Thank you so much for the reviews! I am appreciating it! For a change, I'm gonna stop talking right now and get to the story!
Elena had never come face to face with Katherine before, and now that she was, well, it was frightening and a bit nerve wracking. She really did look like Katherine, down to the same shaped nose and her posture. Katherine looked at Elena thoroughly, just like Elena was. The resemblance really was scary. She had tried to prepare herself for this moment just in case, but now that it was here, well, it was really, really freaky and awkward. She cowered a bit under Katherine's stare as she circled the group, eyes on her the whole time. It was even freaky that their eye colour was even the same. Katherine stopped in front of her as she reached out her hand to touch Elena, but Elena found herself to be yanked back by Damon as Stefan stepped in front of her at the same time. Katherine let out a bubbly laugh, letting it echo in the quiet forest.
"Don't worry my dears; I won't hurt her, yet," Katherine told them softly. Damon narrowed his eyes as he kept Elena behind him as he and Stefan stepped forward. Alaric and Bonnie instinctively moved to protect Elena just in case. Some vampires began moving forward but Katherine held her hands up so they stopped. "It is very nice to see you again Stefan, after all these years. And Damon, well, I believe we met just last night. It's good to see that we can easily fall back into old habits," Katherine said, an eerie tone to her voice. Stefan's eyes darted to his brother's for an explanation but Damon kept his gaze on Katherine, his jaw clenched. Stefan didn't even get a chance to ask his brother as he turned back to Katherine as she continued. "That kiss we shared last night was magical. Too bad you thought it was Elena the whole time. Isobel caught me up in your little triangle. You better be careful Elena; these brothers can really be a handful," Katherine said lightly. Stefan tried not to react, knowing that was what Katherine wanted; he kept his face stony and cold as the five remained silent. "What, no hello? No greeting? I'm disappointed," Katherine said softly, moving forward. Stefan and Damon immediately moved back a bit. Katherine sighed.
"I guess we should probably talk about this inside. Let's go," Katherine said, waving her arm at the surrounding vampires. Before Elena could digest anything, she felt a fist collide with the back of her head and she slipped into darkness.
Elena felt herself coming to a short while later. Groaning, she sat up slowly to find herself tied up with rope in the basement where she and Damon had found Stefan. Her eyes darted around to Damon and Stefan who were tied up with chains on the wall, and then to Bonnie, whose eyes were blindfolded and tied up as well. Elena caught Alaric slumped on the floor near the door, also tied up. She spotted two vampires outside, talking to Katherine as Elena strained to hear what they were saying, but a moan distracted her. Elena turned her head to see Damon's eyes open slightly. He looked so weak and so helpless, Elena wondered if this is what he looked like while in the burning house. He was obviously injected with vervain because he seemed a bit paler than usual and his actions were slow.
"Damon," she hissed out quietly, hoping that Katherine would be too distracted to hear her voice. Damon blinked a few times, immobile as his eyes darted to her slowly. He opened his mouth weakly to speak but didn't say a word (she was unsure if he could say anything). To the right of her, she heard Bonnie shifting around as she also sat up.
"What's going on? Why can't I see anything? And why are my hands tied up?" Bonnie mumbled. Elena managed a shrug as she watched Alaric come to, and then finally, Stefan. They all kept silent as Elena tried to figure out how they were getting out of this. She managed to get the bag of vervain to the house, but it was outside, hidden in a bunch of bushes after the vampires startled her. She prayed that maybe, they didn't find the bag. It had a lot of vervain, stakes and a few darts that Alaric had lying around, which she was grateful for. If she could get to that bag, it would be simple to take down most of the vampires and maybe their plan could still be in effect.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Stefan hissed lowly, keeping his eyes on the door as the vervain started wearing off for both vampires. Damon shrugged as the door opened and Katherine strolled in, grinning cheekily as Damon's eyes narrowed again.
"I am so glad to see you all awake. Now, we can get started!" Katherine said in a light tone as she clapped her hands, as if eager for something. Alaric sat up as much as he could, glaring at Katherine.
"Starting what? What do you have planned for us?" Alaric demanded. Katherine just smiled as if she had all the cards in her hands as she bent down to Alaric's level.
"Oh, I have a lot planned for all of you," Katherine said before grabbing Alaric and tossing him to the two vampires behind her. Alaric hissed a bit as Elena glared.
"Let him go. What do you want with us?" Elena asked angrily. Katherine turned to the girl, looking thoughtful as she walked over, ignoring the yells from Damon and Stefan as she bent down, fingering Elena's hair.
"Oh, I will tell you, my sweet. I want revenge on my boys. They were supposed to always be mine, and now they've both fallen for the lovely twin of mine. That was not supposed to happen, and I cannot let it happen again," Katherine said before Damon spoke up.
"It's your fault that we thought you were dead when really, you left us! We've moved on, why can't you?" Damon shouted. Katherine ignored Damon for the time being, though she did answer him.
"From what I heard, Damon, you have not moved on, well, not completely. I mean, opening the tomb just to get me back? Very sweet, and I appreciate it. That is why you won't be the first to die," Katherine spoke softly. Stefan gaped as he struggled against the chains.
"Die? So, you're going to kill us all? Why?" Bonnie asked, speaking up. Katherine looked over to the blindfolded witch as she straightened up, pacing the room before turning to the whole room, smiling. Elena had a grippling fear. She knew that smile was not meant for good, and that her reasonings were not going to be pleasant for any of them.
"Well, it's simple really. It's because I can," she replied as her face changed, her fangs glistening as she smiled. "I've got all of you trapped here and trust me, you won't be getting out of here alive. I want Damon and Stefan dead for trying to foolishly replace me, I want the witch dead because she's too powerful to deserve to live, Rick, well, I just want your ring, plus your little wife is annoying me, going on and on about you and how she wants you to move on with your life, blah, blah, blah," Katherine stated before Alaric started struggling against the vampires, who held him back roughly.
"So you are in contact with Isobel," he hissed out. Katherine stepped in front of him, smirking as she gestured toward the door, making the vampires turn Alaric to it.
"She is quite the assistant. Not as powerful of course, but good in getting what she wants. Oh, Isobel," she called cheerily as Alaric watched the woman he used to love stroll in, a cold look appearing on her face.
"You promised you wouldn't try to take his ring," Isobel said calmly to Katherine as she stood in front of them all, glancing briefly at her daughter, Damon and Alaric before settling on confronting Katherine, who shrugged.
"I told you I wanted both rings. You know I'd never leave a victim alive," Katherine told her, sounded a bit annoyed. Isobel glared at her, but Katherine stepped forward. "I'll let you do the honours in taking his ring and then killing him," she finished coolly. Isobel's eyes flickered to Alaric before back on Katherine, shaking her head.
"I am not going to kill Alaric. He has done nothing to you," she said. Katherine's eyes flashed a bit before grabbing Isobel's neck. She gave a little gasp as she tried to free herself as the others watching in horror. "Kill him, or I kill you," Katherine told her lowly. Elena tried to get up but she was forced back down by the rope tugging at her ankles. Elena watched as Katherine released her grip on Isobel as she finally nodded. She watched as Isobel walked over to Alaric and grabbed his hands, untying them. Elena looked around, seeing Damon's anger and Stefan's anger, and she turned to Bonnie, who was muttering something under her breath. Elena could only watch in horror as Isobel slipped the ring off of Alaric's finger. This was really happening, Elena thought as Isobel grabbed Alaric's neck.
"I am so sorry baby," Isobel whispered. Alaric nodded softly as his eyes flickered to the others, giving them apologetic looks before Isobel snapped his neck. Elena squeezed her eyes shut, but she still could hear the snap echo in her mind. She heard Alaric's body drop but she couldn't look. Elena finally forced herself to open her eyes as she watched the two vampires grab Alaric's body and drag it out of the room, Katherine smiling with pleasure and Isobel looking miserable. So, she did care, Elena thought sadly. She liked Alaric; he did nothing wrong and now he was dead. Katherine pocketed the ring, grinning.
"Well, now that he is out of the way, now it's time to discuss what I will be doing with all of you," Katherine said proudly, as if nothing had happened just a mere moment ago. Bonnie finally looked up to the direction where Katherine was.
"Maybe you can start with answering some questions. Like, why do I have a blindfold on," Bonne declared. Elena nodded in agreement. She wanted some questions answered as well.
"And why you want to kill me," she piped up angrily. Jenna was going to be devastated when she heard about Alaric's death.
"And why you are back so suddenly," Damon threw in, sounding extremely bitter. Katherine sighed as she held up a hand at all the questions as Isobel interjected.
"And why I'm here and had to kill Rick," she added. Katherine sighed as she rubbed her head, clearly annoyed by everyone talking. Finally, she looked up, taking a deep breath.
"You will speak when spoken to, or else- bring him in," she called as the doors opened and a vampire dragged in an unconscious Matt. Elena gasped as she tried to jump up but Katherine pushed her back down. Damon looked pissed as he started struggling harder against the chains. Katherine smirked as she gently ran her finger down Matt's chest before the vampires dropped him to the ground by their feet.
"Leave Matt out of this. He hasn't done anything to you," Elena spat. Katherine just smirked as she crossed her arms.
"I'm sorry Elena, but I can't let that happen. In order to make sure you do exactly what I say, I have to have some sort of pawn in this game, and since dear Caroline is almost dead, there's no use in her. So, Matt is the perfect piece. I would have chosen your aunt Jenna but, well, she's protected at dear Alaric's place- but wait, he's dead. Maybe I can use another pawn-" Katherine said devilishly as Stefan began struggling even harder.
"You leave my aunt out of this. I'll- I'll do whatever you want, just please leave my aunt out of this," Elena begged. She didn't think she could take another family member dying. Speaking of family members... "Where's my brother? Where did you take Jeremy's body?" she demanded. Katherine's eyes lit up at the sound of Jeremy's name. Damon frowned as he glanced at Stefan, hoping that Katherine didn't do anything to him.
"Oh, Jeremy, such a sweet looking boy. I didn't take his body anywhere Elena. You know, I came to him with a proposition and he delightfully took it. He will be quite a second wingman, other than Isobel of course," Katherine started off, a twinkle in her eyes. Elena was so confused, she looked at Stefan for help, who looked guilty and not surprised in the slightest. Jeremy was alive? But how? And why did she mention- "Oh Jer, come on in and see your sister!" Katherine crowed out as the door opened.
"Hello Elena," Jeremy spoke quietly as he stepped forward, looking over the room as Elena's eyes widened. He was alive. Did that mean- Katherine saved him? Was he a vampire? Oh please no, she thought as she struggled to get up.
"Jer-" she started before he shook his head, glaring. She noticed his eyes were getting slightly darker so she backed off. Katherine threw her arms around Jeremy in a playful matter.
"Don't Elena," Jeremy told her coldly. Elena's eyes brimmed with tears, seeing her dead, vampire brother act so cold to her. She was getting used to her brother hating her, since he had been for the past week, but him as a vampire was scary. She sat back though as Katherine started speaking.
"Well, now we can get started on the talking. But first, we don't need the witch anymore. Jeremy, would you like to do the honours? I was just telling Jeremy how Bonnie here helped round up all those vampires to burn them alive! I mean, if she hadn't faked taking the spell off, well, then, Jeremy's girlfriend would still be here! And Jeremy wasn't pleased when I first told him, were you?" Katherine soothed, looking at Jeremy, who shook his head, his anger clearly showing. Elena's eyes widened as Bonnie seemed to realize what was going on and started to back up slowly.
"Jer, please don't. It wasn't all her! The deputies killed her, Uncle John killed her!" Elena begged, but Jeremy shook his head, advancing on Bonnie.
"She killed him. John's dead; he got what he came for, but now, I have to get revenge for Anna," Jeremy said dully as he yanked Bonnie up. He slipped off her blindfold as her eyes started darting around the room.
"Jeremy, please," Bonnie begged. It was silent for a few moment, Bonnie and Jeremy looking into each other's eyes before Jeremy shook his head as he snapped Bonnie's neck, watching the witch fall to the ground in a crumpled heap.
"And then there were three," Katherine said softly, her laughter sounding more evil than it ever did before.
Ooooo, I cannot believe I just did that! I killed Alaric and Bonnie? Wow! Reviews would be lovely, but don't stop reading. Like I said, there is definately more to come. So, keep reading, keep reviewing, tell your friends, and enjoy!
