CHAPTER 1: Prologue

"So, where are we going?" Elena asked,
Damon flashed her a white-teethed smile,
"New York, the city that never sleeps."

Elena walked into the clearing, she gave him one of her perfect smiles, the one smile; that could do wonders to him. She wore a laced white dress, just above her knees. Her hair was darkish brown, and straight, the wind blew them, a few strands flew over her face, she giggled and moved them aside. She was gesturing him to come closer, and he couldn't stop himself, it was like he was in a trance. Her trance, he dared to come closer, until their faces were just inches away, her breath smelt like vanilla, she stretched out her hand, gesturing for him to take it, his fingers touched hers; sparks of electricity jolted through his body, that tingling sensation he got whenever he was near her. He put his hand in hers, interlocking their fingers, she was practically glowing, everything about her…her personality…even her name Elena was glowing, and the meaning of her name was 'light'. It was perfect for her. "Come with me, Stefan." She said,
"You need to stop lying to yourself, you need to give in to the temptation. Come with me…I'll show you." Stefan couldn't resist her gaze, her beautiful brown eyes bore into his. He came closer, and gently kissed her soft pink lips, and then he moved about an inch away, "I give in."
Suddenly he woke up, Stefan adjusted his sharp eyes, taking in his surroundings, what the hell…? When had he fallen asleep…and that dream, urgh, he wished his vampire senses would just leave him alone, of course the super-hearing and the speed-walking were a definite plus; but he didn't enjoy remembering each and every dream he'd ever dreamt, with all the dreams details sharp in the back of his mind like they'd really happened. Stefan gazed at the fire place in front of him and snapped back to reality, he got off the couch with a start. Elena turning it off…Damon…Silas in Mystic Falls…Jeremy's death…Tyler fleeing… He immediately dialled his brother's number again. Then he looked at the giant clock on the wall, 9:30 am. Damon was going to have it this time, Elena wasn't in town and nor was he since last night, Stefan knew this meant that Damon and Elena were together, and now that they'd had Elena's humanity turned off, them being together meant trouble. They were both hurting, crazy, impulsive and stupid. Urgh! His brother didn't answer the phone, very smart Damon… He just wished he had never agreed on letting Elena turn her humanity off in the first place. But she was all over the place after her brother's death; she was breaking apart, the hurt and guilt was overwhelming her, he had to keep telling himself he let her turn it off for her own good, so that she wouldn't die of hurt, after losing everyone in her family plot, how well would anyone deal with it? She'd set her house ablaze, with her brother's lifeless body still inside. That was cruel… He'd thought, but somewhere, at the back of his mind, he knew that nothing good could ever come out of 'turning it off', after all he'd been there and done that.

Jack Daniels? Bourbon? Absolute? Caroline shrugged; anything would work for her…probably a mix of all the three? Nah that would probably taste sick. She decided to stick with the Bourbon, if there was one thing Rick had taught her was that Bourbon could take the pain away…at least for a little while, it seemed the strongest too. So she opened the bottle with her bare hands (Being a vampire has its advantages) and she started to drink as fast as she could, thinking that the faster the alcohol would settle in her stomach, the faster she would feel the burning sensation in her throat she wouldn't have to think about Tyler, or Elena flipping the switch, or Jeremy's death or that Silas freak probably being in town. She didn't want to feel anything, she wanted to feel numb, but she had seen the way Elena had turned out. They were on a cold war ever since Elena let go of her humanity…she was acting like a total bitch, making Caroline actually wanting to snap her best friend's neck. Drink…drink…drink, forget about it. She didn't even bother finding a glass; she drank the bottle half way and then almost choked, her throat practically on fire. She could feel the presence of Carol Lockwood, her boyfriend's dead mother, obviously there wasn't any ghost in the room, and Caroline just couldn't really live in this house. Tyler had left giving Matt the authority to the house to keep her safe, she didn't want to live in the house where her hybrid ex-boyfriend and his dead parents used to live, but this was all she could do to keep up her promise to him. He'd told her in that letter Matt had handed her that he'd always love her no matter what, she would try to hold on to that, for Stefan and Elena and everyone else who probably had bigger problems than ex-boyfriends to deal with. She hadn't even realised she was crying until the salt water from her eyes was threatening to fall into her mouth, she licked her lips and wiped her tears and took another big sip of the Bourbon. That moment, someone knocked, "Unless you're Stefan, you can LEAVE ME ALONE PLEASE!" Caroline cried, the person knocked harder, Caroline groaned, and walked straight to the door, her vision a little woozy now thanks to all the Bourbon, she opened the door. And the last person she wanted to see stood in front of her, "Caroline," He said, she rolled her eyes; she didn't need this right now, "Didn't you see the sign on the doormat that said GO AWAY?" Caroline asked, Klaus ignored her rude comment, "Now, where are your manners, love? This is no way to treat a guest, now let me in; will you?" Caroline rolled her eyes, "No—your no guest of mine! You're the monster who has been chasing the love of my life, driving him away, making him flee for his life!" Klaus seemed unaffected, "Let me in." He said a little more seriously now, Caroline took another big sip of her Bourbon and pointed at the inside of the house with her Bourbon bottle, "You know what? Whatever, I…I don't even care, anymore! Come inside!"
She said and walked back inside the house and sat down on one of the chairs, her vision was getting worse, everything started to spin a little, but she didn't let go of the Bourbon, "I think that's enough, Caroline." Klaus said, She rolled her eyes,
"Yeah, because you suddenly care about me now?" Klaus gave her a longing look, "I always cared about you, if I didn't care your boyfriend would be long gone by now, although I do find the deal we made amusing, instead of killing him I am going to make his life a miserable hell, he will spend years and years of his life running from me, and then, when he finally can't take it anymore…Snap!" He made a little chopping motion under his chin, motioning he'd be dead. Caroline made a sick face, "You're disgusting." Klaus nodded no, "You can't blame me, love. Tyler made it his life's mission to kill me, he tried everything in his power to banish me, he un-sired my hybrids and ruined my life in general. You can't hate me for that." Caroline smirked at him, "Guess what? I do!" She left the Bourbon on the table, "In fact, why the hell are you even here?" Klaus smiled, "Straight to the point, then? Well, I was wondering if you had seen my obsessive little sister or knew about her whereabouts" Caroline gulped, the bourbon wasn't settling too well, she needed something stronger, probably blood. "No, I haven't seen that blonde vampire slut; can you leave me alone now?" Klaus looked genuinely hurt, but he covered it up well; "Very well, then." And with that, he was gone. Then her phone rang, she picked up the phone, it was Stefan. "Hey Stefan, right now's not the best time I—"
"It's about Elena, Pack your bags, I think we have to fly to New York."