The sheriff looked at Lucy curiously. "Are you certain her name is Selina Warren? It can't be. Selina Warren was born and died years ago. She's the main character in that "Lady in Red" story, which says that—"
"She eloped with Roger Stensrund, left town, and no one ever heard from her again. I know that story," Lucy said patiently. "But I promise you that it is her."
The sheriff sighed. "Are you absolutely certain? I mean, have you seen her bite anyone, or have any other kind of concrete evidence to support your accusation?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," said Lucy, standing up. "I was assigned to watch over Jeremy Gilbert after his accident and today, he blurted out the whole thing."
"Really?" Sheriff Forbes asked. "Do you suppose he's well enough to repeat to me what he told you?"
"I guess," Lucy replied. "Do you want to come to the hospital with me and get a statement?"
Sheriff Forbes nodded. "I think that might be a good idea." She stood up from her desk and called to one of her deputies to tell them she was going out and would be back in a little bit.
Lucy followed her out to her police car and the two of them made their way to the hospital in no time flat because the Sheriff had the siren on. Once inside the hospital, Lucy led Sheriff Forbes to Jeremy's room.
"What's going on here?" Elena asked as they entered.
"I need to get a statement from your brother about his attack," the sheriff told her. "It shouldn't take very long."
Elena opened her mouth to speak, but realized that it would be pointless. Instead, she just stood there watching.
"Jeremy," Lucy whispered, "how are you feeling?"
"Not the best," he said, "but not terrible. What's going on?"
"Well," Lucy explained, "Sheriff Forbes wants you to tell her what you told me about Sophia so that she and her deputies can take Sophia away."
"Sophia?" the sheriff as she got out her notepad.
"It's the alias Selina's been using while she's been traipsing around town trying to act like a normal person." Lucy supplied.
"Oh," the sheriff nodded. "I have to admit that that's very clever of her." She paused as Jeremy slowly sat up with Elena supporting his back. "Now tell me Jeremy, what happened to you?"
"Well," Jeremy began again, "Sophia came to our house to stay a couple of weeks ago. She was Elena's friend from school and said that her house was being checked for termites or something so she couldn't stay there. We took her in and a couple of nights later, I went to her room to tell her goodnight and she just started kissing me. She looked me deep in the eyes and before I knew it, we were having sex."
"So she raped you?" the sheriff asked.
"No," Jeremy shook his head. "I wanted it to happen. Well, not originally, since I only came into her room to tell her goodnight. She must have been using her powers on me or something."
"Okay," the sheriff said. "Now, can I assume this happened other times as well?"
"Yes," Jeremy nodded. "Several other times, all done with Sophia's own mental influence. I learned my lesson after the first time and never went into her room of my own accord again."
"That's very wise," Sheriff Forbes replied, scribbling on her pad. "What happened just prior to this most recent attack?"
"Well," Jeremy continued, "Elena and Jenna had just left the house when all of a sudden, I felt myself start to be compelled again. I tried to resist, really I did, but there wasn't much I could do. I went to her room and she was sitting in a chair by the window. She told me to come in the room and then asked me to open the windows. I did, and then she got my clothes off and got me onto her bed. I wasn't really aware of anything until I felt the pain. I tried to sit up, but there was blood everywhere: on my body, on the sheets, on the floor. Before I could say anything, she bounded out the open window. I tried to get out of bed to go close the windows, but I was so weak from her feeding on me that I just passed out and that's how Jenna found me when she got back to the house."
The sheriff looked over at Elena. "Were you there at that point? Can you confirm his story?"
"Yes," Elena nodded. "I got back home a little after Jenna did. When I entered the house, I heard her screaming and ran to Jeremy's room to see what was wrong and I found her on her knees on the floor of his room, leaning over his prone body that was on the floor. He was covered in blood, and so still I initially thought he was dead. Once Jenna saw me, she told me to watch him and she ran to call 911."
"All right." Sheriff Forbes made some more notes, then looked back up at Elena. "Was Selina Warren in your house that night?"
"Yes," Elena nodded. "Earlier in the evening. She hadn't been feeling well, so Damon asked if we would keep her with us for the night because he had to go out."
"Damon Salvatore?" the Sheriff asked.
"Yes," Elena nodded. "He and Selina are engaged."
"Well that would explain why he came with her when we called to see if she would come and identify Amelia Warren's body." The sheriff laughed bitterly. "If vampires had any sympathy to appeal to, I'd almost feel sorry for Selina. It can't be easy coming to identify your mother's body, even if your mother's been dead for over a hundred years." She paused, and then looked up from her notes and back at Elena. "You say that Damon asked you to watch over Selina because she wasn't feeling well. But you and I both know that vampires can't get sick. Why did Damon really want Selina at your house?" she asked. "Because Selina asked him to bring her so she could get at your brother?"
Elena shook her head. "I don't know," she remarked. "I really couldn't tell you anything else then what Damon told me."
"Is Selina back at the house now?" the sheriff asked Elena.
"Not at our house," Elena shook her head. "I didn't see her this morning, so I assume she went back home with Damon."
"All right," the sheriff nodded and closed her notepad. "Thank you for your assistance." She left the room and got back into her car and drove to the police station. "Boys," she called to her deputies, "we have a new job on our hands which will be more important then any of the others. Get your things ready because tonight, we're going to go catch a vampire!"
"You'll never guess what I just did," Lucy said to Isobel as she came down the stairs after changing out of her nurse's uniform.
"Found a way to end world hunger?" Isobel guessed.
"No," Lucy said seriously, ignoring Isobel's sarcasm. "I just went to the police station and told Sheriff Forbes about Selina murdering all those people. Well, I didn't actually have evidence for the prostitute and the campers, but she believed me anyway."
"So now what?" Isobel asked.
"Well, If Sheriff Forbes thinks the way I think she does, tonight, she and her deputies are going to go the boardinghouse and bring Selina in."
"Are you serious?" Isobel asked. "You ratted Selina out to the sheriff? What happened to thinking of her as the daughter you never had and swearing you would never hurt her?"
"It's not going to hurt her at all," Lucy replied, walking to the kitchen. "Selina will be able to fight back when the sheriff and her men come, thus the only ones who will be harmed will be them. Call it a little on the job training." She grinned.
"You are so wicked," Isobel said.
"Oh, I know." Lucy replied.
"Elena's back from the hospital," Stefan announced as he hung up the phone an hour later.
"That's good," Selina remarked. "Did she sound freaked out or angry?"
"No," Stefan shook his head. "But she did say that the sheriff came by Jeremy's room earlier and asked for a statement."
"What kind of statement?" Selina asked, frowning and taking Damon's hand. He was sitting next to her on the couch.
"I don't know," Stefan shrugged. "All she said was that the sheriff came by to get a statement."
"Probably about the attacks," Selina said. She looked at Damon. "What if the sheriff suspects me? Maybe I should just get in my car and leave town."
"Calm down," Damon ordered her. "You don't know that that's what she wanted to talk to Jeremy about. It could be something else entirely."
"Besides," Stefan said, sitting on her other side, "when you and Lucy killed the police officer, there was photographic evidence then and they didn't come after you. Who's to say they will now?"
"You have a point," Selina agreed. "But I'm still going to be on my guard."
"That seems like a good idea. And we won't leave you alone unless you tell us," Stefan promised.
"I don't understand this," Selina said. "I know I did something wrong, but how am I going to explain that it wasn't really my fault? I can't say that I don't actually remember killing anyone. And I certainly can't say that Tyler helped me kill the campers."
"Oh, my God," Stefan said suddenly.
"What?" Selina said.
"Remember Michael's promise? He told you when he found you that he and his descendants would protect you from harm. You're completely safe."
"Yeah," Selina said bitterly. "The only problem is that Richard and Carol are out of town. The promise isn't any good if there's no one around to keep it. Meanwhile, the other members of the council can do whatever the hell they want; while the cat's away, the mice will play."
"It'll be fine," Stefan reassured her. "Remember, technically, Damon and I are members of the council too, and we wouldn't let anything happen to you."
Selina was on pins and needles for most of the rest of the day, but by evening when nothing had happened, she began to relax. While she was doing the daily crossword, she heard the front door opening. "Elena's here," she called to Stefan.
"Just a minute, I'll be right down," he called.
After filling in the last square," she put the puzzle on the footstool just as Elena strode into the living room. "Hi, Elena," Selina greeted her brightly. "I told Stefan you were here and he's on his way down."
"I didn't come here to see Stefan," Elena said seriously. "I came to see you. Tell me, what the hell were you thinking? What the hell was going on in your brain when you thought it would be okay for you to have sex with my brother? He's just a kid!" With every word, Elena's voice rose in pitch, until by the end, she was practically screaming.
Selina sat frozen in her chair, unable to say a word.
A moment later, Stefan and Damon came down the stairs. "What's going on here?" Stefan asked. "What's all the yelling about?"
"Selina had sex with my brother while she was staying at my house," Elena told him. "Did you know about that?"
"Well, no." Stefan said.
"Did you?" Selina asked Damon.
"I did," he admitted.
Elena wasn't finished. Damon's confirmation seemed only to enrage her more. "And not only did she have sex with my brother, she fed off him too. She could have killed him! In fact, she practically did! If we hadn't gotten him to the hospital on time, he would have died!"
"Did it ever occur to you," Damon asked, "that Selina might have had a good reason for having sex with your brother?"
Elena stared at him incredulously. "What good reason could there possibly be?"
"Maybe to keep him out of Lucy's clutches?" Damon replied simply.
"Whatever," Elena scoffed. She walked to stand right in front of Selina. "If you come near any member of my family ever again, I will stake you myself. Understand?"
Still in shock, Selina could just nod.
Elena turned around and looked at Stefan and Damon. "Good night, boys," she told them and strode out the door.
"Now, we'll have to plan this out very carefully," Sheriff Forbes sat surrounded by her deputies and several pieces of paper, on which were written several discarded plans about how to catch Selina. "Of all the vampires we could have causing trouble, Selina Warren is the worst, because technically, we aren't allowed to hurt her in any way."
"Why?" one of the deputies asked.
"A hundred and forty-five years ago, her cousin Michael Lockwood made her a promise that he and his descendants would protect her from harm so she could live in this town without worry. That promise was later applied to other members of the founding families as well."
"So Selina Warren's causing all this trouble, and we can't do anything to defend ourselves?" asked the same deputy.
"Basically," the sheriff nodded. She paused. "Unless…I got it!" she said loudly, causing several of her deputies to jump. "Meet me here after dark tonight, and we'll go get her. Just follow my lead."
As soon as Elena left, Selina told Damon and Stefan that she just wanted to be alone. After making absolutely sure she was going to be all right, Damon and Stefan left the house. Selina grabbed a book and began to read. About halfway through, the doorbell rang. Curious, Selina put her book down and walked over to the door, standing on the other side. "Who is it?" she called.
"It's Sheriff Forbes," called the voice on the other side. "Would you come out? We have new developments concerning Amelia Warren's body and I wanted to share them with you."
Selina paused for a moment, wondering whether she should actually go outside, but finally, curiosity beat caution and she opened the door, heading outside. "Yes, Sheriff?" she asked. "What did you find?" Before she could take another breath, however, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head and blacked out.
As soon as the sheriff was certain Selina was unconscious, she took a needle from the inside of her jacket, inserting it into Selina's arm. "Vervain," she whispered, "just in case you wake up before we get back to the police station."
Two deputies picked up Selina's prone form and threw it gently into the backseat of the sheriff's car and the squad drove back to the station. Once they'd arrived, they took Selina out of the car and brought her down to the basement, where they put her on the floor, tied her up, and waited for her to wake up.
"All right," the sheriff said, gazing down at Selina's body. "I know we can't kill her. But I know someone who'll do it for us. Just give me a minute." She ran up the stairs to her office and grabbed the phone, dialing quickly. The phone rang for a little while before the machine beeped on. "Hello, Damon. This is Sheriff Forbes. We caught the vampire who attacked Jeremy Gibert, the campers, and the prostitute, but due to certain complications, we're unable to take care of her ourselves. Would you come and take care of her for us? Thank you so much."
Smiling, she hung up the phone and headed back down to the basement.
After about an hour, Stefan and Damon decided to head back to the boardinghouse, figuring that Selina had calmed down. They arrived and opened the door.
"Hello?" Stefan called. "Selina, are you home?" He stepped inside, and Damon followed close behind.
"I don't have a good feeling about this," he said. They checked every room in the house. No Selina.
"Maybe she decided to go out," Stefan said.
"She would have at least left a note," Damon said. "I didn't see any." Then, he noticed that the message light on the phone was beeping. "I'll check the message. Maybe it's her telling us where she went." He picked up the phone and pressed the button. He listened to the message, then slowly hung up the phone.
"Was that Selina?" Stefan asked.
"No," Damon shook his head. "It was the sheriff. They have Selina down at the police station, and since they can't kill her because of Michael's promise, she wants me to." He stepped away from the phone and put on his coat.
"You're going?" Stefan asked incredulously.
""We're going," Damon corrected him. "Get on your coat. When we get to the police station, you stay in the car. No matter what you hear, stay outside. You'll need to drive once I get Selina out."
Stefan nodded, got his coat on, and followed Damon out to the car. They drove to the police station. Once they were parked, Damon said "remember, no matter what you hear, stay where you are." He got out of the car and strode inside.
The Sheriff met him at the door. "Sorry to have to ask you to do this," she said.
"It's no problem," Damon said. "You know I'd do anything for this town, Liz." He followed her down to the basement.
"Here she is," the Sheriff said.
Damon started violently when he saw her. Selina had clearly been given vervain. They'd taken off everything except her undergarments and chained her against one of the back walls like a prisoner. Her dark hair wet with sweat and in terrible disarray. There were bruises on her face, and her eyes and mouth were only slightly open. When those eyes saw him, they widened a little and she emitted a low moan.
"Horrible, isn't it?" said the sheriff.
"Yes," Damon nodded. He stumbled toward her.
He started again when the sheriff touched his shoulder and handed him the stake.
"Here you go," she said. "I'll let you do what you need to do." She gazed sadly up at Selina. "Poor thing, it's about time somebody put her out of her misery."