We ended up at Mystic Grill.

"I'd rather be in school." I mumbled, poking at the cherries in the Kiddie Cocktail in front of me.

"Ouch. That hurts." Damon mock-pouted before downing his whiskey and signaling for another.

"Is there a reason for me being here while you numb whatever non-existent feeling you're experiencing?"

"Again, ouch. What's with the insults?"

"You can't be insulted, Damon. That would mean that you care what I think about you."

"What did I do to deserve this bitterness?"

"Why don't we start with the night you killed a man for no reason?"

"That doesn't concern you."

"You attacked me the same night!"

"I thought you said you were over that?"

"What about the fact that you were feeding on an innocent girl?" I continued.

"That's what vampires do."

"Even worse, you just threatened one of the closest friends I have here!"

"Jeez, touchy. If you're this upset about what you do know, maybe I made the wrong choice in bringing you with me today."

I keyed in on the word that he emphasized.

"What do you mean, what I do know?" I asked. He smirked at my puzzlement.

"Let's not worry about that just yet."

"Damon..." I started in warning, trailing off when my phone buzzed a few times with incoming text messages. The first two were from Caroline.

'Halloween party school. 8 pm. DON'T BE LATE!'

'And dress up!'

The last one was from Bonnie.

'Wanna get ready together tonight?'

I sent a response to both girls to be at my place at six, and then shot a quick text to Matt to let him know that I wouldn't have much time to hang out once school was done.

"Look at you, Miss Popular. From no plans on your birthday to everyone wanting your time and attention." Damon said as my phone vibrated again. I rolled my eyes before checking the message.

"Let me guess, the quarterback is lost without you?"

"Why would you assume these are all from Matt?" The latest one was, but he didn't need to know that.

"Who else could make you smile like that? I mean, besides me."

I scoffed and went back to the text conversation. I'd just hit send when Damon grabbed the phone from my hands and started scrolling through the messages.

"Hey!"

"Oh, you spent the night at lover boy's? Interesting."

"He was taking care of me. Sprained ankle, remember?"

"Well if that's all it takes, then allow me to tend to your every need tonight." He winked, that damned smirk back in place.

"Don't make me gag. And give me back my phone."

He laughed and set it on the bar, sliding it in my direction. I caught it and finished my drink.

"Well, this has been fun, but I'm gonna go."

"I'll just drag you back."

I contemplated trying to leave anyway.

"I did have a reason in coming to you today. It's about your new beau's sister."

"You mean Vicki?" I asked, both suspicious and confused.

"Yes, Vicki."

"How do you know her?"

"We go way back. Well, just back to last month. You know, from that time in the woods when I bit her and left her for dead. And then when I tried to kill her again in a cemetery a couple of days ago."

"Of course that was you." I scowled, mentally connecting the dots. "Wait... you killed those teenagers? Why?!"

"Blame Stefan. If he hadn't of locked me up for days without giving me blood, I wouldn't have had to break out and drain that group of druggies."

"If Vicki was in that cemetery, why wasn't her body found? Where is she?"

He didn't respond, instead focusing on the drink in his hand.

"Where is she, Damon?" I asked again.

"At the boarding house, all right?"

"The boarding house? The Salvatore boarding house? Why would she be there?"

"Because I took her there."

"But she called Matt earlier. She said she's okay. If that's true, if she's alive, then why not let her go home?"

"Because isn't technically alive, anymore."

"Damon, what did you do?"

"I turned her."