Haunt Us Still 1/2

Oct 15, 2010 21:39

Title: Haunt Us Still 1/2
Author: not_from_stars // Cover Art By weaselett // Fan Mix by enochiansigils // Art by faeriesfolly // Header on not_from_stars by lastfirewllrise
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing(s): Damon/Elena; mentions of Stefan/Elena
Rating: PG-13
Challenge: Written For tvd_bigbang
Warning: Spoilers for S1.
Word Count: 19,584
Summary: In the aftermath of Founders Day, everyone was expecting to be able to heal their wounds, get cleaned up and go on with their lives. For Jeremy Gilbert, this was going to be hard to do as his girlfriend had been one of the vampires killed by the hunters. Making the decision to swallow the vial of blood that Anna had given him and then swallow a bottle of pain pills should have made everything go away. Instead, he was disturbed by the sounds of fighting downstairs from his room. When he tried to help in the fight, Jeremy was knocked out, and when he came to, Elena was missing. Now Jeremy has only one choice to get his sister back alive. He needs to go and get the help of a Salvatore. Not Stefan. He goes to get help from Damon because only Damon will be ruthless enough to do what it takes to get Elena back alive. After all, Damon wanted Elena to be his and he loved her, and you don't mess with what belongs to Damon Salvatore.
Author's Notes: I want to thank my artist and mixers for stepping in and creating art and a fan mix for this story. I appreciate it so much. enochiansigils volunteered to make a fan mix for the story, and then weaselett, lastfirewllrise, and faeriesfolly all made pieces of art for me. I adore you guys so much and thank you for all of your last minute work for me!





He was almost completely unconscious when he felt his eyes suddenly snap open. It wasn't a willing action, more like and instinctive response to something around him or in his vicinity. He didn't sense that he was in danger, per se, it was just like an itching sensation along his subconscious. He lay still in his bed for a moment, trying to figure out what it was that had disturbed him -- what had kept him from being able to completely erase his pain and have his link to Anna. Had it only been a few minutes that passed since he swallowed the vial of Anna's blood and followed it down will all of Elena's pills? Or had it been hours since he made that final decision and something was warning him that he needed to wake up?

As he lay there, staring at the ceiling and trying to puzzle things out in the fuzziness of his mind, he frowned. There was something very wrong about the house. It didn't feel right. (Feel right? Why was he thinking about how the house felt of all things?) Trying not to dwell too much on why he could tell something was wrong, he sat up, his mind immediately clearing of any fuzziness it had been clinging to.

Something was very wrong.

He cocked his head to listen and he felt his forehead wrinkle in confusion. It sounded to him like there was a fight of some kind going on downstairs. But that didn't make sense. Who would be fighting like that in the Gilbert house? Before he could decide why exactly this was bothering him so much, he heard a quiet sound of pain. He knew that tone of voice. He knew the way she sounded when she was hurt but trying not to let anyone know that she was. Hadn't he listened to her try to hide her pain from him and Jenna enough times after the accident? The sound came again and this time he didn't hesitate. He was immediately out of his room and making his way down the stairs as quickly and as silently as he could.

It was a good thing that he had used caution coming down to lower level of the house because he wasn't prepared for the scene that he found in the kitchen. He faltered at the doorway as he tried to take a complete measure of what was happening.

Elena was bleeding. How he knew that it was her didn't matter, except that the person that she was fighting with looked exactly like her, but she didn't seem to have a mark on her. Seeing the blood on that one's mouth and the look in her eyes as she went after his sister again, his brain registered that this must be the Katherine that Elena had written about in her journal. The Katherine that was responsible for the vampires and the attacks and the reason that the police had killed Anna. Katherine, the reason that Stefan and Damon could never leave his sister alone and caused her to change so drastically and keep secrets from him. Katherine, the vampire that was now trying to kill his sister in the one place that she should have been the safest.

Anger was building as he looked around the kitchen to see if there was something that he could use to help his sister, and that was when he saw that their Uncle John was a bloody mess on the floor. He was surprised that he didn't feel more shocked about what he was seeing. He must have been the first one that Katherine attacked. While he was trying to figure out how Katherine had gotten into their house, his attention was pulled back to the fight between the women when the scent of fresh blood hit his nose. Elena was bleeding.

Elena really didn't seem like she was doing very well against the vampire as they fought. She was moving a lot slower than usual and her face was paler than normal. He had to clench his jaw when he realized that she was probably weakening from blood loss due to the wounds he could see on her neck and on her shoulder. He was almost positive that she had other injuries that he couldn't see right now. He watched as Elena shoved her hair back to be able to see better and when he saw how much blood was smeared on her face from the action, he clenched his fists at his side.

Katherine, on the other hand, didn't look like she had been touched at all. Oh, he was sure that his sister had been putting up one hell of a fight when all of this started, but the only sign that she was in a fight was the blood on her mouth and the fact that her hair was messed up. In fact, she looked like she was doing nothing more than playing a game with his sister.

As he was examining Katherine, she suddenly reached out and grabbed Elena by the throat and swung her into the back door. The door flew open at the impact and he heard Elena drop to the ground outside. He didn't hear anything from her after that. He felt everything in him freeze momentarily as he waited to see what was going to happen. He waited and waited, but he couldn't hear any movement or anything from outside. There was nothing. Elena wasn't moving or making any sounds. That meant that she was probably hurt badly.

Something inside him snapped when he realized Elena wasn't getting up and coming back inside. Without stopping to think about his actions, he leaped at Katherine, anger making him reckless. She turned before he got to her and he felt himself propelled across the room. As his head connected with the wall and the room started fading away, he watched as Katherine walked out the door and to his helpless sister.

It wasn't as if Damon was sleeping, but the pounding on his door at four in the morning was still highly annoying. He became even more annoyed when he saw who it was.

"Go away before my sainted brother shows up to accuse me of picking on the poor misunderstood emo pain in the ass," Damon ordered when he opened the door. "Your kind of delivery boy isn't in my diet."

Jeremy shook his head and shoved past Damon and into the house. Damon stared outside for a moment before sighing and closing the door with a slight shake of his head. He turned, watching Jeremy stalk into the living room and followed him.

"Don't think that just because you're Elena's baby brother that I won't kick your ass for being a complete and total asshole." He paused, tilting his head. "Actually, with the shitty way that you've been treating her lately, that's a perfectly good reason for doing so."

"I need your help, Damon," Jeremy said as he turned to face him.

Damon laughed. "Well, you can't have it," he said as he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "Although, I will admit to being very curious as to why you of all people would have the audacity to ask me for help with anything."

"For Elena."

"And I'm supposed to believe that you give a damn about the fact that you're hurting her and making her absolutely miserable?" Damon shook his head, starting to walk toward Jeremy. "I don't, and you can leave now."

"Damn it, Damon! Elena is in trouble!"

Damon froze in mid-step. "Excuse me?"

Jeremy sighed and looked Damon in the eye. "Elena's missing."

Damon shook his head, chuckling in disbelief. "Nice try, but I happen to know for a fact that she came home last night. In fact, she showed up as I was leaving from making you that offer. I said good night to both Elena and your Aunt Jenna." He looked at Jeremy and there was anger filling his eyes. "Don't you ever use Elena as an attempt to emotionally blackmail me again, Jeremy. I was trying to be decent to you last night because of your loss and I didn't want Elena hurting even more watching you go through it again. Do not mistake a moment's kindness for weakness from me. I mean it when I say that I will kick your ass if you do not stop hurting your sister by being a spoiled brat. She has done so much and risked so much to protect you and this is the thanks she gets." He narrowed his eyes. "Get out before I take you out."

"Katherine has Elena!" Jeremy yelled at him with real desperation in his voice and in his eyes. Quickly, afraid that Damon would toss him out, Jeremy blurted out everything that had happened in his kitchen earlier that night. "When I came to, John's body was missing and so was Elena. I don't even know if Elena is alive after the last time Katherine threw her through the door." He took a breath, but couldn't calm the tremor in his voice. "Damon, please! I know you hate me and think I'm an asshole, but I need your help to save my sister!" He was practically begging the vampire he hated to help him, but he was way past caring at this point. "Please," he repeated. "I lost Vickie and I lost Anna. I can't lose Elena, too. She's all I have left."

Damon was tempted to throw Jeremy out of the house on principle alone, but the pleading tone in his voice stopped him. Damn it, he was getting too soft around this place. At the same time he thought that, the realization that it hadn't been Elena who he kissed smacked him hard in the head. He should have known that something was off about that kiss on the porch. He should have realized that it hadn't been Elena in his arms. It wasn't in her nature to cheat on his brother -- no matter how much he wished otherwise. It angered him that Katherine had masqueraded as Elena and used him like that.

"What I don't understand is how Katherine got into the house," Jeremy's question broke into Damon's thoughts. "I thought you vampires couldn't go into someone's house without being invited."

That was a good question. How had...

"Jenna," Damon said. "Jenna told her to come inside. She must have thought she was Elena like I did." He hit the wall. "Damn that manipulating bitch!" He was trying to ignore the fact that he'd been too distracted to tell the difference between the human and the vampire. He didn't want to think about how easy it had been for Katherine to trick him.

"Jenna!" Jeremy said in horror, starting for the door. "I didn't even think to check and make sure Jenna was all right. She killed Uncle John, she might have hurt Aunt Jenna, too."

Jeremy was opening the door when Damon's voice carried to him.

"Why me? Why did you come to me for help instead of Stefan?"

Jeremy was silent for a long moment before turning to look at Damon. "Because I know that you'll be ruthless in getting her back. You'll do anything or tear apart anyone to protect her and get her back. I can't count on that kind of ruthlessness from Stefan." He looked at the vampire and shrugged. "I know you love her and it's part of your wonderful personality that you won't allow someone to threaten or harm what you care about."

"And you're so sure of this, are you?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Why is that?" Not that he cared. He would tear apart anyone he had to in order to get Elena back alive. She was his main priority now and the only reason he was still in this damned town.

"You threatened to hurt me because of how I've been treating her," Jeremy said in a shaky voice as he tried to keep himself pulled together. "You didn't lay off of me just because I'm her brother. Stefan never would have risked having Elena get pissed off at him for doing that."

Damon frowned at him. "You're not off the hook, Jeremy. I still might kick your ass for being such a dick when this is all over."

"I know," Jeremy nodded. "Just get her back, Damon. I don't care what you do in order to accomplish that. Just bring my sister back home before that bitch hurts her any more than she already has."

Damon watched Jeremy leave the house and went to the door to watch him walk away. "Great," he muttered, shutting the door. "I'm the emo boy's hero."

He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. This was one of those things he had always worried about, even if he didn't voice it. He wasn't Stefan. Stefan voiced his worries and concerns, Damon didn't. Keeping quiet didn't mean the worries weren't there. He had been worried that the bitch would one day come here, he just hadn't thought it would be so soon.

Damon shook his head and moved upstairs to change into more suitable clothing for the work ahead. So Isobel had either not delivered his message to Katherine, or Katherine had ignored the warning. That would have been the first mistake the bitch made this time. The bigger mistake was in messing with Elena's family. That was bad enough. However, actually laying a hand on Elena and kidnapping her was going to be the last mistake that Katherine Pierce ever made in this existence. He would make damn sure of it.

You just never messed with what belonged to Damon Salvatore.

Elsewhere, Bonnie woke from a dead sleep with an almost soundless shriek. She quickly fumbled for the lamp next to her bed and the darkness was broken up by the dim light. Trying to calm her racing heart she looked around her room.

"Elena?" She whispered. "Elena?"

There was no answer, and she wasn't sure if she was relieved or even more scared than she had been before. It had been a dream, then. A very vivid dream, but a dream nonetheless. Swallowing hard, Bonnie ran her shaking hands through her hair and then got up out of the bed. Something had caused the dream. It could have merely been the events of the night, but she didn't think so.

She went to her window and looked down into her yard, but she wasn't surprised when she didn't see anyone down there. Leaning her forehead against the window, she closed her eyes.

"I could really use some direction here, Grams."

Sighing, Bonnie turned back to her bed and then gasped softly. There were feathers swirling around in the center of the bed. Feathers that hadn't been there when she had gone to sleep. Feathers that were spiraling...

Spiraling just like they had the day she had shared her secret of witchcraft with Elena. Right before she had learned what kind of creatures really existed and that vampires were part of her heritage.

"Elena?" She whispered, reaching out to catch one of the feathers.

It wasn't possible that Elena was causing this show with the feathers. Elena was home safe in bed. She was sleeping like Bonnie should be doing and not trying to catch Bonnie's attention with dreams and feathers. After watching the feathers for a moment and trying to banish the memories of the dream, Bonnie sighed and reached for the phone beside the bed. She couldn't call the Gilbert house at this hour, but she could call Elena's cell phone. Elena would answer it, be a little grumpy over being woken up in the middle of the night and they would make plans to get together later to talk about everything that had happened that night.

The phone rang. And rang. And rang. Even before the voice mail picked up, Bonnie was shaking. There was no point in leaving a message, she could already tell that. Something was wrong because no matter what was going on or how late it was, Elena Gilbert always answered her cell phone.

Bonnie hung up the phone and stared at the pile of feathers that were no longer moving. "Elena," she whispered. "What's wrong? Sweetie, where are you?"

That was a question that Damon was also asking as he looked around the downstairs of the Gilbert house. Jeremy had told him that he didn't remember what it was that had awoken him from his sleep, but it hadn't been very loud. It hadn't disturbed Jenna and even now Damon and Jeremy were assured that she was sleeping safely in her room. The problem was with making sure that she stayed safe -- and unaware that anything was wrong. Jeremy wasn't certain how long they could keep her from finding out that Elena was missing, but Damon already had an idea for how to cover that for a little while.

That was why he was a little disappointed when he opened the back door to the Gilbert house and saw the witch already standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Bonnie demanded.

"You first," Damon said with his usual style. Truthfully, he wasn't in the mood to play another round of verbal chess with Bonnie, but it just seemed to come naturally with them.

"I asked you first," Bonnie snapped back at him.

"I asked him to come," Jeremy said from behind Damon. He looked over Damon's shoulder to question Bonnie. "What are you doing here?"

"Where is she?" Bonnie asked Jeremy, ignoring Damon for the moment. "Where's Elena?"

"She's not here," Damon said helpfully as he moved all three of them outside and closed the door. The last thing they needed was for Jenna to wake up.

Although she had realized that something was seriously wrong, Bonnie was frowning at the both of them and she repeated her question. "Where is Elena?"

"We don't know exactly," Damon said.

"What do you mean exactly?" Bonnie was so not in the best mood and Damon wasn't helping matters any.

"Katherine took her," Jeremy burst out.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Yes, why don't we give the vampire-hating witch even more reason to want to kill all of us before I can do anything to get your sister back safely. You really aren't the brightest bulb in this family, Jeremy."

"Shut up," Bonnie said before she looked back at Jeremy. "Katherine? What do you know about Katherine?"

"Only what he read in Elena's diary that he stole and then used against her to be a complete ass."

"I know she's a vampire and that she made Damon and Stefan. I know that she looks like she's Elena's twin sister." Jeremy ran a hand over his face. "She killed Uncle John and beat up Elena. I guess Elena was trying to protect me and Jenna --"

"Again."

" -- because why else would she try to fight a vampire instead of running or calling for help?"

"You mean besides the fact that Katherine could have ripped out her throat before she could have gotten one scream out?"

"Shut up, Damon," Bonnie said again.

"She wasn't doing too good and she was bleeding. I tried to help her but Katherine threw me into a wall and I blacked out. When I woke up again, well, Katherine and Elena were both gone -- as was Uncle John's body."

"I've never known Katherine to clean up after she eats," Damon said, shaking his head. "She was always a messy eater, so I wonder who started teaching her manners."

"Dude, you are so not helping," Jeremy complained as he looked from Bonnie to Damon.

"If a vampire kidnapped your sister, then why is there another vampire bastard in your house, Jeremy?"

"Now see, I'm offended. I am not a bastard. My parents were married before I was conceived. Words can be so hurtful and you should be careful with them." Damon knew that he probably shouldn't keep poking the witch, but he needed to focus on something besides what Katherine could be doing to hurt Elena while they were all here talking.

Jeremy stiffened and then looked at Bonnie. His eyes were full of defiance. "I asked him for help."

"You asked Damon Salvatore for help? Damon, who doesn't care about anyone but himself. You asked him to help you find Elena. Have you lost your mind?"

"No, Bonnie. I haven't lost my mind. I've lost my parents, and two girlfriends and now my sister, but I haven't lost my mind." He glared at her. "Damon loves Elena and he's the only one that will be ruthless enough to get her back alive."

""He doesn't love anybody but himself, Jeremy!" Bonnie's voice was full of exasperation. I'm Elena's best friend and I have been for years. You didn't think to ask me before asking the one that caused all of these problems? Obviously since you've read Elena's diary you know what I am and who I'm descended from. You know that he's the one that has caused every death and every messed up thing that's happened in the last year. You know that he's a killer. For god sakes, Jeremy, he killed Vickie! You know that from Elena's diary! How could you go to him for help?"

"That's not all he knows from reading her diary," Damon commented, ignoring Bonnie's death glare.

"You won't kill to get her back," Jeremy finally said. "Damon will."

"What about Stefan? Did you even think about asking Stefan to help rescue Elena instead of his psychopath of a brother?" Bonnie demanded, wanting to grab him and shake sense into him.

"Stefan won't do anything that would hurt anyone else in order to get Elena back. He won't attack Katherine."

"And Damon will? How do you know that?"

"Because he already threatened to kill her and her birth mother if they went after Elena."

Bonnie was speechless for a moment. "You threatened the love of your life and Elena's birth mother over Elena?" She cast a look of disbelief at Damon.

"One, Katherine is a bitch and she's not the love of my life. She never loved me as much as I loved her. I mean, I only waited 145 years so I could rescue her from a prison she was never in and never saw fit to tell me," Damon growled. "And yes, I told Isobel that I would kill her if she did anything to harm Elena." He unfolded from where he had been leaning against the door. "Now that we've made nice, why don't you tell us what you're doing here so early."

"I was worried about Elena."

"Why? You haven't exactly been playing nice lately."

"I saved your sorry ass last night," Bonnie reminded him. "I did it for Elena, because I knew she would be heartbroken if anything happened to you or to Stefan."

"No. You saved us because Elena was determined to go into that burning building after me and you didn't want her to die."

"Of course I didn't want her to die! She's always been my best friend and I love her and I just want her safe and happy. Safety is something that seems to have disappeared for her because of you and your brother."

"So don't try to paint yourself as my hero because we both know that had there been any other way for you to stop Elena from going into that building, you would have let me and Stefan burn."

"It would have been no more than you deserve!"

Jeremy had had more than enough of the arguing between the two people and he pushed his way between them. "Enough!" His voice was loud enough to startle the two combatants, but not loud enough to wake up Jenna. "I don't know what issues the two of you have with each other and right now I don't give a damn! My sister has been kidnapped by a psychopath and the only way we're going to get more than a dead body back is if we work together." He looked at Bonnie. "You're a witch, right? Is there any way you can get a feeling or something in the kitchen where Katherine and Elena last were?"

"You mean like a tracking spell or something?"

"No, he's asking if you secretly had Elena lowjacked while she was sleeping or something," Damon said mockingly. "Of course he means a tracking spell."

Bonnie glared at him. "If it wasn't for the fact that Elena loves you --"

Damon waved his hand dismissively. "Yes, yes, yes, I know. You'd stake me and wouldn't feel a shred of remorse about it. Can we please move on now?"

Bonnie made a growling sound in her throat and looked at Jeremy. "I've never done anything like that, but I'll try." She pulled something out of her pocket. "What are you going to do while I'm doing that?" It was unclear whether she was asking Jeremy or asking Damon.

Jeremy sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I - I'm not sure. I hadn't thought much about planning beyond getting Damon." He wasn't ashamed to admit that he had no clue where they needed to go from here. "I didn't think further than that." He looked defensive. "I mean, it's not every day my uncle gets butchered in my kitchen and some psycho that looks like my sister kidnaps her."

Damon shook his head. "John's death is no great loss, considering if you knew what I did about him, you would have tried to kill him yourself. My focus is on Elena and only Elena."

"What the hell are you talking about," Bonnie said angrily. "That was his uncle, you ass."

"Yes, and his uncle is the one that killed his girlfriend last night." Damon snapped back at her.

"What?" Jeremy asked, confusion on his face.

"John Gilbert only went after one of us when he had us in that basement and was setting us on fire. He grabbed a stake and even though Anna begged him not to hurt her, he staked her. He didn't go after any of the others of us that were dumped in there, only Anna." He looked at Jeremy. "He killed Anna because she had the audacity to try to interfere with all of his plans and fall in love with his nephew. John didn't give a damn about anyone but himself so I wouldn't waste any time on mourning him. Karma and all of that. He killed Anna, Katherine killed him. The bitch actually did something good for once." He shrugged. "Although, I'm not sure why he didn't stake me when he had the chance, and now, again thanks to Katherine, we won't have a chance to ask him."

"And now she has Elena and if she isn't already dead --"

"--she isn't," Jeremy snapped at Bonnie.

"-- then she is currently probably being tortured by your ex-girlfriend."

"You really need to get laid," Damon muttered before looking at Jeremy. "Look, I'm going to go get Alaric. He'll help come up with something we can tell Jenna if we need to. He can also keep her safe while we're trying to find Elena. You need to go tell Stefan what's happened. I don't want to have to deal with any stupid accusations if we don't let him know what's happened with Elena and Katherine right away. A fight with him right now, though fun, would only slow us down." He looked at Bonnie. "Meanwhile, you can go into the kitchen and see if there is something witchy you can do in order to give us a clue as to where they might be."

There was something in his tone of voice that confused Jeremy and put Bonnie on edge. There was something that he wasn't telling them and Bonnie grabbed his arm. "You know something that you're keeping from us. What the hell are you hiding, Damon?"

Damon jerked his arm away from her. "I'm not hiding anything, Bonnie. But maybe you could answer the question of why the hell you showed up here so early looking for Elena. Most people would be sleeping at this hour -- Elena included." Bonnie glared at him and Damon sighed. "Look, all three of us want the same thing, and that thing is to get Elena back safely. I may not like or trust you, but I don't think you'd do anything to endanger Elena."

"Of course I wouldn't!" Bonnie was angry and insulted by that comment. "That's your hobby, not mine."

"Then why did you come looking for Elena?" Jeremy asked, looking at her for a long moment. Then he looked at Damon. "And what aren't you telling us?"

"You don't want to know," Damon muttered. "Trust me on that."

"I think I need to know, Damon," Jeremy said quietly. "Whether it's something I want to know or not. Right now, I need any and all information concerning what's going on."

Damon looked from him to Bonnie and shook his head. Finally he nodded at Elena's best friend. "You first."

Bonnie sighed. "I had a nightmare."

"A nightmare?"

"Yeah, but now I don't think it was just a dream. I think it was really Elena trying to contact me. She told me she was in trouble and then..." Her voice trailed off and she looked away from the two men.

"And then?" Damon prodded.

Bonnie looked back up and there was enough pain in her eyes that Damon almost felt bad for pushing her like he had. "She screamed. It was an awful sound," she said quietly. "I don't think I have ever heard something like that ever. Not even in horror movies where people are being killed by the villain in the movie."

Jeremy's face was pale. "Do you think..." He swallowed. "Is she still alive?"

"I don't know," Bonnie admitted, looking towards the house so she didn't have to see his eyes. "That sound she made..."

"Of course she is still alive," Damon snapped, trying not to think of what Katherine must be doing to her in order for Elena to scream like Bonnie was describing. "Elena is still alive and she's going to stay that way." He pointed at Jeremy. "You, Stefan." Then he pointed at Bonnie. "You, kitchen." He turned and started walking away. "I'll be back soon with Alaric."

It was only later that Jeremy realized Damon never said what it was that he was hiding from them.

Elena was pretty sure that even after the car accident, she had never been in this much pain in her life. She forced herself to open her eyes even though the movement caused more pain to go through her head. She was doing her best to not think about everything that happened, but when she flexed her hands and found that she was still tied up, it was hard to do. She wasn't sure why Katherine had taken her as a prisoner instead of just killing her, but she was hoping she would be able to stay alive until someone could get here and take Katherine out. She closed her eyes again and took as deep of a breath as she could. She was scared and there was no denying that.

Last night had been a hell of a night. There had been the hunters activating the device and Stefan collapsing. After she had gotten him up, they had run to the building that Stefan was sure where Damon was being held. Uncle John -- her father -- had grabbed her and tried to keep her from following Stefan. She wasn't sure why he let go of her, but he had. When she got to the building, Stefan was already in there and when she tried to follow him, this time it was Bonnie that stopped her. She was aware of Bonnie saying something, but she couldn't hear exactly what she was saying. All she knew was that Bonnie wouldn't let go of her arm. Her friend only let go of her after Stefan and Damon came through the door, and then the building erupted into flames. When everything was finally at an end, she had come home, confused because her costume and jacket had turned up missing. After hanging up her phone, she had let herself into the house. Hearing a noise in the kitchen she had gone in there, thinking that it was Jeremy or Jenna. It hadn't been, and now she was in trouble.

A lot of trouble.

Earlier, she had tried to make her mind or spirit contact Bonnie. It had been a long shot, but since her best friend was a witch, it had seemed like something to try. If she could make contact with anyone, it would be Bonnie. Just when she thought that maybe it was working -- she could have sworn that Bonnie said her name -- but that was when Katherine had come back from wherever she had gone after dumping her here. Katherine grabbed her and she heard herself screaming as the vampire bit into her shoulder as hard as she could, and she felt those teeth tear a wound down her shoulder. Katherine was making sure that what she did caused Elena as much pain as possible.

"I just wish I knew why," Elena whispered to herself, then tensed as she heard the door open.

"Oh good, you're awake," Katherine purred as she came to sit down next to Elena on the bed. "You and I need to have a talk."

"A talk," she managed to repeat. "About what?"

"About my boys, and how your father tried to kill them." She smiled and reached out to gently smooth a strand of hair from Elena's face. "You and I are going to become very good friends. After all, we have so many things in common and we could be just like sisters."

Elena wasn't sure why that comment filled her with such fear.

"How long has she been missing?" Alaric asked as he gathered some things up and shoved them into a bag.

"Jeremy's not sure," Damon said. "He doesn't know how long he was unconscious after Katherine attacked him." He watched Alaric. "Can we hurry this up? I really would like to find Elena before she ends up as another one of Katherine's toys."

"Do you have any idea how much time Katherine might spend torturing before she finally gets bored and kills her?"

"She's not going to die!" Damon tensed and he turned around angrily. "I'm not going to let Elena die!"

"I never said you were," Alaric said, giving him a look that clearly said he thought Damon had issues. "I was only asking how much time you think we have to get her out of that bitch's clutches."

"I don't know," Damon said reluctantly. "She may spend lots of time playing games with her. There's also the chance that she'll torment her for only a short time."

"And then she'll kill her," Alaric said, zipping up his bag.

"Only if we're all lucky."

Alaric stopped what he was doing and stared at Damon. "What exactly do you mean by that? Only if we're all lucky?"

Damon sighed. "It depends on who Katherine is angrier with right now, us or Elena."

"Why does that make a difference?"

"It will mean the difference between Katherine killing Elena outright or..." His voice trailed off as he stared out the window for a long moment.

"Or?" Alaric grabbed Damon's arm, shaking him a little. "Damon! Or what? What do you think she's going to do to Elena?"

Damon turned and looked at Alaric, his eyes darker than Alaric had ever seen them. "If she's more angry at Stefan and I, she could decide to try to punish us by turning Elena into one of us. She may decide that Elena would make a nice toy for her." He growled. "She might decide it would be fun to have a Elena as her pet since they are mirror images and might be related anyway. Katherine has always had a sick sense of humor."

Normally, Alaric might have made a comment about understanding where Damon got his sometimes sadistic sense of humor, but he didn't. He was too busy trying not to think about what might happen to Elena -- and trying not to imagine the scenario Damon had just described to him. Knowing what he did about Elena, that would be worse than death to her.

"We need to get back to the house so I can talk to Jenna. Then we need to find Katherine."

Damon shook his head. "No," he said, his voice going cold.

"Excuse me?"

"You are not going after her, Alaric."

"Damon, have you finally lost what's left of your mind? That's Elena that Katherine has. Elena! I'm not going to leave her to that bitch's plans. I'm not going to lose another friend and I'm not letting Jenna lose more family."

Damon stared at Alaric. "Your job is to stay at the Gilbert house and protect Jenna and Jeremy," he said, his voice hard. "We are not risking Elena's family." Elena would never forgive them if they rescued her only to find out that something had happened to her brother and aunt. She was rash and overprotective when it came to her family and he wasn't going to let anything happen to them and wind up letting her down even more than he already had by not protecting her.

"Damon," Alaric's voice was full of disbelief. "Are you suggesting we just give up on Elena?"

The look Damon gave him might have made any other man back away and apologize. He watched Damon try to struggle with his temper.

"If you never say something like that again, I will rip your throat out," Damon said. "I will never give up on Elena and if she dies, Katherine will wish she had never met me." Damon tossed Alaric's bag at him. "Now get to the Gilbert house before I forget you're almost a friend."

Alaric was getting a good glimpse of the monster he knew lived in most vampires, and he didn't want to be anywhere nearby if Damon lost complete control of himself. He nodded at Damon and headed out the door.

When Alaric got to the Gilbert house, he found Jeremy pacing outside on the porch. Through the kitchen window he could see Bonnie and Stefan. He wasn't sure what Bonnie was doing, but the look on her face wasn't encouraging. Stefan didn't look so good, but Alaric had to wonder how much of his distress was over Elena was missing and how much of it was over the fact that Katherine was back in town. He knew that both brothers had been attached to Katherine, but it was Stefan who admitted that he came back to Mystic Falls because of Elena and how she was the mirror image of Katherine.

And now, she had been kidnapped by his old lover. Who knew what shape she might be in right now.

Alaric shook his head as he looked back at Jeremy. "What'd he say?"

"Not much. I don't think he believed me at first. I guess he didn't think that Katherine would ever come back to town and when I told him that Elena was missing." He shook his head. "I don't know."

"Maybe he's in shock," Alaric suggested. "I mean, you did tell him that his girlfriend was missing. He knows now that she had been beat up and kidnapped by his ex-girlfriend -- who just happened to be the one that made him into a vampire."

Jeremy shook his head, kicking at the ground with his shoe. "Damon reacted more strongly about Elena being hurt," he finally said. "Damon was ready to go kill whomever he had to kill to get my sister back. Stefan. Stefan just got real quiet and followed me over here. The way both of them have reacted, Damon is the one who is acting like Elena is his girlfriend." Jeremy shook his head. "If you were to put their reactions side by side, you'd think that Stefan wasn't in love with her. But you know, even her friends would have reacted more violently. Hell, Tyler would have had a more normal reaction than Stefan did."

"Why did you go to Damon first when you realized Elena was missing?" He had been curious about that and hadn't asked Damon. One look at Damon when he showed up at his door had given him plenty of warning that the vampire wasn't in the mood for answering too many questions.

"He loves her," Jeremy pointed out. "He hasn't ever said anything and no one would think so the way he usually acts. But he loves her. I've watched him and noticed that he gets really bent out of shape when she's upset or hurting and he can't fix it. When Isobel kidnapped me to make Elena get that device, well, Damon wouldn't have trusted anyone else with it but Elena. He wouldn't even give it to Stefan, but because Elena asked for it to save me, he gave it to her." He shrugged. "Stefan seems to be a good guy, but sometimes, I think he tries too hard to be the good guy. He tries too hard to be everybody's friend and be the good person he thinks he needs to be. Even now, he's talking to Bonnie and trying to figure out how he can get Katherine to just let Elena go -- even though we all know that asking isn't going to work in this situation."

"So you went to Damon because he's not the good guy?" Alaric was trying to figure out Jeremy's reasoning and it was giving him a headache.

"I went to Damon because I know that he'll kill to get my sister back," Jeremy said bluntly. "He'll do whatever he has to do in order to rescue Elena and bring her home. I can't count on that from Stefan." He gave Alaric a hard look. "Stefan will try to play by the rules that Katherine won't play by. He'll try to placate everyone and protect both Katherine and Elena. I don't care about Katherine getting out of there and I don't care about why she did this or her needing to be handled carefully. I could care less about Katherine or what happens to her. My concern is getting my sister back and that bitch who took her and is torturing her can go to hell."

Stefan watched Bonnie at the kitchen counter as she cut up some kind of herb. He didn't know what the herb was, but he could tell it wasn't Vervain, so he wasn't concerned about it.

"What are you doing," he finally asked her when she didn't speak to him.

"Cutting up herbs," she responded, not looking at him.

Stefan nodded. "I can see that part. What I don't understand is why you're cutting up herbs."

"Because Jeremy asked me if there was a tracking type spell I could use to find out where Katherine took Elena after they left the house. He's pretty sure that Elena was hurt badly and unconscious when she was taken away."

"Can you do something like that?"

"I've never done it before." She looked at Stefan. "But then again, my best friend has never been kidnapped by a psychopath before."

"Katherine isn't a psychopath."

Bonnie spun around and pointed the knife she was holding at him. "Don't. Don't you dare defend that vampire bitch to me," she hissed, her eyes narrowing at him. "You forget, I know what she is and I know what she did and has done. I saw everything when Emily came to me, when she showed me what she had done to try and protect the people of this town. I know what Katherine is and the things she's done. Right now, she has the girl who has been like a sister to me and she's doing horrible things to her that I can only imagine."

"You don't know that," Stefan tried to argue.

"I do know that," she snapped. "Elena reached out to me from wherever she is for help and I heard the sound of her screams. A person doesn't scream like that when she's being talked to or treated well." She turned back to what she was doing. "If you want to talk about how poor Katherine is misunderstood and not evil, you can just go to hell. We don't need your help to get Elena back, and this would never have happened if you and your brother hadn't come to this town."

"Bonnie, I never would have wanted anything to happen to Elena. I love her and I would give my life to protect her." He said quietly. "You know that."

"Then why aren't you out there looking for Katherine and getting Elena back from her before she kills her?" Bonnie wouldn't look at him for fear that she would throw something at him and bring Jenna running. The last thing they needed was to have Jenna find out that Elena was missing. That would lead to all kinds of questions that none of them wanted to try answering right now. "Just leave me alone right now, Stefan. I have to focus on this because if I don't, then I start imagining what Elena is going through. When those thoughts come up, I realize that I have too much of an imagination sometimes. If I start thinking about that again, then I might forget that you're supposed to be our friend."

"Bonnie --" Stefan started and then sighed, shaking his head when she wouldn't look at him. He moved away from her, going to lean against the wall and watch her work. No matter what she thought or what she said to him, Stefan wasn't going to leave this room. Elena would never forgive him if he didn't make sure that her family stayed safe no matter what.

For now, he had to have faith that Elena would be okay. He had to protect her family so that she had someone to come home to. He wouldn't let her lose her brother or her aunt or the closest thing she had to a sister. He knew by now how Elena thought and right now, she'd be worried more about the lives of Jenna, Jeremy and Bonnie than about whatever danger she was in.

"Bonnie?"

The quiet voice startled her out of her thoughts, but it didn't surprise her as much as realizing who the quiet voice was coming from.

"I'm kind of busy here, Damon," she said with some exasperation. "In case you've forgotten, I'm trying to put together some kind of spell so that I can track Elena or Katherine. I really don't have time for any commentary from I'm Too Sexy For Morals right now."

There was silence for a moment as he processed her comment. "I realize that you're trying hard to focus, but I had a thought about something. Something that might be able to help."

Any other time, she would have made some kind of sarcastic or mocking comment about him actually thinking. However, right now, she was too worried about Elena. With a sigh, she turned around to look at him.

"What is it, Damon?"

"You have Emily's grimoire, right?"

"So?" It wasn't like it was a big secret between them.

"Is it possible to use one of the spells in there to create a type of defensive shield around the house and yard? Something that would keep Jenna and the rest of you safe if I'm not here." When Bonnie made a sound of impatience, he shook his head. "I know you're from a lineage of very powerful witches, but you're young and you're still learning what you can do." There didn't seem to be any sarcasm in his voice when he said that.

"Like what kind of shield did you have in mind?" Mentally, she was trying to flip through the pages in the grimoire and trying to remember if there was anything like that in the spells she had studied so far.

"Something invisible, obviously. It would need to be moved a few feet out from the house. We need something that would keep everyone safe as soon as they were to cross to a certain point." He looked at her. "I need --"

"You need what, Damon? And really, why should I give a damn about anything that you think you need? God knows you haven't given a damn about what anyone around you needs."

"Because I need to know that Elena's family is safe if we're not here. I won't be able to focus everything I am completely on getting Elena if I can't trust that there's a safe place for every one but the enemy to gather and plan. You know as well as anybody does that given the choice, Elena would sacrifice herself to protect her family. I'm determined to keep her from having to make that choice."

Bonnie was quiet as she stared at Damon for a long moment. Besides the fact that he had just referred to the woman he had done so much evil things for as the enemy, she was a little surprised as to how he looked. Usually, Damon Salvatore could be described as gorgeous or even as sex on legs. There was something always otherworldly about Damon and the way he looked -- even if you didn't know that he was a vampire. He didn't look anything close to that right now. He looked tired, and she hadn't thought that vampires could even look tired. As far as she recalled, they didn't sleep unless they were low on blood or they had been injured somehow. She never expected that she would ever see Damon looking less than perfect.

"I'd have to figure out how to work it so that you and Stefan could get through it and into the house," she finally allowed. "Some way to let you guys in and keep that bitch out."

Damon shrugged, but it didn't look as careless as she was used to seeing it. Damn it, she didn't want to start feeling sorry for him. She didn't want to do anything but hate him for causing everything that had gone so wrong since he showed up in town.

"It would be nice if you could do that, but if you can't, we'll deal. It's more important that we keep Katherine out of here and away from those Elena loves most."

"I won't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do."

Damon nodded.

If he had left it there, it might have been okay. She might not have gotten angry at him again. But he was Damon Salvatore and he couldn't just let something be.

"Bonnie," he said quietly. "I'm going to get her back."

Bonnie's jaw clenched and she turned back to what she was working on. "Don't make me any promises, Damon. I know that I can't trust your word -- not about anything."

She didn't hear anything, but when she turned to say something to him a few moments later, he was gone.

If it had been any other person that was going through this, they probably would have given up and died by now.

However, most people weren't Elena Gilbert. So, even when the pain got to be so bad that she wanted to close her eyes and let go, she didn't. She kept digging down and trying to find reserves of strength that she wasn't sure she had any longer. She would start to drift away and she would see images of Jenna and Jeremy and that would help her anchor herself. She couldn't let someone hurt them anymore than they had already been hurt. She couldn't allow Jeremy to lose somebody else in his life. No matter how he felt about her right now, she was still his sister and she knew it would hurt him if anything happened to her. She had to do what she could to protect him from more pain.

Her throat was sore from screaming before and the ropes that bound her arms and legs to the bed had long ago cut off the circulation. It didn't help that Katherine kept feeding on her until she was too weak to even move. Then, after leaving Elena mostly drained and helpless, the vampiress would then force her to drink blood from her.

Elena wasn't exactly sure why Katherine was doing all of this, but she would bet a great deal that she was torturing her to try and hurt Damon and Stefan. That thought kept giving her fuel to feed her anger at the vampiress. There was nothing else she could think of as a reason that Katherine would kidnap her. She hadn't done anything to the woman, although she certainly had enough reasons to hate her and want her staked. Every time she thought about the look on Damon's face when he found out that Katherine wasn't in the tomb and never had been just fueled her anger all the more.

"It wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't fallen in love with you, you know," Katherine said, separating herself from the shadows of the doorway and approaching Elena. "I could have forgiven them if it was just lust or if they just wanted to be close to you because you look like me. That would have been all right. If I had met you first and introduced you to them first and you all fell in love, that would have been all right, too. We could have been a beautiful and happy family. My happy and beautiful family. Mirror images of perfection. We could have had anything we ever wanted." She tilted her head. "We still might be, but my boys have to be punished for betraying me first. They weren't supposed to go off and replace me. They were supposed to be mine and stay loyal to me. I expected that they would always have loyalty only to me, you see. They rarely had loyalty to each other after they died, but they were always supposed to stay loyal to me. I'm the one who gave them life, after all." She sat down on the bed and pulled Elena's head into her lap, looking down into her face.

Elena didn't want to point out that Katherine had killed the brothers, so she remained quiet. She couldn't think of a comment that wouldn't incite the other woman's temper. She tried to move her head away from Katherine, but a hard tug on her hair stopped her.

"I didn't expect them to love you without me being there," Katherine continued, stroking Elena's hair as if she were trying to comfort her. "Especially Damon. He was always my blind soldier, so naive and protectively loyal when it came to me. I could get him to do anything as long as he thought he had my love."

"You broke him, betrayed him," Elena whispered, her throat hurting as she spoke. "He waited all of that time for you, trying to find a way to free you. He finally managed to do it, only to find out that you weren't there. That you didn't care. He did all of that and you weren't worth his devotion."

"What is time to people like us, Elena?" Katherine demanded, pulling a strand of hair until Elena had tears of pain in her eyes. "I made him. He owed me his loyalty and faithfulness. He did what was expected of him -- up until a point. He and Stefan have always been so different. My soldier and my sensitive boy."

"Damon isn't a machine, Katherine. He has feelings, too. He can be sensitive. You just pushed him beyond his limits when you betrayed him and his loyalty to you." She swallowed as she looked at Katherine, trying to be more defiant than she felt. "You killed that loyalty and devotion. No one else could have done the job as well as you did where Damon is concerned."

Katherine tilted her head as she looked down at Elena. "You're in love with him," she said with delight in her voice. "You're in love with Damon." She brought her face down close to Elena's. "Oh, Elena. We are going to have so much fun."

It took Bonnie a few days, but she finally came up with a stockpile of spells that she thought could help the situation they were all in. The downside of this was that there had been no way to keep Elena's disappearance a secret from Jenna -- much less John's death, and they had all had one hell of a time convincing her that the police really couldn't help in this situation. However, the big surprise came after Jenna was calmed down and accepted a world with vampires in it. It was Jenna, who after asking to see Emily's grimoire, had helped Bonnie rewrite a few of the spells to become what they needed.

"I studied alternative religions on college," she had said by way of explanation when everyone had been surprised by her actions. She then glared at Damon and Stefan. "If anything happens to her, I will do my damnedest to kill you both."

No one doubted her determination on that, or the fact that both Jeremy and Alaric would be paying for ages over trying to keep all of this a secret from her.

"Okay," Bonnie said, finally, Jenna leaning against the counter in the kitchen as the four men looked at them. "We've come up with a couple of things. First of all, I managed to put up a shield around the house and a few feet beyond into the yard." She handed both Stefan and Damon a piece of opal. "As long as you keep these somewhere on yourselves, then you should be able to get through the shield. It may still have a bite to it, but I can't guarantee what will happen to you if you try to get through the shield without them."

Jenna straightened up from her slouch. "Bonnie and I have come up with a tracking spell that we think should work. I'm going to stay here behind the protections to work as an anchor for Bonnie and she's going to do the spell." Her tone said that although she didn't like the idea of letting the teen do the dangerous part of the spell, she realized that Bonnie had more experience than she did.

"Jeremy should stay here with her," Alaric said. "That way, they're both safe."

"That's a good idea --" Stefan started to agree.

"No."

Everyone turned to look at Jeremy in surprise.

"Jeremy I don't think that you should go out there," Bonnie said quietly. "If anything happens to you or Jenna..."

"I'm going," Jeremy said firmly. "All of this time, all of the things she's done, Elena has been the one trying to protect both me and Aunt Jenna. I'm her brother and I should have been helping her, but instead when I found out everything, I made it worse. I'm not staying here safe while everyone else risks their lives to get my sister back. I'm going with you, Bonnie."

Every one looked at Jenna expecting her to say something to disuade him. "We're Gilberts and Sommerses," she said finally, looking at Jeremy, who gave her a faint smile. "We don't like leaving others to fight our battles." She turned to stare hard at Alaric. "If you don't bring him back..."

"I will. I promise."

"Someone needs to stay and protect Jenna," Stefan said. "We can't all go and leave her alone here. What if Bonnie's protective spell fails?"

"It won't fail," Bonnie growled.

"I don't need somebody to protect me," Jenna said at the same time. "I have faith in Bonnie's shield. I have also ingested plenty of vervain and I'm wearing enough of it to give any vampire who tries to bite me a stomachache." She smiled humorlessly. "Plus, I have a gun."

"Bullets won't kill Katherine," Stefan cautioned. "Damon, say something."

Damon just smiled his cocky smile as he looked from his brother to Jenna. "No," he said quietly. "Bullets won't kill her, but bullets soaked in vervain will do a hell of a number on her and slow her down so Jenna can get to safety if she needs to."

Stefan stopped trying to argue. If there was anything he had learned from dating Elena, it was that the Gilberts were very stubborn people. He wasn't going to be able to talk sense into them so long as Damon was backing up their crazy ideas.

As they followed Bonnie outside, Stefan pulled Damon aside. "If anything happens to her, it'll be on your head."

Damon rolled his eyes. "How is it going to be my fault this time, Saint Stefan?"

"Because you encouraged the both of them when you know how dangerous this could be!"

Damon shook his head. "Stefan, why did you come into that burning building to get me?"

"Because even though you may be an idiot or an asshole, you're still my brother."

"I'm touched, really," Damon drawled. "That's the same reason that I couldn't do anything to discourage Jenna or Jeremy. They're Elena's family and they have a right to make their own decisions about their safety."

"Damon, they're human!"

"I had noticed that," Damon said quietly. "Look, I already tried arguing with both of them and Jeremy helpfully pointed out that I had no right to keep them from going after his sister. When I stopped arguing with them and started working with them about all of this, it became a lot simpler."

"How?" Stefan demanded. "How could doing anything that will endanger them become a lot easier for you?"

Damon had to restrain himself before he tried to knock some sense into his brother. This was not the time, not when Elena was in danger and relying on them. "When I stopped trying to fight them on their decision, I was able to get them to listen to more of my suggestions about their safety. Who do you think gave Jenna the idea of soaking bullets in vervain or putting it into everything she and Jeremy consumed?" He shook his head. "That's always been your problem, Stefan," he said low enough where no one else would hear them. "Being so determined to protect everyone instead of teaching them to fight for themselves is how people get killed." He sighed. "You would think that you would have learned that by now."

The group ended up following Bonnie to a spot in the woods and Damon let out an angry curse. Stefan was surprised to hear it, because as far as he knew, Damon had forgotten his Latin a very long time ago. When he recognized where they were, he was just as unhappy about it. He should have known that they would end up coming back here.

"Where are we," Jeremy asked, not understanding why it was upsetting the Salvatore brothers so much.

"It's where the tomb was," Stefan said quietly. "Where all of the vampires were trapped for all of those years."

"Anna's mom."

Stefan nodded. "And Katherine, or so we thought."

"Yeah the bitch was never there," Damon said in a toneless voice. "She let us... let me believe she was trapped and I worked for years to get her out."

Alaric shook his head at Jeremy to keep him from asking any more questions that might set Damon off.

"Why do you think we were led here," Alaric asked quietly.

"Because this is the one place she could have kept Elena where no one from the outside would hear her screaming," Bonnie said flatly. "It would be easy for her to render Elena helpless in there while she went out hunting or whatever terrorizing she was doing."

"So where is my sister?" Jeremy demanded.

"She's in the tomb," Damon said coldly. "Katherine is playing games with our heads. She knows that Elena would hate the place after what happened to her there, and she knew that I wouldn't be exactly pleased by her chosen prison."

"Damon," Alaric cautioned. "We need to get Elena out of there and then you can deal with Katherine."

He nodded and headed towards the tomb. "Alaric, stay with Jeremy and Bonnie."

Alaric nodded, and shook his head at Jeremy. "You'll have your chance to make it up to your sister. Let them do the worst part of it first."

Jeremy didn't like that, but what could he do? Alaric was stronger than he was, and the moment he tried to move towards the vampires, one of them would have him back to safety. He was standing and watching everything that was going, and that's when he heard the soft cry off in the trees.



haunt us still, ship : damon salvatore/elena gilbert, challenge : big bang, fandom : the vampire diaries

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