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Flashback
Narration/Journal Entry
Time Skip **~~**

I stood beside Stefan, the two of us waiting in silence as the horse-drawn carriage made its way down the drive towards us. The carriage stopped, and a pretty woman stepped out, followed by yet another gorgeous woman. The first woman, I realized, was a slave. I didn't understand slavery, but stating such things would get one killed. The second woman looked Stefan and I each up and down, and Stefan and I approached her.

"You must be Miss Pierce," Stefan said, and bowed.

"Please," she told him, extending a gloved hand to him and curtsying. "Call me Katherine." She looked at me.

"Romania Forbes," I told her, and she smiled at me.

**~~**

I heard a door open, and I opened my eyes. Elena stood in the doorway, staring at me in fear. I knew what had happened immediately. Stefan had told her. I slowly climbed out of Jeremy's bed and walked towards her. She began to back away from me.

"Elena... Stefan is no threat."

"You need to leave."

I followed Elena out of Jeremy's room. "No, Elena, you need to listen to me," I warned the girl. "Don't hurt Stefan. If you hurt him, I won't hesitate to kill you. Jeremy is fine. I haven't bit him, and I don't plan on it." I shut the door behind me. Without warning, Elena took of towards her bedroom, and I followed after.

"You - you can't be in here," she stuttered in fear. Stefan appeared behind her. "You need to leave."

"Elena," Stefan spoke, alerting her of his presence. Elena gasped, and ran towards the door, attempting to escape us. She opened the door, but I slammed it shut, and kept my hand on the door, pinning her their. Stefan approached her on the other side. "I would never hurt you," he whispered to her. "You're safe with me."

"All those animal attacks, those people who died..." she breathed out, and turned to face Stefan. I backed away, allowing them to speak, but kept close in case I was needed.

"No. That was Damon," he told her.

"Damon?"

"Yes. I don't drink human blood. That's not how I choose to survive, but Damon does. I'll explain everything to you, but I beg you, Elena, do not tell anybody."

"How can you ask me that?"

"Because you knowing this is dangerous for so many reasons. You can hate me, but I need you to trust me."

"Just go," she told him. "Just go, please. Go. Both of you, go. If you mean me no harm, then you'll go."

Stefan shook his head. "I never wanted this." He looked at me. "Just this once, please listen to me, Rome."

I nodded, and we returned home. We sat down at our kitchen table. I was angry. If Elena told someone, I'd kill the whole town.

"Zach's dead?" Stefan nodded. "Damon's gone?" Stefan nodded again. "I'm sorry."

"I know." Just then, Stefan's phone began to ring. He sighed. "It's Damon."

"I know where he is," I told Stefan. "But I can't promise I won't make things worse."

"I don't know how they can get worse. Go ahead. Stay safe."

**~~**

"How was your meal?" I asked Damon as I walked into the clearing. "Was it as good as you imagined?"

He chuckled. "Better. You want to be dessert?"

"You still want to have sex with me? Even after I locked you up?"

"You brought me food," he reminded me. "Granted, you had an ulterior motive, but you still brought me food." I stared at him. "Look, I get it. You feel conflicted. You don't do well with feelings. Hell, I can't even ever tell whether your humanity is on or off. You don't have to choose between Stefan and I, you know? You can be a friend to us both."

I shook my head at him. "How many did you kill?"

"All the ones here except one. Say, what's your problem? You seem a bit... off."

I chuckled at him. "I partied with these ones today. Got completely crossed. They were ugly. Anyways, who lived?" He pointed to a body laying motionless on the ground, and I approached it, examining it. "Vicki," I breathed. I looked at him. "The one you attacked already."

"She just doesn't want to die."

I shrugged. "It's probably a good thing, Damon. Elena's little brother Jeremy, that's his girl. Well... kind of. I don't know about now. They got into a fight and him and I just had sex."

**~~**

"You said you would explain everything," Elena reminded Stefan. We were sitting at the same place where'd I'd met up with her, Caroline, and Bonnie at one point. "That's why I asked you to meet me here. When you Google "vampire," you get a world of fiction. What's the reality?"

"Rome and I can tell you whatever you want to know."

"I know you eat garlic."

"Yes."

"And somehow, sunlight is not an issue."

None of us spoke as the waitress set our drinks down on the table. "Hi, here are your drinks." I smiled at the woman, and Elena thanked her.

Stefan held up his hand, showing Elena his ring. "We have rings that protect us."

"Crucifixes?" Elena asked.

"Decorative," Stefan answered truthfully.

"Holy water?"

"Drinkable."

"Mirrors?"

"Myth."

"You said you don't kill to survive."

"Animal blood keeps me alive, but not as strong as Damon. He can be very powerful."

"And yet you let him get involved with Caroline?"

"Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me."

"He was hurting her."

"He was feeding on her. He was able to take away her memories of being bitten using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have."

"Is that supposed to make it okay?"

"No. No, none of this is okay, Elena. I know that."

Elena looked at me. "You're being quiet. You're one to, I'm guessing?" I grinned at her, and nodded proudly. "Are there any others, aside from you two and Damon?"

"Not in Mystic Falls, not anymore," Stefan told her.

"Not anymore?"

"There was a time when this town was very much aware of vampires, and it didn't end well for anybody. That's why it's important that you don't tell anyone."

"I can't promise that."

"Elena... give me today. Rome I will answer any questions that you have, and when it's over, you can decide for yourself what you want to do with what you know. It'll be your choice." She nodded at Stefan in agreement.

Finally, I spoke, "Unless you decide to tell or hurt Stefan. Either of those two things happen, you end up dead. If you run your mouth, I'll kill everyone you tell, as well. No mercy. No chance of compulsion. I'll kill and eat."

"You feed on human blood?" She asked me.

I nodded. "Yes, but I can control it. Stefan prefers I only feed on animals, so I switch between fresh animal blood, animal blood bags, fresh human blood, and human blood bags."

"You mean like from the hospital?"

I nodded. "I don't steal a lot. Nothing they'll need. As much as I hate it, I stick to the blander tasting common blood types to make sure the hospitals don't run out."

**~~**

Stefan, Elena, and I got out of the car at our old house. I took a deep breath, breathing in the air that carried so many memories from my past. Lots had happened there.

"What are we doing here?" Elena asked us.

"I want to show you something," Stefan told her.

"In the middle of nowhere?"

"This... didn't used to be nowhere. Used to be our home."

She walked towards us. "It looks so..."

"Old?" Stefan asked her. "It's because it is."

"Wait. How long have you..."

"Rome and I have been 17 years old since 1864."

She looked utterly shocked. "Oh my god."

"You said you wanted to know. I'm not gonna hold anything back." They stared at each other for a moment, and then Stefan began to speak again, "Half century before the boarding house was even built, this was our family's home. Damon and I... we were both born here. The Salvatore brothers and the honorary Salvatore girl, best of friends."

Stefan and I chased Damon out of our home, while Damon carried a ball in his hands.

"Wait," spoke Stefan. "Where did you learn this game?"

"Camp outside Atlanta," Damon told us. "One of the officers picked it up at Harvard. Catch." He threw the ball at us, and I jumped in front of Stefan and caught it.

Damon ran at me, and I swerved. I allowed him to chase me around while Stefan shouted after us.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Stefan yelled as Katherine walked out of the home, followed by a slave. "What are the rules? What are the rules?"

"Who needs rules?" Katherine spoke, as Damon tackled me to the ground.

Stefan walked towards Katherine as I looked up at Damon, who was hovering above me. "Well Damon, isn't this an unusual position?"

"Not quite," he answered, smirking at me. I flipped us over, tossed Katherine the ball, stood up, and pulled Damon up with me.

"Nice catch," Stefan complimented Katherine.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Uh, well, you could, uh - you could get hurt," Stefan told her, and I rolled my eyes. "My brother likes to play rough."

She giggled. "Somehow, I think that you play rougher."

"Kitty, of course you can play," I told the woman. "Just a warning, though, as horrible as it sounds, be prepared to either correct or kill anyone who refers to you as "sir."

"That's happened to you?" Stefan asked me.

I nodded. "Multiple times. Apparently playing games with men and complimenting the looks of other women makes me a man."

"Well, that's not very nice." Katherine ran off through the hedges with the ball in her hands.

I turned to the slave, who was named Marie. "Hello, Marie. Would you like to play with us? I can let my father know that I told you to if he questions it."

"I'm alright, Miss Forbes."

I smiled at the woman. "Well, if you change your mind, you must let me know. Yes?

"Yes, Miss. Thank you for the offer."

I nodded at the woman, and turned towards Stefan and Damon, who were watching me interact with Marie. Katherine could still be heard laughing as she ran through the hedges.

"Why are you boys just standing there? Kitty clearly wants to be chased. If you guys don't do it, I'll team up with her and we will absolutely crush the two of you." I took of running in search of Katherine, Damon following after me, and Stefan close behind him.

"You knew Katherine in 1864? Damon made it seem like - "

"Damon was trying to make you think that I was still heartbroken," Stefan told her. "He saw that I was happy with you, and he wanted to ruin it."

"All because the three of you loved the same woman... 145 years ago?"

"She wasn't just any girl."

Stefan chased Katherine and I as we ran hand-in-hand through the gardens towards one of our many stone statues. As expected, Katherine and I reached it first.

"Ha! We win," Katherine cheered.

"What's our prize?" I asked.

"What would you like it to be?" A voice sounded, and we all turned to see Damon sitting on a hedge.

"They extended your leave?" Stefan asked him.

"I was simply having too much fun to return to battle."

Damon stood, and the two hugged. "Your commitment to the confederacy is inspiring."

I approached Damon, a grin upon my face. The man pulled me into a hug, and I spoke, "You know, I might just join the Union when I turn 18 out of spite." He pulled away, and looked me in the eyes.

"And you would be a wonderful soldier." He lowered his voice. "Just make sure not to kill me." I saluted him, and the two of us laughed.

"Well, this works out wonderfully for me," Katherine told us all, and we turned to look at her.

"How's that, Miss Katherine?" Damon asked her.

She shrugged. "Now I'll have all three of you here to keep me entertained. First and foremost, I'll need someone to escort me to the Founder's Ball." She turned to walk away.

"I would be honored," Stefan answered.

"With pleasure," Damon told her with a bow.

"I'd love to instead of going with one of these imbeciles, but I'm quite sure that would give all of us a bad reputation."

She turned back around to face us. "The smart and kind Salvatore siblings all coming to my rescue. How will I ever choose?"

"She chose me," Stefan told Elena. "I escorted her to the ball at the original Lockwood Mansion. Rome took Damon."

"Not my brightest day," I stated with a grin.

Elena turned to face us. "The first Founder's Party... where you signed the registry."

Stefan and I both nodded in response. "I didn't care that I had gotten something that my brother and best friend wanted. I didn't even care if it hurt them. I only knew that I wanted her."

"So he was upset," spoke Elena.

"That's the thing about Damon," I said to the girl. "He doesn't get mad. He just gets even. And I find it admirable."

"What Damon wants, Damon usually gets. I didn't know it at the time, but... turns out that night... Katherine was with him, too."

"So he stole her from you, not the other way around?"

"You can't steal a woman, Elena," I told her. "That's not how it works. Especially when she's a vampire."

"She could control my mind and Damon's. She compelled each of us to keep the secret from the other. With Rome, she didn't need to. Keeping someone's vampirism a secret is no hard task when you're a witch yourself."

"She wanted all of us to be together... forever," I told Elena.

"Didn't work out that way, but... Damon and Rome and I, looks like we're stuck with each other... like it or not.

"Well, excuse me, Mister Salvatore, but I quite enjoy being stuck with you," I told Stefan.

"And Damon, too?"

I shrugged. "He's an easy way to spice things up when you get a bit boring."

Stefan picked up a small piece of cloth, and removed Damon's ring from it.

"Is that Damon's ring?" Elena asked in shock.

Stefan looked up at her and nodded. "I took it from him, but I have to give it back."

"No. Don't, Stefan. Keep it hidden."

"Elena, if I don't give it to him, he'll retaliate in the only way that he knows he can hurt me."

"And how is that?"

"By hurting you," he told her. "Damon's not strong enough to hurt Rome, but he sure as hell is to hurt you."

**~~**

"What's going on?" Elena asked as we walked into her living room. Matt was staring at Vicki, who was breathing hard, and Jeremy was on the floor.

"She's really messed up," Matt told us.

I grabbed Jeremy by the arm, pulled him up from his spot on the floor, and pulled him out of the room. "Jer, what's going on? What's wrong with Vicki?"

"I don't know. She came in here complaining about literally everything, and now there were three people found dead at the cemetery this morning, and she won't tell us anything about what happened after we left there last night."

"Rome! Jer!" Stefan shouted from the living room, and we ran back in there. "Guys, take her up to bed. Shut the blinds. She's gonna be okay." Jeremy and Matt took her up to bed, and Elena and I waited in the kitchen for Stefan.

"You know what's wrong with her?" Elena asked us.

"Yeah," Stefan told her.

"What is it?"

"She's transitioning."

"Transitioning to what?"

"A vampire," I told Elena. "Damon must have got to her last night. Poor girl. The transitioning period sucks ass."

"What?"

"She's new," Stefan explained to Elena. "She hasn't completed her transformation yet."

"How - how does she do that?" Elena was extremely upset.

"She has to feed on human blood," Stefan told the terrified girl.

"And what if she doesn't?"

"She'll die."

"Yup!" I cheered. "Poof! Bam! Abracadabra! Avada Kedavra! She's dead! Congratulations! Let's throw a party! You know, celebrate! I don't know, Elena, what the hell do you think is gonna happen if she doesn't feed?"

"So how long does she have?"

I shrugged. "She may only have a few hours."

Elena pointed towards the ceiling, freaking out. "She's upstairs with Jer and Matt right now."

"It's okay," Stefan told her. "She doesn't know what's happening to her yet."

"So when is she going to know?"

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything. A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back, and then she'll know she has to make the choice."

Elena turned to give Stefan a deadly look. "The same choice you made?"

That was it. That was enough to drive me right over the edge. I'd had enough. I used my ultra-enhanced speed to cross the room towards Elena in what seemed to be record time. I shoved her against the wall, my hands pinning her their by her throat. "Stefan, I swear to the Lord of Hell himself, if you try even in the slightest bit to interfere with this, I will have Elena's body limp and dead in my hands and her blood inside of me. Understand? Great."

Elena struggled against my tight grip as I stared her down. As much as I hate to say it, I admired her attempts to free herself, despite how useless they proved to be. I grinned at the annoying girl.

"You are nothing like Katherine. Kitty cared about Stefan, all you care about is everyone except for Stefan. I promise you, if you do not stop being a complete and total bitch to Stefan, I will kill you. I will sink my fangs into the skin on your neck, over and over again until you die, and then I will suck every last drop of blood from your body, remove your teeth simply so that you can't smile again, and throw your body into a blazing hot bonfire." She nodded. She was terrified. I could smell the fear radiating off of her, hear the rapid beating of her heart, and see the terror in her eyes. She was nothing like Katherine in the slightest bit. I let go of my grip around her neck, allowing her to breathe, and stepped away from her, regaining the little bit of composure that I possessed on the rare occasion when I needed it.

Matt came downstairs, and not even a minute later, Vicki did too. She ran straight out the front door, and we followed after her.

"Vick. Vick!" Matt seemed confused.

Jeremy ran out the door behind us. "She was fine, and then she just - she just freaked out."

"I'm going to go look for her," Matt told us. "Call me if you hear anything."

"I can track her," Stefan whispered to Elena.

"Go," Elena told him.

"I'll stay here with these two, Stef. You know damn well Damon is gonna show up here at some point." Stefan nodded at me and ran off.

**~~**

"Maybe we should check in with Matt," Jeremy suggested to Elena and I.

"He'll call when he finds her," Elena assured the boy.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"We wait. We're supposed to wait."

"I don't know what's wrong with her."

"She'll be fine. It will all be fine."

"Jer, it'll be alright," I told the worried boy. "Stefan is out there looking, too, and he's got a lot of experience, trust me. They'll find her. I promise."

Without warning, the doorbell rang. Elena walked towards the door, Jeremy and I hot on her heels. Elena opened the door to reveal Damon on the other side. She tried to shut it, but he placed his hand on it, keeping it open. Elena looked furious, and I just grinned at the man on the other side of the doorway.

"Elena," I spoke, "You need to let him in. If you don't let Damon in, he'll let himself in."

She ignored me, as usual. "Jeremy, go upstairs," she told Jer. Surprisingly, he listened.

Damon smirked at Elena. "You're afraid of me. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess. Stefan finally fessed up."

"Stay away from me," she warned him.

"Hey, hey, hey, there's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan. May I come in? Oh, wait. Of course I can. I've been invited." He stepped over the threshold, and with every step he took farther into the house, she backed away from him.

Damon gave me a quick and sloppy kiss on the cheek, and then looked at Elena. "We can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not going to kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda." He crossed his leather-clad arms over his chest and looked Elena dead in the eyes. "So... where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki," she told him sassily, and I failed to bite back my laugh. Elena gave me a dirty look.

"I'm sorry," I managed through my laughs. "That was just way too 5-year-old-ish."

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Rome. Don't look at me with those judgey little eyes." He stepped towards Elena. "Girl's gonna thank me for
what I did to her."

"Did you thank Katherine?"

For the second time that night, I couldn't keep myself from attacking Elena. My fist swung out, connected with her jaw, and she went flying across the room, hitting the wall. Damon laughed as she groaned in pain.

"How's Stefan gonna feel about that?" Damon asked me.

I shrugged. "He already watched me choke her earlier. I threatened her with death if he interfered."

Damon smiled proudly. "I taught you well."

I shook my head at the blue-eyed man. "No. I taught you well. I just don't demonstrate so much anymore."

Damon and I glared at each other, and he was there first one to break eye contact. He looked at Elena. "Got the whole life story, huh?"

"I got enough."

"Oh, I doubt that."

"Yeah, I was there. It wasn't much at all in perspective."

"Tell my brother I'm looking for him," Damon told Elena as he walked towards the door. He looked at me. "You coming?"

I nodded, and followed him out the door. "Bye bitch."

"Oh, tip for later," Damon told her. "Be careful who you invite in the house." He closed the door and looked at me. "No jacket?"

I shrugged. "I don't need one. Cold doesn't affect me."

"Whether or not cold affects you, what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't offer you my jacket?"

"Since when is Damon Salvatore a gentleman? You haven't been a gentleman since 1864."

He shrugged. "Maybe that changes now." He removed his leather jacket and handed it to me. I stared at him, holding the jacket in my hand. "Put it on."

"What if I don't?"

"I'll take all of your clothes off."

I rolled my eyes at the man, but gave in and slipped the jacket on. "Happy?"

He smirked. "You look good."

"I always do."

**~~**

"Shit."

"What? Rome, what is it?" Damon asked me.

"There was a gunshot. Nobody is out hunting animals with all the shit that's been going on."

"Which direction was it coming from?"

I looked at the man. "Follow me." Using my ultra-enhanced speed, I sprinted off through the woods in the direction that I'd heard the gunshot. I could hear that Damon was right behind me.

We came upon a small clearing. Stefan lay on the ground, groaning in pain. Logan Fell knelt above him, a wooden stake in his hand. Vicki watched on in fear.

"No!" Vicki screamed as Logan raised the stake above his head, preparing to stake Stefan.

Damon and I shot out of the woods, and threw ourselves onto Logan. We each bit into his neck, one of us on each side. We threw Logan's limp body away from us, and we each knelt on one side of Stefan. I reached into Stefan's chest, and pulled a bullet out of him. "It's wood." I handed the bullet to Damon. "They know."

Damon examined the bullet, and then looked down at Stefan. "If anyone's gonna kill you, it's gonna be me." He held his hand out to Stefan. "My ring." Stefan reached into his pocket, and pulled out Damon's ring. Damon took the ring from Stefan's hand, and slipped it onto his middle finger.

There was a familiar sound, and the three of us looked over to see Vicki feeding on Logan. "No!" Stefan shouted. "No! Vicki!"

Vicki lifted her head away from Logan's neck and looked at us. "I'm sorry." She stood up, and sprinted off through the woods.

"Oops," spoke Damon.

I looked at Stefan. "It's not your fault, Stef. She made her own choice. We'll help her."

Damon stood up, and grabbed the watch that was laying on the ground. It had fallen out of Logan's pocket at some point, and I realized that he'd likely stolen at some point when he'd gone to the Gilbert house.