Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: This has always been one of my favourite chapters to write! We finally hear about Elena's part in the sacrifice and it sets up a lot for the future. It's also perfect for exploring character's feelings ;)

XXX

Jeremy's POV

As I finished getting ready, I glanced at the other door leading out of the bathroom. The closed door. One of the first things that Elena did when she woke up was open that door. And she was normally awake by now. In fact, this was practically a lay-in for her.

Judging from the silence in the house, Alexa wasn't awake either. But then again, that was nothing new. Dear Alexa always was the last one to wake up. And even then she only woke up because someone (normally Elena) made her. Given the opportunity, she would sleep all day. Of course, her nightmares hadn't helped with her sleeping pattern. Nor had helping me with mine. So I couldn't begrudge her wanting to get some extra sleep.

Rolling my eyes, I knocked on Elena's door.

"Yo, Elena!" I called, just in case she didn't hear the knocking.

I waited for a few seconds, busying myself by putting away all the things that Alexa gotten out and never put back. Which was just typical scatterbrained Alexa. There was a surprising amount out this time, so either she had been messier than usual recently or no one had bothered to clean up after her. Not that she's a messy person or does it deliberately, she just... forgets sometimes. Especially when she has vampire thoughts on her mind.

When Elena didn't answer, I decided to take a risk and slowly opened her door. I half expected something to be thrown at the door or for someone to shout at me. But the room was empty. And silence filled the air.

There were no signs that the room had been used during the night. The bed was still made and there was an... empty feeling in the air.

With dread slowly filling me, I walked out of my oldest sister's room and crossed the hall to Alexa's room. There was no point in knocking since if she was in there, she would most likely be dead to the world this early in the morning.

But her room was also empty.

I ruthlessly thrusted down the dread that was threatening to consume me. Maybe they had just... stayed over at the Salvatore Boarding House. Elena would have wanted to spend the night with Stefan now that they could be together without Katherine threatening everyone. And of course, Alexa would take the opportunity to annoy Damon, just like she takes any opportunity that falls into her lap to annoy him.

Yeah, that's what happened.

No need to panic at all...

XXX

I left earlier than normal to get to school and I was determined to find my sisters. Which was actually a bit too early. Too early for Alexa to be awake. But with both Elena and Stefan to double team her, she'll be up in time.

When I arrived, the first thing that I did was look for the twins. Stefan's car was in the parking lot, which meant that Elena, at the very least, was in.

Sighing in relief, I turned and walked into the school. Now that I knew where they were, I was free to get on with my day without worrying. Well, without an extraordinary amount of worrying, I always had to worry about Alexa doing something to me, be it leap on my back or appear out of nowhere and tickle the hell outta me. She took far too much delight in embarrassing me like that.

It was luck that I caught sight of Stefan standing by his locker, if I hadn't been on Alexa-attack lookout then I probably wouldn't have seen him amongst the mass of people. I pushed my way through the crowd, not bothering to apologise to anyone who got hit with a stray elbow. Right, Jeremy, here we go.

As I reached the vampire's side, he glanced over at me, "Hey Jeremy."

I didn't smile at him like I normally would; instead I looked him dead in the eye. If I was going to be sure about what where the twins went last night, then I had to do this.

"Look, Elena's got to let me know if I'm supposed to cover for her. Especially when Alexa goes with her. Jenna's cool with the two of you but you guys are pushing it. And you know that she doesn't like Lexa hanging around with Damon."

But Stefan looked confused and that made the bad feeling from this morning even worse.

"What are you talking about?"

I had to fight to get the words out, "You and Elena. Look, I'm glad that you guys are back together but if she's gonna sleep over and take Alexa with her..."

The vampire interrupted me before I could continue, "Wait, wait, hold on a minute." He took a deep breath before saying, "We're not back together. And Alexa didn't stay over."

I hardly dared to breath, "Wait... she didn't stay at your place last night? Alexa didn't go with her?"

"No," he answered before shaking his head. "I mean, I saw the twins at the party but that was it. Neither of them slept over last night."

Hiding my shaking hands in my pockets, I told Stefan, "Her bed hadn't been slept in and neither has Alexa's. When I asked Mrs Lockwood, she said that her car was still in the driveway. Where are they?"

But Stefan couldn't answer me.

XXX

Elena's POV

My head ached.

And my shoulder and back throbbed.

I had the vague feeling of being carried.

But... why... I should be at home...

... No... that man... he put something over my mouth... he... drugged me?

Yeah... he drugged me.

That's not it though... he did something else... before it all went black. But what was it?

He... he... he... oh god... Alexa...

He hit Lexa... he hurt her... he hurt my twin...

That though alone spurned me into action.

Forcing my eyes open, I glanced around the... house? Yeah house... that I was carried through. While my vision was still blurry, I could see that the... person... carrying me was a man. Hat. Dark glasses.

"What do you want?" I whispered, trying to move my arms. But I couldn't. They were... tied together... by rope.

My legs too.

But the most worrying thing was, I didn't know where my twin was.

"Shh," my captor hushed me, not even bothering to look down at me.

"Where's my sister?"

A smirk was my only answer as the man lowered me down onto an old settee.

Spiky brown hair filled my vision and I almost sobbed in relief at the sight of my sister next to me. I didn't like the fact that she was here, in danger, but at least I knew where she was. But the dried blood on the side of her face twisted my stomach.

I needed to get her somewhere safe where she could be looked at. Either a hospital or the Salvatore Boarding House, I didn't care which, as long as she was looked after. Perhaps if I could get our captor to sympathise with us, then maybe he would help us, let us go. The sympathy card was our only option.

As our kidnapper untied the ropes, freeing my limbs, I whimpered, "Please, we're hurt."

I couldn't take my eyes off of the blood on my little sister's face. But the man's next words soon had my frightened gaze snapping in his direction.

"I know."

A dark smirked adorned his face as his face changed. I had to resist the urge to scream as I saw his vampire fangs. No, no, no, no, why? Why did we have to be taken by a vampire?

"Just a little taste."

By the time that I had realised that he was aiming for Alexa and not me, I didn't have any time to pull my sister away from the vampire. A strong hand was placed against my shoulder, holding me back against the back of the sofa.

"No! No!" I cried out, I wanted to reach out and pull my twin away from the threat. But with one arm being held back by the vampire and the other trapped beneath my body, I was powerless to stop him.

The vampire was barely an inch away from my twin's neck when a stern voice called out, stopping him.

"Trevor!"

The man, Trevor, sighed and looked up at the woman entering the room. Her sharp eyes scanned the room, her gaze lingering on my face before darting over to my sister's. The disapproval in her eyes deepened as she saw how Trevor was leant over my twin's exposed neck.

"Control yourself," she frowned at him as she walked further into the room.

"Buzz kill," Trevor muttered, standing up and leaving the room. But not without giving us a final hungry look.

Wrapping an arm around Alexa's waist, I pulled her closer to me, determined to keep her protected from this new possible threat. The woman was a vampire, that much was obvious, only a vampire could order another vampire about like that.

"What do you want with us?" I asked the new vampire, moving so that I was sitting in front of my unconscious twin. I adjusted her head so that it was leaning against the arm, making sure she was able to breathe properly. I hid her neck from view with my body, as every instinct within me screamed at me to make sure that she wasn't left exposed. She was still breathing, which was good. But I was worried about the knock that she had taken to the head.

"My god," the newcomer remarked as she stepped closer. "You look just like her."

I immediately knew who she was talking about. It was pretty obvious really. I mean, who else would it be? And I cursed whatever gene it was that afflicted me with Katherine's Pierce's face.

"But I'm not," I protested, slowly standing up, making sure to keep my twin hidden behind me. "Please, whatever you..."

"Be quiet!" she snapped, interrupting me.

"But I'm not Katherine," I repeated, desperate to make her understand. Because if she understood, then maybe she would let us go. "My name is Elena Gilbert and that is my twin sister Alexa Gilbert; you don't have to do this."

"I know who you are," the vampire glared at me. "And I said be quiet."

I knew that it wasn't smart to keep pushing her, but I needed her to understand. I had to get my sister out of this house. I had to get her to safety.

I gave one last final plea, "What do you want?"

I never saw it coming. The only warning that I got was a slight twitch of her face before there was a great pain in the side of my face and then... darkness...

XXX

Stefan's POV

I paced back and forth, agitation making me run my hands through my hair. Ever since I had heard the news from Jeremy, I hadn't been able to relax.

"This has Katherine written all over it," I frowned, unable to contain my worry.

Elena was gone. She had been taken, kidnapped, by someone. And what was worse, Alexa was taken with her. Both of the twins were gone. Just when we thought that it was safe for them, they were taken. And we had no idea who had done so.

"Katherine's in the tomb," Damon told me from his seat on the bench.

It was the first thing that I did when I found out from Jeremy that the twins were gone. I wasn't happy about it, but I knew that if anyone could help me find them, then it would be Damon.

"Trust me; I'm the one who shut her in."

I spun around to face him, "Did you?"

She was the only person that I could think of who could have taken them. Katherine was the only one who hated them enough and had the capabilities to take them. There was no one else in town who could have done so.

"Did I what? Stefan?" my brother asked softly, a dangerous gleam in his eye.

"Well, I know the hold that Katherine has on you."

I didn't want to bring up the past, but it was unavoidable. Although, who knows just how much of a hold that she has anymore. Afterall, it was highly likely that someone else had a greater influence on my brother now. One that he would do anything to protect.

"She's in the tomb. Period. End of story."

Damon glared at me, obviously insulted. I did feel slightly regretful at bringing it up, but the twins were gone and I needed to find them. It was my duty to find them. To save them.

My brother continued to glare at me until a thoughtful looked appeared on his face, "She did say something to me right before I shut her in. But I thought that she was lying."

My head snapped in his direction, "What did she say?"

Damon looked almost reluctant to tell me but said, "She told me that Elena's in danger and, because of that, so is Alexa."

If Damon had been told that Alexa was in danger, then he would not have ignored that. He would have done something to protect her. He would have taken her home himself.

"And you didn't think that you should ask her to elaborate?" I snapped, not very happy that he ignored her warning.

"Everything that she says is a lie," Damon protested, standing up to defending himself. "How am I supposed to know if she's gonna start spouting out the truth?"

Well, I suppose he has a point there. I probably would have doubted her if I was in Damon's position. Katherine would say anything to get her way. And she knew exactly what buttons to press.

"We have to go talk to her," I told my brother, starting to move away from the school. Katherine had the answers so I needed to talk to Katherine. Even if I didn't want to be anywhere near her. I had to find out what she knew.

"No, no," Damon tried to stop me. "Let me tell you how that's gonna go: we're gonna go ask her for help, she's gonna negotiate her release which we're gonna be dumb enough to give her and she's gonna get out and kill us!"

I shook my head, refusing to believe what he was saying. Even though I knew that it was perfectly true.

"This is exactly what she wants!"

I looked my brother dead in the eye, "I don't really care."

Turning, I walked back towards the school, a plan already forming in my mind.

"It's a bad idea, Stefan!" Damon shouted after me.

I paused and glanced back at him "It's Elena."

XXX

Alexa's POV

My head.

Oh god, my head.

A gentle tap on the side of my face had me opening my eyes. Even if I didn't want to open my eyes. I just wanted to go back to sleep and not think about the ass who knocked me out.

... Hang on a minute... the ass who knocked me out... Elena...

I forced my eyes open, anxiously looking around for my twin. It took a minute for my vision to settle, but it soon focused on the worried face of my twin sister. I scanned her face, checking for any injuries. I couldn't see any, other than the dried blood that stained her top. But the lack of new injuries had the vice on my heart easing slightly.

Slowly, oh so slowly, I began to sit up. My head gave a nasty throb, making me wince and pause in my movement. My stomach rolled as I fought the urge to throw up. I knew that this was one bad knock to the head. And that it would not be fun to deal with.

Ellie wrapped her arm around my shoulder, helping me fully sit up. The moment that I was upright, I pulled my twin into a hug. She immediately returned it, wrapping her arms tightly around me. Breathing in her familiar scent, I closed my eyes and rested my head on her shoulder.

When I saw her being attacked by that man, the terror the consumed me was... uncontrollable. He tried to take her from me and he succeeded. I failed to protect her from being abducted. She was in danger because I failed to protect like a good twin should. But at least she wasn't alone. I was here with her. And I'd rather be damned to an eternity in hell than let her get hurt here.

"Where are we?" I whispered in her ear as I stroked her long hair.

"I don't know where we are," Elena answered in a low voice, being respectful of my pounding head. "But there are two vampires in the house with us."

"Shit," I cursed, unable to think up an alternative word in this situation.

My twin hummed in response as she carefully eased back. Her arms were still wrapped around me, but now she could look me in the face. I could feel her gaze on the dried blood on the side of my face. I knew that a bruise would soon form there and I wished that I could stop her from looking at it. The guilt in my silly sister's eyes had me sighing. I knew that I had to get her mind off of it.

"We need to get out of here," I looked around the old, decrepit room before looking back at my twin. My words had jolted her from her guilt for the time being. A determined look formed on her face as she looked around herself.

"I think I know where the exit is," twin said as she glanced down at my stiletto clad feet. Ah yes, I was still wearing my masquerade dress. And shoes. Don't know where the mask went though. I hoped that I hadn't lost it, as I was rather fond of the silly thing.

"How are the girls?"

My head shot up as an unfamiliar voice spoke.

"That's one of the vampires," Ellie explained, her eyes trained cautiously on the doorway where the voice came from. "She seems to be the one in charge."

"Still passed out," another answered, a dude this time. His English accent matched the females and I had a nasty feeling that I was in way over my head here.

"And that's Trevor, the other vampire."

"Righto," I whispered, fighting to keep my voice steady as I controlled my fear.

"We need to go now," Ellie insisted, her gaze darting to the blood on my face. Nodding my head, I gently slid my shoes off my feet and held them in one hand. Elena was fighting to keep calm. And she was doing a good job. It was only the shaking of her hands that gave her away. I knew that I was the same. We were both in danger and we were not happy about it.

"You didn't touch them, did you?" she-vamp asked in the background as I fought to control my breathing. I couldn't let any loud gasps give us away.

We stood up and made our way towards the doorway, Ellie leading the way. I took special effort to step lightly. I could not, would not, jeopardise our escape by being noisy.

"Give me some credit," male vamp, Trevor, scoffed. "So, you called him?"

Called who? Who was she supposed to call?

No, focus, Alexa, focus. That's not important.

My twin tapped on my arm, indicating which direction we needed to go in. Right, here we go. Freedom, say hello to the Gilbert twins.

"No, I called one of his contacts," lady answered in a sharp tone, it felt like they had had this conversation before. "You know how this works."

Carefully, we made our way up the stairs and, hopefully, towards our escape. I winced as the rough floorboards irritated my bare feet. Stupid wooden floorboards, stupid stilettos for being loud and unwearable. Stupid vampires for getting us into this situation.

"Did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?" he-vamp snapped. He did not sound happy. Which was not good for us. Unhappy vamps tended to become bitey very easily. And I was not in the mood to get bitten again.

"They say he got it."

I reached forward and grabbed my twin's hand, threading her fingers through mine. I squeezed her hand, silently telling her now not-calm I was. Because I wasn't. In fact, I was the exact opposite of calm. It was only my desire to get my twin out of this house and away from those vampires that kept me from completely losing control.

"Wonderful and what?"

As we reached the top of the stairs, we saw our two vampire captors talking in a room at the end of the hallway. The male paced back and forth, clearly aggravated by the situation. Which was stupid, because he had no right to be aggravated. We were the ones being fucked over in this situation. As he continued to move, it clicked in my brain.

Oh god.

We had to get past them to get out. All that one of them had to do was turn and look down the corridor and that was it. We were caught. God, let's hope that they remain engrossed in their conversation.

"So that's it, Trevor. He either got it or he didn't. We just have to wait."

Ellie's gaze caught mine and she gave me a small nod. Ok twin, I'm trusting you here. Get us out of here.

She slowly, carefully stepped forward and into the hallway. The moment her foot hit the ground; our gazes shot towards the two vampires. They hadn't heard. Thanks to whatever deity that is up there watching over us. I always was a believer, I swear.

"Look, it's not too late. We can leave them here. We don't have to go through with this."

My twin continued down the corridor. I followed, placing my feet in the same place that she did. My heart was racing, pounding. To be perfectly honest, I was surprised that the vampires didn't hear it, it was that loud.

"I'm sick of running!"

Or maybe the noise of their argument hid the noise of our escape.

"Yeah? Well, running keeps us from dying."

We were so so close. Just a few more steps and Elena was out of the hallway. And out of their sight. It didn't matter after that. I would use myself as a distraction if it meant that my twin got out of here.

"Elijah's old school. If he accepts our deal, we're free."

Just one more step, Ellie, you can do it.

But then the unthinkable happened. The floorboard beneath Elena's let out a loud creak. I froze. Oh sheeee-it. No. No. No. I stared at my twin; eyes wide with horror. She looked back, a sick look on her face.

Before we could even think about making a run for it, the female was standing in front of us. And she did not look happy.

I used our joined hands to pull my sister closer towards me. While my plan was to stand in front of her and protect her, my darling twin had other ideas. She pushed me further behind her, making sure that she was between me and the pissed off she-vampire. I glared at her back, not at all happy with her stupid decision making.

"You!" the vampire growled as the male lurked behind her, the veins beneath his eyes rippling. "There's nothing around here for miles. If you think that you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong. Understand?"

... Well, I suppose that now we have a vague idea of where the hell we are.

"Who's Elijah?" Elena shot back, refusing to be intimidated, even as she grabbed my hand and squeezed to the point of pain. Which I ignored as Trevor looked at me and licked his lips.

Squeezing her hand in support, I tried to copy her facial expression. Maybe if I acted all strong, then he would be less likely to try and eat me. And I could protect my sister a bit better too.

"He's your worst nightmare," was the ominous answer.

Why, oh why, do I not like the sound of this?

XXX

Jeremy's POV

I laid the map down on the table in front of Bonnie before glancing at the candle that the witch was preparing. She had told us that she was going to perform some sort of tracking spell. One which would help us find Elena and Alexa.

"How does this work?" I asked, looking at Bonnie, watching as she sorted out what she needed.

"I'll use your blood to draw energy for the tracking spell," she explained, looking up at me with a determined look. "You're blood related; it'll make the connection stronger."

Nodding, I took a deep breath, calming myself. It made me feel better to know that we know had a way to find them. I hadn't been able to think of anything else all day. My sisters were missing and I needed to find them.

When the door opened, I quickly looked up, only to see Stefan walk through, a leather bag in his hand.

"Alright, Alaric said that we've got to clear out of here within 10 minutes," the vampire explained, placing the bag on the teacher's desk. "I've got weapons, he stocked me up."

I tilted my head towards the vampire before looking back at Bonnie.

"Are you ready?" she asked me, holding the knife up.

I didn't even hesitate; I just held my hand out to her. If this was the only way in which we could track down the twins, then I would do. I would do anything to get them back home. Bon nodded before doing what she needed to do. I winced as she made a cut on my palm and held my hand out over the map.

Stefan and I watched, mesmerised, as the Bennett witch chanted and the blood that had dripped onto the map moved. It all merged together and slowly moved along the map before stopping. Our eyes tracked its movement as it squelched further and further away from Mystic Falls.

"There," Bonnie breathed, placing a finger down near the blood. "They're there."

Glancing at the path the blood had made along the map, I did some quick math before saying, "That's 300 miles away."

The thought that Elena and Alexa were over 300 miles away was not a pleasant thought. Without Bonnie's witchy help, we would never have found them. And that thought made my blood run cold. We could have lost them forever if it wasn't for Bonnie.

"No, Bonnie," Stefan shook his head, gaze transfixed upon the map as he tried to judge the location. "We need a more exact location than that."

We were all silent for a moment as my mind whirred.

"That's as close as I can get," Bonnie sighed, a helpless look on her face. If that's as close as Bonnie can get, then maybe...

"We can map it," I said, looking at Stefan with a determined look of my own. "Aerial view will show us what's around there, help us narrow down the area."

Stefan nodded his head before moving to the desk and picking up the bag, "Perfect. Call me with whatever you find."

Call him? What does he mean by call him? He's not going on a rescue mission without me.

"No, no," I raced forward, catching up with the vampire. "I'm coming with you-"

"No, Jeremy, you're not," Stefan told me, looking at me with a stern look.

I glared at him, not at all happy that he was trying to keep me out of this. I had more right than anyone. They were my sisters and I needed to rescue them.

"No, I'm not gonna just sit here!" I protested angrily, spitting out the words. "What if they're hurt? Or worse? What if they're..."

Stefan cut me off before I could even begin to think about the worser option, "They're not. Now, you two go back to your house just in case. I'll call you the minute I find them."

"You can't do this alone!"

The sound of a door opening had my head snapping around. I was scared that we had been caught by a teacher, if that had happened, then no one would be able to go out and find the twins.

"He's not," Damon Salvatore announced, standing in the doorway. He looked at his brother, "Let's go."

"You're coming with me?" Stefan frowned, looking confused at his brother's offer of help.

Damon looked the younger vampire in the eye, "It's Alexa."

XXX

Damon's POV

I glanced over at the... thing... in Stefan's hands before returning my gaze to the road.

"Alaric sure likes his weapons," I stated, my eyes flickering back to the thing as I tried to work out exactly what it was. Stefan examined the bottle, which just so happened to contain vervain, in his hands. There was some sort of clasp attached to the top of it. "What the hell is that?"

"I don't know," Stefan answered, placing the thing back into the bag which he had brought along and placed it on the back seat. "It's a vervain bomb or a grenade launcher or something like that."

"Weird," I shrugged, making a mental note to take a closer look at the contraption once the twins... once Alexa... were safely back at home. I should probably be more aware of what weapons Ric had, especially if there was a risk that others could use something similar against me.

"Hey, how much further is it?" little brother asked, looking at me with a frown on his face.

"About 80 miles," I answered, resisting the urge to go any faster than I already was. I was already pushing the Camaro to its limits and I couldn't get to Alexa any quicker if it broke.

Alexa had been missing since last night and who knows how much more trouble the girl had managed to get herself into since then. She was far too much of a trouble magnet, even if she constantly denied it. 80 miles was much too long a distance to be between us.

"Who do you think took them?"

If I knew that, Stefan, then the idiots would already be dead. No one took my girl and lived to get away with it.

"Someone from Katherine's past. She said that she was running from someone. With Elena, they just got the wrong girl. But that doesn't explain why they took Alexa."

Although, knowing Alexa, she most likely did something to piss them off and they took her out of anger. Or, at least, I hope that's why they took her. I dread to think of why else they could have taken her. Because there was a darker reason as to why, one that had briefly crossed my mind when I first met the twins, before Alexa grew on me.

When Katherine had told me that Alexa was in danger, the first thing that I did was go to her house. Under the pretence of wanting to annoy her, of course. But when I saw that she wasn't there and when I discovered that Elena wasn't there either, I began to... worry. I spent the night looking for any trace of the two. Because where one twin was, the other was usually close behind. But I couldn't find anything which would tell me their whereabouts. So I did the next... best thing, I joined up with Stefan and followed the trail that he had found.

Sensing my brother's gaze, I glanced over to see him staring at me, "Thank you for helping me."

I rolled my eyes, "Can we not do the whole road trip bonding thing? The cliché of it all makes me itch."

There was only one person who I would do that horrible road trip bonding thing with. And fortunately, dear brother, you are not her. Nor would you ever be. I don't know if I could ever be that close to him again.

"Oh, come on Damon. We both know that you being in this car has absolutely nothing to do with me anyway."

"And the elephant in the room lets out a mighty roar."

Oh joy, the one thing that I didn't want to talk about. And, of course, Stefan had to bring it up. My brother was incapable of letting things lie.

"Well, it doesn't have to be an elephant. Let's talk about it."

I shot my brother an incredulous look. As if I would ever talk about that with him. When it came to Stefan, that subject was strictly off limits.

"There's nothing to talk about."

"That's not true." Oh of course it is brother. "I'm sure there is. Just get it out. I mean, are you in this car because you want to help your little brother save the girl that he loves? Or is it because you love that girl's twin sister? Hmm? I mean, come on, express yourself. I happen to like road trip bonding."

My grip on the wheel tightened and I kept my gaze on the road. Since the mere thought of anything happening between me and Alexa had Saint Stefan humming in disapproval, I didn't even consider the idea of telling him that yes, I was in love with his girl's twin sister. With Alexa.

"Keep it up, Stefan. I can step out of helping as easily as I stepped in," I threatened even though I knew that it was an empty threat. While I could, in fact, do that. It would be easier to save Alexa with Stefan's help. And I wouldn't put my girl at risk just because of my ego.

"No, you see, that's the beauty of it. You can't."

XXX

Alexa's POV

I stormed after my twin, barely noticing the sharp wood of the floor biting into my bare feet.

"Elena Gilbert, get back here!" I hissed angrily as I followed my sister through the house. My dear, annoying twin glanced back at me before continuing her way down the corridor.

"Alexa, we need to find out why they took us."

"No, we don't. What we need to do is avoid the crazy abductering vampires!"

"I need to know why they took us."

Growling obscenities under my breath, I ran forward and grabbed my sister's arm. Spinning her around, I changed my grip so that my hands were on her shoulders.

"Elena, if we want to get out of this house alive, then we have to stay away from the vampires. Especially the psychotic ass who tried to bite me."

Yes, dear Elena had told me about that. And happy I was not. It wasn't the fact that I was nearly bitten while unconscious; it was more to do with the fact that if he had chosen to go after Elena instead, I wouldn't have been able to protect her. Since, y'know, I was unconscious. And I had to be able to protect my sister.

"I didn't want to talk to him; it's the woman who I want to talk to."

"That's just as bad!"

My sister sighed and placed her hands over mine, "Lexa, trust me, we'll be fine, I'll be fine. I just want to talk to her."

I glared at her, annoyed that she had played the 'trust me' card. I always hated it when she played that card. She knew that I was rubbish at saying no to it.

"Fine," I bit out through gritted teeth. "But I stay by your side at all time and the moment we see them start to get pissed off, we leave. Deal?"

"Deal," Ellie smiled at me in gratitude. "And Alexa, put your shoes back on, you'll get splinters if you continue to walk around like that."

"Put some shoes on," I mouthed mockingly as I walked back to the room that we had woken up in and picked up my shoes. I winced slightly as I slid them onto my aching feet but, unfortunately, Elena was right. The last thing that I needed was injured while trapped in a house with an idiot twin and crazy vampires. I couldn't protect her if I was crippled with blisters.

Elena had waited for me and as I re-joined her, she led the way through vampire house. I made sure to walk in any sunny spots that we found. Of course, my sister didn't think to do the same until I forced her into it.

"I still don't think that this is a good idea," I muttered, glancing at my sister out of the corner of my eye.

"I would be surprised if you did," twin remarked, not looking at me as she knew that I would be giving her daggers.

Le gasp, twin that was quite cheeky of you. Tut tut. I stuck my tongue out at her before taking her hand in mine.

Right.

Gilbert twins.

Let's present a united front.

XXX

Once we had located the female vampire, avoiding the male vampire in the process, we lurked in the doorway for a moment before Elena said, "Why are we here?"

We were ignored for a minute as the she-vampire busied herself by tidying up the dusty desk in front of her. I took the opportunity to look around the room. The old books scattered around caught my attention. There were so many of them, just lying there, discarded, on the floor. Unwanted and unneeded.

The vampore turned on a lamp and looked over at us, "You keep asking me these questions like I'm gonna answer them."

Considering you and your friend kidnapped us, I think we have the right to ask questions. And it's just plain rude of you to not answer them.

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms, "Well, why won't you?"

"That's another one," the vampire stated, eyes darting over to me. I took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. That's it, Alexa, don't show any fear.

Really? I hadn't noticed.

Now, while it may not look like it, I was actually shit scared. I was just hiding it really well. Well, while that may be true, the main reason why I was not freaking out beyond belief was because I was focusing on protecting my twin. With that goal in mind, I could push back my fear and use it to fuel my protective urges.

"You got us, ok?" twinnie walked further into the room even as I tried to pull her back. "It's not like we can go anywhere. The least you can do is tell us what you want with us."

I kept a close eye on the woman, looking to see if our pushy questions had angered. But she just seemed vaguely amused. Which worried me somewhat. It was never very good when vampires were vaguely amused as I have learnt from my experiences with Damon.

"I, personally, want nothing; I'm just a delivery service."

Well, ok, that sounds vaguely ominous. I really don't like the sound of that. Because if a vampire was the delivery, then what the hell were we being delivered to? A more powerful vampire? Because if that is the case then we are Screwed, capital S.

"Delivery to whom?" Ellie asked, obviously sharing my bad feelings as shown by the worried look that she had sent me.

I thought for a moment, my mind going back to the conversation that I had listened in on earlier while we were trying to escape, "Delivery to that Elijah dude?"

"Two points to the eavesdropper," vampire smirked at me before turning her attention back to the table.

I painted an obviously fake smirk on my face and bowed my head slightly. Well, I was always very good at the eavesdropping part. It's how I find out about many of the secrets that the inhabitants of Mystic Falls keep.

"Who is he?" my twin frowned, her thinking face in place. "Is he a vampire?"

"He's one of The Vampires," she-vamp answered, a special emphasis on the 'the'. I could practically the capital letter. "The Originals."

... Uh, the Originals? Sounds rather pompous don'tcha think?

"Is that supposed to mean something to us?" I asked, my hands gesturing for some sort of explanation. I sincerely doubted that she would answer my question, since she seemed to be very anti-answer, but hey, a girl could hope.

"What do you mean by The Originals?" Ellie also asked and I had to resist the urge to sigh. I knew that face and we were even more screwed. My sister would not let this drop until she had the answers she needed, even if it put her at risk.

You would have thought that with all the vampire crap that we have had to put up with, that we would have heard of a group of vampires called The Originals. But nope, maybe it was because the vampires were too busy trying to kill us to tell us more about their kind.

"Again with the questions," lady vamp shook her head as she flicked through one of the old musty books with a vaguely curious look.

Well, you know what they say; questions are the best way to learn. And Elena does have some weird obsession with asking questions. Seriously, it's all she does. Meet someone new or go somewhere that she's never been before and its questions galore. Not that I mind too much, it meant that I got to learn lots of new things too.

"Haven't the Salvatore's been teaching you your vampire history?"

Uh, well, ya see, they've been too busy trying to keep us alive to worry about history lessons. And I doubt that they were even taught their vampire history, after all, they didn't really have anyone around to teach it to them. Thanks to Bitcherine being a bitch.

But hang on a minute, I feel as though I'm missing something here...

"So you know Stefan and Damon?" Elena asked, a shocked look on her face. Ah yes, that's what I was missing. And that is also a wonderful question, dear twin.

"I know of them," the vampire answered with an enigmatic smile. "A hundred years back, a friend of mine tried to set me up with Stefan. She said that he was one of the good ones. I'm more of a sucker for the bad boys though, but I digress."

I couldn't help but glare at her for that. I knew exactly who she meant by 'bad boys' and she better keep her filthy hands off of my Damon. Because, ya know, if she dares, then I will take great pleasure in cutting them off. Not that I was jealous or anything... no... not at all...

Oh who am I kidding? Of course I was. I didn't like it when other women paid too much attention to my Damon. But what right did I have to get jealous, it's not like we're going out. I don't have any sort of claim on him. Even if I did have hope that I someday would.

I forced the thought of la bitch going after my Damon out of my mind, "So, who exactly are the Originals?"

The woman sighed and turned around to face us, "Trevor and I have been running for 500 years. We're tired, we want it over." Are we supposed to be feeling sorry for them right now? Because, I gotta say, there is no way in Hell that that is happening. They kidnapped my sister. My twin sister. I could never ever feel sorry for those assholes. Words could not even begin to describe how much I couldn't feel sorry for them. "We're using you, Elena, to negotiate ourselves out of an old mess."

... I'm sorry... Did I hear that right? They want to use my twin sister to make a deal? To save their own pathetic asses? Are they fucking kidding me?! There is no way that that is going to happen. No way in hell.

Staring the bitch vampire straight in the eye, I moved so that I was standing between her and my twin. The message was clear: if they wanted to get to Elena then they had to get through me first.

Not much of a threat, but hey, at least Elena would have a chance to escape while they were killing me. Well, not permanently killing me. I did have my ring, after all. Which Damon had graciously returned to me after Katherine had tried to steal it. The bitch.

"Why my sister?" I asked, a challenging look on my face as my sister sighed behind me.

"Because she's a Petrova Doppelganger," the vamp answered me before looking over my shoulder at Elena. "You're the key to breaking the curse."

"The curse?" I frowned, looking back at my sister. There was a moment of confusion before realisation dawned in her eyes.

"The sun and the moon curse?" she asked the vampire. What? That old curse that we learnt about when we went to Duke's?

"Oh, you do know your history," the vampire rolled her eyes at that revelation.

I tightened my grip on my sister's hand as she asked, "What do you mean I'm the key?"

"Yeah, because that damn moonstone is what breaks the curse," I added. And boy did I hate that goddamn thing. And that damn curse.

"No, the moonstone is what binds the curse," the she-vampire corrected us, walking forward. "The sacrifice is what breaks it."

A sick feeling formed in my stomach. I didn't want to know what the sacrifice was because I had a horrible feeling that I already knew what it was. And I honestly didn't know if I would cope with the answer.

"The sacrifice?" Ellie repeated as I pulled her closer to me.

"The blood of the doppelganger," the vampire elaborated as I fought the urge to throw up. "You're the doppelganger. Which means, in order to break the curse, you're the one who has to die."

I froze. Oh shit. That is not good. That is so not good.

"Tell us more!" Elena demanded; her panic clear in her voice. Well, it was clear to me, but then again, I did know her better than anyone else in this room. And she had every right to panic. She had just found out that she was to be sacrificed to break this stupid curse. If I were in her position, I would be a weeping ball on the ground right now.

"Captivity has made them pushy, eh?"

At the sound of a male voice interrupting our conversation, I gasped and pulled Ellie closer to me. We turned our heads to see Trevor enter the room behind us. Ah, crap.

"What do you want to know, doppelicious?" he smirked at my twin as he helped lady vamp board up the windows. From the way they dodged the sunlight, and the odd sizzle that I heard, it became clear that neither of them owned daylight rings. And that meant that all we had to do was get outside and we would be safe.

"I get why you took me, since I'm the 'Petrova doppelganger', but why did you take my sister?" Elena asked, stepping forward so that she was standing next to me. "What has she got to do with all of this?"

I, too, looked at the vampires. Why did they take me? Was I just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or was there another reason?

"Incentive," Trevor shrugged with a smirk.

"Incentive?" my twin repeated, pulling me closer towards her. Her grip on my arm was painful but I didn't care. I knew exactly why I was there and I hated it.

"We needed to get you behave somehow and what would be a better way than threatening to kill your precious twin sister if you misbehaved?"

I closed my eyes. So that's all I was, a pawn. A way of getting Elena to do as she was told. I was completely and utterly worthless to them. And I just knew that if I misbehaved, if I did something that they didn't like, well, then I would be dead in minutes. Even with my ring, I would be dead. And I couldn't protect my twin if I was dead.

"And when Elijah comes for me? Will you let her go?" Ellie's voice shook as we both prayed for different things. I knew that she would want me to be let free. But I would want to stay with her, to protect her.

"That depends on Elijah."

I didn't try and kid myself, I knew that I wouldn't survive for long. I would inevitably do something to piss someone off and when that happened... well, buh bye Alexa. But no, I couldn't think about that. I would go to pieces otherwise. And I had to stay strong to keep my sister safe.

"Who were you running from?" I blurted out, desperate to change the subject.

The he-vamp glanced at me and I could tell that he knew what I was doing. But he humoured me anyway, "The Originals."

And it was back to this Originals business.

"Yeah, that's what she said," I gestured over in girlie's direction. "What does that mean?"

"The first family," Trevor explained with an amused look. "The old world. Rose and I pissed them off."

Rose? Ohhh that must be the she-vampire's name. Rose. Huh, never would have figured her to be a Rose.

Rose, to use her actual name, cleared her throat. Loudly.

Trevor rolled his eyes, "Correction, I pissed them off, Rose had my back and for over half a millennium, they wanted us dead."

Whoa, over half a millennium? That's a helluva long time. That makes these two vampires like, 5 times older than the Salvatore brothers. Which was not good. That would make the rescue even harder.

"Dude, what the hell did you do?" I breathed; eyes wide at that revelation.

"He made the same mistake countless others did," Rose told us with a hard look aimed at my sister. "He trusted Katerina Petrova."

Ah, crap, yeah, that'll do it. Should have figured that that bitch would be involved. She always was when it came to the bullshit that plagued our lives. Bitches gonna bitch, I suppose.

"Katherine," Elena said, briefly closing her eyes in frustrated despondence.

"The one and only," the lady vampire sighed, clearly sharing our hatred of the bitch. "The first Petrova Doppelganger."

"I helped her escape her fate and now I've," Trevor paused before correcting himself, "Sorry, we've been marked ever since."

Well damn. They were screwed over by Bitcherine. Those poor... no, I said that I wouldn't pity them... damn... It was so hard, especially when I knew that they had been fucked over by Katherine too. Ugh, why does that bitch always make things difficult for me, even when I am miles away from her.

"Which is why we're not gonna make the same mistake again," Rose said to Trevor, looking at him meaningfully.

Rose turned and left the room, her fellow vampire following her.

I looked at my sister and my sister looked at me.

"Well shit," I breathed, perfectly summing up our situation.

We were officially screwed.

XXX

Ellie and I slumped down on the sofa that we had woken up on. We clung onto each other, craving the comfort of the other's touch after everything that we had learnt. Elena was to be given to a powerful vampire called Elijah and who wants to sacrifice her to break some curse. And I am to be killed the minute she misbehaves.

Life was so complicated.

I closed my eyes and rested my head against my sister's shoulder. Why was this happening to us? With Katherine in the tomb we were supposed to be safe. But nooo, apparently that was never gonna happen.

The sound of rustling paper reached my ear so I opened my eyes only to see Elena holding a sheet of paper, a relieved look on her face.

"Ellie, what..." I started but was shushed before I could continue. Raising an eyebrow, I looked at her. In response, she held the piece of paper up for me to read. It was a message.

'Stefan and Damon are coming for the both of you- B'

I nearly sobbed with relief. Damon was coming for me. My Damon was coming. I had never been so glad in all my life to see his name. I looked at my sister and saw the same relief on her face. Everything was gonna be alright. All we had to do now was pray that they got here in time.

I shifted so that I was closer to my twin and closed my eyes. Being here, in this situation, it just cemented in my mind just how stupid our fight had been. Some crazy vampire wanted to sacrifice my sister and we had just spent the past god knows how long engaged in some stupid argument.

"Ellie, I'm sorry," I whispered, my eyes still closed. "Our fight, it was stupid and I was being petty. It should never have happened."

"No, Lexa," my twin sighed as she tucked my head under her chin. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You were right, I should have trusted you."

"But Elena-"

"No buts, you had the right to be mad."

Grumbling, I opened my eyes and looked at my twin, "You're not gonna let me apologise, are you?"

"No," she smiled softly at me as she brushed my hair from my face.

"Damn you twin," I mumbled, resting my head against her shoulder and digging my cold nose into her neck in revenge.

Ellie laughed quietly into my hair, "We're a stubborn pair, aren't we?"

"I don't think that anyone would have it any other way."

"True, true."

We sat there in silence, our thoughts drifting back to our predicament, no much how much we tried to forget about it.

"I'm scared, Ellie."

"I know, Lexa, me too."

"How do we always manage to get ourselves into these situations?"

I sniffled slightly, fighting back the tears. It was all getting too much, I needed a moment to let go, to be weak, otherwise I won't be able to protect my twin when Elijah arrives. I had keep my strength for then, even if it meant being weak for now.

"I don't know. But don't worry, you'll be safe. I won't do anything that would jeopardise your safety."

"And that's what scares me Ellie. You won't do anything which could lead to me getting hurt, which means that you won't try to escape. And that vampire will take you and use you in this stupid sacrifice and I'll lose you."

"You won't lose me."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

XXX

Damon's POV

"We're getting close. Jeremy said there's an access road just past mile marker 6."

I nodded at Stefan's words as I reached back and grabbed a blood bag off of the backseat. I needed to be at full strength if I was going to stand any chance at getting Alexa back. And I was going to get her back. I wouldn't let anything take her from now.

I glanced over at my brother, only to see him watching me.

"If you want some, just ask," I offered, not believing for a second that he would take me up on it.

"I want some."

I glanced over at the younger vampire in shock. Was he serious? After everything that we had gone through a few weeks ago, he wanted to do this?

Smirking at him, I said, "Ah, that's so sweet. You wanna be all big and strong and save your girl, but don't worry; I've got your back. It'll be fine."

Stefan sighed and gave me one of his 'Saint Stefan Looks', "I'm not joking. I've been drinking a little every day. I'm slowly increasing my intake and building up my strength."

I stared at him for a moment, partly shocked, partly impressed before shrugging and handing over the blood bag. I let him drink in silence for a few seconds before asking a very important question, "Does Elena know that you're drinking human blood?"

Stefan hesitated. Ah, little brother, does that mean that she does not know? But I did not expect the answer that came out of his mouth.

"I've been drinking hers."

"Hmm, how romantic," I grimaced as I took the blood bag back. I thought for a moment, my mind going straight to someone who would not be very happy with that revelation. "Does Alexa know?"

Stef's reaction said it all.

"She's gonna be so pissed at you when she finds out," I smirked as I imagined her reaction. "And believe me, she'll find out. She always does when it concerns her precious twin sister."

It was rather disturbing. No matter what the secret, one twin always managed to find out about it at some point. It was like there was some sort of twin o'meter connecting the two of them. But it was helpful if one of them was in danger and the other was with us. Of course, when they were both in trouble, then it just got them deeper in it. As they would do stupid things to keep the other safe.

Stefan didn't give me a response to that.

Smirking, I turned my attention back to the road and the blood bag, "Since we're road trip bonding, remember the days when all you lived for was blood? You were the guy who ripped someone apart just for the fun of it."

The Ripper.

"You mean when I was more like you?"

I rolled my eyes at the 'good brother', "Yes, Stefan, exactly. Back when you put blood into me so that I could be a big bad vampire. I wonder if Elena would be so quick to open her veins to that guy."

Alexa would most likely try and stake that guy for daring to be in the same room as her sister. She was like that, the foolish girl. She would most likely try and kill the oldest vampire in existence if he so much as looked at her sister in a way that she didn't like. Always reacting instead of thinking.

"By the way, what happened to that guy? He was a hoot."

Much preferable to the brooding idiot beside me.

"I guess he found something else to live for."

An image of sparkling green eyes formed in my mind. Maybe he's not the only one, brother.

XXX

Alexa's POV

I clung tighter to my sister as the vampires moved around the house in a state of controlled panic. Elijah was almost here. And that was not good. I wasn't ready for his arrival. I had no plan to save my sister, no way of getting her out of here.

"He's here!" Trevor gasped, rushing into the room. "This was a mistake."

Ok, well, I say controlled panic. The female was controlled, the male was just panicked.

"No, I told you that I would get us out of this," Rose soothed her friend, placing her hands on his arms. "You have to trust me."

It was quite... disconcerting... to see my captors in such a state of panic. They had kidnapped us, held us here all day and now they were freaking out. It wasn't how it was supposed to be.

"No! He wants me dead, Rose!"

But their panic and distraction did give me one advantage, even if it did disturb the hell outta me, it gave me a chance to get out my one weapon against them. Keeping a close eye on the pair, I slowly slid the small vial of vervain out of my bra.

"He wants her more."

Ah yes, he probably would want Elena more than he would want to kill these two. Especially if she was as important as they say.

Glancing down at the vial, it was clear to see that there was only enough for one person. I had a choice to make, drink it myself or give it to Elena. Protect her or protect myself. Well, there never was a choice.

"I can't do this. You give them to him; he'll have mercy on you but I need to get out of here."

I almost... pitied him. He was... terrified. And that terrified me. Just how bad was this Elijah? What had we been dragged into?

"Hey, what are we?" Rose asked softly, stepping closer to her fellow vampire.

"We're family, forever."

Awww don't say that. I won't be able to hate you if you say things like that.

Three loud knocks had my heart going into palpitations. He was here. Elijah was here. Not good. Not good. Not good.

"You're scared," Ellie whispered, reaching the same conclusion that I had. But the vampires ignored her, too focused on their issue of Elijah.

Rose took a deep breath, "Stay here with the girls and don't make a sound."

The three of us watched as she walked up the stairs and out of the room.

Trevor's attention was fixed upon the doorway as he paced back and forth.

Right, this was my one opportunity. My one chance. I had to do this now.

Even though there was barely any space between us, I shifted closer to my twin. Ok, you can do this, Alexa. Keeping my gaze on the vampire in the room, I readjusted my grip on the bottle and reached over. Taking Ellie's hand in mine, I gently opened it and pressed the vial into her palm.

"Drink it!" I hissed into her ear, tying not to let the vampire hear. But fortunately for me, his attention was focused elsewhere.

"What about you?"

I swallowed hard and replied, "I had some earlier."

I didn't want to lie to my twin but if it meant that she drank the vervain, that she was protected, then I would do it. I would do anything to keep her safe.

I made sure that she drank all of it before hiding the bottle in between the sofa cushions. I sighed in relief. Elena was now doubly protected from vervain and no vampire could drink from her without regretting it. Thank god.

As long as she was safe, that's all that matters.

When the sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor, we shot up from our seats on the sofa. I clutched my twin's hand tightly in mine. I was not going to be separated from her. No way in hell.

Rose re-entered the room first, closely followed by a male vampire. He was... rather good looking, downright handsome even. But all I could think about was the fact that he was here to take my twin, to take her to be sacrificed. To be taken away from me.

He stared at Elena for a moment, obviously caught off guard by resemblance to a certain Bitcherina Petrova. Ellie squeezed my hand past the point of pain as the vampire watched her, a fascinated look on his face.

One second he was at the top of the stairs the next; he was stood right in front of my twin. Her breathing sped up and I had to resist the urge to pull her behind me as he leant forward, right into her personal space, and smelt her neck.

He must have found something different to what he was expecting since he pulled away with wide eyes.

"Human," he murmured in controlled surprise. "It's impossible." A small smile formed on his face, "Hello there."

Swallowing hard and with shaking hands, I reacted on instinct and pulled my sister behind me and away from the danger. Away from the vampire. But unfortunately, this brought me to Elijah's attention.

"And who are you?" he asked, sounding faintly amused, as though my efforts were futile and pathetic. Which they actually were. But I had to try.

Squeezing my twin's hands, needing her strength, I looked up, staring the vampire in the eye. He could see the resemblance to Elena, to Katherine. But he could also see the differences. Those all-important differences. The ones that made me worthless.

His eyes darted between us as the small smile on his grew slightly, "Twins. How quaint." Elijah glanced back at Rose, "I assume that I am to take her as well."

Rose nodded, "She may not be a doppelganger, but she could still be useful."

I felt although I was gonna be sick. Here he was, discussing what would happen to me, as though I was nothing. Just a parcel to be picked up. A piece of meat to be discarded as needed.

Elijah turned back to look at me, a considering look upon his face.

XXX

Damon's POV

"The house should be just beyond those trees," I said to Stefan as we got out of the car. Little brother collected his little bag of weapons as he nodded. I stared in the direction of the house, where my Alexa was being held captive. I was so close, there was no way that I was gonna fail now.

I glanced over at my brother, only to see him starting to walk in the direction of the house.

"Wait, I've got a lot more experience than you do with these sorts of things," I said, catching up with him.

"What is your point?" Stefan sighed, turning to face me with one of his broodier looks. My point? My point is that I won't let your inexperience jeopardise my rescue of Alexa.

Instead, I answered with, "My point is, whoever has Alexa and Elena is probably who was after Katherine in 1864 and before that."

"And?"

I rolled my eyes at my idiot brother, "And it puts them at 500 years old and strong." And that meant that it would be even harder to rescue Alexa and her twin. "Are you sure that you want to do this?"

"Yeah," Stefan nodded, his hero hair holding firm. "I'm certain that I want to do it."

"Because if we go in that house, we may not come back out."

"Alright then, I won't come out."

I stared at him. Did the fool not realise that if he did not come back out, then neither would Elena? If neither of us got out of that house alive, then the twins were doomed.

"So noble, Stefan," I remarked, resisting the urge to sneer at his stupidity.

"I can't think of a better reason to die, but if you want to stay here, I'll totally understand."

With that said, he turned and walked off.

I glared after him. Did he not realise that I wasn't here for him? Elena wasn't the only twin in danger. And I was here to save her.

To save the girl that I loved.

XXX

Alexa's POV

"We have a long journey ahead of us. We should be going," Elijah said, looking between me and my twin.

I could barely speak; I just stared up at him with wide eyes. But Elena looked at Rose, "Please, don't let him take us."

But the vampire ignored my sister's pleas.

But it was almost as though Elena's plea to Rose reminded Elijah of the other two vampires in the room.

"Once last piece of business and we're done."

He was so pleasant and polite and formal; it was so goddamn terrifying. Because I knew what he really was. Something about him just terrified me senseless. He was so calm and collected but oh so dangerous.

As Elijah walked over to Trevor, I turned and buried my head in my twin's shoulder. I was just... I wanted to curl up in a corner and cry. Not even Katherine scared me as much as Elijah did, and she actually killed me.

"I've waited so long for this day, Elijah," Trevor babbled in desperation. "I'm truly, very sorry."

"Oh no, your apology is not necessary."

And the scared feeling just got even worse.

"Yes, yes, it is. You trusted me with Katerina and I failed you."

Trevor, shut up. Stop talking to him. Just let him speak.

"Oh yes, you are the guilty one. Rose aided you because she was loyal to you and now that, I honour. Where was your loyalty?"

"I beg your forgiveness."

Elijah was silent for a moment and I took the risk of lifting my head from Elena's shoulder. I watched him as he paced around the younger vampire, a contemplative look on his face.

"So granted," Elijah decided eventually in an even tone. The relief that I felt was... strange... considering the fact that I didn't even like Trevor.

But my relief was shattered as only a few seconds later, Elijah decapitated Trevor with only his hand.

Rose cried out in horror as she watched someone that she considered family die. Ellie gasped and pulled me closer against her while I muffled a scream in her shoulder.

He just... we were doomed. We were not gonna get out of this. He just decapitated the vampire with his hand! His hand! Doomed does not even begin to describe it! This monster wanted to take my sister and there was nothing that I could do to save her.

"You!" Rose took a step forward; almost as though she was gonna attack Elijah. And I wouldn't blame her if she did. He killed someone that she loved, it's what I would have done.

But he quickly stopped her, "Don't, Rose, not now that you are free."

It was then that he turned his attention to my twin and I.

No, no, no, no, no, forget about us. We don't exist. Leave us alone. Please, just leave us alone. I pressed my shaking body closer against my twin's and clutched onto her jumper. We couldn't have gotten any closer to each other.

"Come," he commanded us. After what he just did, I didn't want to disobey him or piss him off. Especially since I was expendable. But apparently my darling twin had other ideas.

"What about the moonstone?" Ellie blurted out, tightening her already tight grip on me. I could tell that she instantly regretted mentioning it, but she just reacted. As was the tendency with the Gilbert twins.

But unfortunately, it caught Elijah's attention, "What do you know about the moonstone?"

When she hesitated, I gave a small nod. Whatever she was planning, I was trusting her with it. She was, after all, trying help us escape. But I let her take the lead, she was, after all, the important, needed one, the one who had value.

"I know that you need it and I know where it is."

"Yes?"

"We can help you get it."

Ok, Ellie, keep going, you're going great.

"Tell me where it is."

"It doesn't work that way."

Well, this proves it, my sister was definitely much braver than I was. I wouldn't dare do that; challenge a vampire who decapitated another vampire with his goddamn hand. Nor would I try and negotiate with him.

"Are you negotiating with me?"

Elijah sounded both shocked and amused. I suspect that it had been a long time since someone had spoken to him like that. But that's my twin for you.

He glanced back at Rose, who shook her head, "It's the first I've heard of it."

Well of course, we had to keep at least one ace up our sleeve. If there is one thing that we have learnt from our exposure to vampires, Katherine in particular, is to keep something as leverage.

The vampire locked gazes with my twin and tried to compel her into giving him the answer. But her vervain necklace and the vervain in her blood prevented that from working. When it became clear to him that his compulsion was not working, his gaze dropped down to my sister's vervain necklace. A frown encroached upon his face, "What is this vervain doing around your neck?"

Ignoring my sister's cries, he grabbed the necklace and ripped it from her neck, his hand brushing against my chin. Elijah stared at the necklace for a moment before throwing it to the side. I watched it fly through the air before quickly switching my gaze back to the vampire. Don't worry twin, at least you are still protected from compulsion.

Elijah let out a small growl as his compulsion failed for a second time.

Before he could get violent and hurt my twin, I let out a small chuckle. Looking up at Elijah, I gathered up all my courage and a small smirk formed on my face. Right, time to let the smartass, idiot Alexa out to play.

"Liquid vervain, bitch."

The next thing that I knew, I was being held away from my sister by a hand squeezing my neck. I choked, clawing frantically at the arm that held me, wanting to breathe, needing to breathe. I felt my necklace being ripped from my throat and knew what was coming next.

Elijah locked gazes with me and I felt that floaty, powerless feeling of compulsion takeover and I couldn't stop myself from feeling sick.

"Tell me where the moonstone is," he ordered me with a stern tone, even as he held my sister back with one hand.

I tried to resist answering, I really did. But I just couldn't stop myself. It was just something that I couldn't fight. Resistance was futile, even if it was terrifying.

"It's in the tomb, underneath the church ruins."

"What is it doing there?"

Elijah loosened his grip slightly and I coughed as more air entered my body.

"It's with Katherine."

"Interesting," the vampire remarked, a hint of a smirk appearing on his face.

The sound of breaking glass had Elijah looking away and I was released from his compulsion. Breathing heavily, I, too, looked around. Someone else was in the house. I just hoped that it was friendly someone.

"What is that?" Elijah asked, looking at Rose for answers.

"I don't know," the female vampire answered in a terse tone, still morning the loss of her friend.

"Who else is in this house?"

"I don't know," she repeated, looking scared herself as she realised that she was still in danger.

Elijah frowned before releasing his grip on my neck and pushing me in Rose's direction. I barely managed to stay on my feet as I stumbled forward. The stilettos on my feet didn't exactly help the situation either.

Rose grabbed my arm and dragged me after Elijah, who had my sister. As we were dragged through the house, I kept on glancing around, trying to find the source of the noise. I hoped, I prayed that the noise was caused by one of the Salvatore brothers.

When we entered the foyer to the house, we were forced to stop as someone blurred past us. They moved too fast for me to be able to see who it was, but the hand that brushed against my arm sent familiar tingles across my skin.

Elijah released my twin and pushed her over to where Rose stood with me. The moment that she was in arms reach, I grabbed her and pulled her towards me. She was safe in my arms. Don't let go. They'll get us out of here.

Elijah took a couple of steps forward before another body blurred past us.

"Rose."

"I don't know who it is," she protested, a small amount of fear in her voice.

It was then that the voice of one Stefan Salvatore was heard, "Up here."

Elijah sped up the stairs to have a look around. But when he reached the top, another voice rang out. A voice which caused my heart to skip a beat and relief to rush through my body.

"Down here," Damon called, the mocking tone in his voice making me melt in relief.

An arm wrapped around my waist and I was forced to close my eyes as I experienced the nauseating vampire speed. When I was placed back down on solid ground, I leant back against the wall behind me. It wasn't until a familiar hand settled on my shoulder that I allowed some of the tension to ease from my body.

I opened my eyes to see Stefan looking down at me. Oh Stefan, I have never been so glad to see your face. I let out a slow breath of relief and wrapped my hand around his wrist. Elena's familiar warmth was settled against my shoulder, but I could only guess as to Damon's location.

"Excuse me," Elijah's voice rang out around the room. "To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think that you can beat me. You can't. Do you hear that?"

The sound of wood snapping followed his question and it didn't take a genius to work out that he was creating a stake. Which was the last thing that we needed.

"I repeat, you cannot beat me."

I was seriously beginning to believe that. Alexa Life Lesson number 'I don't even remember': you cannot beat big bad Elijah.

"So I want the girls," Both of us? He wanted both of us? Nuh uh, not good. Nope, not at all. He probably only wanted me so that he had a snack for the road. "I'm gonna count to 3 or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?"

Perfectly.

We understood perfectly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Stefan press something into Elena's hand before letting go of her. As she walked towards the stairs, I expected Stefan to release me too. But he didn't. Instead, he focused his gaze on my twin. He ignored my panicked look as he let my twin walk towards the evil twin-stealing vampire. He was just letting her walk towards him. He wasn't doing anything to stop her.

"I'll come with you," Elena spoke, standing at the top of the stairs, right where Elijah could see her. Panic gripped my heart at her words. And Stefan wasn't stopping her.

As she spoke, Stefan leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Get ready to pull her out of the way."

With that said, he disappeared. Most likely to prepare for the next part of the plan that I knew nothing about. But at least he was going to do something to stop her from being taken. I would be able to save my twin from that.

"Just don't hurt my friends; they just wanted to help me out. And my sister stays here; she has nothing to do with any of this."

I heard the familiar sound of vampire super-speed before Elijah said, "What game are you playing with me?"

The next thing that I knew, my dear twin sister was throwing some sort of... vervain hand grenade... into the vampire's face. It exploded and Elijah cried out in pain. I rushed forward and pulled my twin away from the flying pieces of glass. Pushing her into a corner by the stairs, I turned around to see Elijah healing fast, too fast.

Come on, Stefan, whenever you're ready.

Elijah slowly stood up from the crouch position that he had fallen in and slowly continued walking up the stairs. I stood in front of my sister, arms stretched out but I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop him from taking her.

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap.

But fortune was on our side as Stefan came running down the stairs, shooting tiny wooden stakes. Elijah jerked back as they struck his body. And it turned out that fortune was not on our side as the tiny stakes didn't have any effect whatsoever.

Well, actually, that's a lie, they did have an effect. They pissed him off.

As Elijah reached the top of the stairs, Stefan gave up with the weapon and threw it to the side. And then, in a move that I sure as hell was not expecting, he tackled him down the stairs.

I didn't know whether to cheer, laugh or scream.

Luckily Elena decided for me as she grabbed my arm and used it to pull herself to her feet before rushing to the top of the stairs. I followed at a slower pace and arrived to see Damon driving a stake through Elijah's heart. If he even had a heart, that is.

My Damon pushed the dying vampire back until the wooden stake had gone through the door as well. It was then that Elijah finally died.

Staring at his greying body, I felt... numb. Only a few short minutes ago, I was terrified senseless of the vamp and now, now he was dead. He was just one more dead person who had entered my life. I had started to be afraid that I was becoming numb to the death that plagued my life. But this had proven that I wasn't. Even if he was trying to take my sister from me, the sight of Elijah's body still affected me. I felt a sick combination of relief and shock as I started at the body.

Elena telling Damon to let Rose go broke me from my thoughts.

I watched as Ellie ran down the stairs and into Stefan's arms. She clung onto him tightly, the relief that she felt obvious in the way that her tense shoulders relaxed. Stefan wrapped his arms around her and held my sister tight. He buried his face in her hair as she let out a shuddering breath.

I allowed my eyes to wander over to where I last saw Damon, only to see him staring at me. There was something in his gaze that I couldn't quite recognise. But I didn't care.

Kicking off my stilettos, I raced down the stairs, almost falling head first a couple of times. But I was too desperate to get to the bottom to give a damn. The moment my foot hit the bottom step; I lurched forward and threw myself into Damon's open arms.

He immediately closed his arms around me and pulled me close. I buried my head in his chest and breathed in his Damon smell. Clinging on tightly, I relished in the familiar tingles shooting across my body. I could feel my Damon, my vampire, rest his head on the top of mine.

Safe.

I was safe.

XXX

Stefan dropped us off home, waiting to make sure that we had made it through the front door before driving off. We had both decided that all we wanted to do was get home, see our family and go to bed.

Slowly, we helped each other up the stairs. Both of us were exhausted, both physically and mentally and emotionally drained. But now that we were home, now that we were safe, we could do something about.

As we reached the top of the stairs, Jeremy and Bonnie rushed out of his room. The sight of my little brother caused tears to well up and as Bonnie pulled Elena in for a hug, I allowed my brother to hug me.

I held onto my tightly, revelling in the familiarity and comfort of hugging Jer. Running my fingers through his hair, I closed my eyes.

I was home.

My eyes only opened when Jeremy removed one arm and used to pull Elena in. I wrapped an arm around her too, pulling her in closer. Jenna appeared a moment later, Alaric on her heels, and wrapped us in her arms.

As I breathed in the familiar scent of my brother and aunt, I finally relaxed. Jenna murmured how she would never let us leave the house as Bonnie sniffled behind us. Jeremy quickly drew her into the hug as Jenna did the same with Ric.

We were home.

XXX

Rubbing my eyes, I slowly shuffled into my bedroom. I was gonna make the effort to sleep in my own bed tonight, just in case Elena wanted Stefan over. I didn't know what their relationship status was but I knew that she would appreciate his comfort if he did come round.

"Cute PJ's."

I jumped as the unexpected voice of Damon Salvatore sounded in my room. As I lowered my hand, I saw him standing by the window. I glanced down at the orange shorts and black tank top that made up my pyjamas and shrugged.

"I'm just glad to get out of that damn dress."

"It suited you," Damon said, walking closer, an unfamiliar look in his eyes.

I couldn't help but blush slightly at that, "I'll make sure to get it properly cleaned then."

I took a good long look at my vampire. The look on his face... scared me slightly. There was a look in his eyes which made me worry. I hadn't seen it before but it made my heart clench.

"Why are you here, Damon?" I asked softly, taking a step forward.

"I came to return this."

The vampire held up a familiar item of jewellery.

"My necklace," I murmured, smiling as I reached out for it, missing it's familiar weight around my neck. "I never thought that I would see it again." I looked Damon in the eye and allowed him to see my gratitude, "Thank you."

But my vampire pulled the necklace out of my reach before I could take it.

I switched my gaze back from the necklace to my vampire. Frowning, I asked, "Damon, what are you doing?"

"I have something that I need to say to you," he said, taking that one last step forward, sealing the gap between us. Every time that I breathed, I could feel him. I could smell his unique Damon as I felt his warmth against me. And if I leaned forward ever so slightly, our lips would meet.

"Why do you need to say it with my necklace?"

A bad feeling was forming in my stomach. I was not going to like this. I may like what he had to say but I would not like what came after. Because I knew that I would not be lucky and that my hope was cursed.

"Well, because what I'm about to say is probably the most selfish thing that I have ever said in my life."

My breath caught in my throat. I didn't dare hope… but… was he really...?

"Damon," I breathed, a hopeful feeling rising in my chest even as my heart clenched with worry.

"No," Damon interrupted, not letting me speak. "I just have to say it once. You just need to hear it. I need you to hear it. I love you, Alexa."

I could have died right then and I wouldn't have cared. Because he loved me. Damon loved me. The man that I loved actually loved me back. I never dared to believe that this day would happen. But it had, it finally had.

"And it's because I love you that I can't be selfish with you. Why you can't know this."

What was he saying? Why was he saying that? Don't say that. Please don't say that.

"No," I shook my head, a tear escaping. "Damon, please..."

"I don't deserve you, Alexa," Damon cupped my face, his thumb wiping away the tear. "You deserve to live a normal life. One where you can have the white picket fence, the perfect husband and 2.5 children. One where you can no longer be hurt by the world I live in."

I wrapped my hands around his wrists, "I don't want that Damon. I might have wanted that once upon a time, but I don't anymore. You are worth everything to me, worth all of the pain."

But Damon just smiled sadly and leant forward. One of his hands gently stroked my face until it was resting on the back of my neck. The other slid down my body until it rested my hip. Slowly, oh so slowly, he leant down, sealing the gap. Tilting my head up, I stared deep into his beautiful blue eyes.

Our lips met.

And it was everything that I imagined it to be. It was perfect. Our bodies melded together like they were always supposed to be together. My body sent out little waves of pleasure as I felt every inch of him pressed up against me. Almost without conscious control, my hands reached up and tangled themselves in his hair.

I felt complete.

But Damon ended the kiss all too soon. Resting his forehead against mine, he gave me the opportunity to catch my breath and allow my crazily beating heart to slow down.

Reluctantly, I moved my head backwards so that I could look my vampire, my Damon, in the eye again. As he slowly started stroking my cheek again, I geared myself up towards admitting my long-hidden feelings. Because now was the time. I had to tell him now. Before he regretted his decision.

Nervously licking my lips, I opened my mouth, finally ready to tell him the words that I had been denying to myself for far too long. I was finally ready to tell him that I loved him. That I had loved him for months but was too afraid to tell him. That he was perfect to me. That he was what I wanted.

But before I could, my Damon leant down, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. My eyes momentarily fluttering shut, I savoured the feel of his lips against my skin.

"God, I wish you didn't have to forget this, but you do."

My eyes flew open and I froze. No. No! He couldn't do this! I loved him back; he didn't need to do this. No!

I opened my mouth, ready to beg him to please don't do this, you don't need to do this, I love you, we can be together. But a finger on my lips stopped me and I made the mistake of looking up. Damon caught my gaze and beautiful ice blue stared into green as the sickening feeling of compulsion over took me.

Please... no...

I blinked.

Frowning, I looked down at the vervain necklace that hung around my neck. Didn't I lose this at that house? That was... odd...

But what were even more odd was the tears falling down my cheeks. I wiped them away and stared hopelessly around my room.

Why did I suddenly feel so empty inside?

XXX

A/N: I feel so evil after that haha but I can't give you the goodness too soon now, can I? Thank you for the reviews, my darlings, and don't worry C.J, Alexa will become more badass as it goes, she needs to learn her own strength and some super cool moves ;) I'm still aiming for 500 reviews by the end of season 2, so please keep reviewing :) until next time, lovelies, hope you enjoy xoxo