Chapter 20: Vantage Point: Part I

Narrator's POV

It takes 20 minutes for a single disaster to happen.

*Elaine was in a dark maze, playing a dangerous game with Damon.

*Stefan was trying to comfort the sobbing Elena, when he heard Elaine scream.

*Katherine has followed Damon and tried to join his game with Elaine.

It takes 20 minutes for a single disaster to happen. . .

It takes 20 minutes for 3 disasters to happen simultaneously to the luckiest people on the face of the planet.

And this is their Vantage Point.

Stefan's POV

"Guys, what's going on?" She repeated her question, twice now. Elaine was definitely beginning to know that we're hiding something from her, and I know, that when things like this happen, it always ends bad for us, cause' the one who's always trying to figure it out… Eventually figures it out. I just kept my mouth shut and waited for Elena to call the shots. It's her cousin. And unlike Jeremy, she was definitely on the list of people who should never know about the secret. She's Elena's twin, literally, and with Katherine on the loose, Elaine could never be safe again. But some people just don't know how much of a privilege it is to not be in on the secret.

I kept on exchanging glances with Elena, and it looks like she had an unsure expression imprinted across her face. And eventually, I'd have silent conversations with Damon. At this very moment, I couldn't actually identify who would be right, or not. Should we keep the secret from Elaine? Should we tell her the truth, and hopefully, she'd cooperate with our plans? But both ideas seem difficult and dangerous to go on with. This is really something to think about.

But before I could let out any words to defend the situation to buy us more time to converse about this topic, Elena nodded her head and Damon took Elaine's hand and began navigating her in the crowds. Before she was out of earshot, I managed to hear her last words, "What's going on, Damon?" She was definitely determined to know what we're up to. And something tells me that she won't stop till' she finds out.

When Elaine and Damon eventually disappeared through the crowds, I looked at Elena and waited for her to shift her gaze to me and ask what her plan is. "Why did you let him tell her?" I asked her, and Elena seemed nervous at the moment. I could feel her heart beat much faster as it was a while ago, before any of this happened. Then, I saw a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her face. She was definitely unsure of her move, and what she should answer to me, but I waited patiently for her. And then, she finally spoke.

"I don't know." She answered me as her voice cracked in pressure. "I don't know, okay, Stefan? I just… I just don't want her in any of this. I want her safe, just like Jenna, but…" She paused as she placed one of her hands on her forehead. Her eyes were beginning to flood with tears. And that's when she just began sobbing. "Can't we just face the facts? Elaine is in trouble and it's because of me. I shouldn't have let her visit here. I-I-I…" And just right before I could feel that she has some troubles breathing, I just gathered her in my arms in one warm hug.

This has been like that time when Katherine went after for Jenna. She was so devastated after that. I remembered the tears that flooded the Salvatore Boarding house that night. There was so much pain as if it felt like a hundred years of misery. I couldn't even bear to look at her eyes, cause' I know how pain transfers to us both.

It almost felt like 10 minutes had passed, and her sobbing were beginning to disappear slowly. All I could hear from her now was her nose sniffling, her soft breathing, and of course, the slow beats of her heart. Her head was still dug on my chest, and it also felt like we were standing there for a century now. The music was still on its slow jam, and everyone was talking with each other. I was just here for Elena, and yet still, I was thinking of a way to make things all right.

After I heard Elena finally silent, I place a finger on her chin and tilted her head up to meet my eyes. Her eyes were still a little red from all the sobbing, but her cheeks finally dried from all the tears. It was heartbreaking to watch, but I still forced a small smile on my lips to cheer her up. "Hey, we can get through this." I whispered to her quietly, and she still stared at me with her big eyes that were just so adorable that it made my faux smile finally turn into a real one. I even let out a small chuckle and then muttered something to her.

"We'll do it together. You have my word." I gave her my genuine smile and leaned down to give her a soft kiss. When I opened my eyes to stare back at her, she still had her eyes closed from the kiss. It took her 3 or 4 more seconds before she opened them, and battered her eyelashes. And then, she gave me a huge smile, wrapped her hands around my neck and pulled me in for another kiss.

"Together." She whispered to me, repeating my words to her. And after that, we began swaying to the beat and rhythm of the music. And we were not tight or stiff with our movements. For once, this night, we've been relaxed and comfortable. We were able to dance like we were on clouds and that the stars shone bright for us. Finally, for once, we didn't give a damn. We forgot about the world for a split second, and just enjoyed the night. But that's when I heard something.

It was surely something quite frightening, and so unheard of. Literally. It was so unheard of, because I may be the only person in this room to hear it. It was distant, and it almost seemed like a whisper to my ears, or my conscience muttering something to me at the back of my mind. What I heard was a light, blood-curdling scream, coming from far away. And that made me remember something.

My body became stiff again. Our dream dancing was over. Everything was not alright, and it was finally the time to care. I remembered what was happening, and what we were supposed to be dealing with. Elaine was grabbed by Damon to may be one of the most unthinkable places in this venue, and with Damon's short temper, who knows what could be happening now.

My eyes widened all the way when I realized this, and I couldn't move. I was just full on shocked. I was just staring into space, and then thinking of the next thing that I was supposed to do. I almost couldn't even feel that Elena was shaking me as hard as she could, and almost screaming my name as loud as she could. "Stefan. Stefan? Stefan!" And on her third call, I was finally able to snap out of it. I looked at her and she had the same mirroring expression I knew I had. She was bewildered. "Stefan, what's going on?"

"We have to do something." I muttered under my breath, and I wasn't even sure if she had heard what I said. I just began navigating through the crowd with long strides, cause' I knew that I had to get to Elaine now. I reached the door to the darkened hallways, but when I was just about to launch myself to the patio, I heard Elena still calling my name in the crowds. "Stefan! Stefan!"

I would've tried to find Elaine now, but I knew Elena wanted an answer from me, so I decided to pause and just let her explain, although I knew that my mind wasn't focused enough to maybe even say the slightest words to her. I was panicking.

"Stefan, what's going on?" She repeated her question to me. I didn't make any eye contact with her, because I was so uneasy. I just decided to explain it as fast as I possibly could.

"I heard Elaine." I finally said, and she still looked at me with a confused face. Her forehead crumpled, and she just asked more questions.

"What?" She stuttered. "What did you hear?"

And before I could even answer that question, we both heard the ringing of her spine tingling scream of terror. It rang through the darkness and echoed through the night. It was all too distant from the sound of it, because it sounded quite soft. But with my magnified senses, I could hear it as if she was just screaming at my ear.

After her long howls of pain, Elena and I need no more to speak with each other. We just exchanged glances and just ran as fast as we could to the patio.

When we got to the patio, I smelled something. It smelled… Delicious. It was mouthwatering in some other, twisted kind of way. And in my definition, a vampire's definition, the only thing that could be as mouthwatering as that scent was the smell of a human's blood, freshly cut from an open wound on their body. And that made me just want to find Damon the more. I gritted my teeth and had wanted a plan to just pop in my head, but I needed to make sure of Elena's safety first. I can't have two people, which were supposed to be kept alive, in danger. So I turned around, faced Elena, and placed my hands on her shoulders.

"Elena, I need you to get back to the ballroom, find Bonnie, and try to be safe." I asked her kindly, although I knew that this would be quite a fight between us. I already knew that she wouldn't take 'going-back-to-the-ballroom' as an answer. So shook her head and then fought back.

"No. I'm going to help you find Elaine. She's my cousin, and I think it'd be easier for us to find her if we split up." She offered her plans, but they just weren't… concrete enough. So I had to turn them down.

"Please, Elena," I then tried begging. "I can't risk your safety too." I plead with her. It took maybe a couple of seconds, 45 or so, before she could make her decision, and finally comply with my ideas. She bit her lip, straightened her back and then nodded her head briskly.

"Fine. I'm going to find Bonnie, and tell her the whole thing." She replied to me back. "But if you do not come back here, safe, with Elaine, and supposedly, Damon too…" She paused and then crossed her arms on her chest. And it's never good when she does that. "I will come there, through the patio, and travel even to the darkest areas of that place until I find the three of you. I would go unguarded or not." And when she said that, my head fell and I looked at the ground. This would not be a very good idea, but I was in a hurry, so I had to decide as soon as I could, and I just nodded.

I gave her a small smirk and then placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'll come back." I whispered after my lips touched her head. Then I looked deep into her eyes and then added, "I promise." She gave me a hug, and then I launched myself at vampire speed to the darkest regions of the garden. It may take a long time to locate her. It was a maze, and it was dark because none of the patio lights were on. But having magnified eyesight could do me well too.

I continued to run and take a couple of turns. And it already seemed like 2 minutes had passed when I saw a black figure come in my way. It was in the dark, but the moon's light just flowed in front of it. It would only take two steps before I could finally see whoever it is. I wasn't even sure if it was Damon or not, so I decided to ask it who it was. But, she beat me to it.

"Hi Stefan, how I've missed you." Katherine greeted in her most familiar voice as she stepped into the light. I saw her cat like eyes and her wide Cheshire cat smile that just whispered to me 'I did it'. But I didn't need to be to be a genius to figure out if she was the culprit or not. But it was because her lips were stained with blood.

Katherine's POV

Before The Attack

"Get. Off. Me. Now." I watched the scene going on through the hedges. Elaine spat out the words to Damon like they were fire. She was struggling under Damon's grasp, and I had to admit it, I was a little turned on with watching this. Damon had his body pressed tight against hers, and I could feel her pheromone levels rising up. Her resistance was turning me on.But on that note, Damon suddenly stepped back and released her.

That wasn't much of a Damon-like doing. But I know Damon well enough to think that this wasn't over.

And I was right.

A huge smirk crept to his face and his eyes smiled like there was no tomorrow. He crossed his arms on his chest and watched Elaine's every movement. Apparently, her back was still glued to the hedges, and she had this bewildered expression on her face, which I was thinking may be stuck permanent there for as long as she knew Damon. Her hands were clawed to the thorn-infested hedges and she was trying to get as far away from Damon as she can. But everyone knows that that isn't as far as we all should expect.

"I'm getting tired of this." Damon muttered under his breath, as he fully accentuated the words with his eyes. Oh, I know that he was going to say that. I knew that Damon gets bored easily, and he'd try everything in his power to make things seem… interesting. "We both know you won't win this round, and it's kinda getting boring." He added.

Elaine wasn't impressed by his words and she just rolled her eyes in a complete 360° circle. I see that she couldn't be as smart as I thought she was. If she were smart, she would know that things weren't going to go as well as she thought they would. She didn't even know what Damon was capable of doing, if he pleases to do so.

"You see, I love games." And he sure does. He got that distinctive personality from all the games we played long ago. I remembered every single game we managed to play in 1864, and it made me smile at that thought. I loved it how the Salvatore brothers fell for me. I should forget these things before I began losing my focus. I shook the thoughts out of my head and continued listening. "And I know that you wanna play games too." He said coyly, as he began pacing to his left and to his right, over and over again, although his eyes were staring straight at Elaine's beady eyes.

"I'll give you a 30-second head start to find your way back to the patio, and then to the ballroom." Oh, a predator's game. Me likey. It seems like I wanna join this round. And maybe, I'd even have enough time to get my revenge with Damon. It'll be fun, playing games with him again. And then, Damon began explaining the terms of his game. "If you win, and get there on time, I will no longer touch, harm or have any conversation with you throughout your whole stay in Mystic Falls." And, to know Damon that well, we all should expect him going back on his word.

"But if I win," And this might be the beauty of his terms. They seem dangerous, kinky, and… Demonic. "I get to choose what we get to do." And like his usual moves, he does not state clearly what he wants, because he wants everything you can't, and can give him. Damon still had the devilish smirk printed on his lips when he finished explaining the rules. Immediately, Elaine removed her shoes and made a run for it and hadn't even counted to one yet. And when I saw her hit a couple of hedges with her hands raised in front of her, I knew that she couldn't see a thing in the dark, which gave me my advantage. Damon and Elaine have no idea that they have a new competitor in this game.

I followed Elaine with my eyes, through the maze, making a couple of turns, and when needed, I would even take a couple of steps and follow her wherever she was going. It seems like she was lost, and she had no idea, whatsoever, where she was going to go. It amused me a little bit, to see something so weak, and pathetic, that it just makes me want to put it out of its misery. Especially whenever the scent of her blood, dripping on her palms whenever she'd hit a thorn on one of the hedges. It just makes me want to show myself, and just… Kill her already.

"I'll give you five for seconds!" Damon said over the dark, although he was just following her, walking right behind her, seeing where she was going, but he did have a talent of making things appear as they weren't, like an optical illusion. He was messing with her hearing, and I could see that he was very amused with himself as well. Damon has learned a lot from me from the past 145 years, I thought quietly as I continued observing them. Maybe he's learned too much.

"Five! Four! Three… Two…" And then he paused. He didn't speak, and his presence was unknown to Elaine as she kept on running, launching herself with long strides. And when she made a couple of wrong turns, I continued to see that Damon wanted to tease her with her mistakes. He stood right in front of her so that she would bump into him. The impact was so great, but Damon caught fast on Elaine's wrists and held her upright. He leaned his head a little closer to Elaine's face whereas their faces were just inches from each other as Damon whispered, "Wrong turn."

He smirked and chuckled right at her face, and Elaine was still blind. She didn't know how he looked like, or where he was at that moment, but she certainly knew that he was mocking her, so she turned on the balls of her feet and made another run for it. This time, she tried making another route, going on different ways, while Damon was still tailing her. She still made all the wrong turns, and Damon did the same thing he did with her a while ago. He went in front of her and then made her crash onto him, but this time, he said another set of different words.

"Two strikes." He whispered as he made a face mocking the expression of pure fear in Elaine's face. "One more strike, and you're…" He paused for a moment and then his smirk widened a little more. "Not out." It seemed pretty cliché that he'd use another play of words. I wish I could've told him that they were never funny from the beginning, but there's no stopping this now. And after Damon's taunts, Elaine made her last chance at getting out of this chase alive.

She ran, and she ran, and from watching where she was going, I could see that she was almost near the patio, even though I know that she couldn't feel it yet. I couldn't let her out of my grasp. And that's when I began tailing Damon, who was following Elaine. I leaned in close to Damon's ear without him feeling it, and then whispered something so low that I could bet a thousand years of my life that she wouldn't be able to hear it. "Hello, Damon." And as soon as I said my greeting, I injected a syringe full of vervain I grabbed earlier this night when I went out looking for my ring that Damon threw out in the night. I stuck it into Damon's neck and then watched the vulnerability take its magic.

Damon couldn't let out another word. I watched him lose his consciousness under my grasp, and then drag him out back to the farthest region in this patio, that even he would have a hard time looking for a way to get out of there. I dropped him off in a darkened corner and then whispered, "Goodbye, Damon." to his ear before I stood up and went back to doing as I've planned with Elaine. I did it in super fast vampire speed, so that I wouldn't be able to lose Elaine when I come back, cause' I know that I wouldn't have another chance for revenge again when every single one of them go on with protecting her. This was my only chance, so I followed her.

That was the moment she was at the patio already. She was still absorbing the view. Her wide eyes scanned the area that was well lit, after moments of staying in the darkness. And she was ready. She was ready to step into that light.

Not if I had anything to do about it.

I immediately grabbed Elaine's neck, and wrapped my arms around her. And in one swift motion, I dug my fangs into her skin. I've never tasted something so mouthwatering, delicious, sweet in my stay here in this place, and it seemed like Elaine was lucky enough to find me. But as I tore open her throat, she let out a horrible scream. I didn't know that she was a screamer, so I began dragging her out into one of the other farther places in the patio, opposite to Damon, of course, and finished her there.

But I wasn't about to end her right now. I want the people that love her to watch me end her life, and make them feel like they have nothing to do about it, and have no one to blame but themselves. When I was pretty sure that she was unconscious, I smiled at myself, amuse at what I had did. Revenge never tasted as… sweet, I thought, and gave a small giggle at my own play of words. (And I wonder where Damon gets his humor from.)

And I heard something that interrupted my joy. Someone had come to the patio. I let out a low scoff and tried to listen in on who it was. But the voice was too lovely, too familiar, for me to not recognize. Of course, it was Stefan, coming to the rescue like the hero he is. He must've heard the bloodcurdling scream Elaine let out. Oh, how I wished I just let her fall unconscious first, before I tasted her.

"I'll come back." She whispered to her most precious Elena. I rolled my eyes in total hatred. Oh, I swear, if I could only kill Elena without having to damage my purpose of her, I would've done that already, I thought maliciously in my mind. "I promise." Stefan added as he was all mushy gooshy with the new love-of-his-life, when apparently, I know the truth that he only began loving Elena because he was still in love with Me. But, I wouldn't let this get to me. I tried to flush it out of my mind, and just finish my real purpose first. So when Stefan running, and finding the culprit, and I think that he's thinking that Damon did this one, he better double check his numbers.

He still made a couple of turns, and when I knew that he was just a couple of turns away, I decided to meet him halfway. So I left Elaine, and went out to catch up to him, when we finally came to see each other, face-to-face. And he had this cute little confused expression all over his face, and it seems like he doesn't even know who I am. So I decided to give him a clue.

"Hi Stefan, how I've missed you." I whispered. I saw the grave fury in his eyes when he heard my voice. I stepped into the light and let the magic of wrath consume him in his midst.