Chapter 7

A/N: I just want to apologize for how long this update has taken. This is ridiculous, even for me. If you want, you can follow me on tumblr (cuddly-hybrids) for updates and sneak peeks for all my fics. I grossly overestimated the amount of free time I was going to have this school year. I'm taking two college credit classes and I work 2-3 days a week. I did cut down my hours, but that still doesn't mean updates will be very frequent. I'm doing the best I can, and I really do feel terribly about making you precious readers and reviewers wait so long, but if you're sticking with this fic, I really, truly appreciate it!

For a minute and not a second more, Elena felt hope. Hope that Elijah would miraculously save her from Klaus's grasp. Hope that Damon and Stefan could put aside their differences long enough to free her. Hope that she would live to see Jenna, Jeremy, Ric, and even John again.

All those hopes came crashing down around her in seconds when she remembered that Damon and Stefan were incapacitated and that Elijah had been daggered. She was up a creek without a paddle – that much was obvious.

There was a knock at her door, and she cowered in the far corner of her bed, wholeheartedly expecting Klaus to appear. Who she saw was a bigger surprise than she was prepared for.

"How long does it take for Dagger Boy over here to wake up?" Damon groaned.

"You're the one who told me we have to wait . . .," Stefan muttered, put-out.

Damon glared at his brother out of the corner of his eye. "I'm aware of that, but it's not like we have all the time in the world!"

"Damon, stop," Stefan sighed. "We can't fight anymore. Not when the situation is so dire. Elena's life is in Klaus's hands, and I'm certain he won't be very forgiving when it comes to his sacrifice."

Damon didn't reply, but he watched intently as Elijah's eyelids fluttered. "He's waking up."

Elijah groaned at sat up, his eyes still closed. Stefan and Damon remained silent as he acclimatized. Then his head began whipping back and forth, his eyes wide, as he searched for the one person he wasn't going to find.

"Elena," he muttered, blurring into a standing position. "Elena. Where is she?"

Stefan shook his head.

Elijah's eyes flashed dangerously, but his face filled with worry. Immediately, it all became clear to Damon.

"You're in love with her," he said plainly. It was not a question, but a simple statement of fact.

Elijah appeared taken off guard momentarily, but his expression turned stony. "My feelings for Elena are irrelevant at the moment. The only thing that matters is finding and saving her before it is too late."

Damon wasn't backing down, though. "So you admit it?"

Elijah sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Would it really matter, Damon? She'll never return my feelings. She's far too enraptured by you two."

Stefan laughed spitefully. "Elijah, she told me that she doesn't love me anymore. Or Damon."

Elijah gave pause, his eyes widening only slightly as he processed the new information. Then he shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. After an awkward silence, he finally spoke. "That doesn't mean she has feelings for me."

"Wouldn't doubt it," muttered Damon, almost inaudibly. He knew Elijah heard it, but he gave no reaction.

Stefan cleared his throat. "You're the only one who knows Klaus. Where does he have her?"

"Tyler!" Elena cried, jumping out of her bed and running over to him. He threw his arms around her and she readily embraced him back. "How long have you been here?" she asked in confusion.

"Just a couple days. I was with Caroline when a couple of Klaus's minions appeared out of nowhere and grabbed me. I have no idea what happened to Caroline, though."

While this was worrying, she was too overwhelmed by seeing a familiar face to process much else.

Tyler took a step back and looked at Elena confusedly. "Why are you here?"

Elena gestured for him to sit on the bed. Obviously Caroline hadn't told him every story.

"How much do you know about Mystic Falls?"

Tyler's eyes widened slightly. "You're not a vampire, are you?"

He was genuinely worried, and Elena wouldn't have laughed anyway. "No," she said solemnly. "You know that Stefan and Damon were alive during the Civil War. They were both in love with the same woman, who happened to be a vampire. On the night of the Battle of Willow Creek –" Elena paused, making sure Tyler had paid attention in history at least some of the time – "Katherine, the woman they loved, was captured, along with the rest of the vampires in Mystic Falls. Stefan and Damon went to save her, but in the process, they were killed by their own father. They had Katherine's blood in their system, and they turned."

"What does any of this have to do with you?" Tyler asked. He had been listening intently as Elena spoke, but he now voiced his confusion. Elena couldn't blame him. The supernatural world was complicated and confusing. He was doing surprisingly well, but she supposed he had a head start, what with being a werewolf.

"I'm Katherine's doppelgänger."

"What? Like a double?"

"Exactly like a double. We look exactly alike, but we're two completely different people. Katherine is ruthless, cold, and calculating. And she could pretend to be me at any point in time."

Tyler let out a breath. "Wow. So why does Klaus want you?"

"He's trying to break a curse on him. He needs the doppelgänger, a vampire, a witch, and . . . Oh, Tyler."

"What? What's wrong?" Tyler asked concernedly, alarmed by the pitiful look upon Elena's face.

Elena was about to explain to Tyler about the elements necessary to break the curse when her door was flung open. Klaus appeared, followed by two minions dragging in a very unconscious, disheveled Caroline.

"Oh my god," Tyler gasped, rushing to Caroline and the servants nearly dropped her on the floor. "What did you do to her?" he hissed at Klaus, who rolled his eyes in response.

"Tyler, mate. And the lovely Elena," Klaus drawled, his attention turning to his very favorite doppelgänger.

"What did you do to her?" Tyler shouted, looking between Klaus and Caroline with a mixture of anger and worry.

"Oh, will you calm down?" Klaus said in exasperation. "She'll be fine. We just had a bit of . . . fun. Now," he said, clapping his hands to regain all attention, "tonight just happens to be a full moon. I'm quite excited, and I would love it if you could attend." The smirk on his face would rival that of Damon's, but there was something much more sinister about Klaus's. And with that, he spun on his heel and walked out of Elena's room, his servants following close behind.

"What did he mean by 'fun'?" Tyler asked worriedly.

Elena shook her head. "I don't know, Tyler. But you need to know. In order to break the curse, Klaus needs a witch to cast the spell, and he has to sacrifice a vampire, a werewolf, and a doppelgänger."

Tyler's eyes widened once again, but his concern was all for Caroline. Elena didn't blame him. She wasn't worried about herself at all – only for Caroline and Tyler. They had their whole lives ahead of them . . . . Well, Caroline had eternity. Either way, the both of them were far too young to die, and the only hope she had of escaping or being saved was slowly fading away.

Elijah, Damon, and Stefan had their plan ready. In theory, it would work brilliantly. There was just the matter of accounting for the many defenses Klaus would have in place and the multitude of minions he had. Elijah had a very good idea as to where Klaus was located, knowing his very distinctive patterns.

Elijah led the Salvatores to a very remote, very grand mansion located off of Keller Road in Marinette. They couldn't afford to wait until night fell to free Elena, because they would have already left for the ritual ground. So, it was now or never. And Elijah refused to risk Elena's safety by waiting any longer. She was far too dear to him – not that he was going to admit it to the Salvatores – to risk anything.

Stefan would distract Klaus's minions by purposely being noisy and obvious. Damon would move deeper into the mansion and distract Klaus as Elijah found Elena and got her out as quickly as possible. So, yes, in theory, it would work well. But they were moving into this completely and utterly blind.

Elijah moved to the back door of the mansion and Damon to the side while Stefan walked right up to the front door and knocked on it. Elijah had to give the Salvatores credit – they were willing to sacrifice themselves to save Elena. One of Klaus's minions answered the door and Stefan ruthlessly snapped his neck. He rang the doorbell this time, and another servant came, but stopped cold when he saw Stefan standing over his comrade's dead body. As he shouted out for help, Stefan stepped through the doorway and snapped his neck as well. Four more horrendously compelled humans stepped into the foyer and Stefan easily killed them. The only thing keeping him from being crippled with guilt was the thought of Elena. He was doing this for Elena.

Damon slipped in the French doors on the side of the house. He immediately encountered five of Klaus's minions and killed them loudly, viciously.

Elijah waited for a few minutes before ghosting in through the back door, which had been left wide open. It was as if Klaus was so certain Elijah and the Salvatores wouldn't find him that he was being completely lax as far as defenses and security went. He sped up the stairs, completely silent. He opened every door he came across, each room as empty as the next. He came to another set of stairs which led to a long hall with only two doors, right at the very end. He was at the end in a matter or nanoseconds. He stood still, listening intently. Then he heard it. Elena's breathing, the beating of her heart. He would recognize it anywhere. He opened the door to his left immediately putting a finger to his lips to keep her quiet. The expression on her face was more than he could have hoped for. He was her saving grace.

"Elena," he breathed, almost inaudibly. He moved to her side and she hopped off her bed and wrapped her arms around Elijah.

"I'm so glad you're here," she mouthed. "But Tyler and Caroline are here, too. We have to save them."

Elijah nodded. He understood. They were important to her. He held her to him for a second longer before stepping back. His mouth moved to her ear. "We will save them, but we're getting you out first. You're our first priority."

As he pulled away, Elena remained still. Finally, after nearly thirty seconds, she nodded. She believed him and trusted him implicitly. He would save them before it was too late.