Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries, some dialogue used, or anything else you may recognize.

Bonnie's house, September 25th

8:47 P.M.

"So you're trip to Denver was a bust?" Bonnie asked as she flipped through the grimoire.

"More than a bust." Damon muttered bitterly.

He and Elena had gone down to Denver to see if Jeremy could help them get in touch with Rose's ghost to find out who turned her only to find out Kol had been posing as a friend of Jeremy's. Kol then proceeded to attack Damon with a baseball bat. They followed Rose's tip to Mary Porter only to find out Kol had killed her before they had arrived. To top it all off, Damon found out that the only reason that Elena drug him along on the trip was so that she could figure out if she had feelings for him, then she had the audacity to say she didn't know if she did after she basically molested him against a hotel wall. Needless to say, Damon wasn't having the best week.

"Well, what do we know so far?" Bonnie asked trying to gather information.

"We know that I obviously turned Caroline and your mom," Damon began, "Katherine turned me and Stefan, Rose turned Katherine, and Rose was turned by Scary Mary."

"And we have no idea who turned Mary." Bonnie said softly.

"Nope." Damon said.

"And Silas still has your Stake." Bonnie mumbled with a sinking feeling.

"This means that, whoever he decides to kill, there's a one-in-four chance that they're the sire of my bloodline." Damon said bluntly.

Bonnie shut the grimoire with a sigh before turning towards Damon.

"Well there's nothing in here about a spell that tells us who sired a vampire." Bonnie informed him.

"Well so much for that theory." Damon grumbled as he hopped off her bed and walked towards her bedroom door.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help." Bonnie apologized.

Damon paused as his hand enclosed around the doorknob and turned his head to face her. She was surprised by the amount of sincerity on his face.

"Well, Witches can only do so much, right?" Damon said lightly before opening the door.

Damon was unsurprised to see Caroline and Elena on the other side of the door. He had heard them approach the door. Knowing Caroline, she had convinced Elena to spy on his and Bonnie's conversation before they even reached the door.

"Damon, we didn't know yo…" Caroline trailed off at Damon's 'I know you're lying' face.

"I was just leaving anyway. Caroline, Elena." Damon said as he walked past them.

Caroline walked inside Bonnie's room as he walked past them. Elena however, hesitated and looked at Damon as he walked down the stairs. After some hesitation, she turned and ran after Damon. She managed to catch up to him just as Damon walked off the front porch.

"Damon wait." She told him.

Damon turned around and looked at her with a cold look in his eyes that made her cringe.

"What now Elena?" He asked sarcastically.

"Damon you have every right to be mad at me, but please don't shut me out." She all but begged.

"Well Elena, like I told you before, I don't need another Katherine," Damon told her causing her to step back like she'd been slapped, "she strung me along just like you're doing now. Except this time, I have no intention of being someone's boy toy."

With that said Damon turned around and walked over to his Camaro. He got in, started it, and drove off. Elena stared after the blue vehicle for a moment, guilty, hurt, and conflicted before walking back inside. She walked up the stairs and into Bonnie's bedroom to see her best friends staring at her expectantly.

"He's mad at me." She said at their probing expressions.

"And you're surprised why considering the way you treated him in Denver?" Bonnie scoffed.

Elena and Caroline looked at her in surprise. Damon hardly talked with anyone about personal issues, much less feelings. Yet he had talked about Denver with Bonnie. Had they somehow entered into a parallel universe?

"Since when are you two besties?" Caroline asked curiously.

"We learned that we're more alike than we first thought." Bonnie said simply.

Elena and Caroline exchanged a curious glance but decided to change the subject.

"So you asked Jamie to the dance huh?" Caroline asked coyly.

"It's no big deal." Bonnie tried to brush it off.

"Of course it's a big deal! Tyler's back in town and your moving on with your romantic life. So Elena, since we both have dates, why don't you ask Stefan to the dance?" Caroline suggested hopefully.

As Elena looked unsure, Caroline turned to ask Bonnie for a help only to see Bonnie glaring daggers at her. The phrase 'if looks could kill' flashed through her mind.

"Don't do that Caroline." Bonnie hissed at her.

"Do what?" Caroline asked confused.

"Try to manipulate her." Bonnie said.

"I'm not trying to manipulate Elena!" Caroline shouted offended as Elena looked at them both in shock.

"Yes you are," Bonnie argued, "you're trying to manipulate her into making the choice you think she should make."

Bonnie then turned towards Elena. Elena was surprised by the determined, almost angry look on the witch's face.

"Elena if you take Caroline's advice and ask Stefan, especially after your little road trip, then you are basically just slapping Damon and everything he has done for you in the past five months right in the face." Bonnie told her angrily.

Gilbert house

5:30 P.M.

Alaric was grading some papers in the kitchen when he heard Elena come down the stairs. He stood up and walked into the living room to see her dressed in typical 1920's clothing.

"Are you sure you still want to go? I mean, show up at a dance dateless is one way to become a social pariah." Alaric told her.

"I promised Caroline I'd go to the dance, I think she's hoping that Stefan ad I will restart our relationship tonight." Elena admitted.

"Well you might want to tell her that it's not her choice, it's yours." Alaric said annoyed at Caroline's interference in Elena's love life.

"Alaric," Elena began hesitantly, "do you think I'm stringing Damon along?"

"You're not going to like my answer." Alaric warned her.

"Please Ric, I need your advice." She pleaded.

Alaric sighed. "Each time you let him get closer to you; you give him hope that you could love him. That hope keeps him coming back to you again and again. If you don't feel that way about him then set him free, otherwise you're just going to hurt him even more in the long run. So, my answer is yes, I do think you're stringing him along."

"Well thanks for your honesty." Elena muttered as the guilt she was already feeling increased.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty but if you really care about him then you'll stop making him wonder whether or not you have feelings for him and just choose him or set him free." Alaric told her gently.

Elena nodded as she sighed. She walked over to the door and opened it but stepped back when she saw Meredith standing there.

"Meredith, what are you doing here?" Elena asked confused.

"She and I are going to hang out tonight while you're at the dance." Alaric told her.

"Well…have fun." Elena said awkwardly before walking past Meredith and towards her car.

Meredith waited until Elena had driven out of view before walking inside and closing the door. She turned towards Alaric with an unusually cold look on her face and in her eyes.

"Did you do as I asked?" 'Meredith' asked him with a harsh edge to her voice.

"I mixed the vial of Rebekah's blood into the tea she and I drank an hour ago before she got ready for the decade dance," Alaric explained obediently, "she didn't suspect a thing."

"Of course she didn't, you never suspect those close to you," Silas said with a smirk that told Alaric that he had experience in this matter, "take you for example. Damon and Elena were so desperate to get you back that it had never even occurred to them that I could have compelled you to do my bidding."

Alaric was silent, his mind completely overcome by the compulsion. The part of his mind that was free was ragging, screaming at him to call Damon so he could warn the others, but it was easily over powered by the compulsion.

"You know Alaric," Silas said as he stepped closer to him, "you have been a tremendous use to me, but you have outlived your usefulness…as a human. As a Vampire, however, you could provide a distraction for your little friends while I go about my business of destroying the Originals should I fail to do so tonight."

Silas reached for his left his left hand, twisting the Gilbert ring of and putting it away in his pocket. Silas then reached up and cupped the sides of Alaric's face. Before Alaric knew what was happening, Silas had snapped his neck and watched as his limb body fell to the floor.

Salvatore tomb

6:08 P.M.

Silas walked inside Tomb, quickly finding the pot he needed to perform his task. Silas walked over to the pot, reached inside his jacket pocket, took out the Gilbert ring, and dropped it in the jar. Silas kept his hand over the pot and then made a fist with it. The Gilbert ring burst into flames for a moment before it completely melted into a small puddle. Silas took out the stake he had stolen from Damon and placed the tip of it on the puddle that was once Alaric's ring. He took it out with the puddle sticking to the stake unnaturally. As Silas turned the stake upside down, the puddle began dripping down the sides of the stake, encasing it completely.

Silas gave a wicked smirk. At last, the ultimate weapon for destroying the vampire race for the most powerful supernatural creature on the planet.

Gilbert house

6:43 P.M.

Damon walked inside the house. It's not like it would bother anyone really, Elena and Jeremy were at the Decades dance and Ric was here alone. He'd like to say that he was here to keep his best friend company, and twenty minutes ago he would have said that. However, Liz had called him and informed him that a stash of Blood bags had gone missing from the Hospital tonight. Since he had resupplied his stash earlier in the weak, Damon could think of only one person who wanted blood that much.

"Ric, we've got another Silas problem!" Damon called out.

There was no response. Damon frowned, Ric normally would've at least yelled down to him. He listened and realized that he couldn't hear a heartbeat. With a feeling of dread, Damon started walking farther inside the house when he spotted a pair of boots coming out of the kitchen. Damon blurred over to see that the boots belonged to Alaric who, to Damon's horror, had no heartbeat. Damon kneeled down and started shaking him by the shoulders.

"Ric, wake up buddy! Ric, Ric!" Damon shouted in a panic.

Ric eyes shot open and he gasped heavily, his breathing coming out in sharp breaths. A relieved Damon helped him sit up as he caught his breath.

"What happened to you?" Damon asked him.

Alaric was about to respond that he didn't know when the memories came flooding to him. He was disoriented for a moment before he was able to collect himself.

"Silas," Alaric said, "he's had me compelled since you rescued me. I've been passing information to him and doing his dirty work the entire time. He gave me a vial of Rebekah's blood and I mixed it into a pot of tea Elena and I had earlier."

"Wait you mean that you're…" Damon trailed off.

"I'm in transition." Alaric told him.

"What is Silas after, do you know?" Damon questioned.

Alaric sighed before telling him what Silas's plan was.

Mystic Falls high school

7:15 P.M.

Caroline was having one of the best times of her life. Tyler was back in town and dancing with her, though she wasn't too fond of his jealously regarding Klaus. She noticed that Elena was standing over by the punch bowl with Jeremy and Matt and Stefan was across the room talking to some students. Bonnie's scolding on Elena's treatment of Damon had obviously caused Elena to not ask Stefan, unfortunately in her opinion. Tyler suddenly stopped dancing and looked over her shoulder. Confused, Caroline followed his gaze and saw what had caught his attention, or rather who.

Klaus stood there, looking rather dashing in a pure white 1920's suit, as much as she hated to admit it. His attention was not on her, for once, but rather on her boyfriend.

"Where have you been, Mate?" He asked lowly.

"I just got back in town." Tyler told Klaus evasively.

"I don't recall giving you permission to leave in the first place." Klaus told him coldly.

Caroline looked up at Tyler to see that he was obviously nervous. Tyler had to maintain the allusion that he was still sired to Klaus, so he had to keep his obvious dislike for the Original hybrid hidden. Klaus walked over to them slowly.

"Do mind if I cut in?" Klaus asked.

"Yes, we do." Caroline told him curtly.

Klaus gave an insistent look to Tyler. Tyler didn't want to, but he knew he had to appear like he was still sired.

"No, it's fine." Tyler said as he reluctantly released Caroline.

As he stepped back from Caroline, she turned to fully face Klaus with an angry look on her face. Klaus was momentarily struck by how beautiful she looked while angry.

"Why do you always have to prove you're the Alpha male?" She angrily demanded.

"I don't have to prove anything love, I am the Alpha male." He told her smugly.

She scoffed as he held out a hand to her.

"One dance love? I promise I don't bite." Klaus asked her softly.

Caroline looked back at Tyler for a moment before reluctantly taking his hand. As he led her a little away from Tyler, she saw him smile. Not that evil smile that she had seen him give his enemies, but a true genuine smile of happiness.

She hated him. She really, really hated him. That's what she told herself. So why did she have the tingly feeling of electricity coursing through her body when she was in his arms.

"You would have loved the twenties Caroline. Girls were Reckless, sexy, fun. They used to literally dance until they dropped." Klaus told her a laugh visible in his voice.

"I don't suppose that ever happened to their dance partners?" Caroline asked him sarcastically.

"You should be nicer to me, I'm leaving town tomorrow." Klaus told her.

She looked at him surprised. It was what they had all wanted since he had arrived in Mystic Falls eight months ago for the sacrifice. So now that he was actually leaving…why was she so bothered by it?

"I'd invite you to come with me but we both know you're not ready to accept my offer. Perhaps in a year or perhaps in a century, you'll turn up at my door wanting to see what the world has to offer. Mark my words, small town life, small town boy; it won't be enough for you." Klaus told her.

As Klaus twirled her around, He almost jumped when he noticed Damon standing behind Caroline. Caroline, noticing his gaze, turned around and spotted the leather-clad Vampire.

"We have a problem." Damon told them.

Alaric's classroom

7:25 P.M.

Damon, Elena, Matt, Jeremy, Stefan, Tyler, Bonnie, Caroline, Klaus, and Jamie were in the history classroom waiting for Damon to explain the situation.

"Silas has had Alaric compelled since I rescued him and Rebekah's been compelled since the night of the ball," Damon told them to their horror, "he took Alaric's ring and is planning to bind it to the White Oak stake he has to make it indestructible."

"Then let's go out there and find him." Klaus said as blurred out of the classroom.

After a few moments, he blurred back in.

"There's a line of salt outside and I can't get past it." Klaus explained.

"Silas trapped us in here." Stefan realized.

"But why?" Matt asked confused.

"So he can bind the ring to the stake." Stefan explained.

"No…it's because he's here." Damon realized with a feeling of dread.

"What?" Elena asked confused.

"He's already bound the ring to the stake; he trapped us here so that he could kill Klaus and Rebekah." Damon explained.

"Who's trying to kill us?"

Everyone turned around to see Rebekah walking into the room. Before anyone could react, Klaus blurred over to her and stabbed the White Oak dagger in her chest. Rebekah gasped in pain and shock before her skin turned grey and her eyes closed. Klaus caught her before she fell to the ground. He picked her up and laid her on a pair of desks before taking the dagger out of her chest.

"That should take care of the compulsion." Klaus said as he pocketed the dagger.

"Maybe we should call Ric so we can keep an eye on him." Jeremy suggested.

"That's not a good idea Jer." Damon told him.

"Why not?" Elena inquired.

"…Because he's in transition." Damon managed to get out.

"What!?" Elena and Jeremy shouted in union as everyone looked at him in shock.

"Silas gave him a vial of Rebekah's blood. He mixed it into the tea that he and Elena had before the dance. After Elena left, Silas showed up and snapped his neck." Damon explained.

"You mean I have Vampire blood in my system?" Elena asked in horror.

"Yeah." Damon nodded.

"Wait, you just left him at home alone? He could lose control and go on a killing spree!" Elena shouted at him.

"I locked him in Jeremy's room, locked all the windows, and locked the front door." Damon assured her.

"Let's focus on Silas now everyone." Klaus told them annoyed.

"So what do we do?" Jeremy asked.

"Well Bonnie here is going to try to undo the spell," Klaus told him as everyone turned their attention to him, "Tyler is going to stand guard over Bonnie and my sister, all humans are going to stay here, and the rest of us are going to search the school in pairs. Stefan and Caroline will search the dance to see if they are all human and Damon and I will search the school."

Mystic Falls, East Wing

7:31 P.M.

Damon and Klaus were walking down the hall when Damon's cell phone rang. Damon flipped his phone open and immediately answered once he saw who it was.

"How are you feeling buddy?" He asked.

"Weaker and weaker by the minute." Alaric told him.

"Hold on Ric, I'll be there soon with Elena and Jeremy." Damon told him before hanging up.

"You're wasting time talking on the phone when we could be finding Silas?" Klaus growled irritably.

"Well maybe if you had any friends you wouldn't feel that way!" Damon snapped at him.

Klaus, seeming hurt, glared at Damon and they continued their search in silence.

At the dance

7:37 P.M.

Stefan and Caroline were walking through the dance floor; sniffing everyone to see if they were really human. Once they were off the floor, they turned towards each other with mirror expressions of worry on their faces.

"We've walked up and down the dance floor three times, Silas isn't here." Stefan said frustrated.

"Then where the hell is he?" Caroline asked in exasperation.

Alaric's classroom

7:41 P.M.

Tyler was pacing back and forth as Bonnie continued to try and break the spell keeping the vampires inside the school. The four humans were all sitting at desks; Elena and Jeremy were worrying about Alaric, Matt wondering how his life got so complicated, and Jamie wondering how Bonnie put up with all the supernatural crap in her life. Hearing footsteps, they all turned to see Alaric walk into the room.

"Alaric, how'd you get out of Jeremy's room and what are you even doing here?" Elena asked as she and Jeremy ran over to him.

"I lost and busted down the door. I completed the transition by drinking some of the blood Damon's been keeping in the fridge," Alaric told them, "I figured you guys could use some help with Silas so I came over here."

"That's a lie."

Everyone turned to see Damon and Klaus walking back into room with Stefan and Caroline behind them.

"I just talked to Ric ten minutes ago and he told me he was getting weaker and weaker," Damon told them, "there's no way he could have busted down the door, completed the transition, and made it here in that time."

Elena and Jeremy began backing away from Silas as Tyler stepped in front of them. Silas looked towards the four vampires and smirked.

"Well Klaus, this saves me the trouble of tracking you down." Silas told the hybrid.

Seemingly out of where, Silas pulled out the now indestructible White Oak stake and launched himself at Klaus. Damon blurred over and tackled him from his right side, knocking the stake out of his hand. Silas and Damon wrestled on the ground as Silas noticed the stake began to levitate.

Damon and Silas stopped fighting and looked to see the Stake floating towards Bonnie, whose hands were outstretched towards the stake. The stake stopped just short of Bonnie's hands.

"What are doing?" Silas demanded.

"I'm teleporting this to the center of the earth, that way you'll never find it." Bonnie told him coldly.

Silas pushed Damon off of him and blurred past Tyler. He sped behind Elena and put her head in a neck lock and put his other hand on the side on the side of her head.

"Well here's the new plan Bonnie," Silas said darkly, "you're going to give me back the stake or I'll snap Elena's neck. Remember, she has Rebekah's blood in her system, so she'll come back as a vampire."

Everyone was frozen. No one knew what to do, they knew Elena didn't want to be a vampire, but if they gave Silas the stake back he could use it on the Originals. The choice was taken out of their hands when someone blurred over and snatched the stake away. Silas turned his head to see Stefan holding the stake out to him.

"Stefan!" Klaus growled.

"I'm sorry Klaus, but I will not allow Elena to become a vampire." Stefan told him.

Silas released Elena, grabbed the Stake, and blurred out the door faster than anyone could even blink.

Gilbert house

8:12 P.M.

Elena and Jeremy were talking with Alaric sitting on the Sofa when Damon and Stefan walked in, Damon with a blood bag in his hand. He handed the bag to Elena who held it out to Alaric.

"Please Ric." Elena pleaded.

"We need you." Jeremy told him sadly.

"Guys, it's his choice." Stefan told them.

As Elena and Jeremy turned to yell at him, Damon blurred around and slammed Stefan's back into a wall. Elena, Jeremy, and Alaric jumped in surprise.

"Shut up Stefan. You don't get to try and influence his choice like you did with me." Damon growled.

"Damon-" his brother cut Stefan off.

"Just because something involves Elena doesn't automatically mean you have a say in it! Just go home." Damon told him.

"Damon…" Stefan trailed off.

"Go. Home." Damon growled at him.

Stefan, seeing that his brother was quiet literally seconds away from ripping his heart out, walked out of the living room and out the door. Damon turned back towards the Gilberts and their Transitioning guardian.

"Ric, I can help you control the bloodlust but you have to make the choice to do this. Think about Elena and Jeremy." Damon told him.

Alaric stared at the blood bag for a moment before grabbing it out of her hand. He opened it up and brought it to his lips. AS he started to gulp the blood down, the veins under his eyes became visible and his eyes become completely red. As the blood bags become empty, he put it down and opened his mouth, revealing his fangs. He was a vampire now.

Salvatore Boarding house

8:49 P.M.

Damon and Alaric walked inside the house.

"Stefan's room is the first one on the right and mine's the last one on the left. The others are all yours, brother." Damon told him.

"Thank you Damon." Alaric told him before walking down the hall his duffel bag swung over his shoulder.

Damon heard someone come out of the parlor and turned to see Stefan walking towards him.

"So he decided to go through with it." Stefan said.

"For Elena and Jeremy." Damon nodded.

Stefan nodded then turned around to go to his room, no doubt to brood and write in his diary, sorry, journal.

"Stefan." Damon called out.

Stefan paused in mid-step and turned around to face his older brother.

"Something's been bugging me since you said that you wouldn't allow Elena to be a vampire." Damon told him.

"What that I wouldn't allow her to become a vampire?" Stefan asked sarcastically.

Damon stared at him for a long moment before he burst out in humorless laughter. Stefan stared at him angrily as Damon managed to gain control of his laughter.

"I'm sorry, but you really live in this big glob of black and white don't you?" Damon challenged him.

"Well you did force your blood down her throat." Stefan reminded him.

"So she wouldn't die in the sacrifice." Damon reminded him back.

"We had the potion from Elijah." Stefan argued.

"And what guarantee, besides Elijah's word, which we both know can sometimes be a bit questionable, that it would have worked? Come on Stefan, give me your full proof evidence that it would've worked." Damon challenged.

Stefan opened his mouth but no sound came out. He knew that, as much as he would like to say that there was proof that it would've worked, there had been no guarantee.

"Exactly Stefan," Damon told him, "it wasn't a choice between Elena being a human and Elena being a Vampire. It was a choice between Elena being a Vampire and no Elena at all. And if there had been no parent-saving-child spell, I would have gladly done it again, taken her hating me forever, so long as she survived to hate me."

Stefan starred at his brother surprised. He had always thought that his brother only claimed to love Elena to try and hurt him. But now, after hearing his passion in his argument saw clearly for the first time how deeply he loved Elena.

"But that's not what this about," Damon said, bring Stefan back to the present, "you said you wouldn't allow Elena to become a vampire. Now let's Elena's choice out of the equation for a minute, is that because you don't think she's cut out to be a vampire or because you can't love her if she is one?"

Stefan was silent for a moment, thinking over his words carefully.

"I'll always love her, but she's not meant to be that person…I don't want her to be." Stefan told him.

So basically, he could only love her as a human, Damon mused. Only one more thing to add to the long list of differences between them.

"I'm fine with her either way brother." Damon told him before turning his back on him and going to his room.

So there it is. I should have the next chapter up soon as it is already half way written. Leave all thoughts or comments in a review or PM me. Bye-bye everyone.