Thanks to my two reviewers! ^^ : crystalclaes and ShiloCoulter.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment.

Last time:

"If you kill one Original vampire, their entire sire line will die with them," Elena started, "That's thousands, maybe tens of thousands of vampires." Jeremy was frowning now, looking at Elena as if she had just declared she wanted to commit genocide, which apparently she proceeded to affirm.

"Kol compelled Damon to kill you. You're gonna kill Kol instead."

The siblings simply stared at one another as Elena began to nod to herself. Jeremy frowned, not liking the look in his sister's eyes but nodded.

New plan: They were going to kill Kol.

Chapter 9: Views to a Kill

Kol awoke when the sun began to rise. It was a natural instinct of their kind; a fight-or-flight response to a possible threat. Stretching, he took a moment to remember why he was in a graveyard before standing up, his eyes taking a short while to adjust to the light. He took a moment simply to appreciate the sun rise before something occurred to him; he had gotten rid of Silas' location, the map was a little too heavily guarded at the moment and the tombstone and massacres were a lost cause but there was something he had not tried to get rid of just yet: the witch for the spell. Glancing around him, he left the grave and headed back to Mystic Falls.

April walked hastily down the sidewalk, her eyes flitting from side to side as she observed her surroundings, rubbing her hands over one another nervously. She started scratching at the rough gauze that her wound had been under, peeling at the medical tape anxiously as doleful eyes scanned the many buildings she passed. Where are they? The brunette jerked to a stop on the sidewalk, her hand hesitantly reaching to her pocket where her phone was. Then, the muscles tensed up and she pulled away, continuing her trek through the town. She had to find them. She had to find them fast.

Kol simply stayed kneeling on the ground for a moment, trying to catch his breath. It had been a long time since he had last had any bones broken – as an Original, they were built to be sturdier than your average vampire. But the witch had snapped what he felt to be his wrist, shin and one or two ribs, all in a matter of seconds. He had never felt magic so strong before, and especially not from someone her age. Frowning, he thought back a little harder. Maybe he did, once, back in the day when he had encountered the cult of Silas' followers. They had had a witch with them, the one and only person Kol had come across in his thousand years who had fully mastered the art of Expression. The world must have a balance and just like how there was magic that was governed by the rules of nature, there was magic that went against it. Expression: it was magic without limits; power without limits. The witch back then had completely lost it, consumed in the same darkness that had granted her strength.

That had been a hard fight.

But even back then, Kol had managed to kill the woman though he had had help. Now he was not entirely sure if he could take down the teenager. While he did not know this Bonnie – he had heard her name being mentioned several times now – character personally, he knew she was descended from the Bennett line and the Bennett line was one of the most, if not the most, powerful witch line he had ever met. There was no telling what she could do, though one thing was sure; attacking her was not going to get him anywhere. Feeling the last of his wounds heal, Kol took a shaky step upwards, getting back to his feet and testing how his legs would hold his weight. After a short moment, he took a step forward and made to leave the school. The witch was not going anywhere, at least not at the moment, so he had to revert to his original plan.

This was not going to be pretty.

Bonnie sat silently on the couch in her home, fingers trembling as her eyes flitted back and forth from the front door. She had barely managed to escape from Kol and the paranoia-ridden part of her was still fairly certain the homicidal Original was going to try again. Her phone shook in her hand before it vibrated, startling the witch. A single message appeared on the screen, the sender's name highlighted: Jeremy. The witch opened the message and felt a small wave of calm come over her as she read through the message's contents which were mainly the teenage hunter's attempts to reassure her. Carefully, Bonnie put her phone back down as she fingered the necklace Shane had given her, feeling the cold texture that she had already memorised. She had developed the nervous habit of grabbing it.

"Bonnie."

The witch's head snapped back up as she whipped around, looking for the source of the voice. She jolted back up to her feet before spinning around, her eyes looking for anything, or anyone. Only silence greeted her though as she sat back down on the couch, holding on to the necklace as if it was the only thing keeping her sane. The door to her home burst open as her father sauntered in, a scowl upon his features as he took in his daughter's lithe figure on the couch.

"You're home. Good, because I'm not letting you back out," Rudy decided before turning away from her, oblivious to his daughter's distress.

Bonnie's fingers further tightened over the white stone, feeling a mixture of rage and irritation overtake the prior fear. After all these years of abandoning her, he had waltzed back into her life and sent everything to hell. He had no right; he had no right to lead this town and he had no right to control her.

"My friends need me."

Rudy spun back on his heel to face her again, his brows furrowing.

"Well, I'm sure your friends can take care of themselves without you for now."

"My friends need me," Bonnie repeated, the last shreds of fear gone as she felt power course through her veins, filling every empty space.

"Bonnie…"

Part of her registered the fact that her father had opened his mouth to say something but she did not hear anymore. Instead, her surroundings grew louder as the stone seemingly gained a pulse, throbbing energy into her hand, pumping it through her veins. Her father's voice was drowned out as he froze, glancing around him in what almost resembled fear. The witch stared at the man, her fingers clenching into fists before there was a loud crack and then wood splintered, books flew off shelves as the many little ornaments that adorned the little house were spent hurtling from where they had been moments before, crashing into walls and landing in shards upon the floor. Bonnie yelled, attempting to pull her hand away from her necklace but it refused to budge, as pain shot through her skull, as if it had been set ablaze. The last thing she was conscious of was that voice again, present yet imaginary, cold and soft all at the same time.

"Bonnie…"

April pushed the doors of the Grill open, her eyes scanning the room in search of a certain blonde quarterback. When she came up empty, she headed to the waiter on duty instead, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.

"Hey, err... do you know where Matt is?"

The teenager - a dark haired, lean male - simply shook his head, frowning.

"He changed shifts with me... again. Said there was something urgent," he rolled his eyes as if he had heard that excuse one too many times, "He never tells me where he goes though."

April nodded, feeling new weight fall on her shoulders.

"Okay, thanks for the help."

The teenager simply shrugged before turning back to the table he had been cleaning as April left the Grill, renewed trepidation looming over her.

Jeremy pushed the door to the house open, his senses at their peak as he tried to determine whether his sister and more importantly, Kol, were still around. He raised his firearm as he closed the door, adrenaline already beginning to course through his veins. His heart skipped a beat when he heard footsteps, instinctively spinning around to aim the barrel of the gun at the intruder. When he noticed it was his sister though, he lowered his weapon.

"I'm sorry. He left. I mean, I – I tried to stall as long as I could," Elena stammered, sighing as she walked up to him. There was a short pause before the doorbell rang, startling both of them.

"That's Bonnie," Jeremy stated, a hint of disappointment in his voice, "She was right behind me."

Elena spared a glance at her brother before stepping over to the door and pulling it open. But what greeted her on the other side was anything but Bonnie.

"I've considered your request for a truce. Request denied."

Elena felt her heart race as she slammed the door shut. He had heard them; he must have heard them… And that door was not going to hold.

"I'm sorry," Kol yelled, incensed, "I've already been invited in!"

A single kick was all it took for the door to be thrown open, slamming the wall on the other side. Kol sauntered in, enraged. He should have known better than to believe anything that doppelganger had said. Looking around and failing to spot them, he started forward. The house was tiny, and if they tried to run, he would hear them.

"Hide and seek?" he yelled, ensuring that the volume was loud enough to carry his words through the house, "Fine by me."

Kol started his search through the first floor, scanning the corners and rooms. He had just reached the kitchen when something occurred to him. His brother, his thoroughly pissed-off brother, who was so horribly obsessed with finding the cure, had to be in on this. There was no other way in hell that the Gilbert clan would have dared to pull this stunt unless they knew Nik would not go after them if they succeeded. Cursing under his breath, he pulled out his phone and called the hybrid.

"Well, if it isn't the happy homicidal maniac," Klaus chimed, sounding amused. Kol though, was less than happy.

"Did you know that your darling former blood bag and her brother are trying to kill me?" he snapped, peeking around a corner before heading into the next room.

"What?" His brother's attempt at ignorance only angered him further.

"Don't pretend like you're not in on it," he barked, unable to help but feel betrayed, "Your obsession to find the cure clearly trumps any sibling loyalty you once felt."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Klaus muttered, sounding genuinely confused. Kol did not want to hear anymore though.

"I'm going to rip off Jeremy's arm and kill Elena just for sport," he hissed, "Then I'm coming for you."

Without bothering to wait for any retorts, Kol hung up and headed back towards the front door. The siblings were definitely not on the first floor so he was going to head upstairs. He heard her approach and had just enough time to look up before an arrow whizzed through the air and pierced his thigh, eliciting a grunt of pain before his attacker disappeared back upstairs. Ignoring the sting that was flaring through his leg, Kol ripped the projectile out, discarding it on the floor before giving chase.

He followed the doppelganger's fresh scent to her bedroom, spotting the brunette through a crack in the door as she pushed a dresser in an attempt to block it. Stepping over, the Original planted both hands on the wood before pushing against her, pain shooting through his injured leg. Elena pushed back on the other side as Kol felt the ache slowly ebb away, his leg healing. Planting his foot on the ground more firmly this time, he put a hard shove into the door and it burst open, knocking the doppelganger onto the ground. She stared at him in terror for half a second before blurring back to her feet and into the adjacent room that was linked to the one they were in, slamming the door behind her. Heaving the dresser aside, Kol approached the door before kicking it open only to find the room empty. Growing more and more irritated, he stalked over to the other door and punched through, ignoring the splinters. The siblings stood waiting on the other side, Jeremy firing a stake through his gun. The projectile was easily caught though.

"Missed," Kol growled, prompting the hunter to fire again, once again thwarted when Kol caught the other stake with his free hand. Elena pushed Jeremy aside and aimed her pistol, firing rapidly as Kol stumbled backwards.

"Go!"

The hunter took off running as his sister continued in her quest to stall the Original. Enraged, he launched one of the stakes into her thigh, eliciting a scream as she instinctively lowered the gun and held onto her wounded leg. Kol took her momentary distraction as an opportunity and got back to his feet, disappearing outside to go after Jeremy. He caught up to the teenager easily, throwing a punch into the boy's jaw, though with less force than what would have knocked him out or dislocated it. His prey momentarily startled, Kol threw him down the stairs, the latter crying out in pain, his vision swimming. From behind him, Kol felt Elena jump onto his back in an attempt to grab him, and twisted, getting a grip on her arm and tossing her into the wall where she slid off and landed in a heap on the ground. Turning to the railing, he grabbed and ripped one of the wooden posts off, fully intending to kill. The Original lifted his weapon over his head, his eyes focusing on the constant beating of her heart, loud to his ears.

Then he sent the wood down.

But at the very last second, the younger vampire scrambled forward, dragging her broken body just a few inches higher as the wood pierced through her back, missed her heart and buried itself into the floor. Elena screamed, gasping in pain as she struggled to get free. Her efforts were futile though as she tugged hopelessly at the makeshift stake. Kol sighed, turning back to the railing for a second stake before noticing that Jeremy was trying to get back up. So instead, he leaned against the railing and sighed, his eyes lingering on the doppelganger for a moment before deciding that she would not be able to get out.

"Now…" he said, more to himself than either of the two siblings, "about that arm…"

Sighing again, he descended the steps towards Jeremy, hopping over the teenager before grabbing him by the ankle and dragging him down the rest of the stairs. The hunter tried to grab hold of the posts but his efforts were useless, his fingers slipping off the wood.

Matt turned away from the hallway, his heart hammering in his chest. Rebekah had voluntarily given the dagger over to Stefan. Now, he had to somehow obtain the weapon from the vampire and dagger Rebekah. Despite the human's numerous experiences with the supernatural and the Originals alike, he could not help the nervous clenching of his stomach as he listened to the two vampires down the hall head out of the school. He had to act if the plan was going to succeed and he had to act soon. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, the quarterback turned out from the corner, before a hand grabbed him from behind. He barely managed to muffle the yell that threatened to escape his lips, spinning around to come face to face with the last person he thought he would meet: April.

The young teenager's eyes were panicked and flustered.

"Matt, where is Elena?"

The quarterback winced, backing away from the girl.

"What are you talking about?" he hissed in a small voice, hoping and praying that Rebekah could not hear them.

"Please stop playing dumb with me," April screeched, looking nothing like her usual self, "Damon's locked up with Klaus in the Salvatore Boarding House, Stefan's out there with Rebekah, trying to get the dagger from her; you're here, Bonnie's stuck in her house with her parents; Caroline and Tyler have gone off the grid after he was compelled to turn and last I heard of Jeremy, he was leaving Bonnie's house. I am really tired of keeping track of all of you and now, I'm going to ask you again, Matt, where the hell is Elena?!"

Matt turned to look down where Rebekah and Stefan had disappeared, sweat beading on his forehead.

"How do you know any of this?"

April chuckled humourlessly before sighing.

"I know about your plan to kill that Original, Kol, and I know Elena is at the helm of your ship. And if I have not made myself clear, I will repeat myself again. Where is Elena planning to kill Kol? Matt, please!"

Matt looked away from the girl, at a loss of what to do. He could not kill her, as far as he knew, she was human; he could not tell her anything; and he could not get away from her, he was fairly sure – given the psychotic look in her eyes – that she would give chase and he could not risk Rebekah hearing them. Matt opened his mouth to say something but was unable to come up with anything. April's breathing grew laboured and even more panicked before her eyes lit up.

"She invited Kol in, didn't she?"

Matt stared at her, growing increasingly panicky. What was going on?

"They're at her house. She actually invited Kol in! That would have been the last place anyone expected her to attack."

Matt raised his hands carefully, shaking his head.

"April…"

The teenager pulled her phone from her pocket, her fingers trembling as she dialled a number on the screen, bringing it to her ear.

"They're at her house! Elena and Kol are at her house! Please!" April was starting to cry now, her forehead stained with sweat. A moment passed before she spoke again, simply replying a tentative 'yes' to whoever was on the other side of the line.

There was a short pause before April slowly pulled the phone away from her ear, her breathing calming down before she dropped the phone on the ground and without a moment's hesitation, stomped on the screen until it cracked and went dead. Matt watched the entire thing, not following what was going on before she pulled out a knife and looked him straight in the eye.

"Help me," she pleaded, tears in her eyes as her voice broke.

Then the moment was over and she charged at him, knife poised to kill.

It did not take long before they had arrived at the kitchen, Kol lifting Jeremy up easily and putting him on the island, before turning to rummage through the drawers. Jeremy blinked, trying to clear his vision. He was fairly certain the fall had given him a concussion.

"Kol, you don't have to do this."

The Original paused when he heard betrayal in the boy's tone. There was no point though, he had to stop them and besides, it was not like he was going to kill him. Finding a roll of duct tape, he pulled it out and started coiling it around the teenager's wrists, the latter struggling feebly. After getting the tape on, Kol tossed the roll aside, heading to the other end of the kitchen to grab a cleaver.

"Now, like I said, I don't fancy the Hunter's Curse, so I'm just going to chop off your arm," Kol told him, as if what he was offering was a good deal, "But don't worry; I'll heal you right up with a bit of blood after."

His comfort proved to be useless though, as Jeremy continued to struggle.

"Sorry about the sting. Now, which arm is it?" Kol asked, looking from one arm to the other, "Is it left or right?" The Original waited for a moment for his captive to respond but Jeremy stayed stubbornly silent, continuing to struggle against the bonds. Sighing, Kol continued, "Fine, I'll just chop off both to be safe."

Moving over to his right side, Kol raised the cleaver, as the teenager shrunk back into the island, squeezing his eyes shut. Kol almost felt bad but it had to be done and someone had to be the bad guy. Just as he was about to send the blade downward, the Original was thrown to the side, the doppelganger appearing before him. He had been so focused on Jeremy that he had neglected to ensure that she was still pinned down. Immediately, he regretted not having killed her.

The cleaver fell from his hand as Kol stumbled, the blade slicing through the bind on Jeremy's right arm. The hunter acted immediately, bolting upright and working on the other restraint as his sister lunged, slamming the Original into the cupboards behind him. She grabbed the abandoned cleaver and struck, the metal burying itself into his shoulder. Kol screamed; he could not help it. A thousand years of living did not make him immune to pain. He grabbed her arm, pulling her and the blade out as a small part of his mind registered the fact that Jeremy was now free. He turned, attempting to divide his attention between the approaching hunter and the baby vampire, only to be met with a shot of vervain-laced water straight in his face. Even diluted, the concoction burned the skin it touched and the Original pushed back against the cupboards, years of experience having had thrown itself out the window as the natural instinct to get away from the pain kicked into high gear. He held up his hands in front of him, his eyes burning as they began to tear. The damned vervain had gotten into them and the Original could not see a thing. He made a blind swing in an arc around himself, trying to keep them off him long enough for his eyes to recover. But before he knew what was happening, the cleaver made a reappearance, going straight into the Original's abdomen as he doubled over in pain. He distantly felt Elena pull the White Oak stake from its spot in his jacket, tossing it to her brother whilst holding the cleaver in its place.

"Jeremy, now!"

The hunter caught the weapon easily, charging forward. Kol turned towards the sound of Jeremy's footsteps and made a wild swing. He heard the hunter jump backwards to avoid the attack as the Original started to blink rapidly in a vain attempt to speed up the healing. His vision was returning to him, but it was hopelessly blurry and all he could make out was a faint outline that could hardly tell Jeremy and furniture apart. But at the very least, he could see somewhat. Swinging around, he managed to hit Elena hard in the gut causing her to finally release her grip on the cleaver. Jeremy had armed himself with the hose again, turning the tap on as he attacked the Original. Kol hissed in pain, shooting forward and snatching the weapon before turning it on an approaching Elena. The young vampire sped off in the opposite direction, indistinguishable from the surroundings. Kol grunted in pain as he pulled the cleaver from his abdomen, his hands slippery from his own blood. He abandoned the hose and held the cleaver in front of him, noting that the siblings were on either side of him as the three of them were locked in a stalemate.

Quite abruptly, a familiar voice tore through the room.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

All three of them turned, Kol instantly recognizing his elder brother's voice. The Original frowned, his vision still foggy though he could now tell things apart. Nik was in on it, wasn't he? So what was going on? It was fairly obvious that the hybrid was not happy though, as he yelled at them from where he was stuck right outside the door, slamming against the invisible barrier. Kol blinked, he could make things out now and Nik's appearance had just served as a convenient distraction.

The Original lunged for the vampire at the same moment that the hunter lunged for the Original. Elena managed to escape from his grip, speeding in the opposite direction. In the background, Nik's shouting could be heard, spewing threats at the Gilbert siblings that they had apparently decided to ignore. Kol swung the cleaver around at Jeremy, managing to cause a shallow cut in his arm before the teenager pulled back, wincing. Kol took a step towards the hunter, baring his fangs before charging at him. Elena appeared behind the other vampire, hooking her arms around the Original's neck and throwing her entire body weight backwards to choke him. Kol coughed, twisting and grabbing her arm with his free hand as Jeremy repeated his assault with the vervain hose. Kol swung his arm in front of him, the cleaver slipping from his hand as he threw his attacker off his back. Elena, now on the floor in front of him, snagged the blade and sent it into his gut, the latter doubling forward. Elena sped out of the way as Jeremy resumed his vervain attack. Kol twisted around before he was abruptly knocked onto the ground, the blade still stuck in him. He rolled onto his back, his already-impaired vision swimming and his head throbbing as it hit the linoleum. Jeremy, standing to Kol's right, grabbed the White Oak stake where he had left it in one of the open cupboards and charged towards the Original, entirely intending to kill.

Then everything went silent and it was as if time had slowed down. In that one moment, he felt like he was not even there anymore, even as he watched his hand shoot out in an attempt to stop the hunter's attack. The pain was overwhelming; everything hurt, bombarding his senses. This was going to be how he died. He had lived a thousand years only to be killed in a moment of sheer misfortune, bordering dangerously on idiocy, by an amateur hunter and a baby vampire. Jeremy stood over him, the cursed form of the White Oak stake clear in his hand as he moved to plunge the wood into the Original's heart.

Kol felt it, the wood going through the thin fabric of the shirt he had on and piercing the skin on his chest. He felt his sternum crack and give way to the weapon, granting it free access to his heart. He felt the little fragments of the bone scrape against tissue, eliciting even more pain from his chest. He felt the wood; how it burned the flesh it touched. And all this time, he had thought that the daggers had been bad. But then something miraculous happened.

It stopped.

Seconds before it would have sent him to his grave – permanently this time – the weapon had stopped in its descent, leaving him with his life. The force on the other end was gone. Kol took a moment to recover before he opened his eyes, not having had realised that he had closed them in the first place. He squinted at the sight before him, his eyes widening in shock.

Everything happened in a split second. One moment Kol had been lying on his back on the ground, Jeremy wielding the White Oak stake and going in for the kill. The next moment, the hunter had been roughly grabbed and thrown into the cupboards on the other side of the kitchen, the stake left uselessly in the Original's chest. Before Elena had time to process what had just happened, she was sent flying to the other side of the room, slamming hard into the wall. The White Oak stake had been ripped out of Kol's chest and with almost impossible accuracy, was sent hurtling straight into the doppelganger's gut, pinning her to the wall as she cried out in pain.

"Hello Elena."

The brunette gasped, half a moment passing before recognition hit her like a freight train.

"Jennel?"

For a moment they simply stared at each other, Elena trying hopelessly to pull the stake out of her. Behind them, Jeremy got up to his feet, looking from Kol to the two brunettes. Jennel spun around and smiled at the hunter but for all the friendliness it carried, it might as well have been the devil who was grinning at him.

"Jeremy, I did not expect to see you involved in this. What happened to your morals? Or does genocide no longer qualify to be in your list of 'do not's?"

Jeremy took a step towards Kol and Jennel chuckled coldly.

"Ah, please don't try that," she chimed, moving towards Elena and yanking the stake effortlessly out as the latter fell forward, "The weapon of choice is with me, see?" The vampire waved the stake demonstratively before grabbing Elena by the neck, not giving the doppelganger enough time to recover, and choking her. "And unless you want me to kill your sister, and believe me when I say I will, you better behave."

When Jeremy did not respond, Jennel flipped the stake around in her free hand, pointing it straight at Elena's heart.

"Try me."

The hunter stared in wide-eyed shock at the challenge, still contemplating over whether or not the girl would truly act on her threat. At that moment, Kol stirred, groaning. He seemed to recover from whatever it was that he had been in, staring blearily at the confrontation before him. His eyes widened when he spied the two vampires locked in conflict.

"Jennel?"

"It's been too long, Kol."

The brunette turned momentarily to the Original, her gaze softening by just the slightest bit before her attention snapped back to her hostage. Elena felt her head spin, her mind not following.

"Wait, you know each other?"

The older vampire grinned, tightening her grip on Elena's jugular.

"Well, I figured if there was going to be a Team Klaus, a Team Stefan and even a Team Shane, there has to be a Team Kol right?" Jennel stated, smirking, before promptly snapping Elena's neck.

End of Part I: Chasing Shadows

Part II will be covering the back story of the relationship between Kol and Jennel; here's the summary:

Part II: Blood & Dagger

He killed for the thrill, to survive, and to feel alive; she killed to protect, to avenge, and to fulfil her duty. When their fates collide, will they be pushed apart, or can they help one another pick up the broken pieces? Fire and ice, light and shadow; maybe, they were not so different after all.