Disclaimer: I own nothing; everything belongs to their respective owners.
A/N: Italics represent flashbacks, while regular text will be used for both dreams and reality. There will be clear separation between all three.
Chapter 1
"Wait here, Elena, okay? I'm just going to go get our tickets real quick. I'll be back soon," Damon squeezes Elena's hand and speaks slowly, as if she's a child.
Elena nods vigorously, her body shaking a little. She sits down in the hard plastic seat and clasps her hands together in her lap. Damon waits for the last second to let her hand go and Elena flexes her fingers a few times to get the blood flowing again.
Once he's out of sight, she shoves a hand into the deep pocket of her coat. Her hand encloses around the metal band, holding it tightly. It feels heavy and cold in her hand and she holds it so tightly, it hurts her palm. Tears well up in her eyes and she quickly blinks them away. A few stray tears find their way onto her cheek and she brushes them away with the back of her hand.
Damon returns with a hand full of brochures on New York City and their two tickets to the Big Apple. He takes a seat next to her, placing the tickets into pocket carefully. Damon flips through one while Elena stares at the large clock, watching the second hand make its way around before the minute hand moves over one.
"Are you hungry?" Damon asks suddenly, breaking the silence. He stares at Elena, hoping she'll ask for piles and piles of food.
She shakes her head.
He isn't satisfied with her answer. "Are you sure? You're not hungry? Not thirsty either, are you?" Damon watches Elena like a hawk and she grips her hand around the ring tighter.
"Some water would be nice," she grits through her teeth. This answer is enough for Damon. He's up in a flash; eager to attend to Elena's every need.
While he's looking for a vending machine, Elena withdraws her hand from her coat and opens her hand. The hideously tacky ring lies on her palm, reflecting light off its scratched metal surface. She slides the ring onto the silver chain she constantly wears. Her newly inherited Gilbert ring has a new home next to her vervain locket. She tucks the necklace under the shirt and reaches up to make sure they're both there.
Damon returns with a bottle of water and tells Elena they need to get going. They board the train with plenty of time and they settle into their seats.
Taking her hand in his, Damon declares to Elena, "I'm going to make you happy again, I promise."
Hearing this, Elena smiles somberly, knowing what an impossible task it would be. She looks away but Damon is persistent.
"I promise, Elena. It's just you and me now. Now that I have you, I'm never going to let go. I promise," Damon continues, holding her hand tightly.
He's dead serious, no pun intended, and she can't help but be a little bit touched. It fills up a tiny portion of the gaping hole in her heart. Of course, his words would never be able to fully cure her. They were after all just promises waiting to be broken. She laughs bitterly thinking about the last time she was stupid enough to make a promise. A man of honor, her ass.
"New York will be fun, you just wait. It's a huge city, although it's been nearly a decade since I've been there."
Elena nods, absorbing his words. She's not really listening, her mind is wandering off. The train starts to move and she tries to relax, listening to the soothing sound of Damon's voice and the train moving along the tracks.
The first thing Elena notices is the obnoxious music. It's repetitive and up-beat. It's her least favorite kind of music, carnival music. It fills her ears along with the sounds of screaming children, laughing friends, and game stall workers advertising their spectacular prizes.
"Elena!"
Elena whips around, hearing her named being called. She sees someone who looks very familiar and she takes a step closer to get a better look.
"Mom?" Elena's voice is stuck in her throat and the word comes out as a croak. Sure enough, her mother is walking straight towards her right next to her dad.
However, they walk straight past her and she turns to see a younger version of herself, standing with her- their- parents.
"Where's Jeremy?" Grayson, her father asks. Elena reaches out to touch him, wondering if they're really real.
"I'm sure he's coming, he said he was going to the Mirror House," 15 year-old Elena reassures her parents. Sure enough, as if on cue, a younger Jeremy walks out with his group of friends and heads over to them.
Still watching the crowd near the Mirror House, Elena sees a tall figure with dark hair and broad shoulders. He wears a leather jacket and dark jeans. There's no one else in Mystic Falls like that.
"Stefan!"
Excited, Elena runs towards the attraction, the man at the entrance not even bothering to ask for her ticket.
She enters the fun house and she sees herself being reflected off multiple mirrors. There's insanely tall Elena, short and squat Elena, bendy Elena, upside down Elena. She makes her way through the maze and her pulse starts to accelerate.
"Stefan?" Elena calls out again, but not so sure this time. How could it have been Stefan she saw? How could she have seen her parents or Jeremy? They aren't alive, they all died. Feeling stupid, she's about to leave when she finds herself she's trapped. It's a small room with mirrors on all the walls, creating a distorted reflection.
Having no recollection of this feature ever existing or walking into such a small space, she starts to panic. Elena searches for a way out but the walls have completely swallowed any passageway.
Through one of the mirrors, she sees a new figure.
"Stefan?" Hope returns to her voice. Elena turns around to face emptiness. She beats herself mentally for allowing herself to have such delusions. But there he is again. He continues to appear in the mirror but never in real life. Elena gets dizzy, trying to turn around quick enough to check if there's anyone there.
She decides she's going to give up when she sees the same reflection. She waits a few minutes to see if the reflection will move or disappear. It doesn't. Turning around, Elena does see a very real figure. It's not Stefan, though.
With long, pointy fangs and eyes full of blood-lust.
"Stefan?" Elena squeaks.
"Guess again," the vampire smiles maliciously. He opens his mouth wide before Elena can even open her mouth to scream and he bites deep into her neck.
Elena wakes up screaming. She stops after a while, needing to breathe. She gasps for air, her hearting thumping heavily against her chest.
"What happened?" she asks breathless.
Damon quickly checks to see if anyone's noticed there little incident. Fortunately, everyone's off buying lunch in the next car.
"You just had a bad dream," Damon explains. He pulls her into a tight hug, stroking her hair. "It's okay, it was just a dream."
Elena shakes her head against Damon's chest. "B-but it felt so real."
He smoothes her hair down and tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Damon takes a deep breath as well, pretending he didn't see the two pinprick sized wounds on the side of her neck.
To Be Continued…
A/N: For those of you who have read my stories already, I'm back! Like all of my (unfinished) stories, I'm super excited about this one. It's pretty dark (I hope) and psychological thriller-ish. Leave me a review so I know what you're thinking! THR