Review responses:

Only reviewer: Yeah, I know what you mean. She is a bitch, but an awesome bitch who you kinda love to hate. And yes, in show terms it would be great for building up Katie and Nina's chemistry before we get to Sarena. And I'm glad I caught you off guard with the Caroline bit! I tried really hard to make people think she might actually die.

PPLforeveremison: Glad to see you've returned! Yeah, Katherine is a master manipulator, and knows exactly how to trick Sarah into doing what she wants. So glad you enjoyed Sarah and Katherine finally meeting. I might do some alternative one shots at some point down the line, re-doing scenes like that for those that really want Sarena (Sarah/Elena) moments to happen differently early on, such as the one you mentioned. I also really enjoyed the moment were Scarlett catches Katherine out! But yes, Katherine will in time go after everyone and even Scarlett will learn to fear her. I mean, come on, she's Katherine! Cute wasn't what I was going for with Scarlett's reaction to Jeremy's death, but as long as you enjoyed it, I'm happy. And now there's about to be a whole load of werewolves for Scarlett to interact with as you said, it's gonna be a lot of fun exploring that. And I too felt bad for Damon when Katherine told him she didn't love him, but I like the change in this were he fights back for his sister. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.

Sorry that it's been two weeks without anything. College work went up a couple more gears than I expected it too and doesn't look like it'll be slowing down any time soon. So what I'll be doing in the near future is probably uploading for two Tuesdays in a row, then have two weeks without any uploads, and then another two weeks of uploads, and so on. Hopefully that'll work out. Fingers crossed.

Meanwhile we have the first half of episode three, and boy was this a fun. Took me a while to get the start figured out but after that I had so much fun with both Scarlett and Sarah in this part. I'm not sure which I preferred honestly. Let me know which plot you preferred. So get ready for Caroline's training, more about werewolves and everybody's favourite road trip companion, Damon!

And quick thanks to everyone who's favourited and followed the story since last time.. If you have the time, please do leave a review and let me know what you think, or PM if that's better for you. I just love hearing what you guys all have to say.

Chapter 5: Road Trip to Duke

Walking past the living room, Scarlett found herself suddenly stopping as the hairs on her neck shot up. She didn't need to turn around to know how many sets of eyes were on her. Five. Five sets of eyes, three of which lived in this house. She turned slowly, still in her pjs like some little kid. A tad embarrassing, but by now she was used to it, especially after all the grief she'd been getting about Elena finding her and Jeremy after there first time.

In the living room, staring back at her, was Sarah, Stefan, Damon, Elena and Alaric. Alaric was on a couch by himself and opposite him was Stefan, Elena and Sarah, all sharing a couch while Damon stood closest to her by the archway. "About time you woke up," Damon said with one of his curious glares. She'd been getting far too many of those recently from him. But there wasn't much she could do about it without drawing even more suspicion. All she could do was wait him out and hope the vampire just moved onto something else before he found out. "Grab a seat, this probably concerns you too."

Scarlett didn't say anything as she stepped into the living room. She kept her gaze low as she passed Damon, not because she was scared of him. More because she wanted to avoid him making comments about her attire. To her surprise he said nothing and remained silent as Scarlett scooted past three pairs of legs before sitting down at the end of the couch next to Sarah. Her vampire–mentor–type–person gave her a greeting smile before she and the others turned back to Alaric, along with Scarlett who was now ready to hear what was going on. It had to be something serious if Damon wasn't cracking jokes.

"So, you were telling us about the Lockwoods," Damon said with a pressing look to Alaric.

"I told you, I don't know anything about the Lockwoods," Alaric replied with a sigh, already tired despite what time it was.

"Well, you wouldn't. But your dead, not dead vampire wife might," Damon clarified with a smug knowing grin to his friend. Damon having a friend? Still didn't feel right for Scarlett. The guy was a grade A jackass, how could he possibly have any friends. Especially someone like Alaric who was a pretty good guy, considering he was a vampire hunter and all.

"Isobel's research from when you guys were at Duke together," Elena began before Stefan continued on for her. That was one thing Scarlett never wanted to do, even with Jeremy. She loved him, but hated that corny stuff like finishing each others thoughts or sentences. Even seeing it with Stefan and Elena made Scarlett cringe as Stefan spoke.

"You said that she had spent years researching this town."

"Isobel's research here in, Mystic Falls is rooted in folklores and legends. At the time I thought much of which was fiction," Alaric began to explain.

"Like that amazing vampire story," Damon jumped in sarcastically.

"Aside from the vampires, what else?" Elena asked as she leaned forward from in between Stefan and Sarah.

"The Lycanthrope," Alaric answered and Scarlett quickly saw confusion sweep over the four faces next to her.

"Meaning?" Damon asked.

"Werewolf," Scarlett spoke up, all heads turning to her. Damon and Alaric had surprise on them but the three next to Scarlett had a mixture of shock and anger. It had to be said though, most of the anger was coming from Sarah. Scarlett wasn't really too surprised. There was a difference between playing it cool while Damon watched her and leaving him breadcrumbs to follow. Still, the only reason she even knew about the word was because of Jeremy and the research he'd done into werewolves after he found out about her. He'd been kind enough to share it with her, not that she really cared about any of it, otherwise she would have done it herself. But the gesture it's self was nice.

"Score one for Pj Scrappy and her pointless knowledge," Damon said with a grin at his own joke, ignoring Scarlett's glare before turning his attention back to Alaric. His brow instantly dropping from amusement to glaring seriousness. "And there's no way it's werewolves. That's way too Lon Chaney." Scarlett frowned, confused by the reference but quickly forgot it as the other Salvatores chipped in with their opinions on the matter.

"I'm with Damon. It's impossible for werewolves to exist," Sarah spoke up.

"Agreed," Stefan added. They were both lying obvious, and Elena was keeping her mouth shut. All three knew about Scarlett and what she presumably was. But they had a pretty good idea of how Damon would react if he found out what she was and they cared enough to lie for her. It was nice having people like that in her life again. She hadn't had anyone like that since her mom died.

"You sure about that?" Alaric asked with a raised brow to the group, obvious keeping a more open mind than Damon. Sarah didn't waste a second and before Scarlett knew it the vampire was leaning forward. Leaving behind her comfortable laid back position and now glaring at the history teacher, almost compelling him to shut up as she spoke.

"The three of us have been around for a sum of one-hundred-and-sixty-five years, give or take. We've seen just about everything you can see in that time, supernatural wise, and never once come across anything resembling a werewolf." Until me, thought Scarlett, but she remained quiet. Another word from her and Sarah might well rip out her throat or at the very least cut out her tongue.

"Clearly you haven't seen it all, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?" Alaric pointed out rhetorically, not happy with the attitude he was getting from Sarah. Hardly surprising consider he'd been invited over to help and now she was practically spitting in his face for providing it. But he didn't know the whole story and normally Sarah would have probably appreciated the help, however unlikely it was, but this was putting Scarlett in danger and Sarah was protecting her. It was just unfortunate she had to be rude to do it. "And why do you suspect the Lockwoods anyway?" Alaric asked as he turned towards Damon.

"Because vervain didn't affect the mayor on Founders' Day but the Gilbert device did, and it affect his son Tyler." Damon's eyes flicked to Scarlett and she could tell he was about to mention her when Stefan cut in thankfully.

"And at the school carnival his uncle Mason exhibited some kind of supernatural strength when we arm wrestled."

"We were hoping that Isobel's research could help us figure out what it is," Elena then added, once more before Damon could get a word in about Scarlett.

"Well, all her things are still at Duke. I mean her office is still there. She's technically still missing," Alaric explained. At that Damon finally looked away from Scarlett, having lost interest in whatever he'd been planning to say about her. He was now more interested in what Alaric had to say about the potential of finding out what he needed to know.

"So can we get access to it?" Damon asked.

"I don't know," Alaric answered with an unsure look. Scarlett heard his heart rate pick up. She did feel for him. After hearing about the story about his wife she wasn't at all surprised he didn't want to go back to her office, filled with her work. It probably still hurt him a lot. That said she had no sympathy for Isobel. The woman had held her for ransom and would have thrown her off a roof had Elena not given her what she wanted.

"Ric, we need to know what we are dealing with. If this wolf man thing is true."

"It isn't," Sarah cut in with a pointed look to Damon, trying to get him to back down. He didn't though, and just kept going.

"Then I've seen enough movies to know it's not good if it is real. It means Mason Lockwood is a real-life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney junior, which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed," Damon said, advancing on Alaric as he frantically pointed at himself with each word, trying to get his point across.

"Don't you think you're being a little over dramatic?" Stefan asked as he looked up at his brother who spun around to face him.

"Over dramatic. No, no, little brother, on the contrary. I think you, and our oblivious little sister, are far too casual about all this, or maybe I'm not being dramatic enough for all three of us," Damon said as he pounded his chest angrily, getting worked up over the lack of reaction from his siblings.

"Damon, just calm down," Elena said as she stood up, locking eyes with the blue eyed vampire. Scarlett instantly saw him visibly relax as well as catch the sound of his faint heartbeat slow down to a more calm beat. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's just go to Duke and see what we can find. And even if the Lockwoods are…Wolfmen. That doesn't mean they're a treat to us."

"Oh, they're definitely a threat. And the second I know what I need to, I'm taking out that entire family," Damon growled before turning towards Alaric, ignoring the looks from his siblings as he did. "Get a bag ready Ric, we're going on a road trip," Damon declared before glancing at the couch where the rest of the group were sat. "Who's in?"

"We can't leave right now. We need to plan this out," Stefan tried to reason with his brother but Damon was in no mood for that.

"Stefan's out. Elena?" he asked, quickly moving down the couch. The teenager glared back at him. Despite having spoke to him not a moment ago she now had nothing but anger in her eyes towards him. She was just like Scarlett, still mad at him for what he'd done to Jeremy. "And that's a stunned silence from Elena."

"Fine," Elena declared but after that said nothing more.

"Great," Damon said happily before pointing to his sister. "Sarah?"

"As much as I'd love to join you and Elena for the most God awful rod trip of all time, I've got things here I need to take care off," Sarah answered with a thin smile up to her brother.

"Like what?" Damon demanded, sounding offended by the fact that he wasn't the most important thing in his sister's life.

"Like Caroline. You know, the newbie vampire who Katherine turned," Sarah said pointedly with an obvious look to her brother who shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"Old news," Damon scoffed as he waved the topic off. "So, looks like me, Alaric and Elena are going on a road trip," Damon said happily before clapping his hands together in delight.

"I'm coming too," Scarlett spoke up. Again all heads swung towards her and she felt confused look from everyone bar Sarah who was now ready to cut out her tongue. But she held back since the room was filled with witnesses.

"No way," Damon said smugly as he glared at Scarlett, clearly wanting her nowhere near what he was looking into.

"She's coming, Damon," Elena said sternly with a steely glare in her eye. If the girl had any power whatsoever, then Scarlett might have actually felt threatened by her.

"Why do you care if she comes or not?" Damon demanded, gesturing to Scarlett as he locked eyes with Elena.

"Because she wants to," Elena replied, with no sign of backing down.

"So what? She bangs your brother and now suddenly you want to go on a road trip with her?"

"No. It's more like you killed my brother, so if you don't want her to come, then I want her to come." After that silence settled in as Damon considered his options. He didn't really have many, especially after Elena had shut him down. And if he continued to push Scarlett away then he'd have to deal with his siblings as well. It took him a minute, but eventually he backed down, groaning as he glanced over to Scarlett.

"I guess…you can come." He added on a lazy smile, trying to make it seem like it was all because of his own good graces. He wasn't fooling anyone. After that he left, telling Alaric to get a bag and that they'd meet him at the Gilbert's. He then told Scarlett to be ready in five minutes or he was leaving without her. Another pointless threat to put himself above her. She would have snapped back at him, but was busy sharing a silent thank you with Elena, considering they'd still be arguing about her going if it wasn't for her. Elena was kind enough about it, smiling back as she mouthed, 'you're welcome,' with a teasing grin.

However, before she could go and get her stuff, Sarah grabbed her shoulder and lead her towards the kitchen. Knowing how their privet conversations usually went, Scarlett let Sarah lead her over to the counter top where she swiftly turned on the sink before spinning Scarlett around to face her. A not so pleased look on her face.

"What do you think you were doing in there?"

"Getting myself a free lift to Duke," Scarlett answered casually, backing down quickly though when she saw Sarah's glare intensify. "I'm sorry. I know the Lycanthrope bit was a little too much. I should have kept my mouth shut. But you can't ask me to skip out on this trip, not when it could give me the chance to find out more about what I am."

"We already know what you are."

"No, we don't! We think I'm a werewolf. We don't know that." Scarlett could see Sarah softening at that. Because it was the truth. They had a lot of assumptions and what they did know they'd learnt on the job, sort of speak. Everything they knew had been from Scarlett's experiences but she needed more than that. And with the research she'd done with Jeremy it was hard to separate the fiction from the non-fiction.

"It's still to risky, what with Damon being there," Sarah began to argue, but Scarlett could see her giving up ground so all she had to do was keep pushing.

"Elena will be there, she'll look out for me and keep Damon off my back."

Sarah sighed, her features screwing up as she contemplated surrendering to Scarlett's wishes. "And I suppose he's more curious about the Lockwoods than you anyway."

"Yeah…about that…" Scarlett knew she was going to regret opening her mouth the second Sarah fixed her with a questioning glare. But she had to be honest with her, Sarah had been nothing but that with her for the most part, at least with what she ought to know. She owed Sarah the same respect. "I'm pretty sure whatever I am… Mason Lockwood is too."

"What?" Sarah snapped with a wide eyed glare. "When did you figure this out?"

"At the carnival," Scarlett answered sheepishly.

"That was days ago!"

"I know, but I've been…processing, and I know I should have told you and I meant to tell Jeremy too but then I just…" She looked up at Sarah with her confused blue eyes and watched as Sarah's anger seemed to deplete. "It was just shocking…to find out there was someone else like me out there. I needed some time." She wasn't happy, that was obvious to Scarlett. But when Sarah let out a heavy sigh, placing her hands on her hips she knew she had at least a chance. Sarah wasn't unreasonable and Scarlett had explained herself, to the best of her abilities. She would understand surely.

"Putting that aside for now," Sarah said slowly, though her look said she'd be bringing this back up later. "Are you absolutely certain he's like you?"

"Yes," Scarlett said firmly. "I saw his eyes when he was fighting this guy in the parking lot. Sarah, they were exactly like mine." Even now the memory was still clear in her head. The golden glow that come from his eyes, just like her own when she tapped into her supernatural side. He had to be like her to some capacity, or at the very least the same spices. Their eyes were just too similar.

Again Sarah sighed, staring into Scarlett's firm blue eyes as she thought. "Okay," she finally said as she ran her hand over her mouth. "Okay, you should go to Duke." Scarlett smiled at that but Sarah continued like she hadn't even noticed. "Go there and find out what you can about yourself and Mason. Make sure Elena knows what you're doing so she can help you, and then when you get back, we'll all sit down and discuss what to do about Mason."

"Thank you," Scarlett said sincerely, watching as Sarah smiled back at her.

"Don't know why you're thanking me. Now you have to spend the day with Damon." Scarlett felt her face drop at that. "Get ready to see my slice of hell," Sarah said smugly as she sauntered from the room.

Arriving at the Gilbert house, Jenna was more than a little surprised when Elena walked in followed by her boyfriend, Sarah, Scarlett and Damon. The look on her face was priceless though and Sarah couldn't help but laugh at her before doing her best to hide it when Jenna looked her way. She didn't have a stern look or anything, she was just a little taken aback by the herd of people that had just stampeded into her home. That said, Damon only waited inside for a few minutes before heading outside until Alaric showed up and Scarlett went up stairs with Elena and Stefan to tell Jeremy what was going on. That left Sarah and Jenna in the hallway for the briefest of moments before Sarah began to head for the kitchen.

"You mind if I grab something to eat?" Sarah asked over her shoulder as she stepped out the hallway.

"Help yourself, just don't touch the leftover pizza," Jenna called after her as she began to follow before the doorbell rang.

"Tonights dinner?" Sarah asked with a teasing grin over her shoulder. Jenna screwed her face to one side sarcastically before turning to answer the door as Sarah disappeared into the kitchen. She opened the fridge in time to Jenna opening the front door and grinned to herself when she heard the woman's heart rate increase.

"Hey, Ric," Jenna said with an awkward smile to her voice.

"Hi," Alaric replied as stepped in.

Still grinning, Sarah closed the fridge door and opened up the small cardboard box with spaghetti remains inside. Grabbing herself a fork, she quickly picked up the awkward silence coming the hallway. Twisting the spaghetti remain around the fork, Sarah made her way towards the archway and leaned against the wall to listen. From their heartbeats alone it was easy to tell they liked each other, a lot. But both had so much background noise that nether could easily admit it. Jenna had her bad history with men and Alaric had a dead vampire wife. Sad how all that could probably be solved if they just told Jenna the truth. But Elena and Jeremy both agreed they didn't want Jenna to know. She worried about them both enough as it was, no need to add supernatural panic into the equation.

"It's been a while," Jenna finally said when the awkwardness became too much.

"Well, the school has been keeping me busy," Alaric said sheepishly. Yet another obvious lie, though Jenna didn't seem to mind. It was just small talk after all.

"I want you to know it means a lot to me that Elena has a connection to her mother. I appreciate you bringing her along today," Jenna then added, just like the good guardian she was. Always looking out for her niece and nephew and always happy when something went their way.

"Yeah, I figured it was time to take care of my wife's things you know," Alaric said sheepishly before yet another awkward silence took over. Sarah continued eating, waiting patiently until Alaric finally continued, hope in his voice as he did. "Look Jenna, I know things between you and I have been a little start and stop and I'm sorry for that but maybe once I can-"

"Eh, no," Jenna swiftly cut in, certainty in her voice. Sarah perked up at that, surprised at how Jenna was turning down the man she clearly had an attraction for. Peering around the corner to see what was going on, Sarah watched as Jenna smiled softly at the confused Alaric. "Don't do that. Not the half maybe apology hope for the future thing." Alaric bowed his head in respect and forced a smile. Stilling waiting for one of them to say how they felt, Sarah almost jumped with surprise when Damon suddenly honked the horn from outside.

"Impatient dumbass," Sarah grumbled, as she tried to glare around the corner without Alaric are Jenna noticing her.

"Elena, Scarlett! Are you two coming?!" Jenna called up the stairs before looking back to Alaric. His eyes had never left her and she new it. She smiled back at him, the same hopeful smile he had once and for a moment Sarah though one of them might just say what they both wanted too. "Do what you need to do okay." Oh, come on! Sarah groaned in her head. They least they could have done was kiss. If they continued being this stubborn then she was going to have to compel one of them. She couldn't stand to see this dance much longer.

Almost a minute passed and still neither Elena or Scarlett appeared. The awkwardness then got the better of Alaric and he ducked his gaze, reaching back to scratch his neck as he said, "I'll…just wait outside." Jenna didn't say anything, remaining quiet as Alaric walked out the open front door.

"You should have kissed him," Sarah said, surprising Jenna as she turned to find the teenager stood next to her, still eating the leftover spaghetti. Acting casually, Sarah continued to chew, staring out the front door as Jenna's stare slowly turning into a frown.

"Quiet being noisy," Jenna said bitterly as she folded her arms, looking out the front door. Then suddenly she turned and snatched the leftovers from Sarah as she finished off what was left on her fork. Sarah had seen it coming, and could have easily held onto the container, but seeing as Jenna was having some bad luck in her love life, Sarah let her have this one. "And stop eating my leftovers." Sarah turned to her friend, fork still in mouth. She pulled it out and began to smile, and slowly Jenna's angry frown depleted and she smiled back at her friend, thankful for the distraction.

"You doing okay?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah… I just hate men and their baggage," Jenna sighed as she stared down at the container in her hands.

"Tell me about it sister," Sarah sighed before patting Jenna on the back, smiling as she stepped outside. The sound of Elena, Stefan and Scarlett hopping down the stairs shortly followed and Jenna bid them all goodbye before remaining at the door to watch them leave.

"Sorry you can't come too, Stef," Damon said smugly. Of the four of them making their way over to the car, which Damon was leaning against, three began to glare at him. Sarah was the only one who shot him a disapproving look, stopping at the sidewalk and folding her arms.

"Can't you ever just be civil?" Sarah asked, while Scarlett opened the back door and Alaric made his way around to the other side of the car. Elena then passed her bag to Scarlett who placed it in the back seat next to her own, since she and Elena were sharing the back. Like the big child he was, Damon had called shotgun and Alaric was driving, leaving the girls with no other option than to sit in the back.

"I can answer that question with an 'N' and an 'O'," Scarlett said from inside the car, making Sarah and the others smirk as Damon scowled over his shoulder at the teenager.

"Does she really have to come?" groaned Damon, turning back to his sister and brother.

"Yes," they both said in unison after a sharing a mildly smug look. They had to take their victories with Damon where they could. "And don't antagonise her. You've already pissed her off enough as it is," Sarah warned.

"Same goes for Elena," Stefan added with a glare to back up his words.

"Jeez, you two are worse than mom and dad," Damon groaned with an eye roll as he climbed into the car.

With Damon in the car along with Alaric and Scarlett, Stefan turned to Elena, smiling sympathetically. Sarah knew he'd rather be going with her, he clearly still didn't like leaving her and Damon alone. He trusted Elena, but the same couldn't be said for their brother. But Caroline needed him and Sarah if she was going to get through her transition. And Elena could more than look after herself with Scarlett and Alaric around to back her up with Damon went too far.

"Call me if you need anything," Stefan said before Elena pulled him into a goodbye kiss. Sarah turned away politely, waiting until the two finished before turning to wave Elena off. As the young brunette walked around the car, she waved back before getting into the car with her road trip crew. Damon then leaned out his window, his smug smile seeing his siblings off as he waved goodbye gleefully. Both Sarah and Stefan ignored him, waiting on the sidewalk until the car was out of sight.

After their brother and friends had left, Sarah and Stefan didn't have long to wait around as they'd arranged to meet Bonnie at the Grill. They had a plan on how to help Caroline, but in order to see it come to fruition, they'd need Bonnie's skills as a witch. It was risky and they knew it, but they'd tried the other way with Vicki and…well, none of them wanted a repeat of that, except maybe Damon. So they were trying to teach Caroline the way they had both learned. But to do that they needed one thing first.

"I don't know how to make a day-walking ring," Bonnie said after she'd sat down with Sarah sand Stefan, and they'd explained their plan to her.

Sarah and Stefan shared a look after Bonnie's response. This might not be as easy as they'd hoped it would be.

"Emily made ours," Stefan began to say calmly, turning back to Bonnie along with Sarah as they both leaned down on the table. "The instructions must be in the Grimoire."

"Which we left with you last I checked," Sarah added with a pointed look.

Bonnie began to look between the two before unleashing a sigh. "That doesn't mean I can cast the spell." She was holding back, Sarah could see it and so could Stefan. They both knew why too but neither was going to out right say it and risk losing Caroline's daylight ring before they even got it.

"Bonnie, you know how to drop vampires with a single look, okay? I think you can figure it out," Stefan said as he leaned forwards.

"Caroline killed someone. I can't make it easier for her to do it again," whispered Bonnie angrily as she leaned towards the two. Sarah wasn't surprised she was still mad about that. The witch probably didn't even blame Caroline, not completely any way. Judging by what Sarah had heard, it sounded like she blamed the Salvatores more than Caroline, especially Damon. She was more willing to tolerate Stefan and Sarah because of their good relationships with Elena. Damon of course had lost any relationship with Elena the second he killed Jeremy. Even if he kept insisting he knew Jeremy had the Gilbert ring on.

"No," Stefan said firmly before then trying to get his point across to Bonnie. "We're not making it easier for her, we're just giving her the chance to survive. Listen, every day that she's cut off from her old life, from you, from Elena, from Matt, it'll make it that much harder for her to hold on to her humanity."

"Think of it like this. The more alone she feels, the more she's going to want to give into her urges, to feed, to kill. The only way she stands a chance against that is if we all help her fight those urges. That's going to be a lot harder if she can only be with her friends at night," Sarah pointed out in assistance to her brother. She could see Bonnie wanted to agree with them, but she was human and couldn't help but worry about the innocent. She was a good witch in that sense, trying to keep the balance, but Caroline was her friend, surely she wouldn't turn her back on her.

"And how do either of you know she won't hurt anyone else?" Bonnie asked.

"We don't," Stefan said with a shrug. "But if we don't do everything we can to help her or at least trust the fact that she can keep it together, we might as well just stake her right now."

"I don't know if I can trust her, not with this," admitted Bonnie.

"Alright, let me make this clean and simple for you Bonnie," Sarah said, eager to get a move on, and quite frankly getting sick of the debate on vampire moral. She'd heard it often enough and after the first few decades, you get sick of hearing it. Mostly because it's you that's taking about it to yourself the whole time.

"Is Caroline your friend?"

"Yes, but-"

"Do you want to help her?" Sarah cut in, trying to get Bonnie to shut up and agree rather than start another philosophical debate.

"Obviously, but I can't just-"

"Can't just what? Give her the ability to walk in sunlight, something you take for granted," Sarah snapped, finding herself worked up before she even realised. She quickly felt Stefan's gaze on her, silently asking her not screw this up for Caroline, but Sarah knew what she was doing and knew how to get Bonnie to agree with them.

"Look," Bonnie cut in firmly so that Sarah wouldn't interrupt her this time. "I want to help my friend. But giving her this ring just makes her more dangerous."

"And will make her feel more normal," Stefan added.

"Maybe, but I'm not willing to risk that."

"Well then I guess you've made up your mind," Sarah said before grabbing the chair next to her and flipping it on it's side. The Grill was quiet so no one saw and Sarah didn't make enough noise to attract any attention. Then, as quietly as she could, she snapped of one of the four wooden legs before placing it on the table before Bonnie. "There you go. Now you kill her."

"What?"

"You think she can't be trusted? You think she's a danger? Then you put her down," Sarah said with a steely glare to match Bonnie's startled one.

"I'm not going to kill my best friend," Bonnie snapped.

"But you're not going to help her either. Sorry, Bonnie, but no. In the supernatural world people die all the time, innocent people. But you don't like that so your plan is to stick your head in the sand and let your best friend suffer alone. Well I'm tell you that's not an option. You either help you friend, or kill the murder you think she is. Time to pick."

"No," Bonnie said firmly, matching Sarah's steely glare with her own.

"Fine then." Sarah grabbed the stake from the table and stood. "I'll kill her for you. Wouldn't want to get blood on those witchy hands of yours." She turned to leave but found a hand latching onto her wrist. She knew instantly it was Bonnie's and let her hold her back.

"Alright…I'll help," Bonnie conceded as Sarah turned back with a small smile.

"Thank you," she said as Bonnie smiled uncertainly back at the two vampires, hoping she was making the right choice. Sarah knew she was.

Glaring at the seat ahead of her, Scarlett sat with her arms folded, her feet pressing against the back of the seat in front. Damon had told her several times to put her feet down, but when no one backed him up and Scarlett continued to glare at him, he backed off. Even Alaric wasn't fussed over her damaging the seat. He mostly just didn't want to get between Damon and the two women who hated his guts the most. At least that's what Scarlett thought.

For the most part the car ride was quiet. Music coming from the radio and Damon and Alaric continued to switch between stations, bickering each time they did. In between that, Damon kept trying to start up a conversation with Elena, but she wasn't having it.

"How you doing back there?" asked Damon, reaching back to nudge Elena's knee. She slide over in her seat as a response. "You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."

"I don't think she's pretending," scoffed Alaric. "You did kill her brother, who also happens to be her boyfriend," Alaric pointed out as he pointed to Elena and then to Scarlett.

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement. He came back to life," Damon pointed out with the usual smug smile. He was lucky their were witnesses in the car. Otherwise Scarlett would have dug her claws into Damon's neck and slit his throat then and there before ripping out his heart. Just like he'd done to her before Jeremy thankfully came back. And Scarlett wasn't the only one feeling that way.

"Yeah, thanks to a ring that you didn't know he was wearing," Elena said coldly, gazing out her window and doing her best to ignore Damon.

"Why are you so sure I didn't know?" Damon asked, looking into the back seat.

Elena finally looked to him, locking eyes with the vampire, while Scarlett peered around the seat to watch Damon's face, just as Elena was. "Did you?" Elena asked, straight to the point.

"Yes," Damon said confidently with a smirk. Hearing the blip in his heart, Scarlett didn't hesitate to kick the back of Damon's seat as hard as she could. "What the hell?" the vampire grumbled as he leaned around his seat to glare at Scarlett. She just glared back, screwing up her face until Damon turned back around in his seat. He mumbled some spiteful thing and Scarlett's glare intensified.

"You're lying," Elena then declared as she turned to look out the window once more.

"Elena, I saw the ring!" Damon exclaimed as he turned back in his seat only to have Scarlett fiercely kick his chair again. "Alright, what's your problem?" snapped Damon as his icy glare fell on the werewolf, only to find similar cold blue eyes staring back at him. Scarlett wasn't going to let him shut her up, not about this. She'd warned him that she would never forgive him for murdering Jeremy and first chance she got she'd get him back for it. Especially when she knew the truth. He had meant to kill Jeremy that night. He just got lucky.

Breaking away from the intense look Scarlett was giving him, he looked to Elena once more, trying again to get her to talk to him. "Elena, look, I'm telling you. I'm sorry I killed him, but I knew he'd come back." Another strong kick to the back of his seat and Damon swung towards Scarlett again. "Will you stop doing that!"

"Stop lying then!" Scarlett shot back. Damon fell quiet at that, almost like he knew that she knew the truth. Shortly after he turned away, sitting back into his seat as the car fell quiet once more. But even then, Scarlett continued to glare at Damon's seat, keeping her feet pressed against the back. Reminding him that she was still there. Waiting.

"So I don't get to choose the ring I have to wear the rest of my life?" Caroline complained as she held the ring that would become her daylight ring in her hand. But since Bonne was still yet to spell it, they left all the curtain drawn, like they'd been when they first entered. The poor girl was probably terrified at this stage, trapped in her own home for the fear of the sun, knowing that her mother could return at any time and throw open the curtains only to burn her daughter alive. But that wasn't going to be a problem for much longer.

They'd been luck enough to find a ring that contained all the right materials, but Caroline didn't seem as happy as the rest of her friends. Sat on the bed, pouting as she stared in distaste at the ring in her hand before then looking up at Bonnie with the same look. The witch was stood at the end of the bed, spell book in hand while the newbie vampire was sat with her legs folded. Sarah was stood next to Caroline by her bedside and Stefan was on the other side, sat in an armchair. Of course none of them had been that surprised by Caroline's response.

"Hey, if you don't want it…" Bonnie began, glancing down at the grimoire in her hands, reading over the spell one more time before Stefan spoke up on Caroline's behalf.

"No, no. She wants it."

Caroline sighed in defeat. She was smart enough to know she didn't have many options and that if she wanted to walk in the sun again she'd have to take what she could get. This was just her heightened personality kicking in. She'd be like this for a while, bursts of the old Caroline breaking through in full force until she adjusted to her new life. "Now what?" Caroline muttered.

"Now is the part where I explain the rules. The witch who spells the ring, has the power to de-spell it, so if you ever do anything to hurt anyone–" Sarah rolled her eyes. The little witch just couldn't help herself, feeling so righteous and above even her best friend, just because she was a witch and Caroline a vampire. Sarah just hoped this wouldn't last much longer, otherwise Bonnie would be come a real pain to be around.

"I'm not gonna hurt anyone," Caroline snapped defensively.

"You're a vampire. That means the urge to kill is apart of who you are," Bonnie said with a glare.

"Yes, yes, yes, we get it. Vampires are pure evil and we're all savage murderers," Sarah cut in with a groan, folding her arms as she glared at Bonnie. "Now can you please help your friend?" Bonnie glared back, narrowing her eyes. But she backed off, turning to Caroline before motioning for her to hand over the ring.

"Bonnie, you're supposed to be my friend," Caroline said pitifully as she looked up at her friend that now seemed to hate her guts.

"I can't ignore what happened, okay? If you want to be friends, you have to prove that the Caroline I remember isn't gone," Bonnie said as she stared back at Caroline.

"All real friendships have conditions, Caroline," Sarah said snarkily.

"Sarah," Stefan warned. He knew how his sister was when she started talking about something that irritated her. It started with snarky remarks and grew until she got into a full blown argument. But they couldn't afford to argue about Bonnie's views on vampires, or her friendship with Caroline, until they had the daylight ring.

So Sarah backed off, but not before letting out an irritated huff.

"Put the ring on the bed, Caroline," Bonnie instructed. Caroline did as told, putting the ring on the bed in front of her as Bonnie made her way over to the curtains.

"Do you really think I meant to kill that guy at the carnival?" Caroline spoke up, still agitated by how Bonnie was treating her.

"He's still dead," Bonnie said with a pointed look to Caroline. "Now, do you want me to cast the spell or not?" Sarah went to speak but a look from Stefan silenced her. She still pouted but Bonnie didn't seem to notice as she opened the curtain, enough so that day light shone over the ring but didn't touch Caroline. Even so the teenager curled her legs in as a shiver passed over her. Clearly still terrified of the sunlight like a timid animal.

Bonnie then moved to her original position at the bottom of Caroline's bed. Now standing over the ring, Bonnie closed her eyes and began to cast the spell. Caroline eyed Bonnie with confusion while Stefan and Sarah leaned forward, watching Bonnie curiously. Then Bonnie's eyes snapped open and she picked up the ring. "All done," Bonnie said as she held out the ring for Caroline to take.

Cautiously, Caroline took the ring, placing it on her index finger before looking to the older vampires that flanked her on either side. When both shrugged she looked back to Bonnie with half questioning, half mocking look. "So that's it? I mean, nothing witchy happened. You know, no flickering lights, no gust of wind. Have you even done this before?" Caroline asked.

"Caroline," Stefan warned politely as he looked to her.

"What? I just want to make sure that it worked," Caroline argued as she threw out her arms before Bonnie threw open the curtains. With a yelp Caroline dove from the bed as the sunlight hit her, landing at Sarah's feet as she curled up on the floor. Sarah smiled as she looked down at the blonde before she finally realised she wasn't burning.

"You alright there, Caroline?" Sarah asked with a chuckle as Caroline glared up at her. Then she reached up her hand, daring to let the sunlight shine upon her. When she didn't start to burn she stood up, letting her whole body bask in the sunlight, for the first time since she became a vampire. For a brief moment she smiled, letting the warmth of the sun shine upon her. Then she turned to Bonnie with a glare.

"What the hell Bonnie?!" Caroline snapped in outrage at her friend, for risking her life so carelessly.

"She's all yours," Bonnie said with a 'good luck' look to both the Salvatores before closing her grimoire and heading out the door. Caroline glaring after her until she was out of sight. But then she sighed, and begun to smile, looking out her window at the sun. Her eyes then went to her new ring and she began to smile, looking to Stefan as he smiled back.

Now that they had Caroline a daylight ring, all they had to do was train her in to control her urges and they'd be set.

Pulling to a stop outside one of the university buildings at Duke, Scarlett and the others quickly unbuckled before heading inside with Alaric leading the way. It was a nice enough campus, with friendly students that eyed the group curiously as they passed by. Though they mostly seemed to be eyeing Damon who was more than happy to smile back at the girls in particular. It quickly became annoying for both Scarlett and Elena and the two pressed on, side by side to join Alaric before Damon briskly caught up to them.

"So Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomenon is rooted in folklore," Alaric explained as he lead the way, not that Scarlett understood most of what he was saying. She really should try and pay more attention in English. Or whatever it was that Alaric taught.

Alaric led group through the building until the reached an office were a young woman was sitting behind a desk. "Excuse me, hi. I'm Alaric Saltzman, I called either," Alaric said as he introduced himself to the woman who was behind the desk.

"Yes, of course. I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant, comparative folklore," the woman said as she shook Alaric's hand before looking over his companions. But then she honed in on Elena, looking her up and down before pausing as she stared at the girl. Scarlett frowned, hearing Vanessa's heart rate pick up drastically. At first she thought she was mistaken, as Vanessa kept up a friendly exterior, but as she continued to listen it became clear she was right. Vanessa's heart was racing.

"Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys," Vanessa then said as she looked to Alaric once more.

"I'm sorry, these are my friends, Scarlett, Elena and Damon. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition," said Alaric, gesturing to each of his companions as he said their names.

"Oh, please," Vanessa said as she made her way back around the desk, grabbing a set of keys. "Isobel's office is right through there." She motioned to the nearby door before continuing as she walked around the desk. "Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant, and one of the reasons I went onto folklore." With a fond smile she leaned back against the desk, looking down at the keys in her hand before looking back to Alaric. "I have to ask…has there been any news?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Alaric said without missing a beat, his eyes unblinking as he spoke. It was slightly scary how good he was at it. Scarlett could even pick up on the blimp in his heart when he lied.

"It's this way," Vanessa said as she stood up, leading the group towards the locked door before showing them inside. She gestured for them to come in, with Elena walking into the old dusty room first with the rest behind her. Scarlett could tell from one whiff things hadn't changed in the room. The thick scent of settled dust was far too noticeable for her. Then again why would anyone want to come in the storage room of a missing professor?

"I'll grab the light, feel free to look around. It's fascinating isn't it?" No one said anything in response. They just broke up into groups and began looking around the room. Damon headed straight for the nearby desk, clatter in with varieties of bones, picking up the skull and turning it over in his hands. Alaric made his way for a stack of boxes, most of which he was probably familiar with seeing as he'd apparently re-read most of them after Isobel's disappearance. It was those documents of research that helped him become a vampire hunter.

As for Scarlett she followed Elena over to a shelf of strange foreign artefacts and began sniffing while Elena searched with her eyes. Other than the dust, there wasn't much for her noise to pick up on. Irritably she was going to have to help the old fashioned way, without any short cuts from her supernatural werewolf side. So she joined Elena in her search upon the shelves, in case anything important leapt out at them from the get go.

"Where'd she go?" Damon asked suddenly. Elena turned to see what he was talking about, but then suddenly gasped in horror. Scarlett turned at the noise and then saw why Elena had gasped, because Vanessa was pointing a loaded crossbow right at her.

Without thinking Scarlett shoved Elena aside, taking up the spot she once had right as Vanessa fired. Scarlett braced herself for the arrow to pierce her chest but then found Damon in front of her, groaning as the arrow sunk into his back. With another groan of pain Damon dropped to floor before Scarlett. She barely acknowledge it though, her eyes going to the immediate threat, Vanessa. But she didn't get the chance to attack as Alaric was on Vanessa before her, knocking the crossbow aside before pinning Vanessa against the wall.

"You alright there, Damon?" Alaric called over to the downed vampire.

"Let me check," Scarlett said before kicking Damon in the chest, prompting him to groan in more pain. "Yeah, he's alive," Scarlett deduced before stepping over the vampire and making her way over to Alaric.

"Elena, could you give him a hand. I'm going to take Vanessa here into the other room," Alaric said before pulling Vanessa from the wall and pushing her towards the door. Still holding onto her arm, which he'd twisted behind her back to prevent her from running.

"Sure," Elena groaned as she helped Damon up, sharing an irritated look with Scarlett before the teenage werewolf followed Alaric into the next room.

"Sit down," Alaric ordered as he pushed Vanessa towards the chair in front of the desk. But the second she got her footing, she tried to make a run for it. Alaric wasn't fast enough to catch her, but Scarlett was, darting out before tripping Vanessa up with a swift kick to the leg. The woman toppled down and before she could recover, Scarlett hauled her up with her supernatural strength and then shoved her back over to Alaric.

"Thanks," said Alaric, a little surprised by how quickly Scarlett had reacted and by how well she'd done.

"You're welcome," Scarlett replied while Vanessa continued to thrash around in Alaric's grasp.

"I said, Sit!" Alaric snapped as he shoved Vanessa into the seat, pushing her back down when she tried to get back up.

"Please!" Vanessa snapped, raising her hands in surrender. Alaric backed off, but remained close enough to grab her if she made another attempt to escape. As for Scarlett she stepped up to Alaric's side, watching Vanessa with folded arms as she blurted out her excuse for trying to kill, her, Elena and Damon. Damon she was fine with, but she was a little bitter about herself and Elena.

"I freaked out okay? Alright, you would have done the same thing, it's not possible! Katherine Pierce can't be alive and Damon Salvatore died in 1864, okay? I read Isobel's research."

"Well then you should know just how possible this is," Alaric said as he sat down on the edge of the nearby desk. For a moment they just let Vanessa absorb that, while she breathed heavily. Until Scarlett heard Elena and Damon enter the room. She looked back and shared a smile with Elena as she stepped up to her side.

"You okay?" Elena asked, resting her hand on the young teenager's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

"Thanks to you," Elena said with a grateful smile.

"And thanks to me, you're both aright," Damon said smugly as he smiled at the two, only to receive matching glares as a thank you. The three then turned their attention back to Vanessa, who was staring in awe at Elena.

"I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and a descendant of Katherine Pierce," Elena began to explain. Still amazed that any of this was real, Vanessa looked to Alaric and Scarlett as if to confirm it. They both nodded in agreement before Vanessa turned her attention back to Elena. "And this is Damon Salvatore," said Elena with a nod to Damon. "Who you just shot."

"I'd be extra nice to me right now," Damon said with a menacing glare.

"Don't bother with him, he's a jackass and frankly I for one am glad you shot him," Scarlett said with a friendly smile to Vanessa. It may have pissed Damon off immensely but it managed to cheer Vanessa up a little.

"Look, we need your help, okay. We need to see all of Isobel's research, anything related to Mystic Falls," Elena explained as Vanessa's eyes darted from face to face, trying to wrap her head around the supernatural world she'd just discovered was real.

"And if I don't help?" Vanessa asked nervously.

"Then I kill you," Damon said eagerly.

"No, no. No one is going to kill you," Alaric promised, raising his hands to both Damon and Vanessa as to calm them both down.

"Though if you ask nicely, I'll help you kill Damon," Scarlett said in sarcastic sweetness.

"Me too," Elena agreed as Damon shot the two women to his right irritated glares.

"But if you don't want to help then you can leave. But just let us research what we came here to research," Alaric asked politely, looking to her sympathetically along with Elena and Scarlett. Damon just continued to eye her up like a happy meal.

"Well it will go a lot faster if I help," Vanessa decided with a smile to the group. They then each brought a box of papers through and set to work searching through Isobel's old researching. Keeping an eye out for any mention of Katherine Pierce or Werewolves.

"So what do I do when I see the rabbit?" Caroline asked as she walked through the forest. Sarah smiled, watching the blonde as she and Stefan flanked Caroline on either side. After her initial rejoice over being able to go outside again, they taken her out of town and into the woods. Surprisingly enough, she had a pretty good handle on her blood lust for a newbie vampire. She was conveying a natural outward appearance, but being a vampire herself, Sarah knew she was starving on the inside. The first days were always the worst and without someone to guide you it can get pretty messy. It had been for her until Lexi showed up. At least Caroline had her and Stefan to begin with.

"Chase it, catch it, feed on it," Stefan listed off his three step programme as he kept in line with Caroline and Sarah.

"Isn't killing cute defenceless animals the first step in becoming a serial killer?" Caroline asked.

"Yes, but you'll find vampire trumps serial killer, so this is more of a step backwards when you think about it," Sarah pointed out, making Caroline giggle.

"Caroline, if you're not serious about all of this I think you should tell us now," Stefan said sternly as he folded his arms, coming to a stop.

"And welcome, buzzkill Stefan," groaned Sarah with a glare to her brother as she and Caroline turned to face Stefan, who was looking non to happy with either of them.

"I am," Caroline promised Stefan. "I swear that I am okay? But it's just…I haven't been in the sun for days and everyone is at the swimming hole having fun and Matt is there! And he finally told me that he loved me but I have been blowing him off and now you want me to eat bunnies and I'm kind of freaking out okay?!" The sudden break down of Caroline started off as sweet and innocent. Sarah was even on the verge of feeling sorry for the girl, before she began to laugh along with Stefan.

"And now you're both laughing at me," sighed Caroline, slapping her sides.

"No, no, I'm not laughing," Stefan quickly said.

"I am," Sarah said in complete honesty, holding back her laughter.

"None of this is funny, trust me. It's just that…" Stefan tried to say before he paused, holding back his chuckle which only made Sarah start laughing again. Knowing that her brother was trying to be polite but only making things worse as Caroline glared at him.

"What?" she finally snapped in patiently.

"When someone becomes a vampire, all their natural behaviours get sort of, uh, amplified," Stefan explained with a few awkward gestures to Caroline as he spoke.

"What's he saying?" Caroline asked, turning to Sarah who'd just began to gain control of her laughter.

"I mean…" Stefan began, pausing when both women turned to him. He then gestured to himself. "As a human, I cared deeply for people, how they felt. If they were hurting I felt their pain and I felt guilty if I was the one who caused it."

"And I cared deeply for my family, and felt miserable when we were apart. So when I became a vampire that got magnified," Sarah explained, watching as Caroline pieced it together in her head.

"So, you're saying that now, I'm basically an insecure, neurotic control freak, on crack?" Caroline declared with a nervous shake to her voice.

"Well, I wasn't gonna say it like that…" Stefan said slowly.

"But, yeah, that's a pretty accurate description," Sarah added more affirmatively, making Caroline moan aloud. "But don't worry, I'm sure no one will notice," Sarah teased, with a grin, wrapping her arm around Caroline's shoulders as the blonde continued to mope.

"Hey, listen, lets hunt okay," Stefan said firmly as he stepped towards the newbie vampire and his sister, a friendly smile on his face. "And then after that, we'll go to the swimming hole."

"Really?" Caroline asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Matt is the closest connection that you have to your humanity and I think that being around him is a good thing."

"Okay," Caroline said, now bouncing at the prospect of getting to see her boyfriend again after so long apart.

"Go, Stef," Sarah added with a grin. "Finally decided to live life on the fun side, I see."

"Oh, I know how to have fun," Stefan said with a competitive grin.

"Really? Alright, how about a little bet then," Sarah said with a look to Caroline. "Me and Caroline versus you, first to find a rabbit gets ten bucks?" she suggested.

"You think you can beat me at rabbit hunting?" Stefan joked pointing to himself as he stepped back.

"It's that kind of talk that got Elena to fall in love with him," Sarah loudly whispered to Caroline, making the girl burst out laughing.

"Ha, ha," Stefan said sarcastically.

"Come on, might as well make a game out of it, make it feel more natural for Caroline," Sarah argued, gesturing to the vampire she still had her arm wrapped around.

"Alright, you're on," Stefan decided.

"Good… Off you go, leaving us girls to do our thing," Sarah said waving her brother off. He smirked before vanishing in a blur. "You ready to have a go?" Sarah asked and once Caroline nodded they set to work.

Quickly Sarah discovered the problem with her training Caroline in rabbit hunting. She sucked at it. Hardly surprisingly considering she behaved like a normal vampire and her brother insisted on feeding off animals like some kind of vampire vegetarian. Even so she was nowhere near as frustrated as Caroline, who started shouting when she couldn't catch a single rabbit. It was just the lack of blood, Sarah could hear her insides turning, needing another hit. Sooner or later she'd catch a rabbit but for now she needed something to keep her going or else she might end up over the edge.

"God," Caroline sighed, kneeling down in the dirt as she watched yet another rabbit vanishing into a burrow.

"Hey, relax," Sarah said, coming up behind her. "Stefan's diet may be stupid, but it's good for building restraint."

"I'm just so hungry?" Caroline groaned, hugging her stomach.

Sarah looked around, trying to see if Stefan was nearby. There was no sign of him, and she couldn't hear his heartbeat. Assuming they were good she knelt down next to Caroline and reached into her jacket, pulling out a blood bag. "Here, have some of this," Sarah offered, holding out the blood bag.

Caroline looked at her, eyes instantly locking onto the blood bag, her mouth water as her tongue passed over her lips. But the hesitation was obviously there. "But Stefan said-"

"Stefan says a lot of things, Caroline. But you need this. Animal blood's all well and good but you can't start out like that. You need to get used to the taste of human blood and learn to control yourself around it. Feeding off animals isn't going to help you with that." Caroline still didn't seem sure, but her eyes remained on the blood, tempting her, calling her. "Drink," Sarah said, forcing the bag into Caroline's hands.

The young vampire gave Sarah one last look before ripping open the blood bag and digging into the blood. Her vampire features quickly emerged, eyes filling with blood, fangs tearing even more into the bag as she swallowed as much blood as she could take. It was as if she'd been in the desert for weeks and had now finally found a spring of water. The taste made her groan in pleasure. She squeezed at the end of the bag, trying to force even more into her mouth.

Sarah wasn't taken aback by Caroline's reaction nor did she feel guilty. Caroline needed this to survive and she needed to learn to control her bloodlust with actual blood, not the animal stuff Stefan managed to survive on. Even Lexi, who'd admired Stefan's resolve, couldn't follow him down that path. She like most vampires needed the human stuff but it didn't make her a monstrous serial killer. Hopefully with their help, that's the way Caroline would turn out.

Then suddenly Sarah found herself staring at Caroline in surprise. She'd stopped drinking. With blood still in the bag. And she was holding it out to Sarah. She'd been so surprised, it took her a minute to take the bag back. Caroline held on for a second, hand tightening as well as trembling. Her body fighting against her mind. Eventually though, he mind won out and she released the bag back to Sarah.

"Sorry," Caroline said shamefully, looking down at the ground, her mouth now stained in blood.

"About what?" Sarah asked eagerly, offering Caroline a proud smile when she looked up in confusion. "You just drank human blood and gave it back to me. With leftovers. When I was at your stage, I was drinking people dry." Caroline frowned, not seeming to understand what Sarah was getting at. "This is a good thing, Caroline. It shows you're already getting a handle over you bloodlust. You've still got to practise but hardly any vampire at your stage could stop drinking that quickly."

Caroline began to smile, sitting up proudly as she looked back at Sarah, knowing what she was saying was genuine. Then her smile faded, her eyes lowering as she bit her lip. "Everything alright?" Sarah asked, leaning down to try and meet Caroline's gaze.

"I was just wondering…" Caroline began. Still she hesitated, not wanting to upset Sarah. She still saw her as the big bad vampire, despite her trying to help. It was hard just to shake something like that, especially after how they met, never mind how she stabbed her shortly after she turned, almost killing her.

"Yeah?" Sarah nudged her along, the girl finally looking up to meet her gaze.

"Why'd you mess around with me when we first met…and how come now, you're trying to help me like none of that ever happened." Even as she said it she still seemed scared, like Sarah was going to stab her just for asking. Sarah tried to provide her with as comforting a look as she could, before settling down, making herself comfy.

"When we first met, I was in a very different place, emotionally. Like I told you, because of my love for family, my whole life practically revolves around my brothers. I saw this as a chance to bring them back together, to reunite our family." Sarah then offered Caroline an apologetic look, while the blonde continued to listen with intrigue. "Unfortunately you got caught in the crossfire of all that. Damon turned you into his play thing until Elena give you vervain. But before that I didn't want to upset Damon. I couldn't risk ruining his fun and having him run off. So I let him hurt you, manipulate you and overall turn your life into a living hell. And when I wanted to prove I was on his side and that he could trust me. I helped him do that by feeding off you."

"I am sorry, Caroline. And truth be told it's not the first time I've treated someone like that. There have been times when I did even worse things to try and get on Damon's good side, or even Stefan's."

"–Stefan's?" Carolin cut in with a frown.

Sarah smiled secretively. "He wasn't always the golden boy. He's had his bad days, just like me and Damon."

"What you need to take from this Caroline, is that I'm not a good person. I try not to be a bad person either. Vampire's aren't that different to humans in that regard. We just have to feed of blood and are generally more sensitive creatures. It's because of what we are, that I will always put my family first, over everything else, even my own morality. But when we're together, as a family, like we are now. It does bring out the best in me. Does that answer your question?"

Thankfully Caroline smiled, understandingly. "Yeah, it does. And thanks for telling me."

"It's okay…but say a word to Damon or Stefan, and I'll never give you another blood bag for as long as I live," Sarah warned to which Caroline laughed.

"Deal," she promised before both got back up to their feet. After that they hunted for a little longer and Stefan returned have caught three rabbits. Grudgingly Sarah forked over the money, paying for Caroline as well since it wasn't her fault Stefan was an experienced rabbit hunter. Though his smugness only lasted until Sarah shoved him down a hill and the three began to race around the woods in what transitioned into a violent game of tag. It was worth it though cause in the end Caroline managed to catch her first rabbit. With Stefan's help she then drained it dry but couldn't help but complain about the taste. Stefan reassured her it would grow on her but Sarah strongly disagreed before the two dissolved into arguing. But when Caroline grew impatient she loudly reminded them about the swimming hole and the two siblings stopped arguing long enough to take her to the party.

They drove in Caroline's car, parking on one of the sides roads that lead to the swimming hole on the Lockwood estate. There was already a series of cars ahead of them and they could hear the party from up ahead. The three then climbed out, and Caroline went to the back to retrieve her things from the trunk. Sarah and Stefan joined her, waiting as a large black four by four drove by. Sarah paid no attention, until she noticed Stefan locking eyes with the driver. She followed his gaze and saw that the man driving it appeared to be fairly good looking young man. But from the way he looked at Stefan, she just knew there was something about him she wasn't going to like.

"Why are you looking at him with your serious vampire look?" Caroline asked Stefan, snapping Sarah from her thought as she began to grin.

"My what? My 'serious vampire look'?" Stefan said with a raised brow as he turned away from the road and to Caroline. Hearing him repeat it just made Sarah's smile grow, sharing a look with Caroline before they looked back to Stefan.

"I mean it's different from your worried vampire look," Caroline said.

"And not as obvious as your I have to deal with Damon look," Sarah added.

"Neither of which stray too far from your, 'hey it's Tuesday' look," Caroline teased before the two women began to laugh.

"But that's nothing compared to his, 'oh no, Elena' look," Sarah pointed out to which as the two continued to laugh.

"Oh, I get it, okay. You both think I'm, ah. You think I'm too serious. Is that it?" Stefan asked with a small grin of his own.

"I mean, I wasn't gonna say it like that…" Caroline said with a smirk.

"But, yeah, that's a pretty accurate description," Sarah added affirmatively with a grin to her brother. Then as Stefan shook his head, Sarah and Caroline made their way towards the swimming hole with smiles, before Stefan began to follow. Sarah quickly grabbed herself a red cup with beer and drank. She offered one to Stefan but he didn't take it. Caroline however, did so gladly, downing it with Sarah until she spotted Matt. It would have been fine but Sarah could tell the girl's jealousy had spiked the second she saw the girl with Matt. Sarah recognised her from around the school, her name was Amy if Sarah recalled correctly. And apparently Caroline was not a fan.

Leaving her empty cup behind, Caroline took off towards Matt, a mix of determination and anger in her eyes. Stefan watched her go with a curious look. When he then turned Sarah's way she subtly avoided his eyes and drank from her cup. She wanted to test Caroline, and knowing Stefan he'd want to put a stop to that. But this was too good a chance to pass up, a good test of Caroline's self control in public.

Walking up to Matt, Caroline made herself known and Matt pushed off the truck he was leaning against, giving her his full attention. He'd been happily talking to Aimee and she'd been more than happily talking back. But now that Caroline had joined them, Aimee's face visibly dropped. Maybe Caroline did have a reason to be jealous, Sarah thought, watching along with Stefan as the scene unfolded. Matt began talking to Caroline, irritated by her lack of communication over the last few days. Caroline brushed the topic aside before turning on Aimee. The girl merely said 'hello' and then Caroline started to compel her, ordering her bluntly to, "Go find somebody single to stalk, Aimee."

Stefan was beginning to move as soon as he realised what Caroline was doing, but Sarah quickly pulled him back to her side. She set him stern teasing look and grinned, still holding him in case he tried to move again. With his insistence on drinking animal blood over human, he was still no match for her strength wise. So if she wanted him to stay, he was staying. "It's not like she told her to jump of a bridge?" Sarah pointed out.

"That doesn't make it right," Stefan snarled, leaning over towards his sister.

"God, your uptight," Sarah groaned, rolling her eyes as she drank from the cup. Stefan took the opportunity to throw off his sister's hand, making his way over to Caroline and Matt. Finishing off the cup, Sarah crunched it in her hand before discarding it and following her stubborn brother. By the time they got close enough to speak, Matt had already stormed off, annoyed by Caroline's jealousy.

"Hey, I saw that. You compelled her," Stefan shot out as he approached Caroline with Sarah right behind him. Caroline hardly seemed to care that Stefan was practically scolding her, she was still looking off after Matt.

"Yeah, she deserved it," Caroline replied bluntly as she folded her arms and leaned back against the truck.

"Caroline, nobody deserves to have their mind messed with for shallow reasons," Stefan said pointedly.

"You know, why is everyone sticking up for Aimee freaking Bradley?" Caroline snapped, making Sarah grin as Caroline and Stefan glared off against each other.

"You talk to her," Stefan said, gesturing to his sister as he stepped back and Sarah stepped up to Caroline's side, leaning against the truck alone with her.

"Well first of, nice technique, you come up with that all on your own?" Sarah asked, folding her arms as Caroline turned to her with a frown. "Your compulsion technique," Sarah clarified with a smile.

"It just sort…of came to me," Caroline admitted with a shy shrug.

"Then you're a natural," Sarah said admirably, prompting Caroline to beam back at her elder. "You commands however, could use a little work. Me, I would have told Aimee to put ten or twenty pounds." Caroline laughed at that but Stefan slapped his sister on the arm, gaining her attention as he glared back at her.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm helping Caroline here by encouraging her to embrace her vampire side," Sarah answered as if it were obvious.

"No. No, you're encouraging her to manipulate people with compulsion so that she gets her way," Stefan argued.

"So what, we do it all the time," Sarah shrugged.

"No, Katherine did it all the time," Stefan said pointedly. Whether he meant to cross that line or not, it didn't matter, Sarah quickly lost all amusement and fixed her brother with a deadly glare. She could feel Caroline shrink beside her, but that wasn't why she was mad, not even because he mentioned her name. But because he was comparing them, or rather her, to Katherine.

"Caroline, go and socialise," Sarah ordered, not even bothering to look the girl in the eye as she maintained eye contact with her brother.

"O-O-Okay," Caroline said slowly, picking up on the tension before walking off to find some of her other friends.

"Now that she's gone, I'll give you one chance to apologise," Sarah said bluntly.

"For what?" Stefan shot back.

"For comparing me to Katherine," Sarah said angrily as she jabbed her finger into Stefan's chest, pushing him back. "I won't deny I've compelled my fair share of people and forced them to do things they wouldn't normally do. But I have never done what she did. I've never inserted myself into someone's life, messed with their head so much they don't know right from wrong. I've never turned a family against each other the way she did!" That deflated Stefan a little, but he still wasn't backing down on this.

"Alright. I'm sorry for comparing you to Katherine. It wasn't right, but that doesn't make me wrong." In a blur movement, Sarah grabbed Stefan by his shirt and swung him around, shoving him against the side of the truck with warning in her eyes. "I'm just saying," Stefan continued, grabbing onto his sister's wrists, holding her equally as still as she was holding him. "We have to set boundaries for Caroline. Otherwise what's stopping her from becoming like Katherine when she's older and stronger."

Sarah didn't like it, but she saw his point. Caroline was like a child at this point, a new born vampire who needed to be taught how to hunt, how to compel and how to survive. This was a whole new life to her, and it was up to them to keep her in check and remind her of who she was and still is. 'Cause when you turn, the heightened emotions can change your entire persona if you're not careful.

"Fine…" Sarah said, letting go of her brother before stepping back, hands held up. She wasn't going to continue this argument, not when it was so pointless and would only get her worked up. So instead she left to find more drink, something she was now in dire need off.