The Unknown Variable

Part 6

Perhaps this Alaric person was not as trusted as he had thought.

"Of course not. I was at the bar trying to get answers, not to tell Damon anything." Klaus reminded himself to keep his tone even; he was here to get information, and he couldn't do that if they immediately cast suspicion in his direction.

"Doesn't matter." Elena looked up from where she had kept her gaze on the ground. "Because of Damon being a stubborn and selfish idiot, we have even more problems to deal with."

Caroline's gaze filled with confusion as she took in the somber looks that had immediately crossed her friend's faces at those words. "What happened?" Her question went ignored as the group remained in a muted silence.

Klaus struggled to keep himself in check as he watched them attempt to blame his boy.

In one fell swoop, his young cub had knocked the entire fight from the doppelganger and her friends.

Their faces showed nothing but resignation and defeat at the circumstances they found themselves in.

"Bonnie?" Caroline probed gently, staring as the girl had tears swimming in her eyes.

Sucking in a shaky breath, Bonnie forced a watery smile onto her face as she turned to face her.

"Damon happened. Like always, he messed everything up. He shoved vervain into Stefan's blood, broke Elena's arm, and." The words seemed to escape her as tears cascaded down her face.

"And he started the process of turning me into a vampire. I haven't decided whether I am going to complete the transition or not."

She wiped angrily at the tears on her face, her eyes burning with emotion as she tried to will them to stop.

Shock crept along Caroline's face as the words finally seemed to register.

Before any words could cross her lips, Stefan stood from his place to lean against the bar facing them all.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is how we will draw Damon out and take another chance at locking him down before Klaus gets here. Alaric, you and he are friends, so how about you give him a call and ask him to meet you somewhere? Once he's there, the others and I will be waiting in the wings to take him down."

Elena's voice raised as she stood facing Stefan, "Did you not hear Elijah on the phone earlier? Klaus is already in town, and the odds are great that he is looking for or already has Damon by his side. I can't risk Jeremy, Jenna, or you guys just because there is a slight possibility that Damon is somehow special to Klaus. We already risked Bonnie, and now she will die or be a vampire for the rest of eternity."

It was clear to everyone in the room that she was beyond frustrated, her voice raising in octaves as every word left her lips.

Her eyes swung in Bonnie's direction, her gaze filled with hopelessness as she stared at her friend.

"Elena..." Bonnie's voice wavered as she fought back a new round of tears at her friend's begging gaze.

Bonnie's eyes took in the room; everyone's eyes were on her.

She knew what they were waiting for; they wanted her to complete the transition and become a vampire.

It may be too late to help them as a witch, but at least if she completed the transition, she could still help them with Klaus.

"Fine." Her voice barely brushed a whisper as she turned her eyes to the ground before she took a steadying breath.

"I'll complete the transition. I hope you know that when we are done with Klaus, I will kill Damon whether he is your brother or not, Stefan."