A/N: So I have decided to not follow the TV show exactly. First I was and I didn't like it. Instead, I wanted to make John a big villain cause I dislike the character. And it's just much easier to do your own thing then to try to make it match up. Although I am going with this 'device' thing because I think the incapacitation idea was a really good one. Just putting my own spin on it...because that's what fanfiction is for! I hope you like it, this is more storyline than hawt boys- but that just means lots of hawt boys next chapter!

Chapter 17

"I cannot believe you thought that actor was cute." Emma scoffed, following Elena through the front door of the Gilbert house. "He was too...too...British." She giggled as Elena rolled her eyes.

"I like the accent. It made him cuter." Elena smiled, leading Emma into the kitchen. They stopped up short when they saw they weren't alone.

John Gilbert was on his cell phone, listening at the moment. He smiled at the girls, not a drop of warmth in the look. "Yes, well, I'll have that taken care of shortly. You shouldn't worry so much." He paused, listening again.

Elena turned to Emma. "You want something to drink?" She apparently had decided to ignore her uncle. That had become commonplace for most of them; Jonathan Gilbert was not looked upon as a friendly relative by any of them. Damon and Stefan seemed to hate him the most which was weird since they weren't even related. Emma chalked it up to the callous way he treated Elena; that's why she didn't like him.

"Water, thanks." Emma answered. While Elena was in the fridge fishing out two bottles of Fiji, Emma looked back over at John. He was talking in a lower tone and she couldn't make out the words, especially after he turned his back on them. Elena handed her the bottle and they started to leave the kitchen when they heard John call to them.

"Ladies! Can you wait just one moment?" John turned back to finish up his phone call.

Emma crossed her arms. "Not even a please?" She muttered under her breath to Elena who could only roll her eyes in answer.

John snapped the phone shut and sauntered over to them, a smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. The man was nothing if not insincere. She wondered why he even bothered to pretend to care. "So," he began in his sharp voice. "How was the movie?"

Small talk? Really? Elena jumped in quickly. "Great, really funny." Her snappy response made it obvious they didn't want to linger. "We were just going to go upstairs and talk about the cute guys in it. Nothing you'd be interested in." Elena turned, trying to leave again. John's reply stopped her.

"Speaking of cute boys, how are those Salvatore brothers? You're each dating one, right?"

Something about the way he said it made Elena freeze and Emma's heart skip a beat. He knew. The way he spat out the word 'Salvatore' and his tone made it obvious he wasn't just trying to generate small talk. He wanted one of them to slip.

Emma recovered first. "They're doing really well. We begged off for a girls' night out, which I think they're counteracting by playing darts at The Grill." Emma looked for confirmation from Elena. She was totally making it up but Elena nodded along.

"Brother bonding time." Elena attempted a smile as she supplemented.

"Ah." John wasn't buying a word of it. "Well, let me ask you, what is it that you see in those boys?" He began walking around the island in the middle of the kitchen toward them. He reminded Emma of a cat stalking it's prey. Her stomach dropped as he spoke.

This time Elena recovered first. "I don't know that it's any of your business, Uncle John. It's kind of personal." Emma was proud of the strength in her friend's voice, especially with how weak her own knees were feeling at the moment.

"Well," John's voice dropped as he stood right in front of them. "It is my business, Elena. After all, you are my niece."

Many things happened at once. Elena and Emma attempted to get away from John because he was invading their personal space. A noise from the front door was heard and then a sharp pain at the back of her head made stars explode before Emma's eyes. Right before she passed out, in that moment, she realized John had just been stalling them for whatever it was that just happened. Then the world was black.

The pounding headache woke her. She tried to lift a hand to figure out what was wrong but her hands wouldn't move. None of her could move. Only her head was free and she didn't want to move that; the slightest twitch sent a wave of nausea through her. She opened her eyes only to have to blink several times to adjust to the dim light. The dying bulb above her head barely lit the center of the room but even that little light hurt. Damn migraine.

She moved just her eyes to the right and left. Elena was there, on her left, in a chair like her, bound and gagged. Her head was drooped forward, her chin resting on her chest. Emma would fear she was dead but she remembered John was the one who did this and despite him being a bastard she was fairly certain he wouldn't kill his niece. Then again, she lived in a world of vampires and witches, so what did she know?

Other than her friend, they seemed to be alone in the room. She didn't recognize it; it looked to be the basement of a house. Cement floors, no windows, stairs, whitewashed walls; very plain and bare and cold. She tried to say Elena's name but realized she was gagged as well. Despite the fear of her situation she felt surprisingly calm and collected. If John was going to kill them, he would have done it by now. The longer they were alive and left alone, the longer Stefan and Damon had time to find them. And there was no doubt the boys would come looking for them, and soon. If Elena didn't text message Stefan every two hours, the man would tear apart Virginia until he found her. Damon would tag along, just for the fun of the destruction.

Emma's calm was short lived. The door flew open a few moments later and two sets of feet pounded down the wooden steps. The sound caused her to wince as it reignited flickers of pain in her head. She glared as best she could through her pain at John Gilbert and his unfamiliar lackey.

John returned her glare with an insincere grin. "Good to see you're awake, Ms. Chamblee. I missed those pretty green eyes of yours glaring at me while you were out cold."

Emma couldn't respond with a gag in her mouth but her 'pretty green eyes' spoke volumes; of that she was sure. John could read her look as well. "Ooh, ouch. That wasn't very nice." His grin never faltered. He walked over and took her gag off but touched a finger to her lips before she could speak. "Shh, you only answer my questions and speak when you are spoken to. Otherwise TJ here," he jerked a thumb behind him to the lackey, "will rip your throat out." John bent closer to look her right in the eye, all hints of a smile gone. "You're not my family, I don't really care if you live or die."

Emma was certain he meant it. She didn't even have to look at TJ to know that he was a hungry vampire who wouldn't hesitate to have her for dinner. She nodded once to let John know she understood. It didn't stop her from calculating ways to escape in the back of her mind. Currently, her chances seemed slim.

John backed up out of her personal space and smiled again. "Great, now that we understand each other, we have a lot to talk about." Emma merely stared at him, unwilling to respond without being asked a direct question. "Let's just get started with the heart of the matter. You and I don't need to beat around the bush or act like we don't know things. I want to talk about your 'boyfriend,' Damon Salvatore."

Emma pressed her lips together, staring straight ahead. She hadn't been asked a question yet so she didn't answer. She hoped she could make up quick enough believable lies; she was typically a bad liar.

John was continuing. He began rolling up his shirt sleeves as he spoke. "Damon lives in that old boarding house that has many antiques. I'm sure he's shown many off to you; they worth a fortune."

She was expected to answer. In truth, Damon hadn't shown her much beside the library and his bedroom in the boarding house. "He's shown me some books." She replied, her voice a hoarse whisper from disuse.

John winced and shook his head. "No, not just books. I'm sure he's shown you some other things."

What was this guy getting at? She shook her head in response. "He hasn't shown me anything." She insisted.

John frowned. This was not the answer he wanted to hear. Emma bit back the sense of panic that was rising. If he didn't believe her telling the truth there was no way he'd believe anything she lied about. He finished rolling up his sleeves and made to move toward her when Elena made a sound.

Though it hurt every muscle in her body, Emma turned to her friend. "Elena?"

"Don't speak." John pointed a warning finger at her before kneeling before his niece. "Elena, I apologize."

As Elena became aware of what was going on her eyes grew wide and she tried to lean away from the personal space invader that was John. She still had her gag on so she couldn't speak but Emma could tell she was about to go into full on panic attack.

"I'm doing this to save you. Save you both." John turned back to Emma as he spoke. "You don't want this life." His eyes hardened and he looked at Elena again. "I won't let you make this choice."

"That's not for you to decide." Emma hissed before she thought better of it. Faster than she thought humanly possible John backhanded her cheek, snapping her already throbbing head to the side. If she had a free hand she would have rubbed her jaw. As it was, tears welled up in her eyes from the sting.

"That's," John hissed, sticking his nose in her face, "for insubordination. If I want your thoughts, I'll ask for them. Speak out of turn again and you'll get worse. Much worse."

Emma met Elena's wide gaze. John took Elena's gag off but without the threats he had thrown Emma's way earlier. Elena was too stunned to speak anyway. "Now where were we?" He asked as he backed up. "Oh yes, I need information from the two of you. The first thing is a device that Damon has. It's small, it's brass, it looks like a key. I know he's told you about it or show it to you. Where is it?"

Emma had no clue what he was talking about but Elena seemed to show a flicker of recognition. Emma was astonished that her friend actually crookedly smiled at John. "He wears it around his neck on a chain. Good luck getting to that."

Emma stared at her in disbelief. One, she didn't know how Elena knew that and she hadn't ever noticed and two, why would she give that information so easily to John who obviously wanted to hurt the brothers?

John looked perplexed for only a moment. "Perfect, that's easy enough." He walked over and reached toward Emma. She flinched involuntarily but he merely untied her. "I am going to blindfold you and we are going to leave," he began explaining as he helped her to her feet. "Then you are going to find your boyfriend, get the device, and bring it back to me. I don't care how you get it but you are not going to tell him it is for me. You are not going to tell him what I've done. You are simply going to get it and give it. Understand?"

Emma was irritated with herself for being wobbly on her feet and clutching his arm for support. She let go of him in disgust and grabbed the stair rail instead. "And why," she breathed through grit teeth, "would I agree to any of that?"

"Because," John smiled his humorless, bone jarringly frightening smile, "I know you think I won't hurt Elena but I would rather see her dead than end up a vampire. So I am going to take you and I am going to leave TJ here. TJ is very hungry, he hasn't eaten yet today." John grinned at his cohort while Emma and Elena cast him a frightened glance. "If TJ doesn't hear from me by morning, Elena will be his breakfast."

A/N: Just got a job this week so it's going to be a bit longer between chapters, but I will continue. Review are love!