Note: In case you were wondering, Stefan isn't a vampire.

Elena weakly opened her eyes, feeling confused and very, very wet. She brought a hand to her head and rubbed her eyes. Yep, she was wet. The question was; what had just happened to her? She had been helping an old woman get her keys, and she must have slipped and fallen into the fountain…

Elena frowned in confusion. If that was the case, why was she lying on pavement and not still in the fountain? Weakly, her limbs feeling like jelly, Elena pushed herself up on her elbows to look around. She was in an alley, of all places, with a street lamp shining directly above her. She shivered as a cold breeze blew past her, causing her wet clothes to feel even icier than they already were. One thing Elena knew for certain was that she was very, very lost. That was evident just from the layout of the alley she was in; back in Fell's Church, alleys were rare to being with, and whenever there was one, the residents who lived beside them always kept them in decent condition. This alley, however, had garbage and old newspaper pages lying on the ground, blowing around in the night air under the yellow light of the single street lamp. Obviously… she wasn't in Fell's Church. But if not there, then where was she?

"Hello?" she called, coughing when she did so; her throat was dry and her voice raspy. "Is anyone there? I'm lost!"

Her legs shaking, Elena got to her feet and stumbled over to the nearest wall, leaning against the brick for support. She was dizzy, so she assumed she had bumped her head somewhere along the way. She squinted in the dim light when she noticed a figure walking toward her. "Hello?" she called out to them, and they stopped.

Elena took a few steps forward. "Can you please help me? Can you tell me where I am?"

The person walked closer to her, and she noticed it was a man. A man likely in his mid-thirties with washed out brown hair and stubble. Elena's instincts were screaming at her that it was a bad idea to ask him for help, but, of course, Elena Gilbert very rarely ever listened to her instincts. The man grinned when he finally stopped in front of her. "What's a pretty little thing like you doing in an alley all alone? Don't you know it isn't safe?"

Elena gulped. "I… I know. I was hoping you could help me. I'm not sure how I got here…"

The man chuckled. "You're drunk, sweetheart?"

She took a mortified step back. Elena Gilbert, drunk? She would never even consider such a thing! "I most certainly am not! I'm just lost."

"Yes, you are, doll face. If you were from around these parts, you would know better than to talk to strange men in alley ways, claiming you're lost."

She frowned in confusion. "But I am lost; and what's so strange about you?"

He chuckled. "Why don't I show you?"

Elena took another step away as he advanced on her. "Stay away from me…"

His grin widened, and Elena's eyes grew in horror when she realized that inside his grin his canine teeth were getting longer and sharper, and the whites of his eyes were turning blood red. There was something seriously wrong here, and innocent Elena Gilbert had nowhere to run to. Even if she had, she knew she wouldn't get far, anyway.

VvvvV

Damon Salvatore shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked down the street toward his car. It was late, and he knew Caroline would be getting worried if he didn't get home soon. The poor little fledgling vampire always got nervous if he stayed out too late, in fear that a hunter had discovered his secret and gotten to him. Of course, with Damon, that would never be the case; as if he would let some pitiful human bring him down. Not after nearly two hundred years he wouldn't. He had just reached his blue mustang convertible, and was digging in the pocket of his black leather jacket for the keys when he heard it; a terrified, high pitched female scream. Damon groaned in agitation, shoving the keys back in his pocket and starting at a quick pace for where the scream had come from. Perhaps, if he reached them soon enough, there wouldn't be as large a mess to clean up.

He frowned when he saw it; in a filthy, shadowy alleyway was, of course, Jack Finnes, one of the more irresponsible of their kind, cornering a poor, terrified young girl. Damon sneered in disgust at the sight; it was morons like Jack who were going to out their existence to the world. Or at least to the humans of Mystic Falls. Then where would he be?

Cleaning up everyone's messes, like he always did. Of course, the young ones always seemed to get some kind of sick enjoyment out of terrifying and torturing their prey before the feed; Jack in specific. It was a well-known fact that he loved to show his demonic face to innocent young girls who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and let them get a head start in running before he would pounce. But something was even worse about tonight's show; the girl wasn't running. She was simply standing, clinging to the side of a dumpster, shrieking in terror. Evidently there was something the matter with her and she couldn't get away. It made Damon sick; only someone like Jack could get enjoyment out of doing this to someone in her state. Knowing what finally had to be done, and what had been prolonged for far too long now, Damon walked over to the side of a building, grabbing an old broom beside a garbage can and snapping it in half over his knee. He then started, stealthily quiet as only one of his age could be, to stalk up behind the foul creature before him.

"Scared, precious?" Jack was sniggering, while the girl sobbed, "Please don't hurt me…! Please…!"

Jack cackled. "Don't worry, sweet pea; it will only hurt… a lot." He began to lunge for her throat, and the girl screamed at the top of her lungs.

Damon took that as his cue to spring, plunging the sharp, pointed stick into Jack's back, straight through his heart. Jack grunted in surprise and his face turned sickly grey, wrinkling, and he fell to the ground. The girl gasped in shock, clinging more tightly to the dumpster behind her. Her big brown eyes flew up to her savior, who she couldn't see at the moment; he was standing out of the beam of light she and that… thing had been under. She gasped when he stepped into the ray of light; he was gorgeous. Black hair that fell untidily into piercing, lighting blue eyes, features that belonged on a runway, and a mouth that was to die for.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, and she felt her legs grow even weaker; that voice. It was like velvet and silk, and soothed her fears entirely. Yet it was rough at the same time in a way that could only be classified as to die for sexy.

"Hey," he took a step closer and tilted her chin up. "Are you alright?"

At his touch her legs finally gave way and she fell. He quickly caught her under her arms before she could get too far. "Who… who are you…?" she whispered, batting her lashes.

A grin pulled at his lips. "I'm Damon Salvatore."

Damon Salvatore, she thought. Even his name is gorgeous.

His grin faded when he realized the terrible condition she was in. "Can I call someone for you?"

"Call…?" she asked in confusion, mesmerized by his glimmering blue eyes.

He sighed; this was going to be difficult. Scooping her limp form into his arms, he carried her out of the alley and back to his car, where he opened the passenger door and sat her inside. "What's your name?" he asked.

"My name?" she blinked a few times, snapping back to the real world. "Elena. My name's Elena."

"Elena…?"

"Gilbert."

"Well, Elena Gilbert, what gives you the misfortune of wandering alone through Mystic Falls at night?"

She frowned. "Mystic Falls? Is that where I am?"

Slowly, he nodded; man, this girl really was out of it. What had Jack done to her? "Yes, you are. Where are you supposed to be right now, Elena?"

"Fell's Church. I live in Fell's Church. There was… there was this old lady… she dropped her keys in a fountain, and asked me to help her get them, but I must have slipped and fell in…"

"Oh, boy…" Damon muttered. "Look; you're soaked. If I let you wander around out here by yourself, you're going to get sick and into more trouble."

"Well, what do you suggest I do? I have no idea where I am… I don't even know why I'm wet, or how I got here!"

Damon bit his lip; he knew he would regret this. Every fibre of his being was screaming at him not to do it. But, there was a little part of him that knew he simply couldn't let such a confused, lost girl wander around a town like Mystic Falls alone. Especially at night. "Why don't you come home with me? I have a friend who lives with me who's about your age; we can get you into some dry clothes and figure out how to get you home. Okay?"

Normally, Elena would have refused to go home with some random guy. But she was desperate. Not to mention, he was a very pretty guy… "Oh… okay."

"Get yourself buckled in, alright? I just have to… make a phone call."

"About what?" Elena asked, freezing mid movement.

Damon gestured toward the alley. "About him."

Elena shuddered. "What… what was he? What was wrong with his face…?"

Damon touched her shoulder comfortingly. "Just don't worry about it, okay? You're safe now and have nothing to be scared off."

A bit skeptically, Elena nodded and Damon shut the car door. As he started for the alley again, he bit his lip at what an obvious lie that was. She would never have nothing to be scared of in Mystic Falls. Not in a town filled with vampires.

Not when she was in the car of one of the town's most powerful vampires, and about to drive to his house where there was another vampire waiting.