I was standing in front of a mirror. But the girl staring back at me… wasn't me. She looked like me, but there was something strange about her. The way she held herself - shoulders back, nose pointed up in a snobby sort of way - and the way she was looking at me - amused, with a half smile spread on her face. And she spoke to me.

"You thought he loved you?" she said. "He never loved you. All you are, and all you will ever be to Stefan… is me." She was laughing at me now. As she stopped laughing she stepped out of the mirror and grabbed me by the throat. I tried to pry her hand off of me, but it was no use. "That's all you'll ever be!"

I woke in a moving car. Confusion struck me as I looked out the window. Where am I?

"Morning." That voice again. I turned to face Damon, who met me with a cocky smile.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around to see if I could recognize my surroundings. I couldn't.

"In Georgia," Damon said as if that were the answer I was looking for.

There was no way. We couldn't be in Georgia. "No. No, no we're not. Seriously, Damon, where are we?"

"Seriously, we're in Georgia."

I sighed deeply, not knowing how to respond, and immediately wished I hadn't. my hand reflexively shot up and held my throat as sharp pain spread through it. At first, I thought my dream had been real, that my non-reflection actually had popped out of a mirror and strangled me. Then I remembered the piece of glass I coughed up that scraped the inside of my throat.

"How you feeling?" Damon asked with genuine concern.

"I-I," I stuttered, trying to decide exactly how I was feeling.

"There's no broken bones. I checked," he told me.

"My car…" I said, trying to remember everything that had happened the night before. Memories came crashing down on me, and I tried to make sense of them all. "There was a man. I hit a man." I remembered the way the man cracked as he forced himself to his feet. "But then he got up. Who was that?"

"That's what I would like to know."

I started to look for my cell. I had to call somebody. I had to let someone know I was okay. Jenna was probably freaking out. "Where's my phone?" Damon ignored me. "Okay, we really need to go back, nobody knows where I am." Again, he pretended not to hear me. "Pull over." This time he looked at me with an amused expression, reminding me of the way Katherine looked at me in my dream. "I mean it, Damon, pull over," I said louder. "Stop the car!"

"Oh, you were so much more fun when you were asleep." I half expected him to keep driving, but this time he did pull over.

I opened the door as soon as the car was stopped, and jumped out. A wave of nausea rolled over me. I groaned and put my head down, thinking that would help. Suddenly Damon was at my side, holding my arm as if he thought at any moment I would topple over.

"I'm Fine," I assured him. "We have to go back," I pressed on, moving slightly away from him.

"Oh, come on. Look, we've already come this far."

"Why are you doing this? I can't be in Georgia. I-I wrecked my car. I have to go home." I stared at him dumbfounded. Why would he take me to Georgia? What does he want with me? "This is kidnapping," I stated.

He put his hand on my shoulder. "That's a little melodramatic, don't you think?" he said with a smirk.

"You're not funny." His smirk fell a little and he pulled his arm back. "You can't do this. I'm not going to Georgia."

"Well you're in Georgia," he said, leaning against the side of the car. "Without your magic little necklace I might ad."

Without realizing I placed my hand on my neck where my vervain necklace would usually hang. Damn it, Elena!

"I could very easily make you… agreeable," he continued.

"What are you trying to prove?" I asked, trying to hide how scared his little comment made me. I failed. Then my cell phone rang. "That's my phone!" I said, the anger returning to my voice.

He reached in his coat pocket and pulled out my phone. "Mmmm, it's your boyfriend," he teased, offering it to me. I rolled my eyes and turned away. He answered it. "Elena's phone."

At that moment I hated Stefan. I hated him for using me. I hated him for pretending to care. I hated him for lying to me.

"Elena?" Damon's voice snapped me back into reality. "Oh, she's right here. And yes, she's… fine." After a pause he handed the phone to me. "He wants to talk to you."

I shook my head. "Mm – mm." Stefan was definitely the last person I wanted to talk to.

"Yeah, I don't think she really wants to talk to you right now." Another pause. "You have a good day, mhmm? Bye now."

As soon as he was off the phone I continued to try to get him to take me back home. "Look, no one knows where I am. Can we please just go back?" It felt like I was begging at this point.

"We're almost there," he reasoned.

"Where is 'there'?"

"A little place right outside of Atlanta. Come on Elena. You don't want to go back right now, do you?" To tell you the truth, I really didn't. I didn't want to have to deal with Jenna chewing my ear off about how worried she was. And I most definitely did not want to be anywhere near Stefan. But I didn't know if I could trust Damon. "What's the rush? Time out." He made a 'T' with his two hands. "Your problems are still gonna be there when you get home." That's comforting… "Look, step away from your life for five minute. Five minutes."

That did sound tempting. I didn't exactly know why Damon took me to Georgia, or what he wanted from me, but right then I didn't care.

"Am I gonna be safe with you?" I asked him.

"Yes." He responded almost instantly.

"You promise not to do that mind control thing with me?"

"Yes."

"Can I trust you?

He hesitated for a second, then said, "Get in the car."