Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries! I just own my OC, Juilet Jordan Gilbert, and any other characters I make up along the way!

Author's Note: DUN. DUN. DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN.

This chapter will answer everyone's question: Will Stefan turn it off?

Enjoy!

Ever since Caroline shut off her humanity, she dipped out. We couldn't find her anywhere. And when we returned back to the dorm, all of her stuff was gone. It was like we had been looted clean, but Caroline probably just emptied it.

"It's like she never lived here," Elena said to Ivan on the phone as I continued inspecting the room. I opened and closed Caroline's drawers, but it was completely empty.

"How's her house?" I called out over to Elena, who repeated the question to our brother.

"Completely clean," Ivan answered. "Caroline took everything but the damn doors off the hinges."

"So what?" Elena said as she put the phone on speaker. Ivan had gone back to Caroline's house this morning, thinking she'd be there but according to Ivan, it was empty. "She just flips her humanity switch, came back to the dorm, took all of her clothes and thank you notes and just left town? I mean, that makes no sense."

"You really want to talk about sense right now?" Ivan asked. "I distinctly remember Jules telling me that you burned your house down."

I cowered under Elena's glare and turned the other way as Elena continued. "Do you think she's trying to cut off all ties to her past?"

"I really doubt she's trying to having a garage sale, Elena," Ivan practically growled.

"Okay, why are you getting mad at me? I'm not the one who did this," Elena said.

Ivan sighed. "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about her."

I sighed in understanding. "Ivan, we all are. Elena and I are going to look around campus. Perhaps somebody knows something. Stefan's gonna ask around Mystic Falls. Call us if you find anything."

"Okay," Ivan said, and we both hung up.

Elena and I both sighed as we turned slightly towards each other. What were we gonna do?

Then, a voice that turned my blood cold said, "Looks like you could use a friend."

Elena and I looked at each other wide eyed, before we turned around to see Bonnie Bennett, in the flesh, standing in front of us.

I had done a lot of crying in the past few weeks, but these were the first tears that I'd shed due to pure joy. "Bonnie?" Elena and I both breathed.

"H-how are you-?" Elena started.

"Alive?" Bonnie finished as she walked over to us. "You think I'd be used to this part by now..."

We all laughed cried as we rushed forward and joined into a group hug. I couldn't believe this!

After the initial 'oh my Gods' and explanations, Elena went over to the fridge and took out a bottle of champagne as Bonnie started going through her undisturbed clothes drawers.

"My not-flannel blouse, my not-flannel t-shirts, and ooh! Ooh! I really missed my not-flannel V-neck," Bonnie relished.

"Suck it, 1994!" Elena cheered, and she popped open the bottle of champagne, and I didn't miss the way Bonnie jumped slightly.

"Whew! Ha! So, I bought this bottle of champagne," Elena started as she poured us three glasses of champagne. "The same day that Damon and I thought we were gonna rescue you, but obviously, we didn't, so I couldn't drink it. So, this is to you." She handed us each a glass, and we raised them to each other. "You were stuck there all by yourself while we were back here, living our lives. And, this is the worst toast ever."

"I'm back home," Bonnie said as she wrapped one arm around me, hugging me to her side. "That's all that matters. Cheers!

We all clinked our glasses and drank. Bonnie downed her glass in one gulp, but I stuck to sips. I was still wary of alcohol after the last time.

"Can we talk about the fact that I drove Jeremy away to art school?" Bonnie said as Elena poured her another glass.

"So, does that make you his muse? Because eww," Elena giggled.

"Do me a favor? Don't tell him I'm back yet," Bonnie pleaded.

"Hang on," I said as I put up a finger. "You mean you haven't called him yet?"

"I just... I want to give him a chance at normalcy," She said as she sat down on my bed. "Before we just drag him back into all of this, you know?

"Yeah. No. I-I do, too, but Bonnie, you should at least tell him you're okay," Elena protested slightly. I, however, thought it was good for him. It was hard enough letting him go this one time, if I had to let him go again, it'd be 100 times harder.

"And I will, I'll tell him," Bonnie said. "Coming back to life is complicated. Trust me, I've done it before. Besides, we have a roommate without her humanity and in need for a severe intervention."

Well, as they say, speak of the devil and the devil shall appear.

The door swung open, and Caroline walked with what looked like a hundred shopping bags on her arms.

"Caroline! Um, you're here," Elena stammered.

"And you're perceptive," Caroline shot back, and I nearly dropped my jaw as she passed right past Bonnie. She didn't even acknowledge her. She just dropped her bags on her bed as she said, "Ahh."

"Care, what are you doing?" I asked carefully as I inspected her bags.

"Starting over. New everything!" She said giddily as she began emptying her bags. "New sheets, new clothes. Hey, I even got us a new blow-dryer," She said as she pulled out said blow-dryer. She turned around, and finally noticed Bonnie. "Oh, my god. Bonnie's back. Hi. I thought you were trapped in 1994?"

"I got out," Bonnie said.

"Huh," Was all Caroline said as she turned back to emptying her bags. She had a complete lack of interest in Bonnie, even though she was the one who nearly drove me crazy during the beginning of the summer trying to bring Bonnie back.

"Uh, we-we've been worried about you, Care," Elena said with hesitation.

"You mean, you were worried about those around me, like if I killed them?" Caroline said bluntly. Whoa, this was seriously trippy. "Okay. Funny story. You remember Liam?" She turned to Bonnie to explain. "Oh, Elena dated this pre-med hottie, but then realized she still had feelings for Damon, so she compelled him to forget that they ever had a thing."

"Caroline, what the hell did you do to Liam?" I asked.

Caroline grinned. "I ate him! And he was delicious." All of our faces dropped, and Elena gave Caroline a sort of scolding look. "I mean, you know how cute guys just naturally taste better?"

"You killed Elena's ex?" Bonnie asked in disbelief.

Caroline rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Okay, can I just tell my story, please?" She looked over at Elena and I as she sat down on her bed. "Remind me why we're glad she's back again?"

Oh, wow. I definitely didn't like no humanity Caroline.

"Please tell me Liam is not dead," Elena practically begged.

"Fine. So I was feeding, and then, that little voice inside my head that tells me to stop? He never piped up," Caroline continued. "But then Liam got blood on my dress and then I got bored of him, but then if I tried to get rid of his body, I'd have had to either bury him in the forest somewhere, but I wasn't about to drag him through the grass, and I couldn't throw him in the dumpster because everyone is found in dumpsters and I'd be the first person the police would question, since I was the last person seen with him."

Okay, I knew no-humanity Caroline wasn't a good thing, but that was actually pretty brilliant.

"So, you didn't kill him because it would be inconvenient?" Elena concluded.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Elena, I shut off my humanity. I didn't turn into an idiot. The last thing I want to do is give you a reason to ruin my life." She took the champagne bottle we were all sharing and drank straight from it.

"It's so weird. It's like she's Caroline, but she's not," Bonnie said unnerved.

"Oh, Bonnie, how we all just missed your commentary," Caroline said patronizingly. She shook it off as she stood up. "Anyway, in return for my good behavior, I want a year where I don't have to feel any pain or grief or remorse. You're not gonna lock me in a cell and dry me out, and you're definitely not gonna try to trigger some latent emotion, hoping to snap my humanity back on."

"So, you just want to be left alone and in return you won't kill anyone?" I asked skeptically.

"That's all I want," Caroline confirmed. "Now granted, if anyone tries anything to flip my switch back on, and I mean anything," She dropped her cheery demeanor as she turned serious. "I'll become your worst nightmare."

Since Elena, Bonnie and I didn't have anything to say, Caroline said, "Great! I'm gonna get a latte." She grabbed her purse and headed out the door, calling "See ya!" cheerfully behind her.

Bonnie, Elena and I all exchanged worried and nervous looks. "What are we gonna do?" I asked.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to do what she says if we don't want people to die," Bonnie said.

"Are you kidding? Elena said the same thing to Damon, Stefan and I when we were all in New York when she had her humanity turned off. We can't just leave her like that," I said as I looked between my two best friends. "Can we?"

My question hung in the air as my phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket and automatically smiled when I saw it was Stefan. "Hey," I said when I answered.

"Hey. Uh, listen," Stefan started. "I never thought I would ask this, but, um... Do you want to go to a rave?"

I made a face, but I turned around to Bonnie and Elena, putting the speaker part of my phone on my shoulder. "Anybody up for a rave?" I asked.

Loud music and strobe lights blared from the warehouse. Two security guards stood outside the entrance as Bonnie, Elena, and I approached it. We all gave each other a look that asked if the other person was ready, and we pulled back a white sheet to reveal a full blown party.

I'd never been to a rave before. I was never a party girl, so this was pretty overwhelming. The music was so loud it pretty much shook me from the inside and it nearly blew my eardrums out. It was really hot too and there was a lot of people. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of sweaty people, and I had to squint to see.

Girls with painted faces and skimpy outfits, shirtless guys and glow-stick jewelry, and techno music surrounded us as we walked through the crowd. Everyone was cheering loudly, laughing, dancing, talking, and drinking. A lot.

"Okay, not exactly the Welcome Home party I was planning for you but," Elena yelled over the noise. She turned around to look at us. I was closer to her so I could hear her better, and she said, "I think we should split up and look for Caroline!"

Bonnie apparently didn't hear her, because she said, "Maybe we should split up and look for Caroline."

Elena just laughed before she said, "Good idea!"

We wished each other good luck as we split apart. I had to push past a lot of sweaty and gross people, but I found Caroline pretty quickly. She looked like she was having a good time dancing with some guy, and the bracelet that I had given her for Christmas glistened in the strobe lights. I was so distracted by it that I didn't notice that she had caught sight of me. When she did, she put her face next to the guy's face and vamped out, red eyes and black veins and all. I immediately moved forward to save whoever she was dancing with, but Caroline gave me a look that said, "Ah-ah-ah, remember our deal?" before grinning devilishly at me. I still wasn't too sure, but Caroline rolled her eyes at me as she mouthed, "I'm fine. " She gave me a wink before she went back to dancing.

This wasn't good. Caroline could say she was fine all she wanted, but I knew her. She wasn't. She especially wasn't if she had to turn her humanity off to deal with her mother's death.

A guy came up to me and tried dancing on me, but I rolled my eyes and used my magic to literally push him off and away from me. I held my hands up, concentrated, and he practically propelled away from me. I rolled the kinks in my neck as I began looking for Elena and Bonnie.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around to blast whatever drunk was on me, but I sighed in relief when I saw that it was just my boyfriend. "Oh boy, am I glad to see you," I said as I reached forward and wrapped my arms around Stefan's neck.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he hugged me back.

I nodded against his shoulder. "Fine."

We pulled back just as Elena squeezed past two girls dancing and came over to us. "Hey. How's the Liam situation? Did he have any bite marks on him?"

"No, which means she must have given him her blood," Stefan concluded.

"And he doesn't remember the feeding?" I asked.

"He remembers them making out-in graphic detail-," Stefan made a face. "But that's about it."

"So, that means she's covering her tracks. It's very thorough. It's actually really good," Elena said surprisingly.

"No, it's not good. It means that she's gonna use him as a human blood bag every time she gets hungry," Stefan argued.

"Or she'll drink from the blood bags in our fridge that she just restocked," Elena defended.

I put a hand up as I looked at her in confusion. "Hang on...are you actually defending her actions?" I asked.

"I'm just saying she hasn't actually hurt anyone, and there's no bodies that have shown up at the med center, no students are missing... What if she actually has this under control? You know, we give her her year, she's happy, and then-" Elena said.

"And then what's going to happen? She'll turn it back on?" I asked. "What if she decides that she doesn't want to and asks for another year? Obviously we won't want to give it to her so she'll go on another rampage and then where does that leave us? Even then, with her humanity turned off, she's just prolonging her real feelings about her mother's death. She'll start feeling everything she should have felt and gotten over in the year she shut it off and then she'll most definitely go off the rails."

Elena sighed, but I knew she knew I was right. "What's your plan?"

"Let me talk to Caroline," I offered.

Stefan immediately shook his head. "Nuh-uh. No way."

"I agree with Stefan," Elena said. "Besides, you heard Caroline's warning."

"You did too, but you still want to do something," I retorted. I looked between the two of them. "Just, think about it for a second. Who does Caroline love the most in the world?"

"Her mother," Stefan automatically answered.

"But her mom's not alive anymore," Elena pointed out.

I put my hands up. "I know that. Now, who's the second person that Caroline loves the most in the world?"

They both thought for a minute, and I knew it clicked in Elena's mind by the look on her face. She looked at me and said, "You."

I smirked as I nodded. "And now that her first person is gone, I'd be automatically bumped up to the number one spot."

"Wait, but how do you know that Caroline loves you the most in the world?" Stefan asked.

I rolled my eyes as I elbowed him in the chest. "Caroline and I practically shared a house growing up. I can't remember a time she wasn't over at our place or I wasn't over at hers. We shared everything-clothes, toys, books. Which is not an easy thing to do with human Caroline Forbes because she was literally the most selfish person you'd ever know. But I still loved her. And through everything, she's loved me. Through boys and fights and secrets and this new supernatural stuff, it was always me and Caroline before anybody else. Plus," I pointed at my own wrist. "I saw her wearing the bracelet I got her for Christmas that has pictures of all of us in it. If she was really without all of her humanity and gave up all hope of getting it back, she wouldn't be wearing it."

I knew I was getting closer to convincing them. "Please, guys? Please? If I look like I'm in trouble come and sweep me out of there. But trust me. It doesn't have to be romantic love to be an emotional trigger. Caroline Forbes loves me."

First, I had to change outfits if I wanted to connect with Caroline properly.

So I knocked out one of the college girls, dragged her to the bathroom, and swapped clothes with her. The spell I used had her unconscious for an hour, so as long as I came back in an hour I'd be fine.

I ditched my jeans and t-shirt for the black miniskirt, black halter top, and black high heels. I didn't know what this girl was going for but if she was looking to blend in with the background she did a perfect job.

I pinned my hair up and decided I looked good enough for Caroline Forbes. Shoulders rolled back and head held high, I left the bathroom and went back to the bar.

Caroline was just lifting a shot to her lips when I snatched it right out of her hands and tossed it back myself. It burned badly on the way down (I couldn't remember the last time I had done a shot) but I didn't let it show as I ordered another one.

Caroline smirked as she glanced at my new outfit. "Look who's finally living on the edge."

"Well, when in Rome," I said as the bartender pushed two shots towards us. We each picked up one as we toasted. "Do as the Romans do." We tipped the shots into our mouths. It went down better this time for me.

Don't get used to it, Gilbert. As soon as this is done you're cut off for three months, I told myself.

Caroline began people watching, and I noticed her narrow her eyes in obvious judgment at one girl in particular, so I followed her gaze. The woman didn't look that bad, in my opinion. Then again, I was always nice.

"Well, that's certainly a look," She said.

I gave her a look. "There is no need for you to be jealous. We all already know you're ten times hotter than the next girl."

She gave me a look of approval as she knocked back another shot. "Speaking of looks, I like your new one," She said as she gestured to me.

"Well, the old Juliet would be a bore at a rave," I said. "I figured new clothes would break me out of my shell." I leaned forward slightly. "But you know who's look is the worst?"

"Who's?" She asked.

I dropped my friendly act and gave her a look. "Yours. This whole no humanity thing doesn't suit you."

"Juliet..." Caroline warned, but I cut her off.

"No, you're gonna listen, and you're gonna listen good," I demanded. "You are the most social and emotional person that I know. You have to feel everything or else you fall apart. Having no humanity is going to destroy who you are and when you turn it back on you'll be so disgusted with yourself that you'll turn it back off. You are acting like a spoiled brat. Do you know how many people I've lost in my life? I can't even count on ten fingers. I lost two moms, Caroline." I held up two fingers to emphasize. "Two mothers, and two fathers, and everyone else in between. And you know how I dealt with it? I dealt it with it by being with my friends. I didn't take the cowardly way out and run away, which-as long as your humanity is off-is what you're doing. Caroline, you're my best friend, I know you better than anyone in the world.And when you finally come back to your senses, you'll realize that this isn't what you want."

"How do you know what I want?" Caroline spat. "This is what I want. And I don't care about my dead mother or you or anybody else."

"That's a lie," I automatically said. I grabbed her wrist, and she tried to yank it back but I had a tight grip on it. "Why else would you still be wearing this bracelet?" I asked.

She wretched her wrist away from me and moved to take her bracelet off but just as her fingers touched the clasp...she couldn't do it.

"See?" I said gently. I took Caroline's hand in my own. "When you turn it back on, it'll hurt. It'll hurt like a bitch. But you'll have me. And you'll have Ivan and you'll have Elena and Bonnie and Stefan. We're all gonna be here for you as long as you give us the chance and let us."

Caroline's face changed a little as she looked at her hand in my own and as she stared at the bracelet. She was so close to cracking, I knew it. I knew I had her and so did she. She looked up at me and it looked like she was gonna do it, but her face changed at the last second.

"I warned you," Caroline said sadistically as she snatched her hand out of my grip. "You shouldn't have done that."

And in the blink of an eye, she vamp sped out of sight.

Crap, I thought to myself as I looked at the empty spot. Damn it, I thought I had it. I was so close.

Caroline really thought that Juliet would understand her situation. Given the fact that she lost her own parents, Caroline thought that Juliet would sympathize with her and let her have her no-humanity year.

She didn't expect Juliet to retaliate the way she did.

She was close. Oh, she was so close. Caroline was a few seconds away from switching it back on because of the words that were coming out of her best friend's mouth, but she realized last second what she was doing. It turned out, Juliet was a bigger competitor than Caroline ever guessed. She was also very determined, so she knew that Juliet would stop at nothing to get Caroline to turn her humanity back on.

Caroline was a cheerleader and very competitive, and she knew how to take care of a rival competitor.

Break 'em down and take 'em out.

As Stefan, Elena and Ivan (who had gotten to the rave as fast as he could) waited for Juliet to come back with progress, Stefan's phone suddenly rang. He rolled his eyes when he realized that it was Enzo. "What, you really think I want to hear from you right now?" He asked, annoyed.

However, the voice on the other end was definitely not Enzo.

"Aw, is someone having a bad night?" Caroline said, the pout clear in her voice.

Stefan, Elena, and Ivan were all surprised to hear Caroline's voice on Enzo's phone.

"What are you doing with Enzo's phone?" Stefan asked.

"I stole it, but that's not the question that you should be asking right now," Caroline answered. "You should be asking, 'Why does Enzo have Sarah Salvatore's number in his phone?' Or maybe, 'Where is Sarah Salvatore?' Or perhaps, 'Where is Juliet?' And ultimately, 'What the hell are you going to do to them, Caroline?'"

Stefan felt hot fire course through his veins instead of blood at the thought of Caroline doing something to Juliet or Sarah. "Caroline, what the hell are you doing with Juliet and Sarah?"

"There! An appropriate question. Thank you for asking. As a matter of fact, I'm going to kill them," Caroline sang, and she hung up before Stefan or Elena could say anything.

Stefan, Elena, and Ivan all exchanged horrified looks. "Why didn't we send someone to look after Juliet?" Ivan hissed.

"We thought she could handle it," Elena said feebly, but she shook it off. "That doesn't matter. Right now we have to get to whereever the hell Caroline is and save her."

Stefan could practically see red. His hand was gripping his phone so tightly that if he wasn't careful, he was going to bend it in half. It didn't matter if Caroline was his best friend, if she hurt Juliet in any way, he was going to kill her.

I blinked, hard. What the hell happened?

I looked up to see the ceiling, but it was all dingy and gross. I must have been in a basement. I moved to sit up but couldn't. I started panicking when I realized I was tied to an operating table.

I tried using a spell that would undo the restraints and the memory of what happened came back to me.

"Caroline!" I called out as I ran around the party. I couldn't find her anywhere and I needed to before she hurt someone.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Caroline. Before I could say anything, she grabbed the sides of my head and compelled me, "You can't use your magic for the next three hours. You're powerless."

Since I got rid my only source of vervain when I broke up with Stefan, I had no choice but to repeat the words. And that was when Caroline hit me over the head with a blunt object and I blacked out.

Where the hell had she taken me?

I looked over to see that I wasn't alone in the room. In the room was a mocha skinned woman who looked to be about my age. She was still out, though, so no hope there.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps from outside the room. "Help!" I called out. "Help me!"

Someone finally walked in, but I couldn't see them until they came in front of me. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion when I saw who it was.

"Liam?" I said as I looked at him up and down. He was holding a scalpel in his hand and that immediately made me wary. "Get the hell away from me with that."

"I can't," Liam said, and he actually tried to hold his hand that held the scalpel away from me, but whatever was driving him was too great. "Caroline told me to do this."

"Caroline?" I said incredously.

At the Scull Bar, Caroline started making herself margaritas as she waited for the do-gooders-Stefan, Elena, and Ivan-to arrive.

"Hey! I'm making margaritas," She said as the three of them arrived, just on time. "You want one?"

"Where's Jules and Sarah?" Elena asked through gritted teeth.

"I see Stefan filled you in on his big secret," Caroline said casually.

"Where are they, Caroline?" Stefan demanded.

"Not here. That would be stupid," Caroline answered as if it were the simplest thing in the world. She prepped the glasses with salt as she said, "They're with Liam. Say hi!"

Caroline, who had called Liam just before, came through the speaker, shaky and panicked. "Hello!"

"Juliet and Sarah are helping Liam with his surgical skills," Caroline offered.

"Don't do this, Liam!" I shrieked as I desperately tried getting away. The other girl, who had revealed herself to be named Sarah, was panicking as well.

"I don't want to do this!" Liam said in fright.

"Duh. You're probably gonna get expelled, and then found guilty of murder. That's why I compelled you to do what I wanted," Caroline's voice through Liam's speaker phone said.

"No! Please! Please!" I begged.

"Look, Caroline. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have let Juliet push you," Stefan said.

"Obviously. I was pretty clear about that," Caroline said mindlessly as she continued to work on her margarita.

"I get you going after Juliet because she tried to convince you to turn it back on, but why go after Sarah?" Elena asked, very confused.

"Oh, you see, that's the brilliant thing," Caroline said excitedly. "I don't want to hurt Juliet just physically, but I want to hurt her emotionally. I know that her and Stefan are all of a sudden a thing again, and I know that hurting Sarah will put a strain on their relationship because Juliet will defend me and Stefan won't and that'll lead to a break up!" Caroline snapped her fingers. "Foolproof!"

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Stefan said. Obviously Juliet would never do that.

"Is it? Is it really?" Caroline asked. "We all know that Juliet will always love me more than anyone, so who is she gonna defend?" Caroline put two hands up to make them a scale. She held one hand up. "Her best friend since the sandbox." She lowered the first hand and raised the second. "Or the guy that hurt her in the worst way possible?" She teasingly moved the scales up and down as she tipped them before getting back to work on her margaritas.

Stefan would never admit it out loud, but Caroline made a good point. Juliet's friendships mean more to her than any other one, but would she really defend Caroline in this decision?

"Look, I know that you can't feel it right now, Care, but if you kill Sarah, it's gonna haunt you forever," Elena said, desperately wanting to change the subject. "Trust me. I did it, and it sucks."

Caroline poured the margarita mix into the glasses and laughed condescendingly. "I compelled a student to perform surgery on Stefan's niece, and you found a way to make this about you? God, you truly have a gift, Elena."

Caroline turned to face Ivan. "Well, dear boyfriend, aren't you going to say anything?"

Ivan looked like he was holding his tears back. "I just can't believe that the real you didn't think that this was something I could help you with. I'm your boyfriend, Caroline. This is the kind of thing that I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to support you through everything but you're not giving me the opportunity to."

Caroline tilted her head to observe Ivan. "You know something? You're probably the best boyfriend I've ever had. Matt was good, but he was Elena's damaged goods. Tyler was great, but he made me feel like I was the only one contributing in the relationship. He always put other people before. And, well, technically Klaus and I never dated, but he did leave right after we had sex. You are the one thing that was good about my life." She held up a finger. "And that's why I have to cut you loose."

"What?" Ivan asked.

Caroline shrugged. "I don't have the feelings for a boyfriend anymore. Maybe when I eventually turn it back on we can talk about it, but I wouldn't hold your breath. I was thinking of extending my no-humanity year because you guys disobeyed me."

"Look at me, Caroline," Stefan said, and Caroline did. "What do you want us to do? You want us to leave town, we'll leave town. Juliet and her hold over you and I will stay as far away from you as possible. Just please let her and Sarah go."

"That's the problem, Stefan," Caroline said. "It doesn't really matter how far away you are. Juliet is still Juliet, and she made me feel like I wasn't crazy." She put little umbrellas into the margaritas. "If you think about it, Juliet is kind of like Voldemort. She puts pieces of her soul into other people because she loves them so much. As long as those people are like her-someone like you, for example-she's still a threat."

"Killing Juliet and Sarah isn't gonna change that," Stefan said.

"I know, that's why I'd rather just change the people she loves, starting with you because she seems to like you the best after me," Caroline said. "Let go of that part of you, Stefan."

"Caroline, what are you talking about?" Elena asked, very confused and getting very impatient.

"If Stefan wants to save Juliet and Sarah's life," Caroline raised up two glasses of margaritas. "All he has to do is shut his humanity off."

Stefan, Elena, and Ivan stared at her in horror, and Caroline frowned. "Why are you all looking at me like that? Do I need to repeat myself?"

"He is not turning his humanity off," Elena said firmly.

Caroline rolled her eyes as she set the glasses on the bar. "Elena, Stefan unleashed himself from you months ago. He can think for himself now. I need a partner in crime, and Stefan's always been my best friend. Besides, no-humanity Stefan is fun."

"It's not gonna happen, Caroline," Stefan spoke for himself.

Caroline's plan was chilling, but it was brilliant. It turned out, Caroline knew me a lot better than I knew her. She knew that I'd defend her over Sarah (who, it turned out, was in fact, the real Sarah Salvatore, Stefan's niece) and she was right. I'd pick Caroline over anyone any day, no matter what she'd done. It was an automatic choice that my brain wouldn't even let me make for myself. But turning Stefan's humanity off? That'd destroy him.

"Hey Liam?" Caroline's voice through the speaker came. "Cut out Juliet's spleen."

"Caroline!" I screeched at the same time as Elena.

"Relax! She can live without a spleen, you know. It's really the infection you should be worried about," Caroline said.

"Liam, don't do this, please!" I begged. "Let me go, just let me go."

"I'm sorry!" Liam said honestly, and he lowered the scalpel to my abdomen.

If I had been asleep, this wouldn't have hurt. But of course, I wasn't and when someone tore open your skin with a knife, it usually hurt. My poor body. First a stake, now being cut open.

I screamed with all my might as Sarah screamed as well for me. Blood began oozing out of my stomach, and I was nearly sickm, as was Liam.

"Hey, Liam- remember that conversation we had earlier about being honest? Where are you?" Stefan called out.

"Don't answer him, Liam!" Caroline said, but she was too late and Liam answered first. "Whitmore Medical."

"Hey!" Caroline protested. "Liam, rip out Sarah's intestines," Caroline demanded.

"No!" Sarah and I both screamed as Liam had no choice but to turn towards Sarah.

"Please don't hurt me!" Sarah screamed.

Liam, unable to stop himself, sliced her with the scalpel, and she screamed in pain. I couldn't use my magic, otherwise the two of us would be gone. Liam hadn't actually gone very deep with the scalpel on me but there was a steady stream of blood coming out of my wound, and I started getting dizzy at the sight and smell of it.

"Go! Get Jules and Sarah out of there!" Stefan demanded of Elena and Ivan.

"Good luck getting there in time," Caroline said mockingly.

"Please, Liam!" Sarah shrieked.

"How's it going, Liam?" Caroline asked Liam casually.

Liam gaped wide-eyed in terror at the lacerations on Sarah's abdomen. "I think I'm gonna go into pediatrics!"

"You know what? I changed my mind. Leave Sarah and her intestines," Caroline said, and Liam relaxed and sighed in relief.

"Let's be a little bit more symbolic," Caroline said. "Take out Juliet's heart. That way, she can be free to fully give it to Stefan."

"No!" I screamed, but Liam, forced by the hand of compulsion, began cutting my shirt open as I continued to scream in the hopes that Elena would find us and save us.

"Liam, don't do it!" I begged and the lights began flickering above us in response to my panicked emotion. Please, pull a Kai, I begged the lights.

"You're making it worse. You'll only make it worse," Liam said, though he was horrifed at what he was doing.

"You'll kill her!" Sarah said. "Liam, she'll die! Liam!"

"Listen to her, Liam!" I begged.

Liam, however, took a torn piece of my shirt and shoved it into my mouth to keep me from screaming. He did the same thing to Sarah.

My eyes widened with terror as Liam picked up a sternal saw and turned it on. "I've never used one of these before. I'm so sorry."

I could only scream again. I hadn't done this much screaming since I tried to piss off the Travelers. Then, I had wanted them to kill me, but not now. I wanted to live. I wanted to live, god damn it!

After an altercation with Stefan, Caroline took his phone from his pocket when it started ringing. She had put a stake in his back, but she pulled it out when she grabbed his phone. "Stefan's phone!" Caroline said brightly.

"Caroline, where are they?" Elena demanded as she ran through the hospital. She and Ivan had split up, but neither of them could find them.

"Hey. You're gonna be a doctor, right? How long can one live without their heart?" Caroline asked. "Maybe, like, three seconds tops?"

Stefan slowly got to his feet. "She's gonna let them die, Elena."

"I can't find them anywhere. We're running out of time!" Elena said desperately.

Caroline turned to face Stefan, who looked terrified. He sighed in defeat and looked at Caroline. "Tell Juliet to bring me back."

"What?" Elena asked, perplexed. "Stefan, w-what do you mean? Bring you back from where?"

Stefan drew a shaky breath. "Just tell her to remember to bring me back."

Caroline pulled the phone away from her ear, keeping her eyes locked on Stefan she grinned triumphantly.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Stefan! No! Stefan, no!" Elena protested.

Stefan's last thought was of Juliet's beautiful face when they made love for the first time, and he had no doubts that she could do it. She was the reason he was doing it. She was his everything. She was his life.

He would do anything to save her.

Stefan took a deep breath and closed his eyes as Caroline watched him gleefully. Seconds later, Stefan opened his eyes again, and his expression had changed.

It was done.

Caroline smiled in victory and hung up the phone.

"Stefan. No!" Elena screamed when she realized that Caroline had hung up.

Much to my displeasure, I hadn't blacked out, so I felt every single stab of pain when Liam attempted the open wound on my chest. Liam was covered in blood and so was I, for obvious reasons. I was on the verge of finally blacking out to blissful peace when the door banged open and someone ran in. I could barely tilt my head, but I started crying as soon as I recognized the person to be Elena.

"Oh, my God," Elena breathed in horror.

"Elena, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I'm doing," Liam said, terrified out of his wits.

"Just stop," Elena said to him. There was suddenly a shadow over me, and Elena pressed her wrist to my mouth. I instantly started drinking the blood, desperately wanting to be healed.

"I have to take out her heart," Liam said in a daze, and he suddenly lunged towards me to finish the job. Elena, however, broke both of his wrists before he could do anything, and he dropped to the ground with a yelp.

Elena fed me more blood, and I turned my head in Sarah's direction. "Sarah," I breathed, clearing my throat of blood. Sarah needed to be healed.

Elena ran over to Stefan's niece and fed her some of her blood. Sarah's wounds instantly began to heal, and I felt better enough to attempt to sit up.

"It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay," Elena said as she came back over to me and took out her phone. She dialed Stefan and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" I heard Stefan say, but there was something...off, about his voice.

"Stefan, hey, thank God. I found them," Elena said, relieved. "They're gonna be okay."

"Oh, really?" Stefan said and again, there was something wrong with his voice.

"Stefan, are you okay?" Elena asked.

"Well, I will be in one second," Stefan said, and he took a sip of something and sighed in relief. "Mmmm... I really needed that."

"Please don't tell me that you shut it off," Elena pleaded, and my stomach dropped.

I wretched the phone away from Elena and held it to my ear. "Stefan?" I said. "Don't tell me that you shut it off!" Again, no answer. I started getting even more stressed out, to the point where I practically growled, "Stefan, don't you dare tell me that you turned it off!"

Stefan, who was calmly sipping from his margarita behind the bar, listened to his girlfriend starting to panic. "Okay. I won't."

He then handed the phone to Caroline, who was laying on her back on the bar. With a victory smirk on her face, she said, "He shut it off."

With that, she hung up the phone and tossed it to the side. She gave Stefan a grin as he drank from his margarita, and she looked up at the ceiling.

She had won.

TBC...

Well, that's that!

Let's see how this all plays out!

I'm trying to reintroduce the fact that there is such thing as familial and friendship love, a fact that Julie Plec has so conveniently "forgotten", hence why Jules is the emotional trigger, and not someone like Ivan. Besides, Caroline has known Jules longer.

Also, kudos to me for figuring a way around this crap all by myself! I feel so smart!

REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!

A Bird in a Gilded Cage...

Juliet tries to make the best of a crappy situation when she is held captive and forced to follow around Caroline, a humanity-less vampire. When Stefan shows up to stir up trouble, Juliet tries to figure out a way to deal with the new situation.