Since I was late last week, I'm once again posting a little early this week. But after this it'll be another two week gap before I move onto the Plan B episode. Sorry. This should change come June. But anyway, this definitely has some of my favourite Damon moments in this chapter, two biggies for him which add on to his development through Sarah's eyes. And Scarlett and Tyler talk I guess. All the good stuff really happened in the previous chapter for her I feel. Sorry about that. But I think you'll all enjoy the Sarah portions in this chapter.

And as always if you want to, please leave a review, they are deeply appreciated and I do my best to reply to everyone, same goes for PMs. Thanks also to the new followers of the story, hope you are still enjoying the story where ever you are!

Chapter 11: Kill or Be Killed

When Sarah next saw her brother, he was talking to another of the volunteers, probably one of the ones in charge. The conversation wasn't exactly long or exciting Sarah didn't both with eavesdropping. What she did catch was mostly just Stefan offering to help and the volunteer explaining where he would be most useful. When it was over, Stefan thanked him for his time and the volunteer walked off as Stefan turned to find Sarah in his path.

"Hey," Stefan greeted, oblivious to the 'we need to talk look' Sarah was giving him. "I was just heading over to help with the painting. Want to join me?"

"Actually…" Sarah began before then spotting Damon over Stefan's shoulder, and more importantly Mason, who he was talking too. "Oh, crap," Sarah sighed, realising she now had potentially another problem on her hands. Stefan turned and when he saw the same thing quickly began making his way over with Sarah at his side. By the time they reached the pair though, the conversation had run its course and Mason had marched off, leaving Damon at the lemonade stand.

"Please tell us that you were just bonding," Stefan said, already knowing that wouldn't be the case.

"Or at least that you were agreeing to the hate each other in mutual silence." Sarah's option seemed more likely, but even then she knew her brother too well. Damon never did anything silently.

"You mean like Stefan and Elena are doing right now?" Damon asked as he turned to face his siblings.

"What are you talking about?" Stefan said calmly, shrugging it off as another of Damon's mind games. Or at least that's what he wanted Sarah to think. But she had a problem with both of them and right now, and Katherine was a much bigger threat than Mason since there wouldn't be another full moon for weeks. Katherine could stumble upon Stefan and Elena's fake break up at any second. Mason couldn't do anything against them, no matter how pissed off he was at Damon.

"He's talking about your incredibly fake break up with Elena. I mean come on. 'I can't do this anymore, Elena'," Sarah said in her mocking Stefan impression. "'Fine Stefan, whatever'," she then said in her Elena impression before going serious again. "What are you two, twelve?"

"Just drop it," Stefan snarled with a warning glare.

"What, you worried Katherine's going to find out?" Sarah asked mockingly. "Stefan, I've got some bad news for you, you're acting, isn't that great. Katherine will see through you in a second if she hasn't already."

"I though you were mad at him," Stefan said, pointing to their older brother, trying to get the conversation off his fake break up, in case anyone was listening in.

"I am," Sarah said.

"Excuse me?" Damon said as he turned to his sister.

"Well if you'd thought this through, for once in your life, then we wouldn't have a problem with Mason right now, and we could all focus on Katherine. Now our attentions are divided," Sarah snapped angrily at her brother.

"I think if anyone's divided her, Sis, it's you," Damon said with a smug grin that didn't reach his eyes as he pocked Sarah.

"Excuse me?" Sarah snapped back in offence.

"As I recall, weren't you the one that brought a killer werewolf into the house."

"Scarlett wasn't going to kill you!" Sarah snapped, her teeth practically grinding against each other with rage. Why was her brother so damn paranoid, why couldn't he trust anyone, even his own family? Answer, he was a complete and utter idiot, as Sarah had concluded several times over her life. But pointing it out again wasn't going to help her point.

"But she could have by accident," Stefan pointed out.

"Oh my God!" Sarah shouted as she wheeled on her other brother. How could they be so separated right now, and all for such stupid reasons. Stefan because of his fake break up, Damon because he was out for pointless revenge, and Sarah because her brothers had kicked Scarlett out. All of which would simply be fixed if they just talked, but if Katherine's return had proved anything, it was that Sarah's family wasn't as tight as she thought it was. She'd been wanting them back together for so long, that when it finally happened she just decided to ignore the cracks in the foundation, hoping they'd fade with time. Now Katherine was exploiting those cracks, and it seemed like she wasn't even trying to do so. They all knew they had to work together to stop Katherine, and yet they couldn't bring themselves to do it for such childish reasons, despite their age.

"You know if we're going to keep arguing like this, then I'm going to need a drink," Damon said as he plastered on a delightfully and friendly smile.

"We're not arguing," Sarah growled.

"Look up the word in the dictionary, Sis," Damon grumbled, keeping his smile in place as he turned to the young girl behind the lemonade stand.

"Would you like some lemonade?" the girl asked with the naive smile only a child could have.

"Thank you, sweetie," Damon said with all of his usual charm as he took the plastic cup the girl had filled for him. With an ever present grin, Damon took a sip of the lemonade, only to then spit it back out the next second. Both Sarah and Stefan frowned at their brother, thinking it was nothing more than a bad batch of lemonade. But then he continued to cough, and stumbled as if he was about to fall over.

"What's wrong with you?" Stefan asked as he took Damon by one side and Sarah caught him on the other.

"Vervain… Vervain…" Damon spluttered. Alarm swooped in over both Stefan and Sarah's faces. Sarah released her hold, picking up the pitcher of lemonade and sniffing. Vervain. It was full of it. Sarah sat it down, eyes scanning the crowd for anyone watching. It didn't look like anyone was watching them that closely, just looking over in concern and wondering what was going on. No sign of Mason either. Sarah doubted that was a coincidence.

She turned back to her brothers, finding that Stefan had sat Damon down on a nearby bench. Grabbing a bottle of water from the same table, Sarah made her way over to her brothers. She twisted off the top and gave the water a cautious sniff, just to be safe. No trace of vervain. She handed it off to Damon who snatched it. He took a swing, pushed the water around his mouth for a bit and then spiting it out before doing the same again, making sure to get all the vervain out of his mouth.

"I'm gonna kill him," Damon panted out, already having come to the same conclusion as Sarah. He moved to get up but Stefan shoved him back down.

"Listen to me. Sit. Sit," Stefan argued while Damon tried to fight him off but with his recent hit of vervain he couldn't take Stefan on without attracting attention.

"I'm not listening to anymore of your 'give peace a chance' crap. He's dead!" Damon snapped trying to get up once more but Stefan managed to plant his hands firmly on Damon's shoulders and push him down.

"Okay," Stefan finally sighed out, catching both his brother and sister's attention. "I don't like it. But he's making threats. He could expose us. We need to put him down," Stefan finally decided.

"Well this makes a nice chance of pace for once," Sarah said with a satisfied smile as Stefan glanced over at her. He obviously wasn't happy about her enjoying this, but the fact was killing was part of being a vampire. It didn't mean you had to go on a killing spree or even murder everyone you disliked, but it was nice to do it ever now and then. Especially if it was to someone like Mason Lockwood who was just making life difficult for everybody.

"So, how we killing him? Neck snapping, limb extraction, draining him off blood, poison," Sarah began to list off gleefully.

"Sarah," Stefan snarled. He was already uncomfortable with just murdering Mason, there was no way he was going to participate in any form of torturous murder. That was fine though, Sarah had Damon and she'd even let Scarlett get in on the action if she felt it would help her move on.

"I know, how about a good old fashioned burning alive? Haven't seen someone burned alive in awhile."

"Sarah," Stefan snapped again.

"Well, he's heading into the woods now," Damon pointed out through heavy breaths. "So my vote goes for burning him alive."

"That sounds like fun," Sarah agreed, grinning when Stefan sent her a warning glare.

"Great," Damon said as he stood up, patting Stefan's back. "Let's go." He staggered off ahead and Sarah followed with Stefan reluctantly bringing up the rear. Continually looking back to make sure they weren't being followed or that anyone was watching. Normally Sarah might have done the same, but at these sort of things, if you look like you know where you are going and belong there, no body gave you a second glance. Her only focus was making sure the area was clear when they went after Mason.

They found him in a clearing with two trash cans, getting ready to dispose of the waste. Not another soul in sight. The trio quickly surrounded him and then stepped into view. He spotted Damon first, then turned to see Stefan and lastly he looked to a glaring Sarah. "Don't look so surprised. You knew this was inevitable," Damon growled as Mason looked from vampire to vampire.

"I did warn you," Sarah said simply, though she hardly cared. If anything this was going to make her life just that little bit easier, which was always nice.

"Go ahead, run," Damon snarled. "I'll give you a head start."

"Maybe you will," Sarah said, letting her vampire features come out as she hissed at Mason. He looked like he was about to run then, but instead collapsed onto the ground. Was he seriously playing possum? Sarah wondered right before a strange sounding shot was fired. She heard the impact and Damon's groan and turned to see him staggering, blood seeping from a wound on his chest.

Wooden bullets, Sarah realised. She and Stefan turned only to receive several shots themselves. Sarah got one in her right knee, one in her chest, close to the heart and third to her left shoulder. Stefan got it far worse, three precise shoots to his chest. He dropped like a log. Sarah managed to stay standing a little longer, but only long enough to take another shot along with Damon before both collapsed onto the ground.

It was then their attackers emerged from the woods. The sheriff and two of her deputies, both holding guns and needles. Sarah groaned in pain along with Damon as the Sheriff said her thanks to Mason. A trap. Of course it had been a trap. So stupid! Sarah tried to move but the wood was like a paralysing agent, making her whole body stiff and sore, like she'd just done some crazy intense work out for six hours straight.

For where she was lying, face down, she could see Stefan was hardly breathing. She tried to crawl to him but made it barley even half an inch. She'd been caught by surprise, they all had. She was helpless as the sheriff injected vervain into Stefan, knocking him out if he wasn't already. She then did the same to Sarah, making sure to avoid her arms and head. The needle pricked her back and the next thing Sarah felt was a burning sensation throughout her body, before the pain knocked her out.

"So…you're a werewolf too?" Tyler asked slowly. He recovered from his rage induced state, and the shock of what had happened had worn off too. Now he was leaning back against the couch with his drink in one of his folded arms. Opposite him, leaning against his dad's old desk, was Jeremy and Scarlett, who'd given him a ran down of everything he needed to know. Which was basically everything his uncle already knew excluding the vampire stuff.

"Yes," Scarlett answered again in a droned out voice.

"But your different to one like my uncle."

"Yes. I can change whenever I want, he can only change under a full moon, like you already knew." That was one handy thing about this exchange, Tyler had told them everything Mason had told him. And it actually helped fill in quite a few gaps. For one thing, Scarlett now knew what had triggered her werewolf state. It had been the killing of her uncle, like she and Sarah suspected, but it was nice to have it confirmed. It also backed up what Mason had said, so at least if he was lying he was lying to both of them which would lead to double the trouble if he got discovered.

There was an awkward pause from Tyler as he contemplated his next question. He'd been doing that a lot. Considering what he was about to say because of how insane it sounded. And yet Scarlett and Jeremy had barely batted an eyelid at him when he said it, never mind calling him crazy. Because it all made sense to them.

"Who did you kill to trigger your curse?"

Scarlett was hesitant to answer that one. She had no problems with the fact she'd killed her uncle. It'd never really bothered her all that much in fact, he'd had it coming. But answering Tyler gave him information that could get her thrown in jail if he really wanted to try. But if he did that he'd soon find Sarah at his doorstep, and since he didn't know about her, he'd be doubly surprised when she ripped his throat out. In the end it was Jeremy that managed to convince her though, simply by taking her hand in his and offering her a supportive smile.

"It was my uncle," Scarlett answered.

"I'm sorry," Tyler said, bowing his head.

"I'm not," Scarlett said carelessly, making Tyler look up sharply. "Guy was a dick and treated me like crap. Only took me in to get at what my mom left me." Tyler genuinely looked sorry about that, but didn't say anything. Probably didn't know what to say, and rather than say something stupid and lame just for the sake of it, he kept his mouth shut for a moment. It was enough for Scarlett to grant him a little of her respect.

"So what about your uncle?" Jeremy then asked, making Scarlett's blood run cold for a second. "Why's he back in town?" Scarlett let out a silent sigh at that, just grateful he hadn't asked about what he and she had done. Not that there was any way he could know and she doubted Mason was stupid enough to brag to Tyler about being with an underage teenager, as a wolf. That was one sure way to end your relationship with your nephew. Unless he was truly screwed up, even by supernatural standards.

"Well, he didn't come back to tell me about all this." Both Jeremy and Scarlett frowned at that, confused as to what the answer would be if not that. "He only told me 'cause I caught him and forced him into telling me," Tyler explained with a ghost of a grin, proud of himself for doing so despite the constant threat that was now hanging over his head.

"So what's he here for then?" Scarlett asked, her curiosity admittedly spiking, despite wanting nothing to do with Mason.

Tyler reached into his pocket and then pulled out a perfect stone that was white and a little bit transparent. Scarlett thought it looked rather pretty, but it was far too perfect at the same time. Something was definitely off about it, and if Mason wanted it then that could mean anything. It could be something for a werewolf, or worse, a weapon against Sarah and the other vampires.

As Sarah began to wake, all she wanted was to slip back into her unconscious state. The vervain was still burning through her and she could feel fresh wounds bleeding. Just opening her eyes made everything ache and groan, as if her whole body was connected to her eyelids. She was on her back and could still feel the wooden bullets from before grinding against her organs. The original wounds had healed over, meaning getting them out was going to be a lot of effort on her own. To make it worse, she had an additional two bullet wounds. One to the chest and one to the lower half of her leg. And she was thirsty. So thirsty.

She managed a groan, but that was it. No way she was going to be forming a coherent sentence for a while, at least without blood. God the burning, it was driving her insane. The itching of sandpaper beneath her skin, her whole body, her very being, on edge. So desperate to feed, to try and make the pain lessen. It'd been a while since she felt like this.

Muffled voices began to speak. She couldn't make out a word, couldn't see who was speaking, couldn't recognise a voice. With all her remaining strength, she managed to roll her head to one side, the side she thought the voices were coming from. Inside she came face to face with a blurry outline of a man. She tried to focus but that only made her eyes water. She closed them, another painful groan coming out. When finally she managed to opened her eyes back up, she saw more clearly who was beside her. Stefan.

He was out cold, she could tell that despite the blueness of his face. He'd have suffered the most from the vervain and wooden bullets. His stupid diet made him particularly weak against things like that. That's why she'd woken up first, because of the human blood in her system, she could recover faster. But now that was all dried up and she needed to refuel. That was the priority over removing the bullets and vervain. Without blood, she wasn't going anywhere.

The muffled voices continued speaking until finally Sarah managed to pick up on what they were saying. "…stake in the heart, then burn them both…" Sarah didn't recognise the voice, still to distorted in her head. She tried to sit up, to move anything so that she could at least attempt to defend herself from what was coming next. The vervain and wooden bullets kept her down though. Stefan was out cold and she couldn't see Damon. If he wasn't already dead he'd be much the same as her, hungry and weak.

The odds of survival weren't looking good for them. Elena and Caroline didn't even know where they where. They'd wondered off. And Ronnie certainly wouldn't be joining them any time soon, even if they were underground. The sun was still up and it'd be hours until sun down.

She kept waiting for that final blow to come but something must have distracted whoever was about to kill them. A commotion of voices broke out and Sarah picked up Elena's voice in the mix. With multiple voices speaking at once, she had no chance of understanding what was being said. She could only assume that Elena had come to try and rescue them. Nice. She was never going to pull it off, but it was nice. Hopefully she'd brought Caroline. The new vampire maybe be young, but she was smart and hungry. Two things that made her very dangerous to whoever had them.

It came back to Sarah then, exactly what had happened and how she'd ended up in the dark underground. They'd been about to kill Mason, but they were abused by the Sheriff and her deputies. And the sheriff was Caroline's mother. The mother she was desperately trying to hide from now that she was a vampire, because that mother hated what she was now and would kill her if she found out. The hopes of a rescue were washed away from Sarah. She liked Caroline, but she was still scared by all this, still adjusting. A few weeks down the line she'd have ran in and saved them. They didn't have a few weeks, and Elena had no chance of stopping three armed officers on her own.

A gust of air shot through the room then. Sarah felt it, air whipping around her. She could vaguely see one of the officers spinning around on his feet. The air whipped by again and Sarah would have grinned if she could. It was Caroline. Playing smartly. Just like Sarah and Stefan had taught her. Sticking to the shadows and confusing her prey as she dashed around them. A scream erupted, echoing around the room, that Sarah now realised was a cave. Gun shots followed. Still not a sound from Caroline. The sound of snapping bone, then a body hit the floor.

Then there was just the laboured breathing of Caroline, fighting for control. It was only her mother left now, and Elena. Sarah wanted to help her control it, but she was on her own. It was down to Caroline and Caroline alone to control herself now. Her choice of feeding, mother or friend. She had to control it now, otherwise they'd both be dead and she'd never recover from that.

Slowly, Caroline's growling and breathing, died down. Then a gun hit the floor. "Hi, Mom," came the soft voice of Caroline. The voice of a guilty child. The sheriff didn't move. Neither did Caroline. Luckily for Sarah, Elena did. She was over to Stefan in an instant, trying to wake him. When he wouldn't wake, she checked he was breathing. He was. Then she turned to Sarah, who did her best to look up at her. She tried to say, 'blood,' but it came out as something unrecognisable. Elena understood though. She dragged the nearest officer over to her and placed his wrist near her mouth. It didn't take much for Sarah's fangs to emerge and bite into him.

The sting of vervain burnt her tongue like some insanely spicy chilly. It didn't matter though. Through that burning there was blood. Sweet, sweet blood. Blackness tried to take her over again but Sarah fought it off, focusing on the sensation that wasn't destroying her mouth. She would heal anyway. And after a while, the stinging stopped and the vervain ran out. But there was still plenty of blood to feed on.

Before she knew it, she'd drained him dry, nothing but a few drops left. He was well and truly dead. Sarah could careless, it was his own damned fault for coming after them. Scratch that, it was Mason's damned fault for setting them up. There was only going to be one dead body, not even that if Mason had just played nice. Now there was two and a third was definitely going to be on the way, once she got her hands on Mason.

Pulling back from the corpse beneath her, Sarah lifted herself up. It was still an effort, the vervain and bullets still making it a challenge to do anything, but she managed to get up onto her feet. She took in the room she was in, not a cave as she'd originally thought, more like a dungeon. Damon was feeding on the second officer, Stefan sat nearby, helped by Elena who was comforting him. She had to look over her shoulder to find Caroline, sat alone in the far corner, her mother further down the wall. Just sitting there. In shock, Sarah presumed, Caroline too.

"Thanks for saving us," Sarah said with a thin smile to Caroline. She returned it halfheartedly.

Sarah then turned her attention to Stefan and Elena. "I presume you're not having any," Sarah stated matter-of-factly at her brother. He managed to lift his head enough to look her in the eye, then dropped it.

"I'm…fine…" he managed to get out.

"Of course you are," Sarah dragged out. She wasn't going to push the matter, not after what happened last time. To force him to feed now would send him back to blood addict Stefan again. He needed to chose on his own to drink blood, and when he wasn't in dire need of it, like now. Like he had been when Elena first gave him her blood. If she was going to get him to feed properly, she was going to have to wait for him to accept her help, and when he was in a health and stable place, blood wise.

"Sarah's right," Caroline spoke up with the same soft voice as before. "If there's ever a time to break your diet…"

"He said he didn't want it," Elena said firmly. Caroline instantly backed down at that, ashamed for having spoken up.

"Well, this is a most unfortunate situation," Damon finally said as he clambered up to his feet, having finished off the second officer. "Two deputies dead–" he gestured to the corpses on the floor and then set his glaring blue eyes on the sheriff. "–and you. What am I gonna do with you?" The sheriff didn't meet his gaze, wouldn't dare, now that she knew what he was, what they all were.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Caroline asked her mother. The sheriff turned to face Caroline, took one look then turned away, tears forming in her eyes. Sarah decided it was best to keep her mouth shut for now, let this play out and hope for the best. But she'd have some things to say to the sheriff if this didn't go their way.

"Mom?" Caroline said hopefully, but still her mother didn't turn to face her. "Mom? Please. Look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right?" Still nothing from her mother. Nothing but hidden tears, which to Sarah were totally unnecessary. "Mom, please… He will kill you." The sheriff looked up at that. Not at Caroline, just at Damon who glowered at her, nodding along with what Caroline said. Sarah moved her gaze onto her brother. No one else was in a position to hold him back if he tried anything. Stefan was injured and Caroline was a wreck. That left her if the sheriff was stupid enough to say something like…

"Then kill me." Sarah closed her eyes, groaning to herself. Nothing was ever easy in her life.

"No!" Caroline shouted in objection as Sarah opened her eyes back up. Damon hadn't moved. He was still watching the sheriff with the same angry glare.

"I can't take this. Kill me now," cried out the sheriff. With that Damon advanced. Caroline rose up, Stefan and Elena tensed and Sarah got ready. He hunched over, hands on knees as he glowered down above the sheriff. Her lower lip trembled as she stared up at Damon's cold blue murdering eyes but she refused to scream.

"But you were going to drag it out so painfully," Damon said, the words holding meaning to him. He then grabbed her, pulling her up to her feet and the whole room jumped. Caroline began babbling out pleas to spear her mother while Stefan and Elena shouted at Damon to stop. Sarah was the only one who actually moved, crossing over to her brother in two steps, hand landing on his shoulder. He wheeled and Sarah froze, finding something different in her brother's eyes.

"Will you all just calm down," Damon groaned out as he glanced at them all. "I'm not killing her." Sarah frowned, completely gobsmacked by what her brother was saying. Especially since not an hour ago he'd been adamant about killing Mason for threatening them. And now he was sparing the sheriff, who also wanted to kill him. It didn't make any sense, at least to Sarah who thought she knew her older brother pretty damned well.

As if hearing the 'why?' his sister was silently asking, Damon turned to her frowning face. His own features softened and Sarah was genuinely surprised by what she saw in his eyes. Compassion. Something that had been lost for so long, something he used to be full of when he was human. Those peaceful blue eyes had come back, just for a moment. As if everything that had happened to him over the past century and a half had just melted away. The maleficence in his eyes, that had built up over the years gone and she saw a glimpse of the brother she'd had back when they were human.

"She's my friend," Damon said simply, before turning to the sheriff–to Liz, and saying, "You're my friend." Sarah couldn't remember the last time Damon had openingly called someone his friend and not meant it in a condemning or joking way. This was serious, life and death serious. He actually cared about whether this woman, Caroline's mother, lived or died. Because she was his friend.

Sarah allowed herself a brief smile, looking at her brother and realising just how far he'd come since they'd all come back to Mystic Falls. How far they'd all come.

Turning the stone over in her hands, Scarlett continued to frown at the perfect stone before her. She still had the feeling it was important, that it had some value, but couldn't understand why. She was thankful Tyler trusted her enough to let her hold it, but it wasn't helping her solve whatever riddles it was hiding from her.

"What is it then?" Jeremy asked, watching Scarlett play with the stone in her hands. Moving it to different angles as she tried to understand what she had in her hands. So complex and so simple at the same time.

"It's a moonstone, apparently," Tyler began to explain. "I looked it up online. It's a natural rock but there supposed to have all sorts of supernatural legends attached to them."

"No way a rock like this is natural," Scarlett murmured as she stared intently at the moon stone. "It's shape's too perfect."

"So why didn't you give it to your uncle Mason?" Jeremy asked when things went quiet.

"Because he wants it. I'm a dick that way," Tyler said smugly. "It's important to him for some reason but I don't trust the guy so I'm not just gonna hand it to him."

"And yet you gave it to me?" Scarlett pointed out, turning her gaze from the moon stone and to Tyler, smirk tickling her lips.

Tyler stared back at her for a moment, not sure why'd he done it, then shrugged. "Guess I trust you both." Scarlett smiled at that. Tyler was a jerk most of the time from what she'd heard but it was still nice to know if he did trigger his curse like her she'd have a werewolf other than Mason to talk too. "I don't suppose you know anything about it?"

"Other than it's a strange rock. Sorry, I got nothing," Scarlett said as she carefully handed the moonstone back to Tyler.

"Found you!" came the playfully drunken shouts of Sara as she ran into the study with Aimee, both catching the back of the couch Tyler was on before they could fall over.

"You three are missing all the drinking," Aimee said in a drunken pout, as she looked from Tyler to Scarlett and Jeremy, who were still leaning against Tyler's dad's desk.

"Or were you three planning on having a threesome?" Sara teased before she and Aimee began to laugh. Jeremy politely joined in and Tyler glared at the two, but Scarlett felt her heart jump up into her throat. She looked over at Jeremy but he seemed fine. Even so, her mind couldn't help but jump to Mason and the horrible thing she'd done. To think of doing that with Tyler as well, she doubted her soul could take that.

"No," was all Tyler said.

"In that case, can I have one?" Scarlett's eyes widened when Sara looked at her and Jeremy. She turned to see Jeremy blushing, looking away as if that would allow him to avoid the matter. Would that be such a bad idea though? Would it even things out? Scarlett wasn't sure. She wouldn't necessarily be against it if Jeremy wanted it, but only if he wanted it. But would he?

Thankfully Tyler broke the silence by declaring, "You're drunk," to Sara over the couch. Unfortunately, that left him blinded as Aimee leaned over his other side and snatched the moonstone from his grasp.

"What's this?"

"Give it back," Tyler snapped as she jumped to his feet. Scarlett went straight to alert, her eyes following Aimee in case she suddenly dropped the moonstone. She began walking away with Tyler quickly following her as she turned around, walking backwards now. "Can we not play with the rock, please," Tyler asked, his voice annoyed.

"Well, come and get it," Aimee teased, bitting her lip as Tyler advanced.

"Look, I'll play along for a little bit but seriously, give it back," Tyler said warningly as Aimee bumped against the wall, Tyler now right in front of her. Realising she had no way out, she pulled her hand from behind her back and waved her empty hand.

"Lookie here," Sara said drunkenly from the doorway, waving the moonstone around. "Snooze, you lose," she declared before running from the room. Tyler was after her at a marching pace with Aimee after him and Scarlett and Jeremy following. They walked into the hallway to find Sara at the top of the stairs, leaning on the railing with a drunken smile, moonstone still in her hand as the four looked up at her from the base of the stairs.

"You're lucky you're cute when you're drunk," Tyler said with an unamused look.

"I want Jeremy and Scarlett to come ant get it," Sara said, eyeing them.

"Sara, don't be a bad drunk," Aimee groaned.

Sara ignored her. "Come on up stairs with me," she said to the couple she was eyeing. "See how bad a drunk I can be."

Beginning to feel uncomfortable with the way Sara was looking at her, Scarlett slid to Jeremy's side, his arm moving like she was controlling it as it slid around her waste. She was happy with things the way they were, something like this could drastically change everything. She'd gotten lucky with the Mason thing, things were still the same bar her guilt which she was starting to control. She didn't want to risk what she had with Jeremy again. "We're good thanks," Jeremy said up to Sara, holding Scarlett comfortingly as he did.

She didn't deserve him.

"Alright, that does it," Tyler growled as he made his way up to Sara. He went to grab the stone but Sara moved it behind her back, disappointment now on her face. Tyler growled once more, mumbling something rude as he began to reach around Sara who continued to dance around the top of the stairs, staying out of his reach. He caught her in his arms, turning around with her as he finally grabbed the moonstone from her hand behind her back. But as he yanked it, he nudged her away from him, and at the top of the stairs, there was only one place for her to go. Scarlett had the misfortune of watching it all in slow motion, unable to do anything without exposing herself. As if warning her, Jeremy's hold tightened, or maybe it was just the panic at what he was seeing. Sara reached for the banister but her fingers slid over it, gravity too strong. She fell backwards, toppled over twice before her head it the floor at the base of the stairs.

Everyone started shouting at once but Scarlett was the first one to reach Sara, hand going to her head. She wasn't trying to move it, just seeing if she could feel any blood. There was nothing in the air, no immediate smell and her chest was moving, air moving back and forth around her nostrils. And yet she wasn't responding to everyone else's shouts. Then as Scarlett went to shut them all up and take control of the situation, Sara's eyes opened, smile forming.

"Fooled you!" she sang out as everyone else sighed, before she then turned angry. "You pushed me down the stairs," Sara said poutingly as she pointed up at Tyler.

"He didn't mean it," Jeremy said as he and Scarlett helped Sara up to her feet, handing her off to Aimee who then took her back through the study where she could sit down and rest for a minute. Now alone, Scarlett and Jeremy looked up at Tyler, who was leaning against the wall, hunched over, breathing heavily. It had been a joke, but it had been real enough to scare him. To make him think he'd triggered the curse. And while Scarlett, for the most part, liked her supernatural life, from the look on Tyler's face, it wasn't for everybody. But if the day did ever come, like it almost had today, she'd do what she could for him. Just as long as she never had to speak to, or see, Mason Lockwood.

Cleaning up the mess at what turned out to be the old Lockwood cellar didn't take too long. It had been down to Sarah to do that, since Damon had to take Liz to the house. Stefan had offered to help but it was obvious to everyone he was in no shape to do so. Elena convinced him to leave and get something to eat. She also offered to help but Sarah said she was fine with Caroline. Another teaching opportunity, disposing of bodies. While they hurriedly took the corpses far from the scene, Sarah listed off ways to make a body disappear. Most made Caroline turn green but she kept her lunch down. Once they were finished, Caroline said she would meet Sarah at the Salvatore house, saying she needed to get some things for her mother. Sarah didn't argue.

When she got home, Stefan was fed and already looking ten times better. Still a little paler than usual and from the way he moved he still had a few muscles to heal. That was just the crappy animal blood in his system though, give it a few more hours and he'd be back to normal. Maybe a little more animal blood too.

Elena was with him, remaining to keep an eye on Stefan and also waiting for Caroline, emotional support and all. They said hello to one another and then Sarah made her way down to the basement, still feeling like she needed a little extra blood. She was still feeling itchy from the vervain, but at least Caroline had managed to pull out all the wooden bullets. She was halfway through a blood bag when she heard the front door. Knowing it would be Caroline, Sarah downed the rest of the blood and tidied her face up before heading towards the cell they were keeping Liz. There, she found her on the phone, Damon watching her. She was explaining how she was going to be off work for the next few days because of a bug she'd caught. Really, they were all just going to wait for the vervain to pass out her system. Then they could compel her, erase the memories and they could all move on like nothing had ever happened.

"Yeah, good night," Liz said before hanging up the phone, and willingly handing it over to Damon who took it.

"Thank you," Damon said happily as he pocketed Liz's phone. The older woman remained quiet as she sat down in the corner of the room, Damon and Sarah facing her. "It's not exactly the Ritz, but it's secure and it's got a good thread count. And once the vervain's worked its way out of your system, I will compel you, you will forget everything and you will be a free woman," Damon explained, hoping for once it really would be that straight forward. But Liz seemed happy enough to go along with the idea. Well, happy might be a tad strong. She was moping like her life depended on it, but she wasn't putting up a fight and was doing what they told her, so it was better than the alternative.

Hearing footsteps coming along the hallway outside, Sarah could see Liz had already guessed who it was. She'd probably been worried it was Caroline when Sarah had walked in, but being on the phone left her little room to argue. Now she could, and apparently would. "Can you keep Caroline far away from me please? I don't want to see her," Liz said right as Caroline appeared. The new vampire stopped right at the doorway, out of sight from her mother. The curse of vampire hearing, although Liz had clearly wanted Caroline to hear this.

"She's your daughter, Liz," Damon pointed out, more compassionately than usual. Even looked over at Caroline, smiling at her. Caroline just stared back at him, not sure how to react. Truth was Sarah wasn't too sure how to react either. Damon was being nice. Recently that wasn't something Damon did, unless you caught him on a blue moon. But this clearly mattered to him, an effect of having to lock you friend up and make her forget her daughter's a vampire. God their lives were strange.

"Not anymore. My daughter's gone," Liz murmured.

Sarah caught the tears in Caroline's eyes, but she didn't leave. Caught between wanting to be there for her mother and wanting to give her mother what she wanted, which was for her to leave. Unable to stand aside, Sarah stepped towards Liz. She felt Damon tense behind her slightly, another strange symptom of his friendship with Liz. He probably thought she was going to hurt her for upsetting Caroline. Not a bad idea, but it wouldn't help anyone. Instead Sarah bent over so that she was at eye level with Liz, who refrained from looking the vampire in the eye.

"You do realise, that when you become a vampire, the person you are isn't erased," Sarah explained. It seemed to prick Liz's interest, but not enough to make her look Sarah in the eye. "If anything, it makes them more open. There personality gets boosted. Your daughter, is now more true to herself than ever before, because she can't lock away her personality for anyone's benefit. Not even for you." That got Liz to look Sarah in the eye, hardened eyes fighting the truth that Sarah was telling her. Normally Sarah would have compelled her to accept this, but since she couldn't do that, she made her green eyes big and sincere. The next best thing if Stefan was to be believed.

"I don't know what you've been told about vampires, sheriff. But the murderous monsters you believe we all are, that's the easy choice. Your daughter, Caroline, is trying it the hard way. Because of you. She wants to be better for you and her friends. She's trying so hard to fight her basic needs now. To be the best person she can be. To be a good, honest person." Sarah could see the cracks in those hardened eyes now. Wanting to cling to her beliefs and rules but her daughter was worth so much more than all that. She knew, she was just struggling to admit to herself. "So don't ever say Caroline's gone. Because if you do, that's when you'll really lose her, sheriff."

The hardened gaze was smashed then, tears clouding the sheriff's brown eyes as she lifted a hand to the breath caught in her mouth. She obviously wanted to see Caroline, but from the sound on the other side of the door, it was unlikely it was going to be happening to night. Caroline was leaving, crying herself. Sarah made her way out and Damon stayed with the sheriff, doing his best to comfort in Caroline's absence.

When Sarah stepped into the hallway, Elena and Stefan were already following the blonde head running for the stairs. She was about to follow when Stefan stopped, letting Elena follow Caroline alone. He turned and stepped out of sight. Sarah walked briskly to catch up and found him staring down at the one of the open fridges full of blood. She slowed down then, cautiously stepping over as not to startle him. Once she was standing next to him, she saw the blood bag in his hand.

Knowing what he was thinking, just by the deep look on his face as he stared at the bag, Sarah asked carefully, "You sure you want to be doing that? You know what happened last time." He nodded, eyes still on the blood bag, still contemplating his options. Even when Elena returned, he didn't break from his deep thoughts.

"Guys I think we should…" Elena stopped upon seeing the two vampires huddled around the freezer. When Sarah stepped aside, turning around to look at Elena, the human girl saw the blood bag. "What are you doing?" Elena asked just as carefully as Sarah had, not wanting a repeat of last time. None of them did, Stefan included, which meant he was seriously considering what he was planning on doing.

"Katherine took a little vervain everyday and built up a tolerance to it," Stefan began to explain aloud. "I could do the same with blood. I could learn to control myself. Couldn't I?" He looked over to Sarah then. She stared back, arms folded as she leaned back against the wall. This was dangerous. On the one hand, he desperately needed to improve his diet. On the other, an off the rails Stefan was the last thing they needed right now. This time he wanted to do it though, he wasn't doing it to survive, he was making the chose freely in his own safe environment. So maybe it could work?

However, before Sarah could finish thinking about the matter, much less voice her opinion on it, Elena spoke up. "But you can't, Stefan. You don't have to."

Stefan turned on his girlfriend then, seriousness and hurt in his eyes. Not at what she was saying, but of the physical hurt he'd been through just a few hours ago. "I almost died tonight, Elena. Because I was too weak." He was blaming himself, not helpful. Even Damon and Sarah had both gone down because of the wooden bullets and vervain. The only reason any of them had survived was thanks to Caroline. But the ordeal had clearly gotten to him, or at least made him realise something that Sarah had been pointing out for centuries, before deciding maybe pushing him wasn't the right idea. But now he was asking for help, maybe they should try it again?

"But last time that you drank human blood–"

"I told you I'd find a way to stop Katherine, didn't I? Well this is it, this is the only way because she's stronger than me. Everyone is stronger than me. And unless that changes, I can't protect you."

Elena looked over to Sarah who just stood there, watching with a still face. Obviously she hadn't gotten the memo about their fake break up being found out because she looked back to Stefan and began nudging her head towards Sarah. "Can we talk about this later?"

"She can hear us wherever we are, because she drinks this," Stefan said as he held up the blood bag furiously. "They both can because this…this is the only thing that can help me!" Stefan declared as his voice rose.

"Stefan, calm down," Sarah ordered, grabbing his shaking arm. He turned to her, meeting her level a controlled gaze. "Give me the blood bag." He hesitated. For Sarah that was no problem, but for Elena it was. "Stefan. We can all talk about this later, for now, just give me the blood bag." He sighed, clearly unhappy about being bossed around by his little sister. But when he saw the way Elena was looking at him, he handed over the blood bag. From there Sarah threw the thing into the fridge and closed it, only to turn around and find Elena had gone up stairs. Leaving Stefan who was now running his hands over his exhausted face. He really did need the blood, but if he couldn't control it then he'd been more of a hindrance than an advantage.

"Get some rest, Stefan," Sarah said as she placed a hand on his back. He looked over his shoulder, struggling to offer her even the faintest of smiles. "I'll take care of Elena and Caroline. Just…rest, and think things over, okay." He only nodded, hanging back as Sarah made her way out the basement. She kept one ear on Stefan though, in case he made the reckless decision to dig into a blood bag prematurely. He didn't, and Sarah continued on up to find Elena in the living room with Caroline. Elena stood by one of the armchairs, practically glaring at Caroline while the poor girl sobbed away on the couch.

"Can I take you home?" Elena offered half heartedly.

Caroline shook her head and that's when Sarah saw the panic in her eyes, the terror. "I can't go home," she said and Sarah knew why. Katherine had been visiting Caroline, and all while Sarah had been happily living at home, Katherine free with Ronnie. She felt horrible for forgetting Caroline, for letting Katherine use her like she'd used her. She should have known something was up, should have asked, but had been too caught up in her own Katherine free world.

"Why not?" Elena asked, some what sympathetically as she made her way over to Caroline.

"Because I'm scared," Caroline said slowly, unsure if she could say it all with Sarah standing right there.

"Why are you scared?" Elena asked, sitting on the coffee table as Caroline's hold on a cushion she'd been holding tightened. The sight of Elena that close was obviously not as reassuring as it was meant to be. That was life with two identical but totally opposite people. It's hard to forget the bad, even when you're looking at the good.

"Because of Katherine," Sarah answered, putting Caroline at ease, at least in regards to who's side she was on. That was her letting Caroline know that she was free to speak freely here. Nothing that was said here was going to get back to Katherine, at least not from Sarah's lips. Elena looked over, frowning as Sarah joined her on the coffee table. "She wanted both of us to spy for her. First she threatened to kill Damon if I didn't do what she wanted. Then she said she'd do the same to Ronnie. But since I've gotten back I haven't seen her," Sarah explained to Elena before turning to Caroline with an apologetic look. "And I completely forgot about you. I didn't realise that just because Katherine wasn't harassing me, didn't mean you wasn't harassing you. I'm so sorry Caroline." She reached out, the hand of friendship and apologises, and thankfully Caroline took it, doing her best to offer an understanding smile through the tears.

Now Sarah needed to make sure Caroline made it through this. She was going to have to if she was ever going to make it up to her. She owed Caroline, and helping her cope with her vampirism wasn't counting. Fact was Caroline could probably survive on her own now, but friends and family just made everything easier and that shouldn't cost anything. So they'd deal with Katherine, and afterwards, Sarah would find a way to make it up to Caroline.

"Who did she threaten with you?" Elena asked.

Caroline sniffed, before quietly saying, as if doing so would lead to his death, "Matt… She threatened Matt." From there there was no stopping the floodgates. It all came out as Caroline cried out what had been building up ever since she turned and Katherine had started using her. The boost of vampier emotions made it seem like it was world ending stuff, but that was mostly because she'd been keeping it all bottled up for so long. The fact that she'd done so was actually quite the testament to her character, what with being a new vampire and all. To have such control over her emotions so early on, it was almost like Caroline was born to be a vampire.

Elena didn't ask anything more after that. Didn't really need to what with Caroline spilling her guts over everything that had happened. Sarah didn't even need to chip in with her parts because Caroline apparently knew all that too and elaborated for Elena. They both just confronted her. Elena even moved onto the couch, holding Caroline as she sobbed. Eventually though, Caroline just burnt herself out. All the crying and confessing was just too much and she almost drifted off in mid-sentence, which was apparently very Caroline. Elena stayed with her in her semi-conscious state while Sarah fetched a blanket. They'd both silently decided that Caroline was better off spending the night in the safety of the Salvatore house, for tonight at least. From the sounds of it she needed at least one peaceful night's sleep.

By the time Sarah got back though, Caroline was well and truly out of it. She'd fallen a sleep not long after Sarah left according to Elena. Handing Elena the blanket, she made sure it covered all over Caroline and that she was tucked in, repositioning the cushions so her head was at the right height. After waiting a few minutes to make sure she was well and truly asleep, Elena rose to leave. Sarah didn't stop her, it had been a long enough night. The blood talk could be saved for tomorrow. But typical Damon had to cut Elena off before she could leave. Seems both Forbes were in need of sleep tonight.

"Caroline's sleeping on the couch," Elena said with a nod back to Caroline and Sarah, keeping her voice down.

"I heard," Damon replied in the same quiet voice. "And you?"

Elena stiffened a little at the question, shoving her hands into her pockets. "I'm going home."

She was halfway to the front door when Damon spoke up again. "Stefan needs to drink human blood." Elena stopped at that, and Sarah looked back over her shoulder for the coffee table to see Elena and Damon facing off. They didn't nearly have the energy to start a full blown argument, and neither wanted to wake Caroline.

"He can survive without it," Elena said as she stepped back towards Damon.

"Yeah, survive," Damon pointed out with emphasis as he leaned towards Elena with a glare of his blue eyes. "He can't fight like that. You watched me kick his butt for weeks and even with the tomb vampires, it was me and Sarah who stopped most of them, not Stefan. Face it, he's strong enough to live, but that's it. Pit him against any other vampire and if by some miracle he does win, the next one will kill him for sure." His words got through to Elena, though she'd never admit it. She had an out in Sarah though, and after staring intently at Damon for a few seconds she looked over to the rave haired woman.

Knowing she was being summoned, Sarah stood up, carefully not to wake Caroline and joined the pair. "And what do you think about this?" Elena asked once Sarah was close enough to answer without raising her voice.

"He needs it Elena," Sarah answered but was quick to continue before either could say anything. "But if he can't control it then it could be even worse than last time. That said, he doesn't stand a chance in a fight without me and Damon at his back."

Elena looked down, thinking for a moment before looking back up at Sarah hopefully. "Could you…teach him? To control the blood lust."

Sarah smiled at that. "I can. And it should be easier this time, since he actually wants it and is willingly choosing to take the blood." It wasn't much but it seemed to help Elena at least a little bit. Really that's all they could ask for at the moment, little bits of reassurance to help them get through the day. "You should still talk to him though. This is only going to work if he wants it too, and if he's not got your support, it could easily back fire." Elena nodded at that before going off to talk to Stefan. Sarah was about to follow when Damon planted his hand on her shoulder and turned her around.

"Elena can handle our brother. You and I have somewhere else to be right now," Damon said cryptically before heading for the front door. With a frown Sarah followed, casting one last look back at Caroline to make sure she was sound asleep before closing the door behind her.

From there they got into Damon's car and he drove off. He didn't say where they were going, no matter how many times Sarah asked. Soon enough she figured it out though and began to frown at him, not understanding his plan. Probably something evil no doubt, to even out his forever unbalanced karmic scales. One good deed regarding Liz deserved something purely evil in return. At least he had Sarah with him, which actually confused her all the more. Why bring her along to this place if he was going to do something evil. Sarah was all for being a bad girl from time to time, but she'd never do it at where Damon stopped.

Still he said nothing. Just climbed out the car, strode up to the front door with Sarah behind him and knocked politely. When the door opened, Damon was met by a set of blue eyes not unlike his own. Younger, feminine and perhaps just a little bit more feisty. "Damon?" Scarlett said with a frown on her features as she stared out onto the Gilbert's front porch where Damon was stood with Sarah right behind him.

"Grab your stuff, Scrappy. You're coming home with us," declared Damon in his usually Damon way when he asked for something. But this was something neither Sarah or Scarlett had expected him to say.

"Wait…seriously?" Scarlett asked in disbelief, not hearing the sarcasm or seeing some mocking joke in his eyes. There was nothing but seriousness in them. And maybe something else in the corner too.

"Yes, seriously," Damon said mockingly. "Damn cats have started coming around since you left, and I hate cats." He forced on his smug smile then. "So if it's a choice between your hairy backside or theirs, then I'm going to pick yours." He was trying so hard to seem like he didn't care, but Sarah could see it, and apparently so could Scarlett.

"Thank you," Scarlett said with a soft and heartfelt smile.

When she didn't move and continued to smile at him, Damon grew impatient. "Offer expires at midnight, Scrappy. Hurry up if your coming." He turned to leave, stepping past Sarah, but he didn't even make it off the porch before Scarlett spoke up from behind.

"Sure thing, Twilight." Before Sarah had the chance to ask what she was talking about, Scarlett closed the door and began heading up the stairs. Frowning, Sarah turned to find Damon looking back over his shoulder, grinning to himself.

"I guess it stuck," Damon murmured, almost so quietly that Sarah had just about missed it. She was tempted to ask what the hell was going on, but didn't want to test fate. Instead she would ask her question later and instead, for now, made her way towards her brother, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you, Damon," she said with a sincere smile. Damon, of course, scowled back, as if the whole thing was an inconvenience for him.

"Don't get used to it. If those cats aren't gone by morning, I'm kicking her ass out on the street," Damon replied as he hopped off the porch and made his way over to the car. "House is already crowded enough as it is."