"How could you do this to us, Dad." Shiloh asked softly, sitting on the ground with her back against the wall. Her mother had left her in the cellar with him, he was now the one tied to a chair. She said she was going to get someone who could help and Shiloh insisted on staying. She didn't know why, but she had. She looked up at her father, peeling the duct tape from his mouth so he could speak.
"I just wanted to help you. You girls are the most important thing in the world to me." Bill said. Shiloh shook her head, rejecting the answer.
"If we were, you would've listened. You would've given us a chance!" Shiloh yelled, getting to her feet. "We're not monsters! I'm not a monster! You never accepted me! Nothing I ever did was good enough for you!"
"Shiloh!" Shiloh turned towards the door of the cellar where Damon and Liz were standing. She harshly whipped the tears that she hadn't noticed were present on her cheeks before the others had entered. "Honey." Liz said, approaching her daughter.
"I'm fine, Mom." Shiloh said, trying to give her a reassuring smile.
"Shiloh." Damon said.
"Damon." Shiloh replied evenly.
"You brought another vampire into this?" Bill asked.
"It's the best thing for all of us, Bill." Liz said.
"So, Bill, I hear you're into the whole daddy-daughter vampire torture thing." Damon spat with venom in each word.
"I was trying to help them." Bill said.
"Well, if there's anyone who doesn't need help, it's your amazing, strong, independent daughter and her annoying control freak of a sister." Damon said, then took a bite from Bill's neck and tasting the blood. "Yep. He's vervain-free." Damon informed them.
"Just erase his memory, Damon." Liz said.
"Why didn't you ask me to do it?" Shiloh asked.
"The same reason I didn't ask Caroline. You shouldn't have to compel your father." Liz said. "You shouldn't have to compel anyone unless you have to, Sweetie."
"So, Bill, I have a question. What makes you think that you can change the basic nature of a vampire?" Damon asked Bill, his deadly glare still fixed on the man.
"The mind's a powerful tool. It can be trained and retrained. You just have to be strong enough." Bill said.
"Oh, yeah? I completely agree. I actually happen to love mind control, myself." Damon said, grabbing his face and compelling him. "You will leave town immediately. All you remember is you came to bring your daughters back to school shopping." Shiloh left the cellar with one last look at her father. Once she was outside she took a deep breath of air, forcing herself to remain calm. She shouldn't be so upset over her father. He had never cared about her anyway. Why should she care about him. "You okay?" Shiloh spun around to face Damon.
"I'm fine." Shiloh said coldly.
"I know you're still mad at me-" Damon began.
"Obviously." Shiloh cut in.
"I was dying." Damon said.
"And you kissed her. You wanted to be with her in your last hours of life. Not me, her." Shiloh said.
"You were off with Stefan somewhere." Damon said.
"Trying to find a cure for you!" Shiloh snapped. Damon let out a sigh, running his hand through his hair.
"Can we just talk. Please. I miss you." Damon said.
"Tell it to Elena." Shiloh said, rushing off.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"It's my dad." Shiloh looked up when she heard Caroline mention their father.
"Why would he even show up here?" Elena asked.
"I don't know. But I can't..." Caroline said.
"I get it. I'll call you later." Elena said understandingly. So Caroline told her. Caroline left to go upstairs.
"Okay, what was that all about?" Alaric asked. Shiloh moved to follow her sister, ignoring Jenna, Elena and Alaric completely as she walked towards the stairs. Damon caught her by the elbow, pulling her back towards Jenna, Alaric and Elena.
"Wait, wait, Houston, we have a problem." Damon said.
"Shiloh-" Elena began.
"What do you want, Damon. Why is he here." Shiloh asked, folding her arms over her chest.
"Apparently he's impervious to compulsion." Damon said.
"How?" Jenna asked. "I thought vervain was the only way to do that?"
"So did I. I have no idea how he did it. But he threatened to out me. Don't get me started on the irony of that." Damon said.
"What did you do to him? How do you know the compulsion doesn't work?" Elena asked.
"That's not the most important piece of information I mentioned, Elena." Damon said.
"What does he want?" Shiloh asked.
"He wants to control the council. Says it's been compromised." Damon said.
"It has!" Alaric pointed out.
"He wants to put vervain in the town's water supply." Damon said.
"Maybe it's not a bad idea. I mean, it'll help you keep yourself in control now that Stefan's not here to..." Elena trailed off.
"To what? To keep me in check? Make me behave? I should have killed him this morning." Damon said.
"He's my dad." Shiloh said. "Touch him and I'll kill you."
"Pretty sure I got a few years on you, baby vamp." Damon said.
"Then I'll kill you're girlfriend here." Shiloh snapped, jerking her head towards Elena.
"Shiloh!" Jenna exclaimed shocked.
"Just leave my dad alone. I can deal with him." Shiloh said.
"He hurt you." Damon said.
"So did you!" Shiloh snapped again, turning on her heel and marching off.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Shiloh followed the voices of Damon and Caroline through the Lockwood house. "Let me teach this ass-wheel a life lesson." Damon was saying.
"Just get out of here." Caroline demanded. Shiloh picked up her pace, Caroline challenging a pissed off Damon was not good.
"Or what?" Damon asked. Shiloh burst through the door as Damon threw Caroline on the office desk, choking her. "I'm stronger than you, little girl." Damon said.
"Damon, stop!" Shiloh yelled, running forward and pulling Damon back. Caroline sat up, pushing herself of the desk. "Are you okay?" Shiloh asked.
"Yeah." Caroline said, going over to Bill and helping him up. "Coming?"
"No, just get him out of here." Shiloh said. Caroline nodded and complied. "So my dad wasn't enough, you had to go after my sister too?" Shiloh asked angrily.
"She got in the way." Damon said.
"You can't do this anymore, Damon. Not in this town. Not around me." Elena spoke up. Shiloh hadn't noticed her come in but apparently Damon did or he wasn't startled by her appearance.
"Why not? It's nothing I haven't done before. Why is it suddenly so important for everyone to keep me in check?" Damon asked.
"Because I don't want you to be what other people think that you are." Elena said.
"What? A monster? Sorry to disappoint you, Elena, but last time I checked, I was still a vampire!" Damon said.
"I guess I wish that you didn't have to act like one!" Elena said.
"I am not Stefan. How about you stop trying to turn me into him?" Damon stormed out.
"Well, I enjoyed that and all, but I should get back to my family." Shiloh said, walking towards the door.
"Look, Shiloh, I know I hurt you but... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It was a stupid mistake. I thought he was dying." Elena said. "It was a goodbye kiss." Shiloh paused, looking back at Elena for a second, then left the room in search of her sister and father.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Shiloh entered the Salvatore house, almost regretting her decision to follow Damon instead of Caroline. Until, that is, she heard voice. "Ric, no hard feelings, all right? I was on a bit of a tear. Everyone was trying to tell me how to behave." Damon was saying.
"Well, maybe they finally realized you're just a dick." Alaric said, getting up and leaving without another word. Shiloh wasn't really sure why he was so mad, but she figured Damon had done something to piss him off. She slowly walked to the opening of the doorway.
"Hey." Shiloh greeted.
"Shiloh." Damon said, sounding surprised.
"I just... what you said about being a vampire... about being a monster. You don't think that just because you're a vampire, it makes you a monster, do you?" Shiloh asked.
"Look up monster online, you'll find a whole bunch of fun little vampire pictures." Damon said.
"So you think all vampires are monsters?" Shiloh asked.
"Wait a minute... We're not talking about me, are we?" Damon asked. Shiloh didn't answer, avoiding eye contact. "Sorry to break it to you, Pup, you aren't exactly what nightmares are made of."
"I'm a vampire." Shiloh said.
"But you're... different." Damon said. "Good."
"I don't get it, what being a vampire means." Shiloh said.
"It means something different to everyone. Right now, it means having all the time in the world to figure it out. It means having the freedom to make it what you want." Damon said.
"But we aren't free. Not really. We'll never be free. We have family that we're responsible for. That's why you're so upset, isn't it? Because Stefan let you down. He tried to kill me to hurt you and you think you lost him." Shiloh said.
"You don't?" Damon asked.
"No. I think we should trust Stefan. He obviously had a reason for doing what he did." Shiloh said.
"Hey, Shy. I know you still hate me, but maybe one day we could be like we use to. Friends." Damon said.
"I don't hate you, Damon. I hate what you did. But I could never hate you." Shiloh said.
"I'm gonna make it up to you, Pup. If it takes me for the rest of eternity, I'm gonna make it up to you." Damon said. "I need to. I need you."
"Damon... Maybe... maybe there is a chance at us being friends again. But I can never trust you like I did. What we had, it's gone." Shiloh said.
"You can't say that." Damon protested. "You can't look me in the eye and tell me that you don't love me anymore."
"I can't. Not yet. I don't know if I ever will. You were my first love. But you broke what we had, Damon. I can't forget that and I can't fix it." Shiloh said.
"Well I can. I'll fix it for us, Shiloh. Just don't give up on me." Damon said, pleading with his eyes.
"I have to go, it's late. I'll see you around sometime, Damon." Shiloh said.