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Chapter 6

Mystic Falls

Damon turned to Caroline with confusion as the three women stepped in the house. Caroline gave a smile of hello to them, happy to see her past kidnappers. Sophie came closer and gave Caroline a hug. "That's from Davina, her and Justine miss you." Ebony and Jasmine smiled back at Caroline as Sophie stepped away. They scanned the room as they entered, taking in everyone that was staring back and forth at the women and Caroline. Jeremy and Tyler stopped working as the strangers were led into the living room by Caroline. Rebekah gave a small laugh when she saw who was with her. "He didn't take long, did he?"

Stefan gave Caroline a searching look. "What's going on?"

"This is Sophie and her coven, Jasmine and Ebony. Klaus sent them." Caroline said, bracing for the backlash that was sure to come. Katherine gave a small twitch of fear as Klaus's name was brought up. Caroline couldn't really blame her since she spent so many years on the run from him.

"Klaus? What the hell does he want?" Damon asked, moving back to the living room to face the women with suspicion.

Sophie looked around at the mansion before turning back to Damon. "Klaus wants to make sure Caroline is safe. We're here to protect her."

Tyler gritted his teeth at the news. "We can protect Caroline ourselves." He turned with surprise to face Caroline when she started shaking her head, trying to explain but before she could speak, Damon decided to put in his two cents worth. Caroline sighed heavily, wishing that they would listen for a minute.

"We don't need Klaus's hired help." Damon scoffed. Jasmine slowly turned to Caroline, mouthing 'hired help' before she turned back to glare at Damon. Caroline shook her head again, rolling her eyes from Jasmine to Damon, conveying her silent frustration. Jeremy turned away from the wall after listening for a moment to look at Damon. "Bonnie said we can trust them."

Sophie gave a half-smile as she swept the room with another look. "Hey, Bonnie."

Damon folded his arms. "I don't trust anyone that I don't know, especially someone who has ties to Klaus. We don't need strangers running around town."

Jasmine snorted. "Well, if you had taken care of Silas, we wouldn't need to be here." Damon's lips tightened with anger at the jab. "We're assigned to protect Caroline, her mother and Rebekah, we don't need your permission." Rebekah looked a little shocked that Klaus had included her.

Damon took a step forward. "You definitely need my approval if you're going to be in my town."

Jasmine tilted her head to the side and laughed. "I don't need a vampire's approval to do anything. We're staying with Caroline and I'd like to see you try to stop us." She brushed her hair, as red as her temper, over her shoulder before putting her hands on her hips in deviance. Caroline had a feeling Damon and Jasmine were not going to get along.

Damon looked her up and down. "You obviously don't know me if you think I'm going to let you walk in my house and take over. You need to be taught some manners." Caroline could see it coming, Damon's impulse was worse than Klaus's sometimes. Stefan tried to reason with his brother. "Damon, let's hear what they have to say."

Caroline also tried, knowing that Jasmine wasn't one to mess with. "Damon, I wouldn't do that." And of course, he didn't listen. Damon flashed to Jasmine, who threw up her hand and knocked him back into the wall to hold him there. She used more force than was necessary, insulted by his earlier comment. She smirked as he tried to move or talk against the force. Stefan raised his eyebrows with a touch of amusement as Damon struggled with Jasmine's hold. Elena growled and took a step towards Jasmine, but Ebony moved forward and put her hands out, revealing flames coming from her palms. "You might want to rethink that." Elena stopped in her tracks, looking at the flames that could do some damage. Besides Rebekah, who knew what the witches were capable of, everyone else were now looking at the strangers with a new found respect, even Tyler. Silence fell over the room as we all waited to see what would happen next. Caroline figured she should act before things escalated even more.

Caroline moved to Jasmine's side and touched her arm, silently asking her to hold on to her temper. "It's okay. He's asshole sometimes, but he's not a problem." Jasmine eyed Damon and released her hold, letting him fall to floor as he gasped for breath. He got to his feet, glaring at Jasmine, who gave a small chuckle. "Like I said, we don't need your permission." Caroline cleared her throat to garner everyone's attention. "They're also here to protect my mom. I was about to tell everyone, but I didn't get a chance with everything that was going on." Damon was still glaring at Jasmine, but he was smart enough this time to keep his distance.

Tyler narrowed his eyes as he stepped closer. "We don't need his help, Caroline." He tried to continue, but Caroline interrupted him. "Yes, we do. My mother's in danger and Silas is too powerful. I want Klaus to help." She wasn't going to let anyone's pride or feelings get in the way of protecting her mother. Tyler stared at Caroline, angry and hurt that she was accepting Klaus's help. Sophie, Ebony and Jasmine looked uncomfortable at the tension in the room.

Tyler was angry now, wait till he found out the rest, Caroline thought. She decided to get it all out. "Klaus is also on his way here, I tried to tell him that we could handle it but he wouldn't listen." As soon as the words came out, there was a collective groan that filled the room. Tyler moved away in disgust, not even wanting to look at Caroline anymore. Katherine, suddenly filled with sheer terror, jumped up as if she was going to take off running. Stefan grabbed her arm to sit her back down. "I'll protect you, it's going to be okay." Elena stared at Stefan in shock and pain as he rubbed Katherine's arm to ease her fear. Caroline was guessing that Elena was coming to grips that Stefan wasn't going to put her before everybody else anymore.

Damon threw up his hands with frustration. "We just got rid of him, what the hell?" Caroline crossed her arms, insulted on Klaus's behalf. Damon wasn't so eager to get rid of Klaus when he needed his blood to save his or Elena's life when they were dying from a werewolf bite. Caroline couldn't say much because she had used Klaus in the past herself, but now as his friend, she didn't feel comfortable with it anymore.

"Klaus already knew Caroline was in danger before she even talked to him. He wouldn't just sit back and do nothing." Rebekah said. Caroline wondered how Klaus knew, but before she could question Rebekah further, Jasmine interrupted. "Let's just skip the mellow drama and deal with Silas. What's the plan to take care of him?" The witches looked at the everyone as they all were quiet. Sophie's eyebrows raised in reaction. "You do have a plan, don't you?"

"That's what we were trying to do before you all rudely interrupted." Damon spat out, his pride having taken a hit. Stefan stepped forward to keep what little peace there was. "What do you know about Silas?"

Jasmine waved her hand, wanting him to skip that part. "We know how powerful he is, that he can read minds and appear as anyone." Jasmine came from an ancient witchcraft family, there had been rumors of Silas passed down.

Stefan nodded, deciding to let them in on the important parts. "What you probably don't know is that I'm Silas's doppelganger." Sophie exchanged looks of concern with her coven as Stefan continued. "He tries to impersonate me to get close to the people I care about. He's getting a thrill out of making my life miserable, like keeping me locked in a safe at the bottom of a river wasn't enough." Stefan bitterly shared.

Sophie's eyes softened with compassion as Stefan told his story. The experience that she had with her sister being held captive for years led her to sympathize with Stefan. Even Jasmine, who never had good things to say about vampires, looked as if she felt sorry for Stefan.

"We were trying to figure a way to trap him and give Bonnie enough time to entomb him." Stefan finished.

"I think we should handle this ourselves. No offense, but Klaus hasn't given us much reason to trust him." Elena said dismissively.

"Handling it ourselves hasn't given us much success. I trust Klaus and Sophie's coven." Caroline argued. "In New Orleans, they were there for me-"

"Didn't they kidnap you?" Elena asked with suspicion.

Jasmine stared Elena down. "There was a reason behind that. Caroline and Bonnie know why we did it and they still helped us. We're staying to protect Caroline, whether you like it or not." Caroline wasn't going to debate this anymore. If they didn't want to accept Caroline's faith in the witches, that's fine, but Sophie was willing to help and that's all that mattered to her.

Caroline stepped to Sophie. "We need to get to my mother before Silas tries anything else." Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Damon and Elena lock eyes to shake their head, definitely not in agreement. Tyler was standing by the window, ignoring the conversation. Caroline was disappointed in his attitude, he didn't have to like her decision, but he could at least support her.

"Caroline, we need to talk." Tyler said, turning back to the conversation.

Tyler was livid, anyone could see that as we left the room to gain what privacy we could. Caroline could understand, but she didn't feel she had much choice. If she didn't accept Sophie's help and something happened to her mother, she would never forgive herself.

"So, let me get this straight, you won't leave with me, but you'll accept Klaus's help?" Tyler couldn't get pass that, not that Caroline could blame him. But Caroline wasn't going to let his feelings come before protecting the people she cared about, even those that didn't want it.

"I'm not asking you to like this, but just trust me, this is the best way." Caroline said, trying to reason with him.

"Klaus in our lives is never the best way, Caroline. I thought you knew that. Every time he get's involved, it's worse off for the rest of us." Tyler scoffed. Caroline looked down in regret, that's something she used to believe. But she no longer felt that after everything he had done for her. Klaus made her stronger, more confident in her decisions. She trusted her instincts and everything in her was screaming that she was right to do it.

"I'm sorry you don't agree, but I'm going to let Sophie help." Caroline's last words sealed it as she stared hard in Tyler's eyes, not giving an inch. Caroline couldn't help but compare the two situations. Tyler had trusted Haley, to his own downfall, but he questioned Caroline's decisions a lot more than she liked. Even with Klaus involved, she wished Tyler would have more faith in her.

"No matter how I feel about it?" Tyler asked. Caroline nodded, sad that this was coming between them. Tyler and Caroline were on opposite sides of this debate and neither one was going to give. Elena came in the room and broke the ice.

"Caroline, how could you let these strangers come in and treat Damon that way?" Elena demanded. Caroline gave a roll of the eyes, as usual Elena's main thoughts were about herself. Caroline threw up her hands. "Maybe because he wouldn't listen, I guess next time he will." Caroline walked out, leaving Elena and Tyler to think what they want. As Caroline prepared to leave with Sophie and the others, Stefan offered to go with them. Katherine panicked but was put at ease with Damon's promise to Stefan to look out for her. Elena glared at Damon after he nodded at Stefan's request.

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The town square was quiet as we walked to the sheriff's office. Sophie assigned Ebony to guard her mother while and she and Jasmine would stay with Caroline. Liz was at her desk when the group walked in with Caroline leading the way.

"Who told you that I was a vampire?" Caroline asked as soon as she stepped in the room.

"Matt." Liz answered immediately, while looking at the three women with Stefan and her daughter. Her mother was obviously nervous with strangers at such a difficult time, but hopefully she would trust Caroline's faith in Sophie and her coven.

"Mom, this is Sophie, Jasmine and Ebony. They're here to help. Ebony is going to stay with you until Silas is taken care of." Caroline introduced hesitantly, worried about her mother's reaction.

Liz nodded after a moment before stepping forward. "It's nice to meet you. Thanks for helping." Caroline breathed with relief, at least one person wasn't being difficult. Caroline and her mother have had problems before, but Liz tried to support Caroline most of the time. Finding out that your only daughter was a vampire couldn't have been easy, but her mother surprised her with her acceptance after a little time. Sophie gave some last minute instruction to Ebony before we left.

As we walked back the way we came, Stefan suggested we take Sophie and Jasmine to the Grill before going back to the house. Caroline had a feeling Stefan wanted to avoid being around Damon and Elena as much as possible. As his friend, Caroline wanted to help Stefan as much as she could. Stefan had done so much for her, she wanted to return the favor.

We choose a table, ordered dinner and made small talk while we waited. Now that Caroline was actually able to talk to Sophie and Jasmine, she discovered it was pretty easy to do. Jasmine and Sophie didn't seem uncomfortable around Stefan, almost as relaxed as they were with Caroline.

"Well, your friends didn't leave us with a good first impression." Jasmine, in her straight forward way. Caroline nodded. "Sorry about that, they're just kind of uptight right now with everything going on." Jasmine snorted. "We are here to help, they could be a little more appreciative. And what's up with the asshole?"

Caroline had just taken a drink and almost choked as she tried to keep from laughing. Stefan smiled. "You mean my brother?" Jasmine drew back in surprise. "He's your brother? What, did the nice genes just get passed down to you?" Stefan let out a laugh, his first real one in a long time. Caroline smiled, glad to hear it again after everything he had been through.

Caroline shook her head, she had forgotten subtle wasn't really in Jasmine's vocabulary. Sophie held up a hand. "Jasmine." She said in a tone of warning before turning to Stefan. "Sorry, she didn't mean any harm." Jasmine mumbled softly. "Yes, I did." We all gave a short laugh in response.

Stefan, with amusement. "Damon doesn't trust too easily, but he's not bad." This time, Caroline mumbled. "Sometimes." Stefan tried again to keep the peace. "I guess I should say he's not bad when he wants to be, but he's just trying to protect me and Elena." His tone changed at the end, still in pain for all to see. Sophie and Jasmine caught it and looked at Caroline, who was staring at Stefan remorsefully.

Jasmine, the not so subtle one. "Oh, don't tell me she's been with both of you." Sophie smacked her arm with frustration. Stefan winced, answering her question. Jasmine shook her head in disbelief. "Jeez, after meeting you all, I don't feel so bad about my life." Sophie interrupted, with a glare Jasmine's way. "So, we've heard so many rumors about Mystic Falls, are most of them true?" Sophie received a grateful glance from Stefan as she changed the subject. The conversation moved to a happier one as they finished their dinner. Sophie and Stefan dived into some history of the town, something Sophie really seemed interested in. We were distracted as we left, in a good mood as Stefan and I enjoyed Jasmine and Sophie's company. Such a good mood that we didn't notice the figure standing in the middle of the street, directly in our path. Stefan noticed first, putting his arm in front of us to stop our progress.

The figure turned with the light from the moon shining down, capturing the beauty. A cry of surprise was torn from Sophie as she recognized the person, now smiling with joy at the group. It was Lucy. Caroline was frozen in shock, before she snapped out it, feeling anger at the low Silas would go to. It wasn't her, she was dead. She had been killed months ago in New Orleans.

"Lucy?" Sophie softly asked. Jasmine grabbed Sophie's arm to bring her back to reality. Sophie took a step away as she realized what was going on. Silas was playing his game, messing with their emotions. Jasmine, her jaw tightened with pain, started to pull her hand up as Lucy smiled in her sweet way.

"You want to hurt me, Jasmine?" Lucy/Silas asked. "I thought we were closer than that." The softness, that trademark of Lucy's was there for all to see. Everything was the same. Her blond curly hair, the friendly aura she used to shine with, even the clothes she wore the day she died. It was as if Silas had pulled the last memory we had of her from our consciousness. Stefan bared his teeth, sick of Silas's games. He flashed to attack, but Lucy/Silas moved quickly, still smiling. Jasmine put her palm out but Silas moved again to dodge Jasmine's attack this time.

Sophie, with tears glistering, stared hard Silas's way. Lucy/Silas grabbed her head in pain, but it didn't last as she shook it off. "I've been around a lot longer than you, that's not going to work." The words were barely out of her mouth before Jasmine stepped forward with both hands directed at Lucy/Silas. The force threw her away but she recovered quickly with a smirk. "I'll be seeing you." We blinked and the street was empty. They looked around at the quiet night, still shaken by the encounter. Caroline got the feeling Silas hadn't been there to attack but to see how much power the witches had. Jasmine put her arm around Sophie's shoulder as they both stared into the dark, missing their real friend.