A/N: hey everyone, just a heads up— I'll be going on a two month summer vacation in one week (where I won't have internet) sooo basically I guess there's about 5 or 6 chapters left in this story! don't worry, I'll try not to end the whole thing on a major cliffhanger ;)

"Don't take out your weapons," Alaric breathed. "It'll give them reason to attack."

"Then what was the point of bringing weapons?" Elena whispered back, her eyes darting around the circle in fear.

"It was more of a…preemptive measure," Damon muttered. "Look, here's the plan. Elena, Bonnie…you guys run. The three of us will distract them—"

"No, you need me," Bonnie insisted. "I'm not leaving Tyler here with them!"

"You'll get yourself killed," Damon answered shortly. "I know you've become a powerful witch, but hang around any longer and you'll become a powerful, dead witch.

Bonnie didn't flinch, "I think the Gilbert device had the right idea."

Alaric looked stunned for a moment, and he slowly removed a small object from his pocket. "My frequency emitter," he explained. "I brought it along in case we needed a plan B."

There was a growl as one of the werewolves took a step towards them. Elena drew in her breath, aware that the werewolf was watching her every move. "We can't use that," she hissed. "What about Damon and Stefan? They'll be affected by it, too!"

"That's where I come in," Bonnie said quietly. "I'll cast a protection spell…sort of like a shield around them. That way, only the werewolves will be affected. As long as the emitter stays on, they'll be paralyzed."

"Excellent idea," Damon said sharply. "Are you sure there's not another part of it that you're failing to mention?"

Bonnie crossed her arms, "What are you talking about?"

Damon raised his eyebrows, "So you're just going to leave Tyler here to fend for himself while we make our getaway?"

Bonnie hesitated, "Well…"

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

Elena frowned, "Bonnie, you can't just—" she broke off with a gasp as Bonnie lifted her arms, raising her head to the sky. Elena placed a hand over her chest as she felt the power radiating off her best friend.

Both Damon and Stefan backed away, eyeing Bonnie with something close to…respect? Or was it fear?

"Can you feel that?" Alaric asked from behind Elena. "She has some serious power."

"I know," Elena replied, taking a step back as the wolves began howling. "Doesn't seem like the wolves are enjoying it too much."

"It's the same reason Damon and Stefan backed away," Alaric explained, raising his voice over the rushing of the wind. "They're more sensitive to the power than humans are. They can feel much more than we can…"

"Now!" Bonnie cried.

Alaric fumbled with the device in his hand, switching it on to a certain frequency.

There was an eerie silence for about half a second.

Then all hell broke loose.

Tyler screamed. It wasn't a human scream—because he wasn't in human form—but it was a scream, nonetheless. It tore at Elena's heart and she had a sudden urge to scream as well, even though she couldn't hear the device. She fell to her knees, her hands over her ears to block out the gut wrenching howling.

Damon took a step towards her when suddenly he fell to the ground, his face contorting in agony. Stefan looked, for the moment, extremely shocked. He staggered, falling onto a tree before slumping to the ground.

"What's happening?" Alaric shouted, looking wildly at Bonnie.

Bonnie's mouth was open in disbelief. "I don't know! I did the spell right, I know I did!"

Alaric grabbed the device to turn it off, when suddenly it disappeared from his hands. "What the—!" He looked up and saw a figure sitting in the trees. She waved at him, the device glinting in her hands. Alaric squinted, trying to see the woman's face, but she kept it in shadow.

Then she leapt, disappearing.

There were several thuds and Alaric looked back to see the werewolves dropping to the ground, one by one. Tyler whined, putting his paws to his head in an almost human gesture before collapsing as well.

"This is our chance," Alaric said hurriedly, grabbing Elena.

She opened her eyes, looking stricken.

"Let's go," Alaric urged. "Get Damon and Stefan. Me and Bonnie will get Tyler."

Elena nodded, her face set. It was time to get out of here.

''''''''''''''''''''''

"Would someone like to explain to me what happened back there?" Alaric demanded angrily. "As far as our plans go, I'd say this was a fairly simple one with a high chance of succeeding. So what went wrong?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Damon snapped, turning to face Bonnie. "Next time, a little warning before you betray us would be ideal—"

"I didn't!" Bonnie said, looking upset. "I swear I did the spell right…it should have worked!"

"And you," Damon said to Alaric, ignoring Bonnie completely. "Why didn't you turn off the device?"

"Some bitch in the trees took it!" Alaric retorted. "I was about to turn it off when it disappeared from my hands…"

"You didn't see her face?" Stefan asked, frowning.

"Well she was fast, so I'm guessing it was a vampire…"

"Katherine?" Elena asked, resigned to the fact that her doppelganger was destined to be the bane of her existence.

"That's not her style," Damon answered thoughtfully. "She would have made herself known, not hide in the shadows."

"Damon's right," Stefan agreed. "It must've been somebody else?"

"Isobel?" Bonnie suggested.

"Not unless she decided to switch sides again," Damon frowned. "Which is possible, of course."

Tyler moaned, and all of them fell silent, looking down at him. He was lying on the ground at Bonnie's feet, and she crouched down worriedly. "Ty, can you hear me?"

"What's going on?" he mumbled, slowly reverting completely back to human form.

Alaric quickly opened the trunk of the car and pulled out a large blanket. He knelt over Tyler, wrapping him up. "Hey, buddy. How're you feeling?"

"Shitty," Tyler groaned, sitting up. He looked up at all of them, his gaze resting on Bonnie. "What happened? Last I remember..."

"You were kidnapped," Stefan cut in, "By a pack of werewolves that have taken residence the woods. Do you remember what they did to you? What they said?"

Tyler rubbed is face, looking tired. "Uh..."

"He's exhausted," Bonnie interjected. "Can't we discuss this tomorrow?"

"Fine," Stefan said, but he didn't look happy. "Come on, I'll take you two home in my car. Alaric, you can drive Elena and Damon back."

"Will do," Alaric answered.

Damon held the door open for Elena and she reluctantly climbed into the backseat, still worried about what had just happened. The ride back to her house was silent as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Alaric pulled into her driveway ten minutes later. "Should we meet up tomorrow to discuss what happened?"

"I'll call you," Damon answered, getting out of the car. Elena got out at the same time and looked at him strangely. "I'll make it back on my own," Damon nodded to Alaric. "Now you can get back to your exciting Saturday night plans of grading papers." Alaric merely rolled his eyes and drove away.

Elena hesitated on the sidewalk. "Are you coming in?" she asked Damon, fully expecting him to say yes.

Damon frowned, looking distracted. "I better not," he answered finally, glancing around in a paranoid manner. "Good night, Elena."

He sped off, leaving Elena staring after him in confusion.

p.s. who else is excited for the True Blood season premiere tomorrow? ahh, one more day!