Chapter 4

Keeping on the outside

Glimmer in the moonlight

Only shadows know where we are

Creeping on the edge of the dark

Elena woke the next morning feeling odd. She'd had the strangest dream that night. In it, she had been lurking in the shadows, weaving in and out of trees, as she stalked something – no, not something, someone. And that someone had turned out to be Damon. It was like she'd been toying with him, teasing him, for her own sick enjoyment. She'd woken up before she'd seen the conclusion of the dream – had she actually harmed Damon? – and she felt uncomfortable. A sense of foreboding hung in the air as she walked to school.

There was a brisk wind, abnormally chilly for the middle of spring in Virginia. The unusual cold settled into a fog, which grew thicker as Elena made her way to Mystic Falls High School. It grew increasingly harder to see and the sense of unease that had loomed over her from the dream seemed to wrap its invisible hand around her. She had the feeling that someone was watching her, but through the dense fog, there was no way to confirm or contradict her theory. She moved her legs as quickly as she could, almost breaking into a run. Elena now felt a sense of panic, like she had to get to school as fast as possible or the consequences would be disastrous. As soon as she thought this, though, she realized how ridiculous it sounded in her head. It would disastrous if she didn't get to school right away? Clearly, the fog was only amplifying the residual worry from her dream and there was nothing to worry about.

Elena arrived at school at her usual time, expecting to meet Damon at his locker as they usually did before and after school. When she saw Damon, the foreboding feeling returned and she realized it was because of the way Damon looked.

He was dressed in his usual black jeans, shirt, and leather jacket, but he looked sickeningly pale, his hair was disheveled (and not in a careful, intentional way), and there were dark circles under his eyes. Elena hurried over to him, and touched his hand. She jerked back, shocked by just how cold he felt.

"Damon," Elena said, but Damon didn't seem to notice her. "Damon," she said again, more insistently, and this time he looked at her, as if just noticing her presence. "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

Damon nodded, swallowing. "Fine. Just didn't sleep well."

"Damon, tell me what's going on. You look like – Well, you look like death." Elena had hesitated. Talking about death seemed wrong in the moment.

"I'm fine, Elena, seriously," Damon said, his voice scratchy. He rubbed the side of his neck and pulled the collar of his jacket up. "Don't worry about me."

Elena's brows furrowed, not believing a word Damon said. "I'll come over tonight, okay? We can talk if you want. Or just hang out."

Damon nodded. "Okay. I'll see you later," he said, moving down the hall toward his first class.

Elena was left standing next to Damon's locker feeling worried and sick to her stomach. Something was definitely wrong with Damon.

The rest of Elena's school day passed by in a blur, despite how slowly it went. She couldn't remember a single word anyone had said to her. All she could think of was Damon and how terrible he'd looked. She had never seen him like this. She'd seen him with the flu and when he'd pulled an all-nighter and this was neither of those. His playful, sometimes inappropriate, demeanor was gone and he seemed almost like a shell of himself.

Damon was nowhere to be seen at the end of the day, so Elena headed straight for his house. The fog had lifted, but it was a gloomy day, and rain lurked just on the horizon. The walk to Damon's was almost twice the distance to Elena's own house, but she knew it just as well. Damon lived just on the edge of town, with the edge of the woods at his backyard. The houses were more spaced and it was almost a half-mile to his closest neighbor. When Elena asked if he ever got lonely, Damon had replied with a laugh, saying no, that he preferred the solitude over a noisy city street. Elena could see the appeal, but she also liked the warmth that her tree-lined, populated street offered. And it was while she thought about her own street, her own home, that she became unsettled. She could just barely see Damon's house now, and there was a light on in his bedroom window. She just had to make it there. As she walked faster, she chanced a glance behind her. There was no one there, but the feeling that she was being watched was stronger than ever. She had bridged half the gap to Damon's house now, and just a few hundred feet remained.

It was then that ice-cold hands grabbed her from behind, one covering her mouth so her scream was unheard.

A/N: Hello! It is I! I am so sorry this chapter is so short, but I really wanted to get something up for you guys since it's been about a week since I last updated. I started school again on Monday and this is my final semester here before I transfer to a bigger college. I should be able to update fairly regularly, at least during the beginning of the semester.

But yeah, so this is a short chapter, but I promise I'll make it up to you in the coming chapters!

Please let me know what you thought/think will happen in a review!