Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own the Vampire Diaries. :(

I would like to thank my wonderful beta speederina for using her magic of editing by turning this chapter into something great.

Enjoy!

Prologue

Elena opened the front door, relieved to find that no one was home. She closed the door and rushed upstairs. As she entered her bedroom she began to gather all of her belongings, stuffing them carelessly into a bag. As she gathered her things, she glanced down at her watch carefully and quickened her pace. Her heart was pounding faster and faster; all she wanted to do was get out of here and never come back. Twenty minutes passed and she was ready to walk out the door, but a soft voice from behind stopped her in her tracks.

"Going somewhere, Elena?"

Elena gulped, too scared to turn around, afraid of what she would see, though she already knew who it was. She clutched her bag in her hand tightly.

"I thought I wouldn't see you tonight," Elena answered, ignoring the question. She spoke with false bravado, hoping to hide her nervousness.

"Things change," he said cryptically, his voice revealing nothing. "Now, where are you off to?"

Elena did what she had to do – she lied. She hoped that he couldn't detect the lie in her voice.

"I'm staying at a friend's house tonight," she answered him, her voice filled with a confidence that was faked. Elena hoped fervently that he would believe her and wouldn't question her intentions, but luck was not on her side.

She could hear him chuckling behind her.

"That's an awful lot of things to be taking with you if you're only staying for one night."

She ignored his dry observation and turned around.

"I have to go."

She tried moving past him, but he would not move out of her way.

"It seems like you're leaving for good, Elena, now why is that?" He smiled menacingly and she shivered, trying to hide her fear.

"It's unfortunate how this situation came about, don't you think?"

He took a step forward and Elena reacted, taking a step back. She had always thought, on some degree, that she was a brave girl, that she didn't fear anything, but the way he was looking at her now proved her wrong. Oh, it had been an interesting turn of events indeed, one that Elena could never have predicted. She had never thought she would be faced with this situation. She'd trusted him and he had betrayed her in the worst possible way, filling her head up with lies that, had she been thinking clearly, she would have seen through in a second. Elena cursed herself inwardly for her naivety in this particular instance. It was all lies, lies that she had foolishly believed because she'd thought she understood him. But she had been wrong. Elena was in a tough situation and she knew that it would be difficult for her to wriggle out of it, but she had to do something.

She watched as he took another step towards her and closed the distance between them, backing her up against the wall in the corner. She observed him closely and a sad expression appeared on his face. For a second, deep inside, she saw the man she knew, instead of the horrible monster that appeared in front of her.

"I never meant for you to find out this way, Elena," he said, looking her in the eye.

Elena remained silent and took a deep breath, unsure of what his next move would be. To her surprise, his cool finger latched onto a strand of her long brown hair that was pressed against her face. She watched as he tucked the strand behind her ear, securing it in its proper place. Impulsively, Elena smacked his rough hand away from her face. She felt a wave of revulsion from his nearness; his touch sickened her.

"Don't touch me," she warned, trying to sound threatening.

Immediately Elena knew she had made the wrong move.

He grabbed her by the neck with his rough, dirty hands and slammed her against the wall. Elena's eyes widened as she struggled for breath in his tight grip. His face was an expression of pure rage as he looked down at her, leering. His nostrils flared and his eyes darkened to a sickening color that Elena had never seen before. He leaned in closer and frowned.

"Now, that wasn't nice," he cooed in a cruel parody of a child's voice.

"Stop," she protested weakly, fingers clawing desperately at his hands on her throat. "D-don't!"

His grip loosened for a moment and he looked at her as if he was taking in her appearance for the first time.

"I don't want to hurt you, Elena, but you leave me no choice."

The sound of rapid knocking at the front door startled them both. His head jerked at the sound, then his eyes snapped back to her face.

Someone was at the door.

Author's Note: I know that it's short but I promise the next chapters will be longer.