I am going to try my very hardest to post a chapter a week from now on. I've got at least another two chapters but they're pretty raw still and they'll probably turn into three or four. Hope you all continue to enjoy the story! Thank you so much for reading it! :)
xoxo

Chapter 5

She smelled bacon and smiled sleepily. Someone was making breakfast. She rolled over and frowned at the clock on the nightstand. Someone was making breakfast at 7am. Caroline had been letting her sleep in until 9 or 10 and she'd been enjoying the reprieve from her uncle's sunrise wake-up calls. She sighed and pried herself out from under the covers. Then she remembered the door and its hateful deadlock. Crap she thought. She made her way to the bathroom and considered shouting for Caroline. She was pretty sure super hearing was in the vampire book of tricks. After she was finished showering and dressing, she stood at the door and just as she was about to yell there was a knock.

"Elena?" it was Damon's velvety voice on the other side of the door and she felt her heart skip a beat.

"I'm up." she said and took a step back.

The door creaked open and he stepped inside.

"Good morning, Sunshine" his voice was chipper and he smiled at her.

She felt herself relax at his sunny attitude and smiled back.

"Good morning."

"Do you want some breakfast?" he asked

"You're going to make me fat." She said with a laugh

"So is that a no?"

"No." She said, the smile creeping back over her face.

"Good" he said and turned to go down stairs.

She caught up and walked with him down to the kitchen, taking her regular seat at the island.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked her. She beamed at his back while he put their plates together. Was the big bad vampire trying to make small talk?

"Yes. Thank you" she replied.

There was a moment of awkward silence so she asked him "Did you?"

He gave her a puzzled look.

"Did I what?" he asked, setting a plate of French toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs in front of her. It smelled amazing and the thought crossed her mind that she would miss eating with him when this was all over.

"Sleep well?" she asked, staring down at the powdered sugar and maple syrup that were covering the French toast. Calories don't count when you're kidnapped she thought and bit into a piece of bacon.

"Oh" he gave a bitter laughed "I didn't sleep."

"Do you ever sleep?" she asked.

"Sometimes" he replied.

Brusquely, he changed the subject to music. As it happened, he was pretty good at small talk. They ate slowly, chatting about all their likes and dislikes. As far as she could tell, he'd heard every song, read every book, and watched every movie known to man. He'd also been to every country on the planet and she pressed him for details. The most exciting thing that had ever happened to her was being kidnapped by a vampire and even then she was reasonably sure they were still in America.

"Do you speak any other languages?" she asked

"A few" he replied coyly.

"How many?" she demanded.

"Six" he said casually.

"Wow" she said, impressed "I thought you said Stefan was the smart one"

"He is. I think he's got three masters degrees and a PhD."

"But you know everything about culture!" she exclaimed "You're an expert in anthropology."

"I suppose that's true. I never really thought of it that way."

She could tell he wasn't used to compliments and when he gave her his lopsided grin, it lacked the cocky disguise he normally wore. It was open, sincere, and a little stunned. She felt her heart melt a little and once again she found herself smiling back at him.

"You have to teach me to cook. This is so good! I'm going to have to go for a run or something today though" she knew she was babbling but the look on his face was so adorable and she had to battle the unexpected desire to kiss him.

"Do you exercise with your uncle?" he asked carefully, the mask slipping back over his face.

"Yes" she replied and a wave of sadness overcame her. She imagined Uncle Grayson all alone in their house, going through their routines without her, wondering where she was and what had happened to her.

"Elena?" his voice brought her attention back to him.

"I'm sorry. What?"

"What did you guys do?" he asked.

"For exercise?" she asked but didn't wait for an answer "Mostly self-defense, some regular cardio and weight training."

"Self-defense?" he sounded surprised.

"Uh-huh. Hand-to-hand, weapons, that kind of thing" she said and finished her last piece of French toast.

"Trying to prepare you for a situation like this I imagine" he mused to himself

"So why haven't you tried to kill me?"

His blue eyes peered into hers earnestly.

"I think you'd kill me first." She said.

"You'd be right" he said, his voice low and serious.

She dropped her eyes back to her plate

"Caroline is with Klaus today." He told her.

She was grateful for the change in subject but now she had no idea what to do with herself today.

"Oh." She said and it occurred to her she was actually going to miss Caroline's constant bubbly chatter.

"Is there somewhere I could work out?" she asked him.

He gave her a long look before he spoke again.

"If I promise not to cheat with my vampire super powers, would you spar with me?" he asked.

The astonishment on her face was evident. It didn't surprise him but he couldn't stop himself from asking. The girl had spunk and he wanted to see what she could do.

"You promise not to hurt me?" she asked.

"Pinky promise" He gave her his best 'trust me' look and watched her chew on her lower lip for a moment.

"Ok" she said finally.

"Good" he said, pleased. He stood and took her plate "Go change and meet me in the backyard in 20 minutes."

"But the door…"

He held up a hand to stop her "Will be unlocked."

She was chewing on her lip again. It was distracting and it took him a moment to realize what she was probably thinking.

"I'd catch you" he told her

"What?" her attention snapped back to him.

"You were thinking about trying to take off" he said matter-of-factly.

"No. No I really wasn't" she said quickly "I'm just…I'm nervous ok? You make me nervous"

He wasn't expecting that.

"I said I wouldn't hurt you, Elena."

"I know but you're so fast. Like really fast. I always thought I was pretty good. I've been able to take Uncle Grayson for a few years now but I'm pretty sure I can't take you on and it's kind of embarrassing and it makes me edgy." she blurted out and dragged her fingers through her hair.

He couldn't stop the wide smile that spread over his face. Any other person would have been terrified to go up against a vampire but she was embarrassed she couldn't take him. The girl was fearless.

"And now you're laughing at me" she said sounding dejected.

"No." He said and came around to stand in front of where she was sitting. She tilted her face up to his with a raised eyebrow and gave him a look.

"Ok maybe a little" he admitted "but you're cute when you're nervous."

Her cheeks flushed red. Damn he loved making her blush, loved the way the blood rushed to her face, and the way her heart beat sped up just a fraction.

"Thanks. I feel so much better now." She said sarcastically.

"Look, I'll do my best to fight as…. humanly as possible. Ok?" it was the best he could offer "Now go change and meet me outside."

"Alright, alright" she agreed grudgingly and got up to go to her room.

She'd lost her mind, she was sure of it. There was no other explanation for agreeing to fight a vampire. And yet she found herself changing into a pair of leggings and pulling her hair into a pony tail. She was still pondering the insanity of it when she tied her sneakers and headed out the door. By the time she got to the back door she'd almost talked herself out of it. She would fake a headache or something. Then she opened the door and he was standing directly in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest, dressed head to toe in black. The jeans looked like they were made especially for his body, riding low on his hips and hugging him in all the right places. His shirt was like a second skin, accentuating each and every perfectly sculpted muscle.

"Ready?" his voice was honeyed and he wiggled his eyebrows at her. He looked positively lethal but when her mouth went dry, she knew it wasn't dread. Heat coiled in her belly and she knew she had to go through with this or she'd never forgive her. Grayson Gilbert did not raise her to run away because some guy set her nerves on edge. Ok maybe he wasn't just some guy but she'd never been a coward and she wasn't going to start being one now.

"Yep, let's do this" She said, hoping her voice sounded more confident than she actually felt.

He took a step back and held his arm out for her to go first. Elena crossed the stone porch and made her way to the grass with Damon on her heels. The moment they were facing each other she decided to surprise him with a kick to the kidneys. The ploy worked and he grabbed his side with an oomph. He recovered too quickly for her human reflexes. She tried to punch him but he blocked her and knocked her back hard enough to make her stumble. It should have scared her but it made her mad. She launched herself at him with everything she had. He wasn't anticipating the attack and he tumbled backwards with her on top of him. She sat up with her fist raised, ready to try for the punch again, but before she could make another move her back was on the grass. He was sitting on her legs and had her wrists pinned on either side of her head.

"You promised you wouldn't cheat!" she pouted. She tried to wrestle away from him but he was like a brick wall on top of her.

"I didn't." He said.

"Did too" She insisted.

"I swear to you, I did not use vampire powers."

"Really?" her voice sounded pathetic, even to her own ears.

"Really"

It dawned on her that she was completely vulnerable beneath him. His fingers were locked around her wrists and his lean frame were pressing into her body. He had her legs trapped between his and he was looking at her curiously. She'd never felt so helpless and she started struggling again.

"So was this just a lesson to show me how strong you are? To make sure I know I can't leave or beat you?" she demanded.

His face hardened and he rolled off of her to lie on his back.

"No, Elena. It wasn't."

"Then why?" she asked "You knew I could never beat you."

"You're feisty. I wanted to see what you had."

"And?" she asked, hating herself for being interested.

"You impress me yet again, Warrior Princess."

She turned onto her side to face him.

"Again?" she asked.

"Yes again. You've handled this whole thing with, for lack of a better word, dignity. You're not freaking out. In fact you're probably the most level headed human being I've ever met. You haven't even screamed or tried to run away. That's pretty impressive."

She shrugged. "You're not so scary" She told him with a little smile.

He rolled onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow to face her, and she watched wide eyed as his face changed. It felt like slow motion as the veins rippled under his skin and the blood made its way to the whites of his eyes, turning them an awful red. His lips curled up into a dark smile as his fangs dropped.

A lump gathered in her throat and she confessed "Ok maybe a little scary."

Still, it was mesmerizing to watch. Impulsively, she reached out to lightly touch his cheek. She felt the veins move under her fingers for just a moment before they disappeared and his expression softened.

She pulled back slowly "Sorry" she said.

He caught her hand and turned it over in his, rubbing her palm with his thumb.

"I'm glad you're not afraid of me" he said seriously.

He dropped her hand reluctantly.

"So what do you want to do with the rest of the day? Wanna go another round?" he asked her.

"I think I've had enough for today. Do you have any books I could read?"

He laughed "Follow me."

She hopped to her feet and walked with him back into the house. She was thrilled with the library and for a moment he thought she might actually hug him. He was almost as glad to see the disappointment on her face when he went to the door as he was to see the delight in her eyes as she roamed the shelves.

"You're not staying?" she asked.

"I have some business to attend to. I'll be right back." He told her.

"I can read anything?" she asked him.

"Anything you want." He annunciated each word and smiled at her.

"Thank you." She said sounding practically giddy.

He inclined his head at her and ducked out of the room. He'd been dreading this call all day. Other than the lock on her door and the very thick windows in her room, he'd tried to make sure she didn't feel like a hostage. He'd been prepared to throw her in the cell in the basement if need be but she wasn't a shrieking teenager and he was glad it hadn't been necessary. What he had to do now made him feel like her kidnapper for the first time.

He made his way to his room upstairs and closed the door. The number he'd recently acquired from Klaus was displayed across the screen of the burner phone. After several minutes of debate with himself, he finally hit the green 'Call' button and paced as the phone rang.

"Hello?" said the voice on the other end.

"Grayson Gilbert, it's been a while. About eight years, I think?" he poured as much hate as he could muster into his voice. It had been such a good day. He'd thought about putting this call off but he needed the damn stake and he knew Grayson had it.

"Damon Salvatore." Grayson's voice was bitter and the sound brought back all the disgust he felt towards the Gilbert family.

"Ahh you always did have a good memory" he sneered. "Do you remember the stake your psychotic brother used to murder Stefan?"

There was a long pause.

"Grayson? Did you hear what I said?" Damon asked.

"Yes…" he replied slowly.

"I want it." Damon said forcefully

"What do you want with it?"

"That's for me to know and for you to…. Well you get the picture."

"And what makes you think I'm just going to hand it over to you?"

This was the part he'd been dreading.

"She's about 5'6", brunette, big brown doe eyes, and the softest looking skin I've seen in a 100 years."

His mind wandered back to the girl sitting in his library, reading his books, while he negotiated with her life.

"You're lying. She's already dead" Grayson hissed.

"No, but she easily could be."

"Let me talk to her" Damon could almost smell the other man's desperation through the phone.

"Not going to happen. Give me the stake and I'll return her in exactly the same condition she was in when I took her. Argue with me about it and I make no promises"

"I want proof she's alive"

"You're arguing with me" He warned.

"Fuck you vampire. I don't believe you have her."

Damon was enraged. Fine, he wants proof. I'll give him his goddamn proof.

"Just remember you asked for it" He said ominously and went to hang up the phone.

"Wait…" he heard Grayson cry out too late. A second later he crushed the phone in his hand.

She started when he burst back into the room. When she turned to him, the look on his face scared her.

"Damon, are you ok?" she asked cautiously.

"No." He said.

"What's going on?" she couldn't help the nervous tremor in her voice.

"Get up." His voice was devoid of emotion and his vivid blue eyes were empty. The Damon from this morning was gone, replaced by this thing that frightened her down to her bones.

She rose slowly and put down first edition copy of Pride and Prejudice she'd been reading for the hundredth time.

"Your uncle wants proof." He was moving toward her

"Proof?" she was confused. "Wait, you talked to my uncle?"

"Yes and he wants to be sure I haven't killed you."

She shrank away from him. For a second, she thought about running but there was nowhere to go and she knew he would catch her before she ever got close to the door.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

Then in a flash he was behind her, one arm wrapped firmly around her waist. Then his fingers slowly moved the hair off of her neck.

"What are you doing?" she said frantically. When she felt his cool breath on her neck she started to struggle in earnest, throwing her elbows back and kicking at his legs.

"Damon please stop, please don't" she begged him.

"It won't even hurt for a second." He promised and held her tighter.

She continued to struggle against his hold but his arm was like a vice-grip across her middle.

"Why are you doing this? Please just stop and tell me what's going on."

"Elena, stop moving." She heard the unspoken threat but she shoved at the arm that was pulling her back into him anyway.

"Don't make me compel you." He said quietly in her ear.

She stopped and sagged into him, defeated. He was right, she barely felt the prick of his fangs in her neck before she was drowning in another feeling entirely. Heat pooled in her stomach and despite her best efforts, a tiny moan escaped her lips. Stars danced in front of her eyes and her legs felt like jelly as desire coursed through her veins. If he hadn't been holding her up, she would have puddled at his feet. She felt him pull away from her neck and blood trickled down her collarbone. She instantly missed the contact and shame came over her in a rush.

He dragged his mouth away from her neck, barely controlling the demon that wanted nothing more than to tear her artery wide open. He whipped another cell phone from his pocket and stood in front of her so he could snap the picture. It was the money shot he'd been going for, her face was shocked and the two shallow puncture wounds on her neck were still dripping.

Thin lines of blood trickled down her clavicle, teasing the monster in him. It had taken everything he had to stop himself from draining her dry. Her blood was like pure ambrosia and the sound she'd made in her throat had nearly been his undoing. He sent the photo to her uncle and quickly stuffed the phone back in his pocket. She was coming out of her stupor and her eyes settled on his. The hurt on her face crushed him and he realized he'd made a terrible mistake.

"Elena" he said, reaching for her.

She pulled her hand back and slapped him across the face. He snarled at her but she drew her hand back again. He caught it mid swing and yanked her forward so her body was flush with his.

"Don't do that again" he warned her. He let go of her arm and she backed away from him.

"Why would you do that to me?" she sounded furious.

"Because your uncle needs to know I'm serious" guilt was not something he let himself feel and he tried to shove the emotions away.

"You could have told me! I told you I would help you!" she shouted angrily.

"I didn't think you'd agree to that."

"I meant what I said, Damon. I told you I would help you, whatever it takes"

It hit him full force that she was telling the truth, she would have helped him and he'd treated her like a happy meal. Shit he thought. He sunk his fangs into his wrist and held it out to her.

"Here" he said.

She recoiled but he pulled her closer.

"It will heal the wound. Drink." He pressed his wrist to her lips and forced a few drops into her mouth. The holes on her neck disappeared a second later.

"There, much better." He told her.

Her hand flew to her neck to where the wound had been.

"Can I go now?" she asked, deadpan.

"Sure"

She shot him another angry look before rushing out of the room. He listened to her stomp up the stairs and slam the bedroom door. He raced up the stairs after her and heard her crying softly. Sliding the deadbolt into place, her pressed his forehead against the door and listened to her for another minute before he slipped away.

He felt the phone vibrate and pulled it out of his pocket.

"Five minutes? You saw that picture and it took you a whole five minutes to decide to call me back? I'm disappointed in you Grayson."

"I'll do whatever you want. Please, just don't hurt her." His voice was tired but Damon could hear the rage just under the surface.

"Give me what I want and I won't touch a hair on her pretty head."

Damon heard him sigh on the other end.

"How are we going to do this?" he ask, resigned.

"In two days you'll meet with a friend of mine. You'll give him the stake and the next day, I'll deliver Elena to your doorstep completely unharmed. " Damon rattled off a time and place.

"No, I'm ready now. I can be there in one hour and I want Elena when I give you the stake." he sounded frantic.

"I said two days and you'll get her back the day after that. This is not a negotiation." With that, he hung up the phone.

Grayson picked up a vase and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a satisfying smash. He had to get her back but other than giving the vampire what he wanted, he could see no way of retrieving her. He didn't even know where the monster was keeping her. It would be fair to assume they were at the Salvatore mansion but John had never shared its location with his brother and it was very well hidden. The picture of his niece with blood dripping down her neck was driving him out of his mind. Up until this morning, he'd assumed she was dead. The thought of her trapped somewhere with that thing was almost worse than imagining her lifeless body drained of blood and discarded like trash. This was his chance to find the bodies of his brother and sister-in-law, to avenge them. If the creature hadn't burned them after they died…The thought brought on a whole new wave of despair.

He'd let go of the notion of ever laying his brother and Isobel to rest a long time ago. They'd died in the Salvatore mansion but he knew little else about what had actually happened. John had turned up on his doorstep after Isobel went missing with a doe eyed little girl peeking out from behind his leg. He'd all but shoved the girl into Grayson's arms, telling him he couldn't take care of her anymore. John's obsession with finding his wife had used up all his energy and Grayson could see he'd been killing vampires with the stake. His normally well-kept appearance was disheveled, his clothes were filthy, and he appeared to have not showered or shaved in days. Grayson told John he would keep her keep her safe until he came back for her. John had nodded absentmindedly before he turned to leave.

Elena had cried like a banshee when her father handed her to her uncle and walked away. Grayson could still hear her screaming for her daddy to come back. Three weeks later an unsigned letter had come in the mail along with the stake and John and Isobel's wedding rings. The handwriting looked like a teenage girl's and it explained that Elena's parents had killed one another and the author of the letter was very sorry for his loss. For months he hadn't believed it. He was sure his brother would come back. John would never just leave his family behind. After a year he'd accepted that his brother and his sister-in-law were dead but he refused to even consider that John and Isobel had killed each other. He knew the vampires had killed them both. Only the desire to keep Elena safe and happy had overcome his desire for revenge. He'd done his best to leave the past behind, to ensure his niece had a future, a future that did not involve vampires.

Now they had Elena and he had to get her back, or die trying.