Disclaimer: If I owned TVD, I would be rich by now. Unfortunately, I don't and I'm not.
Summary: Katherine's revenge is given a new definition when Elena wakes up to find she's been buried alive, with nothing but a flashlight and a cell phone.
AN: Hey Guys. So, a note that this story is set during 2x06 - Plan B, after Damon's phone call to Katherine telling her that Mason is dead. I've had this idea floating around in my head for days, and had to find the right scene to incorporate it into. ENJOY!
Note: The italicised speech in the first scene is straight from the script of the episode. After that, it's what Elena is thinking.
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"Mason, you should have been here an hour ago."
Katherine was someone who despised waiting for anything, unless it was on her own terms. If she had a master plan, she could wait years for the right opportunity to enact it, but when it came to relying on or working with others, her insides burned with impatience.
"Wrong boy toy," came a smug voice from the other end of the line.
For a moment, Katherine eyes widened in disbelief. She often prided herself on always being one step ahead of everyone else. The fact that Damon of all people was answering Mason's phone was a sign that she needed to pay more attention, especially under such important circumstances as retrieving the moonstone.
"Damon, for once you've surprised me. I assume Mason's with you." She had no desire for his games tonight.
"He's right beside me... although his heart's across the room."
The self-assured smile that always took residence on her face slipped, and was replaced by a bitter look. Oftentimes she wondered why she had not just changed Stefan and let Damon wither and die with time. His childish antics were never something that she had to worry about too much when he was human, but as the years had passed his ego had grown nearly as great as Stefan's lust for human blood.
"You shouldn't have."
She kept her anger in check, but only marginally. All she could think about was how hard it would be to find the moonstone without Mason.
At that moment, she wished for nothing more than to tear something, or someone, apart.
"I've had a very busy day today. I killed a werewolf, found the moonstone. Hey, did you know that he hid the moonstone at the bottom of a well full of vervain? I guess he didn't trust you very much...but he did love you." Katherine couldn't believe how this night was turning out and had to stop herself from throwing the phone across the room. She'd just let Damon wear his voice out before she struck. "Poor guy. Hey, where are you? Because, you know, I could bring him over; last goodbyes and all that."
"You have no idea what you've just done." She stated evenly.
"Aww, did I put a kink in your master plan? I'm so sorry."
Yes, she thought, when I'm finished, you really will be. A grin spread across her face at the thought.
"Do you honestly believe that I don't have a plan B?" She asked. "And if that fails a plan C, then a plan D and… you know how the alphabet works, don't you?" She paused to let him mull over her words and realise the stupidity of what he had done. This was her favourite thing to do; turning people's games against them. "Send my love to Stefan."
With her parting words she hung up her phone and placed it on the bureau, thinking about her 'plan B'. Originally, if things went wrong, she was going to use her power over Jenna as a little reminder of who was in charge. Unfortunately, Damon's actions had angered her more than just a little stabbing would satisfy her revenge. She needed something bigger, something more to jolt them into realising how serious she was.
A grin spread across her face as the obvious solution stared her in the face. Putting the one person that everyone revolved around in danger was sure to wake them all into action.
She grabbed everything she needed and then raced down the stairs to the entryway.
"I'm going out Mrs. Flowers, I have some business to take care of," she shouted for the lady in the next room to hear.
"Alright dear, you have a good night." The old lady returned in kind.
As Katherine pulled on her jacket, she opened the door to the frigid wind.
"Oh, I have no doubt that I will."
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Elena was glad that the day was over. After abseiling into a well to save Stefan, and wading through snake filled vervain to find the moonstone, she wanted nothing more than to climb under the warm sheets of her bed and fall asleep.
As she finished brushing her teeth, she could hear Alaric and Jenna laughing downstairs. Atleast some people are having a nice night, she thought.
Those two really did deserve a break. Hell, everyone did. After all the things that had happened in this town, Elena always hoped that one day things would settle down again and go back to normal. Well...as normal as having a vampire boyfriend, being best friends with a witch and a vampire, and being a doppelganger could be.
Sighing, she rinsed her mouth out, shouted a goodnight to the two lovebirds downstairs and headed into her room, closing the door behind her.
"Hello, Elena."
She jumped as if she'd received a huge electric shock and whipped her head around to look for the source of the voice. What she saw made her blood run cold; an involuntary shiver running down her spine. As soon as she'd heard it she'd known who it was, but she had hoped that her ears were deceiving her.
There stood Katherine, leaning against the wall next to the open window and looking for all the world like she owned the place. She wore tight black jeans, with high-heeled boots and a dark blue singlet. Over the top she had thrown on a black suede jacket and a smirk that could challenge even Damon's.
"Katherine. What do you want?" Elena spoke sharply to her. Inside she was panicking. The only one home who could help her was Alaric, and he wouldn't be able to make it upstairs if she yelled before Katherine snapped her neck like a twig. This was a very dangerous situation and she had to be careful with her words, her actions, in case they may just be her last.
"My, my, little Elena. Decided to play with the big cats?" She drawled sweetly to her, and Elena saw a nasty glint in her eye. This was not good. "I believe I told you to stay away from Stefan, but it seems that my words have gone unheeded. Is there no survival instincts in that pretty little brain of yours?"
"What do you mean? I haven't been with Stef-" but she was interrupted.
"Do you know how easy it was to convince Jenna to stop wearing her vervain perfume," Elena's breath caught in her throat, and as it did she saw the smirk on Katherine's face grow tenfold. "Oh, yes. Jenna has been my little spy for days now, so don't lie to me and tell me that Stefan and you have broken it off. I am centuries older than you little girl, and I know when I am being played."
Katherine pushed off the wall and made her way towards Elena, trailing her finger across the bedspread as she went.
"So you see, now I have a problem. It doesn't just seem to be you and Stefan that are crossing me. Did you know that Damon killed Mason this afternoon?" She questioned. Elena stayed silent and stood her ground. "Yeah, well now he also has my moonstone, which if you didn't already know is my sole purpose of being in this pathetic excuse for a town. All in all, everyone seems to have decided that you all like a little risk, and so have driven me to take more...creative measures."
As she got closer Elena stepped back, only to find her back meeting the recently closed door. Katherine only stopped advancing once there was a hairsbreadth of distance between them, and Elena was able to smell her twin's perfume. It was floral and pugnant; overbearing. Just like Katherine, she mused.
"I'm not afraid of you Katherine." She said bravely, but both women knew it was a lie.
"Oh, but darling...you should be."
With those words, she stuck. She moved so fast that Elena didn't even have time to ponder moving before Katherine's fist connected with the side of her head. There was a burst of white light across her vision as her head snapped sharply to the side.
Her eyesight was blurred as she found herself suddenly staring up at her mirror image from the ground. That's strange, she thought through the pain, I don't remember falling.
A Cheshire grin spread across Katherine's face that made Elena feel sick...or perhaps it was the blow to the head. She didn't know, or care. This was the moment she was going to die, and she was alone.
She must have said something out loud, because the next words that penetrated her ears were Katherine's response.
"Oh Elena, I'm not going to kill you right now, that's just too easy. No, I have bigger plans for you."
The woman then walked up to where Elena's head lay on the carpet.
"It was nice knowing you sweetheart, but let's face it. There's only enough room for one of us in the lives of the Salvatore brothers, and I'll be damned if I passed the opportunity off onto you."
The last thing that Elena saw was Katherine's heeled boot advancing steadily toward her face. Then a blissful nothingness surrounded her mind.
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The first thing Elena was aware of, after the constant throb of pain issuing from her skull, was the darkness. It surrounded her in a thick blanket and she had to blink a few times just to make sure her eyes were actually open. It was like staring up at a night sky which had been stripped of all the stars, leaving an abyss in its wake.
The next thing that she came to notice was that her limbs actually moved. Unfortunately, this presented another problem; having no space to move. As soon as she'd lifted her arm to feel her head for injuries, it had stuck a flat surface above her. Cautiously, she ran her hands along it and found that it ran all the way from her feet to her head.
Oh no, she nearly cried when the thought came to mind, I can't be.
Checking her theory, she reached to her sides and felt two identically smooth surfaces parallel to one another. They felt like wood. Hurriedly, on the verge of hysterics, she extended her toes and found another hard wall. She cried out in anguish and dread.
Elena Gilbert was quite sure that she was in a coffin.
Unable to stop herself the tears began to fall, and she began kicking and pounding on the lid of the coffin, which served nothing but to enforce the fact that she was underground buried deep under the dirt. The lid didn't budge and there were only hollow thuds to follow her striking.
She screamed.
Although she knew there was no hope of the lid of the coffin moving, and even if it did there were still six feet and dirt to dig through, she didn't stop pounding at it. She couldn't. If she did it would mean that she had given up, and that just wasn't what a Gilbert did. She was too stubborn not to fight for her freedom. Even if that fight was a hopeless one.
Suddenly, however, there was a clatter down near her feet and she kicked something in her struggle. Elena paused. She shifted her left leg and found that there was some sort of object by her knee. Quickly, Elena shuffled and twisted until she could reach down and grab whatever it was.
A flashlight. Oh, how kind of you Katherine, she though bitterly.
On some small level though, she was extremely grateful. Elena had never been a huge fan of the dark, and add to the fact that she was buried six feet under in a coffin, the light would be a small comfort.
Or so she thought.
When Elena flicked it on however, and gave her eyes time to adjust, she found that the light only seemed to make the situation more real. She could see every side of the small box which held her, and as she looked they seemed to only grow closer and closer. She didn't have claustrophobia, but she was sure that if she were by some miracle to survive this, then it would be one fear to add to her list. Along with being buried alive.
Tears trickled down her cheeks and she made no effort to wipe them away, instead trying to calm her breath and attempt to focus her thinking.
Come on, Elena. She coaxed herself, You're stuck in an emergency situation, what's the first thing you do?
You collected your resources and used them, if possible, to help you. She knew that she had a torch, but what else was there?
Immediately, Elena ran both her arms and legs across the smooth wooden floor to see if Katherine had kindly put any other objects in the coffin with her. However, this revealed nothing she didn't already know; little room with no space for extra objects to occupy. She didn't give up though, and made sure only to stop when she was 100% sure that she had checked every surface available.
Once she was done, hopelessness beginning to settle itself deeply into her heart, she lay there for a minute. Her face was very close to the lid of the coffin, and she could see the grain and imperfections in the wood. Elena pondered what the others were doing right now and if they knew she was missing yet. She didn't know how long she'd been out, so it could be the same night...or the night after. If Katherine had worked fast and Elena had woken quickly, it only meant that she would be awake for a long time before anyone found out she was missing. They all believed that she was tucked safely in bed, and wouldn't venture to think otherwise until it was most likely too late.
Well, she thought sombrely, I will be resting in peace soon.
Then the thought occurred to her that she hadn't actually checked if there was anything on herself. She slowly ran her hands down her sides, readying herself for further disappointment, and nearly cried with joy when she felt something in the pocket of her jeans. Never had Elena been more grateful that she hadn't changed out of her clothes before brushing her teeth that night.
With the eagerness of a child who'd been offered a bowl of sweets, Elena delved her hand into her pocket and found that it was her cell phone. HER CELL PHONE! If she could, she would jump up and down with the luck of her find, but instead hastily fought it out of her tight jean pocket. Underneath it, she could feel a piece of paper as well and frowned. I don't remember putting that in there.
She brought both things up to the light of the torch, which now lay next to her arm, and turned her head to get a better look at them. What caught her eye immediately wasn't the fortune of having full battery on her phone, or even the fact that she had cell phone service underneath six feet of dirt. No, it was the elegantly scripted Elena that was written in the piece of folded paper in black ink.
Carefully, as if she were dealing with a poisonous snake, Elena unfolded the crumpled paper and smoothed it out before bringing it back up to the light to read.
Elena –
Time is against you. The fact that you're reading this means you have found all the items I have left you. If you are to play your cards right from here, I have no doubt that you will leave this situation relatively unscathed, albeit all a little more respectful of my demands next time. If however you play them wrong, let's just say that you won't be looking as youthful as I will in 100 years time.
You may call whoever you like, do whatever you like, to free yourself from this situation. Police, Stefan, Witchy-poo, I don't care. But hurry Elena, time is of the essence. Fresh oxygen won't be making its way through all that dirt.
Katherine xoxo
By the end of the letter, Elena was taking deep breaths to control her anger, which she found was not a good idea when she reflected, if she wished the oxygen to last for as long as it could.
"Does she think this is a game?" Elena snarled out loud, but didn't give the obvious answer to the question. Of course Katherine thought it was a game; everything she did was a game to her.
Brushing off her anger towards Katherine, Elena looked on to the more pressing matter of getting herself out of the coffin and above ground before she ran out of air to breathe. She looked down at the phone in her hand and wondered how much trouble Katherine went through in order to find a spot where Elena got reception under the earth. She had three out of five bars; not great but good enough.
Then there was the question of who she could call. Her mind vaguely brushed over the word police before she thought about the possible consequences of that. Even if they did find her, she'd be questioned thoroughly about how she ended up in such a mess and Damon would have some major compelling to do in order to make the issue vanish. Especially considering that Stefan's ability to compel lacked severely because of his diet.
Stefan. Just thinking his name, Elena knew that he was the option she'd pick. He would surely know what to do, and when she told him what happened and where she was, he'd come riding in like her own personal knight in shining armour and save her. She could always rely on him.
Without further thought, Elena grabbed her phone and starting looking through her contacts for Stefan's number, however not before noting the time and date. It was 11:52pm on the same night that she'd been visited by Katherine. Seeming that Elena had gone to her bedroom at around eight, wanting an early night, that meant it was close to four hours since she'd been taken. She pondered whether Katherine had dug the hole before or after she'd collected Elena herself, and in-turn, how much air that meant she had left. Elena could only guess.
Shaking her head, she got back on track and kept scrolling until she came to Stefan's number. This was it! Her heart leapt at the thought of her actually being able to survive this horrible nightmare of a night. She pressed his number and then hit the dial button before placing the phone tentatively to her ear. It was hard to do when she had so little room to move, but she managed it all the same.
It rang, and then it rang some more. Elena's heart was in her throat. Pick up, Stefan. She chanted in her head. Come on! Pick up you damn pho-
"Elena, it's late, I thought you'd be in bed." Stefan's voice answered suddenly from the other end of the line, and Elena felt like sobbing with relief.
"Ste-" She tried to get out, but he spoke over the top of her.
"Look, I'm sorry but I can't talk right now. Caroline is having some trouble controlling herself tonight so we're out hunting. I should have turned off my phone." His voice was rushed and she couldn't slip a word in edgewise.
"Stef-" She tried again, more urgently this time, but he just continued talking.
"Gotta go. Love you."
"WAIT!" She shouted desperately, but it was too late. He'd hung up.
She pulled the phone away from her ear in and stared at it for a moment in disbelief. This was not happening to her. Not now. Not when she was in a life and death situation!
Immediately she tried dialling his number again, but this time it went straight to voicemail. He'd turned it off. He. Had. Turned. It. Off.
She hung up straight away. There was no point in leaving him a voicemail, because by the time he found it, it would be too late. He would go straight home from his hunt and get into bed without a care in the world, while she lay in a coffin who-knows-where and slowly ran out of oxygen.
Tears began to stream down her face anew, and she frantically searched her mind for what to do next. Caroline was out hunting with Stefan so she couldn't call her, and Jeremy would be asleep at home by now, so if she called there Jenna would also find out which wasn't an option. Alaric was with Jenna and Bonnie was...Elena pondered calling Bonnie but then ruled against it in favour of her last option.
Damon.
He would still be awake at this time, so she wouldn't have to deal with explaining herself to someone who was half awake and asking her to repeat everything she said. He was also fast and strong, which was kind of essential when, if he found her, he had to get to her quickly and dig through all that dirt when time was of the essence.
Finding his number in her phone, Elena prayed with all her might that Damon not be too busy with one of his many 'extra-curricular activities' to answer his phone. She was running out of options.
Elena pressed dial, and once again brought the phone to her ear. Then she waited.
"Elena, Elena, Elena. Calling me at midnight on a school night? Someone's a naughty girl."
Elena could hear the smirk in his voice, and imagined him lying on his bed reading a book, a tumbler of expensive scotch at his side.
Unlike with Stefan, she didn't let him continue talking. Elena wouldn't allow for anything to diminish her chances of surviving this time.
"Damon, help me."
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A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think. This will be a two-shot.