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To everyone reading this, I hope you enjoy this chapter. The chaos of Vicki Donovan continues.

I woke up. For a moment, everything was normal. I was excited, because today was Halloween, and tonight there was the annual Halloween party at the high school.

The events of yesterday hit me while I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

The excitement of Halloween lost its spark, because the monsters were real.

Vampires were real.

I wanted to pull the blanket over my head and never step foot outside my bed again. Nevermind go to a party that celebrated the existence of what I knew was real.

I had to go to school today. Even the thought of it felt ridiculous. How was I supposed to pay attention to math knowing there were immortal beings who defied logic?

Question number one (use a blue or black pen, please). If vampire A is using normal speed and vampire B is using super speed, how long before the human gets mind controlled and drained of their blood?

Except, of course, not everyone could be mind controlled.

Witches were one example of the immune. There was no doubt in my mind that Bonnie was one, but Bonnie and I hadn't been going through the same thing at all. She had started a fire with her mind. I hadn't done anything like that. I really didn't think I was a witch, and I wasn't on vervain, either.

Question number two: if you are immune to compulsion when none of the explanations the vampire who kidnapped you offered apply, should you:

A. Google it?

B. Try and ask said kidnapping vampire or his less homicidal brother for another explanation?

C. Leave Mystic Falls and move to Siberia?

D. Go to school and ignore it?

I sighed. It looked like I was going with D.

I put on some clean clothes and I applied lipgloss. After that I finally checked my phone for the first time in two days, and discovered several unread messages. I completely forgot: after the carwash, Bonnie and I had made plans to have dinner together. Obviously that hadn't worked out.

I typed a response with a flimsy excuse and an apology for not cancelling. Then I put my phone in my pocket and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

Elena and Jeremy were already there. I raised an eyebrow at the sight of Jeremy, because my brother was not an early riser. "You're up early." I reached for my toothbrush.

"Yeah, I'm going to the police station, they're organizing a search for Vicki, so…"

Even the sound of Vicki's name felt like a slap in the face. Vicki was a vampire. Vicki now had to drink actual human blood to survive, and Jeremy had no idea. Jeremy was still in love with her. I didn't want them dating, obviously, but… Jer was finally happy. It killed me to have to ruin that.

"Shouldn't you be going to school?" asked Elena.

Jeremy stared at her. "You're kidding me, right?"

"You shouldn't skip school," she lectured. "If they find her, we'll know, that's what cell phones are for."

"Yeah, your lips keep moving and I don't know why," Jeremy replied before walking away.

Elena sighed while I rinsed my mouth. After I was done, I asked, "You okay?"

The memory of her crying in my arms was still fresh in my mind.

"I'm fine," she brushed off, before starting to brush her own teeth.

I sighed. "We should talk to Vicki. Explain to her why she can't see Jeremy and Matt for a while."

Elena spit in the sink. "Yeah, we should go this morning, before she gets a chance to run away again." I took a look at my bracelet watch. It was early, we still had plenty of time before school would start. "I'll go get dressed."

Elena knocked on the door. Our least favorite vampire opened it.

Elena grabbed my arm. I didn't need to read her mind to know that she was nervous.

"Is Stefan here?" I asked Damon as casually as I could manage.

"Yep," Damon replied in the same nonchalant tone I used—like we were talking about the weather.

"Where is he?"

"And good morning to you, little miss 'I'm on a mission'," he replied.

He was a smug jerk who just ruined my brother's relationship and turned Vicki into a creature that craved blood. He did it out of boredom. I asked, "How can you be so arrogant and glib after what you've done?"

Elena's grip on my arm tightened.

Surprisingly, though, Damon actually seemed to welcome banter with me, raising an eyebrow. "And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?"

"Please." I lifted an eyebrow. "If you wanted me dead, Damon, I'd be dead."

"Yes, you would," he agreed.

"But I'm not," I pointed out.

"Yet," he corrected, sounding annoyed.

"Where's Stefan?" Elena interrupted. I suddenly remembered why we came here. Vicki. I didn't want to be late for school so we had to move this along.

"He's upstairs singing The Rain in Spain," he told us. "Knock yourselves out."

Once Damon stepped out of the house, Elena rushed inside. I maintained eyecontact with him, though, as we passed each other. Looking at his sarcastic grin, I was promptly reminded of two days ago, after the carwash, when he used those very teeth to drain me dry.

Vicki was going to be like that now.

I realized I couldn't let Vicki near Jeremy ever again. Because he was clueless, and she had fangs, and after one slip of control she would drain him dry like Damon did me. Except unlike me, Jer would die.

"Mel, you need to be more careful," Elena started lecturing as soon as the door closed. "He's a psychopath, if you talk to him like that, who knows what he'll do."

"He has had several opportunities to kill me. I'm still here," I said. "One sarcastic comment more or less isn't gonna change that." Or at least I hoped it didn't.

"I just don't want you to get hurt again," Elena said, her eyes soft and righteous.

I shook my head. My sister had the uncanny ability to turn every conversation into an emotionally draining one. I was seriously starting to regret telling her about what Damon did to me. I didn't like the way she was currently staring at me, like I was some frail, breakable thing.

I heard a voice behind me before I could console her. "Hello."

I jumped, turned around, and saw Stefan. "Where's Vicki?" I asked as soon as I regained my composure.

"She's upstairs."

"So what now?" Elena asked. "Because our brother and Matt are out there searching for her with the rest of the town. What do we tell them?"

"I'm working with her," Stefan said. "But it's going to take time. She has a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this."

"So she's a vampire with issues?" Elena scoffed. "What are we supposed to do? Because we're lying to everyone we care about. What's gonna happen to her?"

"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe," Stefan told us.

"How long is that?" Vicki was at the top of the stairs, looking far better than she did yesterday.

"We can talk about that later," Stefan said patiently.

Elena tried to be civil, approaching her, "Hey, Vicki, how are you?"

Vicki scoffed. "How am I? You're joking, right?"

Well, this was going great already.

"I need more blood," said Vicki, looking around. "Where is your bathroom? I need to pee. Why do I need to pee, I thought I was dead?" She walked out of the room.

Stefan turned to Elena. "I'm going to, uh, get her something to eat. I'll be quick."

For a small moment, I thought he was referring to a cheeseburger or something. Then I remembered my new reality. 'Something to eat' for Vicki was blood. Because Vicki needed blood to survive now.

Vicki returned to the room. "False alarm. My body is feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird." She picked up her phone and put it to her ear.

I wanted to read her mind and find out who she was calling without having to ask, but… I couldn't. Literally. Instead of hearing her thoughts, all I heard was… white noise. Like with Bonnie, and Stefan, and Damon.

"Vicki," I called out, my voice fake sweet. "Who are you calling?"

"Jeremy," Vicki replied.

"That's not happening," I said.

"Vicki, you can't see Jeremy anymore," Elena added.

"Oh come on, don't you two start," Vicki groaned, rolling her eyes. "I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see."

"You're a vampire, for crying out loud," I said. "Remember in Twilight, when Bella got a papercut and Jasper tried to murder the everloving shit out of her? What if that happens with you and Jer?"

"I would never hurt Jeremy," she said firmly.

"I know you think that, but we can't take that risk," Elena said. "You're going to have to let Jeremy go, for now."

Sneering, Vicki put down the phone. "Oh, really? And how long have you been preparing the 'You're not good enough' speech? I assume it predates the whole vampire thing."

"Of course it does!" I said. "You've been playing hot potato with your heart this whole time. You're with Tyler, you sleep with Jeremy, you're with Tyler again. Oh, look at that, now you want to be with Jeremy. Again."

"I won't go back to Tyler! Ever!" Vicki said, visibly getting angrier. "You can have him for all I care."

"I don't want him, either!" I shouted. I took a deep breath. "The point is, it's true that I never thought you were good enough for Jeremy. But now, this is bigger than my disapproval. There is a serious chance that you could hurt or even kill Jeremy. Are you really willing to take that chance?"

"There is no chance!" Vicki yelled, exasperated. "I have complete control of this!"

"Even if that's true…" Elena said. "Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Vicki."

Vicki stepped forward, smiling sweetly. "Or what?"

"We're not threatening you, Vicki," I said, hoping to save the escalating situation. "We all want what's best for Jer here."

My attempt to save the situation was futile. Vicki slammed Elena against the wall, holding her there by her throat.

"Vicki!" I exclaimed. I tried to pull her off Elena, but then she grabbed my throat, too."…Vicki…" I choked out, unable to breathe properly. I couldn't form a proper sentence.

"Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitches," Vicki sneered. She narrowed her eyes at Elena. "You had my brother whipped for fifteen years only for you to go and dump him. That is all I see when I look at you. So I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off." She turned her gaze over to me. "Both your heads. You got it?"

She finally let go and I could breathe again. Me and Elena were on the floor, holding our throats, coughing. I hated Vicki. I hated her so much.

Besides, like she was one to talk, with her 'All I see when I look at you' speech. You know what was all I saw when I looked at her? The girl who slept with my boyfriend a week after my parents died.

Vicki left, and a little while later, Stefan came back. Elena immediately went to him. "She threatened us."

"Vicki is on edge right now," Stefan explained. "Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin, and then when you throw in her other issues…"

"She can't be around Jeremy," I said. "She's way too unpredictable."

Stefan nodded. "The hardest thing to do is resist certain people, especially when you're new. It's difficult to separate your emotions, love, lust, anger, desire. It can all blur into one urge: hunger."

"What does that even mean?" Elena asked.

"It means what Melanie said. Vicki can't see Jeremy, because she could hurt him."

Elena grabbed my arm. "We need to get going."

"Elena, please," Stefan tried, clearly wanting her to stay.

"I'm sorry, but there's only so much I can take, Stefan." She shook her head and we took off.

Elena and I went to our house after school. I heard Jeremy's voice in the kitchen. Who was he talking to? We headed to the kitchen and his voice became clearer.

"You gotta call me, Vic. I don't get it. What's going on with you? Please just call me."

I felt for my brother, I really did, but he couldn't be around Vicki anymore. Vicki wasn't just going to back off, though. And Vicki had superpowers now. What did I have? Mind reading that didn't work on her anymore, and useless premonitions that didn't tell me what bad things would happen—much less allow me to stop them.

"Hey," Elena said, making our presence known. "We're gonna go to the Halloween party at school. Do you wanna come?"

"I'm sorry, we?" I asked. I hadn't been planning on going to the Halloween party this year.

"Yes, we." Elena gave me a pointed look.

"Sure. Sounds, uh… sounds fun. Can't wait," Jeremy answered, not sounding enthusiastic about it at all.

"I know you're upset about Vicki and I heard that she called Matt," Elena said. "But Jer, she needs to get better. The best thing you can do is let her go."

Jer snorted. "Right, because we're such experts on letting people go."

"Okay, harsh, both of you." I gave them a look. But maybe Elena was right with her approach to this. Jeremy couldn't see Vicki anymore. If that meant him hating us, well, I'd rather have a brother who hated me than no brother at all. "Look, Jer, I know that you might not see it, but trust us. It's for the best."

He gave me a disbelieving stare. "For months after Mom and Dad died, I felt like crap. Like nothing really even mattered crap. But now, I get these moments and things will start to feel better, and Vicki was in every single one of them. So the two of you may not see it, but trust me, keeping me away from her is not for the best."

He stalked away angrily, making a successful dramatic exit.

"That went well," I said, sighing. Elena scoffed in agreement. "Well, guess I should go get ready. For the party you just roped me into."

Guess I was gonna have to pull together a costume.