A/N: Hi.

Hazel's POV

By my usual standards, today was a very good day. I was out of Mystic Falls, in the sunshine, and I was currently seated on a horse. That was something I hadn't done for a long time.

It had started that morning when I'd woken up. Damon had left at five-thirty in the morning, saying that he had to go do something with Alaric and Stefan. By default I'd pestered him about it and begged him to let me come. After all the Sage and Rebekah drama AND getting the white oak sign I wanted to actually be included in all of his complicated plans.

Then he had done the most unusual and un-Damon-like thing since I had come to Mystic Falls; he told me I could take his car, go get Jeremy, and check out the stables that were outside of Mystic Falls. Apparently they were nice, and the fields there reminded him of where he and I used to ride.

He was right, too. Little wildflowers dotted the field, bright and vibrant with their yellows, baby blues, and light pinks. The whole place was so perfect and picturesque that it almost looked fake, like someone had taken a snapshot of that old field and then painted the colors to make them look brighter. A low stone wall surrounded the place. I was tempted to just urge my horse forward and jump the wall, to run and run until I had to get off and run myself.

I turned my head, looking back at Jeremy. He was struggling to stay on his dark chestnut, yelping and clinging to the reins every time the poor horse tried to move. Clearly he'd never been on a horse. I didn't care since it was probably the most endearing thing I had ever seen.

My horse was a beautiful palomino names Missy. I wasn't a fan of the name, but to each his own. Missy was a darling, quiet and gentle. I was wondering if I should have let Jeremy ride Missy instead. His horse, Paladin, was a little wilder and more skittish than Missy.

"Hey, amateur!" I called back. He glanced up for a second before leaning forward again as Paladin shifted.

"What?"

"You ever going to catch up?" I teased. "I thought we could go over to the edge of the field and have some lunch."

"You brought food?" it was hilarious how fast his head shot up.

I laughed. "Duh. So, are you in, or would you rather stay and continue harassing Paladin?"

"Coming."

It took him a while, but with coaching and coaxing (and holding a sandwich out in front of me so he'd come closer) I convinced Jeremy that Paladin was not trying to throw him off, but actually trying to make sure he didn't fall off. Once he was close enough I took the reins and led Paladin from my perch on top of Missy.

"This is nice." He said, leaning back against the wall and keeping an eye on Paladin. "I almost never go anywhere outside of Mystic Falls."

"Me either." I said. "Well, not since I came back."

He smiled, trying to be causal as he slid his arm around my shoulders. "Yeah, when did you get here? I just remember you showing up at our doorstep one day, with Stella."

"Yeah." I said. I could still remember that night. "Two days before we came here I had been talking to this man who keeps track of vampires. I wanted to get in touch with Katherine, mostly because I felt like I deserved some explanations." He opened his mouth to interrupt. "Long story, no time now. Anyway, he couldn't find Katherine, but he mentioned knowing about two other Salvatores. When I realized it was Damon and Stefan Stella and I came to Mystic Falls as soon as possible. The first glimpse I got of Damon was when he was kissing Elena."

"What?" Jeremy said, jerking away from me and staring in surprise. "Wait, WHAT?"

"You didn't know about that?"

He shook his head. "No, I didn't. Are they… together?"

"Nope." I said. "I guess it was a one-time thing. All I know is I thought it was Katherine and I ended up slapping him."

Jeremy couldn't help but laugh at that. "Nice."

"Mmmm, definitely. I'd always wanted to do that, too."

After that the conversation drifted off onto the more random subjects of TV shows and the possibility of getting a pet, then into a peaceful silence. I curled into Jeremy side, yawning. For all I knew Damon was probably concocting some elaborate plan to murder the Originals with the white oak, but I didn't care. This was so much better than beating up other vampires.

My eyelids fluttered open when I heard the soft tapping of cellphone keys. I could see some man seated on the stone wall about twenty feet away, causally texting. He was familiar, though I couldn't place who he was other than he'd been in Mystic Falls.

"Check out the weirdo." I whispered to Jeremy. "Is it just me or does it look like he's filming us with that thing right now?"

O.o.O.o.O

Bonnie shivered, staring at the screen of Klaus's phone. It showed a picture-perfect field with a stone wall, Jeremy and Hazel curled up together. Hazel opened her eyes and smiled, whispering something to Jeremy. A tear trickled down Bonnie's face.

"I'll do it."

O.o.O.o.O.

"You're paranoid." Jeremy said. "He's just reading something or taking pictures of the horses."

"No, he's not." I said. Panic was creeping into my chest. "I've seen him before. I don't know who he is, but I think we should leave."

Jeremy protested, but I dragged him up and managed to haul him onto Paladin. When it was clear that wouldn't work I made him get up on Missy and ride her instead.

Paladin was much stronger and fiercer than Missy, I could feel it in the way he shifted restlessly beneath me. It was probably because of the fear that threatened to strangle me, but I knew it was also out of his desire to run. "You think you can gallop on her?" I asked Jeremy. He looked much more comfortable on Missy.

"I could try." He said. "You'll probably leave me in the dust on Paladin."

"Never." I promised. "Ready? Okay… go!"

I glanced back as I dug my heels into Paladin. The man seemed disappointed but disinterested in following.

Paladin was just as fast as Bessie had been. He cleared the entire field in only four minutes, Jeremy close behind. I made sure to check that he was still following me.

When we reached the stables I cleaned both horses and hurriedly got Jeremy in the car. Again, the stranger was nowhere in sight, but it made me feel sick at the idea that someone might try to kill Jeremy. If I died it wouldn't matter, because I wouldn't care. If Jeremy died I would be alone.

When we reached Mystic Falls it was dark, and I immediately headed to the boardinghouse. "Feel like staying the night?" I asked. "After all, you need protection of someone is stalking you again."

"Uh-huh." He said. He could tell how scared I was but went along with my light banter. "Sure, sure."

When we walked in through the smashed-in door I saw Caroline slowly getting to her feet with Stella's help, Elena staring in horror, and Stefan brushing off his clothes.. On the floor I saw Sage's body along with the body of some random vampire.

"So you were creeped out by the threesome thing too?" I asked. Stefan glared.

"Ummm…" Jeremy just looked confused. "Threesome?"

"Nothing." I said.

"They just died." Stella said. "She was going to kill Stefan and then she was dead."

"Faster than a werewolf bite could kill." Stefan mumbled.

Elena nodded. "Maybe it's some sort of vampire sickness?"

"No, it can't be."

It didn't take long for everyone to realize that killing an Original—clearly I had missed a lot—would kill their entire line. Everyone that Finn had ever sired died. In my mind I was imagining hundreds and hundreds of vampires around the world dropping like flies. This would be hard for news reporters to explain.

Jeremy, still processing the idea, said, "So whoever sired Rose sire Katherine sired Hazel? Hazel could die?"

"No duh." I said. "Of course I could."

Stefan said, "Look, this is fun, but I have to go get Damon."

"Ummm…. What?" I asked.

"He may have been kidnapped by Rebekah." Elena explained sheepishly. "But someone didn't want to get him until we murdered an Original."

I glared at Stefan. "Of course they didn't."

"I'll trade the stakes for him." Stefan said. "Well, some of them. Maybe if the Originals feel like they're safe again we can find a plan that will kill them without killing us."

"I guess." I said. Already I was feeling so unenthusiastic about this "kill and Original, kill their line" idea. It bothered me more and more as I sat by the fire with Jeremy. Basically it meant that if Klaus had sired Rose, all of the Salvatores would die. Caroline would die too, and Tyler would die if Klaus was killed. Every vampire in the whole world would die if all the Originals did.

I was starting to wonder if that would be such a bad thing.