ELEVEN

For five days everything felt normal. I was back to hanging out with my friends on occasion and juggling time between Stefan's and home. It was almost as if Stefan had never disappeared. The only thing that reminded me he had was every time I saw Damon. However, that was a rare occasion because he was never home and it left me feeling a little strange; almost hurt, but not quite. Even while everything was returning back to normal, there was still the fact that the John was going before the Council to tell them about Damon and Stefan. We had no idea when and every time Damon stayed out, both Stefan and I became worried.

And I was still being watched. I didn't need my heightened senses to know that anymore. The only time I didn't feel eyes on my back was when I was with Stefan. It was as if whoever was watching wasn't interested in anything I had to do where he was concerned. I hadn't voiced this to anyone yet but I made sure that I was home before dark and I tried not to go anywhere by myself.

Wednesday night, Jenna decided that she wanted me home for dinner and I didn't argue with her. When I came down to eat, I froze on the last step as Uncle John opened the door and let himself in. "Elena," he said, acknowledging my presence.

"Uncle," I said cautiously.

He looked at my hand that was resting on the banister and scowled at the ring. I didn't move and tried my hardest not to smile. "How exactly is your boyfriend going to school if you have his ring?"

"Why do you care?" I asked, wondering why no one had been asking Stefan about Katherine's ring that he had been wearing since he broke out of the cell.

He just stared at me before heading to the kitchen. I took a deep breath and shook off my nerves before stepping off the stairs. Before I could go any further, the doorbell rang. "Elena? Will you get that?" Jenna called and I opened the door to Damon.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed.

"I was invited," he said and waved to Jenna as she came down the hall.

"I invited both of you. Where's Stefan?" she asked, looking past his shoulder.

"Only because I answered the phone," he teased and came inside so I could shut the door. "Stefan is busy burying his nose in a textbook. He sends his apologies," he said to her as she went back to the kitchen. "Ah, John. What a pleasant surprise."

"Where is Stefan?" I asked in a low voice as we stayed by the door.

"He said he didn't want to be here in case John showed up."

"Why? Like your being here is going to help any?"

He gave me a look that said I should know this already. "John is mostly after him. He was the cause of the most recent attacks. I agree with Stefan, it was probably best to stay away. John's probably got a wooden stake in his boot, waiting for a chance to be alone with me," he said with a grin as he looked at me. "And I'm sure he's not the only one."

I rolled my eyes, trying to squash all of those feelings and took two steps towards the kitchen. "You agree with Stefan?" I asked and whirled around to face him. "When have you been home to talk to him?"

His face was in a frown, but his eyes were glinting with satisfaction. "I decided to give you some space. Like you said, you can't choose if you're being crowded."

I was about to say something else when Jenna called us into the kitchen. We set the table and then sat down. Jeremy was not very happy about being here and he was letting everyone know it by not talking and glaring at Damon. It scared me a little that I had forgotten about Vickie and that he was trying to prove that she was murdered, not high when she died. Dinner was filled with some conversation and I was surprised that John stayed for any of it. Then again, I figured Damon was right and there was a stake in his boot. A phone began to ring and John dug his out of his jeans. He looked at the number and excused himself. A few moments later, he came back in. "Dinner was lovely, but I have to run."

"Bye," Jenna said as she got up and started clearing the table. Jeremy had practically inhaled his dinner about ten minutes ago and took off up to his room.

Damon stood and stopped her. "You cooked, Elena and I will clean."

"We will?" I asked.

She laughed and shook her head. "Sounds good to me. Let me know when you're done and you can try my dessert."

"Please tell me you didn't make cheesecake again," I said as I started picking up dishes.

"It won't be as disastrous as last time. I promise," she said before walking to her office to finish some of her paperwork.

"You don't have to do this," I said as he collected plates and helped me carry them to the kitchen.

He shrugged, "I don't mind." I narrowed my eyes as he started to rinse things off in the sink. He opened the dish washer and started loading it. I couldn't do anything but gape at him in awe. "Don't get me wrong, I love the attention, but you could help me instead of staring at me."

I cleared my throat, bringing me out of whatever daze I was in as I came to stand next to him and helped him finish cleaning. "I never asked you to give me space."

"I gave it to you anyway," he said in a tone that said he didn't want to talk about it.

I ignored him. "I don't know how to tell him and I-"

"Elena, let's not talk about this right now," he said tightly. A chill ran down my spine as I realized he didn't want to say anything in front of anyone else. Which meant there was something else going on that I didn't know about.

I nodded and we finished the clean-up in silence. As we finished the last dish, Jenna came in and smiled widely. "You are just amazing. Thank you," she said to Damon.

"I'm going to get Jeremy," I said as she opened the fridge and brought out dessert. I headed upstairs and froze at the sight of my door open. I always closed it when I left the room. "Jeremy?" I called out lightly.

"What?" he asked as he came out of his room.

"Jenna made dessert."

"I'm full," he said and went back into his room. Before he could close the door, I noticed a journal laying on his desk. My eyes went wide in alarm as I dashed to my room and found my diary was missing. I felt sick to my stomach; I should have known. I had seen him with Anna at the competition.

When I came downstairs, Jenna was laughing softly over her glass of wine. "Jeremy's doesn't want any," I said as I slid onto the barstool and played with the piece of cheesecake on my plate. I took a few bites to make it look like I was interested, but Damon wasn't fooled. Not for a second.

"Alright, I'll clean this up," she said as the two of us retreated to my room.

"What's wrong?" he asked the moment I shut my door.

I put my iPod on the speakers that I had for it so that Jeremy couldn't hear us if he was listening. "Jeremy's been reading my diary."

"How do you know for sure?"

I moved the picture above my bed to show him the back. "This is where I keep it and it's not here. It's on his desk. He knows everything."

Before I could protest, he was out of my room and standing in front of Jeremy's door. He opened it and seized him before he could react. It only took a few minutes before he was back in my room with my diary in hand. "He doesn't remember any of the content from your diary."

"That's all you did?" I asked as I tried to take the diary from him, but he pulled it back with a grin.

"That's all I did," he assured me as he began to flip through it.

"Hey!" I snapped trying to hide my smile as I finally grabbed it from him.

"So that's where you keep it."

"Not anymore," I said and put it on my pillow for now.

His grin slowly dissolved, meaning we were about to have a serious conversation. "You still wearing that ring worries me."

"Stefan has Katherine's old one. I've been trying to give this one back, but he won't take it. Don't worry, my senses are all human now."

He nodded. "When we went to the Grill, we both were being watched."

"I still get that feeling. It's strange because it seems to only be when I'm not with Stefan." I bit my lip, not liking the fact that something else was out there. "Do you think it could be John?"

He shook his head. "I suspected as much, but whatever is watching us isn't human. I feel eyes on me, but I don't hear anything, I don't smell anything. I just feel it."

Not exactly what I wanted to hear. I sat down at the foot of my bed and put my head in my hands. "Well, if you're concerned, then it can't be anything remotely good that's about to happen." I sighed and looked up at him. "So, why didn't Stefan come?" He shrugged and started playing with knickknacks that were on the dresser. "Damon..." I said in a warning tone. "You didn't tell him did you?"

He looked at me in the mirror with a smug look on his face. "Why should I have? He's had you all to himself for the past few days. I think I earned it."

I looked down. "Telling him about my feelings for you would just make him crazy again. The last thing I want is for him to use that as an excuse to do something stupid."

I felt the bed sink beside me and I turned to look at him. He swept the hair out of my eyes and tucked it behind my ear. "It doesn't mean I have to like it or sit around and watch."

"This is very unfair to you," I said as I laid back.

He followed my lead and grabbed my diary from my pillow. I tried to get it back but he held it with his other hand. "You want it; come and get it," he teased, shaking the book.

I shook my head with a smile and just stared up at the ceiling. "Do you know what happened to your parents?" I asked.

He stiffened for a moment before putting the diary onto the nightstand and pulling himself up so he was lounging against the headboard. "Mother was young when she passed and Father, well, he killed us so that sums him up a little."

I sat up so that I was facing him. "What was he like before the vampires happened?"

"He still didn't like me. Stefan was always the favorite," his eyes were looking past me as if reliving his human life. "Until Stefan killed him. I probably looked like an angel in that moment."

My heart skipped a beat. "What?"

"Oh, did Saint Stefan forget to tell you how the events unfolded after the tomb was sealed?"

"I never asked."

"Of course you didn't," he said and shook his head.

"I'm asking now," I said quietly, curious now even though I was prying.

"I remember being shot when we tried to carry Katherine away from the tomb and when I came to, Stefan and I were in a little shack by the quarry with Emily. We had the rings on and she told us we were in transition. Stefan and I had both agreed to just die rather than be the monster that Katherine was," he said and laughed bitterly. He was looking through me again, giving me the chills. "That all changed when he went to visit Father and was a little hazy on the details when he came back. All I remember was that he had taken his blood and brought me back a girl to feed from."

My mouth dropped in horror. "He was the one who turned first?"

"What, you thought I was always the bad one?" he said and grinned. "I left him after I had fed and that was it."

"That's not all of the story, but that's enough for now."

"What about your parents?" he asked.

"You're the one who knows Isobel, you tell me," I said and smiled lightly.

"Your real parents. What were they like?"

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say. It seemed like a lifetime ago since they died, not recently. "Your typical parents. Grounded you when you stayed out past curfew, gave allowances for chores..."

"That's all you have to say about them?" he asked, sitting up a little straighter.

I stood up and grabbed my purse off my chair. "Come on," I said as I grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," I said and led him out to my car.

When I parked, he looked at me as if I were crazy. "The graveyard? Something is out there watching us and you take me to the graveyard?"

"Just get out," I said and he followed me to my parents' gravestone. "I come here when I need to feel safe. I haven't been here much before you both came into town, but I used to come here almost every day."

"Why bring me here?"

"I don't know. It just felt...right," I said as I put my arms around myself and looked at the marker. "I haven't even shown them to Stefan yet," I breathed.

I shivered as the slight breeze shifted to a stronger one and stilled when I felt Damon pull me to him. "Well, I feel honored," he said against my hair. I was expecting him to gloat and the fact that he didn't made me look up at him questioningly.

I didn't even know I had been crying until he cupped my face to wipe away the few tears with his thumb. Being with his was like being in a hurricane. One minute he was spiteful and arrogant and the next he was caring and sweet. I never knew which Damon I was going to see until it was too late. Here, in this moment, as his lips descended onto mine gently, I began rethinking all of my reasons of staying with Stefan. I didn't get to think long before the gentle kiss was gone and we were clinging to each other as if letting go meant the death of us. Just as I started to relax against him, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Something was wrong.

Before I could pull back to warn him, he slumped against me and I felt his fangs lengthen, catching my lips in the process. I was knocked against the marker as he staggered to the ground. My hand was black with blood as I looked at it in horror and then to Damon who was cursing and clawing at himself. Despite my uncontrollable shaking, I sank to my knees. "What happened?"

"Wooden bullets," he hissed, his face in full vampire mode. "I can't get to them." His voice was strangled and he was losing blood very fast.

I clamped down on my fear as I turned him onto his stomach and dug my fingers into his back to get the bullets. He didn't scream or lash out even though I knew it was hurting him. "That should be all of them," I said in a timid voice as I rolled him onto his back. He was struggling to breathe and I was so afraid that he was going to die on me that I did the only thing I could think of. I took the blood from my lip and spread it over my wrist before putting it in front of his mouth. He only licked the thin line of blood from my skin. "What are you doing? You need to feed!" I cried in fear of losing him.

Without saying anything, he sat up and drew me to him. It took me a second to realize that he was going for the throat instead and I tensed at the initial pain and then relaxed. He had drawn me across his lap, but I barely noticed. I felt as if I was floating on Cloud Nine. The feeling was incredibly different from sheer pleasure and I knew that there would be nothing like it. I hardly noticed that he had stopped until he used one of his fangs to slit his wrist and then offered me some of his blood. "Thank you," he whispered.

All reality came snapping back into focus as a loud thud came from a short distance away. My hand flew to my mouth at the sight of a man with his throat torn out lying not too far from Damon and I. My heart stopped and my blood turned icy as someone else entered into view. Even Damon had gone rigid all over. It was like looking in a mirror except she was smiling the smile of a cold blooded killer; her lips, chin and throat stained with blood as she stood over the dead body.

"Katherine?" I breathed.

She was back.