Surprise! I said I'm going to be working on keeping up with this story and I'm keeping up with it so far. I won't promise when the next one will come out since work is going to get a bit crazy but just know I'm already working on it. :)

On a different note, I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on how the story is going and who, besides Kol and Klaus, are you wanting to see? Who do you think Lissa will get along with?

Thank you to everyone that reviewed or favorited or followed! It really keeps me motivated :)

Previously on 'Ghost of Lifetimes Past'

It was as Bonnie was having a contest with Enzo on who could make the most basketball hoops that she saw Vicki weaving her way through the crowds and her sister at the other end clearly searching for the wayward baby vamp.

She heaved out a sigh. Well, at least they got a nice start to the night. Now to deal with the supernatural.

Lissa pulled out her cell phone to shoot Enzo a text about what she'd seen and to ask him to distract the two girls. Once she knew a bit more about what all was going on, Enzo would play the 'I'll go search for Lissa' card and meet her.

With Kennedy being changed too, she really hoped it was just Vicki here, but seeing how her luck has been lately she was double checking. Ducking into the school, she called the other baby vampire.

"Yes?" Kennedy's annoyed voice came over her speaker.

"You're at your house right? You didn't decide to come to the Halloween carnival, did you? Or go anywhere?" She asked, forgoing any sort of greeting.

"Obviously, your vampire friend explained that if I got around so many people after my…transition I'd probably murder someone." She said her disdain for what had happened to her was clear to Lissa even over the phone. "And I may not be the best person but I don't want to murder someone."

Lissa let out a hum, it turns out the queen bitch had better morals than she did. Who knew? "Good. The other girl that was turned with you showed up. I doubt she's going to last the night."

There was a beat of silence before, "Are you going to kill her!?"

"If she refuses to listen to people trying to help her?" Lissa shrugged "Yes. Welcome to the supernatural world, Kennedy."

With those comforting words she hung up, Kennedy either get used to it or she'd die. Lissa doubted she wouldn't get used to it; the other girl was too much of a survivor to not adapt.

Rolling her shoulder to relieve some tension, Lissa looked back outside to check on Vicki again and groaned. During the time it took her to phone Kennedy, Vicki had vanished and in her spot left an angry Matt and a frantic Stefan and Elena.

Great, that meant she already snuck off with Jeremy. She had been wanting to follow them as she had absolutely no clue where everything went down. She had a good memory, not a perfect one and it'd been almost two decades since she'd watched the show. It was pure luck she remembered as much as she did.

Bouncing from foot to foot as she tried to remember where to go, Lissa's heart jumped as someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her through the doors she had just come out of. Retching herself out of the rather soft hold, she spun around, her hand tattooed Fire spread out in front of her just in case she needed to barbecue someone.

"Whoa, Snow Princess, no need to flambé me. I just have a question." Damon said, hands held out in front of him.

"Don't just grab a girl, Damon." She hissed, eyes narrowing as she realized it would take even longer to get to her brother. She'd already seen that things were changing, so she didn't want to rely on her foreknowledge to keep the people she cared about safe. "Especially not when a baby vampire is just roaming around."

"How do you know about that?"

"I saw her, obviously, Dumbass." Seeing as she wasn't going to be attacked, she lowered her hand and relaxed back into her normal stance. "Now what's your question? I need to go stalk my brother and his girlfriend."

"I gave Kennedy a necklace, a rather important one. I need you to get it back." He shrugged. If he played it off as unimportant then Lissa may be more likely to get it for him. "I'd do it but she hid it when I texted her last night asking for it and won't tell me where."

"So where does the question come in? Cause I hate to break it to you, I don't just run errands for random people." Lissa furrowed her brow before it hit her that this was another thing she'd changed without thinking. With her keeping Caroline from Damon, she'd kept the necklace from ending up in Bonnie's hand.

She scowled at her own actions. Who knew changing such little things would fuck her later? And she doubted Emily, the ghost witch that was attached to the necklace, would allow her to even touch the thing. So actually grabbing the necklace was out, she'd have to think of something else.

Damon grimaced. He knew she was right. He hadn't asked a question and he didn't want to. The hurt from her betrayal still stung, even if it didn't make sense for it to. They weren't close, but she'd been the first one in a long time to offer to be his friend and actually act like it.

He tsked at his own thoughts. Shoving it all down to deal with never, Damon knew if he didn't play nice he'd probably never get that necklace and that meant never getting Katherine out of the tomb. And at the current moment that was the most important thing, his own feelings regarding everything shouldn't matter. "Would you get the necklace I'd given to Kennedy back?"

"Please?" She smirked. No reason to make this easy for the vampire, even if she'd already decided she'd get the necklace. She still liked him and wanted to be his friend but he did abandon Enzo for decade of more torture so the occasional ribbing is the least he could put up with. "I think you forgot the word 'please'."

Damon gritted his teeth but ultimately complied. "Would you, please, get the necklace I'd given to Kennedy back? It's important."

She hummed as she rocked back and forth as if in thought about her decision. "Deal, but only if you help me find your little baby vamp and my brother. I'm just a little worried she's going to drain him." She smiled at the older man. Not some nice smile, no, this one promised pain. "And if she does that, getting your necklace back will be the least of your worries."

Straightening up to his full height, Damon took a step towards the insolent girl. He'd let her get away with threatening him once, just because he found her amusing but this was something different. Now she was threatening his ability to save Katherine. "Are you threatening me? Me?" He reached towards her as if to grab ahold of her neck, only stopping as her own hand wrapped around his bare wrist. "You forget that you're just one amusing human girl. If I decided to, you wouldn't even be able to yell for Enzo to save you in the time it took for me to snap your neck."

Ignoring the chill that went down her spine at his words, she narrowed her focus, not on what was going to happen, but the danger right in front of her. Lucky for her it seemed Damon forgot the first thing that happened when they'd met. So without a second thought, Lissa sent a swath of heat from her hand.

In seconds Damon's wrist was bubbling. Blood and melted flesh already spilling from between Lissa's fingers. It was only her own familiarity with the smell of burning flesh that allowed her to show no reaction. Unlike before where she gave him first, maybe second degree burns, this time she went as far as she could without straight up burning his bone. She'd had a couple of years to experiment with her fire, at this point if she had direct contact with flesh Lissa could pull up enough heat to cremate a person.

Screaming in agony, Damon fell to his knees, the charred flesh still within her grasp. The pain not allowing him to pull himself free from her. She stopped actively burning him. It's not like she actually wanted to sever his limb. Still, she kept a tight grip on his scorched wrist so it won't start immediately regenerating. "Could you, Damon? Could you snap my neck? With what hand? Cause the one I have a hold of seems to be missing some stuff."

"What the hell!?" He panted. "What happened to the 'friend' nonsense you were sprouting a couple weeks ago?"

Lissa pouted down at him. "You're the one that threatened to snap my neck, though. I was just playing along." Her voice dripped with a mocking childish confusion as she met his eyes.

Play times over, Darling

She dropped his wrist in shock, anger forgotten as quickly as it had come. Had someone just talked inside her head? Or did she imagine that? With something new to focus on, Lissa barely even noted that Damon had vampire sped away from her towards the other side of the hallway.

He was cradling his already healing wrist to his body, shoulders rigid as he finally grasped that she wasn't normal. She was dangerous, more dangerous than he'd ever pegged her to be. "Playing? You were playing?" He exclaimed, disbelief written into his very pores. Watching her, his eyebrows furrow. She wasn't even paying attention to him anymore!

Lissa stood there eyes glazed over fiddling with her septum piercing. Hello? She thought to herself. Which was a phenomenal sign of her continued sanity. Truly

Damon, seeing her distracted by something, realized this would be a perfect opportunity to get her back. With his wrist healed once again, he started to step towards her exactly as Enzo opened the door and walked straight towards the pierced girl.

Enzo, not knowing what went on but wanting to help the most important person in his life, softly grabbed her elbow. "Melissa? You okay?" He said softly. Something had clearly happened. Judging by how on edge Damon was, he'd bet Lissa had shown her scary side and spooked the other vampire.

Lissa blinked a couple times as she looked up at Enzo's concerned face. "Yeah, Damon was just asking me a question and we both took it a bit too far." She said, as she turned back towards Damon, lips twitching as the vampire stiffened up just a bit, before apologizing. "Sorry Damon, I've always had a problem knowing where the line is. This time I went right over it."

"Um, yeah. We're good, I guess." Damon said. What the hell was that girl? Just watching her gave him emotional whiplash. And people said vampires had bad mood swings.

"Dick probably deserved whatever you did to him." Enzo muttered.

Forgetting that her hand was still covered in burnt flesh, Lissa smacked Enzo's arm. All three of them stared wide eyed at the mess that had transferred. "Oops…Sorry End Zone. I forgot what was on my hand."

"You're buying me a new jacket."

"Yeah…fair enough."

Damon cleared his throat to get the friends' attention back. "I can't believe I'm the one to say this but weren't you worried about Baby Gilbert and his continued existence?"

"Oh fuck me! I totally forgot." She squawked, looking to both vampires as if she was about to start crying right there. "Enzo, please, please, please, tell me you at least have an idea of where they are?"

"Lucky for you," He paused, ruffling the girl's bangs and ignoring the scoff that came from the other end, "I actually did keep an eye out. They're at the other entrance. The back one."

"This is why you're my favorite vampire ever." She said, giving the Englishman a quick side hug with her non-flesh covered hand, before darting towards where she now knew her brother was. The double footsteps echoing behind were the only sign she had that the two men had followed her.

The high school wasn't very large but running from one end to the other while worried for her little brother's life made the dash feel as if it was a marathon. By the time they made it to the back entrance, Lissa was ready to just say fuck it and have Enzo carry her. Sure her dignity would have taken a hit being carried in public but she'd be okay with it.

As luck would have it they ran through the back entrance just in time to see Elena hit Vicki with a plank, causing her to detach from Jeremy's neck. Vicki, in retaliation, launched Elena into the pile of trash next to the door. Which in turn caused Stefan to grab her and slam her against a bus that was parked directly across from the entrance.

"Elena, grab Jeremy and go to your sister and Damon!"

Elena, not having seen the trio exit the building, turned with wide eyes towards them. As Vicki gave a snarl, it snapped Elena back into action. She jerked Jeremy towards them, only just grabbing a hold of Lissa's out held hand and pushing Jeremy behind them and towards the door when Vicki got away from Stefan and disappeared into the night.

Taking this all in and deciding to cut out the moral dilemma of 'should we kill her, should we not?' that Lissa knew Elena and Stefan would have, she grabbed a skinny piece of wood that was leaning against the school and thrust it at Enzo. "Break this, but keep it long. I didn't bring a stake."

Enzo, knowing not to question Lissa's weird plans, did exactly that. He broke the top part leaving one side as sharp as any stake but left enough of the wood that someone could probably use it as a javelin. Which was perfect for Lissa's plan.

"Vicki! Your mom is a drug addict whore and your brother thinks you'll turn out just like her. I heard him tell Tyler back when you two started dating." Lissa yelled out, ignoring the incredulous looks everyone in the back alley was sending her. Sure, it hadn't been her best taunt by any means but Vicki was already half a step into rabid territory. She didn't need to be creative, she just needed to hit the right buttons.

Which she did. Vicki appeared, to her eyes, instantaneously right in front of the bus. Stefan a step or two behind her. Without pause or deliberations, Lissa threw the makeshift wooden javelin right at the baby vampire's heart. It was only luck and Vicki's lack of understanding of her new body that allowed it to strike true.

A single grunt came from the girl's lips as she turned gray and flopped to the ground dead.

Jeremy's cries were the only sound heard in the alleyway as they all took in what had just happened. Stefan and Elena were too shocked and confused to say anything while Enzo and Damon just didn't care.

Lissa, not one to ignore her brother's pain for long, let go of Elena's hand before turning around and pulling him to her. He tried to pull away; anger, confusion, and everything in between aimed at her, the one to kill his girlfriend. But she was stronger. Dragging him into a hug, she ignored the murmured conversation behind her and the hand, just like her own except for the tan, that kept trying to pat or touch either of the siblings. Elena probably thought both of them were freaking out.

Soon Jeremy's cries died down to hiccupping and he seemed to have centered himself, so Lissa felt okay letting him stand up. "Jer, I'm gonna talk to Elena and Stefan, okay? Can Enzo take you to the house or do you want to wait for me?"

"Enzo?" Jeremy asked as he tilted his head to let Lissa check the small wound on his neck.

The wound didn't seem too deep to her. It had already stopped bleeding, more than likely Elena had smacked Vicki away from Jeremy before any real damage was done. "You remember my "pen pal" I'd talk about sometimes? That's Enzo…who just happens to be a vampire as well." Lissa answered, trying to put some humor into the situation even if it fell flat.

"I'll, um…I'll wait for you."

"That's fine, Enzo'll lead you to my SUV." She handed the keys over to the somber boy, waiting until he'd turned away from her to give Enzo a look, basically saying 'watch him'. Enzo nodded at her. He'd already planned on doing just that. The young boy may not have been his friend but he was important to Lissa so that meant keeping him safe.

Lissa sighed as she watched the two walk away. Jeremy would be okay. And if he couldn't be she'd be there until he was. It wouldn't be the first time, and it probably wouldn't be the last time.

Once she was certain Jeremy was out of ear shot she turned back to her shocked sister and her boyfriend. Elena had moved to sit down on the ground, arms wrapped around her legs staring at Vicki's body while Stefan played guard. His stance was so rigid behind her if she didn't know better she'd expect him to be made of stone. She forced herself not to roll her eyes as she noticed he was guarded against her. As if she would attack her own sister. Threaten and possibly be the cause of physical harm? Maybe, sure. But never anything permanent.

"Elena, Stefan. Why don't you two head to our house? Damon and I'll handle the body." She didn't want to give them any time to start the questions here. It was dark, dirty, and stunk something fierce. Honestly, the fact her brother was willing to make out and probably do more back here was a bit gross.

Elena's head snapped towards her. "That's it? That's all you're going to say? You killed Vicki and you're just going to call her 'The body'?" Her face flushed as she spat her words at her sister. She didn't know how she even knew about vampires or what was going on with Vicki but the fact that she wasn't even rattled by killing a girl they knew since they were kids really scared her. Elena knew Lissa wasn't the most empathetic person, but this bordered on psychopathic. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Right now explaining anything to you won't help. You're angry enough you wouldn't even listen to anything I have to say." Lissa stated calmly. She'd had 16 years of dealing with her twin. They may not have been close but that didn't mean they didn't know each other's habits and ticks. After all, to annoy someone you need to know what buttons to push. "Go home, calm down, and I'll be there soon to explain everything to you. Stefan, will you take her now, please?"

Stefan agreed and tenderly coaxed Elena to stand and walk away from Vicki's body. He had made sure that when they passed by Lissa, she would be on the other side of him. She had lied so successfully about her knowledge of the supernatural, he didn't know what else she was lying about. He looked, genuinely looked, at the tiny girl-no woman- that held the colorless face of his past love and couldn't place what twitch meant what.

Did an eyebrow raise really mean she didn't know something or was she just acting like that to throw him off? Was her dislike of him true, or was it to make sure he didn't realize she knew his true nature? He hadn't even smelled any deceit on her anytime they'd talked in the weeks they'd known each other. It was just like when Katherine had shown him her true self. He was left flatfooted and forced to puzzle together a whole new image of the girl. If this had slipped his notice then what else had his familiarity with her face caused him to overlook?

"Well, I think that went about as well as it could have, Snow Princess." Damon said once everyone else had left. He'd taken to leaning on a semi clean section of the school wall, away from any trash or grime as it wasn't like he really cared about what happened here.

Lissa rolled her eyes as she walked over to Vicki's body. Right before this they'd literally been about to kill each other yet here he was joking with her. Yeah, the mood swings and inability to pinpoint his allegiance was entertaining when on TV but now that she had to live it? She sort of wished he was as predictable as his brother. "I'm still Snow Princess then? Not gonna threaten to snap my neck?"

"Oh come on, as you said, what's a couple death threats between friends?"

Before replying Lissa took the time to bend down and close Vicki's eyes. "I suppose you're right. Now are you going to take care of her body or do I need to call someone?"

Damon shrugged. The baby vampire was technically his mess. "I'll handle it. You go take care of your brother. That was your original objective anyway. Just make sure you remember to get that necklace for me."

She nodded her thanks and, without waiting to hear what he planned to do, walked back into the school and immediately made her way to her SUV. Enzo was standing outside it, back to the windows to give her brother a semblance of privacy. Lissa wondered at the image she gave as she walked up to him. Her shoulder slumped, skin slightly splattered with blood, and absolutely no emotion showing on her face.

Not saying a word, the Englishman wrapped her in a hug before kissing her on the forehead. The two of them didn't need words to know what to do. Enzo would meet her at the Gilbert home. She wouldn't be facing her sister's wrath or Stefan's silent judgement without him to back her up.

Lissa smiled to herself as he walked back towards his own car. Enzo really was the best. Giving her window a knock, Lissa opened her back door and slid in beside Jeremy. "You wanna talk about what happened?"

"I..I don't…What did happen, Lissy?"

Lissa blinked at the nickname. He hadn't called her that since he was 5. He'd stopped only because Tyler and Matt made fun of him saying it was a girly thing to call his sister. She shook her head, this wasn't the time to think about that. Jeremy needed to know all the facts before getting to the house. If not, Elena would end up having him compelled to forget. "Do you remember those bedtime stories Dad would tell us? The ones Elena decided were too scary?"

Jeremy frowned at his sister. "What do bedtime stories have to do with you…with you killing V-Vicki?"

"Just stick with me Jer, please. It'll make sense, but you have to put the pieces together or else you won't believe me." Lissa pleaded. "Now what were they about?"

"They were like a mesh of vampire stuff and family history." Jeremy said, confusion written clear on his tear stained face. Why was she making him go through this stuff? She had just killed Vicki! Now, instead of explaining anything, she was talking about bedtime stories. He should be mad. Hell, he should be furious, but every time he tried to be he remembered that Lissa hadn't ever done anything to purposefully cause him pain. Everything she did had a reason even if he didn't know what the reason was.

Lissa nodded. Jeremy was getting there, he just needed a tiny push. "Now thinking of those stories, is anything similar to what happened tonight?"

Jeremy's mouth opened and closed a few times, his disbelief stopping the tears at least for a moment. She could not be serious. "Are you trying to tell me that Vicki was a fucking vampire?" Lissa just stared at him, knowing glint within her eyes leaving Jeremy to shake his head, hair flopping every which way with the force of his denial. "You've just killed my girlfriend and now you're trying to convince me she's some bloodsucking monster?"

"What? No… Well, okay, no to the monster part. She was absolutely a vampire." Lissa admitted, wincing at her own words. "An easy way to think of vampires is to think of humans that have evolved. They're faster, stronger, more durable, basically everything is just more with vampires. Including emotions. This includes bloodlust. Or as I like to imagine it, addiction."

Jeremy stayed silent, just looking down at his feet, eyes wide. He didn't know what to think. Lissa had never lied to him, at least not without a good reason. And he doubted she'd lie to him immediately after killing his girlfriend in front of him. "Is that why…" He started before trailing off.

"Is that why, what?"

"Is that why you killed her? Because she wouldn't have been able to control herself? " Jeremy whispered. "Could you have saved her? Would you have saved her if she wasn't already an addict?" He wanted to know, he did. It was just that the idea that Vicki was killed because of something she couldn't control hurt. Because if Lissa killed Vicki for that reason would she have killed him too? He was an addict, a recovering one, but still an addict.

"Look at me Jeremy." Lissa said softly as she lifted his head up to meet her eyes. "Do you really want to know? Truthfully. If you really want to know I'll tell you, but it will change how you see me."

"I…" Jeremy paused. He had a feeling he already knew her answer, but he needed to hear it. He needed to hear his sister say she murdered his girlfriend because it was too much work to help her. "I want to know. Tell me."

"Yes, I could have saved Vicki."

Heavy silence filled the car as the siblings stared at each other. Jeremy gave a single nod before breaking eye contact with Lissa to gaze out the SUV window watching as others started to leave the carnival.

She was right. He did see her differently. He hadn't actually thought he would. Not with how okay he was with her other murders. Jeremy wasn't stupid. Unlike Elena, who thought the rumors were spread by people that thought Lissa was the equivalent of the boogeyman, Jeremy knew they were real. Anyone that spent any time in the seedy parts of town knew they were real. He just didn't care because he didn't know them. Because to him they were nothing more than some nobodies.

Jeremy let out a humorless chuckle as the tears started again. "It hurts. Fuck, it hurts so bad."

"I'm sorry I hurt you." Lissa choked out through the lump in her throat. She wouldn't cry. Not over this. She made her choice knowing it would hurt her brother. She didn't deserve to cry.

"But you're not sorry you did it."

"No. No I'm not." Lissa shook her head. "I'm sorry my choice hurt you but I can't regret the choice I made. Despite her obvious infatuation with you, within minutes she was willing to feed from you and possibly kill you. Imagine what she could have done to people she didn't care about?"

Jeremy swung around, tears still falling even as he glared at her. "You've killed people! How is Vicki doing it any different?"

"Because I know who I kill! Do you think Vicki would?" Lissa yelled back. She hated when her decisions were questioned like this. Did he really think she just chose randomly to hurt him like this. She'd been thinking and planning for a while on what to do with Vicki before finally deciding she just had to die. "I told you everything was amplified as a vampire! That includes cravings and everything else. Her addiction would have turned her rabid. If I hadn't killed her someone else would have and they would have been cruel about it. The supernatural community doesn't take kindly to rippers, which is what she would have been."

Jeremy took a shattering breath before breaking down. Sobs once again ripped from his mouth as he curled up against Lissa's side. "I can't, Lissy. I can't handle this. Help me please? Just make it stop."

Lissa inhaled sharply as she rubbed circles on Jeremy's back. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But Jeremy forgetting this, taking this pain away won't do anything but extend the hurt…If you…Fuck" Lissa peered down at her broken brother. She could offer to have him compelled but it wasn't anything she ever wanted to do. Hell, she'd even planned on going behind Elena's back and feeding him vervain just to keep her from making him forget. But if he chose to forget? Was that the same thing? "Do you want to forget it? I, well Enzo or Damon really, could make you forget the pain. But Jer, it won't last forever. One day you'll remember and it'll come rushing back."

"Please. Please. J-just take it away… I don't wa-want to feel it anymore."

"Okay, Jer-Bear. I'll get Enzo back here." She reluctantly agreed. She gently peeled Jeremy's arms away from her to step out of the car to call Enzo back.

As she stepped out into the cool October air, Lissa felt her façade drop. Her own tears welling up in her eyes against her permission. But she refused to let them drop as she harshly wiped at her face, not caring if it messed up her makeup. She could not regret her actions. And she didn't. Vicki was doomed the minute Damon turned her. It was just a matter of how she died. At least by Lissa's own hand it was quick and as painless as possible. She just hated that her actions hurt her brother enough that he couldn't take the pain.

"Lissa? Where are you? I'm waiting outside your house. Is everything alright?" Enzo rapidly asked the minute he picked up the phone.

Lissa took a deep breath to center herself and push the tears down. "No. No it's not. I think I fucked up Enzo. Can you come back to where I parked at the carnival? I'll explain everything then."

"Of course. I'll be there in 5 minutes."

Lissa nodded, forgetting that the vampire couldn't see her and hung up as she slid down the side of her SUV, uncaring of how hard she landed on her ass. Leaning her head back to stare at the stars, for the next 5 minutes Lissa listened to her brother's sobs through the door.

"Oh, Lissa," Enzo sighed as he came running up to where she was sitting. He'd left his car at her house since it was faster for him to just run back. But it seemed like it wasn't fast enough. The tiny girl made a rather pitiful sight; hair all over the place due to her hands grabbing onto it, makeup smudged, and her lips bit all to hell in her effort not to cry. "Come here" He said, sitting down next to her and pulling her into a tight hug.

Lissa melted into the hug, breathing in Enzo's smell; a mixture of his expensive cologne and his own musk to comfort herself. Enzo would help. He was the one person she didn't have to be the strong one for. She could break near him and know he'd be there to pick her pieces up. She didn't know how long they sat there hugging, but Jeremy's sobs had died down enough that she could only hear the occasional sniffle. Lissa pulled away from Enzo to explain. "Jeremy can't handle the pain. Can you dull the pain with compulsion without taking it away completely? I don't want him to forget anything, but he asked for the pain to go away."

"Yeah, I can do it, but are you sure? Is he?" Enzo asked, glancing behind him as if he could see through the car door.

"I already took too many things from him tonight. I can't take this choice away from him. And it's not like we're making him forget how Vicki died, or even that the supernatural exists. All we'll be doing is dulling the pain."

Enzo nodded as he stood up with Lissa. "You stay out here. It'll only take a minute." With those parting words, Enzo opened the SUV's door and slid in beside Jeremy, shutting the door before Lissa could argue.

"Rude." Lissa muttered. She understood why he didn't want her there. She was the source of Jeremy's pain. Or the cause of it at least. Her being there could make the compulsion not work as effective since just dulling the pain was a hit and miss. So it made sense for her not to be there. It did.

It still sucked though.

Lissa stood there intensely staring at her own SUV window as if she could will herself to see through the tint. She stood there for maybe 3 minutes before the door swung back open almost hitting her if she hadn't jumped back out of the way. Never one for patience when it wasn't required, Lissa leaned over to peer at her brother.

Jeremy sat there staring at her, sadness still prominent on his face but not even close to the broken boy he'd been when she left the vehicle. "So, vampires are real, huh?" Lissa smiled, small but full of happiness at her brother. He was back, and he didn't have to forget anything either.

"Yeah, I'll tell you all about them tomorrow. We gotta get home or else Elena may actually blow a gasket."

Jeremy made a face. "Can you keep her off my back? I know Enzo compelled me but I don't want to deal with her tonight." He was just as familiar with Elena's self-righteousness as she was.

"Yeah, sure. She's already furious at me, might as well take one for the team." Lissa rolled her eyes before winking to let Jeremy know she was fine with it. "Enzo, climb into the front seat. No reason for you to run back now that I can drive."

Enzo nodded, stopping only when Lissa grabbed him by the wrist.

"Thank you, Enzo."

"Anytime, Snow White, anytime."

The drive home didn't last long and was filled with questions about the supernatural by Jeremy. The two up front tried to answer as much as they could but with such a short drive they just covered the basics. Basically what vampires can do and how to defend against, that witches were real, and so were werewolves but not many knew that because they were going extinct. By the time the Gilbert house was in sight, Jeremy's eyes were struggling to stay open.

"Enzo, could you take Jeremy upstairs? If no one helps him he may just sleep on the stairs themselves." Lissa asked once she'd invited him inside. Elena and Stefan were already making their way downstairs, disapproval carved on their faces. "Elena, let me grab a drink for us and then we'll talk."

"Oh, so you're actually going to talk and not blow me off this time?"

"Enzo?" Lissa ignored her sister. If she didn't then they'd continue to go back and forth with no productive conversation. "I'll grab you some water since I don't have any blood bags." Elena gasped at her words. The other girl not having realized the man her sister was hanging out with was a vampire.

"Did you invite a-" Elena broke off as Lissa left the room, not paying her outraged words any thought. Gritting her teeth at her sister, she decided to study the vampire her sister had let into their house. "What are you doing with him?! He's had a rough enough day. You leave him alone!" She demanded as the stranger picked her clearly sleepy brother up.

"I'm doing as your sister asked. Taking him upstairs." Enzo rolled his eyes at the other girl. He was always shocked at how different the two sisters were. "Unless you or your boyfriend want to do it?"

"I'll do it." Stefan said, stepping towards him and leading the young boy to his room. He didn't want a fight with the other vampire, especially since they knew nothing about him or even how he knew Lissa.

Enzo shrugged at Stefan's actions. Those two really were blind. Did they really think Lissa would invite him in if he was a danger to them? She may not be the most stable individual but she protected those she cared about. "Alright then, Ms. Gilbert, would you join me in the living room while we wait for those two to come back?"

Elena stiffly agreed, making sure as they walked to keep as far away as she could and that he was always in her line of sight. Enzo stifled a laugh at the young girl. He knew Lissa's visions gave her an unfair advantage but, really, Elena was so unprepared for life in the supernatural.

"Catch," Lissa said, throwing the two bottles of water at the living room occupants. "Elena refuse to let you bring Jeremy up?" She flopped down onto the couch next to Enzo, throwing her now bare feet over his lap. Was she too relaxed for a conversation that she knew was going to blow up? Yes. But after the shit show with Jeremy earlier she didn't care if Elena stayed mad about her knowing or not.

She loved Elena, she was her twin sister, of course she did. That didn't mean that they had to get along. Or even like each other and their choices. And Elena made the worst choices.

Enzo hummed, confirming what she'd said as Elena's stony stare transitioned into a hard glare at their nonchalance. Still neither him nor Lissa said anything, both wanting to wait until Stefan got back to start the conversation. Just as Elena was about to crack and demand answers, Stefan walked into the living room pausing at the hostility that had descended.

"Um, did something happen?" He carefully asked, taking a seat next to Elena.

"Nope," Lissa said, popping the 'P' as she tossed him his own bottle of water. "Just waiting on you."

Stefan slowly nodded as he looked to his girlfriend to start the conversation. This was between the twins more than anything.

"How long have you known? Why didn't you say anything? Why did you kill Vicki? And what happened with Jeremy?" Elena burst into action, question after question falling from her lips.

Lissa tilted her head as she thought her answers over. Depending on how she answered would make or break their relationship, she was certain. "I've known since we were 6 or 7-"

Elena scoffed. Of course she knew that long yet still didn't say anything.

"Don't interrupt me. You wanted answers. I'm giving them." Lissa snapped, eyes turning frosty as she glared at her entitled sister. "Now. I didn't say anything because there wasn't a reason to. Not yet at least. I killed Vicki because it was obvious she'd turn into a ripper, if you want to know what that is ask your boyfriend. And Jeremy is fine. We talked stuff over and he's going to be doing better now."

Elena took a deep breath pushing her immediate accusations down. She wanted to accuse her of lying but she knew her sister was telling the truth. Lissa was a lot of things, a liar included, but she knew when to be serious with her. "How have you known since we were that young? Who told you? Was is that man?" Elena pointed to the vampire that had been calmly sipping on his water.

"You remember the bedtime stories Dad would tell me and Jeremy? The ones you refused to listen to?"

"You're not serious-"

Lissa groaned loud and annoyed. "If one more person asks me if I'm serious about this I'm gonna start stabbing." Her bare feet landed on the floor with a soft thud as she sat up. "You asked, Elena. If you don't want to believe what I tell you, fine, that's on you. But I'm not lying." Well, not lying about their dad's bedtime stories at least. They were about the family history of vampire hunting. It wasn't her fault that wasn't how she learned about them. Blame that on the reincarnation.

"If that's true, then Dad knew. And if so why didn't he tell us?" Elena asked.

"Maybe because we were 15 when they died? Jeremy was 13? We were kids. Him, and Mom too, probably thought they had all the time in the world to tell us." Lissa suggested. She didn't actually know if they planned on telling them, but considering the council and John Gilbert, she very much expected them to. "A ton of people know about the supernatural, Elena. It's not some conspiracy to keep it from you."

Elena sneered, face scrunching up at her words. "I don't think it's a conspiracy, Lissa. But-"

"Wait, what do you mean a lot of people know?" Stefan interrupted. "You talk like there's more humans that know about vampires? But that's ridiculous. This is a small town."

Enzo barked out a laugh at the other vampire's words. He'd been silent this whole time, just lending Lissa comfort if she needed it, not that she did. "Stefan," he started, ignoring the man's question of how he knew him, "Lissa once described Mystic Falls as the Hellmouth of this universe and, now that I know what that is, I have to agree. If something supernatural is going to happen, it'll happen here."

"Wait, you guys mean people in Mystic Falls know about vampires and don't tell anyone?" Elena asked, scandalized.

Lissa laughed. "Welcome to the whole world Elena. There's pockets of people all around the world that know about vampires and everything else. Mystic Falls is just one town. A town with a lot of history, sure, but still just a town that's in the know."

Elena, for once letting a subject lie, moved onto her next subject. "And Jeremy? You obviously did something to him."

"You've gotten the Vamp 101 class from Stefan, right? Like what compulsion is and how to block it?"

"You made him forget?" Elena said.

Lissa shook her head. "No, I asked Enzo to dull his pain. It's still there but…" Lissa turned towards Enzo. "How would you explain it? It's there but not?"

Enzo seesawed his hand, she was kind of right. "Somewhat. I'd say the pain is behind frosted glass. He still knows everything and feels grief but unlike before it's faded." Elena nodded, that was fair of him. If it was her she would have probably asked for Jeremy to forget, but Lissa had always been closer to him. If she thought he could handle knowing then she wouldn't fight her. Not right now at least.

Elena still had a ton of questions, but just this once she felt like she could give her sister a break. She could tell, despite her efforts not to show it, Lissa was beyond exhausted. It was obvious to her, after all despite the albinism and the piercings, the two did still share a face. "Alright, Lissa. I still have a ton of questions, which you will answer. But, we're all exhausted. We can continue this tomorrow."

"Huh," Lissa hummed as her eyebrows raised. She didn't remember the last time Elena had backed down from a conversation. Especially a subject like this. She was grateful, though. Lissa could feel her head starting to pound now that her adrenalin had vacated. It's why she got everyone water, hydrating helps with the come down. "Alright…Well, okay. I guess that's good. Um, Damon is taking care of Vicki's body, so Stefan if you don't mind checking in with him when he gets home, that would be great. Otherwise I'll be over in the morning to talk with you and Jeremy, Elena."

"You're not staying here?"

Lissa shook her head. "No, I'm gonna stay at Enzo's tonight. I just kind of need to get away. Plus, I haven't made up with Jenna over some stuff." Lissa winced as she realized she really needed to talk to her aunt. She wasn't mad anymore, it really was Jenna just putting her foot in her mouth. No reason to burn a bridge over that. Even if it did make her want to punch someone. "So I don't want to make it too awkward running into her in the morning."

"Oh," Elena sighed. She'd kind of wanted Lissa here. She missed when they would hang out during this summer, it made her feel like they were really sisters instead of people who just looked alike. But it was fine. She'd see Lissa in the morning and she'd say something then. She could be a big girl tonight. "Well then it was nice meeting you Enzo…" Elena cringed. It was nice meeting him? He'd helped her sister kill someone and that's what she says?

Enzo chuckled as he helped Lissa stand up. "It was nice meeting you, as well, Elena. Despite Lissa's stories, of course."

"Lissa! What did you tell him about me?!"

"Anyway! Gotta go! Bye 'Lena. Eat shit, Stefan!"

Lissa just laughed at Stefan's grumbles as she pulled Enzo behind her out to the cars.

Getting to the house, Enzo in his Chrysler and her in the SUV, they said their normal goodnights and made plans for the morning for Enzo to check on Kennedy. She'd done so well during the past two days, not one slip up even while living with humans, that they were pretty sure they would be getting her a daylight ring.

An ugly one, Lissa decided. Can't let Kennedy think she likes her.

Thank you for taking the time to read!