Elena has faced death many times, but it has never been like this. The one that she had always loved, the one she had always thought deep down she was meant to be with, is trying to take away her life on the orders of his evil hybrid compeller Klaus. And this time, she doesn't think she'll be able to walk away with just a few cuts and bruises and a little damage in the path behind her.

Damon knows that there is a fight coming, and he's not going to be ready for it even if he has an eternit to prepare. It's one of those fights that will mess with his head and rip him apart inside until he wouldn't even mind the sweet release of death. Choosing between his brother and the girl that he loves... it means to choose between his head and his heart. And with the battle dawning upon them, the time is running out to pick sides.

No-one has ever seen the good side of Klaus, the real side. The side that doesn't try and take away innocent people's humanities and make his own kind make the most awful of decisions. It's just that those things were so awful no-one even attempted to see past them. So when he happens upon a figure from his past that he had almost forgotten in his bid not to be alone for all of forever, he thinks that maybe this one will be different. Will it?

These three people are bound together by many different evils, but only one of them has the power to break it all apart and make them free. Will that person realise their wrongs and set them right in time to save them all from a horrible fate?

Preface

Three seconds left on the scoreboard clock. Three seconds until I died, until my life was taken away by the last person I would have ever thought.

Two, one...

"Elena, run!" Stefan roared, throwing himself at the bleachers, cups scattering in his path. "Get out of here, now!"

I ran as fast as I could, my feet tripping over nothing, my body throwing itself through doors. Stefan wasn't far behind. I could here the lockers denting as his superhuman body threw itself at them, the door breaking off their hinges as he pushed them out of the way. He let a hiss escape his predators teeth, and his eyes were all pupil, with an evil glare.

He was going to catch me...

I opened the first door in sight and barricaded it with a desk. The slightest flick of Stefan's hands could have crushed it, but I had to try. I took another desk and stomped on it, a makeshift stake in my hands when I turned around. And my heart stopped, and fear rushed through my veins.

"We've gotta stop meeting like this." Klaus smiled, seeming amused at the stake.

"Klaus-"

"Be quiet, Elena. Stefan might find you."

He was mocking me. He was trapping me with an arm as strong as steel, laughing at my own stupidity.

I could still hear Stefan, breathing heavily on the other side of the door, seeming to be trying with all his might not to break through it.

"Let me out, Klaus." I said through gritted teeth. I clawed at his arm, but if anything, he seemed to be keeping a tighter grip.

"Be a dear and stand still for one second, would you?"

He was staring into my eyes, and I felt my grip on reality slip away. Stand still . I must stand still...

"Stefan..." He called.

And the door broke down.

One last gaze into his eyes was all I had time for, because a half second later, I was lying on the ground.

"Dead."