ELENA

"Bonnie! Thank God! We thought we'd be too late." I felt immense relief when we found Bonnie waiting alone in the dark, and gave her a hug.

She looked at me, confused. "Too late – what do you mean? I came as soon as I received your message. Why did you ask to meet me here?"

"I didn't! It was Damon – he used my phone."

"Damon?" She frowned. "Why would he do that?" Before I could answer that, the sound of his voice made us all turn. "Because I need your expertise on something..." Damon said, appearing out of thin air and strolling over casually. He gave me and Stefan a displeased look. "What are the two of you doing here? You weren't invited!"

Bonnie's gaze quizzically went back and forth between us. "I don't understand. What's going on? I take it that none of you need my urgent help as the text message claimed?"

"No. That was a ruse. He stole my phone." I gave Damon an accusing look that he returned with a crooked smirk. "Sue me!"

"What do you want, Damon?" Stefan inquired, eying him suspiciously.

"I have business with Bonnie that is none of your concern. Go and take care of your own girl, Stefan!"

"You leave Bonnie alone!" Stefan moved protectively in front of her, trying to shield her from Damon's gaze.

"Well, isn't that charming!" Damon mocked. "Seems like you have a soft spot for the little witch... You surprise me, Stefan! Doesn't seem like you – hitting on two girls at the same time. I'm afraid you can't have both, though. And for the moment, I need to borrow Bonnie."

"That's unfortunate, because she's not going with you." Stefan's usually solemn face had taken on an expression of grim determination.

Though Bonnie was clearly at a loss about what was going on, she was fully aware of the rising tension in the air. "Would somebody please enlighten me as to what's going on here?" she demanded to know.

Damon gave her a look of feigned astonishment. "Haven't they let you in on the secret? How insulting – to hide such vital information from your best friend..." He paused, relishing in her confusion. Then he lowered his voice, giving it a fake conspirative note and a touch of drama. "See, Bonnie – what they have not been telling you is that I am – a vampire! So is Stefan, by the way. And right now, I very much want you to come with me, because I have some questions that require the expert opinion of a witch."

"It's about the tomb!" I said flatly, as his intentions became clear to me. "He wants to know how to open it so he can free Katherine."

"I see someone's been paying attention!" Damon smirked, briefly turning his gaze on me. "Now, that being cleared up, can we all get down to business?"

Bonnie was obviously still trying to put the pieces together. Yet there was no sign of shock, fright or disbelief in her face, as surely should be the natural reaction. Either Damon had her already under some sort of mind control, or she was clearly better acquainted with the supernatural than I had thought.

"Vampires...," she echoed thoughtfully. "Yes, that clears it all up..." Her gaze flew back and forth between Stefan and Damon, who was trying to establish eye contact and beckoned to her. "Come over here, Sabrina!"

"Don't look at him, Bonnie!" I warned. "He's gonna use a mind compulsion on you and put you under his control!"

Stefan instantly grabbed her arm to make sure she wouldn't follow Damon's command. "No! He can't manipulate or compel her – witches are immune to mind powers."

"That is not entirely right," Damon corrected. "I just can't compel her by force, as you are fully aware since you already compelled her once yourself. And that's why I'm so kindly asking her to give herself over to me – voluntarily. And I won't ask nicely again!"

Stefan maintained his protective stance and refused to let go of Bonnie's arm. "She's not gonna help you with this, Damon."

"Yet I believe she will. She might just need some incentive." At that, Damon launched himself forward so fast that his movement almost went unnoticed. Except that I found myself with my back pressed to his chest before his last word had left his mouth. He was holding me immobile in an iron embrace; his hands shackling my wrists in front of me like bands of steel. My heart gave a jolt, and I wasn't entirely sure if it was fear or just his unexpected nearness that brought it on.

"Now, Bonnie, if you want to save your friend an unpleasant experience, just do what I asked you to – lower your shields and come over to me."

"You won't hurt Elena!" Stefan said firmly, but he didn't sound entirely convinced himself. Damon raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, and you're perfectly sure about that?" he asked almost casually. Yet there was an unmistakable menace in his tone, his muscles were tense and his hold unrelenting. Whatever it was that Damon wanted, he was clearly very determined to get it, no matter who or what stood in his way. He definitely succeeded in frightening me. My fear turned into outright panic when, all of a sudden, he pulled my wrist to his mouth and, without warning, forcefully sank his pointed teeth into my flesh.

I cried out, more from shock than from pain, although it was sharp and piercing. When he raised his head again seconds later, there was a hint of blood on his lips which he licked off, yet he showed no inclination to feed on me. With a part of my mind that was strangely detached from the rest of my adrenalin flooded brain, I realized that he still kept his fingers clamped like a tourniquet around my arm, a little above my wrist. He was effectively cutting off the blood flow, and I had a fair idea what that meant. My stomach sank and my knees went wobbly. Damon must have noticed, because he enforced his grip around my waist and prevented me from sliding to the ground.

"Now be a good girl, Bonnie, and come over here," Damon suggested in almost friendly tone. "You just do that, and I'll let go of your friend."

"You said I needed to give myself over voluntarily for your compulsion to work. How is this voluntarily – with you using Elena as leverage against me?" Bonnie asked, shaking.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the mind powers don't mind these little subtleties."

"Bonnie, no!" Stefan reached for her arm again when Bonnie made a move towards Damon. But his anguished gaze was on me. He looked like a man torn apart inside. Probably, he was.

"Don't scare her, Stefan!" Damon chided. "You know that she'll be perfectly safe with me – I need a living, human witch; killing or changing her doesn't gain me anything. Elena, on the other hand... Now, I wouldn't mind having a vampire girlfriend. Would you?"

"Let her go! We'll do whatever you want, but not before Elena is standing safely at my side!"

"You forget that I do not trust you. You'll have to make a choice, Stefan – you can't have both girls, surely you understand that."

"Bonnie, stay where you are!" I managed to croak, feeling dizzy. My hand was starting to prickle. "He's bluffing. He would never do this to me, I know."

I could feel Damon's breath on my neck when he lowered his head to my ear. "Are you willing to bet the transiency of your life on it, Elena?" he asked almost softly. "I always knew you had a death wish, and now it's not even a secret one anymore." Turning back to Stefan and Bonnie, his voice became harsh again. "See, Bonnie, you have to take a decision here: whether you think I'm ruthless enough to taint Elena's blood and risk her becoming infected – or if I am indeed only bluffing. But if you decide wrong, the vampire community will welcome a new member before the night is over."

Bonnie looked shaken. "I don't understand – what did you do to her?"

"He bit her with his fangs and most likely injected his venom," Stefan explained tonelessly. "As soon as he releases his grip on her arm, it will pass into her bloodstream and start the change. Or kill her – with all of her blood still in her system."

"Oh, but you can prevent that, Stefan," Damon helpfully pointed out. "All you have to do is to suck it out in time. That should be fairly easy, given that I only bit her wrist, which will keep the venom out of her bloodstream a little longer. Last time, when Elena got bitten in the neck, I had to drain most of her blood in order to get it out. Now, Bonnie, your friend here clings to the belief that there's good in everybody, even in a vampire – Stefan on the other hand definitely doesn't. You have to decide, and be fast about it – I can't keep her hand cut off from circulation forever."

"I don't trust you," Bonnie said, her voice grave.

Damon's cheerful answer only fit for the meaning, not for the tone. "I'm really glad to hear that! Now..." He slightly moved his head to indicate where he wanted Bonnie to go. Freeing herself from Stefan's hold with a regretful glance, she silently obeyed.

Damon took my other hand and positioned it to replace his own. "Just keep up the pressure, until he has it all sucked out." Then, almost gently and somewhat reluctantly, released me from of his restraining embrace. For a moment, I could feel his breath in my hair and his supporting hand lingering on my back – steadying my first stumbling steps until I was out of his reach and safely caught in Stefan's arms.

"Now, you take care of her, while Bonnie and I take a little walk. I hope for Elena's sake that you'll be able to overcome your principles. In any case, you'd better stay here until we're back." With that, he led Bonnie off, heading for the chapel ruins.

Stefan's face was tortured as he took hold of my arm and looked at the two puncture marks. "You don't have to do this," I said through clenched teeth, still keeping my blood from circulating. My hand was ice-cold and almost numb by now. "I still don't believe he really did it."

"If I have to choose how to risk your life, I'd rather trust myself to not lose control than to ever put trust in Damon," Stefan said, pulling my injured hand close and holding it tight. His voice sounded firm, yet I could sense the fear in it: Fear for my life, fear his control might not hold, and fear of the consequences that might result from opening Pandora's chest. With a look of determination, Stefan put my wrist to his mouth and I felt his lips close painfully on my bruised skin. When he first started sucking, there was hardly any sensation – except for the pulling and the warmth. Then it felt as if my hand was being put under vacuum. Totally emptied of blood, my veins had probably collapsed. Stefan slowly released his grip on the artery to let the blood flow into my hand again, that was when the real pain set it. I remembered how it felt to come back into the house after playing in the snow for hours, and then putting almost frozen fingers under warm water. It hurt like thousand needles pricking into my skin, the feeling lasting longer than Stefan kept up the suction.

When he finally let go, he more or less pulled himself away from me, putting some distance between us and turning his back on me. I could see that he was shaking, breathing heavily, clamping his hands into a tree trunk. He held on desperately, until his knuckles were white, trying to cope with whatever was tormenting him. Bloodlust, I supposed, a long dormant hunger now forcefully awakened and attacking his senses.

I didn't dare to move, afraid to fuel his need by sending my scent his way. Cautiously, I pulled my sleeve down to cover the wound that was still bleeding. For what seemed like an eternity, none of us moved.

When Stefan finally seemed to relax somewhat, I let out a breath, only now realizing that I had been holding it. "Are you okay?" I timidly asked, feeling an urge to embrace him for comfort, but not daring to.

"I'm not sure if 'okay' is the adequate term to describe how this feels..." he murmured. "But at least I think I can handle it, for the moment. What about you?"

"Slightly dizzy, but I guess that's normal after being fed from. Not as bad as the last time, though. What are we going to do about Damon and Bonnie?"

"I'm afraid there isn't much we can do – without putting her in danger."

"He's not gonna hurt her," I tried to reassure him, but Stefan only snorted. "Yeah, like I'm gonna believe that after what he just did!"

"He's not all evil. He's just trying to do everything he can to get Katherine back."

"How can you still defend him, after everything he did to Caroline? To Vicky? Or to Alys, as for that matter. Damon clearly doesn't care about anybody but himself. He needs to be stopped!"

I kept silent. There was something wild and aggressive about Stefan just now – probably an effect of the blood. In any case, his current state clearly called for caution and appeasement. Defending Damon's actions didn't seem the right way to achieve that.

"We'll deal with it..." I said calmly. "Bonnie is going to be fine." At least, I was very much hoping for that.

The minutes dripped by with neither of us talking. Stefan was careful to keep his distance, and I was feeling strangely lonely without him at my side. It seemed like an eternity until Damon reappeared – alone. Anxious, I jumped to my feet.

"Where is Bonnie? What have you done to her?"

"No worries, she's fine – or at least, she will be. Someone better take her home, though. She needs some rest." Stefan and I exchanged a short look, and I nodded to him, silently telling him to go. It'd be easier for him to take care of Bonnie. At least, she wasn't bleeding.

Damon didn't care much for keeping a safe distance. He came over to me and reached for my arm again. Pushing my sleeve back, he dubiously looked at my wrist.

"Looks like I finally got Stefan to feed on something of substance...," he muttered, taking note of the fact that I was still bleeding.

"How can you be so smug about it?" I asked, forcefully trying to tear free of his hold. Yet Damon held tight. "Actually, I think I did him a favor," he said, biting into his palm and pressing his slightly bleeding hand to my wrist. "It was high time for him to face who he is. Now that he's had a taste of human blood, there's hope he'll come round."

"Doing that to him is simply disgusting, even for you."

"Funny that you should be complaining about that – without even mentioning what I did to you. You've really got some nerves, Elena!"

"I know that you don't give a damn about Stefan. But you're not gonna make me believe for a second that what you did to me was for real. Not after all the pains you went through to save me from that fate just weeks before."

"Ah, but that was different."

"How so?"

Damon stared at me for a moment, his eyes burning with a fire from deep within. "Vampires are always, on some deep level, bound to their creators – the vampire who made them," he said, pausing a moment to let the meaning sink in. "Maybe I simply wouldn't have you blood-bonded with some jerk who tried to make a roadside kill of you. But maybe I wouldn't mind so much having you bonded to me..."

Yes. No matter if his heart was still with Katherine, I knew without a doubt that he meant it. Yet, I shook my head as a realization hit me: "No. That's not it. It might be the venom that carries the virus, but it was still your blood that kept me alive last time; your blood that would have helped me live me through the change if it had come to that. If you wanted me bound to you, you could've had that already."

"Well, looks like you're never gonna know that for sure!" he said lightly, his expression unreadable. With a wink he let go of my arm and turned to leave.

"Damon?"

He halted briefly, only half-turning his head. I was unable to see his face. "Was Bonnie able to give you the answers you desired?"

He hesitated. "Not exactly the one I wished for," he finally said with an unusual somber tint in his voice, before he set out going again, vanishing in the dark.

BONNIE

I woke from sleep with a start, and the memories from last night came flooding back. I remembered everything – until the somewhat fuzzy moment where I had suddenly felt my eyes go weary and my limbs heavy. The last thing that had registered with me was Damon catching me and lowering me to the ground when my legs gave in. I don't even know how I got home.

I sat up and switched the light on, and was surprised to find Elena beside me in my bed, curled up on her side and in one of my PJ's. My alarm clock read 3:15. Okay – so I had definitely missed out on a couple of hours.

Disturbed by the sudden light, Elena stirred and opened her eyes. "Bonnie – you're awake!" she said, coming to her senses a little quicker than I had. "Are you okay?"

"I guess I am – though I wouldn't know for sure." I rubbed my forehead, feeling a little fuzzy. "How did I get home?"

"Stefan carried you out of the tomb and we both brought you back. Do you remember what happened?"

"Most of it, I think..."

"You were thoroughly knocked out. It's good that your house is a one storey, otherwise we wouldn't have managed to get you in without your grams noticing. Stefan was unable to enter the house for some weird reason, so he had to lift you in through your window."

"How did you get in?"

"Through the back door, with the hidden spare key. Honestly, getting you from the windowsill to your bed was an ordeal, although it's right next to it. I had never guessed that a slightly framed girl like you could be so heavy to move when unconscious."

"Gee – thanks!" I said, feeling a little regret at having missed out on that. Especially the part where Stefan had carried me all the way from the tomb to his car. Obviously, I had not been too heavy for him. What can I say, I'm a girl, and a sucker for romance and chivalry. I focused my attention back on Elena. "Why did you stay here?"

"Well, we were a little concerned... Damon said that you were gonna be alright, but we didn't know if he had taken away your memories. We figured you'd be most likely waking up with tons of questions, and thought someone had better be here to answer them."

"Okay, then – spill!" I said, sitting up straight and propping my back against the headboard. The last hours felt like a strange dream, though an awfully realistic one. "Did Damon really bite you and threaten to turn you into a creature of the night?"

"Well, we're not entirely decided on that," Elena said dubiously. "Stefan believes that he actually did it, whereas I – don't."

Interesting. I filed that information away for further investigation. "So – Damon, he really is a vampire?"

"Yes. They both are."

"I see." That was all I could think of saying for the moment. It made an awful lot of sense now. A lot of things did. Elena still looked dubious. "Are you alright? I mean, you sound awfully okay with it – like you just learned he's gay or something."

"Gay? Damon? – Now, that really would have made me doubt my instincts! But vampires... it's not like I haven't ever heard of them. And I'm not talking teenager romance or TV series. Grams has told me that there are more creatures walking this planet than what is commonly believed. Again, it seemed silly at the time – I was even struggling to come to grips with being a witch. As to Stefan and Damon – there was something really off with them, something that triggered my supernatural alarm bells, but I never thought of vampires! Now, at least, my world is back in perspective: All systems are working properly."

"Well, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. You are a witch after all, so probably vampires and such are not supposed to scare you. It sure scared the hell out of me when I found out."

"Do you remember when I first met Stefan in the Grill? When I took his hand and had that vision about a tomb..."

"Of course," Elena said, "it was pretty freaky at the time. You said you had seen a grave. Since I had met Stefan at the cemetery for the first time, I thought that was what you were seeing."

I shook my head. "It was his grave I saw," I said, still having an eerie feeling when thinking of it. "It had his name on it. And that had really freaked me out – it seemed like I was having a death vision. How could I have known he was already dead at the time?"

Again, Elena gave me that peculiar look – as if there was more to it, something she hadn't told me yet. "What?" I demanded to know.

"Well, technically, vampires aren't dead. They come close to death when they are turned, and when that happened to Stefan, he was officially declared dead. They even had a funeral for him – except there was only an empty coffin. I had no idea at the time..."

"You had no idea at the time?" I echoed stupidly. "Whatever does that mean?" But as soon as the words had left my mouth, something started to dawn on me. It couldn't be. Could it? Elena took a deep breath. "The name, on the tombstone? I bet it wasn't Stefan. It was Steve. As in Steve Gilbert."

I was thunderstruck. "Your brother's grave...? Stefan is your brother Stevie? The one who died when we were seven?"

Elena nodded, looking guilty. "I'm so sorry for not having told you earlier. I didn't know myself, for a long time, and when I did, Stefan begged me not to tell anybody."

Stefan was Stevie. For various reasons, this came more as a shock than learning that both of them were vampires. And it made so much more sense. Those unsettling feelings that I had kept hidden all of this time, the familiarity I felt between us and my guilty conscience for pining after my best's friends boyfriend... I always had been.

"I was in love with him," I admitted, confessing my childhood crush that had miraculously survived the years. Curiously, all I felt now was relief. He wasn't her boyfriend – he was her brother, and he was alive!

Elena seemed thunderstruck, so I hastened to elaborate. "I had a crush on him ever since the day you and I played basketball in your backyard, do you remember? It was the summer before he died. Jimmy Jenkings, that stupid neighbor's kid – he was such a mean boy – had climbed over the fence and taken our ball. He had pushed me hard, too, and I had fallen and bruised my knee. It was bleeding badly, my trousers were ruined and it hurt so much... that's when your brother came to our defense. He soothed me, put a band-aid on it and promised everything would be alright. Then he pulled Jimmy's ears and gave him a lecture he most likely still remembers today. He was so cool."

Elena looked at me flabbergasted. "You still remember that? God – that was like a lifetime ago."

"How could I forget? He had been my hero ever since. I can't believe I didn't recognize him."

"Well, he was my brother, and even I didn't have an inkling about who he was – until he told me. Appearances change with the turning. And we were mere kids back then..."

"Yes, but something in me must have recognized him." I shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to continue, avoiding her gaze. Even if it turned out that it was okay to feel what I had felt about Stefan all these weeks – it still felt like I had been cheating on my best friend.

"Because you're still in love with him," Elena finished the sentence. I nodded. Obviously, I had not been as good at hiding my totally unacceptable feelings as I had thought. I felt myself blush and averted my gaze.

"Oh my God," Elena breathed, an anguished look on her face. "I can only guess what you must have felt like all this time." She moved closer and pulled me into her embrace. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie. I did have my suspicions, lately, but... I was so taken up with everything that I didn't really push to find out if they held any truth. I tried to tell you that Stefan was just my friend, but you didn't really believe me. The truth is that our relationship had felt more like a sibling relationship from the beginning." Elena wiped tears from her eyes now, which made my own eyes water in sympathy. "Bonnie – I'll be the happiest person in the world if you continue to love him, especially now... if your feelings don't change because of what he is."

"A dark one," I murmured, just voicing what was going through my head. Elena withdrew a little and gave me a questioning glance. "That's what witches used to call vampires," I explained. "Because blood magic is black magic, and using blood to feed their powers is what they do. There has always been hatred between witches and vampires."

"Stefan isn't like that! He doesn't even take blood from humans, and he only did it tonight to save my life. He's been living on animal blood all this time."

"I didn't say that I thought of him in that way. On the contrary – he's the most decent guy I know. I already loved him when I was seven. And I guess I still do."

That made her smile. "I'm really happy about that. Because quite obviously, Stefan greatly cares about you, too."

"Grams would have a fit."

"Don't tell her. In fact, you mustn't tell anybody. Damon doesn't know."

"Wait a minute... Damon has no clue that Stefan is your brother?" I frowned. This wasn't right. "But keeping it from him – letting him believe that Stefan is your boyfriend... isn't that doing to him what it did to me?"

"Damon?" Elena protested, a little too defensively. "He's not in love with me!"

I gave her a dubious look. "No? And you know that for sure? Then tell me, what's this thing between you and Damon?"

Elena hunched her shoulders. "I don't know. I'm not even sure if there is a thing."

"Oh, believe me: There is! A blind man could see that with a stick."

Elena shifted uncomfortably. "I guess we have – an understanding," she said after a brief pause.

"You're in love with him," I noted, very sure about it, even if she obviously wasn't. At least she didn't deny it. I carefully controlled my expression. I didn't want to appear like I was judging. But how anybody, especially Elena, could be smitten with Damon was beyond me. She wasn't one to get blinded by good looks and charms – not like Caroline. She was deeper than that. So what did she see in him that even his own sister did not?

"He doesn't believe in love," Elena said. "At least not anymore."

"Does that by chance have anything to do with the girl – Katherine – he so desperately wants to get out of that tomb?"

"It's all about Katherine," Elena sighed, and told me the whole story: Damon, Katherine, Mystic Falls' vampire problem and the inglorious part another Bennett witch had played in it.

"For someone who doesn't believe in love, Damon seems to be going to a lot of pains to get the girl back," I remarked, wondering if I had been wrong about my assumption that Damon had a thing for Elena. Why would he be trying to get his ex-girlfriend back if he did?

"It might not be love that's driving him," Elena mused somewhat gloomily.

Suppressing a yawn was hardly a fitting reaction, but I couldn't help it. It was a lot to take in, and my brain was slowly starting to feel like a cotton ball in my head. Small wonder. It was almost a quarter past four in the morning.

"I'm sorry, Elena, I think we'll have to continue this talk tomorrow. I'm not able to process any of this right now. Let's get try to get some sleep. It was a freaky night."

"One in a row of many..." Elena muttered, as we snuggled back under the covers and switched off the light.

ELENA

We were pulled from sleep by the persistent beeping of Bonnie's phone, which she finally managed to locate in the jeans that I had taken off her when putting her to bed. "It's Stefan," she said, obviously not sure whether she should pick up right now. It was most likely going to be a longer talk, and we hadn't even finished last night's.

But Stefan was probably out of his mind with worry. "Talk to him," I said, swinging my legs out of bed. "He deserves to know that you're okay – about everything. I'll take a shower in the meanwhile."

Purposely taking my time, I re-emerged from the bathroom about half an hour later. Bonnie had just finished her call. She smiled. Good. So obviously, that had gone well. I guessed it would take some time to define their relationship now, and work through all the supernatural issues.

"About last night..." I said, sitting down next to Bonnie on the bed again. "You never got around to telling me what exactly Damon wanted from you, which appears to be crucial information..."

"He wanted me to open the tomb underneath the chapel, of course."

"And?"

"And nothing." Bonnie shrugged. "I couldn't. It was magically sealed. You'd have to know exactly how it was done in order to open it. Which I don't. It's pretty easy to cast a spell, but a totally different thing to reverse one, and I'm not even an accomplished witch yet. Besides, a spell like that asks for way more power than I have – more than any witch has, in fact."

"And that's what you told Damon?"

"Yes. It was strange – I couldn't tell him anything but the truth, and he kept asking for details."

"That's because he compelled you to, and it's not against your nature to be truthful. At least he did not erase your memories. Or did he?"

Bonnie frowned. "I'm not sure. My recollection of the night does get a little fuzzy towards the end."

"Did you see a raven?" I asked as the thought hit me.

"No – why are you asking?"

"Nothing. Forget about it." I had only seen the freaky bird whenever Damon had erased himself from my memory. But he hadn't obviously done that with Bonnie, given that she remembered talking to him.

"So how did he take the fact that you couldn't do anything about it?"

"Not kindly. He got angry at first, then didn't say anything for a while, just stood there, pensively. That's about the last thing I remember. I felt awfully tired all of a sudden, as if his questioning had been making me weary."

"I wonder why that is..." I said, pondering the question. We were definitely missing out on something. "I don't have a good feeling about this. I can't believe he's going to give up on this so easily."

Bonnie shrugged. "He'll have to accept it. Without knowing how the original spell was cast and what was used to bind it, even having access to power wouldn't help. I guess when Emily put Katherine in there, she really wanted to make sure that she stayed put."