I began to step towards the door but Stefan wrapped his arms around my abdomen. I turned around and looked into his eyes expecting him to want to come but instead I saw nothing.

"Just let her work it out. She will be back before you know it." I didn't let my mouth hang open but I sure wanted to.

"W-what? She came after me. Twice."

We seem to run away a lot... I began to think.

"Just stay here for a while." I looked back into his eyes and saw fear.

He was afraid of losing me, I just wasn't sure why.

"She won't come back, Stefan! I saw her leave she won't. It took her years to find me." I started breathing harder, "I can't lose her again." I whispered.

He was at the door and looked at me.

"Let's get her back then."

We walked out the door together. I was only a few inches away from him but he pulled me close and put his arm around my shoulders. I stepped softly as I followed the sent of my sister, It kept fading and it worried me. There was no pattern to her trail, no direction. It's like she wasn't going anywhere.

I began to see a figure with long brown hair and rushed forward, dragging Stefan but she was a human. I growled and began to track again.

It seemed like forever until her sent actually got stronger. I picked up my speed feeling excited.

I could make out the general shape of her and she was staring to get more recognizable when Stefan pulled my arm.

"Wait." He kissed me softly and put on a fake smile.

"Were going to lose her if you Don't let me go." I squeezed him a bit tighter before letting him go.

I walked away towards my sister and turned back a few feet away. I waved and he waved back before disappearing.

Kat's POV

I could hear my sister's voice. She was somewhere. But I couldn't make myself look back to where I figured she was standing.
I could hear Stefan as well. His underlying plea that made my sister's heart shatter. Or, at least, I figured it did. What did I know about anything, anyway?
I begged my feet to move faster. I wanted to run, and feel the wind blow my hair away from my face... but my body wasn't cooperating. I kept my human pace, strolling gently forward with an expression that could have melted through the Taj Mahal.
Maybe, my subconscious wanted me to be captured. My black heels would be pounding into the pavement if I had truly wanted to run.
Without allowing me to finish my rant, I soon felt a hand on my arm. Pain ran cold through my body as the hand shoved another damned splinter farther into my skin.
I ripped my arm from Neila's grasp and plucked the small piece of wood from my skin. "What do you think you're doing?"
Her eyes caged mine. "I'm going with you."
My eyes rolled involuntarily, landing on her eyes once more as they filled rotation. "Don't be stupid. You have something to live for back there... don't follow my example and screw things up."
I watched as her jaw set. "Don't do this, Kat. Don't shut me out-"
"I'm not having this conversation!" I exasperated, throwing my hands to the air. "You're not going to change my mind."
"And you aren't going to change mine!" Neila said, raising her voice just enough that I leaned back on my heals to put distance between us. "I'm not going to lose-"
"You aren't losing anything!" My eyebrows pulled together as I turned my head away from her direction. "You aren't. Losing. Anything."
How accurate was that? Not very. Why was I so sure that my separation was better for everyone? Why did...
Promising myself that I didn't care, I shoved those questions into a door so deep in my subconscious that I would never see them again.
When I looked back to her, tears had begun to form in the corners of my sister's eyes. "How you can say that with a straight face?"
I snorted, meeting her eyes with my own once more. "I can say a lot with a straight face."
There was a form of communicable silence that settled in between us for about a minute. Our eyes were begging for each other's understanding, reaching out into places that weren't ready to be unleashed... pain that wasn't ready to be understood. I broke it first, my small voice seeking out a place to hide as I spoke.
"I'm leaving, Neila... I'm sorry that I can't be who you think I am, but I can't. You're good. You're good- just like Stefan- and I'm sorry that I can't be good, too. I'm sorry for you... and Damon... oh, God, I'm sorry for Damon."
By the end of my rant, I had fallen to my knees on the pavement. Rocks were grinding against my unbreakable skin- tearing. My hands delved into my locks, pulling in desperation. I needed to feel something.
No, that wasn't it. I was feeling too much...
I hated vulnerability. I hated weeping, wiping away my own tears as Neila kept my hair from my face. I hated the fact that my mascara was running, creating rivers of fallen dreams that sucked me down towards the bottom and stole my oxygen.
Then it was over- just as soon as it had started. The tears stopped... I was more determined than every to do what I thought was right.
Neila stood up as I did, looking up at me hopefully. "Stay for him, Katherine. He needs you..." she paused, taking me into her arms. "We all need you."
I hugged her tighter for a moment, trying to memorize the scent that she still carried- the one that reminded me of our mother. It was that strange perfume-y sunrise-y smell that reminded me of the kitchen in the house I had lived in so long ago.
Then, I shoved her down to the ground, using shock to my advantage as I disappeared into the tree-line. My Stilettos finally tore through the dirt, driving me far away from everything that could hurt me.
I'd never thought of it that way before, but- in that moment- I put complete faith in the saying: "The people you love the most are the only people that can hurt you irreparably."
With each step I took, my heart was being punctured. I couldn't necessarily feel as the holes were carved, but I knew. Each person I leave behind has a small piece with them.
All I could do was to hope that they were keeping them safe. God knows what kind of fall-out would happen once everyone had returned to the Boarding House.