Oh my gosh, an update! I know so many of you thought I was never coming back or whatever (and I am so sorry) but I promise you that I thought about you every day – plus this chapter is extra long, yay. The amount of time I've been gone is rather inexcusable and I do beg for your forgiveness. It's just sometimes you need a bit of a break. (Plus I've been doing exams, so y'know, I do have to put my education before my writing. Unfortunately.)

During my time away however, we've gained some new members to the YQTLF family, so welcome everyone! I love reading your reviews and I'm so grateful that you enjoy this little hobby of mine.

I've also gained a new friend on here – DelenaRain. An amazing author (seriously go check her out!) and she has been the one who has been reminding me to update. (Thank you doll!)

Also, (sorry, this is a rather talky start but just be patient!) I'm very fond of Tumblr, and I do track the 'You're Quite the Little Firecracker' tag if you ever want to post how you feel on it, etc. We can fangirl together.

And last thing, just to clear it up as there may have been a smidge of confusion – Elena has only got a couple of her memories back, hence why she went to run and find the note.

As always, enjoy, and thank you so much for reading! 3

Dear Elena,

If you've found this, it means that there may still be hope. You won't remember writing this of course, but you're just going to have to trust me.

Please, please trust me.

There is a man who loves you more than anything waiting to be rescued, Elena, and he's the most incredible man you've ever met. He makes you feel like you're his whole world – and to be perfectly honest, I think you are. And he's yours. He can take a while to get used to, but he's kind and gentle and funny and gorgeous and he writes books that you can't put down, and he organises special dates where you end up swimming under a waterfall and when you're scared, he'll protect you and when you're angry, he holds you and when you need him, he's always there. His name is Damon Salvatore- he's been taken prisoner though, for his 'crimes'. The problem is Elena, is that he's a vampire and you're a human. Maybe that'll scare you off because you can't fathom the idea but he's not like who you've been raised to believe vampires are. He's good to the core – but sometimes he doesn't remember that.

You won't remember meeting him either obviously, but he know that he was very lovely and sweet and the story of how you got there is all a bit complicated but he'll explain it.

He's the person who taught you what love really is and nothing is more important than that.

You can't remember him though, because your father – and Alaric Saltzman, the creep - instructed that you be compelled by a vampire to forget him, so that you would be the daughter that you were 'meant to be' and so that you wouldn't be able to save him.

But you have to, Elena. He's already saved you so many times.

Your love story with Damon isn't over yet – don't let the ending turn out to be a tragedy. You just have to find him – he'll tell you what to do from there.

Please make the right decision – you'll have to, as your father wasn't able to.

And I really, really hope that you'll still be enough like me that you won't blindly follow the LM to the end.

All my love,

Elena (the one who remembers.)

(Oh, and there are others – like Caroline – remember Caroline? She's one of them now, but don't panic. She's still herself– and Stefan and just please don't believe that vampires are actually like what your father tells you. That's all lies – they're the sweetest group of people I've(you've) ever met.)

The paper fell from my shaky fingers, fluttering to the ground. I stared at the wardrobe blankly for a few moments, trying to remember but not really able to. I could tell that there were memories, waiting to fill in the blanks but right now…they weren't coming back to me. I just had the few snippets that had come back to me in the town. But I did believe everything in this letter. I wouldn't have written it all – and it was in my handwriting – if I didn't mean it. I didn't know exactly how I had ended up falling in love with a vampire, or indeed, how he had ended up falling in love with me, but the way Damon had looked at me when he was being dragged onto that stage…it wasn't the look a stranger gave another stranger. It had been…tender. And what had he called me again? Firecracker? Had that been his nickname for me, when we used to be together? Because I didn't need to know the backstory of the whole thing to know that it was a nickname that made it obvious that he 'got' me. He got my spirit and personality - and one of those vague memories was coming back to me, he had told me that I had 'fire in me.'

Disgust was the next emotion that filled me. Disgust that my father had decided to change my memories so that I would join him, disgust that he had brainwashed me as opposed to going against an organisation built on lies and terrifying others. He was meant to care for me, look out for me – not twist me until I was the daughter that he actually wanted, as opposed to the one he was stuck with.

And the rest of them, my family – how could they have let this happen and not said anything? How long had I been with Damon? A day? A week? A month? I had no clue, but by the sound of it, I…well, I had loved him. And he had loved me. Proper love too, not just because he liked my body or who my father was.

He had liked me for me. For who I was, for what I stood for.

Nobody had ever loved me properly before.

And now the man who had cared so much for me, and I so much for him, was in danger. The LM had him and were probably torturing him somewhere. Hell, I didn't even know if he was alive. And it was all my fault. He could be dead and it'd be all my fault.

And Caroline. Caroline was a vampire now? The thought sent a shock of disgust through me but I tried to focus on what the note had said – she was still herself. And who was Stefan? Clearly I had liked him though. I had liked all of them.

I had to save them. I had to save him.

I had to save this man that I barely knew but at the same time, knew so well. The question was, how?

I suddenly heard the sounds of the front door being pushed open and loud voices calling my name.

"Gilbert! Where are you?"

Shit. It was a few of the LM – I recognised their voices. How the hell was I going to get out of this one?

"Gilbert! Answer me right now or I'll start shooting up the goddamn house!"

They sounded panicked and I realised with a start that Dad knew that I knew about the whole thing. He must have been watching my expression as he dragged Damon on stage and understood what was happening. That was going to make saving my vampire a whole lot harder.

I was going to have to act if this was going to go the way I wanted it to.

"I'm in here!" I called, trying to make my voice sound as shaky as possible as I looked desperately around the room for something to use. My eyes landed on a vase filled with fake flowers and I hesitated for a moment. Could I really make myself knock someone out with china?

Yeah, I realised, I could. Especially when they had pretty much ruined my life.

I quickly tipped the plastic roses onto the bed and gripped the blue pottery with sweaty palms, standing just beside the door, trying to control my breathing as I heard footsteps approaching.

I was hoping the adrenaline that was meant to give me superpowers or something would kick in soon.

The door was shoved open and a short, sweaty man in a rumpled suit burst in, clutching a gun – his name was James actually. I remembered him from the party night – he drank about two bottles of wine himself and had fallen asleep on the couch.

He didn't see me at first, and he dropped his guard for a moment, lowering the gun. I held my breath, concealed by the door as he bent down to pick up the piece of paper on the ground. His eyes widened as he read and he spun around, opening his mouth to yell for the others.

This was it. Now or never.

I pushed the door away from me long enough to see his startled expression, startling into silence just long enough for me to smash the vase against the top of his head with as much force as I could muster. It hit him with a dull thud, cracking into two on the floor.

He froze, and I thought for an awful moment that it might not have worked and he'd be putting a bullet through any one of my vital organs in the next few seconds but then, his eyes shut and he slumped to a heap on the ground, clearly unconscious.

I didn't waste any time. Anything that he had, I could use for my benefit.

I crouched beside him and with a shudder of disgust, pulled open his sweaty suit jacket.

He had a whole belt of weapons, good grief. There was everything, from guns to stakes to little bombs of…was that vervain gas? I didn't even know what half of them would do but I was hardly going to pass up the opportunity to take them. I quickly unstrapped the belt and nudged him so I could pull it off gently without accidently blowing myself up.

The strap was heavy and I realised that wearing a dress was hardly ideal, along with wearing high heeled shoes. But I didn't really have any alternatives, so I tightened the belt snugly around my waist and prayed that I wouldn't have to run too far.

Bending down, I pried the gun from the unconscious man's sweaty hands and clutched it tightly, testing its weight. It wasn't too heavy at least – it would definitely be of use.

I nudged open the door, standing back for a moment to ensure that there wouldn't be the barrel of a shotgun pointing at my face, but thankfully, nobody was there. I could hear footsteps from some other point in the house though and I gripped the gun tighter. It would be too dangerous for me to saunter out into the house looking for the guy – I would have to coax him up here.

The question was, how on earth could I get a member of the LM to run up to help me? What could I say that would ensure – oh. Right.

I took a deep breath and stepped a little behind the door and screamed at the top of my lungs "VAMPIRE!"

Well that did it. I heard footsteps sprinting up the stairs and I tried to calm my nerves, stepping into my original hiding place behind the door just in time. The door was pushed open and another, taller man burst in, wielding...was that a stun gun? Did the LM have any limit on weapons?

Evidently not.

This time, I didn't wait for him to notice me – instead, I pushed forward quickly while his back was still to me and cracked the butt of my gun against the back of his head. (This whole knocking people out business had kind of become my style. I mean, I didn't want to kill the guy. Not right now, anyway.)

There was no moment of worry with this one – he just collapsed straight to the ground, eyes drooping shut. I did the same shimmying off of the weapons belt with this one as James but instead of holding onto it, I pulled it out to the hallway and hid it in a nearby cupboard. Hesitating for only a minute as I looked at the two unconscious bodies, I pulled the door of my once bedroom shut and twisted the key in the lock before slipping it into the belt of weapons.

I was pretty sure I was on my own in the house now – it was silent, and I was pretty sure if there had been someone else, they would be wondering what on earth had happened to their partners by now.

Running down the corridor to the stairs, I caught a glimpse of the spare bedroom, and noticed its enormous closet. Why on earth would one person need that much space?

It would hardly have extra clothes…would it?

I stepped cautiously into the room to ensure that it was empty, before opening the wardrobe. It was like a soldier's dream – camouflage clothes, bulletproof vests, boots in nearly every size, you name it. I frowned as I quickly sorted through everything – I guess the militia was planning on making an official army too.

Five minutes later, I had slipped out of the over- the-top dress and was instead now kitted out in camouflage khakis, a black tank top and sturdy leather boots. I hid the belt of weapons under a green jacket and quickly shook my hair loose from its bun, ripping off the stupid little hat, throwing it on top of the crumpled dress on the floor before gripping the gun tightly between sweaty palms and sprinting as fast as I could down the stairs and out of the house.

It was eerily quiet outside and I peered around nervously. I couldn't help feeling like someone was watching me…

I screamed as a bullet whizzed past my ear, leaping out of the way just in time. Another followed pretty much immediately after, barely grazing my arm.

"Are you insane?" I screeched in the general direction of the bullets, darting behind one of the solid walls of the house.

"Drop your weapon!" Somebody – a man. No, not a man – a boy – yelled back and I caught the tremor in his voice. Wait a second - I knew that voice all too well…it was the voice that had been snapping at me for most of my life after all…

"Jeremy?" I asked in amazement, risking a glance around the side of the house and seeing him pointing a gun at me from a few feet away with shaking hands.

"I said put down your fucking weapon!" He roared wildly, his eyes wide with fear and sweat beading on his forehead. He was squeezing on the trigger of the gun, his hands trembling.

"Ok, ok! It's ok Jer, I'm putting it down!" I dropped the gun to the ground and nudged it away with my foot, holding both hands in the air. He relaxed slightly, although he still looked terrified. And it was at that moment that I realised that he was still my stupid, 17 year old brother, no matter how tough he wanted to be. He certainly wasn't a killer, although it was obvious the LM had tried to make him one.

"What have they done to you?" I asked quietly and immediately the defensive stance was back.

"Done to me? What have they done to you?" He hissed, his eyes narrowing. "You've messed up everything! You turned your back on the family, on the humans of Mystic Falls because you're obsessed with some leech! They've messed up your mind Elena! Why can't you see that?"

"They've messed up my mind? They're not the ones who erased all of my memories Jeremy. They're the ones who loved me. And I'm not doing this because I love him Jeremy. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do."

He was shaking his head. "You're wrong. They're the bad guys Elena. The LM are the good."

"The Liberation Militia torture people, Jer. How does that make them the good guys?"

He shook his head again wildly before changing the subject. "Where's James? And Marcus?"

"They're…well, they're a little…unconscious."

He stared at me, his eyes widening in horror. "You knocked them out?" He asked in disbelief and I could see that he was freaking out at the fact that he didn't have backup. But then he steadied himself, raising the gun at me again.

"It…it doesn't matter." He said through gritted teeth. It seemed like he was talking to himself more than me. "I'm under orders to bring you to the LM headquarters, or Alaric said…he said…" His voice cracked and my heart broke into a million pieces. I went to step forward to comfort him or do something but he clearly thought I meant to attack him because he pulled the trigger desperately and a bullet whizzed just past my cheek.

"Stay away from me!" He cried, aiming it at me again. "Just…get in the car!"

Ok, it was time to get out of this situation. I turned away, shoulders slumping so it looked like I had given up and turned towards the car. Just as I reached the door of the shiny vehicle, I unzipped my jacket and grabbed one of the little vervain bombs, spinning around and pulling out the pin out and throwing it a few metres away from him so he wouldn't be too badly injured.

"I'm so sorry Jeremy." I whispered before it detonated and exploded. I opened the front car door quickly, although not before a few pieces of shrapnel cut into my cheek. The grenade releasing a green gas that clouded around him. I knew vervain wouldn't harm him but it would certainly give me a good few moments to escape.

Luckily, the keys were still in the engine of the car, so all I had to do was twist them and slam on the accelerator before the gas clouded my vision too.

I speeded out of the driveway, trying not to crash the car as I nearly had on the journey down here. I was getting better though – I managed to drive in a fairly straight line at least, and I only nearly swerved off the road once. (Or twice.)

As I was driving like a lunatic, it struck me that I didn't really have any clue where I should be going. I mean, Damon could really be anywhere – they would have hardly left him in the middle of the town square. They must have some place where they were keeping him…

I suddenly noticed a car driving towards me on the road. Shit. I slowed down as best as I could and prepared to leap out of it or something but I realised that the person driving was a young man, about the same age as me…

"Matt!" I said in surprise, and he smiled at me, running a hand through his blonde hair. Matt and I had been childhood friends, but I hadn't seen much of him since he began working at his family's carpentry business. They were pretty well off actually – nobody in the Shire would get their hands dirty with such mundane tasks, so it was usually the Donovans who were called out.

"What…what are you doing here?" I asked nonchalantly, preparing to slam my foot down on the accelerator if necessary.

"Well, everything got a little crazy back there in the square. After you left…I mean, people got a little…riotish. The Militia has been sort of controlling everything lately and I guess people are sick of it. So…well, it all got a little out of hand, and I didn't really feel comfortable being there so…here I am."

I squinted at him, trying to figure out whether he was lying or not but his blue eyes seemed genuine enough. He sighed, rubbing his forehead as he had always done when he was tired.

"It's just…I mean, the vampires weren't all that bad, were they? I know a lot of the town thinks so anyway, but the LM have got everyone so scared of going against them that they all follow people blindly."

I stared at him, the gears in my mind beginning to turn. Most of the town? Did that mean a lot of people were against the Militia?

Oh man, this could work in my favur.

I realised Matt was waiting for an answer and I snapped back to reality quickly.

"Yeah, well, I'm just headed back there actually. Dad…wants me."

Matt suddenly looked fearful, his eyes widening. "Oh God Elena, I didn't mean to say all that stuff – I mean, it's good that the Militia are doing something at least –"

I waved a hand, cutting him off. "Don't stress about it. I won't tell him." An idea suddenly struck me and I leaned forward earnestly. "Hey Matt, what did they do with that vampire guy after things got a little…crazy?"

He frowned, trying to remember. "I think they loaded him in a van and drove him back to headquarters or something. Why?"

I nodded to myself, trying to ignore the excitement rising in my chest. "Headquarters? Where are they?"

That got a strange look. "It's just a bit down the road Elena. Surely your father took you there?"

Shaking my head, I smiled to myself as the plan formulated in my head. "Did Dad go back to the headquarters with Damon or did he stay at the town hall?"

"Damon? Oh right, the vampire. No, he stayed at the town hall; Alaric did too actually. They're trying to calm down the crowd. Do you need them?"

I hesitated, wondering once again if he could be trusted. But this was Matt – a person who I had known since I was a child. If I couldn't count of him, I couldn't count on anyone. And if he was simply acting and did in fact work for the LM – well, I still had some of those vervain grenades. "Matt, I need you to do something for me. I need you to go and find my father and Alaric and keep them distracted."

"Why do I need to –"

"I'm going to try to fix this Matt. I'm going to try to fix everything the Militia has screwed up. " I interrupted firmly. "It won't make sense to you, not for a while, but I promise I'll explain later. I just need you to trust me."

This was obviously a pretty big ask of someone who I hadn't spoken to in years but Matt Donovan was known for his easy going nature and loyalty. A mischievous grin spread across his face and he winked at me and I sighed with relief. "Thank you. I need you to cause some sort of distraction carefully, so they don't know it's you. Then run up to them and tell them that I need to see them in our house, urgently. Got it?"

He grinned again, his dimples appearing in his cheeks. "You can count on me 'Lena." He told me, before backing up the car, doing a quick three point turn (I would have to ask him for driving lessons if I survived this.)

I watched him go with a strange warm feeling in my stomach. At least I knew I had an ally in Matt. But I had to keep going. I had to save Damon.

I carried on down the road in the direction which Matt had gestured to. I was beginning to lose hope when eventually a huge grey building appeared at the edge of the road. It was surrounded by a glass fence that was being guarded at the main gate by a guard. I took a deep breath and drove up to the gates as confidently as I could.

"Do you have a pass m'am?" The guard barked as he strode up to me. I tried not to take too much notice of the gun he was carrying. Instead, I sat up as straight as I could and glared at him with the contempt of a rebel leader's child.

"Sir, I am Grayson Gilbert's daughter. I don't need a pass to get into the goddamn building."

He looked at me for a moment – I think he didn't recognise me without all of the frilly dresses and hair. Clearly not wanting to take any chances, he frowned and shook his head, reaching for his radio. "I'm just going to check with the boss that it's ok."

Panic rose through me. He couldn't tell Dad I was here for crying out loud – the whole thing would go wrong! I reached out across the window and gripped his collar.

"Listen to me buddy," I hissed, glaring at him. "My father is in the middle of handling a small scale rebellion right now, and I can assure you that he won't want to be disturbed – or have his own daughter doubted. So I'd be a good little Militia member and let in the future leader of it." I snarled the last bit a little and he pulled away from me, looking nervous.

"Right away m'am." He muttered, hitting the button to allow the tall gates to slide open creakily. I shot him a glare and drove on into the compound.

It was eerily quiet – I suppose the Militia wouldn't have all that many members yet. I let the car roll to a stop in front of the door of the main building, hopping out quickly. I glanced behind myself quickly to ensure that there wasn't a team of snipers pointing in my direction but I was alone. Hurrying through the huge glass door, I found myself confronted by only a computer screen and a keyboard.

"What are you searching for?" It chirped in a robotic voice and I rolled my eyes. Of course there would be a fancy computer system, despite the fact that there were people starving in the Pail. I quickly tapped in Damon – nothing came up. I frowned and tried again but no – there was nothing. A horrible thought crossed my mind – what if he was already dead, erased from their system?

No. I couldn't think that way. He had to be in this place somewhere. What else could I try? Who else was in the note?

Caroline.

I quickly typed it in, along with her second name – I still remembered that. Immediately a profile came up – Caroline Forbes, still alive, execution scheduled for…tomorrow? Holy shit, I was going to have to work quickly. I scanned through the whole thing before eventually finding her location – the back of the building, in some room that the map told me was behind a big door.

I set off at a sprint, clutching my gun tightly for fear that someone might leap out from the dark shadows of the huge building. But it was empty – maybe they were all out at the town square. I certainly hoped so anyway.

I continued on through the long corridors, my heart thudding in my chest. Finally, I reached the big solid metal door. It smelled of some herb…vervain maybe? Other than that, it didn't look exactly special. It just looked very…strong. I pushed on it, but it wouldn't budge. Typical.

I sighed and began to look through my belt of weapons. There was nothing that I could use to get through it, not unless I wanted to burn the whole place down. (Well, to be truthful, I kind of did want that. But not until I had got the vampires out.)

I banged my fist impatiently on the door, leaning my forehead against it. How on earth was I going to get past this new obstacle?

Wait a second. I frowned and thumped the door again. It felt so…solid. Like it was just a part of the wall…

Hang on.

I probed at the 'edges' of the door. There was no leeway whatsoever, and when I peered at it, it looked like it was stuck on. I couldn't believe it. They had actually stuck a door to the wall? I couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped me. The LM thought this was going to trick people?

Now all I needed to do was find the actual door.

I pressed around the wall, trying to find a hollow brick or something. I must have looked like a crazy person – I was knocking on the stone, pressing my ear close to it. But finally, I found what I was looking for – an empty sound from one of the bricks. Grinning, I knocked on the bricks around it. They were all hollow. So that could only mean…

I pulled and a load of them tumbled down around me. Thankfully, it was only plastic so I wasn't too badly damaged, but I probably wouldn't have noticed. I was too busy staring at the door in front of me.

It reeked of vervain and was made of – was that white oak? However the edges of it were rimmed with metal, as was the door handle that was cool when I touched it cautiously. Please open, please open I thought desperately as I took a deep breath and pushed down on the handle. My heart nearly stopped as it creaked and then groaned as it swung backwards slowly and I stared at the sight in front of me.

The inside of the hidden room was completely different to the door that concealed it. This room was huge, with shiny white walls and squeaky clean polished floors that seemed to merge together seamlessly, making my head hurt. There were rows and rows of…oh my god, they were cells. Actual cells, complete with bars that were no doubt coated in vervain as well. The room was bright – too bright. Along with the harshness of the stark colour of the walls, there were windows scattered all around the room (reinforced glass, as I discovered) that were allowing rays of sunlight to burst in. I had to blink a few times to let my eyes adjust, but I could hear soft moans coming from those inside the cells. I remembered suddenly that even as a child, I had known that vampires needed 'special rings' to let them walk in the sunlight. Had they been taken off them?

Probably.

I shut the door quietly behind me and cautiously began to tiptoe through the rows of cells. I couldn't really see into the backs of them – most of them were dark but I could sense people looking at me. I hated it – it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I couldn't help but feel extremely paranoid.

"Caroline?" I called out softly, trying not to look too closely at anything – or anyone. "Caroline Forbes, are you in here?"

A soft groan from the back of the room caused my ears to prick up and I began to walk faster towards the sound, feeling more hopeful.

Suddenly a hand reached out and gripped my arm, yanking me towards the bars of one of the cages. I bit back a scream, squeezing my eyes shut as I heard a vampire snarling down at me.

"You stay away from Caroline!" He snapped at me through the bars, his grip getting increasingly tight. "You hear me, you stay away from her!"

"I'm just here to help her!" I gasped and suddenly the hold on my arm dropped completely. I stumbled back, willing my heart to stop pounding quite so loudly as this green eyed man stared at me. He looked sick, exhausted, starving with deep purple circles under his eyes. But he was looking at me in…awe?

"Elena." He said and he sounded so hopeful that I felt a knife twist in my stomach. Did I know this man? He looked familiar…but had we ever actually spoken? He looked like he was struggling to stay standing, and his voice was low and weak but he was smiling at me.

"You're…you're with Caroline." I realised out loud. That was where I remembered his eyes from, when Caroline had left the Pail with him. It had hurt so much and I had hated this stranger. But he was looking at me with such kindness that I couldn't help but think I may have misjudged him.

"Are you Stefan?" I asked quietly, remembering the note and his eyebrows furrowed.

"You don't remember me." He frowned. "People said they had erased your memories but nobody believed that your father would do that to you."

I smiled without humour. "Yeah, well, he did. But I'm trying to fix it. How can I get you out of here?"

Stefan shrugged helplessly. "I don't know if there is a way out. They have the keys and I can't touch the bars because they're coated in vervain. I'm…well, I'm stuck." His eyes lowered and I felt a stab of desperation.

"There has to be some way to get you out." I insisted, not really wanting to think about the alternative. He shook his head.

"Not from my side. You'd need to get someone to compel the guards to get a key. Well not just anyone. You'd need…you'd need Damon." He examined my expression, clearly curious as to whether I remembered him or not. Keeping my tone bland, I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, where is he?"

"You need to keep going to the end of the row of cells. They've put him in a special cell of his own. He was in a pretty bad state after…what they did to him. I doubt he has much time."

I was already beginning to run to the back of the room. "I'll be back soon!" I promised and he called something back in reply, but I didn't quite catch it. I didn't have time to turn back and find out though – I had to keep going.

The room was a lot bigger than it looked – and that was saying something. I seemed to pass hundreds of cells, each one darker than the last until I finally reached the back wall, running up to the big door. It was made fully of glass – probably to tease him. There was a small gap, big enough for something small to fit through. I didn't know why – maybe they wanted to torture him further? I could work it out later. Right now, he was in there and he needed me. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I peered in.

Oh God. The sight that met me made me want to throw up. Damon was in there alright – but he was still chained to that awful chain contraption. He was bleeding from…well, pretty much everywhere, and his eyelids were drooping shut. He looked sickly pale and weak, like he could collapse at any moment – if he wasn't being held up. I tried to pull open the door handle, but of course it was locked. I banged on the glass desperately, wanting to do anything to ensure that he was still alive. "Damon!" I shouted into the small gap. "Damon, look up damnit!"

It worked. Slowly, painfully slowly, he lifted his head like it weighed a thousand pounds and blinked at me. I saw his lips move and I tried to work out what he was saying but it was impossible. His eyes grew more frantic and his lips moved quicker but before I could try to press my ear against the gap, someone grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed me up against the glass.

"You little bitch." Alaric snarled in my face. "Your father insisted that we didn't just kill you like the rest of the traitors, insisted that once you were fixed, you'd be the perfect little daughter. You've got everyone wrapped around your little finger haven't you? The vampires, the LM, everyone. But I can see what you really are – a little slut who is determined to cause trouble. So you see, when that doe eyed little idiot Matt came up to us trying to tell us that you wanted to talk to us at the house, I knew that you had figured it all out. And where else would you be apart from trying to save your precious leech?"

He was pressing his arm against my throat and it was kind of becoming hard to breathe. But I was not going to give this creep the satisfaction of looking away. I stared at him determinedly, not breaking eye contact once.

"I convinced your dad to go on without me, that I would meet him there. He doesn't want you dead, not really. But I can assure you that I do."

"The feeling's mutual." I hissed, glaring at him and he snorted.

"Maybe sweetheart, but I'm the one with the power here, right? Look at you. Dressed up like you think you can achieve something? You're just a girl. A girl. You can't do anything, you can't change anything. But since you seem so intent on being with your bloodsucking friend – well, you can go in there with him. He won't be alive for more than a few hours anyway. We've put a lot of vervain in the air system. So enjoy it while it lasts sweetheart – I'll come to pick you up in a few days. Maybe."

He yanked me forward, twisted a key in the lock and opened the door, shoving me inside before pulling it closed quickly and locking it. He leered at me through the glass for a moment before laughing and turning on his heel, and walking away.

"Saltzman!" I screeched after him, banging on the glass. But all I heard was a distant chuckle and then the slamming of the entrance door. My heart sank and I pressed my head against the glass, shutting my eyes.

But then I heard a small moan and I remembered where I was. Spinning around, I faced the man I had once loved with all of my heart but now couldn't remember.

And he was dying.

And I didn't have a clue what I was going to do next.

Agh cliffhanger! I really hope you enjoyed it. Please review, favourite, follow if you want and be sure to tag any questions you may have on Tumblr.

(And please be gentle – I've been out of the writing groove for a while.)

All my love, as always.

Hope y'all are having a nice week!

Bye my darlings,

x