Seeing Damon makes Jordan's insides turn and temperature rise. She doesn't know whether she is relieved he is trying to rescue them or whether she never wants to see him again. He makes her thoughts spin around in circles, and it is driving her completely insane. Jordan has never felt this way before, and she didn't know it would be this hard.

They bind her with the same ropes as before, and the relief on Stefan's face as she enters the room alive is evident. I'm alright, she mouths to him, and his muscles relax. Her eyes take sight of Stefan's bruised wrists, and she can barely hold back a gasp of surprise and wince of pain. To show that Stefan is doing fine, he softly bows his head. Jordan doesn't believe him, but she doesn't want to voice her worry in front of their captures, afraid they might use it against her.

Fear is a funny thing. When you expect to be left trembling at the sight of your greatest demons you lift your head and stare into the eyes of the beholder of your life with defiance. Fear strikes when you least expect it, but that also means that strength surges through you when you least suspect it. When you're beaten down and blood trickles down your body from numerous cuts, it doesn't stop you from facing your fears. So, fear is a funny thing, and as the same man who dragged his nails across her cheeks enters the room, Jordan doesn't feel afraid.

At least, not for herself.

Resolutely, Fredrick walks over to where Stefan is bound, not sparing Jordan a single glance. The beat in his step is one without hesitation, and as Stefan screams fill the air, Jordan can't comprehend what has happened. Fredrick must have used his vampirism to his advantage.

"Stefan! Stefan! Are you okay? What did he do?" Worry is etched in her voice as she frantically searches Stefan's face and body for any signs of injuries.

"It is called vervain, sweetheart, and not only hurts the body, but is very affective on a vampire's eyes."

Jordan's eyes widen in disbelief, and if she could, she would drop to her knees and beg for Stefan's life to be spared. "Please, you don't have to do this. We can all live in Mystic Falls in peace."

Fredrick speeds towards Jordan until he is mere inches away from sinking his teeth into her neck. Jordan raises her chin a bit higher. "You don't get it, do you? Your vampire boyfriend killed one of ours, so it's only fair if we take over this town."

With a knife, Fredrick trails Jordan's cheekbone. Jordan rattles her hands, twisting the rope that tie her hands. "I don't get? I don't get?!" Fredrick takes a step back as the other vampire – Harper – and Stefan look at her curiously. "You're the one who doesn't get it. You may be vampires, but you aren't invincible. This town knows it. I know it. You must know it. But what you don't know is that it is your weakness. Your greatest strength is your weakness, isn't that hilarious?"

Stefan's eyes widen as Jordan speaks. Since when does her voice has a sharp edge to it? How come she is so defensive?

Jordan's blonde locks stick to her forehead and shoulders as strained breaths fill the silence. Her shirt has been ripped at the hem, and if past-Jordan were to see a trailer of the last few weeks, she would have thought she looked mad. Crazy mad. Like this flickering light inside one's eyes kind of mad, and when her eyes lock with Fredrick's once again, she knows she is the odd one out. "Once you've been a vampire for over a hundred years you start to forget what it feels like to be mortal. You start to believe that you can actually live forever, but while that may be true, you can still die. You can still bleed like mortal man, fear still consumes you like an icy layer of dust, you can still be buried six feet under. So when a wooden stake hovers over your heart I want you to picture my face, because it doesn't matter if I die now and you'll die in a thousand years. You'll never fully outlive me. No one can."

Jordan casts her eyes down. Not as a sign of defeat, but as a sign of strength and silent victory. Fredrick growls like an animal who is about to attack its prey, but he doesn't. He goes no further than to growl. How can he? In many, many, ways, Jordan is right.

Past Stefan's lips hasn't come any form of truth. To keep himself from not straight up draining Jordan from her blood, Fredrick tucks at Stefan's arms to get the vervain coated rope to sting even more. "This isn't over."

Fredrick orders the other vampires to stake Harper down before leaving the small room, which means Jordan still can't voice her worry. Not in front of Harper. She can't drag another person into the mess she created.

Harper feels the suppressed sadness coming off of Jordan in waves, and he knows there are no words to ease her worrying. The trio finds themselves in a situation with no way of escaping. The only scenario that spooks through their minds is inevitable death. "I wish I could help the two of you."

Jordan gives him a small smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes. She knows it is hopeless anyways.

Meanwhile, Stefan nods his head, he understands. He just wishes that Jordan wouldn't keep everything cropped inside. It never ends well, he got to experience that first hand. The shadows under her eyes are intensified by the little light in the small room; the bruising's on her wrists stand out against her pale skin. And, not to forget, the bomb she dropped, stating she is a nymph. Stefan has never met a nymph in his life, and before now, he didn't even know they still existed. He hoped that finding out what she is would give Jordan some closure, but she looks even more lost than before.

♛

Jordan doesn't know how long she has been trapped in the little cellar. Teeth graze her lips and rip open the dried up flesh. Blood drips into her mouth and both vampires head pick up from their lulled state.

"Sorry," Jordan murmurs. She didn't mean for Stefan and Harper to notice her bleeding.

Stefan shakes his head slowly, like every movement of his body hurts. It probably does. "It's okay. You shouldn't bite your lip though, it isn't healthy."

Jordan nods her head, but not even minutes pass before she rips open her lips, again. She wonders if they are just going to leave them here. For Jordan to die of dehydration and for Stefan and Harper to turn to stone. They will be alive, but not living. Jordan supposes death is kinder.

Stop! She scolds herself. She can't think like this. Jordan will not die. Not today. Neither will Stefan and Harper. They'll make it out alive, one way or another. They have to. She will not rest until she has unravelled every mystery surrounding her parents and origin.

Her wrists are sore from rope cutting into her skin. They bounded them more tightly the second time, and Jordan feels as if her hands are about to depart from her body. The rope cuts off her blood flow. She tries to keep her breathing even, but from the occasional glance of Stefan, she knows she is doing a sucky job.

The only good thing is that Fredrick and the other vampires left a light one after they left the room. Not that big of a deal for Stefan and Harper, as they can see just as well in the dark, but Jordan is glad. It makes her feel less trapped and more prepared. Not that there is anything to be prepared for, the vampires will be able to overpower her within a heartbeat.

A sudden crash makes the hairs on Jordan's arms rise. Her body goes rigid and she doesn't try to make a sound. Whatever is happening upstairs better be good. Stefan looks at her with hopeful eyes, and she knows that he is thinking exactly what she is: Elena and Damon. They came to rescue them. Jordan doesn't want to believe it, but it is all that spooks through her mind. That it wasn't a pan who clattered to the ground, but a door that broke open because of their rescuers.

Jordan's heart is beating hard against her ribcage, and she wonders whether it would actually fly out were it not for her ribcage. She supposes it would. Jordan closes her eyes and shuts off all sounds from entering her ears. All the blocked out sounds give Jordan the change to listen to her inner ones. The rustling of leaves, the murmur of chattering of animals, the wind that settles over her thoughts like a calmness. She can feel it move throughout her entire existence. An energy, a pulse different than the beat of her heart.

It scares her to death.

The door of the cellar opens in an instant, ripping Jordan away from her supposed inner calmness. His eyes are the first thing she sees. Electric blue eyes, staring into her soul, seeing parts of her Jordan doesn't even know exist. She feels vulnerable and powerful under Damon's gaze at the same time.

Jordan can't help but let his name rip through the silence in a soft whisper, "Damon."

Drawn to each other like magnets, Jordan only realises Elena has accompanied him when Stefan acknowledges her presence, "Elena, you shouldn't be here."

With a slight tilt of her chin, Elena looks Stefan into his eyes, "I would never abandon you or my sister," she says with a surprising force. Why does everyone want her to sit on the side-lines like she is some glass doll that will beak at every bump in the road?

Stefan doesn't bother replying to Elena, he knows it's hopeless anyways. The Gilbert twins are like that in many aspects: too stubborn for their own damn good. "The ropes are coated with vervain."

Elena nods her head, "I'll be careful."

As Damon advances towards Harper, Jordan screams out, "No, don't hurt him, he didn't do anything wrong."

"He's a vampire, isn't that enough?"

Sometimes people don't make any sense and say things but mean something totally different. Like Damon does, most of the times. He uses words only to twist them around, making Jordan's head supposedly spin in circles.

It doesn't.

It doesn't matter that he is talking about Harper, because Jordan knows he actually means himself. The little quirks and ways of talking of Damon are like a second nature to Jordan. How his push only seems to lure her in. Or how the breaking of his heart only leaves Jordan aching to glue it back together. She knows what it means. It's plastered over the huge billboards in the big cities, written across the sky, carved in her heart. Jordan just doesn't want to know what it means. Because admitting she loves Damon is like crossing the finish line, and even though she should feel ecstatic, she doesn't know if she is mentally and physically prepared for that. She doesn't know if she could recover from a broken heart.

"Why do you always do that?" she whispers, "Why do you always put yourself down? I don't care that you are a vampire. Being a vampire isn't equal to being a cold-blooded killer. When are you going to understand that? When will you accept the fact that even though you drive me absolutely crazy, I will never leave you behind?" The words pour out of Jordan like a waterfall, and she is glad that Elena and Stefan are too absorbed in their own worlds.

Damon visibly swallows, and were he not to have control over every muscle in his body, his hands would surely quake horrible. Damon completely forgets about Harper's grunts of pain. Instead, he unties Jordan's ropes like is in a sort of trance. Completely consumed by the small task of untangling the rope from her bruised wrists.

Fingers trace Jordan's inner wrist, and for once, he knows that the goose bumps aren't because she's in pain. For once, he realises that it might be his touch.

If he weren't such an asshole, he would kiss Jordan.

But he is, so he doesn't. An arm is slung over his shoulder and fingers hold on tightly to his muscles. He lets Jordan lean against him for the support he knows she needs. He doesn't know what happened to her, but she is absolutely drained.

"Can you get him into the car?" Damon addresses Elena.

Elena nods in response and together with Stefan she leaves the little cellar. Not before extracting the wooden stakes out of Harper's legs, of course. They weren't about to neglect the vampire that defended them.

While Harper is still catching his breath from the removal of the two stakes, Jordan turns to Damon with a loopy smile covering her features, "So, are we going to kick some ass or what?"