"Run away as far as you can," Stefan grunted, his mouth filled with the craving for blood. He wiped his mouth which was coated with blood. The girl was not moving, not running, like he told her to. He didn't want to hurt the girl, yet he didn't want her to leave. Her blood was so intoxicating to him, he needed more. He wanted to bite the girl one more time…

Going towards her, he cupped her face and said, "Sorry, but…" and when he looked at the girl's face, it wasn't a random girl. He staggered back. It was Elena.

Stefan woke up from cold sweat.

He wiped his mouth, for good measures, and closed his eyes. A dream, he thought, no a nightmare. He didn't notice that he was trembling, and panting. Looking at the clock, checking of Elena would be up, he texted her good morning, and laid back on his bed, still shaken from his nightmare.

He abruptly got up, and wanted to take a stroll in the woods, to maybe clear his head. Getting out of the house through his window, he ran deep in the forest and someone shot him from behind.

~XX~

"Stefan!" Damon called, his voice echoing around the house. Damon waited, but it was no use. His brother was not opening the door. And why was it locked? Damon wondered. He grimaced, thinking if Elena was in there with him…

"Okay, you give me no choice, I have to bust in," Damon shrugged and kicked the door opening, breaking it into two. He walked in, and found that there was no one on the bed, and the bed was made. He crossed his arms, and thought for a second. Why did Stefan lock his door? It was pretty useless to lock a door with any vampire around. Damon sighed, his brother was a weird one. He needed to talk to Stefan because he was going to tell Stefan he figured out where the vampire' hiding spot was, or, Alaric figured out, more or less…

Damon sighed and called Alaric.

"What do you want?" came Alaric's tired voice from the other line.

"Someone woke up from the wrong side of bed this morning," Damon said breezily. Alaric mumbled something about his long gone wife. "Stefan is nowhere to be found."

"Huh?" Alaric said, and Damon could hear shuffling.

"Meet me in front of that vampire's house in two minutes," Damon said, hanging up.

~XX~

Elena got a surprise waiting for her at the bathroom. "Caroline?" she asked, "What are you doing-"

"Elena! I knew you forgot!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Forgot what?" Elena asked, confused with Caroline once again.

"Costume party today-"

"Nurse," Elena cut in. She smiled, "I didn't forget actually."

"Nice," Caroline nodded, smiling too. "I really thought that I had to shop with you for a costume."

"Thanks, Caroline, for caring…about if I have a costume or not," Elena half laughed.

"It's my job," Caroline shrugged, bouncing on the bed.

"How'd you get in, anyways?" Elena asked, fixing her hair, glancing at Caroline.

"Jeremy let me in," Caroline replied. Elena stopped.

"Jeremy?" she asked. Caroline looked at Elena weirdly.

"Yeah, your brother?" she said.

"No, I mean, Jeremy never wakes up this early in a Saturday morning," Elena said, going to Jeremy's room, seeing that there was in fact no one. She frowned.

"Maybe he wanted to take a walk or something," Caroline suggested.

"He left?" Elena asked.

"What's with the twenty questions, Elena?" Caroline laughed.

"Nothing, just, weird," Elena said nonchalantly, even though there was something more than weird with Jeremy getting up so early.

"Well, I have to be heading back now, since I have to do some Miss Mystic Falls shopping- ooh! And don't you dare not enter," Caroline said, walking out the door.

Only, Elena completely forgot about the Miss Mystic Falls.

~XX~

"Vicky, are you okay?" Jeremy asked, because he got a text early in the morning from her, asking him if he could meet up with her.

"Of course I am," she replied, between kisses. Jeremy stopped, and sat up.

"Everyone is looking for you, and your brother is worried, and here I am…" Jeremy said, but was cut off when Vicky pulled him back, hungrily.

~XX~

"I know where he lives," the vampire said. Alaric found the vampire, who got turned by the vampire that they were searching for. Damon went in the fridge and helped himself to some donor blood, pouring it into a glass, and enjoying Alaric's disgust.

"In the middle of the woods, got it," Damon said, nodding at Alaric to leave.

"You'll need to watch out," the vampire warned.

"Trust me, we're looking for two crazy vampires, and the only thing I can do is to watch out," Damon sighed.

"Thank you," Alaric said.

"Yeah, well you kind of threatened me," the vampire looked at Damon accusingly, as did Alaric.

"What?" Damon asked, half shrugging. He drained his glass and put it in the sink.

"Okay, thank you, and we won't tell you gave us the information," Alaric said.

"Thanks," the vampire said, as they left the house.

Little did they know that the vampire reached for the phone to call the vampire they were hunting.

~XX~

Elena knocked on Stefan's house; it was late in the day, only a few minutes until the party at the gym, and she called him many times, but he never replied. The only thing she got from him was a good morning beautiful.

Damon opened the door.

"Where's Stefan?" Elena asked walking in, she could see Damon eyeing her nurse outfit.

"I can ask you the same question. Thought he was with you," Damon said, following Elena into the house, as Elena went to Stefan's room. She was appalled at his door. It was totally wrecked. Thoughts, bad ones, ran through her head.

"Damon, what happened? Oh my gosh-"

"I did that, don't worry," Damon said. She looked at him shaking her head.

"Did you guys…fight?" Elena asked.

"Nah, I just broke his door," he replied, Elena gave him a puzzled look. "Don't ask." Damon inspected the room. "I haven't seen Stefan since morning."

"But it's almost time to go to the costume party, and I heard that Vicky was going…" Elena trailed off.

"We can worry about Stefan later. He'll be sure to show up some way or another. You positive she's coming?" Damon asked.

"Yes, and Jeremy also said that she was going to be dressed up as a vampire," Elena said.

"Way to really bring out the vampire," Damon said. "Now, it'll be easier to hunt her down." Elena gave Damon a sharp look. "What?"

"Damon are you going to kill her in front of all those people?" she asked, astonished.

"Of course not," Damon rolled his eyes.

"So you are going to kill her," Elena stated. She saw Damon clench his jaw.

"I have no choice, Elena. She has killed a few people. And who knows who's next? Your brother maybe? Elena, what would you do if he turned to a vampire?" Damon explained. Elena didn't consider that.

"You still- Stefan can help her, why are you so determined in Stefan not helping her? Damon, you and I know he can help her- you can too even," Elena said. She saw that Damon looked…uncomfortable. "Would you even help her?" she whispered.

Damon met Elena's gaze, his eyes boring into hers.

"I don't think, Elena, you know what we vampires are even capable of," Damon said, flashing in front of her, his teeth brushing her neck, holding her that she couldn't break away. She was trapped in his grip. "I can right now, kill you, Elena."

"You're not," Elena said, hating herself for sounding so breathless. His canines caressed her bare neck, and she shivered, and not in a bad way. She wanted to pull away from him, but part of her didn't want to.

She could feel Damon smile. He pulled back, his smile gone, and his eyes dipped down to her lips, and trailed back up to her eyes. She tried to hold a steady gaze. "How I wish you weren't right," he murmured.

Alaric burst into the door, ruining their moment, and he stopped short, looking back at how close Damon and Elena were, and opened his mouth and closed it for at least three times. Elena flushed red, and stepped back.

"I hope I wasn't ruining anything," he said weakly.

"No," both Elena and Damon said automatically. Alaric looked skeptical, but he continued.

"Vicky is at the dance, we located her," he said. "Are you guys going?"

"Yeah, I have to go since Stefan is A-WOL," Damon answered, getting his jacket. "Come on get ready, we have a vampire to chase."

~XX~

The party was buzzing with people, and the only thing that Elena wanted to see what where Vicky was. Damon was already somewhere and Alaric was checking the halls. She just hoped that Jeremy wasn't with her.

That was when she saw a flash, and immediately saw that it was Vicky heading out to the parking lot. She followed her quickly, wondering where she was heading off to.

Walking, out she walked carefully through the buses, and glanced all over the place. "Vicky? Are you out there? We just want to help," Elena called, turning, and to her complete horror, saw someone on the floor lying with no sign of movement, and he looked drained. Elena's heart hammered. This had to be Vicky, she thought cringing inwardly. She didn't know what to do – call the police because this person died? What would she say to them? Did Vicky kill another student at the dance? And her brother-

All of a sudden, she was pushed back harshly to a bus, her breath getting knocked out.

"Vicky," Elena gasped for breath, as Vicky held her throat. Vicky smiled, and it was a crazed smile. Elena couldn't move anything; Vicky was far too powerful for her.

"Elena, how nice, I'll just kill you- it won't be painful I promise," Vicky said, coaxing Elena as if she were a child.

"We can help," Elena got out, closing her eyes tightly.

"No one can help me," Vicky said, and she dipped her head to Elena's neck, and Elena screamed, feeling Vicky's canines go into her skin deep.

Then it was gone, the teeth that was hacking into her flesh and she was released from the death grip, and when Elena opened her eyes, her hands shot straight up to the neck wound, and she saw a dead Vicky with a stake through her heart, slowly fading away. Vicky dropped then, and Elena could feel the tears welling up to her eyes. She saw Damon looking at Vicky too, taking out the stake, and looking at Elena.

"You okay?" Damon asked.

"Y-yeah," Elena managed, taking her hand away from the wound, and looking at her blood stained hand.

"Good," Damon stated, and he looked at her wound. "I'm sorry Elena, if there was another way, then maybe…she would have lived."

Elena said nothing.

"But I had no choice- she was going to kill you," Damon started. He searched her eyes, for something, and Elena could see he looked worried, not the usual Damon cockiness and the smirk. "Elena-"

"Just take me home."

XXX

A/N: This chapter was pretty intense. And there is more to come. REVIEW and thank you! As I have said before, your inputs are great and any compliment will boost up on me writing this. I wonder if people do actually like it?