I woke up to the strange feeling of someone flicking my nose. My eyes opened blearily to see Katherine's face hovering over mine, hers extremely impatient as she tried to wake me.

"Finally, I was about to throw you out the window," she huffed, rolling off my bed.

Last night we had gone back to my apartment, and basically had a slumber party. Then we had both fallen asleep on my bed while watching a chick flick.

"Um, I would have died if you did that," I reminded her. "I live on the 5th floor."

"Yeah, but I would have healed you before you went comatose," she grumbled, pulling the covers off. "Kaitlyn, I shouldn't have stayed the night. I should be long gone now. Australia's nice this time of year."

"Wait, you're leaving now?" I asked, my sleepiness going away in an instant. "But Katherine, we have a plan! We're gonna kill Klaus!"

"Yeah, and I'm sure that'll go great," she drawled. "Lynie, you should come with me. I know I said that it was dangerous before, but now it's too dangerous for you to stay. Klaus is coming here! To Mystic Falls. Plus, who knows what your brother has rolled up his sleeves!"

"I can't just leave my friends," I told her uneasily, making my bed as she began to collect her things.

"Well I'm your best friend," she said grumpily. "You need to let other people take the fall if you want to survive. Trust me, I know."

"Kat, please just stay until this afternoon at least. I have a breakfast date with Rose I need to get to." I pleaded.

"Rose-Marie?" Katherine spluttered in shock. "She's still alive?"

"Yeah, didn't you betray her?" I asked curiously.

"For survival, yes. Plus, she turned me."

"What?!" I gasped. "I didn't know that. Well, I don't think she'll be very happy to see you, so just stay here."

"Lyn, I need to run. I can't waste another minute!" Katherine remarked urgently, reaching out to grasp my wrist. "Please come with me."

"I.." my voice was brimming with doubt and uncertainty as I struggled with a decision.

"Wow, okay," my best friend's eyebrows quirked in hurt. "I can see you've already made your decision."

"No, wait, Kat," I spoke up, but she was gone with a swish before I could even bat my eyes.

∆ ∆ ∆

"You've spoken with Katerina?" Rose shoved another piece of bacon in her mouth as she indignantly looked at me.

"No," I lied quickly. "Isn't she still in the tomb?"

"I would think so."

I didn't want to tell anyone that Katherine and I were easily conversing. Stefan had already been suspicious all along that I was working with her and plotting some evil plan. I didn't want to give the others any reason to join him in that opinion.

Suddenly my phone rang, and I apologized quickly to Rose before picking it up.

"Thanks for letting me know Katherine is out," Damon droned mockingly. "Elena almost got choked to death this morning."

"Bummer," I said emotionlessly. "And besides, how would I know that?"

"Oh please, don't pretend like you're not the first person she came to see. It's kind of creepy to see how much she cares about you. I don't think I've ever seen that much love in her eyes."

"Well, what are you doing now?" I asked impatiently. "You know you're interrupting my brunch right?"

"I'm studying with Katherine."

"Um, what?"

"You heard me. Katherine and I are looking for locations in which the witches were massacred. It's going to be the place where Klaus enacts the sacrifice."

"Try not to kill each other," I chastised, before hanging up.

"Katerina's not out huh?" Rose said sarcastically.

I shrugged my shoulders and sent her a sheepish look.

"I'm sorry okay? My first instinct is just to protect her. Look, I need to go to school now. Remember you have a free place in my apartment if you ever need somewhere to stay."

I left the Grill in a hurry, not seeing where I was going until it was too late. I almost fell backward if it weren't for the hands on my upper arms which steadied me. I looked up to see the familiar brooding face of Stefan Salvatore.

"Oh, it's you," I said in distaste, meaning to keep walking, but he didn't take his hands off.

"Hey, can we talk later?" he asked nervously, his eyes darting across my face.

"About what?"

"I just have something to tell you," he said vaguely.

"Um, okay," I agreed after some afterthought. "I'll swing by the Grill at like 18:00. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm talking to the Martin family. I hope I can convince them that we can work together. Well, have a nice school day."

With that he left, leaving me puzzled about why he was being so overly kind to me.

∆ ∆ ∆

School was boring as usual, but the drama was especially thick between Caroline and Matt. He had given her an ultimatum declaring for her to either be with him or leave him alone. I understood where he was coming from, and wish I could talk to him, but he was still mad at me.

"Hey, do you want to come to Elena's house with us?" Bonnie questioned, walking towards her car as I followed her. "We're having a girl's only night."

"I don't know," I trailed off uncomfortably. "Elena and I aren't really on good terms right now. I'm still annoyed because she used me, and she doesn't like me for some inexplicable reason. Everyone likes me!"

Caroline chuckled from behind us. "Please come with us. We all need a break from boys!"

"Well I don't have any special boys in my life right now," I reminded them as Bonnie opened her car door.

"What about Damon?" Bonnie asked cheekily, and Caroline shoved her playfully.

"Oh no, that didn't work out. I think we're better with a platonic relationship. I mean, he's a good kisser, but no fireworks or anything."

"WHAT?!" Bonnie and Caroline chorused in sync. "YOU GUYS KISSED?"

"And you didn't tell me?" Caroline squealed, jumping up and down.

"Sorry!" I laughed, getting in the back of Bonnie's car. "I didn't think it was that revolutionary."

"Was that your first kiss?" Caroline asked, and Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Care, you do realize she's lived for more than a dozen decades right?"

"I've had my few shares of flings," I said vaguely, smirking at their astonished faces. "But I wasn't interested in any of them."

"Kaitlyn Paige," Caroline gasped dramatically as the car started. "Who knew you were a player?"

"Please," I snorted. "I don't know how I captured any of those guy's attention."

"Why? You're beautiful!" Bonnie exclaimed, and I blushed.

"Tell me about your lives!" I changed the subject, feeling self-conscious with the attention.

"Ugh, I do not want to talk about Matt," Caroline scrunched her nose next to me. "I don't want to leave him, but I can't be with him either! Whatever my advice is to just ignore the problem until it goes away."

"That's terrible advice," Bonnie noted drawlingly and I agreed.

"Caroline, you just need to make the decision that is safest for you and him. If you think you can tell him the truth, then go ahead. If not, then try to be in control when you're with him," I explained calmly.

"Okay, let's stop talking about boys!" Bonnie said. "It's all about us girls tonight!"

We cheered in the back of the car as Bonnie turned the radio up.

I didn't end up going to Elena's house but coincidentally met up with them later at the Grill. I was originally coming to see Stefan but got distracted when Caroline started singing to Matt.

"She's amazing," I mouthed to Bonnie, who was standing with Elena and Jenna across the crowd.

When the music stopped, Matt ran to the stage and kissed Caroline, all fairytale-like, and despite myself, my heart ached. I wanted a love like that. I wanted someone to look at me, the way Matt did to Caroline, the way Stefan did to Elena, even how Damon looked at Elena. I definitely knew something was going on there.

A hand snagged the sleeve at my elbow, and I looked up to see Stefan's smiling face.

"Hey, Kaitlyn. How are you?"

"Um, I'm okay," I said unsurely. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Come, let's get a table in the corner, away from all the noise."

Once we had sat in the small booth, Stefan's smile disappeared and he pinched the bridge of his nose nervously. I waited expectantly for whatever he was about to say. Frankly, I didn't want to be here right now. I still disliked him, and I definitely did not deserve the way he had been treating me.

"Look, this is long overdue, but I figured now is better than never," he began slowly, rubbing his hands together in an anxious gesture. "I've had no right to be this hostile to you. I'm normally not this mean of a person, I'm just extremely suspicious. When you first came to Mystic Falls, I thought you were working with Katherine. I was scared for Elena. But I now know that you're one of us."

"Stefan, I appreciate your apology, but I can't just forget what you said to me," I said firmly, my mouth set in a straight line.

"I was going to get to that," he grimaced unhappily. "I was jealous of you, okay?"

"What? Why?" I asked him in amazement.

"Because you're an immortal like me, yet you don't thirst for blood. You don't have to pull a rein so tight that you can't breathe. You don't have to pretend like your human, because you basically are. You can live a normal life. You can have everything I can't," he said quietly, looking down in shame. "I hate that I feel that way, but I can't control it. That day you found me about to drink human blood, I snapped. My emotions magnified and I unleashed them on you. I'm sorry."

"I'm so sorry you felt that way," I breathed sadly, now understanding his actions.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" he asked bewildered. "No! I am apologizing to you!"

A laugh almost escaped me but was abruptly cut off by people screaming. We both stood up immediately, looking for the source.

Jonas Martin was marching through the grill, glass shattering, drinks spilling, and a raging fire starting up the Grill.

"Run," Stefan breathed in my ear. "Get you, Bonnie, Caroline, and Matt to safety. I'll take care of Elena and Jenna."

I nodded curtly before running to my friends, who were trying to escape from the writhing crowd. Caroline tried to charge at the warlock, but he twisted his hand in her direction, and she cowered, clutching her head in pain.

"Caroline!" Matt yelled in concern, trying to fight the man.

"No Matt!" I yelled, running faster, but Jonas turned around and plunged a glass shard inside his neck, and Matt fell to the floor, gurgling in shock.

"Why are you doing this?!" I yelled at Jonas, and his face set into a rage.

"Your friends killed him!" he sobbed roughly, and the fire grew around us. "They murdered my boy!"

"Luka is dead?" I gasped.

"Burned alive."

"You don't have to punish these innocent people, please, extinguish the fire. These people don't have to die."

I must have convinced him somehow because the fire started shrinking as he tried not to cry. He was staring at my face in a sort of awe, and I was bewildered.

Caroline had run to Matt and was healing him with her blood, him looking scared for his life at the sight of her face.

"I see the light," Jonas gasped, before crumpling to the floor.

I ran forwards to check his pulse and breathed in relief when he was still alive.

"What happened to him?" Caroline asked me, and I turned to her nervously. "OH MY GOD!"

I jumped as she yelled. "YOUR EYES!"

I ran to the bathroom and skidded to a halt in the mirror. They were fading, but it was clear that my eyes had been glowing silver only a few seconds ago. When I ran back, the others were panting in fright, but they were all okay.

We went our separate ways after that. Elena, Bonnie, and Stefan said they had a plan to catch Jonas. Caroline went to take care of Matt, and I had something of my own that I had to do.

It was dark by the time I got to the trailer. It was empty, naturally, but I did find it a bit odd that they would just leave it here. I didn't know if my brother was living in this trailer as well, but I was pretty sure he was keeping his belongings in it.

The door swung open easily, which just unsettled me all the more. I crept through the vehicle, peeling back papers carefully but finding nothing. Just when I was going to give up, I saw a huge safe stuffed in the corner.

I peered at it for a few seconds before walking towards it slowly. I had no idea what the number combination was. First, I put his birthday in, but it didn't budge. Then I put the day the fire happened, but that didn't work either. In the last attempt, I put in my mother's birthday, but it still wouldn't work.

That's when I noticed the letters under the numbers. Number 1 had the letters Abc, 2 had the letters def, and so on. I put in the numbers accordingly so that they spelled out his name.

5 - 4 - 2 - 6

L - I - A - M

The safe popped open.

Pompous arrogant jerk.

There was a big bag on the inside of it, clearly something long and sharp within it. Gingerly, I opened the top of the bag, and something toppled out. My eyes widened.

I reached out to touch the cool blade of the weapon and shrieked as my skin sizzled with the contact. I brought my hand to my chest in a defensive manner and bit my tongue to stop myself from screaming further. When I looked at my fingertips, they were blistered and raw, not healing.

I looked back at the weapon, and my stomach sank as I realized what it was. It was the sword I had often seen my brother with.

But why would he carry it with him now? And why did it burn at the touch?

∆ ∆ ∆