Would like to thank you reviewers for your amazing support!

Happy Christmas and New Year to all of you.

Please excuse any mistakes because I didn't send this to my beta to get this uploaded before Christmas. Please, don't forget to check out my colab story with PorkChopSmall, which is called "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

Also, don't forget to "like" my facebook page, LiveBreatheVampires' fanfiction.

Happy reading. xx

"What's going on?"

Elena ran towards the familiar voice, the man with the bright blue eyes. He put the grocery bags on the ground as he opened his arms wide, catching her in his arms in a tight hug.

"I don't know!" Elena cried, "There was an attack. They took Esther and hurt Claire."

"Oh God," Damon said as he cradled her face and inspected her for any signs of injury, "Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm fine, I was asleep," She told him. "I thought you weren't coming back until two."

"I finished all the shopping earlier," He said, taking her hands in his as he walked towards the frightened vampires, however Elena could sense that there was something wrong with Damon. She took a look at the bags and found out that there weren't as much groceries as she expected.

She was about to ask why he had bought so little groceries and blood bags when she caught sight of a huge cut on his back, his shirt torn.

"Damon, you're hurt!" She exclaimed, backing away from him to inspect the wound.

At that, he sighed. He should've known better-He could never hide anything from Elena. The other vampires turned to Damon.

"What?" Elizabeth exclaimed, worried.

"The witches and werewolves are working together," Damon finally choked out. "Fell's Church is destroyed. I could hardly find any bloodbags and groceries. There was a fight in the street and someone accidentally cut me with a knife. I saw the witches and the werewolves taking away vampires as hostages and killing them. I managed to hide but it's been a long journey…"

"Oh God," Elizabeth said, running towards her son. "I can't blame Elijah for not wanting us to kill other vampires or to make friends with either of them."

Elena felt Damon squeeze her tightly. "I have to protect Elena more," He said. "If the race is dying out they'll be paying extra attention to see if there are any other creatures around."

"They took Esther!" A woman yelled from the crowd, "Are you forgetting that? A werewolf was in here, Damon. This has to be a werewolf or witch. We are not safe!"

"I don't think it was," Elizabeth said quietly, "If it was we would all be dead or taken, not just Esther."

"What if Esther was taken away because of me?" Elena finally asked. "She was trying to help me figure out why I've been acting like I'm not myself…"

"What?" Damon asked, "You really think so?"

"I don't know what to think, Damon…"

"Look," Elizabeth dismissed, "We cannot run or hide anymore. We'll start to take turns every night and make sure that there is at least two people guarding the site. I'll call help for other clans-We cannot stay here and watch other families, our families, dying out."

"We have to inform Elijah…"

"No," Damon said. "If Elijah is informed he'll come here and Elena would be in trouble. We have to take care of this ourselves."

"Elijah already knows!" Someone else argued, "He knows that a lot of people died. He probably already knows what happened in Fell's church as well. Are you willing to risk our lives to save hers?"

"If you don't like it, the door is fucking open," Damon snarled. "You can leave at anytime you want. But as long as I'm the one giving you a roof under your head, then we are going to play by my rules."

There was finally dead silence.

"Better," Damon mumbled, pulling Elena closer. "The authorities cannot help us. Even if we did inform them, it'd take too long for them to send help-These things need planning. They are concentrating on protecting the biggest territories. Newsflash, people-We are barely twenty five here. Do you think they'll help us first, when there are much bigger lands?"

Nobody said anything, because they knew he was right.

"I have wolfsbane in each and every house," He spoke out loudly. "We'll keep a fire on every night and we'll take turns. We have to learn to defend ourselves," He looked at Claire and some other young children, "This isn't some game we're playing. We have to be prepared. We don't know what took Esther, but I'll do my best to get her back."

"But how?" Elizabeth pleaded.

"We can always pick up their scent," A male vampire, Jeffrey, said. "I can go check it out."

"I'll come with you," Another voice joined in.

"Good," Damon said, "Meanwhile, I'm going to make sure to surround our homes with wolfsbane. Claire, Elena, I need your help, please. The others can give a hand by cleaning up this mess. Rosalie, you know defence more than anyone else. Feel free to help the youngest ones."

He took Elena's hand and Claire jumped around in front of them as he led them to the basement, taking out a few wolfsbane plants.

"What is that exactly?" Elena asked.

"Wolfsbane," Damon told her. "It's similar to the virus in the vervain plant I told you about. This one is injected with a similar virus that weakens the werewolves. They will become paralyzed and unable to hunt until the next full moon."

"What are we going to do with it?" Claire asked, caressing the plant.

"We need to liquefy it," Damon explained, "That way we can rub it on pieces of furniture, the door, etc, so that if a werewolf comes in contact with it it weakens him instantly. If we don't liquefy it, they can easily knock the plant over. Here, hold this." He handed Claire the plant and took out some utensils.

"Like this," He continued, smashing the plant with what looked like a knife. He then added water to it and started to smash it until it turned into a thick liquid, forming like paint. He dug his fingers in and started to make strikes on the furniture, doors, floors, everywhere he could reach.

"Liquefy the other ones, please," He told them and they started to put everything in the mixture. When they had enough 'paint', they started to cover everything with it.

"Elena, come here," He told her and she walked towards him, eyebrows raised as he grabbed the paint and covered her entire neck, shoulders, and face, massaging the paint into her skin. She looked at his lips as he did this and he just stared at her with a worried expression on his face.

"Hey, you two aren't going to kiss, are you?" Claire complained. "I had enough of that exchange of saliva thingy."

At that, Damon and Elena both let out a laugh that echoed. When she saw that, Claire joined them.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Jeffrey and the other men were still gone, and even though it was 10 pm, neither one of them could sleep. Even though they had taken the necessary precautions, they were feeling uneasy.

"Elena? Are you asleep?" Damon entered their bedroom, looking clean after just emerging from the shower.

"I can't sleep," She sighed. "I just can't stop thinking about Esther."

"I know," He sat down next to her and held her hand. "What happened, Elena? What did she say?"

"She claimed that she's a half witch," Elena said slowly. "She told me that she was there to guide me and help me. She asked me when I first started to have the hallucinations."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Like, the date?"

"No," Elena said. "She was referring to a specific period, Damon. I came to the conclusion that it was after we made love for the very first time." Her face paled as she looked at Damon. "She knew that already though, and then she started to ask me if I have ever thought about how come I ended up in the future and it was you who found me…"

Damon bit his lip.

"Damon, I'm scared," She told him, sweat covering her forehead. "What if I'm.."

"Don't say that." Damon said angrily.

Elena looked at him, hurt. "What if I'm pregnant?"

"I thought I told you not to say it!" He growled at her, causing her to flinch back. He regretted it immediately when he saw the tears forming in her eyes.

"Would it really be the worst thing if I'm carrying your child?" She asked him through teary eyes.

His face softened and his eyes widened when he saw her crying. He took her face in his hands.

"It is, isn't it?" Elena screamed, moving away from him.

"God, Elena, no!" Damon cried out as he reached for her arm. "I didn't mean that. It's just that I'm not fit to be a father."

"I'm not fit to be a mother, either!" Elena cried.

"No, please, listen to me," Damon pleaded. "It's not that. It's just that I don't deserve to have a child with you, Elena. I'm a monster and monsters should never be rewarded."

At that, Elena calmed down.

"Why would you think that I'd leave you?" Damon told her, welcoming her in his arms.

"I don't know," She sobbed against his chest. "I don't know what's happening to me."

It was true, she hadn't had her period, but yet again, she hadn't had one in ages. As soon as she found herself in this year, her monthly visitor was strangely absent. She hadn't even worried about it, but now she was.

"We'll get through this, Elena," Damon assured her. "We aren't even sure if you're pregnant. But if you are, then I'll be with you. I'll take care of you."

"I'm not ready for this…"

"I know, sweetheart," He breathed against her hair. "I know."

They just hugged each other tight, no sign of sleep in either one of them. Damon noticed that the other houses were still lit, indicating that no one was asleep.

"Do you want to go outside?" He asked her softly. "Everyone's awake. We should just go out, light a fire and talk all night. What do you think?"

"I need a distraction," She nodded. "Yes. Of course."

Damon took Elena's hand and sat down on the ground by the lake, lighting a fire. As soon as Elizabeth saw them, other vampires immediately joined.

"We need a distraction, guys," Damon said with a sigh. "We need to have some fun, just for tonight." He looked at the children. "Come on. Let's roast some marshmallows as we wait for our other friends to return."

They formed a circle around the fire, roasting meat and marshmallows as Damon served the blood for the vampires and water for Elena.

They ate in silence until Damon finally spoke up. "Let's teach Elena our clan song, what do you think?" He smirked at the children and their faces lit up.

"Me! Me!" Claire yelled, crawling all the way up to Elena's lap. "I'll teach Elena our song!"

Elena smiled at how welcoming and loving the girl was towards her. She felt like she had someone to trust, even though she was a little girl. It wasn't that Damon wasn't to be trusted, but he was her boyfriend. She really did need a friend, and Claire was just too cute.

The girl started to sing as the other vampires joined in, clapping and dancing. One of them even started to play a musical instrument Elena didn't quite recognize, but it sounded like a flute.

"Who's the big, bad vampire?" Damon sang-song as he grabbed Claire, throwing her in the air and catching her easily in his arms as she giggled.

"Yep, you are," He continued as Elena laughed, thinking how cute Damon looked with children.

"Damon, you should dance with Elena!" She beamed as she pulled Elena closer to him, "Teach her how we dance with our clan song."

"Yeah, Claire is right," Damon smirked, noting the blush on Elena's cheeks. "Come on, Elena-You have to learn our dance!" He grabbed her waist long before she could protest, and started to twirl around, tapping his feet in the process.

"Like that," He encouraged her when she copied him. "Now, mirror what I do."

They danced for hours, and by the time they stopped it was nearly one in the morning. They continued to talk, trying to keep things as calm as possible when in reality they were all thinking about those men who were trailing the werewolf scent. However, none of them said anything because they knew that they had to be strong. The children were still energetic however Elena's eyes were closed.

"She looks so tired," Claire whispered to Damon, "Why is she so tired?"

"Humans aren't like us, Claire," Damon explained softly. "They get exhausted more often than us and they need sleep."

"I only sleep if or when I want to," She added.

"I know. We all do," He continued, "But Elena is different. She's special."

"I know she is," Claire nodded. "And she's so pretty! Do you plan on having cute little babies? I can babysit!"

Damon chuckled. "Oh, Claire," He said, wrapping his arms around both girls as Elena smiled in her sleep.

Claire's mother looked at them carefully, as if she was studying each of them carefully. She was not comfortable with Elena around, but she had no choice.

"I think we better go get some rest," Damon told the group as he kissed Elena's face. "She's dead-tired."

They all said their goodnights and Damon picked Elena up, instantly putting her in the bed. He took off her shoes and wrapped some blankets around her.

"Sleep tight, Elena."

She was snoring softly and Damon chuckled as he saw her exhausted face. He turned off the light and got in, wrapping his arms around her, finally feeling at peace.

But Elena wasn't. She felt like she was alive but in a dreamland, and she was not at peace. In fact, she couldn't even feel her body. It was as if she were living as a sprit.

A forest.

She was in a forest, next to a waterfall.

God, she has been here before-But why couldn't she remember?

And then, in this land, Elena heard six words.

"You are failing. You are wrong."

Please review. Happy festive season. :)