A/N: I am so so sooooo sorry about this being so late. Life had been crazy and the muse have not been so cooperative. Any time i was hit with inspiration to write I have not had the time to do so and when i did have the time, the muses were silent in retaliation of being ignored. We seriously need to have a talk about the writers block. I hope you all find this worth the wait, it is 16 pages in word so it's a long one. A filler mostly with some drama mixed in. Well, I won't babble on, enjoy! And Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate!

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Chapter 17: Departures and Arrivals

The morning after Sara's true form made an unwanted appearance, Sara had spent the majority of the day on the phone with several of her contacts from all around the world that she still had available. They were all instructed to find a place suitable that could satisfy her inner demon while still being far enough away from other well populated areas. There was no need for anyone escaping and causing pandemonium to spread about a creature that had annihilated an entire city's population quicker than an atomic bomb.

Now with only two days left till the blood moon, Sara was leaving the next morning for a plane headed to South America where she would travel to one of the hidden villages of Brazil that existed outside of the modern world and feed on hundreds of individuals. She just hoped that since they were so out of tune with modern civilization that there would be enough souls in the area to satisfy the monster that would be reeking so much havoc on the poor, unsuspecting tribe. If not, she would be able to do nothing to stop the murderous creature from traveling to the closest form of civilization and draining that place as well.

When Sara hadn't been busy with packing or dealing with her sources, Damon had kept her locked away in the house; occupied with lots and lots of sex. Sara was certain that there wasn't a room left in the boarding house that they hadn't christened. Which wasn't exactly a good thing, considering some of those rooms were used by their friends when they stayed here. Needless to say, she had also spent plenty of time doing laundry when Damon allowed her a reprieve. Not that she was complaining, mind you.

After spending the better part of the last several days locked away from the outside world, the couple was finally entertaining their group of friends to inform them of Sara's sudden departure from Mystic Falls. Sara had wanted to keep things between them up until the moment she was getting ready to leave, hoping to avoid an onslaught of questions. More importantly, she had been afraid that her creature side would come out again and try to do more than just attack one of her friends.

Thankfully though, the Striga never once made another appearance and Sara believed that she had Damon to thank for that. He had told the others to keep away from the boarding house for a few days so he and Sara could be alone. Caroline was quick to agree thinking that Damon had meant he had wanted to get it on with Sara without any interruptions and well, she technically hadn't been wrong. He had done just that, but as usual he had been supportive of her and helped talk her through some very important decisions.

Sara's control had been fine since the night of her big reveal, but it had also been just her and Damon for the last several days and he had never been a threat to her control. Now that the boarding house was quickly filling up with more bodies and even more souls, Sara was on edge as everyone congregated into the living room. It was when everyone had a drink in hand that the snappy remarks and questions started flowing.

"You know, I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see the inside of this place again." Jeremy said as he went around telling some of his favorite objects in the room how much he missed them, one of them being the liquor cabinet and another being the Striga herself who he hugged for the third time since he'd arrived with Elena and Stefan.

"Very funny, Jeremy." Sara said with a roll of her eyes, but she hugged the teen nonetheless while the others laughed and snickered at the hunter's dramatics. Sad to say the only alcohol he had consumed today was the few sips he had taken off the near full glass in his hand.

"I thought so." Jeremy grinned as he released the Striga before going around the house to continue his line of 'I'm so happy to see you's' and 'I missed you's' to random objects.

Sara shook her head. "Elena, if he keeps this up I'm going to have to suggest that you have him committed." she laughed as she turned to look at her youngest doppelganger.

Elena laughed. "I couldn't agree more. Know any good places?" she teased as she relaxed on the couch, Stefan sitting beside her with his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"As cute as this all is, I doubt the two of you invited us over here so you could have a reprieve from your sex life." Katherine sneered from where she stood near one of the windows. She refused to touch any of the furniture or anything with a flat surface.

It was clear from her tone that she had talked to Nadia, who Sara had informed earlier this morning of her upcoming departure. It seemed like she and Nadia were going to have to have a talk. While Sara was happy that Nadia and Katherine were finally getting along, she didn't need the woman spilling her guts to her mother whenever Sara told her something. Nadia was working for her, not Katherine, and Sara expected loyalty. Nadia was the one spy she had ever had that wasn't under the effects of her blood and if she wished to still have that freedom, then she had better learn quickly to keep her mouth shut.

When Caroline rolled her eyes at the oldest vampire in the room, a sharp remark on her tongue, Sara cut the blonde vampire off. "You're right, Katherine. I do have something to announce." she said as she fixed the brunette with a glare. Katherine smirked, but the look in her eyes held something akin to fear.

"What's up, Sara?" Bonnie asked as she took a sip of her drink. She'd noticed that Sara had been tense since everyone had arrived and that on occasion the Striga was sneaking looks in Stefan's direction. If she didn't know any better she'd say that Sara and Damon were announcing a breakup because of something to do with Stefan, but if that was the case then the raven-haired vampire wouldn't be stuck to the Striga's hip like glue.

"Well...I...uh…" Sara started as she bit her lip, she really wasn't sure how to come out with this. Like everything else in her life, this was complicated and very messy.

"Everyone, Sara's leaving Mystic Falls…"

"What?!" Caroline shrieked, shooting up like a rocket from her spot on the other side of Elena, effectively cutting Damon's explanation off. "Sara! How can you leave us now, of all times?" the blonde vampire cried, a look of hurt and betrayal on her face. You'd think she was one of the vampire's that the Travelers were after by the pitiful look on her face.

"Woah, wait a minute!" Jeremy shouted from somewhere out in the hall. "Did I hear you right, Damon?" he said as he came running back into the living room. "You're leaving, Sara?" The near look of abandonment on Jeremy's face nearly broke Sara's heart.

Sara nodded. "I am, but I'll be back early Saturday morning." she said, but her return date fell on deaf ears as the living room erupted into more shouts and demands for an explanation. Something they weren't giving her a chance to do. Hell, even Katherine was mad at her for leaving, something she wasn't quite expecting. When everyone started to calm down, she tried again. "I'm sorry everyone, really, but it's for your own good…" Again, everyone was not so quick to agree.

"What do you mean for our own good?!" Elena shouted. "You're leaving us, when these people are after us!" she said as she fixed the Striga with a glare while everyone else nodded in agreement.

Sara sighed as she stared at Damon, giving him the classic 'I-told-you-so' look.

"Guys, listen." Damon said as he stepped forward, no male liked receiving the look his girlfriend was currently giving him. "If Sara didn't have to leave, she wouldn't, but she does!" he growled giving everyone a pointed look. "I'm not happy about this either and Sara hates this just as much as you all do, but it's for everyone's best interest that she leaves. She'll only be gone for a few days." he informed, commanding attention.

"But, why?" Jeremy wined and everyone looked to Sara for the answer.

She didn't want to tell them the truth, she didn't want them to fear her. Hell, she was scared and if she was scared then there was nothing from stopping the group in front of her from being scared as well. "It's just best that I leave for a few days, it's personal and something I don't wish for you all to see." she said, leaving it at that. She hadn't even told Nadia exactly why she was leaving and she had no intention of telling them, not if she could help it. "I've already informed Nadia of this…" she gave Katherine a look and the vampire rolled her eyes. "And things have been quite with the Travelers lately. She said that there is nothing going on in the works of capturing anyone since I destroyed the chalice. I've finally thrown that wrench into their Master's plans and while he is coming up with a new one, you all should have nothing to worry about until after my return. If it helps, I have several of my sources waiting for my call in order for them to come out here to Mystic Falls to help offer as some sort of protection."

"You mean act as human shields!" Stefan spat from where he stood with his arms folded across his chest, glaring at the Striga. Nothing about any of this sat well with him.

Sara shrugged. "It's not like they can be killed. Only I can do that." she said with a roll of her eyes. Her sources were whatever she wanted them to be. They supplied the information that she needed on the Travelers and the group of supernaturals in front of her, they helped find the hidden village that she was traveling to tomorrow, and they would come here and help protect her friends even if that meant being hit with spells or being tortured. They would do anything that she asked without question, any damage being done to their person would heal. They would still be alive when she got back should anything happen while she was gone, she could not say the same for those she actually cared about.

"You really have to go, don't you?" Bonnie asked calmly. If Sara was leaving because staying meant harm to them, then they should offer their support. She'd done nothing, but help them since arriving, the least they could do was return the gesture.

Sara nodded at the young woman known as the Anchor. "I really do." she said softly.

"Even though you leaving could lead to our deaths?" Katherine sneered, making it seem like Sara didn't care about any of them.

"Staying most definitely would." Sara snapped back and that was all she was going to say on the matter.

"When do you leave?" Caroline asked, finally calm enough so that she was no longer wailing like a banshee.

"In the morning. Damon's taking me to Richmond so I can catch a plane to South America."

"Why South America?" Stefan asked.

"Because." Damon growled, it was clear he knew what was going on. Stefan gave him a look and Damon just shook his head. It was clear whose side Damon was on in all of this.

"Well then, uh... let's party?" Jeremy said as he laughed weakly. Clearly, they had called everyone together to tell them of Sara's leaving, why not throw a little going away party for the woman. Sara lifted an eyebrow at the hunter's suggestion and Jeremy blushed sheepishly. "I didn't mean it like that." he muttered and Sara laughed as she pulled the boy into her, wrapping her arms around him.

"I know, Jeremy." she said as she hugged him. "And I haven't been slaving over a hot stove all day just so I could dump this news on all of you and then kick you all out." Sara had spent the better part of this morning after Damon finally let her out of bed and some of the early hours of this afternoon making a rather large meal for her friends as some sort of a peace offering.

"Sweet! Let's eat!" Jeremy grinned before rushing off in the direction of the delicious smells coming from the kitchen causing the others to laugh.

"Maybe we should consider having Jeremy committed." Bonnie suggest, willing to take the Striga up on her offer. During the last couple of days, Bonnie had come to terms with the fact that her romantic relationship with Jeremy had run its course, but Jeremy refused to believe it even though she had already told him she wanted to break up. The hunter just refused to accept it and has since been in denial that their relationship was over. "Hey Sara, does your blood cure insanity?" she asked, causing the others to laugh once more as everyone made their way into the kitchen before Jeremy 'The Bottomless Pit' could devour all the food.

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After the initial shock of Sara leaving wore off, everyone had accepted the news of the Striga's departure with what little explanation they had been given and wished her a safe trip. They had all settled down to a nice meal that Katherine actually joined in on for once and the conversation had been about anything, but Sara's reason for leaving. The main topic of their dinner conversation was surprisingly about how Elena, Caroline and Bonnie's classes had been going seeing as they had yet to return to campus in the last two weeks since the Travelers had been in town.

Since Sara had been in town the three college students had traveled back and forth during the week to attend what few classes they couldn't get caught up with online, attending a lecture here and there, but mainly they had decided to stay close to home. By the end of dinner, they had all caught up on what everyone had been up to over the last few days and eventually the women were left in one room at the insistence of Caroline while the men were off somewhere doing god knows what. As soon as the hen chatter started Katherine quickly disappeared as well, not caring for whatever bonding session the four females were about to have.

After about an hour of girl talk, Sara had gone out the back door through the kitchen for a smoke break, finding the men out on the back patio talking about who knows what. As she lit up a cigarette she informed them that the ladies were now at the point of conversation were the men could safely return to the group. They were no longer being talked about and wouldn't hear something that would otherwise cause their ears to bleed, wishing that they were anywhere than with their gossiping lovers and their friends. As usual Jeremy was quick to head inside, shouting something about needing a refill as he passed by the Striga while the brothers continued to talk and drink.

"You know, just because we leave the house doesn't mean we can't hear you." Stefan said with a pointed look. Being vampires, the Salvatore brothers and Katherine, wherever she may be, could still hear their x-rated conversation.

"Tell that to your girlfriend and her friends." Sara said with an eyeroll. She knew they could, which was why she made it a point to not go into any great detail that couldn't have been defined by using her hands about her and Damon's sex life. Unfortunately, her's and Elena's sex life, seeing as they were the only two getting any, had been the main focus of their conversation. Thankfully, she had used the need for a cigarette to make a break for it before Caroline or Bonnie could ask any real specific questions. She doubted that they really wanted all the terribly wonderful horny details about what Damon could do to a woman in bed, they just wanted to live vicariously through her it seemed.

Damon snickered into his glass of bourbon, he had certainly learned something new about his 'not-so-little' brother.

"Yes, well…" Stefan cleared his throat before downing the rest of his drink. "Oh, look! I need a refill." he said before quickly vanishing into the house causing the couple to laugh.

"Why do women who aren't getting any feel the need to grill their friends that are for every little detail?" Damon asked, though there was nothing little about his and Sara's sex life. Apparently, the same goes for Stefan and Elena's as well.

Sara shrugged. "Why do men who are feel the need to brag about it to their friends who aren't?"

"Touché." Damon smirked before taking a good look at Sara. "How are you holding up?" he asked. He knew she'd been worried about how she'd do when surrounded by their friends, more importantly his brother, and she'd done well so far. He was impressed and proud of her with her current level of control, all things considered.

Sara shrugged again. "A little on edge, but I think it's just nerves more than anything." She said, though her voice held a little uncertainty.

Damon smiled. "See, I knew you could do it." he said as he grabbed her hand and brought to his lips, placing a kiss to the back of it. "You coming back in?"

"In a minute." she said as she took another drag off the non-menthol paper stick. "Pour me a drink?" she asked sweetly, a small smile on her lips.

"Glass of wine?" he suggested and Sara nodded. "Coming right up, Baby." he said and was gone quickly from her point of view.

Sara sighed as she took another drag before tossing it to the ground and stamping it out with her boot. 'So far, so good.'

She just hoped things stayed like that as she made her way back inside. It didn't sound like it was too much to ask for, after all she never asked for much. The universe could show her a little compassion for once.

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A few hours later….

Sara was now on her seventh smoke break in the last 3 hours and by herself she was sure she'd drank an entire bottle of bourbon and a bottle of wine, but it still hadn't taken the edge off. In the beginning she had done fine, but the longer she sat with them, the harder it got and Stefan's abundant supply of souls wasn't exactly making things any easier for her.

Flashback

"So by early years, what are we talking about still ancient times or...?" Jeremy asked from he sat down on the floor, his legs folded criss-cross as he placed his drink down next to him. He held up both his hands and moved them back and forth like a balance, one representing ancient times and other the modern era.

"Ancient times." Sara smirked. The boy needed to be cut off, she had no clue how many glasses he had had at this point. "Though for me it still kind of feels like yesterday."

"How does time move for you?" Stefan asked from his position next to Elena on the couch opposite from where Sara and Damon sat. Being a vampire, he knew time moved differently for him now than it had when he was human. Twenty years going by felt like nothing to him, he couldn't imagine what it was like for Sara. The others nodded, wanting to know the answer as well.

"Let's see if I can put this in perspective you all of you." Sara said as she sat her wine glass down on the coffee table between them. "As vampires do you judge the passing of time more by decades or years? 10 years must go by in a near blink of an eye right?" She asked and Stefan and Damon both nodded. "Katherine?" Sara called to the older vampire doppelgänger who was still somewhere in the boarding house, though where exactly she was unsure.

"More like centuries for me, at least when looking back. I am almost 400 years older than Stefan and Damon." She chimed in from her place in the doorway, leaning against the door frame, her arms folded across her chest. Even she was intrigued by this conversation. It could help her in the future for when she inhabited the Striga's body.

"See 100 years for me is nothing. I'm 2,445 years old and I haven't aged a day since I was cursed at the age of 17. Though thankfully with our looks we can get away with saying we're at least in our 20's, am I right?" Sara smirked as she turned to Katherine and Elena, who both nodded in agreement. They'd been blessed in the looks department that was for sure. Thank you, Amara.

"The world changes; the inhabitants of this planet and their resources change, but I don't. I have lived through nearly every major event on this planet except for those that took place prior to my birth. I don't look back in years, whether they be 50, 100, 500, or even 1000 years, eventually they all just bleed together. The past, present, future, it's all the same to me. I look back at places, people, moments that have stayed with me over the years. Time for me, just doesn't exist. I'm immortal, I just Am." Sara stated and the revelation was honestly downright depressing for everyone. Being immortal seemed like the dream, but the way she painted it, it seemed more like a nightmare.

"Although, I can say my existence has gotten a little brighter since meeting all of you. You all have given me more of a sense of purpose than I ever dreamed possible." Sara said with a watery smile and Damon squeezed her hand in his before bringing to his lips. She always thought that she'd be alone in the world, even when surrounded by plenty of people. She had never allowed herself to get as close to anyone like she had with this group. They were truly something special and it was with all the more reason for her to leave to ensure their longevity.

End Flashback

As she stood in the kitchen, flicking the ashes of her cigarette into the sink, Sara contemplated just calling it a night and head up to bed while everyone else sat downstairs, hoping that sleep would calm in her frazzled nerves. 'Oh, to hell with it!' She decided she was going to do just that, so she put out her cigarette in the sink and turned out the light, but as she turned away something in the window caught her eye. She turned the light back on and there in the window, she noticed that her reflection was no longer human.

'Fuck!' She thought as the creature in the window grinned knowingly back at herself before turning away from the window. The human aspect of Sara's mind struggled for control as the Striga made her way back into the buzzing living. She looked as she had the night on the balcony except her body was still human, but her face had changed. Her eyes were white, her teeth had grown sharper and only her fingernails had extended into claws while her hands remained the same. Her skin tone, however, had never changed. The Striga was using the human skin to her advantage and that just proved how fucked up all of this ready was. If the human side of Sara was able to regain control before the Striga could do something she'd otherwise regret, she was going to kill Damon. She told him that this would happen! 'Dammit!' Sara just hoped that Damon would be able to stop her creature side from doing something that would cause anyone a great deal of harm. More importantly, she hoped that the Striga would listen to her mate.

"Hey Sara, come check this out." Jeremy called as he waved her over from where he now sat on the couch, staring at something on his phone screen. The alcohol had long since been taken away and he had sobered up some since then. Sara however never acknowledged the hunter as her gaze was locked on Stefan. When she hadn't indicated that she had heard him, Jeremy looked up and noticed the change in the woman's eyes. "Ah, Sara. You okay?" He asked and everyone turned to look at the immortal women due to Jeremy's unsure tone.

Damon took one look at her and swore. "Shit." He growled as he dropped his glass of bourbon causing it to shatter on the hardwood.

A sadistic grin broke out on Sara's face, revealing her mouth full of razor sharp teeth and gasps were heard throughout the room as the changes to her appearance registered to everyone.

"Stefan, run!" Damon shouted as he sped to stand in front of Sara. Stefan quickly fled from the room while the others stood up, unsure of what they should do. There really wasn't anything they could do, was there?

"I told you she'd turn on us!" Katherine sneered as she glared at the Striga. She hoped now that everyone would realize that Sara couldn't be trusted and that they should get rid of her. At Katherine's accusation, Sara's gazed turned to her oldest doppelgänger descendant.

With her focus no longer on his brother, Damon moved out of the way. "Now her you can kill." Damon sneered as he folded his arms over his chest, giving his permission to the immortal creature beside him. Screw the fact that Katherine was needed in some plot concerning the doppelgängers, one less doppelgänger for the Travelers to use in his opinion. Hell, maybe with Katherine dead it was put an end to whatever this plan was concerning the doppelgangers to the Travelers.

In a flash of white Sara was in front of Katherine, it was as if she had the ability of vampire speed. She gripped the vampire's neck and held her off the ground and against the wall. "Unless you want to die Katerina, I suggest you choose your next words carefully." Sara growled out in Bulgarian. "You would not be the first of the Petrova line that I've killed. You only live now because we share a face. You and Elena are the closest that I consider to kin, so I suggest you learn to show a little gratitude." She hissed before she dropped the vampire to the floor, Katherine gasped for breath as her bruised windpipe slowly healed itself. In the window behind the wheezing vampire, Sara watched as the Striga features receded and her human ones returned. When her teeth, hands and eyes returned to normal did she step back and turn to the others. "I'm so sorry." She whispered before her eyes rolled back into her head, fainting. Damon was at her side in an instant and caught her before her head could hit the floor.

"What the hell was all that about?!" Caroline shrieked as she stared at Sara, her eyes wide. As much as she or any of the others didn't want to be, they were suddenly scared of the immortal woman that they had called their friend over the last few weeks.

"That, Blondie, is the reason why Sara is leaving for a few days." Damon stated rather bluntly as he lifted his girlfriend into his arms before whisking her up to their bedroom.

When Damon returned downstairs he was, to no surprise, bombarded with all sorts of questions from the group he had come to call family over the last three years. He did his best to explain the situation as he understood it; that on the night Sara was cursed there had been a blood moon and now every time that a blood moon falls on the anniversary that she was cursed, Sara transforms into the soul eating creature and goes on this murderous rampage till the eclipse is over. That she had no control over it. The pain of what had happened to her was just too much for her to bare and with recent events it was no wonder that she was losing control so early this time.

Once this new information set in, everyone was quick to accept his answers and soon left for the night. Though Katherine had done her best to call everyone out for their quick acceptance of the woman who was clearly a monster that couldn't be trusted. She'd been quickly shut down by Caroline who had stated that they could say the same for her, but the difference between her and Sara was that Sara actually cared about them. They now understood why Sara was leaving and why she had chosen to hide the reason for it. She didn't want them to be afraid of her and she had been right to think that they would be because they were. They all agreed to come back in the morning to send Sara off, though Stefan was hesitant to return. He didn't want to set Sara off again.

When the boarding house was empty, what with Stefan having moved permanently into the Gilbert household over the last few weeks, Damon went up to bed. He stripped himself of his clothing save for his boxers and climbed in next to the still slumbering Striga. They only had a few more hours together and he was dreading the moment that the sun would come up and they would be separated shortly after. He knew it was only for a few days, but damn it, he was sure they were going to be the longest seventy something hours of his life.

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After a few hours of agonizing unawareness, Sara began to stir in the bed next to the sleeping vampire. As the memories of the Striga making yet another unwanted appearance slowly returned, Sara shot up as she sucked air into her lungs. Her wavy locks hung in her face as she looked around their darm bedroom. What the hell had exactly happened over the last couple of hours?

"Hey, it's okay." Damon muttered, his voice thick with sleep as he ran a hand up her back to try to sooth her.

Sara turned to face him before she launched herself into his arms. "Please tell me I didn't kill anyone." She pleaded into his bare chest.

Damon chuckled. "No, you didn't kill anyone." he said as he wrapped her up in his arms, holding her close to him. "Do your memories always come and go like this when you shift?" He asked as he pushed her hair out of her face and planted a kiss to the top of her head. For someone whose memory consisted of over 2,000 years of events, he found it odd that she couldn't even remember the last few hours.

"No, it's strange." she said with a shake of her head as she picked it up from his chest. "But usually I can't shift until the blood moon. I've never allowed myself to lose control save for those nights, but even then, I can remember everything. This time though, it's so separated." she explained before releasing a groan and flopping back onto her side of the bed. "I blame it on feeding off that bastard. I've been all messed up since that night." She finished with a growl. Naturally anything involving Pelicarpo always ended up with her life in shambles.

"Well hopefully after this feeding spree you'll go back to normal." Damon suggested, wanting to get off the subject of her ex. As much as he knew she didn't like talking about him, he didn't either.

"Yeah, hopefully. So... " she trailed off as she shifted to her side, resting her head into her propped up hand as she looked him up and down. "You still seem to be in one piece."

"I told you you wouldn't attack me again." He grinned. He'd been quite certain by the way his last encounter with Sara's creature side ended that he was safe from the soul sucking immortal.

"True, but I figured after you put me to bed that the wolves down stairs would've rip you apart." Sara snorted as she raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't realize Lockwood was back in town." Damon laughed.

"That's Caroline's ex, right?"

"I forgot you've never actually met him." Suddenly, Damon no longer found himself to be very funny.

While she may not have met the werewolf/vampire hybrid, Sara had certainly heard enough about him from the others that she felt as if she knew the male known as Tyler Lockwood. Personally, she wasn't sure what to think of him so she decided to reserve judgement until she actually met the male. If she ever did, that was.

"So, how mad was everyone?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"No more than usual till I explained what was going on." Damon informed as he shifted to his side. "I know you didn't want to tell them, but I figured it kinda had to come out ya know… after she came out." He chuckled. "You once again shocked Katherine into silence. What did you say to her?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just that she should show a little gratitude." she said with a shrug.

"Mhmm. That can't be it."

"Don't start that again, Damon." Sara whined as she rolled onto her back. Why couldn't he just take her word for certain things? That was exactly what she said to Katherine, well sure she said a little more, but that was the gist of it anyway.

Damon held his head in his hand, propped up by his elbow while his other hand drew small patterns absentmindedly on Sara's left forearm. "All I'm saying is that no one talks to Katherine Pierce without one of them issuing a death threat and seeing how you did all the talking, I gotta figure that you threatened her." he said as he raised a brow. He didn't have anything against Sara threatening the vampire. Personally he found it very sexy when she dominated others, but considering she did it while the Striga was in charge he found it rather strange. "I mean, why didn't you kill her? I'm surprised the Striga held back."

Sara sighed. "I did threaten to kill her if she didn't start to show a little gratitude. Katherine, Elena and I are connected by the doppelgänger curse. We share something that's unexplainable, but that doesn't mean I'll spare Katherine. She gets a chance, but she's already starting to get on my nerves." she growled. Katherine really was starting to get under her skin lately and her tolerance level for bitchy was off the charts meaning things really didn't bode well for the oldest vampire doppelganger if she didn't start changing her tune.

"Well, I say next time you just kill her." Damon suggested with a smug look on his face.

"Nice, Damon." Sara said with an eye roll. "You know, she's really...actually, you know what? I think I'll do just that."

"You were about to say that Katherine's not all that bad weren't you?"

"My mind isn't all back yet. I'm allowed to claim insanity for at least another five minutes." Sara grumbled as she threw an arm over her eyes. He had been right, she was about to say that, but she caught herself. Katherine really was all that bad and more.

Damon chuckled. "Alright." He'd let her have this one... this time. "So," he reached out and removed her arm from her face. "How are you feeling?" he asked. It was his turn to look her over.

Sara thought for a moment, taking inventory of how her body felt. Truth was, she felt completely normal. She felt fine and it terrified the living daylights out of her. She was glad she was leaving in... Sara turned her head to look at the clock on Damon's bedside table. She had somehow ended up on his side of the bed. The red, glowing digits read 2:26 a.m. She'd be leaving in just short of four hours to catch her morning flight in Richmond. "I feel... okay." she said as the Striga allowed for the memories of the evening to come forth. She remembered the terrified looks on her friends faces. It was that fear that she had hoped to avoid all together, but it had still happened. At least no one had been hurt. "What time did you tell everyone we'd be leaving?" she asked as she turned back to face him, laying on her side.

"Around six." he said as he cupped the cheek that wasn't resting in her palm. "You want to leave earlier now, don't you?" he said, trying his best to cover up the sadness that she could still hear in his voice.

"I do. It's safer." she said before shifting closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist as he laid back so she could rest her head on his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her closer to him, his grasp tightening as if she'd blow away right then if he didn't. Damon closed his eyes as he released a ragged breath. "Okay." he said before the couple drifted into a light slumber. They would be up and out of the house in just shy of three hours.

x-TOPD-x

The next morning found everyone at the Boarding House around six a.m. as everyone climbed out of their cars, some dressed for the day while others, Jeremy, were still dressed in their wrinkled sleep clothes. The only reason why the Hunter had even ran a comb through his bed head was because his sister had nagged him to do so about five hundred million times before they left the house. The final threat of 'Sara's going to think you don't care about her leaving because you don't give two shits about your appearance' having won out. He, at the very least, had wanted to look moderately presentable to the Striga.

"Really, Jeremy? The least you could've done was change out of the bunny slippers." Caroline scoffed in her usual shrill voice.

It was way too early for Jeremy to deal with Caroline's nagging on top of his sister's. The Hunter looked down at his slipper clad feet, not a bunny ear in sight. He shot a glare at the blonde vampire, opening his mouth to say something when a hand suddenly clamped over it.

"Why don't we all just go in and have some coffee." Stefan said as he dragged Jeremy towards the front door, certain that the Striga would've made a rather large pot of the black liquid of gold that seemed to be the key to everyone surviving this morning.

Stefan walked up to the front door with everyone in tow and without knocking, he entered a very quiet boarding house. "That's strange." he murmured as everyone piled into the foyer.

"What is it?" Elena asked as she came up behind him.

"Do you hear that?" He asked.

Elena listened for a moment taking in the sounds of the old house. "No." She said as she shook her head.

"Me neither." Caroline chimed. "What is it, Stefan?" She asked, wondering what he could hear that neither she nor Elena couldn't.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." He said as he continued to strain his vampire sense of hearing. "It's quiet."

"Too quiet." Katherine sneered. There wasn't a single footstep, no sounds of food being prepared, not even the tell-tale moans and groans of the supernatural couple copulating. Just silence, except for the occasional ticks from the several clocks around the old house. "There's no one here."

"What?" Bonnie shouted. Sara and Damon wouldn't have just left without allowing them a chance to say goodbye to the immortal woman, would they?

"You mean Sara left before we had a chance to say goodbye?" Jeremy whined, he sounded like a kid whose mother left him while he'd been too distracted by toys before they could pitch a fit about them leaving.

"So it would seem Little Gilbert." Katherine sneered before promptly flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Good riddance I say." she scoffed before stalking off towards the liquor cabinet, her high heeled boots clicking on the hardwood as if she was staking claim over the boarding house now that the Striga was gone.

"Shut up Katherine!" Jeremy shouted, taking a threatening step towards Katherine.

Stefan, concerned that the young hunter would let his emotions get the better of him, placed a comforting hand on Jeremy's shoulder. His grip was like that of a bear trap, hoping to keep the teen from lunging at the vampire that everyone was currently glaring daggers at. Including him. They were all fed up with the oldest vampire's attitude towards the immortal woman who was currently leaving the country in order to save their lives. Even though he didn't understand why, he was still accepting of the fact that Sara wouldn't have left them at this crucial time if it weren't absolutely necessary. Surprisingly, Katherine had seemed more pissed off yesterday than the rest of them about her leaving. He wondered why she'd been so mad when it was clear that she had always wanted nothing more than for Sara to leave. What was she up to?

"Yeah! Unlike you, we all actually like Sara." Caroline sneered.

"Seriously, Katherine what is your problem?" Elena snapped as she stared at her look-a-like, a hateful glare trained on Katherine.

Katherine, sick of everyone's accepting attitude towards the immortal woman, slammed the decanter of bourbon down onto the cart. "You all wanna know what my problem is, well I'll tell you. My problem is that…." before Katherine could get the offensive words out of her mouth Damon appeared behind her and snapped her neck.

"There isn't enough time in the world to listen to all your problems, Katherine." he scowled as he looked down at the unconscious form of the woman who made him what he is. He found himself to be rather comical and was surprised at not hearing even one little chuckle. When he looked up at the people he had come to call family, their angry glares that had been focused on Katherine were now trained on him. "What?" he asked.

Jeremy, feeling emboldened now that Katherine had been dealt with, honed his anger in on Damon. The grip Stefan had on his shoulder long since disappeared. "Why the fuck did you two leave without letting us say goodbye?" The hunter said as he got into the raven-haired vampire's face.

"Simple reason there Jer-Bear. Sara hates tearful goodbyes." He shrugged as he picked up the glass of bourbon Katherine had filled. "Plus she didn't want to risk the chance of her creature side taking over and sucking the life out of everyone here. Kinda defeats the purpose of her leaving to save everyone's life." And with that said, Damon downed the glass filled to the brim with his favorite choice of alcohol.

With his words effectively scolding all of them for acting like children, the hateful scowls and puffs of angry breaths stopped as everyone came to realize just how much they had been testing the Striga's control with them all being around her. Stefan especially felt guilty knowing how hard it could be to control something that goes against every fiber of your being just so the ones you love feel safe around you.

"So, is she gone?" Bonnie asked as everyone moved from the foyer to the living room, taking seats on the sofas as they all stepped over Katherine's still form.

"Probably flying over the gulf as we speak." Damon informed, knowing that Sara's plane had taken off just as he was leaving the airport over an hour ago. It had been hell to see her off, it was like his heart had been ripped out and was going on the plane with her. That he wouldn't be alive till she returned back with it. Fuck! Now he was beginning to understand what all those airport scenes in all those mushy-lovesick-'Wait, don't go!' chick flicks were about. It was like he'd gone from being the big baddie in a horror movie and stepped straight into a Nicholas Sparks novel.

"So, what do we do now?" Jeremy asked.

"We wait, Jeremy." Damon said as he went around filling everyone's glasses.

There was a silence the filled the boarding house as everyone sat there with a drink in hand, contemplating over how the next few days were going to play out now that the Striga was out town.

"Wait for what?" Jeremy asked, breaking the silence.

"Jeremy!" Elena half scolded-half chuckled. Sometimes, her brother could be so dense.

"What?!" the teen boy yelled as everyone laughed at him. Everyone was certain, while they didn't know what was going to happen, things were sure to be interesting.

x-TOPD-x

Nadia lounged on the couch in the living room of the current Traveler hideout. They really should stop using houses located in Mystic Falls as it seems that the Striga and her heard of sheep have managed to find them all. Though to be fair, she had been taken to both of them by her band of moronic acquaintances.

Things had been quite on their end and part of her was glad for that as it gave her more time to concentrate on formulating her own plan on how to save her mother and less time reporting to her new mistress. However, part if it unnerved her as it made her wonder what on earth her Master was planning. Now with the Striga gone, she had expected him to be happy when she had informed him of the information when she had gotten off the phone with Sara about her leaving not just the town, but the country. She figured that their master would've been glad to hear of the Striga leaving since he had ordered her to get the immortal creature out of town, but all she had been met with was the click of him hanging up in her. What that meant, she had no fucking clue.

"Nadia, are you just going to lay there? He'll be here any minute!" chided Loraine, a member of the Travelers who dubbed herself freaking den mother now that Marina was gone, as she walked by the vampire.

"Who'll be here?" Nadia asked as she sat up, she wasn't aware of any new scouts arriving. And if they were scouts, why was it such a big deal the place be ready upon their arrival? Everyone had been going about cleaning and coming up with plans of attack that would never work in a million years even with the Striga now gone. So why was everyone acting like this as if...oh fuck! She knew who was coming and it wasn't any low-on-the-totem-pole scout. Nadia rushed out into the foyer only to stop dead in her tracks as she came face to face with a tall man with tan skin and black hair standing in the doorway as everyone bowed before him.

The man looked over his group of followers before his dark eyes landed on Nadia. A smile broke out on his lips as he stepped towards the vampire. "Nadia," he said in a way she was all too familiar with as she realized that she stood before the man she had only ever known to be a voice over the last several months. "What a pleasure it is to finally meet you in person. I believe we've never been formally introduced what with Gregor and Marina gone." he said with mocking sympathy.

Nadia's eye twitched as she was forced to accept her Master's outstretched hand. "No, we haven't." she said through gritted teeth and she shook the man's hand.

Another grin broke out on the man's face, this time full of white, human looking teeth as his grip on the vampire's hand tightened in a threatening manner. "I'm Markos."

x-TOPD-x

A/N: And that my lovely readers is the end of this chapter. I hope it was well worth the wait. Keep an eye out for the next chapter. I have no idea when it will be done.

So, who guessed that this grand Master was going to be Markos?