MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

"You're serious?" Jeremy laughed, with his arm around Anna's shoulders. "You've never had popcorn?"

Night had fallen on Mystic Falls, and the carnival was in full swing.

"Are you kidding?" Anna snorted as Jeremy walked them over to the popcorn booth. "It went against everything my mother allowed. I was turned before I could become a rebellious daughter, then blood was on the menu."

"But you eat," Jeremy frowned. He held up two fingers to the man making the popcorn machine before he turned back to his girlfriend. "I've seen Stefan eat... why not just try it?"

"Hmm?" Anna playfully weighed up with her hands. "Free yummy blood or paying for an unhealthy piece of corn?"

Jeremy was given the two tubes of popcorn and paid for the treats. He herded them to a quiet corner. As he handed Anna one of them, he smiled, "Unhealthy, but delicious, warm corn." He nodded for her to try some, "Go on."

Anna rolled her eyes and took a piece of the warm and soft piece of corn before placing it in her mouth. Jeremy watched her with a growing smile as he saw her try and hold back her admittance that it was likable. Soon his puppy dog grin was too much for her to bear, and she threw back her head in defeat, "Fine! It's delicious!"

Jeremy punched the air before he took a handful of popcorn and threw it in his mouth, "Win for the human."

"Jeremy, it's so good to see you alive."

Jeremy stilled as he turned to meet the grinning vampire, "Aren't you a little old for a high school carnival?"

"A hundred and fifty years too old," Damon joked as they stole some of Jeremy's popcorn and ate it. "Can't miss Pixie's big day. I'm still waiting for something to go wrong so I can see her freak out."

Anna scowled at him as she took Jeremy's hand, "Well, we'll be going anywhere but here."

She began pulling Jeremy away when the teen turned on Damon, "You're pretty funny cracking jokes when I could, I don't know...? Blow the whole lid off this whole thing by telling someone what you really are."

Anna's eyes widened at the threat, but Damon was unmoved, "You'd be betraying your girlfriend at the same time."

Jeremy held up the hand his Gilbert ring sat on, "It doesn't have to be here, Damon."

Damon took a step towards the teen as he ate another piece of his popcorn, "Now I'm going to forget you just threatened me, and I'm going to walk away because someone wise told me to walk away from arguments rather than killing everyone..."

Faster than Anna liked, Damon turned Jeremy around and held him from behind with a relaxed arm under his chin. When Anna went to save Jeremy, Damon held up Jeremy's ring to her, and it had her pausing in fear. Damon smirked at the dread he could smell coming from them, "This is what we're not gonna do..." He squeezed on Jeremy's neck, "We're not gonna walk around like we are invincible when it's this easy for me to end you." He pushed Jeremy towards Anna, and threw the ring up in his hand, and caught it. "If you want to tell people what I really am, go ahead and try..." Damon sped towards the teen and held the ring in front of his glaring face, "I will shove this ring so far up your ass, you'll really have something to choke on."

Flicking the ring at Jeremy's face, Damon casually walked away from the couple and chuckled to himself, "Hmm. Aella was right. Threatening is so much better than killing... I can smell the fear much longer after I've threatened rather than killed."

MYSTIC FALLS HOSPITAL

"I'm sorry!" Caroline sobbed out. "I'm so sorry. I was just so hungry."

Matt was running around the room, locking the door and closing the blinds while his girlfriend had crawled to the corner and held her blood-stained mouth in her knees that were held tightly against her chest. As soon as he had come out of his shock, Matt was on a mission.

Matt paused as he stood in front of the nurse's body before he shakily got down his knees and pressed around her wounded neck to check her neck. Caroline's sob's echoed around the small as his trembling fingers felt for a pulse.

It took too long, far too long before there was a beat against his blood-covered fingers. Holding back his joy, Matt waited until he felt another jolt that had him turning to Caroline, "She's alive! Quick, get paper towels."

Caroline could only sob in relief at the news, "Oh my god! Thank you. Thank you." 

But that would help the nurse, as Matt tried to stop the flow of blood with his hands and snapped at the blonde, "Caroline! Get me paper towels now!"

It was a tone he'd never taken on with his girlfriend, and it caused her to freeze for a moment until she was crawling to the bathroom that was connected to her room. As she reached the sink, Caroline pulled herself up with it, tears rolling at the bloodstains she made on the white porcelain with her hands. The tears turned to sobs again as she saw the blood around her mouth. Mechanically, she turned the tap on full blast and began washing her hands before throwing the water up at her face and cleaning the blood away as quickly as she could.

Once she'd washed away the blood, she pulled as many paper towels out of the dispenser as she could and ran them to Matt, who was still holding onto the nurse's neck.

"Here," Caroline pushed the paper towels towards him, and he quickly placed them on the nurse's wounds. "I'm so sorry, Matt. I'm so, so, so sorry."

"We have to move her to the bathroom," Matt ignored her as he focused on the nurse, his tone almost mechanical. "We need to clean her and the room up before we move her and make it look like an accident."

Splaying her fingers out in a fan against her breastbone, Caroline nodded furiously, "Okay. Anything."

Matt looked her over, his stomach heavy as he took in the state of her, "You need to get out of that gown and dispose of it." He nodded to the nurse's legs, "Help me get her into the bathroom."

With tears falling, the two teens picked up the nurse and walked her into the bathroom.

MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

Aella gulped down her fourth bottle of water in the last 30 minutes. She was suddenly so thirsty and had no idea why. When she'd returned to the same booth for another bottle for the third time, Sam, who was running it, actually asked her if she was selling them on the black market. She'd gone to a different booth for the fourth. Rubbing her throat, she took deep breaths to hopefully draw it away when she heard two familiar voices and stood up straight. Tossing the empty bottle into the trash, she stepped out of the darkness and waved at the two Lockwood's, "Hey, you two."

The nephew and uncle walked over to her, Mason's eyes proud as he looked around, "When Tyler told me you had organized this, I was surprised. But you've done an awesome job."

"Thanks, Mayo," Aella grinned, laughing when Mason winced at the name and pointed at him. "Okay, I am so not calling you anything else all night."

"I might join you," Tyler laughed at his uncle's expression until Mason glared at him and hid his smile. "Maybe not."

"Seriously," Mason laughed. "If we had something like this when I came here, I would have liked this town a hell of a lot more."

"Well, it wasn't all me," Aella admitted with a small smile. "My best friend, Caroline, basically organized everything. I just told people where things went."

"More like ordered," Tyler snorted as he pointed his thumb at the brunette. "She may look innocent, but she is the best second in command when you need someone to scare the workers to get the jobs done."

Aella smiled proudly at the compliment as Mason laughed, "Believe me, I know that. Try babysitting her..." He bumped hips with Aella, "This girl could have made me do anything with just one look back then."

"You mean this look," Aella laughed as she pouted and made her eyes begin to water. "Please, Mawo."

"No," Mason hid his eyes from her. "I'm not being hooked by that look again. It is deadly."

After their laughter subsided, Aella looked around, "So have you two played anything?"

"We were just scouting when you called us over," Tyler answered her.

Mason looked down at the brunette, "What can you recommend, Miss Organiser?"

Aella grinned mischievously as she punched Mason's muscled arm, "I think I have the perfect game for the two of you. It'll really show us who's the better Lockwood."

Tyler smugly wiped the invisible dust from his shoulder, "We all know who that'll be."

Mason accepted the challenge and nodded at Aella's idea, "Well then, show us the way."

Aella jumped excitedly as she began leading them through the crowds, "This is going to be awesome!"

MYSTIC FALLS HOSPITAL

"Hey! It's Aella. So, haha, funny story, my phone and I are playing hide and seek....aaannnddd... it's winning. I'll call you back as soon as I find it! Hey, before you leave that message, do you want to know something about me? I love jokes. You want to know something I hate? I hate long messages, so why don't you leave a short one, and I'll get back to you. If you leave a long one, don't count on it."

Matt growled at Aella's voicemail; why the hell hadn't she changed it since they all told her it was awful. But knowing his friend, she would have kept it on for just that reason.

Closing his phone with a firm snap, Matt looked back down at Caroline's nurse. He had finally cleaned up the blood from her wounds; he had called Aella when Caroline had returned to her room to begin cleaning the blood there. His brain had not caught on that could be a foolish idea considering his girlfriend had been drinking said blood previously. Besides, he was just running on adrenaline and getting this whole thing sorted before someone caught them.

Checking the nurse's pulse, Matt sighed in relief when he still felt a pulse. It seemed the cotton pads he'd found in the bathroom were doing a good job at halting anymore bleeding as his blue eyes glanced back at the hospital room. It had been considerably quiet since he failed to contact Aella, and he'd left Caroline. Lifting the nurse, Matt returned to the room, but instead of seeing his girlfriend cleaning the floor, the room was bare, and the window was open, the blinds moving gently in the wind.

As his eyes glanced about the still room, Matt noticed a bright red piece of paper on the floor slowly becoming saturated with the uncleaned blood. As he bent down, cautious of the nurse in his arms, Matt turned the paper and sighed heavily when he saw it was a flyer for the carnival, and his worst fear came to fruition.

"Oh, Caroline."

His eyes glanced between the nurse and the open window before he took a deep breath, and as gently as he could be, he placed the Nurse back on the floor. With a sudden onset of adrenaline, he reached for the emergency button. He pressed it before he ran to the window and jumped out. His guilt easing at leaving the nurse alone as he heard the medical staff running into the room, shouting that a nurse was down.

Jumping into his truck, Matt gripped the steering wheel as hard as he could as the tears began to fall for the first time that night. Still unsure what the hell was going on, Matt wiped away the tears with the back of his sleeve before he turned on his truck and began heading to the high school. He needed to find Caroline before she hurt anyone else.

MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

"Ta-da!" Aella proudly showed off the wrestling club's booth, the arm wrestling competition.

Turning back to the nephew and uncle duo, a feeling of lightheadedness sent her wobbling into Mason's worried arms. Unfortunately for Aella, as his hands went to steady her, she was flashed with a familiar image; golden eyes.

A gasp brought her out of the vision and firmly in Mason's arms when the lightheadedness disappeared, and she suddenly felt normal.

"Hey," Mason looked down at her, his eyes full of concern.

"Yeah," Aella pulled back to stand on her own with a nervous laugh. At Tyler's uncertainty, she punched his arm softly, "Seriously, Ty. I'm fine. Probably the stress of today getting the best of me." Hoping to get the attention off of her, she waved her hands at the arm wrestling booth, "Soooo? Shall we?"

Mason didn't answer her immediately, but he nodded with a growing smile when he saw she was somewhat okay. "I think this will definitely separate the men from the boys."

"Without a doubt, it's going to be me," Tyler cockily walked towards the booth, knowing Aella wouldn't want him fussing over her.

"Greg!" Aella pointed at one of the wrestling team's volunteers for the booth. "Let's get these men set up!"

When Greg's eyes saw it was Tyler walking towards him, he rang the bell loudly, "Step right up, folks! Let's have a round of applause for our two-time arm wrestling champ, Tyler Lockwood!"

Mason pointed at Aella with betrayal, "Did you know about this?"

Aella pushed him towards the table, "C'mon, Mayo. Show us how you'll separate the men from the boys." Aella ran over to Greg and laughed into the microphone. "And he is against the best damn babysitter a rebellious child could have, a former captain of the Timberwolves..." She laughed as the wrestling team started to howl at her announcement, "Mr. Mason Lockwood, everyone!"

Quite a few ladies were cheering as Mason stepped up to the other side of the table opposite his nephew. As the two locked eyes, Aella noticed Stefan and Damon casually watching from the sidelines and winked at the two before she turned back to the competition. With a nod at Greg, the wrestler dinged the bell, and they all watched with enjoyment as two bulging arms faced off against each other.

"Go, Mayo!" Aella jumped, clapping. When Tyler's eyes focused on her for a moment with betrayal, she stuck her tongue out at him.

Mason's eyes were full of laughter as he watched Tyler put his all into trying to beat his uncle, and Mason let it go on for a few moments. Then, to keep the crowd happy, Mason's arm pushed Tyler's without any effort, and the former champ was defeated.

Aella winced at the sound of Tyler's arm coming into contact with the wooden table as Greg announced to all, "We have a new champ, everybody!"

Tyler shook off his arm as his uncle teased, "What? Is that it?"

Accepting defeat, Tyler looked around the crowd, "Okay, he's the champ. Who wants to go next?"

Aella's smile slipped when Damon suddenly said out loud, "Stefan wants a go."

Tyler's gesture for Stefan to step forward only made Aella's go wide, which widened as Stefan apprehensively agreed, "Yeah, sure, I'll uh... give it a shot."

As he reached the table, Aella stepped up to him, "Is this Damon's idea of a joke?" She glanced at Damon, who only winked at her.

Stefan shrugged as he kissed the side of her head, "We're checking a theory."

As Stefan stepped before Mason, Damon shouted out, "Who you gonna shout for now, Pixie?"

Aella scowled at the vampire before Mason gestured between her and Stefan, "This the boyfriend?"

Aella nodded as Stefan and Mason joined hands, "My brother thinks I should pull the alpha card because my girlfriend was cheering for you."

Mason smirked at him, "Well, I was her first boyfriend when she announced it to the world when she was 10. So I gotta keep my rep in check."

Two bulging arms faced off, and Aella made it no secret who she was cheering for, "Go, Stef!"

The competition was different from the one between Mason and Tyler as both males locked eyes and fought with all their strength to beat one another. Aella wondered how long Stefan would play with Mason until a surprising look came on Stefan's face as Mason began beating him.

With a quick look at Damon, who was straightening up as Stefan began to lose, Aella's panicked form flicked her hand. Stefan's arm finally pushed Mason's into the table, and the bell rang. Stefan's wide eyes met hers, obviously realizing she had used her magic to help him. At the same time, Mason looked in confusion at his arm.

Tyler seemed to take compassion on his uncle and lead him away from the cheering crowd, "It's all good, Mason. He's a beast on the field too."

Stefan softly grabbed Aella's, and he walked them into a quiet corridor as Damon stomped up to them, "You didn't put in any effort at all! Pixie had to help."

"It was reflex," Aella winced.

Stefan looked flatley at his brother, "I actually did try."

Damon's eyes widened, "Is he...?"

Aella snorted as Stefan shook his head, "No, no, it wasn't that kind of strength, but it was more than human, if that makes any sense." When Damon looked confused, Stefan gestured to Aella, "I knew as soon as Aella had used magic. I'd know if I'd gone against you. But it was different."

Damon leaned against a row of lockers in confusion, "What is up with that family? They're not vampires; what the hell are they?"

Stefan let out a weary smile, "Ooh, ah, maybe they're, um, ninja turtles!"

Aella's eyes widened as Stefan joked and pointed at her smirking boyfriend, "You told a joke during a serious moment."

Damon began pacing and pointed at his brother, "You're not funny." He then turned that finger to Aella, "This is your influence."

Aella didn't know whether to be insulted or proud, especially when Stefan's jokes continued, "Or no, zombies, werewolves."

"No comedic timing at all," Damon sadly sighed. When his eyes caught onto one of the carnival men repairing a light, an idea went off in his head. "I think I have an idea."

Aella winced as she checked her watch, "I hate when he says things like that. And now I have to meet, E."

Damon ignored her as his eyes watched the repairman while Stefan kissed her lips. "I'll deal with him; you go and meet with Elena."

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Elena and Aella walked through the carnival as Elena updated her on the games she was supervising, "The ring toss quickly ran out of out of Bart and Homer dolls and Team Jacob T's-"

"As they rightly should," Aella proudly nodded as she raised her fist to the sky. "Team Jacob, every time."

Elena rolled her eyes but continued, "But I got the remaining ones from the science club, so we have no overflow."

"We have extra Wall-E plush in the art room and Iron Man t-shirts in the teacher's lounge," Aella advised the brunette. "Ric said that some teachers were hoping to take the tee's if there were no overflow, but, c'est la vie."

Elena raised an impressed brow, "I think that's the first time you've used a french phrase correctly. Madame Henry would be so proud."

"Oh," Aella excitedly turned to her best friend, practically leaping on the spot. "I have an amazing french joke."

Elena suddenly looked at her watch, "Oh, look at that. I better go find those plushies before we run out."

Aella scowled as her best friend practically ran away, "Et Tu, Brute?"

"Who are we calling a traitor now?" Stefan wound his arms around her waist.

"Elena," Aella pouted as she turned in his arms. "I had a really good joke, and she ran away."

"Hmm?" Stefan frowned playfully as he rocked them. "Does it include a sexual reference?"

"Nope," Aella shook her head.

"Swearing?"

"No."

Stefan raised a dubious brow, "Even cheerleader?"

"No," Aella whined into his chest. "It was about an egg."

Stefan laughed into her hair, "An egg?"

"Yeah," Aella's voice was muffled against his t-shirt. "And now it's wasted."

"You can tell me," Stefan smiled, which widened when Aella pulled back with hope in her eyes.

"Really?" She breathed happily. At Stefan's nod, she pulled back and shook herself from all of the negativity before she pointed at Stefan with a cheesy smile, "So you know why they-"

"Aella!"

Aella would have screamed in frustration if it wasn't for the terror in Matt's voice as he shouted her name. The witch and vampire turned and saw his pale features, wide eyes, and the blood on his t-shirt. Without hesitating, the duo ran over to Matt, who could only breathe out with relief at finding them.

"Matt?" Aella worried as she looked at him. The fear she had felt simmering all day, letting loose in her stomach. "What's wrong?"

Aella's biggest fear was confirmed when Matt's eyes sadly met her's, "It's Caroline."

Stefan herded them away from the crowds into the parking lot Matt had just emerged from as the blonde teenager shakily pushed his hands through his hair, "It was so crazy..." Matt began pacing, and Aella's fears only increased. "The nurse... she just on the floor-it was-I can't-"

"Matt?" Stefan stepped towards him, seeing he was struggling. "Take a deep breath and tell us exactly what you saw."

After he took a shuddering breath, Matt opened his mouth to speak. His following words had Aella tumbling onto to the ground, holding her mouth in pure shock as Stefan was stunned for the second time that night:

"Caroline was on the floor, drinking her blood."

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"Hey, Shirley Temple," Damon smirked when he saw Caroline striding towards him in the shadows. "They let you out?"

Caroline paused at his voice before she stepped out of the shadows, and he saw the bloodstain around her mouth, "Hello, Damon."

Eye wide, Damon stepped towards her and took hold of her arm, "Are you okay?" He reached for the phone in his pocket, "I can call, Aella."

"No!" Caroline pulled on the arm that held her; faster and stronger than they both expected, Caroline shoved him against the lockers. "You can't tell, Aella!"

"What happened?" Damon could only stare sadly at the blonde. "You were fine. It's impossible. You're becoming a..."

As if a switch in Caroline's brain had been switched, she snarled in Damon's face, "Katherine said 'Game on.'" She then twisted him under her arm, picking him up effortlessly, and threw him down the darkened corridor. As he hit a row of lockers, only then did Caroline realize what had happened, and she whimpered as she looked around her. Her eyes focused on the dazed Damon as she shakily apologized, "I'm sorry."

She had sped off before he could say anything. Damon let his head fall against the lockers, "Well, things just got very bad."