"Isn't it funny that we, vampires, have our own council in a town that has a council against us?" I asked amusedly as I sat down on the couch.

The Boarding House living room was full. All the Cullens, except Carlisle who was working, Stefan, Jake and I were gathered to discuss what to do from now on. Caroline stayed with Bonnie and her mom, Abby, helping pack, they were leaving town as quick as possible so there wouldn't be any accidents with the newborn vampire. Care had updated Stefan and Damon, saying Abby was acting weird, and Bonnie was still hurt about her mother's 'murder'. I could relate to weird, I had freaked out when I found out that as a vampire I had lost all my powers. And although I understood why Bonnie was upset, she would just have to understand that we had to do something, and our only options were kill Abby or change Bonnie.

"Edward is going with Caroline to help Abby adjust" Esme said once Damon came back with a drink for me.

"I'll keep my phone with me all times" Edward said from the corner, he was leaned against the wall, watching everyone. "If anything comes up, just call and I'll run back. We won't have many problems, I think"

"With most of the Originals gone, we just have Rebekah and Klaus to deal with" Emmett said.

"And that girl seems more interested in cheerleading than killing for now" Rose said.

I could feel the tension rolling off Jake. He sat across from me, arms crossed, a deep frown, but looking down, as if he didn't want to be there.

"Jake? Is there something you want to say?" I asked softly.

He looked up at me, his frown deepened for a moment and then softened a bit.

"I'm sorry. I should have known better" he sighed. "I know none of you like her, and that you judge me for imprinting on her…"

"It's okay, dear, you can't control who you love" Esme said soothingly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I thought she would change. She was helping us on homecoming, with Mikael and Klaus" he murmured.

"Elena did stab her in the back" Rose said.

"Because we had to, Rebekah would get in our way eventually" Damon said.

"And that doesn't mean she can try to kill Bella and Elena" Jake said angrily. "She can't change, she's Barbie Klaus, and… Sam is not happy with this. The whole pack isn't. So, I'm leaving town"

"Can you?" I frowned. "If you imprinted on her…"

"I can try" he shrugged standing up. "Leah is staying, to help with anything, and so you guys have a connection to La Push. We'll come right away if needed" he looked at me with sadness. "I'm sorry"

I nodded slowly and he left.

"So, no Kol, no Elijah, no Finn, no Esther, no Jake… No Edward, no Witch and no Caroline for a while" Damon said. "So what do we do?"

"We have to deal with the Volturi" I said.

"We can't deal with the Volturi, Bella" Jasper said.

"He's right" Alice mumbled.

"Well, we can't just stay here, waiting for death!"

"And what do you want us to do?" Rosalie asked. "We have to wait to see what they'll do"

"Maybe I should return, that might keep them away" I suggested.

Damon shook his head, his grip on my thigh tightening.

"No" Esme said.

"Absolutely not" Edward agreed.

"Alice" I said, begging for help.

"I still see them coming when you decide to go, Bella. It won't change anything now" she said sadly.

"Your visions are not certain" Stefan said.

"And it doesn't seem like they'll come anytime soon" Edward said. "Your vision would be much clearer. We don't have to worry about it for now"

"We have to worry now, prepare to fight" I snapped.

"Well, can we discuss what to do with Klaus?" Stefan said trying to change the subject.

I groaned and sunk on the couch. Damon shot me an amused look, and sipped his bourbon.

"We have no way to kill him, and he might keep the Volturi away for now" I said.

"He has hybrids all over town, that is a problem" Damon said.

"If they try something… We kill them"

"Then he'll use Elena to create more" Esme reminded me.

"He will create more, killing the ones he has or not" I said. "It's not so easy to find a werewolf pack, he would have to go out of town on a search trip… That doesn't sound bad to me. With the werewolves changing into hybrids, there won't be bloodlines, so soon he'll run out of werewolves to change"

"Alright. I think we're done" Edward said pushing off the wall, and going to the door. "I gotta go"

"Wait!" Damon snapped as the others started to stand. "What about the serial killer?"

"I thought you had it under control" Edward frowned.

"Oh, yes, I'm Sherlock Holmes, I knew who it was from the beginning. Unfortunately, people want evidence and I have none against Meredith Fell"

"Meredith isn't the killer" Emmett said. "You just want to blame her for what happened to Bella. Bella is over it, get over it too, Damon. I'm sorry"

"Her boyfriend was killed, the one who probably knew what she was doing to her patients. Then Bill Forbes, her patient, dies… And Alaric was stabbed" Damon pointed out.

The Cullens all exchanged glances.

"What?" I asked worriedly.

"Carlisle warned us that he attended Sheriff Forbes' suspect, he is in jail" Esme said.

"What?" Damon snapped standing up. "Why don't I know that? Who is it?"

"It's Ric" Edward said. "Meredith shot him after he tried to attack her"

Damon burst in the police station, understandably pissed. Pushing past an officer, he headed towards the cells, the man turned to stop him with an angry scowl and I grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back. He glared at me and I glared right back.

"Try to stop us" I said threateningly.

I knew he couldn't be compelled, Liz gave the officers vervain, but he stopped fighting, looking at me with fearful eyes. I wondered for a moment if my face was changing, but I knew I was in control. I let him go and rushed to catch up with Damon.

"You two can't be in here!" Liz snapped following us as we got to Ric's cell.

He looked confused, and relieved to see us.

"Let him go" I told Liz.

"I can't do that, Bella" she said.

"He's not the killer!" Damon snapped.

"Liz, for god's sake, I was stabbed!" Ric pointed out.

"We are considering you injured yourself to erase suspicions" she said and we all scowled at her. "Look, I don't want to do this. But things look really bad. He had access to the Gilberts' stakes, stakes that Elena touched leaving her fingerprints"

"Anyone can break into her house and steal it" I said.

"Meredith…"

"You're arresting him for what that nut job Dr. Fell says?" Damon asked angrily.

"No, I'm detaining him. The cell is for his own good" Liz said and turned to Alaric. "You were shot. Dr. Fell used vampire blood to heal you. What happened to Bella... we don't need it happening again"

"Dr. Fell is the one who shot me" Ric protested.

"Because you came at her with a knife!" Liz said exasperated.

"I did not! I only found a knife hidden in her things!"

"Let's calm down" I said with a sigh. "No chance of you getting him out of here?"

"No" Liz asked.

"No bail?" she shook her head at me. "He has the right to a lawyer"

Damon scoffed as if I was being silly.

"An innocent man doesn't plead his case" Liz said.

"So, you are giving us no choice but to leave him here?" I asked scowling.

"I'm just waiting for the coroner's report about the death of the medical examiner. Then we'll see" she said sadly.

I rolled my eyes at her, knowing that for what it seemed like, Dr. Fell would find a way to incriminate Ric on it too. Damon and I were walking out of station when Elena came running in, still in her work-out clothes.

"What happened? Where is he?" she asked.

"Liz won't get him out for now" Damon said.

"What will we do?"

"Nothing" I said. "We can't do anything, there are guards watching"

"Your friend's in jail for murder. You have to do something!" she insisted.

"I could rip out Dr. False Accusations' throat. Maybe her tongue. You know, I could chew it up into little tiny pieces and feed it to squirrels" Damon mused.

"Squirrels?" I scoffed. "I would feed it to pigs"

"Stop it! We can't kill everyone who starts trouble" Elena protested.

"Guess me staying out of it suddenly sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?" Damon said tugging on my hand. "Come on, Bella, let's go"

"You have to trust we'll do the right thing about Ric" I told Elena and she gave me a disbelieving look. "We saved your life last night. You're welcome by the way"

"You could at least show a little compassion about Bonnie" she murmured.

"You're right, her and her mom must be really hurting right now. Should I send lasagna?" Damon mocked. "My priority is do that"

"Now you're just being mean" I commented with a frown.

"I'm mean, Elena hates me… The Earth is back on its axis!"

I rolled my eyes at him and gave Elena a reassuring smile before walking out with him.

"Any idea of what we will do?" I asked as we entered the car.

"I think so" he muttered.

We walked in the Boarding House. I was checking my messages. Alice updated me that Edward said everything was going as fine as possible with Bonnie's mom, and that she had a glimpse of Demetri running on some place with a lot of snow. It could be anywhere, Alaska, North Pole, South Pole, Iceland, Russia…

"Hey, Stef" Damon greeted happily.

Stefan gave me a questioning look and I shrugged eyeing Damon suspiciously.

"What do you want?" Stefan asked.

"I was hoping we could hand. You know a little brother bonding. I know we don't actually 'hang out'. We team up, we join forces, we activate our Wonder Twins powers"

"I'm gonna keep an eye on Dr. Fell and Ric" I said.

I didn't know what Damon was planning, but apparently he didn't need my help.

"What do you say, brother? You wanna go get drunk?" Damon asked, ignoring what I said.

Stefan gave me another look and smirked at Damon.

"Oh, I get it, I get it. Your best friend is in jail, your girlfriend stopped pretending she doesn't care so you don't have anything to do with yourself" Stefan said.

"There's that and I was hoping you could help me solve a murder" Damon said going to the study.

I followed him, and Stefan waited a second.

"What are you planning?" I whispered to Damon.

"Nothing" he said innocently.

"We're in this together, Damon, I can help"

He didn't answer me, just gave me a long look that I interpreted as 'just go with the flow'. Stefan entered the study, leaned against the wall. While Damn looked between books and family journals, I watched Stefan. He couldn't stand still. He was twitchy. He ignored me and sat down, spinning in the chair while Damon continued to look for something.

"You know, quitting blood cold turkey after a ripper binge might not be the best approach" I said. "You'll leave a trail of bodies, you can't play this game of all or nothing"

"What do you know?" he asked harshly.

Damon glanced at us.

"I tried doing it. It didn't work" I said calmly. "Snapped, drank so much I blacked out. Thankfully, they covered it for me. Hard to explain why dozens of people suddenly died. Pay our old friend moderation a visit"

"So you moderate now?" Stefan asked cocking an eyebrow.

"No. Just a suggestion" I murmured.

"What are you doing, Damon?" Stefan asked irritably.

I looked as Damon went through Stefan's diaries.

"Do you remember when we came back for Zachariah's funeral?" Damon asked.

"The grand-nephew you killed?" I asked confusedly. "Weren't you in town already?"

"Our nephew. The first Zachariah Salvatore" Damon explained.

"You had a brother?"

"Half-brother" Stefan answered.

"The bloodline had to go on" Damon said. "Not that it was dad's worst worry when he got the maid knocked up. So, do you remember his funeral?"

"Vaguely, why?" Stefan asked suspicious.

"If memory serves, he wasn't the first founder's council member killed that year or even that month" Damon said.

"Your point being?"

"I'm trying to remember what year it was"

"1912"

"Vaguely, huh?" I asked Stefan amusedly as Damon narrowed his search. "What are you implying, Damon?"

"I'm not implying anything. I'm just saying there were council members killed that year too, connect the dots, darling" Damon said pulling a diary with a flourish.

"So, the killer is a vampire?" I asked. "Someone that was here in 1912?"

"If someone didn't kill another family member…"

"I didn't" Stefan snapped at Damon's accusation.

"Well, then, that has to be it" Damon said shrugging flipping through pages. "Although, we were the only vampires in town then"

"That's not true" Stefan smirked. "There was your friend, Sage"

"She didn't do it, not her style and she told me so" Damon said.

"And you believed her?" I asked.

"Why would she lie?"

"Because you were the uncle of one of the victims?" I shrugged.

"It wasn't her" he said in a no-discussion tone.

"So, we're looking for someone who's been here in 1912 and that is back? There isn't anyone back" I said.

"This town is full of families that like to follow tradition" Stefan said. "Maybe we just have to find a descendent that is a bit nuts"

"In Mystic Falls?" I smirked. "Well, we'll take some time to narrow that down"

Stefan chuckled and Damon snapped the diary closed.

"Let's go out for a drink" Damon told Stefan.

I stayed in their study, searching for any books that could have records of 1912 and they went out. I found a couple of report books and went to the library. Mrs. Jones, the eighty-years-old librarian, welcomed me warmly and asked if she could help with anything. I knew that the town's records on population, death and events were in the restricted session, so I compelled her to let me go there. I got the folders of that decade and calmly walked out of the library with them. I walked the couple of blocks to the police station and when I got there a couple of officers tried to stop me from seeing Ric.

"Get out of my way" I snapped pushing past them.

"What are you doing here?" Ric asked when I approached his cell.

"Damon is onto something with Stefan and I'm gonna investigate this murders" I said sitting on the ground and crossing my legs. "Thought I could keep you company"

"We tried to block her, but she's an insisting feisty little thing" an officer was saying as he followed Liz.

"I get it" Liz said soothingly to him. "I'll take it from here"

"If you didn't give them vervain…" I shrugged flipping through pages.

"What are you doing?"

"Keeping him some company" I said innocently. "Is there a law against it? If so, arrest me, Liz"

"What are you up to? Are those the city records? The restricted city records?" Liz asked eyeing the folders.

"Yeah, I need to check something"

"Bella…"

"Liz, you arrested my friend. You owe me the chance of doing something to help him" I snapped. "Now, I'm gonna stay peacefully here while checking these"

"I can't…"

"Think of it as a favor you are doing to town"

"How so?"

"Well, I'm starving, and this is distracting me for now" I shrugged.

She stared at me in shock, exchanged a look with Ric and with a sigh left.

"You like to scare people" Ric murmured.

"I like to be honest"

"At least I'm safe from you inside the cell" he joked.

"Ric, if I truly wanted to kill you, I could destroy these bars and have my wicked way with you…" I smirked. "Well, your neck"

"You sound so much like him" he frowned. "He's rubbing off on you"

"Damon?" I grinned. "Oh, he's rubbing on me alright"

He chuckled and sat on the floor, watching me do the research.

A couple of hours reading reports, I discovered that besides Zachariah Salvatore, Fells, Swans, Lockwoods and other founding families members were killed. I asked Ric why he was attacked, what was his connection to the other victims was. He had joined the council, forced his way in basically, before Prank Night.

"So, you were in Italy?" he asked conversationally.

"Yeah… Didn't get to visit much though"

"So, you were trained in combat, brainwashed and held as prisoner. That sounds fun" he muttered.

"Brainwashed?" I chuckled. "Ric, when you have eternity, you have to adapt to it. I can't feed on animals and I would go insane, suicidal with the guilt"

"Stefan seemed to have it under control"

"Seemed. He was weak, he couldn't control himself if he tasted a drop of human blood, and he carried all this guilt"

"So, it's better to be a ripper?"

"No, but I had to accept what I am. I can't let guilt destroy me, and I have to feed to survive, so" I shrugged.

I didn't listen to his answer as I frowned at something. I unfolded the delicate aged piece of paper, and read the article. Turning the page, I found the police report and a medical evaluation.

"What?" Ric asked as I stood up, gathering the things.

"Sorry, Ric, I gotta go" I said hurriedly.

I threw the things on the passenger seat of the Ferrari. Although I liked the car Demetri picked on the way here, it was too flashy for this town. And it was exactly what Damon pointed out when I parked on the back of the Grill, where he was with Rebekah and Stefan.

"Discreet" Damon said as I got out of the car.

"We have a bit of a problem" I said.

"What now?"

I glared at Rebekah.

"Shoo" I said.

"Excuse me?" she snapped angrily.

"I'm gonna rip your head off, there's no one to stop me this time. Jake is gone, and I don't feel like I owe a thing to your brother"

"Go ahead, let's see what you can do"

"Girls, girls" Damon said getting between me and Rebekah. "Let's all calm down. Now… Rebekah, go bother someone else. We have more important matters"

"You're an asshole" she snapped.

"I've been told. Now, leave!" he snapped back.

She huffed and I shot her a look. She rolled her eyes at me and smirked. She was planning something, and I was not going to like it, for sure. She turned and walked away. I rolled my eyes at her retreating form and Damon cocked an eyebrow at me.

"What was she doing with you?" I asked frowning.

"She is up to something, I'll find out what later" he said. "What's the problem"

"If Liz follows our idea of investigating the descendent of the serial killer of 1912… Elena or Jeremy will be blamed. It was Samantha Gilbert who did that, she confessed a couple of years later and they sent her to a sanatorium"

"Jeremy is out of town" Damon frowned.

"What are you implying?" Stefan asked with a scowl. "That is was Elena? Have you lost your mind?" he snapped.

"No, but you are easily losing your cool" Damon glared at him. "You can't do this cold turkey thing, Stefan, it's messing with your head. You can't handle it, you never did. Time to get that monkey off your back"

He got in the way of a girl who was passing by and she looked at him with a frown.

"Don't make a sound" Damon compelled her.

Grabbing her by the waist, he bit her on the neck and then turned her to Stefan. I stared at the blood, the drops going down her neck, staining her olive skin and the neckline of her grey top. Her heart was racing, she was struggling against Damon's hold on her neck, but she didn't make a sound as he told her.

Thump, thump, thump, thump…

"Damon" I said shakily feeling my fangs elongate as my eyes changed.

"Easy" he said to me harshly. "Feed or I'll let Bella have her way with her. You know she'll kill her. Then her blood will be on your hands. Or you could just have a little drink, save her life. Come on, Stefan. You were the one that said you didn't want any more innocent lives slaughtered. Save her. Go on, have a bite. I snatched, you eat, I'll erase. Hell, I'll even heal her for you."

I looked away but a second later I was back to focusing on the blood.

"Look at what you're doing to Bella!" Stefan snapped. "Why are you doing this? You know what blood does to me."

"Because you let it control you. You always have. I'm just here to help you learn how to fight it." Damon said calmly and looked at me. "You, I know you can control it. You did it before, do it"

The fact that Damon was ignoring my weakness to help his brother was overshadowed by the thirst. I whimpered at the burn in my throat and Damon seemed to realize it was not so simple. He let go of the girl, and held me by the shoulders. He looked into my wild eyes and frowned.

"Bella, calm down" he said.

The girl had fallen on the ground, shaking and silently crying. I tried to push Damon away but his grip on my shoulders tightened. Stefan rushed to the girl's side to help her, looking at me, guarded. Stefan had forgotten she was bleeding. How could he forget that sweet, warm, enticing scent? Damon was saying something to me but all I could hear was thump, thump, thump. Reality finally hit Stefan. He closed his eyes with a scowl of pain and his face changed. He turned to the girl, and slowly the hesitation faded in his eyes. His lips closed in on the bite and I could feel the blood being drained slowly. I snarled at Damon and grabbing his arm, I twisted and passed underneath it before pushing him to the ground. Someone was stealing my prey. Stefan turned to me with blood on his lips, and grabbed me by the neck, not letting me come nearer the prey. I grabbed his hand and pulled it away from me before biting the girl on the other side of her neck. She whimpered quietly, her hands pushing against my unyielding body. The blood went down my throat like silk, quenching the burn. Her heart was slowing down and I was coming back to my senses. Hands were holding me, pulling and pushing.

"She has to let go, if I pull her she'll break the girl in half!" I heard Damon snap.

"You want me to tear her jaw off?" Stefan snapped back.

Thump.

The grip on my arms and waist loosened as I drank the last of the girl's blood and I blinked twice before focusing on Stefan, standing in front of me with a worried, shocked frown. Damon's hands on my waist slipped to my stomach and his arms wrapped around me from behind. I let the body fall to the ground and blinked once more.

"You're okay?" Damon murmured in my ear.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"You…" he trailed off not knowing what to say.

"I told you. I'm… I don't have control" I murmured.

"What the hell is going on here?"

We turned and I winced. Elena and Matt were feet away, staring at us with shock and horror. I could imagine what it looked like. One body, two vampires with bloody mouths – one of them her boyfriend.

"What did you do?" she breathed looking between me and Stefan.

Stefan quickly wiped the blood from his chin.

"Relax, Elena. It was just a little experiment" Damon said. I knew he wanted to say 'a failed experiment'. "There's no need to make this more dramatic than it needs to be"

"You killed a girl. No need to make it dramatic?" she snapped. "Good Lord, what happened to you all?"

She ran away and Matt quickly followed her. Damon tossed keys to Stefan.

"Take my car, the trunk is plastic covered for the body" Damon said tugging on my hand.

He took the keys from me and we got in the Ferrari, leaving Stefan to deal with the body.

"I told you… I'm a ripper, like Stefan" I said as he drove top speed to his house. "Maybe worse"

"This is just consequences of your time with the Volturi. We'll get you back on track, Bella. You did it on your birthday"

"Yes, and I also killed people that night" I sighed.

"I'm sorry. I… I thought you were exaggerating, and I needed help with Stefan" he said softly.

"It's okay" I said taking his hand. "It kind of worked… he didn't kill her and it wasn't his fault that she died"

"See?" he squeezed my hand. "You still are the annoyingly forgiving Bella"

I chuckled and leaned back on my seat. At Ferrari's top speed we quickly got to the Boarding House and when he parked the car, he turned to me.

"C'mere" he whispered.

He gently cupped my face, wiping some of the blood with his thumb. I gave him a weak smile and playfully sucked his thumb, licking it clean of blood. He kissed me hard, erasing the taste of blood in my mouth until I could only taste him.

"I love you" I murmured against his lips.

"You too" he murmured before kissing me again, this time more gently.

I got out of the shower and put one of Damon's shirts on before going downstairs. Damon had been talking to Stefan, and I let them have some privacy but the subject had just returned to the Founder's Council killer – Samantha Gilbert.

"It couldn't be" Damon was saying as I entered the living room.

"Why?" Stefan asked.

"I killed her" Damon said calmly. "I'm sure of it"

"So she's a vampire?" Stefan frowned.

"No, her death report says she tried to do a lobotomy on herself with a knitting needle and bled to death. There was even an article on it" I said. "And she couldn't have compelled everyone to hid her existence, because the council had vervain, remember?"

"So… you didn't kill her" Stefan said uncertainly.

"No, I'm certain I killed her" Damon said firmly.

"She's a Gilbert!" I said as the bulb lit in my head. I took my phone to call Elena. "She had her grandfather's ring, the one Emily spelled against supernatural death! The same one that was passed on through generations…"

"Until Isobel gave it to Ric" Damon concluded with a deep frown.

"So, the ring is why Ric is killing people?" Stefan asked.

I read the message on my phone with a confused frown. I looked at them and sighed.

"Dr. Fell just took off the charges against Ric, the coroner's report says the time of death of the medical examiner is wrong. Ric was at the party" I said confusedly.

"Samantha went insane. She had blackouts, during which she killed people" Stefan said. "Like Ric said he blacked out from drinking after the party"

"What do we do?" I asked worriedly. "We can't let Liz arrest Ric. He's all family Elena and Jeremy have"

"Dammit" Damon grumbled rubbing his forehead.

"Maybe there's a cure" Stefan said. "A witch did the ring, maybe Bonnie could help"

"Except Bonnie is mad because of her mother" Damon said.

"Since when someone didn't help because of anger, Damon?" I pointed out. "We always help each other, Bonnie will. We're family… Or at least Elena is to her"