Authors Pre-note: THIS STORY IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. It will contain lots of lemons/smut. Considered yourself warned.

"Elena!" Jenna called from the bottom of the staircase.

Elena huffed and rolled over, swinging her arm over her eyes. "What?" she yelled back. I just want to sleep, she thought groggily.

"Elena, you need to get down here!"

Elena furrowed her brows as she now heard the urgency in her aunts' voice. She swung back the covers and quickly ran out of the room. As she rounded the corner to the staircase, she slowed, then stopped at the top.

Standing below her beside Jenna were two men dressed in long black coats. They were beautiful men…too beautiful, in fact.

Elena felt her breath catch slightly. Vampires.

She turned her eyes back to her aunts' face and felt her hands start to tremble as tears silently rolled down Jenna's cheeks. "What's going on?" she asked slowly, not leaving the top of the stairs.

One of the men stepped forward and smiled brightly – trying to be friendly, Elena assumed. "Hello, Elena," he started, bowing slightly in pure gentlemanly fashion. He had an English accent. "My name is Thomas Alan. This is…" he motioned to the man by his side, "…my partner Donovan Beaumont. Wonderful to meet you."

Elena only nodded once in response.

The man waited for her to have more of a response, but when she didn't continue, he cleared his throat and clasped his hands together. "So!" he said exuberantly, "Elena, dear, you must have already guessed that my associate and I are vampires, and I know that you're young, but are you familiar with the laws between our kind and yours?"

She did know about the laws. There were just a few and they were pretty straightforward. She rattled them off in her head quickly.

Vampires are not to travel into human territory unless permitted.

Humans are not to travel into vampire territory unless permitted.

Vampires are not to turn humans.

She scrunched her nose slightly in disgust at the last law –

Vampires are not to "hunt" humans and in return, 3 humans will be assigned to each vampire to act as sustenance. Should a human become ill, die, or simply unable to provide the sustenance needed, the vampire is permitted to choose 1 human of able bodied, over the age of 16, granted the human is not the sole guardian/parent of a child, to replace the disabled.

Elena had always found the vampire race to be utterly sickening. Although there were conditions to the laws – such as the vampires had to treat the humans with dignity and humanity, agreeing to provide food, clothing, shelter, etc. – the taking of people left broken homes and hearts.

Elena nodded slowly.

"Good, good!" he smiled, taking another step forward. "Well, a client of ours has recently lost one of his humans." His face fell in sadness, but Elena had a hunch it was just for show. "Poor, poor dear," he said quietly, then looked back up at her, smiled, and continued, "And the gentleman came to us to find his replacement. He said he had no specifics and allowed us to choose at random."

Elena's eyes shot between Jenna and the men. They're taking Jenna? she thought in horror.

She felt anger surge through her body. "You can't take Aunt Jenna!" she yelled boldly, recalling the law, "She's our only guardian."

The mans' smile faded and pity shone from his eyes. "Oh, no, dear child, we're not here for your aunt," he said softly.

Elena's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Jeremy?

Jenna began to slowly ascend the staircase, wiping a few tears away with her quivering hand. As she reached the top, she took Elena's hands in hers.

Elena felt her heart throbbing uncomfortably. "Aunt Jenna, you can't let them take Jeremy," she pleaded desperately.

A sob broke from Jenna's chest and she pulled Elena into a strong hug.

Elena became more confused as Jenna rocked her back and forth gently. Slowly she began to pull away to look into her aunts' face. "Jenna? What's going on?"

Jenna held Elena's hands again and looked to the floor. "They're here for you," she responded softly.

Elena jerked away from Jenna and her mouth fell slack. Her eyes frantically darted between her aunt and the men. "W-what?" she stammered almost inaudibly. She lifted a hand to her chest as she struggled for breath. She could feel her heart beneath her palm pounding furiously.

The other man, Donovan, stepped forward to stand beside his partner. "Elena, you've been chosen," he said simply.

Elena stared at them for several moments, then shook her head. "No," she said sternly. "I don't want to go."

Thomas tried to reassure her with another smile. "It'll be okay, Elena," he coaxed. "You'll still get to call your brother and aunt. The vampire who's requested a new human – your new owner – is quite wealthy, so you'll have some of the best living conditions available. It's not as bad as you might suspect. Many humans find the experience to be enjoyable."

"And, besides, it's not a question of whether or not you want to go," Donovan broke in. Apparently he wasn't the type to use gentle persuasion.

Elena stared at them in complete disbelief. This isn't happening, she thought incredulously. She opened and closed her mouth several times, searching for some words to say. She felt panic rising in her body as she looked back at Jenna and it only grew as Jenna began to cry more.

This is happening.

Quickly, she spun around and tried running back to her room. Before she could make one complete bound, she felt herself being shoved to the floor and two sets of hands gripping her limbs.

Jenna screamed at them to let her go from somewhere in the background as Elena tried to escape their grasp.

It was no use. Elena felt tears finally brim at her waterline as they tied her hands behind her back and pulled her to her feet.

Jenna was pulling at Thomas's arm. "I'll go for her!" she cried.

He shook his head sorrowfully. "I'm sorry, you can't. It's against the law. Your nephew still needs you."

They walked downstairs with Elena and stood at the door. Her arms ached from their tight hold. Thomas turned to stand in front of her. "Is there anything specific you would like to take with you?" he asked kindly. "You won't need clothes or necessities such as that, they will all be provided for you. But is there a trinket or keepsake you'd like to have?"

Elena stood with her head hung, tears falling steadily from her eyes. "My diary," she said quietly. "It's behind the picture frame."

Thomas nodded once to Donovan and Donovan moved with lightning speed up the stairs. Barely ten seconds had passed before he was standing before them with the book.

Thomas turned back to Jenna who was just now slowly walking down the stars. "It's time for you to say good bye. Where is her brother?"

Jenna's tears had dried and her face was nearly blank, almost as if she were in denial of the situation. "He's…um…" Jenna ran a hand over her face as she thought. "…at a friends house, I think."

Thomas nodded and turned back to Elena. "I'm sorry, dear, but you won't be able to say goodbye to your brother. We're only permitted to be in this territory until 1 PM. It's already 12:30."

Elena's head snapped back up to look at them. "I can't see Jeremy?" she asked in dismay.

"I'm sorry, but no," Thomas responded, lightly patting the side of her shoulder – a move she was sure meant to be comforting.

Jenna walked up to Elena and placed a palm on her cheek. "I love you so much," she said softly.

A few more tears rolled down Elena's face, stopping against Jenna's hand. "I love you, too," she cried.

Jenna threw her arms around Elena's shoulders, and pulled her into another tight hug. "I'm going to miss you," she said against Elena's neck.

Elena only nodded as sobs rendered her speechless. She felt hands grip each of her upper arms. "We've got to go," she heard Donovan say.

As the door was opened and Elena was pulled through it, Jenna fell to the floor, her head in her hands.

Elena only stared at her and continued to weep as she was half dragged across the lawn and thrown into the back of a black SUV.

The door shut, and Elena felt her heart break.

They had been driving for 7 hours. Elena knew this because as she laid uncomfortably on her side in the back seat, her eyes never left the digital clock on the dashboard.

After Thomas had asked her if she needed a tissue at the start of their trip and she refused to speak, the two men in the front seats all but ignored their passenger – their prisoner. As they drove they discussed politics – that of the vampire sort, of course – how their "business" was doing, hobbies, cars, music, and several other irrelevant topics.

Elena chose to tune them out when they got on the topic of their "business."

Instead, she focused her complete attention on the glowing green numbers before her. Each minute that passed meant she was a minute farther away from her brother and aunt…and a minute closer to her new home.

She inwardly cringed at her mental use of the word "home." This place would never be a home to her. She hated the vampires. Everything about them revolted her. That included their territory and the houses they resided in.

And then her thoughts turned to her new…what had Thomas called it? Her new "owner." Elena suddenly felt as if she needed to throw up.

Who the hell do they think they are? she thought angrily. I'm not something to be "owned." You can't own a human being. Her anger grew within. Fuck this. I'd rather die than live as food for some disgusting leech. She closed her eyes and allowed her fury to transform into determination. I will get back home. I will get back to Jenna and Jeremy.

Her eyes shot back open as she felt the vehicle starting to rattle beneath her. With much difficulty, she managed to lift into a sitting position and scoot towards the tinted window beside her. As she looked out, she saw that the smooth surface of the highway had disappeared and they were driving down a graveled road. Trees surrounded the vehicle.

The scenery remained consistent for another 20 minutes before they pulled up to an extremely large, black, ornate gate. An intricate 'S' was molded out of metal and built into the center of the gate.

She watched Thomas roll down the window and reach out to press a button on a standing box beside the vehicle.

"Salvatore residence," came a female voice from the speaker of the box.

"Yes, this is Thomas Alan with the Alan and Beaumont agency. I believe Mr. Salvatore is expecting us."

There was no response from the speaker, only the whirring of gears as the gate in front of the van began to open. Thomas rolled back up the window and drove through.

It took them another 3 minutes of driving before a house started to appear.

Elena's mouth fell slightly slack. This was not a house. This was a mansion.

They pulled into the circle shaped driveway. The entire building was white, and seemed very colonial. In height, it appeared to be three stories tall, and the building itself was very square in shape. She could see that a porch wrapped around the building on the first level, and several balconies were located on the second and third levels. Gigantic pillars ran from the porch to the roof, and they appeared to wrap around the building as well. Each window had the same exact window treatments – off-white shutters outside and inside, light red curtains that had thin white designs on them.

The SUV stopped directly below the steps that led up to the front door. Both Thomas and Donovan jumped out of the vehicle at the same time and Elena felt her body tense as they moved around to her door.

Donovan opened it and his face was hard. "It would be wise for you to not create a scene," he threatened. He then stepped out of the way and Thomas took his place.

As always, he was smiling as he reached in and started to help Elena out. "I promise you, dear, everything will be alright. I know you're probably scared right now, but that's a normal reaction to this situation."

Elena clenched her jaw together tightly so as to not "cause a scene." This is only temporary. You'll find a way out of this. You will get home. You will get home, she chanted in her mind.

Both men lightly took hold of her upper arms and began to lead her forward. Donovan stopped with Elena at the foot of the stoop and Thomas bounded up to the front door. He only knocked once before it opened.

Elena looked down at the ground, afraid to actually see her new "owner." Seeing him would only make the situation more real.

"Ah! Mr. Salvatore!" Thomas began happily. "What a pleasure to see you again."

Elena began to sing in her head, not really wanting to hear his voice either. However, as hard as she tried, she couldn't block out the sounds around her. She heard footsteps come across the porch and stop at the top of the stoop.

"Is this some sort of joke?" she heard a velvety-smooth voice say quietly – almost too low for her to hear.

Another set of footsteps walked hastily across the porch. "Um…I beg your pardon sir?" she heard Thomas respond nervously.

Abruptly, Elena saw a pair of designed black shoes standing just inches in front of her. A hand grabbed her jaw and titled back her head. Elena instantly scrunched her eyes together. He's going to kill me, she thought suddenly. Her body shivered as she felt a hand being laid on her chest. It remained there for several minutes before her jaw was released and the hand on her chest fell. She hung her head and kept her eyes closed.

"She's human?" she heard the voice in front of her whisper disbelievingly.

Donovan spoke up beside Elena. "Sir, you requested a human to replace the one you lost. We chose at random. This is your replacement."

"She looks like Katherine," the man said softly, as if he were speaking to himself. Then he spoke louder, "Girl, what is your name?"

Elena gritted her teeth and remained with her head held down and eyes closed.

"Her name is Elena, sir," she heard Thomas respond quickly, hurrying down the stairs. "Elena Gilbert."

They all stood in silence for several minutes before Donovan spoke up again. "Sir, is this replacement suitable?"

Again, there were several moments of silence before the man responded, "Yes. Yes, she'll be fine. Untie her hands, bring her into the foyer, my other humans will help her get settled."

Elena felt the rope sliding from her wrists and she pulled her arms in front her. As she rotated her shoulders, she cringed in pain from her arms being behind her for so long. She felt herself being pulled along and she finally opened her eyes so that she wouldn't trip.

Her skin crawled with goose bumps as the temperature changed dramatically once she was led into the house. Their footsteps echoed against the sparkling marble floor beneath them.

"Okay, leave her here. She'll be gotten in just a few moments," she heard the unknown man say. "If you two gentleman wouldn't mind accompanying me up to my office, we'll discuss your payment."

"Yes sir," Thomas and Donovan responded simultaneously.

Two pairs of footsteps began heading away from Elena, but she could tell someone had stayed. Gently, a finger lifted her chin and she saw Thomas standing before her. His eyes were compassionate. "Chin up, child," he said softly. "This may seem like the end now, but I promise, it's just the beginning of a wonderful life." He stepped back and nodded once. "We at Alan and Beaumont wish you all the best, Elena," he finished, then turned and headed after the other men.

As he walked away, Elena felt tears threaten to form again. She didn't like Thomas, but at least he had been kind to her and she may not find that anywhere else in this territory.

She stood alone in the hallways and looked around. Apparently, this house saw scarcity as elegance. Besides the staircase, there was a small round, wooden table with a blue vase on it, but nothing else. The walls were clear of any pictures or other decorations.

Elena jumped slightly as a female voice said "hello" behind her. She whipped around quickly to find two girls standing before her.

One girl had light brown skin and short, curly brown hair. She wore jeans and red tank top. The other girl was creamy white and had shoulder-length, blonde hair. She was wearing a short black skirt and long sleeved, teal v-neck shirt.

The smiles quickly faded from the girls' faces and they bowed low. "Oh, we're sorry, Miss Pierce. We were told by Mr. Salvatore that a replacement for Jennifer would be here in the foyer. We didn't mean to interrupt you," said the curly haired girl.

Elena furrowed her brows. "Who is 'Miss Pierce'?" she asked slowly.

The girls straightened and looked at each other nervously. "Are you not Miss Katherine?" the blonde haired girl asked quietly.

Elena ran a hand across her face. This was the second time she had heard that name. She decided she would wait until later to figure out who 'Katherine' was. She shook her head, "No. My name is Elena."

The girls shot each other confused glances.

Elena sighed and motioned to herself, "I'm the 'replacement.'"

The girl with the curly hair smiled and started forward, holding out a hand. "It's nice to meet you, then, Elena. I'm Bonnie."

The other girl remained where she was, her face still betraying her puzzlement.

Bonnie looked over her shoulder at the girl, shook her head, then turned back to Elena. "That's Caroline." She narrowed her eyes slightly, "Wow. The resemblance is just uncanny. That's incredible," she said quietly to herself.

Elena tilted her head slightly. Resemblance? She mulled over the word, and then suddenly understood. I must look like this Katherine person. That's who he thought I was. That's who they thought I was.

Finally, Caroline started slowly walking forward. "You're really not Katherine?" she asked timidly.

Elena huffed and walked towards the girl. Caroline froze and her eyes grew large. Elena didn't know what the man had done earlier or what he had been looking for, but whatever it was had convinced him that she wasn't Katherine. She mimicked what he had done and grabbed Caroline's hand, placing it on her chest.

Caroline looked petrified, but after a minute or so, her body relaxed and mouth hung slack. "You're really not Katherine," she stated in astonishment.

Elena dropped her hand. "No. I'm Elena," she said again.

Bonnie walked over and took Elena's hand. "Look at you! You're still in your pajamas," she frowned, "Of course they wouldn't even give you time to put on shoes," she sighed to herself. She looked back up to Elena's face, "Well, let's get you up to your room!" she smiled.

Elena stared at her and didn't move. "I don't have a room here," she said coldly. "My room is at my aunts house."

Bonnie's face fell and she appeared taken aback.

Elena pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger and sighed. Bonnie seemed like such a cheerful person. She hadn't meant to be rude to her. She lowered her hand and sighed. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I just don't want to be here and I have no plans of staying, is what I meant."

Bonnie frowned and crossed her arms, the same expression of hurt remaining in her eyes.

Caroline went to stand by Bonnie and looked at Elena sadly. "Elena, we don't really make plans around here. We're just told what to do, and we do it. There's really no other option."

Elena let out one humorless chuckle and shook her head. "There are other options," she said firmly and started walking towards the door. "At least for me there will be. I make my own decisions. And my first decision being made is to get the hell out of here. I would suggest you two do the same."

With that, she threw open the door and began to run. She barely felt the porch or steps beneath her bare feet before she was in soft, dewy grass.

Only once did she glance over her shoulder and her heart ached for the two girls standing in the doorway.

Her chest burned as she ran for nearly 6 minutes, and she was inwardly surprised that no one had stopped her yet. She forced that thought from her mind quickly, choosing to not think about getting caught at all. A small smile played at her lips as she saw the gate they had come through in front of her.

She ran onto the gravel, ignoring the painful stabbing under her feet, and grabbed tightly at the bars and shoved, trying to get them to open up. They didn't. A frustrated cry escaped her lips. She stepped back a few feet and looked around for an opening. There wasn't one. The gate extended as far off as she could see.

She looked up and mentally calculated how possible it would be to scale the gate. From where she was standing, the gate only appeared to be 10 feet at best. She had climbed taller trees as a child.

She knew her only option was to climb over it. Quickly, she lifted her foot as high as she could and hooked it to the bottom of the 'S' on the gate. She hopped slightly a few times to guarantee her footing, then propelled herself up. As her hand grabbed the top bar, she heard the box beep on the other side of the gate. Then his voice came through.

"Elena."

Elena froze in her spot halfway up in the air. Her knuckles turned white from her grip on the metal and she could actually hear her heart pounding.

The man was obviously waiting for her to respond. When she didn't, he continued. "Elena, what you're doing now is truly not wise. What you ran in the past 7 minutes will take me approximately 30 seconds."

Her body began to tremble against the bars, fatigue starting to overtake her, and she could hear the voices of Thomas and Donovan in the background – "Sir we are so sorry." "We knew she had the potential to cause problems, but we…"

Their voices were cut off as he spoke again. "I'm willing to give you the opportunity to come back using your own free will, Elena. Don't make me regret my decision."

Elena felt heat course through her body. Why is he the only one who gets to make decisions? she thought furiously. He will not make them for me. She gritted her teeth and resumed her plan. She grunted as she pulled herself up over the bars and laid painfully on her stomach at the top. She swung over her legs and lost balance, causing her to fall from the top of the gate.

As she landed on her back, her breath was knocked out of her and she saw spots of black and white in her vision. She gripped at the gravel under her with her nails, pain shooting through her body. She heard a quiet moan escape her that she had meant to hold in as she gasped for air.

A quiet sigh could be heard from the speaker. "See what happens when you don't listen?" the voice asked quietly. "Elena, I don't want you to get hurt anymore, so I'm going to open the gates and let you back in."

Once again, his words just brought anger to Elena. Let me back in? He forced me there in the first place! He acts like as if it was my privilege for me to be there! she thought. She took one deep inhale of breath and started getting up, ignoring her throbbing limbs. I have to get away from here. I have to.

She stood with her hands on her knees for several minutes, making sure her breathing was even and she wouldn't fall over. She heard the gears start whirring beside her.

She looked at them once as they started opening, then she turned and began to run as fast as she could.

She counted as she ran.

1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… 9… 10 … 11… 12… 13… 14… … 16… 17… 18… 19… 20… 21… 22… 23… 24… 25… 26… 27… 28… 29… 30… 31… 32… 33… 34… 35… 36…

A glimmer of hope wiggled its way into her mind as she passed 30 seconds. Maybe he's not coming after me, she thought quickly, though she didn't let up her speed.

He arms, legs, and chest burned with exhaustion and she knew it would only be so long before something would give out.

Before something even had the opportunity to give out, she felt herself being thrown against the grass and strong hands gripping her body. She screamed and kicked wildly.

Suddenly, she felt a small prick in her arm and her limbs became drowsy. Her vision clouded over and then everything went black.

Authors Note: Okay, so I have a feeling the first people that will read this were readers of my first fanfic - The Confusion of Lust and Love - and I'm really excited to find out what you guys think so far.

I know this is drastically different from TCOLAL, but I really wanted to try something new. I'm going to try my best to keep the essence of who these characters are, given that they were in this sort of situation, in this story.

For those looking for smut...well, if you've read my other story, you already know it will definitely come. Just be patient. Had to get through all the introductory stuff first.

Tell me what you think!

See you next chapter. :]