Author's Note:

This is my first time using this site, so please forgive any formatting errors. This story is set sometime in or after season 2 (written starting in mid-season 2). The plot is generally independent of the show, but the characters are obviously based on where they are on the show. I hope you enjoy it!

This story is rated M mostly out of paranoia, but there is some violence and language. There will also be a bit of smut in later chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with The Vampire Diaries, unfortunately.

Chapter 1

Elena put down the knife she was using to chop onions and glared at Damon. "Why are you cooking dinner again, anyway?"

He gave her a cocky smile. "My cooking is better than Jenna's?"

Elena sighed, forced to admit that he had a point. "Can't argue with you there." Since she couldn't stop Damon from showing up for family night – and if she were honest with herself, she no longer really wanted to – she might as well benefit from his excellent cooking skills.

The doorbell rang, and Elena frowned. Jenna and Ric weren't due to arrive for a while, and she also wasn't expecting Stefan that early. Stefan was invariably late for family night, although he always had a valid reason. "I wonder who that could be?" She wiped her hands and headed for the front door.

Elena opened the door to see a strange woman and three strange men. The woman was taller than Elena and older, perhaps in her forties. She had dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she was wearing a trench coat. "Elena Gilbert?" she asked.

"Yes. Can I help you?"

Without another word, the woman pulled a gun. Elena never knew whether Damon had heard her sudden intake of breath or even the sound of the gun leaving the holster, but he was there in front of her in an instant. Just as quickly, however, the woman fired three times in quick succession, and before Elena could even react, Damon was crumpling to the ground at her feet.

Elena could only stare as Damon struggled to hold onto consciousness, but the woman stepped into the house without an invitation. "Damon Salvatore," she said with a cruel smile. "You've become very predictable, you know?" She pulled something from a pocket and knelt quickly by Damon's prone form. It was a syringe, and she quickly pressed its contents into Damon's shoulder. Elena watched in horror as her friend went limp, collapsing into unconsciousness.

"What's going on down here?" Jeremy's voice intruded from the top of the stairs. He had been in his room, Elena realized suddenly, and he must have heard the shots fired. Oh God, fired into Damon.

Both Elena and the woman looked up at Jeremy. "You must be Jeremy," the woman said coldly. She pointed her gun at him. "Come downstairs quietly. This gun is loaded with wooden bullets for taking down vampires, but they work just fine on humans, too."

"What are you going to do with him?" Elena asked, gesturing at Damon's body. Her stomach was balled up into a knot of terror at his utter helplessness as he lay there unconscious. She realized how much she had come to count on Damon – even more than Stefan – being there to stand between her and all the dangers that had invaded her life. And now Jeremy was in danger, too, and Damon couldn't help either of them. She knew that she was shaking.

"Oh, I'm going to kill him." The strange woman looked up at Elena and smiled coldly at her horror. "But don't worry. I'm not going to do it on your floor. I've just given him a little vervain since it's a lot easier to kidnap an unconscious vampire. In fact, all three of you will be coming with us now, and quietly."

At her words, one of the men grabbed Elena by the arm as another pulled Jeremy down the stairs. Elena struggled futilely as he brought a cloth up to her mouth, and then the world went black as she faded into unconsciousness.

•••••

Caroline marched determinedly up the walkway to Elena's front door. She fully intended to twist Elena's arm until she agreed to help with decorations for the next school dance. The student council was just not cutting it as planners. She hadn't decided yet whether to also wrangle herself an invitation to dinner. Her mom was working as usual and Bonnie and Tyler were busy, so Caroline was looking at an evening with a frozen dinner unless she decided that she could tolerate Damon's presence as a trade-off for enjoying his cooking.

She knocked loudly on the door. "Elena?" No answer, and she didn't hear anything inside the house except the annoying, repetitive music of a video game that she thought was coming from Jeremy's room. Impatient, Caroline tried the door and found it unlocked.

"Elena, your door's open." Caroline opened the door and froze. There was blood on the floor in front of the door, although it didn't smell like human blood. Wary now, Caroline extended her vampire hearing. Still nothing except the music from upstairs. No heartbeats.

Moving cautiously, Caroline continued into the house. Damon's leather jacket was hanging neatly over the back of a chair, and Elena's phone was sitting on the table. In the kitchen, there were piles of both cut and uncut vegetables on the island, and even a pot cooking on the stove. It was like her friends had disappeared without a trace. Frightened now, Caroline turned off the stove, then whirled around as she heard footsteps coming up the front walkway. She heard the footsteps slow as they approached the door that she had left open.

"Elena? Why is the door open?" Caroline felt a wave of relief wash over her. It was Stefan's voice.

She hurried back into the entryway. "Stefan? I just got here, and . . . there's nobody here and there's blood and I don't know what to do."

Stefan entered the house cautiously. "It's okay, Caroline."

Caroline tried to sound reassuring. "I don't think it's Elena's blood, Stefan. It doesn't smell human to me. Or . . . make me as hungry as usual."

Stefan knelt down by the stain of blood. "No, it's not human blood. It's vampire. Damon's, I think."

"Damon's?" Somehow, Caroline didn't find that reassuring. "Stefan, it's like they just abandoned the kitchen in the middle of cooking dinner. And that annoying video game upstairs has been stuck on the same thing since I got here – I think it got Jeremy, too." Something bad had definitely happened to her friends. Caroline was sure of it. She looked around the entryway again, seeing no damage to any of the furniture, nothing out of place. Whatever had taken her friends had either been strong enough to take Damon out without much of a fight or smart enough to get the jump on him completely. She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down.

"We'll find them, Caroline." Stefan stood up to continue his own investigation of the house. "Jenna and Alaric will be here soon. Can you compel her? Tell her. . . ." He hesitated, unable to think of a good cover story. "Tell her family night was canceled. She's cooking for Alaric. We can fill him in on what little we know. Elena and Jeremy will be okay." His voice trailed off uncertainly, and Caroline knew he was just as worried as she was.