Hey everybody. It's been around five days since I last updated and this will probably be regular unless I otherwise say that I'm going to have another chapter up sooner or later. Right now, I am studying for a BIG biology exam this coming Friday but I had an idea of this chapter so I wrote a bit last night, a bit this morning and I just finished it off as I was eating dinner. I did not expect this to happen to Elena, in fact I had no idea what was going to happen because as I write, ideas come to me. I do not plan ahead. I hope you like where I'm going with this and please review and tell me what you all think! :)

Thanks to all subscribers who Favorited this story and me as an author! I'm so happy :) It means the world.

Until next time, xox Courtney!

Damon and being a vampire is my future now. I have to live to deal with it because I'm going to be around for a very long time. He makes me feel alive. There's a spark between us that I haven't felt with anybody. He's the one for me. He has to be. I know him better than anybody else and he's changed so much for me. He isn't Stefan but he isn't selfish like he was first when I met him. He's the complete opposite of what you would expect. I love him, I really do.

; Our actions are what set things in motion but we have to learn to life with that.

Elena silently sat along the rocks for quite some time after she had finished writing her journal entry. She was thinking about everything once again. How had her life changed so drastically over the course of a few months? She met Stefan, a vampire. She met his psycho brother, Damon who also happened to be a vampire. She learned she was the Petrova doppelganger of a vampire that both Salvatore brothers had once loved. Her best friend Bonnie was a witch. Her aunt's boyfriend was a 'vampire slayer'. Elena started a relationship with the younger Salvatore brother and then lost feelings for him and gained them for his older brother, Damon.

Life wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Elena wasn't going to have children now; she wasn't going to grow old with the person she loved. She wouldn't have great grandchildren and at these thoughts penetrated her mind, it scared her a little. She always wanted a family and now her ex-boyfriend has taken that opportunity away. Of course, if she continued to have a future with either one of the Salvatore brothers, her family choices would be limited but there were always ways around it. She didn't think of what they were because she wouldn't have needed to until the time came; but there would have been a loophole that they could have surpassed. It's too late now… Elena thought.

Her emotions were mixed, causing her thoughts to wander in all directions and make no sense to her whatsoever. She was happy that she was going to be able to live forever with Damon. He was the only reason now why she would want to live forever anyway. She was happy that she had finally found somebody to really bring her happiness. To love her unconditionally. To care for her without thinking. To protect her from the world. To cause her to feel emotions that she has never experienced before. That was all Damon's doings and she loved him for that. But in the back of those thoughts, she was scared. Scared for her and Damon because of their new found love. Scared that Damon would eventually leave her. Scared that Stefan would try to hurt her again somehow. Scared that this life of immortality isn't what it seems. Scared of all the dangerous creatures in the world. If there's vampires; God only knows what else there is out there that neither she nor Damon knows about.

Elena caught a peculiar scent drifting by her. It smelled delightful, like iron. It smelled like energy, like life. Elena's flawless face suddenly contorted into a mirror image of Katherine at this state. Her eyes had become blood shot with veins rippling through her skin underneath her eyelids. Her fangs elongated for the first time on her own. The thirst she was feeling now was burning a hole in her throat. It felt like her insides were drying out more and more as the sweet, iron smell came closer and closer. Elena didn't move, she stayed on the rocks trying to control herself. Trying not to be a vampire, trying to think like a human. But the thirst was too strong. It was an unimaginable for any human to even begin to try and comprehend. Oh shit. This is what Stefan and Damon go through every day… and I tried to make them turn it off. Make them not care, how foolish are you Elena. There's no way you're ever going to be able to ignore this; to simply turn it off. It wasn't possible. It was too strong. It overwhelmed her body, controlling it as if somebody or something else was inside of her.

Slowly she began to descend toward the smell. She was unable to contain herself any longer. She ended up moving at vampire speed through the trees until she spotted two hikers. They were local, she had seen them before. The couple were holding hands and carrying backpacks up a hill.

Elena could hear their blood swooshing through their veins. She could hear their heart pumping faster as their activity released more oxygen and blood to their muscles. She could trace the path of blood going through their body without even looking at them. Elena caught herself starting at the women's jugular. Her face still contorted, she desperately tried to shake the thirst away. But it was no use, she found herself getting closer and closer to the couple every time she blinked until she was just feet away from them. Their smell mixed together now was breathtaking. Elena had no control over herself as she lunged forward like a savage toward the women, eyes wide, fangs showing.

She drained the innocent humans dry, just like she had seen done countless times in the past. The guilt was no longer invading her subconscious. There were no feelings but satisfaction and desire. She felt satisfaction for the thirst that was not getting quenched. She felt desire to rip the bodies to shreds as she took their lives. At this moment, she was no longer the Elena Gilbert that she was no more than twenty four hours ago. She was a new person-a whole new creature. What she had once hated witnessing, she was now committing. What she once thought was disgusting, she now thought it was utterly divine and couldn't simply get enough.

Once the bodies had been abandoned and Elena's eyes slowly went back to her normal brown doe looking eyes, and her fanged detruded; she was welcomed back to reality where it hit her hard.

It took a moment for it to sink in but once Elena realized what she had done, she became overwhelmed. Her cries became desperate and her mind was lost in an abyss. She no longer knew what was happening. She didn't know why she couldn't control the blood-lust, the kill. She didn't know what to do so she did the only thing she could think of. Run to Damon. She ran, as fast as any vampire could ever run and she was at the boarding house within a matter of seconds swinging open the door to the house viciously and flung herself into Damon's arms as he hurried to greet her when he heard her terror.

"Elena!" Damon grabbed her arms. "What's the matter?"

"I" She spat. "I killed two hikers. I couldn't help myself!" She relapsed into a whole new tantrum and buried her face in Damon's chest, drenching his shirt in her tears.

"Elena" He cooed brushing her hair. "It's okay baby. It's fine." He didn't know what to say to her. "It's all my fault" His head drooped.

She pulled herself out of his chest. "How is it?"

"I shouldn't have left you alone right after transitioning. I knew that it was dangerous. I should have protected you."

She sniffed. "You should have protected them more like it."

"No." Damon said as easily as he could. "I should have protected you. I knew that you were vulnerable to human blood of any kind and I let you go by yourself anyway. It's not that I don't trust you because Elena, I trust you with my life" He reassured her. "But this is not something that anybody should have to go alone at the beginning. I don't mean you need me at all times. But I should have helped you get the rein on things; I should have helped you adapt more first." Guilt emerged with his words and Elena felt horrible.

"Damon." She cupped his face. "Listen to me. It's not your fault. You are not the one who couldn't control them self. You didn't examine those hikers jugular for what seemed like five minutes before you pranced at them like a tiger chasing a mouse." She was mortified to relive this again. "You didn't feel the need to kill this time. I felt like I had to kill. It wasn't just the thirst. Some evil power wallowed up inside of me and literally begged me to drain those people dry. I fought with it!" She bawled. "I knew in my mind I didn't want to hurt anybody. I didn't want to be a murderer. It overpowered me and now look at what I've done? I've killed two innocent people who were in love and now they will never see each other again!"

Damon was at a loss for words and she looked so pitiful. He didn't know what he could possibly say that would make things better. "Sweetheart, look at me." He cupped her face and raised it to face him. "You are not a monster of any sort. You had a misdoing and it was an accident. You are intolerable to blood. It's not your fault that those hikers happened to cross your path. It is not your fault okay? It was an involuntary response; just like blinking. I love you Elena, and I will help you get through this. I promise!" The sincerity in his voice and gorgeous eyes wanted her to melt right then and there. She was glad she was responsible for this side of Damon to be unleashed. He made her feel a little better because everything he had said was true. I couldn't help it. I didn't want to. They were hiking and crossed my path… Not to mention the fact that their heart was pumping faster causing the blood to circulate their bodies quicker. I won't slip next time. I can't. I have Damon to help me, to reassure me. She eased herself at rest swallowing Damon's words and digesting them like a piece of food that she no longer cringed.

"I love you too." She told him from the bottom of my heart. "Deep down, I always have and I thank you so much for promising to help me through this. I will repay you some day."

Damon shook his head. "Nonsense, you and me being together is my reward. It's the best thing in the world." He grinned from ear to ear, something that Elena never got to see very often. Usually she witnessed his smirk but not this delightful smile that warmed her body. She couldn't help but draw herself in and kiss him. The kiss wasn't hungry and it was just full of hope, love, and gratitude.

"Thank you." She repeated again.

"You are more than welcome." His smirk appeared. She knew it wouldn't take long. Their thoughts about Elena's past wrong doing were now subsided and only thoughts of Damon and Elena were flowing through each others head; like a spell. "Just remember, you are mine now. Forever" He promised.