Klaus turned to look out the window, his hands clasped behind his back.

"You're sure?" He asked, quietly.

"I am, my lord. We heard them clearly. They're leaving tonight." Thomas replied.

Klaus gritted his teeth, trying to keep his anger under control.

"You can go now." Klaus said, turning to look at the man standing behind him.

"Yes, my lord." Thomas bowed, and then turned to leave, when Klaus had a second thought.

"Wait. Actually, stay here. You'll be accompanying me tonight."

"Where to, my lord?" Thomas asked, frowning, confused.

"I want to catch them in the act. Just when they think they've got away, I'll stop them, and show them what a terrible mistake they've made. I want to let their hope build up, and then I want to see their faces when I crush it."

"But why do you need me?" Thomas asked, still confused.

"I may need you to dispose of a body."

Klaus turned back to look out of the window, where he could see Elena strolling through the garden, arm-in-arm with Bonnie.

(**)

Elena rose from the bed quietly, after making sure that Klaus had been snoring for at least half an hour. She changed into a different dress, put on her cloak and then recovered the small bag she had hidden under the bed. It was filled with as much of her jewelry as she could fit. They could pawn it in the next town they got to, and then they should have enough money to last for a while. She paused at the entrance of the bedroom, looking back at Klaus lying in the bed.

"Goodbye." She whispered, finally allowing herself a smile. She would never have to see him again. She slipped out the door, and walked downstairs. The house was dark and ominously silent. As soon as she was out the house, she started running as fast as she could. She was free. She was free to go to Damon.

As she approached Damon's street, she saw a shadowy figure coming towards her. Her heart racing, she looked for somewhere to hide, but there was nowhere in sight. She turned, and started running back the way she had come from, her pulse quickening in terror. The footsteps behind her increased in volume, until someone grabbed her wrist. She opened her mouth to scream, but a gloved hand covered it swiftly.

"Shh! It's me!" Damon whispered, and Elena's shoulders sagged in relief.

"You idiot! You scared me!" She said, her voice breathless from the chase.

"Sorry! I didn't think you were going to run away from me!" He said, grinning. "Are you ready?" He added.

"I'm ready." She replied, smiling at the excitement flashing in his beautiful eyes. Of course, this was exactly the type of thrill that he loved.

He kissed her quickly, but firmly and she could sense the enthusiasm behind the kiss. He was raring to go.

"Why are you here? I was on my way to your house!" She asked.

"Stefan wasn't back yet, so I thought I'd come meet you. Check you hadn't chickened out." He said, winking.

She smiled, slightly worried. "He's not back yet?"

Damon took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll be back by now. Let's go get him."

"Have you told him?" She asked, as they started the walk back to his house.

"No, but he'll understand." Damon said, taking her hand, and kissing her thumb.

She nodded, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. Damon was all excitement, loving the thrill of eloping into the night, but he had always loved risk. Whereas she had been brought up to be cautious. And leaving Klaus shouldn't have been this easy. The streets were dark and deserted, and the whole town was fast asleep. In some ways, it felt like the calm before the storm. Damon started whistling a tune, and Elena allowed herself a small smile at his jauntiness. He had absolutely no fear, and she envied him for it. But if he wasn't at all tensed, then didn't that mean there was probably nothing to be tensed about? Still, it was better not to take chances.

She elbowed him gently. "Stop whistling." She whispered, but he ignored her and carried on. Annoyed, she looked up, to see that he had stopped walking. He stiffened, as the whistling carried on.

"I did stop." He replied, quietly, letting go of her hand. Elena followed his gaze, as a dark figure emerged from the shadows. A shot of terror ran through her, as Klaus smiled coldly at her.

"Well, well, fancy seeing you here." He said, drily, and Damon tensed beside her.

"Klaus - " Elena started to say, but he shook his head.

"It's not what it looks like?" He guessed, and Elena remained silent. She didn't know what to say. It was over. Her hope had been short-lived. She had known this was never going to work. She should never have even tried to leave. She should never have risked Damon's life like this. She had been weak, and now she was about to pay the price.

"Klaus, let us go. You don't want a wife who doesn't love you, and she doesn't want a husband she doesn't love."

"Oh, well since you put it that way, go. I'll just tell people that my wife chose a peasant over a lord. They'll understand." Klaus said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"She chose a man over a coward." Damon said quietly, and Elena gripped his arm tightly, trying to make him stay quiet. His sharp tongue was going to get him killed.

Klaus's ironic smile faded, as a look of quiet fury crossed his face.

"Well pretty soon, there won't be a choice to make." He replied, taking his hand out from behind his back. Elena saw the cold glint of the sharp dagger he was holding in his hand. Her heart raced in terror, as she looked back up at Damon. He looked as fearless as ever.

"You're right about that." Damon said, taking a step forward, towards Klaus, and shaking her arm off.

Elena looked around, to see if there was anyone around who could help her, help Damon, but the streets were still deserted. Klaus skipped forwards, trying to use the element of surprise, but Damon was quick on his feet and dodged backwards, out of the range of the knife. They danced like that for a few minutes, Klaus slashing out wildly, and Damon weaving out of the way. He was graceful and nimble, but with every swipe of Klaus's dagger, Elena's heart stopped momentarily. Her helplessness was frustrating her. She wished she could do something to help Damon, but she had no idea what. She looked around for a weapon of some sort, but saw nothing that could compete against Klaus's blade. She looked back, just in time to see Damon jump back again, in expectation of Klaus's next attack, but it didn't come. Instead, Klaus sidestepped around him, forcing him to turn, putting Klaus in between Damon and herself.

Klaus moved over to her, grabbing her hair and yanking her head back. He caressed her neck with his dagger, as she shivered at the coldness of it.

"Let go of her." Damon said quietly, his voice icy.

"You know, I think you were right actually. I don't want a wife who doesn't love me." He said softly.

Elena forced herself to stay still, one abrupt movement could be the end. Damon didn't say anything, but she could see him clench his fists. He was seething with anger.

"But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you two ride into the sunset." Klaus added, moving the knife gently across her throat. "Because the way I see it, if I can't have her, no one can." He said, his voice dangerously low. As he moved the knife, she felt it nick her skin slightly, and a small trickle of blood ran down her neck. Elena trembled in barely contained terror, and she saw something flash in Damon's eyes. For the first time ever, she saw fear in him. He was scared. For her.

"Klaus, don't. You can kill me, if you want. Not her." Damon said.

"If you're worried that she's going to lose her life instead of you, don't be. I'll take care of you afterwards. I just thought it would be more painful for you to watch her die first." Klaus replied, his voice bitter with resentment.

Elena felt a tear slip down her cheek. "I love you, Damon." She whispered.

He saw that she had given up, and he shook his head, angrily. "No." He said, through gritted teeth. "This is not the end."

Elena felt Klaus tense at their exchange. "You're willing to give your life, for this peasant." Klaus hissed into her ear. "This gutter rat. He's nothing. I gave you everything. You had money, jewels, whatever you wanted. You would have wanted for nothing."

Elena half smiled. "Klaus, if you don't understand by now, you never will. Yes, you did give me everything. But for me, Damon is everything." She replied softly.

Klaus half growled, the knife shaking in his hand. "I hope it was worth it."

Elena didn't bother replying. She didn't need to justify herself to Klaus. She turned around, placing her back to Damon. She couldn't look at him, couldn't bear to see his pain.

"Look me in the eye when you kill your baby." Elena whispered, suddenly making the decision to tell him. She wanted to know how big a monster he was. Would he show remorse if he knew he was killing his child? Her words had the desired effect. His hand paused, his eyes showing shock for the first time since she had met him.

"You're lying." He said finally, slashing with the dagger. She closed her eyes, expecting the end, when she felt herself being pulled back.

Her eyes flew open as she saw Damon throw himself at Klaus. She put a hand to her neck, but there was nothing there. She was alive. She looked back up to see Klaus and Damon grappling in the street, punches being thrown all over the place. As she stepped forwards, Damon stumbled away from Klaus. The front of his shirt was soaked in blood.

"Damon!" She cried out, her heart stopping. She ran to him, touching his stomach, her hands coming away covered in blood. "Oh god, oh god." She cried. She couldn't lose him.

"Elena!" He said, cupping her face with his hand. "It's not my blood." He said, quietly. She looked back down to his shirt, and realized he was right. There was no wound. Understanding dawning, she looked over to Klaus. He had staggered backwards, and was now looking down at his clothes in shock. He stumbled, and fell to the ground, his blood forming a small pool next to him.

"Oh my god…" Elena said, horrified, her hand covering her mouth to try and stop herself from screaming.

"My lord!" Another man exclaimed, coming out from the shadows, and crouching down next to Klaus. He must have been waiting there the whole time.

Klaus was groaning in pain, the pool of blood steadily growing bigger.

"Elena, we have to get out of here." Damon whispered, as Klaus's man desperately tried to stop the flow of blood.

Elena couldn't tear her eyes away from Klaus lying on the ground. His groans had become quieter, and now he was barely moving. "No, we have to get him to a hospital!" Elena said, looking back up at Damon. He silently shook his head, and Elena understood what he was saying. It was too late.

"We have to go. Now."

Elena took one last look at her dying husband, before taking Damon's hand.

"STOP THEM! SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE!" She heard the shouts behind them, as they took off down the street.

After a few minutes they paused to catch their breath.

"We have to get out of here!" Elena said. "They'll be looking for you!"

But Damon shook his head. "We can't leave without Stefan, and we can't go back to my house to get him, that's the first place they'll look."

Elena looked around worriedly. "Then what do we do?"

"We have to hide, lie low, until I get a chance to get to Stefan and then we get the hell out of here."

Elena nodded. "We go to my house. You need to get cleaned up, you're covered in blood, you'll stand out wherever we go. Then we can think of what to do next."

Damon hesitated, he clearly didn't like the plan but they had no choice. In their current state, there was nowhere else to go.

"Just for tonight. Then we go somewhere else."

(*)

Elena walked into the living room, holding a shirt for Damon. Her parents were fast asleep, so nobody had noticed them enter the house. Damon was sitting on the floor, watching the dying embers of the fire. She sat down next to him, and he put his arm around her.

"This isn't how I thought the night would go." She said quietly, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"I suppose this isn't how you thought your life would go." He replied.

Elena sat up. "You don't think I regret any of this, do you?"

"You just watched me kill a man. I have no idea what you're thinking." He replied quietly.

"He wasn't a good man, Damon."

"I know that. It doesn't change the fact that I just widowed you."

"You set me free."

She turned his face so he met her gaze, and leaned forwards, placing a small, sweet kiss on his lips. "I don't regret meeting you, I don't regret falling in love with you, and I definitely don't regret what just happened."

"We'll see if that's still how you feel after a few days of hiding from the police." He said, leaning his head back against the sofa.

(*)

Elena opened her eyes slowly to a hammering on the door.

"Open up!" A loud voice shouted.

Damon sat up next to her, immediately alert.

"Coming!" Elena heard her mother's cheerful voice, as she went over to the door.

"NO!" Elena shouted, but it was too late. Miranda opened the door, and ten uniformed men flooded into the house.

"Elena? What are you doing here?" Her mother asked, confused, as the men swarmed around Damon.

"No! Don't you dare take him!" Elena said, fighting to move next to him, but one of the policemen held her back. Two others grabbed Damon, handcuffing his wrists behind his back. They all filed out of the house, and Elena was quick to follow. They led him down to the police carriage waiting in the streets, and Elena ran after them, but her father held her back.

"Don't Elena." He said, gently.

"No! Let go of me!" She said, struggling in his arms. "Damon!" She screamed.

He tried to move towards her, but one of the policemen shoved him forwards. She fought to get free of her father's hold, but he was too strong. Miranda looked from Damon back to her daughter, as understanding slowly dawned on her. Though she didn't know exactly what was going on, she could see her daughter cared deeply about the man currently being arrested for murder.

"Let her go." Miranda said softly, placing her hand on Elena's father's arm.

As Elena struggled to fight free, her father suddenly let go. She glanced gratefully at her mother, before running towards Damon. He spun free of the policeman holding him, and moved to meet her. His hands were tied, so she cupped his face with his hands, bringing him close to her.

"I won't stop fighting for you." She whispered.

Doors were opening along her street, as people came out to see what the commotion was, but she didn't care anymore.

"I won't stop loving you." He whispered back, meeting her lips with his. His love for her sent a shiver down her spine, as she knew deep down, she would never experience a love like this again.

"Get over here." A policeman grabbed Damon, pulling him away.

"No!" Elena said, fighting to keep hold of him. She wasn't ready to let him go.

"Get off!" The man yelled, shoving her roughly backwards. As Damon was pulled away, she lost her balance, and fell back, hitting the floor hard. A sharp pain shot through her, and she doubled over, clutching her stomach.

"Elena!" Damon's voice shouted over to her in the distance, but the pain in her stomach was drowning him out. She groaned, and looked down at her hands. To her complete horror, it was covered in blood.

"No no no no!" She whispered, realizing what was happening.

Another jolt of pain hit her stomach, as she cried out in agony. The blood wouldn't stop, as she tried to wipe it off on her dress. "Damon!" She cried out weakly, lying back on the ground, her tears flowing fast. Her vision was blurring, and she couldn't see him anymore. She felt her parents crouch down next to her. Her mother was crying too. But all she could focus on was the blood covering her hands, and the sharp pain in her stomach. She wept, inconsolably, for the child she had lost.

Her devastated moans rang out through the street, as Damon fought desperately to go to her. But the men held him tightly, forcing him into the carriage. He knew what had happened, as soon as he had seen the blood. He was heartbroken for her, and he wished nothing more than to be there with her, holding her, comforting her. But all he could do was listen, as her grief-stricken sobs followed the carriage towards the police station, and tore at his heart.

What do you guys think of the story? I really hope you're liking it x