Chapter 7

The Haunted Are The Nutty Ones

"I don't understand why I have to be cooped up here. Why can't I just go home?" Vicki stated. "Because you're changing, Vicki, and it's not something you wanna do alone." Stefan informed her. "There's nothing about that Logan guy I killed in here. Not a word. Somebody's covering it up." Damon muttered out to himself as he read through the newspaper. Christina eyed them all in disbelief.

"Okay, may I ask why I'm still here?" She eventually let out and asked what was obviously buzzing in her mind. After her father left, she locked all the doors and windows as she promised. Later on she drifted upstairs to sleep, only to be woken up by her dad who had came by home a few minutes later. He had brought Damon and a newly turned Vicki with him. So for the past few hours, Stefan hasn't exactly told her why they were all in his bedroom at once consoling Vicki.

"Because since you're here, she probably won't eat you. Probably." Damon shrugged 50/50.

"Yeah. Probably." Christina rolled her eyes at her uncle.

Granted he could careless about her, he had already proven that multiple times. What made Christina question her uncle a bit was why he was still here. Why couldn't he have left Mystic Falls as soon as he got his daylight ring back? What was keeping him here? There was absolutely nothing left for him. Right? She'd ask herself. Stefan eyed Damon briefly in disbelief and turned to face Christina.

"Listen, Chrissy.. Vicki is a friend of yours, right? Well, she's going through a very difficult time right now. The best thing she needs is to be surrounded by a familiar face, such as yours. You know, to keep her calm and comfortable while this situation takes place." Stefan told her. "And how the hell are you suppose to know what I need? You don't even know me!" Vicki stated. "I don't, but she does." Stefan stated, moving a step aside so Christina could approach Vicki face to face.

"Look, Vic, I'm really sorry about what happened to you. I know it won't change anything, but.. I just.. I don't know. What I do know is that you'll be fine. I know it." Christina told Vicki. "Fine? How am I suppose to be fine? I'm dead. Do you know what it's like? Are you dead too?" Vicki wondered. Christina shook her head. "No, but my dad is. That's why he's trying to help you adapt." She reminded her. Vicki look between them for a second. "Wait.. Vampires can have kids? How retro. Wait, how come you don't have any fangs?" Vicki asked Christina. "This isn't Twilight, junkie." Damon commented.

Christina sent him a soft glare, before placing all attention towards the very confused and baffled Vicki Donovan. "Umm.. No. You..uh.. Look, it's complicated. Let's just focus on what's more important here. Making sure you succeed as a vampire, not fail." Christina stated. Vicki tilted her head to the side and groaned slightly. "Ugh, can't we just use a cheat sheet and get this over with?" She asked, wanting the shortest and fastest way done possible.

"No, Vic, this isn't Math class. We're not going to help each other with cheat sheets. This is real. It's not a test or anything, so you'll be fine. We'll do the best we can, I promise." Christina informed her. Stefan eyed them slightly and folded his arms across his chest, clearing his throat to gain their attention. "I'm sorry, but cheat sheets?!" Stefan started out. Already seeing the potential stem about to blow out of his ears, Christina turned to give her dad a soft grin and say, "Let's focus on the more important things. We'll talk about the cheat sheets another time." Stefan shook his head slightly, before going back to helping Vicki.

"What is that?" Vicki asked Damon. Christina turned to look at what Vicki was looking at.

A watch.

It was an old compass like watch in one.

Wait.. wasn't that the same old watch/compass that I saw as I unwillingly stole a necklace at the Founders ball in the same case as the necklace? Why did Damon have it? Christina asked herself cautiously. Of course recently, anything that had anything to do with Damon was meant to be thought as either dangerous or to be highly alerted on, which is understandable considering he did try to kill her practically more than once.

"This is a very special, very old compass. What was Logan Fell doing with it? Aren't you curious?" Damon asked out. "It looks more like a watch to me." Christina muttered. "Well, it isn't." Damon stated. "Why do you have it?" Christina soon asked him folding her arms across her chest, unknowingly mimicking her father's position from earlier. "Found it. Relax short stuff, this has nothing to do with you." Damon stated, causing Christina to scoff.

"Really? Lately everything has had something to do with me? Did your daylight ring have anything to do with me? Then what was the point of kidnapping me?" Christina stated. "You were leverage. I needed you to make sure Stefan would play by the rules." Damon stated, playing around with the compass smirking deviously. Christina shook her head and soon looked over to her father. "Also, why is he still here? He kidnapped me and try to kill me! Have you already forgiven him?" Christina asked in disbelief.

"I haven't forgiven him, and I don't think I'll ever considering how much he hurt you. But, since it is his full responsibility of turning Vicki, he needs to help as well as I do. Besides, this is Damon. He's probably not leaving any time soon. We're just going to have to get use to it." Stefan told her. "See, if Stefan can make an effort to look past things, so can you Chrissy." Damon stated.

"You bit me." Christina stated, not seeing how that wasn't a reasonable explanation to throw Damon out of the house or, maybe if they're lucky, town. "Yeah, I did. I did bite you, more than once. Get over it. It's not like I killed you." Damon stated, not even putting an effort to apologize. "But you almost did." Christina informed him.

"Keyword: Almost." Damon smirked.

"Okay guys, can we move on to more important matters. We can all discuss this later." Stefan asked them both, causing Christina to look at her dad oddly a bit steamed. "I can't believe this. You're just going to give him a free card for nearly attempting murder towards me just the other night!" Christina nearly exclaimed in disbelief.

"Okay, now you're overexaggurating. I did not try to murder you. Threatening to kill you and actually murdering you are two different things, Shorty." Damon tried to briefly educate her. "Oh really? What are the difference then? Please, do tell." Christina asked out sarcastically, as if she was really fascinated on how they could possibly be different.

"Christina..." Stefan called out to calm his daughter, not wanting Damon to snap again and end up hurting her. "Step down." He told her. "I'm not stepping down, now. It's like you people want me to move on and forget what ever happened last night didn't happen. I know what I saw and felt last night. He tried to kill me. What I want is for him to admit it seriously, accept that fact and answer my question as to why he didn't do it. Why didn't you finish the job?" Christina wondered.

"Because, he knew if he did, I would have never forgiven him and I'd never give him his daylight ring back." Stefan told her, "Now please, step down." He wasn't saying that literally, but metaphorically speaking as to step down from the argument and let it go for now.

"Um... I see this isn't a right time. Maybe I should go?" Vicki suggested, ready to bolt out of the door.

"No!"

"See ya!"

Stefan, Christina and Damon all commanded at once. 2 'no's' were more effective than one 'see ya', so Vicki ended up staying and going back to her seat. "This isn't over." Christina muttered knowing both male Salvatore's would hear it.

"What is it?" Vicki asked as Stefan handed her over a cup. "It's what you're craving for." He told her. "Heh. Don't lie to the girl. It's not what you're craving for, but it'll do in a pinch, right, Stef?" Damon teased Stefan. "It's better than hurting and killing someone." Christina stated, with a hidden personal meaning underneath. Damon rolled his eyes at his niece and scoffed. "Yeah. Remorse is overrated." He stated.

"Like love?" Christina burned him, while looking smugly at him. Damon raised his eyebrow slightly. "Using my words against me? Are you sure you're not my kid?" Damon teased her. Christina shook her head with a small smirk on her lips. "I'd drop dead first before I could ever be considered as 'your kid'." Christina told him. "That could be arranged." Damon stated at the drop dead part.

"You two... enough. Go ahead, give it a try." Stefan warned the two and encouraged Vicki.

"She's new. She needs people blood. She can't sustain on that stuff." Damon stated his view on the issue. "She can, if she learns to adjust to it." Christina shared her view, which was similar to her fathers.

"Yeah, why can't I have people blood?" Vicki asked as Damon nodded in curiosity.

"Because it's wrong to prey on innocent people, Vicki." Stefan told her. "You don't have to kill to feed. Just find someone really tasty and erase their memory after wards. It's so easy." Damon stated.

"Says the guy who's had over 100 years to practise." Christina stated, "Might take you longer, Vick."

"No, no, no. There's no guarantee that you can control yourself, okay? Like Christina said, it takes years to learn that. You could easily kill somebody and then you have to carry that with you for the rest of your life, which, if I haven't made clear, is eternity." Stefan tried to warn her.

"Don't listen to them. He walks on a moral plane way out of our eyeline and she's just the lamb that follows him close behind. I say snatch, eat, erase." Damon stated, causing both Christina and Stefan to look at him in disbelief. Here they were trying to help Vicki live a better vampire life, and here he's trying to show her the ways that could have her end up being emotionally miserable in the end.

"You know what, Vicki? Don't listen to these bone heads. This is your life. You choose the path you want to take, but the path you choose will define the person you are. It's your choice, to either go human, animal or blood bag. If you pick human, I might be a little upset, but I won't judge you. It's your choice, so I'll have to accept that sooner or later. If animal, fine, if blood bag, whatever. It all depends on you. It's your choice and it'll forever be your choice. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Christina told her friend, before soon leaving the bedroom.

By the time she got down she noticed that while she was giving Vicki her speech, Damon had grown bored and left the room, so when she got downstairs she noticed Damon was by the doorway giving Elena a hard time. "Elena. Hi. Is my brother giving you a headache?" Christina asked her sheepishly. "Uh, um. No. Damon was just... letting me in." Elena started out.

"Well fine. Knock yourself out." Damon told them, before walking out of the house in his usual cocky way. Once he was out, Christina slammed the front door behind him mouthing 'good riddance' to herself that she didn't have to deal with her uncle much anymore.

"So..um.. Elena. How've you been?" Christina tried to dig for small talk.

"I'm fine. And you...?" Elena asked out.

"Oh, I'm fine. If you had asked me that yesterday I would have said terrible. Ha! Don't ask." Christina stated, causing Elena to nod her head slowly.

"So..Elena. Why are you here?" Christina asked her curiously. "I came to see Stefan and see how Vicki was doing with... everything." Elena admitted.

"Everything?" Christina asked out, wondering what she meant. "You know... with the whole.. transitioning thing. Turning into vampire." Elena told her. Christina gawked at her in shock, on how she could have possibly have known.

"But-How did you..?" Christina asked out. "Stefan told me everything and last night... he told me more things he didn't get the chance to tell me before. I know who and what you are now. You don't need to keep..uh... keep pretending." Elena said, awkwardly once she got to the end. Christina nodded slightly seeing how awkward this situation was between them.

Yep, finding out your 17-year-old boyfriend is actually a 161-year-old vampire is bad enough, but the fact he has a 15-year-old human daughter puts the frosting on the cake of awkwardness.

Christina soon decided to break the silence between them by saying, "My dad's upstairs, by the way." Elena nodded slowly, as the situation just went more awkward for them. Before anyone could say or do anything to make the atmosphere around them even worse, Stefan soon descended down the stairs.

"Elena. I thought I heard you come in." He started out.

"Where is Vicki?" Elena soon asked out.

Wow, really? No "hello" or "good morning"? That's kind of a bitch move. Christina noticed on Elena's odd behavior.

"She's upstairs." Both Christina and Stefan told her.

"What happens now? Because my brother is out there searching for her with the rest of the town. What do I tell him?" Elena asked out a bit frustrated at this difficult situation she was in.

"Would it be hard to believe to say that Vicki went to rehab? I mean, no offense, but I find it believable enough. The problem is, he and Matt might want to visit her so... there's that." Christina tried to suggest. Stefan and Elena glanced over at her slightly and shook their heads, indicating that idea wouldn't work.

"I'm working with her. She's a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that is going to play a big part on how she responds to this." Stefan told her.

"So, she's a vampire with issues?" Elena started out. "Yep." Christina answered with no hesitation to spare. "What am I suppose to do? Because I'm lying to everyone I care about. What's gonna happen to her?" Elena continued.

"Nothing is gonna happen to her. She'll be fine. I know it. Right, Dad?" Christina stated. Stefan looked over at his daughter and sighed. He didn't want to bring her hopes up, but he didn't want her to feel like her friend was a lost cause either.

"I don't know, Christina. I really don't know. We're just going to have to keep her here until she's safe to be around." Stefan told her, as well as answering Elena's question briefly in the process.

"How long is that?" Vicki soon was spotted by the stairs and asked, obviously over hearing the conversation. "We can talk about that later." Stefan stated. "Hey, Vicki, how are you?" Elena asked out.

"How am I? You're kidding, right?" Vicki chuckled out on Elena's dumb question. I shook my head slightly grinning. "Look while you guys talk, I'll handle her. Come on, Vicki. Let's let the grown ups talk." Christina informed her friend, while walking back up the stairs. "I'm older than her!" Vicki stated, pointing towards Elena. "You know what I mean." Christina stated, pulling Vicki aside. "Come on, I want to show you my room." Christina stated. "Christina.." Stefan warned her, seeing exactly what she was trying to do by leaving him alone with Elena. "Don't worry. I'll try not to get eaten n my own bedroom" Christina winked at her dad slightly, before leading Vicki to her bedroom room.

Once they reached the bedroom, Christina closed the door shut so her dad and Elena could have a moment alone. "Umm.. why are we in your room?" Vicki asked out confused. "One, I wanted to be the romancer matchmaker in the family and let Stefan have some private short time with Elena and also, I just wanted to show off my room." Christina stated with a shrug, before plopping down on her bed. Like any other girls, she had pink accessories, such as sheets, blankets, and pillows as well as a purple rug. But her dresser was black and her walls were dark lavender. The ceiling was also dark lavender, but appeared to be back to most. She also had two beanbag chairs, one pink, the other purple. Both had slight blue designs on it.

Of course she also had a makeup dresser mirror that had photos on the corner sides of the mirror and had lights on the sides, you'd see celebrities have in their dressing rooms on T.V.

Vicki rolled her eyes at Christina, before glancing around at her room. She soon stopped and looked over Christina's makeup dresser mirror and looked at her photos. "Heh. You have a lot of pictures." Vicki stated. "Yeah." Christina agreed, she got off her bed and walked over to stand next to Vicki with a smile. "This one was when we went to New York. And 3 years later, we went to New Jersey." Christina told her. "Who's 'we'?" Vicki wondered. "Stefan and I. My Dad and I." Christina clarified for her. Vicki nodded and looked up at the photo next to the one where Christina appeared to be at the Grand Canyon. "Is that your Mom?" Vicki wondered. Christina froze slightly in confusion and saw Vicki pointing at a photo of Lexi.

"No, um... that's Lexi. She's my dad's best friend. She's like a sister to me." Christina corrected Vicki. Vicki seemed confused on the whole thing. "I'm probably going to look like a bitch for asking but... if vampires can't have kids then how..." Vicki started out.

"I'm adopted. Okay?" Christina stated, a bit annoyed. "Like I said, sorry for being a bitch about it." Vicki stated awkwardly. "Hey, it's fine. You were curious. Everyone's curious once and a while." Christina stated. "Yeah... you looked really happy in these pictures." Vicki commented. "Who says I'm not now? Sure, things have been getting pretty shaking since Damon came to town but.. I'm still happy with my life." Christina told her.

"I know. It's definitely sure is a hell lot better than mine." Vicki chuckled out slightly. Christina forced up a grin, but saw nothing funny about it. Her mother didn't care about her, her father left her, and she was now a vampire who had no idea what to do with her life. Comparing that life to Christina's.. well.. obviously Christina's life would appear much better.

"Look, Vick... I really am sorry." Christina started out. "There's really nothing for you to apologize about." Vicki told her. "I know but... I don't know. I just... I just feel as though this whole thing is... partly my fault. I was there when Damon was about to kill you. I should have stopped him. I knew he was going to do something to you. I felt it in my gut, but... It was too late. And because of that, it's my fault too." Christina explained her reasoning. "Hey, Chrissy. It's not your fault. Things happen to people all the time. Especially the ones who were at the wrong place during the wrong time. I was a lost cause before you met me. There was really nothing you could do to save me from that. Just know between you and your uncle... I definitely won't be holding it against you." Vicki ensured her. Christina nodded.

"I really hate that you're going through this. None of this was suppose to happen." Christina stated. "I know. But hey. Better me, then you, right?" Vicki stated rhetorically, holding her fist up. Christina smirked and rolled her eyes, before fist bumping Vicki back. "Right." She stated. "Cause we're sisters. I'd rather go through this than to see you go through it." Vicki informed her, "No if you excuse me.. I think your dad is done talking with Elena." Christina raised her eyebrow slightly in surprise.

"Vampire, remember? We can hear behind closed doors." Vicki reminded Christina with a smirk, before opening the door and walking out all the way downstairs.

"Coffee is our friend. It's the caffeine. It circulate through our veins, and it warms up our bodies so we're not so cold to the touch." Stefan broke it down to Vicki. All four of them, Stefan, Vicki, Elena and Christina, were in the kitchen. Stefan was teaching Vicki a few tips of being a vampire and how to still be able to mingle with humans without getting suspicions of actually being a vampire. Vicki was learning all she could retain at once. Elena was observing the whole scenario. And Christina was briefly texting Jeremy away without a care in the world. Of course she was there for Vicki's moral support, but did it have to mean she had to be stuck at home all day cut off from her friends? Nope. Not on her watch. She can support Vicki all she can, but there was no way she'd be stuck at home half bored to death.

"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" Vicki questioned.

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on daily basis one day at a time." Stefan instructed her. Somehow that sounded a lot like how Vicki's drug consoling would have said to her. At least in Christina's mind it did. "Oh god! Don't start it the whole 12 step thing. School counselor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me." Vicki stated.

Hmm.. I guess I was right. Christina thought to herself.

"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki." Stefan told her, still remembering Christina's brief speech earlier. "So you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki wondered curiously. "I don't know about never..." Christina breathed out a quick mutter fast enough for no one to catch. "Not in a long time." Stefan answered her cautiously as Elena was still watching the scene and listening to everything the two were saying carefully. "How long?" Vicki asked.

"Years and years.." Stefan started out, but was cut off. "Before me. Long before me." Christina stated abruptly. Stefan nodded and sighed softly. "Yeah. I'm not proud of my past behavior." Stefan still added.

"Does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover. This daylight thing is a bitch. I need more blood. Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead." Vicki started rambling before leaving the kitchen. Once she left, Christina plumed her face seeing, at this rate, it was going to take weeks before Vicki would ever be able to interact with people.

WEEKS!

"I'm going to, uh...I'm gonna get her some more. All right. Be right back." Stefan informed the two brown-haired girls, before leaving the kitchen as well. As soon as he left, Vicki re-entered the kitchen.

"False alarm. My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird." Vicki announced, before reached over for her phone. "Hmm, who are you calling?" Elena asked her. "Jeremy." Vicki stated. "I already texted him. He's fine." Christina stated. Vicki gave her an odd look. "Well, good for you then. But I want to talk to him for myself." Vicki stated, about to dial him.

"Vicki, you can't see Jeremy anymore." Elena stated. "Oh come on don't you start. I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see." Vicki informed Elena. "Even though you could hurt him?" Elena questioned her logic. "I would never hurt Jeremy." Vicki told her. "I know you think that but I can't take that risk. You're gonna have to let Jeremy go now." Elena told her. Christina gave Elena a looked. "Um.. Elena." Christina tried to warn her, knowing Vicki could snap any second.

"Oh really? And how long have you been preparing the "You're not good enough" speech? I'm assuming it predates the whole vampire thing." Vicki snapped. "All I'm saying is Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Vicki." Elena told her. "Or what?" Vicki asked, grabbing Elena by the throat and pushing her against the wall to pin her down with little to no effort in doing so. Christina watch not knowing what to do. One some cases she agreed with Elena that Vicki couldn't see Jeremy right away, but one some cases Elena did push Vicki's buttons a bit forcing her to react in the way she probably wanted.

"Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitch. You had my brother whipped for 15 years. 15 years and then you dumped him. When I look at you that's all I see, just so you know. And I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I want to see Jeremy, because I have some new fun toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off. You got it?" Vicki informed her, before letting her go and leaving the kitchen. Elena clutched her throat slightly coughing and looked over at Christina, who shrugged in reply. Soon Stefan entered and Elena tried fixing up her posture.

"She threatened me." Elena stated once he finally entered.

"She's on edge. Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. And then when you throw in her other issues..." Stefan started out. "Basically, you brought it on yourself when mentioning Jeremy." Christina stated over what Stefan said about her reasoning of not helping her, aside from the fact there was literally nothing she could have done if she had interfered. She probably would have gotten harmed in the process by Vicki if she even dared to try breaking them apart.

"How long before it settles? Hours? Days? Weeks?" Elena asked. "There's no rule book." Both Stefan and Christina stated. "Well, how long before you learned to control it?" Elena asked Stefan. "A while. But I didn't have anyone helping me. I had to do it on my own. The thing is it's hard to resist certain people especially when you're new, it's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire...it can all blur into one urge, hunger." Stefan told her. "What does that mean?" Elena asked.

"What do you think it means?" Christina asked sarcastically, not seeing how Elena wasn't smart enough to figure that out. "It means that Jeremy can't see her, not now. She might not be able to resist him, and could hurt him." Stefan told Elena, ignoring Christina's comment.

"Or worse." Elena said to herself.

"No, not worse. Anything but worse. That's not happening." Christina quickly stated, not even wanting to think about that. "I'm not going to let anyone get hurt." Stefan informed them both.

"I need to get going." Elena started out. "Elena..." Stefan said. "Please Stefan. There's only so much I can take." Elena told him, before leaving. Christina stood awkwardly near her father. "What was that ending about?" Christina asked in deep confusion. "Last night, while Damon and I were looking for Vicki... Elena and I broke up. She said.. she'd keep my secret but.. she didn't want to be with me anymore." Stefan admitted. Christina's eyes widened in surprise that he never told her til now. "Wha-? Well... gosh. Earlier must have really been awkward." Christina thought over how she and Vicki left them alone for a few minutes together. It must have been awkward between them. "Yeah. Yeah, it was." Stefan agreed.

"I'm sorry." Christina told him, on accidentally letting them have an awkward moment together and on how she just broke up with him just recently. "It's okay." Stefan told her. Christina nodded and thought about something. "By the way... what ever did happen to Zach?" She wondered slightly about her other uncle. Stefan raised his eyebrow in surprise that she didn't know, but thought it over and realized nobody had told her he was dead. "Oh, Christina..." Stefan paused and shook his head briefly. "When Damon escaped and abducted you, I went down at the cellar and found he wasn't there and you were missing. And I also found Zach. I don't know how to say this any easier but... he's.." Stefan started out carefully.

"Dead? He's dead, isn't he? Damon killed him." Christina stated and briefly wondered if she was correct. Stefan nodded. Christina nodded as well taking in a deep breath to ease herself. "How did you know?" Stefan asked her. "I-I just had a feeling. And when I was with Damon at the house the whole time... not once did I ever see Zach come home. Plus I had to place up the groceries up by myself so... something was obviously wrong there." Christina told him on her theory of figuring it out. "I'm sorry, Christina. I really am." Stefan told her. "It's okay. I had the whole night while you were looking for Vicki to grieve him. I asked because I wanted to know for sure he was in fact deceased. I wanted confirmation and I did get it. I'm alright. Really, I am. I'm just gonna miss him, that's all." Christina stated.

"But hey, I still have you, and Lexi..and, when thinks work out, I'll have Vicki with me. She'll be my eternal best friend." Christina reassured herself and Stefan. He nodded at her little statement giving her a shoulder hug. "Yeah. You have us. No matter what." Stefan told her, before existing the kitchen. Christina grinned and picked up her phone, ready to continue one of her text conversations with one of her stoner friends, she was only friends with through Vicki or Jeremy.

Later that night, Vicki and Christina had gotten bored. They were both up in Stefan's bedroom. Vicki was on Stefan's bed listening to music, while Christine laid on her stomach near her drawing in her sketch pad.

What she was drawing? She had no idea. She just went wherever her mind was roaming off to, causing her hand to make detailed swirls and lines with her pen, barely knowing what she was drawing in the first place. Damon soon entered the room to catch them both in Stefan's room.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked out. Christina was daydreaming and didn't even notice him enter the room.

"Just contemplating the next hundred years. Why did you do it?" Vicki told and asked him, sitting herself up from the bed. Even that slight movement wasn't enough to pull Christina out of her drawing trance.

"I was ... bored." Damon stated.

"You did this to me out of boredom?" Vicki stated in disbelief.

"It's one of the pitfalls of eternity." Damon told her. "Now I'm bored. And all I can think about is blood. I just want some blood. I can't think about anything else. What is that about?" Vicki wondered.

"That'll ease up. You've just been cooped up all day. Let's go." Damon stated, causing Vicki to slide off the bed. "Where?" She asked ready to leave. Just in time, Christine paused her pen and shook her head getting out of her trance. She didn't get the chance to look down at her drawing see as Vicki as leaving. Leaving her sketch pad behind, she got up and followed her seeing she was following Damon.

When did Damon get here? Christina wondered briefly as she followed them behind. "What are you doing?" Stefan asked them, only for Christina to shrug in confusion in reply not knowing what they really were doing.

"She's been cooped up in your room all day. She's not Anna Frank." Damon told him. "No, no. Hey, hey...Now's not the time for this." Stefan warned him. "If you're gonna teach her. Teach her. Show her what it's all about." Damon informed him. "She could hurt someone." Stefan told him. "I'm not takin' her to Disneyland. We're going on the front yard. Come on." Damon stated and instructed Vicki to still follow him.

Christina still felt a bad feeling about all of it.

"Bad idea. This is a very bad idea, Damon." Christina acted out, trusting her gut this time. "She's a vampire. She should know the perks." Damon stated, causing Christina to shake her head slightly and still keep a cautious eye on Vicki. "Like what?" Vicki wondered. "Like..." Damon started out, before speeding around behind her.

"Whoa. How did you do that? Ho, ho, ho, ho!" Vicki started out in amazement.

"Come on Vicki, live a little. No pun intended." Damon told her. She nodded in excitement getting into position, before all of a sudden speeding clearly out of sight. All three Salvatore's stood outside stunned, processing what had just happened in a matter of 5 seconds.

"Uh... my bad." Damon stated, taking the blame this time. Stefan scoffed and Christina became steamed again, not even wanting to attempt yelling at Damon this time, knowing it'd be a waste of energy on her part.

While both Damon and Stefan were out searching for Vicki again, Christina had gotten a text from Jeremy if he wanted to meet her up at the school's Halloween party. Of course, Christina accepted and since nobody was home to tell her otherwise, she went up to her room trying to figure out a costume. Since it was really last-minute, she decided to wear a simply black dress with pearl jewelry, tie her hair up, wear as much makeup as possible to pass as Audrey Hepburn, a british actress from back in the days.

Getting to the school on time, or so Christina assumed, she bumped into Matt Donovan. The two didn't really know each other well, but they have seen each other around school numberous times.

"Matt, hi. How are you?" Christina asked him.

"I'm fine.. um.." Matt started thinking.

"My name's Christina Salvatore. You've probably seen me around school." Christina told him, shaking his hand. "Oh, you're related to Stefan?" Matt asked. "Yeah, if the last name didn't tell you already." Christina chuckled out, "have you seen Jeremy? He said he was going to meet up with me here."

"Oh, you just missed him. He and his sister, Elena just passed through. Are you suppose to be some Hollywood actress?" Matt told and asked me. "Yes I am. And, where did Elena go?"Christina asked him. "She said something about going to look for my sister, I think?" Matt told me. "Wait, Vicki's here?" Christina asked in wonder and surprise. "Yeah, wait you know my sister?" Matt asked me. "Not really, but I have seen her around school." Christina lied smoothly, "Anyway it was nice talking to you Surgeon General, but I gotta dash."

"That obvious, huh?" Matt wondered on his costume. "The apron gave it away." Christina chuckled, before walking away. Walking around and through the crowd, Christina couldn't find Vicki or Jeremy anywhere. She eventually went outside and still couldn't find them. She texted Jeremy briefly and Vicki a lot, but got no reply.

"What are you doing out here?!" Christina was sure she heard her father's voice ring out. She turned around and noticed him walking up to her. "I should be asking you that. Shouldn't you be looking for her?" Christina stated. "It's too dangerous out here. You should head home now." Stefan warned his daughter. Christina eyed him slightly and noticed how tired and anxious he appeared. She looked down and noticed how bloody on of his hands were.

"Oh my god. What happened? You're hand's bleeding!" Christina stated.

"It's nothing. I'm fine. I'm fine. Just go home. Please." Stefan begged her. Something was off, and Christina didn't like it one bit. She knew something was wrong, but couldn't put her finger on it. Seeing as she had no other choice, she decided to leave in hope that her father would explain what was going on to her, when he got back to the house.

It was exactly midnight and Stefan hadn't returned home yet. Christina was waiting and sitting in the living room trying to stay awake for his arrival. Right when she was about to doze off, she heard him enter the front door and walk into the living room. He had a disturbing look on his face. As if he was haunted by a thought, she couldn't read.

"Dad, what's going on? Your hand was bleeding for a reason. Was it Damon?" Christina went to it.

"Are you suppose to be Audrey Hepburn?" Stefan asked out suddenly taking an interest on who she was dressed up as. "That's not the case. Yes, but let's not change the subject. What happened?" Christina asked out carefully.

Stefan was hesitant trying to remember what to do.

"Vicki! Vicki! Vicki! Vicki!" Jeremy cried and yelled out in horror, as Vicki's body desiccated and turned grey. Stefan held him back and watched in horror at what he had done. He killed her. He killed Vicki. It's not like he meant to, she was attacking Elena for god sakes! He had to save her first of course! But he didn't mean to kill her in the process.

Now she was dead. What were they going to do now? What were they going to tell Matt? Christina?

Oh god. No.

No.

Not Christina.

What was he going to tell Christina?

xxxx

"Damon, are you out of it? I can't lie to her!" Stefan shouted out. After compelling Jeremy, Damon had gotten outside to announced his memory of Vicki being killed being erased. Elena had thanked him and went back inside the house. Now Damon and Stefan were quarrelling on what to tell Christina. The truth or not?

"Anything is better than telling her, you killed her best friend!" Damon informed him.

"We were looking for Vicki. When Elena and Jeremy went to the Halloween party, Elena texted me where Vicki was. Matt had told her she was there. I got there first and looked everywhere for Vicki. I found her and somehow lost her in the crowd." Stefan started to tell her.

"I-I can't lie to her Damon. I just can't." Stefan told him, "Not about this." "It's not like you have a choice Stefan! She's never going to forgive you. You better think of something and quick to tell her, cause she's going to know that her friend is dead one way or another." Damon told him.

"Elena volunteered to look for her. She did and found her making out with Jeremy. She bit him and wanted more of his blood. Elena tried to stop Vicki, but ..." Stefan paused. "But what?" Christina asked out, wondering where her friend was at this moment.

"She attacked her. She attacked Elena. I came over and pulled Vicki off of Elena..." Stefan continued.

"Me." Damon soon said after a long silence fell between them.

"What?" Stefan asked in confusion.

"You can tell her the truth, but just switch the story. I killed her. Tell her it was me." Damon suggested. "No, I'm the one who stabbed a stake into her heart. I killed her Damon." Stefan reminded him. "But she doesn't know that! Just tell her it was me, she already hates me enough. Adding one more to the list should do it." Damon demanded. "Damon, I'm not going to let you take the blame for this, when it was clearly my fault." Stefan stated firmly.

"For god sakes, Stefan. Just do it! Tell her it was me. I'm not asking you to lie, I'm telling you to lie... cause believe me. She will never forgive you for killing someone she cares about the most. You're her father... she's suppose to love you and trust you with her life. I'm not. I'm her uncle. She has to hate me at some point. Let her. Let her hate me." Damon demanded, giving Stefan one last chance to make this right. Before it could be too late.

"Damon came over and held Vicki down. She was resisting him and... he pulled out a stake.." Stefan started lying. "No.." Christina shook her head, picturing it clearly in her mind. "He pulled out a stake and stabbed it into her heart." Stefan continued. "No, no! You're lying! No, you're lying! That-That.. That can't..." Christina started out, tears forming in her eyes.

"Vicki gasped out and veins run down her face. Her skin went grey and... and.." Stefan struggled out, feeling a lump form in his throat as he looked his daughter in the eyes and said, "She's dead, Christina. She's dead."

Christina had trouble breathing and was debating whether to yell or scream in pain. In the end she got caught between and started bursting into tears. "No! No! She's not.. she's not dead! No! You're lying! You're all lying to me! She's not dead! She's not dead." Christina yelled out, trying to stop herself from crying so much. Stefan went over and grabbed her shoulder to turn and look at him straight through the eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Chrissy. I'm so sorry. If I could go back and change things, you know I would. I'm really sorry." Stefan told her, trying to stay strong for her as well. Christina nodded and hugged her father tight letting her tears fall down.

"I hate him. I hate him so much." Christina said, through her gritted teeth. She was sad Vicki was killed in such a horrific way, but she was mainly angry that it was Damon who killed her. Was it bad enough he took Zach away from me? Now Vicki? Vicki didn't deserve that. Nobody deserves to be killed like that. Christina thought to herself as anguish tears formed in her eyes. She wished so much she could kill Damon, or for at least he could get out of their lives.

But she knew it wouldn't happen.

He was Damon.

He'd never leave them alone in peace.

It would be almost too easy that way.

A/N: It's a shame, I couldn't update earlier then I wanted. Oh well, at least I updated. See you on the next chapter, whenever I can update it soon. Hope you liked the new one.