Finally, the next chapter! Sorry it's taken so long. There's been a lot happening that halted my writing. However, I'm back now. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and as always, constructive feedback is welcomed!

Enjoy!

The voices inside my mind were quiet. It was completely, and utterly silent. Something which I never got to experience much over the past few months. Now I reveled in that fact.

The ray of light split through the drawn drapes as I exhaled slowly and stirred in my sleep. I remained in the same position, one arm under my cheek, and the other down my side holding onto the thin material of the blanket I lay under. My eyes fluttered open one after the other as I felt a warm breath on my face. When my eyes were fully open, I smiled as my eyes met with his blue eyes which held a green hue. Klaus' hand reached up to my face and tucked a strand of hair behind my left ear, making sure to trace my jawline with his fingers.

"Were you watching me sleep?" I murmured in my sleepy state.

"You were too peaceful to wake, sweetheart." Klaus all but whispered. His hand moved along my arm and round my back as he began to draw shapes on my bare skin. I shivered under his touch. "Last night was -"

"Unbelievable..." I grinned as I placed a hand on his chest.

He smirked.

"I was going to say exquisite,"

I smiled and trailed my fingertips along his collar bone, "Okay. How about it was unbelievably exquisite."

"I like the sound of that." Klaus grinned. And before I knew it, he had grabbed my waist and pulled me on top of him. I squealed at the sudden change of gravity as I now straddled his waist. He laughed as I took a sharp inhale and pushed the hair from my face.

"That was not funny," I moaned as I tried to conceal my own laugh.

"I beg to differ." He replied.

Klaus' hands were resting on my waist as he held me in place. My hands were resting on top of his as we stared at each other in utter silence. The only thing to be heard was our heartbeats which fell into sync with one another.

"I should go get cleaned up," I sighed, breaking the silence.

"What are your plans for today?"

"Well, I need to get to school for a start," I looked across the room to the clock which hung on the wall. "If I don't leave soon, I'll be late. Again."

"Can't have that now, can we?" Klaus said as he sat up straight. I slid from his waist into his lap as he snaked his hands up my bare back and tugged my hair to the left, exposing my neck to his lips. Kisses were placed along the tender flesh, along the shoulder and down onto my collar bone.

"Klaus..." I murmured breathlessly.

"Hmm?"

I smiled, "If you don't s-stop, I'm really going to be late."

I felt the points of his teeth scraping along the skin of my shoulder as he grinned, "Sure you can't be tempted, love?"

I fell silent as my breath caught in my throat. As tempting as his advances were, I really did have to get to school before I fell further behind.

"As tempting as it is, Klaus," I pulled back from him and pushed my hands against his chest, creating some space between us as I remained on his lap. "I can't miss any more school."

"That's a shame," He pouted, "After last nights...activities, I was sure you'd want to stay."

I bit my bottom lip and stared into his longing eyes. "Proposal."

"And what might that be?" Klaus wondered with a half-smirk.

"We have dinner tonight." I said as I ran my fingers through his dirty-blonde curls. "Just the two of us."

"It's a date."

"Great," I leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Trying to contain the burning hunger that was growing in the pit of my stomach the longer I resided in his presence. I gasped as his dug his finger nails into the flesh of my hips, gripping me tightly. Almost refusing to let me go as I tried to break the kiss. "Klaus," I groaned before laughing.

"Can't blame a man for trying, sweetheart." He said, and finally released me.

As I slid off his lap, the thin, white cover that was covering my waist fell to the ground as I stood at the side of the bed. Klaus' eye wandered over my bare body as I grinned in glee. I truly felt content. Nothing felt as good as this. Nothing.

I gave him a smile before I walked across the room and entered the bathroom. The door closed with a soft 'click' once I was inside. Turning the tap on by the sink, I stood there for a few moments just looking at my naked body in the mirror. Usually I'd feel a certain amount of self-consciousness, but not today. I felt strong. Powerful. Like there was someone else living in my body. It was freeing.

The hot water from the shower was a welcomed moment in a time of calmness. Once I was fresh out of the shower, I looked in the mirror once again, ruffling my hair in a towel before pulling another around my body. I gasped as I saw a purple-ish mark appearing on the right side of my neck. "What the?..." My eyes widened as I realised what it actually was. "No..."

I opened the bathroom door and walked back into the room as Klaus stood by his dresser, half clothed as he looked through his shirts.

"You gave me a hickey?!" I yelled in disbelief.

Klaus continued to look through his shirts as a wicked grin crept up onto his face. "If you didn't move around as much, it wouldn't be that noticeable."

"Is that all you have to say? Not a 'sorry'?"

"Would you believe me if I did?" He shot back and closed the drawer. I removed my hand from my neck as he crossed the room and stood in front of me, his shirt in hand. Klaus' finger tips traced the outline of the purple mark on my neck. "It's not so bad, love."

"Easy for you to say." I replied. "Now I have to wear a scarf or something to hide it."

"Are you ashamed of what we did?" He asked. Klaus' expression changed instantly and he took a step back.

"What?" I frowned, "No, no of course not." I reached out and placed my hands on the sides of his face. "I don't regret a single thing that happened last night, Klaus."

His jaw tensed, "Why are you so worried about a mark on your neck?"

I rolled my eyes, "I don't really feel like getting the third degree from my sister today. Let alone anyone else for that matter."

"That's the only reason?"

"Yes. I-" There was a sudden pang of guilt in the pit of my stomach as he looked at me. "I wouldn't lie to you."

Klaus slowly nodded his head and I could see the uncertainty growing in his eyes. "You best hurry. You don't want to be late." He placed a small kiss on my forehead and left the room quickly. The tension that appeared out of nowhere was now consuming me as I stood in the middle of the floor, a lost look on my face.

Making my way across to the bedside table, my phone lit-up with a message on the screen. As I unlocked it and clicked on the bubble, my eyes widened at the messages from my sister.

'I figured it out. Elena's sired to Damon. That's why she's been acting crazy, and doing all these strange things. She's literally doing everything he tells her to.'

"Wow..." I murmured. I wrote a quick reply to her and headed down to my room to change. Once I was changed, I grabbed one of the scarves Rebekah had given me a while back and tied it around my neck to conceal the bruise which was beginning to fade. I rushed down the stairs and headed into the parlour room where Klaus was standing, a glass of bourbon in his hand as he watched me enter the room. "Did you know?"

He took a sip from his glass, "Know what, exactly?"

"That Elena was sired to Damon." I replied with a sigh, "Is that what you meant last night when you said 'It'll all make sense soon'?"

Klaus took another sip from his glass, finishing the liquid inside before he set it down on the table that sat between us. "I was wondering how long it would take any of you to figure it out."

"How does it work?" I asked.

His eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly as he rounded the table. "Why?"

"I'm curious."

Klaus nodded his head, "It's quite rare actually. I've come across it maybe a handful of times during my time on this earth." I listened intently as Klaus enlightened me to the facts. "You know how compulsion works." I nodded my head. "Well, it's on par with that. Everything becomes heightened when you turn into a vampire. If the person has a strong connection, strong feelings with the vampire who uses their blood to turn them, they'll become sired. They'll do, say, agree with anything the sire wanted them to without realising."

"So it's like your hybrids?" I wondered.

He smirked, "Not quite. Unlike Tyler who managed to break his sire bond to me, a vampire cannot just 'break' the sire bond between them. The sire would have to command the other to leave. To forget about them."

"If you were to turn me, would that mean I would be sired to you?"

His eyes almost lit up at the words that came from my lips. "The chances are high."

I almost smiled at the thought.

"You're late." Klaus hummed as our eyes locked together.

"Hmm?"

"School," He clarified, "You're going to be late."

"Damn." I laughed, but it quickly faded. "A-are we still on for dinner tonight?"

"I have a few things that need to be sorted, sorry sweetheart." Klaus hummed as he stoked the side of my face with his left hand. "Another night?"

I nodded my head and forced a smile on my lips to hide my disappointment, "Sure. I better get going, don't want to be any later."

"Have a good day, Jessica." Klaus said as I backed away from him.

"You too," I replied and left the room. As I walked away I could feel the heat from his gaze on the back of my head. The uneasiness that settled into my body was intense to say the least.

I wasn't as late as I thought I was going to be as I entered the school. Students were still standing around chatting amongst themselves as I passed them by and headed down to where Caroline told me to meet her.

"Hey," I said as I greeted Bonnie and my sister. "Have you calmed down since the last time we talked?" I said towards Care.

She smirked and shook her head, "Yes, Jess. I have."

"Good," I grinned.

"Elena, hey. Is everything okay?" Bonnie asked with a warm smile as Elena appeared beside us.

Elena frowned, "Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, Caroline told me you had to move out to stay away from Jeremy."

"You did?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah, but Matt is at the house staying with him right now to make sure he keeps all of his hunter stuff in control. He's okay."

"But are you?" Caroline blurted out, "I mean, clearly they don't have a flat iron at hotel Salvatore." She giggled lightly.

"Oh-I was in a rush," Elena said as she reached up and took her hair down from the bun it was in. "I mean - look, do you girls have any plans tonight? I'm in desperate need of some girl talk."

"I'm in," Bonnie said, "Shane taught me some small spells I've been wanting to try."

"Oh, creepy professor guy is just Shane now." Caroline huffed.

"He's not creepy." Bonnie shot back.

"We're not judging," Elena said to keep the peace.

Care rolled her eyes, "I am."

"He is a little creepy." I shrugged with a smile.

"Don't listen to them. So, girls' night? We can raid the Salvatore wine cellar."

Caroline and I shared an uncomfortable look, "Are you sure that Stefan and Damon are cool with us crashing at their place?"

"I can't go home because my brother is trying to kill me. So their place is mine now, too. I'll see you in a bit." Elena said before rushing off.

She vanished around a corner without looking back once.

"Is it just me or was she even weirder?" I asked as I folded my arms.

"Absolutely," Caroline moaned. "You coming to class?" She asked as the bell rang.

"Yeah, I just have to make a call. I'll get you there."

Once I had spoken to Tyler, I made a call to Stefan.

"Hey," I said as he picked up the phone.

"Jess, hey. What did you find out." He asked, cutting straight to the point.

"I talked to Tyler."

"And?"

I sighed, "The sire bond exists because the hybrids are grateful to Klaus for relieving them from the pain of having to wolf-out every full moon, and that's why they have to turn until they're not ruled by the pain anymore." I relayed to him and leaned against the wall.

"Right, but Elena's not a werewolf so what's the vampire equivalent?"

"Well, that's the problem," I sighed as I thought back to what Klaus told me earlier. "There isn't one."

The line went dead a few seconds later.

I took the phone away from my ear and looked at Stefan's number on the screen. I could feel the tension in his voice as we spoke. I couldn't imagine what kind of torment he was going through right now.

Later that night after a very uneventful day at school, Caroline, Bonnie and I arrived at the Salvatore house. Once we were inside and seated on the sofas in the main room, Elena walked in with a crate of wine and champagne and began to hand us a bottle each.

"One for you." She said as she handed Bonnie a bottle. She took it was a smile of content.

"One for you," She said once more as she handed one to Care

"Ooh," Care smiled as she took the wine.

"I'm assuming this is for Caroline." Bonnie said as she held up an unopened blood bag. As Caroline reached for it, Elena grabbed it.

"Actually, it's for me."

Caroline, Bonnie and I exchanged a glance.

"I thought-"

"Oh. Are you saying that -"

Elena opened the tab and took a large gulp from the bag, showing us that she could now keep blood from a blood bag down.

"Thanks to Damon, I am now a functional dysfunctional vampire." Elena grinned.

"That's amazing." Bonnie beamed with excitement, but Caroline and I knew something else was afoot.

"What do you mean 'thanks to Damon'?" Caroline asked knowingly.

"Well, he suggested that I try it again. So I did and it worked," Elena informed us. "No more snatch, eat, erase."

"So, where is my least-favourite Salvatore?" Caroline drawled out.

Elena took a seat on the sofa beside me and pulled out her phone to read a message from the screen.

"Out with Stefan for the night, don't wait up. Brother bonding."

"Hmm, so you guys check-in text now? What else do you do?"

"Caroline," I snapped.

"I know that you're not the biggest fan, but he kind of just changed my life. Would you mind laying off on all the hate?"

The tension in the room was beginning to grow.

"Okay, new girls' night rule," Bonnie said to cut the tension, "No boy talk, yeah? Plus, why talk when we have this?"

She held up a bag of black herbs.

"Is that stoner tea?" I asked before laughing.

She shook her head, "It's spirit tea. It opens your chi, or whatever." Caroline and I shared another look of uncertainty. "Come on, it's not drugs! Shane is helping me do natural magic without having to access the spirits."

"Mhmm, sure." I smirked and Caroline laughed.

"Don't judge."

Caroline and I stared at Bonnie with smirks on our faces, but she just looked back at us stone-faced. "Okay, fine!" Caroline huffed, "I hereby vow not to be judgemental for the rest of the night! Even if the three of you are potentially ruining your lives as I stand idly by, it's your choice."

Elena rose from the couch quickly, "I'll drink to that."

The three of us raised our wine glasses in the air and Elena tapped her blood bag against the green glass before we all started to drink and fall into the night.

The night was going very well. We were all having a blast, drinking, dancing, singing and all of the above. Nothing else mattered but each other at that moment. We were all just being friends with one another. No arguing. No judging, nothing. We were just like how we used to be before everything changed.

Elena and Caroline were dancing...everywhere. The sofas, the tables, anywhere that had a flat surface, they were on it. Bonnie was filming on her phone, capturing the whole night on video as I sat on the sofa and sipped on my champagne as I was danced-out for the time being. Elena walked over and attempted to pour herself another glass of champagne, but when she realised that the bottle was dry, she whooshed over onto the piano and grabbed another bottle before whooshing back and popping the cork into the air. We all cheered as the liquid spilled out of the bottle and onto the table as she filled the glasses once more. Bonnie, Elena and Caroline hugged one another before collapsing onto the sofa and pulled me into the mix.

Upstairs, we managed to make our way into Damon's bathroom. Elena made herself at home in his tub as the rest of us sat next to her on the floor, laughing.

"Check this out," Bonnie said as she showed us her phone before handing it to Elena in the tub. "Vamp-speed video."

She chuckled lightly, "I look like superman. Watch this." She paused the video at the point where she was speeding back into the room. The point in which she paused the video showed the blur behind her due to the speed at which she was running. "This year's Christmas card." We all laughed. "Being a vampire is so weird. Oh my god, I love this bathtub. Why don't we come and hang out here more often?"

"I'll tell you why. Cooties," Caroline laughed, "Think of all the germ-ridden skanks that Damon had lured into his den of iniquity."

"Caroline!" I groaned.

Elena sat up in the tub with an unamused look on her face, as did Bonnie.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I've been good all night. I am stopping now." Caroline said in defeat.

"No, don't stop on my account. Rip away. I mean, it's only Damon, right?" Elena said. Her tone laced with sarcasm.

"Well, say what you want about Ripper Stefan, but at least he wasn't a man slut." Caroline shot back.

"Come on," Bonnie groaned.

"So, what exactly was it about him that made you jump right into bed with him as soon as you met him?" Elena snapped.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "I didn't know what a sociopathic narcissist he was."

"He's always been there for me when I needed him."

"Yeah, because he's hoping you'll sleep with him."

"Well, maybe I did." Elena almost yelled.

Caroline and I shared a look of concern.

"You did what?!" I gasped loudly.

"You didn't," Bonnie added.

"Yeah, I did." Elena said confidently, "Look, I know you all have issues with him, but I'm happy, and I wanted to spend tonight with my best friends so that I could tell them about it." Elena gripped the side of the tub and pulled herself up and walked out of the bathroom. Leaving Caroline, Bonnie and I behind, still in a state of shock.

Downstairs, Elena was cleaning up the mess from the party in the parlor as Bonnie, Caroline and I came downstairs to talk to her.

"Elena, come on." Bonnie said lowly.

Elena ignored us and continued to clean up. "The party is over. You guys need to leave."

"Don't be mad, okay? We're just looking out for you." Caroline sighed.

Elena finally turned around to look at the three of us. "Do you think it makes me happy that you guys hate him? I get it. His track record has been kind of spotty but I don't hate him. I can't. He's - I think I'm falling in love with him."

I rolled my eyes and slapped my hands against my thighs loudly.

"Geez, you're not falling in love with him, Elena. You're sired to him!" I yelled. "Whatever you think you feel for him, it's not real love."

Bonnie, Caroline and Elena looked at me in shock. I quickly snapped my mouth shut and bowed my head slightly. I knew I over stepped the mark by a long shot, but someone had to say something before she got her heart broken beyond repair.

"What?" Bonnie gasped.

"What are you talking about?" Elena shook her head in disbelief.

I walked down the steps towards Elena. "I'm sorry I blurted it out like that, but it's true. Damon's blood turned you. You couldn't feed from animals or blood bags because he told you so. Then he suggested that you try again with the blood bags and suddenly..."

"No. There's no way, I..."

Bonnie approached me and grabbed my arm, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Caroline said before I opened my mouth, "Ask Stefan about it. He can explain it better than I can."

"Yeah, Klaus confirmed it also." I added.

"I'm sorry," Elena growled, "You talked to Stefan and Klaus about this?"

"It's not your fault, Elena. Okay, Damon took advantage of you." Caroline said in a calm voice.

"Okay, you need to leave. Both of you." Elena strode past Caroline and I towards the front door as we both looked on in shock. "Now!"

"Elena!" Bonnie yelled across the room.

"Come on!" Caroline moaned.

"I said leave!" Elena opened the front door and turned back to face us. She was truly and utterly pissed.

My eyes widened when I looked out onto the porch.

"Hello girls." A woman greeted us from outside.

Elena turned and looked at her. The woman rushed into the house and knocked Elena into the wall with great force, shaking the frames that hung there. She then rushed at Caroline and grabbed her by the throat. The man who was on the porch beside the woman rushed in after her and grabbed Elena who fought back and pushed him against another wall. The man managed to get the upper-hand eventually and slammed Elena into the wall once more. Both of them have their hands wrapped around the others' throat. Bonnie started to perform a spell beside me which was so powerful, that it made the lights flicker and combust into pieces.

"Stop!" The woman yelled at Bonnie.

Bonnie looks at her and stops the spell. The woman's eyes turned into a pool of yellow liquid.

"One bite from a hybrid and she's dead, remember?" The raven haired woman warned.

"Touch my sister and I'll rip your heart out before you blink!" I growled lowly as my own eyes turned a shade of yellow.

"Grab her!" She shouted towards the guy.

He throws Elena to the floor before rushing at me with an immense amount of speed and power. His hand was latched around my throat before I could even take a step forward. I gulped and began to claw at his forearm as his grip tightened, cutting off my ability to breathe. My eyes shot across the room and saw Bonnie rushing to help Elena, and before they could turn around, Caroline and I were gone.

Hidden in the darkness of the night sky, Caroline and I were dragged through the woods kicking and screaming until we came to a staggered halt.

"Quit struggling!" The man I now know as Adrian groaned into my ear as he held my arm tightly.

"Let my sister and I go!" I yelled back through staggered breaths. The continuous struggle and fighting back had knocked the wind from my lungs, leaving me desperate for air.

"Just get them inside!" The woman barked at Adrian.

Her name was Kimberly. She was one of the hybrids from Tyler's pack. One of the ones he helped break the sire bond to Klaus. Her disloyalty to my brother struck me as peculiar. He put his life on the line to help her, help them. So why was she doing this?

Once inside what looked to be an abandoned barn, Kimberly made quick work of tying Caroline up against one of the doors. She kneeled down beside her and broke her wrist, causing her to scream in pain.

"Leave her alone!" I screamed as I was forced down onto my knees in the center of the barn. "I swear, if you touch her again-"

"You'll what?" Kimberly smirked, "You'll run back to your hybrid master? Tell him about all this?"

"And give him the satisfaction of killing you?" I grinned, "No. Thanks. I'd rather rip your heart out myself."

"She's feisty this one." Kimberly smiled as Adrian held my shoulder down, keeping me on my knees with my hands bound behind my back.

Kimberly turned her attention back on to my sister and bent her hand back once again, causing another cry to escape her lips. I saw red. My left leg shot out, and the heel of my boot collided with Adrian's shin, causing him to stagger backwards and lose his grip on my shoulder. I got to my feet quickly and rushed towards Kimberly, but still having my hands tied behind my back put me at a disadvantage. Adrian regained his composure quickly and whooshed after me, grabbing the back of my hair and yanking me backwards. I was on my back on the floor seconds later with him kneeling on my chest.

I coughed as the dust and straw flew into the air as my back hit the ground.

"That wasn't very smart, now was it?" Kimberly goaded as she kneeled down beside my face. I drew my eyes off her as Adrian applied more pressure onto my chest in retaliation. Kimberly smiled wickedly before she made her way back over to Caroline and repeated her earlier actions of braking her wrist.

"Arghh!" Care yelled. "Why are you doing this?"

"To show Tyler who's in charge." She replied.

I began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Kimberly asked.

"You thinking that my brother will submit to you." I said breathlessly. "You crazy bitch!"

Kimberly growled at my words and twisted my sisters wrists for the fourth time. I released a growl of my own at the sounds of Care's cries of pain.

My head jolted to the right as two figures rushed into the barn.

"Stop! Stop it, Kim. They're with us. All right? We're all on the same team." Tyler yelled as he tried to diffuse the situation.

"She's on your team, not mine." Kim shot back.

More hybrids descended into the barn behind Tyler and Elena.. They were quick to restrain them both while Kimberly continued to torture Caroline. Tyler attempted to free himself from the grasp of the two hybrids that were restraining him.

"Stop it! Stop!" He yelled.

"Ease up, Kim. Klaus won't like this." Adrian said to Kimberly as he removed his knee from my chest.

"That's a very good point. Do you think he'll like this?"

Kimberly picked up a stake and showed it to Tyler and the rest of the hybrids.

"Kim! Don't do it. I sweat to god!" Ty warned her.

Kim walked over towards me and kneeled down by my side. She held the stake inches from my chest, just above my heart. My breathing intensified as she pressed the tip of the wooden stake into my chest, threatening to impale my heart with each passing second.

"No, wait, wait, wait, wait." Elena yelled, "If you want to hit Klaus where it hurts, then torture me instead. He's fixated on keeping me alive. You want real revenge or not?"

"What's more revengeful than killing the one he cares for above all else?" Kim smiled back towards Elena and Tyler.

"Trust me," Elena tired once more, "He needs me alive."

Kimberly looked into my eyes as I looked back into hers. She hesitated for a brief moment before she lowered the stake. She got to her feet and moved towards Elena, grabbing her by the throat, readying the stake in the air when Tyler managed to free himself from the hybrids which restrained him. He grabbed Kimberly and plunged his fist into her chest, grabbing her heart. She gasped in pain as the other hybrids made a move towards her.

"Stay back!" Tyler yelled "I'll rip her heart out right now!"

The hybrids planted their feet, refusing to take another step after Tyler's warning.

"Kim put you all at risk today but I'm not gonna hurt her. I'm not Klaus. I don't kill and torture my own friends to get what I want." Tyler said towards the hybrids and I closed my eyes at his words. I knew deep down his words were true, but I didn't want to admit it to myself. "Now, we broke the sire bond, but if you want to be free we have to work together. No one can step out of line. Now, you're either with me or you're against me. Submit or you die."

My eyes opened just as Kimberly fell to her knees. Tyler moved down with her as his hand remained in her chest, his grip still tightly on her heart as she gasped.

"I'm...I'm sorry." Kim murmured before she took a sharp gasp when Tyler removed his hand from her chest. He got back to his feet and looked down at Kimberly before he faced the other hybrids. One by one, all of the other hybrids got down on their knees, submitting to Tyler and showing him that he was the Alpha.

"Now, get my sister off the ground and untie her." Tyler commanded one of the hybrids. He was quick to get to his feet and lift me from the ground. My hands were untied seconds later and I rubbed my wrists. "If any of you think about a repeat of tonight, I'll rip your hearts out myself." His tone was cold, warning, as he threatened the hybrids. All of which nodded their heads in unison.

Once I got steady on my feet and patted off the straw from my clothes; I made my way past the hybrids, each of which avoided all eye contact with me as I passed them by and left the barn. I stood in the cool night air as Tyler walked out being me. His arm was slung over my shoulder as I continued to rub my chafed wrists.

"You okay?" He asked.

I nodded, "Sure, Ty. Why wouldn't I be alright?" I looked up at him and shrugged out from under his arm. "Your hybrids just kidnapped my sister and I to torture us. To make you back down."

"I know," He sighed, "They've accepted me as their Alpha now, Jess. Nothing like this will happen again. I promise you." As I looked at Tyler as he spoke, I could tell there was something else he wanted to say. Something else he had to get off his chest.

"What?" I grumbled.

"I know you've been through a lot tonight, Jess." He exhaled slowly, "Please don't tell Klaus any of this."

I scoffed. "Do you actually think I'm that stupid?"

"No, I-"

"Shut up, Tyler." I snapped as I cut him off. "I understand why you want to help the hybrids, I do. No one deserves to have their freewill taken from them, but-"

"But?" Tyler repeated.

"But- if anything like this happens again, I'll rip their hearts out myself."

I could just about make out the smile that appeared on his lips through the shadows of the trees. "You couldn't take on a hybrid, Jess."

I smirked, "Don't underestimate me. Tyler." I warned, "If any of your hybrids back me or my sister into a corner again, I won't retain myself."

I saw Caroline walk out of the barn behind Tyler as he fell silent after my warning.

Hell, I knew my chances against a hybrid were small, but I'd be damned if I let what happened tonight happen again without putting up more of a fight.

"Let's go." I said to Care as she approached.

When we got to the outskirts of the woods, I called us a cab and it took us back to our house. As I climbed out of the cab and stood on the sidewalk, I heard Caroline telling the driver to wait as she climbed out behind me.

"Why'd you tell him to wait?" I asked.

"I'm gonna head back to the Boarding house. Make sure Elena and Bonnie are alright." She said while pulling a piece of straw from her hair with a light giggle.

"Can you tell Elena I'm sorry?" I sighed, "I didn't mean for what I said to come out like that."

"Hey, I was about to say the same thing before you blurted it out." She smiled and I smiled back. "I'll tell her."

"Thanks."

"Are you staying here tonight?" Care asked with hope.

I nodded, "Yeah. I just want to have a bath and sleep in my own bed."

"Good!" She beamed and enveloped me in a hug. "I shouldn't be too long."

"Take your time."

We gave each other a final smile before she hopped back into the cab and it drove down the street, out of sight.

I walked inside the house and headed straight for the kitchen to get a glass of water. My throat was parched. The cold, clear liquid was a god-send after the night I had had. Being ambushed and tied up by hybrids was far from what I had planned for the evening. As I left the kitchen and made my way into the living room, there was a knock at the door.

I made my way down the hallway and opened the door.

"Stefan, hey." I smiled as he stood on the porch slightly bewildered by my presence.

"Hey, uh, I was looking for Caroline." He said.

I shrugged, "She's at your house actually."

"Oh..."

I could tell by the look on his face that that was the last place he wanted to be right now.

"Do you want to come in?"

"Sure." He smiled and walked into the house.

I closed the door behind him and followed him into the living area where I took a seat on one of the chairs.

"There's something I actually wanted to tell you." I said as he stood a few feet in front of me.

"What happened?"

"W-what?" I asked in confusion as he pulled a piece of straw from my hair. "Oh, it's nothing. Just had a little disagreement with the hybrids."

"Disagreement?" Stefan's eyes narrowed.

"Honestly, Stefan, it's nothing. Tyler sorted it out." I reassured him the best I could as he backed down.

"If you're sure."

"I am," I nodded.

"So, what did you want to tell me?"

I bit my lip nervously, "I may have let slip that Elena was sired to Damon...to Elena."

"Jess..." Stefan sighed and rubbed his hands down his face.

"I know, I'm sorry, but she just wouldn't let up about how she could now feed from a bag, and how Damon was the one who saved her."

Stefan proceeded to fill me in on what he and Damon were doing tonight. I tried to take it all in, but it was a lot to process.

"You feel sorry for him?" I sighed.

"Look," Stefan said as he stood up, "There's no other way to break the sire bond. As much as you and I both hate it, Damon does love Elena. Now he has to completely let her go. Ever imagine having to do that?"

I dipped my head, "I'm sorry I told her. Like I said, she didn't leave me much of a choice, and if I didn't tell her, Caroline was about to. I just hope that he does what he's supposed to do."

Stefan sat back down on the sofa across from me and sighed heavily. Like he was bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"He'll do it. He's not as bad as he wants you to think," Stefan smiled weakly, "He'll do what he needs to do, he told me he would."

"I-Is that all he told you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. It's just," I sighed, "It's just - how can you trust him to follow through with it?"

"Because I think he loves her as much as I do. He can't be selfish with her. Not anymore."

I nodded understandingly.

Maybe Stefan was right. Maybe Damon will do the right thing and release Elena from the sire-bond. Or maybe he'll be selfish and keep Elena wrapped up in her delusion for a while longer. Only time will tell.