This is not a mirage...your eyes aren't deceiving you. This is another chapter...nine months later. I am so sorry guys. SO SORRY! To say life has been hectic would be a huge understatement. Not to mention my muse didn't even bother to say goodbye before leaving. Thanks times a million to my wonderful beta who I owe so much to! I borrowed some lines from the pilot and the song is Welcome Home by Radical Face. I don't own The Vampire Diaries unfortunately. Well here ya go.

Chapter Five

All my nightmares escaped my head

Bar the door, please don't let them in

You were never supposed to leave

Now my head's splitting at the seams

And I don't know if I can

Elena paused in front of the mirror before glancing at the clock. Bonnie would be pulling up in less than fifteen minutes. She tugged at the bottom of her shirt, she decided against wearing the same outfit the second time around; it had to be some sort of bad luck. She rubbed concealer under her eyes; she couldn't remember her dreams from the previous night but woke up throughout the night with a feeling of dread. If anything she believed that she was further from getting home than she had been when she first woke up in a hospital bed. She checked to make sure the pocket watch was still secure and tried to open the chest again, still not budging. She noted Jeremy's absence again and reminded herself to ask him about it later.

Jenna poured another cup of coffee for Elena who accepted it gratefully. She peered at her niece over her mug, "Jeremy left about ten minutes ago, are you ready?"

"For everyone to stare and point at me?" Elena asked. She munched on a cinnamon raisin bagel before responding. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

Jenna raised her eyebrow, "I'm your aunt and guardian if I didn't worry I wouldn't be doing my job right."

Elena hugged her aunt, "You sounded just like a responsible parent."

She grinned, "Awesome! I mean it sucks but someone has to do it."

"And not anymore," Elena laughed. She swallowed the rest of her coffee before grabbing her purse just as Bonnie pulled up. "I'll see you after school."

Elena stared out the window, a frown marring her face; a dense layer of fog that wasn't there when she woke up blanketed the air. She snapped back to reality only catching the word "witch" coming from Jenna's mouth. Her eyes widened, breathing slowed as she turned to Jenna, "What?"

Jenna held out a brown bag, "You almost forgot your sandwich."

Elena chuckled, sighing in relief, "Right, thanks. Wish me luck."

She slid in the passenger seat, "Thanks for the ride Bon, Jenna doesn't think I should be driving and with this fog?"

"I know, it literally came out of nowhere but didn't you drive the other day?" Bonnie questioned. She turned off of Elena's street heading on the main road that would lead them to Mystic Falls High School.

"Yeah but Jenna would flip if I told her I did, she's still a little freaked out about everything."

"Well that is to be expected, Lena, for a while none of us thought you were going to make it," she gave her friend a sad smile. "It freaked us all out."

Elena changed the subject, not entirely comfortable talking about the coma she didn't really know about. She felt like she was walking on shaky ground, not knowing what she missed or what was real, if any of this was real at all. What Elena was dying to know is if Bonnie's grandmother had told her best friend about her supernatural abilities. "Did you spend more time with your Grandma?"

Her friend froze, "I did."

"Oh? Did something happen?" Elena asked carefully.

Bonnie's smile was vacant, she shakily added, "Our ancestors were from Salem, which isn't all that weird but then she keeps going on about the future and how she needs to prepare me? At this point I'm tuning out her crazy talk but then she tells me she's a witch and that I'm one too?"

That's when it happened again. Bonnie shrieked as the bird flew into the windshield, swerving the car on to the sidewalk. With a wave of déjà vu sweeping over her, she stared at her dark haired friend, "Witch?"

But Bonnie's head was somewhere else all together; she clutched her chest, "Are you okay? That bird…what the hell? Oh god, Elena, I know car accidents…"

She nodded, "Lets just head to school. Slowly."

Five minutes of silence passed, Elena didn't dare broach the topic of witchcraft and Bonnie didn't even want to acknowledge her confession. The fog disappeared as they moved towards the school. The front lawn was buzzing with students, girls checking out each other's outfits, the football players passing a ball. She spotted Jeremy running into the school, Tyler staring at him with his arms crossed. She needed to figure out what Jeremy was up to. She said a quick goodbye to Bonnie and followed him to the front steps.

Stefan stepped in front of her, as she crashed into his chest. "Elena!"

He caught her arm before she could fall over, "Stefan? Sorry I didn't see you there."

"Sorry, you're the only friendly face here and I have to turn in some papers to the office but I don't know where it is," Stefan added awkwardly. Liar. She wanted to call him out for trying to compel her or shake him until somehow he magically knew who she was. She glanced at the front door, "So could you show me where it is? Unless you have somewhere you need to be?"

"No, I mean yes, I can show you where it is. I just needed to talk to someone but it can wait." She smiled at him, she could pretend he was the Stefan she knew for a minute to push away the fear. She led him up the steps, "I don't usually give my number out to strangers but when I do, they usually call."

Stefan shook his head, "I meant to call you but I had family stuff to attend to."

"Oh right, it's just you and Zach living in the boarding house?" Elena was toeing the line and she knew it. People stared at her, whether it was because of Stefan or her being the coma girl who killed her parents but it was most likely a mixture of both.

"Actually my brother is in town, visiting for a while," Stefan admitted reluctantly. She stood in front of the office door, which was right inside the front doors. She held the door open for him. He chuckled, "Well thanks for helping me find the office."

Elena nodded, the staring was overwhelming, "You're welcome. See you around, Stefan." She all but ran over to where Bonnie and Caroline were talking. "Is the school day over yet?"

She noticed Matt standing with them, hands shoved into the pocket of his letterman jacket. "You look better," he told her.

Caroline stared at herself in her compact, applying another layer of lip gloss, "Who's the new guy? And why are all these hotties following you around?"

"I'm gonna go find Tyler…" Matt trailed off uncomfortably.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Care…Is there ever a time when you aren't thinking about boys?"

"Um, when Mr. Tanner is talking? He gives me the creeps so it's hard to think about anything other than the spit flying out of his mouth when he yells," she nodded quickly.

Elena smiled at her friend, "I'm definitely not looking forward to seeing him again." She thought about how mortified she was when he called her out in front of the whole class and Stefan coming to her rescue, revealing what she later learned to be a part of his past. He doesn't deserve to die though. She spotted Jeremy across the hall and moved towards him when Caroline started speaking.

Caroline smiled invitingly to the "new guy" and shook his offered hand, "Caroline Forbes, head cheerleader, student council president, and your very own welcome wagon."

"Stefan Salvatore or the new guy," he grinned, his eyes lingered on her porcelain neck, a detail Elena didn't miss. Bonnie waved nervously and introduced herself to the vampire. Jeremy disappeared down the hall, she missed her chance. She didn't really want to leave her friends alone with him anyway. Not that he's stalking them or anything, she mentally added to herself.

"Salvatore…you know that sounds awfully familiar. Oh! Elena mentioned a Salvatore on the phone the other day, we were hanging out at the-," Caroline tapped her lip deep in thought. Elena's eyes widened and shook her head discreetly from her position next to Stefan.

Bonnie intervened, "Mall and Elena mentioned that someone was moving into the Salvatore boarding house but she didn't say anything about you."

Caroline glared, catching on, "I can see why...She obviously didn't want to share you with us." She wrapped her arm around his, "Don't worry I'll show you to our homeroom."

Bonnie turned to her friend, "What was that?"

Elena glanced at the back of Stefan's head, knowing that there was a chance that he could be listening in, "Besides Caroline not being able to keep her mouth shut?"

"You know that's not what I'm referring to," Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You promised me that you would talk about what happened at the mall. Remember when you ditched us to hang out with some guy."

She watched him disappeared into a room at the end of the hall before turning her attention back to Bonnie, "Please. Just I can't talk about it here okay? Tell Caroline to meet me at your car at lunch and I'll explain everything."

"I'm holding you to that Elena Gilbert," Bonnie added sternly. They walked arm in arm to their classes, the déjà vu Elena felt was overwhelming until she reached her 4th period class, History with Mr. Tanner.

Elena slid into the seat in between Bonnie and Caroline braced herself for the worst. She didn't have to turn around to know that Stefan was staring at her. Suddenly she wished that she had taken up on Jenna's offer to stay home an extra day. Mr. Tanner skipped the pleasantries that most teachers started with on the first day and began his lecture on local history.

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?" Mr. Tanner demanded from behind his desk.

"Um...a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot." Bonnie stammered, her dark cheeks burned red.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett..." Tanner responded, rolling his eyes. He turned to the other side of the room. "Mr. Donovan. Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

"It's ok, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it," he smiled. Elena braced herself, she would never forget what would happen next...At least this predicament allowed her to change history and save face.

The teacher moved to stand in front of Elena's desk, "I wonder if you guys would have the answer to how many brain cells were lost on your summer vacation. Let's try this one more time...Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

"Umm you know its on the tip of my tongue, Sorry...Then again I had a hard time studying while I was in a coma," Elena shrugged her shoulders. The class quieted before a few students snickered behind their hands.

Mr. Tanner ignored the students, "Thank you, Elena...I wasn't aware that you were busy over the summer but the personal excuses ended with summer break. Anyone else?"

Elena fought back a smirk before Stefan could ride in and save the day, she spoke up again. "I believe it was 346 casualties...Though you can't forget the local civilians, right?" Out of the corner of her eye, she could see confusion written all over Stefan's face.

He spun on his heels facing Elena again. He frowned and peered around the room as if he expected the answer to be in capital letters on the blackboard, "That's correct...Except there weren't any civilian casualties. Better luck next time."

She arched her brow, "I'm from a founding family...There were 27 civilian casualties at the Battle of Willow Creek."

Stefan cleared his throat, "It's true. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. Miss Gilbert knows her history."

"And you are?" the teacher asked rudely, clearly upset for being undermined by two teenagers in front of his class. Elena's smile faltered, this was when she started to develop feelings for Stefan. Now all she was feeling was boiled down to being constantly on edge waiting for the next shoe to drop or Katherine ripping her throat out.

"Stefan Salvatore."

"Ah another founding family...I'm assuming of course, that you are related to the Salvatores who originated here in Mystic Falls?" Mr. Tanner questioned not at impressed by his family history.

"Yes, sir. The Salvatores are very distant relatives," he replied, emphasizing on the word distant. If only they know that Stefan is from the original Salvatore founding family and that his father killed him for fraternizing with vampires...His father ended up turning him into the one thing he hated. Heads would spin. He smiled disarmingly, "The founder's archives are stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."

Tyler whistled from the back of the room as the class erupted in laughter just as the lunch bell rang. Elena hurried out of the classroom before Mr. Tanner could lecture in so many words that being a smart ass in his class wouldn't end well for her. She prayed that Stefan would keep his distance during lunch and headed to Bonnie's car. Caroline and Bonnie appeared minutes later while Elena took the last bite of her sandwich.

"You are officially my hero," Caroline spoke first. Elena motioned for them to get in the car and told Bonnie to put the keys into the ignition. "The look on Tanner's face after you answered the question...that image will get me through the rest of the year."

"How did you know that? I'm guessing you weren't studying the past week." Bonnie grimaced, not as impressed as Caroline. She liked things in black and white, that's why Elena wouldn't be sharing her secrets, not yet. Bonnie was still freaked about her witchy ancestry, God only knows what would happen if Elena dropped the vampire bombshell on her. The idea of telling Caroline filled Elena's brain with scenes of Caroline running and screaming or begging to become the next Bella to some vampire's Edward.

"I did find some of my family's journals," Elena replied vaguely. She scanned the front of the school and the parking lot before turning on the radio, loudly. The two girls looked at each other, puzzled by their friends' behavior. "I don't want to be overheard."

Caroline peered at Elena, "Are you going crazy? I can barely hear you." She moved closer to the other girls.

"Listen, okay? You wanted to know what happened this morning and this is the condensed version," Elena explained slowly. They were inches away from each other, Elena keeping her voice as quiet as possible. "Stefan's older brother is the one we met at the mall a few days ago. I've known Damon for a while but he's not on good terms with his family. Estranged would be putting it mildly. Before I go on I need you guys to promise you won't tell anyone. I mean it."

Bonnie nodded while Caroline mimicked zipping her lips shut, she quipped, "It's going in the super-secret vault!"

Elena laughed nervously, she missed these two. "Stefan is never to find out that I know Damon or that I was introduced to him before seeing Stefan the other day. I'm not really planning on staying friends with either of them. They are dangerous. Something bad happened to them when they were younger and it's just not safe to be around them."

"How dangerous are you talking, 'Lena?" Bonnie asked, concerned.

"Not criminally dangerous," Elena lied, thinking of all the dead bodies and vampire related accidents. She bit her lip, "I need you guys to stay away from them. Please. I can't have anyone else around me risk getting hurt."

Caroline reached over the car seats and hugged the girls, "Don't worry, Elena but could you have picked uglier bad boys to get involved with?"

They dissolved into giggles, reliving some of the tension. "I'll keep that in mind next time, Care" Elena answered dryly. She pulled two bracelets out of her purse, both laced with vervain. "My mom gave me a set of three bracelets on my last birthday and I've been meaning to show you...The braided cords are supposed to be unbreakable like the bonds of best friends." Elena blinked back tears and showed them her wrist before clasping each vervain bracelet onto their arms. "Keep them on always, okay?"

They hugged again, both choking back their own tears. Bonnie shoved Elena playfully, "Way to go, Elena. I thought we were done with the crying stuff for a while now?"

"Would this be a bad time to tell you guys that I invited Stefan to Duke from Duke's party?" Caroline cringed, peeking at Bonnie and Elena from behind her hands.

Elena's eyes grew large, "Shit. Did he say he was going to go?"

The blonde shrugged helplessly, "He didn't say he wasn't going? I don't know! He seemed like he was interested in going especially after I said that you would be going with us."

"I didn't say I was going," she muttered, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. She was afraid. She was afraid for herself, for her family, and for friends.

Bonnie snorted as Caroline whined, "Elena! You have to. Must I remind you that you were in a coma all summer and you missed so many parties, you need to get out and have some fun."

"I don't know if Jenna will go for it, she didn't even want me to drive to school today," Elena told them, lowering her voice. "Weren't some of those animals attacks in the woods near where the party is supposed to be?"

Caroline dismissed her, "That was in the south woods...We'll be fine and with a whole bunch of people. Just try to not to stumble over any dead bodies or wander around the woods by yourself."

She froze, mouth wide open when she remembered. Vicki. Damon almost drains her dry tonight. She set her mouth in a straight line and turned to her friends, her mind made up. "I'll be there just don't mention the party anymore to Stefan."

No amount of music could block out the sounds of Caroline's squeal of delight. The rest of lunch was spent at a picnic table in the courtyard listening to Caroline's endless chatter about who would be at the party and what the three of them would be wearing. She mustered up a bright smile for her afternoon classes, ignoring the whispers surrounding her accident.

It took all of five minutes and her puppy eyes to convince Jenna to let her attend the party. She skillfully dodged the awkward conversation about her first day back and managed to Jenna to talk about her thesis instead. The next few hours were full of plans to save Vicki or how she desperately wished she had an ally in all of this. She tried to forget that she was putting herself in danger and looked at it as saving Jeremy's stoner girlfriend and Matt's older sister. She wouldn't allow another vampire to ruin her family and friend's lives. She had a chance to change the fate of this town.

After triple checking her necklace for vervain and stashing a stake in her purse, she feebly convinced herself that she could do this. Those thoughts didn't stop her finger from lingering over Damon's name in her contact. Even though she knew she shouldn't trust them, either of the brothers, but she felt a strange allegiance to Damon. She knew what she was getting with this side of Damon, she remembered it all too well but she never dealt with this Stefan. This Stefan wouldn't hesitate in manipulating her. This Damon wouldn't listen to her not that he normally listened to her anyway. With a quick goodbye to her guardian, Elena was on her way to the door. "Stefan."

The vampire stood at the door, poised to knock, "Elena. Hey."

She stared, appearing confused, "What are you doing here?"

"I swear I'm not following you," he held up his hands in mock surrender, he flashed her a quick grin that once made her heart skip a beat. Now she was just weary. "I got your address from this girl named Dana in our history class and Caroline mentioned that you might be going to the party..."

She nodded, toeing the barrier that prevent Stefan from getting any closer. "Yeah. Caroline likes to talk a lot."

Stefan chuckled, "I know. I could barely keep up with her. So do you need a ride?"

Elena's phone buzzed in her hand, a new text from Bonnie...flat tire relying on C for a ride, still going? Just great. She typed a quick reply, telling her that she would meet her at the party. "Well my ride can't make it but I should really just drive myself, I don't know if I'll stay too long."

"Let me drive you. I promise we can leave whenever you want. Not to mention the directions Caroline gave me after school are a bit confusing, you wouldn't want the new kid to get lost," he pleaded. Before Elena could argue further she was sitting in the passenger seat of Stefan's car. The awkward silence only lasted a minute until Stefan turned on the radio. "I heard about the accident. I'm sorry."

"Small towns, huh." she frowned, motioning him to take a left at the dead end. At least he was heading in the direction of the party and not some obscure spot in the middle of nowhere where he would suck her dry. "But thank you, I keep thinking they are going to walk through the door any minute or sitting at the table when drinking coffee when I wake up." As much as she had come to terms with her parent's death, doing this all again made her realize how much she missed her parents. Would she have gotten mixed up with vampires if her parents were still alive? Would they have told her about vampires...

"I know what you mean...I lost my parents a while back. It does get easier," he smiled sadly. A glimpse of the Stefan she knew. She wished she could hold on to that, that he could be that Stefan. "The party is by the falls right?"

"Uh yeah, the parking should be up past those trees," she told him. Relieved that their destination was in sight and that she arrived in one piece. She stepped out of the car, turning to Stefan, "I need to go talk to Bonnie, see you in a few minutes?"

She barely heard his response when she spotted Bonnie by the bonfire. The witch grimaced, "Did you come here with Stefan? Didn't you say-."

"He showed up my house and then you texted me, I had no choice," she explained quietly. Her friend patted her on the shoulder and handed her a cup of punch.

"You probably need this more than the rest of us," she nodded to the cup. Her friend made no move to drink. "Don't worry. I'm enacting the buddy system, Caroline and I will stay with you the entire night."

Elena laughed, glancing at the blonde who was clearly enjoying the party, "Somehow I don't think Caroline will be much help."

"She was a mess this summer," Bonnie confided. "She took it really hard, you know. She said you guys had gotten in a fight at the party the night of the accident."

Elena furrowed her brow, "Honestly, I had forgotten all about that. I do need to give Caroline more credit, she's a little crazy but she's always there when you need her. Both of you are."

"Don't make me cry! If you weren't aware, we are in the middle of a kick ass party," Bonnie hugged her and then lightly hit her shoulder.

"I'm going to go talk to Jeremy real quick, just keep me in your line of sight," Elena jogged over to where her brother was nursing a beer. "I didn't know you were going to be here tonight."

Jeremy scoffed, "Half of the school is here. What else would I be doing?"

"Never mind, so what are you drinking there, little brother?" she asked, using her older sister voice.

He took a long swig of his drink, "I could ask you the same. Aren't you on pain meds?"

She tossed out the drink, "Bonnie gave it to me to calm down but I'm not really in the mood to drink nor should I be. You went to school early this morning."

"Is that a crime?" he threw back; he dropped the empty bottle in a nearby trashcan. He noted his sister's hurt expression. "Sorry 'Lena, it's been a long day. Can we talk later?"

She didn't get a chance to reply before her brother headed into the woods. Bonnie was talking to Matt and Caroline, she wouldn't notice if Elena disappeared. She yelled her brother's name as she walked deeper into the woods almost forgetting about Vicki. She clutched the stake in her purse. She tripped over a tree root; her body ached as she pushed herself back up. Even all the prepping couldn't stop Elena from screaming at the sight of the vampire bent over Vicki's throat, fangs inches from her neck.

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