state of grace | mikaelson men

1 | ORIGINALS

Finn matched it — no, he hadn't been awake back when Klaus last tried to break the sacrifice, but he knew how much his half-brother hated to have his toys taken away like a child. "He should be ashamed that a few adolescent vampires are closer to catching Katerina than he's even been."

Even the two Originals thought it could be done — that Katherine could be killed. Bonnie managed to spell a room to keep her trapped, and Caroline did a fantastic job of luring Katherine into the room. And Damon and Stefan were inches away from staking her in the heart before the plan fell apart.

The whole night fell apart.

Katherine was linked to Elena — who wasn't supposed to even be there, but Alaric was bad at distracting her — meaning the human doppelgänger felt every injury and didn't heal as the vampire did. Bonnie managed to take her pain away, but still. And all the while, Tyler killed a girl on accident and triggered his werewolf curse. With the full moon approaching, that was going to be a disaster.

At the end of the night, Katherine wasn't dead, something Kol groaned about, knowing only his brother and mate could hear his complaints. But at the very least, Katherine was trapped in the tomb that Damon thought she'd been trapped in for a hundred and forty-five years. The irony was fitting, Lottie supposed.

The rest of the night was supposed to be simple. Lottie was instructed to drive a still-injured Elena home while everyone else dealt with the aftermath of the night.

So, why was it that some guy in a jester's mask felt the need to knock Elena and Lottie out in the parking lot before either girl had a chance to scream?

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It was Finn's voice that coaxed Lottie back to consciousness. Though she kept her eyes closed from how much her head hurt, she could hear him begging for her to wake up. To free herself.

Free herself from what?

Someone was picking her up and carrying her, not bothering to be gentle. Then she was set down on a rather uncomfortable surface. Then she heard the sound of feet retreating.

After a moment, Lottie managed to pull her eyes open and look around, feeling a bit dazed. She was in some kind of old house, with paint peeling off the walls, broken windows that let in small beams of light, and cobwebs in every corner. She'd been placed on an old couch that had long since lost all its stuffing.

"Finn," Lottie whispered a bit fearfully. He was in her line of sight within a second. "What's going on?"

"It seems the doppelgänger has been kidnapped. You were taken as well since there were to be no witnesses," Finn explained, a deep frown on his face. He could recall how the trade-off happened and remembered how the vampire named Trevor said he was looking forward to having a snack. "Kol is searching the rest of the house."

"Wh - where's Ele—" Lottie cut herself off when the same man from earlier came in, this time with a barely conscious Elena in his arms. Her wrists and feet were bound, which was pointless as she was injured and harmless. "Elena!"

Elena stirred more as the man set her on the couch, next to Lottie. Then he began to remove the ropes around the younger girl.

"What do you want?" Elena managed to ask. Her head fell to the side and she spotted Charlotte as well. "Why'd you take us?"

The man simply shushed her, not caring to answer her questions.

"Please, she's hurt," Lottie said with a frown. They didn't know why they were taken, but Elena needed medical attention. None of the vampires had a chance to feed her their blood after the masquerade.