The following afternoon, Damon answered the doorbell and found himself face-to-face with Elena. "Is Vicki there?" she immediately demanded.

"You mean you didn't come here just to see me?" Damon responded with an exaggerated gasp. "I'm hurt."

Elena scowled. "Actually, I did come here to see you. But my brother is out searching for Vicki along with the rest of the town, so I'd really like to have some idea what's going on."

Damon rolled his eyes. "She's upstairs with Stefan, learning to sing 'The Rain in Spain'." He paused, giving Elena a curious look. "Why did you want to see me?"

"You said to ask if I wanted to hear your side of the story. Well this is me, asking."

Damon stared in surprise. He'd been sincere when he said that, but he hadn't expected Elena to actually take him up on it, especially not so soon. "Sure. I was just on my way to the Grill, if you want to come along."

"Why are you going to the Grill?" Elena demanded suspiciously.

"Because while Stefan's babysitting the newbie and trying to convince her that she can live off of sunshine and rainbows, I intend to do something about the fact that there are people who know there are vampires in town. People who shoot at us with wooden bullets."

"You're inviting me to come along while you kill people?!" Elena gasped, horrified.

"Relax, I'm just doing recon. Gotta know more before I can come up with a plan."

"Fine," Elena relented, clearly uncomfortable. Although, Damon noted that she seemed far less scared than yesterday. Good. She was more interesting this way.

Twenty minutes later, they were settled into a booth at the Grill. It fleetingly crossed Damon's mind that they must look like they were on a date. He wondered if Katherine would ever want to go on a date in a place like this. Probably not.

"So. You were going to tell me your side of the story?" Elena prompted, eating a fry.

Damon snapped out of his thoughts. "Yes. What did Stefan tell you?"

"Well, between Stefan and my ancestor's journal, I've gathered that Katherine was compelling you both to date her—or whatever you called it in 1864—and then she turned you both. And the 'Union sympathizers' burned in that church were actually vampires."

Damon raised his eyebrows. "Well, A, that is grossly simplified, and B, not entirely accurate. For one thing, Katherine never compelled me. My love for her was—is—real. She promised to turn me—only me, or so I thought—but she said it had to wait until the town stopped hunting for vampires. The Founders' Council was closing in, and my father asked both Stefan and me to help with the vampire roundup. Stefan and I were both worried…hold on." He held up a hand for silence, having just overheard the Mayor talking to his wife about Logan Fell and the vampire compass.

Elena looked around, confused. "What…"

"Shh!" Damon kept listening. The Mayor and his wife were definitely both involved in the vampire hunt, and Logan's death had only made them more determined. Eventually, the couple stood up to leave, and Damon finally returned his attention to Elena. "The Mayor was just having a very interesting conversation with his wife. Where was I?"

Elena glanced in the Lockwoods' direction, still confused. "Do you have super hearing or something?"

"Yes, super-all-five-senses. What, haven't you had Vampire 101 yet?"

"Well, I know you're strong, you're fast, and you can control people's minds but vervain stops you doing it. And it burns you. And you need special rings to walk in sunlight."

"And we can't enter private residences without an invitation," Damon added. "Thank you so much for inviting me into your home, by the way."

"You're welcome," Elena grumbled. "You were saying that your father asked you to help round up the vampires?"

"Yes. Stefan and I were worried about Katherine, and Stefan got it into his head that Father would help us protect her. I knew better, and tried to convince him, but he ignored me and went to Father anyway. Next thing we knew, Katherine had been vervained and carted away. Oh, Stefan was all apologies. Promised to help rescue her. And we tried. Stefan lured the men away from the cart while I stole the key and opened it. But before we could get Katherine away, we were shot dead. I didn't get a good look at our murderer, but I found out later that it was our father."

"Your father murdered his own sons?!" Elena repeated, looking absolutely horrified.

"He was always a horrible father," Damon said bitterly. "By 21st century standards, he was an abusive asshole who should have been locked away for life. Unfortunately, back in our day, they just called him strict and stern."

"I'm so sorry," Elena said sympathetically. Damon froze, staring at her, and Elena sighed. "There you go again. Why is it such a shock to you every time I express the slightest interest in your life or your feelings?"

Damon opened and closed his mouth, unsure how to respond.

Elena suddenly narrowed her eyes. "Has anyone cared about you since you fell out with Stefan?"

Damon briefly shut his eyes, a memory of fire and pleading springing unbidden to his mind. "Once. It ended…badly."

"I'm sorry," Elena said again. "But you know, if you keep treating people the way you treated Caroline, or the way you treat your own brother, it's no wonder people don't like you. If you spent more time acting like the guy I met right before my parents' death, you might make a few more friends."

Damon cleared his throat, increasingly uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed. "Anyway, I haven't gotten to the best part of the story. Stefan and I both died with Katherine's blood in our system, so we went into transition. The moment I woke up, I ran to the church. I was too late. It was already on fire. So I went back to where I'd left Stefan. When he woke up, I told him what happened. We both decided not to complete the transition. Eternity meant nothing without Katherine. But Stefan, ever the dutiful son, decided to go say his farewells to Father. From what I gather, Father tried to stake him, Stefan defended himself—lethally so—and then couldn't resist the urge to drink Father's blood. The moment he had his first taste of human blood, he became a different person. He reveled in it. And he wanted to share it with me. So he compelled a girl, brought her back to me, and forced me to feed in spite of my protests." Damon scowled, then sighed. "Still, I suppose I should thank him. It's been a hell of a ride."

Elena swallowed. "So, that's why you don't get along with Stefan any more? You hate him for forcing you to turn?"

Damon grimaced. "Things between Stefan and me have gotten very complicated in the last 145 years. I don't see them getting un-complicated any time soon."

"He's your brother," Elena argued. "Jeremy sometimes drives me mad, but I can't imagine anything making me hate him for that long."

"Well, aren't you an amazing sister," Damon replied, his voice both dry and bitter. "I'm not the good guy, Elena."

"Have you even tried to be the good guy?" Elena challenged. "You don't seem very happy as the bad guy."

"Yes, I've tried!" Damon snapped. "It's just not in me."

"Then why did you compel me to run after freeing you? Why not just kill me?"

Damon was silent for a few moments, floundering for a response. "You look like Katherine."

Elena stood up, looking upset. "Is that really the only reason?"

Damon looked away, unwilling to admit even to himself that he had long since stopped seeing Elena as Katherine's lookalike. Elena huffed in disappointment and left the Grill.

Elena returned to the boarding house to check up on Vicki. However, her efforts to be friendly quickly went sour when she tried to warn Vicki away from Jeremy. Admittedly, Vicki was correct in her assumption that Elena hadn't approved of the relationship even before Vicki got turned, but at least Vicki hadn't been a physical threat to Jeremy before. Elena couldn't help but worry that Jeremy was now in danger of worse than a bad influence or a broken heart.

Recognizing that now was not a good time to try to talk to Vicki, Elena went outside to try to catch her breath. Stefan soon joined her. "She's on edge," he said apologetically. "Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. And when you throw in her other issues…"

Elena grimaced. Then, she thought back to Damon's story, and suddenly remembered a part of the tale that she hadn't given much thought to before. She backed away from Stefan. "I talked to Damon. He doesn't paint a very pretty picture of you after you turned. He said you reveled in it."

Stefan averted his gaze. "It took a long time for me to learn control. Too long. But I didn't have anybody helping me. I'm going to make sure Vicki doesn't follow in my footsteps."

"Do you think she might decide to turn her brother?" Elena challenged, wondering if Stefan would deny it.

Stefan merely winced. "I don't know, but I don't intend to let her. It's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new. It's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire—it can all blur into one urge: hunger. Which means it's important that she not go near anyone she knows, especially Jeremy. She might not be able to resist."

Elena sighed, feeling exhausted. "I have no idea what I'm going to tell Jeremy to keep him away from her. I hate lying to him."

"I know," Stefan said sympathetically. "But you're protecting him. Remember that."

That night, Bonnie and Caroline went to the Halloween carnival together. "Why are there so many vampires?" Bonnie muttered, looking around.

"Cause vampires are hot," Caroline suggested. She eyed a passing vampire couple. "I should have gone for a vampire costume. I'd be a totally awesome vampire."

Bonnie shuddered. "Are you sure about that? Don't you think you'd probably end up having to wash blood out of your clothes all the time?"

Caroline gave Bonnie an odd look. "I meant I could pull off a vampire costume, silly."

"Right." Bonnie heaved a sigh of relief, still disturbed by the idea of Caroline as an actual vampire.

Later in the evening, Elena turned up (dressed in her nurse costume from the previous year) and unceremoniously dragged Bonnie away from Caroline. "Whoa, what's going on?" Bonnie demanded.

"Do you think you can use your psychic juju to find Jeremy and/or Vicki?" Elena asked worriedly.

"Doesn't work like that, I can't really control the psychic visions," Bonnie replied. "Elena, what's going on?"

Elena looked around and lowered her voice even further. "Vicki's a vampire. Damon turned her."

Bonnie gasped. "What?!"

"Stefan's been trying to keep her under control, but she got away from him and last I heard she was planning to go see Jeremy."

"Jeremy's got a date?" Caroline asked from behind them. "Why am I not allowed to know about this?"

Bonnie floundered for an excuse. "Uh, because once you know, soon the whole school will know, and Jeremy doesn't want that."

"I can keep a secret!" Caroline protested indignantly.

"Yeah, but this isn't our secret to share," Elena said firmly. "So if I could please borrow Bonnie…"

"Fine," Caroline said sulkily.

Caroline sipped some cider, feeling decidedly put out and unloved. Lately, she got the feeling that Elena and Bonnie were up to something and not including her. Obviously, they were each other's best friends, and Caroline was just the tag-along. And that wasn't all! Guys always went for Elena, not Caroline. Caroline had pretended not to notice, but she was pretty sure that despite dating her, Damon had been more interested in Elena. Well, good riddance that he was gone. Jerk.

"Hello, Caroline."

Caroline jumped and nearly dropped her cider. Damon was standing right behind her. "Get lost," she snapped.

"You know, there are politer ways to break up with someone," he replied, looking amused. "You want me gone, fine, I'll go away…in return for that crystal you took."

"I gave it to Bonnie," Caroline said flatly. "If you want it back, go talk to her."

Damon scowled. "Why would you do that? I told you it was mine."

"I thought you—never mind," Caroline broke off, scowling back at him. "I don't care if it's yours. I want nothing to do with it or you. I don't have what you want, so get. Lost."

Damon glowered at her, then disappeared into the crowd.

Elena, Bonnie and Stefan had split up for their search. Bonnie wandered through the crowd, trying to spot familiar faces under the strobe lights. Unfortunately, the one she found wasn't the one she was looking for. "You know that's my crystal?" Damon said, rather accusingly.

"Not any more," Bonnie spat at him.

"Funny. I'd like it back, please." Damon held out his hand.

"First, how about you apologize for feeding on my friend."

Damon raised his eyebrows. "If you know about that, you must know you really don't want to cross me. Crystal, now."

Bonnie was scared, but determined not to show it. She folded her arms. "No."

"Well, you know, I don't really need your permission." Damon reached out and grabbed the crystal, but his hand suddenly seized up and started sizzling. He yanked his hand away, staring at Bonnie in surprise. The crystal briefly glowed after he released it.

Bonnie did her best to hide her own surprise. "So, how about that apology?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm sorry I fed on your friend. Can I have my crystal now?"

"Not until you mean it." Bonnie turned around and quickly walked away, Vicki forgotten in the face of this latest bout of magic.

Ultimately, it was Elena who found Vicki and Jeremy. Stefan's fears were proven correct, and Vicki was totally out of control. When Elena attempted to intervene, Vicki attacked her instead. Stefan came to the rescue, and was forced to stake Vicki in order to protect both Gilbert siblings.

At Elena's request, Stefan took Jeremy home. Elena sank to the ground by Vicki's body, wondering how her life had become…this. She hadn't much liked Vicki, but she knew Vicki didn't deserve to die. And Matt and Jeremy would both be heartbroken. And it was all because of the guy—the vampire—that she had been feeling sorry for mere hours ago.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, Damon spoke from beside her. "You should go. I got this."

"You did this," Elena breathed, eyes filling with angry tears as she stood up. "This is your fault."

"Do you get it now?" Damon said harshly. "I'm not the good guy."

Furious, Elena shoved him. It was like shoving a brick wall; he didn't even budge. She then took a swing at him, but he caught her wrist and forced her hand away. "Yes, this is my fault," he continued. "And I'd do it again."

Elena finally managed to free her hand. "I thought there was good in you," she spat through her tears. "And the worst part is, I still do. You have good in you, and you choose to ignore it." With that, she slapped him. His head jerked to the side from the impact.

Slowly, Damon turned back to her, an expression in his eyes that she couldn't quite read but terrified her all the same. Elena defiantly lifted her chin and stood her ground, knowing it would be pointless to run.

"You need to leave," Damon finally said. "Your wounds are bleeding, and you…need…to leave." He gave her a significant look. Elena put a hand to her bleeding shoulder and cautiously backed away. When Damon made no move to follow, she turned around and broke into a run.

Damon turned his attention to the girl's body, trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling in his stomach. He'd wanted to push Elena away. But now that he'd succeeded, he wished he hadn't. It had been nice, having someone who saw him as more than a monster, a means to an end, or a hot piece of ass. But once again, he'd driven away someone who cared about him.

Actually, now that he thought about it, he didn't drive away people who cared about him. He abandoned them. Even when Stefan had been a new vampire, high on human blood, he'd cared about Damon. And Damon had walked out on him. Enzo had cared, and Damon had left him to die. Hell, even Lexi had cared, back in '77, and not only had Damon abandoned her, he'd done it with a particularly cruel flair. It was arguably one of the cruelest things he'd ever done, and that was saying something.

Although, perhaps what he'd done to Charlotte had been even crueler. And she had cared too, before the sire bond made her intolerable. He wondered if she was still waiting at the corner of Bourbon and Dumaine, or if she'd finally broken free of the sire bond and gotten over him. If she had, good for her. If she hadn't…hmm. If she was still waiting at the corner, that would mean she was still sired to him—poor thing—and right now he could really use a vampire who would do whatever he said. It seemed that a trip to New Orleans was in order.

But first, he would stop by the Gilbert house and make sure Elena was all right. Just to prove she was wrong about him completely ignoring whatever good she thought she'd seen in him.

…and maybe because he wanted her to like him again.

When Damon arrived, he heard Elena talking to Stefan on the porch, asking him to compel away Jeremy's memory of the night's debacle. Predictably, Stefan expressed concerns about his ability to do it right, what with his vegan diet and all.

"I can do it," Damon announced, walking onto the porch. "If this is what you want…I'll do it."

Elena whirled around and gave him a look he couldn't quite read. "It's what I want," she confirmed. She opened the door and led the way inside.

Up in Jeremy's room, Elena knelt by her brother. "Hey, Jer," she said softly. "Can I see your bracelet for a minute?"

"Dad gave that to me," Jeremy murmured, sounding dazed. "I need that."

"I'll give it back in a minute, I promise. I found a way to make you feel better."

Slowly, still dazedly, Jeremy took off his bracelet and handed it to his sister. Damon crouched in front of the kid and made eye contact, letting the compulsion take hold. "Hey, kid…" He broke off and glanced at Elena. "What do you want him to know?"

Elena took a deep breath. "Tell him that Vicki left town and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her. He's gonna miss her, but he knows it's for the best."

Damon nodded and relayed her words. Then, just because he was feeling magnanimous, he added that Jeremy should move on with his life. Once he was done, Elena fastened the bracelet back around Jeremy's wrist. Damon suspected vervain, but decided not to ask. He walked out of the room and headed back downstairs, feeling marginally better.

Elena followed him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The words felt strange in Damon's mouth.

"You know, in the months after my parents died…the memory of our meeting was what got me through all the grief. You told me to get what I wanted out of life. You made me believe that there was more out there. Now I know there is more, far more, and a part of me wishes I could forget too…but I can't lose that 'mysterious stranger' who gave me hope. Tonight, you showed me that he's still in there, somewhere." Elena took a step closer, so close they were almost touching. "Don't lose him."

Damon swallowed, once again struck speechless (how did this girl keep having such an effect on him?). His gaze briefly flickered to her lips, then he got a hold of himself. "Good night, Elena." He walked out the door, determined not to look back at the confounding human.