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Liz Forbes walks into the Grill with the girl who had been attacked -- by Damon -- and cautiously instructs her to point out the one responsible. The girl points to the bar where Damon and Lexi are sitting. Sheriff Forbes walks over and injects Lexi with vervain. "What are you doing?!" Damon asked shocked. "Thank you for the vervain; now if you'll excuse me," Liz told Damon as Stefan spotted what was happening, he tried to leave the Grill with Elena following him but the officers stood in his way. Outside, the officers and Sheriff are taking Lexi to the police car when she throws the officers off. Sheriff Forbes shoots her with wooden bullets, but Lexi is too strong. 

Out of nowhere, Damon appears and stakes her. Stefan sees and pulls Elena out of sight from the scene, "Oh my god!" Lexi falls to the ground, dead. Damon turns to the Sheriff, "You okay?" Liz nodded, "Thank you. Get her in the car quickly." Damon agrees and moves Lexi's body into the boot of Liz' car as she headed into the Grill and arrested one of the bartenders; Sam watching him leave with a smirk. Outside, Stefan is walking away in anger and horror at his brother's actions. "Stefan! Stefan!" Elena called as she followed behind him. "He killed her! He killed Zach; he killed Tanner; he turned Vicki; I have to kill him!" Stefan shouted loudly in anger.

"No, you can't do that!" Elena told him. "Why are you trying to save him?! Elena he's never gonna change! Don't you see that?! He's never gonna change!" Stefan growled out, he was seething at Damon's actions. "I'm not trying to save him, I'm trying to save you! You have no idea what this will do to you, please Stefan," Elena pleaded with him. "Everywhere I've been, pain and death follow; Damon follows me. No more," Stefan told her, sorrow overtaking his anger. "Stefan please. Please just-just talk to me; Let me be here for you. Talk to me," Elena begged him. "No. You were right to stay away from me," Stefan replied to her before leaving.

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At the Salvatore Boarding house, Damon is having a drink inside when Stefan arrives. "Told you I'd take care of it," Damon told him. Stefan runs and attacks him. The brothers fight until Stefan pins Damon against the wall. " Come on, I did this for you. To get them off our trail," Damon expressed to his little brother. "You never do anything for anyone but yourself," Stefan replied to him before he stabbed a stake in him. "You missed!" Damon told him, shocked. "No. You saved my life. I'm sparing yours. We're even. And now we're done," Stefan told him before he turned to leave only to come face-to-face with Lexi herself. "My hero. Feeling epic, huh?" Lexi asked him.

Cordelia was leaning against the pillar with a smile on her face, "Illusion spell. Not easy to do but with the dedication to keep someone I care about alive, I managed." Stefan looked between them as Damon pulled the stake from himself. "And she has promised me a daylight ring... and one for another I care for," Lexi added while Stefan just watched them blankly. "You just gonna stand there or be a little more grateful for the girl who almost died from magic exhaustion just so you wouldn't lose your best friend or burn more distance between you and your brother?" Lexi asked with a raised brow. Stefan hugged Lexi, she laughed before pulling away and pushing him towards Cordelia. "It was nothing, really," Cordelia told them, Stefan pulled her into his arms.

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The next day, Cordelia sat in history class with her phone in hand messaging Lexi who had left Mystic Falls to keep up the belief she was dead; the two blondes had become good friends during her time in town. Elena sits down in class near Bonnie as the new teacher prepares for his class, "Good Morning everyone. Alrighty." He writes his name on the chalkboard. Elena mouths "Are you okay?" to Bonnie who shrugs. "Alaric Saltzman. It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue," The new teacher introduced himself gaining Cordelia's attention, she slipped her phone into her jacket pocket and frowned noticing that Stefan hadn't shown up for school.

"Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce "Alaric" but it's "Alaric," okay? So, you can call me Rick. I'm your new history teacher," Alaric informed his class, his bulk build and green eyes made half of the girls in class swoon while others were intrigued by his style choice of jeans and a denim jacket. Cordelia tilted her head as a sudden pinch prompted her to close her eyes, she rubbed her temples as the environment around her seemed to fade out.

"She won't listen to me... Make her listen," A voice echoed through her mind, she forced it away and looked towards Bonnie who was watching her with worried eyes. Grams had warned her to trust Cordelia more than anyone in the town, to rely on her and let Cordelia rely on her. The way Grams had spoken about Cordelia made her sound like royalty in one way while the undertone warned her that angering the younger Forbes would be someone's greatest mistake. Bonnie wished she understood what that all meant but for now, she'd trust her Grams and do her best to look out for Cordelia; even if Elena isn't a fan of the blonde.

Cordelia walked out of the school to see Elena approaching Stefan who was sitting at a picnic table, she tilted her head in confusion at the clearly uncertain air surrounding the conversation between the two. She watched as Elena stormed away upset while Stefan locked eyes on the blonde, she raised a brow at the younger Salvatore before making her way towards him. "What was that about?" Cordelia asked him. "I was just letting her know that I didn't kill Damon and that I'm... not coming to school anymore. I'm gonna back off and keep my distance," Stefan answered her, she sighed and sat down next to him. "You two frustrate me, you know that," Cordelia said to him, he laughed at that.

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Later that night, Cordelia was lying in bed when Caroline walked in and climbed under the blankets with her, the television in her room was playing a random Disney movie. "I thought you were staying at Elena's with Bonnie tonight," Cordelia said to her twin. "They did a séance and it freaked me out so I left," Caroline told her sister truthfully. "Oh, wow..." Cordelia replied before looking towards her twin with a smile, "And you played dumb about magic to protect me, huh?" Caroline nodded at her words before sighing, "What else are you hiding from me?" Cordelia lowered her eyes at that, she wanted to tell her about Vampires but it admittedly worried her.

Bonnie/Emily throws the necklace into the air, and it explodes above them. Once the spell is complete and the crystal is destroyed, Emily departs from Bonnie's body. Bonnie finally reawakens, and looks around in horror, having no idea what had just occurred. Damon is furious, and since his deal with Emily is off, he bites Bonnie and feeds on her. Elena yells in fear, and Stefan rushes over to pull Damon off of her. He kneels next to her and checks her pulse. Cordelia gasps from the vision with Caroline watching her cautiously, "Are you okay?" Cordelia nodded knowing that it had already happened, "Nothing I can do about it now."

"I just wanna get some sleep," Cordelia told Caroline who nodded. "Good night," Caroline told her, the two hugged before the older twin left Cordelia's room -- closing the door behind her. Cordelia closed her eyes and began wondering how her life had changed so drastically, so quickly; And visions flash through her mind. Jenna looks at the picture of her and Logan, and shreds it in pieces before throwing it away. Caroline returns to her room with her arms full of junk food. Matt helps her unload them, and they settle in in her bed. Damon sits on a the side of the knocked over wall of the church in the woods, his eyes wet with tears. 

Stefan sits on his bed with his journal on his lap, as though he's about to write, but after thinking about everything about Elena for a moment, he angrily throws the journal at his pillow on his bed then he begins to sob. Elena tells Bonnie everything about Stefan and Damon, and both of them cry. Cordelia sighs at the things she witnessed, her mind reeling as something pulled her mind to the sketchbook by her bed. She opened the book to the page of the mystery Nik she often saw, her head tilted as she ran her fingers down his cheek. "Whoever you are, I think I could use your smile right now," Cordelia breathed out before laying the picture on the pillow beside her, pulling the blankets to cover herself; And allowed her mind to sleep.

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Rosemary Speaks

Its 2am, I gotta work later...
Time to go to bed but you're welcome for the updates!

I also noticed that I had Cori tell Jeremy everything twice in the story;
that was my bad however, I'm not gonna change it... lol

How are we feeling about the story so far?

See you in the next chapter!