It had been two hours, and no sign of either brother. Elena had curled up on the couch in front of the fire, at first reading a book from the vast Salvatore library, and then talking to Bonnie, filling her in on the day's events.
Suddenly, she heard a weird noise. She stopped talking, concentrating on the quiet.
"Elena?" Bonnie asked as she realized Elena wasn't listening to her anymore.
"I heard a noise," Elena replied, eyes sweeping the huge room. She had turned all the lights on, so there were no shadows, but the large entryways were dim. It was hard to look everywhere at once, and she felt a little nervous.
Then she heard the noise again. But from where?
"Bonnie, I think there's someone in the house," she whispered into the phone, afraid to move or speak in a normal tone of voice. She kept looking around, but still didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
"I'm coming over there," Bonnie said in a reassuring tone, but that didn't make Elena feel any better; Bonnie was a good ten minutes away, safe at her Grams' house, while Elena was way out in the middle of nowhere.
Before Elena could say anything else, there was a loud noise at the front door, like something heavy had been thrown against it. She gasped loudly into the phone.
"What is it?" Bonnie inquired urgently from the other end, and Elena didn't know what to say, until she heard a voice.
"Elena, open the door, I can't get it!"
Damon's voice. Coming from outside the door.
"It's Damon," Elena said with relief, leaping up from the couch and hurrying to the door. She hesitated when Bonnie said, "Are you sure?"
"Damon?" Elena said in what she hoped was a brave voice as she stared at the heavy wooden door. She wished there was some sort of peephole, so she could look out.
"I'm carrying Stefan, he's been hurt. Hurry up, princess!" Definitely Damon.
That was all Elena needed to hear.
"Bonnie, hold on a minute," she said, putting the phone down on a nearby table. She flung the door open.
And there stood Bree, from Atlanta, and a man Elena had never seen before. They grinned evilly at her.
"Thank you," Bree almost purred. In Damon's voice. Elena stared at her in shock.
"Witches come in handy," the man said, shrugging.
Elena made to shut the door, but Bree narrowed her eyes and the door refused to move. Elena backed up hastily, eyes wide.
"You can't come in!" she yelled, but they only laughed at her. Bree stepped over the threshold into the house, coming closer to Elena.
"I'm not a vampire, sweetheart," she said in a mocking tone of voice. Then she intoned something in Latin, and Elena suddenly couldn't move. It was like she was frozen in place. She tried to run, tried to break free, but to no avail.
The woman pushed her towards the door like she was a piece of furniture; when she reached the other side of the door, the spell was broken, but the man had grabbed her with hands of steel.
But she could still scream.
"Bonnie! Call Stefan!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs – and then Bree knocked her cell phone to the ground, grinding it under her heel.
"That's enough," the man growled, and vamped out as he held her to him. "Shut up, or I'll make you shut up."
The woman tut-tutted. "She doesn't want her hurt." She looked over at Elena. "Yet."
"Why are you doing this?" Elena cried. "I thought you were Damon's friend!"
Bree looked at her like Elena had suddenly sprouted wings. "Didn't Damon tell you why Lexi's boyfriend attacked him? I set him up – and he ripped my heart out for it."
Then she fingered her necklace, a chunky blue stone strung on a velvet ribbon.
"It's a good thing I was wearing backup," she said softly. "Even then, I was able to come back…" She stopped suddenly, focusing on Elena. "So I'd like to thank Damon for showing me such a good time…have you ever tried to regrow your own heart in your chest? It's just a little painful."
Then she said something else in another language, and Elena felt her eyes growing heavy. She fought it, but they closed against her will..and then she knew no more.