[1x06; Lost Girls]

A loud pounding against the bathroom door startled Lucy as she ran a brush through her wet hair. She was fresh out of the shower and relaxed, ready to get into bed for the night.

"Lucy!" came Elena's frantic voice. "Lucy, are you in there?"

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what had upset Elena. "Yeah, I'm getting dressed! Are you okay?"

Elena sighed in relief. "Yeah, I'm fine. Goodnight."

"…night."

Lucy faintly heard Elena's door shut as she finished her nightly routine. Once she patted her face dry and brushed her teeth, she wandered back to her room. Her dirty clothes went straight into her hamper and when she turned around, she jumped, shocked.

Stefan was sitting at the end of her bed, his head lowered. His hands were clasped tightly together, his knuckles white with strain. From his body language and the way he only whispered an apology for scaring her, Lucy figured that Stefan was upset about something.

"Stefan, what's wrong?" she asked seriously, no hint of her usual humor or sarcasm in her voice.

"Elena knows," Stefan lifted his head to look at Lucy. Lucy sighed; she had really hoped they would get the chance to explain to Elena before she found it out herself. "She's pissed…and afraid."

Lucy pursed her lips in sympathy and sat down next to Stefan. "Afraid of you?"

"Me, Damon…" he scoffed, though there was no humor in it. "I told her I wouldn't hurt her and she didn't believe me."

"She's just scared," Lucy offered in her sister's defense. She knew that Stefan would never hurt Elena and she was sure Elena knew that too. She was just afraid of something she didn't understand. "She doesn't really think that."

Stefan nodded, looking unsure. Elena looked utterly terrified of him at his house and when he went into her bedroom. It broke his heart; he never wanted to see her so afraid in her life. Especially not toward him.

After a couple minutes of comfortable silence, Stefan's phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his jeans and raised his eyebrows, not recognizing the phone number calling him.

"Hello?" he answered, holding the phone up to his ear.

"I want my ring."

There was no greeting or introduction, but Stefan had been hearing his brother's voice for the better part of one hundred and forty-five years. He was more than able to pick it out.

"Damon, where are you?" he grumbled, the anger of finding Zach's body flooding through his body once again.

"I'm at the sizzler. I had the buffet," Damon said carelessly. "Where's my ring?"

"I don't have it," Stefan told his brother, glancing at Lucy as she gestured wildly, silently asking him to put the call on speakerphone. Stefan sighed and complied, pressing the button so Lucy would be able to hear Damon's end of the call. "Where are you? What have you done?"

Stefan and Lucy could hear the faint roar of flames from Damon's end. "No, what have you done?" Damon turned it back on Stefan. "You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done, whoever I've sucked dry is on you, buddy."

Stefan narrowed his eyes. "You're being careless. How many more animal attacks is this town gonna believe, huh?"

"I know how to cover my tracks, Stefan. Where is my ring?"

"I gave it to Zach to hide," Stefan lied, hoping to get a reaction out of him. "You probably shouldn't have killed him."

Lucy's eyes widened and she looked over at Stefan in concern; he avoided her gaze.

Damon laughed after a thoughtful minute of silence. "Ah, you almost got me. Where is it?"

Stefan looked at Lucy; she frantically shook her head in response.

"I'll get it back," Stefan said against Lucy's wishes; if Damon didn't get his ring, he'd go on a killing spree until he pried it out of Stefan's dead hand. "I need time."

"What, did you Fed-Ex it to Rome?" Damon asked in disbelief. "Where is it? I want my ring, Stefan, or my next stop will be Elena and Lucy's house."

Lucy's eyes widened while Stefan's narrowed. "I already want you dead," Stefan spat through a clenched jaw. "Don't give me another reason to make it happen."

"Don't give me another reason to rip you apart," Damon threatened.

"Yeah?" Stefan raised his eyebrows, not afraid of him. "Is that gonna be before or after you get your ring back?"

"Just get it."

The call cut off as Damon hung up his phone. Stefan slid his phone back into his pocket, his normal brooding expression firmly planted on his face.

"Are you really going to give Damon his ring back?" Lucy asked quietly.

"Yeah," Stefan stood up from Lucy's bed and slid his hands in his jean pockets, shoulder's slightly hunched. "If I don't give Damon what he wants, he'll hurt you and Elena."

"You think he was serious about that?"

"He wants to hurt me," Stefan paused at the way Lucy's face paled. "Don't worry, I'll watch the house until the sun comes up. He won't hurt you, Lucy. I won't let it happen."

Lucy smiled half-heartedly at him. She believed that Stefan would do anything to protect her and Elena, but would he be strong enough if Damon did come looking for them? Stefan told her that his animal diet didn't make him strong enough to fight Damon and win and she was certain that she didn't want Stefan to die.

Lucy snuggled deeper under her warm comforter, turning over onto her side. She silently thanked God that it was Saturday and she could sleep in until she wanted to get up.

Her door slammed open, light from the hallway streaming into Lucy's otherwise darkened room. Lucy groaned and covered her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Oh, did I wake you?" came Elena's harsh voice. Lucy opened her watery eyes and looked up to see her older sister glaring down at her. "Get up, Lucy. We're going to meet Stefan at the Grill and you're both going to explain why you kept the fact that he, Damon, and our brother are vampires."

Lucy guessed that Elena was passed the frightened phase.

"I take it you're mad," she said unhelpfully. It probably wasn't the best thing to say to her clearly outraged sister.

"No, I'm furious," Elena corrected her. "Now, seriously, get up. You can explain this whole siphon thing while I drive."

Twenty minutes later the Gilbert sister were driving away from their house. The atmosphere in Elena's Explorer was tense; Elena was less angry than when she woke up Lucy, but she looked nowhere near happy.

Honestly, Lucy didn't blame her.

"How'd you know about me being a siphon?" Lucy asked, breaking the silence.

"I've been up for hours," Elena said, clicking on her turn signal. "I called Joel and he filled me in on everything."

"Everything?"

"Well, not really," Elena admitted. "He had to go to class, but he told me about him and he told me about you," she looked over at Lucy, her face surprisingly softening. "Why didn't you tell me what was going on, Lucy?"

"I don't know," Lucy hadn't even thought to tell Elena at first, if she was totally honest. It wasn't until the recent week that she'd been thinking about it. Maybe she was afraid of her sister's reaction; being a witch was out there, but a siphon? "Maybe I was scared you wouldn't believe me."

"I would have understood if you had just explained," Elena defended herself. "What's a siphoner, anyway?"

Lucy quickly explained what a siphoner was as they finished their journey to the Grill. Elena looked understandably confused but was ultimately able to understand the difference between a witch and a siphoner. She even asked a couple of questions about what her training with Grams would entail—Lucy was happy to divulge.

Then they arrived at the Grill and Elena's mood swiftly dropped, especially when she saw Stefan waiting outside for them. Lucy's awkward babbling entertained the feuding couple as they were assigned to a table outside and ordered their drinks.

It was only after the waitress walked away that Elena addressed Stefan. "You said you would explain everything. That's why I asked you to meet me here."

Stefan nodded his understanding, waiting for Elena's questions.

"When you google 'vampire' you get a world of fiction," Elena said blankly. "What's the reality?"

"I can tell you whatever you want to know," Stefan said.

Briefly, Lucy wondered why she was here. She didn't need to know these things because she had already learned them. She guessed she was mostly here as a buffer between Elena and Stefan, which wasn't a bad idea. Stefan had trouble opening up sometimes and Elena could definitely steamroll over someone when she was being stubborn. She could mediate.

"I know you eat garlic," Elena said, remembering the times she saw Stefan eating garlic bread.

Stefan nodded. "Yes."

"And somehow sunlight's not an issue."

Instead of answering Elena's implied question, Stefan glanced up at the waitress approaching with their drinks. Lucy smiled politely and took her offered cappuccino.

"Thanks," Lucy muttered as the waitress set down Elena's coffee and walked away.

As soon as the waitress was out of hearing range, Stefan said, "We have rings that protect us," he held up his hand, showing off his daylight ring.

Elena quickly moved on. "Crucifixes?"

"Decorative."

"Holy water?"

"Drinkable."

"Mirrors?"

"Myth," Stefan answered dutifully. Lucy opened her mouth to ask a question of her own, but he beat her to it. "And no, Lucy, we don't sleep in coffins."

"I wasn't going to ask that," Lucy grumbled and took a sip of her drink. She was so going to ask that.

Elena watched the exchange, wondering how Lucy could still be friends with Stefan. Was it possible he was the same guy?

"You said you don't kill to survive," she looked back at Stefan curiously.

"Animal blood keeps me alive but not as strong as Damon or your brother," Stefan shared. "It can be very powerful."

"And yet you let him get involved with Caroline?" Elena asked indignantly.

Lucy set her mug down, biting her lip. The whole Damon-Caroline thing was an issue and she was furious that Damon fed on her best friend and nearly killed her, but Stefan really couldn't do anything about it. He's weaker than Damon. Nothing about the situation was okay, but at least Caroline was healthy and alive.

Besides, Elena didn't show this much concern about Caroline when Damon disappeared. She hadn't even gotten in touch with Caroline afterward; it was Lucy that had spent time with the blonde, making sure she was all right.

"Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me," Stefan told her, a small frown on his lips.

Elena scowled. "He was hurting her!"

"He was feeding on her," Stefan corrected Elena. "He was able to take away her memories of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her."

"Lena, Stefan saved Caroline," Lucy interjected, seeing how heated her sister was getting. "He stopped Damon from killing her."

"And is that supposed to make it okay?" Elena asked in disbelief.

"No. No, none of this is okay, Elena. I know that," Stefan placated her, a bit guilty. Elena was right; being a vampire and allowing Damon to get involved with Caroline wasn't okay.

Elena sighed and Stefan, who had been leaning in to speak with the girls, sat back looking sheepish. Lucy was uncomfortable; maybe she wasn't meant to play mediator.

Elena moved on quickly. "Are there any others, aside from you, Damon, and Joel?"

Stefan shook his head. "Not in Mystic Falls. Not anymore."

Lucy raised her eyebrows, intrigued. "Not anymore?"

"There was a time when this town was…" he paused thoughtfully. "very much aware of vampires and it didn't end well for anybody."

Lucy nodded in realization; Joel had mentioned that the Founder's Council was created in the 1860s because of the vampire population. She completely forgot about it.

"That's why it's important that you don't tell anyone," Stefan added, looking at Elena.

Elena pursed her lips. "I can't promise that."

Lucy huffed in frustration and appealed to Elena's love for family. "Elena, if you tell anyone, Joel will be killed," she said pointedly. "Even I'm in danger."

Elena's eyes widened; she had forgotten about Joel and Lucy. Her sister was right. Elena wouldn't tell anyone about her and Joel. But if Stefan and Damon were dangerous…

She glanced at Stefan and he caught her eye.

"Elena, give me today," he proposed; Elena looked away uncomfortably. "I will answer any questions that you have and when it's over, you can decide for yourself if you want do with what you know. It will be your choice."

Elena hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Fine."

"Thank you," Stefan said gratefully, looking around at other customers. "Come on, we can't talk here."

If Lucy didn't know Stefan as well as she did, she would think that he was leading her and Elena to their deaths. It had everything to do with the fact that he instructed Elena to drive out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a million trees.

As if she wasn't already annoyed by the fact that Stefan got shot-gun, now she had to deal with pestering mosquitos and whatever other bugs that hung out in the woods.

"Stop here," Stefan instructed, pointing a few feet ahead of them.

Elena obeyed and pulled to a stop, shutting off the car engine. Lucy climbed out of the car at the same time as Elena and scrunched up her nose as she looked around. There were what looked to be ruins around them…maybe it was a house or something.

"What are we doing here?" Elena wondered.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to get Malaria or something from being out here," Lucy added, giving Stefan an annoyed look.

Stefan rolled his eyes at Lucy before looking at Elena. "I want to show you something."

Elena looked at him skeptically as he walked further from the car. "In the middle of nowhere?"

Stefan stopped next to a brick column that was crumbling from age and looked back at the Gilbert sisters. "This didn't use to be nowhere. It used to be my home."

Lucy frowned sympathetically and looked around. She was right, it was the ruins of a house, Stefan's house. It must have been really hard to watch as your home changed through the years to the point where it was nearly unrecognizable.

Elena looked at the brick column, her nose wrinkling slightly. "It looks so…"

"Old?" Stefan supplied when she couldn't find the right word. "It's because they are."

Elena glanced at him in realization. "Wait," she said. "How long have you…?"

"I've been seventeen years old since 1864."

Lucy wasn't shocked at the information, but she had heard it before. It was one of the first things she had asked Stefan following the brief conversation they had before he disappeared and left her the voicemail. She hadn't believed him at first—one, Stefan was mature, but she hadn't thought he was that old. And two, Stefan looked older than the average seventeen-year-old. Maybe it was the way people aged in the 1800s, though.

"Oh, my God," Elena breathed, skin paling.

"You said you wanted to know," Stefan reminded her. "I'm not gonna hold anything back," he looked away from Elena and back toward the house ruins. "Half a century before the Boarding House was even built, this was my family's home. Damon and I were both born here. The Salvatore brothers, best of friends."

Stefan led Lucy and Elena past the brick columns, deeper into his old estate. All the while, he explained that Katherine had come to live with the Salvatore family during the summer of 1864; it wasn't long before he and Damon were close with her.

"Wait, you knew Katherine in 1864?" Lucy asked; she hadn't heard much about Katherine at all. She didn't feel like it was her place to ask and Elena never got the chance to tell her what Stefan told her during their dinner date.

Elena added, "Damon made it seem like…"

"Damon was trying to make you think that I was still heartbroken," Stefan told the girls before focusing on Elena. "He saw that I was happy with you and he wanted to ruin it."

"All because you loved the same woman one hundred and forty-five years ago?" Elena asked.

Stefan smiled grimly. "She wasn't just any girl."

Stefan looked like he was back in 1864 as he recalled the memory of Damon coming home from the Confederacy and both of the brothers offering to escort Katherine to the first Founder's Ball. Lucy and Elena listened, fascinated; it was kind of like hearing old stories from their grandparents.

"She chose me," Stefan said, referring to Katherine, as they started walking through the ruins. "I escorted her to the ball at the original Lockwood mansion."

"The first founder's party…" Elena said thoughtfully, sitting on an old stone bench. She remembered seeing the Salvatore brothers' names on the old registry on display. "Where you signed the registry."

Stefan nodded. "I didn't care that I had gotten something that my brother wanted. I didn't even care if it hurt him," he looked regretful. "I only knew that I wanted her."

"So he was upset," Lucy assumed, sitting next to Elena.

"That's the thing about Damon," Stefan shook his head, annoyed that his brother hadn't changed in the century and a half they'd been alive. "He doesn't get mad. He just gets even. What Damon wants, Damon usually gets. I didn't know it at the time but…it turns out that night…Katherine was with him, too."

"So, he stole her from you, not the other way around?" Lucy remembered the story that Bonnie had heard from Caroline who heard it from Damon.

"Turns out she wasn't ours to steal…"

Lucy was shocked to find out that Katherine had compelled Stefan to not be afraid of her and to continue their relationship. She couldn't believe that Katherine claimed to love Stefan and then stripped away his choice.

"She could control my mind and Damon's," Stefan explained as they walked to another part of his old estate. "She compelled each of us to keep the secret from the other. She wanted all of us to be together forever."

Stefan bent down and retrieved something from below a fallen branch. In his hand was a soft cloth wrapped around Damon's daylight ring.

"It didn't work out that way," he continued. "but Damon and I…looks like we're stuck with each other. Like it or not."

Elena's wide eyes glanced at the ring in Stefan's hand. "Is that Damon's ring?"

"I took it from him but I have to give it back."

"No, don't, Stefan," Elena objected, stepping toward Stefan. "Keep it hidden."

Stefan glanced at Lucy for half a second; she had told him the same thing. He was going to tell her sister what he told her. "Elena, if I don't give it to him, he'll retaliate in the only way he knows he can hurt me."

Elena sighed, aggravated. "And how is that?"

The muscle in Stefan's jaw worked as he answered, "By hurting you or Lucy."

Even though he had said the same thing the night before, Lucy was still surprised that Stefan included her. Sometimes Elena was a jealous person; it happened when she and Matt were dating and he hung out with Lucy or Bonnie. It even happened when Lucy spent more time with Caroline or Jeremy and Joel than her. She was a territorial person but Lucy loved her anyway.

As if proving Lucy right, Elena sent a slight glare at her sister.

Lucy noticed and quickly looked away; she pulled out her phone to check the time and gawked. They had been out in the woods all day, completely missing lunch. It was closer to dinner time and Jeremy had to be wondering where they were.

"We should probably get going," she spoke up, showing them the time.

Stefan and Elena agreed with her. As they were walking back to the car, Stefan offered to explain more to Elena at their house. Elena reluctantly accepted the offer; she wanted to know more so she could decide whether or not she was going to keep Stefan's secret.

"The mind control you said Katherine used," Elena said as they got closer to the car. She looked at Stefan and asked, "Do you ever do that to me?"

"No," Stefan denied truthfully. "That necklace," he pointed to the chain around Elena's neck. "it contains an herb called vervain. It protects you from being compelled. I wanted to protect you from Damon's influence but I also wanted to protect you from me."

Elena's face softened, touched that Stefan gave her something to protect her from compulsion.

"Elena, you should never take that necklace off," Stefan said softly. "because no matter what happens after today, no matter how you feel about me…You'll know that you were free to make your own choice."

Lucy couldn't help but feel for Stefan; he had given Elena—and even her, though she didn't need it—the chance to make their own choices without compulsion. It was important to him because he wasn't able to choose to be with Katherine himself. Katherine took the choice away from him.

When Lucy entered her house before Elena and Stefan, she immediately noticed that Vicki and Matt were there. Then she saw that Jeremy was on the floor behind the couch, looking up at Vicki with an utterly surprised expression.

"Jere, are you okay?" Matt asked, eyes wide.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Jeremy assured Matt, getting to his feet.

Matt looked at his sister, his eyes narrowing. "Damn, Vick."

That was enough to let Lucy know that Vicki had pushed Jeremy. She marched over to Matt, Jeremy, and Vicki, asking, "What the hell is going on?"

"She's really messed up," Matt explained, shame coloring his voice.

Lucy looked at Vicki, noticing how upset the older girl looked. Her anger at her faltered, worry replacing it. "Are you okay, Vicki?"

Before Vicki could answer, Stefan stepped between them, gently pushing Lucy away. "Back up, Lucy," once Lucy was to safety, Stefan turned back to the transitioning vampire. "Vicki, look at me," he said softly, holding her face so she could concentrate. "Focus. You're gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be fine."

Vicki calmed down within seconds as Stefan subtly checked her over. Once he knew with absolute certainty that Vicki was in transition, she turned to Matt and Jeremy.

"Guy, take her up to bed," he ordered. "Shut the blinds. She's gonna be okay. Come on, come on," he ushered them out of the room.

Lucy looked at him with furrowed eyebrows; he was acting shady, like he knew exactly what was wrong with Vicki.

"You know what's wrong with her, don't you?" she accused him.

Stefan nodded. "Yeah."

"What is it?" Elena asked, coming closer to hear them better.

"She's transitioning," he told them.

"Transitioning into what?" Elena asked cluelessly.

Realization dawned on Lucy. "Into a vampire."

"What?" Elena looked at Stefan for confirmation.

"Damon must have gotten to her," Stefan confirmed, eyes narrowing angrily. "She's new. She hasn't completed her transformation yet."

"H-How does she do that?" Elena stammered.

"She has to feed on human blood," Lucy offered, recalling the first conversation she had with Joel regarding vampires. Stefan and Elena looked at her, confused. "Joel told me."

Elena immediately turned back to Stefan. "And what if she doesn't?"

Stefan's voice was grave. "She'll die."

It was silent for a moment as Elena and Lucy absorbed that information. It was difficult to understand but it made sense; Vicki had been killed and if she didn't finish the transformation, she would stay dead. It was simple, yet utterly horrifying.

"How long…?" Lucy couldn't finish her question, her throat tight with emotion.

She didn't want Matt to have to go through the loss of a loved one. She didn't want Jeremy to go through it again, especially since the loss of their parents was still so fresh.

"She may only have a few hours," Stefan whispered sadly.

Elena started pacing, a frustrated look on her face. "She's upstairs with Jeremy right now."

"It's okay," Stefan assured her. "She doesn't know what's happening to her yet."

"So when is she gonna know?" Elena wondered, stopping in her tracks.

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything. A part of her is still human…but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back and then she'll know she has to make a choice," Stefan told them as accurately as he could.

Elena's shoulders stiffened and she turned, glaring at Stefan. "The same choice you made?"

Lucy couldn't help but gape at the amount of malice in Elena's voice when she spoke to Stefan. Even though when she tried to intervene before it didn't work out, she couldn't help but speak up in Stefan's defense.

"Elena, Stefan was born more than a century ago," she reminded her sister, voice calm. "His choice had nothing to do with anyone but himself. You have no right to judge him for something that has nothing to do with you."

Elena had the decency to look thoroughly chastised but when she looked at Stefan, her expression flattened. As Matt walked into the room, Elena grabbed some of the dishes Vicki had been using, trying to clean up.

Lucy gave Stefan a sympathetic look but he turned away from her. She didn't think anything of it—he was obviously upset—and turned to help Elena with the kitchen.

"Here, let me help," Matt offered apologetically. He picked up some plates and started to the sink, only to stop abruptly as Vicki flew down the stairs and out the front door. "Vick! Vicki!"

Matt set down the plates and ran out of the house, trying to find Vicki. Lucy, Elena, and Stefan followed, Jeremy right behind them. There was no sign of the oldest Donovan anywhere in sight.

"She was fine," Jeremy stammered, trying to explain. "And then she just—she just freaked out."

"I'm gonna go look for her," Matt told the others, jogging to his truck parked at the curb. "Call me if you hear anything."

"We will!" Lucy assured Matt.

Next to her, Stefan looked over at Elena. "I can track her."

Elena's voice was hard when she answered. "Go."

Stefan didn't hesitate to leave; he took off running, human-paced so Jeremy wouldn't find out. When he was out of sight, he sped up; he needed to find Vicki before she made a mistake.

The sun soon set and there was still no call from Matt or Stefan about Vicki. Lucy felt so terrible for her brother; Jeremy was freaked out, deeply worried about his crush. He hadn't even been able to choke down their dinner of homemade pizza, which was one of his favorites.

Elena had tried to keep him busy, but Jeremy wasn't the type to be distracted easily. He continued to worry, sticking close to Lucy so Elena wouldn't start on her lecturing. Lucy helped him out, asking him to go to the kitchen to help her clean.

Jeremy agreed, but—unfortunately for him—Elena followed them.

"Maybe we should check in with Matt," Jeremy suggested as Lucy handed him some dirty dishes.

"He'll call when he finds her," Elena said, turning on the faucet.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Jeremy raised his voice slightly, frustrated.

"We wait," Elena said firmly. "We're supposed to wait."

"I don't know what's wrong with her."

Lucy softened at the sad desperation in Jeremy's tone. He really liked Vicki and it was tough for him to see her so messed up. It would be hard on anyone, especially a fourteen-year-old.

And Lucy didn't want to lie to Jeremy, but she just wanted to help him feel better. "She'll be fine," she told him, squeezing his arm. "Everything will be fine."

The loud chimes of the doorbell rang throughout the house. The siblings paused and, all at once, rushed to the door, hoping it was Matt or Stefan with news about Vicki.

Elena opened the door to reveal that it was actually Damon. She abruptly tried to shut it but Damon pushed his foot through the crack, stopping her. He easily pushed the door open wider, overpowering Elena.

"Jere, go upstairs, please," Lucy ordered her brother. She didn't want Damon anywhere near him.

Jeremy rolled his eyes but did as she said anyway.

Damon smirked at Lucy, his eyes drifting to Elena, who's glare would have frightened anyone who wasn't a vampire.

"You're afraid of me," he assumed casually. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Stefan finally fessed up."

"Stay away from us," Elena demanded shakily.

"Hey, there's no need to be rude," Damon scolded her. "I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in?" he laughed mockingly. "Oh, wait. Of course, I can. I've been invited."

He smirked at Lucy and Elena as he pushed his way into the house, shutting the door firmly behind him. Lucy backed away from the violate vampire, hovering nervously by the stairs.

Damon looked around and honed his senses, finding out that Stefan was not in the house. He turned to the girls and was amused when they practically flinched away from him.

"We can cut to the chase if you want," he said casually. "I'm not gonna kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda. So," he glared at them. "where's Stefan?"

Elena gritted her teeth. "He's out looking for Vicki."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Don't look at me with those judge-y little eyes," he took a step closer to Elena, making her step away from him. "The girl's gonna thank me for what I did to her."

"Did you thank Katherine?"

Damon looked taken aback by Elena's response. He hesitated, his eyes fluttering with the mention of his former love. He was surprised Stefan had told them what happened with Katherine, but not surprised that his brother hadn't told the whole story.

"Mmm," he hummed, smiling fakely. "Got the whole life story, huh?"

Elena glowered at him. "We got enough."

"Oh, I doubt that," he said idly and Lucy briefly wondered what that meant. Damon stepped away from Elena and walked to the door. "Tell my brother that I'm looking for him," he stepped out of the house and went to close the door, only to stop and look at them again. "Oh, tip for later. Be careful who you invite in the house."

He closed the door, leaving Lucy and Elena to stare at each other, wide-eyed.

It took another hour for Stefan to return to the Gilbert house with bad news: Vicki drank human blood, finishing her transition.

It was hard to hear, but Lucy knew it would be rougher if Vicki was actually dead. Being a vampire was probably not the best for Vicki, but at least she was alive and willing to learn how to be a vampire.

After Stefan told her the news and requested that she call Joel for help, Lucy excused herself. She knew that Elena wanted to talk to Stefan alone and she was more than happy to give them space.

And when Elena entered the house, sobbing loudly, Lucy was there to comfort her.