If Klaus hadn't compelled her to take care of Damon, Arabella would not have allowed her brothers to drag her onto an island. Though the island is very beautiful, Arabella cannot help the fact that she is thinking about Klaus and how he's locked inside of the Gilbert's household. Or the fact that once they get the cure they're going to force Klaus to take it and become a human so that they can kill him.
She won't allow that to happen, though. Once she sees Klaus again and the compulsion breaks, Arabella is breaking Klaus free and they are leaving Mystic Falls as soon as possible.
Damon sharpens his machete, prepared to chop his way through the dense forest. He talks to the strange professor as the man walks past, but Arabella chooses to ignore their conversation. None of that holds any importance.
When they finally venture off in the woods, Arabella can hear all of the mosquitos buzzing by her ears. The sound of the bugs annoy her to no end. There is such a thing as downsides to vampirism. Sometimes, the advanced hearing is one of them.
"You look chipper," Damon observes. He walks next to her, clutching his backpack straps.
Huffing angrily, Arabella swats at another fly that flies by her face. "You know how much I loathe the woods," she responds. "Besides, we both know the only reason I'm here is because Klaus compelled me to keep an eye on you until I see him again, but you don't want me seeing him again."
He rolls his eyes in response. Damon doesn't care too much about whether Arabella sees Klaus locked up or not. What he's worried about is Arabella somehow finding a way to set him free. There's no doubt that she would and that she would release Klaus on all of them.
No one, save for her and Rebekah, would survive Klaus's wrath then.
"Is anyone else a little creeped out?" Elena asks in a worried tone.
Rebekah and Elena have been at each other's throats all day. So, it's no surprise to Arabella when Rebekah rolls her eyes. "So then leave," she comments. "Out of everyone your presence is the least necessary."
Stefan has been trying to play the role of mediator, but he has been failing thus far. It was far easier for him to be the mediator between Arabella and Damon in the 1800s than between two quarreling vampires in the 2000s. "Please don't start."
"I'm merely stating the facts." Rebekah tries to appear casual as she glares into Elena's spine. "Jeremy has the spell on his body, Bonnie's the witch that unseals the cure, Shane is the human compass, you and I have the tombstone— which does God-knows-what, Arabella can protect us from the evils on this island, and Elena has no point."
Appearing to be offended to not be included in the list, Damon lifts his machete up in confusion. "What about me?" He questions.
"You have a nice behind," Rebekah states without missing a beat.
Both boys hold back their chuckles while they continue to make their way through the woods.
Arabella never agreed to be the muscle of the group. Though she is probably the strongest one because she is a hybrid— except for Rebekah— she doesn't want to fight any of the island's horrors. No one knows what kind of horrors this island has nor do they know how strong the potential threats are. They could potentially be stronger than the hybrid.
They continue to walk through the forest until nightfall, unfortunately having to listen to Shane's stories. He seems to be obsessed with Silas and magic. All for his dead wife and son, who Silas most likely won't be able to raise.
Arabella lifts an eyebrow at Damon after he dismisses Shane's story of seeing his wife again because of his blood. She didn't think that he would be the type to dismiss such useful information so quickly and so easily.
"Did you ever think that Silas might just be a regular old vampire and you gave him enough blood to send you visions?" She questions with lifted eyebrows.
Shane turns to face her, his eyes wide with anger. He probably has thought about it before, but he didn't want to accept that information as the truth. If he did, it would mean all hope is lost and he can't ever see his wife and child again. "Silas is not a vampire," he responds. "He's a very powerful immortal witch. You'll see soon."
They walk a couple more paces before Shane pushes his way to the front of the group. "Stop," he commands. "Is everybody paying attention?" He lifts a rock off of the ground and looks toward their group of mostly vampires. "First lesson in survival—" He throws the rock onto the ground, tripping a net trap. Everyone stares at the net in surprise. "Stay together, keep your eyes open."
It bothers Arabella that people have gone to so many lengths to keep Silas from rising, and they're going to bring him out of his slumber. There has to be a reason that Silas is trapped on this island with the cure. There has to be more to this situation than what they know.
Kol literally died trying to keep Silas from being risen. Perhaps there is some truth to the many stories about Silas. Maybe it's better that he stays underground with the cure.
Eventually, they set up camp at a mysterious cabin in the woods. Jeremy almost got killed by a random man with a boy and arrow, but was saved by a mysterious hatchet thrower.
Nothing about this situation feels right to Arabella. Something is very off about everything.
"Have you ever thought about what you would do once this cure is found," Elena questions from behind Arabella.
Turning away from the tree line, Arabella studies the newly turned vampire. She used to think about getting cured from immortality all the time. She wondered what it would be like to be mortal again, to be free from the burden of having to change every full moon.
Becoming a hybrid changed everything. Now, she doesn't have to change every full moon. She doesn't have to worry about loosing control and killing the people she loves. Above all, she doesn't have to worry about subjecting a child to live a life with the potential of triggering her curse.
Arabella glances over at the group of scattered vampires. Each of them have their own reasons for wanting this cure. Stefan wants to live a human life. Rebekah wants to grow old and have children. And Elena wants her life to go back to normal again.
"Being mortal was something I used to want all of the time," she states. "I would obsess over the thought of breaking my immortality curse and live the rest of my life as a human." Wrapping her arms around herself, Arabella looks directly at Elena. "But becoming a hybrid changed things. I've found people that make me want to live forever. I didn't understand it before, but I do now."
Elena gives her a confused look. "And by people, do you mean Klaus?" She asks.
She never asked for Elena's judgment. No one will understand Niklaus Mikaelson the way that she does. They will never understand the love he has or the compassion he holds. If Elena wants to judge her for being in love with Klaus, so be it. Arabella doesn't have to explain herself to the doppelgänger who keeps playing her brothers like they are instruments.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Elena shakes her head. "I don't understand. Klaus has done horrible things to people."
"So has Stefan," Arabella points out. "So has Damon." Releasing a loud sigh, Arabella gazes into Elena's brown eyes. "You did not meet Klaus in 1863 when he thought that he was going to be a vampire forever. You did not fall in love with him when he was careful because Mikael was hunting Klaus and his siblings down.
"My relationship with Niklaus Mikaelson is not for you or anyone else to understand."
Stomping towards the woods, Arabella needs a moment to breathe. She needs a moment to compose herself and school her anger. Otherwise, she may do or say something that she'll regret later.
The woods on this island are creepy. It's so dark that it's difficult to see. If it weren't for the fact that Arabella was locked in the dark for fifty years before Katherine forced her to move, she wouldn't be able to see easily.
A twig snaps in the distance, causing Arabella to turn around quickly. Someone is out here in these woods with her. "Hello?" She asks, hoping that it's one of the other group members.
The only response is the loud chirping of crickets. There are no other snapping logs or twigs.
She's being paranoid, but with good reason. The locals are trying to attack them and there's a random hatchet thrower in these woods. Arabella should not have come out here on her own.
Arabella turns back toward where she original came from, spotting Elena right behind her. She nearly jumps out of her skin at the sight, causing her to panic. "Elena!" She cries. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!"
A smirk grows across the doppelgänger's face. "Not quite Elena, but will keep that in mind for the future."
Eyes widening in surprise, Arabella slowly backs away from the person in front of her. "Katherine?" She questions.
Katherine smiles widely, widening her arms. "In the flesh," she responds. "You look great. Love the outfit."
Glancing down at her purple sleeveless jacket and black long sleeve, Arabella furrows her eyebrows. Why is Katherine being nice to her? Why is she here? It's highly doubtful that Katherine would come here to look for the cure, considering that she loves being a vampire.
Crossing her arms, Arabella gives Katherine an annoyed look. "What do you want, Katherine? What are you doing out here?"
The vampire rolls her eyes in annoyance. She slowly begins to circle Arabella. "I forgot, you like to get straight to the point." Her brown eyes land on Arabella as she studies her. "I'm here for the cure, and it would be in your best interest to help me get it."
Unable to mask her confusion, Arabella shakes her head. "Why would I help you take the cure away from my friends? And why are you so concerned about the cure?"
Katherine stops directly in front of Arabella. "Are you really that dense?" She questions. "There's only one dose of the cure. And when your little group of friends realize that they're not going to waste it on Elena. They're going to realize that they have much bigger fish to fry, considering they killed Klaus's little brother."
Somehow, Katherine has kept herself in the loop. It may have something to do with the fact that Klaus is still hunting her down and will probably kill her on sight. Or she has been keeping tabs on Stefan, since she is obsessed with him. "How did you—"
"I like to keep tabs on what my enemy is doing," she responds. "But they're going to try to give Klaus the cure, which is going to horribly backfire, and then they're all going to die."
Arabella shakes her head. "That doesn't explain why I should help you take the cure."
A smile graces Katherine's lips. "Well, I'm hoping that I can give Klaus the cure in exchange for my freedom. If you help me, you're guaranteeing that your brothers won't shove the cure down Klaus's throat and kill him." She narrows her eyes at Arabella and mocks a confused look. "Unless, you want to risk them being successful and killing your soulmate."
Looking back towards the group, Arabella's mind races. She doesn't want to betray her friends and her brothers, but Klaus is the love of her entire life. They won't ever understand him the way she does. "I'm not saying that I'm going to help you," she begins. She turns her head to look at Katherine, who is eyeing her earnestly. "But what would I do?"
The smile on Katherine's face morphs into a smirk. "You being out here is enough," she states. Lifting her hands to the sides of Arabella's head, Katherine doesn't leave any time for Arabella to defend herself before Katherine snaps her neck.
*****
When Arabella wakes up, she finds herself tied to a tree with ropes dipped in wolfsbane. She winces in pain as she feels her skin burn from the contact with it.
Katherine sits alone by a small fire, poking at the burning logs. It's surprising to Arabella she even knows how to make a fire, considering the fact that Katherine doesn't do things. She has other people do the hard things for her.
She notices that Arabella's awake with a grin while staring at the fire. "You were out longer than usual," she comments. "I thought for a second there you were actually dead."
Arabella's eyes glow gold in anger as she holds herself at bay. Katherine doesn't know that she is a hybrid, and she doesn't want to drop the ball on her until she knows that she can kill her. All it takes is one bite. "What the hell!" She exclaims angrily.
Rolling her eyes, Katherine sets down her stick. "Don't panic, I've only temporarily kidnapped you to keep everyone else at bay." She glances at Arabella with her doe brown eyes, looking at her up and down. "By the looks of things, though, that shady professor you all were with betrayed you all by hiring someone to kidnap Jeremy and he stole that rock."
Furrowing her eyebrows, Arabella wants to know what she is talking about. That's when she smells the blood. Someone is injured or worse.
"What's that smell?" She asks.
A smirk grows across Katherine's face. "'That smell', Bella, is the smell of a slowly rotting corpse." Katherine points to a fallen branch, where Arabella can see some clothing and long black hair. Plus a pool of blood that is slowly seeping into the earth. "He kidnapped Jeremy for Shane in exchange for that precious rock."
Crinkling her nose in disgust, Arabella tries to pretend like she doesn't want to drain whatever blood that person has left out of their veins. "And you killed him?"
Simply shrugging her shoulders, Katherine purses her lips. "That rock is probably valuable to somebody."
Only adjusting her wrist slightly, Arabella groans in pain. She's lucky that it's only wolfsbane and not also vervain. "Are the ropes necessary?" She questions in annoyance.
Lifting her eyebrows unapologetically, Katherine shrugs. "Sorry, I couldn't risk you going into a killing frenzy when you woke up." She narrows her eyes at Arabella. "Although, I must say that you are a lot less vicious than normal."
Resting her head against the tree, Arabella closes her eyes. In order to keep up her werewolf facade, Arabella has to act normal. She is going to wait until Katherine is least expecting it before she strikes. She is going to kill Katherine Pierce. "Well, that happens when you don't die everyday."
Dousing the fire that she started, Katherine turns to face Arabella. "I'm going to have to get moving if I want to get to that cave in time. Have fun being tied up. I'm sure the locals are going to love killing you repeatedly."
Arabella struggles against her restraints. "Katherine!" She calls out. A snarl contorts across her face as Katherine begins to leave. She is so smug, even in the way that she walks. "If you leave me here to die over and over again, when I get back to Klaus, I will make sure he never pardons you. I will help him hunt you down to the ends of the earth until you are dead!"
At this, Katherine freezes. She seems to truly debate whether Arabella will make good on her threat. "Ugh," she groans. "Fine."
She walks back toward the tree, grabbing onto the rope and pulling it until it breaks. Katherine lets go of the rope, annoyance and sass radiating off of her. "Are you happy now?"
Glowering at her tormentor, Arabella rubs her wrists as she shimmies the rope off of her. "I won't be happy until that cure is no longer close to the hands of my brothers," she responds. "I can't risk them trying to use it on Klaus and failing."
Arabella is no fool. If her brothers get their hands on that cure they will realize they have to use it on Klaus to save their lives. In their attempt, they will only get themselves killed and the only cure to vampirism destroyed.
The smirk that grows across Katherine's face is annoying. It makes Arabella want to bite her out of spite. "Awww, does that mean that we're best friends again?" She asks mockingly.
Rolling her eyes, Arabella shoulders her way past Katherine. "Just hurry up and get that cure. I will stall for as long as I can."
Working with Katherine feels like working with the devil. They were once best friends. Wherever Katherine Pierce went, Arabella Salvatore used to follow. Katherine embodied everything Arabella wanted to be. Smart, strong, and confident. Katherine didn't allow anyone to talk down on her and she had the gall to argue against those who tried.
Unlike Arabella, who was afraid to say anything out of turn thanks to her father. Arabella was easily walked all over and didn't have any proper manners. She was put back in her place quickly whenever she did anything wrong.
That's what attracted her to Katherine. Katherine was everything Arabella was not.
Trying to make herself appear strong, Arabella slowly walks through the woods. Having her neck snapped took a toll out of her and she needs blood, but she doesn't want Katherine to know that she is a hybrid just yet. Right now, they have a common goal.