When Caroline finally made it to the bathroom, she nearly dropped the phone.
"Oh my…Edward we're going to have to call you back." She said right before hitting the end button.
Bringing the phone behind her back, she quickly and silently texted Bonnie, praying to all that was holy that she was pressing the right buttons. Bthrm Nw!
"So glad you could join the party. It's a pity we'll be leaving soon." Katherine purred out maliciously. Her hand was wound Bella's neck and a knife was at her throat. To Caroline, it seemed like Katherine's hand was the only thing holding Bella up. She was obviously very sick still, her face having lost all of it's color but her eyes darted back and forth in panic. The odor in the room suggested, she recently puked her guts out in a nearby stall.
Alice was hissing fiercely, her body crouched, ready to spring to attack at the slightest opening.
"I thought she was Elena coming to help." Alice said to Caroline, her voice laden with guilt and remorse though she never took her eyes off the vampire. "I didn't realize until it was too late." Alice's mind thought back to those few vital moments when everything went wrong. She had been helping Bella back to her feet after a rather nasty vomiting episode in the toilet. Pizza and cheese fries did not look so good coming back up. She had resisted at first, not wanting to do anything more than rest her head on the cold tiles.
Flashback to Earlier
"Sss, feels sooo nice." Bella's head had lolled forward, her body following until she was laying prone on the floor with her cheek pressed onto the tile.
"Oh…eww…gross, Bella. You're on the floor of a public bathroom, for crying out loud. C'mon…" She gripped her hands under Bella's arms and heaved her to her feet.
Bella pressed her head into Alice's shoulder. "Oh, this feels nice too. You're even colder."
Alice had no experience with drunk people so she was at a loss. This behavior couldn't be normal, could it?
"You're not going to be sick again are you?" Alice asked her after a few moments.
Bella's face scrunched in thought. "I don't think so."
"Good." Alice said helping her to the sink. "Let's rinse your mouth out then shall we."
Alice balanced Bella on one arm while her other hand reached out to turn on the faucet. "Here we go, just cup your hands and drink okay?"
Bella nodded, which she realized was a bad idea when the room started to spin again. "I need to sit down." She said pushing and stumbling her way out of Alice's arms to weave drunkenly to a stall. The cover of the toilet banged loudly, causing them both to wince before Bella sat down on it, dropping her head in between her knees.
The bathroom door opened suddenly and Elena (or so Alice thought at the time) walked in. Alice sighed in relief when she saw the girl didn't look as inebriated anymore.
"Are you okay?" Alice asked her just to make sure she wouldn't have to play nursemaid to more than one intoxicated girl.
"Oh, I'm dandy." Faux Elena said with a smirk before walking past Alice towards the stall Bella was in. It was at that moment that Alice realized her mistake. This wasn't Elena. The outfit almost looked the same but Alice's keen eye for anything fashion recognized that this ensemble was completely different than the one Elena was wearing.
Before Alice could act however, Katherine gave a mighty shove at Alice and had Bella pulled against her with a knife at her neck.
"I'm getting…rrrreally tiiired offff being the vvvictim." Bella slurred, struggling against her.
"Poor Isabella…I bleed for you, I really do." Katherine mocked with a twist of her lips.
"Get away from her!" Alice snarled as she came rushing forward ready to pounce.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Katherine hissed in Bella's ear, pressing the blade right up against her carotid artery. "One small slip and…well…you can fill in the blanks."She jeered at Alice. "It would be such a shame if you weren't able to handle your bloodlust."
Alice halted, pulled back in a crouch; a thousand different calculations going through her mind. She could count on one hand the number of times she had been truly terrified and this topped them all. How could she have made such a mistake? Her visions were of no use to her now…she couldn't see any future. That in itself was devastating. It would not end this way…she couldn't let it. How could she face Edward ever again…he would never forgive her…hell, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if even one drop of Bella's blood was spilled.
Her eyes locked with Bella's, saw the fear written in her expressive brown eyes…but she also saw determination in the tilt of her chin. Please don't do anything rash…Alice begged silently with her eyes.
"What do you want with me?" Bella asked the obvious.
"You don't get to ask questions, little girl." Katherine said as she used the knife to trace gently on Bella's cheek before holding it against her neck once again. She cocked her head, listening.
"I'm getting her…she's in the little girls room." They all heard Caroline say.
"Oh goody…It looks like we have company. I do so enjoy a little girl time in the ladies room, don't you?" Katherine chuckled and watched the door with anticipation.
End Flasback
"Let her go!" Caroline demanded ignoring Alice for the time being. How the hell had she gotten out of the tomb? Was she involved with Klaus in some way now? The thoughts made Caroline shiver involuntarily.
"You don't get to make demands." Katherine said. "Now Bella, we're going to leave here nice and slow."
Even in her drunken state, Bella knew this was a very bad idea. She didn't know what Katherine or Klaus had planned for her but she suspected whatever it was, they were in it together. She didn't know of she were a pawn or the end game; a check or a check mate but Katherine was sadistic in the little games she played. She knew that now just as she had known it many years ago. There was no way on this earth she would leave with her. She'd take death first.
"Stefan will kill you for this." Bella said through clenched teeth using the only weapon in her arsenal that she had; Katherine's unending obsession with her brother.
"Oh, I don't know." Katherine purred now, hovering the knife over Bella's chest before tracing lines with it over her shirt, scratching but never breaking skin. "He can always be compelled to love me."
"So that's your big win." Bella chuckled drily, ever mindful of the knife. " Compelled love? Beggars can't be choosers…is that it?" Bella spewed as vicious sounding as she could make her terror filled voice. Her stark horror was sobering. "How pathetic is that?"
It was at that moment when Katherine was at her most angered that Bonnie, Elena and Rosalie burst through the doors.
"What the fuck!" Rosalie exclaimed when faced with the scene before her.
"I guess we're going with Plan B then." Katherine smiled wryly seeing she way outnumbered. She knew about the witch and what she could do…even if her power was weak, it migh still be enough to stop her. That's why there were Plan B's after all.
"Now, Bonnie!" Elena called out.
Bonnie didn't hesitate to use her powers. Summoning her strength, she mentally pushed at Katherine causing her excruciating pain giving her no alternative than to let Bella go to clutch at her skull. But the damage was already done. Katherine had already stabbed Bella so quickly in a blur that no one even knew what was happening until the deed was done.
In slow motion, they watched Bella slump to the floor in a broken heap. Bonnie drew her powers back in immediately as she stared in shock at the blood pooling around Bella's body. Their moment of shock was just the small fraction of a moment that Katherine needed to blur out the door, bloody knife in hand.
Everything appeared to happen so swiftly after that. Alice felt the venom rise involuntarily to her throat and willed it back down but she knew Rosalie didn't have the strength she did. She lunged at Rosalie, locking her arms around her just as she was about to pounce forward. The smell of Bella's blood was provocatively overwhelming.
Elena ran towards Bella, dropping down to her knees. Bonnie removed her jacket and handed it to her so she could use it to compress against the wound while Bonnie sat behind Bella and elevated her head onto her legs.
'We need to get her to a hospital." Bonnie said as she pulled out her phone to dial 911, soothing Bella's hair back with her other hand. She was growing paler by the second.
Caroline stopped her with a sad shake of her head. "It's too late for that. She'll die before they get here."
"We have to do something." Alice cried out in a desperation fueled voice. Her visions were coming fast and furious now. If Bella died, the prophecy would come true…it would be the destruction of them all. And Edward…oh she could see him being ripped apart by the Volturi and yet as painful as that would be, it was no match for the utter torment and devastation he would feel from the moment he found out she died.
"How are you doing Caroline…with the blood?" Elena asked her.
Caroline inhaled to test herself and nodded. "Good...I'm okay. I still have the tequila in my system so no worries."
"Do it then," Bonnie leveled at stare at Caroline. She knew her friend would figure out immediately what she was demanding. There was too much riding on Bella staying alive to have her die now.
If Caroline was shocked, she didn't allow it to show. She nodded once and quickly bit into her wrist. She rushed over to Bella. Trying to ignore the painful whimpers coming from her, she held her wrist to Bella's mouth. Bella thrashed. The smell of rust and salt from the blood invaded her nostrils nauseating her more than the tequila had.
"What the hell are you doing to her?" Rosalie shouted out nearly pulling herself from Alice's iron grip.
"I'm trying to heal her damn it." Caroline shot back as Bonnie tried to hold Bella's head still. She immediately regretted her harsh tone but there was no time to use sugarcoating and damn it, her nerves were seriously shot. "C'mon Bella. Just a few sips then you'll be all better. I promise." She pleaded to her new friend who was bleeding out before her eyes.
"It's okay Rose. It'll work. I can see it." Alice tried to reassure Rosalie. "Why don't we wait outside?" She added knowing there wasn't much longer she could keep Rose in check. The smell of the blood was getting to her as well in the enclosed space. Besides, now that this crisis would be averted, they had to go stall another one…one that would be showing up really soon.
Rosalie hesitantly conceded. "If I ever see that bitch again…" She snarled. Like it or not, Bella was family now and no one touched her family and got away with it.
"You'll have to wait in line." Bonnie told her solemnly with a dangerous edge to her voice before Alice led Rose out the door.
"Bella, you must drink it. It's the only way." Elena pleaded, turning her attention back to Bella. The blood was flowing so steadily that she was having trouble keeping up the pressure. The jacket Bonnie gave her as well as her own hands were soaked with the red, life giving liquid. There wasn't much time left. Now they had to play dirty. "Bonnie, hold her mouth open. Caroline, you force feed her if you have to."
Bella didn't want to die and couldn't figure out why she had been fighting them so much (though it could probably be explained by the smell of blood in her nose, the taste of vomit still on her tongue and the tequila that probably was still in her system) Was it totally crazy that she'd rather die because she didn't want to be sick? She had to still be drunk…yes, that was it. Some vampire you'll turn out to be, Bella, if you can't even tolerate the smell of blood without wanting to puke your guts out, she thought to herself. Saying the words out loud to get her friends to smile through their concerned looks would cost too much energy and she was running on fumes now.
She could feel her consciousness starting to slip away…the threads that were keeping her tethered to life were fraying….snapping…breaking. Edward, she thought. She couldn't allow him to suffer needlessly, not after all they'd been through. Bella went slack.
All of the fight left her and she gave Caroline a tired nod. It was then that Caroline was able to let her blood run in small rivulets into her mouth while Bonnie helped coax her throat to swallow. Elena stopped the pressure and slowly lifted up Bella's shirt, offering a fervent prayer that they had reacted in time.
"It's working!" Elena exclaimed joyfully, beaming at her friends.
The wound, which was deceivingly small but inches deep, started to close; whatever muscles, organs and skin were damaged began to slowly knit together until no more blood flowed. Left in it's place was an angry red scar that would probably diminish within a few hours.
Across town a very nerve wracked Edward kept trying to dial Bella over and over again; each time getting sent straight to voice mail. When contacting Bella didn't work, he tried Alice and Rosalie. Receiving the same response; he was tempted to toss the phone in his aggrieved state but it was his only lifeline to Bella.
"Is anyone picking up?" He asked to everyone and no one in particular.
Stefan, who was trying with no success to call Elena, Bonnie and Caroline's numbers, shook his head with a telling frown, his ear still attached to the phone.
"Something is very wrong." Edward stated feeling too crowded in; the walls making him feel trapped and claustrophobic. He shoved his shaking fingers into his hair wanting to pull it out from the roots in sheer frustration.
"Too coin a modern term…aren't you Captain Obvious?" Came Elijah's dry observation as he flicked a piece of lint from his shirt.
The words could have been read from Damon's own playbook and he probably would have voiced them himself if he was able to form a coherent sentence. That particular talent failed him the moment Caroline hung up on Edward. Panic seized him in it's fettering grip effectively erasing all rational thought as his mind flashed 'danger' in bold red neon. Isabella and Elena were in dire trouble and he wasn't there to protect them. That scared the hell out of him.
It was decided in the end that Edward, Damon, Stefan and Carlisle would go to the Mystic Grill while Jasper, Emmett, Esme and Elijah (for undisclosed reasons of his own) would stay behind. In truth, Elijah had no desire to face Klaus head on just yet. He wanted to wait until his brother was weakened before he could strike. He couldn't take the chance of being beaten. He still had a story yet to tell.
There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief in the car when they had spotted Alice and Rosalie standing outside by the curb; that is until they saw the false smiles pasted on their faces which were severely contradicted by shifting, worried glances that told a completely different story.
Edward concentrated intently, trying to focus on their thoughts and emitted a deep growl from the bowels of his chest. They were blocking him.
"What's going on, Edward?" Carlisle asked him. What are they thinking?
"They're hiding their thoughts." He told them all, his jaw clenched so tightly he was surprised it hadn't shattered. "Alice is reciting a list of her favorite designers and Rose is giving step by step instructions on how to assemble a car engine in Portuguese."
Damon and Edward flew out of the car running before Stefan had even made a full stop. To anyone that was a witness, it was clear that these two were in no mood to play games.
Alice held her hand up. "Before you go all alpha male, I want to let you know that everything is alright now."
"Now? What happened before?" Damon asked suspiciously. He knew by the way the little elf wouldn't meet his eyes that she was hiding something and it was big. "Where are the others?"
"Why did Caroline hang up on me?" Edward asked frantically as he added to Damon's barrage of questions.
"We're fine...everything's totally and completely fine." Caroline called out to them. Both her and Bonnie were supporting a still unconscious Bella between them as they half carried, half walked her out of the restaurant. Elena was following quickly behind carrying Bella's pocketbook. They had managed to hide her bloodstained clothes with her long jacket. It had taken Elena awhile to wash all the blood form her hands and arms.
At first glance, the way her head lolled to the side and the way she was supported, it looked like Bella had imbibed way past her already low alcohol limit. Damon relaxed a moment, thinking maybe and probably Bella had gotten sick and all of this racing around in a panic like proverbial chickens without a head was all for naught.
The sweet, alluring smell of Bella's blood enveloped Edward immediately as a slight breeze flowed around him. He hissed angrily. Venom pooled in his mouth but he swallowed it back down past the painful lump in his throat. Edward advanced dangerously, his fists clenched at his sides.
"Why do I smell Bella's blood?" His voice was so low it was nearly a growl. Carlisle placed a restraining hand on Edward's shoulder. It didn't take long for the others to catch the distinct scent as well.
Be careful, Edward...the blood. Carlisle's worried thoughts invaded Edward's already crowded mind. He shook Carlisle off. "I'm fine Carlisle." And he was. It wasn't the smell of Bella's blood that had him in such a state, it was the fact that she was obviously injured.
"There was an incident..." Elena thought it might be best of she were the one to explain. "with Katherine." She added with a gulp as she braced for the verbal explosion.
"Katherine!" Stefan shouted. "What did she do to her?"
"Where is she? I'll kill her." Damon was poised to fight. His eyes narrowed to slits as he looked around expecting Katherine to pop out of the shadows at any moment.
"Katherine's gone...for now." Elena assured him.
"Bella's fine." Bonnie reiterated Caroline's earlier point. "I think it would be more prudent if we took this discussion back to the house. There are too many eyes here."
"Where is she hurt? I want to see." Edward's only thoughts were Bella. She looked too pale and it frightened him that through all this, she had remained silent and too still. He didn't trust the empty platitudes from the other girls that she was fine. She was clearly not fine...not if she smelled of freshly flowed blood (and judging by the potency, there was quite a lot of it) and not if she looked like this...as if all the life was drained out of her. His only consolation was the steady beat of her heart. It was the sweetest sound he ever heard...a virtual symphony to his ears. He concentrated on that to calm him.
"Bonnie's right, Edward." Carlisle said. "We'll do this back at the house. They say she is fine we have to believe them."
Edward gave a terse nod.
"I want to know everything!" Damon told the girls unable to hide his rancor, not that he wanted to. He knew how Katherine operated. The fact that Bella was hurt, that her blood had been shed unnerved him. He could have lost her again.
Katherine entered the secluded farmhouse knowing she had failed in her mission but hopefully she had a good enough consolation prize. Klaus' guards let her pass with a snicker. She cast them her most imperial glare and sauntered past them.
"Failure does not look good on you Katerina." Klaus taunted from a dark corner behind her.
She whirled around and watched him stalk forward, his face slowly coming out of the shadows, casting it in an almost demonic glow. She suppressed the shiver of fear and tilted up her chin.
"Who said I failed?" She retorted back.
He looked around him and held his arms out in question. "I don't see the girl...unless she's hiding on you somewhere. Shall I look?" he chuckled.
"You didn't tell me she had cold ones with her...protecting her." That had been something she didn't expect. The Cullens had left the girl...abandoned her. She knew that. That's what Victoria had told her.
"Ah, but Katerina, you have in the past proven yourself very resourceful if memory serves. I didn't think a little thing like that would deter you from your task."
Katherine wanted nothing more than to stab him with the bloodied knife she had but she couldn't...not while she was under his compulsion. "I wasn't wholly unsuccessful." She told him.
Klaus raised his eyebrow, clearly intrigued and laughed as if what she just said was the most amusing thing in the world. "I should have known you had another trick up your sleeve."
She pulled out the knife she had used on Bella, her blood still wet and gleaming red on the shaft of the blade. "The next best thing...her blood."
The Original hissed. "If she is who you say...she is not supposed to die...yet."
Katherine rolled her eyes. "She is who I say. And don't worry. She isn't dead. The vapid blonde vamp would have healed her in time."
"It seems I haven't given you enough credit." Klaus smiled with malice. "Greta, we're ready to start now." Klaus clapped his hands twice to summon the witch.
Greta came from one of the other rooms wearing naught but a flowing white robe, her curly hair hung loose about her shoulders. Katherine nearly gagged from the implications of this little display.
"The knife, if you please." Klaus held his hand out. "Handle side first." He reminded her with a smirk.
"Of course." Katherine said through her teeth as she placed the handle in the palm of his hand.
He laid it on the table next to a small glass dish that Greta had placed there. Revealing a small knife of her own, Greta took Klaus' hand in hers. She looked at his questioningly and he nodded in response. Taking his hand, palm side up in her own, she quickly sliced through his skin and held it over the dish so the bottom of it became saturated with his blood. Then taking the other knife, the one with Bella's blood, Greta held the blade over the dish, letting the blood slowly trickle down to mix with Klaus' blood. It sizzled and boiled on contact, turning the blood black at first before transforming to ash.
Klaus glanced at Katherine in surprise. "It seems you were right. My apologies." He gave her a mocking bow.
"I told you." Katherine gave a smirking rejoinder as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Yes, you did." He said as he advanced on her slowly.
Katherine was suddenly nervous at the malicious intent in his eyes. She backed up, never taking her eyes off of his until she felt a wall against her back. Klaus removed a stake from his sleeve, passing it back and forth between his hands.
"You...you have your proof." She told him. "She is the one from the prophecy."
"Yes, she is. Thank you for that." He was still playing with the stake, watching her wince as he twirled it expertly like a baton.
"You promised to let me go." Katherine reminded him.
"Yes, I did." He stopped his antics with the stake and swiftly held it to her throat, letting it trail down the front of her body, so slowly it could be mistaken for a seductive caress...if it wasn't with an object that could kill her. "I'll let you go...straight to hell." He said viciously plunging the stake in her heart.
Katherine screamed, her body fighting to close in on itself but Klaus' strength holding her prevented her from moving. She was dying. He knew it and she knew it. "I'm doing you a favor, you know." He told her casually as he watched the life fade from her eyes and her skin turn gray and cracked. "I had so many great plans to torture you for your betrayal that you would be begging me to kill you. This way is so much kinder, don't you think?" He didn't expect an answer as he twisted the stake cruelly one last time.
Letting go, he watched her fall to a heap onto the floor, dead. The look of shock would be forever etched into her dead features.
Smoothing his sleeves, he turned to his guards. "Take care of that eyesore, will you."
