Author's note: Sometimes plot bunnies are a blessing and a curse. I hope y'all enjoy this new story from me...because it totally won't leave my head. I imagine that this will be somewhat canon - some places following closer and occasionally just my own view of what the supernatural world of TVD entails.

As always when I'm working on a more "canon" tale, you're going to have to hang with me till the end - because we have a bumpy journey ahead of us.

This chapter isn't really a chapter - just a prologue to set up exactly where we are in the TVD world. I hope to have the first real chapter (of this pretty short story) up by Tuesday.

Hope y'all enjoy the ride!

Warnings: Mature - adult content, language, violence, character death

I don't own TVD - merely the plot is mine.

The bright afternoon sunshine glistened through the crystal glass and made the bourbon appear weaker than it actually was. Of course, since Damon had already finished up his best stock and had moved on to the leftover alcohol one of the teenagers had attempted to sneak into the boardinghouse during Elena's miserable attempt at a birthday party, he likely wouldn't have noticed if he'd been drinking rubbing alcohol at this point.

"I thought you'd moved past day drinking...become the better man and everything." Stefan's condescending laugh echoed into the room behind him. Since his return to Mystic Falls, he'd spent most of his evenings sleeping on a threadbare mattress in the long-abandoned witch house. Now, though, since Bonnie had given up the whereabouts of the coffins, Stefan had become something of a ghost haunting the boardinghouse - apparently calling it home, but never able to be found on any type of predictable schedule.

Damon gripped his glass and tried to avoid shattering it in his hands. He'd lost enough glasses over the past few months, and this one happened to be a favorite of his. Slowly, he turned to face his brother and frowned at Stefan's obvious lack of control. "You're still wearing your lunch." Damon nodded to a series of red stains dotting Stefan's charcoal shirt. "Please tell me you drove out of town. Was she still breathing when you left her?"

"Two hours away- just like you requested. I do have some control, brother. You should have come with me. The sorority girls were very accommodating. A lovely redhead even volunteered to give me a private tour of the college's original buildings." The corner of one lip turned up in an attempt at a grin. "I'm not really sure if she was still breathing, but she didn't seem to mind." He looked down and tugged at his collar. "Guess I should go change. Can't go see Elena like this." At the sound of her name, Damon's attention was immediately fixed on Stefan's words. "Klaus really got to you, didn't he?" Stefan gave a low laugh. "I can't believe you fell for that story. You weren't really going to agree to his deal, were you? I mean...I know you deserted during the war - but to give Elena up that easily..."

"I wasn't planning to make the deal with him. I knew what Elijah had done. We were just waiting for the Brady Bunch to reunite."

"And you didn't tell me."

Damon took a last gulp of his drink. "I don't trust you."

Stefan walked to the cabinet and pushed the empty bottles aside in an futile attempt to find one still full. "I'll just have to see if Ric has anything over at Elena's."

"And why are you going to Elena's?" Damon raised one eyebrow in question.

"Didn't I tell you? She called this morning." Stefan began to unbutton his shirt as he walked out of the room.

"You answered my phone?"

Stefan's smile widened. "I told her you were busy." He pulled his shirt over his head as he walked toward the stairway. "Too bad. She sounded upset."

Damon pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the call history. There it was. He'd received a call from Elena almost nine hours earlier. He wondered why she hadn't called him back, but then he remembered rejecting the call from her late last night. When he'd spoken to Ric at the impromptu Founder's Council meeting Liz called to discuss the unknown threat to the members, he'd learned about the drastic course of action Elena had to take in order to save her guardian's life.

And he'd been stuck dealing with the coffin mess his brother had caused... He quickly keyed in her phone number and hoped she'd choose to answer.

Elena sat hunched over the kitchen table as Damon rounded the newest stain in the midst of the hardwood kitchen floor. He hadn't had a chance to come by the Gilbert house since he and Stefan's disastrous meeting with the newly reunited Original family the night before, but Alaric's description didn't do the condition of the house justice - and this was after Matt and Elena had apparently stayed up all night repairing the damage caused by the unwelcome visitor.

As he'd spoken with a still-surprisingly-shaky Elena over the phone just minutes earlier, she'd assured him she was fine.

That should have been his first clue just how wrong everything was.

Shadows of bloody hand prints climbed the stairwell, and more than one picture was missing. Sparkly shards of glass glistened as he'd walked past - hinting at shattered pictures. Alaric had put up a hell of a fight, and yet he had no clue as to who or what attacked him. Damon mentally calculated how much paint it would take to completely cover the damaged walls and realized he knew what he'd be doing for the better part of the next day.

But that wasn't why he was here.

"I'm glad it wasn't an emergency. Took you long enough." Elena didn't look up from the ivory parchment folded in front of her. Her side ponytail drooped sadly over her shoulder. Her hair combined with the black sweater she wore was oddly reminiscent of her appearance at Jenna's funeral. Damon hoped it was a coincidence and not a signal of Elena's present state of mind.

Damon pursed his lips and hesitated. "I didn't get your message." The front door creaked open, and he watched Elena visibly tense at whoever was coming in to the room. She only marginally relaxed when Stefan walked through the door.

"Thanks for nothing." Elena's eyes cut to Stefan's attempt at a smile.

He ignored her words and glared at his brother. "You didn't wait for me." He sauntered slowly around the table and leaned with his back against the breakfast bar.

Damon shook his head as he reached for the letter on the table in front of Elena. "I didn't know you were invited." He began to scan the letter and his brow did its best impression of Stefan back in bunny-eating days.

"Don't talk about invitations." Elena shifted forward and held her forehead in her hand.

Miss Elena Gilbert and guest

Your presence is requested at a housewarming ball.

Friday, December 22

7:00 pm

In a fine script on the back of the invitation, someone had penned an addendum. No need to R.S.V.P. - not attending could be detrimental to your health.

"You're not really thinking of going?" Stefan pulled the heavy paper from his brother's hand.

"I don't think I have much of a choice in the matter." Elena let out a long breath as she looked down and traced the pattern of the wood with her fingertip. "What else is new?" Damon eyed her with suspicion. He hadn't seen this defeated side of Elena in recent weeks - not since she'd gotten so angry she'd staked Stefan in the stomach after he taunted her for still having some faith in him.

"Well, we know who you'll be taking." Stefan stepped forward and tossed the invitation back down on the table in front of her.

"Yes we do." She spun in her chair and looked back at Damon. "I assume you have a tux."

The corner of Damon's lip turned up in the barest hint of a grin. There was the Elena he'd come to know over the past few months. "I do."