The second week I was there was much like the first. No dinner party that week, however one day Klaus had come to tell me that he'd be gone for the day. He said he was getting some final things prepared for the trip. He told me that those stationed at the house would keep an eye on me, as well as Marcel. But unfortunately that meant I had to stay in my room for the day. So back again I was to reading or watching TV. Towards the end of the night I was bored and beginning to wonder again about possibly getting out of the place. There were people EVERYWHERE around the place though so it would be next to impossible.

I heard some commotion outside of my door which jarred me out of my thoughts. It was Marcel talking to the two guys outside of my room.

"You think Klaus is going to be happy when I tell him you two didn't follow his instructions?" I heard him yell.

"But he didn't..." one of the guys interjected.

"I don't give a shit what you thought you heard! These are new instructions he just told me over the phone. He feels more comfortable with me watching her for the night than you two clowns. Now get out."

I heard footsteps and then the door finally opened and Marcel walked in. He closed the door behind him and leaned on it for a second, his ear up against the door. He spun around and grabbed my wrist, leading me into the bathroom.

I began to protest. I was afraid of what he might do. Klaus wasn't here, did this mean that Marcel wanted to drink from me? There was no way of stopping him if he wanted to. He just sent the two guards outside my door away. How long would it take them to figure out this wasn't supposed to happen?

He yanked me into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, then turned the shower on.

I looked at him confused and he walked up to me. He gently placed his hands on my arms and began to speak.

"Violet...listen. I'm going to get you out of here. Your friends are waiting for you. But you have to do exactly as I say, do you understand?"

I stared at him for a minute, confused.

"Wh-why would you help me?" I asked.

"Because...Klaus is a piece of shit. We need to take him down, and I think your friends are the only ones who can help!" he told me.

"But Klaus said that..." I spoke.

"I don't care what Klaus said! Listen! We are going to walk downstairs and out of the front door and right to my car. I've worked it out so that no one will be on guard for the next few minutes but we have to hurry!"

I stood there for a minute, my legs wanting to move but my mind for some reason faltered. He finally gave another light tug to my arm and I followed him. Out the bedroom door, down the hallway, down the stairway, and out the door. We ran to a car parked out front and got in, speeding away.

"How did you get them all to leave?" I asked as I was gasping for breath.

"I told them it was Klaus' orders. You don't usually argue when you're told that." he told me.

"Why not? I asked.

"Because Klaus doesn't forgive easily. In fact he doesn't forgive at all...he just kills you."

"So all those guys..." I began putting pieces together.

"Klaus won't find them..." he trailed off.

"Why not?" I asked, confused.

He nodded his head back towards the house we had just come from and I could see a large fire engulfing the house as we sped away. The place would be burned up by the time Klaus got back.

"Look...I have a phone here. Call one of your friends, tell them you're okay. I already told them we were on our way but I think they'd like to hear from you." he told me.

I didn't argue and took the phone from him, quickly dialing Jeremy's phone number.

"Hello?" it was so good to hear his voice again!

"Jeremy!" I smiled.

"Violet! Oh god! Are you okay? It's so good to hear from you!" he sounded both excited and exhausted.

"Yes I'm okay." was all I said. I didn't know what else to say!

"Marcel says he got you out. Are you on your way home?" he asked, he was almost tripping over some words he seemed so elated.

"Yeah we're in the car now. Jeremy...I've missed you. I've missed all of you!" I told him.

"We've missed you too, Vi." he replied.

Marcel motioned to the phone and asked me to put it on speaker.

"Jer...hey. I've got her, we're on our way. Are you guys all set up? I'm driving through the night, no stops it's too dangerous. He'll be following once he knows we're gone and I'm sure he'll show up there first."

"We're all ready for him. Marcel...thanks man. You don't know what it means..." Jeremy trailed off.

Marcel glanced over at me and then back to the road.

"I got you Jer. We will see you soon." and with that he hung up the phone.

"Marcel?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"So you said no stopping...what if I have to pee?" I mean...we'd be driving through the night, I'm sure at some point I'd have to go.

"Side of the road, girl. That's your only option, sorry. It's too risky and dangerous to go anywhere else."

Well...this would be fun.

I must have fallen asleep at some point in the middle of the night while Marcel was driving and by the time I woke up we had just passed the sign saying 'Welcome to Mystic Falls, Virginia'.

I looked over at Marcel who was still awake but the signs of exhaustion were beginning to show.

"Are you okay? You look exhausted, Marcel." I told him.

"I'm fine. We're almost at the boarding house. I can sleep when we get there, don't worry about me." he forced a small smile.

We pulled into the driveway and I was so excited to finally see everyone, be back with everything that's with familiar. Marcel and I both exited the car and no sooner than we did, Marcel was knocked to the ground. I looked up and saw Klaus, with the most horrific look I had ever seen on his face.

"How DARE YOU!" he screamed at Marcel and then picked him up and shoved him up against the car. "I thought you were my friend! All these years! I've known you since you were a child, Marcel! And this is how you repay me?" he just kept hitting Marcel over and over again.

"Klaus please!" I begged him "Stop, you're killing him!"

"No...I'm not killing him, love. THIS would be killing him!" as he said the words he punched his hand right through Marcel's chest, ripping out his heart and throwing it on the ground. My scream echoed through the area and I tried making a run for the front door but Klaus was too quick...he grabbed me and began dragging me back towards the car I had just gotten out of.

We were just about to get in the car when I heard some type of shots fly through the air and Klaus flew backwards, clearly hit by whatever it was.

I looked around and I saw Jeremy, Alaric, and Stefan running up towards us.

"Are you okay!?" Jeremy asked me, coming up to give me a hug while Stefan and Alaric picked up Klaus' body.

"Yeah...I'm ok. What's going on? I thought you said he can't be killed?" I was confused but followed Jeremy towards the front door where Alaric and Jeremy were dragging Klaus' body. No one responded.

"Hey you guys wait please...will be he okay?" I asked. Where the hell did that come from?

All three men turned to look at me and didn't say anything right away.

"Marcel said that could happen...she's been feeding from him for weeks now. He said the effects will wear off but it may take a few days..." Alaric finally said.

"Effects of what? What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

"When you feed from an Original...it draws you to them. Makes you comply. Compulsion didn't work on you but I guess that still sort of did." Stefan replied. "The effects should wear off soon.

"Yes but is he still alive!?" I asked.

"He's not dead, let's go." Jeremy replied, beginning to walk back to the front door "'We shot him up with vervain so he's just knocked out for a while. We'll throw him in one of the cells in the basement and try and starve him out and get to him once he's weak enough."

"Cells in the basement? I've been here for how long and why did I know nothing about cells in the basement of the boarding house? Why are there even cells down there to begin with?" honestly how did no one inform me of that before!?

"It's a really long and boring story I swear it's nothing interesting." he told me.

"I'm glad you guys got here in time.." I told him.

We all quickly walked back into the boarding house, everyone afraid that Klaus could wake up at any time. Jeremy and I went straight to the great room while Stefan and Alaric made quick work of getting Klaus down in one of the cells in the basement.

Damon walked in and immediately came towards me and wrapped me in a tight hug.

"Are you okay?" he asked, finally pulling away.

"Yeah I think so." I told him.

"I was-we were all so worried." he replied.

"I know. I'm sorry." I said.

When Stefan and Alaric came back upstairs I turned towards them.

"Is Klaus okay? He's not hurt...is he?" why was I asking these questions? I was battling myself. I didn't want to say these things but I couldn't help it.

Jeremy walked closer towards Damon, who was staring intensely at me.

"You don't think...that they bonded right? She hasn't been with him that long..." Jeremy asked Damon.

"Bonded? What are you on about? "I asked, somewhat amused.

"Uhm...if a human ingests enough blood from an Original it's called a bond. They become...well..." Jeremy trailed off.

"A slave, basically." Damon said angrily "No...she wasn't with him long enough for it to happen."

More people began to fill into the room. Everyone even including Matt and Tyler were there. I felt bad that they all had to keep taking time out of their lives for my crap. But I was definitely grateful that they did it. The discussion was who was going to keep an eye on Klaus while he stayed down there. No one knew how long it was going to take for him to begin to starve from the lack of blood, but they were basing it on how long it would take a regular vampire. Everyone was going to take shifts to keep an eye on him until the time was right.

"There's only one problem." I told them.

"And what's that?" Tyler asked.

"He can compel everyone here. How are you all going to sit and watch him when he can just compel you to open the door? I mean I could watch over him if you want for a while..." I began but was quickly cut off.

"Not happening." both Damon and Jeremy replied in unison. They looked at each other for a few seconds in surprise but then turned back towards me.

"Well I don't see an option? Unless you just leave him down there without someone. But that seems pointless, too. What if he finds a way out or something?"

"I know a way." Stefan spoke up. We all just stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Vervain. Start drinking it, get it in your system. He won't be able to compel and if he somehow gets out he won't be able to feed off of anyone, either."

"Yeah that's not going to work for the vampires in this group!" I responded.

"Well...it will. It's just not going to be pleasant for a little while until we get somewhat used to it." he answered.

"I don't like this plan." I told them.

"I don't see any other option, Vi. Look it's fine. He's not going anywhere. And we can get him when he's weak enough. It'll work, try not to worry." Jeremy reassured me. He had his hands on my arms for a moment until he looked over at Bonnie. She wasn't giving him any type of look either way if she was thrilled or not, but he seemed jittery and let go quickly.

"Well that settles it then." Stefan replied.

They agreed that the vampires in the group would take a few days to get the vervaine in their system and feeling okay with it before they took watch. So until then Bonnie, Jeremy, Matt, Tyler, and Alaric would all take turns keeping watch on agreed to take the very first watch and went down to the basement. I was told, more than once, that I wasn't to go down there. I wasn't going to exactly argue with them about it, Klaus did scare the shit out of me. It was bad enough that he got me once. I didn't want that happening a second time.

The first few days were pretty rough on everyone. Those taking watch had to deal with Klaus who tried everything in his power to get them to let him out. Thankfully the vervaine still worked but they realized they'd need a higher dosage when Matt almost opened the door up before stopping himself. This of course took a toll on the vampires who had to ingest the stuff, since now they had to up their dosage too.

Everyone looked exhausted all the time and most of them were pretty miserable. As the days went on and everyone became more and more cranky, I felt myself getting more and more angry...at myself. I just felt really awful that they were all going through this on my account. I know it wasn't pleasant for any of them. Especially for those like Tyler and Matt who didn't have to agree to do any of this. But I liked that we were all a team. You mess with one and you mess with us all.

After two weeks everyone started feeling slightly better and they noted that Klaus was starting to show signs of weakness. Nothing extreme yet but it was obvious he wasn't moving as fast or as quick thinking as he had been. I could still see the wear and tear on the vampires, though.

There was one afternoon where the boarding house was fairly quiet. I'd come and go from there and my place for the past few weeks and it was usually busy but it was nice to have a lull. Caroline was on watch in the basement, Bonnie and Jeremy were out as well as Stefan and Elena, and everyone else was back at their places getting rest.

I knew Damon was upstairs in his room and I was bored and needed something to do so I went up. I figured I could at least talk with him for a little while to kill the time.

When I arrived at his door I knocked and heard him on the other side tell me to come in. Opening up the door slowly I peered in to see him resting on his bed. He looked terrible. Immediate guilt washed over me and I walked towards the bed and sat down next to him.

"How you holding up, Vi?" he asked me.

"Me? I'm fine! Damon...how are you? You look terrible!"

"Well thanks for the boost of confidence there." he chuckled "I'm fine. Really. I'm just tired. I took a double watch last night so Stefan and Elena could be together."

"I'm not even going to comment on those two right now." I muttered.

"I take it Elena told you about us...again." his smile faded.

"I don't care about what you two do or don't do. I just think Stefan has the right to know what's going on is all."

"You're right." he replied.

"What? I'm sorry...could you repeat that?" I joked "I need to write this down. Damon Salvatore actually told me I was right for once. It's a miracle!"

A small smile crept across his face. It was good to see considering I don't think I remember seeing him smile in a while.

"Damon...I'm not judging here, but honestly...why do you keep doing it? He's your brother. He's probably the last person in the world you should really be screwing over. He's the only one who's going to be there for you no matter what. I love Elena, don't get me wrong, but you have to know that she will probably never leave him." I placed my hand on his in an effort to show comfort.

"I know." he sighed, turning on his side so he was looking straight at me "It's a long story, you wouldn't really want to hear it. But I told her it was over. It's not happening again. She wasn't happy about it...in fact she flipped out on me and punched me in the face. But I mean it. I'm done with that. It's hurting too many people now."

"I'm sorry. That had to be tough." I replied.

"It was, but surprisingly I'm okay with it. I realized I don't want this to wind up as the Katherine fiasco 2.0." he told me.

"Well I'm proud of you, Damon." I smiled at him.

"Okay well...that's enough deep conversation for the next year, I think." he rolled onto his back again and looked up the ceiling.

"Damon...I think you need some rest. You're running on empty here." I told him. I was really beginning to worry. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked pale, even for a vampire.

"I told you, I'm fine." was all he would say.

"You are not fine, Damon. You were awake for 16 hours and you're still going, and you're practically slowly killing yourself by ingesting that vervain. Maybe take a few days off or something..."

"I told you I'm fine." he cut me off, his voice firm. "If I didn't want to take part in this, I wouldn't have. You know that. But we're all in this as a family. Albeit, a pretty fucked up family, but we're family. Of course I'm going to do what I can to keep you safe. Now I don't want to hear anymore about it."

"Okay okay fine. But will you please at least sleep for the rest of the day?" I asked.

"Can't." was all he answered with.

"Why not?" I questioned.

"Because I have another shift again later today."

"Damon!"

"What did I say? We're done talking about this." his voice was serious.

"Fine. But at least rest until then? I'll even stay here and rest with you." I told him.

"Well I won't pass that up! Now don't try and take advantage of me, I need my rest." he joked.

"I'll try and contain myself." I laughed as I laid down in the bed next to him.

It only took about ten minutes for Damon to drift off to sleep. He looked so peaceful while sleeping. I tried my best to relax and get some rest, myself, but it was no use. After an hour of tossing and turning(which I was surprised didn't wake Damon up) I finally got out of the bed and headed downstairs.

The place was still so quiet and empty. I was growing bored. I could go back to my house, but I'd just be bored and alone there, too. I know they all told me not to go down to the basement, but I had to talk with someone and Caroline was the only person in the house besides Damon. I could at the very least sit halfway down the stairs and talk with her and no harm would be done.

I quietly made my way down the stairs and as I reached the halfway point I tried to call out for Caroline. But I got no response. I moved down a few more steps and tried again, but still nothing. Maybe the cells were at the very end and she couldn't hear me? I walked the rest of the way down.

It was rather dark so I couldn't see much, but I called out for her again and still heard nothing. I'd hoped that she didn't fall asleep on the job. That's all we'd need.

I walked further down and I saw something on the floor. Taking a few steps I saw that it looked like Caroline was sleeping but as I got closer I noticed her body wasn't in a natural sleeping position. She'd been knocked out...and the cell door she was in front of was wide open. Shit!

"Looks like your friend here forgot a little something today." Klaus stepped out of the doorway and into the hall, directly in front of me.

"I won't be letting you get away again." his eyes grew dark and his fangs descended. I let out a loud scream.