a/n: Thanks for reviewing my first chapter. With the season finale of the tv show looming close by, I felt like I had to continue this story. I need something to do over the summer while I'm waiting for the next season to start. I hope you like this chapter! More will be up soon. And if you like this chapter, please review. Thanks!

Chapter 2 We Who Are Dying

After the torchlight red on sweaty faces
After the frosty silence in the gardens
After the agony in stony places
The shouting and the crying
Prison and palace and reverberation
Of thunder of spring over distant mountains
He who was living is now dead
We who were living are now dying
With a little patience
-The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot

Elena moved into the dungeon in an eerie silence. Damon had stopped following her a few stairs back to give her room to check on Stefan. She wondered what Damon was thinking now. Did their kiss mean anything, or was she just another one of his many flings? Was he going to watch her and interrupt her expression as she gazed at his brother, or did he even care? Did he truly see Elena, or was she just a substitute for Katherine. Did he have fears, did he have doubts, or did they only belong to her? Their moment together had felt so real.

After letting out a deep breath, Elena looked toward Stefan's cell. Even she wasn't sure how she'd react when she saw Stefan. Would there be fear of his new being, apathy toward the man she no longer loved, or guilt for kissing his brother? The ideas of all the emotions made her being erupt with nervousness. Not only were Damon's eyes watching her every movement, his ears would also be monitoring her breathing and waiting for each and every change she made. That thought made her shiver, but she still moved on.

Slowly, her hands reached out and grabbed onto the bars as she gazed inside the cell. Her breathing hitched and confusion consumed her being.

"Damon, come here," she finally breathed. She glanced over to Damon then and watched him walk to her. His arms were crossed and his brow was creased. He obviously wasn't thrilled about seeing what Elena had.

"Well isn't that something," he spoke as he looked into the cell. Even though Elena was glancing into Damon's dark eyes, she knew what he was taking in. First, there was the beautiful brown stone the cell was etched out of. A sliver of lightning filtered through a barred window to glisten and glide across the ancient stone. In the midst of the floor stood a bottle of animal blood Damon had placed in the cell earlier just in case Stefan was hungry when he woke up. Thrown across the makeshift bed was a blanket Elena had brought down earlier. Although there was no real purpose for the blanket, she had wanted to contribute something to help Stefan after she had fed his body with vervain. And that was it. There was no angry, sad, or brooding vampire tucked into a corner of the cell. Although the reason was an enigma, the bitter truth was that Stefan was gone.

"Where do you think he went?" Elena asked as she gazed deeper into Damon's dark eyes.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I bet he's causing trouble though."

"Maybe he left to go hunt an animal," Elena replied hopefully.

"Please," Damon rolled his eyes. When Elena scoffed, he sighed. "Suppose he woke up, decided he was hungry, and chose to ignore the animal blood sitting in the cell. Let's then suppose he was strong enough to move on his own. Now we have to add the stipulation that he really did want animal blood instead of the human blood he was so crazy about only a day ago. Next, let's state that Stefan found a way to unlock this locked cell without any help. After this bizarre incident, let's cast logic aside and say he found another way out of the house besides going up the only staircase we have out of this place. Because if he did go up this only staircase, he would have seen us kissing and animal blood would have been the last thing on his mind."

Elena crossed her arms. "Are you finished?"

"I suppose so."

"Then let's spend time talking about a plan instead of fighting." She ran a hand through her long brown hair. "Where do you think Stefan would go?"

"He needs blood Elena." He looked deep into her eyes. "He ignored the animal blood. He wants something stronger." He saw Elena nod and was proud of how strong she was now. "He could be anywhere, although I think he'll want to attack a place full of a large group of people. He'll also want a place that's familiar. School is still going on. I think that should be the first place we look."

Elena cocked an eyebrow. "But what about Alaric? Why would he attack a place he knows has a vampire security system?"

"He's not thinking straight Elena." Damon's features softened slightly and he placed his hands on Elena's shoulders to capture her undivided attention. "He might not recognize you. I don't want you trying any of the same stuff you did last night."

"He won't kill me Damon."

A slight trace of anger blazed behind the depths of Damon's eyes. "Just promise me you won't do anything stupid Elena."

"No," she shook her head quickly. "It's my life Damon. If I think I can get close enough to stop this, I will."

Damon cursed underneath his breath as he let go of her. "Why can't you be a normal human who is freaked out by vampires?"

A smile crossed Elena's lips then. "If I was normal, I wouldn't be friends with you."

Some strange emotion reflected in Damon's eyes that Elena had never seen before. At first she thought it was shock, but the emotion had passed so quickly that she wasn't sure what exactly it was.

The ride to the school was bathed in silence. Both refused to admit the mess they had arrived in and knew the other had no desire to hear such pessimistic thoughts as those that passed through their minds. Death was the least of their worries right now.

When Damon pulled the car into the parking lot of the high school, Elena let out a deep breath. Slowly, she pulled open her door and glanced back to Damon for only a second.

"I have to find Bonnie. Please find Stefan."

"You are not leaving my sight," Damon hissed as he looked up at her.

"You don't have a choice," she said quickly before she shut the door and stepped out into the rain. She knew Damon could have been at her side in mere seconds, but was glad that he respected her enough not to do so. Both of them knew she could get herself killed if she ran into Stefan, but this had turned into a war. She needed Damon to concentrate on finding and stopping Stefan. She had other things to worry about.

The secretary at the reception desk was gazing at her computer so Elena was able to sneak by her without having to worry about checking in. At this moment, Elena secretly wished the school had a tighter security system put into place.

Not that it would help against vampires, she thought bitterly. It could have, however, given Elena and Damon some clue as to where Stefan currently was.

A crash of thunder echoed above and Elena cringed. She was ready for this stupid storm to be over with. It felt like everything connected to Stefan was connected to this storm. If the storm passed, maybe the mess with Stefan would pass too.

She had just entered the history hallway when a loud siren blared through the corridor. She glanced up in confusion and saw the flashing white lights of the tornado warning alarms. Students and teachers flooded into the hallway and moved toward the stairs. Elena was pushed with the throng of people and forced to follow them to the basement of the school. All the other students looked more thrilled than she was. They were just glad to be out of class. Secretly, Elena wished they'd go back to where they came from.

But then Elena saw Bonnie's dark hair in the mass of students below her. Fighting her way through the crowd, Elena yelled Bonnie's name. Bonnie turned around then and met Elena's eyes. Bonnie stood frozen for a few seconds before she shook her head and turned away. A frown crossed Elena's lips as she rushed to once again catch up with her friend.

When Elena reached the bottom of the stairs, teachers motioned for her to go sit along the side of the hallway that was away from Bonnie. Ignoring the teachers' protests, Elena moved toward Bonnie. Elena motioned for the guy next to Bonnie to move and was surprised when he did.

"We have to talk."

"Now?" Bonnie snapped as she met Elena's gaze with a look of resolve. "I told you I wasn't going to make you choose Elena. Why does this have to continue?"

"I'm not with Stefan anymore," Elena said quickly as she sat down. The teachers had stopped harassing her and just let her take her seat. "There is so much that's going on Bonnie."

"And you expect me to care?" Bonnie shook her head. "My grandmother lost her life because of this," she hissed underneath her breath. "I have no desire to lose mine."

"Then help me stop Stefan," Elena shrugged. "When he's gone, this is over."

Bonnie frowned at that comment. "I'm not stupid Elena. Stefan is only one person. There are many more left after him." She glanced down the hallway as something caught her attention. "And what about Damon, Elena? Is he over too?"

"I-" And she stopped. She didn't have an answer to the question and saw no reason to lie to Bonnie. They had been through too much to do that.

"If Damon's still in this, I'm not," Bonnie shrugged. "I can't be torn like this Elena."

"I know."

Elena ran a hand through her long hair and sought an escape. She gazed down the hallway and was surprised to see Jeremy talking to Anna. The way they interacted made her think of how her and Stefan used to be. They looked so much like a couple that Elena was knocked off guard. Did Jeremy know the truth about Anna? If he did, then that completely explained his behavior lately.

Then, she glanced down the hallway in the direction Bonnie had looked at only a few minutes earlier. She saw Damon as he conversed with Alaric. When he caught her gaze, he frowned and shrugged. Obviously he hadn't found any trace of his brother either.

All of a sudden, the vibe between her and Damon changed. She felt him look at her with worry on his face. Could he understand what had just happened between her and Bonnie? Had he been listening? Wherever his worry came from, she was glad to have it. She needed someone who understood her, especially now.

The light flickered, but thankfully remained on. With the threat of Stefan lurking in the shadows, Elena didn't think she could handle it if she was trapped in a basement with no way to see any sign of danger.

A musical laugh drifted up from nearby and Elena turned to see where the sound had come from. Caroline and Matt said next to each other and had smiles plastered on their faces. Vaguely, Elena could remember a time when Matt had made her that happy. Those times felt so long ago. She was a completely different person now, one who would never be able to return to that kind of normal life. She had chosen to abandon all hopes for a normal life the first day she had decided to pursue Stefan.

"Elena."

She was knocked out of her trance as someone above her spoke her name. She glanced up to see one of the secretaries standing above her.

"May I speak to you for a moment Miss Gilbert?" she asked with a disapproving look.

"Um," Elena had no desire to leave the safety of the other students. "We need to stay downstairs."

"We will," the secretary made clear.

"Yes, Mrs. Vaughn." Elena offered her a half-sincere smile as she stood up. Elena looked down at Bonnie for support, but Bonnie's eyes were gazing at an object farther down the hallway. Elena couldn't make out what Bonnie saw; the hallway looked completely empty from here.

As Mrs. Vaughn grabbed onto Elena's arm, Elena glanced back at Damon. He was watching her with a concerned expression on his face. Something about this whole situation wasn't right; Elena just didn't know what it was.

Mrs. Vaughn walked down the hallway Bonnie had been looking at only seconds before. The hallway veered off to the right and revealed a long corridor void of students. They continued to walk down the hallway until Elena could no longer hear the chatter of the student body. Nervousness claimed her body and she kept glancing back to the beginning of the hallway for support. She wanted to see Damon emerge into the hallway to save her, but no such help ever came.

"Let's go in here Ms. Gilbert," Mrs. Vaughn said before she opened one of the classroom doors. Since this door was in the school's basement, it had no windows and housed an eerie feeling. There were no desks in this room and Elena secretly wondered if it was even used anymore. Something deep inside her told her that it wasn't and that no one would think to look here when she didn't return.

When Mrs. Vaughn motioned for Elena to stand in the center of the room, Elena noticed the craziness that was housed behind her blue eyes. It was only at that instant that Elena decided Mrs. Vaughn had been compelled to bring her here.

But then a man cleared his throat at the front of the room and she was forced to give him her attention. She looked at her uncle with a feeling of loathing rising in her body. There was only one reason he would need to talk to her in an alone room and she didn't like where her thoughts were going. Yet when she glared at him, he only smiled.

"Hello Elena."