AN: Hey! I'm back with a new chapter. For the next few months, expect sporadic updates. However, there WILL be updates, so don't be too upset. Enjoy!

Damon POV:

Damon woke wrapped in his blankets. A dream. It was all a dream, he thought, relieved. He moved to sit up only to gasp in pain and fall back to the mattress. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain to fade. It wasn't instantaneous. Suddenly, Damon realized it hadn't been a dream at all. There was no other explanation. He was trapped with a psychotic kitsune, hell-bent on dredging up memories Damon had chosen to avoid for five hundred plus years. He groaned and rolled over, momentarily forgetting the damage the demon had done. This time, the pain was more intense. Damon couldn't hold back a whimper.

He was disgusted with himself. He wanted to get in the shower and scrub his entire body until layers of skin peeled off. Damon wanted to vomit just thinking about what Shinichi had done. Leaning over the side of the bed, he did just that. He was alarmed at the amount of blood that poured from his throat. Moving very slowly so as not to hurt himself, Damon sat back. Almost as soon as he'd made himself comfortable, the door opened. He tensed, mentally preparing himself for Shinichi's arrival because there was absolutely no way to prepare physically. Someone entered the room, but it was not Shinichi. It was the maid. Damon glared at her as angrily as he could manage when she made her way to the bed. She wore a horrified expression when she uncovered him. Suddenly, Damon realized she wasn't his enemy. In fact, she was a prisoner. Just like him. His face softened and he let her begin to cleanse his wounds. Her soft hands felt good against his mangled flesh.

Elena POV:

Elena left the boarding house, armed with a hand gun and what remained of the blessed bullets. Matt had insisted he be the one to carry the gun, but Elena had silenced him with a look. She wanted to be the one to destroy those who had destroyed her love. She missed Stefan more and more with each passing moment. It physically hurt her even to think about him. She pushed thoughts of her fiancé from her head and continued forward, Meredith, Matt, Sage, and Bonnie at her heels. Mrs. Flowers had opted to stay home and "hold down the fort". The quintet had deemed her capable and left her with the best protection they could scrounge up. Elena hoped the old woman would be there when they returned. She hoped they would return.

"Take a left up here." Came Bonnie's voice. Elena turned in the direction Bonnie had indicated, keeping a steady pace. It was clear her friends were worried. Elena was past caring. She wanted revenge. Apart from that, she didn't really mind dying. At least, if she went, she would be reunited with Stefan. When this thought crossed her mind, she stopped. Something was stopping her from leaving this world again. Damon. She couldn't die because she had to free Damon from his newfound prison. Damon: the sweet, yet somehow emotionless vampire. But, he wasn't a vampire anymore. He was utterly helpless as a human and they had left him in Shinichi's hands. A wave of guilt crashed through Elena, but she continued moving. She couldn't stop. For, if she stopped, she would lose her resolve.

"Elena, are you sure you don't want to hand me the gun?" Matt spoke up from behind her. Elena shook her head and kept walking. It was obvious that her friends were worried about her state of mind. She hadn't exactly been sane for the last day and a half. Without Stefan, it was as if she were missing a piece of her. He was truly her other half. Again, Elena pushed thoughts of her love out of her mind, attempting to focus on the task ahead.

"Enter the wood here, Elena." Bonnie directed. Elena marched onward. Suddenly, her mind was overcome with doubts. Maybe it was the forest that surrounded her, the same trees that had been witnesses to Stefan's demise. But, all of a sudden, she felt hopeless. What chance did they have against Shinichi's army of possessed children? Who knew what sorts of creatures he had at his disposal wherever he was? She gripped the hand gun tightly. It was reassuring, her only protection. A hand grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. Elena turned and met Meredith's eyes.

"Elena… This isn't going to be easy. I want to save him, too, but Shinichi is powerful. He's going to do everything he can to stop us. Are you ready for that?" Meredith spoke softly, but assuredly. She was as calm as ever. Elena let her words sink in before nodding. She knew she wasn't giving up on this. Even if it meant her death, she was going to save Damon. After all he'd been forced to go through, he didn't deserve this.

Damon POV:

Damon lay between blood-soaked sheets, trying in vain not to examine himself. He'd been holding his head high for hours now. The maid had gone, leaving him to his own devices. He felt as if he were drowning. Thinking was like dragging his feet through a swamp. Everything was hazy. His vision had a distinctive red tint. Damon knew he was in bad shape. His mind automatically blocked out everything Shinichi had done to him. Damon knew that if he thought about it, he would lose his mind. It brought back awful memories of his human life. In his head, Shinichi and his father's faces were blending together. They were his tormentors, always there. His father's voice was always in his head, always reminding him he would never be good enough. Now, Shinichi was staking his claim.

Finally, Damon's curiosity got the better of him. He looked down and gasped. Splotches of black and blue covered his chest. There were small cuts around his collarbone. Damon pulled back the blankets. At least Shinichi had had the decency to redress him. It was more than his father had ever done. The bruising continued in a wicked pattern down his sides. There were black and blue marks on his inner thighs. Bloodstains covered his body. He threw the covers back over himself, disgusted. He couldn't see anymore. It brought back too many memories. Again, his father's face appeared in his thoughts. And, when Giuseppe popped into Damon's mind, Stefan was never far behind. This time, thoughts of his brother seemed to hurt the most. Hurriedly, Damon pushed all thoughts from his mind, focusing all of his energy on a painting across the room.

The painting depicted a single ship floating across an endless span of blue sea. The ship had very little detail. It was a simple brown boat with a white sail. It looked like a child's rendition. The sea, however, was the polar opposite of the small ship. Damon could see every wave, every bubble, every fish that swam within it. It was the epitome of detail. Damon sat in the too-big bed, trying to figure out what that meant. The artist was obviously trying to remind people that they should stop and look around them, enjoy the scenery, live in the moment. But, Damon had lost his chance. How he wished he'd taken the time to enjoy his afterlife, rather than wasting it ruining his brother's. He wished he had taken the time to reconnect with his little brother before Stefan was so cruelly ripped away.

The doorknob was turning again. Damon knew, this time, that it was not the maid. He tensed, ready for whatever was to come. He had to be strong because, if he let his guard down for even a moment, he would give in. And, if he gave in, it would mean that Shinichi had won. Damon was nothing if not stubborn. This was one battle he would not lose.

Stefan POV:

He hung in the air, feeling as if he were suspended in time. At any other moment, it would have been peaceful. But, Stefan knew his love was below. He knew that his brother was in grave danger and that Elena was putting herself in danger to rescue him. He tried in vain to return to the ground. It was so very far away. No matter how hard he concentrated, no matter how hard he tried, Stefan couldn't seem to make himself drop even a millimeter.

Out of the corner of his eye, Stefan saw a small translucent string. It seemed to originate in the place his heart should have been. But, that wasn't possible. His heart had been ripped out of his chest when Elena's tear-streaked face had come into view. Still curious, Stefan tugged on the string. Suddenly, he dropped about a foot. Gasping, Stefan let go. Then, tentatively, he grabbed the string again. This time, he gave it a light tug. He dropped a few inches. He continued, pulling harder and harder until he was sailing toward the ground. He was going to see Elena again!

Unfortunately, Stefan did not take into account the forest below. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by trees. Shortly after that, there was pain and he was no longer falling. Looking down, he realized he'd impaled himself on a branch. The first thing he really noticed was that it hurt. An agonized growl ripped through his throat. He struggled, but it only drove the branch in farther. It had missed his heart, so he was in no danger of dying yet. Still, he was stuck in a tree in the middle of the Old Wood. No one would be looking for him at this point. Stefan had "died". He groaned. How would he get out of this one?

Stefan froze, hearing a sound from below. Was it Shinichi's band of merry minions? Perfect. He thought, dejected. He was in the worst possible position, completely vulnerable. He held his breath (it wasn't difficult because he was a vampire) and waited for them to pass. Sure enough, a group passed under his tree. Stefan couldn't bear to look. He focused his attention on a cloud that looked suspiciously like an elephant. Maybe if he didn't look down, they wouldn't look up. Then, a cry pierced through the air.

"Stefan?" Elena.

AN: Like it? Hate it? Review!