***
SO, WE REALLY were leaving, huh? Just came to town and we're already going to be gone. I know I'm an adult, and I don't need men telling me what to do. But it's always been Stefan and I against the world. We're like brother and sister, best friends till the literal end. Me and him go way back, and I'm not going to leave him alone now. I have to go with him if he leaves. Turns out, we're all leaving.

I saw Stefan walk downstairs, heading towards where Damon was reminiscing. I could tell that he didn't want to leave Mystic Falls, and neither did I. I followed Stefan into the room, it seemed to be an unannounced family meeting.

"So any idea of where you'll go?" Stefan questioned Damon, his hands in his pockets as he walked toward Damon. I had my hands placed behind my back as I walked a few paces behind him, leaving those two to it.

"I don't know. London, maybe. See some friends," Damon suggested, turning to look at us. "I'm going to need to be at least a couple thousand miles away from here not to come back." He was staring at me the whole time, and I didn't know what to say or do.

"You don't have any friends, Damon." Of course, Stefan had to point that out. But he was right. Damon isn't the type to have friends, he seems like the sex, eat, and run type. I wonder how many women he's killed because he fed on them.

"You're right, Stefan. I only have you two," Damon started, turning from the window to walk to us, "So, where are we goin'?"

"We are not going anywhere. We're gonna live our lives as far away from you as possible," Stefan explained.

"But we're a team! We could travel the world together. We could try out for 'The Amazing Race'. I should at least get Charlotte. You've had her for years, now it's my turn," Damon said confidently.

"Mmmm, that's funny. Charlotte isn't going with you. We both know how you and Corinthia were, Damon. We don't want a repeat of that." What happened between him and Corinthia? I don't even know what she looks like, but Damon said she looks a little like me. Stefan never mentioned her, so I have to go by what Damon said. "Seriously Damon, where are you going? Because we are not staying in this town."

The doorbell rang, Damon, Stefan, and I all shared a glance at each other, and then to the door. Stefan walked off to answer the door, and it was Liz Forbes, the Sheriff. What was Liz doing here?

"I'm here to see Damon." Okay, that definitely explains it.

"Uh, sure. Ok," Stefan replied to Liz, as Damon walked to the doorway. I followed after him, and watched them with Stefan.

"Sheriff. What a surprise," Damon said to her with a smile and a gesture.

"Sorry to bother you, but we need to talk."

"Come in," Damon invited, as Stefan shared a suspicious look with Damon. Liz entered our house as Damon shut the door behind her. He lead her outside to the courtyard, gesturing for me to come with him. "Um, I hope you understand the secrecy. Stefan doesn't know about this yet and I'd like to keep it that way," Damon explained.

"Of course, kids are too young to be brought into this," Liz replied smoothly, agreeing with Damon.

"So, what do you need?"

"There's been another attack. A female victim, her throat torn out, completely drained of blood. It fits the pattern," Liz explained, and Damon held a look of disbelief. He thought he had taken care of that problem, but it appears that he hasn't.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand. I thought we solved that problem when I..." Damon began, glancing back at the house and softening his voice drastically, "Staked the blonde one."

I sent Damon a little look that Liz wouldn't notice, but Damon definitely did because he just tilted his head and gave me a look right back.

"I'm thinking she must have turned someone. Or multiple someones. I don't know," Sheriff started, "The story for the town is another animal attack but I'm not sure how long we can keep lying to them. The council is in an uproar. We thought we were past this."

"So, what does this mean? What're we gonna do?" I asked Sheriff, looking between her and Damon.

"Well, Damon is the only one who's ever taken on a vampire. You're the only one who has seen it. We were hoping you could tell us," Liz explained, looking between Damon and I.

Damon, Liz, and I walk to the front door after talking, Stefan holding his hand to his ear suspiciously. He was listening in on us. He knew I'd tell him what was said anyway, but now that he's done that he's never gonna get any information from me again.

"Thank you for stopping by," Damon thanked the sheriff, as he showed her out the door.

"Let me know what you guys come up with," Liz called, as I held open the front door for her. Liz really was a great person, probably the best I've met. Caroline is lucky to have her as a mother, my mother definitely wasn't that kind and supportive.

"Absolutely," Damon called, as Liz left. He shut the front door and Stefan sped over to Damon. He grabbed him by his shirt and held him against the door, with me right there.

"What is wrong with you? You killed somebody?" Stefan accused, more than pissed at Damon. I understand his skepticism about Damon being in town, but he isn't as bad as I had remembered. He's actually a decent person, just someone that Stefan has a grudge against. A very very old grudge, that I think might never leave.

"Get off of me," Damon said as he pushed Stefan off of him, "A...don't touch me. B...if I had, I wouldn't have been so obvious about it." Damon walked past Stefan and turned around to look at him, explaining what I already knew, "C...There's another vampire in town."

"That's impossible."

"Obviously not," Damon replied. He turned around and started on his way back into the parlor.

"Then, who could it be?"

"Ah, what do we care? We're leaving anyway, right?"

"No, Charlotte and I can't leave now and you know that," Stefan replied, walking closer to Damon and I, "How are we supposed to find this person?"

"Charlotte doesn't have to leave anyway. She has a reason to be here, and you don't. Let the adults handle this, Stefan," Damon said, giving Stefan a knowing look. "'My terms'. You said that, remember?"

Damon walked into the parlor, and I followed behind him. You have to admit, he had a good point. Stefan is like my brother sure, and he's always been there for me. But I also know that he keeps things from me to "protect" me, and Damon will tell it to me straight. That's what I like about Damon, he knows that I don't need to be shielded to be protected. "Hey, you okay?" I asked Damon.

"I'll be fine once you grab my 1890 Makers Mark bourbon from my shelf," Damon said to me, causing me to cross my arms and give him a look.

"You know, all that alcohol isn't good for you Damon," I replied, but started upstairs to get it anyway. I knew he'd get it if I didn't, and I did want to somehow befriend him. I knew that what he really needed was a friend, and a brother, but Stefan wasn't exactly ready for that sort of commitment yet.

I walked into his room to grab his bourbon, looking around at it for a moment. This was the first time I had been inside, so it was a big moment for me. I looked around for a moment, trying to find the bourbon, when I spotted it on the shelf. I grabbed it, it slipping out of my hands, and I grabbed it before it fell, but in the process I bumped into his nightstand, causing one of the books— okay all of the books —to fall off. They fell on top of the already large pile that he had in the floor. I saw a picture fall out of one, turned on it's back.

I picked up the picture, reading the writing on the back. "Corinthia Cabello. 1864. Mystic Falls." In my head, all I could think was: 'This is the moment. I'm about to look at a picture of a girl who looks like me. A girl that has a past with the brothers. A girl that they once loved. The girl that I look like.'

I took a deep breath and with just the flick of my fingers, the paper was turned around to reveal a girl who didn't just "look like" me, she was me. She had the same birthmarks on her cheek and lip, and the same green eyes as me. I was terrified. Immediately all these thoughts rushed into my head, negative thoughts, thoughts that made sense. I immediately sped out of the room, past the parlor, not making a sound. I left the house, needing to collect my raging thoughts.

As I walked down the driveway, off the down the streets of Mystic Falls, my eyes kept traveling to Corinthia. What if they had just kept me around because I reminded them of her? Or because they thought about her every time they looked at me? What if I was just a walking memory to them? Reminding them of the girl they once loved, and not me, Charlotte. I'm not Corinthia Cabello, I'm Charlotte Elise Fray.

I felt hot tears stream my face as I thought about that. I was just a memory of someone else to them. Someone that mattered, someone they loved, some better. It hurt everything inside me to realize that. To realize that Corinthia was a better me than I am.

The crying turned to sobbing as I took a seat on a bench, holding the picture close to me. I wish I had the strength to just rip it into pieces, to end it once and for all. To end this crying, this pain. To end this feeling of worthlessness, of never being enough.

Corinthia obviously meant something to him, or he wouldn't have had her picture lying at his nightstand. She meant something to them both, something that I can never be. I can never top that, I can't be better than her. She is the one that they want, not me. It might've never been me for all I know.

I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore, he shouldn't matter to me, he doesn't matter to me. Damon Salvatore is just that, Damon Salvatore. Not my friend. Not my boyfriend. Not anything. This shouldn't matter to me, but it just does. It matters to me that he'd keep this picture of her while still trying to get to know me. It matters that to him I'm just a less important Corinthia.

I was broken out of my thoughts when I felt a presence beside me, and a hand rubbing my back. I looked up and it was Damon, who was looking at the picture I held in my hands. "You know, you shouldn't leave like that without telling us. Stef and I were worried sick when we realized you had left," He explained.

"I don't care," I dismissed, handing him his picture back. "You probably would've cared more if it were Corinthia that had left and not me."

Damon's eyes widened in disbelief that I had just said that to him, "Charlotte, I know that you're hurt. I know you're upset, and I'll explain everything to you after we catch this vampire. I promise. Because it isn't what you think. Now, I'm all wound up because I didn't get that bourbon, so I need to
go unwind by staking this vampire and you need to be there. We don't have the time to waste, so let's go."

He held out his hand to me and I begrudgingly took it. He was right, we didn't have time to waste. But I still think that all of this is exactly as I'm thinking, and he's just trying to reassure me. Damon sent me a smile and kissed my forehead, "That's my girl." He then wrapped an arm around me reassuringly as he walked me to his car.

We drove the car to the house, which confused me, but Damon explained that he had a faster idea to get there. Then proceeded to tell me to hop on his back. I did, and he immediately sped to the warehouse. He called Caroline, and the conversation went like this: Caroline whined, Damon tried to reassure her, she whined again, and then we finally showed up.

We scared her with our sudden appearance, Damon took the compass, she was nosey, then Damon compelled her to leave and forget everything. It was the most useless conversation I've ever heard, but it happened. Damon and I walked up the steps of the warehouse, breaking the door handle, and opening it. He gave me a look as he went in first, probably to make sure I wasn't trying to get all hasty and walk in.

As soon as we walked in, Logan Fell came out shooting wooden bullets at us. I didn't realize how much wood to a vampire hurt, since I'd never had to experience it. But now that I did, I felt like a million balls of fire were shot into me. Damon and I both fell to our knees to the floor, as he groaned and I whispered. But even through his pain he managed to yell to Logan, "Leave Charlotte the hell alone!"

"I have tons of these wood bullets, so nothing funky," Logan said to us, circling around us as he held out the gun.

"You don't wanna do this, trust me," Damon said to Logan, as Logan shot him again the shoulder causing him to scream in pain. I winced at the sound of it, not being able to bear hearing him scream like that.