A/N: Elena's POV.

I woke up early and slid out of bed. Elijah was asleep, or at least he didn't move as I slipped the ring off his finger. I hurried into the bathroom and set the shower on a delayed timer, so it would go off in five minutes. Then I left the room. I didn't take any clothes with me, they would only get in the way. I'd dressed carefully after our swimming pool incident, more determined then ever to escape. If I hadn't had a good reason before, I definitely had one now. Elijah, his feelings…and that kiss. I wasn't sure what he'd meant by it or what he intended to do but I wasn't going to stick around to find out. No, I had to get back to Stefan before things got even more confusing.

I had originally planned to try and steal his car so I'd gain some distance, but then I remembered his vampire hearing. No doubt they sound of the engine would wake him and he'd guess my plan. I wasn't completely sure that the ring I'd stolen was a day light ring so I wanted to get as far away as possible before he woke up.

Of course, that plan would be ruined if the front door was locked. I was relying on vampire arrogance and disregard for security.

Tiptoed through the hall to the front door and tried the handle. It was unlocked! I almost cried out in relief (I didn't because that wouldn't be a very consistent with my trying to escape plan). I opened the door and bolted down the hill, almost slipping several times on the steep gravel path. I decided it would be better to get off the main path so I slipped into the trees which bordered the path. I was glad that I did, because the hill was dangerously steep, and the earth was uneven, broken with roots and sticks that threatened to trip me and send me plummeting down to my death.
I thought I was being followed at one point and nearly fell in my haste to escape. I had to grab a tree branch and hold on for dear life until I got my footing back.

I eventually made it to the bottom of the hill and I clambered over the high brick wall, scrapping my knee in the process. I ignored the slight sting and carried on, walking down the roadside. I needed to find a phone and call for help, or get a lift back to Mystic Falls. Either way, I didn't like being on the road. I was worried Elijah would appear at any second. Hopefully he would be confined to the house for the day, but even if he was it wouldn't take him long to catch up with me.

I moved at a brisk pace, not sure where I was heading but wanting to put a lot of distance between the pair of us.

Beep!

A car horn beeped behind me and I jumped, spinning around while preparing to run. The truck pulled up next to me and the driver stuck his head out of the window.
"hey love, you lost?"

"A little" I confessed "I'm trying to get back home"

"Where's home?"

"Mystic falls" he whistled.

"Long way away. But actually, I'm travelling that way myself. I can give you a lift part of the way, and then you could probably find someone else to take you the rest of the journey?" he suggested. I considered for a minute. I mean, I was brought up in a small town where everyone knew everybody else but we were still given the safety lectures about getting into cars with strangers. I ignored all the warnings and climbed into the passenger seat. My parents and teachers would be ashamed.

Well, he didn't seem particularly dangerous but even if he was I didn't care. I'd rather be stuck with a murderous raging psychopath then Elijah. Well…Elijah was a murderous raging psychopath. With fangs.

"I'm Dan. What's your name?"

"Elena. So where are you headed?" I asked.

"Going home to see the family. I've been on the road a while" I looked him up and down. He wasn't old, he was probably in his mid-twenties, with sandy brown hair cut short and spiky.

"Family?" I pried slightly.

"Yeah, my mum and dad" he said, smiling slightly "What about you? What are you doing in the middle of nowhere by yourself?"

"Well…" I wondered what to say "I was out here with some friends, we had an argument and I went off with this guy I liked but he wasn't the way I thought he was"

"Ah. Jerk?"

"Total jerk" I said, nodding.

"Why didn't you call your friends and ask them to get you?"

"Well, for one thing I have no idea where I am, and for another he stole my phone and destroyed it" he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Wow. Are you sure you don't want to call the police on this guy?"

"No. I just want to get home and forget it" I said, relaxing in my seat.

"Huh. Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad I ran into you"

"I'm glad you did too"

**That evening**

I hadn't seen any sign of Elijah all day and I was starting to relax. Dan was friendly and good humoured. His normality was infectious. It was hard to believe that anything was wrong without the constant presence of evil vampires. The day had provided me plenty of opportunities to think about what had happened last night. I didn't know why it had happened but I didn't like it. That was one of the reasons I'd needed to get away. The other being the obvious which was the fact that Elijah had kidnapped me and held me prisoner.

But now night was here and I was nervous again. By now he would most definitely have found out that I was gone. I was just waiting for his wrath to materialise.
"You okay Elena? You look a little jumpy" Dan said. I smiled and nodded.

"I'm fine. I just…scare easily" I lied. I never used to scare easily. It was only recently when I'd started to fear for my life.

We were driving along an empty stretch of road when suddenly a figure stepped into our headlights. Dan shouted, slamming his foot on the breaks to avoid hitting him.

"God, did we hit him?" he said, worried. He undid his seat belt and started to get out of the car.

"Don't!" I warned.
"Elena, they could be hurt! I've got a first aid kit in the glove compartment. Can you grab it?" he asked. I pulled it out reluctantly. I hopped out of the car and went round to the bonnet. There was a figure lying stock still and a massive dent in the car. I squinted through the bright lights at the person and froze. Elijah. Was it possible we'd killed him? No, I'd seen the guy been impaled and walk away. A car wouldn't do it. He was faking. I took a step back.

"Oh my god, we actually hit him" said Dan, crouching down beside the figure "Sir? Are you okay?" The man opened his eyes.

"I'm fine" he said. He reached up and grabbed Dan by the neck, pulling him into a twisted parody of an embrace. Dan screamed as he sank his fangs into his throat.

"NO!" I shouted. I dashed forward and tried to pull Dan away from Elijah but he held fast.

"Let him go!" I screamed. Elijah released Dan, who slumped to the floor. I knelt beside him and checked his pulse. He was dead.

"You killed him! YOU KILLED HIM!" I screamed, running at Elijah and pounding my fists against his chest. He put up with if for a few seconds before he grabbed one of my fists, holding it too tightly. I cried out in pain, hearing something snap.

"Now Elena, you've had your escape attempt and your little temper tantrum. It's time to go home now" His words were quiet but nonetheless menacing "And I must say, I am very, very upset with you"

A/N: HA! Evil Elijah. Well, a lot of you requested evil Elijah so I'm delivering. He will return to being nice at some point in the future when he's calmed down a bit. But first…Evilness…