Hey everybody! I'm sooo sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time, but there has just been so much going on with school that I haven't had time :( BUT-school is out tomorrow, so I'll have plenty more time to update! I'll try to update twice by Saturday, b/c I'm going to the beach for a week and won't be able to update then, either :( but hey! I'm home free from school :D but anyways, here it is :) chapter 26!

Damon looked at Jeremy with a sly smile, and replied, "Simple. We beat him at his own game."

The group looked suspiciously at Damon. "And how do you suppose we do that, Damon?" Alaric asked, clearly not impressed by Damon's cool demeanor.

"Simple. We let him sacrifice Elena."

The moment he said it, he heard plenty of arguments yelling through the room. Stefan rushed over to him and slammed Damon into the wall, while Alaric tried to pull them off of each other. Caroline, Bonnie, and Jeremy were on their feet yelling at Damon, but the most surprising response in the room was Elena's. Instead of yelling, she just sat there, wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the hell in front of her.

"Let me explain!" Damon yelled at the group of angry people, but they'd have none of it.

"How can you let her die? We've tried so hard to keep her alive and now you want Klaus to kill her?" Stefan yelled at him, but before he could continue he was thrown across the room against the opposite wall.

"I'm not going to get her killed! You of all people should know that, Stefan!" Damon yelled back as he shoved him into the wall. Chaos ripped through the room like a forest fire, and the sound echoing around the room was deafening. When it seemed as though the fight had come to its climax, Elena suddenly stood up and yelled.

"STOP!" Every head in the room turned towards her, and she continued, "Please, just, stop. Let's just hear him out—without arguing until he's done. Please." At Elena's desperate plea for peace, the group released each other and sat back down. The tension in the room was obvious, but Damon acted like he didn't notice.

"Now, as I was saying. We let Peter take Elena to Klaus, then kill them both before he can even get the ingredients ready", Damon explained.

"You saw what happened when we tried to take Peter down last time! Do you really think that we'll be able to defeat both of them?" Stefan asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. If not, you can just slip your girlfriend a little blood, and then she'll come right back to life." At this, Elena jerked up out of her chair.

"No. That's not gonna happen."

Damon looked incredulously at her. "Elena, it's not like you'd be dead! You'd come back to life like that!" Damon said with a snap of the fingers.

"As a vampire!"

"But you'd still be alive!" Damon yelled back.

"No I wouldn't! Not really, anyways!" Elena screamed, dumbfounded as to why he would even think to offer that up as a solution. "I can't believe that you, of all people, even suggest that", she muttered as she stormed out of the room. Shocked expressions spread around the room. Damon made a move to follow her, but was stopped by Caroline.

"Not a good idea, Damon", Caroline explained. Damon groaned, unsure of whether the bad idea was to follow Elena, or to turn her.

Everybody could hear Elena's angry footsteps echoing in the room above, as she contemplated everything. They all assumed that the meeting had been adjourned, and started filing out of the house. After everyone had left, Elena suddenly showed up at the bottom of the steps with packed bags in hand.

"Jenna called. She said it was time for me to come home." She looked expectantly at Stefan, and he quickly offered to drive her home. As the couple walked out the door, Damon could only think about how he had managed to screw up everything so completely.

"Elena, we need to talk about this."

Elena glanced over at Stefan as he drove and sighed. "What is there to talk about, Stefan? I'm pretty much slated for death, and the only plan we have is to turn me into a vampire."

"That's not going to happen, Elena. I promise."

"Don't. Don't make promises you can't keep. "

Stefan pulled the car into a parking lot and gave her an exasperated look from behind the wheel. He sighed, and looked deep into her eyes. "Elena, I promise to keep you alive and human. So please, tell me what's going through your head right now."

She shook her head. "No. I can't", Elena whispered as tears threatened to spill. She couldn't talk about it. Not with Stefan. Not with Caroline. Not with anybody.

"Yes you can", Stefan pleaded with her, "Elena, you can talk to me. Whatever you have to say isn't going to hurt my feelings."

She kept her eyes facing forward, but the tears began to roll down her face. "I don't want to be a vampire, Stefan. I never wanted to be a vampire, but now it seems like that's the only choice I have besides dying", she whimpered.

"I know, Elena. I knew you never wanted this—but you aren't going to have to make this decision. We're not going to let Peter take you to Klaus."

"What if he takes me anyways?"

"It's not going to happen. I'll stay with you all the time if I have to", Stefan promised.

Elena laughed, a smile beginning to creep back over her features, "Why do I get the idea that that's not just to keep me safe?"

"Because it's not", Stefan admitted as grinned, "I just love you too much to stay away, Miss Gilbert."

"I love you, too, Mr. Salvatore", Elena grinned as she was pulled into a kiss. It wasn't dramatic, just a simple kiss. But she still felt the passion between them as he pulled back slowly after a few seconds. Their foreheads met and their eyes locked, and Elena knew that she had never felt this much love for anybody.

She laughed, and Stefan looked questioningly at her. "What is it?" he asked.

"Jenna is so going to ground me. She called over three hours ago, and I still haven't gotten home", Elena laughed, but soon she realized that she didn't care. When you had a boyfriend that could climb through your window in one second, there wasn't really any reason to be upset that she'd be stuck in her room for a week. As Stefan sat up and pulled back onto the road, she smiled, thinking to herself that it didn't get much better than this—even when the rest of her world was falling apart.

"Jenna! I'm home! Where are you?" Elena yelled through the house as she and Stefan walked through the door with her bags. She knew it wasn't going to be good when Jenna stormed through the kitchen doorframe.

"Elena, where the hell have you been? You skip school and disappear for days without even a phone call, and then show up like nothing happened?" Jenna yelled, oblivious to the fact that Stefan was standing in the room with them.

"I'm sorry, Jenna. I had some stuff that came up, and I didn't have time to call", Elena tried to explain without giving too much away. Jenna groaned in frustration, and Elena dropped her bags on the ground and followed as Jenna stormed back into the kitchen.

"Didn't have time? You should've made time! I've been worried sick!"

Elena began to get confused. Elena had disappeared for days at a time before and Jenna had never gotten this upset. A bad feeling crawled over Elena, but she didn't have time to figure out what it was, because Jenna was still going.

"Elena? Hello! Don't you just ignore me! What have you and Stefan been do—"

"Jenna, have you been wearing that perfume I gave you?" Elena asked as the worry mounted in her chest.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything? You can't just distract me with—"

"Jenna! Have you been wearing it or not?"

"No! I ran out a few days ago! What does that have to do with anything?"

Elena's eyes grew bigger, and she looked at Stefan. He had the same look on his face that she betted she had on hers, but there was no time to check. As soon as Elena started to take a step towards her, Peter was behind Jenna.

Elena screamed, and watched in horror as he ripped into her neck. Jenna was screaming in pain, but it cut off quickly as the blood loss began to take over. Elena saw as the life was drained out of her aunt—but it felt like her sister was being taken away from her. She'd grown so close to Jenna, and seeing her aunt killed right in front of her eyes was like having her heart ripped out, torn to pieces, and placed back in her chest.

Pain rushed through her body and mind, and she felt herself rushing towards her aunt in scuffled steps. Peter and Stefan were no longer thoughts in her mind—all she could see was Jenna. Elena could vaguely hear Stefan groan behind her, but couldn't find it in her to turn around.

She was just inches away from Jenna, but suddenly felt herself pulled up into a standing position. Stefan was on the ground with a stake in his stomach—the source of the groan. But as she came out of her haze, she realized that Peter was the one holding her up.

"It's time for us to go."

"What are you gonna do to me?" Elena whimpered. Before Peter had time to give her an answer, Stefan spoke.

"Don't kill her! Please", Stefan pleaded, wincing in pain at the effort. He could see that Elena was in shock from her aunt's death, so he begged for her.

"That is not really an option. It is a sacrifice, after all."

"Then don't take her. You don't have to."

"I'm afraid I do. I have had the pleasure of angering Klaus. This is my only way to repay my debt. But, I can promise you one thing."

"And what would that be?" Stefan asked, hoping to buy time for Elena. But he was horrified when he saw Peter pull his arm out of his sleeve. He reached to grab a knife from the counter, knowing that Elena was not going to run, and cut a thin slice down his wrist. Grabbing her by the waist, he brought it up to her mouth and forced his blood into her system.

Elena struggled to get out of his grasp, but it was to no avail. She felt his blood rush down her throat as she fought the urge to gag. Her tears rushed down even faster as she realized that she had no option anymore. She was going to be a vampire. When Peter had given her enough, he brought his wrist down and gave the young vampire a nod.

"I promise you'll see her alive again. My blood is stronger—it should stay in her system for at least a week. And the full moon is tomorrow, so you should see her again within three days."

"She won't be alive! She'll be a vampire!" Stefan yelled at the original. Suddenly the vampire pushed his foot out to kick the stake in even further, and Stefan screeched in pain.

"I'm truly sorry about that. But I have no other choice. Goodbye Mr. Salvatore."

Stefan watched in horror as Peter pulled Elena through the door. The fear and grief on her face broke his heart, and he felt guilt flood his system. She had been right. He wasn't able to keep his promise. And he might never be able to make it up to her.

So how was it? I don't really like the end of it, it seems like Peter just shows up out of nowhere. But I guess that's how it's supposed to go... I don't know, just something feels off to me. I would love if you guys would give me some helpful feedback to make it even better :) feedback is love, people! So read and review!

-kiki :)

btw: is it September yet?