Return To Mystic Falls

Poorly Executed, Awesome Plans

"Really, tonight?" Alaric hisses at Diana once Jenna and Elijah have left. He leans further across the table. "We don't even know how that dagger works and you're trying to bring him over tonight?"

Diana sits back against the booth, crossing her arms over her chest, "Well, neither of you were going to ever get your shit together long enough to make any other solid plans. The longer we wait around to do this, the longer Elena is at risk. You should be thanking me."

"For potentially getting us all killed? Oh yeah, thanks Diana, at least now I won't have to worry about Jenna finding out about any of this," Ric answer back with a snort, rolling his eyes.

My girlfriend shakes her head, scoffing, "Maybe if you just grew up and told her what was going on instead of standing her up all the time you wouldn't have to worry about that."

"Standing her up? You think I wanted to get stabbed by a crazy werewolf woman who has a vendetta against your boyfriend?" Alaric shoots back quickly, slamming his fist onto the table.

Having these two at each other's throats isn't going to help the situation at all, "Children, let's keep it civil. We just need to think about who, besides John Gilbert, could give us any information before tonight."

All three of us fall silent. John and Isobel are both out of the question. One may or may not be in the picture at all and the other is on yet another power trip. Diana has exhausted her knowledge on the subject. Nothing in Bonnie's Grimoire offers any assistance, talking of only spelling ash and daggers. The only other person who is accessible to us that may know something about the existence of the dagger is....

Diana and I seem to think of the same person at the same time. The blonde lets out a groan, head hitting the back of our booth, "No, Damon, that's a bad idea."

"She may be able to help," I answer back, not liking the direction this is moving in. The last thing I want to do is drag that narcissistic bitch back into our lives. We were all just starting to get along so well.

Across the table, Ric raises an eyebrow, "Who are you talking about?"

Diana and I turn to the man, speaking in unison, "Katherine."

"You're sure you want to do this?" Diana questions, leaning against the hood of her cherry red car.

Shrugging I gather the paper bag of goodies from the trunk, "We need answers and she has them."

"I'll be up here if you need anything," Diana presses her lips to mine for a second before gesturing towards the tomb stairs. "Be safe."

I stare into the tomb, standing on the threshold between safety and chaos. Even though I know I have the ability to walk right back out, there is uneasiness. Bringing Katherine back into this seems like a failure. I don't want her to think she has any power in this situation. Glancing back to the stairs, I see Diana's boots, a lit cigarette hanging down beside them. Knowing that she's up there waiting for me gives me strength.

Walking into the tomb, I wander all the way to the back. Katherine sits against the back wall. Her skin is an ashen grey, clinging to her bones. Her veins stand out, creating a spider web effect across her decaying body. The dress she wore the night of the masquerade ball is tattered, sequins hanging limply from torn threads. Katherine's shoes as discarded, one of the heels snapped from the sole.

I squat down next to the vampire, twisting the cap off the water bottle full of blood I brought along. Pressing the plastic to Katherine's shriveled lips, I let the contents hit her leathery skin, "Drink up. Good girl."

Gaining enough strength, Katherine grabs the bottle from me, crushing it under her grip as she drinks.

"I've come bearing gifts," I stand, moving over to the paper bag. Pulling out a few items of clothing, I hang them over the iron fencing blocking off one part of the tomb from another. "I didn't have time to properly shop, but I did get a couple of things."