A/N: Sorry for the long wait, if you've checked my Instagram or profile you'll know I've had some pretty bad family issues happening that I'm now the main point of call for. Today is the first time in like 4 weeks I've sat at my computer. I'm not sure when I can update again but please know this story is not being abandoned, during times like this it's Aella that get's me through the rough times, so I could never abandon her. xoxo

MYSTIC FALLS WOODS

Caroline looked over at Stefan with a brow raised, "So, what do I do when I see the rabbit?"

Stefan stifled a smirk as he answered plainly, "Chase it, catch it, feed on it."

Caroline pouted as she shifted her crossed arm stance, "Isn't killing cute defenseless animals the first step in becoming a serial killer?" She then realized who she was talking to, "I-i mean not serial killer, but like..." She began to think of something other than a serial killer, biting her lip in awkwardness as Stefan tried with all his might not to laugh at her. Caroline whined when she couldn't think of anything less offensive and turned back to him, her pout more pronounced, "I just don't wanna be the thing that killed Bambi's mom, or Thumper.. Or Flowers!" Caroline's eyes watered as she thought of her favorite character, "I can't be the one to kill Flowers, Stefan!"

Stefan could see the moral dilemma building within Caroline and took hold of her shoulders and shook them a little, so she focused on herself, "Well one, you sort of skipped the serial killer and went straight to vampire, and second, Flowers was a skunk, even vampires avoid the skunks." Caroline let out a sigh of relief, though Stefan, very much in teacher-mode, continued. "You need to hunt Caroline, at least until you've lost your blood loss for every human you meet. Aella and I can't be around to keep others safe; if you're not serious about all of this, I think you should tell me."

"No, I am," Caroline nodded her head with complete certainty. "Look, I swear that I am okay? But it's just... I haven't been in the sun for days, Matt hates me, then Aella, soooo promised we would use your tub together because it was so big and awesome. And now she's in it and is probably hogging all the jacuzzi parts all to herself because she can."

Stefan couldn't help but chuckle. While most men would be drooling over the image of his gorgeous girlfriend and equally hot friend in his tub, he knew only the mess that would come from it. Arguing over the jets, bubbles flying everywhere, shouts of someone taking up too much room. He nudged Caroline to start walking with him and promised, "I promise, you can use the tub by yourself anytime you want, just please concentrate?"

Caroline raised a hesitant brow, "Swear?" When he nodded, she clapped as she jumped up and down, "Yay! Now back to, Being a Vampire 101."

"Well, for one," Stefan shrugged as he stuck his hands in his jeans pockets. "You've just experienced one of the main aspects of being a vampire - apart from the hunger." Caroline looked at him curiously, "When someone becomes a vampire, all of their natural behaviors get sort of amplified."

Caroline frowned, "What do you mean?"

Stefan thought of his own 'affliction', "I mean... as a human I cared deeply for people, how they felt. If they were hurting, I felt their pain, and I felt guilty if I was the one who caused it, and as a vampire, all of that got...magnified."

"I don't think that's so bad," Caroline told him. "You could be like Damon and not care at all."

Stefan snorted, "Yeah, Aella told me the exact same thing."

Caroline shared a knowing glance with him but glowered when she realized something, "So you're saying that now I'm basically an insecure, neurotic, control freak...on crack?"

"W-well, I wasn't gonna say it like that, but...hey," Stefan stuttered. "You have great style; just think of all the styles of clothing you can wear over the years. The future styles you'll be able to see and wear because you'll always look the same." Unfortunately, Stefan could see her mood wasn't raised by that and aimed at her the one thing she complained about daily. "Also, you never have to diet again because you'll never gain or lose weight again." Caroline looked at him in excitement, and Stefan knew then he was out of trouble. When he watched Caroline smile up at the lowering sun, he nudged her with a gentle smile, "Let's hunt, okay? And then after that, we'll just enjoy the sun."

Caroline smiled at him gratefully and looped her arm in one of his, "Thank you for this, Stefan."

Stefan only nodded in response before leading her further into the woods, explaining what she had to do for her first hunt.

DUKE UNIVERSITY

"So," Vanessa smiled over at Jenna as she looked for the Katherine Pierce box that Isobel had created. "A doppelganger for a niece, that's different."

Jenna hadn't let Vanessa out of her sight since she woke up, and the silence was becoming quite stifling. Jenna nodded from where she perched on the desk, "Just like a regular aunt and niece relationship, quite average. Now, Aella - she is someone we could speak of for hours."

Vanessa frowned as she inspected the writing on one of the boxes closer, Isobel's writing wasn't the most legible, "Aella? Is she your niece too?"

Jenna shook her head, "No, but I treat her just like Elena, and Elena's brother, Jeremy. They're all my kids, but Miss Aella Bennett, whoo, she can cause a person to never wish for kids - yet at the same time want a million of her."

Vanessa smiled to herself; she could hear the love in Jenna's eyes as she spoke, but then her mind flickered on the name Jenna had used, and she stood up straight. "Bennett, I'm sure I heard Isobel mention that name before."

Jenna's eyes widened when she realized she may have just made a mistake and shook her head, "Nope. No. Bennett, such a common name, I'm sure you heard someone saying it at the library or in the coffee shop, or in one of these many books that are here."

Vanessa ignored Jenna as the woman gestured quite comically to all of Isobel's books surrounding them. Her mind focused on the name practically shouting out to her. "Bennett?" She murmured to herself, oblivious to Jenna cursing herself for her loose lips. "Bennett? Elizabeth Bennett? No. Ella? No. Emm- Emily Bennett!" Vanessa turned to Jenna with happiness as she finally remembered the name. "Emily Bennett was with Katherine Pierce in the 1800s, is Aella related to her?"

"Nope," Jenna shook her head furiously. "Nope, nope, nope. No. Negative, Not possible." Even as she spoke, Jenna didn't believe herself as she denied Vanessa's question, even as Vanessa raised an unbelievable brow. Yet she still continued, "No way, not by any means, hell to the no, nope on a rope!" Seeing she was losing it, Jenna suddenly turned her head to where Alaric, Elena, and Damon were searching, "What was that, Elena?" She replied to no one. "Yes, I will come to help you."

As Jenna awkwardly ran out of the room, Vanessa returned to her search. However, the name Aella Bennett was still gleaming in her curious mind.

MYSTIC FALLS WOODS

Caroline finished wiping off the last of the blood around her mouth and turned to Stefan, "Not so messy this time, so yay for that!"

Stefan smiled, "You'll get better with time, I promise."

They began walking again, leaving their dinner for other animals to use for food. Caroline wouldn't tell Stefan, but when he had explained that she had sung 'The Circle of Life' in her head and sang it again while she had drunk the blood of the animal she hated killing just to survive.

Just as Caroline was about to ask Stefan about their remaining time, she heard a giggle with her enhanced hearing, along with a female voice saying a very familiar name. Then an answer came from the man with the very familiar name:

"Matt! You came."

"I needed a distraction; thanks for the invite, Aimee."

As if there was a tether between her and Matt, Caroline glanced over at Stefan for a split second, and before he could reign her back in, Caroline ran. Stefan let out an annoyed sigh before quickly running after her. Luckily for Stefan, with his experience at being a vampire, and the fact he'd drank his human blood that morning, he quickly caught up to the blonde just before she exposed herself. He pulled her to a complete stop.

"I'm sorry," Caroline immediately told him. "I just heard Matt's name and then his voice, and I-"

"-It's okay," Stefan interrupted Caroline, with a squeeze to the forearm he held. "Matt is one of the closest connections that you have to your humanity, it's not surprising you would do this."

"Can I... Can I see him?" Caroline softly asked him.

Stefan stared at Caroline for a second; it wasn't often she was so vulnerable with anyone other than Aella or Matt. When he nodded tentatively, she began to smile and pull at his grip, but Stefan held on firmly, "Wait, Caroline." His eyes scanned the group he could see through the treeline; he went to tell her it was okay when he heard a car pulling up and frowned when he saw it was Mason's.

Caroline frowned when she saw Mason exit the vehicle, "What's Mason doing here?"

Stefan only shook his head as they watched Mason stride over to where Aimee and Matt were standing. "Matt, right?" Mason asked the teenage boy.

Matt seemed to share a confused glance with Aimee, "Uh, yeah?"

Mason's eyes scanned the group of teenagers, "Is Tyler here?"

Aimee immediately shook her head, admiring Ty's hot uncle, "No, but he said we were cool to hang out here. It's the first hot day of the year."

Mason nodded, his eyes darting to every teen, "Okay, just make sure everyone is out of here by dark.

"What happens after dark?" Aimee smiled flirtatiously at the older man.

Mason only stared at her chilly attitude, "Someone ends up wasted and dead at the bottom of the lake. Just be out."

Aimee only saluted sarcastically to Mason, "Will do, Captain Funless." She turned back to Matt, essentially ignoring Mason and the man sighed heavily before returning to his vehicle. As he passed the trees Stefan and Caroline were just emerging from, he sent an icy look Stefan's way before he got back in his truck and drove away.

Caroline confusedly looked between Stefan and Mason's departing truck a few times before she finally asked the vampire, "Why are you looking at him with your serious vampire look?"

Stefan was actually taken aback by the question, My what? My 'vampire serious look'? What the hell is that?"

Caroline casually shrugged, "It's a system me and Aella came up with. I mean, it's different from your worried vampire look, neither of which stray too far from your 'hey-it's-Tuesday' look. Thankfully, since the two of us came into your boring life, you now have a 'hey-I-can-be-fun-too-Wednesday' look."

Stefan rolled his eyes, "I get it, okay. You think I'm...you think I'm too serious. Is that it?"

Caroline held up her hands, "I mean, I was not gonna say it like that, but..."

Stefan pushed the blonde away from him with a huff, "Just go say hi to Matt so we can leave."

"Pushy, pushy," Caroline waved her finger playfully at him. "No wonder, Aella is a happy girl." She turned to look for Matt, and her eyes narrowed when she saw the flirty look on Aimee Bradley's face aimed directly at her boyfriends. Taking a deep breath, Caroline slowly walked over to them so she could hear parts of their conversation:

"-know, you're missing all the fun in the water."

Matt simply held up his cast to the girl, "Not waterproof."

Aimee giggled, and the sound made Caroline wince with her newfound enhanced hearing, "Too bad. So, there's a full moon tonight. We're gonna light a fire later and tell ghost stories."

Caroline saw Matt seem to realize that Aimee was flirting with him as he stuttered out, "Uh, I don't know."

Before Aimee could open her mouth, Caroline had enough and walked over to the two with a bright smile on her face, "Matt!"

"Caroline?!" Matt turned in shock at her appearance. Suddenly Caroline realized that it was the first time she saw Matt since the carnival and her confidence dropped. "W-what are you doing h-here?"

Caroline licked her lips as her eyes glanced around everything but Matt, "I was taking a walk, and I heard the commotion. What are you doing here?"

Matt rubbed his good hand on the back of his neck; Caroline could hear his heart beating faster than usual. Sadly she could see he was either nervous or scared to be around her. "I um-" Matt stammered out. "I just need a place to let go, and I remembered Aimee's text."

The girl in question, who had been completely ignored until now, stepped forward with a phony smile on her face. "Caroline! How nice to see you here."

The artificial greeting grated on Caroline's already thin nerves, and she turned to the teenager with her own false smile, "Go find somebody single to stalk, Aimee."

It was only as Aimee immediately left the two with a dull look on her face, Caroline realized that she'd compelled the girl. She winced heavily when Matt's nervous demeanor changed to an angry one, "What the hell, Caroline?!"

"I'm sorry," Caroline shrugged, not so apologetically. "But she was totally flirting with you, couldn't you see that?"

Matt looked away for a second, "She's harmless; you didn't have to do that."

So he knew she'd done something with her new abilities. Caroline stared sadly at the ground, "You're mad."

It wasn't a question. Anyone could see Matt was angry, and the teenage boy nodded furiously at the statement, "Damn right I am." He stepped closer to her and lowered his voice, "First I find my girlfriend drinking the blood of her nurse that helped save her life, then I find out the supernatural exists, and all of my friends seemed to know except me. And now, when I come to get away from all that shit, you turn up and use what freaky abilities you have to use against an innocent person for a shallow purpose. Why wouldn't I be mad?"

"I'm sorry," Caroline softly told him, tears falling down her face. "I'm so, so sorry."

Matt nodded, hating he had caused her to cry, but she needed to understand what had happened in the last 48 hours, "I know you are, Care. I just need time."

"How much?" Caroline feebly asked, biting her lip.

"I don't know, Care." Matt simply shrugged. "But I know I need time, away from you, away from all of it." He sighed heavily and opened his mouth to speak again when words just didn't seem enough, and instead, he shrugged and walked away from her, quickly picking up a beer and chugging it down.

Caroline held back her sobs as Stefan slowly approached her, "Are you okay?"

Caroline's sob escaped her throat as she looked at him, "I think he just broke up with me. So no, I'm not okay."

Stefan pulled her towards her and let her cry into his shoulder; when he glanced over at Matt, he could see the teen staring at them. It seemed Matt wanted to be in his place, comforting Caroline, but he couldn't. Instead, he just turned away and continued drinking as Stefan softly consoled his friend.

SHEILA'S HOUSEHOLD

When Bonnie pulled up to Sheila's that late afternoon she ignored her mind telling her Sheila wouldn't be in until later; it was book night at another friend's house. No, Bonnie knew that all too well. Her grandmother was hiding something from her; the last time this had happened, she found out she was a witch. She wouldn't be in the dark again.

With a deep calming breath, Bonnie used her spare key and entered the homely house. As soon as she shut the door behind her, she marched over the cabinet and pulled the thick folder out; she would soon realize this was information she'd wish she'd never know.

LOCKWOOD MANSION

Aella and Tyler sat in his room, laptop in front of them. As they had entered his home, the sun lowering as the day went on, Aella had skimmed through the book and was surprised when she saw a memory stick stuck to one of the pages. Luckily for them, Tyler's laptop had a memory card reader, and it sat open ready for them to use.

As Tyler started the laptop, Aella's eyes landed on a page in the journal. Her eyes widened as she read from it and nudged Tyler, "Listen to this." When she saw she had his attention, she read aloud, "'August 31 -- My body is changing. I'm edgy, angry, and impatient. I get so mad, I blackout and forget what I say or do. I'm not myself, not since Jimmy's death. What's happening to me?'" She glanced at Tyler, "Sound familiar?"

"Scarily so," Tyler answered, eyes going over the hastily written words.

Aella flipped through the pages before it to see if she could find anything about Jimmy and why his death would have affected Mason so much. A few days before the August 31st entry, Aella found another, "'August 28 -- As I lay beside Kathy, this beautiful woman who has helped me so much since Jimmy's death, I cannot sleep. My nightmares are just a repeat of that fateful night when everything changed. The blood I still feel on my hands no matter how many times I wash them, that glazed look in his eyes as they stare deadly at me. Why did this have to happen? How did this happen? He was my best friend, and then suddenly he was attacking me. I will try and forget that moment because all the years of friendship will always replace that one horrific moment. Love you, Jimmy. James Buchanan 1981 - 2009.'"

Tyler frowned heavily, "What the hell happened? Why hasn't Mason mentioned any of this?"

Aella smiled sadly at him, "Maybe he's still not over it; it sounds like they were pretty close."

Tyler nodded slowly as an idea came to him. He pulled the laptop towards him and opened Google. "What was Jimmy's full name again?"

"Um..?" Aella looked back at the bottom of the page. "James Buchanan."

Tyler typed the name into the search engine and Florida, where Mason had been living before he returned to Mystic Falls. "And what were those dates at the end?"

"1981 to 2009," Aella answered. After he typed them in and clicked search, there were a whole bunch of suggestions, and as Tyler slid the scroll bar down, nothing was appearing that seemed connected with Mason and Jimmy. "Add 'accident' and maybe 'news'?" Aella added.

When Tyler amended the search, the top result was an article by the Emerald Coast Magazine with the headline: Coroner rules local resident's death accidental. Tyler clicked the link and read the article aloud, "'Emerald Coast coroner has ruled the death of James Buchanan (29) accidental following the local's death just last month. Witnesses reported Buchanan attacking another man, now identified as Mason Lockwood (age 30). When Lockwood pushed Buchanan away in self-defense, the 29-year-old fell to the ground and hit his head. When Paramedics arrived, he was no longer breathing. They were unable to resuscitate him at the scene and called time of death. The coroner, Michael Fielding, writes in his report that the amount of alcohol in Buchanan's body would be enough to impair his mental state, and aggression can be a factor of too much alcohol. In all, the coroner has ruled the death was an accidental death, and there will be no charges laid against Mr. Lockwood.'"

Aella stared at the screen in total shock, "Oh my god, poor Mason."

Tyler shook his head, "First Jimmy, then my dad. No wonder he wanted to spend so much time with me."

"You would never know," Aella sadly told him. "You couldn't have known."

Tyler nodded, accepting what she was telling him, "So now we know what happened with Jimmy... but why would it change him physically. He said he was angry, edgy, and impatient."

Aella opened the journal again, "We should read on." When Tyler nodded in agreement, she flipped through a few more pages. Trying to ignore Mason's thoughts on Kathy... she seemed quite the experimenter. Finally, she came to a page that looked as hastily written as the August 31st one did, but a frown appeared on her forehead as she zeroed in on the first five words.

Tyler, seeing her expression, nudged her knee with his, "What?"

Aella's eyes met his, "This first part, 'The full moon is tonight,' why did he write that?"

Tyler only shook his head, "I don't know... but what I do know is that we're already confused as hell; this only adds to it. Read the rest."

Aella cleared her throat and continued, "'I chose the garage. I could deadbolt the door. It was far from the street, so no one could hear. I bolted hooks to the floor for the carabineers. I diluted wolfsbane with water to weaken myself, but I could barely get it down without puking. It felt like I was drinking battery acid. Hours passed, and nothing happened. It got so quiet, I could hear my own blood pumping. That's when...I kept thinking I'd blackout and not feel it. But I did. I... I felt all of it. Unimaginable pain. I thought it would never end. It was the worst night of my life.'"

The two were silent as Mason's words resonated with them. Whatever had happened to Mason, it sounded abominable.

Tyler's quiet voice then echoed around the silent room, "W-wolfsbane. W-what's that?"

Aella glanced at his furrowed brow. He wasn't ignoring everything else Mason had written; it seemed like he was trying to process it by asking a question not directly related to Mason.

"Um," Aella bit her lip as she pulled the laptop towards her and typed the word into Google. Immediately she saw a useful page. "Here," Aella pointed as she opened up a webpage and read from it aloud. "'Wolfsbane, also known as Aconitum napellus, can be found in mountains to temperate regions throughout western and central Europe. It has purple flowers that are helmet-shaped, from which it gets another name, monkshood. Wolfsbane gets its name for being the poison used to kill carnivores such as wolves and panthers. In the 18th century, it was put into raw meat to bait the animals. Aconite shows up all across history, but is best known in fantasy or folklore as the weapon against the fantastical creatures, known as... known as werewolves.'"

DUKE UNIVERSITY

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls," Vanessa told the group once Ric had called them over. "But, here are some records of some of the lesser-known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin-walkers to the Maréchal de Retz." She gave them the book and continued with what she knew from the research she and Isobel had done. "Tonartsliitsii Metslii, it roughly translates into the 'curse of the sun and the moon'.

"Native American?" Ric questioned with a quirked brow.

"Aztec," Vanessa corrected him. "It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story: 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night, and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, whoever's unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

Damon sighed heavily; this sounded too detailed to not be somewhat true, "Can they control the transformation?"

Vanessa looked at him pointedly, "If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse." She turned her gaze back to the group, "Werewolves will attack humans, but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice: vampires."

Damon brought up the same point he'd made that morning, "Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it."

Vanessa counteracted him again, "Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."

"Why would they do that?" Elena asked her softly.

Vanessa glanced at Damon before looking back at Elena, "To protect themselves. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."

Damon swallowed heavily, "Oh..."

Jenna turned to the window in sadness, watching the North Carolina sky begin to darken, "Poor Mason."

Elena stared at her aunt, sad for her that her friend could be living a cursed life, Elena's eyes suddenly narrowed as she saw the moon that was slowly rising in the night sky. Turning to Vanessa, she urgently questioned the research assistant, "Did you say full moon?" Vanessa slowly nodded, and Elena turned to Damon, but her hand pointed at the window, "You mean the one rising in the sky now?"

Damon froze, "Mason."

Elena quickly pulled her phone from her pocket, "Aella's at the Lockwood's now." She called her best friend's number, "And Stefan and Caroline are in the woods practicing."

Jenna paled as her eyes darted around the group, "If Mason truly is a werewolf, Stefan and Caroline have no idea what kind of danger they're in."

Elena swallowed heavily as her phone began ringing Aella's, desperately hoping the witch had remembered to charge the device and had it on her.

SHEILA'S HOUSEHOLD

Bonnie frantically read and re-read the paperwork in front of her, her disbelief growing as her eyes focused on the words she dreaded to read.

With her focus on the paperwork, she didn't hear the sound of her grandmother's car park in her usual spot or the distinct noise of her key turning in the lock.

Bonnie only realized she had been found when Sheila, who stood frozen as she watched her granddaughter discover her biggest secret, as she shouted out loud. "Bonnie Sheila Bennett, what in the blue blazes do you think you are doing!?"

Bonnie's tear-dried face met her grandmother's as she rasped out, "Is this true?"

The two stared at each other for what seemed like hours before a tear fell from Sheila's eye, and she nodded, "Yes, it's true."