A/N: So, here comes another chapter closer to the ending of this tale…Answers will be given, but not all questions will be answered…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Stefan looked away from the window when he heard Elena's phone go off. "You didn't have to set an alarm," he commented, watching her play with her phone.

"Yes I did," Elena muttered, shoving her phone into her back pocket. "He had an hour to be with her and I think that was too much for him. Who knows what he has done up there? He could have run away with her body, Stefan."

"They're still up there," Stefan commented, glancing up at the ceiling. "I think he's coming down the stairs now."

"Good. Now we don't have to hunt him down and pry him away from Cailee's body," Elena grumbled, pushing herself to her feet. "You know, for someone who is against the killing of innocent people, you haven't done anything."

"What would you have me do?"

"Get mad at him. He ended a life. A life he claimed that he loved with all of the passion in the world." Elena shrugged. "Just do something to make him pay."

"I think with the loss of his love, he's paid enough. Don't you?"

Elena stood there, thinking about it for a moment. "Maybe…but people are going to question how she died. Complications from hypothermia don't cause complete blood loss."

"We'll cross that bridge when we have to."

Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Damon appeared in the room, his eyes dark with grief and self loathing. Stefan felt a wave of sympathy hit him, but there was nothing he could do to make this better. For once the 'hero' couldn't save the day.

"You could have stayed up there for a few more minutes," Stefan told his brother. "We would have come up there in a little while anyway."

"You would have found me as a mess if I didn't get out of there," Damon mumbled, running a hand through his dark hair. "I would have held onto her body and not let anyone take her away from me."

"So, she's not a vampire?" Elena questioned, her eyes narrowed.

"No." Damon looked at Stefan with sad eyes. "She won't wake up…I…I killed her and she's never going to come back to me."

Stefan shot Elena a look when she opened her mouth to say something mean and she quickly closed her mouth. "Damon, I'm sorry for your loss."

Damon gave him a dirty look. "Don't use that line on me. You're not sorry. You're just glad that it wasn't your girlfriend who died. Well, you know what Stefan? I hate your guts and I hope to God that you and your girlfriend die in a burning car wreck. Or have a werewolf kill you. Whichever is the most painful."

"Damon, he's trying to be nice to you," Elena said, glaring at him.

"And you," Damon snapped, rounding on her. "You made Cailee feel like crap!"

"What?"

"When you first came over and got hit by her, she felt like crap! All she wanted was to be accepted by all of the people at school and you people made her life a nightmare. Do you know how many times she came home crying because of the noise that you children created and how you left her out of every event just because she was different?" His face turned ugly with hate. "She looked up to you, Elena! You were her idol at that stupid school and you wouldn't even notice her unless she made herself stand out from the crowd for a few minutes! The only people she had in this world were me and Bonnie! You good guys completely ignored her when she needed your help the most!"

Elena stared at him in shock. "She idolized me?"
"Yes!" Damon snarled, his eyes blackening. "I warned her against the idea after she came home crying too many times! But she wouldn't listen because she was convinced that you could be her friend! Was she wrong?"

Stefan stepped in front of Elena protectively. "Damon, calm down," he ordered. "I know you're upset with the world right now because you lost someone that you loved, but you can't attack your friends."

"Some friends you are!"

A soft sigh was heard and Stefan turned to look at Elena. She looked confused.

"Did you hear that too?" Elena asked, looking up at him.

They all looked towards the stairs when they heard soft footsteps retreating up them. Damon's eyes narrowed.

"That better not be the stray cat that lives near the trashcan!" he growled, walking out of the room.

Elena and Stefan followed him, but there was no sign of a cat. As they climbed the stairs they could hear something moving softly around the bedroom that Damon had vacated moments before. Elena looked at Stefan and opened her mouth, but he shook his head and effectively silenced her.

"Damon, be careful," Stefan said as his brother made to open the closed door to the bedroom. "We don't know what we're dealing with."

Damon rolled his eyes and gripped the door handle, turning it slowly. He pushed open the door and his eyes widened. "Cailee?"

Stefan and Elena filed into the room behind him and saw that Cailee was sitting up in the bed with her legs drawn under her. She had color in her face and her eyes were full of life. A small smile appeared on her lips as she looked at Damon.

"I don't understand," Elena whispered, staring at her. "She's dead, right?"

"She's a vampire."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damon stared at Cailee in shock. He had left her moments ago, stone cold dead, but here she was in complete life as a creature of the night. A vampire.

"Damon, aren't you going to say something?" she asked, tilting her head to one side with a small smile on her face.

"You were dead…" Damon breathed, taking a step closer to her.

"Yes. That's part of the process," Cailee commented as if she was knowledgeable about this kind of thing. "And I had to say goodbye to my old self, so I took a little longer getting back." She held her arms open. "But I'm here now…Alive and still full of love for you."

Damon had her in his arms in a flash. He held her close and breathed in her scent, drinking in her appearance, her heartbeat. Everything that he had thought he had lost forever just moments ago.

"Oh Cailee," he breathed, burying his face against her neck. "I thought I lost you forever…"

Cailee giggled, stroking his hair. "That sounded really corny."

"It's the truth…"

Cailee turned her eyes away from him and he saw something in him that he hadn't seen in a long time. Clarity. There was no pain, no confusion. All the normal things he had seen in her eyes when she was consumed by the sickness were gone, leaving behind clarity, happiness, and love.

"You two can go now," Cailee told Stefan and Elena. "Damon probably already upset you enough already and I'm afraid he might do it again."

Damon lifted his head and looked over at his brother and Elena. They were watching the two of them with surprise.

"We can't leave until we hear the answer to one important question," Stefan said, taking a step forward.

"No, you can leave now." Damon sat up and wrapped his arm around Cailee's shoulders. "Cailee and I have to get reacquainted and little children like you shouldn't be around when that happens." He glanced at Cailee. "Does fifteen blocks away sound like a reasonable distance away from here? What do you think?"

Cailee smacked him lightly on the arm and looked back at Stefan. "What's your direly important question? Or can it wait until Damon has his fun?"

"It can wait," Damon said, giving Stefan a pointed glare. He wanted the stupid 'hero' out of there as soon as possible.

"It can't wait," Stefan declared, staring directly into Cailee's eyes. "It's important to everyone in town, everyone in the world."

"If you want to know when the Rapture is going to happen, I'm sorry but I didn't get that answer when I was heading towards the light at the end of the tunnel." Cailee smiled and adjusted the strap of her nightdress. "And if has anything to do with smarts, I'm sorry I don't have any."
Stefan shook his head. "I need to know something about your head."

"Okay."

"Are you still hearing the voices and seeing the hallucinations?" Stefan inquired.

Damon looked at Cailee as she sat there silently. "Cailee?"

Cailee looked at him and opened her mouth to speak…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: So is she cured? Can vampirism cure something like schizophrenia? I wouldn't know because I'm not a vampire, but we'll find out what I think would happen. But is it a positive view? Stay tuned and continue to review! ~ Scarlet