A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter done. I want to thank everyone following the story. :) I write better when I know you are enjoying the story so let me know what you think and if there's anything I could do to improve my writing. Please review. :)

Damon finished the blood and was up in an instant pulling Elena along behind him. He headed down the hallway as the house creaked and moaned. She could hear it falling apart all around them. The other vampires must have decided to let her die in the fire with Damon. They hadn't tried to stop her, and Stefan was full of vervain so there was nothing he could do. She knew Stefan wouldn't any nicer when it wore off. Her knees stung from their impact with the debris on the floor, while her lungs burned from the smoke.

"Damon! I can't breathe," she choked out.

"Almost there."

Damon led her into the main bedroom and ripped open the closet door. "Remember your parent's cabin?"

"Yeah. There was a hidden room in the closet, but that's not going to help us get out of here."

Klaus's vampires and Stefan are still outside."

"Trust me, we are getting out of here."

Storming into the closet, he tore clothes and hangers out-of-the-way as he opened a hidden panel leading to dark, narrow, stairs.

"This is an old escape tunnel. Hopefully it will take us out past the house away from the fire. We can't exactly walk out the front door with Klaus and a blood crazed Stefan out there."

"Klaus left and I stuck Stefan with a vervain needle, but the others are still outside. Klaus ordered them to stay. Won't Stefan know about the escape tunnel?"

"I don't tell my baby brother everything Elena." he said with a wink. "This was my room. Too bad for him he's not much of a snooper."

The roof creaked and the bedroom ceiling came crashing to the floor. Elena jumped and Damon pulled her down the stairs after him.

She ran blindly behind Damon and tripped over a rock, waiting in the darkness. Elena gasped and put her arms out reaching for something to catch her fall. The only thing she found was the back of Damon. They landed on the floor in a clump. As he rolled toward her so that they were facing each other, she groaned out a sorry. She was very aware that she was lying on top of him and the memories of the night before were coming back to her. She could still remember the warmth of his kisses and the way his arms felt around her.

"Elena are you okay?"

His voice snapped her mind back to reality. "Uh…yeah. I'm fine, just tripped. I can't see a thing down here.

Damon sat up pulling her with him, leaning against the wall. Sighing, she leaned her head on Damon's shoulder.

"Elena I can smell blood. Did Stefan or Klaus hurt you?" "

"No. I think I skinned my knees when I tripped over those boards running from the kitchen." She felt the gaping hole in her jeans, but she couldn't tell how bad her knees were in the dark. "I was so scared back at the house, I didn't notice when it happened."

"Now I have to try not to eat you while we are down here."

"Damon that's not funny," Elena said using her serious tone of voice. She could hear the teasing in his voice. He made way to many jokes about that lately.

She thought about how Stefan had dragged her out of the house mercilessly. His grip on her arm had been unbearable. She was sure there was nothing left of Stefan but an empty shell.

Damon could tell that Elena was thinking of Stefan. She had gotten quiet and he could hear the crack in her voice as she remembered how his brother hadn't even shown a hint of his love for her.

"Elena, we need to keep moving in case this part of the tunnel collapses with the house."

"I know, I just need a minute." She leaned over and held her ribs as a fit of coughing overwhelmed her. "Damon, I can't breathe." She felt sick and light-headed from the amount of smoke she had inhaled and her knees burned from the impact with the floor.

"I was so scared I wasn't going to get to you in time. Stefan dragged me from the house. He was going to turn me over to Klaus. He's not pretending. I saw his eyes. If Klaus had given him the okay, he would have killed us both." She could still remember how empty his eyes had looked when she pleaded with him to help her save Damon.

"I'm well aware of that Elena. Klaus did just attempt to stake me and leave me in a burning house so I'm guessing he has already given the okay to get rid of me." He remembers lying on the floor unable to move thinking there was no way he could crawl away from the fire in time. He couldn't remove the stake himself and he didn't have the strength he needed to save Elena. He had felt so helpless. Promising he'd make Klaus pay, he turned his attention toward Elena.

"If he wanted to kill you, why didn't he just stake you in the heart? That's how it works right? You don't come back from that and I'm guessing he missed on purpose."

"The stake in my chest was a warning. Stefan only promised his loyalty to Klaus to save my life. If Klaus had killed me, he wouldn't have Stefan to toy with. My brother could continue as the ripper but not for Klaus. He'd be free to do what he wanted. Stefan is on human blood and crazy, but I'm sure the only loyalty he has to Klaus is from saving my life."

"You didn't see what I did Damon. Klaus is compelling Stefan now. Stefan must have made Klaus suspicious. Maybe he was going to leave or something. I don't know."

"You're reaching Elena. Stefan made a deal with Klaus to save me and because he forced human blood on him. A lot of it too from what Katherine told us. Enough to bring out the dark side of him."

"I guess you're right. I just don't want him to be gone. But I did see Klaus compel him."

Damon sighed. He thought for a moment back at the house she was ready to let Stefan go, but all she could do after seeing him was explore ways to bring him back to her. Remembering what Klaus had told him about Caroline, he decided it was best to let her know and not hide the truth from her.

"Elena there's something you should know. After Stefan took you out of the house, Klaus told me that it was Caroline that told him where to find us. He compelled her."

Elena gasped. All she could think about was what he might have done to her friend.

"He said something else too." Damon let that first bit sink in before he continued. Klaus had hinted that Caroline was dead but he couldn't be sure. It was best just to prepare her for the worst. "He told me that he took care of her," finishing with a whisper.

"Damon"…she said, her voice shaking, "Is Caroline dead?"

"I don't know. Klaus only said he took care of her, but he could have lied."

"If I'm the reason Caroline is dead, I'll never forgive myself. She's my best friend. She doesn't deserve this."

He could hear the tears in her voice; feel them slide onto his shoulder. He held her closely assuring her that they would do all they could to find out what happened to Caroline. They were best friends and he didn't want her feeling responsible for anything that happened to her.

"Hey I'm the one that asked her to come remember? None of this is your fault. Besides, Caroline is your friend. She would do anything to help protect you just like you would for her."

Elena sniffed and started another round of coughing. Crying wasn't making it any easier to breathe. When she got control of herself again she leaned back against the wall and nodded to Damon as he asked if she was alright. She just wanted to see her friends again and make sure Jeremy was still okay. If Klaus had gone to Caroline to find her, there was no way to be sure he hadn't found Jeremy first. She needed to see him. Make sure that he was safe.

"We need to get out of this tunnel. Are you okay to walk?"

"Yeah, let's just get out of here."

She took his hand and he led her through the tunnel using his vampire senses, trying to warn her when he came into contact with roots, bottles, holes, and other objects littering the tunnel floor. When Elena began to cough uncontrollably again, he knew she was too tired. She looked exhausted and he was getting a lot more concerned about the wheeze he heard in her breathing.

"Come here," he said as he scooped her up deciding to carry her.

She laid her head on his shoulder as he carried her through the darkness. Burying her face in his neck, she took a deep breath. He still smelled so good even with the scent of smoke from the fire. She felt so safe in his arms. It had been such a long two days. She needed sleep. All she could think about was Jeremy, Caroline, and the rest of her friends back in Mystic Falls. Jeremy had no idea where she was. They had left quickly and she hadn't even had a chance to let him know she was okay. She couldn't leave him alone. She was all he had left.

"Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"I want to go home."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea yet."

"I know, but Klaus found us here. We would be just as safe at home as anywhere. At least at home, we would have help."

"I didn't think you wanted to involve Jeremy or Bonnie."

"I don't. At least there, we can keep a better eye on Klaus. He doesn't know for sure if we are still alive."

Damon smirked. "He knows we are alive, because you ran back in and saved me. I'm sure he knew you would. Thank you for saving me." He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"We already know Klaus wants us both to stop looking for Stefan. We remind him of his conscience. Stefan doesn't want to completely lose control and his memories of you are probably the only thing keeping him from going all out ripper."

"I don't think so. The Stefan I saw didn't care anymore.

"Have you even been through this tunnel before? I mean…have you actually seen where it goes?"

"Nope."

"Then how do you know it even has an out? We could get to the end of this thing and be trapped down here forever."

Damon laughed. "Well at least I brought a snack." Elena could hear the teasing in his voice.

She was going to say something about leaving him behind next time when she noticed that she could see the outline of his face. "Damon is it getting lighter in here?"

It was getting easier to make out the area around them. There was a faint light in front of them. Damon carried her around a corner of the tunnel and said, "Looks like we found our way out." He put her down as they came to an old wooden door. As Damon pushed it open, they could see that it lead into a small room. It was stocked with various supplies covered with years of dust. "Well," she said as she looked through the dusty shelves, "I think I figured out where they kept the lanterns and flashlights." The room had been well supplied at one time. Whoever had owned the house had been paranoid. There was enough food, supplies, and clothing for a person to live comfortably for weeks.

The light was coming from a door above them. Damon immediately climbed the ladder and pushed open the door illuminating the room. She followed him up the ladder and out of the cellar. The exit had been completely concealed and looked like it hadn't been used in years.

The light outside was so bright it took Elena a few minutes to see what was on the other side. Taking a quick look around, all she could see were trees. She couldn't see any sign of the house but there was a trail of smoke in the sky leading the way back to the still burning cabin. As they walked away from the opening, they heard a familiar voice.

"It's about time you found your way out of there."

A/N: So who do you think found them? Thanks for reading.