Disclaimer: I own them not. If I did, I probably would have messed up the entire thing.

Part Two – Day Two


"What do you mean, Elena's missing?" Damon asked. "And why are you calling to tell me this little nugget of information?"

"You haven't been by Mystic Falls recently, have you?"

Damon bit his cheek as he rolled his eyes. "Are you asking if I took your girlfriend on another road trip?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Stefan said.

"As I recall, Brother, we had an agreement. What makes you think I haven't upheld my end of our little deal?"

"Damon, please. Just tell me she's there with you."

He glanced around his room. "Nope, doesn't look like she is."

"Damn it, this is serious!"

"I'm being serious, Stefan!" he snapped. "I haven't seen either of you since I left. Why the hell would I go back now?"

There was a pause on the other line. "She's missing for almost two days."

"Yeah, I gathered that, genius." He sighed. "How long has she been gone?"

"Since last night. No one has seen her since Prom."

"Well, maybe she found some party goers to snack on and is waiting out her high."

"She doesn't do that," Stefan said. There was another pause. "She hasn't been doing well since you left."

The admission pleased a part of him, but Damon quickly tampered it down. "So, trouble in paradise, I take it?"

Stefan's sigh crackled through the air. "I don't know why I called. Maybe she left town."

"Why would you think that? Is Jeremy still around?"

"Yeah, what's that got to do with it? He doesn't know where she is, either."

Despite himself, worry began to niggle at the back of his mind. "If her brother's still there, she just wouldn't skip out on him like that."

"I need your help finding her, she could be in danger."

"And what makes you think I give a rat's ass anymore?" he asked.

"Because in all these months you've been gone, you still have the same number."

"Screw you," he bit out before angrily disconnecting the call.

Damon glared at the room for a moment. He hated this. She had made her choice, and he would be damned if he went back with tail between his legs.

The quiet of the room pressed around him. He could hear the traffic outside, heard the jangle of keys as someone got into the car. He even heard the muffled cough of the guy in the room next door.

"Damn it."

xo

The trail was cold. It had rained during the early morning, leaving a light mist in the air and erasing anything that could have been helpful.

Stefan had already searched around her house. He knew it was a bit early to worry, but when Jeremy called to look for her, he had grown concerned. Bonnie's phone rang eight times before she answered, her greeting curt, until he asked where Elena was. The witch had no clue, saying Elena had left the Prom early. No one had seen her since.

He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked, the crisp air nipping at his nose. He ignored it as he searched the bushes again.

Frustrated, Stefan pulled out his phone and called the same number he had dialed at least fifty times. The ring filled his ear and he could hear the ring tone echo in the morning air.

Pulling the phone away from his ear, he could still hear the ring. With leaden legs he rushed toward the sound, hope clawing in his chest.

He did not find her, though, but instead her own phone, lying under a cluster of leaves. The foliage had protected it from most of the rain. With slumped shoulders he picked it up and turned it off before shoving it in his pocket.

Standing, he surveyed the area as the adrenaline rush ebbed and he was left feeling adrift. A car rolled by, the driver ignoring him, and his ears flooded with the rumbling sound of an engine in bad need of a tune up.

She was not there.

He missed her, and not just because they were no longer together. Elena had become distant even before disappeared, and Stefan knew it was not just due to Damon's absence. She was not adjusting well, he knew that. She was trying to justify who she was now and who she had been, and for someone like her it was such a difficult thing to do.

Now she missing, and he could do nothing to help. He could not even succeed in bringing his brother back, who had a sixth sense when it came to Elena. He was on his own for this.

His phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he saw Bonnie's name flashing. He did not want to give an update that held no news. He did not want to deal with anyone else's panic. He just wanted to get down to finding Elena.

Shoving the phone in his other pocket, effectively muffling the call, he continued his search.

No matter what, he would find her.

xo

Hunger was the first thing Elena felt when she drifted to consciousness. It clawed deep in her gut and worked its way up to an ache in her gums.

Her head throbbed and her neck was sore. Her mind was in a thick haze, and she struggled through the nausea to sort out what had happened.

Why had she fallen asleep in her dress?

Getting up, Elena was surprised when she did not feel the cushion of her mattress beneath her. Instead, her hands came in contact with something hard and unforgiving. Opening her eyes, she realized she was not in her house. She wondered if she was even in Mystic Falls.

"You're awake." The voice was hard. "Good."

Rolling her neck, Elena sat up. The room was dark and her captor sat shrouded in shadow.

"Where am I?" she asked. "What happened?"

"You're away." The shadows moved as the figure stepped into the shaft of light drifting from a small window. The woman's eyes glared down at her, cold and unforgiving.

"Seriously, where am I?" Elena's patience wore thin. She did not stop to think about the power this woman held over her.

The woman knelt beside her. Something in her expression softened. "Don't worry, dear. It will hurt at first, but soon you won't feel a thing."

Elena shifted until she leaned against the wall. The staircase behind her captor led up to a thick door. The window high on the wall was too small for her to squeeze through. If she were going to make her escape, it would be now.

Shoving her captive hard, Elena rushed past for the stairs. They were old and warped, but held her weight firm. Gloved hands grabbed at her ankle and she went down hard. Her forehead slammed into one of t he steps as she was dragged back down.

"You're not going anywhere," the woman said. Her voice had a calm that sent chills down Elena's spine.

"Just let me go," Elena demanded.

The woman laughed. "Now what would be the point in that? I've hunted you for weeks. I've stalked you. Just like he had."

"He who? Who are you?" Dust stung her nose as the woman shoved her against the wall.

"You know. You're little boyfriend. He took something from me, many years ago, and it's finally time I paid him back for that." She knelt down again, this time with more caution. All hopes of surprising her a second time fled. "My name is Irene. I'm sure if you were to ask him, he wouldn't remember. But you can't anyway, so what's the point?"

There was a slight crack in her expression. Through it Elena saw something that terrified her. A sane kidnapped she could deal with, probably even reason with. Instead, all she saw was insanity.

"Imagine my surprise when I found out you weren't human," Irene said as she pulled a length of rope from inside her jacket. The herbal scent assaulted Elena's senses as panic welled in her. "I was just going to let you stay like this, but it's a good thing I brought a back-up plan."

Elena tried to roll away, but Irene was older and stronger than she was. Without effort, Elena was pinned to the ground, both wrists caught in the strong grip of one hand. The ropes burned when they contacted skin and she bit back a cry.

It was her first experience with vervain as a vampire and the pain consumed her.

"It's just so you don't get away, dear," Irene said, voice calm. When she was certain her work was secure, she fastened the end to a rusty pipe. "There, that should hold you for a little while, don't you think?"

Elena blinked at the sting in her eyes. She tugged on her bonds but stopped as the pain radiated up her arms.

"I would stop doing that," Irene said. "I'll remove them when you're weak enough."

"If you're going to kill me, just do it," Elena said.

"Oh no, dear. That would be too swift. The Ripper doesn't deserve that."

"This is about Stefan?" Elena demanded.

"Oh, so that's his name?" Irene stood up and surveyed the room. "I suppose I could bring down a cot. Make it a little more comfortable for you. Would you like that?"

"What I would like is an explanation. Why are you all this?"

"Because revenge is something to be savored. I've waited years for this, and I'm not going to let you take it away from me," Irene said. "But don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. Maybe in a few decades, I'll tell him where I've hidden you. Death is permanence, it allows you to move on. Sometimes. But the not knowing? That would consume his every waking thought."

"What could he have done that was so bad?" Elena did not want to hear it, but she had to know.

"He took away my humanity," Irene spat. "He stalked her, courted her, used her, and when he was done he tore her apart."

"Wait, he turned you?" She tried to wrap her mind around the ramblings of a crazy person. It was not working.

"No, I turned before this happened. She kept me sane, kept me grounded. And he took that, he killed my daughter, and the only way to avenge her is if you sit down and keep quiet and just let the desiccation begin." Irene's eyes drifted to the corner as the woman became lost in thought. Then she snapped her attention back and smiled. "Well, my show is going to start soon. Try to make yourself comfortable."

Elena's pleas remained ignored, and when the door slid shut, she was left alone. She bit at the ropes, hoping to untie them, but the soaked fibers burned her lips and tongue.

Gasping she pulled away. She could feel the burns slowly fade but it was taking her strength with it. With the constant attempts her wrists were making to heal, she knew she did not have much time left.

xo

Caroline was good at busy work. It took her mind off pressing matters, such as feeling completely useless when one of her best friends was missing. A part of her hoped Elena went on a vacation without telling anyone. If someone asked Caroline, her friend could use the break.

She tried to be the good friend, really she did. There were only so many pints of ice cream and watching Elena wallow that she could do before it started to irritate her. Not that it was directed at Elena at all.

This was supposed to be the best year of their life. Instead, every other day it was a struggle to get Elena to smile, or to maintain some semblance of normalcy between everyone. Bonnie had taken Elena's transition harder than she had Caroline's, and the blond had to admit that it was not really fair to any of them.

Shaking her head, Caroline turned back to what her fellow Prom committee spokesperson was saying. "I'm sorry, Mindy. Could you repeat that?"

The short girl gave Caroline an exasperated look. "For the fifth time; it took longer to clean up than it should have. For the next dance, we need to hire a professional cleaning service."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Or do what any other self respecting team would do and recruit volunteers a few weeks in advance instead of the last day."

"Well, we could have had the volunteers if someone had their head in the game," Mindy said.

Caroline fumed. "I don't need to hold your hand every step of the way, Mindy. It's not like you just started doing this yesterday. So instead of blaming me for your shortcomings, next time do the job I delegated to you, kay?"

Spinning on her heels, she stormed to the other side of the gymnasium where a pile of banners lying in a heap on the floor. Bending over, she scooped the heavy load in her arms and exited the school building and toward the dumpster.

When the last of student-painted signs were firmly in the trash, she brushed her hands and gave it a satisfied nod.

"Hello, Blondie."

Caroline jumped. Then she did the only thing she could think of in that moment. With determination, she strode toward him and gave him a hard sock on the arm.

"What the hell was that for?" Damon demanded.

"You know darn well what for," she said. The, straightening her top, she looked him over. "How have you been? Where have you been? Did you hear about Elena?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Good, places, and why else would I come riding to the rescue?"

"You owe me," she said as she crossed her arms.

"I owe you nothing," he said. "I don't owe any of you jack."

"Well I have three months worth of mope ice cream and hundreds of hours on Netflix streaming sappy romantic comedies that say other wise," she said. "Do you know how many times I would have to watch 10 Things I Hate About You in a row before getting sick of it? I used to think, like, a million. Apparently, it's seventeen. Seventeen times, Damon. In a row."

"What the hell does your teenage woes have to do with me leaving?" he asked. Then he smirked. "Miss me that much, did you?"

"Not me. Elena. You get to gallivant around doing who knows what with who knows who, and she loses yet another person in her dwindling circle of friends." She stepped close to him, getting right in his face. "I may have finally almost forgiven you for what you did to me, but nobody messes with my friends and gets away with it."

"You may have missed the memo, Blondie, but I left so she could find her happily ever after."

"Yeah, shame they broke up, right?"

His eyes widened slightly before his expression cooled into a passive mask. "Well, good for them."

Caroline found herself faltering. "You didn't know?"

He shrugged. "Guess I missed that Facebook status update."

Well, this was awkward.

Caroline shifted on her feet before clearing her throat.

Fortunately, he broke the silence first. "Any news on Elena?"

She shook her head. "None. This isn't like her. How did you find out, anyway?"

"Brother Dearest decided to break radio silence," he said. Then he muttered. "I should have changed my number."

"But something may be really wrong, Damon," she said. "This isn't like her."

He sighed. "I know. I already pointed this out to Stefan."

There was another silence, and this time Caroline was the one to break it. "She really does miss you. There may have been a lot going on, but I know that you were the main reason my bandwidth is so high these past few months."

"I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder."

"Damon, don't act like you haven't missed her, too."

"Look," he said. "You guys called. I came. What more do you want for me?"

"For you to find her," she said.

"What makes you think I can?"

"Because," she said. "You always do."

xo

Stefan only suspended his search to eat and the only reason why he stopped by the boarding house was to change his shirt. Wildlife was becoming harder and harder to find the further into winter it became. He hoped it did not come down between a random stranger on the street and Fido.

Shrugging on a fresh shirt, he entered the living room.

"So, I heard from Caroline who heard from Bonnie who heard from Elena that young Stefan is now available for the Dating Game," Damon said from the couch.

"When did you get in?" he asked.

"Oh, five minutes ago. Or has it been two hours. Depends on how long I talked to Caroline," Damon said. "You know how that girl just loves to talk."

"So you decided to come after all," Stefan said as he nodded. "I haven't found any leads so far."

"The lack of Elena in the room would indicate this, Captain Obvious," Damon said. He stood up from the couch and stalked toward Stefan. "Here's what I don't get. I leave so you two can have your happy ever afters. That was the agreement. I turn my back on you for two seconds and you let her get taken. Why is that, Stefan?"

"I didn't let her get taken, Damon," Stefan said. "I can't keep tabs on her twenty-four-seven."

"You'd probably do better at it if you hadn't let her go."

"I didn't let her go. She made her choice, I'm not going to force her to stay with me. That's not how love works, Damon."

"Don't lecture me on what somebody does for people they love," Damon said. "As you recall, I left."

"And it did her a world of good," Stefan said.

"It was our agreement!"

"And it tore her apart!" Stefan said.

Damon simmered before Stefan, fist clenching. Stefan would love nothing more than a fight right now. It would take the edge off, to get his mind in order. Stefan knew his brother was right. It was his fault Elena had gotten taken. "You going to hit me?"

"Would hurt more if I didn't this time, Brother."

Damon was right, and Stefan hated him for it. "Are you going to help look for her?"

"Why do you think I came back?" Damon asked. "Sure as hell wasn't for the bustling nightlife."


A note regarding next chapter. I am not Bonnie's biggest fan. It's not for that reason that I don't write her much, I just don't want to cram my views of her character down her throat, for I know not everyone shares my view on her. And if I wrote a lot of her, that's exactly what I would be doing.