ELENA

"No! Don't hurt her!" I screamed, but it was too late. Bonnie seemed paralyzed with shock – she didn't even blink until he tore into her flesh. Several things happened simultaneously: While I stared horror-stricken at Bonnie, who screamed and went limp, the vampire momentarily lost his grip on her, and for the blink of an eye the stake was no longer pointed at Bonnie's chest. Damon turned and, before the abrupt move could fully register with me, grabbed a blackboard pointer from a desk and tossed it to Stefan. As if it was one single, fluid motion, Stefan caught it and flung himself forward, and drove it deep into the vampire's chest.

There was yet another scream, this time out of the vampire's throat. He let go of Bonnie, who fell to the ground, and he stumbled backwards, tripping over a chair. With a growl and teeth bared in deadly menace, Damon threw himself at him and sent him crashing into the wall.

Finally able to move, I rushed to Bonnie's side. She looked dead. There was absolutely no color in her face, and she was still bleeding freely from the gruesome wound in her throat. "Oh my God, no! Bonnie! Please – she can't be dead!"

I pulled her up, cradling her head in my lap while Stefan bent over her and checked her pulse. "She lives!" he said, anguish on his face on seeing the bloody wound on her neck. "I can save her." In an almost exact repetition of the all too familiar, ugly scenario of the vampire's attack on me, Stefan did what Damon had done to save me. He sliced his own wrist with his teeth, liberally doused his blood onto the wound and also forced it into Bonnie's mouth. I felt my throat constrict, remembering the horrible moment in the car when Damon had done this to me – making me swallow the thickly, salty blood and it's nauseating, metal taste. Even though I knew now that it had saved my life and most likely would save Bonnie's, I still found the intake of a creature's blood revolting. I turned my back, not wanting to watch.

Damon, who was suddenly crouching beside us, put his fingers to Bonnie's chin and moved it to the side, dubiously inspecting her wound. "Have you made sure that he hasn't injected his venom?"

Fearfully, I turned to see what had become of our attacker and found him motionless on the floor, the pointer sticking out of his ribcage. I quickly averted my gaze from him, too, not finding anything to focus on that was not deeply perturbing.

"No – why would he?" Stefan seemed bewildered.

"It's what he did to Elena. You should see if there's any taste of it in her blood."

"No!" Stefan visibly recoiled. "I can't! I don't, ever..." Even though he didn't say it, I understood exactly what he was so concerned about. He didn't take human blood – for fear of what it would do to him, afraid it might send him into a frenzy, trigger his bloodlust and make him the monster he fought so hard not to be.

Damon rolled his eyes. With a disdainful snort at Stefan's squeamishness, he took Bonnie's wrist and bit into it as if he was biting into an apple. "Hm..." he made, letting go after taking a sip and wiping his mouth. "Not as delicious as Elena's, but definitely worth a taste."

Stefan shot him a killing glance. "Is it clean?"

"Pure as a virgin's. She'll recover. Elena looked worse after we were done with her."

I evaded Stefan's gaze, knowing well onto which track this remark must lead his thoughts. "What's with him?" I asked, nodding towards the other lifeless figure on the floor. "Is he dead?"

"Not yet! I hope he'll come around once more before I finish him off."

"Why?" I asked sarcastically. "So you can torture him a little before you kill him, just for the fun of it?"

"I'd love to!" Damon said, flashing a fake smile as he got up and walked over to the motionless body. "But I also need to go over some of those crazy things he said once again." Grabbing the end of the pointer, he gave it a tentative shove. The vampire moaned in pain and twitched weakly.

"Damon, don't!" Stefan pleaded. "Just kill him and let's be done with it. There are more important things to take care of right now. Like her..." He gestured to Bonnie, who seemed to be coming round. Her eyelids fluttered weakly.

"Yeah. You get the girls out. I've got this."

Stefan bent down, meaning to pick up Bonnie from the floor. "No!" I said, not liking the glint in Damon's eyes at all. It seemed that his evil vampire part was about to make an ugly appearance, and I couldn't let that happen. "I'm not leaving you alone with him!"

"Go, Elena," Damon advised with meaningful glance at Bonnie. "You'd better watch out that Stefan doesn't lose it. Her wounds are bleeding..." I shook my head stubbornly. Stefan wouldn't hurt Bonnie. Damon, on the other hand, was about to commit murder – and other atrocities. I could see the bloodlust in him.

As if he had heard my thoughts, he added very matter-of-factly: "I'm gonna finish him off anyway. With or without you watching." He grabbed the guy by his jacket, lifting him up in a sitting position. He was definitely coming round fast, probably because the pointer was made out of metal and not wood. I remembered that Damon had told me vampire wounds didn't close around wood.

"Elena, please!" Stefan tried once more, visibly torn between his desire to get Bonnie out of the room before she came round and his need to stay and protect me.

The vampire opened his eyes and focused. Opening his mouth, he spat up blood. "You won't kill me!" he uttered, though it was more a groan than a pronounced sentence.

"I won't," Damon replied almost pleasantly, stepping closer and bending down. His eyes, despite glowing dangerously, were cold as ice. "At least not before I make you spill something more useful than blood! Now – explain yourself, and try to be a little more coherent this time. What is it that you want and why are you so hell-bent on killing Elena?"

"Take a wild guess!" The man gave him a queer look, as if he really thought his intentions must have been clear enough for anyone to see.

Damon gripped the end of the pointer and shoved it deeper into his chest, making him moan in pain. "I'm not really in a playful mood right now. You'd better quit this chit-chat so you can have a fast and painless death. I ask you again: Why do you want Elena to die?"

The guy winced, not holding up against the pain and the pressure. "So you can't use her..." he whispered, his voice barely audible, "... and bring Katherine back."

"What?" Damon froze in his move, a stunned expression in his face. His attention wavered for a fleeting second, and his victim used the moment of distraction. In a movement so fast that it was almost indiscernible, he tore the pointer out of his body and jumped out the window. The glass shattered into a thousand pieces as he crashed through it.

We all rushed to the gaping frame, looking down at the paved yard three stories below and saw him lying there, sprawled and unmoving. And just like he had after I had run him over, it took only a second before he was back on his feet, taking off into the dark.

"He's escaping!" Stefan was beside himself. "Damon! He's getting away!"

"Yes, I can see that," Damon said pensively. "I'm afraid there isn't much we can do about it just now."

"What if he tries to get to her another time?"

"Don't worry. We got him once, we'll get him again, now that we know who to look for. He won't catch me unawares a second time." He gave me a funny look. "Don't take it personally. This was quite obviously not about you or Stefan. It was about me."

Stefan looked puzzled. "You don't think there might actually be any sense behind his words and actions tonight?"

Damon looked thoughtful. "I don't know yet. But I'll definitely find out, once I've tracked him down."

"What about Bonnie?" I asked, cradling her head in my lap again. Her pulse was beating strong and steady and the wound had stopped bleeding. She was moaning softly, apparently about to come round. "What are we going to tell her?"

"Nothing," Stefan said. "She can't know."

"Oh, come on Stefan, lighten up!" Damon chided. "She needs to know. You heard the guy – she might be in danger, still."

"And I'll make sure she's safe. But we can't tell her. I'll take the memories from her and put everything about tonight in a context that makes sense to her."

Damon gave a snort. "Just in case you've forgotten, bunny-boy – you won't be able to make her forget anything," he cut in. "You don't have the strength to do it. Only human blood gives you that!"

"No," Stefan said, raising his eyes, which now had an unholy glint to them, "vampire blood should do the trick, too." At with that, he flung himself at Damon with that supernatural speed they both were capable of and which escaped the human eye. This time, it escaped Damon's eyes, too. He was caught completely off guard – which was the only possible explanation I had for the fact that Stefan somehow managed to crash Damon into the nearest wall and make a go for his throat. Most likely, Damon had never expected anything violent coming from Stefan, who, despite being a vampire, he hardly considered an equal.

Whatever the reason, he couldn't prevent Stefan from taking a deep gulp of his blood before he was able to shake him off and send him flying backwards.

Carefully controlling his temper, he felt for his throat, looking at the smudge of blood on his fingers. His eyes were narrowed, the only apparent indicator of his blazing rage. "I admire your guts, Stefan," he said, his low voice a silky menace, "and I understand you must be desperate. Yet, I strongly advise that you never ever try to pull a stunt like that again, unless you don't mind me killing you. Understand?

"What, Damon?" Stefan taunted. "You don't like being fed on? Does it make you feel used? That's probably what your victims feel, too, being on the receiving end of your attentions."

"Stop it, both of you!" I grabbed Stefan's arm, meaning to calm him while at the same time wordlessly imploring Damon to back down. "Please – can we just not have another fight tonight... I can't take any more of it right now."

There was a brief moment of strained silence, which had them both just staring into each others eyes. Then Damon's gaze briefly turned to me, and with an almost imperceptible nod of his head he relaxed his pose. "Mind my warning if you cherish your vampire existence," he calmly said to Stefan, then simply turned and left the room.

I took a deep breath, realizing only now that I had been holding it. Admittedly, he handled his defeat with grace – if it could be called a defeat at all, given that he had forgone retaliation, which would have been easy for him to deliver. Something told me that Stefan had just made a very narrow escape.

"There," Stefan turned his attention back to Bonnie, who was twitching. "She's waking up..." Her eyelids fluttered, and Stefan lifted her up into a semi-setting position, beckoning me to sit behind her for support.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" Bonnie opened her eyes fully, trying to get her bearings. Instinctively, her hand went to her throat. "My neck.." she winced. "It's hurting..."

"Don't touch it," Stefan said, gently pulling her hand away, "it's healing." Bonnie's fearful gaze flew around the room, taking in the obvious signs of fight and the destruction. Then she looked at Stefan, frowning as she was putting pieces of her memory together. "What's going on?" she asked, her voice trembling with shock and confusion. "I don't understand what happened... this guy – he attacked me and his face was like – not real... And then he bit me... He really bit me!"

"I know. Don't worry, he's gone. He won't hurt you again."

Stefan crouched down beside her, looking into her eyes. "Listen, Bonnie – I know how strange this all must seem to you. I'm sure you're frightened and confused, and I can't explain it in a way that would make sense to you, as much as I'd like to. But I can put everything right again – take away the fear and the pain, if you let me..."

Bonnie's gaze locked with Stefan's. It was full of questions she never asked, but there was something else that I couldn't put my finger on.

"I promise that everything is gonna be okay," Stefan said. "I just need you to trust me..." His eyes were pleading, betraying his fear that it might be too much to ask.

He needn't have worried. "I do," Bonnie simply said, calmly returning his gaze. The words came without hesitation and were spoken in utter conviction. I could only marvel at this. Even I wasn't yet willing to put my faith in him unconditionally – not after he had held back vital information about himself – twice. As he was doing with Bonnie now. And yet she didn't even question that, but just softly asked: "What do you want me to do?"

Stefan's eyes were smiling at her. "Just keep looking at me at me and try to relax." Bonnie took a deep breath. When Stefan caught her gaze this time, her expression suddenly turned blank, resembling that of a sleep walker.

"You will forget about everything that happened tonight, except for this: It was a wonderful evening, until some drunk jerk tried to have his way with Elena. You do remember what he looks like, and you're going to watch out for him from now on. You came to her aid, and you both fled to the library. He followed you, there was a fight, and a window got smashed. A piece of glass pierced your neck, but it's not a wound to be concerned about. Damon and I arrived and chased him off. All of this had you more angry than scared, and also little proud of yourself, because you and Elena put on a hell of a fight and managed to defend yourselves. You'll be careful not to hang about alone until I tell you that he's been caught, though. This is all you remember..."

"This is all I remember..." Bonnie repeated obediently, as if in trance. Than she suddenly blinked and looked around with a confused expression. "Wow. That's one hell of a mess," she said, taking in the signs of destruction around us. "Did I just pass out? My head feels a little funny..."

"I think you banged it on the shelf when he shoved you. Are you okay, otherwise?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I think a piece of glass hurt my neck, though..." She felt for the wound, which had stopped bleeding.

"Here, let me take care of that..." Stefan grabbed the first aid case from the wall and took out a disinfectant wipe and some bandages. Gently, he started to clean the wound. Bonnie was watching him with a very peculiar expression on her face, until Stefan paused, briefly closed his eyes and then thrust the bandage into my hands. "Ehm, on second thought, why don't you help Bonnie with this, Elena, while I'll see if I can find someone to take care of the glass and the broken window... "

"Sure..." I said, realizing that Bonnie's neck was still smudged with blood. Apologetically, I shrugged my shoulders at Bonnie. "You know, he's a little squeamish with blood – I'll get it. Now hold still – this is probably going to sting..."

ALYS

When Damon came home from the decade dance, he was in a weird mood. Agitated, yet also strangely pensive. Something was troubling him, but I knew better than to push and ask him. He'd tell me if he thought I needed to know. Or not. In any case, there was no sense in wasting time with second guessing him.

"You have to move back to campus," Damon finally said, taking a sip from his bourbon while staring into the fire. Okay, not what I had expected. I gave him a puzzled look. "Why? Are you sick of me already?"

"I need you to watch out for Elena and Bonnie. The guy who attacked her last time had another go at them tonight."

"What?" I snapped my book shut and shot mental daggers at him. How dare he not tell me right away? "Are they hurt?"

"Elena is fine. He bit Bonnie though. But she doesn't remember that – Stefan made her forget."

Wait a minute. "Stefan? How did he manage to do that?" I wouldn't trust myself to effectively compel someone with the minimum amount of human blood I consumed. Stefan, who lived purely on animal blood, shouldn't be able to even compel a goldfish, and their memory was said to be rather short.

"He totally freaked out when it happened. If I didn't know that he's totally smitten with Elena, I'd swear he has a soft spot for Bonnie, too. I admit, he had me impressed. I would never have thought that he could get so – testosterone-fueled. I wonder if Elena noticed. If Bonnie is getting under his skin, this might get really entertaining to watch..."

"Stop making those naughty comments about Stefan and Elena. It's not like you think. They're – just friends."

"Just friends?" Damon snorted. "Has he told you that? He's got to be kidding you. Or is he sworn to celibacy as well as food-abstinence? He's hanging around with the most attractive, sexiest girl in town... and he's just befriending her? Don't tell me he's gay, because after today, I won't believe it."

"I shouldn't have said anything." I really shouldn't have. But I was not on board with with Stefan's idea of leading Damon – and Bonnie – on. We had been lying enough. I had asked Elijah for the reason why he wanted to keep Damon thinking that Stefan and Elena were dating. He had just given me a puzzled look and said that Stefan had misunderstood his concerns. And that it was too late for worrying about that anyway, now. So I wasn't much the wiser – except for knowing that Elijah obviously had his secrets, too.

"I just thought that if you knew they are just friends, it would at least take your jealousy out of the equation."

Damon frowned. "I'm not jealous of Stefan!" he said, taken aback. "He's pathetic!"

"So are you. You can't even admit that you feel something for Elena."

"Yes, I do – feel something: Hunger! She's intoxicating – that tremendous smell of her, the fragrance of her blood... Any straight vamp would lust for a taste of her."

"You're not fooling me, Damon," I said in a bored voice. "If it was just her blood you were after, you would have taken it by now." After learning what had happened after Elena's fight with Stefan – Damon following and rescuing her and somehow managing to do the impossible by half draining her and then stopping right there to save her life – I was sure that there was more to his intentions with her. Different from what it was with Caroline. I still wasn't happy about his interest in her, but at least I knew now that she wouldn't die at his hands.

"I never choose my girls just for their blood, Alys."

"No, you use their bodies as well, I know. But guess what – you're not gonna get either from Elena without gaining her heart, too. Unless you force it from her, of course."

"Isn't that what you've been so concerned about all this while?"

"Not so much as I was concerned you might actually succeed in winning it. You wouldn't know what to do with it – except break it."

Damon gave me a long stare, not really knowing what to make out of my reaction. And it was a little off, when I came to think about it. If I really was so concerned for Elena's sake, why had I told him the truth about her and Stefan? Not that it mattered – he didn't believe me, anyway.

"Well, for now, I'll have my hands full in keeping it beating," Damon redirected our conversation back to where it had started. "That's what I need your help for. You should be happy – isn't that what you always wanted us to do? Bonding, working together for a common goal – doing good?" He was mocking his own words as he was saying them.

"I'm still wondering about your motives. Why do you even bother, if you don't care for her?"

"Well, my motives are exactly what you said: I want her: beating heart, warm body and the hot blood in her veins. Not necessarily in that order." He smirked and gave me a wink. Not for a second did I mistake it as playful.

"I have a better idea," I said, as it was forming in my mind. "Have them move in here."

"Excuse me?"

"Think about it!" I said, becoming more enthusiastic about my suggestion as I did so myself. "It would be much safer. The dorms are loud and crowded. Everybody comes and goes as they please – all her attacker needs to do is to compel himself a girlfriend. Here, we'll hear anything unusual from a mile away. We'll be much better able to protect them."

"You want them all to move in? Stefan and Bonnie, too?"

"There are definitely enough rooms."

"Yeah, it's not the room sharing I'm mostly concerned about. But having the little witch under my roof for a prolonged time? Not a good plan. We'd soon scratch each others eyes out. Or maybe do worse."

"Coming to think of it, I'm sure Bonnie wouldn't want to live close to you, either... She detests you."

Damon shrugged. "Must be my dark vibe. Witches tend to be a little over-sensitive to that. But Bonnie is neither my main concern nor that lunatic's main target. It's Elena he wants dead. Bonnie was just collateral damage."

"Fine. Then let's ask Elena. Stefan can stay in the dorms and watch over Bonnie."

Damon leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. "You do realize that this might prove kind of helpful with regard to my ulterior motives, right?

"No," I said, not feeling concerned. "You'll protect her from the crazy vampire out there, and I'll protect her from you. She'll be alright."

A/N: So, Elena will move in with Damon... and I promise some nice Delena action for the next chapters... Thanks for your comments!