Break On Through

Ric was inside an MRI machine, getting examined. "What exactly are you looking for?" I asked her.

Meredith was preparing to scan Ric. "I don't know. A tumor, vascular anomalies, anything physical that might explain his behavior. If it's medical, I can treat it."

"And if it's not?" Elena inquired.

Meredith wore a stubborn and determined expression. "Well, then we'll deal with that too."

Someone slid Ric inside the tube. "When did you suspect him? That it was Alaric who was killing all of those people?" Elena questioned.

"It was after he told me about his ring," Meredith answered. "I remembered a story my grandmother had told me about Samantha Gilbert and her secret journal. I don't know if you know this, but we Fell's are notorious busy-bodies."

"Why d'you protect him?" I asked.

"Because I'm a doctor, I don't like to see someone hurt by something they have no control over. And because when he and I first met I felt like… I don't know, I-I just kind of want to help him."

Aw! She wanted to help him! Wait... was that romantic or not?

We heard Ric breathing heavily inside the machine. Meredith spoke to him through a speaker, "Everything alright in there?"

He waited a while before responding, "Yeah. Yeah, everything's okay."

Ric was in his hospital room, packing up. "Meredith says that everything is normal," Elena informed him.

"Yeah, well, everything is normal, because there is nothing wrong with me," Ric ranted, continuing to pack. "I didn't kill Brian Walters, I didn't kill Bill Forbes, and I sure as hell didn't shove a hunting knife into my stomach." He looked down at his ring which was on the table. "Or I did and I've gone insane, just like your ancestor who..." he picked up the Gilbert ring. "...wore that ring."

"Look, I'm gonna call Bonnie. The rings were made by a Bennett witch so maybe a witch can reverse the damage," Elena said.

Ric pushed the ring towards us. "Take it. I don't want it anymore."

I picked up the ring gingerly, looking at Ric as I did. Was he serious? If he died, which was very possible considering we lived in a town where half the populations are one supernatural species or the other, he wouldn't come back.

Damon barged into the hospital room. "You ready to ditch this House of Horrors?" He turned to Ric. "Oh, you look terrible."

Alaric nodded. "Yeah, let me... let me check out of here."

Ric went to check himself out and Elena followed him, giving Damon a murderous look on her way out. He looked to me for my reaction, but I just shook my head and left, going out to my car.

Damon followed me outside of the hospital. "Don't worry about him, take him out for chicken soup, get him a martini, make sure he doesn't kill anybody."

"What the hell is wrong with you? How could you just go out feeding with Stefan like some vampire take out?" I spat.

"Oh right, I thought we were talking about Alaric, but of course we're talking about Stefan," Damon scoffed.

I spun around and pointed an accusing finger at him. "He's my best friend, Damon. And you just stood there and let him feed on an innocent girl.

He stepped closer to me. I knew what he was doing. "I didn't let him do anything, if you want to get nit-picky about it, I made him."

I rose an eyebrow. "Why would you do that?"

"Because we're vampires, Louise," he replied. "We need human blood to survive. We're predators, not puppies."

"He can't control it, Damon," I said. "He'll drain some innocent person of blood and then he'll be so full of guilt he'll turn it off."

He eyed me for a moment. "You've changed."

"What?"

"You're back to the self-righteous witch you used to be," he explained. "Why don't you find Bennett and you two can be all judgy together?"

I rolled my eyes. "I hate it when your like this."

He gripped my wrist tightly, preventing me from going any further. "When we were together, you felt free. Didn't you?" He pulled me into his chest and whispered into my ear huskily, "You felt safe. There was passion. You want it all back, admit it."

I weakened beneath him. That voice of his... it made me swoon. I struggled out of his grip and backed away. "I'm confused, Damon. Everything's confusing me."

"This is nice," I said, not taking my eyes off the television. "Like pre-Ripper times."

"I'm getting myself together," Stefan told me. "I'm not going to be the bloodaholic brother anymore. Ha, you died! My go!"

He snatched the remote control out of my hand. We were playing Crash Bandicoot. I suggested Call of Duty but Stefan didn't like the gore or the blood. "No need to be so rude." I pouted, crossed my arms and sat back in the couch sulkily.

Stefan laughed at me. "Quit sulking." The laughter stopped and a serious look crossed his face as quick as a thought did. "Have you told Elena yet?"

I pulled myself up. "No. I will closer to the time."

"You could be a vampire by the next full moon, Louise," Stefan said. "She deserves to know. So do Alaric and Jeremy."

"I told Caroline," I admitted. "She promised not to tell anyone. Bonnie knows too."

Stefan scoffed, amused. "You told Caroline and you expect her not to tell Elena?"

I shrugged a little. "She promised."

"This is Caroline we're talking about here," Stefan said. "Caroline Forbes. She couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on it."

He was right. I decided to change the subject. "So, what d'you know about Samantha Gilbert, my crazy ancestor?"

"She was committed to an insane asylum. She tried to give herself a lobotomy with a knitting needle, and bled to death on the floor of her cell."

I gulped. "Sounds great."

He passed the controller to me. "I'm gonna get a blood bag."

My jaw fell as he walked out of the room. "A what bag?" He didn't respond. "Stefan Salvatore! Answer me!"

He was on human blood now... since when? I'd grill him when he got back up. "Don't overdose!" I called.

Can vampires even overdose?

A half an hour later, Stefan went back up to his room, which I was in. I shut down the game and stood up straight, hands on my hips. "Were you drinking blood for a whole half an hour?"

"Yup," he replied.

I flinched back, surprised. "Right. Uh... that's not a good idea?" It came out more like a question.

"I know. But it's so difficult, Louise," he said. "I'm on the ripper edge. I don't want Elena to see me like this, but I..."

"Then we won't tell Elena." He looked shocked. "I can keep secrets. She doesn't need to know anything about your diet. This is between you and me."

"Elena won't be too happy..."

I shrugged. "Eh... she can get over it."

He smiled gratefully at me. "Thanks... but what do you know about vampire control?"

I held my hands up in front of me, palms out. "Hey, I got over a chocolate addiction. I can get over anything."

"My blood addiction is a lot different to your chocolate addiction, Louise," he told me.

I sighed and slumped my shoulders. "Okay, so we've established I'll be a hopeless mentor. But I can try. I am not a giver-upper. So, what's our first mission, student?"

He chuckled and said, "To find out more about Samantha Gilbert."

I pouted. "Oh."

We were looking over old newspaper articles in the town square. Stefan was sweating and breathing heavily beside me. "Hey, Stefan. You okay?"

"Whenever I try to focus on a newspaper, I just hear a vein pumping blood through an innocent body," Stefan told me snappishly. "I'm not fine."

"Don't get mad at me," I said in a high-pitched voice. "I was just asking if you were okay." I scanned the newspaper page and spotted something on Samantha. "Ah-hah! 'Samantha Gilbert, patient of the Virginia Mental Hospital, killed two people within a week: a nurse, Elizabeth Goth and a guard, George Holden. May they rest in peace. Samantha is currently on suicide watch...' Great genes, huh?" Stefan was speechless as he snatched the paper from me. "Rude!" He didn't respond. "Stefan? Stefan, you're scaring me."

"She didn't have her ring," he said breathlessly. "Patients who are on suicide watch aren't allowed jewellery or personal effects."

My eyes widened. "But... no! Why would she kill those people without the influence of the ring? Stefan-"

"Because once the damage is done, there's no going back. She didn't need the ring for her alter-ego to manifest."

I caught on. "That means Ric doesn't either."

"I'll tell Elena," Stefan said. "You go back to the house and make sure that Alaric isn't... you know..."

I nodded. "Right."

I took out some herbs from my bag. Bonnie's mom had given me some. The most effective was a herb that could knock someone out, which I planned to use on Ric if his alter-ego had come out to play.

The green herb was poured on my hand. I clenched my hand in a tight fist to prevent any of it falling out. Ric came down the stairs, wrapping a bandage around his hand.

"Hey there," Ric said, smiling.

There was something forced and suspicious about his behaviour. "Hi. Uh, where's Meredith?"

"Oh, she got called into the hospital for a last minute surgery, but she'll be back later," he told me.

I gestured to Ric's hand. "What happened?"

He stared at his wounded hand. "Oh, I... I broke a coffee cup and sliced my hand open trying to pick up the pieces. Did you find out anything?"

"No," I lied, as Alaric's alter-ego was doing.

"Did you get my ring?" Ric asked, referring to his wedding ring.

I shook my head. "Elena couldn't find it."

"Yeah, well my place is a bit of a disaster. I guess I'll just have to go get it."

He walked down the stairs. There was a knife on the floor. Ric stared at it, as did I. Our eyes met and Alaric edged for the knife. I ran behind him and put my hand over his mouth. His grumbles were muffled as he slipped into unconsciousness. I let him fall to the ground, laying him down as gently as I could.

I got up and spun around, looking for a certain brown-haired doctor. "Meredith?" I called. "Meredith?"

I went up the stairs warily. I was afraid evil-Alaric would wake up angrier than ever.

Meredith was grunting in pain inside the bathroom Elena and Jeremy shared. I kicked down the door and rushed over to her. She was bleeding... someone had stabbed her in the stomach. The doctor sat in a pool of her own blood. "Did Ric do this?"

She nodded. "His alter-ego, it manifested."

I looked at her helplessly. "I'm so sorry, Meredith. I can't do anything. But Stefan... I'm gonna call him."

Standing up, I dialed Stefan's number on my phone. He answered quickly. "Louise?"

"Ric's alter-ego stabbed Meredith," I told him. "She's going to die if you don't get here as soon as possible."

"I'm just outside."

"Get in here quickly."

I hung up and knelt beside Meredith. "I'm really bad at this," I said. "Just... just wait. You'll be okay."

Stefan rushed into the room, Elena beside him. "Oh my God!" she gasped. "Stefan, you-you have to feed her your blood!"

Veins protruded underneath Stefan's eyes as they darkened. "Come on, Stefan. Fight it," I begged.

His face transformed back to normal. He got down on his knees beside me and bit into his wrist before feeding Meredith his vampire blood.

"You're gonna be okay," Elena said to Meredith.

Stefan stood up and walked out of the bathroom. I followed him out to the hall and put a hand on his shoulder. "You did good, Stefan. You're getting there."

He nodded to me before striding out of the house.

Dear diary,

My guardian's a psycho killer. Well, one half of him is. He wore this ring that brought him back to life and that turned him into a crazy hunter who hunts vampires and founding family members. Other than that, he's still good old Ric.

But he stabbed his new girlfriend. Weird right?

Damon got more white oak stakes. He held a party with Rebekah and his old mentor, Sage. He slept with Rebekah (ugh...) and Sage was able to get into her head to find out about the stakes. But then Sage betrayed him (if you could call it betrayal) and, with Rebekah, burnt the bridge down. They didn't know that the sign for the bridge was made of white oak. Now, we have a weapon to kill the Originals.

But there's this nagging part of me that doesn't want Klaus dead. Does that make me a bad person?

Yes, it does.

"Hey."

I tore my eyes away from my diary and onto Bonnie. "Bon!" I got up, putting my diary onto my dressing table/study area and pounced on my best friend, wrapping in her a strangling bear hug. "I am so, so sorry about your mom! If I had talked to Damon beforehand, I-"

She pulled away from me. "It's okay. Esther was channeling from you. You would have died. You and Elena would have died. I was just... I was angry. Because it felt like I was the one constantly getting hurt."

I nodded understandingly. "I get it. Forgive me?" I smiled hopefully.

She smiled back and laughed. "Done. I gave Mr. Saltzman some herbs and did a spell, he should be fine as long as he takes them at least twice a day."

"I'll be bad cop from now on," I assured her.

"Good."

Bonnie's phone rang and she checked it. "It's Caroline." I nodded to her to answer it and she did. "Hey, Care... What?... Right. I'm fine Caroline. Nothing I'm not used to by now."

She hung up. "What is it?" I asked worriedly.

Tears pooled up in her chocolate brown eyes. "Abby's left again."