ELENA

Alaric and Jo's wedding ceremony had been beautiful but I was distracted by Elijah. He was acting weird. He was tense and I could tell he was worrying about something. I tried to get him to talk to me before the ceremony started but he just smiled and said it was nothing that I needed to worry about. Elijah wasn't the only one acting weird though, Damon and Stefan were too. Their mood was wearing off on me and I was on edge.

When we arrived at the barn where the reception was being held I tried to push away all the bad feelings and just enjoy myself. The barn looked old but in good repair. The huge double doors were standing open and I could see what seemed like thousands of mini white lights mixed with tulle and flowers decorating the inside. There were round tables arranged around an open area that was meant to be a dance floor. The DJ was set up on the opposite side of the barn. There was a buffet table filled with food on one end of the barn and the opposite end had a table with the wedding cake and other desserts. Beside the DJ booth was a bar. While Elijah was distracted talking to Stefan I escaped to the bar and ordered a vodka and soda, heavy on the vodka.

While I was waiting for my drink I turned and watched as the wedding guests slowly filed in. The place was filling up and people were already on the dance floor. I watched Alaric and Jo share a private moment. Smiling I turned back towards the bar. A tall well built man walked up to the bar beside me. He was handsome and had a pleasant smile. His skin was several shades darker than mine and his eyes were a light caramel. He stood with an air of confidence that bordered on cocky. I didn't think I had ever seen him before.

"Hello Elena." He flashed his very white teeth at me, his lips pulled back into a friendly smile.

"Hi? Sorry do I know you?" I looked down and saw my drink sitting on the bar in front of me. I picked it up and turned towards the man beside me.

"I know Elijah. I have never had the pleasure of meeting the woman who stole Elijah's heart. My name is Marcel. "

I tried in vain not to blush. "Oh you are a friend of Elijah's. It's nice to meet you, Marcel. I didn't realize he had invited anyone to come to the wedding." I took a long sip of my drink. The bartender had listened when I said heavy on the vodka. It was almost all vodka.

"He didn't. But I had an important business matter to discuss with him so I tracked him down." His smile faltered slightly and there was a hint of something in his voice that bothered me.

"Oh ok." Before either of us could say anything else Stefan appeared out of thin air and asked me to dance. "Um sure, I guess." I gulped the rest of my drink and set the empty glass on the bar. "Again it was good to meet you Marcel. I hope you have a good evening." I waved to him and followed Stefan towards the dance floor.

I groaned when the music changed from an up tempo club mix to a slow dance song. Stefan took my hand and wrapped his arm tentatively around my waist. He wasn't as good a dancer as Damon or Elijah but he wasn't bad. We moved around the dance floor and I noticed he seemed to be moving us closer and closer to the back exit.

The song was almost over when I started to feel dizzy. I initially thought it had been very potent vodka but then my legs started to get heavy and I stumbled into Stefan. The room started spinning and I couldn't see Stefan's face clearly. I looked towards the bar and Marcel was smiling at me but this time it wasn't a friendly smile. He held up his glass towards me and winked. Marcel had drugged my drink, but why?

"Stefan, something's wrong. Every thing is fuzzy and I think Im going to pass…" I could tell my speech was slurred and Stefan seemed to understand because he lifted my feet off the ground and carried me out of the barn before I finished the sentence. The last thing I remembered was Stefan holding me bridal style, a sensation of flying and then I lost conciousness.

I'm not sure how long I was out but when I started waking up several things assaulted me at once. My head was pounding, I couldn't feel my hands and I saw a large cut on my upper arm that was still oozing blood and it hurt. I was sitting in a chair and my wrists were tightly bound behind me. I tried to move my legs but they wouldn't cooperate. I looked down and saw my legs were tied to the chair legs. I could feel myself starting to panic. Where was Elijah? How had I gotten here? Who had tied me up? I looked around the room. It was dark and empty except for me. I saw a staircase across the room. I figured I was in a basement when I saw the grey concrete floors and plain grey walls. There were no windows that I could see and the only door was the one at the top of the stairs.

I didn't waist my energy screaming. I figured the only person who would hear me would be the one who had tied me up and I wasn't sure I wanted to draw their attention. I looked around to see if my purse was near me. Maybe if I was lucky they had forgotten to take it and I could get my phone to call Elijah.

The door at the stop of the stairs opened. I watched as three people descended the stairs and walked towards me. I recognized one of them. It was the guy from the wedding, Marcel. The other two I didn't recognize. The first was a man shorter than Marcel but younger with light brown hair and blue eyes. He was smiling at me but it was in no way friendly. The second person was a woman, she was about my age and height. Her long black hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail. Her brown eyes narrowed when I looked at her. I thought I heard her growl but my attention turned to Marcel. His face was now inches from mine.

"Why am I here? Where is Elijah?" I tried to hide the fact that I was scared.

"If you think Elijah is going to come rescue you then you better think again. I have you well hidden and I am sure he is quite busy fighting for his life at the moment."

"What did you do to Elijah?" My voice rising in panic.

"I think you should be more concerned with what I am going to do to you."

"I don't understand why you are doing this. I never met you before tonight."

"You are here because I am going to make Elijah pay for what he did."

"Please let me go. I am sure you and Elijah can just talk and work this out."

"Come now. You should know better than anyone what Elijah is capable of. What better way for me to get back at him than stealing the one he loves and the fact that you are the doppelganger is just icing on the cake."

"The doppel-what?" I looked at him in utter confusion.

"Don't play dumb with me Elena. I know exactly who and what you are."

"I don't know what you are talking about!" I yelled at him.

He looked at me for a minute his expression puzzled. Then he smiled and looked like he had figured something out. He grabbed at my necklace and ripped it off my neck, leaning forward he looked into my eyes.

"Tell me where Elijah has hidden her."

"Hidden who? I don't know what you are talking about! Let me go!"

Marcel frowned at me. "Are you the doppelganger?"

"I already told you I don't know what a doppelganger is, but I am certain that I am not whatever it is."

He moved his face down to my neck and I heard him sniff. "You don't have vervain in your blood. He must have compelled you to forget a few things."

The brown haired guy looks at Marcel. "Does this mean I don't get to torture her?"

Marcel smiled. "You will get your chance Thierry. Elijah needs to know what it's like to see the one he loves in pain because of him."

I tried to fight against the ropes that were holding me to the chair. "Let me go!" I screamed at them.

Marcel stood up and moved away from me. "She is all yours. Just don't kill her. I want Elijah to see what he has done. And I want her to know that Elijah is the reason this has happened to her."

I watched as Marcel and the girl ascended the stairs leaving the basement. I turned my eyes back towards the brown haired man named Thierry. He grinned and kept his eyes on me as he slowly pulled a knife out of his back pocket. He started walking towards me and I fought with all my strength against the ropes. I felt the cold steel of the knife slice into my already injured arm. The tears slipped out of my eyes and I tried to bite back the screams I felt rising in my throat. He made long slices on my other arm and then my legs before he plunged the knife into my side. I screamed then and he smirked. He grabbed my face and forced my eyes to look at him.

"You really are beautiful. It's a shame that you will have scars covering your body when I get done."

I glared at him and managed to work up enough saliva to spit in his face. I realized it was a mistake the minute his face changed. Weird veins rippled under his eyes and he opened his mouth revealing long fangs. I stared at him wide eyed and I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. He growled menacingly and attacked my neck. I felt his teeth painfully penetrating my neck ripping my skin. I screamed and screamed but my screams quickly grow weaker until they are nothing but a faint whimper. He finally released my neck but I can barely hold my head up. His mouth and chin were dripping with my blood. He smirked and stabbed me one last time in the shoulder. My body was burning with all the pain from every cut and stab wound. I could feel the blood oozing down my neck.

I felt myself slowly losing consciousness and I couldn't help but feel thankful for the relief from the pain.