The Youngest Mikaelson

Chapter 18

Shane watched as Connor Jordan lowered himself onto the chair in his office. The hunter then directed a glare at the professor.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through?" He spat and Shane just watched him. "I've spent the last two days chained up in the Originals' basement."

Shane hummed. "So you've met Klaus then?" It was phrased as a question but it was more of a statement.

Connor narrowed his eyes at the man, annoyance clear on his features. "And his sisters and one brother."

Shane's eyes widened slightly at the information. Of course, he and his employer expected the hunter to meet some of the Originals but they didn't exactly expect the entire family. "I only know them by reputation. Apparently they're monsters."

The hunter rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair with a pained sigh. "They're the first vampires in existence, of course they are." The man began. "Klaus is the biggest monster of them, though. He's a vampire-werewolf hybrid. Do you know how hard it is to kill them?"

"From what I gather, you have to remove their head or their heart." Shane repeated what he read from some of his books. He still wasn't exactly sure because according to most of the occult books that he had come across, vampire-werewolf hybrids shouldn't even exist. "That is according to lore. I'm just speculating."

Connor rolled his eyes. "I had to figure out how to do it on my own." He gestured at the shelves of occult books. "I could've used some of this occult Professor knowledge of yours. Then again, you've always been slow when it comes to providing answers."

Shane narrowed his eyes because he knew what Connor was referring to. "You're told what you need to. Besides, we had a deal. I'll give you answers about your hunter's mark when it's grown to completion."

"In other words, kill as many vampires as possible." Connor said and Shane just nodded quickly. "You know, the vampires have given me more information about this mark than you and whoever the hell you're working for has."

Shane glared at the man in front of him. "I suggest you don't question him. And as for the vampires, why do you think we sent you to Mystic Falls?" Connor didn't answer so Shane continued. "There's no shortage of vampires. The town is practically infested."

The professor hesitated, wondering if he should tell the hunter about the young witch he was trying to recruit. He sighed and decided to tell him, if only to keep the hunter from going after her.

"Listen, there's a witch mixed up in all this. I want her to be kept out of harm's way."

Connor gave him an incredulous look before his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Anybody gets in my way, anybody, they're dead."

Shane sighed loudly and ran his hand over his face. "Okay. Sure, I'll occupy her myself. Just do what you do. As long as you get results, the less I know about it the better."

~~~

Connor stepped out of Professor Shane's office, his head bowed so as not to attract too much attention. He could still feel the eyes of the college students following his movements but he just kept going, determined to make it to his trailer.

He was walking towards the small clearing in the middle of the woods where his trailer was when he saw the hybrid pacing in front of it. Connor stopped and just stared, going through his options to see which was the best one.

The hunter didn't get a chance to decide before the hybrid turned and saw him, a huge grin forming on his face.

He walked a little closer to where Connor was standing, causing the hunter to take the same amount of steps backwards. The grin on the hybrid's face grew. "You know, Klaus looked at me like I was an idiot when I suggested that someone should wait here for you." The hybrid paused and Connor kept quiet. "Who's the idiot now?"

Connor narrowed his eyes and sneered at the monster in front of him. "You are." He ran towards the hybrid, grabbing a broken branch along the way and aiming it at the hybrid's heart.

The hybrid easily grabbed his hand and ripped the makeshift stake out of it. "Did you really think that was gonna work?" He mocked and shoved Connor down.

The hunter scooted backwards, his eyes locked on the hybrid, without answering. This caused a look of amusement to enter the hybrid's eyes.

The hybrid flashed in front of Connor and kicked him in the side, causing him to fly into his trailer. "I know I can't kill you but Klaus said nothing about roughing you up a bit."

Connor reached under the trailer and grabbed a real stake, making sure that the hybrid didn't see it. "How does it feel to know your boss cares more about me?"

The hybrid narrowed his eyes and walked over to where Connor was still laying. Once he was close enough Connor tightened his hold on the stake and aimed it at the hybrid's heart.

He easily caught his hand and grabbed the wooden object from the hunter. He gave the stake a cursory glance before he flung it among the trees. He narrowed his eyes at the hunter. "Did you really think that would work? It didn't even work the first time."

Connor just glared at him and felt around under his trailer again, his fingers skimming his target. The hybrid just laughed and continued towering over the hunter. Connor kept quiet as the hybrid got closer and closer.

When he was close enough the smirk became present on Connor's face. "I didn't think it was gonna work." The hybrid's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "It was a distraction."

Before the hybrid could react, Connor swung his hand up, a machete in his hand, and chopped the hybrid's head off. Connor rested the back of his against his trailer and sighed out in exhaustion. He stayed like this for a few minutes before he forced himself to stand and picked up the hybrid's head.

The hunter entered his trailer and looked around. He saw the papers on his table were out of order and there were two bloody arrows thrown carelessly on the floor.

Connor knew that one—or maybe more—of the vampires had been in his trailer, not that he didn't expect that. By his guess it was one of the ones that confronted him at the hospital.

Connor shook his head and cleared the table, placed a white sheet down, and placed the head on the sheet. He walked over to the small bathroom and washed up a little, making sure to change his clothes.

Once he was clean enough, Connor returned to the head with a few syringes. He stuck them into the hybrid's gums and extracted his werewolf venom. When all the venom was extracted, Connor grabbed a duffel bag and stuffed it with various weapons, including the werewolf venom.

He then wrapped the head up in a white sheet and left it on the table. Connor walked out of the trailer, the duffel bag slung over his shoulder, and locked it before making his way to the town square.

Connor stopped in front of the Mystic Grill, watching as the Gilbert boy bustled around the small diner. The hunter knew that the only way to get to the vampires in the town now was to target their supposed friends. He knew that they had a misguided notion of heroism and that Jeremy truly believed that they would save him if they had to.

The hunter walked quickly behind the diner and checked the back door, thankful that it was already unlocked. He slipped in and found his way to the backroom, placing himself out of sight as he heard the door that lead into the diner open.

Connor saw Jeremy Gilbert organizing some dishes and decided to drop something, making some noise and rousing the suspicion of the boy. Sure enough, Jeremy looked around to investigate and it's then that Connor revealed himself with a knife to the boy's throat.

"Do I have your attention now?" He asked mockingly as Jeremy stiffened. The boy hesitated for a second before he nodded slowly. Connor hummed. "Good. Then let's talk about vampires."

~~~

"Ok, now that we got rid of that dimwit, what's the real plan?" Damon Salvatore asked as he watched the Original family.

Erikah was the first to answer. "Well, we know he won't leave Mystic Falls, he has to complete his tattoo."

"Yeah but he can do that anywhere." Damon interrupted and she turned a glare onto him.

"But the Five were specifically created to kill my family." She explained and Damon hummed. "With all of us here he won't leave."

"I don't think we should wake Silas." Kol said aloud, a glass of bourbon in one hand and the other slung around Bonnie's shoulders. "Every witch we've encountered that knows about him says that he'll end the supernatural world."

"But," Erikah paused, "people will never stop trying to get the cure. I say we gather everything and get it ourselves. That way we have the cure—we can make sure Silas stays put, or we could kill him—and it cannot be used against us."

"I agree with my sister." Kol said and directed a smile towards the younger blonde.

Damon rolled his eyes. "You always agree with her, she's your sister."

"I didn't agree with her about you." Kol fired back and Damon stepped forward towards him. He felt a light touch on his arm and turned to see Erikah looking at him, her lips set into a straight line. She shook her head slightly and removed her hand from his skin.

"Hey!" Caroline yelled to get their attention as she stepped in the middle of the room. "We need to split up and gather everything we may need." The blonde turned and observed everyone in the room. Damon could practically see the wheels turning in her head as she formulated her plan. "Rebekah and Stefan will go together to go find the Sword of Alexander, Niklaus will go recover the other four swords, and since we need more information on this Silas, Kat and Elijah will go find some."

The room was silent as everyone watched the blonde, all seemingly agreeing with her. Bonnie stepped forward slightly. "The creepy professor at Whitmore offered to teach some kind of magic, I'll find out what I can from him."

Katherine looked at the witch in confusion. "Does he not know you're a witch?"

"He does, I just told him that I'm not practicing right now." Bonnie replied, earning a smirk from the doppelgänger.

"And of course I'm staying with her." Kol said and no one objected.

Erikah cleared her throat from beside Damon and stepped forward slightly. "I'll stay here. Kol will be mostly occupied with making sure that Bonnie is ok and I'll just focus on no one killing the hunter and also finding out what he knows."

Caroline began nodding her head in agreement. "Yeah, makes sense. I'm staying too because if every single one us starts disappearing the hunter will know something is going on."

"Now that everyone's got their assignments, let's scatter." Damon said and began walking out of the room.

"And where are you going?" Bonnie asked before he could completely leave.

"I have to tell Ric what's going on." He answered matter of factly before he flashed out of the Mikaelson mansion.

~~~

Matt Donovan walked around in the Mystic Grill, making sure that everything was ready for them to open. He sighed loudly when he realized that Jeremy wasn't there yet and pulled out his phone to call the boy. The call went to voicemail. Matt sighed. "Really? Jeremy, you're half an hour late. Get here now!"

Matt hung up the phone with a sigh and began to take chairs off of tabletops. Moments later the bells above the door jingled and Matt looked over, expecting to see Jeremy rushing in. Instead it was April Young.

"Uh...Matt?" The girl questioned.

Matt just gave her a look of confusion. "Uh, hey, April. We don't open until 11."

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't like trying to scare you or stalk you or whatever." The girl began, a sort of desperate edge to her voice. "I just—I came to ask if you've seen Rebekah."

Matt scrunched up his eyebrows at that because why would he know where the Original was. He shook his head. "Why would I have seen Rebekah?"

April looked down to her feet nervously and began shuffling in place. "Oh, I just assumed...I mean, aren't you guys kind of a thing?"

The blond shook his head with a scoff. "Rebekah and I are not a thing. She was only nice to me to get in Stefan's good graces and it seemed to have worked." April looked confused so Matt just sighed and shook his head. "Nevermind. What did you need with her?"

The brunette walked closer to the blond as if she was going to tell him a secret. "Well, I—I mean I'm worried about her." Matt raised his eyebrows at that as the girl continued. "She said she'd help me find stuff out about the fire that killed my dad and then she just stopped talking to me."

Before Matt could answer her, he heard someone clear their throat behind him. Matt saw April's eyes widen before he turned around to see for himself. The blond moved in front of the brunette as he watched the hunter hold a knife to Jeremy's throat.

"Trust me, that's the least of your problems." The hunter pushed Jeremy towards one of the tables and gestured with his free hand. "Sit down!"

Matt jumped slightly before he led April over to the seat that the hunter had gestured to. "What's going on, man?"

The hunter just ignored him and pushed Jeremy next to them. "Gilbert, give me your phone."

"At least let April go." Jeremy said as he began ruffling through his pockets for his phone. "She doesn't have anything to do with this."

The hunter rolled his eyes and held his hand out for the phone. "She has everything to do with this." Jeremy finally pulled out his phone and handed it to the man. "Her and her father. Plus, she and I have history."

April scrunched her eyebrows up in confusion. "What are you talking about?" She looked to Matt for some type of guidance but he just shrugged. He wasn't going to be the one to tell her what the hunter had done to her. "I've never seen you before in my life."

The hunter narrowed his eyes at the trio. "Well, you kids need to get some vervain. And don't just wear it as a bracelet where anybody can just take it off." He looked pointedly at Jeremy's wrist that was housing his vervain bracelet. "Maybe then you'd remember our conversation at the hybrid's yesterday."

Matt glanced over at the boy but he was just staring unbelievingly at the hunter. "Our conversation? Are you saying someone compelled me?!"

April stood suddenly and flung her arms up in frustration. "Would someone please tell me what he's talking about?!"

The hunter rolled his eyes and focused on the girl. "Compulsion, secrets, vampires."

"If you know so much, then you know our friends are going to come for us." Matt said pointedly as he pulled on April's arm so she sat back down.

A smile stretched across the hunter's lips. "Oh, yeah, I'm counting on it." He lifted Jeremy's phone up to his face. "Every vampire that comes for you is another one I get to kill. Now, who should I text first? Hm?" He looked at the trio over the edge of the phone. "Damon Salvatore, his brother Stefan, Tyler Lockwood? Nah, all of the above."

He typed a message out on the phone before he dropped the phone onto a table and stabbed it with a hunting knife.

~~~

Damon paced in his living room as he waited for Alaric to get there. He had called his best friend and told him to meet him at the house as soon as possible. Now the vampire was drinking a glass of bourbon and waiting.

As he was waiting, flashes of blonde hair and blue eyes kept appearing behind his eyes. Damon didn't need a witch to tell him who's likeness filled his head. He pulled out his phone to text her when the front door was pushed open and Alaric stepped in.

"Alright, Damon. I'm here. What's the problem?"

"Finally." Damon sighed out before he poured a glass for the other vampire. "Remember that hunter that tried to kill Tyler at the Pastor's funeral?"

Alaric grabbed the glass from Damon and gave him a scathing look. "Yeah, the hunter that you were supposed to take care of and blew up the hospital trying to kill him, only for him to make it out alive." Ric took a sip from his glass. "Yeah, I remember the hunter."

Damon rolled his eyes. "I didn't blow the hospital up." He sighed. "Yes, well I was working with our favorite evil family to find out what he knew and somehow he got away."

Ric's eyes widened, almost comically. "He what?!?"

"Hey, I wasn't even there when he escaped." Damon defended. "Look, we know he's still in town and the Mikaelsons have come up with a plan to handle him and find out what he's here about."

Alaric opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by the chime of Damon's cell phone. They both gave each other a look before Damon checked his phone.

Damon's lips turned down into a frown as he read the message.

From: Jeremy Gilbert
Hunter at Mystic Grill with hostages. They all die at sundown.

Damon lifted his eyes from his phone and looked at Alaric, the man waiting for him to explain. "We have a bigger problem." Damon paused and Alaric waited.

Damon just looked back down at his phone and dialed a number that was becoming much too familiar.

"Damon? Is everything alright?"

"I found the hunter." Damon heard the sharp intake of breath from the Mikaelson at the other end of the line.

"Where is he?" Erikah asked.

~~~

Erikah straightened her leather jacket as she stepped through the front door of the Boarding House. Caroline entered with her and they saw that the house was already occupied by Damon, the high school teacher, and a dark haired boy.

"So, I think we each take a different entrance; hit them at the same time." The teacher was saying, his back turned to the front door and therefore not noticing the new arrivals.

Damon's eyes moved from the teacher and caught Erikah's, to which she just smiled and he raised his glass in greeting. This action caused the other two men to turn their attention to her and Caroline.

The dark-haired boy cleared his throat as he watched Caroline. "Hey, Care." He sounded nervous.

The teacher rolled his eyes. "Where have you been and where are Stefan and Bonnie?"

Caroline opened her mouth to answer but Erikah interrupted her. "Stefan and Bonnie are busy with other things." The teacher narrowed his eyes but Erikah just looked away from him and focused on Damon. "Caroline and I were coming up with a plan."

The teacher's eyes flicked between the couple. "Yeah, we already have a plan." He began. "We ambush Connor and rip his heart out."

Caroline rolled her eyes and spoke for the first time since they arrived. "That's not a plan. We need to be careful. The hunter has Jeremy and who knows how many other hostages. And I know you don't want them to be collateral damage in your 'plan'."

Damon took a sip from his glass and nodded. "Blondie's right. I'm sure no one here wants to tell Elena that we risked her brother's life to take out the hunter."

"He's strong, Damon, but he's not gonna be able to take all of us." The teacher seethed.

Erikah looked around dramatically before she turned her attention back to the trio in front of her. "If I'm not mistaken, there are 5 of us here and I'm only confident in the fighting abilities of 3 of us against one of the Five." The boy and teacher gave her scathing looks while Damon just smirked. "Not to mention his proficiency in killing the supernatural."

The teacher stepped forward threateningly as his glare settled on her. "I'm an original vampire, I can't be killed. It doesn't matter what gets thrown at me. Trust me, you don't want a demonstration. Just ask your brother."

Erikah narrowed her eyes and stepped closer to the man, his body within an arm's reach. "My mother made you into an original. You are merely a few years old whereas I am centuries old, do not threaten me."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Caroline and Damon share a look before Care stepped up behind her. "Eri."

The blonde Original ignored her. "The magic that made you what you are and the magic that allows you to still be here is reversible." Erikah stepped closer to the man, sensing a subdued kind of panic in his eyes. "And believe me when I say, I am very good with magic."

Before the vampire could react, Erikah reached her hand out and grabbed onto his forearm. The red tint that signified her siphoning ability appeared as the man tried to remove his hand from her grasp. Erikah kept her grip tight and just glared at him. She felt the faint touch of Care's hand on her shoulder as the girl tried to get her to let go. Erikah just ignored her.

"Erikah, that's enough!" Damon's voice was loud enough to cut through the fog over her consciousness that came with the euphoric feeling that accompanied her siphoning.

She removed her hand from the teacher and stepped back, stumbling slightly. She felt the slight wind as Damon flashed behind her and placed his arm around her.

She leaned marginally into his touch before she straightened up and stepped away. "I'm fine." She whispered to him before she turned back to the teacher, who was watching her with slight fear.

Caroline cleared her throat. "It would be wise not to threaten us and to focus on the task at hand." She stared expectantly at the teacher until he hesitantly nodded. "Good. Now, Liz Forbes has squad cars blocking the street. They're saying its a faulty gas main. No more townspeople should interfere."

The room settled into an awkward silence until the dark-haired boy spoke up. "I called in the hybrids to help too."

"So it won't just be the five of us." The teacher spoke.

Damon sighed loudly. "Ric, they're right. This guy is known for setting traps, right?" He began. "We'd be pretty dumb to walk into one, especially if he has werewolf venom," He gave Erikah a cursory glance, "or white oak."

"So, you just want us to let him have Jeremy and whoever else he might have taken hostage."

Damon's gaze became irritated as he watched the teacher. "No, I'm just saying we need recon time."

The teacher narrowed his gaze at the vampire. "Fine, but I'm only giving you an hour. After that I'm going in, with or without your help." Then he stormed out of the house.

~~~

Bonnie Bennett sat at Professor Shane's desk, flipping through the pages of a book titled Book of the Occult. The witch subtly looked over the pages of the book at the man's office. She was searching for anything that could possibly help them, her focus mainly on her surroundings than the Professor's words since she knew that Kol was somewhere in the building listening to everything.

"I can't believe you wrote a book." Bonnie finally looked up from the book's pages and turned her focus to the Professor. She placed the right amount of curiosity and wonder into her voice so he would really buy her amazement.

"I did." He sounded proud of himself. "I wrote three books actually. Two of them are just too mortifying to display."

Bonnie laughed as she pulled her phone from her pocket. "Oh, I'm finding them online." She knew that he wanted her to be as isolated as possible so she was fairly certain that he would take her phone. Bonnie needed him to believe that she was truly willing to do what he wanted so she could get her magic back. That way she could get as much information out of the man as possible.

Maybe Kol was rubbing off on her.

Professor Shane turned from her to grab his pot of tea, pouring two cups of it. "No, no you're not." He finished pouring the tea and returned his gaze to her. "Hey, come on, you promised, remember? All right? No cell phones and no Internet during witch therapy."

Bonnie allowed him to take the phone from her hand and accepted the cup of tea.

He sat at his desk again, on the other side of desk across from her. "Right now, I want you to focus and I want your undivided attention.

Bonnie nodded slightly, though she knew that wasn't possible at the moment. The witch was carefully analyzing the office, cataloguing anything that might be of use to them. "You really think you can help me start practicing magic again?"

"Absolutely, I can." The professor sounded 100% sure of himself. Bonnie almost laughed. "I invited you here because I can. But you know what, right now, just relax, drink your tea."

He gestured to the mugs in front of them both and took a sip from his own. "I got this in Australia when I was backpacking with these Aborigenes spirit guides." He explained. "Trust me, it's better when you smoke it, but I'm trying to be a role model." Bonnie laughed and soon after he joined her. "Bonnie, listen," his tone became more serious, "the thing is, what I have in mind might come off as a little unorthodox."

Bonnie sat up straighter in her chair, her eyebrows raised in interest. "Now I'm officially curious."

"Good." Professor Shane got up from his chair and grabbed a metronome. He returned to the desk and placed it between them. Bonnie just stared down at it curiously. "What do you know about hypnosis?" He pulled the pendulum and it began to tick back and forth.

Bonnie gave him an incredulous look. "You really think that would work?"

"You practice witchcraft, but you don't believe in hypnotism?" She gave him a strange look and he just sighed. "Bonnie, listen, you're afraid to practice magic because those witch spirits convinced you it's wrong. They threatened your Grams and they made you feel guilty." He placed his hand to his ear and gestured for her to do the same.

The witch hesitated a little, wondering if this might be going too far with the plan, but then she remembered that Kol was listening in and would interfere if he thought she was in danger. The thought instantly calmed her down and she placed her hand to her ear.

Professor Shane smiled approvingly. "You just have to confront that fear and that guilt and remove it."

They both removed their hands and Bonnie looked at the man with uncertainty. "Maybe. I don't think hypnosis would work." She began to explain. "Witches are naturally immune to most methods of manipulation."

Professor raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Really?" Bonnie gave him a look of confusion but nodded. "Well, let me ask you something." He looked down at his desk. "Would you like to put that earring back on?"

Bonnie raised her hand to her ear as she looked down to the desk. She saw her earring just lying there. The witch looked up at the professor to see him smiling and sipping his tea.

Bonnie let out a small laugh.

~~~

Alaric rummaged through his chest of drawers for any kind of weapons as he waited for Elena to arrive at his apartment. He had called the girl after he had left the Boarding House. Alaric didn't care what Damon, or Caroline, or the Originals said, he was going to kill the hunter and help Jeremy and whatever other hostages he had.

And he knew that Elena would agree with him.

"Ric, what's going on?" Elena asked as she stepped through the door and closed it behind her. "You said it was urgent."

"Yeah, hey." Alaric looked the girl over before he sighed and turned away. Something in his expression must have alarmed her because her voice took on a more concerned edge.

"What happened?"

"The hunter has Jeremy." Alaric finally let out and he saw the shock of it register on Elena's face. The brunette immediately started pacing, her hands running through her hair.

"We need a plan to get him out. We need—" she paused as if just realizing something. "Where are Stefan and Damon?"

Alaric opened his mouth to answer before he closed it again, a frown forming on his lips. Elena looked at him expectantly, waiting for his answer. Truthfully, Alaric didn't know what to tell her.

Whatever came out of his mouth would make her angry because in his eyes Damon and Stefan were both choosing the Mikaelsons over the girl they both claimed to love. They were choosing the family that tormented them all for months over her and Jeremy.

And that's not something that he really understood, and he was sure that Elena wouldn't either.

"They're, ahh, doing recon at the moment." Alaric vaguely answered before he pulled out a large map and spread it on the table in the room. Elena walked over to him and peered over his shoulder.

"What is that?"

"It's our way in." He answered her as he began tracing a faint line running through the town, most importantly running to the Mystic Grill.

"The tunnels." Elena realized and Alaric nodded. "Like the ones in the Lockwood cellar."

"Yep." Alaric took a picture of the map with his phone. When he turned around he saw that Elena had her phone held up to her ear and he could hear it ringing.

"Elena, hey." Alaric heard the voice of his raven haired best friend. The older vampire didn't miss the way that Elena's face lit up at the sound of his voice.

"Damon." She sighed out his name, a smile prominent on her face, before her face became serious again. "The hunter has Jeremy."

"Ric told you." Damon sounded irritated and Elena's expression changed drastically.

"What do you mean? Of course he told me. Damon, he has my brother." She was yelling by the end, the anger obvious in her voice.

"And he's also known for his traps." Damon raised his voice before Alaric heard a low sigh from the other end of the line. "I have a plan, Elena. Just don't do anything stupid."

Elena began pacing the room, her brow furrowed in contemplation. "I'm with Ric right now at his apartment and he already has a plan."

"Elena—" Damon said before he was abruptly cut off by the angry brunette girl.

"I'll see you in about an hour to see which plan is better." Then she hung up without waiting for an answer from the raven-haired vampire. When the girl turned to him, Alaric raised his eyebrows at her. "What?"

The history teacher shook his head. "Nothing, nothing." He trailed off as he began studying the map again. "You know Damon won't change his mind about his plan, right?"

"I know." Elena acknowledged as she started pacing the length of the room. "That's why I need to go in these tunnels."

Alaric whipped around immediately and stared the girl down. "No, you're not. This guy doesn't know that you're a vampire, let's keep it that way."

Elena shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, maybe that's it." She began and Alaric just watched her. "I can offer to trade myself in exchange for the hostages."

Alaric shook his head vehemently. "No. Best case scenario is now you're a hostage." He informed her. "Worst case scenario: he figures you out, kills you on the spot."

Elena stopped pacing to glare at him. "Stop treating me like I can't handle myself." Her voice was seething. "You trained me and I've practiced with Damon."

"So, what?" Alaric questioned her. "Now you're gonna take on a professional killer?" Before she could answer, Alaric flashed to the closet and grabbed a crossbow, pointing it at Elena's head. "Just like that, you're dead."

Elena paused before she flashed up to him and grabbed the crossbow from him, pointing it at his chest. "Head shots no good. It has to be the heart." A small smile graced her lips. "So, now you're dead."

Alaric shoved the crossbow from his chest and just sighed. "You're still not going in there."

Elena dropped the crossbow, all traces of a smile also dropping from her face. "My brother is the only thing that's holding me together right now, Ric. If anything happens to him..." She trailed off, sounding devastated at even the possibility.

"We'll get him out. I promise."

~~~

Jeremy Gilbert sat in the booth, across from Matt Donovan and April Young, his eyes following the hunter as he prepared the traps he was setting for his victims. Connor was pouring what looked like werewolf toxin into a glass jar and seemed to be setting up a bomb.

The young Gilbert's attention was drawn momentarily from the hunter when he heard April sobbing.

"He's clearly delusional." She was saying as she cried. Matt and Jeremy exchanged a look. "I mean, right? All this—all this talk about vampires, but I mean, he mentioned my dad."

Matt tore his gaze away from Jeremy and placed his arm gently around the girl's shoulders. "Hey, this guy's a nut job, okay?" The blond's voice was calming as he attempted to soothe the sobbing girl. "Don't let him get into your head."

"What if he knows something?" April sounded unsure as she looked between the two men. Her gaze stopped on Jeremy. "Jeremy, did he say anything to you about why he's doing this?"

Jeremy shook his head in answer. "I don't know." The girl looked disappointed. "Maybe. Maybe I just can't remember." He quickly got up from the booth and began making his way over to where the hunter was.

"Let it go, Jeremy." Matt tried to stop him but Jeremy just shrugged him off and continued walking over to Connor.

"You said we had a conversation yesterday." Jeremy stated and the hunter just hummed without looking up from what he was doing. "About what?"

Connor sighed, as if annoyed. "We'll get into that." He still didn't look up from his task. "First, take a look at my handy work." He moved slightly to the side and showed off the homemade bomb before finally looking up at the boy. "Pick up some tips from the hunter's trade."

Jeremy frowned as he studied the hunter's work. "What is all that?"

"The fluid is derived from werewolf toxin." Connor pointed to the parts as he explained what they did. "Trip the wire, bomb goes off, nails deliver a lethal dose into the bloodstream."

In any other situation Jeremy knew that he would've congratulated Connor's work. But considering that the whole setup was to kill his sister and her friends he refrained from doing so. "And what's the point? What do you get out of all this?"

Connor paused and sighed lowly. "You know, I used to think that there was no 'get'; that I was just supposed to do. Kill vampires. That was until I realized that the mark held the answer to why I'm the way I am. The more I kill, the more it grows and once it's complete, I'll know my story—and all of this will have meant something."

The hunter turned from Jeremy and focused on the other two humans in the diner. "Hey! We're gonna have visitors soon, you two get in the back. Get up! Move!" Matt and April hurriedly got up and began walking to the back. Matt gently grabbed April's shoulders as they walked to the back. Before they could reach their destination, Connor stopped them. "Before you think about any other exits, I got every door rigged. Got it?"

Matt exchanged a look with Jeremy before he just nodded and continued leading April to the back.

~~~

Damon's hold tightened on his phone as he made his way towards Alaric's apartment. On the other end of the line Klaus was arguing with Stefan and Erikah about getting his hybrids involved in saving the hostages in the Mystic Grill.

"You expect me to care about bloody hostages?" Klaus asked, sounding extremely bored with the conversation.

"Yes." Stefan answered, sounding equally as irritated as Klaus was bored. "We know that one of the hostages is Jeremy so Elena definitely cares and, according to Damon, the other ones are Matt and April, which means that Tyler also cares."

Damon sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Those two idiots are like freaking danger magnets. Listen, Klaus, if either of them gets to the hunter then you just wasted a trip to wherever the hell you are."

Damon heard a low growl from the other end of the line and knew he had pissed the hybrid off. Before Klaus could respond, Erikah spoke up. "Niklaus he's right. Mother's little experiment is intent on killing the hunter. So, if you want the hunter alive, then you better get your hybrids on board with our plan." Then she hung up.

Damon lingered on the call long enough to hear Klaus agree to get his hybrids together before he hung up and entered Alaric's apartment building. He quickly made his way to Alaric's loft and let himself in. Elena was pacing while Alaric was hunched over the table, looking at what looked to be a map.

"Is that map supposed to be part of your plan?" Damon asked and both occupants of the room turned to face him. Elena stopped pacing and just stared at him while Alaric nodded.

"Yeah, it's a map of the tunnels under the city." Alaric explained and waved Damon over. He outlined the tunnels with his finger and, sure enough, they led to the Mystic Grill. "I think we have everything to get this party started."

Damon stepped back with a sigh and a slight roll of his eyes. "Not yet, Ric. Klaus is sending one of his hybrids. He'll take the front, you and I can take the tunnels."

"So that's your grand plan?" Elena finally spoke since he entered the room. "Since when do you work with the Originals?"

"Since their plan doesn't get us killed." Damon replied harshly. "I'm not risking my life for some freaking danger magnets."

The brunette's expression morphed into one of anger and she stepped closer to him. "In case you forgot, one of those 'danger magnets' is my brother."

"Hey!" Ric got both of their attention. Damon turned away from the girl and turned towards the older vampire. "We're wasting time like this."

"You're right." Damon agreed. "So let's go. We're doing my plan."

"What? No!" Elena protested and Damon just rolled his eyes. "We never agreed to this."

"Yeah, I don't think I trust a plan that the Mikaelsons came up with." Alaric chimed in. "They're not exactly the good guys."

"Oh, stop being paranoid, Ric. This is the best plan we have at the moment and we don't exactly have a lot of time." Damon saw Ric glance at Elena before opening his mouth and then closing it. Damon rolled his eyes and sighed. "Look, we don't really need you for the plan to work. This was just a curtesy visit."

Damon turned from them and began walking through the door. He was halfway out the room when he turned back to them. "Just don't get in our way. I can't stop them from retaliating if you mess up their plan."

The raven-haired vampire moved to walk out the door when he heard a rush of wind and then felt a small prick on the back of his neck. He immediately spun around, his hand flying up to his neck, and stared wide-eyed at Alaric.

"I don't need you for my plan either." The older vampire said before Damon fell to the ground and everything went black.

~~~

Erikah Mikaelson walked across the Lockwood Mansion lawn at a human's pace with her blonde sister-in-law beside her. As she neared the front door she began listening to their conversations in the house.

"Look, man, this guy is dangerous." She heard Nik's first hybrid say. Erikah exchanged a look with Caroline and the other blonde nodded, confirming that she was also listening. "He's highly trained. He's armed."

Another voiced chimed in. "I can handle myself. Besides Klaus asked me personally."

Erikah startled at that. She didn't think Nik had already called and if he was going to get his hybrids on board with the plan she thought he would contact the first hybrid he sired.

The Mikaelson women stepped up to the front door and knocked loudly. In seconds the door was flung open by a brunette, and by the soft pattering of her heart she was a werewolf. The werewolf girl looked them up and down, disdain clear in her eyes.

"Who the hell are you?"

Caroline raised her eyebrows and gave Erikah a side glance. She finally forced a tight smile onto her lips. "I'm Caroline and this is Erikah."

A look of recognition crossed the girl's eyes. "Oh, you used to be Tyler's girl." The werewolf smirked. "He told me about you. I'm Hayley."

Caroline looked the girl up and down before she focused back on her face. "Well, Hayley, that's pretty crazy, because I haven't heard a thing about you."

Hayley's smile dropped and she settled a slight glare on Caroline. "I've been staying here a few days."

Caroline stepped closer to the girl and narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

To her credit, the werewolf girl didn't back down—she met Care's glare with her own. "I needed a place to crash, Ty's a buddy, he was kind enough to offer." She had a kind of triumphant look in her eyes that Erikah found amusing.

Erikah glanced over at Caroline and the two blondes began laughing. "I'm sorry, was that meant to make her jealous?" Hayley raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I see you've missed a couple things."

"What are you talking about?"

The smile widened on Caroline's face. "I'm married so whatever you do with Ty really doesn't matter to me." And then Caroline walked past the girl.

Erikah just looked the werewolf up and down before rolling her eyes. "In case it wasn't clear, we really don't do teen drama." The youngest Mikaelson walked past the girl, bumping her shoulder as she did.

She then found Caroline standing in the entryway of the room where Tyler and the other hybrid were arguing. They didn't even realize that they were being watched.

"Klaus told you to take Connor on by yourself and you can't even fight back?" Tyler questioned. "You have to use non-lethal force. What the hell is that?"

"Klaus gave me a direct order."

Hayley stormed into the room from a door opposite the entryway that the Mikaelsons stood. The two that were arguing still didn't notice them standing, watching. "It's too dangerous." She seethed. "That maniac already killed Nate."

The hybrid turned on her with a glare. "You're not a hybrid, you don't know what it's like. Klaus asks for something, you do it."

Tyler glanced at Hayley before he walked up to the other hybrid in the room. "Look, I'm a hybrid. I used to do everything Klaus said, but I don't anymore. You don't have to either."

Before the other hybrid could answer, Erikah stepped forward, her cell phone in her hand. "I'm terribly sorry but I could not listen to this melodrama any longer." She laughed and Tyler just watched her.

"You must be Erikah Mikaelson." Tyler said and Erikah just nodded.

"I sure am. And since you think you can stand up to my brother," she paused and walked closer to him, her arm outstretched with her phone, "why don't you give him a call right now?"

Tyler hesitated for a second before he took the phone and dialed Nik's number. It was seconds before Erikah heard her older brother's voice on the other end of the line.

The hybrid scanned the room briefly before he sighed and answered. "Hey, Klaus."

"Tyler!" Erikah could practically hear the change in her brother's tone. "I hope you're not causing problems."

Tyler's eyes blazed with anger as he focused solely on the hybrid on the other end of the line. "I can do whatever I want." He seethed.

"Hmm." Nik hummed on the other end of the line. "I see you haven't really spoken to my darling sister or Caroline."

"What?" Tyler sounded confused as he turned his focus onto the two blonde Mikaelsons. "What are you talking about?"

"Could you be a dear and put me on speaker." Nik said, which caused Erikah to let out a laugh. Tyler sighed and placed the phone on speaker as his eyes flickered between the phone and the two blondes. "Now, I think you might want to listen to Caroline."

At that, Caroline stepped forward slightly and just watched Tyler and the other two occupants of the room. "We knew you would offer some resistance to our plan," she paused, "so we came up with a way to force your hand."

"Care, what the hell are you talking about?" Tyler asked incredulously. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, you'll see." Erikah said before she made a scene of turning away from the occupants of the room and towards the empty hallway. "I know using our vampiric abilities to the fullest extent is a learned skill but, really, you lot are atrocious at it." Erikah paced slowly before looking back at Tyler. "At the very least you should be able to hear your mother's terrified heartbeat."

"What?" Tyler asked and stepped toward the youngest Mikaelson. Erikah just stood where she was, narrowing her eyes at the hybrid and daring him to try something.

The boy kept walking towards her until he was close enough to touch. Erikah just watched him before she reached out and grabbed her phone from his hand. Tyler's eyes flashed yellow and his double fangs dropped from his gums. The Mikaelson narrowed her eyes at the hybrid and just as he was about to pounce, she reached her hand out and wrapped her fingers tightly around his throat.

The boy made a gurgled noise at the back of his throat as she lifted him off the ground. "I am older than you are and therefore stronger. Don't make the mistake of thinking you could take me." A slow smile then spread across Erikah's lips as the veins grew under her eyes. "Now for that fail safe." Erikah turned her head toward the hall. "Carol, you can come in now."

Tyler's eyes widened and he began struggling to get free; Erikah just tightened her hold on his throat.

Carol Lockwood walked slowly into the room, her whole body trembling in fear. She held a large knife to her throat. There were little nicks patterned across her neck from when she trembled a little too much and caused the knife to cut her skin. She walked until she was in the middle of the room, her eyes flickering from Erikah to Caroline.

"If you do not cooperate, your mother will slit her throat and you will have to watch her bleed out without being able to do a thing about it." Erikah said as she carelessly dropped the hybrid to the floor.

Tyler hunched over on the floor, trying to catch his breath, his eyes never leaving his mother's face. "Stop it, mom." He finally got up and walked over to her. The woman kept her eyes on the Mikaelsons, not even acknowledging her son. "What have you done to her?" He directed his question at Erikah, to which the girl just smirked.

"What will it be, Tyler?" Caroline asked.

Tyler hesitated, his eyes flickering between Hayley and the hybrid and his mother, a pained expression in his eyes. Erikah just cocked her head to the side and walked closer to the hybrid and his mother. She raised her phone closer to his ear when Nik cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, mate. Are you going to answer or should I just assume you're back to being..." Nik paused for effect before a slight chuckle left his lips. "How did you phrase it? Ah, yes, my little bitch." He then hung up and Erikah pocketed the phone.

Tyler paused, looking between his friends and his mother again, before he sighed angrily. "Fine!" He yelled and Erikah smiled. He then turned to the hybrid. "Do whatever the hell you want." Tyler turned back to the Mikaelsons. "Now, can you please let my mother go."

"I'm enjoying this." Erikah said with a laugh before going over to stand by Caroline. The older blonde nudged the girl and motioned to the Lockwood. Erikah just rolled her eyes and walked over to Mrs. Lockwood. She pushed the boy to the side and looked his mother in her eyes, her own pupils dilating as she compelled the woman. "You can put the knife down, your son made the right choice."

Mrs. Lockwood sagged in relief as the knife fell from her hand. Erikah grabbed the woman's shoulders and forced her to look her in the eyes. "You will forget everything that happened here. We were just having a little chat with your son."

The woman nodded robotically. "I will forget everything..."

Tyler just glared at them before he took his mother's hand and led her out of the room. Hayley glared at the other three occupants in the room before she scoffed and followed Tyler.

Erikah just shrugged and smiled widely at her blonde companion. "Now that this is all settled," Erikah began, "I think it's time we begin the plan." The Mikaelson looked over at the hybrid and he nodded his head.

"Let's go then." Caroline said and the trio flashed out of the mansion.

~~~

Connor Jordan paced around the Mystic Grill waiting for one of the town's many vampires to make a move on him. The hunter had set up a number of traps at all the entrances he could find, guaranteeing that he couldn't be caught by surprise.

As he walked past the bar the phone started ringing. The man stared at it for a moment before he saw Jeremy Gilbert reach for it. Connor acted quickly and grabbed the boy's wrist, preventing him from answering the phone. The Gilbert ripped his hand out of the hunter's grip and the hunter just shrugged and picked up the phone himself.

"We're closed." He said gruffly because he was sure that it was one of the vampires.

"I want you to free the hostages." The man on the other end of the line answered. It sounded like Stefan Salvatore.

"I'll free them as soon as you give me what I want." Connor paused and waited for a response from the vampire. When he didn't get one he continued. "You and everyone like you dead."

"What? So your hunter's mark can grow?" The vampire sounded amused, which made Connor more angry and on edge than he was. "Yeah, I know all about that. What it means, what you are." Stefan went silent and Connor didn't say a word.

The hunter wasn't as surprised about the vampire knowing that he was a hunter or knowing about the tattoo because it seemed like everyone knew about it.

"Listen." Stefan began speaking again. "If you free the hostages then you and I can have a little chat. I'll even tell you about the Brotherhood of the Five."

Connor held his breath as he considered this option. Obviously, his employers were not interested in telling him about who he really was so he had to find out through his own means. The hunter hesitated before he went to answer the vampire on the other end of the line.

Connor let out his breath with a scoff. "That's a weak move. You must be desperate."

"Think about it, Connor." Stefan answered, an amused tinge still present in his voice. "Klaus saved your life. He needs you alive. Aren't you the least bit curious why?"

The logical part of Connor told him that the vampire did have a point but he knew that these monsters couldn't be trusted. No matter how truthful or logical they sounded.

With that thought in mind, Connor slammed the phone down on the receiver, not bothering to dignify the vampire's observation with an answer, and shoved the phone off the bar for good measure.

Then the man began pacing, waiting for the vampires to show up.

~~~

Jeremy Gilbert stood in one spot and watched as Connor finished setting up his bomb. The young Gilbert was getting worried because he knew that Elena would come after him and as much as he loved his sister, he didn't think that she would survive all of Connor's traps.

He looked around the room and saw a stray stake lying on the ground. He eyed the hunter before slowly and carefully making his way over to it.

Jeremy had only made it a few steps before Connor began talking. "You may be a potential hunter, but if you make one move, I'll break all twenty seven bones in your hand."

Jeremy froze on the spot, his heart pounding as he turned back to the hunter. "They're not all bad, you know." He began with a sigh. Connor remained silent so the boy continued. "Some of them, they're my friends."

Connor turned around quickly and stared the boy down. "Your friends, huh?" He questioned, clear hostility in his voice. "Yeah, I had a friend like that once. She got turned by this vampire I was hunting. He thought it would be ironic."

Jeremy hesitated. "What happened to her?"

"I didn't want to hunt her. She promised that she would keep it under control, but..." the hunter trailed off for a second before he continued. "a vampire's like a loaded gun. Eventually it's gonna go off." He moved closer to Jeremy and showed off the tattoo on his arm. "That's why I got this."

The young Gilbert stared down at the piece of the tattoo near the crook of Connor's elbow. "So, you killed your own friend?!" The boy asked incredulously because no matter how much he disliked vampires, he couldn't imagine killing Elena or Caroline.

Connor looked away and went back to fiddling with his bomb. "Listen, if you're gonna be like me, you need to understand. Vampires kill humans, hunters kill vampires."

Jeremy was about to answer the man when he heard a noise near the front of the Grill. His gaze snapped to the front door and then to the hunter and back again.

"We've got company." Connor said calmly before he turned off all the lights and turned on the music at full volume. Jeremy placed both hands over his ears as Connor grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him down unto the floor.

The young Gilbert watched as a man opened the front door of the Grill and carefully inspected the doorway. The man looked down and seemed to see the trip wire, following the wire with his eyes to the loaded bomb to his right. The man smiled to himself before he stepped over the wire and onto the mat.

Jeremy's eyes were immediately drawn to the light that came on as the bomb under the mat was activated. The new occupant of the room didn't seem to notice this new development as he carefully closed the front door behind him. The man turned back and looked around the room before he lifted his foot off the mat.

Immediately there was a whirring sound and the bomb went off. The man went flying through the air due to the force of the explosion. Jeremy looked down, burying his face in the crook of his elbow, to protect his eyes from the still falling debris.

Jeremy felt Connor's presence move from beside him and looked up to see the hunter approaching the man with a gun. Judging by the fact that Jeremy knew there was werewolf toxin in the bomb and the newcomer wasn't dead, the man was a hybrid. The hybrid was covered in nails, blood, and shards of glass.

The hybrid's face transformed as he continued to advance on the hunter. Connor just kept walking before he raised the gun and shot the hybrid once in the chest. The man fell to the ground, and Jeremy knew instantly that he was dead.

Jeremy stood from his spot on the floor and walked over to Connor as he pulled off his jacket. The Gilbert followed the man's eyes to his arm where the hunter tattoo was growing. Jeremy was admiring the tattoo when Connor suddenly looked up at something behind him and then grabbed Jeremy by the neck. The hunter spun him around just in time for Jeremy to see Alaric speed behind the bar.

Connor let off a couple shots in his direction but he missed. The hunter irritatedly pushed Jeremy to the side, causing the boy to step on a mat that hid the switch that activated another bomb. The young Gilbert froze immediately, his heart pounding loudly. He looked up to see that Connor was walking around, his gun still pointed at where Alaric was hiding.

"Connor, you don't have to do this!" Alaric yelled out but Connor just ignored him.

"Alaric!"Jeremy yelled out, trying to remain completely still. There was silence for a few seconds, in which Jeremy assumed the vampire heard the ticking of the bomb.

~~~

Elena Gilbert paced the length of Alaric's living room, her phone in her hand and Damon Salvatore splayed out on the floor. He still hadn't woken up from the dose of vervain that Alaric had stabbed him with.

She sighed worriedly as she dialed a familiar number and brought the phone up to her ear. "Alaric, call me!" She exclaimed as she was sent to voicemail once again. "There was an explosion at the Grill. I need to know what's happening!"

Elena hung up the phone just as she heard Damon groan from the floor. She rushed over to him and grabbed onto his arm, helping him to sit up.

"Damon, hey. Can you get up?"

"I'm fine." He shrugged her hand off and sat up. Elena frowned at him but didn't say anything. She knew they broke up but she had hoped that they would at least remain close friends. "Where's Ric? I'm gonna kill him."

Damon stood quickly and began walking towards the front door. Suddenly, he yelped loudly and flashed quickly to a dark corner of the room. Elena sped over to him and saw the healing burn marks on his hand and parts of his face.

"He took your ring?" Elena questioned as Damon seethed. "Why would he do that?"

"Because I wasn't gonna follow his plan." Damon sounded absolutely furious. "His plan is stupid and it's gonna get your brother and the other two idiots killed."

"And Klaus' plan is better?" Elena crossed her arms and glared at him. She couldn't believe that, after everything the Originals had done to them—to her—Damon was trusting them.

The raven-haired vampire sat on the arm of the couch, away from the sunlight. "It's not Klaus' plan." He said matter-of-factly. He crossed his arms. "Klaus could care less if the hostages live or die. You should thank Stefan and Blondie for convincing him to send his hybrids to help."

"If Alaric's plan is so bad then I need to get in there." Elena said. "They could be in trouble." She then began walking towards the front door.

"No, Elena, this guy is dangerous." Damon said, causing Elena to turn around.

A part of her melted at the fact that he still seemed to care about what happened to her. But another part wanted to make that hunter pay for even thinking of hurting her brother. "So am I, Damon."

"Elena, think for once!" Damon yelled, causing Elena to jump in fear and surprise. "This is neurotic, control freak Caroline we're talking about and she's backed by the Mikaelsons. Chances are she already knows about Alaric's interference and worked her way around it." Elena just watched him silently. "Besides, the hunter doesn't know you're a vampire. Let's keep it that way."

Elena glared at him, her arms still crossed and the thought of her brother stuck in the diner with the hunter. She swallowed thickly as she made up her mind. "Then I guess I'll use that to my advantage."

~~~

"Connor, we can end this right now!" Alaric yelled from his spot behind the bar. He moved slightly to the side to see more of what was happening. The hunter was pacing in front of the bar, the gun pointed to where Alaric was hiding. Jeremy was still standing as still as possible on the motion sensor that was connected to the bomb. "Just put down the gun and come with me!"

Alaric saw Connor shake his head slightly. "Sure." He answered. "Come out, I'll hand the gun over."

The vampire sighed out irritatedly. He did not have time to be going back and forth with the hunter. Alaric's mission had shifted focus from taking out the hunter to making sure that Jeremy didn't get blown to bits. "Think about this." Alaric tried again. "No one has to die."

"I don't negotiate with vampires!" Connor shouted as an answer.

"Listen to me." Alaric hissed. "If you die right now, then your whole life, all that killing; it'll be for nothing. Just put down the gun and let Jeremy go."

Before Connor could answer, Alaric saw a slim figure appear at the front door of the diner. He recognized the figure to be Elena. The hunter turned to the girl.

"Please!" Elena pleaded as Connor pointed the gun at her. "Don't hurt him!"

The hunter hesitated for a second before he turned the gun on Jeremy. "You come any closer, he's dead."

"Elena get out of here!" Jeremy yelled out but Elena just ignored him in favor of keeping her eyes on the hunter.

"He's the only family that I have left." She looked on the verge of crying and Alaric knew that she could very much burst into tears any second. If only to sell her very clear act that she was human. "Just—just let him go."

Connor turned from her, his gun still pointed at Jeremy. "You hear that?" He yelled out towards where Alaric was hiding. "His sister is watching. I will shoot the boy right in front of her!" He paused as if giving Alaric time to contemplate. "On the count of three!" Alaric held his breath. "One! Two!"

Alaric stepped out from behind the bar, his hands up in surrender. The hunter turned completely from the Gilberts and toward the vampire. At that moment Elena decided to rush Connor, causing him to fire the gun.

Alaric heard Jeremy cry out and looked quickly over to the boy. Jeremy had a hand clutching his stomach, blood seeping through his fingers. The boy looked like he was about to collapse so Alaric flashed over to him and shoved him off the detonator, replacing the boy's weight with his own.

"Ric, no!" Jeremy yelled even as small trickles of blood started flowing from his lips. Elena looked up and just stared at Alaric in shock.

"Elena, you both need to get out of here." Alaric tried to tell her but the girl just stared at him in thinly veiled shock.

The momentary lapse in focus caused Connor to rip Elena's hand off his throat and throw her to the side. The hunter rolled on top of her and grabbed her hair, making it easier for him to reach for one of his many stakes.

Connor aimed the stake at her heart and went in for the kill, only for the girl to grab onto his wrist and stop him from staking her.

"Elena!" Alaric yelled as he watched her struggle with the hunter. They looked at him for a split second, causing her to lose focus and allowing the hunter leverage. "Forget the hunter and just get Jeremy and get the hell out of here!" Alaric yelled again when he saw the tip of the stake pierce the young vampire's skin.

"Nothing's gonna save you now." Connor grinned as he forced the stake deeper under her skin.

Before anyone could react, there was a gust of wind and Connor disappeared from on top of Elena. The girl flashed up immediately and looked up in confusion.

"What was that?" She asked and Alaric shrugged before directing her attention to her dying brother.

"It doesn't matter. Elena, Jeremy is dying. Get him out of here."

This seemed to snap her into action as she flashed over to her brother and picked him up. She suddenly turned to Alaric as if she just remembered something important.

She looked down and Alaric followed her gaze to the detonator beneath his feet. "I'll be right behind you, Elena." The girl looked unsure so he just smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm immortal, remember? I can't die."

Elena took a deep breath and nodded hesitantly. She looked back hesitantly before smiling and flashing off with her brother in her arms.

He watched after her for a few seconds before sighing and, with a smile, Alaric Saltzman stepped off the detonator.

~~~

Bonnie peaked one eye open and watched the Professor in front of her. His eyes were closed tightly as he tried to focus on "hypnotizing" her powers back. The Bennett witch smiled slightly before opening both eyes and sighing dramatically.

"This isn't working." The professor opened his eyes and gave her an unimpressed look. Bonnie forced herself not to roll her eyes. She sighed again. "It's not you, I just—" she paused, "I can't get into hypnosis."

And, really, she couldn't. He just didn't know the real reason why she couldn't.

"Bonnie, what do you think we've been doing for seven hours?" He asked as a smug look formed on his face. The witch turned away from the man and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall behind her.

She morphed her face into an expression of shock before turning back to the professor. "Wow, that's crazy."

A reassuring look crossed the man's face. "Look, I'm good at this, okay?" He paused and Bonnie nodded so he could continue. "Trust me, you're doing a lot better than you were when you came in this morning." Bonnie just nodded along, pretending to be shocked at what he was saying.

The truth was that she was holding back on purpose. The Bennett witch just wanted to see how much information she could get out of him and if pretending to lose her magic would help her achieve that goal, then she was gonna put on one hell of a show.

Bonnie snapped back to attention when Professor Shane placed a candle in front of her. "Here, you know what. Proof." Bonnie looked up at the man in confusion. "I bet you can light this candle as easily as I can sign my name." The witch gave him a look of uncertainty. "All you have to do is want to."

"I-I'm sorry." Bonnie stuttered out. "I just can't."

Professor Shane sighed in frustration and Bonnie couldn't help the slight smirk that crossed her lips. She quickly wiped it from her lips when the professor looked up at her with a sigh. "If you can't, it's only because you're afraid. You're afraid of those spirits and what they might do to your Grams."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes and moved forward slightly in her chair. "Don't talk about her."

The professor just continued as if she didn't even speak. "Let me tell you something, Bonnie Bennett, you're stronger than they are. You have a power of your own you haven't even approached yet and you don't have to be afraid. Of anyone." He stopped talking and just stared at her. "Say it." He demanded her gently. "I don't have to be afraid."

"I don't have to be afraid." Bonnie smiled.

"Now, close your eyes and mean it."

Bonnie closed her eyes. "I don't have to be afraid." She muttered the flame spell, focusing on the other candles scattered around the room and intentionally steering her energy away from the one in front of her. The witched opened her eyes and feigned a look of disappointment at the unlit candle in front of her. She looked up at the professor. "Guess it wasn't good enough."

"Oh, I don't know." Professor Shane looked around the room, Bonnie following his gaze with her own. She pretended to be shocked when she saw that every other candle in the room was lit.

The professor turned to her with a triumphant look in his eyes and Bonnie just returned it with a wide smile of her own.

~~~

Erikah Mikaelson tightened her hold on the back of the hunter's neck as she led him through the tunnels. The hunter struggled against her grip, which just caused her to grab his arm and twist it behind his back harshly.

"If I were you I would stop struggling." She hissed before pushing him forward harshly.

Before the hunter could respond, the whole tunnel began shaking slightly, pieces of the dirt-packed wall falling. Erikah loosened her hold on the man as she looked around and tried listening to figure out what caused the shaking.

Her momentary lapse in attention allowed the hunter time to wrench his hand from her grasp and try to run through the tunnel away from her.

He didn't get far before she heard him cry out and she returned her attention to him. In seconds he came back into her line of sight. Damon was holding him by the throat, the hunter's feet dangling.

The vampire narrowed his eyes at the hunter. "I thought she said to stop struggling."

The hunter just looked at Damon with a look of disdain as he struggled against his grip. Erikah just laughed and rolled her eyes at the vampire. "Put him down, Damon."

Damon stared her down for a second, her refusing to back down, before he caved and dropped the hunter to the ground. Erikah rolled her eyes and grabbed Connor by the arm, twisting it behind his back once again.

"Where's Alaric and Elena?" Damon finally asked after a few moments of silence.

Erikah just shrugged and shoved the hunter forward as she resumed walking through the tunnels. "I just grabbed the hunter and got out."

Damon was right behind her. "And you didn't check around you? That's uncharacteristically stupid."

Erikah stopped suddenly and turned around to glare at the older Salvatore. "Unlike you, I don't care whether Elena Gilbert lives or dies. And last time I checked you barely know me."

Damon stepped closer to her with a glare of his own. "And who's fault is that?" He yelled and Erikah just remained silent. "Maybe if you weren't so selfish I would know exactly who you were."

The Mikaelson girl immediately dropped the hunter and flashed Damon up to the wall, her hand tight around his throat. "You have no idea what you're talking about." She yelled as the veins rippled under her eyes and her fangs descended.

"Then tell me." Damon struggled out as he watched her with a sincere expression. Erikah calmed down, causing her fangs and the veins below her eyes to go away. She removed her hand from the vampire's throat.

Before she could respond, she looked at the spot where she dropped the hunter and realized that he wasn't there. Erikah immediately focused on using her enhanced hearing to listen as far as she could.

In seconds she heard the erratic heart beat of the hunter and his labored breathing as he attempted to find his way out of the tunnels. The older vampire brought her focus back to the Salvatore in front of her. "He didn't get far. We'll catch up to him soon." She then began walking in the hunter's direction.

Before she could get very far Damon called out to her. "Erikah, wait!"

She turned back hesitantly with a sigh. "We'll talk later." She paused and when Damon nodded she continued. "Now let's go get that hunter back to the mansion alive."

~~~

Elena Gilbert rounded the corner quickly and bumped into a body. The person went crashing to the ground as Elena steadied herself. When she saw that it was the hunter she rushed up to him and grabbed him by the throat. Her fangs descended as she threw her head back and buried her fangs into his neck. The hunter screamed as Elena fed from him until she finally removed her face from his neck.

She looked him dead in the eyes, her hands gripping his shoulders. "Stay the hell away from my brother!"

Elena let go of his shoulders and he fell down onto his knees in front of her. "Look at you. So worried about your brother." He sounded winded, like he was about to pass out. "You're the biggest monster he'll ever meet." Before Elena could react he reached his hand up and stabbed her with a stake.

Elena's face contorted into one of rage as she stared back at the man that put her brother in mortal danger and the one that could've possibly killed Alaric. "You missed." She commented before she grabbed his face and twisted until she heard a crack.

~~~

Damon walked up quietly behind Elena as she dug a grave for the hunter's body. He heard her sniffles as she cried.

He stepped closer to her. "Elena." The girl turned around quickly. Her face was covered in blood and tears, her eyes manic, as she stared at the older vampire.

"I need to bury him." She said as she turned back to stare at the hunter's corpse. "I killed him. I should—I should bury him." She turned back fully to the dead body and continued digging the hole.

Damon moved up and grabbed her shoulders, turning her to face him. "Calm down."

Elena shrugged him off as more tears fell from her eyes. "Don't!" She yelled. "He killed Alaric and almost killed Jeremy. I didn't have a choice."

"Elena." Damon approached her cautiously. "It's ok. We'll figure something out."

"Who'll figure it out?" Elena turned on him, venom in her voice. "You and your little family? When are you gonna realize that they're manipulating you and Bonnie and Caroline. You guys are just being stupid and falling for it."

"Stop talking." Damon sneered and backed away from the brunette. "You need to understand that the Originals aren't the problem right now."

"The Mikaelsons are always the problem."

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "It's complicated, Elena."

"No, it's not complicated, Damon!" The distraught girl yelled. "You want to know why? Because—because he's dead now." She gestured to the dead hunter at her feet. "Because you and Stefan decided to trust the Mikaelsons and led me to this."

Damon narrowed his eyes at the girl. "Screw you, Elena." And then he flashed through the tunnels.

~~~

Caroline stepped through the front door of the Lockwood mansion for the second time that day. She stopped just beyond the threshold and just listened for anyone in the house. She raised an eyebrow as she heard the two voices.

"I am so sorry." Came Tyler Lockwood's voice amid the sniffling of his companion. 

"I can't believe Dean's gone. We could have saved him." The voice that Caroline recognized to be Hayley's answered.

Caroline rolled her eyes and flashed to the room that the two were occupying. She was slightly surprised to see the two embracing. Caroline cleared her throat and they jumped apart, both turning to look at her with wide eyes. "I apologize. Am I intruding?"

Tyler stepped forward slightly and reached out for her, dropping his outstretched hand when he realized that she wasn't moving. "Caroline, it's not like that."

Caroline scoffed and looked between the two. "Trust me when I say I have no interest in whatever activities you two get up to." Hayley pointedly ignored the blonde's eyes as Tyler just regarded her guiltily. "However, I am interested in hearing whatever dumb story you make up to cover it up."

Tyler just continued to stare at her, incredulity entering his gaze. Hayley returned her full attention to the hybrid. "I'll let you two talk."

Before she could walk off Caroline just laughed. "No, no need. I know exactly the kind of relationship you two have."

"Care—" Tyler began but trailed off once he saw the glare that Caroline sent his way.

"It doesn't matter how different things are now, I went through hell when I thought you died. And the whole time you've been keeping a secret from me about falling for some werewolf in the Appalachians."

"I thought you were married." Hayley spoke up. "Why do you care who he fell for?"

Caroline laughed again. "Oh I don't." They both looked confused. The blonde straightened up and removed the smile from her face. "You know, I was thinking to myself, why were you and Dean so different? And then it hit me." Caroline walked closer to the couple. "You're not sired anymore."

"What?" Tyler sounded panicked. "What are you talking about?"

Caroline turned her eyes from the hybrid and looked at the werewolf girl. Hayley was looking everywhere but where the couple was standing. "If you were still sired you would have never questioned Klaus—not even for a second." The Lockwood looked terrified. "Klaus already knows that, of course, but that's not what you're trying to hide."

Tyler walked forward suddenly, a visible shake in his hand as he reached out and grabbed onto Caroline's forearm. "You have to understand..."

Caroline cut him off with a laugh as she ripped his hand from her arm. "You don't tell me what I have to do." Tyler backed up as if burned by her gaze. "Now, I have a decision to make," Caroline paused and began pacing back and forth. "Should I tell Klaus that you're planning on unsiring all his hybrids now or," she stopped in front of Tyler, eyes narrowing menacingly, "or should I make you my little bitch?"

Tyler looked at her as if she spontaneously grew three more heads. "Care." He began incredulously. "You don't know what it's like to be sired to Klaus. I need to set the others free and Hayley can help me." Caroline just watched him silently. "But if Klaus found out about what we're trying to do, he'd kill us all."

A wide smile formed on Caroline's face. "Then you're gonna have to be a good little bitch, aren't you?"

~~~

Erikah Mikaelson sat in the Salvatore parlor, a glass of whiskey in her hand as she waited for the older brother to return to his home. She knew he wouldn't be in the best mood but neither was she.

The doppelgänger had screwed up their plan by killing the hunter and now they were months behind on their plan.

All because the stupid doppelgänger couldn't stay away.

Erikah snapped out of her reverie when she heard the front door open and saw Damon walk into the room. He looked at her for a few seconds before just walking by her and pouring himself a glass of bourbon.

He leaned against the bar and took a sip from his glass, his gaze pinned on her. "What are you doing here?" He finally asked.

The Mikaelson sighed. "How's the doppelgänger?"

Damon's face soured as he downed his liquor and poured himself another glass. "Angry, full of guilt, and going on a self righteous rant." He took a sip of his bourbon. "She still thinks this is some elaborate plan by your family to get to her."

Erikah rolled her eyes and sighed. "If she would've just stayed out of the way everything would've worked out." She paused as Damon nodded in agreement. "Now, the hunter's dead, and so is your friend."

Damon froze and looked up at her slowly. "What do you mean dead?" He asked lowly. "He's an Original now."

"When Bonnie found a loophole there were consequences." Erikah began. "My mother couldn't risk something happening and creating another version of my siblings and I, apparently."

Damon just watched her. "What are you talking about?"

"Alaric was supposed to die for good when Elena did but Bonnie found a loophole, right?" Damon nodded. "The problem is, that kind of magic needed a balance and since Alaric was originally tied to Elena, now his mortality is tied to hers. Meaning..." She trailed off and Damon looked at her with disbelief.

"He has the same weaknesses Elena has." Damon finished.

"Bingo."

Damon placed the glass down on the counter. "That means that the explosion killed him." Erikah looked down, knowing that she didn't need to confirm that. Suddenly, Damon threw the glass across the room. "If he had just listened to me!" He yelled.

"Damon.." Erikah called and he turned to her. Her words seemed to stop in her throat as she saw the devastation and anger written all on his face.

Damon took a deep breath before closing his eyes and then opening them again. "What do we do?"

Erikah hesitated before she sat back down on the couch. "We just need to get to the next hunter in line." She turned to face the raven-haired vampire. She could see the gears turning in his head as he watched her with narrowed eyes. "Luckily, we have our very own hunter-to-be right here in Mystic Falls."

~~~

Jeremy sat on a bench in the middle of the Town Square, thinking about what Connor had said. If what the hunter had said was true then that meant that the Originals needed him.

He took off his vervain bracelet and just fiddled with it between his fingers.

"Hey, Jeremy." The boy looked up to see April and Matt standing before him. "Sorry we're so late, we had to take this crazy detour." The girl shook her head in disbelief.

Matt shook his head, a small smile on his lips. "There was a gas leak."

"Yeah." Jeremy shot Matt a knowing look. "I heard about that."

"Yeah, and we had to stop by Tyler Lockwood's house. We talked to him for a little bit, but now I was thinking maybe we could all get some coffee." April turned to look at the Grill and a frown crossed her lips. "But the Grill is closed. That's weird."

Jeremy shook his head slightly and got up. "You know what, it's ok. I, uh, I need to get home anyways. I'm feeling a little over it today."

Matt sighed. "I should probably get home too."

The girl looked disappointed but nodded. "Oh. Alright then." The girl was walking away when Jeremy had an idea.

"Hey, April." He called and the girl turned around. "Did you drop this?" He held out his hand with the vervain bracelet visible in his palm.

"Oh, that's not mine."

"You sure?" The boy asked before reaching out again. "Hey, let me see your wrist." April extended her arm and Jeremy closed the bracelet around her wrist.

The girl looked down at the bracelet with uncertainty. "Uh, thanks, but..."

"I like it." Matt interrupted her. "It looks good on you. You should wear it."

April smiled at the boys. "Ok." And then she walked away.

"Are you ok?" Jeremy turned away from the girl's retreating figure and focused on Matt.

"Yeah." They started walking off together. "I'm just sick of all the secrets, you know."

"Yeah," Matt sighed in exasperation, "tell me about it."

Jeremy stopped walking and looked down at his hand. He saw that there was a tattoo on his hand. It looked exactly like the ink that was on Connor's hand. "What?"

He didn't realize he had said that out loud until Matt stopped alongside him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Jeremy shook his head. Matt looked at him strangely before walking off. The Gilbert found himself looking down at his hand, both hopeful and fearful that the tattoo would no longer be there.

The tattoo was still there.

~~~

Elena stood in the shower with her head against the cool tile. Her eyes were glued to the drain as  the bloody water ran down it. She finally lifted her head and brought her hands up to look at them. Her fingers were stained with blood. The girl's eyes watered as she dropped her hands and walked forward into the water spray.

Dear diary,

Today I did the thing I was most afraid of. I lost control. I killed someone. I used to think the worst feeling in the world was losing someone you loved, but I was wrong.

Elena stepped out of the shower after making sure that every drop of blood was scrubbed from her body. She stepped over the bloody clothes on the ground and past the mirror, not bothering to look at herself. She knew she would be disgusted with whatever she saw.

The girl quickly dried herself off and picked out a random outfit. She sat at her desk and pulled her diary towards her, clicking the pen to begin writing.

The worst feeling is the moment that you realize that you've lost yourself.

She was writing when she saw red dripping down her hand. Elena placed the pen on the desk and brought her clean hand up to her nose to check if it was bleeding. When she brought her hand back down it was free of the red liquid.

Elena looked at her desk in confusion before she caught a glance of a red droplet on the floor. She realized that there were several drops leading to the bathroom and so she followed the trail. When she flipped on the light switch she let out a gasp at the state of the bathroom. There was blood everywhere.

She looked up at the mirror and saw KILLER written in bold bloody letters. The new vampire gasped again and hurriedly backed up. Before she could react she slipped on some of the blood and fell to the ground.

When she sat back up, the bathroom was spotless, not a single drop of blood in sight. Elena hurriedly got to her feet and looked around the bathroom in surprise. Seeing that even the word on the mirror was gone, she looked down at her arms and saw that they were devoid of blood as well.

Elena looked at her face in the mirror to see confusion, terror, and uncertainty written all over her features.