough time for me to tell you."_

"It's ok, seriously. Damon and Trinity explained it all."

* * *

Damon is in his bedroom and sees Elena walk in. "Ugh. Look. Klaus had to think she was dead. Your reaction had to be real."

"I understand why you did what you did. Klaus was fooled, and Bonnie's alive." She says.

"Here's to duplicity."

"But let's get one thing straight, Damon. Bonnie will not die for me; I will not let that happen."

"We need to kill Klaus, Elena. Real Klaus. Who will probably be coming to pay you a visit soon now that he knows that Bonnie is dead. She's the only one who can do it."

"We'll find another way."

"I hope so."

"Look, I shouldn't have hit you."

"Apology accepted. Let me be clear about something. If it comes down to you and the witch again, I will gladly let Bonnie die. I will always choose you."

She looks at him, not saying anything. "Goodnight, Damon."

"Goodnight."

She walks out of the room and down the hallway, into Trinity's room.

Trinity lies on the bed, facing away from her. "I would do the same." She says, indicating that she heard the conversation.

"Goodnight." Elena says, shutting the door.

Elena goes into the basement and opens the cellar. She looks at Elijah's body and removes the dagger, taking a seat next to him.


	41. Klaus

Chapter Forty One: Klaus

Elena sits on the ground, waiting for the Original to wake up. Elijah wakes with a gasp and she rushes over to him. "Elijah."

"Katerina!"

* * *

_Flashback: England, 1492_

_Trevor is speaking with a woman when Elijah walks up to him. "Ah, good evening, Trevor. I am pleased you could join us."_

"_I could not miss the birthday celebration." He smiles._

"_No, considering the gift you claim to bear. Where is this mystery girl of which you speak?"_

"_Right this way." He leads Elijah across the room. "My dear."_

_Katherine turns around. "Hello." She greets. Elijah looks at her in shock._

* * *

_Present_

"Elijah! It's me, it's Elena."

"Oh, my God."

* * *

_Flashback: England, 1492_

"_Forgive me. You remind me of someone." Elijah tells her._

"_Katerina, may I introduce the lord Elijah." Trevor says._

_She takes his hand and bows. "Pleasure, my lord."_

"_The pleasure's mine. Katerina." Elijah kisses her hand._

* * *

_Present_

He closes his eyes. Elena gets closer but his body spasms. He sits up. "I can't-I can't breathe! What's happening to me?" He rushes over the door but stammers against the doorway. She rushes over to him and holds him up. "I can't…I can't be in this house."

"You're not invited in." She realizes.

"Then get me out of here." He slams into another wall and disappears. Elena runs after him and goes to the front door. Elijah is outside. He tries to enter but he can't. "What happened?"

"Shh!" She motions to her ears, indicating that the others can hear. "I'll tell you. Not here. Can I trust you?" She whispers.

"Can I trust you?"

She gives him the dagger.

* * *

Stefan wakes up and sees that Elena is not there. He goes downstairs. "Elena!" He sees Andie. "Hey."

"Hey." She smiles.

"Have you seen Elena?"

"Uh, no."

Damon rejoins her. "Hi, sweetie. Oh, my coffee." He kisses her.

"Good morning."

"Mm, good morning."

"Hey, where's Elena?" Stefan asks.

"I don't know, Stefan. It's your girlfriend. Mine's right here." He looks at Andie. "Oh, and how's the shoulder? Got time for a bite? I'm so hungry."

"Oh, it's really messy. Can you just use a blood bag today?" She says. Stefan is on the phone and looks at them. "I'm already late for work."

"No!" He pouts.

Stefan leaves a message to Elena. "Hey, it's me. Where are you? Call me." He hangs up and sees the couple kissing. "What are you doing? She's not a wind-up toy."

Andie looks at him. "It's really none of your business, is it, Stefan?"

"Yeah. What she said." Damon smiles.

"I have to go to work." She kisses him.

"Ugh!" He groans. "Bye." She leaves. Stefan sees that the basement door is open. He rushes over it. Damon follows him. Stefan arrives at the cellar and sees that Elijah's not here. "No, she didn't."

* * *

Trinity wakes up and sees many pieces of paper scattered around the room. She picks one up and sees a strange symbol drawn on it, over and over again. Looking around, she sees that it's the same for the other papers.

* * *

'Alaric' is at the door with Maddox. Katherine is making coffee.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Maddox tells him.

"Yes, do hurry. I'm anxious to get out of this body. And if you get hung up, call me. You know how impatient I get." He closes the door.

"Where is he going?" Katherine asks.

"To retrieve me. So I can get out of this bad hair-do."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Klaus?"

"Well, the full moon is almost upon us." He puts the moonstone on the table. "I've killed the witch, I have the moon stone, and the doppelgänger is waiting in the wings. Ohh, I am ready to break this curse."

"And why would you do that here? There's so many people that would try to stop you."

"Because I have to. It's the birth place of the doppelgänger."

"I didn't realize that was a requirement."

"Well, how could you? You betrayed me and fled England before I could give you the details, Katerina. But I did find your birth place and I slaughtered your family. So I guess we're cool. Let's just hope that Elena isn't as stupid as you were."

"She won't run. She'll die before she lets anyone that she loves get hurt."

"And that's exactly what I'm counting on." He compels her. "You can't leave until I tell you to." He says before leaving.

* * *

Stefan and Damon rush into Trinity's room.

"Trinity, have you…" Stefan trails off, looking around.

"What the hell?" Damon says, seeing all the papers on the floor and walls.

She sits on the bed, her knees to her chest. "I don't know."

* * *

Elena parks her car and looks at Elijah, who is drinking from a blood bag. "You look better."

"Where did you get the dagger?" He asks.

"I'll tell you everything. But we have to work together, Elijah. I need your word."

"Your ability to make demands has long passed."

"No demands. I'm offering you my help. And in return, I want yours."

"And why should I even consider this?"

"The same reason that you haven't killed me. You need my help to kill Klaus. And I need you."

Her phone rings and she answers it.

"_Where are you? Are you okay?" _Stefan asks.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"_Where's Elijah?"_

"He's right here."

"_Where? I'm on my way."_

"No, Stefan, Elijah and I need some time alone."

"_Listen to me. He can't be trusted he'll use you to get to Klaus."_

"Elijah is a noble man, Stefan. He lives by a code of honor. I can trust him. He knows that I'd be incredibly stupid to betray him again. By removing the dagger, I have proven myself."

"_You can't do this alone."_

"It's my decision, Stefan. Please respect it. And make sure that Damon doesn't do anything stupid. I'll be in touch." She hangs up. Elijah holds his hand out. Elena gives him her phone.

* * *

"Did she just hang up on you?" Damon asks.

"She did." Trinity says, hearing the conversation.

"She's lost it."

"If anyone can get him to help us kill Klaus, it's her." Stefan says.

"Bonnie's the way to kill Klaus, Stefan. He thinks she's dead. We have a chance with her."

"She'll kill herself in the process. Elena's looking for another way."

"Her way's going to get her killed." Trinity says.

"So we need to find her and stop her." Damon gets up.

Stefan gets up as well. "No, you need to back off."

"What?!"

"Look, I don't like this any more than you do. But we need to trust her. We gotta just let her do her thing."

"That might be your plan. Mine's better." He tries to leave but Stefan catches his arm.

"I said back off."

* * *

"He's here." Elena tells him.

"Klaus is here?"

"He's taken over Alaric's body."

He gives a sardonic laugh. "Of course he has. One of his favorite tricks."

"Well, what are his other tricks? What is he going to do next? You're the only one who knows him."

"Yes, I do."

* * *

_Flashback: England, 1492_

_Elijah is with Katerina._

"_So where is this mysterious host I've heard so much about?" She asks._

"_Fashionably late. He likes to make an entrance." Elijah sees someone coming down the stairs. "Here he is." Klaus is hidden by the crowd. Katerina is looking for him. She finally sees him walk over to her. "Katerina, may I introduce to you the lord Niklaus."_

_Klaus kisses her hand. "Niklaus is the name my father gave me. Please. Call me Klaus." He smiles._

* * *

_Present_

At the Lockwood mansion, Elijah knocks on the door.

Carol opens it. "Elijah, Elena! What are you doing here? What happened?"

"I've had a bit of an incident, Carol. I'm hoping you could help."

"Well, I'm on my way to a meeting, so I-"

He compels her. "It won't take but a minute of your time."

She smiles. "Of course. Anything you need." She lets them in.

"Thank you." They walks further into the house. "Well, first things first. I'm going to need a change of clothing."

"Well, we can try one of my husband's suits. I haven't boxed them up yet."

"Wonderful." He says and she goes upstairs.

"How did you know she's not on vervain?" Elena asks.

"'Cause I'm the one who got her off it. Right before you and your friends killed me. Twice. If you'll excuse me. I'll be down in a moment." He goes upstairs.

* * *

Stefan, Damon, and Trinity sit in the living room.

Stefan's phone rings and he answers it. "Hello?"

"_Hey, Stefan. It's Jenna."_

"Jenna, hey."

"_Where's Elena? And Jeremy? No one's answering their phones."_

"Ah, Elena's not here at the moment. Is, uh, is everything ok?"

"_She left me all these weird messages telling me to stay away from Ric. What's going on?"_

"It's really hard to explain over the phone, but, um, she was hoping that you could stay on campus for a little while longer."

"_Oh, that's kinda hard to do from my kitchen."_

"Wait, you're home?"

"_Yeah. What's going on? Where's Elena? I'm supposed to meet Ric at the grill for lunch, to talk."_

"Jenna, listen to me carefully. Whatever you do, do not meet Alaric at the grill. I'm going to come over right now and I'll explain everything." He hangs up and looks at Damon, who's pouring himself a drink.

"Wow, I'd love to lend you a hand, but you wouldn't want me doing anything stupid."

"It's seriously going to be like this?"

"You and your girlfriend are calling the shots. I'm just backing off, Stefan."

"I'll come with you." Trinity says. "Maybe a little fresh air will slow down my deteriorating sanity." She stands up and leaves with Stefan.

Damon sees Andie walk in. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Let's go."

"Where are we going?" She asks.

"Splitting from the team. Going rogue. Come on." They leave.

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Elijah and Elena are sitting in the living room. Elijah is wearing one of Mayor Lockwood's suits. "So I assume that the Martin witches are no longer with us."

"No. I'm sorry." She says.

"And Katerina? She would have been released from my compulsion when I died."

"Klaus took her. We think that she may be dead."

"I doubt that. Not Klaus' style. Death would be too easy for her after what she did."

"I don't understand. You say that you want Klaus dead, but you still made Katherine pay for betraying him."

"I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay. There was a time… I'd have done anything for Klaus."

* * *

_Flashback: England, 1492_

"_From where have you come, Katerina?" Klaus asks._

"_I'm new to town, my lord."_

_Elijah looks at Klaus with a smile. "Katerina is from Bulgaria."_

"_Zdravei, Katerina." Klaus greets._

_She laughs. "Very good."_

_Klaus looks at Elijah. "Do you mind, brother? I would like to have a moment alone with her."_

"_No not at all. Happy Birthday, brother."_

_Klaus smiles and leaves with Katerina._

* * *

_Present_

Elena looks at him in shock. "Yes. Klaus is my brother." He says.

"I heard that. I'm still processing."

"Yes, I'm a little behind on the times, but I believe the term you're searching for is 'O.M.G.'" He sips his tea.

* * *

Katherine is bored. She opens a cupboard and finds a bottle of bourbon. She smiles, taking it out. She opens it and takes a drink when she hears someone.

"_I don't think this is a good idea."_ Andie says.

"_Investigative journalism…" _Damon says. _"we're investigating."_

She knocks on the door. "Alaric, are you home? Andie…Starr, Jenna's friend."

Katherine tries to open the door but she can't even touch the doorknob. Andie and Damon open the door. "Thank God." She sighs in relief.

Andie walks in. "Wow! You were right. She looks exactly like Elena."

"Yep." Damon says from the doorway, not able to enter. He looks at Katherine. "Thought you might be dead."

"Unfortunately not."

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Jenna opens the door and sees Stefan and Trinity.

"Hey, Jenna. Thank you so much for not going to the Grill." He says.

"Um, Stefan…"

"No, listen. I can explain."

Trinity turns around. "Stefan." She nudges him. He turns as well and sees 'Alaric'.

"Hi, Stefan. How's it going?" He greets.

* * *

"There's a whole family of Originals?" Elena asks.

"My father was a wealthy land owner in a village in Eastern Europe. Our mother bore seven children."

"So your parents were human?"

"Our whole family was. Our origin as vampires is a very long story, Elena. Just know…we're the oldest vampires in the world. We are the Original family, and from us all vampires were created." Elijah explains.

"Right, but Klaus is your brother. And you want him dead"

"I need some air. I'm still feeling a tad…dead. Come." They leave the room.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Katherine asks.

"We are here to rescue you." Andie smiles.

"No, sweetie. We are here to see if she deserves to be rescued." Damon corrects.

"Right."

"I figured you still might be kicking. Alaric-Klaus was blending way too easily. Figured he probably had some coaching." He shows her a vial.

"Is that…?" Katherine trails off.

"Vervain? Your salvation."

"It's not going to undo anything."

"There's always a loophole. Did he tell you to stay in this apartment until he said it was ok to leave?" She doesn't answer. "You can't say. Did he tell you to do absolutely everything he says until the end of time?"

"No."

"There's your loophole. Drink this and it'll prevent any further compulsion."

She comes closer to take it but he doesn't give it to her. "Give it to me."

"Answer one question first. You double-crossed us with Isobel, why?"

"I didn't think you could stand a chance against Klaus, so I was looking out for myself."

"And where did that get you?" He asks. "One more question."

"You only said I had to answer one."

"And now I'm changing my mind." He holds up the vial. "Why did you leave Trinity that letter?"

"I didn't want her to think that I didn't care."

"Oh that's great. You just showed her that you didn't care enough instead. Here." He throws her the vial. "Be careful with that. If he finds out you have that, you're never getting out of here."

She drinks and coughs. "How is she?"

"Losing her mind a lot faster than usual. I think it's because of you."

For the first time, Katherine show genuine concern in front of him. "What?"

"Oh yeah." He smiles. "Going out of her mind. Odd drawings, seeing things that aren't there, did I forget to mention that she kissed Elena?"

Her eyes narrow. "What?"

"She thought that she was you. That you didn't really betray her and came back. Personally, I think that she's better off without you." He glares at her. "You owe me. And I will collect." He looks at Andie. "Come on."

"Nice to meet you." She closes the door.

Katherine stares at it, a distraught look on her face.

* * *

'Alaric' is chopping some food with a big knife. Jenna, Trinity, and Stefan watch him. "You know, I find chopping…" He trails off. "Calming. The feel of the blade in the hand."

"I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what the hell's going on." Jenna says.

"Well, would you like to tell her, Stefan, or should I? Trinity?"

"Tell me what?"

"Do you believe in vampires, Jenna? No?" He laughs. "Well, who does, right? But believe it or not, they do have a place in our history. And as a history teacher, I find them fascinating."

"Why are we talking about this?"

"Well, you've been angry with me for keeping secrets, and this is one of my secrets. I'm obsessed with vampires. There. I said it." He laughs.

She looks at him. "Are you joking?"

"Not at all. How about you, Stefan? Are you a fan of vampires?"

"In literature. Bram Stoker. It's dense, but I appreciate it."

"Hmm. Did you know that vampires are the oldest creatures of the night? Except for werewolves, of course."

"Werewolves." Jenna says. "Werewolves. Now I know you're joking."

"You know, I've read that there's an Aztec curse on both species that keeps werewolves slaves to the Moon and vampires bound by the Sun. Isn't that right, Stefan? You know, they say these creatures would do anything to have this curse broken and that they wouldn't care who they had to kill to do it."

Trinity lays a hand on Jenna's, ready to pull her away if needed. Jenna looks at her in confusion but she subtly shakes her head.

* * *

Elijah and Elena walk outside. "So as you've seen, nothing can kill an Original. Not Sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made sure burned." He explains.

"That's where the white ash for the dagger comes from."

"Yes. The witches won't allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature needs to have a weakness in order to maintain the balance."

"So the sun can't kill an Original. Why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the Sun and Moon curse?"

"Right. The curse of the Sun and the Moon. It's all so…biblical-sounding, don't you think?" She asks, making him smiles. "What's so funny?"

* * *

_Flashback: England, 1492_

_In his bedroom, Klaus sits in a chair. A woman stands in front of herm._

_Elijah shows him a parchment. "Look. A Roman parchment."_

"_I remember etching this scroll. Well, I was quite blistered from drink." Klaus says._

"_Your finest work remains your Aztec drawings."_

"_Not the African carvings? 'Cause I was quite proud of those."_

"_The Aztec. Who can resist a shaman?"_

_Klaus laughs. "Yes."_

* * *

_Present_

"I don't understand. So Klaus drew the Aztec sketches about the curse?" Elena asks.

"Roman scrolls, African tribal etchings, and any other culture or continent we felt like planting in it."

"But why?"

"Easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelgänger or to get your hands on some long, lost moon stone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout."

"So it's not Aztec at all?"

"The curse of the Sun and the Moon…is fake. It doesn't exist."

"What?" She asks, shocked.

* * *

Alaric, Jenna, Trinity, and Stefan are sitting at the table.

"Oh, I know this all sounds so crazy, but…" 'Alaric' pauses. "Vampires are real. Would you care for some more wine?" He gets up to get a bottle of wine.

"Get out." Jenna says.

He looks at her. "Excuse me?

"I don't know what it is you're trying to do or why you're saying these things, but…"

"Jenna…"

"I said get out!"

Stefan stands up. "You heard her."

"I'm afraid I don't want to." He says.

"Fine! I'll go." Jenna stands up, Trinity standing as well.

'Alaric' grabs the knife. "You're not going anywhere."

Stefan flashes towards him and pins him against the wall, holding the knife to his throat.

"Stefan!" Jenna yells.

"Jenna, get out of here now!" Trinity tries to pull her away but she struggles.

"You can't kill me, Stefan." He says.

"Watch me!"

"Stefan!" Jenna yells again, struggling against Trinity's grip.

"I may not have a witch protecting me today, but if you kill this body, what's to stop me from choosing Jenna as my next one?" 'Alaric' grins.

"Jenna, go." Stefan says.

"But you're…you…" She trails off.

He looks at her, his face changed. "I said go!"

Jenna stops fighting, she and Trinity run out of the house.

"Kill me. Just remind Elena how easy it will be for me to get my revenge if she tries to stop me from breaking this curse." 'Alaric' says.

Stefan punches him in the face, knocking him to the floor before kicking him in the stomach. He throws the knife and leaves.

* * *

"Klaus and I faked the Sun and Moon curse dating back over a thousand years." Elijah says.

"But if there's no curse…" She trails off.

"There's a curse. Just not that one. The real one's much worse. It's a curse placed on Klaus."

"What are you talking about?"

"Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years. And you are his only hope." Elena's phone vibrates in his pocket.

"What is this curse?"

"Your phone will not stop its incessant buzzing. Answer it, please." He gives her the phone. She answers. It's Stefan.

"Stefan…what's wrong? No. No, no, no, no. Ok, I'll be right there." She hangs up and looks at Elijah. "Klaus went after Jenna. I have to go to her."

"I'm afraid that wasn't part of today's arrangement."

"She's my family, Elijah. I have to. I'll be back. You have my word."

"That doesn't mean anything to me until you live up to it."

"Thank you." She runs to her car, Elijah looks after her.

* * *

_Flashback: England, 1492_

_Elijah and Katerina are outside. She's running and laughing. "You have to chase me!" He runs after her but stops. She laughs. "You're meant to catch me."_

"_But if I catch you, the game will be over." He says._

"_Thank you for entertaining me."_

"_You looked lonely inside, so I took pity on you."_

_She sits down. "Klaus promised to spend the day with me, but he never returned home from the night."_

"_Yes, Klaus does not live by any rules but his own."_

"_He is a very charming man. Hard for anyone to resist, I suppose."_

"_And yet…"_

"_I know not why he courts me. He seems to not care about me at all."_

"_Many a union has been built on much less."_

"_Is it wrong to want more?"_

_He sits down with her. "Do you have more with Trevor?"_

"_Trevor believes that he loves me, but true love is not real unless it's returned. Do you agree?"_

"_I do not believe in love, Katerina."_

"_That is too sad for me to accept, my lord. Life is too cruel. If we cease to believe in love, why would we want to live?"_

_Klaus walks up to him. "What do I interrupt?"_

"_He's returned." Elijah looks at his shirt and sees the blood. "Long night?"_

"_What has happened?" Katerina asks._

"_The wrong villager picked a fight at the tavern." Klaus says, holding out his arm. She leaves with him and Klaus shoots a smile at Elijah, Katerina looks back as well._

* * *

_Present_

At the boarding house, Elena sees Jenna in the library. "Oh, Jenna, thank God."

"No."

"I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen."

"When I was little, your mom used to tell me bedtime stories. Stories about vampires. I never thought that what she said could be true."

"It is true, Jenna. I should have told you. I thought that if you didn't know, you'd be safe. But then things got so out of control and everything I had done to keep you out of it, it just blew up in my face."

"Who else knows? Jeremy?" Elena nods. "John?"

"We were just trying to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"I'm so sorry. I will tell you everything."

"No, Elena… I am the one who's supposed to be protecting you and Jeremy."

"I know, but there's nothing that you could have done. There's so much more to it…"

"No, this is-this is so…I don't know how…it's…" She cries.

"I know, hey."

"Why didn't you tell me?! I'm scared."

Elena sits down next to her and embraces her. "I know. I know. I know, hey. Hey. I'm sorry. Jenna, I am so, so sorry."

A cat jumps onto Jenna's lap. "The vampires have a cat?" She asks.

"That's Trinity." Elena tells her. "She turns into animals."

Jenna looks at the ceiling. "Of course."

"Pet her."

Jenna looks at her. "It's Trinity."

"And right now she's a cat. She likes to be petted."

Jenna cautiously places a hand on Trinity's back, rubbing back and forth. Trinity purrs in content.

* * *

Stefan is in the corridor, listening to them. He has tears in his eyes.

* * *

Elena closes a door and sees Stefan.

"Is she gonna be ok?" He asks.

"She's in shock. I tried to tell her as much as I could, but I barely scratched the surface." She says. "Trinity's still with her. I think Jenna forgot that it was her sometime during to conversation."

"I'm so sorry, Elena. I hate this."

"It's not your fault, Stefan. It's mine. Anyway…I have to go back to Elijah."

"Wait, what? No, no!"

"Stefan, I promised him that I would return. I can't break that promise."

"Oh." He nods.

"I'll be okay." She goes to the front door but Damon and Andie walk in first.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asks.

"Back to Elijah."

"No."

"Get out of my way, Dam-"

He grabs her arm. "If you so much as try and take a step out of this house…"

"Damon, easy." Andie says.

"Stay out of this, Andie."

Stefan walks up. "Let her go."

"Are you kidding me? We just got her back."

He grabs Damon's arm. "You heard me. I said let her go."

Damon glares at him. "That's twice today you've stood in my way. I wouldn't try a third."

* * *

Katherine is drinking and dancing to loud music. Suddenly she hears someone at the door.

'Alaric' enters and sees Katherine sitting on the couch. "You mind turning that down?"

She turns down the music. "Why so grumpy?"

"Well, this body has outlived its usefulness."

"Do you want a drink?"

"No, Katerina, I don't want a drink."

"Come on. It might loosen you up."

He takes the bottle and throws it against the wall. "What I want is for you to sit down and shut up." He compels her. She sits down on the couch. Maddox arrives. "Maddox, what took you so long?"

"You've got a lot of luggage." He says. Two men enter with luggage. A girl enters too.

"Greta. Finally." 'Alaric' smiles.

"Hello, love. Nice body. You ready to get out of it?" She asks.

Two other men arrive with a giant box. Katherine looks at them.

* * *

Elena walks back into the Lockwood mansion.

"Welcome back." Elijah says.

"Tell me. What is Klaus' curse?" She takes off her jacket.

"Please." Elijah gestures for Elena to sit. She does. He sits down next to her. "My family was quite close, but Klaus and my father did not get on too well. When we became vampires, we discovered the truth. Klaus was not my father's son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before. This was her darkest secret. Klaus is from a different bloodline. Of course, when my father discovered this, he hunted down and he killed my mother's lover and his entire family. Not realizing, of course, that he was igniting a war between species that rages until this day."

"A war between the species?"

"The vampires…and the werewolves."

"So Klaus' real father was from a werewolf bloodline? What does that make Klaus? A werewolf? Or a vampire?"

"He's both. A hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such an imbalance of power. Therefore the witches, the servants of nature, saw to it that my brother's werewolf side would become dormant."

"That's the curse that Klaus wants to break?"

"He wants to trigger that part of him that's a werewolf. If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline. He'd build his own race. Endangering not just vampires, but everyone."

"But you helped him?"

"I helped him because I loved him. That's changed, now he must die."

"We have the dagger now. We can stop him."

"When a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. An Original can't be killed by anything but white oak ash on a silver dagger. So you see the conundrum. The dagger does not work."

"What, are you saying that Klaus can't be killed?"

"There's one way to kill any supernatural species…at the hands of the servants of nature themselves."

"A witch, if they can channel that much power. But it would kill them."

"The curse must be broken during the full moon. When Klaus is in transition. That's when he'll be at his most vulnerable. A witch with enough power…can kill Klaus."

"What if I told you that I knew a witch that could channel that much power?"

"Then I would tell you there's one more thing that you should know."

* * *

_Flashback: England, 1492_

_Klaus and Elijah are inside a room._

"_The full moon is tomorrow, brother. After all these centuries, it is finally time." Klaus says._

"_I have been to see the witches. They believe they may have found a way to spare the doppelgänger."_

"_What does it matter if she lives or not? She's a means to an end that is all."_

"_What, she should die for your gain?" He asks._

"_She is human. Her life means nothing."_

"_I beg you to consider this."_

_Klaus looks at him. "Are you so foolish as to care for her?"_

"_Of course not."_

_He walks closer. "Love; is a vampire's greatest weakness, and we are not weak, Elijah. We do not feel, and we do not care."_

"_We did once."_

"_Too many lifetimes ago to matter. Tell the witches not to bother. The sacrifice will happen as planned."_

* * *

_Present_

"You found a way to save the life of the doppelgänger?" Elena asks.

"Yes, Elena. I did. But unfortunately, Katerina took matters into her own hands first. I believe you already know how that played out."

"You cared about her, didn't you?"

"It's a common mistake, I'm told. And it's one I won't make again." He gives back her jacket before leaving.

* * *

Trinity shape shift into a small monkey and hops around the bed. Jenna watches her with a look of awe. "That is crazy." She watches as Trinity shifts into a fox and lies next to her. "I'm never going to get use to this." Trinity licks her cheek.

* * *

Damon is with Andie in the library. "You don't have to be so mad at your brother. You know, he's worried about Elena, and…" She trails off.

"Just go, please." He says.

"I know you're worried about her, too."

"Andie. Go."

"Okay." She leaves.

Stefan enters the room. "Tired of your little play thing already?"

Damon rolls his eyes. "Don't start with me, Stefan. She's just my distraction."

"She's a person. You're victimizing her."

"You should be thankful she's here. She keeps me from going for what I really want."

"You're right. Thank you for being in love with my girlfriend." He says sarcastically.

Damon gets up. "And there it is."

"There it is. You know, you can be in love with Elena all you want…if it means that you'll protect her. But I have the one thing that you never will."

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"Her respect."

Damon punches Stefan so hard that he falls into a bookshelf and breaks it. He gets up and rushes over to Damon. They grab each other by the shoulders, trying to harm one another. Elena and Elijah enter the room.

"Stop!" She yells.

They break apart. Elijah looks at them.

* * *

_Flashback: England, 1492_

_Elijah is sitting on a chair. Klaus enters the room. "What have you done?"_

_Elijah looks at him. "I don't understand."_

"_Katerina has gone. She has fled."_

"_No."_

"_What did you tell her?"_

"_I told her nothing."_

_Klaus grabs him and pushes him against the wall. His face has changed. "Do not lie to me!"_

"_I will find her. You have my word."_

"_If you do not, I give you my word you will be dead."_

* * *

_Present_

"Now you've invited him in?" Damon asks.

"Elijah and I have renewed the terms of our deal." She says.

"Really?" He scoffs.

"The two of you will come to no harm at my hands. I only ask for one thing in return." Elijah says.

"What?"

"An apology."

"A what?"

Stefan gets closer to them. "I'm sorry for the part that I played in your death. I was protecting Elena. I will always protect Elena."

"I understand." He nods.

Elena looks at Damon. "The sacrifice is going to happen, Damon. Bonnie will be able to kill Klaus without hurting herself and Elijah knows how to save my life. I told you I'd find another way. And I did."

"Is that true?"

"It is." He nods.

Damon looks at Elena. "And you're trusting him?"

"I am."

"You can all go to hell." He leaves.

Stefan looks at Elijah. "He's angry with me right now. But he'll come around."

"Perhaps."

* * *

Damon enters his bedroom. Andie comes out of the bathroom, in lingerie. "I thought I told you to leave." He says.

"You didn't compel me. I want to be here. Just let me be here."

He rushes over to Andie and grabs her face. "I'm upset. And you know what happens when I'm upset. You have to leave."

"No. You need to know that somebody cares about you. I care about you, Damon."

He bites her and she screams. He throws her to the floor. She cries. He gets closer to her. "Hey. Hey. Look at me." He compels her. "Get out of here, before I kill you. Just go. Go. Now!"

She takes her clothes, looks at him and leaves.

* * *

Maddox and Greta are casting a spell. There are candles all around them. 'Alaric' is standing next to the box. Katherine is looking at them.

They stop and look at Alaric. He opens his eyes and looks at Katherine. "Elena?" He collapses.

Maddox opens the box and Klaus gets out of it. He looks at Alaric. "Now that's more like it." He smiles.


	42. The Last Day

Chapter Forty Two: The Last Day

Trinity; now shifted into a wolf, looks at Jenna's sleeping form before walking the door. She puts her ear close to it and closes her eyes, listening to the conversation downstairs.

* * *

Damon in in his bed and hears Elijah's conversation with Elena and Stefan. He gets up, goes downstairs and joins them.

* * *

"Tonight is the full moon. We should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse." Elijah says.

"Elena said that the Sun and the Moon curse is fake?" Stefan asks. "That it's actually just a curse placed on Klaus."

"Klaus is a vampire born of a werewolf bloodline. The curse has kept his werewolf aspect from manifesting. But if he breaks it…He'll be a true hybrid."

Damon walks in. "Then why are we letting him break the curse? We can kill him today. With Bonnie."

"Damon…" Stefan sighs.

Elena shakes her head. "No. Bonnie can't use that much power without dying."

He rolls his eyes. "I'll write her a great eulogy."

"It's not an option, Damon."

"All right, how do we break this curse?" Stefan asks.

"Well, the ritual itself is relatively straightforward. The ingredients, so to speak, you already know." Elijah tells him.

"The moonstone."

"A witch will channel the power of the full moon to release the spell that's bound within the stone. After that, Klaus, being both werewolf and vampire, will sacrifice one of each."

"And where do I fit into it?" Elena asks.

"The final part of the ritual." Elijah takes a wooden box from the shelf. "Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelgänger…to the point of your death." Damon looks at Elena. Stefan takes Elena's hand. She looks at him. He opens the box and takes a jar from it.

"And that's where you come in."

"This is an elixir that I acquired some 500 years ago for Katerina. It possesses mystical properties of resuscitation."

"So I'll be dead?"

"And then you won't."

Damon scoffs. "That's your plan? A magical witch potion with no expiration date?" He looks at Elena. "You want to come back to life, what about John's ring?"

"Those rings only work on humans. The doppelgänger's a supernatural occurrence. Odds are, the ring won't work." Elijah explains.

"I'll take those odds over your elixir. What if it doesn't work, Elena?"

"Then I guess I'll just be dead." She says. Damon looks at Stefan, who shrugs.

"Where's Trinity? She should be here backing me up. There's no way she'd agree with this."

"She's with Jenna." Elena says. "I guess that she's been helping her cope with finding out everything." Damon glares at Elijah before leaving. "Do we know if Klaus has everything he needs to do this? Does he have a werewolf?"

"Klaus has been waiting to break this curse for over a thousand years. If he doesn't already have a werewolf, my guess is by tonight, he will." Elijah tells her.

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Carol is on the stairs, leaving a voicemail for Tyler. "Tyler, honey. It's your mother. I don't know where you are, but I need you. I've had an accident and I'm in the hospital." She reaches the top of the stairs and sees Maddox. "Please, Tyler, come home." She hangs up. "Why did I say that?"

"Because you had a terrible fall." He pushes her down the stairs with his powers. He looks at her unconscious body.

* * *

Damon is outside, drinking scotch. Stefan rejoins him. "Breakfast of champions, huh?"

"I'm surrounded by idiots. I need all the help I can get." He says.

"You know, you're not helping."

"Elijah is an original vampire, Stefan. One we tried to kill. You're going to believe this guy?"

"What do you want me to do, Damon? Elena made her decision. She's choosing to trust Elijah. I'm going to put my faith in her."

"Why? She's going to end up dead."

"Because she put her faith in me. She chose to trust me in spite of what I am. I'm going to bet on somebody's instincts, it's going to be hers."

"Well, then, that makes you the biggest idiot of them all."

"She chose to trust you, too."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be so sure about her instincts." He looks at him and leaves.

* * *

Jenna wakes up and sees the wolf at the end of the bed. "Hey." She says, petting her.

Trinity hops of the bed and shifts into her human form. "Morning."

Jenna stares at her. "That is so weird. Can you turn into people too?"

She shakes her head. "No. Well not yet I guess. It's a work in progress."

"Have you tried?"

"It's not really something you could practice…let me explain it better. It's like certain things are locked away inside you. That you just have this place filled to the brim with power. You just need to find to key to unlocking it so it. Only problem, is that you have no idea where it is, what it looks like, where the lock is, and how to unlock it."

"What happens when you do?"

"Shift into a human? I get a lot cooler." She grins. "Recognize my full power…I become immortal." She claps her hand. "So, enough with that stuff." She walks to the door. "I'll let you get freshened up." She leaves.

* * *

Elena rejoins Elijah in the library. "You'd think he'd understand why I'm willing to do this." She sighs.

He looks at her. "Why are you?"

"I'm the key to breaking the curse. Klaus is here because of me. If I don't stop him, then he's going to hurt people. It's that simple."

"You know, there's a possibility this elixir won't work. I don't want to mislead you."

"I know the chance I'm taking." They hear arguing and walk out to see Alaric and Jenna.

"Get out!" She holds up a crossbow.

"Jenna, Jenna!" He tries to placate her.

"Get out!"

"Jenna, put the crossbow down, ok? It's me."

"Stay away from me."

Trinity, Stefan, and Damon walk in as well.

"What's going on?" Elena asks.

"It's me, Elena, I swear, ok? He let me go. Klaus let me go." Alaric tells them.

Damon looks at him. "Prove it."

Alaric looks at Jenna. "Ok, uh, first night you and I spent together, Jeremy walked in right when I was about to…"

"Okay, it's him." She puts the crossbow down.

"Why did he let you go?" Trinity asks.

He looks at them. "He wanted me to deliver a message. The sacrifice happens tonight."

* * *

At the Mystic Falls Hospital, Carol wakes up and sees Tyler. "Tyler?"

"Mom." He kisses her on the forehead.

"You're back."

"I'm back."

* * *

At the Grill, Matt is working. He turns around and sees Caroline standing behind him. "Ohh. Jeez!"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." She says.

"It's ok, I just, I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, I wanted to try and catch you on your break so we could hang out."

"I have lunch in an hour."

"Perfect. I will go run some errands and I will be right back." She kisses him. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Ok."

She leaves.

Matt joins Sheriff Forbes at a table. "Does she suspect anything?" She asks.

"No, but…I can't do this anymore. I've been with her the past few days, and I'm putting on the best show of my life. But either she is too, or she's still the same Caroline."

Liz shakes her head. "She's not the same. She's a vampire."

He sighs. "At this point, I don't even know what that means."

"Look, I know this is hard to understand, but my family, we were raised with this. They're monsters, Matt. They have no soul, no humanity."

"There's nothing about her that makes me believe that."

"It's an act. I believed Damon Salvatore was my closest ally in this town. Instead, he's a killer. They killed your sister. What other proof do you need?"

"I could ask you the same question, Sheriff. Why haven't you done anything? Why are you hesitating?"

"Because I need more information. And because, in spite of everything I just said, I still look at her and I…I see my daughter."

"Damon is the problem, not Caroline. You should focus on him."

"I shouldn't have involved you, Matt. Thank you for all of your help, but I'll take it from here." She leaves.

* * *

Alaric, Jenna, Elena, Stefan, Trinity, and Elijah are in the living room.

"So you don't remember anything that happened?" Stefan asks.

Alaric shakes his head. "No. It's like I blacked out and woke up 3 days later. Katherine was there."

Trinity looks at him. "She's alive?"

"She's under compulsion. Damon snuck her some vervain, but she can't leave until Klaus tells her she can." Stefan says.

Trinity looks at him. "You knew?"

"Where is Damon?" Elena asks.

"I saw him go upstairs." Jenna says. Elena gets up and leaves.

"So what else did I do?" Alaric asks.

* * *

Elena walks into Damon's bedroom. "You disappeared."

"I don't want to hear anymore." He says.

"I need you to understand why I'm doing this."

"Why? It clearly doesn't matter what I think."

"I'll be fine, Damon. I'll drink the elixir, Bonnie will kill Klaus and then all of this will finally be over."

"If it works."

"It will work."

"You think it will work. You want it to work. Why am I the only one who's convinced it won't? There has to be another way."

"There isn't."

"And you're going to die, Elena."

"And then I'll come back to life."

"That is not a risk I'm willing to take."

"But I am." She takes his hands. "It's my life, Damon. My choice."

"I can't lose you."

"You won't." She goes toward the door but Damon intercepts her.

"There is another way."

"What are you…" He bites his wrist so it starts bleeding. "Damon, no!" He puts his wrist in her mouth so she can drink his blood but she doesn't want to. Stefan arrives and pushes Damon. Elena falls on the floor. She has blood in her mouth.

"What did you do?! Huh? What did you do?!" Stefan yells at Damon. He goes towards Elena.

"I saved her life." He looks at Elena. "You're so bent on dying, at least this way I know you'll come back."

"As a vampire! She'll come back a vampire!" Stefan tells him.

"It's better than nothing else."

"How could you, of all people, take that choice away from her?"

Damon looks at Elena. "Go ahead; wish me an eternity of misery. Believe me, you'll get over it." Stefan rushes over to Damon and pushes him.

"Stefan!" Elena yells.

Damon takes a piece of wood and pushes Stefan against a wall with it. "Admit it. You just wish you had the balls to do it yourself."

Stefan punches him in the face several times in a row. Damon falls on the floor. He has blood on his face. He takes the wooden stick and drives it through Stefan's abdomen.

Elena rushes over to Stefan and pushes Damon. "Get out of here!"

Alaric, Jenna, and Trinity walk in. "What the hell's going on?" He asks.

"Get him out of here!" Elena yells.

Alaric goes toward Damon but he pushes him, gets up and leaves.

"Oh, my god." Jenna says.

"Ok, Jenna, downstairs are some blood bags. Go get them now. Go!" Alaric says.

"I'll show her." Trinity leads Jenna out.

Elena removes the stick. Stefan puts his head on Elena's legs. "It's ok. It's ok. You're going to be ok." She tells him.

"I'm so sorry."

"Shh. It's ok."

"I'm sorry."

* * *

Damon goes in the library to pour himself a drink.

Elijah sighs and closes the wooden box. "Well, it sounds like you won't be needing this anymore. Feeding her vampire blood rendered it useless. Tell Elena I'll be back before nightfall. We'll proceed as planned."

"We both know that elixir wouldn't have worked anyway."

"The problem, Damon, you talk a good game but you don't actually know anything. She'll never forgive you. And never for a vampire…it's a very long time." He says before leaving.

* * *

Stefan, Elena, Jenna, Trinity, and Alaric are in Stefan's bedroom.

Stefan drinks a blood bag and looks at Jenna. "Thank you. All of you."

"Yeah, well, we'll be downstairs." Alaric leads her out of the room.

"I'll…go somewhere that's not here." Trinity leaves as well, going to her room.

* * *

Jenna and Alaric stand in the corridor. "I know it's, uh, it's a lot to take in." He says.

She nods. "Yeah."

"I tried to protect you from all this, but I should have known you could handle it."

"Can I?"

"Well, you just did. Look, Jenna… I know we have a lot to talk about."

She puts a hand on his cheek. "Hey. I'm glad you're ok. I should have said that already." She kisses him.

* * *

Elena and Stefan are sitting on his bed. "How could he do that to me? Why?" She asks.

"Hey. We've never talked about this. What this all means."

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters. Hey. It matters. I want you to go somewhere with me."

"Stefan, I can't."

"No, no, it's not far, ok? It's just for the day. I promise."

* * *

Tyler looks at his mother's sleeping form before walking out of the hospital room. He sees Jules. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that. I told you not to come." She says.

"She's my mother. I had to."

"Now we have to get out of here; lock ourselves up before tonight."

They walk to the parking lot and see Caroline, who's shocked. "Tyler? Jules." She glares.

Jules looks at Tyler. "I'll give you a few minutes."

"Thank you."

"Just a few, Tyler."

"I got it." She leaves so they can be alone. "She's just making sure I'm safe."

"So what, are you two, like, friends now?" She asks him.

"She's been helping me. How are you?"

"I heard about your mom. I just came to check in on her."

"She's banged up, but she'll be ok."

"And you? Um…how's everything with you?"

"I'm hanging in there."

"Good."

"Yeah. I should get going. Jules and I need to get on the road."

"You're leaving again?"

"I left for a reason, Caroline."

"Your explanation must have got lost in the mail, along with your goodbye."

"Well…take care of yourself.

"Tyler…" Suddenly Caroline holds her head and screams. Tyler does as well.

Maddox and Greta walk up. She injects vervain into Caroline. "Let's go." She says.

Maddox takes Tyler and Greta takes Caroline.

* * *

Matt is walks out of the Grill, leaving a voicemail for Caroline. "Hey, Caroline, it's me. I thought you were coming back to meet me. Look, I need to talk to you. It's important." He hangs up and sees Damon arriving.

* * *

Damon goes to the bar and asks for a drink.

Alaric takes a seat next to him. "I'll have the same."

"I screwed up." He says.

"Yeah. Yeah, you did."

Klaus takes a seat next to them. "Gentlemen? Why so glum?"

They look at him. "Ugh. Klaus, I presume." Damon says.

"In the flesh." He looks at Alaric. "Thanks for the loaner, mate."

Damon gets up. "Any reason you stopped by to say hi?"

"I'm told you and your brother fancy my doppelgänger. Just thought I'd remind you to not do anything you'll regret."

"Ha. Thanks for the advice. I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement, by any chance, huh?"

"You are kidding?" He looks at Alaric. "He is kidding, right?"

"No, not really."

"I mean, come on, what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?" Damon asks.

"Let me be clear…I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up." He goes to leave but turns back. "I am curious to see that shapeshifter though." He leaves.

"That was fun." Damon sighs.

"You're going to screw it up, aren't you?"

Damon looks at him. "You think if I took his werewolf out of the equation, she might…get over the fact that I tried to turn her into a vampire?"

"I think it won't matter, because you'll be dead."

"But without the werewolf, he can't perform the ritual tonight, which means I would have bought her one month before the next full moon."

"And you'll still be dead." He says. "What about Trinity?"

Damon takes out his phone. "We'll tell her to go to the witch house. Keep her out of the way. Are you gonna help me or what?"

"What do you want me to do?"

* * *

Trinity checks her phone, seeing the message from Damon. "Oh great." She grabs her jacket and leaves.

* * *

Elena and Stefan walk up a mountain. "Where are we?" She asks.

"It's a surprise. Just a little bit longer."

"I'm not a vampire yet, you know. My legs still get tired."

"Ready to talk about how you're feeling about all this?"

"Uh…this morning I was wondering if I would live or die, and now…I'm going to be a vampire. I…I don't really know how I'm feeling." They arrive at a waterfall. "God, this is beautiful."

Stefan looks at her. "I think you do know how you feel. I just want you to know that it's okay to tell me."

"I can't. Stefan, I just… I can't talk about it."

"Well, if you don't want to, that's your choice. Today's about you. But…it's a long way to the top. Let's go. You never know what might come up."

"We're climbing all the way up to the top?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Well, can't you do one of your super power vampire jumpy things?"

"No, it's your last day as a human. Why cheat now?"

She smiles and takes his hand.

* * *

Katherine is looking for a blood bag in the fridge. She hears the key in the lock. She gets up and goes in front of the door. It's Alaric. "Look who's dumb enough to come back." She says.

"Well, somebody had to invite him in. Damon. Would you like to, uh, come in?" He asks. Damon comes in and she rushes over to him.

"Are you trying to get me killed?"

He pushes her against the wall. "I gave you vervain, now I'm here to collect. I got it from here, Ric."

"You sure?" He asks.

"Yeah, only one of us needs to get blamed for this. Get back in the house. Keep Elena from handing herself over."

"Ok." He leaves.

"Get blamed for what?" She asks.

He lets her go. "I need to know where Klaus is keeping his werewolf."

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"Dead werewolf equals no ritual."

"No. You can't interfere, Damon. Klaus will kill you and everyone you've ever met."

"I just need to delay this thing."

"No. No way."

"You should like this. It's going to buy another month of your pathetic life."

"Right. Except that I'm not the vampire he's planning on sacrificing."

"What?"

"Yeah. He's got Caroline Forbes and Tyler Lockwood. Therefore, I'm in the clear."

"And where'd he get that idea from?" He stalks towards her.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, I'm just trying to stay alive long enough to get myself out of here."

"What if I told you Klaus was coming after Trinity?"

"What?!"

"Imagine him completing the ritual. What do you think is gonna happen to her? Do you think that he's just going to let her go? She'll be running for the rest of her life and it'll be your fault."

"The tomb. He's got them in the tomb."

"Thank you." He leaves.

* * *

Caroline and Tyler are chained against the walls, in front of each other. Caroline wakes up. Tyler is looking at her.

"Tyler?" She asks.

"You all right?"

"Yeah. I think so." She tries to break the chains but she can't.

"I already tried."

"Those witches vervained me."

"Who were they?"

"I think they're with Klaus."

"Who the hell is Klaus?"

She pauses. "Tyler…you shouldn't have come back here."

* * *

Elena and Stefan are climbing to the top of the mountain.

"I guess Bonnie will have to make me a daylight ring." She says.

"Yeah, piece of cake."

"And I'll never be able to watch 'Bambi' again."

He laughs. "I definitely wouldn't recommend doing that."

"What's the best part about being a vampire?"

"Ahh. You feel like you could do anything. Be anyone. Beautiful things are more beautiful. Everything's heightened, you just live more intensely, love more powerfully." He explains.

"And the worst?"

"Ah, you know the worst."

"Aside from the blood?"

He stops and looks at her. "Anger becomes rage. When you're sad, you're in despair. Grief. Loss. It can cripple you. That's why so many of us turn our emotions off. It just becomes…too overwhelming. You know, for a while, for me, the good just wasn't worth the bad."

"How long before you learned to handle both?"

"Well, I'm still trying. Every day. What else?"

"Let's just keep going. We're not even halfway to the top." She walks ahead of him.

* * *

Katherine is making coffee when Klaus arrives. "Everything ok?" She asks.

"What have you been doing?"

"Making coffee. Do you want some?"

He flashes over to her and wraps a hand around her throat. "Tell me what you've been doing." He compels her.

"Making coffee." He releases her and she holds her neck and turns around.

"Wait. Take off your bracelet." She takes it off and gives it to him. "Now, I want you…to walk over to the window and stand in the sunlight."

"But I'll burn."

"You don't have a choice." He tells her. She stands in the sunlight and her skin starts to burn. She begins screaming. Klaus looks at her with a smile. He lets her burn for a moment. "That's enough." She rushes over to the corner of the room, in the shadows. "Guess I was wrong. All right, then. I need you to do something for me."

* * *

Trinity walks into the abandoned witch house.

Jeremy walks up the stairs and sees her. "What are you doing here?"

"Apparently Klaus wants me. Damon told me to come here."

"Why does he want you?"

"He's never seen a shapeshifter. I guess he wants one."

* * *

Damon arrives at the tomb and sees Maddox guarding it.

"Which one are you trying to save? The blond or the wolf? Did you really think Klaus would leave them unprotected?" Maddox asks.

"Wishful thinking." He rushes over to Maddox and pins him on the ground. He strangles him but Maddox uses his powers and throws Damon. Maddox gets up and uses his powers and provokes an aneurysm. Damon screams. Suddenly there's a gunshot. Maddox falls on the floor. Damon raises his head and sees Matt, with a gun. Damon gets up, snaps Maddox's neck and looks at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Where's Caroline?" Matt asks.

"Listen, man. Not a good time to play the hero."

"Where is she? And what did he do to her?"

"I'm just here to rescue her." Damon rushes over to him and hits him with the gun. Matt falls on the floor, unconscious. "You're lucky I already screwed up once today or you'd be dead." He crouches and sees that Matt had wooden bullets.

* * *

Tyler and Caroline are looking at each other, still chained up.

"The whole Sun and Moon curse is fake?" He asks.

She nods. "That's what Elena learned. Klaus still needs to do the sacrifice, but it's just not for that."

"And you think that's why they grabbed us? For the sacrifice."

"Yes."

"He's going to kill us?"

"I think so. Yes."

"This whole time I've been gone, Jules has been helping me come to terms with what I am. How to deal with it. I guess none of it matters anymore."

"Why didn't you say goodbye? You just left."

"You want to talk about this now?"

"Well, if we're going to die, I might as well know the truth. Why did you leave me?"

"I knew you hated me. I thought you deserved better than having someone like me in your life."

"I was hurt. You know, you turned your back on me when I needed you. But…I could never hate you, Tyler." She says, making him smile. They hear the door of the tomb open and see Damon walk in. "Damon?"

He walks towards her. "Your boyfriend's outside with a rifle loaded with wooden bullets. You have some explaining to do."

"What, Matt?"

"Matt knows about you?" Tyler asks.

"No, I…"

"Shh. Tomorrow's problem." Damon releases her and she gets up. "Let me just get you out of here."

"Wait, Damon No! I'm not leaving without him."

"Ohhh. It's getting dark soon." He looks at Tyler. "How fast can you get the hell away from here?"

"I need to get to my family's cellar. I can lock myself up." He says.

"I'll help." She says.

Damon goes toward Tyler and crouches in front of him. "Don't make me regret this." He breaks Tyler's chains.

* * *

Elena and Stefan are at the top of the mountain.

"We made it!" She smiles. "Ahh."

"That's nothing, if you've climbed Mt. Everest." He tells her.

"Nobody likes a bragger, Stefan." She looks at the landscape. "Oh, wow."

"Yeah. Hey, you can say it."

She looks at him. "Say what?"

"The thing you've been wanting to say, but…been afraid of how it'll make me feel."

"There's nothing I can say, Stefan. It's not going to change anything."

"Might make you feel better. Look, I know this isn't the first time you've thought about it. Drinking vampire blood to survive. I mean, I know I've thought about it a hundred times."

"And before all this with Klaus, did you think about it then?"

"Of course I did. Elena…if it were my choice, I'd want to be with you forever."

"Why have you never brought it up?" She asks.

"'Cause I knew if it was an option, you would have. It would be selfish for me to ask you."

"Didn't stop Damon."

"He shouldn't have done what he did. He did it because he loves you."

"But he did this to me, Stefan, which means he doesn't really know what love is. And to be honest, I don't know if I do. I'm 17 years old. How am I supposed to know any of this yet?" She takes his hands. "I know that I love you, Stefan. I know that. But my future? Our lives together? Those were things I was supposed to deal with as they came along. I was supposed to grow up." She cries. "Decide if I want to have kids and start a family. Grow old. I was supposed to have a lifetime of those choices, and…now? That's all gone."

"Hey, say it."

"I don't want to be a vampire, Stefan. I never wanted to be one."

"I know. It's okay."

He embraces her.

* * *

Trinity paces back and forth.

"Can you please stop?" Bonnie asks.

"I should be out there. I should be helping protect Elena."

"If you go out there, Klaus will take you as his new pet." Jeremy says.

"You need to sit down." Bonnie tells her.

"Okay. Okay." She sits down. "It's going to be fine. We're going to kill Klaus and everything's going to be fine." She runs a hand through her hair.

* * *

It's dark by the time Damon, Caroline and Tyler go outside. Matt is waking up.

Caroline rushes over to him. "Hey, Matt!" She looks at Damon. "Hey. Did you hit him?!"

"Did you already forget about the part with the gun and the wooden bullets?"

Tyler growls and holds his chest. He looks at the moon.

"Tyler? Tyler?" She asks.

"It's starting." He groans.

"Grab boy wonder and let's go." Damon tells her.

"Come on."

They leave.

* * *

Stefan parks at the boarding house. He gets out and opens the door for Elena.

She gets out of the car. "Thanks for today."

Stefan feels something. He puts himself in front of Elena and they both turn their heads.

Klaus looks at them. "You got me all nervous. I thought maybe you'd done something stupid. You ready, my dear?"

"I'm ready." She goes toward him but Stefan stops her.

"No."

"I wouldn't. No reason for you to die, too." Klaus says.

She turns around and looks at Stefan. He can't stop looking at Klaus. "No. Stefan, hey, hey, it's fine, it's fine. I'll go. No one needs to get hurt. There's no reason for you to get hurt." She kisses him. "I love you."

"I love you." They kiss again.

"Close your eyes. Close your eyes."

He closes his eyes. She lets go of his hand. When he opens he eyes, she's gone.

Stefan enters the house and sees Alaric. "There you are. I got here, the house was empty."

"Where's Damon?" Stefan asks.

* * *

Damon, Caroline, Matt and Tyler are walking through the woods. Tyler groans in pain.

Matt looks at him. "What's happening? Is he ok?"

"He better not wolf out on us." Damon's phone rings. He answers. It's Stefan. "Bad time, little bro."

"_What the hell are you doing?"_

"Saving the day. I figured you'd understand. Just tell Elena to stay put."

"_She's already gone, Damon."_

"What?"

"_Klaus came. He took her."_

"I'll take care of it." He hangs up. Tyler falls on the floor. The transformation begins.

"Tyler!" Matt yells.

"I don't know if I can hold it off. Get out of here." Tyler says.

"Tyler, it'll be ok." Caroline tells him.

"Go!"

"You've got time. We're almost there, just…"

"It's happening faster."

"Tyler, it's ok."

Tyler's eyes are yellow. He rushes over towards Caroline but Damon intercepts him and is tackled to the ground instead. He pushes him but Tyler bites him in the process. Damon gets up.

"Damon…" Caroline says.

"I'm fine."

"Get out of here!" Tyler yells.

Damon looks at her. "Get to the Lockwood cellar. If it held him in, it'll keep him out. If it doesn't…use these." He gives them wooden bullets. "It'll buy you a couple seconds. Go. Go!"

They leave.

* * *

Klaus enters the apartment. "Where's Maddox? He should be back by now."

"I don't know." Katherine says. Klaus sits down and opens the laptop. "What are you doing? Where's Elena?"

"I sent her off with Greta. The shapeshifter wasn't there. I'll find her later." He looks at Jules, who's transitioning. "It's almost time." The door opens. Katherine and Klaus look at Damon. "I wasn't aware you'd been invited in."

"I've come here to tell you that you have to postpone the ritual." He says.

"Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"Yeah, but that was before I rescued your werewolf and vampire and killed your witch."

Klaus gets up. "Excuse me?"

"And you can kill me for it. I don't care. It was all me"

"Katerina, give us a moment." She looks at them and leaves. "I've heard about you. The crazy, impulsive vampire in love with his brother's girl. I knew one of you would try to stop me. It was a just a 50/50 guess on who." He shows him the video of Jules. "The nice thing about werewolves is they tend to travel in packs. Need a closer look?" He throws him the cellphone so he can see better.

"Jules."

"When you spend a thousand years trying to break a curse…you learn a thing or two. First rule…always have a back-up. Back-up werewolf. Back-up witch."

"Back-up vampire."

"I've got that covered, too."

* * *

Caroline and Matt rush into the cellar and close the door.

"Come on, down here." She says.

"Is that going to hold?" He asks.

"No." They go further into the cellar. Caroline is closing the iron gate. "Help me with the gate. Help me with the gate!" He helps her close it. Tyler, in wolf form, enters the cellar and looks at them. "Tyler? It's me. It's Caroline. Tyler?" He rushes over to the gate.

* * *

Damon is unconscious. Katherine gives him some blood from a blood bag and slaps him. "Hey. Damon. Hey. Damon!"

He wakes up. "Ahh. What the hell happened?"

"He's gone. He went to do the ritual. I'm sorry. I had to. He would have known that I was on vervain if I didn't do it."

"Ahh. Do what?"

"Klaus. He made me call her to lure her out. He needed another vampire."

"Who did you call?" He grabs her arm. "Who did you call, Katherine?"

* * *

Elena and Greta are walking in the dark.

"Where are we going?" Elena asks.

"This way."

"You're Luka's sister, aren't you? I heard about you. He and your father were looking for you."

"Well, they were wasting their time. I wasn't lost."

Elena trips on a rock. "God, I can't see anything." She says. Greta lights fire all around them. Elena sees someone on the ground. She rushes over to her. It's Jenna. "Jenna? Jenna, Jenna! Jenna? Hey, hey, Jenna! Jenna!" She can't find a pulse. "Oh, my God. No. Jenna! No!" She looks at Greta. "He killed her? Why? I did everything that he asked." Jenna wakes up.

"She's not dead. She's in transition."

* * *

Damon gets up from the floor. "Should have used me. Why didn't he use me?"

"He couldn't. Damon, he said you were as good as dead." Katherine tells him.

"What does that even mean?"

"What does that mean?" She looks at Tyler's bite on Damon's forearm. "What is this, Damon?"

He looks at the wound. "It's a werewolf bite."


	43. The Sun Also Rises

Chapter Forty Three: The Sun Also Rises

Tyler, in wolf form, growls and snarls at Caroline and Matt who are on the other side of the iron gate. Caroline is holding the gate shut.

"Caroline, let me help!" Matt says.

"Get back, I got it!" She yells. Tyler starts to attack, fitting his snout through the bars of the gate and snapping and snarling. Caroline flinches but holds the gate steady. Matt aims the rifle at Tyler. Tyler backs up and attacks a second time.

"Caroline, the door's not going to hold." He backs away, still pointing the gun. "Come on!"

"Tyler, please!" Tyler doesn't let up on his attack. Matt shoots Tyler, who yelps in pain and backs away. Matt shoots him again. "Matt! No, hey, no! It's Tyler!"

"It's trying to kill us!"

"Wait!" Caroline looks back. Tyler is lying on the ground, panting heavily. "He's wounded."

"Caroline, stay back."

Caroline begins to unlock the gate. "We can go around him."

"Are you nuts?"

"You're not going to shoot him again, ok? Ok. Matt, take my hand." Caroline extends her hand towards Matt as she opens the gate and walks out.

Matt continues to point the gun at Tyler. "I got it."

She looks back at him. "Matt, take my hand."

Matt finally complies and places the rifle over his shoulder. He takes Caroline's hand and she flashes the two of them out of the cellar.

* * *

Damon sits at the bar in Alaric's apartment, observing the werewolf bite on his inner forearm.

Katherine stands over him, also looking at it. "So that's what a werewolf bite looks like."

"Yep." He says.

"It's not that bad."

"Will be." He stands up and rolls his sleeve down, covering the bite.

"So that's it? You're just… going to die?"

"Well, that depends. You know anything about a cure?" Katherine shakes her head. "Me, either." Damon grabs his jacket off the couch and puts it on.

"145 years and no last goodbye?"

"You don't get a goodbye." He turns away from her.

Katherine flashes in front of him, placing her hand on his chest. "No. Don't leave mad."

"Us ending up on good terms isn't exactly on my bucket list, Katherine." Damon attempts to leave again, but Katherine persists.

"Klaus made me call Jenna to lure her out. There was nothing that I could do. I didn't have a choice."

"That's why I gave you the vervain. So you had a choice."

"It was her or me. I chose her."

"I helped you. You owed me. Now when Klaus dies, you're going to walk out of here without a scratch and Elena's aunt dies. Somehow you're the only one that wins. How'd that happen?"

"I didn't let love get in the way."

"I'm sure Trinity would love to hear that. Enjoy an eternity alone, Katherine." Damon walks past her.

"What are you going to do?"

He turns around. "I'm going to offer myself as a replacement to Klaus."

"He won't take you. He saw your bite; he said that your blood is impure. I'm sorry, Damon. But Jenna's dead, there's nothing you can do about it."

* * *

At the quarry, Elena and Jenna are sitting on the ground.

Jenna is clutching at her head. "Oh, my head. What's wrong with me?"

"Do you remember what happened?" Elena asks.

"You called me. You were so scared. Oh, ah, I should have realized that it wasn't you. The second I walked out of the house, someone grabbed me. A vampire."

"Klaus. It was Klaus."

"He made me drink his blood. And I don't…I don't remember anything after that." She looks around, anxiously. "Where are we? What happened?"

Elena takes Jenna's hands into her own. "We're at the quarry. He brought us here."

"Why don't I remember anything?"

"Jenna, do you remember…when I told you how someone becomes a vampire?"

"Yeah, if you die with vampire blood in your system, it's…" Her eyes widen in realization. "Oh, god. He killed me."

"Jenna, listen to me. Listen to me; everything's going to be ok. I'm going to get you out of here."

"I'm a vampire?"

"And I bet you're hungry." Greta says, walking up to them. Jenna and Elena look up at her from the ground. Elena sees a sharp rock nearby and rushes to grab it, but, with a wave of her hand, Greta sends Elena flying backwards. Elena lands painfully in the dirt. Greta waves her hand again, creating a circle of fire around Elena. Elena stands up and rushes towards the flames, but finds that she can't escape. "Don't bother trying to get through. I spelled the circle. You're trapped. No matter what you do."

"Greta…please, just- just let her go." Elena pleads.

Greta slices her wrist open with the sharp rock. Blood drips from her wound. Jenna looks at it, hungrily. "Klaus chose her."

"No."

Greta lowers her wrist towards Jenna. "Drink it."

"Jenna, don't!"

"I can't." Jenna says, staring at the blood.

"Let her go. Hey!" Jenna continues to stare at Greta's bloody wrist and finally sinks her teeth in. "No! No." Elena's eyes glisten with tears. Jenna closes her eyes as the warm blood enters her mouth.

After a few moments, Greta pulls his wrist out of Jenna's grip and Jenna falls to the ground. "That's enough." She stands up.

"Jenna. It's going to be ok." Elena says. Greta flicks her wrist and another circle of fire surrounds Jenna, who retreats from the flames, looking terrified. "Look at me. Hey, look at me." Jenna turns her head towards Elena, blood still running down her chin. "It's gonna be ok. It's gonna be ok."

Jenna silently mouths the word 'no' as the dark veins of hunger creep towards her eyes.

* * *

Jeremy, Bonnie, and Trinity are down in the basement, still flipping through the pages of old grimoire's.

"This is useless. All these grimoire's. There has to be something in here to keep Elena from becoming a vampire." Jeremy says.

"And we'll keep looking." Bonnie tells him. "Until the last minute."

Trinity sighs as she flips through another book.

* * *

Outside, Elijah, Alaric, and Stefan arrive and walk across the yard towards the house.

"The sacrifice is completed in stages as the full moon sets. First the werewolf is killed, then the vampire. Finally the doppelgänger. Once Elena dies, the curse will be broken. Klaus will become hybrid." Elijah explains.

"So when do we attack?" Alaric asks.

"Elena's death will activate his dormant werewolf side. He'll be vulnerable during the transformation. That's when Bonnie comes in."

"And you're sure Bonnie will survive this?" Stefan asks him.

"If she can deliver him to the brink of death, I'll finish the job myself."

Stefan's phone rings. He answers it and walks away from Elijah and Alaric. "Damon."

"_You're not going to like what I'm about to say."_

"Cut to the chase. Is the sacrifice happening or not?"

"_It's happening. I tried to stop it, but it got…complicated."_

"We're sticking with the original plan. We're meeting Bonnie right now."

"_He's got Jenna, Stefan."_

"What?"

"_He got Katherine to lure her out of the house." _Stefan looks back at Alaric, worried.

Alaric looks at him. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"_He's going to use her as the vampire in the ritual."_

"Oh, my god." Stefan says.

* * *

Elena is pacing back and forth in her circle of fire. Jenna is kneeling in hers.

"How are you feeling?" Elena asks her.

"I feel like myself…only not. Everything is brighter. The fire's hotter. Part of me is terrified, but there's another part of me that doesn't want to feel anything."

"Vampires can turn off the part that's human. That's the part that hurts."

Jenna's eyes glisten with tears. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

"No! Jenna, I'm not going to let that happen. I don't care what I have to do." In the distance, the sounds of twigs snapping and Jules groaning are heard by Elena and Jenna.

Jenna's head snaps towards the sound. "Who's that?"

"That must be the werewolf."

Greta pushes Jules down to the ground, who clutches at her stomach and groans in pain. "What's happening to me?"

"I cast a spell to slow down your transformation. Your insides are trying to tear themselves free." Greta moves away, flicks her wrist, and a third ring of fire encircles Jules.

"Greta, witches are supposed to maintain the balance in nature. It's your duty to them to keep this curse sealed." Elena tells her.

"My duty is to Klaus! The new order."

Klaus arrives. "Glad to know I still have a dance partner." He looks at Elena, Jenna and Jules. "Hello, my lovelies. Are we ready?"

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Matt and Caroline rush into the house.

Caroline shuts the doors and locks them. "Come on. Get in here!" She pants, leaning against the doors. Matt peers out one of the front windows. "Do you see anything?"

"We're not safe here. If that thing wants in, it's getting in." Matt opens the chamber of the rifle and reloads it.

"How did you even know what I was? I compelled you to forget!"

"I was on vervain. I faked forgetting so I could spy on you. It was your mom's idea." He walks out of the room to peer out another window.

Caroline, shocked, follows him. "Wait, my mom knows?! Oh my God! You told her. Well, what'd she say?"

Matt turns back around to look at her. "Your mom hates vampires. She grew up hating vampires. She'll probably always hate vampires."

"Well, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Where does this leave us?"

"Stuck in this house. Trying not to get mauled to death by our friend." He leaves the room, leaving Caroline looking distressed.

* * *

At the boarding house, someone is persistently knocking on the front door.

Damon walks down the stairs and into the front hall. He sighs. "Heard ya." The knocking continues. As Damon approaches the door, he stumbles. Regaining his composure, he rolls up his sleeve and sees the werewolf bite has gotten worse. He proceeds towards the front door and opens it. John stands in the doorway. "Great. I was just thinking about getting a bite to eat."

"Elena hasn't returned any of my calls for days. I need to see her." John walks into the house.

Damon shuts the front door and turns to look at him. "Well, you're a day late and a daughter short, John."

"What are you talking about?"

"Klaus has her. Sacrifice goes down tonight."

"How could you let that happen? You were supposed to keep her safe. Wasn't that the sum total of your plan; to keep her safe?"

"She is safe. I fed her my blood."

"You what?!"

"When Klaus kills Elena in the sacrifice, she will come back to life. Granted, as the thing you hate most in the world, but no one really cares what you think." He starts to walk into the parlor. John attempts to grab him, but Damon flashes and spins John around, slamming him against a wall. "You do not want to mess with me right now."

John straightens up and glares at Damon. "You ruined her life. You know that, right?"

"I know, John. I took her choice, destroyed her future. Trust me, I get it. It actually gets worse." Damon walks away.

"How could it possibly get any worse?"

* * *

Jules, Elena, and Jenna are still contained in the rings of fire. Jules continues to moan in pain.

Up on a nearby hill, Klaus retrieves the moonstone from his pocket. "I've got the moonstone. I spent 500 years looking for this. I hate to part with it." He hands the moonstone to Greta, who takes it and looks up at the sky.

"The moon has passed its apex. Remember everything you need to do?"

"I remember."

Greta drops the moonstone into a stone bowl filled with flames. Sparks fly as the moonstone is destroyed. Greta begins chanting a spell in Latin. Klaus approaches the rings of fire.

Jules still lies on the ground, moaning in pain, but looks up at Elena. "Everything I did…I was just trying to help Tyler."

"Are you Jules?" She asks.

"I didn't want him to be alone!"

Klaus looks down at Jules. "Shall we?"

The ring of fire around Jules disperses. Jules eyes turn yellow and she uses her werewolf speed to rush at Klaus. Alas, Klaus gets the upper hand and pins Jules to the ground, plunging his hand into her chest and ripping out her heart. Jules takes a final breath, tears streaming down her face, and dies. Klaus breathes heavily as he holds the bloody heart in his hands. Elena and Jenna look on, horrified.

* * *

Jeremy is looking through a grimoire as Bonnie looks over his shoulder. "Which one are you reading?" She asks.

"Emily Bennett's, there's a section on spells she did for my ancestor, Johnathan Gilbert."

"Yeah, I think she had a thing for him."

He looks up at Bonnie, who smiles. "There's something on a resuscitative spell she was working on."

"I saw that, too. She just didn't explain what it did, exactly." Trinity says.

"Well, maybe Johnathan wrote about it in his journals. You know, I can have Stefan bring them."

Trinity tilts her head. "Someone's here. More than one." She says. They stand up and look towards the door. After a few moments, Alaric walks down the basement.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Jeremy asks.

"Elijah and Stefan are upstairs." He looks at Bonnie and Trinity. "You mind if I have a second with Jeremy?"

"Sure, yeah. Of course." Bonnie says before they leave.

"What's the matter?" Jeremy asks.

"Jeremy…something's happened to Jenna.

Jeremy looks at Alaric, blankly.

* * *

"Why did he take Jenna?" Trinity asks Elijah.

"A punishment for meddling."

"Klaus was going to use Tyler and Caroline. But Damon rescued them." Stefan explains.

"Then we need to go. Now. Before Jenna's been sacrificed. I can kill Klaus myself." Bonnie says.

"Bonnie…if you use that much power, you'll be dead. We've already been through this. It's not an option."

"Neither is letting Jenna die."

"Well, Stefan would agree with you." Elijah says.

Bonnie and Trinity look confused.

Stefan walks towards them. "We're going to offer another vampire. One that he'll want more. Me."

"What?" Trinity says and shakes her head. "No. No way, we have to have a better plan than that."

"We can't just let her die."

"Then we'll think of something else!" Trinity yells. "You're not dying!"

"It's the only way Trinity."

"Of course that's what you think! You're too much of a martyr to think about yourself, well that's what I'm for."

"Trinity-"

"No! I'm not going to let you do this!" Suddenly she starts to hold her head in pain and screams.

Stefan looks at the witch. "Bonnie!"

Trinity passes out and Bonnie looks up. "We don't have time for this. It was necessary."

Stefan looks down at Trinity. "She's going to be so hurt when she wakes up. First Katherine…now me."

"Why does she care about Katherine?" Elijah asks.

Stefan looks at him and pauses. "They were involved. Trinity fell in love with her and it was the first time I saw Katherine have genuine feelings for someone."

Elijah looks at him. "You trust someone in league with Katherine?"

"Trinity has never betrayed us, for anything. Not even love. We're her family. She'll always choose us."

Elijah looks at Trinity's unconscious form. "Family above all." He mutters quietly to himself.

* * *

Greta continues chanting a spell while Klaus holds Jules's heart over the ceremonial bowl, squeezing the blood into the flames.

"Does that mean it's working?" He asks.

"It's working."

Over in the rings of fire, Elena watches Klaus and Greta in the distance. Jenna looks up at her, eyes glistening with tears. "The day that the lawyers called to tell me that I was going to become your guardian, you know what my first thought was?" She asks. Elena looks down at her and shakes her head. "Isn't there someone else who can do this?"

"Jenna, there was no one else who could have gotten me and Jeremy through all of that."

"It's just the thought that I almost passed up taking care of you."

"But you didn't." She kneels down. "You put your entire life on hold to help us."

"Look around, Elena. I failed you."

"No. You didn't. I failed you. I'm so sorry. Listen. Being a vampire, it intensifies your guilt. But it also makes you stronger and faster. You can fight back. I'm gonna get through this. I'll be ok. I need you to believe that. Promise me, when you get the chance…" She puts a finger to her lips. "Run." She whispers.

Jenna nods. "Ok." She whispers back.

* * *

Matt peers out another window. "You don't think I killed him, do you?"

Caroline is sitting on a couch in the parlor. "No. No. It takes a lot more than wooden bullets to kill a werewolf. He's still out there somewhere. Do you think my mom wants to kill me?"

"I don't think your mom knows what to do with you."

"Yeah, well, I don't really know what to do with me, either."

Matt looks at her. Caroline becomes more alert as she hears a noise on the front porch. "What is it?" He begins to walk towards the front door.

"Wait." She listens intently and hears more shuffling on the front porch. Matt points the gun at the door. Caroline gets up and pushes the barrel of the gun down. "Don't. Don't shoot." She rushes over to the front doors.

"What the hell are you doing?"

She peers through the glass in the front doors and sees Tyler lying, naked, on the front porch. She walks back towards Matt, extending her hand. "Give me your jacket."

"What?"

"Your jacket, take it off." She says. Matt frantically takes his jacket off and hands it to Caroline, grabs it and opens the front doors. Matt follows behind her. She kneels down next to Tyler and places the jacket around his naked body. "Hey."

Tyler looks up at Caroline, who runs a hand through his hair. "Caroline?" He gasps.

"Hey. It's ok. It's ok."

* * *

Stefan is standing outside the house.

Elijah approaches him. "Bonnie did the locator spell. They're at Steven's Quarry."

"I'll head over there first and you'll follow with Bonnie when it's time." He says.

"Just as the moon hits its final phase. She's to stay hidden until then. He cannot know that she's alive." Stefan nods and begins to walk away. "You're very honorable." Stefan turns back around, looks at Elijah, and walks back towards him. "Are you? Because this whole plan is, um, it's contingent upon your honor, Elijah."

"I won't fail you."

"Klaus is your brother. I know I've wanted to kill my brother a thousand times. I've never been able to."

"Well, Klaus was not my only brother. I had siblings; parents. I had a family. Over the centuries, Klaus hunted them down one by one and he took them from me. He scattered them across the seas where their bodies could not be found."

"You want revenge."

"Sometimes there's honor in revenge, Stefan. I won't fail you."

"Please end this." He says. "When Trinity wakes up, tell her…tell her it was nice to have a sister. And that I love her." Elijah nods and Stefan leaves.

* * *

In the house, John walks down into the basement, holding a cardboard box. Jeremy and Bonnie approach him as he puts the box down on a table. "I brought the Gilbert journals. I think I know the spell you're talking about." He says.

"Where's Damon?" Bonnie asks.

"Upstairs. Alaric wanted to talk to him."

They begin to take the journals out of the box and flip through them.

"He did what?!" Damon asks.

"He wasn't going to let Jenna die." Alaric tells him.

"We have a witch. She kills Klaus. No one has to die!" Damon says, frustrated. "You guys knocked out Trinity because she was the only one to realize that."

"Except for Bonnie."

"God, Stefan, damn it!" Damon punches a wall, causing his whole are to go through. He takes it out.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm fine." He calms down. "Well, that's my brother for you." He walks out. "Always cleaning up my messes."

Alaric watches him exit, concerned.

* * *

Klaus approaches the ring of fire containing Jenna. "Hello, Jenna."

Jenna and Elena get up and look at Klaus. "Let her go. I understand that I have to die, but she doesn't!" Elena says, walking closer to the flames, causing them to flare up. She retreats.

"Careful."

"Elena, don't." Jenna tells her.

"No, Jenna! We can't leave Jeremy without a family." She turns to Klaus. "I followed your rules; I did everything that you asked. I didn't run. Please."

"Well, well." Klaus looks up at the top of the quarry. "I don't recall you being on the guest list.

Jenna and Elena look up as well. Elena gasps. Stefan stands atop of the cliff. "I'm here to talk." He says.

"Very well, then." Klaus looks at Jenna, briefly, then flashes up to the top of the cliff and walks calmly towards Stefan. "What can I do for you, Mr. Salvatore?"

* * *

In the basement, John, Bonnie, and Jeremy speak with Damon. "We found something in the Gilbert journals." She says.

"Johnathan journaled the story of a mother who called on Emily's services. The woman's baby was sick; dying. Emily cast a spell that would bind the woman's life force with her child." John explains.

Damon rolls his eyes. "Skip to the save Elena part."

"Well, the child died, but the mother's life force flowed through her, restoring her to life."

"We already know Elena's going to come back to life. But she'll be a vampire." Jeremy says.

John shakes his head. "Not if her soul remains intact."

Damon sends him a skeptical look. "Her soul, really? You're going to put your faith in some act of god mumbo jumbo?"

John walks forward, closing the gap between Damon and himself. "I refuse to let Elena become the thing I've spent my life protecting her against. And you can call that God or mystical energy, whatever you want, but yes…I'm putting my faith in it." He turns around and walks back towards Bonnie.

* * *

Stefan and Klaus are still conversing on the cliff top. Elena and Jenna continue to look up at the them, patiently waiting to figure out what's happening.

"What's going on?" Jenna asks.

"I-I don't know." Elena turns to her. "You can hear them." Jenna looks at her. "You can hear anything. Jus-Just focus on them."

* * *

"You don't need to kill Jenna. I'll take her place." Stefan tells him.

"Oh, I don't know. I rather appreciate the symmetry of three women." Klaus starts to walk around Stefan. "Three goddesses; sacrificed at nature's altar."

* * *

"What are they saying?" Elena whispers.

Jenna shakes her head. "I can't-I can't make it out."

"You can do this. Just relax. Focus."

* * *

Stefan turns to face Klaus. "Don't play games with me. You'll get what you want either way."

* * *

"I can hear him. I hear Stefan." Jenna says.

"What are they saying?"

"_You're quite the hero, aren't you?" _Klaus asks. _"I've heard that about you."_

"_Just make the trade. Me for Jenna."_

"Oh, my god." She breathes.

Elena looks at her. "What is it?"

"He wants to take my place."

Elena looks at Jenna, horrified, and then looks up at Stefan.

* * *

Matt is sitting in the parlor, staring blankly at the fire. Caroline enters the room. She shuts the door behind her and Matt looks up at her. "How's Tyler doing?"

"Sleeping. He should be better by morning. He just…he needs some rest." She says.

"Good." He pauses. "So this is your life now, huh?"

She smiles. "Never a dull moment."

Matt stands up and walks towards her. "You know, these last few days with you have been so great, and fun." Caroline smiles and walks over towards him, placing her hands on his chest. "And so Caroline. I-I thought that I might be able to get past this whole vampire thing."

"But you can. Matt…"

"I don't-I don't know if I can, Caroline." He walks past her.

Caroline turns around with a look of desperation plastered on her face. "Matt!"

He turns around and looks at her. "I get it. This is your life now. You know what my life is, Care? My life is an absentee mom. And a bunch of bills to pay, and school, and a job, and it-and it sucks sometimes. But it's my life. And…I think that I just want to live it without all of this."

Caroline looks at him, sadly, but nods her head, understanding what he wants.

* * *

Trinity wakes up but finds that she can't move. "What going on?" She groans.

"I had to put a spell on you." Bonnie says.

She rolls her eyes. "If you don't die tonight, I'll kill you myself."

Bonnie ignores her and places her hands on either side of John's head. She begins to chant a spell. Jeremy and Damon stand by, watching.

Damon, becoming impatient, snaps his fingers. "Come on, Bonnie, we got a hybrid to kill." He says. Jeremy looks back at him, signaling with his hand for Damon to be tolerant of the situation.

Not long after that, Bonnie opens her eyes. "It's done."

"That's it? Let's go." Damon walks out of the room. John opens his eyes as Bonnie walks past him.

She turns to Jeremy and gently touches his arm. "I'll be back soon."

Jeremy reaches out to her. "Wait, what do you mean? No, I'm coming. I need to be there. I need to make sure you guys are ok."

"And who's going to make sure you're ok?"

"I've got my own ring. Look, I'm not taking no for an answer." Bonnie kisses Jeremy goodbye. She pulls away and Jeremy smiles at her. Suddenly, Jeremy looks at her, confused, and starts to fall to the floor.

John grabs him and leads him back to a chair. "Easy, easy." He turns to Bonnie. "Just go. I'll stay with him."

Elijah walks down the stairs and over to Trinity. "I have a message to give." He kneels down and speaks softly. A tear rolls down her face and he stands up.

Bonnie looks at Jeremy one last time before exiting the basement with Damon and Elijah.

"It's time." Elijah says. Damon and Bonnie exit the house.

Alaric and Elijah follow after them. "All right. I got the weapons in the car."

"Bonnie's the only weapon we need." Elijah walks out the doorway. Alaric follows behind him but when he tries to exit the house; he finds that an invisible barrier is blocking him in.

"Bonnie! What is this?"

She stops and looks back at him. "I can't put anyone else at risk."

"I can't stay here with Jenna out there!"

"I'm sorry."

"You can't do this! Damon?"

"Sorry, buddy. She's right." Damon, Bonnie and Elijah start to walk away.

"No! You can't do this. Bonnie! Bonnie!" Alaric angrily hits the doorframe.

* * *

"Elena…" Jenna says.

"I have to do something. This can't happen. None of it."

Klaus and Stefan have come down from the cliff top and approach Elena and Jenna. "Quite the predicament. You know, it's funny, all this talk about preserving family, and here's Stefan, granting your wish." He says.

"Stefan…" Elena looks at him, despair in her eyes.

"It's okay." He tells her.

"Well." He points a stake between Jenna and Stefan. "Who's it going to be, Elena?"

She shakes her head. "No."

"Oh, don't worry. There's actually no choice." Klaus flashes around Stefan and stakes him in the back. Stefan screams in pain and crumbles to the ground.

"No! Stefan! No!"

Klaus rips the stake out of Stefan's back, leaving a sizable chunk of wood inside. "I have other plans for your boyfriend. I want him alive. But for now…" He snaps Stefan neck, letting him fall, disgracefully to the ground. Elena gasps in shock. "Whenever you're ready, Greta."

Greta begins chanting the next part of the spell which dispels the ring of fire surrounding Jenna. Jenna looks on, frightened.

Elena, teary-eyed, watches on. "No."

"Your turn." Klaus smiles.

"No, Jenna, no!" Elena attempts to get to Jenna, but the fire around her flares up.

Jenna looks over at her. "It's alright, Elena. I know what I have to do."

After a moment of shared silence between Jenna and Elena, Jenna flashes over to Greta and ferociously bites her neck. Greta screams. Klaus flashes over to Jenna and stakes her in the back, pulling her off of Greta, who falls to the ground. Jenna gasps and Klaus releases her. Jenna falls to the ground.

Elena starts to cry. "Jenna, no!" Jenna looks up at Elena, tears in her eyes. "Just turn it off. Jenna. Turn it off. You won't be scared anymore." Klaus flips Jenna over onto her back and hunches over her. Jenna seems less frightened when Klaus stakes her in the heart. "No! Jenna! No! Jenna!" Elena cries as Jenna's body starts to become grey and decayed. Klaus releases the stake from his grasp and stands up. Jenna lays lifeless on the stone with the stake through her heart.

Greta begins chanting the next part of the spell. Klaus is by her side.

Stefan wakes up and feels the piece of wood in his back. He tries to reach it but is not flexible enough to do so. Stefan looks up at Elena and sees her tear streaked cheeks. He looks over towards Greta and sees Jenna's dead body. "No." He says. Greta pours Jenna's blood into the ceremonial bowl. "I'm so sorry."

Elena places her finger to her lips and shushes Stefan. "Are they going to kill him?" She whispers.

"Yes." He whispers back.

Klaus approaches Elena. "It's time." The circle of fire disappears from around Elena, who looks up at him. Klaus extends his hand towards her. Elena gets up from the ground and walks past Klaus, ignoring him. She makes her way to the altar and looks down at Jenna's body. Klaus follows her up to the altar and grabs Elena's face in his hand. Below them, Stefan struggles to get up from the ground. Klaus turns Elena's face so she is looking at him. "Thank you, Elena."

"Go to hell." She grits through her teeth.

Stefan continues to struggle up, but falls back to the ground, too weak to move. Elena stares out, blankly, as Klaus sinks his fangs into her neck and starts to drain Elena of her blood. Stefan watches on, helplessly. Klaus holds her tightly as his eyes starts to sprout more veins. Elena's eyelids flutter and her eyes roll into the back of her head and she dies. Klaus releases her and she falls to the ground. Blood drips from Klaus' mouth and the flame in the bowl is extinguished. Elena's body lays lifeless and Stefan stares at her, sadly, and lowers his head to the ground.

Klaus breathes heavily and walks down the stone steps. "I can feel it. It's happening." Klaus looks up at the full moon. Suddenly, his bones begin to crack and he starts to transform. His eyes are yellow like a werewolf's, but he still has the veins under them, like a vampire. "Yes, yes!" Suddenly, Klaus is thrown through the air. The flames in the bowl reignite, startling Greta. Greta hears and sees Bonnie coming down the hillside, chanting a spell. Before Greta can react, Damon sneaks up behind her and snaps her neck. Damon kneels down and picks up Elena's body. "No! You were dead!" Klaus yells.

Bonnie continues to chant her spell. Klaus' body contorts into painful shapes as he screams. Meanwhile, Damon carries Elena's body towards Stefan and lays her down next to him.

Stefan gently grabs her arm. "Elena."

Damon kneels down and rips the remainder of the stake out of Stefan's back, making him grunt in pain. Damon grabs Stefan's shoulder, as if to help him up, but Stefan turns and looks up at him, grabbing a hold of his jacket. "I need you to get her out of here!"

"What about you?" He asks.

"I'm not leaving until he's dead. Go!"

Damon picks up Elena's body and carries her away. Stefan sits up. Bonnie continues to chant the spell which is so powerful it causes trees to fall. Klaus screams in pain, lying against the rocks. Elijah approaches him and Bonnie stops chanting.

Klaus sends him a stunned looked. "Elijah?"

"Hello, brother." He glares. Stefan gets up and walks up behind Bonnie. Elijah plunges his arm into Klaus' chest, grabbing a hold of his heart. "In the name of our family, Niklaus…" He twists Klaus' heart.

"I didn't bury them at sea!"

"What?"

"Their bodies are safe. If you kill me, you'll never find them."

"Elijah!" Stefan yells. "Don't listen to him."

"Elijah. I can take you to them. I give you my word…brother." Klaus tells him. Elijah appears to be having second thoughts about killing his brother.

"Do it and I'll take you both out." Bonnie says.

Elijah looks at her. "You'll die."

"I don't care."

Elijah looks down at Klaus and back up at Bonnie and Stefan. "I'm sorry."

Stefan and Bonnie run towards Elijah and Klaus. "No!" They yell.

Before either can get to them, Elijah flies off with Klaus.

* * *

Down in the basement, John is busy writing a letter. Alaric is leaning against the doorframe, patiently waiting for the others to come back. Trinity, now able to move, paces back and forth.

Alaric sighs. "We should have heard from them by now."

"It daytime." Trinity agrees with him.

Jeremy is sitting in a corner, reading one of the Gilbert journals. He looks over at John. "Did you read all this?"

John glances back at him. "I did."

"So you understand what happened to the child's mother after the baby was brought back to life?"

"She saved her daughter. She found peace."

"John…"

John gets up and folds the letter in his hands. Jeremy stands up from the floor and John hands the letter to him. "I need you to give this to Elena for me. And also this." He takes his Gilbert ring off and hands it to Jeremy as well.

Alaric and Trinity look on, confused. "Oh, hey, what's going on?" He asks.

John looks at Alaric and sighs. "Take care of each other." He looks at Jeremy. "Please."

A door upstairs opens. "I think they're here!" Trinity says. She and Alaric rush upstairs. Jeremy looks at John for a moment longer, and then follows them.

* * *

Upstairs, Damon is carrying Elena's body into the parlor room. "If you come back as a vampire, I'll stake you myself. So don't." He says, laying her body down on a sofa and pushes a strand of hair out of her face. "Because I can't stand the idea of you hating me forever."

Alaric, Trinity, and Jeremy rush into the room and stand in the doorway.

"How is she?" Jeremy asks.

Damon continues to stroke Elena's hair and does not look up at them. "I don't know yet."

"What about Jenna?" Alaric asks. Damon finally looks back at them without saying a word. "No."

"I'm sorry, Jeremy."

They stare blankly at Damon. Behind them, John comes up from the basement and walks out the front door into the yard. Alaric walks away from the doorway and into a secluded area of the house. Outside, John looks back in the house. Suddenly, Elena gasps back to life.

"Elena!" Damon says.

"What happened?" She asks.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel fine."

Damon, Trinity, and Jeremy all sigh in relief. John watches the scene unfold from outside. He seems at peace, as he looks out into the woods, shuts his eyes, and falls to the ground, dead.

* * *

Tyler is wrapped up in a blanket, sleeping on the couch in his dad's study. Caroline sits down next to him and sighs. He wakes up. "Hey." She greets. Tyler pulls the blanket down and groans. He examines the rifle wound. "Ooh, yeah, you got shot. But it's healing."

Tyler sits up, grimacing as he does so. "You were right. I shouldn't have come home."

"No, you just…should have never left. And you shouldn't leave again."

"You're kidding, right? This is the second time I've tried to kill you."

"Well, no friendship is perfect." They both chuckle. "Matt broke up with me."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, you know, instead of just bailing on me again, you could just say…'Thank you, Caroline, for taking care of me. And I'm sorry that I tried to chow down on you again.'" They both laugh, but Caroline's laughter turns to tears.

"Hey. Hey. Come here." Tyler shares his blanket with Caroline and she leans into his chest. "Oh, easy." He wraps his arms around Caroline as she lays her head on his chest. "Thank you, Caroline. For taking care of me."

"You're welcome."

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Damon, Trinity, and Stefan are waiting downstairs in funeral attire.

"We all set?" Trinity asks.

"Yeah. Plenty of room with the Gilbert family plot and I compelled two of the grave diggers to do the dirty work." Damon says before looking at Stefan. "How's she doing?

"She lost the only parents she had. She's in shock."

* * *

Upstairs, Elena is placing her earrings in. She looks at the pictures surrounding the frame of her mirror, which include one of her parents and one of Jenna. Jeremy walks into the doorway and raps his knuckles against the wall. He enters the room as Elena finishes putting her earrings in. "I'm almost ready." She says.

"Yeah, take your time." He tells her. Elena exhales. "John wanted me to give you this." He hands her the letter. "And this." He takes the Gilbert ring out of his pocket and hands it to her. Elena hesitantly takes it and looks up at him. Jeremy starts to leave the room.

"Jeremy…" She says. He turns back and looks at her. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that you've lost so many people."

"I still have you."

Elena smiles at him and places her head on his shoulder. He wraps his arms around her in a warm embrace. They pull apart and look at each other for a moment before Jeremy leaves the room and goes downstairs. Elena tries to maintain her composure as she walks over to her window seat and sits down. She opens up the letter and starts to read it. _"Elena…it's no easy task being an ordinary parent to an extraordinary child. I failed in that task."_

* * *

_Mystic Falls Cemetery_

Stefan, Elena, Damon, Trinity, Bonnie, Caroline, Alaric, and Jeremy walks across the graveyard.

"_And because of my prejudices, I failed you. I'm haunted by how things might have played out differently. If I'd been more willing to hear your side of things."_

Stefan has his hand in the small of Elena's back and leads her to the gravesite of Jenna and John. Elena has four roses clutched in her hands. She kneels down and places two roses on a grave plot.

"_For me, it's the end. For you, a chance to grow old and someday do better with your own child than I did with mine. It's for that child that I give you my ring."_

Teary eyed, Elena approaches her parent's graves. She looks down at the tombstone, kneels, and places the remaining two roses on their graves.

_"I don't ask for your forgiveness or for you to forget. I ask only that you believe this. Whether you are now reading this as a human or as a vampire, I love you all the same as I've always loved you, and always will. John. "_

Elena openly cries. Damon starts to walk away. Elena looks up at him and stands, still crying. Alaric walks towards Jenna's grave and places a rose on her plot. He stares down at her grave, sadly, before walking away. He squeezes Jeremy's arm gently and walks to the back of the group.

* * *

Damon is standing some distance away from the rest of the group.

Stefan and Trinity approach him. "We're going to head back to the house." He says.

"I think I'll skip the coffee and tea cakes."

"Damon, she needs us right now. All of us." Trinity tells him.

"And then what's the plan?" He asks. "The curse is broken. How does one go about killing an all-powerful wolf vamp and his two-faced older brother?"

"I have no idea." Stefan says.

Damon turns and looks at them. "We need to get an idea. Fast."

"I'm not going to let Elena lose anybody else."

"I wouldn't make any promises, brother."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Trinity asks.

"Tyler Lockwood bit me." Damon pulls up his sleeve and shows them the bite, which has gotten even worse. Stefan walks over to him with a look of anguish on his face. Damon stares at the wound. "It's actually more of a nip, really, but there it is."

Stefan takes Damon's arm and examines the bite. Trinity walks closer. "We'll find something. A cure." She says.

"There's no cure, Trinity." Damon tells her. They look off across the graveyard, looking at Elena.

Stefan looks back at Damon. "We kept Elena human, right? We found the way when there was no way. Hey." He says. Damon turns his head and faces Stefan. "I will do this."

"_We _will." Trinity corrects him.

Damon looks at them. "You want to do something for me? Keep this from Elena. Last thing she needs is another grave to mourn." Damon grips Stefan's shoulder, gingerly, and squeezes Trinity hand before walking away.

They watch him leave, both of their faces filled with torment.


	44. As I Lay Dying

Chapter Forty Four: As I Lay Dying

Elena looks at Jeremy's sleeping form. She walks into Jenna's bedroom, looks around and turns to leave.

Damon is standing there. "That'll get easier. But you knew that."

"What do you want?" She asks.

"I want to apologize."

"Damon…"

"Please. Elena, feeding you my blood, I was wrong."

"Yes, you were."

"And I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but…I need it."

"And I need some time, maybe a lot of time."

He pauses. "Sure. Of course, take all the time you need."

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon takes a bottle of scotch and pours himself a drink. He opens the curtains, drinks some scotch and then takes off his ring. He opens his arms and his skin burns but Stefan arrives and pushes him out of the sunlight.

Trinity walks in. "What the hell?" She asks.

"Get off of me." Damon says.

"You're not doing this." Stefan tells him.

"Just did. You know what happened to Rose, Stefan."

"I don't care. You're not dying today." He flashes him downstairs to the cellar and closes the door.

"What's the plan, Superman?"

Trinity walks over. "We're gonna find a way out of this."

Damon rolls his eyes. "Oh, right. A miracle cure. Good luck with that one."

"I got Bonnie looking for something, anything." Stefan says.

"Always the hero, Stefan. Just tell me goodbye, get it over with." He coughs some blood.

"Lie still. Conserve your strength." He says before leaving with Trinity.

* * *

In the woods, Klaus wakes up, naked. He looks at the sun and smiles. Someone throws him some clothes. He turns his head and sees Elijah.

"You've been busy." He says.

"That was amazing." Klaus smiles. "How long has it been?"

"Almost 2 days. Full moon came and went. You remained a wolf."

Klaus gets dressed. "I can change at will, then. It's good to know. I remember every single kill."

"Yes, I've been cleaning up your little mess along the way."

"Just like old times, brother."

"You've had your fun. I believe we have a bargain."

"That's right. Now, what was it again? Oh, yeah. Wait. I remember. That's it. You wish to be reunited with our family."

"You gave me your word, Niklaus."

"What kind of brother would break his bond? Even though you did try to kill me."

"I could have. But I didn't." He helps Klaus put on his jacket.

"And now no one can, not even you. Relax, Elijah. All is forgiven."

"Where are they?"

"You need to lighten up. I'll bring you to them soon enough."

* * *

At the Grill, Alaric is at the bar. He takes a bottle of alcohol from a waitress. She tries to take it back, but he won't let her. He is already intoxicated. He walks away from the bar. His phone rings. He answers. It's Stefan. "Sorry, you've reached somebody who's currently not operating."

"_I need your help."_

"Well, you must have me confused with somebody else. You see, I'm not allowed to help, just idly sit by while my girlfriend gets sacrificed on an altar of blood."

"_Damon's dying."_

"What?"

"_Tyler Lockwood bit him. We don't have much time."_

"What do you need?"

* * *

In the town square, there's a special screening of Gone with the Wind. Some girls are dressed up for the event. Elena and Jeremy are there. She puts a blanket on the ground.

"You brought me to see a girl movie." He sighs.

"We had to get out of the house, Jer. This is our 3-hour distraction from reality."

"Is that what we're doing? Pretending like our lives aren't screwed?"

"We need to do this, ok? Breathe, eat, sleep, wake up, and do it all over again until one day, it's just not as hard anymore." She sits down.

Caroline arrives with a basket. "Hey! There you guys are. Who's hungry?" She sits down next to Elena.

"Are we really doing this?" Jeremy asks.

"Yes, we are really doing this. We are going to take a page from Scarlett. We made it through the war. I know you guys went through hell, and my mom knows I am a vampire, so basically it's like Atlanta has burned. And yet, in spite of everything, we persevere." Caroline smiles.

"All right." He sits down with them. "What are we eating?"

"Something good."

* * *

Stefan, Trinity, and Bonnie are at the abandoned witch house.

"I'm not sure this is going to work." Bonnie says.

"You've done a séance before, right? Contacted Emily Bennett." Stefan says.

"Maybe one of the witches might know how to help Damon." Trinity adds.

"Let's just hope they want to." She cast a spell and voices begin whispering around them.

Trinity leans towards Stefan. "Imagine hearing whispers in your ears every day, but only you could hear them. Welcome to my life."

Stefan looks at her. "Is it that bad?"

She shrugs. "I can block them out for the most part but it's only going to get worst. I wish the Quickening would just happen already."

Stefan looks at the witch. "Bonnie? Bonnie?"

She opens her eyes. "Emily." Emily speaks through her, with her own voice. "Why have you come here, Stefan?"

"I need your help. I need to know if there's a spell that can heal a werewolf bite."

"No. Nature ensures a balance to everything."

"Is that true…or are you just saying no because it's Damon?" Trinity asks her.

"Perhaps it is his time to die."

Stefan shakes his head. "No. That's not balance. That's punishment."

"I will not give you what you want."

"So you're saying that there's an answer to give?" Trinity asks.

"Please, if you know something, just tell me. Help me save my brother." Stefan pleads. Bonnie screams and falls to the floor. "Bonnie."

"They don't want us here. They think I'm abusing their power." She says.

"They know something. There's an answer. They just don't want to tell us." Trinity says.

"I heard them say a name."

"What was it?" Stefan asks.

"Klaus."

* * *

Carol enters the Sheriff's office.

Liz looks up. "Carol. Hi. How you feeling?"

"Better, thank goodness." Carol smiles.

"That was a terrible fall. Shouldn't you be home resting?"

"I've been resting, and now I'm ready to get back to work. I need you to update me on where we are with the vampire situation."

"Well, there have been some developments, but I'm handling it."

"Are you? Because I left you in charge of this town's safety, and lately I'm not seeing any results."

"I said I'm handling it."

"Then see that you do, Sheriff, because if you can't, I'll find someone who will." She leaves.

* * *

Trinity and Stefan walk around the town square and see the others. "Go." She tells him. "I'll hang back." He nods and walks towards them.

* * *

Stefan joins Jeremy, Caroline, and Elena. "Hey." He greets.

Elena smiles. "Hey! Look who couldn't resist an epic romance."

"Will you come take a walk with me?"

She gets up and leaves with him. "I'm breaking the rules, you know. Movie night's supposed to be a distraction. Tomorrow we can return to our regularly scheduled drama."

"I know. I wish this could wait, but it can't. Listen, um, the other night when Damon was helping Tyler, something happened. Tyler was starting to transform, and Damon was bitten."

Her face falls in horror. "What? Is it…is he gonna…"

"Yeah." He nods.

"Oh, my God. And he came to the house this morning and…and tried to apologize. I practically slammed the door in his face."

"He told me not to tell you, but I figured if you wanted to talk to him, I…I wouldn't wait."

"Stefan…"

"It's not over. There might be a cure, but I have to find Klaus to get it."

"No. He's gonna kill you."

"No, he had the chance to kill me, but he didn't. Whatever Damon's done, whatever has led him here, I'm the one that made him become a vampire in the first place, so if there's a chance for a cure, I owe it to him to find it." They embrace each other. "Go talk to him. Just tell him that there's still hope."

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon is hallucinating.

* * *

_Flashback: 1864_

_Katherine is getting ready. Damon is watching her. "Mr. Salvatore, spying on a lady is a sign of very poor manners." She smirks._

"_My apologies Miss Katherine."_

"_But since you are here, my corset strings seem to be knotted. I wonder if you can undo them."_

"_Of course." He touches her skin._

"_Will you miss me while off defending the South?"_

"_I shall."_

"_Then I hope you will hurry back. I fear I will be lonely with you away."_

"_I would think Stefan should be company enough."_

"_Is it so wrong for me to want you both?"_

"_Damon." He hears._

_Her turns around and sees Elena. "Elena?"_

"_Don't you see? She was toying with you. All you had to do was say no, walk away. You had a choice." She tells him._

_Katherine touches his cheek and makes him looks at her. "Promise me that you will return quickly."_

"_I promise." He says._

* * *

_Present_

Damon lifts up his sleeve and sees the bite has gotten worse.

* * *

Stefan enters Alaric's apartment, Trinity behind him. They see Katherine sitting on the bed.

"Hello, Katherine." He greets.

She gets up. "Two days, I've been waiting. I'm supposed to be free of Klaus' compulsion by now. He's supposed to be dead!"

Trinity steps from behind him. "We ran into complications."

Katherine looks at her in shock. "Complications?"

"Doesn't really matter. I just need to find him. Do you have any idea where he might be?" Katherine pushes her against the wall and covers her mouth. She motions for Stefan to be quiet.

She walks out and sees Klaus and Elijah arrive. "Klaus, you're back. Look who decided to come for a visit."

He looks at Stefan. "You just keep popping up, don't you?" He looks at Trinity. "And you are the darling shapeshifter."

"I need your help…" Stefan says. "For my brother."

"Well, whatever it is, it's gonna have to wait a tick. You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention."

Elijah looks at Stefan and Trinity. "You understand how important family is, or you wouldn't be here. My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own."

"And so I shall." He puts a dagger through Elijah's heart, killing him. He pushes Trinity across the room and she lands hard on the floor. He then pins Stefan to the wall. "Now, what am I gonna do with you?" He puts a stake through him. "Do you feel that? It's scraping against your heart. The slightest little movement and you're dead."

"He's just trying to help his brother." Katherine says.

"The witches said you had a cure. Make me a deal. Just give me the cure, and I'll do whatever you want." Stefan tells him.

"We both will." Trinity says, standing up.

Klaus takes out the stake and Stefan falls on the floor. Klaus pours himself a glass of blood. "Trouble is I don't know if you'd be any good to me the way you are now. You are just shy of useless."

* * *

Damon is looking at his werewolf bite.

Alaric walks up to the cellar door. "Well, that looks bad."

"It feels worse." He groans. "My subconscious is haunting me, Ric. Please tell me you have something for that."

Alaric puts a glass of scotch and Damon's ring on the window. "Double shot." He pours Damon more scotch.

"That's good." He gets up and takes his ring. "Oh good." He takes the glass. "So my brother sent you for suicide watch?"

"He's just trying to help."

"He's doing what he always does, trying to right the wrongs of the past." He tells him before screaming in pain. "You should want me dead. I'm the reason Jenna got killed."

"I don't blame you for Jenna." He takes a drink.

"Oh, sure you do. Let's not forget I turned your wife into a vampire. You must really hate me for that one."

"Ok, give me your glass. Neither one of us is drunk enough for this conversation."

Damon gets closer and strangles him. "Kill me. Please."

"Screw you." He injects vervain into Damon with a dart.

He falls on the floor. "No. Elena?"

"Elena's not here, Damon."

* * *

Elena parks her car. She hears a noise and turns her head.

The sheriff cover Elena's mouth with her hand. "Don't make a sound."

* * *

Alaric looks at Damon, who lies on the ground. "I need blood. I need blood." He says.

Alaric goes to the fridge and takes a blood bag. He turns his head and sees the sheriff aiming her gun at him.

"Where's Damon?" She asks.

He slowly turns towards her. "You know, now's not a good time, Sheriff. Trust me."

"Sheriff, over here." A deputy says.

"I wouldn't go in there!" Alaric says.

Liz looks at him. "I just wanna talk to him."

"I wouldn't go in there!"

She closes the door and goes in the cellar she doesn't see Damon.

He's behind her. "Liz." He throws her against the wall and she falls on the floor.

* * *

Caroline, Bonnie and Jeremy are watching Gone with the Wind on the town's square.

"All this waiting around for news is ruining Scarlett for me." Caroline says.

Jeremy's phone rings. He answers. It's Alaric. "Alaric. Hey."

"_Tell me you're with Elena."_

"She went to go see Damon. I thought that's where you were?"

"_No, he just escaped. I think he's looking for her, and the cops are after him. Listen, he's in bad shape, Jeremy, so if you find her, get her somewhere safe, ok? I'm on my way." _He hangs up.

"If Damon is off the rails, there is nothing you can do to stop him. Let us take care of it." Bonnie says.

"You keep doing this. You left me behind before, and guess what Jenna still died. Now I'm going to find my sister. You go ahead and you try to stop me." Jeremy tells her before getting up and leaving.

* * *

Stefan is still on the floor. Klaus has a glass of blood in his hands. Katherine and Trinity watch them.

"I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades. When he was off, he was magnificent. 1917, he went into Monterrey and wiped out an entire migrant village…a true ripper. Sound familiar?" Klaus smiles.

"I haven't been that way in a very long time." Stefan says, getting up.

"Well, that's the vampire I can make a deal with. That is the kind of talent that I can use when I leave this town." He walks towards Trinity. "And you…you are new. You are unique. You're a shapeshifter. Show me."

"You may want to take a few steps back." She says. Klaus holds up his hands and backs away. Trinity takes a deep breath before shifting into a grizzly bear. She roars at him and Klaus looks at her in awe.

"Amazing." He breathes. He steps towards her but she roars again.

Stefan steps forward. "Trinity." He holds his hand out. She looks at him warily but lets him pet her.

After a few moments she shifts back to her human form.

Klaus smiles at them. "Katerina, come here."

Katherine gets closer. He takes her arm, his face changes and eyes are yellow. He bites her. "Aah! Aah! No. No…no. No. No." He bites his wrist and makes Katherine drink his blood. Her wound heals. Klaus looks at Stefan and Trinity. "You want your cure? There it is."

"Your blood is the cure." Stefan says.

"Gotta love Mother Nature." He smirks. He claps Stefan on the shoulder. "Now…let's talk, you and I."

"Where's the bathroom?" Trinity asks.

Klaus waves his hand. "Katerina, show her. Make sure that she doesn't do anything funny."

* * *

Katherine leads Trinity down the hall and around the corner. Once they're out of sight Katherine pulls Trinity against her presses a desperate kiss to her lips.

For a moment, Trinity responds before pulling away, a look of conflict in her eyes. She shakes her head and mouths the word 'no'. She goes into the bathroom and Katherine follows her in, turning the water faucet on and speaking quietly.

"Trinity please-"

"Don't." Trinity whispers. "Jenna is dead, Damon is dying, and so much has happened. You can't ask me to be okay with this." She cries.

* * *

Damon arrives at the Town Square. He turns his head and sees Katherine in a lavender dress. "Katherine." She disappears.

Jeremy walks up to him. "Damon!"

"Where's Elena? I need to see Elena now."

"Ok. Let's get you out of here first, all right?" Jeremy holds him.

* * *

Elena is in the sheriff's office. "Where's Damon? What have you done to him?"

"Why do you even care?" Liz asks. "You know what they are, what they do."

"Look, I understand why you hate them, but you're wrong."

"They're murderers, Elena. End of story."

A deputy enters. "Damon Salvatore was just spotted outside entering the Grill."

"Wait. You've gotta let me come with you. He's sick. He's…he's not himself." Elena tries to explain.

The sheriff looks at the deputy. "Keep her here." She leaves. Elena is trapped in the office.

* * *

At the Grill, Jeremy is with Damon and calls someone. "Hey, it's me. I'm with Damon at the Grill."

The sheriff arrives. Damon is in front of Jeremy. She shoots at him but Damon flashes away. The bullet hits Jeremy instead, who falls to the floor, dead.

She rushes over to him. "Oh, god. Oh, god." She speaks into her radio. "I've got a gunshot victim at the Grill. Get the paramedics here." She looks at Jeremy. "You're gonna be fine. It's gonna be ok."

Bonnie and Caroline rush over to them. "Jeremy!" Bonnie yells.

"Mom. Mom, what did you do?" Caroline asks.

"I was aiming for Damon." Liz says.

Caroline looks at his hand. "He still has his ring."

"She's human. The ring won't work on him. Caroline…" Bonnie trails off.

"I got it." She bites her wrist and puts it to Jeremy's mouth. "Come on, Jeremy. Just drink. Go on, Jeremy. Drink."

"What are you doing?" Liz asks.

"I'm helping him. Jeremy, drink. Please. Please. Please." He doesn't drink, he's dead.

Alaric walks in. "Bonnie, what's going on?" He sees Jeremy. "Oh, my god."

"I know what I need to do." She looks at Alaric. "I need you to grab him. T-take him with us."

Liz shakes her head. "No, no, no, no. You can't move him. This is a crime scene."

"Mom, you let them go." Caroline says.

Alaric grabs Jeremy. "All right, come here, buddy. I got you. I got you."

* * *

At the sheriff's office, Elena breaks the window with a chair.

* * *

"Trinity…" Katherine trails off.

"I love you." She says, making Katherine look at her in shock. "But I can't do this."

"Please-"

"I can't."

"I love you too." Tears shine in her eyes.

"We need to get back out there." Trinity sniffs, drying her face on a towel before walking out.

* * *

Klaus puts some of his blood in a vial. Stefan is watches him as Katherine and Trinity walk back in. "There it is. You want to save your brother? How 'bout a decade-long bender? And I have big plans for you when we leave this town." He looks at Trinity. "And you."

"I'm not like that anymore." Stefan says.

"Well, that's too bad. You would have made a hell of a wingman." He pours some blood down the sink.

"Wait."

"Now that's more like it. I want you to join me for a drink." He throws him a blood bag. Stefan takes a sip. "Finish it. All of it. You do everything I say, and I save your brother. That's the deal." Stefan drinks all of it. Klaus throws him another blood bag. "Again."

Trinity watches as her friend drinks with pleasure and disgust in his eyes.

* * *

At the abandoned witch house, Bonnie and Alaric sit by Jeremy's body.

"Is this even possible?" He asks.

"There's a spell for it if they'll give me the power to use it." Bonnie explains. Jeremy's head is on her legs. She casts a spell. Voices whisper around them. "No."

"What? What is it?"

"They're angry at me for coming back here. They don't wanna help."

"Well, they have to!"

"They said there'll be consequences."

"Well, he's just a kid. Tell 'em to shut up!"

Bonnie continues to cast the spell. Her nose begins to bleed and she cries. "Emily. Emily! I know you're there. Please help me. I love him." The whispers stop. "No!" She cries. Jeremy opens his eyes. "Oh my god."

He looks up at her. "Bonnie?"

"Oh, my god, Jeremy. Oh, my god."

"What happened?"

"Doesn't matter. You're ok. You're ok." She raises her head. "Thank you."

* * *

Elena runs around the Town Square, looking around when she stops.

"Elena."

"Damon." She grabs him. "Hey, come on. Come on. We have to get you out of here. We have to hide you."

"Where are we going?"

* * *

_Flashback: 1864_

_Damon is running after Katherine._

"_Everywhere!" She answers, laughing._

"_Wait for me. I want to come with you." He trips._

* * *

_Present_

Damon trips. Elena rushes over to him.

* * *

_Flashback: 1864_

_Damon pins Katherine against a tree._

* * *

_Present_

Elena looks at Damon. "Hey. Hey. Relax. We need to get you out of here."

He pushes her against a post.

* * *

_Flashback: 1864_

"_You're faster than I thought." Katherine laughs._

"_Why must you always run from me?" Damon asks._

"_Because I know that you will chase."_

"_Then let me chase you forever. Feed me your blood."_

"_I will not feed you, Damon. If you want it, take it." She cuts her neck with a needle. "It is your choice to make."_

* * *

_Present_

"I choose you, Katherine." He whispers.

"Look at me. Hey. It's Elena. It's Elena."

* * *

_Flashback: 1864_

"_Promise me you will not tell my brother." He says._

"_I promise. It will be our little secret."_

_He leans toward her._

* * *

_Present_

Damon leans toward Elena's neck.

"No. Damon. No." She tries to push him away.

"I have to…if we are to be together forever." He bites her neck and drinks her blood.

"Damon, stop. You're hurting me. Damon, you don't have to do this. Please stop. You're hurting me!"

He stops and looks at her. "Elena?"

"Damon… Damon."

He falls to the ground. Elena holds him and puts a hand to her neck, looking around.

* * *

At the Grill, Caroline hangs up her phone. "That was Bonnie. Jeremy's alive."

Liz looks at her. "I thought I killed him."

"You did."

"I don't understand."

"I explained it to you once. I…I had to make you forget because I was so scared of what you might do. But now…I don't wanna lie. I'm not gonna be afraid of you anymore. I don't want you to be afraid of me anymore. I'm still your little girl." She embraces her. "It's me. It's me, mom."

The sheriff cries and embraces her too.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Jeremy is in his bed, talking with Bonnie via webcam.

"_Hey. What are you doing?" _She asks.

"Trying to figure out what's wrong with me. Feel different, weird."

"_Yeah, you were dead. It'd be weird if you felt normal."_

"Bonnie, I, uh…I don't know how to thank you."

"_You can thank me tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. Goodnight, Jeremy."_

"Goodnight." He clicks off.

Alaric walks in. "Hey, bud. I'm gonna take off. Need anything?"

"Uh, no, no. I think I'm good."

"You know, uh, on second thought, I might just crash here. Is that cool?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Whatever."

"All right."

"Alaric, um…thank you for everything."

"Ah, you can thank me tomorrow…and the day after that, the day after that."

"Dude, come on! I knew you were listening." He throws something at him.

Alaric smiles. "And the day after that." He leaves. Jeremy laughs.

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon is lying on his bed, sweating and looking sick. Elena watches him with a towel in her hand. "Elena." He whispers.

"It's ok, Damon. I'm right here." She tells him.

"Elena, get out of here. I could hurt you."

"No. You won't. I'm here until the very end. I'm not leaving you."

"Get out of here." He screams and coughs.

She sits down and takes him in her arms. "Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hang on. Shh. It's ok. It's ok. It's ok."

"It's not ok. It's not ok. All those years, I've blamed Stefan. No one forced me to love her. It was my own choice."

"Shh."

"I made the wrong choice. You tell Stefan I'm sorry. Ok?"

"I will." She nods and cleans his face with the towel. She leans her forehead against his.

* * *

Empty blood bags surround Stefan as he drinks, looking at Klaus.

"You're very cooperative. It's almost as if you're enjoying it." He gives him another blood bag.

"No more. Not until you give me the cure." He tells him.

"Not until we make a deal. It's your choice, Stefan. You can either remain here living your life in Mystic Falls, or you can embrace what you truly are, leave town with me, and save your brother's life." Stefan takes the blood bag and drinks. "That's the spirit." He takes the vial with his blood and looks at Katherine. "Sweetheart…" He compels her. "Take this over to Damon and come right back."

"You want me to leave?" She asks.

"No!" Stefan yells.

"Yes and if I were you…" Klaus isn't able to finish the sentence as she takes the vial and disappears. "I'd hurry." He sits down in a chair.

"She'll never take it to him. She'll never take it to him." Stefan says.

Trinity looks at the door. "Yes she will."

* * *

Damon is in Elena's arms. "This is even more pitiful than I thought." He says.

"There's still hope." She tells him.

"I've made a lot of choices that have gotten me here. I deserve this. I deserve to die."

"No. You don't."

"I do, Elena. It's ok. 'Cause if I'd have chosen differently, I wouldn't have met you. I'm so sorry. I've done so many things to hurt you."

"It's ok. I forgive you."

"I know you love Stefan. And it will always be Stefan." She takes his hand and lays next to him, putting her head on his chest. "But I love you. You should know that."

"I do." She cries.

"You should have met me in 1864. You would have liked me."

She raises her head and looks at him. "I like you now. Just the way you are." He closes his eyes and she lays a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Well, it's me you should be thanking." Katherine says. Elena turns her head. "I mean, I'm the one who brought the cure." Elena rushes out of bed and Katherine looks at her. "I thought you were dead."

"I was." She says.

Katherine sits down next to Damon. "You got free." He says.

"Yep. Finally." She makes him drink Klaus' blood. "And you still came here?" She touches his face. "I owed you one." She gets up.

"Where's Stefan?" Elena asks. "And Trinity?"

Katherine looks at her. "Are you sure you care?"

"Where are they?"

"They're paying for this." She shows her the vial. "They gave themselves over to Klaus. I wouldn't expect them anytime soon."

"What do you mean, 'they gave themselves over'?"

"They just sacrificed everything to save Damon, including you. It's a good thing you have Damon to keep you company. Goodbye, Elena." She goes to leave but looks back. "Oh. It's ok to love them both. I did." She throws her the vial and disappears. Damon starts to gets up and looks at Elena.

* * *

At a warehouse, Elijah is in a coffin. Klaus is looking at him. Two men are there. "I suppose, brother, you've been reunited with our family." He closes the coffin and looks at the two men. "Put him with the others. We're leaving town tonight."

They put him with others coffins. Stefan receives a text from Elena telling him that Damon's okay and asking him where he is. Trinity looks over his shoulder, reading the text.

"So…did Katerina make it in time?" Klaus asks.

"You won't be seeing her again, you know." Stefan says.

"Because she's on vervain? I've been around a long time, Stefan. I rarely get played for a fool. Besides, she won't get far. You'll help me see to that."

"What is it you really want from me?"

"All will be explained in time. Once we leave this tragic little town."

"Then are we done here? Can we go?"

"Not quite. You see, I have a gift for you." He looks at a girl. "Come here, sweetheart. Don't be afraid." The girl walks closer. He looks at Stefan. "See, I wanna make sure you honor our deal…that you'll be of use to me." He bites the girl's neck and drinks her blood. "I could have compelled her to behave, but a real ripper enjoys the hunt." He releases her. She leaves, screaming. Stefan stops her, bites her and drinks her blood until she's dead. Klaus looks at him. "Now we can go."

Trinity looks at her friend with tears in her eyes.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Jeremy wakes up when he hears a noise. "Alaric?" He gets up and goes out of his room. "Alaric?" Someone is behind him. He turns around but no one's there. He goes down the stairs. Vicki goes down behind him. Alaric is sleeping on the couch.

"Jer." She says.

He turns around. No one's here. He goes in the kitchen. "Anna?" He looks at her. He turns around. "Vicki?" The girl looks at him.


	45. The Birthday

A/N: Finally season 3! I can't wait to read the reviews I get at the end of this chapter!

* * *

Chapter Forty Five: The Birthday

_Tennessee_

A woman walks outside the house. "Rudy!" She whistles. "Rudy. Come on! It's too hot to make me come looking for you." She bends down and picks up a toy. When she turns around Klaus suddenly appears in front of her.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He says.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, my car hmm, my car ran out of gas a couple of miles back. Eh I feel like I've been walking forever yours is the first house I come to so I was just hoping I could use your phone?"

"Don't you have a cell phone?"

"Huh, yeah." He holds it up. "Battery died. Look I promise I'm not a serial killer I just wanna use your phone."

She sighs. "Sure."

"So." He drags the word out. "I can come in?"

"No, I'll get the phone and I'll bring it out to you."

"I thought you country folks were supposed to be more trusting." He says, annoyed.

"I'm from Florida."

"Well, that explains it." He grabs her throat and compels her. "Now show me a little southern hospitality, sweet pea."

* * *

Trinity and Stefan sit in the car. "I don't want to do this." She says.

"You won't have to." Stefan tells her. "I'll do it for you."

She shakes her head. "He's gonna be watching me. He wants to see me do it."

"We've been able to avoid this for months-"

"Exactly! Something's telling me that his patience has run up."

"Trinity-"

"We told him that we would do whatever he asked of us." She says with tears in her eyes. "You know what will happen if we don't."

Stefan looks down and pulls her against him. "I'll help you through this."

"We'll help each other."

"What are you going to do?"

"He want's something brutal. A predator."

* * *

Inside the house, another woman is cooking and walks over to the counter with the frying pan. "I bet you a hundred dollars that dog ran off to a house with air conditioning." She turns around and sees her friend and Klaus entering the kitchen. "What's going on?"

"Please don't be alarmed." Klaus tells her. "I was told Ray Sutton lives here."

"He's almost never here. He's on the road mostly."

"But I expect he makes it home, once a month. That's what I thought. Where is he now?" She doesn't answer. "If I have to make you tell me it's going to be infinitely more painful for you. Hmm." He smiles.

The woman runs out of the kitchen and opens the door but Stefan is in the doorway. "Aaah!" She screams.

Klaus and the other woman come up behind her. "I love it when they run!" He grins.

The woman gives up. "He's in Toll. It's near the border. A bar called Southern Comfort, it's on Highway 41."

"Thank you my love." He pets her friend's hair. "Now, may my friend come in?"

"Yes." She cries. Both of the women look terrified.

He looks at Stefan and pushes the woman into his arms. "Kill this one quickly." He turns to Trinity, who walks into the home in the form of a lioness. He points to the second woman. "And make that one suffer. I'll be in the car." He leaves.

"Please don't!" The woman in Stefan's arms pleads. Stefan's face changes and he bites into her neck. She screams.

The second woman screams as Trinity stalks towards her. Trinity hesitates for a moment before leaping forwards, tackling the woman to the ground.

* * *

Outside, Klaus looks through the window before walking towards the car with a smile on his face.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Elena is in her bed. She sits up, goes over to the window. She holds up her hand hesitates for a second then she pulls the curtains wide open. She walks into Jeremy's room and does the same.

"Aaahh!" He wakes up. "Early. Bad!"

"Ahh. It's not early." She walks up to the bed and pulls his covers off. "You're late, for work. Matt just called." She starts to leave.

Jeremy looks at the clock. "Well, maybe he'll fire me.

"Aim high." She says, walking out.

Jeremy slides out of bed, a concerned look on his face.

* * *

Elena talks to Caroline on the phone. "What are you doing?"

"_Just shopping for the party you're trying to bail out on."_

She walks down the stairs and into the kitchen. "I never said yes in the first place."

"_You were never going too, which is why I planned it anyway. And my mom wants you to call her."_

"Did she find something?"

"_An animal attack in Memphis, It's the third one this week in Tennessee."_

"And you're sure it's a vampire?" She asks, hopeful. Ric is in the kitchen making coffee and they exchange a look.

"_Yes, but that doesn't mean that it's Klaus."_

"Doesn't mean it's not." She walks around the counter, pushing Ric out of the way. "I'll call her."

"_Well call her on her cell."_

"Tell her thank you for her help."

"_Alright. Well, I gotta go. I'll see you in a bit."_

* * *

Caroline smiles as Tyler walks up to her.

"_Oh, Caroline wait, just…keep tonight small. Please."_

"Wear something pretty." She hangs up and looks at Tyler. "Hi!"

* * *

Elena sighs.

Alaric removes the bed sheets from the couch. "Was that eh…Stefan and Trinity news?" He asks.

"Could be more Klaus victims." She puts down a cup.

"You're certain they're still with him."

She pours a cup of coffee. "Easy to be certain when the alternative is that they're dead." She says, sending them into a brief silence. She looks at him. "Are you sure you're still okay on the couch?"

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm good."

She picks of both cups. "Because you spent half the summer on it." She says walking over. "If you need your own bedroom?

"Uh, sleeping in your dead parent's room or my dead…girlfriend's room. Nah."

"Alright." She hands him a cup. "Got it." She starts to walk away.

"Hey Elena." She turns around. "Happy Birthday."

She gives him a small smile. "Thanks."

* * *

Stefan and Trinity are in the bathroom of a gas station. "Oh god, oh god, oh god." She says, holding her head. "Every time I close my eyes, I see them. I hear their screams, smell their blood."

"Shh." He takes her into his arms.

"Oh my god, Stefan." She gasps through the tears.

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon is taking a bath and Andie is doing her make up in the mirror.

He pours himself some champagne but finds that the bottle is empty. "We're out of champagne."

"Huh. No you are out of champagne; I don't drink in the morning." She tells him.

"Well would you be a dear and get-"

"I think you can probably get it yourself. I'm not your slave."

"Hmm." He gets out of the bathtub.

She drags her eyes up and down his body. "I mean you're dripping a little."

"Mmhmm." He walks out of the room. He hears Elena come into the boarding house and walks up behind her. "Good morning."

"Hey, I was gonna-" She turns around only to see his naked body. "Oh!" She turns back around. "You heard me! You knew that I was here."

"Yeah, you should learn to knock. What if I was…indecent?"

She puts one hand over her eyes and with the other hand she grabs a towel and she throws it to him as she turns around, still covering her eyes. He puts the towel on and Elena peeks between her fingers to make sure he's covered up. She sees he is and drops her hand from her eyes.

"Sheriff Forbes gave us another location to check." She takes a note from her pocket. "Memphis."

"Another dead end you mean."

"You don't know that."

He walks up to her. "You're right, Elena." He takes the note. "This could be the one. After almost two months this could be the one clue that tells that Stefan and Trinity are alive and well, living in Graceland."

She takes the not back. "Fine, I'll go by myself." She starts to walk away.

Damon flashes in front of her and takes the note. "Right, and let Klaus know you're tracking him. He thinks you're dead; let's keep it that way."

"It's a new lead Damon; we haven't had one in a while."

"Okay, I'll check it out. If I find anything I'll call you."

"But…" She goes to argue but he walks away.

* * *

Damon walks in to his room and opens his closet door where there's a map and a lot of notes. He pins the new note up on the map. "They moved on to Tennessee."

Andie walks up behind him. "Huh, that fluttered victim you had me looking into had family in Tennessee."

"Which one? Pensacola?"

"Yup."

"Up for a road trip?"

Andie smiles at him. "Ha, no can do, I've got to work. But I can see if I can get you an address." She kisses him. "See you at the party."

"Get me that address."

* * *

Stefan holds Trinity in the backseat of the car. He wipes the sweat from her forehead.

Klaus looks in the rearview mirror. "What's wrong with her."

Stefan looks at him. "She's in shock. She's never killed anyone before."

He shrugs. "She'll get used to it."

* * *

_Trinity swipes a claw at the woman's stomach and blood splatters across her fur._

* * *

Trinity's eyes snap open and she screams.

* * *

At the Grill, Jeremy working in the back stock room moving boxes and talking to Bonnie over the phone that is on the shelf for them to see each other. "You need to come home it's boring around here without you."

"_Huh, you think you're bored, my dad's side of the family is like wet paint that never dries." _She says, making him smile. _"How's the Grill treating you?"_

"Well it's teaching me the value of a mundane human experience."

"_A summer job is god for you; you needed something normal in your life." _The lights flickers and there's a strange sound. _"What was that?"_

"Nothing, look I uh…I got to go back to work. I'll talk to you soon okay?"

"_Wait, wait Jeremy. Is everything okay with you?"_

"Yeah, yeah. Normal and mundane. Come home soon okay."

"_Okay." _He grabs the phone and hangs up.

The lights flicker again before going out completely. When they come back on Vicki is standing in front of him. Jeremy drops his phone in shock. "Vicki?" She disappears. He looks around, freaked out. When he bends down to get his phone, Anna is standing behind him. She reaches out to touch him when Matt walks in. She disappears.

"I need you to switch sections with me." He says.

Jeremy looks at him. "Why?"

"Caroline and Tyler just sat in mine."

"So?"

"So. I don't feel like waiting on my ex-girlfriend." Matt tells him before walking out.

* * *

Caroline and Tyler are sitting at a table and talking. "Something's up with your mother." She says.

He looks at her, confused. "Like what?"

"When I was over yesterday she just kept eyeing me."

Jeremy walks up to them. "Hey guys."

Caroline looks at him. "Did Matt make you switch sections?" Jeremy shrugs. "He thinks we're dating."

"So does my mother." Tyler says, making her look at him.

"What?!"

"We're together all the time, it's not a leap."

"That's crazy."

"Right." He says, not letting the hurt show on his face.

* * *

Ray walks up to the bar.

"What's up Ray?" The bartender asks.

"Hey Red, get me a beer."

Klaus sits down next to him. "Ray? Ray Sutton?"

He looks at him. "Who wants to know?"

"I've been looking everywhere for you. We started in Florida, Pensacola. I met a young chap there who you used to work with before you moved to Memphis, now he directed me to two lovely young women. And they led me here, to you."

"I think I'll be going." He tries to leave but Klaus grabs his shoulder.

"Not so fast mate. You only just got here, now your type are very hard to come by."

Ray tries to walk the other way but Stefan and Trinity are there to stop him. "I wouldn't do that." Stefan pushes him back.

"My friend here is a vampire, he compelled everybody in the bar so don't look to them for any help." Klaus says. "The girl is something unique. She can change into any animal she chooses at will. I however, I'm something else, a different kind of monster, I've got some vampire, I've got some wolf."

"You what?" Ray asks.

"A hybrid Ray, I'm both. You see I want to create more of me, now you being the first werewolf that I've come across in many a moon, pun intended Ray. I need you to direct me to your pack. So, where can I find them Ray?"

"You can't compel me, it won't work."

Stefan starts scratching his head, Klaus looks at him and he nods. Stefan turns around and takes out something out of his back pocket.

Trinity turns to at the barman. "Can you bring out the darts please?"

Stefan looks at Ray. "Tell you what Ray, We're gonna play a little drinking game, something I like to call truth or wolfs bane." He pours the wolfs bane into his hand, crushing it with his fingers.

Klaus grins. "Oh, this is gonna be fun Ray."

* * *

_Tennessee_

Damon and Ric pull up to the house. Damon's cellphone starts ringing. He checks the phone and then ignores the call.

"Elena?" Alaric asks as they get out of the car. Damon makes a face. "I don't know why you just don't come clean and tell her where we are."

"Because Andie said this was a half lead and I don't want to get her hopes up."

"Yeah, well they're all half leads, and I'm your accomplice. What do you want me to say to her, I'm practically living there."

"Still sleeping on the couch?" He says looking around.

"You know, I keep waiting for them to kick me out but they don't. I don't know why, it's not like I'm helping or anything."

"Mm-mm."

"It's quiet."

"Yeah. Too quiet." Damon test the door what his foot, seeing that he is free to walk in. "Oh yeah."

Ric comes in and closes the door. He finds a body on the couch. "Ugh. Vampire for sure."

"Stefan, for sure."

"How do you know?"

"It's his signature; there's a reason they call him the ripper. Feeds so hard he blacks out and rips them apart, but then when he's done, he feels remorse. It's the damndest thing; he put the bodies back together." He lightly kicks the woman's leg and her head tumbles to the floor.

Ric looks at him in disgust. "Back together?"

"Definitely Stefan."

Ric walks around and sees a mutilated body. "Then who's this?"

Damon walks around and sees the bloody mess. He crouches down and picks up a piece of hair. "My guess is that this will be Trinity." He says, shocked.

* * *

Caroline, Elena and Tyler are there decorating the boarding house for the party.

Elena takes some napkins from Caroline. "I feel like I have to fight Damon every single time we get a lead on Stefan and Trinity."

"Maybe he doesn't want to find them." Tyler says.

Caroline shoots him a surprised look. "Tyler!"

"What? He's into you, isn't he? Stefan's gone; so is Trinity, who dated your look alike and kissed you. Now he doesn't have any competition."

"The only reason they left with Klaus was so that they could save Damon's life. I mean, trust me, Damon wants to find them." Elena tells him.

"But you kissed him?" He asks, missing the look Caroline sends him. "Probably screwed with his head."

"Tyler!" Caroline says. Elena grimaces and looks down. Caroline turns to her. "Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it, look yes I kissed him but was a…it was a goodbye kiss. I thought he was gonna die." She sighs. Tyler sends her a doubtful look when her phone beeps. "I missed a call from Bonnie, I'll be right back." She walks away.

Caroline waits until Elena is out of sight before turning to Tyler. "Just because I tell you things doesn't mean you're allowed to know them!"

"Sorry. I've gotta run if I'm gonna change and pick up Sophie in time."

"Wait. You're bringing a date? Slutty Sophie is your date"

"Hey! It's been kinda slow in that department. And…I am horny all the time now!"

She nods. "Yeah, tell me about it, sometimes I feel like I'm gonna explode! It's a vampire thing. Yeah, our emotions are heightened and we're on overdrive."

"It's a werewolf thing too. Just like I can't turn it off."

"Yeah." They pause in an awkward silence. "Well, uh…I hope you'll get uh…lucky tonight.

He gives an awkward laugh. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, See you later."

* * *

Damon pours a tank of gasoline over the living room.

"What are you doing?" Alaric asks him.

"Covering their tracks. Clearly they have no interest staying in the dark, but I do." He says. Ric moves to give Damon more space but the floor creaks. They look at it, suspicious. "Hang on." He puts the tank of gas down and bends over and flips over the carpet and there it is a hidden door down under the floor. They open it to see that it's full of chains. "Well, what do you know. Werewolves." They close the door, and Damon lights a match and throws it to the floor. Soon the whole living room is on fire.

* * *

Ray is chained to the wall, and has darts in his body. He's in a lot of pain. Stefan is sitting at the table across the wall and dipping the darts ends in wolfs bane before throwing them at him. Trinity and Klaus watch him. "Ray, you can end this right now. Just tell me where your pack gathers for the full moon." Stefan says.

"I can't." Ray groans.

Stefan nods. "I know, I know. You live by code and all that, but see he's not gonna let me stop until you tell me. And I do whatever he says so, that's the way it goes around here."

Trinity shifts her nail into claws and dips them into the wolfs bane. She walks up to Ray, light trailing her claws across his cheek, making him scream. "If you tell us, we won't hurt you anymore."

A woman walks up to Klaus. "Hello mister Klaus. I have some more information for you." Stefan and Trinity hear and walk over. "You told me to tell you if I saw anything." The woman says. "I saw the guys spotted Damon at the farm house."

Klaus smiles. "Well thank you Claudine, you'll just tell your friends to keep up the good work or they're gonna watch her." The girls smiles and walks away.

Stefan and Trinity come closer. "My brother still on our trail?" He asks.

"He's getting closer, I'm gonna have to deal with that."

Trinity grabs his arm. "No, no, no. Let us handle it."

Klaus looks at them. "Why should I let you leave?"

"Cause, you'll know we'll come back." Stefan tells him.

"Do I?" He asks.

"You saved my brother's life; I'm at your service."

"And I never leave Stefan's side, so you got me too." Trinity says.

"Ah, you sound so tedious and indentured, aren't you even having the least bit of fun?" Klaus asks, pointing to Ray with a smile on his face.

"I'll make sure that my brother doesn't bother us anymore." Stefan says, taking Trinity's hand and walking away.

* * *

At the boarding house, Elena stands in front of a mirror and sees Damon behind her. "Don't worry I'm not gonna lose it. At least not before the cake." She says.

"It's your party you can cry if you want to." He walks up to her. "Ah, Stefan. Such a pack rat." He picks up a picture of Elena and Stefan. He puts it down and looks at her. "I got you something. I know I promised not to buy you anything so don't worry I didn't pay for it."

"You stole it?" She asks.

"No!" He picks up a little box stepping even closer to her, now leaving them inches apart. "Found it." He opens the box.

"My necklace." She breathes. "I thought I'd never see it again."

"Alaric found it in his loft, thought you'd be happy to have it back."

"I am happy." She smiles. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Can you?"

"Absolutely." She turns around, he puts the necklace on her and she pulls up her hair he closes the necklace and she turns around; he offers his arm to her. "Shall we?"

She takes his arm and they walk out of Stefan's room.

* * *

Back downstairs the party is going on. They come down the stairs. They walk past some people standing in the hallway.

"Hey Elena! Happy Birthday!" A girls smiles.

"Thanks." Elena says. They come over to the living room where there are a lot of people. A girl goes past them with a bottle in her hand.

Damon stops her, taking the bottle from her hand. "Oh, hey, hey, hey, hey. You don't want that." He compels her. "You want the cheap young stuff over by the cheap young people." The girl walks away.

Caroline walks up to them, a smile on her face. "You like? Don't answer that."

Elena looks at all the people. "This is keeping it small?" Caroline remains smiling. "What are we drinking?" She sighs. Caroline takes her arm and they walk away.

* * *

Jeremy is sitting in the couch about to light some pot when Matt comes and sits with him. "Where did you get that?" He asks.

"Henry from the kitchen sold me a dime."

Matt takes the joint and lights it. "So, what's got you on your spiral downward? Sure it's a lot more interesting than mine."

"You do not wanna know."

Matt takes a puff. "How bad can it be? I already know everything else." He passes the joint to Jeremy. "Go for it."

"You know I died right? And Bonnie used magic to bring me back to life."

He nods. "Yeah, Elena told me."

"The thing is, ever since I came back I've been seeing…things."

"What kind of things?"

Jeremy shakes his head. "Just, things I shouldn't be seeing."

"What's Bonnie say about it?"

"Nah, I haven't told her. I haven't told anybody. Just messing with my head is all. I just need to chill out, so this." He holds up the joint. Matt gets up when Caroline and Elena enter the room.

Caroline crinkles her nose. "Oh…the Stoner den. Buzz kill."

Matt comes up to them. "Hey guys."

"Matt, hey!" Elena smiles. He kisses her on the cheek, making her eyes widen. "Oh."

"Happy Birthday."

"Thank you." She says. He leaves.

"He hates me. His hatred of me, has driven him to drugs!" Caroline pouts.

"He doesn't hate you, he hates that he's not with you." She looks over at the couch. "Is that my brother?" Elena hands Caroline her drink. "Thank you." She walks off and Caroline watches as she takes a sip of her drink.

* * *

Outside on the porch, Damon and Ric are talking.

"I am every parent's worst nightmare." Alaric says. "I am the chaperone teacher from hell."

"I love high school parties." Damon smirks.

"Isn't Andie supposed to be coming?"

"10 o'clock broadcast, should be here in a little bit." He sees Elena come out. "Hello ,Birthday Girl!"

"Drink!" She takes Damon's glass, taking a gulp. "Jeremy's smoking again."

"Is his stash any good?"

She glares at him. "You're an ass." She looks at Alaric. "Talk to him, please. He looks up to you." She gives Damon back his glass and walks away.

Damon looks at Alaric. "You're screwed."

Ric sighs.

* * *

At the news Station, Andie's talking in the phone as she walks through the studio. "Yeah, Uhhuh. Uhhuh." She waves to a man passing by and whispers 'bye' to him. "Uhhuh. Okay, I, I am the last person here again. Days of work, please can we do this in the am? I have a party I have to get to, and you gotta get a life! Okay, Alright bye, bye."

She walks into the studio and picks up her bag and turns around ready to leave when suddenly the big headlight is turned on and blinds her. "Hello? Not cool, my retinas are burning." She steps out of the light but the light is turned to her again. "Okay, Okay. Seriously who'd…? What the hell are you doing?" The lights turn off. "Hello? Hello?" She starts to run for the exit but trips over a wire. The light comes back on and she can see a person standing in front of the light. She gets up and tries to run but Stefan is suddenly in front of her. "Ohh! Stefan!? Oh my god! Oh my god, what are you doing here? We have been looking everywhere for you!" Trinity walks forward and Andie looks at her. "Trinity?" She looks between them. "Stefan?"

Stefan's face changes and Andie looks at him with fear in her eyes.

* * *

On the dance floor are Tyler and Sophie dancing. Caroline is standing on the edge looking at them and drinking.

Matt comes up next to her. "Since when are they a thing?"

She looks at him. "I thought you were ignoring me?"

"I'm not ignoring you."

"You only said five words to me all summer, and those were four of them."

"Maybe because every time I've seen you, you've been with him."

"Because he's my friend! Which is what I thought you were."

"Aren't you guys supposed to be like mortal enemies, I mean isn't that how it works in vampire werewolf universe?"

"Matt shhhh!" She urges. Tyler looks at them. "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't know. I'm out of it… I guess." He sees Tyler start to walk up to them. "Sorry." Matt walks away.

Tyler looks after him before turning to Caroline. "What was that about?"

"Nothing."

Sophie walks up to them. "Great party Caroline!"

Caroline gives her a fake smile. "Thanks! Now leave it!" She compels her. Sophie walks away.

Tyler watches after her. "What the hell?!"

Caroline walks away and into the crowd.

* * *

"Andie wants me to pick her up." Damon says, looking at her phone.

Ric snorts. "Your fake, compelled girlfriend wants you to be a chivalrous boyfriend."

"Well, it's a complicated dynamic."

"Yeah"

"Well, hold the fort down, will ya?"

"You mean the fort full of my drunk history students?"

"Drink more, you will feel less weird." Damon jumps down and leaves.

* * *

Elena goes inside Damon's room.

"This room's off limits!" She hears.

Elena turns around and sees Caroline in the bathroom. "Caroline?"

"Sorry." She's holding blood bag. "I just needed to take a beat." She puts the bag down and walks up to Elena. "Are you hiding?"

"I was just looking for Damon."

"Well, he better be here somewhere because we haven't even done the cake yet."

"I think I'm gonna pass on the whole cake thing."

"What? No, no way, no! It's your birthday! You know it's the dawn of a new day and, you can't get on with your life until you have made a wish and blown out the candles."

"Is that what you all want me to do? Just get on with my life?"

"No…maybe… I just don't think anyone wants to see you like this."

"I'm not gonna give up on finding them, Caroline."

"Of course not. And you shouldn't, but you have to admit that you kinda just letting your life pass you by. And isn't Stefan the one who wanted to make sure that you lived it?"

"You want me to make a wish? I just wanna know that they're alive. That's it! That's my wish." She starts to walk away, but she sees Damon's closet door is open a little bit and goes open it.

"I'm sorry, okay. I'm just drunk and dumb tonight. Wait, what are you doing?" Elena sees all the notes and maps and articles that Damon has used to search for Klaus, Trinity, and Stefan. Caroline comes up to her too. "What's all that?"

Elena has a look of betrayal on her face. "It's Klaus. Damon's been tracking him without me."

"Why wouldn't he just tell you?"

Elena shakes her head. "I don't know."

* * *

Damon arrives at the studio, looking for Andie. "Andie?" He calls. His phone starts ringing; it's Elena. "Party Central."

"_Where are you?!"_

He pulls the phone away from his ear, grimacing before putting it back. "Umm, by the punch boul."

"_Don't do that Damon, don't lie to me! I saw your closet."_

"Oh…oh, I gotta go break up beer pong."

"_Wait Damon!" _He hangs up. He looks around and finds Andie's purse on the ground. "Stefan." He turns his head.

"Hello Brother." He greets. Trinity steps from behind him.

"And Trinity. You don't write, you don't call."

"Need you to stop following us. Causing some problems." Stefan tells him.

"With who? Klaus? Are we supposed to care with he thinks?"

"What you're supposed to do is let us go."

"Saw your latest artwork in Tennessee. Walking a fine line there my friend. Keep that up and there will be no saving you." Damon says. "I admit, I was surprised by you." He points at Trinity.

Stefan steps in front of her. "See the thing is, I don't need any saving. I just want you to let me go." He says. "Let _us _go."

"Nah, I got a birthday girl at home that's not gonna let me do that."

Stefan nods. "You know, maybe I haven't made my point. Hey, Andie you still there?"

"Andie?" Damon looks around.

Andie is standing on a ledge up in the celling. "Damon? I can't move Damon. He told me that I can't move."

Damon looks up. "No,no,no, it's okay, Andie. Stay calm." He glares at Stefan. "Not cool brother!"

"Aw, come on! A little bit cool." Stefan gives a small smile, he looks up at her. "Hey, Andie. You can move now."

"No! No,no,no,no,no NO!" Damon yells.

Stefan and Trinity grab him, pinning him to the wall so he can't save her. Andie falls to the ground.

Stefan grabs him around the neck. "I said let us go!" They let Damon go.

Damon runs over to Andie but she's already dead. He looks back but Stefan and Trinity are gone.

* * *

At the boarding house, Jeremy walks towards his car and sees Matt. "What are you doin'?"

Matt looks around with glazed eyes. "I can't find my truck."

"That's probably a sign you shouldn't be driving it. Need a ride?"

"You're more stoned than I am."

Jeremy gets into the car and sees Vicki. "Ahh! What the…Vicki?!"

"Help me." She says before disappearing.

Matt gets in. "Hey. What'd you just say?"

"Nothing." Jeremy says.

"Did you just say 'Vicki', as in my sister Vicki?"

"What? No, no. I, uh, I didn't say anything." He puts the ignition on and sees Anna standing in front of the car. "No…"

"What's wrong?"

"You know what, maybe we should just walk."

* * *

Caroline stumbles drunkenly through the crowd. "Excuse me. Excuse me." She grabs a guy by the neck and lifts him so she can pass.

Tyler intercepts her. "Hey! What is your problem?! You're pissed that I brought someone?"

"Why would I be pissed? You brought a date. You're dating. That's…awesome."

"Ok, should I not be dating?"

"Hey, you're horny all the time, right? I mean, a guy has needs."

"'Cause if I shouldn't be dating, all you've got to do is say something. If you don't say something, then I'm going to keep dating."

"What would I say?"

"Don't do that, Caroline! I've already been there once with you, ok, and you said no. You shut me down. I'm not going back there again unless you make it crystal clear that you-" She interrupts him with a kiss. "Let's get out of here." He takes her hand. Damon enters.

Caroline hands him the bottle. "Hey! You missed the cake." She leaves.

Damon looks around, puts the bottle on the table next to him and walks away.

* * *

Damon walks into his bedroom and sees Elena. "What? What are you doing here?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asks. "Why did you keep it a secret?"

He rolls his eyes. "Can we not do this right now? I'm having a really bad night."

"All summer, every single time I came to you with a lead, you made me feel like an idiot for having hope."

"You were an idiot. We both were."

"Tell me what you know, Damon."

"I know you need to get back to your party, Elena."

"We're supposed to be in this together. Why didn't you tell me that you've been tracking Klaus' victims?"

"Because they're not Klaus' victims, Elena, they're Stefan and Trinity's!"

She looks at him, shocked. "What?"

"He's left a trail of body parts up and down the eastern seaboard."

She shakes her head. "No. You're wrong."

"I've seen it happen before. He's flipped the switch, full blown ripper." He says. "Trinity's new to the game. She'll just tear someone to shreds and let the bleed out so they can die painfully."

"Stop it, Damon."

"No, you stop, Elena! Stop looking for him. Stop waiting for him to come home. Just stop! Stefan is gone and he's not coming back! And neither is Trinity! Not in your lifetime." He leaves.

Elena cries and touches her necklace.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Jeremy and Matt are in the kitchen, eating ice cream.

"All right, I should probably go before Elena and Mr. Saltzman come home and see what a bad example I am." Matt gets up.

"You sure you can walk?"

"We'll see. Can I take the ice cream with me?" He takes it and starts to leave but stops. He turns to look back at Jeremy. "What happened in the car, man?"

"Nothing." Jeremy tells him.

"Come on, man. You said, 'Vicki'. All right, you said my sister's name. Why? You said you were seeing things?"

"I've been seeing her."

"I mean, I think I see her all the time, too. It's 'cause I miss her so much, though. You know, like, I want to see her so I do. Look, I know we've got our hands full with all the supernatural stuff in this town, but…ghosts."

"Like I said, my head's all messed up."

Matt smiles and leaves.

* * *

Ray is on a pool table.

Klaus circles around him. "Ok, it's a three step process, Ray. This is step one. I want you to drink from my wrist."

"I already told you where to find the pack. What more do you want from me?" He asks.

"Have you been listening to a word I've been saying, Ray? I have great plans for you." He cuts his wrist and makes him drink his blood. "You'll thank me for it later, huh. There we go, at a boy!"

Stefan and Trinity walk in.

"What are you going to do now?" Ray asks.

"It's time for step two, Ray." Klaus snaps his neck and looks at the duo. "You're back."

"Did you doubt us?" Stefan asks.

"Not for a second. I knew you'd pass the test. You still care for your brother, for your old life."

"Nah, I don't care about anything anymore."

"Stefan is my life." Trinity says. "He's family."

Klaus points at her. "I believe you." He turns to Stefan. "You put on a good show Stefan. I almost believe you. Let's hope, for your brother's sake, he does. You never stop caring about family, do you? But, every time you feed, the blood makes it easier to let go."

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Alaric is packing.

Elena walks in and sees him. "What are you doing?"

"Ahh. I'm not going to stay here anymore."

"What? Why?"

"I'm not a role model. You know, I drink too much, I say the wrong things, I encourage bad behavior. At school I can pull it together, but in my own life…the way I miss Jenna…it's just…I'm really not any good to anybody right now. I'm sorry, Elena. You're 18. You can do all this alone now. You can do it better without me." He leaves.

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Tyler and Caroline kiss and take their clothes off. Caroline, in her underwear, pushes Tyler on the bed and jumps on him before reconnecting their lips.

* * *

Damon enters Stefan's bedroom and tears it apart. He breaks everything. He grabs a guitar but doesn't break it.

* * *

Stefan takes Trinity by the hand and walks outside the bar. He takes his phone out and dials a number.

* * *

Elena enters her bedroom and finds a drawing from Jeremy for her birthday. She prepares to go to bed. Her phone vibrates. She doesn't notice it immediately. She puts the card from Jeremy on her chest of drawers and walks into her bathroom, putting her hair up. She comes out and answers her phone. Stefan stays silent. "Hello? Hello? Stefan? Stefan, if this is you, you'll be okay. You and Trinity will be okay. I love you Stefan. Hold onto that. Never let that go."

* * *

Stefan stays quiet on the other end of the phone but is tearful. Trinity wraps her arms around him and lays her head on his chest.

* * *

Tyler is asleep. Caroline gets up, puts her dress on, takes her shoes and leaves the room. She goes downstairs and is about to leave but Carol Lockwood intercepts her.

Caroline gasps. "Mrs. Lockwood. Hi."

"Leaving so soon?" She asks.

"I…I didn't mean to be so…I mean, we were just…I'm going to just…get my purse. Okay." She grabs her purse but snatches her hand back when it burns her.

Carol shoots her numerous times. Caroline finally falls to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

In a motel, Stefan holds Trinity in his arms.

"What's happening to me?" She claws at her chest.

"I don't know. I don't…" He trails off and his eyes widen. "Oh my god."

The pain is gone. Trinity looks up at him. "What?" She turns around and looks in the mirror. It is not her image that she sees, but the woman she killed. "Oh my god." She gasp, bringing a hand to her face.


	46. The Hybrid

Chapter Forty Six: The Hybrid

"Oh my god." Trinity says, staring at her reflection.

"Is it…" Stefan trails off and mouths 'your Quickening?'

Trinity shakes her head. "The taking of an innocent life. That's how you shift into humans. You have to kill one." She says. "That's why no one ever revealed how they were able to shift into humans. They were afraid of turning people into killers."

"Can you change back?"

Trinity closes her eyes and pictures herself in her original form. She opens her eyes and sighs in relief when she sees herself in the mirror. "Oh." She runs a hand through her hair. She looks at Stefan. "I need to practice."

He looks at her, confused. "What?"

"I need to find out how to control it as soon as possible. I did it on accident the first time. I need to make this as easy as breathing."

"Are you sure?" He asks. "You won't get…stuck."

She scoffs. "No. This isn't some TV show, Stefan." She pauses. "Learning how to shift is like…learning the lyrics to a song. Once I have everything memorized, it's easy."

"How can I help?"

"Just sit still." She focuses on his face and her features begin to change.

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon is taking off all the things from his closet and listening to the TV. Andie's death is being mentioned. He sees Elena walk in. "Just can't stay away, can you?"

She looks at him. "You've been dodging my calls."

"Yeah, well, busy dating a dead fake girlfriend and all."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Happy Birthday, Elena. Stefan killed Andie, and Trinity helped. Cake?"

"He called me, Damon."

He looks at her. "What?"

"Stefan called me last night."

"Well, what'd he say?"

"He didn't say anything, but it was him. I asked Sheriff Forbes if she would trace the call's origin. It came from Tennessee."

"Where he's binge drinking on the country folk. We went through this, Elena. Stefan's gone. I don't mean geographically."

"If he was gone, he wouldn't have called." She argues. "Don't forget that Trinity's with him. She would be doing everything she can to keep him in line."

Damon burns the items from his closet. "If she were the same Trinity, she would be." He walks closer to her. "Once you've tasted blood, it changes you, and it's never a good thing."

* * *

"Wow." Stefan breathes. He looks at the Trinity, who looks exactly like him. "That's amazing."

"Yeah." Trinity says in Stefan's voice. She shifts back to her original form. She yawns.

"You should get some sleep."

"You too." She walks over to her bed.

* * *

Alaric is in his bed when he hears someone knocks on the door. "Go away, Damon!" The knocking continues. Sighing he gets up and answers the door; it's Elena.

"Hi." She greets.

"You're, uh…not who I expected."

"I need you to tell me what you know about Stefan, Trinity, and Tennessee."

"Did you miss the part where I checked out of all this?"

She sighs. "Come on, Ric. Whatever Damon knows, you know."

"Ask Damon."

"Yeah, but Damon's not exactly in the mood to help right now."

"For good reason. Because it's not safe for you. Stefan's off the rails. We don't even know how Trinity is."

"Yeah, but he's still holding on to his humanity, which means he can still be saved. And Trinity's helping him, I can feel it."

"And why do you have to be the one to save him?"

"Because I'm not the kind of person who checks out. Look, he would never give up on me. I'm not gonna give up on him. Tell me what you know, Ric. Please."

"They've been tracking werewolves, Stefan, Trinity, and Klaus. All over the eastern seaboard. We thought we had 'em outside of Memphis…"

* * *

_Smoky Mountains, Tennessee_

Klaus, Trinity, and Stefan are walking in the mountains. Stefan is holding Ray, unconscious, on his shoulders. Klaus looks at him. "You ok? Is Ray getting heavy?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure about that? You know, we've been walking for quite some time now. If you need some water or a little sit-down…"

"You know, I get that we're, uh…we're stuck together, but if we could maybe just skip the chitchat, it'd be great." Trinity says.

Klaus looks at her. "What was all that noise last night?"

"It was a bad night."

"And you turned to Stefan's comforting arms."

"Leave it alone Klaus." Stefan says, gaining his attention.

"So much brooding. Your self-loathing is suffocating you, my friend."

"Maybe it's 'cause I'm a little tired of hunting werewolves. We've been at it all summer."

"Thanks to our pal Ray, we found ourselves a pack. There." He points. They stop, looking around the camp. Everyone looks at Stefan as he enters the camp and puts Ray on the ground.

A woman rushes over to him. "Ray! Oh my god." She looks at Stefan. "What's going on? Who are you?"

Klaus and Trinity enter the camp. "The important question is who am I. Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus."

The woman looks at him. "You're the hybrid."

Klaus smiles. "You've heard of me. Fantastic."

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Carol pours herself a glass of scotch and then puts some vervain in the coffee.

Tyler walks in. "Hey, mom." He kisses her on the cheek.

"Morning, sweetheart." She greets. "Coffee's hot."

He pours himself some coffee. "Rough night?"

"Ugh, rough week." She groans. "I'm a little stressed. You?"

"Feeling pretty good."

"You know, if you're going to bring a girl home, I wish she'd have the tact to not sneak out like a prostitute."

He looks at her. "I'm sorry. She snuck out?"

"Hmm."

He sips his coffee and grimaces. "Whoa. I think the cream's bad." He puts the cup down. "Don't wait up tonight." He kisses her on the cheek. "Oh, and Caroline, she's not a prostitute." He leaves.

Carol takes out her phone and calls someone. "Bill, it's, um, Carol Lockwood. I've gotten myself into a bit of a vampire situation."

* * *

At the Grill, Jeremy goes in the stockroom to join Matt, who's working.

"Please tell me you're not turning into one of these losers that hangs out at work on his day off." Matt says.

"You remember what we talked about last night, how I've been seeing things?" Jeremy asks.

"Honestly, Jer, last night is kind of a blur."

"Well, I saw her again. I saw Vicki."

"Why are you…why are you telling me this? You're dating a witch. Why don't you tell her?"

"Tell Bonnie that she brought me back to life and now I'm seeing my dead girlfriend? We don't need a witch, ok? There's examples all over the Internet. We need…" He takes papers from his bag. "Personal items, and it works best when a family member tries to make contact."

"No, no, no, no, no, no. We're…we're not contacting my sister."

"She said, 'help me.'"

"If you're messing with me, man…"

"I saw her, Matt. She asked for help. You were the one she loved the most. If anyone's gonna be able to help me connect to her, it's you."

* * *

Elena is talking with Tyler. Alaric watches them.

"A lot of us like to keep to ourselves for the full moon, chain ourselves up. But there are some werewolves that like to gather in places where they don't have to do that, where they can enjoy it." Tyler explains.

"What kind of places?" She asks.

"Mountains, state parks, deserts, that kind of stuff."

"Anywhere in Tennessee?"

"Yeah. Here. Give me your phone. I'll try to pull up a map."

She gives him her phone. "Thanks for this. I know it's asking a lot."

"As Caroline likes to remind me, Stefan's in this mess because I bit Damon. I figure I owe you one. Have you talked to her today?"

"No. Why?"

"Just curious. Here." He gives back her phone. "That's your best bet."

* * *

Elena rejoins Alaric at the bar.

"Did you get anything?" He asks.

"How do you feel about a little hike through the Smoky Mountains?"

"You wanna hunt down a pack of werewolves on a full moon?"

"We'll be out of there before the moon is full. If you don't come with me, I'm going by myself. What? You're the one who told me that I could handle things on my own now."

"Yeah, I meant like frozen dinners and SATs." She glares at him. "A-all right fine. Let's just…let's just go. But, uh, you're driving."

* * *

Klaus, Trinity, and Stefan are sitting while everyone looks at them.

"It's fascinating, actually." Klaus says. "A werewolf who isn't beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn't burn in the sun. A true hybrid." Ray wakes up. "Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic."

"What's happening to me?" Ray groans.

"Stefan?"

Stefan gets up. "Are any of you human? Your friend here needs human blood to complete his transition to vampire. If he doesn't get it, he will die."

"Doesn't take much, just a sip. Anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend, along for the ride?" He looks at a man. "You." He rushes over to him and bites his forearm.

Stefan grabs him and throws him on the ground in front of Ray. The woman protests but Trinity grabs her by the throat. "If you don't drink it, Ray, I will. Problem is, I don't know how to stop." Stefan says when he refuses to drink.

Klaus looks at the girl in Trinity's arms. "It's the new order, sweetheart. You join us, or you die."

"I'd rather die than be a vampire." She glares.

"Wrong choice." He flashes over and gives her his blood. Trinity steps back. Ray drinks from the man. "She'll thank me for that later." He chuckles before snapping the woman's neck, letting her body fall to the ground. "Ok, who's next?" His eyes are yellow and his fangs are out.

* * *

At the Grill, Tyler is playing pool.

Matt rejoins him with coffee. "You moving in or something? You've been here forever."

"I thought I was meeting Caroline. You haven't seen her, have you?" He asks.

"Not keeping up on her comings and goings anymore."

"Look, man, I never meant for me and her being friends to be a problem for you."

"It is what it is. Tonight's a full moon. She usually helps you?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

"Do you, uh…is this like the kind of thing that you need another person for?"

"I can handle it. But thanks." He takes a drink of his coffee and grimaces. "Ugh. What is up with my taste buds today?"

Matt chuckles. "It's the vervain. The sheriff has me slip it into the coffee here every now and then."

Tyler looks at him. "That's what vervain tastes like?"

"Yeah. I'm surprised you can taste it; the coffee usually hides the flavor. For humans, anyway."

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Carol answers the door and a man enters. "Thank you so much for coming." She says. "Does anyone else know you're here?"

"No. I didn't drive through town. I came straight here." He tells her.

"Can I offer you a drink?"

"I think you should tell me what you expect me to do."

"I was hoping you could tell me. It's Caroline, Bill. I remember the day she was born."

"What does the rest of the council know?"

"I haven't said a word. I've been putting this together on my own for months now. Any ideas how to handle this? I can't get my hands dirty here for a lot of reasons."

"She's a vampire, Carol. We do what we have to do."

* * *

_Smoky Mountains, Tennessee_

Elena and Alaric are walking. "In a couple hours, the full moon's gonna rise just above that Ridge. If Tyler's right, that's where the pack will be." He says.

"You were a boy scout, weren't you?" She teases. "A boy scout, slash vampire slayer?"

"Slash whiskey-drinking all-around lost cause." They stop and he opens his weapons bag.

"Wow. You came stocked."

"Well, we aren't exactly bird-watching. Here. Put that in your bag." He gives her a grenade.

"Vervain grenade?"

"Wolfs bane."

"Well, since we're exchanging gifts…" She shows him the Gilbert ring.

"That's John Gilbert's ring."

"It was yours once. Go ahead. Take it. I'll protect you from whatever supernatural danger we're about to get ourselves into."

"He gave it to you."

"Yeah, but I'm a doppelgänger. It's not gonna work on me. He left it for if I ever have kids."

"Yeah, well, then why don't you save it for future generations of stubborn, relentless baby Gilberts?"

"Ok, and how 'bout you borrow it until after we survive this? I'd feel bad if I got you killed before happy hour." She hands him the ring before getting closer to the water. "I don't know why you think that you're a lost cause." Suddenly, Damon flashes up and pushes her into the water. Alaric aims his crossbow. Elena comes up and looks back at shore. "Damon! How are you even here?"

He turns to Alaric. "Thanks for the tip, brother."

She looks at Alaric. "You sold me out!"

"You think I'd take you to a mountain range of werewolves on a full moon without backup?" He asks.

* * *

Klaus gives his blood to the human and compels him. "There. Good as new. Now you relax, ok, mate? We're gonna need you when the rest of them wake up."

Ray looks around in horror. "They're dead. They're all dead."

"Ah, he's through his transition. He should be feeling better soon."

"So is this your master plan? Build an army of hybrid slaves?" Trinity asks.

"No, not slaves. Soldiers, comrades."

"For what war, might I ask?" Stefan asks him.

"Oh, you don't arm yourself after war has been declared, Stefan. You build your army so big that no one ever dares pick a fight."

"What makes you so sure that they'll be loyal?"

"Well, it's not difficult to be loyal when you're on the winning team." He answers. Trinity shakes her head at the notion. "That's something you'll learn once you shake that horribly depressive chip off your shoulder."

Stefan laughs. "That's why you're, uh…you're keeping me around? To witness my attitude adjustment?"

"You'll know why I'm keeping you around when I've decided that I want you to know." He frowns when he sees Ray's eyes bleeding. "Something's wrong."

Trinity grimaces. "That shouldn't be happening, should it?"

"Well, obviously." Klaus says.

* * *

Elena is still in the water.

"Get out of the water, Elena." Damon sighs.

She crosses her arms. "If I get out of the water, you're gonna make me go home."

"Yes, because I'm not an idiot like you."

"Right now, you're both acting like idiots." Alaric says but they ignore him.

"You gave up on them Damon." She tells him.

"I didn't give up on them, Elena. I faced reality. Now get out of the water."

"No!"

"What's your big plan, Elena? Huh? You gonna walk through a campsite full of werewolves, roast a marshmallow, and wait for Stefan and Trinity to stop by?" He joins her in the water, standing in front of her.

"My plan is to find them and help them. Damon, this is the closest that we've been to them since they left. I'm not going home."

"Klaus thinks you died when he broke the curse. That makes you safe. This, this is not safe."

"I'm not leaving before we find them."

"It's a full moon tonight, Elena."

"Then we'll find them before then." She says. "Damon, please."

"Ok." He sighs. "Ok. But we are out of here before the moon is full and I'm werewolf bait."

"I promise."

"Unless you wanna relive that whole deathbed kissy thing."

She glares at him. "I said I promise."

"Fine." They get out of the water.

* * *

Ray is shaking and his eyes are still bleeding. "You said it was gonna feel better. Why doesn't it feel better?"

"Some master race." Stefan says, making Trinity chuckle.

Klaus glares at them. "Lose the attitude." He sees the woman wake up. "Derek, come feed your girlfriend." He gets up. Ray snarls and makes a few jumps and leaves. Klaus looks at Stefan. "Go get him." Stefan leaves as well. Trinity goes to follow. "And where do you think you're going?"

Trinity looks at him. "Where he goes, I go." She takes off.

* * *

Stefan tackles Ray to the ground. Ray bites him and leaves. Trinity catches up. Stefan is about to go after him but he hears Damon and Elena's voice, as does Trinity.

"_How you doing?" _Damon asks her.

"_Fine." _She answers.

"_You know, I could help you."_

"_No, thanks."_

"_Just one little fwoosh."_

"_Yeah, with my luck, you'd drop me."_

"_What are you guys, 12?"_ Alaric asks.

They see them walking. Trinity leads Stefan away when she hears Klaus walking up.

"Where did he go?" He asks them.

"He, uh…he got away." Stefan says.

Trinity rolls her eyes. "Forget him. Let's go."

Klaus sees his arm. "A fatal werewolf bite. Ouch."

Stefan looks at the wound. "Yeah. I'm gonna need your blood to heal me."

"Well, I tell you what. You find Ray, and then I'll heal you."

"You can't be serious." Trinity says.

"You better hurry, 'cause that bite looks nasty." Klaus goes back to the campsite and sees the others are waking up. All of their eyes are bleeding.

* * *

Tyler finds his mother in his father's office. "You put vervain in my coffee this morning. Why?" He asks.

She feigns shock. "Vervain? What are you talking about?"

"Let's skip the part where we pretend we don't know about the vampires in this town. You were testing me to see if I was a vampire. I want to know why."

"You've been spending so much time with Caroline. I had to know for sure."

"What does Caroline have to do with it?"

"Let's skip the part where we pretend she's not one of them."

He steps closer. "Did you do something to her?"

"Tyler, I don't want you to be with her."

"Where is she, mom?"

"I can't let you be together."

"What did you do to her? Where is she?"

"You can't be with her. She's a monster."

"You don't know about me, do you?"

"Know what?" She asks but he doesn't answer. "Know what, Tyler?"

* * *

The sun is setting. Damon, Elena and Alaric are still walking.

"We got about a mile left." Alaric tells them.

Damon looks at the sky. "The sun's about to set."

"I can see that, Damon." Elena snaps.

"I'm just saying."

"The moon doesn't reach its apex for a while. We have time." They hear some twigs snapping. Ray comes out.

Alaric aims his crossbow at him. "Stay where you are!"

Ray looks at Damon. "Vampire!" He growls. He rushes over to Damon and they fight. He pushes Damon against a tree and tries to bite him. Alaric shoots an arrow at him but Ray is still trying to bite Damon.

Elena takes the wolfs bane grenade from her bag. "Damon!" She throws it to him, he makes it explode on Ray's face. He screams and his face burns. Damon kicks him in the stomach, knocking him unconscious.

Alaric looks at him. "Let me guess…hybrid."

* * *

At the Donovan house, Matt and Jeremy enter a room full of boxes.

"So this is all her stuff. We were supposed to donate it, but, uh, you know." Matt explains.

Jeremy looks around. "Well, everything I read said that personal items help build a stronger connection." They look into a box. Jeremy takes one of her shirts and Matt takes a pipe from it.

"Does her pipe count?" He takes a photo from when they were kids. "I don't know why I let you talk me into this, man."

"It's because she's your sister and you have a chance to help her."

Matt puts the picture on a table. "I can't do this. You gotta go."

"Matt, please."

"Nah, man. I can't do this, all right? You gotta go." Jeremy leaves. Matt hears a noise. He turns around and sees that the picture has moved.

* * *

Damon and Alaric are tying Ray to the tree.

"These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer. What else do we have?" Damon asks.

Elena is spraying the rope with vervain. "Ric, here. Take these."

Damon touches it but his skin burns. "Aah! Ow!"

"I said Ric."

Alaric takes it and puts it around Ray. "All right, that's the last of the vervain. We don't have enough stuff to hold him. I don't think we're gonna make that Ridge before the full moon."

"If we can get him to talk, we don't have to." She says. Ray screams as the transformation begins.

Damon looks at him warily. "Is he turning?"

Elena shakes her head in disbelief. "It's impossible. It's still daylight."

"Tell him that." Alaric says. Damon walks closer to Ray and grabs his shoulder.

"There aren't supposed to be werewolves out here until the moon is full." Elena says.

"You know, those ropes aren't gonna hold the wolf." Alaric says as Ray screams and snarls.

"Damon, we've got to get out of here. We gotta get out of these mountains now! Damon, now!" They run.

* * *

It's nighttime. Klaus is with Derek. "Bad news, my friend. End of the road for you." He bites into his neck and drains his blood. The woman is in front of him. "Careful, love. There's only one Alpha here." All of the werewolves' eyes are bleeding. "Bloody hell." He sighs.

* * *

Damon, Elena and Alaric are running. Elena trips and Damon turns back. "Don't move." He says. Elena raises her head only to look directly into the eyes of a werewolf. "Here, doggie, doggie." Damon teases before running, the werewolf chasing after him.

Alaric helps Elena up. "Come on. Let's keep moving."

"We can't leave Damon."

"He can handle himself. Let's move."

"No. If he gets bit, he'll be dead. I'm the reason he's out here."

"I am the reason he's out here. I told him where we were, and I'm telling you to keep moving. Let's go. Elena, now!"

* * *

Tyler leads Carol into the Lockwood cellar.

"Tyler, what is it? Just…just tell me." She says.

"You need to see for yourself." He takes the chains.

"What are you doing?"

"You think Caroline's a monster? I'm the monster, mom."

"What?" She asks but he grunts in pain. "Tyler, what's happening?" He pushes her into the cellar and closes the door. "Tyler, what are you doing?"

"Me, Uncle Mason, it's in our blood. It's our family curse." He explains.

"What curse?" The transformation begins. "Tyler, what's happening?! What's happening?" His fangs are out and his eyes are yellow. She screams. "Oh, my god! Ohh! No! Ohh!"

* * *

Damon is walking when Ray rushes toward him in human form. Trinity catches him and Stefan rips his heart out.

Damon looks at them. "Fancy meeting you here."

"What part of 'don't follow us anymore' got lost in translation, Damon?" Stefan asks.

"Might want to take it up with your girlfriend. You don't want her chasing you; I'd stop with the late-night phone calls."

"I didn't call her." He denies.

"Sure you did. She's not gonna give up on you."

"She has to. Because I'm never coming back." He looks at Trinity. "_We're _never coming back."

"Why don't you get her home? See if you could keep her there this time." Trinity says.

* * *

Elena and Alaric are in the car.

"Stefan and Trinity are out there somewhere and now Damon, and we're just sitting in this car?" She asks.

"Let the vampires and the shapeshifter fight the hybrid zombie mountain man. I'll take care of keeping the humans safe." Alaric tells her.

"I thought you were checked out of taking care of people."

"I know what you're doing. Don't. There doesn't need to be a lesson here."

"You're better at it than you think, you know?"

He sighs. "Oh, boy, are you a sucker for a lost cause or what?"

"You're not a lost cause, Ric. You're just lost. But so is Jeremy, and so am I. Our family is gone. We don't have anybody. I'm sorry, but you don't have anybody either, so…we're kind of good for each other."

"I'm keeping the ring, then." They see Damon walking towards the car.

"Damon?" She gets out. "Are you ok? Did you…?"

"Fine, bite-free. Get back in the car, please." He says.

"Can you just give me a minute to appreciate that you're not dead?"

"I'll give you 10 seconds. 9, 8…" He grabs her and pushes her towards the car. "Hey, Ric, did you happen to see where I parked my car?"

"Damon, stop being such a caveman."

* * *

Stefan and Trinity watch them go.

* * *

Elena looks through the window but they are gone.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Jeremy answers the door; it's Matt.

"I'm sorry about earlier." He says.

"I'm sorry about earlier…" Jeremy trails off. "It's a lot to ask." He sees the beer in Matt's hands and laughs. "Come on in."

Matt enters. "I spent the day going through her stuff. It was weird, you know, all the memories. I realize that most people didn't really get Vic. You know, they saw her as trouble and let it go at that. But you really got her. You know, you…you got her better than I did most of the time so…I don't know what we're gonna do with all this, but…here." He gives Jeremy a bag.

Jeremy opens it and takes Vicki's shirt out. "You know, I don't remember her dying. I don't know if Caroline told you that when she told you everything."

"Nah, she didn't."

"Elena made them take that memory away from me, thought I couldn't handle it. So whatever my last moment was with her, I don't have it."

"I don't either. I don't remember the last moment I had with Vicki before she was a vampire…when she was still my sister."

Jeremy turns around and sees Vicki.

"Matty?" She asks.

Matt looks at Jeremy who is staring off into space with a shocked look on his face. "Do you see something? Is she here?"

Jeremy is still looking at Vicki. "You said you needed help. Tell me how I can help you please."

"I can come back. Help me come back." She says.

"What is she saying?" Matt asks. "Tell me."

A window breaks and Anna appears. "Jeremy. Don't trust Vicki."

* * *

Stefan and Trinity come back with Ray. They see that the rest of the pack is dead.

Klaus looks around in defeat. "They went rabid. Some of them, I killed. The others just…bled out. In the end…they're all dead!" He yells. "I did everything I was told! I should be able to turn them. I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppelgänger." Stefan shifts uncomfortably and Trinity takes his hand. "You look like hell."

"Last I checked, I'm dying…and you don't want to heal me." He says.

"We had to take him out." Trinity tells him. "We didn't have a choice."

"I failed you. I'm sorry. Do what you have to do, but it's not Trinity's fault." Stefan says, Trinity tightens her grip on his hand.

"It should have worked." He takes a bottle of beer and bites his wrist, letting the blood fall into the bottle before giving it to Stefan. "Bottoms up. We're leaving. It appears you're the only comrades I have left."

Stefan drinks the blood from the bottle and throws it aside.

* * *

Elena walks into her bedroom and sees Damon. "Seriously?"

"I was wrong." He sighs.

She looks at him. "Are you drunk?"

"No. I thought Stefan was gone, Trinity too, but I was wrong."

"You saw them out there? Damon, are they ok?"

"No, they're not ok, Elena. Stefan's an insufferable martyr that needs his ass kicked, and Trinity needs to learn how to separate from him…but they can be saved."

"What happened out there? What changed your mind?"

"I changed my mind because even in his darkest place, my brother still can't let me die. And for some reason, Trinity actually cares about me. So I figure I owe them the same in return. I'll help you bring them back."

"Thank you."

"But before I do, I need you to answer one question. What made you change your mind?"

"What do you mean?" She asks.

He steps closer. "You were so hell bent on staying on that mountain, then you just gave up. So what changed your mind?"

"We were under attack, Damon."

"You had a bag full of weapons and a teacher with an eternity ring. You could have kept going."

"It was too dangerous."

"It was too dangerous going out there to begin with, so what was it?"

"Why are you being like this?"

"What changed your mind, Elena?"

"I didn't want to see you get hurt, ok? I was…I was worried about you."

"Thanks." He goes to leave.

"Yes, I worry about you. Why do you even have to hear me say it?"

He gets closer to her and cups her face. "Because when I drag my brother from the edge and deliver him back to you, I want you to remember the things you felt while he was gone. Good night, Elena." He touches her hair and leaves the room. Alaric is at the top of the stairs with his luggage. "How's it going, Ric?" He leaves.

Alaric looks at Elena. "Know what you're doing there?"

She sighs. "No, I don't."

* * *

Tyler wakes up naked. He looks at Carol, who has witnessed everything.

"I'll take care of it. I'll make sure nothing happens to her." She tells him.

"Thank you." He sighs.

* * *

Now back at the mansion, Carol calls Bill. "I think we made a mistake."

"_Carol, you called me in to take care of this problem. Why the sudden change of heart?"_

"Maybe a guilty conscience."

"_Don't feel guilty. They're not human. They're monsters."_

"What if we're wrong?"

"_My family's been committed to this fight for almost 150 years, Carol. You married into it, so maybe you don't understand, but I do. I know what my obligations are."_

"Wait." She says but he hangs up.

* * *

Caroline wakes up in a cellar, tied to a chair. "Hello! Mrs. Lockwood?! Somebody!" She hears someone coming. "Who's that? Mrs. Lockwood?! Please."

Bill opens the door and enters. "Hello, Caroline."

She looks at him in shock. "Daddy?"


	47. The End of the Affair

Chapter Forty Seven: The End of the Affair

Stefan brushes a strand of hair from Trinity's face. "How are you?" He asks.

"The whispers are getting worse." She tells him. "It's getting harder to block them out."

"What are they saying?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know. The few times that I'm able to make them out, they're in another language."

"Have you been seeing things again?"

"No…at least I don't think so. We're always in public. Or if we're in the woods, I dismiss it as a trick of light."

"It's going to be okay."

She sighs. "It's only going to get worse."

"I'll be here for you." He says. "When it feels like it's getting bad, just grab onto me. Squeeze my hand and I'll squeeze back."

She nods. "Ok."

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon's phone rings and he answers it. "You're interrupting my drink."

"_You miss me?" _He hears.

"Katherine. Where are you?"

"_Lurking outside your window, pining away."_

"What do you want?"

"_I'm homesick. What have I missed?"_

"Well, Stefan and Trinity are still Klaus' little prisoners and Elena still thinks she can save them and no one's thought about you since you left."

"_And what about you? I'm sure now that you've given up on your brother; you're plotting some sort of way of moving in on his girlfriend. Trinity must be collateral damage."_

"I didn't give up on him or Trinity. I just don't know where they are."

"_Hmm."_

"But you do. Are you trailing them?"

"_A hybrid who wants me dead, his sidekick who's off the rails, and the shapeshifter who's sanity drifts away more and more each day? I couldn't be further away."_

"Which means you know exactly where they are."

"_All I know is that Klaus pitched a fit once his hybrids didn't work. Now he's looking for some answers."_

"How do you know that?"

"_Spend 500 years running, and there will be a few people along the way that are looking out for you."_

"Is that what you're doing? Looking out for my brother and your crazy ex?"

"_Maybe, maybe not. I'm conflicted."_

"Where are they?"

* * *

_Chicago_

Klaus, Trinity, and Stefan get out of the car.

"Welcome back to Chicago, Stefan, Trinity." Klaus says.

Stefan looks around. "Welcome back to Chicago, Stefan."

"I know how much you loved it here. Bringing back memories of the good old ripper days?"

"Blacked out most of them. A lot of blood, a lot of partying. The details are all a blur." He says, throwing an arm around Trinity's shoulder.

"Well, that is a crying shame. The details are what makes it legend."

* * *

_Flashback: Chicago, 1920's_

"Word was the ripper of Monterrey got lonely, so he escaped to the city for comfort. It was prohibition. Everything was off limits then, which made everything so much fun."

_Stefan is in a car making out with a girl but then he drinks her blood and kills her. He gets out of the car and wipes the blood from his lips._

_He enters the bar and the singer sees him. "Guess who my eyes have just spied, ladies? Looking for a good time, Mr. Salvatore?" She smiles._

"_Save me a dance, Gloria." He smiles, reaching for a glass of champagne but a woman takes it before him. "Ooh. Please, help yourself."_

"_Oh, I always do." She steps close, licking her lips before whispering in his ear; her face changes. "Careful, Mr. Salvatore. You're still wearing your date. She's lovely." She turns to leave but he grabs her arm._

"_No, no, no. Who are you?"_

_She smiles, putting a finger to her lips._

* * *

_Present_

"Chicago was magical." Klaus says.

Stefan sighs. "Yeah, well, I'll take your word for it. Like I said, I don't remember most of it."

"Going to get down to business, then?"

"Why are we still with you?" Trinity asks. "We had our fun, your hybrids failed. I mean, don't you want to move on?"

"We're going to see my favorite witch. If anyone can help us with our hybrid problem, it's her."

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Elena is sleeping in her bed. She turns over only to lie on Damon's chest. Her eyes snap open.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head." He smiles.

"Aah!" She moves away. "What are you doing?! Get out!"

"You know you were dreaming about me. Explains the drool."

"Ugh. Oh, my god." She looks at her clock. "6:00 A.M. seriously? Do you really have nothing better to do at 6:00 A.M.?"

"Fine, don't come with me to bring Stefan and Trinity home. See ya." He gets up.

"Wait." She gets up as well. "Wait, wait, wait. What? What are you talking about? Where are they?"

"Windy city."

"They're in Chicago? Well, how do you know?"

"It came to me in a dream. I was naked. You would have loved it. Start packing."

"Are they ok?"

"Well, let's just say they're not there to meet Oprah." He opens one of her drawers and takes out one of Elena's underwear. "Ooh. Put these in the 'yes' pile."

She takes it from his hands and puts it back into the drawer.

* * *

Caroline is still attached to a chair. She hears a noise. "Daddy, are you there? Why won't you talk to me? Dad!"

Smoke enters the cellar. Bill opens the door and walks in. "Shhh. I'm so sorry this happened to you."

"Dad…"

"I need an answer. How do you walk in the sunlight?"

"Just let me go."

"Sweetheart, please, just answer me. Then we'll get on with it."

"Is that all you want to know?" She asks.

"That's all I want to know." She shows him her ring. "Interesting." He takes the ring off.

"No, dad, no! What are you…" He throws the ring to the floor. "What are you doing? What are you doing?"

"Your ancestors built this place. People figured it was for unruly prisoners at the jailhouse, but…they had something else in mind. Vervain in the ventilation system to keep their subject weak. Reinforced steel containment chair. And that." He leaves the cellar.

"What are you doing?"

He comes back and holds a blood bag in front of her. Her face changes and he takes it back. "Blood controls you, sweetheart. This is how I'm going to fix you."

"What?"

He pulls on a chain. The sun enters the cellar. Caroline screams as her skin begins to burn.

* * *

Damon and Elena are driving to Chicago. "I sure hope we find them, 'cause it would suck if the last memento of Stefan was that crappy old necklace. We don't even have anything from Trinity. It's not like I could steal from her either. She never invited me into her house."

She touches her vervain necklace. "It's an antique, Damon. Like you. And Trinity most likely never invited you in _for _that reason."

"What about you?" He asks. "She's never invited you either."

She shrugs. "She was never home that much."

"The only people ever invited into her house were Stefan and _Katherine." _He says. "I wonder what it looks like."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Well we've been through life threatening situations, she's killed people to protect us, but she still keeps us at a distance. I just think it's strange. Maybe she's hiding something."

"I don't know Damon." She sighs.

He takes a diary from the back of the car. "Read this. Paints a pretty little picture of Stefan's first experience in Chicago."

"It's Stefan's diary. I'm not going to invade his private thoughts."

"You need to be prepared for what you're about to see."

"I've seen Stefan in his darkest periods. I can handle it."

He opens the diary. "Here's one. March 12, 1922." He mimics Stefan. "I've blacked out days. I wake up in strangers' blood, in places I don't recognize with women I don't remember." He looks at Elena. "Ahh! I'm shocked! Stefan's not a virgin?"

She takes the diary from his hands. "Eyes on the road, grandma."

"Fine. Back to my game. Tell me if you see a Florida plate."

She opens the journal and begins reading.

* * *

_Flashback: Chicago, 1920's_

_Stefan is at the bar, drinking with his friends. The woman from earlier is dancing with a man but she stops and rejoins Stefan and his friends. "Sorry to crash the fun, boys, but some of us actually came here to hear the music. Not you."_

_Stefan smiles. "I am so sorry, sweetheart. Are we offending you?" His friends laugh._

_She touches his face. "It would take a lot more than a baby face like this to offend me." She turns to leave._

"_Ahem. Hey, hey. You ever going to tell me your name?"_

_She turns back. "Sure. When you earn it. Now do Gloria a favor and stick a sock in it." She says before returning to her dance partner._

* * *

_Present_

Klaus, Trinity, and Stefan enter the bar.

"Looks familiar, doesn't it?" Klaus asks.

Stefan looks around. "I can't believe this place is still here."

Trinity squeezes his hand. "Must've been a fun time."

The owner looks at them and sighs. "You got to be kidding me."

Klaus smiles. "So a hybrid walks into a bar, says to the bartender…"

"Stop. You may be invincible, but that doesn't make you funny." She looks at Stefan. "I remember you."

"Yeah. You're Gloria. Shouldn't you be…" He trails off.

"Old and dead? Now if I die, who's going to run this place, huh?"

"Gloria's a very powerful witch." Klaus explains.

"I can slow the aging down some. Herbs and spells. But don't worry, it'll catch up to me one day." She says before looking at Trinity, who is staring off into space. "You're a new face. How'd you get roped in with these riff raff?"

"She's a shapeshifter." Klaus tells her. "Have you ever heard of something like her?"

Gloria shakes her head. "Never."

Klaus looks at Trinity. "Don't be shy now. Show the lady your skill." Trinity sighs and steps away from Stefan. She looks at Gloria before shifting into a cheetah, stalking towards her. "Amazing, isn't she?"

"Where did you find her?" She asks.

"Oh, that's all Stefan." He says. "She never leaves his side, quite devoted really." Trinity shifts back into her human form. "Stefan, why don't you go and fix us up a little something from behind the bar?"

"Yeah, sure thing." He takes Trinity's hand.

She looks at Gloria. "Is it okay if I grab a soda?"

"Grab anything you like." She says, her eyebrows crinkle as Trinity focuses on an empty chair.

"It's okay to have a drink with us." Klaus says, bringing her back to reality. "We won't tell."

"There's no point." Trinity says. "I can't get drunk." She goes to the bar with Stefan.

Klaus looks at Gloria. "You look ravishing, by the way."

"Don't. I know why you're here. A hybrid out to make more hybrids? That kind of news travels."

"So what am I doing wrong? I broke the curse."

"Obviously you did something wrong. Look, every spell has a loophole, but a curse that old…we'd have to contact the witch who created it."

"Well, that would be the original witch. She's very dead."

"I know. And for me to contact her, I'll need help. Bring me Rebekah."

"Rebekah." He says. "Rebekah is a bit preoccupied."

"She has what I need. Bring her to me."

Trinity looks around and sees a picture on the wall. "Stefan, look."

He turns and sees the picture. "What is this?" He asks, surprised.

"Well, I told you, Stefan." Klaus says. "Chicago's a magical place."

"But this is me. With you." He shows him the picture. It's them in the 1920's.

* * *

At the Forbes house, Liz calls Caroline, who doesn't answer. "Caroline! It's mom. Just coming up for air after a few all-nighters at the station. I thought we'd have lunch and you could remind me I promised not to work so hard."

* * *

Tyler knocks on the door of the Forbes house.

* * *

Caroline is still burning in the sun. "No! Please! Stop! Please stop! Please!" She cries. Bill closes the shutters. "I don't hurt anyone, I swear. Dad, I swear. I can handle the urges. I can!"

"If you could handle it, this wouldn't happen." He holds the blood by in front of her and her face changes.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"I'm conditioning you to associate vampirism with pain, in time; the thought of human blood will make you repress your vampire instincts completely."

"That's impossible. Daddy, you can't change who I am."

"Yes, I can."

"No."

"You remember this feeling?"

"No! No! No! No, no!" She begs.

He pulls on the chain again to make the sun appear in the cellar. She screams as her skin burns.

* * *

Elena and Damon arrive at an apartment. "Stefan could live anywhere in Chicago and he chose this?" She asks.

"There used to be an all-girls high school around the corner, but it shut down for attendance issues. Weird." He says.

"If you're trying to scare me into giving up and going back, it's not going to work."

"Shh." He breaks the lock and opens the door. "Here we are. Stefan's second personality home." They walk in, looking around the old, dusty room.

"He obviously hasn't been here."

"Tour is not over yet." He goes toward a wall and opens a hidden door, revealing shelves of alcohol.

"Stefan hid his alcohol. What a monster."

"Look harder."

She gets closer and sees a list. "It's a list of names."

"Mm-hmm."

"These are all of his victims?"

"Still handling it?"

"What were you doing in the 1920s? Paving the way for women's liberation?"

"I was around. Chicago's a big city. Stefan was a cocky ripper douche. But I could avoid him and still indulge in a few Daisy Buchanan's of my own."

She looks disgusts. "Where are you going?" She asks when he walks past her.

"His old stomping ground."

"I'm coming with you."

"No. You stay here and whip up an actual plan. I'll come back when I find him." He leaves.

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense." Stefan looks at Klaus. "Why don't I remember you?"

"You said it yourself, that time had a lot of dark holes."

"No, if you knew me, then why haven't you said anything?"

"I'm a little busy right now. Memory Lane will have to wait."

"Really?" Trinity asks. "Because this whole time, we've been having trouble getting you to shut up."

"What the hell is going on?" Stefan asks him. "Answer me."

"Let's just say we didn't get off to a brilliant start. To be honest, I hated you." Klaus explains.

* * *

_Flashback: Chicago, 1920's_

_Stefan is drinking blood from a women. Rebekah drinks with him on the other side of her neck. Rebekah and Stefan kiss. _

_He sees her necklace. It's the one he gave to Elena. "It's beautiful."_

"_A witch gave it to me. Supposedly it's magical." She says._

"_And is it?"_

"_It brought me love, didn't it?"_

_Klaus arrives and grabs her arm. "It's late, Rebekah, we're leaving."_

"_Get off of me!"_

_Stefan gets up. "Who is this guy?"_

"_Stefan, don't. He'll kill you. He's a lot stronger than he looks."_

_Klaus looks at him. "So this is the famous Stefan Salvatore. I've been hearing so much about. You're right, he does have funny hair. I'm bored. I want to go."_

"_Then go without me, I'm not your girlfriend." She says._

"_No, you're my sister, which means…you have to do as I say."_

* * *

_Present_

"Your sister." Trinity says.

"So I knew another original vampire." Stefan adds.

"If you can't handle it, then don't ask." Klaus tells him.

They look at the coffins in the warehouse. Klaus opens one, revealing Rebekah. He smiles and touches her face.

Trinity looks at her. _Beautiful. _She thinks before rolling her eyes. _I already learned my lesson; I need to stay away from Stefan's ex's._

Stefan looks at Rebekah. "I don't recognize her."

"Well, don't tell her that. Rebekah's temper is worse than mine." He takes the dagger out of her chest. "Time to wake up, little sister." He waits a moment. "Any day now, Rebekah." He looks at the duo. "She's being dramatic."

"Look, why don't you just tell me what the hell is going on? I mean, you obviously want me here for a reason, right?" Stefan asks.

"Well, you have many useful talents."

"Do I?"

"In fact, I learned some of my favorite tricks from you."

* * *

_Flashback: Chicago, 1920's_

_Klaus is at the table with Stefan and Rebekah. "So Stefan, enlighten me. What makes you worthy of an original like my sister? She's pure vampire and you're no more than a diluted bloodline."_

_Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Don't listen to him, Stefan. Nik's an elitist."_

"_Hmm. And where's the rest of your family?" Stefan asks._

"_Well, let's see. Um…" Klaus feigns thinking. "I killed most of them."_

"_But not all." Rebekah adds._

_Stefan looks at her. "And you're ok with that?"_

"_Well, we all had the chance to choose a side. I chose the right one, eventually." She touches Klaus' hand._

_A men stops by their table. "Where the hell's my wife?"_

_Stefan smirks. "I don't know. I give up."_

"_You think you're so tough? Hiding in your bar, drinking your liquor? A telephone call to Chicago P.D. might set you straight." The man says, making the vampires laugh._

_Stefan calls a woman. "Lila? Lila, please. Come here for a second."_

_The man sighs. "Oh, thank god. Come on, we're leaving." He tries to go but Stefan compels him._

"_Oh, no, no, no, no. No. You're sitting." The man sits down next to Klaus and Lila next to Stefan. He takes off her glove and takes out a knife._

"_Stefan, don't be mean." Rebekah chides._

"_What the hell are you doing?" The man asks._ _Klaus watches, intrigued._

_Stefan cuts Lila wrist and the blood pours in a glass. "Thank you so much, Lila. Why don't you go and bandage that up?" She gets up and leaves. Stefan compels the man. "I'd like you to join me for a drink." He gives him the glass with the blood of his wife._

_The man looks at him with fear and disgust. "What kind of sick freaks are you?"_

"_I said, drink!" He watches as the man takes a sip of his wife's blood. "I didn't catch your name."_

"_Go to hell." The man glares, making Klaus laugh._

"_Do you want another sip?"_

"_Liam." The man relents. "Liam Grant."_

"_Liam Grant! Have another sip, Liam." Stefan smiles as the man drinks. "Finish it." _

_Klaus laughs in joy._

* * *

_Present_

"I was your number one fan." Klaus smiles.

Trinity takes Stefan's hand. "Why should he believe any of this?"

"She's right." Stefan adds. "I have no memory of it."

Klaus compels the guy who handles the transport. "When she wakes up, tell her to meet us at Gloria's bar. Then volunteer your carotid artery and let her feed until you die."

"Where are you going?" Stefan asks.

"You think I'm lying, Stefan. You and I knew each other. You trusted me with one of your secrets and now I'm going to prove it to you."

"How?"

"We're going to your old apartment."

* * *

Damon enters Gloria's bar.

"Well, look what the wind blew in." She says. "Last I heard, you hated this place."

He looks at her. "Gloria. Damn! If I knew you were going to age like this, I would have stuck around."

"I always did like you better. But I see your brother is still running in the wrong crowd."

"You've seen him?"

"With Klaus. Bad combo. The girl he was with didn't seem bad, just a little…off."

"You know where they went?"

"They'll be back here later tonight. They're out running a little errand for me."

"Gloria…" He touches her hand. "Don't be a tease. What kind of errand?"

She removes her hand. "I don't think so. You may be cute, but you're still a vampire."

* * *

At the apartment, Elena is reading Stefan's diary. _'April, 1922. Lexi found me last night, dragged me off the train tracks. Thinks she can make me care again.' _She turns the page. _'June, 1924. Lexi's driving me crazy. More animal blood, more misery." _She turns the page again. _'1935. Cravings are there, but it's easier. Lexi's on to her next project…getting me to laugh.'_

Suddenly, she hears Klaus, Stefan, and Trinity coming. She looks at the door.

* * *

Klaus sees that the lock has been broken and kicks the door open. They walk in. "What a charming little homestead. Do you feel that? Is anybody here?"

Trinity's eyes widen when she smells Elena's scent in the room. She takes Stefan's hand and squeezes it over and over again. He throws her a concerned look. Elena is in the hidden closet.

"It's been vacant for decades. People must break in all the time. Why'd you bring me here?" Stefan asks.

"Your friend, Liam Grant, the one who drank his wife's blood…I never could figure out why you wanted his name. And then you told me your little secret. It was all part of your special little ritual."

* * *

Elena looks at the list and sees Liam Grant's name.

* * *

"To write it down." Stefan tells him.

Klaus smiles. "And relive the kill…over and over again." He opens the hidden door. "You believe me now?"

Stefan enters the closet to see the list. He turns his head and is surprised to see Elena. He realizes that's what Trinity must've been trying to warn him about. Elena looks at him with hope that quickly turns into fear at his next words. "Look what I found." He takes out a bottle and gives it to Klaus. Elena holds in a sigh of relief. "1918. Single malt."

"My favorite." Klaus grins. "Let's go and find someone to pair it with."

Stefan closes the closet.

* * *

Elena hides behind a wall with a vervain dart in her hand. She hears someone coming and peeks out, only to see Damon. "Finally!" She says, coming out. "I called you an hour ago!"

He gives her a bag. "Make yourself presentable. I know where Stefan's going to be tonight." He sits down.

"I told you that I was practically discovered by Klaus and you're worried about what I'm wearing?"

"I had an hour to realize what a bad idea it was to leave you here alone, process it, and move on. Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, good. Get dressed. You're all road-trippy and gross."

"So you know where they're going to be?"

"Yes, with Klaus. So I'll distract Klaus and you deal with Stefan and Trinity."

"Ok." She nods. "Thank you."

"But you're going to have about five minute's tops before that hybrid freak rips my heart out. So please, tell me you can do this."

"I can do this."

* * *

Klaus, Stefan, and Trinity sit at the bar.

Gloria gives the two men beer. "Where's Rebekah?"

"She'll be here. I can't just conjure her on demand." Klaus says before looking at Stefan. "What's with you? I thought Chicago was your playground."

"So this is why you asked me to be your wingman?" He asks. "Because you liked the way that I tortured innocent people?"

"Well, that's certainly half of it."

"What's the other half?"

"The other half, Stefan, is that you used to want to be my wingman."

* * *

_Flashback: Chicago, 1920's_

_Klaus and Stefan are at the bar. "They're jealous." Stefan tells him. "Your family wants you dead because they can never be what you are."_

"_What?" Klaus asks. "An abomination?"_

"_No. A king."_

_Klaus smiles. "Look at us. Two sad orphans. My sister fancies you, you know. But…I should warn you, Rebekah doesn't do anything half-speed, and that includes falling in love. So just be careful. She's totally mad."_

"_I appreciate the advice."_

"_And when the point comes where she inevitably leaves you…she can't help it, it's just who she is. Don't let your heart do anything stupid."_

"_You know what; you're a good friend, Nik. I'm glad I met you."_

* * *

_Present_

Klaus raises his shot of tequila. "To friendship."

* * *

Caroline has burn marks on her skin.

"I want you to know, when Carol Lockwood called and told me about you…" Bill trails off. "I sat down and cried."

"Dad, I'm ok. I've learned to adapt. I don't need to be fixed. I can't be fixed." She tells him.

"I've always taught you to try your best. I need you to try your best now." He puts the blood bag in front of her but her face remains normal. "There, see? You're doing it."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. Fight the urge."

"Daddy, I'm starving." She cries.

"I know you are, Care. Try."

"Why? You know that this isn't going to work."

"It has to work. It's the only option."

"Why are you trying to fix me?"

"So I don't have to kill you!" He yells.

Her face changes. "Daddy, I'm sorry."

He raises his head. "The sun's gone down. We'll try again tomorrow." He leaves the cellar and closes the door. He turns around only to see Liz aiming her gun towards him.

"Hello Bill." She glares.

"Put the gun down, Liz. I know what I'm doing."

"That's our daughter in there. She looks up to you. She loves you."

"Then she'll trust me to do the right thing. Let me do this, Liz. Not because she's a monster. But because we love her."

"Tyler." She calls. Tyler comes out and goes down the stairs.

"You're not going in there." Bill protest.

Liz shoots the space next to him. "Go ahead."

Tyler opens the door and enters the cellar.

"Tyler." Caroline sighs in relief.

He rushes toward her and breaks the chains. "It's ok. We're going to get you out of here."

"My ring."

He picks it up and puts it on her finger before carrying her out.

* * *

"So I'm confused." Stefan says. "If we were such great friends, then why do I only know you as the hybrid dick who sacrificed my girlfriend on an altar of fire?"

"All good things must come to an end." Klaus sighs.

* * *

_Flashback: Chicago, 1920's_

_Stefan and Rebekah are dancing. Klaus looks at them with a smile when suddenly he feels something. Policemen enter and shoot everywhere in the bar. Rebekah and Stefan hide behind the bar. _

_Stefan picks up one of the bullets from the ground. "They're using wooden bullets. They know."_

_Rebekah looks at the bullet in horror. "That means he's here."_

"_Who? Who's here?"_

"_Rebekah!" Klaus calls. "Come on, we've got to go, sweetheart." He takes her arm when she gets up._

_Stefan follows after them. "What the hell is going on?"_

"_Stefan!" Rebekah calls._

"_Go!" Klaus orders. Her necklace falls to the floor as she flees. Stefan goes to pick it up when Klaus grabs him. "Stefan. I'm sorry, but the fun has to end here."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_You must forget Rebekah and me. Until I say otherwise, you never knew us, Stefan. Thank you. I had forgotten what it was like to have a brother." Klaus compels him before disappearing._

* * *

_Present_

Stefan looks at him in shock. "You compelled me to forget?"

"It was time for Rebekah and I to move on. Better to have a clean slate."

"But why?" Trinity asks. "You shouldn't have to cover your tracks."

"Unless you're running from someone." Stefan realizes.

Klaus face goes hard. "Storytime's over."

Stefan turns his head and sees Damon, who makes a sign to come outside. Stefan then looks at Klaus. "I need another drink. A real one." He takes Trinity's hand and they leave.

"If you wanted alone time, you should've just asked." Klaus teases.

* * *

They walk up to Damon.

"What is wrong with you?!" Stefan asks him.

"What is wrong with you?" Damon asks. "You kill Andie one day, you save my life the next. What are you good, bad? Pick one!"

"Klaus almost saw Elena today. You have to get her out of Chicago." Trinity tells him.

"She's not going anywhere until she's got _you-" _He points to Stefan. "Checked into vampire rehab and on the mend. And _you-" _He points to Trinity. "Home or in a mental facility…or a zoo. Trust me. I've tried."

"She is the key to everything. Klaus can't know that she's alive." Stefan says.

Damon looks at them in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"She was supposed to die in the sacrifice and she didn't. Now Klaus can't create any new hybrids. His witch is seconds away from figuring that out. Tell Elena to go home and forget about me. To forget about _us._"

Damon pauses. "Tell her yourself." He moves to the side, revealing Elena.

* * *

Damon takes a seat next to Klaus at the bar.

"I see they've opened the doors to the riff raff now." Klaus says.

Damon smirks. "Oh, honey, I've been called worse."

"You don't give up, do you?"

"Give me my brother and his BFF…you'll never see me again."

"Well, I am torn. You see, I promised them I wouldn't let you die, but how many freebies did I really sign up for? And clearly you want to die, otherwise you wouldn't be here, so…"

"What can I say? I'm a thrill seeker."

Klaus wraps a hand around Damon's throat.

* * *

"I'll give you a minute." Trinity walks away from the couple.

"You shouldn't be here." Stefan says.

Elena looks at him. "Where else would I be?"

"What do you want? Damon won't be able to distract Klaus for long."

She touches his face. "Come home." She embraces him and is about to stake him with a vervain dart when Trinity catches her wrist and pushes her away from Stefan.

Stefan looks at the dart in Elena's hand before glaring at her. "How much clearer can I make it? I don't want to come home!"

* * *

Klaus is stabbing Damon with a toothpick. "Oh, dear, what was that? I'm a little boozy, so you'll forgive me if I miss your heart the first few tries." He stabs him again. "Ohh! No, that's not it. Hmm." He stabs him again. "Ohh. Almost."

"You want a partner in crime? Forget Stefan. I'm so much more fun." Damon tells him.

"You won't be any fun after you're dead." He pushes him to the ground and his about to stake him when Gloria sets the stake alight with her powers. Klaus looks at her. "Really?"

"Not in my bar. You take it outside." She tells him.

He looks down at Damon. "You don't have to negotiate your brother's freedom. When I'm done with him, he won't want to go back. Neither will his pet."

* * *

"Klaus is obsessed with siring these hybrids. The second he knows you're alive, he'll figure out why it's not working." Trinity explains.

"Look, I know you're trying to protect me, but I can't let you do it." Elena tells them. "Come with me, please."

"And what do you expect if we do? Huh? It's never going to be the same, Elena." Stefan says.

"I know that."

"I don't think you do. I've left bodies scattered from Florida to Tennessee. Innocent people. Humans. Trinity was there to watch every time."

"We'll be there to help Trinity. Lexi found you like this before. In the twenties, and…and she saved you."

"And you know what I did after that? I spent 30 years trying to pull myself together. To a vampire, that's nothing. To you? That's half your life."

"I can't give up on you, Stefan." She says, tears in her eyes.

"Yes, you can. It's done. That part of my life is done. I don't want to see you. I don't want to be with you. I just want you to go." He tells her. She looks at Trinity.

"I think Stefan explained it pretty well." Trinity says.

* * *

Elena is in the car, looking through the window and touching her necklace.

Damon gets in and looks at her. "You ok?

"Just drive." She sighs.

* * *

Caroline is in her bed. She finishes her blood bag and hands it to Liz. "Thank you."

"Honey, your dad…" Liz trails off. "All our families, we have beliefs that have been passed on through generations. And we were taught never to stray from them."

"You did."

"You taught me to look at things in a different way."

"I just thought that he was the one who got me."

"He did. He will again." She gets up to leave.

"Hey, mom?" Liz looks at her. "Thanks for believing in me." Liz smiles before leaving the room, passing Tyler on the way.

"Would now be a bad time to give you crap about sneaking out on me?" He asks Caroline.

She smiles before bursting into tears. He takes her into his arms. "He hates me. My dad hates me." She cries. Tyler kisses her head.

* * *

Klaus enters the room full of his family's coffins. Rebekah's is empty and the man is dead. "Rebekah." He calls. "It's your big brother. Come out; come out, wherever you are."

Suddenly she appears before him and stabs him with the dagger. "Go to hell, Nik!"

* * *

_Flashback: Chicago, 1920's_

_Klaus and Rebekah are next to a car._

"_Hurry up, Rebekah. Let's go!" He says._

_She doesn't move. "He'll be here any second."_

"_Do you want to die? We've been found. We need to move."_

"_Not without Stefan."_

"_Stefan's not coming. We have to disappear. He'll draw too much attention. Let him go."_

_She looks at him. "What did you do?"_

"_Come on. We don't have time for one of your tantrums."_

"_I don't want to run anymore, Nik! All we do is run. I want to be with Stefan."_

"_Fine. Then choose. Him or me." She doesn't answer. "That's what I thought. Get in the truck. Let's go."_

"_Goodbye Nik." She turns to leave but he stabs a dagger through her heart._

* * *

_Present_

Klaus takes the dagger out of his chest and throws it on the ground. "Don't pout. You knew it wouldn't kill me."

She glares at him. "Yeah, but I was hoping it would hurt more."

"I understand that you're upset with me, Rebekah…so I'm going to let that go. Just this once. Brought you a little peace offering. You can come in." He says. Stefan comes in, Trinity in the form of a fox at his side.

"Stefan…" Rebekah breathes.

Klaus gets closer to him and compels him. "Now you remember."

Stefan's eyes widen as the memories hit him. "Rebekah."

"Stefan." Klaus smiles.

* * *

_Flashback: Chicago, 1920's_

_Stefan looks at the photographer. "Hey, buddy, take a picture of my brother and me." He takes Klaus by the shoulders for the picture._

* * *

_Present_

Stefan looks at Klaus and Rebekah. "I remember you. We were friends."

"We _are_ friends." Klaus corrects him. "Old and new." He looks at Trinity, who shifts into her human form.

Rebekah looks at her in a mixture of suspicion and awe. "Who are you?"

"We'll exchange pleasantries later." Klaus looks at Rebekah. "And now the reason you're here. Gloria tells me you know how to contact the original witch."

"The original witch?" She asks.

"What do you have that Gloria needs?"

She touches her neck. "Where's my necklace? What did you do with it? I never take it off!"

"I don't know. I didn't touch it."

"We need to find it, Nik. Now, I want it back!" She yells.

"Tell me that's not what she needs, Rebekah!" He yells back.

She looks into the coffin but doesn't find it so she throws it on the ground. Stefan and Trinity watch on, concerned.

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon is on the phone with Katherine. "Ok. You were right. They were there."

"_I'm always right. Let me guess…it ended in tears and heartbreak?"_

"Where are you?"

"_Why? Do you want to come rub sunscreen on my back?"_

"I'm thinking Europe. Italy, maybe. Or Spain. You were always a sucker for those lazy afternoons."

"_Keep guessing, Damon. Bye-bye." _She laughs before hanging up.

* * *

_Flashback: Chicago, 1920's_

_Rebekah's necklace is on the ground. Katherine reaches to take it but disappears. Stefan takes the necklace and she watches him, seeing a man standing behind him._

"_Hey kid." The man says. "Chicago P.D."_

_Stefan looks at him. "I'm not afraid of you."_

"_Oh, I'm not here for you." He shows him a drawing of Klaus and Rebekah. "Have you seen these two?"_

"_I've never seen those people before in my life."_

"_Wrap it up, boys. We're through here." He looks at him and leaves. Stefan has Rebekah's necklace in his hand. Katherine watches him and leaves._

* * *

_Present_

Katherine walks out of the Chicago phone booth.


	48. Disturbing Behavior

Chapter Forty Eight: Disturbing Behavior

_Chicago_

After waking Rebekah, the group goes to a clothing store for the girl.

_At least I can finally get some new clothes. _Trinity thinks, setting her choices down. She's about to get undressed when suddenly she is pressed against the wall, a hand wrapped around her throat.

"Who are you and what are you to Stefan?" Rebekah asks.

Trinity struggles to talk around the grip on her throat. "I'm his friend."

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" She scoffs. "You haven't left his side and from what Nik tells me, it's always been like that." She touches Trinity's necklace. "And he has the other half to this."

"It's not what you think." Trinity chokes out.

"Then explain to me what it is." Rebekah lightens her grip a bit so Trinity can speak.

"I'm gay."

"Why the hell should I care about how happy you are?"

Trinity inwardly rolls her eyes, remembering that the girl has been in a coffin for the last 90 years. "I'm not attracted to men. Stefan is my best friend." Rebekah releases her and she coughs as she regains her breath.

"Really?" Rebekah asks, skeptically.

"Really!" Trinity says. "Stefan's like a brother to me."

"Why are you all over each other all the time?"

"I've been watching him and your brother kill people all summer. I haven't been holding it together all that well. Stefan's been helping me."

"Well you're traveling with my brother, you're going to have to get used to it eventually."

Trinity rolls her eyes, noticing that Rebekah made no attempt to apologize for strangling her. "I don't see that happening anytime soon."

Rebekah looks at one of the dresses Trinity has and picks it up. "What is this?"

"A dress."

Rebekah looks at her with wide eyes. "What?!" She asks. "Where's the rest of it?"

Trinity sighs. "Ok, I can see that you're going to need a little help with this." She leads Rebekah out of the changing room. "It's been a while since I've been shopping, but I can still tell you what's in and what's not."

* * *

Klaus and Stefan drink champagne in the front room, while Rebekah tries on clothes. Trinity sits in a chair not far from them, having already made her purchases.

"There has to be more to this dress." They hear Rebekah say.

"There's not." Trinity tells her.

Rebekah walks out of the changing room wearing a short, black dress. "So women in the 21st century dress like prostitutes, then. You know, I got dirty looks for wearing trousers."

"You wore trousers so women today could wear nothing." Klaus smirks.

"And what is this music? It sounds like a cable car accident."

"It's dance music." Stefan says. He sees Trinity's lips quirk into a small smile.

"People dance to this?"

"Remind me to take you to a club so you can see _how _they dance to it." Trinity tells her.

"Are we done?" Klaus sighs.

Rebekah looks at him. "And why are you so grumpy?"

"I needed one thing from you for my witch to find out why my hybrids are dying, one thing. Your necklace. And you lost it."

"I didn't lose it. It's just been missing for 90 years." She looks at Stefan. "So what do you think?"

"I like it." She gives him an unsatisfied look. "What? I said I like it."

"I can always tell when you're lying, Stefan." She goes back into the fitting room.

Klaus looks at Stefan. "Nice one, good work."

"You're the one that pulled the dagger out of her."

"I heard that!" Rebekah yells from the changing room. "Trinity, bring me another outfit."

Trinity sighs and gets up from her seat. "If you want an honest opinion on your outfit, don't ask the men."

"Why?"

"Because they don't want to be here in the first place." Trinity smiles.

"All right." Stefan stands up. "I'm going to get some fresh air." Trinity looks at him but he puts his hand up, motioning for her to stay.

Klaus pours himself some champagne.

Stefan sees Katherine across the street, who motions for him to follow her.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Damon and Elena are cooking.

"I just don't know why you want to bring chili to a potluck. Everybody brings chili." Damon says. He sees Alaric walk in. "Hey, Ric."

"What's up?" He looks at them.

"What time do you want to go to the Lockwood party?" Elena asks.

"Uh, those founders' parties aren't really my thing."

"Show up, there's going to be nine other people that brought chili." Damon says.

Elena rolls her eyes. "It's an old family recipe, ok?"

"Yeah! I know. I knew your old family. They made sucky chili." He smiles, making her laugh.

Alaric looks between them. "Why are you here, exactly?"

"She knows." Damon nods his head towards Elena.

She sighs. "He thinks I'm going to break. I'm not going to break. I am just going to keep making chili, pretend like I didn't just spend the entire summer looking for people who didn't want to be found."

"She's in denial."

"I'm not in denial." She whispers.

"No?" He gets closer to her and touches her necklace. "You're still wearing this necklace. Isn't this the reminder of your unbreakable bond with Stefan?"

Alaric watches them with a concerned look on his face.

* * *

Stefan walks up to Katherine. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You two look chummy. Klaus your new bestie? Is Trinity jealous?"

"You know, if he finds out you're in Chicago, you're dead."

"Happy to know that you still care. So tell me if I'm wrong…Rebekah's necklace that Klaus is looking for…that's the necklace that you gave to Elena."

"Goodbye, Katherine." He turns to leave but she stops him.

"Hey, hey. Wait. You're up to something, tell me."

"They don't know where the necklace is. I just have to keep them from figuring it out. I have it all under control."

"Please, tell me you have a better plan than that." He doesn't answer. "You do. Come on, Stefan. You're not the diabolical type. Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work."

"Well, if the most diabolical woman I know can't seem to figure it out, then I must be doing something right."

"Uh-huh. I forgot. You're bad now. Don't get too cocky. Klaus is smarter than you. He's smarter than everyone. And I've heard about that sister. Be careful. She'll ruin you."

"Is it me that you're worrying about or Trinity?" She doesn't answer. "Did you know that today was the first time that I've seen her smile in months, even before we left Mystic Falls? She hasn't smiled since you."

"You really have to rub that in?" She asks.

"I'll keep my distance from Rebekah, but if Trinity can find just _one _thing that could make her happy; I won't keep her away from it."

"Rebekah has no interest in Trinity."

"If you actually believed that; we wouldn't be having this conversation. And even if she doesn't, you know Trinity. You know how easy it is to love her, how easy it is to fall." He says. "Trinity needs something, _anything_;to keep her holding on."

Katherine looks at him. "How is she?"

"It's been getting worse." He tells her. "She's seeing more things, hearing more things, but she doesn't understand any of it. All she knows; is that it's not gonna stop. That it's only going to get worst. The things she's seen this summer…" He shakes his head. "She's losing hope." Katherine looks away. "I gotta go. Happy to know you still care." He leaves.

* * *

Jeremy is in his bedroom, asleep. He wakes up and sees Anna lying next to him. He gets up, shocked.

"Jeremy." She says.

"Anna!"

She looks at him in a mixture of confusion and awe. "You heard me?"

"What are you doing here?"

She stands up. "Wait, like heard me, heard me, or did it sound more like a…"

"Where have you been?" He asks.

"I need to know you can hear me."

"You drop in, you tell me not to trust Vicki, and then you disappear?"

"Jeremy! Tell me you can hear me."

"Yeah, yeah, I can hear you, all right? What the hell! What is it?"

"I've been trying to get you to hear me for days. Yelling your name and screaming."

"You have?"

"What changed? I've been trying to get through to you, why now?"

"I was dreaming about you, I…"

"You were dreaming about me?" She sits down on the bed.

He sits down next to her. "I can't believe this is actually happening. That you're actually here."

"I'm here."

* * *

Elena answers the door and sees Caroline, who has a dish in her hands.

"I come bearing gifts!" She smiles.

"Please say that's not chili…" Elena sighs. Caroline moves to the side, revealing Bonnie. "Bonnie!"

"I'm back!" She smiles, hugging her friend. "I leave town for the summer and everything goes to hell for the both of you." Caroline and Elena look at each other.

Jeremy walks down the stairs. "Bonnie!"

"Jeremy!" She rushes into his arms, kissing him. Pulling back he looks over Bonnie's shoulder and sees Anna, who watches the scene with a hurt look on her face.

* * *

Liz and Damon are walking down the street. "So Mayor Lockwood called your gay ex-husband to torture your vampire daughter?" He asks.

"Yes." She sighs. "I've been keeping him detained to make sure the vervain's out of his system. So you could, you know…" She points to her eyes, motioning compulsion.

"Can't we just kill him?"

"No, Damon! He's Caroline's father."

"He sounds like a douche-bag to me."

"Yeah, well, just 'cause you and I are on ok terms doesn't mean that I'm a suddenly a big advocate for your 'lifestyle'."

"Is that what you told him when you two got divorced?"

* * *

Damon and Liz walk into the cellar where Caroline was detained. Bill is tied to a chair with duct tape on his mouth.

"Double check him for vervain before you compel him." She tells him. Damon rips the tape from Bill's mouth.

Bill sends Liz a look of betrayal. "You brought another vampire into this?"

"It's the best thing for all of us, Bill."

"So, Bill, I hear you're into the whole daddy-daughter vampire torture thing." Damon says.

"I was trying to help her."

"Well, if there's anyone who doesn't need help, it's your annoying control freak of a daughter." He bites him on the neck and drinks some of his blood. "Yep. He's vervain-free."

"Just erase his memory, Damon." Liz sighs.

"So, Bill, I have a question. What makes you think that you can change the basic nature of a vampire?"

"The mind's a powerful tool. It can be trained and retrained. You just have to be strong enough."

"Oh, yeah? I completely agree. I actually happen to love mind control, myself." He grabs his face and compels him. "You will leave town immediately. All you remember is you came to bring your daughter back to school shopping."

* * *

Stefan walks into Gloria's bar. Gloria is sitting at a table while Klaus, Rebekah, and Trinity sit at the bar.

"You left us." Rebekah says.

Stefan nods. "Yeah, sorry. Retail therapy was making my head explode."

Klaus rolls his eyes. "Tell me about it."

Stefan looks at Gloria. "What's she doing?"

"She's failing." He sighs.

Gloria glares at him. "It's hard to find something when you don't have anything to go on."

"So use me." Rebekah walks over and takes a seat at the table. "I only wore it for a thousand years."

"See? Now this one offers a solution. All right, give me your hand, sweetheart." She takes Rebekah's hand.

"She's, uh, she's looking for the necklace, huh?" Stefan says, trying to appear nonchalant.

* * *

Elena, Caroline and Bonnie are in the kitchen.

"The problem with my dad's normal side of the family is normal made for a really boring summer." Bonnie explains.

Caroline looks at her. "After the last few days, I would kill for a normal family." She says before looking at Elena. "Since when did you learn how to cook?"

"Damon helped a little."

Bonnie looks at her. "_Damon's_ helping you cook now?"

Elena sighs. "Both of you stop judging. He's just trying to be a good…ow!"

Caroline looks up from the chili. "Ahh! Did I splash you?"

"No, no, my necklace." She takes it off, looking at the burn mark on her skin.

* * *

"I can sense something." Gloria says.

Stefan looks on, worried. Trinity squeezes his hand.

* * *

Elena looks at her necklace. "It burned me."

"Maybe it's a sign you shouldn't be wearing it."

"Caroline…" Bonnie sighs.

She looks at her. "What? I'm just saying. If you're going to be 'cooking' without Stefan."

Bonnie reaches for the necklace. "Let me see it."

* * *

Gloria cast a spell.

* * *

Bonnie touches the necklace, only to be shocked. Elena drops the necklace and shares a surprised look with her friend.

* * *

Gloria drops Rebekah's hand and looks at Klaus, Stefan and Trinity. "I found it."

"So where is it?" Rebekah asks.

"It doesn't work like that, doll. I get images. There's a girl with her friends…"

"Yes, a dead girl with dead friends, if I don't get my necklace back."

"Well, I'll have to dive back in to get the details."

"So dive." Klaus tells her.

"I need more time. And space. You're harshing my ju-ju."

"We can wait."

"I'm sure you can. But that's not what I asked."

"Hey." Stefan says. "Hey, you know, why don't we just come back later? I'm hungry anyway. I'll let you pick who we eat."

Klaus shares a look with Rebekah before leaving. As they walk out, Trinity breaks away from the group.

"Where are you going?" Klaus asks.

"I don't share the same _diet _that you guys have." She says. "I'm going to get some _real_ food." She walks away.

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Elena and Caroline are sitting apart from the party on a bench.

Bonnie rejoins them with her grimoire. "I have an identification spell that might be able to tell me what magic affected the necklace." Elena hands her the necklace. "It's going to take a while, so tell me if anyone's coming, ok?"

Caroline looks at Elena. "So you're not, like, switching Salvatore's, are you?"

"What?"

"Caroline." Bonnie says.

"Stay focused." She dismisses her, keeping her eyes on Elena. "As your friend who worries for you daily, what is the deal with you and Damon?"

"There is no deal." Elena says. "He's been just as focused on finding Stefan and Trinity as I have."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make him any less Damon. If my own father; who I love dearly, can't change me. No one's changing Damon. Not even you."

"Look, why are we even talking about this?"

"Hey guys." Bonnie says. They turn to her, only to see the necklace levitating.

"What are you doing?" Caroline asks.

"I'm not doing anything." Bonnie tells her. "It has its own magic." They look at Elena.

* * *

Damon is looking at the chili made by the founding families. Alaric rejoins him and gives him a beer. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret…" He says. "Founders parties are just an excuse for the council to gather in back rooms and plot against vampires."

Alaric looks at him. "Hey, uh, I think you need to take a beat with Elena."

Damon turns to him. "Excuse me?"

"Whatever it is you two have going on, I think it's a bad idea."

"I don't really think it's your problem, Ric."

"It is my problem. I'm supposed to look after her, and this is me doing that."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"What I think is you need to take a beat."

Liz walks up to them. "Damon? Sorry. Uh, the mayor just called for the council meeting."

* * *

Trinity walks down the street, looking for a place to eat. She sees a candy store and smiles. She walks in and looks through the aisles.

"You always had a sweet tooth." She hears.

Trinity turns around and sees Katherine. "What are you doing here?"

"No 'hello'? Nice to see you?"

"What are you doing here Katherine?"

Katherine sighs and takes Trinity's hand. She walks to the store owner. "You're going to let us into the backroom and keep everyone out. When we leave, you won't remember this happening." She looks at Trinity. "And anything she takes is free." She pulls her into the backroom.

Trinity pulls her hand away. "Explain."

"Stefan told me how you were doing-"

"Stefan knows you're here?"

"I've been trailing you."

"Why? Klaus broke the curse; I figured you'd be on the other side of the world by now."

"I worry."

"How about the truth this time?"

"Trinity…"

"You betrayed me Katherine." Trinity says. "I told you I understood you doing what you have to do to survive, but I at least hoped you cared about and trusted me enough to stay by my side."

"I do care about you."

"You set my friends up for the slaughter. Jenna _died_."

"I didn't want to do that."

"But you did! Because instead of trusting us to handle the situation, you went to _Isobel _and that ended terribly. But your betrayal gave Klaus everything he needed for the sacrifice-"

"I'M SORRY!" She yells, sending Trinity into silence. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I betrayed you, I'm sorry that I hurt you. I didn't mean to and I didn't want to. I know that I can never make up for the pain I put you through, but I love you." She steps closer. "And I know you still love me too." She pulls Trinity in for a kiss. She backs Trinity into the wall, making her gasp and uses that moment to slide her tongue in.

Trinity moans and pulls away. "No." She says quietly.

Katherine looks at her. "What?"

"No." Trinity says, louder this time. She pushes Katherine away. "I can't do this again."

"Trinity-"

"I promised ten years of my life to Klaus." She says. "Remember? The man you've been running from for the past 500 years?"

"Klaus isn't here right now." Katherine says. "We can leave; I can make sure you're safe."

"I'd never leave Stefan." Trinity tells her. "Unlike you, loyalty means something to me. I'm staying with Stefan." She goes to leave but Katherine grabs her arm.

"Don't."

Trinity turns around. "I'm not putting myself through this, not again."

"You're already repeating the process."

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you have fun with Rebekah today?"

"You think that I feel something for Rebekah? I don't even know her!" Trinity stops and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath before opening her eyes. "We're not doing this." She says, calmer now. "I do love you and I'm sure that a part of me always will, but I we can't keep doing this."

"Please-"

"Where do you see us going? Really?" Trinity asks. "Before, we had the hope of killing Klaus and being able to live our lives, but we _failed_. It's _over _now. You'll always be running, and I'll be the crazy girl with her killer best friend. There's nothing left for us." She cries.

Katherine looks at her with tears in her eyes. She looks down. "I understand." She says quietly. "I don't like it, but I understand. But that's not going to stop me from loving you, from caring about you." She cups Trinity's face. "Do not lose the hope that there is something out there better than this. Do not lose your light. It's what you need to keep going. To survive your Quickening. Your happiness is all that matters to me." Tears begin to roll down her face. "And even if it's not with me, I don't want you to lose that." Trinity nods. "I'm immortal. And soon you're going to be too. We literally have forever to get this right. So I'm going to be there, waiting in the wings when whoever you're with screws up more than I did. And I'm going to remind you of what we had and what we can be." She laughs. "I spent so long thinking that Stefan was my true love…how wrong I was." She says. "This isn't a goodbye." She presses a gentle kiss to Trinity's lips.

When Trinity opens her eyes, Katherine is gone. She backs up and slides down the wall. She buries her face into her hands and cries.

* * *

In a warehouse, Klaus and Stefan are on a couch drinking from two girls.

Rebekah looks at them. "My girl's dead. I'm bored."

Klaus looks at Stefan. "You weren't kidding about being hungry."

"Yeah." He says. "It's been a long day."

Klaus laughs. "Try being related to her."

Rebekah pouts. "You're being mean. And why are you being mean? You used to love me."

"It's been 90 years, Rebekah. Give him a minute."

"Why are you taking his side?"

"Because, my dear sister, I feel pity for any man who doesn't give you what you want."

"Will you stop making me out to be a brat? I am not a brat!"

"A thousand years of life experience says otherwise."

"Well, you're no picnic, either." Stefan tells him. "I mean, I've only spent one summer with you and I feel like I want to blow my head off."

"Fantastic." She laughs. "Where's your little friend?"

"She rather not be around us when we feed. The smell bothers her." He gets up. "I need to go." He says before leaving.

Rebekah watches him go. "Where's he going?"

"To write a name on a wall." Klaus smiles. Rebekah looks at him in confusion. "It's a long story."

"How is it that we've been around for a thousand years and never heard of shapeshifters?"

"They can only change into animals." He explains. "It's a pretty damn good way to hide when we only feed off people."

"Are you going to find more?"

"Apparently she's the last of her kind. It's a dying breed that only awakens in few."

"And you believed her?"

"Like you said, we've been around for a thousand years. Why are we only learning about it now?"

Rebekah pauses. "You told me that she and Stefan had feelings for each other."

"She's only with him because she refuses to leave his side. She's always touching him. They share a bedroom and even have matching necklaces. For someone who was in love with the doppelgänger, he moved on very quickly."

"Or he hasn't moved only at all. Trinity told me that she was gay."

He looks at her. "What?"

"She only interested in women." She says. "She said that Stefan is like a brother to her."

"I always thought that they lacked the passion true lovers have. Why so many questions?" He asks.

"I don't know."

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Jeremy enters an empty room and closes the door. "Anna? Look, where are you? We don't have much time."

She appears. "We've got all the time in the world."

"I'm sorry about before. I just got, um, distracted."

"It's fine. I get it. Why haven't you told her?"

"Well, she's been gone all summer."

"Yeah, I know that. Now why haven't you told her, really?"

"I don't know. You know, I don't even understand how any of this is possible."

"Well, it's kind of a push and pull. I'm pushing from the other side trying to contact you, and sometimes, like just now, if you pull…"

"The other side? Is that…is that what it's called?"

"That's what I call it. I'm all by myself here. It's like I'm a part of your world, only no one can see me. I'm just…on the other side."

"Wait, well what about Vicki?"

"Whenever you say you see her, I feel something. A darkness. And when I try to tell you not to let her in, something crazy happens. Like, she's trying to push me out."

"Like the windows breaking."

"Just be careful. Try not to let her in. 'Cause she can't get through if you're not open to it. You don't understand how amazing it is to finally be able to talk to you. I'm all by myself here. I don't have anyone." She touches his hand but he doesn't seem to realize until he sees it. She takes her hand back. "I'm sorry. I know you can't feel anything."

"Do it again." He raises his hand. She touches it and smiles.

* * *

Stefan walks into the bar and sees Gloria.

"There you are." She says.

He walks forward. "Thought you were resting."

"Well, now we both have a secret."

"What did you see?"

"It's what I heard that's interesting. You know, the girls with the necklace, they were talking about you."

"Yet you didn't tell Klaus. Why?"

"'Cause I wouldn't help that hybrid half-breed with anything. The necklace is a talisman from the original witch herself. I want it."

"Well, I'm sorry. I can't help you."

"Don't be difficult. You know, I'd hate to have to tell Klaus what a liar his sidekick is. Both of them. " He rushes over to him but she gives him an aneurysm. "Guess I've got to get it out of you the hard way, huh?" He falls to the floor.

* * *

Stefan wakes up shirtless and lying on a table, candles surround him and he sees Gloria brandishing a knife in her hand. "What is this? Why can't I move?"

"Relax. It's just a little paralysis spell. Nothing major." She cuts his forearms with the knife, letting the blood fall into a bowl on the floor. "Just got to get the information out of your pretty little head. You know, witches nowadays, they're into that new age stuff, but…I'm a little more old school voodoo." She takes little iron hooks and puts it in the forearms wounds. He screams in pain. "This will stop that pesky healing."

"I won't tell you anything."

"You don't have to." Smoke begins to rise from the blood in the bowl. "You feel that? That's your essence. Your spirit. It lets me make a connection. Herbs help, too. Diviners, sage, witch hazel." She picks up a plant. "But my personal favorite…" She rubs it in her hands. "Vervain." She puts her hands on his chest, making him scream again.

* * *

The council meets in a room.

"There have no been no incidence of question since spring. It's been quiet." Liz tells them.

"Anyone else have anything to add to the minutes?" Carol asks. "Damon?"

He shakes his head. "Ah, no, I think the sheriff covered it, Mayor Lockwood. Looks like we've made it through the worst."

"Well, I have nothing new to add, so thank you all for coming." She smiles. Everyone leaves, but Carol, Damon and Liz stay.

Bill enters. "I have a question. Do you three think that everybody on the council is clueless…or just stupid?" The look at him, surprised.

* * *

Bonnie and Jeremy are in his bedroom. Candles and grimoire's surround them.

"Ok, tell me if you see anything in these grimoire's that involves precious metals or a symbol that resembles a necklace." She says.

"Wait, can't you just ask all the dead witches you were channeling?" He asks.

"I don't have access to them anymore. They cut me off."

"Since when?"

"Since I brought you back to life. I messed with the balance of nature and there were consequences. Hey. I'm sorry. I know I should have told you. I told Elena when it happened. I just didn't want you to feel weird about it, you know?"

"Hey, no, no, look, you don't have to apologize for anything. Ok? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Elena said you've been having kind of a hard time since then."

He shakes his head. "No, I'm fine. You know, just been, ah, a little out of it lately. So should I concentrate on the older books? Or, uh, I mean, how old is this necklace?"

"Old." She laughs.

He sits down and opens a grimoire. He takes the necklace and looks at it.

Anna appears behind Bonnie. "Jeremy. The darkness. It's here." Suddenly all the grimoire's are on fire, they look around in shock.

"Jeremy!" Bonnie removes the grimoire on Jeremy's lap and puts the fire out with her powers. "Are you ok?"

"What the hell just happened?"

"I have no idea."

* * *

Stefan is still on the table. Gloria takes some red powder and rub her hands with it. "I'm impressed. You've got discipline, Stefan. It's not going to do you much good, but…just let go, honey." She puts her hands on his chest. His skin burns and he screams. "There you go, there you go." She see images of Stefan and Elena together and him giving her the necklace. "There's the girl with the necklace. You love her. You'd do anything for her. And you have. A lot of darkness, a lot of guilt. All to keep her away from Klaus. Why would he be interested in one girl?"

"Don't do this. Don't do this." He begs.

"She's the doppelgänger. She's supposed to be dead, and that's why Klaus can't make hybrids, isn't it?" She laughs.

"This is creepy." Katherine says. Gloria turns around, only to receive a stake in her neck. She falls to the floor, dead. Katherine looks at Stefan. "Maybe you do need my help, after all."

* * *

Trinity walks up to the owner of the candy store with several large bags in her hands. "Thank you."

He smiles. "No problem."

She walks out of the store, a somber look on her face.

* * *

Elena and Caroline are talking. "Did Stefan ever tell you where he got the necklace?"

Elena shakes her head. "No. And I never asked. Hopefully Bonnie will be able to figure it out."

Alaric walks up to them. "Please tell me it's time to go."

"Beyond." Elena sighs. "Where's Damon?"

Caroline rolls her eyes. "Probably off somewhere doing bad things to good people. Consider me the honesty police." Suddenly she goes tense.

"What is it?"

"What the matter?" Alaric asks her.

Caroline looks past them. "It's my dad."

Elena and Alaric turn around to look at Bill. "Why would he even show up here?" Elena asks.

"I don't know. But I can't…"

"I get it. I'll call you later."

Caroline leaves and goes upstairs.

"Ok, what was that all about?" Alaric asks.

Elena sighs. "Speaking of doing bad things to good people…" They go to leave when Damon walks up to them.

"Wait, wait, Houston, we have a problem." He says.

"Where have you been?"

"Managing Bill Forbes. Apparently he's impervious to compulsion."

Alaric looks at him. "How?"

"I have no idea. But he threatened to out me. Don't get me started on the irony of that."

"What did you do to him?" Elena asks. "How do you know the compulsion doesn't work?"

"That's not the most important piece of information I mentioned, Elena."

"What does he want?" Alaric questions.

"He wants to control the council. Says it's been compromised."

"It has!"

"He wants to put vervain in the town's water supply."

"Maybe it's not a bad idea." Elena says. "I mean, it'll help you keep yourself in control now that Stefan's not here to…"

Damon looks at her. "To what? To keep me in check? Make me behave? I should have killed him this morning."

"He's Caroline's dad, Damon."

"Yeah, and when I kill him, she'll have one more parent than we do."

"Oh, come on, Damon!" Alaric stands in front of him.

"You're repeatedly killing my buzz today, Ric. Step aside."

"Yeah, it's not going to happen."

"Your temporary funeral." He shrugs before snapping Alaric's neck.

Elena watches with wide eyes. "Damon, no! What is wrong with you?!"

He looks at her and leaves.

* * *

Stefan rolls Gloria's body up in a sheet.

Katherine watches him. "I've been thinking about your diabolical plan."

"Oh. Do tell." He says.

"Well, you must know that Klaus is too paranoid to ever fully trust you. But the sister, she loves you like it was yesterday. She's the easier mark. But you can't just pretend to care, because Klaus will know better, so you do the opposite. You bond with him; make her feel left out. That will only make her want you more."

"Oh! So you mean, I'm, uh, I'm taking a page out of the Katherine Pierce playbook. Or are you afraid that she'll stop caring about me and start paying attention to Trinity?"

She ignores his question. "The only question is why, Stefan? I mean, I get it, you want to keep Klaus away from Mystic Falls, but…what else do you expect to get from it?

"You know what's funny? You keep talking to me like I actually trust you enough to tell you anything."

"Oh, come on, Stefan, we're beyond that. I saved you from Hilda the high voodoo priestess."

"Ok. I knew them, back in the twenties. They were running from someone. Someone who scared them."

"A hunter." She nods. "I heard stories about him centuries ago."

"Don't you want to know why an original vampire who can't be killed is afraid of a vampire hunter?"

"If you're planning on making a move against Klaus…I want in."

"That's good." He nods, picking up Gloria's body. "It's good to want things, Katherine."

"Stefan…"

"Katherine. I'm in this alone. If you're looking for a diabolical partner in crime, I suggest you look elsewhere." He leaves with Gloria's body on his shoulder.

* * *

Tyler walks into his bedroom and sees Caroline sitting on the bed.

"How was football practice?" She asks.

"What are you doing here?" He asks.

"Hiding out from my dad. He's here."

"Are you ok? Do you want me to kick his ass?"

"Yes. No. I bought him the shirt he's wearing, it is really expensive." He touches her shoulders. "And through everything…he's still my dad. You know?" He takes her into his arms and runs a hand through her hair. Suddenly she pulls back. "God, you reek!"

"What?" He asks.

"It's bad."

"No, this? This is sexy."

"No! It's really bad." He takes of his shirt and pulls her into a kiss. She's on top of him when her phone rings. "Oh! Hang on, my phone."

"Oh, come on!"

She answers. "I'm only answering in case it's a friend emergency."

"_It's an emergency._" Elena tells her.

* * *

Bill is in the office, pouring himself some scotch.

Damon enters. "Whoa, whoa. Is that scotch? I figured you for an abstainer."

Bill looks at him. "Everything in moderation. Keeps the mind clear from…influence."

Damon nods. "Like vampire compulsion."

"Yeah, I tried to tell you…"

"Yeah, yeah, powerful tool. Got it. I'm impressed. Can't say I've ever seen that before."

"Well, it takes a certain human focus. It's a skill that I've been honing for decades. Plus, your technique…is a little lazy."

"Duly noted. I'm curious. Why not just expose us to the council?"

"I know you think I'm the bad guy here, Damon, but I would never expose my own daughter to those morons."

"It's a pretty risky move, taking me on, don't you think?"

"I knew what I was risking when I didn't leave town, but I figured…you're not self-destructive enough to kill the sheriff's ex-husband."

"Makes you the third person to underestimate me today." He rushes over and bites him. He pulls away and Bill falls to his knees. "Whoo. You know, with all this behavioral modification going on around here, I almost forgot how good blood tastes when it's…fresh."

"What are you going to do? Kill everybody who discovers your secret?"

"No, I'm not going to kill you, Bill. I'm just going to find pleasure in perfect little moments like this." He bites him again when suddenly; Caroline appears and throws him against the wall and through the window.

She rushes over to her father. "Daddy! Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

She bites her wrist. "Here. It'll heal you."

"I said I'm ok."

"Grow up." She puts her wrist to his mouth, making him drink her blood.

Damon comes back in. "Let me teach this ass-wheel a life lesson."

She looks at him. "Just get out of here."

"Or what?" She hits him in the face and he throws her on the desk, his hand wrapped around her neck. "I'm stronger than you, little girl." He doesn't see Elena walk in.

"Well, I'm angrier!" Caroline breaks his arm before grabbing onto his head, pulling it into her knee. She throws him into the wall before gathering her father and leave.

"Bummer." Damon says, noticing Elena. "I love a good girl fight." He wipes the blood from his mouth.

"You can't do this anymore, Damon. Not in this town. Not around me." She says.

"Why not? It's nothing I haven't done before. Why is it suddenly so important for everyone to keep me in check?"

"Because I don't want you to be what other people think that you are."

"What? A monster? Sorry to disappoint you, Elena, but last time I checked, I was still a vampire!" He yells.

"I guess I wish that you didn't have to act like one!" She yells back.

"I am not Stefan. How about you stop trying to turn me into him?" He glares at her before leaving.

* * *

Jeremy is in the bathroom, washing his hands.

Bonnie walks in. "Hey, Jeremy. There's ashes everywhere."

"I'll go grab the vacuum."

"No, I got it." She leaves.

Anna appears. "Are you ok?"

Jeremy looks at her. "Don't."

"What?"

"Bonnie's here, ok? You've got to stop."

"I was just trying to warn you. I felt something bad. Dangerous."

"You…you just can't pop up every time she and I are together."

"It's a two-way street, Jeremy. I only pop up when you're thinking about me." She pauses, her eyes filling with realization. "That's why you haven't told her. Isn't it? You don't want her to know you still care."

"I can't do this right now. I can't. This is just too much."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Goodbye, Anna."

"Don't! Jeremy, please. Don't shut me out."

Jeremy closes his eyes and when he reopens them, Anna's gone. He walks into his room and sees Bonnie.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

"You asked me before if something was wrong and I said no."

"Yeah." She nods.

"That was a lie. I was lying to you. When you brought me back to life…"

Anna is in the bathroom, looking at them and crying. "Say you can hear me, Jeremy. Please!"

He doesn't hear her. "Something happened…"

"I am all alone!"

* * *

At the warehouse, Stefan looks at the coffins and stops in front of one. He touches it but quickly pulls away when Rebekah enters.

"You're back. Finally. Nik went to check on the witch." She looks at the coffin. "Dreary, isn't it? The family cargo."

"Hmm. Why don't you un-dagger them?"

"Because he would hunt me down and kill me. He's a vindictive little bastard, my brother."

"But you still care about him. Why?"

"Well, I hated him for a long time. It was exhausting." She sits down on the coffin and Stefan sits next to her.

"You know, when I met you two, you were both on the run."

"Also exhausting." She sighs.

"Who were you running from?"

"What do you mean?"

"Last night I saw you, there was a man looking for you. You both seemed afraid. I just… I wouldn't think Klaus would be afraid of anybody."

"No one in this world is truly fearless, Stefan. Not even Niklaus."

"Who was that man?"

"I can't. Please." She gets up. "If Nik knew we were talking about this, he would…"

"No, no, no, I'm sorry." He gets up as well. "Just forget I asked. Ok?"

"He told me about the girl you loved. The one that died. He also told me that you're only with him because he saved your brother."

"Your secret…is safe with me."

She kisses him. "Do you think you'll ever love anyone like you loved that girl?"

"One day, maybe."

She looks at him. "I can always tell when you're lying, Stefan."

"What? I'm not…"

"Don't bother." She shakes her head. "Your kiss already gave you away."

Klaus walks in. "Gloria's gone. She's cleared out. We need to find a new witch immediately." He stops and looks at them. "What's going on?"

Rebekah turns to him. "Something's wrong. He was asking about Mikael. He's not with us, Nik. I can sense it."

"She's wrong. Klaus-" Stefan tries but Klaus rushes over and snaps his neck.

He watches Stefan's body fall to the ground. "Now we have to find his little friend. She's been gone far too long."

Trinity walks in. "I hope that we don't plan on going anywhere soon, 'cause I plan on stuffing myself until I can't move." She looks up from the candy and sees the Stefan's body. "What the hell?" Klaus rushes over and wraps a hand around her neck. "I just want to let it be known that snapping my neck will kill me."

"Why was Stefan asking about Mikael?" He asks.

"Who?"

"What do you know!"

"What are you talking about? I've been gone all day!"

"Don't play with me. He tells you everything."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

He backhands her, knocking her out.

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon pours himself a drink and another drink. He walks towards the couch where Alaric's dead body lies. He wiggles the glass next to his ear. "Wake up!" Alaric wakes up. "It took a bit longer than usual, huh? Might want to get that ring checked. Hope it's not going bad."

Alaric looks at him. "You killed me."

"You pissed me off."

"You killed me!" He glares.

"Ric, no hard feelings, all right? I was on a bit of a tear. Everyone was trying to tell me how to behave."

"Well, maybe they finally realized you're just a dick." He gets up and leaves.

* * *

At the Town Square, Elena and Caroline are talking.

"I'm not going to say I told you so."

"Thank you." Elena sighs.

"But I did tell you…so."

"Ok, you and Damon were both right. I was trying to change him. But if he wants to be in my life…"

"Wait. I…it's been a long week, so I'm just going to be blunt. It doesn't matter what he does, Damon's gotten under your skin."

"That's not true." She denies.

"God, just admit it, Elena, ok? You are attracted to him! In all of his bad brother glory."

"No."

"Wait, no, you're not attracted to him, or no, you just won't admit it?"

"I can't, Caroline! If I admit it, if I even thought it for just a second…what does that say about me?"

"It says you're human, Elena." She sees her father.

"Do you need me to…"

"No, I got it." She walks over to him. "Hey."

He looks at her. "Hey. Don't worry, I'm going to go back home before somebody kills me."

"How's your…"

"Oh, healed." He shows her his neck. "Thank you. For coming to my rescue."

"You're welcome."

"Bye, Caroline."

"Daddy. I'm going to be ok."

"You're a vampire, sweetheart. I don't think you'll ever be ok again."

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Alaric is talking with Liz and Carol.

"I understand where you're coming from, but…" Liz trails off.

"The Gilbert family is a founding family, and they deserve to have a voice on the council. I'm taking care of them, I should be that voice." He says.

Carol shakes her head. "That's not the way it works, Mr. Saltzman."

"Oh, really? Well then tell me how it does. The council's job is to protect the people of this town. Now your daughter's a vampire and your son's a werewolf. So who's looking after the actual people? Some of them may be family or friends, but they are still supernatural. They don't follow our rules or our laws, they look after themselves, and that's what we need to do. I'll see you at the next meeting." He gets up and leaves.

* * *

At the Mystic Grill, 'Elena' joins Bonnie at a table outside. "Hey there."

"Hey." Bonnie smiles.

"I just saw Jeremy. He said that you still have my necklace?"

"Yeah, I haven't figured out what's going on with it yet."

"I know. But I just…I feel weird without it. The whole Stefan of it all."

"Okay." She gives her back her necklace. "Did Jeremy also tell you that he's been seeing ghosts of his dead girlfriends all summer?"

'Elena' looks surprised. "What?

Bonnie nods. "Vicki and Anna. He's been talking to them."

"You're kidding."

"I wish. It's because I brought him back to life. The witches said there would be consequences. Guess they were right." She turns her head to look at the waitress. "You know, what am I supposed to…" She turns back but 'Elena' has disappeared.

* * *

Damon opens the door and sees 'Elena'. "I'll accept written apologies only."

'Elena' smiles. "Are you two lovebirds fighting already?"

He looks at her. "Katherine." He sighs. "Wonderful. What do you want?"

"I'm just a girl looking for a partner in crime. Feel like hitting the road? Getting the hell out of dodge?"

"Impeccable timing. I was told I need to take a beat."

"Is that a yes? I'll drive."

"Why not? Walls are starting to close in on me around here. Where are we going?"

"Away from here. That's all I'm going to give you for right now. But believe me…it's good." She shows him Elena's necklace.

* * *

Stefan wakes up on the floor of a truck. He sees Trinity's unconscious body next to him and looks at Klaus. "Just give me a chance to explain myself, ok?"

Klaus shakes his head. "No need. I'm not mad, I'm just curious. Rebekah seems to think you're holding onto something. A piece of your old life. The thing is, she's got flawless instincts, borderline supernatural. So I thought I would check it out. See for myself what it is you've been hiding." He opens the truck. "Welcome back to Mystic Falls, Stefan."


	49. The Reckoning

Chapter Forty Nine: The Reckoning

_Mystic Falls High School_

The school is empty. Matt is training when he hears a noise. He gets up and walks through the school. He finally enters a classroom, it's dark inside, when he steps inside he sets off mouse traps that had been placed there. He turns on the light and sees Tyler, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie.

"Ohh! Oh, come on! Seriously?!" Caroline groans. "Do you know how long it took for us to set all this up?!"

"Forgot about senior prank night, huh?" Tyler asks.

Matt looks at them. "Clearly."

"How could you forget?" Caroline asks. "We've only been waiting for this since like freshman year."

Elena nods. "Yeah, Matt. If I'm doing this, you're doing this."

"I'm kind of surprised any of you are doing this." He says.

"Caroline's making us." Bonnie tells him.

"We're about to be seniors. These are the memories that will stay with us forever, and if we don't…" Caroline trails off.

"And if we don't create these memories now, then what's the point of it all?" Elena finishes.

"Go ahead and make fun, I don't care."

"You're all lame. And I've got ten more classrooms to prank." Tyler grabs his bag and walks out of the room. Elena goes to leave too.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Bonnie asks.

"To superglue Alaric's desk shut. I'm making memories." She smiles.

"I love you!" Caroline smiles.

* * *

Elena walks out of the classroom and sees Tyler giving instructions to other students.

"Get the faculty toilet seats, and Dana needs bodies in the gym." He orders. "Let's go."

Elena laughs and opens the double doors only to see Klaus.

"There's my girl." He smirks.

"Klaus!" She tries to run but he grabs her.

"You are supposed to be dead. What are we going to do about that?"

* * *

Damon drives down a road with Katherine.

"Are you hungry?" She asks. "Let's stop for a bite. A truck stop. Or a trucker."

He rolls his eyes. "Oh, stop being cute."

"It's not possible."

"We've been driving around aimlessly for hours. Where are we going?"

"Far enough away so that you can't go running back."

"Not to worry. Mystic Falls and I are on a bit of a break."

"You and Mystic Falls, or you and Elena?"

"Let's just say Elena and I are having a bit of difference of opinion on how I should behave."

"Ooh. Let me guess…Elena wants you to be the hero, and you don't like playing pretend."

"Something like that."

"Her loss." She says, making Damon look at her.

"Don't think I haven't noticed your mood." He says. "What's the matter with you?"

"I got dumped. It sucks."

"Trinity?" He says. "Ooh. Let me guess…she hates you for backstabbing her and trying to get her friends killed; only she can't _really _hate you because she still loves you. Now she's stuck with some hybrid freak and her ripper best friend."

"Something like that."

* * *

Stefan wakes up in the truck.

"Oh, he lives." He hears.

He turns and sees Rebekah. "What happened?" He looks around, and sees Trinity knocked out in the corner of the truck.

"You took a beating. My brother's been breaking your neck all afternoon. He knocks her out any time she comes to. Quite the temper."

"Why did he bring us back to Mystic Falls?"

"You can stop playing dumb now. It didn't take him long to figure out what you've been hiding."

"I'm not hiding anything. I've done everything Klaus has asked me to. We both have."

"No, you just failed to mention that the doppelgänger's still alive.

He looks shocked. "Where is Klaus now?"

"With any luck, ripping that cow's bloody head off."

He rushes at her and they fall outside the truck. "Where is she?" He growls.

She looks at him. "You really do love her, don't you?" She gets up and pushes him against the truck, picking up a crowbar while she's at it. She wraps a hand around his neck. "Consider me jealous." She drives the crowbar through his stomach.

* * *

Klaus keeps a tight grip on Elena's arm as her drags her through the school. "You put a rather large kink in my plans, sweetheart. The whole point of breaking the curse and becoming a hybrid was to make more hybrids. I haven't been able to do that. Now my bet is, it has something to do with the fact that you're still breathing."

"If you're going to kill me, just do it!" She says.

"Not until I know I'm right. But I do have ways of making you suffer." They walk into the gym where students are setting up pranks. "Attention, seniors. You have officially been busted. Prank night is over. Head on home." He says with an American accent. He sees Dana and another student. He gets closer to them and speaks with his normal voice. "You two. I remember you."

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Dana asks.

"Oh, don't worry, I wasn't in my right head last time we met." He compels her. "Lift your foot up, please, Dana." He looks at the boy. "If she drops her foot, Chad, I want you to beat her to death. Understood?"

"Don't, Klaus. You don't have to hurt anybody." Elena pleads.

"Oh, come on, love. Of course I do." He smiles.

* * *

In the middle of nowhere, Damon stops the car and they get out.

"Why are we stopping?" Katherine asks him.

"I thought we might want to stretch our legs. Take a break from the sexual tension. I'm tired of driving. It's your turn."

"Fine." She reaches for the keys but he throws them into the field. "Hey! I…"

"We're not going anywhere until you spill your guts."

"Fine." She takes Elena's necklace out of her pocket. "Do you recognize this, hmm? A little birdy told me that Klaus wants to get his hands on it."

"Why would Klaus want Elena's necklace?"

"Does it matter? He wants it, and I have it. It's leverage, Damon. Always stay one step ahead of your enemy."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"But more importantly, when I stole the necklace from Bonnie, I found out something else…something better."

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"Are you willing to do whatever it takes to stop Klaus? No turning back?"

"I'm not turning back."

"Good. Because this isn't going to win you any points at home." She opens the trunk, revealing Jeremy's unconscious body.

Damon looks between the two. "Jeremy? Really?"

* * *

Caroline and Tyler are in the hallway. She goes to put honey on the lockers when he kisses her.

"Do you think Matt's going to be ok?" She asks.

He looks at her. "I'm kissing you and you're wondering about your ex-boyfriend?"

"I'm asking you if you think our friend, who we both love, is ok."

"I think he probably doesn't have a lot of people to talk to anymore. I think he's struggling more than he lets on. I think that I love how big your heart is."

She smiles. "I just want this school year to be great, you know? I just want everyone to be happy. Even in the midst of all the crazy unhappy bits."

"I'm happy." He kisses her again.

Rebekah walks up to them. "You two are adorable."

They pull apart and look at her. "Uh, do we know you?" Caroline asks.

"You're Caroline, Elena's friend, which makes you Tyler. The werewolf."

"And who are you?"

"I'm the new girl." Her face changes.

"Caroline!" Tyler shouts when Rebekah flashes over to her.

* * *

Matt and Bonnie are putting toilet paper in the pool. "This is fun, right?" She smiles.

He shakes his head. "You sound like Caroline."

"Come on, I am embracing her philosophy. You should be more into this."

"I know. Where's Jeremy tonight?"

"I haven't talked to him all day. We're having, um…he, uh, he told me about seeing Vicki."

"Ohh." He says. "Good, I'm glad that you know."

"I'm sorry. Is it weird talking about your sister like this?"

"No, I…I just kind of want to see her myself, you know? I mean, I never got to say goodbye to her." He sighs. "Do you realize that just last summer, you and I were lifeguards at the pool? And the only two problems I had in my life were that Elena was breaking up with me and I sucked at CPR."

"Everything was so different then."

"Yeah. Now Elena's dating a vampire, you're a witch, my sister's a ghost, and…I'm…I'm just a guy who's wondering how life got so screwed up."

"It's crazy, Matt. I…I can't imagine what it must be like for you."

"It just, uh, kind of explains why I'm not that into senior prank night. I'll go grab a couple more rolls. Then we'll hit the gym."

* * *

Matt is in the bathroom. He grabs some paper rolls in the stalls. One of the doors opens by itself. He enters the stall, sees a graffiti that says 'RIP Vicki' and then closes the door.

Vicki appears behind him. "I'm here, Matt. I can help you." She says but he doesn't hear her.

* * *

Dana is still on one foot.

"Keep it up." Klaus says.

"Where's Stefan and Trinity?" Elena asks. "What did you do to them?"

"They're on a time out." He tells her. The doors open and Matt and Bonnie walk in.

"Bonnie, get out of here!" Elena yells.

"Ah." Klaus sigh. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Now we can get started." He looks at Dana. "Ah, Dana, why don't you relax? You and Chad sit tight." He looks at Bonnie. "I assume you're the reason Elena's still walking around alive?

Bonnie looks at him. "That's right. If you want to blame someone, blame me."

"Oh, there's no need for blame, love. Just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects. And since you caused the problem, I'm going to have you find the fix."

Rebekah enters with Tyler. "Get off of me!" He yells, struggling against her grip.

"Hush now." She says.

"I'd like you all to meet my sister Rebekah." Klaus introduces. "Word of warning…she can be quite mean."

"Don't be an ass." She throws Tyler into Klaus' arms.

"Leave him alone!" Elena yells.

Klaus looks at her. "I'm going to make this very simple…every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible, actually." He bites his wrist and makes Tyler drink his blood. "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler's sake…you better hurry." He snaps Tyler's neck. Elena, Bonnie, and Matt watch on in shock, making him smile.

* * *

Stefan is in the parking lot and has the crowbar in his stomach. He wakes up and pulls it out. He gets back into to the truck and rushes towards Trinity. "Trinity." He shakes her. "Trinity!"

She groans. "Stefan?" She sits up, holing her head. "What happened?"

"We're in Mystic Falls."

"What?!"

"Klaus knows that Elena's alive."

She looks at him in shock.

* * *

Dana and Chad are sitting on the floor.

Matt is next to Tyler's body. "He killed him."

Elena shakes her head. "He's not dead. Klaus's blood will turn him into a vampire."

"And if Bonnie's successful, he'll live through his transition." Klaus says. "Go on, then. Go and fetch your grimoire's, and enchantments and what-not. I'll hold on to Elena…for safe keeping." He grabs Elena's arm and looks at her. Elena looks at Bonnie and motions for her to leave. Bonnie nods and takes Matt with her.

Rebekah looks at Elena. "So this is the latest doppelgänger. The original one was much prettier."

"Enough, Rebekah." Klaus sighs. "Take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?" Rebekah takes Tyler and leaves with him. Klaus looks at Elena. "Just ignore her. Petty little thing."

* * *

Matt and Bonnie walk down the hallway. "What are you going to do?" He asks.

"I have no idea. The curse he's talking about is a thousand years old. My grimoire's don't go back that far." She says.

"Can you ask those dead witches that helped you before?"

"I don't have contact with them anymore…they cut me off when I brought Jeremy back to life. That's it! I can't contact the dead. Jeremy can."

* * *

Katherine and Damon are sitting on a picnic table. Jeremy's still unconscious.

"I'm listening." Damon says.

"What if I told you there was a way to kill Klaus?" She asks. "And not Dagger dead. Dead dead."

"I'd say you were desperate and lying. Or drunk. Or desperate, lying and drunk."

"Do you remember my friend Pearl?"

"Vividly."

"Centuries ago, she told me about a vampire who knew how to kill Klaus. Then she wouldn't tell me any more."

"Well, why not?"

"Because it was her leverage. She knew it was valuable information, and wouldn't share it with me."

"Well, this is all great…but she's dead."

"Which is why I never brought it up. Because she only ever told one other person."

"Who?"

"Her daughter. Anna."

"Also dead."

"Which brings us right back around to…"

"To me." Jeremy says, now awake. "Back around to me."

* * *

Elena is comforting Dana when she sees Stefan and Trinity walk in. "Stefan…" She looks at the two.

"Klaus." Stefan says.

"Come to save your damsel, mate?" He asks.

"Trinity had nothing to do with my deception. I came to ask for your forgiveness. And pledge my loyalty."

"Well, you broke that pledge once already."

"Elena means nothing to me anymore. And whatever you ask of me…I will do."

"Fair enough. Let's drink on it. Kill them." He points to Dana and Chad. Stefan hesitates. "What are you waiting for? Kill them."

"No! Stefan, don't. He's not going to hurt me." Elena says. "He already said-" Klaus backhands her and she falls to the floor. Stefan rushes over to Klaus, his fangs out. Trinity rushes over as well.

Klaus grabs him by the throat and smacks Trinity, sending her across the room. "She means nothing to you? Your lies just keep piling up."

"Let her go! I'll do whatever you want, you have my word!"

"Your word doesn't mean much. I lived by your word all summer, during which time I never had to resort to this…stop fighting." He compels him.

"Don't do this, don't do this." Stefan begs.

"I didn't want to. All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I'm going to have to take it."

"Don't…don't."

"You will do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey." Klaus continues.

"No. Stefan!" Elena yells.

"Now kill them. Ripper."

Stefan's face changes and he flashes over to Dana, tearing into her neck.

Klaus walks over to Trinity, who struggles to get up from the floor. Roughly grabbing her by her hair, he pulls her head back and looks into her eyes. "You feel no loyalty to Stefan." He says. "Only me."

"No!" Elena shouts.

"Only you." Trinity repeats, making Klaus smirk.

* * *

"This isn't going to work." Jeremy sighs.

A cellphone vibrates. Katherine looks at it and sees a message from Bonnie. "I think that your witchy girlfriend's worried that you've run away with your ghostly lover."

"Stop with the teeny bopper drama." Damon says. "Focus."

Jeremy focuses and Anna appears. "I'm not helping them." She tells him.

He shakes his head. "No, it's ok to help." Katherine and Damon share a look, not seeing anything. "They're looking for a way to stop Klaus."

"I don't care. Katherine is not a friend to you. Neither of them are."

"What's she saying?" Damon asks him.

"Well, she doesn't want to help you."

Katherine whispers to Damon. "My advice? If you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs."

Damon steps closer to Jeremy. "Jeremy, I just want you to know, it's nothing personal." He takes Jeremy head and slams it against the table.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

"Jeremy!" Anna shouts.

Damon looks up, his eyes scanning the area in front of them. "Anna, I know you can hear me. Tell us what you know. The sooner, the better for your little boyfriend here."

"They're looking for Mikael." She reveals.

"Mikael!" Jeremy yells.

"Mikael." Katherine says. "Is that his name?"

"Who's Mikael?" Damon asks.

"The vampire who hunts vampires. You don't want to wake him. He will kill all of you." Anna warns him.

"What's she saying?" Damon asks.

"Hello!" Katherine shouts when Jeremy doesn't answer.

"He's a vampire and a Hunter, and you guys would be idiots to wake him." He looks at Anna. "What do you mean, wake him?"

Damon lets him go. "It's time to go find the keys."

"Mm-hmm." Katherine nods.

* * *

Caroline wakes up and sees that Rebekah has her phone.

"We didn't have mobile telephones in my day. Would have made life a whole lot easier, I suppose." She takes a picture of herself.

"Where's Tyler?" Caroline asks.

"He's dead…ish."

Caroline sees him. "What did you do to him?"

"Think of it as he's having a nap. When he wakes up, he'll be a hybrid." She scrolls the pictures and sees one of Stefan and Elena. "Ugh. Vomit." Suddenly she sees the necklace around Elena's neck. "Is that my neck…" She zooms in on the necklace. "Why is that doppelgänger bitch wearing my necklace?!"

* * *

Stefan is feeding on Chad.

"It's always nice to see a vampire in his true element. The species has become such a broody lot." Klaus smiles.

Elena glares at him. "No. You did this to him."

"I invited him to the party, love. He's the one dancing on the table."

Rebekah enters and rushes toward Elena. "Where is it?! Where's my necklace?

"What are you talking about?" Klaus asks.

"She has my necklace. Look." She gives him the phone so he can see the picture.

"Well, well. More lies."

Rebekah glares menacingly at her. "Where. Is. It?"

"I don't have it anymore." Elena says.

"You're lying!" Her face changes and she bites her.

Klaus pulls her off. "Knock it off!"

"Make her tell me where it is, Nik!"

Klaus looks at Elena, who holds a hand to her neck. "Where's the necklace, sweetheart? Be honest."

"I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it."

"Katerina. Of course." He sighs. "Well, that's unfortunate. If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?" He turns on the clock and a buzzer sounds. He turns to Stefan. "20 minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again. Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to."

"No, Klaus! Don't do this to him!" Elena yells.

"No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine." He goes over to Trinity and whispers into her ear. "Make sure that he doesn't kill her."

Rebekah looks at them and leaves with Klaus.

* * *

Matt is in the weight room, talking on the phone with Bonnie. "Did you find Jeremy?"

"_No! I called him like 20 times."_

"All right, I'll grab my keys, we'll head to his house."

"_Ok. I'll meet you by your truck."_

He hangs up and sees that is stuff has been thrown all over the room. "What the hell?" He looks in his bag and sees that his keys are missing. He walks out and sees that they are in the bottom of the pool. "You've got to be kidding me!" He takes his jacket off and removes his shoes.

Vicki appears behind him. "Matt! I can help, Matty, but I need you to hear me." She kicks one of his shoes into the pool. Matt just sees the shoe going in the water. He looks at his phone and sees a text from an unknown.

"Whoa! Vicki?" He looks around before calling Bonnie.

* * *

"_What is taking so long?" _Bonnie asks.

Matt carries and iron belt and a weight. "This is going to sound crazy, but I think Vicki's trying to reach out to me."

"_What?"_

"I think she can help us save Tyler."

"_No, Jeremy can help us save Tyler."_

"We can't find Jeremy. We need to try something else. I have an idea but I'm going to need your help. Meet me at the pool."

"_I don't understand."_

"Jeremy can see ghosts because you brought him back from the dead. I need you to do that for me."

"_What?! No, Matt, that's crazy!"_

"This is going to work, trust me."

"_No, Matt, I can't do that kind of magic anymore."_

"You don't need magic, Bonnie. You just have to be better than I was at CPR." He puts the belt down and attaches the weight to it so when he jumps in the water he stays at the bottom.

* * *

Bonnie runs and enters the pool area. She sees Matt unconscious in the pool and jumps in, removing the belt and taking him out of the water.

* * *

Jeremy's eyes begin to droop close.

"Don't fall asleep, Jer. You might have a concussion." Damon tells him.

His eyes snap open. "Thanks for the concern, dick."

"Oh, stop pouting." Katherine says. "He took one for the team. Everyone back home will thank you once Klaus is dead."

"Where's my phone?" Damon asks her.

"Do you need to check in with Elena? Make sure it's ok you pummeled her little baby bro?" She teases.

"I know you have it."

"What can I say? I needed you present here and now."

"Katherine, phone, now." She sighs and gives it to him; he looks at it. "Bonnie's been texting me."

"What is it?" Jeremy asks.

"It's Klaus."

Katherine shakes her head. "No turning back, Damon."

"Shut up, Katherine."

"Hey, look at the big picture. The best shot at taking out Klaus is by finding Mikael."

Damon looks at Jeremy and gives him the keys. "Stay with her so Anna can guide you. I'm going back."

"You're going to get yourself killed. The Damon I remember wouldn't have been that stupid." Katherine says.

"I wouldn't have done it for you."

* * *

Bonnie is trying to save Matt. "Matt, please! I can't do this. There's nothing else I can do!"

* * *

Matt watches the scene and sees Vicki.

"Matt. Matt!" She calls.

He looks at her in awe. "Vicki?"

"Matt. Please!"

"I can see you."

"I need you to listen to me very carefully. I don't have much time."

"Why, what's happening? Where are we?"

"It doesn't matter. I need you to give Bonnie a message."

* * *

He wakes up and coughs up water.

Bonnie sits him upright. "It's ok. You're ok."

* * *

Elena, Stefan, and Trinity are still in the gym. There's 6 minutes left on the clock.

"Caroline's dad! Stefan, he was able to resist compulsion. I don't know how, but he did it. Maybe it's possible." Elena says.

"Yeah, yeah." He nods. "Maybe it's just mind control, right? Maybe it just takes some focus, a couple decades of training. No big deal."

"Stefan, you can control this. When that buzzer goes off, just…just drink from me."

"You don't get it. I can't stop, Elena! I'm a ripper!" He yells. "A ripper doesn't stop! I listen to the words that come out of your mouth, and all I hear is the sound of your heart pumping blood through your body. And when that clock ticks down…I'm going to have to feed on you. And you want to know what's worse? I'm not going to be able to stop."

She shakes her head. "I don't believe that. You can fight it. You just have to want it bad enough."

"Why, because I love you?"

"Yeah! That's right, Stefan. Because you love me. You'll fight because after everything that we've been through, you owe me that!"

"You know what, you're right. You're right. I owe you everything. Because through all of this, you are the one thing that has kept me from giving up; from turning it all off. But I can't help what I am, Elena. The more blood that I get, the more I want, and if I get so much as near yours…you are dead."

* * *

Caroline, Tyler and Rebekah are in a classroom.

Tyler wakes up. "Where am I? What happened?"

"Tyler." Caroline rushes over and takes him into her arms.

"Don't be shy about it." Rebekah rolls her eyes.

"What's going on?" He asks.

"Klaus is turning you into a vampire. A hybrid. You're in transition." Caroline tells him.

"Don't leave out the hard part, sweets." Rebekah says. "You'll only survive if your witch is successful. If not…you're pretty much dead."

Caroline ignores her. "You're going to be ok. Ok? It's going to be ok."

"I wonder how she's doing." She looks at the clock on the phone. "Tick tock goes the gym clock."

* * *

Matt and Bonnie are in the hallway. "As soon as you're feeling better, I'm going to kill you." She tells him.

"It worked. I saw her, I saw Vicki." He says.

She looks at him. "You did?"

"She said she had a message for you."

"For me?"

"From the witch that put the hybrid curse on Klaus. She said that Elena shouldn't have survived Klaus' ritual. The hybrids can't transition because Elena's still alive."

"Tyler…"

"He's going to die, isn't he?"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Klaus says from behind him, leaning against the wall. "Given the choice, doppelgänger or a hybrid, I go hybrid every time."

* * *

There's only a few seconds left on the clock.

"Elena, you're going to have run." Stefan says.

"But Klaus said that if I run…"

"I know what he said, but if you stay, it won't matter. Elena, please, please, please. Elena, there's no other way."

"There is another way, Stefan. It's for you to fight." She tells him. The buzzer sounds; times up. "Stefan…I love you. Fight, Stefan. Don't give up."

"I can't hold it." His face changes.

Suddenly Trinity tackles him to the ground. "Elena, run! Go!" She yells. "I can't hold him off for long!"

Elena rushes out of the gym.

Stefan fights with Trinity. "How are you doing this?!" He asks. "Klaus compelled you." He throws her into the wall and tries to run to the door but she stops him.

"It didn't work!" She grunts as she throws him to the ground. Stefan recovers quickly and flashes over to her, knocking her out.

He quickly makes his way out of the gym.

* * *

Elena opens a door and runs into Klaus.

"We've got to stop meeting like this." He smirks.

* * *

Stefan enters the cafeteria. He breaks off a piece of wood and drives it through his body.

Klaus enters with Elena. "Now this is fascinating. I've never seen this before." He says. "The only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl. Why don't you turn it off?"

"No!" Stefan yells.

"Come on. Your humanity is killing you. All the guilt must be exhausting. Turn it off."

"No!"

"Stefan…" Elena says.

"You're strong." He removes the stake from Stefan's body. "But you're not that strong. Turn. It. Off."

"No!" He pushes Klaus away.

Klaus slams him against the wall, looking into his eyes. "Turn it off!" He yells.

The emotion leaves Stefan's face and he stares blankly ahead.

Elena watches in horror. "What did you do?"

Klaus steps back and smiles at her. "I fixed him. But I think a test is in order, don't you?" He goes behind Elena and looks at Stefan. "Ripper…perhaps you'd like a drink…from the doppelgängers neck?"

Stefan's face changes and he rushes over to Elena, biting into her neck. She screams in pain.

* * *

Klaus enters the classroom Rebekah, Tyler and Caroline are in. "Well, the verdict's in. The original witch says the doppelgänger should be dead."

Rebekah stands with a pleased look on her face. "Does that mean we can kill her?"

"No, I'm fairly certain it means the opposite."

"What?!"

"Call it a hunch…" He holds up a vial of blood to Tyler. Rebekah holds Caroline so she can't move. "Elena's blood. Drink it."

"No!" Caroline yells. "No, no, no, Tyler, don't!"

"If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway, love. Consider this an experiment." He says. Tyler struggles but eventually gives in, drinking the blood. "There we go. Good boy." Tyler screams in pain. He falls to the floor, groaning and writhes. He holds his head and his eyes glow yellow, fangs and veins appearing as well. "Well, that's a good sign." Klaus smiles.

* * *

Elena wakes up in a hospital bed and sees a nurse. "Where am I?"

"In the hospital, sweetie. You suffered through a terrible ordeal." The nurse says.

"I have to get out of here."

"Ah. Not an option. You've lost a lot of blood."

Elena sees a blood bag next to her. "Wait…you're taking my blood?"

"Of course. It's very important for your friend Klaus." Elena begins to panic but the nurse injects her with a sedative. "Don't fight it, sweetie. He told me you need plenty of rest."

Elena passes out.

* * *

Klaus and Rebekah are in front of the hospital.

"So the doppelgänger isn't the problem. Her blood is the solution." She says.

"Seems so." He nods.

"How did you know?"

"Well, you know how much the original witch hated me. Do you honestly think I would do anything other than the opposite of what she says?"

"A thousand years in the grave and she's still screwing with you."

"Well, it makes sense if you think about it from her perspective. It was her failsafe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse. The doppelgänger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead…"

"Then you couldn't use her blood to sire yourself a new species."

"Leaving me alone for all time."

She looks at him. "Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids. You just don't want to be alone?"

"What I want is to take my girl, take my shapeshifter, and my hybrid the hell out of this one pony town. You know, why don't you, uh, why don't you get the truck? I'll get Elena." He watches her leave and sees Damon walk up. "Well, look who finally decided to show up to the party."

"Where is she?" He asks.

"Elena? Ah, she's making a donation to a greater cause."

Damon goes toward the hospital but Klaus stops him. "I'm afraid I can't let you interfere, mate."

"You'll have to kill me."

"Oh, I would love to kill you, but I made a pledge to your brother, and unlike him, I keep my word. Although, you know what, thinking about it now, he probably doesn't care that much anymore." He pushes Damon against a car and is ready to kill him.

"Don't you want to know about your friend Mikael?" Damon asks.

Klaus looks at him. "What do you know about Mikael?"

"Just that he knows you're here."

"You're bluffing."

"Katherine and I found him. Consider it our leverage." He says. Klaus throws him to the ground. When he gets up, Klaus has disappeared. He walks towards the hospital.

* * *

Damon is in the hallway, looking for Elena. He finally finds her. She's asleep; he looks at her and pulls out the tube in Elena's arm. He looks at the tubes which were pumping out her blood and she wakes up.

"Damon…" She says weakly.

"Hey." He takes her into his arms and carries her out.

* * *

_Mystic Falls High School_

Caroline and Tyler are in the hallway. "Are you sure you're ok?" She asks.

He smiles. "I'm great, Caroline. I mean, like, phenomenal. It's a rush. I wish I could explain it. Everything's just…better." He takes her in his arms and spins her around, making her laugh. He presses a kiss to her lips. "This is going to be an amazing year." He embraces her, not seeing the worried look on her face.

* * *

Bonnie rejoins Matt in the weight room. "Hey. You ready?" She asks him. "I could still use a ride over to Jeremy's."

"Yeah, just a sec." He says.

"Listen to me. I know you want to help, and I know you miss your sister. But what you did was reckless and stupid."

"I know. Bonnie. I know. But it worked. It was worth it."

"You don't want to be a part of all this, Matt. You are the only one of us who actually gets to live your life like a normal person, no matter how lost you feel. Don't forget that."

"I get it, Bonnie. I'll be out in a minute, ok? Vicki's here. Watching me, and I just, uh, I just need a minute to say goodbye, ok?" She leaves but somebody's behind him. He thinks it's Bonnie. "Bon, seriously, I'm not going to do anything stupid, I just…" He turns his head and sees Vicki. "Vicki?"

She sits down next to him. "Hi, Matty."

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon gives Elena a glass of scotch. "Hey, have some bourbon. It'll help you forget." He watches as she takes a drink and scrunches her face at the taste. "Yeah, it's strong. You know I can help you forget, too. At least the memories you don't want to keep."

She shakes her head. "No. No compulsion. I need to remember. All of it."

He pulls out her necklace. "I stole it back for you."

"He's really gone this time. I watched it happen. After everything that we went through to get…to help him. Now he's just…gone. Where were you, Damon?"

He puts his hand on her leg. "I shouldn't have left. I promise you…I will never leave you again." They look at each other.

"Well, isn't this cozy?" Stefan asks, leaning against the entrance of the room.

They both look at him, surprised.. Damon gets up. "What are you doing here, brother?"

"Last I checked, I live here. Klaus is gone, but he's asked me to keep watch on you until he returns." He looks at Elena. "From now on, you're under my protection. He was kinda pissed that his compulsion didn't work on Trinity though. Hmm." He shrugs. "By all means, carry on." He leaves.

Damon and Elena look at each other.

A few minutes later, Trinity enters the house; her hands filled with bags. She sets them down. "Of all the events today, someone was thoughtful enough to pack my candy. I would say that's a plus." She sets down her bags and looks at Elena, smiling. "Miss me?"

Elena rushes forward and hugs her. "You're okay."

"Maybe." She says. "Even with my healing, I've been knocked out a lot in one day…I may have a concussion." She teases.

Elena gives a teary laugh. "I missed you." She pulls back.

"I missed you too." Trinity smiles. She motions to the bags. "I official broke up with Katherine. Do you wanna help me eat my grief candy?"

* * *

Katherine and Jeremy stand in front of a crypt.

"How do you know that Anna wasn't tricking you?" She asks.

"This is the place. It's the oldest wing of the largest cemetery in Charlotte. She said that a witch entombed him here in the nineties." They look through the door and see a tomb. "Look there."

Katherine opens the double doors. She looks at the tomb and opens it. Mikael is in it, desiccated and chained up. As soon as the tomb is opened, he opens his eyes.


	50. Smells Like Teen Spirit

Chapter Fifty: Smells Like Teen Spirit

Elena is wide awake when her alarm goes off. She looks at the clock and sees that it's 5 AM. Getting out of bed, she sees her reflection in the mirror and look at the bite mark on her neck. She gets out her make up to cover it up.

When she's finished she leaves her room and sees Alaric, who looks a bit hung-over. "Good morning." She greets but he just groans.

* * *

In the woods, Elena is training on one of Alaric's mannequins.

He shows her how to stake a vampire with a sleeve and two stakes in it. "So the pressure of your punch ejects the stakes."

"Easy enough." She tries but the stakes stay in the sleeve. "That's weird." She tries again but it doesn't work. "Must be jammed or something."

He shakes his head. "You're not strong enough. Better start lifting some weights, put some meat on your bones."

She rolls her eyes. "Thanks for not sugar-coating it."

He takes something out of his bag and shows it to her. "You know what this is?"

"A vervain grenade. I've used one before."

"Then you know the element of surprise is your only advantage when it comes to a vampire." He pulls the pin out of a grenade and tosses it to Elena. "Surprise."

"Oh my god." She throws it in the air and the grenade explodes. She glares at him. "This isn't a joke to me, Ric."

"You think I'm joking? Vampires will take whatever they want. They will hurt whoever they want. And they'll do it without remorse. It's their nature."

"You don't have to use pronouns. You can say Stefan."

He sighs. "Look, I get why you're here. Stefan hurt you. You don't want it to happen again."

"But you think that I'm crazy. To believe that I can protect myself from a vampire who's flipped the switch on his humanity."

"I think you found a way to get out of bed this morning. And that makes you the strongest person I know. I think that you can do pretty much anything." He gives her the sleeve with the stakes and she puts it back on.

* * *

Elena, Caroline and Bonnie are in front of the school. Elena has a scarf around her neck.

"Here we are." Caroline says. "Senior year."

"Anyone else think it should feel slightly more empowering?" Bonnie asks.

"Okay. So prank night was a bust. But we are accepting it, and we are moving on."

"You're right. I mean, why should I let the fact that my boyfriend is seeing the ghost of his dead girlfriends hinder this experience?"

"Yes! And why should I let the fact that my boyfriend was turned into a hybrid put a damper on an otherwise fabulous day."

"Today's our anniversary." Elena speaks. "Technically, Stefan and I met on the first day of school last year."

They look at her. "Yeah. You win." Caroline nods.

"Are you sure you want to be here?" Bonnie asks.

Elena sighs. "I have to be here. I have to put it behind me. New year. New life." She starts to walk towards the school.

Caroline and Bonnie look at each other and follow Elena.

"Where's Trinity?" Bonnie asks. "I thought you said that she was ok?"

"She's in a candy coma." Elena tells them. "She broke up with Katherine and buried her grief by stuffing herself sick."

"I thought she ended things with Katherine before the summer?" Caroline asks.

"She tried…and then Katherine told her that she loved her." Caroline and Bonnie look at her in shock. "Then she followed her to Chicago, told her that she's going to wait for her forever, and that she was wrong in thinking that Stefan was her true love."

"And how much of that was the truth?"

"Depending on what Damon told me? All of it." She says. "He told me that she looked hurt when she was with him. Now she's hell bent on killing Klaus so she can stop running and they can be together."

"Katherine? Katherine Pierce; the bitch who tried to have us all killed, actually cares about someone other than herself?"

"That was my reaction."

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon walks down the stairs and sees two dead girls on the floor. He walks into the living room and sees Stefan playing twister with a few girls around him.

Stefan flicks the spinner. "Uh-oh. Alexandra, left hand, please."

"Hey, the two brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug." Damon tells him.

"You mean, they owe us a Persian rug? It's my house, too, brother. Ooh! Would you like a spin?"

"So this is what Klaus had in mind when he compelled you to protect Elena?"

"These ladies are helping me be all that I can be." Stefan smirks. They hear someone knock on the door. Damon opens it and Rebekah walks in, her hands filled with shopping bags.

"Where's Stefan?" She asks.

Damon looks at her. "Who the hell are you?"

"He left me here. My brother actually left me here."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Your tone implies that I'm actually supposed to care." Stefan says.

"You're Klaus's sister?" Damon asks.

She turns to him. "Rebekah. Pleasure, I'm sure." She turns back to Stefan. "Which one's my room?"

"You're not staying here." Stefan tells her.

She then looks at Damon but he doesn't say anything. "Rude. Both of you. I'll see to it myself." She walks up the stairs.

Stefan and Damon watch her go. "So I guess she's staying here."

* * *

Rebekah walks into one of the rooms and sees Trinity come out the bathroom, clad only in a bra and pants.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Trinity asks.

Rebekah looks at her. "You live here too? Don't you ever leave Stefan's side?"

Trinity puts on a shirt. "I just got finished spending months with your psycho brother, I didn't want to spend my first night back alone."

"So you'll be leaving then."

"No…I'll be staying." She says. "Why?"

"I want this room."

"It's a boarding house, find another. As you can see, this one is already occupied."

"Why is everyone so mean?"

"Well when you demand things from people you don't know, it tends to rub them the wrong way. Try asking politely, you might get different results."

Rebekah sits on the bed. "I'm not leaving."

Trinity looks at her. "Well I'm not leaving."

"I don't like to share."

"And I don't like people taking what's mine." Trinity closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before opening them. "Look, the way I see it; you've been in a box for the last 90 years and your brother abandoned you after a few days." Rebekah glares at her but Trinity holds her hand up. "Let me finish." She puts her hand down. "You have no idea how the world works today; are you sure that the first thing you want to do is offend the _one _person who's actually been nice to you since you woke up?"

Rebekah is silent for a moment. "Fine." She sighs. "Explain how things work."

"I think our first order of business should be finding you your own room."

* * *

Trinity walks down the stairs. "Really Stefan? You were a lot cleaner with your emotions." She says seeing the bodies.

He looks at her. "Are you here to lecture me? 'Oh Stefan, this isn't you. You need help. I promise to stay by your side.'"

"Actually, no." She says. "I was with you this summer. I saw everything, I know what you're capable of. I did promise to stay by your side and I'm going to keep that promise."

"Oh great." He rolls his eyes.

"I'm just saying that when all this is over and for whatever reason your emotions snap back on, I'll still be here. You're my best friend and whether you're crazy ripper Stefan or broody martyr Stefan, I got your back."

He flashes over to her and pins her to the wall. "And why would you do that?"

She looks at him. "You may have lost your emotions, but I didn't." She shifts her nails into claws and drives them into his stomach. He groans and releases her. "But don't make the mistake of thinking that I'm weak. I care about you, but I _will _kick your ass if you come at me again." She pushes him away.

He holds his stomach and looks at her, a glint of respect in his eyes.

They don't notice Damon at the top of the stairs.

* * *

Bonnie is at her locker when Jeremy walks up to her. "So, what? It's not cool to talk to juniors anymore?" He asks.

She looks at him. "Hey. Happy first day."

"You're mad?"

"I'm not mad. I'm resigned to the fact I'm sharing space in our relationship with Anna and Vicki."

"I haven't talked to Vicki in a while."

"That's not the point, Jeremy."

"I know that. I know. Ok? But I had to see Anna again, Bonnie. She had information that Damon needed."

"I get it, Jeremy. But put yourself in my shoes. You loved both of them. And you guys didn't break up. They died. And you keep letting them back in."

"You think I want any of this?"

"I, um…I think you have the power to decide whether or not you see them. Remember that. Ok?" She walks away.

* * *

Matt parks his truck. Vicki appears next to him. "You were always so much better at being a part of this than I was." She says. He jumps and looks at her, surprised. "Sorry."

"You can't just keep appearing like this. Freaks me out." He tells her.

"I'm a ghost. It's all I got. And I couldn't appear if you weren't thinking about me."

"Well, I was just thinking about our first day last year. I was worried about running into Elena and you said…"

"Suck it up, be a man, and show her what she's missing."

"Yeah. Instead, she met a vampire."

"You ok, Matty? You seem unhappy."

"Yeah, I just, life stuff. You know, with you gone and mom not around, it's…a lot to deal with alone. I'm glad I get to talk to you, though. I miss you."

"I miss you, too. What if I told you there was a way that you could help me come back?"

"What do you mean come back?"

Tyler knocks on the window and Vicki disappears. "Donovan!" He calls. "What are you doing? Come on, man. Let's go!" Matt gets out of his truck. "You talking to yourself?"

"What's got you in such a good mood?"

"We're seniors, man. Life is good."

* * *

Katherine has a mouse in her hands and waves it above Mikael, who is still asleep. "Come on, Mikael, breakfast." Her phone rings. "Mm, yummy. Mikael, wake up!" She sees that it's Damon and answers it. "What?"

"_What? What do you mean, 'what'? I've been calling you for 2 days."_

"Odd, that's exactly how long I've been ignoring you."

"_Jeremy Gilbert told me that you found Mikael."_

"Sort of. He's a little bit out of commission. He won't eat. And I've tried everything…gravediggers, mourners, mice, rats, bats. He's just not interested."

"_Well, try harder. We need him to kill Klaus so I can de-rippefy Stefan before he destroys my house."_

"Fine. I'll give it another shot." She looks through the doors and sees a man in the cemetery.

* * *

Elena's phone rings and she answers; it's Damon. "Hey. Are you checking up on me? Because I'm fine." She tells him.

"_Yeah. So…you might not want to come here for a while. We have a new housemate. Barbie Klaus."_

"Rebekah? She's living with you now? Why?"

"_She's stranded. Apparently Klaus left her in the dust after I name-dropped Mikael."_

"What about Stefan? What is he up to?"

"_Oh, you know Stefan. Journaling, reading, shaping his hair."_

"Come on, Damon. I can handle it. What?"

"_Is that the bell? Oh…Ring! Ring! Don't want to be late." _He hangs up.

* * *

Caroline puts a flyer for the bonfire on the wall.

Elena walks up. "I forgot about the bonfire."

"You have to go. It's our first spirit squad event. And it sets the bar for the whole year."

"Relax, Caroline. I'll be there."

"Thank you. It's just that…"

Tyler arrives and kisses Caroline. Elena looks at his shirt and sees something red. "Happy first day!" He smiles.

"Is that blood?" Elena asks.

Caroline's eyes widen when she sees is shirt. "Oh my god!" She grabs Tyler and Elena follows them. She pulls him into a restroom.

"What's going on?!" He asks.

She turns to look at him. "Vampire 101; don't wear your breakfast to school!"

Elena checks out the stalls to make sure no one is there.

"Chill out. It was just a blood bag." He tells her.

"From where?"

"Rebekah hooked me up."

"Rebekah? And what are you even talking to her for?"

"Klaus told her to keep a watch on me. Protect his new asset." He smiles.

"His what? Why are you amused by this?"

"I'm his first successful hybrid, Caroline. Don't you think that's the tiniest bit awesome?"

"Oh, wow! I cannot believe you just said that."

Elena looks at them. "So, I'm going to go. Good luck." She leaves the restroom only to walk into Stefan.

"Hello, Elena." He greets.

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm going back to school. Go Timberwolves!"

"What? Why?"

"Klaus wants me to keep an eye on you. I'm just doing what I'm told."

"I'm going to be late for class." She tries to leave but he stops her.

"Oh, class is this way."

"Let go of me, Stefan."

"Elena, do you think I want to be a senior for the 100th time? No. But if I don't have a choice in the matter, then neither do you."

"I said let go of me."

Alaric walks up to them. "Let her go." He says. Stefan pushes him against the locker.

"Stefan, stop it!" Elena yells.

"You're not gonna want to get in my way. Okay Ric?" He lets go of him. "I will see you both in history." He leaves.

* * *

"Welcome to high school." Trinity says, walking towards the office with Rebekah. "Believe me when I tell you that this is something you'll only want to do once."

"Why?"

"If you have a good experience; let's say that you join the cheerleading squad and other committees for school functions, you'll have a nice time. But if you fade into the background the days will pass you by and you'll be counting the days until it's over."

"Is that what you're doing?"

"It's what I used to do. I'm smart enough to test out, but then I'd have nothing left to do with my day. But ever since I got involved with all this vampire business, I've been counting the days that I stay alive."

"If it's so dangerous, why don't you just leave?"

"Stefan is the first person I've told about me. He is the first vampire I ever met. He's my best friend and even though he's acting like a dick right now, I still love him. I would only leave if he was coming with me."

Rebekah looks at her. "What did Stefan do to get your complete and utter devotion?"

Trinity pauses. "He cared about me. When you go your whole life feeling alone and disconnected, and then suddenly someone notices you…cares about you…you don't pass that up." She sighs. "Well, enough of my sob story; we need to get you your class schedule."

"What is there to learn?"

"I'll help you catch up on the basics." They continue down the hallway. "Were you the one who packed my candy?"

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "I didn't see the need in leaving it all to waste."

"Thank you." Trinity smiles.

* * *

Alaric and Elena are in his classroom.

"What the hell is he doing here?" He asks.

"Klaus compelled him to watch over me. Apparently I'm one of Klaus's assets now that my blood is the only way to create a hybrid." She explains.

"Now he's a bodyguard?"

"I don't know what he is. But he's definitely not Stefan." She sighs. The school bell rings. "Look, his being here is not good for any of us. We have to do something."

The students enter the classroom. Elena goes to her chair. Caroline sits next to her and a guy sits on the other side but Stefan enters and goes toward him.

He glares at the boy. "You're in my seat." The boy quickly gets up and Stefan sits down, smiling at Elena. Caroline looks at him.

Alaric addresses the class. "Welcome back, seniors. Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders…the Native Americans."

Rebekah and Trinity enter the classroom. "What about the Vikings?" She asks as she and Trinity take their seats. Tyler, Caroline and Elena look at them.

"There's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States. Who are you?" Alaric asks.

"My name's Rebekah. I'm new. And history's my favorite subject."

* * *

Matt walks to the stoner pit.

Vicki appears. "You have got no business in the stoner pit."

"Figured you'd feel comfortable here." He tells her.

She smiles. "Touché."

"So what do you mean that I can help you come back?"

"Right now, I can only come back when you're thinking of me. But there is a way that I can be free of that."

"How?"

"I know this sounds crazy but I have help from the other side."

"The other side?"

Jeremy walks up but doesn't see Vicki. "Dude, what are you doing over here?" He asks.

Matt looks at him. "I could ask you the same question."

"Just looking for my stoner lab partner. All right, see you around." He leaves.

Matt looks at Vicki. "Can he not see you anymore?"

* * *

Jeremy is in the restrooms with Anna. "He was talking to Vicki right out there in the open."

She looks at him. "How?"

"When he died and came back, he must have started seeing her. She said that she could come back, that she had help on the other side."

"Help? What kind of help?"

* * *

"Who's helping you?" Matt asks.

"The witch I've been talking to says that there's a ritual. She can do magic from my side to push me over to yours." Vicki tells him.

* * *

"Is it even possible? Could she come back?" Jeremy asks.

Anna shrugs. "I guess if she had a stronger foothold."

"Like an anchor?"

"Exactly. Right now, I'm tethered to you. My only access point to your side is through you. But if she were to get a stronger foothold."

* * *

"I'll be able to come and go as I please…" Vicki trails off. "When I want, where I want. I won't have to rely on you."

"But you'll still be a ghost, Vicki." Matt says.

She rolls her eyes. "In a town full of vampires, werewolves, and witches, I'll fit right in."

"Seriously. You're going to make jokes about this?"

"Matt! Relax. No one else will be able to see me."

* * *

"She's bad news, Jeremy. There's nothing but darkness around her."

He shakes his head. "This is Vicki we're talking about. All right? She's not a bad person."

"You can't upset the balance of nature without a price. If she's using a witch's energy from the other side, you don't know what price she's going to pay." Anna tells him.

* * *

"I can be a part of this life again, Matt. Instead of being on the other side all alone. You won't have to be alone anymore either." Vicki cries.

He sighs. "What do I have to do?"

* * *

The football team and the cheerleaders are at practice.

"Has anybody seen Dana?" A cheerleader asks.

Rebekah arrives. "Sounds like you have an opening on the squad."

Caroline looks at her. "What are you doing?" Rebekah begins stretching. "Hey. Hey. You can't just come here and infiltrate all of our lives."

Rebekah stands up. "I'm only interested in yours. Your spunk, your popularity." She looks at Tyler. "Maybe even your boyfriend."

* * *

Tyler is practicing with the football team.

"It's not the ballet, ladies. Let's move! Let's move!" The coach orders.

Tyler stops. "I think we're done here, coach."

"Did you have a mental breakdown, Lockwood? Get back in line."

"I have a better idea." Tyler walks over to him. "Shut the hell up so we can go get drunk at the bonfire." He compels him. "Shut the hell up so we can go get drunk at the bonfire."

The coach looks at the team. "Hit the showers, gentlemen."

Caroline rejoins Tyler. "Try to be a little more subtle, Tyler." She tells him.

He looks at her. "Coming from the queen of subtlety? Relax. I'm in total control."

"Then why are you acting like this?"

"Drop it, Caroline. I'm fine. I've never been better. Klaus has given me this…gift."

"What?!" They hear some boys on the team talk about Rebekah. Tyler and Caroline turn their head. Rebekah makes impressive gymnastic moves and ends with a split. She looks at Caroline with a smile. "My god!" Caroline groans.

Tyler smiles. "Damn, girl's got moves."

* * *

Elena is running on the track when Stefan catches up to her. "Look at you being all fit. Hey, you going to the bonfire tonight? Sounds like fun, right?"

"Seriously, Stefan, leave me alone." She turns around but he still follows her.

"You think I'm annoying now? Wait till homecoming. Hey, who you bringing, by the way? I don't want to be weird."

A guy accidentally bumps into Elena. "I'm sorry"

Stefan pushes him. "Watch it, dick!"

Elena looks at Stefan. "Who are you?!"

"I'm the guy who's been assigned to protect a human blood bag. I mean, no offense or anything." She shakes her head and walks away. "What?!" He calls after her.

* * *

Rebekah walks into the music room and sees Trinity. "There you are." She says, walking closer.

Trinity looks up from the piano. "Here I am." She says. "How's your first day of high school?"

Rebekah lifts herself onto the piano. "I joined the cheerleading squad and I'm going to the bonfire tonight."

Trinity nods. "You've officially started the high school experience."

"What's next?"

"Homecoming."

"What's that?"

"For guys; it's about the football game, for girls; it's about the dance. For a week the school has events and activities for the students to participate it, then the guys have their football game…hopefully they win, and after that; there's a dance. Everyone dresses up, gets drunk, and has fun."

"When does that happen?"

"A few weeks from now."

Rebekah pauses in thought. "I'd like to go to that."

Trinity shrugs. "Feel free."

Rebekah looks at her. "You're not going?"

Trinity shakes her head. "It was never really my thing." She presses a few keys on the piano.

"Play me something."

"Nah. I'm not that good."

"Then why are you in here?" She asks.

"I like music."

"How? The stuff I've heard so far has been horrible."

"Making the jump from jazz to club music is a hard thing to do. You have to work your way up to that."

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "More to learn?"

"I'll have to take you through the generations of music. Elvis, the Beatles…there's a lot you need to catch up on."

"So let this be lesson one. Play me something."

Trinity thinks for a minute before she begins playing. She soon begins to sing.

_When I find myself in time of trouble_

_Mother Mary comes to me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be_

Rebekah watches as she sings.

* * *

Katherine is holding the body of the man above Mikael so the blood can Fall in his mouth.

He wakes up and his face becomes normal again. "No! Get it away!"

"You need blood."

"Get it away from me!"

She throws the body aside. "Happy?"

"Thank you." He sighs.

She looks at him. "I remember you. Chicago, 1920s. You were looking for Klaus." He closes his eyes again. "You're not so scary for a…badass vampire; vampire hunter."

* * *

Elena is lifting weights on a bench.

Damon arrives. "What? Are you going to bench press a vampire?"

"Do you actually know what's happening right now? Stefan called me a human blood bag. He's a completely different person." She struggles when he begins to press on the weights. "Unh! What are you doing?"

"Helping you out."

"Damon!"

"Come on, Buffy!"

"Stop it!" He stops and she stands up. "Like one obnoxious Salvatore isn't bad enough." She says sitting down.

"You called. I'm here. What's your plan, oh warrior princess?"

"I want to lock Stefan up, at least until this Mikael guy comes, kills Klaus, and the compulsion breaks."

"Compulsion or not, Stefan's high on human blood, Ok? A lot of it."

"You've gotten him off of it before."

"This is different. It's not a stint in rehab, Elena. His humanity's gone. Light's out. No one's home."

"Then do it for me, Damon. Every single time I look at him, I feel like I'm going to break. And I'm not going to give him that satisfaction." She gets up. He takes her hand and puts it on his chest. "What are you doing?"

"Feel that? It's a sternum. Solid plate of bone." He takes her in his arms and puts his fingers on her back. "Right here, just below the ribcage, next to the spine, that's your way to a vampire's heart." He removes his fingers. "I'll do whatever it is you need me to do, Elena." She looks at him. "No one going to hurt you. Especially not my brother."

* * *

Trinity walks into her house and sneezes at the amount of dust in the air. "Great." She sighs. She goes into a cupboard and pulls out cleaning supplies.

* * *

Alaric, Damon, Elena and Caroline are in a classroom.

"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. Then when he's distracted…" Elena trails off.

"I'll shoot him." Alaric says.

"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" Damon asks.

"I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her." Elena says. "Caroline, are you covered?

"Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready. Why isn't Trinity here?"

"She's a little less than concerned about him right now. I heard the whole speech earlier. 'You're my best friend and I don't care if you ruthlessly kill people' and all that jazz." Damon says. "On another note; we're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blond ponytail tends to follow."

"Which is why it's your job to keep her away." Elena tells him.

"How?! She's an original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers."

"So then preoccupy her with your charm."

"Might have better luck finding the dagger." Alaric comments.

Damon looks at him. "Are you ever not going to be mad at me for a day?"

"Doubtful."

Tyler arrives. "Sorry I'm late. What's going on?"

"We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while." Elena says.

"You can't do that to Stefan."

"Why not?" Caroline asks.

Elena nods. "Trust me, Tyler; it's in his best interest."

"Yeah, but it's not in Klaus's."

They look at him. "But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion?" Caroline asks.

"Uh-oh." Damon groans.

"What?" Alaric asks.

"Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything." Tyler explains.

"Oh, boy." Damon says.

Caroline looks at him. "Ok, can we cool it on the commentary, please."

"What is going on?" Elena asks. Damon takes a vervain dart.

"I'm just going to go." Tyler turns to leave but Damon flashes over and stabs the vervain dart into his neck. Tyler falls to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" Caroline yells.

"He's been sired." Damon says.

"What?" Alaric asks.

"Sired. He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus's blood created him."

"Loyal how?" Elena asks.

"He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids."

Caroline looks at Tyler's unconscious body. "So how do I fix him?"

"Get a new boyfriend."

* * *

Rebekah is at the bonfire trying to pour herself some beer.

Stefan walks over. "You all right there?"

"I thought Tyler would be here." She sighs.

"You're into Tyler now? That's kind of fickle."

"When you're willing to give me the time of day again, then we'll talk. Until then, a girl has needs."

"I'm well aware of that. I just thought that you were hoping for Trinity to fulfill them." He smirks as she looks at him in confusion.

Elena walks up. "Excuse me." She pours herself some beer.

"Elena, hi." Stefan greets. "What are you doing?"

"I'm having fun, Stefan. You have a problem with that?" She chugs her beer.

"All right, take it easy. We both know you're kind of a lightweight."

"Uh-huh. Really? You think I'm going to let a blood addict tell me how to drink?" She walks away.

Rebekah looks at Stefan.

* * *

Matt and Vicki are in the garage, candles surrounding them. Matt takes a picture and puts it in front of the candles. He takes a knife from his pocket and cuts his hand, holding it above the picture.

"Concentrate on me, Matty." She says.

"This is too weird."

"Just focus. This is a good thing." She watches as his blood drips onto the picture. "Now say you accept me."

"I accept you."

Wind begins to blow and the fire of the candles grow higher. Smoke begins to rise from the pictures. Everything calms down and the door closes. Matt steps back, afraid. He trips and falls into Vicki, who catches him. "Did you just…?"

"I felt that." He says. She touches his face. "I feel that, too."

"It worked. Oh!" She hugs him. "I'm here, Matty!"

* * *

At the high school, Bonnie and Jeremy are in the hallway.

"Did you talk to Anna about this?" Bonnie asks.

"She's on the other side, Bonnie. Ok. I thought she might know something." He says.

"About what? I thought they were all alone over there."

"Somehow Vicki's been communicating with some super strong witch."

"If there's another witch involved, don't you think you should have come to me before you went to Anna?"

Anna appears next to Jeremy. "Tell her not to be upset. I was just trying to help."

"Not now, Anna." He says.

Bonnie looks at him. "She's here?"

"She's just trying to help."

"I can't…I can't deal with this right now."

"Bonnie!"

"Matt's trying to resurrect his dead sister. I think I'll go deal with that instead." She walks away.

* * *

Vicki touches the candles. "Ah, I can feel this. I can feel everything."

"The witch didn't mention this part?" He asks.

"Makes sense." She shrugs. "Our deal was that she'd help me do what I need to do."

"What are you talking about? What deal, Vic?"

"Well, if I want to stay here, I have to help her restore the balance. Klaus' hybrids can't be allowed to survive."

"You can't kill Tyler, Vicki."

"Not Tyler, Matt. It's Elena who's the key to creating the hybrids."

"What? Vicki, no!"

She hits him, knocking him out. "I'm sorry, Matty. But I want to stay."

* * *

Students hold up a guy doing a keg stand. Everyone chants 'drink' including Elena, who's laughing. She shares a look with Stefan and raises her cup before drinking. Stefan drinks too.

* * *

Rebekah sits alone, trying to eat a marshmallow when Damon walks up to her. "What? No friends your own age?" She asks.

"Like you can talk."

"Is this supposed to be fun? I've been through 10 of these."

"No, you're just looking at it all wrong. This is a little rough on the outside." He takes the burn out of the marshmallow. "But the inside…yum." He feeds it to her, sucking his fingers when she's finished.

"Mmm. It's good."

"Yep."

* * *

Elena watches them when Stefan walks up to her. "What's that look?"

She sighs. "What look?"

"My brother's got his flirt on, and you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous."

"It's all right. Be jealous by all means. I'm sure Damon will be thrilled."

"I'm not jealous, Stefan."

"All right. That's my mistake."

"Whatever. I'm out of here." She walks away.

* * *

Bonnie is on the phone with Matt. "Matt! Matt, slow down. What happened?"

"_I messed up, Bonnie."_

"What? How? Where is she?"

* * *

A guy is sitting on a car, smoking. He puts down the joint and leaves. Vicki arrives, looks around her and takes the joint.

* * *

Damon gives Rebekah a s'more. "Can't believe you've never had one of these before."

"Well, I've been in a casket for 90 years."

"That's no excuse."

She bites into it, eating. "Why are you being so nice to me? You hate me. You should be mean."

"Well, I could be mean if that's what you're into."

She looks at him. "You're distracting me. Why?"

"Just trying to be a good housemate."

"There's never a fair fight between us, Damon. Remember that." She stabs him with a wooden stick and leaves. He groans, sits down and removes it.

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, Tyler wakes up and sees Caroline. "What the hell? How did I get home?"

"I brought you here." She tells him. "You were being a d-bag."

"What is your problem today?"

"My problem is you've been sired. Do you even know what that means? It means that you put Klaus' needs first. He is your master now."

He shakes his head. "I'm not anyone's pet, Caroline. He doesn't control me."

"Well, something's got to be controlling you. Because I don't know why else you'd be acting like the old you."

"The old me?"

"Yeah. The old you. The pre-werewolf you. You know, the obnoxious you that I would never be friends with." She goes to leave but he stops her.

"Whoa! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm sorry. I don't want to be that guy. I hated that guy."

"You're a vampire now, Tyler. Everything about your personality is heightened. So you have to be careful."

"I will. I promise. Just…don't hate me. Everything I like about me is you." He kisses her.

* * *

Trinity sighs as she looks at her, now clean house. She looks at the clock and sees that there is still time for the bonfire. She goes upstairs to change.

* * *

Elena is lying on the bleachers, looking at the sky. Stefan arrives and she rambles drunkenly. "I used to know every constellation. How did I forget them all?"

"You're drunk. You need to go home."

She gets up. "Fine. Uh…let me find my car."

"You're joking, right?"

"Uh-oh. It's the fun police. I thought that ripper Stefan was supposed to be the life of the party."

"Well, all right, I'm driving you home. Come on." He says but she climbs over the ramp. "What are you, five? Get down."

"Why? Are you afraid that I'm going to…" She almost falls. "Oh. Ha. That was close. Klaus would not be happy with you."

He rolls his eyes. "You're hilarious."

"Look, Stefan, no hands." She removes her hands but almost falls. Stefan's not amused anymore. She laughs but finally falls. She screams but Stefan flashes to catch her. "I knew you'd catch me." They look at each other. He releases her and Alaric arrives and shoots him with darts. Stefan falls to the ground, unconscious.

Alaric looks at Elena. "You ok?"

"Yeah. I'm…fine."

"You look, uh…not sober."

"The plan worked. That's all that matters. Let's just get him out of here."

* * *

Elena opens Alaric's trunk. He puts Stefan in it. Elena goes in the car. Vicki, who's smoking looks at them. She looks at the ground and takes a hit of the joint.

* * *

Matt and Bonnie are in a classroom.

"I'm so sorry." He says. "I didn't think she'd do something like this. I trusted her.

"You need to tell me exactly what you did to let Vicki out. So I know exactly how to send her back."

* * *

Alaric closes the trunk and sees a gas can on the ground. "I see all the geniuses came out to the bonfire tonight."

Vicki throws the joint to the ground, lighting a fire the quickly heads towards Alaric's car; Elena and Stefan still inside it.

Alaric sees the fire and tries to open the door. "Elena! Elena! Open the door!"

She tries but it won't open. "I can't! It won't open! What the hell?"

Vicki appears in the car next to Elena, who can't see her. "I'm sorry, Elena."

Alaric rushes to another car to find something. He find a lacrosse stick and tries to break the door with it but it doesn't work. Elena tries to break it with her feet but it doesn't work either. The fire grows stronger.

"Alaric!" Trinity calls as she runs up to him. "What's happening?" She looks at the fire.

"Elena and Stefan are inside!" He says. "They're stuck."

* * *

Matt light a candle and Bonnie looks at a grimoire. "I found a spell that can block whatever magic is helping Vicki." She says.

"What do I do?"

"Give me your hand." She grabs his hand cuts his palm with a knife.

* * *

Trinity closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before stepping into the fire and grabbing onto the trunk door. The metal groans as she tries to pull the door from the vehicle. "Ahh!" She screams as the flames lick her higher and higher up her legs.

Elena sees Trinity in the window. "Trinity!" She coughs. "Stefan!" Elena shakes him.

Stefan wakes up and begins to kick the truck with his feet.

Trinity falls back as she pulls the door off the car.

* * *

Bonnie casts a spell.

* * *

Elena grabs Stefan and tries to get him out the car.

Alaric helps Trinity pat out the fire on her legs. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll heal." She groans.

* * *

Vicki appears in the classroom with Bonnie and Matt. "What is she doing?"

"Fixing my mistake." He tells her.

"Make her stop."

"Bonnie…"

"The spell is working, Matt. She's still here because of you." She continues the spell.

Matt looks at Vicki. "Matt, please." She pleads.

He shakes his head. "I can't let you hurt anyone, Vicki."

"I won't. I'll stop. Just, please, don't make me go."

"I have to. This is wrong. You shouldn't be here."

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want to be alone anymore."

"Neither did I. But I have to let you go." He looks at Bonnie, who's still doing the spell before looking back at Vicki. "Goodbye, Vic." She disappears. "She's gone."

* * *

Alaric helps Elena to get out. "Hurry up before it blows!"

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" She tugs hard at Stefan; Trinity comes up and helps her. They rush away from the car and it explodes.

* * *

Stefan helps Trinity onto her bed. "I thought your emotions were gone." She says. "Why are you helping me?"

"Believe it or not; you're the only person who doesn't whine about me not having them. You just rolled with it." He shrugs. "Plus you're kind of use to it by now. Seeing me kill all those people this summer might've desensitized you."

"Yeah…" She drags the word out. "What do you really want?"

He looks at her. "Why didn't Klaus's compulsion work on you? Did you fight it? Did you hide vervain?"

She sighs. "I don't know why it didn't work. It's probably my Quickening. Just another step on my trip to hell." She lies down. "If that's all, you're free to leave."

"Great." He gets up. "See ya later bestie." He slaps her on the leg, making her cringe in pain and leaves.

"Dick!" She yells after him.

* * *

Elena and Damon are in his bedroom. She has a burn on her cheek. He takes out a tube of cream.

"Give it to me. I can do it." She reaches for it but he holds it away.

"No, let me."

"Damon, come on."

"Elena, you almost got barbecued. The least I can do is apply first aid." He applies the cream on her wound with a swab.

"You played your part of the plan really well tonight."

"Oh, yeah?"

"You had Rebekah drooling all over you and your marshmallows."

"Yeah, before she skewered me. I thought you were too drunk to notice."

"I was faking most of it."

"So was I." They look at each other.

Alaric arrives. "Ready to get going, Elena?"

Damon looks at him. "Great work tonight, Ric. Sorry about the car, man. Bummer."

Elena looks at Damon before leaving with Alaric.

* * *

Caroline puts on her dress.

Tyler is naked and puts a sheet around his waist. "You're always running out on me."

"You have to earn the overnighter."

"I consider that a challenge."

She laughs and puts on her jacket. "Bye."

"Bye." He kisses her and she leaves. Suddenly Rebekah appears. "What are you doing here?"

"I have something for you."

"What?"

"A little present." She leaves and reappears with a girl who has a wound on her neck.

"You should go."

"You sure? I think my brother would want his hybrid to indulge in everything life has to offer." She bites the girl's wrist.

Tyler flashes over to the girl and bites her neck.

* * *

Katherine is lighting candles in the mausoleum.

Mikael wakes up. "I apologize for my outburst. It would have made more sense had you known that I've been denying myself human blood for as long as I can remember. Why is it that you awoke me?"

"I thought you might know how to kill Klaus. But something tells me that I've been sorely misinformed." She says.

"Would you mind helping me with these? I can assure you there's no way I can kill Klaus from beneath them."

"Does that you mean you do know how to kill him?"

"I can kill Klaus. And I will." He tells her. She breaks his chains. "Thank you."

"A little blood will grease those muscles up real quick. Just saying."

"I don't feed on living things."

"Then what do you eat?"

He lunges forwards and bites her.

* * *

Alaric and Elena are about to leave the boarding house.

"It's ok if you want to be friends with Damon again." She tells him.

"I don't."

"I think he kind of misses you."

Stefan comes out of the living room. "Well you got me tonight. Definitely wasn't expecting that."

Alaric looks at him. "That was the point."

"Yeah. You know, you can hate it all you want, but Elena needs me. I'll always protect her. I think you're both better off having me around." They go towards the door. "Elena, wait. You could have let me die in that fire tonight. Why didn't you?"

"Because I still have hope."

"After everything I've done, you…you still think I'll be able to find my humanity again."

"Yes, I do. I know who you really are better than anyone, Stefan. And I'm not giving up."

"Elena, do you have any idea how pathetic that makes you?"

"No, Stefan, it makes me strong." She drives two stakes through his body with the sleeve. She takes off the sleeve and gives it to Alaric. He looks at Stefan, smiles and closes the door.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Jeremy leaves a message to Bonnie. "Bonnie, come on. Stop dodging my calls. Don't you think we should at least talk about this?" He hangs up and sits on his bed.

Anna appears. "I shouldn't be here."

"No kidding." He sighs.

"No, I mean, I shouldn't be here, Jeremy. Why are you thinking about me when you're calling her?"

"I didn't think I was. Look, I don't know. Ok. I don't know what I'm doing, Anna. The problem is I don't think I can stop thinking about you."

"I can't stop thinking about you, either." She sits down next to him.

"What are we going to do?" He asks. She raises her hand. He touches it and looks surprised. He takes her hand. "Do you…feel this?"

"What's going on? I can feel you. How can I feel you?"

* * *

Damon is removing the rug when somebody breaks a vase. "Keep it up, Stefan." He picks up the pieces of the vase. Suddenly, he is hit hard and falls to the floor. He opens his eyes and sees Mason.

"This is going to be fun." Mason smiles.

* * *

Trinity, wrapped in a towel wraps her hand around the bathroom door, pulling it off its hinges. She looks between her hand and the door. She walks into her room and reaches for her wardrobe door, pulling it off its hinges as well. "What the hell?"


	51. Ghost World

Chapter Fifty One: Ghost World

At the boarding house, Damon is tied to a chair with a fireplace stoker in his chest, his ring in on the floor. He doesn't see Mason watching him. "Oh, you got to be kidding me." He groans.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" He smirks.

"Oh, Stefan." He calls. Stefan walks in. "Low blow, Stefan. Low blow."

Stefan looks at him, amused. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Whatever twisted ripper game this is, leave me out of it."

"I didn't do this."

"Quit screwing around!"

"I didn't." He checks the chains. "It's pretty messed up though, isn't it?"

"Yep." He says. Stefan pulls out the stoker, making Damon scream. He begins to remove the chains but stops and leaves. Mason watches on but Damon can't see him.

"Yeah, not to worry. I'll just untangle myself." Damon says.

Mason opens the curtains, letting the sun enter the room. Damon screams as his skin burns.

* * *

Trinity stands in front of the back door. She slowly reaches out and softly grabs onto the doorknob. She tries to carefully open the door but the wood splinters and the door breaks open. She stares at the mess before sighing and walking out the door.

She walks into the woods and looks at the area surrounding it. Seeing a pine cone on the ground, she tries to gently pick it up only for it to crush in her grip. She shakes her head in frustration. She hears a twig snap and looks around.

* * *

Everyone prepare the town for the Night of Illuminations, hanging lanterns from the trees.

Carol Lockwood speaks to the volunteers and citizens. "As a long-time member of the historical society, I am especially proud to be kicking off this day of festivities. Thank you, volunteers. Tonight, we turn off our town's lights and flare up our lanterns in honor of the night of illumination started by our founders 150 years ago. Here's founding family member Tobias Fell with a history lesson." Everyone applauds.

* * *

Alaric and Jeremy are listening to the speech. "What are we doing here?" He asks.

"Tobias Fell is the head of the history department. I didn't have a choice." Alaric says.

"All right, that explains what you're doing here."

"Well, I'm the one who can fail you if you don't help me out."

Elena walks up to them. "Hey, sorry I'm late. What did I miss?"

Anna appears but only Jeremy can see her. "Just a bunch of historical lies." She says.

Jeremy ignores her. "You didn't miss anything."

"The first illumination was held in celebration with the new found prosperity that Mystic Falls enjoyed after the war." Tobias explains.

"After the founders stole from all the vampires." Anna adds, making Jeremy laugh.

Elena looks at him. "What's so funny?" She asks. He looks at the stage and she turns to look as well.

"Safe from the vampires." Anna continues. She and Jeremy share a smile and she takes his hand.

* * *

Caroline is helping Bonnie hang lanterns from the tree. "So when you did the spell to send Vicki away, did that get rid of Anna, too?" She asks.

"I wish." Bonnie sighs. "All I did was block the magic that was helping Vicki get a physical foothold here. Jeremy's still got a direct line to the other side, and as long as he wants to see Anna and she wants to see him, she's still here."

Caroline looks at her. "Ok, you don't think I can actually resist commenting on that."

"There. You commented."

"Bonnie…"

"What do you want me to say, Caroline? I went against the balance of nature when I brought Jeremy back to life, and now I'm paying the consequences."

"Well, I want you to say you're not ok with it."

"I'm a thousand times not ok with it. I just don't know what to do about it."

Damon stops by them in his car. "Greetings, blondie. Witchy. I think you got your voodoo wires all crossed when you got rid of Vicki Donovan."

Bonnie looks at him. "What do you mean, why?"

"Because I'm pretty sure I just got spit-roasted by Mason Lockwood's ghost."

"What?"

"And why would you think that?"

"Maybe because he chained me to a chair and shoved a hot poker in my chest. Let's just say I'm having déjà vu."

Caroline looks at Bonnie. "I thought you said that ghosts couldn't physically interact with people."

"They can't."

"Yeah, well, I don't have time for a vengeful Lockwood. When I kill someone, they're supposed to stay dead. Whatever you screwed up, fix it." He drives off.

Matt is on the other side of the road, looking at them.

* * *

Trinity tries to grab onto another pine cone but once again it crumbles in her hands.

"What are you doing?"

She looks up to see Rebekah. "What are you doing here?"

"The whole bloody town is preparing for the illumination, I just wanted some peace." She says. "What are you doing?"

Trinity looks at the pieces of pine cone in her hand. "My strength's a bit out of whack."

"How so?"

"Everything's too fragile…or I'm too strong. I don't know what's happening."

She walks closer. "Is that a shapeshifter thing?"

Trinity shrugs. "I guess, it's not like I have anyone to ask about it. Now I can't go out in public. I can't grab anything without it breaking; I can't touch anyone without hurting them…it would be a disaster."

"Sucks for you." She says. Trinity rolls her eyes and once again hears a twig snap. She looks around and tries to focus her senses. "What?"

"Did you hear that?"

Rebekah looks around. "Hear what?"

"A twig snapped. It sounded close, but I'm not sensing anything around here."

"We're the only ones out here."

Trinity sees mist begin to form behind Rebekah and groans. "Not again." The mist rushes forward, knocking her off her feet.

* * *

_Strong winds tear through the meadow. Trinity looks around but a thick fog quickly surrounds her._

"_Trinity." She hears a woman's voice. "Trinity."_

_She looks around, struggling to see who's calling her._

"_Trinity." She hears again._

* * *

"Trinity!" Her eyes snap open and she sees Rebekah above her. She sits up with Rebekah's help. "What the blood hell was that?!"

"Oh nothing…just temporary insanity." She says.

"You're insane?"

"Not completely. Just well on my way."

* * *

Jeremy, Elena and Alaric are sitting outside the Mystic Grill. Stefan's journals are on the table.

"Hey, Jer, I need you to help me with something." She tells him.

"What's up?"

"I've been going through Stefan's old journals. Every single time that he's gone off the rails in the past, his best friend Lexi's been the one to bring him back."

"So where is she now that we need her?" Alaric asks.

"She's dead." Jeremy tells him before looking at Elena. "And you want me to try to reach her, don't you?"

"I thought if I knew how she did it, maybe I could help him." She says.

"I don't even know if she's on the other side."

"Is that what it's called?"

He shrugs. "That's what Anna calls it. There's not like an official brochure or anything."

"So what is it, like some sort of supernatural purgatory?" Alaric asks.

"Well, Anna said it's like being here with all of us, only we can't see her or hear her. And she can't interact with anyone. She's all alone." Just as he says that, Anna appears in the empty seat.

"Vicki could interact. She blew up my car."

"Vicki had help from a witch on the other side. Anna…she's doing this all by herself."

"I'm just saying, maybe we learned our lesson about summoning dead people."

* * *

Matt is talking with Caroline and Bonnie. "I haven't seen Vicki, I swear. I sent her back like you told me to."

"Are you sure? Because she has just as much reason to haunt Damon as Mason Lockwood does." Bonnie asks.

"She's gone, Bonnie. If she was here, I'd know it."

"Why do you think it's Vicki and not Mason?" Caroline asks her.

"Because if any ghost other than Vicki Donovan has a physical foothold on our side, then that means Damon's right and something has gone really, really wrong." She says.

Matt sighs. "I've had enough of this ghost stuff to last forever. So you guys can leave me out of this one." He walks away.

"I feel so sad for him. It took a lot for him to send his sister away." Caroline says.

Bonnie nods. "Yeah."

"So much strength as a man."

"I've got a ghost problem to deal with, Caroline. Save the Jeremy lecture for later." She grabs her bag but everything falls to the floor, including her grimoire. She goes to pick it up, but a gust of wind opens it to a page.

"Ok, did your grimoire just…" Caroline trails off.

"I think so." She picks up the grimoire and reads the page.

"Ok, please tell me that's a recipe for witch cookies."

"It's a manifestation spell. It's used to reveal veiled matter."

"What's veiled matter?"

"Ghosts."

* * *

"Do you think it's even possible to contact Lexi?" Elena asks.

Jeremy shrugs. "I don't know. I didn't have an emotional connection with her. I never even met her."

"Can we just drop it, please?" Alaric asks.

Elena shakes her head. "No, I can't drop it, Ric. I don't know what else to do."

"Don't you think we have a few too many dead vampires in our past to be sitting here thinking of them watching us?"

"I don't think all supernatural spirits go to the other side. I think some of them find peace." Anna says, making Jeremy look at her. Elena and Alaric look as well, but all they see is an empty chair.

"Is Anna here right now?" Elena asks.

"Don't tell her I'm here. She won't like it." Anna tells him.

He shakes his head. "No, no. I'm going to go, uh, check my work schedule." He gets up and leaves.

Stefan takes his seat. "Hey, guys. Who forgot to invite me to the family summit?" He picks up one of the journals, looking through it. "Hmm? Wow. All these words. I forgot how much I used to care."

"I didn't." Elena says.

"You know, Elena, it's probably best you not torture yourself with memories from the past. It's best we both just move on and accept things as they are."

"You don't have to be here, Stefan." Alaric glares at him.

"You know what, Alaric, you're right. I don't. But Elena's here, and I look out for Elena. Besides, there's going to be people everywhere tonight. So there's going to be lots to eat." Elena looks at him, shocked. He laughs. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Loosen up." He gets up and leaves.

Elena looks at Alaric. "I can't drop it, Ric."

* * *

Bonnie and Caroline are at the abandoned witch house.

"So this is where you brought Jeremy back to life?" Caroline asks.

"Yeah. Sorry, I know it's creepy, but we needed a private place around here to do the spell."

"Hmm. There's no chance it's haunted by the hundred dead witches who were horrifically burned to death in this very spot, is there?"

"They're not here anymore. And they made it clear they were never coming back." She says.

"Right. A pinkie swear?"

* * *

Jeremy walks into the restroom.

Anna follows him in. "What's wrong?"

He turns to look at her. "Why did you tell me to lie?"

"Elena is Bonnie's best friend. She won't like what's going on between us."

"What is going on between us? I mean, how are we able to touch? Vicki had to use magic to do that."

"I don't know. Honestly, I have no idea."

"This witch on the other side that gave Vicki her foothold, is she helping you now?"

"What? No! I'm all alone, Jeremy, I told you that."

"Swear to me."

"I swear. I'm not any danger to you or anybody, I promise. Hey. I need you to believe me." She grabs his hand.

"I shouldn't even be talking to you. This is not ok."

"Then send me away. I'm only here because you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you. Send me away, Jeremy. It's that easy."

"I don't know why this is happening or when it's going to stop. But before it's done…I have to do this." He kisses her.

* * *

Caroline is lighting candles. "Ready? Do you need me to do…" She sees Bonnie already casting the spell. "Right. Ok."

* * *

Alaric and Elena are inside the Mystic Grill.

"I'll grab Jeremy." He says.

She nods. "I'll be right back." She goes toward the restrooms.

Alaric sees Damon walk up to him. "You know, I've had enough vampires today, thanks."

Damon rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on. Have a drink with me. We've got trouble."

"No, you've got trouble. See, we're not a team. You tried to kill me. All right? We're not friends. I don't like you anymore."

"Ah! But remember back when you liked me and we conspired to kill Uncle werewolf Mason Lockwood?"

"Yeah, and?"

"I think he's still a little pissed."

* * *

"What did you see?" Rebekah asks.

"I didn't see anyone." Trinity says. "I heard someone calling my name."

"So you hear and see things that aren't there?"

"It's a side effect of being a shapeshifter." She says, not wanting to tell Rebekah about her Quickening.

* * *

Bonnie is still casting the spell, wind blows harshly around the room.

Caroline looks around. "Bonnie, I don't like this. Bonnie…" Suddenly someone grabs Bonnie's hands. It's her grandmother. "Oh, my God. Is that your…?"

Bonnie is shocked. "Grams."

* * *

Elena enters the restrooms and sees Jeremy and Anna kissing. "Anna?"

* * *

Stefan is walking and suddenly sees Lexi. "Lexi!"

* * *

Damon and Alaric are at the bar. Mason arrives. They both can see him.

"Mason." Alaric says.

"God, I miss whisky." He drinks and then crashes the glass on Damon's forehead.

Damon then looks at Alaric. "Told ya."

* * *

"So you're an insane shapeshifter with super strength." Rebekah says.

"I can help you." They hear. Trinity notices that it's the voice she heard earlier.

They turn towards the voice and Trinity's eyes widen. "Who the hell are you?" Rebekah asks.

The woman smiles. "I'm Vivian Clairborn."

"Mom?" Trinity whispers.

* * *

"Hi." Lexi smiles.

Stefan looks at her. "You're dead."

"Well, technically, so are you."

"Then how the hell can I see…"

"See me? Yeah, I have no idea. And I have no idea how long it's going to last, so let's get right to the point. You're off the rails. Big time."

"Look, I don't know how you're here, but you need to leave me alone, ok?"

"Now what kind of a friend would I be if I didn't help you out of this mess you're in?"

"I don't want your help."

"You know, you say that every time. 'I don't want your help, I don't want to get better, leave me alone.'"

"Well, maybe you should listen this time."

"Or maybe I should do this." She slams his head against a car window. Stefan falls to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Tears run down Bonnie's face. "I can't believe you're here!"

"Now stop your crying, we don't have time for tears." Sheila looks at Caroline. "Nice to see you again, Caroline."

"Hi, Miss Sheila."

She looks back at Bonnie. "A fine mess you've made, honey. The witches told you there'd be consequences to bringing Jeremy back and you did it anyway."

"I didn't have a choice. I love him and I…I couldn't just let him go."

"I understand. But you cracked open the door to the other side. There's an old witch over here. She took advantage of it. She took advantage of you, honey. When you did that spell to send Vicki Donovan away, she wedged the door wide open. Giving a free pass to anybody with unfinished business."

"How do you know this?"

"Witches talk. Even on the other side. Who do you think makes all the rules?"

"What does the witch want?"

"That's original vampire business, not yours. I don't want you getting in the middle of that. I'm here because you upset the balance of nature. And it's your duty to set it right. You need to close that door."

* * *

Elena is in the restrooms with Jeremy and Anna. She's on the phone with Caroline. "How do we do that?"

"_Apparently the old witch can draw power from this side because of her talisman."_

"Talisman…my necklace?"

"_It's some ju-ju power source. And I know you're not going to like this, but Bonnie needs to destroy it."_

"I just walked in on Jeremy kissing the reason I'm completely ok with that."

"_What?! Are you kidding?"_

"I wish. Look, I don't have the necklace. Damon has it somewhere. Text him. I'll call you right back." She hangs up and looks at Anna.

"Elena…" Jeremy says but she ignores him, glaring at Anna.

"You need to disappear or evaporate or whatever it is that you ghosts do."

"Hey, it's not her fault."

She looks at him. "You're right, it's yours." Anna disappears. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know. Ok? I don't know. It just…it did. Elena, please. You can't tell Bonnie."

"Don't worry. I'm going to let you do that. Right after I help her send the ghosts away." She walks out of the restroom and walks into Lexi.

"Looks like today was a good day to be thinking about me, Elena." She smiles.

"Lexi?" Elena asks, shocked.

"Mm-hmm. Come with me."

"Where?"

"Ripper detox 101. Crash course." She grabs her wrist.

"I…"

"I'm sorry, did you not just say how desperate you were for my help in saving Stefan's life?"

Elena turns her head and looks at the restroom doors and then looks back at Lexi. "Let's go."

* * *

Damon is sending a text. "I am never going to hear the end of that damn necklace."

Mason takes a drink. "One of you will pay for this, right? Cheers."

"Let's get to it. I killed you. You want revenge. Get in line."

"Actually, I want an apology."

Alaric laughs. "Good luck with that."

"Don't you have a family to haunt?" Damon asks. "You know your nephew has turned into a mindless hybrid Minion."

"That's why I'm here. To help Tyler." He says.

"Well, sorry to break it to you, buddy, but Tyler can't be helped. At least not while Klaus is alive. Which is, like, always."

"Not necessarily. Not if you found a weapon that could kill him."

"There is no weapon that…what do you know?"

"I know you need to apologize."

"You got to be kidding me."

"Are you incapable of remorse? Just apologize!" Alaric says.

"You're right. I didn't have to kill you. I do a lot of things I don't have to do. Why aren't you asking Trinity for an apology?"

Mason laughs. "That's good enough; and I'm not asking her because the only reason she was angry was because she got shot three times because of me. She interrogated me, but she wasn't the executioner." He gets up. "Meet me at the old Lockwood cellar. Bring a shovel. Come alone."

"What, you're going to bury me alive?"

"Don't tempt me." He leaves.

Damon looks at Alaric.

* * *

Trinity looks at her. "How are you here?"

Her mother walks forward. "I'm here to help you." She says. "This strength you're experiencing has always been there, you've always had it, and you were able to control it."

"Why can't I now?"

"What you experienced this summer…the things you've seen and done…I never wanted that for you. You spent so long feeling afraid and vulnerable that you unconsciously let go of the control you had."

"How do I stop it?"

"I'm going to show you." She looks at Rebekah. "And you're going to help."

* * *

At the police station, Stefan is tied to a chair. Elena and Lexi are looking at him.

"You know, I expected Trinity to be here." Lexi says. "She's his best friend and all…I expected her to be here."

"They went through a lot together." Elena tells her. "I've tried to get a hold of her, but she's not answering. I don't know if she's okay. She usually talks to Stefan but as you can see, that's not an option right now."

"Klaus really did a number on him, huh?"

"He compelled him to turn off his humanity."

"Well, we're just going to have to convince him to turn it back on. I have to warn you, it's not going to be pretty."

"I can handle it."

Lexi kicks Stefan. "Wake up, sleepyhead." Stefan wakes up. "How you feelin'?"

He looks at the chair and the chains. "What is this? Let me out of here!"

"Shh. Inside voices, please. I'm trying to get inside your head."

"Elena. Get rid of her, please."

She shakes her head. "No."

"First step, drying him out. Starve away the blood lust. Strip away the temptation." Lexi explains.

Stefan shakes his head. "This isn't going to work, Lexi. You can't do this."

Lexi looks at Elena. "You heard the not pretty part?"

She nods. "I heard you."

Lexi looks Stefan in the eyes. "What are you doing?" He asks. Suddenly his arms and hands start to desiccate. "What are you doing, Lexi?!"

"Doing what I do best, sweetness." She smirks. "I'm saving your life."

* * *

At the old Lockwood cellar, Mason is lighting a lantern when he sees Damon arrive with a shovel. "I'm surprised you showed."

"You put a snag in my only other Klaus lead. So I'd say I'm highly motivated." Damon says.

"Mikael? Yeah. That didn't turn out so great, did it?"

"How do you know so much?"

"There's not much to do on the other side but sit around and watch other people screw things up."

"What are we looking for?"

"There's an old Lockwood family legend about a weapon that can kill an original vampire. Like the rest of their secrets, they kept it buried." He tries to break a wall with the shovel but it doesn't work.

Damon rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on, give me the thing. Move." He takes the shovel and uses his vampire strength to break the wall. He breaks it quickly. They both look in the hole.

"Go for it."

"What, you think I'm leading you into a trap?"

"The thought crossed my mind."

Mason enters first and Damon follows after him.

* * *

"To regain control; you have to face your fear." Vivian says.

"How?" Trinity asks.

"By reliving it." She grabs onto Trinity's head.

* * *

_Flash_

_Trinity watches as Stefan tears into the neck of a woman. Klaus smiles at the sight._

* * *

_Flash_

_Trinity helps Stefan put the pieces of the body back together._

* * *

_Flash_

_The woman screams as Trinity's claws rips into her._

* * *

Trinity falls to her knees, tears running down her face. "Oh my god."

"What did you do?" Rebekah growls.

Vivian looks at her. "Your brother took one of the kindest souls on this earth and tried to warp it to his liking. He tried to destroy her. My daughter is strong but this is something that she should never have had to deal with." She says. "But when it comes down to it, she hates herself more than she hates him. That's why she's out of control."

"She's punishing herself." Rebekah realizes.

Vivian nods. "So she never has to touch anyone ever again. I'm not done yet. There's more that I need to do."

"Why do you need my help?"

"Because she needs an anchor." She explains. "Someone to call her back from her pain. Since none of her loved ones are available right now, we'll have to make due with a friend."

"Me?" She says. "I barely know her."

"That's Trinity." She smiles. "She accepts others with open arms. Now hold onto her."

* * *

"I'm starving. I'm starving. I'm starving! Let me out! Let me out. Please let me out." Stefan begs.

"What's happening?" Elena asks.

"He's hallucinating." Lexi tells her. "That's three months without any blood."

"Let me out!"

"Now he's at nine months." She looks into his eyes, watching as he grows worse. "Two years…five."

He glares at her. "Did I ever tell you how glad I am that you're dead?"

She smiles. "Oh. I missed you, too, friend."

Elena's phone rings and she leaves the cell. "Hello?"

"_So the necklace isn't where Damon said it would be and now we can't reach Damon."_ Caroline says.

"Listen, I need you to get Bonnie to hold off on sending the ghosts back."

"_What?! But you said you were in full support of getting rid of them."_

"I was. I am. Look, Lexi's here and she's helping with Stefan."

"_Ok, let's just find it first and then we'll choose between boyfriend ghost dramas."_

* * *

At the boarding house, Caroline hangs up the phone.

Bonnie looks at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Um…Lexi's back, so Elena wants us to hold off on destroying the necklace."

"You said boyfriend dramas. Plural. What is it, Caroline?"

"Elena caught Jeremy kissing Anna." She reveals.

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"He kissed her?" She asks, hurt.

"She's got a foothold now, so she probably thinks that she's here to stay. But you and I, Bonnie, we're going to find that necklace. Ok? Okay."

* * *

People gather at the town square for the illuminations night.

Jeremy is looking for Anna. "Anna! Anna!" He runs into Frederick, the tomb vampire. "Sorry. Hey, man sorry about that." He continues searching for Anna.

Frederick watches after him. "No problem, buddy."

* * *

Carol walks up to Alaric. "Have you seen Tobias Fell? He's supposed to do the lighting ceremony."

"No." He says.

* * *

Frederick walks up to Anna. "Well, well."

She looks at him. "Frederick?"

"If it isn't Pearl's daughter. Little Annabelle."

Carol begins her speech. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Fell seems to have been detained, so the history department's very own Mr. Saltzman has agreed to fill in." Everyone applauds. Alaric goes toward the stage.

Anna hears Jeremy calling her name and turns her head.

"Still hanging around the Gilbert kid, huh? I guess you forgot the fact that his family killed you and your mother." Frederick says.

Jeremy walks up to her. "There you are. Is everything all right?"

"Ask your ancestors."

"What are you doing here, Frederick?" Anna asks.

"Well, it's a founder's celebration. And we…" Two men join him. "Have got some unfinished business with the founding families."

Alaric begins his speech. "On behalf of Mystic Falls high school historical society, let's light 'em up."

The lanterns light up and everyone screams at the sight of Tobias Fell's dead body hanging from a tree.

Anna looks at Frederick, who smiles.

* * *

"Elena, Elena. I'm hurting. Please help me." Stefan begs.

Lexi doesn't look away from him. "Don't listen. Shut him out."

Elena looks at him. "I am helping you, Stefan."

"I'll do anything. I'll change. I promise." He says.

"It's a lie. He'll say anything right now." Lexi tells her.

"Elena, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just make it stop. Please, just make it stop."

"You have to separate yourself from your emotions. Don't let him play on them."

"Hey, look at me. Look at me." Elena looks at him. "Elena. I love you, ok? I love you. I love you so much. I love you so much, Elena."

She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Stefan, I just don't believe you."

"You know what? I don't want your help, anyway. I wish I'd never met you. Every single moment that I've spent with you has been a complete and total waste."

"You see that?" Lexi asks. "That's the ripper talking. Once he's weak enough, you have to cause him pain. Make him feel things. Anger, rage, anything. You have to make him see past the blood." She drives a stake through his body. "Think of it as a regimen. Day in and day out. Like running the treadmill. Like making coffee. Until he's ready to be saved."

"I will rip you apart, Lexi!" He yells.

"You can't. I'm already dead." She drives the stake through his body again.

"I can't…" Elena leaves. Lexi watches after her.

Elena walks out of the station and sees that the police and paramedics are taking a body.

* * *

Caroline and Bonnie are looking for the necklace everywhere. Including in the soap bowl in Damon's bathroom.

"Ugh! I give up. It's not anywhere in this room." Caroline says. Bonnie's phone rings but once that she sees it's Jeremy she doesn't pick up. Caroline answers it instead. "What do you want, Jeremy?"

"_Caroline? Did you find that necklace?"_

"Not yet. Wait, what's going on?"

"_Ghosts of the tomb vampires killed Tobias Fell. You might want to find that necklace before they start going alphabetically through the founding families."_

"Well, it's not where it's supposed to be. Unless someone took it."

"_Who?"_

"Well, who do you think?"

* * *

Jeremy looks at Anna.

She shakes her head. "I didn't."

"She said she didn't take it."

"_Oh, and you believe her."_

"I didn't take it, Jeremy." She tells him.

"You know what, yeah, yeah, I do believe her."

"_You know what, you're an even bigger idiot than I thought. So wake up, Jeremy, before you lose everything." _She hangs up.

Jeremy turns around and sees that Anna has disappeared. He looks all around him, trying to spot her.

Elena walks up to him. "Jeremy? What happened?"

* * *

Damon and Mason are walking through the hidden part of the cellar. "I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Your motives are deceptively pure." He says.

Mason scoffs. "You talk the talk, but I know you'll do anything for your brother. You won't screw me over as long as we have the same agenda."

"I'm supposed to believe you're not going to screw me over?" They stop and look at the two entrances. "All right. Which way?"

"I don't know. Flip a coin."

"Aren't you supposed to be all-knowing?"

"I'm a ghost. I'm not God. Go left." He says. Damon walks but sees nothing there. "Or not…you have trust issues. Anyone ever tell you that?"

Damon continues on when stakes covered with vervain pierce his body. Mason disappears. "Yo. Help a brother out?" He looks around. "Mason?"

* * *

"Please stop." Trinity says. "Please stop!"

"I can't." Vivian tells her, keeping ahold of Trinity's head. "Not until you realize."

"Realize what?!"

"That's for you to find out."

* * *

Elena and Jeremy are talking. "Where is Anna now?" She asks.

"I don't know, ok? I don't even know for sure if she took the necklace." He tells her.

"She was the only person who heard us talking about it. Of course she took it. Ok? We have to get it back. We have to destroy it and then close the door."

"I know, but…"

"But what? What, Jer?"

"I can touch her, Elena. I can kiss her again. And I know it's wrong, and I know that I shouldn't feel this way, but I do. I love her. I've always loved her."

"But it's not real. She's dead. Gone. Everything that you're holding on to is in the past, Jer. Are you going to love a ghost for the rest of your life?" She looks over Jeremy's shoulder and sees Anna. "He's at the beginning of his life, Anna. You're just holding him back. You know that." After a moment, Anna holds out her hand, showing them the necklace. Elena looks at Jeremy. "Call Bonnie. Tell her that you have the necklace. Get her to send the ghosts away." She leaves. Jeremy looks at Anna.

* * *

_Flash_

_Trinity watches as Andie falls to the ground._

* * *

_Flash_

_Trinity looks away as Stefan and Klaus feed._

* * *

"Please!" She yells.

"Trinity, you need to say it." Vivian tells her. "You need to."

"I hate him!" She says. "I hate everything he's done, everything he's doing."

"Get in line." Rebekah says, Trinity still in her grip. "A lot of people hate my brother."

"Not Klaus." She reveals. "Stefan. I hate Stefan." She says softly.

Vivian lets go of her. "Go on."

"I saw everything he did. I helped him." She cries. "And it hurt…so much. But I promised to stay by his side and I stuck to it. But there was one moment that I wished that I didn't love him. That I could just leave and escape Klaus. I'm his best friend and I wanted to leave him."

"But you didn't." Vivian says. "Because you love him. I know you Trinity. You would never leave someone you love."

"But everyone I love leaves me." She says. "You and Dad are dead. Stefan's a shell of himself. Katherine's gone."

"We all still love you." She hears. She looks up and sees her father; Alec. "Your mother and I have been watching over you, every step of the way." He kneels down next to them. "Though, I admit; seeing you with vampires made me wary." He looks at Rebekah. "But you have a good judge of character."

* * *

Caroline and Bonnie are in her car.

Caroline hangs up her phone. "Jeremy's got the necklace. He's going to meet us at the witch house."

"Ok. What's going on up there?" She stops when she sees a car against a tree, the woman inside unconscious.

"It's Mrs. Lockwood's car." They see Frederick and other tomb vampires go toward the car. "Bonnie? I'm going to get out of the car."

She looks at her. "What?!"

"And you're going to drive the hell away from here."

"No way! I am not leaving you!"

"Bonnie, you've got your ghost boyfriend drama. Elena has hers. And right now the mother of mine is about to be ghost bait. So go and send them all back to the other side, ok?" Caroline gets out of the car and Bonnie leaves. Frederick looks at her and smiles. Caroline's face changes and she flashes towards him.

* * *

"This spell is just going to break your foothold, right? You'll still be here; I'll still be able to see you. This…this doesn't have to be goodbye." Jeremy says.

Anna shakes her head. "No. But it should be. Elena was right. I'm holding you back."

"Anna."

"I'm sorry I took the necklace." She cries. "I just thought, with all the tomb vampires out, that maybe."

"You might find your mother."

"I don't know where she is, Jeremy. I don't know if she's moved on and found peace, or if there's even any peace to be found."

"Hey, there is, Anna. Ok, there has to be. I believe that, ok?"

"I just…I don't want to be alone anymore."

He embraces her. "Look at me. You're not going to be alone. I'm not going to let you be alone." She gives him back the necklace. He looks at her for a while and finally leaves.

* * *

"Quit fighting me, Stefan. I know you're in there." Lexi says.

He shakes his head. "Not anymore, Lexi." Elena walks back in.

"You know you say that every time. Until I make you feel again." Lexi tells him before driving a stake through his stomach.

He grunts. "You wasted your whole life taking care of me. Now you're dead and you still have nothing better to do."

"We're running out of time." Elena tells her.

Lexi looks at her. "You've got to get me more."

"I can't."

"No! No…not until I break through."

"I can't, Lexi. They have the necklace. They're going to close the door."

Lexi looks at Stefan. "The necklace. Ok. That necklace. At least tell me you remember how you felt about that. You found it during your darkest time. And you said, when you made it through, that that necklace represented hope."

"Ironic, then, that it's about to be blown to pieces." He smirks.

* * *

In the old Lockwood cellar, Mason arrives at the end but Damon can't go on. He's blocked. "God! This is not happening."

Mason looks at him. "What now?"

"I can't get through. It's like I'm not invited in. Wait!" He says when Mason continues on.

"I'm not stopping just 'cause you're stuck. I'll let you know what I find."

"Yeah, but…"

"Looks like you're gonna have to trust me."

* * *

At the abandoned witch house, Bonnie lights the candles and the fireplace with her powers.

Jeremy arrives. "Bonnie!" He sees the unhappy look on her face and shows her the necklace.

* * *

Carol wakes up and sees Caroline fighting with the ghosts of the tomb vampires. Frederick strangles her but he suddenly disappears. She looks around her.

* * *

Mason is looking at the wall in awe.

"So?" Damon calls. "What'd you find?"

"It's in-" He disappears.

"No, no, no, no. No, where'd you go? Mason, Mason!"

* * *

Lexi raises her head and then looks at Elena. "He's still in there, Elena. You just have to break through."

"It's ok, Lexi, I know what to do now. You can be free."

She smiles, looks at Stefan and disappears.

* * *

Anna is walking alone in the streets, sad when she suddenly sees her mother. "Mom?"

Pearl cries and the rush into each other's arms before disappearing.

* * *

"We're out of time." Alec says.

Trinity looks at them. "No." She cries. "No, you can't leave."

"We love you sweetie. You have made us so proud." Vivian tells her before looking at Rebekah. "Take care of her." She and Alec place a kiss on Trinity's forehead before disappearing.

* * *

The necklace has melted down.

"You are stronger than all of this. I'm so proud of you." Sheila smiles. Bonnie sheds a few tears and Sheila disappears.

* * *

Damon is still in the cellar when Alaric arrives. "You're here. It's about time."

Alaric walks towards him. "Didn't have anyone else to call?"

"No, actually, I don't. 'Cause I need a non-vampire to get in the cave, and other than Elena, you're pretty much the only one I trust."

"Well, you have a crappy way of showing that."

"Look, if Mason Lockwood can get over the fact that I killed him, can't you cut me a little slack, Ric?"

"I shouldn't have to get over it. I was your friend, Damon. You shouldn't have done it in the first place."

"Well! Sometimes… I do things I don't have to do."

"You're going to recycle that same crap ass apology you gave Mason Lockwood?"

"Yeah. Well…I didn't mean it with him." He smiles. Alaric looks at him and then looks at the hole.

* * *

"So what are you going to do, Elena? You just going to stand there? Waiting for me to dry out?" Stefan asks.

She shakes her head. "No, I'm going to go home, take care of my brother. Be a friend to Bonnie and everything else that I have to do."

"That's good for you. You know, I was wondering when you were going to give up. Lexi gave you…enough of a glimpse into your tragic future."

"I haven't given up, Stefan. I still have hope. But there's nothing that I can do until you get yours back." She touches his face. "Hey. You can break through this. Fight for it. Feel something. Anything, Stefan. Because if you don't, you're going to lose me forever. I won't love a ghost for the rest of my life." She locks the door and leaves.

* * *

Bonnie is crying, looking at the fireplace.

"Bonnie…" Jeremy trails off.

"Just go away, Jeremy."

"I owe you an explanation."

She looks at him. "Matt let go of his sister before you let go of Anna. His sister, Jeremy. You know what you owe me? The respect of not making me listen to you explain yourself."

"I am sorry, Bonnie."

"You need to go."

"But…"

"Just go, Jeremy." She watches him leave. After a few moments she hears a noise in the fireplace and gets closer. The necklace is still perfectly intact.

* * *

Alaric goes where Mason was before.

Damon still can't get past. "So was Mason screwing with me, or is there something in there?" Alaric looks everywhere. "Ric. Ric?"

Alaric looks at the wall, amazed. "I found something."

"What is it?"

He looks at the drawings. "I have no idea."

* * *

"I'm so tired." Trinity says, leaning on Rebekah.

Rebekah picks up a pine cone and holds it out to Trinity. "We need to see if there's any truth to mummy's words." Trinity slowly reaches towards the pine cone and takes it in her hand. It stays intact. She lets out a teary laugh before breaking down. Rebekah picks her up. "I'll get you home."

"Not the boarding house." Trinity says through her tears.

Rebekah looks at her. "Then where?"

* * *

Rebekah walks up the porch steps of the house.

"Come in." Trinity says, her eyes drooping closed.


	52. Ordinary People

Chapter Fifty Two: Ordinary People

Trinity opens her eyes only to see another body next to her.

"Finally." Rebekah says, leaning against the headboard with Trinity's phone in her hand. "I thought you were going to sleep the whole day away."

Trinity sits up. "What are you…?"

"After the visit from the ghost of your dead mother, you were exhausted. You said you didn't want to go to the boarding house and told me to come here."

"Why did you stay?"

"Your mother told me to take care of you. It's the least that I can do, due to the fact that my brother seems to be the reason for your problems." She slaps Trinity's leg. "Now get up; we have school."

* * *

Elena and Alaric enter the cellar.

"So, the Lockwood's really have no idea that these tunnels are underneath their property?" She asks.

"Careful where you shine that thing. Bats hate the light." He says.

"Wait, what?" She asks, frighten. She doesn't see Damon appear behind her.

"Elena." He whispers into her ear.

She gasps and turns around. "Ah! God, Damon!"

"Scaredy-cat." He smiles.

Alaric shakes his head. "Just ignore him. That's what I do."

"So, you really can't get in?" She asks.

Damon sighs. "No. Seems even the ancient Lockwood's were anti-vampire."

"What do you mean, ancient?"

He gestures forward. "See for yourself." They walk further into the tunnels, to the cave with drawings on the walls. "Well, this is as far as I get to go."

Elena looks around. "What is all this?"

"Well, as far as I can tell, it's a story. In simple, archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story." Alaric points to a drawing on the wall. "That right there, is the moon cycle." He points to another drawing. "A man, a wolf."

"A werewolf."

"Yeah." Damon says from his spot by the entrance. "It's the 'Lockwood Diaries: Pictionary Style.'"

"I don't understand." She shakes her head. "I thought the Lockwood's came here with the Original Founders in the 1860s."

"I don't know. Maybe the Lockwood's did, but according to this wall, these werewolves have been here a lot longer than that." Alaric tells her.

"How long?"

"Long. It gets better." Damon pauses. "Show her, Ric."

Alaric points to the drawings. "Names. They're not native. They're written in Runic, a Viking script."

"Vikings?" She asks.

"This name here, I translated it and it reads Niklaus."

"Klaus."

"And Elijah…and Rebekah."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 900's_

_Rebekah is using a knife to carve her name in Runic into the cave wall._

_Klaus is standing behind her, watching. "Rebekah, let me have at it!"_

"_Quiet, Niklaus!" She says. "I am to have more concentration if I am not to slice off a finger."_

"_Father will not like you handling the blade."_

"_If I want to wield a blade, I shall wield a blade! Father need not know."_

"_That is because you always tell him."_

_He looks down. "I cannot help it…he frightens me."_

"_He frightens us all. That is why we stick together as one, always and forever. Right, traitor?" She smiles._

"_Right." He smiles back._

_She holds out the knife. "Here. You finish it; I am to help mother with the meal."_

"_Yes, go tend to dinner, and leave the blades to the men, little sister." Rebekah retorts by slamming the knife blade-side down into his palm, slicing it open. Klaus winces in pain. "Agh, Bekah!"_

"_It's just a little blood. Be a man about it."_

* * *

_Present_

"These are the names of the Original Family?" Elena asks.

Alaric nods. "Carved into a cave that's been here since way before the founding of Mystic Falls. Or even the entire New World, for that matter."

"Okay, this has gotta be one of Klaus's fakes."

"That's what I said." Damon speaks up.

"That could be true, except the last name up here made us think otherwise." Alaric says.

Elena hesitates. "What's the name?"

"Mikael."

"Mikael…Mikael, as in, the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?"

"Yep. I now like to call him, 'Papa Original'." Damon smiles.

Alaric takes photos of the drawings.

* * *

"I have cheer practice so I'll see you later." Rebekah tells Trinity. "Come over later, I'm picking homecoming dresses."

"Sure." Trinity nods. "I'll be in the music room."

* * *

At Alaric's apartment, Alaric is looking at the photos, while Damon helps Elena with her combat training. "These images tell a story…to learn the story; you have to decipher these images."

Damon disarms Elena, who tries to stake him, without effort. "Sloppy!"

She grabs the stake. "Shut up! I'm new at this."

"'Ghost of Christmas Past' Mason Lockwood set up the cave and lead us to a weapon that can kill Klaus."

"Yeah, but doesn't Mikael have a weapon?"

"Yes. Which probably means the wall will lead us to Mikael, who we have already found…and lost." He disarms Elena again. "Bang! You're dead!" He goes in to nibble on her neck and she pushes him away playfully.

"These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is." Alaric says.

Elena walks up to the table. "Then all we have to do is find out what they mean."

"Fine! Fine! If I am being irritatingly optimistic like you two…how do you suppose we do that?" Damon says.

* * *

Rebekah is with the rest of the cheerleading squad at practice, doing a series of gymnastic moves, when Elena walks up to her. "You! Goody." She sighs.

"I was hoping we could talk."

"About what? Stefan? Don't worry; I'm off him until he starts treating me better. In fact, you should probably take a page out of my book, if I'm being honest."

"Actually, I'd rather talk about this." Elena holds up the photo of Rebekah's name written in runic script. "I'm curious why you and Klaus have spent a thousand years running from your father."

"I should get back to the girls. Homecoming's right around the corner." She turns to leave.

"Well then, maybe I'll ask Mikael when we wake him."

Rebekah stops and turns around, looking at Elena. "You're bluffing! You don't know where he is. No one does."

"So, then who's rotting in that old cemetery in Charlotte?"

"If you wake Mikael, we are _all_ doomed!"

"So then, tell me."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Why don't you want me to wake him?"

Rebekah pauses. "I need to get back to the girls." She turns around and walks back towards the squad.

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 900's_

_Rebekah sees her brothers Niklaus and Elijah several yards away. "Come on Henrik, our brothers are fighting again!" Klaus and Elijah are in the middle of a sword fight, Rebekah and Henrik run towards them to watch._

"_Oh look, our sister has arrived to watch my fast approaching victory!" Elijah teases._

"_On the contrary, Elijah." Klaus swings the sword and cuts Elijah's belt off his waist. "She's come to laugh at you!"_

_Esther and Mikael approach their children as the children all laugh together. She sees the look of anger on Mikael's face. "Relax, Mikael. Niklaus means well."_

"_That is precisely my problem." He approaches the boys, takes Elijah's sword and turns to Klaus. "So, why don't you teach me that trick, young warrior?" He attacks Klaus._

_He dodges Mikael's sword. "Father, we were just having fun."_

_He continues to swing his sword at Klaus. "We fight for our survival! And you find time for fun?! I want to have fun! Teach me! Come on!"_

"_Father, it was nothing."_

_Mikael disarms Klaus without effort and slams him to the ground. He sets the sword at Klaus's throat. "You are foolish and impulsive, my __boy__." He sneers, seeing the fearful look on Klaus's face. "What? No more laughter?"_

"_You've made your point, Mikael!" Esther says, sternly._

_Mikael flings the sword into the ground; it sticks right next to Klaus' head. "Some days, it's a miracle you're still alive, boy." He spits out before leaving._

* * *

_Present_

Trinity is in the music room. She plays the piano, staying focused on the sheet music when she trails off. Looking closer, she watches as the notes dance over the paper. She reaches out to touch them when Rebekah comes in.

"Let's go." She says. Trinity looks at her before looking back to the paper. The notes are back to their original spaces. "Come on!"

"Yeah." Trinity says, grabbing her bag and leaving.

* * *

Rebekah and Trinity walk into the boarding house. Rebekah heads straight to the parlor and takes out champagne. She hands Trinity a glass.

"You know I can't get drunk right?" Trinity says.

"You never really explained that."

"I have a lot of energy. It burns off to quickly." She explains. "I can drink a keg of beer and it would be like taking a shot of mouthwash."

"Humor me." Rebekah says. Trinity takes the glass and lets Rebekah fill it. "Why do your friends want to know about Mikael?"

Trinity looks at her. "Who?"

"Don't lie to me."

"About what?" She says. "Rebekah, I'm lost."

Rebekah looks at her. "You don't know." She realizes.

"Know what?"

"Nothing." She sighs.

* * *

Alaric is looking at the photos. He writes 'vampire' on a post-it note and places it on one of the pictures. He picks up another picture and compares it to the one he just stuck the post-it note on. He sees that the other picture looks more like a sun, so he switches the 'vampire' post-it to the other picture and writes 'werewolf' on another post-it and places it onto the first picture.

* * *

Outside Alaric's apartment, Elena is on the phone with Damon. She's walking up the stairs to Alaric's loft. "She's going to tell me. She's scared of him, Damon. I saw her face. I just have to engage in a little 'mean girl' power struggle first."

"_Well, make sure she doesn't power struggle you into a wheelchair."_

"I've got this, Damon. If we can figure out a way to kill Klaus, Stefan will be free of his compulsion." She pauses. "So…how does he look?"

* * *

Damon is in the cellar underneath the police station, looking into Stefan's cell. "Mmm…pasty and pouty."

* * *

"He'll have to get over it. Call me later." She hangs up and turns to Alaric. "Rebekah will come around."

"You're sure about that? I mean a thousand year old vampire, I'm sure, has learned the art of patience." while he speaks, Elena receives a text message.

**Come over for a chat. – Rebekah**

"She's a thousand year old vampire, who's joined the cheerleader squad…there is a whole different set of rules that play here, Ric. I got this." She shows him the text.

* * *

Damon enters Stefan's cell.

"You know, if you two are gonna keep me locked in here for the next decade, I think we can skip the routine visits." Stefan says.

Damon rolls his eyes. "You know I'm not a big champion in this whole Lexi-Recovery-Plan…but Elena thinks this place is gonna weaken you up, break you down and make you feel again…"

"We should all listen to Elena, right? I mean her plans always work out so well, don't they?" He pauses. "Why are you here?"

"What are you talking about? It's Family Day at of Vampire Rehab! So, I'm paying a visit to my baby brother."

"Go away."

"Nahhh. I thought we could hang out, a little brother bonding. How've you been Stef? Huh?"

"You know, Klaus may wanna keep Elena alive, but that doesn't mean she's safe with Rebekah…"

"Liar, Liar pants on fire, brother. Klaus compelled you to protect Elena, and if you thought for even a second that she was in danger, you'd be working a lot harder."

"You got me. You got me!" He says sarcastically.

"Yep."

"You got me. You're good. Congratulations! You can go now."

Damon looks at him. "You really have given up."

"Actually, this is my happy face." He says. Damon pauses in thought before breaking the chains; freeing Stefan.

"What are you doing?"

"Screw this Lexi-plan. I think we could both use a drink."

* * *

Elena walks into the boarding house and sees Rebekah and Trinity in the foyer with champagne glasses. "Hey!" Rebekah smiles. "What's up?"

Elena looks between her and Trinity. "You invited me over? To talk?"

"All right girls, have at it!" Six girls in various jewel-toned colored homecoming dresses walk in the room. "Okay, now twirl please."

She looks at Rebekah with distaste. "You compelled your own private runway show?"

"I need a Homecoming dress. So, what do you think? Pick one."

"You should wear red." Trinity says, sipping her champagne.

"I'm not here to help you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want me to wake up Mikael." Elena says.

Rebekah flashes over to one of the girls, gripping her neck as her face changes. "I said 'pick one', Elena."

"The…red one."

Rebekah lets the girl go. "There. It wasn't so hard, was it?" She turns to the girls. "Go away. Remember nothing." The girls leave and she turns back to Elena. "You do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?" Elena nods and Rebekah walks past her.

Elena turns to Trinity. "What are you doing here?"

Trinity shrugs. "She wanted help picking a homecoming dress. Who's Mikael?"

"Trinity, you can't do this again."

Trinity looks at her. "Do what?"

"_This._" Elena says. "Falling for the enemy."

Trinity shakes her head. "I'm not falling for Rebekah."

"You said the same thing about Katherine and look how that ended."

Trinity's face hardens. "Did you really just say that?" She steps closer. "I'm with Rebekah because she's my friend. She's been a better one then you've been lately."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean while you've made it your mission to get your boyfriend back, I've been trying to keep my sanity. But you wouldn't know that, you've been too busy with Damon."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that me and Stefan were gone for three months; protecting _you two. _Do you think that I haven't noticed how close you two are?"

"It's not like that."

"It's Damon! What; do you think just because his brother's gone, he wouldn't use every chance he had to be closer to the girl he's in love with?"

"He wanted his brother back."

Trinity scoffs. "And if his brother's girlfriend happened to fall for him along the way, it would just be a bonus."

"I'm not falling for Damon! And don't try to turn this around on me, this is about you!"

"Did you know I saw my parents?" She asks. "Did you know that they actually like Stefan and Katherine? That they actually _trust _Rebekah to take care of me because my so called friends are too wrapped up in each other? I don't need a babysitter, I just need _someone. _It's not my fault that you don't like who that someone is." She walks past her.

* * *

Somebody knocks on Alaric's door; Bonnie enters. "Hey there!"

"Bonnie! Come on in!" He says.

"Got your message."

"Yeah, great! Uh, I'm sorry the place is such a mess. I'm obsessed…"

She holds up Elena's necklace. "I brought you the necklace that wouldn't die."

"Ahh, that's great." He looks at her. "…you okay?"

"Been better." She sighs.

"Listen, Jeremy is an idiot. And I know this with certainty, because I was once a Jeremy. Trust me, we'll learn…eventually." He holds up one of the photos. "So, I've been staring at this image all day, wondering why it looked so familiar." He holds up the necklace, seeing that the charm is similar to the drawing. "I was right."

"It's the same design."

"So, your grandmother said this necklace belonged to the witch that put the hybrid curse on Klaus, right? Well, this symbol is repeated all across the wall. I've been trying to figure out what it meant. And now I know…" He writes something on a post-it, sticks it to the photo and shows Bonnie; the post-it says 'witch'.

* * *

Rebekah, Trinity, and Elena walk into Stefan's room.

"How fun is this?" Rebekah says as she starts opening drawers.

"We shouldn't be here." Elena says.

"'Course we should! Come on, like you've never wanted to snoop." She holds up a pair of underwear. "Boxer briefs. A lot has changed since the twenties."

"Are you gonna root through his stuff all night or are you gonna start to tell me your story?"

She sighs. "You really are no fun. What do you want to know?"

"Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you guys end up here?"

"My parents had just started a family, when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."

"So, how did you end up here?" Elena asks. "This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet."

Rebekah laughs. "Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy…blessed by the gifts of speed and strength; that lead my family here, where we lived amongst those people."

"The werewolves?" Trinity realizes.

"To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over 20 years, during which time my family had more children, including me."

"You make it sound so normal." Elena says.

Rebekah eyes cloud in remembrance. "It was."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 900's_

"Once a month our family retreated into the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night and by morning we'd return home.

_Rebekah looks at the necklaces and talismans hang in Ayana's window; she touches one, only for it to burn her fingers. "Ayana, it burned me!"_

"_That is not yours to touch." She says._

"_Mother!" They hear screaming from outside._

_Rebekah turns to Ayana. "Is that Niklaus? Something is wrong." They go outside and see that Klaus is carrying the dead body of their little brother Henrik. "Henrik!"_

"One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother Henrik snuck out to watch the men turn into beasts. That was forbidden. Henrik paid the price."

"_No! No!" Esther sobs. "What happened?"_

"_The wolves! I am sorry, I'm so sorry!" Klaus cries._

_She turns to Ayana. "We must save him. Please, there must be a way!"_

_The witch shakes her head. "The spirits will not give us a way, Esther. Your boy is gone."_

"_No! No!" She cries, clutching to the body of her dead son._

"And that was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors."

* * *

_Present_

"And one of the last moments my family had together as humans." Rebekah finishes. Elena's phone rings, snapping them out of Rebekah's memories.

Trinity rolls her eyes. "You better get that. That'll be Damon checking up on you."

Elena answers her phone. "Hello?"

"_Hey!"_

She hears loud music. "Damon, where are you?"

* * *

He looks around the bar. "No idea, but I'm pretty sure, I'm overdressed…still standing?"

"_Yes, I'm fine, but I can't talk right now."_

"I'll be at the bar." Stefan says.

"_Is that Stefan?" _Elena asks, hearing his voice.

"Yeah, I kinda went off a bit. Don't worry; I know what I'm doing."

"_Damon! How could you let him out?"_

"I got this back, Elena." He hangs up and turns to Stefan. "What are we drinking?"

"Hopefully something a little bit warmer…and a little bit blonder…" He eyes the blonde bartender.

"Hi!" She smiles.

"Hello…" Damon looks at her name tag. "Callie. I would love a shot of your best whiskey, and my brother here would love…" He compels her. "A shot of you."

Stefan goes to drink from her wrist, but stops. "What's the catch, Damon?"

"No catch, brother. Drink up. It's on me." Stefan grabs Callie's wrist and bites her, Damon leans over to hide them. "Hi Callie."

* * *

Later, Damon and Stefan are playing quarters; Callie is sitting on Damon's lap.

Stefan flips a coin into the glass. "Drink up brother!"

Damon looks at Callie, holding up an empty whiskey bottle. "You get us a bottle of this?"

"Yes, sir." She leaves.

He looks at Stefan. "You been on this 'bunny diet' for a better part of 50 years. So, how is it that 'Saint Stefan', of all people, is good at a drinking game?"

"Oh, the 'bunny diet' gave me a lot of time to practice."

"Hmm…"

"Wallow in despair." He flips another coin into the glass. "Drown in guilt." Another coin. "Regret my existence." And another coin. "It's precision born out of tragic boredom. Drink up, brother!"

"Damon, you are worse than Elena. Getting me drunk, brotherly bonding; what do you think, I'll break down and you can pull me back from the edge, is that it?"

"I happen to like the edge, Stefan! Your problem is your inability to resist falling over it. All or nothing, man. You can't just be." Callie comes back with another bottle of whiskey; she sits down on Damon's lap again. "Although, who am I to judge?" He flips a coin into the glass. "Drink up, brother!"

* * *

Rebekah lies next to Trinity on the bed, going through one of Stefan's diaries.

"Did you get your fill of snooping yet?" Elena asks. "Can we get on with the story?"

Rebekah gets up; she picks up a photo of Elena and Stefan from a table. "Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple."

"Why would you? You don't know anything about who he really is."

"I know exactly who he is. He's a vampire. We're a predatory species." She leans close to Elena's face. "We don't have time to care about humans and their silly little lives."

"Is that why you did that runway show earlier? 'Cause you don't care about the Homecoming Dance? You know what, I'm just gonna go."

"You haven't even heard half the story."

"And you are not going to tell it. You're just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with…maybe you can compel yourself a friend." Elena starts to leave.

"The necklace wasn't Stefan's to give. It belonged to the Original Witch."

She turns around. "The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?"

"Not just the hybrid curse. She's the one who turned us into vampires."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 900's_

_Mikael, Esther and Ayana are standing in a room lit by a fire and torches._

"_Please, Ayana! I implore you! You must call upon the spirits before the next full moon." Mikael pleads._

"_I will not!" She says. "It is a crime against nature."_

"_Ayana, we have already lost too much. We cannot lose any more." Esther tells her. "The spirits can help us find a way to protect our children."_

_Rebekah is eavesdropping from the next room._

* * *

_Present_

"I'm thirsty. Do you want a drink?" Rebekah asks, going downstairs. Elena and Trinity follow her.

"So, vampirism was a form of protection?" Elena asks.

"What else would it be?"

"A curse?"

"My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive."

"Yeah, but why stay, if they were so afraid of the werewolves? Why not…leave?"

"Pride." She says. "My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses…"

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 900's_

"_Everything could be heightened. Our family could live forever." Mikael says._

"_At what cost?" Ayana asks. "This magic you speak of breeds consequence. This is the makings of a plague, Esther. The spirits __will__ turn on you."_

"_Please, Ayana." Esther begs._

"_I will have no part in it." Ayana leaves the home._

_Mikael sighs and looks at Esther. "If she will not protect our family…then it is in your hands alone, my love."_

* * *

_Present_

"In her hands? How could she do anything?" Elena asks.

"Because my mother was also a witch." Rebekah says.

"What?"

"The witch of the Original Family. The Original Witch?" They enter the library and she searches through the shelves. "Where do they keep their best vintage?"

"But if your mother was a witch, then…"

"Am I? No, a witch is nature's servant; a vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us. She did not turn."

"How did you turn?" Trinity asks.

"She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts."

She looks horrified. "He killed you?"

"And he wasn't delicate about it either." She takes a bottle of wine, breaks its neck off and throws it into the fireplace.

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 900's_

_Rebekah and Klaus awaken on the floor with blood on their clothes._

"_Rebekah."_

_She gasps. "Blood! What happened?" She touches her nightgown where she had been stabbed._

"_You will be alright! We will all be alright." He tells her. Mikael enters with a girl. Klaus looks at him, confused and scared. "What are you doing?"_

"_We must finish what we started!" He pushes the village girl onto her knees in front of them. "You have to drink if you want to live." He cuts the girl's wrist open._

"We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual."

_Mikael turns to Rebekah. "Drink!" She hesitates. "Drink!" Klaus tries to stop him, but Mikael pushes him aside; Rebekah starts to drink the girl's blood. "Drink!" She drinks deeply, and dark veins appear around her eyes._

"It was euphoric! The feeling of power was indescribable…but the witch Ayana was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back. For every strength there would be a weakness."

_Rebekah is burned by the sunlight through the window._

"The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks."

_Rebekah walks through the village, glancing at her daylight ring._

"And though my mother found a solution, there were other problems."

_Villagers run into their homes at the sight of Rebekah coming towards them._

"Neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out."

_Rebekah touches a vervain plant, only to be burned by it._

"Flowers at the base of the white oak burned, and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away…so we burned it to the ground.

_Mikael, Elijah, Rebekah, and Klaus watch as the tree burns._

"But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated."

_Villagers carry a slaughtered pig tied to a rod to be spit-roasted._

"The hunger. Blood…had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it."

_Rebekah stares at the villagers. She gasps and tries to resist, but then flashes towards them, biting into their necks._

"And with that, the predatory species was born."

* * *

_Present_

Damon is dancing on a table with two girls. Stefan feeding on Callie's neck, although it appears that he is kissing her. Another woman stops and watches what Stefan is doing.

Damon shows up and compels the woman to forget and move along, grabbing her scarf. "Nothing to see here! Just run along, okay?" She nods and leaves. He turns to Stefan. "Hey, hey ease up! Ease up." He pulls Stefan away from Callie. "She is giving us her employee discount." He looks at Callie and compels her. "And now, just run along." He ties scarf around Callie's neck and she walks away. They go to the bar and sit down. "Two more!" He orders.

Stefan looks at him. "Alright! Tell me what's up. What's the point of the jailbreak, hmm?"

"I thought you could use a hug, Stefan."

"Come on, Damon. You know Elena is gonna hate you for letting me out. And we both know that you care about what she thinks."

"Maybe I wanted to remind you what freedom was like, before Klaus took it from you."

"As long as Klaus is alive, I do what he says."

"That's my point, Stefan. You've given up! Now you could sit around and be his little bitch, or you get mad enough and you can do something about it."

"Damon, he can't be killed."

"Maybe I can help with that." They hear a man says. They turn to him. "The Salvatore boys, I presume?"

"Mikael." Stefan realizes.

* * *

"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?" Elena asks.

"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame." Rebekah explains.

"Yeah…Elijah told me this part of the story. Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son."

"She tried to make it right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her."

She and Trinity look at her, stunned. "Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asks.

"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched."

* * *

_Flashback: Mystic Falls, 900's_

_Rebekah watches as Klaus buries their mother._

"Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother."

_Rebekah and Klaus stand side by side at the grave. "I know you think she hated you, Niklaus, but she did not. She was just afraid. I'm sorry she turned her back on you. I will never do that." She tells him._

_Elijah steps forward. "Nor will I."_

"_We stick together as one. Always and forever." They stand in a circle, holding their hands around the grave._

* * *

_Present_

"Always and forever…even though he locked you in a coffin for 90 years?" Elena asks.

"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik…Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him." Rebekah says. "Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."

"But you still love him?"

"He's my brother. And I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead?" She pauses. "You've heard the story, it's time to go. I said leave, Elena! I don't know what you're up to, but I'm no longer playing along."

"I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikael."

"And I've given you a thousand! But you will anyway. I know you want him to help you kill my brother, I'm not stupid."

"It's no secret that I want Klaus dead. He has a hold over Stefan's life, over Trinity's life, and over mine."

"Do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril. But make no mistake, if you come after my brother, I will rip you apart. And I get my temper from my father. Now leave!"

Elena looks at her before walking out of the boarding house.

Rebekah looks at Trinity. "And what about you?" She asks. "Are you plotting to kill my brother as well?"

"I only want Klaus to release Stefan and realize that he doesn't own either of us." She says. "Klaus strikes me as someone who's used to getting whatever he wants, never mind the consequences. I'm not some pet and I refuse to have a master. I don't think that Klaus needs to die, but he needs to know that he can't always get what he wants."

Rebekah looks at her before sighing. "Fine." She says. "I heard you and Elena arguing earlier. What were you talking about?"

"We were just having a disagreement."

"About the other doppelgänger, about Damon, or about me?"

"You sound like you got the gist of the conversation."

"You were involved with Katerina? How did that end?"

"She tried to use my friends for your brother's curse." Trinity tells her. "I wasn't very happy about that."

"Why was Elena arguing about me then?"

"She thinks that I have feelings for you. She doesn't want of repeat of what happen with Katherine; which is me being caught in the middle of my friends and their enemies."

Rebekah looks at her. "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Do you have feelings for me?"

Trinity stands up. "We are not getting into this."

Rebekah walks closer. "So that's a yes."

"It's a 'let's not talk about it', it's an 'I can't let this happen again'."

"Do you have feelings for me?"

Trinity looks at her. "The potential is there." She says. "But there is too much going on. Klaus, Stefan, everyone else's drama."

"What do their lives have to do with yours?"

"I can't do this Rebekah. Not again. I tried, and it blew up in my face. When I do something, I'm all in. I'm no one's first choice. There will always be someone or something more important."

"Then it looks like we have something in common." Rebekah leans forward. Her nose brushing against Trinity's.

"I can't." She whispers, leaning back. "Besides; you're still hung up on Stefan."

"I can same the same about you and Katherine." She tells her. "I won't push you, but you can't close your heart off out of fear. I've had a thousand years to learn that."

* * *

Mikael is interrogating Stefan. "Is Klaus out of the country?"

"I can't tell you." He says.

"Has he spoken to you since he left?"

"I can't tell you."

"All right. Can you tell me the last time you spoke to Niklaus?"

"I'm compelled to do what he says, and he says to keep my damn mouth shut."

"I really hope this game of 20 questions isn't your secret weapon." Damon says.

Mikael turns to him. "You see, Damon…" He puts his hand on Damon's shoulder. "I've been a vampire hunter longer than you've been alive. It's why I found you here. It's why I'm gonna find Niklaus."

"Well, Klaus has been running for about thousand years, so if you think you can get a work around here…"

Mikael slams his fist into Damon's chest and clutches his heart. Stefan stands up. "Careful, Stefan. One move and his heart's gone." He plunges his hand deeper. "Now, where is Klaus? What's the trick question, Stefan? One twist and he's dead. Unless you don't care of course."

"His emotions have been shut off. He can't care." Damon gasps.

"Really? His link to Klaus is so strong that he will let his own brother die?" He looks between them. "No ideas, hmm? Think, Stefan! I guess you're right. He's a dead end. And so are you, Damon."

"Wait!" Stefan says. "I can bring him back. I can lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls."

Mikael takes his hand out of Damon's chest and wipes it off with a rag. "And there is our loophole. Just had to rile him up a bit. Get Klaus back to Mystic Falls, and I will gladly drive a stake through his heart. Fail; I'll drive it through yours."

* * *

Alaric and Elena are in the caves. "We, uh, filled in what we could." He sticks post-its to the different symbols. "A Vampire, werewolf, slaughter, mayhem, etc."

"That's the white oak tree that was used in the spell to create the vampires…which means that was when they burned down the tree, destroying the only way that they could be killed." Elena says.

"Ok. so tree equals weapon, sort of. We already knew that. What we are not sure about is this: we've got the witch symbol, and what looks like a bleeding heart. Upside down figures usually signified death, of some kind."

"Mikael killed the witch by ripping out her heart. But…why is that one connected to the witch's death?"

"We don't know. We haven't gotten that far."

"Oh my god." Elena's eyes shine in realization. "Rebekah doesn't know the real story."

* * *

Trinity is reading a book and Rebekah is pouring herself a glass of scotch when Elena walks in, the cave drawings in her hand. "I thought I told you to leave. Twice." Rebekah says.

Elena looks at her. "How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?"

"Nik was there. He told me."

"He lied to you."

"And how do you know that?"

"The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols." She shows Rebekah the photos. Trinity looks at them as well. "The story of your family; how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this. This is the symbol for hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother."

"Her necklace."

"And this is the story of her death. The hybrid killed the Original Witch. Not Mikael. Klaus."

Rebekah shakes her head. "No! No, he wouldn't."

"She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence…when he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father, so that he wouldn't lose you."

"These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!" She takes the photos, tears them to pieces, and throws them into the fireplace.

"Then why are you so upset?"

"Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!" Rebekah yells.

"Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop!"

Rebekah flashes over to Elena, wrapping a hand around her neck. "Shut up! Shut up! Don't talk anymore! Nothing!"

"Rebekah!" Trinity separates them and takes the girl into her arms. She looks at Elena. "You need to leave."

Elena looks at them before leaving.

Rebekah's knees give out and Trinity gently lowers her to the floor. She sobs and clings tighter to Trinity.

* * *

Damon and Stefan walk out the bar. "I'll give you 10 points for flair." Damon says.

"At least, now we know where Klaus and Elijah learned their tricks from." Stefan tells him.

"Don't think you had to wait till the last second to have your breakthrough, though."

"I didn't have a break through, Damon."

"Ooh, ooh, my brother is about to die and I just had to save his life for the bajillionith time! Careful Stefan, your humanity is showing." He smiles.

"So you know what? You're right, Damon. You're right. You reminded me what my freedom felt like. And when we kill Klaus, I'll be free. Free to leave. See, I didn't do this for you, Damon. I did it for myself."

He smirks. "Sure, Stefan. Whatever you say."

"Why are you doing this, huh?" He grabs Damon's shoulders and shakes him. "What do you want from me? Why is everybody trying to save me?"

"Because I have to, Stefan! Because you are in this mess with Klaus, because you saved my life. Because I owe you. And I can't just leave you in a cell to rot."

"Aw, better be careful, brother. Your humanity is showing."

Damon punches Stefan in the face; Stefan is about to get up to retaliate when Damon pushes him down again and kicks him several feet away.

* * *

Trinity holds Rebekah as she cries.

* * *

At the Gilbert house, Elena comes out of her bathroom; dressed in her pajamas. She sees Damon lying on the bed. "Uh-Damon! Seriously?"

"We got Mikael." He says.

"What? How?"

"No idea. I guess Katherine came through. Plan's in motion." He looks at her. "See, I told you I had it. Go ahead. Kick, yell, scream. Sure you've been planning your rant all day."

"I'm not gonna yell at you."

"Why not? I went behind you back. Freed Stefan. And you know what: it backfired. He's an even bigger dick than ever…just now, he's a dick that's on our side."

"I'm not mad. I'm tired. I just-I want to go to bed." She starts to pull at her blankets to get Damon to get up, but he doesn't budge.

"You know, I think Mikael's weapon is a stake, 'cause he mentioned something about it…"

Elena realizes he's not going to move, and pulls open her blankets so she can lie down on the open side of the bed; Damon is still lying where he is. "Well, they must have carved it from the white oak tree before they burned it down."

"So I was right. After all that, the wall lead us to Mikael."

She sighs. "Lead us to more than just that. I think I got Rebekah on our side, too."

He looks at her. "Really? What'd you learn from her?"

"I learned, that she's just a girl. That she lost her mom too young, and she loves blindly and recklessly, even if it consumes her." She looks into his eyes. "And when it's all said and done, there's nothing more important than the bond of family."

Damon turns to face her. "Well, you should tell that to my brother."

She sighs once again. "I'm not mad at you for letting him out, Damon." She pauses. "I think that you're gonna be the one to save him from himself. It won't be because he loves me…it'll be because he loves you. Can I tell you the rest tomorrow?"

He nods and smiles softly. "Sure."

Elena closes her eyes and Damon gazes at her.

* * *

Now in her bedroom, Trinity strokes Rebekah's hair, who's asleep on her lap.


	53. Homecoming

Chapter Fifty Three: Homecoming

At the boarding house, Stefan calls Klaus.

"_Portland is fantastic. Once you get over all the whiny music and healthy looking people it is literally a breeding ground for werewolves."_

"Your father is dead." Stefan says.

"_What did you say to me?"_

"Oh, my mistake. Not your actual father and not dead. Mikael. Daggered. What do you want me to do with the body?"

"_Well, first I want you to explain to me exactly what happened."_

* * *

_One Hour Earlier_

"Uh…let's say that Mikael followed Elena in here. He tried to grab her, so he could use her as bait." Stefan says.

"And you what? Vervained him?" Elena asks.

"No!" Damon says. "_We _vervained him! This guy is an original. To make it realistic."

"Ok, fine. We vervained him, and in the process discovered that he had a dagger."

"Which he planned to use on Rebekah, but instead…" Elena trails off.

"We drove it through his heart."

"And what happens when he asks to see Mikael's body?"

"Good point! You; my brother have been compelled to do what Klaus says. So the idea is to lure him back here and kill him. Last thing we need is you getting tripped up and tongue-tied." Damon tells him.

"Well, don't look at me I am just in charge of getting him back here." Stefan says.

"Klaus is smart, if we tell him that Mikael is dead, he'll want proof." Elena says.

"Then I shall be dead." Mikael speaks from the entrance of the room.

"What if he wants to see you in person?"

"Well that means our plan is working. Klaus will absolutely want to see my body. You lure him here, and I will kill him."

"With what?" Stefan asks. "Those daggers won't work on him."

"Well, I'm in possession of a stake fashioned from the wood of the ancient white oak tree. The one that left these ashes when it burned."

"Where is it?"

"Not here. The knowing of its location is my insurance policy."

"Against what?"

"You leaving this in my heart. You see, a vampire can't dagger an original without dying. So…" He hands the dagger to Elena. "It falls to you."

"Y-you want me to actually dagger you?" She asks.

"Klaus will leave nothing to chance; especially when it comes to trust."

* * *

_Present_

"_I wanna see him. I want to see his rotting body for myself."_

"Well, he is here. Come by whenever."

"_If you are lying to me Stefan, your compulsion will expose you. So, answer with your life; is what you are saying the truth?"_

* * *

_Flashback_

_Stefan watches as Elena drives the dagger into Mikael's heart._

* * *

_Present_

"It's true. I saw it with my own eyes."

"_I wanna talk to Rebekah."_

"That's not a problem. She is right here."

Rebekah walks over from her spot next to Trinity and takes the phone from Stefan. "Hello Nik."

"_Rebekah, love. What´s this I hear about Mikael's tragic run in with the dagger?"_

"It's true. He's finally out of our lives for good. I miss you. I'm miserable here."

"_I'll be home soon."_

"Good. I'll see you then, brother." She hangs up the phone and turns to the others. "He bought it. He's coming home."

"Now; was that easy or what?" Damon says.

Elena sighs. "Let's just get this over with." She pulls the dagger out of Mikael's chest.

* * *

Later, Rebekah sits in a chair, painting her toe nails while waiting for Mikael to wake up. He starts to move and coughs. He stands from the floor. "Finally." She sighs. "Took you long enough."

He looks at her. "Rebekah."

"Whatever fatherly rubbish you're thinking; save it. Nothing you say matters to me."

"I see. Where is my dagger?"

"Elena has it. So you can forget your plans to use it on me."

"You were never what I was after."

"Nik was my family. If you were after him, you were after me."

"He blinded you, Rebekah. He killed your mother!"

"I know what he did, and he'll pay for it with his life. But Nik was not born a killer; none of us were! You did this to us when you turned us into vampires! You destroyed our family. Not him."

"Rebekah…"

She leaves the room.

* * *

Elena is in front of her closet. Bonnie is sitting on her bed with Alaric's photos of the ancient Viking drawings.

Elena sighs. "I hate everything in my closet. I have nothing to wear to Homecoming."

"So, don't go." Bonnie says. "Let's stay home order takeout and over analyze ancient hieroglyphic thingies with Alaric."

"We have to go. Caroline will kill us."

"Ha. Caroline actually has a date…"

"You know that you can talk to me about Jeremy, right?"

"I don't need to talk about it. He fell in love with his ghost girlfriend and lied about it. What's done is done."

"You have to talk about it. He hurt you, Bonnie. I am mad at him, too."

"You are mad at your little brother. You'll yell at him a little, teach him a life lesson. You can't really be mad like I am mad."

"Bonnie…"

"And you shouldn't have to be. He's your brother. So no I can't really talk to you about it."

* * *

Trinity hears knocking on the front door and opens it. "Rebekah?" She asks.

Rebekah walks past her and into the house. "I brought your dress and shoes."

"What?"

Rebekah sets the bags down. "For homecoming."

"But I'm not going."

She turns to look at Trinity. "Would you really leave me to go alone?"

"You want us to go together?" She asks. "Rebekah, you said you wouldn't push."

Rebekah walks closer. "If I were pushing, you'd know it. This is just us spending a night together, dancing and having fun." She says. "So Trinity, would you go to homecoming with me?"

Trinity's silent for a moment. "Ok." She says. "I'll go with you to homecoming."

* * *

At the boarding house, Elena and Damon are in his room; preparing weapons.

"We can't trust Rebekah not to turn on us." She says.

"Oh really? 'Cause these Original vampires are usually so reliable." He says sarcastically.

"Bonnie was right. Rebekah may be mad at Klaus now but, he is her brother."

"Her lying, mama- killing, dagger- happy brother. Wolfsbane is ready."

"There are too many things that can go wrong with this plan. Too many people that can make it go wrong."

"Well, I am formulating a secret contingency plan."

"Really? What is it?"

"Well, if I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret."

Stefan walks in. "I need to borrow a tie."

Damon looks at him. "You have your own ties."

"Hmm. I'm a 162 years old and I'm going to a Homecoming Dance. I need better ties."

"You could not go." Elena says.

"I'm compelled to protect you. And if I look at your track record at high school dances, it's pretty tragic. With my luck you'll go and get yourself murdered by the Homecoming Queen…" He leaves.

Damon slaps Elena's hand when she picks up a wolfsbane grenade. "Ah-ah! No!"

"I know how to do it! Alaric taught me!"

He takes the grenade away from her. "Elena! If this thing blows up in our face- just remember: only one of us heals quickly."

Stefan returns. "Uh, please tell me that you have a better plan than wolfsbane grenades?"

"Never your mind, brother. The less you know the better."

"My freedom from Klaus rests entirely upon you two executing your plan perfectly. So, excuse me if I'm a bit cynical."

"You're the one that we should be worried about. If Klaus asks you one wrong question; whole thing falls apart." Elena says.

"You do have reason to worry, but if I look back in our history of epic plan failures, it's usually because one of us let our humanity get in the way. Upon taking odds on how this thing goes down, it's certainly not gonna be me who screws it up. I'll see you at homecoming. I can't wait." Stefan says. "I bet Trinity can't wait either. News is, she's going with Rebekah."

They look at him. "What?!"

"Yeah, she can't seem to stop picking up my exes." He feigns thought. "I wonder where her loyalties lie? She swore to stay by my side; whether or not I have my emotions, but we don't want another Katherine situation do we?" He leaves.

Damon looks at Elena before taking out his phone. "Bonnie." He says. "We have a problem."

* * *

At the high school, Caroline and Tyler are painting an old VW Bus.

"Hey, can you hand me the glitter gun?" She asks, holding out her hand. "Thanks." She goes back to decorating.

"Hey, can't we diss the decorating and go grab a bite?"

"Oh, I have a thermos in my bag."

"I mean a real bite." He says. "Rebekah knows some people who like to be fed on. They're into it; we don't even have to compel them."

She looks at him. "Ok, first of all, I finally almost just got your mother to stop hating me, so I probably don't wanna get caught in some weird vampire threesome with her son. And secondly, quit hanging out with Rebekah the evil blood slut."

"Just keep the claws in tonight at the dance, Ok? For me?"

"So, who has the misfortune of being compelled to be her date?"

"I heard she was going with Trinity."

"What?!"

"I was gonna set her up with Matt, but she wasn't interested."

"You were gonna set her up with Matt?!" She says.

"She wants to go to the dance and he didn't have anyone to go with. He drinks vervain. She can't feed on him. It's not like she's going with him anyway, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal, Tyler, is that Matt is an innocent, good person, who should not be going to dances with evil blood sluts! And Trinity shouldn't be going with her either!"

"Trinity is just taking her to the dance, don't overthink this."

"This is a sire thing, isn't it? Please tell me this is some weird family extension of your sire bond to Klaus!"

"I'm here, hanging streamers and I have glitter all over my hands. If I'm sired to anybody it's you. Besides, Elena said she'd take Matt."

* * *

Rebekah is in Stefan's room, getting ready for the homecoming dance.

Elena walks in. "Getting a head start, huh?"

Rebekah looks at her through the mirror. "Embarrassing truth? This is my first high school dance."

"Ever?"

"I never really had time for high school before. Nik and I were always moving around, running. Anyway, I didn't want to leave anything to chance. Have you heard any more from him?"

"No. But I'm sure that when he does return he'll do it with flair."

"And Damon and my father are all set with their plan?"

"Yes."

"Don't tell me. I don't want to know, I just…I want to go to the dance and leave the rest to Mikael."

"I know it's really hard. So thank you for helping us get Klaus back into town."

Tears form in Rebekah's eyes. "Just be careful. I've been running for a thousand years for a reason. Mikael is not a good person and he definitely can't be trusted. No one in my family can."

Elena looks at her. "Are you okay?"

She turns to Elena. "I've spent my whole life loving and hating my brother with equal measure. I never thought that I'd be the one to help drive a stake through his heart. No tears. I don't want to ruin my makeup." She turns back to the mirror. "How do I look?"

"You look amazing! But you're missing one thing." Elena takes the necklace out of her pocket.

"My mother's necklace."

"You should wear it tonight. May I?"

Rebekah nods and Elena puts the necklace around her neck. "Thank you."

Elena drives the dagger through her back, into her heart. "I'm so sorry. I can't leave anything to chance either."

* * *

Trinity opens her door and tries to walk onto the porch only to be stopped. She tries again, only to be bounced back once more.

"_Potentes." _She hears.

She looks around. "No."

* * *

Elena is sitting on Stefan's bed watching Damon cover Rebekah's body with a blanket. "In the back! Harsh!" He says.

"It had to be done. Rebekah was never gonna be completely on our side."

"Hey, I'm not judging you. It's very…'Katherine' of you."

She glares at him. "Not the way to make me feel better about myself, Damon."

"It was a compliment…sort of."

"Stefan's right." She sighs. "Someone's gonna let their humanity get in the way and screw this whole thing up. It's probably gonna be me."

"Elena, you just daggered somebody. You will be fine."

"Yeah, but I feel bad about it. I care too much, that's the problem, Damon. I'm the weak link."

"If it makes you feel any better, she's not really dead."

"Do you trust him? Mikael?"

"No."

"What about Stefan?"

"No. Not as long as he is under Klaus's control."

"Then we need a better plan."

"I know what to do." He says. "You're just not gonna like it."

"Why not?"

"Because when this all goes down, I don't want you having any part of it."

"What does that mean?"

He looks at her. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

* * *

Trinity closes her eyes and covers her ears.

"_Trinitas."_

"_Potentes."_

"_Instituat amoveo."_

"_Fidelis."_

"_Amor."_

"_Prudentes."_

"Shut up. Shut up! Shut up!" She screams.

* * *

At the high school, Caroline and Tyler watch firemen enter the building. "What happened?" She asks.

"The gym is flooded." He tells her.

"What?!"

"Dance is canceled."

She looks at him. "Excuse me? What are we supposed to do now?"

* * *

At the boarding house, Elena is on the phone with Caroline. "So, does that mean I don't have to go?"

"_You wish! No, Tyler is moving the party to his house."_

"Kegs and beer pong for Homecoming? That's…different."

"_Just say you're still coming!"_

She hears knocking on the door. "I'll see you there." She hangs up and goes to open it.

"Elena." Matt greets.

"Matt…hey."

"Hey."

"Um…slight problem with your Homecoming date."

"What happened?"

"How would you feel about a backup date?"

* * *

At the Lockwood mansion, students dance to the band on stage.

Caroline walks into the house with Bonnie. She looks around. "How did he plan a better party than me so fast? What? Is that a band outside?"

"Who are all these people?" Bonnie asks.

"This is weird! Where is Tyler?"

* * *

Stefan moves through the crowd and sees Tyler, who smiles at him. "Hey Stefan! What's up?"

"Hey Tyler. Nice party you've got going on."

"Thanks, but I'm not the one throwing it. I'm just doing what Klaus wants."

Stefan looks at him. "What do you mean?"

"It's not a party, man. It's a wake."

Klaus walks onto the stage and the crowd cheers. "Good evening everyone!" He greets. "I wanna thank you for being here with me to celebrate! It's been a long time coming!"

* * *

'Elena' and Matt arrive at the party.

She looks around. "So much for Homecoming."

"This is weird!" He says. "Us being here together."

"There's Caroline. She doesn't know anything. Act normal."

Caroline walks up to them. "Hey, Klaus is here."

"What?" Matt asks.

"Yeah! Apparently our sired hybrid-friend Tyler thought it would be okay to let his master throw a party!" She sees the look on their faces. "I expected more surprise!"

"I've learned not to be surprised by anything Klaus does." 'Elena' says. "I'm gonna go find Bonnie." She leaves.

Caroline looks at Matt. "What's going on?"

"I need a drink." He walks away as well.

* * *

'Elena' walks down the stairs and sees Klaus and Stefan walking around the party.

* * *

"Quite the homecoming." Stefan says.

Klaus smiles. "I've been planning my father's funeral for a thousand years. Granted, in no version of it were any of these people invited, but you get the idea."

"So, what now? Stop running?"

"Hmm, now I reunite my family."

Stefan looks at him. "Your family. You mean the people you cart around in caskets?"

"None of that matters anymore. Mikael is gone. Bygones will be bygones." He sees the Homecoming Queen walk by. "Seems the Homecoming Queen still walks among the living, which leads me to believe Rebekah isn't here." He looks at Stefan. "I have no idea. I thought she was coming with Trinity."

"Oh, be honest now, Stefan. Where is my sister?"

Stefan looks him in the eyes. "I said I have no idea. How would you like me to take you to your father?"

"Well, it wouldn't be a party without the guest of honor, would it? Bring him to me."

"All right. Perhaps there's something in it for me? My freedom from your compulsion?"

"Oh, you want your freedom. Well, once he is dead and his weapon destroyed, you'll have your freedom. It'll be my pleasure to give it back."

* * *

At the boarding house, Damon pours himself a glass of blood when Mikael walks in.

"Did my daughter go to the dance?" He asks.

"Yep, you missed the photo op." Damon looks at him. "Did you get the stake?"

"I did."

"I'm not gonna take your word for it. No offense to your honor and all."

"None taken." He pulls out the stake from his jacket.

"Fancy. May I?" He holds out his hand.

Mikael makes no move to give it to him. "It's the only weapon on this earth that can kill an original. So I think I'll hold on to it. No offense."

"I'd offer you a drink, but Katherine tells me you're more of a 'vampire on the rocks' kind of guy."

"Well, technically you could still offer."

"Why feed on vampires? Don't tell me it's for the smooth after taste."

"I had a hand in creating vampires, but bloodlust was never my intention. Over the centuries I learned to feed from the predator, not the innocent."

Stefan walks in. "Change of plans. Klaus is back. He is at the Lockwood's and he wants your body delivered to his doorstep."

Mikael looks at him. "I'm afraid he is in for a colossal disappointment."

"Well, he's certainly not gonna come here. I hope your plan didn't depend on that?"

"Didn't depend on that." Damon says.

Stefan looks at him. "But you do have a plan, right?"

"Oh, yeah. We have a plan, right. Just doesn't involve you." He says. Mikael flashes towards Stefan and bites into his neck; feeding on him. He lets Stefan fall to the ground. "You couldn't just break his neck?"

"Well that certainly occurred to me." He says.

* * *

Trinity is lying on the floor, her eyes drift closed.

_Trinity opens her eyes and sees that she's in a small, dark space. She moves around, seeing that she's in a coffin._

"_Let me out." She says, slapping the door. "Let me out!" She bangs on the door to the coffin. "Please! Somebody help me!" She screams. "Let me out!"_

Trinity's hands twitch.

* * *

Tyler looks around the party. "My mom would seriously freak if she saw all these people here."

"Your mother won't be a problem." Klaus tells him. "I compelled her to go to church and pray for your friends."

Tyler looks at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I want you to look around. There is Bonnie, there is Elena and Matt and there's your pretty little girlfriend Caroline. Epic dance was wrecked tonight and who came through with the party? You did. What a pal. But who are all these other people here?"

"I have no idea. I've never seen half these people in my life."

"That's because I've invited a few dozen friends of my own. That's my friend Mindy, picked her up along the way in Kansas. Did you know that there's an entire bloodline of werewolves in the heartland? That's Tony from North Dakota, and let's not forget the Seattle contingent."

"Are those people all hybrids?"

"And they also love a good party. And they're like you were sired by me; they wish to serve their master. So if anyone should so much as make a move against me, they may feel obligated to retaliate. You're free to warn your friends."

* * *

Tyler drags Caroline to his bedroom and shuts the door. He turns to look at her. "What are you up to with Klaus?"

"Uh…nothing." She says.

"He is on to you, Caroline. Whatever you all think you're about to pull off, he's two steps ahead of you!"

"Okay, I don't know what you're talking about." She says.

"You're lying to me."

"You know, actually, I'm not. I don't know anything. But even if I did, I wouldn't tell you about it, because you are sired to team Klaus now. And you can't be trusted. So can we please just go back to the party now?" She tries to leave but he stabs her with a vervain syringe, knocking her out.

* * *

Klaus walks up to 'Elena'. "Where's your date?"

"Getting me a drink." She says.

He holds one out to her but she rejects it. "Well, seems I have you to thank for Mikael's demise."

"He came at me. I didn't have a choice."

"Still I'm impressed. It`s not easy for a human to dagger an Original."

"It wasn't the first time."

"Right. Elijah. You seem nervous."

"I'm not nervous. I just don't like you."

"Let's get straight to the point then, shall I, love? People have been after me for a thousand years. And I am always one step ahead. So whatever it is you're thinking of trying, go for it. Give it your best shot. You won't succeed."

* * *

Damon walks up to the front door.

A hybrid steps in front of him. "Invite only, vampire."

"Here's my RSVP." Damon rips his heart out. "Hybrid."

* * *

Matt walks into Tyler's room and sees Caroline's unconscious form. "What'd you do to her?"

"It's just vervain. She'll be fine. But I need you to get her out of here as fast as possible." Tyler tells him.

"What's going on?"

"Something's going down against Klaus and this house is full of hybrids like me that can't let anything happen to him."

Matt looks at him. "What do you mean you can't?"

"I can't explain it. I can't fight against it. I just know that I need to protect him no matter who gets in my way."

"By attacking Caroline?!"

"I'm protecting her, Matt! This is the only way to keep her safe. Please. Just get her out of here safely. Get everyone out." Tyler leaves the room and head downstairs, only to run into Damon, who grabs him and drags him into an empty room.

"As the host you should know these hybrids don't make the best first impression."

"Whatever move you're making, Klaus is gonna be ready for you. He'll kill anyone at this party if he has to."

"Tell someone who cares." He attack Tyler and they begin to fight. Bonnie walks in and gives them both aneurysms. Damon looks at her. "What the hell is wrong with you? You weren't supposed to witchy migraine me!"

She glares at him. "You weren't supposed to kill Tyler!"

"He tried to bite me!" He picks up the white oak stake.

"What is that?"

He puts it in his jacket. "Nothing."

"Oh my god is that the…?

"Shh." 'They're everywhere!' He mouths.

"Why do you have it?"

"Because I'm the only one who can get inside the house!"

* * *

_The wood splinters from the force of Trinity's hits. She begins to bang harder and pulls chunks of wood away. Dirt falls into the coffin but she continues to claw her way out._

* * *

Klaus is playing beer pong when one of his hybrids walk up to him.

"You have a visitor." He says.

Klaus doesn't look away from the table. "Well, tell my visitor I'm on the brink of victory here."

"He said his name is Mikael."

Klaus looks at him. "Then we mustn't keep him waiting. Move everyone out back. I'm gonna have a little chat with my dad. Tony, you know what to do." He goes to the front door and sees Mikael standing outside.

"Hello, Niklaus."

"Hello, Mikael. Why don't you come in? Oh, that's right. I forgot you can't."

"Or you can come outside if you want."

"Or I could watch my hybrids tear you limb from limb."

"They can't kill me."

"True. But it'll make a hell of a party game. All I have to do is rub these two fingers together and they'll pounce."

"The big bad wolf. You haven't changed. Still hiding behind your playthings like a coward. You only forget. They may be sired by you, but they're still part vampire. And they can be compelled by me." Just as he says that a female hybrid pushes 'Elena' into his arms. "Come out and face me, Niklaus. Or she dies."

"Go ahead. Kill her."

"No, Klaus. He'll do it." 'Elena' pleads.

"If she dies, this lot will be last of your abominations." Mikael tells him.

"I don't need them. I just need to be rid of you."

"To what end, Niklaus? So you can live forever, with no one at your side? Nobody cares about you anymore, boy! What do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced? No one. No one!"

Klaus smirks. "I'm calling your bluff, father. Kill her."

"Come outside and face me, you little coward! And I won't have to."

"My whole life you've underestimated me. If you kill her you lose your leverage. So go ahead. Go on. Kill her. Come on, old man. Kill her. Kill her!" He yells.

Mikael laughs. "Your impulse, Niklaus. It has and will forever be the one thing that keeps you from truly being great." He stabs 'Elena' with a dagger and she falls to the ground, dead.

Damon comes up behind Klaus and twist him around, driving the white oak stake into his stomach.

'Elena' gets up from the floor.

Mikael looks at her. "Katherine…"

She smiles, holding up two wolfsbane grenades in her hands. "Kaboom." She throws them at the hybrids.

Damon is about to stake Klaus, when Stefan knocks him off of Klaus and holds him down. "What are you doing?!" Klaus takes the stake and drives it through Mikael's heart; he bursts into flames and dies. Damon pushes Stefan off him and stands up. "What the hell did you do?"

Klaus looks at them. "He's earned his freedom." He looks at Stefan. "Thank you my friend. You no longer have to do as I say. You're free." He releases his compulsion.

Stefan looks for Damon, but he has fled.

* * *

_A hand burst from the ground, followed by another. Trinity pulls herself from her grave. She pants in exhaustion. She looks around, seeing other gravestones lined next to her._

* * *

At the Forbes home, Caroline wakes up on her bed.

Tyler walks in. "Are you okay?"

She glares at him. "What do you think?"

"I'm sorry I stabbed you. It was the only thing I could think of to get you out of there."

"Oh, yeah, not 'hey Caroline, um, I worried about what might happened this evening so maybe you should just go home and watch Dancing with the Stars?'"

"If you knew all your friends were gonna get together and try to take down Klaus, would you have left?"

"No."

"So there you go. I saved you from your own stubbornness."

"This isn't funny, Tyler! How am I supposed to be with you when you're sired to him?!"

"I need you to understand, Caroline."

"Understand what? That you're one of the bad guys now?"

"Understand that this is who I am! There`s nothing that I can do about it. Klaus can't be killed. I can't be fixed. Understand that I'm okay with it."

"But…how are you okay with it?"

"Because it's better. I don't have to turn, Caroline. Not unless I want to. I never have to go through that pain again. If being sired to Klaus is the price that I have to pay, so be it."

"But…you don't have any true control over yourself."

"I never did before. The full moon controlled me. After everything that we've been through, you've been there for me through all of it. Don't turn your back on me now."

"Tyler…" She trails off.

"Right." He nods.

"I just…"

"I got it." He leaves.

* * *

_Trinity looks at the gravestones._

'_Trinity Clairborn'_

_She walks down the row and reads the rest._

'_Stefan Salvatore'_

'_Elena Gilbert'_

'_Damon Salvatore'_

_The names of all her friends go on and on and she stops when she sees the last two gravestones._

'_Rebekah Mikaelson'_

"_Katerina Petrova'_

"_No." She shakes her head. "No, no, no." She drops to the ground and starts to dig with her hands. "No. No. No."_

* * *

At the boarding house, Elena and Damon are in the living room, talking.

"How did this happen?" She asks.

"We thought of everything, Elena! Klaus having hybrids. Mikael turning on us. We brought in Katherine so you weren't in danger. Anything that could have gone wrong we were prepared!"

She shakes her head. "I don't understand. Stefan wanted Klaus dead. More than anything. That`s what we were counting on."

"We blew it."

"Where's Katherine?"

He rolls his eyes. "She ran for the hills like usual, the minute things got bad! And who blames her?! Klaus would've crushed her. I had him, Elena. I had Klaus! This could have all been over!" He yells, throwing the bottle of scotch into the fire place.

Elena stands up. "Hey, Damon." He ignores her. "Hey! Hey, listen to me!" She takes his face into her hands. "We'll survive this. We always survive. Trust me."

"We're never getting Stefan back." He says. "You know that, don't you?"

"Then we'll let him go. Okay? We'll have to let him go."

He nods and his phone rings. He rolls his eyes and answers it. "Not interested in the play by play of our failure right now, Katherine."

"_I'm just calling to say goodbye. I don't know what to tell you. You had a good plan Damon. And that's high praise coming from me."_

"That's not very comforting at the moment. You're going back into hiding?"

"_At least my life is not boring. Goodbye, Damon."_

"Take care of yourself, Katherine."

* * *

Katherine hangs up the phone, looking at the road. "He doesn't know where it all went wrong." She looks to the passenger's seat; Stefan is sitting there.

"He doesn't need to know."

She stops the car. "Are you good from here? I need to put about a million miles between myself and Klaus as soon as possible." He doesn't answer. "Stefan?"

* * *

_Flashback_

_Stefan is just waking up from Mikael's attack when Katherine walks in._

"_Stefan!" She says._

_He looks at her. "Elena."_

"_Not exactly." She hands him a blood bag. "Pep up! I only got a minute before they realize that I'm not at the party._

"_You seem nervous." Klaus says._

"_I'm not nervous, I just don't like you." Katherine tells him._

"_People have been after me for a thousand years and I'm always one step ahead. So whatever it is you're thinking of trying, go for it. Give it your best shot. You won't succeed."_

"_It won't be for lack of trying."_

"_Ah you'd be smart to tell Damon to mind his manners tonight, because if I die, I've already ensured that he'll die along with me! Even in death my hybrids have their orders. So, you kill me you're killing him too."_

* * *

_Present_

"How did you know that I would stop Damon?" Stefan asks her.

"I didn't. I was just hoping that you would want to."

* * *

_Flashback_

_Katherine watches Stefan drink the blood bag. "If Klaus gets killed he is taking Damon down with him."_

_He looks at her. "So pull the plug on the plan."_

"_And face the wrath of Mikael? We'll all be dead! Okay look. I know that you've turned off your humanity and that you don't care, so there's only one solution."_

"_What's that?"_

"_Care, Stefan. Care enough to safe Damon's life. Because I am going back to that party and I'm seeing this plan through. Klaus will be killed. We'll have our freedom. But then Damon will be dead. Your brother will be dead, Stefan. Unless you care enough to do something about it."_

* * *

_Present_

"You wanted Klaus dead for 500 years. Why would you risk all that, just to safe Damon's life?" He asks.

"I wasn't just trying to safe Damon's life, Stefan. I was trying to safe yours. Your humanity. Let's just say I liked the 'old you' better." She tells him.

He shakes his head. "Nah. Come on, Katherine. You don't care about anybody but yourself. You never have."

"You and I both know that that is not true. I loved you; I've loved Damon, too. And I love Trinity. Humanity is a vampire's greatest weakness…no matter how easy it is to turn it off, it just keeps trying to fight its way back in. Sometimes I let it."

"I can't let it all back in. I don't want to. Not after everything I've done."

"Of course you don't want to. But if you don't let yourself feel, you won't be able to do what I need you to do next."

"What's that?" He asks.

She looks at him. "Get mad."

* * *

At the boarding house, Rebekah's daggered body is lying on the floor; her phone starts to ring.

* * *

Klaus leaves a message. "Rebekah, where are you? Pick up the phone, darling. Daddy is dead. It's time for a family reunion." He hangs up only to receive a call seconds later. "Stefan! Miss me already?"

"_I'm just calling to thank you for my freedom."_

"Oh, I like to believe I'm a man of my word, more or less."

"_Thing is, it came at too high of a price. You took everything from me, Klaus."_

"Let bygones be bygones, trust me. Resentment gets old." Klaus approaches his truck in which he transports the caskets.

"_You know what never gets old? Revenge."_

Klaus opens the truck; it's empty; the caskets are all gone. "No."

* * *

Stefan's at the abandoned witch house, looking at the caskets. "What's the matter, Klaus? Missing something?"

"_What are you doing?"_

"Just enjoying my freedom."

"_I will kill you and everyone you've ever met!"_

"You do that and you will never see your family again. I wonder Klaus, as someone who has been one step ahead for a thousand years; are you prepared for this?"

* * *

Katherine looks at the Mystic Falls sign before turning the car around and heading back into town.

* * *

Trinity sits against the wall, her head buried in her knees. "No, no, no." She cries, not hearing the knocking on the door.

Katherine walks into the house and sees Trinity curled in the corner crying. "Trinity!" She rushes over to her.

Trinity looks at her. "You're not real." She shakes her head. "It's a lie, it's all lies!" She cries.

Katherine takes Trinity into her arms. "I'm here." She says. "I'm right here. I'm real."

Trinity shakes her head and clings to Katherine. "I'm alone."


End file.

Vampire Diaries, Friendship, Romance