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

Charlene sat on the couch with Megan and Elena in the library of the Salvatore boarding house. She had both of her arms around her sisters' shoulders. They were both still shaken about what occurred an hour ago. Charlene couldn't blame them at all. She wasn't completely shaken about it, but she was pissed at him for making her sisters so scared. He was going to regret scaring her girls.

Stefan was already there, sitting across from them in the love seat. It was silent in the room for a little bit until Megan finally spoke up, her voice shaking a bit.

"I don't get it. What does he want with us? I thought it was just me he was after…but now he's after my friends too…why?" she looked towards Stefan, knowing he would have the answers she desperately needed.

"That's because we're predators, Megan. We hunt. We stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill."

"I know that part, Stefan, but why us specifically?" Megan asked again, but Stefan didn't have the answer for that one. "Do you think it might have something to do with us looking like Katherine, Demetria, and Abigail?"

"No." Stefan answered immediately. "That couldn't be it. All of the people who knew about them died in the church. It has to be something else."

Megan slowly nodded. "Yeah…your right…" she said, but there was a little hesitation in the voice. If Stefan noticed it, he didn't say anything. "I just wish we knew what he wanted…"

"Maybe he doesn't want anything." Charlene offered softly, rubbing Megan's shoulder gently. "Maybe it's just a game to him like Stefan said. He's trying to mess with our heads, and if we show how frightened we are, we're giving into his game."

Megan thought about it for a moment before she nodded, a confident look on her face. "You're right, Charlie." She sounded more surer than she had with Stefan as she straightened herself on the couch. "And we're not going to do that, right Elena? Charlene?"

"Right." Elena agreed, and Charlene nodded her agreement.

"Still, just in case, I want you to take this." Stefan pulled out something, and Charlene recognized it, making her wonder how he managed to get it from Damon.

"That's Jeremy's pocket watch." Elena voiced out loud as she took it from Stefan. "Why do you have it?"

"I took it from Damon, who took from Logan, who must have taken it from your house." Stefan explained.

Elena frowned as she opened up the pocket watch and observed the contents, confused. "What happened to it?"

"Well, it's not just a watch." Stefan started. "It's a sort of compass, but it points to vampires."

"It does?" Charlene asked.

Stefan nodded and took a hold of Elena's hands. He was showing her how the compass worked. Charlene peered over her sister's shoulder at the compass and watched as the needle whirled around on the compass before finally clicking into place, pointing at Stefan.

"Wow." Megan awed.

"Why did our father have it?" Elena glanced down at the watch.

"Gilberts were one of the founding families, and back in 1864, they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires."

"I guess we can add that to the list of family secrets." Elena mumbled bitterly as she handed the compass over to Megan.

Stefan looked like he didn't know what to say to that, so Charlene changed the subject.

"So, did you know them?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yes. I want you guys to keep it. That way, you'll know whenever you're ever in danger."

"And I'll be there too." Charlene added, and her sisters looked over at her. She gave them both a reassuring smile. "That vampire will regret ever coming to Mystic Falls."

Elena and Megan smiled as Charlene pulled them into a group hug. She was going to protect them even if it killed her.

Charlene and Elena returned home with Megan carrying all of their bags.

"You guys can help with the bags, you know?" she complained with a grumble.

"You were the one who offered!" Charlene reminded her.

"I didn't think you'd take me seriously!" Megan protested.

Before she could say anything else, Charlene spotted Jenna in the living room, dressed in cute 50s outfit. An awkward silence filled the air as Jenna met their gaze. Megan, obviously, felt it too as she coughed uncomfortably.

"Um, I'll take the bags upstairs." She said before quickly heading upstairs, leaving Charlene and Elena alone with Jenna. The silence broke when Elena spoke up as she crossed her arms.

"So…you're coming to the dance?"

Jenna nodded, smiling. "Alaric asked me to help chaperone."

"Well, that was nice of him." Charlene commented. Though it was still awkward between them, she was happy that Jenna found someone. He was definitely a lot better than Logan.

Her aunt's smile widened. "Yeah." She agreed as she walked around the couch to stand in front of it, crossing her arms.

Elena wasn't saying anything as she randomly picked up an apple, probably to do something so she wasn't just standing there. She was about to take a bite of it, but she paused, looking over at Jenna accusingly.

"Why didn't you tell us Jenna?"

Their aunt looked slightly startled by the sudden change of topic, but she shouldn't have been too surprised. It was bound to come up eventually. Jenna gave a sigh.

"Your mom was gonna do it eventually…" she said softly. "I never thought I'd have to."

"I know…but we need to know Jenna." Charlene told her.

"If mom was here right now, and we asked, she'd tell us the truth." Elena added.

Jenna stayed silent for a moment before she finally spoke, meeting both of their eyes. "Your dad was about to leave the office one night when these two girls show up. They were both sixteen and runaways, and about to give birth." She smiled slightly. The way she said made Charlene's heart skip a beat. "He delivered both of their babies, and gave them both a place to stay, but a few days later, they disappeared. And there was you, Charlene, and Megan were… your parents were trying so hard to have a baby and now they had three of them…but as much as they wanted to keep all three of you, they couldn't afford it…so they made the hard of decision of giving one of you up…and that's how Rudy Bennett got her."

Charlene didn't know what to say to that as Elena spoke up after thinking for a moment.

"Well, why were our parents' names on the birth certificate?" she questioned.

"Your dad was a doctor, Elena. He took care of it." Jenna said simply, then explained further. "They didn't want to lose either of you, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation."

"Do you know anything else about them?" Megan's voice cut in, causing Charlene to jump in surprise, and they all looked over at her. "The girls, I mean?"

"Just their names, Isobel and Mandy…and there's something else too…" Jenna paused for a moment. "They were sisters."

Charlene shared shocked looks with Elena and Megan. That meant…they were cousins…

A while later, all of them were upstairs, getting ready for the dance. Charlene was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact her, Megan, and Elena were cousins. It was hard to believe…but Jenna hadn't been lying. It was true. She would have started talking about it with Elena and Megan, but she decided not to. Charlene was going to take it as it was and have fun at the dance and worry about it later.

Megan finished putting on her outfit and turned around, grinning as she showed it off. "How does it look?" she asked giddily while she slowly turned around.

"It looks great." Charlene answered with her own grin, meaning it completely. Her best friend had on a white puffy shirt with a hot pink poodle skirt and black flat shoes, and her hair was wild and curly like Sandy Olsson from one of her favorite movies, Grease. "And love the hair."

Megan beamed. "Thanks! I worked hard on it. Think Stefan will like it?"

"If he doesn't, he's a fool." Charlene told her, and her best friend grinned again.

"Good point."

Charlene smiled and looked towards Elena, who was blow-drying her hair in the bathroom. "You look good too, Lena." She complimented her sister.

For a moment, she didn't think Elena could hear her, but her sister gave a small acknowledging smile. Charlene smiled again and headed back into the bedroom. Her eye caught the sight of the compass laying on the bed. On closer inspection, the arrow on the compass was moving around. It already had been moving since Charlene was in the room but this time, it looked like it was freaking out from how fast it was moving.

Charlene instantly was worried. "Megan…" she called.

"What?" Megan asked, catching the concern in her voice as she came over to Charlene.

"The compass."

Megan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Charlene pointed over to the compass. Her best friend went over to the bed, picking up the compass. After seeing how fast it was moving, Megan looked up at Charlene, surprisingly not looking worried.

"It's probably just Stefan." She said simply and she grabbed her cell phone from the side table in Elena's room. She dialed Stefan's number before waiting for him to answer.

But listening closely, Charlene heard Damon's voice over the phone. "Stefan's phone. How may I help?"

"Damon?" Megan said surprised. "Why do you have Stefan's phone?"

"He's on his way to you. He forgot his phone."

"Okay, thanks." Megan hung up the phone before looking over at Charlene. "See? Told you it was Stefan."

Charlene still wasn't reassured. Suddenly, there was a scream coming from downstairs…a very familiar one.

"Elena!" She raced downstairs, using her vampire speed, not hearing Megan screaming her name.

Making it down to the living room, Elena was being grabbed by a man and she just knew it was vampire who Megan ran over. Charlene snarled and her face changed as she jumped in before the man could even think about biting Elena. She shoved the vampire hard into the wall, growling in his face. Charlene would have snapped his neck right then and there, or at least slam her hand into his chest and pull out his heart, just like she did Vicki. Before she could even do anything like that, the vampire retaliated and used his legs to kick her off and crash into the table in the living room. Charlene groaned for a moment, laying on the broken wood, then she tried to get up as she heard Megan.

"Charlene!" her best friend cried out, about to run over to her. Megan didn't get very far as the vampire jumped in front of her and she screamed in response.

"Megan!" Stefan suddenly appeared into the living room from the kitchen. He was about to pull the vampire off of her, but she beat him to it.

Megan used her powers to shove the vampire off of her, throwing him to the ground. She jumped to her feet and moved her hand outwards. Her eyes seemed to flash as the vampire fell to the ground, screaming and holding onto his head as she gave him a brain aneurysm.

"GET OUT!" Megan screamed, twisting her hand. It made the vampire scream louder in pain.

Finally, she stopped, and the vampire fell to the ground, grunting in pain. Stefan was about to go over there to the vampire but before he could, the vampire managed to get up and he vamp-speeded out of the house. Megan fell to her knees, exhausted.

Stefan ran over to her and gathered her in his arms. Megan buried her face into his chest as Charlene slowly stood up to feet.

"Char!" Elena exclaimed, running over to her as tears streamed down her face.

Charlene pulled her sister into her arms, squeezing her tight as she looked worriedly at the front door.

Megan sat on the couch with Stefan, her arms tightly wrapped around herself as her boyfriend had his arm around her shoulders. Charlene and Elena sat in the two chairs across from them.

Damon was with them now, pacing back and forth. They had told him what happened, and he immediately came over.

"How did he get in?" Damon finally asked after a few minutes of pacing.

"He was invited in." Megan responded quietly, rubbing her arms with her hands. Stefan looked over at her as he squeezed her shoulders. "He posed as a pizza delivery guy last night…I should have known something was up…I got a bad feeling from him when he came to the front door…how could I not know he was a vampire? The same one that caused my accident…"

"It's not your fault, Megan." Charlene said softly.

She didn't say anything. Of course, it was…if she had listened to her feelings like she should have…then the vampire wouldn't have been invited in and none of this would have happened. Megan turned her head and buried her face into Stefan's shoulder.

"Well, he gets points for that." Damon quipped.

"Not funny, Damon." Charlene scolded, but he ignored her as he spoke again.

"Did he say what he wanted?"

At this, Megan lifted her head and glared at him. "Oh yeah, he definitely had time to tell us what he wanted in the middle of attacking us!" she snapped sarcastically. She was already irritated, and Damon was not helping calm her irritation. At all.

Damon rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything as Stefan took this as the time to speak up.

"And you have no idea who this is?" he asked his brother.

"No." Stefan looked unconvinced and Damon rolled his eyes again. "Don't look at me like that. I told you we had company."

"You think there's more than one?" Elena asked.

"We don't know." Damon sat on the arm of the chair Charlene was sitting on. He smirked over at her, but she ignored him.

"Damon, he was invited in." Stefan stated pointedly, causing Megan to glance at the two of them with her eyes narrowed.

Damon slowly nodded, and he seemed to know what Stefan was hinting at. "Then we go get him tonight." He looked at Megan, Charlene, and Elena. "You three up for it?"

"What do we have to do?" Megan asked wearily, not trusting whatever Damon had planned. Though she and Damon had an understanding now, she still didn't trust him, not after everything he did.

"Let your boyfriend take you to the dance and I'll take Charlene." Damon smirked over at Charlene, who looked horrified at the thought. "We'll see who shows up."

Charlene opened her mouth to protest, but Elena spoke before she could.

"Hate to disappoint you, Damon." She started, giving him a glare. "But Charlene's my date to the dance."

Megan stifled a laugh at the look on Damon's face. Elena didn't want him anywhere near Charlene and for good reason. Charlene gave Elena a grateful look and the brunette gave her a wink.

Stefan looked worried. "This is a bad idea."

"Till we get him, this house isn't safe." Damon pressed seriously. "For anyone who lives in it. It's worth a shot."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Damon's right." Megan said, and Stefan looked over at her. She met his gaze as she grabbed his hand. "We have to find him before he hurts anyone else. So, I'll do it. We all will." Charlene and Elena nodded in agreement. Stefan still didn't look convinced, causing her to squeeze his hand and she covered both of their hands with her free one. "We'll all be with the two of you. We'll be safe."

It didn't take too much long to convince Stefan it was a good idea, and they were now at the dance. Megan had her arm around Stefan's and Damon, Elena, and Charlene walked alongside them.

Megan couldn't help but look around. The party was in full swing, the song 'This Magic Moment' blaring around the room and everyone was dancing with no care in the world. Megan wished that was her, but it couldn't be. Not now, not until this threat was over and done with.

Alaric stood in the crowd at the dance, waiting for Jenna. He suddenly froze when he saw the guy who killed Isobel with Stefan Salvatore, Megan Bennett, Elena and Charlene Gilbert had entered the dance. Suddenly, there was a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around only to see Jenna standing there behind him.

"Alaric," Jenna said brightly.

Alaric looked her up and down and grinned. "Hey, look at you."

Jenna laughed. "I figured I'd stand out less if I dressed up," she said as she placed her hands on her hips, trying to found serious about what she was saying. But the grin on her face said otherwise.

Alaric chuckled, seeing right through it. "Liar." He teased.

Jenna's grin widened at him. "Okay, I'm a sucker for the decade dance." She admitted. "I went to school here, you know? They do sixties and seventies too, FYI."

"Oh, can't wait." Alaric teased, and Jenna giggled. "Can I get you a drink? I hear the punch is real boss." He was trying to sound cool, but knew he sounded ridiculous.

Jenna couldn't help but giggle and she nodded. Alaric smiled at her before they headed to the punch bowl.

Charlene stood by the punch bowl with Megan and Elena, who was playing with her earring nervously.

"It's going to be okay." Charlene tried to reassure her sister, grabbing her hand to bring it down and squeeze it. "We're going to find this guy."

Elena sighed as she squeezed her hand back. "I hope your right…"

Charlene hoped she was too as Megan wrapped her arms around both of their shoulders.

"We will." Megan sounded confident about it. "If he's looking for us, then he has to be here somewhere."

"We know that, but where?" Elena said, making it sound like a question as her free hand went back up to play with her earring nervously again.

Megan didn't say anything as she didn't know the answer to that. Before any of them could say anything else, Bonnie and Caroline came up to them and Elena changed the subject, smiling at the two.

"Having fun?" she asked.

"No, but this…" Caroline gestured down to herself with a grin. "Took two hours, so I'm at least staying half of that."

Charlene shared a grin with Megan. Only Caroline.

"What's Damon doing here?" Bonnie suddenly asked.

Charlene looked, finding the older Salvatore standing by Stefan. "Erm yeah…" she said as she turned back around. "For some reason, he wanted to come to the dance. I don't know why. I didn't ask, but he'll be on his behavior." At least she hoped so.

Caroline was still staring at Damon, her eyes narrowed. "So, what is this, like a fivesome now, you three and the Salvatore brothers?"

"Of course not!" Megan exclaimed, making a face. "That's disgusting." She shook her head. "Seriously though, if I'm going to be with Stefan, that means I have to tolerate his brother."

"And since Megan's my best friend, I have to deal with Damon being around." Charlene added.

"We like Stefan, and I mean come on, it's not like we can kill Damon." Elena said, taking a drink of her punch she just got.

Bonnie's eyes narrowed in Damon's direction. "There's a thought."

"Mmm. I'll help." Caroline smirked as her and Bonnie clicked their glasses together.

Charlene stifled a laugh while Megan burst out laughing. Though they were being completely serious, Bonnie and Caroline couldn't help but start laughing too.

"I'm really starting to see a change in Jeremy," Jenna said, smiling over at Alaric as they walked through the dancing crowd with cups in their hands as slow music played in the background. "Finally."

"Uh, losing someone you love so suddenly, the, uh—the trauma and the grief there are some of the tougher things you'll face in life."

"From someone who knows." As they stopped in front of a white screen that was playing 50s movie scenes, Jenna bit her lip and hesitated on her next words, but she decided to voice them anymore. "So, you have no idea what happened?"

Alaric shook his head. "That's the hard part…not knowing…" he said quietly.

"Is it okay to talk about your wife?" Jenna asked, hoping asking about her didn't bring back bad memories.

"There's not much to talk about."

Jenna looked at him sympathetically. "That must be impossible to deal with, not having any answers."

"I'd be lying to you if I told you it didn't keep me up at night. Wondering why…by who."

"Maybe someday." At least Jenna hoped for Alaric's sake.

Alaric nodded, "Hope so." He noticed Damon in the crowd with his arms crossed and his face darkened slightly. "Hope so…"

Bonnie and Caroline still stood by the punch bowl, talking and laughing with each other. Charlene, Megan, and Elena had gone off to meet back up with Stefan, leaving the two alone. The happiness died when Damon Salvatore came up to them.

"Hi Bonnie," Damon said with a smirk. "Wanna dance?"

Bonnie gave him a look of disbelief. Was he crazy? Bonnie rolled her eyes internally at her stupid question.

"I'm out of here." She muttered before she went to leave, but Damon blocked her with his body went to leave but Damon stopped her before she could go anywhere.

"Please give me another chance."

Bonnie didn't bother responding to him as she moved around Damon, walking away from him.

Caroline glared at Damon heatedly. "Back off Damon…." She warned. With one final glare towards him, she stomped off and followed after Bonnie, leaving Damon to stare after them.

As she along with Stefan, Megan, and Elena walked back up to the punch bowl. Charlene saw Bonnie and Caroline walking away, both of them clearly upset. Damon was there, and she just knew he had something to do with it. Charlene already had a glare on her face by the time they made it up there.

"What did you do?" she accused as she crossed her arms.

"What? I didn't do anything." Damon protested.

"Uh-uh." Charlene didn't believe him as far as she could throw him.

"I was perfectly polite." She opened her mouth to say something else, but Damon changed the subject before she could as he turned towards Elena with a smirk. "Elena, would you…"

Her sister didn't give him a chance to finish. "Oh, look there's Jeremy! I'll see you guys later!" She winked at Charlene before leaving to head over to Jeremy.

Charlene giggled in amusement.

Damon was still smirking as he turned to Megan. "Would you like to dance?" he asked charmingly, and Charlene rolled her eyes.

Megan leaned forward, smiling. "Oh, I'd thought you'd never asked." This caused Damon's smirk to widen as Charlene couldn't help but gap at her best friend, unable to believe she was serious. Stefan was shocked too, but her next words made them both realize she wasn't. "But I'm already taken." Damon had no time to say anything as Megan turned to face Stefan, smiling as she held out her hand. "Dance with me?"

Stefan smiled. "I thought you'd never ask." He teased and took her hand.

Megan grinned in response as she tugged him onto the dance floor, leaving Charlene alone with Damon. And the blonde just knew he was going to ask her to dance next. So, she tried to leave before he could, but it was too late.

"Charlene, would you like to dance?" Damon asked.

She gave a short laugh. "No, thanks." She moved to leave but he stopped her, grabbing her hand, and she looked over at him with a groan.

"Come on, Charlie, you know you want to." He said in a sing song voice and Charlene gave him an unamused look. Seeing it, he pouted. "Charlene, just one dance."

She stared at him, not believing she was actually contemplating even saying yes. Honestly though, what harm would it do? Charlene sighed heavily.

"Fine, just one dance." She relented, and he grinned as he started to tug her onto the dance floor. "Don't make me regret it…"

"Not possible. I got moves you've never seen." He said this as they got down onto the dance floor. What he did next shocked her as he suddenly dipped her down and brought her back up, their noses touching.

Charlene's breath got caught in her throat as she stared into Damon's eyes, which seemed to smirk at her. She felt herself blushing and she quickly looked away. Okay, maybe dancing with Damon wasn't the worse thing in the world.

Megan smiled widely as her and Stefan danced to the music. She decided to try and unwind despite what was going on, but it didn't stop her from looking around for the vampire. However, she spotted something interesting while she was looking. Charlene dancing with Damon, and they were talking as they did. Her best friend laughed at something he said as she shook her head, rolling her eyes.

It was surprising to see but she couldn't help but smile as she watched them. They actually looked pretty cute together. Megan stopped staring at them to look back at Stefan, who was looking around for the vampire.

"You know it would be cool if you guys could sense one another?" she commented, causing her boyfriend to meet her gaze. "It would make finding this vampire a whole lot easier."

"It doesn't work like that." Stefan said, amused.

Megan rolled her eyes playfully. "I know, Stefan. That's why I said it would be cool. So much for vampire hearing." She gave him a teasing grin.

"Very funny." Stefan poked her on the nose.

She giggled. "I know I am." She said smugly, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Stefan shook his head before changing the subject. "Do you see him anywhere?"

"No, unless he's wearing this funny hat…oh what's it called…" Megan tried to think of it.

"A pompadour?" Stefan guessed, looking at the guy she was talking about.

She snapped her fingers. "Yeah, that's it!"

He laughed. "Wow. Not one of the better fashion trends."

"Oh, I'm sure you looked very handsome." Megan flirted, kissing the side of his mouth. "Please, tell me you have pictures?"

"No. Burned. Buried." Stefan grinned as she pouted at him.

"Are you trying to break my heart, Stefan?" Megan questioned dramatically as she brought on the fake tears and she wiped them away. He grinned down at her and she grinned right back, unable to keep up with the dramatics. "Speaking of the 50s, what were they like? Was it all varsity sweaters and milkshakes?"

"Well that, and you know, McCarthyism and segregation and nuclear arm races." Stefan added.

"But there were poodle skirts?" Megan asked hopefully.

"There were poodle skirts." Stefan confirmed.

"Yess." She said in relief as her boyfriend spun her around, then pulled her back in, making her laugh. "You got some slick moves there. You're so teaching me the hand jive later." She teased at the end, and he shook his head immediately.

"No. That's not going to happen."

"Come on, just once?"

"No."

Megan groaned in response, then she pouted at him before resting her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes in contentment, enjoying the closeness.

Jeremy was giving out punch to his fellow students when he heard a familiar voice coming from behind him.

"You neglected to mention this was a theme party."

Jeremy turned around and saw Anna, grinning at him. "What are you doing here?" he asked, confused.

"Well, seeing you as you also neglected to invite me, I took matters into my own hands," Anna explained, her grin widening just a bit more.

"You're doin' that thing again."

"What thing would that be?"

"The thing where you pretend, we're dating. Even though we're not." Jeremy answered.

"Oh, you mean stalking," Anna said pretending to have a look of realization on her face. "Yeah." She laughed at him, then she smiled. "Get over yourself. Come on…I've never been to a school dance before. Humor me."

Jeremy smiled back at her and slowly nodded.

Charlene stayed on the dance floor as Damon went to get them some punch. She honestly didn't want any, but he insisted on it and she didn't really feel like arguing about it. Charlene was shocked at how much she enjoyed dancing with Damon, and she had no idea why. She shouldn't have but she did…it was such a weird feeling. She didn't know if she liked it or not.

Damon returned, holding out the plastic cup filled with red punch. "Here you go." He said with a charming smile.

"Thanks." Charlene took it from him before taking a sip. She noticed he didn't have one. "Didn't want any punch?"

"I'm not a punch kind of guy." He answered with a shrug.

"Right." Charlene figured as much. She opened her mouth to say something more, but she wasn't able to as her History teacher Alaric Saltzman came up to them. "Hey, Mr. Saltzman." She greeted politely.

"Hi Charlene." Alaric turned his gaze to Damon. "I don't recognize you. How did you get roped into chaperoning?" He asked and paused, waiting for an answer. When he didn't get any, he spoke again. "Alaric Saltzman. I'm the new History teacher." He held out his hand.

Damon stared at it for a moment before shaking it. "Damon. Salvatore."

"Salvatore as in Stefan?"

"He's my little brother. I'm his legal guardian."

Pretty much, they seemed to forget she was even there. Charlene frowned. Instead of saying anything, she just left them alone to talk and went over to Jeremy to see how he was doing but he was busy talking to some girl, so she decided not to interrupt. Charlene didn't spot any of her other friends, causing her to just go back to where Damon was.

"You don't go to school here." Jeremy informed Anna as she handed stacks of plastic cups over to him. "You know, you don't have to help."

Anna smiled. "Oh, I don't mind," she said. "It's fun." Jeremy walked to the other side of the table to join her as she changed the subject. "Before I forget, can I borrow your ancestor's journal?"

"Why?"

"Because you said I could read it." Anna said stating the obvious.

"Uh, I don't have it," Jeremy told her as he sat down the three stacks of cups on the table.

"Oh, well obviously you didn't bring it here," Anna said with a nervous laugh, but he didn't notice. "But, uh, I can walk you home."

"No. I mean, I gave it to my history teacher."

Anna looked startled. "Wait…why did you give it him?"

"Because he wanted to read it," Jeremy told her like it was obvious, and it was.

"You know, you shouldn't be giving that to just anybody," Anna said in a serious voice.

Jeremy laughed. "But I should give it to you?"

"Loan. Loan it to me then."

"Well, I loaned it to Mr. Saltzman."

"Maybe he's in his classroom," Anna said adamantly. "We can get it back."

Jeremy leaned forward, looking at her annoyed "What's the big deal with the stupid journal?"

Anger bubbled through Anna as her face started to change, her eyes going red, something that Jeremy noticed.

"Your eye."

Anna quickly looked away. "Um, there's something in it…forget it. I gotta go." She rushed out of there and Jeremy stared after her, confused.

Time passed and Megan was still dancing with Stefan. The vampire was nowhere in sight. He could be hiding in the crowd, but she hadn't spotted him. However, nothing happened, and Megan frowned.

"Maybe he's not going to show up." She commented, turning her gaze back to Stefan. "If he was here, you would think he would have made a move already."

"You mean we did all this dancing for nothing?" Stefan teased.

Megan glared at him playfully. "Oh hush, you loved it."

He smiled and didn't bother denying it. Then he frowned, and Megan knew what he was thinking but she didn't say anything, deciding to just let him say it.

"I'm really sorry about all of this." He apologized softly.

Megan shook her head as she touched his cheek. "You don't have to apologize, Stefan. You're not making me do anything I don't want to do. I want to be here. So, I don't want to hear you apologizing anymore, because there's nothing to apologize for." She leaned in and kissed his cheek softly before pulling back to give him a smile.

Suddenly, the music picked up around them and Megan laughed at the look on Stefan's face as he looked around at everyone, who were picking up the pace of their dancing. Then she grabbed his hands and moved her hips to the fast music.

"Come on, Stefan, don't be such a stick in the mud, show me how its done in the 50s!" Megan pressed, grinning.

He shook his head, but she kept nodding her head insistently in response to every shake of the head he did. He shook his head one final time and Megan pouted.

"Fine, I give up." She tossed her hands in the air and she started to walk off the dance floor. She didn't get far as she let out a yelp of surprise when Stefan grabbed her hand and twirled her back towards him. Then he picked her up and dipped her on one side, then the other, holding her in the dip for a moment. Megan couldn't help but laugh joyfully as Stefan straightened them back up and placed her back on the floor. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her face and pulled her into a kiss with intense passion. It left her breathless. He pulled back with a grin, poking her on the nose.

"Now you remember that, because it's never gonna happen again." He told her.

Megan giggled. "We'll see about that." She smiled and they kissed again.

Anna walked down the dark corridor of the school, trying to find the school teacher's classroom. She stopped at the end of one and saw Noah, the man who attacked Elena, Charlene, and Megan. She vamp speeded over to him and he looked down at her with a devilish smile as she glared up at him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Trying to get the journal, as in sticking to the plan, something you're not doing." Anna sighed. "Leave the girls alone."

Noah's grin widened at the mention of them. "I like them." he said simply. "They look like Katherine, Abigail, and Demetria."

"They're not them." Anna reminded him. "Okay, they are in the tomb."

"I know, but until we get the tomb open, I got those girls to play."

Anna began to feel frustrated at the man in front of her. "Don't be stupid. Those girls are with the Salvatore brothers."

Noah scoffed. "They don't scare me," he told her. "They never have."

She gave him a pleading look. "Please Noah." She begged. "Don't do this. You're gonna ruin everything."

"You got nothing to worry about." Noah reassured Anna, but it didn't really work. "You will get what you came here for. Just let me have my fun." He then added as if this would help his cause, "They look like Abigail, Katherine and Demetria."

He walked off leaving Anna standing there, staring after him as she shook her head. He was going to get himself killed, not that she really cared. As long as he didn't ruin the plan, then it didn't matter if he died or not.

Charlene was back with Stefan, Megan, and Elena at the punch bowl, but she was mostly paying attention to Damon, who was back on the dance, dancing with another girl. Though she was scowling, she wasn't jealous. Not at all.

"You really can't take him anywhere, can you?" Elena asked amused as Damon and the girl glided across the dance floor, snapping Charlene out of her thoughts.

Stefan shook his head. "Uh, no."

Charlene opened her mouth to say anything, but she stopped when she felt Megan stiffen beside her. "What?"

"Look, the back corner." She whispered stiffly. "It's him…"

Stefan looked in the direction Megan was looking at and his eyes narrowed. "Get Damon."

The older Salvatore had disappeared, so they had to split up to find him. Charlene pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring their protests. He was nowhere in sight.

"Damon, where are you? Damnit…" she cursed under her breath. Suddenly, her mobile started ringing in her pocket, causing her to stop what she was doing. She looked at the caller ID and stiffened. It was an unknown number, and Charlene just knew it was the vampire. How he got her number? She had no idea, but it was probably the same way he got Megan's. Charlene answered, only because she wanted to get some answers.

"What the hell do you want from us?" she bit out. She heard him chuckle on the other end of the phone.

"So feisty." He mocked and Charlene glared even though he couldn't see it as she looked around with her eyes to find him. "Hello Charlene." She could hear the smirk in his voice. "Nice to see you again."

"What. Do. You. Want?" Charlene growled. "When I find you, you're going to regret you even messed with us."

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I was you. I'm sure you don't want any harm to come to Megan, Elena, and even your brother Jeremy."

Charlene stiffened at the threat. Now, her eyes were searching for her family and friends. Megan wasn't too far away, and Elena was right next to her best friend, so she was able to relax. But not for long as she spotted Jeremy by the punch bowl, all by himself now, and the vampire was standing near him with his phone pressed to his ear.

"What do you want me to do?" Charlene asked quietly, hating herself for even listening to what he had to say, but she couldn't let Jeremy, Megan, and Elena get hurt.

"There's an exit door behind you. You have five seconds, or I'm going to snap their necks, and I bet I can do it so fast there's not even a witness. So, I would start walking."

Charlene started moving as quick as she could. "Just don't hurt them, please." She said, thinking maybe that would help.

But he just ignored her plea. "Keep walking. Through the door."

Charlene decided to just listen keeping her mouth shut. She kept her eyes on the vampire, making sure he didn't touch either of them, but mostly Jeremy since he was closest to her brother. The vampire followed her, but he didn't lay on a hand on her brother. Charlene just knew he was after her now, so she quickly hung up the phone and ran through the exit door. She knew she was a vampire too and that she could fight him, just like she did last time, but she didn't want to risk it. Not now. But if he attacked her, then she wouldn't hesitate to attack right back.

She raced through the dark corridor, keeping a sharp eye on her surroundings to see if the vampire was following her. She couldn't see him as she found a set of doors and tried to open them, but chains kept them from opening. Charlene could have used her vampire strength to break them, but she just didn't want to bother with it. She turned around and there was the vampire walking calmly towards her. Charlene didn't stay as she used her vampire speed to burst through the doors of the cafeteria before she ran across the room to another pair of doors, but those were locked too.

This time, she was going to use her vampire strength to break the lock, but before she could, she heard doors slamming open behind her. Charlene whirled around and he was right there. Her eyes narrowed. He had her cornered now, but she wasn't going to let him get her without a fight. Charlene let her face change and growled at him.

He simply smirked at her before he charged at her at full speed. She didn't hesitate to do the same thing. They slammed into each other and she went to bite him, but he grabbed her hair and yanked her back, causing her to cry out. Using her hair, he tossed her onto a nearby table shattering it into a million pieces. She didn't stay on the ground for long as she vamp speeded up to her feet, grabbing a big piece of the broken table without him seeing while he started towards her again.

The vampire managed to get to her first and slammed her against the wall. Without hesitation, Charlene managed to stab him with the piece of the table into his stomach. He cried out and fell backwards to the ground. Charlene smirked but that fell when he pulled the stake out, making her back up into a mop bucket. She quickly grabbed the mop from the bucket and used her strength to break the mop in half to use one of the pieces as a new stake.

Charlene thrust the stake towards him, but he was quicker than her, so he grabbed it and stabbed her with it barely missing her heart. She gasped in shock. If it had hit her an inch closer, it would have killed her. The vampire went to attack her again but this time, Stefan was the one to stop him, grabbing him and tossing him to the ground.

"Char!?"

She heard Megan and Elena cry out her name as she ripped the stake out of her chest. Charlene managed to get to her feet when Elena and Megan pulled her into a hug. She hugged them back as she turned her gaze to Stefan and Damon. The vampire had already got back up to his feet.

"Hey dickhead." Damon greeted as the vampire looked up at him while he twirled a stake in his hand. "Nobody wants to kill you. We just wanna talk."

The vampire simply smiled as he charged towards Charlene, Megan, and Elena.

Megan didn't let him get that far as she used her powers to bring him to his knees as he cried out. "That's for crashing my car!" she said angrily.

Damon tossed the stake over to Stefan and he stabbed the vampire in the stomach. Megan released him as the vampire grunted in pain. Damon walked over towards where Stefan so they could interrogate the vampire.

"Now you feel like talkin'?" Stefan questioned.

"Screw you." He snapped. Stefan dug the stake in deeper and he groaned in pain.

"Wrong answer. Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun." The vampire managed a smirk.

In response, Stefan dug it in even more, making a squishing sound. Charlene felt Elena's body shudder against her at the sound of it.

"What do you want with Charlene, Elena, and Megan?"

"They look like Abigail, Katherine, and Demetria." The vampire replied simply.

So, Megan was right about him bothering them because of that. Did that mean the vampire knew about them?

"You knew them?" Damon asked, shocked.

"Oh. You thought you were the only ones." The vampire laughed, but it ended up in a gasp. "You don't even remember me."

Damon leaned over towards the vampire threateningly. "Tell me how to get into the tomb. Hmm?"

"No."

In response, Stefan leaned back down and shoved the stake even deeper until it was sticking out of his back.

"The grimoire." The vampire gasped out.

"Where is it?" Damon demanded.

The vampire gasped in pain as Stefan dug the stake in even more if that was possible. "Check the journal." He managed to say. "The journal. Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's."

Damon stood up and grimaced.

"Who else is working with you?"

He didn't answer Stefan, so Damon tried. "Who else is there?"

"No. You're going to have to kill me."

Damon looked over towards Stefan and rolled his eyes, nodding as to give him the okay to do it. Stefan removed the stake from the vampire's stomach, and he waited for a moment before staking the vampire in the heart. Elena gasped in shock and Charlene tightened a grip on her sister. The vampire fell to the floor and began to desiccate.

"What do we…how are you gonna find the others now?" Elena asked, managing to get the words out.

"I know…" Charlene was the one to answer, rubbing her arm. "But it had to be done, Elena. He had to die. He was invited into our home. If we had let him live, he could hurt Jenna, or Jeremy."

Elena said nothing, but she knew that Charlene was right, which was why she didn't say anything.

Suddenly, they heard a door open and could see Alaric Saltzman coming through one of the door's windows. Stefan looked at Damon.

"Go. I got this."

The older Salvatore left the cafeteria, leaving them alone, thinking about what happened.

An hour later, Damon and Stefan stood across from each other from a double door that led into the hallway to two vending machines.

"There's no way that idiot was workin' alone," Damon finally said.

"You are." Stefan reminded as Damon grimaced at him. "So, the grimoire…that was Emily's, right? That's what you need to reverse the spell. When founding families burned her, they took her things, and you were hoping that dad's journal would tell you where it is."

Damon smirked. "Look at you puttin' the pieces together." He said. "Good for you. I was half-right. Well it's out there now." He paused dramatically for a moment. "Let the games begin."

"My offer still stands," Stefan told his brother.

"Yeah with some hidden caveats, no doubt."

Stefan shook his head. "No. Nothing hidden about it. No lies. No deceptions." He told Damon seriously. "I'm there when you open the tomb, you and Abigail go, and the other 26 vampires die. Including Katherine and Demetria."

"If I agree?"

"I'll help you."

Damon looked at him suspiciously. "And why should I trust you?" he questioned.

"Because I'm your brother," Stefan offered.

"No that's not going to cut it," Damon denied.

"Because I want you gone."

Damon paused for a moment, thinking about if this was an acceptable reason to trust Stefan. Then he finally nodded.

"Okay."

Stefan nodded back, sealing the terms to their agreement.

"Thanks, I needed that." Jenna said with a smile as Alaric walked her to the Gilbert home front door.

"Well, thank you for—for coming," he said. "I-I really appreciate it. You made the evening much more…well you made it, period."

Jenna couldn't help but smile at the compliment. "I'm glad I could help."

"Oh and thank you for pulling up with that wife talk, I-I got to stop doing that." Alaric chuckled. "It doesn't bode well for dating."

"Is that what it was, a date?" Jenna asked unable to help the grin that appeared on her face.

Alaric shook his head. "No definitely not a date."

She looked down at her feet in response. "Oh…" she said disappointed.

"But Friday…" Alaric went on with a grin. "You, me, dinner, and a movie, that could be a date. How about it?"

Jenna brightened up at that, looking back at him with a soft smile. "Works for me." She agreed. She laughed a little, "Uh, you can talk about your wife all you want." Ric chuckled. "It's going to take time to heal. We should just be ourselves."

Alaric nodded. "Still, I think I'll keep the Isobel talk to a minimal."

Jenna stiffened at the mention of the name 'Isobel'. She internally shook her head. There was no way Elena's mom, Isobel, was in relation to Alaric's wife, Isobel. There was just no way… but she still had to make sure.

"Isobel?" she asked.

Alaric nodded again. "Yeah." He said. "That was her name."

"Where was Isobel from?" Jenna questioned. This would answer her question…or not…

"From Virginia." Alaric answered. "I mean, not too—not too far from here actually." He didn't take notice to Jenna's weird expression on her face.

Megan was on the couch with Elena and Charlene. They were safe and sound at home now. Megan relieved to be back and that the vampire was finally gone. Stefan was in the kitchen making some tea. Megan had wanted some, but Elena and Charlene didn't.

Stefan returned to the living room with the tea and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Megan said, giving him a smile as she took it from him. He sat down next to her and she leaned into his side with a sigh, then took a sip of the tea.

There was silence for a little bit until Stefan broke the silence.

"I need to tell you three something." He said as Megan, Charlene, and Elena looked at him. "But I don't know how you're going to feel about it."

Megan sat down her tea and looked at him, concerned. "What is it?"

"I told Damon that I'd help him get into that tomb to get Abigail back. But it was a lie. I let him believe he could trust me."

"Well, why would you be worried about telling us?" Charlene asked.

"Because he can be very persuasive and you two have bonded lately." Stefan explained, looking at Charlene. Then he looked at Megan and she knew he was thinking about the trip to Georgia.

Megan shook her head. "That trip might have made me tolerate Damon more, but the fact still stands. It's going to take a lot more than a road trip to make me forget everything that Damon has done."

Stefan sighed. "I don't want to be his enemy, but I can't let him do it."

"And you don't have to." Megan reassured, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "We'll help you in everyway we can, right girls?"

Charlene nodded. "Of course, we will. We can't let Damon get Abigail out of the tomb." Though she said the words, Megan could tell she hated saying them. If anyone would feel guilty about this, it would be Charlene despite it being the right thing to do.

Elena nodded too. "Yeah, I want to help too."

That confirmed, they stayed up a little longer and talked but soon they went their separate ways. Megan went back to the boarding house with Stefan, telling her friends she would see them in the morning.

Ben McKittrick exited the Grill and locked it up. He started walking down the sidewalk when he suddenly heard a noise. He was suddenly almost attacked but he attacked right back, vampire face and all, as he pushed Anna into the wall by the neck.

"Don't sneak up on me," Ben warned with a grin.

Anna laughed and pushed him off of her playfully. "You love it." She teased as she stood in front of him now.

Ben looked around for a moment before looking back at Anna. "Where's Noah?" he asked.

Anna rolled her eyes. "His obsession got the best of him, and so did the Salvatore brothers."

"They killed him?"

"Tortured and staked."

Ben's eyes trailed over Anna's face to see if there was any remorse but there wasn't any. "You're not very upset."

"I warned him Ben." Anna told him. "And he was just going to screw everything up anyway. To be honest, he wasn't exactly an asset." She changed the subject, looking at Ben seriously. "How did you do?"

Ben grinned. "Oh, the witch is totally crushing on me," he told her proudly. "Did you get the journal?"

"No." Anna answered, shaking her head. "But I know where it is, and I'll get it."

Ben smirked and kissed her. She kissed him back passionately. They broke away from the kiss after a while. Ben threw his arm around her shoulders and they walked down the empty sidewalk, ready to compete their plan.

TBC...

In...

Children of the Damned, Part 1