Damon entered the house to be greeted by Melanie in a dull mood. 

"Hey, why do you look like the cat stole your cheese?" he asked playfully. 

She groaned, "I'm so done. This crazy town is gonna have a ball. A masquerade to be precise. And Kenny's too excited that she won't leave me until I help her find the perfect dress along with the mask." 

Enzo came up behind, "masquerades aren't that bad. Considering I haven't been to any in my whole life." 

She looked surprised, "well how old are you?" 

He smirked, "almost 140 years old. The first 27 were completely nonsense and most of the part I was experimented like a poor frog in a biology lab." 

She shrugged, "well that figures." 

Damon spoke, "and does that mean I have to accompany you to this masquerade something?" 

She rolled her eyes, "absolutely. All of you are invited. However if you don't want to accompany me and take any other chick instead then I'm perfectly fine with it. Enzo can take me or else I'll see to it that Kenny arranges an escort. I don't even need to see to it though. She's already lined up a lot of nobodies." 

His eyes flared, "you're not going with anyone else." 

Enzo laughed, "there goes his elder brother possessive thingy." 

He resumed, "you'll go to the ball with me. Nobody else. Understand?" 

She laughed, "oh come on, Damon, do you really think I want to even go there in the first place?" 

Enzo offered, "and yes the idea of me taking her wasn't that bad." 

Damon glared, "no I think I'll take her myself." 

She laughed again, "Damon chill we're just kidding, you know. I wasn't serious about Enzo taking me or all that Kenny business." 

He raised an eyebrow skeptically at her and then said, "good." 

She spoke as if wondering on something, "Damon how would you react if I had a boyfriend?" 

Damon nearly choked, "what... the... hell?" 

Enzo leaned back in the chair quite amused by the proceedings. 

"I mean you don't have to worry because I don't have any right now. I was just wondering if I had one, then?" Melanie elaborated. 

"Uh... Now that's a tricky question," he replied with his finger under his chin in a thoughtful expression, "I don't really know. I could always kill him if he did anything inconsiderate. But if it really was a sweet lovey dovey kind of thing between you two then...I don't know. I think killing him ASAP is the best option. Besides all this boyfriend girlfriend thing is plain useless. Worth nothing." 

She nodded, "okay then what do you have to say about you and Maria, Jessica, Rachel and so on and so on?" 

Enzo burst out laughing, "good one." 

Damon gave both of them a glare, "they are not my girlfriends." 

She shrugged, "I didn't actually say they were." 

Enzo remarked, "and when I asked you what has been up with you lately you didn't quite mention the ladies. Looks like a lot more happened than what you already told me." 

Damon spoke, "shut up." 

He pretended to seal his mouth and Melanie laughed, "its okay Damon. I'm not going to tell Enzo about the Emily girl who I caught in your room searching for I-don't-know-what. Oops looks like I did." 

Damon grabbed her arm and pinned it on her back, "aren't you taking a lot of liberties today?" 

She squealed, "ow Damon stop!" 

He smirked, "and in case you've noticed, you're going to pay for it." 

She asked still laughing, "and how exactly are you gonna make me pay?" 

He was about to tell her when her phone rang. "Now of all times," he muttered. 

She wriggled her arm free of his grip still laughing, "think of the punishment and tell me later. For now I think handling Kenny's masquerade crisis is punishment enough." She took the phone to her room chatting with her friend. 

"So who was that Emily?" Enzo asked teasingly. 

Damon glared at him, "none of anyone's business. Not even mine." 

He insisted, "keeping secrets, are you, now?" 

He sighed, "fine... She was just some random girl who wouldn't spare me. So I decided that I couldn't possibly deny such a willing blood donor, if you know what I mean. And that part was awkward when Mel found out about her." 

Enzo was amused, "how did she react?" 

Damon rolled his eyes, "ask her yourself. I wasn't actually present to hear the interesting conversation they had. Thanks to her I never saw that girl again."

It was the next morning; the day of the Masquerade. Melanie was still sound asleep with all the curtains drawn in her room to shut out the sunlight. She had always been a heavy sleeper and hated the sun when it came up in the morning so she had persuaded Damon into arranging thick black curtains for her room just like the pair he had in his own room. 

Like always she was softly snoring hugging the pillow tightly. She felt someone poke her and she turned around mumbling incoherent words in her sleep. However she felt something beside her and was slightly alarmed so she peeled open one eye looking for the cause of inconvenience and found Damon half lying beside her fully dressed even with his shoes on her bed. 

"Get yer shoes off me bed, Damon," she grumbled closing her eyes and going back to sleep. He chuckled at her sleepiness and she mumbled, "get out of my room. Why are you here? Lemme sleep." 

He spoke, "I thought of your punishment." 

She only grumbled in reply. After a few seconds, an ear splitting horn broke the silence. 

GONG!!! 

Melanie sat up on the bed startled screaming her head off, "bloody murder! Call the cops!" 

Damon collapsed laughing loudly. Finally she gained her senses and looked at him suffering from hysterical laughing fits, "That was... Haha... Even better... than I expected!" 

She narrowed her eyes at him realizing that he was the cause of the morning disturbances, "what the hell was that?" 

He replied still laughing hard, "your punishment. An air horn." 

She sighed in defeat, "this was the worst punishment ever." 

He raised an eyebrow, "honestly? I thought when I had thrown you in the cold water lake last year was the worst for you. Or perhaps when I had thrown you in the sea." 

She muttered, "I nearly drowned both of the times. And have you forgotten that I caught a cold because you threw me in that lake? Scared the crap out of you, didn't it?" 

He smirked, "don't say it wasn't fun. And logically you had no chance of drowning since I always fished you out way before that. As for the cold, I did look after you for two weeks afterwards. Nasty, good thing we can't catch any diseases being half dead as we already are." 

She rubbed her eyes and stretched, "so why did you wake me up so early?" 

He replied, "because today's the big day. The Masquerade Day." 

She slapped her palm on her head, "darn. I so want to disappear today." 

He shrugged, "look at the bright side, Mel. You get to have the most dashing and chivalrous escort in the whole world. And any other girl would kill to get the golden opportunity." 

She sighed, "considering that the most dashing and chivalrous escort is actually my brother." 

He laughed, "so what? Makes the fun double." 

She spoke, "you know what, this is a Ball. And if I take my own brother as an escort then I'm probably not going to hear the end of it from Kenny and the others." 

He raised an eyebrow, "are you suggesting that you want to take anyone else as an escort?" 

She sighed, "not exactly." 

He rolled his eyes, "okay then, I understand. You can go with Enzo. But nobody else, keep that in mind." 

She was a bit surprised at how he gave in so easily, "why Enzo?" 

Damon smirked and began counting the reasons on his fingers, "because: a) He's my friend and I know him. b) He can be trusted with you. c) He treats you just like I do; like a baby sister or a daughter or whatever. And d) I'm still not going to leave you both and will be stuck up with you till the night ends. I know he won't mind it." 

She smiled, "you really have thought a lot on it." 

He flashed her another smirk, "absolutely. Any responsible elder brother considers it his duty to ensure that the little sister stays far from trouble." 

She nodded, "fine I get it. Now am I going to get any breakfast or not?" 

He spoke, "not. Go make it yourself." 

She widened her eyes giving him the innocent puss in boots eyes, "pretty please Damon? With cherries on the top?" 

He laughed, "stop being cute. Come down in five minutes or your breakfast will get cold waiting for you."

"Yeah I get it, Kenny," Melanie spoke on the phone while fastening the black watch on her wrist, "I told you I'll be there. Yeah yeah I have an escort, don't worry. No I'll tell you about it later." 

She hung up the call and sighed wearily. She was dressed in her purple mermaid gown with a silk sash tied around it and standing before the mirror viewing the final outcome of her apparel. She had let down her hair and they cascaded to her waist in elegant blonde curls. 

She noticed Damon was standing behind her as she caught his reflection in the mirror. "Hey, when did you come?" Melanie asked smiling at him as she picked up her necklace from the dressing table. 

"Let me help," he replied taking the alexandrite necklace and fastened it round her slim white throat. 

"Thanks." 

He was dressed too in his suit. She leaned back a little as if analyzing his appearance, "Damon I think there's something missing." 

He raised an eyebrow, "what?" 

She spoke, "where's your bow tie?" 

He shrugged, "I didn't feel like wearing it." 

She dragged him to his room, fetched a black silk tie and tied it round his collar. While her deft fingers worked on tying the knot making the bow, he was unusually silent. 

She looked up, "there. Now you look like a perfect gentleman." Observing his silence, she asked, "what's the matter? What are you looking at?" 

He shook his head, "nothing. Just wondering how much you've grown since the past years." 

She laughed and stood in front of him, "well then, how do I look?" 

He smiled, "beautiful." He couldn't overlook the fact that she looked exactly like Arianna but he decided to keep it to himself, "Enzo will be here any moment. And then we'll get this over with."

There were a lot of people present at the masquerade. All that could be seen were elaborately dressed people in expensive masks. Melanie entered with her arm linked through Enzo's as per the tradition. Damon was on her other side. 

She was definitely feeling awkward and had noticed Damon's stiffness. She looked up at Damon and as he sensed what she was about to say he straightened and offered her his arm to which she linked her other free hand and gave him a slight smile. He returned the gesture.

Everything proceeded normally. Melanie met her friends and introduced them to Enzo and vice versa. Enzo asked her for a dance after obtaining permission from Damon and led her to the dance floor. A lot of couples were already there. 

"I don't know about you but it all feels so awkward," she whispered to him. 

He laughed, "relax everything's gonna be fine." 

Throughout the dance they kept up a light conversation. "Enzo," she spoke all of a sudden, "why were you staring at me when you came to our house today?" 

He shook his head, "you look a lot like your mother. I thought it was Arianna not you when I saw you descending the stairs." 

She nodded, "did you like her?" 

A ghost of a smile passed his face, "of course. She was very likeable. She had a kind heart and a will to fight against wrong. I loved that in her." 

She looked as if wondering, "did Damon like her too?" 

Enzo was surprised at her question, "he did. In fact I could go as far as to say that he might have loved her." 

She was astounded, "are you sure?" 

He nodded, "Damon would never help anyone without any benefit of his own. But with her he was always selfless. That's why he told her to leave. Knowing Damon, he can be selfish most of the time but not with the ones he loves. For instance he would never be selfish with you." 

As if Enzo had suddenly remembered something, he asked, "what did you do to Emily?" 

A blank expression crossed her face but soon she got his meaning and laughed, "well... She was in Damon's room and I thought she was stealing so I threatened her that I'll call the cops. I was a lot more dramatic back then. It was funny. And when she said that she was his girlfriend and asked me where he was, I told her that he's my father and had gone to bring mother home from my Granny's. The shocked expression on her face was priceless." 

Enzo laughed too, "I can imagine that." 

After the drinks were served and the food set up, the three of them were in a corner. Melanie told Damon that she was going over to the drinks section to refill her lemonade. Of course Damon had restricted her to drink only juices or lemonades since she was underage for any alcohol. 

She walked over to the drinks section and filled her glass. But as she turned around she was face to face with a woman in a black dress and matching mask who was smirking at her. 

Something about her was disturbing to Melanie. She seemed unnervingly familiar but she couldn't guess due to the mask covering most of her face. The masked woman blocked her path as she was about to leave. 

Grabbing the strawberry from the salad plate, the woman placed it in her mouth still not breaking eye contact with Melanie.

"Excuse me," Melanie spoke as she tried to shove past her but she grabbed her wrist almost painfully. She flinched at the unnatural strength possessed by the mysterious woman. 

"What's the hurry, sweetheart? We just met after so long," she removed the mask from her face and as Melanie saw her, she stumbled back in fear, "Katherine Pierce. Remember, we used to have such good relations about 13 years ago." 

Melanie tried to quieten the fire blazing inside her at seeing the woman who used to torture her when she was a kid, who was the reason of her mother's death and who had been the occupant of her nightmares. 

"Let me go," she spoke through gritted teeth. 

"Aw, poor little Mel is so scared!" Katherine was still smirking hinting that there was something dangerous going on in her mind, "I can't let you go just now. Sorry." 

She looked around to see if Damon or Enzo were anywhere near so she could call them for help but Katherine pushed her further back in the shadows so that no one could come to them. "No one is going to help you," she sneered, "I used to miss torturing you and now that I've gotten the chance, I won't possibly let it slip through my fingers." 

Melanie tried to break her powerful hold but couldn't. Katherine had a bottle in her hand filled with a shiny silver liquid which she forcefully tipped down Melanie's throat while holding her mouth to keep it open. 

Melanie coughed and sputtered but she didn't let go and forced her to drink the liquid. As the liquid went down her throat, a burning sensation erupted and it felt as if a fire was raging down her system. Melanie felt weak and collapsed. 

Katherine bent down and whispered so that only she could hear, "I knew it. Vervain is poisonous to you too just like it is to us vampires. But I'll tell you the reason some other time. Enjoy the Ball, sweetheart."

A while passed but she didn't return and it made both Damon and Enzo anxious. They went to look for her and reached the drinks section to find her sprawled on the floor clutching her throat and coughing. It stunned Damon and both rushed towards her. Enzo supported her but she did not let go of her throat. 

"What happened?" Damon asked with his eyes blazing furiously. 

She choked, "K-Katherine." 

Damon left Enzo with her and rushed in the direction she had pointed to. He caught sight of the culprit in a short black dress and black mask as she disappeared behind the crowds. 

He knew she was Katherine, after all that he had been through he could not mistake her for anyone else. Even with the mask, he knew she was Katherine Pierce, the woman who had tried to hurt his Melanie. 

He followed her and soon grabbed her by the throat pushing her inside an empty room and held her up against the wall. He had grabbed a knife from a table and was pointing it straight at her. 

"Hello to you too Damon," she smirked, "what a pleasant surprise." 

He threatened, "I swear I'll kill you if anything happens to my Melanie." 

She shook her head laughing bitterly, "nice way to greet the love of your life after so long. I was expecting something frivolous like a good-to-see-you-again dinner but here you are threatening me because I messed around with a poor scrawny kid who happens to be your Melanie." 

He glared at her, "shut up. What the hell did you do to her?" 

She rolled her eyes, "chill Damon, she'll live. I wasn't in the mood to kill her anyway." He raised the knife to strike so she added, "it was just a tiny bottle of vervain." 

He roared, "WHY?" 

She shrugged, "I was bored. And she has always been fun to torture. I thought I would like to see her reaction if she felt the vervain tearing her insides. That's all." 

He couldn't get one thing though; why would Melanie get affected by vervain because as far as he knew she was a human and vervain was harmless to humans. But he was angry at her all the same, "you tortured her and she didn't even deserve it. She was just a kid and you made her life a living hell. And I swear, Katherine, I'm going to make you regret it." 

She laughed, "look who's saying this? Damon Salvatore, huh? If you think I'm the only person to be blamed for doing wrong to poor dear Melanie, think again. You started it. And I just took it up as a continuation." 

His eyes sparked, "I DID NOT!" 

She shook her head dismissively, "yes you did. If you hadn't left Arianna, she wouldn't have come to me asking for refuge and I wouldn't be here facing you at this moment." 

The knife almost dropped from his hand in shock, "you... liar!" 

She laughed, "take it easy, Damon. Why would I lie to you? There's no possible benefit for me in doing that either way. Why do you think that the vervain affected her, why do you think she never stays out in the sun for long and last but not least why do you think that she's got your eyes? Hadn't you ever noticed? God, when did you get so stupid?" 

He was seething in anger, "she is not that hybrid child." 

Katherine easily stepped past him, "have a great day figuring that out, Damon. See you soon." 

He was shocked. He was pained. But most of all, he was anxious. He had to get to Melanie quick and he had to make sure she was okay. As for Katherine... He decided to deal with her later.