'O Lord, we call upon You in our time of sorrow that You give us the strength and will to bear our heavy burdens until we can again feel the warmth and love of Your divine compassion. Be mindful of us and be merciful while we struggle to comprehend life's hardships.

Keep us in Your watch until we can walk again with light hearts and renewed spirits.' Gran and I recited as the onlookers knelt.

'Amen.' said a chorus of people as I lay my bouquet between my parents' graves.

'I still can't believe they're gone.' Gran breathed.

'Me, too.' I stood up straight. 'Gran, I was attacked by-'

A snap made me jump; I veered around just in time to see Damon dropping Gran to the ground.

'Oh, don't mind me,' he said as I looked at the onlookers, who now appeared gray and frozen, 'please, continue.'

'Help!'

No one moved, no one except Caroline, Bonnie, Stefan, and Elena. Caroline was crying, Bonnie was screaming, Stefan was trying to talk to Damon while Elena only stared.

'Well, aren't you slippery one.'

'Damon, don't!'

'Stop!' sobbed Caroline.

'Leave her alone.' Bonnie demanded. 'She's not going to say anything!'

'And this is me making sure!'

I jolted awake, making Elena and some other guy jerk up.

'Stay away! Stay away!'

'Bella! Bella! Calm down; it's just a bad dream.' Elena's voice cut through my panicked gasps.

'He killed my Gran! He killed Gran.' I sobbed. 'Where's Gran?!'

'Down the hall getting coffee.' said the man.

'Where's- where's Bonnie?

I almost said, where's mommy?

'At the vending machine.'

What happened to Stefan?

Is he warning Damon?

Is Damon coming back to finish me off?

I glanced at the man; he looked like he was of medium build, maybe tall, with light brown hair and light blue eyes.

'Who are you?'

'Zach Salvatore.'

'Damon and Stefan's nephew?'

'Uncle.' Elena corrected- at least, she thought she was.

'Right.'

'You must be Isabella.'

'Bella.'

I turned to the man, and he squirmed; he knew.

'Where is Damon?'

'I'm not sure; he mentioned a date.'

'Where's Stefan?'

Elena rolled her eyes and sighed, earning a glance from the man, Zach.

'He and Bonnie were with me in the ambulance. And Stefan was

here when I regained consciousness.' I erupted with as much irritation as I could conjure.

Why was she even here?

'He stepped out for a second,' Zach offered, 'he should be back soon.'

'Where's the sheriff?'

'At the station.'

'How long have I been here?'

'It's September 20th.'

It was my birthday, September 13th; when I was attacked, I was in the hospital for a week.

I wonder if they have laid Mr. Tanner to rest yet.

'I'd like to speak with the sheriff.'

'I'll call Caroline.'

'Maybe you should talk to your grandmother,' Zach insisted, 'she spent the entire time by your bedside praying. She should know that her prayers were answered.'

'Your grandmother has spent the week worrying about you,' Elena agreed.

'I'm fine.'

'She'd love to hear that from your lips.'

'Bella's awake.' Elena whispered.

'She is?!' Bonnie and I cried in unison.

'She wants to talk to Sheriff Forbes.'

'I'll call Gram.' Bonnie took out her phone. 'She wanted an update on Bella.'

'Jeremy's been bugging me about Bella all week.'

'I'll find Mrs.-'

'She's there with her now. Zach figured she should talk to her first.' Elena folded her arms. 'She asked about you.'

'What did she ask?'

'Just asking about where you were.'

'I would visit before and after school.' I told her. 'To give her grandmother a break.'

'She asked about Damon as well.'

'What did she say about him?'

'The same: where he was. What's wrong?'

'Nothing.'

We walked to Bella's room; I peered into the window. She tried reassuring her grandmother that she was ok while glancing at Zach. Elena and I entered the room as Bella announced, 'Gran, I'm fine.'

'You were almost killed.'

'Almost.'

'I could have lost you.'

'You won't ever lose me.'

'Bella-'

'It'll more than that to off me.' Bella said in a tired yet defiant voice. 'I'm tougher than I look.'

Zach cleared his throat. 'Bella wants to talk to the sheriff.'

'Don't you want to heal first?'

'No.'

'Bella,' I spoke up, 'maybe you should wait until you have your strength-'

'I'd say that surviving my attack-'

'Bella,' Mrs. Higginbothm said gently, 'let's get you back full strength, then we'll talk to the sheriff.'

Bella grimaced, but nodded, then locked her dark eyes on me; she needed to be dealt with.

Immediately.

'When you come back to school?' Jeremy asked as he walked into my house.

'Like, 6-8 weeks.' I grumbled as Jeremy placed my assignments on the kitchen table. 'And I have to wear this brace the whole time.'

'That does suck.'

'Yeah, it does.'

'It's better than the alternative.'

I can't argue with that.

'Who's teaching history now?'

'A sub until they find someone permanent. Do you really have a whole month's vacation?'

'Jeremy, I nearly had my throat ripped out; I'd rather go to school and be able to bend my neck.'

'I wish we could trade.'

'What's going on at your house?'

'Founders' party.'

'Founders' ball, what's that?'

'They've had that thing for like a hundred years.'

'Are you going?'

'No. I do NOT want to spend the night at Tyler's house.'

'Vicky's probably going then.'

'Yeah.' Jeremy grimaced and looked away. 'I heard that they caught the animal that attacked you.'

I highly doubt that.

'Really? What was it?'

'A mountain lion. You actually survived a mountain lion attack.'

'Is that the rumor around school?'

'That's the truth around the school.' Jeremy proclaimed. 'You're a badass.'

I shrugged.

'I don't feel like one.'

Nothing of interest happened during the last few days; I watched the Gilbert house.

Vicky's been in and out, though Stefan hasn't been around much, and for that matter, neither has Damon.

The last time I saw him was when he and Caroline went to the Founder's party.

A knock on the door made Gran and I jump, and I kept picturing Damon's bloody face smiling; I clung to Gran as we scampered to the door; when we reached it, I edged out in front of her.

'Bella?'

'Who's there?' I called.

'Is the home of Bella Swan?' asked a quiet voice.

It sounded like a kid, a girl.

'Who are you?' I demanded.

'Uh, my name is Bree; I'm William Tanner's niece.'

Gran and I exchanged a glance; he never mentioned a niece.

I unhurriedly opened the door, and I saw a slender young girl standing in front of our welcome mat holding a box. She looked tiny, 5th or 6th grade, maybe. She had chin-length dark hair and brown eyes. She wore a black tee, black sneakers, and blue jeans.

'I'm Bella Swan.'

She blushed and looked away. 'Hello.'

'Hi.'

'Uh, hi.' she tapped on the box. 'So, my uncle told me and his partner about your project.'

'My project?'

'Piecing together your uncle's life before he went to war.'

'Oh.'

With everything that has been going on, I had forgotten.

'These are some years books from the '80s for both Mystic Falls and Grove Hill.'

'Grove Hill?'

'Yeah, my uncle called in favors from friends at both city halls; he did this on the day he died.'

'I'm sorry. I would have gone to the funeral, but-'

'I know, the mountain lion attack.'

'Would you like to come in?'

'No, I have to go. I'm leaving town,' she lamented, 'Uncle Will was my legal guardian, and with him gone, I have to live with my dad in Vegas since he and his partner weren't married.'

'I'm sorry to hear that.'

'Yeah, me too.' she handed Gran the box. 'But at least they caught what killed my uncle.' she began walking to a silver Volvo. 'Nice meeting you.'

'Piecing together your uncle's life?' Gran turned to me as I shut the door.

'Mr. Tanner was helping me learn about him and Renne's life here. I know nothing about Beau and Renee and the crash; I've felt disconnected from my parents.'

'Bella-'

'I know that I'm adopted.' Gran turned away from me. 'I found out two years ago.'

'Are you trying to find your birth parents?'

'Maybe one day, but not now. Charlie and Renee Swan are my parents.'