Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: Surprise! A Saturday update! I was debating on keeping this chapter to next week, but I thought that I would treat you all :) this chapter is the first of the two island ones and, oddly enough, wasn't that difficult to write. Maybe it's because I know where I am going next with it... We get some lovely Dalexa moments in this one, violent Alexa and family drama, so all the fun stuff!

XXX

I felt like I was in some kind of horror movie. We were rowing out to some tiny little island off of the coast of Nova Scotia. It was woody and creepy and I honestly thought that we were all going to die. I mean, it was the sort of place that a horror movie would be set. I had said as much to Damon. But he just rolled his eyes at me. Just cos he didn't learn from horror movies. When some creepy monster leapt out at us, I would be the first to say I told you so.

When we pulled up to the shore, with the boys dragging the boats onto land, I gave the woods a dirty look. I just knew that there was something bad in those trees. I just knew it. And because of that, I was reluctant to turn my back to it. So while I helped to unload the boat that I shared with Damon, I kept my body turned to the side. That way, I should be able to see if anything snuck up on me.

I knew that my boyfriend knew what I was doing, from the way that he rolled his eyes again and shook his head, but he didn't say anything. Although he did pretend to see something in the woods at one point. But I ignored him. Well, other than a quick glance over my shoulder. I couldn't be too careful.

The rest of our little group, which was made up of Stefan, Jeremy, Bonnie, Rebekah, Elena and Professor Shane, helped to unload the other boats. Well, I say that, Shane decided to ditch unloading duties. He wandered off, standing on a little group of rocks as he stared off into the distance. I rolled my eyes at him as I placed the backpacks on the sand, away from the tide.

"Honestly, who made him so important that he doesn't have to help unload the boats?" I grumbled, giving him a dirty look, before Damon cleared his throat.

"Well, why don't you go and ask him?" my boyfriend smirked and I snorted.

"Please, I would much rather not have a conversation with him," I gave Damon a hand out of the boat once he was done. The others were still unloading but I didn't bother offering to help them. I was not on speaking terms with most of them. Nah, that was unfair. I wasn't speaking to my siblings, thanks to their little 'let's kill an Original vampire but not tell our sister' stunt. Rebekah was yet to earn my forgiveness after her little stunt at the school. But I was speaking to Bonnie and Stefan still, even if the younger Salvatore was on thin ice. God, I sound like such a bitch when I list it out like that. I promise that I'm not. I just wasn't in the mood to forgive people yet. "Especially one where it is just me and him. I've fulfilled my creepy quota just by stepping foot on this island."

"It really isn't that bad, Ally," Damon shook his head at me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

"You say that now, just wait until some creepy person murders us all when we set up camp," I scoffed, as I pretended that I wasn't clinging onto my boyfriend. "Then you'll all be begging me to use my horror movie knowledge to save us all."

"We're vampires, baby, it'll take more than some 'creepy person' to take us out."

"That's what you think. I happen to know that the creepy people know how to take out anyone. Being a vampire won't save you."

"I'm not going to win this, am I?" Damon rolled his eyes. "What will it take for you to relax?"

"Hmm," I scrunched up my nose as I thought. "I suppose you promising not to leave my side while we are on this island will go a long way to making me feel better."

"How did I not see that coming?" my boyfriend sighed dramatically before pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "Alright, Alexa, I promise not to leave your side."

"Thanks, Day," I smiled up at him, going up on tiptoes to get a kiss. One that Damon gave me without hesitation. "And if you're extra nice to me, I'll let you kill professor creep when he inevitably betrays us all."

"You still don't trust him, huh?"

I snorted, "Oh hell no. He just screams bad vibes, even more so now that we are on the island. In fact, he might be the creepy person that tries to murder us all."

"Oh, so now we brought the 'creepy person' along with us," I was surprised that Damon hadn't given himself a headache with all the eyerolling that he had done.

"Hey, sometimes it is one of your group that turns on you. Either cos he is corrupted by the creepy island or because he was creepy beforehand. In Shane's case, I would go with creepy beforehand."

"Your imagination is a terrifying thing at times, Ally," my boyfriend shook his head in amusement.

"I'm not the only person feeling this way," I pouted, gesturing to the others. All of them, bar Bonnie, looked uncertain about being here. Our resident witch just looked curious. A part of me wondered if the island had a magical signature and that was the reason for her curiosity. The other part just thought that I had failed to properly educate her when it came to horror movie settings.

"Yes, but the others probably aren't thinking about 'creepy people' who will either emerge from the woods or emerge from Shane to kill us all," Damon unhelpfully pointed out and I wrinkled my nose in annoyance.

"That's their problem. Not fault that I'm more prepared than them."

"If it'll make you feel better, how about you help me check on the weapons that I brought with us?"

"Do I get to have one?"

"Will you take no for an answer?"

"Nope."

XXX

Damon had brought a lot of weapons with us. Despite his scepticism, he clearly knew that we would run into danger. He had brought a range of stakes and knives and even a couple of small crossbows. My man was prepared. Of course, I had insisted on taking one of the knives and tucking it into my backpack. Even though I had my vampire strength and speed, I felt a lot better having an actual weapon on me.

While I sat on a rock in front of him, admiring the way his muscles rippled under his jumper, Damon went through his bag of weapons. He checked the sharpness of all the stakes, making sure that there were no cracks or weaknesses in the wood. Once he was done, he checked the mechanisms of the crossbows, oiling them where needed.

It was when I leant forward, resting my elbows on my knees and placing my chin on my hands, that Damon glanced up at me. He shook his head, "Don't suppose you fancy helping me out?"

"Nah, I'd rather watch," I smirked before winking. "It's an enjoyable view."

And I was completely serious. There was something unfairly hot with the look of concentration on his face as he focused on inspecting the weapons. It was the way that he handled the weapons with such confidence and surety. It made me a lot hornier than I ever thought that it would.

That caught my boyfriend's attention. He raised an eyebrow, resting on those strong hands on my knee, "Is that so?"

"Very much so," I purred, reaching out to stroke his cheek. I knew that I was distracting him from doing his job. But I didn't care. If I had to be on this island, looking for the damn cure, then I would find fun where I could. And if that meant flirting with Damon and distracting him, then so be it.

"Damn you," he muttered, grabbing my arm and pulling me forward for a kiss. He nibbled on my lip before swiping his tongue into my mouth. I groaned at the taste of him before he pulled away. I could just sense the wicked smirk on his face as he whispered in my ear, "Trust you to do this in the one place that we don't have any privacy."

"Guess we'll just have to find some at some point," I whispered back, nipping at his jaw before he moved away. Damon looked far too happy at that as he pulled out a knife and whetstone. He started sharpening the knife, making sure to give me a good view of his muscles. I watched, tapping my fingers against my lips as I memorised the feel of his lips against mine.

I was happily distracted, ignoring all things creepy island related, when my pleasant little bubble was blown by Shane's arrival. He walked over to us, looking far too happy and I rolled my eyes. Honestly, why couldn't he just leave us alone? He must have known that we didn't want him near us. I knew what he had been up to with Bonnie and I wasn't impressed with any of it. He was just lucky that I didn't want to go anywhere near him, otherwise I would be having strong words about that.

Damon glanced up at the sound of approaching footsteps before shaking his head, "Couldn't they have hidden this cure in Hawaii? Where the hell did you take us?"

"The middle of fucking nowhere," I muttered as my boyfriend finished sharpening his knife. He swished it through the air a couple of times, looking pleased with the noise it made, before tucking the whetstone into his backpack. He climbed to his feet before helping me to mine.

Shane glanced down at the knife before answering, "Two hundred miles off the Nova Scotia mainland. If you recall, the whole point was to hide the cure on the world's most obscure, desolate island."

"Well, they certainly accomplished that," I sighed as I glanced over towards the tress. It was remote and desolate and I still thought that it was creepy. Spending a bit of time here had done nothing to change my mind. In fact, it had only cemented my thinking. The longer that I was here, the creepier that it felt.

"Oh yeah?" my boyfriend scoffed, wrapping an arm around my shoulder's. "I thought the whole point was that no one found Silas, the oldest, deadliest freak in the world."

"Yeah, that too," Shane smiled, doing nothing to improve the creepy factor, even if it was a cute smile. He held up the bottle of sunscreen that he had. "Sunscreen?"

I couldn't stop myself from snorting in laughter, even if I tried to muffle it in Damon's chest. His response only made me laugh more, "Is that a joke?"

I knew that I was practically vibrating with laughter, even if I tried to be silent. But I couldn't help myself. I had caught a glimpse of the offended look on Damon's face and it just made it funnier. I knew that Shane had thought nothing of it, he was just trying to be nice. But offering sunscreen to a vampire was apparently some of the funniest shit that I had ever seen. I was letting out little snorts as I tried not to laugh out loud. I just couldn't stop myself. Every time I thought I had gotten control of it, something else set me off.

Including Shane's embarrassed little, "Right."

"I can't breathe," I wheezed, clutching my chest as the snorts turned into giggles. "Oh god, the look on your face. I love it."

I could practically sense Damon rolling his eyes at me but I didn't care. This was just so unexpectedly funny. And after the week that I had had, any excuse to laugh was much appreciated. Even if it was over something so stupid as someone offering a vampire sunscreen. God, it was ridiculous. But I just didn't care.

XXX

When I failed to calm down my laughter, Damon had taken me away from Shane. I was still giggling every now and then, but I was no longer snorting with it. With an exaggerated shake of the head, my boyfriend leant me against a nearby tree, placing his hand next to my head. I beamed up at him, shaking with the odd giggle.

"It really wasn't that funny," Damon raised an eyebrow at me as I cleared my throat in lieu of giggling again.

"I dunno, it just tickled something within me," I shrugged before wrapping my arms around his neck. "But even you have to admit, the look on your face was pretty funny. You looked so offended!"

When I giggled into his neck, my boyfriend sighed dramatically, "Apparently that is a no to calming down."

"I'm sorry," I snorted, clearing my throat before taking a deep breath. "I'll try to calm down, I promise."

"Good, because your happiness is really killing the creepy vibe that this place has going."

"Ah ha, I knew that you found it creepy too," I titled my head back to give him a triumphant look.

"Bit hard not to, baby," Damon smirked, using his free hand to tap my nose.

"It gets even creepier when you realise that Shane looks so comfortable here," I laughed. "It's paradise for Professor Creepy."

"I see you're on fine form today," my boyfriend laughed before glancing to the side. "Hopefully that doesn't kill your mood."

I followed his gaze to see Rebekah standing next to Stefan. The younger vampire was tying a nope in the rope attached the boats, mooring it in place. But the Original vampire was ignoring. Instead, she was busy glaring at my sister as she walked past. That had me narrowing my eyes in return. While I was currently in a spat with my sister, I wouldn't tolerate someone else picking on her.

"You're not helping," Stefan sighed, glancing up at my sister as she walked past the two vampires. While I knew that she had seen the glares, she was doing a good job at ignoring them. Which was the only reason why I wasn't yet intervening.

"You're perfectly capable of tying a knot," Rebekah brushed away his words, not taking her narrowed gaze away from my sister.

"You giving Elena the evil eye, it's not really helping," the younger vampire paused in his knot tying to look up at the blonde.

The Original sister wasn't to be influenced though. Instead, she raised an eyebrow, "She killed my brother, tried to get you to put a dagger in my back and she's trying to stop my friend from making up with me. She's lucky that all she's getting is the evil eye."

Huh, Rebekah still considered me to be her friend. Guess she hadn't yet realised that I was majorly pissed off with what she had done at the school. She had manipulated us for her own gain and sick amusement. She had forced secrets to come out just because she was bored. It would take a lot of effort on her part to get me to even consider making up with her.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Elena snapped, turning around to glare at the blonde. I knew that the Original hadn't bothered to keep her voice down, but I didn't realise that it was loud enough for my sister's human ears to catch her words. Although that was probably deliberate on Rebekah's part. It was just another way to torment my sister.

"You know that I don't care, right?" Rebekah countered mockingly, crossing her arms. I rolled my eyes and got ready to intervene because I knew that it would soon come to it. Even if I would rather ignore the pair of them.

"Considering everything that you've done, you've got a lot of nerve being here," my twin snapped, quickly striding forward. She had one hand held behind her back, to the side of her backpack. I didn't think anything of it until she pulled out the white oak stake. My idiot sister grabbed the Original by the coat and pointed the stake at her chest.

Of course, Rebekah didn't give her the chance to do more than threaten her. She quickly grabbed my sister's arm and flipped her over. Ellie landed with a heavy thud on the ground, wincing as Rebekah grabbed the arm with the stake. She gave it a squeeze as she smirked, "Go ahead, try and kill me. But then you'd have to face your real problems. Like the fact that Stefan invited me here, himself. I guess he likes me again."

The blonde went to say more but by that point, I had lost my temper. Damon released his grip on me as I stalked over to the pair, snapping out, "Hey!" Both girls looked up at me as I approached and I pointed at Rebekah, "If you don't let her go, you will regret it."

While we both knew that I wouldn't really be able to hurt her, the Original quickly let my sister go. She scoffed and shook her head, trying to make out that she didn't care. But I saw it in her face as she walked away. I rolled my eyes at the blonde before grabbing my sister's arm. I pulled Elena to her feet, quickly checking her over to make sure that she wasn't injured.

"Thanks," Ellie muttered, her pride clearly hurt, as she shrugged her backpack off. She angrily shoved the white oak stake into her bag and I shook my head. Luckily for both of us, my boyfriend made his appearance.

He rested a hand on my back as he smirked down at my twin, "Looks like someone forgot her team-building exercises."

"I'm not apologising for not wanting her here," my sister snapped, closing her backpack with a snap before standing back up. She shrugged it back on, still looking moody.

"You know, Stefan just brought her here to make it seem like he's moving on," Damon shrugged as I leant against him. "He wants you to think that he's over you, and he wants me to think that I can't get under his skin."

Elena glared into the distance before nodding sharply, "You know, you're right. With any luck, I'll only have to tolerate her for a few more days, and then we'll find the cure and I'll never have to deal with her again."

"Human Rebekah," my boyfriend mused as he glanced in the direction that the blonde had gone. "I can't imagine her without fangs."

"Human Rebekah just doesn't sound right," I agreed, avoiding my sister's gaze.

She sighed as she gave up on making eye contact with me, before turning to look at Damon, "You know, you've never talked about what you'll do with the cure, once we find it. Will you take it?"

Damon didn't answer.

XXX

We had been hiking through the creepy woods for a couple of hours when Shane paused for the humans to have a water break. I leant against a nearby tree, glancing around the woods. There was nothing outwardly creepy about them. They just gave me bad vibes. Very bad vibes. But apparently the way to the cure was through them. So we didn't really have much of a choice.

While the others were having a drink, Shane dug through his backpack. He pulled out a phone and pressed a few buttons. But it just beeped at him. The professor didn't look too disturbed by this. He just nodded and put the phone back into his bag. A part of me was suspicious about that. But since he had apparently been here before, maybe he was just expecting the signal to cut out at this point.

Shane stood up and put his bag back on before indicating that we should start moving again. As he did so, he informed the group, "Satellite phone lost its signal."

I had never understood the point of that. Satellite phones were supposed to be used when you went places without good cell phone signal, right? So why would their own signal go? Or was I missing something? Maybe I had just misunderstood the point of them. Or Shane had just brought along a shitty old one. Stranding us in the middle of nowhere without the ability to call for help would be a part of his creepy plan to kill us all. And yes, I was still considering that as an option.

"Well, that's a good sign," Damon rolled his eyes, giving Shane a look. It seemed as though he didn't quite believe the professor. And I couldn't blame him. Professor Shady was giving off shadier vibes than normal. But I didn't need to worry about that. I knew that my boyfriend would keep an eye on Shane. No, my job was to keep an eye on the others, especially the humans. While I knew that Bonnie was more than strong enough to protect herself, I still worried over her. She had a lot of power but I didn't know for sure that she knew how to control it. And then you had my idiot siblings. They had already recently proven that they weren't capable of making rationale decisions. So now I had to keep a careful eye on them, just in case they decided to do something stupid again.

We walked for a couple more minutes before my sister frowned, "Is anyone else a little creeped out?"

Ah, so it wasn't just me and Damon then. That was reassuring to know. I had wondered if the others found this island, and these woods, as creepy as I did. I had briefly considered that maybe I was just being paranoid. That I had watched far too many horror movies. So my sister's words were reassuring, on one level. But the fact that I wasn't just being paranoid might not be a good thing. If there was something creepy in these woods, it meant that my job of keeping my idiot siblings and friends safe would be a lot harder.

"See, not just me," I murmured at my boyfriend, getting an eye roll in return. He was just jealous that I had been proved right.

"So then leave," the Original in the group spoke up, before anyone else got the chance. I glanced over my shoulder to see her giving my twin a look and I sighed. Their little spat would be the death of me. And it would make this whole little 'adventure' even more annoying. "Out of everyone, your presence is the least necessary."

"Please don't start," Stefan sighed from his place next to Rebekah. I coughed into my arm to hide a snort. The exhaustion in his voice said it all. He had the been the one to deal with their little spat during the journey up here. I had spent my time with Damon, keeping an eye on Shane and just generally avoiding everyone. It was the best way for me to express my displeasure over their little Kol plan. And I had to express that. Not only had they taken on an Original. They had failed to tell me about it beforehand.

"I'm merely stating the facts," Rebekah shrugged, trying to look innocent but failing miserably. "Jeremy has the spell on his body. Bonnie is the witch that unseals the cure. Shane is the human compass. You and I have the tombstone, which does god knows what. Alexa is here to keep Jeremy safe. And Elena has no point."

There was a moment of silence, in which I was expecting my sister to snap something back. Probably over how she could also keep Jeremy safe or how she was needed for something else. But she wasn't the one that broke it. Instead, it was my boyfriend with a curious, "What about me?"

"You have a nice behind," the blond replied, a cheeky edge to her voice. I didn't know if she really believed that or if she was trying to get a rise out of me. Or if she was just trying to engage in banter. But I let it be. I knew that she didn't fancy Damon, so there was no point in making a big deal out of it. Especially when a way to take advantage of it came into my mind.

Damon's pleased smirk had me shaking my head, but I did shuffle closer to him, wrapping my arm around his hips and tucking my hand into the back pocket of his jeans. I gave his very nice behind a squeeze before going on tip-toes to murmur in his ear, "She's right, you do have a nice behind."

"I'm glad you think so," Damon purred, wrapping his arm around my shoulders to hold me close to his body. I pressed my face into his chest to hide the smile fighting to come out. I both loved and hated my boyfriend's ability to get me to smile, even in inappropriate situations.

XXX

Conversation ebbed and flowed while we walked. It mainly focused on how off-putting our surroundings were, how hungry people were getting and then just individual conversations between people. I just stayed by Damon, talking to him about my various theories on the cause of the creepiness and what we thought that Shane was up to. I ignored the others, keeping strong in my determination to give them the silent treatment for their little plan. To be honest, they were lucky that all I was doing was giving them the silent treatment. Because I could think of a lot of sharp words for them.

Elena and Stefan had tried to talk to me a couple of times, but I deliberately avoided their gazes and kept my mouth shut. A part of me worried that I was crossing into pettiness territory. But the rest of me didn't care. I had every right to be petty. They had been big players in the Kill Kol plan and had probably been involved in keeping me out of it. On some level, yes, I could understand why they didn't tell me. They wouldn't have wanted me to worry, since there wasn't really anything that I could have done to help. Not without putting Jeremy in danger. But that wasn't the point. They should have asked my opinion on it all. I could have helped put together a better plan, one that didn't involve people getting hurt. Because I just knew that my idiot siblings were hiding various bruises from me. They were just lucky that that was all that they got. How that was possible, I would never know. Since they were both determined to keep quiet on the details of what went down. Unfortunately, the idiots hadn't realised that that just made it more suspicious. Because it was obvious that they were hiding injuries from me. I know that I could have just asked Damon what he had seen, but I wanted my brother and sister to tell me.

The only good thing that happened was that Stefan made a determined effort to keep Elena and Rebekah separated. Ellie was banished to the back of the group, where Jeremy and Bonnie were walking. While Stefan and Rebekah moved to in front of us. The younger Salvatore was actually doing a good job with keeping the Original distracted. And I knew that Ellie would focus on fussing over Jeremy. So at least I didn't have to put up with them sniping at each other. For now, anyway.

"I really hate that we have to rely on Shane to lead us to this damned cure," I muttered, shaking my head as I aimed a glare at the Professor at the front of the group. Shane had mostly been quiet during the hike, only talking to Bonnie during water breaks. It felt very suspicious. Or maybe I was just in a grumpy mood and he was a convenient target. "How do we know that he isn't just leading us to be sacrificed or eaten?"

"Hmm, you are definitely in one of those moods," Damon rolled his eyes, but I could see him trying to hide a smile. Of course, that just had me narrowing my eyes at him. I knew that he thought that it was amusing when I got like this. But I couldn't help it. This whole situation was fucked up. We were literally in the middle of nowhere, without a working phone, and had no way of calling for backup. We only had Shane's word that we were going in the right direction. And this was the man who had been accused of blowing up the Founder's Council.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," I grumbled, rolling my eyes. "These moods often help keep people alive. And we both know that you benefit from them."

"That I do," my boyfriend smirked into my hair, fingers dipping under my jumper to stroke the skin of my hip. "And while it is funny, maybe you should dial back a bit. At least until we make camp. Then you can torment him as much as you want."

"You're such a killjoy," I sighed dramatically, tilting my head back against his shoulder. "But fine. I will stop being so obvious about it. But you'll have to find something to distract me. Because this hike is incredibly boring and there are only so many times that I can look around these woods without actually convincing myself that there is something out there."

"We could always play 'I spy'?"

"Ugh, I suck at 'I spy'. And what is there even to spy anyway? I spy a tree. I spy a creep professor. I spy a leaf. It won't exactly be a fun game."

"Well, it's either 'I spy' or I can let Elena and Rebekah walk near each other again. That would certainly provide entertainment."

"You know I can't do that," I rolled my eyes at Damon, reaching up to poke at his cheeky smirk. "Even if I am in a mood with my twin, I can't subject her to Rebekah. That would just be cruel of me."

"In that case, if you want entertaining, you'll have to make do with 'I spy'," my boyfriend shrugged, looking far too smug. "At least until we make camp."

There was a dark promise in his last words, one that had me shivering in delight. And that was the only reason why I agreed with a dramatic, "Ugh, fine. But you better make it easy for me."

"Can't make any promises, baby," Damon whispered in my ear, before his lips brushed my cheek. I had to clear my throat and force myself to pay attention as he started his turn. Because I knew that the little shit would cheat. Even if he did keep his guesses easy, he would find ways to distract me. It was a trick that he often played and damn if it didn't work every time. Even if I tried hard not to get distracted, he would just increase his efforts.

XXX

When darkness fell, we got out our flashlights to light up the way. Of course, Shane decided to be extra and put on a headlamp instead. Why, I had no idea. But Damon hushed me every time I tried to ask. I knew that he was just doing it to annoy me. And it was working, because I really wanted to know.

It wasn't like he needed his hands for anything, so he could have quite easily used a flashlight. And it probably would have illuminated the floor more. So his choice was just weird. And was I fixating on this? Yes. Because the creepiness of the woods had dramatically increased the moment that it started to turn dark.

But the Professor did decide to treat us to story time while we walked, "Centuries after Qetsiyah died, there were these miners who were excavating a well on the island. Suddenly went mad. They bled themselves dry. No apparent reason. So, the legend spread that these miners, in exchange for a drop of their blood, saw visions of their lost loved ones in the well that they were digging. The word travelled and explorers sought out the well to see if the legend was true."

"So, the well was magic?" Bonnie asked with a frown, looking like she was thinking hard. It did sound as though that was what Shane was implying. That there was a magic well on this island that loved blood. It was a bit of a disturbing thought, if I was being honest. Giving your blood for something, even if it was the opportunity to see a dead loved one, never ended well.

"Well, you know, some people believe that the voices of lost souls were just a wind vortex whipping through the caves," Shane replied with a shrug, looking mysterious in the lamp light. "And visions were caused by inhaling the island's poisonous plant life."

"And what do you believe?" my sister raised her voice to ask, staring at the professor with a curious expression.

"I believe in magic," the smile on the man's face gave me the shivers. "My wife and son died within months of each other. And so… I decided to try the well out for myself. I offered up my blood and I waited. It didn't take long for me to hear voices echo around the cave. Including my wife's voice." Shane sighed and shook his head, a pained look in his eyes. "Fortunately, I had the equipment with me that allowed me to rappel down into the well. As I rappelled down, I continued to hear voices. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was enough to panic me. I lost my grip on the rope and fell into the well." Shane stopped walking and just stared out into the darkness. "I saw my wife. I saw her eyes, her smile. My blood let me see her again."

That was romantic in a really creepy way. Like, I could get it. In my dark days after losing Luke, I would have done the same. If I didn't have such an amazing support network. And, even though I prayed that it would never happen, if I lost Damon, I would definitely do the same. Grief had a way of eating at you, destroying all rational thinking. And if you were given even the slightest hope that you could see your lost loved one again, you would take it.

But not everyone shared my thoughts.

Damon rolled his eyes at Shane's story, looking like he was determined to not let it affect his opinion of the professor. Which was probably a smart thing. At least one of us was remaining rational. My boyfriend grabbed my hand and tugged me forward, past Stefan and Rebekah. He gave Shane a look before scoffing, "Yeah, got it. Don't eat the poisonous flowers."

He urged me forward, encouraging me to continue walking, and the others followed. But we only made it a few steps, reaching the edge of a clearing, when Shane stopped us. He darted forward, grabbing my arm. That got Damon to stop too. It was immediately obvious that my boyfriend did not approve of Shane touching me. Hell, I did not approve of him touching me. Words existed for a reason. He did not need to touch me in order to get our attention.

He glared at the professor as he shook his head, "Wait. Stop. Stop. Stop." That got everyone stopping, even as I forced my arm out of his grip. My boyfriend wrapped his arm around my shoulders, tucking me into his body and further away from Shane. Content that everyone had stopped, he looked around the group, "Is everyone paying attention?" After confirming that he did, the professor picked up a large rock from the ground, testing the weight of it, "Our first lesson in survival."

Shane threw the rock and it triggered some kind of trap. A net, that had been covered in leaves and was really well hidden, swung up into the trees. I jolted backwards in surprise while others gasped. If one of us had stepped on that, we would now be trapped. And I had a nasty feeling that the owner of the trap would not be a friendly face.

"Stay together," the professor warned us all, his expression serious. "Keep your eyes open."

"Holy fuck," I breathed, glancing up at Damon as the others started to move. "That is some kind of Indiana Jones type shit. How did he even know that that was there?"

"Maybe he was expecting traps," my boyfriend murmured, staring after the professor with hard eyes.

"Would have been nice for him to warn us a bit earlier," I grumbled, glancing around. "Because I'm willing to be that that is one of the tamer traps on this island." I looked back up at Damon. "See, I told you, this place is from some kind of horror movie."

I just got an eye roll in return.

XXX

It took barely a minute for me to realise that neither of my idiot siblings had started walking again. Honestly, it was like they were deliberately trying to stress me out. They were lingering behind the group, in the dark, on an island that was filled with traps, without vampire backup. It was like all sense had left their bodies. A part of me was seriously tempted to get Meredith to do some kind of medical test on them, to see if something had happened to their brains. Because something must have happened.

"I'll be right back," I muttered to Damon before turning around. He grabbed my arm to stop me, a questioning look on his face. "The idiots that I am unfortunately related to are still back there. I'm just going to force them back to the group."

Damon nodded, "Don't take too long. Shout if you need me."

"Will do," I nodded, giving him a quick smile before walking back down the path. Well, I call it a path. It wasn't really. But I could see the footsteps of the group and I used that to backtrack. Using my super vampire hearing, I managed to quickly track down my dumbass siblings.

"Ugh, I'm out of water," Jeremy was complaining and I could just imagine the pout on his face. The hike had been hardest on the humans and I couldn't be too mad at my brother for drinking all of his water. At least he was hydrating. That was important.

"Here, take mine," Elena offered and I could hear her taking out her own water bottle. "I can sneak some from Alexa's later."

Damn, and I would let her do that. Even if I was mad at her, I wouldn't let her suffer without water. And she knew that.

"A magic well?" my brother frowned after he had drunk his fill. "Seriously?"

"I don't know," Ellie sighed and shrugged. I lingered by the trees, unwilling to interrupt them. I could give them a couple of minutes of relaxing before making my presence known. At least I could keep an eye on them from here. "I mean… we've all lost someone. The chance to maybe see them again? I kinda get it."

Jeremy had a sad smile on his face as he nodded. At least they got it too. Being able to see someone that you had lost? Of course you would take that chance to see them again. It was a natural desire. Ellie returned his smile before turning around, probably looking for the others. But she paused when she saw me. I raised an eyebrow at her, indicating my displeasure at their vulnerable position. My sister winced guiltily. But before either one of us could say anything, a branch snapping in the background caught my attention.

I knew that it had to be someone. That wasn't a natural branch snap and we hadn't seen any animals, so it couldn't be them. And I was right, behind my brother, a man rose from the bushes. He had paint on his face, drawn in patterns and shapes. His hair was long, framing his face. But none of those things were my main focus. No, it was the bow and arrow in his hands. With the arrow aimed squarely at my brother.

At Jeremy's gasp, Elena spun around. She went to shout out our brother's name but I was already moving. I shot forward, pushing Jeremy down to the ground just as the stranger fired. It was just pure luck that I caught the arrow before it could hit me. And some of that luck was down to the lessons that I had taken with Stefan. He had eventually taught me how to catch an arrow. And because of that, I managed to catch this one.

My fury and fear and panic had me losing control. I could feel my face changing as I stepped forward, gripping the arrow in my hand tightly. I was so tempted to just rip this man's throat out but I wanted answers. I wanted to know why he was attacking my brother. And that was the only reason why he was still alive.

The stranger, having seen my face, started to reload his bow. He was either going to try and shoot me or go after my brother again. But I wasn't going to let do either. I stepped forward, getting ready to make a speedy attack. But before I could and before he could even properly reload, the stranger let out a small grunt. I frowned in surprise as I heard Elena help Jer to his feet. Of course, that surprise grew when the stranger just toppled forward. He hit the ground with a thud, a hatchet sticking out of his back. That's right. A hatchet. Someone had killed him for us. I scanned the forest, trying to see who our mystery saviour was. But I couldn't see anyone.

"What the actual fuck?" I frowned, reaching back towards my siblings. I wanted to turn around to check on them but I also didn't want to turn my back to the woods. Just because I couldn't see anyone, didn't mean that there was no one out there. Whether it was another attacker or our mystery saviour. Someone was in those woods. And until I knew who it was, I was not going to turn my back to it.

"Somebody just saved my life," my baby brother frowned, staring down at the man's body. I hated that he had seen yet another dead body. He was too young to see one, let alone the amount that he had seen. It just wasn't fair.

"And as much as I want to thank this mystery saviour, we need to get out of here," I gave Jeremy a shove backwards, pushing him in the direction of the others. "Both of you, move it, quick. We need to get back to the rest of the group. I'll watch our backs, but you two need to keep an eye out too."

I was just lucky that neither of them argued. Apparently this had shaken them both. Elena had ordered Jeremy to stay in the middle of us before setting a quick pace in the direction of the others.

XXX

I didn't relax until we met up with the rest of the group. Until I had three other vampires, one of them an Original, to help me protect my siblings. We were immediately bombarded with questions over what happened. I let Elena answer them as I kept a firm grip on my brother, guarding his back. Just because his attacker was dead, didn't mean that he was safe. There could be more people ready to attack him in those woods.

It wasn't until I felt Damon standing behind me, a comforting warmth, that I eased my grip slightly. I knew that I was becoming slightly irrational in my worry. But it was hard. I had spent the past couple of days furious at my siblings. And now one of them had nearly been killed. It was a huge wakeup. Would I still be mad at them? Probably yeah. Would I be more willing to actually talk to them now? Hell yeah. While I didn't want either of my siblings to die, I especially didn't want them to die while I was mad at them.

"Where is the attacker's body?" Stefan asked, looking at me instead of my sister. While things were slowly improving between them, having a common goal seemed to be helping, I knew that there were still issues. And the younger Salvatore often went out of his way to not talk to her if he could help it.

"It's back there," I gestured over my shoulder. "Not that far away, just by the clearing. I would have brought it with me but my main focus was on getting these two to safety."

Stefan nodded, exchanging a glance with Rebekah, "We'll go examine the body, see if there are any clues as to who he was. He didn't say why he was trying to kill Jeremy?"

"He didn't say anything," I sighed, my grip on my brother slowly tightening again. "He was very sneaky though. I was just lucky that I was paying attention."

Rebekah gave me a serious look, "If we see anyone else, I'll make sure to get answers for you, Alexa."

"Thanks," I smiled weakly. "We'll stay here. It'll be easier to keep an eye on Jeremy if we're standing still."

"You don't need to worry about me," my brother protested and I gave him a sharp look.

"Kiddo, you were nearly killed by a crazy archer dude," I lightly tapped my knuckles against his forehead. "If you really think that I'm not going to worry over you, then you are officially insane. You'll be lucky if I let you out of my eyeline for the next decade."

Jeremy didn't look happy at that. But fortunately, the kid knew better than to argue. Well, at that moment in time. I knew that he would argue later. But while I was still on high-alert, he wisely let it be. I watched as Stefan and Rebekah walked back into the woods, heading in the direction of the stranger's body. I watched until the light of their flashlights disappeared into the trees. I then switched my gaze back to my brother.

It seemed as though I wasn't the only worrying about him though. Bonnie was sticking by his side, glaring out into the darkness. I knew that she would do anything to protect my brother, even if they weren't officially together again. Or at least, I didn't think they were. If they had hooked back up, then they hadn't told me.

Ellie stood on Jer's other side, hands hovering over him. While the kid wasn't injured, although his hands were dirty from where I pushed him to the ground, it was hard to believe that he was okay. It all happened so quickly. I was just grateful for my vampire reflexes. Otherwise I would be losing my mind. I couldn't let anything happen to my brother or my sister. It would honestly break me. I had done so much to make sure that I was in the position where I could protect them. I couldn't fail them now.

We waited in silence for the other two vampires to return, ears straining for any noises in the dark. But everything was silent. There wasn't even any noises from any animals. If there were any. I was completely convinced that nothing lived on this island at this point. It was a horrible place and I couldn't wait to leave it. And I definitely couldn't wait to get my family off of it. I was just glad that Jenna didn't fight when I told her that she couldn't come. My aunt was content to stay with Andie for as long as needed. Especially since Klaus was still holed up in our house.

The moment I heard footsteps, I spun around, eyes scanning the darkness. But I relaxed when I saw that it was just Stefan and Rebekah returning. I gave them a once over and saw that there were no injuries. Not that I was expecting any. Especially since I was almost positive that we would have heard if they had been attacked. They hadn't bothered bringing the body back with them. Apparently they had seen everything that they needed to.

"Anything?" Damon asked, his hands resting on my shoulders. He had been trying to keep me calm the best he could, and the fact that Jeremy was standing on his own feet and not pressed against me proved that he had kind of managed it. But it was hard. This whole situation had put me even more on edge.

"We couldn't see any sign of Jeremy's rescuer," Stefan sighed as he joined us. I appreciated it when the younger Salvatore stood near my brother, protecting him from the front. He was quickly joined by Rebekah. "And there was nothing on the body."

"Damnit," I muttered, shaking my head. But I didn't have long to think about it.

"We should start moving again," Shane spoke up for the first time, drawing everyone's attention. "It's a good idea to get away from the body. Just in case anyone else is lurking nearby."

XXX

It was about another hour, well into the night, when we arrived at a larger clearing. This one had the signs of a campsite, with a large structure near the edge of the clearing. It looked like a large shed, but it also could have been a camp house. There was a fire pit in the middle of the clearing, logs around it. People had spent some time here. That much was obvious. Where those people were, was not so obvious. Knowing this island, they had probably died a gruesome death.

"What is this place?" Stefan asked as we all paused in the middle of the clearing, near the fire pit. I gave it a distrusting look before making sure that Jeremy was in the middle of the group. He tolerated my fussing with a roll of his eyes but he didn't try to stop me. Which was lucky, because I was close to just holding my close to me and refusing to let him go.

"According to island lore," Shane answered and I rolled my eyes as he repeated his favourite phrase of 'island lore'. "A group of college kids came here for spring break. A few weeks later, they were all found dead, completely drained of blood."

Oh look, I was right. I honestly should have put a bet on it. Of course, the actual cause of death could have been anything. Although I probably should have guessed it was due to being drained of blood. But I knew for a fact that the owners of the camp had died. That much was obvious. It felt like no one left this island. Well, no one other than Shane. And that just added to his level of shadiness.

"Well, tragic for them," Rebekah shrugged, already taking off her backpack. "Who sleeps where?"

While the others stated to settle, getting out tents and starting the fire, I remained by Damon's side. My boyfriend was staring at Shane, his eyes narrowed slightly. I knew that he was reaching his limit with the professor. And I couldn't blame him. Things just felt off. And Shane was at the centre of that.

"Well, that's lovely," Damon drawled before Shane could take more than a step away. "There's a mystery man with a hatchet lurking in the woods and we're just gonna camp?"

"We're safer here than we are hiking in the dark," the professor smiled, looking far too relaxed for my liking. He was the only one that wasn't panicked about Jeremy's attack. And it just didn't feel right. He was the one who helped us unlock Jer's Hunter's Curse after Connor was killed. I didn't trust his intentions.

"Let's just keep going," my boyfriend suggested, well, it was phrased like a suggestion. But it was spoken like an order. I didn't care though. I agreed with Damon. I wanted to get the cure and get off of this island. It had proven itself to be bad news and I wanted to get my family away from that bad news. "You know? Get the cure. Get in, get out." He paused before demanding, "Where is it?"

At that, Shane rolled his eyes before scoffing, "How stupid do you think I am?"

"Stupid enough to raise an immortal witch," Damon smirked sharply as I rolled my eyes. I glanced around the camp, making sure that I knew where my siblings were. "So I'd say… incredibly."

"You know, I'm shocked that you even want the cure," the professor countered, sounding annoyed for the first time. "Aren't you worried that Alexa will decide that she wants to be human again? That being a vampire isn't actually what she wants?"

I couldn't hold back my snort of laughter. I didn't even bother apologising for it. Because his words were completely ridiculous. He clearly couldn't think of anything else to say, so he started grasping for straws. Everyone who knew me knew that I did not want that cure. It was so painfully obvious that the only reason why I was going along with this was to shove it down Klaus' throat.

Shane gave me a look, clearly not impressed with my continued laughter, before walking off. He should be annoyed with my laughter, he deserved it for saying something so stupid. Honestly. Me? decide that I wanted to be human again? What a ridiculous notion. I had wanted to be a vampire for months before I turned. I wanted to be strong and fearless. Yeah, the hunger sucked. But it was worth it.

Once I had gotten my laughter under control, I turned around and wrapped my arms around Damon's neck. He had a grumpy look on his face as he stared after Shane. I rolled my eyes before pressing a sloppy kiss to the corner of his mouth. I kept my face close to his, nuzzling his cheek with my nose, before humming, "You're not listening to his nonsense, are you? Because he could not be more wrong. I would never take that cure. I know what I want. I want to be a vampire; I have wanted this for a while. I will not change my mind."

"I know, Ally," my boyfriend sighed, finally taking his annoyed gaze away from the retreating professor. "I just don't like his angle. He's up to something."

"That man is always up to something," I rolled my eyes as I pulled myself closer to Damon, going up on tiptoes so that I could press my body against his, resting my head on his shoulder. "I've almost completed my Shady Shane Bingo. I'm just waiting for the inevitable betrayal and I would have beaten Jenna to bingo."

Damon huffed out a laugh as he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me even closer to him, "You put together a Shady Shane Bingo and you didn't invite me to play?"

"You would have cheated," I smirked, moving my head to press a kiss to his cheek. "And I had to make it fair for Jenna."

XXX

I managed to keep Damon occupied by telling him about the entries of Shady Shane Bingo. I liked to think that he admired my creativity. But the raised eyebrow just indicated that he was judging me. I didn't care. He was just jealous that I didn't invite him to play.

It wasn't until we saw Bonnie follow Professor Shady into the shed that we moved. I knew that he was more likely to be truthful with her than he was with us. So we decided to do a bit of eavesdropping to get some answers. And I wanted to make sure that my friend would be okay. I didn't trust Shane and the hold that he thought that he had over her.

"I've been staring at pictures of Jeremy's tattoo," the young witch said as she entered the shed. We lurked near the doorway, listening intently. I had returned to my previous position in my boyfriend's arms, head tucked under his chin. To an onlooker, it would seem as though we were just enjoying a cuddle. But in reality, we were listening to the conversation happening within. "And there's no spell."

"Expression doesn't require a written spell," Shane replied, sounding as mysterious as usual. "Just think of it as a way of accessing magic that already exists inside you. You just have to want it bad enough."

I could just picture the look on Bonnie's face. It would be a perfect mix of judging and mistrust. With a delightful raised eyebrow thrown into the mix. Her tone was even as she asked, "And I'm just supposed to trust you?"

"Bonnie, listen," Shane sighed, sounding as though he put something on the ground before turning to face her. "I taught you Expression so that you could access the cure. I'll be right there with you the whole time, I promise."

I glanced up at Damon as he urged us forward and into the shed. Honestly, he was one for a dramatic entrance. But I had to admit that this one worked. I saw Bonnie's body relax slightly as she glanced over her shoulder at us. But the interesting part was the way that Shane tensed slightly. He knew that we didn't trust him and that we could persuade Bon to stop trusting the professor.

"You didn't answer the trust part," Damon smirked, a dark edge as I rested a hand on Bonnie's shoulder. I moved to stand next to her, angling my body in front of her slightly.

"Alright, let me put it this way," the professor glared slightly at my vampire. I always enjoyed it when he showed visible signs of annoyance. He normally acted like nothing affected him. So it was satisfying when something broke through that barrier. "You need me to help you through it, Bonnie. Because as you've demonstrated, Expression can get messy. Believe me when I say that I've seen it get a lot worse."

"What do you mean a lot worse?" I frowned, the hand that I had on my friend's shoulder tightening slightly.

"When we lost our son in the car accident, my wife kind of lost it," Shane shook his head, a pained expression flashing across his face. "She tried to resurrect his body using magic."

I exchanged a surprised look with Bon before she sharply asked, "Your wife was a witch?"

"She was a powerful witch," the professor nodded. "And incredibly undisciplined."

"And you never thought to tell me?" my friend snapped, looking like she was actually beginning to distrust the man in front of us. He had kept an important secret from her. One that definitely made me question his motives.

"I just didn't want to scare you," Shane's voice was soft, as he had probably noticed the same thing that I had. The small spark of mistrust in Bonnie's eyes. "The truth is, she tried to bring our son back using Expression, and it overwhelmed her and she died."

Oh wow.

Now that's fucked up. He taught someone else the same magic that killed his wife? Why would he do that? Was it his desperation to see her again? It was seriously insane. But it also gave me even more reasons to not trust him. To get this man away from my loved ones. If it weren't for the fact that the cure was the only way to get rid of the furious hybrid back home, I would force everyone from this island. Shane didn't deserve to get what he wanted. All he deserved was pain for manipulating one of my dearest friends.

Bonnie must have shared my thoughts as she angrily spat, "You taught me the same magic that killed your wife?!"

"Yeah," the professor admitted, wincing at the pure fury that was radiating from the witch. "But look, the upside is that I've learned the warning sides, alright? I can keep the Expression from consuming you."

"Downside is, you turned her into a bomb that only you can dismantle," Damon snorted, stepping up behind me. I had pulled Bonnie closer to me, tucking her into my side. I knew that Shane's revelations had unnerved her. And I couldn't blame her for that. It was seriously messed up.

"Don't you think that I know how this ends?" Shane scoffed, shaking his head, his curls bouncing. "I came here to raise Silas so that he could bring back the dead, but you're never gonna let that happen. The second that I point to a cure, you're gonna kill me. Now, Bonnie has to keep me alive so that I can keep her alive."

"That's what you say," I narrowed my eyes at the man. "But why should we believe you? You're clearly capable to keeping things from us. So why should we trust you when you say that you're the only way that Bonnie will survive this? Personally, I believe that Bonnie is a lot stronger than you think she is and that you're just bullshitting us."

"We shall see."

XXX

I knew that Shane's words had shaken Bonnie, so I left her with Elena to look after her. I knew that my sister would do a better job of comforting our friend than I would. Because all that I felt capable of was cursing out the professor. He had lied to everyone, manipulated everyone, put everyone in danger. And it was all so that he could get what he wanted. Which was for some old guy to apparently bring dead people back to life. It was all a bit insane to me and I had seen some insane shit before.

In order to get me to calm down, Damon had taken me into the woods. It was creepy as hell but I trusted my boyfriend to look after me. I mean, I could look after myself. But it was nice to just let someone else do it. Especially since all I could remember were the horror movies that I had watched when I was younger. Yeah, that was definitely a mistake. I seriously regretted watching them now.

We didn't go too far away from the camp, before Damon moved to lean against a nearby tree. He pulled me into his arms and I went willingly. I wrapped my arms around him before tucking my head under his chin. I was immediately surrounded by his comforting scent and I couldn't help but take a deep breath, burying my face in his chest.

My boyfriend's hand brushed over my hair, smoothing down my ponytail before resting his hand on the back of my neck. It was a comforting weight and it helped me to relax. Well, as much as one could relax on this fucking island.

"Does this mean that we can't kill Shane?" I muttered into Damon's chest. I felt him huff out a laugh before resting his cheek on my head.

"We can still kill him," my boyfriend sighed as I curled my fingers into his jacket. "We might just need to wait a bit longer. Once we're off this island, we can have our fun."

"Oh thank god," I sighed, closing my eyes. "I don't know why he makes me feel so violent. It almost like my violence levels when I'm dealing with Klaus. He just makes me so angry."

"It's because he's manipulating the people you care about, Alexa," Damon replied, his fingers running through my ponytail. "He's hurting them and lying to them, putting them in danger. Of course it would set off all your protective instincts."

"He's just lucky that we need that cure to get rid of Klaus," I grumbled. "Otherwise I would do something that I probably wouldn't regret."

"Well, why don't I do something to distract you from your murderous thoughts?" my boyfriend purred, using his grip on my ponytail to tilt my head back. Not that I needed the prompting. I eagerly moved my head, eyes fluttering closed as Damon's lips consumed mine. I reached up to tangle my fingers in his hair, pulling him even closer. His free hand reached down to cup my ass, encouraging me to wrap my leg around his hips.

"Damon, we're in the middle of the woods," I gasped out as my boyfriend moved onto my neck, sucking on the sensitive spot under my neck. "Anyone could find us."

"Everyone's in camp," Damon murmured in my ear, before scrapping his fangs along my neck. My breath hitched at the feeling and I tilted my head back further. I felt Damon smirk against my skin before slowly sinking his fangs into my skin. I let out a hushed moan at the feeling, I was just about able to keep it quiet. But that nearly went out the window when my boyfriend rolled his hips forward, his erection pressing against my core.

"Stop being a tease," I gasped as he moved his mouth away from my neck. Damon looked down at me with a wicked smirk, his lips stained red with my blood. I followed the movements of his tongue as he licked away the blood.

"As my lady commands," he purred, spinning me around so that my back was pressed against the tree. He rested an arm around my head, pressing his lips against mine as his other hand trailed down my body. He circled my erect nipple with his finger, giving it a tiny flick before following the path down my body. I held my breath as he slowly undid the button on my jeans. That breath came out in a gasp as he slid his hand under my panties, thumb finding my clit.

Damon rubbed it with firm circles, my hands clinging onto his shoulders, before slowly pressing two fingers inside me. Even with his movements restricted by my jeans, he was able to get me to the edge far too quickly. I had to bit my lip to stop me from moaning loudly. Because we were far too close to camp, and other vampire ears, for me to be as vocal as I would have liked.

Eventually, as my boyfriend kept me on the edge for far too long, I gasped out Damon's name. My legs shook as he removed his hand from my panties, carefully spinning me around so that my front was pressed against the tree. Using one hand to keep myself steady, I used the other to push my jeans and panties down to my knees.

It took barely a second for Damon to stand behind me, one of his hands gripping my hip while the other rested against the tree by my head. With a steady movement, he pushed inside of me, filling me to perfection. I had to bit my lip to muffle the moan that threatened to spill from my lips. I heard Damon do the same behind me.

But even as his grip tightened on my hip, Damon kept moving with slow and steady movements. It was enough to drive me crazy. The constant press against that sensitive part had me biting my arm to muffle the whimpers and moans and groans. Every now and then, my boyfriend changed the angle of his hips, hitting something that made me see stars.

He made me cum twice before he finally showed me mercy. My legs were shaking, barely able to keep my up. It was only the tight grip that Damon kept on my hip that helped. Once I had finished gasping out his name, slowly coming down from that ledge, he increased his speed. I could feel his movements getting sloppy as he chased his own high. And I was still close enough to that edge that I was pushed back over to.

Damon's fangs pierced the side of my neck as he came and once again, I had to bit my arm to keep quiet. But the pleased noise that my boyfriend made as he slowly pulled out, coupled with the content groan that I let out, made it all worth it. And I was no longer feeling so murderous.

XXX

Of course, that feeling didn't last long.

I woke up to the news that my brother had been abducted during the night. That's right. Someone on this creepy fucking island had stolen my brother. During the night. And we had absolutely no idea as to where they had taken him.

The camp was filled with panic. Elena was practically pulling her hair out while she paced around the firepit. I left Damon to watch her while I walked a circle around camp. I frantically searched the ground for any sign of my brother. But I couldn't even see any footsteps. And I cursed my lack of tracking abilities.

As I obsessively circled the camp, I saw some of the others leave. Bonnie had been tasked with searching the trail leading into camp, looking for any clues. Stefan and Rebekah went to go search the nearby quarry. They were the only places that we could think to check. It wasn't like there was a lot of stuff on this fucking island.

I only returned to the firepit when I saw Bonnie enter the camp. She had a hopeless look on her face as she approached my sister and Damon. Ellie had been keeping herself occupied by yelling our brother's name. It wouldn't do anything, as if he had been taken, then he would most likely have been gagged. Because I was willing to bet that the abductor knew that my brother was travelling with vampires and a witch. Because our luck was that shitty.

"Jeremy!" Elena shouted again before spinning around when she heard Bonnie's footsteps behind her. "Did you find anything?"

Our witchy friend shook her head, "He's not on the trail."

It was then that our local creepy man walked over, Jeremy's backpack in hand. I narrowed my eyes at him. He was far too calm and that worried me. My brother had the spell on his body, he was an important part of getting the cure. There was no way that Shane would be this calm. And that set all of my instincts on fire.

"His gear's still here," the professor said, holding up Jer's bag. I wasn't being at all subtle when I reached out and snatched the bag off of him. I didn't want him touching my brother's stuff. Especially since I had a little voice in the back of my head screaming that he had something to do with his disappearance. I had no proof, other than an odd suspicion. But I just felt it in my bones.

Shane was saved from me berating him for touching my brother's stuff by the arrival of the other two members of our group. Stefan and Rebekah entered the clearing. And they were alone. My heart clenched in my chest in worry. I was trying not to focus on that worry, on that panic. Because I knew where it would lead. I had promised myself and my family that I would look after the kid. And now I had failed. He had been abducted by a stranger on some creepy island. And this was after some crazy archer dude wanted to kill him. Oh lord, what if the person who took him wanted to kill him too? There were so many reasons as to why someone would take my brother, and none of them were good. And the mere thought of it all made me feel sick.

"He's not at the quarry, either," Stefan said, joining us at the firepit. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him exchange a glance with Damon. My boyfriend was resting a hand on my shoulder, trying to keep me calm. Well, to keep me from taking my panic and fear and anger out on the creepy professor that just wouldn't go away. Because I was coming close to just ripping off an arm and demanding to know where my brother was.

"Let's split up," Damon nodded, glancing around the gang. He didn't get any immediate arguments and I glanced over at my sister. I could see her gaze flickering around the clearing, looking for any sign of our brother. I knew that she would do something reckless to save our brother and I made a promise to myself that I would keep her safe. I wouldn't let anything happen to my family. I couldn't let them get hurt. I would save my brother. I would keep my sister safe. And I would get both of them off of this island alive.

"I'm gonna stay and try a locator spell," Bonnie nodded sharply, not even waiting for someone to argue before walking over to her bag. I watched her go before switching my gaze to Shane when he spoke.

"Okay, I'll stay here," the professor declared and I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'll make sure she's safe."

Oh hell no. I was not going to leave him alone with Bonnie. I did not trust him. There was no ounce of trust left in me when it came to the creepy man. And I would find out if he was responsible for my brother's disappearance.

"I'm staying too," I kept my narrowed gaze on Shane as I spoke. "When Bonnie's spell works, someone needs to go to Jeremy's location."

I could practically feel Damon's eye roll before he sighed, "I'll stay here and make sure that you're not lying. And to make sure that Alexa doesn't kill you if you say the wrong thing."

I could sense that my sister wanted to stay with me. She was probably feeling the same thing that I was. That something bad would happen to your sibling if they left your sight. But it didn't make sense for her to stay too. Some of us needed to search the island. And no one could argue with my logic. Someone needed to be here for when Bonnie's spell worked. And it wasn't like we had cell phone service out here.

Ellie glanced between Stefan and Rebekah, who exchanged a glance of their own. She definitely didn't want to go anywhere with either of them. But since they were the ones searching the island, she didn't really have a choice.

"Fine," she eventually sighed, shaking her head. "We'll keep searching the island."

As my twin walked over to the other two vampires, I pointed at them, "If anything, and I mean anything, happens to her, I will rip you both apart. Do you understand?"

"We'll keep her safe," Stefan promised me, keeping his voice soft. I nodded, appreciating his words. I knew that Stef wouldn't let her get hurt. Despite their somewhat rocky relationship right now, I knew that he still cared about her.

I watched them leave, ignoring the uneasy feeling in my stomach. They would be fine. They had to be.

XXX

Once the others were gone, I turned around to confront Professor Creepy. Only to see that he was gone. As I frowned at the clearing, Damon cleared his throat. I glanced up at him as he gestured to the shed at the edge of the clearing, "He's in there."

"Doing creepy stuff?" I snorted, already moving to make my way over there. I heard my boyfriend huff out a laugh as he followed me. As I walked, I tapped my hands against my thighs. I was filled with nervous energy, desperate to do something to help my brother. And there was nothing that I could do to get rid of this energy. Well, nothing productive. I could quite easily pace around and try punching trees. But that wouldn't help anyone. And I probably wouldn't do anything to get rid of the nervous energy plaguing me.

"Why don't we find out?" Damon murmured just before easing the door to the shed open. Shane was crouched down in the darkness, his bag open in front of him. The professor had his satellite phone in his hand. But the damned device was just letting out beeps, indicating its lack of service. My vampire announced our presence with a, "Thought it didn't work."

Shane fumbled with the phone at the sudden sound of Damon's voice. He quickly placed it back in his bag before standing up, an uneasy smile on his face, "Yeah. I'm just… just checking the signal."

"Yeah, I bet you are," I muttered, crossing my arms and narrowing my gaze. It felt like all I did was glare at the professor. But his creepiness factor had sky-rocketed ever since we got to the island. And he wasn't doing anything to reassure anyone. In fact, it felt as though he was trying to be even more creepy than normal.

"So you can call someone?" my boyfriend shot back, resting a hand on my shoulder. I knew that he wanted to handle this, and for the most part, I was content to let him do so. But that didn't mean that I could hold back the shitty little comments. "Like whoever took Jeremy?"

Huh, looks like I wasn't the only one who thought that Shane was responsible for my brother's disappearance. I knew that the others didn't suspect Shane. While they thought that he was odd, they didn't get the creepy vibes that I did from him. And to be honest, it was a bit of a relief that Damon felt that way too. I trusted my boyfriend's instincts and I knew that he would help me get my brother back.

"This place has a habit of getting to you, doesn't it?" Shane shot back, sounding annoyed as he dug the phone out of his bag. He shoved it at Damon, looking genuinely frustrated. "See for yourself."

But Damon just dropped it to the side without even looking at it, "I'm done trusting you." He used his vampire speed to push the professor into a chair that was in the middle of the room. Damon glanced over his shoulder at me before gesturing at the human in the room. I nodded, using my own speed to stand behind Shane. I placed my hands on his shoulders, holding Shane in the chair. "Where's the cure?"

I felt Shane tense before he took a deep breath. As much as I hated the man, I did have to admire the way that he forced himself to relax. It was an enviable skill, one that I had never mastered. Once his breathing was even, he looked back up at Damon, "You know that magical well that I was telling you about? Silas and the cure are buried deep below it."

I exchanged a glance with my boyfriend before frowning, "Does that mean that you've seen it?"

"No, but you could say that I heard it from a reliable source," Shane decided that now as the time to return to his mysterious self. It was not appreciated. And I let him know that by squeezing his shoulders. He winced before elaborating, "I told you that I saw my wife. But it was more than that, I was able to talk to her, to communicate with her. If a single drop of blood can give you a vision, could you imagine what two litres could do?"

Damon was less than impressed with Shane's little story. And I couldn't blame him. My brother was missing. I didn't have time for Shane's little story time. If he had something to say, then he could say it without all of the charade. My boyfriend raised an eyebrow before scoffing, "What does your dead wife have to do with a cure?"

"She's got nothing to do with a cure, but she has everything to do with Silas," the professor retorted, narrowing his eyes slightly. He probably didn't appreciate the jab against his wife. "She told me that Silas can bring back our loved ones. If he was set free, then he'll help those who have helped him. He is entombed within those caves, trapped with a spell. And that's when she explained everything that I had to do. That I had to complete the hunter's ark to access the spell and empower a descendant of Qetsiyah to perform it."

I could feel Shane trying to stand up, but I tightened my grip on him, keeping him in the chair. And while I did that, my mind whirred. Bonnie was a descendant of this Qetsiyah chick? Damn, my girl was related to all the big hitters in the witchy world. No wonder she had so much power. And it just cemented my thinking that Shane was lying about Bonnie relying on him to stay alive. She had so much more power than he realised. Bonnie didn't need anyone. Especially creepy Professor Shane.

I glanced up to see my boyfriend staring down at Shane with an incredulous expression on his face, eyebrow raised, "Bonnie Bennett's related to this crazy-ass witch?"

XXX

"So, you have the rock, hunter, Bennett witch," Damon ticked off his fingers as he listed each item for this apparently complicated spell. "What about the dozens that died in the sacrifice? Where do they fit in all of this?"

That was a good question. Shane wouldn't have organised those deaths if they weren't need. Nah, this man wouldn't do anything to risk bringing his family back. He didn't strike me as the type of guy to take risks.

"As you can imagine," the professor sighed. "That was not an easy pill to swallow. I need to orchestrate three massacres. They are necessary, temporary sacrifices. Apparently Silas can bring them back from the dead. Their deaths will released energy in the spots that they died, which the spell requires."

"What spell?" I frowned, staring down at the back of Shane's head.

His face twitched for a second before answering, "The spell to bring people back." He clearly wasn't that impressed with my interruption as he looked back at Damon, ignoring me completely, "I could feel her touch, that was how I knew that she was telling the truth. And she found a way to make it easier for me. all I had to do was convince someone to do it for me. to make them believe that it is possible that they can see a lost loved one again."

"Which is how you manipulated the pastor to blow up a farmhouse full of people," Damon nodded, his gaze flickering to me. Despite his distrust of Shane, I could see his amusement. He knew that I didn't appreciate being ignored by Shane and despite the seriousness of the situation, he still found time to be amused by my annoyance.

"He just wanted to see his wife again," Shane nodded, sounding disturbingly unaffected by it. I guess he had had a lot of time to wrap his head around sending a whole of people to their deaths. Especially since he wasn't doing the dirty work. He just had to manipulate vulnerable and depressed people to do it for him. Honestly, my view of him was plummeting by the second. Just when I thought that he couldn't get any worse, I found out that he manipulated people to their deaths.

"You mentioned three massacres," I spoke up, prompting my boyfriend's thought process. I knew that I wouldn't get answers from Shane. He wasn't scared of me like he was Damon. Well, I say scared. I didn't know if that was the right word. He seemed unnerved by my boyfriend. But he just disregarded me completely. Which was just completely rude.

"Alexa's right," Damon briefly pointed at me. "For this little spell, you said that you need three of them. We have the fire at the Young farm and the holiday hybrid slaughter. What mass blood-letting as we forgetting?"

"You're not," the professor kept his answer short and I knew that that wasn't a good sign. This man loved to talk. Sometimes you just couldn't shut him up. So the fact that he didn't want to spill set all my instincts screaming.

I glanced up at my boyfriend as he breathed out, "You're not finished. Is that why you brought us all out here in the middle of nowhere? To complete massacre number 3?"

"That would explain why he let so many of us come along," I muttered, staring hard at the back of Shane's head. It would be the sort of thing that he would do. And he would want to take out the ones who were suspicious of him. He wouldn't be able to continue to manipulate Bonnie if we were here. After this, I wasn't letting Shane anywhere near my friend.

"It doesn't work that way," the professor shook his head, sounding as though he knew that his answer wouldn't lead to something good. And he was right.

"I think you need to tell us where this magical well is," Damon sighed, putting on a regretful act. But I could tell that this wouldn't end well for Shane. And I was totally on board with that. He had put my loved ones in danger. And he was refusing to tell us where we needed to go. If things had to get messy, then I didn't care. Maybe it would help me with that nervous energy that I could feel building up. Because in my head, I was thinking that Jeremy's abductor might well be on their way to that magical well. And the human in front of me was getting in the way of me saving my brother.

"You know I can't do that," Shane replied, keeping his voice even.

"Oh, I know," Damon's lips quirked up in a smile as he patted Shane's arm. I saw him looking past me and I followed his gaze to see some rope on the ground. And I immediately knew what my boyfriend was going to do with that. "I know."

As Damon went to go get the rope, I glanced down at Shane. He looked disturbingly unperturbed by the threat of torture and that unnerved me. Either he had a plan to save himself or he would die to protect this secret. He had to have been responsible for my brother's abduction, that's why he was so relaxed. He knew that someone was carrying out his plan.

"You know, I've seen Damon torture people before," I leant down to whisper in Shane's ear. "I would give him the answers that he wants because things will get painful for you. And I'm not in the mood to intervene to spare you."

"I wouldn't expect otherwise," Shane ground out, keeping his gaze straight ahead. "You're just as bad as he is."

"Aww hon," I cooed, digging my fingers into his shoulders. "You say the nicest things. Cos you see, I'll full on rip you apart if it means getting my brother back safe and sound. So tell me what we want to know or I'll be allowed to have my own fun with you."

XXX

Shane didn't tell us anything.

We continued with the mental torture for a bit, as the sun set outside. It was approaching an entire day since my brother was taken and I was slowly getting frustrated with Shane's bullshit. I knew that he knew where my brother was and it was really pissing me off that he wouldn't give us any answers.

During that time, Damon had been looking for the perfect torture weapons. Since he use his got to of a white-hot iron poker. Nah, he had to get creative this time. I had suggested using olds-school methods, like pulling out finger nails or breaking bones. But that was too boring my boyfriend. He wanted something creative.

"Come on, dumbass, just tell us where the cure is," I sighed, shaking my head as I stood in front the professor. "And where my brother is. I'm getting fed up with this."

"Does it even matter?" Shane broke his silence to sigh. "I think we all know that your boyfriend would rather just torture me. It gives him a sense of control, especially with your impending decision."

"Impending decision?" I scoffed, shaking my head. Behind me, I heard Damon breaking a metal rod in half. "You are joking right? Everyone in this room knows that I am not taking that cure. I don't care if my family beg me to, if my twin begs me to. I will not take that cure. So why don't you shut the fuck up about that and give us the answers that we want?"

"Being a vampire isn't good for you, Alexa," Shane tried to push and I narrowed my eyes at him. "Look how violent you've become. It's turned you into a monster." The asshole would have continued, but he was interrupted by Damon hitting him in the arm with the two halves of the metal rod.

The professor let out a loud cry as I snorted, "You didn't even know me as a human. So you have absolutely no idea as to what I was like. So, again, shut the fuck up about that."

"Neither of you even want to be here!" Shane changed methods, gritting his teeth as his arm throbbed from the pain of the hit. "You're just torturing yourselves by being here. Neither of you want the cure, so why are you here? You should just leave."

"That is exactly what you want," I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "With us gone, you can do whatever you want. Yeah, no, not gonna happen, pal."

"We could just kill you," Damon shrugged, resting his free hand on my shoulder as he stood next to me. "Then no one would find it and then no one would get it. Problem solved."

The professor shook his head, "We've established that you can't kill me without sending Bonnie off the deep end. You can leave the island. You two could go anywhere in the world, where no one would judge you. You don't need to stay here where Elena would push for Alexa to take the cure."

"One, there is no way that my sister would do that," I pointed out, taking the offered half of the metal rod. "Two, what makes you think that I would listen? I know what I want and I won't let anyone change my mind."

"And besides, if you're not here, then we can't get in-between you and whatever you're planning with Silas," Damon twirled the rod in his hand, looking satisfied as he tested the weight of it. "Well, we're not that easily manipulated, professor."

"And as for your whole 'if I die then Bonnie goes off the deep-end', I call that bullshit," I scoffed, stepping to the side. "You see, I know how strong my friend is. And I know that she doesn't need a little weasel like you to stop her from going off the deep-end. She's more powerful than you could ever imagine. Which is why I feel absolutely no guilt in letting Damon do whatever he wants to do."

I gave my boyfriend a nod, one that he returned as he passed me the other half of the metal rod. He leant over the tied-down human, whispering in his ear, "It was nice knowing you, but you really shouldn't have pissed off my girl and taken her brother."

He grabbed Shane's head, his wrists shifting in preparation to snap the human's neck. But before he could, a very familiar voice shouted out his name. Elena rushed into the barn, shoving at Damon. Her strength was nowhere near strong enough to get my boyfriend to move, but he did so out of courtesy. My twin glanced between us before shouting, "What is wrong with you two?"

"Here we go," I muttered, rolling my eyes before walking out of the barn. I knew exactly what my sister would say to me and I just didn't want to hear it. She didn't understand that you just had to get your hands dirty sometimes. Especially with men like Shane. He didn't care about us, he just cared about reviving Silas. He would kill us all to do that. And she just didn't realise that.

As I walked out of the door, Damon close behind me, I heard Elena snap at Shane, "What did you say to them?"

"They're maniacs, Elena," the professor protested before my sister started untying the ropes. "They would have killed me."

"Just stop messing with my friends," my twin shook her head sharply, freeing one arm before storming out of the shed. I could hear her behind me and paused. There was no point running from this. it would happen, sooner rather than later. And at least this way, I could control when it happened.

And I had Damon by my side. He would help me keep some control over my anger. And he wouldn't let me go too far. He wouldn't let my sister go too far either. We were both angry and worried and scared over Jeremy's continued absence. And I knew that our next words would only make that worse.

XXX

I was absolutely right. What followed was absolute brutal. But I couldn't bring myself to regret it. Sometimes, I just didn't tell her how I was really feeling, I protected her far too much. And maybe that was a mistake. Maybe I should have just been open from the beginning. And now she would be shocked by just how much I had been hiding from her.

"Shane is the only thing that's keeping Bonnie safe, and you try to kill him?" Elena snapped as I turned around to face her. "It's no wonder that Bonnie hates Damon, and she probably doesn't like you much either!"

"Oh for fucks sake," I muttered, shaking my head before raising my voice. "Look, for one thing, Bonnie and I get along perfectly, so you can shut up about that. And Shane is not the only thing keeping Bonnie safe. He is just saying that so we don't get rid of him. Bon is a lot more powerful than you give her credit for and she doesn't need some creep to look after her. Maybe you should realise that."

"Why are you acting like this?" my sister frowned, taking a step back. I was annoyed that she had the audacity to actually look hurt by my words. I had protected her from my harsher words for so long, and now I was letting lose. She didn't deserve to be hurt about that. "You've just been so angry since we got here. And then, instead of going out to look for Jeremy, you stayed here to torture Shane."

"Why am I acting like this?" I repeated mockingly, shaking my head. "Gee, I wonder why. Couldn't possibly be because you and Jeremy put yourselves and everyone else in danger by plotting to kill Kol. I mean, that would be crazy right. As would deliberately keeping out of the plan so that I could tell you just how fucking stupid you were being. Nah, couldn't possibly be that. And no, I didn't stay here just to torture Shane. I stayed here just in case Bonnie's location spell worked. Torturing Shane was just a bonus because he was involved in the abduction of our brother. Or do you just not care about that? Honestly, Elena, you can be so blind sometimes."

"You've changed, Alexa," my twin shot back, looking just as angry as I was. "You never used to be this violent and you certainly wouldn't have tortured someone. No, being a vampire has changed you. And so has being with Damon."

"I wondered when you would get dragged into this," I sighed at my boyfriend, who had an iron grip on my shoulder. I knew that he was itching to get involved in this. He definitely didn't like the way my sister was talking to me and normally, I would have gotten him involved so that he could stop me from saying something that I would regret. But I couldn't bring myself to do that this time. My twin had thoroughly pissed me off with her involvement in the Kill Kol plan. With a roll of my eyes, I glared at Elena. "We both now that I could be this violent when it came to protecting my loved ones. I just never used to have the strength to back it up. I used to have to rely on others. But now, I can hurt the people who take my family from me. And I do not regret that. Someone needs to protect this family and I will be the one to that. As for the Damon point, I'm not going to touch that. Because I will say something that I will regret."

"Being a vampire isn't good for you, Alexa, maybe you should just take the cure. That way, I'll get my old sister back."

I could barely believe that those words had come out of my mouth. I almost didn't want to believe it. I had honestly thought that she had accepted me as a vampire. That she had gotten over her guilt issues that had contributed to her not accepting me at first. But no, one little thing and she just throws that in my face. I wished that this fucking cure had never been discovered, that we had never heard about it. It had given us nothing but misery since we first heard about it. And it was a fucking nightmare.

"The sister that was constantly tortured and hurt and being killed? No thanks. You know, I'm shocked by you, Elena. You claim to want to respect people's choices and you want your own respected, but you can't respect my choice here. I thought that we had moved past this. But clearly not." I had to take a deep breath to stop myself from just screaming in anger. "So I'm going to go for a walk and you are not going to follow me. Damon will stay here with you, to stop you from doing something stupid. As you are incapable of not being a fucking idiot."

With that said, I turned on my heel and stalked out of the clearing. Behind me, I could hear Elena shouting after me, but since she hadn't chased after me, I was guessing that Damon had stopped her. I respected my boyfriend for letting me storm off. He knew that I needed space and he was giving it to me. As well as giving me the peace of mind by keeping an eye on my dumb twin. I was already worrying about one sibling; I couldn't worry about another. No that would be far too much for me right now. I was just about holding on after that fight. It was horrible and I didn't want it to happen. But I knew that there was no hiding from it. Not anymore.

XXX

I had wandered off far too far, but I didn't care. I just still needed space. I knew that I could get back to the camp quite easily if I needed to. So I didn't worry too much about that. No, instead, I worried about the darkness surrounding me. I did regret not grabbing a torch before I stormed off.

I had paused, wondering if I should start to slowly head back when I heard the click of a crossbow. The next thing I knew, an arrow was sticking out of my shoulder. I let out a pained shout, gripping the shaft of the arrow in shock. I had just gotten shot. Someone had just shot me.

What the actual fuck.

Of course, I immediately shouted that after I pulled the arrow out. I stared down at it in disbelief as my wound immediately stared to heal. But that wasn't the point. Someone had shot me. I needed to get back to camp.

Of course, before I could do that, someone tackled me to the ground. I hit the floor with a oof, immediately rolling over. I managed to throw my attacked to the side, acting more on instinct than anything. If it wasn't for my vampire strength, I would still be pinned.

I scrambled to my feet before throwing myself forward. My mystery attacked was just climbing to his feet when I hit him. Our bodies feel to the ground together, with me on top. I pinned his arms down with my knees, hands going to his neck. I wasn't going to kill him, not until I knew why he was attacking me.

The guy looked quite handsome, with dirty blonde hair and a chiselled face. He was not the sort of guy that I was expecting to see out here, which was why I exclaimed, "What the fuck was that? Why are you attacking me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" the man spat, struggling in my hold. I went to adjust my grip on him when I froze. On his hand, was a familiar tattoo.

"You're a hunter," I breathed out, getting distracted. And that was all the mystery hunter needed. He managed to flip me to the side, his body following mine. And then all I knew was darkness.

XXX

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed! I am working on the next chapter but I can't guarantee an update next week, it depends on how much football my hubs watches over the week! I have a new poll on my profile, related to our favourite Aunt Jenna, so please let me know what you think :) thank you for all of the reviews, my darlings, please keep them coming! They are helping with the pain that is season 4! I hope you all enjoyed, until next time xoxo