Liz hugged Damon back and nodded at his suggestion. Caroline needed her now and though her relationship with her daughter was always strained, the sheriff loved the blond teenager very much. " You're right. Thank you for everything you have done, Damon. I don't know how we would get through this without you on the counsel", she gave him a weak smile and slipped into her daughter's room.

Damon gave Liz a hug before pulling back. "You should go stay with your daughter and be here for her. I can help out on the council while you're here," he offered. Liz was one of the few people he considered a friend. He wasn't going to abandon her in her time of need. He could tell too that the sheriff was stressed. She needed only one thing to focus on right now to make it through this.

The dark haired brother approached so quietly that the sheriff jumped when he touched her shoulder. Quickly brushing aside her tears, Liz looked at Damon and slowly shook her head. "I'm afraid not Damon. Caroline is in the hands of the hospital and if there is a God, his too".

Seeing Liz, Damon walked over and placed a hand on her arm. "She'll pull through Liz." He looked at her, eyes caring. "Is there anything I can do to help out?" he asked.

As much as she despised her uncle and recently discovered father, no one deserved to be stabbed and mutilated and left to die on the kitchen floor in their own blood. Elena allowed Stefan to push her back further, knife still gripped in her own hand and knuckles pearl white, but to say she was scare would be an understatement. This was Katherine and she was a killer. But why was she here? "Why did you almost kill my uncle?" she asked, keeping her voice steady.

Liz nervously sipped the cup of coffee, the bitter taste it left in her mouth did nothing to distract her from the worry about her daughter and the slight bitterness at Mrs. Lockwood and her foolish, but dead husband. She looked down at the cup, not surprised to find grounds settling at the bottom of the styrofoam cup and tossed the rest of it in the trash. As a Sheriff, Liz had numerous cups of bad coffee, staying up late to worry and plan for upcoming vampire attacks that were never ceasing in this town. Most of the time, the brew kept her awake, but it did little to push off the tiredness now.

Taking a moment, the blond woman slipped out into a vacant hall and covered her face with her hands, rubbing out her sore, tired eyes and letting out a heavy sigh.  God, if there was a God, she prayed he would let Caroline make it through this.

Stefan snarled at Katherine, holding Elena back. "Well we don't want you here. You aren't welcome now get out." He swiftly grabbed a chair and broke a leg off of it, holding the pointy end at Katherine. "It was you who attacked John Gilbert, wasn't it?"

Damon had received the text from his brother and found it curious. He was already at the hospital as Liz had called him saying that the mayor was dead. Of course, Damon already knew this, he had seen the mayor die in front of him. Brushing some dust off of his clean coat, he decided to stay in the hospital for now and keep an eye on things. The mayor was dead, Caroline was touch and go, and he had no doubt that Mrs. Lockwood and Liz would be hostile towards one another and he would need to keep them calm.

(Please don't move my characters without my permission)

Elena stumbled as Stefan pulled her behind him, but she still peered over his shoulder at the mirror image of herself. It didn't seem possibly and yet, here Katherine was. She was the vampire beauty both brothers loved 150 years ago and the reason Stefan had come in the first place. Because she looked just like her. She gripped Stefan's arm tightly.

Stefan had followed Elena down as he sent a text to his brother. When he glanced up he blinked at the two Elena's before he realized one wasn't his Elena. Katherine... he thought. Without a thought he pulled Elena behind him and glared at her. "What are you doing here Katherine?" he demanded coldly.

Hearing the door shut, the brunette looked up at Stefan for a second before turning to dash down the stairs. It had to be Jenna and Elena wanted to make sure her aunt was alright.

"Jenna!"

The teenager came to a sudden halt as she caught sight of a familiar back, one she could have easily recognized as her own and her breath caught in her throat. Was she dreaming?  Could it be Katherine?

"Katherine".

Hovering around Caroline's bed, the teenager refused to take his eyes off the precious  girl still locked in a coma. He felt if he did, at any moment, she would slip away and he would be alone again. Most people in Matt''s life left him and he would be damned if Caroline would be the next one to go.

"Come on, Car", he whispered, sinking down beside her bed and grabbing her hand in his own.

At his suggestion of getting Damon, the brunette nodded. They would be able to see if Damon was alright as well. She had been worried about him since the fire because Elena had never seen Damon so weak. Perhaps on their trip to Atlanta, when she had saved him, but this was only the second time. It was frightening to her. She knew how powerful the older brother was compared to Stefan and if he couldn't handle it, Stefan would be in big trouble.

"Yeah. Plus, we can make sure he is okay", she added softly, a hand still firmly gripped on the vampire's forearm.

"We'll figure it out Elena, I promise. I'll can call Damon and he might be able to track the vampire down if it was a vampire." And at the very least he could alert the Council if need be but hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Hopefully.

"I know. I don't understand. Aunt Jenna would never let a stranger in like that and she was wearing vervain. I'm sure of that", she looked back toward her house, standing lit and empty save for her brother asleep inside. "She couldn't be compelled".

Stefan shook his head. "I don't think it was him either. I think it might have been a tomb vampire who hadn't been rounded up tonight." It made the most logical sense after all. "Though how they managed to get in is a mystery to me..."

"No, no I trust you", she said softly. If Stefan said Jeremy was upstairs sleeping, then she believed him. Stefan had never lied to her, ever. "Who could have done this?", she asked out loud, running a shaky hand through her chocolate strands. After tonight, she didn't believe Damon could have ever done something like this. Though her uncle and father had locked him in the building to burn with the rest of the vampires, Elena didn't like to think that Damon had fallen back into his old ways.  As if reading Stefan's mind, Elena looked up at him and shook her head.

"it couldn't be Damon. Not after tonight".

Stefan stroked Elena's hair. "He's upstairs asleep. He's okay," Stefan murmured. "We can go up and check on him if you want." He didn't hear Jenna around but she might have gone over to the old building since it had been on fire. Still, he was worried about Elena. Somehow someone had gotten in and had tried to kill John. It had to have been a vampire. Who else would have known about the ring? And there was no way it could have been Damon. He might be arrogant and annoying but he wouldn't hurt Elena like that.

Elena clung to the vampire as the ambulance arrived and took out her uncle on a stretcher. The blood flow had finally be quenched, but the older man was still pale and visibly weak beneath the black straps holding him in place. "I just came home and he was on the floor, bleeding and Jer-" she looked up at Stefan with worried brown eyes. "Is Jeremy okay? I didn't want to leave my uncle, but you would be able to sense him? Please", she pleaded with him to tell her something, anything concerning her brother.

"I'll be there soon." He hung up and ran full speed to Elena's house. By the time he got there the ambulance was already there. He slipped in and immediately went to Elena's side and pulled her close, stroking her hair and telling her it would be okay. He studied the wounds John Gilbert had and frowned. Someone had known enough about him to slice his finger with the ring off. Not many people could know about that.

But for now he just comforted Elena. He could hear Jeremy upstairs faintly as well.