DISCLAIMER: - I do NOT own the Vampire Diaries

- Characters Elly and Jessikah borrowed from twitter RPers.

Prologue

Hurt.

I could feel.

Like a stake through the heart.

A pain I would never have wished upon anyone. Pretend, Damon. I heard the voice again, my inner voice. So I let my lips curved into a smirk. It's what I do. Pretend. I'm good at it. My unbeating heart is crashing into a million pieces, dropping down to the pit of my stomach. But pretending helps, even myself. Never in a million years would I show any feelings. Not to anyone. I know once I did. It made me weak.

And I hate being weak.

But then again, I've broken my own promise. I'd fallen. For her.

Jessikah.

Chapter 1

"I'll kick your arrogant ass, Damon!"

The shrill of the voice made it obvious that it was Caroline, the blondie. Always amusing me with innocent threats. I laughed loudly, sure that even though we're scattered around in the woods they could hear me. Somewhere near my right, something moved in a blur, something blonde, moving ahead of me. I picked up my speed, ghosting even faster. To know someone could be faster than me brought anger, which was then replaced with the thrill of a challenge. I love challenges.

Someone else from the left tried to do better, her effort was obvious. I could see a flash of brown hair, a blur to the eyes of a human. Of course, it was impressive to have a speed like hers for a newborn. My smirk widened as I ran faster, with the intention to stand as the winner in the end.

Damon Salvatore. And winning. A perfect combination.

It was a race Payton, the brown haired newbie, had suggested. She's a stubborn one. She knows, even from the beginning, that to overtake me would take forever. And forever, for the night hunters like us, would be a long, long time. It was a challenge I would gladly take up on. This is our kind of fun, the one to reach the big oak tree as the winner.

Somewhere in front, standing by the tree, Elly would be waiting.

I could see the small frame of her figure, her long blonde hair hanging loose, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground. I was winning, again. I could feel the joy of victory rising within me. Letting out a devious laugh, I speed up, sure that I'd win. I could see their annoyed defeated faces already. I was so close... reaching my hand out... almost touching the tree trunk.

Almost.

I would've won. If not for the fall. Something slammed hard against me, causing my back to hit the ground as it pinned me down, impossibly strong for anything human. She let out a hiss. I knew it's a her just by the sound of that hiss. And when my eyes finally focused again, I realized I'd just been pinned down by Katherine, her fangs bared, the veins under her eyes popping visible. I let out a low growl from within my chest as her fangs contracted, showing a smirk.

I pushed her off, getting on my own feet, my ears picking up the sounds of shrill laughter not far from where we are. Caroline. Won. My eyes went back to glaring at Katherine, who's dusting dirt off her shirt. When her eyes caught mine, she smirked again. If I hadn't been fooled before, I would have fallen for her seduction. But I've learnt my lesson. I opened my mouth to speak, but she held up a finger, stopping me.

"Playtime's over, Damon. It's time to work." She spoke.

And with that, I knew all fun would be over.

Katherine wanted us to meet at Third Tree, the big oak tree I was talking about. It is our territory after all, with only people with permission allowed to enter. We gathered our circle, my circle, ready for a new 'mission' as they'd all like to call. For the past months, we'd been trying to track a girl. A huntress. One who hunt vampires like me and end them. She'd killed five of my vampires.

And I'm not going to just let her go.

But none of us had been able to capture her. She was good, never leaving her tracks behind, always managing to wash them away. It was impossible. We figured she was just well-trained, but when we finally have her, she would be defeated with not much effort from us.

She is human after all.

I leaned against the tree, studying my fingernails as we wait for the remaining members. If they aren't here in five minutes, I wouldn't hesitate with the punishment. I'm not patient, the longest I could spend waiting would be fifteen minutes, and that would already get on my nerves. I looked up seeing Elly pacing the ground, Payton smiling up at me, Caroline with her arms crossed and Katherine watching me from afar. She had that smirk again, but this time I returned it.

"What is taking them so long?" Caroline asked, looking as frustrated as I feel.

That was when Bella appeared, chuckling lightly. I had to roll my eyes. Bella is another newborn, still quite overwhelmed by her new abilities. That chuckle she let out was a 'wow, I'm fast'. And then Stefan arrived, smiling at us as if we hadn't been waiting. Another eye roll from me. A second later, no one else came. And that was when I realized that there is /no/ one else.

The other five had been killed by the huntress. Anger was starting to build up, but I took in an unneeded breath, surprisingly calming me a little. I look over to Katherine, and she nodded.

"I've found her." She spoke. Three words. And lots of gasps.

She's seen the huntress. If she'd found her, the huntress would be here already. I cleared my throat, anticipation consuming my mind. At least Katherine had seen her, know how she looks like. A slow smirk creep at my lips as I nod, already imagining the things we'd do.

Katherine smiled proudly causing Caroline to roll her eyes. "You mean you've seen her." I arched a brow at Kat, crossing my arms as I step closer.

"I said I've found her."

Elly stepped forward, looking fragile and more human than she already is, speaking with a bravery not expected from a human like her, "Then where is she, Kat?"

Payton pretended to look around, shrugging her shoulders casually, "I don't see her."

"Yeah, I don't either." Caroline huffed,giving Katherine another eye roll.

Katherine was everyone's least favorite. For her manners. And attitude. But she has a brilliant working mind no one else has. And though sometimes I'd love to rip that smirk off her beautiful face, I would not trade her for anything. Katherine is a member of the circle, a friend.

She rolled her eyes with a smirk. At the same time, something moved, and everyone was silenced. We froze in our position, our ears straining to get a better hearing. Someone is walking towards our direction. The rustling of leaves obvious that he or she isn't trying to sneak up on us. I noticed how the rest of them stood in position, ready to go at my command. Caroline already had her fangs bared, her body crouching slightly. I couldn't help but took a second to think; impressive.

And then she appeared out of the trees.

Blonde.

Stefan cleared his throat at the sight of her.

Piercing blue eyes.

"Jessikah." That was Katherine, and the huntress's eyes flickered to her.

"It was a trick." She spit the words in pure anger.

Caroline stood straight from her crouching position, surprised that Katherine had tricked the most professional huntress in the world. At the corner of my eyes, I could see Payton's featured twisted into a confused look, Stefan frowning, Elly sighing and Bella just staring. A part of me wanted to scream at them. Since when did they become so... stupid?

The huntress's eyes flickered to mine again, and our gazes locked. I was ready to lunge at her and rid the vampires of this huntress. But my throat dried suddenly.

And all I could see was her. It felt like the world came crashing down upon me. I know the rest of my friends were staring, disbelief and waiting for my orders.

But all I could hear was her name.

Jessikah.