Vicki entered her house. "Hey, Matt."

"Vicki, where were you today?" Matt asked. "I've been worried about you."

"It's no big deal." Vicki said. "I was tutoring someone."

"The police have been looking for you. They want to know what happened in the woods." Matt told her.

"I've been trying to avoid them." Vicki explained.

"Everyone's wondering where you are."

"All that matters is I'm back here, right?" Vicki asked.

"You're kidding, right? You're all anyone would talk about at school today, where you ditched, I should add, without letting anyone know if you were okay?" Matt pointed out.

Vicki was surprised. "Well, when you put it like that…" She started.

"I thought so."

At the Gilberts, Elena was on the phone. "I don't know where she is right now. I think she went home." She was saying.

"Really? Are you sure you're not just saying it cause he's been out looking for her?"

"I'm sure. Besides, she was at school all day." Elena said. She frowned as the thought crossed her mind. "She was there, wasn't she?"

"No. But whatever's going on with her, I hope she'll be okay."

"Look, I have to go now." Elena said. "Jeremy's trying to figure out what to do about this mess. And so am I."

"I hope you figure it out, Elena."

"Thanks, Stefan." She hung up the phone and went into the kitchen to find Jeremy.

"I can't believe this is happening." He told her.

"Hey, you wanna go to that Halloween party at school?" Elena asked.

"Really?" Jeremy looked at her like she was insane.

"I know this Vicki thing is hard on you." Elena said. "But if we don't make her forget this, it'll just cause more problems."

"I know that." Jeremy told her. "I'm just not sure it'll work."

"Hey. We're in this mess together, Jer." Elena pointed out. "We'll get through this."

That night, Elena was at the party. She didn't have anything else to wear, so she went wearing the same thing as last year-her nurse costume. "You went with the last year's costume too, huh?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. I didn't know I was coming until the last second."

"Same here." Matt told her.

"Jer and I have sort of gotten into a fight."

"Same with me and Vic after school." Matt said. "I almost didn't want to let her out of my sight here, but…"

"She's here." Elena said. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. She's dressed as a vampire."

"Oh, my god." Elena groaned. "Have you seen Jeremy?"

"Why, what's up?"

"I just need to find him." She told him.

Inside, Vicki was looking around for Jeremy and bumped into Stefan. "Sorry, I..." She looked up and saw him. "You again? Are you like following me or something?"

"Look, if you're worried I'm going to take you to be questioned, I'm not." Stefan told her. "In fact, my brother doesn't even know I'm here."

"So, why are you here?" Vicki asked, relieved that Damon wasn't around.

"Elena told me about your plan. You don't want to do this, Vicki."

"Why not?"

"You're not really thinking about what this means." Stefan explained. "When you change, all your senses are heightened. It'll take you a while before you can control them. And what about sunlight? You'll be stuck inside all day."

"You're just trying to scare me out of this, aren't you?"

"Of course not!" Stefan said. "We're all worried about you, Vic. You won't be able to make it as one."

At the Grill, Damon was meeting a woman from the council. "You're probably wondering why I called you here?"

"I'm guessing it has to do with the vervain."

"How'd you…"

"Our uncle used to supply it when he was on the Council."

"I can see if we have enough."

"Thank you, Damon." The woman said. "I should go. My husband's probably wondering where I am."

"Be careful out there. Wouldn't want them to go after you."

"If they ever did, I know how to defend myself." The woman said. "Not like our search has brought us any leads."

At the party, Elena was looking around. Finally, she found Stefan talking with Vicki. "Stefan."

"Elena, what is it?"

"I can't find Jeremy." Elena told him. "I'm glad you're here, though."

"Hey, Vic." Matt said. "We've been looking for you, too."

"She's fine. We were just talking." Stefan told him.

"Look, you seem nice, but the thing is, I don't trust you." Vicki told Stefan.

"Vicki, it's okay." Elena said. "If it's one thing I know, it's that he's not like his brother at all."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean anything to me." Vicki said. "Matt, can we get out of here?"

"Wait, is something going on here?" Matt asked. The three of them looked at each other, unsure how to respond.

"Look, everything's going to be okay." Elena told him.

"Did he do something to her?" He asked Stefan. It was like he didn't even hear Elena. When she turned back, she noticed Vicki wasn't with them anymore.

"She's gone!" She yelled without thinking. The guys looked up and noticed.

"We'll split up." Stefan suggested. Elena nodded and took off. "I promise, I will do whatever I can to help Vicki." He told Matt before leaving. Matt stood there for a second, then ran to see if he could find Vicki.

In the gym, Jeremy was walking around. Suddenly, Vicki showed up. "Vic, don't do that. You scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry. I didn't know you guys could get scared." Vicki said.

"Just cause I'm…you know…it doesn't mean we don't get spooked." Jeremy told her.

"Can we talk somewhere?" Jeremy reluctantly followed her out of the gym.

Elsewhere, Damon was talking with Bonnie. "So, have you seen Caroline lately?"

"Last I checked, she was probably getting drunk." Bonnie told him.

"Where'd you get that necklace?" He asked her.

"About that. Caroline's been meaning to return it." Bonnie explained. "She's the one who found it the night you saved her."

"Just make sure it doesn't get damaged." Damon told her. "I'm trusting you with it for now." He disappeared into the crowd.

Bonnie tried to find him, but it was like he'd vanished. "Okay, that was really weird." She said, noticing his disappearance. Then she looked down at the necklace. It was glowing. When she checked it again, the glow faded.

Outside, Vicki was with Jeremy. "Look, I'm kinda worried about you, Vic."

"I'm fine. But I want to be with you, Jer."

"What are you saying?" Jeremy asked.

"I don't care about how dangerous it is. I'm willing to be with you no matter what happens."

"Even if it means giving up your life, your home, your family?" Jeremy asked. "What about Matt?"

"Come on, we know he'll manage. I'd rather be with you forever."

"I'm sorry, Vicki. I won't do it." Jeremy told her. "I don't want you to have to live this way. It's a curse, not a gift." Vicki looked at him in shock. Then she took a deep breath.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." She said. She pulled a stake out of the sleeve of her costume. Technically, it was just a stick she found lying around outside.

"What are you doing?" Jeremy asked. She tried to use it on her wrist, but it didn't work. "Cut it out, Vic."

"I should've known your sister would've convinced you not to."

"She didn't convince me of anything! I already wasn't going to turn you. I'm not going to watch you throw away your life, your brother, for something like this." Jeremy told her. He was holding her up against a bus at this point.

"Can't…breathe…" Vicki gasped.

"Sorry." Jeremy loosened his grip. As soon as she did, she pushed him back, catching him off guard. "You have got to be kidding me." Jeremy said. Then he looked behind her. "Vicki, I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice. Now!"

Suddenly, Elena appeared behind Vicki and grabbed her. The girl was so shocked she dropped the stake.

"Let go of me!"

"Stop struggling." Elena told her. "I don't wanna hurt you."

"Vicki, calm down." Jeremy said.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Everyone froze. Jeremy turned and noticed Stefan.

"We're trying to help her." Elena explained. "She kinda lost it." He looked at her, then at Vicki, then back to her. He nodded, understanding. "Now, Jer. I don't know how much longer I can hold her."

"Vicki, look at me." Jeremy told her. Vicki looked at him. "You're going to forget my secret. You're going to forget I'm a vampire. You remember that you had a problem with your dress and that Elena helped you with it." He paused and looked at Elena for help.

She nodded, telling him to continue. "You'll stop taking drugs and see a counselor to deal with the issue. Finally…" He placed a vervain bracelet in her hand. "You will never, ever, take this bracelet off. For any reason. Do you understand?" Vicki nodded. Elena let go of her.

Jeremy couldn't stand to be at the school anymore, so he ran off. "Jeremy…" Elena began. "Can you take her back inside?" She asked Stefan. He seemed hesitant, but agreed to do it. She didn't notice Damon standing nearby.

At home, Bonnie walked in feeling really confused about the necklace. "What happened?" Her grandmother asked.

"I don't know. While I was at the party, my necklace started glowing." Bonnie told her.

"Where'd you get that?" Grams asked, looking at the necklace.

"A friend let me borrow it for my costume." She explained.

"That belonged to one of the strongest witches in our family." Her grandmother told her. "Here, right here." She showed her a photo album. "There she is. Your great aunt, Emily Bennett." Bonnie gasped when she saw the picture. The woman in it was wearing the same necklace she had.

Back outside the school, Elena sat down on a bench. She looked down. She felt like she wanted to scream. Instead, she tried to calm down by taking a few deep breaths. "You okay here?" Damon asked, sitting next to her.

"I can't believe any of this happened." She admitted.

"Which part? The one where you got found out or the thing with Vicki."

"Both, but mostly the second." Elena told him. "And what am I going to do about Jeremy? I hate that he got into this situation."

That was when he got it. He understood, and it surprised him. "You feel guilty about it. I didn't know you guys could even feel anything." Elena stood up and laughed bitterly at that statement.

"Thought we couldn't feel." She repeated, angrily. She didn't know if she was angry at him, the mess they got into, or herself. "Not all of us are monsters." She left him there.

It wasn't long before she ran into Matt. "Hey, Elena. Have you seen…whoa." Elena looked down at her costume. The edge of her skirt had gotten frayed during the struggle with Vicki. "Something happen?"

"No, it was already like this. It is a year old, remember?" Elena told him.

"Did you see Vicki around anywhere?"

"Last I checked, Stefan was with her." Elena told him.

"Thanks. I'm going to see if I can find them. I'm her only way home." Matt said.

"I thought she had her license."

"Are you forgetting about New Year's last year?"

"Oh, right." Elena said. "I'll see you around."

When she got back to her house, Stefan was waiting outside. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"I have to talk with my brother." Elena told him. "I'll be back out soon, though." She went upstairs and found Jeremy in his room. "Are you okay?"

"No." She sat down next to him. "I never thought she'd lose and try to…"

"Neither did I. But we should've guessed with her unstable personality."

"Well, guess we don't have to worry about it anymore." Jeremy turned away from her. Elena understood.

"Jer, don't. We'll get through this, please. Keep it on." He listened to her. When he turned back, she noticed how upset he was.

"I hate this so much. I miss being human." Jeremy told her. Elena held him.

"I miss it, too, Jer." She said, not even trying to hide her tears as they fell. They were both holding each other and crying by now. Stefan had gone inside and saw everything from the bedroom doorway. Damon was with him. Neither of them knew what to say to each other. After a few minutes, Damon left.

Outside, Elena went to talk with Stefan. She had calmed down by now. "Thanks for waiting."

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked.

"Not really." Elena told him. She sat down next to him on the porch steps."They used to date. Before this happened."

"I wish I could help." He turned to her. "I mean, if there was anything I could do…"

"All we can do is try to keep our emotions in check."

"What…what do you mean?" Stefan asked.

"Some vampires choose to turn off their humanity." Elena explained. "One of the reasons is because when we're upset or hurt, it really hurts. It takes everything in us just to keep fighting the downsides."

"I didn't know…"

"Neither did I. After all, both our ancestors were vampire-hating extremists." Elena pointed out. She laughed.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." Elena said. She looked out at the sky. A feeling of sadness crept back in. "There are times where I wish I were human again, too. Not having to hide this secret from everyone. Just be normal, like everyone else."

"Normal can get pretty boring sometimes, though."

"Yeah, but I just hate feeling so sad all the time." Elena told him. "But even though I hate being what I am now, I wouldn't change anything. I'm lucky to have you as a friend, Stefan." He looked at her in surprise.

"Even if you were human, it wouldn't change anything." Stefan pointed out. "Even if I hadn't found out about this, I'd always be your friend, Elena." The two of them looked at each other. Even though they were different, they felt as though they really understood each other.