Later that afternoon, Dean and Sam found themselves wandering around the streets of Mystic Falls trying to find the bridge that would lead them to 'Baby'. The sun, as it had been that morning, was beating against the ground in angry tidal waves and the boys were tempted to remove their t-shirts, but decided against it for nothing but human decency.

Dean maintained the notion that the residents probably wouldn't mind, but Sam remained adamant that they weren't on holiday, therefore there was no reason to go without a shirt.

It wasn't until well into the afternoon, that Sam and Dean finally found the old bridge that they'd been looking for. It was located much further out of town than they remembered and if you weren't a local that knew the access roads, there wasn't much of a hope of finding the turning as it wasn't sign posted.

The walk, however, to the place that they had left the Impala, was shorter than they remembered. Probably because it was more familiar territory, but either way, the boys were grateful to see some semblance of their old life, their old Universe!

Upon seeing her, Dean swiftly went up to his car and knelt down beside the bonnet, stroking the chassis with love.

"I'm sorry we left you! Are you okay?" He spoke tenderly and checked her all over for dents in the framework or scratches in her glossy black exterior. Thankfully, she was blemish free; there was still the problem of the engine refusing to start, however.

Dean pulled open the bonnet and peered inside while Sam went to the boot and retrieved items that they'd need.

All of their clothing was still stuffed inside the duffel bags in the trunk of the car and Sam took them out with ease and lay them at his feet, digging back into the trunk for some weapons. It never hurt to be cautious.

Once a gun was tucked into the back of his jeans, Sam took the tool box from the car boot and handed it to Dean. The older man was buried in the bonnet, searching for his 'Baby's' ailment. It didn't take him long and he was soon pulling out different tools to fix her, ignoring his brother all the while.

Sam lifted up the duffel bags again and slung them across his back as he waited for Dean.

"What did you get those out for?" Dean asked, pointing at the bags with his spanner, "I'm driving us into town!" He dove beneath the hood again.

The thought hadn't even occurred to Sam, even as he'd watched Dean fix the car, that they'd be driving. Now that he did think about it, it seemed obvious and he felt rather silly for standing there with the bags.

"Ahha!" Dean shouted a few minutes later at no one in particular. Sam had sat down in the passenger side of the car, throwing the duffels in the back, and was pulling his gun apart absentmindedly.

The car shook as Dean climbed in too and turned the keys in the ignition. Baby rumbled herself to a steady growl and Dean grinned, stroking the dash board.

"We're off then?" Sam asked, sliding the metal of the gun back together with a click and putting it back under the waistband of his trousers.

"Yep!" Dean put the car in gear and began to drive off and over the bridge, enjoying the journey much more now that they were in their own car, rather than having to walk.

Parking the car outside of Matt's house, Dean and Sam decided to walk around the neighbouring streets. It was good to know every inch of the foreign world that they found themselves in, you never knew when you were going to have to run for your life. If that happened, you'd need to know the best place to run to.

The streets were mostly empty, everyone was either at work or school, and those that weren't, were smart enough to stay inside and avoid the torturously hot weather. The brothers ventured slowly, all but forgetting their current predicament in the ordinary action of merely taking a walk. It was so human, so simple, that the two felt wistful. They weren't focusing on anything at the moment, no case, no murder, just exploring yet another new town. They felt peaceful.

Dean was the first to break the silence that had fallen over them when he spotted something just a little further down the road that they were walking along. A girl stood, the breeze playing with her hair, with her head in her hands in front of a plot of land that should have held a house.

As they got nearer, the Winchesters saw that it wasn't earth in the plot, but ash and rubble; whatever house had been there, had clearly burnt down.

The brother's approached the weeping girl, preparing to speak to her, when she lifted her head. The pink streak in her brunette hair was pushed behind her ear as she ran a hand through the curled mess, and she looked up at Dean and Sam, fresh tears continuing to carve paths on her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Sam said worriedly, stepping closer to put an arm around her shoulder, or some sign of reassurance.

"No," She sniffled, leaning in when Sam placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What happened? Is this your house?" Dean asked, thinking now that they shouldn't have been so quick to forget all their worries.

"Yes, it was my home. A few-" The girl hiccupped "A few days ago, it caught alight, my brother was inside."

"I'm sorry," Dean sighed. The girl broke away from Sam and faced Dean with a small smile.

"Thank you. I'm Elena, by the way,"

Sam let curiosity get the better of himself and couldn't refrain from asking:
"How did the fire start?"

Elena glanced at him, her eyes spiking in pain, "I'd rather not talk about it,"

"Sorry about him, he's not very sensitive," Dean shot Sam a look, "I'm Dean and this is Sam,"

"Brothers, right?" Elena sniffed again and lifted a hand for Dean to shake "I'm really hungry,"

"Yeah, we're brothers" Sam smiled.

It took Sam a moment to realise why this girl was so familiar to him, hadn't he seen her yesterday, at the Grill? She must have gotten the pink streak put in that morning because it hadn't been there the night before.

"Weren't you at the Grill yesterday?" He voiced the question.

"Yeah!" Dean agreed, finally remembering, "Matt's ex!"

Sam sighed at his brother's complete lack of tact. He had described her as the 'stalker ex' when they'd seen her in the Grill and was now referring to her as something similar in person after they'd seen her crying.

"Matt? That reminds me, I haven't seen Matt since I got back from my little road trip. I'll go visit him later!"

"But-" Dean began.

"Actually, I think I'll visit all of my friends later, I bet they missed me." All the signs of tears and misery were gone from Elena's eyes and instead, there was an emotionless glint. It was a scary glint.

Using one long, tanned arm, she reached out and hooked a hand around Dean's neck. It was a quick movement that neither of the boys could have ever imagined having time to counteract.

Before they could blink, Dean was bent double, the girl's teeth at his throat.

"I'm so hungry. I think I'll have lunch first," Elena grinned and brought her teeth crashing down and through Dean's flesh. He screamed and writhed but his brute strength was nothing against hers.

Completely unprepared, Sam tried to pull Elena from his brother but she threw him off as if he were paper. Dean was getting paler and paler as his blood seemed to flow from him, his arms sagging loosely by his side.

"Let go of him Elena." Stefan called sweetly. Elena let the body fall and Sam scrambled over to him.

Dean was still alive, but barely breathing, he would survive.

Elena wiped her mouth and turned to face Stefan. How dare he interrupt her meal?

"What do you want, Stefan? Didn't I make it clear enough, what I would do if you didn't leave me in peace?" She was careful not to get too close to the other vampire, choosing instead to be a few feet away, just in case he'd decided to get evil with the vervain. From this distance she'd have time to make her exit.

"You made it clear. Definitely." Stefan didn't elaborate and it was beginning to annoy Elena.

Every time he came to reason with her or to discuss something, he would never explain what he wanted, all he'd do was stand there and leave her to become frustrated. It was infuriating.

Elena didn't have time to fume long, however, because as she began her next sentence, the words were forced from her mouth as a gasp when something came speeding through the air and broke both of her legs.

"That worked better than I'd though!" Caroline enthused, getting to her feet from her previous position resembling an ice hockey player. Elena lay on the ground hissing.

"That won't keep me down for long!" She growled threateningly, but as she did so, Bonnie walked out from behind Stefan. She was chanting.

Elena screamed in agony, bindings beginning to worm their way up her arms and legs, burning her skin as they went.

Sam looked on in silence, he had only one weapon, but he wasn't sure how well it would work on any of the people before him. Dean lay unconscious on the ground beside him, unaware of anything that was happening.

"I'm sorry, Elena." Stefan knelt next to her tightly bound body and lifted her easily from the floor, "Caroline, can you..." He gestured towards Dean and Sam.

Sam scrambled up and pulled the gun from his trousers, standing with his feet locked firmly on the gound, completely steady.

"Hey, stay calm," Caroline chided, staring into Sam's eyes, "Put the gun down," Sam let the gun fall to the floor with a clatter. He couldn't look away from Caroline's eyes.

"Forget what you saw here. You spent the day at Matt's house with your brother, playing on the computer and watching television. Oh, and I'm really sorry about this,"

With a dull thud, Sam's vision went black.