A.N: Hey my lovely readers! Here's the new chapter! ;) I hope you all will like it, and don't forget to review please! =)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, the Vampire Diaries belongs to the CW and LJ Smith, and any resemblance between my OC's and real persons, dead or undead is purely coincidental

AMY'S POV

"Oh my God.." I muttered, pacing in the room, clenching my fists "I told him! I told him to stay away from this!"

"Who?" Mike frowned and I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands

"Excuse me for a second." I jumped to the window sill, ready to jump to backyard, but Mike's voice stopped me

"Amy!"

I turned round, still perched on the windowsill "What?"

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked with the same voice he would use with an ill tempered five years old.

"I gotta go outside." I said in a matter of fact tone, and he just stood there akimbo.

"Come down." He said and I groaned

"It's faster!"

"There are hunters here!" he whispered as I hopped down, trying not to pout

"Happy?"

"Yes. Use the stairs. Where are you going anyway?"

I shrugged "Gotta talk to someone."

"You know who did it?" Will asked curiously and I avoided his glances

"Damon, I think." I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck, shifting my weight. They gawked at me, then at each other, then back at me again

"What!?"

I shrugged slightly

"Well…" I trailed off "Wouldn't be the first time. Anyways, I'll be back." I said and went downstairs.

"Amy?"

"I need some fresh air." I offered auntie a smile and walked out of the house, to the backyard. Once I was sure that no human eyes could see me in the darkest corner of the yard, I looked around

"Damon?"

No voice.

I ran a hand over my face, heaving a sigh

"Okay, this I'm gonna protect you even if you're away thing is getting out of control, for your information."

Silence. Only crickets could be heard

"Great. I'm just gonna stay here and talk to myself then." I crossed my arms, ignoring how ridiculous I must've looked right now. "First of all, thank you, for- you know, saving me there, and second of all, you shouldn't have come here! I told you to stay away, why can't you ever listen to me?"

Great. Vampire Amy off, nagging Amy on.

"Not to mention, what if he saw you?! What if any of these hunters saw you? Do you have any idea how- you can't- I mean you said that you worry about me, why can't you understand that the same thing is valid for me also? If anything-" I was cut off when I felt a presence behind my back

"Finally." I turned around, but as soon as I did, my whole body clenched in fear and I froze, gawking at the person standing in front of me with a slight smile on his face

"Elijah?"

"Hello Amy." He said calmly, and I tried to re-swallow my stomach, clearing my throat in order to find my voice

"Wh-what are you doing here?" I took a step back, willing myself to keep my panic at bay. He tilted his head to the right

"I'm sure the words you're looking for are 'thank you.'" He said and I blinked a couple times, trying to comprehend what he said.

"Wh-It was you?!" I asked in shock, "You-you changed the bottles?!"

"Of course."

"I-I thought Damon-" I paused, my voice fading away. He smiled knowingly

"My apologies for your disappointment."

"I'm not disappointed." I said through my teeth "Why are you here?"

"Someone had to protect you." He shrugged and I gritted my teeth

"I can protect myself, thank you very much."

"Yes, of course, I could see that tonight."

I tried not to growl at him

"Fair enough…" I muttered "Why are you trying to protect me?"

He only stared into my eyes, as if staring into my soul and I avoided his glances

"So?"

"So…" he said "Less you know, safer you will be."

"That doesn't work with me." I pointed out "Hence where I'm standing right now. Why are you so interested in my security?"

His eyes went to something over my shoulder, then I heard a calling out. Caden.

"Amy, you there?"

I looked behind me, then when I turned back, he was already gone.

"Freaking vampires…" I grumbled and stepped out of the shadows "Yeah, I'm here."

Caden frowned slightly as I walked to him "What were you doing there in the dark?"

I shrugged, hugging myself "Thinking." I tried to make my voice come out shaky "You know… after what happened in there…"

A soft light crossed his eyes

"I know he scared you." He said slowly "But… you know, he will never even try to hurt you again." He smiled assuringly "Come on, go inside, we're talking about when we will make an attack."

After hours of discussing whether we should attack in next morning or night, other hunters decided it should be in the dark. True, daylight would be on our side if we did it in the morning, but the danger of being seen by other people was also higher. We didn't want anyone calling the police, in case somebody saw us.

But planning it, made it even more real. Which scared me the hell out.

Hence my difficulties in sleeping.

I let out a huff and got out of the bed as silent as a shadow, so as not to wake Rachel up. A disgusting feeling that I couldn't put my finger on, was churning my guts but I tried my hardest to ignore it, and not to think about tomorrow as I walked into living room.

Then I stopped dead on my tracks as Caden lifted his head from his book

"Hey. Couldn't sleep either?"

I shook my head and sat beside him, pressing my own book to my stomach

"What are you reading?"

He held up his book and I could read the writer's name under the dim light of the moon.

"Robert Frost. Nice."

"Yeah." He muttered, and somehow, his voice sounded strained. I frowned slightly, but didn't comment on it.

"So, are you feeling better?"

I let out a bitter chuckle and shook my head "I should, but…" I shrugged nonchalantly, then tried to focus on something else "Caden?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you think he-" I gulped "Why do you think he thought I was a vampire?"

"Well he's kinda paranoid, you know this."

"But why did he-"

"Well among the hunters, it's said that he used to have a family." He said slowly "Two kids, and a wife. One day, while he was away, hunting, the vampires found his family and-turned them."

My eyes widened "What?!"

"Then, when he was back, he was forced to watch his family attack him from thirst, until…" he trailed off and I covered my mouth with my hands

"Oh my God…"

"So you can't exactly blame him for getting suspicious over anything, or despising vampires so much to cloud his judgement."

"That's horrible."

"That's vampires." He said slowly "And when you're hunting them…Every hunter knows it from the beginning that it's not very safe. They can do anything for revenge, for thirst, for sadistic reasons… What do you expect from creatures that even death doesn't accept?"

I shifted in my seat "That's… I guess that's one way to look at it."

He raised his brows "What?"

"I'm not saying what happened to Randall wasn't tragic." I said quickly "It's-it's horrible, of course, some- I mean a lot of- I mean every vampire-" I forced myself to say "They're cruel, they might to anything, but when you said even death doesn't accept them…"

He leaned back "Oh.." he said "Eternal youth and life. That's what you're thinking?"

I shrugged again, how could I describe what I felt?

"You're missing one point, though."

"What is that?"

"Something will always be missing inside of them." He said "Can you imagine?"

You have no idea…

"They will never feel completely alive." He said "They'll never feel the sunlight on their skin. They need to end someone else's life, in order to survive… It's not immortality, it's just, borrowing time from death, those years don't belong to them, but to people that they kill."

I hugged myself, avoiding his eyes once again.

"And…" he said "They will never be able to form a family. To hug their babies. Watch them grow up. Instead, they will be forced to watch every single thing in their life that ever meant something to them die. To disappear, as if never existed."

The tears started brimming my eyes but I sniffed, blinking them back

"Can you imagine?" he asked again "If you had to watch your brothers die, Rachel, every single person in your life. They'd be gone, and you would be alone, forever. Stuck in a world that seems like it never involved them. An eternal life in night, with no one else to share it with."

I tried to push away the thoughts that threatened my mind, and focused on the moon, clenching my jaw to keep the tears at bay. A silence fell upon us and he rubbed a hand over his face

"Why couldn't you sleep?" I asked silently and he took a shaky breath

"I was thinking about tomorrow."

"Oh." I muttered "Are you nervous?"

He didn't answer me for one or two minutes, but I waited patiently.

"Do you think it hurts?" when he talked, his voice was low and I turned to him

"To die?"

He nodded

"Well…" I cleared my throat "No. I don't think so."

"Really?" he asked and I nodded

"You know, I once had a near death experience…" I said "And… no, it doesn't hurt. Everything happens before you can comprehend what is happening, so fast that you can't even think of being afraid. Your whole system focuses on living, not dying there."

"Then?"

"Then nothing. We won't die tomorrow, Caden."

He heaved a deep sigh "You sure about that?"

I tried to ignore that weird feeling inside of me and nodded again

"Besides…" I said, trying to make him laugh "Pay attention to what you read. You have promises to keep…"

"And miles to go before I sleep." He finished the poem's line for me and offered me a smile. I found myself reflecting it.

"We're gonna be fine." I said the words for what it felt like hundredth time, leaning in to cover his hand with mine "Trust me."

He squeezed my hand, and nodded, a hopeful light in his eyes that reminded me so much of Luke that it almost hurt. "Okay."

I made myself comfortable, tucking my legs under me and leaned back a little. And even after hours, after he dozed off, I just stood like that, focused on the sky.

I was pulled away from my sleep when I felt the bed shift under someone's light weight.

"Amy, are you awake?" Rachel whispered and I opened my eyes, smiling slightly

"Yeah." I stretched my body, letting out a grunt "What happened?"

"Mike says you should come down."

I yawned and checked my watch, then pulled myself into a sitting position, rubbing my eyes

"Did you call your boyfriend to thank him for flowers?"

I ruffled her hair "He's not my boyfriend, Rach."

"But he gave you flowers! What else do you want him to do? Tell me so that I can tell him next time he calls you, he listens to me." She said with her nose in the air and I started tickling her sides. She let out a squeak, wriggling in my grasp

"You won't do anything like that!"

"But I liked him! Do you think I can talk to him?" she said through giggles and I stopped tickling her, winked at her.

"If you promise me you won't talk about me or what I find romantic, why not?"

She pouted and I kissed her on the cheek

"Come on, we should go downstairs."

She nodded and I got out of the bed. After tidying it, I walked to the bathroom, fixed my hair and went downstairs.

"Good morning."

"Morning." Everyone said and I took my seat, beside Rachel

"Slept well?"

I exchanged glances with Caden, then turned to uncle and nodded "Yeah." I mumbled "Thank you."

Uncle wiped his mouth and pushed his chair back "Amy, do you mind if I talked to you for a minute?"

Oh crap…

The air felt even more tense, if it was possible, and my brothers looked alarmed. Will's hand froze in the air, Mike's eyes widened and Dan sat up straighter in his chair.

"Um…" I tried to find my voice "S-sure."

Mike attempted to stand up but my uncle held up a hand

"Alone, if you don't mind."

"It's fine." I muttered under my breath to Will and followed uncle to his studying room.

"Sit, please."

I perched to the edge of the leather seat "Did anything happen, uncle?"

"I want to talk to you about what happened last night."

My whole body clenched in panic as I waited for him to continue.

"First of all, my apologies."

My head shot up as I gawked at him "Huh?"

"Randall was my guest in this house, and anything he does, was supposed to be under my responsibility. For that, I'm sorry."

"Oh it's- it's totally okay!" I said quickly "It's just- he didn't hurt me, he just-" I paused "Scared me, that's all. You would be the last person I blame, really!"

"And also, tonight's hunt…"

And we're back to nervousness ladies and gentleman.

"I do not want you to be there."

I tried not to groan "I'm here to hunt, uncle. I want to help you, and protect my family."

"And we're trying to protect you."

"Good, so it can work both ways. We can all cover each other's backs." I shrugged "Uncle, I told you first when I came here, and I'm telling you now." I heaved a sigh and decided to try a different approach "I'm not gonna lose another person in my family to vampires. Ever."

"You would be safer-"

"I stopped being safe when those vampires walked into our house when I was just a child."

He rubbed a hand over his face

"Randall will also be there, so I want you to stay away from him as much as possible, alright?"

I nodded

"And try to shoot vampires from distance, do not let them come near you and engage in a hand to hand combat. Because you will lose if it comes to that point. Do you understand?"

I nodded again and stood up, then hugged him

"Thank you." I muttered softly then pulled back "You will not regret it."

"I'm praying for it."

I shoot him a smile and walked to the door, but before I could step out, he stopped me

"Amy?"

I turned around "Yes?"

"If anything happens tonight…" he said "I want Rachel to be safe."

My brows pulled together as a shiver ran down my spine "Uncle we're gonna be-"

"I know. I still want you to promise me. If anything happens…" he trailed off and I took a deep breath, trying to ease the heaviness in my heart

"If anything happens, I will protect her with my life. We all will, me, Dan, Will and Mike." My voice sounded stronger than I felt and he offered me a smile, a thoughtful expression crossing his face

"How did you grow up so fast?"

I reflected his smile "You'll see it with Rachel."

"Amy, your phone is ringing!" Rachel called out and heard her going upstairs, then bounce down the stairs. I opened the door and she handed me the phone

"Thanks Rach." I took the phone from her, then gawked at the screen.

No. Nuh uh. No way.

"Is it him? Aren't you gonna answer?" she asked excitedly and I blinked dumbly, then walked outside with fast steps.

"Um… Hello?" I answered the phone, still not sure whether I was hallucinating or not. But his voice sounded real enough when he talked.

"Hi Amy."

"H-hi Luke." I started pacing in the back porch, placing a hand over my chest, trying to control my breathing.

When neither of us talked, my brain took it as a permission to give the all control to my mouth, apparently.

"I-I got your message." I stammered "Thanks. For-for the –" I paused "The advice."

"No problem. Are you okay?"

I nodded slowly

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Is it true?" he asked quietly and I returned my gaze to the sky, slipping down to sit on the floor. The weather was still a little chilly, clouds covering the sun, the air getting gloomy.

"Is what true?"

"Are you there for..."

"A hunting job, yes." I said slowly and he sucked in a huge breath

"Is it because of me?" when he talked, his voice was filled with guilt and I forced myself to laugh

"Get over yourself, dude."

"Amy. Tell me."

"Tell you what?" I asked "It has nothing to do with you, I promise. You don't need to feel guilty or anything. It's a family thing."

"You should've told me."

"Luke, we're not supposed to be talking with each other, you made it perfectly clear to me the last time we talked."

"You should've tried!"

"Would you listen?"

That got him silent, I could almost picture him now. In his room, his teeth clenched, his hazel eyes distant..

"I-I wanted to come to your house, you know…Before you left. To- to convince you not to do that, but…" he let out a shaky breath "I didn't know if –" he trailed off "Would it-?"

"No." I said slowly "It wouldn't make a difference. It wasn't about you from the beginning, really." I cleared my throat "It was something I had to do, so…"

"I still should've given you a reason to stay." He asked, his voice laced with pain and I managed a weak smile

"Luke, you're turning into me." I quipped "Stop blaming yourself, okay? Almost everyone in my family are hunters, and I wanted to come here. To protect them."

"Are there other hunters there?"

"Yeah."

"You'll manage it though. Right?" he sounded like a child, needed to be comforted and I forced a soft laugh

"Yeah I'll be fine." I tried to make myself believe along with him.

"Okay…" Luke said slowly "Don't die, okay?"

I raised my brows "I'll try." I muttered and he paused for a second

"And I'm still angry at you."

A painful smile pulled at my lips "I know." I said "But still… thanks for calling, and…you know, saying that. It means a lot."

"Yeah, sure…" he muttered "Take care, I guess…"

"You too." I said and hung up. I inhaled the fresh air, leaning my head back to the wall, then pushed myself off the ground, went inside to take my jacket

"Amy, where are you going?"

"I gotta take some fresh air, excuse me." I said and walked out of the house, trying to walk away from the thoughts invading my mind also.

Anatole France once said; "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another."

I think I have a feeling that I keep killing myself and everybody around me.

But you know what? I'm not gonna keep letting guilt wash over me. Not anymore, at least. Yes, I still feel guilty for most of the things I've ever done, but I never asked for Luke to end his friendship with me. I didn't ask for Damon to break up with me after we slept together. I didn't ask for him to insult me. I didn't ask for the vampires to kill my parents. I didn't ask for losing my mind whenever I turn my emotions off.

But here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to trap myself in these situations that I'll have no other option but to survive. To die, in a way. I knew it while coming here. I knew the dangers, and I'm still here.

And now I have no other option but to survive, and get back to my life.

Fine. So be it. Then I will keep dying, if that's what it'll take for me to get back to my own life.

The waitress filled my cup and I smiled at her, then looked out of the window. I was in the café that I came frequently the last time I had been there.

I checked my watch and heaved a sigh. Only couple more hours, then…

Stop thinking about this!

I ran a hand over my face tiredly and swirled my drink in the cup. My phone was lying on the table and I kept changing my mind about whether to make that phone call or not…

Oh hell with that..

I bit inside my cheek, found the number and stared at it. Even after flirting, getting together, having sex, breaking up and almost getting back together again, -which might include my mortal life and immortal life- Damon managed to make my stomach do flips and my heart skip several beats whenever I even talked with him.

Or if he so much as looked at me, for that matter.

Aren't I a cool person?

I put my phone on the table again as if it burnt me and bit my nails

"Hello Amy."

I jolted up in my chair and looked over my shoulder

"Elijah." I said through my teeth, panic rising in me again as he took the seat opposite of mine. "Are you here to confuse me more?"

He didn't answer my taunt, only looked at me

"What do you want to know?"

"Why are you interested in my well being?"

He shrugged "You will be useful alive."

"It might be too late for that." I pointed out and a small smile pulled at his lips, leaning back

"You have grown a taste for sarcasm."

"You don't say. Why are you here?"

His eyes fell on my phone "Saying your goodbyes?" when he felt my empty looks, he arched his brows "After all, it is quite dangerous, hunting a vampire coven."

"How do you know about- oh forget it, you're not gonna answer me anyway." I said impatiently and took my phone into my hand again

"If you excuse me, I have to make a call…"

"Go ahead." He said and I gritted my teeth

"Private."

He smiled at me, then stood up from his chair almost gracefully

"Give my regards to him, though he seemed a bit…occupied when I last saw him. And good luck for tonight."

I stared up at him dumbly as he walked out of the café. Then I shook my head slightly, hit dial, and took the phone to my ear.

"It's not a goodbye…" I muttered to myself "Just letting him know about…recent stuff. That's all."

My heart felt like it would explode as I waited for him to answer, then, when I heard the other line, my head shot up.

"Hello?" a tentative woman voice reached my ears and I frowned

"Um…hello..." I said slowly "Is it Damon's phone?"

"Well…" the woman said "Yes, but he's in the shower right now. Who's this?"

I felt like my whole body clenched and I just stood there, speechless. I faintly felt myself hanging up and place the phone on the table again, tears brimming my eyes. It felt like someone just pulled the ground from under my feet, as if all the gravity disappeared and- where had the air around here gone?!

A hysterical, bitter chuckle escaped from my lips as I tried to swallow the lump in my throat

"Should've known."

I dug my fingernails into my palms, threw some cash on the table and stormed out of the café.

I should've been grateful, actually. Really. Because the only thing that could ever beat my fear, about tonight, about hunt, about anything at all, was my newfound rage. It was lying deep inside while I was human, but when I turned, it felt like something had snapped inside me, and this anger…

It was uncontrollable. Blinding, pure, and so unstoppable that it could send shivers down my own spine.

So, as my eyes found my reflection in the mirror, they were as sharp as a cat's, and even my glances had changed. They were more predatory now, ready to attack…

The animal inside of me was cheering.

I pulled my hair into a very tight ponytail, took a last look at my reflection, then walked out of the bathroom. Everyone in the house was running and going through their stuff, in order not to forget anything. Uncle had sent Rachel and auntie to a safe house, so the house was left to us.

I approached Mike and Will, who were checking their bags and looked around. Caden eyed me up and down, with his brows raised, then returned to what he was doing.

"Hey there."

"Hey." Mike said "Third bag is yours."

I frowned slightly and opened the bag, then took out the items.

"Wooden bullets?"

"Yeah. Be careful with those."

I tucked the weird looking gun into the back of my jeans, and put the bullets into my pockets.

"Come here." Will motioned for me to come closer and I walked to him, then he made me wear something that looked a lot like a gun holster, which would allow him to attach some other items onto me, like little vervain bottles, vervain grenades and two daggers that were dipped into vervain.

"Hold from the other side."

"Got it."

"Give me your hands."

I held out my hands and he fastened two bracers onto the both of my wrists.

"When you push this button…" he showed me "It throws the stake, but it could take couple seconds to replace the stake, so use it when you have no other choice. Are you wearing what I gave you?"

"Yeah. It's under my shirt."

Will had given me something that worked like a bullet proof vest before I changed, to protect my heart from any stakes or bullets that might be directed to me.

"Are we sure it wouldn't slow her down?"

Will shook his head "She can carry heavy stuff…"

I checked the mechanism "Stop worrying about me, worry about yourselves!"

Mike smiled at me "Well, you got our back, sis, why would we be worried?"

A smile I couldn't stop pulled at my lips, through the haze of my boiling anger and I strapped some other smaller stakes on the upper part of my legs and hid two into my boats. I shrugged into my black leather jacket and zipped it up, then took the crossbow into my hands as Dan walked into the room

"Everyone ready?" my uncle asked and everybody in the room nodded. Then, we left the house to get into our cars, and Caden came closer

"Hey ninja."

"Hey partner." I bumped fists with him, then pulled him into a hug

"Remember what I told you last night."

"I do. See you there."

"Don't finish up all the vampires there, save some for me too!"

"I'll try!"

I got into the car along with Mike and Will, and Dan started the car.

Nobody talked. Nobody needed to talk. We knew what could happen, we knew how dangerous it was, but no one wanted to talk about it. No one wanted to think about the possibility of having to say goodbye.

Me? I focused completely on the burning anger inside of me, the desire of revenge, to hurt, to kill… I could practically feel the vampire inside me cracking her neck, flexing her fingers, getting ready for the fight.

Dan pulled over when we reached the street and I jumped out of the car, then all four of us joined the other hunters that were waiting for us around the house, in the shadows. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Randall, but chose to ignore him. The anger was destructive enough, and I wanted to unleash it on vampires, not him.

When the last car, -Caden's car- pulled over as well, and all of the hunters were there, uncle looked around

"I got it." I answered his unasked question and walked a little closer to the house as silent as my shadow, narrowing my eyes. A vampire was standing by the window with his back turned, and I pointed the crossbow up, towards his back.

I could almost feel the tense air around me, held breaths, fast heartbeats… My hands were shaking, but I forced myself to focus, in order not to miss. My body was completely stiff, and on alert, ready to pounce on any danger on the way, like a true vampire. Every instinct in me was about attacking and surviving now.

"Good luck." I heard Caden's whisper behind me and took another step towards the house, it looked like a good angle to shoot now…

"You too." I muttered, my eyes on the window.

Then I let out a breath and pulled the trigger.

A.N2: So, what do you think? Please tell me your opinions, comments, parts you liked, parts you didn't like, constructive criticism, ideas anything! =) I need to hear them!;)

Review Responses:

Lady2die4: Heyy, thank you so much! I'm really happy to hear that you liked it, and the way her expressions are described;)

Guest: Thank you very much! =) I'm so glad to hear that you like the story! ;) I hope this update was soon enough:P

Viva: Omg thank youu! It's amazing to hear that you like the character and the story! =) I'm happy to make the story one of your favorites;)