My memory came back in spurts; almost like falling in and out of sleep during a movie. Here is what I remember clearly; Damon Salvatore was a real vampire. I was running from him in the woods and then…nothing. My eyes fluttered open to a strange place with tan walls, lying in a strange bed. I sat straight up and then yelped as pain exploded throughout my body, making my veins pulse heavily.

"Shhh, Alyssa, it's alright," a strange but familiar voice cooed.

I didn't realize my eyes were clamped shut until I saw Damon's protective face come close to me. Stefan came to my other side. I looked from one brother to another in panic and shock and tried to leap out of the bed. Two pairs of hands were upon me in an instant, gently pushing me back against the pillows.

"No!" I managed to croak out, trying to fight them off.

"Alyssa, sweetie, no one is going to hurt you. Just relax. Do you know why you're here?" Stefan asked, his tone soothing, his hand on my forehead.

I shook my head, biting my nail.

"You almost got run over by a car," Damon piped in. "I pushed you out of the way and you flew into a tree…again. Nearly broke your leg. What the hell were you thinking, anyway? Oh and you're welcome."

"Damon, this isn't the time!" Stefan said to him harshly.

I shook my head. I wanted to go home.

"I'm going home! Where is Elena?" I exclaimed in the midst of their arguing.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Damon scoffed. "You can't even stand up."

I set my jaw in defiant determination and tried to prove him wrong. It felt like my legs were jelly and someone was bashing my head in with a hammer. I nearly fell flat on my face before Damon caught me and put me back on the bed.

"That's three times I've caught you as you fell," he whispered into my ear.

My body ached all over; it was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life, even with the accident included. My skin felt like it was on fire and my bones felt as though they were made of glass. I whimpered, my body coated in sweat, trying not to make sounds. Stefan and Damon exchanged a knowing look before staring intently at me. Oh, no, I thought. They were going to eat me! I looked for my nearest escape route and I guess Stefan saw the fear in my face.

"Easy, Alyssa, you're safe." He said.

"Where is my sister?" I bit out.

"She is banished for the time being." Damon said, arms crossed. "We need some time with you."

"Just to talk," Stefan added.

"I don't want to talk to you!"

"Tough," Damon said harshly, sitting on the bed.

He pulled at my shirt and gave me a warning look when I squirmed.

"I need to see how badly you're hurt. Stay still."

Damon let out a whistle through his teeth.

"Shit, it got you good. She needs more blood."

What?! I moved to the farthest side of the bed. Both of them looked at me sadly, like they hated what they were about to do.

"Hold her, Stefan," Damon said quietly.

Suddenly my senses kicked in and I started to thrash. Stefan's arms circled me in a steel hold, keeping me prisoner against his chest. He gripped me so tightly I couldn't even try to wiggle.

"Shhh, it's alright," Stefan whispered. "This is going to help you, I promise."

Damon bit his wrist and thrust it into my mouth. I panicked, bucked against Stefan and tried to move my head. Damon used his free hand to hold my chin while he forced the other into my mouth.

"Drink it, Alyssa," he commanded. "This is going to heal you."

I had no idea what he was talking about and his blood tasted salty. I continued to fight until I was exhausted and sunk back into Stefan's chest. When Damon removed his wrist, Stefan let go of me and I passed out.

The next time I awoke, I sat straight up in bed, momentarily forgetting where I was and what had happened. I blinked hard a few times until I remembered I was trapped in the Salvatore house with at least one known vampire. I was sure Stefan was too but he never told me. No one was in the room with me, though. All of the pain that I had felt before had vanished so I knew I had to try to make a break for it. I tiptoed as quietly as I could out of the room and down the hall. The house was huge and I had no idea where I needed to go to get out. I kept peering over my shoulder quickly to see if they were around but I froze when I heard their voices from downstairs.

"I already tried that, Stefan!" Damon boomed. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? That's your category, brother."

I padded to the wall, where I could hide and watch them at the same time.

"Did she have vervain in her system?" Stefan asked.

What the hell was that?

"No, for the last time! Now she does because of that stupid bracelet you gave her that she probably won't wear anyway. Besides, they haven't put vervain in the water supply for 100 years. I'm telling you…she can't be compelled."

"That's impossible." Stefan sounded weary.

"Apparently not." Damon remarked.

I had no idea what they were talking about and I didn't care; all I knew was I needed to get out of there before they could "compel" me. Did that mean kill? I bet it did. I slowly stood and turned around, ready to run. However, I collided into a strong chest, nearly giving me a heart attack.

"Has anyone ever told you it's not polite to eavesdrop?" Damon scolded. "And just where do you think you are going?"

"Um…" I stuttered while he cocked his eyebrow.

"I'm waiting." He sing-songed.

"I am going home!" I suddenly declared. "And you can't stop me!"

"What, are you gonna stick your tongue out at me too?" He teased. "Go back to your room."

"No! It's NOT my room and you can't tell me what to do!"

"You were so much more fun when you were asleep!" He groaned. "Glad to see you're feeling better. Just do what I say willingly or I will carry you. Your choice."

I raised my eyebrows at him like he had done to me earlier. I took that as a challenge…who was he to keep me prisoner? But true to his word, before I could make it three feet, he scooped me up and whooshed to the room so fast it felt like we were flying. He tossed me onto the bed and shut the door.

"How…how did you…?" I stammered.

He laughed.

"The perks of being a vampire," he winked.

He jumped onto the bed next to me.

"So," he said loudly.

"I want to go home!"

"Give it a rest," he said, annoyed. "You'll go home when I say you can. For now, we are going to talk."

I looked at the white sheets on the bed, not sure what to say. I was angry but I knew I couldn't get out of this.

"Any questions?" He asked, leaning back.

"So you're a vampire?"

He nodded.

"A real one?" I asked.

"As opposed to a fake one? Yes, I'm a real one!"

I widened my eyes.

"And no, I don't sparkle!" He boomed. "God damn Stephanie Meyer!"

I had to giggle, despite my frustration.

"I never liked Twilight anyways. 'And so the lion fell in love with the lamb,'" I quoted, changing my pitch to mockery. "What a stupid lamb…seriously."

He laughed. "You are the farthest thing from a lamb, I can tell you that."

He played with a strand of my hair and I drew back. He sighed.

"Still upset about what happened, huh?" He asked grimly.

I bit my lip. "I'm not mad…you just scared me. I thought you liked me for more than that."

"Oh, I do. And I'm sorry. Really, I am…there's no excuse and I hope you can forgive me." He said honestly. "I would really like to start over."

I nodded before I knew I was even doing it. I couldn't say no to him, especially after he had saved my life.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" I asked. "About being a vampire?"

"Honestly, not for a while…if that. I don't tend to have much luck in the woman department." He said, widening his eyes.

"I find that hard to believe!" I scoffed.

He chuckled. "Believe what you want, honey. I won't lie to you; that's something you can count on from now on."

"Good," I said, turning to face him better. "So when you said you were 119, you weren't lying, were you?"

"Ah, you remember," he grinned. "Well, I might have exaggerated a little. I'm actually 219."

My mouth flopped open.

"You can catch a lot of flies that way," he teased.

"Sorry." I said quickly. "It's just…you were around for the Civil War?"

"Fought in it too."

"Oh my God!"

He laughed.

"So what happened?" I asked, sounding like an impatient elementary school student.

"With what?"

"How did you become a vampire?"

His face changed for a split second before returning back to normal. I wondered if I had imagined the coldness that just overtook his eyes.

"It was a woman; Katherine. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on and I fell in love with her. So did my brother and Katherine loved it. She used us as pawns against each other and we didn't see it until it was too late. She was a conniving little bitch; but she got what she wanted in the end." Damon wasn't looking at me as he said this and I knew he was still so hurt after all those years.

"She turned Stefan too?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yup."

Damon was still lying down with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. I had no idea why I wanted to comfort him when I knew what he was. Maybe I was the stupid lamb after all, falling in love with the masochistic lion…God, I hated Twilight. I lay down next to him and mimicked his position. He looked at me from the corner of his eye and smirked.

"Damon?" I said, voice small.

"Alyssa?" He said back.

"All those animal attacks in the woods…were they…did you?" I stammered.

"That was me." He said almost boastfully.

My body chilled.

"Oh," was all I could say.

He chuckled and turned to face me.

"Now I have a question for you…why aren't you afraid?"

"I am," I croaked. "But…I trust you. You saved me and…I don't know. Are you going to kill me?"

He shook his head. "Nope. You're a mystery to me."

I had no idea what to say to that and the idea of this Katherine person made me oddly jealous.

"Is Katherine still around?" I asked.

He sighed. "No more about that, okay."

"Do you still love her?"

"You just don't stop, do you? Enough."

He sat up. Clearly I had hit a nerve. I hated the idea of him being angry with me, especially when I had no idea what was happening.

"Is all that blood you gave me going to turn me into a vampire?" I asked.

He laughed. "It doesn't work like that. My blood is what healed you. Look at your skin."

I pulled my shirt down and saw that the deep werewolf cuts had vanished and my leg didn't feel like it was in a vice.

"Wow," I breathed. "You could have just told me what it would do…you guys didn't have to hold me down."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Give me a break. You wanted to run out the door and you weren't exactly ready to listen to us. We didn't have a choice."

"Well…thank you." I said.

He smiled.

"But what does compelling mean?" I asked.

"Ah, finally. That's a question for both me and Stefan so come downstairs. Don't worry, he doesn't bite…much. He's on a bunny diet."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Just come on or do you want me to carry you again?"

"Yeah, do that thing again," I exclaimed.

"What am I gonna do with you?" He chuckled, scooping me up.

We were downstairs in an instant and in the living room. There were shelves of old books everywhere, making it look like a library from the 1800's. Then again, it probably was. Stefan was sitting down, his face buried in a thick black textbook.

"Any pearls of information for us, brother?" Damon asked.

"Not a word for certain," Stefan replied. "But whatever it is can't be good."

"What isn't good?!" I demanded.

Stefan looked up at me and smiled. It was a fake smile though.

"Alyssa, come here for a second." Stefan said, standing up.

I looked to Damon quickly, who nodded. I don't know why but Stefan scared me more than Damon did. Maybe it was because I knew Stefan put on airs; even though he appeared to be good, I felt there was a bad side buried too. At least Damon was up front about it.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you." Stefan soothed. "I need you to take your bracelet off for me."

I did what he said, confused and a little scared.

"Compulsion," he explained, "is what vampires use to control the minds of humans. What I gave you was a bracelet laced in vervain. When you wear vervain, you can't be compelled. I gave your sister a necklace that had it. When a human is compelled, they forget what happened. So when Damon tried to tell you that you wanted to let him kiss you, he was trying to compel you. Somehow, you were able to resist."

"Is that bad?" I asked.

"We don't know." Damon interjected. "That's what we are trying to find out."

"It's never happened before, but there are stories about it." Stefan said. "Look at me."

I did as I was told and I watched as Stefan's pupils dilated.

"Nothing," he said to Damon. "Her eyes aren't changing at all."

I looked from brother to brother, hoping I could find the answer in one of their faces.

"I think I know what it is." Stefan said grimly. "But we need to consult the Witches."