Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries and never will, but I do own Charlene Davis and Megan Swann and any other characters I come up with.

Author's Note: Hope you love the updated version! :D

Megan tried to keep herself from going over to the boarding house, but she couldn't stop herself anymore. She needed to see Charlene to make sure her best friend was okay. She still hadn't wrapped her mind around the fact that Charlene was a vampire now. Though it was weird and horrifying, Charlene was still her best friend and she was going to be there for her no matter what. Megan wanted to make sure Charlene knew that, which was why she was going over there…and to see Stefan, just to make sure he was helping her best friend like he said he would. At least that's what she was telling herself.

Megan got out of her car and headed up to the front door, knocking. She was hoping Stefan would open the door, but she got the opposite. The man who turned her best friend was the one who opened the door and Megan glared at him hatefully.

"You." She growled.

"Hello Megan." He responded casually, so casually she wanted to smack him in the face for it. If she was nicer, she wouldn't have, but good thing she wasn't. So, she smacked him right across the face…and boy did it hurt, but oh so worth it.

When he faced towards her again, he rubbed his face and Megan glared at him again. "That's for turning my best friend, you asshole!" she hissed. He said nothing and she crossed her arms. "Now, where's Stefan?"

Damon was still rubbing his cheek as he responded sarcastically, "Well good morning to you, little miss 'I'm on a mission'."

"Oh shut up, I'm not in the mood." Megan snapped, her glare hardening at him as she stood her ground against him. It may make her stupid for telling a killer to shut up, but she couldn't give a damn, not after everything he did. He turned Vicki. He turned Charlene. He didn't deserve any amount kindness that she had in her heart.

"How can you be so brave and stupid to tell a vampire to shut up?" Damon asked snidely.

"Because I'm not scared of you." Which was a lie, she was terrified but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of scaring her. "And if you wanted me dead in the first place, I'd already be dead and it's either because you actually care about your brother, or the fact that you don't want to make Charlene hate you even more than she already does since you turned her. So, take your pick."

He said nothing and Megan smirked to herself as she never seen Damon speechless before.

Soon she had a reaction as Damon rolled his eyes. "Stefan's upstairs." He said shortly. "Singing, 'the rain in Spain.' Knock yourself out." He pushed by her, practically shoving out of the way, causing her glare back after him as he closed the door.

Megan rolled her eyes as she stepped further into the house. "Stefan?" she called out. She heard running footsteps from upstairs. As she thought it was Stefan, it was surprised when it was Charlene coming down the stairs. She paused at the top of the stairs and stared down at Megan.

Her best friend still looked the same. Megan hadn't know what to expect when she saw Charlene for the first time since she got turned, but to see that Charlene hadn't changed one bit, it was an instant relief. It was still her best friend. Before she could even say anything, Charlene was down the stairs so fast that it nearly gave her whiplash. Her blonde friend tossed herself at her, hugging her tightly.

Immediately, Megan hugged her back just as tightly, burying her face into her best friend's blonde hair. She wasn't scared to be close to her, even though she should be. The smell of Megan's blood could be too much for Charlene, but it didn't seem to bother her.

"Megan…I'm so sorry…" Charlene sobbed into her shoulder.

She was taken back by the apology. "What…what are you sorry for?" She pushed her back and brushed Charlene's hair out of her face. "This isn't your fault, Char. It's Damon's fault. This wasn't your choice."

Charlene slowly shook her head, sniffing. "Maybe not at first…but I chose to drink human blood…and become a monster…M-Megan…I killed someone."

Megan froze at her best friend's admission. "W-what?" She stepped back, trying and failing not look horrified.

Seeing the look on her face, Charlene's face took on a pleading look. "Megan, please don't be afraid of me!" she begged. "I didn't mean to…but he was going to hurt Stefan! I couldn't just let him die…"

"I'm not afraid of you." Megan finally said quietly after she got over her shock. "You're still my best friend…I know you would never hurt me."

Charlene nodded vehemently. "I wouldn't! And I'm not going to drink human blood, never again. I'm going to stick with animal blood and I'm sure with Stefan's help, I won't kill or hurt anyone else again."

Megan believed her. "I believe you. You don't have an evil bone in your body." She hugged Charlene tightly and her best friend hugged her back. They held the hug for a few minutes before Megan pulled away. "Where's Stefan?"

Charlene didn't have time to answer as Stefan's voice echoed through the room.

"Megan?"

She looked up and spotted Stefan coming down the stairs. "Hey…" she greeted quietly, trying not to sound too upset to see him.

"Hey."

Megan quickly changed the subject, remembering there was another new human turned vampire. "How's Vicki doing?"

Charlene was the one who answered as she rolled her eyes. "She's still Vicki."

"So what's going to happen now anyway?" Megan questioned. "Jeremy's out there searching for her with the rest of the town."

"He is?" Charlene didn't sound surprised, but she sounded worried, and Megan couldn't blame her as she nodded.

"Yeah, but since you're here, you can't tell him why he can't be searching for her, so he's not going to stop unless someone tells him, and god knows he won't listen to me if I do tell him something."

"I'll call him and tell him." Charlene said, crossing her arms. "He can't find her, he'll get hurt if he does." She gave a sigh. "But what do I tell him?" She looked towards Stefan as she asked the question.

"As you saw, I'm working with her, but it's not going to take time." Stefan answered. "She's not taking it as well as you are, Charlene. She's a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all of that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this."

"Well, that's just great." Megan groaned. "She's a vampire with issues…" She rolled her eyes and shook her head before looking towards Stefan. "So, what's going to happen to her?"

"I'm going to keep her here until I know that she's safe."

"How long is that?"

Megan, Stefan, and Charlene looked up to Vicki standing on top of the stairs, arms crossed with an annoyed look on her face.

Stefan sighed. "We can talk about that later."

Megan shouldn't have probably asked her this, but she couldn't help it as she had been worried about the young Donavan, mostly because of Jeremy's sake. "Hi, Vicki, how are you?"

This earned a glare as Vicki scoffed. "How am I? You're kidding, right?"

Megan winced at her tone. "Oops, sorry." She apologized.

Vicki rolled her eyes. "Whatever…" she sneered before stomping her way back upstairs.

"That was probably a stupid question, wasn't it?" Megan asked meekly, knowing the answer already. The touch on her shoulder and the nod coming from Charlene was answer enough, causing her to sigh.

About an hour later, Charlene was settled down in a seat next to Megan around the boarding house's dining room table, drinking a cup of coffee along with Vicki. She was happy that she and Megan's reunion went well. It could have went a lot worse. Surprisingly, Megan's blood hadn't bothered Charlene at all when they hugged.

She couldn't help but wonder why that was, maybe it was because Megan was her best friend and her soulmate in every sense of the word, but without a romantic interest involved, or because she couldn't bare the thought of killing Megan, the way she had killed Logan. Whatever it was, Charlene was happy nothing had happened when she saw Megan for the first time since turning into a vampire. She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Stefan explaining why coffee was important for vampires.

"Coffee is our friend." Stefan said, sounding like he was doing a voice over for a coffee commercial. "It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our body so we're not so cold to the touch."

Vicki's hands wrapped around her coffee mug but she didn't take a drink from it. "Well, what if I wanted to drink human blood?" She sounded eager, asking the question. Too eager.

Charlene felt Megan shudder against her and she rubbed her best friend's back. She knew the vampire thing was going to be difficult to swallow for a while, but she was content in the fact that Megan wasn't afraid of her.

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis, one day at a time." Stefan answered, glancing at both Vicki and Charlene.

"Good thing I don't want to drink human blood, then." Charlene said, leaning back in her seat. Though in the back of her mind, she knew she was going to have to fight that urge too and it wouldn't be easy.

Vicki rolled her eyes at Stefan's words, groaning out loud too. "Oh god! Don't start with that whole 12 steps thing. School counselor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me."

"It can work." Stefan told her seriously. "It's your choice, Vicki."

"So, you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki asked eagerly, a glint in her eyes.

The question must have been an uncomfortable subject if the look on Stefan's face was any hint. As he answered, he didn't look at Megan, or Charlene as both of them stared at him.

"Not in a very long time."

"How long?"

"Years and years, I'm not proud of my past behavior."

That was good to know, but it was still shocking to Charlene and Megan to think that Stefan could have drank human blood.

"Does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover!" Vicki ranted, standing up to her feet. "This daylight thing is a bitch! I need more blood. Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee?! I thought I was dead!" She stormed out of the room, leaving Charlene, Megan, and Stefan alone.

"I'm going to, uh…I'm gonna get her some more." Stefan cleared his throat awkwardly. "Alright? I'll be right back."

"Can you get me some too?" Charlene voiced before he could leave.

He nodded in response and left the room. Charlene turned her head to find Megan staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to the fact that you drink blood now…" Megan responded.

"Yeah…" Charlene laughed dryly. "Me either, but this is my life now, thanks to Damon fucking Salvatore."

"Speaking of that, I smacked him right across the face." Megan told her and Charlene's mouth fell open for a moment before she fell into a fit of giggles.

"Really?!" she managed to say in between giggles. "I wish I…could have been there."

Megan giggled too. "Yeah, it was pretty hilarious. You should have seen the look on his face. And damn, it felt good. He deserved it after what he did to you."

Charlene nodded in agreement as she giggled again. "He definitely did." Silence fell between them. Despite what had happened, it still felt like it always did. Just two best friends enjoying each other's company.

The silence didn't last long as Vicki came back into the room. "False alarm." She announced. "My body's feeling funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird, and I still don't get how you seem to be taking this wayyyyy too well, Gilbert."

Charlene rolled her eyes internally. Well, it was better than acting the way Vicki was. But she was right about that. Charlene was taking this way too well, but she wasn't upset by that. She was glad.

Vicki pulled her phone and started punching in a number.

Charlene watched her wearily, hoping Vicki wasn't calling who she thought it was. "Vicki, who are you calling?"

"Jeremy."

And that's what Charlene was afraid of. Going into sister protective mode, she stood up from her seat.

"Vicki, you can't be calling him and you definitely can't see him." Charlene said stiffly.

In response, the Donavan rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, don't you start with that sister protective crap, Gilbert. I'm gonna see whoever I want."

"Not Jeremy." Charlene snapped, glaring at her. "You could hurt him."

"So could you." Vicki countered back. "Besides, I would never hurt Jeremy.'

"And neither would I, but I wouldn't take that risk. That's my brother and I'll be damned if you think I'm going to let you see him and risk him getting hurt, especially by you. So, you need to let Jeremy go."

Vicki took on a defensive stance as she put away her phone and glared at Charlene. "Oh really? And how long have you been preparing the 'you're not good enough' speech? I'm assuming it predates the whole vampire thing."

"I don't have to give a speech, you already know that you're not good enough for Jeremy." Charlene said, cool and collected. This outraged Vicki as it was all over her face. "Jeremy's a good kid, even if he hasn't acted like it the past six months since our parents died. He's not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Vicki."

"Or what?" Vicki suddenly grabbed Charlene by the throat and shoved her against the wall, choking her.

"Charlene!" Megan was about to jump in and help her but Charlene put a stop to it.

"Don't!" she managed to shout, stopping her best friend in her tracks. Then she looked back at Vicki, who tightened her grip on her neck.

"Listen to me, you perky little bitch, I'm going to see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy, because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little head off. Got it?" Vicki almost released her but Charlene wasn't backing out without a fight as she managed to grab Vicki by the neck and slammed her against the wall, like she did to her.

Unlike with Vicki, Charlene's face turned right in front of Megan but she didn't notice as she gripped Vicki's neck tighter that Vicki had.

Vicki choked as she clawed at Charlene's fingers around her neck, but the blonde only tightened her grip.

"Now, it's time for you to listen!" Charlene snarled. "If you touched one hair on my brother's head, I won't hesitate in putting my hand in your chest and taking out your heart, so stay the fuck away from him!"

"Charlene, stop!" Megan screamed, somehow managing to snap her out of it.

The blonde's face turned back to normal and she released Vicki, letting the brunette fall to the floor, gasping for air. Charlene glanced back at Megan, who looked horrified, then she looked at Vicki. Guilt went through her.

"I got to go…" Charlene said quickly, rushing out of the room. Her eyes welled with tears as she ran.

What the hell did she just do?

Megan stood outside with Stefan, rubbing her arms as she shivered. She couldn't believe what she just witnessed. Never in a million years did Megan think she would ever see her best friend like that. Charlene normally was calm and level-headed, never letting anger get the better of her…but now…she acted like a completely different person. Though she didn't look different, Charlene changed…

Megan had meant her earlier words. Charlene was still her best friend and would be there for her…but now, she didn't think she would be enough to help Charlene.

"I can't believe that happened…" Megan voiced to Stefan quietly. "That wasn't my best friend…"

"It's still Charlene, Megan." Stefan tried to assure her. "She just needs time to adjust to what has happened to her even if it looked like she was handing it well…she was probably just trying to ignore what happened to her…and what happened with Vicki…she was only trying to protect her brother."

Megan said nothing for a few minutes. "I know…but why did Vicki threaten Charlene like that?"

"She's on edge. Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. And then when you throw in her other issues…"

"Well, how long will it take for her to get back to normal?" Well, as normal as you could get as a vampire. "Days? Weeks? Months?"

"There's no rule book."

Megan nodded slowly before deciding to ask him a personal question. "So…how long exactly did it take you to control it?" she asked softly.

"A while, but I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own. The thing is it's hard to resist certain people especially when you're new, it's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, angry, desire…it can all roll into one urge, hunger."

Megan paused for a moment. "What does that even mean?"

"Like Charlene told her, Vicki needs to stay away from Jeremy and he can't see her, not now. She might not be able to resist him, and she could hurt him."

"Or worse…" Megan mumbled. Though it had been shocking to see, Charlene was right to have fought back against Vicki. If it had been her and Vicki was threating to hurt Bonnie, she would have done the same thing.

"I'm going to let anyone get hurt." Stefan tried to assure her, but it wasn't working.

Megan shook her head. "And I hope your right and no one does." She sighed as she started to move away from Stefan. "I need to get going…"

Stefan tried to stop her. "Megan…"

She jerked away from his touch. "No, I'm sorry, but I only came to check on Charlene. I still meant what I said. I can't be with you…there's only so much I can take." Without looking at Stefan, Megan left the boarding house.

Locked up in her room after what happened, Charlene had her face buried into her pillow. She still hadn't gotten over what she had done. She scared her best friend, something she never wanted to do. But she had been angry, angry at Vicki for threatening her and for threatening to see Jeremy. Charlene couldn't let her brother get hurt. He had been hurt too many times and she didn't want another thing to happen to him.

"What are you doing?"

Charlene heard Damon's voice. "Leave me alone…" she mumbled into her pillow.

"Oh come on, Charlene."

"No." Charlene snapped, finally lifting her head from her pillow. Tears were still streaming down her face.

"Oh, what happened wasn't so bad." Damon said to her, sitting down on the bed. Of course, he knew what happened. "You're a vampire now, anger's just one of those things that comes with the territory."

Charlene sniffed and wiped her face as she sat up in the bed, meeting Damon's gaze. She said nothing for a moment before finally asking the question that had been on her mind since it happened.

"Why did you turn me, Damon? What was the point of it all?" she questioned.

It was his turn not to say anything for a moment. "I was…bored." It felt like it was more to it than just boredom, but it honestly didn't matter.

"Seriously? You did this out of boredom?" Charlene scoffed. "Wow, you really are a dick."

Damon smirked. "Thank you."

"It's not a compliment." Charlene said dryly. He shrugged and she rolled her eyes, laying her head back down on her pillow. "Whatever…just go away…" Instead of doing that, Damon managed to tug her out of bed. Instantly, she was on edge. "What…what are you doing?!"

"Come on, you need to get out of this house. No wonder you're going crazy."

"I am not!" Charlene tried to pull away from him but Damon was stronger. "Daaaaaamon!"

He ignored her and tugged her out of the bedroom. She didn't want to be alone with him. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Charlene wasn't as Damon brought along Vicki.

Stefan was already there as they came into the room. "What are you doing?"

"She's been cooped up in your room all day, and Charlene needs a change of scenery."

"No, I don't! He brought me here unwillingly!" Charlene protested, still trying to get Damon to let her go.

"No, no." Stefan protested, trying to stop them from going out the door. "Hey, hey, now's not the time for this."

"If you're gonna teach them. Teach them. Show them what it's all about."

"They could hurt someone." Stefan tried to protest.

Charlene was appalled Stefan would say that, but after what happened with Vicki earlier, she couldn't blame him.

Damon rolled his eyes. "I'm not taking them to Disneyland. We're going to the front yard. Come on."

They finally got out the door, but Stefan still followed them. "Bad idea, Damon."

Charlene knew it probably was, but it felt good to be outside, feeling the wind in her face. She closed her eyes at the feeling.

"They're vampires, Stefan." Damon said, causing Charlene to open her eyes. "They need to know the perks."

"Like what?" Vicki asked excitedly.

"Like…" Damon was gone in a blink, then back in an instant, now standing behind Vicki, who whirled around to face him with wide, excited eyes.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

Damon smirked widely, nudging Vicki in the side. "Come on, Vicki, live a little. No pun intended." He then turned his smirk to Charlene. "So should you, Charlie."

Charlene crossed her arms and stayed in her spot, but Vicki was gone…and didn't come back.

"Oops." Damon said immediately as Charlene and Stefan glared at him.

TBC...

In...

Haunted, Part 3