A\N: My Christmas holidays started on Thursday and now I can start uploading more frequently though I have a mountain of homework to do. I hope you enjoy this chapter and as usual, please review.

I wish my readers a very happy and blessed Christmas, and stay safe!

~Amy

Please God, let me imagine that horrible voice, Elena thought as her eyes squeezed shut. But when she felt a cool breath on her neck, she knew that this wasn't her imagination.

Stefan Salvatore.

Elena whimpered as she remembered the first time she stepped into Damon's house, the day when Stefan had tried to attack her and Damon saved her. She remembered Damon's story about Katherine, and the other Salvatore brother. Damon had warned her that Stefan practically lived for blood and the idea scared her, even by the way he was eyeing her right at that moment, it was like he was ready to kill her.

"What is she doing with you, Steven?" Stefan was asking, his gaze still focused on Elena.

"Your brother screwed up, mate," Steven said as he turned to face her. "I think this little brunette here used her charms on him." He let out a small chuckle.

"What's going to happen to her?"

"She's sentenced to a public auction."

"This means that you can't give her to me…" Stefan narrowed his eyes and turned to her again. His gaze was so blatant that Elena felt very exposed and wrapped her arms around herself, unable to look at his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Stefan," The other replied in a sincere voice. "But you know Duncan…Damon killed Vladimir."

Stefan's eyes shot up. "He killed him?"

"He's dead," Steven confirmed. "He messed with this little girl here and he killed him. Can you see the effect she has on us?"

"Hmm, you really are trouble, aren't you?" Stefan smirked and he ran his fingertips along Elena's bare arms, and in return she backed away.

He sighed deeply and Steven cleared his throat. "I'll guess I see you around, Stef."

"Oh, you will. I'll be at the auction."

Elena didn't make an effort to hide her gasp as the words left Stefan's mouth. If she ended up with him, only God knows what will happen to her.

She was too occupied with her thoughts to realize that Steven was tugging at the chain again, and that suddenly there were over a hundred faces staring at her.

Damon woke up sore and in pain, however as soon as his head raised up the first thought that came to his mind was Elena.

After making an effort to widen his eyes, Damon's vision cleared and he realized that he was in a cell. His arms were bound behind his back and it was very dark in the room.

"Finally, you're awake."

Damon's head whipped around to see Duncan looking at him with so much hatred in his eyes.

"What have you done to her?" Damon swallowed his own saliva, his lips so dry that he barely had the strength to talk.

"Who, the human girl?" Duncan raised his eyebrows. "She's in the dark dimension. Public auction, of course. Meanwhile, you and I shall have an agreement."

"Screw you," Damon spat. "Let me go before I kill all your humans and rip your heads off."

"You know, I agree on the first part," Duncan came to sit down next to Damon, however not close enough. "That's what I would like you to be, Damon. The man you were before you lost your mind. Let me tell you a secret, Damon."

"I don't want to hear any more lies…"

"Oh, I think you do. Do you know what the humans are preparing? They are planning war, Damon. They want to extinct us like they did to the Salem witches all those years ago. You weren't even born in the 1690s, but I was. I watched them hunt down every witch-A witch, for God's sake, a servant of nature-and burn them alive in the town square. And now they are planning to do that to us. Now tell me, Damon, which side are you in?"

"This has nothing to do with Elena…"

"This has everything to do with Elena," He interrupted. "Because if you are going to rebel against your kind now, what are you going to do in the future? Trust me Damon, if this is war, the first humans that will be tortured will be those in the Dark Dimension. What are you going to do, kill every vampire that lays a finger on her? Kill your own flesh and blood?"

Damon was silent, he knew that he had no chance of winning.

"And if I get you Elena back," The other continued, "Is there a guarantee that she will not turn against us when the humans start to rip us apart, one by one? Let's face it, Damon. Even if you claim that you love her, you still locked her inside your house, you still took her freedom and her blood. Do you think she would stay with someone that will treat her like that for the rest of her life?"

He cleared his throat. "Love is a vampire's greatest weakness. Keep in mind that for us vampires, human girls are only useful because of their pretty white throats."

Duncan stood up and Damon just glared at him. "The authorities are giving you a second chance. I'll let you think about it, however if you are not going to stop fighting for Elena, you will be reunited with her…in death."

Elena looked around her and she realized that she was being dragged in a huge room and suddenly she was thrown on the floor, in front of over a hundred people.

"This human girl got taken away from her master, gentlemen," Steven was shouting at the top of his lungs, so that everyone, humans and vampires, heard her. "Like our law says in cases like these, this girl is to be sold right now at this very moment. Like usual, priority should be first given to those that does not have a human right now, whatever the reason is."

Loud voices surrounded the room and lots of people were discussing, arguing and even shooting dirty looks at Elena. Of course, a girl taken away from a vampire was something almost completely unheard of and everyone seemed to be curious about this mysterious girl who looked like the 'manipulative bitch' Katherine Pierce that was physically involved with both Salvatore brothers, and the girl that seduced a vampire.

"Silence!" Steven roared, and then everyone seemed to shut up. "The highest bid after five minutes will win."

And sounds filled Elena's ears once more. Prices were getting higher each second that passed and the stopwatch in Steven's hands was going down. When the watch finally stopped, the price she heard last was that of two hundred thousand dollars, and the voice she heard was very unpleasant.

"Stefan Salvatore," Steven said with a smile. "You won the auction."

Elena barely had time to process what was going on around her. Men cursing, people screaming…

However she then found herself dragged from her arm away from the crowd and for a moment she actually thank God for that. The looks the men were giving her, like they were going to rip her throat out at that very moment, and the anger in some bidder's faces, was making her feel so scared that she thought she might pass out soon.

She realized that the person that was now holding her arm was Stefan Salvatore and they were now in some sort of elevator, only of course, it wasn't one. This place was magical and mystical, of course in a bad way, she was thinking of it like some sort of vampire underworld.

"This is our room," Stefan's harsh voice brought her to reality and Elena shivered as she heard him say 'our' room. She had to share a room with a blood thirsty vampire who, by the experience of their first meeting, was nothing like Damon.

She heard a low click and she immediately realized that she was being locked in. The keys were safely tugged in his pockets, and there was no way in hell that she could just get them from him. He blurred in front of her.

"Elena Gilbert," He said, saying both words in a slow, monotone voice.

Elena just stared at him.

"Stefan Salvatore, I'm sure you heard everything about me." He extended his hand, expecting her to shake it, but like she had done with Damon, she didn't. But instead of withdrawing his arm like Damon did, Stefan grabbed her arm with an unbreakable force and pulled her towards him. Elena immediately realized that he wasn't patient.

"I don't know how Damon treated you," Stefan spat, "But I promise you, little girl, that I am not very patient. Don't give me a reason to tear you apart before I get even started, because you won't live to see tomorrow."

With his cold words, Elena froze and Stefan smiled pleasantly, pleased with his work.

"That's better," He said when she quieted. "Now, let's try again. As you already know, I am Damon's younger brother. I'm sure you heard the story of our sweet beloved Katherine, too."

Elena nodded her head in agreement.

"I don't care what Damon told you, and I don't owe you any explanations, either. I only care about your blood, and about my revenge for my brother."

She thought correctly, then. The main reason why he claimed her was to taunt his brother, and Elena knew that this situation was worsening each second. Because if Stefan really wanted revenge on his brother, no one knew how far he could go. She fought off a shiver as she imagined her bloody body in Stefan's arms, and Damon opening the door to find her dead, and she tried to not imagine the pain Damon would feel.

She felt Stefan's fingers play with her hair, and he was taking a lock of one of her tight curls and twirling his fingers around it.

"We'll get along nicely together, Elena," Stefan whispered, "Just be a good girl."

Psychopath. That was the one word that Elena could think of to describe Stefan. And she knew that if she didn't find a way out of there, they will be lucky if they find a piece of her hair after her death.

"Have you thought about what I told you earlier, Damon?" Duncan entered the cell once more, but Damon shook his head stubbornly.

"I will find a way out of here," He said through clenched teeth. "I'm never going to side with you, Duncan. You have my word."

"Figured it," Duncan spat. "Unfortunately, I'm going to give you an ultimatum."

Damon hissed, but Duncan kept going on. "I have full control over the Dark Dimension. One little call and I can have the girl killed and her body brought here in front of you. Would you want that in your conscience?"

He took him off guard for sure, because he couldn't even speak with both rage and fear.

"Or," This time Duncan smiled-"You can join us in our little army against vampires, and we won't touch a hair on the girl's head."

Damon realized that he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

"What about her new owner? What if he kills her?"

"I'll try and make sure that he won't," Duncan grinned devilishly, he was winning. "However, you shall never speak to the girl again, yet alone see her. Do we have a deal?"

"I-"

"Do we?"

"Yes," Damon said, his teeth still clenched together.

"Excellent choice."

Duncan unchained Damon and as the latter stretched his sore arms, Duncan said, "Oh, and if you try to go to the Dark Dimension yourself you will both pay the price. As I said, I have full control on the place. If you as much as step a foot in there-"

"I got it, Duncan," Damon hissed. "I'm not risking her life."

"Good."

Duncan left leaving the door open now, and Damon felt something wet moving down his eye. At first, he thought it was sweat, however he soon realized that after over one hundred years, he was actually crying.

"I'm so sorry, Elena," Damon whispered in the thin air.

And from miles away, Elena felt sadness overpower her, and in her mind she could've sworn she heard "I'm so sorry, Elena."

A\N So that's all for now. Just to clear things up:

Elena and Damon had shared blood, so their emotions can be felt. I'll focus mainly on fear, sadness, anxiety and stuff like that.

I wanted to make this a story about hope. They took her away from him, gave him an ultimatum, and he lost her. However, through their blood sharing and love, Elena still felt him apologizing.

Thanks for reading!