They were driving steadily at 80 miles per hour, having just passed the Virginia state border. Damon insisted on having the windows open, so Caroline's hair was all over the place. The air, though, was fresh as the morning was beautiful and warm. It felt like one of those morning when one didn't wake up at their own bed, unsure how to act, what to do or say. They sat quietly, both pondering over different aspects of a single issue.

"So what? We're heading to the South?" Caroline said, unable to handle the silence anymore.

Damon gave her a crooked smile.

"Your observing skills are outstanding," he said festively. "You'll see when we're there."

Caroline hissed - how typical of Damon. "Don't tell me he went back to Savannah."

Damon didn't get to say anything as her phone started to ring. Alaric, it read on the screen.

"What's up, Ric?" she said, and then to Damon: "Would you mind closing the window? I can't hear a word!"

Damon grinned and did so. In his good old Camaro, he couldn't do it but manually. It was only tiny imperfection of this stunning car.

"Who are you with?" Ric asked, half surprised, half annoyed.

"Damon. We have a little newbie vamp problem over here."

"Newbie vamp? What the heck am I missing?" he asked imperatively. "He turned someone?"

"It's a long story," Damon answered loudly. "If you called just to say hi, you couldn't have called at any less convenient time, thanks for your concern, bye."

"Dick," Ric remarked.

"Don't listen to him. What you've got?"

"We found it in the loft," Ric said, "but we have yet to find out what exactly it's good for."

"You didn't give it to her?" she asked.

"No, of course not. We won't give her a thing that could possibly kill us all."

"She would have done already if she could, wouldn't she?" Damon noted.

"Shut up, Damon. You know about the old Maxwell journal?"

"Yeah?" Caroline replied.

"I think there are instructions in it how to use it and against who. Dorian is still trying to decipher it. You should really come here and see it."

"Now it's really not a good time, Ric," Caroline said apologetically. "We will try, okay? We will get to you as soon as possible."

"Hurry, Caroline," he said and hung up.

"No way. I'm not turning back unless Bonnie is save, back in the cell, in Mystic Falls," Damon refused.

Caroline frowned. "How do you know she left the town? She might have stayed. Why don't you just call Stefan? He won't answer my calls."

Damon pulled his phone out of the pocket of his leather jacket. "Here, call her," he told Caroline.

"But she's got her phone off," she objected.

"Try it again. She'll need her phone at some point."

Caroline dialed her number incredulously. They had called her dozens of times already, why would she pick up just now?

"She won't - Bonnie?" Caroline gasped.

Damon could ball his eyes out. He gazed at Caroline with his mouth half-open. After a second of utter shock, he stamped on the brake. It squeaked so loud and hard it hurt their ears. Luckily for them, the road they drove was empty.

He ripped the phone out of Caroline's hand and almost shouted: "Bonnie?"

"Damon," Bonnie cried.

"Where the hell have you gone?"

"You have to come here, please."

"Come where? Be specific," he insisted.

"I did something terrible," she told him.

"Yeah, you did. That really wasn't so polite of you," he reproached. "Running away like that, what were you thinking?"

"I almost killed her, Damon," she cried even stronger on the other side.

"Whoa, slow down, Bonnie. You did what?"

"It was him, I couldn't... Please, you must get me out of here. I'm so, so sorry," she sobbed.

Damon got startled. "Tell me exactly where you are," he said. "Are you in Mystic Falls?"

"Yeah..."

"Dammit!" Damon cursed as he hung up. "Such an idiot!"

"She's still in Mystic Falls?" Caroline shouted in annoyance."But where? Why did you hang up?!"

Damon hit the steering wheel several times with his palms. "She's with Elena."

"Elena?" Caroline yelled out. "She wanted to kill Elena?"

"Think about it, blondie," he replied. "Who wants to have Elena killed? Who almost did already?"

Caroline whispered: "Cade."

"Why does he want to hurt you so much?" she asked. "I don't get it. I mean, of course I know you signed himself over to him, but..."

"Being the bad guy for the sake of it," Damon shrugged, but his teeth clenched. "Making the most fundamental mistake: have a purpose."

"What? You're giving lectures at being the bad guy, now?" Caroline exclaimed laughingly.

"Who's better entitled than me?" he replied.

"Anyone, duh," she said, "you're the good guy now. Look at you, on the mission to save the day."

"What's the point if I don't save her," he said quietly. Not having the vampire hearing, Caroline wouldn't have heard him.

"Of course you will. We will," she opposed. "Don't think otherwise for a minute."

Damon reflected for a while. Then he said: "I'm the sole reason she's getting hurt all the time. I'm tired of it. I'm bad for her, I really am."

Caroline touched his arm and squeezed it firmly. "Stop it! You've been there already! Elena loves you and you're made for each other. You know better than me that you two get the best out of each other. Hold on to it, Damon."

"It's not only Elena. What about Bonnie? Look what she has done for me. It's not Stefan's fault, nor Cade's, not even Elena's - she's getting all of punishment adressed to me."

Damon pushed down the pedal and turned around back to Mystic Falls.


Not hurting Elena, but hurting Damon was destroying Bonnie from the inside. The guilt was eating her every cell: this was not what one did to their best friend. And whilst it was him Bonnie was accountable to, she wanted him beside her. It was desperation: the offender shouldn't stay at the crime scene, the thief shouldn't get caught by owner of the stolen thing. And she wanted to throw herself at his arms, because he was the last person she actually had, the only person that sincerely cared. Sure, there was Caroline, but being responsible for two children, to Bonnie it seemed selfish being another liability.

But who was he to talk of selflessness or selfishness? She ruined it all, most likely. Her friendships, her hopes, all the plan Bs. She was finished.

The blood put a shadow on her mind; she thought this must have been what mental illness felt like. It didn't bother her that Elena lay there, almost ready for the morgue. What upset her was hurting her boyfriend. And the sunrise.

As a former witch, it occured to her that at some point she would be desperate for a daylight ring. Right now, it was the worst possible situation of all. She couldn't get out, but she couldn't stay inside, either, all the blood smelling at every spot of this building was like a rush, preventing her from thinking clearly.

She was screwed. And in tears. As stupid as it was, Bonnie desperately wanted to be locked back in the cell with Damon taking care of what he had promised. It was obivous to her that once she put her foot out of the hospital, there would be Cade waiting for her as he had told her: it was only wonder he wasn't here already. The danger and pain she put Damon through was immense, however, she needed her best friend. Probably for the first time in her life, she felt she wasn't going to make it on her own.

"You convinced me, my dear," Cade's voice said out of nowhere. She gasped for air in shock.

"You," she hissed. "You made me do this."

"No," Cade objected, "you wanted to do it first. I just helped you let go of doubts."

Bonnie smiled without humour. It was dark and deadly smile, so much it surprised the Devil himself. "I would never, ever consider kiling my best friend."

"You have done countless times already. Shall I remind you?" he asked.

"Keep it to yourself, monster."

"Strong words, Bonnie, strong words," he said. "Our deal is not dismissed by your sudden change of mind, I hope you understand that."

"We have no deal," Bonnie denied.

"Do you hear it?" Cade pointed at Elena's body. Around her head, neck, the entire pillow was covered in fresh blood. "Her pulse is so weak."

Bonnie frowned and crossed her arms on her chest, surpressing tears that were forcing their way out of her eyes.

"It's your fault," she said.

"Hey, you've got something over here, right there, in the corner of your lips - is that your breakfast?" Cade taunted her crudely.

Bonnie touched her jaw. She felt Elena's blood lingered on her jaw, in two streams coming out of her mouth. It was slowly drying. Never had she ever been so ashamed as she was right now. She was disgusted with herself. She could not believe she had done this. It was impossible to accept it as a fact - it was so unlike her. Even though vampires changed after their transition, did they change this much? Did they become someone totally different?

"No matter how hard you try, you can't escape me. And you know it, Bonnie, so why won't you just surrender?" Cade asked, apparently bored.

"Never."

Cade smiled. "I've told you I'm a patient man. We've got eternity ahead of us. But think of every moment spent without your one true love."

"I don't want him back if it means hurting every living person I love. Forget it, alright? Just stop this and let me go," Bonnie burst.

He laughed. "Am I holding you here?" he asked while still laughing. "You're free, go wherever you want. I'm not like your dearest friend Damon to lock you up."

"Go, what are you waiting for?" he repeated as Bonnie stared at him in dismay.

The door was right behind him. The only way to get out was to risk going round him and be possibly attacked. However, Bonnie thought, if he wanted to hurt her, he would have done it by now. So she headed straight through the door, with regrets, hoping she would bump into Damon straight away.

Blackness spreaded in front of her eyes.


Damon and Caroline weren't allowed to run their fastest as the hospital began to fill with people by the time they arrived in Mystic Falls. Damon couldn't stop thinking they were too late.

In the unit with Elena's room, there was a deputy on patrol.

"You can't go in," he stepped in Damon's way.

Damon caught his look and said with a deep, persuasive voice: "What happened here?"

The deputy stared at him blankly and answered: "A woman in the intensive care unit was attacked by somebody and lost a lot of blood. The offender disappeared, but we have to keep an eye on her just in case. She might be important witness."

"Do you know who attacked her?" Damon continued to ask.

The deputy blinked several times unable to say a word. His face resembled a little boy being caught after breaking a window.

"Answer truthfully," Damon ordered.

"It was a vampire," the deputy said firmly convinced. Caroline frowned.

Damon compelled him to forget everything and go away.

Elena's bed was not covered in blood anymore. She was pale and her lips were almost blue, her neck had a bandage on it and she looked more dead than alive. Her burns didn't heal properly and made her overall state seem even worse. As if it could be worse: she couldn't breath herself, the machine did it for her, and her heartbeat was so weak it was barely audible.

"Elena!" Damon exclaimed running to her bed. He grabbed her hand.

"Did she really attack her?" Caroline said quietly, standing still by the door. "I can't believe it. It's Bonnie!"

"I'm pretty sure," Damon replied, "that it's not really her. I was convinced she had turned it off..."

"So you suggest...?" Caroline demanded.

"I think it's much more complicated than that."

Caroline looked around the room. "Wait - where is she? Didn't she say she'd be here?"

"Good question," he said. "I have no idea."

"She wouldn't run away, would she?"

"I don't know, Caroline, stop asking so many questions! I don't know what Bonnie would do right now, I don't know anything! What I do know is that we have to find her, stop her and get her home," he explained. "Home meaning locked up until we feed her the cure or get some sense into her head."

"I'm not going to ask how we're going to do it," uCaroline said after a moment.

Damon gave her a hostile look. "Don't tease me."

"You should go to the Armory, find out what it is with that dagger," he suggested. Caroline didn't move. "Go!" Damon said.

"I'm not leaving you," she refused. "We're in this together."

Damon's face crooked as if he ate a lemon.

"This is not time to be a hero," he said, "just go, Caroline. Now."

She sighed. She looked at Elena, frowned, and then gazed back at Damon. She figured that Ric might need her more than Damon at the moment.

"Call me if anything happens, ok?"

She closed the door behind herself.

Damon pressed Elena's hand in his, ignoring the fact it was covered in scabs and bandage. She had been hurt many times already but each time she'd held her head up high, brave and strong. Now, she was powerless, unconscious and hurt more than ever. Because nothing would bring Damon more pain than seeing her die, and he was the target. That was the worst thing: if Elena hadn't been his weakness, she would have never got hurt.


The work ethic in the Armory was exemplary. By the time Caroline arrived there, Dorian had deciphered almost everything behind that dagger.

It was the only weapon against Cade. And by killing him, the entire hell would disappear with him.

"Do you ever sleep?" Caroline asked seeing dark circles under Ric's eyes and dozen coffee cups.

"Sleep? Never heard of it," Ric replied. "Have you talked to Sybil?"

"Why would I?" Caroline wondered. "I thought she was with you the whole time."

"She wasn't here at all," Ric informed her.

Caroline stiffened. "That is weird."

Ric stared at her puzzled.

"If she's not here, then where?" she asked rhetorically. "This isn't good. Does this mean she wanted to kill him? Why would she want that?"

"What does it matter now? Here's the dagger," he said. He took her hand and put the dagger in it. "Go and kill Cade before he makes even more harm. Before he or Sybil out we have this thing."

"There's more to it," Dorian exclaimed from across the room. "You have to do it in a particular way, or it won't work."

He explained that for the dagger to work properly, Cade had to be weakened and the most sufficient way to do so was with the Maxwell bell, part of which was the tuning fork that harmed the Sirens.

"But where do we get that?" Ric said, irritated.

Caroline looked him in the eyes.

"What?" he asked. "You know about it?"

"Sybil wanted it," she said, "from me. But I have no idea where it is!"

"But she might," Dorian suggested. "You should find her and ask her."

"Oh, how clever!" she exclaimed. "Because that's really easy thing to do."

Dorian half-smiled. "Sure. If she wanted something from you, most likely she'll want it until she gets it."

"And what if she has it?" Caroline said.

"Then we would have known already," Ric replied, not especially pleased by Caroline's sudden hostility. "He's right, you should try to track her down. I'm not saying you should be friends, but..."

Caroline turned to Dorian. "Does it say what the dagger would do if he was stabbed but wasn't weak?"

Dorian flipped through the pages a bit bewildered.

"Actually, it doesn't," he admitted.

Caroline smiled widely. "Perfect. We will do it without the bell."

"I don't think that is -"

"No," Caroline lifted up her hand in refusal, "we don't have much time."

Ric and Dorian didn't know the truth about the pressure of time, but they agreed with Caroline, anyway, without any suspicion, thinking that evil had to be fought fast and effectively.