A/N: This story is set during the summer after Graduation - Season 4 and before the start of season 5, and it's AU so Bonnie is a witch and has never died (neither has Jeremy), there's no Silas, and Stefan isn't trapped in an underwater safe.

This chapter is named after the song A New by Little Dragon

Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not The Vampire Diaries or the characters aside from my OC. TVD belongs LJ Smith and The CW. No copyright infringement intended..

1 - A New

Green eyes bore into blue in stony silence. Neither entity was shaken, although each had reason to fear the other. A beautiful, fairly new vampire entered the room and took in the odd pair, eyebrows raised. This was not the first time she'd walked into a situation like this, but everything had been fine when she'd left the room moments ago.

"What's up guys?" She questioned. Neither her boyfriend nor her best friend tore their eyes from the other.

"Nothing much," Damon Salvatore, the eldest vampire in the room, responded. Their was a hint of menace beneath his casual tone. "Just threatening each other as usual."

"Looks like a staring contest to me," Elena Gilbert commented, sticking a straw into the blood bag she'd momentarily left to retrieve. Damon finally lifted his blue eyes from Bonnie Bennett's to look at Elena.

"You lost," Bonnie said, simply. Damon could never put fear in her heart, no matter how many life threats he imposed or menacing looks he threw her way. She was just as good, if not better, at these things and Damon always insisted on learning the hard way.

"Whatever," Damon muttered, taking the blood bag Elena was holding out to him. "There was a distraction. How could I continue to stare at anything but this woman when she walks in the room?" Elena giggled as Damon grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him, planting soft kisses on her. Bonnie rolled her eyes and stood.

"On that note, I should be going," she said, grabbing her keys from the dining table of the Salvatore kitchen. "I'm going to stop by the Grill, visit Jeremy real quick before heading home."

"But I thought we were going to have a movie night tonight," Elena complained, pushing out of Damon's hold.

"That sounded good before your boyfriend made it clear he was going to be there and wasn't going anywhere," Bonnie explained. "That doesn't sound like much of a girls' night to me."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Damon..."

"What?" He snapped. "She was being all snippy and annoying about how I wasn't invited. You know I can't let Bon Bon dictate where I can and can't go, especially when it involves my girlfriend."

"Don't worry about him, Bonnie," Elena said, ignoring him. "If he comes by, he'll be on his best behavior."

"As appealing as that sounds, I'll pass." Bonnie was sure Damon heard the sarcasm in her voice. "Maybe next time. I'll see you later."

"Okay." Elena wrapped her friend up in a tight hug while Damon stood behind them smirking. "Call me," Elena demanded as she released her.

"I will." Bonnie stepped past the eldest Salvatore brother. "Damon."

"Judgy."

And she was out the door.

Bonnie Bennett left the Mystic Grill with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Jeremy had not been there, although he'd told her that morning he would be working. She wanted to call him and ask questions, but she didn't want to be the pushy, suspicious, insecure girlfriend-type. She was sure there was a reasonable explanation to why he had told her that he was working when he wasn't, at least that was what she was telling herself.

She was deep in her thoughts when she heard it. A cry of pain snapped her out of her reverie. Her brow furrowed as she followed the noise, past the Grill behind the building to the left of it. Her eyes widened at the sight of the young man lying against the back wall of the building, a thick piece of wood imbedded in his torso.

"Oh my God!" Bonnie flew to his side as he wrapped his hands around it to try and pull it out. "What happened to you?" He let out another cry of pain before pulling it free. Not sure what to do, Bonnie attempted to cover the wound with her hand.

"Don't worry about it," the man breathed. "I'm fine."

"There's no way you're fine!" Bonnie exclaimed. "I can take you to the hospital." She lifted her bloody hand to check the wound only to find there wasn't one. Before she could react, he grabbed her and was staring into her eyes.

"You never saw me. You're going to forget this ever happened." And with a whoosh, he was gone.

"You've reached Elena. Leave me a message."

"Hey, it's Jeremy. Leave a message."

"This is Caroline! Leave me a-"

Bonnie hung up the phone with a sigh of frustration. The day she really needed someone to talk to and her best friends, even her boyfriend, weren't answering their phones or replying to her texts. There was a new vampire in town, if he had in fact stayed in Mystic Falls after fleeing from her, and she wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do about this. As a witch, she thankfully couldn't be compelled, but she did feel compelled to at least tell her friends about her strange encounter. As she sat in her Prius, contemplating what her next move should be, her phone rang in her hand. Jeremy.

"What's up, Bonnie?"

"Hey, I've been trying to reach you," she said, trying not to sound too annoyed. The familiar sound of Matt and another of Jeremy's friends voices in the background hollering could be heard.

"I'm sorry, I'm playing video games with these guys and I couldn't hear my phone over their mouths," he replied. "Everything all-can you shut up for a second!- everything all right?"

Bonnie sighed. "Yeah, everything is fine," she said. "I stopped by the Grill to see you, but they said you weren't working today."

"Yeah, they told me when I got there they didn't need me today," Jeremy explained. "Jerks didn't even have the decency to call me before I went all the way over there."

Bonnie sighed. She didn't want to feel hurt that he'd decided to hang out with his friends yet again rather than be with her on his day off, but she was. "Well, you go back to your game. I'll just talk to you later."

"Okay. Come over later, all right?"

Sure." He was hanging up before she could get out a proper goodbye. She threw her phone down and started up her car. That had become very typical now-a-days.

Bonnie had been doing her best to lead a normal life lately, but having werewolves and vampires for friends made that very difficult. There always some kind of big bad to vanquish, and she was always the one who's life was at risk because everyone went to her to solve problems. Being a witch had it's burden, but being a friend to Elena Gilbert was twice the burden. Regardless, she loved the girl to pieces, and would always be there for her and Caroline, but she'd made it clear she wanted this summer to be a magic-free, problem-free, fun-filled one. That last requirement was yet to be fulfilled, but it was only the beginning of their last summer before college. Caroline was pining after an MIA Tyler, Elena was spending all her time getting it on with Damon, while Stefan was off somewhere in the world probably trying to get his mind off of the fact that the love of his life had left him for his brother.

Then there was Bonnie, trying to get in where she could fit in. This was her first summer in Mystic Falls in years and she was starting to remember why she always jetted off to spend it with family. This year she figured she would spend it home with Jeremy, since they would be seeing less of each other once she started college, but he was too busy spending it with his friends. Her father was off on another business trip, and she and her mother only had the occasional phone conversation. Needless to say, this first two weeks into the summer wasn't a promising start.

She went home, deciding against saying anything about the vampire she'd met. She'd probably never see him again, but she couldn't help but wonder who had attacked him. It was obviously someone who was aware of vampires, seeing as they'd tried to stake him, but it wasn't another vampire or they'd have known it has to be the heart to kill them. Another thing that wasn't lost on Bonnie, was his looks. Upon first discovering him, she was too panicked by the blood that she'd hadn't really noticed, but as he'd tried to compel her she couldn't help but notice the pretty hazel of his eyes. He looked to be about Damon's human age, maybe 25 or 26. His hair was such a dirty blonde it looked brown, he was slender and quite tall, at least 6'2. Bonnie didn't recognize him so she knew he wasn't from there. Mystic Falls was small, if she'd seen that face before she'd never had forgotten it. He hadn't tried to hurt her or feed on her, so maybe he was one of the good ones, like Caroline. Bonnie went to sleep that night figuring she would never find out.

Four days of being holed up in the house watching Netflix and mandatory make-out sessions with Jeremy later, Bonnie was ready to get out and see her girls. They agreed to meet at the Mystic Grill for some pool and a bite to eat. As usual, Bonnie was the first one there. She had a view of the bar from the table she sat at, and she gave Matt a wave as he was serving someone from behind it.

She was playing on her phone as she waited, and took notice when a very tall man strode past her, moving so fast it felt like she was hit with a gust of wind. She could only see the back of his head as he sat but she was certain they'd met before. She fought with herself for a moment about whether or not to approach before she stood. Fuck it, if it was supernatural she needed to know about it. She put her brave face on and walked over to him as he ordered his drink.

"Who are you?" She asked, sternly.

He turned his head and was a little taken aback at how intensely the little lady's emerald eyes were boring into him. He was sure if she knew what he was, she'd be running and screaming, not asking questions.

"Who wants to know?" He replied, smugly in what sounded like an Australian accent.

"I do," she stated. "Who are you, and why are you here?"

"Can't a man just have a drink in peace." This was the first time he'd had an encounter like this. He looked at the pretty little firecracker again and his brow furrowed. "Do I know you?"

"I watched you pull a stake out of your stomach and you tried to compel me to forget about it," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Whoa, whoa!" He looked around in a panic to make sure they weren't in earshot of anyone. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Let's not play that game," Bonnie warned. "I know what you are, now tell me who you are."

He sighed. "All right, fine. Can we talk somewhere else?"

"Let's go." Bonnie stalked away and he followed her, still wondering what the hell was going on. They stepped outside and she led him to the side of the Grille, where no ear or eyes were on them. She wasn't going to warn him against trying to kill her. It would be more fun if he tried something and she had him on his knees in three seconds flat.

"All right, now talk," she demanded.

"First of all, who the hell are you?" he shot back. "And why didn't my compulsion work? You on vervain or something?"

"I can't be compelled," Bonnie answered shortly. "Now talk."

"My name is Julius. I'm a vampire," he said, simply. "I don't know what else you want from me."

"Why are you in Mystic Falls?"

"I'm trying to find someone."

"Who?"

His brow furrowed. "Why should I tell you anything?" He questioned. "You're just some nosy high schooler who knows too much!"

Bonnie felt herself getting irritated. "Every new supernatural that has come to this town has caused nothing but trouble for me and the people I care about," she explained. "I have some undead friends of my own, and they do not take kindly to new friends. Get it? If you want me to keep your presence a secret, I'd start talking. Otherwise, I can cause a whole lot of trouble of my own."

Julius couldn't believe his ears. "Wow, you have a lot of mouth on you," he concluded. "Has anyone ever told you it's unwise to threaten a vampire?"

"It's unwise to belittle a Bennett."

Julius sighed. He didn't know of what importance being a Bennett was, but he wanted more than anything for this moment to be over. "Her name is Valerie," he began. "She's been missing, and I need to find her. She's important."

"Is she a vampire?"

"She's the one who...made me who I am."

"Why is she important?"

"Look, lady, I've already told you enough," he snapped. "You know who I am, you know why I'm here. I would appreciate it if you just stayed out of my way. Once I find her, I'm gone forever. I have no plans to stick around in this hick town. Why don't we talk about you for a second? Who are you? Why can't you be compelled?"

Bonnie narrowed her eyes and stepped toward him. Next thing he knew his brain was on fire. He dropped to his knees, screaming in pain and holding his head. "Only thing you need to know about me is that I don't take shit from vampires," she told him, keeping the excruciating hold on his brain. "If you hurt any humans or cause any trouble while you're here, I will not hesitate to take you out." She released the hold on his brain and turned and walked away with a confident strut. "And I'm not a high schooler. College student. Jerk." And she left him there on the cold ground, stunned into silence.

A/N: If you need a perfect mental image of Julius, picture Adam Senn with an Australian accent. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading!