Isabella's POV

"Make it easy on yourself, Katherine," he whispered, holding a wooden stake to my stomach. "And don't try anything."

My heart was pounding so hard against my rib cage I thought it might burst out of my chest. I was too scared to move, or to do anything. I simply sagged against the wall in defeat, warily eyeing the stake he held to my stomach.

Scream! Isabella, do something! Elena shrieked. Tell him he's got the wrong girl; you're not Katherine!

Who the hell is Katherine? I demanded.

Elena quickly sent me a mental image, and memories. Elena was scared of Katherine; most of the memories she had of her were unpleasant. I learnt that Elena was the doppelganger of Katherine, who was a seven-hundred year old vampire that had once loved Stefan, who didn't love her back, and Damon who had loved her so much, but she'd never loved him back. Everything made sense now – the love triangle made sense.

Did you forget to mention that I look just like her as well? I screamed at her angrily. You didn't think it was an important detail?

I forgot! She said, aghast. I never thought you would need to know.

We were both brought back to reality as the man slammed me against the wall furiously.

"You remember me, Katherine? It's me, Sam. Why did you do this, Katherine?"

"I'm not Katherine!" I gasped. "Please! I'm not Katherine!"

"Don't lie to me!" he slapped me across the face. The sting shocked through me, bringing tears to my eyes.

"You little bitch!" Sam whispered venomously. "I loved her, despite what she was! And you killed her!"

My eyes widened in shock as I processed this. I didn't know what to say; I was innocent.

"She didn't know what she was doing!" tears filled his eyes. "She was only defending herself!"

I wanted to pity him. Katherine had killed the woman he loved, and he thought I was Katherine. I had to prove I wasn't a vampire.

"I'm not Katherine!" I insisted. "My name is Isabella Blake; I didn't kill her!"

This only made him angrier, and he whirled me around, this time throwing me against the wall face first. I turned so the side of my face took the impact, and I could feel black spots appearing in front of my eyes.

"How stupid do you think I am? She's dead because of you, and now you're going to pay the price for her death!"

Sam spun me back around and threw me to the floor on my back.

"But I'm going to drag it out a little," he hissed.

Scream! Elena yelled.

Just as I opened my mouth to scream, he plunged the stake into my stomach. He wrenched it out angrily. My scream choked off into an injured gurgle, and pain like I'd never felt before seeped through my body. Blood poured from the wound, and he stared at me in shock. My blood spilled onto his fingers.

"Human?" he said, glancing down at me in bewilderment.

I could feel my life sliding away with the blood I lost. I was dying.

Isabella! Elena screamed. DAMON!

"DAMON!" Elena's blood-curdling scream sounded through my mouth. Elena had done it again. She'd broken past the barriers.

Damon's POV

I glanced down at my watch. God, how long did it take for Isabella to pee? I decided to knock on the door, when I heard an agonized scream from the bathroom.

"DAMON!" Isabella shrieked. In a flash I was by the ladies bathroom, and I kicked the door open. My heart seemed to drop to my toes when I saw Isabella lying on the floor. A wooden stake protruded from her stomach and blood was gushing from the wound. Standing above her and looking shocked was a man I didn't recognise. I sniffed him out immediately. Werewolf.

"I – I didn't mean to," he stammered. "I didn't know she was human!"

I didn't care. Fury seemed to blind me; I felt my fangs drop down and my eyes turned bloodshot. Growling angrily, I slammed the stranger into the wall, raising my fist to tear his heart out.

"Wait!" he cried. "I thought she was Katherine, I swear! I didn't know she was human!"

My hand faltered in the air, and I glanced around to stare at Isabella. God, what was I doing? She was dying! I dropped the werewolf in disgust and rushed to Isabella's side. Immediately, I tore through the skin in my wrist with my teeth, and shoved my arm in her mouth.

"Drink," I told her urgently. "Trust me. You'll heal."

The werewolf immediately ran for the door and disappeared. I didn't care. I would track him later and find out exactly what he knew about Katherine. As Isabella drank, I pulled her head onto my lap and let her lie there, while with my spare hand I ran my fingers through her hair. She whimpered a little as she continued to drink, but I knew she was feeling better. The gaping hole in her stomach was sealing itself to together, and I felt hugely relieved when I knew she was healing.

"Just a little more, I promise," I whispered. "You're gonna be fine, Isabella."

She held desperately onto my arm which was in her mouth, and when her wound was completely healed I gently tugged my arm from her grip. She had blood all around her mouth which I carefully wiped away with my hand. Tears welled in her eyes and she began to cry. Wordlessly, I pulled her to my chest and hugged her. She clung to me like a life preserver, sobbing and sobbing. I could feel my throat choking up, and I held her tightly as I realised how close I had come to losing her.

Isabella's POV

On the way home, Damon had closed the roof of the car for me. I had taken off my blood-soaked shirt and replaced it with one of Damon's which he found in the boot of the car. It was a few sizes too big for me, but it was comfortable, especially because his scent lingered on it. Damon had borrowed a blanket off Ted, telling him I was coming down with the flu. I had the blanket wrapped around me, and I was leaning comfortably in the seat. Damon was driving with one hand on the wheel, and the other wrapped around mine. I was tired, and I could feel my eyelids drooping heavily.

"So you said he was called Sam?" he checked.

"Yes. Katherine killed his mate. I thought he was a vampire at first, but he's a werewolf." I replied. "He thought I was Katherine and he wanted to avenge his girlfriend's death."

You saved my life, Elena. Thank you, I thought.

You're welcome, she said. It's the least I could do, she added jokingly.

I smiled to myself a little, yawning hugely.

"You should sleep," he told me. "I'll take you to my home. You can tell your dad you slept over at Serena's."

"Stefan's gonna be so mad," I whispered.

"At me. Not at you," he assured me. "I won't let him get mad at you, I promise."

"I don't want him to blame you," I argued. "It's my fault."

"No, it's mine. I took you with me."

"But you didn't know what would happen. Hey, you and Elena saved my life," I said.

"I don't know what I would've done if she hadn't called me," Damon said. "So she broke past your barriers again?"

"Yeah. When I'm completely distracted she does that. It's easier for her to break down the barriers," I explained. "I'm really glad she did."

"Me too."

Damon's POV

Isabella fell asleep quite quickly. Her hand was still curled tightly around mine. The sound of her soft breathing calmed me. When we pulled over outside my house, I cut the engine and lifted her out, bridal style. She didn't awaken and I carried her to the front door. Before I even had the chance to open it, Stefan had wrenched the door open, and he was staring at Isabella in shock and fright. Caroline was close behind him.

"What happened to her, Damon?" he demanded.

"She's fine; she's just sleeping," I assured them. "I'm gonna take her to the spare room and let her sleep."

"Why is she wearing your clothes?" Caroline asked. "What happened?"

"I'll explain everything in a minute; right now, just let Isabella rest," I said, pushing past them and taking Isabella to the spare room next door to mine. I could hear Stefan and Caroline following me, and I had the urge to slam the door in their faces. Why piss them off even more? So I simply let them watch me place Isabella gently down on the bed, making sure her head rested on plenty of pillows. I pulled the covers over her and before I switched the lamp off, I laid a gentle kiss on her lips. I pulled her phone from her pocket and texted her dad to tell him she was at Serena's. When I turned to leave, I felt surprised to see Caroline and Stefan had left me alone. I sighed and closed the door behind me. When I returned to the living room, Stefan and Caroline were glaring at me.

"What the hell, Damon?" Caroline snapped. "Explain. Now."

I glanced at Stefan. "Okay, don't get too mad, Stef. Technically, she's not Elena, so you don't have dibs on her."

"I swear to God, Damon, if you touched her –"

"She doesn't belong to you!" I shouted. "She may have Elena inside of her, but don't you get it? That is Isabella, and she will never be your Elena replacement!"

"Okay, okay, enough!" Caroline interrupted. "What happened, Damon?"

I explained briefly about taking Isabella to dinner, and then how Sam had attacked her because he thought she was Katherine.

"We track him," Caroline said immediately. "Damon and I will track him, and Stefan you stay with Isabella."

Stefan and I glared at one another. "Fine," I said sullenly, quite surprised at Caroline's offer to come with me.

"Okay," Stefan said blankly.

"We'll leave now," I said. "Come on, Caroline."

Caroline left and I followed, only to be stopped by Stefan.

"Thank you," he said hesitantly. "For saving her life."

I shrugged. "I would've done it anyway."

"And I'm thankful for that, but that won't ever happen again," he said quietly, and I could see anger in his eyes. "You can't just take her without telling anyone."

"You act like I forced her, Stefan. I didn't. She came willingly with me, and up until everything that happened, we were actually having a pretty good time. You can love Elena, and she can love you, but you can't force Isabella to love you too. She's obliged to love you through Elena's feelings."

Stefan shook his head. "So this is what it's about? You love Isabella, and you're mad that a part of her loves me?"

"Yes, Stefan. That's exactly what this is about."