No one was home when Damon pulled into he driveway of the magnificent house that he and his brother lived in, so it was okay to curse and yell at the younger vampire as she jumped from the ground up onto a tall tree that stood near Stefan's room.

" Damn! Your little bro must be fit as hell! Those barbells must weigh a ton!" Lily smirked down at the scowling Damon. " What? You jealous or something?"

" I...am not jealous. Annoyed? Yes. Now get your ass off the oak tree and down here right this instant." Damon opened the front door and let himself in. Lily, on the other hand, cursed under her breath as she smacked face first into an invisible barrier when she tried to enter.

" Let me in!" She hissed, eyes changing into those of a bloodsucking killer.

" Not a chance! If you run off and kill the entire town, then that's a chance I'm willing to take, but you're not getting me. I'll kill you myself if you even think of turning on me," Damon lowered his voice and nodded his head towards the living room. " Come in...if you dare."

Smiling, Lily skipped into the Salvatore home and whistled. " Jeez...nice crib. Is this the original Salvatore housing from the 1800's?"

Damon nodded and poured himself a glass of wine. " Yes. Has been in the family for 4 generations. The last...living descendant was named Zachary. He died dome time ago, and allowed me and my brother to stay for as long as we wanted."

" You mean killed some time ago..." When Damon never blinked, Lily scoffed and chuckled under her breath. " Oh, come on man. I could smell death in this house even before I stepped through the doors. Let's see...I'm getting the scent of...both drained dry and a snapped neck? Is that correct?"

" Close enough. Listen, my brother's home, so please behave? I don't want any hissing and spitting when he comes through the door," Damon stated, but growled as Lily licked her lips at the approaching Stefan...and guest.

" Who's this?" Stefan looked at Lily with scepticism. " A friend, Damon?"

" Hmm? Oh, no friend of mine. She was just passing through, weren't you Lily?" When Damon glanced at the young vampire, he knew only too well the look in her eyes. She could smell Elena standing behind Stefan, watching everything from behind the safety of a now stiff vampire.

Everything moved at incredible speeds. Lily snarled like a feral cat, and raced towards Elena. Damon made a lunge for her, but Lily neatly dodged his open arms. Stefan rumbled a snarl and faced Lily head on. He took her by the waist and easily flung her across the room as easily as throwing a toy. Lily was back on her feet in a flash, and not likely to give up her prey that easily, she pounced into the air. Damon caught her just in time and pinned her arms behind her back. Still snapping and snarling, she kept staring at Elena like a crazed animal, and never looked away once at the other two vampires.

" Stupid girl. You know we're older and stronger than you, so why do you bother?" Damon whispered in her ear. " No cookie for you, little girl. Down to the dungeons you go."

Stefan took Elena by the waist and pulled her behind him as Damon walked past with the wild animal. From where they stood, both Stefan and Elena could hear a large iron door opening, a loud curse, followed by much screeching and even more cursing. Damon came back upstairs, his left shoulder of his white shirt covered in blood. He smiled grimly and simply grabbed his glass of wine.

" She's nuts. Completely insane!" Damon laughed and chugged his drink down.

" You really think so? I never noticed!" Stefan scoffed. " How did a thing like that end up in the house anyway? It could've killed Elena!"

" It happens to have a name, and her name is Lily. I knew her back in 1872. We...got close in a sense."

" Let me guess: you changed her out of boredom?" Elena glared at Damon, and he almost felt his face heat up from embarrassment.

" Yes. Because I get bored very easily. She sheltered me from a storm, and I had to repay her somehow. She asked if I knew a way to escape from the world that she lived in, and I told her I knew a way. I changed her...after we had sex..."

Elena groaned. " I was beginning to wonder when the term 'sex' was going to pop up. Does she remember any of this?"

" I'm guessing bits and pieces. But come on, Elena. Who wouldn't want to remember sharing a bed with moi?"

" Ugh, gross..." Elena turned away, but Damon could still see the blood rise in her face. Grinning, he stretched out his sore arm and allowed the cut to heal on its own, Elena carefully watching all the while.

" Damon, why did you let her in to begin with? This wouldn't have happened if you just kept her outside." Stefan commented. " Elena could've been-"

" Could've been killed, I know, I know. I heard it all before. What was I supposed to do, tie her up to a tree like a dog? I might as well buy her a leash and a doggie dish!"

" That's not what I meant, Damon."

" I know what you meant, Stefan. But I wasn't about to let her loose on the town just after the mayor died and a mysterious bunch of people just dropped during the fireworks ceremony, was I? This town went through enough crap as it is, and I'm not about to let anything else happen while I'm here."

Nobody said anything for a few minutes. The noises from the basement stopped, only crying and sobbing could be heard in the brother's ears. Elena, gazing at nothing for the past couple of minutes, finally looked at Damon, a spark of recognition in her eyes.

" Damon...if I didn't know any better, I'd say that there was a hint of compassion in your voice. Like you actually care about this town."

Damon shrugged his shoulders. " You're right. You don't know any better. I haven't got an ounce of love for this godforsaken town that attracts nothing but trouble and death, so I honestly don't know what you heard in the tone of my voice." Damon got to his feet and curtsied to the couple. " If you'll excuse me, I have to check on our new pet. Good day."

Damon left the room, leaving both Elena and Stefan to their thoughts. A smile took over Elena's face as she turned to Stefan.

Stefan smirked. " What's wrong?"

" He does care, doesn't he?"

Sighing, Stefan wrapped an arm over her shoulder. " More than he lets us in on, Elena love. More than he cares to show."