Hot Pursuit

Chapter 1:

"Elena! Come inside." Tyler's voice rung with friendliness as he offered his hand to the young woman who waited patiently but the main door. Smiling gratefully, Elena Gilbert accepted his shake and stepped inside. The construction of the mansion was broad, unique and exquisite. Bold white walls surround the entrance and lead to three different rooms; the dining room, the main sitting room, and the parlour. Passing a large group of other guests and several randomly placed singular guests, Elena recognised the two outlines of Jeremy and Jenna and quickly joined them.
"Hey Elena. I thought you wasn't coming to the Lockwood's masquarade ball?" Jeremy allowed his gaze to rest evenly on his sisters face, taking a sip of his champaigne.
"Yeah well I changed my mind. I need to get out a little more often, instead of just staying in the house all day. Unless you'd prefer me locked up in the depths of our home, never to see daylight again, Jerr."
"It's night time."
Elena rolled her eyes at his smooth remark. Although, it was truthful. A slip of the tongue equals a snide remark from Jeremy. Nice one Elena.
"You get the point, it was a figure of speech."

At that point she was glad of Jenna finally realizing she had joined the group, and gave Elena a gentle hug.
"Ignore Jeremy... God, you look amazing tonight! I won't be surprised if you have a ton of men swooning over you, and trying to breed some good old fashion wooing-"
She cut her off; her face clearly a mask of shock and amusement. "Jenna, that's not going to happen. And if it did, I bet you I'd never like a single guy."
"Fine, don't admit it. But you need a man, Elena."

Elena wanted to just walk off, go home, and have a nice warm bath. But she was out, in the open, in the lions den and she was going to stay here till the end of the night. She could have easily stayed in her dimly lit room, slept, done homework, surround herself in memories and probably end up crying but... Change seemed pretty interesting round about now. In Jeremy's case his life was constantly changing. He had a drug problem, and cared for Vicki Donovan. She then... Disappeared and was heard to be dead. He then met Anna but she then disappeared without a trace on Founders Day. Now he has his eyes on her best friend, Bonnie Bennett. He had indeed been through alot, suffering from the same ordeal when their parents died. And she was glad Jeremy had Bonnie now.

Mumbling about wanting to get a drink, Elena left the presence of her family and strode slowly through the rooms until she reached the hall. It was pretty much empty, the off few stood round near the front door. Placing a delicate hand on her hip she rest a hand on her warm forehead, glad to be in a more free and quiet environment. The whole idea of getting a man or boyfriend was piling up in her mind. That wouldn't happen! Surely? The only guy she had ever dated was Matt Donovan, but it wasn't... Passionate. Elena wanted a relationship that was true, that made her stomach flutter and her heart stammer everytime she saw him. She wanted to feel like he was the one, and only. The one she would live with and love forever.
Sighing, she smiled faintly. That sort of love only existed in fairytales, not in the real world. Walking forwards she looked up, forgetting how close she was to the staircase and felt the corner of her head hit the round wooden beam. The headache that had began to fade, came back again, stronger. Why did something always happen that was bad, why couldn't something good happen to her for a chang-

"Are you alright, miss?"

A deep yet caring male voice sounded close behind her, and Elena turned gradually to look at him. Despite the casual-suit she could see the muscles along his chest through his tight shirt. Eyes wandering to his face, she distinguished broad cheek bones and unruly black hair. A single lock hung above each eye, of which were ice blue. He wore a black mask that hid his facial features but left a pair of inviting soft parted lips. The man's figure was remarkably attractive, not too hunky yet not too flat. Unable to quit staring she guessed his age being in the mid-twentys whilst in her dazed trance.
The man's lips curved into a seductive smile, sending Elena's legs buckling beneath her. Powerful masculine hands held her up by the waist, waves of ocean staring into her chocolate brown gaze. It was then she noticed her hands had rest upon the strangers chest for comfort and... her own pleasure. The closeness between the two was undeniable. After a moment of hopeless-romantic gazing she blinked her way out of it, now embarrassed and confused.
"I'm sorry I... I just, erm..-" Stuttering she struggled to gain a suitable answer for her uncanny actions, but found a careful finger resting on her moist lips.
"It's fine. No offense taken, Ma'am." The whisper in her ear was alluring, confident and possessing. She had barely knew this man for two minutes and already she was letting herself go to him! What was happening to her?
Then suddenly, the feelings and all the daunting, was gone. As was the young man's touch.
He had let go of her waist and now had his hands crossed to his hard chest. While his seducing smile remained. "I'm Damon. Damon Salvatore... I hope I didn't corrupt you further than when you bumped your head."
She managed to smile back, "No, no. You've actually made me feel better in fact... Erm, thank you, Damon. I'm Elena Gilbert."
Damon's eyes seemed to widen for an instant before resuming their usual state. She didn't miss it, and she silently questioned it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elena."
Before she had the change to say anything else, a taller male came to Damon's side, not wearing a mask. He was spectacularly handsome, but didn't match the uniqueness of Damon. They were speaking in hurried voices over something. The man looked over at Elena, his eyes too widened and were quick to resume themselves. What were they hiding? It's like they know me or something.
"This is... her? Katherine?" The man asked Damon quizingly. He shook his head in reply and murmured something about a heart beat, and doppelganger.

Doppelganger?
Damon rolled his eyes at something the man had said afterwards, and nodded to Elena. "Stefan, this is Elena Gilbert. Elena, this is Stefan Salvatore my brother."
The male known as Stefan smiled lightly. Gazing at his dirty blonde hair and muscled body, he did share certain traits with his fellow brother. Apart from the hair colour, face, and body shape, anyone could tell these were family. If you looked at the comparison. The main trait they shared was the, 'Drop dead gorgeous.' gene.

It was then everything seemed to drop into slow-motion. Elena turned to see a hooded man holding a sharp wooden block in his head, running towards her extremely fast but very slow because of the mood. Damon was already in front of her whilst Stefan had barely noticed what was going on.
The hooded man was 3 feet away from Elena when Damon gripped the wooden block in his hand, ripped it from the man's grasp, and... They disappeared in the blink of an eye. Blinking furiously she tried to match up what had just happened. There was a hooded man, running towards her and Damon jumped in front as if protecting her... But then they both disappeared!
Stefan grabbed Elena's arm and held her in place. "What, what are you doing Stefan? I don't understand... What just happened? Wheres Damon?"
Stefan said nothing, his eyes were pleading which scared her. Pleading her to forget what she had just seen, in fact her even whispered the words. Was he in hallucination?
"Stefan, are you alright?" She asked worriedly. Stefan snapped out of his crazed state, his eyes changed too. Back to normal. She could tell he was confused.
Surely I'm just seeing things. I've not even drank any alcohol tonight. But... Did the other guests see anything unusual?
Straying her _ round, no other person had taken any notice at all. How could they have missed it?

Damon now appeared from out of the parlour, entire body tense and cautious. Stefan put a hand on his shoulder, whispering into his ear.
" I tried to compel her but it had no effect."
Elena couldn't hear then but she had an idea that they were speaking about her. It only made her nervous, and stressed. Why wouldn't anyone tell her what had happened? She knew it had happened and she wanted the answers.
Damon frowned and spared a single glance at her, his eyes dancing over her body. As if he was checking her out. Moving towards her his head turned slightly, trying to figure out something. Finally he found what he was searching for. Vervain. She had Vervain on... In her necklace. Did she know about vampires?

No, she would have said something by now. Or at least have tried to run off. Damon thought. Beginning to push her along he guided Elena out of the front entrance and down the steps, not even bothering to ask for her consent.
"Damon, wait, where are we going?"
"To our place, come on."
"I don't even know you, you could be-"
He cut her off, his voice flaring with a new anger. "We're not going to hurt you, we're trying to help you. Can't you see that? You saw that hooded man coming at you with a stake, not me. Just get into the car, Elena." Flinging open the metal door to his blue mustang, Damon shrugged his shoulders forward in a calming movement. Staring at his face, Elena knew he was straining against his anger, his locked jaw shown her that. Knowing it would be best to remain on the good side of him she carefully sat in the back seat of the convertable.
Stefan climbed into the passenger seat whilst Damon got in the drivers. Within seconds they were on the road, going 60. It was obvious speed didn't deter these two.
Elena wanted to keep questioning them so she could find out what was going on. But something in her head told her to keep her mouth shut. Perhaps she's have better luck tomorrow asking them...

After 15 minutes of deadly silent driving, the car stopped outside a huge building. It was like the Lockwood's, only it looked older. Getting out she was quickly lead into the mysterious house. Elena's eyes were keenly interested now, forgetting about all the problems in the real world.
The building was older that the Lockwood's by the look of it, the paint was old yes but decent. The long hallway lead to some stairs towards the end, and around 4 or 5 rooms on each side. Following Damon he entered a room with a dimly lit fire, a alcohol table lay in the far right corner and a rather comfy observed sofa sat in front of the fireplace. Several pictures hung on the walls and windows surrounded the back wall. Three small steps lead to the main interior of the room whilst where Elena was currently standing had a large wall to the left, consumed by many books.
After a moment she advanced down the steps and lightly sat on the sofa.
Damon poured himself a Scotch, and Stefan sat down in a single chair to the right of her.
Damon took a big sip of his drink, and sat down beside Elena. "I know you have a lot of questions, but let me tell you this. We have to protect you from... Something. We'll tell you about it tomorrow. But, that's not the highlight of the evening. The main clearification is, that me and Stefan aren't... Human."
Elena listened, her hands on her lap. "I.. I know. I noticed when you sort of just abruptly disappeared. Then Stefan went... A-wall or something."
Stefan frowned at her response, and Damon grinned. "A-wall, she sure knows how to describe you, brother." Chuckling he smiled at Elena.
"How can I put this... Right. I and him are something fast, something powerful. Well I am, I don't know about vegetarian Stefan... Anyway. I could easily kill you if I wanted to. Three guesses to what we are."
Elena now felt truely horrified. He wasn't bluffing, surely? Everything he was saying was sincere even though the hint of sarcasm struck when he mentioned his brother. It made her wonder if he was telling the truth. Stumbling with her words she came out with, "Spidermen?"
Damon was calm, and in total control when he just burst out laughing. Stefan was quick to join in, only not as enthusiastic. After what seemed hours, Damon stopped laughing, his face blank with no emotion. He leaned forwards until his mouth was right by her ear and whispered, "How about, Vampires?"