Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: This was an exciting chapter to write :) Alexa gets a chance to be badass again, and we get to see more of her adjusting to her new self, as well as an old friend returning ;) And some smut, because I couldn't let chapter 69 go by without any smut ;)

XXX

I was in that lovely sleepy space, when you felt all warm and fuzzy, when an arm wrapped around my waist, a warm body following it. A nose nuzzled the back of my neck before Damon whispered in my ear, "You know, you do have school today."

Without opening my eyes, I grumbled, "Elena can go suck it if she thinks that I'm going to kick off my immortal life by going to high school."

My boyfriend just chuckled, kissing my neck before rolling me over. I pouted up at him as he leant over me, brushing my hair from my face, "She just wants you to have a bit of normality."

"Not going to school would be normal for me," I rolled my eyes, doing my best to subtly adjust the top that I had fallen asleep in, hoping to make my boobs obvious. I knew that if I got Damon horny, then he wouldn't let me leave the bed. It was a trick that had worked before, I just had to hope that it would work this time.

"Well, think of it this way," my boyfriend offered helpfully, completely ignoring my attempts to flash him. "If you go to school, you'll be able to protect Elena when something bad inevitably happens. Because let's face it, you two get into far too much trouble there."

I squinted up at him suspiciously, "Why are you taking Elena's side here?"

Damon winced, glancing away, "It's not Elena's side that I'm taking…"

I immediately realised and sighed, "Jenna's?" When he nodded, I muttered, "Damn, I can't even be mad at you about that. Ugh, fine, I'll go to school. Guess I can check in on Ellie and Jeremy while I'm there."

"So, when are you going to ask to be invited in?" Damon had a knowing look in his eyes and it was my turn to wince and glance away.

"Uh, probably when the fear that I'll accidentally use them as a midnight snack goes away," I mumbled as my boyfriend took my hand in his.

"Ally," he sighed, his gaze soft when I glanced over at him. "You've been doing well; you don't need to be worried about that."

"I know," I admitted, pushing him back so that I could rest my head against his chest. "I guess its cos I'm hungry, like, all the time. And all it takes is for me to lose control for one second for me to hurt someone that I care about."

Damon was silent for a moment, running his fingers through my hair, before sighing, "You can stay here for as long as you need. Jenna will understand if you explain it to her."

"I know she will, she's amazing like that. I guess I just don't want to worry her. I know that she hasn't been feeling well lately, even if she has been trying to hide it. But unfortunately, you can't hide puke breath from vampire smell, even if you try to use chewing gum."

"Do the other two know?" the worry in his voice over Jenna was adorable, even if I would never tell him that. I knew that my boyfriend and my aunt had a special bond. And he had done his best to help her through her grief over Ric. They had both lost someone special to them, and they had a different bond with the history teacher than we did. And in a way, they were the only ones would could help each other heal. Until I managed to find a way to bring Ric back.

"Nah, she didn't want to worry them," I rolled my eyes lightly. "She would much rather they fuss over me instead."

"Just like you fuss over all of them," Damon reminded me and I wrinkled my nose.

"Yeah, but I'm allowed to, especially now," I shifted so that I was leaning on my elbow, looking down at my vampire. "I'm strong enough to protect all of them now."

"And what was the reason before that?" my boyfriend smirked at me and I tapped his nose.

"Because I was the most badass out of all of them" I rolled my eyes. "Duh."

"How could I have forgotten?" Damon rolled his eyes in return and I laughed. "Your delusions of grandeur are adorable, baby."

"They aren't delusions if they're real," I sniffed dramatically, leaning down to press a quick kiss to his lips before getting off the bed. "Now, since all of the people who claim to love me want to force me to go to school, I need to go get ready."

Luckily, Damon had other ideas. Before I could even take a step away, a hand grabbed my wrist, tugging me back onto the bed. I giggled as Damon's body pressed me down onto the bed, his erection pressing against my thigh. He sucked on my neck as his fingers hooked into the band of my sleep shorts. As I shifted my hips, letting him slip them down my legs, he growled into my ear, "You make it so hard to be responsible."

"Damn straight," I smirked, reaching down to gently rub his cock. "But you love it."

"Hmm, indeed I do," he hummed against my skin as his fingers stroked my core. I could feel him smirk at my intake of breath and in retaliation, I increased the pressure on his cock, curling my fingers around his tip, thumb teasing his slit. I felt his fangs scrap against my neck before his boxers were gone and his cock was lined up against my entrance.

I let out a loud moan as Damon slowly sank in, taking his time. My fingers dug into his back as he slowly rocked back and forth, only allowing the tip of his cock to enter me. I knew what he was doing and any other day, I would play his game. But my horniness had practically tripled since my transition and there was no way that I could hold out. So, in a pitiful voice, I begged for him to enter me properly.

I felt Damon smirk against my neck as he did what I wanted. I groaned against his shoulder as he sank all the way in. I muttered out little curses as he thrusted, hitting a new spot with each movement. I just held onto him, fingers digging into his shoulders, as I enjoyed it all. I couldn't stop myself from chanting Damon's name as I grew closer to the edge, pleasure coiling tightly in my body. And then something new happened, I could feel my face changing, my fangs descending.

Hesitantly, I gently pressed them against the skin of Damon's shoulder. He let out a groan as his fingers tangled in my hair, pressing my face closer to his shoulder. I could feel his own fangs against my neck and I knew what I wanted to do.

With more confidence than before, I sank my fangs into Damon's skin, his sweet blood filling my mouth. Damon let out a moan as he came, his own fangs sinking into my skin. And that was all that I needed to join him in orgasm. My nails dug into his back as I drank my way through my pleasure, almost reluctant to stop.

I eventually pulled back when I felt Damon do the same. He moved his mouth, kissing his way up my neck before his lips settled against mine. I licked into his mouth, tasting my blood on his tongue before I pulled away with a mumbled, "God, I fucking love you."

XXX

It took a lot of effort to get ready, especially when Damon joined me in the shower. But eventually, I was dressed and ready for school. Well, physically ready. Mentally, I was so not in the mood. But Damon was right. If I went to school with my twin, then I could keep her out of trouble when it eventually found her.

As I wandered outside, wondering if a lack of car would be a legitimate excuse to not go to school, I saw Stefan fixing up a motorcycle. I paused and glanced around, making sure that I wasn't seeing things, before casually remarking, "Since when did you own a motorbike, Stef?"

"He's got that old thing out again?" Damon scoffed as he joined me, resting a hand on my hip as he tugged me into his side. "I see you're going through another midlife crisis, brother. At least you picked a good day for it."

"Another midlife crisis?" I snorted, unable to help myself, especially at the eyeroll that Stefan gave his brother. "How many has he had?"

"Hmm, 164 years… let's just say that he's had a fair few," my boyfriend winked at me as the younger brother sat down on the motorcycle.

"Lol damn," I smirked over at Stefan. "And I thought that I had ran out of things to tease you over, Stefan."

"I doubt that you could ever run out of things to tease someone over, Alexa," Stefan said, sounding amazingly patient, considering we were both taking the piss out of him. "I thought that I would take Elena out on this, get her to let her hair down and have a bit of fun."

"Oh, those who can't do, teach," Damon snarked, rolling his eyes.

I couldn't stop myself from snorting, "Burn."

The younger brother rolled his eyes before shaking his head, "I see that you are both in one of those moods." He glanced over at me before offering, "Alexa, did you want a ride into school?"

"Ahh, damn you, Stefan," I groaned dramatically, throwing my head back with a pout. "You ruined my amazing plan to skip."

"Did I? What a shame," I glared at the other vampire as he looked innocent before looking at his brother. "Where are you up to today?"

"Well, that hunter jacked Tyler Lockwood of his werewolf venom last night," Damon replied as I reluctantly wandered over to the motorbike, settling on the back of it behind Stefan. I winced as I remembered Ty's phone call, how freaked out he sounded. "So basically, he's got vampire poison in a bottle. And I'm gonna find him, and I'm gonna eat him."

Stefan immediately frowned, his forehead looking uber broody, before standing up, "I'll go with you."

"Nope," my boyfriend immediately shook his head as he gestured over at me. "I want you to go to school and keep this one out of trouble."

Both of them ignored my protest of "I don't always get into trouble!" as they exchanged a long look. But eventually, Stefan sighed and nodded, getting back on the bike. Damon stepped over to give me a goodbye kiss before warning his brother to keep an eye on me.

As Stefan kicked the bike into gear and started to drive off, I turned my head back and shouted, "Be careful!" I rolled my eyes as Damon just smirked at me before disappearing from sight. Honestly, he had the cheek to call me reckless when we both knew that he was just as bad. In fact, he could be even worse, because he deliberately got into dangerous situations. I just, kind of, stumbled into them. Which meant that it really wasn't my fault, like at all.

I held onto Stefan as he drove us towards the school, wind whipping away at me. But I found that I didn't mind too much. It was weirdly peaceful, and I knew that the peace wouldn't last. It never did in Mystic Falls.

When we got to school, I waited patiently as Stefan parked up. But instead of getting off the bike, the older vampire swung his leg over so that he was sitting facing me, a gentle look in his eyes. I blinked and glanced around before uttering, "Um, hi?"

"I just wanted to check in on you," Stefan said, reaching out to rest his hand on mine. "You've been spending a lot of time with Damon, so I haven't had a chance to check before."

"Uh, I mean, it's going okay?" I answered before wincing. "It's going better than I made it sound just now. I'm still having a bit of trouble adjusting to how hungry I am all the time. But Damon has been teaching me some tricks on how to not focus on that."

"That is the hardest part," Stef nodded. "If you ever need to talk about it, or about anything, you can come to me, Alexa. I'll give you as much support as you need."

"You're too sweet, Stef," I smiled before groaning. "Uh, you make it so hard to keep my grudge over what you did going."

"I'm not doing it on purpose," the other vampire smiled softly and I rolled my eyes.

"That's what makes it even worse," I nudged his shoulder. "There is one thing that you can do for me though. Can you keep an eye on Elena? I know that she's gonna try and protect me from how she is feeling. But I want her to have an outlet." I paused before adding, "That won't be too awkward, right? Considering you two aren't together anymore?"

"Uh," Stefan cleared his throat, glancing away. "About that…"

I frowned for a moment before gasping, "Are you two back together?" At Stefan's nod, I gasped even louder, "She never told me that, the little minx! Since when?"

"When Damon took you out of town to learn how to feed," he admitted, his eyes scanning my face. "Is that okay?"

"Well, not gonna lie, Stef, I kind of didn't want you two to get back together, not yet anyway," I sighed, glancing away with a wince. "But I also know that Elena still felt something for you. So I guess I'll keep my opinions to myself." I paused before adding, "For the most part, anyway."

XXX

After I said goodbye to Stefan, I went searching for my sister. It was hard, being surrounded by so many people, especially when I had to walk through the crowds to look for Elena. But I focused on counting my breathing, ignoring the other smells around me. I'll tell you something though, being around teenage girls was incredibly awkward now…

I eventually spotted my twin over by the old make out spot. Interestingly, she was with Matt. I knew that they would just be catching up, but it was intriguing that they chose to hang out by their old make out spot. I noticed the soft smile on Ellie's face and hung back for a second.

I knew that Elena had started worrying over Matt even more than she did before, ever since the accident. It was natural. He had nearly died because of us, because he was trying to help us. I knew that Elena didn't regret saving our friend, even though it ultimately led to both of our deaths. I didn't regret it either. Matt was truly innocent in all of this. And I hated the thought of him getting hurt because of us.

Once I had given them enough time, I made my way over, clearing my throat once I reached them. Ellie glanced over at me with a smile, drawing me into a hug. I carefully hugged her back, not wanting to accidentally hurt her. It was weird, having to learn how to hug people again. But it was natural, I was a lot stronger now. I needed to learn how to use that strength carefully.

"Hey Alexa," Mattie smiled at me, the cutie, as I reached out for a fist bump. I couldn't stop my gaze from flickering down to his wrist, where he had a cut that was covered. I could still smell the blood, but I tried not to let it affect me.

"Heya," I smiled back, hoping that it wasn't too strained. "So, on a scale of one to ten, how much do you not want to be here? Cos I am a solid ten."

My sister rolled her eyes at me before she started fussing over my hair, running her fingers through it, trying to tidy it up. I just let her, content to have her fussing over me. It was something that I had missed recently. But I couldn't move back home until I was sure that I wasn't a threat to anyone that I cared about.

"I'm not surprised," Matt laughed before asking, "I'm surprise that you're here. I mean, do you really think that school is the best place for you right now?"

"Matthew," I gave him a look before rolling my eyes. "Do you really think that I would be here, if I had a choice? I was practically bullied into coming here."

"It's good for you to have some normality," Ellie gave me a stern look before sighing, "Besides, the vampire hunter knows that Damon's a vampire and that we both know Damon. Hiding at home would be more suspicious and I can't let him suspect you. Besides, Lexa, it's our senior year. We survived this long; we can't bail before graduation."

"Uh, I suppose you are right," I groaned dramatically as we made our way to the quieter parts of the school. "But it's still annoying and I won't acquiesce to your wishes gracefully."

"Oh Lexa," my twin's voice was full of tolerated amusement. "I never expected you to. I'm just grateful that you came today."

"Well, luckily for you, none of my usual tricks worked for me this morning," I grumbled, before giving her a pitiful pout. "Even Stefan was ruining my plans to skip school."

"You came in with him?" Elena asked, sounding surprised and I shrugged, distracted by something on one of the nearby cars.

"Apparently he has a motorcycle now," I muttered, walking over to pick up the pamphlet. I frowned as I read it, 'Mandatory Curfew, All Ages, Commencing 10PM Until Futher Notice'. It had been issued by the Police Department, which was hilarious. Caroline's mom knew that a curfew wasn't needed, and yet she was implementing one.

"Town called for curfew?" Elena asked in confusion as she read the pamphlet over my shoulder. I passed it over to her, noticing a few more on the other cars that were parked in the area.

Matt, ever the voice of reason, shrugged, "Tyler got shot in front of half the town. Everyone's a little freaked."

"If only they knew the real story," my twin muttered, her hand twitching as it covered her stomach. It was something that I had noticed over the past few days, even since Bonnie reversed her transition. It was like it was paining her. But whenever I asked her about it, Elena made out that everything was alright. I didn't believe her, but there was nothing that I could do to get answers. Well, not yet, anyway.

"Now that would be an interesting turn of events," I mused, mind distracted as Matt reached out for the pamphlet, revealing his injured wrist to me again. But this time, my attention to it was noticed.

"Alexa, are you hungry?" Mattie frowned, exchanging a glance with my sister.

I cleared my throat, glancing away, "Well, a little bit. But it's fine. I can deal with it."

"It's fine, Alexa, you can feed from me if you need to," the absolutely adorable, blue-eyed cutie offered, carefully pealing off the plaster.

"Matt, I can't," I protested, taking a step back. But my friend was insistent.

"Alexa, you're in this position because of me," his voice was soft and I couldn't stop myself from wincing at the regret in his voice. "I need to help you. Besides, with a vampire hunter in town, you need to be careful."

"I…" I trailed off, looking over at my sister. She nodded, her hair revealing the nude plaster on her neck. Why did I keep getting into positions where I fed off of the people that I cared about? "Are you sure?" When Matt nodded, I took a deep breath, I reached out and took his wrist. Elena shifted so that she was blocking the view. My face changed and I carefully bit into Matt's wrist, eyes fluttering shut as his blood filled my mouth. I drank a few mouthfuls, enough that I could feel a bit satiated before pulling away. I cleaned his wrist the best I could before glancing over at my sister. "I don't suppose you have a bandage in your bag?"

"Amazingly, I do," Ellie smiled at me as she dug through her big bag, looking for the bandage. "I always kept one with me, just in case you hurt yourself." And now the bandages would be for the people that I hurt. Damn it, now I've depressed myself.

XXX

Stefan found us before we went into history. It was the one lesson that I had been hoping to avoid. But I knew that neither of the two with me would allow me to do that. Even Elena, who wanted to avoid this room as much as I did, refused to let me run away from it. And I hated it. But I couldn't tell her the whole truth. Not only did this room represent our lost loved one, it also represented my guilt. Because I knew that he could come back. But I couldn't do that yet. I couldn't force Bonnie into it, and we didn't know any other witches who would use the dark magic like that.

I took a deep breath as I sat down at my desk, glancing around the room. None of the substitute teachers had made it their own yet. Ric's writing was still on the chalkboards, his books still dotted around the room. They were signs of the man that we had lost. And in a way, I didn't want those reminders to be lost. Maybe it helped that the story was that Ric had gone out of town to care for a sick relative. An unexplained death would draw suspicion, and after Bonnie's confession, Damon had made sure that we didn't go down that route. He hadn't told anyone else why, but I knew that he was planning for the day that we could bring him back.

A warm hand reached over to take mine. I glanced over to see my sister watching me with teary eyes. I sighed and nodded, letting her know that I felt the same. It was hard being back in this room. But we couldn't avoid it forever, even if I wanted to.

"It's the first time that we've been back in Alaric's classroom," Stefan's soft words had me looking at him. He was watching us with sympathetic eyes, probably sensing our sadness.

"First period and I'm ready to bawl my eyes out," my twin muttered, squeezing my hand as she glanced around the room. I was about to give her words of comfort when Elena's favourite person entered the room. My sister narrowed her eyes as Rebekah strutted in, flyers in her arms.

"Morning everyone," the Original Sister beamed, handing out flyers to those who were already in the room.

"Morning Bekah," Heather smiled from her seat at the front. Heather was a sweet girl. She kept herself to herself, and never really bothered anyone. But she was always so polite and wanted to please everyone that she could.

"Just like that, I'm no longer feeling sentimental," Ellie muttered, rolling her eyes before crossing her arms. I sighed, realising that my peaceful day had just gone down the drain. Seeing Rebekah had opened old wounds. And I knew that she blamed the blonde for my death. So this would definitely be a fiery conversation, as there was no way that the Original wouldn't taunt my sister.

"So, I'm throwing a little anti-curfew party at my new house," Rebekah smiled at the other students, handing out flyers as she ignored us for the moment. "Starts at fifth period and goes til whenever. Spread the word." She passed out a couple more before turning to my sister, a taunting smirk on her face, "You're welcome to join, Elena, if you'd like to bury the hatchet."

Elena took the flyer that she was passed, looking down at it with a snort, "It's a pretty enormous hatchet."

The blonde rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm feeling generous of spirit."

I knew that her words were getting under Elena's skin, as she narrowed her eyes as she read the flyer. And I knew that this was going to get worse. I would have intervened, but I knew that I would just end up being used as a pawn in their little spat. And I really did not want to deal with that.

"New house, huh?" my twin mused mockingly. "Did your brother finally kick you out?"

It was Rebekah's turn to narrow her eyes as she sneered, "He didn't kick me out, I left."

"So, you left the only person on earth that actually likes you?" Elena scoffed and I sighed, shaking my head. This was going to get ugly.

"Alexa likes me," Rebekah declared challengingly and I winced at the look my twin gave her.

"Not any more, she doesn't," Ellie countered.

"Do I get a say in this?" I muttered, only to be ignored. It was what I was expecting, if I was being honest. It was still annoying though. Someone had to stop them from biting each other's heads off, and I was apparently the only one who would.

Rebekah stared at Ellie for a moment before smirking viciously and looking at Stefan, "Well, how about this? Your boyfriend liked me once." Stefan looked as happy to be involved in this as I did. "Actually, a lot more than once."

The furious look on my twin's face had me wincing. I had never seen Ellie this angry. It was a bit unnerving. Elena didn't get mad, not like this. But it was like she had lost control.

"Why are you still in town, Rebekah?" Stefan asked, trying to draw everyone's attention away from the savage words and diffuse the situation. "Don't have you have anywhere else to go?"

"Well, history's my favourite class," the Original stared at my sister, a vicious look on her face. "Actually, where is Mr Saltzman…?" she trailed off, looking for dramatic impact, enjoying the furious look on Elena's face. "Oh, that's right, I killed him."

Surprisingly, I was the one who lost my cool first. I narrowed my eyes and snapped, "Rebekah!" The blond winced at my tone, but I couldn't bring myself to care. "Why don't you shut up and go away? Before someone does something that they might regret." Rebekah stared at me for a moment before slowly nodding and walking away. I kept my gaze on her as she left the room before groaning. I hunched forward, resting my forehead on the desk. "Fuck my life."

"Just breathe, just breathe," Stefan was murmuring to my sister as she clenched her fists, a dark look on her face. "You're better than this."

"I hate her," Elena spat, glaring at the door. "I didn't think that I was capable of hate, but I hate her, and I hate that I hate her. She's done so much to hurt my loved ones and then she throws it in my face."

"Just ignore her, Ellie," I told her, my voice muffled by my position. "She wants this reaction from you."

"I know, but I can't stop myself," Elena glanced over at me, her expression softening. "She got you killed, Lexa. I can't move past that."

"I'm not asking you to," I sighed, lifting my head up. "I'm just asking you to not get your head ripped off." I glanced behind her, through the glass of the door and frowned, "Hang on a sec, I know that face. Is that the hunter?"

The other two spun around, looking out the door as the hunter walked further into view, "What the hell is he doing here?" Because life just fucking hated me, the answer was even worse than I could have imagined. My brother walked into view, the hunter approaching him.

"Oh fuck," I breathed out, going to stand up. But Stefan beat me to it.

He held out a calming hand as he said, "Let me get this. I'll look after Jeremy. You just focus on avoiding the hunter."

I grumbled but sat back in my seat, content on using my hearing to make sure that my brother was okay. But I couldn't help but worry about what Connor wanted with Jeremy. Because whatever it was, I knew that it wouldn't be good.

XXX

I felt no shame in admitting that I barely paid attention during history. Or the class that I had after that. It was so hard, sitting in a room filled with warm bodies, hearts pumping blood around their bodies. I could barely concentrate beyond the smell of the blood in their bodies. It was all consuming. I was just amazed that I managed to keep control.

The moment the bell rang at the end of English, I bolted from the room. I made my way into the nearest bathroom, breathing heavily. I hunched over the sink, eyes closed tightly, squeezing the ceramic. It wasn't until I heard a faint crack that I stood back. I opened my eyes to see my face in the mirror, veins pulsing underneath my eyes, fangs protruding from my mouth. I could barely recognise myself in the mirror. But somehow, despite the fact that I was teetering on the edge of control, I wasn't scared.

Well, not until Heather walked in.

She must have been in gym, as she was wearing tiny shorts, her skin shiny with sweat. But it wasn't that that caught my attention, that made it impossible to change my face back. It was the blood that dripped from her knee. I stared at it, transfixed, barely aware of the girl coming to a halt in front of me. There was a scared look on her face as she noticed my monstrous face.

But before she had the chance to run, I stepped forward, catching her gaze with mine, "Don't move. Don't speak. Just stand there."

I waited until she nodded before I pushed her back against the wall, going for her neck. But an unexpected voice stopped me. A gentle hand rested on my shoulder as my face was pressed against her neck. I could feel her pulse against my cheek, taunting me, begging me to rip into it. The tension in my body was coiled tightly, and it would take barely anything to make me snap. And I honestly didn't know what I would do when I did.

"Alexa, you don't want to hurt her," Rebekah said softly, gently urging me away from Heather. If she wasn't so strong, then I honestly wouldn't have moved. The siren call of Heather's blood was too strong to resist. The smell of it filled the small room that we were in. And after spending so much time surrounded by human bodies, I just didn't have the strength to resist it any longer.

"I know," I whispered, unable to take eyes off of Heather. "But I'm just so hungry." The Original nodded, a gentle look on her face as she directed me back against the wall. After making sure that I wasn't moving, Rebekah stepped forward to compel the human. She made sure that Heather wouldn't remember any of this, including my vampire face, and made her leave the room. Once the tempting human was gone, I groaned, hunching over, "I never should have come here today. I wasn't ready for this."

"You're doing better than you think you are," the Original's voice was gentle as she stood next to me, resting her hand on my back. "You haven't killed anyone yet."

"I nearly ate Heather," I snorted, standing up to give the blonde a look. "That isn't exactly an indicator of doing well." Rebekah didn't have anything to say to that, she just gave me a sympathetic look and rested a hand on my shoulder. "You know, I'm still mad at you for torturing Damon."

"I know you are," Rebekah sighed, wincing guiltily and looking away. "I'm sorry for what it's done to our friendship."

"I'm mad at you for killing me and Elena too," I added before shaking my head. "But apparently, today is not a good day for holding grudges. Just… I'm not ready to forgive you yet, but… I am ready to start trying." Just as the blonde was about to speak, I held up my finger, "Just, leave Elena alone, yeah? Because if you piss her off, then I will take her side."

"She doesn't exactly make it easy," the Original grumbled and I rolled my eyes.

"She doesn't need to," I reminded her, ticking each thing off my finger. "You killed her. You killed me. You nearly killed Matt. You killed Ric. And you're the reason as to why I am a vampire right now. My sister does not need to be civil to you, but if you're serious about renewing our friendship, then I'll speak to her."

"Thanks Alexa," Rebekah's voice was soft as she gave me a small smile. "I appreciate that."

"Well, you happened to catch me at the right time," I sighed, wincing at my words as I realised that it actually wasn't the right time. Not for Heather anyway. She should never have been in that situation. And I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I had hurt her. My words to Rebekah were true, I never should have come to school. I wasn't ready. A nasty voice, deep in my mind, whispered that I might never be ready. But I tried to ignore it. I couldn't let myself believe it. "But remember, this is all dependent on how you are with Ellie. If you are a bitch to her, then I will rescind the offer."

The blonde watched me with careful eyes, "You'll always put her first, huh."

"Kinda have to," I shrugged, rubbing my head. It had had a nasty headache all morning. Ever since I got to school. It was weird, I didn't think that vampires could get headaches, but I definitely had one now. I made a mental note to ask Damon about it later. "She's my twin. She'll always be my other half, no matter what species we are."

"I wish that I could have that," Rebekah sighed sadly and my heart went out to her.

I reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder, a gentle smile on my face, "Unfortunately, all I can offer you is my friendship. But… family doesn't end in blood. You can find a bond like that with someone, all you need to do is have hope."

"I can do that," the Original nodded, giving me a grateful smile. And I was suddenly reminded why I befriended her in the first place. Damnnit, I really was too much of a softie.

XXX

When the lunch bell rang, I was bundled outside by my twin, where we were apparently having a little pow-wow. Stefan and Caroline were already outside, sitting on one of the tables near the stoner pit. It was empty right now, which was odd. But I guess they had already ditched. They might even have gone to Rebekah's party. Especially since I was positive that she would have a smoking area. The blonde was desperate for friends and popularity, even if it meant hanging with the stoners.

I cleared my throat and sat next to Stefan, carefully avoiding Caroline's gaze. We hadn't properly spoken since it was discovered that I killed her dad. When we had to interact, it was normally because of a crisis, like April Young bleeding out. It just felt so awkward, being around her. I had taken her dad from her, and I didn't know how she could possibly forgive me for that. And, on one level, I almost didn't want her to. I didn't deserve forgiveness. I had hidden the problem, pretending that everything was fine. And that had led to Bill Forbes' death. I deserved to be hated by her over it.

Ellie was pacing in front of us, clenching and unclenching her fists as she moved back and forth. There was still a furious expression on her face, although it wasn't as vicious as it was earlier. I sighed, rubbing my temples as my headache reminded me that it was there. A gentle hand settled on my shoulder and I glanced up at Stefan, giving him a weak smile. He gave me a concerned look, but before he could say anything, Caroline said, "You know, considering everything that has happened recently, no one would judge you if you wanted to go home."

"I don't want to go home," Elena shook her head, caught up in rageful thoughts. "I want to take the white oak stake and kill her. That's how mad I am. She made me murderous! She killed two of the people that I care about, and now she's just throwing it in my face."

"Yikes," I muttered, looking at my twin with worried eyes. I had never seen her like this. But I had never properly died before. It wasn't like when I had my ring, this was a proper death. I was technically gone, changed forever. I knew that she felt as though she had failed me. There was a lot of guilt fuelling that anger. I had died because she had let herself die. It was a toxic mix, and I didn't know how to get her out of it.

Luckily, Stefan was around to help, "How about we just leave the murdering to Damon?"

I couldn't stop myself from snorting at his words, even though it was bad. But my boyfriend had built up a rep of doing the dirty things that were needed. And he revelled in it. He enjoyed being able to protect the people that he cared about. He was never one to sit around, so if he could go rip someone's head off to look after those people, then he would do that. It was a trait that I shared. As shown by my murdering of Esther. Oh yeah, I hadn't forgotten about that. Even with all of the bullshit that had followed, I still had nightmares about the life that I had taken. It was different because I remembered doing it. It wasn't my evil side; I had been in complete control. But I tried not to think about it. Because I knew that the fallout wouldn't be pretty.

"And-and then do what?" Elena scoffed, shaking her head as Stefan got up. He walked over to her, gently grasping her shoulders, forcing her to remain in one position. "Ignore her to death?"

"Ignoring her could work," I shrugged when my sister glanced over at me. "Remember how much it used to annoy Jeremy when we were younger? It might not kill her, but that isn't a bad thing. It would definitely get under her skin. And wouldn't that be just as sweet, you can drive her insane. Definitely more satisfying than murder."

"I highly doubt that," my twin rolled her eyes and I sighed. So much for that plan. Honestly, it was like she had forgotten what the biggest consequence would be of killing the Original Sister. Well, she was probably trying not to think about it, otherwise her revenge fantasies would not be satisfying in the slightest.

The older vampire sighed, thumbs stroking her skin, "Look, she's trying to make herself feel better. She knows that everybody hates her, so she's trying to hate harder." I mean, he was right to an extent. Especially since they didn't know about the conversation that I had had with her in the girls' toilets earlier. But she was lashing out, wanting to hurt others before she got hurt. "Tell you what, let's just skip the rest of the day. Go have some fun. I feel like this day is severely lacking in fun."

"Stefan is suggesting that someone skips school?" I snorted teasingly, enjoying the eye roll that I got. "Alert the media. Dodgy Stefan is back around."

"Not funny, Alexa," Ellie shook her head at me, but there was a smile fighting to form on her face. "But I suppose you are right, there's no point being here." She paused for a moment, a considering look on her face before she nodded. "I'll you what, we'll go to her party and show her that she can't intimidate me. I just have to go home and change first. You coming, Alexa?"

I gave her a look and laughed, "Elena, you're letting me ditch school. You really don't need to confirm."

My sister rolled her eyes but she did walk over, holding her hand out to me. I grabbed it with a beaming smile, allowing her to tug me up. As I followed her over to her car, I glanced over with shoulder and waved at the other two vampires, "See you laterz."

XXX

I wasn't too surprised when Ellie drove us back to the Boarding House. She knew that I hadn't been invited in to our house yet and that I didn't want to be yet. My sister still had clothes here, from when she had been dating Stefan back in the day. So it just made sense to come here to get ready for Rebekah's anti-curfew party.

But I was surprised when my twin followed me into Damon's room. I paused in the act of taking off my top, staring at my sister, "Uh, Els, why are you in here too?"

"I'm just looking for something," Elena muttered, opening the door to the cupboard. I sighed as she started opening drawers, routing through them. It didn't take a genius to realise what she was looking for. Fortunately, I knew that the white oak stake wouldn't be that easy to find. Which was definitely a good thing. I could see the tension in my twin's shoulders, a visible sign of her continued anger. I was surprised that she had kept it going for this long. But everyone had a breaking point. I guess Rebekah's taunting for hers.

I kicked off my shoes, content to sit on Damon's bed and watch my sister. I would interfere if she did manage to find the magical stake, but until then, I let her indulge her rage fantasies. She was so caught up in them that she didn't notice Damon walking in.

My boyfriend paused in the doorway, glancing between me and my sister. I just shook my head and shrugged, not knowing the best way to explain my twin's sudden desire to wipe out an entire sire line because of some cattiness. Okay, that was a mean way of saying it. But it did feel a bit extreme.

With a roll of the eyes, Damon drawled, "Hope you plan on cleaning this up."

Ellie turned around, clearly startled, but she managed to hide it well as she stuttered out, "I need bourbon to get through Rebekah's party. Yours is better than Stefan's."

I coughed out, "Bullshit," and ignored Damon's smirk. He knew that my sister was lying. And I knew that because he lied about the location of his bourbon.

"Top drawer in the dresser," he gestured to the side and I cleared my throat to hide a laugh. He clearly didn't keep his booze in there. And the funny thing was, Elena had seen it while routing through the cupboard a few minutes ago.

But that didn't stop her from muttering a confused, "Thanks," and walking over to the dresser. I shook my head at her idiocy but I let her open the drawer. At least she was momentarily distracted from her little murder mission. Damon pulled a silver flask out of his pocket and took a swig from it, watching as Elena stared down into the drawer in annoyance. He passed me the flask as she turned around, a hand resting on her hip, "You keep your alcohol in your underwear drawer?"

"No," Damon scoffed as my sister slammed the drawer shut, an unhappy look on her face. "But you weren't looking for alcohol, were you?" My twin's guilty expression said it all. "Do you think that I'd actually leave the last remaining white oak stake where any vampire could just walk in and take it?"

"He has a point there, Ellie," I shrugged at the dirty look that my sister gave me as I got up, placing the flask on the table to the side. "It was a bit naïve of you to think that he would." I was just about to say something else but I was distracted by the smell of blood. My head shot around to see Damon unbuttoning his shirt, revealing bloodstains on his skin.

I dashed over to him, carefully examining the skin under the blood. Any wounds had already been healed, but I had to reassure myself that he was okay. It wasn't often that I saw him covered in blood, and it was unnerving whenever it happened.

"Day, what happened?" I murmured, my fingers lightly tracing his skin.

My boyfriend took my hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze as he replied, "Hunter mishap."

"That Connor dude?" I asked, raising an eyebrow before frowning. "He is such a pain in the ass." At Damon's questioning look, I elaborated, "We caught him lurking around the school earlier."

"I thought you had another run in with him," my vampire muttered before nodding, "Jeremy told me."

"Why were you talking to Jeremy?" Elena interrupted, an unhappy look on her face as she crossed her arms.

My boyfriend stared at her for a moment before shaking his head, clearly not wanting to share more than was necessary with my twin, "Don't worry about it." He stood still as I undid the rest of his buttons, pushing his shirt off.

I examined the other dried blood patches as my sister snapped, "Damon, don't bring him into this."

"Cherish the thought that he might actually be useful, Elena," Damon rolled his eyes at her and I sighed.

"Els," I caught my sister's attention while Damon carefully moved my hands out of the way, his going down to his belt. "At this point, we aren't going to be able to keep Jeremy out of this. At least this way, we can control what he gets involved in and keep him safe. So, just, chill, okay?"

Elena clearly didn't want to chill, but she didn't get much of a choice. I heard the sound of a belt dropping to the ground as an awkward look formed on my sister's face. She cleared her throat and looked away as Damon smirked, "You staying for the show…?"

The sound of a zipper slowly lowering caught my attention. My gaze immediately honed in on it and I muttered, "Elena, be a dear and give us the room."

My twin didn't need any more encouragement and she immediately left. But not without a determined, "I'm finding that stake."

XXX

It took barely any time for me to rid Damon of his pants. My lips settled on his skin, licking away the dried blood on his shoulder. I gently grasped his cock, stroking in time with my licking. Damon groaned loudly, hands gripping my hips tightly. But I didn't care. I focused on the taste of his blood, the feel of his cock in my hand. On driving him insane. Considering he had come home bleeding and the hunter was still alive, I knew that he needed me a pick me up. And I was determined to give him that.

Once I had licked away the blood that I could, I slowly made my way down his chest. Licking and sucking as I went, enjoying the feel of his firm chest. I gently nipped his stomach, just above his belly button, before dropping to my knees. Throughout it all, I had kept a steady rhythm while stroking his cock, keeping my pressure lighter than required to get him over the edge. But I didn't want this over too soon. I wanted him to enjoy this.

I pressed a kiss to the tip of his cock before licking a line down his shaft. Damon whispered my name as his fingers buried themselves in my hair. I gripped his strong thighs as I wrapped my mouth around the head of his cock, tongue flicking out to tease his slit. It had my boyfriend cursing above me and I smirked around his manhood. I loved the power that this gave me over him. It was intoxicating.

I used all of my tricks, fondling his balls, taking him down to the hilt, keeping the right amount of pressure around the head. And throughout it all, he cursed and chanted my name, keeping a tight grip on my hair. My hands moved up so that they were gripping Damon's ass, encouraging him to rock his hips. I kept the pressure right as his cock hit the back of my throat as Damon got closer to the edge. My tongue flicked up, licking the vein on the underside of his cock as it moved back and forth in my mouth.

I kept Damon on the edge for longer than I normally would, until he was practically begging me for that release. It was only when he was completely powerless that I let him cum, easing him through his orgasm. My boyfriend moaned my name, his voice strangled as his legs shook at the force of his orgasm. I smirked as I pressed a kiss to this thigh, pleased at what I had accomplished.

I was so pleased that I didn't even notice that Damon had switched his grasp from my hair to my arms until he pulled me to my feet. His mouth was immediately covering mine, his tongue licking its way into my mouth. I clung onto his shoulders as he muttered against my mouth, "Shower. Now."

Before I could even begin about thinking to undo my dress, I heard the sound of ripping. I knew that my dress was laying in pieces on the floor. It was quickly followed by my bra and panties. But I didn't care. Not with the way that Damon's fingers were tracing my body, stroking the underside of my boob, brushing that sensitive skin above my core. It felt like he was everywhere at once, his mouth attacking my neck, sucking on that spot under my ear.

How we got into the shower, I would never know. But soon enough, I was pressed against cool tiles, contrasting sharply with the heat of Damon's body. Water poured down on us, washing away the blood that still lingered on my boyfriend's body. But I didn't notice, not with the way that Damon's fingers stroked my core, paying particular attention to that sensitive nub. As I felt that tension building, slowly but not quite enough, I panted out, "Day, stop teasing."

Damon pulled his face away from my neck and smirked down at me, before purring "I thought you liked to be teased. After all, you teased me for so long." His fingers dipped in and out of me, lingering long enough to stroke against that sensitive spot, but not staying long enough for me to enjoy the feeling of being filled.

I held out as long as I could but I couldn't stop the whine, "Damon, please, I need more."

That was exactly what he was looking for. In the space of a blink, Damon had me out of the shower. He bent me over the bathroom counter, encouraging my head up. I made eye contact with him in the mirror as he slowly entered me. My eyes rolled back at the feeling of being filled. The underside of his cock, the vein throbbing, dragged along my sensitive skin, sending tingles throughout my body. His thrusts were slow. Pulling almost all the way out before slowly sliding back in. It was torturous in the most amazing way. The pleasure built up slowly, coiling tightly, until I couldn't take it anymore, "Damon, please, I need more."

I saw Damon's face change in the mirror as he smirked, "As you wish." His hips snapped forward and I couldn't stop the loud moan at the feel of it. The pace that he set was brutal, but it was exactly what I wanted. My hips met his with every thrust and it didn't take me long to fall over the edge. I shouted out my boyfriend's name as I gripped the marble of the counter, my eyes rolling back dangerously.

There was a sharp pain in my shoulder as Damon sank his fangs into me as he came, grunting against my skin as he drank. I just rested heavily against the counter, panting, trusting him to keep me on my feet. Eventually, as he pulled out, licking away the blood that had dripped down my back, I grinned slyly, as I felt his cock grow hard against my butt as I ground my ass back against him, "I fucking love vampire stamina."

XXX

Once we had thoroughly worn each other out, we curled up in Damon's bed. My head rested against his chest as he gently stroked my back, fingers occasionally brushing against my ass. I just played with the trail of dark hair that led down to my most favourite thing in the world. When my boyfriend sighed above me, I glanced up at him, "You alright, baby?"

"I'm just thinking about our hunter problem," he shook his head, tightening his grip on me as he pulled me slightly closer. "He needs to go. But considering he has werewolf venom, that won't be easy."

"He does know a lot of tricks," I agreed, resting my leg over his thigh. "And he does seem scarily well trained. Like that shot that took out Tyler? It was scary accurate. Plus, when you factor in to what he did to poor April, he knew exactly where to stab her to draw it out for as long as possible."

"We need more help," Damon grumbled, not looking pleased about the fact that he couldn't take out this hunter by himself. But Connor was not what we were used to. For a human, he seemed scarily powerful. Even with my training from Ric and Damon, I didn't know if I could take him out as a vampire. I definitely couldn't have done anything if I was still human.

"I mean, we could always get Tyler to help?" I suggested, moving so that we were facing each other. You could tell that this was a serious conversation as Damon only glanced at my boobs for a second before looking back at my face. "As a hybrid, he is slightly stronger. Plus, he wants revenge on the hunter for sticking a needle in his mouth." I winced at the thought of it. I hated the thought of needles anywhere near my mouth, which was why I had always taken such great care of my teeth. I didn't want fillings, especially since I would need injections in my gums. It was horrible. And something that my dad had used to his advantage while I was growing up. "How did he manage to hurt you earlier?"

"He had traps set up in his campervan," my boyfriend frowned, looking deep in thought. "They were trigged by movement and had arrows attached to explosives. It was an impressive set up."

"One that you could replicate?" I asked, shrugging innocently at Damon's look. "What? That asshole has hurt a lot of people that I care about, getting blown up is the least that he deserves." I cleared my throat and glanced away at Damon's proud smirk. I knew that my slightly violent side amused him at times. And we couldn't afford to be distracted by my reaction to his pride.

"It should be pretty easy to do," my vampire nodded, reaching to the side to pick up his phone. "I'll get Jeremy to lure Jeremy to the hospital. We can use Meredith as bait, if Connor has been sniffing around the Council, then he might know her naughty little secret."

"It could work," I mused, fingers tapping against Damon's chest. "While I doubt that he has any morals after what he did to April, it would be interesting to see if he has any issues with blowing up part of a hospital. If he does, then we might be able to get some answers from him before we rip his head off."

"I do love this side to you," Damon laughed, deep and throaty, and I blushed.

"Oh shush you," I bopped his nose as I reached over to grab my phone too, opening up a message to Jeremy. "Get on the phone to Meredith, she can get us a room in the hospital that's out of the way. I'll see if Jeremy can lure him there. As much as I hate it, Connor has shown an interest in him. Let's see if we can use that to our advantage." I paused before adding, "Just make sure that Elena doesn't find out about this. She will kill me if she finds out about this. But we can't keep Jer out of this, not now."

I could feel Damon's gaze on me and glanced up at him. My boyfriend was looking at me, eyebrow raised, "We?"

"I want in on this, Damon," I gave a determined nod. "He's gone after a lot of my loved ones. He's a threat to even more of them. I won't be left out of this. Not now that I am strong enough to actually be useful."

"I don't like it, Alexa," Damon sighed, shaking his head. "This hunter is dangerous; you could get hurt."

"That's nice, dear," I shrugged, patting his chest. "But between you and Tyler, I doubt he'll be able to lay a finger on me."

"You aren't going to let me leave you behind, are you?" my boyfriend rolled his eyes at me and I smiled, leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

"Nope, but it's sweet of you to try," I nuzzled his cheek before reluctantly getting off the bed. "Now, I'm gonna call Jeremy. Did you want me to call Tyler after or did you want to do that?"

Damon was too busy staring at my ass to immediately answer. It took a bit of prodding, but he eventually replied, "I'll deal with wolf-boy once I've called Meredith. You just focus on finding a way to keep Jer out of danger."

"Oh don't you worry, I'll make sure that he does not enter that room," I nodded sharply, scrolling through my contact for his name. As I paced, waiting for the kid to answer the phone, I came across my destroyed dress. I pouted down at me, "Ah man, I liked that dress."

Unfortunately, that was when my brother answered the call, "Ew, Alexa, why did I have to hear that?"

"Oh hush you," I rolled my eyes at him. "Now, how do you feel about helping us take out the asshole hunter in town?"

There was barely a second before Jeremy replied, "What do you need me to do?"

"Atta boy."

XXX

I really shouldn't have been surprised that Damon had claymores down in the basement. There was a scary amount of shit down in that basement. But either way, we had everything that we needed for our plan to take out Connor Jordan. Well, everything except for hybrid backup.

I gave the claymores and arrows a cautious look as they sat on the table. I didn't like being so close to them, but we couldn't get set up too soon. Couldn't risk an innocent walking into the room and accidentally setting off the explosions. That was the risk of doing it in the hospital, and I wasn't too keen on it. But it made sense, in a really annoying way. We wouldn't be able to lure Connor somewhere else, he had to believe Jeremy's words. And allowing the hunter to think that he was going after a vampire ally was the best way to do that.

Damon had taken charge of calling Tyler. He claimed that it was because we had a tendency of getting distracted. I mean, it was true. But I knew that it was because my boyfriend's control freak tendencies were rearing their heads. It was kind of adorable, which is why I didn't put up much of an argument, other than a dramatic pout.

But now, thanks to my super new hearing, I was able to listen in on the conversation, which was why I paused in surprise when a completely unexpected voice answered the phone, "Hello, Damon."

Damon exchanged a glance, both of us confused, "Klaus? Where's Tyler?"

What was Klaus doing back in town? Last we heard, he was leaving because he thought that both me and Elena were vampires now. And I wanted to keep it that way. Ellie was a lot safer with him gone. I had hoped that it would be forever, but apparently one of his hybrids being attacked, even if it was one that he wasn't too fond of, was enough to bring him back. Hopefully he would leave again once the hunter was gone. And hopefully he would leave without going anywhere near my human sister.

"Tyler's otherwise occupied, making big decisions about honesty and whatnot," you could hear the smirk in Klaus' voice and my guess was that Tyler was nearby, able to hear every word. "Is there anything that I can do?"

My boyfriend glanced over at me; eyebrow raised. I paused for a moment, considering the offer. Damon needed more backup that just I could provide. Hybrid backup was kind of essential. Having the Original Hybrid, who was essentially unkillable, would be invaluable. Klaus was strong enough to help us, and he would want to get rid of the pesky hunter too, especially since he was a threat to his remaining hybrids. So, I nodded, letting Damon know that I was okay with the personnel swap.

Damon nodded back, having made up his mind too, "We're going after the vampire hunter and we were looking for some extra muscle if either one of you are interested…"

"Tyler isn't," the Original immediately responded, sounding thrilled. "I, however…"

I let Damon take charge of giving Klaus all the information that he needed. I just focused on mentally preparing myself. Despite what I had declared, I was feeling slightly scared about this. I wasn't actually sure that I was strong enough to do this. Damon was right when he spoke about how strong Connor was. We had seen hunters before, but he was different. He was more dangerous. Which was why he needed to be taken out, but I wasn't used to be involved in this. I was normally kept out of the way, even if I did get involved by accident. So actually being involved in this was scary. But it was one of the reasons why I wanted to turn, I wanted to be strong enough to help with situations like this.

I didn't realise that Damon was done on the phone with Klaus until his hands were resting on my shoulders, worried eyes staring into my own, "Hey, you don't have to do this, you know. There's no shame in backing out."

"I know," I nodded before stepping forward, wrapping my arms around him. My boyfriend immediately wrapped his arms around me in return, holding me close. "But I feel like I need to prove to myself that I can do this. That I'm strong enough to help now."

"You've always been strong enough to help," Damon's voice was kind and I smiled into his chest. He was such a secret softie and I loved it. And on a selfish note, I kind of enjoyed the fact that he didn't really show this side to anyone else. It was for me and only me. It made me feel special, in a really bad way. I know, it was me being selfish. But I couldn't bring myself to care. "You don't need to prove yourself to anyone."

"Well, I do need to keep my rep as a badass intact," I shrugged, trying to deflect away from the feelings bubbling inside me. The feelings of inadequacy. On one hand, I knew that it wasn't true, that I was good enough to help out. But I couldn't help but remember the times where I was a liability. Or I got myself hurt. And there were quite a few to be remembering. When Damon spoke my name with a warning tone, I sighed, "I know that I don't need to prove myself. But this was one of the reasons why I wanted to turn. I wanted to be able to support you when it came to things like this. I wanted to be able to protect my loved ones. I can't do that by sitting around at home." I paused before adding, "Or going to Rebekah's party and watching her and my sister being bitchy to my sister. That would definitely drive me insane."

Not even Damon could argue with that.

XXX

I stood behind Damon in the supply storeroom. Ironically, it was the same one that Bill Forbes had been murdered in. A fact that I was desperately trying not to think about. Everything was set up and we were ready to go. Something that I had to keep reminding myself as I tapped my fingers against my elbows, my arms wrapped around myself.

I listened in as Jeremy did his job, directing Connor towards us. I was proud of the kid; he played his part well. And I knew that involving was a good idea, and at least that way, I was able to keep a better eye on him. Because that kid would go looking for trouble by himself if he wasn't already involved.

When Connor walked into the room, Damon reached behind him and made sure that I was hiding behind him. It was sweet, if not needed. We were both hiding behind a rack of medical supplies, completely of out view from the doorway. Connor paused as he reached the second row, realising that he had lost his prey. But it didn't take him long to realise that he wasn't alone in the room. I'm telling you; his instincts were terrifying.

"Is a hospital really the best place for a germaphobe?" the hunter asked suddenly, turning to look in our direction. I froze for a moment, wondering how the fuck he knew not only where we were, but who was in here. How did he know that Damon was here? Yep, definitely fucking terrifying instincts.

Fortunately, Damon didn't seem phased as he just strutted out into the little walkway and shrugged, one of his more vicious smirks on his face, "Did I say that I was a germaphobe? Pfft, sorry, I meant vampire."

Connor reacted immediately at his words and pulled a gun out. He went to shoot Damon, but before he could, an arrow came flying out from the side. It struck him in the shoulder, forcing him to drop his gun. With a frustrated grunt, the hunter bent down to pick it up. As he did so, he was struck by another arrow, this time in the side. I poked my head around the side, eager to see what was happening. Connor was following the wires attached to the arrows, looking at the claymore bombs at the other end. It was satisfying, knowing that our trap had worked.

"Stings, doesn't it?" Damon looked like he was enjoying this far too much. But I didn't mind. Connor had gotten him hurt like this; he had earned a bit of gloating. Especially now that we had the hunter stuck and in pain.

With a snarl, Connor reached down to grab his gun, uncaring of the explosives that he was attached to. I went to dart forward, to knock the gun out of the way. But before I could take more than a step, someone else did it for me.

Klaus had made his grand entrance, leaning against the supply rack, looking far too pleased with himself as he smirked down at the hunter, "Hello mate."

The hunter gave him a dirty look, clearly not impressed that he was out-numbered. He went to open his mouth, probably to cuss them out or make some kind of threat, when he noticed me. I had done my best to keep in the background, but my curiosity had me edging out of safety. And now I had been noticed.

"I should have known," Connor scoffed, shaking his head. The other two supernaturals in the room glanced over at me, one amused, the other annoyed. I shrugged my shoulders at Damon's less than impressed look and walked forward. I knew that my boyfriend had wanted me to stay out the way and watched from the background. But I knew that it would never work that way, I always managed to get myself in the middle of stuff, even when I didn't want to.

"Yeah, bit disappointing that you never realised," I couldn't stop myself from taunting the ass, as I remember how he had shot Tyler, how he had stabbed April, how he just wasn't leaving my brother alone. "Must be pretty embarrassing."

The hunter watched with me dark eyes before speaking, his words freezing me in my tracks, "Tell me, did you become a vampire before or after Luke Nolan died?"

I managed a strangled, "Say what?" as Damon rested a hand on my back.

"He told me all about you, while I was training him before," Connor continued to speak while I stared at him with wide eyes. "He was so obsessed with you, to the point where I had to confiscate his damn phone. I didn't know that the family's death was because of vampires until a mutual friend told me a couple of weeks ago." The asshole smirked at me, "He would be so disappointed in what you have become."

His words snapped me out of my shock and I narrowed my eyes, snapping, "You have no idea what he would think, you absolute dickhead. Did your mysterious friend know that he had been turned into a vampire before he was killed? That he had actually befriended vampires before that? Yeah, shithead, suck on that."

"Now this is an interesting twist," Klaus mused, interrupting the angry words that would have come out of Connor's mouth. "Tell me, do you have any other secrets that you are itching to share?"

I let Klaus take over for a moment. I knew that Luke had trained with someone called Connor, but I never expected it to be this Connor. It was a total mindfuck that a connection to my dead boyfriend had wandered into town, hurting my loved ones. And it was even worse that I was helping to kill this connection to Luke. But I knew that my old friend had hated his time with the hunter and that he wouldn't mourn his death. To be honest, with the threat that he posed to virtually everyone, I couldn't bring myself to think otherwise. This had to be done.

And it would be done.

XXX

After he failed to get answers out of the annoying shithead hunter, Klaus turned to me and Damon. The other two plotted while I occupied myself by glaring at Connor. I never thought that I would hate him more than I did, and yet, I did.

Clearly incredibly fed up with us in return, Connor had turned his attention to trying to free himself. He had started with the arrow imbedded in his side. Personally, I would have gone for the one in the arm, there was a lot less damage that it could be done if ripped out of the skin. But hey ho, I hoped he hurt himself.

"Keep it up, buddy," Damon rolled his eyes at the hunter. "We'll be scraping you off the ceiling."

"You three are gonna kill me anyway," Connor glared up at us and I shrugged.

"You are right, but I wanna enjoy the kill," I pouted dramatically at him. "And I won't get to do that if you go boom."

"Come now, let's not be too hasty," Klaus intervened, but he was still looking like he was enjoying himself far too much. Which was annoying because he really wasn't allowed to enjoy this more than me. And my enjoyment had been killed by Connor's revelation about Luke. The turd. "I feel like we're just getting to know each other!"

"Now that you've had a bit more time to consider your options," my boyfriend gave him a sharp smile. "Let's start with the basics again. Where are you from? What do you know? Maybe you can cue me in on this 'great evil', because I've fought this guy," he pointed at Klaus before pulling a piece of paper out his back pocket, "and there's nothing more evil than that."

I glanced over at the paper, just about seeing April Young's name on the paper, with her dad's name down the bottom. Was this a suicide note? Pretty fucked up that April never got it. Did Connor steal this before April got a chance to read it? He really was a grade A asshole.

This clearly tickled the Original Hybrid's amusement as he smiled widely, "Yeah, truth be told, I'm as evil as it gets."

I nodded, agreeing with his words. Klaus was the most evil person that we had encountered, although I would always rank Katherine Fucking Pierce up there. But I doubted that we would find anyone who could compete with either of them. It was probably Pastor Young being dramatic… before he blew up himself and the Town Council.

However, Connor didn't feel the slightest bit threatened by this declaration as he just spat, "I'm not telling you anything. And, if you think if you kill me, it's gonna be over, there's another waiting to take my place."

"Well that sounds fucking amazing," I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Don't suppose you wanna be more specific."

"Not to a vampire whore, like you," Connor growled and I held a hand to my chest, feeling incredibly offended.

"Oh wow, fuck you too, buddy," I stuck my tongue out at him before glancing at Damon. "Back to you babe, before I get called a whore again. Which is very offensive and will get him killed once we get the answers that we want."

Fortunately, my boyfriend did take over, wrapping an arm around my waist as he spoke, "See, you started off so well, with all the things that I like to hear; vague threats, ominous prophecies. Disappearing tattoos. Why did you have to ruin the mood by insulting my girl?"

Something about those words caught Klaus' attention, as he stopped smirking and glanced over at us, "What do you mean, tattoos?"

Damon didn't see why it was so important as he just shrugged, "Don't bother, you can't see the damn thing."

The hybrid crouched down in front of the hunter, looking at him with renewed interest, "There's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?" In a move that I didn't expect, Connor produced a stake out of nowhere and tried to stab the Original. Even if he made contact, it wouldn't have killed Klaus. But it give Mr Great Evil a chance to show off his reflexes. Klaus caught Connor's arm, a pleased smirk on his face, "Nice try, but I'm faster than your average vampire." The hybrid twisted the hunter's arm, snatching the stake from his hand. He then let go of Connor, standing up and examining the stake in his hand. It had a weird mark carved into the wood. It wasn't one that I had seen before but apparently, Klaus had. He looked at it before glancing down at the hunter, "You're one of the Five."

"The who now?" I asked, shifting to get a better look at the stake. Unfortunately, that meant putting my back to Connor, which was a foolish mistake. But one that I didn't really consider at the time. "Are we supposed to know what that means?"

But before I could answer, the annoying little hunter piped up, a vicious smirk on his face, "And I'm faster than your average hunter."

The other two must have seen something behind me, as there was a momentary pain in my leg before I was being sped out of the room. The next thing that I knew, there was a rush of heat and a loud bang before I was laying on the floor, Damon's body covering me. My face was tucked into the crook of his neck and I clutched onto the back of his jacket.

"Fuck me, did Connor just blow himself up?" I gasped as my boyfriend shifted so that he could cup my face.

"Looks like him," he confirmed with a murmur, carefully examining me, making sure that I wasn't hurt. I was just lucky that my boyfriend had such great reflexes and that he was paying attention, because otherwise I would be cooking alongside the hunter. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I nodded slowly, still trying to wrap my mind around what happened. "So, does that mean that the threat is gone?"

"Unfortunately, I don't think that we are that lucky," Damon sighed, standing up, tugging me up with him as he looked at the burning room behind us.

XXX

It didn't take long for others to join us. The brave firefighters of Mystic Falls quickly came to put out the remaining flames, while officers swarmed the scene, taking statements. I was nearly asked for one, before Damon ushered me away. As one of the Council members, he was able to get me out of answering any awkward questions. Which was a major relief, as I had no idea as to what I would have said. But it did mean that I had to lurk behind him as he talked to Mrs Lockwood.

The mayor had quickly rushed over. Not only had there been an explosion in the local hospital, she had heard from Damon that her son's attacker had been involved. I knew that Tyler's mom was keen to remove the threat to her child, but she probably didn't anticipate these sorts of methods being used.

"So, the sniper was inside?" Mrs Lockwood confirmed quietly, glancing over at my boyfriend as they watched the emergency services deal with the fallout of our little plan. Which was kind of awkward, as I never expected the bombs to actually go off. I figured that Connor would be killed via a simple neck snap or his heart being ripped out. An explosion was never in my workings out.

"Yep, still is," Damon nodded, looking pleased that the threat had gone. Even if he felt as though Klaus' revelation about this thing called 'The Five' would only spell bad news for us. "In tiny little pieces."

"Good," Mrs Lockwood nodded, pulling out her phone, ready to call Sheriff Forbes. "I'll cancel the curfew and call off the extra patrols." She glanced over at my vampire, eyebrow raised and a stern look on her face. "I can't say that I approve of your methods…"

My boyfriend just smirked at her as he stepped away, wrapping an arm around my waist, "I'll give a donation. You can name a wing after me, Mayor."

I saw the mayor roll her eyes and shake her head just before Damon ushered me away. He led me into the waiting room, which was thankfully quiet. Most of the floor had cleared after the explosion. But not everyone had been smart enough to move away.

"See? I told you that I could be a badass," my baby brother immediately said when he saw us. I just rolled my eyes and shook my head at him.

"Shh, badasses dotn say that," he lightly berated the kid before letting go of me. I saw him walk over to Meredith, who was passing nearby. But I stayed to tell the kid off.

"Why are you still here?" I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow. "You were supposed to leave once you lured Connor into the supply room. This doesn't look like leaving."

Jeremy shrugged, glancing away and rubbing the back of his head, "I wanted to make sure that you were okay. Connor was a bigger threat that we were expecting, I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Oh kiddo," I sighed, reaching up to pull him into a hug. "I'm even more badass now than I was before. I was always going to be fine." I leant back and tapped his nose. "Besides I had Klaus and Damon there with me, neither of them were going to let me get hurt."

"You trusted Klaus to keep you safe?" Jer frowned and I shrugged.

"On some level, yeah, I did," I mused out loud before shaking my head. "Which is weird, I know. But he still hasn't given up on his determination to befriend me. And, I dunno, he was looking at me differently. Like he knew something that I didn't."

"Doesn't he always look like that?" the kid grumbled and I laughed. I mean, he did have a point. Klaus always seemed to know something that we didn't, and it was incredibly annoying. But this felt different. It felt personal. And I knew that he wouldn't reveal it until he was ready to. Even if it did drive me insane.

"Yep, he does," I muttered, glancing over at Damon and Meredith. My aunt's friend was berating him, probably for causing an explosion in a hospital. I knew for a fact that she didn't know about the bombs. And she definitely wasn't happy about that. I couldn't stop the smirk that formed on my face, even as Jeremy frowned.

"Lexa, why are your hands shaking?" he asked quietly, shifting so that he was holding my hands. I was leaning back against the counter next to us, my legs feeling incredibly unsteady all of a sudden. I glanced down at my hands and yep, they were shaking. Did vampires experience adrenaline rushes? The subsequent drop following them? Because I couldn't think of anything else that would explain the shaking that was slowly spreading to my legs.

"Good question, kiddo," I frowned down at my traitorous body, just as my legs gave way. My brother let out a shout, drawing the attention of my boyfriend and Meredith, as he helped ease me to the ground. "Wow, this feels weird. I don't like it."

Damon reached my side just in time to see the veins in my arms turn dark. I knew, deep down, what that meant. But I didn't want to believe it. Because only I would be unlucky enough to get infected with werewolf venom so soon after being turned.

"Jer, what happened?" my vampire asked my bro, shifting me so that I was leaning against him.

"I don't know," the kid immediately answered, shaking his head as Meredith rested a calming hand on his shoulder. "Her legs just collapsed."

"Um, would now be a good time to realise that I felt a sharp pain before the room went kaboom?" I slurred lightly, resting my head against Damon's chest. I had initially assumed that it was related to the explosion. But now that I thought about it, it didn't make sense. The pain was before the explosion. When I was standing in front of Connor. Who had jacked werewolf venom from Tyler. Oh shit, I was so fucked.

XXX

Damon had quickly taken me away from the hospital and all the warm bodies that lay within it. After all, it was common knowledge that vampires who had been infected with werewolf venom got hit bad by the munchies. Probably a cavalier attitude towards the situation but I really didn't want to think seriously about it. Not at that moment in time.

Before I knew it, I was being carried through the doorway of the Salvatore Boarding House. I clung onto Damon's shoulders, head resting against his neck. The smell of his blood was tempting, but luckily I was able to remain in control. For the time being, anyway. But as I contemplated whether his blood would help satiate my ever growing hunger, I heard shocked voices calling my name.

"Elena, you should go," my boyfriend growled at my sister as he carefully put me down on the couch in the library. But even then, he didn't move. Damon stayed close, sitting in front of me, brushing my hair from my face as he tried to call Klaus again. Honestly, the one time that we needed the damn hybrid, as he was MIA.

"No, I'm not leaving her like this," my twin shook her head sharply as she hovered by the end of the sofa. She watched me through worried eyes, Stefan standing next to her, as my head lolled back. It felt like an incredibly bad trip. My body was weak, I couldn't focus on anything. I felt all shakey and sweaty and icky. It was honestly the work feeling ever.

"Fine, if she eats you, then don't come crying to me," Damon snapped, throwing his phone to the side when Klaus failed to pick up. He glanced at his brother, "Make yourself useful and call your old buddy. We need to get Alexa his blood before it gets ugly."

Unfortunately, it had already gotten ugly.

Of all the hallucinations that I had expected, courtesy of the venom infecting my body, I never expected to see myself. Well, it was exactly me. Hallucination me, evil me?, had her hair tied up in a sharp ponytail, a dark glare on her face. But it was the eyes, more than anything, that were unnerving. There was no warmth to them. No humanity. They were the eyes of a murderer, and it was fucking horrible seeing them in my face.

"Did you forget about me?" evil me smirked, moving around to lean against the stair rails, her arms crossed.

"How could I forget about you?" I grumbled, drawing the attention of the others in the room. I could see Damon glancing between me and my hallucination, well, to him, it was just empty space. But I just kept eye contact with my evil self. "Even if you were real, I never expected you to show your face again. You were too much of a pussy before."

"Watch your tone," the hallucination snapped and I weakly rolled my eyes.

"Can you believe this bitch?" I sighed, glancing over at Damon as I gestured over at my evil side. "She is so rude to me. Did you see the rude comments that she left in my journal? Kept calling me a weakling. Well, jokes on her. Cos I am in total control forever. She just can enjoy being stuck in a vampire forever and ever."

"That's what you think," evil me glared and I stuck my tongue out at her. "I'll take control one day."

"And do what?" I scoffed, trying to move so that I could look tough, but I just ended up falling against my boyfriend's chest. "Hate yourself for what your possessing? Please, we both know that you're weak to do anything now. Face it, bitch, I won."

"Lexa," Ellie spoke my name softly and I glanced over at her as Damon adjusted me against his chest, making sure that I couldn't do something that I would regret, like eat my twin. "Are you seeing your evil side?"

"Yep," I grumbled, trying to ignore how good she smelt. "And she is a real bitch." I rolled my eyes when evil Alexa protested that description. "Oh come on, you totally are. Truth hurts, asshole."

It didn't occur to me that I was literally arguing with myself. Not only was it an hallucination. It was one that looked like me. I knew that I would question my sanity later on, but for now, this felt terrifyingly real. Of course, it was even more terrifying that Klaus wasn't answering his phone. I could hear Stefan in the background, leaving numerous voicemails. It was kind of hilarious how he did that. He wouldn't leave you just one message, nope, he would leave you, like, 80.

"Look at you, all buddy buddy with the demon again," evil Alexa sneered and I weakly waved a hand at her.

"You're just jealous that I have friends while yours died," I muttered, not noticing the winces that my words caused. "And you won't ever have friends again. Cos no one will die enough times wearing those rings for Esther to work her bitchiness again." I paused before slurring, "If she even does. Bitch is probs scared of me. I did shoot her. Lol does she count as your friend too? Cos I wrecked her. Like boom, the bitch is gone." While my evil side glared at me for my words, I rolled my head back, looking up at my boyfriend, "Day, I'm hungry."

Damon nodded, pushing my head back against his chest as he exchanged a glance with his brother, "Stefan, grab her a bloodbag from the fridge downstairs. And take Elena with you. I don't want her in the room with Alexa unless there we are both here."

Stefan nodded before persuading my protesting sister to go with him. I just watched them go through blurry eyes, "You know that he compelled me? On my birthday? He was acting all sweet and then he made me forget it. The ass. He hasn't even apologised for that. Maybe I should take back my friendship again. Serves him right."

"Whatever you want to do, baby," Damon murmured, sounding a bit distracted as he looked down at his phone. "Where is that fucking hybrid when you need him?"

"Probably listening in front outside," I laughed, sounding slightly maniacal. "Enjoying hearing us beg for his help. Probably getting off on it, the weirdo."

"You do have some unusual opinions of me, Alexa," Klaus spoke from the doorway, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

"Oops," I sniggered before trying, and failing, to whisper, "Is he really there?"

But before Damon could answer, Stefan confirmed it for me, "You came."

Well, that answered that.

XXX

Damon's POV

"I did," Klaus nodded before giving my brother a look. "And for future reference, one voicemail is just as effective as nine."

"Not when you aren't answering your phone," I snapped, unable to stop myself as Alexa groaned in discomfort, shifting in my arms. I held her tight, head tucked under my chin. I knew that she would never forgive herself if she attacked Elena, who was foolishly lurking beside me. And I hope that my touch would help sooth her, even if just a little.

The hybrid smirked at me before glancing down at my girl, a look of faux concern on his face, "What's wrong, love? You sound like you're in pain."

"I'm used to pain," Alexa slurred, fingers tapping a random pattern on my arm. "Pain and I are old friends. Emotional pain. Physical pain. I was tortured in here once, you know, that hurt. Almost as much as looking at your face. Lolz."

I looked down to see her gaze transfixed on the stairs. But not where Klaus was standing. Apparently, her hallucinations where still going strong. I didn't know why she was hallucinating her evil self, but I did know that she hadn't quite accepted what had happened, what her evil side had done while it was in control. And now it was coming out through werewolf venom induced hallucinations.

Before the Original could get offended, Stefan spoke up, a desperate look on his face, "She has werewolf venom in her sister. You know that you're the only one that can heal her, Klaus. Please."

Well, it was nice to know that good Stefan was back. And that he still cared for my girl. I knew that he had asked for her friendship again. At least he was legitimate in those requests.

"And what would you have done if I were no longer here? Hm?" the hybrid narrowed his eyes, expression clashing with the jovial tone to his voice. "If you lot had succeeded in ridding the world of me? Let's play that game for a moment, shall we?"

I let Stefan continue to beg the Original, content to look after Alexa. She was still staring at the stairs, a look of intense concentration on her face as she muttered curses under her breath. I didn't know what was happening, but I brushed her hair away from her face, trying to distract her. I had noticed that my brother had failed to bring a bloodbag up with him, probably distracted from his task by the arrival of the hybrid. But from the way that Alexa's face kept changing, I knew that she needed to feed soon. Otherwise we would have to get Elena out of here, fast.

"Whatever you want from me…" Stefan snapped angrily, losing patience as he stepped forward. But before he could finish his threat, Klaus smiled viciously.

"I don't want anything from you," he shrugged, leaning against the doorframe. "In fact, the only thing that I want is to watch young Alexa over there succumb to the venom in her body. It would be the perfect punishment for you all. And it would teach you that no matter what, I will always win."

The silence in the room was so deafening, you could hear a pin drop. We had all just assumed that Klaus would heal Alexa, that his declaration to wanting to be her friend were enough for him to help her. But apparently, he was just a dick who wanted revenge. And he would put that above everything.

"Klaus," Elena stepped forward, drawing all attention to her. Even Alexa looked at her. But not without a muttered declaration that she wouldn't eat her twin. "I know that you have realised by now, that I am still human. That Bonnie was successful in reversing the transition. Whatever you want from me, I'll give it to you. Just please help my sister."

"What makes you think that I won't just take it?" the hybrid mused, walking further into the room, a dark look on his face. "I have proven before that I can just take you and drain you of all your precious blood. Even if I don't do that, I can force you into carrying on the bloodline."

"You can't," I was surprised to hear the tears in her voice. I exchanged a glance with Stefan as the older twin shook her head. "I… I can't have children. It was a consequence of Bonnie's spell. Meredith confirmed it a few days ago. I can't carry on the bloodline, Klaus, once I'm dead, that's it. No more doppelgangers." Klaus stared at Elena in shock and I couldn't blame him. He had just discovered that his doppelganger was human and just when he thought that it would all work out for him, magic had screwed him over again.

"How do I know that you are telling the truth?" the Original countered, eyes narrowed as he leant forward.

"You don't," Elena shook her head, a sad look on her face as she glanced down at her twin. "But we all know that I am telling the truth. Now, save my sister or I will turn myself into a vampire out of spite."

"You'll become something that you hate, just to save your sister?" Klaus looked impressed, but from the way that he was rolling up his sleeve, I knew that we had won. The hybrid would save my girl. And we would deal with the consequences of Elena's revelation another time.

"For Alexa? I would," the older twin nodded, causing the Original to sigh.

"You're lucky that I have recently discovered some information that has made all of this worthwhile," he tried to save face as he warned over to me and the girl in my arms. "Otherwise I wouldn't have cared a lick about your little discovery." Klaus' face changed, eyes turning yellow as he bit into his wrist. "But fortunately for you, your sister has suddenly become useful to me again, after all."

Klaus held out his wrist and it took barely a second for the scent of blood to get Alexa moving. She reached forward, face changing again as she sought her next meal, her hunger amplified by the venom coursing through her veins. With an amused look on his face, the hybrid let my girl grab his wrist, pulling towards her mouth. She bit down hard, eyes closing as she drank the blood containing the cure. As she did so, I held her close, eyes narrowing at Klaus, who was enjoying this far too much.

XXX

Alexa's POV

In order to escape Stefan berating Damon for 'allowing me to get poisoned', I fled the Boarding House for the Grill. I would have gone home, but I knew that today was not the right day to ask to be invited in. My hunger was gnawing away at me, and going to the Grill was probably a reckless move. But it was the only place that I could go. Tyler's house had hybrids lurking all over the place, I still couldn't look Caroline in the eye without drama occurring and I didn't want to risk Bonnie. I just hoped that the soothing burn of the whiskey in my hands would help with the cravings.

I sat at the bar, idly tapping the glass in front of me, as I thought about what had happened. My sister's revelation, that she could go no longer have children, haunted my thoughts. I knew that having a family was a dream of hers, one that she thought would be possible after the transition had been reversed. But now it had been cruelly taken from her. My heart went out to her. And, on a more selfish note, it put me firmly back on Klaus' radar. I didn't know what his words had meant, when he said that I had become useful to him again. But I knew that it wasn't good news for me.

Now, I know that you are all wondering how I remembered the conversation, considering it was deep in hallucination land. But it was because of my hallucinations that I remember them. My evil side had mockingly repeated their words, looking to cause me as much pain as possible. Why I had hallucinated my evil side, I did not know. But it didn't surprise me too much. It had been lingering in the back of my mind ever since my transition.

Compared to Ric, I had been fortunate. During that time in Pastor Young's barn, while I longed to complete the transition and live, I had never thought about the fact that I might not have been myself once I had done so. I knew that Esther had manipulated Ric's, ensuring that his evil side would take over permanently. But there was always a chance that it could happen to me. Fortunately, it hasn't. But I knew that she was still a part of me, lurking in the dark sides of my mind, ready to come out. I didn't know if she would ever get that opportunity, but it was one that worried me. Especially now.

I glanced to the side when a girl sat down at the bar next to me. She was a pretty girl, with light olive skin and dark brown hair. But it was her scent that caught my attention. She smelt… not quite human. It smelt closer to Tyler, than anyone. And then it hit me; she was a werewolf.

If I was right, then it was a surprise. I thought that all werewolves were avoiding Mystic Falls, since Klaus had a hard on for turning them into hybrids. This was the first true werewolf that I had seen since Tyler was turned. And before that, since Jules and her pack caused problems.

The wolf must have sensed my gaze as she glanced over at me. We made eye contact for a moment before I cleared my throat and glanced away. Oh yikes, that was awkward. Being caught staring at someone was not cool. It was even more not cool when the girl turned to face me fully, a small frown on her face as she slowly asked, "Alexa?"

My eyes widened in surprise for a moment as I glanced around before hesitantly replying, "Um, hi? Do I know you?"

"No," the werewolf laughed, shaking her head. "But we have a mutual friend."

"Oh god lord, please tell me that it isn't Klaus," I groaned, closing my eyes for a moment.

"Oh god no," the girl rolled her eyes, looking as disgusted as I felt. "It's Tyler."

"Tyler?" I repeated, looking shocked. "Hang on a mo, are you that girl who helped him break the sirebond?"

"He mentioned me?" she looked pleased and I shrugged.

"I kind of bullied the whole story out of him," I admitted before laughing. "Never expected to see you in town though. It's become a bit of a no-go zone for werewolves since Klaus decided to stink up the place."

"I wanted to make sure that all the work that I did with Ty was worth it," the girl shrugged. "I'm Hayley, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you Hayley," I smiled, waving the bartender over to top up her drink. "Thank you for all your help with Ty, I know that the sirebond was making things incredibly difficult for him. And I'm so relieved that he was able to break it."

"I just had to help him," Hayley agreed, a small smile lurking around her lips as she reflected back on what happened. "Especially since he looked so small and pitiful."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing, "Yeah, he does manage to play that card very well, for someone so muscular."

The werewolf agreed with a nod before slowly saying, "He didn't mention that you were a," she glanced around before leaning in close, "vampire."

"Yeah," I sighed, enjoying the fact that Hayley didn't smell appetising at all. That was the good thing about werewolves, apparently, you didn't want to eat them. Made life easier for me in that moment in time. "This is a… recent development."

"How recent?"

"Uh, a couple of weeks?" I frowned, trying to work it out in my head. "Huh, feels a lot longer than it actually is." Time had lost a lot of meaning since my transition. Like, since I didn't feel tired, like I used to, time just flowed differently. And I hadn't quite gotten used to it yet. "So how long are you in town for, Hayley?"

"Uh, I haven't decided yet," the other girl shrugged, glancing away. "Until I outlive my welcome, I guess."

"Well, if you ever want to hang out with someone who isn't Tyler, give me a shout," I smiled, keen to make sure that Tyler's friend was welcome in town. And if I was in regular contact with her, then I would be able to help keep her safe from Klaus.

XXX

After I said goodbye to Hayley, I left through the back door of the Grill. Not even speaking to the werewolf had kept my mind off of my hunger. And the smell of human bodies was just overwhelming. The hunger gnawed at my stomach and it wasn't until I felt my face wanting to change, until I felt like I was losing control, that I knew that I had to leave. Before someone noticed. Before I attacked someone. And I couldn't do that. I couldn't lose control like that. I refused to do that. I didn't want to be one of those baby vampires who killed without realising. I felt like, if I did that, then I would be a failure. I had wanted to turn, I had to be able to control my instincts better. Even if my hunger was more than I ever expected it to be.

So I slipped through the back door, hoping that the cool air outside would help me find some equilibrium. And it would have worked. If Heather was in the alleyway. The girl was sitting on the floor, wiping her eyes. She looked up when she heard me, an embarrassed look on her face, "Hey Alexa. I, uh, I fell over again. Opened up my cut from gym. God, I feel so stupid. I just can't stop falling over."

But I didn't pay attention to a single word that she was saying. All I could focus on was the blood dripping down her leg. The smell was overwhelming. It drowned out everything. Everything except the hunger. The hunger that haunted me during every second of the day. Any other time, I might have been able to fight it. But because of earlier, because of being infected with the werewolf venom, I was no longer in control. I was just so hungry.

I didn't realise that I was kneeling down in front of her until I was holding her chin, forcing Heather to make eye contact with me. I was so caught up in the need to feed, that I was able to compel her instantly, "Don't scream and don't move."

Heather repeated my words, completely within my control. I felt my face change and the girl's heartbeat increased at the sight of my monstrous new face. But instead of making me stop, my new instincts, the ones that wanted to feed, took over. I found myself enjoying the fear in her eyes. My hunger was in complete control. And unlike earlier, there was no one around to stop me, to save her.

My gaze focused on her neck and I leant in, my fangs sinking deep into her skin. I groaned as the taste of her sweet blood filled my mouth. I held onto her shoulder with one hand, the other gripping her head, keeping her close to me. I was so caught up in the taste of her blood, so caught up in satiating my hunger, that I didn't pay attention to her heartbeat. All of my lessons had just gone out of my head, I was so hungry, that all I could think about was satiating that. The sound of her heart pounding, so full of fear, thrilled some buried part of me. A part that had never existed before. It was the thrill of the feed.

I kept on drinking, not realising how Heather's body grew limp in my grip. It wasn't until I felt full, for the first time in a while, that I let her go. The girl's body slumped to the floor, her eyes open and unseeing. And it was then that I realised what I had done. That I had killed the girl in front of me. That I had drained her dry. That I had allowed my hunger to take over. That a girl that I had known for years was now dead, because of me.

I suddenly felt sick, my hands covered my mouth. They shook as I felt the wetness around it. Heather's blood stained my mouth, my lips red from it. I was barely aware of the fact that I was stumbling away from her unseeing body until my back hit the wall behind me. I slowly slid to the ground, unable to take my eyes off of hers. I could still see the fear in those brown depths. She didn't deserve this. Heather was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time. And I knew that I should never have come to the Grill tonight. I should have found somewhere to stay, that wasn't anywhere near people. My foolish choices had led to this. Had led to her death.

I pulled out my phone, flicking through my contacts through blurry eyes. I couldn't let the tears fall, not yet. I didn't deserve to cry over this. I had done this. This was my fault. And I couldn't let myself get any sympathy for this, which would happen if I cried. I had to find another outlet for my guilt. For that sick feeling that was building up in front of me.

"Ally?" Damon answered the call and I let out a weak sob, cursing myself for it after.

"Damon? I need you," I whispered, pulling my knees up to my chest as I just stared at Heather, unable to take my gaze off of her. "I fucked up. I fucked up bad."

"Alexa, it's okay," my boyfriend tried to sooth me as I heard doors close. "Where are you?"

"Back alley, behind the Grill," I mumbled, realising that anyone could walk out and see this. "You need to hurry, there's a… there's a body."

Damon was silent for a moment before he spoke, a determined edge to his voice, "Wipe away any blood that could be on you. I'll be right there, but if anyone sees this, pretend that you were attacked too."

I nodded without realising before whispering, "Okay."

Even after Damon hung up the call, I kept my phone pressed to my ear. It was like my body had frozen. This was the third body that I was responsible for. But this one felt different. Heather was a true innocent. She was just a girl, who was a bit clumsy, and wanted to hide from her embarrassment by hiding outside. And now she was dead.

XXX

It didn't take Damon long to arrive. I heard his car park up at the end of the alley before he was suddenly crouching in front of me. His hands cupped my face, forcing me to look at it. His thumbs wiped away the traitorous tears that had fallen without my permission, as I whispered, "I killed her."

"Ally, it's okay," my boyfriend pulled me forward, wrapping his arms around me, holding me close.

I clutched onto the back of his jacket as I shook my head, "It's not okay. I lost control. And I killed her. I did what everyone thought that I would do. I failed. And now someone is dead because of that."

"You didn't fail," Damon tilted my head back so that I had no choice but to look him in the eyes. "Everyone kills at least once. Even blondie did. There is nothing to be ashamed of."

I bit my lip before admitting, my voice small, "I'm scared, Damon. I'm scared that I made the wrong decision. That I won't be good at this."

"Hey," my boyfriend's voice was firm. "Do not doubt yourself. You did not make the wrong choice. You made a mistake, it happens. The stakes are just a lot higher when you're a vampire. Do not let this guilt consume you, Alexa. You've been doing so well; this was always going to happen. Stefan was wrong when he said that we could get you through this without you killing anyone." He paused, looking thoughtful, before nodding, "I'll take you out of town again. Get you away from this, even if just for a couple of days. I'll get you feeling confident again."

"You promise?" I asked, hating how weak my voice sounded.

Damon nodded, before pressing a kiss to my lips, murmuring, "I promise."

XXX

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, please keep them coming! And I'll keep the smut coming too ;) I really do love hearing all of your thoughts! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the twists and turns that I'm putting in :) I have a new poll up on who Elena should be paired with, now that we know what is happening with her :) until next time xoxo