Elena walked into the parlor in the boarding house just as Damon put on a jacket to leave.

"So, the plan worked." Damon smirked as he looked up at her.

"Thank you, Damon, for your help." Elena smiled at him, her voice sounding like she had been smoking and drinking for years.

"You're very welcome." Damon looked cocky but had a glint of something vulnerable in his eyes.

"I talked to Bonnie and her Grams and they have agreed to help us open the tomb." Elena informed him as she fiddled with her scarf.

"I thought you didn't want to involve the Bennett witch?" Damon asked then frowned. "What's with the scarf?"

"I was going to ask Bree to help us with the tomb actually but Bonnies Grams said that it would be better and easier for a Bennett witch to break Bennett magic or something like that." Elena shrugged.

"And the scarf?" Damon asked again when it seemed like Elena wasn't going to answer.

Elena slowly pulled the scarf away from her neck to show the hand shaped bruise around her throat, "Seems like a lot of people have a thing about choking me." She shrugged with a small chuckle. "I mean choking during sex might be fun but that would at least be consensual."

"Why didn't Stefan give you his blood to heal that?" Damon softly touched her neck.

"I didn't show him at first and then I forgot about it until I started talking again." Elena looked down with a shrug.

"You can have some of my blood if you want." Damon hesitated, like he expected her to turn him down because he wasn't Stefan.

"That would be appreciated." Elena smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

Damon bit into his wrist and held it out to Elena who grasped it gently and took a couple of mouthfuls.

"Are you ready to get Kathrine back?" Elena asked as they walked out of the boarding house together a few minutes later, still having that niggling feeling of having forgot something important when it came to Kathrine.

"Definitely." Damon smiled brightly with excitement and picked Elena up bridal style to vamp-sped them to the woods.

When they arrived, there was a party in full swing and Elena hummed. "Right, the Duke party, I forgot."

"Worried Kathrine will eat them?" Damon smirked at her.

"As long as she leaves my friends and family alone and is discreet, she can go for it." Elena shrugged and then she smiled as Caroline and Matt walked up to them.

"Hey Elena." Matt smiled.

"Hello my emotional support bitch." Caroline laughed and hugged Elena then she stepped back and intertwined her fingers with Matt. "Where have you been?"

"Long story, no time to tell it." Damon said.

"I can tell you tomorrow if you want?" Elena smiled at Caroline in happiness as she subtly nodded at Carolines and Matts hands in approval.

"We haven't met." Matt held out his hand towards Damon. "I'm Matt."

"There's a reason we haven't met, Matt." Damon muttered as he gently grabbed Elenas arm and started to pull her towards the old church. "You and I are going this way."

"Sorry my dudes, but I seem to have other plans." Elena laughed as she was pulled away from Caroline and Matt.

As they arrived at the church, they heard Bonnies Grams ask if Stefan was sure that Damon and Elena would come.

Damon whistled loudly to get their attention. "Brother, witches." He strode past them with Elena walking calmy behind him with a small smile.

"Is everything ready?" Elena asked as she looked around.

"I guess so." Bonnie hummed.

Bonnie walked over to Sheila and Stefan as Sheila lights the torches while Damon and Elena watches from the entrance.

"Air, earth, fire." Sheila recited.

"Water." Bonnie held up a towards Sheila who takes it and sprinkle the water on the floor.

"Slightly disappointed that it's just tap water." Elena whispered to Damon who snorted quietly and Stefan, who had heard her, smiled.

"What's that?" Stefan asked as he saw Damon unravel something he pulled from his pocket.

"A blood bag for Kathrine." Damon shrugged. "Gotta have something to get her going and I didn't think it would be a smart idea to have Elena offer a vein."

"If you had asked, I would have agreed." Elena smiled at him.

"You would trust an unknown vampire enough to drink from you without draining you?" Damon looked disbelievingly at her.

"No, but I do trust you to not let it get that far." Elena looked earnestly up at him.

"Admit it." Damon turned to Stefan to hide his shock. "You can't wait to get rid of me."

"I actually like having you around but I know that you and Kathrine can't stay." Stefan smiled sadly. "But, promise me that you'll keep in contact, at least?"

"Hmm." Damon hummed.

"We're ready." Bonnie told them as she stood up from the ground.

Sheila and Bonnie started to recite a spell that would open the tomb with their hands clasped and eyes closed.

"What are they saying?" Damon muttered.

"Sounds like Latin." Stefan murmured back.

"Archaic Latin, actually." Elena told them. In her last life her grandfather had collected old and rare books so she had seen and heard some very old languages.

"That was pretty cool." Elena said after a few minutes as the torches flared up and the tomb creaked open.

"It worked!" Bonnie said exhilarated.

"Of course, it worked." Sheila smirked.

"I'll go build some fires." Stefan said and made his way out to where they had placed the gasoline.

"You ready?" Damon asked Elena.

"Absolutely." Elena nodded at the same time as Sheila and Bonnie asked "What?"

"You think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" Damon asked as if they were stupid for even thinking it.

"Don't take her in." Sheila demanded. "I'll bring the walls down."

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't." Damon sneered. "You think I trust you?"

"As much as I trust you." Sheila glared.

"Enough!" Elena snapped. "It is my choice and I actually offered to go in with him."

"My lady, shall we?" Damon offered his left arm to Elena while he grabbed a torch with his right.

"We shall, good sir." Elena giggled.

They had been walking around the tomb for a while when Elena started to hear whispers or something. "What is that?"

"They can sense you." Damon murmured quietly.

"They won't suddenly jump up and try and bite me, right?" Elena asked softly.

"No, they are to desiccated to move at the moment." Damon reassured her.

"Okay, that's good." Elena smiled. "That means we can split up and cover more ground in the search for Kathrine."

"Good idea." Damon started to go left. "Scream if you find her or if you need help."

"Like a three-year-old who's seen a spider." Elena assured as she walked down the corridor on the right.

Elena walked around the tomb looking for a mummified version of herself, which was very weird if you thought about it, but at least she would find out if she would make a pretty corps, right?

"Here, Kathrine, Kathrine, Kathrine." Elena called out with a soft giggle. "Here girl."

The further in the tomb she gets the more vampires she sees. Suddenly she fell down after having tripped over the legs of a mummified vampire and as she looked up, she saw that his eyes were open and bloodshot with hunger.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Elena murmured. "No one deserves this."

Elena got up slowly with a sad look at the vampire and decided that what Emily did wasn't saving these people but torturing them, driving them slowly insane with hunger and pain.

As she turned around, she gasped in surprise when she saw Anna standing a couple of feet away from her. "Oh look, it's my brother's stalker, joy." Elena grumbled sarcastically.

"Your boyfriend did this you know." Anna sneered at her as she fell on her knees besides her mother's mummified body."

"We're not...eh never mind" Elena muttered. "And his father did."

"And Jonathan Gilbert." Anna said as she stroked her mother's hair. "And I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life. I had Jeremy all ready to go but..."

"Jeremy?" Elena gasped and turned around to run to check on her little brother. But Anna managed to vamp-sped in front of her, grab her wrist and bite down, making Elena scream in shock and pain.

"I'm going to get you out." Anna muttered to her mother as she pushed Elena down across Pearls lap and held her wrist to Pearls mouth.

"You could have just asked, you bitch!" Elena growled out as Pearl begins to drink.

"Let her go!" Stefan snarled as he pushed Anna of Elena and helped her up. Then he pushed Elena gently towards the exit, "Go, I'll be right behind you."

Elena ran out of the tomb while holding her bleeding wrist against her chest. She stopped right outside the door to be able to wrap her scarf around her wrist as a makeshift bandage.

"Elena, Stefan..." Bonnie started to say.

"He's right behind me." Elena reassured.

Both Bonnie and Sheila looked sadly towards the entrance of the tomb and Elena turned around to see Stefan standing in the door way.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" Elena walked over to him.

"It's going to be okay." Bonnie muttered quickly. "We'll fix it."

"Fix what?" Elena asked dangerously.

"I can't leave." Stefan smiled sadly at Elena and sent a glare towards the witches.

"What do you mean?" Elena looked between Stefan and the Bennett witches.

"The spell is still up." Bonnie explained. "We can't get them out yet."

"What?" Elena started at Bonnie in complete betrayal. "How could you?!"

"Even if we're able to break through the seal, we won't be able to hold it for long." Sheila informed them, avoiding Elenas dark glare.

"I'll go look for Damon and Kathrine and tell them to hurry up." Stefan said and disappeared back into the tomb.

"I think it's working." Elena said after Bonnie and Sheila had been chanting for a while.

"I just wanted my mother back." Anna said quietly as she helped her mother out of the tomb. "Jeremy's fine, he's outside and I promise not to touch him."

"Keep going, Bonnie" Sheila ordered as the torches started to falter and then she turned toward Elena. "They better hurry."

Elena rushed back into the tomb as she noticed the strain the witches was under. She heard the entrance end of the argument between Stefan and Damon as she rushed into the room.

"Damon, please." Elena pleaded and softly grabbed his hand.

Damon didn't say anything but he squeezed her hand and let her lead him out of the tomb.

Elena walked out of the tomb first, quickly followed by Damon and Stefan. As soon as they were clear Elena turned around and pulled Damon into a tight hug. She decided to not say anything about his shaking body or the wetness on her neck but she refused to let go, even when Bonnie passed out.

After a while Damon pulled back but didn't let go of Elenas hand, which made him follow her as she walked out of the church and over to her little brother.

Stefan knelt down to check on Jeremy as he started to wake up. "He's all right."

"Did anyone see the truck that hit me?" Jeremy asked as he sat up.

"No but the vampire who hit you is dead if that helps you feel better." Stefan smiled and helped Jeremy to his feet.

"It does actually." Jeremy nodded and rubbed the back of his head, then he flinched in pain when he touched a certain spot.

"Here." Stefan bit into his wrist and held it out to Jeremy. "This way you won't have to worry about a concussion."

"Thank man." Jeremy took the wrist gratefully.

Damon silently offered his own bleeding wrist to Elena, having smelled that she was bleeding. Elena smiled at him in thanks and leaned against him in silent support.

Around two hours later after having dropped Bonnie and Sheila off at Sheila's place all the while refusing to speak to either off them, Elena walked into Jeremys room dressed in her sleep cloths. "How are you feeling?"

"Physically I feel fine." Jeremy hummed and made room on the bed for Elena. "Emotionally? I don't really know. In one way I feel sad because I actually liked Anna and, in another way, I feel pissed at her for risking your life when she could have done like Damon did and brought a blood bag."

"You seem to have really bad luck when it comes to girls." Elena laughed.

"Maybe I just haven't found the right person yet." Jeremy murmured as the both of them started to fall asleep.

"Don't think I didn't catch that you said person instead of girl." Elena mumbled.

"Go to sleep, Lena." Jeremy hugged her closer and slowly fell into the wonderful world of dreams.