𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 𝙎𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉
ミ★ ( lion and the lamb, act two ) ★彡

     If Founder's Day couldn't be any more of a clusterfuck than it already was with the death of multiple vampires, the Mayor and almost Stefan and Damon; on the way from the Grill, Matt, Tyler and Caroline had gotten into a car accident where it left Caroline in the hospital because of internal bleeding. Originally she was fine one moment, more worried about Tyler who had practically had a serious migraine behind the wheel and caused the accident, but then, was unconscious the next. Hazel was going out of her mind with worry, constantly calling Liz for any updates, but she could only be told that there was nothing much they could do besides wait. Liz would contact her if she had any more updates, but for now, she told the Gilbert girl to stay home.

Hazel went with Elena to grab her things from the parade before they went home. They wanted to check in on Jeremy, as according to Alaric, he was inconsolable after Anna was taken away. Knowing what had happened to the vampires, the twins knew that she was probably dead now like the rest of them. Hazel was on the phone with Stefan as they approached the house. They were supposed to be home ages ago but they couldn't find Elena's dress, "We looked everywhere. We couldn't find it."

"What do you think, someone stole it?" He asks her.

Hazel pursed her lips and nodded with an amused laugh when she looked over at Elena's annoyed expression, "Yeah, someone definitely took her stuff." It was just so ridiculous that someone stole an old costume dress. It's so obnoxious that it would be recognisable anywhere if someone decided to wear it.

Stefan laughs, "You want me to pick you up?"

"We're just gonna check on Jeremy before I go to the hospital to see Caroline. Can you meet us there?" She asks.

"You bet."

"Okay. I love you, Stefan." Hazel smiles.

"I love you, too."

Hazel hangs up the phone and Elena fake gags, "You guys are so gross."

Hazel laughs and playfully nudges her, "Don't be grumpy because someone stole your dress." She teased before they entered the house and went to the bottom of the stairs to call out to Jeremy, "Jeremy?! Are you up?"

The two hear a noise coming from the kitchen that sounded like a groan and dishes breaking and their heads snap towards it. They look at each other as if they were asking if the other knew what it was before  and starts walking towards it.

They enter the kitchen to find John on the floor, bleeding badly, and lying in a pool of his own blood. He had a wound in his stomach and his fingers on his left hand had been cut off, his removed phalanges were beside him. Hazel holds back the urge to throw up and Elena rushes over to him and tries to stop the bleeding by grabbing a tea towel and putting it on the wound while Hazel grabs the phone to call 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" She hears the operator ask on the phone while Hazel looked at John with wide eyes. She didn't like him whatsoever, but that's still her family that was attacked.

"Hi, I—I need an ambulance to 2104 Maple Street." Hazel says in a panic. She can feel her chest heaving harshly from the brutality of his attack. His fingers were chopped off—someone wanted to make him hurt. Hazel covers her mouth to let out a shaky gasp, "Oh, God, there's so much blood!"

      "Stay calm, ma'am. We're sending someone right away." She heard the operator say.

      John's eyes peeled open and behind the twins, he notices another that looks just like them. He thinks momentarily that his vision is distorted from the pain and loss of blood, until he notices a small difference—her hair. It's not a hallucination, it's Katherine right behind Elena and Hazel, "Behind you." He whispers.

     Elena's eyebrows pinch together, "What?"

     "Behind you!" John manages to groan out with a lot more panic, causing the hairs on Hazel's neck to stand up.

     The twins turn around with a gasp but they see no one there. Elena grabs the bloody knife and cautiously approaches the hallway with Hazel following behind her, anxiously waiting for someone to be there like in every horror movie. Katherine speeds around, frightening Elena and Hazel, before she runs out the door.

The two were panting in fear from the game of cat and mouse that was being played and then Hazel's eyes widened, "Oh, my God. Jeremy!" She realises he had been in the house the entire time and there was a manic in there. She races up the stairs to his room, with Elena not too far behind, calling out his name, but was getting no response. She runs into his room to find him unconscious on his bed, "Jeremy! Please, Jeremy, wake up!" She says, shaking him frantically until he wakes up with a gasp.

Hazel and Elena let out a sigh of relief to see that he was okay, "I'm going to keep an eye on John until the paramedics get here." Elena says and Hazel nods as she turns back to Jeremy. Elena walks downstairs and Hazel exhales from the amount of stress that came upon her in the last few minutes.

But then, her eyes spotted the orange container by his nightstand. She picks it up to see the sleeping pills that were prescribed to her after the accident when the nightmares started and noticed that it was practically empty, and then she sees a small vial that was stained with blood and her eyes narrow onto him but she's afraid to ask in fear of what the answer might be, "What did you do?"

He looked down at his feet in shame. Hazel always trusted him too much when he was going through his drug addiction—she wasn't the type that felt like she needed to hide her medications in case her brother felt like getting high; because she hoped that Jeremy respected her enough to not go through her supply, especially during her rough days. But, this time, he betrayed that trust, "Anna gave me some of her blood." He admitted and Hazel's eyes widened in horror as he continued, "And I swallowed a bunch of them to turn into a vampire."

A hand covers Hazel's mouth, "Oh, my God." She can't believe it. He practically attempted suicide and she had no idea. Did this mean he was in transition now? From what she could recall about the vampire transition, you had to die with vampire blood in your system; and that was exactly what Jeremy might've done.

"I'm sorry, Haze..." Jeremy whispers.

"I need a minute." Hazel's in shock. She doesn't know what to think. Questions ran through her mind at a million miles per hour. Why does Jeremy want to become a vampire? Why did Anna give him her blood? Was Jeremy a vampire now? If he was, who was he going to feed on? Who was in her house earlier that attacked John, and why did they leave Jeremy unharmed? What the hell is going on?

Hazel got up from her seat on the bed and walked downstairs. As she reached the bottom, she could see that cops and paramedics had arrived and John was being taken away in the ambulance by a stretcher. The sirens were wailing so loud that it made her ears ring and she could imagine their neighbours must be so pissed to get woken up in the middle of the night by it. Stefan had just arrived at the house. Elena must've called him. One of the officers tries to keep Stefan from entering.

"He's okay." Elena tells the officer, who nods his head in understanding and lets him come in.

Stefan notices the shell shocked expression on Hazel's face and walks up to her, "What's wrong?"

Hazel opens her mouth but she can't even bring herself to say it. Elena is starting to become concerned by Hazel's shock. Stefan pulls her into a hug and she shakily wraps her arms around his shoulders, "I need you—" She can't finish her words and pulls away to bring him upstairs with Elena.

She leads them to Jeremy's room, where he was sitting upright now, staring at the wall, "What happened?" Stefan asks as he walks into the room, still confused as to what went down.

"He said that Anna gave him her blood and then he took these pills," She starts and Elena's eyes widened as she finally notices the orange container in her hands and the vial of blood, "and now—I mean he looks fine, but then again, so do you. So, I just... I don't know."

Stefan immediately kneels down in front of Jeremy and Jeremy's face in his hands to examines his eyes, "Come here. Look at me."

Jeremy tries to shove Stefan off him, "I'm fine, okay? I feel exactly the same."

"Should we call a paramedic up here? What should we do?" Elena asks in concern.

Stefan continues to look at Jeremy and sees no signs of transition, "No, he's fine." He says and Hazel sighs in relief.

"You mean I'm not a vampire?" Jeremy asks as Stefan stands up. He then mutters under his breath, "Damn it!"

Elena looks at him with horror, "Don't say that, Jeremy!" She says before whispering, "Jer, why would you want that?"

Jeremy blinks at his sister in disbelief before standing to his feet, "Did you hear about Anna? What happened to her tonight?" He asks, "She's dead."

Hazel's face falls at the confirmation. This is the second girlfriend he's had in a row that was a vampire that died. She feels bad for him, "Jeremy. Come here, sit down." Stefan pushes Jeremy back down on the bed. He grabs his face in his hands and makes him look at him, "I am very sorry about Anna, but, it's very important that you listen to me right now. With every passing moment, Anna's blood is leaving your system. If you try to kill yourself right now, you could really die." Jeremy looks away, "Hey!" He slaps him, "Do you understand me?!"

"Stefan..." Hazel protests protectively, and he turns to look at her, "He gets it." She tells him before looking at Jeremy, "Right, Jer?"

Her brother clenches his jaw as he answered, "Yeah, I understand."

"Good." Stefan says and lets go of Jeremy to stand next to Hazel.

"What about the pills that he took?" Elena asks.

"He didn't take enough to die so Anna's blood actually... healed him of that." Stefan explained as he placed his hands on his hips.

A policeman knocks on the doorframe of Jeremy's room, "Miss Gilbert?"

The twins look over at him and he blinks, unsure of which one he originally spoke to. Elena tucks a hair behind her ear, "I'll be right there."

Stefan turns to Hazel, "You need to be at the hospital." He knows she's worried about Caroline, and has been wanting to go since she found out about the accident, and he knows that she won't go now because she's worried about Jeremy.

Like he guesses, he watches her look over at Jeremy, "But—"

"No, no, no, I'll stay here with Jeremy."

Jeremy's face sours, "No, I don't need a babysitter."

Elena's eyes narrow onto him, "Yes, you do."

     Bonnie was already at the hospital when Hazel and Elena arrived. Caroline had gotten out of surgery and was now resting, still unconscious in her bed. The doctors said that it was normal considering the amount of trauma she went through. Hazel practically ran up to Bonnie, "How is she?" Hazel blurts out immediately. She wishes she was there sooner, but after everything that happened at home, she was glad she was there too in case it ended in a worse result.

     Bonnie doesn't like the news she's about to provide, "She's weak." She says. Hazel has always been closest with Caroline, and she knows what she's about to say next is going to hurt. She bites her lip, "They don't know if she's going to make it."

     Hazel feels a pang in her chest; like the air had been sucked out of her lungs, "What?" Tears well in her eyes and Bonnie immediately embraces her, and Elena holds on tight too.

     "Is there something that you can do?" Elena asks Bonnie, seeing the way her twin was distraught over the thought of possibly losing her best friend, "Like a spell or something?"

     Suddenly, Damon steps in and answers for Bonnie, "She doesn't know how, do you?" He can see the hopeful look on Elena's face and he doesn't want her giving Elena false hope.

Bonnie's shoulders slump when she saw the twins look over at her, "No, I don't."

Damon's eyes narrow, "No, you don't, because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that."

Bonnie turns to glare at him, "Well, I can take down a vampire. That spell was easy to learn." She says smugly.

Damon sighs when he sees how distraught Hazel was, "I can give Caroline some blood." He suggests.

Elena quickly shakes her head in refusal, "No, no way."

"No, just enough to heal her. She will be safe in the hospital, and it will be out of her system in a day; she will be better." Damon insists.

Hazel shakes her head in refusal, agreeing with Elena, "It's too risky. What if something goes wrong? The doctors were saying to Liz that she's touch and go and they were barely able to stop the bleeding."

"Do it." Bonnie suddenly decides and they all look at her with surprise; like they didn't expect to hear her say that. When she sees their expressions, Bonnie says, "This is Caroline. We can't let her die." She then turns back to Damon, "Do it."

"If I do this, you and me, call a truce?" Damon bargains, pointing in between the two of them. He needs a witch on his side.

"No." Bonnie answers, "But, you'll do it anyway. For Elena and Hazel." She says before she the left.

      Damon then turns to Elena, "I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now but we should talk about what happened tonight."

      "Yeah, one of the tomb vampires got into the house and almost killed John." Elena responds.

     Damon blinks in surprise, like that wasn't what he was expecting to hear, "What? When? What are you talking about?" He asks, "After I left?"

     Elena's expression matches his, and momentarily she wonders if it was Damon that attacked John—she knows he doesn't like him, "You were there?"

     "Come on, Elena, you know I was." Damon exasperated.

     "When were you at the house?" Elena continued to ask, completely clueless.

     "Really?" Damon asks. The twins send him an expectant look, "Earlier, on the porch, we were talking, all cathartic, feelings exposed. Come on, we kissed, Elena."

     It was Hazel's turn to blink in confusion and she turns to Elena, "When did that happen?" She asks her twin. Elena had been with her since the evening and she couldn't help but wonder when she found the time to go make out with Damon and not tell her.

     "I'm wondering the same thing." Elena thinks out loud before shaking her head at Damon, "I don't have time for this anyway."

     Damon steps towards her and Hazel watches closely to see if Elena was uncomfortable at all, "If you want to forget what happened, fine, but I can't." He murmured.

     Jenna then walks up to them and Damon moves away while Jenna glares at him, but listens in, "Elena, I came as soon as I got your message." She says to the younger twin, "How is John?"

     "Where have you been?" Elena questions her. She had messaged her hours ago by now about John, and she hadn't responded.

     "At the fire department, I had to fill out a report." Jenna answers, "I told you earlier."

     Elena's eyebrows pull together, trying to remember if Jenna had indeed tell her that, but she was coming up short, "No, you didn't."

     "Yes, I did." Jenna responds. For a moment, she wonders if it was Hazel that she told; but she knows Hazel wasn't the type to boyfriend hop—and she definitely wouldn't be making out with her boyfriend's brother on their front porch. She then looks at Hazel and gets the confirmation she needs that it wasn't her, "I know it wasn't Hazel. I told you."

     Elena shakes her head, "No, Jenna, you didn't."

     "Yes, I did." Jenna snaps almost.

     It was that moment that Damon realises. It wasn't Elena that he kissed, it was Katherine pretending to be Elena, "Oh! Mmm, you got to be kidding me." Hazel, Elena and Jenna all look at him with confusion and he realises that he said that out loud. He gives them a blank look before walking away.

     "What the hell was that all about?" Hazel can't help but ask.

     Meanwhile, back at the Gilbert home, Jeremy had thankfully fallen asleep in his bed while Stefan paces beside his bed, still watching out for him. He hears the front door open and he goes downstairs to see Hazel walking into the house, looking upset, "Hey! How was Caroline?"

     "Not good." She frowns with a sniffle as he walks up to her to embrace her. She holds him tightly, wrapping her arms around him, "Just what I needed."

Hazel pulls away and looks at him, leaning up to kiss him, but Stefan, realising it's Katherine, grabs her by the back of her neck and bares his fangs at her with a growl. He throws her away from him and on to the couch. Katherine gets up without missing a beat, flicking her hair out of her face, "Katherine."

"At least I fooled one of you." She shrugged, and Stefan rushed over to her and pushes her against the wall, "Feel better?" She taunts. He pushes her against another wall as someone begins to open the front door. Stefan is distracted by this and Katherine takes the opportunity to grab his arm, bend it behind his back, and throw him down on the floor. She smiles and rushes out of the house right as the actual Hazel, Elena and Damon enter the house.

Stefan is on the floor but stands up immediately, "Stefan?" Hazel asks, seeing him get up from the ground, "What happened?"

"Katherine happened." Damon answered as soon as he smelt her scent and saw the state that Stefan was in.

Elena and Hazel's eyes opened wide with shock and fear.

"Did she say what she wanted?" Hazel asks Stefan nervously as they were in the kitchen with Damon. She was constantly looking over at him to see if he was harmed in any way, but it was just a means of distraction because internally, she was freaking out. Katherine was in her home—she was invited in, she has access to her safe place; her family.

     Stefan sighs and shakes his head, "No."

     "Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance." Damon comments to himself.

     "She said she fooled one of us, at least." Stefan asks and Hazel looks over at him in confusion, whereas Stefan just looks angry at his brother, "What does that mean?"

     "She pretended to be Elena when I showed up earlier tonight." Damon answers and Hazel's eyebrows raise; the conversation at the hospital between Elena and Damon making much more sense now. Damon thought he kissed Elena.

     Elena then enters the room from upstairs, having come from Jeremy's room, "I told Jeremy, I can't lie to him anymore." She told them all and Hazel nodded in agreement at the thought. Jeremy deserved to know—especially if his sisters' evil triplet was running around town. They needed to be careful.

     Noticing her stress, Stefan turns to Hazel, "Are you alright?"

     "Katherine was in this house," She whispers anxiously, "that means she's been invited in, what are we gonna do?"

     "Move." Damon shrugs.

     Elena's eyes narrow onto him as she sits down next to Hazel at the breakfast bar, "Very helpful, thank you."

     "Katherine wants you dead; there's zero you can do about it; you would be dead but you're not." Damon points out, "So clearly she has other plans."

     "Right and we need to find out what those other plans are and not provoke her in the process." Stefan nods, "What happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?"

     "We... kissed." Damon replies awkwardly.

     Elena looked almost shocked and concerned, "And you thought it was me?" She asks, pointing at herself, "What do you mean we kissed?"

     "Well, you know, when two lips pucker and they go—" He puckers his lips and makes kissing noises.

     Elena holds up her hand, "Well, obviously you kissed Katherine, not me, because I wouldn't do that." She states and Hazel watches as Damon's face falters in hurt, "Whatever. We don't have time for this. John must know something. There has to be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him."

     "She's Katherine." Damon reminds them, "She loves to play games and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's been up to before she wants you to know."

     "No, actually, Elena's right, John could know something through Isobel." Stefan says, "She was in touch with Katherine so maybe we can go to the hospital and get him to talk."

     "I've got a better idea." Damon says as he walks towards the front door.

     "What's that?" Hazel asks.

     "I'm just gonna ignore the bitch. See you."

     "Is that smart?" Elena asks.

     "If Katherine thinks she's been ignored it will lure her out, she'll make a move." Damon answers.

      "Yeah? And then what?" Stefan asks.

     Damon shrugs, "Stake her, rip her head off, something poetic. We'll see."