ELIJAH WAS WAITING FOR me at the side of the road where the easiest access to the tomb was. He smiled when I stepped from the car. "I wasn't about to leave you to traipse through the forest on the night of a full moon by yourself."

"I appreciate that. Damon pissed at least one wolf off, so that will distract her at least. I would have waited until tomorrow to do this, but the moon will help." Witches could draw power from the moon to help with spells, with the full moon obviously being the most powerful.

Elijah's eyes lit with curiosity but he didn't ask any questions. I'd tell him everything later. He handed me the bag with my books then held out his arms. "Come." I stepped into his embrace and closed my eyes while he whisked us to the tomb.

I used magic to light a torch when we arrived and flipped through the grimoire until I found the spell I was searching for. Dropping the containment spell on the tomb was easy enough. Trying to maintain it or to let some pass through but not others would be exceedingly difficult. Bonnie and her grandmother had tried to do exactly that when the tomb was first opened and it ended up costing her grandmother her life.

I dug my knife out of the bag and walked over to the stone that covered the opening of the tomb. "Stefan is trapped inside with Katherine. I need you to make sure she stays when I drop the containment."

"My pleasure," Elijah said.

I sliced my palm and laid it against the stone as I recited the spell from the grimoire. The containment magic fell and I stepped away. "It's all yours."

I sat on the steps leading up out of the ground and wrapped my hand with some rags I kept in my bag for just that purpose. Elijah slid the stone out of the way and stood in the opening waiting for the vampires to appear.

"Elijah," Katherine said from inside the tomb. She sounded terrified. I smiled.

"Katerina," Elijah answered. "Thank you for having the good sense to be frightened. Stefan you may come."

"I can't."

"The spell has been lifted. You may exit," Elijah assured him.

Shortly, Stefan stepped out into the moonlight. Elijah disappeared into the tomb to compel Katherine. I used magic to douse the torch I had lit drawing Stefan's attention. His brow furrowed and he walked up the bottom steps until he was standing right in front of me. "Cassidy?"

I gave him a small smile. "Hello, Stefan."

"You did this."

I nodded and he looked over his shoulder to Elijah who was stepping out of the tomb. "And you know him."

"You're taking this much better than your brother."

"Yeah, well, Damon is Damon. Thank you, Cassidy."

"You're welcome, Stefan. If you can get everyone else to listen, there are things to discuss. Call me."

"Of course," he said after a moment and walked past me up the stairs.

"Give Elena my love," I said before he disappeared into the night.

"I GOT A TEXT from Damon," I said as I sat at the table for breakfast the next morning. "Rose was bitten by a werewolf last night."

"That's unfortunate," Elijah said before returning to his coffee.

Nik leaned back in his chair. "I have to say, I'm not inclined to be of any assistance." Nik's blood could cure the otherwise fatal bite of a werewolf. That information was not widely known. In fact, I wasn't certain anyone but the three of us knew and I wasn't inclined to share.

"She kidnapped me, let her buddy munch on me, and runs every time there is even a hint of trouble. I'm not about to plea her case," I told him and took a bite of my eggs. Perhaps my time with the Originals had made me more bloodthirsty, or less forgiving, but I didn't have it in me to feel sorry for the vampire.

"I'm going to some booster thing at the high school tonight," I told them. "I promised Ric."

"I have plans this evening," Elijah said without looking at me.

I laughed. "Okay, first of all, I didn't ask either of you to go with me. Second, it's the boyfriend that's supposed to make the excuses isn't it?"

"She has a point, Niklaus."

"Why make excuses? She knew I wasn't going to go."

NIGHT HAD FALLEN BY the time I pulled up to the high school. Someone called my name as I stepped out of my car. Damon and Elena strode across the parking lot in my direction. "What's going on?"

"Rose got loose. She's leaving kills in the open." Werewolf bites drove the vampire in question insane with pain and hallucinations well before the poison finally did them in.

Seriously? I'd just come for an overcooked burger and a sip from Ric's flask behind the school. "This is insane. I'll go this way, you two go over there."

It didn't take long to locate Rose. Or rather, Rose found me. A heavy weight landed on my back with a growl. Before I had time to react, the vampire's teeth tore into the tender flesh of my neck. Hot pain flared through me and I flung her away with my magic. I got this, I thought at the Originals, though I didn't know if they could even hear me over that distance.

Rose immediately sprang back to her feet and charged toward me with a growl. She snarled and spit like a feral animal. I flung out a hand and stopped the vampire. Rose pressed against the magical barrier, struggling to get to me and she was making headway. The pain in my neck distracted me and I was still losing blood. Both made me weak.

Suddenly, Damon tackled the rabid vampire to the ground. I released my magic and stumbled over, my hand pressed against the wound. Damon looked up at me. "You okay?"

"Been better."

The vampire faded from Rose's face and she looked around in confusion until her eyes landed on me. "Was that me?"

"It's okay, Rose. It'll be okay," Damon told her. The vampire beneath him started to cry. He sighed and his head dropped forward. I didn't care about Rose, but I did care about Damon.

I put a hand on my friend's shoulder. "Let me help."

He looked at me before nodding and moving back. I knelt beside the vampire and took my hand from the wound on my neck. After rubbing my blood onto both palms I placed them on the sides of Rose's head. I flipped through her memories which was easier than I'd feared it would be. Rose was too far gone for her brain to have any protections up.

The blood flowed more freely from my wound as the magic pulled the blood price from me. I ignored it and kept digging, looking for a happy memory to loop the vampire into. At least her final moments could be spent in peace. Five hundred years was a lot to shift through.

Suddenly, the memories faded and I gasped at the sudden disconnect. My eyes flew open to see a stake protruding from Rose's chest. The rest of the world came back into focus and I heard Damon and Elijah fighting. "She was going to die anyway. I've merely spared her the suffering."

"We had it under control," Damon argued, his eyes flashing in anger.

"Did you?" Elijah asked before biting into his wrist and squatting in front of me. I grasped his wrist and took the offered blood, not even thinking about arguing. He brushed the hair from my face. When I finished, he lifted me into his arms and turned back to Damon. "Cassidy is loyal to a fault, Salvatore. She was dying to spare you the girl's suffering."

"She wasn't dying." Damon glanced from the Original to me when I didn't say anything. "Were you?"

I looked away. I hadn't intended to let it go that far, but once I was swept into the memory spell, it was hard to get out until I'd done what I meant to. Given the moisture soaking my shirt, I had been bleeding far more than I realized.

Damon raked a hand through his hair. "Damn it, Grimes."

"I was just trying to help."

Elijah looked down at me with an arched brow. "You were bleeding out."

"Oh."

Amusement flickered in Elijah's eyes which I much preferred over the anger that had been there only moments before.

"Take her home," Damon said as voices approached. "I've got this."

I SNUCK OUT OF the house the next afternoon while Nik was in the shower. It was the first time he let me leave his sight since Elijah brought me home the night before. My car was still at the school, so I took Nik's and went to the Grill to meet Jenna and Ric for lunch.

"Did you know?" Jenna asked as I slid into a seat at the table.

I looked at Ric for an explanation.

"John is Elena's dad," Ric said. "Jenna's having a hard time processing."

Isobel and John being Elena's parents had to be a lot for Jenna to swallow. "If it makes you feel any better, I knew Isobel was Elena's mom for years and never told Ric."

Ric choked on the drink he was attempting to swallow and frowned at me.

"That actually does make me feel a little better. Thanks," Jenna said and gave Ric a cheeky grin. Jenna suddenly flopped back in her chair and her smile dropped. "Great. Look who's here."

I glanced over my shoulder to see John walking into the Grill. He headed straight for our table. "Jenna, Ric." He paused and smiled at me. "Cassidy. Long time no see."

I could tell John was going to ask to join them and that was going to be a very bad idea. "How about we grab that table over there?" I said to him. "Catch up?"

"Sounds good."

Jenna grabbed my hand as soon as he was out of earshot and leaned toward me. "Oh my God, thank you."

"No problem. Ric, I'll talk to you later, yes?"

"Yeah, Cass, later."

It seemed all I'd been doing was putting off conversations I needed to have with the people I loved. I was spending too much time getting involved in their supernatural drama. Sometimes I felt like I was in the middle of a soap opera. I moved over to the booth John had procured and slid onto the seat across from him. "How have you been?" I asked. The waitress placed a bottle of beer in front of me and I gave her a grateful smile. At least John ordered me a drink.

"I've been okay." He waited for the girl to walk away. "What's this I hear about you and Elijah?"

I sipped my beer. "Well, you get straight to the point, don't you?" I wondered briefly where he got his information. Last I knew, Elena and the Salvatores weren't exactly on speaking terms with him.

"To say I was disappointed was an understatement. Are you in a relationship with him?"

"If that is your polite way of asking if I'm screwing Elijah, the answer is no. We're just friends."

John shook his head. "I thought I taught you better than that. I know Isobel did."

"You mean my aunt who's a vampire taught me to stay away from the vampires? Is that what you're trying to say to me right now, John? Because you have to know how stupid that sounds."

"Isobel made her choices. That doesn't mean she'd want this for you." He laid his hand on top of mine on the table.

I turned my hand and held his for a minute. As big of an asshole as he could be, we were only having this conversation because he cared. I looked at our hands without saying anything. Part of me wished I could go back to before the accident. That none of this had ever happened. That I had a different life, but it wasn't going to happen.

"Do you need help getting out? Is that the problem?" he asked me quietly and I jerked my head up to look at him. I gave him a small smile.

"My life has never been normal, John. It's always been full of things that go bump in the night. But I learned a long time ago to judge people on how they treat me, not their pasts. Elijah has been there for me time and again without wanting anything in return. We help each other. Take care of each other. Isobel tried to kill me and almost succeeded. I really don't give a shit if she'd be disappointed with me for hanging out with him or not."

He sighed and leaned back in his seat, pulling his hand from mine. "You know about the curse. What they'll do to Elena."

I took a drink of my beer and shook my head. "I found a way to save Elena, John."

His eyes widened in surprise. "What?" I hadn't mentioned it before because I knew he'd have questions that I didn't really want to answer. I also wasn't entirely sure he still didn't talk to Isobel.

"As I have told Elena and the Salvatores many times now, Elena does not have to die in the sacrifice. Isn't that right, Damon?" I asked as the vampire in question stepped up to our table.

"That's what you keep telling me." He slid into the seat next to me and bumped me with his hip to get me to move over.

"Damon. Nice to see you again," John said.

Damon held up a finger. "I'll be right with you." He turned his attention back to me. "How are you?" His blue eyes searched mine.

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm fine." We were both lying. Him more than me.

"Did something happen?" John asked interrupting us.

"Cassidy got herself injured helping a friend of mine yesterday. I just wanted to make sure she healed up okay. Stefan seems to believe that you're here to help, John. He says you have information about the sacrifice and the Originals."

I snorted beside him and Damon smirked.

"That's right, but I don't see why I should tell you anything."

"And I don't see why I shouldn't kill you so there's that." He draped a heavy arm across my shoulders. Maybe John being here wasn't such a bad thing. At least it made me the lesser of two evils as far as Damon was concerned. "It seems to me, we've got the only expert we need so why don't you run on back to wherever you crawled from."

"You're going to believe her? She's compromised."

"John, you are such an asshole."

Damon squeezed my shoulders in support. "If you are talking about her knowing Elijah, she's been very open about that. Not that we always believed her, but she's been very open."

I rolled my eyes.

"I'd be surprised if she's told you everything, Damon. Prove you're worth trusting and I'll make sure you know the rest." With that he stood up and walked away.

"And he wonders why no one likes him," I said after a moment to break the tension.

I let Damon buy me a real drink while we bitched to each other about John and speculated on what he was actually doing back in town. Elena had joined us by the time she received a call from Stefan that Caroline was in danger. The three of us slipped into one of the bathrooms to discuss it.

"Stefan went over to talk to Tyler to make sure he wasn't going to tell anyone about you guys being vampires. While he was there, they got a call. Jules took Caroline and wants to trade him for Tyler."

"Tyler knows about us? Why am I just now hearing about this?"

"Calm down, Salvatore," I said. "He's a werewolf. It's not like he's going to tell everyone about you when he's just as likely to get killed." Tyler had accidently killed a classmate at a party so he was now a full werewolf. Like I said, drama.

"I don't trust him."

"You don't trust anyone," I said and he glared at me.

"It doesn't matter right now, Damon. We need to get Caroline back," Elena tried to reason with him.

John stuck his head in the door. "What's going on?"

"Not now, John," Damon groaned.

"Damon, let's just go," I said. We were wasting time.

He turned to John. "Your first dad job? Ground your daughter." We pushed past him and he kept Elena from following. Damon grasped my hand to pull me through the Grill and let go once we were outside. Stefan and Tyler pulled up in my car just as the door closed behind us.

"Hope you don't mind," Stefan said as we climbed into the back seat. "We needed the room."

"Did you hotwire my car?" I asked in disbelief.

"No. You left a key at our place."

Honestly that didn't surprise me given the number of times I left the car somewhere. He pulled out and I sent a text to Nik asking him to have any witch but Greta track the locator on the car and meet up with me.

When we pulled off the side of the road, we all climbed out. "You three go on. I'm waiting on our backup."

My first indication the witch had arrived was when I realized I couldn't move. Jonas stepped into my line of sight. He was one of Elijah's witches. And Greta's father. "I was instructed to make sure you stay out of danger. You can fight me if you want, but it will just distract me from helping your friends."

He moved off into the trees and I stayed frozen beside the car cursing the Originals in my head, hoping they heard every word. It went against my nature not to fight the spell holding me, but I wanted Jonas focused on helping them free Caroline.

It felt like an eternity before the Salvatores emerged from the trees, Caroline walking between them. The blonde ran over and wrapped me in a hug which I was not able to return.

"I've got to hand it to you, Grimes," Damon said. "You call good backup."

Caroline moved away with a frown. "Why are you just standing there?"

I was annoyed to find I also couldn't move my vocal cords. Tell Jonas to let me go before I hurt him. Danger's over. Laughter rolled through my head that I was fairly certain belonged to Nik. Bastard.

"Cassidy?" Damon frowned as he came to a stop in front of me. "What's wrong?"

Finally the magic flowed away from me, allowing me to move again. I gave Damon a tight smile. "Sorry. Apparently it was decided I was not to endanger myself and Jonas put a spell on me to lock me in place." Damon chuckled and I punched him in the arm before looking over to Caroline and opening my arms. The blonde flung herself at me and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Easy. I'm not a vampire," I reminded her.

"Oh, sorry." She loosened her hold a little. I kept my arm around her and steered her into the back seat.

"You okay?"

Caroline shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "I thought he was my friend."

"What?" Damon said turning around in his seat to look at us.

"Tyler. I really thought he wasn't going to help me. He just stood there. I had to beg him to let me out of the cage." She buried her head in my shoulder.

Damon's mouth drew into a flat line. "I knew I should have killed him."

"Damon," Stefan and I said in unison and Caroline gasped.

The vampire in question rolled his eyes and turned back around in his seat.

Thanks for all the love! Just FYI I am shifting all my fanfic stuff over to tumblr. I'll finish posting this here too don't worry. It's already posted in full over there though along with a ton of other stuff. thatfanficstuff is my fanfic blog and kdcollinsauthor is my main