Stefan went after Elena after she drove away after a short conversation about 'what we were'. I couldn't take down Damon alone and I wasn't entirely sure I would be able to mentally if Stefan wasn't there to remind me we needed to. I darted up to my bedroom instead. I slammed the door behind me so hard it was knocked off its hinges and the whole door fell on the floor behind me. I didn't care. I flung the stake at my wall and it stuck halfway in. I grabbed my diary off my desk and threw it at the wall too. I saw a framed picture of Damon and me sitting on my desk too. I grabbed it and threw it to the floor with enough force to send glass flying everywhere. I walked numbly over to my bed and collapsed on it. Then I lied there and cried. I cried for Zach. I cried for me…
"Beth…?" My eyes fluttered open as I slowly woke up. Damon was leaning over me. I decked him. He fell off the bed and onto the floor. I jumped up and grabbed the stake from the wall. He was on his feet by the time I'd grabbed it. I ran towards him anyway, stake raised. He caught my wrist and easily grabbed the stake from me. Then he kicked me feet out from under me and we both went down on the ground with him kneeling over me. I struggled to get up but he had me pinned.
"Jeez, what was all that about, Physco?" He asked, honestly surprised and confused. I struggled again, but then gave up. I glared up at him.
"That was for Zach! I just wish I'd gotten the chance to kill you!" I told him. He looked offended. I didn't care. I struggled again and this time he let me up, but he kept his hands around my wrists.
"I am sorry you're upset about that. I just needed to get out of there. But I'm stuck here until night time again because our brother took my ring." He said. I jerked my arms away so I was free.
"Then stay here! I'm gone!" I darted out of the room, downstairs and out the door before he could stop me. I ran to the one place I knew Stefan would bring Elena. The ruins of our family home…
"Beth?" Stefan asked in surprise as I darted up to them as they climbed out of the car. I ignored Elena's surprised face at my speed.
"Damon's at our house. Want to care of that before I go back and stake him?" I asked him. Elena was talking before Stefan could anything out.
"Stake him? Your own brother?"
"That kind of how you kill vampires! Stefan told you that, right? Stefan, answer now!" I told him. I was too pissed to be dealing with Elena right now. But again Elena was talking before Stefan could.
"What did he do to make you act this way?"
"Probably killing Zach in cold blood. Yeah, yeah, that would do it!" I snapped. She looked taken back by both the information and me snapping at her. Stefan hurried over to me.
"I will take care of Damon." He promised. Then he turned back to Elena.
"This didn't used to be ruins. This used to be our home. The Salvatore House..." Stefan explained. She sat down on a rock to listen. I rolled my eyes. How was this getting Damon out of our house? But then I plopped down next to her on the rock to listen and help explain.
"It looks so…" Elena started, looking around.
"Old? That's cause it is." I told her, trying to keep the anger out of my voice. It wasn't like it was her fault what Damon had done, why should I be mean to her?
"Wait, how long have you…?"
"I've been seventeen years old since 1864. Beth's been sixteen since then. Damon's been twenty-four since then…" Stefan told her.
"Oh my god…" Elena said.
"You said you wanted to know. I'm not gonna hold anything back. Half a century before the boarding house was even built, this was my family's home. Damon, Beth and I… we were all born here. The Salvatore siblings… best of friends…"
Mystic Falls, 1864
Stefan and Damon ran out of the house, carrying a football.
"Wait, where did you learn this game?" Stefan asked.
"Camp outside Atlanta. One of the officers picked it up at Harvard. Catch!" Damon threw the football and Stefan caught it.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute! What are the rules? What are the rules?" Stefan asked. Damon and Stefan playfully struggled for the ball. Katherine joined me on the porch. I gave her a grin. She took my hand and led me off the porch.
"Who needs rules? Mind if we join you?" Katherine asked. Damon and Stefan both turned to us. Stefan now had the ball.
"Uh… Well, you could, uh, get hurt… My brother likes to play rough." Stefan told her. She winked at me mysteriously and led me forward.
"Sometimes tells me you like to play rougher…" She snatched the ball away from Stefan and ran, laughing and calling for Stefan to chase her.
"Why are you just standing there? That is a girl who clearly wants to be chased. If you don't, I will!" Damon told Stefan. They both ran after her, smiling. Katherine turned and threw the ball to me, calling for me to run. I did, laughing. Damon easily caught up to me and tackled me, rolling over at the last minute so I landed on top of him instead of the ground. He laughed and stood up, pulling me up with him. Katherine and Stefan ran over, laughing.
"You knew Katherine if 1864? Damon made it seem like…" Elena trailed off, looking between Stefan and me in shock. Stefan nodded knowingly.
"Damon was trying to make you think that I was still heartbroken. He saw that I was happy with you and he wanted to ruin it."
"All because you loved the same woman 145 years ago?" Elena asked in disbelief. I nodded but said nothing about it. Stefan was the one that answered.
"She wasn't just any woman…"
Mystic Falls, 1864
Stefan was chasing Katherine through a garden maze. I stood by the statue at the end, grinning because I knew Katherine would win. She ran over and touched the statue. She spun around to face Stefan.
"Ha! I win. What's my prize?" She asked.
"What would you like it to be?" We all turned to look at Damon as he stood leaning against a tree behind us. We all grinned over at him.
"They extended your leave?" I asked.
"I was simply having too much fun to return to battle." He said in a subtle 'I quit' kind of way. I ran over to hug him anyway.
"You're commitment to the army is inspiring." Stefan said sarcastically. Then he walked over to hug Damon too. Katherine followed, smiling.
"Well, this works out wonderfully for me." She said.
"How is that, Miss Katherine?" Damon asked.
"Now I'll have two of you here to keep me entertained… First and foremost, I'll need someone to escort me to the founders ball."
"With pleasure, I would be honored!" Stefan and Damon said at the same time, bowing to her. She smiled wider and turned to walk away.
"The smart and kind Salvatore brothers both coming to my rescue. How will I ever chose?" She asked before walking away.
"She chose me… I escorted her to the ball at the original Lockwood mansion." Stefan said. He had been telling Elena the same story that I'd been reliving in my head, remembering it as if it was yesterday, not so many years ago.
"The first founders party… Where you three all signed that registry…" Elena put it all together. Stefan and I both nodded.
"I didn't care that I had gotten something my brother wanted… Didn't even care that it had hurt him… I only knew that I wanted her…" Stefan said.
"So he was upset…?" Elena asked.
"That's the thing about Damon. He doesn't get mad. He just gets even. What Damon wants, Damon usually gets. I didn't know it at the time, but…turns out that night… Katherine was with him too."
"So he stole her from you, not the other way around?"
"Turns out she wasn't ours to steal…" He told her about Katherine compelling him for the first time after he found out she was a vampire.
"She could control our minds. She compelled each of us to keep the secret from each other. She even compelled Beth to be her best friend and never tell us about her. She wanted all of us to be together forever. Damon and me both has her boyfriends and Beth has her best friend… Didn't work out that way, but… Damon and I, looks like we're stuck with each other, like it or not..." Stefan walked over and pulled out Damon's daylight ring from a piece of the ruin.
"Is that Damon's ring?" Elena asked.
"I took it from him, but I have to give it back."
"No, don't, Stefan. Keep it hidden!" Elena urged him. I grabbed her arm to spin her around.
"He has to! Damon's already hurt us by killing Zach because we tried to stop him from hurting anyone. If Stefan keeps that from him, he'll retaliate in the only way he knows how to hurt him. By hurting you."
"The mind control you said Katherine used? Do you ever do that to me?" Elena asked Stefan walked her back to her car. I was out of sight, but not out of hearing distance. I was just waiting for Stefan to get her back so we could go deal with Damon.
"No, the necklace, it contains an herb called Vervain. It protects you from being compelled. I wanted to protect you from Damon's influence. But I also wanted to… protect you from me. Elena, you should never take that necklace off. Because no matter what happens after today, no matter how you feel about me, you'll know that you were free to make your own decision." Ugh, enough with the mushy-gushy crap!
"Can you come with me home? Just in case Damon…"
"It's daylight. He can't come after you. I have his ring. But sure. Beth!" I groaned and walked over. He opened the back door to her car and I reluctantly climbed in. Elena climbed into the driver's seat and Stefan went around to the passenger seat.
"What's going on?" Elena asked as Stefan and she walked into her house. I got trapped by the door. I haven't been invited in yet… Awesome. Even Stefan didn't notice that fact and they walked on without me. Elena and Stefan walked over to Vicki, Matt and Jeremy near the kitchen. I stared at Vicki. She couldn't be…
"She's really messed up…." Matt told her. Stefan took one look at her and obviously thought exactly what I was thinking.
"Elena, back up. Vicki, look at me. Focus. You're going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine. Guys, take her upstairs and shut the blinds. She's gonna be okay." Matt and Jeremy started to lead her up the stairs but she stopped before she hit the sunlight streaming in from the open door.
"Shut the door!" She moaned.
"Yeah, can I come in?" I asked Jeremy. He owned the house as much as Elena or their aunt Jenna did, so he could invite me inside.
"Yeah, yeah, come in." I came inside and shut the door. Matt and Jeremy took Vick upstairs as I ran over to Stefan and Elena.
"You know what's wrong with her?" Elena asked Stefan.
"Yeah…" Stefan answered.
"What is it?"
"She's transitioning."
"Transitioning to what?"
"A vampire." I answered for Stefan, putting a hand awkwardly on her shoulder for some kind of comfort. She turned to me with shock and disbelief on her face.
"What?"
"Damon must have gotten to her. She's new. She hasn't completed her transition yet." I told her.
"H-how does she do that?" She asked.
"She has to feed on human blood."
"And if she doesn't?"
"She'll die. She may only have a few hours." Stefan answered this time. She looked back at him, over at me and then towards the stairs.
"She's upstairs with Matt and Jeremy right now!"
"It's okay. She doesn't know what's happening to her yet." Stefan assured her.
"So when is she gonna know?"
"Right now, she doesn't remember anything. A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back and she'll know she has to make the choice." Stefan explained.
"The same choice that you made?" She asked. This time she turned to me for the answer, sympathy in her eyes. I closed my eyes for a second, blocking the memory threatening to resurface. Just then, Vicki ran down the stairs and then out of the house. Matt and Jeremy ran downstairs and out the door after her. Elena, Stefan and I followed. Vicki was already long gone, probably using her vampire speed as she got it.
"I'm gonna go look for her. Call me if you hear anything!" Matt said. He ran off down the sidewalk calling for her. Jeremy went back in the house. Stefan and I both looked at Elena.
"We can track her."
"Go."
We found Vicki at the cemetery.
"Vicki…" Stefan started softly. She was starting to cry.
"I'm starting to remember things, what he is, what he did. I remember you! The hospital, the rooftop… It's all coming back!" She sobbed.
"I'm sorry; Damon had no right to do this to you." He told her.
"He said that I need to feed. What will happen if I don't?" She asked.
"You'll fade quickly and it'll all be over."
"I'll be dead!" She snapped.
"Hey…" He started to try and comfort her.
"I don't want this!"
"I know, Vicki… You think that I wanted this either? Or Damon or Stefan? It'll be okay, Vicki… We can help you." I told her.
"Is it better? Is it better? Will I be better? I wanna go home! Will you take me home?" She asked, still crying. Stefan nodded.
"Okay." Suddenly two gun shots sounded. I felt a burning pain in my stomach as I collapsed on the ground. I turned my head weakly. I saw Damon feeding on a guy with a gun. He tossed the man to the ground. He ran over to Stefan and pulled a bullet out of his chest. Then he came to me and did the same thing.
"It's wood. They know…" He mumbled. He helped me to my feet and I didn't pull away as he pulled me into his arms.
"If anyone is going to kill you, it's me. Ring." Damon demanded of Stefan as he climbed to his feet. Before anything else was done, we saw Vicki drinking the guy's blood.
"No! No, Vicki!" Stefan said.
"I'm sorry." Then she darted off. We both turned to Damon.
"Oops."