Where chapter 3 went a lot faster than I thought it would, this one seemed to take forever. Probably due to the lack of source material/motiviation. When the finale aired I was so excited to get writing. Now unfortunately, I'm left with a little less motivation than I'd hoped for :(

I think I have one, maybe two more chapters to go. As always, I'm EXCEPTIONALLY apprehensive about my work. Some of my reviewers have told me I have nothing to worry about and I wholeheartedly appreciate that :) Still, I can't help it :(

There are a lot of staccato scene shifts in this one, hopefully it brings a faster pace to the action. Anyways, here is chapter 4. I hope you enjoy it :)

Several hours had passed since Bonnie had revoked Katherine's right of passage into Elena and Jeremy's home. Jeremy's strength had returned to him and at long last he was up and about on his own. With Jeremy able to take care of himself, and Katherine unable to enter their house, Anna and the Salvatore brothers felt a great deal more relaxed at leaving Jeremy and Elena alone.

It didn't take much coercing on Anna's part to get Bonnie to let her help research 'the item' Katherine was searching for. While she was getting somewhat more comfortable around the Salvatore brothers, Bonnie wasn't quite ready to allow them passage into her home. Aware of only one other person in Mystic Falls who might have any insight, Stefan and Damon headed to the High School for an impromptu meeting with one Alaric Saltzman.

In the Gilbert home, Jeremy was active in the kitchen, eating just about everything in sight to replenish his system. Having taken a well-deserved nap after her long night, Elena descended the stairs to find Jeremy working his way through what she only could have assumed to be his fourth sandwich. She slowed as she approached him and a smile formed on her lips; it was nice to see Jeremy simply being a teenager -being her brother- once again.

He finally looked up and acknowledged her, a slight look of shame on his face as he gorged himself, "Hey."

"How're you feeling?"

"Better," he replied.

She continued further into the kitchen and placed her hands on the island. For a moment she wished this were more awkward. Not more than a day ago had her father's fingers been cut off on this very island. She hated how easy it was to forget him. She pushed the thoughts aside, and chuckled lightly as she observed the scraps of ham, cheese, turkey, lettuce, tomato and bread that covered the island. Through her laugh she asked, "Hungry?"

"Starving," Jeremy replied with a mouthful of food.

"The doctor said you'd be hungry," Elena replied. Jeremy nodded and his eyes widened slightly in response as he shoveled the mammoth sandwich into his mouth. Elena's look of happiness on the other hand faded slightly as she prepped herself to pursue the conversation she knew they needed, "Jer…"

Just at the tone of her voice, his feast halted immediately and he locked eyes with her. Again with a mouthful of food he replied, "Yeah?"

"…I'm sorry," she finished. Jeremy looked away from his sister and for a moment, all of the lies replayed in his mind. Even weeks later, it was so much to process. The more he thought on it, the angrier he became, but in the end, he managed to keep calm. His eyes turned back to her and he could both see and hear how sorry she was, "I'm sorry for what I did; for what happened and for not telling you. I know it doesn't mean much now-"

"Now that I know everything?" Jeremy interrupted harshly.

"Yeah," Elena replied sheepishly. Immediately she wondered if merely bringing it up was a mistake. She pushed the thought aside and pushed through to get this off of her chest, "I swear, Jer; it'll never happen again. I want things to be the way they were between us. I want you to be able to talk to me."

Jeremy had forgiven her to some degree, but he couldn't let her off that easily, "I want things to be the way they were too." As her eyes looked to meet his, he continued, "But nothing will ever be the same, Elena. What happened between you and me; I'm ready to let go, but our lives, they'll never be the lives of any other kids our age. I'm crazy about Anna, and with this Katherine roaming the streets looking for who knows what, I've got a lot to think about."

Elena knew exactly what he was talking about and asked, "You're still thinking about turning?"

"And if I am?" Jeremy asked.

Elena hadn't quite sorted her feelings on the subject, but in that moment, she needed to nurture their relationship as best she could, "It's your decision, Jer." In this moment of vulnerability, one of her most well kept secrets slipped out, "I'd be a liar if I said I hadn't thought about it."

Jeremy's eyes immediately locked on her as he asked, "You've thought about turning?"

Elena pulled a stool from under the island and took a seat, "Being with a vampire, there's no way I couldn't have thought about it."

"What'd you come up with?"

"What do you mean?"

Jeremy chuckled slightly, "We might not always see eye-to-eye, but I know you, Elena. I'm sure you've weighed every pro and con, so what was it? What made you decide not to turn?"

"That's just it," Elena replied quietly.

"What's just it?"

Her eyes looked up to his again and her expression was a flat as it had ever been, "I never found a good enough reason not to."

Jeremy's expression told of his surprise. While he too had his reason for and against turning, he had no idea his sister felt the same way.

At the High School, Alaric Saltzman was at his desk grading papers when a light gust brought him to look up from his work. Stefan and Damon stood just before him, uninvited and unannounced as usual. While he didn't mind Stefan, Damon irked him to his core, and although they'd developed somewhat of a rapport these past few weeks, just as quickly as he'd looked up, Alaric turned back to his work and asked, "Something I can help you both with?"

"All of the research that you've done regarding this town; where do you keep it?" Stefan asked.

Without lifting pen from paper, he reached into a drawer on the left side of his desk and retrieved a rather thick and neatly wrapped portfolio. He placed it on his desktop with a thud, and still not offering them his complete attention asked, "Mind if I ask why?"

"The ring that Isobel gave you…" Damon replied calmly, finally garnering Alaric's attention, "…the witch who made it also made several other trinkets."

"Like the rings the both of you wear so you can walk around in the daylight," Rick replied looking a bit confused. "So?"

"Turns out, she made quite a few other pieces as well," Stefan replied.

"Such as?" Alaric asked as he leaned back in his seat.

"Anna-"

Alaric interrupted Damon, "The girl from Elena's house?"

Damon nodded and continued, "She's got a necklace that works just like your ring-"

"Only for vampires," Rick concluded.

"Only for her," Damon corrected. "Katherine's here, she's looking for something and we think it might be that necklace."

"And you think there might be something in here about it?" Alaric asked.

"We don't know," Stefan replied. "We know you've compiled a lot of research on this place, so if there was a good place for us to start looking-"

Alaric slid the portfolio forward as he interrupted Stefan, "Just be careful, some of those documents are-"

"As old as us?" Damon interrupted with a smile.

"Right," Alaric replied.

As Damon took the portfolio from Alaric's desk, Stefan commented as he and his brother walked to the door, "We'll bring it back in a few hours." Upon reaching the door, Stefan turned to Alaric and he could practically feel the vampire's eyes on him.

"What?" Alaric asked.

"In your research, you've seen and read about Katherine, right?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah," Alaric replied calmly, his tone indicative that he knew exactly how dangerous Katherine was.

"She's out there, and she looks exactly like Elena. If you see her, don't give her anything, don't tell her anything. We have no idea what she'll do," Stefan replied, receiving an understanding nod from Alaric.

At Bonnie's home, the witch sat opposite Anna, just as they had a few hours earlier. While she wasn't a fan of vampires in general, she knew Anna was different. She knew she had done things, terrible things and not long ago, but she also knew why she did those things. She wasn't on some random killing spree; she did what she needed to in order to get her mother back. Now on the coffee table that separated them, the very tome used to release Pearl, as well as the other tomb vampires lay open.

While Bonnie hadn't yet located the spell Emily had used on Anna's necklace towards the end of the Grimoir's pages, the book itself was full of spells, notes and amendments. Discerning each and every spell, its contents and purpose was a somewhat slow and difficult process. As she read through the liner notes, Bonnie commented, "So many of these are untested. It looks like she wrote down just about everything that came to mind." She chuckled slightly as she continued, "Here's one to banish solicitors."

"You mean like door-to-door salesmen?" Anna asked.

"Yeah," Bonnie replied. Feeling a bit light-hearted in the moment, Bonnie asked, "So you and Jeremy?" Anna blushed slightly, unsure of how to approach the subject of her relationship with Jeremy, with someone who openly disliked vampires. Her silence brought Bonnie to look up, "I heard what happened last night."

Anna looked quite ashamed of herself as she spoke, "He's been through so much. First his parents, then Vicki…" she looked up to meet Bonnie's judging eyes, "…have you ever been in love?" Bonnie offered no response and Anna continued, "You do anything and everything you can to make the person you love happy, and all they can ever do is look back at you with hollow eyes."

Bonnie remained calm and collected as she spoke, "If he turned; became what you are, he would still be who he is, Anna."

Anna's eyes filled with a thin sheet of tears as she attempted to defend what she had done, "He could have turned it off though. All of the things that make you hurt inside, you can shut them out like a switch."

"But the pain and feelings would still be there, he'd just be living a lie," Bonnie replied.

Anna's tears finally ran down her cheeks. She knew Bonnie was right, and still feeling ashamed of herself, Anna offered, "I'm sorry I-"

"You didn't feed him or slit his throat, Anna," Bonnie interrupted with a slight smile. "I understand why you did it. I'm not here to judge you, or tell you what you did is right or wrong."

Anna wiped her tears and commented, "Bet you didn't think vampires cried so much, huh?"

Bonnie looked up to Anna and offered her a smile, "It just means I was right in trusting you. You might be a vampire, but you're not like them."

Anna smiled slightly and replied, "Thanks."

As soon as Bonnie turned her attention back to the Grimoir, she froze as she read the page in front of her, "Whoa."

Anna's face instantly straightened out as she leaned forward and asked, "What, what is it?"

Reading down the page, Anna commented just as Bonnie had, "Whoa."

At Stefan's home, the Salvatore brothers were halfway through Alaric's research. Damon's phone vibrated on the table bringing Stefan to look away from his reading. Damon finished the line he was reading and answered the call, a wide and devilish grin on his face as he saw who was calling, "Hi, Bonnie."

Stefan rolled his eyes and turned back to his reading while Damon continued his conversation, "Are you sure?" His face told of his surprise as Bonnie continued to pass on her findings to him. He checked his watch and replied, "Right, we'll meet you at Elena's…" Stefan cleared his throat and Damon addressed his brother's gesture, "…I'm sorry; we'll meet you at Stefan's girlfriend's place."

Damon clicked the 'end' button and re-stacked the pages he had gone through. Taking notice of his actions, Stefan asked, "What's going on?"

"Bonnie found it," Damon replied simply.

"The 'item' Katherine is looking for?" Stefan asked.

"Not quite," Damon replied as he stood and slipped his coat on. "C'mon, let's get this stuff back to Rick and go to your "lady friend's" house."

"Damon-"

Knowing full well that he was absolutely the jerk here, Damon interrupted his brother, "Hey it's cool, I get it. Elena's yours, and I'm a jerk. Now can we go?"

Stefan smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

Night fell on Mystic Falls just as Alaric packed the last of his things in his classroom. Again Damon and Stefan just so happened to 'appear' before the teacher, not startling nor interrupting what he was doing in the least.

Stefan delicately placed the portfolio on Alaric's desk and the teacher asked, "You two find what you were looking for?"

A slight smell of cologne permeated the air, though to Damon and Stefan, the smell couldn't have been any more apparent. While Stefan of course kept his manners, Damon took a blatant sniff while Stefan replied, "Bonnie found it at her-"

"Are you wearing cologne?" Damon interrupted.

"Yes," Alaric replied; his best 'what-do-you-care' look present and accounted for.

"Big night?" Damon replied with a smile.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Jenna asked me to dinner," Alaric replied. "She wanted to thank me for being there for her this morning."

Stefan looked away, knowing that if he had attempted to interrupt his brother, it might have only made him more obnoxious. Damon slowly approached Alaric's desk as he quietly continued with a wide smile, "I'll bet she did."

"Damon?" Stefan asked calmly, bringing Damon to turn to face him. "If you're done being you, can we get to Elena's?"

Damon walked around Alaric's desk and gently nudged him with his elbow as he whispered, "Get her once for me, alright?"

"Please leave," Alaric replied nonchalantly.

Truth be told, Alaric Saltzman hated Damon Salvatore. All that Damon had put him through, how he rubbed his relations with Alaric's wife right in his face, not to mention the fact that Damon did try to kill him. Still, as much of a jerk as he was, what troubled Alaric the most about Damon was the fact that he was one of the good guys.

Jenna Sommers emerged from the Mystic Grille as she so often had; just a little tipsy. As she turned the corner, she nearly crashed right into Katherine in the midst of her own confident stride towards the grille.

"Elena," Jenna greeted.

Caught off guard by Jenna's greeting, Katherine immediately seized this opportunity and casually replied, "Hey."

"Going to the Grille?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah…" Katherine replied with a slight hesitation, "…I'm meeting Stefan in a little while."

"Is everything okay between you two?" Jenna asked.

Immediately bored, Katherine struggled to continue the conversation, "Yeah everything's fine. Look I really have to-"

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Jenna replied.

Katherine smiled ever so slightly as she replied, "Yeah sure." Jenna acknowledged her with a nod and Katherine pried, "So where are you off to?"

Jenna's smile widened as she replied, "Alaric's. We're having dinner. Sort of like a 'thank you' date?"

"Oh…" the gears turned so quickly and easily. Katherine smiled and nodded, "…well, have fun."

"Thanks, you too," Jenna replied. As they walked away from one another, Katherine's smile instantly flattened and Jenna called back to her, "Elena?"

Katherine paused looking most frustrated and once again conjured a slight smile before turning to face Jenna, "Yeah?"

"Be careful," Jenna replied.

"You too," Katherine replied.

Shortly after she had hung up with Damon, Bonnie and Anna arrived at Elena and Jeremy's home. While Elena and Bonnie sat in the living room getting caught up on things, Anna and Jeremy occupied Jeremy's bedroom. Now that Jeremy was just about back to normal, the happy couple had quite a bit of intimacy to catch up on. They lay on their sides on Jeremy's bed, their lips engaged in a series of short and playful kisses.

Giving Jeremy a breather, Anna pulled away and commented, "It's good to have you back to normal."

Jeremy leaned to her and placed a kiss on her lips before replying with a smile, "It's good to be back." During the time short times he spent away from Anna, Jeremy's thoughts were only of her. His curiosity over potentially becoming a vampire was eating away at him.

Anna immediately noticed he had something on his mind and asked, "Is everything alright?"

Jeremy smiled and replied, "Yeah, I just…" he organized his thoughts and continued, "…I'm crazy about you, Anna. I'd love to spend forever with you, but I…" again he paused, "…I so don't want to screw up what we-"

Anna placed a finger to his lips, silencing him as she spoke, "It's alright. I'm glad you're still thinking about it, but it's something you never have to do for me to stay with you, Jeremy." Jeremy smiled and looked away slightly as Anna continued, "When and if you're ready, that's great; and if you're never ready, I'm still going to be here for you."

Their smiles met again and as they pulled apart, Jeremy asked, "Even when I'm forty and you still look eighteen?"

Anna chuckled as she replied, "I won't care, but anyone who sees us together is going to think you're a creep."

"What about when I'm sixty or seventy?" Jeremy asked.

Anna laughed as she spoke, "Alright well you know how I said 'when and if you're ready'? We might want to cap that at about thirty."

Jeremy laughed before bringing their smiles to meet again, "Deal."

Jenna ascended the stairs to Alaric's home using the rail for balance. "No more vodka tonics," she thought. She paused at the door, and a smile came across her face. She bit her lip slightly and knocked at the door. Within a few seconds, Alaric opened the door and grinned at the sight of Jenna, "Hey."

"Hey," Jenna replied with a smile.

Before they could say another word to each other, Katherine appeared behind Jenna and wrapped an arm around her throat.

"Elena?" Jenna shouted.

"Shut up," Katherine ordered as she tightened her hold on Jenna.

Alaric immediately raised his hand and begged, "Wait! Please don't hurt her!"

"I won't, so long as you do as I ask," Katherine replied.

"What do you want?" Alaric asked.

"First you're going to invite me in," Katherine replied.

"Over my dead body."

"No, over hers," Katherine replied before violently sinking her teeth into Jenna's neck, eliciting a wrenching scream from Elena's aunt.

"NO! Alright! Stop!" Alaric roared. Katherine withdrew her teeth and awaited her invitation, "Come in."

Katherine slowly walked a whimpering Jenna to the door but before crossing the threshold, ordered Alaric, "Your ring, take it off." As he attempted to speak, Katherine tugged on Jenna's throat causing her to cry out again. With no choices that didn't end with Jenna's death left, he slipped his ring off and placed it on a table beside the door. "Good, now back away."

Alaric raised his hands and took a few steps back as he was told. As they crossed the threshold, Katherine ordered Jenna, "Pick up the ring." Jenna quickly gathered the ring into her hand and Katherine continued, "Put it on." Jenna slipped the ring on and Katherine finally finished her thought, "Good girl." Katherine let go of Jenna only to push her face first into a wall knocking her unconscious.

Before Alaric could even react, Katherine dashed over to him and slammed his head against the wall, knocking him out as well. As she looked on the mess she made, she commented, "Now for the real fun."

She stepped to the front door and closed it behind her.

At Elena's home, the group had finally gathered to discuss Bonnie's findings. Stefan obviously sat beside Elena, Anna by Jeremy, and Damon and Bonnie opposite one another.

"So she is looking for Anna's necklace?" Damon asked.

"Sort of," Bonnie replied.

"Sort of?" Stefan asked.

"Katherine knows a spell was cast on an object, but Emily never made notes regarding the objects she enchanted. That and we found something else as well," Bonnie replied.

"Something else, like what?" Stefan asked.

Bonnie sighed lightly and began to explain, "Emily's notes throughout the Grimoir are incredibly difficult to follow. On the same page I found the spell she used on Anna's necklace, Emily made a note of this so called 'great achievement' Katherine mentioned." Bonnie smiled at the simplicity of it as she continued, "It's easily the most useful spell in the book, and she relegated it to a liner note. Whether or not she just looked at the page too quickly or didn't understand what she was reading, the spell is on the same page as the necklace, but it's not the necklace."

"So if this 'great achievement' of Emily's isn't Anna's necklace, what is it?" Elena asked.

Tired of the waiting game, Anna finally spoke up, "It's a spell to turn a vampire back into a human."

Absolute silence fell on the room. This was completely unprecedented as to what it could mean. Stefan and Elena, Anna and Jeremy, they could all grow old together if they wished.

"Is that really possible?" Damon asked.

"Just about anything is possible with the right amount of magic. But…" that single word floated in the room like the worst news in the world, "…Emily made a few notes beneath the spell concerning its possible after effects."

"After effects?" Stefan asked.

Bonnie explained, "Depending on the sort of life the enchanted vampire led, they could be driven mad almost immediately."

"So because I've killed hundreds of people…" Bonnie cringed slightly as Damon reminded her of the sort of person he once was, "…my conscience would rip me apart if I became a human again."

"She never used the spell. It's untested and unproven, but it is possible," Bonnie replied.

Just as a silence fell on the room once again, Elena's phone rang. She checked the caller ID and addressed the group as she stood from the couch, "It's Jenna, I'll be right back." She received a slight nod from Stefan and answered the call, "Hello?"

"Hello Elena," Katherine replied sadistically. Damon, Stefan, and Anna all turned to Elena at hearing Katherine on the other end of the call. Elena's face had instantly paled while Katherine continued, "I know the vampires can hear me, but why don't you put me down where little Jeremy and the witch can here me too?"

Elena walked back into the room to a sea of concerned faces. She clicked her phone on speaker and placed it on the coffee table.

"As Elena's guessed by now, I have her aunt. She's alive and aside from a slight neck wound, she's fine for now."

"What do you want?" Stefan asked with a slight demanding tone in his voice.

"I want what Emily made for Pearl. I'm sure all of you want me gone, so I'm also quite sure you've been trying to find it for me," Katherine replied.

"You don't even know what it is," Damon replied snidely. "How do you even know that you want it?"

"I might not be a witch but I do know how to read, Damon," Katherine replied. "A spell that can render a vampire invulnerable…" the group shared a collective look. The plan couldn't have been any clearer as she spoke, "…is something I'm most certainly interested in."

"We haven't found anything yet," Bonnie replied.

"In that case I suggest you look harder," Katherine replied. "I've also got the school teacher. I've put his ring on Jenna's hand, so you can be rest assured that Mrs. Sommers will live. The teacher's life is also assured as he's a part of my little game."

"Game?" Damon asked.

"Speak up kids," Katherine ordered of her two bound guests.

"Elena! Jeremy!" Jenna shouted.

"Rick?" Damon called.

"Yeah I'm here," Alaric replied.

Katherine brought the phone to her ear once again and concluded their conversation, "They're sitting just apart from each other, and in one hour, I'm going to break Mrs. Sommers' neck." The look of horror on everyone's face was virtually immeasurable as Katherine continued, "Every fifteen minutes after that, I'm going to do it again. Now let me ask all of you; how many times do you think he'll be able to watch me kill the woman he loves before he goes insane?"

"You bi-" Jeremy began only for Anna to grip his leg, silencing him before he could complete his remark. As he turned to her, she shook her head 'no' wearing a remarkable look of sadness.

"Where are you?" Stefan asked urgently.

"When you've found something, have Elena call me back to discuss an exchange," Katherine instructed. "Until then; tick, tock, tick, tock…"

And that's all for this one. If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it :)

I've got some work ahead of me in regards to where I go with the next chapter. Hopefully I can sort things out and get it done.

Again, a very big thank you to my reviewers :) I hope this chapter was worth the wait :)

Until next time,
-jm