Previously on Everything Changes...

"He wouldn't kill his only sibling, love." Klaus stepped out of the shadows, causing my heart to jump.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded once. "I've known the Salvatore brothers before they were vampires." he explained, not coming any closer. "They have a tight bond. They would do anything for each other."

I locked my car, shoving my keys into my purse. "That was then." I glanced at Klaus. "But what about now?"


~A Few Days Later~

Bonnie and I were sitting in class, while our teacher droned on about measuring things with the sun's shadow.

Halfway through, I pulled out my journal and flipped open to a blank page.

Dear Diary,

It's me again! I haven't been writing as much as Zach wanted – wants – me to, but it's hard! Some nights, like the last couple of nights, have been so...strange. I wonder if it's even slightly possible to get thoughts onto paper, especially thoughts like mine.

Stefan is still really upset about Lexi, and he hasn't spoken to Damon OR me that much. I don't know why he's taking it out me too, but I guess we all have our own ways to deal with loss.

The night of Lexi's death, Klaus came to me and we spoke – well, he spoke and I slowly backed towards the house – and told me about Stefan and Damon when they were younger.

From what he told me, they were best friends once, and always hanging out. He told me a bit about Katherine, but not too much about Chandra, whoever she is. I'm guessing Damon and him have more history then they let on. I tried to ask Stefan about it, but he asked me to leave, and I had to admit, it was seriously annoying. I mean like, c'mon. I didn't kill your best friend! Your sorry excuse for a brother did! I'd love to talk and beat some sense into Damon, but I don't want to push him too far.

Bonnie suddenly shot up, gasping, and I jumped, leaving a black squiggle across the page.

She seemed to realize everyone was looking at her, even the teacher, and she smiled nervously at the teacher, before looking at the others. "What are you looking at? Turn around."

Bonnie stared in fear to the girl was sitting next to her, and she screamed. My heart raced in my chest, and the world around me grew dark, before I shot up in bed, screaming as well.

That was so bizarre.

I rolled out of bed, rubbing my eyes. I glanced over at my journal, which was sitting open on my nightstand. I narrowed my eyes and picked it up, staring at it in confusion.

There, on the page, were the exact words I wrote in my dream, and it even had a little squiggle at the end to match. My heart thumped in my chest, and I dropped it quickly, stumbling away from it.

What the hell?

I ran out into the hallway. "Stefan?" I called, walking down the hall. "I know you're not talking to me, but-"

Damon's door burst open, and I stumbled back, jumping again.

"He's out." he said, and raised an eyebrow at me. "Nice bedhead, Blondie."

I felt my cheeks grow warm, and I ran a hand through my knotty hair.

"Whatcha need?" he stepped into the hallway and leaned against the wall, staring down at me.

"You're not Stefan." I scoffed. "And, I'm still disgusted with you, so bye!"

I turned on my heel to walk away, when he appeared in front of me.

Damn vampire speed.

"What's wrong?" his blue eyes narrowed again, and he studied my face.

"It's nothing." I insisted, sidestepping him. When I went into my room, there he was, laying on my bed, hands behind his head.

"Damoonnn!" I whined. "Go away."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

I rolled my eyes. "No. Now, I need to get ready for school." I walked over and dared myself to pull him up by the arm, and push him out the door. "Shoo."

Much to my own shock, he didn't protest again, simply smirked down at me, and let me be.

Later, at school, I saw Bonnie and Elena sitting on a picnic bench talking.

"Cause I think I'm being haunted!" Bonnie mumbled to her, looking bothered and restless.

Elena's eyes widened.

She must have told her about being a witch... I realized. But what does that have to do with haunted?

I pushed my curly blonde hair out of my way, and sat on the free space. "What's going on?"

Elena immediately shut up, looking to Bonnie, and then to me.

"It's fine." she insisted. "She knows."

"You're being haunted?" I asked, now that Elena wasn't freaking out. "By who?"

"I had this really strange dream last night." my friend explained. "I was sitting in class..."

She explained her dream, which was ridiculously similar to mine.

"When I woke up, I was back in class, like I had never left to follow the girl – Emily -"

I blinked rapidly, staring at the table. "Did everyone in the class look at you? And you were like, what are you looking at? Turn around? And then, you looked at one of the girls next to you, and screamed?"

Bonnie's eyes were as big as saucers. "How'd you know that?"

I gulped, looking at her. "Because I had the same dream." Elena was looking at each of us, her eyes narrowed. "Minus the Emily part, of course."

Our warning bell rang, and we all got up, shocked into silence. "What do I have to do with Emily?" I wondered aloud.

Bonnie's eyes were still wide as she shrugged. "I don't know. I'll talk to Gram about it though."

I smiled thankfully and we all went into class.

Once we were seated in our history class – where Mr. Tanner used to teach, a man probably in his mid thirties walked in. Setting his books down, his eyes scanned the class.

"Good morning everyone." he smiled. "Alrighty."

I glanced back at Bonnie, who looked uneasy. Are you okay? I mouthed.

She shrugged in response, and I heard the teacher continue.

"Alaric Saltzman." he chuckled quietly. "It's a mouthful...I know." he scribbled his name onto the board and turned back to us. "Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce "Alaric" but it's ..."Alaric", okay. So, you can call me Rick. I'm your new history teacher."

The rest of history continued on as usual, and I found that I like Mr. - Alaric – much more then Mr. Tanner.

Third Person POV

Jeremy was in Mr. Saltzman's class, speaking of his grades, when a glint on his hand caught Jeremy's eyes.

"That's a cool ring." Jeremy studied it, then smiled and picked up the packet of extra-credit information.

"Oh, thanks." Alaric fumbled with the ring around his finger. "It was my father's. A little garish, but family." he shrugged. "You know." gesturing to the packet in his student's hand, he continued. "You have a week."

Jeremy nodded and went to his next class.

Somewhere else in the school, Bonnie passes by Matt.

"Hey." Matt smiles, and nods to Bonnie.

"Hey, what is that?" Bonnie replied, running her hand through her long dark hair.

His brows creased. "What is what?"

Bonnie shrugged. "The 'hey'. That's two heys. Is that all you're going to say?"

Matt still looked confused. "What's wrong with hey?"

She walked over to Matt, and pulled him over to the side. "You took a drunk me back to my house, spent the night in my bed, and when I woke up, you were gone! And now all you say is hey? I mean yeah, I may be over thinking it's just-" Bonnie sighed.

"I heard your dad and I knew he'd be pissed to find me, so I snuck out to keep us both out of trouble." Bonnie still chewed on her lip, bothered by Emily's appearances, not just Matt. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded in response. "Sorry. I have a lot of...stuff...going on and it's just."

Matt pulled her in for a friendly hug. "You'll figure it out Bon, you always do."

Caroline's POV

I stalked over to Stefan, who was seated at the picnic tables. He was staring after someone whom I assumed was Elena.

"You weren't in class..." I said quietly, sitting down across from him.

"Yeah." he replied, sounding upset.

"A simple, 'hey, I didn't go and kill my only sibling' would have been great." I raised an eyebrow, and looked at him. "What am I missing?"

"I'm quitting school." he raked a hand through his hair. "I'm backing off from Elena, keep my distance. It's the right thing for me to do."

I furrowed my brows. "What the hell, Stefan?" I scoffed. "You like Elena, right?"

He nodded, looking crestfallen.

"Then be with her! She wants to be with you, then let her! She knows the risks and if something happens, then it does!"

"It's gonna be better this way, Care." he wouldn't meet my gaze.

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that." I got up quickly, and stormed away.

"Okay, last chance!" I heard an annoyingly familiar voice say. I turned towards the parking lot and saw Damon and Bonnie.

I stayed away, watching curiously. Bonnie looked annoyed, but I knew Damon wouldn't try anythinghere. Or at least I hoped.

Damon wasn't backing off!

I briskly walked over to them. "Harassing my friends now, Damon?"

He smirked down at me, a glint of annoyance in his eyes. "I will get that crystal, Forbes. Even if I have to wait for Emily to give it to me herself."

Both of our eyes widened, and his smirk widened.

"Tell her a deal's a deal, next time you see her."

He opened the door for me, and I got in, eying him warily. Bonnie went around and got into the passenger side of my car.

We drove in silence for a moment.

"Pull over!" I glanced at her.

"Wha-?"

"Now!" she exclaimed again, and I pulled over next to a field.

Bonnie jumped out of my car, looking furious. "Woah! Where are you going?"

I saw her jerk her necklace away from her neck, and I winced.

"Are you okay?" I started to get out, when I saw Bonnie lean back and chucked it into a field.

"I am now." she sighed and sunk back into the passenger seat. "All my frustrations and problems were because of that thing. Can't believe I didn't do that sooner."

"What's your Grams gonna say?" I asked.

She shut the door and I pulled back onto the road. "She's not the one being haunted by a ghost."

I chuckled. "Okay then."

We drove towards her Gram's in silence. "I think we should get Elena to tell Stefan about Damon threatening you."

"Elena won't be any good." Bonnie insisted, fidgeting in her seat. "Why can't you tell him?"

I sighed, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel. "He's kind of upset with me too, and since he has a romantic interest with Elena..."

"Okay, I'll call her..." Bonnie pulled out her phone and dialed her number.

They chatted for a moment, and I noticed her tense out of the corner of my eye. "What?"

"What?" I asked, my eyes not leaving the road.

"Over a necklace?" Bonnie mimicked Elena's voice. "No way, he's not being very good to me right now."

I sighed. Wow, some friend she is...

"I can try to talk to Stef when I get home?" I offered. "I might get him to listen if I tell him that he's scaring me too or something."

I pulled in front of Bonnie's Gram's home and stopped. "I'll let you know what I find."

"Thanks Care." she pushed off her seat belt and smiled at me. "Love ya!"

I smiled. "Love you too, have fun with your Gram."

"I will!" She called through the shut door, and she waved over her shoulder before jogging to the front steps.

I drove away from the curb and headed home.

~0~

"Stefan?" I pushed our front door shut. "You home yet?"

I threw my keys into the dish on the bookshelf and walked down into the den, plopping down on the couch. "I need to talk to you."

I waited for a few moments, when I heard people come down the stairs.

Damon and Klaus...

"Hey, have you seen Stef?" I got up and made my way over to the stairs.

Klaus and Damon's gazes met each others before Klaus spoke up. "He's not in his room, if that's what your asking, love."

Damon chuckled at my annoyed look, and my temper flared. "And you!" I scowled. "Stop tormenting Bonnie. If you've always wanted her necklace this bad, you shouldn't have given it to Vicki in the first place!" I rolled my eyes and pushed past them, headed up the stairs.

When I got into my room, I pulled out my phone and dialed Stefan's number.

"Please leave a message after the beep..."

"Stefan." I chewed on my lip. "He threatened Bonnie, Stef. I got some necklace from Vicki, and gave it to Bonnie for Halloween, and he wants it back. Please. I need to talk to you."

I hung up and threw my phone at my bed. "Stubborn b-"

My door flew open, and I whirled around. "What does Damon want with the necklace?"

Klaus stalked forwards, and I stepped back.

He repeated his question and I snorted in disbelief.

"I don't know that's why I just called and asked Stefan!" I threw my hands up. "You all are so secretive and conniving. Ugh!"

A smirk played over his face, and I noticed the stubble on his cheeks and chin.

Stop noticing the little details, Caroline! I chided myself. He's Damon's friend. And whoever's Damon's friend, should not be yours! I was thankful for the logical side of my brain, and I moved back, putting my bed between us.

"You know more then you let on." he murmured. "You'll tell me, some day."

I scoffed and he was gone.

"Care?" I heard Stefan jog up the stairs. "Was that Klaus?"

I nodded, and sat on my bed. "Damon's tormenting Bonnie over some stupid necklace. It has to do with her heritage I think. I guess one of her ancestors owned it back when you and Damon lived here."

His green eyes got a faraway look, and he sat on my bed across from me. "Her name was Emily. She was Chandra Ambrose's handmaid, Katherine's friend, and a witch."

"I didn't know you were positive about Bonnie being a witch." I murmured, furrowing my brows. "If you know for sure, and I know for sure, then Damon must know!"

I looked at Stefan. "And for some reason, he really really wants that necklace!"

"What does it look like?" he asked, deep in thought.

"It looks really vintage, iron setting with -"

"Amber crystal?" he cut in.

I nodded.

"It belonged to Chandra for a while, then Katherine got a hold of it. I'm almost positive that one of the girls got it from Emily, which must mean..."

He stood up quickly and walked over to my door.

"What?"

He glanced back at me. "I don't know for sure yet, but I'll find out. I'm going to talk to Damon."

I stood up as well. "Will he tell you?"

His face looked grim. "I'll get it out of him."

I decided to go to Elena's to hang out with her and Bonnie. I had nothing to eat here, and nothing better to do.

I honestly wanted Zach to come back home, and not be so afraid of Damon. He shopped better, parented better, and cooked better.

I sat in my car, still in my driveway, and decided to call him.

"H-hello?" his familiar voice drifted through the phone and I sighed.

"It's me, Caroline."

"Oh Caroline." I heard rustling in the background. "I'm glad you're alright."

"When are you coming home, Zach? You are my foster parent after all."

He swallowed noisily. "I know. But...I've found someone, Caroline. She really likes me, and I really like her. I know that I should be back there...but..."

You've got to be kidding me.

"No buts!" I heard myself say. "My mom put my raising in your care! And you're going to leave me with vampires to raise my own self? What if I get sick?" I scoffed. "What if something happens to Stefan? He's the only sane person in that house, and I'm starting to wonder if he really is 'brother/parent' material!"

He was silent. "I know...I'm sorry Caroline." I heard a door open and he quickly mumbled. "I have to go. Call you later. Bye."

The line went dead and I glared at my phone before shutting it.

Seriously, Uncle Zach? Seriously?

I started up my car and drove to Elena's, still in disbelief at my god-father.

~0~

When I got there, Bonnie and Elena were...talking... I would call it arguing, but it wasn't there, not quite. The room tingled with tension.

"Woah. What's going on?" I set my purse on the couch and went into the kitchen.

"Bonnie keeps lying!" Elena snarled, and she threw a necklace at Bonnie.

Wait, she threw that into the field...how is here?

"What?" Bonnie stared at the necklace in terror.

"How did that get there then?" she crossed her arms.

"I watched her throw it, if it matters." I put in, wondering why she was hounding Bonnie so bad.

"Damon has been bugging me about that stupid thing for the last week!" she scoffed. "I would have told Stefan, but he's been busy! I can't believe you would lie!"

"I'm not." Bonnie retorted defensively.

"Then explain it."

"Emily." I said, she being the first person – er, ghost – to come to mind.

"The ghost? Seriously?" Elena rolled her eyes.

Bonnie went over to her bag and put the necklace back into a pocket. "I wonder why she won't leave me alone..." I heard her mumble.

They bickered back and forth before Bonnie threw her hands up. "I'm a witch!"

Elena chuckled dryly. "And don't we all know it!"

I couldn't help but laugh. Elena could totally be thick sometimes.

"That's what I'm talking about! I'm trying to tell you something, and you aren't even listening!"

Bonnie stormed back into the kitchen and Elena rolled her eyes.

"I listen, don't I Caroline!"

I raised my hands. "Nope, nooo! I am not getting into this!"


Happy New Years and Merry Late Christmas! I hope you guys enjoyed the long chapter!

Would you all prefer to have three part chapters, about 1.5k words each, or two part chapters around 2-3 k words?

Also, I have a survey up on my profile, and the question is who should go with Damon/Klaus, and who should go with them? If you'd go and vote, that'd be great. I know I asked for you all to review, but it'll be easier to keep track of which group is 'winning' if I can see the percentage!

Love you guys!(: xx