AN: I'm sorry that it's been awhile since I have updated. I have been in a dark place so I took a break from writing to get my head on straight. Last year I lost two friends that meant a lot to me and it was really hard to deal with. Jamal and Wes will always have a place in my heart. There are days where I still pick up my phone to text and call but remember that they are no longer here. Cherish your loved ones while they are here. Ok... Some of you may have noticed that I took this chapter down. After going back and re reading some of the reviews, I realized that I wasn't happy with chapter 24 either so I made so minor changes to it. Thanks for sticking with this story. I made it a priority to complete it so I don't let you guys down. Love ya.

#

Bonnie stifled a yawn as she woke her from the deep sleep that she had been enjoying for the past several hours. As she covered her mouth to shield a yawn, she winced as she felt her ears pop painfully. Feeling grumpy, she unbuckled her seat belt before quietly making her way out of her seat and stretching to get the knots and kinks out of her smaller back. Her bladder complained unhappily causing her to groan softly as she did a complete one eighty and made her way towards the back of the cabin where the latrine was located. As she relieved herself, she rolled her shoulders and tapped her toes as she began to ponder her next move. Now that the terrifying flight was over, she had to worry about finding a hotel, a local eatery, and a map of the island that would lead her in the direction of Cade's ashes. Bonnie was on a one woman mission to get the object to defeat the latest big bad and there was nothing or no one that was going to stand in her way.

Feeling relieved in more ways than one, she flushed the toilet and washed her hands before carding her fingers through her hair in an attempt to tame several fly always. She definitely looked like the poster child for someone who has changed time zones and was wearing jag lag like it was a badge of dishonor. She knew that with a little bit of makeup, a brush and her face washed, she would look as good as new, but fortunately for her, Bonnie had never been a woman who was obsessed with her vanity. Her grams had always boasted to anyone who would listen that her "grandbaby" had inherited a natural look of beauty and Bonnie had always felt confident in the young, carefree and hippy look. So yeah. She wasn't as put together and as exotic as Maria the flight attendant, but at least Bonnie didn't feel the need to impress anyone but herself.

Reaching into her small travel bag, she retrieved a tooth brush and tooth paste and began to process of cleaning her teeth and purging her mouth from the funk that had developed while she had been sleeping. Twisting the top of her water bottle, she took a deep swig and swished the water around her mouth before spitting into the sink. Wiping her mouth with the rough paper towel, she rinsed the spit out the sink and licked her lips enjoying the refreshing taste of winter mint lingering on her tongue. After wiping her mouth, she ran her fingers through her hair one last time before making her exit out of the closet sized bathroom.

"Umph." That was the disgruntled groan that greeted Bonnie as she pushed the door to the latrine open causing it to slam into the chest and face of an unfortunate person standing on the other side.

"I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Bonnie asked mortified.

"I'm fine," he reassured warmly as he removed his hat and pinned her down with gray eyes peeping from under a thick curtain of thick dark eyelashes.

Bonnie stared at him and the gold wings on his his collar revealed that he was the pilot. Not only was he tall and muscular, but he was devastatingly handsome. His hair was chest nut brown and fell to his shoulders, and his eyes were a blueish gray and he had a square jaw that look like it had been chiseled out of stone. In her opinion, he bore a strong resemblance to the actor Christian Kane who played in her favorite MTV original movie "Love Song" from back in the day.

"I hope you enjoyed your flight and I sincerely hope that you enjoy your stay on this beautiful island," he murmured.

"Thank you, Captain," Bonnie said shyly.

"Please...call me Josh," he insisted with a flirtatious smile.

"Nice to meet you, Josh. I'm Bonnie," she said warmly.

"So how was your flight? I hope the turbulence during the last hour wasn't too frightening," he said with a gentle smile as he propped one hand on the door behind Bonnie and the other on his hip. It was clear by his body language that he was openly flirting with her and Bonnie was secretly flattered.

"I was knocked out so I didn't notice," she remarked causing him to chuckle.

"Anxious flyer?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"Yeah," she admitted shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

He leaned a little closer invading her personal space causing Bonnie's moss green eyes to widen and her cheeks to burn slightly.

"We really aren't suppose to do this, but on the flight back, you should join me in the cockpit. The view up there is unlike no other and maybe seeing me in action will help you ease your fear of flying," he offered winking at her.

"I'm afraid that's not going to be necessary," Stefan said flatly as he stepped into the small space with Maria who had a dazed look on her face and seemed more pale than usual. It was clear from the vampire's flushed cheeks that he had just fed and while Bonnie had been annoyed by Stefan's apparent fascination with the flight attendant earlier, at the moment, she felt completely unbothered. The pilot, on the other hand, was not happy.

"Maria, you and I need to have a word. Now," he growled sternly.

Stefan rolled his eyes before stepping up to the Captain and laying his hand on his shoulder before starring him in the eye.

"You are not going to discipline Maria for servicing me and you are going to turn around and grab me and Bonnie's luggage. You are also not to interact with Bonnie ever again. Got it?" Stefan compelled keeping his voice controlled and even.

"Got it," Josh parroted with a blank expression as he turned to comply with Stefan demands.

Bonnie turned and punched Stefan in the shoulder causing Stefan to yelp as he laughed amused.

"Why did you do that? He was just being nice," she snarled angrily.

"He was being unprofessional," Stefan said simply as he brushed past her and made his way towards the exit of the plane.

"So where are we staying while we are on this island?" Bonnie asked irritably.

"Don't worry about your accommodations, Bennet. It's already been taken care of," he reassured.

After they left the plane, they made their way over to a large boat that was a couple of hundred yards away from the small air field. After paying the toll, Stefan placed his hand on the small of Bonnie's back and guided her onto the ferry. The sun was high in the sky causing a sheen of sweat to form across her body.

"Wow." Bonnie gasped as she stared out at the sparkling sea that was transparent and a blue green under the sun that was hanging high in the sky that was half hidden by several scattered clouds.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Stefan murmured smiling as he took off his expensive Ray Bans off of his face and perched it on top of his head.

Bonnie made a point to turn move away from him before walking over to the opposite side of the boat giving him the cold shoulder as she stared out at the ocean.

"So you are not talking to me now? That's real mature," Stefan snarked as he purposely stood next to her intentionally invading her personal space.

"No. What's mature is being a complete douche bag to a flight attendant who bent over backwards to service you," she said coldly.

"Why are you so obsessed with me hooking up with some mile high slut?" he huffed annoyed.

"Because you were suppose to be different," she exclaimed irritably, "The Stefan that I knew didn't take advantage of vulnerable women who didn't know any better. The Stefan I knew actually respected and preserved the virtue of a woman. You were suppose to be the kind noble one. The compassionate one. The heroic one," she paused as she massaged her forehead feeling emotionally exhausted. "As I stand here and stare at you, all I see is someone who is selfish and unkind and broken, and the sad thing is that I don't hate the worst version of yourself. I pity you."

Stefan stared at her before laughing. His burst of amusement was not only loud, but completely obnoxious and it made Bonnie crack her knuckles in annoyance.

"I can see why I am a disappointment in your eyes," he mused aloud as he leaned against the railing while examining his fingernails. "You were use to puppy dog Stefan who chased after manipulative women with his heart on his sleeve and his pride on empty. You aren't use to seeing me without strings and without a puppeteer controlling my every move. You aren't use to seeing me as some pathetic whipping boy." He sneered as he watched her flinch in disgust as he stared down at her with no remorse. "You can stand there and judge me all you want, but the truth is that I don't really give a damn what you think about me."

They rest of the ferry ride was spent in a tense silence. Once they arrived to the island, they immediately caught a cab and Stefan spoke quietly in Italian to the driver. As they were driven deeper into the island, Bonnie had her nose pressed against the window starring at the scenery with her mouth parted slightly in awe. Slowly her anger towards Stefan began to melt away. Even though she knew that she had come to Linosa to find the means to destroy the devil, she couldn't help but take a moment to really enjoy the scenery. Most of the houses were bright colored, most being canary yellow with crimson red window panes. What was even more appealing was the seaside where the waters were clear, high in depth. She listened closely as the driver bragged about the popular volcanic beaches and very suggestive rocky ridges. One particular beach, Cala Pozzolana di Ponenete, is the destination of loggerhead sea turtles who choses that destination to leg their eggs. He suggested local restaurants to dine at, Mount Volcano was worth a climb with its summit at an altitude of 195 meters easily reachable through a path. The mountain is rich in vegetation with large expanses of prickly pears. Hawks and herons breeding season...the street art was eye place was so colorful and filled with culture and life. There were donkey's on the side of the road, children laughing and playing and the smell of delicious food being cooked from several cafe's drifted through the cracked window of the cab. Nibbling on her bottom lip, she wondered if there was a chance that she would be able to sneak in a moment to shop, try the local cuisine, and maybe experience a bit of the night life.

Moments later, they arrived at their room and board aptly named Casa Blu which was painted with pastel colors and had picturesque windows. There was small cobblestone road that led up the walk way leading to the house. Inside, there was a modest living room, two bedrooms, a dining room with an oven, and a terrace. It was also fitted with a wine bar.

"It's hard to believe that this is the biggest house on the island. I stayed in motel suites bigger than this," Stefan complained toying with the deep orange drapes with a disgusted look on his face.

"I don't see what the big problem is. This place is really nice," Bonnie said smiling brightly.

"That's because you are not use to experiencing the finer things of life," Stefan said arrogantly.

"Bite me," Bonnie quipped.

Stefan flashed his fangs playfully in response.

Smiling amused, she shook her head and headed into the room closest to the kitchen and began to unpack. After stuffing her clothes into the dresser, she decided to check out the bathroom. She was pleasantly surprised to find that it was pretty modern with marble black tiles on the counter top and the shower had see through double sliding doors. On the far side of the bathroom, there was smooth black tub with golden claw feet that had a whicker basket of bathing products sitting near the edge. As she peered in the basket, she smiled as she noticed that the note was one that welcomed them and encouraged her to enjoy the exotic products compliment of the house owner. There was a floor to ceiling door that led to a balcony where she would be able to enjoy nature in all of it's beautiful glory.

She turned the knobs on the bath tub to draw a bath when she heard heavy footsteps in her bedroom causing her to sigh heavily as she reluctantly exited the bathroom.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked drolly as she walked back into the bedroom to find Stefan lounging in the middle of her bed propped up on his elbows.

"I just think it was unfair that you took the smaller room. You shouldn't be forced to sleep in this full size bed when you can share my bed which is twice as big," he offered with an less than innocent smile on his face.

"I rather sleep with the stray dogs in the alley," she sniped causing him to wince and chuckle softly.

"Ouch," he mumbled before rising from the bed and sauntering over to her with a lazy smirk on his face.

Bonnie avoided making eye contact with him as she subconsciously fiddled with her ring finger.

"When Cade gave you your magic back, you mention that he gave you that ring," Stefan reminded her.

Bonnie arched an eyebrow curiously as she stared down briefly at the ring on her finger. "Yeah. So?"

"Is there any spell that you can use to learn about the origin of the ring? Did he tell you why it was so important for you to wear it when you made the deal with him?"

Bonnie walked across the room and reached inside of her bag and pulled out the grimoire she had borrowed from the Boarding House. After flipping through several pages, her eyes lit up and she stared up at Stefan with a ear to ear smile.

"There is an vision spell, but I never performed one before," she admitted nibbling softly on the inside of her cheek. "All I need is some candles, salt, and flower petals."

"Well, I'll leave you to it. I'm going to scope out the town. I will be back in a little while," Stefan informed dryly before disappearing out of the house.

As she explored the house, Bonnie gathered some candles from a closet, some salt from the kitchen cabinet and some rose petals from a crystal vase. Returning back to the bedroom, she used the salt to make a large circle on the floor. As she sat Indian style in the middle of the circle, she clasped her hands in front of her before taking a deep breath. While she would like to consider herself experienced when it came to magic and spells, she always tended to be a little nervous and apprehensive when it came time to perform new ones that she was unfamiliar with. In that moment, she secretly wished that Damon was there with her. If she had told him that she was attempting to try a new spell, he wouldn't have bolted on her like Stefan did. He would have stayed and made sure that she had support despite the light pestering and annoyance he would cause while giving that support.

Pushing thoughts of her smirking best friend to the back of her mind she forced herself to focus.

"Invidium cala mactus," she chanted softly trembling as she felt her magic surge from her core.

As the spell settled, she found herself walking through a meadow filled with yellow and purple wildfires and fireflies. The sun was slowly setting while the faint signs of a crescent moon could see appearing through the heavy clouds. Bonnie had no idea of where or when she was, but she had a feeling that what she was about to witness was something that was rare and extremely important. As she made her way towards the dark forest, she watched as a young black boy scurried through the trees barefooted with a bucket full of water clutched tightly in his hands. As she followed him, she noticed that he was crying and clearly upset. After several moments had passed, he arrived at a small house where the sound of loud moans and crying where echoing off the walls. Peeking through the window, Bonnie spotted a woman lying in her bed with her legs propped up in the middle of child birth surrounded by two older women.

"Thank you, Cade," the midwife murmured taking the bucket of water from his hands, "You are such a brave boy."

He smiled shyly before ducking off into the corner where he sat in a chair in the corner of the room with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. The look on his face showed that he was scared and worried. The woman seemed to sense the young boy's anxiety and turned her head to offer him a smile and reassuring smile.

"It's alright, Arcadius. I'm alright my sweet boy," she promised weakly.

"Remember what I have always told you," she said, her voice raspy and weak.

He nodded as he wiped away his snot in tears with the back of his hand.

"I am my ancestors wildest dreams," he whispered his voice shaking dangerously, "I am the sun, I am the universe. I have the blood of ancient kings flowing through my veins and I have the world at my fingertips.

"Don't you ever forget it."

"Cade, meet your baby sister Akello."

"Can I hold her?" he asked shyly.

"Yes, but you must always be very gentle with her. The little one is quite delicate," she advised quietly as he gingerly placed then newborn in his arms.

The newborn opened her eyes slowly and beneath her long lashes, her dark eyes were tears and quiet whimpers escaped her tiny mouth.

"Shh, it's okay Akello," young Cade cooed softly as he cradled the newborn protectively in his arms, "I will always be here to take care of you and look after you. I promise."

Suddenly the vision blurred and Bonnie was no longer peeking through an open window watching Cade being introduced to his beautiful and sweet baby sister for the first time. Instead, she found herself standing behind a crowd of people gathered around a stake that was placed on a platform and surrounded by wood and hay. She watched as a young girl was screaming and crying as an adult version of Cade was being dragged through the crowd full of jeering and furious villagers. Once his captor manage to get him on the platform, they bound his hands behind his back and forced him on his knees.

"Burn him alive! Burn him alive!"

As the crowd chanted and demanded for Cade to be put death, Akello managed to break free of the women restraining her and to everyone's shock and horror, she dove through the flames to be with her brother. Cade released a scream and a pulse of energy surged through the air knocking everyone off their feet and into a state of unconsciousness. In his last dying moment, Cade used the remainder of his strength to open his eyes to look for his sister, but felt his heart break when she was nowhere to be found.

Akello was gone.

Bonnie's eyes flashed open and she found herself feeling a tremendous amount of sadness. It was only when she felt a warm breeze gust through the window and brush against her face that she realized that her cheeks were wet with tears. Bringing up her fingertips to her skin, she brushed away the evidence that the vision she had just bore witnessed to had made her emotional. Raking her slender fingers through her curls, she found herself shaking as she recalled the over pouring emotions that she had felt from Cade. The pain of his death mixed with the deep and eternal love he had for his sister touched her heart. She wanted to see him in a new light but she knew that the young boy in the vision wasn't the same man that had confronted her in the woods and had manipulated her into making a deal with him in order to regain her magic.

Her musings was interrupted by the sound of the water sloshing around in the tub in the bathroom.

"Oh crap," Bonnie swore softly as she stretched her hand out towards the tub and used her magic to turn off the faucets seconds before the hot water had the chance to flow out of the tub and onto the floor.

She had been so thrown off by the vision that she had just had that she had completely forgotten about the bath that she had been looking forward to taking. As she slowly disrobed, she began to quietly ponder on the past battles she had with her major enemies and their weaknesses. With Klaus, they had coffins containing his family and the white oak dagger to control him. With Stefan and Damon's mother Lily, they had her family of heretics to control her, and with Silas, arguably the worst of them all, they had Amara. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that a lot of the villains' that had plagued their lives had been assholes whose Achilles heels had been their family and people that they loved. The curious part of her couldn't help but wonder about Cade's sister Akello. Did he become evil because he failed to live up to his promise to his mother to protect her? Did she die a natural death, or was she subjected to the same terrible fate that Cade had suffered? Sighing deeply, she closed her eyes as she submerged her body in the hot water. Almost instantly, all the tension she had been in her body disappeared and she felt a sense of relaxation settle over her. As she mused over the vision she had moments earlier, she was so distracted that she didn't notice the white dove resting on the window sill watching her intently.

#

Sitting in the parking lot of the church, Damon found himself sighing heavily for the hundredth time. The sooner he could get this whole thing over with, the sooner he could go out on the town and score a meal in the form of a middle aged hot MILF and wash it down with a bottle of his finest Bourbon.

Damon stood off to the side watching as the religious members of Mystic Falls poured out of the church with tranquil looks on their faces and holy books clutched tightly in their hands. It was nauseating for him to watch as people glowed after being spoon fed with religious bull crap that Damon thought was a cowards way of making their life feel more fulfilled than it really was. There was a part of Damon that knew that believing in a higher power wasn't the worst thing in the world. After all, he had believed in Katherine for years but had ended up broken hearted. He believed in his love for Elena and in a ironic twist of fate, her life had ended up tied to the life of his best friend making it where he would never be able to reunite with her until Bonnie died from a natural causes or was struck down by some unfortunate accident. People may say that he was bitter and cynical, but Damon rather put his faith in nothing at all than to have some naïve belief that the universe had a plan

While some were headed off to the Grill to break bread and fellowship about the sermon and their boring day to day lives, others were headed home eager to watch whatever game that was still being broadcast by the NFL on the local news channel. While being at church on a Sunday night was the last thing he wanted to do, he had to suck it up due to the fact that the counsel meeting was scheduled to be held in the basement right after the evening's service. Starring down at his clothes, he frowned as he felt uncomfortable in the dress slacks, the white collared dress shirt and a black tie. He wanted to endear himself to the counsel by dressing the part and looking presentable, but he felt he might of missed the mark because he felt like he looked like a cater waiter.

He was making his way towards the place of worship when he heard a feminine voice swearing softly. He looked up to see Trixie coming in his direction juggling Tupperware containers containing snacks that smelled like lemon bars, brownies, and oatmeal raisin cookies. Right before the top container could crash to the ground, Damon rushed over and caught it in his hands saving the sidewalk from ruining her batch of treats. Trixie lifted her head and a blush creeped in her face as she smiled appreciatively at him.

"Thank you. Damon, right?" she asked shyly.

"Good memory," he grinned winking at her, "Here, let me help you with this."

As he unloaded the containers from her possession, she beamed as they made their way into the church basement together. As he walked ahead of her, he didn't have to have eyes on the back of his head to know that she was openly ogling his ass. As the smell of the lemon bars began to waft from the Tupperware, Damon's mouth began to water. He would have been tempted to sink his teeth into the delicious treats, but he had saw the cat hair clinging to Trixie's sweater which made the treats lose a lot of their appeal. Scarfing down a desert that had the potential to make him choke on a hairball from some feline who had shedding issues? Hard pass.

"I still can't believe that this meeting is actually happening? I mean...can you believe that vampires are a real thing?" she asked breathlessly as they made their way down the dark hall, "A week ago, my biggest worry was if I wanted to cancel my Netflix subscription and get cable and now I have to worry about looking over my shoulder for some blood sucker to rip my throat out. When did my life become something out of a horror movie."

Damon smiled doing his best to look sympathetic. "I haven't been around long, but from what I know about vampires, they do tend to be very attracted to beautiful damsels in distress, so you have every right to be worried."

Trixie giggled and snorted before lowering her eyes to her feet shyly. "Well aren't you the charmer?"

"I don't think that we are going to have much to worry about when it comes to these creepy vampires," she purred as she rested her hand on his bicep, "You seem more than capable of taking care of business."

"Nice crucifix by the way," he said glancing down at the silver necklace around her neck.

"Thanks," she beamed fingering it subconsciously as she stared up at him with her wide eyes. "It's to ward off evil. My memaw gave it to me on her death bed."

As they made their way into the basement, Trixie began to arrange the containers on the table, Damon began to stroll through the room smiling and introducing himself to the people he came across. As predicted, most of the women he spoke with were flustered and charmed by him and the men puffed out their chest and tried their best not to look intimated by the fact that Damon was tall, dark and wildly attractive. Damon was in the middle of pretending to be interested in a group of men discussing politics on a national level when he noticed Matt Donovan walk into the room. When he saw the look of surprise and anger, Damon politely excused himself and move to join the sheriff at the back of the room.

"What the hell are you doing here, Damon?" Matt growled quietly as he leaned back on the wall next to the bored looking vampire.

"Isn't it obvious?" he grinned, "I am here as a concerned citizen of Mystic Falls."

Matt snorted as he rolled his eyes and watched as more of the council began to fill the room. "You are more of a hinderance than help. Didn't you learn anything from the last time you tried to go undercover with the Counsel?"

"The last person who was in charge of the Counsel pulled a kamikaze and blew them to kingdom come. I would like to think that I'm a step up above crazy pants Pastor Young," he smirked.

Matt nodded reluctantly as he watched the Mayor kiss his wife who mysteriously left from the room.

"So how's Bonnie?" Matt asked curiously, "I've been trying to call her all day, but her phone keeps going to voicemail."

"That's probably because her phone is in a million pieces on her bedroom floor, not that it matters anyways. Bonnie is halfway across the world by now," Damon informed dryly.

Matt's young face twisted in confusion in disbelief. "You mind running that past me one more time?"

Damon sighed exasperated. "Long story short, we found a way to take down a certain hot head immortal and Bonnie and Stefan are on their way to retrieve this weapon and bring it back where I will have the absolute pleasure of driving this weapon through said immortal's heart."

Matt blue eyes flashed with concern. "Last I heard, Stefan wasn't exactly stable. Are you sure it's a good idea for Bonnie to be on some island with him where he could turn on her at the drop of a dime?"

Damon tensed as his right eye twitched slightly. "Bonnie's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"And what if she can't? What then?" Matt snapped.

"If she can't, she will be dead and this conversation is going to be fucking pointless," Damon hissed drawing gasps and looks of disapproval at the use of profanity on such hallowed grounds.

Matt laughed bitterly as he placed his hands on his hips and shook his head.

"Of course you wouldn't care. With Bonnie dead, that means you can have Elena back and after you pretend to hate your brother for killing her, you will eventually forgive him. After all, you pretend Bonnie is your best friend, but the only people who matters the most to you is Stefan and Elena. Bonnie is just a mere afterthought."

Damon glared at Matt and while the smile on his face seemed warmed, the look on his face was downright murderous. "Watch it, Donovan. If you keep talking reckless, I won't have any problem laying your corn fed ass out right here and right now."

"God, you are such a dick, Damon. I am so glad I am not the only one here who is concerned with Bonnie's wellbeing," he grumbled as he subconsciously adjusted his gun holster. There were many times he day dreamed of shooting the snarky vampire in the face, but the temptation to do it there in the basement of a church while an approving counsel would watch was proving to be very hard to resist.

Damon flinched. "What do you mean that you are not the only one? You and I are the only ones here who intimately knows Bonnie."

Before Matt had a chance to reply, Mayor Brody took the floor and cleared his throat calling the meeting to attention.

"Good evening. I would like to welcome everyone to our first official counsel meeting. If you haven't already, feel free to try Trixie's snacks and coffee. I can promise you that you won't be disappointed."

"Have you had any word on Tiffany?" one of the men asked concerned.

Damon tensed noticeably.

"Tiffany is fine and is at home recovering with her mother. Apparently, she got into a little trouble with some friends and Tequila and hid out at her friend's house to avoid the music."

A collective chuckled filled the air briefly.

Damon had to school his features to hide his surprise and confusion. The last time he had checked, Tiffany was still locked in the basement at the Salvatore Boarding House. Why would the mayor lie about her whereabouts and the fact that she was safe. The only reason that Damon could think of that would make sense is that the Mayor suspected that something grizzly had happened to his daughter and he was trying to keep it under wraps until he figured out who was responsible for her disappearance. If that was the case, that meant Damon had to remain sharp and vigilant at all time. One wrong move and his secret would slip and that would spell serious trouble for not only him, but for everyone in his orbit and he couldn't allow that to happen.

The mayor cleared his throat causing the murmuring amongst the counsel to fade.

"As you all may know, we are gathered here to discuss the presence of supernatural creatures that have been plaguing this town. There have been one too many unexplained deaths around Mystic Falls and in order to prevent a panic and a mass exodus, we must figure out the responsible parties and put an end to them."

"Where do we even start? All we know about vampires is what we see in the movies? It's not like we have access to silver bullets and holy water," a middle aged woman with salt and pepper hair protested.

Damon rolled his eyes. Silver bullets only worked on were wolves and even then, that was a myth that was gravely blown out of proportion. Don't get him started on holy water. He could chase his bourbon with the stuff and would be less than effected.

"The fact that we are unprepared was my concern too which is why my wife had some wisely suggested that we bring in a couple of people from the outside to assist us," the Mayor revealed motioning for Matt to join his side. "For those who haven't met him yet. This is Sheriff Donovan. He has had history with dealing with our little problem and he will discuss different ways that we can keep our selves safe from these demonic creatures."

Matt nodded and smiled at the mayor before taking over the meeting.

As he began to describe the uses of vervain and wooden stakes, Damon could have sworn by the twinkle in the former quarterback eyes that he was actually enjoying telling people the different ways to kill vampires. For a moment, he was suspicious that Matt was serving as a double agent. It made sense given the fact that it wouldn't be the first time that Matty blue eyes double crossed them. However, he pushed his doubt to the back of his mind. Matt may have had a strong disdain for vampires, but he cared about Ric, Bonnie and Caroline and he wouldn't let anything bad happen to the vampires in their life, so for the time being, Damon decided to trust that Matt had their best interest in heart.

"As much as I would like to think that we can take on this challenge on our own, I thought it would be best to bring in a former vampire Hunter who will be the better choice when it comes to training you. I put in a call a couple of days ago and he should be arriving here any minute now," he informed.

Almost on cue, the door opened and everyone turned to look at the man who stood in the threshold with a black duffel bag slung over his right shoulder and warmth and a hint of hardness reflecting in his eyes. As the hunter walked into the room, Damon's blue eyes widened surprise and his mouth parted slightly. He turned his glare at Matt as he sent him a look that clearly said 'Are you kidding me?' The sheriff simply smiled innocently as he folded his arms across his chest trying to hide his amusement. Matt knew that he should have probably told Damon about his decision to call back in an old friend of his to help keep the counsel in check while providing protection to the vampire allies in Mystic Falls, but he figured watching Damon being caught of guard would be entertaining, and he was definitely not disappointed. The look on the elder Salvatore looked like he was about to blow a fuse. He turned his attention back to the Mayor who had walked over to their newest member on the counsel and slapped his hand on his shoulder with a wide grin on his face.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the council, I like to introduce you to a legacy of one of the founding members of this town and vampire hunter, Jeremy Gilbert."

End Note: Before you roll your eyes, there was an earlier chapter where Matt made the mysterious call for help. Jer Bear was always going to be a character and obstacle in the story. He is not a romantic partner for Bonnie so relax. Also my new story is being published after this so if you don't follow me, please follow so you can get the updates. It's basically a rewrite of the midseason of season four where Bonnie and Jeremy awakens Silas in the cave. The plot is that Silas mysteriously opens Bonnie's third eye and triggers her psychic power which allows her to see the future which gives her flashes of the future seasons. So Bonnie will be getting visions of episodes of things that takes place in season five, six, seven and eight. It was a pretty fun idea that I have been really excited about. Love you all!

I want to give a big shout out and THANK YOU to DancewithButterflies, hwolf, Titan07, xxNotTodax, Guest, jerk chickenz, WriteThings (to answer your question, my new project will be Dark Bonnie, who love interests will be Silas, Kol and Damon) Don'tSayNo, Imabish, , aprilf00l, aceLover08, Princess2020, Guardain-97, lexasalvatore, chail (I'm doing better. Thanks for asking!), IntrovertedxxMusings, shan790. I hope I didn't miss anyone. I hope you guys enjoy. Please stay safe. Now on to the story.