Damon tied the man who had just tried attacking him to a tree, while Elena sprayed the ropes with something. "These ropes aren't gonna hold him much longer. What else do we have?"

"Not enough stuff to hold him. I don't think we're gonna make that Ridge before the full moon," Ric answered.

"If we can get him to talk, we don't have to," Audrey said stepping in front of the tied up man. She reached her hand out to touch him, but he jumped awake and began to scream. Damon pulled the girl back and stuck her behind him.

"Is he turning?" Damon asked.

"That's impossible, it's still day," Elena gasped.

"Tell him that," Ric stated. The man's bones began to break as he screamed and struggled against the tree. Damon stepped forward and held the man's shoulders still.

"There aren't suppose to be werewolves out here until the moon is full," Audrey said in complete shock.

"You know those ropes aren't going to hold the wolf," Ric said to Damon. He nodded but continued to watch the man try to shift.

"Damon we've got to get out of here! We have to get out of these mountains now!" Audrey shouted, but Damon still didn't move. "Damon now!" Finally he snapped out of it and backed away from the man. He turned to the group and they all took off. Nobody knew how long they were running but that it was already night. Audrey had been trailing behind everyone else but tripped over a twig and fell to the ground. Everyone stopped and turned around to help her but froze.

"Audrey, don't move," Damon said slowly. Audrey raised her head but came face to face with a werewolf. Her heart hammered in her chest as it growled at her. "Here, doggie, doggie," Damon said as he ran in the opposite direction of the group. The werewolf followed him quickly. Elena helped her sister up and tried to run again but Audrey stayed put.

"Come on. Let's keep moving," Ric said.

"We can't leave Damon," Audrey said shaking her head.

"Damon will be fine. He can handle himself," Ric insisted trying to get the girls to move.

"No. If he gets bit, he'll die. We're the reason he's out here!" Audrey argued.

"I'm the reason he's out here. I told him where we were, and I'm telling you to keep moving. Let's go girls now!" Ric finally persuaded. The girls were resistant but followed him anyways. When they reached the car Audrey was silently crying in the back seat.

"Stefan's out there somewhere and now Damon, and we're just sitting in this car?" Elena asked Ric.

"Let the vampires fight the hybrid zombie mountain man. I'll take care of keeping the humans safe," Ric answered tapping on the steering wheel. Audrey sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"I thought you were checked out of taking care of people," Audrey mumbled sniffling again.

"I know what you're doing. Don't. There doesn't need to be a lesson here," Ric grumbled, silently hoping Damon would arrive at any moment.

"You're better at it than you think, you know?" Elena stated, crossing her arms.

"Oh, boy, are you a sucker for a lost cause or what?" Ric chuckled sarcastically shaking his head.

"You're not a lost cause, Ric. You're just lost. But so is Jeremy, and Audrey, and so am I. Our family is gone. We don't have anybody. I'm sorry, but you don't have anybody either, so...we're kind of good for each other," Elena explained.

"I'm keeping the ring, then," Alaric sighed. There was rustling on one side of the car and all heads turned to see Damon approaching.

"Damon!" Audrey shouted with relief. A weight lifted off her shoulders and she jumped out of the car to meet him. "Are you okay? Did you...?" She trailed off looking him over. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm fine, bite-free. Get back in the car please," But Audrey ignored him and embraced him tightly. "Audrey,"

"Can you just give me a minute to appreciate that you're not dead?" She asked playfully.

"I'll give you 10 seconds. 9...8...," He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from him turning her towards the car. He walked her back to it, opening the door for her. "Hey Ric, do you know where I parked my car?"

"Damon, stop being such a caveman," Elena scoffed. He smirked at her before climbing into the backseat with her sister. The minute the door shut Audrey was hugging him again. Leaning her head against his shoulder she held him tight like she was afraid he'd disappear.

"You know I'm okay right?" Damon laughed.

"You already almost died once Damon. Do you know what kind of traumatic stress that put me under? Than you do something stupid like baiting a werewolf," Audrey explained as she closed her eyes. "You're my best friend aside from Caroline. I'd lose it if I lost you," Damon smiled down at her and wrapped an arm around her. Elena looked out the window from the front seat and for a moment she could've sworn she saw Stefan watching them.

-

Damon smiled as he looked down at the girl sleeping on his chest. Audrey was frowning in her sleep but it was adorable to Damon as he slid a finger between her eyebrows. She wiggled her nose before stirring awake and opening her eyes to see she was laying on a hard body. "Damon, it's like 4 in the morning and I thought we agreed you wouldn't sneak into my bedroom anymore,"

"First off, it's 6 in the morning. Second, we agreed that I wouldn't sneak in here at night. I came here a few minutes ago," He defended. She groaned loudly as she buried her head into his chest.

"Oh my god, why are you waking me up at 6 in the morning! Do you realize how much beauty sleep I need?" She whined miserably. Damon laughed which caused Elena to walk in.

"Damon found a lead on Stefan so I guess we're going to Chicago," Elena explained leaning against the door frame.

"Holy shit I hate you two," Audrey laughed sarcastically. After about 10 minutes of complaining Audrey finally got out of bed and got dressed. The moment the trio got into the car Audrey directed them to the nearest Dunkin Donuts. "Mr. Salvatore if you think I'm going to be a happy camper without coffee you're sadly mistaken. Now get me a caramel coolatta please," After getting her coffee and becoming satisfied, Audrey brought forth something no one thought of before this spur of the moment road trip. "Did anyone realize that it takes like 12 hours to get to Chicago? How are we going to make it there and back in one day?"

"Little bird, you obviously haven't rode in a car with me for a long time," Damon chuckled. "I can get us there in 7 hours tops,"

"And how the fuck do you expect to do that?" Audrey asked dumbfounded.

"It's about 700 miles from here to Chicago," Elena laughed looking back at her sister through the rear view mirror. The light went off in Audrey's head and everything clicked.

"Oh...well don't kill us all right? I'd haunt your ass Damon Salvatore," Audrey laughed leaning back in her seat.

"Trust me babe, I wouldn't dream of it," Damon smirked. It was about an hour before anyone said anything. Damon started a game with the Gilbert girls to keep them occupied. They had to find a license plate for each state. He looked over at Elena and sighed dramatically. "I sure hope we find him, cause it would suck if the last memento of Stefan was that crappy old necklace," Elena touched her necklace softly.

"It's an antique Damon, like you," She retorted sarcastically.

"Ooh burn! Nice one sis!" Audrey snickered from the backseat. Damon glanced back at her and narrowed his eyes. "Sorry babe,"

"Could you be a doll and hand me that book back there?" Damon asked her. She nodded and reached for the book on the floor before handing it to him. "Read this. Paints a pretty little picture of Stefan's first experience in Chicago,"

"It's Stefan's diary. I'm not going to invade his private thoughts," Elena stated.

"You need to be prepared for what you're about to see," Damon argued trying to hand her the book.

"I've seen Stefan in his darkest periods. I can handle it," Elena argued back. Damon rolled his eyes and placed the diary on the steering wheel. He opened it to one of the marked pages.

"Here's one. March 12, 1922," He cleared his throat before continuing. "I've blacked out days. I wake up in strangers blood. In places I don't recognize. With women I don't remember," He had changed his voice while reading, as if he was mocking Stefan. When he was finished he looked at Elena with faked shock. "Ahh, I'm shocked! Stefan's not a virgin?" Both Elena and Audrey laughed. Elena grabbed the diary from Damon with a shake of her head.

"Eyes on the road, grandma," She giggled. Slowly she opened the journal and began to read it.

"Fine. Back to my game. Tell me if you see a Florida plate, Audrey," Damon said smirking at the young girl in the mirror. She smirked back with a reply before searching out the window for what he said.

-

6 excruciating hours later, they finally reached Chicago. Both Elena and Audrey stared out at the beautiful city in wonder. Audrey didn't know how a place could be so beautiful. "Wow,"

"It may be pretty, but I promise you. This place is a hunting ground for hungry vampires," Damon chuckled ruining the mood.

"So where are we off to first, hot stuff?" Audrey asked still looking out the window.

"We, my beautiful friend, are taking a trip down Stefan's memory lane," Damon answered smirking.