"I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night," Damon said as he boarded the window. 

"Yeah," Stefan said. "And then what? We turn to the rest of the house of vampires and say, 'Oops, sorry'?"

"You got a better idea?" I asked.

Elena glared at him. "I can't believe that you made a deal with her."

Damon looked at  Elena. "It was more like a helpful exchange of information. And . . . It's not like I had a choice. She's . . . Scary. Besides, she's gonna help me get Katherine back."

"Of course, she is," Elena said bitterly. "Damon gets what he wants, as usual. No matter who he hurts in the process."

"Don't have to be snarky about it," Damon told her

"I woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires have been released from the tomb," Elena said. "I've earned snarky."

"How long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"

"I'm not blaming you, Damon. I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities."

"Ouch," Damon told her,  standing as I  smirked.

"This isn't being very productive," Stefan said. "We're gonna figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires. Yeah?" Damon walked out of the library, with me standing and walking out too. "Yeah."

*

Damon was fixing a clock as I walked closer. "Pesky grandfather clocks. So hard to keep safe."

"I know," Damon said as Stefan walked past with a raincoat. "Hunting party?"

"That guy did a number on me last night when he stabbed me," Stefan answered. "I gotta get my strength back up."

"I've got two liters of soccer mom in the fridge," I said. "No?"

"We'll talk when I get back?"

"All right," Damon said.

"Give my regards to the squirrels," I said as he left.

*

Damon had told Elena we thought that Stefan was missing,  and I was banging on the door to Pearl and co.'s house.

"Pearl!" I yelled. "Open this door. I swear to God I'll bust through and rip your head off. Anna!"

Fredrick opened the door. "Pearl and Anna are not home. Hmm. Beautiful weather. Not a ray of sun in the sky."

"Where's my brother?"

"Billy," Fredrick called.

Two vampires drug a weak version of Stefan out, and I pushed against the door frame. "You're dead."

I couldn't get inside.

"Whoa," Fredrick said. "I'm sorry. You haven't been invited in. Miss Gibbons?"

The old lady came in, standing next to him. "Yes, Fredrick, honey?"

"Never let this bad girl or her brother Damon in."

"I'll never let them in."

Damn it.

Fredrick turned back to me as she walked away. "145 years left starving in a tomb, thanks to Katherine's infatuation with your brothers. First few weeks, every single nerve in your body screams with fire. The kind of pain that can drive a person mad. Well . . . I thought your brother might want to get a taste of that before I killed him. Billy."

Billy took a stake and drove it into Stefan's stomach, and he groaned and moaned in pain.

"You have a nice day," Fredrick told me as he shut the door in my face.

I turned away from the door in anger, already pulling out my phone to call Damon. "I am going to tear Fredrick limb by limb if we ever find a way inside that house. Then, and only then, when he's screaming, I'll rip his heart out. I'll kill them. All of them."

*

Damon, again, talked to Elena  while I told them to meet me at the school, and I could see him talking to Alaric Saltzman now. "Well, don't you look . . .alive?"

"You can't hurt me," Alaric said.

"Oh, I can hurt you all right."

As he took a step toward him, I rushed to stop in front of him, a hand on Damon's chest as I looked to Alaric and Elena  stepped into view.

"Mr. Saltzman," Elena said. "We need your help."

*

"Stefan's in the house," Elena  told Alaric. "Damon and Kaylin are vampires. They can't get in. I would go, but . . ."

"But your life is valuable," Damon said. He looked at Alaric. "Yours, on the other hand . . ."

"Kaylin  told Stefan about your ring and he told me," Elena told Alaric.

"What about it?" Alaric asked.

 "Let me recap," I said. "You tried to kill my brother, and he killed you instead--"

"I was defending myself," Damon interrupted me.

I ignored him and went on. "You died. Then your ring brought you back to life. Am I leaving anything out?"

"Yeah," Alaric answered, stepping closer to Damon. "The part where I try and kill your brother again. Only this time I don't miss."

Elena stepped in Alaric's way. "Mr. Saltzman. Please. It's Stefan."

"I'm sorry, Elena," Alaric said. "But it's not my problem."

"That's a shame," Damon said. "Because the woman in charge of the crowd can help you find your wife."

"You're lying," Alaric told Damon.

"Am I? Why don't you ask her for yourself?" He didn't answer. "Coward. Come on, guys."

We started to leave, already knowing Alaric was gonna stop us as he said, "All right! Wait. I'll go."

*

Even with Alaric's help, I knew that it was going to take a lot to get this done. 26 vampires, or nearly that much, were in that house, with Stefan and could kill him at any given moment.

Alaric got out his weapons from his classroom closet.

"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night," I said as we all stood there around his desk, looking down at the weapons.

"I've your brother to thank for that," Alaric stated, looking at Damon.

"What are these?" Elena asked, pointing to a really cool dart thing.

"Those are tranquilizer darts," Alaric answered. "They're filled with vervain."

 Damon gestured from him to me. "Just get us in. We'll get Stefan out."

"That's your plan?" Elena asked. "You're just going to take them all on yourselves?"

"Oh, we'll be a little bit more stealthier than that," I said. "Hopefully."

Elena picked one up making Alaric say, "Whoa. What are you doing?"

"I'm  going with you guys," Elena said.

"No, no, no, no," Damon said. "No way."

"You need us," Elena insisted. I'll get in, you guys could distract them, and then I'll get Stefan out."

"You'll get yourself killed," Damon said. "You're not going in there."

"I'm going," Elena said.

I  ignored them and spoke to Alaric. "So when you get us in, get out as quickly as you can."

"We know how to sneak around to where they can't hear us," Damon said. "You'll basically be in the way."

"Damon, Kaylin, this is not the time to be the Lone Ranger and Wonder Woman," Elena said.

"Fine," I said. "Elena, you can drive the getaway car."

"You are going into that house," Damon told her.

"You can't stop me," Elena said. "It's Stefan we're talking about here. You don't understand."

"Oh, I understand," I said sarcastically looking at Elena. "I understand. He's the reason you live. His love lifts you up where you belong." I dropped the act. "I get it."

"Can you just not joke around for two seconds?" Elena demanded.

"We can't protect you, Elena," Damon admitted angrily. He calmed down. "We don't know how many vampires are in there." He snapped his fingers. "That's how long it takes to get your head ripped off.. We have to get in and get out. We can't be distracted with your safety. Or this will end up a blood bath that none of us walk away from . . .Including Stefan. I know. I get it. I understand."

She was still going, but now understood what Damon and I were so worried about.

Alaric had watched the way everything had unfolded. "If we're going to go, let's go."

*

Inside, Damon and I could hear loud music and Alaric killing his first or second vampire, turning on the tap and the blender to create noise so they couldn't hear as he opened the back door for us and Miss Gibbons said, "Oh, I'm sorry. They're not allowed in the house."

"I know that. But you've gotta make an exception."

"He's compelled her to not invite us in, dumbass," I said. "Get her out of the house. Now!"

Alaric guided her out and Damon said, "Miss Gibbons, tell me the truth. Are you married?"

"No," she answered.

"Parents, children, anyone else who lives on this property?"

"No. It's just me."

"No? Good."

Damon snapped her neck, making no living resident here now, so we walked in, and Alaric grabbed each of our arms. "You were supposed to compel her."

"It doesn't work that way . . ." I trailed of guiltily.

"She is human."

"And we're not!" Damon said. "Kaylin might care, but I don't. Now, get out of here. And get rid of the body!"

I shut the door behind Alaric as Damon and I readied for the tomb vampires.

*

"Billy, what's the hold up?" Fredrick called, and Damon and I hid as another vampire walked into the kitchen, turning off the sink and the blender, walking closer to the pantry.

Damon opened the door, and the vampire backed into me as I shoved a stake in his heart.

*

I was still up in the house as Fredrick called, "Billy, Jacob, get back in here!"

A little controlling, no?

Another vampire walked into the hall, and didn't see me behind him.

I covered his mouth before he made a sound and stuck the stake in his heart, watching him decay and fall to the floor.

I heard another vampire coming, and I rushed into a hiding place.

*

Fredrick was getting suspicious.

Half of his inside guys--maybe eleven or twelve--that I had killed laid in the hall. He told someone, "Turn that down." The music was turned down. "It's too quiet."

I threw one of my stakes at a vampire in front of the door, and Fredrick heard, saying, "Spread out. Now. You two, back of the house. Check out both rooms. Cellar, now."

Too late, bitch.

Stefan and Elena were gone.

*

One of the vampires charged at me, and I turned with vamp speed and he ran past, and as I turned, I shoved the stake in his back, into his heart with a smile, and Fredrick saw the whole thing.

I smirked at him. "Didn't really think you could keep us out when you had our brother, did you?" He snarled, striding forward as he started to change. "Bring it."

Before he got to me, Damon appeared behind him and threw him on the floor, repeatedly punching him.

"Damon, just kill him," I complained when I felt a girl jump on my back.

I turned, backing her into the wall to get her off and spun, staking her, and Damon was about to be killed when Alaric saved him, shooting the vampire with a vervain dart. 

Damon was already leaving.   "I'm going after Fredrick."

*

After a while, Damon walked back in. "Fredrick's gone."

"Let's get out of here," Alaric said as he walked toward the door.

"I'm gonna kill him," Damon said as he opened the door, and I walked out first.

Then froze when I saw the dozen of vampires that were coming closer.

"How many of those vervain darts you have left?" I asked Alaric.

Alaric raised his. "One."

"Not gonna be enough," I said as we backed inside.

*

"So, what you both said to get me to do this, about my wife," Alaric told me and Damon. "It was a lie, wasn't it?"

"Yep," we answered.

"Stop," we heard Pearl's voice say from outside. "What's going on here?" She and Anna walked in, looking over the damage of dead tomb vampires. "What did you do?"

"Us?" I repeated, walking closer. "Your merry little band of vampires spent the day torturing our brother."

"Trust me. The parties responsible for this will be dealt with."

"Our little arrangement doesn't work unless you learn to control them," Damon said.

"This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Well, it did," I said.

"If I had a good side . . ." Damon trailed off, turning back. "Not a way to get on it."

Damon left, and I followed with Alaric following me.

*

I went into Stefan's room to see multiple blood bags empty, scattered over the floor. I followed the trail and I saw Stefan with another, looking up at me pitifully.

I really hoped the Ripper wasn't back, because if he was . . .

A lot of people would die.