"So what do you think, Stefan? Could we have werewolves in our midst?" Damon asked after the sheriff had gone. But not before promising they would keep a look out and do research of their own.

"Maybe. I don't know. Its sounds like a plausible explanation. Didn't we have similar attacks in our time? " Stefan said speculatively.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound fun to have over sized dogs running around town…I wonder," Damon said putting things together.

"What?"

"The mayor?" Damon asked. "He was thrown into the fire with the vamps and he wasn't affected by the vervain. And since werewolves are closer to dogs, they can probably hear that high pitched frequency we did. Not to mention the sheriff found information about it in the Lockwood journal."

"I hate to say this, but I think you're right, Damon," Stefan said staring into the woods. "That also means that we know who the werewolf is right now, then. Tyler."

"Who passed out while driving because he heard a noise," Damon ended. "What, I was budding in on other people's conversations. I do that. Don't act surprised at my overly observant tendencies," Damon said in response to Stefan's surprised face.

"I was just surprised you remembered information that didn't have to do with you," Stefan said heading toward the library. "I guess we do more research like we told Sheriff Forbes."

"Or we just kill Tyler and head him off at the pass, so to speak," Damon said.

"Damon, he's still human. You can't just off him. We'll look into it more. Maybe there is even a reversal process or, maybe it's not even Tyler running through town," Stefan said thinking hard.

"What other lead do we have? I don't see anyone else to fit the bill, unless you think Katherine grew monster sized claws and didn't care about draining the blood first," Damon ended, walking upstairs.

"I don't know, but what I vaguely know about werewolves is that they aren't usually loners," Stefan said starting to rifle through books. "So if it is Tyler, he's not alone."

"Let's hope you are wrong then, oh wise one," Damon said, disappearing into his room.

"Let's hope," he thought aloud as he began reading on old folklore.


Elena was going to stop home before she went to Stefan's, but she wasn't feeling up to it. Knowing that Katherine was on the loose had her on edge. She even had Stefan spend the night to keep a look out—even if it was more his idea than hers.

"I don't want you pulling an Edward Cullen or something and stalk me in my sleep," she said teasing him one night he was staying in her room.

"Who?" he asked curiously.

Elena smiled at the memory and then thought of something that could be helpful. Elena pulled out her cell phone and brought up Bonnie's number.

"Hey Elena. What's up?" Bonnie answered sounding like she was in a good mood.

"Hey Bonnie. How are you doing?" Elena started, not wanting to just jump into her question.

"Fine….but something tells me something's on your mind. It's not boy trouble is it? Cause if it is I…"Bonnie began. Elena could sense that she would have gone on for a while if she didn't head her off soon.

"No. No. No. Nothing like that. Thanks though Bonnie," she said with a chuckle. "It's just. Well I have a question and it regards your, um, specialty." Elena didn't like the idea of discussing such thing on the phone, but this was important.

"Uh huh. You mean my bewitching personality," Bonnie said and Elena could almost imagine Bonnie winking at her. "What is it?"

Sighing, Elena began her question. "Ok. I know you're new and everything and I don't know how much you really know, but I was wondering if you knew of any spells to uninvite unwanted visitors from your home?"

"Oh. You're talking about Katherine getting into your house," Bonnie said catching on. "I don't know if there is an individual spell to keep a certain person, um, vampire, out of your house. Maybe there is a general one or something. Let me see what's in Gran's books and I'll get back to you." Bonnie said, already sounding like she was on the move to wherever the book was.

"Thanks Bonnie. This means a lot to me and my family," Elena said with real gratitude in her voice.

"Geez, no pressure or anything, Elena," Bonnie said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. I've just been stressed lately." Elena started pulling into the driveway of the boardinghouse. "Just keep me posted if you find anything. I believe in you, Bonnie."

There was a pause on the other end. "Thanks, Elena. Really."

"Talk to you later," she said hanging up as she heard Bonnie's goodbye.


"So are you and Tyler ok now? Cause I totally do not like seeing you guys fight all the time. It's depressing," Caroline told Matt as they sat eating lunch at the Mystic Grill.

"Yeah. We're cool," Matt replied. "But he's been really distant because of his father I tried to be there for him, but he was just standoffish. I understand though."

"I wish he'd just open up and let people help him or something. It's not healthy to just pen up all your feelings. You might, like, blow up or have some sort of panic attack and crash a car…" Caroline ended, looking down at her food.

"Caroline!" Matt said in surprise.

"I'm just saying. And I don't want to mess up your friendship and all, but what if there was a real reason we crashed. What if it was like drugs or something because he was stressed or…" she trailed off.

"He's off the drugs, Caroline. From what I know, he only ever smoked pot anyway. Besides, I think his father would have beat him if he found out. Either way, it was an accident. He didn't mean for anything to happen," Matt said looking at Caroline, who wouldn't meet his eye.

Cupping her chin so she was looking at him, Matt looked at her seriously. "I'm sorry you got hurt, Caroline. And as much as I was angry at Tyler, it was an accident. No drugs."

Caroline grabbed the hand from her chin and held it. "Well if you believe him, then it's good enough for me. Like I said, I'd rather have you friends with me being a little peevy, than have two best friends hate each other."

"And speaking of," Caroline said with a nod toward the front as Tyler walked through the door, looking a bit of a mess.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," Matt said, getting up and heading toward Tyler.

"Hey man. How's it going," he said when he reached Tyler near the bar.

"I've been better. Can't sleep much. I've had some freaky dreams. But I think I'm going to be okay," Tyler said.

Matt noticed the dark circles under Tyler's eyes and how his skin seemed to be stretched too tight over his body, as if he were wearing thin.

"You look like you could use a good night's sleep. And food or something, man. You look like you lost weight. Are you talking to anyone?" Matt said, sitting next to him on the stool.

Tyler ordered a coke and looked back to Matt. "What is this? The inquisition?...I don't know. I just haven't been hungry lately. It's weird. It's like I'm full, but not. I'm just…you know what, I don't need to be telling you my problems," Tyler ended angrily walking away from the bar.

"I didn't mean to make you mad. I was just trying to…"

"Trying to what? Make me feel better? First I crash the car and almost kill Caroline and you. Then I find out my dad dies. My mom is drinking herself into a stupor as we speak. You want me to feel better," Tyler said, his face getting red as he got in Matt's face. "You back the hell off me." And with a forceful push, Tyler moved past Matt and out the door.

Caroline had gotten up in response and rushed over to Matt. "What the hell was that all about?"

Matt was looking just as confused as Caroline. "I don't know…."


Tyler was walking down the street when Damon appeared out of nowhere.

"Shit man. You scared me. What are you doing?" Tyler asked suspicious of Damon. "Aren't you Stefan's brother?"

"Yeah. Listen, I have a few questions to ask you," Damon began, analyzing Tyler's ragged appearance.

"Not you too. I've had like half the town asking about the mayor and," but Tyler was stopped by a shove from Damon. "What the hell…"

"I have a few questions, and you're gonna answer them. Got it?" Damon said, boring his dark eyes into Tyler's.

"What are you gonna do," Tyler replied back, unaffected by Damon's gaze, "Kill me?"

"If you insist," Damon said, dragging him by the cuff to a nearby alley.

"Wait, wait, wait. I'll answer. Just calm the fuck down," Tyler said, getting louder.

"That's more like it. Now, I'm gonna ask you this and ask you this once. Now, I know your dad was a werewolf, and hence you are. So my question is, are you running with anyone else? Terrorizing the town? Not a good idea," Damon said, waiting for Tyler's response.

"What, are you freaking crazy," Tyler said, starting to struggle in Damon's hold. "There's no such thing as werewolves. If you haven't noticed, I'm not a wolf! And how dare you insult my father like that!"

"Well, right now you're not wolfing out or anything. I think that's a full moon kind of event. Maybe. I don't really know. So of course you're not a wolf now," Damon mused. "And as for your father, I know for a fact he was. Didn't you notice he had some anger issues?"

Tyler brushed off that bit of information and aimed a kick at Damon.

"Bad idea," Damon said, punching Tyler in the face.

"Did he ever howl at the moon?" Damon said, chuckling at the image it brought up. "Anyways," he continued as Tyler seemed to grow angrier. "I already told you I'm not asking again, so why don't you answer my question?"

But Tyler wasn't listening anymore as his eyes shone an orange color and his teeth took on a sharp, glistening look.

"I guess we're getting somewhere," Damon said smirking.

So what do you think, Stefan? Could we have werewolves in our midst?" Damon asked after the sheriff had gone. But not before promising they would keep a look out and do research of their own.

"Maybe. I don't know. Its sounds like a plausible explanation. Didn't we have similar attacks in our time? " Stefan said speculatively.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound fun to have over sized dogs running around town…I wonder," Damon said putting things together.

"What?"

"The mayor?" Damon asked. "He was thrown into the fire with the vamps and he wasn't affected by the vervain. And since werewolves are closer to dogs, they can probably hear that high pitched frequency we did. Not to mention the sheriff found information about it in the Lockwood journal."

"I hate to say this, but I think you're right, Damon," Stefan said staring into the woods. "That also means that we know who the werewolf is right now, then. Tyler."

"Who passed out while driving because he heard a noise," Damon ended. "What, I was budding in on other people's conversations. I do that. Don't act surprised at my overly observant tendencies," Damon said in response to Stefan's surprised face.

"I was just surprised you remembered information that didn't have to do with you," Stefan said heading toward the library. "I guess we do more research like we told Sheriff Forbes."

"Or we just kill Tyler and head him off at the pass, so to speak," Damon said.

"Damon, he's still human. You can't just off him. We'll look into it more. Maybe there is even a reversal process or, maybe it's not even Tyler running through town," Stefan said thinking hard.

"What other lead do we have? I don't see anyone else to fit the bill, unless you think Katherine grew monster sized claws and didn't care about draining the blood first," Damon ended, walking upstairs.

"I don't know, but what I vaguely know about werewolves is that they aren't usually loners," Stefan said starting to rifle through books. "So if it is Tyler, he's not alone."

"Let's hope you are wrong then, oh wise one," Damon said, disappearing into his room.

"Let's hope," he thought aloud as he began reading on old folklore.


Elena was going to stop home before she went to Stefan's, but she wasn't feeling up to it. Knowing that Katherine was on the loose had her on edge. She even had Stefan spend the night to keep a look out—even if it was more his idea than hers.

"I don't want you pulling an Edward Cullen or something and stalk me in my sleep," she said teasing him one night he was staying in her room.

"Who?" he asked curiously.

Elena smiled at the memory and then thought of something that could be helpful. Elena pulled out her cell phone and brought up Bonnie's number.

"Hey Elena. What's up?" Bonnie answered sounding like she was in a good mood.

"Hey Bonnie. How are you doing?" Elena started, not wanting to just jump into her question.

"Fine….but something tells me something's on your mind. It's not boy trouble is it? Cause if it is I…"Bonnie began. Elena could sense that she would have gone on for a while if she didn't head her off soon.

"No. No. No. Nothing like that. Thanks though Bonnie," she said with a chuckle. "It's just. Well I have a question and it regards your, um, specialty." Elena didn't like the idea of discussing such thing on the phone, but this was important.

"Uh huh. You mean my bewitching personality," Bonnie said and Elena could almost imagine Bonnie winking at her. "What is it?"

Sighing, Elena began her question. "Ok. I know you're new and everything and I don't know how much you really know, but I was wondering if you knew of any spells to uninvite unwanted visitors from your home?"

"Oh. You're talking about Katherine getting into your house," Bonnie said catching on. "I don't know if there is an individual spell to keep a certain person, um, vampire, out of your house. Maybe there is a general one or something. Let me see what's in Gran's books and I'll get back to you." Bonnie said, already sounding like she was on the move to wherever the book was.

"Thanks Bonnie. This means a lot to me and my family," Elena said with real gratitude in her voice.

"Geez, no pressure or anything, Elena," Bonnie said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. I've just been stressed lately." Elena started pulling into the driveway of the boardinghouse. "Just keep me posted if you find anything. I believe in you, Bonnie."

There was a pause on the other end. "Thanks, Elena. Really."

"Talk to you later," she said hanging up as she heard Bonnie's goodbye.


"So are you and Tyler ok now? Cause I totally do not like seeing you guys fight all the time. It's depressing," Caroline told Matt as they sat eating lunch at the Mystic Grill.

"Yeah. We're cool," Matt replied. "But he's been really distant because of his father I tried to be there for him, but he was just standoffish. I understand though."

"I wish he'd just open up and let people help him or something. It's not healthy to just pen up all your feelings. You might, like, blow up or have some sort of panic attack and crash a car…" Caroline ended, looking down at her food.

"Caroline!" Matt said in surprise.

"I'm just saying. And I don't want to mess up your friendship and all, but what if there was a real reason we crashed. What if it was like drugs or something because he was stressed or…" she trailed off.

"He's off the drugs, Caroline. From what I know, he only ever smoked pot anyway. Besides, I think his father would have beat him if he found out. Either way, it was an accident. He didn't mean for anything to happen," Matt said looking at Caroline, who wouldn't meet his eye.

Cupping her chin so she was looking at him, Matt looked at her seriously. "I'm sorry you got hurt, Caroline. And as much as I was angry at Tyler, it was an accident. No drugs."

Caroline grabbed the hand from her chin and held it. "Well if you believe him, then it's good enough for me. Like I said, I'd rather have you friends with me being a little peevy, than have two best friends hate each other."

"And speaking of," Caroline said with a nod toward the front as Tyler walked through the door, looking a bit of a mess.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," Matt said, getting up and heading toward Tyler.

"Hey man. How's it going," he said when he reached Tyler near the bar.

"I've been better. Can't sleep much. I've had some freaky dreams. But I think I'm going to be okay," Tyler said.

Matt noticed the dark circles under Tyler's eyes and how his skin seemed to be stretched too tight over his body, as if he were wearing thin.

"You look like you could use a good night's sleep. And food or something, man. You look like you lost weight. Are you talking to anyone?" Matt said, sitting next to him on the stool.

Tyler ordered a coke and looked back to Matt. "What is this? The inquisition?...I don't know. I just haven't been hungry lately. It's weird. It's like I'm full, but not. I'm just…you know what, I don't need to be telling you my problems," Tyler ended angrily walking away from the bar.

"I didn't mean to make you mad. I was just trying to…"

"Trying to what? Make me feel better? First I crash the car and almost kill Caroline and you. Then I find out my dad dies. My mom is drinking herself into a stupor as we speak. You want me to feel better," Tyler said, his face getting red as he got in Matt's face. "You back the hell off me." And with a forceful push, Tyler moved past Matt and out the door.

Caroline had gotten up in response and rushed over to Matt. "What the hell was that all about?"

Matt was looking just as confused as Caroline. "I don't know…."


Tyler was walking down the street when Damon appeared out of nowhere.

"Shit man. You scared me. What are you doing?" Tyler asked suspicious of Damon. "Aren't you Stefan's brother?"

"Yeah. Listen, I have a few questions to ask you," Damon began, analyzing Tyler's ragged appearance.

"Not you too. I've had like half the town asking about the mayor and," but Tyler was stopped by a shove from Damon. "What the hell…"

"I have a few questions, and you're gonna answer them. Got it?" Damon said, boring his dark eyes into Tyler's.

"What are you gonna do," Tyler replied back, unaffected by Damon's gaze, "Kill me?"

"If you insist," Damon said, dragging him by the cuff to a nearby alley.

"Wait, wait, wait. I'll answer. Just calm the fuck down," Tyler said, getting louder.

"That's more like it. Now, I'm gonna ask you this and ask you this once. Now, I know your dad was a werewolf, and hence you are. So my question is, are you running with anyone else? Terrorizing the town? Not a good idea," Damon said, waiting for Tyler's response.

"What, are you freaking crazy," Tyler said, starting to struggle in Damon's hold. "There's no such thing as werewolves. If you haven't noticed, I'm not a wolf! And how dare you insult my father like that!"

"Well, right now you're not wolfing out or anything. I think that's a full moon kind of event. Maybe. I don't really know. So of course you're not a wolf now," Damon mused. "And as for your father, I know for a fact he was. Didn't you notice he had some anger issues?"

Tyler brushed off that bit of information and aimed a kick at Damon.

"Bad idea," Damon said, punching Tyler in the face.

"Did he ever howl at the moon?" Damon said, chuckling at the image it brought up. "Anyways," he continued as Tyler seemed to grow angrier. "I already told you I'm not asking again, so why don't you answer my question?"

But Tyler wasn't listening anymore as his eyes shone an orange color and his teeth took on a sharp, glistening look.

"I guess we're getting somewhere," Damon said smirking.


"I guess it's not just a full moon kind of deal for you guys after all," Damon was saying to a now snarling werewolf. "Alright. I'll leave you alone for now. Run along." "I'll just follow and see where you run to," Damon thought to himself, impressed with his own brilliance for enticing Tyler and coming up with the plan in seconds flat.

But before Damon could congratulate himself too much, Tyler pounced at him and nearly nicked him with his extremely long, large claws. "Easy tiger," Damon said, retreating. He didn't want to injure Tyler or he wouldn't be able to follow him.

Suddenly laughter drifted over from down the street from where they stood in the alleyway.

Right away, Tyler's head snapped to the direction of the voice and he snarled.

"Bad dog. Sit," Damon said, throwing something at Tyler to get his attention back. Tyler snarled louder and leapt toward Damon, who took off down the alley as Tyler closely pursued him.


Elena walked into the boarding house to find Stefan rifling through old library books.

"Hey," she said, going over to him and giving him a kiss. "What are you doing? Getting caught up on some century old homework assignment?"

"Not quite," Stefan said, smiling at her. "Just looking up some things about the town. Trying to keep the peace."

"Oh yeah? Speaking of… I had an idea that I ran by with Bonnie that if there is a solution to, would be really, really helpful," Elena said, sitting down on the chair near Stefan.

"And what would that be? I'm not sure it's good to involve Bonnie with.." but Elena cut him off.

"I know she messed up last time. Messed up big. But the important thing is that she realized how wrong she was and ended up helping you guys get out. Don't forget that," Elena said sternly, poking a finger at his chest.

"If you trust her, then I will trust her then," Stefan conceded. "So what was your idea?"

"Well, I was thinking that she could possibly see if there is a spell in one of her books that somehow uninvited a vampire from a house. That way, we won't have to worry about Katherine popping up whenever she feels like," Elena said, looking hopeful.

"That's actually a really good idea, Elena. I hope she can find something."

"Me too…So what is it exactly that you are looking up that will protect the town? Elena asked, now looking at the books that Stefan had pulled out.

"Well, don't get too worried, but there may be something more dangerous than just vampires in Mystic Falls," Stefan said. Then he told Elena everything he knew. She gasped when Stefan told her that Tyler could be one.

"That's terrible. Are you sure?" Elena said, looking worried. "I could only imagine what he could be going through."

"Positive. I'm sorry. I'm trying to find out what I can about them, but I'm a bit limited," Stefan said, looking frustrated.

Elena sat there thinking a while when a thought occurred to her. "Stefan. Why don't we ask Alaric? I mean he studied up on vampires. Who's to say he doesn't know about werewolves, too?"

"As much as I hate to have him involved again, I think you may be right," Stefan said smiling at her. "What would I do without you?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe go bowling with Damon and talk about good times," Elena said laughing and leaning in for a kiss.

"Bowling's not really my thing," Damon said, interrupting Elena and Stefan. "Now, you'll never guess who I just ran in to. I'll give you one guess. It might like beggin strips."

"You found a werewolf? Already and it's not the full moon? How?" Stefan asked.

"I went to go interview Tyler, who by the way, as a werewolf is now immune to compulsion, and he wolfed out on me in the alley," Damon said. "He's got quite the temper."

"You didn't hurt him, did you?" Elena asked, looking anxious. "I mean I know he's not the nicest person in the world, but he's still a human."

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. Not like I'd get hurt anyways. But no. I didn't hurt him. Maybe wounded his pride, but that's it."

"I'm assuming you followed him to see if he went to any other werewolves?" Stefan asked.

"No. I fled in terror of his massive teeth. I followed him, but he seemed pretty surprised that he actually transformed like that. He got to the edge of the woods, transformed back, and pretty much curled into a ball and had a mini panic attack before he did the walk of shame home," Damon said, smirking at the memory.

"Poor Tyler," Elena said with concern, "I guess it's safe to say that there probably aren't any other werewolves out there. I mean, he didn't know he was one to begin with right?"

"And he didn't know his father was one either," Damon added.

"So I guess the next step is to go talk to Alaric and see what he knows about werewolves," Elena said,

"Unless he tells us that wishes do come true, there is no reversing a werewolf or something, Elena," Damon said crossing his arms.

"And you know that for a fact because, what, you are an expert now because you ran into one werewolf?" Elena replied.

"Snarky today, huh. Fine. Ask Rick and he'll probably tell you the same thing. You don't need to know a lot to know that sometimes, there is no going back." Damon said. "Alright. I did my part. I'm going back to the Grill and get my drink like I wanted."

"Wait, Damon," Elena said getting up. "I want to talk to you for a minute. Can you wait?"

Stefan looked at her with raised brows and Damon turned around deciding what he wanted to do.

"If you insist, Damon said, coming back into the room and plopping down in one of the leather chairs. I'm all yours," he said with a wink to Stefan.

Elena gave a look to Stefan, and he got up. "You know what, I'll go and see Alaric myself and see what he has to say."

"I was going to go with you," Elena started.

"No it's fine. I'll be back soon, and hopefully with some answers," Stefan said, reaching down and giving Elena a kiss.

Stefan gave Damon one final look and left.

"So you got me where you want me. What can I do for you Elena?" Damon said smirking.

Stefan drove a little faster than he usually did as he was leaving, but he felt a bit on edge. He didn't like the idea of leaving the two of them together, but it was what she wanted. "I trust her, though," Stefan thought, "It's Damon I don't trust with her."

As he was driving, he realized he didn't really know where he was going. He'd only seen Rick at school or at Elena's. He also didn't have his number. "Great Stefan," he thought to himself angrily. But with one final thought, he decided that maybe he could be at the Grill. Just in case, Stefan texted Damon to see if he had his number.

As he walked into the Grill, he looked around, disappointed to find that he wasn't there. He was heading to the bar for a drink when he saw Matt wave him over.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Matt asked, giving Stefan a friendly hand bump.

"It's going good. How about you? And how about you, Caroline?"Stefan asked nodding at her.

"Well I got some wicked little scars, but I'm pretty good," Caroline said before Matt could answer, "but Matt here almost got some to match mine."

"Caroline, you're over-reacting," Matt said, looking at her sternly.

"Why? What happened? Stefan asked.

Before Matt could reply, Caroline started in. "Well Matt went over to see how Tyler was doing since his dad died. And let me tell you, he's looking awful these days. Well, he is," she said with a look to Matt. "Anyways they were talking and before I know it, Tyler is shoving him halfway across the room."

"That's a little over the top. He gave me a shove. He didn't want to talk about anything and I was pushing him a bit, so he got angry. It happens. Especially when you lose someone," Matt said getting defensive.

"He still tried to hurt you," Caroline ended, taking a sip of her soda.

"Has he been acting weird for a while?" Stefan asked, curious to get more information.

"He's always been a bit of an angry person, so I don't know. He's missed some school and he didn't come to the game a few nights ago, but that's it," Matt said. "

"I guess he just needs some time to mourn," Stefan said, making note to look up when the next full moon was going to be.

"Yeah. I guess. Hey, how's Elena doing anyway? Any word on her Aunt," Matt asked with concern.

"Elena's fine. Her arm's healing up so she'll be good. And Jenna's still being watched at the hospital. Elena sounds hopeful," Stefan ended, looking up as he saw Alaric walk through the doors.

"I hope she's ok," Caroline chimed in. "I mean, Jenna's the only family besides Jeremy now that Elena has. I'm happy Elena and Jeremy are at least ok."

Matt seemed like he was about to reply, when Stefan cut them off. "Will you excuse me? I have to ask Mr. Saltzman a question."

"No problem. I'll see you around, " Matt said. "We were about to leave anyway."

"Yeah, My mom's put me on the craziest curfew ever since the accident. "It's not safe around here anymore, blah blah blah, she says. See you around," Caroline said.

Stefan approached Alaric just as he was downing a tumbler of whiskey.

He sat down on a stool next to him and was about to start talking, when Alaric turned over to him with a weird look on his face, which had a bruise forming on the jawline.

"What happened?" Stefan asked, thinking quickly to either Isobel or Tyler.

"It was Jeremy," Alaric said sounding shocked and confused. "Jeremy."


Elena got up from where she was sitting and moved closer to Damon, standing over him while he sat in the chair.

"So I wanted to talk to you because we haven't really talked since everything that's happened," Elena began. "And I want to say how thankful I really am for everything you did. I owe you my family's life. And mine."

"Aww. Don't get all cheesy on me, now," Damon said smirking.

"No I really mean it, Damon. You didn't have to do what you did. You could have just called 911 or just taken me to the hospital, but you did more and I'll never forget that."

"Well like you said, we're even now," Damon said standing up and looking at her. "But what did you really expect me to do, Elena? Let Katherine kill you? That's not going to happen," he said, more seriously.

Elena looked up into his eyes, surprised at the genuine concern in his voice. "There's one more thing, though," she said, somewhat hesitant.

"Isn't there always?" Damon said smirking and waiting for her response.

"I think you're being a bit weird around me because of the kiss you shared with Katherine and…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. How did you arrive at that?" Damon said with raised brows, thrown off by the direction of the conversation.

"It's just, I mean, this is the first time we've kind of just talked in a while and I think it's because you feel awkward or something. And I wanted to tell you that it's fine. You fell for her trap and it happens. Women can be quite…."

"Cruel" Damon said, tilting his head.

"Manipulative too," Elena agreed reluctantly, "but the important thing is that you realized that it wasn't me because you know we're just friends. You promised," she said at the look on his face. "So can we go back to just bantering and being cool again?"

Damon smiled at this, and brought his hand up to stroke her cheek. " Damon. I'm being serious," she said, swatting it away.

"I didn't think I was being a weirdo as you put it…"

"I didn't call you…."

"But, fine. We will be bff's again forever and ever," he said with a fake high squealed voice.

Elena swatted at his arm at the joke. "Thanks Damon. I like being your friend. And you haven't made me regret it. So keep it up," she said smiling.

"Oh come here you," Damon said, going in for a hug.

Elena laughed. "Ok, ok, that's enough of that. Wait, is that my phone?" she said as she heard a ringing from across the room.

Elena walked over to the table and saw the name on the caller id. She answered it on the third ring. "Jer? Hey. Is everything ok?

"Yeah. I just need to talk to you. Can you come home?" he asked.

"Are you sure you're ok, you sound funny?" she asked concerned, as Damon walked over, listening to the conversation.

"No. Everything's fine. I just have something really important to tell you…"

"Alright. I'll be home soon," she told Jeremy.

"Thanks, Elena." And with that, he hung up.

"Can you tell Stefan I had to leave, but I'll come back here later," she said, getting her purse and heading for the door.
"What, am I your messenger boy now? Downgrade," Damon said jokingly.

"Well just if you see him before I do, ok?" she said, "Besides, there's nothing wrong with being a messenger boy," she said with a wink, and left the house.


"What do you mean Jeremy did it?" Stefan asked Alaric while his glass was getting another refill.

"It was all just really weird," Alaric began. "We were taking a walk outside the hospital. I was on my way to visit Jenna, and he and Elena were leaving. He had asked to talk to me, so of course, I agreed."

"Where did you go?"

"We just walked to one of the back parking lots. He said it was something important that couldn't be talked about in public," Alaric said. "So when we got back there, he started grilling me on things I didn't even think he knew about. Like if I knew a lot about vampires or witches, and if I'd heard from Isobel or anything. It was just weird the way he was going about it."

"That is odd, but it's probably related to the fact that Anna had died and he was going to try to become a vampire. He's still confused," Stefan continued, but Alaric cut him off.

"That wasn't even the strangest part of it. The thing is, all of a sudden, he started asking me about my ring and how I got it. I told him about how Isobel gave it to me, and then he got really angry," Alaric said, thinking back to Jeremy's face.

"He started accusing me saying how it was bullshit and that Isobel stole it from John who stole it from his dad and he kept going on about it. He then got in my face and demanded that I give him the ring…."

"What? Why would he do that? I didn't even think he knew about the ring. Elena said she hid her journal and there was nothing about his ring in there," Stefan said.

"I don't know his reasoning, but I told him he couldn't have it and that I was sorry. I told him to go home because he was too riled up, and that's when he punched me. He was trying to take the ring from me physically, but I fought him off. It was then that I noticed something really off about him," Alaric said, taking a gulp from his glass.

"What?" Stefan said, confused at this whole event.

"From the first time we started talking I noticed it and thought I was just being weird, but I noticed his eyes looked off. Like glazed and distant, or something like…like he…"

"Like he was being compelled," Stefan finished getting angry. "It has to be Katherine. She got to him somehow. I thought he had vervain from Elena…"

"That's just it, I don't' think he did until I gave him some…." Alaric started. "Once I realized what was going on, I had him distracted enough to reach in my bag and inject him with vervain."

"How did he react to that?" Stefan said deep in thought.

"He looked shocked, but somewhat unaffected. He took it then to run away. I don't know where, though," Alaric ended.

"It will probably take an hour or so until the effects of the vervain reverse anything in his system, but it will help," Stefan said, standing up. "We have to find him, though, before he tries anything else."

Alaric took one more swig of his drink and stood up. "Well, if what you say is true and the vervain didn't do the job right away, then I guess we have either a manhunt or a vampire chase on our hands."

On his way out, Stefan took out his cell to make a call, wondering if Elena had heard from her brother.


Damon watched Elena reverse down the driveway, still thinking about what she said to him. He hadn't realized that he was being weird around her. He must have been thinking of that kiss with Katherine a little more than he thought. The idea that Elena still wanted him around made him feel relatively better, but the whole Katherine around was really giving him a buzz-kill.

"Let's see what the brother is up to," he said aloud, grabbing his phone and seeing he had a text from Stefan about wanting a phone number.

He called Stefan but was greeted by the automated voicemail. He either shut his phone off or he was on the phone. When the beep sounded at the end, Damon left a message: "Stefan. Two things, Apparently I'm a messenger boy for Elena today so, I have a message, which you can call me for. I'm not wasting my time on talking to your voicemail, which has an awful greeting by the way, and two, any information from Rick about Fido."

He shut his phone and walked over to the door to get his jacket. He was going to the Grill where he had planned to go all along. If anyone wanted him, they could try his phone. He wasn't up to looking for people.


Elena parked the car in the garage and walked into the house. "Jeremy?" She called out when she felt like the house was too quite. She gave herself the chills just then when she thought of the last time she came home to a house this eerie. "You can't be afraid of an empty house all the time, Elena," she told herself, "just like you couldn't be afraid of cars forever."

"Jer," she started, when he came into the living room.

"Hey. Are you ok? You look spooked or something?" Jeremy said, sitting down on the couch.

"I'm fine. I should be asking you the same thing…" Elena said, walking over and sitting down next to him.

"You haven't talked to Mr. Saltzman today, have you?" Jeremy started.

"No. The last time I saw him was when he was about to visit Jenna. Why?" Elena asked.

"Just wondering. Wanted to know if he got any new information from the hospital…"Jeremy said, trailing off.

"So what is it you really want to talk about, then? I know it's not about Mr. Saltzman. I'm here for you. You can tell me anything, Jeremy," Elena said, taking his hand.

"It's just….it's been really stressful lately, and confusing, and I just wanted to let you know that I'm sticking around. Family is really important, and I want to keep it that way," Jeremy said,

"Of course. I'm really happy to hear that you're working through it, Jeremy," she said, reaching over to give him a hug.

"It's just that, well…" he said, starting to sound strange to Elena.

"What is it Jeremy?"

"The Salvatore's aren't yours to include in your own family. And you need to recognize that, "he said straightening up and getting out of Elena's hug.

"What! "she said, startled, as she stared at him. "Why are you talking like this? "

"Because you should understand that you can't take what doesn't belong to you," he said with a smile as he reached out with his hand, grabbed her by the neck, and smashed her head onto the table.