Chapter Seven: Haunted
Tyler walks to the parking lot. "See you bro!" He waves before opening the door to his car.
"Hi Ty." He hears behind him.
He turns around to see Vicki. "Whoa Vicki? Everyone's looking for you." He tells her, walking over.
She nods. "I know." She says, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.
"What's wrong Vic?"
"I'm so cold."
Tyler takes a closer look at her. "Are you on drugs?" He asks. "Everyone thinks you're off on a bender."
"I wish."
"What happened in those woods ,Vicki? Those kids that were killed." He says. "What did you see?"
"I'm so scared." She shivers.
"Come here. It's okay. I'll take you home." Tyler says, coming closer.
"I can't control it."
"Control what?"
"I am so hungry, Ty." She says. "And it won't go away."
He looks into her eyes. "What are you on? What drugs did you take?"
She looks at his neck. "I want it. I am so hungry,Ty."
"Okay, look." Tyler says. "I'll get you something to eat. Just sit back. Look, let just get you home, Vicki." He puts his arm around her but she begins to struggle against him. "Okay, what is wrong with you?!"
"Aah! Let go of me!" She yells, pushing him away. She goes to attack him but Stefan appears holding her back. Damon standing behind him.
Tyler watches in confusion. "What's going on here, Stefan? What's wrong with her?
"You don't talk." Damon tells him, walking forward.
Tyler glares at him. "Screw you, dude."
Damon looks at him in annoyance. "Dude really? Dude." He mocks.
"Damon, don't." Stefan says.
Damon turns to look at him. "Oh come on. Who's gonna miss this idiot?" He turns back to face Tyler, who punches him in the face. Damon looks at him with fury in his eyes.
"Don't you hurt him!" Vicki yells.
Damon takes Tyler by the neck. "Forget what you saw here tonight. None of us were here." He throws Tyler though the air.
Tyler lands on the ground, groaning. He looks around to see that the parking lot is empty.
Elena wakes up and stretches her arms. She gets up and goes to the bathroom, seeing Jeremy there. "Sorry." She goes to leave.
"Oh, no, it's cool, I'm done." He says.
"You're up early. Where are you going?" Elena leans on the doorway.
"Police station." He answers. "They're organizing the search party for Vicki, so…"
"Wait. Shouldn't you be going to school?" She asks, standing straight.
Jeremy scoffs. "What? You're kidding me, right?"
"You shouldn't skip school. If they find her, we'll know. That's what cellphones are for."
He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, you're lips keep movin'. I don't know why."
Matt is on his way out the house when his cellphone rings. "Yeah?"
"Matty?" Vicki asks.
"Vicki." Matt breathes. "Where are you? Are you okay?" He asks, worried.
"Yeah. I'm okay."
"Tell me where you are, and I'll come to get you."
"No." She says. "Matty, I just need some time to figure things out. Just know that I am okay, okay? Please don't worry about me." She hangs up.
Vicki looks up from the phone in her hand. "I don't understand why I have to stay cooped up here. Why can't I just go home?"
"Because you're changing ,Vicki." Stefan says. "And it's not something you wanna do alone."
"There's nothin' about that Logan guy I killed in here. Not a word. Someone's covering it up." Damon walks in, tossing the newspaper to the side. He looks at the compass in his hand.
"What is that?" Vicki asks.
"This is a very special, very old compass." He holds it up. "What was Logan Fell doing with it? Aren't you curious?" He asks Stefan.
"Well, if you're so worried that somebody's onto you, why don't you just leave town, Damon?" He says.
"We should be all worried." Damon tells him.
"Hey, um, I'm hungry. Do you have anything to eat?" Vicki asks.
Stefan hands her a mug. "Here."
"What is it?" Vicki asks.
"It's what you're craving."
Damon scoffs. "Don't lie to the girl. It's so not what you're craving, but it'll do in a pinch." He says. "Right, Stef?"
"What is it?" She asks again, looking at the mug with an uneasy expression.
"Yeah, what is it?" Damon asks. "Is it a skunk? Saint Bernard? Bambi?"
"Go on." Stefan tells her. "Give it a try." She lifts the mugs to her lips and grimaces a bit at the taste. She takes another drink, longer this time.
"She's new. She needs people blood. She can't sustain on that stuff." Damon says.
Vicki nods. "Yeah, why can't I have people blood?"
"Yeah." Damon says.
"Because it's wrong to prey on innocent people, Vicki." Stefan explains.
"You don't have to kill to feed." Damon tells her. "Just find someone really tasty and then erase their memory afterwards. It's so easy."
Stefan shakes his head. "No,no ,no. There's no guarantee that you can control yourself, okay? It takes years to learn that. You could easily kill somebody, and then you have to carry that with you for the rest of your life, which, if I haven't made clear, is eternity."
"Don't listen to him. He walks on a moral plane way out of our eye line. I say snatch, eat, erase." Damon snaps his fingers.
Vicki looks at Damon before Stefan turns her back. "Hey, look at me. We choose our own path. Our values and our actions, they define who we are."
Damon sighs. "Okay, count Deepak. I am outta here." He leaves.
"Can I have some more?" Vicki asks, holding up the empty mug.
Trinity walks up the porch steps to the boarding house. She sees Elena standing in front of the door. "Elena?" She asks.
Elena turns around. "Hey." She brushes her hair out of her face. "I just came to talk to Stefan."
Trinity nods. "Me too." They stand in silence for a moment and Trinity motions towards the door. "You gonna ring the bell?"
"Oh." Elena nods. "Right." She pushes the doorbell. They wait for a few moment and Damon answers the door. "Is Stefan here?" She asks.
"Yep!" He smirks, angling himself in front of the doorway.
"Where is he?"
"And good morning to you, little miss 'I'm on a mission'."
"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?" Elena asks.
"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire glib and arrogant?" Damon retorts. Trinity rolls her eyes.
"If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead." Elena says.
Damon nods. "Yes, you would."
"But I'm not."
"Yet."
"Where is Stefan?" She asks again.
Damon steps out of the way. "He's upstairs singing 'The Rain in Spain'. Knock yourself out." Elena walks passed him and Trinity goes to follow but Damon grabs her arm. Elena turns to look at her.
"It's okay." Trinity says. "Go." Elena looks at her cautiously before walking deeper into the house. Trinity yanks her arm from Damon's grip.
"You helped my brother vervain me." Damon says.
Trinity shrugs. "Yep." She pops her lips.
"I should kill you."
"But you're not going to." Damon wraps a hand around her neck, only for her to remove it and throw him towards the lawn.
Damon lands hard on the ground. "Okay." He says, standing up and regaining his breath. "Someone has a few tricks up their sleeves."
"Leave me alone Damon." She shakes her head, rolling her eyes. She walks into the house and shuts the door.
"Stefan?" Elena calls as she looks around. "Stefan?"
"Yes." Stefan appears before her.
"Where is Vicki?" She asks.
Trinity walks up behind her. "She's upstairs. I can smell her from here."
"What happens now?" Elena asks them. "Because my brother is out there searching for her with the rest of the town. What do I tell him?"
"I'm working with her, but it's gonna take time." Stefan explains. "She has a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this."
"So, she's a vampire with issues? What am I supposed to do? Because I'm lying to everyone that I care about. What's gonna happen to her?"
"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe." Stefan tells her.
"How long is that?" Vicki asks, appearing behind him.
Stefan looks at her. "We can talk about that later." He says.
Elena looks at her. "Hey Vicki. How are you?"
Vicki scoffs. "How am I? You're kidding, right?" She asks before walking away.
Trinity turns to Elena. "I don't like her." She says before turning to Stefan. "Do I have to play nice?" Stefan sighs.
Bonnie is talking with her grams. "Was our family burned in the witch trials?"
She shakes her head. "No, the girls that were persecuted in Salem were entirely innocent. You have to have more than ignorance to trap a real witch."
"How did we end up in Mystic Falls?"
"Our family fled Salem in 1692 and relocated here. Our ancestors lived in secrecy for over a hundred years. It's important that we still do."
"Well Grams, everybody knows you're a witch."
She smiles. "They also know it's absurd, can't be true. I'm just a kooky lady that teaches occult at the university. No one really believes. They just poke fun. And let 'em . Just don't let 'em know the truth."
"Where's the witchcraft? I mean, you've been talking history for 2 days. I wanna get to the fun part." Bonnie says.
"It's not meant to be fun. It's real and it's serious, and you must understand it before you practice it. Aren't you late for school?"
A man and a woman sit in the Mystic Grill, talking. "We should have never trusted that Logan…" He shakes his head. "Weasel with the watch."
"How many are we dealing with?" The woman asks.
"Well, the coroner thinks one. Something about the wound radius and the jaw pattern."
"Are we in danger?" The woman asks. "I mean, if it found the watch, then it knows we know, and could it come after us? A-and should I even be saying 'it'? Or-or is it a he or a she?"
"If it has any historical knowledge of the town, then it'll know where the watch came from, so yes, we could very much be in danger."
"So what do we do?"
The man sighs. "Just keep it quiet. We can't have the entire town aware of this. We need to find him before he finds us."
Tyler and Matt are at the helping set up the school Halloween Festival.
"Hey man!" Tyler greets.
Matt turns to him. "Hey!"
"I heard they're putting together a search party for Vicki."
Matt shakes his head. "She just called. She's okay."
"Ooh good. That's great. I figured you must have been goin' out of your mind."
Matt nods. "Little bit. Yeah."
"I was just gonna offer. You know, if there's anything I could do."
Matt shakes his hand. "I appreciate it."
Caroline walks up to Bonnie. "I have got your costume. It's all here." She holds it up.
Bonnie looks at the witch costume. "Seriously?"
"Come on. Can someone please be excited that it's Halloween? I just wanna have fun, you know, just some silly, fluffy, Damon free fun."
Bonnie holds up a necklace. "Hey, isn't this the one you got from Damon?"
Caroline nods. "Yep. Wear it. Toss it. I don't care. I just want it gone. Hey, have you seen Elena? Do we know what she's wearing?
"I was with Grams all weekend. I haven't talked to her. Maybe she's with Stefan."
"Riding to his castle on his white horse." Caroline sniffs.
Bonnie shakes her head. "Don't be bitter. It provokes wrinkles."
Trinity and Elena watch as Stefan deals with Vicki.
Stefan hands a mug to Vicki. "Coffee is our friend. It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our body so we're not cold to the touch."
"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" She asks.
"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis one day at time."
"Oh god!" She groans. "Don't start with that whole 12 steps thing. School counselor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me."
"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki."
"So you've never tasted human blood?"
He shakes his head. "Not in a long time."
"How long?"
"Years and years. I'm not proud of my past behavior." He says looking down.
"Does this sketchy feelings ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover. This daylight thing is a bitch. I need more blood. Where's your bathroom ? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead." She gets up and walks to the bathroom.
He looks at them. "I'm going to, uh…I'm gonna get her some more. All right. I'll be quick." He leaves the room.
Vicki walks back in. "False alarm. My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird." She takes out her cellphone.
"Hmm, who are you calling?" Elena asks.
"Jeremy."
"Vicki, you can't see Jeremy anymore."
"Oh come on don't you start. I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see."
"Even though you could hurt him?"
"I would never hurt Jeremy."
"I know you think that but I can't take the risk. You're gonna have to let Jeremy go now."
"Oh really?" Vicki says. "And how long have you been preparing a 'you're not good enough speech'? I'm presuming it predates the whole vampire thing."
"All I am saying is Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Vicki." Elena says, strongly.
Vicki slams Elena against the wall, her hand wrapped around her throat. Trinity jumps into action, separating the two and pinning Vicki against the wall. She releases a feral growl. "Don't. Touch. Her." Vicki cowers and tries to escape from Trinity's hold.
"Let me go!" She yells. Trinity wraps a hand around her neck and growls again. Elena watches the scene in shock, watching the pleasant girl she knew act more beastlike than she's ever seen.
Stefan appears behind her. "Trinity." He lays a hand on her arm. She looks at him before returning her gaze to Vicki. She growls again before she throws her to the ground. Vicki frantically backs away, before she stands and disappears upstairs.
Trinity looks at Stefan and smiles, her whole demeanor changing. "Just wanted to scare her." She shrugs.
Stefan releases a sigh of relief before hugging her. "You had me worried."
Trinity chuckles and steps away. She looks at Elena, who has a look of fear in her eyes. Trinity slowly steps towards her. "I was just acting Elena. She's a vampire now. She thinks that she can do whatever she wants because she has nothing to fear. I just showed her that she was wrong. She won't touch you now."
Stefan nods. "What Trinity did was a good thing. Vicki wouldn't have responded the same way if I had tried that."
"It's like good cop, bad cop." Trinity says. Elena calms down and nods. Trinity puts a hand on her shoulder. "You ok?" Elena nods. Trinity smiles and removes her hand.
"She's on edge. Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. And then when you throw in her other issues…" Stefan explains Vicki's behavior.
"How long before it settles? Hours? Days? Weeks?" Elena asks.
"There's no rule book." He says.
"Well, how long before you learned to control it?"
"A while." He answers. But I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own. The thing is; it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new. It's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire…it can all blur into one urge, hunger."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that Jeremy can't see her, not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him." Trinity explains.
"Or worse." Elena says.
"I'm not gonna let anybody get hurt." Stefan says.
"I need to get going." Elena sighs, heading to the door.
"Elena…" Stefan says.
She looks at him. "Please Stefan. There's only so much I can take." He sighs as she walks out the door.
Trinity rubs his back. "It'll get better.
Damon walks into the house to see Trinity sitting on the couch, reading a book. "You." He points, walking towards her.
"Me." She says, not looking away from the book.
He snatches it out of her hands and she looks at him in annoyance. "How did you do that this morning?"
"What?" She sighs.
"You know what."
Stefan walks in. "What's going on?" He looks between the two.
"He wants to know how I kicked his ass." Trinity explains.
"You did not!" Damon says.
Trinity looks at him. "You're not the only supernatural's in town."
"And what are you?" He asks.
"She's a shapeshifter." Stefan says.
"Really?" Damon scoffs.
Trinity stands from her seat. "Really. I can turn into animals."
"Prove it."
"Fine!" She says. "Move that." She points to the coffee table. Stefan and Damon move the table to the side. Damon stands in front of her as Stefan moves to the side of the room. "Step back." She says. Damon sighs in annoyance and he takes a few steps back. Trinity takes a breath, thinking about what animal she should change into.
"Any day now." Damon says.
Trinity rolls her eyes before smirking. Lions, and tigers, and bears. Oh my! She thinks. She shifts into a large black bear, falling onto all fours. Damon's eyes bug at the sight and he takes a few steps back. Stefan releases a chuckle. Trinity stands up, her form dwarfing Damon and Stefan. She swipes at the air in front of her, releasing a low growl. She falls back to the floor and returns to her human form. "Believe me now?" She raises her eyebrows at Damon.
He regains his composure before he hums and leaves the room. Trinity follows him with her eyes before turning to Stefan. She gives him a look that says, 'really?'
Stefan chuckles again and shrugs, shaking his head.
"I'm gonna get out of here." Trinity says. "I brought a costume for the Halloween Festival. I'm going as a Greek goddess."
"Which one?"
"Aphrodite." She answers. "I thought that it was fitting, seeing as I'm going to spend most of the night trying to subtly convince Elena to take you back." She tilts her head. "Well that, and I'm super hot."
"See you later." Stefan smiles.
"You too." She leaves.
Damon hears music playing and walks in the room. "What are you doing?" He asks Vicki.
She stares at the ceiling. "Just contemplating the next hundred years." She sits up to look at him. "Why did you do it?"
"I was…bored." He says.
"You did this to me out of boredom?"
"It's one of the pitfalls of eternity."
"Now I'm bored. And all I can think about is blood. I just want some blood. I can't think about anything else. What is that about?"
"That'll ease up. You've been cooped up all day. Let's go." He says, walking out of the room.
"Where?" She follows.
"Your life was pathetic. Your afterlife doesn't have to be."
"What are you doing?" Stefan asks when he sees them.
"She's been cooped up in your room all day." Damon explains. "She's not Anne Frank."
Stefan shakes his head. "No, no, no. Hey…now's not the time for this."
"If you're gonna teach her. Teach her. Show her what it's all about."
"She could hurt someone."
"I'm not takin' her at Disneyland. We're going in the front yard. Come on." He says, walking onto the lawn.
"Bad idea Damon." Stefan follows behind him.
"She's a vampire Stefan, she should know the perks."
"Like what?" She asks.
"Like…" Damon disappears from in front of her to the other side of the yard.
"Whoa. How did you do that?" She laughs.
"Come on Vicki, live a little. No pun intended." She disappears.
Damon and Stefan look around.
"Uh…" Stefan says, not seeing her.
Damon grimaces and looks at Stefan. "My bad."
Vicki knocks on her front door. "Matt." She calls.
Matt looks through the small window on the door. "Vicki? Is that you?" He opens the door.
"Hey."
"Get in here."
"In a minute. I-"
"Please come inside. I've been worried." She walks in and he hugs her. "Thank god you're okay. Where were you, Vic?" He asks, stepping back.
"It's not a big deal. Drop it already."
"Three people were murdered in the woods. The cops were lookin' for you. They wanna question you."
"They know where I live."
"Everyone was worried about you."
"I'm back now. Just let it go."
Matt looks at her, exasperated. "Are you kidding? I had a freakin' search party out lookin' for you while you were off on your crazy drug trip, and you want me to let it go?"
"My head hurts." She brings her hands to her head.
"You think?" He says. The doorbell rings and Matt goes to answer it. "Stefan, what are you doing here?"
"Is Vicki home?" He asks.
"Yeah." Matt nods.
"Can I see her, please?"
Vicki whispers to Matt. "Don't let him in. I don't want him in here."
Matt turns to look at her. "Did he do something to you?"
"No." She shakes her head. "I just don't want him in here."
"Just let me come in so I can explain myself." Stefan says.
Matt looks at him. "Look, I don't know what's going on but I think you should leave now."
"Matt-"
"Please…" Matt says. "Now, Stefan." He closes the door.
Jeremy is in the kitchen, talking on his cellphone. "You gotta call me, Vic. I don't get it. What's going on with you? Just…" He says as Elena enters the room. "Just call me please." He hangs up.
"Hey. So um…" She pauses. "Do you wanna hang out tonight? We could go to the, uh, Halloween thing at school. Could be fun"
"Cool. Sure. Sounds uh…sounds fun." He nods. "Can't wait."
"I know you're upset about Vicki. I heard she call Matt. But you can't be with her. She needs to get better. The best thing you can do for her is let her go."
"What does that even mean, 'let her go'? Oh, okay, sure. Since we're such experts on letting people go, right?"
"I know you may not see it, but trust me Jer. It's for the best."
"Look, for months after mom and dad died, I felt like crap, like 'nothing really even mattered' crap. Now all of a sudden, I get these moments and things started to feel just a little bit better, and Vicki was in every single of 'em. So you may not see it, but trust me. Keeping me away from her is not for the best." He leaves the room.
Tyler walks towards Bonnie and Caroline, holding cups in his hands. "Cider for the ladies. It's a Lockwood special."
Bonnie shakes her head. "No way. Last year I was hung over until thanksgiving."
"Lightweight." Caroline takes a cup. "I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with." She says before taking a gulp.
"Sounds like a plan." Tyler smiles.
"You went with the last year's costume too, huh?" Matt asks Elena, looking at her nurse outfit.
"Yeah. I didn't know that I was coming till an hour." She says.
"Me neither." He looks at Jeremy. "And you're going as…you." Jeremy sighs and walks away, almost bumping into Trinity.
Trinity watches him walk away before turning to Matt and Elena. "What's his problem?" She asks. They just stare at her with open mouths. "What?"
"You look…" Matt looks at her costume. She's wearing a white bandeau halter top that shows all of her stomach, revealing nicely toned abs. Her skirt is floor length with slits up the sides to her hips, seamed in gold. She wears a small golden crown on top of her black wavy locks.
She looks down at her outfit. "Oh yeah!" She says. "I went as Aphrodite. What do you think?"
"You look great!" Elena smiles.
"Thank you!" Trinity grins. "What was that about?" She points to the direction Jeremy went.
"He's not talking to me right now. We got onto fight."
"Yeah, I got into it with Vic too, when she got home." Matt nods. Trinity and Elena looks at him when he says that. "I'm trying not to smother her tonight, but part of me didn't wanna let her out of my sight."
"She's here?" Elena asks.
"Yeah, you can't miss her. She's a vampire."
"Where did Jeremy go?" Elena looks around.
"Elena what's the matter?" Matt asks, confused.
"I…I've gotta find him." She walks away, Trinity following after her.
"Can you find him?" She asks Trinity.
Trinity shakes her head. "Not in this crowd. I've barely met him; I don't know his scent well enough."
Vicki walks around the school and stops. She turns and sees Stefan. "What, you're following me now?"
"You didn't really give me a much of choice." He tells her.
"You let me out of here."
"You shouldn't be here Vicki. Crowds like this, it make it even harder for you to keep yourself under control."
"I'm fine."
"Really?" Stefan asks, skeptically.
"Mm-hmm." She nods.
"No headache? Your stomach's not screaming at you? You're not feeling lightheaded or anxious or cranky like if someone looks at you the wrong way you could just rip their head off? Do you wanna know what that's called?" He walks closer to her. "It's called hunger and it's only gonna get worse and worse every minute that you pretend like it's not controlling you."
Trinity grabs Elena's arm and leads her into the school. There; they find Stefan and Vicki.
"Thank God." Elena sighs.
"What's the matter?" Stefan asks.
"I lost track of Jeremy. I was worried."
"What's goin' on?" Matt asks, looking at him and Vicki.
"Hey. Uh, everything's fine." Stefan tells him.
"I told you to quit bothering me." Vicki says.
Elena looks at her and shakes her head. "No. Vicki, don't do this."
"Matt, he won't leave me alone." She tells him in a distressed voice, backing away.
Matt steps forward. "You need to back off, man."
Trinity grabs his arm. "Matt, it's…it's okay."
He shrugs her off and glares at Stefan. "No, it's not okay. What the hell is your problem?"
Elena looks around. "Stefan. She's gone." She says.
Jeremy walks around the festival, listening to the recorded screams and roars. He turns around and jumps back when he sees Vicki. "Whoa. Vic, you scared the hell out of me."
"Sorry. I'm sorry." She says.
Damon arrives at the party and looks around. He makes eye contact with Bonnie, who glares at him. He walks up to her. "So where…where'd Caroline run off to?"
She scoffs. "Do yourself a favor, Damon, and don't ask me about Caroline."
"Oh, Bonnie." He smirks. "So loyal."
"Just stay away from her."
His smirk drops as he looks at the necklace around her neck. "Where'd you get that?"
"From a friend."
"Caroline." He nods. "You know that's mine, don't you?"
"Not anymore." She says.
"Funny. I'd like it back, please." He holds his hand out.
"I'm not giving it to you. I'll give it to Caroline, and she can give it to you if she feels like it."
"Or I could just take it right now." He wraps his hand around it but it burns him. Bonnie backs away with fear in her eyes and leaves.
"What are we gonna do?" Elena asks.
"We'll split up and look for her." Stefan says. Trinity nods and they go in separate directions.
Elena opens a door to outside. She looks at the parked buses. "Jeremy?" She calls.
"I was so worried about you." Jeremy says.
"I'm fine now, but…" She trails off, staring at his neck. She shakes her head. "I gotta leave."
"Wh-what? Where?" He asks.
"I gotta get out of here. I just…" She shakes her head. "I can't live at home with Matt. He just doesn't get it."
"No, you can't. You can't just leave."
"Come with me. If you come with me, we can be together forever." She leans towards his neck and tries to bite him.
He puts his hands on her shoulders. "Okay. Yeah. Ow. You're taking that costume a little too far." She looks at him. "What? What is it?." She shoves him against the bus. "Vicki! Vicki, what the hell?! Oh, my god. No!" He says, feeling her fangs pierce his neck. "Stop! Vicki! No! Aah!"
"Vicki, no!" Elena yells as she runs towards them.
Trinity appears and throws Vicki off of him. Stefan appears a second later. They look around, not catching sight of the young vampire.
Stefan looks at Elena and Jeremy. "Go. Get inside. Go!"
They attempt to run but Vicki throws Elena into a pile of wooden pallets, while throwing Jeremy to the side. "Ahh!" Elena screams. She groans in pain and presses a hand to her stomach as it bleeds.
Vicki steps towards her but stops as a stake pierces her. She looks down in shock.
Jeremy watches in horror as her skin greys and veins appear. Her body falls to the ground, revealing Stefan holding a stake. "Vicki?" Jeremy says, before become hysterical. "Vicki! Vicki! Vicki!"
"Get him out of here." Elena says.
"I'll stay with her." Trinity tells Stefan.
Stefan nods and goes to Jeremy.
Damon's cellphone rings. He looks at the caller I.D. and rolls his eyes. "What?" He answers.
"I need your help." Stefan says.
Bonnie walks into her Gram's house, shaken.
"What happened to you?" Sheila asks.
"I did something. I don't know. It came from my necklace." She rips it off her neck, throwing it onto the table.
Sheila looks at it in shock. "Where'd you get that?"
"It's part of my costume. It's a piece of junk."
"That piece of junk belonged to one of the most powerful witches of our family. Let me show you. There she is. Emily Bennett, your great-great-great-great-grandmother. And there's your necklace."
Trinity is trying to calm a crying Elena when Damon comes.
"You should go. I got this." He says.
"You did this." Elena walks over to him. This is your fault!" She pushes him.
"You confuse me for someone with remorse." She goes to smack him but he catches her wrists. "None of this matters to me. None of it."
Trinity separates them and roughly pushes him back. "People die around you. How could it not matter?" Elena asks. "It matters, and you know it."
Damon looks at her. "You need to leave. Your wounds are bleeding, and you need to leave."
"Come on Elena." Trinity leads her away.
As they make their way through the crowd they run into Matt. "Elena! Hey, have you seen…whoa." He looks at her appearance. Wh-what happened?"
She shakes her head. "Nothing. Some idiot with some fake blood got me. I'm gonna go home and shower."
"I…I can't find Vicky. She totally bailed on me." He shakes his head.
"We don't know where she is." Trinity tells him.
"Is this what I'm in for?" He sighs. "A lifetime of worrying about her?"
"You're a good brother, Matt." Elena says.
"Yeah." He nods. "Maybe she went home."
"Maybe." She says, before she and Trinity walk away.
When they get to her car Trinity holds her hand out for the keys. Elena hands them over with shaky hands. Trinity unlocks the car and leads Elena to her seat before walking over to the driver's side. She starts the car and drives for a few minutes before stopping. "Let it out." She says.
Elena's lips quiver before she burst into tears. Trinity rubs her back and turns away as a lone tear rolls down her face. She quickly wipes it away before looking back at Elena. "How do you deal with this?" Elena asks.
Trinity is silent for a moment. "I don't know." She breathes. "This is new to me too." Elena looks at her. "I've known about the supernatural for years but I've only been involved since Stefan moved here. When he came, I didn't feel alone anymore." She tells her. "Do you know that I found out that I could shape shift by myself? I only had what was in my family's journals. Even then I'm the first in generations." She shrugs. "I would've always been alone. So even though all of these horrible things are happening, Stefan's my best friend. I finally have someone to share this with. And I don't ever want to change that." They sit in silence and Elena composes herself. Trinity starts the car again and continues driving.
They arrive at the Gilbert house. Trinity gives Elena her keys back as walk up the porch steps to see Stefan waiting there.
"Where is he?" Elena asks.
"Inside." He says.
Elena heads upstairs. She sees Jeremy lying in his bed, tears rushing down his face. "Do you understand what happened tonight?" She asks.
He shakes his head. "No. I don't understand. I mean, I know what I saw, but…I don't understand."
"She was going to kill me…"
"Now she's dead. Vicki's dead." He cries.
"I'm so sorry, Jer."
"Make it stop. It hurts." He sniffs.
"Shh, shh, shh, shh. It's okay. It's okay." She rubs his back.
"Why does everybody have to die on me?"
"Oh, my god. Come here." She takes him in her arms.
Stefan and Trinity wait on the porch outside. Elena steps out. "Are you okay?" She asks him.
"I, uh…I wanted to help her. But instead…" He looks down before looking back up. "Uh…how's he doing?"
"He's a mess." She says. "I don't want him going through this again. He's just a kid."
"Elena, what can I do? I…what can I do to help? I'll do anything." He tells her.
"Can you make him forget?" She asks.
"Elena." He sighs.
"Stefan, please. I don't know how he'll ever get past this. I just want him to forget everything that happened."
"If I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work." He says. "Because of who I am, because of how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right."
Damon walks up to them. "I can do it." He says, looking at Elena. "If this is what you want…I'll do it."
She nods. "It's what I want."
"What do you want him to know?"
"I want you to tell him that Vicky left town, and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's gonna miss her, but he knows it's for the best."
Damon nods and goes inside.
Elena looks at Stefan. "Part of me wishes that I could forget, too…forget meeting you. Finding out what you are and everything that's happened since."
Stefan looks heartbroken but he nods. "If that's what you want."
"Yes, it is. Because I don't want it to be like this." She says. "I don't wanna feel like this. But I can't. With everything that's happened…I can't lose the way I feel about you."
Damon comes outside. "It's done." He tells her.
They bid their goodbyes before leaving.
