He took the box from her opening it up to see a large necklace with small diamond flowers along the chain and dangling tear shaped emeralds encrusted with diamonds.
“Why are you showing me this?” He asked her.
“Because it’s time I face him, if it’s happening tonight I might as well look good.” She said as she took the necklace out of the box and handed it to him before turning around and holding her hair up away from her neck. “Are you going to put it on or what?” She asked him before she felt a cold tingle on her skin as Elijah put the necklace on her. “And that’s the outfit complete.” She said twirling around before grabbing her leather jacket and walking out of the boarding house. “And when this plan falls through, I had nothing to do with it. The last thing I need is not only a pissed of Original but one that wants to kill me. And try not to kill Bonnie, once is enough.” She said walking out of the house and over to her car driving out of Mystic Falls and heading to Philadelphia.
As Carol stood on the stairs of the Lockwood mansion, she rang Tyler once again before reaching his voicemail.
“ Tyler, honey. It's your mother. I don't know where you are, but I need you. I've had an accident and I'm in the hospital.” She said down the phone as Maddox watched on as she kept talking down the phone. “Please, Tyler, come home.” She begged a she hung up the phone and looked over at Maddox. “Why did I say that?”
“Because you had a terrible fall.” He told her as he pushes her with his powers over the railing. Maddox looked down at her from the banister at her unconscious body.
As Damon stood outside the Salvatore, drinking a glass of scotch, Stefan joined him outside.
“ Breakfast of champions, huh?” Stefan asked him.
“ I'm surrounded by idiots. I need all the help I can get.” Damon replied.
“ You know, you're not helping.” Stefan told him.
“ Elijah is an original vampire, Stefan. One we tried to kill. You're going to believe this guy?” Damon questioned.
“ What do you want me to do, Damon? Elena made her decision. She's choosing to trust Elijah. I'm going to put my faith in her.” Stefan answered.
“ Why? She's going to end up dead.”
“ Because she put her faith in me. She chose to trust me in spite of what I am. I'm going to bet on somebody's instincts, it's going to be hers.”
“ Well, then, that makes you the biggest idiot of them all.”
“ She chose to trust you, too.”
“ Then maybe you shouldn't be so sure about her instincts.” Damon told him before he drank down his glass and left.
While Damon and Stefan talked, Elena walked into the library to join Elijah.
“ You'd think he'd understand why I'm willing to do this.” Elana said as she walked in.
“ Why are you?” He asked her.
“ I'm the key to breaking the curse. Klaus is here because of me. If I don't stop him, then he's going to hurt people. It's that simple.” She explained.
“You’re not the only reason that Klaus is here Elana. But you know, there's a possibility this elixir won't work. I don't want to mislead you.” Elijah told her.
“ I know the chance I'm taking.” She promised just as she heard Jenna shouting. “Get out!” She cried.
“ Jenna, Jenna!” Alaric shouted.
“ Get out!” She screamed as she grabbed a crossbow and held it up towards Alaric.
“ Jenna, put the cross-bow down, ok? It's me.” Alaric said as he held up his hand and walked closer to Jenna.
“ Stay away from me.” Jenna kept shouting as Elena, Stefan, Damon and Elijah walked into the room.
“ What's going on?” Elana asked.
“ It's me, Elena, I swear, ok? He let me go. Klaus let me go.” Alaric said looking directly at Elana.
“Prove it.” Damon told him as Alaric looked over at Jenna. “Ok, uh, first night you and I spent together, Jeremy walked in right when I was about to...” Alaric started till Jenna held up her hand interrupting.
“ Okay, it's him.” She said as she put the cross-bow down.
“ Why did he let you go?” Damon asked him.
“ He wanted me to deliver a message. The sacrifice happens tonight.” Alaric answered.
As Celest once again drove up the drive to the large marble house in Philadelphia she pulled the locket out of her bag, as well as her phone. She turned the locket over numerous times remembering when she had got it.
Flashback...
“I want you to keep it safe, and every time you look at it think of me, and think of what I stood for.” He said to her as he placed the locket over her head and around her neck. “I will. I promise. I’ll always keep it safe.” Celest promised as she stood up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek.
Nowadays...
Celest unlocked her phone snapping numerous pictures of the locket before getting out of the car. Her heels clinked as she walked over the gravel and onto the marble porch before knocking on the door. “Ma’am you have returned.” The butler said as he opened the door for her to enter. “I said I would, now, where is he?” Celest asked standing in the foyer. “Right this way ma’am.” He said walking down the corridor followed by Celest. After walking down numerous corridors, they reached a worn wooden door with numerous, large metal locks down each side. “Not by any chance keeping a werewolf down there are you?” Celest laughed. “No ma’am this particular part of the basement is specifically for the storage of vampire with reinforced doors to keep them inside. “Great, now is the high and might Lord no-name down there?” “Yes. The master is down stairs.” He said as he placed a single key in one lock causing the whole door to swing open each lock unlocking one after the other. “Great. See ya later.” She said walking into the basement as the door closed behind her, the lock clicking behind her and the darkness enfolding her. “Great, just locked in a lovely vampire storage unit, brilliant.” She said as she walked down the stairs of the basement, she saw a flickering light ahead of her and walked towards it. When she got to the end of the corridor she saw the flickering light was actually a lose fitted bare light bulb swinging back and forth behind an old rusted cage. “Leo, you pathetic bastard. Locked up in a cage, rotting away.” Celest told him standing next to the cage. “Gre—at, to, see, you, to, Cel—est.” He croaked. “Leo, what have you been doing all these years. Cause this is a lovely establishment but the standards are very lax.” She said as she ran her finger along the wall next to her, catching numerous spider webs on her finger. “Are you criticizing my decorating skills?” A voice asked behind her. “No, if your aiming for the be feared, I can kill you with the amount of spider webs I have in my basement you nailed it. Now sweetie, I think we got off on the wrong foot last time. My name is Celest” She said holding out her hand. “My name is Martin.” He said as he bent down and kissed her hand. “So, want to make the deal?” Celest asked as she held up the locket into the light. “Of course. Why else would I be here?” He questioned. “Great down to business. Set Leo free and I will give you the locket.” She said still dangling the locket out in front of him. “Deal.” He said as he took a key out of his pocket, placed it in the cage lock and pushed the door open. Leo slid out of the cage, crawling on the floor.
“Here.” Martin called throwing him a bag of blood. He ripped it open downing every drop of the blood. “The locket now.” He said holding out his hand. “Enjoy.” She said throwing it at him before kneeling down next to Leo. “Now it’s our turn, when was the last time you heard from Ro?” She asked him. “About 50 years ago.” He said his voice still hoarse and croaky. “Where?” She pushed. “London.” He said before calling out in pain. She looked up to see Martin holding a heart in his hand and Leo lay grey, wrinkled and dead beside her. “What are you doing?” She asked him. “Squaring my debts.” He told her before stabbing a large needle in her back. “A bit of vervain to keep you down.” He told her as her eyes got heavy and she fell unconscious next to Leo’s dead body. Martin lifted her up and placed her carefully inside the cell before locking the door.
As Carol lay awake in the hospital bed, she noticed Tyler standing next to her.
“ Tyler?” She asked as he turned around to look at her.
“ Mom.” Tyler relied as he walked over to her, kissing her on the forehead.
“ You're back.” Carol noted.
“ I'm back.” He agreed.
As Matt was working at the Mystic grill he turned around to see Caroline walking up behind him in the Grill.
“ Ohh. Jeez!” He said shocked.
“ Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you.” She apologised to him.
“ It's ok, I just, I didn't know you were here.” Matt explained.
“ Yeah, I wanted to try and catch you on your break so we could hang out.” Caroline said to him.
“ I have lunch in an hour.” He told her.
“ Perfect. I will go run some errands and I will be right back.” She said as she kissed him. “I'll see you in a bit.” She said as she turned to walk out of the Grill.
“ Ok.” Matt said before she walked through the doors of the Grill and out on to the street and he turned around and sat down on a table with Sheriff Forbes.
“ Does she suspect anything?” Liz asked.
“ No, but... I can't do this anymore. I've been with her the past few days, and I'm putting on the best show of my life. But either she is too, or she's still the same Caroline.” Matt explained.
“ She's not the same. She's a vampire.” Liz said simply.
“ At this point, I don't even know what that means.” Matt replied.
“ Look, I know this is hard to understand, but my family, we were raised with this. They're monsters, Matt. They have no soul, no humanity.” Liz promised.
“ There's nothing about her that makes me believe that.” Matt told her.
“ It's an act. I believed Damon Salvatore was my closest ally in this town. Instead, he's a killer. They killed your sister. What other proof do you need?” Liz questioned.
“ I could ask you the same question, Sheriff. Why haven't you done anything? Why are you hesitating?”
“ Because I need more information. And because, in spite of everything I just said, I still look at her and I... I see my daughter.”
“ Damon is the problem, not Caroline. You should focus on him.”
“ I shouldn't have involved you, Matt. Thank you for all of your help, but I'll take it from here.” She told him as she stood up and walked out of the Grill.
Alaric, Jenna, Elena, Stefan and Elijah sat in the living room of the Boarding house. All leaning in focusing on Alaric as they questioned him about Klaus.
“So you don't remember anything that happened?” Stefan asked.
“ No. It's like I blacked out and woke up 3 days later. Katherine was there.” Alaric replied.
“ She's under compulsion. Damon snuck her some vervain, but she can't leave until Klaus tells her she can.” Stefan explained.
“ Where is Damon?” Elana asked.
“ I saw him go upstairs.” Jenna told her as Elena got up and left walking down the corridor and up the stairs.
“ So what else did I do?” Alaric asked them.
When Elena reached Damon’s bedroom, she knocked on the door before walking in and seeing him lying on the bed.
“ You disappeared.”Elana told him walking further into the room.
“ I don't want to hear anymore.” Damon replied.
“ I need you to understand why I'm doing this.” Elana explained.
“ Why? It clearly doesn't matter what I think.”
“ I'll be fine, Damon. I'll drink the elixir, Bonnie will kill Klaus and then all of this will finally be over.”
“ If it works.”
“ It will work.”
“ You think it will work. You want it to work. Why am I the only one who's convinced it won't? There has to be another way.”
“ There isn't.”
“ And you're going to die, Elena.” Damon told her.
“ And then I'll come back to life.” Elana added.
“ That is not a risk I'm willing to take.” Damon said to her.
“ But I am.” She told him taking his hands in her own. “It's my life, Damon. My choice.”
“ I can't lose you.”
“ You won't.” She told him as she turned toward the door only for Damon stand in her way.
“ There is another way.” Damon said.
“What are you...” Elana began before Damon bites his wrist causing it to start bleeding.
“ Damon, no!” Elana cried before he put his wrist in her mouth causing her to reluctantly drink his blood, just as Stefan arrives and shoved Damon away from Elana as she falls to the floor with blood in and around her mouth.
“ What did you do?! Huh? What did you do?!” Stefan shouted at him as he walked over to Elena.
“ I saved her life.” Damon answered as he looks at Elena and Stefan. “You're so bent on dying, at least this way I know you'll come back.”
“ As a vampire! She'll come back a vampire!” Stefan cried.
“ It's better than nothing else.”
“ How could you, of all people, take that choice away from her?”
“ Go ahead; wish me an eternity of misery. Believe me, you'll get over it.” Damon said to Elana as Stefan rushed over to him pushing him against a wall.
“ Stefan!” Elana screamed as Damon took a wooden stick and spun around so that Stefan was against a wall with it pressed against his stomach.
“ Admit it. You just wish you had the balls to do it yourself.” Damon taunted as Stefan punched him in the face several times before Damon fell on the floor, blood covering his face. He took the wooden stick and drove it through Stefan’s abdomen causing Elena to rush over Stefan and push Damon back. She looked over at Damon as she pulled the stick from Stefan.
“ Get out of here!” She screeched as Alaric and Jenna arrived
“ What the hell's going on?” Alaric demanded as he walked into the room.
“ Get him out of here!” Elana called as Alaric went toward Damon only to be pushed to the floor as Damon left the room.
“ Oh, my God.” Jenna cried looking at the wooden stake protruding from Stefan’s stomach.
“ Ok, Jenna, downstairs are some blood bags. Go get them now. Go!” Alaric commanded as she left the room. After Jenna had left Elena pulled the stick out of Stefan as he put his head on Elena’s legs.
“ It's ok. It's ok. You're going to be ok.” Elana promised as she stroked his hair.
“ I'm so sorry.” Stefan apologised.
“ Shh. It's ok.” Elana told him again.
“ I'm sorry.” Stefan told her again.
While Stefan was recuperating upstairs Damon went into the library to pour himself a drink to find Elijah in there closing the wooden elixir box.
" Well, it sounds like you won't be needing this anymore. Feeding her vampire blood rendered it useless. Tell Elena I'll be back before nightfall. We'll proceed as planned." Elijah told Damon a he put the small box into his pocket.
" We both know that elixir wouldn't have worked anyway." Damon argued.
"The problem, Damon, you talk a good game but you don't actually know anything. She'll never forgive you. And never for a vampire... It's a very long time." Elijah explained to him before walking out of the library and out of the boarding house.
As Stefan lay on the floor of the bedroom drinking a blood bag he looked over at Jenna, Elena, and Alaric.
"Thank you. Both of you." He said to Jenna and Alaric.
" Yeah, well, we'll be downstairs." Alaric told him pulling Jenna out of the room and into the corridor.
"I know it's, uh, it's a lot to take in." Alaric spoke.
" Yeah." Jenna replied.
" I tried to protect you from all this, but I should have known you could handle it." Alaric told her.
" Can I?" She asked him.
" Well, you just did. Look, Jenna... I know we have a lot to talk about." Alaric said as Jenna reached out and stroked his face.
" Hey. I'm glad you're ok. I should have said that already." Jenna told him before she kissed him.
When Celest awoke from her vervain induced coma, she look around to see she was in the cell they had been holding Leo in. She looked down to see his body just outside of the cell, still lying there. She looked up and around the cellar to see Martin and a young girl standing side by side looking in her direction.
" We know you're awake doll face." Martin told her before she sat up and looked in their direction.
"Oh you brought me a chew toy. You shouldn't have."
"Ah but I haven't. Even if I had brought you little Hannah here as a blood bag you wouldn't touch her would you? Celest the humanitarian, won't drink from a child or teen, barely even compels anyone, even though we all know you are very good at it. You seem to know just the right words to say as little as possible and convey a much greater compulsion that any other." Martin relayed.
"You've been watching me." Celest stated.
"A little bit. But hey you are just a whisper in the night to some people, a story parents tell their children so that they will eat their greens and brush their teeth."
"We it seems I'm famous."Celest laughed. "Now you've had your fun. Knocked me out and locked me up. What next?"
"Oh you don't need to worry about that. That's for me to worry about. You just have fun down here with Hannah." Martin told her as he handed the small girl a gun and forced her to look at him.
"If she tries to escape shoot her."He compelled. "Don't look her in the eye or go any closer to the cell than where your standing." He said before turning to look at Celest. "Now darlin' I'll see you later." He told her before walking back down the corridor and up the basement stairs.
"I'm sorry."The little girl said after he had left.
"For what?" Celest asked gently.
"You're going to try and escape and I'm going to have to shoot you." She said as she started to cry.
"Ok. Don't worry. You won't hurt me if you shoot me. I'm pretty hard to kill." She told the little girl.
"Ok." He little girl said as she wiped her tears.
"I'm sorry as well. I'd like to say I wont try and escape but there's something happening tonight I need to go to. So I'm sorry." Celest said as she ran at the cell door, the little girl fired the gun numerous times some completely avoiding her and others scrapping her. One hit her directly in the leg causing her to fall while another got her in the shoulder. As she lay on the floor she pulled the bullets out of her leg and shoulder watching as the wound remain wide open, not healing at all. She then heard clapping coming from down the corridor. Martin came into the light soon after, still clapping as he walked over to the cell door.
"Wow, you tried to escape a lot sooner then I thought you would." He congratulated her before looking down at the wounds on her shoulder and leg. "Oh those look nasty." He mocked. "Werewolf venom just doesn't seem to agree with vampires. Not sure why." He said laughing.
"There was werewolf venom on those bullets?" She asked him.
"Yep. Knew a couple of hunters before I was turned who killed vampires using werewolf venom and I thought I would see how long it would take to kill one of the oldest using it. You know give myself a maximum time limit. But I will tell you something."He told her as he knelt down looking her directly in the eye. "Werewolf venom is an awful way to die." He laughed. Celest grabbed the back of his neck looking him directly in the eye.
"You will open this cell gate and take me to Klaus." She compelled as Martin stood up and pulled the key out of his pocket before he started laughing.
"Yeah, the compulsion not really going to work here. I drink vervain." He told her as he pulled out another syringe of vervain and plunged it into her neck. She swayed on the floor as he walked away from the cell still laughing. As he got further away he suddenly stopped walking before turning around to face her. "Oh and don't worry, you'll see Klaus soon enough." He told her before she blacked out.
As Elena and Stefan sat on Stefan’s bed Elana still upset about what had happened with Damon.
" How could he do that to me? Why?" She asked nearly in tears.
" Hey. We've never talked about this. What this all means." Stefan began.
" It doesn't matter." Elana told him.
"Of course it matters. Hey. It matters. I want you to go somewhere with me." Stefan said standing up.
" Stefan, I can't." Elana told him think of the sacrifice.
" No, no, it's not far, ok? It's just for the day. I promise." Stefan said as Elana took his outstretched hand.
While Carol lay sleeping, still in the hospital, Tyler looks at her sleeping peacefully as he walked out of the room into the hospital corridor to find Jules waiting for him.
" What are you doing here?" Tyler asked her.
" I should be asking you that. I told you not to come." Jules reminded him.
" She's my mother. I had to." Tyler argued.
" Now we have to get out of here; Lock ourselves up before tonight." Jules told him as they walked to the car park. When they reached Jules' car Caroline was there walking into the hospital. She turned caught off guard by Tyler's presence. "Tyler? Jules?" She asked.
" I'll give you a few minutes." Jules told him.
" Thank you." Tyler said.
" Just a few, Tyler." She reminded him before walking off.
" I got it." He told he annoyed. " She's just making sure I'm safe." Tyler told Caroline.
" So what, are you two, like, friends now?" Caroline asked him.
" She's been helping me. How are you?" Tyler questioned changing the subject.
" I heard about your mom. I just came to check in on her." Caroline explained.
" She's banged up, but she'll be ok." Tyler told her.
"And you? Um... How's everything with you?"
"I'm hanging in there."
" Good."
" Yeah. I should get going. Jules and I need to get on the road."
"You're leaving again?" Caroline asked him.
" I left for a reason, Caroline." Tyler answered
" Your explanation must have got lost in the mail, along with your goodbye." Caroline bit.
"Well... Take care of yourself."
" Tyler..." Caroline began before suddenly breaking down, holding her head as she and Tyler began screaming.Maddox then walked out from between the cars along with Greta who walked over to Caroline and injected her with vervain into.
" Let's go." Greta told Maddox as Caroline fell unconscious at her feet.Maddox walked over to Tyler before lifting him onto his shoulder as Greta picked up Caroline and they walked away.
While Matt, still at the Mystic Grill, stood leaving a voicemail to Caroline he noticed Damon walking into the Grill.
"Hey, Caroline, it's me. I thought you were coming back to meet me. Look, I need to talk to you. It's important." Matt said down the phone before hanging up and turning to look at Damon and Alaric sitting at the bar.
" I'll have the same." Alaric told the bartender before turning to Damon.
"I screwed up." Damon told him as he downed his drink.
" Yeah. Yeah, you did." Alaric replied.
" Gentlemen? Why so glum?" A voice with a strong British accent asked from behind them. Both of them turned around to see a tall blond man stood behind them holding a glass of scotch.
" Ugh. Klaus, I presume." Damon said as he turned back to the bar and ordering another drink before turning back around to Klaus.
"In the flesh." Klaus told him as he looked over at Alaric. " Thanks for the loaner, mate." He joked before Damon got up standing in front of him.
"Any reason you stopped by to say hi?" Damon asked.
" I'm told you and your brother fancy my doppelgänger. Just thought I'd remind you to not do anything you'll regret." Klaus told him
" Ha. Thanks for the advice. I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement, by any chance, huh?" Damon questioned.
" You are kidding?" Klaus laughed as he looked over at Alaric." He is kidding, right?"
" No, not really." Alaric responded
" I mean, come on, what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?" Damon joked.
" Let me be clear... I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up." He said before turning around and walking to the exit the Grill before turning back to Damon. " Oh and tell Celestria I hope she liked my gifts." He told Damon before walking out of the Grill.
"That was fun." Damon said as he sat back down and turned to Alaric.
" You're going to screw it up, aren't you?" Alaric asked him.
"You think if I took his werewolf out of the equation, she might... Get over the fact that I tried to turn her into a vampire?" Damon asked.
" I think it won't matter, because you'll be dead." Alaric replied.
" But without the werewolf, he can't perform the ritual tonight, which means I would have bought her one month before the next full moon." Damon reasoned.
" And you'll still be dead."
" Are you gonna help me or what?"
" What do you want me to do?"
As Elena and Stefan walked up the side of the mountain, Elana panted, out of breath from the hike. She turned to look up at Stefan who was a couple of feet ahead of her.
" Where are we?" She asked as she kept walking up the hill.
" It's a surprise. Just a little bit longer." Stefan promised.
" I'm not a vampire yet, you know. My legs still get tired." Elana joked.
" Ready to talk about how you're feeling about all this?" Stefan asked turning to look at her.
" Uh... this morning I was wondering if I would live or die, and now... I'm going to be a vampire. I... I don't really know how I'm feeling." Elana answered as they arrived at the top of the mountain to see a large, glistening waterfall. " God, this is beautiful." Elana told Stefan as he turned to look at her.
"I think you do know how you feel. I just want you to know that it's okay to tell me." Stefan promised.
" I can't. Stefan, I just... I can't talk about it."
"Well, if you don't want to, that's your choice. Today's about you. But... It's a long way to the top. Let's go. You never know what might come up."
" We're climbing all the way up to the top?"
"Oh, yeah."
"Well, can't you do one of your super power vampire jumpy things?"
" No, it's your last day as a human. Why cheat now?" Stefan asked as she took his hand smiling before continuing the walk up the mountain.
When Alaric walked into his apartment he saw Katherine with her hand in the fridge looking for a blood bag. Her head turned to the door as it swung open and Alaric walked in.
" Look who's dumb enough to come back." Katherine mocked.
" Well, somebody had to invite him in. Damon. Would you like to, uh, come in?" Alaric said holding the door open for Damon. As he walked in Katherine rushed over to him.
"Are you trying to get me killed?" She demanded before he pushed her against a wall.
" I gave you vervain, now I'm here to collect. I got it from here, Rick." Damon told him ushering Alaric out of the apartment.
" You sure?" Alaric asked.
" Yeah, only one of us needs to get blamed for this. Get back in the house. Keep Elena from handing herself over." Damon told him.
" Ok." Alaric answered as he walked out of the apartment.
" Get blamed for what?" Katherine asked.
"I need to know where Klaus is keeping his werewolf." Damon replied.
" Why? What are you going to do?" Katherine retorted.
"Dead werewolf equals no ritual." Damon explained.
" No. You can't interfere, Damon. Klaus will kill you and everyone you've ever met." Katherine told him.
" I just need to delay this thing." Damon replied.
" No. No way."
"You should like this. It's going to buy another month of your pathetic life."
" Right. Except that I'm not the vampire he's planning on sacrificing."
"What?"
" Yeah. He's got Caroline Forbes and Tyler Lockwood. Therefore, I'm in the clear."
"And where'd he get that idea from?" Damon asked as he pushed closer to Katherine.
" Hey! Hey, hey, hey, I'm just trying to stay alive long enough to get myself out of here."
" What if I told you Elena had vampire blood in her system?"
" What?!" Katherine cried.
" Imagine how much fun that will be competing with Elena for Stefan's love for, I don't know, forever."
" The tomb. He's got them in the tomb." Katherine told him.
" Thank you." He said before leaving the apartment.
As Caroline woke up she looked around her to see she was in the tomb. Both herself and Tyler were chained against the walls, in front of each other with Tyler looking straight at her.
"Tyler?" Caroline asked as her head began to clear.
" You all right?" He asked her.
" Yeah. I think so." She answered as she pulled her hands down, away from the wall, trying to break the chains.
" I already tried." Tyler told her.
" Those witches vervained me." Caroline told him.
" Who were they?"
" I think they're with Klaus."
" Who the hell is Klaus?" Tyler asked her as she looked on in silence for a moment.
"Tyler... You shouldn't have come back here." She answered.
Elena and Stefan were still climbing to the top of the mountain when Elana turned to Stefan.
"I guess Bonnie will have to make me a daylight ring." Elana told him.
"Yeah, piece of cake." Stefan replied.
" And I'll never be able to watch "Bambi" again." Elana noted.
" I definitely wouldn't recommend doing that." Stefan laughed.
" What's the best part about being a vampire?"
"Ahh. You feel like you could do anything. Be anyone. Beautiful things are more beautiful. Everything's heightened, you just live more intensely, love more powerfully."
" And the worst?"
" Ah, you know the worst."
" Aside from the blood?" She asked as he stopped and looked at her.
" Anger becomes rage. When you're sad, you're in despair. Grief. Loss. It can cripple you. That's why so many of us turn our emotions off. It just becomes... Too overwhelming. You know, for a while, for me, the good just wasn't worth the bad."
"How long before you learned to handle both?"
" Well, I'm still trying. Every day. What else?"
" Let's just keep going. We're not even halfway to the top." Elana told him as she kept walking up the mountain.
Katherine was making coffee in Alaric's apartment when Klaus arrived.
" Everything ok?" Katherine asked him.
" What have you been doing?" Klaus asked her.
" Making coffee. Do you want some?" She said as she held up a cup before he rushed over to her, strangled her and looked her directly in the eye.
"Tell me what you've been doing." Klaus compelled.
" Making coffee." Katherine spluttered before Klaus dropped her and she reached up and touched her neck and turned around to look at Klaus.
"Wait. Take off your bracelet." He told her as she took it off and gave it to him.
" Now, I want you... to walk over to the window and stand in the sunlight." Klaus compelled.
" But I'll burn." Katherine noted.
" You don't have a choice." He told her as she walked over and stood in the sunlight as her skin started to burn. She kept screaming while Klaus looks at her with a smile. He left her to burn for a moment.
" That's enough" Klaus told her as she rushed over to the corner of the room, into the shadows. " Guess I was wrong. All right, then. I need you to do something for me."
When Damon arrives at the tomb, and walked down the old stone stairs he saw Maddox stood at the bottom.
" Which one are you trying to save? The blond, or the wolf? Did you really think Klaus would leave them unprotected?" He asked Damon.
Wishful thinking." Damon answered as he rushed over to Maddox and pinned him on the ground. He begins to strangle him before Maddox uses his powers and threw Damon on to the floor. Maddox got up, waking closer to Damon and used his powers and provokes a headache. Damon writhed around the ground crying and screaming in pain. Suddenly a gun went off and Maddox fell t the floor. Damon raised his head to sees Matt stood on the stairs with a gun in his hand. Damon got up, rubbing his head before the pain completely subsided, and walked over to Maddox before snapping his neck and looking over at Matt.
" What are you doing here?" Damon asked.
" Where's Caroline?" Matt responded.
" Listen, man. Not a good time to play the hero." Damon explained to him.
" Where is she? And what did he do to her?" Matt demanded.
" I’m just here to rescue her." Damon told him as he rushed over to him, hitting him with the gun causing him to fall on the floor, unconscious. " You're lucky I already screwed up once today or you'd be dead." Damon spoke as he looked down at the gun to see it was loaded with wooden bullets.
While Damon was dealing with Maddox Tyler and Caroline still sat in the tomb, chained up. They were both sat up talking as they waited for Klaus to come for them.
" The whole Sun and Moon curse is fake?" Tyler asked confused.
" That's what Elena learned. Klaus still needs to do the sacrifice, but it's just not for that." Caroline explained.
"And you think that's why they grabbed us? For the sacrifice." Tyler questioned her.
" Yes." She answered.
" He's going to kill us?"
" I think so. Yes."
" This whole time I've been gone, Jules has been helping me come to terms with what I am. How to deal with it. I guess none of it matters anymore."
"Why didn't you say good-bye? You just left." Caroline asked him.
" You want to talk about this now?" Tyler laughed.
" Well, if we're going to die, I might as well know the truth. Why did you leave me?"
" I knew you hated me. I thought you deserved better than having someone like me in your life." Tyler explained.
" I was hurt. You know, you turned your back on me when I needed you. But... I could never hate you, Tyler." She told him truthfully causing him to smile just as they heard the door of the tomb open and saw Damon walk into the tomb.
"Damon?" Caroline asked as he walked towards her.
" Your boyfriend's outside with a rifle loaded with wooden bullets. You have some explaining to do." Damon told her.
" What, Matt?" Caroline questioned him.
" Matt knows about you?" Tyler interrupted.
" No, I..." Caroline began.
" Shh. Tomorrow's problem." Damon said as he broke the chains around her wrists and helped her up. " Let me just get you out of here."
"Wait, Damon No! I'm not leaving without him." Caroline said pointing to Tyler.
"Ohhh. It's getting dark soon." He told her as he looked down at Tyler." How fast can you get the hell away from here?" He asked him.
"I need to get to my family's cellar. I can lock myself up." Tyler answered.
" I'll help." Caroline added before Damon walked toward Tyler and crouched in front of him.
" Don't make me regret this." He told him before breaking Tyler's chains.
When Elena and Stefan finally made it to the top of the mountain Elana jumped for joy before sitting down and looking at the beauty around her.
"We made it! Ahh." Elana cried happily.
" That's nothing, if you've climbed Mt. Everest." Stefan told her.
" Nobody likes a bragger, Stefan." Elana mocked as she looked around at the hills, and trees and beauty of the area around her." Oh, wow." She gasped.
" Yeah. Hey, you can say it." He told her. She looked over at him confused.
" Say what?" Elana asked.
" The thing you've been wanting to say, but... Been afraid of how it'll make me feel." Stefan explained.
" There's nothing I can say, Stefan. It's not going to change anything."
"Might make you feel better. Look, I know this isn't the first time you've thought about it. Drinking vampire blood to survive. I mean, I know I've thought about it a hundred times."
" And before all this with Klaus, did you think about it then?"
" Of course I did. Elena... If it were my choice, I'd want to be with you forever." Stefan told her sincerely.
" Why have you never brought it up?" Elana asked.
" 'Cause I knew if it was an option, you would have. It would be selfish for me to ask you." Stefan explained
"Didn't stop Damon."
" He shouldn't have done what he did. He did it because he loves you."
" But he did this to me, Stefan, which means he doesn't really know what love is. And to be honest, I don't know if I do. I'm 17 years old. How am I supposed to know any of this yet?" She asked him as she took his hands. " I know that I love you, Stefan. I know that. But my future? Our lives together? Those were things I was supposed to deal with as they came along. I was supposed to grow up." She told him as she started to cry. " Decide if I want to have kids and start a family. Grow old. I was supposed to have a lifetime of those choices, and... now? That's all gone."
" Hey, say it."
" I don't want to be a vampire, Stefan. I never wanted to be one."
" I know. It's okay." He whispered as he embraced her, her tears rolling down her cheeks and dampening his shirt.
When Damon, Caroline and Tyler finally got out of the tomb, the moonlight poured down the stone steps and into the entrance of the tomb. Matt was waking up and Caroline rushed over to him, kneeling down at his side.
"Hey, Matt!" She said as he fully opened his eyes.She looked over at Damon, noticing the large bruise forming on Matt's face." Hey. Did you hit him?!"
" Did you already forget about the part with the gun and the wooden bullets?" Damon asked rhetorically just as Tyler growled and held his chest. He looked up at the moon, high in the sky.
" Tyler? Tyler?" Caroline asked.
" It's starting." He told them simply.
"Grab boy wonder and let's go." Damon shouted at Caroline.
" Come on." She told Matt as she helped him stand before they all left, walking deeper into the forest around the tomb.
As Stefan parked his car in front of the boarding house, he got out and opened the door for Elena, letting her get out of the car before shutting the door and placing his arm around his shoulder.
" Thanks for today." She told him before Stefan put himself in front of Elena, both of them turned their heads to see Klaus standing at the doorway of the boarding house.
" You got me all nervous. I thought maybe you'd done something stupid. You ready, my dear?" Klaus asked her holding out his hand.
" I'm ready." She told him as she tried to go toward him only for Stefan to stop her.
" No." Stefan told Klaus still standing firmly in front of Elana.
" I wouldn't. No reason for you to die, too." Klaus mocked as Elana moved to look at Stefan. He was solely focused on looking at Klaus, his eyes never wavering from the blonde original in front of him.
" No. Stefan, hey, hey, it's fine, it's fine. I'll go. No one needs to get hurt. There's no reason for you to get hurt." Elana pleaded as she reached up and kissed him. " I love you." She told him.
" I love you." He said back before he once again kissed her.
" Close your eyes. Close your eyes." She begged. When his eyes were close, she let go of his hand. He suddenly opened his eyes looking around to see that both she and Klaus were gone. Stefan walked into the house downtrodden at Elana being taken to find Alaric in the living room. "There you are. I got here, the house was empty." Alaric told him
" Where's Damon?" Stefan asked.
As Damon, Caroline, Matt and Tyler walked through the woods, Tyler’s body kept spasming as they walked.
"What's happening? Is he ok?" Matt asked as Tyler called out in pain.
" He better not wolf out on us." Damon replied. His phone started to ring, he answered it to Stefan.
"Bad time, little bro." Damon told him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Stefan asked.
" Saving the day. I figured you'd understand. Just tell Elena to stay put." Damon replied.
"She's already gone, Damon." Stefan told him deflated.
" What?" Damon cried.
" Klaus came. He took her." Stefan explained.
" I'll take care of it." He told Stefan as he hung up the phone. He turned back around to see Tyler fall to the floor as his body began to break and crack as the transformation began.
" Tyler!" Matt shouted.
" I don't know if I can hold it off. Get out of here." Tyler told them as he called out in pain.
" Tyler, it'll be ok." Caroline promised.
" Go!" He shouted at her.
" You've got time. We're almost there, just..." She began.
" It's happening faster." Tyler interrupted.
" Tyler, it's ok." Caroline told him as he looked up at her. His bright yellow eyes peered into hers. He rushed over towards her but Damon stopped him. Tyler pinned Damon to the ground, as he pushed him off himself. Tyler bit him as Damon kicked him off his chest. Damon stood up shacking off the dirt from his top.
" Damon..." Caroline droned
" I'm fine." Damon promised
" Get out of here!" Tyler shouted.
" Get to the Lockwood cellar. If it held him in, it'll keep him out. If it doesn't... Use these." Damon told Caroline as he handed her some wooden bullets. " It'll buy you a couple seconds. Go. Go!" Damon shouted as the left before he left too, running in the opposite direction.
Klaus walked in to Alaric's Apartment looking over at Katherine as she sat on the sofa
" Where's Maddox? He should be back by now." Klaus asked.
" I don’t know." Katherine told him as Klaus sat down next to her and opened his laptop.
" What are you doing? Where's Elena?" Katherine questioned.
" I sent her off with Greta." Klaus answered as Jules appeared on the screen, transitioning. "It's almost time." Klaus said as the door of the apartment opened. Katherine and Klaus both looked at the door to see Damon walk in.
" I wasn't aware you'd been invited in." Klaus noted.
"I've come here to tell you that you have to postpone the ritual." Damon explained.
" Didn't we already have this conversation?" Klaus asked.
"Yeah, but that was before I rescued your werewolf and vampire and killed your witch." Damon told him. Klaus stood up, walking closer to Damon.
" Excuse me?" Klaus questioned as he faced Damon.
"And you can kill me for it. I don't care. It was all me."
" Katerina, give us a moment." Klaus told Katherine as she looked up at them and left." I've heard about you. The crazy, impulsive vampire in love with his brother's girl. I knew one of you would try to stop me. It was a just a 50/50 guess on who." He told Damon as he turned the laptop around for Damon to see Jules. "The nice thing about werewolves is they tend to travel in packs. Need a closer look?"
"Jules."
" When you spend a thousand years trying to break a curse... You learn a thing or two. First rule... always have a back-up. Back-up werewolf. Back-up witch."
"Back-up vampire."
" I've got that covered, too." Klaus told him before breaking his neck letting his body fall to the floor.
When Caroline and Matt reached the old Lockwood property they both rushed into the cellar and closed the door, banging it shut behind them.
" Come on, down here." Caroline told him leading him further into the cellar.
" Is that going to hold?" Matt asked.
" No." Caroline told him as she kept walking deeper into the cellar closing the iron gates behind them." Help me with the gate. Help me with the gate!" Caroline cried as Matt rushed over to her and pushed the gate shut just as Tyler in wolf form entered the cellar and looked at them.
" Tyler? It's me. It's Caroline. Tyler?" Caroline tried as the wolf rushed over to her banging on the gate.
When Damon woke up in Alaric’s apartment Katherine handed him a blood bag and slapped him hard across the face.
" Hey. Damon. Hey. Damon!" She called as he fully opened his eyes and looked at her, rubbing his neck.
"Ahh. What the hell happened?" Damon asked her.
"He's gone. He went to do the ritual. I'm sorry. I had to. He would have known that I was on vervain if I didn't do it." Katherine explained.
"Ahh. Do what?" Damon asked her.
"Klaus. He made me call her to lure her out. He needed another vampire." Katherine told him.
"Who did you call?" He questioned only for her to look on in silence for a moment. He grabbed her arm looking directly into her eyes. "Who did you call, Katherine?"
As Elena and Greta walked through the dark, black forest, Elana looked around trying to get her bearing as Greta kept walking faster into the trees.
" Where are we going?" Elana asked.
"This way." Greta said simply.
"You're Luka's sister, aren't you? I heard about you. He and your father were looking for you." Elana explained.
" Well, they were wasting their time. I wasn't lost." Greta told her as her foot hit a rock causing her to fall over.
" God, I can't see anything." Elana complained as suddenly Greta lit fire all around them. Elena stood at the top of a small hill looking down at the ground she saw someone lying there. She rushed over to them to see Jenna lying in the floor.
"Jenna? Jenna, Jenna! Jenna? Hey, hey, Jenna! Jenna!" Elana cried as she put her fingers on Jenna's wrist trying to find a pulse. " Oh, my God. No. Jenna! No!" She sobbed as she looked up at Greta. " He killed her? Why? I did everything that he asked." Elana shouted just as Jenna woke up and looked up at Elana.
"She's not dead. She's in transition." Greta explained.
Greta turned around then to see a tall man with shaggy black hair walk out of the trees behind her, around 20 men came out of the trees after him keeping a respectful distance. He fell to the floor in agony as Greta used her powers to make him collapse.
"Who are you?" She demanded.
"My name is Martin. I have something for Klaus." He sputtered and screamed in agony.
"What?" Greta asked.
"The girl. His girl." Martin told her.
"We already have the doppelganger." Great said as she stopped causing his headache allowing him to stand.
"Not the doppelganger. Celestria." Martin told her as he ushered for someone to walk forward. One of his many followers came up from behind him and walked to Greta before placing the body in his arms to the ground in front of her. She had a large hood over her head covering both her face and hair.
"Wait." She told him. Moments later Klaus came out of the wood walking up to Greta. He noticed the many men behind her turning to face them when he stood next to Greta and in front of the body.
"How can I help you gentlemen?" He asked them. "I assume you're here to see me, unless you're here to hassle my witch."
"No, my Lord." Martin told him. "I bring for you something I hope will pay of my debt to you."
" Well what is it. I don't need another blood bag."
"It's Celestria." Martin told him. A flash of surprise and shock washed over Klaus' features as he looked down at the slender body beneath him, the face and hair covered. He knelt down next to her pulling off the hood to reveal her striking face. Her long wavy black hair fell down over her face and back as he placed his arm around her to keep her sitting up. Her soft, red lips moved slightly as she breathed in and out, her eyes flickering subtly as if in some kind if trance.
"You have a deal." Klaus told him as he and his followers quickly ran into the forest leaving Klaus and Celest on the hill.
"My love." Klaus told her softly as he brushed the hair out of her face, gently running his hand down her cheek.
After Damon had finally drank enough to get back on his feet he stood up from the floor. Turning to Katherine.
"Should have used me. Why didn't he use me?" He asked no one in particular.
" He couldn't. Damon, he said you were as good as dead." Katherine told him.
"What does that even mean?" Damon asked.
"What does that mean?" Katherine echoed before noticing the darkening bite.
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AHHHHHHH!!!! 200 reads... this may seem like nothing to some people but to me it's amazing... Thank you to everyone who's loving a bit of Celest, hope you liked this chapter... A bit more of Klaus and Celest next time!