I woke up with a metallic taste in my mouth and a strange sensation in my neck.

I sat up and realized that this was not my room. I had never been here before. That was when I noticed that I wasn't alone.

Damon gave me a wry smile. "Morning."

At the sight of him, all of the memories came rushing back.

I hurried to get out of the bed, but he was blocking the way to the door.

"Stay away from me," I warned.

He started walking towards me. With each step he took, I took one backwards, until I was up against the wall.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Mel."

But he had already hurt me. I remembered him attacking me. He'd lunged at me, bitten me, drained me. He was… He was a… No.

"Don't call me that," I said as my mind spinned. My hand went to my neck but found no blood, no wound, nothing. "You don't get to call me that."

"Do you know what I am?"

I shook my head wildly.

"Come on," he said teasingly. "You know."

Well, did Vicki say what animal attacked her?

She said it was a vampire.

This couldn't be happening.

It all made sense, though. The animal attacks. Bodies drained of blood. Like I had been drained last night. The animal attacks weren't animal attacks at all. The pieces all slid into place, but I wish they didn't. This was crazy. This was insane. But how could I deny what was right in front of me?

"Vampire," I whispered.

The animal attacks, the people who almost died and the ones who actually did. It had been Damon all along.

"There we go!" I sucked in a shaky breath. He leaned closer. I screwed my eyes shut. "You're a curious one, aren't you? Immune to my charms."

I opened my eyes. Was he for real?

"Charms?" I repeated, incredulous. I wanted to say more but I didn't know what he would do. I didn't understand how my neck was completely wound-free. I didn't know if he would attack again. He was a vampire. When I thought about vampires, my mind called up images of Dracula and Twilight, not…this.

"I'm talking about compulsion," he said. "A handy little trick vampires have. It's the power of persuasion. You're immune to it."

Amazing. Do I get a prize?

"Are you gonna kill me?" I asked, swallowing hard.

"No. Like I said, I'm not going to hurt you." He backed away. I let out a breath of relief. "You're leverage."

"Leverage?" I repeated. This situation just kept getting stranger and stranger. Up was down, down was up, vampires were real and I was being used as leverage. Before I could question what exactly I was being leveraged for, though, I heard a familiar voice.

"Thought we were gonna party 'til the sun goes down." Vicki. Vicki was in another room right now. Vicki whose body I saw dropping to the ground last night.

"Vicki's alive?" I breathed.

He winked at me and left the room we were in. Breathless, I followed, and we made it to the living room. Vicki stood there, in all her druggie glory, wearing nothing but a camisole and shorts. Alive. By the looks of it very high on drugs, but alive. Wow.

"I had to wake Melanie up first," Damon answered Vicki's question.

I was glad Vicki was alive, but did she not realize that she was partying in a vampire's living room right now? Actually, I recognized this living room. This was the Salvatore boarding house, so it wasn't just Damon's living room. Oh, god. Elena was dating the brother of a vampire. Wait…

"Ugh, I'm getting anxious just looking at you," Damon said, rolling his eyes at me. "Has anyone ever told you you're too uptight?"

"Is Stefan like you?" I couldn't bring myself to say the word 'vampire' again. Not out loud. It still felt ridiculous.

He chuckled. "You mean, is your sister dating a blood-sucking monster? Why, yes. Yes, she is."

"Oh, god," I said, out loud this time. I was starting to feel dizzy. Stefan was a vampire, just like his brother. Elena had been alone with him. Several times. Elena was in love with this guy. No. Elena was in love with a vampire.

Damon scoffed as he watched me freak out. "Seriously, you need to loosen up. Here." He extended a bourbon bottle to me. I didn't accept. "What? Don't drink?"

"I don't. But I sure could use a cigarette right about now." I muttered the last part under my breath, but he heard me anyway. He had really good hearing. Now I was wondering if that was a vampire thing. Which made me wonder about all the other vampire things—what was fact and what was fiction?

"Oh, that's right." He snapped his finger. "You smoke, don't you?" He looked disturbingly proud of my bad habit.

"I used to," I corrected. I didn't mention that this whole ordeal made it tempting to start again.

"I feel like I'm on fire!" Vicki shouted from across the room. Any relief I had about her being alive was long gone.

"What drugs did you give her?"

"Same thing I gave you. My blood."

I blinked at him. With a fake smile, I asked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"How do you think your wound disappeared? My blood healed you."

Vampire blood was capable of healing. Sure. Why not. That explained the metallic taste in my mouth, at least.

"Wait, so I'm going to end up…" Dancing half-naked across the room like Vicki currently was?

"Scared to have a little fun?"

"Right, partying with a murderer and the girl my boyfriend cheated on me with! That's exactly my idea of a good time."

It probably wasn't a good idea to be so snarky to the person who had attacked me last night, but I couldn't help myself. The sarcasm was like a defense mechanism to get through this.

Damon widened his eyes, immediately latching onto what I revealed about me and Vicki. "Sounds like a scandalous story. Do tell."

I couldn't let myself be distracted. "Ealier, you mentioned I'm leverage. Leverage for what?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it."

"I am so over Tyler! So over him!" Vicki shouted. "I knew from the beginning that I was only a piece of ass to him, but I thought maybe if he got to know me better, he might see something more. But no! Now, Jeremy, on the on the other hand, all he's ever seen in me is something more."

My face scrunched up. I did not want to hear about my little brother's love life. "Please stop talking."

She did not stop talking. "Elena used to date my brother and they were always together, so Jeremy would be hanging around and crushing on me and—" Vicki suddenly stopped and stared at Damon. "Hey, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're like, totally cool and so hot!"

"I know," he replied, looking at me smugly.

I needed to get out of here, before he decided to attack again. I needed an escape plan. How did one escape from a vampire, though? I had seen him in action. I needed to outsmart him, somehow.

"Don't you want to be in love?" Vicki continued.

I started to tune it out, thinking of an escape plan.

This would all be so much easier if I knew more about vampires. Actual ones.

One of the big questions was, of course, if vampires had super speed like in Twilight. If they didn't, I could just make a run for it. But if I was wrong… he'd probably kill me. Or not. He did mention I was leverage for something, didn't he?

Because I was so lost in thought, focused on escaping, I was completely taken by surprise when Damon suddenly had my hand and spinned me.

"I don't want to dance," I said, annoyed.

"You don't drink. You don't dance." He spinned me around. "What do you do?"

"No, you see, I have a policy: don't dance with crazy people." I tried pushing myself away from him, but I had forgotten about his super-human strength; he held onto me with ease. Fear pulsed through me at what he might do, but I managed to keep my composure. "It's worked very well for me in the past."

He sighed, longsuffering. "Normally this is where I'd compel you to dance with me anyway."

"But you can't." I tilted my head. "Because I'm immune. How does that work, anyway?"

He gave me a cheeky smile. "Dance with me and I'll tell you."

I rolled my eyes, but obliged. I had to learn more about vampires, and what better way to do that than learn things straight from the source? If he'd even give me accurate information. Ugh.

I danced with him. The music that we danced to wasn't half bad, but while I tried to convey a loosened up attitude, I was still tense on the inside. Vicki danced next to us by herself. She was clearly having the time of her life, high on Damon's blood or whatever. It was annoying.

Eventually, Damon started talking. "There's two ways to resist compulsion: ingesting or wearing an herb called vervain, or being a witch."

Witches were real too? My mind instantly went to Bonnie. This meant she'd been right all along. Bonnie was an actual freaking witch. Witches were real. Vampires were real. What the hell else? Freaking werewolves?

I considered my options. I wasn't wearing it, which left me with… "So I'm either a witch, or I've unknowingly been taking anti-compulsion veggies."

He laughed. "Pretty much. But your blood is clean." His smile turned wry. "And beyond delicious, might I add."

I felt unsettled at the reminder that he fed on me.

We continued to dance, and I was honestly starting to get exhausted, but dancing meant getting answers. And I needed more answers. "Why can you go into the sun? Shouldn't you sparkle, or burn, or something?"

"Ugh, Twilight. Super inaccurate." He rolled his eyes. "We burn. But Stefan and I have rings to protect us."

"Magical rings. Cool." I looked at his fingers. No ring. "So why aren't you wearing yours?"

"My baby bro stole it." He spun me around. "Siblings, am I right?"

"Right," I echoed, my eyes narrowing. The pieces of this little puzzle from hell slid into place. "That's what I'm leverage for."

"Smart girl." We stopped dancing. I stared at him, panting. I had stamina thanks to cheerleading, but I had my limits. "You're right. If Stefan doesn't bring me my ring, I'll…" He ran his his finger across his neck.

"Kill me."

"Yep."

"Lovely." I wanted a cigarette so bad.

"Don't worry, Sabrina," he said off-handedly. "Stefan won't let you die, so for now you're just my entertainment until I can get out of here."

"Sabrina?" I repeated.

He shrugged. "You're a witch, aren't you?"

I actually thought there had to be some secret third way to resist compulsion, because I really didn't think I was a witch, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

"Wait, let me see if I understand correctly: my life is literally in Stefan's hands. Wether I survive or not depends on my sister's murderous boyfriend?"

"Stefan is pretty harmless, actually." He rolled his eyes. "He's like a vegetarian vampire. Eats bunnies. Thinks he can survive on animal blood alone, it's ridiculous."

"So he's like the Cullens," I mused out loud. Damon groaned. "Sorry. No more Twilight references."

Damon started dancing with Vicki. I was glad I was finally left alone. A plan was forming in my head. Vampires burned in the sun without rings. All I needed to do was get some sunshine in here, and I could escape. But it was risky.

"Hey, I know I said no more Twilight, but can you read minds?" I asked. I could read everyone, except Stefan, Damon and Bonnie.

Damon scoffed, so I took that as a no. Vicki scowled at Damon's diverted attention, and he noticed it. "You're so damaged."

"Yep," Vicki whispered.

"I mean, you don't have a hint of self esteem."

"Nope. None."

What were we, on Dr. Phil now?

"I think I know what can help you." Damon leaned his forehead against Vicki's.

My breath caught. I frowned as I felt a familiar combination of dread and nausea flood through me. My head was pounding. But why…

Vicki sniffed. "What's that?"

He was going to kill her.

I lunged. "No!"

"Death." He snapped her neck, causing her to fall on the floor.

I was too late.

I dropped to the floor mid-lunge, tears forming in my eyes. Vicki was dead. Damon had killed her, right in front of me.

Vicki had never been my favorite person, that was no secret. But she was a person. She had a life. She had a family. Just because she was 'broken' and didn't have a 'hint of self-esteem' didn't mean she had to die for it.

"Why did you do that?!" I got up from my crouching position. "You… you said you wouldn't kill us."

"Actually, I said I wouldn't kill you," he corrected. "Never mentioned anything about her."

I stared at him with disbelief.

"Relax." He rolled his eyes. "I didn't kill her."

Eyes wide, I gestured at Vicki's body. "She looks pretty dead to me!"

"Okay, technically, I did kill her, but she'll come back."

"What?"

"You were the one who said you're smarter than most people give you credit for," he quoted mockingly. "Figure it out."

I let out a small breath. He killed her, except he claimed she would come back. Either ghosts were real, too, or… "She's turning into a vampire. Like you."

"Bingo."

"Why would you—"

"Ugh, so many questions." He rolled his eyes. "Don't you ever just shut up?"

Oh, well, excuse me. It wasn't like my entire world just got turned upside down.

Eventually, Vicki woke up. "What happened? We were dancing and then—"

"I killed you," Damon finished.

She sat up, her eyebrows raised. "What?"

"You're dead," he told her.

"I'm dead?"

"Yeah, well, let's not make a big deal of it. You drank my blood, I killed you, and now you have to feed in order to complete the process."

So that was how it worked. Drink vampire blood, die, drink human blood. I filed that knowledge away.

"You're wasted," said Vicki, getting up. She grabbed her clothes and went to the door.

"You don't want to be out there all alone." He disappeared and freakin' re-materialized in front of Vicki. Guess that answered the super speed question. "Things are about to get really freaky."

They already were, but whatever.

Vicki sighed. "Look, I've had a really good time, but I just want to go home."

"You're gonna start craving blood and until you get it, you're gonna feel very out of it. You have to be careful," Damon warned.

"And if she doesn't get any blood?" I asked.

"She'll die," he replied. I started backing away. Vicki was craving blood now. "Oh, relax. She's not gonna feed on you."

"No?" I retorted. "She might. What's stopping her from killing me?"

"I am," he said simply. "You're the leverage, remember? Can't have you dying on me just yet, Sabrina."

I huffed. "My name is Melanie."

"Just open the damn door!" Vicki interrupted impatiently. "I want to go home."

"Okay, fine," said Damon. He looked at me, and I could see a lightbulb going off in his head. "Actually, you know what? You should go. In fact, if I were you, I would stop by your boyfriend Jeremy's house."

"What?" I gasped. "No! No, that's a very bad idea, Vicki, don't do that—"

"Oh my god, Melanie, you can't stop us from seeing each other," Vicki cut me off, exasperated. "It's like, get over it already. We're dating, stop being such a bitch about it."

Damon opened the door and started pushing Vicki out of it. "Tell Elena I said hi and if you see Stefan, tell him to call me!"

"No, she's going to kill him!" I lunged, but he pushed his arm out, holding me back with ease. "She's going to drain him dry!"

"Not my problem anymore." He shrugged.

I couldn't believe this. My brother was going to die. No, no, no.

"I'll stay for as long as you want, just don't let her kill anyone." I felt like I wasn't really here anymore, like this was a different person pleading for her brother's life and I was just in the audience, watching. "I'll let you feed from me, just, please, don't let her kill him."

He didn't look at me. He was staring at my neck with…a look in his eyes that I did not like. Still, I started nodding desperately, to emphasize that I meant this. Vicki already had a headstart.

Damon sighed. "Go."

"Wait…" I slowly comprehended his words. "What? You're letting me go?" He looked annoyed, but not with me. More with himself. He nodded. "Why would you do that?"

"I have a plan, Melanie. An agenda. Right now, I'm very tempted to eat you, but doing that would disrupt the entire thing, so…" He gestured at the door. I hesitantly approached it. "Go. Before I change my mind and decide to have a taste anyway."

He didn't seem to be joking.

I ran.

When I finally reached my house, I banged on the door, panting. The sun was setting, which meant soon, Damon wouldn't need his magical sunlight ring anymore. But he was the least of my worries. Jeremy…

"Mel!" Elena exclaimed, wide eyed, when she opened the door. "Thank god."

I went inside. Standing in the hallway was Stefan. I shivered at the sight of him.

"Elena," I breathed, still exhausted from running all the way home. My sides were hurting like crazy. "He… They're…"

"Vampires," she filled in, her eyes flickering to Stefan. "I know."

"I'm sorry, what?" On one hand, I was relieved, because I didn't know how I was gonna explain it to her, but… "For how long?!"

"I just found out."

"How did you escape?" asked Stefan, studying my neck for any wounds.

It was hard to picture his face with red eyes and fangs. This was Stefan. The guy who had cooked chicken parmesan for my sister as an opportunity to get to know each other better and then he had made sure there were leftovers for me, like he'd promised.

But the various animal attacks that hadn't been caused by an animal at all flashed in my mind, and though I knew Damon had said Stefan was 'harmless' I couldn't help but be wary.

I avoided his gaze, focusing solely on my sister. "I'll explain everything later. Where's Jeremy?"

I started to head towards the living room, not bothering to wait around for an answer. My eyes widened when I heard the sound of Vicki's voice. God, she was already here.

Elena grabbed my arm. "Mel, what—"

"Vicki's becoming a vampire!" I whisper-yelled at her. "Damon turned her, alright? She needs to go."

I went inside the living room. Vicki was there, along with Jeremy. At least Stefan was here now. He could stop her if she got out of control. But the question was if he would. I didn't really know him at all. I couldn't trust him.

"What's going on?" I asked carefully.

"Vicki's really messed up right now," Jeremy answered, sighing.

Yeah, that was one way to put it.

Stefan approached her. "Vicki, look at me. Focus, you'll be okay. Everything is going to be fine." He turned to Jer. "Take her to bed, shut the blinds and she's gonna be okay."

Jeremy took Vicki upstairs, leaving me and Elena alone with Stefan.

"Is she really a vampire?" Elena asked shakily.

"Damon said she's in transition." I ran a hand through my hair. "He said that in order to become a vampire, she needs to feed on human blood."

"And if she doesn't?"

"She'll die." I turned to Stefan angrily. "So I don't get why you would send Jeremy upstairs with her. She's gonna kill him!"

"No, she's not," he replied calmly. "She has no idea what's going on."

"Right, like being unaware's gonna stop the urge to drain him dry."

Stefan studied my face, tilted his head a little. "What exactly did Damon tell you about us?"

"He told me enough," I snapped, too tired for this conversation. And too stressed. Jeremy was in the same room with Vicki. Stefan and Elena were be convinced that Vicki wouldn't do anything, but I wasn't so sure. "Look, can we just focus on the problem at hand?"

Elena nodded and turned to Stefan. "When is Vicki going to know?"

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything," Stefan explained after a short silence. "A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back, and then she'll know she has to make the choice."

"The same choice you made?" Elena said, a little spitefully. She'd clearly gotten the whole life story from Stefan.

I focused, and let her thoughts invade mine. Stefan had been been 17 years old since 1864. He and Damon used to be best friends. Then they met Katherine, a vampire who played them both. Later, she turned them into vampires like her, in an attempt to be with them forever.

Before I could comment on the story, I heard Vicki's name being shouted by Jeremy. Then I heard the sound of the door open and slam shut. The three of us shared a look before rushing to the front, where Jeremy was.

"She was fine, and then she just freaked out," Jeremy said, frustrated. He got his phone out, and left a voicemail for Vicki. "Vicki, tell me where you are, I'll come get you, just please call me."

"I'll start looking for her," said Stefan, and he headed towards the door.

Jeremy started to follow him. I grabbed his arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

He shrugged my arm off. "To look for Vicki, where else would I be going?"

Panic surged through me. He couldn't. Not after everything I'd just gone through to keep him safe.

"Jer, you can't," Elena reasoned. "What if Vicki comes back? She's gonna need a familiar face here."

To my surprise, Jeremy agreed and nodded. We went back to the living room, and Jeremy started ranting about how he was worried about Vicki. She'd promised him she wouldn't do hard drugs, and now Jer thought that's exactly what Vicki had done.

Jeremy sighed after finishing his rant. "I'm going to make some coffee, it's not like I'll get any sleep tonight anyway."

He went to the kitchen. Me and Elena exchanged guilty looks.

"I hate lying to him," Elena confessed as soon as he was out of earshot.

"Me too," I admitted.

We sat down on the couch.

Elena looked at me with concern. "Did Damon hurt you?"

I really didn't feel like rehashing it, but… I didn't want to lie to her like I just did to Jeremy.

"Yes," I said. "He drank my blood, and then he healed me with his blood."

Elena said through gritted teeth, "I'm going to kill him."

I scoffed. "If only we knew how."

"Stake to the heart," Elena replied instantly. She elaborated, "Stefan told me all about himself today. He also told me things about Katherine. She—"

"Turned them. Yeah, you were thinking about that earlier. I read your mind and found out."

"Right." Elena huffed out a disbelieving laugh. "I never thought we'd ever see something even more world-changing than mind reading."

"And yet vampires are real," I agreed.

Jeremy returned from the kitchen with coffee. "Maybe we should check in with Stefan."

Elena sighed. "He'll call when he finds her."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"We wait," I told him. "We have to wait."

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Jeremy confessed, his eyes heartbroken, and my heart broke, too. I hated this. I hated lying to him. I hated that he fell in love with Vicki in the first place. And most of all, I hated that their whole relationship was doomed now. They couldn't be together now that Vicki was a vampire.

"She'll be fine," Elena placated him. "It'll all be fine."

When the doorbell rang, I went to answer it, hoping it was Stefan with news about Vicki. Except when I opened the door, I was greeted by a pair of icy blue eyes that were most certainly not Stefan's.

I tried to shut the door back in Damon's face, but he pushed back. I knew Jeremy and Elena were behind me. Their thoughts were in my mind. Elena was terrified, and Jeremy was just confused.

"Elena," I said calmly. I was thankful I managed to keep my voice from wavering. "Take Jeremy upstairs." Elena didn't move. "Now."

Elena finally did as she was told and grabbed Jeremy. The two went upstairs.

As I continued to try and shut the door with no luck, Damon said, "Your sister is afraid of me. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess. Stefan finally fessed up to her? Or was it you?"

"Stay away from us," I warned. I stopped trying to shut the door.

"No need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan. Can I come in? Oh, wait of course I can. I've been invited." He gave me a smug look before he walked inside and shut the door. "We can cut to the chase if you want," he offered. "I'm not gonna kill you, right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda."

I smiled a sarcastic smile that said 'how kind of you'.

It caused Damon to grow serious, "Where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki." My eyes narrowed. "You know, the girl you turned into a vampire out of boredom?"

I wanted to slap myself in the face after I said it. I didn't have a filter when it came to dangerous situations, and it showed. I really didn't want to provoke him into killing me. He was unpredictable.

"Don't look at me with those judgy little eyes." He approached me, getting in my personal space. It bothered me, but I tried not to let it show. It took all of my willpower not to take a giant step back. "Girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her."

"Oh, really?" I whispered, raising my eyebrows. "Did you thank Katherine?"

I could see that he was slightly taken aback. He turned, giving me space. "Got the whole life story, huh?"

"I got enough," I allowed.

"Oh, I doubt that." He scoffed, before turning all chipper again. "Tell my brother I'm looking for him. Oh, tip for later, be careful who you invite in the house."

He winked before walking out of the house. I immediately closed the door and locked it, as if that would keep him out. It wouldn't. Nothing would. Apparently, vampires really did need an invitation, but with Damon, it was too late.

Elena came down the stairs. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said. "Did you hear all that?"

"I did." She nodded. "Do you think he's gonna come back?"

"I hope not," I said, running a hand through my hair. He had been invited in. He could come to our house whenever he wanted, and he could do whatever he wanted. It was a terrifying thought.

"What do you think I should do?" Elena asked quietly "About Stefan?"

"I can't tell you," I said. It was her decision to make, and I couldn't make the choice for her. "But… I think you know."

Stefan was a freakin' vampire. Their relationship could never work. Just like Jer and Vicki.

I went upstairs, leaving Elena to contemplate that. I was sure she'd come to the right decision by herself.

Later that night, Stefan returned. Elena went outside with him to talk, but I put my ear up to the door to eavesdrop. I overheard him telling Elena that Vicki had fed. She was a full-fledged vampire now.

"I'll take care of it," Stefan promised. "I'll find her, and I will show her that she can live like I do. I will make sure that she doesn't hurt anybody, Elena. I promise you."

"What do I tell my brother? And Matt?" Elena asked.

"We'll come up with a story."

"You mean we'll come up with another lie."

It was silent for a bit. "I'm sorry."

"I gave you today like you asked," Elena said. "And I understand that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I promise I will keep your secret, but I can't be with you Stefan. I'm sorry."

I let out a small sigh. I knew she'd do the right thing.

I stepped away from the door. Moments later, it opened and Elena walked inside before shutting it again. She looked at me hopelessly. Her eyes were welling up with tears. I walked over and hugged her, and she crumbled in my arms.

I didn't know what it was like for her, what she was going through. But breaking up with Stefan in this situation was the right thing to do.

I just hoped that, eventually, my sister would come to realize this, too.