The Curse

The drive back to Mystic Falls seemed longer than the drive up. The tension was worse than when Katherine had been with them. Stefan had refused to acknowledge either James or Alex after they dumped Katherine in an unmarked grave in the cemetery.

After reading the Salvatore brothers history, Alex had assumed that both Stefan and Damon would be relieved that Katherine was dead, especially after everything that had occurred recently between them. Alex and James had been forced to listen as Katherin recounted the story of how she met the boys in 1864, turned them and how they were all reunited. At that moment, Stefan seemed to take great pleasure in telling Katherine how he had preferred it when they had locked her in the tomb. But as Alex looked back at him through the revision mirror, she could see the pain in his eyes.

Alex broke the silence by asking, "Why did you care about Katherine?"

Stefan didn't look at her, he kept his eyes focused outside of the car, but he said, "I don't care about her."

"The look in your eyes tells me otherwise."

Stefan sighed. "Katherine was complicated."

"That's one way of putting it," quipped James.

Stefan looked up and glared at them. "She could be a monster. She enjoyed tormenting innocent people and getting men to fight over her. She turned me into a vampire and has caused years of suffering." He had raised his voice to the point that he was almost yelling. The pain seemed to radiate even more in his eyes. "Tell me how I could love someone like that?"

Alex felt his words like a knife. Love. He loved her. Alex was glad that she had killed Katherine, another vampire dead and one that had almost killed her and James. "I don't know," she said. Alex wasn't sure who to explain it, but she was certain of her actions. "But every reason you have just listed is the reason I killed Katherine. No one else will ever suffer by her hand."

Stefan shook his head but didn't say anything further. His confession of the love he still had for Katherine wasn't as surprising as Alex thought it would be. Compulsion can only push someone so far and sometimes when real feelings are involved, it can be hard to tell what is real and what isn't.

Alex squeezed the steering wheel and sighed with relief as she saw the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign. They were back at last. As they passed it, her phone rang.

"It's Elena," said James.

She took it from him and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, are you almost home?" asked Elena.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, just passed the welcome sign, why?"

"Elijah is in town."

Alex felt her stomach drop. She knew he was coming, but she had hoped they would have more time. She asked, "Did you see him?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Where?"

"In town. Caroline and I had just left the Grill, and he was standing across the street. He disappeared though, I don't know where."

Alex took in a deep breath. "Stay at home. Keep Jeremy and Jenna there too, and don't let either of them answer the door."

"How am I meant to keep Jenna here? She doesn't know everything," Elena asked.

Alex frowned. "Maybe you should share it all. Jenna needs to know that you are being hunted." Really Jenna should have known from the beginning. She was the one who was supposed to take care of them, and she was being kept in the dark.

"I don't know," said Elena.

"Elena, stop trying to protect her. Tell her the truth, or I will when I get there."

"Fine." Elena hung up.

"Nicely handled," snarked Stefan.

"Shut up. If you vampires had stayed out of Mystic Falls, we wouldn't be in this mess." Alex passed her phone to James. Mikael had better get the stake and get to Mystic Falls as quickly as possible. If Elijah was here, then Klaus wouldn't be far behind.

They arrived at the Gilbert Family home not long after. Stefan ran up to the front door and let himself in. Alex paused at the path and turned to James. "They don't know about you," she said.

James shrugged. "That's okay."

"I mean, they know nothing. Not that I'm dating someone or that you were coming to help, they know zero."

James smiled and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. "Relax. I'm your boyfriend, who is also a witch, here to help the woman I love to keep her family safe. That is all they need to know, okay."

Alex took a deep breath and nodded. "Right."

They turned and walked up the path and into the house. Around the kitchen stood the whole group. Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, Damon, Alaric and Jenna. Stefan had joined them and was currently hugging Elena to his chest.

Jenna looked at Alex with a face of anger mixed with concern. "Did you know about all of this?" she asked.

Alex nodded. "Yep."

"You didn't think to tell me before you disappeared?" Jenna pushed off the counter and walked around to stand face to face with her.

"The only reason Elena told you anything is that I told her too. I was busy finding a way to keep her safe," said Alex.

"And did you?" Jenna snapped.

"Yes, I believe so."

Elena stepped out of Stefan's embrace. "You found Mikael?"

"Stefan told you, I see," said Alex.

Elena nodded. "He told me that Katherine knew where a vampire named Mikael was buried; apparently, he has an original vampire killing weapon."

Alex sighed. "That is kind of it. Mikael is an original vampire himself," she said. "He is actually their father."

The group seemed shocked. "So he is Elijah and Klaus' father?" asked Alaric.

Alex nodded. "Yes, except he has spent the past thousand years hunting them down, unsuccessfully. He was until a few hours ago, desiccated in a tomb, and since we released him, he has agreed to help us kill Klaus."

"Where is he then?" asked Damon.

"Gone to get the white oak stake," said James. The group looked at James and they all held the same expression, it said: who are you?

Damon stepped up to him and frowned. "And who are you, Blondie?"

"This is James, my boyfriend and a fellow witch," said Alex.

Damon sneered at him. "Just what we need."

"Damon, be nice," said Elena. She smiled kindly at James. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, her hand stretched out. "Too bad we couldn't meet under better circumstances."

James returned the smile. "Yeah, unfortunate but Alex called and so I'm here."

"So what is the plan exactly?" asked Caroline. "Are we just going to sit around and wait for Mikael to show up, then wait for Klaus and then let them have at it?"

Alex said, "No. Klaus is stronger than his siblings. We will need to make him vulnerable enjoy to kill him, and we need to do it before he breaks the sun and moon curse."

"Why does he even want to break this curse? Being an original, he must have a daylight ring that allows him to walk in the sun. Why would it matter to him?" asked Bonnie.

Alex frowned, and James chuckled.

"What's so funny, Blondie?" snapped Damon.

James smirked. "The sun and the moon curse has nothing to do with vampires walking in daylight or wolves turning on the full moon."

"What?" said Elena.

"The sun and the moon curse is about Klaus, he had a binding spell put on him by the original witch," said James.

"Why did she do that?" asked Caroline.

"Klaus is part werewolf," said James.

The room turned; still, the group all tried to process what James had shared.

"Are you saying the Klaus is a Hybrid?" asked Stefan.

James nodded. "The one and only. This curse makes him less powerful, but if he breaks that curse, he will be unstoppable."

"Rather ingenious, wouldn't you say?" said Alaric.

James frowned. "How so?"

Alaric said, "Klaus needs to find the moonstone and the doppelganger to break his curse, and how do you find something so rare?"

"By making up a story that has everyone looking for it," said Alex.

"Exactly." Alaric smiled.

Alex frowned. That smile was different. She barely knew Alaric, but upon their first meeting, he had been so warm and polite. Alex had felt comfortable standing beside him. But looking at him now something had changed. His demeanour was different, and then smile sent shivers through her.

"Well, we can't do anything till this Mikael guy gets here. I don't know about all of you but I'm exhausted," said Elena.

"I better get home," said Bonnie.

"Met too," said Caroline.

"Bonnie, stay here," said Alex. "I want to go over some steps we will need to take for the upcoming events."

Bonnie just nodded.

Damon disappeared out the door, Caroline just behind him. James stepped into the kitchen and introduced himself to Bonnie. Jenna stepped outside with Alaric, and Elena led Stefan upstairs. Alex turned to Jeremy and she could see many emotions in his eyes. Out of everyone involved, he should be able to forget about all of this. He should be able to live his regular teenage life.

"You okay, Jer?" asked Alex.

He frowned at her. "No." He pushed off the wall and past her.

Alex watched as he stormed up the stairs and a few seconds later he slammed his door.

"Is he okay?" asked James.

Alex sighed and rubbed her arms. "I think he is angry with me. He has learnt a lot today about me and what I've been keeping from them all. I think he is hurt."

"Jeremy feels deeply," said Bonnie. "And he has lost so much. Your parents, then you disappeared, and he has fallen for two girls both who have died in the past year. I don't think it's just you."

Alex nodded. "I'm just the icing on the cake."

Bonnie reached out to take her hand. She squeezed it. "He will be okay, let me go have a chat with him." With one last smile, Bonnie headed upstairs.

James wrapped his arms around Alex and said, "That went well."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Sure, we can go with that."

"Well, nobody died so I think that is a positive." James smiled. "And surprisingly, no vampires were torched. I don't remember the last time I walked into a room with vampires and just let them walk out afterwards."

Alex shooshed him. "There is still a vampire upstairs, I don't want to explain anything more tonight."

"What else have you been keeping from me?"

Alex frowned and turned to face Jenna. Her arms crossed and her express set in a disappointed stare. Alex sighed and pulled away from James, she guessed she would be explaining more than.