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Chapter 2: Accusations and Confusion

Part 1

Morning came and Jeremy lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He hadn't slept at all. Not that he hadn't tried, but every time he just closed his eyes something happened. His bed would start shaking, the windows opened and let's not forget the strange noises he had heard. He knew what it was, but that didn't make it any less scary.

At some point Anna and Vicky had to understand he had to sleep. He couldn't stay awake forever. Though the girls did a very good attempt to postpone bedtime as long as possible. He got out of bed and went downstairs, finding Alaric all dressed up, but Elena was absent.

"Good morning, Jeremy" Alaric said. "Hi" Jeremy said and he sank down on a chair. "Where's Elena?" he asked as he shoved the bread to him. "She's at Stefan's house" Alaric said. Jeremy raised his eyebrows. "Stefan's house, huh? So, she's with Damon. Did she spend the night there?"

"Well, yeah, but Katherine's there, too. And there are plenty of rooms there. And don't forget Elena is still Stefan's girlfriend and Damon knows that" Alaric said feeling uneasy. Though Jeremy still wasn't convinced he shut up about it. "I'm going to see Bonnie. I have to talk to her" Alaric looked up. "Something important?" he asked trying to sound casual.

"Maybe" Jeremy said avoiding. He didn't want too many people to get involved into this. He couldn't lose anyone else. And Alaric was in no position to help. "Bonnie is the only one that can help me" he decided.

Part 2

The door of Damon's bedroom went open and Katherine walked in with a breakfast plate. Damon looked up with a weird expression. "What are you doing, Katherine?" "Bringing you breakfast, of course" she said lifting the plate.

She walked to the bed and crawled on it. "It has all your favorites" she said pleased with herself. Damon looked at the plate. "No, these are all your favorites" Damon said. "You're lucky I'm not picky" He took one of the sandwiches and bit it.

"You know, if you're hitting on me, you can just-" He stopped and gagged. Katherine looked at Damon with a worried face. "Damon?" she asked. Damon ran out of bed to the bathroom. He spit out what was left of the sandwich and washed his mouth.

He staggered back into his bedroom and looked at Katherine gasping for breath. "Did you put vervain in the food?" he asked unbelieving. "Of course not! I wouldn't do that!" Katherine exclaimed upset. They heard a knock and they rotated their heads to the door.

Elena was standing in the doorway. "I set the breakfast table. Are you coming?" she said, looking strongly at Damon. Damon nodded and walked past her. Katherine walked towards Elena.

"It was you" she said slowly. "You've put the vervain in the sandwiches. Why? I know you wouldn't hurt Damon" she paused, realizing something "… You just can't stand it that we're getting close again!"

Elena didn't say anything. Katherine was wrong! Katherine thought Elena was jealous. She wasn't jealous. She just cared for Damon and she didn't want that bitch to break his heart again. That's all that was behind it. Nothing more, she told herself.

Part 3

Jeremy entered Bonnie's house after he had knocked several times. He knew she was home, he had seen shadows. So he walked down the hall and opened the door. "Bonnie? Are you there?" he called out. He looked around in the suspiciously quiet room.

Then he saw Bonnie standing in the corner. He almost hadn't noticed her. "Bonnie? Why are you standing there?" he asked suspicious. Bonnie left her corner and walked towards him. "Why are you here, Jeremy?" she asked.

Jeremy recognized her voice, but there was something in her way of speaking that worried him. "I need to talk to you" he started, not feeling comfortable. "Ever since I came back from the death I see things that aren't there"

"Like what?" Bonnie asked, sounding more curious than concerned. Jeremy pulled his clothes before he answered. "People. Dead people" Bonnie swallowed. She avoided Jeremy's look and scratched her hair. She was nervous. No, agitated.

"There will be consequences" she mumbled to herself. "What?" Jeremy asked. Bonnie still didn't look at him. "When you were dead, I brought you to the witches. I tried to bring you back alive with magic. They said 'There will be consequences'. This must be it" she said sounding terrified.

"Seeing dead people? Why? Is there a purpose? And how can I stop it?" Jeremy asked in one breath. Bonnie grabbed her boyfriend by his shoulders. "You won't do anything. I'm taking care of it" she said sharply.

"But-" "I mean it, Jeremy Gilbert. You let it just happen and I will fix it" she repeated. "Bonnie, your eyes" Jeremy said. Bonnie averted her head.

"What about them?" she asked with a trembling voice. "They're blurry" he said worried. She pointed with her finger at Jeremy. "Go home" The next moment Jeremy was sitting in his bedroom.

Part 4

Sheriff Forbes was standing above the corps lying in the shag. A rope was lying loosely around its cervix and he had two small holes in his neck. He was drained from blood. Liz let out a deep sigh and startled as her daughter appeared in front of her.

"Caroline! You're not supposed to be here, this is a crime scene" she said reproachful. Caroline didn't react, but ducked to have a closer look at the corpse. "Vampires" she whispered. Liz nodded. "Yeah, I know" she said.

"Caroline?" No answer. "Caroline" Liz now said a bit harder. Caroline looked up. "Caroline, I need you to be completely honest with me. I won't judge you" Caroline braced herself for she knew what was to come. "Did you do this?" her mother asked.

Her mom was never going to trust her, Caroline thought. "No, mom, I have nothing to do with this" she answered. "And do you have any idea who could've?" Liz continued her interrogation. "Damon, perhaps? Stefan?"

Caroline shook her head. "No" she said. "The only vampires I can think of are Klaus and Katherine, but they are no match for you, mom" she added.

"I'm going to talk to the people that live here. You stay here, I'll be right back" Liz said. Caroline nodded, but as soon as her mother turned around she flashed away.

She braked at the Salvatore Boarding House and knocked.

"You open it" Katherine said bored.

"No freaking way, you open it" Damon said.

"Oh, for God's sake, I'll open it!" Elena said annoyed.

How could two people both older than a century act so childish?, she thought while she walked at the front door. "Caroline?" she exclaimed surprised when she saw her friend in the doorway. "Come in" Elena said and Caroline entered the boarding house.

"I have the strange idea you're not just here for a friendly visit" Elena said while she guided Caroline to the living room, where Damon and Katherine were sitting. "Well, well, if it isn't the little traitor" Katherine said, looking at Caroline.

"Still not over it?" Damon said contemptuously. "Have a seat" he said to Caroline. "There's no room" Katherine said disdainful. "Sure there is" Damon said and he pushed Katherine off the couch. Caroline sank down as Katherine scribbled up. They all ignored her complaints.

"You're right, Elena. I'm here for a reason" Caroline began. "I bet you haven't heard the news yet?" They shook their heads, immediately alerted. "Well, I got it first hand, because of mom"

She paused. "There's a new victim. A vampire victim, I mean. I told my mother I didn't do it, which is true. And I said you nor Stefan would do it" she continued looking at Damon only. "I'm not so sure about that" he said softly.

Caroline frowned. "What are you talking about?" Damon traded a glance with Elena, realizing he would have to do the talking. The Stefan-Klaus issue was too painful for Elena. "You know I got bitten by Tyler while he was transforming?"

Caroline nodded. "Stefan went to Klaus to find a cure. Long story short: he got it, but in return he had to join Klaus. So, I'm not entirely sure whether Stefan has stuck to his bunny diet or that he's given in to his formal ripper actions"

"So, you're saying Stefan's behind it?" Caroline asked breathless. "I don't know. I hope not, but we can't ignore the possibility that he could've" Damon said being realistic. Elena threw her arms around her knees, looking pale.

"I don't know, Damon" Caroline said. "It didn't look very professional. I mean, when you feed on humans you erase your traces. This vampire didn't. The body was still there and the blood wasn't cleaned up. I don't think this vampire has been for a long time"

Elena looked up with a hopeful expression on her face. "So, there's still a chance Stefan has nothing to do with it. That's good. As long as he doesn't kill anyone, no damage has been done" she said.

Damon shook his head. "What?" Elena asked, a little annoyed. She felt like Damon was going to ruin her renewed hope. "Even if Stefan didn't kill that person, still someone had to turn the vampire that did. There aren't that many vampires left in Mystic Falls" Damon said, trying to put Elena back on the ground.

Elena averted to Katherine. "Maybe she did it" she said, nodding at her vampire look-a-like. Katherine widened her eyes. She walked towards Elena, lifting her hand to slap her, but Damon grabbed her wrist and put himself between Elena and Katherine.

"You're not touching her" he said soft but threatening. He turned at Elena. "You should be careful with your accusations. We need her" "Oh, but you can accuse Stefan?" Elena said upset.

"I'm not accusing him" Damon said. "I just want you to keep your eyes open and not be blinded by your…love for him" "As should you" Elena shot back. "You don't know if you can trust Katherine" "She didn't do it" Damon sighed.

"How would you know?" Elena said disdainful. "Oh, right, I forgot! You have been bonding with her. You're now close friends, so you tell each other everything" Damon frowned his eyebrows and exchanged an uncomprehending look with Katherine.

"Where's this coming from?" he asked slowly. Katherine smirked. "Yeah, I'm dying to hear it" she said. Caroline looked from Elena to Damon and back as if she was watching a tennis game.

Elena swallowed and put her hands on Damon's upper arms. "I don't trust her" she started. "She played with you. She used your love for her. She put you through so much pain, missing her, thinking she was locked up. But she never cared about you. She didn't care you've been hurting for 145 years. She didn't care you wanted to die when you thought she was dead"

Damon took her hands in his and looked her deep in the eye. "I love you for caring about me. I wouldn't know what to do without you. But I could never fall for her all over again, while I'm loving you"

He brought her hands to his lips and kissed her fingers. Elena felt how her heart beat fiercely. It felt like everything around them faded away and they were the only two people on the universe.

"Uhum" Katherine coughed. Damon let go of Elena and they turned around. "You're having an audience"

Part 6

"Okay, explain me one thing. How come I can walk into the sun without being burned?"

Amber and Stefan were walking in the woods of Mystic Falls. The moment Amber had fed on Derek the hunger and fear faded and her body was filled with power. She loved the feeling.

"It's because of your bracelet" Stefan answered. Amber looked at the bracelet on her wrist. "My bracelet? What does it have to do with me being able to walk in the sun?"

"There's a spell on it" Stefan explained. "For a vampire to walk into the sun they need something a witch put a spell on so they can walk outside during the day. I compelled your boyfriend to give you the bewitched necklace, because only then you'd have no suspicion"

Amber scratched her hair. "Ehm…did you…compel him to hang himself?" she stammered. Stefan stopped and turned at Amber. "No. Vampires are rarely to trust, but I swear I had no hand in his death"

He walked on. He heard no footsteps behind him and therefore held his steps again. He turned around, seeing Amber standing still. He flashed to her. "What?" "If you didn't do it, then it must've been that other man. The British one?" Amber said.

Stefan nodded. "Klaus. He's dangerous" "Yeah, I figured" Amber said obvious. "I mean, for us, vampires. He's not just a vampire. He's a werewolf as well and a bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire. Which is why I'm here with you in the first place" Stefan said.

"I don't get that" Amber said.

"My brother got bitten by a werewolf. He would've died if I hadn't find a cure, which is Klaus' blood, by the way. But to return the favor I have to stick with him for ten years" Stefan ended.

Amber whistled. "Wow. You must really care for your brother. I mean, by being the hero you've turned into a villain" "I guess you could say that" "Is he cute?" Amber asked like only a teenage girl could. Stefan shook his head confused.

"Your brother, is he cute?" Amber clarified her previous question. "You kind of are and I thought maybe it runs in the family" Stefan sniffed. "Damon's a heartbreaker"

"Ooh, Damon, huh? Heartbreaker, you say? He's had many girls and slept with them, dumped them the day after? Why do you care?" Amber asked.

"Because he's having a crush on my girlfriend and it's serious. He thinks I'm an idiot and that I can't put one and one together. It reassures me, because I know he'd do anything to protect her. But it terrifies me as well, because I don't know if my relationship with Elena is strong enough to survive this" Stefan said depressed.

"And I think that deep inside Damon believes he deserves Elena. Because Katherine chose me over him"

"So, you're saying both times Damon fell in love with a woman she chose you? Well, that would piss me off. It must've broken his heart" Amber said full of compassion. "Who's Katherine?"

"Katherine is the vampire that turned me and Damon and she is Elena's ancestor. Don't freak out when you see both of them, because they look identical. We both loved her, but Damon was the one that was torn up inside for 145 years, because he wasn't with her" Stefan explained.

"145 years? Your brother mourned for 145 years?" Amber asked shocked. Stefan nodded. "He lost his humanity, but he's getting it back…because of Elena" he said.

Part 7

Liz was standing in her office, her deputy's surrounding her. She was briefing them about the murder last night. Caroline was standing outside, making sure her mother couldn't see her, and kept her ears wide open.

"The boy's name's Derek Janders. He was Amber Lindy's boyfriend. Amber's the girl that lived there. According to Mrs. Lindy Amber had been acting off earlier that day. She came home, wrecked, like she was sexually assaulted"

"Mrs. Lindy insisted Amber to report this, but Amber became aggressive and violent. She threw Mrs. Lindy on the ground and then basically robbed the fridge, because- and Mrs. Lindy quotes her daughter: 'I'm freaking starving here!' "

"After eating the whole fridge content Amber's still hungry and took it out on Mrs. Lindy, punching her a few times in the face and compelling her to lie about it to Mr. Lindy; later she would tell him she'd ran through a glass door"

"Amber went upstairs to her room and from what Mrs. Lindy could hear she was trashing her room. It started raining and Mrs. Lindy heard her daughter screaming 'Turn off the noise, my head's exploding' A few hours later Mr. Lindy came home. He asked his wife what happened, she told him the glass door story"

"

He went upstairs to see Amber, saw the ruined room, noticed the window was open and Amber missing. This morning we got a call from Mr. Lindy saying his daughter's boyfriend committed suicide in their shag" Liz paused and took a deep breath. "I find it hard to believe, though"

One of her deputy's raised his hand. "Why? We found the letter. He writes about his parents, how their deaths affected him. Friends of him said he was on something. It's not that unexpected"

"Maybe not" Liz replied. "But there are too many factors that exclude suicide. For starters, he gave Amber a bracelet the same morning, so things must have been going quite well between them"

"Second, why would he hang himself in the shag next to the house where Amber lives? The letter says he 'loved her so much'. Killing yourself nearby your girlfriend isn't very love expressing, is it? And last, but certainly not least, why did Amber take off the same night and where is she now?"

Caroline, who had absorbed every little detail into her memory, understood her mother didn't know more and flashed away.

Part 8

A few hours later.

Jeremy lied in his bed, his eyes squeezed. He would force himself to sleep. He had been running for hours, helped Alaric with some chores, cleaned up his room, and now he was really tired. Sleeping shouldn't be a problem. He would give in to the night.

The windows swung open, the glass shattered and rained down on the floor. Jeremy raised up and crawled backwards against the head of his bed. He saw a pencil floating in the air, but knew either Vicky or Anna was holding it.

"What, you're going to write 'Don't sleep' on my wall? I have to sleep, I can't fight the fatigue forever" Jeremy yelled. "There was a time you could" Vicky's voice said cold. "I'm not using drugs anymore" Jeremy said. "Not since you left, died"

"Well, maybe you should, Jer. It would save us a lot of trouble if you could keep those pretty eyes of yours open" Vicky said. Now about a dozen pencils were floating in the air. How was that possible? Anna and Vicky both had two hands, so the two of them together could only hold four pencils. How could the other pencils…

As realization hit his brain he gasped and tried to get out of bed. But then the pencils flew his way and pierced themselves into his arms. As he screamed he felt a sudden and invisible weight at the end. He knew someone was crawling on the bed and he was paralyzed by fear.

"You're dead. You can't hurt me" Jeremy said, not very convinced. "Well , that's a good thing" Anna said, who was now visible to Jeremy. "That means this won't hurt you"

She grabbed his hair, put his head down and pierced her fangs in his flesh. Though she couldn't really feed on him and there was no blood, it felt like someone was stabbing knives in his neck.

Part 9

Bonnie was still wide awake when she heard someone banging on the door. "Jeremy" she growled as if he was the last person she wanted to see right now. The scene earlier that day made her realize he would come inside anyway and she may as well save him the trouble of breaking in.

"What are you doing here?" she asked short. She didn't see her boyfriend was scared to death or that he was soaked and if she did, she definitely didn't care.

"I know you said you were going to fix this, but can you please hurry up a bit" Jeremy said agitated. He showed the holes in his arms. "They attacked me. Anna, Vicky and I don't know who else, but there were more of them"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "More vampires?" she asked. "More death people" Jeremy said. Why didn't Bonnie invite him in? Why did she act so uncaring? "I can heal that for you" Bonnie said nodding at his arms.

She dragged him inside the house, her grip so tight it actually hurt him. She dragged him into the living room, where he freed himself. "What's wrong with you?" he shouted at her. "Why are you sitting in the dark, why are you wearing so many clothes, and why are you covering your ears right now?"

Bonnie grabbed a tube of ointment from a cupboard in the kitchen. She handed it to Jeremy. "Here, it's a compilation of herbs, it should work within an hour" she said. "Can you now please get lost?"

Jeremy shook his head and grabbed Bonnie by her upper arms. He gasped and let go of her a second later. "Bonnie, you're freezing. What's going on?" he asked deeply concerned.

Bonnie looked him in the eyes and hers looked as cold as her body felt. "Look, Jeremy, the light's off because it's hurting my eyes, I'm wearing so many clothes because I'm freezing. And I'm covering my ears because I'm having a terrible headache and I just can't take your lousy crap right now. So, I repeat, can you get lost?"

"Let me help you" Jeremy begged. "You can't help me. I can only help myself" she said and she grabbed Jeremy again, dragging him to the hallway, throwing him out of the house.

She walked back into the living room and took five candles. She put them in a circle around her and started mumbling a weird Latin-like language.

Part 10

As Damon was getting ready to go to bed he heard a knock on his door. He looked up and saw Elena standing in the doorway. "Hey" he said. "What's wrong?" Elena shrugged and shuffled with her feet.

"Come in" Damon said and he waved with his head. Elena accepted his offer and entered his room. She walked slowly to his bed. "I know it's totally inappropriate, but I'm feeling uncomfortable in my bed, all alone… Can I sleep with you? Just sleep?" she kind of begged.

Damon blinked and swallowed. "I don't know, Elena" "Just sleeping, I promise" she said. Damon sighed. "Well, okay then" he said and he slid as far away as possible so their bodies wouldn't contact each other.

Elena climbed into bed, but unlike Damon's expectations she came real close to him and lay her head on his naked chest. Her fingers draw circles around his thorax. Damon gently took her fingers and pushed them away.

"What are you doing, Elena?" he asked, simply knowing it wasn't Katherine. Elena didn't answer, but put herself on top of him. She leaned forward and kissed him passionate on the lips.

Damon tried to push her away; he didn't want this, but then again he did. Elena pushed his hands away and took off her top. She took Damon's hands and lay them on her breasts.

Damon felt how his heart beat raced faster and faster. His whole body shuddered, in a good way and he couldn't fight it anymore. He rolled over so he was now lying on top of Elena and he kissed her.

But Elena wanted more and she moved underneath him. Damon looked down at her body and saw it had changed. It was darker. He looked up and stared in Bonnie's smug face.

Damon woke up. He gasped for breath and looked around him to make sure Bonnie wasn't in the same room. It had seemed so real. He could swear he could still feel her fingers on his chest, his hands on her breasts. He was disgusted. Shower, he needed to shower, even though he believed he would never be able to wash this dirt off of him.