Title: Wreck of Our Hearts

Summary: Elena's awake but everything has changed. Damon is being controlled by something evil and no one has any idea on how to save him, including her. Plus, Kai may have had one more trick up his sleeve when he cast the Sleeping Beauty spell and no one expected it. (Post Season 7; Continued AU)

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this work.

A/N: Posting this to see what response it gets. All these videos and talk of Elena waking up has had me imagining my own version of things. Hope you like it! You can let me know with a review xx

I smell blood.

It's practically infused into the place. Not to mention that there's splashes of it all over the vacant warehouse. Dried, old blood stains litter the floor and chunks of dead flesh still rest on hooks dangling from the ceilings. The bodies may have been disposed of but the horror that occurred here is clear and it's hard for me to digest. When I woke up from Kai's curse I expected to see Damon's face smiling down at me and for the two of us to begin our normal, mundane human lives together while I try to piece together everything I had missed. What I didn't expect was Stefan's face to be the first thing I saw and for the first thing that I do to be puking up blood.

Lots and lots of blood all over the oriental carpet that Damon loved.

They found a way around Kai's curse but lost our human future in the process. They paid some dark witch with some ancient artifact to stop Bonnie's heart—essentially killing her—and the curse was broken. It seemed too easy and it was. Kai always was ten steps ahead of us and he must have heard Damon's speech about being the father of my children because he took that choice away from us; took away that loft in Tribeca with our two kids and Damon owning a bar and me in medical school. Because when I awoke, it wasn't as the human girl I had been, but as the vampire I had thought I could never be again. The cure was out of my system, spilled onto the Oriental rug, and everything was back as it was. Well, almost everything.

Damon wasn't.

I think back to waking up in Damon's bedroom; my eyes traveling along the familiar ceiling and down until instead of landing on my favorite shade of blue, I was met with Stefan's expectant brows above his emerald green eyes. I hadn't even had time to process everything until the words that haunt me now were flying out of his mouth: "Damon's in trouble." I shot up from the bed and as I went to speak—to ask what had gone so horribly wrong—the cure purged itself from my body. It started off as me puking up blood, then it pouring out from my nose and eyes—anywhere it could.

Stefan was horrified.

But me? My mind was spinning a million miles a minute. There was too much to focus on. What was happening to me? How long had I been gone? What was happening to Damon? Why was Caroline running into the room with a glistening diamond ring on her finger? So, I chose to focus on the most important thing. The whole reason they had risked everything to begin with.

"What's going on with Damon?"

My hands tuck themselves into my grey pea coat as I bring my mind out of the memory and try to make sense of everything I'm seeing right in front of me. This is one of Damon's hide outs. Stefan said he had figured it out over a year ago by pinging Damon's phone and I see the remnants of the cracked technology over in the center of the room. It hasn't been the sixty plus years I was expecting to have missed out on—it's only been four—yet already I've missed so much. It's something I should've expected knowing what happens when our gang is together. Danger just follows all of us.

Stefan walks over to me, dressed in a distressed jean jacket and black jeans; his scuffed up boots echoing in the empty room. His hand goes to rest on my back and he thinks better of it, bringing his hands to his hips. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

I'm shaken momentarily by those words; the very same I said to Damon in our last moments together when I wasn't sure if he would be able to survive half a lifetime without me. I don't know what I expected to happen to him while I was in that sleeping curse, but it wasn't this. It definitely wasn't this.

"If we're ever going to get him back, I need to know how far he's fallen."

Stefan nods. He knows I would never back down from the scariest sides of Damon. I know this isn't him. He isn't himself and it didn't take Stefan's journal entries that I read on the ride over to tell me that. Something evil is controlling him and I have to figure out a way to save him. It's what we do for each other. Damon always found a way to save me, even when I wasn't okay with his methods.

This place feels empty and hollow and my heart breaks for the sheer lack of emotion that Damon and Enzo must have in order to create these heinous acts. Stefan steps in front of me, blocking me from getting too close to a collection of blood on the floor, the blood that drained from one of their victims. "There was this vault in The Armory."

"That's the place Enzo's father created to hold supernatural artifacts, right?"

"Yes," Stefan agrees, "but it's also an organization; a group of people. They were after Bonnie because she's a Bennett witch. The vault had been sealed for four years and Bonnie opened it and trapped Armory members inside. We thought that would be the end of it but then Bonnie was cursed, Elena. We didn't know what to do. So, Damon…"

I already know the rest, so I finish it for him. "….Damon went in to stop the curse; kill the… Everlasting—that's what it's called right?" Stefan nods. "He went in to save my best friend, save all of you."

He frowns, remembering. "Bonnie was on the phone with him when the curse broke. Everything was fine until suddenly he started acting different."

This is all new information. Until I demanded Stefan take me with him on his latest lead, I hadn't heard the rest of the story. I knew Bonnie had been cursed to kill all vampires—a curse that had befallen her in order to save her life—and that they were all on the run until Damon got the idea to break back into the Armory. I hadn't heard what really did him in; what kept him from getting out. "You have to tell me, Stefan. I need to know."

"He heard you."

My jaw drops. "What?"

"He heard your voice… calling out to him and crying for help. It made him go in deeper, he was searching for you. Damon wouldn't listen to Bonnie, he just kept repeating your name; over and over. Then there was a horrible sound and that was it. That was the last time any of us spoke to him. Well… except for Enzo."

"And now they've killed sixty people for sport," I gasp. "All because he heard me crying out for him; all because he thought he could save me."

This time Stefan does walk over and touch me. His arms are strong and firm as they grasp my shoulders. "This isn't his fault. It's because of whatever monster is inside that vault. It's stripped Damon and Enzo of their humanity."

"But this is so much worse than flipping the switch, Stefan. He's being controlled. That's the only way to explain how he could do all of this. How do we get him back?"

He's silent, his eyes looking around the room to the blood stains, the hooks; his imagination running wild. Stefan was a ripper—something he constantly fights against to this day. I can only imagine the horrors that are running through his head of what his brother is capable of. My imagination must seem pretty tame in comparison and yet it's scaring me. I don't even want to know what Stefan is picturing.

When his eyes fall back on mine I can see the pain in them. "You saved him at a time when I thought he was unredeemable. I'm hoping you're enough this time."

I push forward and close the distance between us and Stefan's arms envelop me. "I hope so, too."

The shrill sound of a phone ringing breaks the moment. We spring apart as Stefan digs into his jacket for his cell phone. He studies the screen from a moment before tapping the screen and bringing it to his ear.

"Caroline?"

Thanks to my vampire hearing I can hear her reply just as clear as if she were standing right next to me. "We have a lead. Several people are missing in Charlotte. It has to be them. Bonnie and I are coming to meet you."

"Are you sure? There have been too many false leads. With vampires and werewolves and now these sirens."

Sirens. I remember when Stefan and Caroline first started telling me about the very thing that was controlling Damon and Enzo. These creatures worked for the Devil himself and fed on the souls of the damned. From the moment I heard their description, I knew why Damon had fallen so easily. He never saw himself the way I did. No one ever believed in him the way I did, and without me there to remind him it was almost a piece of cake.

"Enzo contacted Bonnie, Stefan. He left a clue in a discarded body the police found."

Stefan eyes widen, his head turning up towards the hooks dangling above us. "If Enzo is showing signs of being able to break free from the control than there's hope."

"I don't get it," I whisper, looking around the room. "How can she control them like this? Make them do all of these horrible things?"

My eyes land back on Stefan who is staring at me with sadness in his eyes. "It's mind control, Elena. Deep rooted mind control beyond even what our compulsion is capable of."

"But what is the point of all this… Devil's work? How do we know all these people are damned? What is the line?"

I hear Caroline's voice over the line. "Alaric is looking into it. There's still so much we don't know but we're working on it, Elena."

My hands run through my pin straight hair in frustration, the toe of my Bean Boots digging into the concreate floor. "I just feel so helpless. How do we save them when we don't know how to break the compulsion?"

"We track Damon and Enzo and we capture them. Then we try to figure it out. All we can do is stop the bloodshed."

"Elena," Caroline says over the line, "we're coming. We're all fighting to get them back. We're all playing our parts."

And then I hear Bonnie's voice—a voice I never thought I'd get to hear again. "We have you."

"No pressure," I whisper, trying to cut the tension. It's all becoming a bit too much. They're all putting all their faith in me to free Damon and in turn Enzo. As if one look at me will be enough to break any hold anyone else could have on him. But what if it isn't enough? What if I've been gone too long? What if Damon has fallen too far?

Stefan gives me a look of sympathy. "We'll see you guys soon."

The drive to Charlotte is mostly spent in quiet, with my nose deep within my friends' diaries—trying to catch up on as much as I can. I ask questions when I need to and relive the moments with them through their own words. Every now and then I find myself making my way back to Damon's diary which only hold a handful of entries but that are filled with such hope and promise of our future and our love that it's giving me the strength to be ready to face him.

Whenever that may be.

We split up, Bonnie with Stefan and Caroline with me, as we tackle the crowded streets of Charlotte. We don't know where to start but to compel a couple of law enforcement into giving us answers on the disappearances and some shop owners into giving us some information. By the time we meet back up all we've gathered is that a two people disappeared from a party after heading towards the hotel pool and another three disappeared right from inside a theme park after closing.

Still no closer to finding Damon and Enzo, we decide to head to a local diner and get Bonnie some food. We go over and over the little evidence we have until it's nearly midnight and we're the only patrons left. My head can't possibly take much more of this. I've been awake for days and no closer to seeing or saving Damon than I was when Stefan woke me. We throw some money on the table and head towards the car full of doubt. We drove all this way and we have nothing to show for it. No new leads, no nothing. I'm starting to think we'll never find Damon.

Just as Stefan pulls onto the road we notice a figure laying in the road and my heart leaps. That's Damon's signature—we all know it. He's taught more than half the people in this car that very trick. Only when Stefan skids to stop and we all race out do we notice it's not Damon. Not Damon but rather Enzo.

I can't hold Bonnie back as she launches towards him, her fists pounding against his chest as he stands there and takes it. I can tell by Stefan and Caroline's stance they're both ready should this all turn south. Still not used to the sight of the two of them together, I just stand back in wonder and uncertainty. We don't know which Enzo we're meeting on this empty road. The man Bonnie fell in love with or the one who's been Damon's sidekick these past few years.

"Good to see you, too, love," he says, gripping hold of Bonnie's small frame and pushing her back from him. Enzo's face contorts into pain as he stumbles backwards a few steps before finding his footing. "She's calling me to her. I don't have long."

"Don't go!" Bonnie yells, like it's the most obvious thing in the word. But judging by the pain Enzo is in, it's anything but. Fighting against her is causing him physical agony.

"It's killing you to fight it, isn't it?" I say.

Enzo's brown eyes land on mine and widen. He had been so focused on Bonnie he didn't notice the big surprise of my return. "Oh, I wish I hadn't seen you."

"Why's that?"

He contorts in pain before taking a breath and saying, "Because it's hard enough keeping Bonnie a secret from Sybil. But now I have to hide you, too."

My head cocks. "She doesn't know about me? But I thought she got into Damon's head."

It's something I discovered in Stefan's diary. Something I know he's been ashamed of telling me. I was their only hope. The thought of me was what they hoped would keep Damon tied to his humanity. But with Sybil's discovery of me, that one tie was severely cut.

Enzo gives Bonnie a sad smile. "He was hiding you from her; visiting old memories in his dreams where she couldn't get to you. But then…"

"Then she heard me mention your name," Stefan says.

I whip my head towards the Stefan and see his head hung down in shame, radiating guilt. My words reach him and I see his head lift ever so slightly. "There's no way you could've known. It's not your fault."

"Sybil erased your very existence," Enzo says. "To further secure her hold on him, Sybil placed herself in your place and when she couldn't she had you die at Wickery Bridge. The first time."

"But this is Elena!' Caroline says. "One look at Elena and he'll remember."

"They've overcome worse," Stefan says.

But I'm not so sure. Damon thought the same thing when I erased my memories of him when I thought I had lost him forever. And while the sight of him stirred up feelings inside of me, I still felt the anger from the memories Alaric had made more prominent. It took Damon's determination and me falling in love with him all over again for us to find our way back.

As Damon once put it: Universe be damned.

Enzo's head drops. "I hope you're right. Because he's her little pet right now. I only got away because she sent me on a mission."

"A mission?" Bonnie says.

"Yes." He says, looking at her and kissing her quickly. "Look into Cade. Find a way out of this. And Stefan?"

"Yeah?"

Enzo races towards him and snaps his neck, "Sorry, mate."

And with that Enzo disappeared and left us standing in the middle of the roadway. Caroline and I flashed over towards Stefan and checked him really quick before laying him in the backseat. Caroline climbs into the back and lay's Stefan's head on her lap. Knowing Bonnie is in no condition to drive, I hop in the driver's seat and let my best friend gather her thoughts in the passenger seat beside me.

This ride home is much quieter than the drive here, but at least now we have answers.

We have a name.

Cade.

The car is completely silent. Everyone is sound asleep as I drive aimlessly through the roads of my hometown. I relive the moments I haven't let myself think about since I opened my eyes. I think about everything I've missed, everything that's happened since I've gone. How my town got torn apart and somehow survived. Then my mind starts remembering. All the times Damon saved my life, all the understandings and kisses. All the times I saved him right back. I never told Damon all the way he saved me. How he lit up a fire inside of me that had long since gone dim. He set me on a path right back to him from the first moment we met.

It's why I find myself headed back towards that road before heading towards the boarding house. It's on this road that we met, that I accepted my feelings for him despite my first transition into a vampire, that we said goodbye.

I had expected him to go on without me; for him to protect all the people I love—that he's grown to love too. But I left him with a gaping hole and a prime target for the evil that so quickly grabbed a hold of him. Now the people I wanted him to protect have to find a way to save him.

I have to find a way.

As I hit the very spot we last kissed before everything faded to black, someone suddenly appears before me. I slam hard on the breaks, jolting everyone in the car awake as we all attempt to brace for impact. The moment seems to stretch on forever until finally we come to a jarring halt, all of us gasping for breath as my eyes stay locked on the person in front of me.

He's dressed in fitted jeans and a leather jacket, his shirt a dark shade of grey with a V-neck plunging down to reveal a prominent collarbone. His eyes are surrounded by spider web veins and are dark and feral as they stare into mine. His stance is taut, ready to pounce in a moment; with his hands at his side and fist balled tight.

He's a predator and we are his prey.

Only I know that face, those eyes. His collarbone is one my mouth has kissed a thousand times. My hands have tugged on that raven black hair and my mouth has tugged at those lips that are now pulled back to reveal sharp fangs. The smell of leather and bourbon and woods is strong as strong as ever as I inhale it, remembering when it used to bring my comfort.

I know this man and that face, but the look he's giving me is one I've never been on the receiving end of. I've seen it plenty of times, but never in the years I've known and loved him as that look ever been aimed towards me.

This isn't the man I knew, and yet I know him. I love him.

My heart is pounding inside my ribcage, clawing against the bone to find its way to him.

His face shows no care for me; no love or recognition.

I am his enemy.

"Damon?"

Pushing open the door, I jump out of the driver's seat and race towards him. My friends are yelling at me to stop but none of them can seem to move. We're all stuck in the moment and all I want to do is run into this man's arms and pray that if my face hasn't brought me back to him, my touch will.

But the moment I'm free from the car, he pounces on me, pointed teeth searing into my flesh and piercing my neck. He's expecting me to be weak, human and frail. But I'm not. I'm momentarily lost but my inner warrior, fights her way through my disorientation enough to push him off of me. My shove sends him spiraling into the air and despite his shock, he lands on his feet and stalks towards me again.

My hand clutches my neck which has now been torn open. I can already feel it beginning to heal but Bonnie runs towards me, asking to have a look anyways. Stefan and Caroline are standing in front of us, blocking Damon and ready to fight.

"Damon, it's Elena! That's Elena!" Stefan screams.

"She's awake, Damon! Say you remember her!" Caroline pleads.

"The girl who died off Wickey Bridge? Why would I care enough to remember?"

Stefan takes a cautious step forward. "You love her, Damon. Try to remember."

He shakes his head, taking a menacing step forward. My heart is breaking at the sight of him and yet I just can't seem to look away. "All I know is Sybil wants her dead. I may not have been able to get to her tonight. But I will. See you soon, Elena."

And with that he disappears in a flash, leaving us all broken and alone.

Whatever hope my friends had in waking me up, has dwindled away to nothing.

Now what are we going to do?