Author's Note:

Welcome back and thank you so, so much for your support. Blood-Slave reached the 100 review mark and I'm totally excited about it. Please consider me beaming :)

As always a big thank you to shoppe69 :) I'm glad that the chapters finally aren't as red as they used to be ;)

Please enjoy Chapter 16!

Giuna

Chapter 16

Before Damon could react in any way, a young woman appeared from behind Klaus' back and stepped in front of him, raising her hands. In the next second a horrible pain inside Damon's head forced him to the ground, leaving him unable to move back to Elena's side. He noticed when Klaus passed him, heading to the living room. He could hear Stefan and Elijah rising from their chairs. That wasn't what he wanted to hear, though. Between the headache and the fear of losing Elena, he searched for her heartbeat. Finally finding it, he felt more connected to her. He listened feverishly to her pulse which accelerated with fear, and he cursed himself inwardly for coming back to Mystic Falls.

"Klaus," Elijah pressed and narrowed his eyes, "What are you doing here?" Elijah demanded, before Stefan had the chance to say something, and used the small timeframe to pull Caroline up to her feet and behind him.

"Stefan!" Klaus barked and grinned at the man like being his best mate, completely ignoring his brother's question. "There is nothing you have to worry about; I'm not here for your little girl… I'm here for her," he hissed and turned his piercing gaze to Elena. While Klaus drank in her appearance, she sat perfectly still on her chair. She didn't dare to move. In her head, a flood of worst case scenarios started to spiral and it took all her will-power to think straight. Fuck! What happened to Damon? She couldn't see him from where she sat and not knowing about his well-being led her to freak out more and more. She needed to see him! She wanted to be with him!

"Well, well, If I'm not a lucky man," he purred in Elena's direction and started to walk towards her.

Seeing the devil coming closer and closer she held her breath and clenched her teeth. She wasn't going to let him take her without a fight!

"Klaus, you can't just take Elena. She's Damon's! What's gotten into you? Do I really have to remind you about your promise?" Elijah argued angrily and crossed the room, stepping to his brother's side, gripping his arm.

"Oh brother, sometimes I must ask myself if you even know me at all. When you asked all those question about the one thing you knew I had been searching for a very long time now, did you really believe I wouldn't take the chance?" Klaus questioned innocently and smiled.

"I thought we had a deal! I trusted you! And you promised me!" Elijah tried to exculpate himself, but somehow it sounded more like a plea.

"You asked him?" Stefan barged in and shook his head in disbelief, "When you told me, you knew a source of information I thought you were talking about a witch. If I had known you'd ask Klaus I would have never asked for your help!"

"I'm sorry, but nothing is going to happen, Stefan. Klaus will leave. Now!" Elijah commanded and turned to face his brother, planting himself in front of him. When their eyes met and Elijah saw the apologetic expression on Klaus' face he thought his brother had come to his senses, but he was completely wrong. Klaus let Elijah to believe that he was sorry, but he reached for the dagger he had hidden under his jacket, and just when the realization hit Elijah, Klaus plunged the ash covered metal into his chest.

Witnessing the process of Elijah desiccating, Elena's breathing became erratic. Panic washed trough her when she realized that there was nobody left to defend her and to keep Damon alive.

Without thinking she jumped to her feet and headed for the hallway as fast as she could. She didn't make it far, though, as she suddenly felt two arms wrapping around her middle from behind and pulling her back.

"Oh no, love, you'll stay with me," Klaus stated, holding her arms in check.

"Damon! Damon!" she yelled for help when an unprecedented pain hit her, as if every single fiber in her body reacted on the touch of the ultimate danger to her connection with Damon. For a short moment everything around her went black, but she fought for consciousness.

Damon raised his head at her calling, but the woman hovering above him increased the pain in his head and he collapsed to the ground again.

"No! Damon! No! Let go of me!" she shouted, catching a glimpse of him. She began to fight the arms around her tooth and nail, but Klaus didn't loosen his grip around her fragile body.

"You can fight me as much as you want, but it's going to happen either way, love," he purred against her ear, letting her feel the vibration of the sound on her delicate skin

"Ugh, go to hell!" she whispered in a deadly voice, but stopped fighting. Maybe he would loosen his grip this way and she could reach Damon somehow.

"Guess I'll have to teach you some manners," he breathed into her ear, unfortunately pressing her against his chest even further. Fuck!

"Klaus! Let her go!" Stefan told him calmly, although he knew that there was nothing he could do. His brother's life was at stake, though. At least he had to try.

"My apologies, Stefan, but I can't do that. Not even as a birthday present," he laughed and shoved Elena to her chair again, pushing her down and roughly started to tie her up with a rope the witch just threw in his direction. Oh my God, Elena thought terrified, the second she felt the rope cutting into her flesh. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't just let Klaus and his witch kill Damon. No! Please! She couldn't lose him; she didn't want to live without him! Exasperated and with a wave of adrenaline rushing through her system, she started to fight again.

"I'll find you another blood-slave, Klaus. Please, he is my brother!" Stefan began to beg and crossed the room. "You'll kill him!" He pointed out as if to remember Klaus about this fact.

"I am totally aware of that, Stefan. Actually, I am thanking fate for this coincidence. I don't only get my blood-slave, but also my revenge on your brother!" Klaus replied with an evil smile on his face. "If you're smart, Stefan, you'll send your little human girl away now. Otherwise she might be collateral damage," Klaus warned and threw a glare at Stefan that showed him exactly that he wouldn't say it twice

"Run, Caroline!" Stefan commanded her, and she instantly turned towards the hallway and ran, but not without giving Elena a desperate glimpse before she vanished out of the living room.

Klaus' glare remained on Stefan's face, and for a moment there was nothing but an unnerving silence in the room

"Let me go!" Elena said in a clear and calm voice, what cost her enormous effort.

Klaus took a deep breath and petted her shoulders, "Look, love, I'm not willing to let you go, so please stop requiring that. It's not going to happen. You'll be mine and I regret, but you don't have a say in that!" Klaus explained and rubbed her shoulders once again.

"Take your hands off me!" Elena hissed, not the slightest bit calm anymore.

"So impolite…," Klaus complained but intensified the touch even more, leading Elena to squirm.

"Now, that this is clarified, I want you to drag away Damon, Stefan!" Klaus ordered and directed his hand towards the hallway.

"What? No!" Elena screamed and fought against the rope, totally on edge.

"Would you rather watch him die?" Klaus asked her incredulously and squatted down beside her, searching her eyes fiercely.

"No. I want him to live!" she whispered, intimidated at Klaus' proximity and his intense expression.

"I know, but unfortunately that's not an option. Let him go and I promise I'll give you whatever you want; I will show you each and every place in this world you want to visit and together we'll live an eternity to the fullest. I'm the most dangerous and powerful being on this planet, and I swear there would be nothing you would ever have to worry about anymore. Be mine!" Klaus breathed and stared at her some kind of softly.

"But I love Damon, Klaus," she replied and intentionally pronounced his name very gently, hoping to reach his heart.

"I see. We'll have to work on that…" Klaus broke eye-contact with Elena and nodded while he rose to his full height again. Turning around his view fell on Stefan, "Still here?" Klaus noticed with a hint of annoyance to his voice.

"Why Elena?" Stefan began once more, "There're others out there-," Stefan added but Klaus cut him off. In a whoosh, Klaus was right in front of Stefan, grabbing the collar of his shirt harshly and crashing him against the next wall. Elena heard Stefan groaning with pain and closed her eyes in despair. Wasn't there anything she could do? Panic-fuelled she thought about a loophole, something; anything she could do to save Damon, but no idea crossed her mind. There was nothing she could do to stop Klaus from his dead-bringing plan Panic took over and she wasn't able to keep herself together any longer, breaking down in a flood of tears and sobs. She was going to lose Damon! Oh my God! She would never be near him, would never touch or kiss him again. How should she survive one day without him?

Lost in her dark thoughts full of fear and pain, she didn't notice Stefan leaving the living room, and also the sound of the entrance door opening and closing completely slipped her attention.

Only when the witch entered the room, Elena perked her head up at the movement she observed out of the corner of her eye. The witch came towards her, closely followed by Klaus. Where was Stefan? And first and foremost where was Damon?

"Damon?" Elena shouted in panic when the two slowly walked towards her bound body.

"He left with his brother," the witch informed her in a soft, almost soothing voice which caused Elena's hair to stand up all over her body. She was alone. And she wouldn't see Damon ever again!

"No! No! You can't do that. I don't want to be with Klaus. I want to be with Damon! Help me! Please! He can't have me. Please!" she begged, but the smile on the witch's face was a false one. She was lost! The witch was on Klaus' side, through and through.

"You have to calm down, Elena!" the witch told her, looked to Klaus and nodded barely noticeable. Klaus nodded back and stepped in front of Elena, turned the chair on which she sat away from the table and squatted down again; their eyes almost at eye level. Elena's eyes widened when Klaus grasped for her upper arms, holding her strongly. Immediately she started to fight against the contact and glared at him in hate and disgust. Seeing the reluctance written all over her face, Klaus closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.

"Calm down, Klaus! You need to be relaxed and open for the connection!" Elena heard the witch's voice from behind her, and in the next second she felt her hands at the top of her head, pressing her fingertips against it.

"What the f…" Elena wanted to curse, but instantly went completely silent. Above her head the other woman chanted words in a strange language that somehow kept Elena from speaking. Her body went limp and sank deeper into the chair; she felt nothing except from Klaus' hands which hold her arms tight. With his thumbs, he gently patterned circles on her bare skin, and she felt that he wanted her to look at him. She fought against his will, though. Was he compelling her? Or was it the witch who messed with her head? However, the urge in the words the woman chanted became more and more intimidating, and suddenly her whole mind was wrapped around her bond with Damon. She literally felt Klaus pulling her away from him, leading her body to ache so badly she couldn't stop the tears from falling. She wouldn't let go. She would hold on to Damon with all she got left. With squinted eyes, Elena forced her mind away from the attraction which radiated from Klaus, and dived into a pool of beloved memories of her time with Damon. In fast motion, she relived their relationship right from the beginning, and she experienced each and every emotion as if she felt it for the first time. When she first saw him sitting in Alaric's bar; their encounter in the dark alley; the first time they had kissed and Damon had fed on her which had triggered her gene; their ups and downs until he had proven that he was trustworthy; the way he had been there for her and had guided her out of her painful past; the first time they had slept together; the day Damon had killed Mason; when they had said I love you; the first time he had opened up to her about his past and had shown his own vulnerability; the way their relationship had grown into something incredibly special; him being genuinely happy for her the moment he had realized that she had put her past behind; her turning into the woman she had meant to be; capable to love and to be loved in return.

"Is it working?" Klaus questioned impatiently when the spell lasted for something that felt like an eternity to him.

"She is strong, Klaus. They seem to have a very deep connection," she murmured and sounded quite annoyed for being interrupted.

"I don't care! Just do it!" Elena heard Klaus respond with rage. He obviously had a hard time keeping himself in check.

One second later the spell's power over her whole body increased again and shattered her to the core. It wasn't just Klaus pulling anymore, no, she felt the witch pushing too. The pain inside her grew into a sphere she couldn't handle any longer and although she remained fighting, she knew that there wasn't enough strength left inside her to win this battle. Inwardly she felt the vampire and the witch ripping her soul apart. Crying agonized, she was mortally terrified of losing Damon forever. She could feel that the bond between them finally loosened, and just when she thought she couldn't hold on to it one more second, something which felt like a tiny spark enlightened within her. Its warmth spread through her entire body, and reinforced the connection between her and Damon, being a part of that connection too.

Elena instantly relaxed, realizing that the warmth seemed to work like a protective shield which pushed both, the witch and Klaus, out of her mind.

"No!" Elena heard the witch gasping in disbelief.

"What happened? Why did you stop?" Klaus demanded and glared at the witch.

"I'm sorry, but it's too late," she breathed exhausted, not knowing that those words caused Elena to send a silent prayer to heaven.

"What do you mean…, it's too late?" Klaus shouted at the woman and rose to his feet.

"I told you that this could happen-," she started but Klaus cut her off.

"I know what you told me, but you said this couldn't happen so soon," he barked furiously and darted malignant glances at the witch and Elena; who frowned completely clueless.

"What are you talking about?" Elena dared to ask, and narrowed her eyes at the witch when Klaus started laughing out loud.

"I can't believe it, you're one of the most valuable creatures for us vampires and you're entirely oblivious to it. Do you really think that I want a blood-slave for myself just because of the incredible taste of the blood? Ha! That's only benefit! God! Have you never been curious about the details of your existence?" Klaus mocked her and continued to laugh, although his face was showing sheer rage.

Elena stared to the ground, feeling pretty embarrassed, "We thought there were no other details than what Elijah told Stefan…," she admitted quietly and avoided to mention that there had been other problems they had to deal with first.

"Oh well, than my plan had worked out perfectly, hadn't it? Too bad that it didn't serve its purpose anyway," Klaus mused and began to pace up and down in front of the fireplace.

Elena followed him with her eyes and observed the man for a moment before she turned her head, attempting to make eye-contact with the witch, but suddenly her view blurred due to the all too familiar dizziness which led her head to slightly fluctuate. Fuck! Her body had already finished the blood production for Damon. He needed her and she needed him, she thought when she literally heard a clock inside her mind. Tick, tock, tick, tock… they were running out of time! Staring down to her bare calves she could see the veins standing out. It wouldn't last long until they would break under the pressure of the additional amount of blood. She realized just then that the spell had somehow managed to suppress the side effects she usually had when Damon didn't feed on her at their normal rhythm. Now, those painful and irritating sensations crashed down on her all at once and with such force that it cost her everything to keep her senses together. Swallowing hard she tried to stop herself from freaking out.

When Damon opened his eyes again, the first he saw was the concern on his brother's face.

"What happened?" Damon breathed and swallowed hard. His throat was dry and he knew exactly why. The overwhelming craving for Elena's blood together with the painful pull he could sense radiating from her was simply unbearable.

"Klaus got Elena," Stefan admitted with a small voice, not able to stand Damon's gaze one more second. Ashamed he looked down. He was going to lose his brother and it would be his own fault! He had been too weak and too much of a coward to fight Klaus properly.

"What? NO! Stefan, I need to go back to her. She is going to die! I can feel it!" Damon shouted, attempting to jump to his feet but instantly comprehending how weak he still was. Unfortunately, not just because of the aneurism the witch had given the veins inside of his head.

"No, Damon, she's not dying. I think what you feel might be the fact that Klaus made her his," Stefan explained sadly.

"No! Stefan, it's Klaus! I can't let him take her! She doesn't want to be with him!" Damon screamed desperately when tears started to fall down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Damon, but… I guess it's already done. There is nothing we can do anymore!" Stefan tried to convince his brother but Damon didn't listen.

"I don't care, Stefan. I'm not just sitting here and wait until it's all over. At least I want to see her one more time!" Damon barked and drank in his surroundings. Where the hell where they?

"Bring me back, Stefan! If it's true what you're saying then I'm going to die anyway!" he ordered, dangerously glaring at his brother.

Stefan took a deep breath; he knew that messing with Klaus wouldn't end well. Klaus had made it clear that he wanted Damon to stay the hell away, and he could just hope that the original vampire wouldn't come after him and Caroline afterwards. Otherwise, this was his brother's last wish. How could he refuse Damon to say goodbye? After all, this was the only thing he could do for him.

"Fine, I'll take you back. C'mon!" Stefan agreed and led the way to Damon's car.

It took a couple of minutes, but then Elena had herself at least as much under control to let her eyes wander through the room. Klaus had come to a halt and was glaring at her.

"What am I going to do with you?" he interrogated way too sweetly and wandered over to where Elena was still bound to the chair.

"I could kill you right here and now! Or I could watch you bleeding to death. Mmmh, what shall it be, Elena?" Klaus inquired, and reached out to whisk off the first drops of blood, Elena felt dribbling out of her nose, "It's a shame, you know? Such a waste of what could have been a perfect conjunction…," he breathed and sounded almost sad.

"Klaus, you shouldn't kill her, think about it! It took you such a long time to finally find one! In a couple of months we can try it again. It will work then! When the child is delivered, you'll have another chance!" The witch explained, before Elena's expression went blank, and the color fully disappeared from her cheeks. What did she just say?

"But I wanted her pure!" Klaus screamed when all his built-up emotions exploded out of him. In an instant he was over Elena, wrapped his hands around her sensitive throat and squeezed. Elena's eyes widened in shock when she gasped for air and trashed around, trying to get rid of him with the last bit of energy she had left.

"I'll tear you… limb from limb," he threatened her, "If you can't be mine, you sure as hell are not going to be his again!" he hissed dangerously into Elena's ear as she shut her eyes, not able to suppress a whimper. After a few seconds, she felt that she was about to lose consciousness, and when she accomplished to inhale again she expected it to be the last time she would fill her lungs with air. She was wrong, though.

At the very last moment the weight of Klaus' body was lifted away from her, and his hands vanished from around her squished neck. She took the deepest of all breaths, and slowly cast up her eyes to the most beautiful sight she could have imagined. Damon's face. He didn't look healthy, though.

"What? How?" Elena pressed and started to cry instantly.

"We don't have much time," he told her urgently and stepped behind her, undoing the knots of the ropes. With her view unblocked, she noticed Klaus lying on the floor, a gigantic stake stood out of his back, but he already groaned. Her eyes took in the rest of the room, and she saw Caroline and Stefan next to the unconscious witch. Elena saw that something inside Stefan's eyes changed and realized that he was about to kill the witch.

"No! Stefan, don't!" she squeaked in shock. "Don't kill her! We need her alive!" She verbalized at the end of her tether.

"Why?" Stefan asked irritated and frowned.

"We don't have time to discuss that, Stefan! Just do as Elena says! Go tie her up and take her with us!" Damon commanded but his voice sounded unfamiliarly weak.

Barely conscious, Elena found herself in Damon's arms, and felt him moving slowly towards the entrance door of the house. Glimpsing over his shoulder, she saw Caroline and Stefan following after them with the now bound witch thrown over Stefan's shoulder. Soon, they reached Damon's car and bundled the witch into the trunk. As fast as they could they got into the car; Stefan behind the steering wheel with Caroline right next to him and Damon and Elena in the back seat.

"Go, go, go!" Damon shouted in a hurry when suddenly Elena felt even heavier in his arms. He grabbed her chin and turned her face so he could see her; her eyes were closed and the blood was trickling out of her nose fluidly.

"Elena? No! Elena!" Damon begged in shock when his world fell apart. He was too late! Again, he hadn't been able to save the woman he loved! Completely devastated he rested his head against hers and started to cry, incapable of sensing anything but the overwhelming grief and heart-brokenness.

"Damon! What are you doing? Can't you hear her heartbeat?" Stefan screamed so his voice would get through to his brother, but Damon didn't hear him. All he could think of was Elena, and that he hadn't been able to keep his promise to protect her. His guilt even kept him from realizing that the pain he was feeling actually arose from his thirst and Elena's desperately screaming blood, he would have never been able to resist under normal circumstances.

"Damon!" Caroline started to scream hysterically, "Elena is still alive! Are you insane? Just feed on her!" She turned around and her heart nearly broke at the sight of Damon holding Elena tight on his lap, sobbing against her shoulder. What could she do to get him out of his trance?

"Do something, Caroline!" Stefan barked in panic, when the previous relief that he wouldn't lost his brother slipped his fingers.

Hectically, Caroline made a decision while Stefan drove the Camaro to its limit. Within seconds she climbed on the back seat, and without hesitation she started to lift Damon's head with both her hands. Damon fought against her hands, but as weak as he was Caroline had no problems to force him to look at her. Swallowing hard at his broken face, she inhaled deeply. "Damon, I can only imagine what you might feel right now and that it consumes you completely, but please, let me show something," she said very softly, even though her heart was racing like crazy. She reached out her shaking hand, taking Damon's limp one in hers and led it against Elena's throat, right on to her pulse point.

With a hopeful smile on her face she stared into his eyes. "Please, concentrate Damon! You can feel it, right? Please, tell me that you can feel her pulse!" Caroline begged, not sure if she had made it through to him. Ever so slowly his eyes started to widen. Blinking a couple of times, his eyes darted between Caroline's and Elena's face until finally realization hit him.

"Elena?" Damon asked hopefully when his urges crashed down on him. Seeing the change in Damon's eyes, Caroline smiled brightly and climbed back onto her seat, earning an admiring beam from Stefan.

Not able to say anything else or to build one clear thought, Damon's instincts took over instantly and forced his mouth over Elena's throat with an enormous strength.

When he bit her, her blood was running into his mouth rapidly. While he swallowed, the precious and oh-so delicious juice reached each and every corner of his body, giving him back his energy and his senses. Pulling her as close as possible, Damon caressed Elena's back and threaded his fingers through her hair. Listening to her heartbeat all the time, he noticed that her pulse became more and more steady and when he took the last gulp from her neck, he felt her moving slightly in his arms.

"Elena? Please, baby, open your eyes for me," Damon breathed right after he had healed the bite marks. Tenderly, he brushed a strand of her hair out of her face while his eyes frantically roamed her face, impatient for her to look at him again.

"Damon?" He could hear a faint whisper escaping her lips and sighed with relief.

"I'm right here," Damon assured her softly, and wiped off the tears which had built in his eyes again. "Everything is going to be fine," he told her and nodded to himself.

Elena's eyelids fluttered before she opened them slowly.

"Thank God, Elena. I thought I had lost you forever," Damon pressed and gently kissed her cheeks, her nose, her forehead and finally her lips. While his eyes shone into hers, and the warmth of the love for the man in front of her spread through her body anew, there was one thought which pushed itself to the fore.

"Damon?" She said weakly, but accomplished to smile softly at him just to see his whole face smiling back at her in return. "I'm pregnant," she breathed and closed her eyes, drifting down into unconsciousness again.

"You're what?" She could hear Damon's incredulous voice before everything went black once more.

A/N:

Please, please, please review :) I'm so curious about your thoughts :)

Everything is going to make sense! Promise!