I thought I heard Stefan's voice downstairs. "Greetings!"
"1," Damon said.
I walked downstairs, seeing--definitely not Stefan--Silas.
"Good morning, frenemies!" Silas told us, walking into the living room, using magic to pull the curtains back. Elena sat up from the couch, staring in disbelief. "Ah. You know, I'm only a few hours into my old life as a witch, but somehow, the sun feels warmer." He walked to the window and let the sun hit his face. "Probably because I'm not cursed with having to outlive it anymore."
"What's with the home invasion, Silas?" I asked.
Silas looked toward me with amusement. "Well, Kaylin, after 2,000 years of a miserable existence, I finally get to die."
*****
"We all know that Tessa was a real vengeful bitch," Silas told us. I raised my eyebrows, nodding sarcastically. Silas looked at Elena. "Your Doppelgänger, Amara, died at her hands, but today, after 2,000 years, Amara and I will finally reunite."
I walked toward him. "All right. Skip the mushy parts."
Damon stood. "Look. My girl here is just trying to have a good day, and there are promises that she's expecting you to keep."
"Oh, you don't think that I keep my promises?" Silas asked.
"You said that now that you're a witch again, you would bring Bonnie back from the Other Side," Elena told him.
"I did and I can," Silas told us.
"And you promised Damon you would do that if he helped you," Elena told him.
"Yeah," Silas answered.
"But you're kind of evil," I told him. "No offense."
"None taken," Silas told me.
"So I'm just trying to figure out how I can trust that one of your last acts in the world will be to bring my best friend back," Elena told him.
Silas a pinky toward her sarcastically. "Did you want me to pinky swear?"
"She's trying to have a good day," Damon told him. "Just tell her how it's going to go down."
"I just want to destroy the Other Side so I don't get stuck in that pit of a purgatory when I finally do kill myself," Silas told us. "Before I do that, I'll bring Bonnie back. And being the amazing and incredible and all-powerful witch I am, I can totally do both things. I just have to find the anchor first and destroy it."
"The anchor?" I repeated.
*****
"New Jersey?" I asked. "The supernatural other-world is bound by an object in Snooki's backyard?"
"It's in a stockyard and it's being shipped out," Silas told us. "So. We really need to..." Jeremy walked the room carrying a crossbow. Silas didn't have to look at him to know he was there. "Hello, Hunter. Banner day for you, huh? Didn't you and the Bennett witch used to..."
Silas clicked his tongue suggestively and whistled.
Elena looked at Silas. "Hey, knock it off. Okay?" She looked at Jeremy. "It's okay, Jer. We all want the same thing today. Silas dead, Bonnie alive."
Silas looked unconvincing. "Yeah."
Damon looked at Jeremy. "AKA, put the damn crossbow down, Pocahontas."
"We're just supposed to believe that he's going to bring Bonnie back to life out of the goodness of his heart?" Jeremy asked.
"Well, I hope not," Silas told us. "I mean, I am kind of a monster." Jeremy pointed the crossbow at him. "You know, guys, I'm feeling really ganged up on right now. Okay? I would hate to lose my temper and do something..." He raised his hand up, fire shooting from his fingers "...crazy." Elena and Jeremy both took a step back. Silas laughed quietly and extinguished the flames. "Ah. Man, I really love being a witch again. I feel like I'm constantly reinventing myself. I'm like a supernatural Madonna, don't you think?"
Damon, Elena, Jeremy and I exchanged a what the hell is wrong with him? look.
*****
"All right," Silas said. "We gotta get going." He looked at Jeremy. "You grab a crowbar, or four, from the garage."
"What for?" Jeremy asked.
"Does it matter?" Silas asked. He looked from me to Elena. "You two are not going. Men only."
"Are you serious?" I asked. I looked at Elena. "He's not serious."
"No, he's not serious," Elena agreed.
"Actually, I'm 100% serious," Silas told us. "Elena's a freaky carbon-copy of Amara. You can understand why I don't want to stare at her imposter face all day. You have tried to kill me repeatedly, even before I was human. Please understand that I don't want to die at your hands before the Other Side is gone."
"That makes no sense," I told him. "You tried to kill me, too."
"It would make complete sense if you were ever in love with somebody who looked exactly like Elena, and if you were nearly killed by a very distant niece of yours" Silas told me.
"This is ridiculous," Elena told him. "We're bringing my best friend back from the dead. I'm going."
Silas was visibly annoyed. He raised his arm up and summoned an arrow from Jeremy's set. He then sent the arrow flying into Elena's leg, making her fall.
"Hey!" Damon told him, going over to Elena, helping her pull the arrow out.
"Next one goes in the heart," Silas told us. "Now hurry up. I only have until sundown before Tessa tries to stop me."
Screw that bitch.
*****
The Anchor was a person--Amara. She had sucked the Cure right out of Silas, and he didn't want to bring Bonnie back.
Elena had gone to Tessa's cabin, and she had tried to kill her. Stefan had saved her, and now they were both walking in.
"Well, uh, have a good night," Stefan told her
"Yeah," Elena said. "It's weird. Even with no memory, you're still you."
"Well, Tessa was gonna kill you, and I didn't think you deserved that, so I was just going on instinct, that's all," Stefan told her.
"Exactly," Elena told him. "That's what I'm saying. Your instincts were always to protect me, so, thank you for--for just being you."
"Well, have a good night," Stefan told her.
Stefan walked away.
Damon, Jeremy and I were sitting in the living room, drinking.
"Stefan Salvatore sleeps in his own bed tonight," I said. "Does that mean he stopped hating us or did the power of the Doppelganger universe push him into the car with you?"
"Well, he, uh, saved my life, so I'll take that as not hate," Elena told us.
"Victory in a day otherwise marred by failure," I said, raising my bottle.
Damon raised his bottle.
Jeremy raised his glass.
Elena raised her eyebrows at Jeremy.
"We couldn't get Bonnie back," Jeremy told her. "I get a pass."
"Did I say anything?" Elena asked.
Jeremy looked at empty air. "No. No, I won't because it's not."
"What?" Damon asked.
"Bonnie's here," Jeremy told us. "She wants us not to worry."
"We're gonna keep trying, Bonnie," Elena told her. "Okay? It's not over. We've dealt with much worse."
"Well, Silas is M.I.A. and out and about, which is pretty bad," Damon told us. "And Amara's been cured, which is even worse because now she's easy to kill, so the fate of the Other Side, where Bonnie currently resides, rests on a living, breathing human being that we now need to protect."
"We need to protect?" I repeated.
*****
Outside, Damon led Elena and me to his car, opening the trunk, revealing a girl who looked exactly like Katherine and Elena, a cloth covering her mouth.
"Elena, Kaylin, meet Crazy Pants," Damon told us, "Crazy Pants, meet Elena and Kaylin."
Amara screamed.