A/N: Important notice, please read - Hey guys, I am so so so so sorry about how long it took to submit this chapter, I've been having major writer's block and I was trying to focus more on my other story. Nonetheless, I'm sorry, but hopefully this chapter can make up for it! :)

I've re-written previous chapters because I realised how terrible my writing first was when I started this story, so I thought I'd clean it up a bit. I haven't changed any of the events so you don't need to go and read them, but I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew so that if anyone does look back then they aren't confused.

Thanks to everyone who favourited/alerted, and thanks to DavidFishwick, PrincessOfSilence, AmberRedRose, taisse, chalese, RegunLuvsTVD, DarkAngel1864, vampirekitty578, Jen.O and Azura Soul Reaver for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I think you're all smart enough to realise that I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

Brooke's pov:

"Did Vicki Donovan tell you that she was thinking about leaving town?" My fingers drummed against my leg anxiously as I tried to think of a suitable answer to give the sheriff. Lying isn't exactly one of my strong points.

"Why would she? We aren't exactly close, in fact, I only communicate with her when I'm at work. If we pass each other in the street, we don't even acknowledge one another." I laughed nervously under her scrutinizing stare whilst cursing at myself internally. Could you look anymore suspicous? Stop drawing unwanted attention to yourself! I cleared my throat and tried to compose myself.

Elizabeth sent me a guarded look before she opened her mouth.

"Well, when was the last time you came into contact with Vicki?"

"She came round to the house to hang out with Jeremy. Young love, you know how it is." The smile that appeared on my face was forced, tight and not convincing in the slightest. So much for retaining your composure, Brooke.

"Did she seem out of character? Was she behaving any differently to how she normally does?" She questioned as I sighed, my eyes darting towards the clock hanging above the door. How much longer is this interrogation going to last?

"No, she seemed completely normal."

"Did she display any signs of aggression or violence?" My mind flew back to the night of the halloween party, and the tragic events that occured. One stood out in particular. The feeling of razor sharp teeth puncturing my neck and feasting on my blood. My life, fading away. I suppressed the shudder attempting to ripple through my body.

"No. None that I can recall." She nodded.

"Thanks for your co-operation Brooke, I hope I haven't used up too much of your time." I stood up, shaking my head. Finally, I can leave!

"No problem Sheriff." I said quickly before swiftly exiting her office and making my way out of the police department. I let out a deep breath I'd unknowingly been holding in. Thank God that's over, I was suffocating in there.

After steading my heart rate I walked out of the police station and into the car park, my eyes sweeping the area in search of my cousin. Elena had been interviewed before me and said she'd wait until I was finished so she could catch a lift with me, since Jenna and Jeremy had already left.

"Boo."

"Agh!" I span around as a scream tore its way through my lips, only to groan once I realised who had startled me. Damon.

"You asshole!" I screeched vehemently. He held up his hands in mock defeat, before placing a finger to his lips.

"Shh, I don't think it's a good idea to scream when you're stood right outside of a police station." I rolled my eyes in exasperation before my eyes involuntarily studied his attire and appearance, first with admiration, and then irritation. Why does he have to look so hot all of the time? It makes it so much harder to hate him. I dragged my mind out of the gutter and glared into his sterling blue eyes.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Just doing my part for the community. You know how much I love being an upstanding citizen." I snorted at him.

"Upstanding citizen my ass." I turned on my heel to leave, only to gasp as I walked straight into Damon's chest. I reversed backwards a few steps in order to put some distance inbetween myself and him, but he sauntered forwards, backing me up against a wall. I narrowed my eyes at him whilst he smiled innocently and lifted his hand to twirl a strand of my hair around his index finger.

"Why are you being so mean to me?" He whined in a high pitched voice.

"Because I don't like you." I stated, moving my hands up to his chest as I tried to push him away. I curled my lip up in frustration when he refused to move and lent my head back against the wall, deciding that wasting my effort was pointless.

"But we were getting along so well a few nights ago." He said with a sarcastic smile on his face. I avoided his eyes as his comment echoed through my mind, choosing instead to lock my gaze to the ground.

"What, no smart-ass comment to whip back at me with? Damn, you're no fun today." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"I almost died, and whether I like to admit it or not, you did save me. The only reason I was being nice to you was because you helped me and Jeremy."

"And you're sure that's the only reason?" Damon inquired, leaning closer towards me, leaving almost no room between our bodies.

"Yes." I breathed. He rose an eyebrow and curled his lips upwards into his signature smirk simultaneously, before stepping backwards and putting some distance between us. He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it, choosing instead to shoot me a knowing look.

"Well, this has been wonderful, but I'm afraid I'll have to seduce you later. I have myself a hot date with the sheriff; don't wait up." I rolled my eyes as he turned towards the entrance of the police station, but it was only then that I realised he'd been holding a small package in his hands. Why would he be giving that to the sheriff? I pushed myself away from the wall and caught up with him. I doubt Damon's the new delivery man, no, there must be something important in that box.

"What are you up to? What's in the box?" I pointed towards the object in question, my curiosity growing larger.

"That's for me to know and you to dot, dot dot." He quipped as he brushed by me and waltzed into the police station. I would've followed, but Elizabeth Forbes's office was the last place I wanted to be right now. I huffed and crossed my arms as I turned around. There's nothing worse than getting outwitted by Damon Salvatore.

Growling quietly I made my way over to my car, unlocking it and sliding into the driver's seat. I switched on the radio as I waited for my cousin, hoping that some music would put me in a better mood. Wanted Dead Or Alive by Bon Jovi blasted through my speakers and I turned it off immediately, groaning in annoyance. My ex-boyfriend Noah listened to that song religiously when we were dating, and it drove me insane. It's a shame; I used to love that song, he just wore it out.

Tilting my head upwards I looked through the windshield, smiling as I noticed Elena exiting the station. It's about time. My smile dropped however as I watched Stefan step in front of her, and the two began to talk to each other. I rolled down the window, trying to see if I could eavesdrop on their conversation; but unfortunately, I don't have enhanced hearing like the Salvatore's do, so I was unable to listen in on the exchange.

Elena shook her head at something Stefan said and made her way over to my car whilst Stefan watched her retreating form with a somber expression. The look on his face tugged at my heart-strings, but at the same time I felt it was for the best. He's better than Damon, that much is blindingly obvious, but Elena doesn't need this in her life. If it's stressing her out, staying away from him is the right thing to do.

"Hey Brooke." She said as she entered my car.

"Hey... Are you alright?" She nodded, but instead of looking into my eyes as she did so, her eyes strayed to the spot she was standing moments ago with Stefan, her features unreadable. I sighed and turned on the engine as I vacated the parking lot, knowing that the ride home was going to be spent in complete silence.

Damon's pov:

I frowned slightly as I stepped out of Elizabeth Forbes office. The Vervain was a brilliant idea, but it's not enough. Sure, I've partially gained her trust, but I need to gain all of it.

"We have to consider that the vampire may be walking around during the day, right in front of us."

"We're now looking at anyone new to town since the deaths began. That should turn up a suspect or two."

Albeit, my reaction was slightly questionable, but I can easily turn this around.

All I need is a decoy; a fall guy. Someone whose only just arrived in town and therefore looks almost as suspicious as me and Stefan... Like Lexi. I smirked triumpthantly.

Convincing sheriff Forbes that Lexi is the town's vampire issue will be like taking candy from a baby, and once that's done I can get back to releasing Katherine from the tomb. The thought echoed through my head and I paused in my steps momentarily. Katherine. You haven't thought about her in weeks, what the hell is wrong with you? Isn't she the reason you returned to this God-forsaken town in the first place?

I clenched my jaw as I made my way through the streets of Mystic Falls. I'll admit, thinking about Katherine hasn't exactly been my top priority as of late, but that's about to change. The only person who has ever loved you is counting on you to set her free Damon, she needs you, and you need her.

I tried to picture her in my mind as a reminder of what we used to be, how she made me feel like I actually mattered and had a purpose in the world. You'll get her back soon, and everything will work out the way you always wanted it to: you and Katherine, together for eternity, and this time it'll be Stefan who gets to bite the dust.

Whilst traipsing through Mystic Falls, I started to think of a way I could imply that Lexi was the vampire Elizabeth was looking for. A flash of blonde hair in the corner of my eye had me turning around, causing a sly smirk to spread across my lips.

Why do the work when someone else can do it for you?

Brooke's pov:

I'd retreated to my bedroom after Elena and I had returned home, too exhausted to join the pity party her and Jenna were having in the living room. Instead, I decided that catching up on sleep was a much better idea. I set my alarm clock to go off at four o'clock, so that I'd have enough time to get ready for work. Keith was insisting on me doing more shifts to compensate for my 'slacking off', and I knew that arguing with him was pointless - so I agreed.

A light rapping against my door woke me from my slumber, and I spoke out in a hoarse voice.

"Come in." The person on the other side of the door turned the handle and stepped into my room, smiling at me softly.

"I didn't wake you did I?" I nodded as my eyes flashed to my alarm clock, noticing that it was five to four.

"It's okay Bonnie, I was just about to wake up anyway." I threw the covers off me, stepped towards the window and opened the curtains, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the sudden intrusion of light. I swiveled around, raising an eyebrow in confusion as Bonnie motioned towards my door. When I remained still, Bonnie rolled her eyes and walked over to me, grabbed my arm and starting pulling me towards the door.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" I questioned as she dragged me down the hallway.

"There's something that I want to show you and Elena." Her response only gave me more questions but it peeked my curiousty, so I decided to just wait and see why my cousin's best friend was so flustered. We entered her room and Bonnie wasted no time tugging the covers away from a rather sulky Elena.

"Why haven't you called me back?" I silently watched the exchange between the two as I crept under the covers next to Elena. I tuned out of what they were saying, and just decided to watch the two of them interact.

Elena and Bonnie are so close, always have been, even when they were little kids. I used to have a friend I was that close to, someone that I could share all of my secrets with, someone I could trust, someone I could count on. At least, I thought I could.

Noah, the only long term boyfriend I ever really had, came between us. Eva (my former friend) introduced the us, and at first I wasn't really interested. But he was persistant, so eventually I caved and said yes to going on a date with him.

At the time, he was sweet, cute, and he knew how to make me laugh. So I continued to go on dates with him, and after so long we became exclusive. It was then that Eva told me that she'd always had a thing for him. I was confused, a little annoyed, but also understanding. Confused, because I'd honestly never noticed that she had feelings for him. Annoyed, because this guy was now my boyfriend, and if she'd told me before I'd started dating him then it would've saved everyone a lot of heart-ache. And understanding, because I thought he was great, so I could understand why she'd fallen for him too.

So I asked her whether she wanted me to break it off, and she said no, stating that whilst her feelings are still there, she'd happily try to move on if it meant that I could stay with Noah. She seemed sure of herself, so I accepted it and we never spoke of it after that.

Until I caught them in bed together.

That, effectively ended not only my relationship with Noah, but with Eva too.

My eyes returned to Elena and Bonnie. Eva obviously wasn't a true friend, and it's clear that our friendship meant nothing to her. But, Bonnie and Elena, their bond is iron clad; I don't think anything or anyone could ever come between those two.

"Are you two ready?" I was torn away from my thoughts to see Bonnie sitting in front of us, ripping one of Elena's pillows, causing the feathers to fall onto the covers.

"Hey!" Elena protested, but the damage was already done. I snorted as Bonnie ignored her.

"Be patient." I nodded while Elena casted a glance in my direction. I shrugged, showing her that I was just as confused as she was.

"I need to swear the two of you to secrecy." Bonnie said.

"It's kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff." I nudged Elena, sending her a look before I turned towards Bonnie. Whatever she's trying to tell us - or show us - is obviously important.

"Our lips are sealed, right Elena?" She nodded, albeit reluctantly, but it was all the assurance Bonnie needed.

"Okay, there's no windows open right? No fan, no air conditioning-" I cut her off.

"Stop beating around the bush Bon; we get the idea." I informed her.

"Grams just showed me this. You're going to love it. Are you ready?" I nodded eagerly, waiting impatiently to see what the big deal was. I watched intently as she moved her hand to hover over the feathers, not anticipating what happened next.

She raised her hand as one of the feather's levitated into the air, following the movement of her fingertips. Bonnie moved her arm so that it was just above my lap, before she closed her hand, allowing the feather to drift slowly through the air and land onto my lap. My fingers curled around the object in question with wonder, lifting it closer towards my widened eyes as I examined it carefully.

That's impossible.

"Bonnie... What's going on?" Evidently, Elena is just as confused and astounded as I am. Bonnie merely smiled, before placing her hands over the feathers once again, only this time, more than one levitated into the air. My mind desperately searched for answers, an explanation as to how she was doing this. I had a flash in my head, of the night Stefan came round to have dinner with us, hoping to change Bonnie's opinion about him.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Bonnie glared slightly at Elena before she grudgingly began talking.

"Divorced, no mom, live with my dad." Stefan nodded, looking sympathetic.

"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches, it's really cool."

I looked at Bonnie as she lowered her hands, allowing the feathers to drift slowly onto the bed. That isn't the only time there's been mention of Bonnie's supernatural ancestry. We just didn't believe it was true; even Bonnie said that she thought it was too far fetched to actually be real.

But, somehow, it makes sense. If vampires - the blood-thirsty creatures of the night - are in fact real, then it makes complete sense that witches are too.

This revelation put me on edge. My father had never mentioned that there were supernatural beings other than vampires that exist. Now, I can only wonder what other kind of species there are out there. Shapeshifters? Ghosts? Demons? How many other mythical creatures are walking the Earth?

Elena sat up straighter as Bonnie forced the feathers to levitate again, but this time she doesn't use her hands to guide them. Elena gasps before a series of giggles leave her mouth, completely captivated.

A laugh escapes my lips too. Even though I have no idea what's out there, lurking in the dark, it's obvious that Bonnie isn't a threat to us. She'd never use her powers to try and hurt Elena, or anyone for that matter. The minor wave of anxiety that had passed through me moments ago faded away and I watched as the feathers continued to orbit around us.

"It's true you two, everything my Grams told me... It's impossible, and it's true. I'm a witch." She informed us, speaking almost in a whisper.

"I believe you." I nodded in agreement with Elena's sentiment, smiling softly in Bonnie's direction, which she returned. I'm pleased that she trusts me with this. Of course she trusts Elena as they're best friends, but Bonnie and I are no where near as close.

It was then that I realised that Bonnie must consider me as a friend, because I doubt she'd be telling me this otherwise. A burst of happiness spread through me as I realised that I consider Bonnie as a friend too.

We talked about what being a witch meant for Bonnie and how she was dealing with it. I was surprised to hear she was coping with her new found powers well, but I was also relieved. She seems like a good person, and I'd hate to see her going through a hard time, especially over something she has no control over.

Half way through our conversation I realised that I had to be at work in fourty minutes, which meant that I had to start getting ready if I didn't want to be late. Facing the wrath of Keith was the last thing I wanted to do right now.

"I've got to go get ready for work otherwise Keith will have my head." I ungracefully rolled off the bed, ignoring the amused look Elena sent me.

"Well we'll see you at the grill later, Caroline's throwing a party there." I rose an eyebrow, exchanging a confused look with Elena. This is obviously news to her too.

"Why am I only just hearing about this? I work there, surely someone would have mentioned it." Bonnie shrugged, looking just as confused as Elena and I do.

"I have no idea, it's kind of last minute."

"Okay, I guess I'll see you two later then." They nodded before I left Elena's room, heading to my own and shutting the door quietly.

I moved to turn towards my bathroom, but was stopped when a hand curled around my mouth, pulling me backwards against the the hard chest of my intruder. My hands clawed at the hand covering my mouth desperately, but found that the person holding me was a lot stronger than I am.

"Don't even think about screaming." I paused at the sound of Damon's voice causing my hands stopped moving, a wave of relief flowing through me as I realised it was only him. The relief soon turned into anger and annoyance as he broke his hold on me.

"Do you have a death wish, Damon?" I spat out hoarsley, glaring daggers at him.

"You know, that would sound a lot more intimidating if it was coming from someone, I don't know, other than you." I laughed bitterly. Why do we always seem to rub each other the wrong way? I rolled my eyes and moved backwards so that I could put some distance between us.

"What are you doing here, in my room, Damon?" His blue eyes seemed to glint as the sunlight bounced off of them, and I knew that I was going to regret asking that question.

"I just couldn't resist. The thought of being in a room with you and a bed seemed too good to pass up." Blood rose to my cheeks causing me to blush and Damon to chuckle. I blinked at the sound. Despite how manly, arousing and appealing his laugh sounded, it was from Damon, and thoughts of me, him and a bed are strictly forbidden.

"Okay, you've had your fun, you've startled me, again," I muttered as my mind flashed back to mine and Damon's conversation this morning outside of the police station. "And you've annoyed the hell out of me, so mission accomplished. Now, will you please leave-"

"Nope. You see, you're going to help me out with a problem I'm having." I crossed my arms over my chest, raising my chin defiantly.

"You're the last person on Earth I'd help out with anything, so find someone else to do your dirty work." Damon cocked his head to the side and before I knew it, he had me pushed up against a wall with my hands above my head locked tightly in his. I gulped, my throat suddenly dry as he leaned closer to me, his face only centimetres from mine.

Embarrassingly, my eyes drifted to his lips. They were so close to mine, and for some reason unknown to me, they looked absolutely devine. This isn't the first time you've had that thought, Brooke. I could feel my heart skip a beat; all of the thoughts in my head were jumbled up. At that moment, the only thing that I knew for sure was that Damon Salvatore was very hot, and that maybe kissing him wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Then I remembered that I absolutely loathe Damon, and the spell was broken.

My eyes connected with his and a low whimper escaped my lips as his hands tightened around mine, and I briefly wondered why somehow, I always end up stuck between Damon and a wall. The thought was forgotten though when Damon started speaking.

"Trust me, it's in your best interest to help me. After all, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your friend Bonnie, would you?" My eyes widened before my jaw tightened.

"Why would you want to hurt Bonnie, Damon?"

"Oh gee, I don't know, maybe because she has a certain necklace of mine and I want it back." Snarkiness was laced into his voice, making it obvious that he was pretty pissed about this.

"How am I supposed to help you with that?"

"Get it from her. I don't care what you have to do, lie, steal, it doesn't matter, just get it. Caroline's throwing a party at the grill and I have no doubt that your little friend will be wearing it." I closed my eyes in dispair. Damon must have noticed how torn I was between doing the right thing and helping him, because he started speaking again.

"Or, I could always go to Bonnie myself. I can think of lots of ways to make her hand it over-" I cut him off immediately.

"Fine, I'll get it. As long as you don't harm Bonnie." Damon smirked, releasing the hold he had on my hands. They fell to my sides and he reached for my right hand, bringing it to his mouth as his lips caressed it softly. Butterflies fluttered around in my stomach, but I tried to ignore them.

"Always a pleasure doing business with you Brooke. I'll see you tonight; you look stunning in those tight, little shorts by the way." Before I could respond with a retort, Damon was gone and I was left standing alone against the wall.

My hand rose to my chest as I tried to control my breathing and slow down my racing heart. I just made a deal with the devil, a deal that could possibly be the end of me.

After all, they do say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

A/N: So that was the first part of 162 Candles, I hope you enjoyed it. What did you think to Damon black-mailing Brooke into helping him? There was some key information in this chapter that will become very important later on, and will result in eventually bringing Brooke and Damon closer together. I promise that the wait for the next chapter will not be as long as the one for this one was :)

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