And here I am again. And as I promised, this chapter is longer. Not by much, but still^^.

As always, a huge thanks to Avecia – I think without her, I wouldn't even had written more than ONE chapter.

And THANK YOU, dear reader, for still being with me – especially those of you who left me reviews^^.

I don't own anything about VD, I just have fun messing with them.

Enjoy!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

She took a few, deep breaths before checking her appearance in the rear-view mirror.

If it weren't for the dried tear tracks down her face, she would have looked perfectly cold and detached.

Glancing down at the paper in her hands, she straightened her shoulders, got out of the car and marched to the front door of the house she had parked in front of.

She was still surprised how easily she pulled all of this off.

Not once had Damon – never mind her brother - suspected anything strange going on.

Not one of them had seen the clothes underneath her bathrobe. And Damon? He was so shocked at seeing Katherine, that he missed the moment the woman had slipped her the piece of paper before disappearing.

It was a simple note: an address and underneath a message, practical and to the point.

'Be there before sunrise if you don't want the rest of your loved ones dead'

At first she thought about telling Damon about the note. He would be able to protect them, right? But the longer she thought, the clearer it became that he couldn't be everywhere at once. And, sure, she trusted him with her life – despite what everyone else thought and said about him.

But what about Stefan. Or Bonnie and Caroline. Her aunt Jenna; her brother? None of them had done anything other than always doubt him. So why should he help them? And after the things Jeremy said… really, what was left for her to lose? She and Stefan had begun drifting apart. Lies to protect her, him, her family, coming in between them. And not to forget the strange flutter her heart always made when Damon was near her.

Her best friend slowly, but surely, had slipped away too. She loved Bonnie. Always had, always would – but things had happened in the last few weeks and months…there were so many issues, and she really wasn't sure if their friendship would, could, survive them.

And finally her brother. Her baby brother who had learned to hate her. She always wanted to protect him. Keep him safe from all the ugly things out there.

If she couldn't even accomplish that, what could she? She had failed, miserably.

Just like he said. Their parents (or his, according to him) would've never been in that car, if it wasn't for her.

Stefan probably wouldn't have stayed in Mystic Falls if she hadn't been there – and Damon never would have come, if Stefan hadn't been there. And without those two, Vicky would still be annoying the hell out of everyone.

So here she stood, in front of a house, with Katherine waiting inside of it; trying to collect enough courage to knock.

But all she needed to do, really, was remember the hate in Jeremy's eyes. That was enough for her to make her heart hard, and her fear fade. Nothing in this world, nothing, could be worse than that.

So she lifted her hand and resolutely knocked three times.

It was less then ten seconds later that the door swung open and she, once again, stared in the face of her mirror image.

And for a while they both just stood there, still reeling in the wonder of what they saw.

Then the lips of Katherine, so strongly resembling her own, twisted in an amused smile.

"Well, look at what we have here. I really thought you would just run into the arms of my Salvatore brothers and let them… take care of this. Tell me, are you a martyr? Maybe a little wannabe heroine? Or maybe you're just plain stupid."

And Elena? She couldn't help but to laugh at this. Theoretically she new that this woman wouldn't like to be laughed at, but she just couldn't hold it in any longer.

Her whole, clichéd, all-American-girl life had fallen to pieces in the span of just a little over a year.

She laughed so hard she had to clutch the doorframe with one hand, and her stomach with the other.

And as wave after wave bubbled out of her, she could clearly see the annoyance and anger grow in Katherine.

But it really didn't matter to her. Not any longer. But, nonetheless, she struggled to return to calm and collected, and after a while she succeeded.

"Sorry. That was… no, I'm not a martyr. Or any of the above. I'm just tired, is all. Really, really tired.

And I couldn't bother to wait for the games you surely want to play. So. Here I am. The freak of nature. Little carbon copy of the great Katherine – your very own walking, talking mirror image. Do what you want with me, I don't really care. But be sure that I end up dead when you're done with it."

With that she pushed past the other woman, successful in doing the one thing nobody had done, ever before.

She left her speechless.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Damon finally – after what seemed like an eternity, but probably was only about half an hour - left Jeremy's room, and went back to the living room, deciding that Elena needed a little bit of peace, over everything else.

He texted the teacher – letting him know that more shit was about to hit the fan.

After that he tried to reach the Sheriff – only to remember something about Caroline being injured, as he just got Liz Forbes' voicemail.

He contemplated to just let Stefan wait, but he promised Elena to keep him 'up to date', so he texted him too.

If, by any chance, he wasn't in the mood to read anything Damon wrote, it surely wasn't his fault.

And then he just waited. And waited some more. An hour later there was still no news from Stefan – meaning he assumed right that he would ignore any texts from him.

He slowly started to relax and leaned back into the couch.

Wanting to make sure that there was nothing suspicious out there, he closed his eyes and concentrated everything he had on his hearing.

A few night birds flying around, and the odd squirrel rushing over trees, a few cars. Nothing out of the ordinary.

And upstairs, there was a healthy, strong heartbeat….

Wait, a? One?

And once again he was up the stairs. First he thought the stupid boy had done something… well, stupid again.

So he rushed into the room, only to find him sitting on the floor, staring forlornly at a drawing of Anna. In the back of his mind he registered that is was a surprisingly good painting, but really, the abilities of the kid were the last things on his mind.

Fearing the worst he got to Elena's door and pushed it open.

The room was empty, the curtain blowing ominously, courtesy of the open window.

His eyes caught something on the bed, and he slowly made his way to it.

It was a note, and underneath it, Elena's diary.

He dreaded reading the note, but really, he had no choice. So he forced himself to man up, and brought it in front of his eyes.

Damon,

I know this may be a little… dramatic, but I really couldn't think of anything else.

Obviously I'm not here anymore, but, believe me, I have my reasons. I'm tired, Damon.

Everything I thought I knew about life was a lie. All around me, I'm loosing people. Friends, and family, and I just… I don't want to anymore. I can't take it.

So I go. Please be sure to tell Stefan that I love him, even if we both knew that we wouldn't have made it much longer – not together, not as a couple.

And tell Jeremy he's gonna get what he wanted. Maybe it will help him deal somehow.

If you see Bonnie – and I know it is a lot to ask – please tell her she'll always be my best friend, even if we see things very different now.

The diary is for you. I couldn't think of a better way to let you know how important you've become to me.

So, you probably got it by now – I'm not coming back. Please don't think it's your fault – or anyone else's really. It's everything around me, and I guess I'm just not strong enough.

I have nothing else to say, really. I hope you'll understand.

Goodbye

The note fluttered to the floor as he rushed out of the window, hoping, praying, that he wouldn't be too late. Get to her before the one good thing in his damned unlife would be gone.

It took him a moment to find what he was looking for. But then it was there. The soft, heavenly fragrance that was Elena.

In the blink of an eye he was gone, out into the night, haunted by the nightmare that would be his world if he couldn't get to her in time.

-end-

And that's it – at least, for now. Reviews are love, people ^^

So long

Zora