When Alaric answered his phone, Abigail said, "Where have you been? I have been calling you all day."
"Yeah, sorry about that. I just needed to get my head together."
"Oh..." She walked the length of the Salvatore study. "Did Rebekah get the stake?"
"I don't know. I woke up alone. There's no sign of it." He barely gave her time to realize what he was saying. "I think I need to get out of town. Somewhere secluded. I keep blacking out which means I'm still a threat to everyone."
"Ric, no. You can't leave. Wh-" She shook her head. "What if-"
"It's just for a couple of days." He shook his keys, something he never really did. "I'm stocked up on Bonnie's herbs, so I should be fine. I gotta go."
Lowering her phone from her ear, she looked to Damon. "That was weird."
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Abigail turned the key in the apartment door, ignoring Damon's grim comments. She didn't want to listen to him, to his uncanny ability to see the worst in every situation. Her thoughts already did that for her.
"I mean, how do we know those herbs that Bonnie made for him were working in the first place?"
She dropped her keys on the counter, right next to three full jars. "I don't know, but they definitely don't work if he doesn't take them."
"Abigail..."
"Don't-" She sat down on a bar stool. "Don't say it."
"I have to say something!"
"Say anything other than Alaric is gone." Her eyes found a picture of them, one where she was kissing his cheek and he was smiling up at the camera. The angle was awkward and the top of their heads were cut off, but it was easy to see that they were happy. That they were in love. "Because if you say that, I-I will-"
He forced himself to a stop, cutting her off before she could say what he knew she would, "Elena kissed me. I kissed her back. And now she's at the dance with Stefan."
She took a breath, diverting her mind from herself to her sister. "She loves him, Damon, but she loves you too."
He scoffed. "I've heard that before. And you know how that turned out for me the last time."
"Give her time," she whispered. "Let her make her decision when she is ready, when she knows it's the right one."
For the first time Abigail had no idea what to expect when she walked into the decades dance at Mystic Falls High School. She had been curious about how it would all turn out in the days before, but now, now she didn't even care. There was no way for her to.
The switch. The flip of the switch and she wouldn't feel a thing. It was a tempting thought, one that lingered in her mind. One that was complex. So, she felt something. She was just in control of it.
Everything was blurry, the lights, the people they passed. Everything. Stefan and Elena came into focus dressed to the nines in 1920s attire, and it was only then that she realized how out of place she and Damon must have looked. But she still didn't know, not really, that everyone was looking at her in a way they had before.
"We need to talk."
They were in the same hallway Klaus led them to the night of the 60s dance, Abigail realized. The same hallway where losing Alaric to something that was more permanent than it seemed was a possibility for the first time. She wished she didn't know the feeling that settled within her, but she did.
"If Alaric is sick then we need to find a cure," Elena said. "Something."
"We tried medicine, we tried magic." Abigail blinked rapidly, forcing the tears out of her eyes. "So, I don't know what to do. But he's still in there, he has to be."
"Why don't we get him off vervain, compel him?" Stefan asked.
"To do what, Stefan? To pretend to be Alaric? No." She resumed her pacing. "We have to find another way to bring him back."
"We're talking about someone who not only hates vampires, but vampire sympathizers. Which makes one of his most obvious targets..." Damon pointed at Elena. "You!"
"What are you suggesting we do?" Elena asked.
Damon looked at each of them for a long second, saving Abigail for last. "I'm suggesting that we put him out of his misery."
"No!" She pushed him into the lockers. "No way in hell!"
He regained his footing. "It's what he would want. It's a mercy killing."
She could make out Jeremy running down the hall, the sound of Elena saying her name, Stefan scolding his brother, but what stood out the most was the way her voice sounded as she yelled, "You are out of your mind!"
She backed out of the building, ignoring her siblings as they called her name. She wanted to turn around, she really did, but the part of her that was no longer human wouldn't let her. At least until halfway through the parking lot when they caught up to her. When Jeremy took her right hand and Elena took her left.
"This is Alaric we're talking about! H-he is-"
Esther appeared in front of them. "If you wish to help Alaric, I suggest you come with me."
"Jeremy," Elena quaked. "Go inside and get Stefan and Damon, now!"
"I mean you no harm. But willingly or not you will come."
Abigail and Elena followed Esther through the Old Mystic Falls Cemetery toward the Salvatore tomb. She spoke only to the latter, the one she needed, as the path narrowed and widened. And if Abigail said anything, if she took one step out of line, she reminded her of it.
"You'll forgive me for taking you from the dance this evening. That's the burden of being the doppelgänger, I'm afraid. Your blood is a potent binding agent for a witch's spell."
"Just please," she persisted. "Don't hurt Alaric."
All he said was, "She's not hurting me."
"Ric!" Abigail moved toward him, stopping the instant she sensed that something was wrong. "What's going on? What are you doing with him?"
"I'm going to remake him," Esther answered.
"Remake him?" Abigail repeated as a question.
"Make him strong, fast, like my children. Indestructible. For one final time I'm going to tap into the dark magic I used a thousand years ago," Esther explained. "Like my husband Mikael before him I will make Alaric into a true hunter, a vampire to end all vampires."
"You can't create another Original." Elena took over speaking when Abigail couldn't, they had always done that for each other, but this time it was different. It was different because although Abigail had the questions, she did not have her voice. She did not have anything but what was in front of her. And in front of her was not Alaric. "What if he turns out to be an even bigger monster than your children?"
"He won't now that he has embraced his darkest aspect; his hatred for them will become more pure and uncompromising. In death that hatred will be magnified."
"You don't know that. You don't know anything about him."
"That is where you're wrong. Each time he died with that ring during his brief journey into death I was there on the Other Side. I spoke to him, I nurtured him knowing that every death brought him closer to his true self. Vampires took everything from him." She looked to Abigail. "Including you."
From above, Abigail could see herself looking at Alaric. Elena was there, too, speaking softly to her. Then there was Esther, preparing for the spell that would solidify everything she had explained.
Her point of view changed in an instant, putting her back in her body. It was then she could feel what was happening around her. The oscillation of the air, the pressure of the atmosphere, the way the shadows reflected the mood.
It was wrong. All of it. It was so wrong.
"Ric, this isn't what you want," Abigail managed to say. "It's not who you are."
"You don't know who I am, Abigail." The words stung, even if she knew he would never really say them. "You only know the weakest parts of me, the man who lost his way befriending vampires instead of killing them. The man who never should have let this happen to you."
Esther looked over to him. "When you are ready."
"No, Ric, please. Don't-" Abigail took a step forward only to find she had been spelled in place. "Don't do this."
"I'm not going to help you; I'm not going to give you my blood!" Elena backed away. "You're gonna have to kill me!"
"That won't be necessary." Esther gestured toward Elena, opening a cut on her hand. She grabbed her wrist, forcing her to a stop, and held it over a bowl. It was such a small amount, Abigail thought, more than Bonnie used of her blood for a locator spell, but less than any she'd ever consumed. And, before she knew it, she was passing the bowl to Alaric, saying, "Drink. And let it be done."
"Please, don't!"
He raised the bowl to his lips, drinking the blood all in one go. "Is it finished?"
"Not just yet." She forced a stake through his chest from behind. "Now it is."
The scream that Abigail let out was one she didn't know she had within her. She fell to her knees, repeating his name, softer and softer each time. Elena rushed to her side, keeping her from collapsing completely. And she was almost sure that was the only reason she didn't feel the world stop turning.
"He'll wake soon." Esther looked down at his body. "When he does, he may, for a time, be his old self. If so, you can say your goodbyes before his transition is complete."
"You said you wanted to undo the evil that you created, but this..." Elena wrapped her arms tighter around her sister. "This is just as evil!"
"Alaric will never be what my children became. I have granted him enough power to complete his task. Then when the time is right, he will die." Esther took a few steps toward them, seemingly unaffected by their reactions. "All you need to know is that when this is over, we will have rid the earth of vampires once and for all."
"Yeah, but you'll be killing the good along with the bad, you're no better than Klaus!"
"Am I not?" She countered. "I desire a world where you and your loved ones will not suffer at the hands of vampires, like your aunt Jenna did."
Elena rose to her feet. "Don't you dare use Jenna as an excuse for what you've done."
"You may draw comfort knowing that your aunt is not in the place that I was. She doesn't know the torment of the Other Side. Though made a vampire, she remained pure. She knows peace. Which is all any of us can hope for."
There was a noise outside of the tomb, one that Abigail could do nothing about. And that was the point of trapping her there in the corner, right out of reach of everyone she cared about. The tears in her eyes spilled over as she craned her neck to peek through the iron gate, blocking her view for only long enough for her to blink.
"How foolish of you, to risk your lives in defense of those who will kill you," Esther droned to Matt and Jeremy. "But if that is your choice."
They turned their weapons on each other.
"Matt!" Jeremy yelled as he cocked the gun. "Drop your gun!"
"I can't! I'm not controlling it!"
"Esther, stop it!"
Alaric stood up, indestructible white oak stake in hand, not wasting a second before stabbing Esther the same way she had stabbed him.
"Oh, my God..." He turned back into the tomb, right into Abigail's arms. "Where's my ring?"
"Esther bound the protective magic in your ring to your white oak stake."
"Why would she do that?"
"Because, Ric..." She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. "Sh-she wants to turn you into the ultimate hunter."
He furrowed his eyebrows. "What does that mean?"
"You're in transition."
"Bea, I-" He pulled her against his chest, smoothing her hair down as he whispered, "My dark side was dangerous enough as a human. I can't be a vampire."
"I know," she cried. "I know."
They stayed that way, crying in each other's arms, until Elena and Jeremy walked into the tomb.
"Damon's here. And Klaus took Esther's body."
Alaric's grip tightened around her before his hands slowly moved down her arms and interlocked the fingers of his left hand with her right. "Does he know about the stake?"
"No, only that she tried to turn you into a weapon and failed." Elena waited for some kind of response, but silence was all she received. "What's going on?"
"I'm not gonna complete the transition."
The words were a blanket over them. Folded out, tucked around, and wrapping them up.
Jeremy staggered backwards. "So, what, we're just gonna lock you in here and let you die? No, no we can't!"
"Listen, Jeremy, it's the right thing to do, okay?" He dropped her hand with a deep breath. A breath that was hesitant and decisive. Reaching out for him, he said, "After everything that's happened, after all that I have done. Maybe I had it coming."
"This isn't your fault, Alaric," Elena said. "We all know that."
"Please, you guys, let's not make this any harder than it already is." His hands met Jeremy's shoulders. "Jer-"
"Don't." He wrapped his arms around him. "Don't give me some crap speech about how I need to be the man of the house."
"Okay." They could hear it, the smile on his lips. It didn't surprise them in the way they thought it would. They almost expected it. Especially since it was for Jeremy. "I won't."
There were tears in Elena's eyes when she turned to him. "Thank you for being a part of our family."
"Thank you for being a part of mine." He was crying, not as hard as before, but it was almost harder to witness. "You should go."
Hand in hand, Abigail and Alaric followed Elena out of the tomb. Everyone was there, scattered amongst lit candles to say goodbye. He smiled at them, looking from Meredith to Matt and Bonnie, Caroline and Tyler, Stefan and Damon, finally stopping on Elena and Jeremy. They all taught him something. They all fought for him. They all loved him. It hadn't been often in his life that he felt like he belonged, but as he stared back at them, he knew he'd found more than he ever bargained for when he moved to Mystic Falls.
A few words had been spoken between Abigail and Damon as Meredith administered a sedative to Alaric, but they had taken to silence. It was better that way, for now at least, as she stared up at the full moon, memorizing the feeling in the air.
"He'll fall asleep first," Meredith explained. "He'll go comfortably."
"Well..." Damon took a long swig from a bottle of dark liquor. "I offered to snap his neck, put him out of his misery. He didn't take me up on it."
"You seem surprised."
"You just think that a guy so used to dying wouldn't want to drag it out."
"Well," she sighed out. "It was nice of you to give him the option."
He hummed. "Apparently my choices have been a little controversial lately."
Before she walked away, she said, "I'm so sorry, Abigail."
In the glow of candlelight, Abigail took Alaric's right hand into both of hers. It was just the two of them now, left alone to say goodbye. Of course, there was no way they could. There was no way to bring an end to what they had.
Slowly, he turned his head to look at her. "Promise me you won't run."
"I-"
"They need you." His voice was uneven as he repeated, "They need you."
"Alaric, I need you."
There was so much she wanted to say to him, but when his eyes fluttered closed, she knew it was too late. It would only be minutes now, and they would go by without care for the fact that time would not move the same when they were up. She kissed his cheek, smoothed his hair back, and listened to the sound of his breathing as it slowed, living in those minutes as he was dying.
A scream came from outside, pulling her to feet. Damon had been the one to scream, the one to try to warn her, she realized as Bonnie entered the tomb. Her body moved in a way she recognized, a way that told her she was not in control of herself.
"What's going on?" Abigail still asked.
Bonnie raised her hand, fingers outstretched and palm out.
"No!" Abigail screamed. "Bonnie, please! No!"
She fell to her knees, clutching her head as a feeling worse than the one Damon described, worse than what she thought the look on Stefan's face meant, so strong and vivid, forced her into unconsciousness.
"What do you mean he turned?" Stefan asked from the kitchen. "I thought you were standing guard!"
Abigail opened her eyes. She was home. On the couch.
"Don't blame me!" Damon exclaimed. "Blame Bonnie the blood bank. She fed him."
"I had no idea what was happening," Bonnie said. She was still wearing her dress from the night before. Her white dress covered in blood. She could smell it. "The witches led me there. They wanted him to feed so he turned."
"Where's the stake now?" Elena asked.
"Oh, you mean the white oak one? The one that can kill an Original and wipe out an entire line of vampires?" Damon glared at Bonnie. "We don't know."
"If you are so upset with me, why did you feed me your blood to save my life?"
"Because Abigail was still knocked out and I do stupid things, Bonnie." Damon slammed his hands on the countertop. "I do things like let my best friend die with dignity in the arms of the woman he loves when I should have just killed him."
Stefan took a deep breath. "How do we kill Alaric now?"
Abigail sped into the kitchen. "No."
Elena threw her arms around her. "Abigail!"
"No." She pushed her away. "Wh-what if he's still in there? What if we can get him back?" Abigail shook her head slowly. "I mean, if the Darkness is... He could still be in there, right?"
They were all looking at her with the same expression: no.
Bonnie, the first to speak, spoke carefully. "A witch can't truly make an immortal creature, there is always a way to undo a spell."
Damon couldn't let himself feel the way he did, Abigail knew that, but the way he asked "So, what's the witchy work around?" still surprised her.
"That's the problem. I don't know."
Jeremy answered the door at the sound of the bell.
"What the hell do you want?" He asked their visitor.
Klaus's voice followed, "Now is that any way to treat a guest?"
Abigail sped out of the kitchen. "What are you doing here, Klaus?"
"Well, for starters..." He raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. "Young Jeremy here could show some manners and invite me inside."
"Jer, go up to your room." She didn't look back at him. "Now."
"I know all about my mother's invulnerable little creation and that's why I'm here." He tilted his head to the side. "I'm leaving town, just need to pick up a few road trip necessities. Spare tire, flashlight, doppelgänger."
Damon clapped her on the shoulder, pulled her back, and shut the door all while saying, "Can't help you there."
Jeremy ran down the stairs. "She's not here!"
"Where is she?" Abigail spun around. "Where is she?!"
Bonnie moved toward them. "What's going on?"
"Klaus wants in, we have to keep him out." Suddenly, Damon tugged Abigail to the floor. "Duck!"
The newspaper smashed through the window shortly followed by Klaus' voice, "I think you're probably gonna want to let me in!"
They wouldn't, couldn't, not even as they gathered around the island and Stefan told them that the car was gone, as the realization came that Elena hadn't told a single one of them where she was going, or as the front door was pushed open.
Her phone was ringing. Her phone was ringing on the countertop. Her phone was ringing on the countertop and Alaric's name was flashing across the screen.
"Ric?"
"Well, Bea, who else would it be?"
"Oh, my God!" She walked to the back door, weightless in only the way he could make her feel.
"Where are you?"
"I'm at the school. I have Caroline. I have Elena. And I want Klaus."
With her hand on the doorknob, she fell to her knees. "No..."
"If he doesn't turn himself over to me, if you don't get him to turn himself over to me, I will kill them." Just before he hung up, he added, "This is about choosing sides, so you need to choose. You need to choose the part of yourself that I did."
All of the action around her came back into focus. The fence post in the wall, the yelling, the soccer ball flying through the air. Klaus at the door with a propane tank and a newspaper torch.
She clambered to her feet. "Put it out! Put it out, Klaus!"
He waved her forward, just as he had Mikael. "Come outside and make me."
"Elena's not here." She walked toward him, slowly saying, "Alaric has her and Caroline. He's going to kill them both unless you turn yourself over to him."
"Now, I know you're not asking me to walk into a certain death."
Stefan stepped outside with her. "If Alaric kills you there's a one in four chance that we die too."
Damon appeared on her other side. "I'll take those odds."
"And a hundred percent chance that Tyler dies."
"I'm good with that too."
"Why don't we just figure out a way to put Alaric down?"
"Okay," Klaus mused, "how about Abigail distracts Alaric, Damon sneaks in to stand guard, and Stefan grabs Elena and carries her to safety?"
"Huh, that's a great idea. What's to stop us from getting killed instantly?"
He shrugged. "Nothing."
"I don't know how you look at us willing to claim that you gave us everything and then in the same breath are willing to say you'll take it all away." Abigail took a step toward him, one that no one else on the porch was willing to take. The voice in the back of her head was telling her to stop, telling her that what she was going to say next could get her killed right then and there, but she didn't listen to it. "But I do know that you, Klaus Mikaelson, are not willing to let Mikael be right about you."
He looked her up and down. "You're not that girl in the gym anymore, are you?"
"I might have an idea," Bonnie said. "My mom used a desiccation spell on Mikael that immobilized him for over fifteen years. If I can get it, I might be able to use it on Alaric."
"If and might?" Klaus asked. "Your words inspire such confidence."
"I'll get it. But even with the spell, we'll need a lot of vampire muscle to take him down. Including yours."
He turned around. "Just so we're clear, the sun sets in about eight hours. If we don't succeed before then, Elena will be dead, I'll be gone, and the rest of you will be left to fend for yourselves."