It was night time and not a single soul was awake. Well except Stefan. The brothers had put Melanie off to bed and were now in their respective rooms. Damon had drifted off to sleep but Stefan had to go on a hunt. He left after making sure everything was secure and Melanie was safe. 

A while passed. Damon was softly snoring as he had fallen asleep after weeks of horrible insomnia. All of a sudden he was roughly woken up by a blood curdling scream. He sat up in shock cursing under his breath as he fumbled out of the bed pulling his shirt on as quick as possible. 

He heard another loud scream causing him to panic because he realized it was Melanie screaming no doubt. Using his Vampire speed he rushed upstairs to her room and burst open the door to find her tossing and turning in her sleep as if she was having a nightmare. 

She had clenched her fists and was thrashing about as if someone was mercilessly beating her up while a series of no no no escaped her lips. Damon was shaken by that. He went towards the frantic girl and tried to wake her. With a jolt she sat up terrified and shaking violently with fear. 

"Don't k-kill me... please... don't," she pleaded with tears streaming down her cheeks. 

"I'm here, Princess, I'll keep you safe," he whispered softly as he pulled her close to him, "nobody's gonna kill you. I promise." 

She buried herself deeper into his arms as if afraid of leaving him and finding herself alone again. 

He kept rubbing her back soothingly, "I'm here now. No one will dare to harm you." 

It took a while for her sobs to dissolve down. But she wasn't willing to go to bed as she still clung on to him tightly. "D-Daynon, don't go...please...or she will kill me," she mumbled. 

He was confused, "who is she? Why don't you tell us who this woman is and why she has been terrorizing you so much?" 

The girl clutched his jacket tightly, "take me out of here. She knows. She will kill me. I don't wanna stay in this room any longer. Please take me out!" 

He scooped her up in his arms and carried her off to his room, "she can't come to my room, Mel. Just relax." 

She whimpered a bit, "she will kill me. She hurts me." 

He tried to console her, "it was just a dream, Melanie. She is not real." Her breathing was heavy as she sobbed out of fear and distress. Damon held her close to him. It took long for her to finally calm down. He gently squeezed her hand, "want to tell me what's wrong?" 

Her lower lip wobbled as if she was controlling the urge to break down again, "she's after me and she won't let me escape this time." 

He wiped the tear on her cheek with his finger, "but who is this she you're talking about? And why would she want to kill you?" 

The poor little girl flinched, "I don't know her name its so difficult. She's a monster. I... I saw her killing a girl... in front of my eyes. She says she'll kill me now. She says its my turn to die like that girl. She... she... she d-drinks b-blood. She's not a... a very n-nice person. She said she'd rip my heart out and chop it in pieces. She enjoys hurting me. She says it's fun for her. But it definitely isn't any fun for me. She is so... scary. I... I hate her." 

Even though she was trembling with fear still a fire was blazing in her large blue eyes. 

Damon seethed internally, "try to remember her name at least. Tell me her name and I'll make sure she no longer sees another day." She nodded with her eyes still fearful, "K-Kathy. And...and her long name...her real name ended at... at Pierce." 

The name rang a bell in his mind. Pierce. As in Katherine Pierce? But that was impossible. He lulled the child to sleep as she rested her dainty head on his chest subconsciously listening the faint sound of his heartbeat. Finally she relaxed and the tension from her features released.