Chapter 1

My neck hurt. I rubbed it, vaguely registering that my bed wasn't supposed to feel so uncomfortable.

It slowly dawned on me that I was sitting, not sleeping. And my forehead was resting against something ice.

I forced my heavy eyelids open...and saw scenery passing me by. I was in a car!

"Morning sunshine!"

I turned my head to face the driver. It sounded like...

"Damon?!"

"Took you a while. If it wasn't for the heartbeat, I would think you were dead."

"What happened?"

"You crashed your truck."

"My truck!"

"Yep."

"My truck," I repeated, mourning the loss of my beloved vehicle. I frowned and tried to remember what had happened.

"I crashed...there was a man. I hit a man! But... he got up."

Damon's relaxed expression faded.

"Who was he?"

"That's what I would like to know."

"He's a vampire."

"Obviously."

"Well then how do you not know who he is?"

"Its not like we all hang out at the Vampire Bar and Grill."

I scowled at him and folded my arms across my chest. He was so unhelpful.

After a while I realised that the scenery outside looked nothing like Mystic Falls.

"Where are we?"

"We are on our way to Georgia."

"Georgia?"

"Yep. Its just a small road trip."

"Damon, I can't go to Georgia!" I protested.

"Sure you can."

I remembered that Elena was expecting me back.

"Damon, no one knows I'm gone! I promised them I'll be back!"

"And you will! Just not for a few hours."

I stared at him incredulously. "This…This is kidnapping," I said finally.

He arched an eyebrow. "Really? Kidnapping? That's a little melodramatic, don't you think?"

"Damon. I. Need. To. Go. Home."

"Why? The way I see it, there's nothing back there besides pointless school stress and homework."

He did have a point.

"C'mon, we've just become friends again. Let's have a day out to celebrate."

"We are not friends," I replied icily.

He shot a glance my way. "Fine, we're not friends. But we've still gone too far to go back home."

"Fine," I growled out.

"Great," he grinned brightly at me.

My phone rang. I dug in my pocket for it.

"Where's my phone?"

"Oh wait. Hold on a sec."

Damon pulled over and switch the car off.

He whipped a cellphone out of his pocket. "Hellloo," he drawled.

I stared at the phone- MY phone.

"Bella's phone," he added, almost as an afterthought.

His face lit up. "Baby brother. It has been too long. Bella and I were just bonding."

I rolled my eyes, too annoyed at his antics to bother correcting him.

"She'll be back at the end of the day, Stef. Really now, you people act like I'm going to eat her. She's not my type," he winked at me.

I shook my head and leaned against the car window. This was going to be a long ride.

Damon finally managed to convince Stefan that I was fine…by cutting the call on him and switching my cellphone off.

"So where are we?" I asked as Damon pulled into a parking lot.

"A bar," he mock-whispered.

"We were in a bar last night and now we're 'bonding' again in a bar?"

"What can I say? I'm a fan of history repeating itself," he replied, getting out of the car.

"Clearly. You fell for Elena," I said under my breath, unlocking my car-door and getting out.

"I heard that."

I ignored him. We were standing outside a bar, okay. Bree's Bar.

"You bring all your girls here?" I remarked sarcastically.

I had heard about the bar from Elena. Damon had brought her here when she found out about Katherine- kidnapping her much like the way he had kidnapped me.

I frowned. Elena had been in an accident too. But she said she had been driving recklessly…I wonder….

"You're gonna stand there all day?" Damon asked.

I followed behind him. "I thought Bree was…"

"Yep, she is."

"Then?"

"We're here for someone else."

"Who?"

"Emily," Damon said very loudly, quickening his pace to the African- American behind the bar.

He opened his arms as if for a hug but Emily just moved back out of his reach.

Damon sighed, his shoulders dropping as if in defeat.

"What do you want?"

"Straight to business. Exactly why I like you. Bree never was like that."

Emily looked bored with the whole conversation. "I have a bar to run, Damon. Make it fast and get out of here."

She looked at me. "Who's the girl?"

"Emily Bennett, I would like to you meet my friend, Isabella Swan."

My actual, normal name. It felt good to hear it again.

"Hello," I smiled tentatively at Emily.

She smiled back at me, reaching out to shake my hand. "Isabella…"

"Just Izz."

"I can see good things in your future, Izz. You're different, special."

Then, tossing Damon a dirty look, she asked, "What are you doing with this scumbag?"

"He kid-saved me from a car crash."

She raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded quickly. "He did," I insisted.

"See? I can be nice too," Damon pointed out.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Emily replied. "What can I get for you, Izz?"

"Um…"

"We'll take two burgers," Damon said confidently.

Emily sighed. "There's just no discouraging you, is there?"

"Nope."

"Two burgers coming right up."

"So you killed Bree and attacked Bonnie…and then Elena moved to Forks…"

"-this really isn't proper meal time conversation," Damon reminded me.

"This isn't a proper meal. You're a vampire," I whispered.

"Good point," he whispered back. "Yes, that is what happened," he said in a normal tone.

"And then Emily took over the bar."

"Yep."

"So why are we here?"

"You know the story about Katherine?"

"She slept with you and your brother? Yeah, I got that part," I gave him a grin that would rival his own usual annoying one.

"She's trapped...in a tomb."

"Ah right. I heard this story too. You want to free her but you can't because you lost the amulet thingy."

"Yes, but if I can find the original spellbook that sealed her in then I can let her out."

"Where is this spellbook?" I asked

"Not with me," Emily cut in.

"But surely you know the witch who has it?" Damon suggested.

"I share a name with the witch who sealed her in, Damon. And that's where it all ends. I'm not a part of that world anymore."

"Why not?" I asked, curious.

Emily smiled sadly at me. "You can only be a part of the supernatural for so long before it starts controlling your life."

She leaned forward. "Take my advice, Isabella, and get out while you can."

Damon stood up. "If you can't help us then I guess we'll be on our way."

"Damon, you know the dangers that lurk in the tomb," Emily warned him.

"Yeah yeah."

"Be careful," she added. "Goodbye, Izz. Take care."

"So now what do we do?" I asked Damon, following him to the car.

"I don't know."

"Why would you want her back? I mean she, compel-"

"Katherine never compelled me!"

"What? But I thought…"

"It was real for me.

I remained silent. I didn't know what to say. If Katherine was released, she would hurt Damon again. And no one knew better than me how painful that was. But if it was real, then what? Damon would know if he had been compelled or not. And he said that he wasn't.

"I'll help you," I spoke up finally.

"What?"

"Whatever you need. To find her. I'll help."

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"No one knows the pain of losing the one you love better than I do. You might have compelled me to forget but the memories are still there in small pieces. If I can help you to get back the one you love then that's what I will do."

Damon smiled at me. Not the usual snarky smile but a genuine one.

"Thank you."

And that was it! Review and let me know what you think.