MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

"No, no, no, no, no!" Aella sobbed into her arms as Matt's words hit her. "No." She shook her head against her arms as if convincing herself. "No, this cannot be happening."

Stefan could only stare at his girlfriend sadly as Matt looked in shock at the ground. Stefan had quickly questioned the boy around the circumstances of finding Caroline, and it was the nail in the coffin as he confirmed she was, in fact, drinking the nurse's body when he'd found her.

Matt still had no idea what was going on, but to hear it being spoken by someone other than himself, it had knocked Matt totally out. He had caught his girlfriend drinking the blood of her nurse, and he'd helped cover it up before she'd runoff.

He fell onto the ground next to Aella, her sobs not registering with him.

Stefan roughly ran his hands through his hands, his girlfriend's sobs resonating more with each cry.

When Jeremy and Anna emerged, the vampire hearing Aella's cries, Stefan felt a small sense of relief. Jeremy marched over to Stefan as Anna sat beside Aella and held the witch close. No one deserved to feel like this alone. As if the comfort was too much for her, Aella fell into the young vampire's arms and began crying loudly.

Jeremy was utterly perplexed, "What the hell happened?"

Stefan's eyes glanced at Aella for a moment, "Caroline... Caroline's a vampire."

While he hadn't said the words out loud to Matt, communicating them to Jeremy made the situation feel real, and it made him feel sick to his stomach. Jeremy's form hunched over at the news as if someone had punched him in the stomach. His eyes shot to Aella, crying in his girlfriend's arm, and it suddenly all made sense.

"Aella's attack."

Stefan mournfully nodded, "We should have checked. Matt would have had no idea if she'd been changed; we only thought she could be hurt. I never thought Kathe-"

"Katherine?" Jeremy frowned. "You think she did this?"

"Without a doubt," Stefan nodded, twisting his lip in his finger. "She wanted to punish Aella and me. This was the easiest way. When she compelled Tyl-" He suddenly stopped and groaned out loud, remembering what Damon had done. He looked at the confused teen, "I need a favor?"

"Anything," Jeremy nodded, needed a job to help erase the sounds of Aella's sob from his mind.

Anna and Jeremy were sent to watch over Tyler, following Damon's compulsion plan. It hadn't come at a worse time, but Stefan had promised Aella he would deal with Damon, and letting Tyler hurt another person to prove a point wasn't dealing with his brother.

Stefan was about to pull Aella into his arms when Damon and Elena ran over to them. Elena was already crying as she ran towards her best friend. The fact that Elena and Damon were together informed Stefan that somehow they knew. When Elena's arms encircled Aella and two sets of sobs echoed around the car park, he knew that for sure.

Stepping up to Damon, he frowned, "How did you know?"

"Blondie sent me on a ride down the corridor when I saw her," Damon only shrugged, but Stefan could see his brother was rattled. Especially when his eyes glanced at the two sobbing girls and the catatonic Matt. When he heard people entering the car park, he knew the girls crying would only attract attention and nodded to the school, "We need to get them out of view."

Stefan didn't disagree and walked over to the girls. Elena pulled away at his appearance while Aella seemed to jump into his arms as her heartbreaking cries broke his heart. "It can't be true, Stefan. It can't."

Damon answered her as he helped Elena up while Stefan rose with Aella safely in his arms. Sadly the raven-haired vampire looked at her, "It is true, Pixie. I'm sorry, but it is true."

No sound came from Aella's mouth as they walked towards the school, Damon's sad but true confession the trigger that finally broke Aella Bennett.

.................................................

.................................................

Caroline's senses were turned up to a maximum as she stumbled around the carnival.

Blood. Heart's beating. Blood. Food; she was so hungry.

Yet it was the overload of her senses that caused Caroline to run away from the people, the lights, the sounds, and cry into her arms as she fell back onto an unused trailer.

.................................................

.................................................

Aella stared out at nothing as Stefan rubbed her back, hopefully in comfort, as Damon paced in front of them. They had migrated to Ric's classroom, and while Aella was silent, Matt was the opposite. He was whispering fiercely to Elena, asking her what the hell was going on. Unfortunately, the teen had no clue what to tell him and listened to his furious questions as she stroked his back.

Stefan numbly shook his head, "How did this happen?"

Damon shrugged as he continued pacing, "Well, I fed her my blood, and Katherine obviously killed her. A plus B equals..."

Matt tensed at Damon's words while Elena's tears sadly fell down her face as she asked the questions they all were thinking, "But why? Why turn Caroline into a vampire?"

"Because Katherine is a manipulative, nasty, little slut," Damon snarled, his eyes focusing on the sullen witch, which seemed to only ignite him more.

"And she said 'game on?'" Stefan's brow furrowed. "I mean, what does that even mean?"

Damon kicked Ric's desk, "Because it's a game to her, it's all a game. It means she's playing dirty, and she wants us to know."

"But why, Caroline?" Elena questioned again, unaware of Matt slowly pulling from her.

Damon's eyes glanced at Aella, and while he didn't say it out loud, they all knew what he was saying. Even Aella, despite all the white noise that was going on in her mind.

Stefan pinched the bride of his nose, "Caroline must be completely out of her mind."

"Will it help that she knows about vampires?" Elena asked with some hope.

"Maybe," Damon shrugged.

Stefan straightened up, "We have to find her."

Damon nodded in agreement, "Yep," But what followed was not accepted as kindly. "And kill her."

Elena jumped off the desk and furiously pointed at him, "You are not gonna kill Caroline."

"She's officially a liability..." Damon argued, eyes full of sympathy but mind made up. "Everything going on with Katherine, this will not help things at all. We've got to get rid of her."

Stefan firmly shook his head. His worry over Aella doubled when Damon's words didn't even phase her, so it was up to him to be her voice. "Damon, absolutely not."

Damon's next words seemed to be the coup de grâce of the conversation as he mentioned someone very familiar to the group, "Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named, Vicki Donovan? Caroline, of all people, will not make it as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter. Guys come on, we all know how this story's gonna end; just flip to the last chapter an-"

"You're the monster."

Damon, Elena, and Stefan frowned when Matt's voice echoed in the room. Elena stepped towards the blonde boy, "Matt?"

"Vampire's?" Matt whispered to himself as he shook his head as it all seemed to hit him. "Oh, my God, Vicki. A-at the hospital, I-I thought that she was tripping out..." Standing, he looked around wearily, "Vicki, she knew about vampires, and I...What..." He paused as he turned to Damon, glaring at the vampire. "What did you do?" Suddenly he ran towards Damon, and with all his strength, he pushed the vampire against the door, "What did hell you do to my sister?" He shook the emotionless vampire, them all missing the quiet whisper from Aella for him to stop. "What did you do?!"

Damon easily pushed the teen away, "What needed to be done."

"Stop," Aella whispered again, but her voice was still too quiet as the intensity of Matt's anger had everyone focused on that.

Matt again charged towards the vampire, and this time, Damon fought back without using his strength, which seemed to ignite the teen, and he cried out with anger as he wrestled with the vampire.

"Stop," Aella whispered. "Stop. Stop. Stop." Stefan turned at her voice and could only push Elena down with his vampire speed as Aella's mouth opened once more, "Stop!" Her scream echoed the room and shattered every window the classroom had. Tears fell down her face as everyone faced her, and she whispered, "Just stop."

When Matt's eyes fell on hers, a mix of betrayal and shock, her heart began to ache for another reason. Shaking his head, he slowly walked to the damaged door as he whispered to the witch, "Not you too." It was all he could take, and calmly he opened the classroom door and walked away from them all.

The group looked to Aella as she slid from the desk, "We look for Caroline." Her eyes darted to Damon, "And we protect her. Damon, you're with me. Elena is with Stefan." She walked towards the door, and like Matt had done, her hand rested on the door handle as she spoke, "And if you hurt her, Damon..." She looked over her shoulder. Damon could have sworn he saw fire within her eyes, "I will destroy you."

It wasn't a threat, it was a promise, and one Damon began to take very seriously.

As Aella left the room with a concerned Stefan following, Elena went to follow when Damon stopped her, "It's the only way."

Elena could see he truly believed Caroline couldn't be helped, but Damon had never had the support Caroline had. Elena smiled sadly at him, "No, there isn't."

She walked away with Damon watching after her before he followed after her.

.................................................

.................................................

Carter held a tissue to his bleeding nose as he walked to his truck and trailer, cursing at the hot head that came at him so suddenly. He moved to get in his vehicle when he heard a sniffle. Turning at the very feminine noise, he slowly looked around when he saw a girl leaning against his trailer, crying.

"Hey, is everything okay?"

Caroline held her breath and went silent at the call. She whispered in terror to herself, "Oh no."

Carter, thinking something must have happened to make her so scared, held up his hands, including bloody tissue, as he shuffled towards her, "What's wrong?"

Caroline quickly stood, her back to the man, "I got to go."

"Wait, please," Carter reached for her arm, "Are you okay? I mean..."

Caroline pulled away from the man, not wanting to hurt him, "Just leave me alone!"

"If someone's hurt you..." Carter softly spoke to her, worried something serious had happened. "I can help you."

Caroline sobbed as she turned to him, but instead of his kind face, she looked at his neck and clearly detected his pulse. What seemed to be the cherry on the top was the blood dripping from his nose as if in a daze; she slowly walked to him, "I'm so sorry."

Carter was confused, "Wha-?" Before he could finish his question, Caroline rushed behind him and bit him twice. Pushing him onto the bed of his truck, she sat on his chest and ravenously drank again.

.................................................

.................................................

Aella walked along the edge of the carnival with a purpose, Damon following her. Her person, her friend, her Caroline, was going through a horrific thing, and she wasn't there. Aella needed to be there.

Damon sped up his walking to catch up to the witch, trying to get her attention with his eyes, but she was too focused, "Aella, you have to think this through."

It was the use of her name and not the silly nicknames he gave her that had Aella stopping for a few seconds to tell the vampire precisely what she thought. "I don't care, Damon. Throughout this shitty year, I have fought for everyone because it was the right thing to do, and if you think I'm selfish... so what?! This is Caroline. She comes first; she always comes first."

As she walked off again, Damon rolled his eyes up to the heavens before he turned and caught her up, "I know that. I somewhat understand. But she's not going to be your Caroline, she's goin-"

"What?!" Aella spun towards him so quickly he was taken aback. The small brunette scowled up at him, fresh tears falling down her face. "She's going to be a monster? She's an abomination? You may think that of yourself, Damon, but I won't." Aella furiously shook her head as she harshly wiped her eyes. "You, Stefa, Lexi... you're not that. I've seen the good in all of you, and the same will be for Caroline. So please..." Aella grasped Damon's black shirt in her fist, pulling at it in desperation, "Please. Help me find her."

Damon could say it was her plea that changed his mind, but really it was the anguish in Aella's voice, face, and grip on his t-shirt that did it. The plea was unnecessary. He hated seeing his friend like this because that was what she was; his friend. And as Aella had told him before, friends don't let friends go through the worst alone. Taking hold of her hands, Damon squeezed them, "Okay. We'll help her."

Aella's breath shuddered as she took in fresh air to her compressed lungs, "Thank you."

Damon slowly removed her hands; his t-shirt was BOSS. Before he could make a quip about her hands ruining a $200 t-shirt, Damon frowned.

"What?"

Damon looked down at her, "Blood. I can smell blood."

Damon's hand was grasping Aella's and pulling her before she could question him. Yet all questions, all thoughts, flew from her mind when she saw her best friend sitting on the grass sobbing into her folded legs and a very dead body lying next to her.

As she stepped towards Caroline, Damon reached to stop her, but she hit him away and continued. This was Caroline, her Caroline; hurting her would be the last thing Caroline would ever want. Vampire or not.

Gently sitting next to her blonde friend, Aella gently smiled, "Hey, Care-Bear."

Even though she had detected her best friend had sat next to her, Caroline froze; hearing Aella's voice made it all real. Caroline's sobs increased as her biggest fear became a reality, Aella finding out she had become the monstrosity they were fighting.

For the first time ever, Aella didn't know what to say. Every time her mouth opened to speak to her best friend, she realized they wouldn't do her or Caroline any justice. No, not words. But action. And so, Aella shuffled forward, despite Damon's noise of objection, and wrapped her arms around Caroline.

Again, Caroline froze; in her mind, this was the last thing she had expected from her best friend, and she didn't know what to do. Aella chuckled sadly at the blonde's reaction, "C'mon, C. Don't leave me hanging. Vampire or not, you are still my Number One."

It was as if the final straw for Caroline, and faster than Aella expected, with her new vamp speed, Caroline jumped onto her and held her tight as she began crying into her best friend's shoulder. Sobbing the same two words again and again, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Damon had stepped forward in concern at the move, but Aella held up her hand to the vampire before she placed it on Caroline's head and just held onto her tight.

"It's okay," Aella silently cried with her.

"It's not okay, Aella," Caroline pulled back bitterly, and it allowed Aella to see the mess her best friend was in. "Look at me."

Aella gulped as she saw her best friend's face covered with blood. With a weary chuckle, Aella stroked Caroline's face, "Well, we always did say red was your color."

The laugh that escaped Caroline's mouth wasn't one of humor or joy but of relief as her best friend's sardonic banter wiped away any fears she had of Aella hating her. But that laugh was quickly replaced with one of grief as she finally said the words out loud to the person she loved most in this world, "I'm dead."

It took all of Aella's control to not sob at the whimper of words that were released from Caroline's lips as she nodded suddenly, "I know."

"I'm a vampire," Caroline continued, needing to finally come to terms with what was going on.

Aella only nodded again, her hands tightening her grip on Caroline's, "You are."

Caroline again fell into her best friend's arms. She began sobbing again, the realization of what had happened to her too much to handle. Mournfully, Aella looked back to Damon and was surprised when she saw Elena and Stefan there. Her friend, silently crying into her hands after hearing their conversation. While her boyfriend, Stefan, he looked down at her with a promise - Katherine was going to pay.

"Caroline?"

Aella felt sick as her cousin's question hung around them. Caroline glanced up at her name, but instead of seeing Bonnie standing behind Stefan, she saw the face of the person who did this to her. With speed, still unnatural to her, Caroline jumped to her feet from Aella's arms and began backing away, "Get away from me! You killed me!"

In the back of her mind, she knew it was Elena and not Katherine, but the fear of the older vampire took hold of her - even as Elena, one of her closest friends, stepped forward, eyes full of pain. "No, no, no, no, Caroline, That wasn't me. You know that. That was Katherine."

Aella was still on the floor as she watched Elena try to convince Caroline she wasn't Katherine. It was like all her energy, all that stress at finally finding Caroline, had gone. Caroline was safe, for now. Unfortunately, being out of the loop, Bonnie was not so calm as her eyes spotted the red around Caroline's mouth, "Caroline?"

Aella tensed up as Bonnie seemed to come to the realization of what they all knew. Looking over her shoulder, she saw her cousin step back from the force of the thought as she stuttered out, "N-No, you're n-not; y-you can't be." Aella slowly rose up as Bonnie's hands embraced her own face, knowing what was hidden from view, "Not you. Not you too."

Her words were like a dagger to Caroline's heart as she sobbed out her friend's name, "Bonnie."

But all that was folly as Bonnie's eyes caught the body laying behind Caroline, the body of the man that had made her feel normal for the first time in months. Her heart caught in her throat as Bonnie apprehended Caroline had killed Carter, "Oh, god!"

Caroline's face crumpled, knowing what Bonnie had just seen as she wept, "Bonnie."

But Bonnie wasn't listening as Aella began to feel her cousin's power beginning to build and slowly moved in front of Caroline, noticing Stefan and Damon doing the same. Unfortunately for Damon, that put him in the eyes of Bonnie, and it was the excuse she needed to finally kill him. Her chin lifted as Damon fell to the ground in agony, thousands of aneurysms exploding within his brain until Aella pushed him behind her, calling out her cousin's name. "Stop, Bonnie."

Yet Bonnie was in a trance, and her hand moved to propel her cousin away from Damon. Unexpectedly, Caroline's new reflexes saw this happening in slow motion and pushed her best friend away from Bonnie's sight, underestimating her new strength. The push sent Aella into a nearby tree as Bonnie's magic hit Caroline and set her in the opposite direction.

Stefan wasted no time rushing to Aella, who could only groan at the discomfort in her ribs as Bonnie stalked towards Damon again, releasing a hose from the building next to them and starting a fire within the liquid. Elena could only watch on in horror as the fire headed towards Damon. He could only hold his head again in agony as Bonnie attacked it. Bonnie's face was hard as she looked down at the raven-haired vampire, "I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt."

Damon howled in agony, "I didn't do this!"

Even Elena frantically tried to convince her best friend, "Bonnie, it wasn't his fault."

"Everything that happens is his fault, Elena," Bonnie glared at the vampire, her words full of hatred as she focused all her power on him, and the fire lit him alight.

"Enough!" Aella's hand sliced through the air. All of a sudden, the fire was gone, Damon was without pain - not burning to his death, and Bonnie was on the ground, staring wide-eyed at her cousin. "That is enough, Bonnie!"

Aella's form was leaning heavily against her boyfriend as Caroline timidly hid behind the two. Damon shakily got to his feet and stood next to the couple. Bonnie looked up at her cousin with betrayal, "This is his fault!" Bonnie pointed at Damon, "This is all his fault."

"No, it's not, Bonnie," Aella slowly pulled away from Stefan, to the displeasure of Stefan. Kneeling down to face her cousin, she winced at the pull on her ribs as she was honest with Bonnie. "Elena is a doppelganger, her mother is a vampire, her uncle/father is a vampire hunter... eventually, this world would have all been revealed. Eventually, Katherine would have come. I'm a witch. You're a witch, something we shared before most of us knew vampires were real. Damon is just the easiest person to put the blame on." Glancing over at her crying best friend, who Stefan held close to him in place of herself. Her eyes darkened as she looked back to her crying cousin, "But Caroline, that's on Katherine... and you."

Bonnie's eyes and mouth went wide at her cousin's harsh words, "What?"

Elena shook her head, not wanting this moment to happen here, "Aella I-"

"No, Elena," Aella held up a hand to her friend. Leaning closer, ignoring the pull at her ribs, Aella finally told her cousin some home truths, that there were consequences to her selfish actions. "If you hadn't faked de-spelling the Gilbert Device, Tyler wouldn't have somehow been affected and crashed his car, an accident that was costing Caroline her life, until Damon-" she pointed at the vampire, not looking from her cousin, "-the vampire you are so desperate to kill, offered his blood and saved Caroline. Not you, not me, Damon."

"No," Bonnie shook her head as tears began to fall.

"Yes," Aella smiled without any humor, hating doing this to her cousin, but it needed to be done. Bonnie needed to be told. "Yes, Bonnie. Caroline would have never been hurt if you had just trusted in all of us."

Aella raised up as Bonnie cried out, "He needs to suffer; we can do that."

Aella's eyes closed in sadness; it seemed Bonnie had ignored everything she had said. But it was Elena that spoke instead of her, "Because this isn't us. Bonnie, this can't be us. Because if it is, we'll be the monsters."

"No," Bonnie shook her head as she stood up, angrily wiping the dirt from her clothes. "No, we were given the power to face this, to finish this."

Aella wearily shook her head as she stood face to face with her cousin, "No, we weren't, Bonnie. Ever since you were told you had magic, it's like you need the world to see and know how powerful you are, but that's not why we were gifted with these incredible abilities. We have a gift to help the vulnerable, change the stubborn's opinions, and make things balanced in the world. Our powers are not there to enact our hate or our judgments; they're there to help..." Aella glanced over her shoulder at Stefan and Damon, "Even those that consider themselves to be the most monstrous of all." Aella looked back at Bonnie, "Until you recognize that: you and your magic will never become one. You will lose your chance to become like all the Bennett's before us; strong, wise, and capable of changing the world. Until then, you need to stay away from us."

Aella began walking away as Bonnie gasped at her demand. When Aella's hands took hold of Caroline's and Stefan's and walked away from Bonnie, Bonnie's voice returned. "No. Aella, no."

Aella ignored her cousin's calls as tears fell down her face and instead held onto her two closest loved ones tighter.

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

Caroline numbly sat on Stefan's sink counter as Aella gently wiped away the blood on her face.

"Bonnie hates me," Caroline told them, a tear falling down her face.

Aella wiped it away as Stefan, who lent against the doorway with arms crossed, shaking his head, "No. She's just in shock."

"And you," Caroline nodded to the still silent Aella. "You just broke up with your cousin for me, for a vampire, a monster."

Aella stepped back in shock as Caroline's face quickly changed as her emotions forced her vampire features to appear. Stefan stepped towards the blonde as she mistook Aella's shock for fear. "See? I'm a murderer. I'm a monster."

"Look at me," Stefan commanded as he took Caroline's face in his hands. Aella began crying silent tears, wringing the soiled cloth in her hands; for the first time ever, she could not help her friend. "Your emotions are heightened right now," Stefan continued. "It's part of the transformation. It's completely normal. I promise you. Okay?"

But Caroline hated the changes, and when they began forcing themselves to appear again, she panicked, "Why? Why does this keep happening to my face?!"

"Look at me, Caroline," Stefan demanded, but the blonde was too in her head to listen to him. "Caroline!"

Caroline began clawing at her face, doing anything to remove the monstrous features. The scratches made her face bloody as Stefan tried to stop her, but her newborn status meant her strength was too much. Her anger and despair grew when the scratches healed as quickly as she put them there, so she scratched harder and faster until a hand grabbed hers, "Caroline, stop!"

The familiar touch made her body pause as she looked away from her reflection to the damp face next to hers. Turning to her best friend, Aella grasped her wrists, "Stop this right now."

"But-"

"-No," Aella told her. "No. You don't get to hurt yourself and call yourself a monster when you are the furthest thing from a monster." The cloth she had been twisting began wiping the new blood on Caroline's face. "You are Caroline Forbes; Miss Mystic Falls, Lead Cheerleader, and Head of the Planning Committee. But most of all, you are my Care-Bear, My Caroline, and My Person. I could never think of you as a monster. I could never hate you."

Caroline's hand took hold of the hand Aella wiped her face with. The hope in her voice was devastating to Aella, "Really?"

"Really." Aella nodded before she leaned forward and kissed her best friend's, now clean, cheek. "You and me until the end, right?"

Caroline pulled Aella into a hug, her tears falling into the brunette's hair, "Always."

Stefan watched the two proudly. If anyone could overcome the self-hate, the despair, and desolation at becoming a vampire, it would be Caroline. Just as long as she had Aella in her corner. Because those two, those two crazy but loveable best friends, we're capable of anything as long as they did it together.

MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL

The Carnival was over. It was silent as Bonnie sat next to Carter's body, crying at the 'what could have been.' Elena watched her from afar, unsure what to say after the evening they'd all had.

"Here."

Elena looked up as Damon appeared with two shovels, "What are you doing here?"

Damon shook the shovel, "We're on clean-up duty."

Elena shook her head at the vampire before she walked over to Bonnie and knelt down, "Bonnie. We need to take him."

Bonnie seemed to have missed what she was saying as she continued staring at the dead body and muttering, "I can't believe this is happening."

Damon ignored the witch and instead walked around her and lifted the man, ignoring the glare Bonnie shot him as he walked away with Carter's body. When she looked up and saw it was just the two of them, she frowned, "Where is everyone?"

Elena wondered if Bonnie was blocking everything that had happened with her and Aella, "Stefan and Aella took Caroline to Stefan's to clean her up."

Bonnie tiredly rubbed her eyes, "Caroline's a vampire."

Elena swallowed heavily, "Yeah, she is. But she's still our Caroline."

Bonnie snorted, although there was no humor to it as she looked to Elena for the first time, "You sure about that?"

"Yes," Elena replied confidently to her. "As long as she has Aella and Stefan, she's going to be fine."

The fact that Elena sounded so confident in their friend and Bonnie hadn't had fresh tears falling down her face, "Elena, I messed up."

Elena dropped her shovel as she pulled Bonnie into her as the witch began sobbing. "No. No, Bonnie. You haven't."

"Yes, I have," Bonnie cried in her best friend's arms. "Aella was right. I wanted to be powerful. I wanted to be a hero. Instead, I became the enemy." Elena said nothing, relieved her best friend was finally opening up to her again. "Caroline becoming a vampire is on me; I know that. And because of my stubbornness, I've lost one of my oldest friends and my cousin."

Elena slowly pulled away to look her best friend in the eye, "You haven't lost them, Bonnie. I promise. Things will be hard, but if you just try to look at everything from the outside, you can see things aren't as dark as you believed."

Bonnie began to stand, and Elena mimicked her as the witch wiped her tears away, "I think I need some time alone."

"Of course," Elena nodded. "But know... I'm always here for you, Bonnie."

Bonnie smiled; it was one of the only things she knew for sure.

Slowly the witch walked away as Elena watched on. She was soon joined by Damon, who held his jacket in one hand, and the dirtied shovel in the other, "Thanks for the help. Digging a hole by yourself really gives you time to contemplate life."

Elena scoffed, "Like the life of my brother, you nearly killed because of your temper."

Damon huffed, "I told you-"

"Yeah," Elena rolled her eyes as she interrupted him. "You said you saw his ring..." She turned to the vampire, eyes narrowed, "Until I know what the truth actually is, stay away from me, Damon."

As she walked away, he sighed heavily. Once again, Katherine had come in and messed with his life. Unfortunately, he knew too well this was only the start of her diabolical plans.

DONOVAN HOUSEHOLD

Matt sat on his couch, Vicki's letter to him laid out on the coffee table before. He hadn't read the letter since the night he found it, but as he now reread her words to him, it felt like a whole new letter.

Wiping his tears away, he stood up to go get another beer; three empty ones surrounded Vicki's letter. Just as he reached the kitchen, the doorbell echoed around the small home. With a grunt, he walked to the door and pulled it open, expecting to see Tyler. Instead, Aella was smiling tentatively up at him.

"Hi, Matt," She smiled. The fact she called him Matt and not Matty spoke a thousand words. The brunette nervously cleared her throat. "I think we need to talk."

Matt stared at her for a few moments, and she wondered if he was thinking of slamming it in her face. She wouldn't blame him if he did. But typical Matty, he instead held the door wider and allowed her in.

It was an olive branch... for now.