Author's Note: I hate to leave you with a cliff hanger, but you are now completely caught up. Hope you like it. Thanks again to my awesome prereaders Elohcin and MissSherrie. Hope you enjoy. I don't know how soon you'll see another update, but hopefully it won't be too long.

Chapter 11

Things were so good for the rest of that week and the weekend that followed. I felt like I was living in a dream. Damon was caring and attentive and most of all playful. It was nice to have fun with someone again, as it was a luxury I hadn't had in a long time. I also started developing a life outside of Damon and work, meeting Jenna for supper twice and spending some time getting to know some of my other fellow teachers in the teacher's lounge in some of my downtime. Life was starting to feel comfortable, and while I knew it was a false calm, it was still far too easy to fall into it and let everything else slide. I should have known that it was a mistake to get comfortable, because all too soon, reality came crashing in with one massive revelation that pulled the thread that made my world unravel again.

It was almost three weeks after I'd moved in. Katherine had been little more than a specter, flitting around the periphery of my life, but giving me a wide berth at the same time. Damon and I were getting closer, if that were actually possible, and had begun to fall into a comfortable pattern. It was during that pattern one night as we sat in the living room, Damon and Stefan playing chess across the room that Elena asked a question about Elijah and Damon made some off handed comment about maybe she should go in the basement and check and I flipped out.

They all turned to me with wide eyes as I literally jumped up on the couch and screamed like a mouse was running around under my legs. I couldn't explain my reaction, but it was strong and quite involuntary.

"Elijah's here? In this house? He's been in the basement the whole time? OH my God!"

Tears were trailing down my face as I shivered and shook, knowing that something horrible was about to happen, though I didn't know what. The only thing I knew was that I needed to leave that house and never come back.

Tapping into a vampire speed faster than any I'd found before I had darted through the vestibule, grabbed my keys and was out the door before anyone else knew what was happening. Damon barely caught me before I opened the car door and skidded away at top speed. He looked nearly as frantic as I felt as he stared down at me, holding me by my upper arms with a considerably hard grip to keep me from breaking free, as my body was trying to do on pure instinct.

"What is wrong, Bekah? It's okay. He's dead for all intents and purposes. He can't hurt you."

I shook my head and chanted over and over. "I can't stay, Damon. I can't stay. Something bad will happen if I stay. You have to let me go, Damon." Somehow I just KNEW.

Stefan and Elena had joined us by then, trying to help Damon soothe me, but I fought. I couldn't stay. Then a voice came from behind the throng, callous and sharp.

"Let her go. It's obvious that she's a little chicken. She's not cut out to deal with this."

"Shut up Katherine before I go find a stake to shove into your heart," Damon growled at her over his shoulder before looking down at me with pleading eyes.

"There's nowhere else to go, Bekah. Stay here with me. Please. I promise I'll keep you safe. He's not going to hurt you."

I melted against his chest in tears before mumbling that I wasn't sure about that. Damon denied it again before leading me back into the house and directly to our room as Elena and Stefan followed. He walked me straight to bed and helped me get under the covers while Stefan and Elena dashed about trying to make me more comfortable as I stared in silence.

Finally, just before Stefan and Elena left, I turned toward them with a hoarse voice as Damon returned to the room with a tray full of food and a bottle of wine. "I don't know how I know it, but this is a bad idea. I should leave. I…I don't know why, but this is bad."

They dismissed my fears again before leaving me alone with Damon. He fed me and then curled under the covers with me, caressing my hair, and kissing my head before we both eventually fell into a deep sleep.

My dreams were scattered and disjointed for a while before one took dominance in my mind. The world was hazy as I walked down the dark, wooden corridors of the house. I didn't know where I was going but wherever it was, I was focused and determined. I walked down the staircase to the first floor and then through that level to the door in the kitchen that led to the basement. I had never been in the basement before, only having been told it was there when Damon gave me my tour, but I walked the dark hewn-stone corridors as if I'd walked them a million times.

I passed a small offshoot where a beaten up chest freezer stood against the wall. The scent of human blood was strongest here and I knew that this was where Damon and Stefan must keep their blood bank supply. I walked further beyond the small hallway before turning to stand before a metal door chained and locked with a thick strong padlock. I watched in fascinated horror as my hand reached out and yanked on the padlock, breaking the chain it bound as if it were made of paper rings instead of steel. I pushed open the door to reveal the prone body of Elijah, an ancient looking dagger sticking out of his chest, his face gray and mottled with a sort of death that rarely befell an Original.

I screamed for my body to stop, fought to take control and stop myself as my body moved to keel beside him and yank the dagger out in one quick movement. I was crying on the inside, screaming for my arms to replace the weapon, but they didn't respond. Instead, I knelt there, waiting, and then with a gasp Elijah sat up, eyes wide and ready to fight. When his eyes landed on me, his anger melted into a smirk.

"I knew you would not fail me, my daughter. No matter what attachments you make, I will always be stronger. I feel you fighting, but the compulsion is too strong. Now it is time to take care of those who betrayed me."

The anger in his eyes sparked like fire, and I cried out internally, begging him to spare them. He turned back to me, cocking his head before walking back to my waiting body, still moving free of my own will. He held my face between his palms before his smile changed to calculating.

"This may be useful. No, I shall not kill them…yet. You shall stay and serve me here. Now go back to bed."

I woke up in bed next to Damon, screaming and crying as I thrashed against the sheets and Damon's grasp. I jumped out of bed and screamed, dashing for the door and running straight down the path I'd taken in my dream. The basement door stood wide open as I approached it and a chill ran up my spine. I darted down the stairwell and froze before I reached the door, noticing the padlock hanging from the one chain still attached on the handle of the metal door. I melted to my knees and sobbed as the rest of the house appeared around me, gaping at the sight before them.

"I did it," I sobbed. "I freed him. I was dreaming and I couldn't control my body. I…I came here and removed the dagger. Elijah is free."

Damon fell to his knees in front of me, his eyes looking haunted as he captured my face between his hands while Katherine called for my life behind me. He looked sad and hurt as I shook my head at him.

"Somehow I knew. I knew deep inside he had compelled me before he left to find him and release him from any prison he might be trapped in, but it wasn't a part of my conscious to know what I was so afraid of. I'm so sorry."

He shook his head at me slowly. "No, someone must have moved his body or something. If Elijah had been freed the first thing he would have done was kill us all. Not only that, his compulsion would have been broken when we stabbed him, as it did when Katherine was released."

I let out a sob before I found my voice again. "No, he has other plans. He looked into me and saw my connections to everyone, but you in particular. He said he was leaving me here to serve him and then he sent me back to bed. I…I can't stay or he's going to find a way to use me against you. I'm his blood, he controls part of me that no regular compulsion could gain control over. I understand it now somehow. I'll never be free of him."

I melted into more sobs, barely cognizant of my body being scooped off the floor and carried away. It wasn't until I heard the rumble in his chest that I realized Damon was carrying me away. "You don't go anywhere without me…Elijah's compulsion or no. You are my Mate, and nothing's going to separate us. NOTHING!" I could hear the possessiveness of the Mating Bond in his voice, and knew he meant every word and he would die before he broke them.

Once back in our room, he started a bath before undressing me and setting me gently in the water, washing the dirt from my feet, legs, and hands. He lifted my right hand which was deeply bruised, no doubt from exerting the needed pressure to break the chain that held Elijah's prison door closed. He kissed it gently before washing it carefully. When he was done, his eyes were so intense they nearly glowed in the early morning light that was beginning to pour through the windows.

"I'll find a way to break the compulsion. One way or another, you will be free from Elijah."

Tears blurred my vision as I lifted a hand to cup his cheek. "I love you. Never doubt that. I…what we have isn't due to some directive of the compulsion. I KNOW it."

He shook his head slowly. "I know, and even if it were, it doesn't matter. We are bound now; no matter the origin, there is no feigning a mating bond. We'll get through this."

"I'm so sorry, Damon." My voice broke as I begged for forgiveness before he stood up and stepped into the tub still dressed in his pajamas and pulled me to his chest.

"There's nothing to forgive, Bekah. Nothing. He's not going to win." And for the first time since they let slip Elijah's presence in the house, I believed him.