There's Another One?

CHAPTER EIGHT

"Elena what's going on in here?" Jeremy asked as we walked into Elena's room. We'd heard arguing and decided to see what was going on. Damon was standing there in front of her.

"Nothing. It's okay just go back downstairs."

"No, it's not Elena." He said looking at her then Jeremy. "He wants to be a vampire." He sped over to Jeremy and slammed him into the wall with a hand around his neck. 

"No, Damon, stop." Elena and I both yelled.

"You want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world." Damon spoke to Jeremy holding him tightly. "The part of you that cares, it just goes away. All you have to do is flip the switch and snap." 

My heart stopped. Jeremy's body fell to the ground as Damon snapped his neck. Elena dropped to her knees as I gasped for a breath. 

This couldn't be happening. I couldn't lose anyone else. My eyes met Damon's. I felt like I was going to puke. Elena was sobbing as she held Jeremy in her arms. I turned around and ran out of the house. I ran as fast as I could to my car and peeled out of the driveway. I had tears streaming down my face and I didn't realize until my vision started to blur. I pulled over on the side of the road and cried. I cried for my parents, for Jeremy, for Elena and for myself. So much had gone wrong in such a small amount of time.  I got out of the car slamming the door as hard as I possibly could causing the whole thing to shake. I let out a frustrated scream before slamming my fist against the car. I was brought back to the night my parents died. I continued to slam my fist against the car and kicking it. My throat was hoarse from screaming and my knuckles were bleeding. My knees felt weak and I dropped, but before my knees hit the ground a pair of arms wrapped around me holding me tight and slowly lowering me to the ground. 

"Shh. It's okay." Stefan? "Jeremy is okay. He was wearing John's ring. He's okay." I let out another cry but he continued to talk while he hugged me. "Elena was worried when you ran out, not that you probably care right now but Damon asked me to find you and make sure you were okay." 

Damon. 

"Why did he- how could he do that? I could tell he regretted it, I seen it in his eyes."

"I wish I had an answer but I don't-"

"He did it to hurt Elena." I said quietly. "He 'loves' her so much and she turned him down. I don't know why he cares if I'm okay." I said spitefully as Stefan helped me stand up. 

"I can't answer for everything my brother has done or the way he acts but what I can tell you, is I know he cares about you. Once he realizes he's not in love with Elena he'll see that he messed up with you. I know it's unfair of me to ask but please don't give up on him not yet." I could hear the pleading tone in his voice.  I sniffled and nodded. 

"I'll think about it." I said quietly walking to my car door. 

"Stefan...thank you for coming out here." 

"Don't thank me, I'm just glad you didn't do anything crazy. Make sure you clean that up when you get home." He said pointing to my hands before speeding off.  

As I got in my car I looked at my phone. I had 2 missed calls from Elena and 1 from Damon. There was also one text. 

To: Em

From: Lena

Sissy, Jer is okay. Please, come home. Love you. 

I started my car and headed towards out house. Once I got home and walked in I was embraced by Jeremy and Elena immediately.  When Elena saw my hands she brought me to our joined bathroom. 

"You know, I hope no living person ever pisses you off." I could tell she was trying to lighten the mood so I smiled for her but she knows me too well and knew it was fake.

"Yeah, well, the only person pissing me off isn't living so..." She actually chuckled when I said that which really made me smile. After she finished bandaging my hands we got in bed. I decided I wanted to sleep with her tonight and she agreed. I was glad cause I just really didn't want to be alone. 

 __________

THE NEXT DAY

__________

To: Em

From: Lena

Meet us at the school. Ric's room. 911.

The text from Elena worried me. A text with 911 meant it was near life or death. If you got a 911 text you are supposed to stop everything and go right then and there. I hurriedly got dressed and made my way to the high school. There were a bunch of people there due to the fair happening but I made my way straight to Ric's classroom. Elena, Stefan and Damon were there. 

"Hey, what's going on? Are you okay?" I asked her as soon as I walked in giving her a hug and not looking at Damon.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Damon actually told us to come here." She said looking in his direction. I leaned against a nearby desk and looked up at him to find his eyes already on me before they glanced down at my bandaged hands. I coughed and looked away. 

"So, what's wrong?" I asked. 

"Caroline is a vampire." He said simply. 

"What?" Elena and I both exclaimed. 

"She said she had a message from Katherine. Game on."

"Wait, so how did this happen?" Stefan asked. 

 "Well, I fed her blood and obviously Kathrine killed her. And 'A' plus 'B' equals.." Damon explained.

"But why?" I asked confused.

"Because Kathrine is a manipulative nasty little slut." I rolled my eyes at Damon. 

"And she said 'Game on'?" Stefan asked. "I mean, what does that even mean?"

"It means she's playing dirty. She wants us to know."

"But why Caroline?" Elena asked. 

"Ah, I don't know."

"Caroline must be completely out of her mind. She has no idea what's happening to her." Stefan said sympathetically. 

"Oh, I think she does. All of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition." I looked at Damon confused, him and Caroline had a past? "Story for another time." He said brushing it off. 

"We have to find her-"

"Yep and kill her." My eyes widened as Damon cut Stefan off mid-sentence. 

"You're not killing Caroline." Elena stated. 

"She knows who we are. She's officially a liability. We gotta get rid of her." I gave Damon a nasty look as Elena quickly turned to Stefan. 

"Damon, absolutely not." Stefan said looking at his brother.

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan? Yeah, Caroline of all people, will not make it as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter. Guys, come on. We all know how this story ends, so lets just flip to the last chapter and-"

"It's not an option Damon." Elena said angrily cutting him off. 

"No? Your silence is deafening, Stefan. Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki. Talk about a town where history repeats itself." Was he really trying to be funny right now? "You know I'm right." 

"We're not gonna kill her." Stefan said walking over to Damon. He walked out of the room and Elena followed. I pushed off of the desk going to follow when he grabbed my wrist. 

"Stefan told me that when he found you...I'm sor-...I just wanted to see if you were okay." He said quietly, gently running a thumb over my bandaged knuckles. 

"I'm okay, Damon." I looked up at him meeting his eyes and my breath caught in my throat. "You said you ended things between us because you didn't want to hurt me but that is all you've done since then." I gently pulled my hand from his, he looked like he wanted to say something but I turned and walked out before he could.