"Well, that was useless." Damon said, as he and Maria walked into his room.
"What do you expect? It's only been a day." Maria pointed out. They had spent the whole day searching for other vampires in town and in the forest. The group had split into teams, but had no luck finding anyone.
"Did Bonnie pick up anything with that tracking spell?"
"No, and before you ask, neither did I." Maria said. "Either they're good at hiding or they're immune to magic, but we can't pick up anything. Have you heard from Stefan or Caroline?"
"Yeah, they didn't have much luck either. Though given who they paired up with, it's not surprising." Damon said.
"Well, you know Tyler could probably track them better than we can." Maria said. "Besides, it's not like they'd spend the mission just making out in the woods. Caroline's a lot smarter than she looks, you know."
"Sometimes I wonder if it's a good idea to let the humans get involved at all." Damon said.
"There's gotta be a better way to find them." Maria said. "Have you tried contacting the Council?"
"Are you crazy?" Damon asked. "Have you forgotten that Sheriff Forbes could have me dead on the spot?"
"Oh, that's right." Maria said. The last few days leading up to the ritual, Matt and Sheriff Forbes had found out about the Salvatores and Caroline. They also knew about Tyler. The group had agreed to keep the supernatural stuff to themselves and only to their group, but still…
"Look, maybe I should talk with her." Maria said. "There could be a new threat to the town and we're going to need all the help we can get."
"Are you sure we can trust her?"
"She's our friend." Maria pointed out. "Besides, she's known the others long enough…"
"And to her you're just Bonnie's cousin." Damon interrupted.
"She doesn't know what I am." Maria pointed out. "She might be willing to help if I explain to her that we're not a threat."
"Hey, I know I might seem skeptic about all this, but…"
"When have I ever been wrong in this kind of situation?" Maria asked. "Trust me, everything will be okay." She sat down on the bed. He sat next to her.
"Have I ever told you're kinda hot when you take charge?"
"Well, we could all say the same about you." Maria pointed out.
"True, but you're the only girl I've ever really had feelings for."
"I'm shocked. Did Damon Salvatore just say he had feelings for someone?" Maria teased.
"Hey, I can be sensitive." He said.
"Prove it." He came closer to her and kissed her. She kissed him back just as passionately. It went on for a few minutes before they broke apart. Maria put her arms over his shoulders.
"I love you, Damon."
"I love you, too." They kissed again. Maria was lying down on the bed as he kissed her neck. She pulled away after a few minutes.
"Whoa, okay." She sat up. "This is a little too fast, don't you think?"
"Yeah, you're right." Damon said.
"Look, I don't wanna upset you or anything…"
"Hey, it's fine." He told her. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"I don't care what anyone says, you're a great boyfriend." Maria said as he held her.
"You're pretty awesome, too, you know." Maria pecked his lips. Then her cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Maria, it's me."
"What's wrong, Caroline?"
"I remember now." Caroline said. "I had the dream again."
"Are you okay?"
"Not really. I just figured out who's behind all this." She told her.
"You can tell us at tomorrow's meeting." Maria said. "We'll call the others."
"Okay. Oh, and I think I can help get my mom and Matt to help." Caroline said.
"I was thinking the same thing. I'll go with you." Maria told her. She hung up.
"So, what now?"
"How about we visit the field?" Maria asked.
"You sure that's a good idea after last night?"
"Relax, Bonnie and I spelled everyone's homes before we all split up." Maria explained. "You ready?"
Damon put his arm around her and they both leaned back in his bed. "I know I'm going to regret this."
"Yeah, but we could use this." Maria said.
The next thing they knew, they were sitting in the middle of a field. They stood up. "That was fast."
"Yeah, guess cause we were thinking at the same time." Maria said. Then she looked down at what she was wearing. "Man, guess I messed that up again." She was wearing her green dress from the eighteen hundreds.
"Are you going to wear that every time we come here?"
"Give me a second." Maria said. In a second, her outfit changed to a blue shirt with a black skirt and white jacket. "Now that's better."
"Wow, that's amazing." Damon said.
"It's a dream, remember? You can do anything here." Maria pointed out.
"So, wanna go for a ride?" Damon asked her.
"I don't know if…" Maria began, when she heard a whine. Then she turned around and saw two horses, a white one and brown one. "Wow."
"I heard you loved riding and taking care of horses."
"Guess you heard about my volunteer work at that stable." Maria said, petting one of them.
It wasn't long before they were riding their horses through the field and trees. After a while, they stopped at the other end of the field. "This is amazing." Maria said. "Thank you so much for this."
"Anytime." Damon told her. "It's been a while since I've done any riding."
"That's cause you turned down my offer to come riding with the rest of the group a few weeks ago." Maria said.
"In my defense, I didn't want to go with a bunch of girls."
"You're brother came." Maria pointed out.
"My point exactly." He told her.
"Damon."
"Kidding. Jeez, we're brothers, we tease each other sometimes."
"Can you two ever like not fight when I'm around?" Maria asked.
"Well, we've been getting along more lately."
"That's good to know." Maria said. "Ready to head back or…" Damon leaned over and kissed her gently.
"Sometimes I wish we didn't have to be on these cases, you know?"
"True, but then things would be boring." Maria pointed out. "No matter what happens, I love you. Nothing can keep us apart."
They found themselves back in Damon's room, side by side. "Ready to figure this out?"
"Yeah, but first…" She turned around. "I love you, too. I don't think I've been happier before." They kissed again before heading out of the room.