Chapter 21:To kill a Hybrid

Part 1

Damon was sitting in the cafeteria of the hospital. He was still angry with Elena. Though angry wasn't exactly the right word. Defeated was more like it. It felt like the universe was doing everything to keep them apart.

Well, Damon meant what he'd said. If Elena died, so would he. He wasn't going to spend another century and a half alone and hated. Sure, there would be other women begging for his attention, but none of them would be Elena Gilbert.

"Damon?" he heard a weak voice say from behind him. He looked over his shoulder. Elena was standing in the doorway, a blanket over her shoulders.

"Elena, what are you doing here?" Damon asked worried and he walked towards her.

"I missed you" Elena confessed. "I don't want to fight anymore and I can't sleep when I know you're upset. So, please, come to bed with me?"

He couldn't argue with her now. She looked so breakable.

"Yeah, okay" he gave in with a faint smile.

He walked her to her room and helped her in bed.

"Damon?" Elena asked faint. "Could you call Jeremy for me, please? He didn't show up today, though he said he would. I want to make sure he's okay"

"Elena Gilbert. Even on her deathbed she still worries about others but herself" Damon said a little cynical, but he conjured his phone anyway. "Strange" he frowned. "Bonnie's tried to call me a few times" He dialed Bonnie's phone and waited. But no one picked up. "Whatever, she'll have to call me tomorrow"

He dialed Jeremy's number, but he didn't answer his phone either. Damon started calling all of Elena's friends, Caroline, Tyler, Stefan. He even called Katherine.

"Damon, what is going on? Why isn't anyone picking up their phones?" Elena asked panicking.

"It's probably nothing" Damon tried to reassure her. His phone buzzed and he quickly picked up.

"Damon?" Rebekah said. "I'm guessing you're at the hospital with Elena?" Damon confirmed that. "Good. Stay put. Whatever you do, do not leave the hospital until you hear from me again"

Damon hung up and smiled at Elena. "That was Rebekah. She invited everyone over to the Boarding House and the music's playing pretty loud. They didn't hear their phones" he lied.

Elena knew he wasn't telling her the truth, but she felt so tired all of a sudden that she decided to let it go for now. She'd confront him in the morning.

Part 2

Matt tried to get the front door open, but failed, while Bonnie tried to call someone. When after her sixth attempt no one had picked up, she had to fight the urge to throw her cell into the wall. She turned to Keith.

"Can you try the phone, please?" she asked a little irritated. Keith was just sitting there, being useless. Keith stood slowly and walked to the phone. He picked up the horn, but heard nothing.

"The phone's dead" he noted, sounding not very surprised. He walked back to Bonnie. Matt had gone upstairs to see if he could open one of the windows.

"Maybe we should stay in" Keith started careful. "I know Veronica wouldn't try to hurt us. We're human. I think she's actually trying to keep us safe"

"What does that even matter? She has Jeremy! She shot him! You really think I'm going to stay here, while she's doing God knows what to him?" Bonnie snapped angry. They heard footsteps as Matt returned. Bonnie looked hopeful at him, but he shook his head.

"No one's picking up. Worst case scenario, Veronica got to them" Bonnie made a calculation. "But she wouldn't get to Damon so easily. He's not going to leave Elena's side"

Matt conjured his phone and dialed Damon's number.

"Matt, what the hell is going on?" Damon spoke the moment he answered. Matt let out a sigh of relief and Bonnie thanked God for finally being on their side.

"It's Veronica" Matt answered quickly. "She invited us over, but now-" The signal died and Matt looked at his phone. "Oh, come on, you have to be kidding me" He looked at the others.

"My phone's dead, too" Bonnie said defeated.

"I don't have a cell phone" Keith pulled his shoulder apologetic. Bonnie and Matt traded glances. Who on earth didn't own a cell phone?

"So, what, we're stuck here? I tried to break the windows, but she even made that impossible. Maybe she's working with a witch" Matt suggested. Bonnie frowned, Matt had given her something to think about.

"I think I have an idea" she said slowly and mysterious.

Part 3

Tyler woke up with a burning pain in his chest. Someone was caressing his exposed chest with a vervain flower.

"Good evening, Tyler" a woman said. It wasn't Veronica. She had a paper bag with her, probably full of vervain and wolfsbane. Her hand disappeared in the bag, but when she withdrew her hand she was holding up a sandwich.

Tyler raised his eyebrows, something that didn't go unnoticed. "What? A girl's got to eat, right? And I don't know how long I'll be in here, because that totally depends on you"

"Why? If you're going to kill me, why not just do it?" Tyler snapped hostile. The woman pressed the vervain flower against his chest and he cried.

In the same building, but another room, Caroline, Katherine and Stefan were locked in separate cages. Caroline heard how Tyler was being tortured and no matter how hard she tried to shut it out, she could hear Tyler's cries perfectly clear.

"Tyler!" Caroline screamed terrified. One of the minions, acting as guard, shot her in the shoulder with a regular gun.

"Shut the hell up!" he barked. He walked away and Caroline cast him a furious look, while she took out the bullet.

"Caroline" Stefan whispered loud. Caroline looked up and stroke her hair behind her ear. She couldn't see Stefan, but she could hear him. "Caroline, I promise you everything will be okay. We'll get out of here and we'll be safe. But right now I need you to stay calm"

Caroline swallowed and forced back her tears. "Okay" she nodded.

"I'm Charlene, by the way" the woman introduced herself to Tyler. She spoke with a British accent "I'd ask you yours, but I already know, and even if I didn't I wouldn't care. I do have other questions, though, and I'd like to have them all answered truthfully"

She stood and walked to Tyler. "First question, we have Stefan Salvatore, Katherine Pierce, Caroline Forbes and you. We know where Damon is, we'll catch him later. But is there any other supernatural creature we should know about?"

Tyler figured Veronica and her army didn't know about the Originals.

"No" he lied.

Charlene stroke the vervain flower against his belly and his screams filled the entire room.

"Let's try that again, shall we?"

Part 4

Veronica dragged Jeremy downstairs and threw him on the cold floor of a basement. Jeremy screamed and held his leg. As he tried to pull the arrow out, Veronica started pacing up and down.

"You lied to me" she muttered agitated, with a feral look in her eyes. "I asked you straightforward if you were a medium and you lied to me in my face" She walked to Jeremy and looked down on him.

"How long has your aunt been spying on me? What does she know?" Jeremy didn't answer and thus she kicked his wounded leg. Veronica raised her voice above Jeremy's cries. "How long?" she repeated furious.

Jeremy swallowed and sobbed. "Since our meeting" he confessed weakly. "Please" he begged as he looked up. "You have to take me to a hospital. You said you wouldn't harm any humans"

"You can talk to dead people, Jeremy!" Veronica spit. "There's nothing human about that"

"I can summon Kelsey for you" Jeremy appealed. "Maybe if you could talk to her, you would see things clearer"

"How do you know about Kelsey?" Veronica snapped defensive.

"She helped me once" Jeremy replied vague. "But I know she was your best friend and it must've hurt like hell when you found out she was murdered"

"I haven't seen Kelsey in years" Veronica commented bitter. "Last few years we merely called and wrote each other, but Kelsey traveled a lot and when I would ask her if I could join her, she said that were impossible"

Veronica was so deep down in her own thoughts that she didn't see Jeremy break the arrow. The fact that he cried from pain seemed only natural to her. When he held the pointy part of the arrow in his hand he crawled towards Veronica.

"I need to find those letters" Veronica mumbled while Jeremy scribbled up. He lifted the arrow when Veronica turned around. She grabbed his arm and tried to keep the arrow to a distance, but Jeremy kicked her in the stomach with his healthy leg. Veronica gasped and let go. Jeremy stabbed her in her side and she fell on her knees. Jeremy hurried to the stairs as fast as his injured leg allowed him.

He opened the door and closed it behind him, turning the key.

Part 5

Bonnie turned to Keith. "Have you ever been in this house before?" Keith nodded heavy. "Okay, find me five candles and something to lit them" Keith ran off to fetch those things and Bonnie walked to the cupboard. She opened the drawers and searched them until she found a piece of paper and a pen.

"What are you up to?" Matt asked both curious and fascinated. While Bonnie wrote something down she explained.

"Months ago I put a curse on Damon to keep him in check. I could follow his every word and move"

"Yeah, I know"

"It turns out there are some leftovers from that curse" Bonnie continued. "I was able to reach Damon while I was in the tomb. I want to see if I can do that again"

Keith returned with the candles.

"Use four of them to make a square and put the fifth one in the center. Then lit them" Bonnie ordered him. She walked to the table and grabbed her glass of water. She walked to the sink for a refill.

"Earth…earth" she mumbled agitated. Then she looked up at Matt. "I need you to take of your shoes"

A little stunned, Matt took of his shoes and gave them to Bonnie, who in the meantime had fetched a pot. She accepted the shoes and knocked them to one another, causing the earth to fall off.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked confused.

"I don't have my powers back yet, so I'm going to try to extract energy from the four elements of nature" Bonnie explained. She nodded at the pot. "Earth" She rotated her head to the glass. "Water" She looked at the candles. "Fire" She looked up. "Air"

She stepped inside the square and bent down on her knees. She held the piece of paper against the flame and closed her eyes.

Part 6

Klaus walked over the street, dialing a number. He looked furious as he held his phone against his ear.

Rebekah's phone buzzed and she rolled her eyes when she recognized her caller.

"Nik, what?" she asked annoyed.

"Funny, I was about to ask you the same question" Klaus replied. "I can't find Tyler anywhere. Do you know where he is?"

"No, Klaus, I don't know where your little bitch is" Rebekah replied. "Now, for once in your life, do as I say and stay inside. Lock the doors and the windows and watch American Horror Story or something"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, standing right outside the Salvatore Mansion" Klaus responded. "I know you're there. I can hear you"

Klaus hung up and waited for the door to be opened. When it did he stormed inside, but his fury lessened a little as he was stunned by seeing Elijah standing by the fireplace.

"Elijah"

Elijah didn't bother turning around, so Klaus turned to his sister.

"You undaggered him"

"If you're going to retaliate, please save it for some other time" Rebekah mocked. "You were looking for Tyler?"

"Do you know where he is?" he repeated his former question.

"No" Rebekah returned. "But chances are Veronica Chamber's army of minions have him. They got to Stefan and Katherine as well and probably Caroline, too"

"Did they try to take any of you down?" Klaus asked. Rebekah shook her head.

"They don't know who and what we are, Nik. We can take them by surprise. We just need to find out where they are"

"Any luck with that?" Klaus asked. "I can't imagine you'd make any progress, sitting here like beer cans waiting to be shot. I'll go do some field work"

"No!" Rebekah shouted. "You can't go out there. Not while she's on the loose. It's dangerous"

"I'm not scared of a little girl" Klaus returned demeaning. "I'm surprised that you are"

Part 7

Elena was lying fast asleep, much to Damon's relief. Something really wrong was going on out there and Damon dreaded the moment he'd have to tell Elena. She already had so much pain to go through, he didn't want to make it any worse.

But Damon knew Elena had seen right through him and when she'd open her eyes she'd demand to know what was going on and he wouldn't be able to lie again.

He took his coffee and brought it to his lips, when he felt a sharp, burning pain in his head. His cup fell on the floor as he moved his hands to his head. He fell on his knees as he screamed.

Elena woke up startled and looked terrified at Damon. Despite her agonizing body she stepped out of bed and bent through her knees. She took Damon's shoulders and tried to comfort him.

Through his pain he heard a familiar, female voice, but the words were inconceivable.

"Damon, open your eyes. Talk to me" Elena begged, while she held his face. Damon opened his eyes and looked terrified as he saw Bonnie sitting in front of him.

"Damon, listen to me" she said insisting. "Veronica has locked us up in her house. I'm there with Matt and Keith. She has Jeremy. She shot him with her crossbow. I've tried to reach everyone else, but I can't. I think they've been captured. I wouldn't tell you if I had any other options, but right now you're the only one who can save them"

"Damon, open your eyes. Talk to me" Damon heard Elena's voice from afar. He opened his eyes and gazed in Elena's. "What happened?"

The pain had disappeared as sudden as it had come. They stood and Damon took a few deep breaths.

"Bonnie sent me a message" Damon started, shaking still from the experience. He'd never get used to telepathy. "Veronica took Jeremy. He's hurt. And she has our friends"

"So, they're not at the Boarding House, having a party with Rebekah?" Elena asked a little reproaching. Damon shook his head apologetic and Elena continued. "Damon, there's nothing you can do for me now. Find Jeremy. Get him to safety"

Part 8

Bonnie opened her eyes and the candles expired. She stood and walked out of the square.

"I let him know" she said.

"Guys, I think you should see this" Keith said. Bonnie and Matt turned around to him. He was leaning against the table with a bunch of letters in his hands.

"What do you have?" Matt asked as they both walked to him.

"I found these in Jeremy's pocket. I was looking for his phone, when these fell out. They're from Kelsey to Veronica"

He gave a few to Bonnie and a few to Matt and he started reading the first of his own.

"Dear Ronnie,

I'm sorry I had to leave so suddenly. Something awful happened to me last night and I can't make it undone. And I can't come back. My parents have been keeping secrets from me, about who I really am. It turns out the woman who raised me isn't my real mother. I'm going to find her and get some answers.

I'm worried about Amber. I don't think she understands what went down the night my parents threw me out of the house. Will you look after her? Will you tell her that I love her? I didn't get to say goodbye. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye to you either, but I know it would've been too painful. I'll try to write as much as possible, but there's no use in writing me back. I don't have a current address.

I love you and I miss you,

Kelsey"

Keith looked up to see Matt and Bonnie's reactions.

"Here's another" Matt commented.

"Dear Ronnie,

I met my mother. She is everything I could've hoped for. She's kind, beautiful and just like me. Of course she was a little taken aback when I showed up at her doorstep, but she didn't blow me off. She gave me the answers I needed and she offered to stay with her. But I promised Keith I'd stay with him for a while.

Right now I'm traveling with some friends. I wish you could come, but that's impossible. I don't think you would like my new friends.

God, I miss hearing your voice, seeing your face. I miss your hands in mine. I just really miss you. When the nights get too painful, I think about you and it gets better. No matter how far away you are, you always get me through. I know I'm being unfair to you. I should stop writing, because I know that with every letter I send to you, I give you new hope. But I can't stop myself.

Maybe one day, when my parents have accepted the real me, I can come home. But right now I'm afraid that when I put one toe into Mystic Falls they'll come after me with a pitchfork.

I love you and I miss you,

Kelsey"

"Oh my God" Bonnie said as realization hit her in the face. "Kelsey wasn't Veronica's best friend. She was her girlfriend"

Part 9

"I can do this all night long, you know" Charlene said a little bored. She had been cutting into Tyler's body if she felt he wasn't answering her questions in all honesty. And so far he hadn't any answered any question in all honesty. "I'm wondering" she said slowly and sinister. "if you'd be so unwilling if it were Caroline hanging here"

"If you touch her I'm going to rip your head off!" Tyler snapped threatening.

"Yeah, good look with that" Charlene replied sarcastically, with a look at the chains. "Okay, I'll make it easy for you. Answer one question and your friends, your girlfriend, are free to go"

"Do you honestly think I'm going to fall for that?" Tyler mocked.

Charlene stabbed him in his stomach. "I'm the one asking the questions around here. Answer this one question and Caroline leaves unharmed. I think that's a fair deal, considering what she is" She withdrew the knife and held it against Tyler's throat. "How do you kill a hybrid?"

Tyler's eyes widened. "A what?" he exclaimed surprised. "There's no such thing as a hybrid!" he lied.

Charlene shook her head. "You disappoint me, Tyler. You really do" She stabbed him again in the same spot. "A hybrid is a creature that's half vampire, half werewolf. You ought to know, Tyler, since you are one. They're very rare, but you are one. Now, how do you kill them?"

"I'm not telling you how you can kill me" Tyler returned in disbelief. "That would be suicide"

"Yes, but if you don't my friends will feel obligated to kill every single one of your friends, starting with your precious Blondie, and if it were up to me, she'd suffer. And that, my dear Tyler, would be murder and the blood would be on your hands" Charlene manipulated him. "So, let me ask you one last time. How do you kill a hybrid?"

Knowing he was signing his death sentence, Tyler answered the question truthfully.

"So, I should chop your head off, if I want to make it quick" Charlene concluded. She placed the knife against his chest. "Unlucky for you I'm kind of sadistic"

Part 10

Klaus was running through the woods, trying to catch Tyler's scent, when suddenly his heart ached. He gasped and grabbed for his chest, while falling on his knees. It felt as if someone was cutting out his heart.

"Tyler" he swallowed. He scribbled up as he heard sobbing and scraping. He ran in the direction of the sound and ended up at the cemetery. Caroline was standing a few yards away, a shovel in her hands. Even in the distance Klaus could see she was crying. Keeping in mind there was a supernatural hating army on the loose, he walked towards her as slowly as possible.

When he stood next to her, he took the shovel from her.

"What are you doing?" Caroline cried.

"What you shouldn't be doing" Klaus replied.

"How did you find me?" Caroline asked. "Were you following me?" she added disgusted.

"I heard you cry" Klaus explained.

"Tyler's dead" Caroline sobbed breathless and disbelieving.

"I know" Klaus nodded. "I felt his heart being cut out. Sire bond, you know"

"God!" Caroline shrieked. "I hate that bitch! I'm going to kill her!"

"No, you're not" Klaus commented calm.

"You try and stop me!" Caroline dared him. "I have enough of Elena telling everyone not to kill that bitch and I don't need to hear it from you"

"You're not going to kill her" Klaus repeated sharp. "You're going to return to your prison and play your part and you will leave the rest to me and my siblings"

Trusting Caroline would obey his order Klaus turned around and walked away.