Bonnie watched as Damon transformed into a wolf and she briefly wondered where his clothes went when he changed into an animal. Shrugging she set off at a run, 'This is going to be fun.' She thought sarcastically as she hurriedly put one foot in front of the other. 'If I had known I was going to go for a 'quick jog' after a romantic interlude I would have picked someone up from a gym.' Her small attempt at humor sufficed in taking her mind off her sister for the five minute run there. Arriving at the cemetery she saw her car and almost collapsed. "She ran it into a friggin tombstone!" she cried angrily as she thought about the cost of fixing it. "Mary if you're not dead when I get there I'm going to kill you." she muttered as she made her way to the abandoned church.

She noticed a group of people around the Smallwood part of the old cemetery and stepped quickly behind a tree. She saw Caroline there in front of her father on her knees; she also noticed Tyler's parents and Mrs. Forbes. 'What the hell is going on here?' she thought as she curiously watched the group around Caroline.  Caroline herself seemed to be a little on the scared side and Bonnie longed to walk over a find out what was wrong but her sister was in trouble. Slinking through the shadows best she could she made her way to the church and to the opening of the crypt.

The voice the slithered from her lips was not Mary's own.  "We are here to ensure you do not fail this time.  With the aid of the druid, you cannot fail."  Mary threw a glare over her shoulder.  "They would not hurt one of their own."  A sneer etched on her face like a crack in a mirror.

Damon had skirted around Caroline and her 'family', noticing something was amiss as well.  But unlike Bonnie, he could care less.  He jumped over the edge of the tomb opening and landed beside Elena in his true form.  "What the..."  He looked at Katherine standing there, free as a bird, and listened to Mary's utter gibberish.  "Wanna bet?"  He snarled, lunging towards her.

Bonnie arrived down in the crypt a couple of minutes after Damon and standing beside him and Elena she paled at what she saw. Katherine was free and was using Mary as a shield and Stefan was protecting Matt. Stepping forward she reached out a hand to her sister. "Mary? Mary it's me Bonnie." her voice was a bit shaky and the anger she had felt about the car had left her the moment she had set eyes on her sister in Katherine's clutches. For the life of her she couldn't figure out what was going on and she was thankful that both Alaric and Meredith were away from here, out of danger.

Matt watched as first Elena, then Damon, and finally Bonnie came into the crypt. He had cringed slightly when Mary had spoken to Katherine in a voice not quite her own. 'What the hell is going on? First Katherine pops back up and now Mary's gone looney.' Glancing at Bonnie he wondered what had taken her so long to get there, after all Mary had been home with her when he had left them.

Mary didn't even flinch when the Damon leaped at her.  She merely held out one arm and he was deflected, quite like an ant caught in a windstorm.  She tilted her head to one side and raised an eyebrow; all the while her eyes were still vacant and unfocused. "The little puppet is here.

One druid draws them all we see."  Mary turned to face Bonnie, her eyes stared through her.  "So little one, you had fun with your game despite your sister's interruption?  That is what you thought of her, correct?  An interruption?  Now she is a part of our game.  Now the only one to truly see us is ours." The hissing voice was unearthly and evil.

Meredith was getting impatient. "Katherine, are you ignoring me, you stupid vampire???"  'Oh, dear!  I really hope that doesn't come back and haunt me.  What am I thinking??  Calling someone older than Stefan and Damon -vampire wise- a "stupid vampire?"  I've got to be crazy.' Pestering Katherine with more questions on how to "inhabit" a body, she stared warily at Mary.  And wondered who the heck it was who was talking through Mary...who was "them"?

Caroline felt her father's hand drop from her hair. They no doubt smelled Bonnie and someone they didn't know in a furry state. She knew it was Damon. Even through his wolf visage she could smell vampire. She could smell Bonnie's sweet perfume. Her father stepped back and his nostrils flared.

"We have company here. We should go." He said and motioned to his wife and the Smallwood's. " Caroline... I know where you are going. I want you back home soon. Go see to your friends." He marched off the others in tow.

Caroline stood up and brushed her jeans off. She looked around and in her astonishment her vision went infrared. She could see clear as day. She moved swiftly and found the crypt and climbed down.  She could smell the death and blood. She could mostly smell living meat. Her friends. They were friends not food. She rounded a corner and her friends were here. Bonnie, Stefan, matt, Damon, Mary. But Mary was weird looking and Katherine was aloof and free. Her vision bleeped and sensed body heat for a moment. And only Matt, Bonnie, and Mary registered heat. Stefan, Damon, and Katherine were kind've blue with orange specks. Then her vision went back to infrared. She walked up to the group. Her head hurt from all this new sensory.

Elena watched all of the happenings in the crypt in something like disgusted astonishment.  Disgusted because somehow Katherine was now enjoying a free romp around and had apparently healed herself, and astonished because all hell seemed to be breaking loose without any concrete grounding as to what was happening.  It was just becoming impossible to process all of this information and Elena was beginning to doubt her own sanity.

*Maybe I'm still dead and this is some kind of warped hell,* she thought, for a moment, feeling numb.  Then Elena shook herself, keeping Katherine in sight out of the corner of one eye and looking at Mary in bewilderment with the other.  The strangeness of not being fazed by all of this mayhem wasn't lost on Elena, but she supposed that it was going to take a lot to really surprise her after everything that had happened in the past year.

Elena took a step back towards the ladder of the crypt.  Whatever was going on, she was sure that she didn't want to be in an enclosed space when things got out of control.

Stepping out from behind Stefan, Matt grabbed Bonnie before she touched Mary. "I don't think you should get so close Bonnie." He didn't like the way Mary had just tossed Damon aside like a piece of fluff. He nodded to Caroline as she joined the rest of them at the crypt. 'Looks like most of the gang's here.' He pulled Bonnie closer to the wall and noticed Elena making her way to the ladder. He was really starting to wonder about her behavior, of course she couldn't be blamed for acting a little odd after coming back from the dead but her friends were in danger and she seemed to want to be the first to exit when things got bad. 

Bonnie struggled out of Matt's grasp and had to keep from glaring at him, after all he was only trying to protect her, but from her own sister? Suddenly she had an idea and she grabbed Matt by the shoulder, staring earnestly up at him. "I need your help. I need you to guard me while I trance." When he nodded in reply she dragged him toward the opening of the crypt, passing Elena on the way and snatched a candle from one of the rusted holders on the wall. "Damnit.. I need matches." she grumbled and looked at Matt for help. She was mildly surprised when he with drew a pack of matches out of his pocket and slapped them in her hand.

"Never know when some one will need matches, you know?" Matt said and tossed a look at the group around Mary and Katherine. Bonnie followed his gaze and turning back to the candle hurriedly lit it and held it in her hands. Concentrating on the candle flame she relaxed and opened her mind. She thought of her sister and pushed her mind toward Mary's. *Mary it's me Bonnie. You've got to fight for me Mar. I need you to fight for me.*  She hoped with all her heart that heard sister heard call.

Katherine focused her mental voice on Meredith.  "Little girl, I'm choosing to ignore you.  And there is no way in hell I would assist you in possessing this little gem.  If you don't leave me alone, I'll hunt for your body and destroy it.  That way, you'll remain this way forever.  Won't that be fun!"

Katherine knew that she was too weak to put up a good fight.  *Dammit, I gotta find an escape...* she thought.  "Ok, Druid girl, or whoever you are, you might wanna start thinking of a way out.  I'm hungry, and you're looking damned tasty right now," she hissed.

"This capsule means nothing to us.  Do as you wish with it once you are free," the voice hissed.

Noticing Bonnie was trying to reach out Mary snarled.   "A way out," she grinned.  With those words utter by that hissing voice the crypt suddenly became a wind tunnel.  The only ones not affected by the encased tornado were Katherine and the possessed Mary.  "Let's go for a

stroll. Shall we,"  the smile on Mary's face was insanely out of place.  She simply walked out of the crypt and waited for Katherine at the entrance.  "Such a pleasant evening is it not?"  The hissing voice laughed and began to walk to the woods.   All the while helpless Mary watched from behind those glassy eyes.  Her consciousness had been bound and gagged in a sense.  She had tried to cry out to Bonnie so many times, but this creature kept her silent.  She was a firefly trapped in a glass jar.

Damon leaned against the crypt wall, his chest heaving.  Not because of Mary pushing him aside, but with pure anger and hatred.  His fingers clenched together tightly, and he held his arm across his face when the sudden wind came.  He held his ground until it stopped.  He looked up at the opening of the crypt where Mary had gone.  He looked around at the group quickly, coming to the conclusion that no one was hurt.  "Don't you move either."  He hissed at Katherine, before scaling the ladder to the falling down remains of the church.

Damon reached down and picked up a large chunk of broken concrete that had once been the foundation of the church.  No matter what was inside Mary, her body was still human. "You just made the biggest mistake of your now incredibly shorter life."  He reared back with the concrete, and rushed forward, slamming it into the back of Mary's skull.

He didn't hit her hard enough to kill her.  He thought it best to keep her alive just to find out what the hell was happening around here.  He grinned slightly as Mary fell first to her knees, then face first into the grass.

'I've got this crazy chick for the moment'  he sent to Stefan, 'can you handle the other one?'

Bonnie gasped as the candle went out with the wind and fell backwards her eyes opening in time to see Damon quickly exit the crypt. Getting up she looked for Mary a realized she was gone and on somewhat shaky legs Bonnie made her way up the ladder after Damon. She arrived just in time to see him hit her sister in the head. Anger a fear warred with in her as she saw her sister hit the ground. She was about to yell at him asking him why he had to hit Mary like that but she knew deep down it was for the best. If he wanted to kill Mary it wouldn't have been with a piece of concrete. Dropping down on the ground beside her sister she and relieved to find her breathing looked up at him. "We need a rope."

Matt had followed Bonnie out and paled when he saw Mary on the ground. At Bonnie's mention of a rope he remember putting one in his truck, for a just in case emergency. "I've got one." He said and went quickly to retrieve it. Bonnie arched a brow as he walked away. "He's just full of useful stuff today." Taking her eyes off of Matt she looked down at Mary and she felt a small stab in her heart. 'God Mar what's happening to you?' She asked her sister silently. Matt came back a few minutes later with a rope and tossed it to the ground and looked at Damon. "So do we tie her up now?" He asked the elder Salvatore brother.

Meredith gasped in pure rage that Katherine...the girl who had killed her best friend...was "choosing to ignore" her.  And threatening to hunt down her body to kill it and make her like this forever.  "Alaric!"  she breathed.  "Oh dear...I didn't even think about you!!  What if you can help?!?"

Running to Bonnie, she said, "Bonnie!  Will you find a cell phone?  We need to call Alaric!  Make sure he's okay!  Tell him to come down here, maybe he can find out what's wrong with Mary."

Walking over to Damon, she asked, "Damon, I know we don't really like each other, but I need your help.  Do you know how to...inhabit, I guess is the word...another body?  I'd like to get inside Mary's head to see if I can help at all.  I know she's still in there, I can sense it.  And, completely off topic...I'd like to know what your intentions are towards Bonnie.  I don't want her to end up hurt if Elena decides she likes you best."

Damon glared down at Mary.  "Do what ever you want with her.  I'm sure your idea's will be better for her than mine."  He turned around to go back and try to help Stefan stop Katherine once again when he felt a slight quiver in the air.  He felt Meredith's voice in his head and was quite surprised.  She was asking him for help.  It was just too much.  He laughed and walked right past where he assumed she was.

He jumped back down into the crypt, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness.  "Here kitty, kitty."  He called out.

Mary moaned slightly, but didn't move.  For the moment, she was down for the count. "B-Bon?"

Stefan watched as Mary left the crypt and saw Damon follow her. He looked at Katherine and thought it best to move directly in front of her to block any passage she had out of here. "What am I going to do with you, Katherine? I can't have you wandering around alone now can I?"

He watched her and tried to probe her thoughts to see what she might be planning to do. He came up with nothing. "Damn it!", Stefan shouted out loud. He was getting frustrated with all that was

happening around him and he felt as if he was beginning to lose it. "Damn you Katherine. I know you know something about what is going on here, now tell me!" He pushed Katherine as he spoke and dug his fingers into her arm. "Tell me now or I swear I'll........". He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes.

Katherine snarled, grabbed his throat and squeezed.  "I don't have to tell you a damned thing..." she said squeezing harder.  She felt her fangs slide down and she smiled a vicious, evil smile, and struck at Stefan's throat.

Damon leapt forward, seeming that the other two were obvious to his presence back in the crypt. His hand flew in towards Katherine's face, coming between her mouth and Stefan's neck.  He ripped her off of him, and with one extra burst of strength, Bonnie's fresh blood running through his veins, threw Katherine back against the gate.  It gave under her weight, opening again to the darkness beyond.

Caroline watched the scene unfold between Damon and Katherine. She became increasingly irritated and Damon and Stefan's reluctance to rid the world of this blond monster.

"Why don't we just kill the bitch already?" She growled. "She doesn't deserve anything from anyone. Especially us. After all she killed Elena and tried to kill Stefan and Damon." She glared at Damon and Katherine and laughed as Katherine's skinny ass fell through the gate when Damon pushed her. Her laugh became maniacal.

"Seriously what are we waiting for. Rip her damn head off!" She yelled rebelliously. Her hands tight at her sides she cracked all her knuckles.

Bonnie looked at Matt as Mary spoke her name then nothing more. "We've got to tie her up and take her somewhere. Not my home, my parents my come back and see her all tied up and commit me instead." Matt nodded and they proceeded to tie her up, when they were done Matt stood and picked Mary up, gently putting her over his shoulder. "Where to Ma'am?" he asked, situating Mary more comfortable. "I don't know. I guess the boarding house? Let me go ask Stefan if it's ok." Bonnie turned and ran back to the opening of the crypt and down the ladder. What she saw there made her stop dead in her tracks. Katherine was thrown up against the gate and Stefan, Damon and Caroline were all staring at her. Caroline looked furious and Bonnie could tell why. Katherine had a chance of escape behind her. "Oh no." She said softly.

Katherine fell on her ass and scrambled up.  She had just enough power to turn into the owl, and flew up and into the darkness behind her, deep into the crypt.  *Dammit!  Dammit dammit dammit!* Katherine cursed in her mind.  She had never allowed herself to get that sloppy.  Why was it so hard to kill these stupid humans?  Stefan and Damon were the ones she had expected the hard fight from, but not the humans.  Her veins felt as if they were cracking open and her head was pounding.  The owl form fluttered to the ground and changed back to the human form.  She laid there for a few minutes, listening intently for footsteps, the flap of crow's wings, or anything that might tell her that the others had followed.  She was even too weak to send out a mental message to whatever power that was in Mary.  She wanted to thank it for helping her...and to find out why it had helped her.  Maybe the Devil would know...She would have to ask him the next time she sought him out in a dream state.  But for now, she had to rest.

"Fine, then.  I'm going with Bonnie, Mary, and Matt.  Maybe someone will be able to help me.  If they don't I'll figure it out myself and pray for the best."  Meredith walked out with Matt and Bonnie, and finished talking to herself.  Spotting the owl in the sky, she raced to Bonnie and said, "Bon!  Katherine's free.  Look!"  Pointing out the owl, she continued, "We really need to call Alaric.  Make sure we're okay.  Okay?"

Damon's upper lip curled up in disgust as he watched Katherine the owl fly off into the darkness.  He had a notion to follow her, to see where she went, but at the moment, he just didn't feel like it.  "If you want her, you can have her."  He tossed over to Stefan.  "I don't feel like dealing with her now."  He looked at Caroline, wondering what was up with her as well.  He sensed that something wasn't quite right with her.  He remembered Bonnie saying something about her being pregnant with Tyler's baby.  He cocked an eyebrow at her before climbing out of the crypt once again.  He saw Bonnie and Matt with Mary, and for a brief second wondered where Elena was.  He shrugged off the question, and in a burst of air, took off into the sky without a glance behind him.

Caroline watched Damon suddenly go from looking murderous to suddenly passing the buck to Stefan, and when she saw him try to skip out on the group. she bolted after him. She climbed up the ladder with shocking stealth and speed. She saw his arrogant form up ahead and she sprinted until she next to him.  "Hey! What the hell is the matter with you??"  She yelled after him. Shaking her head as he flew off she turned and walked back to the crypt.

Bonnie watched as Damon walked away from them and stiffened a bit. 'Bye to you too.' She thought and went to Stefan. "Stefan, we have to do something with Mary. Matt's got her and we've tied her up. I can't take her home, my parents will freak. So... can we take her to the boarding house?" She chewed her lip nervously and hoped that he would agree. She had no idea where she could put her sister with out alerting her parents and the whole town. She grimaced as she remembered how her sister had acted earlier and she wondered how long Mary was going to be this way.

Stefan lunged backward as Damon pushed Katherine away from his throat. Losing his balance, he fell to the floor. He watched as Katherine changed into an owl and took off down the corridor and out of the crypt. "Damon it and damn her", he shouted, getting up.

"If you want her, you can have her. I don't feel like dealing with her now", Damon said to him and left the crypt.

Stefan continued to stare down the corridor Katherine had disappeared down. There would be a murder tonight. He knew because Katherine needed blood and some would have to be sacrificed for it, he was sure. Then, his thoughts turned to Elena. Where had she gone?

As he was about to turn to leave, he bumped into Bonnie.

"Stefan, we have to do something with Mary. Matt's got her and we've tied her up. I can't take her home, my parents will freak. So... can we take her to the boarding house?"

"Uh, yeah sure. Go ahead I will meet you there later", he said and turned to leave the crypt. As he emerged from the opening, he to a deep breath. It was good to be out in the night air again. He sent a mental beacon to Elena to see if he could locate her.

Elena had watched all of these events unfold, still feeling a vague sense of confusion.  But when she saw an owl fly away, a chill went down her spine, recognizing one of Katherine's animal forms.

Glancing around as though she thought she would find something comforting, in a graveyard of all places, she shook her head slightly, so numb still that she didn't quite realize that it would be dangerous to go wandering around on her own.

Elena shot one last look over her shoulder, feeling a slight pang when she saw Stefan, but kept walking, feeling alone and unable to understand what was happening.

Bonnie made her way back to Matt and Mary. She looked upon her unconscious sister sadly and shook her head. "What am I going to do if she doesn't get better?" She asked herself softly touching her sister's head and turning toward the entrance of the cemetery. "Stefan said we could take her to the boarding house. Let's go."  As she passed by her car she winced. "Friggin headstone." She muttered under her breath and opened the door to the Cherokee. She was curious to see if it would run still and hopping into the car she turned the key in the ignition. It sputtered to life then died. Slamming the palms of her hands against the steering wheel she cursed loudly and taking the keys out of the ignition she jumped out of the car. Kicking one of the tires once to relieve some of her anger she only succeeded in hurting her toe. Limping towards Matt's truck she waited for him there.

Standing at Matt's truck Bonnie decided to go to her house to get Mary a change of clothes. Running to her car she retrieved a piece of paper and pen from the car and quickly jotted down a message for Matt.

Matt,

Ran (literally) to the house to get Mary some clothes. Meet you at the boarding house.

Bonnie

After slipping the letter between the windshield and the wiper she turned and ran in the direction of her house. Five minutes later she found herself at her front door. Taking her keys out of her pocket she unlocked the door and quickly made her way up stairs, slamming the door behind her. She retrieved a set of cloths from Mary's room and a set of her own from her closet. Glancing at the rumpled sheets she briefly wondered where Damon was and shrugged. 'He's off doing his own thing probably.' She felt a sudden need to take a shower. The dirt from the crypt was all over her and the vision of the dead girl on the crypt wall kept flashing through her mind.

Stripping her cloths off she pulled her hair up while she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She trailed her fingertips over the light colored marks on her neck and winced slightly, they were still a little tender. Walking to the tub she turned the water on and adjusted the temperature to the way she wanted it and after switching it to spray she stepped into the tub, closing the shower curtain.

Damon had risen into the air, therefore Caroline's shouts were nothing but wind in his ear.  If a crow could, you would swear it smiled.  He landed in the back alleyway of his hotel, the shadows concealing his transformation back into his human form.  He walked around he side and using the credit card key, swiped it and let himself in.  He lay back on the bed staring at the ceiling.  Wondering just where his path of unlife would lead him next.  The phone beside the bed rang.

"Hello."  He said huskily into the phone.  After a pause, and brief thought of Elena, and the of Bonnie, and what had transpired earlier Damon hung up the phone.  Ten minutes later he opened the door to the raven-haired beauty. Her dark brown eyes took him and the room behind him in. 

"I thought you might have forgotten me."  She said coming in and dropping her purse on the dresser.

Quite the change from the blonde blue eyed from his past and the bubbly red head from earlier... After one last look around, Damon closed the door.

"Stefan?" Caroline called as she walked slowly her heels clicking on the ground. "Yoo-hoo. Anyone still here?"

After a quick shower she turned off the water and towel dried her hair. Wiping the mirror off she looked at her reflection and smirked. The summer wasn't going at all like she thought it would. First Elena came back from the dead, then Meredith passes out while they battled Katherine again, and now her sister was going nuts. Dressing quickly in a pair of black jeans and a Rainbow 'Not so Bright' t-shirt she slipped her sandals back on and went back downstairs. She noticed her sister's keys on the table. 'Why did she drive my car?' she asked herself as she snatched up her sister's keys and headed outside, locking the door behind her. She wondered if Matt had gotten to the boarding house safely with Mary.

Meredith followed Bonnie out to Mary's car.  Sliding into the passenger side, before Bonnie even started the car, she said, "Bonnie, we really need to call Alaric.  With Katherine gone, he's in danger.  So's my body.  I kinda called her a name, and now...yeah, I'm an idiot.  So, is there even a slight possibility of calling him...soon?"\

Caroline exited the crypt and got into her car. She decided to go home and get some sleep or watch her back high on caffeine. Whichever. when she got into the house. Her father sat in his chair in his pjs, robe, and slippers. He had one leg draped over the other. His rifle leaned up against the wall nearest him. He still had it loaded with silver to shoot a certain reckless wolf. Caroline saw him and stopped. She cast her eyes down.

"Dad I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get disobedient." She walked over and sat down at his feet like she always did on occasion. "All this new stuff has been such a shock. I mean how could you keep this from me?"

Her father looked down at his only child. "Something's are best unsaid until the right time. I wanted you to have a normal life as long as possible. But strong hormonal changes trigger the lupine line. You caused a strong hormonal change by getting pregnant. Luckily it was with your own kind."

"I'm sorry." She said. Her father chuckled.

"No you are not. You are my Caroline. And you never apologize. He draped a loving hand on top of her head. "go onto bed."

Caroline went upstairs and as she pulled off her jeans. Katherine's necklace fell out. She picked it up and grinning slipped it over her head and watched it fall. Putting on a pair of silk shorts with a matching strappy top. She crawled into bed and fell asleep.

Stefan felt Elena's presence nearby and turned to face her as she walked away from him. He didn't blame her for feeling apprehensive towards him lately after the way her had behaved in front of her only a few days earlier. He put his hands in his pockets and walked away toward the boarding house. As he approached, he remembered that Bonnie and Matt would be there with Mary and decided to go to the woods instead. He wanted to be alone right now to think about everything that had happened recently. 'God, it seems like there is something going on with everyone right now. We're probably all going to kill each other before too long', he thought to himself. He leaned against a tree and looked up to the sky, wondering what was becoming of everyone and of himself for that matter.

Katherine sighed and stood up.  God, her head hurt.  Slowly she walked out the back entrance, under the river and out into the open air.  Something didn't feel right...Then she remembered.  The chick with the auburn hair had her necklace.  She walked down the empty street and saw two lone women standing down on the corner.  *Wow, it's a small town and there are still prostitutes.  Well, no one will miss them.*

She slunk down in the shadows and watched the two women.  *God, I hate being reduced to this*  She thought as she tossed a can into the alley beside them.  They turned to the sound of the noise and Katherine attacked them from behind, knocking one unconscious and taking one by the throat with her teeth.  She dragged them into the alley like a cat with a rat and drained them both.  She stepped out of the alley almost glowing, but she wanted more.  She continued walking

until she found a drunken vagrant passed out on a park bench.  Quickly draining him gave Katherine even more energy and power.  Second on her agenda:  A certain Caroline Forbes needed to be paid a visit. 

Katherine silently walked down the streets until she located Caroline's house.  "I know where you live..." She said in a quiet, child-like singsong voice.  She hopped up onto a tree and peered through Caroline's bedroom window.  She noticed her necklace glittering in the moonlight and her eyes flared red.  How dare she wear her necklace!  She snarled and hopped out of the tree.  It would be daylight soon.  This would have to wait.  She turned on her heel and walked back to the entrance that went under the river.  She would have to find a new place to sleep, and she didn't have much time.  She re-entered the crypt and stretched out on a stone slab.  She would have to find a new place tomorrow night.  She would have to sleep away the daytime and hope that no one bothered her.

For some reason Bonnie was compelled to turn down Meredith's street instead of heading straight to the boarding house. Parking the car in the Sulez driveway she looked at the house. She felt a cold chill and glanced curiously at the empty space beside her. "Mer?" She asked the vacant seat almost half expecting an answer. 'Come on Bon.. she's not the invisible woman, she just can't come out and speak. She's a spirit for Pete's sake.' Shrugging the odd feeling off she opened the car door and started up the walkway towards the front off the house. Before going to the boarding house she had to see how Meredith was doing, if there were any improvements. Knocking on the door she waited for Alaric to answer.

Alaric had sat next to Meredith the whole time with his head leaning next to her head on the pillow. He hoped everything was all right with the others. Hopefully someone had gone back to check up on Stefan. Just then, he heard the doorbell. Heading down the stairs, he prayed that it wasn't Meredith's parents or he would have some explaining to do. He opened the door to find Bonnie there. "Oh, Bonnie, thank God. Is everything all right? Did you check on that crazy vampire chick? Oh, come in. Oh God, I don't know what to do. Meredith is STILL out cold and I don't know what to do", he slowed down and took a deep breath and waited for Bonnie to reply to his questions.

Bonnie gave a little sigh of relief when she saw Alaric and stepped inside when he invited her in. "Stefan's fine and Katherine is on the loose again. My uh.. sister set her free." She looked away, shame crossing her face. "Something's wrong with Mary.. hell I'm starting to think something is wrong with us all." She started up the stairs to Meredith's room, talking to Alaric the whole way up. "So she hasn't moved at all? Did her parents call?" She poked her head in the doorway and looked down at Meredith's unconscious form, wincing slightly, her eyes full of worry.

Alaric looked into Bonnie's face and saw the worry there. "What Bonnie? What's wrong? Why are you looking at her like that? Your looking at her like she is dead or something!" He walked toward the window and back toward Bonnie. "Well? What's going on?"

Bonnie looked at Alaric, her eyes widening at his outburst of alarm. "N..Nothings wrong with Mer.. I mean well other than the fact that she's unconscious and floating around out there somewhere as a spirit." She took a breath and sat down beside Meredith's still form. "Mary's possessed  by something, what I have no clue. Elena's off somewhere by herself and Stefan's probably out there looking for her. Katherine's roaming around free but Caroline has her ring and Matt is supposed to be taking Mary to the boarding house. Damon is.. well I don't know where Damon is right now." Placing her hand on Meredith's she was relieved to find it warm.

Meredith breathed a sigh of relief.  'Thank goodness someone is listening to me.' 

'Oh, Bons!  I'm here.  I'm just getting kinda tired.  I think that maybe even I need to rest between...inhabiting...spells.!!'

Alaric calmed himself down and sat on the bed next to Meredith. "I'm sorry Bonnie. I didn't mean to sound pushy or anything. It's just that things seem to happening so quickly since I got back. I mean, the Katherine thing is really scary and everything and now my girlfriend has been unconscious for the last few hours or so. I feel a little overwhelmed, that's all" He stroked the side of Meredith's face and closed his eyes to pray for her. He wasn't usually a religious man but, he felt he really had nothing to lose.

Standing up from the bed Bonnie placed a hand on Alaric's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "We'll get through this, we always seem to. I've got to go to the boarding house and check on my sister. I'll be there if you need to reach me." Leaving the room she closed the door softly behind her and walked down the stairs and to the front door. She paused briefly to look up the stairs then exited the house. Hopping back into the car she started it up, backed out of the

driveway and headed toward the boarding house.

Alaric nodded to Bonnie and watched her car leave the driveway. He put his head on Meredith's shoulder and cried. Mainly out of frustration than anything else. He wanted to help Meredith so badly but didn't know how to.

Meredith watched as Alaric stared at her body.  She, wonderingly, put her hands to his head, and asked, "Can you hear me?"

Alaric lifted his head with a jolt. "Meredith!", he looked at her face and saw that she was still unconscious. He was confused as he had heard her voice just a second ago. "Mer?". He tried shaking her to see if she would wake. He just watched her face as she lay there with his brows furrowed.

Meredith jumped around the room, yelling, "Yes!  Yes!  Yes!"  When next she looked at Alaric, he was shaking her body.  "Alaric!  Please stop!!  I'm right here, standing in front of you.  I know you can't see me, nobody can.  But, I was thinking that maybe you could tell me how to save Mary...and me.  I want back in my body.  Please, please, please!"

Alaric stopped and listened to the voice. 'My God it's inside my head', he thought to himself in utter disbelief. "Meredith is it really you?", he called out as if to talk to her. "I...I don't know how to help you or Mary because I don't even know what is wrong with you. Where are you?". Alaric felt his head start to spin. All of what had happened since he had returned was a little too much for him.

Mary tried to rub the back of her head, but her hands were bound behind her back.  Her entire head ached.  It felt as it her head had been used for a volleyball.  She looked about the darkened room.  It was familiar, but she couldn't remember how.  She was alone.  Her throat was a desert.  'I need something to drink.'

Stefan thought about what was going on around him. He wondered what was causing everyone to act in such a strange way. It couldn't all be Katherine's doing. It may not even be one entity that was doing it but, many different ones. Stefan paced back and forth for a bit and stared at the sky. It was too much to think about at the moment. And besides there was nothing he could do about right now anyway.

What bothered him most was his behavior toward Elena. The one he loved more than anything in this world. The reason he had returned to Fell's Church in the first place. It seemed like she had been avoiding him lately and he knew why and he didn't blame her for doing it either. His behavior lately had been inexcusable and he hated himself for alienating her the way he had.

He watched as the sun shone through the trees and wondered where she was right now. He felt he needed to talk to her. To apologize to her and let her know that he loved her. He turned to exit the woods and searched with is mind for her presence.

When Elena felt Stefan search for her mentally she didn't attempt to block it or pull away from it.  True, she felt out of sorts, as though everyone she had known before were strangers to her now.  And, as much as she wanted to be there for her friends in a time like this when everything seemed to be falling apart, Elena was unable to do that when she was still reeling from the shock of being alive again.  There was just too much to handle right now and she didn't have the faintest idea of how to go about doing so.

Opening her mind to Stefan's searching, she allowed him to feel all the raw pain and confusion she felt over everything that was happening, not hiding that she was sitting, back against a tree, in a clearing in the woods.

Stefan felt Elena's presence nearby and was surprised at how much she was letting him know. He felt her emotions as if they were his own and understood a little more of what was going on inside of her. He walked through the woods until he found the clearing where she was.

He walked carefully but loud enough so that he wouldn't startle her when he approached.

"Thank you for letting me know how you felt. I can't pretend to understand what things have been like for you, but I respect your feelings. I don't blame you for being upset with me. The way I

behaved earlier was inexcusable and for that I am truly sorry. I hope you will forgive me". He looked deep into her eyes and felt his throat tighten. "I love you Elena, more than anything in this world. I hope I can make things up to you."

Elena stood up and stepped up to Stefan slowly.  "Thank you."  She whispered, wrapping her arms around his waist, and leaning the side of her face against his chest.  "I love you more than anything Stefan, I really do, but it's going to take me some time to get used to everything again."  She felt a single tear roll down her cheek.  "I can't even imagine what all this is doing to Aunt Judith and Margaret."  She sniffed, and closed her eyes.

Stefan held Elena close to him. It felt good to hold her again after all this time. "I know it must be hard for you and I promise to make life a little easier for you from now on. We will get through all of this and then we can figure out what to do about seeing your family". He squeezed her a little harder and kissed the top of her head. "Let's go back to the boarding house. Bonnie and Matt are there with Mary. We should make sure they're all ok."

Elena nodded and pulled back from Stefan.  "Alright."  She took his hand in hers and started walking back towards the house.  "Do you have any idea what's going on with Mary?"  She asked.  "First Katherine, now Bonnie's sister."  She shook her head in disbelief.  "Fell's Church... hell on Earth."  She mumbled under her breath.  As they approached the boarding house, she noticed that no one was screaming.  That was always a good sign.  "No offense, but you first."  Elena said as she stopped in front of the door.  She managed a impish smile.  "You know, just in case."

Damon laid back against the headboard and watched the girl leave.  He sighed as the hotel room door closed, and let his eyes fall shut.  He was by no means tired.  He rarely needed to sleep.  For some reason, human blood keened all his senses, and Bonnie's was still fresh in him.  He flicked on the television, and idly flipped through the channels.  Settling on a comedy show, Damon stared blankly at the screen.

Bonnie pulled the car to a stop in front of the boarding house and got out. She noticed Matt's truck parked close by and quickly made her way into the house with a bundle of cloths. The house was silent as she made her way up the stairs and into Stefan's room. Her eyes grew sad as they fell upon her sister laying on the bed. 'Oh Mary.'

Mary blinked twice, her vision began to come into focus.  "B - bon?"  She inquired of the blurred figure standing before her.  Her head ached.  Her fiery hair matted to the back of her head where

the blood had begun to dry.  She tried to lift her head, but her neck screamed with a muscle cramp.  "Where am I?  Bonnie?"  Why was there no answer.  Was she imagining this figure before her?  Was she dreaming?  No, if this were a dream it was a hideous nightmare.  The fungal smell of the crypt clung to her clothing.  The aroma was nauseating.  Closing her eyes, she whimpered.  The pain was still a freshly heated poker stirring at her brain.

Bonnie looked at her sister as Mary regained consciousness. "Mary?" She wanted to untie her sister but she was still afraid of what might happen. She wondered where Matt was and looked around the room. 'At least he had put her on the bed.' She thought as she set Mary's change of cloths on one of the upturned chests. Sitting on the bed she gently brushed Mary's hair out of her face and noticed the dried blood on the back on her head, wincing slightly she looked away. 'Damon hit her pretty hard.' Looking down at her sister's feet she decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to just untie her legs. She quickly freed her sister's ankles and looked at Mary's face, smiling slightly. "Is that better?"

Matt had gone to the boarding house with Bonnie and Mary. He went to the kitchen to grab some water for Mary. He wondered where Stefan was but most importantly, he wondered where Elena was. He felt that sadness well up. It had been a rough year for the good ol' guy. First he was jilted by his long time sweetheart. Then she became a vampire, then she died, then she came back. And in the end, she is still with Stefan. Then there was Bonnie. Beautiful Bonnie. But she skipped Matt for Damon. He mumbled to himself. "What's so great about a vampire anyway?" That was the million-dollar question. He remembered Caroline and her bizarre behavior. Something's up there. The truth was Matt was surrounded by the weirdest group of gals he ever encountered. None of them were normal and yet Matt was still good old Joe shmoe. Apple pie boy. Captain America. He had all these thoughts as he wandered back into Stefan's room and handed Mary a glass of water.

Bonnie took the glass Matt offered Mary, "Didn't feel safe untied her hands yet." Bonnie hated not trusting her sister enough to be free of the ties but after knowing that she untied Katherine and went berserk she wasn't in any hurry to experience her sister's violence first hand. She gave Matt an appreciative smile, "She's kinda in and out of it. I don't know if she remembers what she did or not." She set the glass on the chest beside the cloths and glancing at them she decided to wait till another girl showed up before she cleaned Mary up and changed her, she might need the help. Standing up she walked to the window and looked outside. "I don't understand why everything is happening the way it is, everything's just gotten so weird." 

Mary blinked as Matt entered the room.  At first she almost didn't recognize him. "Bon, please untie me."  Then she whispered, "I have to pee." She held her hands up slightly.  Her wrists ached terribly.  Seeing the doubt that shadowed Bonnie's eyes she said, "You can tie back up if you'd like, I just really gotta go."  Crossing her legs, she squirmed a bit.  Mary's bladder demanded relief.  Her eyes pleaded with her sister.

Bonnie gave Matt a defeated look then walked to the bed and untied her sister's hands. "I hate to say this but if you pull anything like you did at the crypt I give Matt permission to knock you out. You know I love you, you're my sister but I can't deal with the Linda Blair stuff right now." She helped her sister up and lightly urged her in the direction of the bathroom.

She was grateful that the bathroom didn't have any mirrors or windows in which Mary could break if she were to get all-weird again. Leaning against the wall beside the door she waited for her sister to finish.

After she finished relieving her bladder Mary called out to her sister, "Bon, I hope you don't mind but I am going to hop in the shower, ok?" Taking of her grimy clothes, Mary climbed into the shower and turned the hot water on.  She grabbed the ivory soap and began to scrub at her

body.  She could almost feel the stench of the cemetery clinging to her skin.  She froze when she saw her own blood washing down the drain along with sudsy water.  Suddenly the murder sequence from 'Psycho' played through her head like her own personal movie theater.  Everything seemed to be washed out except for those horrible shrieking violins.  Soon the biting cold of the water brought her back to reality.  Mary quickly turned the water off and wrapped herself in a towel.  Shivering, she poked her head out the door, "Can I have my clothes Bon."

Moving quickly from the wall she grabbed the bundle of cloths and placed then in her sister's hands. "Now don't you feel a bit better?" She asked as she leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes a weary expression etched on her face. 'My sister is going to give me gray hairs before my time.' She thought grumpily as the wiggled her toes in her shoes. Opening her eyes she glanced at Matt and smiled. "I want to thank you for bringing Mary here and trying to help me back at the crypt." Reaching out she touched his shoulder softly and then dropped her hand. "Are you ok?"

Somewhere in between comics, Damon had fallen asleep.  Luckily for him, Katherine was asleep as well and his dreams weren't possessed.  He woke a little while later, the sun streaming in the window.  He winced and rolled out of bed.  He snatched the heavier curtains together over the sheer ones and plunged the room into darkness.  He opened the small cabinet beside the bed and pulled out a tiny glass bottle.  Opening it and taking a drink, he reached for the phone.  He picked it up and dialed only three numbers before dropping it back into the cradle.

"What the hell am I thinking?"  He asked his reflection in the mirror. (They did have reflections right.  Pretty sure they did... ah well...)  "I don't care what's happening with them."  He dropped the bottle in the trashcan and went into the bathroom.  One twist of the knob and soon the large bathroom filled with steam.  Damon stepped into the water, letting the heat wash over him.

Mary quietly dressed and towel dried her hair.  Every time she bumped the back of her head with the towel she winced.  She knew she should get stitches, but she also knew Bonnie didn't trust her.

Once finished in the bathroom she walked back into Stefan's room.  She calmly sat back down o the bed and held out her hands.  she wants going to resist her sister.  If she was going to earn her trust again then she would have to play along with whatever would make her feel safe.  She just wanted things to be the way they used to be.....

Stefan shrugged at Elena's question. "I really have no idea what is going here. I really wish I did. It looks to me as if Mary is being possessed by something or someone and Katherine....I really have no clue about". He looked up toward his bedroom window as they approached the boarding house.

"Hmm, I would say ladies first but I don't think I will in this case", he smiled and started past her through the front door and up the stairs. He opened the door to find Matt and Bonnie standing by the bed and Mary holding out her hands. He could sense that things were a little calmer with her now. "How is everything going here?", he asked as he took his jacket off and swung it over the back of a chair.

Pushing off the wall she walked toward her sister as Mary sat on the bed and offered Bonnie her wrists. She nodded briefly to Stefan and Elena as they walked into the room and taking the pillowcase off one of the pillows she wrapped it around Mary's wrists before tying them back together with the rope. "There, that might make it a little easier on you." She gave her a small smile and then turned away before the tears spilled down her face. 'I hate having to do this.' Her heart ached as she walked to the window and looked down. Leaning her head against the windowpane that was warmed by the sun she reached up to massage the tension out of her neck.

In the process of massaging her neck her fingers grazed the two small, unnoticeable marks and she winced, closing her eyes. Remembering who put them there she straightened her shoulders and wiped her eyes. 'He should be here to help his brother and his precious Elena. After all there is an insane vampire chick on the loose out there. He might not give a damn about this town but Stefan is his family and Elena is the one he wants.' There she admitted it to and realized she was beginning to feel sorry for herself because of him.

With a small growl of frustration she opened her eyes and turned away from the window. "I've got to get some air. If anything happens yell out the window."  Walking past them she headed for the door. "I'm sorry, I just need to be alone right now. As you can see Mary's been changed, she used your shower Stefan, hope you don't mind." She went down stairs, out the door and headed to the woods. She doubted Katherine was out an about, because  Caroline had her ring and Damon had

gave her a nasty cut with the axe.

Matt had nodded off in his chair. It had been a long night. When his eyes opened Mary was sitting toweling off her hair. Matt was caught off guard and he and his chair fell backwards. He lay there on his back for a second. Dazed and embarrassed.