a/n: Thanks to everyone for the amazing reviews on my last chapter. I'm going to attempt to finish this fan fiction before the next season starts. Hopefully I'll be able to. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please remember to review!


Chapter Nine Partial Confessions

Slip in this certain knot of peace,
I'm keeping silent, keeping silent 'til in turn it keeps me,
Won't you remain with me?

-Oh Charitable Thief by O'brother

Caroline pushed her way into Bonnie's house and was greeted with silence. She hesitated long enough to make sure that Matt made it into the room before she disappeared up the staircase.

"Bonnie," she called as she dashed down the hallway. "Elena? Is anyone here?"

Cursing, she raked a hand through her long blond hair. She needed someone to talk to. Why was no one here?

She walked into Bonnie's room and frowned at the stillness of it. Slowly, she crossed the room, her shoes echoing slightly against the hardwood floor. A shiver raced down her spine as she pushed the thick curtains aside and let some light into the otherwise dark room. She had hoped to see someone in the backyard, but still, there was absolutely no one in view.

Frowning, she turned around and screamed.

"I'm sorry," Tyler spoke up. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Caroline offered him a smile that she hoped was sincere. "It's okay. I just didn't hear you." Caroline shook her head to try to clear it. "Where is Bonnie?"

"She's trying to get a generator going so we can take turns charging our cell phones. She's afraid we'll have to separate at some point and won't be able to communicate."

"That makes sense," Caroline replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. Despite the fact that Tyler was acting friendly, she had reserves against being alone with him while he was fighting his change. "I probably need to go check on Matt," she said as she vaguely pointed downstairs. She smiled at Tyler before she stepped around him and walked out of the room.

When she was in the hallway, she glanced back toward Tyler. He hadn't moved from his location and his dark eyes looked to her with confusion and a tint of warning. A shudder passed through Caroline's body before she turned back and walked down the stairs. Tyler was definitely freaking her out and she didn't want to take the chance of becoming his first meal.

Before she went back to Matt, she walked by the kitchen. Elena had placed the silver dagger Damon had given her on the counter, and right now, Caroline didn't want to take a chance of being hurt. She picked up the blade, but dropped it quickly.

She screamed as she looked down at the cut that she had inadvertently given herself. Blood flowed freely from the wound and it didn't appear to be slowing down.

Quickly, she raced over to the sink and ran water over her cut. As the cleansing water washed away the blood, part of the pain dispersed. After a few seconds of letting the water clean the wound, she grabbed a dish cloth from a nearby drawer and pressed it to her hand.

"Are you okay?" Matt said as he entered the room. Caroline turned to him fluidly and offered him a weak smile.

"I was spooked and tried to grab that knife," she replied as she motioned toward the dagger. "I was in such a hurry that I didn't pay attention to where I was grabbing it."

Frowning, Matt grabbed the blade and walked over to the sink. He took a few seconds to clean the metal before he dropped the knife in the sink and turned to Caroline.

"Let me see it."

Slowly, Caroline pulled back the cloth and revealed the wound.

Even Caroline had to bite back a gasp when she saw the cut on her hand. She had expected to see a deep gash, but instead, she saw a small scratch.

"There was so much blood," Caroline breathed as she held up her hand and turned it over. After examining it for a few moments, she looked to Matt with wide eyes. "I think my hand healed itself."

"What?" His blue eyes searched her for answers.

She held up her hand for him to see the small scar that remained. "Something's happening to me Matt." Her voice was scared.

"We'll figure it out," he said as he wrapped his arms around Caroline. And despite the fact that she wanted to believe him, she simply couldn't. Nothing about this felt right.

She collapsed into his embrace and silently hoped that for once, she was wrong.


Bonnie stood in her garage and attempted to move the generator a few more feet toward the door. A smile crossed her lips as she watched Tyler enter the over-packed room.

"Do you need some help?" he asked.

"I would love some," Bonnie replied as she motioned toward the generator. "I'm not sure how long we'll be able to run this anyway. I'm afraid to run it after dark. There's no telling who or what would destroy it."

Nodding, Tyler picked up the generator like it was nothing. "Where do you want to put this?"

"In the backyard," Bonnie shrugged. "I don't really want people to know we have one, but it needs to be outside. I've read far too many horror stories about people dying when they tried to use one indoors."

Tyler smiled at that. But as he sat the generator on the soft grass, a frown crossed his face. "I think something is happening to Caroline."

"What?" Bonnie arched an eyebrow as she crossed her arms.

"I feel drawn to her," Tyler replied truthfully. "And I feel like I need to prove myself against her. I know that sounds odd, but my werewolf side feels connected to her."

"Connected how exactly?" Bonnie didn't look thrilled.

"Not romantically connected," he said slowly as he ruffled his dark hair. "It's more like she's powerful too. Sometimes, I feel like we're competing for the same thing and we can't exist in the same place together." Then he laughed. "How ridiculous does that sound?"

"Maybe whatever is growing inside of her is evil in nature too," Bonnie replied. Without even realizing it, she had closed the distance between them. Now, she gently squeezed his hand for support. "I plan on doing whatever it takes to make sure we all make it through this."

Tyler was no longer simply looking at her, but instead was gazing into the depths of her green eyes. Bonnie saw surprise and a spark of revelation shine behind his dark orbs as he took a hesitant step toward her. For a second, she thought about retreating, but she stood her ground and looked at him in wonder.

He held both her hands now and used that connection to slowly move forward. When he noticed that Bonnie wasn't going to move away, he leaned in hesitantly and gently kissed her on the lips.

At first, Bonnie felt her body freeze from the shock of it all. Then, she leaned into the kiss and lost herself in the contact. Although she had always found Tyler attractive, his attitude had prevented her from ever imagining a relationship with him. But now, she didn't see him as the rich jerk she had always thought he was. Now, he was a boy lost in the depths of a curse that he couldn't completely control. And underneath it all, Bonnie liked what she saw.

When Bonnie broke the contact, she offered him a sad smile. "We need to grab all of our phones and charge them before the sun goes down," she said before she glanced to the sky. It was late in the afternoon and if they didn't hurry, they were going to run out of time.

"Yeah." His eyes looked sad. "I want to be able to enjoy these last few hours of light."

Bonnie wrapped him up in her arms. "You're not the monster the werewolf tries to make you."

"I hope not," he replied sadly. Bonnie pulled away and gave him a quick kiss before she turned and disappeared inside.


"Damon, we have to go," Elena said impatiently as she glanced to the window at the end of the upstairs hallway in the Salvatore Manor. The sun was already starting to set and they were still a good distance away from Bonnie's house. She had no desire to be trapped underwater again.

"I'm trying to hurry Elena," Damon snapped from inside his room. Sighing, Elena leaned into the doorframe and glanced at the area around her.

"How would you ever find anything in here?" she said as she crossed her arms. "Where did you get all this stuff?"

"Here and there," he replied distractedly as he threw clothes from his closet onto his bed. "I swear it was here before Elena."

"And you've never explained what the 'it' was." She sat down on the edge of his bed and watched him continue to rummage through his clothes.

"It was a necklace Emily gave me," he said slowly. "I never thought it was of any importance until now. Maybe it was part of another device she bewitched to use against vampires."

"Then why not just ask Bonnie about it? I want to be able to get to her house before night falls."

At that, Damon stopped throwing clothes and turned to face Elena. His blue eyes looked to her with something close to hope. "Let's just stay here tonight."

"What?" Elena gasped as she stood up. That was the last thing she had thought she would hear.

"It makes sense on multiple levels." He was almost rambling. "We can search the house for different things to use in this war. I'm sure some things have been left here that we could use. And we wouldn't have to worry about racing back to Bonnie's house." He grinned wickedly. "I could also use a snack."

A smile crossed her lips as Elena shook her head. In actuality, she didn't completely trust herself to be alone with Damon, but she understood the logic of what he was saying. "Okay," she nodded slowly.

Although Damon tried to hide it, Elena could see how happy he was that she had agreed to stay. She knew the dangerous waters she was sailing in and also knew she had to get out of the room.

"I'm going to go try to light the wood in the fireplace," she said as she vaguely motioned toward the door. "Just keep looking for your item."

"I will," he replied. Even as she left the room, Elena felt Damon's gaze on her. She tried to keep her breathing normal, but knew Damon could sense the uneven beat her heart played. Although she kept telling herself that she was still with Stefan, a darker part reminded her that she didn't even know if he was still alive. She tried to shake off that darkness, but it clung to her tightly.

It didn't take her long to light the wood and then she was left with nothing really to do. She rubbed her arms to try to bring some warmth to her body, but even that didn't help. Sighing, she walked over to the couch and tried to think of something useful she could do.

She held her cell phone up and frowned at the small amount of battery power she had left. She desperately needed to change it, although she knew it would have to wait until the morning. She just hoped that nothing happened during the night.

When she heard movement, she glanced up to see Damon enter the room. She offered him a small smile as he crossed the expanse and sat down beside her.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked softly.

"No," he shook his head. "I don't think it's here anymore."

"Then where is it?"

"That's a very good question," he sighed.

Nodding, Elena looked deep into his blue eyes. The silence lingered for a few minutes before she gathered up the courage to speak. "Do you ever think about our dance?"

"Yes," he replied as he gazed into her deep brown eyes. "That's one of the many times I've wanted to kill Stefan."

"And why was that?"

"Do I really need a reason to kill Stefan?" Damon grinned. But then he turned more serious and shrugged. "He let you down Elena. You didn't deserve that."

"I think I did," she whispered. "Sometimes I'm afraid I'm going to be exactly like her."

"Exactly like who?"

Before she could even speak, she could see the myriad of emotions that flashed across his blue eyes. She saw surprise and confusion, a hint of happiness, a wave of sadness, and then a flood of anger.

"You are not like her," Damon cursed. "The very fact that you have a soul proves that."

"Then what makes me different from her?" she asked softly. "I'm with Stefan and-"

She shook her head as her phone rang. She picked it up quickly and saw that the call was coming from Bonnie.

"Is everything okay?" she asked as she answered her phone.

"So many things have happened Elena," Bonnie replied. "Are you coming back here tonight?"

"No," Elena spoke as she glanced to Damon. It was easy to tell that he was listening in on the conversation. "What's going on?"

"Tyler is locked up in the basement and we have to keep watching Caroline because she wants to hurt him. We learned a little while ago that Caroline's body is healing itself when she gets hurt. That was a neat revelation. And to top it off, I just had a vision."

Elena's breathing hitched. "What did you see?"

"I saw them Elena," she spoke quickly. "I know where they are. I know where Stefan is."


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