A/N: This takes place after S2 E10 The Sacrifice with the small exception that Stefan isn't in the tomb with Katherine and Rose came back to the Boarding House after she ran away from Slater's apartment. Everything after that is different. This is my first story and I would love to know what you think. This first chapter just gets everything rolling. I promise it gets better. Please read and review. I would love your opinions.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or the characters. This is just for fun.
After Damon had brought me back home from Slater's, I sat in my room and tried to write in my diary, but I just couldn't find the right words to write. My diary just rested in front of me, the pen gently cradled in between the open pages. Discouraged, I tried to call Stefan, but it went straight to his voicemail. Standing, I placed my diary back in its hiding spot behind the picture frame over my headboard, and sighing, I looked around my empty room once before I grabbed my keys off the dresser, ran down the stairs, jumped in my car and drove to the Boarding House.
When I arrived, the front door was unlocked, and I called first for Stefan, then Damon, but neither answered. I searched for them through the desolate house in vain. As I wandered through the empty rooms of the Boarding House, I went to the library, expecting to see Damon sitting with a glass of alcohol in his hand, but I only found a fire crackling in the fireplace. One of the Salvatores must have forgotten it and left it burning in the hearth. The library was warmed by the large fire, keeping the frigid winter air that threatened to creep into the walls at bay, and its soft glow lit the room, creating eerie shadows that danced off the walls. I stood alone in the room for a moment, leaning on the wall, watching the fire burn. When I was finally able to pull my eyes from the glowing embers, I pushed myself off the wall and headed upstairs. In Stefan's room, I found a small note resting on his pillow, as though Stefan knew I would be here.
Elena,
I've gone hunting in the woods. I shouldn't be out late. I think Damon and Rose went to get more blood bags. They will probably be back before me. Make yourself at home.
I love you.
Stefan
Smiling, I had wondered if Stefan often left notes for me. I hadn't told him I would be coming by, but he had taken the considerate precaution to tell me where he was on the chance I might show up. My Stefan, I thought to myself,always so loving and considerate. I pocketed the note and then made my way back down stairs. The house was uncomfortably chilly, so I returned to the heated library and browsed through the countless books in the Salvatore library. I found myself aimlessly reading the titles, many with foreign names, most of which I guessed were Italian. Finally, after I grew bored with the books, I lay on the couch on the lower level of the library watching the fire dance hypnotically in front of me. Leaning back, I closed my eyes and just listened to the calming popping of the fire.
I don't know how long I rested there before I felt the couch shift under me. Jumping slightly, brought out of my light slumber, my eyes shot open, searching for whoever had joined me.
Damon now sat at the opposite end of the couch, one arm on the back of the couch, the other lazily resting on the armrest. He was clad in his typical black everything, and both hands held a glass filled with a gold-ish liquid. I relaxed back into the couch as his classic smirk graced his face. Without a word, Damon offered one of the glasses to me, holding it out for me. I looked at it for a moment before I shook my head and sunk back further into the couch.
"Suit yourself," Damon said after he downed one of the glasses in a single gulp. He placed it in the empty space of the couch that separated us. He leaned back and threw his legs on the ottoman in front of him. After the speech he tried to give me this evening on the porch, I half expected him to bring up what had happened earlier today, but he remained quiet.
"When did you get back?" I asked.
Damon took a swig of his alcohol before answering, "About ten minutes ago."
I nodded.
"Where's Stefan?" Damon inquired.
"He went hunting."
Damon didn't reply, just sunk deeper into the couch.
We sat quietly, both of us watching the burning wood in the fireplace in a comfortable silence. Neither of us said a thing. Damon didn't bring up my stupidity for going to Slater, and I didn't try to justify trying to save my loved ones. We remained in the quiet, knowing if we said anything, it would make no difference now. The house was silent around us, a peaceful calm to which both of us were unaccustomed. We sat and enjoyed the brief tranquility the world rarely offered.
"What time is it?" I asked after a few minutes.
Damon pulled the sleeve of his black leather jacket to reveal a gold watch. "It is just a little after midnight," he stated simply, looking over to me, his arm returning to the side of the couch.
"Seriously? I was asleep for longer than I thought… Stefan's not back yet?" I asked, worried. I felt something stir in my chest. A deep dread was starting to build inside me quickly. It wasn't like Stefan to be out this late.
A loud crash sounded from the next room. Suddenly the warm air created by the fire was slaughtered by a wave of spine chilling cold air. I sat up a little straighter, wrapping my arms around myself, searching the room for the source of the commotion, the fear in my chest growing larger. Damon was already on his feet, standing in front of me, looking around with caution.
Something crashed on the other side of the room. Damon turned toward the noise sharply. Something began to move around us at an inhuman speed, and I stood up, gripping Damon's arm, staying behind him.
"Rose?" Damon called into the house.
After a moment, the British vampire appeared in the doorway. Her hair was spiked and slightly curled at the ends. Her brown eyes shot from Damon to me. She took in our postures quickly, but before she could say anything, another crash sounded from somewhere in the house.
"What's going on?" she asked, moving closer to us, almost mirroring Damon's wary stance.
"I don't know," Damon answered.
Then everything seemed to come to a complete stop for the tiniest moment. The air didn't move; the fire was silent; nothing happened; the only sound I could hear was the loud thump of my heart in my ears.
Then my scream shattered through the still air as a hand wrapped around my throat, and I felt a rush of wind around me. Suddenly I wasn't standing behind Damon. I was pressed tightly against a broad chest, and the hand was choking me painfully, cutting off the air to my lungs. We were standing across the room from Damon and Rose. Six other vampires appeared from behind the one that held me, and I wanted to scream, to fight the vampire holding me, to defend myself.
Damon growled, "Let her go now, and I might consider killing you all quickly."
This scared me nearly as much as the vampire holding me did. Damon was strong, but he couldn't take on six vampires, some of which were double his size. Rose could probably help put up a good fight, but she was too prone to flight in the face of danger.
Without a word, all six of the vampires attacked Damon. I could barely see any of them as they began to move at vampire speed around the room, traveling too fast for the human eye to follow, but I was able to track their path of destruction. Books clattered to the floor as someone was thrown into one of the bookshelves. A table was overturned, and a chair was broken into millions of pieces. I feared the type of damage six vampires could inflict on Damon or Rose with any of the wood from the wreckage.
Rose was trying to pull the vampires from Damon, for once not running, but there were too many of them to handle. The sound of ripping flesh filled the room, and the smell of blood was overwhelming. I wanted to help, to do anything, but I could barely even breathe. I tried to claw myself free from the grip but to no avail.
"Rose!" I heard Damon's voice over the fighting, "Get Elena out of here!"
In seconds, Rose was in front of me, her face covered in pulsing veins, her eyes reds, and her fangs barred. She ripped the hand from my throat. I fell to the floor, gasping for air.
Rose's hand plunged into the vampire's chest and ripped out its heart. He fell next to me, a lifeless heap on the floor. I stared into his empty eyes as he turned grey, and as I looked at him, in my mind, I could see the chilling picture of Damon lying dead on the floor just like this vampire.
Rose reached down and picked me up without much effort. Planted back on my own two feet, I surveyed the room around us. Everything was turning into shambles.
"Rose we have to do something," I pleaded, desperate to make sure Damon wasn't killed. "We have to help him."
"Elena, you have to get out of here," Damon called from the mass of struggling vampires. Only two had fallen so far, but Damon still didn't have a chance. If he stayed, he wouldn't survive.
"No Damon!" I began running to him, to try anything that might help him.
"Rose, get her away from here. NOW!" Damon commanded.
Without hesitation, Rose grabbed my arm before I could take another step. I struggled, but she wouldn't let go.
"Rose, help him!" I commanded, still trying to break free even though I knew it was hopeless to struggle against a vampire with her strength. "They'll kill him."
With vampire speed, we were in the driveway of the Boarding House. Rose tried to force me into the passenger's seat of Damon's car, but I braced myself on the frame of the door and wouldn't let her push me inside.
"No, we can't leave him. Go help him, Rose." I yelled.
Rose turned me to face her. The look on her face stilled my efforts to fight for a moment and terrified me further.
"Elena, if we stay here, we'll all die. Those are Klaus's men in there. Now get in the car," she demanded.
"No," I replied, still fighting.
A look of pure rage crossed Rose's face. Without warning, she reached up and pulled the vervain from my neck. I gasped at her sudden movements, and she threw the necklace into the yard and grabbed my chin, forcing me to stare into her eyes.
"Get. In. The. Car," she compelled.
My body began moving against my will into the seat of the car. My head screamed, "Run. Help Damon." but every muscle in my body moved to follow Rose's command.
A second later, Rose was in the driver's seat, we were screeching away from the Boarding House, and after just two minutes, we were leaving Mystic Falls.
"What about Damon?" I asked, looking at her, amazed that she just left him. "And Stefan? What if they're still there when he gets home?" I began to panic, the picture of Damon lying dead on the library floor changing to include Stefan's motionless body next to him.
"I don't know, Elena," Rose admitted. "Right now we just need to get you away from any other vampires that could be around."
"So you're just going to leave Damon behind?"
Rose sighed and a hurt expression dominated her features. "Yes."
"But we can't ju-," I tried to say.
"Elena…," she turned in her seat and cut me off. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but right now I have to be able to focus to make sure we aren't being followed, and I can't do that if you keep telling me to go back. Go to sleep," she compelled again.
My eyes lids were suddenly extremely heavy. I wanted to stay awake, to act, to do something, not to sleep at a moment like this. But I couldn't; my eyes closed, and I fell into an endless darkness.
The Grill was having a calm afternoon. Only a handful of tables had occupants and the bar was completely vacant. The waiting staff was standing in a corner, only occasionally looking up to check if they were needed.
I sat alone in a booth off to the side of the restaurant. Picking at my cold fries, I hunched over my history homework, paying little attention to everything around me.
When I heard the door open, I looked up to see who was coming in, but no one stood in the doorway. Slightly perplexed, I turned my attention back to my table and jumped at the sight of Damon suddenly sitting across from me.
"Damon, why do you always have to scare me?" I asked slowly, trying to slow my heartbeat.
"How are you, Elena?" Damon asked, a serious and concerned look on his face that I had only ever seen when he was being protective.
"Fine…?" I said, though it sounded like a question. I wasn't sure why he was looking at me like he was afraid I was in danger. We were just sitting in the Grill; there was nothing to be wary of.
"Are you safe? Where are you?" he queried.
"Damon, are you okay? What are you talking about?" He sounded like he was worried, but there was nothing to be worried about. I didn't know what was wrong with him.
"Did Rose get you out of Mystic Falls? Are you safe?" he repeated.
Then, I remembered. Flashes of the fight, leaving Damon to fend for himself, and Rose compelling me passed through my mind. I remembered falling asleep, but that was all.
"I don't know," I whispered, understanding Damon's worry. My own fear began to rise in my chest. "Damon, what's going on?"
"You're dreaming," he affirmed.
"What do you mean 'I'm dreaming'?" I asked, completely confused.
"I can't explain right now," he stated shortly.
"Are you all right?" I asked, hopeful.
"Not exactly…" Damon looked around as if he could see something I couldn't. He turned back to me, his worry evident on his face. " Listen Elena, I need you to remember something for me. You have to remember to tell Rose that I have that place in Texas, the house I told her about; if you can get there, you should be fine, and I ne-"
"Wait Damon, what are you talking about?" I interrupted.
"Elena, I need you to listen to Rose. She's been running from these vampires for centuries. She knows what she's doing. Listen to her. Can you do that?" he asked, his face serious.
"Yes…" I conceded.
"Good. In that case, I'll see you tomorrow night."
Then without another word, the world around us began to blur and fade until it disappeared.
A/N: There's the first chapter. I promise it gets better. That was just to get everything started. I hoped you enjoyed it.
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