We sit in silence for what seems like a long time. Maybe it was a long time, i dont know. Sierra bumps her hand against my leg to get my attention. She wags her brows at me, and i know she wants to know what's going on. Shes nervous; i can sense it, she doesn't want to speak. I shrug. I'm still not concerned about what's going on. If this means i get into The Academy, then fine.

'We've been driving for hours, I'm starving, can we stop for a bit?' Marco finally breaks the silence from the very back seat.

Damon says nothing. I look at Stefan, who looks apologetic.

'Damon, we should stop, we need to feed the girls too...' Stefan says. Damon still doesn't say anything, and Stefan looks back at me; his face growing sadder. I look at Sierra, who has tears starting to well in her eyes. I frown at her. Don't cry, dont cry, crying is messy for vampire which were not supposed to me... i think she gets the message I'm trying to convey because she quickly looks out the window, and squeezes her eyes shut.

I clear my throat. 'I need to use a restroom' I announce loudly. Damon looks at me in his rear view mirror, and then continues driving.

I clear my throat again for emphasis. 'I said, I need to use a restroom, right now.'

Finally Damon speaks. 'You can wait.'

My anger sparks. 'No, i cannot. I need to use a bathroom now. We've been driving for like 4 hours now. I have to go. Now' I say angrily. He glares at me again in the mirror.

'Damon...' Stefan tries his luck again. Thinking quickly, i subtly shuffle my handbag around in my lap so neither Stefan or Damon can see what about to do. Without thinking, i jam my fingernails into the skin of thigh, just above the hem of my dress, and break the skin. I pull my hem down quickly. I feel my blood start to soak into my dress. Sierra shoots me a look of worry.

'I need to go now...' I say again, knowing this time there's blood in the air. Stefan snaps his head toward me. I know it's working. I mean, if they haven't noticed we're vampires by now, surely they wont realise the difference in the scent of my blood. I look at his face, he's straining to keep his hunger veins hidden.

From the drivers seat Damon growls. 'Are you fucking kidding me.'

He slams on the brakes and we're sent leaning forward. Thank god for seat belts. In a few minutes were stopped. As sierra opens the door, Damon looks at us.

'You have 5 minutes. We have to keep moving. Stefan, go with them.' He points towards the Gas station we've stopped at. Great timing.

'No, i dont need...'

'Go. With. Them. Stefan.' He growls. Stefan rolls his eyes and sighs. The three of us jump out of the car and head inside. Sierra is almost running, and i follow along behind. We see a sign for toilets on the outside of the main building and we make our way there. Sierra opens the door and goes in, but i stop Stefan behind me.

'What is going on.' I say, with a stern voice.

'I told you, you wouldn't like it; which is why i didn't...'

'Stefan, do not toy with me right now...' i say, pretending to be angry. He takes a deep breath.

'Fine. Were going back to The Academy.'

I gasp. 'What? Why couldn't you have just told us that!' i say, baffled.

'Because we're taking a detour. Trust me...' He says as he places his hand on my upper arm. '...Nothing bad is going to happen to you or Sierra. I promise.' He says. He looks sincere. The protective thing suits him...

'Eleanor!' Sierra pops her head out the door to call me in.

'Ill wait.' Stefan says.

I head inside quickly and lock the door. Before Sierra has a chance to scream or cry i speak up.

'Everything is fine, Sierra, nothing is...'

'Youre kidding me right? You bitch, youve had them kidnap us!' She shouts at me. I roll my eyes at her.

'Watch your tongue. Theyre taking us to The Academy.'

Her face softens. 'What? Why didn't they...'

'They're taking the long way round. They're probably going to turn us...' I say slowly, tapping my ear to remind her that Stefan is probably listening. She nods. I mouth the word "relax" to her, and i see her whole body soften too. I grab her phone from her hand and type her a message. *If anything gets out of hand, I'll kill them all.* I hand the phone back to her and she nods again. I lift up the hem of my dress, the 5 small cuts have healed.

'Lets go'

We head back out of the bathroom to Stefan.

'Are you...' he begins but i cut him off.

'I'm fine. Lets keep going.'

We head back to the car and get in. The pack hasn't moved. Damon restarts the car, and flies back off onto the highway. My phone beeps in my bag, and i quietly get it. Its a text from an unknown number. *I saw what you did*

I freeze. I realise it must be Daniel. I didn't think he would see but he mustve. I dont look back at him, i put my phone back in my bag, and agree to worry about this later.

When i open my eyes, the car has stopped moving. I must have drifted off to sleep. I look to Sierra who is also waking up. Stefan touches my arm.

'Were nearly there.' He whispers. We all get out of the car, and to my surprise, i nearly fall flat on my face and almost spill the contents of my bag as my stilettos sink into the dirt.

When i balance out, instantly i freeze. Everywhere i look, there are trees. Thousands and thousands of trees and shrubs line the ground. There's no road, no footbath. We're in the middle of the woods. Its completely dark by now, it must be nearly midnight, but the moon illuminates the ground through the thick tree canopy.

These must be the woods surrounding the school. I take it all in.

'Lets move.' Damon says, before he quickly locks the car and walks off into the trees. The pack follows. I look at Sierra then to Stefan. She begins to follow the rest of them.

'What is this?' i ask him quietly.

'We're just walking for a bit, come on...' He starts to follow the others.

'Wait! I cant go anywhere in these shoes, ill break an ankle!' i point to my feet. Stefan groans and looks around.

'Youll have to carry them, I'm sorry there's nothing i can do, just keep up.' He says as he darts off into the woods. Great. I take off my shoes and try to catch up. I slip my phone into my bra, and pull out a small wooden stake from my bag; just long enough to pierce the skin and heart. Small enough to hide. I always carry it with me, just in case. I slip that under the strap of my bra. I leave my bag by the car and head off. Its been a long time since I've run barefoot through the woods, but i have to say, i dont mind it. Its something different. The ground doesn't hurt my feet, it feels surprisingly normal.

We walk almost single file along somewhat of a dirt track. Sierra is sticking close to Stefan, and If it makes her feel safer then I'm glad. We move fairly quickly through the woods until we get to somewhat of a clearing. The ground cover is thick and there's no big trees in the way. Damon stops in the middle of the space, and the pack stop when he does. I'm at the very edge of the clearing, and its quite pretty out here, we must be really close. I try to make a mental note of my surroundings so i know where to find the school next time I'm out here. The moon lights up the area like a stadium. Damon turns to face us.

'We're nearly there...' He says to Sierra and myself.

'Damon what are we doing...' Marco says, he sounds worried.

'See, i considered bringing you all the way back to the college with us; making you like us. But then i realised, we definitely dont need a couple of yuppies like yourself in our midst, no matter how friendly or rich you are...' he slowly starts heading toward Sierra. '...Too much publicity, you know. Anyway, thats why this ends now...' He continues on, sternly as a grin reaches his face. My heart is pounding.

I hear Stefan growl from in front of me; and i can tell his fangs are out from the sound of it. 'Damon, what the hell...'

Suddenly all of them are growling and standing in a defensive position, like they're bracing themselves. My pulse quickens. Sierra is frozen still.

'wh...what...' she stutters as Damon reaches her. He smiles. He's a fucking psychopath!

Damon bares his fangs, and they're some of the longest fangs I've ever seen in my life. He growls.

'Youre really lovely and all, but youre just not right...'

That's when i lose it. My body goes into an adrenaline rush, my blood pulsating through my veins at an inhuman speed. I feel the anger; the need to protect making me stronger; making venom pool in my fangs. Damon extends his arm towards her, and i snap. I drop my shoes. I draw back like a coil, and within a heartbeat, my fangs are out. I spring forward with every inch of power in me and let out a growl. With extreme speed, i run towards Damon, and i strike him in the face with a clenched fist. I hear growls and gasps around me, but I'm too determined. I'm going to kill him. He stumbles backward for a few moments, before he lunges back at me. I try to punch him again, but he grabs my wrist and throws me into the air and across the field. I land hard, and it knocks the air out of my lungs. As i recover, Damon is above me, mid-punch that would smash my head into the ground. I bring my leg up and pound it into his stomach at full force, and i hear a satisfying crack within him. He lets out a growl and curls over, and i have enough time to get up. i grab the front of his shirt and throw him over my shoulder, he lands on his back and i hear something else break. I growl at him; he looks down for the count. This is it. I reach into my dress and pull out the wooden dagger i had stowed there. I jump towards him, my knee landing in the middle of his rib cage, and i pull the stake back over my head, ready to drive it through his chest; when i notice him laughing. I'm about to kill him, and he's on the ground laughing. Breathlessly, i growl a warning at him, and bring my arm down.

'I knew it.' He says, blood dripping down his cheek from his nose. The wood is nearly touching his skin when he says this, and i stop. He's still laughing.

'This whole time. I suspected it. You hid it so well, i couldn't be sure...' I lift my knee slightly and slam it back against his chest. He grunts, then laughs.

'I knew it. No one else could tell. When you showed interest in the academy, when you knew about it in the first place...'

Stop talking. Kill him already. I press the stake into his chest slowly, blood spills onto his white shirt. He snarls at me, and i snarl back, exposing my fangs as a sign of dominance.

'Eleanor!' Stefan shouts from somewhere in the background.

'Think about it...' He coughs. '...Did you really think we'd take back a couple of humans to the school?' he smiles through his teeth

He really did know all along. This is a trick. He wanted proof.

i snarl again before getting off of him. I step back as he begins to get up.

'Don't you ever, go near her again. Or i will kill you.' I growl.

He laughs. 'I dont want to hurt her, i just wanted your cover to be blown.' He wipes his nose.

I look behind me. Everyones mouth hangs open. I look back at Damon.

Suddenly the pack comes back to life, they begin laughing and punching each other in the arms.

'How did we miss that...?'

'I look back now, it was so obvious...'

'How does that even happen...?'

This is a joke to them

I point the stake at Damon. 'Enough. Take us to the academy.'

He laughs again. 'that was what this was about wasn't it. You just wanted a way in.' I wave the stake at him more and say nothing. 'Youre not coming with us. This really does end now.'

'I dont think youre listening to me' i say, taking a step towards him. I need to not get flustered. 'Take us to the academy... or ill have no choice but to kill you all, no matter how attractive you are...' Good job Eleanor, youre flustered.

'We dont have the ability to let you in to the school, even if you come with us...' Damon says seriously. He's beginning to calm down after the fight, and so am i.

I look at Sierra, who is being hugged by Daniel.

'Look, we're coming with you anyway...' I step towards Damon. 'But i swear to god, if you ever pull a stunt like that again, itll be the last thing you ever do...' i turn my back on him and walk to sierra. Shes smiles to let me know shes fine. I turn to Stefan, whose face is pretty blank.

'I cant believe i didn't notice.' He says as i walk over to him.

I smile at him apologetically. The last thing i want is for him to hate me... i think. 'We're experts at staying hidden. I've been doing it for centuries.'

'Centuries? How old are you two...?' He asks with a crooked smile. I wink at him.

'I'm old enough...' i say as walk back to Sierra and Daniel. Daniel looks full of wonder.

'I cant believe youre actually like us. Both of you. Its like a dream come true.' We laugh for a few moments, before Damon interrupts.

'Its late, we have to get back.' He walks out of the clearing and disappears. I still hate him though. I quickly pick up my shoes, and we all follow along closely behind.