Chapter Five

Elena reclines, trying to relax in her first class seat but she can't overcome her overwhelming agitation. She selects a film randomly, trying to take her mind of things, but she gives up trying to follow it after only a few moments. Sighing, she flicks off the TV, flips up the privacy protectors and pulls out a blood bag. It was a nightmare compelling them through security but she couldn't think of any other way to make it through the flight without feeding on the flight attendants.

Sipping it, she contemplates her situation; her emotions seem to be a constant whirlwind of anger at Damon for running off with her little brother and putting him in even more danger, as well as concern for them both. She knows they can handle themselves, but this is Klaus. One bite, and Damon and Stefan could both be dead.

At least she fought back today. It gives her a sense of power knowing that she took on a vampire today with no help from anyone else and came out on top. She wonders if she could have taken on the other two as well.

Across the aisle, in her own seat, Katherine is sleeping peacefully, a faint smile on her face. What does Katherine dream about? Elena wonders. Does she dream of large scale master plans like overthrowing governments or is it something silly, like being chased by fluffy pink rabbits? She's never tried to get into anyone's head; she isn't even really sure how. But maybe with some concentration she could try. Just to satisfy her curiosity and boredom, she focuses on Katherine, trying to bring up whatever she is dreaming. She sees a flash of a pretty, dark haired girl in a flapper dress, her head thrown back laughing. She is gone after just a moment though.

"Nice try Elena," Katherine mutters, not bothering to open her eyes.

"I wanted to see if I could do it. Was that your friend?" she asks. "The one who died?"

Katherine sighs, opening her eyes. "Anya was not my friend. She was an ally."

"What's a vengeance demon do exactly?" Elena asks, anxious to take her mind off her problems.

Katherine however, is in the mood for mind games. "Ask Damon," she responds, digging a magazine out of her bag.

Elena rolls her eyes. She knows Katherine is manipulating her, but eventually curiosity wins out regardless. "Okay, I'll bite," she asks a few minutes later, "Why would Damon know about vengeance demons?"

Katherine laughs. "How do you think I kept track of him all those years? He and Anya had an on again off again thing going for decades. "

"I didn't think you cared enough to bother," Elena comments nonchalantly.

"Had to keep tabs on him trying to get that damn tomb open. Suffice to say, he's gotten around."

"Kind of like you then," Elena shoots back.

"I make no apologies for my promiscuity, Elena." Katherine makes a face at a picture of a particularly ugly dress and flicks the page.

"You might have gotten to me with Isobel, but that's not going to work again," Elena says with an air of superiority. "I'm well aware of Damon's past. I'm fine with it. There's nothing I can do about it."

"If anything, it should flatter you," Katherine declares, her voice riddled with boredom. "Two centuries, more women than I can count, and I'm quite sure you and I are the only ones he has ever loved. I always thought it was ironic that he hooked up with the patron saint of wronged women, though."

Elena bites back a laugh; Caroline would certainly appreciate that. "I'm not Catholic or anything, but that doesn't sound like any saint I've heard of."

"That was the name given to her when she became a vengeance demon. If a woman had been seriously wronged, Anya would show up and help them exact a wish for vengeance. It's how we met actually."

"What— so you met when you were human?"

"Things were different then; when you got pregnant out of wedlock, they didn't give you a TV show. You either got married or you became the whore of Babylon. The father of my child denied it was his and refused to marry me. I was angry and I wanted vengeance. Enter Anya."

"What did you do to him?" Elena asks eagerly, finding herself consumed with equal parts fascination and horror.

Katherine smirks, "Let's just say he was unable to father anymore children. It was one of our clever ideas. We were kind of a good team, Anya and I."

"I'm sorry she died."

Katherine shrugs, "Everyone dies eventually, Elena."

"Except you apparently," Elena retorts. Katherine just ignores her. "Can you teach me how to get into people's heads?" she asks, still wanting to distract herself.

"Why would I show you how to do something that would allow you into my head?" Katherine replies, irritated. "Make Damon or Stefan teach you sometime."

"That could be ages," Elena complains. "And besides, I'm not very happy with either of them right now. You can throw as many of Damon's former lovers in my face as you want, but I'm still going to be far more pissed off that he ran off with my little brother and put them in the most dangerous situation possible." She frowns. "For no good reason either," she adds.

Katherine turns and faces her. "I know Damon; I know how he thinks. It's not that he doesn't think we can find the witch, he's just ensuring they have backup and distracting Klaus from us while he does it. If they make Klaus mortal again there's a chance you might not get the cure, but knowing you, if you can selflessly save thousands of people from the hands of Klaus, you'll do it."

Elena considers this for a moment. "Well...yes."

"And think of it from Damon's perspective, if you take that cure, you go straight back to not only being a human, but also Klaus's walking blood bag. I doubt he wants either of those option."

"That's not true," Elena insists.

"He'll find it for you. And he'll let you take it if he can. But don't fool yourself, Elena; it's not what he wants."

"And you're an expert on what Damon wants?"

"He can't tell you himself because of the sire bond, but trust me, I know. Love makes you blind, Elena." Katherine says, turning back to her magazine. Elena throws up her hands in frustration and tries to go back to concentrating on something else.

As soon as the plane lands, they jump into a cab and head straight to Nunhead Cemetery. On the way, Elena tries calling both Damon and Caroline but both their phones go straight to voicemail. She leaves a message on Tyler's phone telling him to go to LA, hoping against hope he gets it. At Nungate, they are greeted with a rare day of London sunshine, the ground is wet beneath their feet from the latest rain shower.

"Let's split up," Katherine suggests. "You check the crypts on the other end, and I'll take this end. Look for any signs of forced entry. If you find him, yell. If not, we'll meet in the middle and head to Highgate."

The girls split up, Elena taking the far end of the graveyard. There are a few tourists scattered around, but the cemetery is largely empty. Elena starts near the street and systematically walks back and forth, covering ground. She spots a few crypts, but none of them show any signs of habitation or forced entry. She is near the centre where she is supposed to meet Katherine when she hears her shout her name. Quickly, Elena pushes off and runs towards the sound. She stops in front of a large, white crypt, bearing a statue of a weeping angel; she can't find any signs of entry until she circles around the back where there is a small hole in the foundation. She hears Katherine's voice.

"What are you doing?!" she yells. There's a loud crack, and then silence.

Elena doesn't hesitate; she drops her bag on the ground and squeezes herself through the hole. She finds herself in a small square room. It is almost completely dark and it takes a few moments for her eyes to adjust; were she not a vampire, she doubts she would be able to see anything at all. Katherine is crumpled in the corner, not moving. She's still alive, but clearly unconscious. In front of her a woman in a white dress kneels. Her dress and elaborately done hair would be appropriate for a turn of the century tea party, but her dirty bare feet that glow white on the dark floor suggest otherwise. She strokes Katherine's cheek. "Broken like little stars scattered all over the world. All alone." She speaks with a soft British accent. Elena halts, puzzled. Her words have no meaning, but she speaks with a childlike sense of understanding.

The woman rises, and turns, facing Elena. She looks at her with eyes that see…but yet do not. "Pink little soul, nestled right under your heart," she murmurs, reaching forward, as if to grab Elena's heart. Elena takes a step back. This woman is clearly insane. Her eyes flick to Katherine, still unconscious in the corner. How is she to get both of them past her and out of here? She has no idea how long Katherine will be unconscious.

"Don't you want to play?" the woman asks. She makes a cut on her wrist and holds it up, the blood glistening. She watches it in fascination. "Spilled your blood right over the moon, he did." Her eyes go to Katherine, then back to Elena. "One always loved, the other never loved enough, sad, sad. No one loves her anymore, do they?"

Elena moves towards Katherine.

"What are you?" she questions. Perhaps if she can keep her talking, she can at least get them both nearer to the exit. She inches closer to Katherine.

"I am what you are," the strange woman chirps. "The moon told me."

There's a broken doll lying on the ground next to Katherine; Elena pushes it aside as she kneels next to her. She slaps Katherine's face a few times. "Wake up," she hisses. Katherine's eyes crack open groggily. Elena gives her few seconds to take in her surroundings, then flicks her eyes towards the exit and back to Katherine. She nods, dazedly.

Elena stands and steps into the woman's line of sight, so she is facing Katherine and the woman has her back to her. She hopes to distract her long enough for Katherine to get out. Once she does, she figures she will try and take the vampire down and make a run for it. Chances are high she can't walk in the day, if they can just get out of the crypt.

The woman lays a hand on Elena's cheek. She flinches, stepping away in revulsion, her back now against the wall. "Everyone loves you, but then they die," the woman pouts. "Back into the ground. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust." She swings her hips as if she is doing some kind of dance.

"I'm so glad the stars sent you here," she announces softly. "I've been all alone since Spikey got himself a soul. Just like Angelus. Pretty shiny little thing. So innocent." She grimaces. "I want to rip it out," she hisses. Her face softens. "I want to hold it," she pouts. Her breath in Elena's face is foul. Behind her, Katherine is crawling towards the exit.

"Who are you?" Elena asks. "Do you know where Spike is?"

"Shhhh," the woman shushes her, bringing a finger to Elena's lips. "Do you hear the stars? They're telling me a story." She touches Elena's face again. "Pretty little girl. Pretty little curse." Elena glances over her shoulder; Katherine is still moving, trying to be as quiet as possible. "What a gentle little lamb you are," she pauses for a moment, and then turns around, realizing Katherine is getting away.

"I am talking!" she shouts, her eyes flashing. Abandoning Elena, she grabs Katherine, shoving her up against the wall. "Rude to leave, while I'm telling my story." She brings up a hand and slaps her across the face. Katherine lands a kick to the woman's stomach, but all that seems to do is aggravate her more. The woman snarls, her face wrinkling and her fangs showing. She brings her finger to Katherine's neck and slices, grinning as the blood spurts out. "Flighty, flighty little birds," she complains, "Trying to leave me. All the birds stop singing."

Elena glances around the room for something, anything she can use as a weapon. There are few stone slabs, but they look a bit heavy, even for her strength. Her eyes fall on the broken porcelain doll lying where Katherine had formerly been crumpled. She inches around them and grabs the sharpest, most jagged piece of porcelain she can find.

Katherine is still struggling, her neck bleeding profusely. The woman raises her hand and slices open a new wound on Katherine's cheek. Elena creeps up behind her. She knows that this won't keep her down long, possibly not at all, but she has to try. She raises her arm and brings the sharp porcelain down, slicing as deep and as hard as she can into the woman's back. A large cut opens up, blood seeping into the white of the dress. The woman releases Katherine in shock and reels around, turning on Elena. Katherine wastes no time darting for the exit. Elena holds the piece up again as the woman rounds on her.

"My toys aren't being very fun today," the woman whines petulantly. Elena backs towards the exit, the piece of porcelain still raised. As fast as she possibly can, she squeezes herself into the hole. Her torso is all the way out when the woman grabs her ankle. Katherine comes to her side, tugging, as she is caught in a strange game of tug-a-war. Katherine gives a good yank and Elena spills out of the crypt. The woman does not follow them out.

"What…the…hell…was…that?" she gasps, collapsing onto the grass. Katherine lies down next to her, still bleeding quite profusely.

"I'm pretty sure that was Drusilla," she answers, examining her neck.

"You know her?"

"I know of her," Katherine clarifies. "She's infamous; completely insane. She's like the Charlie Manson of vampires. This is good, though; Spike must be close. I've heard they used to be lovers."

Elena's face contorts in disgust, "Thank you very much for that mental picture. What happened?" she asks, reaching for her bag. She pulls out a blood bag for herself and tosses another one to Katherine.

Katherine eagerly pops off the cap and starts to drink. She comes up for air a moment later, her colour much improved. "I saw someone was living in the crypt," she explains. "I thought it might be Spike, so I went in. I was looking around, waiting for my eyes to adjust, and then she clocked me with one of those stone slabs. I came to when you started slapping me."

"You're welcome," Elena tells her tartly.

"You know, for someone who professes to hate it so much, you sure have a taste for this life." Katherine leans back on the grass, sipping from the blood bag and staring at the sky.

"I'm starting to see the perks I guess," Elena confesses, "But there's a lot more things I hate than things I love. The bloodlust, the guilt, the constant mood swings..."

"There's an easy fix for all of those. Flip the switch," Katherine remarks as if giving up one's humanity is nothing.

"And spend the rest of eternity on and off the guilt wagon like Stefan?" Elena spits. "No thank you."

"Stefan's all about the suffering. The rest of us eventually manage to reject the guilt and still keep the humanity perks. I do; Damon does it, too."

"I want this cure. I want to be human again," Elena states. "This life...it's nice, but it isn't real Katherine. It's like existing outside of everything else. We're part of this world but we're not really part of it. We just exist. I don't want to live this way. I want a real life."

Katherine leans over, propping herself up on one elbow and faces her doppelgänger. "Are you sure you could settle for an ordinary life? You have a taste for danger, you crave the thrill. Part of you always has, or you wouldn't have stuck around Damon and Stefan as long as you have."

Elena considers this for a moment, remembering Damon's words to her the first time they ever met. "You want a love that consumes you. You want passion. An adventure. And even a little danger." He was right of course. But things have changed since then. She's not sixteen years old anymore. In the last two years she has had her share of danger, hell, mere minutes after he told her that her parent's car went hurling off Wickery Bridge. She's had passion too, and plenty adventure. Is it so much to ask for a great love and some measure of peace?

"All Damon wants is to love you for eternity," Katherine continues, "Plenty of women would kill for that."

"Or he could love me for a lifetime," Elena counters. "Since when is that not long enough?"

"He's a vampire, Elena. He's lived enough of them to know they're gone in an instant. A human lifetime is just a blimp on the map of time."

"What if he turned back with me?"

"Even if it is possible, I think we both know it would never make him happy."

"Maybe it could," Elena protests, more hope than certainty in her voice.

Katherine shakes her head. "You're so young. You don't understand yet; you can't change a man. Do you have any idea how hard mortality would be for someone who has been 24 years old for almost two centuries? He'd turn back for you, no question, but can you live with yourself when it makes him miserable? Because an ordinary life in ordinary town with an ordinary family are never going to be enough for him, Elena. It wasn't in 1864 and it's not going to be now. Don't go thinking he'll change who he is just because it's you who's asking."

"He's changing on his own," Elena insists, "Just since I first knew him, he's come so far. He wants to be better."

Katherine sits up, tossing the empty blood bag aside. "He's trying to be better because he doesn't think he deserves you. It's not out of some deep moral desire to be a good person. What he does, he does for you and only for you. He will put himself through hell trying to make you happy, but what happens when you're not enough anymore?"

"Since when do you care?" Elena accuses bitterly.

"I'm feeling...sentimental. You can say it's the blood loss talking, but I care about Damon, alright? I know I've made him miserable and I don't regret that, but he is owed some measure of happiness. And he's not going to get it as a human."

"You don't know that. Don't you think after two centuries of him and Stefan hating each other he deserves to have a real family?"

"You really think Damon is father material?" Katherine snorts, "The man has spent the better part of two centuries partying. Do you really think he's suddenly going to want to settle down and wipe snotty noses and change dirty diapers and worry about PTA meetings? No."

"He could be a good father, if he wanted to be."

"Do you really think he wants to be? I sure as hell don't."

"You were a mother," Elena points out.

"No. I gave birth. It doesn't make me a mother. I'm no different from Isobel in that respect."

"Did you want to be, though?" She asks softly.

"It doesn't matter," Katherine says, shrugging her off, "It's been hundreds of years; my daughter is dead. Her children, her children's children, all of them are dead. As far as I know, you're all that's left." She looks up at the sky. "C'mon, we'd better get to Highgate before dark. I want to be as far from here as possible when the Queen of the Damned emerges." She offers Elena a hand up. Elena regards it for a moment, then takes her hand, letting Katherine pull her up.

"I'm telling you this for your benefit, and Damon's," Katherine continues as they walk out of the cemetery. "If you really want to take that cure, you're going to have to make a choice. And that is whether or not you and Damon really belong together. Because believe it or not, you can't have it both ways. You can have your normal little human life with a career and kids and all that. Or you can have Damon. Trying to have both is going to end badly for everyone."

The paths at Highgate are rivers of mud. Katherine makes a sound of disgust as her Jimmy Choo's sink into the ground. "What kind of vampire still lives in a crypt?" She whines, "I mean seriously, it's the 21st century."

"How do you think we should do this?" Elena asks, looking over the map they were handed at the entrance. "We have a lot of ground to cover before dark and I don't think we should split up again."

"I have an idea," Katherine announces, marching towards the centre of the cemetery. "Spike!" she yells at the top of her lungs. A few tourists look up with harried expressions and continue on, whispering about the rudeness of young people.

"Katherine, what do you think you're going to accomplish?" Elena hisses. "He probably can't come out during the day."

"I know. But if he knows we're looking for him, he might at least lurk in the shade where we can spot him. Of all the days for London to actually be sunny... Spike!" she yells again. "C'mon, let's start on the East Side, more crypts." Elena trots after her, shaking her head in disbelief.

Much to Elena's disbelief, the vampires round a corner and spot a man with platinum blond hair in a black trench coat leaning casually against a tree.

"What is it with these vampires and trench coats?" Elena mutters as they head towards him.

"Spike?" Katherine asks.

"And who might you be?" he asks, pushing himself off the tree and coming to stand full tilt, sizing them up. "I don't recall putting out an advert for twins."

"I'm Katherine Pierce," Katherine responds. "This is Elena Gilbert."

Spike raises his eyebrows. "Katherine Pierce? I've heard of you. Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"Depends on who you ask," Katherine retorts. "I just ran into your ex at Nunhead. That was a real treat."

"You mean Dru?"

"Yeah, has anyone ever told you that she is 'lock up in the attic and hope she doesn't burn the house down' kind of crazy? The bitch strung me up and tried to bleed me out."

"That's what happens when you skulk around cemeteries making a bloody racket. I've half a mind to do it myself." Spike retorts. "What were you doing at Nunhead in the first place?"

"I've been looking for you."

"Why?" He asks nastily.

Katherine continues, ignoring him. "Stefan Salvatore sent me to Sunnydale. Did you know the whole town's been condemned?"

Spike lets out a knowing laugh. "Well I did make a rather…memorable exit. How is Stefan? Haven't seen him in years."

"Boring," Katherine says sighing, "He's gotten all…pious."

"He's the not only one. Seems to be the way forward for vamps these days. So, if I may ask, what brings you half way around the world, hollering in my cemetery?"

"I heard you know a witch," Katherine answers with conviction.

Spike eyes her dubiously, "You didn't come all the way here for that did you?"

"So you do know a witch?" Katherine counters carefully.

"I know several witches," Spike replies offhandedly. "They're rather a dime a dozen round here. There's a lovely one near London Bridge who thinks she's Anne Boleyn."

"Anne Boleyn was a witch?" Elena interjects.

"God no," Katherine says, turning to her. "She did have killer style though."

"Beheaded monarchs aside," Spike continues. "What do you want with this yet un-named witch?"

"We're looking for Willow Rosenberg," Elena butts in bluntly, tired of this game. "Angel sent us. He told me you could help."

"Angel sent you?" Spike shakes his head in annoyance. "You know, that is just like the bloody wanker," he rants, reminding Elena a little of Damon when he's complaining about Katherine. "He decides to get all broody, 'I work alone now, 'I don't need you anymore Spike.' Haven't heard from him in years even though I sent him a nice Christmas basket, then he up and sends me a set of vampire twins on a—"

"For the record, we're not twins; we're doppelgangers," Katherine interrupts his complaining. "We need help. Have you ever heard of a vampire called Klaus?"

"Of course I have. He's like the Dracula of your kind, isn't he?"

"Dracula is one of our kind," Katherine corrects, rolling her eyes.

"Is he? Whatever he is, the bastard owes me twenty quid."

"I heard it was eleven."

"Inflation."

"Listen to me," Elena continues harshly, annoyed by their banter, "Klaus is trying to find a way to create an army of vampire/werewolf hybrids and he is getting very close. Do you want that to happen?"

Spike shakes his head, looking up at the sky. "You know for once, I would like to see some pouncy tosser without a superiority complex try to build an army. Is that really so much to ask?"

He looks from one girl to the other but both girls are quiet, unsure what to say. "Yeah I thought so," he adds.

Elena sighs and thinks of a new approach. "Can you just tell us where to find Willow?" she asks in a softer tone.

"I can," he answers with a slight nod. "But the Slayer will have us both dusted before you can so much as wince. You tell me exactly what you want, and I'd be willing to go fetch her. Can't bring you with me, though."

"Why not?"

"Top secret. Besides, she's with the Slayer; you're vampires. You see how this could potentially end for you?"

"You're a vampire," Elena points out.

"I have immunity."

"How long will it take?" Katherine questions, frustrated. "We don't a lot of time."

"Hey, I'm doing you a favour here," Spike snarls. "Risking my bloody neck going to Scotland for you. There's a bloke in Inverness who will hang me by my ankles over Loch Ness again if I don't pay him the kittens I owe him."

Elena looks from Katherine to Spike. "What?" she asks, completely befuddled.

Katherine seems to understand his gibberish though. "Avoid Inverness then," she orders sternly.

"Look, we are on an 'if we don't hurry, people will die' kind of schedule," Elena explains. "The quicker, the better."

"It'll be a few days I expect. Those handy daylight rings of yours won't work on my kind. There was one, but Angel had to go and destroy it. Idiot." He nods towards the crypt behind him. "Why don't you come in and tell me the whole story? Because if I arrive without a detailed explanation, I'm going wind up on the wrong end of the Slayer's favourite stake. And not in a good way either."

Elena follows him into the crypt, trying to think of how one could wind up at the end of the Slayer's stake in a good way. The crypt is slightly better lit than Drusilla's, though it is still rather disgusting. They take turns telling him everything they know and Spike listens carefully, occasionally interjecting a 'bloody morons' or 'what a nob.'

"It'll be best if you lie low here in London for a few days," he suggests when they finish. "I'll be to Scotland and back as soon as I can. Why don't you meet me at London Bridge in three days?"

"What are we supposed to do for three days?" Elena cries. "Our friends could be dead by then!"

"I don't know," Spike sneers. "Do some sightseeing. Take in a show. I hear the tours at Westminster are lovely. I can't move any quicker than that, and it's the only way I can get in touch with Willow."

"Can't you people get cell phones like everyone else?" Katherine complains. "You're a vampire, not a Neanderthal."

"We're vampires love. What's a creature of the night need with a bunch of sodding ringing contraptions?" Spike trails off, peeking outside. "It's dark, I'll leave now. London Bridge. Three days." He points at them to show he means business, and then he is gone.

After compelling themselves a room in central London, Elena settles in and tries calling Damon and Caroline again. Their phones both go straight to voicemail. Frustrated, she tries Jeremy, Stefan, Bonnie and Matt, again to no avail. Finally, she gives up and walks into the shared room of the suite. Katherine is staring out at the city, a bottle of vodka in her hand.

"I don't know how I'm going to stand sitting around for the next three days," Elena tells her. "I can't get a hold of anyone at all. I'm seriously worried."

"We're just going to have to sit tight and hope it works out," Katherine says, taking a swig of vodka and offering it to Elena. "I contemplated following Spike, but he's too smart for that."

Elena takes a swig from the bottle eagerly, enjoying the warmth it brings to her veins. She perches herself on the sofa and takes another swig. "I like this so much better than scotch," she comments.

"After a while it's all the same really," Katherine declares, taking the bottle from her and sinking into the chair across from her. "Alcohol is alcohol."

"Katherine, what do you know about blood sharing?" Elena asks, contemplating.

Katherine regards her, slightly puzzled. "Between vampires?" she asks.

"Yeah."

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. I was thinking about how cagey Damon was when I talked to him the other day and I remembered how he and Stefan were suspiciously vague on the subject of blood sharing. I was just wondered if there was a reason."

"That's a random thing ask about, Elena. It's not exactly a common practice."

"Why? I mean we feed off of humans all the time. And sometimes they drink our blood too."

"It's different. When we feed off of humans, the vast majority of the time, it isn't on their own volition."

"Mikael did it to Stefan that one time."

"Yeah but that situation was really strange. It works differently for us than I think it works for Originals. For us, it's a sire thing; the vampire who turned you has to willingly offer their blood. Otherwise, it's like being hungry and drinking a glass of water. It's not going to do much." Katherine takes a swig from the bottle. "Even if you haven't sired someone, though, the gesture of allowing them to drink from you is very intimate."

"More intimate than sex?" Elena questions, thinking that this a good deal, more than just 'personal.'

"When you have sex, you offer up your body to someone," Katherine explains, "But if you blood share with a vampire you've turned, you're literally surrendering your life force to them. If they want to, they can feed until it kills you. That level of trust transcends sex. It's supposed to be positively euphoric."

Elena understands now why Stefan punched Damon in the face. In fact, she's surprised that's all he did. She remembers the euphoria, the coolness of his skin on her mouth, the steady beat of his pulse. Damon never said a word about it to her, though, and Stefan never mentioned it again after he reprimanded her. She only knows about the punching because of Caroline's big mouth. She swirls the bottle of vodka absently. It figures they never told her the details.

"Have you done it?" she presses curiously, handing the bottle over to Katherine.

"No. Damon and Stefan drank from me, but only while they were still human. There is not a vampire on this earth I would let feed on me, even if they couldn't kill me. And I certainly never wanted or needed to feed off Rose." She takes a giant gulp and pauses for a moment before continuing. "As vampires we don't have a whole lot of etiquette. That's kind of the point, but when it comes to feeding off each other, there are rules. You don't do it with just anyone, and you certainly don't do it by force. What Mikael did to Stefan was about as rude as crapping in someone's living room. I can only think of a handful of vampires I know who have blood shared at all; that kind of trust is really rare."

"So your sire has to willingly offer their blood to you, but if they do, you can kill them?"

"Only if you don't stop drinking; it's like drinking from a human, but it's supposed to have more rejuvenating qualities. Why are you so curious anyways?"

"No reason."

Katherine eyes her. "You drank from Damon, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elena mutters, reaching for the bottle. Katherine holds it away from her.

"Why would he let you do that?" she questions.

Elena grabs for the bottle but Katherine manages to keep it away from her, sloshing a bit onto the carpet. Elena gives up and sits back down. "Fine," she sighs in defeat. "I did. Happy? It's kind of how we figured out there was a sire bond. He was on this kick about how I needed human blood from the vein, so of course everything else I tried, I just threw up. We were just trying to find some blood I could keep down."

"And you couldn't keep his down either?" Katherine surrenders the bottle back, now that she has confessed.

Elena gratefully takes a swig. "No," she answers quietly. "I probably could now. As soon as we figured out what was happening, Damon corrected it, and I was able to drink from blood bags." She takes another swig and passes the bottle back to Katherine, slumping back into the couch. "I hate this sire bond," she admits, "I hate the idea that my body would starve itself over an offhanded comment of Damon's. This is my body; I'm the one who should be in control of it."

"If you're saying that," Katherine begins, "It's a good sign. It means it's weakening." Katherine takes the bottle away from her, swishing it around she contemplates. "Kind of fascinating though," she remarks, "That the sire bond contradicted itself. He wanted you to drink from him, but his insistence you needed human blood overrode your capacity to handle it."

"Call it what you want. My term is 'a total pain in the ass.'"

Katherine sits up, putting the bottle on the coffee table. "C'mon. We need to take our mind off things. I have an idea."

"What is it?" Elena asks warily.

"I know a great club in Shoreditch. It'll be fun."

Elena eyes her cautiously. "Your idea of fun or my idea of fun?"

"Come on," Katherine insists. "You cannot possibly be this boring." Elena shrugs and grabs for the vodka bottle.

"Alright, fine. Let me change. But no killing people. Understand?"

Katherine pouts. "I'll make you a deal. If you come with me and don't be a total drag, I won't kill anyone…tonight."

Elena trudges into her room, trying to think of something to wear."I can live with that," she calls over her shoulder.

The club Katherine drags her to is crowded, even for the middle of the week. The drinking age is eighteen, so Elena doesn't even have to compel herself into the club. They make their way downstairs to a smaller room with thousands of brightly coloured light bulbs on the ceiling.

"You're right, this is pretty cool," she comments to Katherine as they shove their way towards the bar for drinks.

"I told you!" Katherine exclaims as she puts a few martinis on someone else's tab. "You just need to learn how to not mope." She turns to Elena with a wide smile and raises her glass. "To another day of survival!" She exclaims. Elena follows suit. "Cheers," she breathes, clinking their glasses together.

Elena can't help but enjoy herself a little; it feels good to dance, to laugh, to have people admire her. She finds herself moving from room to room, sometimes dancing with Katherine, sometimes with others. The music calms her, makes her feel alive for the first time in weeks. The urge to feed is strong, but she bites it back, not wanting to hurt anyone. She knows Katherine is feeding, but so far as Elena can tell, she's kept her promise not to actually kill anyone.

Elena is in one of the back rooms, dancing with a group of people, when she spots him in the corner, coming towards her. He's surrounded by people, but there is no mistaking the messy brown hair, the sadistic smirk, or the fear he incites whether she is human or vampire.

It's Kol.

Elena tries to push her way out of the crowd, moving the opposite direction. People cry out, spilling their drinks as she pushes them aside but she doesn't stop moving. Frantically she scans the room, trying to spot Katherine in the whirl of colour and noise.

Just as she finally finds her, leaning on her elbows against the bar and flirting with the bartender, she is hit with a wave of unbearable pain. Unable to keep herself upright any longer, she falls to her knees. Just out of the corner of her eye, she sees Katherine go down as well. Then everything goes dark.

End of Part I

A/N: Special thank you to my Beta reader, SkyeVenomatic and to all of you who have read and reviewed so far. Chapter Six is coming soon!