The next few days were chaos. Damon killed Elena's brother, but he came back to life because he had a special Gilbert ring that allowed him to come back to life when he was killed by a supernatural being. So, now Elena hated Damon more than she hated him before. According to her, he had no good left in him. Katherine took the good that was left in him, and that was the exact quote Stefan said to her. How did I know all of this? Well, he told me when he returned to the boarding house and asked where his problematic brother was. 

   The Mystic Falls High School carnival was filled with most of the Mystic Falls citizen, and that included Stefan, Damon, and myself. I was on bodyguard duty, trying to protect Jeremy Gilbert from the angry Damon Salvatore. 

   "What will you do?" I asked Damon as we walked through the throng of people. 

   He rolled his eyes and lifted his hands, shaking his fingers. "I will behave," he groaned. He turned and looked at me, tilting his head to the side. "Don't you think I can't behave?"

   I smiled and shook my head. "No, I think you won't behave," I stated. "You're not a good guy."

   He scoffed. "Look who's talking," he scoffed, rolling his eyes once again. He turned and smiled, then marched over to the food truck that sold an array of sweets. "Jeremy," he cooed to the boy buying popcorn. "It's good to see you alive."

   The boy—Jeremy—turned and sighed. "Aren't you a little too old for a high school carnival?" he asked Damon with a slight glare.

   "A hundred and fifty years too old," Damon answered as he grabbed popcorn from the boy's bag. He took the bag, and then continued to eat the popcorn.

   Jeremy scoffed. "You're pretty funny cracking jokes when I could, I don't know, blow the whole lid off this thing by telling someone what you really are."

   Suddenly, Damon took a hold of the boy's neck and began to drag him away from the crowd. He pulled the boy closer to him with his arm. "So, please tell me that that is not a threat."

   "Maybe it is," Jeremy said as he showed him a ring. I pursed my lips and nodded, admiring the guts the boy had. It wasn't every day when a human decided to threat a vampire that had him by the throat. 

   "Oh," Damon said as he began to choke the boy from behind. 

   "Hey, hey!" I immediately cut in, glaring at Damon and squeezing his arm. "Let him go."

   He ignored me. "This is what we're not gonna do: we're not gonna walk around like we are invincible when it's this easy for me to end you." He released the boy. "If you want to tell people what I really am, what we really are, go ahead and try." He held up the ring Jeremy had in his finger a few seconds ago. "I will shove thins ring so far up your ass you'll really have something to choke on." He threw the ring to the boy's forehead and began to walk away. 

   I looked at the boy in worry. "Are you okay?" I asked, looking from his neck and then to his forehead where the ring ricocheted from. "At least you're not hurt... That's good. Elena would have given me an earful and Stefan would have probably killed me."

   "You're one of them?" Jeremy asked, glaring. "Great, vampire everywhere."

   I smiled. "I'm not like Damon, well, not completely at least." I patted his shoulder and began to walk away, only to stop and turn back to him. "Stay safe, okay? Don't get killed or anything. I don't want to be lectured about how hard it is to keep another Gilbert alive." I winked at him and then went on my way to follow Damon. 

   "You're going to follow me around?" he asked as I walked besides him.

   "Oh, no," I quipped. "I'm not following you, I'm babysitting you. There's a difference there."

   "Clara," he breathed, stepping in front of me. "Clara, Clara, Clara... When are we going to stop being such children to each other?"

   "When you decide to grow up, Damon," I sweetly smiled. "Plus, I'll stop babysitting you when you stop being a dick to every person that makes you angry. That stunt you pulled on Elena's little brother, wow, dick move. You want to stop being treated like a child, well, how about not acting like one?"

   He laid a hand over his heart and let out a groan. "Ouch," he gasped. "You hurt my feelings."

   "Aw, did I?" I glared. "Good." I turned my head to see where we were, and I saw two boys arm wrestling. I recognized one of them as Tyler Lockwood, Mayor Lockwood's son.  That was when Stefan arrived and took a stand to my side.

   "Wow, you're lurking," he said to Damon, who had his arms crossed and looked at the boy.

   Damon looked at his brother and made a face. "No, I'm observing."

   "More like obsessing," I scoffed, causing Stefan to smile and Damon to glare. We all went back to looking at the Lockwood boy just as he won the match. 

   "He's got strength," Damon noted.

   "He's a triple letter varsity athlete," Stefan recalled, "of course he has strength. You're reaching." Ever since the accident of Mayor Lockwood hearing the Gilbert device—the thing that caused all the vampires to go down during the Founder's Day celebration— Damon has been wondering about the Lockwood's. Mayor Lockwood and his son heard the device, which was supposed to be a vampire only thing, and they weren't vampires. So, of course, we were all a little curious.

   Another man that resembled Tyler walked as he took off his jacket. Damon let out a scoff besides me. "Enter the uncle," he said. 

   "That's ridiculous," Stefan mused. 

    "Mm," I smiled. "Look at those arms... Faint worthy." Stefan smiled while Damon rolled his eyes. I looked up at Damon, still smiling. "Aw, don't be like that. It's not your fault you don't have arms like those... Compared to you, you have noodles."

   Mason, the uncle, won the match, and everyone around him cheered. Tyler slightly glared at his uncle for ruining his match, which caused me to chuckle as he rubbed his arm. "Okay, he's the champ. Who wants to go next?"

   "Stefan wants to go," Damon cut in. 

   I glanced at Stefan, who had a smile on his face but was obviously getting ready to look at his brother in disbelief. "Yeah, sure, I'll... Uh, I'll give it a shot." He walked up to the table, standing where Tyler was. 

   "Get him, Stef!" Damon sarcastically cheered, crossing his arms.

   "My brother and friend over there think I can beat you," Stefan told Mason. 

   Mason glanced at us, and I wiggled my fingers as a form of greeting. When he turned back to Stefan, he had a cocky smile. "They're wrong," he said. 

   "Ugh," I groaned, throwing my head back lightly. "Even his smile is attractive."

   "Shut up," hissed Damon. 

   I smirked and looked back at Mason and Stefan. They began to wrestle, the pair showing obvious hard pressure. Stefan's cocky face falters for a bit, but he immediately went back to it. I uncrossed my arms and watched, furrowing my brows. It was obvious that Stefan was putting pressure into the match, it was noticeable by the way his jaw was clenched. And then, Mason won. It should have been impossible for him to win. Stefan walked back to us, confused.

   "You didn't put in any effort at all!" Damon quietly hissed. 

   "Yeah, I actually did," Stefan sighed. 

   Damon looked surprised, and then confused, and then nodded. "Come with me," he said. I stayed with Stefan, glancing back at Mason Lockwood, who was arm wrestling with another guy. I sighed, and then pulled Stefan with me so the both of us could follow Damon. We entered the school and went into one of the many hallways. Damon stopped, and turned to us, mostly to Stefan.

   "Is he..." he began to ask.

   Stefan shook his head. "No, no, it wasn't that kind of strength, but it was more than human, if that makes sense."

   "What is up with that family?" Damon hissed, looking around. "They're not vampires, what the hell are they?"

   "Maybe they're Ninja Turtles," Stefan said. I softly laughed, bumping him with my shoulder.

  "You're not funny!" Damon looked at him with a strange face.

   "Or no, zombies," Stefan continued. 

   "Werewolves," I added, smiling. 

   Damon stared at us with a look that said that he couldn't believe that we were joking and also that we were idiots. "No comedic timing at all," he told us. Stefan and I softly laughed as he turned. He saw the man fixing a speaker. 

    "What? What are you up to?" Stefan questioned. 

   "Since this is reality and there's no such things as werewolves or combat turtles..."

   "He said Ninja Turtles, actually," I corrected him. He ignored us and moved to the man. 

   "Hey, you!"

   The man turned to him, and scoffed. "I have a name."

   "Yeah, I don't care," Damon said as he grabbed him by the shoulders. "I need you to pick a fight with someone, a kid named Tyler Lockwood."

   "Damon, don't do this," I sighed. 

   "It's just an experiment," he said without glancing at me or at his brother. "Get him mad, don't back down no matter what he does, okay?"

    "I won't back down," the man said unemotionally. 

   "I know you won't," Damon smirked. He let go of the man, patted him on the shoulder, and watched him walk away. 

   "You realize someone is going to get hurt, right?" Stefan asked his brother, crossing his arms. 

  "No," Damon sighed, "someone is going to get mad, as in rage."

   "Wow, what's that going to accomplish?" I asked, running a hand through my hair. 

   Damon glanced down at me an then looked to his brother. "That Tyler kid is incapable of walking away from a fight. Let's see who intervenes, maybe it's the ambiguous, supernatural mystery uncle that Clara here thinks is a hunk." He raised his brows and began to walk away.

   "I'll babysit him," I sighed, stepping in front of Stefan. "You go do whatever with Elena."

   "You don't have to do this, Clara," Stefan said, looking down at me with his arms still crossed. "I can look after him."

   "And leave you out of your fun with Elena?" I smiled. "Go with her, have fun, enjoy this lovely night with that girl. I'll keep an eye n Dracula over there."

   Stefan looked down at me and smiled. "Thanks." 

   I waved my hand as a response and turned, following Damon down the many hallways the school had. He groaned when I took a step next to him, obviously annoyed that he would be stuck with me for the rest of the night. I would be annoyed with myself to if I said some horrible things, but I didn't take them back. In fact, I was glad that I made him hurt; I was glad that he was annoyed, because I wouldn't be backing down any time soon. 

   I heard the sound of heels approaching, which caused me to pause and turn to see a blond girl walking to us. Damon sighed. "Hey Blondie, they let you out?" he asked her, then turned to continue walking.

   "I remember," she suddenly said. That caused Damon to stop and turn back to her, annoyed. 

   "What do you remember?" he asked. 

   "I remember how you manipulated me," she began, taking careful steps to us. "You pushed me around, abused me, erased my memory, fed on me."

   "You're crazy," Damon chuckled, turning back around. 

   "My memories have been coming back," she smiles, "in pieces." I watched the girl with confusion swimming through me. If one could remember their memories after being compelled, it had to be because they were compelled to remembering or... Oh, no.

   "You can't remember," Damon stated, walking back to her. "It's impossible. I mean, unless you're becoming a..." He stopped and stared at her, realizing. Slowly, he took my arm and pulled me behind him, still staring at the blond girl.

   She smiled. "I have a message from Katherine," she began. "She said 'game on'."

   "Wait..." Damon began, grabbing onto her. 

   The girl turned and with brutal strength, she pushed him back. I watched as Damon flew almost to the other side of the hallway and fall on the floor. The girl glared at him and hissed a, "You suck," before turning around and walking away. 

   I went towards Damon and helped him up, still looking at the girl that strutted out of the hallway a few seconds ago. "You okay?" I asked him, looking to see if he was hurt. 

   He groaned. "Aw, you care."

   "Don't mistake my babysitting for caring," I mumbled, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms. "Who was she?"

    "No one you need to worry about," he said, walking out. 

   I followed after him, grabbed his arm, and made him turn around to face me. "Who was she, Damon?" I repeated. 

   He sighed. "That... That was Caroline Forbes." He pulled his arm away from my hold and marched out. I stood there in shock, trying to absorb what he just told me. From what I knew, Caroline Forbes was in the hospital. Bonnie had told me the day we met at the Lockwood's home. She said something about an accident and then Damon gave her his blood for her to get better. But, she said something about Katherine, which meant... No... It couldn't have happened! I didn't know whether to feel furious or sad. I was furious at Katherine, but I was sad at Caroline.

   Unknowingly, I followed Damon. He had to pull Elena away from what she was doing, and then Stefan appeared magically. We went to a classroom, where I sat on top of the desk with crossed arms and stared at the ground as the trio spoke. Damon leaned on it besides me, arms crossed as well.

   "How did this happen?" Stefan asked, confused. 

   "Well, I fed her blood and Katherine obviously killed her. A plus B equals..."

   "But why?" Elena asked from her seat by the window. 

   "Because Katherine is a manipulative nasty little slut," Damon sighed. 

   "And she said 'game on'?" Stefan asked, still trying to comprehend the situation. "What does that mean?"

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

   "But why Caroline?" Elena asked.

   I felt Damon and Stefan's eyes on me. And Damon spoke up, looking back at Elena. "I don't know," he said. 

   "Caroline must be completely out of her mind, she doesn't even know what's happening to her!" Stefan continued, pacing around. 

   "Oh, I think she does," Damon sighed. "All my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

   "We have to find her," Stefan said, stopping. 

   "Yep," Damon agreed, "and kill her."

   "You're not gonna kill Caroline," Elena and I said in unison.  The boys stared at us, mostly Stefan. Damon, on the other hand, was annoyed. 

   "She knows who we are," he said. "She's officially a liability, and we've got to get rid of her."

   "Damon, absolutely not." Stefan shook his head, agreeing with me and Elena.

   "Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicky Donovan?" Damon asked, his small smirk decorating his lips. "Caroline, of all people, will not make is as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter. Guys, come on, we all know how this story will end. Just flip to the last chapter and..."

   "It's not an option, Damon," I said, glancing at him and shaking my head. 

   "No?" He raised a brow at me, then looked at his brother and Elena. "Your silence is deafening, Stefan. Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki? Talk about a town where the story repeats herself. You know I'm right."

   Stefan stood and walked to his brother, and with each word he said, he jabbed at him with his finger. "We're not going to kill her." He walked away without another word. 

   As Elena began to follow him, Damon said, "It's the only way." It caused her to walk out even faster. I sighed and stood, beginning to pace around. He groaned. "You know I'm right, Clara."

   I stopped in front of him and shook my head. "No, Damon, you're not right. Not every vampire is the same. This Vicky Donovan, whomever she was, will in no way be the same way Caroline will be. Sheriff Forbes loves her, and I don't think she'll have the guts to just throw away someone she loves." I didn't know whom I was talking about then, whether it was me or about Caroline, but I continued. "Caroline is my great-whatever niece, and I will help her go through this."

   He stared at me, dumbfounded. I didn't know why he founded so surprising that I would help someone, especially since she was my family. Maybe it was because of the harsh words I said to him, which he deserved in every way. Or maybe, it was because I sometimes sounded cold-hearted. Either way, he was surprised. 

   I sighed and marched out of the room, feeling him follow behind me. Elena and Stefan was searching for Caroline, so I decided to do the same. Inside the school, outside, and anywhere I thought where she could be. I felt like I needed to find her before Damon did, because I knew he would want to kill her as soon as he found her. In no way could I have her be dead, she was family, maybe the last Forbes to be alive, other than her father of course. Ever since Bonnie told me about her, I decided to look into the family. Liz and her father separated because he turned out to be gay, and then he moved out of Mystic Falls with his partner. 

   I suddenly stopped and looked around, inhaling the sweet scent. The sweet and sadistic smell of blood swam around me, taking every bit of dominance I had over my own body. It was everywhere, and I felt the veins under my eyes bulge out and my fangs begin to push through my gums. I was hungry, I wanted the blood, and I couldn't help myself as I rushed to where it came from. 

    I came to the back of the school, seeing Damon hugging a blond girl, which I recognized as Caroline. He had his arm raised, ready to plunge a steak on her back. I hurried and pushed the stake out of his hand and push him away from her. I stood between Caroline and him, fangs out and veins bulging underneath my eyes.

   "Clara!" Damon hissed, then looked besides me. "Stefan!"

   "Get away from me!" Caroline screamed behind me. "You killed me!"

   "No, no, no!" I heard Elena say. "That wasn't me, you know that! That was Katherine."

   "No!" Caroline yelled. "Then why does she look like you?! And why, why did she do this to me?"

   "Stefan, we've got to get her inside," Elena said, sounding scared for her friend. 

   Stefan began to take steps back, reaching his hand back to Caroline. "It's okay, Caroline. Come with me." He kept his eyes on Damon.

   "She'll die," Damon stated, looking from Stefan to me. "It's only a matter of time."

   "Yeah, maybe so, but it's not going to happen tonight," Stefan defended. 

   "Oh, yeah it is." Damon rushed to stake and then to Caroline. Before he could to anything, Elena stepped in front, and I in front of her. He glared down at me, while I glared up at him.

   "She is my niece," I quietly hissed. "Damon, she is my niece."

   "She is my friend," Elena added behind me. 

   Damon stared at her, and then glared down at me. He dropped his arm and pointed at me with both of his fingers. "Whatever happens, it's on you two," he said before walking away. 

   "Caroline?" Another voice joined. I slowly turned to see Bonnie staring at Caroline with a horrified look on her face. "No, you're not; you can't be." She marched up to Caroline and touched her arm, her face getting even more horrified at the truth.

   "Bonnie?" Caroline stared at her friend, scared and shaking and horrified at herself. 

   Bonnie turned to look at the body behind the truck. "Oh god!" she gasped.

   "Bonnie..." Caroline began. I pushed her to Stefan, signalling him to take her inside with my chin. He nodded and pulled her in to the restroom. I kept my eyes on the closed door, my arms crossed and my heart hurting for the girl. She was hurt, she was scared, she didn't know what to do. From where I stood, I could hear Stefan calming her down. 

   Behind me, I could hear Bonnie and Elena talking. And then Damon arrived with a shovel. He continued to make comments, and then he groaned loudly, dropping to his knees. I turned around, seeing him groaning and grabbing on to his head. And then something went off, like water coming from a hose. I turned to see just that. 

    "I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt," Bonnie hissed at Damon.

   "I didn't do this," Damon groaned. 

   "Bonnie, it wasn't his fault," Elena said.

   "Everything that happens is his fault, Elena," Bonnie stated. 

   I looked down at the water as it flowed slowly to Damon. Slowly, I followed it and stopped when I reached Bonnie and Elena standing next to the truck. Suddenly, the water was up in flames. The flames engulfed Damon, and he began screaming. My eyes widened and I looked at Bonnie. 

   "Stop it!" I hissed at her.

   "Bonnie, stop it!" Elena cried. "Bonnie, Bonnie, stop it! You're going to kill him!"

   "Bonnie!" Elena and I yelled in unison. I groaned and ran to Damon as Elena ran to Bonnie. The fire stopped, leaving only a few small flames on Damon's leg. I pulled him to my chest, my heartbeat pattering to the point where I felt it could push through my skin. He was groaning, moaning in pain against my chest.

   "Why did you stop me?" Bonnie hissed at Elena.

   "Because this isn't us!" Elena explained. "Bonnie, this can't be us."

   I looked over at them, seeing them look over at us. Elena nodded at me, silently asking if I would be okay. I nodded back, and motioned for her to go with Bonnie with my chin. She nodded and pulled Bonnie in for a hug, glancing at us before she left. I continued to run my fingers through Damon's head, almost as if I were trying to sooth him. Why was I doing this? Why was I caring for the man that I hated? Maybe it was how frightened I was when I saw him go up in flames, when I saw him screaming in pain. I hated him, I hated him a lot, but there were still unresolved feelings inside of me. 

   "Why?" Damon groaned from my chest. "Why are you caring for me now?"

   I pulled him closer to me, looking up at the bathroom as Caroline and Stefan walked out. The heat of the fire that was now gone could be felt against my skin, and it bothered me a bit, but it must have felt even worse for him. I sighed and pressed my lips to his head, looking at a confused Stefan. "Even a pain in the ass needs someone to take care of them," I muttered against his head.

   Sometime later, when Damon could walk again, Stefan made him go home. I, on the other hand, helped Stefan bury the body that Caroline drained. I took huffs each time I dug the shovel to the mud. Stefan chuckled each time, commenting about how weak I was.

   "Shut it," I huffed once again. "I'm at least a few weeks, or months, I don't know, older than you."

   He stopped digging and leaned against the shoulder, looking at me. "Caroline knows that you're related to her."

   "Did you tell her?" I asked as I continued  to dig.

   "No," he answered, starting to dig once again. "She heard what you said when you stopped him from staking her. She assumed that you were her father's sister, but I had to tell her that it wasn't true. That you were born in 1844."

   I stopped and laughed, rolling my eyes. "You're making me sound old."

   "That's because you are," he smiled, looking up at me as he pushed the shovel to the ground. 

   I feigned hurt and laid my hand over my heart. "Ouch! Stefan, since when did you get so rude?"

   He continued to smile and dig, until we were deep enough and were able to bury the body six feet underground. I didn't feel anything as I threw mud, dead leaves, and whatever else on top of the dead man. There was no sympathy and no remorse. But, there was a tinge of sadness in my chest, and it wasn't because of him. It was because of Caroline, and the pain she would have to go through for the rest of eternity. It was because of Damon, and the pain in the ass he was. It was because of Elena, and the things she had gone through. It was because of Bonnie and what she had gone through. It was because of Stefan, and the pain he had and will go through. The tinge of sadness in my chest was because of the pain we have all gone and will go through.