A/N: Hello readers, I hope you're all ready to follow on from the nice little cliffhanger I left at the end of the last chapter. I think you'll like this one because it answers some questions, like who Caroline hit with her car but it also opens up new ones and I left some things unknown, because I like to keep you guessing ;)

Thanks so much to everyone who favourited/alerted and reviewed this story, you all inspire me to keep writing! :)

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own The Vampire Diaries.

You have enemies? Good.

That means you stood up for something.

-Eminem

Caroline's pov:

My hand closed over my mouth in an attempt to stop the scream in my throat from escaping, but it didn't change anything. The sound still echoed through the night sky and my heart throbbed erratically like it was trying to rip itself out of my chest. My eyes burned hot with unshed tears and I made no effort to stop them from slowly descending down my cheeks, not even realising that my mascara was disappearing with them.

I hit someone.

My body shook with sobs at the thought and I tried to stop myself from staring at the huge cracks embedded in my windshield but it was too late, I'd already seen them. It wasn't completely broken but the sight of the now damaged glass made me want to retch until there was nothing left inside of me.

You just hit someone, and you're sat here looking at a window laced with cracks? How insensitive are you?

I blinked suddenly and took my eyes away from the windshield, hurriedly wiping away the tears against my cheeks as I did so. I quickly stepped out of my car and didn't even bother shutting the door, sniffling slightly as I tried to see through the untamable darkness. There was a dent in the bonnet of my car and one of my headlights was off so I came to the conclusion that it was broken, but I didn't care about that. How could I, after what I'd just done?

I stepped forward slowly, careful not to step on the small shards of glass that had once been one of my headlights, before cautiously making my way over to the man lying on the road a few meters in front of me. What if he's seriously injured? Or even worse, what if he's dead? What if I killed him? I stopped moving, even stopped breathing. What if I just took away someone's son, brother, husband or lover?

My feet abruptly jump started into a run and I collapsed on the floor next to the person who was lying on their front, their face concealed from my view. Do something. Help him. Check if he's breathing, check if he's still alive. Just do something!

I inhaled sharply before my left hand reached out to touch the black leather jacket the man was wearing. That's it, turn him over to face you, so that you can help him. I tugged on it lightly, my other hand stretching out towards him so that I could change his position. I didn't get that far though, because the man's hands suddenly circled my wrists and he rolled over on top of me, his hands now pinning my arms over my head.

I let out a startled scream, my arms thrashing around wildly in an attempt to break free. This person... they shouldn't even be able to move, let alone over-power me. I hit him with my car; how is he even doing this? My question was quickly answered, however, when I managed to catch a glimpse of his eyes as the moonlight bounced off of them. I couldn't see anything except his eyes but I knew exactly who it was; they were a startling midnight blue, and as the realisation set in I felt my heart rate start to gradually slow down.

"Damon?" I whispered in shock as I stopped struggling.

"Blondie? What the hell are you doing here?" he said, his voice much more ragged and hoarser than usual. My heart squeezed painfully tight at the sound. Even though I'd only met him last night and had an argument with him earlier this morning - due to an unbelievable kiss that I shouldn't have let happen - I felt incredibly guilty for what I'd just done. Sure, he's a vampire, he's practically invincible. But vampire or not, getting hit by a car is going to hurt.

He used his enhanced speed to move away from me quickly so that he was no longer on top of me and was standing a few meters away. I tried to rise to my feet but stumbled slightly as I tried to regain my breath. The person I hit with my car... was Damon?

"I was just... oh my God, I'm so sorry Damon." I said as I finally rose to a stand, watching as a trail of blood trickled down his face. Where the path started I didn't know, but the sight made me feel even more terrible than I already did.

"What are you doing here, Blondie?" he repeated his earlier words in a hard tone, not even flinching at the blood that seemed to appear everywhere from his skin to his clothes. I didn't like the nickname, but I knew that now was not the time to tell him that. I can't start complaining about the word 'blondie' after I just hit him with my car, can I?

"I was on my way to a council meeting," I said quietly. "What are you doing here?" I asked softly, not wanting to antagonise him. A small smirk appeared on his face, like he was laughing at a private joke.

"Isn't it obvious?" I blinked in confusion before the realisation set in and my eyes narrowed in revulsion, not just at him but also at myself. Why I'd felt bad for knocking him over a minute ago I have no idea.

"You disgust me." He let out a dark laugh that rang through the air like a siren. It was so piercing that it made me shudder ever so slightly, and this only caused the smirk on his face to grow.

"Hold on, you hit me with your car and I disgust you? That's rich."

"Well I didn't come out here to drain someone dry!" I retorted, stepping backwards so that I could put some more distance between us. I heard the crunch of glass breaking beneath my feet and I scoffed, looking at Damon with a patronising smile. "Thanks for wrecking my car when your annoying ass collided with it, god knows how much it's going to cost to fix this." I said, motioning to my windshield and broken headlight with my hands.

"I know that you'd just love to talk about my ass right now but that's not the issue here, Caroline." He bit my name out like it was toxic, venomous to his lips. The way he said it reminded me of the reason I'd hit him in the first place, and the memory sparked feelings of uncertainty and panic inside of me. The phone call from earlier - more like one-sided conversation - had scared the hell out of me, and even though the idea that it was Damon on the other end sounded ridiculous, I still felt the need to take my anger out on someone.

"You're right, it isn't. I have no idea how you got my number but I'll be changing it as soon as possible so that you can't start calling me or sending me creepy voicemails." I spat. I knew what I was saying made no sense to him, the timing didn't add up. I hit Damon only seconds after the phone call ended, and I'm pretty sure that no-one would have even given him my number after our argument this morning, my friends wouldn't do that. But I needed to take it out on someone, because I have no idea who it was, why they'd called, whether they'd intended to creep me out or their phone had died... I just didn't know.

"I have no idea what you're on about, sweetheart." He rose an eyebrow, probably wondering if I'd gone insane or something, but I couldn't care less about what he thought of me.

"Just forget it." I said, shaking my head as I turned to examine my car. My hands trembled slightly at the thought of sitting back in the driver's seat but I knew I had no other option, and I wasn't going to ask Damon to drive for me.

"Need a ride?" he asked, and I turned around to face him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"From you? No." He laughed.

"Why are you so mean to me?" he asked sarcastically. "Let's recap, you hit me with your car, have a go at me for, well, I have no idea, and then you refuse my offer to give you a ride. Tut tut blondie, didn't Liz ever teach you any manners?" I felt my body freeze in response to the way he referred to my mother. How does he even know her name?

"Wha- what did you just say?"

"You know exactly what I said." I blinked, feeling a brush of air sweep past me and when I re-opened my eyes he was gone. I gasped when a hand delicately caressed my shoulder from behind, causing my breathing to quicken. It annoys me when Stefan disappears into thin air but it's even more infuriating when he does it.

"How do you know my mother's name?" I whispered as his hand slowly trailed down my left arm, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

"She came up to me earlier in the grill. Lovely woman, your mother is," his other hand moved to brush my hair over my shoulder so that he could lean in and skim his nose across the base of my neck. His lips brushed against my skin and I shuddered slightly at their soft texture, causing me to lean into Damon, against the hard planes of his chest. My eyes drifted to a close and I was transported back to last night, when the lips on my neck were on my mouth; the reminder made me let out a small sigh.

"But she smells nowhere near as intoxicating as you do."

My eyes flew open and I quickly moved myself away from his touch, turning around to face him so that I could keep him under control, although I wished I hadn't when I saw the satisfied smirk resting on his lips.

"What do you say, blondie? How about you make it up to me. A guy's gotta eat." I looked at him in disdain as his eyes travelled down the curve of my neck.

"Absolutely not, Salvatore. You stay the hell away from me, I don't want to see you ever again," I said, walking past him and to the open door of my car. "And don't even think about going anywhere near my mother, unless you have a death wish." He rolled his eyes before moving so fast that all I could see was a blur when he slammed my car door shut and shoved my against it, trapping me between my vehicle and his body.

"Okay, let's try this again. You let me tap a vein from your annoying, deranged self," he paused, shooting me a quick smirk that made the temptation I had to slap him even stronger. "Or I'll wait for the next damsel in distress to come along and hit me with her car. Only with her, I won't stop drinking until there's nothing left." His face leaned a little closer to mine with every word he said and I told myself not to get distracted by how good he smelled. A mix of bourbon, pure masculinity and Calvin Klein, hmm... what was that about not getting distracted?

I glared into his eyes. The only thing I know about this man for certain, other than his outstanding kissing abilities, is that he's an asshole, and I have no doubt he'll follow through on his threat unless I give him what he wants.

"You wouldn't do that," I tried, unwilling to give up. I'm Caroline Forbes and I am not just going to let him do this to me. "Stefan would kick your ass straight out of the boarding house." I smirked, glad I'd found something I could work with. It soon slipped from my face, however, when Damon let out an amused snort.

"Stefan has no control over me, he's glad I even decided to come to his wedding. Sure, he's against my eating habits, but do you really think he'd kick his own brother out of his house after he just asked him to be his best man?" I clenched my jaw at his words; how does he always have an answer for everything? I saw his eyes move away from mine and towards the road so I turned my head slightly, noticing that there was a car heading in our direction. Fear wrapped itself around my heart, squeezing it so tight I could barely breathe.

"You've got five seconds to give me an answer, blondie. Yourself, or that nice innocent woman behind the wheel of that car." I gulped nervously, my eyes darting between his and the fastly approaching car. "Tick tock." He taunted. "Five, four, three, two-" I pushed him away from me with strength that I didn't even know I had and shoved him against a nearby tree so that we were concealed in the darkness. "I didn't take you for the rough type, blondie, but it's a nice surprise." I rolled my eyes and held my wrist out to him.

"Shut up," I hissed, the sound of the car growing louder, a sign that it was about to pass by us. "Don't harm her take me, take me right now." I instantly regretted my choice of words the second they passed through my lips, not meaning them to sound so sexual. Damon seemed to notice this and a smirk cockily graced his lips, before he changed our positions so that I was the one pressed up against the tree.

"That's nice," he said, referring to my wrist. "But I prefer this position." He buried his face into my neck and I let out a sharp gasp at the feel of his razor-blade like fangs trailing across my neck. "Shh, it's not going to hurt. Not. At. All..." He punctuated each word slowly and he raised his head so that his eyes connected with mine. The look in his orbs spelled trouble with a capital T, and I knew exactly what he was implying. It won't hurt; just the opposite, actually.

Before I had time to comprehend that thought or how it excited me in ways it shouldn't have, the sound of a car door slamming shut caught our attention.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" my eyes widened and as I felt my heart-rate increase Damon placed a finger over my lips, signalling for me to be quiet. She must have seen the car... and the blood on the ground. Oh my god, no. This can't be happening. He shook his head at me, telling me to calm down, but I couldn't.

"What if she takes my license plate down, or looks through my purse and finds my I.D? They'll know it's my car, my mother's the freaking sheriff for god's sake..." I trailed off, trying not to raise my voice too loudly. "Do something!" Damon rose an eyebrow at me.

"Oh, now you want my help. If you'd just accepted that ride-" I cut him off by pulling on the ends of his hair, ignoring how undeniably soft it felt. "Retract the claws, kitten." He groaned, moving backwards so that he was out of my reach.

"Please Damon." I said, the tone of my voice turning desperate.

"You do realise what kind of help you're asking for, don't you?" I nodded hurriedly, trying not to think about how awful and ashamed I felt over what I was asking for. He sent me a slight tilt of the head before disappearing out of my vision and I moved forward in the direction of my car, watching as Damon held onto the woman's face, his mouth moving and his eyes dilating.

Compulsion, that's what I'd asked for. What a horrible human being I must be if I'm capable of asking him to do that.

The woman returned to her vehicle and drove away while I removed myself from the confines of the woods, slowly approaching Damon; he looked at my disheveled state and motioned to my car. "Don't you have a council meeting to be getting to?" my eyes narrowed in confusion. He's letting me go? Without drinking from me? I nodded at him, realising that he was giving me an out and I doubt that he does that often. I opened the door and slipped into the driver's seat, but not before Damon managed to get in one last sentence. "Try not to hit anyone with your car, blondie." A part of me wanted to smile, but instead I shook my head before turning on the ignition and driving away, leaving him in the centre of the road.

For the most part, I was grateful that I hit Damon. If it had been anyone else... someone who was human, then I don't know what would've happened. You'd be in jail Caroline, for manslaughter or something equally as terrible. You would've ended someone's life.

I shuddered at the thought before paying extremely close attention to the road. It was even harder for me to drive than earlier because only one of my headlights was working, and I did not want a repeat of what happened ten minutes ago. I lowered my speed to fifteen miles an hour and increased it to twenty when the forest surrounding me cut off and I was driving on residential road. Only five minutes away, I thought. I don't think I've ever been so pleased to be arriving at a council meeting, but there's a first time for everything.

My mind started to wander, started to think about things that I didn't even understand. My encounter with Damon had been... I don't know what it had been. Unexpected, definitely. Confusing? Yes. Frightening and thrilling, all at the same time? Yes to that one too.

I sighed; Damon and I are not a good combination. In the short time that I've known him he's already proven that he's reckless, manipulative and likes to break the rules, none of which match any of my traits. I like order and schedules, I like to follow the rules and know exactly what's happening at all times. Yet, despite all of this, something about Damon just catches my attention, something other than his deviously good looks.

It's not right though, it will never be right. As irresistable as Damon is, he's also dangerous. He made his intentions perfectly clear earlier - he intended on drinking and possibly draining someone dry tonight, and that someone could have even been me. He let me go, God knows why, but I can't trust him; he's not like Stefan.

I nodded in agreement with my thoughts as I drove up the long driveway that lead to the Lockwood's house. I'm going to do everything in my power to avoid Damon, he's bad news. In eight months Stefan and Elena will get married, and then he'll be long gone and I'll most likely never see him again. I can avoid someone for eight months, I mean, how hard can it be right?

I strolled up the steps leading to the Lockwood's house and raised my hand to knock on the door, but paused when it flew open and Tyler emerged, typing away on his cell phone. He looked up at me and smiled, before raising an eyebrow at me.

"Woah, I've never seen you arrive this late to a council meeting, my dad's going to be pissed." I snorted.

"Along with my mother, I'm sure. Where are you going?" I asked and he sent me a look in answer to my question. "Tell Vicky I said to use protection." He laughed and moved past me to walk down the steps, before halting to an abrupt stop.

"What the hell happened Care?" Tyler questioned, his tone hard, unlike it had been a few seconds ago. I turned to look at him in confusion before realising exactly what he was talking about when he dropped his back-pack on the ground and moved to survey my car.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just veered off the road slightly and hit a signpost, but it's fine don't worry, it's my own stupid fault." He squinted his eyes at me trying to determine whether I was lying or not, but Tyler's not exactly the sharpest tool in the box so I wasn't surprised when he nodded and sent me a small smile.

"Alright, as long as you're okay." I smiled at him and nodded before stepping inside of the house and making my way into the parlour, where council meetings are usually held at the Lockwood's house. When I entered, the once loud room fell silent and I smiled at everyone sheepishly.

"Sorry I'm ugh, late, I got held up." A few members nodded before returning to their conversations, but most looked at me in disdain for delaying their evening. I rolled my eyes, they have no idea what I've been through for the past hour and a half.

I avoided the eyes of my mother and mayor Lockwood knowing that their patronising stares would only annoy me and headed over to Randy, the only person in the room I can actually tolerate. "Hey." I beamed at him, nudging him with my shoulder. He smiled back just as brightly but I could see a hint of concern laced within his gaze.

"Hey, where have you been, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just took a different route and got lost. Have a missed much?" he shook his head.

"Other than everyone talking about how miserable their lives are? No, not much." I snorted and shook my head at Randy in amusement, causing my blonde hair to bounce around.

"Now that the ever fashionably late miss Forbes has decided to grace us with her presence," I rolled my eyes at Richard and tipped my head to everyone mockingly, forcing Randy to let out a laugh. "We can get down to real business. There's no use sugar-coating this situation, so I'm going to come straight out with it. It's come to our attention that there are some unwanted visitors in our town and, to put it simply, we're on high vampire alert." My breath got caught in my throat but I forced myself not to make a sound, not to draw any unwanted attention to myself.

This cannot be happening.

"We were suspicious of a couple of new arrivals in town yesterday," my eyes widened and I felt my heart begin to race. "But they were ruled out immediately this morning when Elizabeth saw them in the Mystic Grill." I let out a small breath of relief, feeling my heart start to slow down.

"Are you sure it isn't them, sir? Someone was murdered on the highway last night and found with two puncture wounds in their neck." My eyes snapped towards Randy; someone was killed last night? Why wasn't I informed about this? I glared at my mother. She complains that I'm not involved enough with the council and yet she decides not to tell me crucial information like this.

"We're fairly certain, they've been spotted in daylight, son, that's proof enough." Randy nodded slightly, but something in his eyes told me that he didn't really believe it. How could he not? He and the rest of the council are completely in the dark about daylight rings. Both Stefan and Damon have one. My eyes widened at the thought of the elder Salvatore.

Someone was killed last night, that's the first vampire related attack to happen in Mystic Falls for months, and given his arrival yesterday, the events from last night and today, can I really put this murder past him? I mean, he wasn't exactly happy that I pulled away from him last night. Did I make him angry? Did I drive him into killing an innocent person? Was it really him, and if so, was it partly my fault? My stomach lurched at the thought.

"What time did the murder take place, mayor Lockwood?" I asked softly, my heart twisting itself into a tight knot.

"Well the coroner predicted between eleven and eleven fourty-five, so sometime before midnight." I nodded, letting out a deep breath. Damon and I were together until one, so it cannot have been him, thank God. A small burst of happiness flowed through me, and before I had chance to comprehend why I was so relieved that Damon wasn't the killer, an even more worrying thought appeared in my mind.

If it wasn't Damon, and there's no way in hell it would have been Stefan, then who was it?

"We were hoping that you'd be able to locate the Gilbert pocketwatch, Caroline. It will be highly beneficial in our search for Mystic Fall's latest rodent." I cleared my throat.

"I'll see what I can do." My mother smiled, as did Richard Lockwood and the rest of the council. I didn't move my face at all, knowing that if I tried to smile back I'd only be able to form a grimace. As the night's topic of discussion moved onto other matters, I found it impossible to pay attention to anything that was being said. All I wanted was for the night to end, so that I could call Stefan and the rest of my friends and tell them about this horrific development.

What on Earth am I going to do?

A/N: Hey readers, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)

I'm only eleven reviews away from reaching one hundred so come on guys, help me make it happen!

Review! :)