|13.| PRANK GONE WRONG
AS THE NEW SENIORS OF MYSTIC FALLS HIGH PREPARE FOR THEIR MEMORABLE EVENT OF THE YEAR, they start it all of by setting up the senior prank for the whole school to see for themselves the next morning. Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, Tyler and their new member of their friend group Evans set up mouse traps around the dark classroom they are in. The door opens wide and Matt who steps inside touches one trap, setting it off then all of them as a domino effect. Matt turns the lights on to reveal the group of seniors trying to set up the traps without destroying it.
"Oh, come on! Seriously?" Caroline whines. "Do you know how long it took for us to set it all up?"
"Forgot about senior prank night, huh?" Tyler chuckles, looking at Matt. "Clearly."
"How could you forget? We've only been waiting for this since like freshman year," Caroline states.
"Yeah, Matt. If I'm doing this, you're doing this," Elena looks at him.
"Elena and Bonnie kind of dragged me into this," Evans shrugs while holding a trap in his hand.
"I'm kind of surprised any of you are doing this," Matt finally says something.
"Caroline's making us," Bonnie says afterwards.
"We're about to be seniors. These are the memories that will stay with us forever, and if we don't-"
"And if we don't create these memories now, then what's the point of it all?" Elena cuts her off, smiling smugly at Caroline.
"Go ahead and make fun, I don't care," Caroline puts her hands up.
"You're all lame. And I've got ten more classrooms to prank," Tyler says, picking up a duffle bag. He nods his head for Evans to follow and the two leave the room. Elena stands up and gets ready to leave.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Bonnie stops her.
"To superglue Alaric's desk shut. I'm making memories," Elena smiles and leaves with Caroline yelling back at her. "I love you!"
Elena walks down the halls to see Tyler giving instructions to the group of people who are ready to start setting up their pranks. She laughs and opens some double doors, nearly bumping into someone, no other than Klaus himself.
"There's my girl," Klaus smirks at her.
"Klaus," Elena breathes out and turns around, trying run away until Cora pops up in front of her. "Cora."
"You are supposed to be dead. What are we going to do about that?" Klaus says, walking up from behind her.
Elena shutters in fear and looks at the sister, seeing her give her an apologetic glance. He grips the doppelgänger's arm tightly and marches down the hallways, signaling for Cora to follow.
"You put a rather large kink in my plans, sweetheart. The whole point of breaking the curse and becoming a hybrid was to make more hybrids. I haven't been able to do that. Now my bet is, it has something to do with the fact that you're still breathing," Klaus grits his teeth.
"If you're going to kill me, just do it," Elena says.
"Not until I know I'm right. But I do have ways of making you suffer."
Klaus pushes through the doors holding Elena close and Cora gulps, worried what those ways are. They walk into the gym where a group seniors are placed setting up pranks. Cora walks beside Klaus and hears as he uses his best American accent.
"Attention, seniors. You have officially been busted. Prank night is over. Head on home."
All of the students who were there groan in annoyance and get up to leave. The hybrid remembers Dana, the girl he compelled to give out messages to Elena. He hands Elena off to Cora and she grips her arm, obeying everything he wants her to do.
"You two. I remember you," Klaus points at Dana.
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" She gives him a confused look.
"Oh, don't worry, I wasn't in my right head last time we met," Klaus then compels both her and the boy. "Lift your foot up, please, Dana. If she drops her foot, Chad, I want you to beat her to death. Understood?"
"Don't, Klaus. You don't have to hurt anybody," Elena begs.
"Oh, come on, love. Of course I do."
Klaus makes Cora loosen her grip from Elena and he slightly smirks at her, stroking her hair a bit as he sees the uneasiness in her eyes. Cora tries to stay calm but she is worried about her little brother who is at the truck possibly with Rebekah getting tortured and she feels bad for his girlfriend having to go through this blow in the face. The two vampires hear Dana struggling to balance on her one foot.
"Keep it up," Klaus says, not stopping himself from looking at the girl he did still love.
"Where's Stefan? What did you do to him?" Elena butts in.
"Stefan's on a time out," Klaus removes his eyes, moving them towards the doors that opened, revealing Bonnie and Matt. He rushes over to her as Elena tries to warn her to get out of the gym.
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up. Now we can get started. Ah, Dana, why don't you relax? You and Chad sit tight," Klaus looks at the two innocents and back at Bonnie. "I assume you're the reason Elena's still walking around alive?"
"That's right. If you want to blame someone, blame me," Bonnie tries to stay strong.
"Oh, there's no need for blame, love. Just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects. And since you caused the problem, I'm going to have you find the fix."
Cora hears the doors open and comes walking in is Rebekah holding onto Tyler, who tries to pry her hands off of him. The Original sister gets aggressive and brings him over to where her brother and Bonnie is standing.
"I'd like you all to meet my sister Rebekah. Word of warning, she can be quite mean," Klaus smirks.
"Don't be an ass," Rebekah throws Tyler into his arms.
"Leave him alone!" Elena tries to step in but Cora wraps her arms around her, preventing her from doing anything.
"I'm going to make this very simple. Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible, actually," Klaus bites into his wrist and makes Tyler drink it. "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler's sake, you better hurry."
Klaus grabs his neck and twists it, instantly killing him. The doppelgänger, witch and human stand their in shock as they watched Klaus kill their friend in front of their eyes. Cora shutters as she watches the hybrid tortures Elena's friends. Matt walks over to Tyler body, looking over it as he is still in shock.
"He killed him," he breathes out.
"He's not really dead. Klaus's blood will turn him into a vampire," Cora finally speaks up, earning a glare from Matt.
"You could've stopped this. You're one of them, you're just as strong."
"Did you forget the part where Big Bad Wolf and Girl Klaus are Originals? The oldest vampires? They would end my life in a split second," Cora gives him a look.
"Besides, she chose to side with me when her brother's life was on the line," Klaus walks over from the bleachers. "If Bonnie's successful, he'll live through his transition. Go on, then. Go and fetch your grimoires and enchantments and what-not. I'll hold on to Elena, for safe-keeping."
Klaus grabs her arm once again and smirks at the doppelgänger. Elena signals for Bonnie to just go so she can figure out what he's looking for, so Bonnie and Matt leave. Rebekah walks down from the bleachers and looks at Elena.
"So this is the latest doppelgänger. The original one was much prettier," Rebekah comments.
"Enough, Rebekah. Take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?"
Rebekah slightly shrugs and walks over to Tyler's body, grabbing his wrist and dragging him across the court. Cora stands a little ways from Klaus and Elena, watching as the sister carelessly drag him away.
"Just ignore her. Petty little thing."
Elena moves away from him and walks over to Dana and Chad, comforting them both as they sit their frightened. Klaus drops his smirk and sits back down on the bleachers, waiting impatiently, watching as Cora paces a little bit around the court. On the side doors comes Stefan walking in slowly.
"Stefan," Elena is relieved to see him. Cora gives him a look, but in return, he just looks away from her.
"Klaus," Stefan looks at the hybrid.
"Come to save your damsel, mate?" Klaus asks.
"I came to ask for your forgiveness. And pledge my loyalty," Stefan replies.
"Well, you broke that pledge once already."
"Elena means nothing to me anymore," Stefan glances at his girlfriend. "And whatever you ask of me, I will do."
"Fair enough. Let's drink on it," Klaus gets up and points at the two people Elena is comforting. "Kill them. What are you waiting for? Kill them."
"No! Stefan, don't. He's not going to hurt me. He already said-"
Klaus uses all his force and hits Elena hard enough that she goes flying across the floor. Stefan reacts by flashing his fangs out of anger and tries to attack Klaus, but he grabs her by the throat. Cora runs over to Elena and helps her up, checking to see if any major injuries.
"She means nothing to you? Your lies just keep piling up," Klaus clenches his jaw.
"Nik, please, stop," Cora pleads, standing up from the floor.
"Oh, come on, love. Isn't this entertaining? Poetic, if you tell me, to see true love play in front of our eyes," Klaus glances back at her.
This time, it was her turn to fight for her little brother once again. She makes sure his grip at his throat is loosened and he replaced his with hers.
"Let them go! I'll do whatever you want, you have my word," Cora struggles to get out.
"Oh, I believe you, sweetheart, but at this point, not sure what you're capable of when it comes to family," Klaus looks deep into her eyes. "Stop fighting."
"Don't do this," Stefan begs for him as he notices his sister not fighting.
"You will do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey," Klaus compels the sister.
"No! Cora!" Elena yells for her, but it was too late.
"Kill them, my love."
Klaus holds back Stefan, making him watch his older sister in action as he never seen her in her ripper mode. Cora's eyes turn and she rushes towards Dana first, biting at her neck and hearing her scream in agony. She sucks the blood out of her and drops her onto the ground, taking in the fresh blood.
"Isn't she lovely, hmm?" Klaus says in his ear. "Behold, your ripper sister. Why don't you join her?"
Elena pleads for the hybrid to stop, but he had already compelled her boyfriend to kill Chad. She watches in horror as he finishes under a minute and the two siblings stand their in shock of what they're doing.
"It's always nice to see a vampire in his true element. The species has become such a broody lot," Klaus says to Elena.
"You did this to them," she grits her teeth.
"I invited them to the party, love. They're the ones dancing on the table."
"Where is it!? Where is my necklace?" Rebekah comes stomping into the gym, angry and wanting to know where Elena has her necklace.
"What are you talking about?" Klaus looks at her.
"She has my necklace. Look," Rebekah hands him the phone and he looks for himself. "Well, well. More lies."
"Where, is it," Rebekah grows angrier.
"I don't have it anymore," Elena answers lowly.
"You're lying!" The Original sister shouts.
Rebekah flashes her fangs and speeds towards the doppelgänger, biting into her neck. Klaus stops her before she can do anymore damage and pulls off to the side.
"Knock it off!"
"Make her tell me where it is, Nik!"
Klaus slightly sighs and walks over to Elena, who is lying on the ground holding her neck. He crouches down next to her and asks calmly. "Where's the necklace, sweetheart? Be honest."
"I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it."
"Katerina. Of course. Well, that's unfortunate," Klaus stands back up. "If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?"
Klaus walks over to a table on the side of the court, hitting button on a small machine and puts up a clock on the board. A buzzer sound goes off once the clock appears on the board. He walks over to where Stefan and Cora stood, first compelling the brother.
"Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again. Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to."
"Klaus, don't do this," Cora shakes her head. He slightly smirks and walks over to her, cupping her face and compelling her next.
"In twenty minutes, if Bonnie doesn't find a solution by then, I want you to kill your brother. After all, you still feel the burning hatred for him forcing you to turn into something you hate," Klaus smirks. Cora shakes her head as he removes his hands from her head.
He moves away and gets ready to leave, but he looks back at Stefan. "No one leaves. If they try to run, fracture Elena's spine and kill Cora."
Minutes has passed since Klaus and Rebekah left the three in the gym. Elena sits, watching the two Salvatore siblings pacing back and forth. Stefan hates that Klaus compelled him to feed off of Elena if Bonnie doesn't make it on time, and he's also sad that he revealed his sister's true feelings.
"Caroline's dad! Stefan, he was able to resist compulsion. I don't know how, but he did it. Maybe it's possible for you two," Elena breaks the silence.
"Yeah, yeah. Maybe it's just mind control, right?" Stefan continues to pace. "Maybe it just takes some focus, a couple decades of training. No big deal."
"Just shut the hell up, you whining child. God, I wish I were dead so I don't have to listen to your voice anymore," Cora snaps at him. She frowns and covers her mouth. "W-why did I say that?"
"Cora, you can control this. When that buzzer goes off, just-just run."
"I can't run Elena! It's not easy getting over this compulsion Klaus put on me," Cora grips at her hair. "Every time I hear Stefan's voice, let alone look at him, my blood boils inside of me. He's the reason why I'm not fucking dead. He's the reason why I couldn't live on a happy life, start a family of my own, and just die naturally! I have to stay as some one hundred year old vampire!"
Cora grips the bar that is apart of the bleachers and walks over to the table that has the buzzer on it. She clenches her and slams her foot onto it, trying to take all of her frustration out.
-
The clock on the board is at sixteen seconds, what feels like it is counting down faster. Cora feels the rage and hatred grow more inside and the need to kill her own brother. She shakes her head and holds onto the bar as tight as she can to prevent herself from killing him.
"Elena, you're going to have to run," Stefan looks at his lover.
"But Klaus said that if I run-"
"I know what he said, but if you stay, it won't matter," Stefan pants. "Elena, please, please, please."
Cora glances at the clock to see six seconds is left and her eyes turn veiny. "I'll make her run."
She speeds towards Elena and flashes her fangs, causing her to scream then run out the side doors. Stefan's head whips towards her running and runs towards her, but Cora tackles him down, gripping his neck. He throws her off of him and speeds out of the gym to follow her. Cora's mind set switches and she glances at a janitors cart on the side, grabbing a mop and breaking it in half, using the end part as a stake.
Her ears perked up as she hears the sound of a body slamming into the lockers, along with Stefan's groans. She twirls the stake between her fingers and speeds towards the sound, ending up in the cafeteria room. Stefan already breaks part of a broom stick and plunged the sharp end into his stomach.
"C-Cora, you can stop. Just, try," Stefan falls onto his knees, watching as she inches towards him.
"The only thing that's going to stop is you."
Cora raises the stake, ready to stake him but someone twists her wrist. She groans and drops the stake, kicking back to hit whoever, but Klaus grabs her ankle, twisting her body and pushes her onto the ground. She snaps out of her killer mode and gasps as Klaus has his foot placed on her neck.
"Sorry to ruin an intense moment, but I want to focus on the real thing here," Klaus smirks at Cora. "It's fascinating. I've never seen this before. The only thing stronger than Stefan's craving for blood is your love for this one girl. Why don't you turn it off?"
"No!"
"Come on. Your humanity is killing you," Klaus removes his foot from her neck and sits on top of a lunch table. "All the guilt must be exhausting. Turn it off."
"No!" Stefan yells again, not removing the stake from his stomach. Cora slowly gets up and stands next to Elena. "Stefan."
"You're strong," Klaus walks over to him, yanking the stake out. "But you're not that strong. Turn..it..off."
"No," Stefan says louder, now only shoving Klaus back. The hybrid gets angrier and pushes Stefan into the wall with his speed. Elena runs forward but Cora grabs ahold of her. "Don't. You're going to get hurt."
"Turn it off!" Klaus yells much louder, compelling Stefan.
Cora removes her arms from the doppelgänger, ignoring the hatred and feeling emotional at the fact that he compelled him to turn it off.
"What did you do?" Elena breathes out.
"I fixed him," Klaus slowly turns around to look at the two girls. "But I think a test is in order, don't you? Ripper, perhaps you'd like a drink, from the doppelgänger's neck."
The older sister shakes her head and sees her little brother's eyes turn a blood red color along with veins popping from under his eyes. Klaus grabs her arm, pulling her away so that he can bite her and he cups her face.
"Let me go!" Cora struggles under his grip, slightly tearing up.
"Just watch your brother in action," he says into her ear.
Cora still tries to get out of his grip and more tears fall from her eyes. Klaus realizes she was crying and he quietly sighed, stopping Stefan before he can do anything else. The little brother drops Elena onto the ground and Klaus grabs a small vial, gathering a little bit of her blood. He stands up and compels Cora once again.
"Take Elena to the hospital and compel a nurse to extract all of her blood. You leave her and go home, or I'll have to kill you," Klaus mutters the last part and walks out of the room with the vial of blood.
Her eyes blink a few times and she picks Elena up emotionless; one moment she's crying for the pain Elena has to go through then the next she feels nothing. She speeds out of the school and heads over to the hospital, doing what Klaus had told her what to do. She exits out of the hospital room Elena is in and stops herself, looking through the glass. Cora pulls out her phone and calls Damon.
"D, where the hell are you? I need you," Cora's voice starts to waver.
"I'm on my way back right now. What's going on? Is Elena okay?" Damon asks through the phone.
"Klaus compelled me to bring her to the hospital and quickly leave right after. If I don't, he'll have my heart," Cora rushes out of the hospital. Damon sighs on the other line.
"I'll be there as soon as possible."
-
Once Damon had returned back to Mystic Falls, he picked Elena up himself and brought her back to the boarding house where Cora was waiting for them. When they arrived she apologized multiple times to Elena, feeling guilty for not doing anything to stop Klaus from compelling Stefan into flipping the switch. The doppelgänger says it's okay, but deep down she dearly wished she had done something, but there was really nothing she could have done.
"Hey, have some bourbon. It'll help you forget."
Damon hands Elena a glass then his sister. Cora quickly downs the whole glass and sets the cup down, staring at nothing. Elena slowly takes the glass then taking a sip, making a weird face from the strong taste.
"Yeah, it's strong," Damon sighs, watching her every move. Cora stands up, pouring herself some more and glancing at Elena.
"You know we can help you forget, too. At least the memories you don't want to keep," Cora raises her eyebrows.
"No. No compulsion. I need to remember. All of it," Elena shakes her head. Damon pulls out the necklace Klaus and Rebekah have been looking for.
"I stole it back for you," Damon tries to lighten the mood.
"He's really gone this time. I watched it happen. After everything that we went through to get—to help him. Now he's just...gone."
Cora sits down on the sofa next to Elena and watches as Damon sets down the necklace since she is not accepting it back.
"Where were you, Damon?" Elena shutters then looks at Cora. "You could have done something."
"I'm sorry," Cora says quietly and stands up, ready to walk out of the library until Stefan steps in front of her.
She freezes in her spot and her eyes widen with many emotions running through her. His eyes move past hers to see Damon and Elena sharing a moment, making him smirk.
"Well, isn't this cozy?" Stefan pats his sister's shoulder and walks over to the drinks, pouring himself one.
"What are you doing here, brother?" Damon stands up, facing him.
"Last I checked, I live here. Klaus is gone, but he's asked me to keep watch on you until he returns," Stefan points to Elena. "From now on, you're under my protection."
"By all means, carry on," Stefan raises his glass to his brother and girlfriend. He walks out of the library, offering Cora a drink but she slowly shakes her head. He slightly shrugs and fully leaves the room. The trio look at each other, having no idea what had happened.