Damon called early that morning, requesting that Elena and I come to the house to see someone. I, for one, wasn't very happy about being woken up at 6:30. It was my first day at school, and it didn't start until 8:00.

I arrived at the house at the same time as Elena, yet we didn't greet each other, due to the tension we will had from the past few days.

Damon opened the door and ushered us inside.

"Hey," Stefan greeted Elena as soon as we walked in. "Hey, Kaitlyn."

I barely nodded to him as I continued walking towards the room. I was nowhere near okay with him right now, and he needed to know that.

"What's this about?" I heard Elena ask, as I turned the corner and found out the answer for myself.

"Rose," I breathed out in surprise, seeing the tall woman with her scraggly short hair sitting on the couch.

She got up sheepishly and raised her hand to wave. When she saw Elena's expression from behind me though, she slowly lowered her hand, thinning her lips awkwardly.

"Okay, you have to understand. I only know what I've picked up over the years. And I don't know what's true and what's not true," Rose illustrated, clasping her hands and pacing next to the fireplace.

We had all taken a seat on the couches, craving to hear what this 500-year-old vampire had to say.

"That's the problem with all this vampire crap," she continued to say. "But I know Klaus is real."

"Klaus?" I repeated in interest. "Who's that?"

"He's one of the originals. He's a legend." Damon said brusquely.

"Like Elijah," Elena guessed.

"No," Rose cut in. "Elijah was the Easter Bunny compared to Klaus."

Maybe Klaus is the one Katherine was running from, I thought to myself. After all, from what I saw of Elijah, he didn't look capable of murdering a young girl's entire family. There was honor in him, and from all I knew, killing innocent people wasn't honorable.

"Klaus is known to be the oldest," Stefan explained for Rose.

"So Elijah and Klaus are the only Originals?" I asked curiously.

"That we know of," Rose answered curtly.

"Okay, so you're saying, that the eldest vampire in the history of time, is coming after me?" Elena clarified, and they nodded sympathetically.

"And Elijah wants Kaitlyn for some reason," Damon piped up, looking angry for my sake.

"Look, Elijah's dead, right? No one else even knows you exist," Stefan tried to reassure us, and I bit my lip indecisively.

"Are you sure he's dead?" I asked, even though I knew it sounded stupid. "I mean, didn't it seem a little too easy? We killed an Original vampire, and none of us got the slightest bit hurt."

"Don't be so negative Kaitlyn. Just take the win," Elena told me irritably.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him," Stefan tried to help. "We're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. For all we know, he could be a stupid bedtime story."

"I'm pretty sure he's real," I spoke up, and they looked at me for an explanation. "I think he's the man Katherine spent her life running from."

I gritted my teeth as I said it. This imbecile was going to pay for hurting my friend. In fact, if no one stopped me, I think I would kill him myself.

"He is real," Rose confirmed. "And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you're not afraid, then you're an idiot."

"Alright, we're shaking. We get your point," Damon drawled unbelievingly.

At that point in time, Elena shrugged her backpack on and stood up abruptly, walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Stefan questioned in concern.

"School," Elena reminded him, which brought me to stand up as well.

"Oh yeah, it's my first day today," I announced excitedly.

"Why are you excited?" Damon asked, making a disgusted face.

"Um, this is my first time going to school in a modern world," I pointed out, and he sighed.

"I'll grab my stuff and go with you guys," Stefan followed suit, but Elena stopped him tiredly.

"That's okay. I know where it is, and I can show Kaitlyn."

He nodded through his unhappiness and let us leave.

"She's in denial," Damon whispered to Rose mischievously, at which Stefan turned around to him.

"Shut up Damon."

∆ ∆ ∆

On the way to my car, I noticed that Elena had walked to the house and that she was walking in a completely different direction.

"Um, do you want me to drive you?" I asked nicely, though for what reason I didn't know why.

"Oh, no, I'm not going to school," she told me, before continuing to walk.

"Well, where are you going?" I ran after her.

"It's none of your business," she hissed, turning around sharply and marching away from me.

"Geez," I murmured to myself before I got back into my car and drove myself to school.

As I made it to the school, I glimpsed Bonnie getting out of her car, and then promptly dropping all of her books at once.

I picked up my backpack and went to help her when I saw that she already had one. Elena's younger brother Jeremy.

"Where's Elena," Bonnie was asking as I came up to them.

"She's uh, running late today," Jeremy trailed off, probably wondering himself where she was. "So what are you doing later? You wanna hang out at the Grill? Maybe shoot some pool."

I came into view just as he shyly asked her out and mentally slapped myself for interrupting their moment.

"Uh," she stuttered, looking to me for help.

"She would love to," I affirmed, grinning at her flustered state.

"Can Kaitlyn come as well?" she desperately asked, and I shot her a look.

"Um," Jeremy looked hesitant. "Sure I guess."

While he was distracted talking to another student, I ran in front of Bonnie, immediately stopping her.

"What did you do that for?" I asked crossly, sending her an indignant expression.

"I don't know okay?! I panicked and besides, I still would be happy if you came. To let me make up to you for my previous mistakes," she protested, and I smiled.

"You won me over Bonnie Bennet," I laughed, and stepped beside her, walking with her towards the school. "Little secret, I'm really nervous for my first day. I mean, it is the middle of the school year."

"Don't worry! You'll do great! You probably already know everything about everything. And Caroline and I will be with you the entire time! Speaking of, there she is right now," Bonnie waved Caroline over, who was late and rushed.

"Where were you?" I asked her curiously.

"Helping Elena," she said, her voice more high-pitched than usual.

"Do what?" I asked suspiciously, remembering Elena's strange behavior that morning.

Before she could answer, a student came up to us, looking lost.

"Hey excuse me, do you guys know which way it is to the office?" he asked frantically.

"Yeah, through the double doors, straight ahead, quick left, and then your first right," Jeremy recited helpfully. "You must be new here."

"Yeah I am," the boy said bashfully. "It's kinda hard to hide it. My name's Luka."

"I'm Jeremy. This is Bonnie, Caroline, and Kaitlyn."

"Hi Bonnie," Luka looked directly into my beautiful friend's eyes, causing her to flush in the bask of his attention.

Jeremy looked from Luka and Bonnie, barely concealing his jealousy.

"Anyway Luka," he said forcefully, interrupting their connection. "I'm heading in that direction. Why don't you follow me?"

"Okay, it was nice to meet you, Bonnie," he flirted, before walking away.

Caroline and I squealed as Bonnie giggled quietly.

"Now you have two boys fawning over you," I told her, and she batted me away playfully.

"Please," she scoffed.

∆ ∆ ∆

By the last lesson, I was thoroughly exhausted! School was more boring than I thought, and there was a lot happening in the month that I joined.

Caroline had been MIA most of the day, even skipping some of her classes, and so had Stefan. I was almost 100% sure this had something to do with Elena. It always did. I was starting to see that any event that happened, would somehow lead to that girl.

But then I saw the blonde running up to me with a smile.

"Hey Katie," she greeted overly happy.

"Um, hi," I replied, taken aback. "Where were you all day? I missed you on my first day."

"Yeah, I'm SO sorry about that. I was just distracting Stefan," she told me.

"Distracting him from what?" I asked.

"Oops, did I say distracting?" she squeaked. "I totally meant disturbing."

"Okay.." I trailed off doubtfully but then abandoned the act. "Okay Caroline, spit it out. I know you have something to say."

"Urgh!" she tried to stop herself. "Okay, I told Tyler that I was a vampire!"

"What?!" I yelled explosively.

"DON'T, freak out," Caroline tried to calm me down. "I didn't tell him about anyone else."

"Caroline, I just want you to be careful okay? I mean, a werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire. How do you know he won't accidentally bite you? I don't want you dying on me!"

"I'll be extra cautious around him okay? He's just really scared for his first full moon, and I want to be there for him," she tried to explain, and I nodded understandingly.

"Hey, Kate!" Bonnie walked up to us. "Do you want to go to the Grill now?"

I nodded and said goodbye to Caroline.

As soon as we walked into the Grill, Bonnie and I recognized Luka sitting at one of the nearby tables with a man who I assumed to be his dad.

"Bonnie," Luka called out, waving her over to his table.

She took my hand and pulled me along with her, nestling into the bench next to him.

"Oh, and you," Luka said doubtfully. "Sorry, what was your name again?"

"Kaitlyn," I said politely. "How was your first day?"

"It was great," he replied, but I could tell he was only focused on Bonnie.

Gosh, if this guy was going for subtle, not exactly working out for him.

"I would like to introduce you to my dad," he said, motioning towards the older man I was sitting next to.

Wow, this dude was moving quickly.

"Hi, I'm Bonnie Bennet," Bonnie introduced graciously.

"Jonas Martin," the man replied in a gruff voice.

Bonnie tried to make small talk with the family, but I just zoned out, basically weirded out by them. I didn't know why, but I was getting extremely weird vibes from the Martin family. They seemed way too invested in Bonnie's life and heritage.

Eventually, Jeremy came into the Grill, and Bonnie excused herself. By then I had already left the table and was getting ready to leave. I wanted to visit Katherine and check on how she was doing.

It took me a while to search the woods for the tomb, but eventually, I found it. When I arrived, I saw Stefan angrily talking to Elena, who I assumed had just met up with Katherine, for what reason, I didn't know.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked in annoyance as I walked towards them.

Elena turned around sharply and looked me up and down with clear dislike. "I was just trying to find out information about this sacrifice from here."

"She is a liar Elena," Stefan was trying to pound into her head.

"She wouldn't lie about her life," I defended her angrily.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Elena. Stop trying to put yourself in danger," Stefan completely ignored me, just devoted to getting this through Elena's brain.

"I'm pretty sure you won't be able to stop this sacrifice," I commented cynically and then kept my mouth shut at Stefan's pinched expression.

"Kaitlyn's right. There's nothing you can do," we heard a voice croaked from the shadows, and I turned around to see Katherine limping from the darkness of the tomb. "I haven't even told you the best part of the story."

"He killed them," she said emotionlessly, her face void. "My entire family."

Elena looked shocked, Stefan looked doubtful, and I just looked sad, given that I had already learned this information recently.

"Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance. On your friends, your family, on anyone that you've ever loved."

Stefan grabbed Elena by the shoulders and tried to catch her eye. "Don't listen to her, okay?"

"There's nothing you can do to stop this," Katherine repeated. "Unless of course, you have this."

Slyly, she pulled the shiny moonstone out of her pockets, and I heard Stefan scoff.

"There it is," he said angrily. "That's the ultimate lie, isn't it? You spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you!"

"She's telling the truth!" I yelled in annoyance. "I saw it for myself."

Stefan didn't even bother asking how that was possible, all he was focused on was Katherine's face.

"Let me guess, you want to trade that stone for your freedom, hmm? You manipulative, psychotic bi–"

"Stefan stop!" I said bitterly. "She doesn't want her freedom!"

Knowing Katherine, she would want to do anything to survive, and in the tomb, she was the safest person possible from vampires.

After a few minutes, Stefan took Elena away, which left me alone with Katherine, who had skulked back into the shadows.

"I don't want you to visit me anymore," I heard her voice call out.

"What why?" I furrowed my brows, a characteristic which I had unfortunately picked up from Stefan.

"I don't want you wasting your time to check on your poor weak friend who's been captured by your shiner and newer friends," she explained, and I could detect the light jealousy in her voice.

"Kat, no one will ever be able to replace you," I told her honestly. "And besides, I'm not down here for you. I'm down here for me. You're the only person I can talk to about anything, and who won't judge me. Also, you know almost everything about my life."

"That is true," she muttered and walked back to the opening. "So tell me what you've been up to these past few days."

∆ ∆ ∆

It was late now, the pallid moon shining a weak light on the dark world. I had decided to go see Damon and Rose, to learn what they had done today.

I walked into the house which I already had keys to, thanks to the generosity of Damon. He was sitting on a chair by the fireplace when I eventually found him, swirling his drink effortlessly.

"Hey," I said softly, and he turned around, giving me a small smile.

"Hey Lyn," he uttered, gesturing for me to sit on the chair while he stood up.

"What did you discover today with Rose?" I asked curiously, and he sighed dramatically.

"We went to see her friend Slater, but then were attacked by Elijah, who by the way, isn't dead!"

"Elijah's alive?" I asked, and wondered why I wasn't more surprised. But it was like I had known it deep down, all along.

"Yeah, that bloke almost killed Rose by shattering the windows of that place, exposing her to the sunlight," Damon ran a hand over his face tiredly. "Anyway, Rose is going to call her friend later and ask him about a way to eradicate the curse. Don't worry about it, everything's going to be fine."

"You don't have to appear so strong all the time," I reminded him gently, and he looked at me startled.

"I just want to keep everyone safe," he said, mostly to himself. "I don't want to fail you."

I got up from the seat, and walked over to him, taking the glass out of his hand and putting it on the table behind me. I was standing right in from of him, my height putting my eyesight directly on his lips.

"I should have never ignored you back in 1864. Maybe if I had just tried to get to know you, we could have..." Damon paused, biting his bottom lip as his eyes flitted over my face, resting on my mouth.

"You wouldn't have liked me back then," I whispered. "I was a push-over who couldn't stand up for myself, a weak girl who lost too many people and didn't know how to handle it. I didn't have a support system."

"Now you do," he answered firmly. "You have me, Caroline, Bonnie, and even though Stefan won't admit it, he respects you."

I laughed lightly at that.

"I just–"

"Sshhhh, stop talking," Damon placed his finger on my lips, dragging it down so that it parted my bottom one.

We looked at each other for a moment, before he hungrily attached his lips to mine, my hands immediately going to his hair, and his around my waist.

His lips were soft and responsive, fire on ice as they melded together, over and over. He vamp-sped me into a wall, and trailed his hands over my sides, tugging at my clothes.

We pulled apart for a few seconds before his nimble hands started unbuttoning my blouse. Once it was off, he gazed at my upper body, my bra concealing the small breasts I had.

He put his arms on either side of me, caging me in as he started to suck on my jaw, moving down the hollow of my neck and towards my shoulder.

I closed my eyes in pleasure and tingles spread throughout my body. I had waited for this day since 1864, and I couldn't quite believe it was happening right now. His soft lips trailed down to the valley of my breasts, and I quickly unhooked the back of my bra, gasping when the cold hair hit my skin.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered quietly.

His hands slowly moved to my hips, where he not so subtly was trying to remove my pants. Something was wrong though. I told him to stop, and we looked at each other for a few seconds.

His hands splayed on my hips, my fingers tangled through his air, both of our lips swollen as we gasped for air. It felt good, didn't it?

So then why did I push him away?

Why did I tell him to stop?

Why didn't it feel..... right?

"What's wrong?" he panted, looking at me in concern.

"We can't," I whispered. "You're in love with Elena. And I can't fill that void for you."

He looked down sadly. "Kaitlyn, you're not a replacement, I have feelings for you."

"I can't be with someone who will choose another girl over me," I told him sternly, and he nodded, stumbling back a few steps.

"I understand," he mumbled, and I grabbed my blouse, staggering towards the door.

As I walked back into the night, tears filled my eyes, and I bitterly wiped them away.

Why would I ruin that for myself?

Why couldn't I have just gone with it?

Maybe I was meant to be alone forever.

∆ ∆ ∆