Stefan's old apartment was quiet and exactly what I needed. I figured if Elena was smart, she would've vacated as soon as we left.

I tugged the bookcase open and found the names.

Why was Stefan so obsessed?

At the very top was Giuseppe Salvatore, which must have been his first kill. His was followed by many other familiar names.

The founders.

The council.

I traced the names lightly, they really had torn Mystic Falls apart. If Stefan hadn't known he was a ripper, then he would've been all the more ruthlessly unhinged.

"Damon, I've been calling you for hours." Elena fucking Gilbert sounded in the hall outside. I shut the bookcase, and held my breath in the dark. "Where have you been?"

"I've been doing what we came all this way to do." The voices got closer, entering the apartment. "I told you to wait here."

"Yeah and while I did, Klaus nearly saw me. Stefan's still in there. He didn't give me up when he could've and it would've gotten him points with Klaus."

"Stefan is gone. I'm here for my sister and that's it."

"And you think the girl Klaus raised is better than Stefan. He vouched for you when we all wanted you gone."

"That girl was the one of the only two things grounding me to my humanity before we were ever vampires. I've killed more in her name than I have ever done for you."

"I don't get it. You guys haven't seen her since you turned and suddenly she shows up and wants to play family?"

Why did the dark feel like it was closing in on me? It was pressing against my chest. I couldn't breathe.

Fuck. I couldn't breathe.

Oh my god.

I stumbled backward and the shelves crashed down around me. It was like I was barely aware of it. Bottles shattered and splashed my boots.

It felt like a ton had been placed squarely on top of me.

Light blinded me, and I vaguely heard the squeak of the hinges on the door. "Morgan?" Was that Damon? "Morgan!" He moved into my swimming vision, grasping at my arms. "Are you okay?"

All I could think about was the crushing darkness. How it felt like it wanted to consume me. It still hung around the corners of my vision.

"She's having a panic attack, we need to snap her out of it."

"Here, rub that on her wrist." Elena.

Damon gently flipped my wrist upward, pushing my sleeve up before he did as Elena instructed. It was only when I felt the biting cold that I realized they were using ice.

It dragged me full force back into the present.

Why was I breathing so heavily?

"Hey." Damon looked me over as if checking for injury. Like I wouldn't heal quickly. "You're safe. Just take a deep breath. Can you do that?"

"...no."

"Okay." He stood, drawing me with him as he backed up, further into the lit apartment, something I was grateful for.

Elena hovered, and I didn't like the way she looked at me. Like I was broken.

Damon lured me onto the corner of the dusty bed, and then he dragged a chair over. "You're okay. It's safe. No one's gonna get you." He thumbed away tears I didn't know I had.

I was shaking.

And suddenly it was just like when we were little kids.

Confined, dark spaces had never been kind to me. I clutched onto his sleeve, afraid that if I let go, Father would throw me back into the closet again.

It was irrational, I knew, but it felt so real.

Maybe it was that I'd spent a lot of my time in a closet, listening to the voices of my family, praying I'd be let out.

Then there was my coffin.

Nik didn't know that was the reason I hated it so much, and he never would as long as I could help it.

He'd most definitely use it against me.

Damon's eyes softened. "I'm here to take you home."

"Home?"

"Yeah."

Wait. No. "Nik-"

"We can hide you from him, like we do for Elena."

The doppelgänger was looking at me with such pity in her eyes. It was disgusting. "The second he realizes what's happened, he'll come to kill you."

My phone buzzed and I quickly reached for it in panic. I'd forgotten about the check ins. Damn it.

Ten messages and two missed calls.

Nik was going to kill me, as in actually. "I have to go."

"No. I'm not letting you go back to that psycho."

"Damon." I stood, dodging his grip as I pocketed my phone. "It's not a choice I can make, Nik and I had a deal and if I don't leave, he's going to hunt me down." Which wouldn't be pleasant for me or Damon. "And I have no doubt he'll find me, so keep focusing on hiding Elena and I'll deal with my family."

"You haven't... told him have you?"

"No, Elena. Of course there's always a chance he'll do a head dive, but it's Stefan you should be worried about. He has a really shitty poker face. I've tried to do as much as I can, but I can't help that." My phone buzzed again, as if urging me to go back.

"He won't be able to do a head dive if he can't find you." Damon stepped into my path. "I'm not letting-"

"Let me be perfectly clear, because apparently you really don't understand the danger. Nik is one of the best trackers in the world. He can and will find me, personally I don't want to handle that fallout. At this present moment, I'm already pushing the limits of his very short amount of patience. Let. Me. Go. Before you all die."

Damon frowned. "Can you keep Stefan alive?"

"I'll make as many deals as I need to."

"Do it." Elena hugged herself.