"How could you let him go?" Stefan's tone was laced with annoyance as I told him that I couldn't find Matt last night, and that wasn't for a lack of trying. I didn't get in till the early hours of the morning. I was searching for hours and hours and there was still no sign.

He was now winning at the greatest game of hide-and-seek that I'd ever played.

"I'm sorry, Stefan. My mom came home, what was I supposed to do? Tackle him to the floor?" I snorted through the phone to be met with a chuckle from Stefan.

"You're right, sorry."

I sighed, "It's okay. I… I just don't know what you want me to do." I admitted, and I didn't. I had no idea what to do anymore. Since returning to Mystic Falls, everything had been going wrong.

"Did your mom hear anything?"

I shook my head as I walked to my car, "I wouldn't say so. She just thought that we were all fighting but he knows about Caroline, and I'm guessing he put two and two together about me knowing as well."

"All right. Listen. You have to find him. You have to calm him down. Is he still on vervain?"

I momentarily stopped in front of my car, "Wow… Hold up. What's vervain?" I asked confused. I had never heard of this before.

"It's a herb that stops vampires being able to compel whoever wears it or has it in their system." He informed me.

I was shocked to say the least. I wish I had known about this herb before I went around with a hoard of vampires.

"Look, Stefan, I can't keep looking for him." I huffed as I climbed inside the car and shut the door. "This is Caroline's mess, you should be talking to her."

"Jessica,"

He began to speak but I cut him off quickly, "I have to go, I'll see you soon." I hung up the phone and placed it on the seat beside me before driving off.

Pulling up into the Lockwood drive, I braced my hands on the steering wheel as the events of last night were taking effect on me as the day went on. If someone asked me to explain it to them, I honestly don't think I could. I entered the house and met up with Elena and Stefan who were standing in a main room of the Lockwood Mansion.

"Hey." I was greeted with a large hug from Elena and a small smile from Stefan.

"Hey, guys. Is Care here?" I asked and yawned before I scoped the room full of people.

"I think so." Stefan spoke from beside me.

Speaking of the devil.

Caroline made her way through the crowd of people and over to us.

"Hey. Any luck finding Matt?" Stefan asked.

She released an all-knowing sigh, "None. What if he tells somebody? What if he tells everybody?"

"Caroline, calm down. I'm sure he won't, we just have to find him first." I reassured her.

Stefan turned to Elena, "Do you have any idea where he would be?"

She shook her head, "I wish I did, but he wasn't really one to run."

"You know, this wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to tell him at the right moment in the right way, and he was supposed to be okay with it because he loves me."

I sighed and rested my hands on Caroline's shoulders, catching her attention. "Care, of course he loves you but, you can't expect him to just accept something this big and this… un-natural."

"You did." She pointed out.

I nodded, "Yeah, but I was sceptical at first until I found dads files."

"Files?" Stefan asked in wonder.

"Yeah. He has a whole load of files on supernatural beings and things like that in his office back home."

Stefan remained silent as he nodded his head, lost in thought.

Elena walked up and placed her left hand on Caroline's forearm. "We'll find him. I just have to accept this thing for Jenna." She nodded and Elena left.

I'd never seen my sister this… low before and I didn't know how to help her.

I nodded to Stefan as my phone buzzed within my pocket. Taking it out, my face fell seeing who messaged me. It was Damon.

'Might need your help. Meet me at the woods. I'll send you the location. D.'

I wondered why he was messaging me. Maybe because I helped him the other night, or maybe it was something else. Regardless of that, I still didn't know him all that well.

"How did you get my number?" I massaged back.

"Just come here and I'll explain everything." He replied.

He didn't wait for my reply as he sent me the location with a little red-pin on the screen.

I slipped away from the Lockwood estate shortly afterwards and headed towards my chosen location.

I pulled up at the out-skirts of the woods. It was very dingy looking. Although it always looked cold and isolated, I had a love for the woods. It was always somewhere I came to think, to lay… and to stare at the night sky above when things got too much. I grabbed my bag and tossed it into the back of my car before climbing out. I walked through the woods, leaves crunching under my feet with each step I took.

I smiled as I was one with nature. Just me and the woodlands.

There was no sound. No movement. Nobody. Just myself and the vegetation.

"Damon!" I called out into the empty space.

Suddenly, a whoosh of air and a hand strung around my neck and pinned my back against a large tree trunk. I gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of me. "You're and asshole!" I managed to squeak out. An all knowing half-assed smirk crept up on his lips.

"Rude." He frowned, "Just checking your reflexes are on point."

Damon's hand released from my neck and I coughed as I breathed in the air.

"Oh, my god. What happened?!" Damon and I were met by Bonnie and Jeremy who both ran over as they witnessed Damon with his hand around my neck.

"It's fine." I reassured them. I bent over to pick up my phone from the woodland floor. "You know, I should have left you to it with Elijah the other maybe I'd get some peace from you ." I sniggered. Damon made a painful expression as he held his hand over his heart.

"Ouch."

"Okay. Jokes aside, why am I here?" I asked.

Damon smiled, "Well. I need you here in case something… funny happens." I frowned. "Just come on." He ushered me and the others to begin walking. I complied without asking another person.

We were walking in the woods for a while, talking and gaining information from Damon. Well, Jeremy was.

"Is this the spot Emily Bennett was killed too?" The young Gilbert asked as we strode along.

I frowned, "Wait. Bennett as in Bonnie Bennett?" I asked confused. Bonnie nodded to confirm my suspicion. This day was getting stranger by the minute.

"Founders thought it was poetic burning her where the other witches burned." Damon enlightened us.

"How do you know where the other witches were burned?"

Damon raised an eyebrow, "'Cause I tried to save her. Emily was just my key to getting Katherine back before I knew what a nasty little bitch Katherine was." Jeremy and I both laughed. Damon halted in his stride in front of a large abandoned house.

"Are you sure you have the right place?" I asked as I took in the run-down house. With a silent nod, Damon and the rest of us followed in behind. As I took another step into the house, I turned around to see Damon frozen on the spot.

"Uhh, guys." I murmured. "What's happening?"

"Whatever witchy prank you're playing, don't. It's not funny." Damon groaned.

Bonnie and Jer turned around to see that Damon was unable to move any part of his body.

"Bonnie, can you not do something?" I urged.

"Oh, my ring isn't working. Do something!" Damon ordered. And with that, Bonnie closed her eyes and concentrated. Within seconds, Damon could move once again.

I blew a sigh of relief, "Okay, someone or thing doesn't want us here. So, I'm staying outside before I become a piece of bacon." Damon smirked at my comment.

"I'm gonna go wait outside too." Damon announced and followed me outside.

Outside of the old witch house, Damon and I leaned against the crumbling brick-work, casually waiting for Bonnie to do what she had to do.

"Thanks for inviting me here to almost get frazzled." I snorted in derision. Damon rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the wall with his back muscles.

"Wanna hurry up in there?" He shouted through the open door. With a whoosh of air, the door slammed shut in his face and I couldn't contain the laughter that came from my mouth. "Screw you too, Emily. You know, you're all on your own in there." He turned to me, "Come on."

I pushed myself off the wall, "What?"

"We're leaving. Come on." Damon said.

"We can't leave them in there, alone." I stated. "You can leave. I'm staying here. Plus, it was you who choice to invite me here." I sneered. "Why me anyway? Why not someone else that you actually know?"

Damon's phone began to ring and he grunted in annoyance as he reluctantly answered it. His eyes widen. "I'm on my way." He spoke into the phone.

"What's happened?" I asked as I approached him.

"Something's happened at the Lockwood house."

My eyes widened. "Caroline. Is she okay?" My face flushed red as I thought about my sister. Damon placed both his hands on my shoulders to get my attention.

"Caroline is fine, I'm sure. Just… come with me. I may need your help." He sighed. I nodded and we both climbed into his car.

As we pulled up into the Lockwood mansion, Damon turned off the car and I unbuckled my seatbelt, swinging the door open. A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me back inside.

"Where the hell are you going?" Damon asked.

"Into the house. You said you needed help, didn't you."

"And it was your mom who called me for my help." He sniggered. "How will I explain to her that I brought her daughter to the scene of a crime? A vampire crime I may add."

I placed my hand over his mouth to silence him. I felt his lips tug under my hand. "Okay. I get the point."

He placed his hand over mine and placed it back on my lap. "Stay here." He ordered and opened his door. "I shouldn't be long."

I nodded and he climbed out the car and entered the house. I slumped back in my seat with a sigh, pulling out my phone, I brought up Bonnie's number.

'Hey, Bonnie. Damon and I had to run. Something happened at the Lockwood Mansion. I'll fill you in later, if someone else doesn't. I've left my car so you and Jer can get back. Keys are under the back seat. Xo'

I clicked send and tucked my phone away again. Once I looked back up out the front window, I saw my mom skipping down the steps. "Shit!" I gasped and sunk lower in my seat. I peered up once I heard her talking. She was standing in front of her car with Matt.

"Matt?".

I tucked my hair behind my ear so that I could try and listen to their conversation.

"My sister. I want to see her file. I want to see how you covered up that she was killed by a vampire." Matt sobbed.

"Ohh no." I placed a hand over my mouth as I watched on.

My mom shook her head as her eyes widened, "Matt, you need to calm down. You're upset. You don't know…"

He grabbed my mom's shoulder and I was seconds from flying over there but I knew I had to stay here. I couldn't risk my mom finding out I was here. Just as much as I couldn't risk her knowing about Care.

"Don't lie to me." Matt yelled. My mom turned the tables and twisted him around, pushing him onto the hood of her car.

"Matt, you need to calm down now."

Just as that was all unravelling in front of me, I hadn't realised Damon had popped the trunk of the car. The back of the car sunk down as something heavy was placed inside. I didn't turn around to look; instead I kept my gaze fixed on my mom and Matt who were now getting into her car before driving off.

"I think I need to go home." I turned to face Damon as he climbed into the car.

"Why?" he asked.

"I… I just have a really bad feeling about my mom… and Matt."

He stopped me talking by placing his hand over my mouth, just as I had done to him earlier. I smiled under his hand, my lips brushing against his callous hand before he spoke in a low tone. "Trust me when I say this, if I acted on all my bad feeling's I'd be insane." He smiled, "Well, more insane."

I chuckled and pushed his hand off my face. He started the car and we drove off in the direction of the Salvatore Boarding House.

"So, do you wanna tell me what's in your trunk?"

He grinned. "It's John Gilbert." He replied casually, like this was a daily occurrence for him.

"What!? What the hell happened in there?" I gasped as I turned in my seat to face him.

"Well, a lot of Katherine, a lot of Isobel… I'm sure you can figure out the rest." His eyes glinted as he smirked at me before turning his attention back to the road. The rest of the drive was filled by simple chit-chat. Basic get-to-know-you stuff as we headed for the Boarding house. I was a little un-nerved knowing that John Gilbert was rolling around in the trunk. Seeing him the other night, alive and walking around, to him being in the trunk of the car I was in made me feel sick.

Damon stopped the car once we pulled into the drive. Popping the trunk, he threw John over his shoulder as I headed for the door to open it for him to enter. Once Damon passed me by, he dumped John's lifeless body on the floor like he was a sack of potatoes. I winced at the loud thud as he hit the floor.

I inched closer to his body which lay ever-so-still.

I hadn't seen a dead body before. Well, that's a lie. My mom took me for ice-cream one night and was called away urgently to a crime scene. Me being a crime fanatic, I couldn't help myself. Once she arrived on the scene, I snuck out of the back door and made my way towards the crime scene. It was a surreal moment. One I won't forget anytime soon. A body lay at the edge of the woods. Once I saw it, I gasped loudly and my mom practically chased me back to the car screaming.

"Jess?..." Damon's voice was like echoes in the wind as I reached my hand out, inches from touching John's grey face.

A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me away, "Jess! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Sorry!" I gasped and jumped back.

"Don't go poking dead people," Damon moaned, "It's creepy."

I laughed out of nervousness as Damon made his way down the hall and walked up the stairs. I took the opportunity to do a little snooping as I made my way into the library. John's lifeless body was now a thing of the past as I entered the large room. There were more books than I could count on the shelves. Covering every inch of the walls from side-to-side. I walked further into the room and pulled a book from the shelf. It was an old book from the 1920's.

My favourite era.

I was in my element, flipping through the pages of none other than a classic novel. I sat on the brown couch and crossed my legs as I leaned back and engrossed myself into the book.

A while had passed and I was still in the same position when the calling from my name travelled through the house.

"Jess!"

I ignored the calls and continued reading.

"Jess," Footsteps entered the room and stopped a few feet from where I was sitting, "Jess! Didn't you hear me calling you?" Damon groaned as he glared at me.

"I did."

"Why didn't you answer?"

"I didn't want to." I replied and turned the page.

Before I had time to react, the book was snatched from my grip.

"Hey!" I moaned and inched forward on the sofa.

"What are you reading?" Damon asked as he closed the book over to see the title. He sniggered, "Alias the lone wolf?"

"I was enjoying that." I sighed and crossed my arms.

"You can have it back later. We need to go." He said with hast.

I frowned, "Where?"

"I'll tell you on the way." He said and turned around, "Come on."

I followed on behind without another word.

We collected Stefan on the way and now we were on the way to Isobel's to look for Elena. She had been taken and no one had seen a thing. Which I found odd as there were eyes everywhere at the Lockwoods.

"Is this the Isobel who's Elena's mom?" I asked from the back seat.

"Elena's birth mom. Yeah." Stefan clarified for me.

As I said before, anything goes now. So why question it?

I sunk back into the seat and watched out the window as the trees flew by before we came to a halt.

"Think this is the house?" Stefan aired into the car.

His voice brought me back to reality.

"Better be. It's the nicest foreclosure in town." Damon replied.

"Swear to god if she's not here…"

Stefan was in pain. I could tell by the tone of his voice. His eyes were filled with a longing sadness.

"Don't be such a pessimist." Damon smirked.

We all headed towards the house.

Damon opened the door and waved his hand through the fresh hold. There were definitely no humans residing here as they didn't need an invite to enter.

The house was deserted. The only thing I could see was a piano in an adjoining room to my left.

"I've got upstairs." Stefan said before he climbed the staircase.

"You're with me blondie."

I frowned at Damon's comment. "Blondie?"

He didn't reply, just smiled.

Damon and I made our way through the empty lower-level of the house. There was an eerie feel to it as we walked around.

I halted in my steps and leered over the piano.

I began to play a little tune on the keys. Something that I hadn't done in forever.

Damon leaned on the top of the piano as he listened intently.

"You're good." He said and I pressed down on the last key.

I smiled as I looked up at him, "I haven't played in years. I'm surprised I still remember how."

"Stefan!" Damon smiled as he kept his eyes fixated on mine. I broke the gaze and turned my head to the left to see Stefan standing there, confusion on his face.

Damon backed off away from the piano and I cleared my throat. Entering into the room further behind Damon and Stefan I stopped when I came across luggage in the middle of the room.

"This is Isobel's stuff. It's definitely the right place."

"Where are they?" Stefan asked in longing.

Damon sighed, "I don't know, Stefan."

Back at the Salvatore Boarding house, Stefan and Elena were in the living room talking about what happened between her and Isobel earlier.

I was glad that Elena was returned safe, but at the same time, I felt sadness. Her mother just died right in front of her. I couldn't even imagine the pain she was feeling. On the other hand thought, she didn't know her all to well.

"I'm gonna head home, see how Caroline is after everything." I sighed and turned to leave but Damon grasped my wrist, gently but it held some force.

"Here," He said and placed a book into my open palm. "Why you want to read anything about wolves is besides me."

"Have you read it?" I asked with a smile. He shook his head and I laughed lightly, "Don't knock it till you try it."

With that, I headed towards the door and headed home for the night.

I should have thought this through. With some of the dramas that took place tonight, I completely forgot I left my car in the woods for Bonnie to get home in. Now I am stuck walking home from the Salvatore house. It was only about a 30 minute walk, 15 if I had enough strength to run back, but I didn't.

"Ugh..." I groaned as I clutched onto the book and made my way home.

The streets were empty, almost desolate as I neared my house. The lights were on in the living room and I could see Caroline pacing back and forth through the blinds.

I quickened my pace and hopped up the three stairs to the porch and entered inside. As I approached the living room, Caroline and Matt turned to face me.

"Matt?" I said in a low voice as I noticed him sitting on the sofa.

Caroline motioned towards the sofa with her head. I made quick work of making my way over there. I took a seat on the arm rest as she began to speak.

"So after I hurt you in the woods, I made you forget and I promised myself I would stay away from you, but I-I couldn't...'Cause I love you. I do. I love you, Matt, so much. God, I'm so sorry about what happened to Vicki. And I really wish you'd say something."

Matt remained silent for a moment before muttering, "I'm all alone."

"What?" I gasped, "No, you're not"

"My mom doesn't care, my sister's dead, and all of my friends are liars, and you're both...

"I'm still me. I'm still me," Caroline groaned in sadness. "It's just...I'm just a little bit..."

She sat down next to him but he immediately jumped to his feet.

"Don't. No." He sighed and threw his hands in the air, "This is too much. All of this is just too much. I don't want to know this."

I placed a hand over my mouth. The look on his face was breaking my heart as his eyes welled with tears.

"Tell me what I can do. Tell me what I can do. I...I want to help you." Caroline begged.

"You can make me forget." Matt said, "You've done it to me before."

"I don't-I don't think that that's..."

"Caroline..." I said as I touched her arm.

"Please make me forget, Caroline. I don't wanna look at you and see what I'm seeing right now. Either of you."

"But maybe after..."

"Just make me forget, Caroline!" Matt shouted. Causing both Care and I to jump.

Caroline began to cry as she got to her feet and walked towards Matt. "Okay. Okay, Matt." She said softly and took his face between her hands. She began to compel him to forget everything he now knew about her. About us.

Once Matt had left and Caroline had retired to her room. I followed suit and entered my bedroom shortly after. I took a quick shower and changed into something that didn't smell like 'old witch house'. As I entered back into my room. I shielded my eyes from the light. I winced as they seemed brighter than before. I quickly turned them off before hopping into my bed, the sheets scratched at my skin as I pulled them up to my neck. I shivered at every movement I made under them as they nipped at my skin like a thousand tiny claws. My skin was hyper aware once again. I wasn't sure what was causing such changes to my skin, but I just closed my eyes and hoped that it'd settle.

My eyes and thoughts were consumed with darkness almost immediately, and I drifted off.