A.N: Grateful for the support guys, keep it up with the reviews, am having a good time writing this story as well. the idea came to me while i was watching re runs of Angel, the 'shroud of rahmon' episode, that's the episode that inspired me for this fic.

hopefully it's going good.

Salem Police Dept.

4:45 am

Elena had a gorwing headache, The constant brightness of the blinding overhead bulb combined with sudden outbursts from the heavy set detective that rumbeled the table under her arms made for a very caged and restrained feel about things for her. They did not offer her a phone call to her legal gaurdian ...not even Alaric.

He would have known what to do.

She cursed herself for the millionth error in her judgement. She should have protracted Alaric's help when Bonnie found out where Caroline was and who she was with.

She should have speed dialed the teachers number and asked for his help.

Things seemed to have a smoother outcome when he intervened. Not that he was not all about violence too but the teenage/vampire impulsiveness that the rest of them usually attributed seemed a few hundred degrees lower in him. He was sharp with plans and strategy, more focused on damage control. That's exactly what they needed right now.

Damage control so that she could deal with Damon and Caroline after wards. That would be the ideal outcome. Oh well, they always ended up with dead bodies either way.

God, if Bonnie could hear her thinking they would probably never be friends again. Fingers rapping sharply on the table snapped out of her reverie. Come on Elena think assertive.

'Do you mean to say your friend rang your cell phone while the traffic officer questioned her for stopping in the middle of the road?'

Elena glowered at detective Jamison's refusal to let her little slip of detail go. She hadn't exactly had all the time in the world to plan a strategy or get her stories straight with the 'others'. Because when the flying bullets and fangs died down she was the only one left in the vicinity bending over Caroline's unmoving form.

She had made an error admitting that Caroline had called them, well 'her' while on the road to Salem...she left out Bonnie's name, no need to put anyone through the torture of the blinding light at dawn when anyone of them would most likely like to cuddle with a stuffed toy and sleep through this mess. Which left her with the burden of coming up with a good distraction/lie something to cover up her slip of tongue. Because she had zero idea of what words Caroline and Bonnie exchanged around the time a police patrol car stopped to question them. Except that she was going to the Salem Historical Society with Damon. The reason Detective Jamison saw it fit to pester her about the phone call repeatedly was because apparently after putting the phone down she had stepped out and shot the police officer.

Elena wished to god she knew what had happened but she didn't and she did not feel like delving into why she thought Caroline could not have done that. Somehow the image did not seem altogether as unreliable as she wanted it to be. Lately everyone around her seemed to be going bonkers. Why should Caroline have been any different at this time while Katherine was busy terrorizing her life.
If she could maybe want to kill someone right this minute it would definitely be Katherine.

'Look i told you all she said to me was where she was going, she did not mention the police patrol car or why she wanted to break into the Historical society...'

The detective slammed a muscled fist on the table, for a second there she thought he'd broken both table and fist but that was just wishful thinking...

'And you're saying you did not even feel the need to ask why? she was your friend right? wouldn't you want to know?'

'No Detective! i don't, 'know' i mean that's why i went after her'

En route to Salem

11:00 pm

Fear of the unknown usually drove people to seek refuge in ignorance, for Caroline it was the opposite right now, what she knew about herself, feared about herself she no longer had the luxury to hide from. She was reckless, clumsy fool who had got into a car with a known murderering psychopath. Believing this trip could lead to any kind of spiritual ephiphany was also a ludicurously hilarious thought she had the misfortune of stumbling over.

Maybe Damon had planted a suggestion in her mind while she was dismally drowning in alcohol two days ago. She doubted it, He was busy too drowning in it himself ...

She wished to be ignorant of all this idiocity she had displayed. But it was too late. Too late to go back and scream for help or put up a fight. Damon and threatening situations usually ended with dead bodies. She had been expecting it even prepared for it. but the idea of herself shooting someone point blank was ... well, foriegn to say the least.

She was a 'good shot', Damon told her while she worked on getting her numbed senses working again. Maybe it was shock she was suffering from. Whether it was from her call to Bonnie or the shooting it was hard to be sure.

She had scrambled to call Bonnie when Damon got out of the car to deal with the police officer that was asking for Damon to step outside. He left his cell phone at a close range. She watched the flashing blue and red lights in the rearview mirror as Damon got closer to the officer and they seemed to 'talk'.

She had swiped the phone with fear the size of her own heart. He told her to use 'it' and call her 'friends'. And had looked entirely serious saying it, sort of resigned really. Half heartedly intimidating as he gently slammed passenger seat door. Bonnie picked up right away as if she had been expecting Caroline's call. She had been reassuringly soft and understanding about Carolines blunder, Encouraging even. Everything you expect from a best friend. Everything she would not expect from Elena.

And then her tone took a different note, a darker tone. She was telling Caroline to do something that she knew would upset and shock allot of people most of all Elena. It sounded like a plan in which she would lead someone to get killed. What Bonnie was shying away from telling her was that it was also a plan which might lead to Caroline's own untimely and completely unneeded death.

Caroline had listened silently still watching the rear view mirror as Damon tried getting close to the patrol officer, the officer took a step back, his hand was resting on his gun...not half heartedly at all. She had to...diffuse the 'situation' that was unfolding.

'I have to go Bonnie...'

There was a desperation in Bonnie's voice as she had let Caroline relunctantly go...she could imagine the look on her face from here. It was the only look she had seen on Bonnie since her Grams had died. It was confusing ...all these expressions , all of her friends and enemies were so fond of displaying around her lately. A headache was crawling around in her mind trying to find its comfort zone.

She studied Damon's proximity to the officer and the hand that was slowly pulling out his gun and felt an annoyance creeping up inside her. It was a game. It was all a big game to all of them. She was like a piece of chess they kept shoving to the front and back when they felt it benefited them. Bonnie, Damon, Matt, Elena...All of them. She was sick of it. Sick of thier mind games.

Sick of Matt not admitting he had any feelings for her, of Bonnie using her friendly feelings to wield something dangerous out of her that would probably kill her, of Damon being a...vampire...and sick of Elena somehow being the center of all this. All these emotions and wild expressions that were on display were for Elena alone.

She felt like an invisible door handle everyone used once in a while to get to where they wanted and then forget that it existed and that without it they would have neven gotten the door open in the first place. Thinking of deep and conflicting analogies for her predicament werent her forte exactly but tonight everything seemed to be unravelling at an uncanny pace.

Matt was falling in love with Elena...again, Damon was losing his personality, Bonnie was losing her mind and by continuing this facscade Caroline would most probably lose her life.

Two shots had rang out, there had been a inhuman scream...Damon! She had ducked and cursed, in french, spanish and english the only languages she knew so far and walked out between both men.
Damon was writhing on the ground in pain...he managed to bite out a painful 'Silver bullets!' before continuing the pain parade. the officer lay on his back, for a moment Caroline was afraid to look if he was already dead. But he wasn't 'Is that a real vampire?, did i get a live one?'

'Yes...' she said simply, the patrol car was still flashing red and blue in her face, it gave her a strange sense of security over her identity. Something was touching her foot, something cold and metal. it was the officer's gun, she made to bend down and get it for him, Damon was quiet behind her.

The blond officer with sparklingly clear baby blues sat up with a grateful smile, Caroline did not return the smile or the gun, she shot him instead in the shoulder. It was random the selection of shoulder, she thought of going for the knees to make sure he stayed down like in the movies but worried it might mean permanent damage. She wanted him to live and not be miserable. Like her? Maybe.

No, the shock was not from shooting the police officer who was probably new at his job niether was it from hearing Damon's dead pan 'Damn woman, you didn't say you shook pom poms for a living did you!' as a form of gratitude right after she had shot the officer down, it had been from knowing that she was stuck in this nightmare and however it played out the ending would be a bad one for her. Yes that was it was the acceptance of this fate that shocked her.

While Damon pulled the silver bullets from his torso cursing Salem and witches for some reason she could not pinpoint, Caroline sat perfectly still in the car, the officer was alive she had made sure but he was writhing in pain while she walked back to get into thier car.

He was mumbling about Salem and how damn superstitious the population was to have to pull out a gun with silver bullets on him when Caroline looked at his squarely in the eye.
'Oh come on Caroline he's still alive snap out of it, we don't have time for emotional theatrics right now'

Carolione was in the drivers seat, she had control of the steering, Damon was injured and it would probably take him a while to recover, she should drive, it would give her something to do other than feeling like screaming like mad, Bonnie's words kept echoing in her conciousess. There was something very strange about it, Something was bothering her...she had to ask him.

'Damon...how did you find out about this place, i mean the historical society?'

Maybe he was letting his gaurd down because he was in pain, silver bullets are supposed to really hurt a vampire, disorient them, she read that somewhere...twilight? no, somewhere else. She could leave him here in the middle of nowehere let the officer finish the job? But he answered 'Bonnie let it slip, from her big book of spells and shit...i just got her to casually talk about it...'

Caroline blinked, There was a hidden story here that was painting an ugly picture she was starting to understand, she did not want to hear anymore and cut him off 'Damon! put your seat belt on okay? i'm driving'

He watched her silently, she wasn't sure what he was thinking but it did not look 'pleasant' at being told what to do by a former unwilling blood donor of his. 'You know i liked you better when you shook pom poms..' He was still watching her, he knew something was up with her.

Caroline slammed the accelerator in response.