"Today's the Historical Society Picnic," Bonnie informed me over the phone. "I can't be there today, but if you want to start taking your place in town, I would go."

"Thanks, Bon. I think I'll go with Caroline or something," I replied happily, eating an egg sandwich.

I had finally managed to have a calm morning, without any melodrama. So I was looking forward to going to this event.

Next, I called Caroline who agreed to go with me. She seemed to be very intent on keeping an eye on Elena and Stefan, which I found a bit odd.

"Thank you to everyone, who's showed up today to lend a helping hand," Carol Lockwood was saying when we arrived.

I spotted Stefan talking to Mason, and Elena was walking towards Caroline and I, looking glum.

"Hey, come to help?" Elena asked me, and I nodded. "Great, follow me."

We trailed after Elena and started getting our paintbrushes out.

"So, how are things with you and Stefan?" Caroline interrogated curiously. "Have you talked?"

"No, not since the fight," Elena replied sadly, though her facial expression was a bit annoyed, and at Caroline. "He's been pushing me away because he thinks that Katherine might get jealous enough to hurt me."

Caroline walked over to Elena and crouched next to her. "You said Katherine is dangerous," she reminded the brunette. "Well, maybe he's got a point."

"Katherine IS dangerous," I cut in. "But I wouldn't have let her control you like that Elena. I thought you and Stefan had made up?"

Elena gave me a sharp stare. "No, we broke up," she said through gritted teeth, and I couldn't help but notice that Caroline looked delighted.

Something strange was happening.

"Hey Lyn," Damon walked up to me cheerily. "Having fun?"

"Yup," I droned. "If I knew I was going to have to do manual labor, I would have stayed in bed."

He chuckled and leaned against one of the pillars. "Hey, have you noticed that Liz was acting a little strange?"

I shook my head in confusion. "Liz?"

"The sheriff," he clarified. "Oh right, I forgot you're new to town. Come with me, I'll introduce you both."

"Oh no that's fine," I protested but he had already grabbed my hand and was leading me towards her.

I tried to ignore the tingles crawling up my fingers, and let Damon pull me towards an elderly woman with short blonde hair.

"Damon," she greeted again, but she looked wary of him. "Who's this?"

"This Liz, is one of my old friends. Kaitlyn Paige," he answered loftily, letting go of my hand.

I smiled politely and reached out my hand for her to shake.

"Liz Forbes," she introduced, and my eyes widened.

"Caroline's mom?" I inquired, and she nodded.

"Yeah, you know my daughter?" she asked curiously.

"We're friends," I explained.

"Well, then maybe you can tell her to at least act like her mother is here," the sheriff mumbled, looking hurt.

"I'll make sure to let her know," I said earnestly, and walked back to Elena and Caroline.

Elena kept gazing at Stefan, and he was looking back, giving me the hint that maybe she wasn't being that honest after all.

"Uh oh," Caroline spoke up. "Longing looks are being exchanged."

"I'm going to go talk to him," Elena then decided, getting up.

"No, Elena. I think it's a bad idea," Caroline tried to stop her, but Elena walked out of her reach.

"Caroline, what is your obsession with their relationship?" I finally blurted out, annoyed at the way she was acting.

She stopped following after Elena and turned towards me.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"I mean, why are you sticking your nose in their business?" I challenged, and she froze, looking anywhere but at me.

But before she could answer, Damon walked up to us, looking annoyed at Caroline.

"Why are you being such a jerk to your mother?" he asked her, and she rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry about it," she muttered, walking away from us to continue painting.

"Later, do you want to start researching about your situation?" Damon asked me discreetly, standing behind me.

"You mean how I'm still alive?" I said in a bemused tone.

"Yeah. I mean, we never really looked into it Lyn. And we should also probably find out what those scars mean," he looked pityingly at my back, and I clenched my fists in annoyance.

I hated that look.

"How did you get them?" he mumbled softly, reaching out a hand to touch them, but I jerked out of his grip.

"It's none of your business," I snapped, stomping away from him.

I walked over to the corner of the woods to regain my breath and saw Mason behind a tree, pacing.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, walking up to him.

"Kaitlyn, yeah. You shouldn't be here," he warned, and I gave him a questioning glance.

"What do you mean?" I challenged suspiciously. "Got something to hide?"

"What are doing hanging out with the Salvatores?" he suddenly asked, taking me by surprise. "They're not good people."

"And how do you know I'm not a bad person?" I asked.

"I just know," he replied angrily. "You need to leave."

"Excuse me?" I asked indignantly. "Why don't you tell me what you're planning on doing, Mason? It better not have anything to do with Damon."

"So you know," he mumbled, and stopped pacing, to look at me.

"Know what?" I defended.

"Don't play dumb now Kaitlyn. I know you know about the supernatural."

There was no point putting on a charade anymore. "Yes, I know. And I know you're a werewolf," I admitted, and his jaw clenched.

"I'm sorry for doing this," he apologized, and stalked towards me. "You're a good person."

Before I could protest he gripped the side of my head, and bashed it into a nearby tree, rendering me unconscious.

∆ ∆ ∆

"Uhhhhh," I groaned, opening my eyes and seeing the spinning forest sky above me.

"Oh my god! Kate, are you okay?!" I heard a frantic voice say, and saw an extended hand reach towards me.

I gratefully took it and saw that it was Caroline, who was standing next to a distressed Elena.

"Yeah, just that idiot Mason knocking me out," I grunted angrily.

"We're actually looking for him right now," Elena told me. "We think he did something to Stefan and Damon."

"I know, I caught him planning something," I informed her, rubbing my throbbing head with my hand.

"Oh god," Caroline suddenly gasped, and Elena and I snapped to attention.

"What is it?" she asked impatiently.

"Stefan and Damon. I heard gunshots," Caroline explained.

"What?!"

We ran after Caroline who took charge until she abruptly stopped at a clearing.

"What is it?" I asked.

"They've been here," she whispered, looking around.

Suddenly her nose scrunched up, and she bent down to pick up some leaves, which were splattered with blood.

"What are you three doing out here?" Mason suddenly stepped out of the trees, looking at me warily. "Kaitlyn, you're awake."

"Yeah, thanks for that jerk," I spat.

"Have you seen Stefan?" Elena asked dumbly, momentarily forgetting that Mason was the one that hurt them. "Where are they?"

"Well, you don't need me for that. I'll let your little friend sniff them out," he motioned towards Caroline. "Does your mother know what you are? I'm happy to tell her."

Caroline bared her teeth, about to charge towards him, when Mason suddenly reached out, grabbing me and twisting me around so that he had me in a chokehold.

I gasped for breath as I desperately scratched at his arms, trying to pull them off.

"Don't be stupid," he whispered towards me. "Just stay still."

Then to Caroline and Elena. "I can easily snap her neck."

"I can take you," Caroline warned him, but it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.

"Wanna bet?" he growled.

"Yeah I do," Caroline replied confidently, and rushed towards him.

In a flash, she separated the two of us and pinned Mason against a tree, holding him up by his neck.

"Told ya," she breathed, before kicking him where the sun don't shine, and throwing him across the forest floor.

She then promptly kicked him, knocking him against a tree until he was unconscious.

"That. Was. Amazing!" I cheered, picking myself up from the ground and following Caroline down some stairs.

She winked at me and giddily bounded down the stairs in front of me.

"What is this place?" I asked curiously.

"I think this is where Mason was turning," Elena guessed.

"She's killing them!" Caroline yelled, and we ran faster, arriving at a small dark room.

"Hey stop!" I yelled, catching the Sheriff's attention, and she froze, her gun quivering in her hand.

"Kaitlyn," she said in alarm, not expecting me to know about the supernatural.

Suddenly there was a flash, and whooshing sounds surrounded the crowd.

"Who's with you?" she demanded, looking around in fright.

Swiftly, Caroline grabbed one of the policemen, and sunk her teeth into his neck, feeding enough that he was unconscious.

Taking this as a distraction, I ran to one of the other ones, and punched him straight in the face, knocking him out immediately.

"OW!" I screeched, shaking my hand in pain.

Another man lunged for me, but I dodged and kicked him against the wall. Then Caroline knocked him out quickly.

After a few seconds, all of the guards were disabled and unconscious, and Liz Forbes was staring at her daughter in shock.

"Hi Mom," Caroline squeaked, the veins under her eyes disappearing.

∆ ∆ ∆

"You need to drink blood," Damon told his brother, who looked extremely weak.

"No," Stefan gasped out.

"Stefan, if there was ever a time to break your diet," Caroline began quietly, but Elena interrupted her fiercely.

"He said he didn't want it, okay?"

"This is a most unfortunate situation," Damon drawled, standing up with some difficulty.

"You won't tell anyone will you?" Caroline begged, trying to catch her mother's eye.

The sheriff didn't offer any response.

"Mom?"

"Mom?! Look, I know we don't get along, and that you hate me, but, I'm your daughter," Caroline enunciated. "And, you'd do this for me, right?"

"Please," I spoke up, seeing Damon's angry stance. "He WILL kill you."

"Then kill me," Liz finally said, tears filling her eyes. "I can't take this. Kill me. Now!"

Damon slowly walked over to her as Caroline stood up in dread.

"But you were going to drag it out so painfully," Damon hissed under his breath, kneeling down towards her.

Suddenly, he grabbed her, and the room exploded in protest.

"Relax guys! No one's killing anybody," Damon stated in annoyance. "You're my friend."

We ended up taking the Sheriff back to the Salvatore house to wait until the vervain left her system. Damon said it would only take a few days.

"Hey, thanks for helping to save us earlier," Damon told me sincerely, placing a hand on my shoulder as I was sitting in their living room. "I'm sure Stefan really appreciates it as well, don't you brother?"

Stefan only grunted in response, but I didn't care. I had felt a part of the group today, and I liked that feeling. I liked feeling like I belonged.

"Kaitlyn, Elena. I need to talk to you," Caroline came back up the stairs, looking small.

Once we had gone into the other room, she told us how Katherine had been pressuring her into spying on Elena and Stefan's relationship.

"And then I got so scared when you were close to figuring it out," she explained to me. "I'm sorry."

Elena told her it was okay, and I excused myself, saying that I wanted to check up on Caroline's mom.

I wanted to tell her that she shouldn't be scared of Caroline, but when I walked down the stairs, I saw Stefan giving a lusting look to a human blood bag, which he had clenched in his hand.

"Stefan?" I asked tentatively, and his head swiveled quickly in anxiety. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he mumbled, but I wouldn't let this go.

I knew about Stefan's ripper problem, and I knew that if he indulged himself in human blood now, it would destroy him, and his friends.

"You're not going to drink that are you?" I said, and he dropped the bag back into the box and shut it angrily.

"Why are you still here Kaitlyn. Huh? I mean, you did your small part for today, so you can leave now," he started angrily, and my eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" I croaked.

"You're not a part of this group Kaitlyn. You're just some girl that we knew in 1864, who's come back sniveling for a few friends," he spat, and I could feel rebellious tears filling my eyes. "You. Don't. Belong."

I didn't answer. I couldn't. I felt as if someone was stepping on my throat, slowly sucking the life out of me.

Not belonging was one of my biggest fears. Being abandoned all over again, not fitting in, people disliking me. All of the negative feelings churned inside me, and I ran back up the stairs, pushing past Damon who looked worried.

"Elena you should go check on your boyfriend," I said numbly as I walked out of the door.

"Hey, Kaitlyn! Where are you going?" Damon ran after me.

"My apartment. I'm not wanted here anymore tonight," I murmured sadly, and walked away, only three words filling my head the whole way home.

You.

Don't.

Belong.

∆ ∆ ∆