Chapter 11: From Here to There

"How does he know Katherine?"

That was the question that everyone wanted to know, yet no one had the answers. Taylor and Stefan were both one hundred percent sure that John was human, so there went the theory of Katherine being the one that turned him. They were missing something.

"I don't know Elena."

"What makes you think he does know, Taylor? How can you be so sure?"

Taylor listened to Stefan's calm voice, trying to reason everything out. But she knew he knew – she just did. "It was the way he reacted to me knowing her, what he tried to hinted at. And, I don't know, I just know."

Her sister shook her head. "This is too much."

And it was; too much drama, too many issues. When were things going to go back to normal again? For Taylor, it felt like never. She had Damon to deal with – and that in itself is a complete mess – and now she had both Katherine and uncle John to worry about.

"I know," she sighed.

Stefan, breaking the tension of the room and remembering the mystery behind why they had all been asked to come there, asked, "What was so urgent that you needed us here?"

For a brief moment there was a pause, and Taylor didn't know how to say what she wanted to say. "Uh… I called her today, Katherine."

"And?"

"And she's…here."

"Here," Elena gasped, obviously worried – and she had the right to be. If Katherine was in town, it meant she had something planned for everyone. "As in here in Mystic Falls?"

"Yes."

"What is she planning?"

"Honestly?" Taylor questioned, squeezing her eyes shut and taking a deep breath. "I don't know. I need to talk to her."

"You can't be thinking of going and looking for her."

The two sisters were locked in a stare. It was understandable, Elena's worry for her sister. All the stories she heard about Katherine portrayed her as some sinister vampire who wouldn't blink an eye at killing someone – and it didn't matter that Taylor had somehow befriended her. Taylor held back a sigh.

"I have to," she explained, standing up and walking over to the window. Taylor leaned her hand against the cold glass and gazed at nothing in particular. "After spending so much time with Katherine, I've gotten close enough to her to the point that I can understand her and figure her out. But I need to see her and talk to her. It's different over the phone."

"That's dangerous, Taylor!"

"Elena, she won't hurt me. I'm not the one in danger in this situation."

"How can you be so sure, Taylor? I've experienced first hand how easy it is to believe she can never harm you. She's an expert at making you believe something you wouldn't believe."

Taylor shook her head at Stefan, a weird look contorting her face. "I know her Stefan. More than you. You can choose to believe me or not, that's up to you, but I'm telling you the truth. Besides, I'm the only one who can reason with her. She'll try to mess with you, Stefan, if you go. Elena, you're human so there's no way in hell you're going."

"And Damon?" Stefan was brave enough to ask.

"And we all know Damon would be an idiot and fall right back into her games."

The room fell silent. There was a thick tension that filled the space. Everyone there knew just what Damon had done and Stefan could only guess that it irritated Taylor that he would fall for Katherine again.

Jeremy's voice broke the silence.

"Tay? Are you in your room?"

Taylor sighed, knowing she would have to tell him some of the truth. Compelled or not, there was no way he would let this slip – and she wasn't about to compel him again.

"Yeah, I'll go to your room in a second, kay?"

"Yeah."

The vampire walked, reluctantly, to her door. "I have to tell him."

"Everything," Elena asked, a worried look similar to Stefan's on her face. "Taylor, I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, what if he does something dangerous?"

"I'm not telling him everything. Just the things he needs to know."

"Taylor –"

"Stefan. Elena. He has a right to know. It's his safety on the line here."

With that last sentence, she turned and left the room, letting her bedroom door fall shut behind her, feeling as if she had brought all of this onto them. In his room, Jeremy sat on his bed, an impatient look plastered on his face. Taylor knew instantly he had questions he wanted answered.

The second she stepped into his room, shutting the door behind her, Jeremy exploded with questions.

"Tay, why was it so important I get home? Is something going on? What aren't you telling me?"

"Jer," she spoke calmly, though he kept rambling. Taking a seat next to him, she placed a hand calmingly on his shoulder. "Jeremy."

The young boy stopped talking, finally taking notice of the serious look his sister wore.

"I'm going to tell you something incredibly unbelievable within the next few minutes. And I need you to do me a favor."

Cautiously, he asked, "What?"

"I need you to believe me."

Jeremy nodded his head. "Hit me with your best shot."

Taylor forced a soft smile. "Vampires are real."

"Vampires?"

"Yes, Jer. Vampires. As in suck your blood creatures of the night."

"Are you serious?"

"I told you I needed you to believe me."

"I know, but, Tay, vampires?"

"I've never lied to you before, Jer. I wouldn't start now."

The young boy stood, walking over to the other side of the room, turning to stare at his older sister. "Okay… so why are you telling me now?"

"There's someone here, a vampire, that I know. She's really strong and very dangerous."

"It's that girl you went to find."

Jeremy's assertion shocked Taylor. He'd hit it right on the dot. And silly her, she'd thought that she could somehow avoid that. She tried to speak, but fell silent, tongue-tied.

"And now she's coming here? Are you in trouble?" He was worried.

"No. I'm not in trouble. She won't hurt me."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Jeremy, listen to me," she said, standing up and closing the distance between them. She grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "She won't hurt me. But there's nothing stopping her from hurting you, from the one's I care about, from hurting everyone in this town. I need you safe."

"How are you going to keep me safe? Is that even possible against vampires?"

Taylor released her grip on his shoulders, taking a few steps back. "It can be possible, you just have to be careful. Have you met anyone new lately? Anyone different?"

"Just Anna."

"Anna? Who's her mother?"

"Her mother? I think her name was… Pearl?"

"Pearl? Are you sure?" Taylor hoped he'd say he made a mistake.

If he said yes, then they were in trouble.

"Yeah. Pearl."

Quickly, her eyes flashed dangerously with anger. "I have to go Jeremy. I have to find someone."

"What? Tay –"

"I know, Jer," she interrupted. "You have more questions, but they can wait. This is important. I'll talk to you about it later. Don't do anything dangerous. Okay?"

Taylor waited for him to agree before she left his room. Soon she was walking out the house, past aunt Jenna and Uncle John, and – when she was sure no one would see – running as fast as she could toward the boarding house.

Woah, it's been a while, right? Well. I'm back - slowly, but surely. I have college and work now, too. So updates will be minimal. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! Next chapter will be interesting!

Let me know what you thought!