EDITED SEP22

"Up! Up now mopey," Brea said flinging Elena's bedroom door open.

"Urgh go away," she groaned

"Not a chance, oh how the tables have turned," Brea sang as she jumped onto Elena's bed. "It's usually you nagging me to get up. Anyway, you've got to get to school Lena."

"You smell Brea," Elena said sniffing the air.

"Well aren't you a sweetheart," Brea scoffed. "After our talk with Stefan yesterday I think I put about half a bottle of my perfume on today. I really need a piece of jewellery like yours. Hey, do you think Stefan will be at school today?"

"Probably not. I think he'll be with Vicki. Why?"

"Well, he did promise me something more effective than vervain-laced perfume." Elena then pulled herself out of bed and Brea left the room and walked over to Jeremy's room. "BOO!" she yelled throwing open the door causing Jer to look at her weirdly.

"Never been scary Brea," he said with an eye roll.

"You going to join the search party?" Brea asked.

"At least one of you understands. Elena thinks I should go to school."

"Yeah well Elena's an idiot," Brea smiled. "I also don't appreciate the 'one of you' statement, I know we're twins but please don't lump me in with her."

"You're hyper," he said looking her up and down.

"Yeah well, I slept well, drug-free and no nightmares," Brea smiled.

"I'm glad," he smiled.

"I'm glad you're going out to look for Vicki. I mean I think school's good and all but your mind wouldn't be there so it's a bit of a waste of time right now," Brea said stepping out of the room. "Give me a call if you find out anything," she called back, knowing full well that he wouldn't find Vicki anywhere.

Elena and Brea pulled up to the Salvatore Boarding House before they went to school.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Lena?" Brea asked nervously. "I'm sure Stefan's got a handle on Vicki."

"I just need to see, ok. For Jeremy and Matts's sake. I need to know if she's safe," Elena sighed as she got out and the two girls made their way to the front door. Elena rang the bell only to have Damon answer it. Brea groaned as soon as she saw Damon standing at the door smirking. "Is Stefan here?" Elena asked.

"Yep," Damon popped.

"Where is he?" Elena demanded.

"And good morning to you, little miss 'I'm on a mission'."

"How can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?"

"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" Damon retorted.

"If you wanted us dead, we'd be dead," Elena sneered, making Brea raise her eyebrows at having been brought into the argument.

"Yes, YOU would," Damon emphasised.

"But we're not."

"Yet," this last remark from Damon silenced Elena momentarily.

"Alrighty then," Brea muttered, her eyes flickering between the two of them. She took a step forward and walked around Damon, entering the house.

Elena eventually came and stood next to Brea in the hallway. "Stefan? Stefan?" she called looking around.

"Yes," Stefan answered from the stairs.

"Where's Vicki?" Brea asked.

"She's upstairs."

"What happens now?" Elena asked. "Because our brother is out there searching for her with the rest of the town. What do we tell him?"

Brea turned her head to look behind her at Damon who was staring after her, as soon as she caught his eye, he immediately turned and left the house.

"I'm working with her," Stefan assured. "But it's going to take time. She's a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to this"

"That's got to be one of the best non-answers I've ever heard, Stefan," Brea sighed, as she turned back to look at him.

"So she's a vampire with issues?" Elena questioned. "What are we supposed to do? We are lying to everyone we care about. What's going to happen to her?"

"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe."

"How long is that?" Vicki asked from the top of the stairs.

"We can talk about that later."

"Hey Vicki," Brea said giving the girl a small wave.

"How are you?" Elena continued.

"How am I? You're kidding, right?" she asked rudely.

"Coffee is our friend," Stefan explained to Vicki as the four of them sat at the table awkwardly.

"Fish are friends, not food," Brea giggled, making Elena nudge her.

"It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our body so we're not so cold to the touch." Stefan continued.

"Well, what if I wanna drink human blood?" Vicki asked.

"You're gonna have to learn to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis one day at a time."

"Oh, god, don't start with that whole 12 steps thing. The school counsellor has been down that road and it doesn't work for me."

"You have to try Vicki. You were only human yesterday, how can you already be thinking about hurting people?" Brea growled, but when she noticed everyone staring at her in shock she quietly muttered "sorry."

"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki," Stefan encouraged

"So you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki asked smugly. Brea sensed Elena stiffen up beside her.

"Not in a long time."

"How long?" Vicki prodded.

"Years and years. I'm not proud of my past behaviour"

Vicki sighed, "does this sketchy feeling ever go away? It's like I have a massive hangover. This daylight thing is a bitch. I need more blood. Where's your bathroom? I have to pee. Why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead," Vicki ranted before skipping out of the room.

"I'm gonna uh- I'm gonna get her some more," Stefan stuttered, referencing blood, "all right. I'll be quick."

"Is this absolutely insane or what?" Brea asked after Stefan left. "Two days ago we were completely oblivious to all of this. It's just… insane," all Elena could do was nod in agreement.

Vicki walked back in, "false alarm. My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funk, but it's weird."

"Who are you calling?" Elena asked as she saw Vicki dialling on her phone.

"Jeremy."

"Wow, no Vicki, no," Brea said quickly.

"Vicki, you can't see Jeremy anymore," Elena lectured.

"Oh, come on. Don't you two start. I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see."

"No you're not and you're certainly not seeing Jeremy Vicki, that's final," Brea snapped angrily.

"Even though you could hurt him?" Elena tried to reason.

"I would never hurt Jeremy."

"I know you think that, but we can't take that risk," Elena said walking forward to Vicki. "You're gonna have to let Jeremy go now."

"Oh, really? And how long have you been preparing a 'you're not good enough' speech? I'm presuming it predates the whole vampire thing."

"No, Vicki, it didn't," Brea said from behind Elena trying to calm her down.

"All we're saying is Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this, I mean it, Vicki," Elena ordered.

"Or what?" Vicki challenged before lunging at Elena, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the wall.

"What the hell Vicki! Get off her," Brea yelled, trying to shove Vicki off of her sister, only to have Vicki grab her by the neck as well and slam her right up next to Elena on the wall, lifting them up so that their feet barely touched the ground.

"Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitches. You had my brother whipped for 15 years, 15 years, and then you dumped him. When I look at you that is all I see, just so you know" Vicki spat in Elena's face as Brea frantically tried to slap Vicki away from her neck. "And you, you think you're so special huh," Vicki snarled at Brenna. "Tyler was always so interested in you and whatever the hell you were doing every moment of the day, whenever you would walk over to us, he'd throw me in the gutter like trash just to talk to you. And now you think you can keep me from Jeremy? I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I wanna see Jeremy, because I have some fun new toys to play with, and I won't think twice about ripping your little heads off. You got it?"

"I'm… sure… Jeremy… would love… that," Brea gasped as Vicki dropped them to the ground and left the room as they gasped for breath. "What a bitch!" Brea yelled as soon as she could breathe. "Come on, outside, she can't go out in the daylight," she groaned pulling her sister up off the ground.

Brea was leaning against the car as Elena and Stefan talked. Elena stormed away from him and Stefan called out.

"Brea, can I speak to you for a moment?" he asked and she walked over to him with a small smile. "I can ahh, smell your perfume, it's pretty heavy today."

"Oh yeah, I used a lot," Brea chuckled nervously.

"Bit of an understatement," Stefan smiled. "Here, this is a ring, it's laced with vervain. It belonged to Katherine's sister, I covered it in vervain like she used to, it'll wear off eventually, but once every couple of weeks, before it's fully gone, I'll redo it, so you'll always be protected. Here," he said opening a ring case to show her. It was a gold ring with a clear, rectangle, purple sapphire in the middle and two small diamonds on the side.

Brea was transfixed by the ring, her hands reached out and removed it from the box and slid it onto her right ring finger, instantly feeling a connection to it. "I love it. Thank you, Stefan. It's beautiful."

He smiled, "here," he took her hand and placed his palm on top of her ring and hissed. Brea frowned and looked at him. He released her hand and raised his palm to show her the red burn mark slowly healing.

"What the hell?" Brea asked confused.

"The vervain covers the ring, it's sort of like a plating, so you can cause pain to any vampire by touching them with it. It's not enough to cripple them, but it will shock them."

"Wow thank you, Stefan. I better go, Elena's waiting," Stefan nodded and Brea leaned forward hugging Stefan before running to the car.

"Has anyone seen Jenna?" Brea asked as she walked into the kitchen before freezing, she'd obviously interrupted a fight between Elena and Jeremy.

"Keeping me away from her is not for best," Jeremy snapped before storming upstairs.

"What was that about?" Brea asked her sister.

"Vicki," Elena sighed.

Brea's phone buzzed with a text from Caroline.

C - Tyler is asking fre you

C - Fro uoy

C - For you

Brea replied

B - Have you been drinking Care?

C - Lockwood special Bera, you know you loveee it

B - Haha ok Care. Elena and I are heading over there soon. I'll find you when I get there. But not Ty. Ok?

Brea then pocketed her phone and went to grab last year's Halloween costume.

"Come on Brea we're heading out now!" Elena yelled up the stairs.

Brea ran down and noticed Elena was also wearing her outfit from last year. "Oh, nurse again I see. And you are…" Brea said turning to Jeremy, "yourself? Truly terrifying Jer, you're going to give me nightmares."

"You went the same as last year as well," Elena noticed. "Wonder Woman."

"It's fun you get to use a headband!" Brea laughed and the three left for the party.

The siblings arrived at the high school and went to enter when Jeremy screamed at some little kids causing them to yell in fear. Brea stuck her hand out for a high-five whilst Elena slapped his arm in disapproval.

"Hey I'm gonna go find Care," Brea said. "She's drinking so she'll be out here. Text me if you need me." Elena nodded and Brea walked off.

"Wonder Woman huh?" she heard from behind her and turned to see Chad dressed as Superman.

"You went as last year's costume as well?" Brea laughed, pointing to his Superman costume.

"Yeah, you can tell we both put in a lot of effort tonight," he said making Brea laugh. The two then fell into an awkward silence.

"Umm have you seen Caroline anywhere?" Brea asked. "She's been sending me drunk texts I just want to make sure she's a-okay," Brenna said putting her thumbs up.

"Yeah, I think I saw her talking with Tyler and Bonnie earlier."

"Oh," Brea said, smile falling.

"You know he wouldn't shut up about you at practice the other day… is there - is - is there something going on there?" he asked hesitantly.

"WHAT! Between Tyler and I?" Chad nodded shyly. "No way. Ugh, Chad that's so gross. You've seen us together. How is that even a question?"

"I mean you guys were always so close," he defended, holding his arm out, gesturing to start walking. "I was always kinda jealous."

"Of Tyler? That's ridiculous," Brea said laughing. "He's like another brother to me, well when he's not being a royal ass."

"I know, I just felt I needed to ask," Chad said relaxing. "Is that Caroline?" he asked pointing to a girl tripping over.

"Yep. I'm gonna go see if she's ok, I'll catch up with you later," she said walking off.

"BREA!" Caroline yelled running over to Brea. "I've been having a lot of fun here."

"Lockwood special?" Tyler spoke from behind Brea.

"ME! ME!" Caroline yelled snatching the cup, nearly falling on Brea in the process.

"Care, easy, I think you've had enough," Brea laughed, ignoring Tyler and trying to take the cup from Caroline but Caroline just stuck her arm out to stop her and chugged the drink. Tyler grabbed Brea's arm and pulled her away from Caroline and to the side of the party.

"Look you're killing me here Brea. Please, can we talk it's been weeks? Please," Tyler asked desperately and as Brea went to reply, her phone buzzed with a text from Elena.

E - Vicki's here! I lost Jer

"Wow my sister is a terrible babysitter," Brea muttered before starting to walk away.

"Brea!" Tyler called out.

"Look we'll talk, ok, but I have to go find Jeremy now, but we will Ty," she said as she ran off and into the school halls. As Brea ran through a sheet hanging in the hallway she ran straight into Elena and fell over from the impact.

"What are you doing Brea, this is serious, get up," Elena ordered.

"Seriously?" Brea scoffed as Elena nodded. "You knocked me over. You're a bully when you're worried you know."

"Thank god!" Elena breathed as Stefan rounded the corner with a grip on Vicki's arm. "I lost track of Jeremy. I was worried."

"Are you ok?" Stefan asked Brea seeing her sitting on the floor.

"Yeah, Elena pushed me."

"I did not!" Elena countered.

"What's going on?" Matt asked spotting Vicki and pulling Brea up off the ground without bothering to ask why she was down there.

"Hey. Uh, everything's fine," Stefan tried to cover.

"I told you to quit bothering me," Vicki complained pulling away from Stefan.

"No. Vicki, don't do this," Elena tried to reason.

"So has anyone seen Caroline tonight? It's hilarious she is so wasted, a few too many Lockwood specials. Boy, do those drinks pack a punch am I right?" Brea stammered trying to diffuse the tension.

"Matt, he won't leave me alone," Vicki continued complaining.

"You need to back off, man," Matt said stepping in front of his sister.

"Matt, it's- it's ok," Elena tried to reassure.

"No, it's not ok. What the hell is your problem?" Matt yelled at Stefan.

"Stefan, she's gone!" Elena noticed before she took off running.

"Oh bugger!" Brea gasped.

"Bugger?" Stefan questioned before refocusing and began to run off after Elena. Matt tried to grab Stefan to stop him from 'harassing' his sister but Stefan threw him up against the wall. "I'm trying to help her," he yelled before running off.

"Walk it off Matty," Brea comforted, patting him on the shoulder. "He's just very big on community service and he takes getting Vicki on the right track very seriously," Brea tried to cover for Stefan's strange behaviour but Matt gave her a disbelieving look. "Geez Matt lighten up it's a party," Brea teased before running off to look for Jeremy.

As Brea was running around outside looking for her brother she heard him yell "Vicki! Vicki, what the hell!"

"JEREMY!" she screamed, recognising her brother's voice and started running towards where she heard it near the buses. Brea arrived at the buses to see Jeremy yelling and Vicki lunging at him. As Vicki grabbed Jeremy, Brea threw herself at Vicki and managed to tackle her off Jeremy before quickly standing back up and reaching out to grab her brother to run, but Vicki got up quickly and threw Brea into the bus next to them, splitting her head open on the side mirror before she leant down, about to bite Brea's throat.

"Vicki, no!" Elena screamed hitting Vicki with a wooden board before she could bite Brea. Vicki, hardly affected, picked up both Brea and Elena, and threw them into wooden crates, cutting the girl's sides as the wood scratched them. Before Vicki could hurt them further Stefan slammed her into the bus, but she managed to wiggle free of his grasp and hide.

"Go. Get inside," Stefan called to them urgently making Elena grab Brea's hand, dragging her up from the ground and grabbing Jeremy on the way past as they started running for the door. As they were running Jeremy took the weight of an injured Brea, allowing Elena to try to open the door. Just as she opened it Brea and Jeremy were flung backwards as Vicki grabbed Elena biting into her throat.

"Elena!" Brea screamed. Before Vicki could do too much damage, she gasped as Stefan stuck a piece of wood through her chest, causing her to let go of Elena.

"Vicki!" Jeremy started screaming in despair as he got up and tried to reach for her only to be held back by Stefan as everyone watched Vicki's body turn grey and veiny.

"Get him out of here," Elena asked Stefan not wanting Jeremy to have to keep seeing Vicki's body.

"Brea?" Stefan asked the half-conscious girl who was pulling herself up to sit against the wall but she just shook her head. Stefan nodded at her gently before leading Jeremy away.

Elena started crying and sat down beside Vicki's body. "What are we going tell Jer? How do we explain this?" As Elena looked down she noticed Brea's ring glowing bright, "Brea, your ring!" she exclaimed but before they had time to question it, Damon came out from behind the buses.

"You should go," he told Elena. "I got this."

"You did this," Elena said angrily. "This is your fault."

"You confuse me for someone with remorse." At this Elena tried to shove him, but he didn't even move, so she tried slapping him, but he caught her hand. "None of this matters to me. None of it."

"That is so rude," Brea groaned from the ground.

"People die around you. How can that not matter? It matters and you know it," Elena cried before slapping him.

"Oh! Good shot Lena," Brea croaked in pain.

Damon's face hardened. "You both need to leave. Your wounds are bleeding and you need to leave. She probably has a concussion," he said in a kinder tone. "Please get her home." Elena then got very worried that he'd do something dangerous so she crept over to Brea keeping her eyes on Damon and helped her off the ground pulling her away.

"I have to go find Tyler," Brea whispered limping away from Elena, who was in too much shock to stop her. She was walking for a bit when she saw Tyler.

"Brea hey!" he called when he saw her walking over to her. "Woah, what happened?" he said noticing the blood and grabbing her, looking her over.

"Nothing, uh, it's fake," she lied.

"No, it's not you liar. You were always a terrible liar. And I can see the cut on your head, Brea, I can see it bleeding!" he exclaimed as he pulled her head closer to look at it.

"How much have you had to drink?" she asked shakily,

"Nothing, I've just been making them. Why?"

"Can you drive me home?" she whispered, lip quivering.

"Yeah, yeah, of course, let's go," he said helping her towards the car park.

As the pair got into Tyler's car, Brea burst into hysterical tears. "Why do people have to die Ty? Even when they didn't deserve it," Brea whimpered.

"Oh my god, Brea," he said in concern grabbing her head gently and pulling it onto his shoulder so she could cry. "You were so strong for Jeremy and Elena after the accident. I've never actually seen you cry," Tyler tried to reason.

"Yeah, that's it," Brea tried to pull herself together and managed to stop the tears. Tyler wasn't an overly affectionate guy and she had no doubt he would have been very uncomfortable with her current state. The drive to Brea's house was dead silent, with Tyler not wanting to ask about their fight as he feared upsetting her more. As he pulled up in front of the house Brea noticed Elena and Stefan out the front. "I forgive you, Ty, I missed you, I'll see you tomorrow," she said quickly as she got out of the car and speed-walked up to the porch. "Jer inside?" she asked the pair and Stefan nodded and she stormed inside running to Jeremy's room. Without saying anything Brea sat next to Jeremy on his bed and just held on to his arm resting her bleeding head on his shoulder, trying to make him feel less alone. Not long after, Elena also came up the stairs and sat in front of him.

"Do you understand what happened?" Elena asked him.

"No," he whispered. "I don't understand. I mean, I know what I saw, but… I don't understand."

"She was going to kill us."

"Now she's dead. Vicki's dead," he despaired.

"I'm so sorry, Jer," Elena cried.

"Make it stop. It hurts." With these words, Brea lifted her head and looked at Elena in despair at her brother's pain as Elena tried to comfort him. "Why does everybody have to die on me?" Brea started breathing heavier and Elena pulled him and Brea into a hug. After a while of hugging, Elena went downstairs to see Stefan and Brea went to her room too numb to think straight.

After a while of hugging her teddy bear on her bed, there was a knock. Brea got up and opened her door to see it was Damon standing there. "What?" Brea croaked.

"Your sister asked me to come here."

"My sister told you to come to find me?"

"She wanted your permission… for me to compel Jeremy to forget tonight and let Vicki go. To take his pain away."

"Compel him?" Damon nodded. Brea walked out of her room and looked through Jeremy's door to see him shaking in despair. "Please Damon, please," she agreed before retreating back into her room. After a few more minutes there was another knock, and behind the door was Damon again. "Is it done?" she asked and Damon nodded.

"Here," he said holding his hands out, "bandages for your head and your side. They don't look like they're bleeding anymore, so they should be fine just with these," he said handing them to Brea who hesitantly took them. "Do you want me to compel you as well?" he asked as his eyes looked sympathetic to her pain.

"No," Brea said shaking her head. "I need to remember. I can't forget. I can't lose my memories." Damon nodded brushing a piece of her hair behind her ear, and offered her a small smile.

"You'll be ok," he smiled and left as Brea closed the door behind him.