Buzzz...buzzzz...buzzz...

Desperately, the doppelganger's hands dug through the pockets of her discarded jeans. A smile graced her soft lips when her slender fingers wrapped around her cellphone as it continued to buzz and vibrate against the palm of her hand. Pulling it free, she brought it up to her ear. "Hello?" She sounded winded, breathless from the exertion of having to scour through the overflowing hamper to answer her misplaced phone in time.

"Elena? Are you okay?" It was difficult not to shake her head at the sound of Stefan's voice. It was evident in his tone that he was concerned for her though she'd given him no reason to believe otherwise. He cared, but his protective nature had Elena feeling as though she were being smothered, restrained.

"I'm fine, Stefan." She said with a roll of her eyes as she kicked at her discarded clothing, a half-hearted attempt to gather them into a small pile. At his exhale, Elena's smile faltered. She didn't need to lay her eyes on him to know that he was tense. She could hardly blame them. They were all beyond tense. So much had happened and they only had more problems to look forward to.

"Are you sure you're okay?" It took more effort than Elena would have cared to admit to suppress her groan.

"Yes, everything is fine." She stressed the word, hoping that he'd finally get the hint. She didn't want to lose her patience with him. None of this was his fault but she couldn't help but want a bit of normalcy. All she needed to do was get Stefan to relax, if only for a little while. Today she would get her chance to convince him of just that. "Everything would be better if you were here though. Please, tell me you're almost here."

"We had plans." Okay, she didn't like the sound of that. "I completely forgot." Elena felt herself deflate at his words. If he forgot that could only mean... "I'm on my way to Caroline's. With everything going on with Tyler I... Nevermind. I'll - I can be there in ten minutes." There was no helping the sting of jealousy that coursed through her at the sound of Caroline's name. Guilt soon followed.

"No. Go to Caroline's." She hoped that her voice didn't betray the emotions she felt swirling within her. She wanted him here with her, she wanted to pretend that there wasn't a pack of wolves causing problems. That there was no ancient vampire who wanted her dead. But it was selfish, wrong.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." No, she really wasn't, though she could hardly tell him that.

"I'll call you after and we can go out, how does that sound?" Elena smiled in spite of herself.

"Or we could stay in." She offered, feeling her mood begin to lift at the mere prospect of spending some time alone with Stefan.

"Even better." She laughed before she could stop herself at Stefan's response. It was difficult to misconstrue his tone of voice. Seems as though she wouldn't be the only one looking forward to their night alone.

"I'll talk to you later, Stefan." After a quick exchange of 'I love yous', Elena hung up and slipped her phone into her back pocket.

When Elena's brown hues fixed themselves upon the pile of clothing that lay at her feet she groaned and dropped herself to her knees. With a pout she scooped up what she could and stuffed it back into her hamper. She repeated the process until she had everything packed in as tightly as she could then rose to her feet. Laundry was the last thing she wanted to do on this day, but now it appeared as though she would have no choice. With everyone preoccupied her options were limited.

A knock came just as Elena reached for the hamper and she welcomed the distraction. Visibly, she perked up and quickly made her way out of the room and down the stairs. She didn't give it a moments pause before she swung the door open to reveal... no one. Her brows furrowed with confusion as she stepped forward. She lingered just over the threshold, her eyes sweeping over her surroundings. The sun was out, birds were chirping yet something about this felt... odd. She felt a sickening feeling of dread wash over her when her eyes came to fall upon a small envelope at the top of the porch steps. Her instincts were screaming for her to run back inside, to call for help. Still, she pushed past it and stepped out onto the porch. She hesitated only a moment longer before finally walking over and picking up the envelope. Her name was scrawled on the front, the handwriting unfamiliar. With trembling hands Elena pulled out the small, crumpled piece of paper from within.

The words she read made her blood run cold.

Don't turn around.

Despite her better judgement...she did.