A/N: My stats are telling me that there are at least 130 people who are following this story up to now, which really makes me happy and tells me that I must be doing something right. Still, there are only 6 people who have reviewed so far (not counting my most wonderful beta, Dreamthrower). Remember - reviews are the only reward writers are getting for sharing our work with you here (which I personally think is even better than money), and I anxiously check every day if there is a new one. So if you have a minute to spare, please leave a comment – I'm dying to know what you're thinking! And huge thanks to all those wonderful people who have already commented and made me very happy with their kind words!

ALYS

I felt a wave of immense relief on hearing from Stefan that Elena had been over to see him the night before. When he had all of a sudden shown up at my drama class meeting to pick me up Thursday night, I had immediately known something was amiss. He had been utterly devastated, and ever since telling me how Elena had accidentally stumbled in on a fight he'd had with Damon and what she had witnessed, I had been, too. But I couldn't help feeling a weird kind of relief as well.

Elena knew – and this finally put an end to all the lying and hiding and keeping things from her. It had not been easy. How do you hide an essential part of what you are from someone, in the forced intimacy of a dorm room? I doubted that it would have worked out with anyone but Elena. She had never once opened my fridge. If she thought me a paranoid, psychopathic freak, she had been gracious about it from the day we met.

What would she be thinking now, knowing that she had spent an entire year with a vampire in the closet – almost literally speaking, considering the lack of space? That I had lusted for her blood? Not that I had. The cravings usually corresponded to the other hungers and longings people felt, and thus tended to focus on the opposite gender. It was manageable to be close with females, as long as I wasn't desperately hungry, and I always saw to that. With boys, on the other hand... I had never told Elena why I did not care get close to all her friends. Nor had I told her that I was meeting Jeremy at the library every other weekend. I still felt guilty about that.

At least I was now able to make my warnings about Damon a bit more specific, so that she'd be more inclined to listen to them. Provided she'd be willing to talk to me at all, after finding out that I had been betraying her confidence and her friendship for so long. Despite Stefan's reassurances, I spent my whole weekend worrying about seeing her on Monday.

But then, unexpectedly, Elena showed up at the boarding house on Sunday afternoon. I was in my room, writing in my diary, when Damon called up that she was there to see me. Nervously, I came down, still not sure what kind of reaction to expect from her.

Elena was obviously feeling awkward, too, at least judging from the glance she gave me. "Let's go for a walk," I suggested, not wanting Damon to be privy to our talk. "In a vampire house, walls definitely have ears."

Elena looked a little confused at that. "Extra sensitive hearing," I explained. "Didn't Damon tell you?"

She threw him a quizzical look. "Well, we probably didn't get everything covered. I know about extra speed, super strength and frightening mind-powers. Is there anything else you forgot to mention?"

"We're awesome in the sack!" Damon put in, smirking. "But I didn't forget to mention it. I just don't brag."

Elena rolled her eyes and dragged me to the door. So apparently, she wasn't afraid or terribly uncomfortable around me.

"Have fun, girls!" Damon winked, cheerfully calling after Elena: "And don't get yourself bitten – there's mosquitos out there!"

I shot him a reproachful look and grabbed my jacket. The sun was just on the brink of going down as we passed the house and took the little trail that was leading into the woods bordering the premises. "I'm sorry..." was the first thing I blurted out, as soon as were out of Damon's earshot. "For having to lie to you all this time. I'm not saying that I normally don't – it wouldn't be true. In fact, you get used to it. It's all I've been doing, for decades and decades."

"Yes," Elena said softly. "I can imagine that you just don't think about it anymore, after a while."

I took a deep breath. "I didn't, in the beginning. Sharing a room with you was just an inconvenience I had to put up with. You might laugh about Bonnie being psychic and such, but she really is. She knew something was wrong with me, and I had to be extremely careful not to even touch her. I couldn't compel her, either – witches are immune to the mind powers, unless they allow you into their minds."

"Did you ever compel me?" Elena asked, fearful of my answer. At least that I could answer with complete and utter honesty. "No, never! I couldn't have done it, anyway, but it wasn't even necessary. You really respected my need for privacy, which I found hard to believe. I had learned long ago not to put my trust in anybody, and learning that you were actually worthy of it was making it ever harder to lie to your face. You felt like a friend, and I haven't had a friend in years. I'm afraid I'm not good at that."

Elena smiled. "You did fine."

"Considering what I am, you mean?"

"Considering how hard it must be for you to be burdened with a secret so dark and dangerous that it requires being dishonest even with people you feel close to. Considering how hard it must be allow yourself to be close to anybody at all."

I gave her a surprised look. How was it possible that she understood how much of a curse eternal life really was? "It's kind of funny, actually," I said. "People are so obsessed with the idea of immortality... It's something that mankind has always been striving for – eternal youth, eternal beauty, eternal life. They never think about what it really means."

"Well, it does have some undeniable advantages to it. I think it would be nice never to worry about growing old, but keeping a young and supple body forever."

"You do? I envy you for being able to age."

"What's great about that?" Elena asked. "You get wrinkles, it gets harder to keep weight off, and eventually, your body might not be able to keep up with your mind anymore."

"Yes. So don't you see what I'll be missing out on? I stopped maturing at nineteen, and I will stay 19 for ever."

"Not really," she objected. "You just don't change appearance."

I sighed. Yes, that's what it must look like to humans – that we were living normal lives with the benefit of an ageless body. But the possibilities were pitifully restricted. Some things could only to be obtained with age, and were thus forever out of our reach. "I'm never going to be a mother," I stated the most obvious, probably hardest experience to miss out on. "I'll never know what it's like to worry about a teenage daughter. I'll never have to define my life anew after the kids are out of the house. I'm never gonna be a grandmother. I can never rise up to the challenges that come with a changing body, never prove myself in coming to grips with it. All these experiences shape what you are – it's how you sail through life that defines your own true self."

"But you still experience things..." Elena said, sounding a bit more hesitant and unsure.

"Only in an ever repeating environment. Do you know what's good about wrinkles? They force you to move on. They remind you physically every day that you don't belong into a certain phase of your life anymore. You don't hang out with 17-year-olds if you're 30, it wouldn't be fitting, and that would be plain obvious. But look at me – I am over a hundred, and yet the only company I fit into is that of those around twenty. I'll be a student forever. This is all I'm ever going to get. My lack of wrinkles and of certain experiences that come with age will not allow me to move on. I'm frozen in time. That's why they call us the living dead, I guess."

"You don't like being a vampire," Elena remarked, stating the obvious. I shook my head as my voice slightly faltered: "I hate it. I hated what Damon had done to us, although at the time, I thought I understood his motives. Now I'm not so sure anymore."

I didn't allow my thoughts to go back to that day when I had lost everything: the brother I had always loved and looked up to, my hopes and my dreams.

"The most obvious reason to turn someone would be to do it out of love – so as not to lose them forever..." Elena said with a questioning tone in her voice.

I sighed. "Yes. Maybe Damon did love me back then. But that was a long time ago. Now he's – different. Eternal life does that to you. Do you realize how many loved ones you're forced to watch die if you're immortal? Every time you find someone you care about, it comes with an expiration date, because you can't stay close to him for more than a few years without giving your secret away. Even if you find someone you trust enough, they die eventually, and you're staring at yet another grave. Sooner or later, you just give up and stop having relationships at all in order to prevent yourself from hurting. You get lonely and bitter."

"Is that what you think happened to Damon?" Elena asked.

Not really. "It's what happened to me," I said. Damon, in all those years, had never been looking for meaningful relationships, for stability. He lived in the moment, followed his instincts and always did as he pleased. I envied him that, sometimes. But it was only possible to live cheerfully as a vampire if you stopped caring and didn't give a damn about the consequences. "If you have lived for more than a century, 30 or 40 years are nothing to you," I tried to explain what made it so hard for vampires to keep their humanity. "Human life span becomes insignificant. You see people die over and over again, and it makes you care less and less. It's probably self-preservation. You can take human life as easily as you kill a bug or a fly, without giving a second thought, because its short, pitiful life doesn't have any meaning to you. But this is what makes you lose your humanity and turns you cold inside, arrogant and cynical. As it did with Damon. I don't see the brother I once loved in him anymore."

"You're judging him too harshly," Elena said, shaking her head. "He's never been cold around me. Arrogant and cynical, yes, but his indifference – I think it's just a facade. Obviously, he still cares for you, or he wouldn't have come back for you."

Of course that's what it must seem like to her. But whatever had brought Damon here, it wasn't me. "That's just you being forgiving, ever-understanding and nonjudgmental," I said teasingly, but still meaning every word. "Did I mention hopelessly optimistic?"

"Hey, I'm not that bad!"

"No, you're everything but. And I'm eternally grateful for that, because it would really suck to lose you as a friend."

Elena smiled at me. "I told you before, Alys, stop worrying so much. I'm not lost that easily."

ELENA

Damon must have carried out his promise and broken up with Caroline immediately after we got back from Mystic Falls. During our lunch break on Monday, Caroline almost cheerfully informed us that she and Damon were history. To Bonnie's and my utter bewilderment, she was neither crying her eyes out, nor having a tantrum, which would have been the normal, expected reaction.

First, we thought that she was deep in denial, or probably so shocked that she refused to let her feelings show. We both feared that it would catch up with her later and kept a close eye on her for the next days, in case she crashed in a postponed reaction. But even after a couple of days, nothing of the sort happened. Caroline wasn't heartbroken at all, but seemed full of energy and confidence. It was unnerving.

When I carefully inquired about Damon, she waved it off, like he had never mattered to her. She happily went back to Mystic Falls with us on the weekend and cheerfully hung out with us at the Grill, never once complaining about it being dull or boring. Bonnie noted the change in her, too, but given that she did not suspect an evil force behind it as I did, she just shrugged it off. "Maybe she's finally starting to develop some common sense. It's about time."

Yet I couldn't help but watch her behavior with wary eyes. When I met Damon at the campus cafeteria during lunch break the following week, I tackled Damon about my concerns. "Something's definitely wrong with Caroline!" I told to him, while eying the menu of the day in the food serving counters and pushing my tray along. "Have you heard that she's been hanging about with Matt the entire weekend? Matt, of all people. She always called him a boring nerd. Just what exactly did you do to her?"

"Only what you asked me to," he said, shrugging, and poured himself a coffee. "I took away her suffering."

That answer had me puzzled. "Whatever is that supposed to mean? What has she been suffering from?"

He raised his brows. "From a serious lack of self-esteem, if you ask me."

"Damon!" I said, exasperated, grabbing a salad and slamming it onto my tray rather forcefully. Why did I always have to drag every single detail out of his mouth? "Just what exactly did you tell her?"

"I just put the idea in her mind that she didn't need an incredibly attractive guy like me at her side to feel valued, and that she therefore had decided to dump me."

"You made her believe she actually dumped you for Matt?" I asked in bewilderment. If he managed to sell her that, his mind powers were awe-inspiring, indeed.

"The Matt part was none of my making. The dumping part was. I thought it was the easiest way out. No reason to complicate matters with rivalry and cat fights." Damon gave me one of his irritating smiles that was somewhere between mischievous, charming and incredibly annoying.

I decided to simply ignore the implications he was making, and turned to get my cutlery. "The thing is – Caroline's been acting completely different ever since," I said, still not convinced he had nothing to do with her sudden change of behavior and suspecting foul play. "She's relaxed, and easy-going... it's like you turned her into a different person!"

"I told you, Elena," Damon said in a serious voice, following me to the register. "I can't change personalities. I can only make people believe what they have known all along on a subconscious level, or what they always longed to believe. In her case, it was both." He paid his coffee and turned back to me, giving me his signature smirk. "Problem solved – I'm free for the taking again!"

"Given that it's mostly you, taking for free... Sorry. Not interested!" And with that, I took my tray and headed for the table where Stefan, Bonnie and Caroline were sitting.

They were deep in discussion about the Founders' Party that took place every summer. Or rather – Caroline was deep into it. "Mrs. Lockwood has entrusted Matt and me with the organization of the party," she was explaining to Stefan, who she probably thought hadn't heard about it yet. "It's really a big thing! I know it'll be a lot of work, especially since I have a very tight studying schedule with all the stuff I need to catch up on for some of classes. But Matt and I already have some ideas worked out – it's gonna be brilliant, really. We thought we could maybe make it a theme party, like a black-and white party, or a decade thing..."

I listened to Caroline's elaborate depiction with my mouth slightly agape. I wasn't sure if it was the repeated 'Matt and I' part that still had me dazzled, her sudden enthusiasm for partaking in the community life of a town she had always found dull and boring, or the fact that she claimed to have worked out a tight studying schedule.

Caroline suddenly paused and frowned. "Why do you keep staring at me like that? Seriously, Elena, it's getting creepy!"

"Says the unknown woman who took possession of my friend's body!" I countered. "Where is the Caroline I knew and what have you done to her?"

Caroline's frown deepened. "Are you're talking about the annoyingly superficial, boy-hunting party-girl version of me?"

"Yes," I spontaneously replied, my brain-to-mouth checkpoint being momentarily unoccupied. Bonnie stared at me in shock. My hand flew to my mouth as if I could put the it back in. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it like that." I sighed, feeling frustrated without really knowing why. Maybe it all had been a little too much to take in. "It's just weird how everybody seems to change all of a sudden," I tried an explanation that left out the crucial details about people unveiling a side that had been carefully hidden before, and avoided meeting Stefan's gaze. "Jenna is really getting serious with Alaric – and I mean really super-serious – and Jeremy suddenly discovers his interest in poetry – of all things! – and you, I don't know... since when have you become so responsible? I mean, you've always had a talent for really pushing things and a determination to get what you want... It's just that you seemed to have applied them differently..."

"Like on irresistibly hot yet narcissistic and obnoxious jerks that treat you like dirt?" Caroline enquired, sounding relaxed and taking a hearty bite from her sandwich.

"Admittedly, I was particularly, but not solely, referring to Damon."

"Well, I guess I sort of had an eye opener that evening I dragged you to that stupid club. Everybody said it was cool because they knew it was dangerous – not in the nicest neighborhood, notorious for its crowd and for the drug dealing. I should have known better than make you go there with me."

"Stop feeling guilty about that. It was my fault – I was the one who ran away."

"But you were right to be mad. I was there because of Damon, and because I wanted to be hip, do something cool. And you were there only because of me. I never told you before, because I didn't mean to freak you out any more than you possibly were – but did you know that three guys got brutally slain just three blocks away from the club? It was a bloody massacre according to the papers, supposedly meant as a warning to a rival gang. Just imagine if you had accidentally run into that!"

I felt the blood drain from my face. "Just when did you say that happened?"

"About two weeks ago. The bodies were found the same evening you got lost in exactly that area. You were extremely lucky, Elena."

I could only stare at her in shock. I should have known. At least, I should have suspected someting. But I was obviously too good at blocking unpleasant thoughts from my mind.

"Elena? What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I sort of did, I mumbled faintly, grabbing my books and heading for the exit.

"Wait! Where are you going?" I heard Caroline call after me, but I was already out the door, heading straight for Damon's office.

I didn't even consider that he might not be alone, but simply tore the door open and barged in. "Caroline just told me about a newspaper report concerning a gang related crime in Greenville about two weeks ago. Does that perchance ring a bell?"

Damon was sitting at his desk, not even looking up when I stormed in. Stupid vampire hearing. He had probably heard me coming from way down the hall already. "Nope, didn't hear a bell. Funny enough, I didn't even hear a knock. You know, that hollow sound of knuckles against wood when asking permission to enter?"

"Well, I'm familiar with the sound of wood slamming into wood when kicking a door shut, saying 'I'm not gonna leave before I have some answers'!"

He didn't even flinch at the loud bang, merely raised his head to look at me. A smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. "As much as I appreciate your urgent desire to see me, I'm afraid you're showing up out of my office hours."

I propped my arms against his desk and stared back at him. "How can you sit there and be smug like that? You killed three people!"

"I really don't mean to shatter your illusions, Elena, but I've clearly killed more than just three."

"Don't screw with me!"

His eyes lit up at that. "You sure? You might actually like it if I did..." he hummed suggestively. I ignored the lewd comment and narrowed my eyes.

"I'm talking about the three most recent ones that you hopefully still remember. Or at least I hope they were the most recent ones: The guys who attacked me two weeks ago... Caroline just told me that they were all found dead!"

He didn't deny it; didn't even make an effort to explain. He just continued to look at me as if waiting for me to say something else. "And your point being...?" he eventually questioned. I wasn't sure if he was really incapable of seeing why this upset me or if he was just pretending to be. "Damon! They were human beings!"

"Yes, Elena, and I am a vampire!" he said, sounding a little exasperated now. "I'm a hunter, they were prey, in fact, they were truly animals. And that is putting me above them in the food chain hierarchy."

"This had nothing to do with you needing to feed! They said it was a massacre – cold-blooded murder!"

"Well, if it's any comfort to you, it wasn't cold-blooded at all. On the contrary: My blood was boiling rather hotly and I was extremely pissed for a lot of reasons, one of them being the fact that they were holding a helpless girl down and had just started to rip the clothes from her body." His voice was still even, but I thought I could feel the tension in it. "Though I might admittedly have gone a little overboard when tearing them to pieces."

I felt my legs weaken at the memory his words brought back and slid into the chair in front of his desk. Of course they had deserved it. And a small part of me was satisfied that they were dead, no longer a threat to anyone, and that they had suffered beforehand. But it was not the death of my attackers that had shaken me up me so badly. It was the fact that Damon had ruthlessly and remorselessly ripped them apart. I had suspected that he was capable of violence, and Alys and Stefan had both told me so. But having practically witnessed him commit multiple homicide and being the cause for it, was disturbing. "But you said you didn't kill people..." I said weakly.

"I said I didn't have to – not that I didn't!" Damon waited for his words to fully register, before leaning closer and emphasizing his point: "If you think I'm just an ordinary guy who just happens to need an occasional sip of blood and likes to play a little rough sometimes, then you clearly have not been paying attention. I'm a predator. If someone gets on my wrong side, at the wrong time..." He snapped is fingers, startling me. "More often than not, I simply follow my instincts."

"Which is to kill whoever is facing you, even innocent people?"

Damon frowned. "As to those three I finished off, you'll surely agree with me that they were anything but innocent. Unless you entertain any doubts as to what they would have done to you if I hadn't been there in time..."

"I try not to think about it. But the fact is – they didn't."

"Only because I finished them off beforehand! Or would you rather have had me wait until I had proof?" He shook his head, as if he couldn't quiet believe we were having this conversation. Clearly, he didn't see the point in it. "Their intention was clear enough, and that was reason enough for me to finish them off."

"So you think you are always able to tell people's motives?"

"I'd say I mostly manage to distinguish between the victim and the culprit. Those jerks had it coming, and I don't regret for a second what I did to them! Actually, I think I was doing society a big favor by removing them."

"You are not the world's secret police force!"

"And I don't think of myself as that. I think I'm more like a virus – something nature put into place to make sure there is a balance. I don't follow moral considerations when doing what instinct dictates. We're much closer to animals that way. Only humans tend to have a soft spot even for those who endanger their own herd – trying to save everybody, even from their own cruel selves, believing there's a way to redeem them. Well, I don't. I think there's lots of people out there who don't deserve to be a part of society."

"That's saying that not every life has worth."

Damon shrugged. "Perception of the worth of human life has always been subject to time, place and the current line of ethics. When I grew up, there was slavery in our country. People were hanged and mutilated for committing crimes, there was male dominance over women who weren't considered to be equal or to have the same worth as men. Being part of society, I can't say the changes that occurred over the last century passed me without notice. But in the end, each of us has to follow their own principles, and it's quite obvious that my perception of right and wrong differs from yours."

He paused and gave me a scrutinizing glance. "I don't believe in trying to better people, Elena. So don't try and think you could better me!"

*'*'*'*'*'*

The weekend came, and to my surprise, Stefan invited me over to Dr. Daniels's house for Friday evening. It was unexpected. After all, we weren't dating – and yet he wanted to meet me alone, somewhere private, and he seemed oddly nervous about it. "I need to talk to you about something," he said, sounding rather cryptic. "It's been on my mind for a long time now."

Given that the content of most talks recently had tended to be somewhat disturbing, the prospect of having another one was a bit unsettling. And it didn't help either that Stefan gave off a vibe that I could only perceive as guilt when he said it. So yes, I was slightly worried when I drove up to Dr. Daniels's house at eight. I had felt uneasy and nervous all day – as if I had suddenly become a focus of attention, though of what, I couldn't say. Having weird and unspecific forebodings was Bonnie's field of expertise, not mine. I was probably just being paranoid.

To my surprise, Dr. Daniels was home, too, and came to greet me. I hadn't seen him in a while. He wasn't partaking much in Mystic Falls' social life, probably purposely avoiding the company – and temptation – of humans. Despite his rather gloomy profession as pathologist and coroner of Mystic Falls, Elijah was amiable and gracious, and very much a Southern gentlemen. I vaguely remembered seeing him in our house when I was a child. He had been a good friend of my parents.

We exchanged a few pleasantries and he inquired about how things were going now that I was back in Mystic Falls and if I liked Greenville college. His interest seemed honest, but as often with people who had known me in the past, it carried a hint of regret and sadness. He probably remembered how things had been before my parents died and I had left town, and was fearful to raise the topic of my sad past. It was the only logical explanation as to why he seemed to be nervous, worried and oddly guilt-ridden as well – except for me clearly having my crazy day. Trying to shake of the feeling of uneasiness, I politely answered Elijah's questions and gladly followed Stefan upstairs.

It was the first time that I set foot in Stefan's room. He had never taken me there while our relationship was still somewhat hazy, probably afraid that it would be sending a wrong signal. He still didn't feel entirely comfortable about it now. His room was a little bit of a mess. Not that there were undies lying about or anything embarrassing, it was just cluttered with stuff, mostly books.

"I'm sorry, it's a little bit untidy," he apologized nevertheless. "I'm not the most organized person and apart from being a hunter, I'm also very much a gatherer, I'm afraid."

I had to smile at that. "According to Damon, you're not much of a hunter," I teased.

Stefan shrugged. "I guess that depends on how you look at it. I spend a lot of time out in the wood, chasing deer, whereas his activities fall more into the category of stalking."

Since I didn't feel like discussing Damon with him again, I didn't dwell on that. I don't know why I had brought him up in the first place. I took a look around, wondering if his room would give away a little more about who Stefan really was. He had once assured me that I knew everything important about him. But that had been even before I knew he was a vampire, and I strongly felt that this did count as a crucial detail. So if there was something he felt he needed to tell me now, it had to be of vital importance.

The room, despite being cramped, was cozy and felt homey. Maybe it was the smell of all those books that lined the shelves, or the couch underneath the window. I could envision him sitting there, his feet stretched out comfortably and writing his diary. It was a position I was familiar with – except that I wasn't sitting on a couch, but on my upholstered window-bench. His bed was at least queen-size, and to give him credit – it was made. Not exactly neatly so, but you could see the intention. There was a poster of his favorite band on the back of his door, featuring a concert back in the late 90s. I knew already he was into that kind of music.

"Would you like something to drink?" Stefan asked. Given that he still seemed tense, he probably needed a reprieve. "I could also make us a sandwich, I don't know if you've eaten already."

In fact, I hadn't, as the growling of my stomach at his mention of food just reminded me. Stefan grinned. "I take that as a 'yes' to sandwiches. Make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back."

He left for the kitchen and I resumed my inspection, wandering along the shelves and browsing the titles of the books. A lot of them we had discussed already, some of them were my favorites, too. Which couldn't be said for the music. His CD collection comprised mostly of music bands that I considered quiet retro. But then, so was the fact that he still had a collection of CDs in the age of clouds, streams and MP3's.

Finally, I decided to snuggle up on the sofa, where Stefan had obviously last been reading. On sitting down, I accidentally knocked down a book that I hadn't seen hidden in the folds of a blanket when pushing it aside. The bookmark fell out. Hoping that Stefan was not someone to rely on bookmarks to find the page last read, I bend down to pick it up. The bookmark was a photo. I stared at it and my world fell to pieces.

There, smiling happily while standing in front of our house were my parents – and a much younger me.

I immediately remembered: This picture had been taken by Jenna on my first day of summer vacation when I was fifteen – the very morning before my parents had left for their trip and died. I stared at the little piece of paper in my hand and started shaking. It was impossible. Stefan couldn't be in possession of this picture. He simply couldn't. It had been taken with my parent's old camera – the one they had taken with them when they left for their hiking trip. It hadn't been a digital one, but one with film rolls. How could this picture even exist, if their car had crashed into a river – with everything in it?

There was only on possible explanation: He must have been there when they had died. I felt a cold shiver go down my spine. Stefan hadn't met me at the cemetery by chance. He had known about me and my parents all along, and he had been lying to me from the start. My chest painfully constricted, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe.

My hand flew to my throat, involuntarily coming in touch with my necklace – the magic necklace he had given me and that I was wearing because I had trusted him. A complete and utter stranger that had been lying to me. A vampire who had known my parents and must have been in contact with them shortly before they died. Not sure if I wanted to jump to other conclusions yet, I only felt the desperate need to get out of here.

Without thinking further, I ripped the necklace off and laid it on top of the book. Then I grabbed the photograph and made for the door, running out of the house as if I had demons on my heels. Maybe I had – demons from the past, coming back to haunt me again. Desperately fighting tears that threatened to cloud my vision, I jumped into the car and took off with screeching wheels.

A/N: Well, I guess you all have a fair idea about what's coming up now... ;) I personally think it was one of the highlights of season one. As you will see, I took some liberties with it, though... In case you were wondering: I'll also have Damon's point of view in the second half of this story (still a few chapters from here), but just now, I like him to keep his thoughts and motives to himself for a little longer. ;)