A/N: Surprise! Sorry it has been so long. To be completely honest my life has been shit at the moment, my pain has just been at it's worst since NY and I've really struggled. For three days I have FINALLY been a little less pain and I've been able to write... so mentally I'm feeling good. I also wanted to post because I now have 500 followers on here, thank you!! I SO SO hope you enjoy this chapter and the changes I have made (mwahaha!!) Let me know your thoughts xoxo

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MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

Somehow, after many hugs and warnings, Aella, Elena, and Stefan left the Gilbert house to help set up the carnival.

Aella had held Lexi close before they separated ways, "Thank you for being with him."

Lexi smiled into Aella's hair. It was the first time the witch was so serious about what happened, "I came for you too." She pulled Aella back and fixed her with a cold stare, "Don't put him or me through that again. Got it?"

Aella had agreed and watched Stefan and Lexi say their own goodbyes before Lexie sped off, and Stefan drove them to the high school.

As they walked into the school where the first meeting would take place, Alaric was surprised to see them all there. He hurried over to them and raised a brow at Aella, "Aella, hey. Are you sure you're up for this? Elena and I can handle it?"

"I'm fine," Aella smiled simply. She pointed between Elena and Stefan. "Rules are I gotta have one of these with me at all times, but I feel okay." She suddenly smirked, "Plus, it's got me away from Jenna and my Uncle, who has suddenly realized I was keeping a whole lot back when we had our weekly chats."

Ric nodded, "Your uncle is... um?"

"Scarily similar to Aella?" Elena snorted, but it had Ric nodding quickly. "Yes... Just yes."

Aella completely missed the underlying feeling of Ric and Elena's comments, "That's so nice."

An amused Stefan tugged Aella to him, "We should go take a seat and wait for everyone to arrive."

"Such a good plan," Aella nodded and tapped his chest. "So good, I am officially naming you my second person in charge."

"You mean your second-in-command?" Stefan smirked.

"See!" Aella waved her hands in front of him in admiration. "You are so good!"

Stefan laughed and began herding her to the chairs, laid out, "Come on, Boss Lady."

Aella playful bumped her hip with hers, "Ohhh, I like that. Call it me again."

Elena watched them walk away with a smile; she had never been so happy to listen to Aella being Aella.

"So, um..." Ric scratched at his brow. "She's all good?"

"Nate said to keep a close eye on her," Elena informed him. "But yeah, she should be good."

Ric frowned, "And we don't know what caused it?"

Elena shook her head, "No. I spoke with Bonnie and Sheila, who are fine. Tyler texted me about today while Aella was, you know?" Ric nodded, understanding why Elena wouldn't say the words out loud. "And Matt said Caroline was sleeping soundly. There's no one else that Aella's magic could have bonded with."

"If she feels it's too much, just go," Ric told her. "Don't worry about us. We've gotten a lot of volunteers after they heard about Caroline's accident."

"Okay," Elena smiled with thanks.

SHEILA'S HOUSEHOLD

Bonnie pulled up at Sheila's house, happy she still had one relative to spend time with. Things with Aella were still not right, and she had no clue what to do; at least she had her Grams, who was also in the doghouse with Aella.

As she locked her car, she frowned when the front door opened, and Liz walked out, "Take care of yourself, Sheila." Even stranger, Liz then turned around and added, "Anything you need, let me know."

Sheila opened her mouth to respond when like a sixth sense, she turned and looked at Bonnie in surprise, "Bonnie, what are you doing here?"

Liz turned with a start at Sheila's question, and to Bonnie, it seemed that her eyes suddenly turned sad. As quick as the sadness had appeared, a smile grew on the Sheriff's face, "Bonnie! How nice to see you. Are you not helping out at the carnival?"

Forgetting about the Sheriff's strange moods, Bonnie smiled politely at her, "Was just on my way; I wanted to check in on Grams before. How's Caroline?"

Liz seemed grateful at the change of subject, "She's much better. Worried about the carnival, but she trusts Aella."

Sheila laughed out loud, "Are we all sure about that?"

Liz only shrugged, "Normally I'd think the same, but Aella has really been a rock for Caroline and me." She smiled at Sheila, "You should be proud of her."

Sheila smiled sadly; she missed her granddaughter, "Always."

"Well," Liz adjusted her stance. "Take care-" Bonnie did not miss Liz, looking at Sheila pointedly as she began to walk away. "-All of you."

They watched Liz walk away and eventually drive away. Bonnie's suspicions something wasn't all right when Sheila headed to the coffee table where a dozen pages lay on top and began to gather them. That suspicion was pushed even more when she bent to help Sheila pick up the papers, and Sheila hurriedly waved her off, "I got it, Baby, just a bunch of silly bills. Go get the kettle boiling."

As Bonnie slowly walked to the kitchen, she sadly realized that her Gram's had lied to her face for the first time in a long time.

MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

Once the cafeteria was full of volunteers, Aella and Stefan moved over to where Elena and Ric stood, "Soooo. What does Caroline do at these things?"

"Well, if you'd have turned up on time to these events, you would know," Elena smirked.

Aella quickly rounded on her brunette friend, finger-wagging, "I don't like that tone, missy."

"Caroline usually gives a speech before the committee begins to work," Ric suggested before Aella got too distracted.

"A speech?" Aella looked between the three with uncertainty. "No one said a speech would have to be made."

Stefan rubbed her back, "Just introduce yourself."

"Okay," she nodded, clutching the clipboard to her chest tightly. Aella stepped from the group and thought of something to say. Suddenly her mind went blank, and somehow she remembered a speech that her once-a-time-hero gave and knew it was perfect for this very moment. "I can do this. Okay, people," Aella clapped as she looked at all the carnival volunteers.

"Please remember I am only helping out because Caroline was actually in a life-slash-death situation. Per our best friend agreement, I am here because I signed my life away June 5th, 1999, and facing Caroline's wrath is far worse than ignoring her." Aella smiled wide at all the bemused faces. Feeling like Paris Gellar, she continued, "Now, please remember I am not your mother or your friend. If you are having a bad day, find a ledge or a way to deal. My metaphorical door is not open to hug ever! You have five minutes to enjoy the doughnuts Mr. Saltzman provided... Welcome to the planning committee."

She turned to her friends and boyfriend, holding up two thumbs, and smiled brightly when they quickly held up theirs. Unfortunately, she missed them, quickly lowering them as she made her way to the doughnut table as they shared an uneasy look between themselves.

Caroline was going to kill them.

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Elena had been organizing some of the carnival stalls when Bonnie had walked over to her. It had been awkward not telling her what had happened with her cousin only hours ago, but Aella was adamant she wanted no one to know.

Quickly the events turned to the day before, "Katherine looked just like you; it was freakish."

Elena shrugged as she jotted down a note on her clipboard about the new location of the student booth, "She is my ancestor."

Bonnie raised a brow, "Your vampire ancestor, and she didn't just resemble you as a family member would. She was you."

"I don't know, I can't explain it," Elena was getting a little annoyed with the talking of Katherine. She couldn't have counted how many times she wanted to not talk about Katherine, and still, her best friend went on. "It's creepy; that's all I got."

Bonnie obviously didn't hear the bother in Elena's voice and still pushed, "But, how do you know she's not still out there pretending to be you?"

Elena smiled tightly at Bonnie, "I don't, but I could sit here and be tortured by the not-knowing or-" she pushed a bag full of plush into Bonnie's hands "-I could delegate you to get these prizes to the ring toss?"

Bonnie had just walked away when Aella came skipping over to her with some pink cotton candy in her hand and mouth. Elena's brow raised in amusement, "You know that's for the carnival, right?"

Aella innocently shrugged, "I'm quality control." She placed a pink piece on her tongue and closed her eyes in delight when it melted on her mouth. "And this is perfectly perfect!"

"Mhmm," Elena crossed her arms. "And how many other items have you quality controlled?"

"A hot dog, some fries, and a candy apple; from what I can see from the stain on her top," Damon smirked as he stepped over to the two.

Aella's attention turned to her sweater and frowned when she saw Damon was correct; with a quick flick of her finger, the caramel fell to the ground. Stupid attentive vampire... When she looked back up, Elena was glaring at Damon, who only stared at her friend. As she went to open her mouth to diffuse some of the attention, Elena turned her back on Damon to face Aella, "I'm going to check on the games."

She marched off as Aella whistled to Damon, "Boy is she mad with you." Seeming to remember why Elena was so mad, Aella turned to the vampire and, with her magic, hit Damon firmly on the arm.

Damon's eyes widened as he held his now throbbing arm, "Uh, ow! Not cool, Pixie!"

"That was for Jeremy," Aella pouted. "Do you know what could have happened if he wasn't wearing the Gilbert ring John gave him?"

"Chill," Damon stole a piece of her cotton candy. "I knew he was wearing the tacky thing."

Aella hit his hand before he could steal another piece, "Bull."

Damon shrugged, eyes scanning the carnival and landing on Elena, where she stood with some other volunteers, "Okay, maybe I didn't. But the kid is good. Problem dealt with."

"Well..." Aella was taken aback but the vampire's honesty. She pointed at him with her stick of cotton candy, "Just don't do it again. Learn from this and choose to walk away from arguments, rather than killing everyone you fall out with."

He quickly stole another piece with a smirk, "At least you're not walking on eggshells around me because you think I'm gonna explode."

At his admittance, she questioned him straight, "What happened with Katherine?"

Damon being Damon, chose to ignore her and tell her about his theory after he'd met with Carol Lockwood, "I think the Lockwoods have a family secret. The Gilbert device affected them, but vervain didn't, so they're not vampires; they're something else."

"I know you're avoiding, Damon," Aella rolled her eyes as she finished her cotton candy and hit Damon with the stick. "So... Is this your new obsession?"

Damon played off her questioning with far too much innocence, "You'd rather an unknown supernatural element running rampant upon our town. Fine, I'll drop it."

"Avoidance!" Aella hit him with the stick again. "What can you tell me about your crazy ex-girlfriend? We have no idea what she's up to."

Damon shrugged, "Sure we do. She came back to profess her undying, eternal love for your boyfriend! So I'm going to let you deal with her and focus on my avoidance because I have more important things to do, like exploding. Now meet me with Stefan in Ric's classroom in ten." He plucked the stick from Aella's hand and threw it over his shoulder as he walked away. "Cheers!"

Aella pouted at the loss of her stick and held up her middle finger to the vampire, strolling away, "Asshole!"

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Stefan frowned over at Damon, "So you heard Mason and Tyler talking about feeling aggression more than other people, and now you think they're supernatural?"

Ric raised a brow from where he sat at his desk, "Ever heard of I.E.D?"

Aella frowned, "Implanted... Electronic... Device?" She gasped with actual concern, "Mayo's a robot?"

The brothers looked at Aella with genuine worry. "Robot?" Stefan questioned, while Damon's was asked with humor, "Mayo?"

Ric, very much used to Aella's brain, simply told her, "Intermittent explosive disorder, Aella." When her frown did not smooth, he expanded. "It means he has sudden episodes of impulsive aggression."

Stefan glanced at his brother, "Are you sure we're not talking about Damon."

Ric smirked, "The robot or the I.E.D?"

Damon ignored their teasing and instead waved his hands, "Hello? Are we forgetting, Pixie, here just called Mason Lockwood, Mayo?" He narrowed his eyes at her, "That's like a nickname for someone you like."

"You mean how I like to call you, Asshole?" Aella smirked then shrugged. "But Damon is somewhat correct. Mason used to be my babysitter."

Stefan stepped closer to her, "And you never felt anything different with him?"

"Apart from his ability to eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's without getting brain freeze once," Aella quipped. "Noooo?"

Stefan turned to his brother, "What else was said at the Lockwoods?"

Damon casually rested on one of the desks, coincidentally Elena's, "Asking about blackouts, exercise, if it happened every month?"

Aella snorted, "They have PMS. Mystery solved."

Ric shook his head in amusement while Damon narrowed his eyes at her, "Joke all you want, Pixie. Tyler and the Mayor were affected by the Gilbert device, and I'm pretty sure your little friend, Mayo, would react the same. They're not vampires, and they're not warlocks... what the hell are they?"

When Damon looked at his brother, Stefan was pinching his lip in thought until he nodded, "You're right." He ignored Aella's groan and Damon's celebratory smirk. "The both of them will be at the carnival tonight; let's keep an eye on them."

Damon's smirk turned on Aella, who suddenly felt a little worried, "And we have our own Belle Boyd to keep an eye on things?"

When Aella raised a confused brow, Ric groaned out loud, "Aella, we just finished a topic on her."

Aella's response was to only smile awkwardly at her exhausted teacher.

GILBERT HOUSEHOLD

Aella and her uncle sat on the porch swing, blanket on their legs and hot chocolate in their hands. It was only an hour until the carnival started, and the two were quickly catching up.

Aella looked over at Nate; she had told him what had been happening since September, and he had been sitting in silence since, "U-uncle Nate?"

"All that in just five months," Nate looked over at her in disbelief. He shook his head, "No, wonder your powers have expanded so quickly."

Aella laughed into her cocoa, "Yep, they've definitely helped a whole lot."

It was quiet between them for a few minutes until Nate suddenly spoke, looking into his mug, "You could have called me anytime, and I would have come. You know that, right?"

Aella's head was nodding before the final syllable escaped Nate's mouth, "Without a doubt..." She sighed and turned to him. "I guess enough people were already in danger. I didn't want you to be dragged into that too."

"Are you kidding?" Nate laughed. "Vampires, Doppelgangers, evil Uncles, a Secret Council? Kid, this is what dreams are made of."

The two chuckled at his kid-like enthusiasm. Nate suddenly turned towards her, "So are we going to talk about the elephant in the room..? Or should I say the undead elephant in the room?"

Aella's eyes looked at everything but her uncle as she quietly admitted to him, "I love him, Uncle Nate."

"I don't doubt that, My Little Rugrat," Nate gulped back his remaining coca. "Last time I saw a guy that worried about a Samphire woman, you were born."

Aella smiled, "Dad."

"Kid...?" Nate took a deep breath. He leaned his chin on his joined palms. "You know when you were about two, you asked me why the sun goes down, and I replied it was mad at you... I'm just not made for these moments." Aella smirked, remembering her mother's reaction to that moment. "But the day your mom put you in my arms, I swore I'd walk through fire for you... Well, not fire, because it's dangerous, but a super humid room, definitely..."

Aella was super confused as Nate suddenly stopped talking, "Uncle Nate?"

"Huh?" Nate turned to him and realized he had trailed off because of all the thoughts going on in his mind, "Well, maybe not too humid of room, because of my hair." He slicked back his very styled hair before he pointed at her, "Anyway... What I'm saying is that even if he is a vampire, Stefan seems like a good dude..."

"He is," Aella smiled at him. "He's amazing, Uncle Nate." She shrugged, "I know later on conversations are going to happen about the future, but now? I'm happy, I'm loved, and even if I live in Murderville, USA, I've never felt as whole as I did since before mom and dad died."

Nate nudged her with his elbow, "They'd be proud of you, Kid."

Aella smiled at the compliment, "Thanks, Uncle Nate."

Nate suddenly noticed someone walking up to the house, "Well, if it isn't Count Dracula. Bleh, bleh-bleh."

Stefan's pace slowed at Nate's awful vampire impression. He looked between him and Aella and concluded, "I can see the family resemblance."

Aella laughed at the comment and her uncle's proud face, "You gotta find another favorite movie, Unc."

"What?" Nate asked with real surprise. "Hotel Transylvania was an awesome movie!"

Aella shook her head as she stood up, "Are you coming to the carnival?"

"Sorry, Kid," Nate smiled apologetically. "I'm needed back at home before tomorrow morning. Gotta do a quick catch up with Sheila, and then I'm driving home."

Aella stilled at her grandmother's name but said nothing as she leaned down to hug her uncle, "I'll speak with you soon."

"Super soon," Nate squeezed her back. "Gotta keep me updated with all the gossip." He looked over at Stefan as Aella straightened, "That Katherine, what a bitch!"

Stefan rolled his eyes as Aella joined him, "You don't have to tell me twice."

Aella began pulling him to her car and waved at her uncle on the way, "Bye, Uncle Nate."

"Later, Kid," Nate shouted back and then called out the vampire's name before he got in his niece's car. "Hey, Stefan?" When Stefan turned, Nate formed a flame in his hand, "Don't hurt my niece, got it?"

Stefan gulped at the flame in Nate's hand and the look in his green eyes, "Got it."

As Aella's car left the driveway, Nate tossed the fire from one hand to another as he smirked, "Oh, I got the threatening boyfriends deal down goooood!"

"Nate!"

At Jenna's shout, he suddenly dropped the fire onto the blanket that laid in his lap. "Shit," He panicked as he patted the fire out, frowning heavily at the unmistakable burn mark. He quickly stood up and arranged the blanket on the swing, so the burnt part was hidden, "Oh well..." He whistled innocently as he walked to the door, "They'll just blame the Kid's new power."

MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

Stefan and Aella arrived at the carnival thirty minutes before the event started. It was busy as everyone finished last-minute decorating and setting up.

Aella leaned against her boyfriend as she proudly looked at the carnival, "Pretty good job for a newbie."

"Caroline would be proud," Stefan kissed her head.

Aella took a picture of the carnival, ready to show Caroline when she visited her later. Turning to her boyfriend, she asked, "Can you make sure the food booths are all good?"

Stefan smirked at her, "Regretting all those candied apples now, right?"

"No," Aella scowled at him but rubbed her sore belly a second later. "Okay, fine. Yes."

Stefan smugly walked away as Aella grumbled after him. She walked over to the game booths to make sure there were enough prizes when her phone rang. Smiling at the caller ID, she answered happily, "Hey, Matty."

"Hey, A," Matt answered, a lot less cheerful. "Are you coming to the hospital later?"

"After the carnival, absolutely," Aella told him, miming to Hannah at the basketball booth if all was good. When the teen gave her a thumbs up, she walked to the next booth asking Matt, "Why?"

"Care... she's not herself," Matt hesitantly told her. "One minute she's here, then she freaks out, and then she's all quiet..."

"It could be that she's worried about the carnival," Aella told him as she bit her lip in thought. "This is one of the biggest events of the year; she'd be freaking out even if she was here now."

"That makes sense," Matt shrugged as he thought about it. "Actually, you know what? You're right. This is just the control freak in Caroline coming out. I was just worried."

"Like every good boyfriend should," Aella proudly told him. "Look, Matt. The carnival is done, I can bail and come to the hosp-"

"No!" Matt interrupted her. "Caroline would freak even more and then kill me. She'd want you there."

Feeling a little more comforted by Matt's more relaxed tone, Aella walked over to the ring-toss booth. "Maybe ask the nurses if the medication she's been given causes mood swings? And when the carnival is nearly done, I'll ask Elena to look after things, and I'll shoot over to the hospital."

Aella's phone gave a beep as Matt agreed over and thanked her. She opened her mouth to tell Matt when the call suddenly cut off and flashed the on-screen message 'insufficient battery for phone call use.' Aella scowled at her phone and quickly typed out a message to Matt telling him to contact Stefan if there were any problems because of her phone's battery. She sent the text just as her phone powered down, unaware the text failed to send.

MYSTIC FALLS HOSPITAL

Caroline stood from her bed. She slowly walked to the mirror in her room, her feet unaware of the coldness of the tiled floor as her bare feet shuffled against it.

As she looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes zeroed in on her bare neck and remembered her best friend's words from all those months ago, "The most important thing you will ever wear."

Stroking her bare neck, she knew this was what had made her feel so antsy, so uneasy all day; she wasn't wearing her locket. It seemed someone had placed her necklace on the shelf in front of the mirror for when she would be ready to wear it. Gently, Caroline's fingers delicately picked up the chain and unfasted it before she wound it around her neck to fasten it back up.

As if poison had been painted onto the locket, Caroline felt a burning sensation on her neck, and her hands threw what was causing her agony into the air. To her complete surprise, Caroline recognized it was her locket that had caused her pain as it bounced along the floor and was stopped by her nurse's shoe.

Nurse Haynes reached down and picked up her beloved necklace, "That's pretty."

For the first time, since she had drunk from the blood pouch she had stolen, Caroline seemed to come out of her daze as she smiled at her necklace in the kind nurse's hand, "My best friend gave it to me."

Nurse Haynes placed it on Caroline's bed table, "Lucky girl."

Caroline smiled tightly at her until the nurse had disappeared from her room, and she looked back to the mirror and fingered the burn pattern on her chest. As she stared at the burn pattern that matched her necklace perfect, a daze took over her again, and a voice called out to her:

"Drink it, Caroline. I know you want more."

Mind over heart, Caroline lifted the blood pouch and took a small sip, her hunger calling out to her to drink more, but she couldn't. There was only a tiny amount left. The blood slid down her throat, and a feeling of pure bliss encompassed her entire being, and she let her head fall back in pleasure.

Suddenly a new pain began, worse than the burn, worse than the sunlight on her skin, worse than the hunger as the pain started pulsing around her mouth. Holding onto her mouth as tightly as she could to stem the pain, Caroline's eyes widened when black lines began encircling her eyes. Scared beyond belief, Caroline's hands held back her screams of distress, fear, and uncertainty at what was happening to her. When two fangs descended from her gums, she couldn't hold back her screams any longer, and it was Nurse Haynes that faced the consequences.

With a speed like she'd never had before and with a strength unknown to her, Caroline effortlessly lifted the nurse from the doorway, closing the door, and slammed her into the wall on the other side of the room. Nurse Haynes cried out in surprise and pain as Caroline held her up against the mirror and demanded, "You can't tell anyone, you can't tell anyone!"

To Caroline, it was a mantra that had been going through her mind since she had first drunk from that blood pouch; if anyone knew, then it was real. To Nurse Haynes, it was a command as Caroline's eyes unknowingly dilated, and Caroline's mantra to herself turned into an order for the nurse, "I can't tell anyone."

In Caroline's state, she had no clue what she had done; she was just relieved the nurse was no longer screaming. And so, she repeated back the words to calm herself, "You'll tell no one. Not even Aella."

Nurse Haynes didn't react to the emotion in the girl's voice at the name and repeated, "I won't tell, Aella."

Caroline cried at her best friend's name, "I'm sorry...." Whether it was the nurse she was apologizing to, or her best friend, she didn't know. But one thing she did know one thing, "I'm just so hungry."

Instinctually, Caroline's fangs descended on the nurse's neck, and she inhaled her first taste of fresh, warm, human blood.

Soon, Caroline's attempt to hold the nurse's body against the wall became forgotten as her hunger overwhelmed her, and the two fell to the floor. It only allowed Caroline to start drinking from the nurse's body from a new angle on the other side of her neck, her blood pooling onto the tiled floor from the original open wound.

Caught up in the frenzy of her first real meal, Caroline didn't hear her boyfriend get off the phone with her best friend, Matt's steps lighter as he walked towards her room, or the total shock in his voice as he opened her hospital room door to be confronted by her murdering an innocent woman. But the sound of his voice did:

"Caroline!?"

As if a switch had been turned off, Caroline's hunger disappeared, and she turned to her boyfriend with Nurse Haynes blood all around her mouth, "Matt?" But her boyfriend just stood there, his shock overtaking any fear he felt. Caroline suddenly discerned what. Or rather, who she was sitting on as her eyes met Nurse Haynes brown ones staring dead into hers. Letting out a fearful cry, she looked back at her boyfriend and whimpered his name once more, "Matt."