[Episode 38 - Know Thy Enemy - 1]
Kat rushes into her house, to see everyone anxious and pacing. Elena runs her temples while Alaric is upstairs, sitting by Jenna's closed door. Jeremy runs to her "Thank God! Where were you?"
"Matt knows about everything... He won't let me in all night, but I ran here as fast as I could, is she there?" she points up and rushes up the stairs without waiting. Apparently, Isobel Flemming appeared at her doorstep last night, living proof (somewhat) that Alaric did not lose his wife. Jenna, obviously, locked herself in her room out of the betraying world.
Seeing Kat, Ric stands up "She won't talk to me, or-or open her, her door. Can you-?"
She hugs him with a breath "I'll speak to her okay? Just stay close... We're telling her everything, okay?" she mumbles. He hesitates. He doesn't want Jenna to come in harm's way just because of his dark past. Kat takes his hand with a stern look "Look Ric, look what secrets are doing to her, she needs to know, okay? I'll help you keep her safe..."
She turns to the door "Jenny? It's me - Kat... You up? Please... Can you open the door for me?"
"Go away Kat" they hear a small mumble from the other side.
"Jenna please, hone-"
"Don't call me honey! Get lost Ric!" something thuds onto the other side of the door, vibrating harshly against the elder Gilbert's ear. Kat gently points Ric to her room with a murmur "Go, I'll talk with her" he would have protested in any other situation but Ric nods tentatively, going to Kat's room and stands by the door.
Elena and Jeremy come up too, their phone in their hands. She shakes her head, motioning them to get out of the hallway up there.
"Okay Jenny, Ric's gone, it's just me... Please, please open the door Jenna, I promise I will tell you everything I know, I mean it Jenna. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for not telling you about Isobel, but there's more you need to know... Ple-" the door gives away behind her, making Kat catch her balance.
Inside, her aunt's teary, PJ-clad form shakes by the threshold, looking out for any lurkers "Please... Just hear me out..." She slowly raises her hands, placing them on the strawberry blonde's shoulders. The familiar motion makes Jenna relax and she slumps down into her niece's awaiting arms.
"You lied to me!" she accuses "Why did you lie to me?"
"Shh... It's okay Jenna, I'm telling you everything now... Okay?" she holds the wet face in her trembling palms, wiping off the tears and loose curls behind. Jenna nods like a small girl, making Kat smiles sadly.
"Come on, let's get you some water"
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"Oh my God" Jenna sighs "Vampires? Werewolves? Doppelgangers? Guardians?! What..?! I-I, wha-?" Jenna's eyes narrow in disbelief and shock.
"Jenna..." Alaric gets up and kneels in front of her with a kind look. It wasn't easy for him to sink it in either "I know this might be hard to understand.. But it's true, if you don't believe me, you can at least trust your family... Kat's telling the truth..."
"We all are aunt Jenna" Jeremy puts in, offering her a glass of water.
"But... Kat...? Stef-"
"Yes, Stefan and Damon are vampires... Even Caroline, but they're good. Okay?" Elena assures.
"And what about this... Klaus?" she looks around to get nods of confirmation "Klaus. What about him? Sacrifice? You're teenagers! And you've been doing all of.... This!" she gestures around wildly "-behind my back!"
Elena smiles sadly "But we're supernatural Jenna... We couldn't involve you knowing you'll be in danger"
"Why tell me now?"
"Because" Kat steps up with a guilty face "-because not knowing is more dangerous for you right now... Can you understand where we're coming from? Do you believe us now?"
She sniffles, wiping her nose with her hoodie sleeve "Yeah... I mean, your mom used to tell me those bedtime stories, about va-vam-vampires, and I- oh my God! No, no, what...?!" she gasps again, flooded with all the information at once. Her breaths come out in gasps and she wipes her eyes vigourously.
"I-I can't, I can't breath, oh my God! Vampires are real, oh my God! You-re, you're you're you, you're gonna die, oh my God...! No..."
Kat gestures all of them away "Give her some air, Jenny? Jenny, Jenna!" she holds her panicking aunt's hands gently, summoning power "Jenna, Jenna! Look at me, come on, look at me, deep breath? Deep breath... I'm here, no one's dying... Calm down..."
Jenna's eyes fill up with tears "Oh my God! I-I can't, I can't keep you safe! Oh no, no no..."
Kat inches back, giving her some space, but not leaving her side nonetheless.
"Jenna.. Jenna..!" Elena tries.
Shaking his head with a decisive breath, Alaric comes forward, kissing her.
All the kids are too shocked to even turn their heads away.
"Now" Ric breaks the kiss "Was that real?"
Jenna takes a sharp breath "Y-Yes..."
"Do you see me?"
"Yes"
"Do you think I'm gonna let anything happen to the kids?"
"No, oh my God, no" she breaths in relief, a gesture followed by the rest. Alaric smiles "Good, 'cause nothing's gonna happen, everything will be alright, you trust me right?"
She smiles, completely letting go of panic "Yes"
"God I love you" they kiss again. This time, the kids look anywhere but the couple. Jenna smiles after such a long while, hugging Ric.
"Come 'ere ya'll" she beckons all of them. They oblige, chuckling and piling onto the duo.
Kat smiles relievedly, feeling the warmth of family complete.
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Kat comes out of her shower, tying up her hair and going to her cupboard when the door opens.
"Viv- oh, um, sorry" Stefan turns about as quickly as Kat and murmurs "John's here, with Isobel"
"What!" she screeches, almost slipping on the wet puddle created at her feet. John brought Isobel in!
"Why wou-"
"She has information about Klaus, be down fast, please" he vamps down.
Jenna must be freaking out. Alaric too. She puts on a dress and doesn't even bother with make-up as she speeds downstairs to the kitchen. Isobel stands against the granite platform, pale face and glossed-over eyes. Jenna sits in the living room on the couch, head in her hands and Alaric sits beside her with a tapping foot. John sits on the bar stool, sipping water and Stefan and Elena eye the vampire with as much distrust as they can muster.
"Since I was last here," Isobel starts without preamble, shocking Jenna and Ric "I've been doing everything possible to find Klaus. We knew our best chance was to find him before he could find you..."
"Best chance at what?" Jenna asks.
"Keeping the girls alive" Ric's ex hautily replies, aiming a dig at the Gilbert sisters actually being her daughters.
"You don't get to talk, okay, not after everything you've done" Kat snarks out, eyes turning amber in broad daylight. It's a good thing that her back was to Jenna then, because that would be very creepy.
"Were you able to find Klaus?" Stefan asks, squeezing Kat's hands to make her calm down.
"No. Nobody knows where he is but there are these rumours that are flying around. That a doppelganger and Guardian exist"
"Which means any vampire that wants to get in favour with Klaus will be lining up to capture you" John sighs as if to say 'how could you'.
"I'm not buying any of this" Jenna shakes her head and gets up, walking to her nieces. Elena agrees too, "Me neither. The last time that you were here, you made it clear that you didn't give a damn about me. Now all of a sudden I'm supposed to believe that you want to help?"
"Isobel's been helping all along" John steps between Isobel and Elena "Klaus has been obsessed with finding Katherine for centuries. All it would take was any one of those 1864 tomb vampires to spread the word around that Katherine was still alive and it would bring him straight here to Mystic Falls, where you were bound to be discovered, so we killed them"
"And almost killed Stefan and Damon and me in the process. One of the two main assets. And as you very fondly forgot" she turns to mombie "your daughter"
The woman just sighs, her eyes moving from Jenna to Ric to her daughters "I have a safe house that I can take you to. The deed is in your name. No vampires can get in without your permission, not even me. Let me help you"
"You wanna help?" Kat gets up with a snarl, her disappointment bared open "Then get the fuck out of my house"
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"Do you really think that Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the doppelganger?" Damon frowns in the Salvatore Boarding House, having been filled in on all the things from yesterday night to today afternoon - Papa warlock, Matt, Bonnie, Jenna and Isobel.
"Look, I don't trust a word that she says, but I think we'd be stupid to ignore the warning" Stefan sips on his whiskey but before his lips can touch the glass again, Kat snatches it off and gulps the brown liquid in one fast choke.
Jenna pats her back as she sits down in a panicked huff. In a situation like this, she'd want one too.
"You know, you should just stay here. It's better for us to keep an eye on you" Damon manners his look from the new addition to the scooby gang to the sisters.
"What? In the house that any vampire can enter? No. My house is safer Damon" Kat frowns with meaning. "Well, then we'll stay there" Stefan states, getting up and offering Elena and Kat each a hand. They don't take it. Instead, they roll their eyes "So is that the plan? Neither of you will let us out of your sight again? I need to get those memories back guys..."
"Let me know when you come up with a better place to do it... Bonnie's reading up, we'll do it later"
"Fine" Jenna gets up in a panicky huff "Then one of you 2 bodyguards is gonna have to come with my nieces and us" she getsures between herself and her boyfriend "-to the Lockwood luncheon"
"That'd be me" Stefan smiles sweetly.
"Not me" Damon waves off "I have witch stuff to attend to with Bonnie"
"Does that mean that you're taking her to the-"
"Shh" Damon cuts Elena off with a warning glare. Katherine walks down and smiles "Don't get quiet on my account. If you have a plan to combat the impending vampire doom, please do tell"
Jenna stares at the vampire, hit with the photocopy of her elder niece. Same curled hair, same walk, same voice. But Kat has jade eyes.
"Seriously, what is the plan to get us out of this mess, hmm? I delivered you a moonstone, a werewolf, and the dagger to lure and kill Klaus, and right now all you have is a moonstone. Or so you tell me"
"No, we have it" Kat assures her with a frown, why is she being nosy, she thought Rina trusted her to keep it safe.
"Well, where is it?"
"It's in a very safe place" Damon smiles tauntingly. The soap dish in a vampire haven, is not what one calls a safe place. But Damon went a little cuckoo, winged the 'hidden in plain sight' mantra.
"I've been honest with you" she looks mainly at Kat "Time to return the favor"
Why is she so stuck on getting to the stone? Kat doesn't speak. Just because she trusts Katerina doesn't mean she's going to tell her everything. Somethings are better hidden. If the vampire sister gets her hands on the moonstone, she'll get Elena killed.
"Let me be honest with you" Damon smirks with a glass in his hand "Don't mistake the fact that we haven't set you on fire in your sleep for trust" Jenna takes in a wide breath at the blunt threat that the elder Salvatore just spewed at Katherine.
Rina huffs, leaving "Fine, be that way"
"What is wrong with her?" Kat frowns, taking Stefan's outreached hand.
"It's Katherine, she's always been that way..."
For him, maybe. But as for the Guardian, something seemed wrong about Katherine today.
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"Hey, any luck with him?" Kat stops a freaky Caroline, motioning Jenna to go on. Stefan joins her from the parking lot in front of the Lockwoods.
"Oh my God Kat! No. What if he tells somebody? What if he tells everybody?"
"No, we just gotta find him and make sure that doesn't happen" Stefan hugs her, calming her down somewhat. He looks at the elder Gilbert "Do you have any idea where he would be?"
"Caroline said he sneaked off by the window in the morning, but he wouldn't run...."
"You know, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. You know, I was supposed to tell him at the right moment in the right way, and he was supposed to be okay with it because he loves me" Caroline closes her eyes, almost sniffling.
"We'll help you find him. Okay, you need to calm down, okay? Just sit here" she motions to the chair beside Jenna's "till this is done and we'll all hurry okay?"
"Maybe he'll come around. You did..." he smiles at Kat, who smiles back tentatively.
"After we find Matt, we need to be at the boarding house at 5, Bonnie says she'll be ready. And I'm calling Jenna for back-up"
"Listen..." he holds her back, gently nudging her aside towards a pillar "Are you sure you want to do this?" A part of him was scared that the memories will be too much for his best friend to bear. And the other part part of him was scared that the memory he compelled away might return.
"I'm sure Stefan, besides, it'll strictly be only Violetta's memories, no more no less, every other memory lays to rot until Bonnie brings it up"
"I... Okay... I'll search for Matt okay?" he smiles, squeezing her hand once more and going off.
Carol Lockwood takes a mike "And here to accept the donation to the Miranda Sommers-Gilbert scholarship fund are Jenna Sommers, and Kat and Elena Gilbert"
Everyone claps and the girls smile hesitantly, accepting the check. Jenna gives the cheque to Elena and speaks into the mike "Well, the Historical society was Miranda's baby, she considered al-" A crash resounds through the floor, everyone's frantic eyes looking behind.
John Gilbert lies there, unconscious and bleeding. A flurry of gasps erupts throughout, everyone getting up and rushing over to him. Stefan and Caroline are already there, leaning over him but Jenna and Elena rush there too.
Kat steps down and is about to rush over to the clearing floor when someone yanks off from behind, a burst of searing white burn goes through her veins from her neck and the last thing she sees is Katherine's daylight bracelet.
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An eternity later, Kat's eyes flutter open to sun among trees. She's in a car and sees Isobel driving up front.'
"What did you do to Rina?" she grunts up, feeling no magic or Guardian power in her.
"It had to be done Kat..."
Kat looks around, not recognising the deserted surroundings as the car comes to a stop. "Invisique" she mutters when the car comes to a stop, but Isobel opens the door beside her and pulls her out "You can't use magic, not anymore" she tries to pull her forward, only to be pushed off.
"What did you do to me? Let me go!" she tries to run with the human speed she has but Isobel vamps in front of her by the isolated road "Just because you can't be compelled doesn't mean I can't force you to come with me"
Kat grudgingly steps forward, following Isobel into a cemetery.
"So is that what happened? You and Rina were compelled?"
"If I was, I couldn't tell you"
"So you lied" she growls "You did find Klaus, didn't you? He knows where we are now. Are you taking me to him? Is that how you plan to trap Elena too?"
Her biological mother doesn't answer, they reach a tombstone in front of which she crouches with a sad smile. "What is this?" Isobel clears her throat, blowing off the leaves and gestures Kat to read it herself.
In loving memory
Isobel Flemming
Jan 18, 1978 - May 4, 2007
"My parents" she states "-your grandparents, they put it here when it became clear that the police weren't gonna find my body. They visit every week, and they bring flowers, even though there's no one buried here. The Isobel they knew is dead. So maybe there's a part of me that's buried here, the human part, the part that I abandoned when I-when I choose to become a vampire, the part that used to dream about the day that she'd know her daughters..."
"What?" Kat sniffles, this is the longest Isobel showed her her human side, the side that cared and tried to love.
"And instead you got to meet the other part...The part that would betray her own flesh and blood" she stands up, looking at her elder daughter with tears in her eyes, for the first time she's shown herself to her daughters.
Isobel phone rings. She answers "I have Katherine and the moonstone. Is the Guardian safe?" a gruff voice speaks on the other side, catching the women's attentions.
"Yes"
"Then let her go"
"Let her go?" Isobel's eyes widen as she looks between Kat and the stone.
"Klaus has everything he needs for now. Your part is finished. You did what he compelled you to do"
"I'm done?" a smile coats her trembling lips. Her blue eyes find Kat's with something the Guardian never expected to see in them - guilt.
"You're done"
"Isobel... Who was that?"
The mother doesn't speak, she smiles wider, yet sadder than before "I'm so sorry, Kat... I'm sorry that I wasn't worth it..." before her human eyes can widen, Isobel snatches off the daylight necklace in her hand, her words morphing into fiery screams.
Red fire from her burning mother reflects in her wide eyes.
"No!" she runs, trying to put the broken necklace back onto the screaming scorching body now down on the ground.
"No! Ah!" she tries to cover her mother from the sun but the flames don't stop, nor do the screams.
"Anyone help!" she shouts, holding the still form. She cries, shaking Isobel "Please, no, please, no no no no! No! Isobel please! Mom..." she cries, her hands all muddy and pink, cheek burnt and eyes blurry.
"Please, no, someone, so-omeone... help" she slumps down, against the tombstone, looking at the morbid unmoving eyes of the one who was supposed to be her mother.
Blue.
Guilty.
Dead.