When they reached the house, they threw the officers across the floor. Menacingly stalking towards them with angered expressions.

     "What are you going to do to us?" Lexi crossed her arms as she looked at the scared deputies in front of her.

     Jasmine squatted in front of them, smirking, "well, that depends on you."

     She kicked the sheriff down and pressed her heel against her throat, "who are you? How do you know about us?"

     The sheriff's hands tried to push her off, but not managing to move an inch, "I'm not telling you anything."

     Jasmine laughed and set her foot down, "well, aren't you brave? Let's try this one more time, shall we?"

     Lexi moved forward and forcefully picked her up, holding on to her tight. Jasmine slowly crept over to one of the deputies and pushed his head to the side, exposing his neck, "you either answer my questions or I drain every single drop of blood from your little buddy here. Your choice, darling."

     The sheriff's face contorted into anger as the deputy whimpered, "you wouldn't dare."

     What Jasmine didn't know was that the deputy's blood had been tainted with vervain. So, when she dug her fangs into his neck, she felt her lips burn. She pulled away immediately, glaring at the smug officer. Much to the sheriff's surprise, Jasmine smirked and reattached herlips to the deputy's neck. Almost drinking every single drop, the sheriff finally caved in.

     "Okay, stop! I'll tell you... just leave him alone."

     "Now, that's more like it."

     The sheriff told them everything. About the council, about the vervain, and about their suspicions of who might be a vampire.

     "So, sheriff, tell me something, will you?"

     The officer was now sitting alongside Lexi, who was holding onto her arm, making sure she wouldn't escape.

     "What more do you want to know?"

     "The council wouldn't happen to be made up of the supposed founding families, now would it?" The sheriff's eyes widened, wondering how she knew. Jasmine smiled as her reaction gave away her answer, "good. Now, let's get down to the fun part, shall we?"

     "Wait, does Stefan even have the things we need?"

     Shrugging, Jasmine walked towards the kitchen, "who knows? We'll just improvise!"

     Laughter echoed throughout the room as Jasmine scoured the house for her supplies. Coming back with two containers, a needle, a small but long tube, and some tape, she settled herself in front of the sheriff.

     "Okay, this will hurt a little, but don't worry."

     The sheriff's eyes widened once she saw the raven-haired vampire come towards her with the needle. Grasping her arm firmly in her hand, Jasmine pushed the needle into the sheriff's forearm.

     "Look at that. You still got it." Lexi laughed as Jasmine rolled her eyes. They sat there conversing while the blood poured into the containers. After a small while, and a very pale looking sheriff later, Jasmine pulled the needle out and healed her with her blood.

     "Did it work?" Lexi leaned forward and looked into the sheriff's eyes, pupils dilating, "what's your name?"

     In a monotone voice the sheriff replied, "Elizabeth Forbes."

     "Aw, come on, Lexi! She could've told you that without compulsion!"

     "Well, what else am I supposed to ask her?" Exasperated Lexi leaned back against the couch while Jasmine took a turn.

     "Who provided you with the vervain and is there any more of it?"

     "Damon Salvatore gave it to us. He said the amount he gave us was all that Zach had left." Jasmine cursed under her breath when Damon's name was involved.

     "Okay, good enough for me. Now compel her to forget." Lexi got up and walked towards the deputies, who were unconscious, "wait, what do we do with them?"

     Sighing, Jasmine placed her hands on the Elizabeth's shoulders, "forget your intentions of capturing a vampire tonight. You went to the grill because you got a call that there was some underage drinking going on and nothing more. Also, an unnamed reliable source told you that the vampire problem turned out to be a cougar that is no longer roaming the woods." She leaned away from the older woman and smiled towards Lexi.

     Lexi motioned for the deputies once more and Jasmine sighed, returning to her previous position, "one more thing, the deputies that were with you told you they quit and were now headed to the Bahamas to get away from this whole mess."

     She helped the sheriff stand and walked her to the door, "don't forget to compel her about right now, Jas."

     Groaning, Jasmine stopped the sheriff from leaving, "last thing, promise. Forget our entire encounter tonight and go home to revel on the fact that you helped bust some hooligan teenagers."

     Closing the door behind her, Jasmine slumped against the couch, "the things I do to save your ass."

     "Hey, it's not my fault I almost died tonight. It's Damon's." Lexi grabbed the almost lifeless deputy from the floor and contemplated whether or not to drain the rest of him.

     "Yeah, I know." Jasmine tried to reason with herself that Damon was a friend and that he could have a very plausible reason on why he plotted to kill Lexi. That didn't tame the anger that was boiling inside of her. "I'll talk to him."

     "That better be a code phrase for 'I'm gonna hurt him to the point of death, heal him, then do it all over again.'" Lexi reattached her lips to the deputy's neck as she looked at Jasmine.

     Grabbing the other deputy, Jasmine dragged him towards the couch and sunk her teeth into his wrist. The burning sensation of the vervain didn't bother her now that she knew he was filled with it.

     Looking back to Lexi, she pulled away, blood dripping down her chin, "hey, Lex. I think you should head out. Who knows if Damon might use you as a scapegoat... again."

     The blonde nodded, "you're right, but you should come, too. He might use you as well."

     "Nah, someone has to make sure the brothers don't tear each other's throats out."

     "Jasmine, that shouldn't be your responsibility." She dropped the body off of her onto the floor, wiping her mouth.

     "No, but they are my best friends... yes, even Damon. Plus, what if Damon tries to pull the same stunt on Stefan? I can take care of myself against him."

     Lexi rolled her eyes as the raven-haired vampire went back to drinking the deputy's blood. The front door open and revealed Stefan.

     "Where's the sheriff?"

     "Relax, Stefan. We didn't hurt her... too much. She's at home, safe and sound." Lexi went to embrace Stefan, who accepted the hug especially since he almost witnessed her death.

     Jasmine laid her head back and looked at him, veins still protruding from under her eyes and blood slowly dripping down her lips. They both stood there and stared at her, wondering how she could look like a beautiful real life painting instead of a life killing monster.

     "Hey, I'm going to go take care of this while you say your goodbyes, okay?" Lexi smiled at her and embraced her tight.

     "Thank you."

      Releasing her, Jasmine shrugged, "I'd like to think you'd do the same for me."

     "I would. No hesitation."

     They smiled at each other and hugged once more, "I'll see you soon, love."

     Jasmine grabbed the deputies by their legs and dragged them outside, towards the woods. She found a shovel by the back entrance of the house and threw it on top of one of the deputies and continued walking.

▪▪▪▪

     Figuring she was far and deep enough in the woods, she let go of the bodies and began to dig. One of the things she hated most about feeding was the aftermath. She liked to blend in with a town, so, of course, she made sure no one found the bodies that mysteriously disappeared. It felt like hours, which was merely only half an hour, later that she finally dug a hole big enough for the both of them.

     Footsteps were heard behind her, but she didn't stop searching the deputies' pockets for their IDs and any money they had on them.

     "Jasmine."

     She rolled her eyes and continued to place the bodies inside the make shift grave. She knew she had to deal with him sooner or later, but she had preferred later when she was cooled down a bit.

     "I'm not in the mood, Damon." She picked up the shovel once more and began filling the grave with dirt.

     "Please, just-just let me explain."

     Shoveling dirt more forcefully, she gritted her teeth, "explain what, Damon? That killing Lexi was for the greater good? That she was a necessary kill?"

     Nodding frantically, the male raven haired vampire thought she would understand, "yes, exactly-"

     "You don't get it, Damon!" She threw the shovel onto the ground and turned to face him, anger evident in her eyes, "how the hell would you feel if you found out if someone you trusted was planning on killing Stefan or me?"

     The eldest Salvatore brother cast his eyes to the floor. He knew his answer and so did she. He would be angered and already plotting their demise if they ever even attempted to harm the two people he actually cared about. He shook his head, knowing she wasn't going to forgive him, not for this. So, he did what he always did: he turned around and started to head back home to avoid the situation all together.

     "Are you not even going to attempt to fucking apologize? God, Damon. I have never judged you for any of the things you've done because it's who you are... but this- this I won't let slide."

     "I did what I had to do to get the council off our trail."

     She scoffed and nodded her head. Her fist was clenched around the shovel, causing it to slowly break.

     "You're right. You did what you thought you had to do," Damon looked at her, confused, "just like I'm about to do."

     She snapped the shovel in her hand in half. He didn't have time to react before she sped towards him and plunged the broken shovel into his abdomen. He gasped and groaned as he tried to push her away. His eyes pleading, but hers were filled with fury.

     "If you ever try to hurt someone I care about again..." she twisted the wood in his torso and revealed her transformed face, "I will retaliate in ways you will beg for death. You may be my friend, but don't think for a second I won't kill you. You don't want to get on my bad side, sweetheart."

     She pushed him to the ground and snapped his neck. Grabbing the rest of the shovel, she dusted herself off and headed back to the boarding house, whistling.

▪▪▪▪

     Stefan turned his attention towards the door as Jasmine entered, "hey, where's Damon?"

     "Dead," Stefan looked at her shocked, "well, temporarily. He'll be back soon."

     "What'd you do to him?"

     "Nothing you need to worry about. Besides, he kind of deserved it for almost killing Lexi." She went to the kitchen to wash her hands from all the dirt and blood that covered it.

     Stefan leaned against the door frame and stared at her. He knew she felt troubled and conflicted. Damon was one of her oldest friends and he just attempted to murder her best friend, not something you want to have to deal with.

     "Are you going to stay the night?"

     She dried her hands as she sighed and turned to face him, "if that's alright with you?"

     He smiled and walked towards her, catching her in an embrace, "of course, it's okay. Stay as long as you need."

     Removing herself from him, she suddenly remembered that a certain doppelganger had witnessed everything tonight, as well.

     "What are you gonna do about Elena?"

     He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, "I'm going to distance myself from her. I don't want her to get caught up in all of this. She doesn't deserve it."

     "If that's what you think you should do."

     "Let's get some sleep, yeah? We've had a very eventful day."

     She smiled up at him and grabbed his outstretched hand. They walked towards his bedroom and fell asleep almost instantly next to each other.