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The Darkness

"Funny you should call," Elena heard after Sarah had answered.

"Oh?" Elena said.

"Yeah. I've been thinking about going back there, to Mystic Falls. I'd like to talk to you about my family some more."

"Tell her 'hi' for me," Jeremy said, though Elena was trying to ignore him. She knew he was watching her.

"I'd like to talk to you too," Elena said. "Though I'm not sure doing it here is a good idea." She decided to get to the point. "Have you heard from Katherine recently?"

"No," Sarah answered. "I've only heard from her a couple of times since I got back from Mystic Falls, and that was just after I left there."

Elena nodded, then realized Sarah would not see it. She did not want to say anymore about Katherine with Jeremy in the room. She made the decision. "Do you mind if we, Damon and I, come to visit you?"

Sarah hesitated, and Elena wondered if it was because of Damon. She was right.

"Damon?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah. I kind of think I'll need him."

"Elena, is there a problem?" the witch asked, sounding a little suspicious.

Elena glanced at Jeremy, then switched to whispering. "I'm not sure, but I want to talk about it in person." She spoke out loud again, "please, Sarah?"

She heard Sarah sigh, but the witch agreed. "Fine. You and Damon are inseparable, aren't you?" When Elena didn't immediately respond, Sarah said "Just him. No other vampires."

"Just him," Elena quickly agreed.

"So…" Sarah tentatively began, "will you bring Jeremy with you?"

Elena rolled her eyes, making sure to keep her back to Jeremy, as Sarah continued. "We've kept in touch and have been trying to come up with a way to see each other again."

"Jeremy told me," the human quickly said, "but I think Jenna needs him here for the next few days. I'd like to leave to go there now, if I can."

Elena could hear the witch's disappointment as she agreed, "Ok. You'll just stay with us, won't you? It'll be dark when you get here."

"That would be great," Elena said, glad Jeremy had not been mentioned again. "But it might not be dark when we get there, Damon will be driving."

The Protection

"You said you talk to her every day," Elena said as she left a glaring Jeremy to go through their shared bathroom into her own room, "so you can't be that upset about not going. And I think Jenna said she needed you here, anyway."

"Jenna didn't tell me anything," Jeremy yelled as his sister walked out of sight, though he didn't follow her.

Damon and Stefan did follow Elena.

"I need to pack," she said to them. "Be back in 20 minutes, Damon?"

"Yeah," Damon said, though he didn't move – he just looked at Stefan, who was glaring at Elena.

"Back in the land of lies, Elena?" Stefan said.

She had just opened her closet to pull out a suitcase, but she turned to face him. "It's for the best," she said softly.

"When did you start believing that, Elena?"

Elena tried not to react, though she felt a bit of a sting at his words. "I need you to stay close to Jenna while we're gone."

"Of course you do," Stefan said angrily. "As always. I think I need to go to the witch with you. As much as you don't want to believe it, you might need me."

Damon was tensing, so she looked for his eyes and whispered, "Damon, give us a minute, OK? Go pack and be back in 20 minutes."

She nodded in encouragement as Damon's eyes found hers. He didn't speak, but she could tell he wasn't happy as he nodded and left the room.

Stefan was still glaring at Elena as she said, "I really do need someone to stay with Jenna. I'd like it to be you."

"I'd really like to go to the witch with you." His face was still so hard, she had to look away.

She took a breath and lowered her eyes. "Do you know what Sarah has done for me, Stefan?"

"I think I got the gist of it."

Elena didn't look back to him until she had pulled her suitcase out of her closet and placed it on the bed. Then she turned to face him. "The 'gist' of it is that she has done more for me than I can ever hope to repay. She knows Damon and will let him come with me, but she doesn't want any other vampires there with me."

He was about to say something, but she interrupted. "As much as she's done for me, I'm going to do as she asks."

"I don't have to go in with you," Stefan argued. "I just want to be there."

"I know, Stefan, but please," she implored as she took a few steps toward him. "You know what's happened here before. Jenna and Jeremy need someone like you with them."

The glare was gone, though he was still obviously upset.

Elena was close to him now, speaking softly, "I know I keep asking you to do this for me, but I also know you keep doing as I ask. I will find a way to repay…"

"Don't!" he cut her off sharply. "Don't treat me like you little lapdog. I'm not."

She shook her head and started to speak, but he raised his finger to cut her off. He hesitated then said, "I'm not giving up on you, Elena."

Then he turned around and headed for the window. She could only stare at first, he had always just agreed before; but she managed to ask "Does that mean you'll do it? Will you protect Jenna for me?"

Stefan stopped, but did not turn around. He really didn't answer her question either. "Jenna will be protected," he said, just before leaving through her window.

The Elation

Elena found herself approaching Jenna again. She knew her aunt would agree, Jenna had come to trust Elena to Katherine, knowing the vampire would make sure her niece was protected. Still, it was always hard for Elena to talk about this with her aunt – even when she wasn't lying.

"Katherine needs me to go to see Sarah," Elena said to her aunt's back. "I need to leave right away," the niece added as Jenna turned from the open refrigerator to face her.

Jenna looked from Elena's eyes to the suitcase in her hand, and back. "Do you know how long you will be gone?"

Elena knew she could not pull off this ruse if she had to answer too many questions. She had it make it fast. "Just a couple of days. No biggie. I just have to talk with Sarah about a few things."

Jenna nodded. "Take Jeremy with you."

"What?" Elena asked. She had started to turn around when Jenna nodded, but now looked back, obviously confused.

"Take Jeremy with you." Jenna repeated. "He could use a couple of days away, and didn't he like that girl?"

"It's business, and I don't want you to be alone," Elena argued.

"I can stay with Rick, or he can stay here. He's not going with you, is he?"

"No, but..."

"I'm sure Jeremy can find something to do while you're working," Jenna's face was firm.

Elena wasn't happy, but decided that giving Jenna a chance to force any more information from her would be worse. "OK," she quickly said, and headed back for the stairs to tell her brother, sure she would be annoyed at his reaction to the news.

She was right. Jeremy was elated, Elena annoyed.

The Trust

It had been a long time since Katherine was so torn, so upset with herself. She couldn't believe that she had let herself fall into a trap. But here she was – a prisoner.

Her captor hadn't visited her since he taunted her earlier that day, since he had made her think that Elena was his target.

She wondered briefly why he hadn't just gone after her doppelganger directly, but then realized he probably had. Since witches were involved, she thought it was probably her captor that had gone after Elena in Mystic Falls a few weeks ago. Maybe he had gone after her at the Proctor house as well.

She needed to get a warning to Elena and the people around her, but still thought that a direct call to the girl, or to Isobel, would be unwise. She had no idea what was happening outside of her prison, but she couldn't risk waiting just to hear that her captor had gotten to Elena.

She decided she could trust Sarah with this. She and the blonde witch had an agreement, and she was sure Sarah was smart enough to warn Elena. And it might not be a bad idea to bring the Proctor witch into this, if it really was her captor that had been involved in the previous attacks on Elena.

The Surprise

"He'll be in the house with her?" Natalie asked her daughter.

"Yes," Sarah replied, "but you know him, Mom. I don't think he would cause problems for us, and you know he won't do anything Elena doesn't want him to. She won't let him do anything to cause trouble."

Natalie studied her daughter. "I know you trust her and her vampires, but…"

The older witch was interrupted by Sarah's phone. She heard her daughter say, "It'll be fine, Mom, like the last time they were here," as Sarah looked at her phone's screen to see who was calling. She saw Sarah's look of surprise as the girl left the room to take the call.

Feeling Sick

"Katherine?" Sarah asked, tentatively.

"I'm sorry to call," Katherine said, speaking very softly. "Get your witch on. My call may put you in danger."

"Wha…?" Sarah began, but she was cut off by Katherine.

"Elena Mors. Tell Elena she is released from her pledge to me."

Sarah heard nothing more, just the click as the vampire disconnected.

Sarah began to get a sick feeling in her stomach. As confused as she was about the message from Katherine, she recognized the Latin word that she and Elena had seen scrawled in her neighbor's bedroom along with Elena's name. She remembered that Nathaniel had said it referred to death.

The Return

"She's not here."

"I can see that!" Isobel snapped. Having the vampire next to her stating the obvious did not improve Isobel's mood at all. It wasn't helping her think, either.

The other vampire tried again. "We should just call the girl. She has a direct line to Katherine…"

"I know that, too!" Isobel shot back, sharply enough that the other vampire cowered. "We are not bringing her into this."

The vampires that were with the doppelganger's birth mother had gotten the message. They kept quiet as Isobel thought.

It didn't take her long to decide that trying to find Katherine by going to her last known locations wasn't working. Katherine was just gone. Isobel would need something else to find her.

She didn't think she was on good enough terms with any witch to ask for a locator spell, she actually owed Bonnie a favor already. But Alaric would be able to get the help of a witch - if she could get his help.

By the time the darkness came, Isobel had made her decision. They were going back to Mystic Falls.

The Problem

Elena was slightly amused as they made the trek from the Proctor driveway to Sarah's front door. It was dark after all by the time they arrived – it had been farther to Sarah's house than Elena ever imagined.

The front door was already open by the time the group reached the porch. Natalie remained inside, though she was at least smiling, as Sarah stepped through the door and greeted Elena with a hug, Elena being the first to reach the door.

"Elena," Sarah whispered while hugging the human girl, "I think there's a…" Sarah cut herself off and gasped.

Elena took a step back so she could see Sarah's face. The blonde witch was obviously surprised, but that expression seemed to last only a fraction of a second. Then Sarah wore an expression that Elena could only describe as beaming, and it made the witch look heartbreakingly beautiful.

Elena had to look behind her, and Damon, who had just put his arm around her, to see what Sarah was looking at.

"You said he wasn't coming." Sarah whispered as Jeremy tentatively approached the porch.

Elena was speechless as the blonde witch passed her and pulled Jeremy into a hug.

The human girl scowled. "Seriously? Sarah, you barely know him and he's sixteen years old. How old are you?"

"Oh," Sarah said, stepping back from Jeremy. "I was hoping for 15 or less, but maybe…"

Elena drew in a quick breath and was about to express her disgust, when Sarah said, "You're really going to play the age-difference card Elena? Really? How much older than you is Damon?"

Elena hesitated, then began "That doesn't …"

"It's not like we're getting engaged or anything," Sarah interrupted.

"But you said you were going to start looking for a ring, right?" Jeremy interjected, his serious face starting to grin as he watched Elena's expression.

"Damon, a little help?" Elena begged.

"I guess I could put them in touch with a jeweler I know…"

"Damon!"

"Come on, Elena," the vampire said. "Watching you watch them is the most entertainment I've had in…" he let is voice trail off and tried to look like he was trying to remember.

"You should come inside," Natalie said with a nod of her head. She was still inside the door. She stepped aside as Sarah pulled Jeremy inside, holding onto his arm just above his elbow. The couple went towards the kitchen. Elena watched them, and was still scowling as she and Damon entered the home.

"So this is why her eyes were sparkling when she arrived home from Mystic Falls." Natalie said as she closed the door behind her.

When Elena gave the older Proctor witch a quizzical look, Natalie continued, "You have no idea how hard it's been for her, Elena. She's been afraid to get close to anyone since her father left. But your brother already knows about witches, and he isn't afraid of them. She's been happier lately."

Elena nodded and looked back towards the kitchen from which Sarah was emerging.

"I told him you'd make something for him," the blonde witch said to her mother. As Natalie nodded and headed for the kitchen, Sarah added a soft "Make it good, Mom."

Elena could only sigh as Sarah turned towards her, the witch's face changing to a serious expression. Elena took Damon's hand as Sarah approached and told the doppelganger "I think there's a problem, Elena."