Chapter 4

By Ivycat


It was hard to breathe; the air was dense, thick with her carbon dioxide. There was a vise on her head that made thinking hard. This was just a dream. She had to wake up. "Come on, Elena", she exhorted herself "WAKE UP!"


Her eyes snapped open. The sun was shining brightly into her window, too brightly, she looked at her clock, it read 9:32 AM. She swung her legs over the bed hastily; she had to get to school! Then she remembered, this was the weekend. That was good, because her throat felt as if she had been gargling nails; school was not a place she wanted to be at the moment. Then, she remembered, something horrible had happened, something that was so bad she did not want to recall it.

What notion could be so black?

Stefan, Stefan was trapped inside the tomb with Katherine. That was it! With a gasp she grabbed her jacket and pulled it over her pajamas, she swiped the keys from the hall table and ran to the car, her hands were shaking so badly that it took three tries to insert the key into the ignition. The third time she was just about to turn on the engine when suddenly she was yanked out of the car, she was pressed backwards bending at an uncomfortable angle, Damon's nose mere millimeters from her own.

"Well, if it is not the little lost sheep? Do you mind telling me where the HELL you have been?" His blue eyes were wide and held hers in a furious stare, the veins in his neck showing prominently. He was livid. Elena strained her head back from his till it almost touched the roof of the car.

"What are you talking about?" She rasped out, and then frowned; her voice was really shot to hell. She cleared her throat uncomfortably. Maybe she should have opted for a scarf as well…

"What am I talking about? I am talking about you pulling your little disappearing act a few nights ago. So help me, Elena, I am going to start following you everywhere, never letting you out of my sight. So what is your story? What harebrained idea did you come up with this time?"

Elena pushed back against him, " Yet again, I have no idea what you are talking about! Get out of my face, Damon; I am going to see Stefan."

"No, you are not. He asked that I keep you away from there. Of course he always was an optimist. But that is beside the point. Damn it Elena! Do you have ANY idea how frantic Jeremy, Bonnie and Alaric have been? Jeremy has been sure that you some how did manage to turn yourself over to Klaus. I almost had to put him under a suicide watch; of course, I noticed that as he never took off his ring he was not quite there yet.

I have been trying to track you down using your little friend's witchy Juju, and believe me when I say I would rather have had an aneurism. Come to think of it, I actually did, several times in fact.

So tell me. Where. Have. You. Been.?" His tone was glacial.

Elena shook her head, "I am not in the mood for your games Damon, get out of my way, I told you I am on my way to see Stefan." He released his grip on her a fraction, but still did not back away.

"You can't." His tone was curt.

Elena scowled,

"Damon, you cannot use this to keep us apart, you know that, I have made it clear, I care for you, but I love Stefan, nothing will ever be able to change that. Now, stop acting like a child and get out of my way, or don't, whatever, you will just regenerate if I run you down in the car."

Damon looked down at her his haughty face unreadable.

"Fine." He clipped his eyes growing dark and hooded, stepping back and letting her straighten up. She slid in the car hastily, putting it into reverse, leaving tire marks beside Damon. He never moved from his spot on the drive way. Oh God, she hurt all over. She must really be coming down with one hell of a bug.

She drove as close to the church as she could, then got out and walked the rest of the way. She paused a moment, steadying herself before she went down to try and get Stefan to talk. Once she was confident that she could remain composed and rational she stepped forward to go down the steps. Her foot would not cross the entrance to the stairs. She frowned, mystified, tried again, but her foot just seemed to become paralyzed when she tried to push it in. She tried her hand; it too would not enter the threshold.

"No!" She raged as she realized what had happened. "No, No, no,no,no!"

Then she turned into the whipping wind and croaked out. "DAMON!"

As hoarse as her voice was he still heard her, and in a few seconds stepped out from behind some trees.

"I told you. I told you that you cannot go in." his blue eyes looked almost pityingly at her.

"Damon, what have you DONE?" Elena gasped out wildly.

"I cannot take credit for this;" his voice was sober for once "it was actually Bonnie's idea. If I did not know better I would think she was sorry for me having to try and keep you out, per Stefan's request. It was HER idea to spell the entrance to you so you could not get in."

"But why? " Tears were threatening to fall. Her voice sounded like a tired child's, "Why can't I see him?"

"Hmm, let me see, sociopathic Doppelganger…? I don't know Elena, Why do YOU think that Stefan would not possibly want you down there?" His tone was belittling.

"But she can't even get out!" Elena snapped out as she stepped forward.

Damon sighed, tired of the debate.

"Look, you probably need to be at school or something, I am sure your friends can't cover for you forever, though, really, I am not so sure it was much of a lie, you are clearly sick, and you smell the least appetizing I have ever known you to be."

"I am fine, Damon, and it is Sunday, no school for those of us to who time actually matters."

"Try Monday." He parried, but his eyebrows lowered and he looked at with concentration, almost bordering on concern.

"No way, stop trying to screw with me." She pulled out her Blackberry and studied the screen.

"Huh?" She did a double take it stated unequivocally that today was indeed Monday. "I don't understand."

She looked up uncertainly at Damon, confused.

"But, where, how?"

"That is what I would like to know." He said, irritation lacing his tone.

"I, I need to get back." She said hoarsely. He nodded curtly and stepped back to let her pass.

"I'll drive." His tone left no room for argument. She nodded and got into the car.

By the time she was halfway back to the house she was shivering spasmodically, her breathing labored and ragged.

Damon kept looking at her in a side long fashion, it was very clear that she was ill. It must be the flu, he had suspected it the night he drove her home. She certainly looked miserable.

It was very apparent that she was under the weather when she got out of the car; Damon almost winced in sympathy for her as she stiffly got out of the car. He turned off the ignition and got out.

She looked at him and scowled crossly, "What, decided that you were not going to continue home?"

He looked at her in amusement, "I was driving your car, remember?"

She looked chagrined for a moment, and then shrugged. "I do not think I feel very well, I am going to go to bed."

"I think that is one of the best ideas I have heard from you in a while. I will be down-stairs making you some chicken noodle soup and hot tea."

Elena shook her head. "I am fine, I do not really need a watch dog, I just want to crawl in bed and die."

"Seriously? You went missing, you claim to have no idea what happened, now you are sick… sorry, I think I am sticking around for a while. Just go on back to bed; you won't even know I am here! After all, I am just your friendly neighborhood German Shepherd." He muttered the last under his breath not intending her to hear. Elena heard his remark, and the resentment in his tone. "Stop being so bitter. I never asked you to stay."

He turned his tone suddenly light and mocking. "But I do bitter so well!"

"Whatever." She turned on her heel and went up the stairs without a second look.


She slid in bed shivering miserably. Thankfully she soon drifted off into sleep, and when Damon knocked on her door to let her know the soup was ready she was sound asleep. He cracked the door open a fraction and saw she was dead to the world. He decided not to wake her and went down the stairs to read.

It was dark, so dark. She was terrified; she was running from something, something terrifying and enormous. She was screaming, or rather, trying to, but could not make a sound. Then she was pinned down, a terrible weight on her chest, she was suffocating, she could not breathe…

Elena woke in a cold sweat, sticky and uncomfortable, then she realized that the reason her dream had seemed so immediate and real was that, in part, it was true.

She could not breathe; she wheezed and struggled for air, fighting the asthma, nothing mattered, only breathing mattered. As she lay there the universe folded in on itself, there was only her and her need for the next breath in it, all else was trivial and unimportant.

Her chest began to burn and her lungs ached with the strain, she struggled with sitting up, this was serious, she had to get help, soon. She reached for the phone, but knocked it down off the night stand, she swore softly, and reached for it again. Before she could pick it up Damon was retrieving it. He took a grip on her shoulder and pushed her till she was in a sitting position again.

"Da,da, Damon", she wheezed out, grateful for his appearance.

"Whoa, you do not sound so good." He turned his eyes on her, scanning her in concern.

"Need air…"

Damon looked at a loss. He was not sure what to do, should he get her to a hospital? Did he have the time? Her lips were turning a bluish purple, which was not good. He quickly dialed Bonnie's number and sent a SOS. That done, he reached over to the girl who was struggling so hard to keep breathing.

"Elena, take off your necklace." she tried to do as he ordered, but her hands were starting to tremble and become clumsy. It was then that Damon realized that she was not wearing it. It would have been something for him to wonder about, if he had the time.

He gripped her shoulders, "Elena, look at me." Dully she did as he ordered.

"All right, that's it; there is a good girl…" His eyes darkened as he locked eyes on hers. "You are going to completely relax, ok, that's it. Now, take deep breaths, no, no, don't tense up, stay relaxed. That's it, deep slow breaths. You can do it." He smiled as he saw that his compelling her was having some effect. Her breathing slowed from the shallow puffs to a more normal, even rhythm. When he felt that she had recovered enough from her attack he dropped eye contact.

"Thanks." Elena said. Damon curtly nodded as he got back to his feet. "Where is your medicine for that?"

She shook her head, "I am not sure, I have not needed it for so long that I kind of lost track of it, I am not even sure if it is good anymore."

He sighed impatiently, "Elena, that is just careless, you know you have a potentially life threatening condition, yet you cannot be bothered to be responsible enough to keep the medication with you?"

His tone stung her, but she did have to admit he had a point. But being Elena she could not resist the temptation to fire back at him.

"What is this? Damon, the self-serving psychopath… concerned? For a Human? Careful… others will think you …have gone soft. Huh, tough guy?" The words lost much of their sting due to her still frequently pausing for breath.

Damon paused, and then looked up at her. For a moment she was shocked at the look in his eyes. She had expected, anger, sarcasm, a witty repartee, but instead he looked, almost vulnerable.

"You get used to it you know, the blood, the suffering, the pain, it becomes normal. So if you think of it, I am not actually as much of a monster as one thinks at first, I am simply a product of abnormal circumstances." His voice was soft. Then, suddenly, he was back to himself. "Ok, if you think you will be alright I will go to the store and pick up some of the medication you need."

"You need a prescription for it, Damon." Elena informed him as he made for the door.

"You might, but I am Damon, the self-serving psychopath, I do not need a prescription. Bye now!" And just like that he was gone.