[Episode 39 - The Last Dance - 1]
I smile giddily as her eyes flit from the lawyer in front of me, my aunt, and Elena.
"That's it, please sign here, and here, and here as well, done..." Mr. Henry smiles.
"Um, excuse me for asking..." he looks to Jenna sheepishly "But is there any specific reason for this...?" Jenna looks around and shrugs sheepishly "Um, investment, Mr. Henry" He gives her a weird look and walks out after handing me all the signed papers.
Bonnie comes from upstairs just as the man leaves.
"Hey, any luck?"
The witch shakes head "You're right, she's cloaked". Last night, after all of the memory-drama was over, I tried to test my newly re-obtained magic first with a locator spell on Katherine. She was cloaked.
Bonnie's confirmation causes Elena to draw in a short breath "Why are you worried about her anyway? She's finally out of our lives"
I sigh, handing the papers to Jenna with a sad smile "She's an asset to Niklaus, and god knows what he's doing to her..." We have a stare-off, forcing Bonnie to come to the rescue "So, this place huh? They just... gave it to you?"
I crack a small smile "Huh" I nod "-so I'm the only one who can invite people in" she jerks her head towards the doorway where Stefan and Damon stand.
Stefan has his usual brooding face on and Damon's sticks his tongue out as all the girls laugh.
"Watch this" I strut to the threshold and lean against the door with an innocent look "So... Salvatores..."
"Gilbert" Damon gives a non-smile. He was really regretting all those times he went against me, bit her, stabbed me and drove me mad. I can tell.
Stefan smiles hesitantly.
"Do you promise to obey the owner of this amazing house?"
Surprising all of the others, especially Jenna, the brothers sync "Yes"
"Damon..." I smile sweetly "You may come in , make yourself home... The rooms above are really nice" he shakes his raven head with a roll of his eyes "I know, the tub's to die for, see you inside Stef" he looks back.
Stefan looks like a lost puppy, fingers buried in his leather jeans pockets as he glances at me and then at Elena. Jenna giggles, covering her eyes "I'm surprised that look isn't working on you" Elena hisses and nudges our aunt as a small taunting smile creeps up my eyes. I look down, biting my lip.
"Stefan Salvatore" I draw his attention away from his boots "Do you want to spend quality time in this house?"
"Yes" he grudgingly looks up.
"Do you promise to give me bear hugs?"
"No" Elena visibly glares at me. Bonnie rolls her eyes.
Stefan looks relieved, as if he expected me to demand he dance "Of course"
"Pinky swear?" I hold out my pinky. Elena huffs and walks into the house, stomping and plopping down on the couch. Stefan smiles with a childish twinkle,holding out his pinky without any inhibitions, still stuck outside the threshold.
"Come in 'ere you" he comes in with a smile "Thank you" I pull him into a hug, crushing half of his muscles in the process.
"Vi-Viv" he croaks out, making me withdraw from the embrace "Sorry..." I cringe, not realising my real strength.
"Well, you done?" Elena shouts from the parlour, walking out with her bag and jacket.
"Where are you going?" Stefan gently pulls her inside.
"Down to visit Lucifer Morningstar, wanna come?" I smirk with a roll of my eyes. Stefan stares right ahead while Elena enunciates "School"
I shove her Grimoires and homework in my bag, shrugging at Damon "Exactly what I meant... Hell"
Damon and Stefan come in between "No, no, no. We didn't create a safe house for you to leave it"
"Yeah, guys! Klaus is still out there!" Jenna protests with wide eyes.
"Jenny... Do you want me to fail classes? Elena's already on the way there and Alaric is being vague"
"But Klaus-"
"-is here, yes, but where? He knows we're not running, he doesn't know that we're neck-full of power... So yes, we're going to school and Jenna's going to John, or staying here" I offer.
"Don't worry" Bonnie raises her chin confidently "I'm ready. If he shows his face, I can take him"
"And Elena will always have either of us at her side, always..." I assure with an arm around her to prove the point.
"The way I see it, next to Bonnie is the safest place that I can be..." Elena smiles a little, glad to know we have a plan. "Come on" we yank each other out of the house, Jenna following with us with mumbles about not being able to kill John
"O God wait! I-I'm coming too!" Stefan vamps out with his leather jacket in his fumbling hands.
Gilbert girls are either very stupid or very brave.
I'd much rather prefer the first. Because it's so much fun. And because it takes her mind of Katherine, and Elijah.
▹▹▹
"Ric wait up! Ric!" I shout to my step-father/teacher/trainer just before his class starts. We're in the empty hallways when the Guardian rushes up to him. "Hey... I-um..." I stagger, fumbling with my bag's zipper. "What's wrong Vi- Kat?" the teacher asks with overly-frowning brows.
"I'm, I'm sorry for what happened... About Isobel, I-I didn't get to talk to you, and all of this crazy Niklaus stuff's been going on an-"
"Wait," he gently nudges me aside "What crazy Niklaus stuff?"
"Um... I got my memories back Ric... I thought Jenna told you that," I frown "Anyway! Where were you all of yesterday!"
"Um..." he runs a hand through his hair "I, was, um, dealing... Anyway, so you know every-everything huh?"
"Yea..." I give him a weird look "I-It's been hard, hey, um, class is gonna start anytime now, you wanna go in first or can I?" He doesn't speak, simply extends a flourishing hand towards the door. I shake my head with a scoff.
Settling to Elena's right, I open my book to doodle when Alaric gives the messy entry, grabbing a frigging brochure open "Hello, class. What... are we, learning today?" Dana perks up with a lazy lilt " With the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the sixties all week Mr. Saltzman"
He doesn't reply, he just stares to the back of the class, very very quietly.
Bonnie hits Elena's arm slightly, making their eyes go back onto the teacher.
"Right," Ric's eyebrows go up into his combed hair, lips twitching as if he's hiding something "the 60s" he turns back, writing on the board.
"The, uh, ahem... The sixties. I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties," he scoffs, never really looking at any of the students in the front "but...Actually, they kind of sucked. Except for the Beatles, of course. They made it bearable. Uh, what else was there?" he rubs his temples while pacing "The Cuban missile... thing, the...we walked on the moon. There was Watergate"
"The Watergate was the seventies Ric" I scoff, making everyone slowly turn their shocked heads to me. I stare right back with a raised brow. What else was I supposed to call him - Van Heilsing?
Ric just smiles again, waving to his head "Right. It all kind of mushes together up here, the sixties, seventies. Thank you... Vi- Kat"
Suffice it to say that the rest of the class wasn't actually a class.
▹▹▹
Everyone around us chats about tonight's 60s Decade Dance while Bonnie and I are sitting in the cafeteria with Jeremy. He sighs, not able to take the silence anymore "Did you tell Elena what it's going to take for you to do that Klaus spell?"
"No" I roll my eyes. Bonnie sighs "And you're not going to either"
Let me back up a bit — the day after Elijah and I - ehm - married, was the day of the sacrifice. Niklaus got a witch to render my Guardian powers useless, but it kept power in my veins so he could complete the ritual. After the ritual is when Niklaus is most vulnerable so I can kill him, but last time, he only had Rina's blood in a vial, not directly from the vein. After the ritual, I can draw power from the crystal I gave Elijah as a promise to come back. And then, Niklaus could have died. But then, the power was too much for me to bear, and I had no witch by my side so I failed - all of us living - somewhat.
After that ritual and the chant, it's all a blur to me - escaping, Rina and I splitting our ways while I spent a year running, at least that's how long it seemed like. There's a block in my memory that doesn't show me what happened in that time to make me a mortal. But all I know, is that after I returned, Niklaus used Rina as bait to draw me in, and killed me. And I died.
Happily ever after is it not?
So when I told Bonnie all of this, she obviously snitched to my brother, who's afraid we might really die.
Currently, he sighs frustratedly "Well, she's gotta know you can't do it"
"You don't know we can't" Bonnie glares "Have a little faith in me"
"That's not fair. You can't harness that much power. It'll kill you" he groans.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair with set lips. I know what I'm not telling them, and I know that they'll be pissed when they get to know, but I have to stop myself from telling them Violetta's back-up plan, which was actually a very good one.
"Shh!" Bonnie looks around to spot any eavesdroppers "We don't know that for certain. You promised to keep my secret, I'm trusting you. I'm going through with this, and if you tell anyone, I swear..."
"What?" Jeremy challenges "What are you gonna do?"
Successfully, Elena walks up to us, carrying her lunch on a tray "Hey, Jer. How you doing? Are you okay at the house alone with John?"
"It's not ideal" he breathes out, still not losing his serious look. Casting a glare at us, he gets up "Look I'm...I'm late for class"
"What's going on?" Elena frowns, looking from me to Bonnie. Our witch friend smiles bravely "I told him he had to dress up tonight and he got all uptight"
"Oh" she laughs, but it floats away when Dana walks over to our table "Hey girls, there you are. Okay" she takes a giddy breath "This is going to sound freaky, but this totally hot guy just asked me to ask you both if you're going to the dance tonight""Thanks for the message Dana but you can tell him we don't accept dances from strangers who send girls to ask their dances for them" I smile sweetly.
Bonnie rolls her eyes "Tell him they're taken"
"You could at least meet him" Dana pleads, her smile never wavering "He'll be at the dance tonight. Look for him. His name is Klaus"
I go rigid at the mention of the name. Remember when I thought that all villains are kind like Voldemort to heed our school year? Yeah, me neither.
Elena does a double-take at the mention of the name " I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
Dana perks up, thinking that we're considering the dance, which of course we're not, nope. "His name's Klaus. I know the name's stupid, but I swear he's hot"
"Where is he? Is he here?" Bonnie and I look around with furtive eyes, ready to jump at him. The girl standing in front of us tilts her head robotically "I don't know"
"Guys... She's been compelled" Elena states it.
"But he wants to know if you'll save him the last dance" Dana squeals "How cute is that?"
I chuckle lowly, still looking around to see if any face matches to the one I saw in my memories.
"Tell him I can't wait"
▹▹▹
The only sound in the Salvatore Boarding House is my pencil brushing against paper.... Apart from the struggling voices of, well, everyone.
"So we go to the dance, we find him" Damon states the plan as if it'd be that simple.
"Really?" Stefan scoffs "How are we going to do that? We don't even know what he looks like"
"Something tells me he's not going to seventeen and pimply"
"About that" I speak up, pasting my drawing on the table with a thudding palm "you're right" They all lean in to look at the portrait, Jenna gasping at the new face.
"He could be anywhere at any time" Stefan grits out "He compelled somebody at school"
My eyes are still on him - the way he took in the sketch, like something was familiar with the man. Finally, he looks to me with an I-told-you-so face " I guess it's not as safe as you guys thought, huh?"
A knock sounds at the threshold and Jenna rushes to open it "There you are Ric!" she hugs her boyfriend, who staggers back with a shocked expression. Smiling, he hugs her back, kissing her hair and then looking to us all "She really loves me huh?"
Elena and Stefan huff with a small smile and then turn back to each other.
"Hey, I need you to put me down as a chaperone at the dance tonight" Damon purses his lips "Klaus made his first move" Ric raises his brows at the older Salvatore, his face showing nothing sort of surprised. I frown.
"Okay, so we find him and then what, hmm?" Elena looks around "What's our plan of attack?"
"Me" Bonnie speaks up with a raised chin "I'm the plan. He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him"
It didn't past my notice that she didn't even mention me as a power source, so she knows something is wrong. "That's not going to be that easy. I mean" Ric scoffs "-he is the biggest, baddest vampire around"
I shrug, my eyes still glued to his smirk as Damon shrugs "Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he-" he rushes forward, fangs bared at Bonnie but she makes him fly back to the other side of the parlour with a mere wave of her hand.
"Well" Stefan smiles "I was impressed"
"It doesn't matter if he's an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me. I can kill him, Elena" she gazes at my sister and then turns to me with something in her eyes, warning me of our secret "I know I can"
▹▹▹
At school, that night
I go inside with Damon as his jaw flexes with irritation. "What's wrong?" I murmur into his ear and he full-on glares at me "You knew Bonnie can die right?"
I sigh, patting his shoulder with a gulp "You think I'm gonna let her go with it Damon?"
He stops, taking my hands in his "How are you going to stop that huh? You said you'll save Elena but you don't have a plan till now, just stop imagining such things! You can't stop it Kat"
"Wow" I huff out "You sure have a lot of faith in me Damon"
"Well, you couldn't stop Klaus, you can't stop Bonnie, how are you gonna save your sister huh?"
Shoving him away from me on the dance floor, I glare under the disco lights "Can you get your head out of Elena-land for once to understand that I have to die too?" He realises his mistake and tries to step forward but I scoff, turning about with a warning glare "Fuck off Damon, Elena will be safe"
I walk off, only to rush into the other Salvatore. He smiles "Hey..."
"Hi" I sigh, taking his hands and pulling him to the edge of the dance floor without preamble.
"What's wrong?"
I plaster a smile, shaking my head "Nothing, just" I sigh "-just dance with me"
He smiles, squeezing my hand tighter and swaying to the fast beat. I chuckle as he wiggles his eyebrows "You're dancing lately" I gasp as he spins me and ends the move with a dip.
"Well, I've got moves you've never seen" he lifts me up onto my hesitant feet as I look around. I see Damon and Elena dancing and swaying sideways, their feet leading towards us.
Suddenly, Dana's voice rings through the hall with a boom "Thanks for being here, everybody. We have a special shout-out tonight! This is for the Gilbert sisters. From Niklaus!"
I look at Elena with gritted teeth as 'Dedicated to the One I love' plays.
"While I'm far away from you my baby
I know it's hard for you my baby"
"That was a lame, cheap shot" Damon rolls his eyes. I bite my lip, looking around the crowded place "He's trying to bait us"
"It's a party, people. Blend. Let him come to us" Damon shoos us off. Bonnie yanks Jeremy off to dance while Damon does the same to Elena, giving his brother an indirect message - neither of them were going to leave either of us alone.
"There's Ric" I point to the other end of the room "I'll be back"
When Stefan starts to protest, I cut him off "Look, Caroline doesn't know. Go tell her, it's okay, I'll be with Ric, go" she pushes him off.
"Hey..." he rushes back, looking around before giving her a small hug "Just fulfilling my duty of giving hugs" he runs off. What was that? I narrow my eyes as he dances with Caroline but I don't have time.
I think I know where Niklaus is.
I walk to Ric when he chuckles exasperatedly "Special dedication, huh? This guy's a little twisted"
I lean back on the empty table with an unimpressed shrug "I'm not impressed"
"No? I thought it was pretty scary" he frowns.
Well, you can add resistance to my superpowers because I don't speak my mind right then and there. Pasting a smile, I walk away "Let me know if you see him"
Walking out into the empty hallways, I push my palm over my mouth.
Niklaus is in Alaric. That bastard.
Fisting my hands, I stomp into the cafeteria again, now in search of Bonnie. I find her by the punch bowl, lost in thought "Hey Bonnie... I want you to come out for a minute"
▹▹▹
After the spell's complete, Bonnie and I walk out hand-in-hand when Elena stomps over to us, almost in tears "How could you not tell me Bonnie?
"'Cause I knew how you'd react" Bonnie sighs.
"No" my sister shakes her head in denial "No way, it's not an option"
"It's our only option Elena"
"Then we'll find another way, okay? Bonnie, you're not dying to save my life!"
"Hey..." I hold my twin by the shoulders "No one's dying"
" I have the power to save you!" Bonnie shouts "If I don't use it and something happens, that would kill me more... Just" she sighs "-answer one question...if the situation was reversed, would you do it for me?"
Silence rings among us loudly - proof of our allegiance. Elena and I would do it without a second's thought.
"So you know why I have to" Bonnie nods to me, acknowledging our plan.
"Elena!" 'Ric' runs to us, panic plastered on his face "He has Jeremy!"
"What?" we all gasp.
"Klaus has Jeremy! Yeah, Klaus has Jeremy" he repeats as if I'm too shocked to take it in... At least Elena is "Come on!" he leads us into a deserted hallway.
Elena starts slowing down, suspicion creeping up her spine now " Okay, so where are you taking us?"
"Just a little further..." he looks over his shoulder at me.
" Wait...Something's not right" I block the girls from walking any further. "Where's Jeremy!?" Bonnie grits out - we both know he's safe.
Our teacher starts laughing, very very slowly, "I just had to get away from that dance. The sixties, ugh. Not my decade" his nose scrunches up before he smiles "I mean, whose call was that, anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz"
"Alaric..." Elena whispers "Are you on vervain?"
"Now why would you ask me that question, Elena?" he smirks - something Alaric never did.
"He's being compelled" Bonnie states, pulling Elena behind while I stay rooted to my place. I need to hear him say it.
"Nope. Try again"
"Wh-What's going on?" my twin looks at me with wide eyes as I shake my head.
"Okay" he breathes out "-I'll give you a hint. I am not Alaric"
"Klaus" Elena gasps out, clutching hard onto my arm.
"Surprise!"