Author's Note:

Hey guys :D After this chapter I will be taking a short hiatus for the holidays, but I will be back by January 1st, promise. I may try to write something and post it, but I don't think I am going to have much time for writing. This chapter is dedicated to both my sister drodgers89 and to all of my wonderful reviewers!

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, and have a merry Christmas!

Elena's P.O.V.

My body moved before my mind had even fully comprehended the action.

As I ran as fast as my human body would carry me towards the direction of the screams, I tried to piece together some sort of sanity. My mind was tearing itself apart and falling off into different directions due to worry, and I tried as hard as I possibly could to regain my sense. Once I had finally regained some feel for reality, I tried to figure out where I'd heard that scream before. Because I had definitely heard it, but where? As my Converse clad feet slapped against the forest floor, I mentally replayed the scream in an attempt to pinpoint its owner.

Just as soon as I thought a little harder, something drifted into my thoughts. A tiny fragment of a memory, triggered by the scream echoing in my head. Three girls, sitting around a kitchen table eating birthday cake. A brunette, a pale blond, and the last one much more deeply colored. It was myself, Caroline, and Bonnie, all at the ages of seven. It was Bonnie's birthday and we were at her house. I ground my teeth together and made myself replay the memory until I reached what I needed. The family dog crashing in and putting its two muddy front paws on Caroline's lap. She squealed and then screamed when it tried to bite her.

My eyes fixed in mortification on the sight before me at the same time I realized who had screamed. I stared at the limp body sprawled across the ground, pale hair fanned out under her. Blood oozed from a deep wound in her neck which was already starting to heal. My mind saw two things at once: The six year old child screaming eleven years ago, and the bleeding young woman that was lying before me in the present. One name rang out loudly in my head as I knelt down next to her.

Caroline.

Damon's P.O.V.

I sat up, slightly disoriented from the flashback that had occurred in my sleep. I could still see it perfectly vividly, could almost still feel the whisky glass in my hand. I blinked a couple of times and tried to figure out what had struck me weird about the memory. I was wondering the same thing I had wondered thirty-eight years ago in an old bar: Why did I feel such a natural unease for the blond vampire? I hadn't been able to figure it out then and I couldn't figure it out now.

I heard a throaty laugh coming from my left. "Bad dream?" Katherine asked mockingly.

"Weird memory," I corrected.

"Whatever," she replied, leaning her head back against the wall of the tomb and closing her eyes.

I was about to go back to sleep as well, given that being blood deprived didn't exactly leave you a lot of energy, but a piercing scream brought my eyelids flying open. I knew that scream. I would know it anywhere. It was the scream I would recognize in a room full of a thousand screaming people if I had to. If I'd had a heartbeat, it would have been accelerating rapidly. It was Elena's scream.

"What, did she break a nail or something?" Katherine scoffed, apparently having been also stirred by the scream.

I was going to say something when a form appeared at the doorway of the tomb. Tall, slender, and with graceful movements that suggested a natural predator. I rose to my feet and walked over with what little strength I had left. I had to refrain from banging my hand into the invisible wall in my eagerness to get to Elena. The vampire standing in front of me simply clasped his hands behind his back and watched me with a trace of amusement, as if my worry for her was funny.

"What do you want?" I spat at Elijah.

"I wouldn't be so hostile if I were you. You're free, thanks to me," he said, stepping back.

Too worried for Elena to even be cautious, I took off over the doorsill and didn't look back. I heard Elijah telling Katherine that she was not to follow and was to stay in the tomb, but I only faintly noticed it. I was completely and totally focused on Elena. My vampire speed and strong sense of smell had me standing next to her in a matter of milliseconds. Tears streaked her horror stricken face as she stared at the ground a few feet away. She was on her knees next to her friend, shaking with fear.

As I wrapped my arms around her, I looked over to see what she was staring at. Caroline, who was awake at this point, was also staring at the ground in mortification. It took me only a moment to understand their stricken expressions. The message was written clearly, and I could tell from my enhanced sense of smell that it was written in Caroline's blood. It was written in the dirt, so it stood out with a sickening prominence. It was written in large, bold letters. It was five words that had the ability to turn mine and Elena's world upside down.

Klaus is coming for you.