Elena and Stefan had been enjoying the Founder's Day festivities. Riding the float as part of the Miss Mystic court, getting cotton candy, and enjoying each other's company. The merriment had vanished in an instant as Damon had interrupted them to advise that the tomb vampires were going to attack. But if he expected her to turn and leave immediately he was sorely mistaken. Jeremy was there too, after all. She couldn't just leave him in danger, either.
So, while Damon went off to do whatever he could to stem the slaughter, she and Stefan had raced through the square trying to find her baby brother. And then it was as though time slowed for a moment. Stefan sank to his knees, hands pressing to his head in agony and Elena crouching beside him, trying to offer whatever comfort she could. If she'd been able to lift her eyes from his agonized face, she would have realized that Stefan wasn't the only one who had gone down. The square swarmed with people systemically rounding up anyone who had been affected, Stefan wrenched from her arms.
She needed to find where they were taking him. Though a deputy held her back for a moment, their attention was clearly on the clean-up effort, not on monitoring the teenage girl once it seemed evident that she couldn't win this battle. And as their attention wavered, Elena watched, creeping behind another group as they dragged another vampire to her father's old office.
Uncle John. Of course. It made sense, given his hatred of vampires. Mind whirled, trying to figure out how she could get in there. She needed to get Stefan out of there. And she could only hope that Damon wasn't among those captured, either. Getting one person out would be difficult enough but two? That train of thought fell away as Elena noted smoke starting to pour out of the back door. Without a second of hesitation she darted forward. She couldn't let him be hurt.