Authors note; Please ignore any mistakes, if there are any that can't be missed, let me know, and I'll change it. Enjoy. :)

Somewhere between my sleep
Somewhere beneath my skin
In places I can't see
Something is known to be a sin

"There has to be another way, Damon." The female Gilbert desperately spoke through a weary sigh, she clenched The Elder Salvatore's hands, gripping them with her own. "There isn't, Elena." He practically whispered, he didn't want her to die. "I don't want Bonnie to die for me, I won't let that happen." She exasparated, Damon merely stayed silent whilst she made her martyr speech. He was use to it. "I'll find another way." He finally broke his own silence, letting his emotion fill his soon to come words. "I can't lose you." The pleaing may not be noticable in his voice but she read it loud and clear. From his eyes. "You won't."

And with that, she released the grip she had of his hands and took a small step backwards. "Goodnight, Damon." She spoke, as she backed out of his bedroom, as far as he knew, she was going to bed. She wasn't. She stood still in the center of the hallway, a quick glance of her surroundings indicated that the area was clear, she changed her course of direction hastily, heading towards the basement -or dugeon- as she preferred to label it, she stopped short in her tracks when she was stood before the door, her hands wrapped around the latch and she pulled it open.

Without hesitation, she pushed open the door quietly, revealing the dessecated and rotted Elijah, he lay silently in a deep slumber, one he wouldn't wake from without her assistance, she walked to his side and crouched over his body, she wrapped both of her hands around the dagger that sat in his chest and used all her strength to pull it from his body, she gave it a quick once over, scanning the daggers features before throwing it to the ground beside her, she lingered over his body for a long moment before falling back against the wall, waiting.

Waiting for his awakening.

-w-

She sat quietly for most of the night, trying to contemplate a suitable outcome for the act she had committed, but she couldn't, he was unpredicatable and dangerous, but he wouldn't hurt her, his intentions had always been clear to her. Never would he hurt her... At least, she hoped he wouldn't.

Her train of thought was brought to a sudden stop by the sound of cracking bones, her eyes diverted to his body, which was now shifting from one position to another, she jolted up from the ground and bent down beside him. His eyes shot open and a loud gasp escaped his lips as he inhaled a breath of air. He looked directly at her, but he didn't see her. "Katerina." He barely spoke, but his body forced itself towards her, but she moved backwards quick enough to avoid any contact.

She wrapped one of her arms around the front of his chest, in hope to support him at least a little bit. "No, its me... It's Elena." She was desperate to establish the right identity. He finally realized. "Oh my god." But before she had the time to respond, he had was lunged upwards, she immediately stood back on her feet, wrapping her arms around his body to hold him up. Failed attempt. "I can't..." He stuttered, and paused. "I can't be in this house." He caught the words and formed a sentence. Finally. "You're not invited in." Oh crap. She thought to herself, but he had shot off into the wall firstly and out of the dugeon - only to meet another wall- before he had been forced out of the house.

She barely had time to process.

But she followed him quickly anyway, ignoring any rational thoughts that seemed to overfill her already complex mind, she ran through the house, her head turning in different directions to find him. - and anyone else - until she saw him outside, his knee bent and leg placed on the floor, is body leaning over it and using his arm for support. She walked towards him, making sure she stayed behind the threshold.

Elena stood silently, and the half dead Elijah pondered his next move, after a long moment of a mind splitting silence, he jolted towards her, without an invitation, he wasn't going to get inside, which was proven to be right when a force of some kind repelled him. Ha! She thought, but she still stumbled backwards instinctively. "What happened?" He spoke, a hint of anger in his tone of voice. She couldn't blame him. "Shh" She whispered, she tapped her finger against her lips before pointing upwards towards the bedrooms, before moving her finger to her eat and repeating the tapping process. "Can I trust you?" She whispered once again.

"Can I trust you?"

She hesitantly lifted her hand upwards, the hand that held the dagger, she tilted her head slightly. He extended his own arm and took it from her, placing it in the inside pocket of his jacket, she nodded her head once and took a step out of the house, so sure he wasn't going to anything stupid. Stupid in her eyes anyway but the sudden feel of his hand pressed against her mouth said otherwise. "Dont say a word." He was stood behind her, her back pressing to his front, as she mumbled words into his hands. "Don't. Please!" He managed to comprehend. But he wasn't going to listen to reason.

They where gone.

He had moved her away from that building so quickly that she was unable to speak due to the impact of a heavy wind plunging at her entire body, she felt trapped, unable to scream, unable to move, the only thing she was permitted to do was become a slave to her own fear. She had made a huge mistake, was she going to regret it? She hoped not.

She eventually fell unconscious, and it was at that point, Elijah stopped running, but he had found himself in the woods on the outskirts of Mystic Falls, hidden away from the public, the tree's would bare witness to the kidnapping of Elena, but only nature. He lay her down on the freshly cut grass and stood over her, she barely flinched, her heavy breathing indicated he was moving to fast for her lungs to handle. He just had to get away from there. From that house. With her.

He had pondered his thoughts long enough, he bent down beside her, taking in her features before using both of his arms to lift her, holding her supportively in his arms, as he rapidly moved thrugh the forrest, the small area around him looked like a blur, undetectable to the human eye. Once he had emerged from the woods, he saw a main road, neither of them looked normal, his clothes was burnt and Elena had passed out, he took a quick glance around, noticing an empty car, unattended too.

He walked towards it, without even making sure the coast was clear, he placed one of his hands on the passenger door handle, using an inch of his strength, he forced it open, barely scratching the lock, he sat Elena on the seat, before closing the door and using his vampiric speed to run towards the drivers door, he repeated the same process, and now he was sat down in the seat. The keys where gone, a small and silent grumble escaped his lips as he shifted his body to the left, his leg slightly grazing Elena's but he barely noticed, he was too distracted, he pulled out a bunch of wires and tore one in half, tapping them against each, causing sparks to fly from it, until the engine roared to life.

Finally.

With that, he began to drive, he had a location in mind but that wasn't the only thing that lingered in his thoughts, what was he thinking? Kidnapping Elena, that was obviously going to cause an alarm back in Mystic Falls, but they where going to a place they would never be found. Ever.

Elena had finally woken, she blinked her eyes several times until they where fully open, it took her a long moment to return to a right state of mind, she jumped up in her seat, her head just about missing the roof of the car, Elijah didn't move, didn't look at her, his eyes remained fixated on the road ahead, which was empty, considering it was mid-day.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked, she was furious - well, as furious as she could be after being unconscious for hours - he finally decided to look at her, he could see the anger in her eyes, if the doors weren't locked, he was sure she would attempt to escape. She was smarter than that. He shifted his gaze back onto the road.

"We are going on a little trip." He responded with simply, a small smirk forming on his lips, his concentration was still on the road, if he looked at Elena, her rage would pierce right through him, unwillingly. "I'm not going anywhere with you, take me home, right now." She demanded through clenched teeth, amusement for him alone. "You've become to much of a trouble for me, if I was to allow you to remain in Mystic Falls, you'd surely try to kill me again, that won't be happening since I've decided to follow through with the original plan. To take you away." She could barely contain her anger, each word was like a knife to the back.

"We had a deal." She reminded him harshly. "Yes and the terms of our agreement didn't permit you to kill me." His expressions remained the same. Blank. Always blank, as if he had no humanity at all, which she suspected he didn't. "I am sorry about that, if I could take it back, I would." She kindly spoke. False kindness that he acknowledged. "Thank you for your apology, but that doesn't change anything, you're still coming with me." He sounded so cold, she merely slouched back in the chair and folded her arms across her chest. Tantrum time.

The majority of the car ride was silent, minus a few arguments that they both shared, didn't last for long, what Elijah wanted, Elijah got, but not in a childish way, he barely asked for anything, but she over stepped her boundaries by killing him, that deserved a rightful punishment, he was a very honourable man but there was no honour shown by her.

"Where are we?" She asked impatiently when the car stopped in front of a large house, it was old, barely used, slightly tattered but still elegant in an ancient sense, she appreciated it but that didn't mean she wanted to stay there. In a flash, Elijah had shot out of the car to open the passenger door for Elena. "North Carolina, I aquired this house some time ago to be used as a sort of safe house if I was ever in a spot of trouble. Never did happen." Trouble only landed in Elijah's life when he learnt of the doppelgangers existance.

He held his hand out in front of her, motioning for her too take it but she didn't, of course she didn't, instead she looked out of the front window. "You're behaving like a child." He exclaimed. "You're behaving like a serial killer who enjoys kindapping innocent woman in his spare time." She spat back at him, he clenched his teeth together, controlling his anger. "You can either walk inside or I can carry you; take your pick." His eyes never wandered from the female Gilbert, who after a long moment, decided to emerge from the car, she didn't stop, she walked right past him like he wasn't there, she would soon be at the front door. "Very well." Elijah muttered under his breath as he closed the door and followed closely behind her, but she didn't enter the house, remained stood on the porch.

"Child." He immaturely insulted her, but she paid no attention to it, he opened the door and walked inside, standing to the side, he waved his arm towards the inside, Elena scoffed as she walked past him. "Its fully furnished, quite a nice house." He sounded almost happy about the situation. "I called a friend of mine when you where unconcious, he will be dropping by your house soon and collecting your things, to bring here tonight. You might actually enjoy yourself." He said, that malevolent smirk was placed on his lips again, suprisingly, that was the only feature Elijah had that Elena actually liked. "I won't." She harshly spoke.

Oh my god, Jenna and Jeremy. She thought to herself, her concerns didn't go un-noticed by the original, he could detect the worry but he could only assume it was over her loved ones, he simply rolled his eyes. "Your friends and family will be unharmed, Jenna and Jeremy will barely notice your gone; only because I asked my friend to tell them you're on a school related trip that was too sudden to give warning, if they where smart, they'd believe it." Without another word, he walked through the hallway away from the door and towards the kitchen, his friend took the liberty of stocking up on human necessities, Food, beverages, toiletries, the entire works, this was all planned after his first death - Damon staking him, he knew trouble was ahead after that, he planned ahead. A simple phone call is what triggered it.

He heard quiet footsteps approach the kitchen, Elena had finally decided to stop acting childish, it wasn't getting her anywhere. "I can't escape, can I?" She asked after a moments silence, she was deeply saddened but she dare not show it. "No, you cannot, if you try to escape, I will beat you to the Salvatore's, I confiscated your cell phone, and if you manage to escape, I will kill everyone you care about; this is our new deal." He finished speaking, Elena couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Do nothing." He made the deal more clear to avoid any 'mis-understandings' the Female Gilbert would have in the future.

"Where's my bedroom? I need to rest." She asked, she'd do anything to get away from him, there mere sight of Elijah made her sick, he walked towards her hastily. "I'll show you." He said simply, before walking away from her, through the hallway and towards the staircase, Elena slowly followed behind him, climbing each step slowly in hope to not catch up to him, he lead her through yet another hallway until he stopped in front of a closed door, he shifted his body to face her. "I believe you'll like it." And with that, he had disappeared. "Whatever."

She placed her hand on the door knob and twisted it open, revealing the bedroom, she stepped inside, her walking stopping when she was in the center, she slowly spun around, taking a close look at... Everything. There was a king sized bed, covered by a large quilt, the walls where a light beige and the carpetting matched, there was a tall wardrobe that looked like they where from the 18th century, the chest of drawers matched. No TV. Did Elijah even know what a TV was? She questioned. The curtains where a nice shade of light blue, that matched the duvet, all and all, it was a delectable room, it was a shame she wouldn't be able to enjoy it.

It was like a prison.

She walked towards the door and closed it, she stood still for a long moment, processing the current situation in her mind, when she finally did, she broke down, she couldn't stop the welled up tears in her eyes from falling down her cheeks, she turned around and pressed her back against the wooden frame, sliding down it until she was sat on the floor, her legs still bent at the knee. She had a mix of emotions, anger, remorse, disappointment, but mostly hurt. She was hurt. She trusted Elijah and he pulled a stunt like this.

After at least half an hour of weeping, she finally pulled herself back up on her feet, she placed her hand on her knotted stomach and trudged towards the bed, she fell onto it and lay back on top of the covers, maybe she could sleep away this nightmare. This holiday from hell.

-w-

Hours later, a loud knock penetrated Elena's ears, her eyes shot open, her body forcing itself upward in a defensive position, but there was no-one there, she took a deep breath, blinking her eyes several times, when that failed to wake her up, she rubbed her hands over her half open eyes, until they where fully open, she sat still for a minute before stepping of the bed, she walked across the bedroom, opening the door, she exited the bedroom, she heard two male voices, loudening as she neared them, she sat on the top stair, where she was able to see clearly, Elijah and a strange man, several bags placed at the bottom of the stairs, she assumed he was the 'friend' Elijah spoke off.

"Thank you for upholding your end of the bargain, you've made this plan successful." Elijah spoke in his usual tone of voice, the man simply nodded. "It was a pleasure... Elijah." He could barely speak his name. "Does this mean..." He was unable to finish his sentence as Elijah interrupted. "You're are pardoned, I grant you full freedom... Now please, leave." He turned around towards the suitcases, at that point, Elena had sprung up and sprinted back to her bedroom silently. But he heard her. Obviously. "Thank you, Elijah." the man said, before rushing out of the building.

Elijah picked up her suitcases and carried them up the stairs, it wasn't long until he was outside her bedroom, he placed one of the suitcases down and knocked on the door. Perfect gentlemen. "Come in, if you must." Elena spat at the original, he rolled his eyes slightly and opened the door, picking up the suitcase and entering the room, he placed them down in front of her wardrobe. "Your things." He said, but something had caught his attention, his head sharply turned to look out of the window.

"Whats wrong?" Elena said, completely concerned. "Stay here." And he was gone. Elena looked out of the window, it was a complete darkness, barely any light at all, she feared the night, but she refused to be a slave to what lurks in it, ignoring all rational thoughts, she ran out of the bedroom and through the house. "Elijah?" She yelled, she was sure she heard her voice echo, when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw the door was open. "Oh no.." She muttered, as she sprinted out of the house, there was nothing, she stood in the clearing, glancing around but before she knew it she was on the floor, a sharp pain shot up her back.

The pain was immense.

When her eyes finally focused, she saw a man stood over her, his legs pressed into her sides forcefully, both her wrists where bound by his hands and forced down beside her head. "The precious doppelganger." He mused, his fangs bare and his eyes dark. "I think Klaus would love a visit from you." Fear and terror overwhelmed her, she tried to scream but his hand was placed on her mouth so quickly she could barely get a breath in, thats when she saw another shadow hover her, she moved her eyes to see another vampire stand beside. "The Petrova doppelganger..." His sentence was cut short by another male voice, completely familiar. "Gentlemen." Both of there heads shot towards the voice. "Who the hell are you?" The stood up one spoke impatiently. "Oh, you're her protecter." He mocked, causing them both to laugh. "I'd like to see your protect her now."

With that, he swiftly moved his foot along her face, Elena screamed out of pain into the other vampires hand, unable to breath properly, she heard a swooshing sound and Elijah had moved, his hand was wrapped tightly around the vampires neck. "How dare you touch my doppelganger." An enraged Elijah spoke, it took a few mere seconds and barely an inch of his strength to tighten the grip he had of his neck until it was cleanly removed from his shoulders, the majority of his neck had turned into bloody mush.

The last vampire had kept pressing against her tightly, all air had been restricted and she was slowly seeping out of consciousness, but Elijah had flung the vampire backwards, but Elijah moved like a blur towards him, catching his neck in air, before he painfully plunged his back against the floor. But the vampire managed to kick him, it felt like a tickle on the original but he managed to stand in the short few seconds he had, he darted off away from the house.

An amused Elijah only smirked and jolted towards him, he was ahead, as he stopped, he held his hand up and the vampire had ran straight into it. "You cant escape me." With that, he ripped it from his chest, the body fell to the ground, Elijah immediately dropped the heart on his corpse and ran back to the injured Elena, he saw her, lying there, her chest slowly rising and falling, he knelt down beside her, a look of concern on his face.

He never wanted her hurt.

He lifted her up, cradling her in his arms, he would attend to the bodies some other time, he entered the once abandoned house again, immediately darting towards her bedroom, thankfully, she had left the door open when she ran after him. He lay her down on the bed, straightening her legs and placing her arms by her sides, he pulled of her shoes and placed them by the bed, now he had the chance to investigate her wounds.

she a deep cut across the edge of her face, long, stretched from her forehead to her lip, the blood was still gushing, it took everything in him to ignore the temptation. The doppelgangers blood. So sacred. There was a graze on her arms, he lifted her top, stopping just below her chest as to not see anything, he looked at both sides and there where already formed bruises where the vampires knee's had been. He pulled her top back down again. She was a wreck.

"Why did you follow me?" He said in hushed tones, he wasn't going to get a response, honestly, he didn't want one, he couldn't seem to care enough. He couldn't. How could he care? She was the bait to draw Klaus, that is all. But he still cared a smidge. Fool.

He used his finger nail draw a cut on his wrist, his blood seeped from the wound, and he held it above her mouth, letting the drops fall into her mouth and she swallowed them subconciously, she had drank more than enough, she'd start to heal in minutes but it would take at least an hour for her to fully heal, she tensed his wrist until it was completely healed, his already blood covered arms had only became worse, after a lingering stare, he finally decided to wash them. And he did.

Walking towards the bathroom, he stopped in front of the sink, he turned the tap off and let the cold water run, he grabbed a flannel from the cupboard above the sink, which had a mirror for a door, he just stared at his reflection for a long minute, completely disgusted by what he saw, he kidnapped Elena for the soul purpose of keeping her out of harms away, and she was almost killed on his watch, he flung his already clenched first at the mirror, the glass shattered instanteneously, glass shards had sunk into his skin and blood oozed from the small but deep cuts. "How could you let that happen?" He muttered.

He calmed himself down and washed away all the blood that was on him. But he still felt dirty, not matter how much he scrubbed at his arms, the water had stopped running red, he was completely clean. Physically. He made his way back to the females bedroom, she hadn't moved, but her breathing was normal again, she was almost completely healed, he stood in front of the window, he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the window frame. Waiting.

Elena finally pulled through, after just under an hour of an agonizing wait, she was finally about to awaken, when she did, she inhaled a lungful of air, a loud gasp escaping her lips as she darted upwards, Elijah immediately look at her, Elena caught his gaze. "W-W-W.." She stuttered, trying to catch her speech. "What happened?" She finally spoke. "I think the 4 vampires followed my friend earlier, they attacked you." Elena leaned her back against the wall behind her bed. "Wait, 4 vampires?" She said, she only counted 2. "I was able to dispose of the other two before you came outside." Thats why he disappeared so suddenly, it was all starting to make sense. "It's my fault, I should of left you alone."

Elena managed to move of the bed and stand on her feet, she found her balance and slowly walked towards Elijah, almost stumbling twice, but he was ready to catch her. He would always catch her.

"It's not your fault, Elijah." She spoke, as she stood in front of him, Elijah had unfolded his arms, his entire body seemed to relax more and more as she neared him. "It is, Elena." Remorse filled his tone of voice, she hesitantly and slowly placed her hand on the top of his arm, his eyes followed her arm movement the second she began to move it. What was this? He thought. "You saved me life, I was stupid enough to ignore you when you asked me to wait here, I got myself attacked, you gave me your blood to heal me, I can still taste it, you protected me and saved my life. So I don't want to hear anything else." She spoke, she actually felt close to him. But that wore off in seconds. She let her arm fall back by her side. "Thank you." He finally responded with. "No... Thank YOU!" She emphasized that last word.

He smiled. Actually smiled. Not a smirk, a smile.

She enjoyed looking at his smile, she never thought she'd witness it, she was in a trance but she had to pull herself away. "Mind if I take a shower?" She asked quickly, he nodded his head once, could he not speak? She nodded her head in return and walked out of the bedroom, Elijahs eyes following her, he stared at the door frame after Elena had became unseeable. "What was that?" He mumbled under his breath.

By this time, Elena was in the bathroom, she closed the door behind her and stared at the wood. "What was that?" she too mumbled under her breath