We arrived at the party. Elena and I were both wearing our costumes from last year, as it had been too last minute to come up with a new one. Elena was wearing a nurse costume, and I had gone as Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. Jeremy wasn't even trying as he'd just gone in a black hoodie.

We saw Matt. He, Elena and I laughed when we realized the three of us all wore last year's costume. We talked for a bit but then Matt revealed he had brought Vicki with him.

"Vicki's here?" I asked with disbelief.

"Oh, yeah. You can't miss her. She's a vampire."

"Of course she is," I muttered.

"Where did Jeremy go?" Elena asked. I looked around. Jeremy was nowhere to be seen. Great, this just kept getting better and better. What would it take to keep these two starcrossed lovers apart?

Matt tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

"We just have to find Jeremy," Elena said apologetically. "We'll see you later."

We ran through the crowd looking for Jer, but we found Vicki instead. She was with Stefan, so that at least meant Jeremy was safe.

"Vick!" Matt yelled. He had followed us.

Vicki clearly saw an opportunity to play dirty. "I told you to quit bothering me!" Vicki turned to her brother 'innocently', gesturing at Stefan. "He won't leave me alone, Matty."

Matt instantly believed Vicki. He approached Stefan, trying to act intimidating. "You need to back off, man."

If only Matt knew what was really going on. I wished we could tell him. I wished we didn't have to lie.

"No, Matt, it's okay," Elena pleaded.

"It's a misunderstanding!" I tried.

"No, it's not. What the hell is your problem?" Matt continued approaching Stefan with narrowed eyes.

I saw movement in the corner of my eye—Vicki. She was slipping away while we were distracted.

"If the two of you are done posturing, we have bigger problems!" I told Stefan and Matt.

Elena looked around and came to the same conclusion I did. "Stefan, she's gone!"

She raced away in pursuit of Vicki.

"Elena, wait!" I followed her.

We found Vicki with Jeremy, by the busses outside. Jeremy was yelling.

"Vicki, stop!" I shouted. She didn't stop. Jeremy was still yelling until finally, I reached them

I dove into the middle and separated Jer and Vicki. My lips parted when she glared at me. Her vampire face was just like Damon's. Veins were underneath her eyes and her fangs were bared at me.

"Vicki, please," I tried. "You said you could control this."

I could see it in her eyes. She couldn't. They were mindless with hunger, and Jeremy and I were two bites away from being her all you can eat buffet.

I tugged at Jeremy's arm and pulled him with me. I knew vampires had super speed, but we had to try and run away.

Jeremy stumbled after me, understandably shocked and unable to take his eyes off Vicki. Elena tried to hit her with a wooden plank but it didn't do anything. Vicki's attention was on Jeremy and so I stood in front of him. I knew she was much stronger than me, and she proved this when she lunged and I found myself in the air.

I landed rather painfully on a pile of boxes.

"Mel!" Elena shouted.

"I'm fine!" Well, aside from the stinging scratches on my arms. "Get Jeremy!"

Stefan arrived. He held Vicki up against a wall. Relief flooded me at the sight of it. Vicki tried to fight back before disappearing.

Stefan pulled me out of the pile of boxes. I was grateful. "Go!" he said. "Get inside!"

I turned around, just in time to see Vicki grab Elena and bite her neck.

"NO!" All logic flew out the window. I ran to intervene and get myself killed in the process, but luckily, Stefan was quicker than I was.

He put a stick of wood right through Vicki, causing her to let go of Elena. Vicki fell on the ground.

"Vicki!" Jeremy cried. I pulled him back from running to her. He began sobbing as her skin changed slowly—it turned a sickly gray.

I had never seen a vampire die before. I knew that was what just happened. Vicki Donovan was dead.

The stinging of my cuts grounded me to this moment. All of the times Vicki had managed to pull through despite everything, it had all been for nothing. Matt's sister, the girl Jeremy was in love with, she was dead.

"I need to get him out of here," Elena said softly. I let go of Jeremy's arm. His eyes were full of pain. I knew that the relationship between him and Vicki couldn't have worked out, but I never wanted this to happen. I didn't want Jeremy to go through this. I didn't want him to have to mourn another loss.

I walked over to Vicki's body and knelt. Her eyes were dull and lifeless.

"You should go. I got this."

My eyes narrowed when I heard Damon's voice. I stood up and looked at him. He was the picture of calm. There was no regret whatsoever to be seen. Stefan had been the one to kill Vicki, but she never would have had problems with controlling bloodlust if she hadn't been a vampire in the first place.

"This is your fault," I said hoarsely.

"You confuse me for someone with remorse." Damon glanced at my scratched up arms. "You should go, Melanie."

His eyes flickered to my scratched up arms. The cuts were still bleeding. I was disgusted.

"I feel sorry for you," I told him with calm derision. "You're the type of person who won't ever be happy."

Something flickered in his eyes. I didn't stick around to try and decipher it.

I made it back to the party and the crowd. Everyone was laughing, talking, partying, and Vicki was dead.

Someone grabbed my arm. I let out a loud gasp. I recognized Matt as he held up his hands, startled.

"It's just me." His eyes found my scratched up arms. "Whoa, what happened?"

"Nothing," I said. He raised an eyebrow. "I, uh, I tripped. Like an idiot." I forced a laugh.

"I can't find Vicki." My heart dropped. "She bailed on me, again."

Why? Why did this have to happen? Me and Matt hadn't really been friends for that long, but I knew he was a good guy. He didn't deserve this.

"I haven't seen her," I lied while hating myself for it.

He shook his head. "Is this what I'm in for? A lifetime of worrying about her?"

I let out a strangled sound. Matt gave me a concerned look. Because he was a good person. A good person whose sister was dead.

"My arms hurt and I'm tired." I attempted a reassuring smile, but I doubted it came out right. "Maybe Vicki went home?"

"Maybe," said Matt. He didn't look like he believed it.

I cleared my throat. "I'm just... gonna go home."

I didn't bother to wait for his reply. I walked away as fast as I could without making it seem like I was running away. I pushed my way through the crowd. My eyes began to blur. I heard a familiar voice call out my name.

"Mel!" Dread pooled in my stomach. Not him. Not now. I kept going, but he easily caught up with me. "Mel."

"Tyler." I didn't look him in the eye. Silent tears were rolling down my cheeks. "What do you want?"

"What's wrong?" he asked. I met his gaze, and I saw genuine concern in his eyes. He enveloped me in his arms and I didn't fight it. His hands rubbed circles on my back. It was comforting.

When I finally pulled away, Tyler started to lead me away from the party. "Come on. Let me drive you home."

I was surprised at how caring he was acting. It was true that he'd been trying to get back together with me ever since the first day of school, but he'd still been acting like a jerk to both me and Jer.

I wiped my face clean with my sleeve. "Thank you."

We got in his car and he started to drive. We were awkward and tense.

"So… do you want to…talk about it?" He looked uncomfortable. I wasn't sure if it was because of our history or because he just generally disliked talking about feelings. Perhaps both.

"Not really," I said simply. What could I even say? Hey, remember the girl you may or may not be in love with—I never bothered to keep up with your drama club—so sorry, she's dead.

"I know that we're not exactly…" He couldn't seem to finish his sentence, so I decided to finish it for him.

"Friends? That's what happens when someone gets cheated on, generally." I knew that he was doing me a favor by driving me home and he literally just let me cry on his shoulder—but I couldn't help the bitter statement. It was the truth, after all. Even if the girl he did it with was dead. I sniffed.

"…I've said this before, and I know now that it doesn't change things, but…I never meant to hurt you, Mel. I really am sorry."

I didn't reply. It was what I had wanted this whole time, a genuine apology—something that made my heart flutter. But after today, I just didn't have the energy for this conversation. Maybe another day. When the craziness that was my life now had settled down a bit.

If the craziness that was my life now ever would.

The rest of the car ride was in silence.

Elena and Stefan were sitting outside at the front porch.

"Where's Jeremy?" I asked.

"Inside," Stefan said.

"I was waiting for you," Elena told me. I gave a brief nod in thanks.

We headed inside and went up the stairs. It was a good thing Jenna was out with Logan—she didn't need to see us all like this.

We entered Jeremy's room. When I saw him, my breath caught. I had been preparing myself for the worst—but I was still taken aback. He was sitting on his bed. His eyes were red and puffy, and he looked confused and desperate—unable to process what had happened.

We sat down on his bed with him.

"Do you understand what happened tonight?" Elena asked softly.

He jerkily shook his head. "No. I mean—I know what I saw but I don't understand." Tears began to stream down his face.

"She was going to kill me," Elena whispered.

"And now she's dead. Vicki's dead," he cried, turning hysterical. "Make it stop, it hurts." He sounded so desperate. No amount of physical comfort I could offer him would make this right, but I rubbed my hand on his back anyway. Then, a broken whisper: "Why does everyone have to die on me?"

My heart shattered into a million pieces after hearing that.

Elena and I just continued hugging him—it was all we could do. I wished we could do more.

"How is he doing?" Stefan asked when Elena and I headed outside again.

"He's a mess," Elena answered. "I don't want him going through this again. He's just a kid."

"What can I do to help? I'll do anything."

I remembered what I'd been told about mind compulsion. Somewhere inside me, I knew it was a wrong, impulsive choice, but… All I wanted was to make my little brother's pain go away. A magical fix-it by a vampire sounded undeniably appealing.

"Can you make him forget?" I asked. When our parents died, Jeremy barely got over it. I was scared that this time, he wouldn't be able to take the pain.

I knew that I was justifying it. I knew that it was wrong.

Stefan was quiet. "If I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work because of who I am, how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right."

Disappointment and relief were at war inside of me, until—

"I can do it." We turned around at the sound of Damon's voice. His gaze was focused on me. "If it's what you want."

I swallowed. "It's what I want."

"It's what we want," Elena added. "He doesn't deserve this."

"What do you want him to know?" Damon asked.

Elena answered him. "Tell him that Vicki left town and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's gonna miss her, but he knows it's for the best."

I didn't know why Damon was helping us, when earlier he'd told me he felt no remorse. He headed inside, off to compel Jeremy. Maybe this was his version of remorse.

I gnawed on my bottom lip. "Maybe this isn't a good idea."

"Mel, you saw him," Elena argued. "He can't go through this again."

"Shouldn't we at least give him the opportunity to try?" I shook my head. "I've changed my mind."

I didn't want Jeremy to be that broken figure sitting on his bed, but I didn't want to take his choice away, either.

Elena grabbed my arm when I tried to head back inside. "Mel, please. This is for the best."

"You're justifying it," I told her.

"Because it is justified," Elena said, a stubborn set to her jaw.

I didn't try to go back inside. Elena let go of my arm.

A while later, Damon came outside again. "It's done."

"Thank you," Elena said to him.

I didn't say anything.