This chapter we get into some light plot :) Thank you for all of the reviews, I'm glad you're liking this story!


Elena was confused, to say the least. Confused, disheartened even, and alone. As the days passed, she felt more and more alone. Not physically, because there were always people around her, but emotionally, she felt like there was nobody she could talk to. Nobody she could voice her innermost thoughts to in hopes for some unbiased advice. And that was why she found herself lingering around the graveyard.

Jeremy wouldn't talk to her. Bonnie was pissed about the party at Whitmore. Stefan was her ex now, and that just wouldn't feel right. Matt did the best he could, but talking about vampirism and boys with him was uncomfortable all around. Caroline, while her best option, wasn't Damon's biggest fan. And Damon…well, there are just some things that Elena couldn't talk to him about, namely those solely about him.

What he had said that night after the party played through her mind on repeat. Everything he said had been spot on, connecting with every emotion she was feeling about being a vampire now.

She was a different person now—the only part that was the same was her personality—and the longer she pretended that she didn't enjoy drinking blood, the more miserable she would be. Denying her true nature was what Stefan had done. He had pretended to be human, striving for what he could never have and putting on the façade that he could still have it. Elena was having a reality check, and she couldn't understand how he could live like that. While it was what her humanity wanted, the monster inside her would fight tooth and nail against it until she gave in. She wouldn't live her life teetering on that line. If she accepted it, then she could control it.

And maybe she had been having fun that night. Hell, she hadn't had that much fun in years. Her behavior appalled her humanity, but it thrilled her inner demon. She could see where Bonnie was coming from, how she could be afraid that Elena was becoming like Damon. He didn't have the best track record, after all, but what Bonnie didn't understand—couldn't—was that Elena was still in control. If she hadn't wanted to feed off of all those people, then she wouldn't have. If she hadn't wanted to kiss Damon, she wouldn't have. Maybe the blood had been swaying her decisions, but wasn't that the same as alcohol? Surely a few tequila shots back when she was human would have her acting the same way, fulfilling whatever desire popped into her head.

Damon wasn't to blame. He wasn't the one that got her drunk on blood. While he didn't exactly stop her, she could have, had she wanted to. After all, she didn't have a problem leaving even after she had her heart set on that one last feed Damon promised. And no, she wasn't an addict trying to talk herself into the idea that she didn't have a problem. She didn't need a twelve step program, she was perfectly aware of what happened.

Maybe she could admit that she didn't want to be like Damon. He was no saint, not even an angel in disguise. He killed without remorse and fed for sport. While she wasn't planning on making a habit out of feeding from people, she had to admit that it was a good experience to have. It showed her that she wasn't a ripper. That she could control herself, if she let her problems slip away and enjoyed the whole experience.

Just because she didn't want to be like him didn't mean that that changed anything between them. She was still in love with him. Hell, she had been for longer than she cared to admit. She knew who he was, what he did, and that he wouldn't change for anybody. That's why she loved him. He was so sure of who he was, so confident, and so comfortable in his own skin. He embraced the fact that he was a vampire and it showed. She wanted to be like that part of him. She wanted to learn to enjoy it while still staying true to who she was. That meant no killing, and no hurting people, and that's exactly what Damon had given her.

Bonnie had no right to judge whatever way she chose to live her life when nobody was getting harmed in the process. It hurt to know that she was slowly losing her best friend over this, but at the same time, if this was what killed their friendship, then maybe Bonnie didn't love her enough to get past her being a vampire. Elena didn't know what else she could do to repair their relationship, and frankly, she was done trying if Bonnie wasn't going to give her a fair chance.

That meant getting along with Damon too, because he was as much a part of her life as anyone else was.

Yesterday had been the funeral for the pastor and the other council members. Elena had attended with everyone else, though it wasn't without its bouts of tension. April Young, the pastor's daughter, came to town to talk about her father, and all the while she spoke Elena had been thwarting off Bonnie's glares at Damon. Stefan had chosen the seat to Elena's left, while Damon had been to her right, and when she had teared up from the memories of lost loved ones the funeral dredged up, she hadn't hesitated to intertwine her fingers with Damon's as tension rolled off of Stefan in waves. She certainly didn't expect him to get over her in an instant, but something about the vibes coming from him made her wonder if maybe she hadn't been clear enough when she ended things.

Jeremy hadn't bothered to show up, which wasn't all that much of a surprise. She barely talked herself into going. But Matt had been there, Caroline and Tyler too, and it seemed like the two lovers had solved any problems between them. Over all, the service had gone smoothly, which was surprising, given that it was Mystic Falls.

Funny, Elena had always thought that nothing bad ever happened in their sleepy little town, so for nothing bad to actually happen, it was a miracle.

Tomorrow was the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. It seemed like ages ago that Elena had been competing in it. Unsurprisingly, the first memory about it that struck her was dancing with Damon. That was the first time she felt it. Their connection manifesting into real feelings and emotions. She felt how undeniably sexy he was, and with that realization came the question if it was purely physical or if there was something more.

Caroline was in full planning mode, since as last year's winner, she was in charge of it. That, and she loved being in charge of things despite the aneurism it gives her. April Young had actually asked Jeremy to be her date, and Elena thought it was great that he agreed. Ever since he and Bonnie split up, she'd been hoping that he could find another girl to be with that deserved him.

Starting with the last person she buried, Elena stood at the grave they placed for Alaric, the dirt still exposed from when somebody, Damon probably, had buried his body after he killed her and thereby himself. She hadn't thought to pick up any flowers on her way over; it had been pretty last minute. Instead she just smiled sadly, whispering that she missed him and hoped he had found peace.

Jenna and John were next, and while John still held an odd part of her thoughts, she could admit that he wasn't missed probably as much as he should have been. She felt guilty for it too, but he had it coming. Elena spoke to Jenna for a few moments about Jeremy. They often bonded over his moody teenage behavior, and between the two of them they had been trying their best to keep him on track. She couldn't say that Jenna would know what to do if she were here now, because she wouldn't, but at least they could figure it out together.

Elena's thoughts then drifted to Isobel, though they didn't linger there. The woman was hardly someone she wanted to turn to in her time of need, even dead.

Finally, Elena trudged towards her parents. This was where she had really wanted to be all along, because they were her mom and dad, and they'd always love her. She sat down on the cool grass, a contrast to the warm sun, and crossed her legs beneath her.

She had no idea what to say to them. Everything was so different compared to the last time she visited, and as she pulled up the weeds that had grown in around the edges of the dark gray stone, it dawned on her that it had been far too long since her last visit.

"Do you think I'm being too hard on myself?" She asked them, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. "Lately it just feels like nothing is ever enough. Like I'm not enough, now that I'm…a vampire. I know I need to give everyone time, but waiting isn't an easy thing to do when your emotions are dependent on other people's reactions."

Grayson and Miranda Gilbert, forever silent, had no answer for her. Sighing, Elena shifted to lean her back against the tall stone sculpture so she was more comfortable. She traced her fingers over the smoothed out corners to her side, rubbing the marble as if it would give her the same comfort of her parents.

When she looked up, her eyes were immediately drawn to a lone black crow perched atop another headstone, tilting its head from side to side as it looked at her. Elena smiled, "If you think I haven't connected the dots that it was you back when we first met, then you're sorely mistaken."

The crow flew off into the sky and disappeared from sight, only for Damon to materialize out of nowhere to her right and wordlessly sit down next to her, his back against her father's name.

"How do you do that?" She asked curiously.

He smirked, "A little trick I picked up over the years. Handy for spying on those who don't know about it."

"So you admit you were spying?" She teased.

"Watching, more like."

"Oh, you mean stalking."

He chuckled, "If it keeps you safe, then call it whatever the hell you want. I've got plenty of tricks up my sleeve to ward off the things that go bump in the night."

She raised an amused brow, "Even if I am a thing that goes bump in the night?"

Damon rolled his eyes, "Okay, other, more menacing things that go bump in the night, even for vampires."

Smiling, she leaned her head against his shoulder and reached for his hand. She wiggled her fingers into his sleeve and smirked, "I don't feel any other tricks up here. Are you sure?"

Grinning like an idiot at the dorky joke she just made, Damon said, "Try this."

He made no move, and just when Elena was going to ask what it was, she noticed the fog thickening out of nowhere. It was a sunny day, not a cloud in sight, yet fog as thick as pea soup spread throughout the entire cemetery. She could no longer see the headstone that the crow had been on, and with the added moisture to the air the temperature seemed to cool down.

She laughed, "Teach me."

"Why, interested in scaring all the mean kids that picked on you in elementary school?" He smirked.

She shrugged playfully, "Maybe."

He laughed a little then said, "As much as I'd love to sit here and teach you all the tricks, you're still a baby vamp that just figured out compulsion. At the risk of something going horribly wrong and having you blow up the crow's mind then summon locusts instead of fog, I'll pass."

"That could happen?" Elena asked seriously.

Damon grinned, "I guess we'll never know."

Rolling her eyes, she asked, "So what are you doing here? Making sure nobody kidnaps me in their haste to steal my useless blood?"

"Hey, you never know what kind of sickos are out there." He shrugged.

Elena laughed, then said, "You know, you're the only person that's been able to make me smile, genuinely, without making me worry about anything else since I turned. You don't pressure me to talk, judge me for what I do, or even look at me differently. I'm still the same to you, aren't I?"

"I wouldn't say the same." He told her honestly, keeping his tone light. "But I definitely won't deny that that girl's still in there. She's still the same person, just…shit, I don't know. I'm bad with words, Elena."

Placing her hand on his thigh, she gently squeezed him, "I think you're doing a pretty good job."

Changing the subject, Damon asked, "So how are you doing with everything?"

"Honestly? Not that great." She admitted, knowing she could trust him. While she wasn't going to talk to him about her feelings for him yet, she could at least address everything else. "But I guess that's kind of expected, right? Nobody's doing great right after turning into a vampire."

"I'll drink to that." Damon flicked his brows up, wishing he'd brought a bottle of bourbon.

"But enough about me." Elena said. "I feel like I'm brooding, which isn't really helping anything. It's just making me more anxious and worried."

"So then don't." He easily supplied. "Don't care about what everyone else thinks. Trust me, it makes things a lot easier."

"Ever since turning, what you told me in Denver really hits home." She admitted. "I wish that everyone didn't have these expectations of me not to hurt anyone or not to lose control. I have those expectations for myself, but it's different when you're following your own morals versus what everyone else wants."

Damon could see a deep insecurity of hers exposed in the light, clear as day. The girl that fought so hard and was strongest in times when everyone else was weak was really just that—a girl. She didn't deserve to have all of that pressure on her, gnawing away at her insides until gaping holes were left from each time she disappointed someone. It hurt her deeply when someone she cared about suffered because of her, and as much as he wished he could take her pain away, that was part of who she was. To take away that pain would mean to take away her empathy.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she willingly molded into his side, reaching up to hold his hand that was hanging off of her shoulder. He then gently said, "Maybe to find what you're looking for, you should be looking towards the people that are still here instead of those you've lost. I know how hard it is to face people that see nothing but disappointment in you, and if you don't want that to happen, then take it from me. Don't take the easy road out and wait for them to come to you, because it might never happen."

While his advice may not have been very reassuring, it was honest. And that was something she valued deeply.

"I feel like Jeremy's the furthest away." She said sadly. "He's all the family I have left, and you're right, I need to start fighting my own battles instead of letting others defend me." Standing up and brushing the grass off of her jeans, she continued, "I think I'm going to go talk to him now. Thanks for listening, Damon, it means a lot."

He simply smiled in response, and Elena used her speed to flash home. Extending her senses, she heard Jeremy breathing in his room, so as she stepped inside she yelled that she was home.

She went into the kitchen to grab a blood bag from the fridge from the small stock that Damon provided for her and tossed it into the microwave, setting the timer for a minute. While she waited for it to finish and reached into the cabinet for a glass, she heard Jeremy's footsteps behind her and started, "Hey, Jer, can we talk for a minute?"

Suddenly she felt a sharp pain radiating through her back, so painful she nearly collapsed, and she hissed, turning around to see what it was. Jeremy was standing across from her with a crossbow in his arms, loaded with wooden stakes.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked, trying to reach for the stake in her back but unable to reach it without ripping a serious chuck of her flesh out. She braced her arms on the counter and said, "Jeremy, get it out right now!"

"All you vampires do is kill people. You must be eliminated." He said ominously, and almost before she could react he thrust another stake at her.

She flashed out of the way just in time and grabbed Jeremy's arm, twisting it behind his back until he dropped the stake and couldn't move. "Jeremy, what are you talking about!? It's me, Elena!"

He said nothing else, just pulled another stake from his pocket but before he could put it in her stomach like he intended she grabbed that arm as well. Then he struggled in her grasp, and her eyes widened when she realized that he was actually overpowering her.

How was that even possible? She was a vampire, and he was just a human!

"I'm gonna kill you sooner or later, so you might as well release me now and get it over with!" He hissed as Elena tapped into every ounce of strength she had. The stake in her back wasn't helping, and when she accepted that Jeremy was going to get out of her hold, she checked his hand for the ring that would bring him back to life then snapped his neck.

She caught his body as he fell and she lowered him to the floor, cradling his head in her lap. Her throat felt tight seeing his lifeless body laying there because of her, but she told herself that it was only temporary. While the ring probably wasn't the safest thing, as proven by Alaric's ring, it was better than nothing. She grappled around her pockets for her cell phone before calling Damon.

He answered after a couple rings, "Miss me already?"

Ignoring his greeting, she whimpered, "Damon, I need you to come over here."

Noting the pained tone to her voice, he quickly asked, "What's wrong? I'm on my way, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll explain when you get here." She said, wincing as she shifted Jeremy's head and the stake rubbed against some kind of internal organ. She was never good with anatomy.

"I'll be there in five minutes, tops." He said, right before hanging up.

Her phone clattered to the floor as it slipped from her fingers, and she wished she had that bag of blood in the microwave to gulp down more than anything. Every time she moved, she could feel more blood seeping from the wound, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to reach it.

Her breathing was harder and more painful than normal, leading her to believe that it had punctured a lung, but luckily true to his word, Damon arrived barely a minute after their conversation ended. He came storming into the front door, swinging it open so hard Elena wondered if the knob put a hole in the wall, and he flashed into the kitchen.

Taking in the sight of her sitting on the floor with a dead Jeremy spread across her lap, he furrowed his brows, "What happened?"

She motioned to her back, grimacing as the movement caused pain, "Can you…?"

His eyes widening when he saw it along with the discarded crossbow laying on the floor, he quickly kneeled down next to her and said, "This is gonna hurt."

She smirked, "It already hurts. Just get it out."

Her soft cry as he yanked it from her back cut through him, making his instincts to protect her and care for her flare up. Hearing the occasional beeps on the microwave from the unattended blood inside, he retrieved the bag and grabbed a straw from a drawer, forgoing the glass. She gratefully sucked down a few large gulps before shuddering and shaking out the stiff muscles of her now healed back.

"Why's Jeremy dead?" He asked, noting the ring on his finger.

Shaking her head, Elena explained exasperatedly, "He just came at me, like he was someone else. I was heating up the blood, asking to talk to him, and the next thing I know there's a stake in my back and he's telling me he's going to kill me. I mean, I know he wasn't happy with me becoming a vampire, but I hadn't thought that he'd try to kill me…"

Damon frowned at the unusual behavior. Jeremy wouldn't kill his sister, not without something else intervening. He knew that for a fact, because through all of the shit that the two of them have been through, the kid's always loved his sister more than anything.

Reaching to tuck a fallen lock of hair behind Elena's ear, his fingertips traced around the curve of her ear and down to her jaw, grabbing her attention as well. "I don't think he actually was himself, Elena, because he would never try to kill you. Call Bonnie. In the mean time, I'll bring him to the couch and we'll see what he has to say when he wakes up." She nodded as Damon lifted Jeremy into his arms, then he suggested, "Why don't you go upstairs and clean up? Finish your blood first though, so you're all healed up and satisfied."

He laid Jeremy across the couch as he listened to Elena's light footsteps upstairs, looking at his expressionless face. Maybe some witch possessed him to try to kill Elena. Not that there were any witches around that wanted her dead. His mind was already jumping to Klaus, wondering if maybe he somehow compelled Jeremy to do something, or if one of his hybrids did, just because he was unhappy with Elena's transition. Not that she had any control over it, and let's face it, if he was going to do something he already would have. He was clearly busy with something, probably trying to get into Blondie's pants, though Damon hoped that was all.

Or maybe Jeremy's ring was going bad and making him go crazy like Ric. If that was the case, then they had to get it away from him as soon as he woke up.

Elena's nervous voice carried through the house, filling his ears with her fear as she spoke to Bonnie. He listened to the witch's hesitance to talk to Elena, but as soon as she mentioned Jeremy she was on her way. How convenient; when a human needed her, she was all too willing, but when her best friend needed her, she couldn't give a damn.

Damon swore that he was the only one looking out for her these days.

He heard the shower start up and bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from imagining what a view that made. Elena, wet and naked, water cascading down her body, running between her soft, supple breasts and down to her—and on that note, he had to stop or else he was going to march right up there and join her. She had already seen him naked, hell, she had done more than look at him. He thought it was only fair if he got the same courtesy.

Just as he decided that maybe he would go up there and see how far he could push her boundaries, the water shut off, as did his fantasy. Throwing himself in the armchair, he thought of every turn off he could imagine to get himself under control. Animal blood, cheap bourbon, Carol Lockwood—yep, that one did it.

Elena traipsed downstairs a few moments later, answering the door to Bonnie's raised fist, ready to knock. The perks of vampire senses. The two of them strolled into the living room, though Bonnie's steps faltered and her gaze hardened at the sight of him.

The sight made him smirk knowingly, but Elena's glare kept his mouth shut from every inappropriate greeting that was dancing on the tip of his tongue.

Elena explained what had happened, and when she finished Damon interjected, "I was thinking maybe his ring was going bad, or somebody compelled him. I suppose we'll know more once he wakes from death, but for now, work your witchy juju and figure out what went wrong."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but decided to ignore him as she reached for Jeremy's ring. Careful not to remove it from his hand, she clasped her fingers around it and mumbled some Latin words that nobody understood. While she still couldn't practice magic after what she had seen happen to her Grams, she could still feel for magic. When she opened her eyes, she frowned, "The ring's fine, I can't sense any dark magic or anything strange going on with it."

"How would we know if Jeremy was compelled?" Elena asked.

Bonnie raised his hand, pointing to the leather bracelet on his wrist, "He's wearing vervain. If a vampire compelled him, then they replaced the bracelet, which they can't touch without burning. So doubtful, because they'd have no way of getting it off of him in the first place."

"But what does that leave?" She asked, growing frustrated. "That my own brother really wanted to kill me?"

The emotional pain in her voice made some of Bonnie's anger subside. While having her best friend become a vampire wasn't something she particularly enjoyed, she still loved her. "Jeremy would never want to purposely kill you, Elena." She said sympathetically, holding his limp hand in hers. She still cared deeply for Jeremy, maybe even still loved him, but there was just so much between them that needed to be worked out before anything could happen. "He loves you more than anything." She added, not tearing her gaze away from Jeremy's face.

"Then why would he do that?" Elena asked, not really expecting an answer. She was frustrated, tired, and sad that nothing could ever go right in her life. If she wasn't battling a deranged hybrid wanting to sacrifice her, then she was fending off a brother desperate to spill vampire blood.

Noticing a mark beneath the leather cuff filled with vervain, Bonnie furrowed her brows and slid it up his arm. Around Jeremy's wrist was what looked like a tattoo. She blurted out, "Jeremy got a tattoo?"

Both Damon and Elena looked at her like she was insane. When did he have time to get that? Between talking to his undead girlfriends and dying every other weekend?

Elena moved next to Bonnie to look at it, seeing that it looked like tree branches, sans leaves, extending upwards. It appeared unfinished, and even Damon had moved to get a closer look at it.

"Take that douche-y emo glove off." He ordered, referring to the black leather fingerless glove Jeremy was wearing.

Rolling her eyes a little, Elena reached for it, but as soon as her fingers touched it they singed in pain and she hissed, "It's covered in vervain…"

Bonnie took it off instead, tossing it aside as the three of them looked in awe at the odd tattoo on the top of his hand. It appeared to be three pitchforks of some sort all intersecting surrounded by twisted and tangled branched that extended to his wrist.

"Why do I get the feeling that that's not a part of his painted nails and pot smoking phase?" Damon quipped.

"Because it's not."

The three of them looked up at the unexpected voice, surprised to see Stefan standing in the kitchen, holding the bloodstained stake that had been lodged in Elena's back.

He tossed it across the room, Damon catching it easily, and continued, "Look at the mark on the end."

Sure enough, the same mark that was on Jeremy's hand was carved into the stake.

"What the hell do you know about it, baby brother?" Damon asked skeptically. His brother had spent the better part of his existence brooding in old libraries where he could avoid any human contact, and the rest of it was spent so high on human blood that he couldn't tell up from down. He didn't exactly have the life experiences that Damon had, therefore the knowledge that came along with being alive for so long.

Stefan explained, "I noticed the tattoo not too long ago before he started wearing the glove. At first I thought he had just gotten a tattoo and didn't want anyone to know, until I heard how hard he was taking it that Elena turned. And the design isn't exactly something conventional, so I did some research. It's called the Hunter's Mark. It's a symbol of the Brotherhood of the Five."

"English, Stefan." Damon goaded.

Sending a glare at his brother, he continued, "At any point in time, there are five people in the world with that tattoo. The brotherhood was formed by an ancient coven of witches to hunt vampires. Their strength rivals that of vampires, and they're ruthless. They are considered human only until that tattoo is finished, then while still mortal, they unlock their true power which could bring down even the oldest vampires. The worst part? The mark is completed by killing vampires."

Elena stared at him in shock, unable to comprehend how, out of all people, her brother had been chosen to be one of these hunters.

Stefan kept explaining, "Apparently, these hunters' main purpose isn't even to kill vampires. They thirst for the blood of the immortal, but their main purpose for creation was to hunt down and kill the legendary immortal Silas. Nobody seems to know where he is, only that once he's dead, The Five will lose their drive to kill vampires and return to their human abilities. The legend dates back over 2,000 years, that Silas was a powerful witch that created immortality for himself. Deemed unnatural by witches, they sealed him in a tomb to punish him for his sins and condemned him to death by The Five, once they find him. They are the only ones capable of killing him, though any that have even gotten close were killed by Silas's mind games before they got the chance to end him."

They all stared at Stefan in shock, absorbing the information. Damon narrowed his eyes, "And how did you figure all that out?"

"I told you, I did some research."

Eying him up and down, Damon instantly knew that Stefan never would have known where to start looking with that mark on Jeremy's hand, leaving him only one option. Damon groaned, "Oh Steffie, tell me you didn't."

"Didn't what?" He frowned, acting dumb.

Damon snorted, "I should have known that even after everything he did to you, you still wouldn't be on our side."

Realizing his cover was blown, Stefan hit back, "I am on your side, that's why I did it!"

Everyone's confusion was quickly answered when Damon shouted, "Since when is going to Klaus with our problems the right thing to do!?"