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Attending school, Cordelia ignored Elena and noticed that Bonnie was not around and she assumed that the loss of her Grams was the reason. Sheila Bennett's funeral had been a popular one despite the town's words of her being the "Crazy Drunk" due to her witch talk but it was nice for the Bennett family to see how loved the woman truly was. Bonnie hadn't said a word to Elena or Cordelia; the blonde knew she was hurting so she let it go but Cordelia was angered by Elena who blamed the Forbes girl for it.

"Cordelia Forbes," Angela Watson spoke as she stepped up in front of the younger Forbes, Chelsea Porter standing to her left with Gina Duncan on her right. "Angela, can I help you?" Cordelia asked the brunette standing there. "Perhaps you can," Angela replied with a too-sweet smile on her face, "Can you explain to me why Damon has completely pushed me out of his life and told me to stay away?" Cordelia rolled her eyes at Angela, "Maybe because he is over you and wants better for himself." Angela's sweet façade faded away into a scowl, "Let's get one thing straight, Cordelia. There is no one better than me. He'll be craving for me sooner or later."

"Okay..." Cordelia muttered out before continuing, "Good luck with that." Cordelia moved to walk away, Chelsea grabbed her hand, "We know what you are, Cordelia. You should be more cautious as there are many people out there who will come after you." Cordelia turned to Chelsea, she felt the magic burning in the ginger's veins from her touch. "You think you're a threat?" Cordelia asked with a raised brow as someone walked up behind Cordelia, he had heard the whole conversation. "Is something wrong here ladies?" Damon questioned them, he rested his arm around Cordelia's shoulders. "Other than you ghosting me," Angela snarked as Chelsea stepped back by Angela.

"Yeah, you're too sour for me," Damon said with a smirk before leading Cordelia away, winking at Gina who blushed with a smile. "That's not going to end well, you know that right?" Cordelia forewarned Damon who shrugged. "I'll deal with it another time or she'll find someone else to annoy and harass," Damon replied to her as they headed out of the school. "You know I have my last class right," Cordelia informed Damon. "Yes but I'm moping and need my best friend to keep me in check while my little brother focuses on Elena and her parental issues," Damon expressed to Cordelia who shook her head at him but let him lead the way.

"Parental issues?" Cordelia asked, she tilted her head in confusion as she climbed into Damon's car. "She was adopted by Miranda and Grayson and on the track searching for her real parents," Damon explained to Cordelia as they drove away from the school. "Oh shit," Cordelia muttered before frowning, "Does Jeremy know?" Damon shook his head and Cordelia sighed at that, she wouldn't tell him as that was Elena's job not her own. "I hope she finds an answer about that then," Cordelia said to Damon who shrugged playing off unbothered. "Don't act like you don't care about her, Dames. I know you're practically in love with her," Cordelia teased lightly, Damon scoffed and rested his hand on Cordelia's thigh.

"You could ease my woes," Damon taunted making Cordelia laugh and shake her head. "In your dreams, Damon. You couldn't handle me," Cordelia replied as she pushed his hand off of her thigh, he laughed at her words before they fell into a peaceful silence listening to Bon Jovi from the radio. They pulled up to the Mystic Grill and headed inside, Damon spotting Alaric Saltzman sitting at the bar with a glass of bourbon in hand. "That's the target of the day," Damon told Cordelia, grabbing her hand and dragging her along with him. "He's a teacher, Damon. And a damn good one at that," Cordelia scolded, she preferred his lessons over Tanner's.

"Bourbon for me and a strawberry milkshake for the blonde," Damon requested Samuel who nodded happily, he poured a drink for Damon before moving to make Cordelia her milkshake. "Behold the teacher. Don't you have some papers to grade?" Damon asked Alaric who glanced at him for a moment. "It's, uh, more fun with a buzz," Alaric replied as he raised his glass in a cheers action before looking at Cordelia, "Hello, Miss Forbes." Cordelia grinned at the green eyed man, "Cordelia works outside of school, Mr Saltzman." Alaric nodded, "Rick is fine." Cordelia nodded back as Samuel placed her milkshake in front of her.

"Well, most things in life are. Sobers depressing," Damon responded to Alaric prior comment, Cordelia rolled her eyes at that comment. "You don't strike me as somebody who gets depressed," Alaric replied to Damon with a raised brow, a subtle knowing smirk resting on his face. "You say that like you know me," Damon stated with a hint of suspicion. "Nope. Just a hunch," Alaric replied. Damon and Alaric exchange long looks before Alaric finishes his drink and places it down down on bar, "You have a good afternoon." Damon huffed, "Not likely." Cordelia waved politely to Alaric who grinned at her sweet smile before leaving.

Not too long after Alaric left, Liz Forbes approached and kissed the top of Cordelia's head before stepping up on the other side of Damon. "Daytime drinking, huh?" Liz asked with a look while Cordelia smirked. "It's all the rage," Damon expressed as Cordelia got up to go to the toilet, Samuel taunting her for drinking her milk too fast. "Listen, I need a favour," Liz spoke up but Damon was dazed. "You ever been in love?" Damon asked her. "Excuse me?" Liz replied with confusion clear on her face. "Have you ever been so bent on someone, just to have your heart ripped out by them?" Damon asked in more detailed words.

"You forget I was married," Liz reminded him, she was glad that Cordelia had walked away to use the bathroom. "Right. Gay husband," Damon said before looking at Samuel, "She'll have what I'm having." Samuel poured Liz a drink before attending to someone else as Liz sits down next to Damon per his request. "There's a fundraiser here tonight that the Founder's Council is throwing. The town's most eligible bachelors get raffled off for dates, and, well, we're short a bachelor," Liz informed Damon as Cordelia walked back over, she snorted at the idea of Damon being one of the bachelor's. "Is this what you do when there's no, um..." Damon glanced at Cordelia before leaning closer to Liz, "Vampires? Organize bachelor raffles?"

"Oh, trust me. At this point, I miss the vampires," Liz told Damon softly as Cordelia looked at her messages from Tyler, Jeremy and Caroline. "Look, you're a hero to this town, Damon. I know most people don't know it, but you are, and you're single and a catch. Oh, come on, help me out. Carol Lockwood won't let me live it down if I come up empty-handed," Liz expressed to Damon who sighed. He smirked, "You know, a room full of women clamouring to win a date with me. Sounds tasty." Cordelia looked up at Damon and shook her head, "Men..." Damon nudged her playfully while Liz laughed. "Thank you," Liz replied to him.

"One thing. Can you get information on someone for me? Alaric Saltzman, the history teacher. There's just something a little off about him, and I just -- I just wanna make sure that the high school did their homework on this guy," Damon requested, Liz got up from the chair and processed his question. "You got it," Liz nodded before turning to Cordelia, "I won't be home for dinner. Love you." Cordelia smiled at her, "Love you too, Mom." Liz left the two and Cordelia immediately looked at Damon, "Do not do anything stupid, Damon Salvatore." Damon scoffed, "I never do anything stupid."

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Stupid, he was. During the bachelor raffle, he had taunted Alaric about essentially killing his wife which in turn upset Elena who had learned that Isobel who was married to Alaric was her birth mother. This left Cordelia in the middle of the Salvatore brothers once again as Damon holds guilt over upsetting Elena while Stefan was angry with Damon for the intent of taunting Alaric who clearly knew all about Vampires. However, Cordelia was a little distracted by the presence of Pearl who had approached her in the town square while she had been trying to take a break from the chaos of everything around her.

"Pearl. What a pleasure," Cordelia spoke as she kept her eyes on the people wandering the town completely clueless of what lurked at night. "The seal fell. Those who were trapped within the tomb now wander freely and there happens to be one who has an interest in Clara's descendant," Pearl forewarned while Cordelia sighed, she looked down realising that the one thing Sheila tried to prevent ended up happening anyway. "They need to be stopped," Cordelia replied to Pearl. "I will handle them. They deserve a chance to live but I wanted to warn you," Pearl expressed as she stood up from the bench, "I just ask that you leave my daughter be."

Cordelia stood up and turned to Pearl, "If you think those vampires will be willing to follow your lead and not slay the Founding families after their past, then you are mistaken. If any of them try to harm anyone in town, I'll burn them alive." Pearl swallowed carefully at the sight of Cordelia's white eyes before the blonde continued, "I am not Clara, Pearl. I will not tolerate any harm to my friends or family." Pearl nodded her head before she walked away while Cordelia crossed her arms and frowned, who could possibly be after her. She knew being a Starlight would have its negatives, she assumed this was it.

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"You should've been there, Cori! Mrs Donovan was so mean and she was all over Elena like she was some prized possession," Caroline whined as she paced the end of Cordelia's bed. "Okay, seriously? Kelly Donovan is a bitch to everyone and honestly, you don't need her approval. And Elena is a prized possession to everyone," Cordelia said with a slight glare, she was angry with the tomb vampires, angry with her life and family being under threat and angry that Kelly was using her dislike for their mother to ruin Caroline's self-confidence. "That doesn't help me," Caroline cried out as she looked at her sister, huffing before leaving the room.

Cordelia grabbed her jacket, keys and purse before heading out of the house towards her car. She headed straight to the Grill knowing that Matt would be working and Kelly would be at the bar somewhere considering she was an alcoholic. Cordelia approached the bar catching Samuel's attention, "Drink?" She shook her head, "I'm here to talk to Matt." Samuel pointed behind her to where Matt was talking to Elena, not too far from there was Kelly talking to Damon making the blonde roll her eyes. "Matt Donovan!" Cordelia called out despite eyes turning to her, including Kelly who glared at the blonde.

"Hey Cori, how are you?" Matt asked her. "I would be doing better if my sister wasn't constantly approaching me about her insecure feelings regarding your past relationship with Elena or the fact that your mother disrespected her and you did nothing to ease it or tell her off," Cordelia answered him ignoring Elena who seemed to lower her eyes at that, "I get it. You and Elena have a past but if you are still in love with Elena, stop stringing my sister along so she can find happiness with someone who will love her back the way she loves them." Matt was cautious, everyone knew how protective Cordelia Forbes was over her older sister.

"That's not very nice, Cordelia," Kelly spoke as she had approached, Damon lurking behind her with concerned eyes at Cordelia's uneasy stance. "Do not start with me, Kelly Donovan. You come into town whenever the hell you want and then you have the audacity to give my sister shit just because she has her life on track while you're jumping from boyfriend to low life in hopes to ease that dying spark inside," Cordelia snapped out at Kelly, "You can act like you are some high and mighty woman but at the end of the day, you're a high school drop out relying on your seventeen year old son to pay for everything and to raise you. It's not his job and attacking teenagers? Seriously, Kelly, just leave like you're going to."

Cordelia swiftly turned away from the encounter and stormed out of the Grill, she felt this strange rage through her and she couldn't seem to understand it. Half of what she said was inner thoughts that she didn't want to say but it just spilled from her lips unwillingly. "Why do I feel so angry?" Cordelia whispered to herself. "It's the mate bond," A male voice spoke as he stood in the shadow of the setting sun. "What?" Cordelia asked defensively, she turned to the man and stood ready to defend herself or run. "The Quail is marked by a Bat and a Wolf," The man spoke with a smirk, "It's not your anger... it's your bound mate and you've already started to accept the bond unknowingly... you feel his anger and he feels yours."

The man stepped out of the shadows to reveal a man with sun kissed skin and dark eyes that seemed to pierce through Cordelia's soul. "Who are you?" Cordelia asked cautiously. "My name is Omari Odeon and you are Cordelia Forbes, descendant of my sweet Clara Forbes," Omari spoke with a smirk before he sped towards the blonde with a speed faster than an average vampire. The motion made her feel sick and when she was placed down, she blinked the dizzy feeling away noticing they were now in the old cemetery. "What are you?" Cordelia asked as she stumbled to her feet. Omari turned to her, "I'm known as a Shadelight."

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Rosemary Speaks

Finally another chapter, right?

A new character; Omari Odeon played by Regé-Jean Page

What do you think will happen next?

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions?

See you in the next chapter!