Stefan's POV
As I drank the girl's blood, I tried to focus more on the sweet, rich taste of it than the images of Elena's heartbroken face plastered in my mind. Why the hell should she matter? I didn't love her. She was nothing more than a memory. Klaus had made sure of that when he'd compelled me to switch my feelings off. I wasn't complaining though. The guilt and the hurt had overwhelmed me at times...suffocated me. And the love I felt for Elena...that had always been in the way. I guess when it came to my feelings for her, they were simply locked away in the back of my brain, untouched for seven years. Sure, when Klaus found out she was still alive a month ago, I'd worried, but shortly after, I'd been compelled to turn that part of me off. Klaus wanted an army of hybrids...I did as he said. It's not like he would kill her. He just needed her blood. And Damon. Well, it wasn't like I was the one torturing him. That was Rebekah. I'd been compelled to go along with it. Did I like it? Not really, but Klaus was a hybrid dick who liked to cause pain. He didn't just take what he wanted; he dragged it out painfully until he'd made everyone suffer for what he wanted. And Rebekah, well, she was a spoilt bitch who caused a scene if she didn't get what she wanted. I loved teasing her. I loved making her beg for my attention. She may be an Original, but I had the brat wrapped around my little finger. She was nuts about me.
"Ugh, she's dry," Rebekah whined, pushing the dead girl off of her. "Want some help finishing yours?"
"Nope," I growled, draining the last of the blood and pushing the corpse away. "Done."
"I'm still feeling hungry," she complained. "Let's go and find some more pathetic humans to drink from."
"Okay," I said indifferently, as my phone began to buzz. "One sec," I checked the caller ID. Klaus. I answered. "Hello?"
"I've found a tester werewolf," he stated. "He's a lone wolf; doesn't have a pack. But he'll do for now, so I'm going to need our precious doppelganger's blood as soon as possible, Stefan."
"I'm on it," I replied. "I'll have Rebekah meet you and give it to you, wherever the hell you are. Where are you, exactly?"
"Sacramento," he said. "And do get Rebekah to hurry; he won't stick a sock in his trap."
"Yep. I'll call you when she's leaving," I hung up and turned to Rebekah.
"I don't want to go to Sacramento," she moaned. "It'll take ages. Why can't you come with me?"
"Because I have to keep an eye on the doppelganger," I told her.
Her expression quickly became jealous. "Why don't I keep an eye on her and you deliver her blood to Klaus, and I'll try not to kill her while you're gone."
I laughed lightly. "I prefer my plan. We need to get back to the Boarding House. It's time to put Klaus' torture plan into action."
"Can't wait," Rebekah snarled, smiling a twisted, cruel smile. This woman was mental.
Elena's POV
"We don't have much time," Alaric said quickly. "Stefan and the girl are out at the moment, but they shouldn't be too long. I suggest we arm ourselves with wooden stakes and vervain grenades."
"Where are we gonna get all that from?" Caroline asked as Alaric hurried us to his car.
"My car," he said simply, opening up the trunk.
"Wow...you keep all of this in the trunk of your car?" Tyler asked in surprise.
Alaric shrugged, exchanging a grim look with me. "You never know when you're gonna have to deal with surprise vampire attacks. Trust me; being a vampire hunter, you learn to always be prepared."
"Come on. We need to leave," I said.
While Alaric drove, we armed ourselves up with the stakes and the grenades. I couldn't stop thinking about Stefan hurting Damon...horrible images of them kept wondering through my mind. I tried to keep reminding myself that Stefan wasn't Stefan...he'd been compelled to forget his humanity. The Stefan I remembered would never consider hurting anyone, especially not Damon. This was Klaus. It was all Klaus. Despite my anger toward Stefan right now, the part of me that still loved him didn't want to believe he would do this...the part of me that still loved him wanted to defend him and help him. I watched as we pulled over outside the Salvatore House. Grateful to escape from my raging thoughts, I hopped out of the car along with the others. In silence, we hurried over to the front door, which as usual wasn't locked, and ran inside. Nothing had changed, I realised, glancing around. Okay, now wasn't the time to reminisce about this place. I still remembered my way around the house, and led them down into the dungeon.
"Caroline, Tyler, go get a blood bag for Damon," I whispered. They nodded in agreement and hurried to the basement. Alaric and I made our way down to the dungeon, and I peered inside. Damon was lying on the floor, his wrists chained up to the wall. He was breathing heavily. I shuddered. I hated seeing him so weak and vulnerable.
"Damon!" I whispered, pushing the door open. He glanced up in shock, his blue eyes tired.
"Elena, you shouldn't be here," he croaked. "Go home."
"Not without you," I knelt beside him and touched his cheek. "Where are the keys to the cuffs?"
"Don't know," he breathed. "Just get out of here. They don't want me...they want you, Elena."
My heart jumped frantically, but I ignored it. "I don't care."
Suddenly, I heard the sound of bones cracking, and I gasped in shock as I whirled around. Stefan was standing there, glaring down at Alaric's now dead body. He'd broken his neck! My gazed shifted to the ring on his finger. He would come back. I stood up protectively in front of Damon as I faced Stefan.
"Hello again, Elena," he smirked. "Come to rescue my brother now, have you?"
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded. "He's your brother! Let him go!"
"Fine," Stefan sauntered over and broke the cuffs. "There you go."
I bent to help Damon up, when suddenly, Stefan's arm shot around my waist and pulled me away from Damon.
"Let go of me!" I shouted, kicking viciously at him. The blonde woman entered the room and sneered as she began to walk slowly toward me.
"Get away from her," Damon ordered, sounding a little stronger as he tried to get to his feet. Growling, he collapsed again.
Before the blonde could touch me, Stefan had released me and thrown me across the room. I hit the wall with a thud and slid to the floor, pain erupting everywhere.
"They brought a vampire and werewolf with them," the blonde laughed. "I took care of them."
I didn't have time to think about whether she had killed them or not, because she raced over to Damon and pulled him up. She then stabbed him in the gut with a wooden stake. He growled in pain as blood began to seep through his shirt.
"Don't!" I screamed, forcing myself to stand up. "Don't hurt him!"
Stefan smiled at me. "Rebekah's not going to stop until you give me what I want."
"What do you want?" I sobbed. "Please, leave him alone."
"Your blood may be the key to creating hybrids," Stefan informed me. "I want a small sample of your blood to take to Klaus."
"Don't give it to him," Damon hissed. Rebekah stabbed him again and he yelled out in agony.
"Stop!" I shrieked. "Please!"
Stefan handed me a knife. "You know what to do."
Feeling tears pour down my cheeks, I stared at the man I once loved. "Who are you?" I whispered brokenly, as I sliced into my hand with the knife. Stefan watched me blankly, holding a little glass tube underneath my bleeding hand. My scarlet blood dropped into the tube. Once it was a quarter full, he wordlessly put a stopper in it and took it away. Rebekah carelessly dropped Damon and took the vial from Stefan. Together, they exited the dungeon, leaving me alone with Damon.
"Oh my God," I whispered, running to him and kneeling beside him. "Damon!"
"Are you okay?" he demanded. "Let me see your hand."
"It's nothing," I told him, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Come on, we need to get you out of here."
Tyler and Caroline hurried in, both bleeding. I gasped in relief when I saw they were alive. Rebekah had just obviously hurt them.
"There aren't any blood bags," she informed me tiredly. "They must've drunk them all. Stefan and that bitch are gone."
"Whoa, what happened to Ric?" Tyler asked.
"Stefan broke his neck," I gulped. "He's wearing his ring; he'll be okay in a few hours. Guys, take him upstairs."
Caroline and Tyler picked Alaric up and began to haul him out of the dungeon. I turned to Damon and showed him my bleeding hand.
"Take it," I said. "It'll heal you."
"No," he said firmly. "I won't feed on you."
"It's not feeding on me," I argued. "Just drink my blood to heal you, Damon, please."
Damon sighed and took my hand in his. "Slap me round the face if I hurt you. I swear to you, I'll stop, Elena."
I nodded. "I believe you."
Slowly, not taking his eyes off me, he lowered his mouth to my hand. I felt his lips plant a soft kiss on the cut, before the sharp graze of his fangs. He then began to drink. It didn't hurt at all. In fact, it felt...okay. More than okay, it felt good. With my free hand, I felt myself involuntarily brushing his hair from his face. He gently touched my hair with his free hand, running his fingers through to the back, where he softly grazed the nape of my neck. I shivered longingly, breathing heavily as his mouth left my hand. He kissed the wound again, and then looked up at me, his blue eyes blazing.
"Are you okay?" he asked, smiling cockily. "You're not gonna pass out, are you?"
I rolled my eyes, although I did feel a little unsteady. "No."
"Come on," he stood up, helping me to my feet. "Let's get out of here."
I leaned against Damon as he wrapped his arm around my waist, running me out of the dungeon. I closed my eyes and pressed myself against him, seeming to absorb energy from him. My mind unwillingly registered how good he smelled, and how good it felt to be near him. I reluctantly let him go as he gently deposited me on the couch. He sat beside me, watching me cautiously.
"You okay?" he asked.
I nodded shakily. "Considering I just saw my ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend torture you so I would give them my blood...I think I'm handling it."
"You saved my life," he said, taking my hand. "Thank you, Elena."
I smiled, and leaned against his shoulder. "You're welcome."
At that point, Caroline re-entered the house. "We put Alaric upstairs. Stefan and Rebekah are gone. We're gonna go home now, Elena, you coming?"
"I'll take Elena back," Damon told her quietly. "Thanks, Barbie."
She smirked at how close we were sitting. "It's okay, Damon. Bye, Elena."
"Bye Care," I smiled at her as she left. Damon got up and poured two glasses of bourbon. I studied him as he did. His skin was beautifully flawless, and ivory white. His hair was silky black and came to the nape of his neck. His muscles were extremely prominent against the black t-shirt he wore. God, he was gorgeous. How could I hide my attraction to him? I quickly looked away as he glanced up at me, but he grinned.
"Were you checking me out?" he smirked, handing me a glass and sitting down beside me. "Because that's cool if you were...I don't blame you."
For some reason, instead of glaring at him like I usually would, I rolled my eyes, smiled and bumped him with my elbow. He grinned at me and bumped back.
"He's not coming back," I sighed, glancing down at my glass. "Is he? There's no fixing him...he's broken."
"Do you want me to lie to you?" he asked softly.
"No," I said firmly, meeting his sapphire eyes. "Tell me the truth."
"When a vampire switches off their feelings...it's the greatest feeling in the world. You can just forget any sorrow...or pain. But to switch it back on again; to invite the pain back in...it hurts more than anything. It takes time, Elena. Decades," he explained.
"So what are you saying?" I whispered. I needed to hear this.
"Why do you want me to say it, Elena?" he asked. "You know what it means."
"Because I need to hear it," I said softly, tears welling in my eyes. "My heart can't move on, Damon. I'm stuck. And I hate this; I hate feeling so broken all the time."
"It's gonna be hard for Stefan to come back to you," he told me flatly. "Last time it took him thirty years to fully come back after a long ripper phase. Add that to your life; you'll be in your fifties. He won't come back. Not in your lifetime, Elena."
I sighed and closed my eyes, allowing tears to run down my face. "I know. I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else. I keep thinking he can change; I keep thinking he'll just turn around and drop the act," I scoffed at myself and opened my eyes. "But I'm wrong."
Damon looked at me intently, and carefully wiped a tear away. "I'm sorry I left you when you needed me the most. I should've been there to help you after Stefan left."
"You were trying to get him back," I pointed out.
"Yeah," he scoffed. "Look where it got me. I gave up."
"If you hadn't, then I wouldn't be with you right now," I said softly. "And right now, with you is where I need to be. My life's been incomplete for seven years."
Damon smiled a little, but his eyes were still sad. "Thank you for saying that, Elena."
"Ugh, what happened?" Alaric asked, stumbling into the room. "Damon...you're okay. Man...what did I miss?"
A/N: thank you for the reviews :) feedback is always welcomed, so let me know what you think xx
