She sat in the tub, cleansing her body with the second-hand water he had left her with. Thanks to the fire it was still pretty well heated. Her leg rested on a board which lay across the tub to keep her ankle save.

Damon was preparing dinner. He cooked the rabbits he caught earlier and tried to give her as much privacy as possible by not looking over very often. Given his current condition he did a hell of a job. He just peeked every 30 seconds.

But what was his condition? He felt like hunting and killing in one moment, and making love in the next. Being trapped in the killing-mode more and more minutes each episode of his new discovered mental breakdown really pissed him off.

When he had switched back to his emotional side the last time, she was almost frozen to death.

With the sex thing he could deal. He was used to wanting her very badly. Even though, the suppressing of his need turned out really lacking. Dealing with the blood-lust on the other hand, was tricky and took all of his attention. The beast within was overwhelmingly strong. He sighted and stopped chopping the onions in such brutal manner.

Meanwhile she scrubbed the skin of her arms with a piece of lavender soap. Her hair hang loose and was partial soaked with water. Finally she became warm again.

'I can't believe I take a bath in front of him!' she blushed 'What was I thinking earlier when I put water in the tub? Guess I was so stressed out and wanted a bath so badly that I totally forgot about him. Now, that he ripped my clothes apart (I can't believe that I just stood there and didn't do anything to defend myself, either) it somehow doesn't matter anymore. And the warmth feels too damn good.'

Elena turned her ankle slightly to get a better look on the wound. 'He told me to control my emotions and to not show fear. It's my fault, and he still blames it all on himself.

I also refuse to believe what he said earlier. Stefan and Damon aren't the ones who ruin my life.

I even think it's the other way around. I force them to feel responsible for their actions, I make them want to feel and most of the time... they get hurt.

It would be way easier for them to go with their vampire instincts. I mean it's their nature after all.

When you look back, mankind seemed to be a big plague on earth as well. We kill, torture, and devastate what we love for money. We looking down on other creatures telling ourselves that we are right, good, and better than they are. That we have the right to destroy them in order to live a wonderful and happy life forever.

I wonder if we found our true reflection, when we dare to look at a vampire.'

"I wonder what you think about right now! I bet, it's how you get me to wash your back, is it?" Damon asked from the kitchen counter. She violently shook her head.

"Okay, okay...I get it. But better hurry or you will get prune fingers. Oh, and dinner only needs about 15 more minutes.

B-T-W, the towel is right next to you and I think I will find something for you to wear." He went over to the wardrobe without offering an apologetic look for the shredded clothes which were still laying on the ground, and soon picked up a pearly-white nightgown with a delicate embroidered hem.

"You like? Should be your size... Here is a robe and some warm shoes, too."

Elena looked at the stuff with an open mouth, hiding herself as much as she could in the tub.

"What? ...I'm really sorry but you are not the first girl I brought here overnight...However, you have a slight chance to be the first one who is not going to be eaten."

She covered her mouth with her right palm and raised both eyebrows in disgust. In the back of her mind she found it fascinating how her body language became so much more telling with the absence of words.

'Never will I wear the stuff of a dead person. How could he even suggesting it.' He on the other side, seemed to become really good in reading her mind. At least Damon seemed to understand her objection.

"Uhm, it supposed to be a present for someone... Before I could give it to her ...well, we separated. End of story... So it's like new. Take it, or run around naked, which I personally would prefer, but stop look at me like that."

He fell onto the couch and started to read a book that was hidden under a pillow.

Sighing she nodded and then hurried to shampoo her hair. To rinse it, she leaned back and put half of her head under water. Damon just couldn't stay focused on his book when she arched her back and pushed her beautiful chest and her delicate throat out of the water.

"Damn girl". He had to slap himself hard in the face and growled.

Later, when everybody was decent again, Damon served an amazing dinner. His cooking skills were the ones of a man with at least 160 years experience. He made up for the lack of ingredients, by using the art of preparing.

"Want some?" he asked her when he poured himself a glass of single malt. Hesitating at first, she gave him her glass. "You look smashing despite what just happened today" he said. Blushing again, she let him know using sign language, that she enjoyed his cooking very much.

"Uhm...Here... you should keep this." He scooped something over to her side of the table. It was Bonnie's magic message piece of paper and Elena was visibly delighted by the sight of it.
"I thought we could use some more information. Bonnie needs to tell us what's going on."

After dinner Damon went out to get more chunks of wood to stay warm during the night.
Elena stayed sitting at the table. Armed with a pen she wrote a short message to see, if Bonnie was still awake.

Only 20 seconds later Bonnie responded.

-Yeah I'm still working on something. When you write me, I don't need to look at the sheet all the time, I just know.. It's like the vibration of a cellphone when you get a text message. So how is everything?-

Elena thought about where to start.

'Probably with the problem running around right in front of me.'

She looked at Damon who just walked in with a huge load of wood. He had snow in his hair and his muscles were nicely promoted by his hard work. He looked so robust and manly in the shine of the fire. Pushing aside other thoughts of this kind, she started to write back again.

-Damon is still with me and I'm alive because of that fact. There was another attack right after we had our first chat. But seriously, something is up with him! One minute he is saving my life, in the next he toys with me like a cat with a mouse. He compelled me to kiss him, he chased me with the plan to suck my blood... …. I don't know what to do...-

-Wow, you okay? I know, stupid question, but I mean can you make it for a little longer? I'm sure his spell wears off in a day and a couple of hours or something. I also found out a little bit more about his reaction to the charm. So I hope that helps to deal with it a little.-

-Tell me!-

-You sitting right? Ehm...How to tell you that?... Fact number one: He is not able to compel you.-

Elena bit her lower lip and made sure one more time that he was still reviving the fire.
'I kissed him on my own free will? But his eyes... it surely felt like...wait a minute..'

-That can't be. He definitely compelled a deer two hours ago. I saw it.-

-Yeah it's different with animals. But he can't compel humans right now. Fact number two is: His character and all his traits are pressed forward so much, that he will not be able to hide any of it. You will get to know the real deal. The spell was known as the best way for the witches of the past to find out, if someone wanted to betray them or had different ideas, than they claimed when they wanted to use a witches power. -

Damon cleaned the dishes after taking care of the fire. He had a feeling that Elena wanted to discuss some things in private. He could tell by the irregularity of her heartbeat.

-What about his vampire blood? Is it not working, either? He tried to heal me with it, but I'm still bruised, although I feel much better.- Elena didn't want Bonnie to know how beaten she really was.

The thought about the kiss he gave her, up in the high sleeper, when she was in that really bad state made her remember the taste of his blood. That he dared to do this again after he felt so sorry for it, the first time around. But then, she also remembered how his tongue felt like.

'It's egoistically of him to take the choice away from me again. Chances are high to die, right know. And if, ...I would turn into a vampire...But he for sure must have been expecting her to hate him for doing that, without asking for her permission. So it's kind of bootless for him, isn't it?'

-There is one passage about minor vampire mastery's. It is only said that it can slow down an effect or make it fragile. Sorry I didn't find out much more about it.-

An image came to Elena's mind. When they used the portal and he materialised suddenly, holding her tight, he complained about which-craft. Was the portal frail and he lost her in it because of the spell?

'Oh boy, it's getting more complicated every second.'

-He sucked out a deer completely and then came after me. Why wasn't he satisfied? He should have dropped to the ground not being able to move, drinking such a big amount. Do you have an idea?-

-Yeah, that is a problem of the spell as well. The whole thing of getting the real person up on the surface is supported by starvation. It doesn't matter how much he eats. He will crave for more. You told me once how the ghost of Lexi compelled Stefan. She made him believe that he hadn't eaten in years, to starve away his blood-lust. With Damon it's similar, but instead of bringing him to the point where his craving decreases, it is pushing him to the point where he is most hungry. Witches were able to defend themselves. For them it was just speeding up the process of the spell. For you it's pretty dangerous. If he can't control himself... -

-Got you. I will come up with something.- Elena turned the page to wipe out everything they talked about, just as Bonnie had told her. Damon should at least be part of the rest of their conversation. When she waved at him he came and sat down next to her.

-What is it that Stefan has against you? Why did you send me away instead of fighting back together... as a team?-

-...First he threatened to turn Jeremy. Now, since I warned you and made sure he wouldn't find Jer either, he caught my Dad. -

-My god, I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to get in the middle of that, I hope you know that.-

-I guess I do. Sometimes I try to imagine how things would have been, if you had gotten rid of them a year ago. But I still would be a witch and that is the fact that always put me in these uncomfortable situations.. It's the same for you being the doppelganger. We can't make it go away and it's no-ones fault. But it sucks. It sucks big time.-

-I wish I could be there for you right now.-

-We need to focus on the bigger things. I don't want you to come back for another two days. Stay away and try to survive. But, keep in mind that our destiny is small compared to the destiny of the world. You saw it too, and know what you need to do in case he finds you. Do you?-

Elena hesitated just a moment, before she wrote, that she knew, but Damon noticed it anyway and he didn't liked it one bit.