CHAPTER 13 – THE BIRTHDAY

It's been about two months since everything went to hell for Rhiannon and everybody else in the Mystic Falls. She was stumbling back to her truck after howling through the night in forests of the Rockies. She managed to find the parking lot within ten minutes and crawled inside huddling into her sleeping bag. As she fell asleep she dreamt of the last few days in Mystic Falls that haunted her dreams.

"The sacrifice is completed in stages as the full moon sets," Elijah elaborated further as he helped Rhiannon to get out of the car putting his hand on the small of her back protectively as he lead her inside the witch house. "First a werewolf is killed, then a vampire and then finally the doppelganger. Once Elena dies, the curse will be broken and Klaus will become a hybrid."

"So when do we attack?" Alaric asked, walking just a few steps behind them.

"Elena's death will activate his werewolf side," he continued, squeezing Rhiannon's hand as she slipped it into his. Listening to this couldn't be easy on her. "He'll be vulnerable during his transformation. That's when Bonnie comes in."

"And you're sure Bonnie will survive this?" Stefan asked.

"If she can deliver him to the brink of death, I will finish the job myself," Elijah said reassuringly looking at Rhiannon. She felt she would throw up if she spoke, her nerves getting the best of her, so she just shot him a small smile. Then Stefan's phone rang. It was Damon. They all turned to watch Stefan talk to his brother and when they saw he turned around whispering "oh my god" under his breath, they knew something went horribly wrong.

"What's happening?" Rhiannon asked, practically crushing Elijah's hand with hers. Thank god he was indestructible.

"It's Jenna," Stefan whispered, horrified. "Klaus has her and he's going to use her as a vampire in the ritual."

"Oh my god," Rhiannon whispered backing up slowly. Elijah was only able to blink with surprise and put his arm around Rhiannon to prevent her from tripping over him. "What are we gonna do?"

"I… what?" Alaric whispered incredulously. "We, we gotta tell Jeremy. He needs to know what's happening," he mumbled, dazed as he started towards the house.

"Wait I´ll go with you," Rhiannon shook herself out from her shock and followed Alaric inside.

"You realize this is our only chance to end Klaus?" Elijah said solemnly. He actually liked Jenna, but he wasn't going to let that get in the way of his plans.

"I can't let Elena lose anybody else," Stefan whispered with tears in his eyes. "There has to be another way."

"Unfortunately, there isn't," Elijah said with a slight edge to his voice. Seconds later, Rhiannon was coming out of the house with Bonnie.

"I told her," she mumbled and ran straight back to Elijah's arms. She felt like the only way she was gonna get through that night was to stay close to him and feel his reassuring touch.

"Why did he take Jenna?" Bonnie asked, barely able to contain her tears.

"A punishment for meddling," Elijah said solemnly. "He's a spiteful one, my brother."

"Klaus was gonna use Tyler and Caroline," Stefan elaborated. "Damon rescued them."

"Then we need to go!" Bonnie said. "Now, before Jenna's been sacrificed. I can kill Klaus myself."

"Bonnie," Rhiannon started. "If you use that much power, you'll be dead. We've already been through this. It´s not an option."

"Neither is letting Jenna die," Bonnie countered.

"Stefan would agree with you," Elijah chimed in making Rhiannon turn to look at him questioningly.

"We're gonna offer another vampire," Stefan said stepping forward. "One that he'd want more. Me."

"What?!" Rhiannon cried out. "You can't be serious Stefan! That would wreck Elena!"

"I think losing another family member would wreck her more," Stefan argued. "I can't let that happen. It´s my decision Rhiannon, please respect it."

For a moment Elijah thought Rhiannon was going to attack Stefan, but she enveloped him in a crushing hug whispering: "Elena's got no idea how lucky she is she's got you in her life. I'm gonna miss you."

When she finally managed to peel herself off Stefan, she started towards the house again, followed by Bonnie and Elijah. She went inside and sat on the couch, not able to contain her tears anymore. This was a nightmare.

"Hey," Elijah whispered soothingly, crouching in front of her as he brushed the hair out of her face. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise."

"I don't know what to do Elijah, I feel so helpless," she cried, finally looking at him.

"I know darling," he murmured cupping her face. "I'm going to help Bonnie locate Klaus and I'll be right back love."

"Okay," she mumbled weakly.

Moments later, he was sitting on the dusty couch beside her, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Elijah?" she mumbled out.

"Yes darling?" he said sitting up.

"Why do you want to kill Klaus?" she asked, biting back tears. "I know Stefan and Damon wanted to kill each other so many times they've lost count, but they were never able to. What did he do to make you want to kill him?"

"Klaus was not my only brother," Elijah said in a leveled voice. "I had siblings. Parents. I had a family. Over the centuries Klaus hunted them down one by one and he took them from me. He scattered them across the seas so the bodies could never be found."

"Oh my god Elijah," she whispered, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "Now I understand why you're so hell-bent on killing your brother. You want revenge."

"Sometimes there's honor in revenge too Rhiannon," he said smiling weakly. "But I promise you this, love. I won't fail you, or your friends."

"Please end this Elijah," she whispered pleadingly.

"I will," he smiled and kissed her gently making her melt into his embrace. They stayed like that, cuddled on the dusty couch for another hour or two, watching John arrive with a box full of old Gilbert journals.

After another half hour Damon, Alaric and Bonnie emerged from the basement.

"It's time," Elijah announced with an edge to his voice.

"Alright, let's go," Rhiannon stood up alongside him, mentally preparing herself for what was about to come and checking her jacket for a cell phone when she felt a needle prickle her neck and she instantly felt her knees go weak and head go fuzzy but before she could collapse to the ground, Elijah caught her, caressing her face lightly. He carried her bridal-style to the couch again, whispering: "I'm sorry for this my love, but I can't have you risk your life out there. Soon all this will be over and you'll have all the time in the world to make me pay for this," he added with that bloody smirk on his face. Then everything went black.

When she woke up, there was already light outside and Alaric was leaning against the doorframe.

"How're you feeling?" he asked when he saw she was awake.

"Drowsy, migrainish, royally pissed off," she elaborated propping her head on her hands. "They're not back yet?"

"Nope," Rick retorted, clearly pissed too.

"It would appear I wasn't the only one left behind huh?" she mumbled trying to focus on her breathing in order to suppress the throbbing headache. She was going to make Elijah pay for this stunt.

"Nope," Alaric said. "Jeremy and John are downstairs in the basement."

As if on cue, John walked up the stairs, closely followed by Jeremy.

"They should've been back by now," Jeremy said, worried.

"Is the spell still effective?" Rhiannon asked, ready to run out of the house and go look for them when they heard the car park and minutes later, Damon walked in with unconscious Elena in his arms. Rhiannon jumped up from the couch to make a room for her.

"What happened?"

"How is she?"

"Where are the others?"

It appeared that Damon left early to get Elena to safety, so he was as clueless as they were. The only piece of information he provided was that of Jenna's death. Half hour later, they heard another car. Rhiannon ran out to meet them when she was met with a very solemn looking Stefan and Bonnie. No sign of Elijah.

"What happened?" she whispered barely audibly and so afraid of the answer that she thought she might pass out.

"Elijah…" Stefan said. "He uhm… he betrayed us."

"What?! No! He wouldn't!" Rhiannon blurted out incredulously. "Stefan what happened?"

"Klaus, he told him he still has his family," Stefan started and she understood immediately. "He promised to take him to them and then they were both just gone."

"No…" she mumbled having just enough strength to walk out on the porch and sit on the stairs. If what Stefan said was true that would mean… he betrayed her too. He made her believe everything was going to be okay, made her convince everybody else to trust him and then he betrayed them all. And now Jenna was dead, and John was dead. How could she even look Elena in the eye after this? She felt the urge to get the hell out of the town as soon as possible.

She stuck around for the funeral, even though she felt so guilty and heartbroken she knew the only way to get over this was to get lost, at least for a while. After they headed back to the house, she came up to Elena's room to talk to her.

"Elena I am so sorry," Rhiannon started. "It's all my fault. I convinced you to trust Elijah and…"

"Rhiannon stop," Elena said sternly. "It's not your fault that Jenna died, neither is your fault that John sacrificed himself to save me and it's not your fault Elijah betrayed us. I chose to trust him, just as you did."

"Thank you," Rhiannon mumbled as she hugged Elena tightly. "Still… I am really sorry that this happened to your family."

"I need to get out of this town though," she continued making Elena sit up and look at her questioningly. "I need some time to think, to… to come to terms with what happened and… I really loved Elijah and… I also understand he chose his family over me but I hurt so bad right now that I feel like I'm gonna die if I stay here one more day. I'm sorry."

"I understand Rhiannon," Elena whispered. "Probably better than anybody. Take your time, you'll always be welcome here you know that right?"

"Thank you," Rhiannon smiled weakly and reached for the clasp on the necklace Elijah gave her for her birthday. "Would you mind holding onto this while I'm gone? I just… it doesn't feel right wearing it anymore."

"Are you sure?" Elena asked. "I mean, without it, you'll have to turn and..."

"Yea I know that but I'd rather turn every full moon than wear this constant reminder of him around my neck."

"Alright," Elena whispered. "Take care."

The following morning, she woke up to her cell phone ringing. It was Caroline. She spoke to her almost every week.

"Hey Caroline," she answered the phone sleepily.

"Hey there," she chirped cheerfully. "Long night?"

"Ha-ha, so how've you been?"

„Good, well ish, everything's slowly getting back to normal over here, the search for Stefan still continues," Carline retorted. "How about you? Still running around in Montana?"

"Yea, the national park is amazing. And huge, so I have plenty of room to run around without putting anybody into harm's way," she mumbled stretching out her sore limbs. She didn't mind the pain of transformation. She welcomed it, embraced it. She missed her friends back in Mystic Falls, but she wasn't ready to come back yet. "So are you already planning Elena's birthday party?"

"How did you know that?" Caroline asked incredulously.

"Caroline Forbes, how long do we know each other? The only time you sound this chipper is when you have a party to plan and since Elena's b-day's coming up, it wasn't that hard to guess," Rhiannon joked.

"Well since you brought it up, I really do hope you'll be coming back to celebrate with us," Caroline retorted making Rhiannon cringe.

"Care, I don't know," she said. "Wouldn't it be weird to come back just like that after I ran away two months ago?"

"Rhiannon Petersen," Caroline started, mimicking her serious tone from earlier. "You know Elena loves you and she will be really happy to have you back. We all would."

"I…,"

"No, no. I'm done talking about it. You're coming at least for Elena's party. End of discussion," Caroline cute her off making her laugh silently.

"Okay, I'll come," she sighed defeated.

"Well look who came back," Damon said smiling as he opened the door and found Rhiannon standing outside.

"It's good to see you too Damon," she beamed back hugging him tightly.

"I wondered how long it would take you to admit you can't live without me and come running back," he joked pouring her a drink.

"Don't flatter yourself buddy," she joked back plopping down on the couch. "I missed your sorry ass though."

"Of course you did," he smirked draining his glass in one swig.

"So what's new with Stefan? Is he still MIA?" she asked.

"Yea, we've had a few leads over the summer, but that's about it," he said pouring himself another one. "So you're back for good or?"

"Aww, did you miss me too?" she teased. "Yea, I'm back for good. That is if you'll have me. I don't feel like living with Gilbert anymore, especially not after what happened to Jenna.

"Yep, your room is exactly how you left it," he said. "Now if you'll excuse me, Andie's waiting for me at the grill."

"Sure, have fun," she retorted finishing her drink.

"Hey, Rhiannon," Damon called from the front door. "I'm glad you're back."

"So Elena has no idea, you're back?" Caroline asked incredulously as you sat at they table in Grill with Tyler.

"Nope, I came in late last night, plus I want to surprise her," she said looking through the menu.

"Well you can come to the house with us and help us set up," Caroline offered.

"I'd love that," she said.

After they finished eating, they headed to the house to get everything ready. Seconds later, Elena came back and Rhiannon barely made it around the corner so she wouldn't see her.

"Hey Caroline, I'm here," she called out walking into the foyer. "Please tell me you're not inviting half of the high school to my party."

"Oh c'mon, it's your eighteenth birthday, plus we have one more reason to celebrate tonight," Caroline chirped looking at Rhiannon who was sneaking behind Elena barely able to hold back laughter.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked, confused just as Rhiannon got close enough to cover her eyes singing "Surprise!"

"Oh my god!" Elena cried out and jumped Rhiannon hugging her so tight she was certain she was gonna knock wind out of her lungs.

"Easy there birthday girl," Rhiannon rasped out.

"Sorry, I'm just really glad you're back," Elena said. "We all missed you."

"I missed you too guys," Rhiannon said. "So I head Damon went out with Rick to follow some new lead you got him. That's good news."

"Yea," Elena agreed. "I just wish Damon would be as enthusiastic as you are. I feel like I have to fight Damon every single time we get a lead on Stefan."

"Maybe he doesn't wanna find him," Tyler said sorting through the beer.

"Tyler!" Caroline cried out.

"What?" he argued. "He's into you. Isn't he?"

"The only reason Stefan left with Klaus was that he could save his life," Elena retorted. "Trust me, Damon wants to find him."

"But you kissed him," Tyler continued. "That probably screwed with his head."

"Tyler!" Caroline cried out again, this time mortified.

"Oh wow, you neglected to mention that over the phone," Rhiannon chimed in, trying to suppress laughter, but failing miserably.

"Yea well, it was a very eventful night," Elena pleaded.

"From what I hear it certainly was," Rhiannon joked making Tyler snicker.

"Look yes, I kissed him, but it was a goodbye kiss. I thought he was gonna die," Elena said in defense. "Look I got a missed call from Bonnie. I'll be right back."

"Just because I tell you things doesn't mean you're allowed to know them!" Caroline chided Tyler as soon as Elena walked out of the door. After he left and Elena came back, they continued setting up the house for the party.

"So how're you dealing with… you know?" Elena asked cautiously.

"You mean with Elijah stabbing us in the back and then he got stabbed in the back and ended up in a box without any chance of finding and freeing him without getting my heart ripped out by his lunatic younger brother?" Rhiannon asked casually. "I had plenty of time to deal with it over the past two months. It still hurt, but I'm okay now. How about you? The not knowing must be killing you."

"Yea, it is," Elena admitted with a sigh. "But I'm not planning on giving up either."

"And you shouldn't," Rhiannon agreed with her. If she had the slightest chance of getting Elijah back, she would've followed it until her last breath. She was still royally mad at him for crossing them, but on the other side, she couldn't blame him for wanting his family back. "Oh by the way. Would you mind bringing me my necklace back? I think it'd be wise to start wearing it again so I don't wolf out on you the next full moon."

"Sure, I'll bring it over tonight," Elena said squeezing her shoulder.