It was three days after the Founder's Day event that Juliana went to the Salvatore Boarding House. She needed to know why Stefan would just ignore his brother abusing Caroline. Yeah, she knew that there were people in the world like that. One of her mental hospital buddies, she was sure his name was Kevin, said that he had to watch his dad get abused by Kevin's mother, and his other family members didn't care.

Stefan promised her answers at one point and she was going to get them.

Juliana hit the door to the Salvatore Boarding House.

The door opened and Zach stood there, looking surprised to see her there, "You're Juliana, right?" Juliana was surprised to know that he knew that. "Stefan talks about you sometimes."

Stefan walked up. He looked a little hopeful, but he seemed dejected when he noticed that it was Juliana.

Juliana forced a smile, "May I come in?"

"Sure," said Stefan.

Juliana walked in the boarding house.

"Do you want anything to drink?" asked Zach.

"Sure," said Juliana. "Orange juice or water is fine."

Zach nodded and walked away.

Juliana turned to Stefan and glared at him. "You know that your brother is abusing Caroline and you're doing nothing to stop it?" She didn't know the cheerleader all that well, but she wouldn't stand by and let something like that slide. Sure when she was younger, she wanted to impress the older girls, which was now embarrassing when she thought back on it.

"I already dealt with it," said Stefan calmly. "Damon won't return."

Sure that hurt a little. Damon seemed like an aloof older brother type of figure, but if he was hurting Caroline, then good. He should stay as far away from the cheerleader before Juliana snapped his neck with her mind.

"Oh," said Juliana. "Sheila told me that Adrienne was at the Witch Burial Grounds. Jeremy found an article that was dated in the seventeen-hundreds and it wasn't hard to connect the dots. I even tried the tracking spell, but I got nothing. Now, you have to tell me that whole black eyes and veins thing."

Zach returned with a glass of orange juice. Juliana took the glass and smiled at him, "Thank you."

"Ask Stefan for anything if you need it," Zach said to Juliana.

Juliana nodded, "Thanks, you too."

Zach chuckled at that as he walked away and Juliana realized what she said. Even Stefan looked amused at what she said.

Why was she an idiot who said crap like that? She would probably say 'thanks, you too,' to her friends if they said 'happy birthday' to her.

"I'm a vampire," replied Stefan.

It felt like her brain short-circuited at that. "Huh?"

"Vampires are real," said Stefan. "Damon and I are vampires."

It made sense why Damon told her that he believed in things that were out there that no knows about. Then there was the way that Damon and Stefan talked about things 'years' ago despite Stefan being seventeen and Damon being in his twenties or something. It made sense why they acted like they knew Adrienne despite her going missing in the seventeen-hundreds and that Longevity Spell, too...and that weird cloud fog that came over her when Jeremy texted her and Damon told her not to reply to him and she wanted to before she snapped out of it. Witches existed so why not vampires?

It was all too much.

The glass slipped out of Juliana's hand and she turned and ran out of the door.

No.

No!

She refused to believe that vampires existed.

She ran down the driveway and ran right into Stefan.

Jesus Christ.

How did Stefan get there so fast?

Oh, crap. Oh, crap.

Shit.

Vampires.

Goddamn vampires.

"Please let me go and don't drink my blood," said Juliana.

"Don't tell Elena," said Stefan.

Juliana nodded and Stefan let her leave.

Vampires were real. Oh god. What has she gotten herself into? What the hell?

She walked in the kitchen top see that Elena and Aunt Jenna were up.

"I won't be home for dinner," said Aunt Jenna.

"Why?" asked Juliana.

"She's got a date with Logan," Elena told her.

Juliana frowned, "The news guy? I thought he cheated on you. I hope you torture him a little."

"I will," said Aunt Jenna. She looked at Elena, "Have you heard from Stefan?"

"No," said Elena. "Not since he left that very vague message days ago." She used an impression of Stefan's voice, "'Hi, um, Elena, I, um, have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days.'"

"Have you called him?" asked Aunt Jenna.

"Nope," replied Elena. "Not going to either."

"Good for you," said Juliana. "Someone like that shouldn't be trusted." She went to the fridge and took out a container of yogurt. She really wasn't sure how Elena would take it if she told her about Stefan and Damon being vampires.

"And you're okay with that?" asked Aunt Jenna.

"No, I'm not okay with any of it. But I'm not going to cry about it, either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, 'what am I going to write?' Honestly, I'm not going to be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy," said Elena.

"Good for you," said Juliana.

Aunt Jenna nodded and left.

Elena looked at Juliana. "And where have you been?"

Juliana wasn't sure how to phrase it. She was still feeling frazzled about the bombshell that Stefan dropped on her. She promised that she was going to be honest with Elena. No...she couldn't tell her. Elena probably broke up with Stefan. "I spoke to Stefan. I demanded to know why he stood by and allowed Damon to abuse Caroline. He told me that Damon left Mystic Falls for good."

Elena looked like she didn't believe her, "I guess that explains the vague message then. He was taking care of Damon then."

"Don't forget that volleyball tryouts is coming up," said Elena.

Juliana had forgotten about that, especially since a doctor had deemed her healthy enough to tryout for volleyball. She nodded, "Yeah, thanks."

"I think we're trying to host a fundraiser," said Elena. "I think Caroline wanted to do a sexy suds car wash. You should join."

"Absolutely not," replied Jeremy walking in the kitchen. "I don't want creeps to look at her like that. She's fifteen." He got a box of cereal and poured himself a bowl. He frowned as he looked in it. "Hey, where did the marshmallows go?"

"You know I get hungry in the middle of the night," Juliana said.

Jeremy just rolled his eyes, "Of course you would."

Juliana smiled at him, "Of course I did."

Sydney was practically bouncing on her feet when Juliana walked up to her in front of the school. Sydney was wearing a pleated, blue skirt with a red belt. Apparently it had pockets with it. She wore a regular tee-shirt and black knee-length leggings. She wore metallic pink converse to go with the outfit.

Abigail wore a blue shirt that was that was tied and denim short-short. She wore sneakers that had daisies all over them. To avoid getting dress-coded, she had gray leggings on.

"What's up?" asked Abigail.

Sydney said, "Aspen is visiting today."

"She's picking her up after school today," Juliana said before Sydney could say anything.

"You two can come with us," said Sydney, "If you want."

Juliana wanted to join in, but she had to learn magic from Sheila after school, since she was still learning. "I would like to, but I can't. I have things to do after school."

Abigail nodded, "Right."

Corey walked up, "Is Aspen coming to visit?"

Abigail nodded, "Yeah."

Caroline and two other girls walked down the hallway. Caroline was saying, "The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band, just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want, in your face, sexy. I mean, it's a fund raiser, for god's sake."

Caroline and the two other girls passed Juliana and her friends a flier each. Caroline smiled at them, "Join our sexy suds car you four. The funds are going to the athletic department."

Juliana handed it back to Caroline, "I'd rather not have creepy men stare at me. It'll be weird."

Corey handed his flier back, "Trust me when I saw that no one wants to see my goblin body."

Juliana held back from saying something stupid like 'I do'.

Caroline gave him a weird look. "That's your choice then," replied Caroline and continued on down the hallway, passing out fliers.

It was after a magic lesson with Sheila that Stefan came up to Juliana and Jeremy. Jeremy tagged along to watch the lesson because he was impressed with the displays of magic.

"I need to ask you two a quick question," said Stefan.

"Where did you come from?" asked Jeremy in surprise.

Juliana wanted to use her telekinesis to throw Stefan down the block, but it was probably smart not to piss off a vampire.

"Elena said that you both would be here," Stefan said.

Juliana held back from calling him a liar, so she asked, "What do you want to ask us?"

"What's Elena's favorite food?" asked Stefan.

"Chicken Parmesan," Jeremy said. "Why?"

"I need to smooth things over," replied Stefan. "I just need to tell her some things and I want to make Elena her favorite food."

"Oh, okay," replied Jeremy.

Juliana truly wondered if that was even the truth or not. Stefan was a vampire...they lie. They lie and drink people's blood. Stefan could be salivating over Jeremy's blood right as they spoke!

"Well, I think we should really get home," Juliana said. "You have to go get the ingredients so..."

Stefan nodded and looked at Juliana, like he knew that she wanted to get as far away from him as possible. At least he let them leave.

"What was that about?" asked Jeremy as they hurried home.

"I just...don't trust him anymore," said Juliana slowly.

"Why?" asked Jeremy. "You were so buddy-buddy with him and his brother, trying to track down Adrienne for them."

"That was before..." Juliana started. Can she tell her brother? She had promised to be more open about everything with her siblings. But can she trust him not to think she was being delusional?

"Before what?" asked Jeremy, "Did they do something horrible to you?" He turned to walk back to where they left Stefan.

Juliana grabbed Jeremy's arm, "No, they didn't. Our sister's dating a vampire."

Jeremy was confused, "What?"

"Elena's dating a vampire," Juliana repeated. "With fangs, blood drinking, and everything."

Jeremy rubbed his forehead, "I need a drink."

Juliana rather he didn't, but whatever, baby steps.

"We have to tell Elena," said Jeremy. "She can't go on not knowing while we know. It's unfair."

Juliana wasn't sure what to do. "Maybe Stefan will tell her himself. He said that he wanted to smooth some things over and tell her about himself."

Jeremy nodded, "Yeah, he did say that."

It was around dinner time when Stefan came by. Juliana, grudgingly, let him in, while Jeremy went to get Elena.

"How can you walk around in sunlight without crumbling to ash?" asked Juliana.

Stefan showed her the ring that he was wearing, "This ring was enchanted by a witch to allow vampires to walk in daylight."

"Did Adrienne enchant it for you?" asked Juliana.

"No," said Stefan. "She refused especially after Katherine got mixed up with us. She disappeared and apparently died on the Witch Burial Grounds."

"You're going to have to tell Elena about the whole vampire thing though," said Juliana. "If you don't, Jeremy and I will."

Elena was walking down the stairs and Juliana turned and left the kitchen. Juliana gave her sister a small smile as they passed each other.

"Do you know when Aunt Jenna is coming home?" asked Juliana. "I was going to tell her that I'm a witch."

"I'm not sure," said Elena. "Are you sure you want to tell her?"

"At least she'll know the truth," said Juliana. "She can rest easier knowing that I can protect all of you easier."

"Protect us from what?" asked Elena.

Juliana shrugged, "People who would break into our home and try to kill us in our sleep."

"You need to stop watching horror movies," said Elena. "And no one is going to kill us. This is a safe town."

"That's what they all say about safe communities until some poor child gets abducted and murdered," said Juliana. "No place is truly safe." She went upstairs.

Should she tell her aunt about the whole witch thing? She always slammed a protagonist in books and movies for not telling their guardian about things like that. But here she was, doing the exact same thing. Her siblings knew, so why couldn't Aunt Jenna?

She had a feeling that terrible things were going to go down, and she wanted Aunt Jenna to be prepared for it.

Once they moved past the whole witchcraft thing, they'll move onto vampires.

When Aunt Jenna got home, Juliana went up to her, "Aunt Jenna, I have something to tell you."

Aunt Jenna was concerned, "What is it?"

"I'm a witch," said Juliana.

"That again?" asked Aunt Jenna confused.

"For real, with magic and everything," said Juliana, "Watch."

With telekinesis, she lifted up the pillows from the couch.

Aunt Jenna looked like she didn't even know how to respond to the whole situation. "I need a drink."

"Or three," added Juliana.

"You need to explain to me when this all started," said Aunt Jenna, motioning to the floating pillows. "And you're not having a drink either."

"That's fair," said Juliana.

She considered telling her aunt about the vampires, but she dropped this giant bombshell that she had magic on her aunt. The vampires have to come a bit later, then.

It was always one step at a time.

Later that night, Juliana came out of her room and found Logan in the hallway.

Logan forced a smile at her. Juliana wasn't impressed and asked, "What are you doing?"

Jeremy walked in the hallway. He looked suspicious, "What's going on?"

"I was going to ask her where the bathroom is at," replied Logan.

Juliana really didn't believe him.

Jeremy looked at Juliana confused, who shrugged. Jeremy pointed, "It's through that door."

Logan went into the bathroom and Jeremy went into his room. Juliana stayed put and about a minute later, Logan left the bathroom and looked at Juliana, who glared at him. "Whatever you're doing, you leave my aunt out of it. If you're just using her for whatever reason, I suggest you leave her alone and never talk to her again. If you hurt her again, I'll break your neck."

Logan just seemed amused, probably thinking that she was adorable with her making threats, "I promise that I won't."

Juliana didn't believe him, but she responded by going back into her room and closing the door.

Damon really didn't mean to kill the blonde girl, what was her name again? Sage? He was just hungry and pissed at Stefan. She just happened to get in the way. She had to have something on her since she didn't even react to mind compulsion to come forward and stay.

The chase was fun, until he killed her. He felt a little bad since Skyler? Was it Summer or was it Sally? Well, he felt a little bad since the blonde girl was a friend of Juliana's.

Honestly, what the hell was Sally doing at the cemetery? It didn't even smell like she had done drugs or drank alcohol. He dumped alcohol on the blonde girl. Something about her blood was off, but he couldn't put his finger on why, though.

He could've sworn she twitched. Bodies move when they're dead. It was natural. He called Stefan and bickered about his ring and blamed the deceased and Sally's death on him. Honestly, it was Stefan's fault. He shouldn't have locked him in the cellar in the first place.

He went to the other girl, Lizzy, was it? Donovan, he was sure that was her last name. He was going to dump alcohol on her, but she coughed and moved her head.

Well, she was a vampire now. It might be nice having a pet, actually. So he crouched down and asked, "You just don't wanna die, do you?"

Something was off. He can tell. He went over to Sally's body, to see what was going to on. She wasn't there. She had seemed to turn to ash very quickly.

Interesting.

If only he remembered that he didn't light her on fire yet.

Sydney walked home, irritated. Of course vampires came back, of course she had to be vampire chow as well. Fate really didn't like her, now did it? Why did they have to come back? Jesus Christ.

She stopped in front of Abigail's home and rang the doorbell. Abigail's mother, Jocelyn, answered the door, wrapping her bathrobe more tightly around herself.

"Sydney, it's the middle of the night? What is it?" asked Jocelyn.

"The vampires came back," said Sydney. She rubbed the spot where the vampire bite her. She didn't have the mark on her neck. She didn't even feel like a vampire either.

Jocelyn looked horrified. "I'll let Logan and Elizabeth know right away. Come on in."

"To late on that," said Sydney, agitated, as she walked in.

"What happened?" asked Jocelyn. "Where were you?"

"At the cemetery. I just wanted to watch them act like idiots," said Sydney. "He came out of nowhere."

"I'll think of something," said Jocelyn. "It'll have to wait for morning. They can't know that you're a phoenix."

"I know," said Sydney. "My parents and sister didn't want even me to know either."

"Now go to bed," said Jocelyn. "It's late."