Chapter 1

Fog rolled over the Mystic Falls night and the air became colder, but still warm enough for t-shirt weather. People walked around, doing whatever they had to, and cars cruised past the Grill as Elena walked in with her book bag on her shoulder and her jean jacket over her arm. Normally it wouldn't be that many people at the Grill at this time of the day, but today it was almost packed. Elena looked around with a sigh when she saw that her regular spot by the entrance was taken, but then she discovered that one of the tables in the back of the diner beside the bar was free. Quickly, she snaked past the huge crowd that packed the whole room, said excuse me about 50 times and almost stumbled 10 times before she finally reached the table. It was one of the old booths that had been in the diner since it opened. The owner thought it was charming so he let some of them stay in the corners of the room. Elena sat down in one of the leather seats with her back to the wall so she could have her eyes on the entrance, somehow it seemed safer, but she didn't have any clue why. She let her book bag down on the table and her jacket beside her on the seat before she grabbed the book she was reading from the bag. After reading at the back of the book she rolled her eyes.

"Should have just rented the movie." Elena mumbled to herself as she opened the book to the first page and tried focused on the text, but suddenly the crowd began to cheer and applaud as a man walked on to the stage down by the entrance. A band was placed behind the man who tried to get the crowd quiet, and that's when it Elena. "Great, karaoke night."

"Okay, okay, people! Settle down!" The man on the stage said as Elena looked in her bag after her headphones and phone that was probably buried under all the books. "The rules are simple if you want to preform, you have to get in line after…" Everything else disappeared as Elena plugged the headphones in and put the music almost on max. With a sound of relief, she sat back, leaned her back against the wall beside her and put her legs on the seat with her book balanced on her knees. Everything was blocked out and she could finally concentrate, trying to suppress every thought she had and focus on what she had to.

Elena was deep in the book when suddenly someone poked her leg and she jumped in her seat while pulling out one of her headphones. The book almost fell to the floor, but she grabbed it just before it fell of her knees. With an awkward gesture, she pushed her hair away from her face and put the book on the table as she sat up straight. Two men stood in front of her and exchanged a look before looking at her again with a quick smile.

"I'm sorry. Can I help you?" Elena asked and looked at the men with a questioning look. One was taller than the other and he also had longer hair, but he was one of the few guys who could pull it off. The other one was also pretty tall, but shorter than the other guy, still he seemed older.

"Ehm, yeah, can we sit here?" The tall one said with an apologizing look. "It's pretty packed and…"

"Yeah, sure." Elena said before he could finish. He gave her a smile as he sat down in the seat in front of her along with the other guy. She quickly grabbed her bag so she could take it away from the table, but the guy just put up a hand.

"It's not necessary." He said and Elena slowly pulled back her hand before she picked up her book again. Struggling to find the page she was on, the guy pulled out a PC from his own bag and handed the other guy a huge book. It wasn't until the tall guy cleared his throat that Elena found out she was staring.

"I'm sorry." She said and shook her head before she just opened up at a page and pretended she was reading, even though she hadn't come that far yet. The guy smiled to her before he looked down at the PC again, but the smile didn't fade which made Elena blush slightly.

"How to kill a mockingbird?" The guy asked as he glanced up from the screen and looked at her. Elena looked confused at him, but then he nodded at the book and she felt like a complete idiot.

"Oh, yeah." She said sheepishly and closed the book to look on the cover. "Last college assignment before Christmas break. I came here to try and read, but I forgot its Friday…which is karaoke night." The tall guy looked over at the other guy who suddenly shivered.

"Karaoke is for drunk people or deaf people." The other guy said and looked over his shoulder to the stage along with the tall guy. A man was standing on the stage, pretty nervous, singing some kind of love song to a woman who stood front row in the crowd. It sounded pretty bad, but the woman seemed to love it. The guys turned around again and looked at Elena who quickly looked down at the book again.

"I'm Sam." The tall guy said and Elena looked up again as he pointed to the guy beside him. "This is my brother Dean."

"I'm Elena." She said and gave them a smile as the crowd applauded again. Suddenly, Elena's eyes locked on someone in the crowd and she felt the anger rise in her along with frustration. Quickly she put her book in the bag and grabbed her jacket. "I have to go. Nice meeting you." She hurried through the crowd before the guys could say anything. After elbowing her way through the crowd, she finally arrived at the front door where she grabbed the color of one of guys that had just arrived. She pushed the door open and pulled the boy with her outside.

The fog had become thicker and a little chilly wind had arrived, making Elena's body get filled with goosebumps. Quickly, she pulled on her jacket before pulling the guy with her a little further down the street, but not long until he made her stop.

"Elena! Stop dragging me! I'm not 6 years old anymore!" Jeremy said in a very drunk voice. Elena grabbed a hold of his jaw, making him look her in the eyes. He fought against her, but he was too drunk to really to do anything.

"Really?" Elena said with anger in her voice. "Because I think you are! Are you high?" He grabbed her hand and pulled it off of him.

"No, I'm not high." Jeremy mumbled and rolled his eyes before he turned around to walk back to the Grill, but she grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"Hey, ever since Bonnie died…" She started, but in a sudden quick motion, Elena was slammed against the brick wall behind her with Jeremy holding an arm across her chest, anger building up in his face, but then he realized what he had done and quickly let go. For a short minute, she lost her breath and gasped for air as she buckled over. That's when someone suddenly came running towards them.

"Hey! Calm down, man." It was Sam and Dean. Dean took a hold on Jeremy and pulled him away from her while Sam came beside her.

"You okay?" Sam asked and put his hands on her shoulder to help her up straight. Elena nodded and sucked in air before she went over to Dean who had a grip on Jeremy.

"Hey, it's okay." She said, a little out of breath, and put a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "He's my brother." Dean slowly let go after glancing at his own brother who just shrugged. Jeremy pulled Elena into his arms and hugged her close.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I'm so sorry." He mumbled into her hair and Elena nodded as she put her head on his shoulder. She strokes the back of his head before pulling back and looking at him.

"It's okay." She said and dried the tears that had fallen down his cheeks. "Everything is gonna be okay." Elena said it like a promise and she really meant it. He nodded to her before she put an arm around his waist and looked at the brothers that stood watching them. "Thank you, but I'll just take him home."

"You need a ride?" Dean asked, but Elena shook her head with a grateful smile. "You sure? It's been a lot of animal attacks here lately according to the news." Elena shook her head again.

"No, we live just a few blocks from here. We'll be fine, but thank you." She said quickly and walked past them. With a firm grip around Jeremy and one around her book bag, they started the walk home.

"Okay, be careful." Sam called after them, but Elena didn't turn, just kept walking. People were still singing inside the Grill as they walked past, but it quickly faded the further they walked away. It became colder by the minute as they were walking and even colder when they walked through the cemetery. The fog was even thicker there, but luckily Elena knew the way through like the back of her hand. Jeremy was about to fall asleep on her arm and he almost fell over a tombstone.

"Come on, we're almost home." Elena said and shook him slightly in the shoulder as they kept walking. Suddenly, her heart started to race and she looked behind her when she all of a sudden got the feeling someone was following them, but it was no one there. Jeremy became too heavy for her to hold him up when he fell to the ground, snoring loudly. "Are you kidding me?" She rolled her eyes and kneeled down beside him, shaking him harder than before. "Hey, Jeremy, wake up." He was still passed out and Elena couldn't lift him either, so she gave up and opened her bag, trying to look for her phone, but she couldn't find it. That's when she remembered that she left it at the Grill. "Seriously?" With the frustration building up in her, she threw her bag at the ground and shook her brother harder until she slapped him in the face. Still no response, but luckily he was still breathing.

Suddenly, a branch snapped further away and birds started to fly. Elena felt the panic in her grow as she stood up. She looked around for a weapon, something at all, that's when she saw a pretty thick stick further away from them. Slowly, not to make any sudden movements, she walked to the stick, but before she could reach it, something attacked her. She screamed as the thing that was over her bit into her neck, trying to get away. It stung like hell at first, but then it started to fell…kind of pleasant. Elena stopped fighting and it all became blurry, like she was drugged. Out of nowhere, a gunshot sound roared in the background and the thing fell to the ground. She tried to move, but it felt like her body was paralyzed. The night sky over her was filled with fog so the stars weren't visible and the branches over her that hung from some of the many trees around the cemetery were blurry as they moved slowly in the wind. Out of the corner of her eye, Elena could see two figures move closer to the thing that had attacked her, but before she could even see what it was, it was gone.

"You take the kid, I'll take the girl." Elena recognized that voice as the figures moved to her and her brother. A pair of hands appeared around her and she was lifted up in his arms.

"Told you to be careful." He said quietly as he started walking. Elena felt tired and exhausted and could barely move as they walked through the cemetery. "How's the kid?"

"Passed out." It was Dean who replied with what sounded like a little amusement in his voice. "How about her?" Elena closed her eyes and leaned her head against Sam's shoulder as she was carried. Sam moved away her hair from the left side of her neck with his hand that held around her back.

"Bleeding." He said and suddenly Elena tensed. Was she bleeding? Sam hushed her like a little baby and lifted her a little higher. "You'll live if you keep awake, okay? Open your eyes." Elena opened her eyes and looked right in to Sam's eyes. They were beautiful golden and they looked worried down at her. "Good. Stay with me now, and talk. Let's me now that you're still alive."

"You've got pretty eyes." Elena said before she realized what she actually said. Sam chuckled and smiled down at her. "I'm sorry, just…don't know." It was hard to talk when all she wanted to was to sleep.

"Thank you, I guess." Sam said surprised. Elena couldn't believe how much of idiot she had been today. First embarrassed herself in front of these guys who had just saved her life, forgotten her phone, argued with Jeremy and now this. "Elena, you still with me?"

"Mm, yeah, I'm…I'm still…with you." She said, the sleepiness taking more and more control of her. Things became more blurry as the time went by.

"Dean, she's loosing too much blood." Sam said and looked at her wound. They started to walk faster and after what seemed like forever, they reached their destination. Elena could see that her brother was put into the backseat of the car they had stopped by. Sam put her down beside the hood of the car. "Can you stand?" Elena nodded and leaned against the hood. Suddenly, she felt nauseous, like the ground was spinning, and she grabbed a hold of Sam's shoulder. Her neck hurt and she put her hand on it, but immediately regretted it when she looked at the blood that came from it. Dean came over to them with a cloth and pressed it the wound. Elena gritted her teeth and inhaled sharply as the cloth met the wound.

"Here, you drive. She can fall asleep at any minute now and someone needs to watch her." Dean said and threw Sam a pair of keys. He nodded and jogged to the other side of the car as Dean grabbed a hold of Elena and helped her to the backseat. He got in with her, still pressing on the wound, and with one arm around her shoulders, she leaned against him as the car started.

They were driving, but it was all very blurry to Elena. She could feel her brother passed out beside her and Dean holding around her. Her neck was hurting and she was so tired, but Dean wouldn't let her sleep. She felt nauseous and a headache was building up, like she had the worst hangover ever.

"We can't take her to the hospital." Dean said and pressed harder on the wound which made Elena wince out of pain. She tried to sit up, but he pulled her back down. "Shh, just relax, but keep awake."

"Dean, she's going to die if she doesn't get help!" Sam protested from the front seat and glanced back at them in the mirror. Elena suddenly felt extremely nauseous and flew up which she regretted, but she had to.

"Quick, hand me a bag or something. She's gonna throw up all over…" He didn't get to finish the sentence before Elena buckled forth and threw up all her lunch on the floor. "…the car." Dean finished and pinched the bridge of his nose before he grabbed a hold of her hair and pulled it away from her face. When she was done, he pulled her carefully back into his arms. "It's okay." Sam threw a bag back to him which Dean handed to Elena. "We'll call Cas. He can fix her up." Elena had no idea who Cas was, but Sam nodded.

"Elena, where do you live?" He asked just as Elena threw up again into the bag. Dean looked away, but kept the cloth on to her wound until she sat up again and told them her address.

"Yeah, we definitely need Cas." Dean said and reached in to his pocket. "I'll call him and ask him to meet us at their house." Sam nodded as Dean dialed Cas' number on his phone. Elena felt the pain grow stronger as the drug-like feeling wore off. "Hey, Cas. Yeah, we need your help. We're in Mystic Falls…" Elena didn't follow the conversation, but rather shook slightly at her brother's arm. He mumbled something and turned around from her which brought her great relief. "Okay, he'll meet us there."

"We're almost there." Elena mumbled as they pulled in to her street. Dean nodded and looked out the window until they pulled up next to her house. It was a kind of big white house with a huge garden on the back of it. She and Jeremy had lived there their entire life with their parents, who sadly died, so now it was just them. Sam stopped the car and got out as Dean opened the door beside himself. He got out before he reached inside for her. With weak legs, Elena managed to walk out of the car and in to Sam's arms. Dean handed her the bloodstained cloth before he slammed the door closed.

"Dude, her brother." Sam said and gestured towards sleeping Jeremy in the backseat. Dean shrugged and made a dismissive wave towards him.

"We'll get him later." Dean said, but Sam gave a slight shook with his head before he carefully passed Elena back to him. He walked around to the other side of the car and got Jeremy out. Dean rolled his eyes as they walked towards the entrance of the house when suddenly someone appeared on the front porch. Elena jumped when the person appeared.

"Hey, it's okay. It's just Cas." Dean said and half carried her up the steps of the porch. Sam followed with her brother and stopped beside Dean.

"Dean." The man, Cas, said and looked between the brothers. "What happened?" He looked suspicious at Dean before he looked at Sam.

"She was attacked by a vampire." Dean said and shifted his grip around Elena before he nodded towards Jeremy. "He's just drunk, but she's loosing too much blood and we can't take her to the hospital. People have already become suspicious about the attacks."

"I understand." Cas said and took a step closer to Elena who was near passing out as well. It was almost completely dark outside and she could barely see anything as Cas put his finger at her forehead, but suddenly a rush of heat spread through her shivering body and she at once felt better, still the sleepiness didn't go away. Elena put her head on Dean's shoulder. Her legs was about to give out, but suddenly Dean picked her up in his arms again.

"Yeah, you can sleep now." He murmured and Elena sighed as she felt her body became completely numb and her mind shut down.