Elena had gone into school early, to get some extra help. She was in the tutoring room as the other kids were arriving at school. None of the boys were due back from the basketball game until 9 a.m. She sat in the tutor room doing her English assignment when she heard a noise. "POP POP POP" and then a bunch of people started screaming. People started running into classrooms and the tutor room. Luckily Elena knew what to do. She got as many kids as she could get in out of the hallway and then locked the door and turned out the lights. She then joined the kids on the floor against the near wall. She sat there and just prayed that you and the others were alright.

When the bus pulled up and you all started getting off, a student who was outside the building yelled that there was an active shooter in the building. Coach Durham ushered the students outside the building as well as everyone else who had gotten odd the bus back on.
"No one, gets off this bus!" He said as he sat down and locked the bus door.
"Elena's in there." Jeremy and Noah said as it had clicked in there heads what the coach was saying. They looked to you and Stefan.

"brother, lets do this." i ran up to the door, busted the lock, and ran outside.

"Dammit Son!" Coach Durham said as he got off the bus. "Get back on this bus."

"Don't worry coach. I'll get him." I said as I sprinted after you. I tackled you to the ground. I thought "make this look real, Yell at me."

"GET OFF OF ME! ELENA'S IN THERE AND I NEED TO SAVE HER!" I pushed you off and ran.

"I'll get him back coach." I said as I got up and ran after you. Once we were inside the building I eased up. "Alright, no heroics, and NO MAGIC!" I said as I looked around at the chaos in the hallways. There were papers scattered everywhere and no idea where the shooter was since there was no gunfire to listen to. "Alright, where would Elena be?" I asked as I centered my focus into surviving as keeping as many safe as possible. "Brother calm yourself, we both need clear heads."

"Do you happen to know Elena's class schedule? That might help us track her down. She may also be in the library or commons. We need to get a fix on the shooter so we can steer clear of him. Otherwise more unnecessary violence may ensue."

"It's Monday, she has History first period. She normally goes into the tutor room second Period, to help other students and to work on her English stuff. She has English third period, and then she's off for fourth and fifth period, which she usually spends with us at the picnic tables. Then we all go to Math sixth period, and finish the day with Biology seventh period. What time is it now? That might help us." There was a sudden loud "POP" coming from the direction of a near by hallway. My head snapped up as a female screamed in agony. "I think that might have been our cue to hurry up before anyone else gets hurt." I said as I smelt for blood. I caught the scent. "great, and I didn't eat today." I thought in my head.

"It's 1:20 now, so I'd assume she's in third period? But regardless you're right. We need to hurry up. Your eyes are turning red. you didn't eat, did you?"

"No, I figured I would be fine until I got home." I said as I tried to calm down. I got calmed but I knew that if I didn't eat soon after this was over I would do something stupid. My eyes returned to the normal color. "Have you heard when the shooting started? You know that's how we are gonna find her. You know the entire school went on lock down as soon as the first shot was fired." I said as I thought back to this morning. But due to my raging hunger my thoughts were blurry. "Damn it Damon, I can't think. What time did we get back here?" I asked frustrated.

"Off the top of my head, no. I don't remember. 9 A.M. I think? The first shot was earlier, closer to our arrival time than departure time." I looked around. "Here, drink." I poked my wrist. "We both need clear heads if we are going to get through this alive."

I took your wrist and quickly drank, just enough to get me through this. "Alright so 9 a.m. that would mean second hour. That would mean she should be in the tutor room. She's a smart girl, she would have locked it down herself." I said as I looked around. "Okay, lets be smart about this. We don't know where the shooter is. Other than they might be in the hallway that the tutor room is in. How do you wanna do this? We must be on the same page to make it through this." I asked as I looked around again to make sure we were clear.

"We need to find a way to avoid the shooter and get Elena out of here. I prefer the straightforward approach, but that's not possible at the moment. Are there any back corridors into the tutor room wing?"
"No, it's a straight shot from here. We don't know where the shooter is. We don't know how many people are in the tutor room with her. We don't know about injuries, or worse. I hate this not knowing bullshit!" I said as I punched a locker. I took a deep breath, "Alright, let's go to the tutor room. It's our only shot. to figure this shit out." I said as I looked around again.

Your phone vibrated in your pocket. It was Elena, she had managed to call you. When you picked up all you heard was. "No one, is leaving. I don't care if she's sick. I hate that no one knows me. We all used to be such good friends growing up and now that we are in high school you all can't even acknowledge me. I'm sorry it's come down to this. Is that a phone. Elena? Are you deaf, blind, or stupid? I said no phones!" the shooter yelled. Then there was a gun shot and the phone went dead.

"We need to go. Elena might be hurt! and who was the shooter? she sounded like she knew Elena and everybody in the tutor room. Her voice sounds familiar..."

I looked around, "Okay brother, one problem. How are we gonna get in if the shooter is in there?" I asked as I thought and tried to run a voice recognition. "It sounds like Meredith, Elena's old foster sister. Her and Elena used to be inseparable." I said as thought of how we are gonna get inside that classroom.

"Brother, as much as I hate to say it, there's only one way. We need to bust the door down. Ill do whatever I need to in order to ensure her safety."
"Not happening, we used to know Meredith. Think we can talk her into letting us in? I mean we can be reasonable. I really think we can talk her out of this. I'm sure she never meant for it to go this far. She doesn't deserve to die by cop." I said as I waited for your reply before I started walking towards the room.

"We can, but brother, remember this: if she harms anyone in anyway, we may have no other alternative. what about a compelling? do you have any issues with that?"

"I don't want to have to wipe every students mind in there. So we need to try talking before we get drastic. I don't think she meant to harm anyone in the first place. We need to try." I said as I headed towards the tutor room.

"Agreed. lets go." I followed behind. The door seemed to be locked from the inside. "Now how do we handle this?"

"Try to talk to Elena, or Meredith. You were closer to both of them. I'm sure that it'll work, because it has too." I said as I leaned against the lockers. "Be compassionate Damon."

"I will." I knocked on the door. "Meredith? Can I come in?"

"No, no one comes in and no one goes out." She said from behind the door. Elena yelled. "Damon, 23 kids. 3 injured. 1 gun." Then there was a noise that sounded like a slap and things fell silent again.

"I understand. You don't want me to come in. But I still want to talk to you. You don't have to do this. You can leave right now and everything will be over."

"No, I can't Damon. People won't remember me. They don't see me now. What makes you think that'll change?" She asked as she leaned against the door.

"Because I know people. People's opinions change if someone is willing to make the changes. Now, I realize that there have been some issues between you, Elena, and everyone else, but WE can work them out. I'm a very good mediator."

"They don't change, they always say they change. Then nothing happens. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of trying. I'm gonna end this on my terms." she said. Then there was a gunshot. People screamed. The door clicked like it unlocked. No one moved.

I opened the door. "Is everybody alright?"

"We're fine Damon. I'm afraid that Meredith isn't." I said as I stayed near the wall, not venturing to look towards where Meredith's body laid. "Three of the kids in here need medical attention. The rest of us will eventually be okay." I said as I didn't bother to get up.

"Ok. Stefan, get these people out of here. Elena, go with Stefan. I'll meet you in a bit." I entered the room, touched my hand to the floor, and closed my eyes. i needed to see what happened during all the chaos.
Your mind was taken over by the flashback. It showed Elena working on her English stuff and then the first shots rang out. She immediately went into survival mode and started a lock down in the room. She ran to the windows and closed the blinds, as students poured into the tutor room. They all slid down the wall near the door like they did during the drills. A few students came in carrying their friends with them that were wounded. Once the room was at capacity, Elena sat to work on stabilizing the injured as best as she could. Not realizing that Meredith was in the room after she had locked the door and turned the lights out. After she had done what she could she slid down the wall and waited. That's when Meredith got up and brandished a gun. Elena tried to keep everyone calm.

One of the girl's started having an asthma attack and has having difficulties. Elena tried to explain to Meredith that the girl needed help soon. That's when Elena managed to pocket dial you, and then Meredith had found out and kicked Elena in the stomach causing her phone to fall out of her pocket. That's when Meredith shot the phone. That's why it went dead. Then you showed up. The dialogue took place and Elena had been backhanded for talking to you. Then the memory ended with Meredith shooting herself and now you were back where you were before the memories took hold.

Stefan had gotten all the kids to safety. All the kids were being checked out. Of course your girlfriend would have none of it. She went to go look for her brother and Noah, and her other friends. Stefan waited for you to come out of the building before he let any police in.

I woke up and walked out. "I'm here brother. Damn. Things went downhill too fast here. I know everything."

"I'm sure I don't wanna know." Stefan said as he breathed in fresh air. "So far they are saying 13 dead including Meredith and a teacher. The number of injured hasn't got a number yet. But last time I heard they were at 30. Elena won't let anyone check her out. She went to go find Matt, Caroline, and Bonnie. Noah and Jeremy are still on the bus." He said as he sat on the hood of his car.

"OK. Get everybody home. I'm going after Elena." I found you. "Love, I'm right here. Talk to me."

"Alright" Stefan said as he headed off to go find the boys. Elena had found Matt, Caroline and Bonnie. They were all huddled in a group. "Damon, Vickki, Matt's sister is dead and Alaric was wounded." I said as I cried. My own injuries hurt like hell but I didn't let it show. Matt needed me right now. But so did you. I left Matt with Caroline and Bonnie and about fell trying to walk to you.

I caught you. "You're alright. Just a wound. Nothing some time wont heal up."

"Bonnie, take everybody over to my house. We'll do a mass treatment there."

"Elena, hop on my back."

"You got it Damon." Bonnie said as she ushered Matt and Caroline to her car. I had issues climbing on your back. "Can't you just carry me?" I asked with what smile I could force out.

"I can carry you." I did so. "Let's go home." I threw a portal card and went through. I laid you down on our bed." Relax while I find out where you got shot."

"I don't even remember getting shot. Is that bad?" I asked as I rolled onto my tummy. I about passed out of you, because I was so exhausted.

"Not that bad. I see a wound in your thigh. That's probably what made you collapse." I began taking out the bullet. "This is gonna hurt some."

I screamed into the pillow as you pulled it out. "Brother, your gonna need this." Stefan hands you a bottle of whiskey. "It'll cleanse the wound faster so that you can sew it up." He said as he sewed Alaric's wound up. Bonnie and Caroline were in the living room with Matt.

"Thanks brother." I poured some of the whiskey on the wound. "Its gonna hurt."

I screamed again this time not into the pillow. I tried to move from your grip it stung so much.

"Don't move love. It will only make things worse." I said. "It will die down in a bit."

I tried not to move but it burnt like hell. I was trying to breathe, not an easy thing to do when your had whiskey poured into a bullet wound. "Damnit Damon! Did you have to do that?"

"It will disinfect the wound. I can use my card to heal it up afterwards. In one word, yes."

"I hate you right now!" I yelled as the pain started to decease. Once you were done with me I sat up. I started crying. I vanished to the hot tub still in tears.

"What did I do? i just fixed your wound. I don't understand." I went to the hot tub. "Love, what did I do to upset you?"

"Nothing, it just hurt. I'm sorry if I upset you." I said as I gently laid in the hot tub. I was naked, after the day I had had. I needed to be.

I stripped and got in. "Starting to relax love?"

"Yes, I am sorry if I upset you by saying I hate you." I said as I cuddled into your chest.

"Its OK. After today emotions are running high." I said as I embraced you.

I kissed your neck as I laid in your arms. "I love you."

"I love you too." I said as we laid there.

"Dear, please tell me everything gonna be alright. People said that this stuff didn't happen in town's like ours." I said as I laid there.

"Love, everything gonna be just fine. I will protect you."
"I'm not worried about protection love, I can handle my own. What I am worried about it that the kids will be home soon and I am not in control of my emotions. I don't wanna do something I am going to regret later if I snap at one of them." I explained as I laid with you in the Hot tub. I compelled the water to a nice 108 degrees.
"Is there something I can do to get your emotions back in check?"
"There is something, but my body is protesting a lot right now," I said as I laid my head back on your chest.
"Take your time love. I'll do whatever you need me to do."
"Let's just rest for now, rest would be great." I said as I fell asleep on your chest.
"ok." I said as we rested.