Another Drive

Elena had changed into something more suitable for the hike they were about to take. Jeremy was upstairs doing the same.

"Do you want to get Bonnie or Rick?" Damon asked.

"No. I know I wrote about them and some of what they could do, but let's just tell him about it for now. I'll need for them to agree before I take it any farther with them."

"Fine. Just us. But I'm not showing him any of my mojo either."

Elena nodded. "He just wanted to go there. That and my words will be all he gets today."

They heard Jeremy coming down the stairs, so they moved to the door.

Elena drove, Damon sat next to her. Jeremy sat in the back.

"Where are we going?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm not sure," Elena said. "I didn't really pay attention to where Mr. Saltzman was leading us when we went there. Damon will lead us."

"I will?" The vampire smirked. "Do you finally want to be led astray? I've been trying for so long…"

"Not helping. I just know where to park then Damon will take us there on foot. It's a ways out of town, but you knew that."

"Who was with you?" Jeremy asked.

"Damon, Mr. Saltzman and Bonnie."

"Yeah," Jeremy said. "You wrote a little about Bonnie and the teacher. And you took them there? Were you like, the boss?"

"I was not the boss," his sister claimed.

"She bossed me around." Damon said.

Elena glared at him, making a sort of "grrr" noise.

Damon looked Jeremy. "That's what happened if you did not obey."

It did make Jeremy smile. He wasn't sure what he was getting, but he knew it would be something - something more than he already had.

"I was the organizer." Elena said. "I just wanted to see if we could find out anything about the attacks."

"And you did," Jeremy said.

"Yeah. I guess it was the right thing to do, but it didn't work out as well as I hoped. Some got hurt."

"Hurt?"

"Yeah, Jeremy. It happens when you deal with vampires. They are not all like Anna. Some are. But you need to understand, Anna, Stefan and Damon have been around a long time. They have learned to control their hunger and can act normal around people. Some are like Vicki – newly turned, out of control. They will hurt anybody. Most are in the middle. Maybe they could control it, but they don't have a reason to, or just don't care."

"And the ones who killed those people? Were they newly-turned?" Jeremy asked.

"I don't know. You have to be around them for awhile to know. They probably had at least some control, but they were on a mission to kill. The point is, you don't have to know. Almost any of them will kill you for no other reason than to feed. You do not approach any of them lightly."

Harsh Reflection

They were out of the car. Elena and Jeremy were walking together through the trees to the field where it all began. Damon had shown them the direction before leaving to check their surroundings, to make sure they were safe.

"Mr. Saltzman was leading the way," Elena narrated. "He was able to find out exactly where the bodies were found and led us there."

"And vampires were here in the woods?'

"Not this part really, more to the north and west."

"Weren't you afraid that they would be there waiting for someone like you?" Jeremy asked.

Elena thought again about everything she had done wrong that day. How she had taken the threat too lightly, and what it had cost Katherine.

"I should have been more than I was. I thought Bonnie and Damon could tell me if there was anything wrong."

"Bonnie?" The brother was surprised. "I mean you wrote that she could do some stuff, but finding vampires?"

"Her powers have grown. But I was wrong. Another lesson learned. You can't have too much firepower with you if you are dumb enough to go hunting vampires."

"Dumb enough," Jeremy repeated. "Does that mean you wouldn't do it again?"

Elena thought about her reply. This was what she wanted with him. Him asking questions, her answering. Maybe not cutting so close to her mistakes, but it is what she wanted. And she wanted him to be careful.

"I might. But I would go slower, and I would try to get more help."

Damon returned to walk with them.

"Anything?" Elena asked.

"Just your escort."

Elena had actually forgotten about the Katherine-imposed protection. Her life had been so calm recently, nothing had brought them to mind.

"Escort?" Jeremy asked.

"Just a fancy word for himself. Damon likes to give himself titles. He needs to realize that it's not helping."

"You say that about him a lot," Jeremy noted.

The Sister Revealed

They had arrived at the field.

"Mr. Saltzman said the bodies were found around here, so Bonnie started doing something – I'm not sure what. But she was chanting and doing some other stuff. I asked Damon to look around and see if he could find anything. I was hoping that he, being a vampire, could find something."

"And did he?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah. He told me and then took off. I didn't see him again until it was almost over. He had run into some of them by himself."

"Did Bonnie get anything?"

"She did. She cast a protection spell sitting right over there." Elena was talking to Jeremy, but looking at Damon. She thought he was starting to act a little weird. He was behind Jeremy when Elena spoke, but suddenly he was next to Elena, whispering into her ear.

"Company."

Elena looked around. "Katherine's?" she whispered back.

"Most of them." Damon said. "Not all."

"Jeremy, come here," Elena called to him. He was looking at the ground where Elena said Bonnie had been and shook his head.

Elena and Damon ran to him and pulled him up.

"Hey! I was busy!" Jeremy complained.

When Jeremy looked up, he saw that they had been joined by two guys he could only describe as really tough-looking. They were on the outside, one by Elena, one by Damon. Elena pulled Jeremy, facing him to match her direction.

"Stay between Damon and me. And please be quiet." She had seen two other vampires in the distance, approaching them at normal walking speed.

"Are they Katherine's?" she asked Damon.

"No."

Elena started walking slowly forward, the others, on both sides, moved with her.

"Who are these guys?" Jeremy asked.

"Stay quiet" Elena demanded.

Jeremy stopped. "No. Who are these guys?"

Damon pulled him along. "They are her protection." He growled.

"Her protection? What? Why?"

Damon stopped and pulled Jeremy back. As the vampires closed the gap to walk beside Elena, Damon turned on Jeremy.

"Jeremy, I know she takes a lot from you at home. I don't know why, some kind of brother bonding thing I don't understand. But this is not home. You asked to come where vampires are, and you are here. And since you're here, you need to know something. Those 'guys' will rip off the head of anyone or anything they think is a threat to Elena, including you. So you will show her some respect here. You will do as she says."

He was not finished. "I don't know who you think she is at home or at school, but here, Elena Gilbert is not just anybody. Not even close. So do as she asks and stay close to her. You do not want to be around those guys unless she is next to you."

Damon pulled him back into the line, placing Jeremy next to Elena. Elena had stopped. The vampires were still approaching. Elena was about to turn to Jeremy and ask where they had been when she saw something strange.

The approaching vampires suddenly stopped and turned around. Someone had come up behind them and pushed through them. Isobel.

She moved quickly forward to Elena and stood in front of her facing the vampires, but a little to the side so that Elena still had a clear view of them as they approached. She turned her head back to greet her daughter.

"Hey. Miss me?"

Elena had to fight back a smile. She had missed Isobel - just a little.

"You surprised them from behind?" Elena asked. "How is that possible?"

"Being stealthy. Stealthier than them. Showing them our superiority."

"In stealthiness?"

"And numbers." Isobel said as Elena heard someone come up and stop behind her. She was surrounded by Katherine's vampires now.

"A message is being sent." Elena said.

Isobel nodded. "Sent and received. Notice that they are coming much more carefully now."

"Yes, but they're still coming."

"That they are."

"And you don't know who they are?" Elena asked, pulling out the cell phone Katherine had given her. Surely this qualified as her being in danger – or could.

"No idea." Isobel replied, intensifying her cold, distant persona.

Elena waited until they were close enough that she thought she would be able to hear them, but far enough away that Katherine's vampires could protect her if needed. Then she held up her hand to stop them.

"What do you want?" she asked, looking into the eyes of each of them.

"Katherine?" one responded.

Now Elena had another choice to make. Assume the Katherine persona, without any preparation, or….