It has come to my attention that chapter 48 actually reads Chapter Fifty-Eight. I didn't skip anything, I promise, I just for some reason typed that and didn't catch it when I was proofreading. LOL. My bad. But I don't feel like going back and changing it, so just pretend that it says Forty-Eight.

Chapter Fifty

Rebecca was hungry. She hadn't eaten since the night before and it was now noon the next day. She had listened to Elena complain and had comforted her when she'd cried and then Elena had been more worried about the device that Isobel wanted - that John wanted.

She'd hung out with Jeremy for a while and then they'd all gone to bed. Rebecca had been fine after she'd woken up, but now she was starving, and she was in a house full of humans. She knew she could call Damon and he'd come get her, but she was trying to see how much control she had.

Besides, she didn't have much longer to wait. Elena was supposed to be going to the school to help with the Miss Mystic float; the brunette could take her home then.

Before they could leave, however, Bonnie came over.

"Hi," Elena said.

"Hey," the witch said. Bonnie looked at Rebecca sadly but didn't say anything to her. "I couldn't sleep last night. You were obviously upset about something, and I - I just walked away. That's not me. That can't be us. You're my friend, Elena. If you need me, I'm here for you. And I'm sorry I couldn't show you that yesterday."

"I met my birth mother," Elena explained.

"Oh," Bonnie said after a brief pause. "Was it . . . Are you okay?"

Elena shrugged and Bonnie embraced her. Rebecca clenched her jaw. She had the strong urge to bite Bonnie. Bonnie was ignoring Rebecca because she was a vampire now, and she was reconciling with Elena right in front of her.

"Well, since I'm obviously not included in your little sisterly love affair, I'm gonna go," Rebecca said snidely, reminding herself of the older, more obnoxious, Caroline Forbes.

Rebecca had asked Jenna to watch Chelsea for the day because Rebecca planned on going to the school later to help with the float too. She wasn't much into the Miss Mystic thing, but she did want to be around her friends. Now she wasn't even sure she should be going at all.

She was on edge, which meant she could become dangerous in an instant.

"Good-bye, Elena." She didn't say anything to Bonnie. Bonnie was ignoring her, so Rebecca returned the favor.

When Rebecca got to the boardinghouse she raced upstairs where she heard Damon's heartbeat. He was still in bed. That was odd; he wasn't usually a late sleeper.

It didn't matter; she laid beside him anyway, and placed her head on his chest. The rhythm of his heart and breathing changed, so she knew she'd woken him up.

"Tell me you love me," she said, her eyes filling with tears.

"You know I love you," he said softly. "What happened?"

Damon was not used to Rebecca being an insecure mess. He didn't like it and he wanted to kill whoever made her that way.

"I was with Elena, and Bonnie came over. I . . . wasn't wanted. I was standing right there and she wouldn't even talk to me. She apologized to Elena right in front of me and she barely even acknowledged my presence."

Damon sighed. He so wasn't good at this comforting thing.

"I wish I could tell you that you guys will work it out, but the truth is that some people just can't be friends forever. People change, they drift apart. It doesn't mean she wasn't a good friend for you before, it just means she's not a good friend for you now."

He heard her sniffle a bit and he began rubbing her back.

"I'm not such a good friend for her either. I wanted to . . . hurt her," Rebecca admitted. "I was very tempted to bite her for being such a bitch."

"Well." Damon cursed his bluntness, "You're a vampire. Wanting to rip people's throats out is part of your nature now. And you're doing . . . pretty well. You left; you didn't do it."

"No, but I wanted to. She just made me so angry."

Rebecca grew silent after that and she just let herself enjoy being with someone who wanted her, who always wanted her, no matter what. She got up when Damon did and he went to the cellar to get some blood for them both.

"Here," he tossed her a bag of A Positive. "Drink up. You'll feel better."

"Yeah."

She put the tube - a makeshift straw - in the blood bag and started sucking the liquid down.

"You know, you're new. You shouldn't go so long without feeding."

"I know, but the only humans I was around were Elena, Jenna, and Jeremy. I wasn't going to drink from them, and Chelsea is off limits forever, so I didn't have much of a choice."

Once Rebecca was done drinking she said, "So . . . what did you and Bree do last night?" She hadn't forgotten what Bree had said the day before about sleeping with Damon.

"Wasn't here," Damon said, shrugging. "She was gone by the time I got back."

"Oh . . ." Rebecca stood up; she did feel better now that her stomach was full. "Well, I'm gonna go brush my teeth and then I'm gonna head to the school. Help out."

The first person Rebecca met with at the school was Matt. He was helping Caroline put streamers around the float that Caroline would be standing on, along with the other contestants from the pageant.

"Hey, guys!" she said. "Look who decided to come out of hibernation."

Caroline's head snapped up and she threw Rebecca a big smile. The blonde ran over and gave her a hug. It was exactly what Rebecca needed after the rejection she'd gotten from Bonnie.

"Hey, I've missed you! You missed my shining moment."

"Yeah, Damon told me you won. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Caroline gushed. "Damon said you haven't been feeling great lately. Since . . . Well, since you were kidnapped. Um . . . you're better, I take it, since you're here?"

"Well, uh -"

Rebecca was interrupted by Tyler coming over and beginning to talk to Matt.

"So Carline tells me you've been on your own the past two weeks. Is everything okay?" Tyler asked.

"You're asking me about my mom? Seriously?"

The last Rebecca had heard was that Tyler had been caught making out with Matt's mom; from Tyler's question, Rebecca assumed that Kelly was gone again.

"Why don't I just have her call you when she blows back through town?"

"Dude, that's not what I meant, okay? I'm just trying to . . ." Tyler trailed off.

"Apologize?" Rebecca offered.

"What she said," Tyler said. "I don't know what to say."

"Good," Matt said. "Don't say anything, because you're a dick, end of story."

"I know."

Matt turned and walked away and then Tyler did the same. Rebecca was left standing there with Caroline.

"Kelly's gone?" Rebecca asked her blonde friend.

"Matt kicked her out the night of the kickoff party."

"Can't say I blame him," Rebecca said.

Rebecca felt the phone vibrate in her pocket and she took it out. There was a text.

Science room meeting. ASAP - Elena

Oh, what did Elena want now?

"Hey, I'll be right back. There's something I have to do."

Once in the science room, Rebecca rolled her eyes. Elena had called Rebecca because Bonnie had called Elena and now the brunette was trying to . . . Well, Rebecca wasn't sure what Elena was up to, but she was definitely up to something.

"Come on, you guys . . . talk. I hate that you're fighting."

"We're not fighting," Rebecca said. "That would involve contact of some kind. Bonnie's ignoring me."

"Thanks for meeting me, Elena. I wanted you to see this," Bonnie said.

"Is that Emily's spell book?"

Bonnie was standing at a long black lab table, and on that table was the thick grimoire Elena and Stefan had dug up a while back.

"I've been going through it since Grams died." Bonnie looked at Elena and then at Rebecca. "Check this out."

Rebecca and Elena stepped closer. The book was open to a page with a picture on it.

"That's the vampire compass," Elena said. "Why's it in Emily's spell book?"

"According to Emily's spell book, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic. Compass. Rings. The mystery device you told me about."

"Wait," Rebecca said. "You know everything now?"

Bonnie nodded. "Elena explained what happened with Stefan. I'm sorry. And I can . . . I can be friends with you as long as you're still you."

"I am . . . I haven't hurt anyone. I don't fresh feed."

"Guys . . . this device . . ." Elena said, breaking through the touching reconciliation moment. "There's more than one piece that goes to the device that Damon has."

"If John and Isobel want it then that means they must have everything else they need to use it," Rebecca deduced, "or intend on finding them."

"Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine," Bonnie said softly. "But she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed. This was the only way she could think of to help . . . to let Jonathan Gilbert believe he'd actually invented these devices."

"Does it say what it does?" Elena asked, leaning over the book.

Rebecca didn't bother looking. The book was in a completely different language. But Bonnie could read it.

A few seconds later Bonnie looked at Elena. "Are you sure this is what Isobel wants? Because this is a weapon. Against vampires." Bonnie looked Rebecca's way and Rebecca could see the concern there; the witch still cared. Rebecca felt a small weight lift from her shoulders. If Bonnie still cared, there was still hope for their friendship.

"Why would Isobel want a weapon to use against vampires?" Elena asked.

It clicked. The tomb vampires. John had said that was why he was back and Rebecca hadn't believed him. Then John had said that he and Isobel shared a common goal - now Rebecca knew what that goal was.

Getting rid of the vampires in Mystic Falls. Problem was, Rebecca was one - and Damon and Stefan. Rebecca could understand John wanting to get rid of the vampires - Mystic Falls was his home. But what did Isobel have to do with anything? And since Isobel was working for Katherine, what did Katherine have to do with it? What could Katherine gain by getting rid of the tomb vampires?

Well, they all hated her and they would be considered enemies - Rebecca guessed that was enough of a reason for Katherine.

"I have to call Damon," Rebecca muttered.

"I have to find Stefan," Elena said.

"Well, wait and I'll help you."

Damon had been on his way to a council meeting when Rebecca called.

"Yes?" he said sweetly, drawing out the word.

"The device Pearl gave you is a weapon against vampires," Rebecca's voice came over the line. "It doesn't work because you only have part of it."

Damon came to the same conclusion Rebecca had. If John wanted the mystery device, he probably had whatever it took to make it work. Now Damon definitely wasn't giving it to anyone.

"How'd you learn this?"

"Bonnie . . ."

When Damon got the whole explanation about how the compass and the rings and the device weren't really inventions but only objects that had been spelled by Emily, he wondered if the device could be destroyed naturally or if a witch had to do it.

"Hey, see if Judgy knows how to destroy the device or take the spell off of it."

"Who?"

"Bonnie."

"Oh, okay." Rebecca sighed softly but didn't say anything else.

Damon could feel the hesitation coming through the phone line so he said, "What?"

"Um . . . this may be the obvious question, but . . . what do we do now? I mean . . . Katherine is calling the shot from far away, if Isobel is to be believed."

"She's not," Damon said. "She's smart. It's a story she made up."

"But if it's not?"

Damon shrugged even though Rebecca couldn't see. "Then we'll deal with it."

After Rebecca got done talking to Damon, she and Elena went in search of Stefan. Elena had texted him and he'd said he was helping with the float, so that was where the girls were headed.

Jeremy stopped them along the way.

"Do you have a second?" he asked Elena. "It's Anna. I've left her all these messages and she hasn't gotten back to me. Not even a text."

"Anna? I didn't know that you guys were still friends," Elena said carefully.

"We're more than friends. And something could be seriously wrong here, so if you know anything, you've got to tell me."

"I haven't talked to her, Jer," Elena replied.

Jeremy looked at his sister suspiciously. "Are you lying to me right now? Because that's what you do, Elena. You lie. You lie about everything." Jeremy leaned closer so he could lower his voice. "I know what Anna is, and I know that you know. So tell me, do you have any idea where she is?

Elena looked like she'd been stricken dumb for the moment, and Jeremy looked crestfallen because his sister wasn't going to help.

"I know where she lives, Jer," Rebecca said. "I'll help you look for her, but I have to take care of something first."

Jeremy nodded. "Thank you, Becca." Jeremy glared at Elena like he thought she should've been the one to help him. Then he walked away without looking back.

"Becca! Why? He's -"

"He likes her, Elena. And before you get all hysterical, remember who you're dating."

Rebecca started to go toward the float where Stefan was supposed to be, when her Slayer alert went off. It was harder to do now that she was a vampire herself, but she could still do it.

"Isobel," she heard Elena say. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm your mother, Elena. I wanna be more involved in your life."

Rebecca looked toward Elena and saw Isobel. She was wearing a smart dark outfit and had a brown leather jacket on.

"I don't want you in my life," Elena said.

"I understand that. You already have a lot of people that you care about, but I've been studying. Let's see if I got this right."

Isobel looked over toward the school parking lot. Bonnie was walking past the car and toward one of the work zones for the parade.

"There's the witchy best friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one."

She looked toward a red pickup truck that had a float attached to the back of it. Jeremy was standing close by, phone held to his ear.

"The sad little brother, Jeremy."

The woman looked toward the float now, where Caroline was completely in her element, decorating and bossing people around. The blond smiled and waved when she saw Elena and Rebecca looking her way.

"There's Caroline. Obnoxious Caroline. I got all of my info from her, by the way. She had no idea who I was and she wouldn't stop yapping." Then Isobel moved on to the next person. "There's Matt. Friend, ex, Yappy's future ex. Lots of connections there."

"Matt's not involved in this," Elena said.

"He's involved with you, isn't he?"

"Look, you shouldn't be here. You need to leave."

"No. I have some friends here, too. Look. See that man over there, standing next to Matt by the float. His name's Frank. He's very handsome."

Rebecca looked and saw a cowboy type person standing where Isobel pointed. He even had the huge belt buckle to complete the outfit.

"And he's also quite handy. And he noticed that the axle is kind of rusted, which is very dangerous. So all you have to do is apply a little pressure and -"

"No!" Elena screamed.

But it was too late. The cowboy had jumped onto the foundation of the float and it came down on Matt's arm, crushing it. Matt's screams filled the area and four or five members of the football team tried to lift the trailer off of him. Tyler stepped in and so did Stefan; with Stefan helping, the job was easy.

Rebecca had rushed over as fast as she could have without drawing suspicion.

"Caroline, call an ambulance," Stefan said.

The blond had made it there as quickly as she could have, too. Caroline did as she was told.

"Why are you doing this?" Elena asked. Rebecca was still listening in; she found it easy to block out everything but what she needed to hear - especially now when she needed it.

"Because I'm showing you how easy it is to hurt the people you care about."

"You're doing this just because of Jonathan Gilbert's invention?"

"Hand it over and the fun will stop."

"I told you Damon's not going to give it to me!" Elena said desperately.

"And I think you underestimate how much Damon cares about this town and the people in it."

There was a pause and then Elena said, "He'll kill you before he gives it up."

"Is that before or after I kill your brother Jeremy."

Rebecca could tell Stefan had been listening to because his head snapped up at that. Rebecca looked toward the red truck Jeremy had been near and he was no longer there. Then when she looked back at Elena, Isobel wasn't there anymore either.

Isobel had taken Jeremy!

"The ambulance is saying 15 to 20 minutes!" Caroline said anxiously, coming back to squat by Matt's side.

"I can take him," Tyler offered. "I have my car, I can take him to the hospital."

"Caroline can take me!" Matt said, not wanting to accept help from Tyler.

"Well, I didn't drive."

"Then I'll wait. It's fine."

"You will not wait!" Caroline said. "Okay, you need to see a doctor. Tyler's driving. End of story."

"Fine," Matt said begrudgingly.

"Go!" Caroline ordered Tyler.

"I'll bring my car around."

Now that that was settled, Rebecca let herself worry about Jeremy. Isobel couldn't kill Jeremy; she would no longer have any leverage, so . . . now she just needed to talk to Damon. They needed a plan to get Jeremy back.

Stefan, Elena, and Rebecca had gone to the history classroom and were waiting for Ric and Bonnie to show up. Rebecca told them what she thought: that Isobel wouldn't hurt Jeremy. She wanted something from them.

"We have power over her," Rebecca said.

When Ric and Bonnie got there Elena explained what had happened, pacing the length of the classroom the whole time.

"Where is the device now?" Bonnie asked.

"Damon has it," Stefan said. "He's gonna be difficult to reason with."

"Then we'll go to him," Elena said. "I'll talk to him."

"Or," Rebecca said. "We could just go get Jeremy right now. Damon knows where Isobel's staying."

"And Damon's not just going to hand the device over," Stefan said. "Especially if it's harmful to vampires."

Elena looked at Bonnie. "What if it's not?"

Stefan shook his head, not understanding, and Bonnie looked down at the desk she was sitting in.

"Can you do it?" Ric asked, speaking for the first time.

"If it's in the grimoire."

Rebecca figured now was not the time to talk about Damon wanting to destroy the device. Unless they could get Jeremy another way, they couldn't destroy the device.

Ric couldn't leave because he was helping supervise the parade setup, but Bonnie, Rebecca, Stefan, and Elena decided to go to the boardinghouse. Rebecca texted Damon telling him to head back home as fast as he could.

When they got to the house, Rebecca called for Sarah. This affected her, too, the device business. Damon showed up shortly after they had, and both Sarah and Damon were quickly filled in.

"Absolutely not," Damon said. He couldn't believe they wanted him to give the device over. Even if it was for a good reason.

"Just hear us out," Elena said.

"I'm not gonna give the device to Isobel so she can give it to John, who's gonna turn around and kill me. I like being a living dead person."

"But it'll be useless. Bonnie can take its power away."

"I don't trust her," Damon said sharply.

"I can remove the original spell," Bonnie claimed, pulling out the grimoire from her shoulder bag.

"John and Isobel will never know," Elena said, looking at Damon pleadingly.

"No. No, I'll get Jeremy my own way."

"Uh, I already mentioned this plan," Rebecca said. "And we would've had Jeremy back by now if they had let me do it."

"How?" Stefan said. "Hm? Because Isobel is a vampire, and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door."

"Why are you even a part of this conversation?" Rebecca asked sharply. "Besides being Elena's lapdog what exactly are you contributing?"

"Hey!" Elena said, glaring at Rebecca. "That's uncalled for."

"No, actually, all he ever does is what you want him to do, Elena. I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for you, he'd agree that Damon and I could get the job done. We'd have Jeremy and the device."

"Well . . . this is going in an interesting direction," Damon mused.

Elena looked at her boyfriend. "Stefan? Do you agree with them?"

Stefan didn't say anything, which was answer enough. So Damon looked at Bonnie, who was sitting there, quiet, and looking innocent.

"Are you sure you're up for this? I mean, no offense, but you're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."

"I've been practicing."

"It's not piano lessons, honey."

Bonnie stood up and faced him. "What's your favorite book?"

"What?" Damon had to admit the witch threw him with that.

"Name a book," Bonnie shrugged. "Any book."

"Name a book." Damon decided he'd play. "How about Call of the Wild, Jack London?"

Bonnie turned toward the bookcase, concentrated, and within seconds a book was flying toward Damon, who caught it with ease.

He looked at the title. "Call of the Wild, Jack London. Great parlor trick." He threw the book to the side.

"Well, I was impressed," Rebecca said.

"We're doing this, Damon," Elena said. "And we're gonna do it my way. Now give me the device. We're wasting time."

"I don't trust her," Damon said again.

"But you can trust me," Elena said.

Rebecca saw the suspicion fade away from Damon's eyes and the vulnerability creep into them. She could tell Damon really didn't know whether he could trust Elena or not, but when he took the device out of his pocket and put it in Elena's outstretched hand Rebecca also knew that Damon was choosing to let himself trust her.

"Thank you," Elena whispered.

"Whatever. What do we do now?" Damon asked, looking at Bonnie.

"Now I need some candles." Bonnie laid her grimoire on the coffee table in front of the fireplace. "I can undo the spell."

Stefan went to gather the things Bonnie would need, leaving Bonnie, Elena, and Rebecca with Damon, who left the room. Rebecca followed Damon because she knew Damon was probably feeling a bit anxious about what they were doing. He really didn't trust Bonnie, it seemed, and Rebecca knew it was because of how Bonnie had been treating her. Damon didn't like disloyalty, and the way Bonnie had been treating her had been a betrayal in Damon's eyes. It had been in Rebecca's eyes, too, now that she thought about it.

"Damon?" He was by the stairs. "Everything's gonna be okay." She stepped closer and hugged him. He was tense and didn't return the gesture. "But if it isn't . . . where does Isobel live?"

Damon gave her a suspicious look, and she nodded. If he thought Isobel needed taking care of then she understood completely. Isobel was causing problems.

"I'm always gonna be on your side, Damon," she whispered. "I get it. Now where does she live?"

Damon looked toward the parlor and then put a finger to his lips; Stefan could hear, if he was listening.

"Later," he whispered. "Before we leave."

She nodded, and he tilted her head up by her chin and gently pressed their lips together. It was a thank you for being so loyal and understanding.

Once Stefan had gathered everything Bonnie needed to do the spell, Rebecca and Damon went back into the parlor. Bonnie was in front of the fireplace with her spell book placed on a table in front of her. The Gilbert device was open and Bonnie was messing with a small round piece that had come out of it.

She put the round piece on the table and lit the candles that Stefan had brought her.

"Why do you need the candles?" Rebecca asked.

"I can channel energy from the flames. And they're white because white means positive energy," the witch answered.

Damon was silent. Rebecca knew he didn't agree with what was happening. When Elena looked at him . . . he rolled his eyes.

Bonnie placed her hands over the piece and closed her eyes. The piece - whatever it was - began to float and spin around slowly. Everyone - even Damon - was watching and waiting for something to happen. All was silent, and Rebecca was anxious because . . . what if Bonnie couldn't do this? Bonnie's Grams had died by taking too much on at once.

Then the lights began flickering in and out and Rebecca looked up. It was like someone was at the light switch turning it off and on.

Rebecca and Damon were on one side of the room and Stefan and Elena were on the other. Bonnie was the invisible line between them. Sarah was with Rebecca and Damon because she was closer to them.

Suddenly the fireplace lit up with flames and Rebecca stepped closer to Damon. She had been near the fireplace; she'd even felt the heat from the fire. Then the candles' flames shot up and Bonnie let out a small gasp. When Bonnie opened her eyes again everything went back to normal.

No flickering light, no fire rising. The flames from the candles went down to their regular height.

"Done," Bonnie said.

Elena stepped forward and Bonnie handed the device to the brunette.

"Great. Now what?" Damon said.

"Now, we give it to Isobel," Elena said. "Tell Ric to set up a meeting."

While Stefan and Elena were taking care of the meeting with Isobel, Damon and Rebecca went outside to plan. Damon told her where Isobel lived and, since Damon was going to be there with Stefan and Elena whenever the meeting was set up for, Rebecca would go and wait for her at her place. Isobel had hurt some of the people she cared about, so Isobel needed to be taught a lesson.

Elena thought it was best for Ric to stay as far away from Isobel as possible so, when Ric called to tell them that Isobel wanted to meet in the town square to make the exchange, Elena asked him to stay out of it.

Ric hadn't really fought over it.

Before Stefan, Damon, and Elena left, Damon gave Rebecca a slight nod. They had their plan going and they were going to go ahead with it. So as soon as everyone was ready, Stefan, Damon, and Elena went one way and Rebecca went another.

When the three got to the town square, Isobel was already there waiting. Damon and Stefan stayed back so Isobel wouldn't see them.

The bell on the tower of the church tolled; it was nine o'clock.

"Where's the device," Isobel said.

Damon and Stefan were close enough to hear - safety measure, in case Elena got in trouble.

"Where's my brother?" Elena countered.

"This isn't a negotiation. Where's the invention?"

"Where's my brother?" Elena asked again, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Do you really think I came alone?" Isobel asked.

The cowboy and the girl Damon had played poker with showed up behind Elena - they were human, so they wouldn't be much of a problem.

"Do you really think that I came alone?" Elena shot back.

Damon and Stefan walked toward Isobel, who turned and nodded, a small smile on her face.

"For God's sake, call home," she said, turning back to face her daughter. "Call home. Ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."

Elena did as Isobel asked. Jeremy was fine.

"You were never gonna hurt him," Elena said after she hung up with Jeremy.

"No," Isobel answered. "I was gonna kill him." Isobel shook her head. "Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."

Isobel held out her hand and waited expectantly; Elena glared, but stepped forward, anyway, handing the device over.

"Thank you," the brunette said. "For being such a monumental disappointment. It keeps the memory of my real mother perfectly intact."

Isobel wasn't fazed. "Good-bye, Elena."

Isobel slowly walked away and Stefan went toward Elena, who looked about ready to cry. Since it looked like Stefan and Elena had a long night of comforting ahead of them, Damon decided to leave them to it.

When he was out of earshot, Damon sent Rebecca a text.

She just left. I'm headed your way - D

Got it, was the text he got back.

Isobel got back to her place before Damon did. Rebecca was waiting just inside, and she slammed the older woman into the door as soon as it was closed.

"Hi, we haven't officially met. I'm Rebecca, Vampire Slayer. You forgot to mention me when you were listing Elena's friends. You seemed afraid of Bonnie, but you should've been more scared of me." Rebecca shrugged. "I like the place, by the way."

Rebecca grabbed Isobel's arm and twisted until she heard a snap. She knew if she let go the bone would just reset, so she didn't let go. Isobel could be in pain for a while. It really made no difference to her.

"That's for Matt. He plays football; he kind of needs his arm."

Isobel's knees had given out when Rebecca had broken her arm, but the woman was trying to stand up again. Rebecca casually punched her.

"That was for Jeremy. He's like a brother to me, you know."

Then she slapped Isobel, making Isobel's head snap to the side. "And that's for Ric. He spent the last two years searching for you, you know that?"

Rebecca had let go of Isobel so she could hit her and now the arm was resetting itself. Rebecca took a step back from the woman and even let her stand up. Isobel eyed her warily.

"You not gonna kill me?" she asked.

"If I were going to kill you, you'd be dead already. I came here to see if Jeremy was here, but he's not. He has been, though, because his scent is all over the place."

"He's safe at home, and I'm leaving."

"You've got the device."

Isobel smirked. "I didn't keep it for long."

"Which means John has it," Damon said, appearing out of nowhere.

Isobel shrugged.

"If you really are leaving, let me ask you something," Rebecca said. "Why? Why would you become a vampire? You had a daughter who you cared enough about to give up so she'd have a loving family. You had a career. And you had Ric. He is a good guy and he loved you. How could you do that to him?"

"I wanted this," Isobel said. "I needed this." There was a brief pause and then Isobel's mask slipped. "And I'm gonna regret it forever."

Isobel's feelings weren't quite as turned off as Rebecca and Damon had thought.

"Ric thinks it was something he did. That he wasn't enough for you."

"This was my mistake. Not his. I loved him. I did. And when I think about what I gave up, it hurts."

"You didn't have to leave him," Damon said. "You could've stayed with him."

"What, and turned him? I don't think so."

"Hm. You were saying something about leaving?" Rebecca reminded her. "I want you gone tonight."

After Damon and Rebecca left Isobel's temporary residence, Damon went back to the boardinghouse. Rebecca told him she was going to go check on Jeremy, but she wouldn't take long.

Damon went to pour himself a drink as soon as he got in. Stefan, having obviously heard him come in, came into the parlor.

"Would you like one?" Damon asked. Stefan didn't answer. "Say it, whatever it is. Purge. Get it out."

"Where's Rebecca?"

"None of you business," Damon said sharply. Rebecca wasn't a topic of discussion between them, not since Stefan had killed her. "And that wasn't what you wanted to ask."

"Okay. Is Isobel still alive? I know what you and Rebecca had planned, so . . . I know that you and Elena have bonded. And I know that she cares about you and I know you care about her. I'm just concerned about Elena getting hurt. She considers you a friend."

"Same here. Elena is a very good friend. Is that a problem?" Damon smirked. "Oh, and as her friend, I wasn't looking forward to telling her the truth anyway. So I'll let you do it."

"What truth?"

"About John. Because, you see, I know you guys don't like to keep secrets from each other."

Stefan crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "What're you talking about?"

"Am I the only one around here who has the ability to put two and two together? Isobel. Hello."

Stefan shrugged.

"She dated John when she was younger. She gets pregnant and ends up at the doctor's office of John's brother. Now, what d'you think John's role is in all of this? Hm? I mean, go ahead, think about it. I'll wait. Did you get it? Are you there yet? Hm?"

"So you think that John is . . . Elena's father?"

"Ding-ding-ding-ding!"

"And what proof do you have?"

"I don't need proof. That's a DNA test for John and Elena and Maury Povich to deal with. But I know how well you deal with these big bombshells, so . . ." Damon turned to leave with his drink in his hand, but when he reached the stairs he turned back around. "Oh, and when you do tell Elena . . . and she needs a friend to talk to about anything . . . I'm here for her."

Rebecca had gone to Jeremy's house to check on him and to fulfill her promise. She was going to help him find Anna. She'd been about to go in through Jeremy's window when she heard Jeremy begin to speak.

"Yeah! Because I'm pretty sure that your journal covered it."

"You read my journal?"

Rebecca had gotten there just in time to hear a fight from the middle. She wasn't sure how it had started, but she was fairly certain she knew how it was going to end.

Jeremy admitted about reading what Elena had written about Damon erasing his memory.

"Jeremy, please, you don't understand. The night that Vicki died, it was like Mom and Dad died all over again. It was all over your face. And it hurt so much to see you like that. I just wanted to take away the pain. I'm so sorry, I -"

"Just get out," Jeremy said. "Please."

"Jer, I -"

Rebecca heard a door slam, so she assumed that meant Elena was no longer in the room. Rebecca made sure no one was looking before she jumped up to his window and opened it. She was going to have to talk to Jeremy about leaving it unlocked; she'd easily gotten in.

He jumped a little when she appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey," she said softly. "Did you get in touch with Anna?"

"No . . . I -"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Isobel didn't hurt me."

"Good. Now go get dressed, we're gonna go check out where Anna lives."

That had been the plan, anyway, but . . . as soon as they were getting ready to leave, Anna showed up. She was visibly upset.

"Anna, hey. What're you doin' here?" Jeremy asked softly. "Why didn't you call me back?"

"My mother. She's dead. She was killed."

"What?"

"Oh, my God, Anna!" Jeremy instinctively stepped toward the girl and hugged her. "I'm so sorry."

Rebecca watched tears fall from Anna's eyes, and she was reminded of when her mother had died.

"I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I don't have anywhere else to go," Anna said, sobbing.

Rebecca felt sorry for Anna, but it was Jeremy that Anna needed right then, so Rebecca slipped away silently. She had her own boyfriend that was waiting for her.

She had to get Chelsea from Jenna, but she couldn't have just gone downstairs because nobody had seen her come in aside from Jeremy. She stopped at the front door and knocked. John was the one who opened the door for her.

Oh, great, she mused. She'd forgotten about him staying with Elena and Jenna and Jeremy. She hoped he hadn't messed with Chelsea; Rebecca didn't want Chelsea getting close to anyone like John.

Needless to say, she didn't stay long.

Okay, so here's how the Isobel thing turned out. I so wanted to kill her off, but alas, I still need her in the second season, so . . . yeah.