a/n: thank you for all your amazing comments! ooh and get ready for an intense chapter...read in the dark if possible =P

Their kiss was interrupted (rather rudely) by a loud banging from the front door. Damon and Elena broke apart in confusion as they heard Caroline exclaim, "My god—what are you doing here?"

Elena swung a startled look in Damon's direction as she hurried back into the living room to see what was happening. Her steps faltered, however, when she caught sight of the haughty woman sitting on the sofa.

"Mrs. Lockwood," Elena greeted uncertainly, quickly glancing at Caroline and Elijah to see that neither of them looked particularly pleased. "Are you looking for Tyler? Because he's not here…"

"So sorry to bother you," Mrs. Lockwood replied crisply, her gaze moving to look at a point over Elena's shoulder. "Damon. I would say it's a pleasure, but unfortunately I'm here on business."

"I was never one for mixing business and pleasure," Damon responded smoothly, "What seems to be the problem?"

"I've received some troubling news, you see…" Carol suddenly pulled a cell phone from her handbag and pressed a button. "Yes," she said into the receiver, "They're all here." There was a pause. "Yes. Go ahead and send them in."

Elena frowned, "Wait, what are you—" The words died on her lips as the front door slammed open again, this time bringing in an armed group of deputies. The men stormed into the house, their heavy boots thudding against the ground as they all took various positions around the living room.

"What is the meaning of this?" Damon demanded, his eyes narrowing at Carol. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but if you want to search the place then I'm going to need to see a warrant."

"We're not searching the place," Carol said indifferently, "I already found what I was looking for."

An ominous silence followed her words.

Elena's breath caught when she suddenly saw a movement from the corner of her eye. She turned to see a shadow looming from the hallway, growing larger and larger until finally the figure it belonged to stepped into the living room.

Klaus.

A pronounced smirk already tugging at his mouth, he nodded at Mrs. Lockwood. The woman blinked, her eyes becoming focused as she stood up and faced Damon. "It has been brought to my attention," she said sharply, "That you may not have been entirely honest with the Council, Mr. Salvatore."

Damon didn't move a muscle, watching as Mrs. Lockwood strode purposefully towards him.

She tilted her head, continuing in a dangerous voice, "You've had us all fooled, haven't you? Playing the part of the larger than life hero...the absolute godsend into Mystic Falls to rid the town of vampires..."

"But then you learn," Klaus took a deliberate step forward, "That all of that has been a lie."

"What exactly," Damon asked coldly, "Are you implying?"

Mrs. Lockwood's mouth twisted with disdain, "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, Damon. Say, where's that brother of yours? I haven't seen him for a while."

"Italy," Caroline blurted out nervously, "Relatives."

"A likely story."

Elena could feel adrenaline shooting through her veins as her fight-or-flight instincts kicked in. "Klaus." The name slipped out of her mouth before could stop herself, and his gaze snapped across the room to meet hers. "Please, d-don't..." She had no idea what she was asking for, and she knew it sounded like she was begging. At that moment, however, she couldn't bring herself to care.

Klaus smiled and walked at an almost leisurely pace across the room until he was standing in front of her. "I would advise you," he leaned towards her conspiratorially, "To duck."

"W-what?" Elena took an involuntary step backwards, her body instinctively putting space between itself and the threat of danger.

"I said, duck." Without warning, he abruptly shoved her—hard—and she cried out as she went stumbling into the wall behind her before falling to the ground, her arm twisting painfully underneath her at an unnatural angle.

At the same time, Mrs. Lockwood suddenly shouted, "NOW!"

Elena gaped in terror as the air above her was immediately filled with vervain darts flying from every direction. She heard Caroline scream with pain, and then two more gut-wrenching blasts that sounded suspiciously like gunshots. Elena desperately tried to get off the floor, but Klaus unexpectedly appeared in front of her. "I suggest you stay down if you don't wish to die a rather excruciating death, my love."

Damon roared in agony.

Elena froze, fear instantly gripping her heart. "No—no, what are you doing to him!" she shrieked at Klaus, who was still leering down at her. The expression on his face flickered with slight amusement at her screams, and she felt hatred sweep through her body.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in her arm, she struggled to her feet so that he could no longer look down at her. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way," she hissed through gritted teeth as he backed her into the wall and trapped her between his arms, effectively blocking her from the fight behind him. Tears of frustration pricked her eyelids as she hysterically fought against his grip, but he didn't move a single inch.

Then Caroline screamed again, sounding considerably weaker than the first time—and Elena froze as she heard the unmistakeable sound of a body falling to the ground. There were a few more seconds of shouting and then, quite suddenly, everything went silent.

"It's done."

Klaus turned around slightly at the sound of Mrs. Lockwood's voice and he appeared to survey the damage before carefully stepping away from Elena. She immediately rushed out of his grasp, her mouth dropping open in horror. "Caroline!" she ran to her friend's unmoving body, which was sprawled across the floor. "My god," Elena whispered, her fingers trembling as she clumsily began ripping out the vervain darts.

"You were right, sheriff," Mrs. Lockwood said in a hard voice, "They were both vampires."

Both.

Elena looked up at her words, her gaze frantically darting around the living room. "Damon?" she got to her feet slowly, spinning on the spot and growing increasingly scared when she didn't see him anywhere. "Where is he?" she shouted at Mrs. Lockwood, her voice wavering out of control. "WHERE'S DAMON?"

Someone cleared their throat, and Elena looked towards the sound hopefully. Her gaze landed instead on Elijah, who was standing in the corner and seemed to be the sole one unscathed. He sent her a look of warning, but she had no idea what he was alluding to.

"Ah yes," Klaus announced, "That one is a vampire, too. Arrest him."

Mrs. Lockwood frowned incredulously, "But Sheriff, he was hit with several vervain darts and he's perfectly fine."

Elena squinted at Elijah, only then noticing the darts sticking out in various places of his body. His expression didn't change as he picked them out, one by one, and threw them onto the ground. "Yes, sheriff," he said in what could only be described as a condescending tone, "The vervain did not affect me."

Klaus didn't look the least bit bothered. "I assure you, mayor," he said forcefully, "The man is a vampire." Then Klaus reached into his pocket casually, producing an object in the palm of his hand.

The dagger.

Elena had to stop herself from groaning out loud, and she saw the annoyance flit across Elijah's face.

"Arrest him," Klaus repeated, and several of the deputies came forth to handcuff Elijah. He initially jerked his arms out of their grip, but then Klaus held the dagger up—a clear warning sign. Elijah glared at his brother, but stopped struggling. "Good man," Klaus approved, "It'll go better for you if you don't fight us." Elijah was scowling, but he let himself be led out of the room, glancing back only once to look at Elena.

Elena turned towards Klaus, her eyes flashing. "You won't get away with this," she said, her voice thick with rage, "Whatever you're up to, I won't let you get away with it!"

Klaus cocked an eyebrow at her, closing the distance between them so that they were inches apart. "Do you want to know what I have, Elena?" He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder, "I have three sacrifices." He paused with a grin, "Two vampires and an Original. I think the other side will be quite pleased with them, don't you think?"

She jolted backwards as though she'd been slapped. "But...you can't! The three sacrifices were meant for—"

"The other side seems rather demanding," Klaus spoke loudly over her, "But after they're appeased with their three sacrifices, they'll leave us alone for good. Isn't that what you want?" He smirked at her, "And if I get to live in the process, well that's only an added benefit..."

"NO!" Elena shrieked, her fists clenching as she pounded them against his chest furiously. "I won't let you do this! I'll stop you! I'll—"

She broke off with a gasp of pain as his hand shot out to grab both of her wrists in unbreakable grip. "You can try to save them," he informed her in a low voice, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "But do you really think I don't have a plan B?"

Elena swallowed, "A plan B?"

Klaus raised three fingers at her, "Hasn't it been a while since you've heard from your brother, the werewolf, and Katerina? They left for the Lockwoods' house more than two hours ago, did they not?"

"You..." she clenched her jaw, "Where are they?"

"My witch was waiting for them when they arrived. She has them captured," Klaus stepped away from her, his eyes cold. "They'll be ready to use if anything goes wrong with these three."

Her heart sank even lower. "Your witch?"

"Well someone had to be here to coerce the mayor into making me sheriff," Klaus laughed, "It's the only way to control someone when you can't use Compulsion." When Elena didn't respond, he growled, "Don't do anything stupid, Elena, and you might just get to live through all this." Then he turned around and raised his voice, "Alright, we're done here. Grab the girl and Mr. Salvatore..."

Elena watched helplessly as three of the deputies picked Caroline off the floor. The blonde vampire was completely unconscious, her head drooping onto her chest. As the group awkwardly made their way out of the house, two more men crouched down behind the sofa—and Elena's body shot forward of its own volition when she saw Damon being lifted to his feet.

Unlike Caroline, he was still semi-conscious and he groaned audibly as he was moved. "Oh my god—Damon!" Elena had almost reached him when a strong pair of arms pulled her back, and she screamed as she fought tooth and nail against whoever was holding her. "No—let me go!"

"Take him away," Klaus said in a bored voice, and her anger grew exponentially when she realized he was the one that was forcing her to stay back.

The deputies began trying to shuffle Damon out of the room, but his feet dragged against the floor in a last-ditch effort to fight against them. Elena screamed his name again, and it was with extreme difficulty that he opened his eyes. The near-lethal dosage of vervain had his muscles screaming in protest as fire raged through his veins. Another groan escaped his lips as he muttered her name desperately, "Elena?"

She stopped struggling for a split second at the sound of his voice, and then redoubled her efforts with a vengeance. Behind her, Klaus shifted, annoyed as he tried to keep his grip on her. "Will you people get him out of here?" he snapped, losing patience.

"DAMON!" Elena screamed again as several more deputies entered the room to help carry the vampire out. "Please! Don't do this!" Tears streaked down her face openly, but she made no effort to wipe them away. Not caring any more about the pain, she wrenched her arm out of Klaus' grip and he let go momentarily when he heard her shoulder dislocate. Elena ran wildly into the hallway, just in time to see them carry Damon out of the front door.

As Klaus reached her again—this time his arms encircling her waist to hold her back—Damon's blue eyes found hers. The intensity of his gaze took her breath away, and she found herself gasping for air. "I'll—I'll fix this!" she managed to say, knowing that he was watching her, knowing that he could hear her. "I'll find a way—I promise!" Tears blurred her vision as she mouthed, "I'll save you."

Whether it was a trick of the light or her own imagination, Damon seemed to nod at her once before his eyes closed again and he disappeared into the back of a large black van.

With a muttered oath, Klaus let go of Elena and she dropped to her knees from the sudden loss of support. "Goodbye, Elena," he said to her, his expression unreadable as he walked out the door and shut it behind him.

Elena sat there, in the hallway, the tears flowing down her cheeks. Several moments later, she heard the squeal of tires as the van and the squad cars tore out of the driveway. She sat still for one more second, breathing hard.

Then she sprang into action, making a dive for her cell phone. "Come on, come on," she muttered frantically as she called Jeremy, Tyler, and then Katherine in quick succession. All three cell phone numbers went straight to voicemail. She ran her fingers through her hair, her shoulders shaking. "Okay, Bonnie, please pick up," she prayed, listening to the ringing on the other line. "Pick up..." Hey, you've reached Bonnie, I'm unable to come to the phone right now—

"Damn it!" Elena threw her phone down on the sofa, pacing back and forth. Who was she missing? She paused for a second, realization hitting her like a gust of wind. Ric! She leapt for her phone again, her fingers fumbling over her contact list in her haste. Finally she pressed his number in, the phone held to her ear eagerly.

A phone began ringing in the kitchen.

Elena listened to the sound for a few seconds in some trepidation before walking into the next room.

Alaric's cell phone flashed innocently from the kitchen counter.

She wasn't aware of her phone slipping out of her fingers, and she barely registered the crash as it fell by her feet. Numb, she walked back into the living room and sank down onto the sofa.

This was it.

Everyone was either captured, in jail, or MIA.

For the first time—ever—she was alone.

"Think," she muttered to herself, "Think..."

Then she got it.

She wasn't alone.

Quite calmly, she took steady steps across the room until she reached the door that led to the basement. "Stefan?"