The contents of Gwen's trunk, minus a few pieces of miscellaneous trash, were as follows: two cans of gasoline, a thermal blanket, a set of flares, a spare cell phone and a spare cell phone battery, several grocery bags of food, several water bottles, two first-aid kits, a map, oil, antifreeze, and two small bags of dog food for Buster Brown (her little beagle). The only thing missing…a spare tire.

"How?" Gwen asked Buster, who sat next to his mistress and wagged his tail happily. "How could I have failed to put a spare tire in here?"

Buster didn't know the answer to that question and, for the most part, didn't care. The top of his head itched and Gwen did not scratch his head however, and instead continued her rant. "I consider myself a careful and practical person. I took time and effort to plan for every eventuality–except for a flat tire?"

Gwen looked down the road, nothing. Wait! Yes, there it was! A black SUV slowly driving down the road and heading her way; Gwen waved her arms wildly. The SUV slowed down and pulled twenty feet behind Gwen's little red VW Beetle. Gwen squinted her eyes but the windows were tinted and she couldn't see inside. "Hello there! Can you help me?"

The door opened and a handsome man stepped out. He has gold hair, gold-brown eyes. He could have been a Californian model except for his pale skin. Skin almost as pale as Gwen's and Gwen, being a redhead, was awfully pale. He asked, "Flat tire miss?"

"Yes. I failed to bring a spare and I can't get a signal on my phone out here so–" Gwen was interrupted by Buster's barking. He growled at the man who was approaching slowly. Gwen frowned and kneeled down to pet Buster. "I'm sorry. Usually Buster is cool with strangers."

The man scowled at the little dog. "He's…cute."

Gwen frowned harder. Well, some people just aren't animal lovers. "Yes, well you see my tire is flat and I just need you to–"

Buster tried to lunge at the man. Gwen placed herself between the man and Buster and turned her back to the man. "Buster? What's wrong with–Umph!"

Gwen didn't get to finish her sentence before the man hit her in the back of the head and knocked her unconscious. The man gave the barking dog a scornful look but left it alone. He took the wood bracelet from his jacket pocket and snapped it around the human woman's wrist. The bracelet's clasp fused together and formed a single circle of wood just like the witch had said it would; good news for her. If this didn't work Klaus would surely kill her.

The man left with those thoughts in mind. Gwen had different thoughts in her head; she would never have been on this road if she hadn't won that money, then took this road trip, then forgot the spare, then swerved to avoid the rabbit which had caused her to run over a nail that punctured the tire. It was truly serendipity that she had been mugged, fate.

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Damon stood on the front porch with a glass of bourbon in one hand and a wooden stake in the other. It would be so easy to shove the stake in his heart and be done with it all; done with the fighting, done with the pain…just done. Elena and Stefan's laughter drifted up to him from the back yard. He gritted his teeth.

"Stefan! Stefan stop! Stefan that tickles!" Elena squealed. The stake splintered as his grip tightened.

"Great." Damon said sarcastically. He plucked several splinters out of the palm of his hand. "Just great."

He heard the whistle before he saw it and caught it inches before it embedded itself in his shoulder. A stake. Damon was on alert now. A stake entered through his shoulder. "What the hell?"

Another stake went through the fleshy part of his thigh causing his knee to give out. Another stake joined the first in his shoulder. The pain was agonizing and when it became too much to bear he passed out.

It had taken two vampires and three stakes to even knock Damon out; just like Klaus had said it would. They put the wooden bracelet on his wrist and watched the clasp fuse together. Serendipity had nothing to do with Damon's attack but he would always give fate credit for the events that followed.

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With both bracelets on, the words of the spell burnt themselves into the wood. The spell was in Latin or Greek or perhaps some witch-bred language that was a mix of the two in a flowing cursive that was enchanting in its own way.

Damon woke first. Stefan and Elena found him and Stefan pulled out the stakes. They roused him awake. Buster licked Gwen's face until her eyes opened. Her head ached but she was generally okay. Her car was still there on the side of the road and her purse was still in the front seat.

They touched the bracelets, unaware of their meaning. There was no clasp and the bracelets were too small to have slid over their hands; just a quarter of an inch between the wood and their skin. Damon tried with all his might to pull it off but, even with vampire strength, couldn't manage even a crack. Gwen attempted to use her new Swiss Army knife to saw the bracelet off but only succeeded in breaking the blade.

Damon's phone rang. A sense of foreboding filled him. He could tell from the looks on their faces that Stefan and Elena felt it too. He picked up the phone and answered with, "Damon Salvatore."

"Hello Damon." A voice said; a voice that Damon knew well.

"Klaus." Damon said angrily. Elena's eyes widened in fear. She looked around as if Klaus was hiding in the trees. "I didn't realize you had progressed enough to work a phone."

"One must keep up with the times Damon." Klaus said with a smooth chuckle. "How do you like your new accessory?"

Damon glanced at the wood bracelet wearily. "I assume you are to blame for it and my attack."

"Picked out the bracelet especially for you." Klaus said. "As for the attack well, I'm shocked that it only took two vampires to take you down Damon. What a disappointment?"

Two vampires with stakes, he failed to mention the stakes. Damon ground his teeth together. "You caught me off guard. It won't happen again."

Klaus chuckled again. "I do like a challenge."

"If you wanted to give me jewelry, Klaus, then you could have sent it in a gift wrapped package. You know, through the mail." Damon said.

"There's no fun in that." Klaus said. "Do you want to play a game?"

"No." Damon said; his sapphire blue eyes sparkled with an inhuman rage.

"Come on Damon! Play!" Klaus said, the sarcasm was heavy on his voice. "It's about the bracelet."

Damon's stomach tensed. "Fine, I'll play."

"The first part is a bit like hide-and-seek."

"What does that mean?" Damon asked running a hand through his ebony black hair. "Stop speaking in riddles."

"Your bracelet is one of two. A matching set you could say." Klaus said. "The other is on the wrist of one Gwendolyn Bright, Gwen for short; feisty redhead on a road trip."

"Playing matchmaker now?" Damon taunted. "Redheads aren't really my type."

"I know what your type is. Your type is baby Salvatore's girlfriend of the century." Klaus said. Damon remained silent. "But I'm not here to play matchmaker."

"Then what are you here to play?" Damon asked, slowly running out of patience.

"Gwen is human and now, with a little witch magic, so are you." Klaus said. Damon could practically hear him smiling.

Damon yelled, "You're insane!"

"Not yet." Klaus said very matter of fact. "You're not human directly of course but through Gwen you are very, very mortal."

He continued, "That bracelet allows whatever happens to Gwen happen to you."

"Explain." Damon demanded.

"I don't like that commanding tone Damon." Klaus said. "However, I'll let it slide this time because I do want to tell you. I'm particularly proud of my genius on this one."

Damon really wished that Klaus would just spit it out. Unfortunately, Klaus was big on theatrics. "If Gwen scraps her knee then you get a scraped knee too. If Gwen doesn't eat then you get a stomach ache too. If I shoot Gwen in the head then…I'll have one less Salvatore brother to muddle up my plans."

Damon was silent for a moment, allowing Klaus's words to sink in. "Where is she at?"

"I can't just tell you that Damon. But I'll give you a hint; she's in Mystic Falls." Klaus said. Damon took the phone from his ear. "One more thing…"

"Yes?" Damon asked.

"You have an hour to find her before I send my people after her." Klaus said before hanging up.

An hour? Suddenly Mystic Falls seemed a whole lot bigger.