Note: This chapter has been revised. Nothing's new, it's just better writing.

Disclaimer: Chapter 1 please :)

Dead Man on Campus

When I walked into our dorm room to find Elena and Caroline making kissing noises and...well, in short, doing things that I really hoped they didn't do on a regular basis, I was startled and absolutely baffled. I felt like I had walked into an eighth grade birthday party, the way Bonnie was blushing, embarrassed.

"Oh my God!" Bonnie exclaimed, her face turning as red as a tomato. I walked into the dorm room skeptically, trying to be as cautious as I could.

"Um..." Caroline and Elena stopped, hearing my voice. They both turned and tried to pretend like they weren't acting like a bunch of teenagers, but Caroline always did have a terrible poker face. She started to laugh as I bit down on my lip and narrowed my eyes. "Is there a reason you two are making out with inanimate objects?" I looked at Elena and frowned. "Or, rather, yourself?"

Bonnie shook her head as she slipped beside me towards the door. "Long story. I'm going to go register for classes." Once she was gone, Elena and Caroline burst into unconventional laughter, causing me to realize.

"Oh. I'm guessing she's not going to register for classes, then?"

"Come on, Mads!" Elena laughed, walking towards me. "It's so obvious! Bonnie's going to see her boyfriend." I raised an eyebrow, causing her to frown. "Our brother, Mads."

I gasped and snapped my fingers. "Right! Right, I knew that one!" I walked into the dorm and shook my head. "Wait, how is he even allowed on campus? He's in high school." Caroline and Elena both shrugged carelessly, so I moved on. "Oh, well. Anyways, an entire fraternity just agreed to come to the party tonight."

"How the hell did you pull that off?!" Caroline practically squealed, causing me to jolt and look up at her. I waited a moment before narrowing my eyes playfully.

"Don't underestimate my brilliant powers of awesome persuasion." She stared, waiting for me to tell her the truth. That truth was, all I really had to do was subtly drop the hint that there would be a boatload of alcohol and they signed up so fast I could've mistaken them for vampires. College boys weren't all that picky, it seemed. "Give it up, Caroline. I'm not giving away my trade secrets."

For the past few days, this had been our distraction: college. Elena dragged me back with her, a little on edge about the whole memory loss situation. I explained to everyone that I wasn't going to be able to get my memories back since Silas made that painstakingly clear. I don't think anyone was okay with it, but they were all trying to be considerate of me. The bright side to all of this was that I no longer had to pretend like I knew half the shit all these people were talking about.

The one thing that was getting on my nerves was her—Elena. She was annoying the hell out of me with her constant nagging. It was like she was poking me in the back saying "Did you remember yet" over and over again until she was blue in the face. Caroline at least dropped subtle hints. Bonnie didn't press me at all about the memories, but she kept trying to tell me something. I had no clue what it was about, but every time she began, someone interrupted us.

But I think my irritation spawned from something else, as much as I hated to admit it. Every time I looked at my so-called sister, all I could remember was the feel of Damon's hot, anxious lips on mine and then I felt guilty. Then, my mind started to argue with itself over whether or not to be guilty because she was the one who betrayed me first. And being reminded of that only brought me full-circle to Damon, who was just as guilty as Elena was. Or, perhaps, he was slightly less guilty. Of course, his actions weren't excused, but there was a line that you don't cross when it comes to family. Sleeping with your sister's boyfriend is one of those lines that is not supposed to be crossed.

This ongoing internal argument with myself was what drove me to ignore Damon's calls and texts. No matter how much I was displeased with my sister for sleeping with him, fighting fire with fire wouldn't do anyone any good.

Elena chuckled. "Okay...well, I'm going to go hand out some flyers." She grabbed the stack of paper that she'd printed out earlier in the morning and secured them in her arms. "Are you two gonna set up downstairs?"

It was more of a demand than a request. "Yep!" Caroline called out while Elena left the dorm room. I watched as she left and sighed to myself, thinking about the predicament I was in. This was all just too screwed up. When I turned back to Caroline, I immediately realized that she had been eyeing me cautiously. "You...okay, Mads?"

"Huh? Me?" She nodded slowly. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine." The silence was too much to handle. I sighed heavily, admitting defeat. "Okay...no. I'm not fine."

"What's the matter? Damon drama?" The blonde vampire ripped open the package of drink cups she'd been fake-kissing earlier with so much disdain that it was practically contagious. I looked up at her, alarmed.

"No. No, of course not. Why...why would it be Damon drama?" Caroline looked up at me with a pointed stare. Again, I admitted defeat. "Okay. Fine, it's Damon drama. Happy now? What's your problem with him, anyway?"

"Uh...he kind of cheated on you with your sister, Mads. He can burn in hell," snapped the Forbes. I looked up at her and scoffed.

"Yeah. Right. Because you're so anti-Elena, right?"

"When it comes to what she did...yeah," Caroline said, nodding almost as if it were obvious. I studied her, but found no faults in her statement. "Look, Mads, I love Elena but what she did was wrong. Sire bond, no sire bond; it was wrong."

"Sire bond?" I repeated. Caroline opened her mouth to explain but I waved it off. "Ah. Ah, never mind. I don't really...I don't really want to know. Besides, it's not all Damon drama. I'm just not getting the whole point of...this."

Though I thought I was making myself clear, I guess Caroline thought it was a little too vague. "Point of what?"

"This." I gestured around the campus dorm room. "I mean, Stefan got his memories back, which means he knows everything that happened between Damon and Elena and it's probably killing him inside. Not to mention what happened in the safe. And everyone else is back in Mystic Falls...what are we even doing here?"

"Trying to be normal," responded Caroline as she sat down on my bed. I looked up at her with a blank expression. "Look, I know you don't remember anything. That's probably why you feel this way. But, trust me, we've all been through a lot worse. Sometimes, it's good to be...normal."

"We've been through worse?" I repeated and scoffed. "Yeah, like Elena turning into a vampire and burning our house down." Caroline opened her mouth to ask how I knew that, but I stopped her with the explanation. "I had a memory...dream thing about it last night."

Needless to say, I wasn't so happy with Elena. I wasn't happy with her when she burnt our house down and, reliving those memories, I'm still not happy with her. Caroline sighed. "Yeah...Elena didn't really take the whole vampire thing well at the beginning. Neither did I," she admitted. "But everything's going to be okay, Mads."

I looked up at her with an incredulous expression. "Promise?" I mocked.

Caroline smiled. "Promise." She reached forward and grabbed a piece of paper from the nightstand. I watched as she turned around at me with a devious grin and lifted herself off the bed to walk over to me. I realized fairly quickly that it was a guest list. "Now, seeing as you have this magic...Madeline charm, why don't you go and invite some of the other people I put on this list?"

I let out a groan and snatched the list from her. "Fine. But you owe me."

"Name your price," the vampire offered. I smiled.

"Jell-O shots."

"Jell-O shots?" Caroline stared at me in disbelief. "Mads, have you ever even seen a Jell-O shot before?"

I shrugged. "No. But it's got to be good, right?" Caroline frowned at me, but I turned and walked towards the door with a teasing glance. "I mean...it's Jell-O."

I had only crossed off two names on the invitation list when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out after crossing one of the names off in success, but when I saw the Caller ID on the phone, I froze. Damon's contact was blinking across my screen, and my finger hovered over the decline option. I thought about it for a moment, but then I thought about it logically. If I didn't answer him, he would either keep calling until I finally answered or he would just show up.

I didn't even have to speak when I accepted the call.

"You've been avoiding me...again," Damon chastised as I pulled the phone to my ear. I sighed heavily.

"I've been busy." That wasn't necessarily a lie. "We're throwing this...revival...party...thing for Bonnie. Caroline has me in charge of inviting all of the guests. Including the fraternities."

Damon hummed under his breath. "Any luck with that?"

I sensed something I didn't like in his tone, so I snapped, "Tons, actually." Damon scoffed, irritated, and I realized that I didn't want to provoke him. So, I inhaled sharply as I continued moving across campus to the next group of people I was to invite. "What do you want, Damon?"

"I thought we were past this," Damon accused, annoyed. I frowned. "I kissed you...you kissed me back...you asked me if it was a mistake...I told you that it wasn't...any of this ringing a bell here?"

"A loud one, actually. Thanks for that."

"Yep. And you're still avoiding me?" I could sense the distaste. "How is that even possible?"

I was about to come up with some witty retort when I saw Aaron out of the corner of my eye—the kid that looked oddly like Wes and who also happened to somehow know my sister, since he recognized Katherine. Without hesitation, I called out, "Aaron!"

I temporarily forgot about the phone in my hand when it dropped from my ear as I jogged up to the college boy. He turned around and instantly realized who I was.

"Oh...hey, Elena's sister." He said the words awkwardly, and that's when I realized that I forgot to tell him my name. I gasped.

"Oh! Right. Oops." I chuckled, embarrassed. "Sorry. I guess I forgot to tell you my name at the Whitmore House meeting. I'm Madeline."

"Madeline," he repeated, giving me a slightly boyish smile. "So...what happened to you the other day? At the party?"

"Family stuff." I shrugged. "I had to leave and go back home...it's a long story, but I'm back now." I smiled at him and then remembered the party that Elena and I were throwing. Something went off like a light bulb and I blurted out, "You know, Elena and I are having a party tonight! You should come."

He hesitated. "Uh...yeah. Sure. Where?"

"Our dorm."

Aaron took in a sharp breath and groaned. "Party in a dorm? No thanks."

"What, are you allergic to dorms or something?" Aaron shrugged and I shook my head. "Uh-uh. You already said yes and you can't take it back. Besides, there's free beer...girls...ooh, and Jell-O shots!"

Aaron was silent for a long time, debating it in his mind before he finally caved. "Oh, okay. Fine. I'm in. I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight," I agreed as he walked off. I was just about to turn on my heel when I heard something buzzing in my hand and I realized that it was Damon's voice that was causing the phone to vibrate. I cursed under my breath, realizing just how angry he was.

"Madeline? Madeline!"

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I was, uh—"

"Flirting with a guy while I'm still on the phone? I got that part."

I laughed, and it was more bitter than anything else. "And so what if I was? You can't tell me what to do anymore. You lost that right when you started sleeping with my sister, remember?" Damon was silent and I sighed, realizing that it was a harsh blow to administer over the phone. Quickly, I changed the subject and defended myself. "Besides, I wasn't even flirting with him. I was just inviting him to this ridiculous party."

"Aren't you going to invite me?" he asked sweetly, but I could hear a dark underlay in his tone. I tsked.

"No, because that would involve me seeing you." Brutal honesty. Hopefully he responded to that better than anything else. Damon just scoffed.

"Too bad. Elena already invited me."

I rolled my eyes. Of course. Elena. Why wouldn't she invite her boyfriend to the party? "Well, then, fine. I'll see you later tonight, then."

"Fine."

Since it was apparently the hour of acting like a two-year-old, I hissed, "Fine," and hung up the phone. The second I did so, I realized how ridiculous I was being. The whole thing was ridiculous. If he wanted to be with me, all he had to do was break up with Elena. But he would never do that, would he?

Frustratedly, I pushed the thought out of my head and kept walking across campus to find the next guest on Caroline's list.

Once I finished inviting all of the people on Caroline's guest list, Elena called me and demanded that I meet her in one of the dorm rooms. I was confused to say the least, however, I went along with it and showed up at the dorm room. Just as I had, Elena walked up to the door wheeling in a cooler—the one that contained their blood stash.

"Um...why are you carrying a cooler of your secret stash?" I whisper-hissed as she came to a halt in front of me. She sucked in a long breath.

"You remember Jesse, right? Flyer guy?" I nodded. "Yeah, so he's a vampire now. He needs blood."

My eyes widened to the size of the moon. "Are you serious?" But I knew she wasn't joking around. Elena grimaced at me and moved up to the doorknob. "What? How? When? Where—?"

"I don't know, Mads." She twisted the doorknob open. "But now's not the time for questions. He needs us." Elena pushed open the door and we found Caroline and Jesse sitting down, talking quietly.

"Well, you're new and you're hungry," said Caroline reasonably. I crossed my arms and followed into the room behind Elena, shutting the door so that no one came inside while we were giving a newborn vampire blood, because that would definitely raise some questions. Elena brought the cooler up to Jesse and smiled reassuringly.

"Not for long. I brought our stash." She reached inside of the transportable cooler filled with blood bags from the Mystic Falls hospital and handed one to Jesse. We all surveyed him as he hesitantly took the cold liquid. "How are you doing?"

"Our stash?" Jesse repeated, ignoring the question. He looked up at me and Elena with confused eyes. "You two are vampires also?"

I scoffed. "Do I look like a vampire?" Jesse remained quietly, causing me to frown. "The correct answer is no. I'm a Pure Blood."

I said the words almost proudly, but I didn't have a single clue as to what it meant yet. Now that Tessa was dead, I wouldn't know until I sat myself down and started to research it. Though I was all for research, who had the time anymore? What with ex-boyfriends, evil doppelgängers, and revival parties with Jell-O shots.

"Um...what's a Pure Blood?"

I shrugged. "No clue."

He was still beyond confused, but he moved on from me and looked at Elena, unsure. "So...you're a vampire, then?"

Elena scoffed. "You say it like it's a bad thing." I blinked at her, surprised. "First rule about being a vampire is realizing how awesome you are."

"Okay...wait a second," I stopped her, holding up a hand. Elena looked over at me like she'd done nothing wrong, but I knew the truth—I remembered her turning into a vampire. It was pure hell; not just for her, but for the both of us. "Elena, you hate being a vampire. You always hated being a vampire. You burnt our freaking house down!"

Of course, my sister did not get angry over the statement. She gasped and, instead, found the one upside: "You remember all of that?"

I resisted the urge to roll my own eyes at her. How could she even survive life as a vampire this way? Deciding not to pick a useless fight, I nodded and smiled and we turned back to Jesse, who was looking down at the blood bag with a particular hunger. He began to drink from it rapidly, and the sight nearly made me upchuck again. Elena turned her head, as did I, positive that I would get sick again. When I turned my head, I found Aaron lying on the couch, unconscious. The sight nearly made me gasp out of shock.

"How's he doing?" Elena asked Caroline.

"He's all right. He's alive," she replied. Meanwhile, Jesse still fed rapidly on the blood bag, causing the bile to rise in my throat. I swallowed it down instantly, not wanting to throw up all over the nice dorm room. Elena pulled down the sleeve of her shirt and opened her mouth to bite down on her wrist, presumably to help Aaron.

Before her teeth could pierce skin, Caroline called out, "Elena, wait!" Elena stopped, and the blonde vampire's eyes flickered to Jesse and back. "I was thinking that Jesse could do it. You're a vampire now. You may have hurt him, but you can also heal him with your blood."

Caroline grabbed Jesse's wrist as Elena lowered hers, and the vampire sunk her teeth into the boy's flesh. She brought him up from where they were sitting and the two walked over to Aaron on the couch. Elena, Jesse, Caroline, and I all crowded around the area as Caroline guided the newborn vampire's wrist to the human's mouth and Aaron began to drink unknowingly. Soon, Aaron brought his hands up and secured Jesse's wrist to his mouth and drank harder with his eyes still shut. His wound healed before our eyes.

"Holy crap, that's insane," whispered Jesse.

Caroline looked up at Elena with a smile. "You wanna teach him about compulsion?"

Elena's only response was a smile, and then they both glanced over at me. I groaned after a moment when I realized what they were indirectly asking me.

"Oh, God. You two want me to be the test subject, don't you?" The two were quiet, giving me confirmation. I frowned and reached behind my neck with a sigh to unclasp the vervain necklace from my neck. As I did this, Jesse pulled his wrist from Aaron's mouth and Caroline compelled Aaron shortly after to teach Jesse what to do. Jesse was in awe at Caroline's power, and when they turned to me, I was waiting anxiously to be mind-manipulated. But I wasn't anxiously excited, I was anxiously terrified. The last time I was under the influence of someone's compulsion, I sexually assaulted my sister's boyfriend in our dorm room.

"Try it," Caroline pressed Jesse, lightly tapping him to come over to me.

"What do I tell her to do?" asked Jesse. I shifted uncomfortably, feeling like a lab rat.

"Let's do something simple," suggested Elena, not wanting to push my limits. "Tell her to...walk to the door and back." I scoffed. And here I thought they were going to make me doing something ridiculously useless and stupid. Nope, none of that here.

Jesse sat down in front of me and I waited for him to tell me what to do. "I want you to walk to the door and back."

Losing any and all willpower from my body, I rose from my seat, walked to the door, and walked back without sitting down. I blinked and, suddenly, the willpower returned to my body and I let out a heavy sigh. Jesse was basking in his own power this time as I sat down and muttered, "That was ridiculously stupid."

"That's amazing!" Jesse exclaimed. I reached over the table and picked up my locket, securing it around my neck again. I could see Elena staring at it with envy.

Good.

Unlike the dolled-up Caroline and Elena, I decided not to dress up too much for the dorm party of ours. I slapped on a pair of jeans and a nice shirt and watched as the party rolled on by. It wasn't too lame, though, because of the Jell-O shots that I had requested. I'd had three by the time Bonnie grabbed my arm and captured my attention.

"Hey," I said, practically slurring my words. To be honest, I think it was more the idea of being drunk than actually being drunk.

Bonnie smiled, but I could tell it was forced. "Hey. Can we talk?"

I nodded. "Sure. What's up?"

"I know you don't remember anything..." Bonnie trailed off, trying to figure out how to word the sentence. "But I also know that you think Damon's in love with Elena. And...well, okay, maybe he is. I don't really know."

I sighed. I'm gonna need another Jell-O shot if I was going to talk about Damon Salvatore with anyone other than his brother. I shook my head at Bonnie. "What...what are you getting at, Bonnie?"

The ex-witch stared at me for what felt like the equivalent to half of my life before she finally sighed. "Look, Damon didn't choose Elena before the summer started."

"Yes, he did." I almost laughed. "Come on, Bonnie. Damon and Elena are together because he chose her—"

"No, I mean, he didn't choose her because he wanted to." That didn't even remotely make sense. "What he wanted was to be with you, but...well, I had a vision about what would happen if he did what he wanted. I would've told you earlier, but—"

"What are you talking about?" I stopped her, holding up a hand. "What...what vision?"

She was hesitant. "If Damon chose you, Mads, Silas would've come after you. And he wouldn't have just sent you to an alternate universe or wherever you were this pat summer, he would've killed you. I saw you die, right in Damon's arms. If you had stayed with him, you would've died."

Holy shit. I stared at Bonnie incredulously, at a complete loss for words. What was I supposed to say to that? What was I supposed to think when it came to that? "I...I..." Like I said, at a loss for words until I breathed out, "What?"

Bonnie nodded, her eyes full of sorrow. "Trust me, Mads. I didn't like it any more than he did. But he needed to keep you safe and so did I. Then...you ended up in an alternate dimension for the entire summer and you don't remember anyone now. I just thought you deserved to know, regardless."

"But why now?" I urged her, still stunned. "Why...why at all? I mean...if I'm supposed to die because of my relationship with Damon, what's the point in telling me that he wanted me all along?"

"Because you're safe now, Mads," Bonnie said, a small hint of a smile on her lips. "Silas was the one who killed you in the vision, so now that he's gone...it's over. You're safe. But you wouldn't have been if you had stayed with Damon over the summer while he was still alive."

I rubbed my forehead, trying to process all the information. So what did this mean now? If Damon chose Elena solely because he was protecting me, that would mean that everything I thought of him—the reason I was so reluctant to be with him—was obsolete. If Damon wanted to be with me, I was wrongfully blaming him for something out of his control. Then again, he slept with Elena, not by force. However, I knew that I wasn't mad at Damon for sleeping with Elena—shit happens like that. What I was mad at him for was choosing her, which, apparently, is now false.

But here's the question: if Silas is dead and I'm safe, why the hell is Damon still with Elena?

I inhaled sharply. "Thanks...Bonnie. I, um..." I cleared my throat and started to brush past her. "Excuse me."

I barely heard her call out my name as I walked away, ignoring her request for me. I needed to talk to him and ask why he didn't tell me about this as soon as Silas died. It seemed like the right thing to do, was I wrong? But as I walked towards the exit of the building, Elena stepped in front of me and prevented me from going anywhere. Great.

"Hey, Mads, were you the one who asked for the—"

"Not now, Elena."

I tried to move past her, but she sidestepped me and raised her eyebrows, concerned. "What is it? Did something happen?"

"No," I lied smoothly, shaking my head. "I just...I need to leave for a little bit."

"Well..." Elena trailed off, skeptical. "Where are you going?"

I knew she hadn't come to the conclusion that was the truth yet, but here was the problem: did I lie to her like she lied to me or did I tell her the truth and save us all some heartbreak? I decided to go with the latter. "I'm going to see Damon."

"What?" She scoffed. "Why?"

"Because I need to talk to him about something." What was this, twenty questions? "Do you know where he went? I saw him here earlier."

She replied, "He's with Wes. But he's fine, Mads, so why don't you just stay here and enjoy—"

"I'm not concerned about his safety, Elena. I need to talk to him." I didn't mean for it to come out as a snap, but it did. I immediately regretted being abrasive with her because it caused an immediate spark of doubt within her.

"Is there something going on between you and Damon?" she asked suddenly, laying it flat-out on the table. I sighed, but I didn't have time for this. I wasn't feeling in the mood to get into a sister brawl. "Look, I get that you might still have feelings for him, but—"

"Oh, my God, Elena!" I snapped, this time meaning to get angry with her. "I'm just going to talk to him. I didn't realize that you were in charge of every single person he looks at!"

"Well, when it comes to you, I certainly have a right to be concerned," she retorted in a tone as equally angry as mine. I wanted to get angry with her, but I was at the breaking point. She'd pushed me too far. I started laughing, finding a sick comedic twist on this whole thing. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.

"All right, listen, Elena. Unlike you, I'm not going to throw myself at my sister's boyfriend and sleep with him." I looked at her with cold eyes, and I could see Elena straighten and suddenly become defensive. "So why don't you do us both a favor and stop being such a hypocrite? And, while you're at it, you can just move a little to your left so I can go talk to Damon."

Elena practically hissed at me. "Mads—"

"Stop!" I shouted, tired of hearing her talk. "Just stop! I don't want to do this anymore, okay? Get out of my way, Elena."

"Or what?" she snapped, crossing her arms. "You'll pull big-sister rank on me? I'm faster and stronger than you, Mads. Your age doesn't matter anymore."

"Just move, Elena!"

"He chose me, remember?"

"No, he didn't." I shook my head tightly and kept a certain seriousness in my eyes that I'm sure worried Elena to the core. Instead of explaining, I moved to brush past her and I managed to get only a few steps away from my sister before I was blocked by Caroline, who bore a worried expression on her face. I groaned. "Oh, seriously?! Come on, I just want to talk to him! There's no need to...gang up on me here!"

Caroline glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about, Mads? Ganging up on you?"

"Caroline, what is it?" asked Elena from behind me. I immediately realized that something had gone horribly wrong, judging by the ghastly look on Caroline's face.

"It's Jesse," the vampire confessed. "He's bona and he..." She pulled her hand up to her mouth. "He bit me."

I clapped my hand on her shoulder. "People do that when they're passionate about someone, Care. Go for it."

Elena gasped. "Jesse feeds off of vampire blood," she breathed out, all of a sudden becoming panicked. Both Caroline and I looked back at her, confused. "Damon just called me and told me a couple of minutes ago. He said that once it starts, he can't stop."

"But he fed on me."

My sister nodded. "Which means that he can't stop."

Caroline and Elena soon after set off in another direction, leaving me to follow. But they were too fast for me—what with vampire speed and everything. So, when I reached outside, I started to run, despite the fact that running wasn't my favorite pastime. Sure, it was relaxing, but that was only when I was doing it for the right reasons. When I was running for my life—or someone else's, for that matter—it was most certainly not relaxing.

When I reached the science building where I followed Caroline and Elena inside, I heard a cry. It was Caroline's, that much I was aware of. I rounded a corner and looked to the side down a long hallway to see Caroline on the ground beside someone's body and Elena and Damon standing, holding each other up. Caroline was breathing Jesse's name over and over again, pleading to him as she hovered over his dead body.

I reached him just as he died, his skin all desiccated and grey. It was a sickening and depressing sight.

Caroline glanced up at my sister. "What did you do?"

"He was gonna kill Damon."

"But...we promised that we would help him," the vampire complained, her voice accusing of Elena. Damon's breathing was shallow and quick, as if he almost died, himself. I could see a thick stream of dry blood on his neck, and I realized that I wasn't too far off.

"She didn't have a choice, all right?" he barked. Elena turned her head in shame. "Once he has a taste of vampire blood, there's nothing stopping him. Go ask Dr. Frankenstein. I'll go deal with him."

Holding his hand, Damon limped off into the laboratory and Caroline just looked down at Jesse with sorrow. Elena's gaze caught mine, but I moved past Caroline and decided that this wasn't my fight to fight. Elena got herself into the mess, she had to get herself out of it. Meanwhile, I went into Wes's lab as well, leaving Caroline and Elena to deal with their own problems. Surprisingly, Elena didn't come after me.

"Hey." I caught Damon's attention with my greeting, causing him to turn his head and capture my eyes. "Are you okay?"

Damon nodded and resumed hunting through a batch of test tubes on the desk by the wall. "What are you doing here? You should take Elena and Caroline back to the dorm. I'll handle this."

I refused. "I think I've had enough of my sister one day. Besides, she and Caroline have their own stuff to work out." I walked forward and looked down at the test tubes he was rifling through. I grabbed one of them and read the label Malaria. "Um...why are you hunting through a bunch of infectious diseases?"

The dark-haired Salvatore grabbed the test tube out of my hand and put it back in the case. "Putting them away so that I can just sit here and wait before I compel away my session with your boyfriend over there." He was gesturing to Wes, of course. I wanted to roll my eyes, but more of a saddened expression overcame my face. Suddenly, I heard, "Are you okay, Madeline?"

I looked back at Damon to find him staring at me, and that's when I sighed and avoided his smoldering gaze. "Damon, we...really need to talk."

He was silent for a moment before nodding. "Okay. Sure, let me just finish up here." He turned around and put the test tubes back into the fridge in the corner. I waited and looked back at Wes, who was strapped in a chair, his skin covered in blotches and his face covered in sweat. I didn't really want to know what had been going on before I came inside. Right when I was losing focus, I heard Damon mumble, "What the hell is that?"

He pulled something out of the fridge, and I walked over to him to find him holding a blood bag with a label on it.

"'12144'?" I repeated the number aloud, shrugging. "I don't know...someone's blood sample? Why?"

Damon and I turned back around to look at Wes, who shrugged.

"Why do you care?" he prompted.

The Salvatore gulped. "Because I was 21051."

Things were silent before I slowly relayed, "...21051?"

Wes ignored me and barreled on. "Hold on. You were an Augustine vampire?" Augustine? What the hell is that?

"Augustine..." Damon repeated, almost as if he were in a trance. "I haven't heard that name in decades. Vampire lab rats, coded subject names...I thought you guys shut down sixty years ago!"

"You thought wrong." Angrily, Damon shoved the blood bag back into the fridge, slammed it shut, and walked over to Wes.

"You know, I said that I wasn't gonna kill ya. I lied." He grabbed a bottle on the table next to Wes as well as a needle. He plunged the needle into the bottle and began to extract the liquid from it, but that's when things happened too fast. Wes sprinted out of his chair and started running towards me. Damon flashed in front of him, knocking me out of the way safely, but it was too late. Wes pushed something behind Damon and all of a sudden, white smoke began to mist from the ceiling. Damon was launched into a coughing fit, but I, however, was not. It was prickly against my skin, but not enough to cause me to start choking like he was. Damon fell to the floor, utterly helpless, and I moved to rush over to him.

"Damon!" I shouted, but Wes gripped my arms and fought against me so that I couldn't make it over to Damon. I gave up fighting and looked into Wes's eyes with a hiss, "What did you do?"

"Atomized vervain," he explained. I could feel the circulation cutting off from my arms. God damn it, I was weak. "When working with vampires, you can never be too careful." Wes looked down at Damon, who was coughing and pounding the floor, unable to breathe. The sight rocked my stomach, and I couldn't bare to watch it. "I'm sure Augustine will be thrilled to have you back."

When a silence loomed, Wes turned around at me and his eyes sparkled. "As for you..."

"Wes!" I begged, struggling against him. "Let us go. Just let us go and we won't compel you again. I promise."

The doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry, Madeline."

He shoved me down so fast that it was blinding, and I fell right into the edge of the table beside me. In seconds, my vision faded to a completely solid black color.

Love,

BellaSalvatore1918

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