Damon found Caroline in the crowd of teenagers at Elena's birthday party, pulling her aside.

"Where's Elena?" he asked her.

Caroline frowned. "What do you mean?" she called over the noise.

"I can't find her anywhere." Damon said.

Caroline looked irritated. "She had better not have disappeared; we haven't even done the cake yet…" she pulled away from him to search for her MIA birthday girl. Damon had been about to do the same when his cell phone buzzed. He frowned when the number was unknown, and went outside to answer it.

"Hello?"

"I thought I told you to stop following me?"

Damon frowned more deeply. "Stefan."

"Who were you expecting?"

Damon sighed. "What do you want, Stefan?"

"Well, I guess I didn't make it clear enough when I told you to stop following me. Now, I guess I'll just have to force you."

"What?" Damon snapped in irritation. "What do you mean? What did you do, Stefan?"

"Well, let me put it simply. You aren't following me because you want your brother back. You're doing it for Elena. So, if you don't have Elena…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Damon hissed, his grip tightening on the phone.

"Oh, Elena? Why don't you say hi to Damon?"

"Damon! Damon, please help me…!" Elena sobbed on the other end.

"Better come quick, brother."

"What the hell are you doing to her?" Damon yelled, not caring who heard him.

"Well, you'll just have to come and see, won't you?"

Damon pursed his lips in anger. "Where are you?"

"The high school. Come find us…"

Then the line went dead.

Damon stood silently still for a moment. Then he snapped. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled, chucking his phone at the brick wall of the house, watching it spark and shatter, showcasing his rage excellently.

He was storming to his car when Caroline walked out the door. "What's going on? I heard you yelling…"

"Stefan has Elena."

"What? Stefan's back? What's wrong with that…?"

"He isn't with Elena, he has Elena; meaning he kidnapped her. And he's hurting her, Caroline!"

Caroline's eyes widened. "What? What's he doing to her…?"

"I don't know! But I need to get to her."

"I'm coming with you."

"No," Damon said when she started forward. "You're not. This is my problem. You stay here and make sure your friends don't destroy my house."

Caroline stared after him as he got in his car and sped away.

VvvvV

Damon threw open the front doors to the school, storming inside in fury.

"Stefan! Stefan, where are you? Stefan!"

Stefan swaggered around one of the corners, facing Damon casually, hands in his pockets. "Damon; what a nice surprise."

"Don't play innocent with me you ass. Where is Elena?"

Stefan looked confused, but Damon could see the grin. "Elena? Elena who?"

Damon lunged forward and pinned him to the wall, his fangs extending as his temper flared. "WHERE IS ELENA?" He screamed.

Stefan stood still for a moment, and then started to laugh. "Ooh, scary; my big bad brother gets all psychotic and angry over my girlfriend… you really should see a therapist about your temper, Damon."

Damon's eyes turned red. "WHERE IS SHE?"

Stefan shrugged. "I don't know, Damon. Why don't you go find her?"

"This isn't a game, Stefan!" Damon snarled, shoving him and backing away.

Stefan fixed his jacket. "Isn't it, though? Kind of like a game of hide and seek. The only difference is, if you don't find her… she dies."

"What in hell are you talking about? You wouldn't dare…"

Stefan grinned. "What would you do if I told you that you probably have five minutes to find her before she's lost to everyone forever?"

"Then I'll kill you." Damon snarled, advancing.

"Really? If Elena only has five minutes to live, you'd waste them killing me?"

Damon was beginning to look like a terrified, tortured caged animal. "Stefan, this isn't funny. Where is she?"

Stefan grinned. "It actually is pretty funny, Damon. Better hurry; time's a ticking!"

Shaking his head in disgust, Damon took off in search of Elena. He threw open the doors to every classroom he came across, using vampiric speed so as not to waste time. He felt like an idiot; a mouse in some twisted experiment, where he only had a few moments to find the cheese, or he would be starved to death. If Stefan wasn't joking… if Elena really was going to die…

"Three minutes, Damon! Better hurry, Elena needs you!"

"This isn't funny you bastard!" Damon yelled as he continued to search. "You love her! How could you even joke about doing something like this?"

"Easy, brother; I've moved on, and I'm not joking. Oh; two minutes. Do you want a hint?"

Damon glared as he continued to throw doors open.

"Oh, come on, brother; there's no harm in a little innocent cheating. Just one little hint? Don't you want it? You only have a minute and a half left…"

"Alright! Give me your damn hint!"

"Weights."

Rolling his eyes, Damon rushed toward the gym, running into the weight room. No Elena.

"Stefan!"

He could hear his brother laughing. "Keep thinking, Damon! You have less than a minute!"

Tossing the weight cart aside in anger, he ran out of the room again. "Stefan, where is she? Just tell me!"

"Two hints? That's bordering unfair, Damon…"

"Your first hint was misleading, you idiot!"

"Alright, alright… water. Twenty seconds, Damon."

He felt dread seep into his stomach. Water; pool. Weights and the pool…?

"YOU'RE DROWNING HER?" He yelled in horror as he ran for the pool. He could hear Stefan laughing. "You finally got it! Good job, brother! Ten seconds!"

Damon burst into the pool room, the blue water casting an eerie glow throughout the entire room.

"9…"

He caught sight of her deep in the water; Stefan hadn't been joking.

"8…"

She wasn't moving. Bubbles weren't rising. Oh, God…

"7…"

Damon ripped off his jacket and quickly kicked off his shoes.

"6…"

He dove into the pool and swam down to where Elena was, breaking the chains that were tied to the weights with a flick of his wrist and picking up Elena, pulling her to the surface. As soon as he broke through the top of the water, he could hear Stefan's agonizing count down. "3…"

"No. No, no, no…" he moaned as he dragged her onto the concrete siding of the pool and started pounding on her chest. "Come on, Elena, come on…"

"2…"

He bent down and breathed air into her lungs, pulling away and starting to pound on her chest again. Hot tears were pouring down his wet face as he begged her to respond. "Elena, please…" he begged, bending down again.

"1…"

He pounded on her chest in agony, breathing in more air, but she didn't respond.

Stefan walked in, looking at Damon with mock sympathy. "Times up, Damon."

Damon shook his head in horror. "Elena…?" he breathed.

She didn't move. Her skin was tinged blue with the icy feeling of being in the water too long. Her chest was still, and her eyes were shut.

She was gone.

Stefan gave a small grin. "Happy 18th birthday, Elena."

Damon choked back a sob. "I'm so sorry…" he moaned into her chest.

Elena Gilbert had done it. She had reached a milestone in her life that all teenagers dreamed off. The day she became an adult. But, no one had ever imagined that the day Elena moved from one stage of her life to another, that it would be from life to death.