By the time Bonnie and Caroline arrived at the car, Elena mostly had her trembling under control. The urge to vomit hadn't quite faded, but anger was starting to temper the terror racing through her veins. Flushed and happy with the post-adrenaline rush of a game, her friends still noticed her distress instantly, Caroline reaching out for her and Bonnie looking around the parking lot with wide, suspicious eyes.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

Elena shook her head. No, she was definitely not okay. "I know who killed Matt's mom," she said out loud. "He's not done and I don't know what he wants."

Other than her, but she doubted that was why he'd come to town. He hadn't been surprised to see her, but he'd been wary, prodding her. She wasn't a part of whatever impulse or plan had brought him to Mystic Falls, that, at least, she was confident of.

Bonnie gasped and Caroline swore, quiet and filthy enough to shock anyone who didn't know the blonde as well as she did. Elena managed to still her hands completely and took a deep breath. "Can you two spend the night? I don't want to leave Jenna and Jeremy alone in the house and we should talk."

Caroline nodded and Bonnie held up her phone. "Already texting Grams, anything I should tell her."

Elena swallowed, her mouth still dry. "Tell her Damon Salvatore is in town and we're going to need a lot more vervain."

They were halfway to her house when they saw the cars heading for the school, sirens whirling. Elena's stomach dropped. What had he done? What victim had he found when she proved too strong a target? Who had she failed to protect by letting him leave.

Caroline's cell phone rang before her self-flagellation spiral could devolve any further and her friend threw it into Elena's lap. "If I answer while driving, my mom will kill me."

Elena stared at Liz Forbes' face on the screen and then accepted the call, tapping the speaker button. "Hey Sheriff Forbes, Caroline's driving but I put you on speaker."

"Oh thank god you girls are alright, I assume Bonnie's with you?"

"Yeah I'm here, Sheriff," Bonnie said, leaning forward between the two front seats. "What happened? We saw the sirens."

There was a moment of silence, Elena assuming the Sheriff was hesitating to share details of the incident with three teenage girls, even if one was her daughter, and then a loud sigh. "One of your teachers was attacked by some sort of wild animal that broke into the school. Coach Tanner won't be overseeing any more games."

A complicated rush of relief and guilt had Elena slumping in her seat. She shouldn't be relieved that it was an asshole instead of someone she cared about, she should just be horrified a man was dead. But she was, relieved. And, in the small corner of her soul that echoed with the voices of her dead sisters, spitefully glad that the man would never torment her brother, her aunt, or herself ever again.

"I'm going to stay at Elena's, mom, with Bonnie, so don't worry about me," Caroline said into the heavy silence that followed the Sheriff's words.

"Just, be careful Caroline. All of you, stay in. Between this and Kelly, well, just, stay safe and don't be alone at night."

Something in her voice, and her words, sharpened Elena's attention.

The Sheriff knew.

And if she knew, well, perhaps the council that had caused such danger for the vampires in Katherine's time was less extinct than she thought. There wouldn't be a Gilbert anymore, but had her father been on such a council? Had her mother known? She'd long suspected her Uncle John of hunting vampires. His lack of an actual job and the way her father, an ambitious doctor, had never chided him for it, had always been suspicious. The Mayor would be on it of course. One of the adult Fell's. Sheila might know more.

Calculating the implications and dangers of the council helped Elena push through the guilt. She didn't agree with her ancestors' stance on the supernatural, as a thing to be eradicated at all costs. But Damon Salvatore? She would happily let the council eliminate him if they were capable of doing so without collateral damage.

"We'll stay safe, Sheriff," she said out loud, no hint of her thoughts in her voice. "We'll stay in all night and Aunt Jenna will be with us."

"Thank you, Elena. I have to go. I love you, Caroline." The Sheriff didn't wait for a response before hanging up, perhaps not expecting one given her and Caroline's often contentious relationship, and Bonnie and Caroline both turned to her when the call ended.

"Did Damon do it-" "Is Damon related to Stefan?"

Elena nodded, to both questions, then pointed at the road. "Drive, Caroline, I'll tell you everything I know when we're inside a house no vampires have been invited into."

Caroline obeyed, Bonnie settling back against her seat although her eyes watched them both in the rearview mirror. Elena stared out the window, remembering a crow's scream and blue eyes that had looked at Katerina with fierce desire, and felt rage like she hadn't allowed herself to feel since the night they went off Wickery Bridge.

How dare he. How dare he come to her town, their town, and murder people. How dare he try to force her affections, to force her. How dare he make her afraid. She was Elena Gilbert, Doppelganger, Traveler, descendant of vampire hunters. She was not weak, she was not naive, and she was very tired of reacting to tragedy. Their enemy was faceless and nameless no longer and for all his danger, all his strength and speed they could not match, he could be killed. He would be killed, and, if she had her way, he would know fear before his end.

"You have that terrifying look on your face again," Caroline told her, somewhat smugly, and Elena looked away from her reflection in the window to see that they had arrived and both of her friends were staring at her.

Elena grinned, sharp and sweet. "We are all terrifying, Caroline, and we are going to make sure that every vampire in town knows it."

Bonnie grinned back, fierce and ready, and Caroline followed suit, a hint of doubt in her eyes that Elena was determined to chase away. You didn't need magic to kill a vampire, and Caroline needed no help from anyone or anything to inspire terror.

"Come on, it is time for plotting and ice cream, and you two have always been better at plotting than me."

"But can we still drink, or are you and Jenna still trying to set a good example for Jeremy?" Bonnie asked, smile twitching mischievously as she linked arms with Elena.

"Oh there had better be drinking," Caroline asserted, taking Elena's other arm and tugging them both up the stairs. "I am not plotting how to kill a vampire without alcohol. And Buffy. You still have those DVDs I got you right?" Before Elena could answer, Caroline's eyes narrowed and she pinched Elena's arm. "And don't think I've forgotten that you said nothing about your own vampire hunting legacy when I gave you that birthday present, Gilbert."

Elena yelped at the pinch, Caroline had used her nails, and Bonnie laughed. "We know now, Caroline, and Elena has told us all her secrets. Right?" she finished with a severe look at Elena.

Elena took a deep breath and shook her head. "I have not. But I will. Let's reassure Jenna and make sure Jeremy is in for the night and I will tell you all about Stefan and Damon Salvatore and why neither will leave me alone."