Hi guys! sorry for the long wait. I was on holiday!

Would like to thank my beta PorkChopSmall for her help on this one!

Please Read and Review

Present Day

Damon's head was pounding. Something warm and wet was dripping down his forehead, and when he ran his fingers on the throbbing area he realised that it was his own blood. He took a deep breath, but panicked when he found himself upside down, his seatbelt still on and awkwardly twisted. He must've been unconscious, because his car was now on fire.

Even though Damon was immortal, this didn't mean that he was indestructible. The smell of smoke was already making him suffocate and he let out a coughing fit as he fiddled with his seatbelt. After several tries, he realised that this was how he was going to die. Maybe he deserved it for what he had put Elena through. Those moments of unconsciousness had served for him to remember the events that led him there, and he was not proud of what he did to Elena.

"Damon!"

Damon heard a familiar voice, however he couldn't see who it was until the person knelt down and yanked the door open, pulling Damon out of the car instantly. He coughed, his wounds not yet healing, and struggled to stay on his feet as the other person dragged him along, away from the exploding car.

"Damon! Can you hear me? Damon!"

Damon's eyes suddenly snapped open, and he found himself on the ground, the familiar person looking at him with a worried expression.

"Klaus?" Damon gasped, feeling like every bone in his body was somehow broken forever.

"Damon!" Klaus breathed out a sigh of relief, "What the hell's going on? Why aren't you healing?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but blinding pain spread through his body, and darkness overwhelmed Damon before he could reply.

168 led Elena to the stage which was in the middle of an enormous room, with hundreds of chairs put neatly in rows. She counted silently, leaving Elena slightly confused. It reminded her of a theatre, in the way that everything was set up. Lights lined the top of the stage and blood red curtains were found on both sides of the stage. However, Elena knew it was going to be everything but a pleasant experience. In fact, it was one she was completely dreading. There were metal cages lining the front and she knew exactly what they were for.

"Your cage is the sixth one," 168 said after a while. "I'm sure you tried cage-dancing before?"

Elena swallowed thickly. "Yes."

"Good," 168 encouraged her, "Come on. Show me what you know and we'll take it from there."

Elena nodded hurriedly, getting in the cage and grabbing the bars tightly so that she could sway her hips more seductively, her thin legs spread wide. Of course she knew what men liked-She had been an exotic dancer once. She kept her head down and eyes closed, tying to imagine she was anywhere but there. It was impossible to forget where she was.

"You've got the basics," 168 commented. "Good for you. Widen your legs a bit more, work on the expression on your face, master the routine I'll be teaching you and you'll be the favourite one tonight."

Elena nodded.

"As I said," 168 continued, her voice void of any emotion, "Always do your best to make sure that the men like what you offer them. If they do not like it, then no man will hire you for tonight. That might seem like a great thing, but it's not. The masters usually get rid of the girls that do not help them make profits."

"I'll do my b-best."

"Show no fear or emotion whatsoever," 168 added. "This is business. Do what the man asks of you and that's all. No ifs or but's…no strings attached."

"Please, 168," Elena begged her. She couldn't take it anymore. No matter how much she tried to accept that she was back to this ugly, lust-filled world, she couldn't. She fell on her knees in front of the blue eyed woman. "Don't make me do this."

"Get up!" 168 snapped at her, "Are you out of your mind? If Adam sees you…"

"What will he do? Rape me again? My entire existence is revolved around rape!"

"Don't make this worse to yourself," 168 warned her. "There are far worse things than rape here. Don't test their patience. You're a whore, 24197. You better learn to serve and act like one, if you want to live another day. Now, get up…we have a lot of work to do."

Damon felt the sun's rays against his skin and he found himself burying his face in the pillow, appreciating every second of it. He felt relaxed and well rested…

However, he was quickly awoken from his slumber when he heard someone calling him. His eyes shot open and he sat up on the bed, fully conscious as he felt his wounds throb. His muscles were burning and they gave out under him, falling back on to the bed. His throat was raw, craving blood to heal his wounds.

"How are you feeling?"

Damon turned around to see Klaus sitting on a chair beside him. He looked worried, genuinely concerned.

"Klaus?" Damon's eyes furrowed in confusion. "Where am I?"

"You're in my house," Klaus informed him. "You were in a car accident. I happened to be nearby."

"What?"

"You lost control of the car," Klaus explained. "You were barely conscious when I got you out. The wounds weren't even healing. What's going on with you, Damon?"

Damon tried to sit up, but the pain in his stomach made him decide otherwise.

"I know that Wes took Elena away from you," Klaus finally said. "I didn't play a part in it, but I was informed."

Damon's eyes locked with Klaus's. "Then you know that I am not alright."

"Dammit, Damon!" Klaus snarled, looking at Damon with almost cold eyes, "I told you! I told you not to get attached to her! You knew what you had to do-You weren't supposed to…"

"I know, okay, I know!" Damon yelled back, "But you do not know what it's like, Klaus. All the other vampires…they are assigned to a girl and then they give her up after a few months. I'm different! I've watched over this girl ever since she was a baby. You know that."

"Of course I know that!" Klaus roared, "Wasn't I the one who helped you escape? I did everything I could for you, Damon…because you're my friend."

Flashback: 2010

"I can't do this, Klaus," Damon said, grabbing the bottle of bourbon and sipping a good half of it in an instant. "You know I can't."

"Damon, you've grown too attached to her!"

"She's twelve old, Klaus. I have to become her worst nightmare in less than five years. I can't do this to her. I've spent the past twelve years protecting her, making sure that she's safe. In all honesty, I never did any of those things for Wes. I protected her because I never wanted her to die."

"She reminds you of Kimberly, dammit!" Klaus snapped, "You don't pity her, Damon. You cannot pity a guardian-you are wiser than that. She just reminds you of your daughter but listen to me, she's nothing. If anything, she's a murderer!"

"We don't know that, Klaus! She never had any symptom that shows that she has Guardian blood inside of her! I can't go on living like this. I cannot hurt her, Klaus."

"Wes will stop giving you the blood if you don't. In a few years, it'll be over. You'll take her home with you, do what we usually do to the guardians-to-be and then you'll take her to Wes, freed from all the cruelty inside of her. You'll never see her again and you'll forget all about her."

"You don't know what it's like. I watched her grow up. She's innocent."

"Her ancestor walked into your fucking house and killed your wife and daughter! A Gilbert, Damon! A Gilbert Guardian! Do you want another massacre to happen?"

"I have to hurt an innocent girl because of some theory that she's the next Gilbert Guardian," Damon shook his head in anger, "I can't do it. I can't keep on protecting her yet knowing that I'll have to humiliate and degrade her in a few years' time."

"Damon," Klaus said calmly, "You've done this before."

"Yes, I have," Damon agreed, "And I never felt good about it. This time is different. I know her, Klaus. I protected her several times in her young life. She doesn't deserve it. She wants to become an author, you know. There isn't an ounce of evil inside of her."

"Damon, there will be," Klaus reminded him, taking a deep breath.

"I can't," Damon said. "I don't know how I'm going to get out of this one, but I can't keep on doing this."

"Damon, you're my friend," Klaus said after a while. "And as your friend I can tell you that Wes will kill you if you abort this mission. But, as your friend, I can also tell you that there is another way."

Damon looked up at him.

"I can help you get out of here, away from Wes, and I'll make sure to keep sending you blood. You won't save Elena, Damon. You haven't yet had sex with her so she is not 'claimed' by you. Wes will easily find another vampire to watch over her until she's of age. However, I can spare you from having to do the act yourself, and I will make sure to supply you with blood."

"I don't want to put you at risk. I'll escape myself."

"You will never survive without Guardian blood, Damon," Klaus warned him. "You and I both know that Wes is the only one producing such blood. He already told you that the blood is your payment. If you abort your mission, he'll stop giving you blood-you'll die. While you're gone, I'll make sure that I get enough for the both of us."

Damon looked at Klaus and took a deep breath, before finally nodding.

Present Day

"Of course, it didn't work out that way," Klaus said after a while. "We nearly got caught when you kidnapped Elena in hope to get her out of this godforsaken town."

"I hoped that Wes would forget about her. I hoped that I could keep her safe."

"You couldn't," Klaus reminded him. "Even if you did manage to get her out of town…every vampire back then knew of her. You wouldn't have made it far."

"I never did, anyway," Damon replied, wincing slightly at the pain in his chest, "Wes caught me after four years. I never understood how he didn't figure out that you were the one who helped me."

Klaus sighed. "Thank God he didn't."

Damon shrugged. "It was worse after those five years. I returned back to Mystic Falls because of Wes, and I had no choice other to find the Gilbert girl. And then, I walk in the club and I remember finding Elena grabbing a fucking pole, stripping for money. Obviously I didn't know that she was forced into it. Those five years in which I disappeared from Mystic Falls took a toll on me, though. I saw Guardians hurting other supernatural creatures. I saw death and violence…I saw other vampire friends being taken by Guardians. When I was caught by Wes, it didn't take me long to realise that I still needed to have my revenge for Katherine and Kim's deaths. To make matters worse, the sweet girl I had protected was offering her body for money. It was Courtney's lust that got me into this position and when I saw the lust written in Elena's face-now I know that it was fake lust, as she had to force it-I knew that she was a Guardian and that she deserved what she was going to get from me. I set up some men to follow her and threaten to rape her, making sure to save her from them and tell her about it so that I could see her trust me. I wanted her to trust me so that my betrayal would hurt even worse. It had been a battle. At times, my hands and my body ached to force her into my bed, to hurt her like her ancestors hurt people like me. But I never did, because the times when we did sleep together, I felt no hate for her…I didn't even feel the need to use violence on her. When we slept together, it was about her. I realised after long months that I didn't want to hurt her. Only I fucked up badly, because Elena's gone now, and Wes kicked me out. I can never find out where she is or if she's safe…which, I highly doubt."

Klaus bit his lip thoughtfully, looking at Damon with pity in his eyes. "You love her."

"I don't know," Damon said. "I think I do. I've never once shown her that. When she was with me, I always acted tough, hoping that if she was scared of me…if she hated me…it'll make my job easier. But then, when she was weak in my bed and I saw the memory of when she was first raped-anally-and I saw how Mason treated her, I knew that I couldn't. I couldn't humiliate her further. I couldn't experiment on her to see what her Gilbert Guardian powers could mean to our kind…I couldn't lay a hand on her at all."

"A Guardian's emotions are everything," Klaus said. "If you destroyed that, you would've destroyed her. That's why Wes emphasized that we degraded the girls. They are proud creatures, Damon."

"The Guardians, yes," Damon agreed, "But not the ones like Elena. She didn't even know that there might be a possibility of becoming a Guardian."

Klaus took a deep breath and shifted uncomfortably. "Damon…I am not saying that I agree with your love for Elena or that I agree that Guardians-to-be should be let travelling around the world freely," He spoke calmly, "But if you promise me one thing, I can help you get her back."

Damon's eyebrows raised in confusion. "What?"

"There is a possibility that Elena might never actually transition into a Guardian. I agree with you. However, there is also a possibility that Elena will turn into a Guardian, and that has to be taken care of."

"She never experienced any violent nightmares that urged her to give herself to the Guardian nature," Damon said. "That was the only experiment I did on her-invading her dreams. She never had any such dream that encouraged the hunting of vampires, and you and I both know that that is the first Guardian symptom."

"Exactly," Klaus breathed out. "I'm relying on the idea that she does not ever transform to a Guardian, that as you are saying, she's an innocent girl. I can help you get her back, I can learn where Wes is keeping her and I can guide you to her. However, on the other hand, I cannot risk our species. If Wes is right and she'll develop Guardian symptoms, I want you to promise me that you'll get rid of her-not just try to help her, Damon-we both know that a Guardian can only be killed, not cured. If you promise me that, I give you my word, I'll start looking for her right away."

"I…I don't know what to say…"

"I just want you to promise me that if she becomes dangerous, you'll get rid of her," Klaus insisted, "You don't have to say anything else."

"I promise you," Damon spoke with conviction. "I…I can never thank you enough, Klaus."

"As I said," Klaus repeated. "Your word is enough. I do not want to be the reason another massacre happens. Please, keep your word."

"I will," Damon replied. "If she becomes a Guardian, I'll kill her myself."

She was running into the woods, breathless. She heard footsteps and she just ran faster, her heart beating fast against her chest. Only then, her captor appeared in front of her.

Only her captor looked scared.

Since when did the predator become scared of the prey?

The captor moved away from her, but then Elena felt hunger inside of her. Hunger she had never seen before. Her hands were shaking, itching, and the captor's eyes were not looking at her anymore. They were looking downwards to Elena's hands.

Elena looked down, finding herself dressed entirely in white. But there, in her lap, was a vampire's head, from which her hands had managed to pull out various bones. Elena smirked evilly, throwing the head away and looking at her captor-no, her prey.

The need for violence was killing her. She wanted to kill and destroy, she wanted to rip out the vampire in front of her's organs and devour them. Her fingers cut into the vampire's flesh so hard that blood poured out of them…

"24197, wake up!"

Elena found herself on the couch, 168 looking sternly at her. "Great, I leave you alone on the couch for an hour and you end up napping instead of practicing what I taught you."

"I'm sorry-" Elena gasped, confused and horrified by the nightmare she had just had.

"Don't apologise to me…be sorry for yourself if you mess up the dance routine tonight!" 168 said coldly. "Get up and show me what you've learnt."

168 turned away and Elena got off the couch, confused. It was when she looked at her fingers that her mouth shot open in horror.

The blood on her fingers…Her dream…it couldn't have been real…

A drop of blood from Elena's fingers fell on her clothes.

Some points to sum up the idea of the Guardian:

They were inspired by vampire diaries' hunters, and Michael Mikaelson (The vampire who drinks from vampires) a bit from the walkers "zombies" in the Walking Dead. As you can see, they prey on vampires violently.

Guardians use sex and seduction to kill the vampire (This was inspired by the idea of the mermaid, who is said to lure men to their deaths)

Guardians-to-be are those women whose families have had Guardian blood within them. Guardians-to-be are those people who according to vampires, have a higher chance to develop to Guardians because someone in their family was a Guardian. These have to be destroyed to try and make the Guardians extinct.

Gilbert Guardians are special, as explained in this chapter (and I will keep working on it)

Every Guardian-to-be has to make her first kill, inspired by a violent nightmare that will start pushing the Guardian-to-be to accept her violent nature and become a fully transformed Guardian. Elena has officially had this first dream in this chapter.

Please Review and do not hesitate to ask questions. I might answer them, but please remember that some things will be revealed in the story itself.