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So here is my next chapter. Please review!

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Chapter Two Day One: Elena

Elena cried out in pain as the vampire's fangs sunk into her flesh. The next thing she knew, however, the vampire was being ripped away from her. Part of Elena's skin was torn away as well, and she instantly placed her hand on the wound to try to stop the bleeding.

"No one is going to mess with my friend," Caroline said boldly as she threw the vampire to the ground. The moment he stood up, he blurred away and left them standing alone.

"Oh, Elena," Caroline mumbled as she sunk down beside her friend. "Let me see."

Carefully, Elena removed her hand from her neck. Elena had to fight getting sick when she saw the large amount of blood that stained her hand.

"Here," Damon said as he offered her his bleeding wrist. She tried to push him away, and only left a bloody handprint on his arm.

"Don't be silly," he continued. "I know this has to hurt."

Hurt was an understatement. Elena's vision swam, and it was hard for her to even hold on to consciousness. It felt like someone had lit a fire at her neck and had then left her to burn.

The next thing Elena knew, her mouth was filled with a warm, viscous liquid. Despite the fact she had thought the blood would taste bitter, there was something sweet about it. It was as if her body knew Damon's blood would be the thing that saved her.

"Where did all the other vampires go?" Damon asked as he looked up at Caroline. She shook her head in response.

"They aren't here anymore," Caroline shrugged as she looked to Elena with worried eyes. "In fact…" Her eyes trailed across the area before they rested on one person. Gritting her teeth, Elena pushed herself up to see who Caroline was staring at.

There was a pain in Stefan's eyes that made Elena want to shrink back into the trees. Thankfully, he stayed a few feet away and stared at her with bloodthirsty eyes.

"I vote we just battle all this out and get this over with," Katherine's voice called from nearby. "It would be a lot easier that way, and it would save me a ton of time."

"Katherine," Damon growled.

"Easy," she laughed as she held up her hands in mock surrender. "I was joking."

Although Elena doubted that, she knew they currently needed to work together if they had any chance of surviving this game.

As her strength returned, Elena pulled herself to her feet. She experienced vertigo for a slight moment, wavered, and was caught by Caroline.

"Take it easy," Caroline cooed. "We can wait a while."

Elena brushed Caroline off though, and walked toward where the food was positioned. She surveyed the ridiculous pile before finally sifting through the food supplies the humans had been given. At least Klaus had tried to make this a fair fight for the humans.

In the pile, Elena found two different backpacks. She stuffed food into them while Bonnie, Jeremy, Alaric, and Tyler all helped. It didn't take them too long to fill them, and the vampires all stood watch during that time to make sure the enemy didn't attack.

When they finished with the food, Alaric studied the weapons. He picked up a pair of daggers, sniffed them, and then handed them to Elena.

"They're laced with vervain," he explained. "Put them somewhere safe. I'm sure you're going to need them."

Elena nodded as she accepted the weapons. She wasn't really sure what to do with them, but then Alaric handed her a holster that she quickly fastened to her waist.

While she was doing this, Alaric was stuffing every available place on his body with weapons of all shapes and sizes. Personally, Elena didn't see how he would ever be able to carry them all himself.

Then, Elena looked through the remaining food supplies for any sign of water. When she didn't find any, she stood up with a frown across her face.

"There has to be water somewhere," Damon was speaking already. Apparently he had read her thoughts. "Klaus wouldn't have given you food and not given you water. We just have to find it."

"Right," Elena nodded before her chocolate eyes drifted to the trees around them. "Which direction do you think we should go in?"

"Maybe north," Bonnie said. She walked toward Elena, but stopped suddenly when she ran into something no one could see. She clutched at her now bleeding nose as her eyes widened with shock.

Jeremy had already moved beside Bonnie and was reaching out at the barrier that Bonnie had run into. It was almost like a pane of glass had been placed between them. Although Elena could see the people on the other side, there was something that was preventing her from touching them.

"There's a witch involved," Bonnie explained, and Elena frowned.

Trying to accept this new twist, Elena looked out at the people on the same side of the barrier as her. Currently, there was Stefan, Damon, and Katherine standing on the same side as Elena. This left Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, and Alaric on the other side of the barrier. Part of Elena knew Klaus had waited for this exact moment to separate the group. Elena ending up on the same side as the Salvatore brothers and Katherine was a plot too good to have been created by chance.

Then Elena glanced up at the sun. Its heat was blistering, and she knew she needed to find water soon.

She walked over to the edge of the barrier and placed her hand flat against its clear surface.

"Find water," she spoke softly. "Stay together. And stay safe."

"We will," Caroline nodded before she placed her hand against her side of the barrier. Although their hands didn't physically touch, Elena still felt comforted by the contact. "Be safe."

"You too."

With those words, Elena took off in the opposite direction. Damon and Stefan followed her almost instantly, but she was surprised when Katherine too joined in with the group.

They walked without saying anything for close to an hour. Predictably, it was Katherine who broke the silence.

"I feel like I'm a turtle," she complained. "No…" she corrected, "This is worse than being a turtle. This is like being a turtle that is super glued to a block of concrete. Even if it wants to move, it can't."

"You could, you know, just leave," Damon offered with a wicked grin. "We never asked you to come along."

"But you'd be dead without me," she replied. "All four of those vampires could be out here now. If I leave, it's just you two against those four."

"I doubt they're fighting together," Stefan remarked. It was the first time he had spoken since he had entered the arena.

Elena turned toward Stefan to smile at him, but her vision wavered, and she had to fight to keep her balance. She felt strong arms around her that were holding her up, and she was surprised to see Damon helping her.

"I'm fine," Elena said as she pushed him away. "I'm just…"

"You're becoming dehydrated," Damon finished. "We need to find water."

"Or we could just leave her," Katherine shrugged. "It'd save us a lot of problems."

The other three people ignored Katherine.

"Will you scope out the area?" Damon asked as he looked at Stefan. "If you see water, come back here and let us know."

Stefan didn't seem too happy about that idea, but he nodded once. Both Damon and Stefan knew how much she needed to water, and how much quicker a search could be done at vampire speed.

"You know, you could always go too," Damon offered as he looked at Katherine.

She smirked. "He was always the fun one anyway."

With a blur, both Katherine and Stefan had disappeared from the clearing.

Elena felt vertigo again, and clung to Damon to keep herself upright. Her head was currently pounding, and she silently wondered how long she had gone without water. There was no telling when Klaus had knocked her out and drug her here. For all she knew, it could have been days since she'd had anything to drink.

Although she wanted to be able to stand on her own, she knew right now that she couldn't. A couple of times she almost collapsed and had to grab onto Damon's shirt to keep herself standing. Every time his hands would gently hold her up.

When she almost fell again, Damon picked her up and cradled her safely inside his arms. She let her head rest against his chest, and she closed her eyes to fight against the dizziness. There was something soothing about being carried now, and she let go of the pain and focused instead on the serenity she felt.

In between her dreamland and reality, she heard someone talking.

"We found water," the male voice said in a whisper. "It's not far from here. Follow us."

Then Elena felt the wind around her, and the world blurred around her in a flurry of color. There was something almost magical about the experience, but reality came in and ruined it.

Damon's hands were pushing her forward, and then she felt cool water on her lips. It was so pure and refreshing that she found herself gulping for it like it was air. But before her thirst could be quenched, the water was taken from her, and she found herself clawing her way back to it.

"You have to stop, Elena, or you'll just get sick!" Damon roared. "You have to listen to me."

While she was still shaking, Elena nodded her head and collapsed onto the grass near the stream that had been found. She watched the water as it glided across the smooth stones at the bottom of the stream. Although she wanted more water, she forced herself to stay in place.

"Do we want to just camp here for tonight?" Damon asked the group.

Confused, Elena glanced up to see the vibrant pinks and oranges of the setting sun.

"We might as well," Katherine smiled fakely. "We wouldn't want to take the golden girl away from her precious water."

Biting her tongue, Elena glanced away from Katherine and to Stefan. He appeared detached, and part of her wanted to take him into her arms and kiss all of his problems away. But she wasn't allowed to do those things anymore, and a deep pain spread out from her heart as she thought those words.

Then, Elena's stomach emitted a rumbling growl, and she looked at the others apologetically.

"Go ahead and eat," Damon instructed before he handed her the backpack that had her food in it. She couldn't even remember at what point he had taken it from her.

But she nodded, nonetheless, and took out a granola bar that Klaus had provided for the humans. When she took a bite, she closed her eyes and savored the moment. Her happiness, however, was broken up by Katherine clearing her throat.

"Why does she get to eat while we have to starve?"

Elena opened her eyes and glared at Katherine. Damon took a protective step in front of Elena to make sure the others didn't try to attack her.

"So we found water," Katherine sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What will this mean for tomorrow? What is our next step of ensuring we all make it out alive?"

"It's good to see you're joined the team," Damon smiled as he sat down on the grass beside Elena.

"Oh, believe me," Katherine smirked. "I'm not going to be team Elena anytime soon." She shrugged. "But I am completely okay with screwing with Klaus."

Elena rolled her eyes before a yawn emitted itself from her lips. With all the walking and small amount of water she had, she was worn out.

For the next little bit, the group worked on setting things up for the night. Katherine, Damon, and Stefan all agreed to take turns keeping watch in case the vampires came to attack them.

Elena snuggled into a soft area on the grass. She closed her eyes and allowed sleep to come quickly. Her dreams, however, didn't bring her the peace she wanted.

She had only been asleep for an hour when someone was standing above her and shaking her.

"Wake up!" Damon called as he continued to try to wake her.

"What's going on?" Elena asked as she stood up and surveyed the area.

The night was dark, and she stood there breathing heavily as Damon tried to keep her quiet. Her eyes darted around the clearing, but she couldn't see anything in the shadows. She was about to speak again when a bone-chilling scream echoed through the night. She turned to Damon with fear on her face.

Quietly, he spoke, "They're here."