Damon stairs blankly at the paper in front of him, his eyes re-reading the last three words, over and over and over. He wasn't thinking anything because he didn't know how to react. this has never happened before. Damon himself has never been one to go into shock but stranger things have happened, especially recently.

Behind him the wind blows, carrying leaves slightly above the ground right before they carelessly caressed the pavement, making a gentle scratching noise. Damon closed his eyes and when he re-opened them he was not surprised to find a small girl standing before him. Her bleach blonde hair was held in a high pony tail and it swung behind her as she jumped, literally, to sit on the bed beside him. Damon sighed and the girl plucked the paper from his hands, "Derek said you would be interested in the divinity theory." she says in a voice that was too sweet for Damon and he scowled at the sound of it.

He snatches the paper greedily but the girl doesn't even flinch, like most would. This doesn't surprise Damon though- she knew he was in a bad mood and that just annoyed him more so, the child just loved to push his buttons. "Hmph" he says with a frown, looking at the paper once again.

"Why do you even bother with this nonsense Damon?" The girl asks and Damon closes his eyes. He knew she meant well, for this girl was so much like Bonnie- it hurt. "Derek already spoke to Mary for you. She said she would spare you, she even talked to her fellow coven."

"I have never trusted Mary and I'm not about to start now." He says simply.

"What about Derek?" she asks in that innocent way that only she and Bonnie could manage, "Don't you trust us Damon?"

He says nothing. What was he supposed to say? Damon was a lot of things but he was no liar.

"Aha!" Bonnie says. She knew there was a reason why her magic was being blocked. She grabs her cell and hits speed dial number three. It rings four times before Stefan finally answers, "Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Elena answers.

"I could tell you the same thing," Bonnie says, her eyes skimming the page in her grimoir. "Can I speak to Stefan?"

Bonnie hears some ruffling noises before Stefan answers "Hello."

"Stefan," Bonnie says excited, "I found something in my book that could explain what happened yesterday."

Last night when Bonnie was supposed to contact Damon, she couldn't. Instead it was like she hit a wall, but like a bug to a fly zapper, she had been entangled in the electric charge. When she tried to reach him it was as if her mind had been held onto by some sort of force and as she was being held, she felt pain shoot all over her body. To Stefan and Meredith it looked as if she were having a seizure and to Bonnie... she had never felt such pain in her life, not even when she was stuck in The Dark Dimension and Sinichi had beat her. She would have taken that pain any day of the week compared to the pure, harsh pain that had shot through her veins last night. She fainted right afterwards and Stefan had to carry her to bed. Meredith had wanted to take her to the hospital but Stefan pointed out that mere humanity could do nothing in the face of the paranormal and Bonnie herself had insisted she was fine.

This morning when Bonnie awoke she felt sore all over and she even felt hungover, a dull ach behind her eyes, a migrane sprounting from within her brain. But when she examined herself in the mirror she found no bruises, nothing. That's when she knew it had to be wiccan related, whatever had happened to her.

"Bonnie but Damon-"

"I know you say Damon isn't fond of witchcraft but listen," Bonnie reads from her book "When using Barrier Manipulation a witch can create a force field to not only hide herself and others within the barriers but magnetize the force so the field will project magic used against it to retract and force itself unto the user. The force field can even absorb magic to become heftier or more transluscent to those on the outer barriers. In severe cases, the witch whom created the field can use her own magic to sustain those within the barrier and harm those outside the barrier walls.' See! That's what happened to me yesterday."

The other end is silent for a moment "I'll come by this afternoon." is all he says and then he hangs up.

Bonnie sets her cell down, biting her lip. Damon, she thinks, where are you?

"So what happened last night." Elena says, pushing her hairbrush down so it drags through her tangled blonde hair. She winces slightly at the tug she feels and Stefan comes up behind her. He puts his hand over her own and he mimics her action but slower and somehow Elena feels no tug, just the gentleness and warmth of Stefan's hand as he brushes over and over, until her hair is wavy and tangle free.

He releases her hand and moves swiftly past her, reaching into the bathroom cabinet. Elena watches the muscles shift within his arm as he grabs something.

"Bonnie couldn't reach Damon. She thinks another witch is blocking her." he says.

Elena frowns and Stefan begins to brush his teeth. "But I thought Damon didn't like witches- except for Bonnie, of course." She says smirking slightly.

"He doesn't." Stefan says, his brush moving in little circles and now Elena smiles a genuine smile. It was still strange to her watching Stefan doing human things, though he seemed to do them all the time every now and then Elena would remember that he was far from ordinary, even as he ironed his shirt or vacuumed the living room. Such mundane things that someone as extraordinary as Stefan shouldn't have to do and yet he did them anyways.

Now he rinses his mouth with water and sets his tooth brush down. He catches her smile and smiles back, "What are you smiling at silly girl?"

"Just my extra hunky boy friend." she says wrapping her arms over his neck. He smirks now and she pecks him on the lips, loving the warmth she felt on her mouth when she did. Even as she leaned back slightly and looked into his moss green eyes she could still feel his lips lingering, a tingle upon her lips. "And what do you think?" Elena asks and now she watches his loving expression turn into something worried.

"I don't know. Maybe your right, maybe its nothing." He sighs.

"Well its too late for that now," Elena says releasing him. "We're getting a hold of him. Whether he wants to or not."

Damon steps out into the back yard. Most vampires wouldn't be able to see the force field surrounding the house but he did. If you looked closely at the sky above every now and then a little sparkle would appear, just for a second but just a second was long enough for Damon to see it. He scowls at nothing in particular and Derek blurs in front of him. Damon rolls his eyes, "If your done showing off, could you please come help me with your sister? She's getting rather annoying."

"Please." Derek says walking past him "Like she could ever annoy you."

Damon scoffs before following him into the house once again. He was getting really tired of being in the house but it was better than being dead.

"Chloe!" Derek yells, setting down the groceries. Damon watches as Chloe herself suddenly appears before them.

"Derek you're back!" she says hugging him, though he was only gone a little over twenty hours. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry sister but Damon really dug his grave this time." Derek says and Damon flicks his tongue within his mouth. "Tell me again, what made you want to make a deal with Hannah again?"

"I told you, I didn't have a choice. It was either I work with them or they'd kill me." Damon says as he watches Derek and Chloe put the stupid food away. The house looks like any other house, all big, white on the outside and brown on the inside. The furniture is comfy in a sense and all warm colors making it seem warm and inviting. There were even kitchen appliances and a working fridge.

"So why betray them if you knew they already wanted to kill you?"

"For that exact reason. Maybeline already hates me because of what happened in the fourties-"

"You mean how you broke her heart by sleeping with her younger sister?"

"-so she would have killed me anyways, after I helped her steal her goddamn artifact. So of course I made a deal with Mary-"

"But Mary hates you because she knows what a traitor you are."

"-and that's where you come in. Get me out of this situation alive and all debts are paid."

"Right." Derek says putting the final can in the cabinet. "You just want me to betray my fellow witches so you can get what you want."

"What we want." Damon says in his suave persuasive voice. "You know if either of them succeed in bringing back the Seven Sisters, we're all dead anyways."

"I just don't get why they want to bring them back anyways. We all know that if they come back it could mean the end of the world. Why risk it?" Chloe asks all childlike and Damon smiles.

"For the same reason Derek works for them. Greed." Damon says.

"Hey," Derek says hotly "That's not true and you know it." Damon raises his eyebrows. "At least, not all right..."

"Right."

"Who are you to speak anyways? The only reason why you're in this mess is because you stole the Necklace from Maybeline in the first place and sold it to that weird gypsie."

"How was I supposed to know that necklace was worth so much? If I'd have known you think I would have sold it so cheap? Ha!"

"Why did you steal it from Maybeline if she was your girlfriend?" Chloe asks.

"Because he's a dick."

"Because" Damon says ignoring Derek, "She was going to dump me the second she found out I slept with her sister. So I left before she could and the necklace was just laying there. If I would have known it would cause so much trouble, I never would have taken the stupid thing."

"But why did you sleep with her little sister if you knew it would upset her?"

"Because he's a dick." Derek says again and Damon just shrugs.

"Where did you meet the gypsie?" Chloe now asks.

"In Germany. She told me that necklace would bring death to anyone who held it. So I compelled her to wear it."

"That's terrible!" Chloe shrieks.

"That I am. And she was right. When I took Hannah to her, Hannah killed her. But at least she died quickly. No pain." Damon says blankly. He looks up at Derek who is making something on the stove. Derek meets his eyes but says nothing.

"And then you stole it from them and gave it to Mary... does that mean she's going to die next?"

"I don't know." Damon says moving side to side I his kitchen stool. "Maybe."

"But Derek!" Chloe shrieks and Derek puts his hands on her shoulder's.

"It's ohkay Chloe, Marry can take care of herself." Derek says rubbing his sisters shoulders. He glares at Damon from above her head and Damon sneers back at him.

"Damon, why did you choose to give the necklace to Mary? Why not just get rid of it?"

"Because Mary is the only witch he knew with a coven that is bigger than Hannah's and Maybeline's. He knew he would be safe with them."

"Safe enough that they wouldn't come and find me." Damon corrects.

But if your safe with Mary then why did you call us?" Chloe now asks, tears in her eyes.

Damon leans forward and brushes the tears from her eyes, "Because I don't trust Mary to not just hand me over once she got what she wanted. But I do trust you."

Chloe smiles now and Derek frowns. "Why don't you go take a bath? Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

Chloe nods once and then she fades quickly. Damon blinks. If he hadn't seen her sitting there, it would have been like she had never been there. Not for the first time he wished he could have such a power.

"Stop pretending like we're friends Damon because we are not. You saved Chloe's life and that's why I'm here, to pay a debt. That's all. Don't get close to her, I don't want her trusting you."

Damon nods and stands, going back to the backyard. After all, who could blame him? Damon was a lot of things, one of them being a traitor.