Disclaimer: The characters of the vampire diaries belong to L.J Smith and the C.W

Warning: May contain spanking in later chapters

The girl smiled as she watched the fire. The fire she had created. This was so worth the boring day of high school she had to endure. If things went well she would even have killed one of the vampires. There was no better way to announce their arrival.

Elijah was keeping an eye out for the eldest Salvatore while Alaric tried to get Stefan out of the burning building. He had no idea how the teacher planned on doing that. The fire was too much for even the firemen to try going inside. He would have preferred doing something about the burning school and the boy in it to scouting around for Damon, though it was a good idea that he was the one looking around for the hot-headed boy. Because if Damon arrived while Stefan was still in the building, Elijah's strength would be needed to restrain him. He was positive that was the reason why Alaric made him stay. No one wanted to be around when Damon got there.

Elena had gone to get Bonnie. See if she could do something to bring the fire down. They hadn't wanted Bonnie meddling but now one of their own was in there and they didn't give a damn about prying eyes.

"Bonnie, can you bring the fire down? We have to get Stefan out of there before Damon comes" Alaric asked desperately. Elijah hadn't even realized when he had returned. He came back with Sherriff Forbes and she looked worried. She knew Damon well and she knew his brother was one of the few things that kept him tethered. If anything happened to Stefan, she couldn't even begin to imagine what he would do. She just knew it would involve a lot of snapped necks and ripped hearts.

"I tried. But the fire's not ordinary. Something is blocking me. And only one thing can do that"

"A witch" Elijah deadpanned. "They are here. They're in Mystic Falls"

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions. It could be just a coincidence"

"You know this is not a coincidence Bonnie. And if you can't do anything about the fire, then I fear Stefan is doomed, if he's not already" Alaric moaned. "Can you still hear him?" he asked Elijah

"He's not dead" Elijah stated simply. Alaric noticed he didn't say he was fine.

"I didn't say I couldn't do anything. I just said something was blocking me. I can get past it but it would not be pleasant for whoever is responsible" she smiled sardonically

Sherriff Forbes eyed her warily. "Is that the only way Bonnie?"

"No. But it's the most painful. It'll send a message"

"Remind me not to get on your bad side" Liz shuddered

"Nobody messes with my friends" she looked up "Don't tell Damon I said that"

"Don't tell me what?"

Even Elijah struggled to hold Damon down and stop him from flying into the blazing building. He was strong. Stronger than his years should allow and he was determined. His little brother was in there.

"Let go of me, Elijah. My brother's in that building and I have to get him out. Do you understand?" Damon ranted as he squirmed and struggled in Elijah's arms

"You need to calm yourself Damon. We'll get Stefan out just calm down"

"You'll get him out? All you've been doing is stand around and do nothing while my baby brother is slowly roasting in there. Has your brother ever been stuck in a burning building? No? Well mine is and while you're standing here doing nothing, he is SUFFERING"

"We're not doing nothing, Damon. Bonnie is going to bring the fire down and then we can safely get Stefan out" Alaric said

"Why hasn't she done that already?"

"It's a long story. The short of it is she has to get past the magic that created it"

"Magic? A witch did this?"

Ric nodded. "And Bonnie is going to make whoever it is regret starting the fire"

"You're going to push against their magic. That'll hurt like a bitch"

"I know" Bonnie said, frowning at Damon. She turned towards Elena. "You remember that feeling I had in the hallway? I can still feel it. Whoever is responsible is still here. Look out for someone in pain. That'll be the one" She concentrated on the burning building and chanted under her breath. After a few moments the fire started dwindling. Damon flew out of Elijah's loose hold into the building before anyone could blink.

"Damon, no. Oh crap". Liz looked horrified. She quickly recovered and started barking orders at the firemen, two of whom rushed to the entrance of the school with hoses. Some people had seen Damon ran into the fiery building and were now screaming hysterically. Their screams brought the rest of the gang running over.

"What happened? Why is everyone screaming?" Caroline asked

"Damon ran into the building"

She gasped. "Why would he do that? And when did he get here? Does he have a death wish or something?"

"Or something" Alaric answered. At Caroline's confused expression he continued "Stefan is trapped in there"

"What! How did we not know?" Caroline felt guilty. How could they have missed Stefan?

"Guys, shouldn't they be out by now?" Matt asked. "I mean you guys are really fast, right? It's been more than a minute"

"I'm going after him"

"Mr. Saltzman, you're human. If you go in there you'll die" Elijah tried to reason with Alaric

"We can't just stand here and do nothing"

"We are not just standing. We still need to keep an eye out for the witch"

"We got her" Jeremy announced. He walked over with Bonnie, dragging a reluctant looking young girl behind him. She glared at everyone present.

"How did you get her past all those people" Tyler asked

"I put a spell on her. She's temporarily mute. She can't call out to anybody' Bonnie answered

"Niklaus, take Bonnie and the witch home. If Damon comes out and sees her, she's dead" Elijah said to Klaus

"Too late" Kol said as Damon stumbled out of the building with Stefan cradled in his arms. He was doused with water immediately from the firemen at the door as the crowd cheered and clapped. He dropped to his knees with his brother still firmly clutched to his chest. He snarled at the paramedic who tried to take Stefan from his arms. He later learned that Elijah had compelled the frightened woman. Elijah went to calm him down before they drew attention to themselves. Right now the people thought Damon was in shock. Stefan would heal, faster than a human, but the concerned parents and teachers looking on didn't know that. All they saw was a boy rescued from a burning building who had to go to a hospital. He approached Damon slowly.

"You have to let the paramedics take him, Damon. People will talk if he doesn't go to the hospital. We'll compel him out later but he has to be seen in the ambulance" he spoke softly.

Damon looked up at him. "H-he was stuck. I couldn't pick him up. Something held him to the ground. I t-tried. I yanked and yanked. But he wouldn't budge. Then suddenly he was free"

Elijah winced at the almost childlike innocence in Damn's eyes as he looked up at him. He hadn't seen that look in a long time. Not since the days when Henrik looked at him like that. Like he was the answer to every problem. He spoke to Damon as if to a child. "There was a witch, remember? She could have made him stuck so he would burn to death. But you got him out. He'll be fine"

"He's not waking up. He's not moving. Do you think I was too late?"

"He'll be okay, Damon. It's Stefan. He doesn't heal normally. He needs a little time. Give him here. I'll take him" Elijah soothed as he gently pried Stefan from Damon's arms and onto the gurney. The paramedic quickly strapped an oxygen mask to his face and put him in the ambulance. By now, the excitement had died down and with no magic to control the fire, it died down pretty quickly and people started driving away. The fire turned out not to be as bad as it looked even though some parts of the school were destroyed. It would only take a few weeks to fix. Until then school was suspended.

As the adrenaline seeped out of his body, Damon got up on shaky legs and made his way over to where the rest of the gang were huddled together. It was then that he saw the petite girl that Kol was restraining. That had to be the witch. Elijah mentioned a she. Anger flashed in his eyes as he remembered the sight of his baby brother lying still on the floor while a fire blazed around him. He strode angrily over to the witch, who stepped back into Kol's arms. Good, she should be frightened, Damon thought. He suddenly clutched his head in pain.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" he gasped out. Only Bonnie could make his head feel like it was going to explode.

"I know you are angry Damon. But we need her alive. If she's one of the witches Elijah talked about, she'll have information about her coven and she can only talk if she's alive" Bonnie answered. She motioned for Klaus to put the witch in the car. It was only after she was settled in that Bonnie released Damon. "Your brother needs you Damon. You should go to the hospital. We'll be at home". With that, they drove away.

"I'll take you" Elijah volunteered.

"I'm coming too" Alaric said

Elijah made Damon give his keys to Jeremy so he could take his car back to the boarding house. And then they took off for the hospital.