CHAPTER 9

General POV

"So, what do we need?" Stefan pressed as soon as the words left Bonnie's mouth. He was desperate, and was willing to do anything if it meant Elena would be back. Although he wasn't in love with her anymore –he'd come to the realization that he wasn't in love with Elena, but with everything she stood for, before she was turned-, he still loved her.

Jeremy had to disconnect the communication, because he had to do his humans necessities.

"Only two things. One of them shouldn't be hard to come by; but I'm not so sure about the other…" Bonnie trailed off, hesitantly.

"What is it?" Caroline jumped in the conversation, eager to know what she could do to help bring Elena back.

"First, we need a map" she informed the gang.

"Wasn't that obvious…" Tyler threw in sarcastically. Bonnie paid him no attention; still too worried about the other element they still needed.

"Then we need the blood of one of Elena's family" she grimaced when she said this. "A while ago, this shouldn't have been such a big deal, but seeing the way things are at the moment, I don't think it's gonna be that simple." Bonnie paced back and forth the length of the parlor, anxiously twiddling her fingers.

"I don't think it's too difficult, we could get Jeremy to send us a vial of his blood, or something" Caroline's hopeful voice stated.

"It's not that simple, Caroline" Bonnie turned to look at her, and sent her a worried expression. "Jeremy is not her family" her face was expressionless as she said this.

"What do you mean he's not family? I mean, I get it, he's not technically her brother, but at least he's her cousin. It's gotta help for something, right?" Caroline ranted upon seeing her best friend's semblance.

"No, I mean, he's not family, at least not anymore. She's dead, remember? Their family connection vanished the moment she chose to go through her transition." Bonnie stated, and started pacing again.

"If that's true, then there's nothing we can do. Elena is a vampire, therefore she has no family" Caroline deadpanned, more than a little disappointed.

"Yes, she does" Bonnie muttered under her breath, continuing to pace.

"C'mon Bonnie, we're going in circles here. Can you make your point?" Matt spoke for the first time; his voice was a mix between worry, exasperation, and annoyance.

"What I'm saying is that Elena no longer has human relatives. Jeremy isn't technically her family because they don't share the same blood anymore. The Gilbert, or Petrova, blood doesn't run through her veins anymore. But other blood does" The witch lifted her eyebrows as to make her point clearer.

Realization hit them all at once. They all had different expressions regarding this breaking news. Stefan was wide-eyed, and mouth gaping; not quite believing what Bonnie had implied. Caroline's face was one of understanding, and a little grin had found its way onto it; if what Bonnie was saying was indeed true, then that meant that she and Elena were actually sisters. Matt's and Tyler's faces were shocked.

"So you're saying that…" Stefan let the sentence trail off.

"We need Damon's blood" Bonnie finished.

Good luck with that, Stefan's inner voice mocked.

ELENA'S POV

"Hello, Elena…"Although Elena couldn't see his face, she could hear the smirk gracing his tone of voice. She still didn't know who hewas, but it was so much better having a voice to place on that intimidating silhouette.

"Who are you?" Elena hissed, still pissed by this person's audacity.

"You do not know me Elena, so it's pointless that I tell you who I am." She could still hear the smirk in the man's voice; it was rather chilling. She shuddered inwardly.

"Why do you have me here, restrained? What do you want from me?" she demanded, even though she knew perfectly well that she was in no position to.

"Now, now, Elena, I don't want anything from you" this sentence managed to somehow calm her down a little. She had no idea why, though.

"Then why am I here?" she spat at the stranger. It was a bad move, because he appeared not to like it very much. He took a couple steps forward, and then Elena had a face to that psychopath. He was extremely pale –paler even that other vampires she'd known-, and had an oval face, his lips were a little too full, his cheekbones were a little high. His eyes were a dark green -that gave her chills because of their coldness-, his hair was so blond, it almost looked white; he had a trace of stubble on his cheeks, that was the only thing giving color to that much pale face of his. Once he was in full view, he glared at her, hard. If looks could kill…

Seeing that he wasn't going to answer his question, Elena exploded.

"Answer me!" she yelled at him; which proved to be another mistake. In a flash, he took his right hand to her left cheek, and slapped her hard; harder than she'd ever been slapped. What the fuck! It actually hurt! It hurt like a bitch! She hissed through clenched teeth because of the pain, and didn't even notice that a single tear had shed from her eye.

"Now, you're in no position to demand anything. I can kill you in a millisecond, if I want to" he threatened her, walking back to his original position, hidden by the shadows.

"And why don't you?" Elena asked, still a little shaken from the force of the slap.

"Because I need you" he simply stated, shrugging. Elena's brow burrowed at this. Hadn't he said he didn't need her?

"You just said you didn't need me" the confusion in her voice was apparent.

"No, darling, I said I wanted nothing from you; but I never said I didn't need you" and the smirk came back.

"Very well, then what do you need me for?"

"Let's just say that if everything goes according to my plan, you'll be a part of an exchange of interests" It amazed Elena how even in a crisis like this, she still couldn't help but think that Damon was the only one that could pull on a smirk perfectly. How the hell was she ever gonna get over him if she kept thinking like this.

"Exchange with whom? And for what?" she did not like where this was going.

"Your little lovers have something that I want" he took retreating steps until he was standing by what she assumed was the door. "You'll know all the details on the right time, and when, and if I want you to know them. For now, sweet dreams; I'll come check on you tomorrow." In less than a second, he took something out of his back pocket, and flashed towards her. She didn't even have time to blink before she felt the sharpness of a syringe being plunged into her neck, injecting her with what could be nothing else but vervain. Next thing she knew, her body shut down, due to the poisoning of the verbain.

STEFAN'S POV

Stefan hesitated once he'd reached Damon's room's door. He didn't know how to approach him with this. If this had happened three years ago, he had no doubt that he wouldn't need to tell Damon twice, he was sure Damon wouldn't hesitate before he already had his blood poured down where Bonnie needed it. But things weren't as simple as they were back then. He knew that a lot had changed during those years Damon was gone. For example, it seemed like his brother had stopped caring about anything regarding Elena. Although Damon refused to acknowledge it, Stefan could see in his eyes that he was still deeply hurt by Elena's choice; and he believed that it was the reason Damon was acting so harshly towards the doppelganger. But that also meant that if he was still hurting, then there was a part, deep down inside of Damon, that still cared enough to feel hurt by something he so claimed he was over. That meant that there was still hope for his brother, hope for Elena. Stefan found solace in this fact. His brother wasn't completely gone, as much as he pretended that he was.

With newfound determination, Stefan knocked once on his brother's door, before entering the neat bedroom. Damon had always been a clean freak, Stefan knew that. He had never spotted even a particle of dust on any surface of his brother's room; even when he wasn't around, he always made sure someone cleaned it. Stefan shook his head to rid of those meaningless thoughts.

"Hello, brother. Need somethin'?" Stefan turned to look at Damon, who was laying on his bed –surprisingly, it wasn't made- , smirk on place, and if the sheet draped over his lower half was any indication, he was on the nude. That explains the unmade bed… Stefan grimaced.

"I need to talk to you" he started.

"The answer is no" Damon's voice was firm and it showed no sign of reluctance.

"You don't-"

"I heard your little conversation with the gang, Steffie. Judgy wasn't exactly low. I would've heard her even from the gate" the smirk on Damon's face was infuriating.

"Then you must understand what you need to do, right?" the younger Salvatore asked.

"I don't need to do anything. Elena is not my concern anymore; she stopped being at the moment she asked Mutt to turn the truck back around. She chose you, thus she's your problem" the bitterness was clear in his blue eyes, although he tried to mask it.

"Damon, this isn't the time to be self-centered. It's Elena" Stefan pleaded with him, but even he knew it would be futile.

"And I'm supposed to care because?" the smirk Damon sported was so cold, Stefan shivered.

That was the moment in which Stefan realized he had been wrong about there still being hope for Damon. It was the moment he recognized all the symptoms. Up until three days ago, it wasn't as clear, maybe because it still hadn't happened. But now, it was definitive, and as clear as water. It was the reason that no matter what he said to him, or how hard he tried to convince him to help them, he would never be able to.

Damon was indeed gone.

There was no hope for him, anymore.

He had turned out his emotions.

IRINA'S POV

Irina had left the Salvatore mansion about fifteen minutes ago, and was walking around the lame excuse of a town Mystic Falls was. She couldn't believe that she was stuck there until she and Damon got what they came back for.

They had never revealed to anyone what their intention was for coming here. They didn't want anyone to know of the danger that was following them very closely. They had barely made it last time they faced it. It was something even more powerful, and dangerous than herself, than Damon; it was worse than the both of them together; hell, it was possibly worse than the Originals themselves.

She knew who it was that had Elena, but Damon did not. And she intended on keeping it that way. She was aware that if he knew, he would run to her rescue; and she was not going to risk losing him. Not if she could prevent it.

Damon ignored just how dangerous that man could be, and how vindictive. She had feared him for as long as she could remember. He was the only one on this earth that she really feared. She did because of the immense power that man represented, and the danger that lured around him.

She had known him for practically her whole existence –which was a very long one-. In fact she knew him even before she was turned. And that's because he was the one, who turned her.

...

-FLASHBACK-

She didn't remember most of it, but she did remember that one minute she was admiring the flowers in her family's property, and the next she was being carried away. After a little screaming on her behalf, she lost conscious. She could remember that when she finally came to it, she was extremely thirsty, and her throat was so sore it brought tears to her eyes. Her body ached all over, and she'd wanted nothing but to stretch it so she could relieve some of the soreness, but found herself unable to do so. Her wrists and her ankles were tightly bound to a hard surface by very thick chains. She'd frowned upon seeing this, she didn't, for the life of her, understand how she'd gotten in that position. She'd just been spending the warm day at the fields, admiring the beauty of the flowers that grew there. How was it she was suddenly in a dark cave and chained up?

A little while later, a man she had never seen before, walked over to her, brining another person behind him. It was a strawberry blond girl, who couldn't be older than thirteen years old; her eyes were wide in fear, and pain. Irina wanted to help her; she wanted to get her as far away from this monster as possible, and as soon as possible. However, all those whishes disappeared from her mind when her nose made contact with a heavenly smell. It was the most mouthwatering smell she had ever smelled before, but she still didn't know what it was though. The smell caused an agonizing ache in her throat, and her upper gum was throbbing, pulsating uncomfortably. The burning in her throat became so much, she couldn't focus in anything else besides it. She didn't know what was happening; the only thing she knew was that she had to taste heavenly thing.

She recoiled when she realized that the smell was coming from the bleeding neck of the child she had before her –because she was a child!-. Irina tried to focus on something else that wasn't that sudden mouthwatering smell of the blood. How could that have happened? She did not know. She had always been disgusted by the smell of blood, and now out of the blue, she was craving to taste it? She took small breaths to try and calm the throbbing of her gums, and throat, but it had the opposite effect. The need to taste it became even more unbearable. She would give anything she had –which wasn't much- for just a little lap at it.

The man, of whom she could only see his eyes, brought the girl's neck closer to Irina's mouth, until she could feel the warmth coming off of it. It only served to make her need stronger. With one last push from the green eyed man, the bleeding neck of the child was at her mouth, and she didn't hesitate opening her mouth to catch a little taste of her life fluid. The little taste was not so little, though. The stranger, pushed the girl's neck harder into her mouth, and she couldn't stop drinking that delicious liquid. It was even better than water.

"Come on girl, suck her dry" the deep voice of the stranger encouraged her; and soon enough, she did. She had drunk the blood of the girl until there was nothing left in her. She knew she should have been disgusted by what had just done, but she couldn't find it in herself to even care. It was like she couldn't feel anything anymore. It was actually peaceful.

But suddenly, that peacefulness stopped and she felt a piercing pain in her upper gums. It felt as though a thousand needles were piercing through them, all at the same time. She screamed; god did she scream. But as soon as it came, it was gone, leaving no traces of ever having happened. She felt the contours of her eyes pulsating. She could bet that she'd seen the traces of something black around her eyes, with her peripheral vision.

When she composed herself, she turned to look at the man who was still in the shadows watching her like a hawk. She could only see his eyes, and his sinister smile –it was terrifying, if she said so-.

"Who are you?" her fearful voice resonated in the walls of the cave. His smirk faltered a little, before widening beyond what she thought was possible.

"My name is Alexander. And I'm your worst nightmare"

-END FLASHBACK-

...

Although blurry, in her mind it seemed like it had happened yesterday, and not 850 years prior.

Her thoughts stopped when she arrived at her destination; an abandoned warehouse, in the outskirts of town. The only one, might she add.

She focused her hearing to try and listen if there was someone in there, but the only sound she could hear was the faint, slow heartbeat of a vampire. She recognized it right away as Elena's. She listened harder, but she couldn't hear anything else. She breathed a sight of relief, and then she flashed into the warehouse.

She found the space Elena was in, in less than a second, and when she did, she had to smirk at what she found. Elena was bound by wrists and ankles, to a metal bed –a similar situation she found herself in when she woke up in transition-. Her skin had burns all over it –obviously from the exposition to the sun, she thought when she couldn't locate her sunlight protection-, that hadn't quite healed, obviously by the effect of verbain. She could smell it in the air she breathed. The air was filled with it. Elena was still unconscious, and it was a good thing, she decided as she started to back away from her, and make her way to the exit.

She flew out of the warehouse, and climbed a tree nearly by. From there, she could see the form of the man she feared most, making his way right in.

As soon as he was out of sight, she climbed down from the tree and sped in the direction of the boarding house.

Elena was still laying on that metal bed, when she finally opened her eyes. Her eyelids were extremely heavy, but with a great effort, she got them to open. Although she was still very weak, she tried to fight the constriction of the restrains attached to her wrists and ankles. She kept fighting a losing battle, unwilling to give up. Giving up meant she was giving it. And she wasn't. She was a fighter.

"It's useless that you try to break them. They could hold down even an Original" the amused voice of her captor came, as always, from the shadows.

"You are what is useless! You're a useless piece of shit! A fucking waste of space! You fucker, I demand that you set me free! Right now!" all those insults didn't set in fine for the stranger, because in a second, he was standing by her side, holding a stake over her chest, just above her heart. Ready to plunge it in.

"No, Elena. You are the waste of space, so I'm gonna fix that. I told you I could kill you in a second if I wanted to. And you know what? I do!" with that, he shoved the stake right in her chest, plunging it in her heart.

"DAMON!" those were the last words Elena Gilbert ever said on this earth, before everything became black, and she became a part of that darkness.

"ELENA!" Damon shot up on his bed, screaming her name at the top of his lungs. He looked frantically around him, trying to spot the veiny, ashen body of the girl he loved. When he found nothing, he collapsed back onto his feather pillow. God! It had been a dream! But what a vivid dream it was! He reached out his arms to Irina's side, but as always, in the nights, he found it empty.

It was a dream…

It was a dream…

It was a dream…

Or was it?

It was almost three thirty in the morning when Bonnie was shot awake by the incessant banging on her door. At first she ignored it, and tried to go back to sleep. But, however, the banging continued, until she grew so annoyed by it she had no other choice than to go answer it.

Thank god, her dad was out of town. When isn't he? A bitter voice said in her head, but she shook it, and focused on getting to the door, so she could tear apart whoever it was that awoke her from such a beautiful dream.

She opened the door, ready for the kill, but the words died in her throat upon seeing who was at her doorstep at three thirty AM.

"Damon?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'll do it. Whatever it is you need me to do to get Elena back, I'll do it…"