LOST GIRLS

"What happened?" I asked Stefan with obvious concern. Still looking at me, I saw him put the stake down by the table next to the door.

"Damon happened." He said, trying to restrain his anger. Damon must have done something really really bad. "You shouldn't have come. I told you it was too dangerous."

"I know," I said to him, "But I just had so many things that I wanted to talk to you about." Hesitating, I stepped a bit closer to him, and asked softly, "What did he do? Besides break out, I mean."

Stefan, took my hand gingerly, and said, "Come in. I'll feel better once you're inside."

I nodded, then walked in to the victorian styled boarding house.

After Stefan told me the "story", I sat down on one of the comfy couches, feeling like a ton of weight was just dropped onto me. Stefan sat next to me, holding onto me, as if I was the only thing there keeping him from ripping off his brother's head.

So, this was the story: Caroline had somehow gotten "hypnotized", or whatever, by Damon because of the blood Damon had consumed by her. So she went to the boarding house, and unlocked the cellar. She got out into the sun before Damon could attack her, but unfortunately, Zach wasn't so lucky. Zach was dead; Damon had snapped his neck. So now, the sun was down, and Damon was out there, doing whatever the hell he wanted to do.

I sat there patiently, listening while Stefan had tried telling the story, calmly. I knew this was hard on him. His "uncle" had just been killed by his brother. I felt sad too. Caroline was almost killed. No wonder she was acting so strange on the phone earlier.

What could we do about Damon? I knew that Stefan was on the verge of killing his own brother, once and for all. But I had managed to talk him out of it. Not only would Damon die, but I knew Stefan, and he wouldn't be able to deal with the guilt that was already crushing him.

Breaking me out of my depressing thoughts, Stefan's phone rang. Stefan took one look at the screen of his phone, and turned to me and said, "It's Damon."

I jerked a little, then nodded. He took that as a sign to answer it.

3rd person POV:

Stefan answered the phone, meeting Ariana's gaze as he did so. He held her hand. Her mere touch was enough to keep him from going over the edge. Her presence reminded him that he had something to live for. "Hello, Damon." Stefan said, expectingly.

"I want my ring." Came Damon's voice on the other end. Ariana, though, couldn't hear him, since the phone wasn't on "speaker phone".

"Where are you?" Stefan asked.

"I'm at the sizzler. I had the buffet." That wasn't a good answer. Stefan knew what Damon would call a "buffet". "Where's my ring?" Damon asked.

"I don't have it." Stefan lied, then asked, "Where are you? What have you done?"

"No," Damon countered, "What have you done? You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done, whoever I've sucked dry is on you, buddy." Stefan gritted his teeth. He had to look away from Ariana and let go of her hand, for fear of accidentally hurting her. Ariana looked at Stefan questioningly.

"You're being careless." Stefan told Damon over the phone, "How many more animal attacks is this town gonna believe, huh?"

"I know how to cover my tracks, Stefan." Damon retorted, "Where's my ring?"

"I gave it to Zach to hide." Stefan lied, "Probably shouldn't have killed him."

Damon was silent for a moment, but then said, "You almost got me. Where is it?"

"I'll get it back." Stefan said reluctantly. If he hadn't said that, who knows how many others Damon would kill just to rile up Stefan. "But I need time."

"What, did you FedEx it to Rome?" Damon asked sarcastically, annoyed, and angry, "I want my ring, Stefan, or my next stop's Ariana's."

Stefan's eyes darkened, "I already want you dead." He stated. From beside him, Ariana winced. Stefan gave her a "sorry" look. "Don't give me another reason to make it happen. And we both know, you'd never hurt her."

Damon was silent for a few long seconds. "Perhaps," he finally said. "But that wouldn't stop me from killing her annoying brother and sister."

"Yeah?" Stefan taunted, "Is that gonna be before or after you get your ring back?"

"Just get it." Was Damon's last say, as he hung up on Stefan.

Stefan looked at his phone, as if he could glare daggers right into Damon's face.

Ariana POV:

"You okay?" I asked Stefan as he finally turned to look at me after the intense phone call. I was only able to hear what Stefan had been saying the whole time. But it was enough to know what may have happened. "Damon" plus "anger" equals "killing". Please tell me it wasn't anyone I knew. I knew that it was selfish, but I'd rather the people who I knew and cared about, survived more than complete strangers. I sighed. I didn't even know what to think anymore.

"Yeah," Stefan reached out and touched my knee, rubbing soothing circles around it. "I'll figure out a way to... deal with it."

I nodded, not really finding anything else to say. My brain was scattered in every direction, I could barely even think. My head felt like it was going to explode as tears threatened to spring out of my eyes. People were getting hurt, and there was nothing that I could do about it.

Suddenly, a sharp pain pervaded through my skull. The last sound I heard was Stefan shouting my name, before I succumbed to the darkness.

I woke up... wait... Where the hell was I?

All I could see was a bunch of sticks and green leaves, blocking out something bright. Then, my brain righted itself, and I figured out that I was staring up at the sky through trees. I was laying down... outside?

Below me was a blanket, one that I recognized was used to drape a chair back at the boarding house. I sat up, and groaned as I felt my head swirl and my sight turn blurry.

I heard the rustling of leaves, and then I saw somebody crouch down beside me. As my eyes refocused, I realized it was Stefan. "Hey," he said quietly, concern clouding his features, "You okay?"

"Yeah," I said groggily. My voice sounded terrible. "Where am I?"

"We're at my old home." He pointed to a group of old stones that were scattered around the forest. Some were still stuck together, and protruding from the ground like ancient columns. Wow, Stefan's home must have burned down, or something. Stefan smirked, "Not a pretty sight, is it?"

I shrugged, "You have the boarding house." Then, remembering that Zach had just recently died, I said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be insincere."

"It's fine." He said.

"How long was I out?" I asked him, as he helped me to stand up on the blanket. "And, what I meant was, why did you bring me here while I was still unconscious?" I wasn't trying to be rude, but I did just wake up in the middle of nowhere, and my head still hurt like a bitch.

"You were out for about fourteen hours." he said. Fourteen hours! Geez, what time was it? Jenna must've been freaking out. "I called your brother, and told him you were staying with me for the night. And, sorry, but I heard Damon while he was coming to the boarding house, so I didn't want to leave you alone while I went to search for something."

"Thanks." I said to Stefan. He was just looking out for my safety, that's all. Plus, now I didn't have to worry about calling Aunt Jenna. Who knows what would've happened if she found out that I was gone, and nowhere to be found.

Then, I tasted something weird in my mouth. It was almost bittersweet, like wine.

Stefan caught me licking my lips. "Oh, yeah," he almost looked guilty, "I fed you some of my blood once you passed out. I didn't want to take the chance that it was something... serious."

So, that's what vampire blood tasted like. Actually, now that I thought about it, it was pretty good. Vampire blood was supposed to heal, right? "It's okay," I said to Stefan. It's not like it was going to turn me into a vampire or anything. As long as I didn't die. Anyways, it was Stefan, and the thought of tasting his blood was making my cheeks turn red.

Stefan, still holding my arm, said, "You know, Damon and I used to be brothers back in 1864. We were best friends."

I nodded understandingly. That's how Jeremy, Elena, and I used to be. Like best friends.

"Then Katherine ruined it." Stefan finished. "She compelled us, and now Damon is still trying to punish me for outing her to my father. He's still heartbroken over that fact."

I was starting to feel sorry for Damon and Stefan. They had such a strong brotherly bond, then Katherine had to come into the picture, and turn them against each other. I always wondered what Katherine was like. How did she act back then? And not just from Stefan's descriptions. Then there's Damon... well, I guess he was still not over Katherine's death. He carried that pain around with him, and unleashed it on others.

Then, Stefan walked us over to the base of a tree. He bent down, and flipped a fallen leaf over, revealing a ring that looked almost identical to Stefan's. It was silver, with a lapis lazuli stone. I still wanted one of those...

"Is that Damon's ring?" I asked Stefan, as he picked up the ring, showing me that instead of the "S" that was on Stefan's ring, Damon's had a "D".

He looked at me, and said, "Yes. I took it from him, but I have to give it back."

"Wouldn't he just hurt more people that way?" On second thought, Damon could kill a bunch of people, with or without his daylight ring.

Stefan said, "If I don't give it to him, he'll retaliate in the only way that he knows he can hurt me." He locked eyes with me, and whispered the last part, "By hurting you."

I felt my heart warm at that, though I was a little confused.

Stefan saw my look, and said, "He may not hurt you physically, but, he can cripple you by hurting your family."

No. Jeremy, Elena, Jenna... He almost killed Caroline that one time, and he's killed many other people. It was all over the news, the "wild animal" attacks. Yeah, right, that's what they are, I thought sarcastically. Damon couldn't hurt anyone else, I didn't want him too. I sighed. We were giving him his ring back.

After that, Stefan picked me up bridal style, and vampire sped me to my house. I walked through the door, looking forward to a warm shower and change of clothes. But, instead, I found Vicki sprawled on the floor in pain, with Matt and Jeremy there looking worried. Elena was sitting on the couch by Vicki, looking as if she wanted to leave the room.

"Oh, my gosh." I said, "Vicki, are you okay?" I was about to go over to her, but Stefan held me back, in a vise-like grip.

"Ariana, stay back." He gave me a look that said he knew what was wrong with Vicki. Dear God, what's happened now?

Stefan walked over to Vicki, and knelt down so that he was eye level with he. Vicki looked terrible. Her eyes were closed, and sweat was all over her, making her messy brown hair stick up. "Vicki, look at me." Stefan said to Vicki, as we all watched worried. Well, actually, Elena just stared at Stefan. "You're gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be fine." Then to Jeremy and Matt, he said, "Guys, take her up to bed. Shut the blinds. She's gonna be okay."

Matt and Jeremy each took a groaning Vicki by the arms, and hauled her up the stairs into Jeremy's room.

"What the hell's wrong with her?" Elena asked as she continued to search the channels on the TV.

Stefan gave her a hard look. "She's in pain." He answered stiffly. Then to me, he said whispering, "She's transitioning."

I knew what he was talking about. Vicki was going to become a vampire. But how? "What happened?" I asked.

"Damon must have gotten to her." I swear to God, if Damon did something to hurt someone else, I was going to give Stefan the "go ahead" to kill him. Stefan continued, "She's new. She hasn't completed her transformation yet. She needs human blood. If she doesn't get any..." he paused, "She'll die."

My breath caught, "But she can't," It was getting hard to keep my voice down, in order for Elena not to overhear, "She's Matt's sister and I- I can't-"

"Shh, shh," Stefan soothed me and wrapped his arms around me. I couldn't keep it in anymore, tears started to flow from my eyes. It was a relief. I was trying to be strong, but in the end, even the strongest people have weaknesses.

Vicki couldn't die. It wasn't right, there's already been too many deaths. Matt needed her. But... if Vicki was on drugs before she was created into a vampire, how would she be like after.

"When is she gonna find out?" I mumbled to him, after wiping my eyes.

"Once she gets deeper into the transition," Stefan explained, "Memories will start to come back. Then, she'll know she has to make a choice."

"I don't know which one I think she should choose," I admitted to Stefan, "I mean, Matt needs her, and I don't want her to die, but, as much as I don't want to admit it, she's unstable. And once she becomes a vampire..." I couldn't say it, the words caught in my throat.

Stefan finished for me; "Those characteristics will be amplified."

I could only nod.

Then, I heard Matt yell, "Vick. Vicki!" Seconds later, Vicki ran past us, disappearing out the door.

"She was fine, and then she just- she just freaked out." Jeremy explained as he rushed into the living room.

"I'm gonna go look for her. Call me if you hear anything." Matt said to me. I nodded, and he fast-walked out the door, following Vicki.

Stefan turned to me, "I can track her."

"Go. Be careful, I'll see you later." I told him. Hopefully he finds Vicki. It's not like things could get any worse, but I've been saying that since mom and dad died.

Giving me a kiss, Stefan said, "You too," Then he went out.

"Damn," Elena said, as if everything was perfectly fine, "Our life is like a soap opera."

"Shut up!" Jeremy shouted.

"No!" Elena sneered at him, "You, shut up!"

"Guys," I said calmly, "We have other things to worry about right now."

Geez, couldn't they just act nicely towards each other. There were bigger forces at hand. I wasn't their mother, I could never be like our mom, but somebody had to supervise them.

"Where were you last night?" Elena asked me.

"I was with Stefan." I said. It wasn't technically a lie. Wasn't Jeremy supposed to tell her?

"And who gave you permission to do that?" Elena asked me as if she were my guardian.

"Aunt Jenna did, when I told her." Jeremy spoke up, before I could.

"Oh," Elena glared at him, "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"It wasn't about you." Jeremy retorted.

"Like hell it is," Elena snarled, "She's my sister too, ya know." As if Elena cared whether or not I was her sister. She just didn't want to be left out of "the loop".

Jeremy and Elena were arguing and shouting for what seemed like hours. I already had a headache from passing out, and right now, I felt like bashing my skull through the living room wall. Or maybe, I could throw Elena and Jeremy off a cliff.

Thankfully, the doorbell rang. I sighed in happiness when Jeremy and Elena finally stopped talking. I walked over to the door, massaging my aching temples, and opened it. Damon stood on the other side, smirking and looking all dangerous.

I was too focused on trying to rid the pain in my head, that I felt absolutely no fear. I had forgotten about all the bad things that Damon had done. Well, sort of. I was still wary, but I knew that Damon wouldn't hurt me or my family. Call it a gut feeling, or whatever, but I don't think he'd try anything with me here.

"I'd never thought I'd say this," I said, looking at Damon, "But, I'm glad you're here. Maybe you could go into the living room and bash some sense into my siblings."

"As you wish." He said, smirking, as he walked into the house, heading for Elena.

"I was kidding!" I said, then winced as pain flashed through my head. I leaned against the wall, trying to breath in and out, willing myself not to pass out.

Damon was there in a second, grabbing my arm, as he asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," I replied and groaned, "I fainted today, or actually yesterday. Mix that in with all you've been doing recently, and you get a huge headache."

"Well," He smirked, "I could give you some blood. It works better than aspirin."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Truthfully, I was really wishing for some sort of pain reliever. "If I wanted blood, I'd ask Stefan." I felt kinda bad for saying that after I saw hurt flash through Damon's eyes. This was why I refused to believe that Damon had no humanity, because at times, he did show it.

"Where is my baby bro?"

"He's looking for Vicki, whom you turned." I stated.

He shrugged, "She was collateral damage."

My mouth popped open. I was already pissed at him, and I felt the anger pervade through my body. Vicki. Was not. Just collateral damage. Not to me.

"Just go please." I said, breathless, "You've done enough "damage" here already. Just find your person, and leave the rest of my friends alone." I was getting tired of Damon's schemes. I wanted him gone, and away from everyone in this town. If he were to leave, would I miss him? Maybe. But, right then, I didn't want to ever see him again. Which was harsh, I know.

Damon was staring at me quietly for a long time. It could've been seconds, minutes, or hours, before he suddenly said, "I'm gonna go find Stefan." Then he left, just like that.

I paced on the porch of my house, anxiously waiting for Stefan to get back. What if something bad had happened? Did Damon do something to him? Where was Vicki? Questions dominated my mind, making my headache before feel like a heaven.

Then, I saw someone approach me. Stefan!

"Hey, thank God-" My voice caught in my throat as I saw that his shirt was covered in blood. It was spewing out from what looked like... bullet holes? Who the hell was shooting him, and why? "You're bleeding, are you okay?"

I took his hand, and made him sit on the light-colored wood porch chair.

"It's okay, I'm okay," He protested, trying to calm me down. But then he said, "I couldn't stop her. I tried, and she fed. Now I can't find her."

At first, I was scared yet glad. Scared, because now there was another vampire. But glad that Vicki wasn't completely dead. But now... how was I gonna explain this to Matt, to Jeremy? I could lie to them. I was never good at lying, especially to my close friends and family. They knew me too well.

"Gosh," I admitted, "I wish things were easier. Now I have to make up a story about Vicki." I turned to look at Stefan, "How am I supposed to explain what Vicki is? How long is it going to take before people start figuring out that she's not... aging?" I choked on the last words.

"I'm so sorry," Stefan said brokenly, as he wrapped his arms around me, comforting me.

"Don't be," I whispered to him, "It's not your fault." It was Damon's. But I didn't need to say that, Stefan knew the unspoken statement. Damon was definitely a force to be reckoned with. He was the reason why a lot people were dead. The reason why Caroline had been hurt, and Vicki turned.

What would Jeremy be like after already losing our parents? Could Vicki still even be able to see Jeremy? She might accidentally hurt him, which I would then feel responsible yet despondent.

And then, there's Matt. His mom was in Virginia beach, so it was up to him to pay for mortgage bills, and such. He had to provide for Vicki too, who was his sister. And Vicki was now a vampire. How would that change their lives? Thinking about that was depressing.

"We'll take this one step at a time." Stefan said, breaking me out of my thoughts, "Together."

I smiled a bit. I really did love Stefan. He was so kind, and loving. Even though his brother Damon was the one ruining all our lives, that wasn't his fault. Damon didn't follow his brother back to Mystic Falls. Damon came on his own, looking for someone, or so he claimed.

Stefan made me feel secure, safe. With him, I could almost forget all of my dilemma's. With him, we could figure out a way to solve all of our problems. With him, I didn't feel like I had to worry.

So when he bent to kiss me, the last word I repeated right before our lips touched, was: "Together."

Yay! Another episode done. So, sorry if you thought like Ariana was acting kinda bitchy, but I can't have her being a Mary Sue either.

Anyways, thanks for reviewing. If you have any ideas or comments, please feel free to review!

-Spiralcloud