(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter Nineteen

Daphne pulls her hair out of the back of her jacket as she heads towards the Grill where Bonnie is sat outside. It wasn't other intention to seek out Bonnie, but passing the Grill is on her way home. Bonnie waves and gives a small smile. She's still dealing with the witch thing. Definitely feeling like she's missed out on a lot of stuff. Daphne takes a seat across from her friend.

"Sorry," Bonnie tells her. Daphne frowns at her and tilts her head to the side.

"Why?" Daphne draws out.

"Just for the way I was with the....witch thing...It was unfair of me" Bonnie starts, Daphne shakes her head, stopping her. Bonnie has nothing to be sorry about.

"Don't" Daphne argues. "You don't need to say sorry, Bonnie...We're absolutely fine" Bonnie smiles at her and nods. "Have you seen Jeremy yet?" Daphne asks, Bonnie cocks her head and frowns.

"Not yet" She answers. "Why?"

"Oh, boy" Daphne comments. "I so wanted him to find you first" She leans forward, setting her book and Elena's necklace on the table and sighs a little. "Okay, please don't shoot the messenger, and know that I am telling you this because I find what he's done truly terrible and you deserve so much better than that fuck turd" Bonnie frowns at her, Daphne's never said a bad word about either of her siblings, ever. So it has to be bad for her to bad mouth Jeremy like this.

"Daph" Bonnie stops her and gives her a look.

"He's seeing the ghost of girlfriend past," Daphne tells her. "Anna...I caught them...making goo-goo eyes at one another" Bonnie leans back in her seat.

"What?" She asks and shakes her head. "I asked him if everything was okay...." She admits, tears gathering in her eyes. "I asked him if...If there were any side effects of him coming back. The witches warned me...." Daphne touches Bonnie's hands on the table and looks at her sadly. Part of her feels like she shouldn't have said anything, but she also knows she did the right thing. If it was her that someone was pulling this shit on, she'd want to be told. Katherine joins Daphne and Bonnie at the table outside, pretending to be Elena.

"Hey there"

"Hey" Bonnie greets, Daphne leans back in her seat as Katherine looks at her.

"Do you still have my necklace?" Katherine asks Daphne who hums and nods.

"Yeah, I haven't figured out what's going on with it yet" She admits, covering the necklace on the table.

"I know. But I just...I feel weird without it. The whole Stefan of it all"

"Well, you can wait" She argues. "Just give me tonight....and you can have it back in the morning"

"You think you can figure it out by then?" Bonnie asks.

"I just need somewhere quiet and no distractions....getting the whole ghost thing off my chest really helped..." Bonnie gives her a look. "Sorry that it came at your expense though"

"What ghost thing?" Katherine asks, Daphne frowns at her.

"The whole thing with Jeremy..." Daphne answers. Katherine frowns. "I saw Jeremy making heart eyes at his ghost girlfriend thing" Daphne adds and narrows her eyes. "We talked about this" She reminds her.

"Yeah, right, I just...thought something else might have happened...." Katherine argues, staring back at her. The two of them studying the other. Something isn't right here. Daphne can feel it. Sense it.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go home and find some quiet" Daphne offers as she stands, picking up her book and Elena's necklace, making sure that 'Elena' can see it dangling between her fingers. "I'll text you later," She tells Bonnie. "Check on you" Bonnie gives her a sad smile and nods. Daphne then walks away, heading down the street.

.......

It's a trickle that runs down her spine, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Daphne knows she is being followed. So she reaches into her sleeve and wraps her fingers around her wand. She's going to be ready for her. She has no idea what's going on, but that woman was not Elena. She figures it might be that Katherine woman that Jeremy told her about. The whole doppelgänger thing. She moves into a side alley and pulls out her wand. But before she can even think of casting a spell, her head hits the brick wall and she lets out a cry of pain because that really does hurt. She stumbles back and spins, holding her wand out in front of her, blood trickles down the side of her face.

"You really shouldn't have told me that you see dead people" Katherine comments from the shadows before she moves and hits Daphne's head against the wall harder, knocking her unconscious. Daphne falls to the ground, dropping her book, the necklace and her wand. Katherine picks up the necklace and lets it dangle from her fingers.

.........
Damon pours himself a drink as he debates with himself. To call or text Daphne for a drink. Just a drink. It's been a long day, and she's the only person he can think of that won't yell at him for his behaviour. But Alaric's voice is in his head warning him off again. Damon knows he's not exactly good guy material. He's never pretended to be. But he likes being around the girl. She's spunky and quirky and doesn't seem to take shit. She seems to get that he's a vampire and doesn't want him to act otherwise. He looks up when someone knocks on the front door. He sighs and moves to answer it. He opens the front door to find Katherine, but Damon thinks it's Elena.

"I'll accept written apologies only" He points out as he tucks away his phone. She smirks at him.

"Are you two lovebirds fighting already?"

"Katherine" He realises. "Wonderful." He rolls his eyes. "What do you want?"

"I'm just a girl looking for a partner in crime. Feel like hitting the road? Getting the hell out of dodge?"

"You have impeccable timing. I was told I need to take a beat" Damon answers.

"Is that a yes? I'll drive" Katherine asks him.

"Why not? Walls are starting to close in on me around here. Where are we going?"

"Away from here" Katherine answers with a smirk. "That's all I'm going to give you for right now. But believe me...it's good" She dangles Elena's necklace in front of him.