An hour past midnight. And still no sign of Elena.
"Where is she?" Jeremy asked for the billionth time.
"I checked everywhere. I couldn't find her" Stefan told him.
"Could Klaus have taken her?" Alaric asked.
"No, it wasn't me." Klaus said as he walked through the door with Elijah. "We have to find her."
"Since when do you care for her?" Jeremy asked Klaus, glaring at him.
"You know I wouldn't harm her." Klaus retorted.
"Hybrids." Damon said a matter-of-factly.
"We can get Bonnie to do a spell." Elijah suggested.
"Already ahead of you on that. She's on her way." Damon told him.
At the same time, Bonnie entered with her grimore.
"Oh, perfect timing. We were just talking about you, love." Klaus commented.
"Let's get started." Bonnie spread out a map and began preparing for the spell.
After half an hour-
"What's taking so long?" Damon asked impatiently.
"A witch. She's powerful and fighting me." Bonnie replied, sighing.
"There has to be something you can do." Stefan told her.
"I might be able to break the magic but only for a minute or so. We won't be able to find the exact location of Elena." Bonnie said, looking at Stefan.
"Do it." Jeremy stepped up front.
"Okay." Bonnie replied. She started chanting words in Latin and all the candles in the room lit up in a massive flame. Blood dripped drop-by-drop off Bonnie's nose. The blood on the map started moving towards Charlottesville and stopped on the city. "There." She pointed.
"Charlottesville? Can you give us a more exact location?" Stefan asked her.
"No. This is as far as I can get." She replied.
"Alright. We'll leave now. Jeremy help Bonnie." Stefan picked up his car keys and rushed out with Damon.
"We're coming with you." Klaus told them as they walked to their car.
"What? No." Damon retorted.
"You will need the extra help." Elijah told Damon.
"Fine. Let's go." Stefan agreed.
Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. The sharp pain was gone but Elena still felt a bit drowsy. She tried to get up but her hands and legs were tied to the chair. She was locked up in a dark and dingy room with only one candle on the table lighting up the room. Next to the candle were a couple of syringes with a liquid filled in it, drugs.
"Kidnapping in a dress, not an easy job. It's good I got spare clothes." Gabrielle remarked as she walked into the room.
"Why did you do this to me?" Elena asked her.
"Oh, good you're up. Maybe we'll be ahead of schedule." Gabrielle took a seat next to her.
"You didn't answer my question. What do you want from me?" Elena tried to break free.
"I want you to be alive. Be human. That's all I want." Gabrielle answered her.
"Then why take me away?" Elena questioned her.
"What else was I supposed to do? Leave you with the Salvatores? Or how about that freaky hybrid?" Gabrielle countered.
"Huh?" Elena tried to decipher what she meant.
"That's the burden you have to carry when you're the doppelganger. Okay, I'll tell you the plan. In a couple of hours, we'll leave town. You can live the life you always wanted to live. You'll marry a human, have a family and live a happy life. Only one glitch though, you can't contact anyone from your former life." Gabrielle told her.
Before Elena could say anything, Gabrielle's phone started buzzing.
"Ssh. Don't make a sound." She told Elena sternly.
She answered the call and said
"Good you called, brother. I was beginning to think that you forgot me."
"Did you do as per plan?" Henry asked.
"Fine, let's just get to business. Yes, Elena is dead." She told Henry.
"Are you sure?" Henry asked her.
"I have no reason to lie." She replied.
"Very well, then. I'll be in Mystic Falls in a few days." He told her.
"And what about your posse of vampires?" She asked him.
"They're getting ready. In a few days I'll bring them to Mystic Falls and then this town will wiped out from the face of the earth." He replied.
"Don't you think your being harsh on this town?" She asked him, looking at Elena.
"This town may be small but it knows too much. It's better to destroy it. The truth will die with it." He snickered.
"Okay, I'll see you soon." She hung up on him.
"Why did you lie?" Elena asked her.
"It's none of your business." Gabrielle told her.
"It is, it's about my life." Elena argued with her.
"You're going to be safe." Gabrielle assured her.
"What about my family and friends? What about them?" Elena yelled at her.
"I'll see what I can do." Gabrielle told her.
"No, I want to know that they are going to be safe." Elena told her.
"Look, I'll try my best to ensure that nothing happens to them. But my first priority is you." Gabrielle said. "You don't know what's coming for you. It's something much more bigger than you can ever imagine. And no one can help you. Not your family, not your friends, not even the Originals can do anything." Gabrielle looked Elena in the eye. "No more discussions. Do you understand me?"
Elena nodded.
"Good." Gabrielle said. She walked towards the window, peeping out. She saw a car parked out of the building with the Salvatores in it rushing out.
"Your boyfriends have an impeccable timing." Gabrielle smirked.
She went out of the room, and stood in the ruins of the living room, waiting for them to come.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1." She counted down with Damon and Stefan barging in on the last count.
"Gabrielle!" Damon said in disbelief.
"Hello Damon. Stefan." She smiled back.
"Where's Elena?" Stefan asked.
"She's fine. I've taken good care of her." She told him.
Damon rushed at her, grabbing her neck and pinning her against a wall. But he let go of her as quickly as he caught her. He fell down on the ground, a sharp pain stinging his head. Stefan fell down in the same fashion, screaming.
"This is how it's going to go. There are two ways; the easy way or the hard way." She grinned at them. "First the easy way; you both leave and I'll spare your life. Second the hard way; you don't leave and I torture you to death. So, what's it going to be, boys?" She asked them.
From inside the room, Elena could see both Stefan and Damon down on the ground, crying in pain. She had to do something to save them. She looked around the room to find something that would help her break free. But all there was was the candle on the table. Thinking quickly, she moved towards the table and kicked it, making the candle fall down in the process. The candle lit the chair on fire. She knew this was a big risk she was taking but she also knew that if she was really important, Gabrielle would come to save her. And she did. Gabrielle ran towards Elena and started putting the fire off. Taking this as his cue, Damon caught Gabrielle from behind and gave her a sharp blow on her neck which made her pass out. Stefan, in the meantime, was putting out the fire.
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked Elena, frantically running his fingers through her hair.
"I'm fine." She replied, panting.
She looked at Gabrielle and then Damon.
"Damon, is she dead?" Elena panicked.
"I hope so." He replied casually.
"Why did you kill her?" Elena yelled at him.
"What was I supposed to do? She tried to kill me too." Damon defended himself.
In all the chaos, Stefan went up to Gabrielle and tried to feel her pulse.
"She's alive." He announced.
"Phew." Elena took a sigh of relief.
"Why do you want her alive in the first place?" Damon asked her, surprised.
"She knows something which we don't know. We have to keep her alive." Elena told him sternly.
"Fine. I'll let Klaus know that you're okay." He said, walking out of the room.
"Where am I?" Gabrielle mumbled as she woke up.
"You're in my house. In my basement." Damon replied.
Seeing Damon, she moved two steps back. She was tired; she wasn't up to her full potential. Damon had the upper hand at the moment.
"What happened? Ran out of your fancy tricks?" Damon mocked her.
She said nothing.
"Okay here's how things will go." He said, holding a stake in his hand. "There are two ways we can go about with, the easy way or the hard way. The easy way; you tell me the truth and I'll kill you swiftly, no pain. The hard way; you don't tell me the truth and you'll die a slow, painful death. So, which one is it going to be?" He smirked.
She just continued to glare at him.
"Okay." He replied. He took the stake and jabbed it on her thigh.
She let out a blood-curling scream.
"Damon, what are you doing?" Stefan appeared almost immediately and pulled the stake out. He then bit onto his wrist and fed her his blood to heal her.
"Now that you know how things are going to work, how about the truth?" Damon asked her.
She looked at him in one long stare and then took a long, deep breath.
"Fine, I'll tell the truth." She gave in.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews :D