Sorry for not updating :/ Been super busy lately with finals and stuff (which absolutely suck by the way), but I promise once summer starts I'll be uploading a lot more frequently.

Now, before I rattle on here is chapter 4!

Chapter 4: Encounters

"A new vampire?" Damon demanded, giving Dr. Fell a pursed look.

Dr. Fell gave Damon a tight look back, warning him to keep quiet. "Listen, I'm not supposed to know about it," she said, "but I overheard one of the other doctors talking about it, and as soon as I saw you…" she indicated to Elena.

"Yep, you just knew it was her," Elena said, crossing her legs.

Dr. Fell turned away for a moment, picking up her clipboard to sketch something down on it before turning to leave. "Listen, I'm going to need to run the CT Scan, but I could also easily fix this problem with some blood that I have."

Elena quickly shook her head. "No, I don't want that. I'd much rather not be contaminated with vampire blood in case—" Elena stopped speaking, trailing off, realizing that she was saying too much.

"It's okay," Dr. Fell smiled. "I understand." She picked up her pager and spoke into it. "Prep for a CT Scan."

There was a muffled scratchy sound and the next moment a reply came through the pager. "On it, Dr. Fell."

"Thanks, Andrew," Dr. Fell said before clipping her pager back onto her white coat. She then turned to Elena. "Look, I'm going to make this brief and concise. Four attacks from the vampire have happened in the past week, and we don't know the source of it. All the blood has been traced back to the same attacker though. The police have got it under cover, and they don't want to worry anyone so they have extra security posted around town. Just don't make this public except for maybe a couple of your friends. I do not want the entire town to know about this."

"Of course," Elena replied.

Damon took a moment before nodding his agreement. Dr. Fell flashed Damon an annoyed look before leaving. "I'll be doing stitches on that finger too, Elena. So don't think you're just going to get out of here."

"Never thought I would," Elena scoffed as Dr. Fell picked up her clipboard and walked out.

Damon turned to Elena the moment that Dr. Fell had left. "Elena, I think Dr. Fell knows more than she's letting on.

"Damon…"

"No, Elena, listen. You are way too soft about this. I don't want you getting hurt. I don't want anyone to get hurt. We have to get to the bottom of this. Dr. Fell is a smart woman; she won't tell us everything if she knows word will spread."

Elena gave Damon a sketchy look, but she knew that he was right. A part of her was grateful to this girl, but a part of her was also in fear. If Dr. Fell was right about her being the most powerful vampire out there, then something was definitely going to happen to one of her friends. And Elena would not let that happen.

Two hours later Elena and Damon were leaving the hospital, Elena's finger bandaged up having received six stitches and a band-aid on her forehead from her scratch. Damon also had a bottle of painkillers in his pocket for her minor concussion.

"Now, Elena, I want you to come straight home after school every day for the next two weeks," Damon said, lecturing Elena as he led her up to the porch in front of her house.

"Damon, please," Elena said, hiding her smile. "You are way too protective of me."

Damon smiled back. "Only because I care."

They looked at each other for a minute, a bird chirping in the background, the porch lights flickering above them. Elena reached out for the doorknob, but didn't open it, instead turning back to Damon.

"Really," she said. "Thank you for tonight."

After a moment, she reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek and turned away again, but Damon took his hands and put them around her neck, stabilizing her before pressing his lips against hers, embracing her.

Elena felt their lips make contact, and she closed her eyes, taking in the passion of it. After a moment, she pulled away, slipping her hands into Damon's coat pocket and pulling out the painkillers from them.

"Wouldn't want to forget these," she smiled, before heading inside.

As soon as she walked inside, she felt hands wrapped around her in a hug. "You're okay!"

Elena let out a laugh. "Jeremy! Of course I am."

"I just couldn't lose you, Elena," Jeremy said, gripping Elena tighter.

"Jer, you're choking me, "Elena said, pulling away before turning to wear Alaric had a bottle of bourbon grasped in his arms. He extended his arms in a hug.

"Can't neglect your old man here, can you?"

Elena's face broke into a smile. "Alaric," she said giving him a hug.

After a moment, she pulled away, looking at both Jeremy and Alaric seriously. "Have you talked to Stefan?"

Jeremy nodded. "He didn't have much to say."

"Right," Elena said awkwardly, not wanting to acknowledge her ex-boyfriend. "I didn't think he would."

"Elena, he still loves you," Jeremy said.

"But I don't love him," Elena insisted. "He needs to learn to understand that." After a moment she added, "Did any of you two know about the new vampire in town?"

"What?" Jeremy and Alaric asked simultaneously.

Elena, afraid that someone was listening or that the vampire would be able to overhear them with her hearing, leaned in and quickly retold what she had her from Dr. Fell to Jeremy and Alaric.

"Sounds like a new problem," Jeremy said. "Does anyone know who it is?"

Elena shook her head. "No. I mean, apparently she's been around for over a week though, landing scattered attacks on people."

"Maybe we can get Bonnie to do a tracking spell or something," Jeremy suggested.

Elena nodded, suddenly feeling dizzy. She pressed her head into her hands, and in a moment, she felt hands on her back. "You okay?"

Elena looked up to see Alaric. "Just… dizzy. I'm going to head up to bed." She grabbed her coat from beside her where she'd taken it off and slowly headed upstairs. The house suddenly felt uncomfortably empty, and she looked around her, trying to figure out what it was. It was as though Alaric and Jeremy had both disappeared or something, yet another eerie presence seemed to have replaced both of them.

"Hello?" she said, as she heard a creaking nearby.

She spun around as she heard the noise again, and Elena turned to try to see who it was, but couldn't. It was as though the person was there one moment and gone the next.

Elena flung the door open to her bedroom and saw that the window was open. Shivering, she ran over to it and shut it, but the next moment felt a gust of wind behind her. Screaming, she turned around to see who it was, but as she did, she felt someone on top of her, rushed her over to her bed and pinning her down on her head. Elena's already concussed head began to hurt again as she banged it against the headboard.

"Listen, bitch." Terrified, Elena opened up her eyes to see a girl staring down upon her. It took a moment, but Elena suddenly recognized her as the same girl as before. "I saved you once, but that was before I knew who you were. I won't do it again."

Elena let out a terrified scream as Elena saw the girl's eyes turn bloodshot and fangs form in her teeth. She leaned in to bite into Elena's neck, but the next moment something stopped her, and she was out the window before Elena could blink. Elena sat up, panting, her body shaking to see Stefan in the doorway.

"Ste—Stefan," Elena said in shock.

"I heard about what happened," he said. "I wanted to see that you were okay. I didn't know that someone else would be here."

"I don't know her…" Elena said, feeling tears pool in her eyes. Her voice trailed off as she felt Stefan's arms around her. Normally, Elena would have pushed him off saying that she wanted nothing to do with him, but this time she needed anyone there to make her feel okay.

"Shhh," he said gently. "It's okay… we'll just report it to the police saying someone broke in."

"Do you know her?" Elena asked, wiping her eyes, feeling her head instinctively rest against his shoulder.

Elena sensed hesitation in Stefan's voice as he spoke, but she brushed it off as his voice came off strong. "No," he said. "I don't know her. But you can bet I'll figure out who it is."

Not too impressed with this chapter, but that's okay. It didn't exactly go where I wanted it to, but oh well! Thanks for reading.

xx.