I waited anxiously for Stefan to come back. By the time that he was, the vampire blood was out of my system. I breathed easier knowing I wouldn't turn into a creature of the night if I died, but I was still on edge. Elena was still missing.

"Damon won't tell me where to find Anna," Stefan said.

"Of course not," I said. "That would require him to care about anything other than what he wants for five seconds."

Stefan grimaced. "Yeah. Listen, Melanie… I think, maybe, you could…"

"Out with it," I said impatiently. "I don't know what Elena's told you but I can't read your mind."

"Yeah, uh, she mentioned." He sighed. "I think if you're the one to talk to Damon, he might listen."

I blinked.

"You're delusional," I told him. "But I'm desperate at this point, so what the hell."

We went to the boarding house.

"Hello, Melanie. Come back for another fix?" Damon held out his wrist.

I smiled humorlessly. "We're not doing this, Damon. Tell me where Anna took Elena."

"I don't take orders. Certainly not from you," he said flippantly, his eyes focused on the grimoire he was reading.

Well. That was that. I tried.

I turned to Stefan. "Any other bright ideas?"

Stefan seemed despondent, but gestured for me to follow him, as we wouldn't get anything to find Elena here.

"I'm going to see if I can come up with another solution," Stefan said. "Keep your phone on you."

"Fine."

Half an hour later Stefan called me.

"Did you find her?" I asked immediately.

"No," he said. Useless vampire. "But I might know how to find them."

"Them?" I repeated. "What do you mean, them?"

"She took Bonnie as well."

"What?" I hissed. Anna was going to pay. And wow, Jeremy had really crappy taste in girls.

"I'm heading over to Sheila Bennett's house to see if she can locate—"

"I'll meet you there," I cut him off before hanging up.

"Stefan," Grams said. "The second Salvatore to come to my door today."

"Damon was here?" Stefan asked, worried.

"Not important," I interjected. "Elena and Bonnie are in trouble. They've been taken and we need to find them, quickly."

Grams' eyes widened. "Come in, come in." She ushered us in.

Stefan could step over the treshold after Grams' invitation. We followed her to the dining room where she sat us down. She then rushed off to retrieve something. Stefan and I sat in silence, which was how I preferred it, so of course he chose to break it.

"I know that you're upset with me," Stefan began.

I spoke before he could continue. "I warned you of what would happen, and you didn't listen. I was almost turned into a vampire because of you."

"I'm—" Stefan tried to cut in, but I wasn't finished.

"And it makes me feel so selfish, because all you were doing was prioritizing the safety of the town. You did what you thought was right, and I know that, and you…" I sighed. "Damon killed your best friend and you know him better than I do. I understand why you didn't want him to get the grimoire. But I almost died. And your plan ended up being for nothing! I warned you, and you… You just…"

"Hey, listen to me." He held my gaze. "Your anger is perfectly understandable. I can't apologize enough for what happened last night."

I looked away, not sure how to react. I was still angry, but I was also worried for Elena and Bonnie, and I didn't want to fight. I meant what I said. I understood Stefan's actions, I just almost got turned into a vampire because of them. That was hard to forget.

"Elena filled me in a little on what's been going on with you," he said. "I figured something was up before that. Damon mentioned that you couldn't be compelled. He thought that you were a witch."

"I don't know what I am," I admitted. "I do know that I don't want to see Damon again. He used me as a pawn to get what he want, and I refuse to be used by him again."

Stefan looked at me and nodded.

Grams returned with a large old book. She opened it, flipping through the pages. This had to be her grimoire.

"I'm going to do a locator spell," she said, getting out a map of Mystic Falls. She pricked her finger, dropping blood on the map.

Stefan sucked in a breath.

I was reminded, suddenly, of the things Damon had told me about Stefan's less than stellar control around blood.

Grams chanted, and then the blood started to move. It went across the paper, moving slowly until it stopped.

"There," she said.

Stefan immediately thanked her and left. I went to follow, but Grams grabbed my arm.

"He can handle this part alone," she told me.

"I want to help," I pleaded.

"It's too dangerous. Stefan will get our girls and bring them back. You'll stay here with me where I know you're safe."

"Fine," I said, resigning myself to sulking on the couch in the living room.

Eventually, after cleaning up the ingredients for the locator spell, Grams joined me there.

"You seem troubled," she said to me.

I chuckled. "Is it that obvious?"

Grams just looked at me patiently. I sighed.

"Some things happened last night. Elena and Stefan double-crossed Damon after I warned them not to. I was the only one on his side, and yet, who was the one who almost got turned into a vampire? Me," I finished bitterly.

Grams gave me a sympathetic grimace.

"Vampires," she sighed. "Always causing trouble, wherever they go."

"I used to think they were all bad. I didn't really know what to think, actually. I guess I still don't. Stefan seems good, but he's lived a long time. He doesn't have the best control around blood, either. What if something happens in the future? What if Elena gets hurt?" Frustration ran hot inside me. "I don't want this for her."

"She deserves better," Grams agreed. "All of you do. Better than selfish, obsessive vampires who are only out for their own gain."

For some reason, that statement hurt me. I didn't know why, because what Grams said was nothing but the truth.

"Yeah," I said hollowly.

The door opened. Stefan came in with Bonnie and Elena. Bonnie ran to her grandmother, terror on her face. Elena didn't look much better.

Relieved that she was safe, I pulled her into a hug.

"What did Anna want?" I asked after Elena pulled away.

"It wasn't just Anna. It was Ben, too," Bonnie said.

"Ben, as in the guy you like?" I asked, baffled.

"Liked," she said, making a face. "Trust me, that's over. As for what they wanted… They wanted the tomb to be opened. They were going to use Elena to make me do it."

I made a face. "Don't tell me they're obsessed with Katherine, too?"

"She wants her mom out," Elena said quietly.

"Oh," I said. My sister and I exchanged a look of understanding. I didn't like Anna's methods, but I could see where she was coming from.

"So what do we do now?" Elena asked.

"Well, for now, you need to stay here," Stefan said.

Grams didn't looked pleased. "A prisoner, in my own home? I don't think so."

"I can't protect you if you leave the house."

"We'll protect ourselves," Grams said, every inch the tough ass witch. Wow.

"We need to let him have Katherine back," Elena said. Everyone turned to stare at her. She couldn't be serious. "He's not going to stop until he gets her. If we help him, maybe that ends it."

"You realize how ironic those words are, don't you?" I said, unable to help myself. "That was my plan all along! And it would have worked, too, if you two hadn't decided to be idiots!"

Elena didn't meet my eyes.

"Screw that plan," Bonnie said. "He doesn't deserve to get what he wants."

"What other choice do we have?" Elena asked. Damon would not stop until he got Katherine out, that much was clear.

"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems. As much as we tried to stay out of it," Grams said, looking at Bonnie. "I'll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will all be over."

I blinked. It almost felt too easy after everything that happened just to get that tomb open.

Then again, as I thought back to last night… I took it back. None of it had been easy.

"We still have to get Damon to agree," Stefan reminded us.

"He already agreed once," Elena said.

"Yeah, and then we double-crossed him," he said. "So now he's angry."

"Excuse me," I said loudly. "What's this 'we' you speak of?"

"Elena and I," Stefan amended for me, but suddenly he looked pensive. "Maybe you could talk to him."

My eyes widened and my eyebrows raised. "No."

Elena looked excited now, too. "You have given him no reason not to trust you. He might listen if it's you."

I ignored the twinge in my stomach at Elena's phrasing.

"He has given me every reason not to trust him," I retorted. "I'm not talking to him."

"Yes, you are," Elena said, just as stubborn as me.

I knew she was right. I knew the only chance we had of Damon agreeing was for someone who hadn't been a part of the betrayal to ask him.

"Well, I'm not talking to him nicely," I told her, resigned to my fate.

Stefan nodded after my agreement. "Let's go."

Stefan stayed in the car as I entered the boarding house.

Damon didn't even turn around as he spoke. "I'm going to have to change the locks." He turned around. "Did you find Elena?"

I had been determined to be angry and let him know it, but now that I was standing in front of him, it was hard to summon it.

"We did," I said, finding my voice. "No thanks to you."

"My brother's the white knight, not me." He gave me a sarcastic smile.

"Why are you being like this?" I asked. "I'm the only one who was on your side, and you used me for your own gain. If anyone gets to be sarcastic and prissy right now, it's me."

He considered me. "You've certainly got the prissy part down."

I took a deep breath and mentally counted to ten. He watched me do it, clearly amused.

"Bonnie is going to help you open the tomb," I told him.

"I doubt that," Damon said with a scoff. I walked closer to him.

"We all want you gone," I said slowly. "Are you really surprised?"

He lifted an eyebrow. "Just yesterday, you were calling me a friend."

"Friend don't turn friends into vampires against their will."

"I wouldn't have turned you," he said, surprisingly serious.

I scoffed. "You would have done whatever was necessary to get your precious Katherine back. You don't care about me, you've said that yourself."

He looked at me, then gave a chuckle. "If this is your sales pitch, it could use some work."

"Fine. Look at it this way: let Bonnie and her grandmother help you, or you're without a witch to perform your spell."

"I can find a witch," he argued, but doubt was flickering in his eyes.

"Really? You going to ask your friend Bree?" I fake gasped. "Oh wait, you can't. You killed her." I rolled my eyes when his eyebrows raised. "Yes, I figured it out. She sold you out to Lexi's boyfriend and you killed her for it. Stefan and Elena sold you out and you would have turned me for it. And yet I'm still offering you my help."

He rolled his head back. "I wish I could believe you."

"Then believe me," I said. "It is that simple. I promised you I'd help and I haven't broken that promise. I don't intend to."

Several expressions—doubt, hope, guilt—crossed his face at once.

"I'm trusting you," he said finally. "Don't make me regret it."

We held eyecontact, until I couldn't take his piercing blue eyes anymore. I didn't want to look at him, so I looked away. We would free Katherine soon.