It had been a month since Vicki disappeared. Cecilia couldn't focus on her disappearance on top of the school work, the gigs that she had to perform at, her best friend's birthday, Dylan's strange sleeping patterns, and trying not to worry about Damon killing her and her band-mates.

According to Stefan, he and Damon were working together to find Vicki, who everyone thinks was on a bender.

Cecilia wasn't sure why Stefan would work with Damon though, but she guessed that's what works.

She met up with the guys at the tree.

She gave Jack a hug, "Happy birthday, asshole. Here's your present." She handed him a black bag.

"Thanks, bitch," Jack said. He took the bag and took out a plague doctor plushy. He put it back in the bag and gave her another hug.

They joined the others at the tree.

Alex kissed Cecilia.

"Are we going to go to that stupid Halloween party?" Jack asked.

"Don't we a gig tonight?" Dylan asked.

"Oh, yeah," said Alex. "We do. Maybe we can make it."

"Are we going to dress up?" Cecilia asked.

"Why? What are you planning on wearing?" Alex asked.

"Either as a female Chucky from Child's Play or as Wednesday Addams," said Cecilia.

"I'll go as myself," said Jack. "I'm already creepy enough."

"Why not go as a clown? Clowns are terrifying," said Ricky.

"How are clowns scary?" asked Cecilia.

"Their stupid painted faces," said Ricky. "John Wayne Gacy. They're just so irrationally terrifying."

"My irrational fear is spiders," said Alex. "They're just so fucking unnatural. When I was twelve, I once threw myself out of the car because one just descended in front of me. My mom yelled at me because I could've gotten hurt."

"Jesus Christ," Jack said. "You really threw yourself out of a moving car?"

"Yeah, but Sam actually crashed into a tree because he threw himself out of the British side because a spider scuttled in front of him. I guess he thought he didn't need a car that badly," Alex replied. "However, clowns are scary too. It's why I refuse to watch IT. I can't look at spiders or clowns, but if a clown-spider came at me, I'll probably die."

"I hate having the shower curtain closed," said Cecilia. "My worst fear is opening the curtain and the Jonas Brothers are there. I blame Psycho for that one."

"Oh, that's horrifying," said Ricky.

"But really, I hate bridges and overpasses. I have a moment of paranoia that it'll collapse," Cecilia said.

"That's actually valid," Ricky said. "That Mississippi River Bride collapse was horrifying."

"I hate having an arm or leg dangling over the edge of my bed and grabbing me," Cecilia admitted.

"Is that why you sometimes try to sleep on top of me when we share a bed?" Jack asked confused.

"Yeah," Cecilia admitted.

"You guys share a bed?" Ricky asked.

"Yeah," said Jack. "It's not that weird."

"Jeremy did that to me, when my leg went over the edge of the bed. I didn't know he was under the bed and he just grabbed my ankle. I freaked out and cried," Cecilia said.

"Is that why you have a bed that's on the floor?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah," Cecilia said. "And there's the whole my blanket slowly getting pulled down. It's weird."

"I can't stand deep water," said Jack. "My mind tells me there's a shark underneath me and I start to panic. Underwater caves freak me the hell out. What if I'm stuck under there and I can't get out? What if it collapses on me? And I don't even swim that much or scuba dive."

"This one really makes no sense. I always have to have the toilet lid closed when I take a shower, because I'm worried that once I get out, I will slip and I will stick out my arm to break my fall, but my hand will go through the hole in the toilet and my fingers will break backwards," Dylan admitted.

They stayed silent.

"I think that is one of the most irrational fears I have ever heard," Ricky said.

"He wins on the irrational fear," said Jack.

"Who's the new girl?" Ricky asked, looking at a girl passing by on her way up to the school. She wore a plaid skirt with black leggings and a blue jacket. She carried some text books to her chest.

"Fresh meat for Lockwood to try and eat," Dylan said.

Alex smacked Dylan's knee, "Don't be gross."

"She'll kick Lockwood's ass if she needed to," Jack said.

"God, I hope so," Cecilia said.

It turned out the new girl was Vietnamese-American and she just recently moved to Mystic Falls. She lived with her dad and her step-mother, and she had an older half-sister, Linh, on their mother's side. Linh went with them and was attending college. Mai's mother died when Mai was just a newborn and Mai's dark blue sapphire necklace had once belonged to her mother. Apparently her dad decided to give it to her.

Cecilia had gotten all that from a math class that they shared, but Mai seemed a little cagey, so Cecilia backed off, because she didn't want Mai to get uncomfortable with her, by being all up in Mai's face.

Jeremy and Elena were in the kitchen when Cecilia entered the kitchen.

"Hey," said Elena. "So, um, do you two want to hang out tonight? We could go to the, uh, Halloween thing at school. Could be fun!"

"Cool," said Jeremy. He didn't sound like he wanted to go. "Sure. Sounds uh, sounds fun. Can't wait."

Elena looked at Cecilia, "How about you?"

"I have a gig tonight, but I think there'll be plenty of time to go," said Cecilia. "The guys want to go to."

Jeremy went to leave.

"I know you're upset about Vicki. I heard she called Matt, but you can't be with her. She needs to get better. The best thing you can do for her is let her go," said Elena.

"I already let her go. She's with Tyler now," said Jeremy.

Cecilia frowned. "Why was Vicki here last month on that drug trip?"

"I don't know," replied Jeremy.

"Okay," said Elena. "It's for the best that you stay away from her."

"Look, for months after mom and dad died, I felt like crap, like 'nothing really even mattered' crap. Then when I was with Vicki, things started to feel just a little better. Then I spoke to Dylan and he helped me realize things. Don't worry; I have no intention of going near Vicki. I want to find her, because I still like her, just not like that anymore." He took off out of the kitchen.

"Are you going to the party dressed up as a nurse again?" Cecilia asked.

"Yeah," said Elena. "Matt is going as a doctor."

"Again?" repeated Cecilia.

"Yeah, we went together last year," said Elena. "Have you decided what to wear?"

"I'm going as a female Chucky," said Cecilia. "I considered Wednesday Addams but decided not to."

"What about the others?" asked Elena.

"Jack wants to go himself because he's creepy already," Cecilia said. "I'm not sure about the others, though."

Cecilia waited outside Alex's house with her guitar case and a plastic knife that went with the Ghostface costume that she wore last year. She wore a dark blue coverall-like dress with a striped shirt underneath, red over the knee socks, red and white ballet flats, and a red-haired wig that was in pigtails. She had put some make up for the wounds.

Sam opened the door and seemed to falter at the sight of her. He had a bowl of candy.

"I'm here for Alex," Cecilia said.

"Oh, he's still at work," Sam said. He held the door open wider for her to come in.

"So, would you be Chicky or still Chucky?" Sam asked, referring to Cecilia's costume.

"I think I prefer Cindy," said Cecilia as she walked in and set her guitar case aside.

"Want something to drink?" Sam asked.

"Just some water, thanks," said Cecilia. Sam nodded and went into the kitchen.

Cecilia waited and she heard, Sam saying, "Please don't be a jumper. Please don't be a jumper." She frowned, wondering what he was talking about. Then she heard a high-pitched scream coming from the kitchen.

"Get it off! Get it off! Where is it? Where is it?" Sam asked, still talking in a high-pitched squeal.

Cecilia got up and went into the kitchen. "What was that?"

"There's a jumping spider," Sam said, taking a few deep breaths. "It lunged at me. It was going to kill me."

Alex wasn't kidding when he said that Sam was terrified of spiders.

"Oh," said Cecilia replied. Sam handed the paper-towel core to her. "What do you want me to do with this?"

"We're going on a spider hunt," Sam said. "We're going to have to put that spider down."

"Okay," replied Cecilia, bewildered.

They ended up combing the house for a jumping spider when Cecilia asked, "You're scared of spiders?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "I don't think I should be scared of them but they're just so unnatural, they freak me out."

"That's...reasonable," Cecilia said.

They kept looking for the spider.

It must've been an interesting sight to watch.

"Hey, why did you leave college?" asked Cecilia. She added, "If you don't mind me asking."

Sam stayed silent and Cecilia guessed that he didn't want to tell her.

It took a few minutes before Sam spoke, "I kept having panic attacks. My first year, it was fine. I had a panic attack at least twice a week. However, this year...I was practically having panic attacks twice a day, except for the weekends. It got to the point that I was now having three. My dorm-mate told me that I should drop out if I was getting that bad. Probably because he was tired of finding me in the shower stall having a panic attack. I even had a panic attack during a lesson at one point."

"That's awful," said Cecilia.

"It was," said Sam. "Just don't tell Alex and our parents about why I dropped out. My parents would freak out and I'm sure Alex would find it amusing."

Cecilia knew her boyfriend better than that. She was sure that he would at least worry, but she nodded, "All right." It was Sam's situation. He'll probably find a way to tell them himself.

The door opened and closed.

"What are you two doing?" asked Alex, looking confused.

"We're looking for a spider," Sam said.

"Oh," said Alex. "Have fun with that."

Dylan dressed up as a jester, Ricky dressed as an evil clown, Jack went as Ghostface, and Alex dressed up as a circus ringmaster.

The gig went fine and they still had time to go to the Halloween carnival.

Cecilia regretted going. She went, she conquered, she wanted to go home and watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. She realized that maybe she should've gone as Sally from the movie.

When they got there, it seemed like Alex, Dylan, and Ricky decided to scatter.

"I hate the stupid flashing lights," said Jack as they passed a section that had flashing lights.

"Me too," said Cecilia. "They didn't take into account of people with epilepsy, did they?"

Elena managed to find them, "Hey, has either of you two seen Jeremy? O-or Vicki?"

"No," said Cecilia and Jack shook his head. Cecilia asked, "Wait, Vicki is here?"

"Yeah, she's dressed as a vampire," said Elena. She continued on.

"Should we look for either of them?" asked Cecilia.

"Probably Jeremy," said Jack, "but Vicki isn't my problem."

"At least it's better than being stuck here," said Cecilia. She had to break off from Jack to go look for Jeremy.

She had to stop and ask a few others to know where Jeremy was. A few pointed her in a few different directions. Although to be fair, some looked to be on their way to getting drunk already.

Someone grabbed her arm and she nearly shrieked in surprise. She turned around to slap the guy, but it was Jeremy laughing.

"You're a jerk sometimes," said Cecilia.

Jeremy stopped laughing, "If you're looking for Alex and Dylan, I saw Alex and Dylan go outside. Dylan really looked mad at him."

"All right," said Cecilia. "You need to find Elena. She's worried about you."

Jeremy looked annoyed, "Fine." He stomped off and Cecilia had to leave to go find Jack, to tell him that she found Jeremy and she had to go find her boyfriends is to find out what the argument was about.

Alex was there at her side, "Hey, let's go dance."

"What? No, I'm going to find Dylan," Cecilia said.

"I left him by the buses," said Alex. "Let's go."

"What were you two arguing about?" asked Cecilia, staying rooted to her spot.

"It doesn't really matter," said Alex.

"As I'm your girlfriend, I think I need to know what you two are arguing about," Cecilia said.

Alex stayed silent and Cecilia rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll go ask Dylan then."

Alex let her go.

She went through the back entrance and looked through the buses, finally finding Dylan. He was leaning against the side of a bus.

"Hey, sad clown," Cecilia said.

"Jester, actually," Dylan replied.

Cecilia joined him at the bus and leaned against it. She nearly jumped when the cool metal touched her bare skin.

"What happened between you and Alex?" asked Cecilia.

"Nothing, it's stupid. I'm stupid," Dylan said.

"You're not," Cecilia replied. "You need to stop putting yourself down like that."

"It's really stupid," Dylan said.

Cecilia turned to look at him and put her arms around his waist. "I won't think so."

Dylan kissed her instead. Cecilia allowed him and moved her arms around his neck. He pinned her against the bus. He took a hold of her waist.

She deepened the kiss and—

Dylan pulled away, "Did you hear something?"

"No," Cecilia said breathless, pulling Dylan back in to kiss him again. She deepened the kiss, trying to get Dylan to part his lips, but Dylan pulled away again.

He looked off to the side. "Vicki?"

Cecilia looked to see the vampire dressed as a vampire. Vicki had a strange look on her face.

"Can we help you with something?" asked Cecilia.

"Blood," said Vicki.

"What?" Dylan asked.

Vicki bared her fangs and lunged at Dylan. Vicki pinned Dylan against the bus and had to hold Vicki's head back. Cecilia grabbed Vicki around the waist and pulled her off of Dylan.

"Run!" Dylan said, breathing heavily.

Vicki turned around and tried to bite Cecilia's neck. Dylan had to grab a hold of Vicki's head to pull it back.

Vicki pushed Dylan aside and pushed Cecilia down onto the ground and then Elena hit her with a wooden plank. The plank broke and Vicki whirled around to face Elena and Jack.

Jack said, "Uh...sorry?"

Vicki screamed in rage and pushed Elena backwards into a pile of nearby garbage.

Cecilia went to run over to Elena, but Vicki grabbed her and pinned her against the bus by her throat.

Dylan managed to get a hold of Vicki and yanked her away. Vicki disappeared going under the bus.

"Go! Get inside! Go!" Stefan ordered the teens.

Elena had gotten up, grabbed Cecilia's arm and started pulling her to the entrance.

Cecilia got shoved into Dylan, and Elena got her hair pulled. Vicki started biting into Elena's neck, causing her to scream in pain.

Stefan was there, stabbing something through Vicki's back.

Vicki gasped and looked at her fingers.

Stefan removed the stake.

They watched as Vicki's body started turning a sickly gray color.

Cecilia went to Elena and hugged her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Elena, awkwardly hugging her back. "You guys should go."

"What about you?" Cecilia asked.

"I'll be fine," said Elena. "I'll see you and Jeremy at home. And Jack too, I guess."

They went inside the school.

Whatever shock that Dylan was in seemed to fade, "This has been one hell of a Halloween. We watched our first vampire staking."

"Not funny, Dylan," said Jack. "Not funny."

"Yeah, you're right, sorry," said Dylan.

Alex appeared, "Where the hell where you guys? Is that blood?"

Cecilia looked at the blood flecks that she got from hugging Elena. "Vicki bit Elena and Stefan staked her. I hugged Elena and I guess some blood transferred to me."

"Is Elena okay?" Alex asked.

"She's fine," said Cecilia.

"So you guys are alone for six minutes and you both get attacked by Vicki?" asked Alex.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Dylan.

Alex put his arms around Cecilia's and Dylan's shoulders. "Well, I'm glad you're both okay."

"I just want to go home and sleep now," Dylan stated.

Cecilia nodded.

"Poor Vicki, though," Jack said. "She died as she had lived; addicted to something."

Cecilia elbowed him, "Don't be a dick. She died."

"Right, sorry," said Jack.