I lay on my bed staring up at the high wooden ceilings, waiting for the sleep that I know will never come. I lay there for what must be hours, though it seems to be only minutes, until there is a steady ray of sunshine peeping through the dark drapes that seek to blot out said rays.

She said I was like those drapes, blotting out everything that was light in the world.

Enough! I've had more than enough self pity to last me the next one hundred years.

There's a single solid knock on my door, which I don't bother to answer because he will come anyways. "I'm going with Elena and Jeremy to the carnival today. Can I ask you to please stay out of trouble?" I move my eyes away from the ceiling and finally meet his eyes. How could one feel so many different emotions just by looking at a person? A single nod is my answer. It was good enough for him and he leaves me to my musings.

I really will be good today though, I can't risk stirring up any suspicions amongst the townsfolk; then I really wouldn't be able to get a proper meal when I needed it. I'm just so bored in this town. It makes me question myself as to why I came back in the first place and why am I still here? It's not as if there was anything or more importantly anyone keeping me in this place. There I go again with the self pity. Honestly I needed to just get some fresh air.

The carnival he said…

Why people seek to populate the world with so many annoying toddlers and teenagers I will never be able to understand, I muse as yet another 5 year old runs into my side. Why I continue to punish myself is an even more confusing puzzle. I thought the noise and the people would distract me from my earlier thoughts, but of course Mystic Falls, being the small town that it is, I spotted the happy family within minutes of my arrival. I turn around to make a beeline in the opposite direction, when I see her, standing on the outskirts of the park, looking entirely out of place and still her stare never waivers. I begin to slowly walk towards her, fearing that she will disappear once again, but she doesn't. When I'm close enough to be able to reach out and touch her she says in a small, quiet voice.

"Don't come any closer Damon."

"So you do know me," I remark and then add, "How?"

She finally turns her gaze away from me and looks to her side at a group of children playing a ring game with a look of bemusement.

"I've known you for a very long time."

That's all she says as if that answers my question any at all. I begin to pace around her in a wide circle, trying to take in as much information about her person as possible. She's a petite figure in a large black coat with her dark hair pulled back into a tight plaited ponytail. She doesn't seem frail despite her small frame, and I am not sure what it is that gives her an air of being able to cause harm to a person if she so wished.

"Have we met before?"

"No."

"You are quite the conversationalist aren't you?" Despite my growing annoyance at her vague answers I can't help but be intrigued.

"I must go." And without any further warning, she disappears. She really did disappear and I'm left standing there wondering if I truly had gone mad.

"She's known you for a long time?" Alarick asks in disbelief. I knew I shouldn't have mentioned it to him, but the conversation was bothering me too much and I had come to sort of trust the man.

"Yes a long time and then she just disappears."

Alarick looks at me as though I am going insane, "look I don't need you to believe me, I just needed to talk to someone."

He gives a curt nod and then heads over to his bookshelf. "I could look into it, but it's not much to go on at all Damon. I mean being able to disappear – you guys are able to disappear and appear out of nowhere."

"I know that Alaric, thank you for stating the obvious. As I was saying, I've been around for quite some time and have had my run-ins with a variety of "supernatural" beings, and yet I still can't get a feel as to what she is."

He gives me a sidelong glance, "And you're sure it's not because you think she's attractive, this deep interest in who she is?" The stare that I give him in response shuts him up and he turns back towards his bookshelf. "I'll check on you in a couple days to see if you've found anything useful."

As I make my way back home, walking along the deserted streets littered with confetti and other trash from the carnival I can't help but smile to myself. This is what I needed, something with which to occupy my thoughts other than Elena.

Suddenly all the street lamps go out and the street is plunged into darkness. With my vision attuned to the night I see five figures surround me from all angles and I stop in my tracks.

"Who are you?" I question. They don't answer me, but instead they slowly tighten the circle. The figure directly in front of me then raises his hand towards me and is about to say something when a blinding light suddenly appears radiating from outside the circle.

"Stop!"

I recognize the voice immediately as the woman from earlier.

The figure lowers their hand and slowly turns towards the light, which becomes dim. The street lamps relight and I see more clearly that the five figures belong to five men dressed in similar long black coats to the woman.

"Arianne, what are you doing?" The one who was about to say something to me before she interrupted him questioned.

"I can't let you do this. Not to him."

"This is precisely why it must be done."

The light that she was previously emitting slowly starts to regain its brightness. The man, who was approaching her, falters in his steps. "Surely there are others much more deserving of your protection?"

"He is mine to protect."

"He was yours to protect. Not anymore. We all know this and yet you never seem to grasp this concept."

My patience was starting to wear thing, especially as they seemed to be speaking about killing me if I understood correctly. I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention.

"Hi, sorry to break up this wonderful conversation of which I can't help but notice I am the subject, but I was on my merry way, when you lot went all dramatic" I give a general wave of my hand to indicate the five figures, "and then you! You who just keep appearing out of nowhere, once again appears, and now you all have seemed to forgot why you were here in the first place." I look expectantly at them.

The man who was speaking with "Arianne" gives me an incredulous look and before I have time to see what her reaction was to my statement I feel a strong hand push me to my knees even though no-one touched me. The man then raises his right hand and the four others follow suit. Light starts to emit from their hands and I feel myself start to slowly drift away from my body. But the most remarking thing was that I started to feel cold. It was amazing that after all these years of not feeling anything I could still recognize what being cold felt like. The last thing I recall before I lost consciousness was Arianne bursting through the circle they had formed, her light far outshining theirs.

I woke with the most terrible headache, which only worsened when I saw Stefan and Alarick hovering around my bed like mother hens. "Who died?" I ask them.

"You almost did!" Alarick remarks as he begins to pace the length of the room. I sit up on the bed and notice that I do so with slight difficulty.

"How do you feel?" Stefan asks me cautiously.

"Like I've been run over. What's going on? And why are you two waiting by my bedside."

Stefan gives me a slightly exasperated look, "You almost died Damon." He enunciates as though I hadn't understood what Alarick said. "I come home to find you on the verge of death on the couch with this girl shining this light on you…"

"A girl? Where is she?" I ask as I leap from the bed, my head starting to rush from the sudden movement. Whatever those guys did to me completely put a toll on me, which bothered me slightly that they wielded so much power over me.

"She's gone Damon." Alarick replies with his head down.

"Do you know who she is Alarick, did you see her too?"

"She didn't stick around that long," Stefan says in response to my question. "When I came in I seem to have startled her. All she said was…."

I look up as he stops speaking. "All she said was….?" I repeat, prompting for him to finish his sentence.

"She told me to try and look out for you….because she couldn't do it anymore."

I sit back down on the bed, entirely confused. "What does she mean by that? Who is she; I hadn't even seen her up until a few days ago."

Stefan and Alarick exchange a look that says they're holding back something. "What is it? Do you know who she is? Alarick?"

He finally stops pacing and looks at me as though he doesn't know if he should say anything. In the end his better judgment loses and he says, "After you came to me I remember when Isobel was doing some research she came across all sort of immortal beings and their supernatural powers. Well, with what you told me earlier and with what Stefan saw, I think I know what she is."

He pauses to take a breath, "I think she's an angel Damon."