Back again! Thank you so much the feedback I've gotten on this story so far. Like I said, it's quite a departure from my regular style so I'm very pleased to see people enjoying it :) Keep those reviews coming, they are like little protein-energy-bar-thingies for my muse ;)

Warning: a little bit of violence in this chappie.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries, Beauty and the Beast, the characters, or their likenesses.

Her hand hit the brass doorknob and he could hear her heart stutter with hope that she would escape, which filled him with a warped sense of satisfaction. This was his favorite part of the chase, closing in, the final moments when he could hear his victim's pulse quicken and flush with adrenaline. There was no finer vintage than adrenaline-laced blood; it softened the hard metallic aftertaste into a smooth finish and heightened the euphoria of the feed. Every vampire had their preferred way of capturing a victim at the height of a rush; Damon's personal favorites were sex and terror. Whenever he was feeling especially intrepid he would combine the two and spend hours floating in nirvana, his instinct, hunger, and body sated. It was the closest he every felt to happy with what he had become.

"Open, please," Elena begged through her tears as she pulled at the door handle with both hands, willing the heavy wooden barrier to swing open to her freedom. When it did she cried in relief and bolted into the frigid night. Her escape was cut short when she ran straight into a hard wall of muscle and tumbled to the ground.

"How did—?" she gasped when she looked up to see Damon towering over her, wearing the same cocky smirk as before. For a moment she was too shocked to be afraid.

"I thought I was very clear about the not leaving part, Elena. What am I going to do with you now?" he asked gleefully. He grabbed her arms in his talons and hauled her up from the ground, tearing a pained shriek from her throat. "I warned you that'd you'd be a little sore, don't make me make it worse for you."

"What are you going to do to me?" Elena asked with a sniffle.

"I haven't decided yet, to be honest," Damon shrugged as he dragged her back into the house, tossing her unceremoniously into a heap on the floor after he slammed the door. "You need to get yourself cleaned up before anything. Will can show you to your quarters."

"You can't do this!" Elena screamed at Damon's retreating back. "You can't make me stay here!" She could have sworn she heard him chuckle as he disappeared down the darkened hallway. She let out a frustrated cry and slammed her fists against the floor.

It was several minutes before Will returned to show Elena to her room. He directed her to follow him a short, clipped tone. She had to take two steps for his every one just to keep up with him as he led her down corridor after corridor. The walls were paneled in dark wood with stately paintings gracing their surface. Elena fought against little ripples of giddiness that bubbled up in her stomach, reminding herself that she was still, essentially, a prisoner in this beautiful house.

Will stopped abruptly at a pair of tall French doors at the end of a particularly ornately decorated corridor.

"This will be your room," he said curtly. "I wouldn't wander too far if I were you. The other residents won't take kindly to a… guest."

"How many people live here?"

"People?" Will smiled cryptically. "Just you, sweetheart." With barely a sound Will disappeared, leaving Elena stunned and confused.

"Ok, that's not creepy or anything," she mumbled to herself and took a deep breath before opening the doors to her new room.

The room gaped open behind the doors like a magnificent cavern. In all her young life, Elena had never seen anything so beautiful. She had to fight her younger brother, Jeremy, for the bigger room in the Gilbert home but it was nothing compared to this. Unlike the rest of the house, the walls in this room were painted a soft ivory color and the floor was covered with a plush rug with little gold threads woven into it. Yards upon yards of gold-trimmed celadon silk blanketed floor-to-ceiling leaded glass windows and she was almost certain that a small private balcony stretched out into the night beyond the windows. In the center of the room was a massive bed, hand-carved from bird's eye maple and bedded with the same silk as the drapes.

"Caroline would die if she saw this," Elena muttered to herself as she surveyed the small details of the room. Her survey stumbled on a corner bookshelf and she descended ravenously upon it. Her eyes flickered with excitement as she scanned the aged spines of the books: Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, The Complete Shakespeare, Iliad, Dracula… for a moment the thought crossed her mind that spending some time here may not be the worst thing in the world.

A loud knock at the door nearly made Elena leap out of her skin and she crept forward, hoping it wouldn't be Damon. She peeked through a tiny crack in the door but didn't see anyone standing outside so she opened it a little further and popped her head out into the hallway. There was no sign of anyone except for a silver tray of canapés and a cup of what looked to be spiced cider on the floor. As much as she wanted to be stubborn, Elena's stomach rumbled loudly as soon as she saw the food, reminding her that it had been several hours since her last meal.

"Beats gruel and ice water," she smiled and she picked up the tray and plopped onto the bed. Between the books, dinner, and the most delicious cider she'd ever tasted, she allowed herself to get comfortable on the down mattress and fall into a deep sleep.

Damon listened carefully through the wall that his own bedroom shared with Elena's. As soon as her breathing even out into the rhythm of sleep he slipped into her room as a silent as a shadow.

Dream walking had always been one of his favorite pastimes but when he saw Elena curled up in a mountain of blankets and dwarfed by the massive bed he felt a small pang in his chest and nearly considered leaving her mind inviolate. His temptation got the best of him and he made himself comfortable at her bedside.

The barrier to her consciousness was surprisingly easy to breach and he wondered at why Jonathan Gilbert's own niece wouldn't be on daily vervain. Apparently the Council had gotten complacent after a few decades of peace. The scene he entered was a high school football game.

Really? Friday Night Lights is the best thing this girl's got going on? he wondered sarcastically, groaning at the cliché of the thing. Elena bounced across the field with her arms linked with a petite brunette and a blonde girl. All three of them were dressed in their Timberwolves cheerleading uniforms and they chatted wildly about some inane high school event.

Damon remained at the periphery of the scene, not wanting to influence anything just yet. Instead his eyes roamed over Elena's long, tanned legs that were barely covered by her short pleated skirt. Legs that, had he any less restraint, would be wrapped around his waist as he pinned her against the wall. The idea of claiming her so completely made his jaw throb and he could feel his teeth lengthening. It had been quite some time since someone had this effect on Damon Salvatore. She was beautiful and he congratulated himself on a superb find.

His good mood was instantly soured when a tall, blonde boy appeared next to Elena carrying a football helmet under his arm and a gym bag slung over his shoulder. She spun around with a wide grin on her face and leapt into his arms, planting a sweet kiss on his lips. The boy swung her around before setting her back on feet and kissing her again.

"Great game, babe," she smiled and looked down to link their fingers together.

"Well, we do have the best cheer team in the state," the boy smiled at Elena and the two girls she was with. Elena blushed and snuggled under the boy's arm.

"So I think a celebratory dinner at the Grill is in order here," the blonde girl announced with authority and turned on her heel to head for the parking lot with the brunette girl while Elena and the boy hung slightly behind.

He was whispering something in Elena's ear and had allowed his hand to wander dangerously low on her back. Damon's eyes flared with jealously and anger. He was usually tolerant of human's and their stupidity, but he couldn't abide someone touching what belonged to him.

"Elena, my dear," Damon called out from the shadows, strolling into her dream with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Who are you?" the boy asked defensively, posturing over Elena like he actually stood a snowball's chance in Hell against Damon.

"Damon?" Elena asked curiously. His name sounded so painfully sweet on her lips and it had been too long since he had heard it spoken like that.

"You know this guy, 'Len?" the boy asked, becoming clearly irritated.

"Yeah, he's…" Elena started and he could feel the pull of her mind struggling to define exactly what Damon was to her.

"She's mine," Damon finished her sentence and in a flash lunged at the boy and twisted his neck violently, shredding the fibers of his spinal cord with little effort. He dropped the boy's body to the wet grass and flexed his fingers with satisfaction. "You'd do well to remember that as well, Elena."

Elena bolted upright in a cold sweat. Her throat was too dry to scream but she grasped at her chest to calm her racing heart. She frantically looked around the room and drew herself back to the present.

"A dream," she sighed. "It was just a dream."

She flopped back against the pillows, exhausted and emotionally drained. She fell back into the world of dreams without even noticing the downy black raven's feather the drifted down from the canopy of her bed.

A/N: So, what'd you think? Please take a moment to review, favorite, follow. It really means a lot to me and lets me know that you guys are liking (or also not liking I suppose... depending on your review) the story.

XOXO ~Anna