Langston lets out a surprised grunt as another twig snaps back against the skin of his cheek. "Ugh, Care, please."

The said blonde turns around to look at him over her shoulder and lets out a giggle at his irritated face and the red lines all over his face where she's accidentally hit him with twigs.

"You've got to keep up," Caroline shrugs, placing the blame of her careless actions on Murphy with a playful smirk.

He shakes his head in annoyance and glances around Caroline to see Elena's back a few feet ahead of them.

A blurry streak flashes before his eyes and Murphy's left hand flashes in front of him before he could think and catches the twig that was about to strike his face.

He glances to Caroline whose looking at back at him with an identical wide eyed look. "What the hell was that?"

Murphy opens and closes his mouth for a minute, frozen and unable to comprehend how he managed to react so quickly. "I don't know. Do you think it has anything to do with what he said yesterday? The wolf thing?"

"Maybe, we'll talk to Tyler after this, yeah?"

Murphy nods his head in agreement, carefully releasing the twig to avoid getting a splinter. Care would never let him live that down.

"C'mon guys, we're almost there!" Elena calls from ahead of them, her voice tired from the hike.

Murphy quickens his pace behind and looks ahead to see Elena standing off the path with her hands on her hips stretching out her legs.

Caroline and Langston make quick work of catching up to Elena's waiting figure with Murphy holding onto Caroline's arm to avoid tripping over the overgrown tree roots.

"Why couldn't we used your vamp speed again?" Murphy complains as all three of them walk side by side as the path widens.

Caroline scoffs at the question and narrows her eyes at him. "Oh I don't know, maybe because I'd be the one doing all the work again! A little exercise won't hurt you, Murphy."

"You never know in this town, it just might," he sends them both a cheeky grin.

"Hey Murphy?" Elena starts, looking over to him and he gives an answering hum as he bends down, fingers digging into his shoe.

"When you were passed out, Trevor told me how you broke us out of the trunk before he took us to Rose. I just wanted to thank you for trying to save us," she mumbles bashfully, blushing as he glances up at her.

"Of course, Elena. What are friends for?" he grins, fishing out the pebble that had been rattling in his shoe since the start of their little hike.

Throwing the pebble off the path, he slips the back of his sneaker back on and straightens up. "So, what are Caroline and I doing here?"

"I need you both to tell everyone I wasn't feeling well and I went home from school," Elena begins, as they near the church ruins.

Murphy hated this place, it gave him a bad feeling. Then again, whenever he was around other witches apart from Bonnie, he always got a bad feeling so it must be a him thing. He just didn't trust witches.

"I can't believe we're agreeing to this. I'm a terrible liar and Stefan can tell by Murphy's heart beat," Caroline sighs, her voice doubtful.

Murphy agreed with Caroline's statement. Whenever he tried to lie his heart would beat fast enough that he felt like even he could hear it.

"I'll need you to keep Stefan busy, too. I don't want him to know what I'm up to."

Murphy tunes their conversation out as his skin grows hotter the closer he comes to the church ruins. He gulps, slowing down his pace which neither girl seems to notice at the time, too involved in going back and forth with one another.

Something isn't right, he thinks to himself. The burning and aching was the same as last night after Troy.

He feels a wave of nausea over come him suddenly at the thought of Troy's lifeless and unresponsive body beneath Murphy's crouched frame comes to mind.

Murphy's knees buckle under him as the world begins to spin around him and he drops to the ground roughly. His knees slam against the muddy floor causing pain to shoot up his thighs and his fingers dig into the soil.

He feels his back arch against his will and his eyes squeeze shut on his own as a high pitched yell escapes his open mouth.

A cold hand against his exposed lower back causes him to spin around growl at the oncoming attacker. "What?!"

Caroline's horrified blue eyes shine back at him and in them, he see his eyes - a terrifying gold - glaring at her viciously. He falls on his butt and scrambles backwards, away from Caroline.

He was ready to attack Caroline! What was happening to him? Why was he burning up?

"Care - I, I'm sorry. I don't know what's happening. Something's not right," he gasps out, tensing in pain as a shudder racks his body fiercely, hands clenched in the mud.

"Elena, I need to get him to Tyler - he might be able to help him," Caroline announces, her voice trembling with worry.

"What about Stefan?" Elena questions, bending down beside Murphy and cautiously placing a hand on his shaking shoulder. "Tyler didn't know about Mason but Stefan did, he might have some knowledge."

Caroline thinks it over for a second, her arms reaching out to encase Langston in her arms to carry him. He leans his head against her shoulder, shuddering as another wave of pain washes over him and the burning sensation increases.

"Yeah, we'll do that. It might distract him for a while - well, at least long enough for you to get what you want out of the dopplebitch," Caroline agrees, lifting up Murphy's weak arms to wrap one around her neck and the other around her shoulder to support himself.

"Let me know if you find anything out, okay Murphy?" Elena whispers, stroking his fringe out of his face soothingly.

He nods in affirmation before bracing himself against Caroline, knowing she'll be running in a second. "Hold on tight."

He shudders again and feels the wind whipping against his sweaty skin. A wave of nausea washes over him and he chokes down the upcoming vomit with a grimace.

Murphy feels Caroline's grip tighten around him and he couldn't prepare himself fast enough as he feels himself rock in her arms as she comes to a stop.

"Ugh, a little warning next tim-" Langston cuts himself off as a groan of pain escapes him.

"Let's get you down and seated while I text Stefan, yeah?"Caroline offers, opening the door for the worn out boy.

He looks around with blurry vision to realise they're entering the grill and his face crumples in confusion. "Why didn't we go to his house?"

Caroline doesn't glance up from her phone as she leads him towards the closest available booth. "I didn't want Damon to hear what we're talking about. You know how he'd react."

That's true, he'd kill him.

"Stefan! Over here," Caroline waves the younger Salvatore over to them as both teenagers see him entering through the doors quickly.

He jogs over, his face etched in concern as he glances over Murphy's sweaty and twitching figure hunched over the table. "What's happening to him?"

Caroline lets out an annoyed huff. "I was hoping you could answer that. This isn't happening to Tyler, why Murphy? Did it happen to Mason?"

Stefan's silence after Caroline's line of questioning sends Langston into a fit of worry. "Why aren't you saying anything? Does this mean I'm a wolf like Mason?"

"You smell like one, babe and I was hoping Stefan could tell us why we couldn't tell beforehand with you," Caroline grips his shaking hands in her own as another flash of pain shoots through his head.

"Don't forget Tyler," he grits out through his teeth.

He opens his eyes to see Caroline sending an expectant glare Stefan's way and follows her lead, hoping the vampire could shed some light on his current predicament.

Stefan looks between the two friends, studying Murphy's shivering body for a moment. His green eyes appear dark in the grill lightning and he lets out a regretful sigh.

"I don't know much. As you're both aware, Damon killed Mason before I could ask him what or how I could help Tyler if it were genetic," Stefan runs a hand through his hair, messing up the windswept look he entered the grill with.

"Ok, but what about Murphy? Linda's human and she's not apart of the Council with my mum. She's not apart of the Supernatural so why is he?" Caroline interrogates, slamming her palm on the table.

Murphy jumps in shock but unfortunately the movement throws him into another wave of pain. He jolts against the table, panting as the pain shoots through his head and causes his legs to start shaking alongside his hands.

"Murphy - this.... keeps happening... Tyler doesn't..."

Langston squeezes his eyes shut and a whimper falls from his parted lips at the movement. He could hear Caroline and Stefan talking around him, their voices sounding foggy.

It was as if he were back in his bath tub, head under water whilst trying to understand what sound was playing on the radio from the sink. He could only hear the sounds around him but not the words being said as they were muffled.

Click. Click.

The sight of snapping fingers greets him as he forces his eyes open against his better judgement

The harsh lights shining down on him from the ceiling force his vision to become blurred.

"Murphy? Can you hear me?" Caroline's soft voice is beside his left ear, bringing him comfort and guiding him into a state of stability.

He nods his head and blinks once, twice and three times. This action clears his vision and allows him to see his surroundings once more.

"I'm sorry, everything was fuzzy," he apologises, sending the young vampire a sheepish grin.

"Stefan said Tyler would know more than he does so he left," Caroline slumps back against the booth, gesturing towards the spare seat across from them that Stefan once occupied. "I think he caught on to me avoiding Elena in our conversation too. He actually thought she'd be with Damon."

Langston fake gags at the thought. "One, that's disgusting and two, some friend he is. He's what? One hundred and fifty years old but he doesn't know about his supernatural rivals? Some help."

Caroline sits up ramrod straight from the booth, turning to Langston excitedly. "That's exactly what I said but he didn't like that very much."

"Of course you did, we're connected like that," Langston smirks gesturing in the space between them.

She rolls her eyes fondly and ruffles his sweat soaked hair. "Ugh, you need a shower."

Murphy flinches back as Caroline wipes her hand onto his shoulder a little too roughly, "Care, easy, I'm fragile."

"Hey! You can't use that excuse now that you're a wolf," Caroline teases but Langston doesn't take it lightly.

He feels his smile drop and his eyes cast down towards the table. "I'm not a wolf, Care. Please stop - that Elijah guy was just lying okay? I'm human and I'm me."

The younger blonde grips his hands tighter in hers and looks at him sadly. "Langston..."

Recognising the tone of voice, he snatches his hands from hers and shakes his head. "I'm not listening to this, Caroline. He was lying and so are you because I'm human."

Caroline's face hardens before him and dark purple veins show underneath her eyes. Langston looks around to see if anyone was looking in their direction. He lets out a sigh of relief when no one's attention had caught by their conversation.

"Care, we're in public, calm down!"

She inhales sharply and glances around herself, relaxing as her eyes catch sight of Matt's back as he served drinks.

She turns back to him and Murphy feels his chest tighten at the hurt etched into her face. Her eyes were wide, brimming with tears and her lips were pouted.

"Y-You'd really think I'd lie to you? When have I e-ever lied to you Langston? Name one time," Caroline whispers, her voice cracking from sadness.

Murphy lowers his head in guilt, avoiding her shining, cerulean eyes.

"Never," Murphy's voice is small and if she weren't a vampire, she wouldn't have caught it.

She smiles apologetically at him and he returns the gesture. He shouldn't have accused Caroline of lying to him, she was his family and they've always been honest with each other.

A little too honest on Caroline's behalf. Murphy thinks to himself with a shudder.

The only time she had withheld the truth was when Damon compelled her not to tell him about his abuse. It was safe to say that he was furious when he found out and made that clear when he broke Damon's nose with his history text book.

He looks up at her meeting her gaze with identical wide eyes. "It's just, why wouldn't the Salvatores tell us that I was a wolf? Why keep it from us?"

Caroline pauses for a moment in thought, her eyes still staring into his. "I don't think you can tell someone is a wolf unless they've triggered the curse. Like, I could tell Mason was because he had already shifted but I couldn't tell with Tyler, or you."

"I need some fresh air," Langston mutters, sliding away from Caroline and across the booth before standing up with a crack of his knees.

"Let's head over to Tyler's then, he can explain it better than I am," Caroline smiles hopefully, standing up after him quickly and intertwines their hands together. "Now, before we get there. He doesn't know about the Salvatores so don't mention them."

Murphy nods in agreement. That seemed safer for all three of them. Especially with Damon's temper.

He allows the Forbes girl to lead him out of the grill and in the direction of the Lockwood Manor.

"Can I ask what happened with the Elijah guy?" Caroline questions as they turn the corner at the end of the block, with Murphy slightly puffing at the fast pace Caroline was going.

"He - he knew who I was," Langston admits to her, wiping away another bead of sweat away from his forehead.

"So, Rose and Trevor targeted you alongside Elena?" Caroline turns to him in confusion, her pace slowing significantly.

He shudders as the image of Trevor's head being decapitated from his body by a hand flashes before his eyes. The thick, red substance leaking from the wound onto the dusty floor before them.

He could remember Trevor's eyes unseeing and misty as his head rolled across the floor boards.

Shit, he was going to be sick.

"Shit, forget about Trevor, focus on Rose and Elijah. What did they want? What were they saying?" Caroline corrects herself.

She must have noticed his shudder over Trevor. He was never good at hiding his emotions from anyone.

"They said that I was a blood bag for Elijah, so I wasn't meant to be taken. I guess they thought it would ease Elijah's fury with their betrayal,"Murphy smiles bitterly at the anger on the blonde's face.

"He didn't thankfully, but he knew my name. He was choking me one second and then accusing Rose of getting a witch to cast a spell in the next. He was adamant that I couldn't be a doppelgänger of whoever he thought I was pretending to be," Murphy huffs out, his cheeks burning with anger as he remembers Elijah choking the breath out of him, twice.

A growl rumbles around the pair and Langston looks to his left and Caroline with wide eyes. "Why are you growling?"

"That wasn't me," Caroline shakes her head from side to side with saucer-like eyes. "Look - look in your camera. Your eyes are golden, just like earlier."

Murphy pulls his phone out of his jean pocket and and clicks the camera icon hesitantly. It opens up to a view of his muddy jeans and sneakers on the cracked concrete.

"The front camera would be more beneficial," Caroline pipes in, her voice relaxed despite the situation.

"Use the front camera," he mimics sarcastically as he uses his thumb to flip the camera to the front one.

The sight of bright, golden eyes replacing his usually green ones cause a startled gasp to escape his mouth. The phone slips between his fingers and Caroline uses her supernatural speed to catch it, just as it was about to hit the concrete.

"How-"

"Bonnie said this happened after the incident with Troy and I saw Tyler's eyes changed after the masquerade ball," Caroline informed him, tucking the phone into his front pocket. "Now, keep going. What else happened before I saved you?"

Murphy shoves Caroline softly at the cheeky grin on her face. "Your ego inflated twice its size after yesterday, didn't it?"

Caroline strokes her chin in fake thought, "Hmm, more like thrice its size."

Caroline giggles at his pout and loops her arm with his. "C'mon, spill."

"Alright, he choked me some more which was very uncomfortable by the way - if he were cuter I would've felt different," Murphy smirks, sending her a lewd look.

"He knew about my birthmark too. He looked at the wrong arm at first but found it soon enough and was very interested in the scar on my neck," Langston pauses in thought. "What if they're from him? What if Elijah is the one who gave me these scars?"

He turns to the blonde expectantly, his thoughts fearful.

What if there were others who were looking to kill him? Like Elijah was.

Caroline thinks about it for a second, her gaze doubtful. "Or, he could know the origin. Maybe even your other ones too? When I took you from him and Stefan took Elena, he wasn't calling out for her but you. He sounded desperate to get you back."

"Yeah, he wanted me back to kill me, Care," Murphy shivers at the thought, pulling the vampire closer.

"It didn't seem that way. He seemed scared that I'd hurt you."

Murphy lets out a sigh that Caroline mirrors without hesitation. "I'm just scared."

He furrows his eyebrows and bites down on his lip nervously. He knew Caroline would never judge him for being scared but he didn't want to scare her with his doubts surrounding Elijah.

"Of what?" Caroline pushes, her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Rose and... Trevor were terrified of him and they were older than the Salvatores. I'm just thinking they had a reason to be. I guess I'm just waiting for him to pop back up," the young male admits, his voice wavering. "Don't you find it a little concerning how easy it was to take him down?"

"If you keep talking like that, Damon will try and kill you," Caroline warns as they walk up the long gravel driveway of the Lockwood Manor.

"Try?" Murphy asks, dragging his feet along the gravel in hopes of wiping the mud off his shoes to avoid Ms Lockwood's wrath from dirtying her floors.

"I'd never let him succeed. You're too pretty," Caroline winks, mouth stretched into a toothy grin. "Now, keep an open mind in here okay? I know you're finding it hard to come to terms with being a wolf but hopefully Tyler can shed some light on the situation."

"I'll try."

Caroline squeezes his hand and reaches out to knock on the door but instead, it swings open revealing a grinning Tyler.

"I could hear you coming up the driveway, you're heavy footed Murphy," Tyler grins, moving aside to let them enter his home.

"Thanks Ty, just what I was wanting to hear," Murphy's response is dry and monotone.

The trio enter the living room and while Tyler and Caroline sit beside each other on the sofa, Murphy chooses to stand. He crosses his arms across his chest and looks at the Lockwood boy expectantly. "Well?"

"Murphy!" Caroline complains, sending him a warning look. "You said you'd be open."

"It's okay, Care. It was a lot for me to take into too. I mean werewolves, vampires and witches? It's crazy, I couldn't believe they existed," Tyler waves off Caroline's apologetic look and sends Murphy a sympathetic smile.

Langston rolls his eyes and shook his head in denial. "No, I already know they exist but I'm not a werewolf. I'm human."

Caroline slumps against the leather sofa in defeat, her arm brushing against Tyler's which makes a blush raise to his cheeks and Murphy's eyebrows to furrow.

What was going on between those two? He thought she was into Matt?

"Of course you are Murphy, I can smell it on you and so can Caroline. Why aren't you accepting it?" Tyler asks in frustration.

"I don't smell like a wolf-"

"You do."

"Yeah, you do."

"-I'm human, just like Matt," Langston finishes with a growl, his lips curling upwards in anger.

"One, your eyes turned golden and two, you've growled twice now," Caroline lists on her fingers with a smug smirk. "You're a wolf."

Murphy opens his mouth to object but is cut off by Tyler who holds a hand up to him. "Look, Murphy, when you killed Troy-"

Murphy stumbles back as if he was physically hit, falling into the armchair behind him.

"-which wasn't your fault," Tyler adds at the pointed look Caroline sends him. "Did your head feel like it was going to explode? Have you been feeling overheated or easy to anger? What about a sudden urge to kill everyone in the room?"

Murphy blinks at him in shock. "You want to kill people?"

"It's okay, Care told me she gets it too. Snacking helps with the urges," Tyler sends a grin that's a little too friendly for Murphy's liking over to the vampire.

He clears his throat and sends a questioning look over to Caroline who purposely ignores it. "Yes to the pain... and the overheating. But that could just be shock or ptsd from yesterday's events."

The teenagers before him scoff in sync, the male sending the blonde a lustful look in retaliation. Langston feels his lips curl upward in disgust as the realisation hits him.

Tyler was falling for Caroline. He rolls his eyes. It just had to be her of all people that the playboy fell for.

"You have been easy to anger babe, remember in the grill when you accused me of lying to you?" Caroline points out with a grimace.

Tyler snaps his head in Murphy's direction. "When would Caroline ever lie to you? You're like, inseparable."

"God, I made a mistake. Can we just move on?" Murphy groans, pushing himself up into a standing position. "So, if what you're saying is true, what does this mean now? I'm just going to go on killing sprees?"

He begins to pace back and forward in front of the two teenagers in worry. He didn't want to be a killer.

What happened with Troy was an accident and even after everything that jerk put him through, Murphy would've never dreamt about hurting him before last night.

"All I know is that werewolves are basically slaves to the moon and shift or whatever. My uncle should have some journals somewhere - he was old school like that. Maybe in the cellar Caroline said he went to shift. That's all I know for now but you're both more than welcome to come tomorrow," Tyler offers, reaching out and grabbing Murphy's wrist gently to stop his pacing.

Murphy shakes his head immediately. He needed a day alone at home, maybe even play along when his mum yells at the tv when characters in her show didn't do as she told them to.

She refused to listen to Murphy when he told her, repeatedly, that they couldn't hear her.

He just needed to feel normal again.

"I need a day to just deal with everything that's going on, I just need to sort my head out a bit," Murphy admits, wincing in pain as his head begins to ache once more.

Tyler and Caroline nod in sync once more to his words.

Murphy narrows his eyes in thought at them. They seem to be doing a lot in sync lately.

He shakes his head once more. He shouldn't be jumping to any conclusions, Caroline would tell him soon enough if there was anything to talk about.

Hell, she pulled him out of a test to tell him that she had feelings for Matt and was worried that Elena would hate her until the end of time.

"How about the day after? I think all three of us deserve a day to ourselves tomorrow," Caroline smiles comfortingly at Murphy and he feels himself relax under her familiar stare.

"That's fine with me," Tyler agrees, rubbing his thumb against the back of Murphy's hand. "Would you like me to drive you two home?"

Caroline looks to Langston, silently asking him if he'd prefer a car ride or another nauseating run with her. "A ride would be appreciated, thanks Ty."

The wolf pulls Tyler off the couch and offers a hand to Caroline, doing the same for her. Everything was a bit overwhelming at the moment but he knew Caroline and Tyler would be there to help him.

Besides, how bad could shifting be?

( N O T E )

Please let me know if you liked it or not. Feedback is appreciated.

Also, as Murphy is now coming to terms with him being a werewolf, I will be referring to him as 'the wolf' occasionally. I just thought I'd clear that up so he's not mistaken for Tyler or anyone else.

I hope you are all staying safe.

Love you.

(11/12/21)