An assortment of lights rapidly flickered as families swarmed the parking lot of MysticFallsHigh School, all eager to experience as many things the carnival was providing. The aroma of buttered popcorn, fried food, and candy filled their noses and brought a smile upon their faces. Among the crowd stood a man with his companions shadowing him, waiting for their instructions. The man looked around as he surveyed every face until he came upon a familiar one, the one he was there for.

The lights of the ferris wheel illuminated her face as she stared up at it, wondering what the whole big deal it was made to be. She didn't understand why people would actually enjoy getting on one of these and simply sitting there as it took them around in a circle at a very excruciating slow pace. Rolling her eyes, she continued on her stroll only to be stopped by her friend.

"I wasn't expecting you here."

Rolling her eyes, she moved past her, "did you think kicking me out was going to lead to me fleeing the town? Sorry to disappoint, Alexia."

Lexi cleared her throat before letting a small smile appear as she walked beside her, "we meant well, Jasmine. You were getting out of hand and it was affecting all of us."

"You can use all the excuses in the world that you want, Alexia," Jasmine stopped and faced her, an expression of mockery on her face, "whatever helps you sleep at night."

Lexi knew Jasmine would be bitter, so she was prepared for the subtle guilt shaming. Would it have been her first decision to let her best friend fight this darkness on her own? Of course not, but she had to look at the bigger picture. If the supernatural world was exposed it could mean more running and a hell lot of more fighting. It could mean a war against species and she knew no one was ready for that one.

"You know you don't have to go through this alone, Jasmine. You rarely speak of the family that helped you, why not seek their guidance?"

Jasmine gave a sharp laugh as they continued walking, "you do not want them coming here. If you thought I was bad, imagine an entire family even more cruel in their own ways."

Inspire fear, that is what they taught her. Even if they were different towards each other, the world must know them as something to be feared—to not want to betray.

Jasmine shook her head slightly, "I have already tried leaving this morbid town, believe me. Something or rather someone is keeping me here."

"Who would want to do that? For what reason?"

Jasmine sighed as flashes of the prophecy flew around her mind. Plaguing her with the thought of her best friends dying by her own hand—it scared her. She couldn't care less for the town or its people, but the people she loved were a whole other thing. Jasmine needed as many people she could trust to know that it was not safe to be around her or within miles of the town. And unfortunately, Lexi wasn't someone she could trust anymore.

Jasmine stopped walking and faced Lexi, shrugging her shoulders, "beats me, but I will figure it out on my own. So, you can run back to the Salvatores and recite everything you heard as I know you were doing in the first place."

"Jasmine..." Lexi looked away from her as guilt continued to swim inside of her.

"We are best friends, Alexia, but in the simplest of terms. I do not trust you with the information I have, not anymore. You made your choice when you sided with Stefan and Damon, a choice that severed a link between us. You can come to me with any troubles that you have and I may do the same, but I will not let you know everything that is going on that I only know. You have lost that privilege." Jasmine turned away from her and continued on, but stopped when she heard Lexi scoff.

"Privilege? We're friends, Jasmine, not business associates. If you want my help—and believe me when I say I want to help you as much as I can—then you know where to find me. You may not trust me anymore, but I still trust you and always will."

It was Lexi now who turned away from her, walking back the way she came, leaving Jasmine to ponder her words.

————

People quickly moved out of the way as the man furiously walked forward with his company struggling to keep up. They knew their leader was angry with them as they had lost sight of the woman they were to keep an eye on. They had diverted their attention to an arm wrestling match between a werewolf and a vampire when they lost track of her. No one had wanted to step forward to tell the man the news as they certainly did not want to face his wrath. Something he surely got from his bloodline.

"One simple mediocre task you all had and you failed at it! What use do you have to me if you can't follow simple orders?"

They cowered slightly but kept their hardened expressions as they followed him back to their accommodations for the night. The man shrugged off his coat and threw it onto a nearby arm chair.

"Years we spent looking for her and now that she was finally within our grasp, she slips away because you idiots wanted to watch a showdown between two lesser species!" He ran his hand down his face, frustrated and annoyed.

"We can always try again tomorrow, sir. With the boundary spell we put up—"

"Yes, that is the only silver lining here for the time being. And with her... prophecy..." he smiled slyly as he thought of the vision the seer had, well, a vision he had planted, "it makes her even more vulnerable."

His company took seats throughout the living room as his thoughts wandered. Centuries of anger and spite piled onto his shoulders were finally about to be lifted as his plan resulted in only one death—Jasmine Saunders'.

————

Jasmine smirked as she watched Mason Lockwood boast about his last couple winnings in the arm wrestling matches. How men were so easily satisfied with a boost of the ego was astounding. She followed after him as he walked towards the carnival games near the school entrance.

"Are you gonna keep lurking or are you gonna join me?" Mason turned to look at her with a smug smile and his hands in his pockets as he waited for her to reach his side.

"You cheated back there." Jasmine looped her arm into his, which surprised Mason entirely since she seemed so disinterested in him when they first met.

"Or maybe I'm just really gifted in the upper body strength department."

Jasmine let out a laugh as they dodged children who almost rampaged into them, "I don't think letting your gifted side take over counts as you having upper body strength. All in all, it's cheating and I am utterly ashamed."

Mason knew Jasmine had already known what he was, especially after Katherine had told him her past with the siphoner, but it was still odd that someone he didn't fully know knew his secret. It caused hesitation in him. But he wouldn't let that show even more so by how Kathy had described her: manipulative, cruel, but very charming.

They stopped in front of a game where the announcer was taunting Mason, asking if he was as he looked, all brawn and no brain. Of course, with his ego in play, Mason pulled Jasmine forward and grabbed the hackey sacks the boy gave him.

"It's simple, really. All you have to do is hit the numbers of how many casualties there were during the Battle of Willow Creek." The announcer looked smug as Mason faltered for a second.

Jasmine rolled her eyes as it was obvious the boy fit into the stereotypical category that believed people who looked they were well strengthened, were obviously lacking brain cells. But judging by Mason's expression it was possible that maybe this assumption was right.

"And do you know the answer?" the boy looked taken aback as Jasmine raised her eyebrow at him.

"Of course I do." He looked towards Mason, who had taken to simply bouncing the hackey sacks in his hands as Jasmine began talking, "there were three hundred and forty six casualties."

Mason smirked as he threw the bags towards the right numbers. He then turned to look at the baffled student and pointed towards the stuffed animal at the top of the booth, "I'd like that one, please."

"No, I gave the answer, so your 'win' wasn't actually a win."

Jasmine stepped forward, "that's correct... if you had bothered to null his turn before you gave the answer, but you did not, so I think my friend deserves the prize he won."

The student looked angered as he climbed on top of a step ladder to reach the stuffed animal, muttering unintelligible words under his breath. He tossed the prize towards a smug Mason before giving him a look and telling him he wasn't allowed to play again.

Before they left, Jasmine turned towards him once more, "I might want to brush up on my facts if I were you because if you were as intelligent as you boast yourself to be then you would have known that there were actually three hundred and seventy three casualties—that's including civilian casualties—that were recorded in the town's archives. Have a good day."

Mason laughed loudly as he followed after Jasmine, "hey, wait up." She turned to look at him, thinking their bonding time was done. She looked surprised when he handed her the stuffed animal, "here. You were the one who got the answer out of him which means technically you beat the game."

Jasmine smiled and grabbed it, "a killer whale, one of the top apex predators in the world. How ironic."

"So, what's the reason you followed after me?"

Jasmine didn't answer immediately as her attention was diverted to small child who looked no older than the age of six and was extremely upset. Kneeling beside him, Jasmine looked concerned as she didn't see the boy with any adults, "are you lost?"

The small boy nodded and continued to softly sob, "I can't find my daddy or my friend."

"Well, where was the last place you saw your dad?" Jasmine gently wiped away the boy's tears.

He pointed to the gymnasium and at that karaoke booth, "he said he had to fix something, so I went with my friend and his mommy, but I don't know where they are anymore."

Mason looked at Jasmine as she took the boy's hand and led him towards the building. It was mind boggling how her emotions could quickly turn in the span of a couple seconds. He intended to follow after them until he heard his nephew fighting somewhere.

"Hey, I have to go do something, but it was nice spending time with you. Maybe we can do it again."

Jasmine rolled her eyes, "don't get so attached, wolfie. I'll look for you after I'm done since I still haven't told you the reason why I sought you out."

Mason nodded with a smile and then turned to look for Tyler and get him out of whatever mess he was in now. Jasmine smiled at the little boy and continued on to look for his father.

————

After a half an hour of looking, Jasmine was beginning to lose hope when the small child squealed in delight. She looked towards where he was looking and saw a man running towards them.

"Daddy!"

The man picked up his son, worried filling his features, "I'm so glad I found you! I was looking around the parking lot after Ms. Adeline told me you drifted from them." He then turned to look at Jasmine, "thank you so much for finding him."

"It was no problem, but please, be careful next time." She turned towards the boy and held out the stuffed animal, "I think you've earned this prize more than I have for being so brave." The little boy giggled and thanked her. Jasmine's expression suddenly turned hard as a certain aroma filled her nose. She looked at the man's face, noticing the blood on his lip and his head. She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms. "Have a good night."

"Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

Jasmine refused to look at them anymore as she turned to leave, "your son's safety is all that matters. Goodbye."

The man looked confused as she walked unnaturally fast away from them. He shrugged it off before turning his attention to his son, "let's get out of here, yeah?" The little boy nodded and agreed to stay seated while his father loaded up their truck.

————

Jasmine was about to call it a night as her mind began racing as well as the blood in her veins when she spotted a blonde strutting towards her. She groaned as she heavily sighed, "oh, great." She plastered a fake smile as the blonde finally reached her, "Caroline, what a pleasant surprise."

"I remember you manipulating me and erasing my memories."

Remembering that Katherine had said she had killed one of their closest friends, she automatically knew the girl standing before her had been transitioned into a vampire, "yeah, well, the more you finalize your transition, the more the compulsion wears off."

Caroline crossed her arms as she shifted her weight onto her left leg, "I just wanted to tell you that Matt and I are back together. And now that we're the same, I won't back down so easily."

Jasmine let out a laugh as she began slowly circling her, "you really think we're the same? Oh, sweetheart, I'm much more than you can imagine." She looked her over and watched as Caroline's confident demeanor began to crumble, "courageous... impulsive—no... naïve."

Jasmine stopped circling her and faced her with a small smirk, "one lesson you should know is that the longer you've been a vampire, the stronger you are, and I've been one for centuries." She grabbed hold onto Caroline's neck causing her to gasp for breath and regret her decision to confront the raven haired vampire, "you're merely a child compared to me. Threaten me again and I won't be so merciful."

Jasmine threw her against the wall and crouched in front of her as Caroline groaned on the floor. She had felt pity for the girl seeing as she was forced into a life she didn't have a choice in, a pawn in Katherine's game, but for now, she'd let anger drive her forward.

"I'd be careful on who you try to provoke from now on because you don't know who could be a vampire or another supernatural being—yes, there are other species. And believe me, you don't want to start something you obviously cannot finish."

She stood up and smirked at the blonde before speeding away. Caroline slowly got up once she was out of sight and rubbed her sore back. Maybe Jasmine was right and she was naïve enough to think she could take on a several centuries old vampire who had radiated power and fear even before Caroline had turned—even more so now, since Jasmine didn't hold back on who she was.

She was suddenly thrown back into her whirlwind of emotions as she remembered the reason why she had fled in the first place. She had been tempted by being so close to Matt... how were they going to rekindle their relationship if she had the urge to kill him each time she could hear his heart beating? Caroline began walking off, crying, when she sees a man loading up his truck while trying to stop the blood from reflowing out of his nose.

The man heard her crying and turned to face her, "hey, is everything okay?"

Caroline shook her head and continued to sob, "I'm so sorry."

Before the man knew it, Caroline bit into his neck and threw him onto his truck, draining his body of all his blood.