Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Just playing with the characters.

Chapter One

Bella walked to the entrance of the Mystic Grill with a pep in her step. Through the glass of the double doors, she could see it was a busy night. Not surprising, she scoffed. Afterall, it is the only place in this small town to get a decent bite to eat.

When she opened the doors, everything seemed to stop. It was like a scene out of a movie. Everyone just looked upon her and waited for her to move. With a smirk on her face, she confidently strutted to the bar and ordered a glass of their best bourbon.

When the bartender went to put the bottle away, she shook her head and stopped him with a caressing touch on his arm.

"Just leave the bottle, handsome. It's been a long day and I'm looking to have some fun," she purred at him.

He stood there, mouth agape and not blinking. She leaned up, closed his mouth and giggled when he started to blush. He seemed to snap out of his daze when she touched him.

"What's your name, sugar? I'm sure you don't want me calling you pet names all night."

He gave his head a little shake to try to clear the fog from his brain. "Matt. My name is Matt, but really, you can call me whatever you want."

"Alright Matt. Well, I'm Isa, and like I said, please leave the bottle. I'm in the mood for some fun tonight and some liquid courage never hurt to help."

"Sure thing. I'm," he clears his throat, "I have to get back to the other customers. Flag me down if you need anything else."

"Thanks, Matt. I will," and with a wink at the still blushing bartender, she took a sip of the bourbon and spun her stool around to assess her surroundings.

A throat clearing brought her attention to the occupant of the seat to her left. When she turned towards the person, she was pleasantly surprised to see a handsome man with kind, but distrustful eyes. Strong build, light brown hair and tall. Well, then again, everyone is taller than her 5'2" frame.

"Alaric Saltzman. You are?" he held out his hand and waited for her to reciprocate.

She glanced at his hand before gripping it with her own. "Isa. Nice to meet you."

"Like wise. Are you visiting or moving to town?"

"I'm not sure yet. It's too soon to tell." she vaguely replies.

"Well, I might be able to help you make up your mind. What are your interests? This is a small, historical town. The nightlife is nonexistent, as you can see. So if you are into that, you might want to move to a larger town like Richmond."

"Oh, no. I don't like clubs. My interests? Hmm, well, I like people and I love to eat," she replies with a cheeky smile. She leans towards him and runs her finger down his chest. "How would you be able to help me make up my mind, Mr. Saltzman?" she whispers seductively in his ear.

Alaric was taking a drink of his beer at that precise moment and he started to choke on the amber liquid. With a pat to the back she speaks so only he can hear her.

"I don't think someone who trains vampire hunters can give me what I need to help me decide." She begins to walk away. "But thanks for the offer," she throws over her shoulder.

After hearing him telling someone one on the phone that there might be new trouble in town, she stops listening and makes her way to the 'entertainment' part of the establishment. If you can call one pool table, an ill placed dart board and a small stage with a microphone and crappy karaoke machine entertainment. Jesus, why would anyone, especially him, want to stay here?

With a shrug, and an 'if you can't beat them or eat them, then join them attitude,' Bella racked the balls on the pool table to pass the time. She caught Matt's eye and pointed to her bottle of bourbon she left at the bar. With a nod he brought that and a clean glass over to her.

"Here you go Isa," he smiled and placed her items on a nearby table.

"Thanks Matt," and when he turned to walk away she smacked his ass. He stopped jerkily and looked at her with wide eyes, never having been blatantly flirted with before.

"What? Too much, too soon? I just thought I should give you something for being so kind to me," she spoke, looking at him from under her lashes.

He clears his throat, "Oh no, uh, it's, uh, fine. Just took me by surprise. I've gotta get," he pointed to behind him, before turning tail and heading back to the safety of the bar.

She turned back to her drink and giggled. Bella began to relax a little, the warmth of her drink making its way through her system and releasing the tension she didn't realize she was carrying.

She was swaying her hips and softly singing along to the music that was playing, while lining up her next shot on the table, when a loud group of what she suspected was teenagers, came tumbling through the front entrance. When she looked up, she could barely contain her smirk. Looks like he wasn't kidding when he said he kept mixed company.

Opening her senses up, she counted two vampires, a werewolf, a witch, a human and a doppelganger. No, no, her mistake. Not just any doppelganger, but the doppelganger. Now she knows why he chose to move and stay in this tiny podunk town. Shutting down everything but her hearing, she went back to her one sided game.

While planning the next move of her game, well both her games, she overheard Alaric tell the group that there was someone new in town, and he wasn't so sure about her. She quietly giggled when she heard, whom she dubbed, The Professor, get bombarded with questions.

"Her?"

"What does she look like?"

"Is she hot?"

"Yes, a her. She has long hair, pale skin that is slightly cold to the touch, and she's short. And, I don't know Tyler. I wasn't really looking at her to see if she was hot. She's over by the pool table if you want to see for yourself."

She could feel their eyes on her as The Professor answered their inquiries, so she made herself look as innocent and naive as she could muster, without throwing up, and bit her bottom lip, while pretending to look over the pool table for her next move.

"She's the new bad in town? Come on, she looks like she doesn't know which end of the cue stick to use, let alone be able to take down any of us. She is hot though, so maybe I will do a little one on one recon and see what I can find out."

She looked up to see the werewolf's eyes lingering on her, so she forced herself to blush and turn towards her table. She started to fidget with her cell phone waiting for him to make his appearance. It was only a matter of time…

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice that you are new in town. Are you here to meet someone?"

She pretended to be startled and put her hand on her chest while dropping her phone. "Oh goodness, you scared me," she said with a bright smile.

"I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you. I'm Tyler, by the way."

She lightly shook the hand he held out to her before giggling and blushing and dropping her hand from his. "Isa. You don't have to apologise. I have always startled easily."

She bit her lip and looked at him. "Um, if you want to make it up to me, um, you could play a game with me. Pool. A game of pool. If you want. Could you? I mean, will you? I mean, I'll understand…" she trailed off waiting for him to take the bait.

"Hey, Isa, calm down. Yea I'd love to play some pool with you." Hook, line and sinker, she smirked internally.

"Sorry. I have a tendency to ramble when I get nervous," cue the blush again.

"Nothing to be nervous about. We are just two new friends playing a game of pool. Right?"

"Right," she giggled. While waiting for Tyler to rack the balls, she noticed Vampire Barbie head to the restroom. "Excuse me for a second Tyler. I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Sure. I'm going to get a drink and I'll be here when you come back." With a nod and a smile, she heads to the bathroom. Taking her time walking to the restroom, she overhears Tyler telling his group about her.

"She's not bad. Hell, I don't even think she is supernatural. She blushes, her heart beat sounds normal and she is completely innocent in a naive, child like way." She scoffs at hearing that. Maybe she played the innocence up too much. She'll have to spice things up when she gets back.

Opening the door to the ladies room, she noticed Vampire Barbie at the sink. As she walked towards the sink, she pretended to stumble, dropping her purse, spilling the contents all over the floor in the process.

"Dammit!" she curses, bending down to gather her things.

"Here, let me help," Barbie said as she knelt down to help clean up the mess. "I'm Caroline, by the way."

"Isa. Nice to meet you. Thanks for this," Bella said, waving towards the makeup, cash and cards still littering the floor.

"No problem. Are you new in town?"

"Yes. Kind of. I have some family who lives a couple towns over, and I just decided to go out for a drive to explore and I ended up here," she explained, while standing up and brushing her knees off.

"Oh. Well, there isn't much here. You should have probably headed in the opposite direction towards the bigger cities," Caroline recommended, trying to subtly push Isa out of town.

"I noticed that as I was driving through the center of town. I thought I might find some shops to explore, but there really aren't any."

"Oh! Yeah, for anything but the basics. My friends and I usually make a day of it and travel into Richmond or one of the other bigger cities to go shopping."

Bella makes a disgruntled face. "Ugh. I guess, I will have to go there tomorrow then. I could really use some retail therapy."

"Really? For any particular reason or just feel like spending money?"

Bella smirked. "Actually, yes, for a very particular reason. I just found out that my boyfriend was hanging out with his ex-girlfriend's cousin. What's even creepier is that the ex and her cousin look like each other. They could be TWINS! Blech. So, I decided to filch his black Amex, and do a little shopping."

With wide eyes and a nervous chuckle, Caroline sympathised with Isa. "That's awful! Men suck! You know, if you want a shopping partner tomorrow, I could meet you at the mall. How long are you going to be visiting your relatives?"

After applying some more lip gloss, Bella turns towards Caroline. "Oh. I'm not sure how long I will be around. Might be for a few more days, or it could be indefinitely. It really depends on how things play out."

With a light touch to Caroline's arm, Bella smiles at the girl before heading towards the bathroom door. "Oh, and I would love company tomorrow at the mall. How about we meet there at 11:00? We could grab lunch?"

"Sure. That would be great. See you tomorrow," Caroline calls out, as Isa heads back to the pool table and the waiting werewolf.

"Wait. What just happened?" she hears Caroline whisper to herself, as the door closes behind her.

Bella smiles as she makes her way to Tyler, who takes her smiling form as if it was for him. He wishes, she thought. "Sorry it took so long. I ended up spilling my bag as I walked into the bathroom and the girl that was in there, helped me gather everything up and we got to talking."

"No worries. I hope you don't mind, but I refilled your drink. You ready to play?" he says as he handed her her glass. Subtle wolf boy, real subtle, she thinks unkindly as she takes the glass and finishes the contents in one go. She could smell the wolfsbane/vervain mixture he added, before she even made it to the table. After she places the glass back down, she winks at him.

"I'm ready for anything you've got."

With a smirk and a slight reddening to his ears, he offers her the chance to go first and break.

"I'm not sure how good I'll be, but I'll give it a go."

Bella grabs her cue stick and maintains eye contact with Tyler while she chalks and blows the excess off the tip. She smiles at him before leaning over the table and lining up the cue ball. Pulling back and scratching on purpose, she pouts when she looks up at him.

"Damn. Do you think you can help me? I'm not great at breaking. I'm better at sinking the balls."

"Uh," he clears his throat. "Yes. Yeah, I can help you." He walks around to her side of the table and tries to explain how to hold the stick and how hard to hit the ball.

She looks at him and bites her lip. "Um, maybe you can help guide me. I pick things up faster when there's a hands on approach." She has to tighten her control to not laugh out loud when she sees him gulp before nodding his head and moving behind her, laying his body flush along the backside of her body.

Just as he was guiding her hand holding the pool stick back, she heard what she guessed would be considered a menacing growl. She knew that growl and when she looked up, she wasn't surprised to see she was correct. There standing before her was Damon Salvatore.

When their eyes met, she detected shock before he shuttered his eyes and looked towards her companion. "What the fuck are you doing Lockwood? Don't you have someplace to be?"

"What? Shit. Yeah, I do." He looked towards Bella apologetically. "I'm sorry Isa, but I have to go meet someone. Maybe, if you decide to stick around, I can see you again?"

"Sure Tyler." She leans up and kisses his cheek. "Thanks for helping me with my form."

"Yeah, uh, no problem. Bye."

Bella watches him as he stops by his friends' table speaking something too softly for her to pick up, before taking off for the night. She turns back to the man who intruded in on her game and gives him a tight smile, before gathering her things and heading back to the bar. Maybe Matt will keep her company before she makes her next move.

Oh goodie, Matt is still working. She gives a soft whistle and when she catches his eye, waves him down to her.

"Can I get another bottle? This time, make it the best Tequila you have."

"Sure thing Isa." He leaves and returns a few minutes later from the back with a $350 dollar bottle of Don Julio Real Tequila.

"This is perfect," she purrs. "Thanks handsome. This should do the trick."

"What trick do you need it to do?"

"I think I am going to sing the lovely people of Mystic Falls a song. So I need a boost in my courage and Don Julio will work wonders."

Before Matt has a chance to respond, Damon makes his presence known by rudely reaching past Matt and grabbing a bottle of Scotch that was waiting to be put away.

"Yo, Donovan!" Matt turned his head towards the other end of the bar and nodded towards one of the waiters, "One sec!" he yelled back before turning back to face Isa. "I have to go handle that. I'll see you later. Good luck up there," he said before he went to get the drinks that had been ordered.

She takes two shots before Damon decides to ask his questions. "Who are you? What do you want? Did Katherine send you?" he narrows his eyes at her when she takes another shot before answering him.

"I'm hurt, Damon, that you don't remember who I am. I guess I shouldn't have expected more. After all, Katherine's mini me is around, and she is who you have eyes for," she snarked out. "When you figure out who I am, then we can talk. Until then, I'm going to have some fun. Enjoy the show," she winked, grabbed her bottle and walked to the stage.

She could feel his eyes on her retreating form, heating up places she had hoped would not respond to him anymore. No such luck. The arrogant prick could still work her body over with just a look, even if he didn't remember who she was. Well, she thought, maybe she should do a song that will jog his Katelena induced brain.

As one of the waiters came over and keyed up her song choice, she couldn't help but raise her shot glass in cheers towards the glaring vampire. She smirked at his wide eyed state when the sexy and pulsating beat of Christina Aguilera's "Not Myself Tonight" came over the speakers, pumping the music through the bar and affecting the patrons more than she thought would happen.

She waits a beat, watching the room as a whole give her their undivided attention. Once she had it, she took one last shot, grabbed the mic and started singing the song. Rocking and swaying her body to the music, she makes her way off stage. She reaches Damon just as the first refrain of the chorus starts. While singing the lines 'I'm not myself tonight, I'm not the same girl', using just the barest pressure of her fingertips, she lets her hand glide down the side of his face, caressing his jaw, before dragging it across his chest, shoulders and finally upper back, while she circles around him. When she's sure she's got his attention, she moves on through crowd, still keeping her body moving to the beat, lightly brushing the audience member's heads, arms or shoulders as she passes through them.

Coming up to the "special" table of the night, she notices that Mr. Moody has moved the doppelganger into his lap. Perfect. She decides to unleash just a tiny bit of her power, just enough to make them comply with what she wants, and maybe, have them enjoy it some as well.

When the song picks up with the line 'I'm kissing all the boys and the girls' she sings it and leans into them. She kisses them both, sensually, with some pressure and a little bit of tongue, before she pulls back and continues with her show, stopping at the only 'human' at the table.

Pulling his chair out from the table, she takes his hand and drags him to the stage. Shoving the waiter /"D.J." out of his seat, she drags it to the center of the stage, pushing Jeremy back into it.

While she finishes the chorus again, she runs her hands all over his body and through his hair, tugging gently, making his nerves stand on end. The words fade out and the music plays louder. She smirks. Her favorite part is coming up and it's sure to be an audience 'pleaser'.

'Yea

that feels good
I needed that'

She sings along, keeping her body moving to the beat over his lap, barely touching him, reeling him in with whispers of her touch on his body and of her lips on his jaw. She moved to stand, but didn't get very far, because Jeremy grabbed her hips and pulled her down, flush against hard cock.

'Yea

Get Crazy

Let's Go'

She eggs him on with the lyrics to the song. Whispering in his ear, giving him free reign to do as he'd like.

'That's right

C'mon'

She doesn't care that they are in a public place. She won't let this get too out of control, at least not here. She might let him lose control at her hotel room. She glances at the audience and giggles. Their eyes are glued to the pair on the stage in complete rapture and awe. All but one. Damon is glaring hard enough that he is probably hoping the stage will go up in flames. Yes, he has finally figured out who she is and no, he is not happy about what she is doing.

'Give it to me now

Don't Stop

Yeah'

Turning her head back to her companion, she leans in and runs her tongue up the side of his throat, only stopping to nip at his ear lobe. Hearing the slight moan coming from his mouth, had her body reacting to his, sending sparks of pleasure dancing down her spine, causing her to grind against him, while finishing the song out.

When the last cord plays, she slowly climbs off his lap, leaning in and pressing a hard kiss to his mouth, before standing and taking a bow. Reaching for the human's hand and her almost empty bottle of Tequila, she makes her way back to the bar and her purse. It's just about time to make her exit.

Grabbing her things, she turned to make her exit, but bumped into a hard chest instead. Breathing deeply, she smelled the distinct smell of leather and dark chocolate. Ah, she internalized, biting her lip, he smells like sex. She didn't need to look up to know she bumped into Damon.

"Can I help you with something?" she inquired as she took a step back, looking up finally and narrowing her eyes at his smug expression. Damn. He knows I smelled him.

"What are you doing here Isabella?" he asked giving her a longing once over. She watched as his eyes traveled slowly from her hair to her toes, zeroing in on her chest and legs a little longer than is socially acceptable.

"Oh, you know. Just traveling. I always wanted to see the East Coast," she shrugged before turning her attentions to the human boy next to her.

"Hey, Jeremy? You want to wait outside for me? I'll only be a minute."

"Sure. I should probably go tell my friends I'm leaving anyways. I'll see you in a few minutes." She watched him walk away, but not before noticing the human give Damon a curious look and Damon responding in kind with a barely concealed shake of his head.

"Cut the crap, Isabella. Why are you really in Mystic Falls?" he whispered harshly.

"What? Can't I visit a new place or an 'old' friend? I mean, it would be considered rude if I was in the area and didn't at least stop by to say hello."

"Isabella," he growled.

"It's Isa now, Damon," she cut him off. "Now as stimulating as this conversation is, I have prior engagements and it seems you have some questions to answer yourself, judging by the curious and jealous glares being thrown this way by your friends." She started to walk away, but stopped by his side. Standing on her toes, she leaned into his ear and whispered, "Enjoy your brother's girl... while you still can," before pecking his cheek and walking out of the bar.