This is a very Blaze-centric chapter. She's confused about Connor and the vampires, and she's trying to stay alive now that her cover's been blown. Lot's of wavering, angst, you know... typical vampire-hunting girl emotions. ;)

Keep in mind that I've only seen up to 4x02. None of the events follow what happen after that episode. So… that thing Connor does to Tyler in tonight's episode does NOT happen in this story. :-/ Hope you still enjoy!

Chapter 7: The Inner Fire

Blaze suddenly found herself confined to her home. And when she had to go out she was constantly looking over her shoulder for vampires. Now that Connor had abandoned her, she had a huge target on her back. But she was a fighter, she'd never given up. Not since the time she saw her first vampire…

Eight years before:

Bailey had gotten into her father's tools. She knew he'd be mad, but she wanted to make something for Ben McKittrick's birthday. She thought he was so cute, even though he thought Bailey was weird. A knock on the door interrupted her reverie.

"Can I help you?" Bailey gulped awkwardly at a man staring at her with… hunger?

"Please, can I come in?" The man stood inches from the door, making the twelve year old nervous.

"I don't know, can you?" Bailey raised an eyebrow like a typical preteen. While the other kids had been learning about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, Bailey had been taught about vampires and their history in Mystic Falls. She was no fool.

"Invite me in." The man pounded against the door frame and growled, the veins creeping around his eyes.

"Wow, you look like a drug addict. Let me get you some coffee." Bailey sighed absentmindedly. If the vampire was smart, he would bolt. Leaving the door open, she ran to the bathroom adjacent to the kitchen and filled a mug with nail polish remover. Then she grabbed the small torch from her dad's tools and stuck it in her back pocket.

She pretended to trip just before reaching the front door, and the mug's contents splashed all over the man.

"What the hell? This isn't coffee."

"I know." Then Bailey pulled out the torch, lighting the man on fire.

She watched him writhe around and scream as he perished before her eyes. Her innocence, if she'd ever had any, dwindled with each of the man's screams. Ben's birthday suddenly didn't seem so important…

Blaze blinked, dazed from the memory. Ever since that day she'd trained with her father to hunt and kill vampires. He called her 'his little Blaze', and the nickname just stuck. It was her calling.

But now she found herself with no one to turn to. A honed weapon with the wrecked emotions of a child. She was broken.

The next night Blaze crept through the town stealthily. She'd needed fresh air but didn't want to risk being spotted by a vampire. She'd even exited through the window, just in case someone was watching the house.

It was another of Blaze's talents, becoming invisible when she didn't want to be seen. And she'd spent years not wanting to be seen. So she stuck to the darker parts of the town, avoiding street lights and restaurants. She'd neared the city square when she heard an all too familiar snarky voice in her hearing amplifiers.

"Oh please, Stefan. The solution is obvious. Kill Blaze. Kill Connor. Go out for drinks. I don't see why that's so hard for you to wrap your mind around."

"She didn't kill me, Damon. She took down an Original. She took out Tyler. She would've killed Caroline if Klaus hadn't shown up, but for some reason she let me live. There's good in her."

"That's great. So you can give the eulogy at her funeral… Be serious, Stefan."

"Damon, listen to me. If we can persuade her to help us, then she can help us get Tyler and Rebekah back."

"She thinks vampires killed the council, Stefan. Trust me, there's no coming back from that."

Blaze spied a glint in Damon's eyes that confused her. She realized he was suffering an extraordinary amount of pain, hiding it beneath a façade of arrogance, and for the tiniest moment… she pitied him.

"Damon, don't do anything you'll regret later."

"Oh, I won't, Stefan."

"Damon…" but his brother was already gone.

Blaze shuddered silently as Damon vanished. Enough adventure. It was time to go home. And if Damon was there, she'd probably just syringe him the way she had with Caroline and Stefan.

Blaze only had two houses to go when she heard Damon's taunting shouts.

"Come on out, Blaze. I know you're in there."

An irrational wave of anger suddenly festered beneath her skin. Man, she had aggression issues… Vampires, Vampires, Vampires. They were everywhere. The rage set fire to her mind, and Blaze tugged at her sleeve restlessly. She didn't just want to kill him; she wanted to torture him. But before she could step into the light a shot rang out, piercing Damon in the shoulder with a vervain laced bullet.

Connor.

Connor ran up and began to tie up the vampire when Damon grabbed his neck with his left arm.

"I've been building up tolerance to vervain for a year now," Damon spat hoarsely. And I'm going to enjoy seeing you die. The veins crept around his eyes, but an unexpected sharp pain in his back brought him back to reality.

"Try handling that much vervain." Blaze's eyes burned.

Damon coughed and moaned in agony as Blaze tied him up with the rope that singed his skin.

Connor appraised the girl with narrowed eyes. "You know, I think you and I may have gotten off on the wrong foot."

"No…" Blaze faked a smile as she finished tying up the Salvatore. "You're just a chauvinistic jerk who needed to be put in his place."

Connor grabbed Blaze's chin softly, moving in for a kiss, but Blaze smacked his hand away.

"I'm so over that," she rolled her eyes. "Let's just stick to business."

"Just business," Connor nodded.

"So are you going to stake him?" Blaze peered apathetically at Damon.

"No." Connor puckered his lips slightly. "We're going to use him to lure the others."

Blaze nodded blankly. In saving Connor's life she'd proven her resolve, but somehow it made her feel numb inside.

"I've got a new target for you. One of the Original Family. " Connor raised his eyebrows significantly. "Can you handle that?"

Her insides trembled, but not with fear. "Absolutely."

Oh no! So is her new target Elijah? Klaus? Or maybe Kol? I'll give you a spoiler, one of them DEFINITELY gets captured in the next chapter. I hope you liked! Thanks for reading, and Please Review!

-Viola