AN: This one is shorter. have fun reading. TVD and characters belong to You-Know-Who, but just to be clear, NOT me!

CHAPTER 4:HOW TO SAVE A LIFE

Caroline and Damon were in opposite corners of the room, glaring at each other. Matt and Stefan were on the single seaters while Bonnie and Miryam took up the couch. Matt looked a little pale but otherwise he was fine. Elena was absent because Jeremy was still awake, and she couldn't leave him alone. Everyone had settled with drinks and introduced themselves to Miryam, who had squealed and called Caroline, "Angel!" when she saw her. Then, there ensued the explanation for the exclamation, sharing of hobbies and personal interests punctuated by squeals of delight whenever something matched. Damon cleared his throat hard enough to send it sailing out his mouth to the other end of the room to get their attention. Caroline and Damon were now back to their glaring game from their respective corners. Once it was quiet again, Bonnie started talking, looking all Kill Bill Vol.3.

"So, we all know what happened to Matt righ-"

"Uh, I don't", Miryam interrupted. Bonnie gave Stefan a hard look and continued," Well, short story shorter, he kinda had a severe sun allergy, much like the one your kind suffers from."

"So, I'm a vampire, now? But, I don't remember almost dying recently...", Matt said, a puzzled expression on his face, which earned him a scoff from Damon.

Bonnie rolled her big green eyes and said, "No, Matt you are not a vampire-" "Yet", Damon finished for her. Bonnie was tired of Damon, starting from the way he antagonized Caroline when they came, to the smartass-ed-ness he was dripping all over the place, to the insanely clear blue eyes that were irritating the life out of her right now. So, she let out a loud sigh and waved her hand at him. But, instead of making him go flying through the air, the table he was leaning on burst into flames. Damn. Not the effect I was looking to create, but this will do just fine too.

"Bonnie!" She heard several voices shout. She calmed down and the small fire died down. " Well, I guess someone won't be interrupting someone now", Damon observed as he picked himself up from the floor near Stefan's foot.

"So, again, as I was saying I think Matt got sizzled this morning because I accidentally drew from his of his life force when I saved your life the other day", she said to Miryam.

"Wait... So why did he burn? Did your juju mess with his metabolism or something? I mean, is he going to keep the pyro-techniques going periodically or what? ", Miryam asked, fighting a rising surge of panic and guilt.

" Well, no. Only things that happen to you will happen to them", Bonnie replied, incredulously. Come, on. The only half way decent adult in five counties and she's that dumb?

"But, he burnt!", Miryam cried, in desperation, turning her wide eyes to Bonnie and Stefan and Caroline. " And I didn't!"

"Hey... Maybe you don't remember but you did burn... I was there. Your skin was peeling off...", Stefan said.

"I remember waking up. I remember Caroline fixing pink carnations in the bedroom. I remember there being a commotion. I remember trying to help but being too weak to. What I don't remember is the pain!" Miryam was hysterical now. "Are you suggesting selective amnesia?" she cried at Stefan. The silence in the room was deafening.

"Hold it! What was that about pink carnations, again?", Damon queried. Everybody ignored him.

"Well, Bonnie. I am going to prove you wrong." So, saying Miryam grabbed the brooch Caroline was wearing and stuck the pin in her finger tip.

"Aaaaargh! What the hell?", Matt screamed. His finger was bleeding. Stefan rushed to Miryam and wrestled the brooch from her while Caroline offered Matt her wrist. "No, thanks. I think a band-aid would do the trick this time", Matt grumbled, glaring at Miryam as Caroline wrapped his finger in Stefan's handkerchief.

"Oh. My. God." Miryam looked shocked. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!

"Yeah. This is where normal people would usually say 'Told you so', but as obvious, Bonnie is anything but normal...", Damon supplied.

Miryam sat on the sofa Stefan had just vacated. She was staring at the blank space in front of her eyes. " You okay?", Stefan asked her gently.

Damon decided he had been silent for way too long. "Yes, Stefan, she tried to kill herself because, duh", he did a Damon-dance with his eyebrows," now she's stuck in our world because Glenda the Good Witch couldn't keep her nose out of other people's business. And she has to put up with you lot. So, yes, Stefan. I think she's just two sips short of peachy."

"I didn't feel that." Everyone turned to look at Miryam. "I'm sorry, what?", Damon asked.

"I. Didn't. Feel. That." She reiterated slower and louder, this time." The pin prick. I didn't feel that."

"Maybe, it healed before you realized...", Caroline ventured. Even as she said it, she felt foolish. Each and every morning, she banged her little toe on her bathroom door and even after she turned, it hurt at least till she reached her car. And she didn't even draw blood.

"Yeah", Damon agreed. "Maybe we should punch you or stick a knife in you." He gave Matt a smirk.

Miryam looked at her toes, tears of extreme emotion swirling in her eyes. Was it possible? Could it be... "CIPA", she whispered.

"What's a seepa?", a voice to her left asked.

Miryam looked up."CIPA. C-I-P-A. I had it when I was human. Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis , in which the patient cannot feel pain or extreme temperatures."

"Oh. My. God." Caroline's voice became shriller with each syllable. " Does that mean what I think it means?", she said at two decibels short of ultrasonic.

Stefan looked at Bonnie. His eyes were full of hope. Of getting the girl he loved back. Fixing her. Bonnie did it once. She could do it again. He turned to face Caroline, but, he couldn't push words out of his mouth. So, his brother did it for him.

"Yes, Barbie. I believe the Wicked Witch of the West just cured vampirism."

"That is one whole truckload of BS." Everyone turned to look at the ex-quarterback." If she is not a vampire anymore, how did she heal? After the burn session this morning? After the Sleeping Beauty enactment right now?"

Damon was amazed. Since when do embedded jock stereotypes have, like, brains?

"He's right. She could hear and sense the girls when they came. That's supernatural hearing", Stefan added.

"But, Stefan", Caroline pleaded," Can you not hear her heart?" With a start, the Salvatore brothers realized that there indeed were three heartbeats, instead of two.

"Plus, when I got out of bed to come down, I had extreme head rush. I also think I've lost my super speed", Miryam said.

" Great. So, now you are a vampire with all the liabilities and none of the benefits. It's like being Superman except you can't fly or stop trains with your finger but kryptonite can still hurt you bad", Matt said. Miryam shrugged and Stefan decided to order Chinese for himself, Matt, Bonnie and whoever else was interested in Mandarin Duck along with their cup of blood. Which prompted another argument between Caroline and Damon on the difference between wantons and dumplings.

Unbeknownst to the gang of supernaturals (and Matt), a blonde with a lilting English accent was listening to every word of their discussion. She turned away from the Salvatore house and whipped out her cellphone as Damon and Caroline began arguing about the violet hydrangeas that Damon finally noticed in the living room. The person she called answered on the fourth ring.

"Hello, Nik. You will not believe what I have to tell you..."

AN: I got the CIPA idea after I read an article in a really old Reader's Digest edition. Do tell me what you think about it. Cheers!