Two important things you need to know about this chapter: relatively short and super bloody. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Chapter 1, please :)

The World Has Turned and Left Me Here

I turned the knob on the shower to high heat, stripped my clothes hurriedly, and stepped inside. Hot beads of water rushed over my body and washed the stains of blood everywhere off of my body. I was covered in blood, soaked in it. Blood that wasn't mine. Blood that crusted the ends of my hair and streaked the sides of my face. Blood that ran down my chin from where I had bitten.

I had woken up in the middle of the forest, surrounded by dead bodies. All of these dead bodies, these people, had been teenagers out on some sort of camping trip. I was miles away from Mystic Falls or Whitmore, but that didn't occur to me until I crossed the state line. Somewhere in West Virginia, I gathered, but no matter where I was, I still woke up next to dead, rotting flesh. Each of the teenagers were bitten in the neck, in the arm, in the leg, dry blood crusting every inch of their bodies.

And I, somehow, had been responsible.

The last thing I remembered was leaving Alaric's office. The last thing I remembered was learning that I had been head over heels in love with a serial killer. Then I woke to the moon hanging above my head, taunting me, and a fire crackling next to my ear. I panicked, having no time to think about where I was or how I got there. I mourned over the dead bodies, realizing my part in all of it, but had no choice other than to suck it up and burn them all. Too many people were out for vampires. I massacred at least five.

Now that I was in the shower cleaning the blood of the innocent off of my hands, I was forced to think of why I was there in the first place. I'd mentioned, I didn't remember anything else except leaving Alaric's office. So how could I have gotten from there to West Virginia to slaughter five people? Why would I do it? My head was pounding and I was starting to get overwhelmed by the heightened emotions that I had been shoving so far back, but I was lost. I killed five people and who knows how many more?

What have I done?

But what could I really do about it? I wanted to run to Elena or Alaric and tell them exactly what I did, but how could I explain any of it? The blackouts had been happening for three months and I hadn't spoken a word. Were these blackouts because of Damon's death? No, how could they be? I didn't grieve for him like I supposedly had before, this was different. I was slaughtering because of some other reason. A reason I had no way of knowing.

Maybe it was the pride that got the best of me in the end, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell anyone. I could figure it out on my own. So, after my hot shower that rid all of the blood from my hair and my body, taking the red liquid down the drain along with what was left of the five I massacred, I changed and went to class as quickly as I could to get it over with so that I could go to Whitmore Hospital afterwards and continue where I left off; at work, saving lives. Maybe that would get rid of the weighing guilt I felt knowing what I had woken next to.

Alaric's class took longer than I thought it would. The clock seemed to move with a slow hand and I was way too nervous to sit idly. My fingers drummed on my textbook as he spoke the story of Homecoming at Whitmore. A soldier returned from home to find his lover in bed with his brother. The story seemed to please the rest of the class, but I was too distracted to really enjoy it. When Alaric dismissed us, I tried to get out as quickly as I could.

Unfortunately for me, he stopped me just as I headed towards the door. "Hey...are you okay?"

I looked up at him and tried to mask the guilt behind my eyes. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Perfectly fine."

"For the record, Damon was never really in love with me. It was a fling." Elena came up beside us with a smile on her face as she fidgeted with her backpack strap. I exhaled largely and tried to not rise suspicion out of the two of them by remaining calm. "But I guess the same could be said for sleeping with your sister's boyfriend. Hey, Mads, are you coming to the party tonight?"

"We'll see," I murmured under my breath.

Alaric chuckled and continued where Elena left off before she asked me about the party. "Well, Damon might be gone but I can still find pleasure in judging his life choices."

The two of them looked at me, and I put two and two together with a sigh. "Oh. Right. I'm guessing Damon and I were still together when they slept together?"

Elena flushed. "Guilty. But we got over it."

"I'm sure we did."

"Okay..." Alaric trailed off awkwardly and looked at me with hopeful eyes. "Have you made up your mind about me compelling you to forget about him yet?"

"No, I...I haven't," I stammered. Elena exhaled as if it were in relief.

"Listen, Mads, maybe you should just wait it out, you know? See how you feel in a couple weeks and if you want to remember—"

"Elena, it's her decision." Alaric look at Elena with a cutting stare, almost scolding her for trying to push me in a direction, but the hypocrite inside of him came out when he turned back at me. "But if we're giving opinions here, I'd like you to know that mine is for the opposite. I think you should remember him. It's a part of who you are, who you've always been and—"

"Look." Now I was frustrated. Between the two of them and what happened in the morning, I wasn't about to take any more shit. I was having a bad day. "Damon's gone, okay? We're not getting him back. There's no point in me remembering a ghost. I have more important things to worry about than...if I wanted chicken or fish for the main meal at the wedding I'm never going to have." I looked up at Alaric. "So, yeah, I've made my decision. Now quit asking."

I left without giving Alaric the chance to respond to me or without letting Elena pull me back. I went straight from the classroom to the hospital, where my situation didn't seem to get any better. I was fidgeting nervously and all my bad habits started coming back up—for example, the finger-drumming and even nail-biting. Dr. Robles was not pleased with my half-heartedness.

"Madeline?" I looked up at her from staring inside of the patient room. She put the chart she had been observing back in the basket outside the room and studied me. "You seem distracted today."

"I'm fine," I assured her.

Dr. Robles shook her head. "No. No, you're not, and I can't have you coming in with me if you're acting so strange. Go get something to eat or drink. Maybe it'll calm your nerves. You can find me in twenty minutes."

I wanted to protest to her, but she pushed the door in front of us open to meet with her patient and I was left standing out in the hallway with orders to go eat something. I was a little hungry for non-human food, but I pushed that thought far beyond my mind. There was no way I was going anywhere near blood again until I felt more comfortable with myself. The guilt, however, was eating me up alive. It consumed my every thought and directed my every action. I managed to subdue the distractions long enough to grab myself some coffee from the hospital cafeteria and sat down at a table to drink in solitude. I was starting to grow sick of reliving those same moments in my eyes, waking up in the midst of a dark forest with nothing but blood surrounding me as sparks of the log fire flew around. I could remember every detail as if I were being surprised with my sin every time I closed my eyes.

And it was starting to drive me insane. My distraction tactics to lead me away from the darkest part of my mind ended up failing. I had to find another way to get it out of my mind.

"Working hard or hardly working?" I looked up to find Dr. Buckner standing above me with a bagel in his hand. He was dressed in the standard lab coat with a suit on underneath. He smiled and bowed his head. "Too cliché?"

"Way too cliché," I agreed, but found myself smiling. He looked at the empty seat across from me.

"Mind if I join you?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

He sat down, as I allowed, and took a bite of his bagel while studying me. I took a sip of my coffee and set it down at the table, all while he deduced my mood. "What has you down, Miss Gilbert?"

I lifted my eyes to meet his. "That obvious?"

"Too obvious." He leaned back and narrowed his eyes. "Let's see...boy troubles? Did Bianca set you up again?"

For the first time since I woke up in the middle of that dark forest that had ruined everything I thought was good about myself, I actually laughed. I avoided Sebastian's gaze, just while I laughed, but still smiled at him when I looked up. "Bianca has not set me up again. It's not boy troubles. For it to be boy troubles, there'd have to be a boy involved."

Something sparkled in his eyes. "Was that your subtle way of telling me you don't have a boyfriend?"

"I'm not subtle," I stated, the corners of my lips turning up. "And you should know that."

"That I do." He nodded and took a bite out of his bagel again, watching me as I looked at his bagel and then back up into his eyes. He swallowed down his bite and leaned forward, his arms stretched halfway over the table. In a low voice, he whispered, "Has anyone ever told you that you have a beautiful smile, Madeline?"

I resisted the urge to smile again and grabbed the coffee on the table in front of me. "Trying to charm me again? I told you, it won't work."

"According to your previous accusations, I would be trying to have sex with you again."

He said the brisk words as I was taking a sip of coffee, which I nearly choked on. Knowing what I did now about loving Damon, sleeping with Damon, and being engaged to Damon, it made this all weirder. "All right, maybe I owe you an apology for that one."

"Apology accepted." He rose from his seat and smiled. "I'll see you around, Madeline."

As he walked away, I murmured a goodbye, and then the thought of the forest came back to me. It was just then that I'd realized I had been distracted long enough to forget about it—and that was due to Sebastian. Without thinking, I rose from my seat as well and blurted out, "Wait!"

Sebastian turned around to face me and I grabbed my coffee from the table so I wasn't standing so awkwardly. He stepped back towards me. "Yes?"

I brushed my hair out of my eyes and stepped forward to meet him halfway. "Um...you know, there's this party at the corn maze later on tonight." He knew where this was going, I knew where it was going, so I got it out all at once. "It would be nice if you could join me."

Sebastian seemed surprised by my invitation, straightening with an obvious look of shock on his face. "Are you asking me out?"

I frowned. "Are we in the ninth grade?"

"Of course not." He smiled. "But it's always nice to pretend. Of course I'll join you at the corn maze, Madeline. See you at seven?"

"See you at seven," I replied and watched as he walked away, biting into his bagel again. It dawned on me what I was doing, going on a date with a handsome, dark-haired, grey-eyed doctor, while I was fully aware that just two weeks ago, I had been heartbroken over the loss of my fiancé. But I didn't know what else to do.

It just so happened that no-good, very bad days had been going around. After returning to the Whitmore dorms late in the morning, Audrey walked into her sanctuary to find that it had been tainted by none other than Stefan Salvatore's rebound girlfriend, Ivy. Caroline said that she tried to send Stefan away but he asked for her help and she couldn't find a reason to say no. So, Audrey's mood dampened as Ivy trotted around the dorm room and Caroline tried, as promised, to teach her control since Ivy was now a newborn vampire.

"Well?" Ivy announced her presence in the room in her new clothes, a dress that she had stolen from Caroline's closet. She twirled around dramatically. "What do you think?"

Audrey, who was sitting on the bed writing down notes in her notebook from the textbook lying before her, just scoffed under her breath as Caroline looked up, slightly offended with a chilled blood bag in her hand, "I think...you're wearing my dress. And you must be deaf because I already said, the party's not happening."

She threw the blood bag to Ivy, who caught it gracefully in her hands. "So you'd rather be locked up in a dorm room with a newbie vampire?"

"No." Caroline scoffed. "I'd rather be at the party. Just like I'd rather have friends who didn't ignore me for months and then use me when they need help!"

"Cry me a river, Caroline." Audrey sighed heavily hearing her sister's selfish proclaims. She scribbled down a note in her book and looked up at Caroline with a bitter smile. "We both know who got the short end of the stick here."

Caroline shot her sister the same type of sour smile. "And was Matt your way of elongating it?"

Audrey just chuckled and flipped the page of her textbook. "Care, you and Matt have been long since over. Just like there's a Statue of Limitations for crimes, there's a Statue of Limitations for the sister code. At least I didn't sleep with him while you two were together. I needed someone, he was there. I like him."

Suddenly, Ivy started to laugh as she sucked out some of the blood from her blood bag with ease. Caroline and Audrey both looked at her as she kept her eyes on Audrey. "You two need to relax. Unwind." She looked at Audrey. "I know that it was you and Stefan who dated a while back."

Audrey shrugged. "So what?"

"So...why don't you just admit that you still carry a torch for him?" Ivy propositioned. "It'll make all of this easier."

"What the hell are you rambling about over there?" Audrey's voice suddenly went higher. "I don't 'carry a torch' for Stefan. We dated. He left. I moved on."

Ivy gave an incredulous look to the red-haired human. "I saw the way you looked at him that night you came over for dinner. You practically cut his food for him!"

The human slammed her notebook and textbook shut. "My relationship with Stefan is none of your business. And I was not. Besides, aren't you supposed to be practicing your vampire...training skills or whatever?" Caroline and Audrey exchanged a glance, where she shrugged. "What? I have no idea how you people learn your nifty little tricks."

Ivy vamp-sped over to the side of the room Caroline and Audrey were on and said cockily, "Done. See?" She looked at Caroline. "I'm fine. You already put your number into my phone as my emergency vampire contact. I know I burn in the sun, we covered compulsion and snatch, eat, erase...it's getting dark, let's go party! You can teach me how to eat someone without killing them."

Caroline sighed and said in a kind tone, "Stefan will be here very soon. And then you can do whatever you want with him."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Can we at least play a board game or do something non-vampire related."

"Finally! A good idea!" Caroline jumped up and moved towards the shelves with her games. "What kind of game do you want to play?"

The disinterested Ivy mumbled, "I don't know...Scrabble?"

"I have...tournament, classic, and travel size—" Just as Caroline finished her sentence, Ivy whipped around and snapped her neck so fast that Caroline didn't notice. The blonde's body dropped to the ground and Audrey looked up, startled and confused, and the dark-haired vampire turned around at her slowly.

"Is my leaving going to be a problem for you?" Ivy asked menacingly. Audrey wasn't afraid of the newbie, but rather disinterested. She gestured towards the door, primarily letting the vampire go out of spite for her ex-boyfriend.

"You can see yourself out."

This was the second party I'd gone to. The second party that I felt completely and utterly out of place. For some reason, the students decided it would be funny for a woman dressed in white covered in blood to run in the corn maze with a torch as if it were recreating the story Alaric told earlier in the morning. The young actress feigned terror as she ran, but when she saw the logs piled up, she smiled and threw her torch inside, finally starting the party. I happened to dislike the way of beginning the affair, but Elena was on Cloud 9. Everyone she invited had shown up, including her date, Liam. I was still reeling over my recent indiscretions and avoided Elena at all costs, knowing she would either talk about Damon or realize what had me so on edge. The sun went down over the horizon and soon night came.

"I'm starting to think you're a closet party-goer." I looked behind me to find Sebastian walking forward, oddly and unmentionably handsome in normal attire. Even at the party at the swimming hole, he hadn't looked so natural before. It was surprising, to say the least. I walked forward to meet him.

"A what?"

"Closet party-goer." He looked around and sighed. "You know, one of those girls who act like they despise a party when they secretly enjoy it."

"My sister is obsessed with the idea of having fun." I reached over and grabbed two plastic red cups containing stale beer. "Her idea of fun requires alcohol. Besides, I'm way overdue for a dose."

"Then who am I to judge? It's been a while since I've been at one of these. Starting to miss the glory days." He and I tapped our drinks as everyone entered the corn maze, but we stayed out in the front a little longer. We drank to the toast and then started walking forward together.

"Glory days? Saving lives isn't enough glory for you?" I had to admit, now I was sounding like a stuck-up philanthropist but I didn't take the question back. Sebastian smiled.

"It's plenty. But saving lives also means you're on call two or three times a week. You were lucky you asked me on a date on the one night I'm off."

I looked up at him. "This isn't a date."

"No?"

"Well..." I let out a frustrated sigh and nearly cracked under his stare. "Fine. Maybe it is a date. But there are multiple meanings for the word 'date'. It doesn't have to go anywhere."

Sebastian paused. "Are you telling me that because you don't want it to go anywhere or because you're afraid I don't want it to go anywhere?"

"I..." I trailed off, at a loss for words. He waited, with a small smile that inevitably made me turn my head and resist a grin of my own. "You know, you like to call me out on everything, don't you, doctor?"

"I'm sure I could say the same about you." He took a sip of his beer and slowly started in a deeper voice, "You are call'd plain Madeline, and bonny Madeline, and sometimes Madeline the Curst..."

"You are really enjoying your Taming of the Shrew jokes, aren't you?" I chuckled, watching as he took pride in seeing me laugh, as if he wanted to collect a trophy. We wandered aimlessly in the corn maze turning left or right wherever there was a choice. I went purely on instinct, but I knew eventually we'd get out somehow. I think he was more keeping track of where we were.

"Well, Katherine was a very beautiful young woman who lacked the most important social skills. She needed a man who could tame her." I saw him sneak a glance at me. "Question is, who do you need?"

I sighed heavily as I stared at the stalks of corn around us and the bright moon above. It reminded me of the forest, but I put that aside in my head to answer the question.

"I don't know what I need yet." We came to a stop in front of a deserted pathway as college students hollered around us, drunk from the alcohol they had supplied. I looked Sebastian over. "I'm sort of new at this."

"Talking?"

"Dating." I shot him a teasing glance and watched him smile.

"You've never dated before?" he asked, surprised. I shook my head.

"I have. I just...don't remember how it went." I took in a shaking breath, realizing the statement that I was making was too ironic for my own good. According to that journal I wrote, I apparently needed someone who could show me a new way at life. Someone who could turn me into a completely different person, one that was carefree and compassionate. I, however, could never see myself being that way. I was full of intellect, wrought with rational, and lacked in all capacity to really relate to those around me. As hard as I tried, I could never see that going away.

Sebastian nodded. "Bad breakup?"

"No. He, uh, died." I cleared my throat uncomfortably, but this didn't seem to faze the confident man before me. He swallowed.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine." I slipped my hand into my pocket and exhaled. "His name was Damon. I, uhm, met him in high school. I mean...he didn't go to high school with me. He was older." I took a sip of my beer and murmured to myself, "Much older."

"Into older men?" Sebastian shrugged. "I guess I have that one at least."

I shook my head. "You're not like him. Trust me. And it's a good thing." I gave him a melancholic smile. "But, honestly, tonight isn't about...my past. This wasn't even how I wanted tonight to go. At all."

"Then come on." He extended his arm out to me so I could take his elbow. "We both know this isn't really your scene. How about we blow this joint and grab a bite to eat?"

I resisted the hunger rising inside of me for blood—human blood, and removed the words 'bite to eat' from my memory with a shake of my head. "How about we get a drink instead?"

"Deal." I took his arm and he started to lead me out. I was curious as to how he knew the way out, but he eventually whispered, "I've been here before. Two lefts and a right."

As I chuckled, we started to walk out of the corn maze and eventually came right to the exit. All depressing thoughts of my recent predicament and conversation of my ex-fiancé dying were excluded from our chatter when we came out to find Alaric, Dr. Robles, Elena, and Liam all gathered at the entrance. Elena wore an impressive smile on her face, Liam right at her side, and all I could do was just let them be happy if it was what she so desired. I was, however, intrigued over my teacher and my hospital mentor hanging out together after-hours.

"You see the man Jo is with right now?" I said quietly to Sebastian, who leaned closer to hear my quiet voice. He nodded so I continued. "That's my friend, Alaric. He used to date my Aunt Jenna. Basically, he's family."

Sebastian started to laugh. "This is priceless."

"It's weird! I could definitely use that drink now."

Right when he was about to respond, there was suddenly screams in the distance over the sound of a loud engine roar. It all happened so quickly, but in the flash of an eye, headlights were gunning towards us all and students ran, some of them not making it in time and others ducking out of the way. The next thing I knew, somehow, my eyes were open and watching the tragedy before us, and then there was nothing.

I woke up sometime later, I don't know when, to find Sebastian standing over me shaking my shoulders to wake me up. I sat forward, though he tried to stop me, but I managed to sit straight and knock the dirt out of my hair. He sighed.

"You could have a concussion, Madeline."

"What happened?" I rubbed my head and looked up at him. "There was...a truck. It went through the field."

"Who's the President of the United States?"

"Barack Obama. What's going on?" I looked around and listened to cries from injured people. I forced myself up from the ground, again ignoring Sebastian's protests. He let out a frustrated breath of air.

"Madeline, I said you could be hurt."

"I'm fine." I practically snapped at him, but I didn't blame him. Doctors had a tendency to react to injuries but, what he didn't know about me was that I was a vampire very capable of being all right. I looked in front of me to see a girl crying aloud holding her shoulder and sweating from the pain. But all around me, injured people suffered everywhere, and there was blood on every turn. I was only thankful that Sebastian was behind me when I felt my eyes tug, telling me how hungry I was. I shook the feeling off, trying to get the red out of my eyes before he saw.

"I don't think you have any broken bones or wounds, but—"

"The girl, over there." I ignored him and turned back when I was sure the red had faded from my eyes. Sebastian stared, almost angry with me for denying his medical assessment, but I barreled on and pointed to the woman holding her arm. "I think she's got a dislocated shoulder. I'm going to go help her. You're a doctor, there are injured people everywhere. Help them."

And I left his side without caring whether or not he agreed with me, running over to the woman with the dislocated shoulder. I bent by her side and listened to her whimpers.

"It...hurts..." the girl cried. I nodded and assessed the shoulder, making sure there were no underlying conditions.

"I know. You dislocated your shoulder. Take my hand." I didn't leave her a choice when I grabbed her hand and let out a deep breath. She closed her eyes tightly, bringing in the pain. I could smell blood on her and knew that my eyes were not normal and was again thankful that she had chosen not to see. "I'm going to pull as hard as I can to pop it back into place. On three, okay? One..."

I didn't wait to get to three. Instead, after I said one, I pulled hard and popped her shoulder into its socket as the girl cried out in agony for a moment before a look of relief spread across her face. She opened her eyes to meet mine and I had myself under control enough to get rid of the red irises. The girl clutched her arm and smiled.

"Thanks."

I nodded. "You're welcome. Try not to move it."

I got up from my place beside the girl and looked around, taking in unintentionally the heavenly scent of human blood all around me. I was starting to dwindle—fast. With not feeding earlier today and all the blood surrounding me, I was seeing red all around my eyes. Flashes of images of waking up after the slaughter of five innocent people on my hands crossed my vision and I fell completely helpless to the hunger that was taking over me. It wasn't long before I could feel the red irises stabilize and I fell into a state of darkness yet again.

Audrey was pissed off. Not only was Caroline harping on about how irresponsible she'd been letting Ivy just walk out the door as a newborn, thirsty vampire but she had to delay studying for her Psychology 101 test early in the morning. She was going to fail, and then she'd blame it on Caroline. So she walked through the streets of Whitmore, down the small roads with amenities to please the students, all while harboring an impossible anger to where this night had gone. But it was when she saw the car parked next to the old movie theater covered in blood that she realized how right Caroline had been. She was irresponsible for letting a hungry vampire maniac on the loose.

"Seriously?" Audrey murmured under her breath. "Does no one know what the term 'self-control' means?"

Just as she said the sour statement, a pair of headlights came into her view and she watched as Stefan's vintage car pulled up on the side of the path and he stepped out from the driver's side. Audrey gave a frustrated sigh, realizing that this was just adding to her terrible day. Stefan threw up his hands angrily.

"You let her go?"

"I didn't think she'd go around town chomping on people!" Audrey exclaimed. "Plus, I didn't really care. She's not my problem."

"I asked Caroline to help."

"Yeah. You asked Caroline. Not me. We lost her over an hour ago, what the hell took you so long to finally show up?" she demanded. Stefan sighed.

"I got caught up."

This angered her. "What could be more important than finding the girlfriend that you dumped on my sister?"

"Driving halfway out of town," Stefan said simply, only realizing what he'd said after it was all out of his mouth. Audrey stared at him with wide, incredulous eyes.

"You were leaving?"

He hung his head. "I slid Ivy's daylight ring under your front—"

"I don't want to hear about some dumbass daylight ring!" she shrieked, not caring who heard her or who saw her arguing. Her temper had gone through the roof with his nonchalant mention of his cynical plans. "You were just going to leave her with us? Dump her on my sister and then skip town? Figured that we would be the perfect patsies for your responsibility?" Her voice inclined as blood rushed to her face in fury. "Who the hell are you right now?!"

"I'm someone trying to start over!" Stefan shouted at her. "And then suddenly, you, Caroline, and Enzo show up and now I have Hunters on my trail and a brand new vampire who wants to kill me and everyone in her path! And that's not how someone starts over, Audrey!"

The two exes stood across from each other, both of them too stubborn to forget the past and move on. No, this was a much deeper issue. Audrey, who wanted so desperately to move on with her life, had finally found the reason to do it. She finally had the way out. And yet, here Stefan was, coming back over and over again to ruin any chance she had of happiness.

"A month ago, I spent hours wishing that Damon would come back." She swallowed thickly. "Because if he came back, you would come back. And I wanted you. I missed you." Stefan stayed silent, a look of guilt concealed on his face. Her teeth gritted down as she spat her next words. "But right now? Now I want you to get back in your goddamn car and drive as far away from me as you can and never come back. I don't want to see you. I don't want to speak to you. I want you to go."

Stefan stood across from her, realizing that her words stung him more than he'd care to admit. He let out a deep breath and started, "Audrey, I—"

"I. Said. Go." She crossed her arms defensively and waited, staring at him with cold eyes that he'd never seen before. Realizing how furious she was, Stefan did what she wanted and turned, heading right back to his car, climbed inside of it, and left.

"Help me!" someone cried in the distance, deep inside the stalks of corn. Madeline turned herself, eyes blazing incriminating crimson, and used refined eyes to spot the injured mass a few feet away. "Someone! Help me! Please!"

Without a spoken word, Madeline walked away from the chaos of the rush to save innocent lives around her and went right into the fallen stalks of corn. She stepped around the ones on the floor and went deep enough into the field to meet the person that cried for help. It was too far for anyone to see what she wanted to do. The screams from others masked the screams that Madeline Reichs itched to hear. The injured person was a male, early 20s, with dusted blonde hair and brown eyes. Seeing her, he swallowed back his cries thickly. She could see the blood on his head and on his arms, but more prominently on his leg where the femoral artery had been hit. Delicious blood spilled from the wound, and the red-eyed monster couldn't take her eyes off of it. The boy didn't notice her appearance, for he was in too much pain.

"Help," he choked out, softer. "Please. I need help."

And Madeline moved her eyes up to meet his, but now there was no mistaking it. With the dark of the night behind her, it contrasted with her eyes and brought out the vibrant color. She smirked, and the boy opened his mouth to scream.

Sebastian had already stabilized three of the injured people around him, knowing that Dr. Robles and all the other med students were doing the same. He looked around for his date but had no such luck in finding Madeline. After finishing up with the last of the injured people in his vicinity, he went over to the woman who had a dislocated shoulder to find her alone. She told him that Madeline went in the direction of the right, and he told her where to go to get help. When the woman was gone, Sebastian looked around for the dark-haired student but still couldn't spot her. Suddenly, he heard a scream and, regardless of whether or not it was Madeline, he took off in the direction of the shout expecting to find another injured. The scream came deep within the corn field, but he pushed past the heavy stalks until he finally reached his intended target.

But instead, he found Madeline. She stood up from bending down at the dead man's leg slowly, realizing that there was a presence behind her. Sebastian feared there was something deeply wrong, and his fears were confirmed when she whipped around, her long hair whipping her skin as she faced him with demon-colored eyes. He did not run, nor did he shout.

"Well, well." The vampire licked her lips. "If it isn't Dr. Sexy. You here as the cavalry?"

"Madeline..." Sebastian trailed off calmly. "You don't want to kill me."

"I want food." She stepped forward. "Hate to break it to you, doctor, but you're the main meal."

"Stop." Sebastian's voice was hard and cold, desperate to get the crimson-eyed female to lay off of him. "Madeline, don't do this."

She frowned. "Bargaining? Very petty of you. I don't like petty."

And she barred her fangs, lunged forward, and latched her lips onto his neck for the first drink. But the second the blood slid down her throat, she pulled away and the blood spilled out of her mouth as the vervain took over her system. She choked and fell to her knees, the red eyes flickering in and out. Sebastian reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a syringe full of vervain and he injected it into his date's shoulder and caught her as Madeline's eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious.

When I finally came to, I realized that I was indoors, nowhere near standing where I last remember, in the middle of the chaotic corn maze. Instead, I was lying on a nice couch with the familiar scent of the Whitmore Hospital in the air around me. I slowly rose from lying down, feeling sore in my right shoulder. My body felt weak and groggy and my head felt oddly heavy.

I barely noticed it when Sebastian walked over to me with a glass filled conservatively with some sort of brown alcohol. I rubbed my head and groaned, which caused a response out of him. "Sorry about the way I brought you in. If I hadn't, you were going to kill me."

"What?" I breathed out, shaking my head and feeling the weight of it uncomfortably. He sat down on the table beside the couch I was lying on. "What are you talking about? Kill you? Where am I?"

"My office in the hospital." Sebastian extended the drink in his hand to me, but I shook my head so he took it for himself. He drank a sip and watched me as I looked around, confused. "You don't remember anything, do you?"

I looked into his eyes. "The last thing I remember is...standing out in the middle of the corn maze. People were screaming, shouting for help. I wanted to go to them but...but I..." The blood had been too much.

"But you were hungry." Sebastian pursed his lips. I stared at him and realized that his statement then with the prior statement of me attempting to kill him meant that he knew what I was. "It's a tough thing, fighting the urge to kill those close to you every single second of every day. I can only imagine."

I stiffened. "You know what I am?"

"You're a vampire." He nodded.

"And you're not."

Sebastian smiled. "No." He took a sip of his alcohol. "But my mother was." Sebastian paused, and I waited for him to carry on the conversation. He sighed. "Madeline, have you been experiencing any blackouts recently? Instances where you have realized that hours have carried on without you and you don't know how or why you are where you are surrounded by things you don't know?"

Now this was insane. I stood up briskly. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm here to help you." He didn't seem fazed by my cold snap but rather looked up at me with soft eyes. "Sit down. Please."

"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on. Why are you here?"

"My mother was a vampire," he said abruptly. I listened. "But years before, she was activated as a Pure Blood. When she was 17, she slept with a man and ended up getting pregnant with me. As I grew older, she became insane." Sebastian and I both kept focus on each other. "I know you were a Pure Blood, Madeline. As a human. And I'm guessing, like my mother, you broke the rules and you found the way out. Now, will you please sit down?"

"Did you know?" I whispered as I placed myself back on the couch in an upright position. "The entire time? Did you know?"

"I'm the son of a Pure Blood." He took another sip of his alcohol. "I was born able to know. It's a gift."

"What do you want with me?"

"Nothing." Sebastian sighed, exasperated with my difficulty. "I said, I'm here to help you. So let me help."

And, however reluctant I was, I leaned back and listened.

Stefan pushed open the doors of the Salvatore crypt. He didn't know how he ended up there, but all he knew was that there was one thing on his mind: his brother. Everything had gone so wrong in the last few months of his life; he was a broken shell of a man because he had lost his big brother. The one person that had been his constant since the beginning of time was gone, and he managed to screw every other relationship he had with his friends because they couldn't compare. Tentatively, he walked forward with a bottle of bourbon in his hand and took a swig in a secret remembrance of his brother's favorite drink. It was practically an honor; bourbon-whiskey was Damon's version of paying respect.

Stefan looked around the crypt and chuckled to himself. Looking up, he announced, "Yep. This is happening. I'm gonna talk out loud to...a crypt filled with my dead family. Everyone but you, Damon. Because wherever you are, it's not here." He walked over to the bench inside the crypt and sat down, his eyes red with guilt. "I got to say...I'm not doing so great without you. I keep trying to...start over, but I can't get anywhere. Because I'm lost, brother. I'm lost."

He tried to hold back the tears, but they were inevitable. And then the anger appeared, anger for his brother bringing him back from the dead just to die himself. He stood up with the bourbon bottle in his hand and swung it at the stained glass window that had already been broken before. Stefan expected the smash of the bourbon glass and the alcohol to pour all over the floor, but instead, something else happened.

Damon happened.

Damon caught the bourbon bottle with his hand and looked at it in wonder. Stefan stood, shocked, seeing the form of his brother's body. Damon shrugged. "What? I'm gone a couple of months and you think it's okay to waste a perfectly good bottle of bourbon?"

He took a drink from it, missing the taste of alcohol in the present. Stefan kept his distance, too surprised to react. "Damon?" he breathed.

"Yep. In the flesh."

"How am I seeing you right now?"

"Because I'm not dead, Stefan." Damon stepped forward with a small smirk on his face. "I mean, this stuff's good, but it's not 'I see dead people' good." By this time, he had reached his brother so that they were standing inches apart. Damon was tired and wrecked from the effort it took to get back, only to achieve half his goal, and so he sighed at his younger sibling. "It's a hell of a long story, brother, but..." He opened his arms for a hug, "...I'm back. I'm back."

Slowly, Stefan reached forward and clasped a hand on Damon's shoulder. Seeing the need for confirmation of his return, Damon nodded at Stefan and looked at his brother with sorrowful eyes, realizing what a toll his death had taken on the broken relationship he had with his brother. With assurance, Stefan pulled Damon into a hug and clasped onto him tight, feeling his heart stitch back together as he reunited with his brother, who had made it back.

"I'm back, Stefan."

Thanks for reading! Review, please!

SomebodyWhoCares: Yep. It's not good.

vampangel25: I haven't made up my mind as to if I want to give Madeline her memories back. This is kind of why I'm staying so far behind in the series because then I can plan as the episodes go along and I don't run into a snag. It's a 50/50 shot right now honestly. But yes, Madeline and Damon are a better couple than Damon and Elena, I will definitely give you that :)

grapejuice101: It's my job! Or, my job on here, at least. Kind of another cliffhanger on this chapter, too, but hopefully it's not too bad. Thanks!

Adela: Thank you! Here's the next chapter.