I do not own anything in this story. The CW created the universe, and I just play in it.

This is my first fanfiction. Please rate and review!


The plan was simple. The only problem was waiting for the right moment to execute it.

Annora, as it turned out, stayed out all night. Rufus obediently stayed up on the mountain, but Elena could tell he was annoyed that his boss had stuck him with babysitting duty. He paced up and down in front of the pool, muttering to himself, but he didn't take out his iPod headphones, giving Elena and Damon plenty of time to talk.

Damon eventually fell asleep as the night worn on, but he woke up in the morning shivering with a fever. The black stain was now completely covering his chest and both his arms, and there was black webbing under his eyes from thirst. With no first-aid kit, no food, and no water, Elena did her best to keep him comfortable, but it wasn't enough by a long shot. He was dying, and it was only a matter of what killed him first—the werewolf bite, or hunger.

"Damon," Elena whispered, stroking his hair. "You need to feed, or else you're going to die."

"I'm already dying," he croaked back. His voice was barely audible. "Leave, Elena."

"Oh, just shut up," she said, rolling back her sleeve. She held her wrist up to Damon's mouth. "Drink."

"What?" He weakly batted her arm away. "I can't drink your blood."

"You don't have a choice." She pushed her wrist up against his mouth again. "Drink."

"No."

"Why are you so stubborn?" Elena snapped. "Drink, or else I'll run towards the waterfall and Rufus'll kill me. Would you rather just drink, or watch me die?"

Damon glared at her, but his thirst took over and he reluctantly bit down on her wrist. Elena felt his sharp fangs pierce her skin, felt the blood flow out of her arm, and relaxed, stroking Damon's hair as he fed. When he was finally finished, she felt light-headed but relieved that she'd delayed his dying by a little bit.

"Elena." Damon pointed to the drops of blood, still leeching out of her hand. "It's still bleeding."

"Shhh, it's fine." Elena ripped a strip of fabric off the bottom of her shirt and wrapped it around the two little puncture points. "Now just rest."

The sun was high in the sky by the time Annora returned. She held two large paper bags under one arm, and a compelled woman under the other. "Rufus, you're free to go now."

Rufus saluted her and disappeared over the edge of the cliff.

"Elena, these are for you." Annora dropped the two paper bags in front of her. Elena dug through them—there was food, water, even a change of clothes. "I am, if nothing else, a hospitable host."

"You're a monster," Elena said angrily.

"Well, yes, I am, but so is your friend over there." Annora led the compelled woman over to where they were sitting and sat her down. "Speaking of Damon, I see he fed on you." She gestured to the makeshift bandage, wrapped around Elena's wrist.

"Yes, he did, because he was dying," Elena replied defiantly.

"Well, he'll die anyway, so it is not a big concern." Annora grabbed the compelled woman's arm and yanked her cloesr. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meal to eat." She sank her fangs into the woman's neck, and hungrily drank her blood.

Elena watched, horrified, as Annora drained the woman of every last drop of blood. "You look shocked, Elena," Annora said nonchalantly as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "But there is no reason to be. You know why I cannot have a human survive on top of this mountain—she was dead the second she set foot here." She casually tossed the woman's body over the cliff, and Elena winced when she heard the sickening thud.

"Now, to get on with business." Annora stood, brushed off her dress, and strode over to where Damon was laying, cushioned by Elena's new sleeping bag. "I see that the blackness has spread enormously. It is only a matter of hours now."

"Why do you have to be so selfish about your cure?" Elena burst out angrily. "Do you know how many lives you could have saved?"

"Lives? Elena, dear, vampires are not alive. They are already dead. I merely stopped them from escaping their fate." Annora nudged Damon's arm with the toe of her shoe. "And I am not selfish. Had Damon not had the history he does, I might've let him survive. He is young and strong—he would have made an excellent henchman. Too bad he killed my sister." Annora looked at Damon with pity. "It is truly too bad."

Elena seized her chance. As Annora stood over Damon, she scrambled to her feet and dashed towards the pool. She was inches away when something heavy and rock-solid wrapped around her neck and reeled her backwards.

"Did you really think you could outsmart me?" Annora hissed, tightening her arm around Elena's throat. "Is your death wish really so bad? Do you not recall me saying that if you attempted to touch the waterfall, you would die?"

Elena dug her hand into her pocket and yanked out the tiny capsule of werewolf venom. She held it precariously over the pool of water. "Do it," she said. "Go ahead, kill me. But while you're snapping my neck, I'll drop this into your precious waterfall. It'll poison it forever."

Annora froze. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would." Elena was nearly shaking with terror, but she stood her ground. "If I drop this, what happens to you? You won't be able to drink this water without poisoning yourself, and then what? Your cure is gone."

"Your friend Damon will die." Annora reached for the venom in Elena's hand, but Elena stretched her arm just out of Annora's reach.

"You've already made it pretty clear he's dead anyway." Annora's arm was now tightly clenched around her neck, and Elena was gasping for breath. "Let him take the cure, and I promise we'll never come back. You'll never see either of us again."

"I can stop you. I can break your neck and catch that vial before it falls. I am a vampire, Elena, not an inferior human like you!"

"Take your chances, then," Elena wheezed, dangling the vial over the pool. "Go ahead, risk your life on it."

Annora's arm tightened, and for a minute Elena's vision was clouded with black spots. But then her arm was gone, and Elena sank to the ground, coughing and choking for air. Annora towered over her, her face livid with anger. "I should kill you, right now."

Elena said nothing, only held the cure over the pool in an unspoken threat.

"I should kill you," Annora repeated, her eyes blazing with fury. "But I won't. Because as much as I would love to snap your neck, feel your bones break under my hand. I should kill you, Elena Gilbert. I want to kill you."

"Go ahead then," Elena gasped. "Do it. See what happens."

Annora took a step forward. "Sometimes, Elena, you should be a little more careful with your words."


I feel like I really rushed this chapter but at the same time I'm happy with how it turned out... Hope you guys liked it! xox