A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. My son was sick, but he's feeling better now. I hope it was worth the wait! And thanks to everyone that reviewed; it means a lot!

Chapter 2: Lay Me Down

"Should we do this… lying down," Elena asked, unable to meet Damon's gaze.

"Since you'll be asleep, it would probably be best… but clothes are optional."

Elena gave Damon her best "drop dead" look before stomping over to the bed and lying down, watching him climb in bed beside her.

"Relax. The more tense you are, the harder it will be for you to concentrate," Damon explained, smirking as her cheeks lit up like flames. "It's not like this is the first time I've been in your bed."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Alaric muttered as he entered and took a seat at Elena's vanity.

"You know, Ric, you don't have to be here. It's ruining the whole vibe."

"I think with you digging around inside Elena's head, I'd feel a lot more comfortable with a front row seat."

"Fine. Are you ready," Damon asked Elena, his eyes growing softer as he took in her troubled face.

"As I'll ever be."

Elena quickly unclasped her bracelet containing the vervain she always wore and tossed it onto her bedside table.

"Close your eyes."

Without further prompting, Elena's eyelids drooped and she focused on relaxing every part of her body, making her breathing slow and even. She felt Damon settle in beside her, reaching over to take her hand and the contact from his skin had her heart racing again.

"Deep breaths, Elena. I need you to try and focus on the dream."

She did as instructed, after taking the extra seconds to slow her speeding heart. It didn't help that she could feel his hot breath on her neck, driving her closer to insanity, but she managed to block it out and brought up the image of the witch, and then the man… Klaus… Mikael…

Damon watched her features settle and started guiding her towards unconsciousness. Once he was sure she was asleep, he closed his own eyes and followed her in. Instantly, he could feel her fear as it consumed him. And then there was an intense pain, but he focused on blocking it out, allowing the picture to come into clearer focus.

They were in a clearing somewhere in the woods, with the light of the moon illuminating several individuals. He saw Elena crouched on the ground, gripping her stomach and writhing in pain. Without thinking, he ran to her, only to remember that he couldn't interfere; he had to let the dream play out. Another scream alerted him to Klaus, who was several feet away from Elena. He noticed both were inside circles made with leaves and salts.

It was a spell, just as Elena had described, but then he noticed something else… their clothes. They looked way too old to pass for any modern design, even older than his time, and Klaus' hair hung down past his shoulders. Elena's dress was also very old and her hair was longer than he'd ever seen it.

Klaus began clawing the earth, trying to get to Elena, his face showing actual concern. And not just concern that he would no longer have the blood necessary for his hybrids; this was a heartbroken look, like he was about to lose the most important thing in his life. Damon assumed this was what his own face had looked like the first time he heard that Elena was planning to die in the sacrifice ritual.

Chanting filled the background, though he knew Elena was in too much pain to hear it, and the witch made herself known. Elena fell limp to the ground as the pain released her, but the ritual wasn't through. Glancing around, he saw Mikael watching from the sidelines with another.

This second man never took his eyes from Elena, eyes that were completely black. A chill filled the air and even Damon could feel the sinister edge to this man, sending ice cold fear straight down his spine. Over the last century and a half, Damon had met monsters, even been one himself, but he'd never been so scared of anyone in his life. The man's black eyes held a sort of pride as he watched Elena and Klaus suffer, and a smile broke across his face as Elena's pain resumed, and the air was once again filled with her screams.

That was the only sound that could have pulled Damon's concentration from the mysterious figure and it took every ounce of strength in his body not to wake Elena right then and end her agonizing screams. The witch made her way to Elena, continuing her chant with a knife held firmly in her hand. He could faintly hear Klaus begging the witch to stop, but she ignored him.

Elena's pain increased with each step the witch took, but it wasn't until the knife descended towards Elena's neck that Damon pulled her from the dream, barely catching his breath.

"Elena, it's okay. I'm right here," Alaric soothed as Elena shot straight out of bed, still screaming.

"No it's not! Damon, you're hurting my hand."

Looking down, he realized he still had her hand held very tightly in his; it was lucky he hadn't broken any bones.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Elena massaged her swollen hand, eyeing Damon warily.

"Are you okay," she asked.

"Getting there. It was pretty intense… too intense for just a regular dream. It has to mean something."

"What kind of ritual do you think that was?"

"Based on the clothing, I'd say a very old one. And it involved Klaus…"

"The clothing?"

"You were in too much pain to notice, but the clothes you and Klaus were wearing were probably fashionable a thousand years ago."

"Well, what about that man?"

"Yeah, the freak with the black eyes was creepy. I've never seen anything that looked like that."

"His skin was just so… old looking, but I don't think he was really as old as he looked."

Alaric watched them discuss what they'd just seen as they unconsciously scooted closer together on the bed. Elena didn't even realize how close she'd gotten until she tried to run a shaky hand through her hair, only to have it land against Damon's chest. Looking up, their faces were just inches apart and for a moment, Elena could only focus on his lips… and the dreamy look in his eyes.

"Was that all," Alaric asked, pulling them both from the staring contest.

"Oh… uh… yeah, that was pretty much it," Elena responded, moving to get off the bed and away from a very self-satisfied Damon.

Damon stood and retrieved the bracelet from the table; pulling her hand to him as he clasped the jewelry into place. Examining her hand, he could plainly see where his fingers had been just moments ago, and where bruises would be by tomorrow.

"It's not that bad," Elena reassured him, but Damon wasn't one to brood. His trademark smirk was back in place and he laid a gentle kiss to her swollen knuckles before releasing her hand.

Elena's phone rang, shrill and demanding, from where they'd left it downstairs and she moved quickly to reach it before it stopped. Damon beat her there, already answering the call and handing the phone to her.

"Hello," Elena answered, rolling her eyes at the smiling Damon.

"We found something," Bonnie trilled, the excitement spilling through the phone.

"What do you mean?"

"On the coffin; there's a picture engraved into the side. We think it represents the talisman necessary to open it. I think you should come take a look."

"We'll be right there."

Only twenty minutes later, they were walking, once again, through the cave under the old Lockwood property. Damon thought it a stroke of genius that he'd hidden the coffin here. Though he couldn't get in, he'd slid the coffin into the inner room, knowing that even if Klaus found it, he couldn't get in.

But he wasn't so keen on having Elena and the others in there with a coffin containing some unknown weapon when he couldn't get inside.

Just then, a strange noise filled the tunnel, starting out small but growing louder by the second. It was an odd screeching sound and something that sounded like the flutter of wings. Elena looked above her, only to see a half dozen bats flying right at her. She screamed out in fright, clutching Damon's arm and hiding her face in his jacket.

"You'd take on vampires and hybrids in a second, but you're scared of bats? Really," Damon chuckled.

Elena glanced up, ensuring that the bats were gone, before relaxing her death grip on Damon's arm.

"I told you to be careful with that flashlight," Alaric warned.

"Yeah, we'd hate for you to get carried off by a five pound bat." Damon nearly laughed out loud at the annoyed anger glaring out of Elena's usually soft brown eyes. She threw a swift punch at his arm.

"Why don't you just go fly off with your cousins," Elena suggested, flashing a smirk of her own before following Alaric further into the cave.

Damon was still following Elena, watching the sway of her hips, when he came up against the barrier, rolling his eyes and internally cursing the witches who put it up.

"There you are. You've got to see this," Bonnie exclaimed as soon as they were in.

She bent down, pointing to the side of the coffin where there was an engraving that looked like the sun, with a tiny red ruby in the center.

"We've been digging through the grimoires all day and most spells like this are sealed with a talisman, like the tomb spell. Sometimes, a picture of the talisman is left on the vessel, reminding the witch what was needed to open it. We think that's what this is," Bonnie explained with her mother beaming at her side, clearly impressed by all her daughter had learned in the short time she'd received her powers.

"You know, Elena, that curvy figure of yours doesn't make a very good window," Damon shouted, shifting on his feet in an attempt to get a better look at the coffin. Elena rolled her eyes, but moved to the side so he could see.

"Do you know where this talisman might be," Alaric asked.

"Not yet, but we've been studying the coffin itself, hoping to find some indicator of how old it might be. If we can find what time period it's from, we might be able to figure out which witch spelled it," Abby explained.

"You mean there isn't a spell for that," Damon replied in his snarky way. Both Abby and Bonnie ignored him.

Elena continued to stare at the engraving; it just looked so familiar… but she couldn't quite place it. Slowly, she traced her hand over its shape, committing it to memory. As her fingers found the ruby, it hit her.

"I know where I've seen this," she spoke quietly, voice quivering with unshed tears at the realization of exactly what this represented. "It's my mother's necklace."

"What? You mean Miranda's necklace," Abby exclaimed, eyeing the engraving again. Elena nodded, moving away from the coffin, but never took her eyes off the sun.

"She used to wear it all the time."

"That's why the shape looked so familiar to me," Abby mumbled. "It's been so long since I'd seen that necklace… but you're right, that has to be it."

"Elena, where is that necklace now," Alaric asked as soothingly as he could. He prayed it wasn't buried with her mother. After everything Elena had been through, they couldn't just dig up her mom.

"I don't know. She never took it off. I'm sure she had it on the day she died… but the paramedics said it was gone when they pulled the car out of the water."

The tears that had been kept at bay now streamed down her face and she found she couldn't stare at that coffin any longer. Turning on her heel, she fled the cave, brushing off Damon's hand when he tried to stop her.

"Elena," he called, following her outside.

Once in the sunlight, she collapsed to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself. Hadn't she already gotten past her parents death? Why did seeing that shape make it all seem new again? She felt gentle hands on her shoulders and Damon's lips touch her forehead.

"Are you okay," he asked, placing his hand under her chin and bringing her face up to meet his.

"There are just… so many memories. My dad's mom gave her that necklace on their wedding day. She said it was handed down to every Gilbert girl, but since she'd had only boys, she gave it to my mom. It was supposed to be mine when I graduated high school. And then it was just gone…"

Another round of sobs consumed her and she was surprised when Damon's arms wrapped around her, holding her together.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

Damon pulled her too her feet with one arm still wrapped around her as he guided her back to his car.

"What about Ric," Elena asked, not wanting to leave him stranded, but also scared to go back in the cave.

"He can ride back on Bonnie's broomstick."

The ghost of a smile lighted Elena's face and she rested her head against the seat, letting the hum of the car's engine calm her. She kept her eyes closed for most of the ride, but was surprised when the car stopped in front of the arcade instead of her house. Greasy pizza and electronic snowboarding weren't exactly what she'd had in mind, but after an hour of gloating to Damon about her latest victory in foosball, she found herself letting go of her troubles.

By the time they'd made it back to Elena's for supper, she was smiling again.

"You look happy," Alaric commented between mouthfuls of Chinese food.

"Thanks to Damon."

Elena found herself smiling as she thought back to him stuffing his face with cheese pizza. She was reminded how much fun they had together when there wasn't crisis after crisis to deal with; like the time in Atlanta. She missed that.

Thoughts of Damon filled her mind and instead of pushing them back down, she encouraged them, welcoming the distraction from her more pressing problems. Those blue eyes were still on her mind when she climbed in bed, but her smile was wiped from her face when she once again found herself in another nightmare.

She was in the most beautiful, ornate house she'd ever seen. It had a classic beauty to it. Outside, she could hear thunder in the distance and the light from the sun was quickly fading. It was obvious at once that she was only a bystander in this dream, instead of an active participant like the last one.

A woman came rushing out into the hall, panicked as she stared out the front windows. The lady was beautiful, and her dark blue, hoop-skirt dress accented her flawless ivory skin and dark hair. She turned around and Elena's breath caught in her throat.

The woman had the most beautiful light blue eyes, just like…

"Mother," a young boy called as he rushed down the stairs. Elena knew him instantly.

"Damon?"

A/N: So, what part do you think Damon's mom plays in this? I'm sorry I didn't elaborate on Damon and Elena's time at the arcade. I was afraid it would take away from the story. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!