A/N My apologies for such a long chapter I did consider breaking it up into two, but decided against that. My Beta told me that its a bit fast paced, but that made it even better. I'm tying up a few of story plot lines with this chapter and hopefully I didn't forget anything. There is a Cameo of another character from another TV Show I'll leave it to you to figure out which one. Please leave it review.


Grove Hill: Outskirts
October 31, 2010

Stefan regarded with morbid amusement the now silent heart of the fallen hybrid before allowing it to drop free of his bloodied fingers. These two were literally scraping the barrel in the brains department he had set trap and they walked right into it. Still all things considered today had been a rather productive day in his opinion, but in truth he only bagged two of Klaus's hybrids. He had hoped to catch at least a few more but in light of the fact that their venom would kill his kind, maybe he decided that he shouldn't bite off more than he could chew. To his own annoyance with himself, his strength was slowly diminishing too, but he made a silent vow that he'd stick to his animal blood now that he had his agency back.

It had been a boon to actually having found a cellphone on one of the dead hybrids like he had in the North Carolina Cemetery. Even better when during closer inspection Stefan had been floored to find that it was carelessly left unlocked at the time too. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth he had taken full advantage of that fact too, when he had been forced to traipse around following the newly created Hybrid Original, Stefan hadn't been too impressed with the overall quality, or better described competency, of the supposed candidates for Klaus's Hybrid Army.

As far as he could tell, none of them had ever served in the military, which if they had killed someone in combat, the next full moon while in a combat zone might prove a complication.

For some reason he couldn't understand why, Klaus rather abruptly switched to sending orders to his minions via either texting or email, never by calling or in person. Which was fine for Stefan at the moment. It made it easier to fool his so-called friend into believing that the group he sent after Elena's friends were still intact and doing their master's bidding.

Putting that concern into the back of his mind for later Stefan examined the contents of both now deceased hybrids and not surprisingly found another cellphone, but unlike the last three of them he found except for the one he'd found unlocked this particular cell was unlocked as well.

"Geez, you'd think Klaus would teach you guys better security precautions," he muttered, shaking his head in feigned annoyance. He smiled as he scrolled through the last few messages from their boss.

Fortunately Klaus either didn't want or need his hybrids to do a daily check ins with the big bad wolf himself, so much the better for him. It more than once allowed him to get into position to hopefully ambush or thin the pack as he started calling his little endeavor to hurt Klaus. After removing anything that might identify the two former hybrids and pocketing what cash they had on them. He set about burying the two bodies in a shallow grave. It was hard to do, considering the ground wasn't easy to dig into. The cooling fall temperatures were readying the forest floor for the winter snow that was due any day now, Stefan reflected.

Mid attempt at trying to dig a passable grave, he froze upon hearing the telltale thump of a human heartbeat somewhere nearby. How had whoever it was gotten so close? It was early in the morning. The sun had only risen a scant hour before. What type of person goes off into the forest alone? Until Stefan picked up on the distinct scent of gun oil drifting with the shifting of air currents. Why the hybrids wanted to meet in one of the many open forests that dotted the Commonwealth of Virginia. This particular one being just outside of Grove Hill.

"Stupid hunting season," Stefan breathed, and after pinpointing his intruder, the vamp sped over to stand in front of the hapless hunter. He pushed the rifle up and away from his general vicinity. While a gunshot wouldn't necessarily kill him, it still hurt like a son of a bitch. The recoil of the rifle must have snapped the now angry hunter back to reality.

"What the fuck are you doing out here without the proper gear kid!?"

"Apparently almost getting shot! Aren't you supposed to only have a gun's safety off when you're only going to shoot at something?" Stefan demanded. The one problem he'd learned early on with his animal diet was the occasional hunter who might cross his path. Stefan didn't have to be a vampire to smell alcohol on the man's breath. That's all he needed to have this guy accidentally kill himself while intoxicated. He didn't need to have the local authorities stumble across the three bodies.

Stefan was still holding the man's rifle in grip that no human could break. Stood there studying the interloper, he looked to be either in his late thirties or early forties but even drunk he appeared to take care of himself physically. It was the man's eyes that made Stefan pause he seen that same gaze worn by soldier during world war two and then those returning from Vietnam. This man has seen action and it had irrevocably changed him.

"What is your name?" Stefan asked finally, throwing in a little compulsion.

"Frank Parker."

Whoever this Frank Parker was he didn't like to be challenged, Stefan realized. But neither did Klaus.

"Mister Parker, don't you think it's rather unwise of you to go hunting while intoxicated?" Stefan admonished the man.

"Maybe, but why the hell not? It's not like I haven't done this before. Besides uh… I have a high alcohol tolerance; well not as high as my pain tolerance but still… and why am I even telling you this? Just who the hell are you? Hey! Why haven't you identified yourself? Fuck, you've been messing with me this entire time, haven't you? Asking me to identify myself to you! Did Ramsey send you to keep an eye on me?" he demanded without a pause. He was most definitely intoxicated. To Stefan, the man just seemed unsteady. Nothing he said seemed to make any sense, at least to him; but whoever Frank Parker was, he looked oddly angered, not at him. Stefan realized it must be directed at whoever was this Ramsey person. Not that it really mattered to him, he really didn't care. He had other things to concern himself with. Has his compulsion grown too weak? He used up a lot of energy killing the two hybrids earlier. Stefan pointedly ignored the ache in his gums. He would not be tempted again. Maybe him not being on human blood was catching up to him, Stefan absently wondered. His compulsion earlier seemed to barely make a dent in the man's consciousness. That was one of the drawbacks of feeding on animal blood versus human. He knew despite losing Elena, he vowed never to fall off the wagon again.

Stefan paused, taking time to get a better look at the man, despite him reeking of alcohol. As far as he could tell, whoever Frank Parker was, by all appearances, he apparently did have a high tolerance, at least for alcohol. Still, he could take advantage of the simple fact that alcohol did make a person easier to manipulate through compulsion. Pushing his compulsion harder, Stefan continued, praying it would be enough. It wasn't like he couldn't compel someone, it just meant he had to finesse it with, unlike Damon, who never had to learn how to work with lower energy reserves from lack of blood. Damon was more brute force with compulsion than his younger brother.

"Yes Mister Parker, Ramsey did send me to keep an eye on you. Let's head back to your vehicle and wait for him there. He won't be happy with you drinking while handling a weapon like that," Stefan paused, still mindful of the two still unburied hybrids nearby. Then decided it wouldn't hurt to ask, it would save time and Stefan really hated digging with his bare hands.

"By any chance do you have a shovel I could use?" It was hard for him to tell if his compulsion was really having an effect on the human.

"Uh… Yeah, well, no offense, whoever you are. I'm sure that you're a highly qualified field agent, but they should have sent Donovan to collect me. As for a shovel, I've got one in my truck, so follow me," Frank grumbled and then turned away, grumbling under his breath. Stefan followed, keeping a half dozen paces behind, not that it would matter. He could easily catch up if Frank Parker decided to run.

"It's not like they've repaired the damn thing yet, from my last jump. But the needs of the project always come first, no matter if I'm on vacation or not," Frank Parker muttered under his breath. Thanks to Stefan's vampire enhanced hearing, he heard every word but didn't pay too close attention.

Old Stefan might have been curious enough to want to know more about this Frank Parker's story. After all, facing eternity was boring enough without minor diversions now and then. New Stefan however, only caught a few coherent words on their trek to Frank Parker's truck. Something about a sphere and someone named Olga, but he ignored much of what the other man was muttering inanely about as he was already fixated on what his next move to thwart Klaus's plans whatever they might be should entail. Perhaps he should swing by and check in with things back home? Maybe Bonnie and her mother have made some sort of headway opening that one coffin, Stefan mused.


Old Witch House
October 31, 2010

Bonnie ceased her chanting. Then once again looked down onto the still closed lid of the one coffin she and her mother have been trying to open for days now. Her exasperation with the stubborn object had grown to murderous levels with each passing day.

After indulging herself to a brief fantasy or two of what she might do to the coffin after she and her mother finally unlocked its secrets. She looked around, only to realize that she was alone.

"Abby?"

Bonnie felt a sudden chill of malice run up the back of her spine and she quickly turned to face the intruder and froze at the sight of an all too familiar blond British speaking monster that plagued her friends' as well as her own nightmares for months now. How had he found them and, more importantly, why weren't the witches helping them now? His mouth was red with blood and some of it had escaped from the corner of his mouth, leaving a bloody trail down to his chin.

"Did you really think you could hide my family from me forever?" Klaus asked calmly, but the steely look in his eyes was anything but calm. Bonnie backed away until the locked coffin blocked her retreat. Klaus smirked as he stepped into the decrepit room they had hidden the four coffins. That morbid thought brought another thought when she took notice of his still bloody mouth.

"What did you do to my mother?" Bonnie snarled.

"Nothing that she won't recover from, love," he smirked, and Bonnie felt bile rise up in her throat. She couldn't breathe! Panic! She only just got her mother back and this monster almost took her away from her daughter again? Rage swelled in the darkest pit of her stomach and threatened to explode outward. Bonnie reached for her magic but felt nothing, then new horror bloomed in her chest. Had she overtaxed herself?

"I see that you haven't opened it yet," Klaus stated conversationally and advanced towards the coffin and Bonnie. She slid to the side moving closer to the exit, not that it mattered he could catch her in an instant and both of them knew it. Facing away from her, he placed one hand atop the still locked lid, running his other hand over the smooth surface. "Well love, it's a good thing I got here before you did. I really don't want to face the person who resides in this box."

"Wh… Who is inside the coffin?" Bonnie stammered. She was so close to the door she was tempted to risk it. Would he chase after her or stay with the coffins he's been hunting for?

Klaus turned to face her. "Don't you know Bonnie Bennett?" his voice was heavy with sarcasm.

"NO! I don't!"

"Perhaps I'll tell you then-" Klaus stopped mid sentence then dropped to his knees clutching his head in utter agony. His body twitched before collapsing on the dirty basement floor. He groaned in protest and tried to sit up before clutching his head once more.

"Bonnie RUN!"

She didn't waste time asking who it was that had just saved her. She bolted for the stairs and before she realized it, she was running out of the house. Bonnie didn't stop running until she couldn't take another step, yet somehow managed to keep herself together. Breathing hard, she looked up and then frowned. How had she gotten this far? Had the witches helped her escape? She felt an odd pulling sensation, as if she were meant to follow it.

Once she could breathe better, she started walking in the sensation's direction. After walking for what felt like several minutes, she found herself standing at the entrance of the Old Lockwood Cellar. How had she gotten here so fast? But before she could consider it, Bonnie froze once again when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Unlike the last time with Klaus, she didn't have a feeling of malice as it did before. Curious now, she turned and followed whoever or whatever it was down into the winding cave passages. Despite her best efforts to get a better look at what or who she was following, she could only catch brief glimpses before disappearing behind yet another rock outcropping.

Not having a torch or flashlight made it harder to navigate in the near darkness. The only light seemed to be coming from whoever or whatever she was following. Bonnie's toes howled in protest as she almost tripped over rocks jutting out from the rocky floor but then she stopped when she came into an all too familiar chamber with the same pictograms Ric had taken extensive pictures of when she, he and Elena were down here exploring the first time.

"Quite impressive, aren't they? The pictograms I mean." A soft voice said behind her and Bonnie turned to face whoever had led her down here. Elena stood there holding two bundles of what she first mistook as cloth but realized were two tiny infants. Peering closer at her friend, she noticed that maybe she'd been mistaken and whoever this Doppelgänger was couldn't be her best friend, since she looked somewhat older and more mature. She didn't know why she knew that she just did.

"Wh… Who are you?"

"Bonnie, we don't really have time to get into that right now. I need for you to listen to me. Klaus is going to find his family today. You and your mother need to take the locked coffin and put it somewhere he and other vampires can't reach. Somewhere safe."

"I don't understand? Didn't he already? Where would that-" Bonnie started to ask, then realized she was currently standing in the one area vampires couldn't enter, unlike a house where they might weasel an invitation out of the home resident.

"You see? You and Abby need to have enough supplies such as food and water, plus anything else you might need during your stay in this place while trying to open the final coffin. Be mindful of who you place your trust in, Bonnie. You can count on Jamie and Jeremy, but no one else. Bonnie, before I go you need to do one more thing for me."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Wake up!" Elena's Doppelgänger urged.

"What!?"

"Bonnie, wake up!"

Bonnie bolted awake and found that she'd fallen asleep sitting next to the locked coffin. Looking up, she found her mother looking down at her daughter with a look of concern.

"Bonnie, are you okay? You were talking in your sleep?" Abby asked, still concerned. She offered a hand and Bonnie took it as her mother helped her to stand.

"I'm fine. Um… How long was I asleep?"

"About an hour. I was going to wake you up to see if you wanted to go get breakfast. We have been at this all night, remember?" Abby explained.

"Abby, I mean Mom, I think I had a vision or something like it. All I know is we need to gather our things and use our magic to move this locked coffin to another location and we need to do it now!"

Abby was taken slightly aback by her daughter's declaration but cool resolve filled her expression. She nodded and started gathering up their belongings.

"Do you have another location in mind?" She asked curiously.

"Yes I do, and I know we're safe there from vampires and other prying eyes."

"Okay then. When you're ready I'll help you move it, but before we do, are we going to need transportation?"

"Already on it," Bonnie smiled, holding up her cellphone. Her mother nodded in understanding and bent to her task. While Bonnie selected a number on her contacts list she hadn't used in quite some time. Then, after a slight hesitation, Bonnie ignored her inner conflict.

The owner of the number she dialed picked up on the second ring.

"Um… Hello?" Jeremy Gilbert asked. Even through the small speaker, she could hear that he must have just woken up.

"I need your help. Can you perhaps bring your SUV here?"

"My SUV? Here, what are you talking about?" Jeremy asked, his voice sounding more awake, but she could hear that he must have just turned on his radio to a higher volume.

"Just get in your vehicle now and don't tell anyone!" Bonnie managed to say barely above the noise on the other end before Jeremy abruptly ended the call.


Gilbert Residence
October 31, 2010

Katherine Pierce shut off the shower and paused to listen, but other than the normal sounds her sensitive vampire hearing could detect, she heard nothing. Still, she could have sworn she heard the front door of the Gilbert Family home slam shut. Feeling curious, she reached for the fluffy white towel and wrapped it around her lithe, athletic form. The circumstances that ultimately led to her becoming a vampire never strained far from her mind. Katherine often wondered what had happened to her daughter and what sort of life she'd had after her own father had taken her away the second she breathed her first breath of Bulgarian air. Katherine's mama had been sympathetic but papa had not and despite her desperate pleas to just hold her daughter for the first and only time she was gone. Whisked away before she even had a chance to recover from her delivery.

It was only after becoming a vampire that her memories of that fateful day could be recalled with such startling clarity. Although her mother had tried to hide it from her daughter and Katherine understood afterwards why she might have done so, that she had twins and only one of them had survived almost made her want to shut off her humanity. She resisted the urge and instead, after gaining control of her bloodlust and encountering a Bennett witch to craft her a daylight bracelet, she returned to her family village.

Only to find the entire village destroyed and the inhabitants, people she knew while growing up, drained of blood. Fearing the worst, she raced to her home and the horrors she found that night forever scarred her psyche. Turning into a vampire to escape and deny her fate as Doppelgänger to an ancient vampire was one thing. Losing her village and family she was exiled from to the same ancient vampire had brought her to the very edge of her breaking point. If it hadn't been the need to survive and find her daughter, she might have given up that very night.

Drying herself off as well as shaking past memories of things that took place five centuries in the past, she considered her options. Caroline was her best bet of getting anything useful since her return to Mystic Falls on her mission, Katherine decided. Other than seeing Elena's witchy friend briefly over the other night, she hadn't really spoken to her. Bonnie and her newly returned mother were up to something that she had no idea what it could be or mean. However, Bonnie had given her quite by accident a possible means of finding the real whereabouts of Elena Gilbert. In retrospect, it did make a little better sense to her. Her chance encounter with a Bennett witch who had gifted her a means of once again walking in the sunlight. Then centuries later when Emily had acted as her ladies maid during the civil war during her first foray into this miserable town. Katherine had never considered that there might have been a reason why a Bennett Witch always seemed drawn to Petrova Doppelgänger. Armed with this knowledge, she could perhaps offer that up as a means for her antagonist to retrieve his precious Doppelgänger blood bag.

Exiting the shower, she glanced at the closed door to Jeremy's room with mild amusement. As far as she could tell, he had kept that fact that she was pretending to be his sister to himself. And it wasn't like his ghost girlfriend Anna could tell anybody. As for the boy, she had to admit he had grown significantly since the last time she'd seen him, even just a few months ago, but that was the problem with mortals. They changed so much, unlike her kind. She could tell by the Gilbert family resemblance in his then youthful features that he was going to be rather impressive when he grew into his manhood.

"Oh little brother," Katherine teased as she slipped into his bedroom. Even though through the very distant family relationship through the now deceased John Gilbert and Isobel Flemming more than once, she thought of bedding the younger Gilbert sibling. Perhaps when he got a little older, if not the fact he reeked of vervain, she might do it now just to shock his sister when she finally showed up. Although more than once she'd threatened to kill him, even she wondered if she could really do it even after what happened to her own family. If it was a matter of survival, she'd do it in a heartbeat but in other circumstances that is where it became harder for her to contemplate. When Klaus had compelled her to retrieve a vampire for the sacrifice, he specified it should come from Elena's own family, but left the selection up to her. Vindictive bitch she is at the time she briefly saw her sister in his eyes and for once she hadn't been able to find him so she selected Elena and Jeremy's aunt.

"Jeremy?"

To her puzzlement she found his bed empty and, based on his lingering scent, he had just been laying in it too. Then she swore when she remembered the sound of the front door. With an annoyed sigh, she returned to Elena's room and started searching through the closet. Towards the back, she found a surprise and couldn't help grinning.

"Why the hell not? It's not like it isn't Halloween."


Whitmore College
McKinley, Virginia
October 31, 2010

"Ric, who are you texting at this time of night?" Damon asked before he glanced down at his watch for what was most likely the hundredth time since they arrived.

"Just keeping abreast of everything going on in our beloved little Mystic Falls. Do you want to hear about the school Halloween party we are so fortunate to be missing out on?" Ric drawled out before locking his cellphone and returning it to his jacket pocket.

"Uh… After the nonsense with Vicki Donovan at the last Halloween School Party. Not to mention the wrong sort of crowds the school dances have attracted for the last year. No, thank you." Damon declared. He eventually gave in to the urge again to dig through his pack he wisely brought with him.

"What are you doing?" Ric demanded.

"Making sure I have everything I need to get my friend Enzo out of that damn freak show of a place," Damon growled.

He pulled out a roll of duct tape, one of Ric's hand crossbow pistols, two sets of handcuffs, two pairs of gloves for himself and Enzo, three blood bags he knew Enzo will most likely need. And then the final tool in his bag of goodies.

"What the hell do you need a cordless angle grinder for?"

"In the case I can't break the vervain laced steel bars of the cage, they most likely have him locked behind. I'll cut him out. What?"

His friend gave him an eerily familiar smirk, and Damon didn't know why, but he felt as if someone had just walked over to his grave. Damn it, focus Damon. it's nothing, Enzo is counting on you to finally get him out of there.

"Is the great Damon Salvatore admitting that he might not be strong enough to break some silly steel bars, vervain laced or not? Won't that not be a problem if, oh I don't know, you wear your gloves?"

"Just shut up, Ric. I failed him the last time and this time I'm not going to fail him. I'm not going to leave anything to chance," Damon snarled in irritation. Lately, his drinking buddy had been getting on his nerves and he didn't know why. He initially chalked it up to stress, but recently it felt like it was something he was missing. But what? Tossing everything back into his pack, he made sure the hand crossbow was accessible. Not that he needed it, but as he just told Ric, he wasn't leaving anything to chance this time.

This time, Ric glanced at his watch and smiled. "It's time. Do you want to make the call or should I?"

"I'll do it," Damon smirked and dialed the new number on his contact's list. On a whim, switching it to speaker phone.

"Hello? Aaron Whitmore speaking."

"Aaron, this is your friend Damon Salvatore. Where is your guardian, Doctor Maxfield?"

"Doctor Dickfield had leave to investigate the damage done to his campus office from a supposed break in," Aaron reported robotically. Damon resisted the urge to laugh at how the legal ward addressed his supposed guardian. Although he did feel a degree of guilt for how he lured the last remaining male heir to the Whitmore family. As they waited for the ambulance to collect Aaron's aunt. He found it quite easy to layer the extra layers of compulsion on the kid. After all, he had compelled him when he was a mere child the very same day he killed Aaron Whitmore's parents. As he expected, the Whitmore House was a residence now and, at least for him, he needed to be invited inside. A part of him wondered when they had changed into a residence. Regardless of the diversion they created to keep Doctor Creepy Ken Doll away.

"Good to know. Now Aaron, I need you to do me and Doctor Saltzman a small favor and come outside to meet us at your front door."

After hanging up, they both exited Ric's SUV and made their way to the front entrance of the Whitmore House, being mindful to keep out of view of the supposedly hidden camera. He spotted earlier on his reconnoitering of the house on his previous visit. While they waited for their escort, Ric gave him a look and Damon rolled his eyes before responding to the unspoken question.

"No, I didn't compel him to call Professor Blondie. I guess he dislikes the good doctor just as much as I do."

Before Ric could respond, the door opened and out stepped Aaron Whitmore, just as he ordered him to do. Ric greeted Aaron, who simply nodded in acknowledgment.

"How may I help you?" Aaron asked.

"Yes Aaron, I want you to invite me and my friend inside," Damon ordered. For a second, he wondered if Aaron had broken his compulsion, but that was ridiculous. There is no way that could happen. Unless the Augustine Society had access to a witch, but he highly doubted it. Although witches generally disliked vampires, they absolutely detested regular humans in involving themselves in things they really shouldn't.

"Please come inside gentlemen," Aaron said robotically, then held the door open for them to step inside.

"Now Aaron, show me the entrance to the basement lab I ordered you to covertly locate for me."

They followed Aaron to a bookcase and after searching for a seemingly nondescript book which he flipped onto its binding, not surprised, he watched as it retracted into the wall, revealing a locked door. Putting on his gloves just in case, he easily broke the lock and stepped into a much more modernized laboratory, or better ascribed as torture room. Towards the stairs, two offices which at first glance appeared to be a computer server room, then just a regular office. Moving deeper into the hall of horrors, he easily spotted the dreaded operating table. As far as he could tell was the same one he spent countless hours strapped to. Then there were four cells and thankfully, only one of them was occupied.

"Enzo!"

The lone figure of his former cellmate turned with an all too familiar sluggishness. Damon felt his anger climb as he noted the bruising that should have healed instantly if his friend had had enough blood to aid in his healing. He dropped his pack and fished out the bags of blood and tossed them in between the steel bars.

"Damon Salvatore?" Enzo's British accented voice wheezed out. It almost sounded like the friend had swallowed broken glass, but after perusing through some of the experiment folders both he and Ric had liberated from the Gilbert Panic room, he really shouldn't be surprised.

"Enzo, we don't have any time to waste. Please down those as quickly as you can. Then afterwards put these on to protect your hands," Damon ordered. Looking up from the pack, his gaze first swept to Aaron, then his friend Ric. To his relief, he didn't need to wait before he heard his emaciated friend tear into the blood bag with his sharp canine teeth, then greedily gulping down mouthfuls of nourishing blood.

"Aaron, go to the top of the stairs and warn us if you hear Doctor Maxfield returning," He watched as the kid disappeared from the lab space and listened as he climbed his way up the stairs. Then, as he pulled out the angle grinder, he smirked at his friend, watching him with amusement.

"While I'm busy here, why don't you take your crossbow and check out the server room. Destroy any surveillance recording equipment and anything else that catches your fancy."

Hefting the grinder, he studied the door and picked two potential weak spots that if he cut through them enough with the grinder, he could wrench the door open. He started cutting through the first part and was half way through when his friend tried to get his attention.

"Damon, what the hell are you doing here? Who is your friend?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, Enzo? I'm breaking you out of here. Now finish that last blood bag and get ready to break this door off its hinges," Damon barked, then started cutting the last remaining metal bar of the first cut, before moving onto the last weak spot. He was more than three fourths of the way through before Enzo's insistent shoulder tapping began. Feeling rather annoyed, Damon switched off the grinder.

"Damon, how did you get invited into this place?"

Damon smirked, then casually thumbed in the general direction Aaron had been ordered to head towards.

"Easy. I compelled Aaron Whitmore to let us inside. Now let me finish this," Damon explained, then returned the tool to the nearly finished section, but before he could start the grinder again, his friend's next few words stopped him cold.

"Fuck! Damon, it's a trap, Doctor Maxfield broke your compulsion on him!"

"What!?"

Damon heard the gunshot before he felt the first bullet slam into his knee, then the next round went into his shoulder. He heard two more shots, but he didn't feel any further pain.

"Damon!"

"Shit! Fuck! How did I miss?" Aaron Whitmore uttered, shakily pointing his gun at Damon's chest. Even in pain, Damon realized that the four shots fired hadn't exactly gone where the kid had wanted. Damon had enough energy to dig out the wood bullet from his healing knee. He was still on his feet, but taking stock of their situation he didn't like the turn of events. While Aaron Whitmore looked somewhat shaken by the experience, the cold laser focused glare that Doctor Doogie Hoosier was giving him normally wouldn't phase him, if not for the rather impressive pneumatic wood stake gun was aimed directly where his heart lay. He couldn't see Ric. He heard that his drinking buddy was still in the server room and the door was closed. There was a chance they could salvage this jail breakout, but a slim one at best.


Mystic Falls High School Gym
Seniors Halloween Party
October 31, 2010

To her own surprise, Katherine was having the time of her life. As much as she made fun of Elena's blonde vampire friend Caroline Forbes, she apparently did know how to organize parties for someone her young age. However, the Bella Swan costume that Caroline had put together didn't really impress her, the fact that little innocent Elena Gilbert had a black leather body costume that with a few additional accessories gave her a rather passable Selene Death Dealer Underworld Costume.

"Elena, what are you doing here!" Caroline hissed and pulled Katherine into a less populous area of the gym. Her cell phone vibrated, signaling the arrival of a message.

"What? Is Klaus or Stefan here?" Katherine asked, making a show of nervously looking around them. Caroline was a confusing vampire, Katherine didn't like to admit that, but a part of her worried what the young vampire would be after having a full century under her blonde hair locks.

"NO! Well, it's true it would be bad if either of them were here, but I'll not talk about that. I'm referring to your outfit!" Caroline declared.

Katherine couldn't resist the need to peer down at her outfit. Although she found it in Elena's closet, she was quite proud of her annoying Doppelgänger for change. She had to use her own leather jacket, and she preferred her leather shoes over the ones Elena had in her closet. The wig had been a slight annoyance but with a little compulsion and Elena's debit card, she thought after putting it all together, it looked rather alluring.

"What's wrong with it? Don't I look like Selene from the Underworld franchise?" She had to remember to ask in the atypical naïve manner that Elena Gilbert had an unfortunate habit of doing. Part of her was really tempted to compel her doppelgänger to have a better fashion sense and outlook. Her cell phone vibrated with a new message.

"Nothing, it's great. In fact, the accessories you've added are perfect," Katherine actually smiled at the compliment, a part of her silently asked if Caroline would be so appreciative if she realized that the person who killed her was within arms reach of her. Thankfully, the two toe rings were right where they should be, and her vampire scent was currently masked. She disliked removing her Daylight bracelet, but Caroline or anyone cognizant of the Supernatural world would quickly realize her deception.

"But after everything that has gone down here with the vampires in Mystic Falls like Isobel, me, Katherine, Elijah, Klaus, and everything else, I thought you decided that the costume you ordered months ago was far too close to home for you?"

Katherine felt a well of jealousy but forced it back down. Why did everyone fawn over poor little Elena Gilbert? Pulling her shoulders back, she looked Caroline directly in her eyes and was interrupted when Stefan Salvatore joined their little group.

"Stefan, wh… what are you doing here?" Katherine asked, playing up how Elena might react.

"Elena, Caroline, I don't have time to be nice about this. Klaus found where I stashed his family, and I need your help in moving them to a different location. I have a moving truck already waiting," Stefan breathed out in a rush.

This was even better than she expected. They were going to lead her to where Klaus' family was hidden. They looked rather comical with a Bella Swan, Selene, and at least for her the most handsome man she ever bedded- let alone expressed her love towards. On the way, she recalled her phone and looked at the two messages.

KM: I found out that my four coffins are hidden by witches at the Old Witch House. My other assets are not responding. Go collect them. I'm halfway to Mystic Falls.

KM: You better not fail me Katerina or I will make you regret it!

She mentally cursed not checking earlier. Those messages had been sent mere minutes apart from each other, if she responded now it would be several minutes late. Not responding was out of the question, the only alternative was to respond now. She prayed that was enough of an excuse.

KP: On my way, they know you know and are trying to move them. I will slow or stop them anyway I can.

Katherine had to think quickly. She could knock them out, but that would alert them to the fact that she wasn't who she was pretending to be. That scarcely mattered if she could finally be free of Klaus. She kept up a human fast pace as she trailed behind the too much younger vampires as she considered her possible options.

"Stefan, what are you talking about? How did Klaus find out and why is this the first I've heard of it?" Caroline demanded. Stefan didn't slow his pace as he explained how Damon had discovered that Klaus was using Alaric Saltzman's body like he did the last time.

"That tricky Hybrid bastard!" Katherine hissed. Her blurted statement stopped Stefan and Caroline before they started walking again.

"No shit. We might only have time to recover one of them so we might have to leave some of them for, as Elena so eloquently put it, 'that tricky hybrid bastard.' The locked coffin is the one thing that we can't let him get his hands on. Bonnie is trying to open it and, according to her, it will balance the scales against our tricky hybrid bastard! We can't lose that single advantage."

Katherine had spent centuries looking for an advantage against the very man dead set on hunting her till doomsday. She thought Mikael had been the answer, but Klaus had once again been one step ahead of everyone. Not this time.

They arrived at the waiting truck and Stefan moved to open the drivers door when she finally acted. If she played this right, she could get her freedom and means to threaten Klaus if needed.

"Hey Stefan?"

"Yes Elena?"

"Sorry but I'm collecting on my favor," Katherine let her words sink in before she acted. Being older did have its advantages, and she took full advantage of that, as well as the element of surprise. Moving faster than either of the two younger vampires. Katherine took out Caroline, despite her being younger. The fact that she fed on human blood gave her a slight edge she couldn't ignore. As Caroline's body dropped to the cold asphalt, she had Stefan's neck in her vise like grip.

"Elena? No… Impossible unless… Katherine?"

"Hello Stefan, goodbye Stefan!" Katherine smirked, then with a causal flick of her wrist he too dropped to the ground like a puppet having all its strings cut.


Whitmore College
McKinley, Virginia
October 31, 2010

Damon dug out the wood bullet in his shoulder as he waited for the bullet wound in his knee to fully heal before he acted.

"Just curious. How did you break my compulsion on young Whitmore here?" Damon asked in his best conversational voice he could manage, considering their circumstances. Where the hell is Ric? He better not have jumped ship on me?

"Oh, I have a serum the Augustine Society developed recently. Just one of the many innovations we created studying vampire physiology." Doctor Wes Maxfield answered, his aim never wavered from the aim spot in the center of his chest.

"Did you kill my mother and father? What about my aunt Sarah?" Aaron demanded. His gun wavered as he struggled with his roiling emotions. How had he hid his nervousness? Damon couldn't help wondering?

"Yes-" Damon started but froze when the gun in Aaron's hand went off. Luckily, the wood bullet went wide.

"Easy Aaron, we got this. Let me handle this." Wes Maxfield said too calmly for his own good. If Damon didn't already hate the man, his hatred grew even more.

"Do you know why I did it, Aaron? Like my friend here, I was once a guest of this establishment. Shall I tell you the types of torture your family inflicted on me and my friend? How would you like to have your eyeball removed while you're conscious just so the time it took to regrow could be measured?"

"W… What!?" Aaron asked, his voice quivering now.

"I especially liked when they removed my liver and lungs after cracking open my chest on that very same operating table over there," Damon continued.

"I… I think I'm going to be sick," Aaron croaked out.

"Aaron, leave! Go find his other vampire friend you told me about," Wes Maxfield ordered.

"Why don't you want him to know what type of monsters his family are? Why do you think I've been hunting your family since the fifties?"

What happened next was almost too fast for even Damon to keep track of. Not to say that he didn't try. Aaron, who was still reeling from recent events, tried to fire his gun again, but luck was on Damon's side and the weapon jammed. Before he could even think to clear the weapon, Wes acted and pulled his own trigger. Damon fully expected to feel the wood stake penetrate his chest directly into his heart, but that wasn't what had happened. Enzo, fully rejuvenated with fresh blood, had broken the last remaining steel and put himself in the line of fire.

"NO!" someone showed and Damon realized that it had been him. But to his amazement Enzo wasn't collapsing to the ground, a rapidly desiccating corpse. Instead, Enzo quite miraculously was pulling the offending wood stake free of his chest before tossing it to the ground. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, they both stood ready to fight. That was when Ric took up a spot directly behind Wes Maxfield with the pointed end of his crossbow pistol jabbed into the base of his skull.

"Mate, at this range, I can't miss. I strongly suggest you drop your rather ingenious little stake gun." Ric ordered. Wes compiled, and the weapon dropped to the floor. Even with the turn of events, the man still looked defiant, and Damon had to give that to him. Not that it would matter in the long run. He had told Ric his intention for the Whitmore House and the Augustine Society that used it. Thankfully, his friend hadn't put up too much resistance.

Damon grabbed the doctor by his wrist, not bothering to go easy with his strength. The sound of breaking bone and the quick intake of breath was rather satisfying to him. He stopped dragging the doctor and glanced back at Ric, who was now holding Aaron.

"Can you help him gather a few of his things before taking him outside?" Ric seemed like he wanted to say something, but finally relented, taking the heir to the Whitmore Estate. Damon and Enzo turned their full attention on the soon to be late Doctor Wes Maxfield. Damon vamp sped both him and human to the operating table. He had the man fully strapped down to the table.

"Mate, what do you have planned for my latest tormentor?" Enzo asked, peering distastefully at the man. His rapid heartbeat was the only sign that he was truly terrified by his current predicament.

"Oh, a lot of things. I think you should have first crack at him. I have a few things to set up before that. Only two things, don't kill him and for me, leave his eyes alone," Damon smiled at his friend, and the scent of urine fouled the air.

"Oh come now doc, where is your sense of scientific curiosity?" Enzo drawled out and selected a rather nasty knife from the tray next to the table.

Damon half listened to the mans screams as Enzo sought his retribution on one of the people who tortured him for years. He was busy gathering supplies he knew were down here. They had been used on him and Enzo, so he was confident he would find them.

"Damon, what are you planning?"

"Oh, do you recall our many discussions on the use of powdered magnesium and other Alkaline earth metals?" Damon asked, finding the large sealed container. He located three large metal trays and set them to the side.

"Vaguely; refresh my memory," Enzo asked and Damon knew he was lying but quickly figured out his reunited friend's intentions and he whole heartily agreed. He started to fill two of the trays with Magnesium powder, then he partially filled the last utility tray with tap hot water. Once he was done, he placed all three trays into a medical autoclave and sealed the front door shut. The door was sturdy but not overtly so which was a good thing, it didn't give him and Enzo too much time so a little improvisation might be in order, Damon decided.

"Well, magnesium happens to be the less vigorous, thermal reactive metal in the presence of cold or even hot water. But when water is either steam or even water vapor it burns rather vigorously, producing heat as well as white magnesium oxide and hydrogen gas," Damon recited as he took up a spot next to his friend. He smiled at the slashed up face. Enzo had done as he requested and left the hapless man's eyes intact.

"Do you also know that medical autoclave sterilizes medical tools with extremely hot steam?"

"Quite amazing. I never knew that," Enzo deadpanned and allowed Damon to take his spot. "What do you want me to do now, mate?"

"Could you open all the gas lines in this little shop of horrors and then go outside and wait for me with my friend, Ric? Don't worry, it's night time so it's safe without your daylight ring."

Damon let his friend finish his task before he turned his full attention to the mewling man strapped to the table.

"What's up, Doc?" Damon asked rather cheerfully as he picked up a scalpel.

"Y… You're a soulless mon… monster!" Wes Maxfield croaked out.

"Maybe, but at least I don't pretend to be an outstanding member of society," Damon answered, then made quick work of removing the man's right eye. They had done this same procedure to him again and again so many times he actually lost count of how many times he passed out from the pain. Surprisingly, the doctor hardly made more than a gurgling sound of agony. If he wasn't so pressed for time, he'd be impressed.

"B… Bastard!" Wes cried.

Damon dropped the bloody scalpel to the floor and dangled the detached eyeball in front of the man's still good eye before letting it drop to the floor as well. He moved back to collect the angle grinder and the roll of duct tape. The rather disturbing aspect of the table allowed a test subject to be articulated about. Damon moved the right arm and was now fully extending it so it was perpendicular to the strapped doctor's body.

Then he turned the autoclave on and set it to the highest possible temperature setting. He smiled wickedly as he used the tape to keep the grinder on before placing it in the trembling hand of Wes Maxfield.

"The natural gas is going to continue to build up to proper stoichiometry air-to-fuel ratios and then one of two things will happen. Either the autoclave is going to erupt in a fiery explosion, thus igniting the gas, or your hand is going to get tired. Hold the grinder and you're going to drop it. All it is going to take is a single spark to set things off."

"Wh… why are you doing this?"

"Revenge mostly, and because I broke a promise and I'm trying to make amends. Oh, there is one final thing."

"What?" Wes Maxfield coughed.

Damon smiled before biting into his wrist and forcing the man to swallow his blood. Once he was satisfied he vamp sped to the still open door and quickly closed the door at the top of the stairs, even going as far as moving the concealed door so the bookcase was restored before leaving the building. He gave it about twenty to thirty minutes before the former Augustine Lab exploded in a ball of fire. Damon highly doubted there would be enough of the doctor to transition. He found Enzo, Ric and a rather terrified Aaron Whitmore.

Ric nodded and motioned for Enzo to climb into the SUV, but he waited by the drivers door.

"What are you going to do to me? Are you going to kill me now and finally end my family? Your friend Enzo just told me what you swore to do if you ever got out of that place?" Aaron's voice quavered.

"No Aaron, I'm letting you go and I promise that I will no longer go after your family like I have been doing for nearly sixty years now. Just as so long as you decide to leave vampires alone and not follow in your ancestors footsteps. Do you want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I recently met a human girl that has time and time again stood up to the things that go bump in the night and lately I've wanted to be a better person. Because of the compassion she carries within her."

"She sounds like a remarkable woman."

"That-" the Whitmore building exploded. Fire erupted from the portion of the building that housed the concealed entrance to the former basement laboratory. He had already planned for this too and had compelled the college fire detachment and campus security to ignore events for the next hour or so long enough for the Whitmore building to be engulfed in flame. If Ric had done his job, the fire sprinkler system was now fully disabled as well.

"Aaron, there is one more thing before I go."

"Okay?" Aaron asked, not sure how to respond to the vampire that had systematically been killing his family for decades. Damon reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded envelope, then handed it to the kid.

"I'm truly sorry about your aunt Sarah. I tried to heal her with my blood but she died from a previously undiagnosed heart complication."

"I… I don't understand. Why are you telling me this?" he still hadn't opened the envelope yet, which only made what he said next harder. He'd hoped he could bypass this part, but he had no other choice.

"Aaron, when a person dies with vampire blood in their system, they are in what we call 'transition'. If that person consumes human blood in a set amount of time, they become a vampire. Your aunt Sarah Whitmore decided to complete the process and is now a vampire. That piece of paper is a letter from her explaining everything. It has her new contact information. She is going to need some time readjusting to being a different species now, but she has people helping her through it. She wants you to call her on the number as soon as you can."

"I… I don't know what to say." Aaron coughed, looking at the still sealed envelope.

"Goodbye sounds good to me. I keep my promises and Aaron Whitmore, I strongly suggest that you do likewise."

Having nothing else to say and not wanting to get caught at the scene of a fire, he took the driver's seat over Ric's objection and they started for home. Things were going perfect and that alone should have been an indication that something wasn't right. He had this odd nagging feeling that the proverbial shit was going to hit the fan, but he'd attributed it to the failure of recovery of his friend. So what was the problem? Making small talk and still flush with his apparent victory, he asked Enzo if he wanted to help him with hiding some coffins from a very old vampire. He even told Ric, who seemed shocked by his revelation about the location they stashed them for weeks now. Needing to think, he stopped at a gas station halfway back to Mystic Falls. Ric jumped out too, saying that he needed to use the men's restroom in the back.

While they waited, an awkward silence hung in the SUV's interior. It was Enzo that finally broke the silence.

"Thanks for rescuing me. I guess better late than never," Enzo said stoically.

"Enzo-" he started, but his friend cut him off. "I'll kick your ass later, but I think your mate has some issues you might want to know about."

"Oh? What sort of issues? He's a somewhat reformed vampire hunter if you're curious." Damon smirked.

"That might be part of it, but I think your friend might have a few screws loose." Enzo chuckled in response.

"I think I need more than just presumptions, Enzo." Damon explained.

"Well… This sounds totally preposterous, but I think your friend tried to compel me while we were waiting for you to finish up with the doctor. Damon, are you alright?"

Damon couldn't speak. His mind was finally piecing the scattered bits of evidence his subconsciousness had been trying to warn him about. How hadn't he clued into everything Ric had even called the now late Wes Maxfield mate and had even ordered Aaron to go find Damon's other vampire friend. It made perfect since. That tricky son of a bitch!

Damon noticed that Ric was returning to the SUV. He had to act quickly. He climbed in the seat behind the drivers seat.

"What the hell Damon! Have-"

"Enzo, trust me. I will tell you everything, but I need to take care of a few things first. Promise me you won't overreact when I do something."

"Like how you left me to die?"

"Enzo!"

"Alright fine I promise."

Damon could tell he wanted to say more but Ric looked curious into the window before shrugging and taking the drivers seat.

"About time you let me drive my own vehicle, what's the occasion?"

"I'm tired. I've done a lot of work today and need a break, but I need you to pull over there. I need to grab someone for a quick bite." Damon motioned towards the remote section of the gas station. A perfect place to spot a lone human moving in and out of the restrooms. As he had hoped, Ric pulled into the parking spot he'd indicated. Damon made to exit but stopped and looked at his friend through the rear-view mirror.

"Hey Ric, one more thing." Damon said evenly. He was a coiled mamba waiting to strike.

"What now Damon?" Ric no Klaus appeared calm but Damon could almost taste the urgency that hung in the air around him.

"Well played, but the ball is in my court now!" Then Damon struck and snapped Alaric Saltzman's neck. He'd checked as Klaus had driven them to the new more remote parking slot. He pulled Ric's body into the backseat and after digging for the handcuffs they hadn't needed, he secured his friends hands. He knew from personal experience in the back was a lot of Ric's hidden vampire gear and some of it was vervain laced rope. It was a good thing he kept his gloves, he mused darkly.

"DAMON! What the hell?"

"Just a minute. I need to warn my brother first!"

Damon grimaced as he kept a eye on his best friend while he pulled out his phone and called his brother. He hoped that at least for now he was close to home.

"Damon, what a surprise? Now, where the hell are you? Klaus is apparently out of town-"

"Stefan! Shut up! We have a real problem. Are you in Mystic Falls now?"

"Uh yes, I'm heading to the school's Halloween party to find Caroline and Elena?"

"Elena?" Damon paused, momentarily stunned by the news, but urgently pushed it aside for now. "Whatever. We'll talk about her later. I need for you to move Klaus's coffins from their hiding spot as fast as you can. Klaus is up to his old tricks again. He took over Ric's body again, he knows where his family is and I have no doubt he just told someone."

"Fuck!"