Previously on The Bad Twin:
I wish I didn't have to return home. But I had no choice. I had to save her and I had to find out more about her.
"What's your name?" I asked him.
"Damon." He introduced. "And yours?"
"Chloe."
"I'm Elena."
"I'm Stefan." He introduced.
"You didn't tell me that you had a brother." She told him after going over everything they had spoken to each other about.
"It's complicated."
"Chloe. She's a dead ringer for Anna" Damon told Stefan.
Stefan pulled out a very old journal and opened it to reveal two old photos of Elena and Chloe. They were dressed in clothes that were popular back then with their hair curled. Elena's hair was half up with curls cascading down her back. Chloe had all her hair down, framing her face. At the bottom of the photos were two names and a date. Katherine. Anna. 1864.
"She's not Anna and Elena isn't Katherine." Stefan told him.
"Earlier, did you mean Katherine?" I asked Damon, thinking on the exact words he used.
"Mm-hmm." He answered.
"Who else?" I asked him.
"Her sister, Anna. They were twins."
"Anna is dead. And you hate me because you loved her." Stefan told his brother.
"I was hoping I'd see you again." Caroline told Damon.
"She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to." Stefan told him.
"They're whatever I want them to be." Damon told him.
I opened the box and found a locket. The locket had a white tulip on it and was a faded gold color, as though it was very old.
"Wear it for me, for... good luck." Stefan said to Elena, pulling out one of the necklace's he'd been holding on to.
"You want to kiss me." Damon told me. He leaned down close to my face and I smirked at him.
"I am no one's second choice." I backed away from him and walked away.
"Vervain in the necklace?" Damon asked him. "It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion."
"I gave all the vervain I had to Elena. I didn't have enough for Chloe." Stefan told him.
I smelt it but didn't recognize the scent so I took out the herb and put it in a small clear bottle on my vanity before putting on the necklace.
There's nothing human left in Damon. No good, no kindness. No love. Only a monster who must be stopped.
He noticed hair was covering some of her face and gently moved it out of the way before caressing her face.
Chloe woke up and heard a noise from downstairs. I crawled out of bed and made my way to the hallway. Elena came out of her room and joined me
"Hello? Jeremy? Jenna?" I called out to them. I saw a shadow downstairs and moved towards it. When I got to the kitchen I tried to turn the kitchen light on, but the power was out. Suddenly the TV turned on.
"This is Logan Fell coming to you live from the streets of Mystic Falls with breaking news of another deadly animal attack. The wild animal terrorizing the citizens of Mystic Falls has claimed two victims, local high school students Chloe and Elena Gilbert. Police are certain that forensic evidence will confirm that this is the same animal responsible for recent attacks." We heard him say.
"You know what's coming next." We turned and saw Damon looking at us. Elena turned and ran, grabbing my arm and pulling me with her. She opened the front door and saw him. Screaming she slammed it shut and ran upstairs while I stayed and looked around for him. I heard Elena scream and ran upstairs to her dead on her bed. I backed away and bumped into something hard. I turned and saw Damon who smirked at me. He bit into my neck draining me dry as I screamed.
Stefan shot up in bed and looked around to see Damon sitting at the desk in his room.
"Bad dream? Do you know how easy it was to get into your head just now? You really need some human blood. It might even the playing field. Football reference. Too soon." Damon said. Stefan ran to a knife and threw it at Damon, hitting him in the stomach. Damon looked down at it and pulled it out. "All right, I deserved that. But I just wanted to let you know, they caught the culprit. The animal responsible for killing coach Tanner and all those people."
"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked him.
"It was a mountain lion. Really big one. It attacked a hunter this morning. It's all over the news. "Deadly beast captured. All's well in Mystic Falls."" Damon told him.
"Why would you cover your tracks?" Stefan asked him, getting worried.
"I've decided to stay a while. And I'm just having way too much fun here with you, Chloe and Elena." Damon said.
"Can't touch them now." Stefan said, thinking of the necklaces the girls now had.
"Well, I don't want Elena and the vervain keeps me out of Chloe's head. Maybe that's not my target." Damon said smirking at his baby brother. "Believe it or not, Stefan, some girls don't need my persuasion. Some girls just can't resist my good looks, my style and my charm and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift. I was close to kissing Chloe at that little dinner party she and Elena held when Elena butted in." Damon then stabbed Stefan in the stomach. It clearly hurt Stefan more than it did Damon, because Stefan fell to the floor. "This is John Varvatos, dude. Dick move." Damon said after inspecting his shirt and leaving the room. Stefan removed the knife before lifting his shirt and watching his injury heal.
"I can confirm that a 12-Foot puma mountain lion attacked a hunter and was subsequently shot and killed. The hunter is in stable condition." Stefan saw Sherriff Forbes saw on a news station.
The real animal is still out there, waiting for me, challenging me to fight back, to stop him. But how do I stop a monster without becoming one myself?
"To repeat, the animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught." I came down the stairs with Elena at my back to see Jenna staring at the TV.
"Scum ball. Scum bucket." Jenna listed and I gave her a curious look.
"Who are you talking to?" Elena asked her.
"Him." she told us motioning to the TV.
"The news guy?" Elena asked her.
"Also known as Logan "Scum" Fell." She told us.
"I like that one. It's a keeper." I told her smiling.
"Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked us.
"Oh, no way. You and him?" Elena laughed. "He's cute." She said before sitting down at the table.
"He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him." Jenna corrected, turning off the TV. "What are you two doing with that?" she asked us as we went through a box.
"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display." Elena told her. Jenna reached into the box and pulled out a ring.
"Is that grandma Beth's wedding ring?" Jenna asked her.
"Originally it was great-great-grandma Mary's wedding ring." Elena told her, taking the ring from her as Jeremy walked into the kitchen.
"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?" he asked us.
"You're not gonna find out." I told him, taking the watch he'd picked up from him before cleaning it.
"That stuff is mom and dad's. You can't just give it away." Jeremy told us.
"We're not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy. She'll give all this stuff back." I tried assuring him as the doorbell rang. Elena went to answer it and when she opened the door I saw Stefan and rolled my eyes. It seemed as if those two were joined at the hip.
"Hi." Stefan greeted her. Elena drug him into the house, looking behind her to make sure no one was watching, before kissing him passionately.
"Hi." She greeted him. She pulled him to her room and they started making out. He removed his shoes and they dropped on to her bed. HE rolled her over so he was on top of her when he looked up into her mirror and saw his face had started to transform. He quickly sat up and put his back to her. She stared up at her ceiling and sighed lightly. "Are you okay?" she asked him.
"I'm good. Sorry." He told her.
"Maybe we should press pause." She suggested sitting up slightly.
"Yeah, you're probably right." He said. Once he'd gained control of his features he turned to her with a smile. "That was getting a bit..."
"Yeah." She agreed.
"Yeah." He said getting up and sitting on her window seat and put his shoes back on.
"How do you look in a suit?" she asked him and he smiled at her question.
"I can pull one off." He told her.
"How about tomorrow night? Will you be my date to the Founder's party?" she asked him.
"They still do that?" he asked her, thinking of the last one he'd gone to.
"Have you been before?" she asked him confused.
"No, the Salvatores don't get invited anymore." He told her.
"Well, this year, there's this heritage project that meant a lot to my mom. She was really involved in the founder's council, and it was her favorite party. I know it sounds really boring, but—" Elena explained to him.
"I would be honored to accompany you, Miss Gilbert." He told her with a smile.
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Salvatore." She said returning his smile. Neither were aware of the brunette standing outside Elena's door. The brunette walked away back downstairs to continue their work.
At the Forbes house in Caroline's bedroom, Caroline was trying on a yellow dress while Damon laid on her bed reading a book.
"No yellow. Jaundice. Go for the blue." Damon told her.
"I don't like the blue." She told him.
"Well, I do. And if I'm gonna be your date—" he started saying but she stopped him.
"You cannot be my date. My mother is going to be there, and she is a very proud gun owner." She told him.
"I went through a lot of trouble to make sure this party wasn't cancelled. It's very important I be there. Please take me." He compeled her and she stared at him for a moment before smiling at him.
"You should come to the founder's party with me." She told him.
"Not if you're wearing that dress." He told her before going back to the book he was reading. She stripped off the yellow dress and moved to her closet to pull out her blue dress. "What's so special about this Bella girl? Edward's so whipped."
"You gotta read the first book first. It won't make sense if you don't." she told him smiling.
"Ah, I miss Anne Rice. She was so on it." Damon said to himself.
"How come you don't sparkle?" she asked him as she pulled the light blue strapless dress up her body.
"Because I live in the real world, where vampires burn in the sun." he told her annoyed.
"Yeah, but you go in the sun." she said.
"I have a ring. It protects me. Long story." He told her, showing her his ring with the Salvatore family crest on it.
"Will these bites turn me into a vampire?" Caroline asked him, tracing one of the bites on her shoulder.
"It's more complicated than that. You'd have to feed on my blood, then die, then feed on a human's, it's a whole ordeal. This book, by the way has it all wrong." Damon told her. He closed the book and tossed it away and grabbed her around her waist and pulled her to the bed kissing her neck.
"You can be very sweet when you want to be." She told him laughing.
"Yes, I can be sweet." He told her. The smile faded from her face as she stared up at him.
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked him.
"Mm-Hmm." He confirmed with a smile. "But not yet."
"Why not?" she asked him.
"Because there's something I need you to do for me." He told her.
"Anything." She said with a smile on her face.
"How good are you at getting this little nose where it doesn't belong?" he asked her, poking her nose.
"Oh, I'm excellent." She told him with a smile.
"Mmm." He said. His plan was going to go perfectly with this little doll.
The Lockwood's were sitting at the Grill together having a family dinner.
"So what happens with the season? One big forfeit? Are they looking for a new coach?" Mayor Charles Lockwood asked his son, Tyler.
"I don't know, dad. I doubt anybody's thinking about that right now." Tyler told him.
"Charles, founder's party, focus." Carol Lockwood told her husband.
"How are y'all doing over here?" Vicki asked them coming to wait on their table.
"Ah, we're doing great, sweetheart." Mayor Lockwood told her. She looked at Tyler, wanting him to introduce her to his parents or at least acknowledge her. She grabbed Tyler's drink and refilled it.
"Is there anything else I can get you?" she asked him rudely.
"We're fine, thanks." Tyler told her, trying to get her to leave them alone.
"Just the check, honey." Mayor Lockwood told her with a smile.
"Here you go, Mayor Lockwood." She told him, smiling as she handed him the check.
"Thanks." He said before she walked away. In another part of the Grill, Caroline and Bonnie walked in and sat at a table.
"You're taking Damon to the founder's party? What about me?" Bonnie asked her. They were going to go together and Elena was going to go with Stefan.
"Go with Elena or Chloe." Caroline told her.
"Elena's asking Stefan and Chloe is going solo this year." Bonnie explained to her.
"Okay, go by yourself." Caroline told her.
"Gee, thanks." Bonnie said sarcastically. "What about your mom? Is she okay with you bringing Damon?"
"And I'm supposed to care why?" Caroline asked her. Caroline had always done things that her mother would never approve of since her dad had left them.
"He's older sexy danger guy." Bonnie reminded her.
"Older sexy danger guy? Is that an official witch twitter tweet?" Caroline asked her mockingly.
"No more witch jokes, okay? That whole Mr. Tanner prediction thing has me freaked." Bonnie told her. She was scared and only told her three friends about it.
"Okay. And Damon's not dangerous. You know, he just has a lot of issues with his brother. You know, like major, deep-Rooted drama." Caroline told her.
"Like...?" Bonnie asked her, knowing Caroline would tell her.
"I'm not really supposed to say anything." Caroline told her and Bonnie gave her a disbelieving look.
"Caroline Forbes, when have you ever kept a secret in your life?" Bonnie asked her.
"Okay. But you can't tell Elena." Caroline told her.
"No." Bonnie agreed.
"So what you gonna buy me?" Tyler asked once his parents had gone to Vicki, turning on his charm.
"Ugh, some class. Oh, your parents are gone. I guess we can be close now." She said angrily going behind the bar.
"What the hell does that mean?" Tyler asked her confused.
"You treat me like trash. I'm sick of it." She told him.
"I don't think you're trash." He told her. He wasn't lying to her, but he also didn't care about her like he had her.
"Really? Then who are you taking to the founder's party?" She asked him and he smirked at her, getting an idea.
"Vicki Donovan. Do you want me to ask you to the founder's party?" he asked her and she smiled at him.
"No. It'll be stupid and lame." She said.
"True. But it'll be less stupid and lame if you were there." He told her. She nodded to him and he left. His plan was going to try and use her to get Chloe jealous and get her back where she belonged, with him.
"You realize you had to ask him to ask you, right? You figure if you dress up like a respectable young lady, he'll finally treat you like one?" Jeremy asked Vicki and she glared at him.
"Screw you, Jeremy." She told him.
"You know you're making the wrong choice, yet you make it anyway. It's sad." He said to her. She grew angry at his words, knowing they were true. She stormed away from him and finished her shift before she was to go home and get ready for the party.
Zach walked into the foyer of the Boarding house and paused in fear at seeing Damon reading something.
"I didn't know you were here." He said to his older vampire uncle.
"Just going through Stefan's homework. Boy, this country sure has dumbed down in the last hundred years. Why he wants to go to high school is beyond me. I mean, in the seventies, he went Ivy League. Harvard, I understood. Actually, no. I didn't get that either. Go ahead, purge. Get it out. What's on your mind?" Damon asked him.
"Why are you here, Damon?" Zach asked him.
"To spend time with you, Zach. Family's important." Damon said sarcastically.
"I know you. You always have a motive. So tell me, what is it this time?" Zach demanded. Damon got up and moved to Zach using his vampire speed and grabbed him by the throat.
"You are in no position to question me." Damon reminded him.
"I didn't mean to upset you." Zach said strained.
"This is not upset, Zach." Damon told him, squeezing his hand around Zach's throat.
"What's going on?" Stefan asked from behind his brother. Damon smirked and dropped Zach turning to Stefan.
"Having a family moment, Stefan. Spending some quality time." Damon told him before leaving the room.
"Hey, are you okay?" Stefan asked him, going to him.
"No, I'm not. And neither are you. How many more people have to die before you see that?" Zach asked him sitting on the small step into the room.
"I see it. All right, Zach, I see it." Stefan told him.
"Then why aren't you doing anything about it?" Zach asked him angrily.
"I can't, Zach. I can't. It would take human blood. It's the only way that I could stop him, and I can't do that." Stefan reminded him.
"Vervain could weaken him if he ingested it. It would help get you the upper hand." Zach said, remembering his lessons from his father.
"Vervain hasn't grown here since 1865. Damon saw to that. The little I had, I gave to Elena." Stefan told him. Zach made a face. "What?" Zack didn't say anything as both he and Stefan walked down to the cellar. Zach opened the door and showed Stefan the stash of vervain he had.
"You've been growing it." Stefan stated.
"It's just something that's been passed down through the generations. Blood only runs so deep when you're related to vampires. Damon would kill me if he knew that I had it." Zach reminded him.
"But you're telling me. Why?" Stefan asked turning to him.
"Because I trust you. And you're gonna need it if you want to get rid of him." Zack said honestly.
After Stefan left Elena joined us in the kitchen not long before the doorbell rang again. Jeremy went to go and see who it was.
"We certainly are popular today, aren't we?" I asked getting up and going to see who was at the door. I watched Jeremy try and close the door but Tyler held it open.
"I'm here for my mom. I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff." Tyler said. I grabbed the box from Elena and walked to the door.
"Right here. Please be careful." I told him with a smile.
"Yeah, be careful with it, dick." Jeremy told him rudely.
"Hey! Not today, okay, guys? Please?" I asked them, giving them both looks.
"I'm fine. He's just being a punk." Tyler told me.
"I got your punk." Jeremy told him.
"Look, Tyler, maybe you should go. Tell your mom that I'll see her tonight." I told him, trying to get him to leave.
"Yeah, okay." He said to me. I nodded to them and walked away before Elena grabbed me and pulled me to her room where Bonnie was with her getting ready for the party. Jeremy started to walk away shortly after.
"Hey. Would it make a difference if I told you I actually like Vicki?" Tyler asked him.
"Not even if you meant it." Jeremy told him, closing the door behind him.
"Delicate flower vs. Naughty vixen." Bonnie asked as we walked into her room.
"Tough call. Can we mix them?" Elena asked her.
"I say Naughty vixen." I told her and she laughed.
"Look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy-Ish." Bonnie said smiling at Elena.
"I am... ish. Tonight's going to be a good night." Elena said sitting down next to Bonnie. "But don't let that stop you from telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me as soon as you walked in the door."
"What if I tell you in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night." Bonnie told her.
"Bonnie, out with it." Elena and I ordered her.
"Okay, but it has to go in the vault, because Caroline will kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed. Apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story." Bonnie said catching our interest.
"Uh-Huh." Elena urged her to continue.
"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?" Bonnie asked her and she shook her head.
"I know that both dated her and her sister and they both have issues with each other." I told her.
"Yeah, they both the sisters, and while Anna chose Damon, Katherine chose one of Stefan's friends. And that drove him mad, so he did horrible things to try and break not only them up but also Anna and Damon.. He manipulated Anna and Katherine. He filled their heads with all these lies until finally it worked, and they turned against Damon and Stefan's friend." Bonnie told us and I thought about the two brothers, the personalities I'd noticed between them.
"That sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's." Elena said, not wanting to believe her.
"Stefan's not the manipulative type." I told her. "At least not like that."
"I just wanted you to know." Bonnie told her.
"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business." Elena told her and I gave her a look.
"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar. That is your business." Bonnie said.
"Stefan is none of those things." Elena insisted.
"Yeah? How do you know?" Bonnie asked her, but she came up with no reply.
"Do they still wear ties at this thing?" Damon asked his brother, walking into his room.
"Why are you even going?" Stefan asked him.
"It's only fitting. We were at the very first one, remember?" Damon asked him.
"I think it's better if we don't draw attention to ourselves." Stefan reminded him.
"So you should stay here. I'll see to it Chloe and Elena have a good time." Damon told him with a smirk before watching him in the mirror. He watched his brother take a glass filled with scotch and drink it. "My goodness, I've driven you to drink."
"Can't seem to rid myself of you. What else am I supposed to do, besides go about living my life?" Stefan asked him.
"Go about living my life." Damon repeated. "See, therein lies your eternal struggle. You're dead, dude. Get over it. What do you think?" Damon asked showing his brother his suit.
Elena, Bonnie and I were in going between our rooms getting ready for the party when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw Carol Lockwood's name.
"Hello?" I answered the phone, drawing Elena and Bonnie's attention.
"Hi, Chloe. It's Carol." She told me even though I knew.
"Hi, Carol." I said.
"There's a small problem with one of the pieces in your families collection. According to the list your mother provided an old pocket watch was supposed to be included but it's missing." She told me.
"What do you mean? It is?" I asked her. "Are you sure? 'Cause I saw it." I told her before I remembered something.
"Let me check here at the house."
"Are you sure?" she asked me. "I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything."
"Mm-Hmm. I will find it and bring it." I told her.
"Thank you so much sweetie." She said and I could hear the smile on her face.
"Ok. Bye." I hung up the phone and got up before angrily walking to Jeremy's room.
"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked me. I walked inside Jer's room and slapped the back of his head with Elena behind me.
"Ahh! God, what now?" Jeremy asked us.
"The pocket watch. Where is it?" I asked him.
"What watch?" He asked looking back at his computer.
"The one you stole from mom's box. Look, Carol Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it." I explained to him.
"Maybe she did. Maybe Tyler took it." Jeremy suggested sarcastically.
"Don't even play that card with me, Jeremy Gilbert. I know you took it from the table when we were distracted." I told him.
"If we go online, are we going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?" Elena asked rudely.
"Screw you." Jeremy told her. He got up from his computer and got something before slamming the pocket watch in my hand. "I would never sell this, ok?"
"Then why did you take it?" Elena asked him.
"Because it's supposed to be mine. Dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?" Jeremy asked us and I sighed in understanding.
"And he was going to give it to you." We said together.
"Yeah." He said sitting back down at his computer.
"Look, Jeremy, it's still yours, okay? Mom promised Mrs Lockwood. What do you want us to do?" Elena asked him.
"Just take it and get out." Jeremy told us. Elena and I shared a look before leaving his room to get ready.
"It's cool not growing old. I like being the eternal stud." Damon said fixing his shirt.
"Yes, being a 150-Year-Old teenager has been the height of my happiness." Stefan told him.
"You cracked a funny, Stefan. I should have a drink to celebrate." Damon said moving to the drink in Stefan's room before looking at the two pictures of Anna and Katherine. "1864. You and Katherine were the perfect couple next to George and Anna. It was hell watching him dance with her."
"Both my own and George's happiness were short-lived, as you well know." Stefan told him. "If I remember correctly you and Anna got together soon after.
"I remember." Damon said with a smirk. "I left the party early, I was waiting for Anna. The night he dropped her off, I was waiting just inside. He was such a gentleman, gave her a kiss on the cheek. And what she really wanted was... Oh, well. Here's to history repeating itself, huh?" Damon smelt the drink and discovered something off. He was about to take a drink when he dumped it on the floor. "I admire your effort, Stefan. Pouring yourself a drink then spiking the bottle with vervain. I'm not some drunk sorority chick. You can't roofie me. But I can't help but feel a little used. I thought we were having a moment. I have to go to the party angry. Who knows what I'll do?" Damon said before walking out of his brother's room.
At the Founder's Party at the Lockwood Mansion the Lockwood family was greeting everyone dressed in their best. Tyler looked at the long line and saw Vicki in a yellow dress smiling brightly. He quickly left the side of his parents and walked to her, unaware of his mother's eyes on him.
"Uh, let's go this way." Tyler told Vicki, dragging her out of line.
"Why?" she asked him following him before glancing at his parents.
"Line's too long. We can go around back. Come on, party's in the back." He said dragging her away with her mother watching.
Stefan was walking towards the door to go and pick up Elena for the party when Zach stopped him.
"That was his favorite scotch. I'm sorry, I thought it would work." Zach told Stefan.
"I wasn't counting on it." Stefan told him.
"You knew it would fail?" Zach asked him shocked.
"Did what I wanted. It lowered his guard. He won't expect me to try again so soon." Stefan explained to him.
"I doubled what I put in the scotch." Zach said handing him a vial of liquid vervain.
I stood in front of my mirror staring at my reflection. My aqua blue strapless dress hugged my body and my blue strappy heels. My hair fell over my shoulders in loose curls and I sighed. We shouldn't have taken the pocket watch away from Jeremy. I turned to my doorway and saw Elena in her dress and holding the packet watch in her hand. We walked to Jeremy's room and she placed the pocket watch on his desk before both walking away.
At the Lockwood Mansion, Caroline and Damon were at the door when Carol turned to them.
"Caroline! You look smashing." Carol told her with a smile.
"Thank you, Mrs Lockwood. This is my boyfriend Damon." Caroline said looking back at Damon.
"Oh, well, come on in." Carol said to him with a smile.
"Lovely to meet you. I've been looking forward to this party for quite a while." Damon told her, turning on his charm.
"Well, enjoy." She said before walking away.
"Let's get a drink." Damon told Caroline. As they were about to walk away from the door, Caroline turned and saw her mother staring at her and Damon.
"Wait here." Caroline told him. She went and stood next to her mother. "Really, you couldn't even change out of the badge for this?"
"I'm working, honey. Who's the date you just tried to sneak past me?" Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes, Liz to those who she was close to, asked her daughter.
"Just some guy." Caroline told her.
"He's a little old for you, don't you think?" Liz asked her.
"Oh, 'cause otherwise you'd approve. Yeah, I doubt that." Caroline said. At the door, Elena and Stefan arrived arm in arm and Mayor Lockwood turned and smiled at them.
"Hi, Mayor Lockwood." Elena said with a smile.
"Hey. Hey, guys, come on in." he told them and they walked in.
"Thank you." Stefan said and they walked to another part of the house.
"Where's your dad?" Liz asked Caroline.
"Memphis." Caroline said as she started to walk away.
"Good." Liz said.
"With Steven." Caroline tossed back at her, knowing how her mother felt about her gay ex-husband's boyfriend. I walked into the mansion and someone called me over to them. I turned and saw a classmate/ex-boyfriend. He gave me and hug and a kiss on the cheek and I smiled at him. We were both unaware of Damon watching us looking slightly jealous as I smiled at him before walking away.
Elena and I were in the foyer looking down at the wedding rings our parents had worn until the day they died. Stefan came up behind us and looked down at them before looking at us.
"Your parents?" he asked us.
"Yes." I answered.
"There's a lot of history here." Was all Elena told him before they moved onto another section of the room. I put my hand on the bracelet my mom and given me for my 17th birthday. She and I would spend a portion of the night polishing it in water mixed with some herbs before putting it back on. She told me that one day it might be my greatest defense, but I never understood what she meant.
As Jenna walked by one of the butlers she grabbed a glass of wine and continued walking, bored.
"Jenna." She sighed and turned to see her Ex, Logan Fell from another of the Founding Families.
"Hello Logan." She greeted, with anger lining her voice.
"It's good to see you." He said with a smile.
"I thought I might see you here." She told him.
"You knew it." He corrected.
"I dreaded." She countered.
"But were secretly hoping." He said.
"And now that I have..." she said turning away from him.
"Whoa, hey, not so fast. I know you. You have a lot more insults in you, I can tell." He said to her. She took a breath and looked him over.
"Your hairline's receding." She lied.
"No, it's not. You want to have lunch?" he asked her.
"Nope." She declined.
"You haven't changed a bit." He told her with a smile.
"Oh, yes, I have. I'm meaner now." She told him before walking away. He watched her go with a smile on his face.
Elena and Stefan were looking at the artifacts in one of the rooms.
""The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration."" Stefan looked at her in slight alarm as I walked up to them and looked over her shoulder. "Wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names—Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood."
"It looks like much hasn't changed since then except names and technology." I said with a smile before something caught my eye. "Is that Damon Salvatore?"
"And, Stefan Salvatore?" Elena asked and we turned to Stefan for an answer.
"The original Salvatore brothers." We turned to see Damon and Caroline walking up to us. "Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually."
"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past." Stefan told him, trying to make him stop talking.
"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family." Elena told him with a smile and I rolled my eyes.
"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance. And Damon won't dance with me." Caroline told us.
"Mm-Mmm." Damon agreed shaking his head.
"Could I just borrow your date?" Caroline asked Elena.
"Oh, uh..." Elena was stumped on what to say. She wasn't expecting Caroline to try and take Stefan from her when she had Damon.
"I don't really dance." Stefan told Caroline.
"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all." Damon said with a smirk
"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Caroline asked her.
"It's up to Stefan." Elena said, drawing the attention away from her.
"Well sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer." She said taking his hand and dragging him out to the dance floor. Elena walked away and watched her boyfriend and friend dance leaving me alone with Damon.
"I want to apologize to you for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you. There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm... Acting out, trying to ruin all my relationships, especially the one with my brother." Damon told me.
"Why?" I asked him.
"It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers." He told me pointing back at the original registry.
On the dance floor Stefan and Caroline were dancing together slowly.
"Damon told you to ask me to dance. Didn't he?" Stefan asked her.
"Now why would he do that?" she asked him.
"Would you like one?" Stefan asked grabbing two glasses of champagne for himself and Caroline. "Thank you."
"Okay, just tell me if you see my mom." She said taking a drink. She looked around for her mom not noticing he didn't take a drink from his glass.
"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town." Damon told me as we walked around the room. "Until the war. There was a battle here—"
"The battle of willow creek." I said.
"Right." He confirmed with a smile.
"I know, we talked about it in class. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside." I remembered.
"What the history books left out was the people that were killed. They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had people they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood." Damon told me.
"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" I asked him.
"Women, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" he asked me and I nodded.
"Why are you telling me this story?" I asked him.
"I felt like I had to explain myself to you." He told me.
"Well, thank you for the explanation." I said trying to move away from him, but he stopped me.
"It's my way of apologizing to you." He told me and I gave a small look.
"Without actually apologizing or giving a reason as to why you tried to kiss me?" I asked him. "It helps if you don't put a secret meaning behind your words."
"I'm sorry." He told me and I waited for him to continue. "You were right, you're no one's second choice." He kissed my cheek before smiling down at me. I smiled up at him lightly.
"That's better." I told him.
Outside in the backyard Vicki and Tyler were sitting on a bench, away from the party.
"So you want to dance?" Vicki asked him.
"Me dancing? Not pretty." Tyler told her. He had seen Chloe earlier with Damon laughing.
"Maybe you could show me around. I mean, this place is amazing." Vicki said looking around.
"Yeah, if you like living in a museum." He corrected her. They sat in silence for a moment.
"Maybe I should just strip naked and give Pastor Bill a lap dance. I mean, that's why we're hiding in a corner all night, isn't it? You're scared of how I'm going to act? You afraid of what your parents are going to think about your date from the wrong side of the tracks?" Vicki asked him angrily.
"I don't care about what they think." He told her.
"Great. Let's go say hi." She said grabbing his hand and forcing him to stand up.
"Knock it off, Vick." He told her.
"Or we could just, you know, sneak up to your bedroom. As long as nobody sees us, right?" she asked him.
"Vicki, I swear..." he started saying to her but she wouldn't listen.
"What's a matter, Ty? You scared to stand up to your mommy? It's pretty pathetic." She said trying to drag him with her.
"Let go!" he told her.
"Tyler..." they both turned to see his mother walking to them. "We didn't get a chance to say hello earlier. It's Vicki, right? Matt's sister."
"Yes, ma'am." She said with a smile.
"You'll have to forgive my son's rudeness. He gets it from his father." Carol told her.
"Well, that's okay, Mrs. Lockwood. Tyler and I were just saying good night." She said before walking away from mother and son. They both watched her walk away for a moment before Carol leaned closer to Tyler.
"That's what you get when you bring the trash into the party. You should have invited Chloe Gilbert to come with you." She told him before walking away from her son. He turned and watched as Vicki walked away from him and the party, realizing he should have given her a real chance and treated her better.
Bonnie was sitting at a table alone and watched as a candle went out. She looked at it and focused on it until she watched it re-ignite. Bonnie quickly blew it out, staring at it.
Damon and I went out to meet Stefan, Elena and Caroline who were all talking together.
"What'd we miss?" Damon asked going to stand next to Caroline.
"We were just chatting. Drink, Damon?" Stefan offered to his brother. I watched the looks on their faces with interest and confusion.
"No, thanks, I'll pass." Damon told him, and it was silent for a moment. I nudged Elena and motioned to her boyfriend and she smiled.
"Stefan, do you have another dance in you?" Elena asked him with a smile as I saw Tyler walk in the house. I moved away from the small group to him.
"Absolutely." I heard Stefan say to her as I got to Tyler.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked him, taking in the look on his face.
"What do you care?" he asked me.
"We might have broken up, but I still worry about you." I told him, placing my hand on his arm.
"You wanna dance?" he asked me and I offered him a small smile and a nod. He had never been a person who wanted to dance at these things, so when he offered I took it. He pulled me into him and we danced.
"They look so cute together." Caroline said watching the two couples dance.
"Don't talk, please." Damon told her watching me dance with Tyler.
Logan walked up to the bat where Jenna was sitting at with him empty glass.
"Don't shoot! Only need a refill." He told her with a smile on his face.
"Shooting implies caring." She told him.
"Feigned indifference. I like it." He told her.
"I'm over the banter, Logan. I'd really rather you just left me alone." She said walking away.
"I'm sorry, Jenna. About your sister." He told her honestly.
"Thank you." She said after a moment.
"I came to the funeral." He told her.
"I know. I saw you." She told him.
"Yeah, I didn't want to push my way in, but I wanted to be there for you. And when I heard you were staying in Mystic Falls, I thought maybe... Well, maybe I could have a second chance to make things right." He said.
"Her name was Monica, wasn't it?" Jenna asked before walking away from him.
On the dance floor the two couples were still happily dancing.
"I hope Damon didn't drive you too crazy." Stefan told Elena.
"No, actually, I left him and Chloe alone." She told him. He turned and watched Chloe and Tyler dance for a moment before looking at Damon and watched his look of jealously.
"Hmm." Was all he said.
"So tell me about Katherine. What happened?" Elena asked him.
"It's not something I like to talk about." Stefan told her.
"I get that. I do. I just want you to know that you can. I mean, I burden you with all of my drama, and I want you to do the same." She told him.
"I know. Thank you." He said.
"The truth is, Stefan... I don't really know that much about you, and I'd really love it if you would open up to me." She told him and they stopped dancing.
"Damon said something to you and Chloe, didn't he? He likes to play games and cause trouble, Elena." Stefan warned her.
"This isn't about Damon or Chloe. It's about me trying to get to know you. Look, you're the mystery guy, and I like that. But with mystery comes secrets, and this thing with Katherine." She tried to tell him.
"Let it go. I don't want to talk about it." He told her.
"Well, then, say something about yourself. Anything. Otherwise, I'm left with nothing but what other people tell me." She said.
"Don't you see what Damon has done here? He's trying to get you to turn against me." Stefan warned her, not knowing she really hadn't talked to him.
"I didn't even talk to him Stefan. If his plan was to get between us, then I guess it's working. You know, he's been pretty focused on Chloe maybe you should ask her what he said to make her smile. A smile I haven't seen in a long time." She said before walking away. Stefan looked at Damon then watched Chloe and Tyler dance
"So what happened to you?" I asked Tyler as we danced.
"Something between my mom and Vicki." He told me. I gave him a look wanting more information about it. "My mom walked on me and Vicki having a fight."
"About?" I asked.
"She thinks I was ashamed of her for not being one of the founding families and being a druggie." He told me and I nodded.
"Are you?" I asked him.
"To be honest, I thought being with her would make you jealous. I thought I might get you back." He told me.
"Why would you dating Vicki make me want to date you again?" I asked him. "You cheated on me with her."
"I wasn't thinking clearly, I just wanted to be with you again." He told me. I shook my head at him and stopped our dancing.
"I'm sorry, Tyler. We will never get back together." I told him before walking away from him.
Bonnie and Elena sat at a bench inside the house eating ice cream together, talking about what had happened on the dance floor between Stefan and Elena.
"This is my fault. I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter." Bonnie said to her.
"It's not your fault. I just—I feel terrible because I said that I wouldn't get in the middle of it, and then that's exactly what I did. I got all snotty." Elena told her as I sat down next to her.
"You aren't the only with issues today Elena." I told her. Suddenly Carol sat next to me with a smile on her face.
"Chloe, honey, there you are. I notice the watch still isn't in the collection." She told me and I glanced at Elena before coming up with a lie with her silently.
"Oh, um, I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood. we, um, we couldn't find it." Elena said and I almost rolled my eyes at her obvious lie.
"I guess it's still packed up in our parents' stuff somewhere." I told her with a smile. She looked between us and I could see she didn't believe us in her eyes.
"I see. Well, please let me know if you do find it." She told us.
"OK." Elena and I said together. She got up and walked away and I gave Elena a look before getting up and going to mingle with someone else.
In another part of the house, Damon walked upstairs with Caroline following him.
"Where have you been?" she asked him.
"Ah. Looking for you." He lied to her.
"Your brother barely danced with me for five minutes—" she told him.
"Okay, just a minute. Stand right... there." He said placing her in front of the door looking outward before he started searching through the collection.
"Um, you're not supposed to touch. What is that?" Caroline asked looking at an amber gem.
"A very important crystal." He told her, putting it in his pocket.
"Well, how did you know that it was there?" she asked him.
"Because I put it there." He told her.
"When?" she asked.
"A long time ago. Tonight, I'm taking it back, thanks to you." He told her, fixing what he messed up to get the crystal back.
"Well, what's it for?" Caroline asked him.
"Never you mind." Damon said.
"Well, you can't just steal it." She told him.
"It's not stealing if it's mine. Come on." He corrected, pulling her with him.
"Well..." she started saying before not saying anything.
"Vodka tonic." Logan said at the bar. He saw Jenna staring outside. He sighed before walking to her. "Okay, I know that this is probably going to be strike 3, but I hope you can see it for what it is."
"And what is it?" she asked him.
"Persistence. Groveling, commitment. Take your pick." He told her.
"I fled town because of you. Fled." She told him.
"I was young and stupid, and then things changed. Life got...real. You'd know that better than anyone." He told her. She thought about it for a moment.
"Hypothetically speaking, if allowed, how would you make things right?" she asked him.
"Well, more groveling, of course. A recap of the past few years spent soul searching. Cheese fries." He listed with a smile.
"Obvious." She said, smiling.
"I know my audience." He reminded her.
"Yes to lunch. Call me." She told him walking away.
In the darkened living room Carol was with one of the waiters and Bonnie was watching them talk in the corner.
"Look around. What's missing? The flames, the candles. Why aren't they lit? There's matches in the kitchen." She told him and they both walked out of the room.
"Bitch." Bonnie said under her breath. Bonnie walked to one of the candles and stared at it, focusing on it. She shook her head and turned away from it and started to leave, but turned to a previously unlit burning candle. She turned around and saw all the candles burning.
Elena and I walked into the powder room together and saw Caroline fixing herself up.
"Hey." We said to her.
"Hey. So how are things with Stefan?" Caroline asked Elena.
"Great. Just great." Elena lied.
"Really? Well, my radar must be off, 'cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes..." Caroline told her.
"You weren't wrong." I told her before noticing something on her neck. "What is that?"
"Hmm?" Caroline asked me. I tried to lift her scarf so Elena and I could see what was on her neck. "Don't!" I lifted her scarf up and saw a bad bite mark.
"Oh god, Caroline, what happened?" Elena asked her.
"Nothing, okay?!" she asked us and I quickly thought of what happened.
"That is not nothing! Did somebody hurt you?" I asked her.
"No, okay, nothing. It just... My mom would kill me." She said going back to fixing her makeup. I quickly pulled her shawl down and saw another bite mark on her back.
"Did Damon hurt you?" I asked angrily.
"No! Of course not! Just leave me alone. Okay, Chloe?! Elena?!" she asked us before quickly leaving the room.
"Tell Stefan what we just saw." I told her heading to the door.
"What are you doing to do?" she asked me and I turned to her, showing her how angry I really was.
"Do you really have to ask me that?" I asked her before storming out of the room and looking for Damon. When I saw him I immediately walked to him which caused him to smile before I pushed him, forcing him down a step so he had to look up at me. "There is something seriously wrong with you." I told him. "You stay away from Caroline or you'll be dealing with me. You got it? Stay away from her or I'll make your life a living hell." I told him before walking away. He thought about what could have cause my outburst about Caroline when we had been getting along earlier. He listed the reasons in his head and only thought about one reason and he grew angry. He didn't want to miss his chance with her before he left.
"I'm sorry. I take it all back. You're completely right about Damon." Elena said walking up to Stefan on the lawn.
"What did he do?" Stefan asked her.
"There are bruises all over Caroline's body. Bite marks, and he has her all confused and messed up in the head. You don't look surprised." Elena said to him.
"Um... I'm handling it." Stefan told her.
"Handling it? Stefan, you should be having him arrested." Elena told him.
"Elena, please. I... I don't expect you to understand." Stefan told her.
"I don't understand anything, Stefan. So why don't you just clear it up for me?" Elena asked him.
"Look, there are things that you don't know, okay? Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. And I may never be able to. And I just need you to trust me." He begged her.
"Trust is earned. I can't just magically hand it over." She told him. Behind her he saw Damon dragging Caroling out into the yard.
"I'm so sorry. I have to go." He told her.
The doorbell rang at the Gilbert house and Jeremy answered the door to see Vicki.
"You look amazing. What are you doing here?" he asked her.
"I was thinking maybe I could make one more wrong choice today. I still have 17 minutes." She told him before kissing him.
At the Founder's Party, Damon drug Caroline out to the lawn. He sharply turned her so she was facing him.
"Don't! She took it off and I got flustered, okay?! I didn't know what to say. But I swear, okay? I did not tell them. I just told them that you didn't mean to hurt me." Caroline told him. Damon sighed and went behind Caroline, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"You make me crazy, you know that? It's okay. I forgive you." He told her.
"I swear I didn't say—" she tried telling him again.
"Shh, shh, shh. It's okay. Unfortunately... I am so over you now." He told her before biting her and drinking. Suddenly they both fell to the ground. "What the hell?" Damon asked lying next to Caroline who was unconscious.
"You know, I couldn't spike your drink... So I spiked hers." Stefan told Damon as he walked up to him. Stefan checked Caroline before grabbing his brother and leaving.
I walked outside looking for Caroline. I was worried about her after seeing all those bites on her. I saw her sit up on the lawn and grab something before standing up. I immediately walked to her and put my hand on her shoulder so I didn't frighten her.
"Caroline? I've been looking everywhere for you. Are you okay?" I asked her, looking her over for any recent injuries.
"Yeah. I'm fine." She told me, but the way she said it made me think she was lying.
"Caroline, what happened?" I asked her.
"I'm fine." She repeated, shaking and holding her hand to her neck where I saw blood.
"No. You're shaking. Caroline, what happened to you?" I asked her again.
"I'm fine!" she repeated before she started to cry.
"Caroline, come here hunny." I told her. I held her as she cried into my shoulder.
Zach and Stefan locked a weakened Damon in the cellar next to where the vervain was.
I did what I had to do... To protect Elena, to protect everyone. Yes, Damon, the headline reads "Deadly beast captured. All is well in Mystic Falls."
"Thank you for staying so late." Mayor Lockwood said to the small group still in his house after the party.
"Did you get the Gilbert watch?" Sheriff Forbes asked.
"They claim it's packed away in their parents' things." Carol said to them.
"I can get it." Logan said next to her.
"Good. We're going to need it." Sheriff Forbes informed them.
"Are you sure?" Carol asked her.
"5 bodies all drained of blood? I'm certain." Sheriff Forbes confirmed.
"They've come back." Logan agreed.