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Damon? Damon? He was the vampire sacrifice? Out of all the vampires on Earth, Klaus had to pick Damon.

There was no sense pleading with him. I tried to get Klaus to use anyone, anyone else besides Damon, from the time he broke the news till the time Katherine delivered Damon to us. We were in the middle of a huge clearing. Trees surrounded the edges of the field, which was at least the size of a football stadium. The skies were gray.

"Elena." Damon's form blurred, and then he was right in front of me. He yanked me into his arms, cradling my head in his hand. He whispered softly to me as I cried on his shoulder. Klaus said nothing throughout our exchange.

Damon held me for a few quiet moments, and then he shifted, and I heard a tearing sound. Confused, I lifted my head from his chest to see what was going on. He'd sunken his teeth into his wrist, blood dripping from the wound.

His eyes filled with intensity as he stared at me. "I need you to drink this."

"To…what?"

He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes as he let it out through his nose. "I need you to feed from me."

"No!" I recalled the story he'd told me about how you get turned into a vampire. "If I drink your blood and then die before it's out of my system…"

He folded his hands over mine. "I know. But I need you to survive this. I want you to drink, and after this over, I want you to go find Stefan. He can help you." He brushed my cheek gently with his. "I love you, Elena. I need you to live."

I allowed myself a brief minute to do an internal happy dance. "I love you, too. But I won't drink from you."

"One of us should survive this," he countered.

"Then let it be you."

He shook his head. "How? There's no way. Listen, Elena, I've already lived—for more than a hundred years. You've barely even begun your life. Take the out. Please? For me." He squeezed my shoulder. "Please, it's my last wish."

I groaned. "Don't play that card, Damon."

He kissed me mouth roughly. "Please," he begged.

I shook my head. "Damon, I—" he placed his wrist over my mouth quickly, cutting me off. I was spun around so that my back was up against his hard stomach, and his arm was over my neck. He kept his wrist placed firmly over my mouth. I squirmed and batted his arm, but he didn't budge. Klaus looked on in what almost seemed like pity.

Drops of bloodtrickled into my mouth, even as I tried to seal my lips. It was sweet and salty, but most disturbing of all was that it tasted good.

"Please," he breathed into my ear, kissing my hair.

I drew in a deep breath, and then squeezed my eyes shut and took a long gulp.

Jeremy wouldn't be alone after all.

Hours passed until day turned to night. I sat cuddled up to Damon the entire time, sometimes speaking, sometimes crying, and sometimes just kissing him. Eventually, we were comfortable enough to speak as though no one was listening. He told me stories about his human life, and in return, I shared my own memories with him. He never let go of me, not once. That was good, because he kept me from crumbling.

Often, I thought maybe Damon was going to try to make a break for it, but when I asked why he didn't in a whisper, he told me that a bite from a hybrid would kill a vampire in seconds.

"No point, we'd both face the same end either way—he'd just kill me and then replace me with another vampire for the sacrifice."

"Why doesn't he just replace you now?"

"Because, I'm at threat. If he keeps me here, he can keep an eye on me," he explained.

"Oh…so why doesn't he just replace me?" I returned.

He touched my nose with his finger. "Because, you're irreplaceable."

I rolled my eyes but snuggled closer to him. "Damon."

"Hmm?" he rested his chin on my head.

"I don't want to live forever without you."

He was quiet for a few minutes. When he didn't answer, I figured he probably didn't know what to say. But then, after a long time, he shocked me by speaking. "I've lived more than a century without you. If you'd have told me years ago that I'd be in love with a human, I would've…eaten you. If you'd tried to tell me I'd completely turn my life around for a human, to go as far as stop killing people just to make one girl happy…well, I would've ripped out your tongue. But now…I can't imagine not dying for you, right here, tonight. My life will have meant something, will have counted now. Without you, Elena, I would've lived endlessly with no reason for it. That would've been worse than dying tonight for you."

A tear slid down my cheek. "I don't want you to die."

"Trust me," he snorted, "It wasn't on my To Do List either. But, life goes on, Elena, even after we lose the ones we think we can't live without. I know that now."

I frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

He stretched a bit, shifting positions beneath me. "Well, when Katherine was locked up, I became obsessed with getting her out. She was all I wanted for the longest time. I've learned now though that people change—priorities change."

"Are you trying to tell me to move on?"

"Isn't that what you tried to tell me earlier?"

That shut me up for a solid twenty seconds. Then, "I never wanted you to die for me, Damon. I never wanted you to get involved in this."

"I was already involved, Elena! It's you. What did you think? That I could just forget?"

"Well, yes!" I exclaimed. "Isn't that what you're asking me to do now?"

He didn't have an answer to that, and I relented. "I—I'm sorry, I don't want to fight."

"Who's fighting?"

I sighed.

"Oh, come on, Elena. You're going to be okay. You haven't really even known me that long."

I grumbled. "We're sadder than Rome and Juliet."

"But not as pathetic."

I actually laughed at that. The moment, however, was stolen as I caught sight of a shadowy figure breaking through the trees.

At first, all I could make out was a thin, graceful outline, obviously that of a girl. As she got closer, I couldn't deny a familiarity. I knew her.

Finally, she got close enough for me to see her face. Her skin was dark, smooth, her eyes a soft hazel. Her lips were stretched into a creepy smile.

"Elena," Bonnie greeted.

Apparently, Klaus had compelled her. She couldn't defy him, even if she knew what was going on, what she was doing. Behind her, Katherine pulled in a werewolf. The poor, convulsing creature looked terrified. I recognized him, too, as Tyler Lockwood.

"What the hell is going on?" he growled. "What am I?"

He was thrown to the ground by the scruff of his neck. Katherine exchanged a nod with Klaus, and then she vanished. Damon watched her in disgust.

Klaus came over, grabbed Damon by his t-shirt, and yanked him from me.

"No!" I roared, and tried to grab him back. Klaus pushed me away, holding me at bay with his strong hand. I thrashed against him, trying to reach Damon as I screamed bloodcurdlingly.

"Elena." Damon locked eyes with me and everything moved in slow motion as I stretched to reach his hand. Our desperate attempts to stay with each other were put to an end as Klaus hauled Damon away. I tried to follow, but Damon shook his head 'no.' A hopeless feeling dropped into my gut.

Now, if the field was the size of a football field, Damon was in the right goal line and Tyler was in the left, and I was sitting in the fifty yard line. I felt all alone, and I curled my arms over my body protectively.

A circle went up in flames around Tyler, then Damon, and then me as Bonnie chanted under her breath. I watched Damon's eyes grow furious. He was scared.

I couldn't take it. I couldn't let him die, not for this. I loved him, didn't I?

But what could I do? How could I stop this?

"You're irreplaceable."

Klaus needed me for the sacrifice—without me, no dice. If I could put off the sacrifice, Damon and I might have a split second to get out before Klaus killed all of us out of anger.

And it may've been just enough time.

If I could just die before the sacrifice, Klaus would have no doppelganger to kill. His entire plan would go down the drain.

But how to do it…could I do it? Could you kill yourself with your bare hands?

Probably not, but the fire erupting in front of me could help.

Even from fifty yards away, I knew Damon saw the flash in my eyes as I realized what to do. I stood and blew him a kiss. He shook his head at me, but it was too late—my mind was made up.

The fire was creeping closer to Tyler. I had no time to waste. I looked Klaus straight in the eye, trying to communicate all the hatred in one look.

Then, I took a deep breath, and without another thought, I fell forward, right into the fire.