Chapter 14. The Third World

My eyelids weighed a thousand pounds. I tried for a few times before I could open them. For a moment, all I could see were blurred darkness. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again, hoping to blink back to the red spots. The left side of my face was completely numb. I vaguely remember Tyler hitting me across the face.

I tried to crawl up from the cold, stone floor. My other senses started coming back to me as my eyes slowly adjusted. Something smelled foul. Like perished meat. I wrinkled my nose and searched the room. There was no one here except for me.

Exerting all the energy I had, I managed to raise my upper body into a sitting position. My hand came into contact with my jaw – it was still numb. There was a dry patch of blood near my temple. Dry? How long was I out for?

I leaned against the stone wall and examined the room in front of me. It looked like a dungeon of some sort. Probably in the basement. There were no windows, so I didn't know what time it was outside. It could have been hours, or even days, since Damon and I –

Damon!

My throat went dry. Where was he? Was he okay? My hands started to tremble uncontrollably as I pictured him dead in the woods, at the hands of that hybrid. Fear burned like a flame inside my chest, preventing me from breathing. I could never forgive myself if something happened to him.

I had to get out of here.
Door. A door. I staggered to my feet and started to feel around the walls for an entrance. There had to be one. I cut a finger on a jagged rock but took no notice. The nauseating smell was threatening to make me throw up. But all I could focus on was how to get out of here.

"…really don't think it's a good idea, Tyler."

I froze. The sound of a door opening and closing.

"Why not? We could be special. The only ones."

"Yes, but Klaus wants her alive."

"To hell with him."

"Tyler!"

There was a short-lived silence until it was broken by Tyler's foreign, arrogant voice.

"Whatever. I'm going to check to see if she's awake."

I barely had time to fall back to the floor as quickly as I can before the dungeon door was thrown open. I closed my eyes tightly and held my breath to slow down my heartbeat in case he listened for it. Tyler stayed a mere few seconds before slamming the door shut again.

"Nope." He said to Hayley.

"How hard did you punch her?" She asked back, a little annoyed.

"Not as hard as you punched her boyfriend." He chuckled.

There was another pause.

"…I didn't finish him."

My chest swelled with hope.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked coldly.

"His little friends came." She scowled, "Including that Bennet witch."

"The Bennet witch was there and you didn't take her?" Demanded Tyler in absolute outrage.

I raised my head to free my other ear so I could hear better.

"There were three of them."

"Are you saying that you can't take a crippled witch and two vegan vampires? You're a fucking hybrid!"

"They're a lot tougher than they look!" Hayley replied angrily. "Let's just stick to the original plan, ok?"

"Fine."

"Fine!"

None of them said any more.

I tried to process everything as fast as I could. What did they want with Bonnie so badly? At the same time, relief washed over like a gentle wave. At least they were all safe for the time being.

The nasty smell found its way to my nostrils again. I've never smelled anything like that before. Covering my nose, I stumbled towards where Tyler opened the door a moment ago. Suddenly, my foot collided with something and my entire body came crashing down to the ground. I found my balance at the last second and held on to the wall for support to bring myself back up. I couldn't afford to make a racket.

Squinting my eyes, I looked down to see what tripped me. What I saw almost stopped my heart.

It was a hand.

A curled hand with the wrist slashed open. The blood had already blackened. The skin was greyish, with maggots crawling in and out.

I covered my mouth to mute my scream. That was the smell. I was in here with a dead body. Someone died in here. Right here.

My eyes traced over to the bulk that could only be the body attached to the hand. It was under a dark, wool blanket. I lifted it with the tip of my shoe to reveal the body.

It was a girl.

Her dark hair was tangled and messy, and some of it had already fallen out. The clothes she had on looked like she had been wearing them for ages. One wrist was slashed open, and there was a sharp piece of rock close to her other uninjured hand. It looked like suicide.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I felt sick. My fingers covered my mouth even tighter, leaving fingernail marks on my cheeks. There was something oddly familiar about the dead girl.

Her body figure, her hair, her pale, deadened hand…

I swallowed and flipped her over.

The shriek escaped through my fingers and echoed around the dungeon. I would know that face anywhere – it was me.

There was another Elena here. Another Elena that didn't belong in this world. And she had died. This was why Klaus already had hybrids at his command. And this was also why he still needed me – because the previous Elena had killed herself.

I didn't realize I was still shrieking until Tyler and Hayley came charging in. Tyler swung a slap at me, hitting me so hard that I flew across the room to collide with the wall. I crashed into it with such abundant force that the scream died completely. Coughing and spluttering, I struggled pathetically at his feet.

"Shut it!" Tyler aimed a kick into my ribs, knocking all the air out of me.

I coughed again, this time spitting out blood onto the floor.

Hayley grabbed Tyler's arm before he could do any more, "Stop! Before you kill her!"

Tyler shrugged her off coldly, "I know what I'm doing."

In all my life, I've never been beaten like this. His strength terrified me, and it terrified me more so that my existence could make more of him; more of the hybrids.

"It doesn't…" I choked out incoherently, "…have…have to be like this…"

He stared at me intently. Then, the mortifying smile returned to his cold face, "Oh, Elena. You haven't changed a bit. Still trying to play the hero." He threw his head back and laughed.

The little hope I had inside of bringing him back died within. His humanity wasn't turned off; it was gone. This man wasn't Tyler. He hasn't been Tyler in a very long time.

Hayley took out her cell phone and started to make a call. I hardly had time to wonder who she might be calling before Damon's voice pierced through the air from the speaker.

"WHERE IS SHE? IF YOU HURT HER, I SWEAR I'LL – "

"You'll what?" Hayley asked icily, "Cower like a cripple again? Put the witch on."

There was a pause, then Bonnie's concerned voice took over, "Elena? Are you okay?"

"She's fine," Tyler replied, "for now. Use your little witch magic to find her and meet us there. Come alone, and we'll let both of you go. Bring either of the Salvatores, and there's hell to pay."

It was like someone flicked a light switch on in my head. My fuzzy brain suddenly understood something so thoroughly that the predicted outcome made my blood run cold.

"It's a trap!" I yelled, clutching my ribs where Tyler had kicked me, "Bonnie, don't come! It's a – "

Hayley raced over before I could finish the sentence and lifted me off the ground with one hand around my throat, cutting me off completely. I struggled against her ironclad hands but I was no match for her.

"Elena? Elena?" Bonnie asked frantically.

"I repeat, come alone." Tyler said swiftly before ending the call.

Hayley released me, and I slid down the wall to a heap on the floor. Massaging my neck, I gasped for air. Fear casted a wide net upon me, wrapping itself around my body comfortably. I knew what they wanted. Klaus needed another Elena to breed more hybrids, but he didn't know that his trusted servants wanted me dead for the very same reason. They wanted to remain special – and that meant they were the only living hybrids at the moment.

My hands started to shake again. What about Bonnie? What are they going to do to her? It seemed that right now, I wasn't the target; Bonnie was. And that made everything more messed up than it already was.

"What…do you want with her?" I asked out, surprising even myself. The bravery inside of me was ballooning. It was probably because I knew I was about to die either way.

Hayley raised her eyebrows, "I'm starting to think Tyler didn't kick you around enough. Maybe I should finish what he started."

"Go…ahead." I panted, wiping more blood from the corner of my mouth, "See if Klaus likes it."

Her eyes narrowed, "Don't talk about what you don't understand."

"What do you want with Bonnie?" I asked again.

Tyler came over and knelt down so we were eye to eye. His hand squeezed my chin so hard that I winced.

"That," He said softly, "is really none of your business."

He let go abruptly and mentioned for Hayley to follow him. She threw one last dirty look at me before heading out the door as well, slamming it shut to leave me wallowing in my own desolation.

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