[VD] Ch 23: A New Vampire

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After he dropped the three girls at Elena's, Jack said his goodbyes and drove straight to Stefan's house.

He knocked on the door. "Stefan, open up."

"Jack? What are you doing here?" Stefan answered, surprised to see him.

"Relax. I'm not here to kill tonight. I'm a peace guy actually."

"I'm just making sure you two actually leave in two days. Damon's on edge today, so it's safer if I stick around." Jack stepped inside without waiting for an invitation, explaining as he walked.

"All right. I'll clear a room for you," Stefan said and went off to tidy up.

It didn't take long. Stefan had a bed ready and Jack passed out in it without ceremony. The next morning the town's tensions started up again.

"So where do you want to go?" Stefan asked Damon.

"Don't know. Maybe London, visit some old friends," Damon replied.

"You don't have friends," Stefan snapped.

"Right, you're the only one I've got. So where should we go?" Damon said, oddly frank.

"We are not going anywhere together. I'll stay as far from you as possible," Stefan said flatly.

"We're brothers. We can travel the world, sign up for shows," Damon tried to bargain, not ready to be separated.

"Sounds fun. Seriously though, where will you go? We can't stay in town," Stefan said, brushing him off.

Jack was enjoying the show when someone knocked. Stefan opened the door. It was Caroline's mother, Liz Forbes.

"I need to see Damon," she said.

Before Stefan could call for Damon, the older vampire stepped out and led Liz into the backyard for a private talk. Stefan's brow tightened. Whatever they were discussing didn't seem like good news. A few minutes later Liz left.

"What's wrong with you? Have you been slaughtering people again?" Stefan grabbed Damon by the collar the second the door shut and shoved him against the house.

"Let go. One, don't touch me. Two, if I killed anyone I wouldn't have left a trace. Three, there are other vampires in town." Damon snapped and pried Stefan's hands from his shirt.

"That's impossible," Stefan said.

"Apparently it isn't," Damon shot back.

"Who could it be?" Stefan asked.

"Maybe your friend Lexi?" Jack offered from the side.

"Lexi left yesterday morning," Stefan said, sure of it.

"Then maybe Damon's lying. Stefan, do you still trust him?" Jack wandered over to a wooden chair and tapped it with a finger, thinking it over.

"Ahem... This isn't our problem. We're leaving anyway," Damon said, irritation rising.

Jack hesitated. He didn't want to let Damon get away. He'd been up all night and hadn't seen Damon leave through the front door, so maybe Damon slipped out a window. He wasn't sure.

"No. I can't leave now. We have to find whoever this is," Stefan said. He didn't want other vampires endangering Elena or the town.

"You can do that. But tomorrow you have to be gone," Jack said. He wasn't about to ignore the plan. Whatever Liz had said, Jack hadn't heard it, and he wasn't going to let them stay.

"Damon, any ideas?" Stefan asked, turning to him.

"Leave it to the grown-ups, Stefan," Damon said and walked off. "I'll wait and just leave tomorrow."

...

Next, as always, Stefan ran after Elena.

Jack was bored and drove to school instead. 

At school he spotted Stefan and Elena whispering. Not wanting to interrupt, Jack found a patch of grass by the field and lay down. He was exhausted from lack of sleep and dozed off.

When he woke, night had fallen and the school lights were still on. He wasn't in the mood to join whatever was happening inside. He planned to drive somewhere to grab dinner.

As he pulled out, another car passed him. In the passenger seat was Logan Fell, the TV host Damon had killed earlier. 

That told Jack one thing: Logan must be a newly turned vampire.

Even more telling, the window of the car beside Logan's was smeared with blood and a girl was slumped inside. Caroline.

"Damn you, vampire."

Jack floored it, overtook Logan's car, and forced him to stop. Before Jack could jump out, Stefan and Damon came tearing up and dragged Logan from the vehicle.

"Caroline, are you okay?" Jack grabbed the wooden stake he always kept in the car and opened the door nearest Caroline. She wasn't conscious. He used the Horse Talisman and began to heal her.

"How is she?" Stefan asked, rushing up.

"She'll live. Take her home," Jack said and handed the limp girl to Stefan.

"Sheriff, this is Damon. Caroline's fine. We're at Elm Street," Damon said into the phone, addressing the call that Logan must have been holding.

Jack turned to Logan as he ended the call. "So who turned you?" he demanded.

"I don't know," Logan said, defensive.

"Is that your answer? One good hit and your head will be somewhere else. That's your story?" Damon said, dragging a metal bar from Logan's trunk.

"How can you be on their side?" Logan spat at Damon, confused why Damon would cooperate with the town.

"I'm not on anyone's side. You pissed me off and I want you dead. Who turned you?" Damon pressed.

"I don't know," Logan kept repeating, stubborn to the end.

"All right. That's it." Damon raised the bar, about to finish Logan.

"Wait, wait. I know. You want to get into the crypt under the church, right? There's another way in," Logan blurted out, panic suddenly replacing bravado.

Jack hadn't cared about the crypt, but the word made his stomach knot. He knew—at least suspected—about the twenty-seven vampires trapped under the church. He had no patience for diversions. Without hesitation he plunged the stake through Logan's chest.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Damon shoved him, but it was too late. Logan was dead.

"You still have questions?" Jack snapped, standing over the corpse and looking at Damon with cold eyes. He was thinking about whether to drive the stake into Damon next.

Stefan wasn't looking; it was the perfect time... but at that moment Liz's car screeched up.

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