Okay, I know this is short but I wanted to leave all the excitement for the next chapter, which I promise will be longer and will be here sooner than you think. Thanks for sticking out with me still, hope you enjoy this!

"We look at each other-predator and prey, the conqueror and the conquered-and in that moment, I feel an odd sort of connection to him. Like a part of myself is forever altered by what's happening between us."

-Anna Zaires-

.

The floor was cold beneath her bare feet.

An icy feeling had started crawling up her legs and was making her teeth clatter against each other; her Minnie Mouse nightgown brushed her calves as she walked towards the sound that had woken her up.

The house was empty except for her and her step-brothers since their parents had left the day before to celebrate their anniversary in the Bahamas. She was nine and it was the first time they allowed her to stay with only the supervision of Damon and Stefan.

Her friend Bonnie had come over and they had watched movies all night while stuffing their faces with pizza and candies, something that Damon had rarely approved of. They had fallen into a deep sleep until Elena woke up to a strange sound that proceeded from the basement, fear had crawled up her spine but she was never one to back down.

She slipped out of her covers and tiptoed her way to the floor below, careful not to alert Damon she was on her way because there was no doubt in her mind he was down there doing bad things.

Damon was always doing bad things.

Elena flinched back as a pitiful cry penetrated her ears, her body froze as her eyes widened in direction of the basement. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and placed one shaky hand in the doorknob of the basement door, another cry made her close her eyes and mutter a quick prayer before yanking open the door.

Her eyes opened with a startled gasp, her blood was racing as the foggy memory of the dream vanished; she could taste the fear in her mouth as she tried to settle into the present and almost wished she hadn't woken up. She couldn't remember something aching as badly as her head did at that moment. She was aware of the angry throbbing at her temple and the achiness of her limbs, the floor beneath her seemed to be on the move and a chilly wind made her bones shiver with cold.

Elena groaned as she tried to sit up only to realize her hands and legs were tied up with steel chains and that the moving floor beneath her was nothing else but the bottom of a moving truck.

"Son of a bitch" Elena muttered under her breath as she pulled against the strings that were binding her, the rattling noise reverberated through the enclosed space "Get me out of here! Damon! I swear to God I will kill you!"

The terror the dream had left in her vanished as a rage unlike never before took its place. She released another useless frustrated cry before stopping her trashing; she took a deep breath and tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness that was surrounding her. She struggled to see anything beyond her own feet but could sense she wasn't alone in the moving truck.

"Who are you?" She asked without any response. She sighed in frustration and slumped back against the cold metal of the truck.

Angry tears welled up in her eyes as she thought back to her last encounter with Damon, he had knocked her out cold after she confronted him about their relationship being nothing but a ruse to get back at her father, making her realize that the older man had been right about one thing, Damon didn't love her, never had.

Fury overwhelmed her body and made her release another angry cry "You bastard, get me out of here!" Her chains rattled and the sound mixed with her voice in a cacophony of rage.

"Please stop" The small whimpering voice made Elena stop the movement of her legs and take her attention to her left from where the voice had come from "You'll only get him angrier" The voice spoke again and realization was like cold water drenching into Elena's veins.

"Caroline?" Her words were whispered as she struggled to move closer to the girl, her eyes squinting until she could see the silhouette of the blonde girl hunched in the corner of the van "What are you doing here?"

The other woman sniffled before moving closer to her "I was a fool. My mother was always right"

Elena felt a pang of empathy for the girl as she recalled the conversation she had overheard the night of her birthday party, it was funny to think that she had felt so bad for Caroline at the moment without realizing she was being played in the same way the blonde girl had been.

"Who brought you here?"

"Stefan" Caroline's voice wobbled as the name of her lover came out of her lips "I was leaving work and I bumped into an old friend of my mother… next thing I know Stefan is shooting him and then—he put a syringe to my neck" The blonde's voice broke down as she released a strangled sob "I woke up here, cold and alone… then I saw them bringing you too"

"Bastards"

Elena wanted nothing more than to reach out to the blonde girl and give her a comforting hug. Being born in the middle of a criminal family meant Elena was no stranger to the cold ways the world worked, Damon had made sure she was aware of the rawest and ugliest parts of the world since she was nothing but a child but Caroline hadn't, despite her mother being one of the fiercest detectives in the city, the blonde girl had been nothing but sheltered her entire life, Elena felt sorry for her and wanted nothing more than to lock her inside that pink bubble she had lived her entire life.

"Are they going to kill us?"

Elena wanted to say no but to this point, she had no idea what Damon's plan was so she decided it was best to stay quiet, she didn't want to give the other girl false hope when there was a big chance they might end up drained in one of Damon's old warehouses.

"Why are they doing this to us?"

Elena bit her lip and hated the fact that once again she had no answer for the other girl. A stab of pain hit her in the chest as she thought back to nights before, curled around Damon's body in his large bed as the night settled around them.

Was he planning this from the beginning?

As she rested in his bed, bared to him in every way had he been plotting her demise? Was anything he ever said true? Facts were hitting her straight in the face but a foolish part of her refused to believe everything between them had been a lie, refused to believe his eyes had been lying to her as he hovered above her and told her he loved her.

Jarring her out of her thoughts and saving her from another unanswered question the van seemed to stop and the sound of stomping boots reached her eyes. Elena scrambled to a kneeling position as she heard Caroline quietly crying behind her.

"Please don't make him mad"

The back door opened and the face that had tormented many appeared before her, La Parca, they called him and the coldness in his eyes made something drop in Elena's stomach.

Yet, she didn't allow him to see the fear that had chilled her blood. She steeled her spine and snarled at him "Get me out of here!" Her voice bounced on the metal walls of the van and drowned Caroline's cries.

Damon raised an eyebrow in her direction "How brave of you to speak of me that way" His arms were crossed over his chest as one of his shoulders rested against the open door of the van.

Anger crawled up Elena's spine at the nonchalance in his attitude "You disgusting monster!"

His nostrils flared and in a sudden move he climbed into the van "Watch it, Bonita"

Caroline's cries raised in volume "Please Elena, stop it"

"Listen to your pretty friend here"

Damon moved closer to her then, his hands working the binds around her wrists as she drilled at him with her eyes "How could you do this to me, Damon?" She said in a barely audible whisper, showing him all the weakness she had wanted to hide.

Damon's stormy blue eyes stared at her, a vein popping in his jaw "You think you know everything Elena, but you don't know shit!" Something in his expression allowed Elena to see the Damon she knew but it was gone as quick as it came "You never have"

He yanked at her arms with force, lifting her body and prisoning her between his strong arms "What are you doing?" She shouted as he started dragging her towards the open door.

"Please!"

Caroline was full on crying now, her shrieks were making Damon impatient so after climbing out he instructed someone Elena couldn't see to shut down the door, leaving Caroline in complete darkness once again "Don't worry princess, we'll deal with you too" He shouted at the crying girl locked inside.

Elena trashed against him, her hands balled in fists hit him at the sides "Let me go!" She cried before he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulders "Ugh, you idiot! Put me down!"

Damon chuckled before doing just what she asked and dropping her body into the ground without an ounce of finesse, Elena cried out as her butt hit the dusty ground below her. Her eyes finally took a look at her surroundings and discovered she was surrounded by miles of woods, panic rose in her throat at the knowledge that it would be almost impossible to escape.

As if sensing her distress Damon kneeled and grabbed her by the chin "Let's get this straight, you are not in charge in here I am" He snarled at her face "You shut your mouth and do as I say or you'll get a visit from my friend" Elena's eyes widened at the sight of the long syringe he pulled out from his leather jacket.

Her eyes filled with tears "I hate you"

In the briefest of seconds, Elena was assaulted with memories of her time with Damon over the years, of every kiss and caress, of every time he protected her from the monsters of the night and was overwhelmed by an immense feeling of sadness at the predicament they were currently at.

Damon released a shaky breath before taking one of his hands towards her face and caressing her cheek with a tenderness that startled her "I know you hate me" He whispered, his voice losing all the bite that had been present before "But it'll all be worth it in the end"

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared up at him "I will never forgive you for this"

Damon sighed sadly "That's the thing, Len. I don't need your forgiveness" His lips found hers in a forceful kiss, her mind turned into a jumbled mess as she felt his tongue invading her mouth. She wanted to be immune to it but her yearning for him was stronger than her fear and anger, she melted into his arms and allowed him to overpower her once again.

She allowed his hands to wander towards her chest and massage her breasts through the thin material of her clothes. She felt his erection pressing into her as the feverish feeling between them intensified, she let herself succumb to him like she had done so many times in the past.

Only this time there was much more at stake, she only came back to her senses when she felt the prickling sensation of the needle in her neck, she pulled away from his kiss to stare into his pained eyes.

"What—you said…" Her murmur got lost as the darkness swallowed her whole.

Her body went limp against him, his lips pressing a quick kiss to her forehead before he took her in his arms and disappeared in the immensity of the woods.