a/n: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up. I have the outlines for the rest of the chapters so they shouldn't take as long to write as this one did. And please remember to review. Reviews are very important to writers. They help us know what people think of our story and whether or not we need to continue it. A little feedback would be nice. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Six Death

Nobody said it was easy,
It's such a shame for us to part,
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be this hard,
Oh take me back to the start.
-The Scientist by Coldplay

The car ride was silent as they headed back for Elena's house. Elena wanted to say something to make the situation better, but didn't know what to say. Over the past few days, she had learned more about herself than she ever thought she would know. Everything inside of her screamed that she wanted to be with Damon. Why then, had Bonnie seen her with Stefan?

As they pulled up to her house, waves of relief washed through her being. She was tired of the silent treatment Damon was giving her, although she could hardly blame him for it. And at least now she could hopefully talk to her family and come up with a plan to end the nonsense that was going on.

When the car stopped, she didn't hesitate to open the door and walk toward the house. Damon followed her, but stayed a good distance behind her. Even though she had told him how she felt the previous night, she didn't think Damon believed her. He still thought she wanted his brother, no matter what she said.

The house was quiet and a frown crossed Elena's lips as she entered the place. She had expected Jeremy and Anna to be back. Now, she was just left with a very quiet Damon.

When Damon meandered off to the kitchen, Elena turned toward the staircase. Part of her wanted to go upstairs and just sleep this nightmare off, but she couldn't force herself to do that. Instead, she left the stairs and followed Damon.

"Talk to me Damon," she said as she moved into the kitchen. Damon stared out the window and his gaze didn't move as Elena walked toward him. "I want-"

"You want what Elena?" Damon snapped as he turned to her. "You want to be with me? I've heard that cliché before. I've finished buying into it."

"It's not a lie." Her anger was blaring. "Look at me Damon. I don't have my necklace anymore. Compel me Damon. Make me tell you how I fell."

"Don't tempt me," Damon growled as he looked deep into her eyes.

Elena's eyes grew wide as she thought back to the night she had kissed Damon. He had asked her if he was compelling her, but she had had her own fears too. She had worried about the fact that she looked like Katherine. Why didn't she connect the dots earlier?

"It was Katherine," Elena gasped. She looked up to Damon and was relieved when the revelation of it all dawned on his smooth face.

"I'm going to kill that demon," he cursed. "She will regret that she ever changed me."

Letting out a deep breath, Elena crossed her arms over her chest. "Can we defeat her?"

"I hope so." He raked a hand through his dark hair. "We need to get everyone back here as soon as possible and come up with a plan."

"I'm on it," Elena nodded as she grabbed her phone. She dialed her brother's number and frowned when he didn't answer. She punched a few more buttons and called Jenna. Jenna answered the phone quickly and Elena told her to get home as soon as possible. Elena had no desire to attempt to explain something like this to her aunt over the phone.

About thirty minutes later, Jenna and Alaric arrived. Alaric held up a necklace and offered it to Elena. At first, she had no idea what to make of it, but then he explained that it held vervain. It wasn't as ornate as her first one had been, but she accepted it willingly. She needed all the help she could get.

Smiling weakly at Alaric, she walked into the living room and got ready to make war plans.

The rest of the day they worked on explaining their current mess to Jenna and coming up with a plan. They had called Jeremy and Anna countless times, but they still didn't receive a response. Elena was starting to get worried. She was just ready for this nightmare to be over.

While Jenna and Alaric worked on cooking, Damon and Elena sat in the living area. Elena wanted to know what Damon was thinking about, but he remained completely silent. The only comfort he gave her came from the hand that was currently intertwined with her own.

Slowly, she let go of Damon and walked toward her ringing phone. She didn't recognize the number and was hesitate to pick it up. She was just about to answer it when she heard a car pull up in the driveway. Glancing back to Damon, she saw the worried expression on his face. As a knock echoed on the door, Damon nodded and Elena moved to open it.

"Sheriff Forbes," Elena said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for your aunt," Liz replied as she motioned toward the living room. "May I come in?"

"Of course." Elena waited for the sheriff to enter the house and then closed the door behind her. "Jenna is in the kitchen. I'll go get her."

As Elena moved away, she noticed that the sheriff had walked toward Damon and was already discussing things with him. She wondered what was going on and whether Damon knew the truth yet or not. She was ready to figure out what all this was about.

Only a few seconds later, Elena walked back into the living room with Alaric and Jenna.

"What's going on?" Jenna asked quickly and Elena could see the fear in her eyes.

"If I were you, I'd sit down," Sheriff Forbes said as she stood up and offered Jenna her seat. Jenna merely shook her head and remained standing. Elena used that time to cross the room and sit down beside Damon in the now vacant seat.

"Okay," Liz nodded. She let out a deep breath. "I'm sorry to tell you this Ms. Gilbert, but Jeremy's dead."

"What?" Jenna gasped.

"About an hour ago we received a phone call from a worker at the Grill. She was taking trash to the dumpster when she saw a boy lying in the alley. She walked over to him, but he was already dead. There was a girl named Anna, who we now have at the police station, there too. She hadn't been hurt, but couldn't really remember much about the attack. She said it was some kind of animal, but wasn't sure what it was."

Elena glanced up to her aunt and took in the shock on Jenna's face. Despite what Liz had told them, Elena still had a tinge of hope that her brother wasn't dead. He had been wearing the ring today. She had no idea how long it took the wearer to come back to life, but knew the time couldn't be that long. Hopefully he would come back to life soon and everyone could brush this incident off.

"Thank you for telling us," Jenna nodded. "Will I need to go identify the body?"

"Yes," Liz replied. "I know it's Jeremy, but there was no form of id on him. This is simply procedure."

"I understand." Jenna's strength greatly impressed Elena. "When can I go?"

"Now if you want to." Liz offered Jenna an understanding smile. "You can follow me to the hospital. I'm going there now anyway."

Letting out a deep sigh, Jenna nodded. "Let's go."

Elena stood in the gray colored room and waited for the doctor to let them identify Jeremy's body. Before Jenna had left, Elena had made it clear that she was going with her. Jeremy was her family too and they needed to face this together. After talking to Damon for a few minutes, he had finally agreed to go find Anna. They needed to know exactly what had occurred in that alleyway, especially if something had really happened to Jeremy.

Elena returned her attention to the doctor and watched him motion to a table where a body was covered up with a large sheet. The doctor didn't waste any time pulling the sheet off and revealing the boy underneath.

As the reality of this hit her, the shock consumed Elena's being. Jeremy looked completely dead. There was no color in his face and his body was stone cold. The doctor had revealed enough of the body that Elena could see both his hands. Although she checked his fingers multiple times, she had to admit that the ring wasn't there. Jeremy was really dead.

Then, Elena forced herself to look back over his body and determine the injuries he had incurred. It was easy to see the scratches that covered his skin. The wound on his neck was the one that caught her attention the most. Instead of seeing the vampire marks she had expected to see, she instead saw a deep gash. She was sure the bites had been there at one point, but the vampire had slashed his neck to cover their tracks. Whoever was behind this was smart. That was easy to see.

Beside Elena, she could hear Jenna croak, "That's Jeremy."

It was hard for Elena to breathe then. She had never expected her brother to die during this war. Seeing his icy body now only brought in her mind the full effects of this war. No one was safe now.

As Elena stared at his lifeless form, she thought back to Anna. Right now, Elena was ready for answers. She hoped Damon was getting them.

But then the lights in the room flickered and Elena glanced to Jenna. She took in her horrified expression just moments before the lights finally went out. Then, she heard a body collapse onto the floor.