At Caroline's house, she was talking to Stefan and me in the living room. "This is a disaster!" 

"Look, we don't know anything for sure," Stefan told us.

"Yes, we do," Caroline told him. "Elena is sired to Damon! Which means her one singular burning desire is to make him happy, just like Klaus and his hybrids."

"No, it's not," Stefan told her. "A vampire sired to another vampire is one in a million. Maybe it won't affect her the same way."

****

"We already know it's affecting her," I told them. "She's become Damon's lapdog." Stefan gave me a look, raising his eyebrows. "It's true. Everything he says, she agrees with. Everything he asks her to do... she does."

 ****

"We need to do something," Caroline told us, pulling out her phone to call Elena.

"Wait, no, hold on, Caroline," I told her, taking the phone. "This isn't gossip. You can't just drop this on her before we know what's happening for sure."

"I need to talk to Tyler, okay?" Caroline asked. "Maybe he'll know what to do."

"All right, talk to Tyler, but please don't tell anyone else," Stefan told us. "If this is true, then it may have influence on Elena's every action and emotion since she became a vampire."

**** 

At home, I was about to open the door for Stefan and me.

Elena and Damon were on the other side.

The tension in the air was so thick you could practically taste it.

"Hey," Elena said.

"Hey," Stefan said.

There was a very awkward moment of silence.

"See you in history?" Elena asked.

"Yeah," Stefan said. 

Elena nodded, walking past us, avoiding Stefan's gaze.

Stefan and I walked in the house.

"Hey," Damon said.

"Hey," I said. Damon closed the door, looking at us. "Listen, we need to talk."

**** 

Stefan and I sat on one couch as we told him everything.

Damon sat across from us. "Sired? Really, guys? That is the most pathetic nonsense I've ever heard come out of your mouth, and you've both said some crap in your day."

"It was your blood that turned her, right?" I asked. "I mean, she's been different from day one because of you. You can't deny that."

"Sure I can," Damon told me. "I finally got Elena to a good place about being a vampire. You three idiots can't stand that she's happy because of me."

"That is not my reason, and you know that," I told him.

"No, your reason is probably because you're tired of her wedging herself between us, and just looking for something to blame it on," Damon told me. 

"All right," I said. "You know what? Prove us wrong. Tell her it's okay to drink from a blood bag."

"She can't," Damon told me. "Her weird Doppelgänger body rejected the blood from the bag."

"Right, because you told her to," Stefan told him. "You said she had to drink warm human blood straight from the vein. She almost died to make you happy." Damon still looked skeptical. "Look, just ask her to drink from a blood bag. Make sure you'll tell her how happy you'll be if it works, and if we're wrong, we'll be the first to apologize."

I nodded.

"When her body rejects this blood, which it will, your apology better be epic," Damon told us, standing, walking away.

Stefan and I exchanged a look.

****

Damon was in the library, rummaging through old papers.

I walked into the room. "What are you doing?"

"Elena is sired," Damon told me. "You were right, I was wrong. Happy?"

"No, I'm not happy," I told him. "But what are we gonna do about it?"

"Well, I'm working on it," Damon told me. "Here." He held a picture up for Stefan to see, who was just coming in. "Remember that?"

Stefan took the picture from Damon and looked at it. "New Orleans."

"1942, to be exact," Damon told him.

I knew something that they didn't know.

I sat down. "What was in New Orleans in 1942?"

"Other than bourbon and beads..." Damon trailed off, looking at Stefan. "Me and Stefan."

Stefan looked at a hat. "What was the name of that girl you used to hang out with?"

"That was no ordinary girl," Damon told us. "That was Charlotte."

**** 

Charlotte had killed a guy because Damon had said "show no mercy" to anyone who touched his drink.

"That was my first clue," Damon told us.

"She was sired to you," Stefan realized. "And I can only assume you took full advantage of that until you got bored of her, right?"

 "More like when she went all 'Fatal Attraction' on me," Damon told us. "Then I had to make a clean break."

"How'd you do that?" I asked.

Damon suddenly found the paper he had been looking for. "Ah, phew, here." 

Damon handed it to Stefan. 

Stefan took it. "Who's Valerie LaMarche?" 

"The witch that I found to help me break little Charlotte's sire bond," Damon answered, taking a drink of his drink. Stefan looked at him curiously. Damon stood. "Pack your bags. We're going back to Bourbon Street."

Damon walked away.

****

In the streets of New Orleans, people were partying in streets to the music playing loudly. Damon, Stefan and I walked through the crowd, looking at our surroundings.

A man started dancing past me, turning toward me as he danced past. I smiled, dancing until he went away. 

I smiled, turning to my brothers. "Ah, the city is the same. Just brighter." 

"When were you here?" Damon asked.

I hesitated, mouth open slightly, shaking my head. "Been to too many places too many times, brother. It all sort of blurs." Stefan looked at me knowingly. I looked at him. "What about you, Mr. Know It All? Have you been back here since '42?" 

"Nope," Stefan answered. "Not since I shipped off to join the war effort and Damon didn't." 

"Somebody had to entertain the ladies who had been left by their menfolk," Damon told us. His cellphone chimed. He took it out to look at the text. "Hey, good news. Elena is at the house with the girls where she can't get in trouble. Bad news. I think they got into the Dom. Told her to make herself at home." 

Stefan turned to face him. "Yeah, you told her so she does, right?" 

Damon scoffed, walking past us. "Sire bond is not that literal, Stefan." 

 Stefan turned to face him. "Really? Name one thing that you've asked her to do that you haven't gotten, huh?"

Damon turned to face him. "You know what I haven't gotten? Blame, guilt. I get it, Stefan. I get that you're pissed that Elena dumped you because she has feelings for me. Bet you blame the sire bond for that, too." 

"Yeah," Stefan answered. "You know what? I absolutely do." 

"Why?" Damon asked. "Because it's impossible to think she could have feelings for me?" 

"No, because it's impossible for her to be so blind that she doesn't see how wrong you are for her," Stefan told him, walking toward him until he was standing in his face. 

"One more fight about Elena, I'm banging your heads together and I will find out how to break the sire bond myself," I told them.

Damon nodded, turning around and walking away.

I turned to Stefan, hitting him on the back of the head, nodding in the direction Damon was walking away.

"Do I have to?" Stefan asked.

I hit him on the head again.

Stefan sighed, looking after Damon. "Hey, wait, Damon, I'm sorry." 

Damon turned to face Stefan. "What'd you say?" 

****

We continued to walk down the streets.

"I apologize, all right?" Stefan asked. "As much as I hate this sire bond thing, I shouldn't take it out on you. It's not really your fault." 

"Well, don't get all warm and fuzzy on me yet," Damon told us, all of us stopping in front of an apartment. "It's where the witch lived." 

"What?" I asked. "You weren't expecting to find the same exact witch in the same place?" 

"No, but since I couldn't remember where the store was, figured it'd give us a start," Damon told us.

"Maybe there's another place to start," I told him. "You think Charlotte might be in New Orleans?" 

"Yeah, maybe," Damon answered. 

"Where was the last place you saw her?" I asked.

"Corner of Bourbon and Dumaine," Damon answered. "Kind of told her to count every brick in every building in New Orleans, and I'd meet her at the corner." He paused. "I was gone by morning." 

I nodded sarcastically, turning around and walking away.

"Where you going?" Stefan asked.

I turned around to face them, still backing away. "Corner of Bourbon and Dumaine. See how literal the sire bond is." 

I turned around, leading the way.

****

We walked down the street, stopping at the corner.

"There's no way she's gonna be in the same spot after seventy years," I told them. 

"So, what are we gonna tell Elena?" Stefan asked.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to tell her anything," Damon told us.

Stefan scoffed. "Well, we can't just lie to her." 

"It's not a lie," Damon told him. "It's an omission for the greater good."

"Oh, I see," Stefan said. "I see. That's Damon speak for, 'Let's not do the right thing. Let's just do what's right for me'." 

"Oh, what about you, O Selfless One?" Damon asked. "Are you doing what's best for Elena or what's best for you? Because it looks to me like the only reason you want to break Elena's sire bond is to restore her original factory 'Team Stefan' settings." 

Both stared each other down.

I had my head tilted to the side in boredom, standing next to them, hitting them on the back of the heads. 

They each held their hands to the heads, looking at me in confusion.

I pointed at them. "Don't say that I didn't warn you. Last time, understand?" 

"I'm not the problem here," Damon told me. He looked at Stefan, lowering his hand to his side. "I'm gonna go get a drink. Kaylin can join me, and you can hunt us down when you stop being a dick." 

Damon turned around, walking away.

Stefan looked ashamed.

I turned to him, shaking my head. "What is wrong with you?" 

"I'm sorry, okay?" Stefan asked. 

I opened my mouth to speak, but I stopped when I heard someone fighting in the direction Damon had walked off.

I rushed toward him, throwing the vampire girl off of Damon. 

Stefan stood next to me.

Damon stood. 

"What the hell just happened?" I asked. 

 "She kissed me," Damon answered. 

Charlotte walked toward us, smiling at the sight of Damon. "Damon, I always knew you'd come back for me. I must have counted literally every brick on every building in all of New Orleans." 

Damon looked shocked, turning to us.

Stefan looked horrified. "Literally. Every. Brick?" 

Damon looked away, clearly ashamed.

Charlotte wrapped her arms around Damon's neck. 

Damon tried to back away from her. "Uh, Charlotte, uh. Ha." He patted her arm and pulled away from her. "Please tell me you had a full life and that you've done something other than counting bricks."

"Of course I have," Charlotte told him. "I'm not crazy." 

Damon shook his head.

"Then why are you still here?" Stefan asked. 

Charlotte turned and looked at us. "You know when someone breaks up with you and there's a song that reminds you of them . . ." She turned to Damon. "First, you hate it." She placed her hand on Damon's shoulder. "But then it brings back all the good memories of them. Counting the bricks is my song and I've been playing it for decades." 

"That's a really long time stuck listening to the same song," I told her.

Charlotte placed her arms back around Damon's neck.

"Yeah, heh," Damon said, grabbing her hands from around his neck and pulled them away. He gently patted them between his own hands. "Well, you know, in the plus column, you know New Orleans better than anyone in the world. Which is really nice, because we need your help finding someone."

Charlotte tilted her head.

 ****

Stefan, Damon and I entered a witch stop.

A middle aged woman walked out from the back of the shop. "Can I help you?" 

"Hi," Damon told her. "We're looking for a witch. Sorry, no time for pleasantries." 

Stefan looked at Damon.

"I'm sorry," the woman told us. "I don't understand." 

"Look . . ." I trailed off, looking at a board behind here, where 'Nandi Special' was written. "Nandi, is it? Let's skip the part where you pretend like you don't know what we're talking about." 

I looked at Stefan and Damon.

Stefan raised his eyebrows.

Damon looked at Nandi. "We need a spell that could break a vampire sire bond. Now, there was a witch here named Val. Ring any bells?" 

"She was my great-grandmother," Nandi told us. 

"She had a grimoire and it had a spell," Damon told us, going to explain what Val had told him way back when.

Including the fact that the spell required a sacrifice of 12 humans. 

"A sacrifice?" Stefan repeated. "You brought me here knowing that the spell required a human sacrifice." 

"Well, I was hoping the recipe had changed," Damon told him. 

"Look, there's no magic like that here," Nandi told us. "I sell herbs and homeopathic remedies and dress it up with a little witchy-woo-woo for the tourists, but I don't practice." 

"Okay, fine, listen, just tell us where we can find someone like your great-grandma who can break the sire bond and won't flake out on us like old Val did," Damon told her. 

"There's no one," Nandi told him. "All of her stuff is gone. The grimoires, her journals. We lost it all during Katrina. If a spell like that ever existed, it's gone for good."

****

We were walking down the street.

"Witch is lying," Damon told us. "Doesn't practice magic, my ass." 

"Human sacrifice?" Stefan asked. "Did you really think I would go for this." 

Charlotte was sitting on the steps of a building. 

"Extreme circumstances call for extreme measures," Damon told him.

"Did you kill those 12 people in 1942?" Stefan asked.

"Absolutely, I did, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat if it meant a clean slate with Elena," Damon told him. 

"Hmm," Stefan hummed sarcastically. He looked at me. "You don't seem surprised by any of this." 

"I learned not to be surprised by what Damon does a long time ago," I told him. "Are you guys gonna help me good cop/bad cop this witch or not?" 

****

Back at the shop, Nandi was doing some work. 

Damon and I entered the shop from behind her. 

Nandi turned around to face us. "What are you doing here?" 

"Calling you out," I answered. 

 "You're not Val's great-granddaughter," Damon told her. "You're her daughter." 

"You're 80 years old," I told her. "You don't look a day over 50. You're a practicing witch." 

"Get out of my store," Nandi told us. 

 "Give us what we want," Damon told her, stepping toward her. 

Nandi turned, using her powers to give Damon an anuerysm. 

Damon fell to the floor, holding his head with both hands. 

"I gave you a chance to leave with your life," Nandi told us. 

Stefan entered the store from the back. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. We don't want any trouble, okay? We just--we just need your help. That's all." 

"I told you there's no one here who can help you," Nandi told us. "The kind of magic my mother practiced, it's unnatural. Witches don't even call it magic. We call it Expression." 

 Nandi stopped her spell on Damon.

"Is that like black magic?" I asked. 

"Worse," Nandi told us. "Channeling the power of human sacrifices calls on darkness that can't exist on this plan without swallowing it whole." She looked at Damon. "She sold you a bill of goods about breaking the sire bond because she wanted access to that power and you gave it to her when you killed those 12 people." 

Stefan walked over to us.

Damon stood. "Are you saying there's no spell?" 

"The bond can't be broken with magic," Nandi told us. "A vampire only bonds to her sire when she has feelings for him before she turns. Human feelings. Vampirism only heightens those emotions. You want her free? You have to set her free? Tell her to live her life without you and never think of you again, to stop caring about you, and then leave her. That's the only way around the sire bond." 

 ****

The next day, Damon was talking to Charlotte in a bar, telling her everything that Nandi told him to tell a sired vampire.

When he was done, he walked out, toward us.

"How'd it go?" I asked. 

"I set her free," Damon answered.

"Must've been hard," Stefan told him. "Doing the right thing, especially when it's not something you want to do." 

"Get to the point, Stefan," Damon told him. "You don't think I'm gonna be able to do what I need to when I have to tell Elena to stay away from me." 

 "Well, I mean, selflessness isn't exactly one of your most obvious character traits, Damon," Stefan told him.

"Yeah?" Damon asked. "Well, one of these days you're gonna realize you don't know me half as well as you think." 

Damon whistled for a cab, telling us that he had abandoned Stefan at the station because Lexi had convinced him that it wasn't the right thing for Stefan, walking past us toward the taxi he whistled down.

Stefan stared blankly at the ground for a moment, turning after Damon, following us. "I didn't know about that." 

"Yeah, well, next time, I'll hang a billboard," Damon told him. 

"Look, I know it may seem like I'm being unfair about this, like I'm upset about losing Elena to you, and I am," Stefan told him. "But after all this is over, if she never feels the same way about me as she used to, at least it'll be her choice." 

"The dreaded C-word," I told them, opening the taxi door.

Damon looked at Stefan. "I know what I have to do, Stefan." 

Stefan looked at me. "You're not fooling anybody, Kaylin. Lexi told me about your time in New Orleans." 

"I'm sure she did," I told him.

"What happened when you were here?" Damon asked.

I looked down with a small smile. "I saw everything. I was here first, you guys showed, Lexi told me to let you know I was there, but I didn't because . . ." I scoffed, shaking my head. "I don't even know." 

"So how often were you around that we didn't know you were around?" Stefan asked.

I smirked. "That question's better left unanswered." 

"We thought you hated us enough to not come within a ten-mile radius," Damon told me. 

"You guys never saw me," I told them. "I never said that I didn't ever see you." 

I got into the cab, leaving them in silence. 

 We were going home.