Stefan
Stefan reached Elena's house, glad that he'd been so close. The door wasn't locked, so he walked inside, where the smell of fresh blood overtook the rest of his senses.

He ran into the kitchen, finding Elena and Jenna both standing. Elena was looking at the body, her expression showing absolute terror. Jenna was watching Elena with suspicious eyes.

Then Stefan saw John, lying on the floor in his own blood. That wasn't the only place where the smell was coming from: the counter had streaks, and...

He grabbed Elena's shoulders gently. Pulling her back, he caught Jenna's eyes and motioned towards the living room. As soon as he'd gotten them both onto a sofa, the door opened again and Damon ran through.

"Where is she?" He saw Elena first and rage took over his features. Then he noticed the tears, and Stefan. And last, the smell of blood that still hung in the air.

Damon
"She who?" Damon's brother asked, standing in front of Elena protectively.

He didn't bother answering Stefan's question. Following the smell, he found the kitchen, where a body, blood, and a few detached fingers were all that was left of the great John Gilbert.

"Katherine's back," he announced, strolling back into the room where the Gilbert women and Stefan were all waiting.

They were all silent for a moment, and then everyone talked at once.

"Katherine? Here?"

"Who is Katherine? Elena, what's going on?"

"Where's Jeremy?"

Elena spoke last, and Damon listened only to her question. He raced up the stairs, reaching the room he'd left only a few minutes ago, and found the youngest Gilbert laying in bed, the faint smell of blood other than John's and a few pills still in the air.

Damon wondered if he'd ever made so many mistakes in one day.

Elena
Elena waited downstairs impatiently. Jeremy had been through so much lately, and he still hated her and Katherine had been in the house.

How could this have happened? she asked herself. What if Jeremy was dead, just like her adopted parents and birth father?

Before she could ask if Stefan would go see what was going on, he looked at her and said, "Please stay here." She nodded.

Stefan ran up the stairs and left her alone with Aunt Jenna.

"Elena, please tell me the truth. Who's Katherine?"

She didn't know how much to tell her. "Katherine...is this girl who Damon and Stefan used to date."

Aunt Jenna's eyes flashed. "What were you thinking when I caught you on the porch?"

"Porch? Aunt Jenna, I didn't see you until we found..." She trailed off. "What did you see?"

"Elena, I asked you to tell me the truth. Are you trying to tell me that there was another Elena who was kissing Damon outside?"

Elena's mouth dropped. She looked down. Why do these things happen?

"Katherine looks like me. Exactly like me, I mean."

"Elena, you don't have a twin. Please stop telling me lies."

Stefan
Stefan came up the stairs and found Damon in Jeremy's room. Jeremy was asleep, but Damon seemed to be having trouble waking him up.

Damon looked up. "Call an ambulance," he said hurriedly. Stefan ran to Elena's room and made the call.

Elena
Elena heard the sirens before she saw the lights. As soon as they turned into her driveway, she left Aunt Jenna to answer the door. Instead, she ran upstairs and into Jeremy's room, where she found Damon.

"What happened?" she gasped. Someone touched her shoulders. She turned around and looked into Stefan's eyes.

"Jeremy's trying to become a vampire," Stefan told her in a low voice as people started hurrying up the stairs. She gasped again, feeling helpless and out of place.

"Did Katherine-?"

"No, he chose it on his own."

She looked at her cousin, the young boy she'd called brother for most of her life. Suddenly it occurred to her that she'd failed her family. She fell to her knees, Stefan going down with her, and cried.