Chapter 3

Shake it Out- Florence and the Machine

I could count on one hand the number of times that I had no idea what Elena had going through her head. This moment was one of those times. Stefan had dropped the bomb on her before we left that she had been adopted. I can speculate that she probably felt hurt, betrayed, lied to, and confused all at once, but I had a hard time telling which when she kept her face so emotionless like she did at that time. We made it home together, and silently agreed to bum rush the door in a hurried attempt to avoid Aunt Jenna.

Entering the door, we weren't that lucky. Jenna jumped up from her spot on the couch, where she no doubt had been waiting for us. "You know, I don't set a lot of rules, not with the two of you," she started in on us. I felt like shrinking into the carpet, while Elena on the other hand finally revealed her anger with the look on her face. "I trust you two to give me the truth," she kept laying into us. I am so sorry Aunt Jenna for what's about to happen. "You two lied to me about where you were," she seethed. "I thought we were closer than that," she ended with the trade mark 'disappointed parent' look.

Stopping midflight up the stairs, Elena turned on our Aunt, "Now is not the time to talk to me about lies Jenna." I couldn't help but flinch back at the fight that unfolded before me.

Aunt Jenna looked taken aback from the outburst before recovering. "Don't turn this back on me, I didn't do anything!"

That seemed to break my sister's last straw. "Ok, question," she started calmly. "Am I adopted? I want you to tell me the truth," she narrowed her eyes, watching Jenna's face change from 'parent mode' to absolute shock. It hurt to watch. "I trusted you Jenna, I thought we were closer than that." I could only stand in the after burn of that last comment while Jenna tried to recover.

"I didn't- they asked me not to!" she called after Elena, her face fallen. She turned to me, a gentle look on her face, trying to do damage control. "You know it doesn't matter, right? You're both still my nieces and your parents loved you both so much," she looked at me, trying to make me understand her meaning.

I smiled sadly. Aunt Jenna had it rough today, worrying about us, then everything with Elena… I just couldn't bear to add to it. "I know Aunt Jenna. She'll come around, don't worry." Why didn't they tell her? Was there a difference between my sister and I when it came to our parents? I know I wasn't born to them, but I don't think I've ever felt unloved here. Whatever the reason they didn't tell us, I decided to let it go and focus on Elena. I came to her room and knocked before quietly questioning, "Elena?" I slowly opened the door to see Elena sitting on her bed, wiping away fresh tears.

"Did you know Kyra?" she asked me, a hint of accusation in her voice.

"Of course not! It's not like we adopted kids have some adoption radar," I tried to joke. Elena had to muffle a strangled chuckle with that one.

With a sigh, she apologized. "I'm sorry Ky. Everything is just so… confusing, and I feel like I don't know anything about my life anymore."

"Tell me about it," I cracked a smile at our predicament. Sitting next to her on her bed, I add, "I don't think Damon should plan our 'vacations' anymore." She nodded in full agreement.

"So what happened exactly?" she questioned me.

"Well, that girl vamp that Damon killed, Lexi, had a very unhappy boyfriend. So, when I went outside to answer Jenna's call, I got snuck up on and used to lure Damon to a trap. I just… I felt so helpless and angry that I couldn't do anything, when he started pouring gas on him, the next thing I knew, I was shooting ball of light a vampire. It burned him, but didn't kill him." I paused, looking for the best way to describe it. "It was like I shot a glowing ball of concentrated sunlight." I scooted back to lean against the wall. "You know, it's going to be ridiculous if all of us are something supernatural."

Elena scooted next to me and linked her arm into mine. "We'll figure it all out Ky. Don't worry okay?"

"Just a minor identity crisis, that's all. Seems to go around in this household," I joked, covering up my anxiety. What am I? What about Lena? That Katherine chick, why is she an exact copy? Too many questions and not enough answers.

"I already texted Bonnie. I'm gonna meet her at the grill after dinner, you up for it?" she asked hopefully. Not that I thought leaving here tonight after everything that happened moments ago with Jenna was a brilliant idea, but the need for answers won over my need for sleep and the need to make my aunt happy. I nodded, just enjoying the comfort of a bed instead of the back of a cramped muscle car. Elena sat there for a moment, a contemplative look on her face when she added, "Kyra… I'm glad you're my sister."

"Me too Lena," I smile, resting my head on her shoulder. The moment was interrupted by Jeremy screaming up the stairs for pizza money. Elena rolled her eyes before jumping up. I took this opportunity to clean myself up before we left for the grill.

Shortly after food, we made our way to the town's bar, despite our last experience at one. Bonnie waved us over to her booth quickly enough, and we ordered some non-alcoholic drinks. Elena explained the details of what occurred over the last few days, even what happened with me, while I just swirled the straw in my cup.

"Wow, I guess I missed a lot," Bonnie sat back in her seat, taking it all in. "I can't believe you're adopted Elena." Good, we'll pass over my possible witchy bloodline for now.

"I just can't believe no one ever told me," she stated sadly.

"You know," I added in, hoping not to stoke the fire, "when you're ready, I'm sure Aunt Jenna will know something more…"

Elena shook her head, not wanting to give in yet. "No, I'm not ready yet. I'm still coming to terms with everything."

"Back to you Kyra. So… you shot a ball of… sunlight at a vampire?" she asked slowly, making sure she heard me correctly.

"Yea, I guess I'm a witch… or… something? It's hard to keep all of the mythology straight anymore," I replied, only slightly frustrated.

"Here, hold my hand," Bonnie instructed. "Maybe I can get a read on you." I didn't hesitate to reach forward to grab my friend's hand. She paused, focusing hard with her eyes closed. After a moment, she finally gave in. "I got nothing. No visions, not familiar witch feeling. I have absolutely no idea what you could possibly be."

"That's comforting," I sighed. "But hey, this means I'm not completely defenseless, right?"

"Yea, except for the part when you passed out," Elena gave me a pointed look. I shrugged. Could have been worse. Finishing up her drink, she stood up. "Sorry to bail guys, but my outfit for the dance is severely lacking accessories. I need to run to the store."

"Oh! Pick me up some giant hoop earrings, will you? I'll finish up and pay here," I wave her off while going for my wallet. Elena left leaving Bonnie and I alone for a moment. Getting ready to stand myself, I jumped at the body unexpectedly joining us. "A bell Salvatore. You need a freaking bell."

"Look," he ignored me, going straight for Bonnie, "we got off on the wrong foot."

"You tried to kill me," Bonnie gave him the look. When I say 'the look', I mean the, are you fucking kidding me, look.

"But I didn't," He tried again, attempting to sound innocent. "If I really wanted to I would have. That has to count for something."

"High running emotions, blah, blah, blah, she ruined your chance at freeing your one true love from the tomb, whatever. You. Still. Tried. To. Kill. Her," I poked his chest with every period, glaring up at him. He looked at me annoyed but dismissed me again.

"You know I can set fires with my mind, right? Fire kills vampires. Stay the hell away from me," Bonnie told him aggravated.

"Everything okay over here?" the bartender walked over. Oh, it's Ben, some jock that graduated a year or two ago. Didn't pay attention to him much, I remember Bonnie used to have a thing for him though.

"Yea, we're fine," Damon waved him off.

"I wasn't asking you," Ben squared up, trying to look big. Please don't try to size up a vampire dude. I'm really tired of getting in the middle of all of this. Damon, of course unthreatened, looked at me for a moment.

"All right Damon, let's get you home, get you your meds, and off to bed huh?" I push him to get him moving. This kills two birds with one stone. Bonnie gets a few minutes alone with her crush and I diffuse the situation. Sending her a wink, I ignored Damon's eye rolls while getting him outside. "So what did you want from Bonnie?"

"What do you mean? I just wanted to start fresh," he feigned a hurt voice.

"Right, this has nothing to do with the Tomb still?" I raised a brow. "What did I say about leaving my friends out of it?"

"Need a date to the dance tomorrow night?" he switched the subject. "I just so happen to be free," he asked me suggestively.

"Please, stag is the way to go. No awkward pictures, weird silences, or parental figures asking why my date is a couple hundred years older than me," I joked, giving him a shove. "But yea, whatever. You could just ask you know. Instead of being all secretive and manipulative. You'd probably get better results if you just did it from the beginning," I finished with a wave before running off, leaving him behind. The street lamps barely lit anything as I made my way down the road. I had four blocks to go and I'd be home free. No sooner had the thought left my head that I started to feel the prickly sensation on the back of my neck telling me I was being watched.

"Change of plans, I'm walking you home," came a sudden and familiar voice next to me. I nearly jumped ten feet out of my skin, but that just seems to come with being around Damon. "I know, a bell. It's just so much fun scaring you."

"I'm sure I can make it home on my own Damon," I side-eyed him suspiciously. "What happened?"

"Your sister got a phone call. From the vampire that totaled her car. Needless to say, Stefan called and asked me to make sure you got home all right," he explained. Before I could barrage him with questions, he put his hand up and answered, "Yes, Elena is fine. Yes, she's at home, and yes, I will be your date tomorrow night." He wouldn't take no for an answer, would he? Instead I just rolled my eyes while he continued. "Call it a precaution with your sister's vampire stalker."

Walking forward another block of sidewalk, I felt that prickly sensation again. Fear swept through me as I stopped to look around. My eyes landed on a dark figure standing across the street. It had long pitch black hair and the palest skin I had ever seen. I don't know who it was, but something deep within me told me I should be afraid.

"What?" Damon asked me, a quizzical look on his face. When I didn't answer, he followed my eyes to the figure. "What's wrong? Who is that?"

I was frozen in place, something gnawed at the back of my head, telling me I knew who this was, and I should know I needed to be running. "I… I don't know, but… I feel like… I should know." I broke my gaze away, and looked to Damon, hoping he saw the fear in my eyes. When we looked back, the figure was gone.

"What is with you and your sister attracting the supernatural? Come on, you're almost home," he grabbed my arm, trying to hurry me along at that point. Damon walked me up to the door while I spaced out from the encounter earlier. Who was that? What's with this feeling of impending doom? Nothing seemed to add up anymore and everything gets more confusing by the day. Ignorance really is bliss if this is what they meant. A cold breeze made me wrap my arms around myself, not just to fight off the sudden chill, but to give myself at least the small ounce of comfort I could muster.

"You okay?" Damon broke me out of my thoughts.

"Mr. Salvatore, are you concerned?" I mocked in a surprised voice, ending in it with a smile.

"What can I say? You rub off on me Gilbert," he paused thoughtfully for a second before he adds, "You shouldn't do that you know."

"What?"

"Use your sarcasm like a shield. It's okay to be scared you know," he stared his deep blue eyes through the windows of my soul for half a second before I ruined it.

"Pot, this is kettle, you're black," I walked to the door, hand raised to the knob. "Besides, elders first," I raised my brows in a challenging manner. He raised his hands in defeat before he left me to my own devices.

Entering the house, I went straight to my room to collapse face first into the pillows on my bed. This day had been too eventful for my liking. I didn't even want to get undressed because the exhaustion hit me so hard. So I didn't. I let myself doze in that position until I finally drifted off uncomfortably in my jeans. That might have been my undoing. The nightmares plagued me, my legs felt confined and it made the dreams even more terrifying. I couldn't run, I couldn't scream, and all of the blood… it just wouldn't stop, and that dark figure looming behind everything, like there was a link I couldn't place.

"Kyra!" a voice shook me awake. Breathing heavily I shot up and looked around, trying to settle my fast paced heart. "You were having nightmares again," Jer sat at the edge of my bed, hand on my foot to wake me up.

"I'm sorry Jer, I didn't mean to wake you," I rubbed my eyes, trying to bring my wits back to me. I had to decide if I wanted to sneak into Elena's room or tough it out the rest of the night. I didn't want to keep her up all night before the dance tomorrow. At least one of us should be rested. I let out a yawn before getting up to grab some pj's.

"It's not your fault you have nightmares occasionally. Are you going to be okay? Want me to get Elena?" he asked tiredly.

"I'm fine Jer. Promise. Get back to bed," I waved him off, pushing him back to the door. "I just need to get comfy, that's all." He seemed too tired to argue when I pushed him back into his room. Changing into something much less restricting, I finally crawled under the covers. I wished it had been that easy to get sleep, but that figure kept reappearing in my dreams the rest of the night, not letting me get a wink of sleep. It didn't help the sun never came out in the morning. A depressing drizzle greeted my already damp mood. I shuffled wordlessly to the coffee pot. Not bothering with a regular cup, I had to pull out big bertha. A fake mug, that works just fine mind you, and it can hold a whole pot of coffee in it. Jenna already had her cup before looking at me.

"That bad huh?" she winced at the bags under my eyes. "Did you want to take the day off from school?" I shook my head no, I didn't want to miss out on the dance tonight. I could only respond in disapproving grunts and slight shakes of my head. "I'll get another pot started." I nodded with a grunt of agreement.

Jeremy sauntered in next, looking tired, but not as bad as I did. "Holy shit Ky, why didn't you say anything?" I grunted and waved him off, sipping the sweet nectar of life giving nature. "She's not going to school right?" Jeremy looked to our Aunt for confirmation. I glared between the two of them over the brim of my giant coffee mug. Jeremy raised his hands in defeat before backing away slowly. "Fine, I won't be the caring brother." I nodded with a huff, words escaping me still.

Elena graced us with her presence then, taking a long look at me. "You okay Ky?" I growled lowly at all of the questions and talking. Can't they see I'm drinking my coffee?! She backed away avoiding coming close to me. "Gotcha, rough night then. She going to be okay to go to school today?"

"That's what she's grunted to us anyway. I'd prefer to get to class alive today, so I'm not gonna push her this time," Jenna walked away with her books in hand. I ignored everyone and downed the rest of coffee, feeling exhausted, but I might be able to form complete sentences later. I loved the rain when I didn't have nightmares. Rain and the sun meant rainbows. In a poetic way, it brought out beautiful results when you combined something so cold and dark with something so bright and warm.

Trudging through the water into the school, I could tell there would be no beautiful combo today, just dark, gloomy, and clammy. Foggy. That's another word I would use to describe today. I can't even remember most of it. I might have made it through History, but Alaric saw me nearly fall out of my seat, so he sent me to lie down in the principal's office for the rest of the day. I didn't sleep on that uncomfortable, old, musty cot. So, I resigned myself to counting the ceiling tiles until Elena came to get me at the end of the day.

"Are you going to be able to go to the dance Ky?" Elena asked me worriedly.

"No worries, I'm getting my second wind already. I'm ready to par-tay," I replied from the back seat. That wasn't a complete lie. The sun barely peeked out behind some clouds when we got home, it gave me at least a little feeling of refreshment. I wonder if that had anything to do with that ball thingy from the other night… nah, it's probably just a coincidence.

Judging from Aunt Jenna's state of dress, she had been invited to chaperone the dance tonight. I looked between Elena and Jenna before deciding it was in my best interest to go get ready while they talked some more. They needed to hash it out. We're all a tight nit group, so bumps can happen, so long as everyone found a way to get over them. Getting to my closet, I whipped out an old purple poodle skirt I used for a Halloween party once, along with a couple of scarves. One for my neck, another for my hair, both a lighter shade of purple than the skirt. This decade's dance wasn't hard to dress up for, thank god. Finishing up, I heard Elena bustling around her room getting ready. The final touch of lip gloss, and I was ready to go.

Skipping over to Elena's room, I jumped on her bed. "Did you pick up those earrings?" I asked over her hair dryer. A movement caught my eye from beside me on the bed. Isn't that Dad's pocket watch? When did Elena get it? "Hey Elena? Is dad's watch supposed to do that?" Apparently, that caught her attention because she immediately stopped what she was doing.

"No, that means there's a vampire nearby…" she trailed off. Frowning, she pulled out her phone. I jumped up and rushed to close the door, you never know.

"I know I was out of it today, but dad's watch being a pertinent vampire detection instrument? Kinda important knowledge," I told her frustrated while I locked the door. She ignored me with a frustrated look when Stefan wasn't the one that picked up the phone.

"Damon, where's Stefan?"

"On his way to you, why?" I could barely hear his voice.

"Oh thank god, the watch started spinning so I was worried," she let out a sigh of relief. I let out an uneasy breath. One dance where nothing happened, is that so much to ask for? It might be in Mystic Falls. I unlocked the door and made my way downstairs to look around anyway. I'm pretty sure Jenna left with Jeremy in tow already, but I had to make sure. Elena followed close behind, phone still in hand. I made it to the kitchen when a figure dropped down from the ceiling, latching onto Lena.

"Elena!" Stefan and I cried out at the same time. Stefan swooped in, in this case swooping was not bad, and once thrown, I attempted to hit him with a smaller sized ball of whatever the shit that thing glowing out of my hand was. It hit the vamp squarely in the back, sending him flying further than Stefan had thrown him. "Are you two okay?" Stefan asked between the two of us. I had to sit down on the couch after the vamp high tailed it out of our house.

"Can you grab me an apple and some water?" I asked from my position. I started to feel light headed again. So much for that second wind. Stefan nodded speeding to the kitchen and back while calling who I could only assume to be Damon. Just like that, the merry four started off the night right.

"How did he even get in here?" Damon asked incredulously upon arrival.

"Disguised himself as a pizza guy and got himself invited in," Stefan explained. Wait, did I space out on that part of the convo?

Damon sighed dramatically. "Well, gotta give him points for that."

"So, we need to kill him then," I state, taking another bite out of my apple, hoping the natural sugars would pep me back up.

"We? We aren't doing anything," Damon scoffed. "Stefan and I will deal with it, while you keep your trigger-happy ass home Surgeon Barbie."

"Look, the dance will be the safest place. Jenna and Jeremy are already there, and if Elena and I stay here, we'd be sitting ducks. So, we go, lure the guy out, and stake him till he turns grey and cold like, and I might even be able to set him on fire for extra measure," I shrug, attempting to use what logic I had left in my foggy brain.

"He was invited in Stefan. All of us are in danger until we get him taken care of," Elena supported me. Good, so I did make some sense today.

"Fine, but Little Miss Sunshine has to find a seat and park it," Damon looked at me with his intense eyes again. "We don't need her passing out on us again." To be completely honest, I thought he'd love the idea of making us bait.

Standing up suddenly, I whipped my hair behind me with a dramatic flare. "No one puts Baby in the corner," I attempted to quote Dirty Dancing. I think this would be akin to feeling drunk, if I could feel drunk for more than ten minutes. Apparently, my personality shift, which to be perfectly honest wasn't by too much, caused concern amongst the vampires in the room. I skimbled, that's a new word I made up it's a skip and a stumble, to the car, letting Lena explain my extra giggly side while we geared up for battle. Have you ever been so tired you feel like you're tipsy and giggly? That's about where I was. Entering the school, Elena and I walked in arm in arm.

"How you feeling Ky?" Elena asked beside me, walking us over to Bonnie and Caroline.

"Is there such a thing as a third wind?" I quirked back, getting an adrenaline buzz from the room and music around me. Elena smiled and shook her head at me. She deserved to have a good time, bait or not. "How are you fine ladies doing tonight?" I smiled at our friends.

"Not so great," Caroline sighed at us. I noticed Matt wasn't here. He must have had to work at the Grill tonight. Poor guy. "But, I put two hours into this," she waved to her outfit, "So I have to stay for at least half that." I watched Caroline's expression change sour for a moment and her eyes narrowed. "What's Damon doing here?"

"He wanted to come," I shrugged, looking for an excuse for Caroline. Otherwise I would have just told Bonnie the truth. "Besides, Elena's dating the noble Stefan, so we're just going to have to deal with Damon," I looked between the two girls that held disdain and hatred for my… sort of friend? I'm not quite sure what I should call him.

The bright lights on the dark dance floor made me happy. The music bouncing in the air off the walls, the heat of the night. I loved it. All of it. It made me forget just for a moment there were vampires trying to kills us and that we had no idea what I was. I lived for moments like this, tired or not. Elena smiled happily at my mood, mirroring the brief sentiments.

"I'm gonna go get some punch, you want any Ky?" Elena asked me before she excused herself. I shook my head no in response, just taking in the exuberant energy around me. Damon took this opportunity to glide over with the slow song starting.

"Hey Bonnie, wanna dance?" he asked her first. I eyed him, he doesn't listen very well, does he?

"No," she replied, short with him. Caroline took Bonnie by the arm and led her out to the dance floor, or at least away from Damon.

"You don't listen very well do you? Hundred years of dust in your ears?" I asked him as Elena returned. She handed me a drink anyway, even though I told her no. My response was my patented Kyra Eye roll.

"What'd you do to them?" Elena asked when she noticed our friends disappeared.

"I only asked if Bonnie wanted to dance, I've been a perfect gentleman," he tried to fool my sister.

"Why do I somehow doubt that?" Stefan piped in.

Damon had his own eye roll at his brother then turned to Elena. "Can I have this dance?"

"I would love to dance," she grinned, a mischievous look in her eyes. Looking at her boyfriend, she mirrored Damon's question. "Stefan, would you like to dance?"

"Why I would love to," he smiled warmly at his girlfriend, taking her by her hand to the dance floor, not bothering to look back at his brother.

I sighed exasperated at the poor guy. "Come on Romeo, I'll take pity on you. Even if you asked me last," I pretended to be offended at the thought. He smirked at me while taking my hand, leading me to the dance floor. "So other than Bonnie being a witch, what do you want from her?" I questioned.

"I… just wanted to mend bridges, that's all," Damon lied to me. I don't know when it happened, but I could tell when he lied now.

"Liar. You need something from her so you can open the tomb don't you?" I gauged him.

"You are scary perceptive, you know that?" Damon admitted lowly to me, bringing his mouth close to my ear. The act gave me goose bumps, so I pulled away quickly, trying to ignore it. He smirked happily at my reaction, and I just wanted to beat it off his face.

"So tell me, did you like the fifties? I can picture you in a greaser jacket, hitting on cute girls at the soda shop. Those were a thing right?" I attempted to change subject, trying look around for anyone suspicious. "Can't you guys sense each other or something?"

"Not how that works Sunshine," Damon tested out my newest nickname. "You know, for not being related by blood you and Elena are pretty similar. She just said the exact same thing to Stefan," he pointed out.

"Probably cause we've been close since I came into their lives. Blood or not, she's my sister and my best friend. Your brother hurts her, I'm gonna have to do the sister thing and stake him. Or at least give him really bad sunburns," I smirked. The tempo began to change to more up-beat, so I decided to spin myself away. He wanted to scan the dance floor anyway. I made my way to my sister, doing some awkward dance moves till I made it to her.

"So, how was your dance with Damon?" she asked over the music.

"Great, tried to get info about the fifties, you?" she smiled in response to my antics. We were alike and different in that sense. I used a lot of sarcasm, she spoke what was on her mind. We danced for a while longer, and I could feel myself starting to drag back down. "Man, I hope this jackass shows up soon, otherwise I'm gonna end up passed out on the bleachers and Stefan's going to have to carry me, because you don't want Damon near me." I watched closely to gauge Elena's expression. "I'm going to say this now. Damon and I aren't a thing, and I can handle myself Lena." She was the one person I could be completely honest with, and I did it often. Otherwise I might have spontaneously combusted.

Concerned look still on her face she sighed, "Fine, I just hope you know what you're doing." That was her way of warning me she could say 'I told you so' later. She probably would, but I wouldn't tell her that this time around.

A slow song started up after a few fast ones, and somehow I got spun back into Damon. "Why hello there sunshine," he smirked.

"Any sign of him?" I asked, ignoring his need to pretend to flirt with me.

"Nothing yet, but, you know, this hasn't been a complete bust," he half shrugged at me. "After all, I did get to dance with a pretty lady tonight."

"Funny, you're just making sure I don't collapse before we find him," I snarked back at him. "I did enjoy myself though. I got to get out with my sister and do something that didn't involve kidnapping." The tempo picked back up, but this time, I didn't let him skirt away. "Come on, show me a fifties move!" He pretended to contemplate it before swinging me around and dipping me over his leg, his face leaned closer to mine, blue eyes looking into mine for a second before I scrambled back up. "Good to know the fifties were all gymnasts," I huffed, out of breath. My pocket began to vibrate, signaling a text. "It's Elena, she says he's here," I told Damon, a new boost of adrenaline coursing through me. Damon took off from the dance floor, leaving me to find my sister. I caught her blue blouse exiting right as a man in a dark shirt followed after her. I pushed my way through the crowd desperately. I don't know how, but he got my sister alone, and I couldn't let that happen for long. Finally getting through the thick crowd of sweaty high schoolers, I made it to the hallway. I just caught the black shirt turning a corner, so desperately I sprinted forward. My sister could die if I didn't make it to her. I heard some crashes in the cafeteria so I burst through the doors, hoping to cause a distraction.

"ELENA!" I screamed, throwing out a ball of the light thingy ma-jig forward, not caring if it hit. I just needed him away from my sister. He used his vampire speed to come over to me after I singed his arm and lifted me off the ground by my throat.

"This doesn't concern you, Lisanna," he told me angrily. The fuck… who was Lisanna? My anger boiled over, I could feel my skin heat up under his hand until he had to let go of me. He pulled away like I had burned him, his skin healing from the sizzling I heard a moment ago. Cool, I have a new trick.

"Elena will always be my business," I seethed. I didn't care about the name confusion. My only concern was to keep Elena safe. Finally the Calvary arrived. Stefan sped toward Elena while Damon picked up the broken mop handle from the ground. Elena must have tried to stake him herself.

"Relax, we just want to talk," Damon attempted. Good thing I knew when he lied. He flung the guy over to Stefan, then tossed the mop handle. Stefan took the opportunity to shove the stake deep into the guy's stomach, going upward under his rib cage. A little further and he could get to his heart. I rushed over to Elena, pulling her into a hug, and made sure she was okay.

"Why were you doing this?" Stefan interrogated.

"Because it's fun," the vampire bit out sarcastically. Stefan drove the stake deeper up his ribs, applying just enough pressure to hurt him a little more. "Because she looks like Katherine," he coughed out.

"You knew Katherine?" Damon asked him quizzically.

"You don't even remember me," he laughed through the pain. I didn't like this vamp, he needed to go.

"How do I get into the tomb?" Damon asked him, getting irritated.

"I don't know," he tried. Stefan pushed harder and the guy squirmed. "The-the journals! Johnathan Gilbert's journals, they'll tell you where the grimoire is." My head started to spin, I had over exerted myself much farther than I probably should have.

"Who were you working with?" Stefan started in again.

"I'll die before I tell you," the vampire spat out. I noticed the exchange between Damon and Stefan. The question on Stefan's face and the slight nod from Damon before Stefan drove the stake the rest of the way to his heart. Elena gasped, not liking the idea she just watched her boyfriend kill someone, vampire or not.

"He had to die," Stefan explained.

"But what about the people he was working with?" Elena asked confused. She thought they could have gotten more information out of him if they kept him alive longer. That also meant risking a divine hand interfering and him getting away.

"He was invited in, he had to die," Stefan tried again.

I felt myself start to sway, all energy and adrenaline finally leaving my body. "Guys, I don't… feel so good." From there I couldn't keep my eyes open, but I felt arms catch me before I hit the ground. Even with my eyes closed, everything felt like it was spinning, like on the rides from the county fair.

"Hey, she's burning up," Damon spoke above me, worry in his tone. Awe shucks, if I didn't feel like the world tilted on its side, I'd have half a mind to be flattered. "We need to get her to a hospital, right now."

"That… can't be good…" I croaked out. That's the last thing I remember before everything went black. I hoped this isn't a reoccurring theme here. I'd rather not be the feinting damsel thank you.