Hey everybody! I'm so sorry I haven't updated sooner, but school got pretty hectic, and then I went out of town for spring break :) I just got back yesterday night, so I decided I ought to update for the first time in a week :P So that was the official end of the "Peter Chapter"...kind of. You'll see what I mean in a little while :) There are some things I want to clear up before I get started, though! First of all, we're taking a bit of a jump in the timeline. Elijah is now in the basement/jail cell/cellar/dungeon thing in the boarding house, Bonnie's lost her powers and regained them, Isobel and John are back, and Katherine is out of the tomb. But just because we've added some characters from their little vacation doesn't mean they'll be showing up in the story for a while. They'll come in every now and then, but not all the time :) I know it's a bit annoying to have a timeline jump, but it's just impossible for me to write as if we're in episode 11 when we've moved forward to episode 17-so I'm truly sorry :) but I hope I can make up for it in this chapter! btw: the italics at the beginning sybolize Elena's dream. So when it's in italics its a dream, and when it goes back to normal, Elena has come back to the real world. So enough blabbering, here's chapter 20! Enjoy :)

She was running through a forest. She didn't know why, or from what. All she knew was that she had to get out of there—if she didn't, she was as good as dead.

Suddenly, there was a clearing up ahead, a huge circle of trees. The full moon was shining down through the branches, illuminating the clearing in an eery glow. She picked up speed, thinking that she would be safe when she got into the moonlight.

She burst through the leaves into the center, and frantically looked for any source of safety, when a pair of hands slammed down on her shoulders and spun her around. With horror, she realized that she was looking into the eyes of a killer—her killer—Klaus. Her eyes widened in fear, but before she could scream, the face shifted and took on different characteristics altogether.

Most people would have been relieved that the monster was gone—but not Elena. She was now looking into the face of a vampire that scared her even more. His cruel eyes gazed into hers as if he were trying to drill through her skull, and his lips curled into a horrifying smile—fangs and all. She knew that she was on the brink of death as she looked up at her captors face. The face that smirked down at her was Peter.

Elena's eyes shot open as her body wrenched itself off the couch. Breathing heavily, she looked around the room blindly before she could notice the intense pain shooting through her body. Suddenly, it all came back to her. The bar, Peter, his attack, and his death—and she whispered to herself: "He's dead…he's really dead."

"Elena? You're awake", she heard from behind her, and spun around to see the source. Stefan was walking into the room, but when he saw her face he sped to her side. She jumped, her eyes wide open, and he reached an arm up to steady her. "Hey, it's okay. Just lay back down, you're safe", Stefan assured her.

"W-where are we?" she asked, still unable to see properly.

"The boarding house", Stefan answered, obviously concerned about her.

"Is he…he's dead, right? I-I killed him…." Elena stumbled over her words as she laid back down on the couch. She vaguely noticed the fire burning in the fire place across from her as Stefan replied.

"Yeah, he's dead, and he won't be coming back to hurt you ever again—I promise. Now, are you okay?" Stefan whispered, gazing into her frightened eyes.

"Define 'okay'…" Elena mumbled

"How do you feel?"

"My head is pounding, my entire body is aching", Elena said, then glancing at the window, she felt more pain shoot through her head when her eyes came into contact with the sunlight, and finished, "and it would be great if you shut those curtains, because my eyes are killing me."

Stefan chuckled, and raced over to shut them. Within seconds, he was back by her side. "I didn't give you any blood—you've already had too much the past couple of days, and we were afraid you might start to transition…So your, um, bite marks are going to have to heal on their own", he explained.

"Oh great. I guess it's back to turtlenecks and scarves in the middle of spring for me", she joked lightly, amazed that she had just woken up after almost being killed by an evil vampire. Stefan laughed, then leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. When he pulled back, he couldn't help but notice the single tear that had begun to run down her beautiful face. He was just about to wipe it away, when Damon walked in with a glass of scotch.

"Looks like our little damsel in distress woke up finally!" Damon joked, half-heartedly, and emptied his glass in one swallow.

"Damsel in distress? You'd be dead if I hadn't staked Peter. But I guess you wouldn't remember that since you passed out—did you drink a little too much, Damon? I should've known the timeout was a bad idea!" Elena shot back at him. He glared back at her, and went over to pour some more alcohol.

"Well who's the one that's been passed out for over 18 hours? Oh yeah, that would be you!" he countered, and laughed as her eyes grew bigger.

"Eig-eighteen hours?" she stuttered, "Oh my god! School—I can't miss anymore school!" Elena frantically tried to get up, stumbling as her sense of balance spun all over the place. Stefan grabbed her seconds before she fell over, and led her over towards the couch again. He laid down with her, and wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her again—trying to calm her down.

"Elena, Jenna called the school and told them you were sick. It's fine—everything's been handled."

"No, no! I-I promised Caroline I would call her when I got back—where's my phone?" Elena gasped as she began to hyperventilate. Stefan looked away, and she could see guilt written all over his face. "Stefan? Where's my phone?"

"It kind of broke", he answered, and she could practically hear Damon laughing in her head.

"What do you mean 'kind of'?"

"I threw it against a car..."

"Then we stole the car", Damon added, smirking when Elena's frantic face twisted in confusion. "Don't look so judgy. We simply suggested to the owner that he let us have his car—it's not like he lost much. It was a piece of shit."

"Well, where's my car?" Elena wondered.

"We found the keys in the hotel room Peter kept you in", Stefan answered, frowning when he saw Elena wince at the mention of Peter's name, "And Jeremy and Bonnie offered to drive down to get it."

Elena smiled at the mention of her brother and best friend. She'd been a little bit freaked out when Bonnie had confronted her, but she knew that they would be fine. Relaxing into Stefan, she began to feel waves of drowsiness come over her again, and before she knew it she fell back asleep. The last thing she remembered was Stefan stroking her hair and promising that he would never let Peter get to her again.

A few hours later, it was dark outside. Elena was still at Stefan's, since the boys wanted to keep an eye on her to make sure she was going to be okay. The moon was new—so the night sky was pitch dark with not a star in the sky.

Across town, Aria was in her house getting ready to leave. She'd begun to feel more and more comfortable after Stefan had called to tell her that Peter was finally dead earlier that morning. With her new-found sense of safety, she decided to take a walk alone in her neighborhood. She lived in the part of town furthest out in the woods, and thus made sure to grab a flashlight—just in case the street lights stopped working (which they often did).

Quickly writing a note to her mom and leaving it on the counter, she left the house with her flashlight and her cell phone.

Damn. That's all he could think as he realized that he was buried underground. He had let the doppelganger and her boyfriends get the best of him. He was an original, for crying out loud! How did that happen?

He used his super-strength to quickly burst through the soil to the clear night air, and reached behind himself. Bracing himself, he yanked the stake out that had been so expertly lodged in his heart, and grimaced as he felt the wound closing back up. She thought she'd won. She thought he was gone. Boy, was she wrong.

Aria was walking along the road, almost home, when she heard a noise. She glanced into the trees, but was only met with darkness. She stopped dead in her tracks under a light-post, and squinted into the forest to see what had made the noise. "Is anybody there?" she asked, worry growing in her stomach.

A strong gust blew from behind her, blowing her long, dark hair around her face—making her look like a dark angel. She spun on her heel, and tried to take a step towards the dark, when she ran into something. Her head shot up towards her barrier, and before she could even scream, she felt Peter's fangs pierce the skin on her neck.

Black spots began to blind her as she felt the life being drained out of her. The pain was almost unbearable, and she was almost thankful when her consciousness finally slipped away. Stefan had been wrong. Peter was still alive, and he was back—and angrier than ever.

So, do you see what I mean by the Peter chapter kind of being over? He's still alive and will still play a major part in the story, but we're moving on to the next chapter in the story arc-and I'm not going to tell you what that is, because that would totally give away the surprise! :) The next few chapters are going to be pretty angst-filled, so I hope you guys are ready for some major emotional breakdowns! Anyways, I hope you all liked this chapter :) and as always, feedback is love, people! so read & review!

-kiki :)

btw: .GOD. KNOW THY ENEMY IS ON TOMORROW. WHO'S SUPER-FRIGGING EXCITED? :D