It was just beginning to drizzle when they finally slowed down. Without ever releasing her hand, Damon led Alex through the forest until they came to an unoccupied cabin. Quickly they stowed away into the farthest bedroom from the front door. Though the walls were sturdy and the doors were closed, safety seemed like a distant myth from long ago. The wind howled relentlessly and the young tree outside constantly banged up against the side of the house. Each small and large noise made Alex shiver. There was no light but the moon's, but even that only made the room more terrifying.

"It's okay," Damon assured, making a swift check out the window and nervously pacing about the room. "We'll find a place to hide this stone, and then you'll be safe. They won't come after you anymore. You'll be safe…"

He continued on like this for a few minutes, but Alex was not paying any attention. Her heart was beating with an incredible speed to match her racing mind. As she sat on the bed shivering, thoughts swirled about in her head, and confusion went along with each one. Elizabeth was simply her main priority right now, but her motherly instinct conflicted with her decreasing cowardice. She now felt it was silly to ever imagine a life with her daughter again, and her destiny was both to her and to her new friends.

"It's silly to run this way," she suddenly whispered. "They'll find us eventually. I'll have to die."

"Don't say that!" Damon yelled, aggressively throwing his fists in front of him. "This is crazy. Elena has gotten out of deadlier situations than this. You can't talk like that."

"Don't you see, Damon?" she started calmly as she rose from the bed. "I can't live without Elizabeth. And if I died, you could have a better life."

"No!" Damon exclaimed desperately. "No, you don't know what you're saying. You can't just go to die. That's ridiculous."

She was not stable enough to give a real argument, though the words were strident in her mind. Anxiously, she looked up to see Damon, who was staring at her with thoughtful eyes. He stared around the room with his racing mind shining through his eyes. Suddenly, he rushed over to her and took her hands.

"Alex, what is Elizabeth's favorite toy?" he asked urgently.

The question was so unexpected, she could not imagine an answer. After a few silent moments, she was able to produce a reply, but she did not know what it was for. "A stuffed toy of Mickey Mouse. Damon why are you asking me this?"

"And her favorite movie?"

"Pocahontas," Alex answered as she remembered how diligently Elizabeth would watch it every day.

"Where is her favorite place to go?"

"The park," Alex grumbled, the memories now turning sour on her tongue. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doesn't it make you miss her?" Damon asked, an excitement within his jumpiness. "You are the only one who knows her this way. You can't just abandon her. Don't you love her?"

Alex took great offense to this question, and her jaw locked into a heated tension. "Of course I love her, Damon! That is not the question here. What I'm saying is that there is no way for me to care for her like this. I can't be her mother, a blood-sucking vampire, always slightly longing to stick my teeth into her neck and steal all her life. It won't be fair to the both of us when she turns nineteen, and we look like twins. What kind of mother would I be to do that to her? How dare I even think of putting her through that!"

Soft tears started to slowly pour down her face, and Damon was left speechless, but only for a moment. A desperation filled his face, and he quietly started to speak.

"Who will take care of her?" he asked gently. "Who will be her mother?"

The answer to this question had just recently come to Alex's mind, but she knew now was not the place to discuss it. Her idea would place Damon in a state of shock, panic, and even anger. He may even kidnap her and keep her from ever dying. But before she could start to explain her temporary excuses, a sound was heard from outside. It was not the tree hitting against the side of the cabin. It was definitely something else, and Damon seemed to notice the seriousness of this before anyone else.

"Shh," he murmured, slowly moving to the window. Only moonlight illuminated the night, and shadows were more easily recognized. Suddenly, a tall shadow covered the window and caused the room to turn pitch black. Alex stared at the black window with a horrible chill deep in her chest. Her heart completely stopped as she noticed a pair of familiar, sinister green eyes peering into the room like a hungry man looking into a warm bakery. The eyes left after only a few seconds, but Alex still felt their terrifying presence in the room.

"Stay here," Damon growled, heading towards the door of the room.

"Damon, where are you going?" Alex questioned hysterically, following Damon to the door. "You can't go out there!"

"Stay here," Damon repeated with even more rage than before.

Both obedience and fear cause Alex to stay in the room. But she felt like her spirit had left her body and was now with Damon. She sat upright on the bed, leaving her ears open to any sign of confrontation between Damon and the unknown figure. A layer of frost covered her body as she heard a loud snarl.

It was unclear what exactly was going on. Grunting and the tearing of clothes was all she could really hear. She was grateful no piercing of flesh was evident in the sounds, but she could just be hearing it all wrong. Perhaps Damon was winning. Maybe he was already dead.

She jumped off the bed as the living room door slammed open. The howling wind and heavy footsteps added to her already incredible fear, and she backed away into the corner of the bedroom. Anxiously, she anticipated the unknown figure walking into the room with a menacing, jagged smile and devious green eyes. The footsteps grew louder and louder, and she gave a great gasp as a large figure stumbled into the dark room.

It was Damon. The pale moonlight shone brightly on his watery blue eyes, and she eagerly rushed him to the bed. Weakly, he lay down and gripped his stomach. His violent breathing almost shocked Alex into stillness.

"Damon!" she screamed frenziedly. "Damon, are you okay? Where are you hurt?"

As he could not immediately answer her, she started to feel his chest and abdomen. His tattered shirt was all wet with what she hoped was rain. But as she brought her now soaked hand to the moonlight, she could see the dark red color of blood. Hastily, she ran over to the closet and found some extra sheets. She threw them over his stomach and pressed down hard.

"I don't see where you're hurt," she told anxiously. "I can't see anything in here, Damon. Is this the place?"

"He scratched me up on my chest," Damon mumbled, causing Alex to move her applied pressure right away. "My face is probably a little deformed now. He knocked me around pretty bad. But I think I broke his leg. He won't be coming back for a while."

"Oh, goodness, Damon," Alex cried. "I can't believe you would go out there for me. It was really stupid, Damon."

"Why wouldn't I do it?" he asked with a weak smirk. "You deserve to be protected."

"Not anymore," said Alex sternly. "As soon as you get better, you're going to give me the Blood Stone, and I'm going to go with them."

The smile wiped off Damon's face instantly. "No, Alex."

"Yes, Damon," Alex protested confidently. "But I'll only go with them if they allow anyone who wants to change to join in the sacrifice. You can be human again, Damon. Don't you want to be human again?"

"I don't want to be human without you," he replied fiercely, suddenly grabbing her hand.

As they were there in the moonlight, Alex felt the deep passion of romance. No one, not even Elizabeth's father, had ever given her so much security and friendship. She considered the idea of marrying this man who had just risked his life for her sake. She imagined raising Elizabeth in the affectionate light that Damon gave. But her heart broke into a thousand miserable pieces as even this dream conflicted with what she needed to do. Tearfully, she shook her head.

"I can't, Damon," she sobbed. "I just can't. I don't want any of this in my daughter's life. For that to be, I can't exist anymore. I could run away with you and live forever with you, but she is my first love. I'm sorry, Damon. It's impossible."