(A/N: hello again everyone! Thank you so much for your reviews! It fuels my need to write more to this story :) Now, the next semester to school is coming up and the idiot I am, I signed up for Microbiology and Pharmacology, so pray for my mortal soul. Soooo I thought I would update at least 3 to 4 chapters before school started, just to give everyone something to tide you all over. That's the plan anyways, so sorry if I only get around to two chapters. Also the next chapter will be really short compared to the others, but I'll be uploading it almost right after this one. Going straight to the Masquerade with some extra bits with Damon, because after all, this is a love triangle and Elijah is going to need some tough competition.)

Chapter 7

Do I wanna Know?- Arctic Monkeys

There were few times that Elena woke before me. So when I woke to the smell of coffee instead of the sun sneaking through her curtains, I was mildly surprised. She sat at the side of the bed, one of our larger cups of coffee in her hands. Something was up, and my groggy sleep ridden head couldn't figure it out.

"Lena?" I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes the best I could.

"Hey," she said softly, handing me my coffee careful not to spill it on her bed. "I snuck it past Jenna, made just how you like." I smiled happily in response, sipping generously on the miracle of the beans that brought me back to life. Her face remained sad, and almost guilty. "How… how are you feeling?" she finally asked.

Ah. She was worried about me. Everything that happened last night rushed back to the forefront of my mind, and I had to sit on it for a second. I looked deeply into my beverage, willing it to give me the answers I needed. "Well… is John coming back?" That encounter had left me shaken, and I'll get over it eventually, but when someone that was supposed to be family tries to kill you, the cut runs deep.

"No," she shook her head vehemently. "Stefan and Damon made sure he'd leave town as soon as he's recovered. You won't ever have to worry about him again." She paused for a second, gauging my reaction. "Kyra, I am so, so sorry that you went through that last night. If I had lost you, I don't know what I would have done," she admitted out loud.

A tentative knock sounded at the door. I looked up to see the remorseful look of my little brother. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay Ky… I'm sorry about last night. "

"You're my little brother, all is forgiven. Now, I'll say this once, I'm fine guys. Promise. Now, I'm going to get up, and get ready to help you tackle the festival today. While I'm doing that, Lena, sister dear, please go for a walk with Jer and have a long conversation?" I pushed my siblings together. She still had to talk to him about being adopted, and I for the love of the all mighty, needed a shower. I scooted off the bed easily enough, careful not to spill the last of my precious substance and headed to the door. Jeremy stopped me for a moment to give me a hug.

"I'm glad you're all right," he whispered. The events of the night must have hit him pretty hard when he realized there was much, much more that happened than he knew. I hugged him back to give him the reassurance he needed and padded my way to my room, downing the rest of my life giver.

I shuffled down the hallway, stretching as I went. Please, whoever is out there listening, don't let today be a shit storm like yesterday. One day, just one itsy teeny bitty day that was relatively normal. Is that really so much to ask for? Like, I get that we're teenagers, and the life is supposed to feel like it's ending but come on. Am I in some prophecy that come my eighteenth birthday I'll be sacrificed to some Aztec or Mayan god?

"How are you?" asked a voice I didn't want to hear yet, let alone scare the ever living piss out of me.

"MOTHER FU- you know what? I don't know why I'm still surprised by this. Damon, go home," I stopped myself from disturbing the other members of the house hold. "Go deal with whatever wreckage Katherine seems to leave behind her," I waved my coffee mug at him before setting it down on my table, next to the giant to-go cup that mysteriously appeared there. I picked it up, narrowing my eyes on him. What, was this some form of apology, or more like a peace offering?

He went to sit on my bed and eyed me warily, just waiting for me to lose my shit again. "I uh, just wanted to let you know, John left town."

I sighed, walking toward him and I sat down next to him. "Thanks… Elena told me. Listen, about my… freakout last night. I wanted to say I'm sorry for taking it out on you."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders comfortingly. "Eh, it was a long night. Don't worry about it Sparky. So what are you up to today? Hanging out and recouping?"

I shook my head , picking myself back off my bed to do what I originally planned. "Nope. Gotta help Elena and Bonnie with the festival. I am, however, in desperate need of a shower."

"I could always join you," he winked suggestively at me.

"Funny. Now, go do something productive. Also, thank you for the coffee," I smiled at his usual flirtations. I thought he was going to leave, but his face told me there was something else going on. He hesitated, internally debating on telling me whatever it was.

"You're welcome, see you at the festival," he stated, obviously going with not telling me. Apparently we were keeping secrets again. How rude.

I sighed. I didn't like this. We had gotten close, and it wasn't like him not to tell me things. "Damon," I stopped him. "You know you can tell me anything right?"

He gave me his half-hearted half smile. "I know Sparky. We'll talk later, promise. Enjoy your day, you deserve to." Then he left. Somewhere along the line, he had become closer to me than most of my friends. I didn't know how or why, but something told me I wouldn't like what he wanted to talk to me about. Like an impending break-up speech, except we weren't dating. I knew I was being ridiculous, but it didn't stop the feeling in my gut.

That was how my morning went. I was still reeling from the night before, but I was a Gilbert. We got our shit together and moved on. I felt somewhat refreshed after the shower, and after putting on some makeup like it was my battle paint, I was ready to go. We stopped by Caroline's house to pick up some paperwork and details for everything in the fair and headed out.

Bonnie joined us at the school avoiding eye contact with me, and helped sort out the carnival prizes and games. I didn't talk to her much, I still had to wrap my head around the fact that her lying almost got me killed, and she needed to stew a little while longer. I wasn't ready to make nice yet. After that, we were like a well oiled machine. Where one thing went down, one of us had a backup plan. Bonnie even met a cute guy that handled our electric work and helped out majorly when the Karaoke machine went down. Stefan explained the best way to find out what Katherine wanted was to ignore her. She was the theatrical type and hated when she didn't have her audience's full attention. I wasn't sure ignoring her was the best plan. It seemed like something that would just make her angry and vengeful. Even with the sun shining, I still felt worried. The shoe was going to drop somewhere, I felt it. Maybe it was just from the curse of school festivals, like last year with Viki. I can't believe it's been a year already.

Then, like most of my feelings, I had to be right. I hated being right. Caroline showed up, more… forcefully chipper than usual. She just seemed more intense tonight, surveying the work we all put into the festival and rides, and her demeanor was just spookily on edge.

Damon and Stefan were doing their own little 'investigation' of Tyler's Uncle Mason. That, I agreed, was warranted. We needed to know what we were dealing with, especially with Katherine lingering somewhere in the shadows. It could have been coincidence that he came to town the same time she did, especially with the Mayor dying, but I had a hunch there was more to it. What I didn't agree with, however, was Damon compelling the guy Bonnie had started to flirt with to try to beat the shit out of Tyler. Knowing Tyler's past, not such a good idea.

I didn't want to believe in the dreadful emotion pooling in the pit of my stomach when I first saw Caroline. I didn't want anything to go wrong tonight. What I want, and what was going to happen, were two completely different things.

I stood next to Elena, trying to relax and help out with some prizes she fiddled with. My heart sank when Damon sauntered over with the 'we have a problem' look on his face. "Hey, I get with the mix up last night, I'm not the first person you want to see, but I need you both to come with me. Now," he stated, not leaving room for debate.

"Whatever it is Damon, we're busy," Elena sighed exasperated. She wasn't exactly thrilled that he kissed Katherine either, especially thinking that it was her.

"Yea, I'm gonna need you both to come with me right now," he pushed. His tone urged us both to look at each other and agree to follow him. We followed him into the usual meeting place, Alaric's classroom, and Stefan joined us shortly after. Then, the shit hit the fan.

"What do you mean she's a vampire?" I asked with a dangerous edge to my voice.

Stefan paced in front of the desks uneasily. "How did this happen?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, I fed her blood, and Katherine must have killed her. So… a plus b equals…." He trailed the last sentiment.

"But why?!" Elena asked. I could hear the despair at the thought of her friend being forced into this lifestyle lingering in her voice. If I didn't like Katherine before, I hated that bitched now.

"Because Katherine is a nasty, manipulative, little slut," Damon replied with acid in his words. I stared at him for a moment. That's the something else he wasn't telling me. Something else had happened between them last night.

"And she said, "Game on?""Stefan asked with his arms crossed, one of his hands moving to emphasis him trying to wrap his head around the situation. "I mean what does that even mean?"

"It means she's playing dirty, and she wants us to know," Damon let his emotionless mask rise.

"But why Caroline?" Elena questioned, hoping the vampires that knew Katherine would at least have an idea.

Damon huffed out in his feigned indifference voice, "I don't know."

"Caroline must be going completely out of her mind right now. She has no idea what's happening to her," Stefan spoke up again, assessing the situation.

"Oh I think she does," Damon stated, showing a tinge of annoyance at being thrown across a hallway by her. "All of my compulsions started to wear off the minute she was in transition."

"Then we need to find her," I urged.

"Yup," he popped the 'p' sound longer than necessary. With his arms crossed and eyes vaguely spaced out, he added, "and kill her." He made it sound like it was the easiest thing to do.

I shook my head vigorously, mirroring my sister's thoughts. "We are not killing Caroline."

"You can't do that Damon," Elena agreed horrified at the idea.

"She knows who we are, she's a liability," he shrugged us off. He looked to me, thinking he could try reasoning with me. "We gotta get rid of her."

"Or, show her the ropes and how not to kill people. She doesn't deserve this Damon," I glared hard at him.

Stefan leaned forward from his spot, "Damon, absolutely not."

Damon sighed, but continued anyway. "Need I remind you of the tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donavan? Yea, Caroline of all people will not make it as a vampire." He scrunched his face at the thought. "Her mother's a vampire hunter. Guys, come on," he began to talk with his hands. "We all know how this story is going to end. So let's just flip to the last chapter and-"

"That's not an option," Elena's voice sounded gravely. Her eyes watered slightly trying to hold back the tears.

"She is nothing like Vicki, Damon," I crossed my arms while leaning against a desk. "Vicki was an addict, Caroline is anal retentive, not the same."

"No?" Damon paused, sending his icy blue gaze toward his brother. "Brother? Your silence is deafening Stefan. Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki?" I shot Damon another heated glare. This wasn't the same. This wasn't going to end the same way. I wouldn't let it. Damon sent a sarcastic scoff our way. "Talk about a town where history repeats itself." Raising his eyebrows toward Stefan he added, "You know I'm right."

Stefan walked forward, pausing in front of his brother while pointing a finger at his nose. "We're not gonna kill her."

Elena walked after her boyfriend, and I had begun to follow suit. Before I could make it out the door, Damon caught me by my wrist. "Kyra, come on, you know what I have to do."

I shook my head. "No, Damon, I don't. You don't get to take my friend from me. You don't get to decide what she can and can't handle. You don't know her like I do. Got it?"

Damon rolled his eyes at my display of anger and frustration. He brought my face into his hands and gazed deeply into my green eyes. "Because of how close you two are, you realize she can and more often than not will hurt you? She won't mean it, and it will kill her on the inside. You'll end up dead, and she'll be wishing she was," Damon advocated his reasoning. He pulled away, letting go of my face, and his emotionless mask that he usually held slipped for a moment. Damon Salvatore looked… sad. Like he was about to do something he would regret. "I can't let that happen Ky."

Unfortunately, I didn't get speed in my supernatural arsenal. So when he vamped out and locked me in the class room, I was a little pissed. I hit the door, almost breaking the glass. I even threw my shoulder into it, and it didn't budge. Finally, I looked around the class, pulling my long wavy hair into a high pony tail for what I was about to do, I opened the window. That jackass didn't think I'd just go out the window. Well good to know he didn't know me as good as he thought he did. I lowered myself carefully out of the window, barely stumbling over my feet when I hit the ground.

I needed to find Caroline and fast. If Damon found her first… I don't think I could ever forgive him. Alright Kyra… if you were a vampire Caroline, where would you be? Boys, so boyfriend, and that would mean Matt. If I found Matt, hopefully I would find Caroline. Matt and Caroline would be doing couple-y things, so…. Ferris Wheel? If I went the right way, I could cut through the games on the way over. I took off at a dead sprint toward the games. After frantically searching, my eyes fell on a dejected looking Matt with his hands in his pockets. Without Caroline.

"Matt!" I called out, jogging up to him and losing my wind. "Have you seen Caroline?"

"Yea, she went off that way. Can you tell her to call me when she's done being weird? I really need to tell her something and I didn't get the chance to tonight…" Matt pointed me toward the parking lot. I gave him a quick nod and went off again while he went into the school.

Racing against time, I nearly cried in relief when I saw the familiar blonde head by the cab of a pickup truck, but my heart plummeted when I saw the other familiar face next to her, stake in hand. "Damon, No!" I shouted, not stopping in my sprint. Another set of familiar faces made their way there, one of them using his vampire speed to stop his brother.

"Get away from me! You killed me!" Caroline cried out at the sight of my sister.

Elena shook her head, trying to calm our friend down. "No, that wasn't me. That was a woman named Katherine."

"Why did she look exactly like you?! What's wrong with me?!" Caroline broke down in hysterics, unable to help the emotions running through herself. "Why would she do this to me?" she sobbed.

I stepped in between her and Damon, keeping them between myself the remainder of the time. "Stefan, Elena, go get her cleaned up," I spoke with a hardened tone, my eyes never leaving Damon.

"She's going to die. It's just a matter of time," Damon rolled his eyes at my behavior.

"Yea, maybe so, but its not gonna happen tonight," Stefan told him, grabbing Caroline's hand to lead her away from the public area.

"Oh yea, it is," Damon nodded toward us, eyes narrowed in on his target. If I didn't know Damon well enough, things could have ended up a lot differently.

Damon picked up his stake off the ground with his inhuman speed, and in that time I threw myself in between him and Caroline. I didn't flinch when he stopped the stake mere centimeters from my heart. I answered his gaze with a cold stare, our wills silently battling it out.

"Kyra, move," he stated, his eyes never leaving mine.

"She's my friend Damon. If you want to kill her, you'll have to kill me," I answered back, my hand finding Caroline's in a quick squeeze to tell her she'd be okay. I wasn't there for her for a while, but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to be there for her now.

Damon continued to stare me down with his icy eyes. At last, he broke. "Fine," he gritted out to me. "But whatever happens, it's on you," he pointed his stake at me. I let out my held breath, mouthing a 'Thank you' to him and I gave him a ghost of a smile.

Elena took Caroline with Stefan to go get Care cleaned up and calmed down. New vampire be damned, I was going to stay at Caroline's house tonight and help her through this. Just as they turned to leave, Bonnie waltzed up with a look of horror on her face. My sympathy for her was running rather low for her tonight, and she just kept making it run lower.

"No… you're not… you can't be," she whispered, the color drained from her face. She rushed forward to grab her arm, needing to use her witch sense to be sure she wasn't imagining things. The truth dawned on her face with her widened eyes and terror at the thought that one of her best friends was technically dead.

"Bonnie," Caroline breathed out, scared and unsure. It broke my heart. Bonnie shook her head, unable to wrap her mind around what happened as she pushed past to the bed of the pickup truck. "I… I… Oh god, Bonnie," Caroline nearly cried.

"Lena, help Stefan clean her up and keep a look out?" I lead them away from the scene. "I'll help take care of this."

Stefan nodded, gently taking Caroline's arm. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up," he told her gently. Good, they could handle that from here.

I noticed the boy in the back of the truck was the guy she had been flirting with earlier. I couldn't help but feel bad at this point. I stepped toward her, letting everything sink in for a moment. Even pissed, she was still my friend, and she needed me. Damon walked off to grab a shovel, and Bonnie still couldn't fathom what occurred tonight.

"I can't believe this is happening," she sniffed.

"Come on, don't pout about it, we have a body to bury," Damon inserted his usual un-needed snark, resting his arm on the shovel. I threw him another glare in response. Let the girl mourn for a minute. "What?" he eyed me. "I thought you were calling the shots?" I didn't answer him. What did I know about hiding a body? "No? Sucks to be you buddy," he spoke to the once living boy, putting his shovel down into the truck.

Damon dropped to the ground suddenly, groaning and crying out in pain. I turned to see Bonnie using her power to down him. The gas hose turned on behind us, making its way toward Damon. Her eyes were cold and unfeeling.

"I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt Damon," she spoke with a deadly calm while the gasoline poured faster toward him.

"I didn't do this!" he grunted out, writhing in pain.

"Everything that happens is your fault Damon," she yelled at him angrily, tears running down her face.

"Bonnie? What the hell are you doing Bonnie?!" I cried out when she set the gas aflame. How dare she?! After the last two days, a different fire sparked within me. One of unbridled rage. The flames divided us, but I no longer cared. I jumped through and struck my hand solidly across her face.

The flames died, and she turned to me, hurt written all over her face. "Why are you defending him Kyra?!" she yelled at me.

"Because it wasn't his fault that Caroline was in a car accident, Bonnie," I seethed. "You agreed to give her his blood. He didn't kill her. How dare you just blame everything on him?!" I shouted at her, fists clenched at my sides. "He's not the reason I almost died yesterday," I stared at her coldly. "You lied to us. You put innocent lives in danger just as much as anyone else had. You didn't give anyone any warning. Damon tried to save the whole town yesterday, did you know that? And he almost died doing it. So before you go blaming him, why don't you go look in a God damned mirror," I spat at her, nearly frothing at the mouth in rage. "I wanted to let it go. I wanted to overlook the fact that my life didn't matter to you, but when you start spouting out that you had no part in any of this?" I waved to the truck. "Then you have another thing coming."

"Kyra… I-I do care. I didn't mean, I didn't know-" she stuttered, unable to process what I yelled at her.

I ignored her and walked toward Damon, helping him off the ground. "Bonnie, I don't give a flying fuck. Why don't you go check on Caroline? She's supposed to be our friend, or does that suddenly not matter anymore either?" I stared at her over my shoulder. "Or better yet, just go home. Caroline needs understanding and support."

"Kyra… I-" she started, still shocked over my outburst.

I raised a hand after helping Damon back up. "Stop. Bonnie, you're my friend, just… go home. Wrap your head around everything and we'll talk later." I didn't watch her leave, I just turned my attention to Damon, patiently waiting for his guidance.

He sighed, running a hand through his shaggy hair. "Why don't you go check on Caroline? I'll take care of this." I went to protest, but he shoo'd me off with a wave of his hand.

I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. I made my way to my sister, her face betraying her whirl wind of emotions.

"One normal night was too much to ask for wasn't it?" she asked me, her stare far off into her own world.

"Honestly, I don't think anything is ever going to be normal again. I'll stay with Care tonight," I hugged my sister lovingly. I can take it over for one night.

She shook her head. "No, Kyra, she'll be dangerous. She doesn't know how to control herself yet."

"And that's why I'm doing it. She's still our Caroline, Elena. She's just amplified. She needs us more than ever, and I'm going to help her stay connected to her humanity. Besides, she shouldn't be alone tonight," I reasoned, showing my sister I wouldn't change my mind. She finally gave in to my whims, not that she had a choice, when Stefan and Caroline emerged from the bathroom. After many deep breathes, we finally guided her home with the promise of my return.

I stopped off to home to grab my clothes for Caroline's house and decided to make a pit stop to see a certain someone. Someone I had to thank, and also give shit to for locking me in the class room. I made my way up the steps of the boarding house, smoothing out my shirt, and raising a fist to knock. I heard a crashing sound from within, making me change from politeness to worry. I threw open the door to rush inside, only to come face to face with Elena. Not really Elena, just her look alike. Her initial shock of me wore off when I took a full look at her disheveled appearance.

I looked behind her to see a shirtless Damon, with an angry look in his eye. Further gazing brought my eyes to his trousers, mostly removed and haphazardly hanging off his hips. Why did the scene make me so… mad?

"Kyra? What are you-" Damon started, giving Kat enough time to bullet around me before I could set her on fire with my ball of light.

I cleared my throat, trying to regain my senses. "I uh… just wanted to say thanks, for not killing Caroline and me… guess I came at a bad time," I choked on a half-hearted chuckle.

"Kyra, this isn't what it looks like," Damon tried to reason, like when he thought he was kissing my sister on the porch.

"What? Did you think that was Elena too?" I raised a brow, my sarcastic mask falling back into place. "Either way Damon, if you want to get your heart walked all over again because you think Katherine isn't going to leave you in the dust again, then be my guest. That's on you. Just stop dragging me into it," I turned to leave.

Damon's hand gripped my wrist firmly and he searched for words to say to me. "Kyra… I am not a good person, and you deserve much more than me."

I yanked my arm away from him the hardest I could. "So, what? You're breaking off our friendship? Let me guess, is it because Katherine is in town and paying attention to you after leaving you for almost two hundred years? That's rich," I rolled my eyes.

"I loved Katherine. So stop sticking your nose in places it doesn't belong," he glared at me icily. A cool wave of hurt washed over my heart.

So that was how we were going to end things? I shifted my weight between my feet, my arms crossed over my chest in an effort to protect myself from the betrayal that seemed to hit me harder than I could have ever expected, but should have anticipated coming from Damon. I never should have gotten so comfortable with Damon like I did.

"I guess you got what you came here for then, so have a nice life," I replied just as icy. "Without me in it."

I ran out of the door, almost as fast as Katherine did, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I thought I heard Damon call after me, but at that point I didn't care. I rushed haphazardly to Caroline's, tears still unshed, until I walked through to door. Her new vampire senses alerted her to my arrival and with one look at me she crushed me into one of her patented Care Hugs. So, I cried. I cried for her and I cried for how my life had drastically changed. I couldn't ask for a normal day could I? Everyone safe and sound, nothing killing or trying to kill my friends. I should have known better, but I guess that comes with being supernatural yourself… even if I still don't know what exactly I am.