Author's Note:

Summer school is finished! While this may seen irrelevant to you, dear readers, it isn't. In only these past two days of freedom, I have completed this chapter, chapter 22 and started chapter 23, so with your continual support, we will keep this story moving faster than I've been able to for the past couple of months. So, here you guys go! Enjoy!

The very air seemed to press on from all sides as she ran, holding her back, not allowing her to reach the exit in time. It loomed before her, a pair of standard double doors with small glass paned windows and a red "EXIT" sign shining over it. Bright, cheerful posters were plastered all over the walls, reminding everyone of the 50's dance that would be over in only a couple of hours. Her footsteps sounded muffled as she fought drag, air resistance and every other aspect of physics to do what was impossible, to outrun a vampire.

An Elvis song played mockingly in the background, drilling into her head and not allowing her to think. She couldn't hear him behind her, but she knew it was about to happen: she'd had the vision, and she knew he would seemingly appear out of nowhere, cover her mouth with an ether-soaked handkerchief, and then-

Mikaela woke up from the nightmare with a start, her heart racing and a cold sweat coating her skin. Looking around wildly, she felt relief spread through her as she took in the meticulous appearance of her room in the boarding house, exactly the way it had been when she'd gone to sleep that night: empty and devoid of vampires. She dropped back onto her pillow and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. It had just been a nightmare, nothing more. She was tangled up in the bedsheets with her shirt rolled up indecently high, most likely from tossing and turning fitfully in bed. Sending up a quick prayer for the energy that she didn't have to get through the day, she rolled over to get out of bed.

The loud thump as she fell to the floor alerted the household that she was awake. As she untangled herself from the bedsheets and rubbed her shoulder, the bedroom door creaked open. Mikaela didn't bother even looking up as she tossed the sheets back onto the bed and pulled down the hem of her shirt.

"I give the dive a-"

"Six for effort, I know," she cut off, rolling her shoulders. "Good morning, Damon."

He looked as irritating as ever and just as handsome, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. Suddenly she was glad that she'd decided to wear more decent sleepwear (yoga pants and a camisole) rather than her customary shorts and tank top; there was no telling anymore when he'd simply pop up in her room uninvited. Seven o'clock in the morning and already he was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt, prepared for the day ahead. "So, you ready to get to work today? I, for one, am self-inviting myself to Elena's house to search for the journal," he announced cheerfully. She stood up and tapped her ear meaningfully, silently asking him if Stefan was in the house. He nodded in confirmation, but shrugged a shoulder. "Stefan's busy with Elena downstairs, so he isn't listening. We have some vampire business going on, just like you said. Ready to multi-task?"

She walked into the closet. "What's going on?" she called out, sorting through the few hangers. "Is she being stalked like I told you?"

"Yup," he answered, moving to stand by the entrance to the closet. "He called her cell phone and is trying to scare her. Is that what you saw?"

She nodded and pulled out a pair of jeans. "I saw him showing up at her house, actually," she said. Not much in the mood to get dressed up, she pulled out an emerald green hoodie and grabbed a camisole to wear under it. "Stefan will watch her for most of the day then, right?" When he didn't say anything, she turned to him expectantly. "Hello? Damon, this means he'll be too busy watching Elena to watch you." He still didn't say anything, but simply looked at her with narrowed eyes and cocked his head to the side. "What? It's me, Mikaela, not Eliza-"

"Why are you so calm about this?" he asked, not taking his eyes away from hers. "You've known Elena for all of your life, and she's being stalked by a vampire. I thought that would be enough to spark a reaction, even from you." She let out an almost inaudible sigh and grabbed her boots off the floor.

"She doesn't die," she stated. "As long as Stefan is keeping an eye on her, she'll be fine."

"And you're sure about that?" he pressed. "Your visions haven't exactly been 100% accurate."

"Why are you suddenly pretending to care?" she snapped, making to shove past him. He raised a brow and shifted in front of her, blocking the exit. She opened her mouth to argue, but choked on the words. The sound of a massive amount of water going down a drain sounded in the background, and in a second she was out.

She dialed numbers on her cell phone as she ran, barely holding back to urge to scream for help. Elvis's voice filled her ears and the delighted sounds of students enjoying the party mocked her for being so close, yet so far. As she rounded a corner, she lifted the phone to her ear, but all she got was the "busy" tone. Not wasting a second, she dialed another number; Elena's voicemail. Cursing, she finally called Stefan. It rang once, and then went straight to voicemail.

Of course they would all be too busy.

She caught sight of the exit and picked up speed, but-

A strong arm wrapped around her waist and another around her shoulders, keeping her from slumping to the floor like her body wanted to. Her head lolled back as she was overcome with dizziness from the sudden vision, but even then she couldn't clearly see the ceiling of her closet. "Whoa there, Mikaela, what-"

"It's nothing," she said immediately, squeezing her eyes shut and closing her mouth. She grabbed onto his upper arms as the wave of dizziness passed, and as far as she could hear, he didn't object. She opened her eyes after a couple of seconds, but the world was still spinning and she closed them again with a groan. Damon lifted her up and, as was only possible with a vampire's speed, set her down on the edge of her bed in half of a second.

She leaned her elbows on her knees and held her head between her hands. Finally she felt the dizziness fade away and opened her eyes. "You're shaking," Damon stated. For a moment he actually sounded concerned, but the could just as easily have been a misconception on her part. "What did you see?"

The explanation was on the tip of her tongue, but the sound of footsteps kept her from continuing. Elena appeared in the doorway, a questioning look on her face. "Hey Kaela," she greeted awkwardly, looking between Mikaela sitting on the bed and Damon kneeling in front of her. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine and dandy," Mikaela answered automatically, shooting Elena one of her best fake smiles. "And you?"

"...Not so fine," she admitted after a second's hesitation. "Did Damon tell you what happened?"

She nodded. "He's already been invited in," she said, looking down as she sorted through her memory. "He was the... The pizza guy, I believe. He'll be back tonight, so we need a plan."

Elena's face blanched and she swallowed. "Are you sure?" she asked. Mikaela opened her mouth to say something, but Damon answered for her.

"Psychic, remember?" he said, imitating the way she always said it to him. "Of course she's sure. The vampire has to die." Mikaela kicked his foot meaningfully, but he didn't even seem to notice. Elena nodded, setting her jaw.

"I'll go talk to Stefan," she said, turning around and walking back downstairs.

Damon waited a couple of seconds before letting out a low whistle. "I don't give you enough credit for the first class actress you are. I couldn't even tell that only a couple of seconds before, you were swooning over my good looks and-"

"Of course," she muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"You do realize that you have friendship issues, right?"

"Oh shut it," she snapped irritably. She hated it when he got involved in her personal life- which, given their circumstances, was constantly. "You're such a-"

She clawed at the hand clamped over her mouth, but it was no use. The sharp ether shot up through her nose and started to fog her vision, silently telling her she'd already lost. All she saw was the hallway slipping away as if through the rear view mirror of a car as he dragged her...

She blinked to be met with Damon's expectant look. "I'm such a what? Jerk? Dick? Articulate, woman, please," he urged. Not wanting to explain what happened, Mikaela shot to her feet and hurried to the closet, grabbing her clothes off the floor. "You're acting weird. You know, weirder than usual."

"I'm fine," she stated, picking her towel off the hook behind the door. "Let me know what we decide to do about our vampire situation, and we'll talk about the journal stuff tonight."

"Hey-!"

She didn't wait to hear what he had to say and rushed for the bathroom down the hall.

"You know, for a girl who should have dreamed what she'd be wearing today, you're taking a long time," Damon called, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall outside of her room. After a short discussion, all four of them (Stefan, Elena, Damon and Mikaela) had decided that it would be best to simply go to the dance and wait for the vampire to show up. For security purposes, Stefan and Elena were attached at the hip, and Damon and Mikaela were to go to the dance together. Unfortunately, between showering and choosing the "perfect outfits", the girls had dragged out the actual getting-to-the-dance part of the plan. It was six o'clock and Mikaela had dead bolted the door shut behind her half an hour before after a shower to get dressed for the 50's dance.

"You be quiet, you aren't even getting dressed up!" she shouted, her voice sounding clear to him despite the door separating them. He heard her bump into something and curse under her breath, and he couldn't help but smirk. "Did Elena leave already?" she asked, louder than normal as if to cover up the fact that she'd just bumped into the edge of her bed.

"About fifteen minutes ago," he answered, checking his watch. "Stefan wanted to sniff around, see if he could find anything."

She groaned quietly, but he couldn't determine why. "You should tell him to check the hallways," she suggested. Her voice sounded strained, as if she was stretching.

"The hallways?"

"I keep seeing a vampire in a hallway, but because I haven't been to school in a couple of days, I haven't seen the decorations and can't tell you which hallway it is."

Damon pulled his cellphone out of his pocket to text the message to Stefan. "You know, I have to admit I'm impressed," he said, leaning closer to the door so she could hear him better as he texted. "If I could see the future, I'd play the lottery more often."

Suddenly the door opened and she stood there, her cheeks red and a frustrated look on her face. She held her dress to her chest with both hands, but the back of the dress was wide open. He raised a brow and pocketed his phone. "Well, I have to say that I approve of your statement," he said, looking her up and down. "Dresses always look better on attractive women with the zippers down." She glared at him and clenched her teeth.

"I need some help with the zipper," she said reluctantly. "Elena left, and I think it's caught." Damon considered saying something to further her embarrassment, but one look at her red cheeks and the way she gripped her dress much too tightly convinced him to hold back his comments. He sighed as if it were a terrible burden to help her and turned her around by her shoulders. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said, and almost choked on his breath. The feel of her bare skin seemed to fan a spark into a flame, and suddenly he felt he couldn't move. Her jet hair was like a smoky curtain covering her body, the straightened locks the only barrier between them. Hunger started to twist inside his stomach, and he felt the veins around his eyes darken and his fangs aching to come out. Apparently coming to the conclusion that he was waiting for something, she gathered up her hair and hung it over one shoulder.

"I'm sorry about this," she apologized, lowering her head. "I would've asked Elena, but..."

"She's not here," he finished distractedly, lifting his hands off her shoulders. Her entire back was now exposed to the curve of her spine, revealing smooth, creamy skin that he had to reign in the urge to touch. "Nobody's here." He could have sworn he heard her heart rate pick up slightly at that last comment, so he took a deep breath and held back his words. He had to keep it together. Forcing himself to keep his composure, he reached down and gripped the zipper, slowly lifting it up. Unfortunately, just as he'd raised the zipper halfway, she shifted and the backs of his fingers grazed her skin.

He'd always prided himself in having a good sense of self control, but at that moment, that fraction of a fraction of an inch of contact was enough to make him jerk the zipper off of her dress. He cursed and lifted a hand to his forehead, bracing himself for the anger she was sure to unleash on him once she noticed. Instead, she slumped forward and sighed.

"You broke it, didn't you?" she asked. He didn't answer, but she didn't wait for him too, either. She simply walked back into her room and into the closet. "I guess I'll just have to wear The Dress, then."

Damon stood there stationary, trying to figure out what was going on as he listened to her getting changed only a couple of feet away. What was wrong with him? Why did he suddenly feel threatened by his own desire? Why was he suddenly hyper aware of the fact that they were both standing in a bedroom where anything could happen? The whole attraction thing was getting out of control, and if it continued to go on the way it was, there would be few options left for either of them, none of which would end peacefully. Less than a minute later, she exited the closet with her backup outfit, and he hid his conflict behind a smirk as he crossed his arms.

The original dress had been yellow, but this one was a strapless white dress with black polka dots and a black sash tied around the waist. She wore a black choker with a silver pendant, pearl drop earrings and a thick white headband in her hair, allowing him a clear view of her face. Strangely enough, she wore something like "surrender" as the expression of choice. She held out her arms, silently asking him for his opinion.

He ran his eyes over her twice before finally answering. "You know, I think you should thank me for breaking that zipper," he said, nodding appreciatively. She smiled, but even he could tell that it was only half genuine. "What's wrong?"

He was partially surprised that the question slipped out, but then again, what with his runaway emotions, it was no surprise that he'd start expressing concern along with lust towards a girl he was certain would have gladly staked him not so long ago. He wasn't sure what was starting to shift, but it was definitely away from them being mortal enemies and more towards them being something close to friends.

Friends?

He hadn't even had a drink and already he was starting to lose touch with reality.

She blinked and quickly lowered her eyes. "I just... I saw this dress in a vision," she answered hesitantly. "I get attacked by the vampire at the dance." That was definitely not at the top of his list of possible reasons to why she didn't want to wear the dress. "I'm guessing he gets to me before Elena, but all I know is that I can't see past the moment he knocks me out."

"Is that why you were acting so weird this morning?" he questioned. "You were having visions?" She nodded infinitesimally, and cleared her throat.

"Let's get going," she suggested, and hurried past him, grabbing a black hand bag on the way out. He kept pace next to her as they made their way to the foyer. "You drive or do I drive?" she asked, holding up her keys. He raised a brow and pulled out his keys, silently answering her question. She sighed. "Fine."

He opened the door for her and held out his arm. "Shall we?" he asked with exaggerated gallantry. She rolled her eyes and placed her arm in his.

"You're so weird," she muttered. Even if she sounded indifferent in regards to the gesture, Damon couldn't help but notice out of the corner of his eye that a hint of a smile lifted at the edge of her lips.

He watched from the trees as the couple exited the boarding house arm in arm. Neither spoke as they walked to the man's car, but even without hearing him speak to her, body language made it clear that she was important to him. The girl looked anxious about something, but that was to be expected: he'd been forewarned that she was the daughter of a witch and a psychic, and that chances were that she'd be able to sense him coming.

The man opened the door for her, but stopped her with a hand on her upper arm. "You're going to be fine," he assured her, looking straight into her eyes. She set her jawed and nodded, but even he could tell that she wasn't convinced. The older Salvatore reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle filled with a lightly colored liquid, similar to a bottle of medicine for an injection. "We'll be watching you and Elena, but take this just in case."

She looked at him questioningly, but he was already circling to the other side of the car. Not wasting much more time, she dropped the bottle into her purse and slipped into the passenger seat. Zander watched them drive away and picked up his backpack, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders.

The road to revenge always started best when everyone was looking in the other direction.

Author's Note:

Once I get three reviews, I will post up Chapter 22 ^_^ Sorry for the cliffhanger, but thanks for everything guys!

Take care!