Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries; otherwise I'll be Damon's girlfriend.

A\N Glad you are enjoying this story! It's a public holiday here in Malta today so a quick update! I'm sorry I keep you waiting, but omg, I am so busy nowadays with school stuff! This chapter will start off as cute, but keep reading :P

PS: Is someone here from Malta\Speaks Maltese? I never met anyone who's Maltese from this site.

Please leave a review and tell me what you think.

"Who was it?" Elena asked when Damon came in the room again.

He didn't answer her; he was too distracted by the scary thoughts in his mind. If Vladimir was interested in Elena…No, he closed his eyes fighting the thoughts away and turned to a now very worried Elena.

"Hey…what's wrong?" Elena stood up and went next to him, putting her hands on his face and gently forced him to look at her.

"Duncan came," Damon said slowly, apology in his eyes. He felt her tense up, and her hands on his face were no longer caressing him calmly.

"Well, what did he want?" Elena took a deep breath, keeping her voice calm as possible however she embraced herself for the worst.

"He wants me to take you to the residence."

"Where we went to last time…" Elena closed her eyes, a shiver running up her spine as she remembered the poor girl she tried to save, and her own very unpleasant experience with Duncan.

Damon knew what she was thinking, and it was his turn to wrap his arms around her tightly but at the same time gently, and he whispered into her hair, "I won't let anything happen to you."

Elena visibly relaxed as he held her.

When he finally withdrew, he whispered, "I still have to take you with me though. If we don't show up, they'll take you by force. I can't risk you getting hurt."

"I trust your decisions," Elena sighed, realizing that what she said was pathetic and stupid, but also very true.

Damon smiled at her and pressed her back to his chest. "Just remember one thing, Elena," His voice was soft as silk next to her ear. "I love you."

She felt him slowly push her hair over her shoulder so that he could brush his lips against the back of her neck.

"I love you too…" She mumbled as the hairs of her body went up with his light kiss.

The next morning Elena woke up to the delicious smell of coffee and bacon. When her eyes were finally open, Damon greeted her with a big smile on his face and kissed her cheek.

"Breakfast in bed for the human," He said as he handed her a cup of coffee. Elena reached out for the cup and smiled at him as she sipped some coffee. She wasn't sure of what would happen that night with Vladimir, however she was going to make the most of everything.

Damon stroked her arm as she drank. "Are you all right?"

"I'm a bit scared for tonight," Elena admitted.

"I don't blame you," He sighed.

The silence between them was uncomfortable, and Damon suddenly grabbed her hand. "I want to show you something."

Elena looked surprised, however she didn't comment as he guided her to the room in which they shared their first kiss.

"I wasn't lying when I told you that this room held many memories." He grabbed a photo and gave it to Elena. It was black and white; however Elena could see a very cute little boy with raven black curly hair.

"That's me when I was about seven," He smiled at Elena's reaction. "I was a child once, you know…"

"I just…never imagined you like this," Elena admitted, studying the boy carefully.

"I don't blame you. I miss me too." He went through another box and Elena peeked slightly.

"That's me and my mom."

"You never talked about your family."

"My mom died when I was nine. Her body weakened ever since she had given birth to Stefan. She died when Stefan was only a year old."

"I'm sorry," Elena said sincerely.

"My brother and I, we were close. I looked out for him and he loved me. However, when Katherine came between us it was different. Then I trusted my brother not to tell our father that Katherine was a vampire…and you already know how that ended. Since we both had drunk her blood we turned not long after that."

He paused for a while.

"In order to become a vampire, you must have a vampire's blood, die and then finally drink human blood to complete the transformation. If you don't drink human blood, you'll die. When I saw Katherine taken away, I wanted to die but my brother insisted that I'd feed."

"You never wanted this life…"

"I was young, Elena. All I pictured was me with Katherine, and I was ready to give up my mortality for her. However, when she died…I didn't want to be a vampire. I also didn't have anyone to turn to…I didn't trust my brother, my father killed us, to the townspeople we were dead. It was harsh."

"What was Katherine like, though?"

"She was the opposite of you," He said without hesitation. "Katherine was selfish and seductive. She was born in the 1400s in Bulgaria and she had a child out of wedlock… her family sent her to England and then she settled in the US."

Elena instinctively grabbed Damon's arm. "You went through a lot. I never realized that your life was this cruel."

"You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Do you understand now why I won't let anyone hurt you? I've lost enough people in my life."

Feeling truly touched by his words, Elena pressed a deep kiss on his lips.

The night was cold, and Elena's teeth clenched together as soon as her foot went out of the door. Even though it was a weird feeling, somehow in that house she felt protected. It was like she didn't know what would happen if she stepped outside the house.

"Damn it's cold," Elena muttered as they settled in Damon's car. She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a long sleeved top along with a scarf, and she immediately regretted that she didn't put on a jacket.

Damon shrugged off his leather jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, and she blushed as she cuddled in it, inhaling Damon's sweet scent.

"All better?"

She nodded.

When they finally arrived, Elena saw the same cold man of last time, but this time he didn't tell Damon to "put her upstairs".

"Vladimir's waiting for you in the dining room. Take the human with you."

Elena sniffed and shot the man a death stare as Damon hid his grin.

"Greetings," A tall, blonde man with green eyes stood up and Damon shook his hand politely, however Elena didn't fail to notice that he was in front of her protectively, as if he was a barrier between Vladimir and Elena.

She heard a cough and Elena turned around, seeing Duncan eyeing her from head to toe.

"You said you wanted to see us…?"

"Oh, why are you in such a hurry?" Vladimir smirked arrogantly and then turned to Elena. "I didn't have the chance to meet you last time, girl. However you clearly caused us some problems."

Elena's eyes narrowed. Duncan was the one that tried to attack her…

"Surely you must know that a vampire's nature is to feed," He came to stand close to her and his fingers shot out to trace a vein in her neck. "You tried to stop a vampire from feeding. You also tried to save a human who you didn't even know…why?"

"She wasn't being treated right!"

"There's no right or wrong, sweetheart."

"I read the rules. You can't physically hurt humans," Elena spat. "You made the rules."

"That's before your silly little government decided to let us take over control," Vladimir said arrogantly. "He knew that we would kill anyone we want to to get what we want. You must try to place yourself in our shoes, Elena…We get tired of playing with the same person. Just think of it like a child who gets Christmas gifts…He'll play with them for a while before he throws them away."

"We are not toys-" Elena started, but Vladimir silenced her.

He then turned to Damon. "You disappointed us, Damon. Here we were discussing about this case and we saw that you clearly haven't been a...how would I place it…Disciplined? Yes, you haven't been very disciplined with your pet. And worst of all, you fought against your kind. This is something which is not tolerable…"

"He attacked my human," Damon objected, "She wasn't his to feed on!"

"Come on, Damon. Do you honestly believe that you can fool me? That you saved her because she is 'yours'? You saved her because you feel something for her. I thought I knew you better than this, Damon…You said it yourself once, that love is a vampire's greatest weakness."

Vladimir stared intensely at Elena and rubbed his chin. "I can't let her ruin you, Damon. You'll thank me for what I'm about to say later, believe me."

"What are you saying?" If Damon's heart was beating, it would've stopped by now.

"I want the girl here…and then she'll be sent for a public auction in the Dark Dimension."

Elena's face paled, and Damon flashed to Vladimir, pinning him down. "You can't do this!"

"Silly little fool," The other said as he was suddenly on top of Damon, holding him by the neck. "Look at what she made you! You used to be a god, Damon. She brought you to nothing."

"I'm not going to let you take her away! You'll have to kill me before you lay a finger on her, you little piece of shit!"

"Oh, I would gladly kill you," Vladimir held his gaze. "But I'm just hoping that you'll wake up after she's gone."

Duncan instantly came from behind Elena and exchanged glances with Vladimir. "What shall I do with her?"

"I want you to tie her up in one of the bedrooms upstairs. I want a decent talk with her."

Duncan nodded cruelly. "Vladimir, you know I can't help myself…"

The other rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, it wouldn't hurt too much," He brushed her hair back and forced her chin up, and his fangs were suddenly piercing her neck harshly as Elena bit her lip to keep herself from screaming. Damon was right-If a vampire intended for it to be hurtful, it would be.

"Stop!" Damon got out of Vladimir's grasp and pushed Duncan away from Elena. She fell, whimpering in pain as she held her neck.

"Duncan, take care of Damon. I'll deal with her myself."

In a second, Elena was carried away like she weighed nothing and Vladimir locked the door behind him.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Elena pleaded.

"You know why," He said, almost in a chiding tone.

"I was trying to save her…I didn't do anything wrong."

"You don't know what happened after you left, do you?" Vladimir moved slightly closer. "That girl ended up in the Dark Dimension because he couldn't stand the idea that a little girl like you stopped him from feeding. You pretty much signed her death sentence, sweetheart."

He kneeled down in front of her. "Vampires always get what they want. You should know that. In the Dark Dimension, especially-You have no chance of getting out once you're in. There are no ties to humanity…Only pain and death."

Elena shivered, fear taking all over her body. What was going to happen to her? No, Damon had promised. He wouldn't let them hurt her, right?

He never went back on his promises.

Would he now?

I hope it wasn't too dark, however I was trying to explain how much Elena was lucky compared to other people.

Definition on the Dark Dimension's on chapter six, however I would go into detail later. The books, as I already said, will be very inspiring for future chapters.

Please leave a review!