March 26th.
"This is nice… the dress suits the style of the pictures."
Leslie complimented Cherith as they stood by the Wickery bridge that slightly misty morning.
Cherith was dressed in a floral print corset dress.
It was a light cream with pink florals and the occasion green, a silky cream corset fixed to the waist tightly and off shouldered in a slightly off bell like design.
It had a criss cross at her chest area, showing some skin and making her boobs appealing yet covered and the gown fell to her thighs in a Cinderella like ball gown flair, though that was attributed to the rather tightened corset.
Her hair was done in a half up and down up do in curls and slight make up though a cherry red lip gloss had been applied to her lips.
She'd then completed the look with a white lace up faux leather stiletto booties that were at least 5 inches and made her all in all look like a badass from the 1800s yet more modern.
Cherith nodded as she twirled, the cold afternoon air billowing and the mist making the scene slightly dark and mysterious, which of course, represented the bridge itself.
The bridge that had taken her parents from her.
She turned and walked towards the edge, holding the handle and staring into the waters.
It looked peaceful… but water itself could be as deceiving as humans were. There was no doubt about that.
"Okay! I'm all set up. Are you ready?"
Amelia grinned, holding her large camera, props already set all around and an assistant nearby to warn them when a car was going to be passing by so it could slow down.
"Sure! At least this let me get excused from school for the whole day… I'm not going to be too irritated I assure you."
Leslie snorted as she took some pictures of her friend.
"I think you're just way too smug this morning because your name came out as part of the prom court."
Cherith smirked as she turned to the bridge again, turning her head slightly and looking more like a natural as the photoshoot began.
Mystic Falls High.
Jeremy walks towards the person he had been looking for as soon as he walked through the doors that morning.
"Hey Stefan!"
He called out to the teenage vampire who was by his lockers.
"Hey…"
Jeremy sighed.
"Look man, Elena's got to let me know if I'm supposed to cover for her. Jenna's cool with the two of you but you guys are pushing it."
Stefan frowned, shaking his head slightly and confused.
"Wait a sec. What are you talking about, Jeremy?"
The younger boy rolled his eyes slightly disgruntled.
He and Cherith were still having their siblings spat and as much as he'd begged her to forgive him, there was still animosity between them and it was driving him mad.
He didn't have time for this shit.
"You and Elena. I'm glad you guys are back together and all, yay!"
He added sarcastically raising a fist.
"But if she's gonna sleep over—"
"Wait, wait…hold on a minute. We're not back together."
That stopped Jeremy as he blinked rapidly, a sinking feeling beginning to grown in his chest.
"What do you mean she didn't stay at your place last night? Are you sure?"
"Yes. I mean I saw her at the party but that was it. She didn't sleep over."
"Cause her bed hadn't been slept in and Mrs. Lockwood said that her car was still in the driveway. I'd have asked Cherith but she's kind of busy today that's why I came to you instead. Where is she then?"
He asked now getting worried and Stefan felt fear claw at his insides at such a scary thought.
Unknown House.
Elena wakes up slightly, finding herself in a slightly wrecked room in God knows where. Her hand and her feet were tied but the male in the room walked over to her, untying her.
He had slightly long hair to the nape of his neck and was dressed in a baggy outfit, looking unharmed but his eyes… they were dangerous.
She has no idea where she was or what was happening and that made her heartbeat pick up, having no idea what this person wanted with her.
"What do you want?"
"Shh."
He whispered slightly, sitting on the sofa she was on and leaning in closely and she leant back, fear in her eyes.
"P-please, I'm hurt."
He smirks.
"I know. Just a taste."
His eyes transforms into that of a vampires and Elena whimpered slightly, trying to bury herself into the sofa as he leaned down to bite her wound.
"Trevor! Control yourself!"
A strong female voice cut him off harshly, yanking him away from Elena who sighed with relief though she was still wary at the presence of another possible vampire.
Trevor groaned, giving her a playful glare.
"Buzzkill."
And with that, he blurs away, leaving Elena with the woman.
She was possibly in her 20s when she was turned, with short spiky brown hair and green eyes.
She was beautiful but had a look on her curious face that said she was absolutely dangerous.
"What do you want with me?"
Elena put on a brave face, trying to ignore her shakes and Rose looked at her like she was the most fascinating yet disgusting thing in the universe.
"My God, you look just like her."
"But I'm not."
Elena tried to convince her, hoping she could see through to the vampire.
"Please, whatever you—"
"Be quiet!"
Elena though, wouldn't listen as she stood up and approached her.
"But I'm not Katherine. My name is Elena Gilbert; you don't have to do this."
"I know who you are, I said be quiet."
Rose glared at her, giving her a warning look in her eyes.
A warning Elena decided to ignore, possibly hoping this vampire wasn't that different from Stefan…
Wrong decision on her part.
"What do you want?"
Rose immediately had enough of her annoyingly whining yet demanding voice and slaps Elena hard across the cheek, making her fly back into the sofa, unconscious.
"I want you to be quiet. You're as annoying as the other one was."
She huffed, turning to walk away.
Mystic Falls High.
Caroline stands in front of Sarah's locker which had a bunch of pictures and candles and flowers arranged on the floor and on the locker itself when Tyler calls out, walking to her.
"Caroline."
"Hey! How are you doing?"
She greeted him slightly nervous. After what Damon had told her about the wolf bite and warning her to stay away from the boy in her presence, she couldn't just forget it.
"Not good."
He sighed.
Not good since the previous night when his eyes had changed colors and something was happening to him.
"How's your mom? My mom said that she was pretty freaked out about everything that happened with Sarah."
Tyler ignored her ramblings and rewarded her with a very serious look.
"How did you know?"
"What do you mean?"
Caroline asked, startled yet nervous.
"About me. How did you know?"
"Know what? That you were upset? I thought I was doing a good thing by covering for you."
Tyler scoffs, not believing her for a second.
"That's not what I am talking about. I saw your face… come to think of it, I saw Cherith's face as well! Does she know what's going on too??"
He prodded and Caroline shook her head, stepping back a bit.
"Look, it was an accident? Okay? And I've got to run just…please don't blame yourself."
She hurries off, leaving Tyler slightly frustrated and quite angry at having his questions dismissed.
He knew she knew something.
Heck! Cherith had always had a smartass look about herself and he wouldn't be surprised that she also knew what was going on.
But he needed to hear it from them dammit!
He gritted his teeth in slight anger, turning to walk away with the hope that he might catch Cherith somewhere around school and confront her.
Unknown House.
Elena groans slightly as she wakes up again. Up the stairs, Rose and Trevor are whispering slightly.
"Did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?"
Trevor asked her with an anticipatory yet scare look on his face and Rose nodded.
"They say he got it."
"Wonderful and what?"
At this point, Elena gets up and slowly walks up the stairs, trying to listen in on their conversation as well as see what could help her out of this.
"So that's it Trevor. He either got it or he didn't. We just have to wait."
"Look, it's not too late. We can leave it here. We don't have to go through with this."
Trevor tried to convince her, fear in his voice as it shook.
"No, Trevor! I'm sick of running!"
"Yeah? Well, running keeps us from dying."
He scoffed back and Rose sighed, a moment of silence passing before she spoke once more, this time, voice soft.
"Elijah's old school. If he accepts our deal, we're free."
Elena who had been trying to escape quietly as the two vampires had their conversation, accidentally steps on a weak board, making it squeak and Rose spots her, making her glare and walk over to the doppelganger who shrank in on herself.
"You! There's nothing around here for miles. If you think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong. Understand?"
Elena swallowed, her stubbornness rearing it's ugly head again.
"Who's Elijah?"
Rose looks at her with a sneer as she forces Elena back into where she'd left her, giving her a look that only promised her doom.
"He's your worst nightmare."
Mystic Falls High.
Stefan walks in, a black duffle bag in his hand.
"Alright, Alaric said we've got to clear out of here within ten minutes. I've got weapons, he stocked me up. Jeremy, have you gotten in touch with Cherith again?"
Bonnie nods, standing with an anxious Jeremy, in front of a desk with a large map on it.
Jeremy shakes his head slightly frustrated.
"No. She's not picking. I think she's still at her shoot. I can't get her still."
Stefan nods and Bonnie turns to Jeremy.
"Are you ready?"
At his nod, she cuts Jeremy on his palm slightly and his blood falls on the map.
After that, Bonnie then concentrates on the map, murmuring and a spell and the begins to merge into one, moving towards Elena's destination.
As soon as it stopped, Bonnie pointed at the map.
"There. She's there."
"That's 300 miles away."
Jeremy said, looking slightly disturbed and Stefan frowned.
"Bonnie. We need a more exact location than that."
"That's as close as I can get."
Jeremy cut in.
"We can always map it, aerial view will show us what's around there, help us narrow down the area."
Stefan nods, moving to grab the duffle bag.
"Perfect. Call me with whatever you find."
"Um… No, no, I'm coming with you!"
Stefan sighs.
"No Jeremy, you're not."
"No, I'm not gonna just sit here. What if she's hurt okay?"
Meanwhile, Bonnie keeps staring at the map, a slight feeling of disappointment brewing in her chest.
As much as she was valuable especially when it came to specific spells with incantations, she knew she was nowhere near the power Cherith possessed and it made her feel like she had a lot to prove.
Feeling something run down her nose, she presses a finger down and spots blood on it, quickly cleaning it off before the others saw.
She would show no weakness.
"What if it's worse? What if she's…?"
"She's not, Jeremy. You two go back to your house just in case. I'll call you the minute I find her."
Jeremy still stood his ground stubbornly.
It would seem stubbornness was indeed a Gilbert family trait after all.
"Well, you can't do this alone."
And just in time, Damon walks in.
"He's not alone. Let's go."
Stefan gave him a look as he grabbed the duffel bag again.
"You're coming with me?"
"It's Elena. Besides… we also have a certain ruby haired brat to pick up. We have no idea what we'll face where we're going. We need the big guns."
Stefan found that he agreed with his brother… and wasn't that alarming?
"Cherry! Your brother's calling again!"
Leslie stared at her friend's phone as they took a couple of pictures by the Mystic Falls bell tower which coincidentally was the last part of Cherith's shoot.
Cherith rolled her eyes by the historic building.
"Yeah well, I don't want to talk to him."
Leslie gave her a look.
"You're too much of a stubborn person Cherry. It might be urgent. This is like… the tenth time—Oh he's calling again. Eleventh!"
Cherith shrugged as Amelia gave her a nod and she walks towards Leslie, gown billowing and making her look beautiful yet dangerous.
"Well if it's urgent, I want nothing to do with it!"
Leslie gave her a serious look.
"What really happened between him and you anyways? You were always so close…"
Cherith frowned, taking her phone and looking at it, watching as the call cut again.
"Yeah well… I guess some things do change…"
She grumbled.
Before Leslie could say any other thing again, the honk of a car turned their attention to a familiar car and Cherith breathed in and out, trying to ignore her want to pulverize the car as the owner walked out with a too bright grin, wiggling his hand in a wave as he walked forward.
"Cherry Berry! Our very own resident model… we've been looking all over for you! You look absolutely beautiful, b-t-w… that means 'by the way' if you didn't know."
He said as he got to them, Stefan jogging over, his face in a frown.
"Oh, and here I thought it meant between—What the hell are you doing here?"
Cherith demanded with sarcasm, folding her arms and this time, Stefan cut in so as not to let Damon anger Cherith into setting him on fire in public.
"Um, Cherith… it's about your sister… can we… talk elsewhere?"
He gave her a look and Cherith knew he didn't want to say anything with Leslie around.
Damon though, walked around her and smiled down at Leslie who blushed red.
"Well I haven't had the chance to meet you before… I'm Damon Salvatore… and what do they call you?"
Before Cherith could shout at him, Leslie moved to shake his hand.
"Leslie Greene."
But as soon as her hand touched his skin, she seemed to shiver slightly and remove her hand and Cherith had the chance to give Damon a look.
"Somebody seems to want their most precious appendage sliced off."
She curled her crimson painted slightly sharp nails up and Damon seemed to grow pale as he took a visible step away from Leslie.
"Cherith…"
Stefan gave her a pleading look and she sighed, groaning and turning to Leslie.
"I'll be right back Les…"
She followed the brothers to stand by the car and glared at the both of them.
"I was prepared to go back to ignoring you two like I've always done. What's the problem?"
"Elena's missing."
Was what came out of Damon's mouth immediately and Cherith's eyebrows raised up.
"…Excuse me?"
She asked blankly and the brothers saw how her usually bright amethyst eyes darkened.
"She never made it back to your house last night and she wasn't with me. Jeremy thought she spent the night with me but… she didn't."
Cherith's right eye twitched slightly and she gritted her teeth.
"You mean to tell me…"
She began calmly.
"That Elena's been kidnapped… and taken… by some very pitiful person who badly wants to die?"
She finished, still calm but her eye color was now mixed with crimson and Stefan nodded.
"Yes. We need your help to go get her back."
"No need to ask, I'm coming. Nobody kidnaps my siblings except I tell them to!"
She snarls slightly, walking off to tell Leslie and Amelia that she had somewhere to be.
Damon turns to his brother.
"I still feel like one day she's going to explode, or is it just me?"
Stefan gave him a look and entered the passenger seat.
He couldn't bear to agree with his brother for the second time that day.
It was too much for him to handle.
On the road…
Cherith speaks to Jeremy on the phone as the Salvatore brothers talk amongst each other while going through the duffel bag filled with weapons given to them by Alaric.
"Yeah sure… I'll call you back."
She mumbled slightly and cut the call, a small frown on her face.
"I cannot believe Elena got her ass kidnapped. But should I even be surprised?! She's so annoying she may have back talked some mafia dude without even knowing it!"
Damon snorts at the driver's seat and Stefan spoke up.
"It could be someone from Katherine's past. They probably thought she was Katherine or something."
"Or they knew she was human and got fascinated. Katherine truly was a bitch."
Damon added and Stefan turns to his brother.
"Thanks for coming with me."
Damon groans.
"Can we not do the whole road trip bonding thing? The cliché of it all makes me itch. And Cherith's in the car, I don't need her using something she learns from you to mock me again. She already mocks my birth enough as it is."
Cherith relaxes into the car, though anxiety built up in her and her magic swirled with unrest.
"Please, don't mind me. Spill your hearts away."
"We both know that you being in this car has absolutely nothing to do with me anyway."
Damon rolled his eyes, hands tightening tightly against the wheels as Cherith ignored them both, still feeling anxious, staring at her shiny crimson sharp nails.
"The elephant in the room lets out a mighty roar."
Cherith snorts at Damon's sentence, slightly unamused and Stefan shrugged.
"Well, it doesn't have to be an elephant. Let's talk about it."
"There's nothing to talk about. And I'm not having this conversation when there's a third party in the car."
"I'd be offended but then again I'm just disgusted with the conversation as well so…"
Her eyes glowed crimson and with a little turn of her hand, a red shield divided her from them, startling the brothers as Stefan turned in his seat, staring at the bright and glowing crimson wall as the magic in the wall seemed to be moving in patterns and Damon watched through the mirror.
"Sure hope it leaves no mark on my car."
Stefan turned back and looked at his brother again.
"Okay, just get it out now."
Stefan continued again and Damon groaned, wishing the drive would end soon enough.
"I mean, are you in this car because you want to help your little brother save the girl that he loves? Or is it because you love her too? Hmm? I mean come on, express yourself. I happen to like road trip bonding."
He joked and Damon's face hardened slightly.
"Keep it up, Stefan. I can step out of helping as easily as I stepped in."
"No, you see that's the beauty of it. You can't."
At that point, Cherith groaned, removing the shield and glaring at Damon through the mirror.
"Are we bloody there yet?!"
Damon smirked.
"No. And… bloody? Where did that come from?"
Cherith rolled her eyes.
"I'm half British, it was bound to slip out one day. Also, I'm trying to get an English accent so…"
Damon's eyes brightened.
"So that's why you're planning to school in Oxford hm?"
Cherith and Stefan blinked at his in surprise, both for different reasons, as Stefan turns to the red haired.
"Oxford? You're schooling there??"
Cherith waved him off.
"It's more than that. And how do you even know I'm schooling there?!"
Even Stefan was curious.
"You weren't exactly hiding it when you were discussing it with Alaric last full moon before we went to Duke."
"Ah…"
Cherith nodded and shrugged, looking away and Stefan turned slightly.
"So you're moving huh?"
"It's more than that and I'm not ready to talk about it yet."
"Does Elena know?"
He asked her again and Cherith glared at him.
"I'm sorry what does Elena have to do with me?"
Damon scoffed.
"She's your sister, in case you've forgotten."
Cherith scoffed.
"I'm glad you understand. Because she's my sister, not me… so ask a more important question."
Stefan sighed.
"Cherith—"
"She's not my freaking mother Stefan! Now change the conversation or I swear I'll do damage to this car!"
"Whoa! Calm down she-hulk! Attack Stefan or something, he's the one getting on your nerves."
Stefan gives him a look as he turns back to the front and it was quiet again, before Damon broke it.
"So! Last night we had a conversation with Katherine's little witchy friend and you came up in the conversation."
Cherith looked at him through the front mirror.
"What'd she say?"
"Oh, nothing much, just that you were involved in some of sort of a myth?"
Cherith sighed, inwardly cussing out at Lucy in her mind.
"Something tells me that you know something."
Cherith shrugged.
"I know a lot of things, Stefan. It's nothing new."
Damon snorts.
"Especially how you might not be completely human? Really, how the hell have you been hiding all this stuff anyways?"
Cherith sneered at him.
"Easy. I don't blabber my mouth to just anybody. You gotta keep things to yourself especially when you can use it against people in the future."
Damon wrinkled his nose slightly.
"You sound just like Katherine."
She raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him.
"Is that supposed to be an insult or…??"
"Speaking of Katherine…"
Stefan spoke up.
"What did the stone do to her? I heard you did something to the stone as well."
A slightly creepy smile grew across Cherith's face.
"You know… sometimes nightmares can take the form of reality. Make you believe you're actually going through something… something terrifying, when in fact, it's all in your head."
She chuckled into her mouth.
"But, what do I know!"
She laughed out, seemingly lost in her imagination and Stefan and Damon exchanged disturbed looks, preferring not to say anything again.
They were almost at their destination anyways.
Gilbert Residence.
Jeremy is on his bed, searching for the possible location where Elena was being held at when Bonnie walked towards his desk with her bag.
"Alaric just left with Jenna."
Jeremy nods, eyes still on his phone.
"He's getting her out of the house for a while so she doesn't ask questions about Elena. Look. I pulled this up based on that spot on the map."
He shows her his phone where a house was pinpointed, practically in the middle of nowhere.
"There's nothing for miles except for this old house."
Bonnie nods.
"Did you send it to Stefan?"
"Yeah."
He then sighs, looking slightly down.
"I hate sitting here, waiting like this."
"Hey, she's gonna be fine."
Jeremy shakes his head.
"You don't know that. Everything's just not going the way I want it to. And then there's Cherry who isn't talking to me and I know it's my fault but…"
He sighs.
"So yeah… I don't know if Elena's even fine."
Bonnie looks at him, sympathy in her eyes before she remembered something.
"No we don't know but…"
She quickly gets up from the bed and rushes over to her handbag, taking out her grimoire and goes back to Jeremy's bed with it.
"What are you doing?"
He asks her as she begins brushing through pages, looking for a spell as Jeremy is fascinated with the writings. She grabs a simple notebook as well, tearing out a page.
"There's something else I want to try."
She then looks at him.
"I need a candle. Grab Elena's hairbrush."
Jeremy nods, rushing off.
"Okay, yeah."
As he leaves, Bonnie takes a paper and writes something on it.
Stefan, Damon and Cherith are coming for you.—B
Jeremy comes back to the room with Elena's hairbrush and a candle, handing it to Bonnie and lighting up the candle.
"What's all this stuff for?"
"I know it's crazy but I might be able to get her a message."
She crumples the paper and holds it in her hand above the candle and opens up her palm.
Closing her eyes, she begins to cast a spell.
Jeremy watches her quite fascinated, especially since Cherry had no grimoire so he hadn't exactly been able to see her cast spells like this.
She really wasn't a normal witch hunh?
Suddenly, a frown grows on his face as a trail of blood goes down Bonnie's nose and he sat up alert.
"Bonnie? Bonnie!"
But she begins to whimper, more blood pouring down her nose and down her lips, alarming Jeremy even more as he moves to hold her whimpering self.
"Bonnie!"
Suddenly, the paper burns up into the air and vanishes and she opens her eyes, sighing slightly.
"Bonnie, ar—are you okay?"
He whispered to her but she only gives him a small smile before she falls backwards on the bed and blacks out.
"Fuck!!"
Jeremy moves to rouse her with a shake but she doesn't budge.
"Bonnie! Bonnie!"
Unknown Mansion.
"Why am I here?"
Elena demanded again as Rose moved to block some parts of the windows with planks so as to reduce the amount of sunlight radiating into the room.
"How cute of you. You keep asking me these questions like I'm gonna answer them."
"Well, why won't you? You got me, okay? It's not like I can go anywhere. The least you can do is tell me what you want with me."
Rose scoffed, turning to Elena with an amused look.
"I personally want absolutely nothing to do with you. I'm just a delivery service."
Elena frowned, walking closer to Rose.
"Delivery to who? Elijah?"
Rose smirked.
"Two points to the eavesdropper."
"Who is he? Is he a vampire?"
"He's one of THE vampires, the originals. The most powerful ones."
Elena looked at her confused.
"What do you mean the originals?"
Rose sighed.
"Again with the questions. Haven't the Salvatores been teaching you your vampire history?"
Elena's eyes widened at the mention of the name.
"So you know Stefan and Damon?"
Rose shrugged.
"I know of them. A hundred years back, a friend of mine tried to set me up with Stefan. She said he was one of the good ones. I'm more of a sucker for the bad boys though but I digress."
"Who are the originals?"
At that question, Rise turned to Elena, giving her a serious look.
"Trevor and I have been running for 500 years. We're tired, we want it over. We're using you to negotiate ourselves out of an old mess."
"But why me? What exactly do I have to do with these… originals?"
"I'd have thought you'd use your brain on this one. Because you're a Petrova Doppelgänger. You're the key to breaking the curse."
Elena's heartbeat quickened at the mention of a curse.
"The curse? The sun and the moon curse?"
"Oh, you do know your history."
"What do you mean I'm the key? The moonstone is what breaks the curse."
"No, the moonstone is what binds the curse. The sacrifice is what breaks it."
"The sacrifice?"
Rose smirked as she moved to stand in front of the frail human.
"The blood of the doppelgänger. You're the doppelgänger. Which means, in order to break the curse you're the one who has to die. And no one is going to get in their way of that."
Elena gulped slightly, fear enveloping her whole body at once.
Gilbert Residence.
"Here, drink this."
Jeremy walks back into his room with a glass of water in hand, giving it to a now awake Bonnie who graciously took it with a sip.
"Thanks."
As he sits back down on his bed, he looks at her, a confused yet concerned look on his face.
"What happened? You scared the hell out of me."
She looked away.
"It's nothing."
"It wasn't nothing, Bonnie."
"I've been doing a lot of magic lately. It wears me down."
Jeremy scoffs slightly.
"When I'm worn down, I take a nap. You were…you were unconscious."
Bonnie shrugs.
"Witchcraft has its limits. If I push too hard, it pushes back."
"How do you know all this?"
Bonnie points towards the grimoire on the bed.
"It's all in here; it's like a reminder that I'm not invincible. Please…don't…don't tell anyone."
"Why not?"
"Because it's a weakness and I don't want certain people to know that."
He nods before giving her a look.
"By certain people, you mean Damon."
"I mean anyone that can hurt me."
He nod understandingly.
"I won't tell anyone, okay? I promise."
She nods with relief before taking another small sip of water and speaking up again.
"It's hard, you know? My grams is gone and my dad, he doesn't want to know about what I am. He hasn't since my mom left. I'm all alone in this."
Jeremy sighed, thinking of his own messed up family, especially Cherry who seemed inclined to not have anything to do with him.
"Honestly… It's how I feel a lot of the time, alone."
They stare at each other, a feeling of understanding going between them before he remembered something else.
"You mentioned witches having a sort of… limit, shall I say… but, I haven't ever seen Cherry go through an exhaustion like you have."
Bonnie frowned.
"Really? Well… maybe she just hasn't done something that takes a lot of her energy or something."
Jeremy shook his head at that.
"No, Bonnie I can assure you she uses magic in droves. I'm not a witch or a warlock or whatever but even sometimes I feel her magic in the air, even when she isn't using it. And she does a lot of spectacular things too… in fact… I have this feeling that… she doesn't have a limit."
He admitted softly and Bonnie swallowed slightly at that, wondering exactly what differentiated Cherry from her.
It made her quite jealous of the girl but… Bonnie's only opportunity to get just as good was to keep practicing and expanding her limit.
It was the only way it seemed… and she now had something or someone to push her to break her own limit.
Unknown Mansion.
Elena sits on the couch, mind still on her conversation with Trevor and Rose.
So everything seemed to boil down from Katherine again.
She didn't want to be a sacrifice.
It was a scary thing to think of. She didn't want to die.
As she moved slightly, she felt a crinkle of paper under her feet and moved to grab it, opening to read.
A grin of relief grew on her face.
They were coming for her.
On the road.
Cherith played music with her phone, headset covering her ears and ignoring the two brothers talking when Stefan waved at her to gain her attention and she turned to him, pausing her music.
"We're almost there. You should get ready."
Cherith nodded and went back to her phone.
It was the only thing stopping her from actually going berserk… also, this feeling in her heart told her that she'd know if Elena or Jeremy died. She just… had that feeling…
And she wasn't getting the feeling, so she at least knew that Elena was still alive.
It just depended on how alive she was though…
Unknown Mansion.
Rose seems to be packing up as Elena still sat on the sofa, slightly anxious and hoping Stefan, Cherry and Damon would arrive soon, even though she still wasn't happy about her sister joining the rescue party.
"He's here! This was a mistake."
Trevor blurred into the room, fear and anxiousness clearly on his face as he clenched and unclenched his hands and Rose walked up to him.
"No, I told you I would get us out of this. You have to trust me."
"No! He wants me dead, Rose!"
He forced out as he moved from one part of the room to another and their accents becoming more pronounced.
"He wants her more Trevor."
Trevor shook his head.
"No. I can't do this. You give her to him, he'll have mercy on you but I need to get out of here."
Rose blurred to him, holding his hands and making him look her in the eyes.
"Hey! What are we? Look at me. What.Are.We?"
He breathed in and out, trying to calm himself.
"We're family, forever."
She nodded at him and suddenly, the three in the room heard a rather loud and ominous knock on the front door.
Trevor trembled slightly and Rose breathed in and out as they seemed to shiver right to their very bones which Elena noticed.
"You're scared…"
She whispered and the two vampires turn to her for a nanosecond before turning back to each other.
"Trevor, you stay here with her and don't make a sound."
She whispered to him before walking out of the room, leaving a very anxious Trevor behind whose face turned a very pale color as he would soon face someone who'd haunted his very nightmares for over 500 years.
Meanwhile…
The front door of the dilapidated Mansion slowly opened up, and at the door was a young man with dark brown well styled hair and an expensive black suit, a noble aura encasing him.
He looked like someone who'd rather be caught dead than be found near a house so unbefitting of his station.
He looked like someone worthy of dining with kings of old.
And he stood, unmoving.
And he waited.
Rose walked down the stairs as Elijah stared at her, still standing at the front door of the house, a curious look on his face.
"Rose-Marie. Is there somewhere we can talk?"
Rose sighed, slightly shaky at being in the presence of someone who had been a sort of hunter for her for half a millennium.
"Yes, in here. You have to forgive the house."
Elijah smiled patronizingly as he took a step into the house and closed the door behind him.
"Oh, no, what's a little dirt? I completely understand."
He then walked through an open doorway on his left, an invitation for Rose to follow him and she gulped slightly before doing so.
"So tell me, what is it that gives you the courage to call me?"
"I wanted my freedom. I'm tired of running. You in a position to grant me that?"
"I have complete authority to grant pardon to you and your little pet. What is his name these days? Trevor. If I so see fit."
"Katerina Petrova?"
Elijah turned to her, an eyebrow raised and looking rather artistically beautiful.
"I'm listening."
"She didn't burn in the church in 1864."
Elijah hums, walking to sit down in an old yet architecturally beautiful sit, crossing his legs.
"Continue."
"She survived."
"Where is she?"
Rose paused, looking at the original in front of her, eyes narrowing slightly as she came to a conclusion.
"You don't seem surprised by this."
Elijah gave her an unimpressed look.
"Oh, when you called and invited me into this armpit of civilization, which is a mere three hours from the town we know as Mystic Falls, I surmised it had everything to do with Katerina. Do you have her in your possession?"
He questioned and Rose shook her head, getting back to the main reason she had called him in the first place.
"No, but I have better."
She told him with a small smirk, her confidence rising once more as she walked closer to him.
"I have her doppelgänger."
Elijah scoffed softly, not believing Rose one bit.
"That's impossible, her family line ended with her. I know that for fact."
"The facts are wrong."
Elijah leaned forward in his seat.
"Well, show her to me."
"Elijah, you are a man of honor, you should be trusted but I want to hear you say it again."
A look of amusement appeared on his face before it went away and he answered her with a solemn look.
"You have my word that I will pardon you."
Rose looked at him carefully before nodding.
"Follow me."
She walks through another passageway.
He follows her and they arrive at the main room where Elena is pacing around shakily, crumpled paper in hand, trying to find comfort in it.
She turns when she hears them and that gives Elijah the chance to see her clearly and he's left looking surprised.
In a blur, he's suddenly standing right in front of Elena who whimpers slightly, tears in her eyes as he stares her down, ignoring Trevor's look of fear behind and Rose's anticipatory look.
The original leans down and into Elena's neck who's petrified as she stands stiff against him and he inhales before stepping back, looking at her again.
"Human. It's impossible."
A small smile grows on his face as he watches the quivering girl child in front of him and gives her a small nod.
"Hello there."
Elena almost faints then and there.
Damon stops the car not too far off from the house and the three step out, Cherith stretching a bit and welcoming the pops she heard.
Stefan grabs the black duffel bag and slinks it over his shoulders and Cherith looked around, finding solace in the quiet of the area, only trees and open air all around.
Solace.
"The house should be just beyond those trees."
Damon pointed and Stefan nods, walking towards the destination, Cherith right behind him when the dark haired vampire stops them.
"Woah. Wait, I got a lot more experience than you do with those sorts of things."
Stefan stops, turning to his brother and Cherith's hands form fists as her agitation builds up.
"What is your point?"
"My point is, brother of mine, that whoever has Elena is probably who was after Katherine in 1864 and before that."
"And?"
Cherith mentally cheered Stefan at his answer.
"And it puts them at 500 years old and strong. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yeah, I'm certain I want to do it."
"Because if we go in that house, we may not come back out."
Damon warns again and Cherith looks at him weirdly.
Sometimes it was odd understanding what was really going on with the darker haired brother and Cherith wasn't so sure she wanted to go around sniffing in his brain.
Probably the worst place to find yourself in.
Stefan shrugged.
"Alright, then I won't come out."
Damon scoffed.
"So noble, Stefan."
Cherith though, had already had enough of their slowing down and she gritted her teeth, stomping over to them.
"I don't fucking care what you guys are humping on about and Elena might be the worst sister in this entire universe but I won't wait around for you stupid asses to settle your fucking alpha male behavior, so if you're done growling like cavemen, let's fucking get to it!"
She snarled at the both of them, crimson eyes shining through and Damon steps back slightly, knowing she was already on her last nerves and he nods.
"Fine then."
She looks at the two brothers with icy looks and nods.
"Good."
With that, she stomps through the trees and shouting out at them.
"You know the plan already. I'll storm through the front door."
Stefan turns to walk off but not before speaking to his brother again.
"I can't think of a better reason to die, but if you want to stay here, I'll totally understand."
With that, he blurs off and past Cherith, Damon watching for a second before doing the same.
Meanwhile…
Elijah looks down at Elena's neck, spotting a necklace and the smell of vervain surrounding it.
"What is this vervain doing around your neck?"
Immediately, he pulls the necklace off her neck and throws it away, grabbing her head and looking her deep in the eyes, compelling her.
"Tell me where the moonstone is."
He whispered and she replies in a monotonous voice.
"In the tomb, underneath the church ruins."
"What is it doing there?"
"It's with Katherine."
He smirks.
"Interesting."
Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass from up the stairs startle the three as Elijah let's go of Elena and turning to Rose who was still morning Trevor's recent death.
"What is that?"
"I don't know."
She breathed out and he gave her a cold look.
"Who else is in this house, Rose-Marie?"
Rose shook her head strongly, holding tightly to the staircase.
"I don't know!"
With a slightly frustrated look, he grabs Elena, moving up the stairs with her, Rose going with them and they stand in another part of the house, the front door just behind them.
Stefan and Damon then start blurring around from one room to another, Elijah turning at every sound.
He turns to Rose and pushes Elena into her, so as to be able to attack easily.
"Up here."
The whispered voice of Stefan comes from up the stairs and he blurs up, coming to a stop and turning to Rose who shakes her head again.
"I really don't know who it is."
"Down here."
Damon's voice speaks up this time and as Elijah turns, he receives in stake in his hand.
He looks at it with a slightly exasperated look and yanks it out with such ease, throwing it away as he notices Elena and Rose have disappeared.
"Excuse me!"
He finally called out, his accent reverberating around the very quiet house.
"To whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think that you can beat me."
He walks down the stairs, towards a wooden coat rack.
"You can't. Do you hear that?"
He breaks a wooden coat rack into a stake.
"I repeat, you cannot beat me."
He breaks the coat rack off and turns it into a stake, a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
"So I want the girl... On the count of three, or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?"
He calmly ends it, staring up as he waits for any sign of movement.
Suddenly, Elena appears by the staircase, holding her hands to herself and Elijah turns to her.
"I'll come with you, just please don't my friends, they just wanted to help me out."
He blurs up the stairs with the stake still in hand, eyes narrowed at the Petrova Doppelganger so much like her ancestor in appearance, except perhaps, for her hair.
"Tell me..."
He commanded.
"What game are you playing with me?"
Immediately he said that, Elena's face turns into a determined one as she throws a vervain bomb in his face and it explodes, making him drop the stake as he cries out in pain and anger, holding his head.
Elena falls to the ground, moving against the wall to distance herself from him, but the result expected was not the one gotten, as he raises his head up and she watches as he rapidly heals right before her eyes, leaving a very dangerous original in place.
"You shouldn't have done that."
Was all he said as he walked towards her, but he never reaches as a loud explosion comes from the front door as it's blown completely off it's hinges, startling the original and Elena.
The front door is clouded with dust as Elijah's eyes narrow at the sound of heels clinking against wood and the silhouette of a woman walks through the door.
"So who took my sister…"
Said woman drawled as she came into view and Elijah realized she wasn't a woman. She was instead a young lady, and a startlingly beautiful one at that.
She had ruby red wavy hair and was dressed quite distinguished, compared to the Petrova by his side.
"Cherry…"
Elena gasped out, slowly getting up to her feet and Cherith's eyes dimmed at the way her sister looked.
She might have loved to make fun of Elena and shut her down when she was being too stupid, but no one else was allowed to do that but her.
Her eyes slid to the man at the stairs, dressed in an impeccable suit and her eyes narrowed.
"You look important enough that it had to be you."
She snarked at him.
"And I hate when I'm forced to do things… so, step away from my sister or I'll blast you away from this world. Even if you're cute."
She added the last part and Elijah's head tilted slightly.
"And who are you supposed to be?"
He asked and Cherith's eyebrow raised.
"An accent. Even more cute. But…"
Her hands lit up and the air in the room picked up, Elijah's eyes widening at the casual display of magic, hands twitching slightly as if wanting to know more.
"Who am I, you ask?... I'm chaos bitch."
With that, she fires a blast of unexpected bolts at Elijah who grunts as he's thrown against the stairs and rolls down.
Cherith gives Elena a nod and she runs down towards her sister and past Elijah who grunts out in pain as his burnt skin starts to heal a bit slowly.
He's faster though, as his hand catches Elena by the ankle and she falls with a gasp.
Cherith though, wastes no time, marching forward and landing a powerful kick backed with magic with her stiletto boots against Elijah's side and he grunts as he's thrown a few feet away from the sisters.
"Get away from my sister you corpse breath worm!"
Cherith then holds her hand out to Elena to grab as she shouts out.
"Hey Salvatore douchebags, now's your time to shine!"
She hoists her sister up and helps her out of the house and through the destroyed front door, hearing the blur of the brothers and walking out and leaving the rest to them.
She'd done her part.
If they ended up not walking out alive… well… Damon's car was pretty much antique. She could keep it for herself.
"Cherry… Stefan… he's still—"
"Not my problem sister. Unless you can fight with a limp, you're free to run back in and declare your undying love for him. Now though… try and put your family first."
She spat out and Elena kept quiet which was certainly a first for her.
Gilbert Residence.
Jeremy sits on his bed, Bonnie asleep just next to him as he waits for any news from Stefan or Damon or even Cherry.
Not knowing if his sisters were okay was driving him mad.
A feeling of fear had settled in his mind.
He'd tried to look on the brighter side of things, after all, Cherry was with them, and she was the most powerful person he knew.
He scoffed slightly, a small smile on his face.
Who'd have thought in the future he'd ever be saying that about his baby sister.
It made him miss her even more.
Miss how close they were.
He truly hoped they came back safely so they could repair whatever was broken between them… all three of them.
The sound of the door opening and closing brought him out of his thoughts as he perked up.
"Elena? Cherry??"
He called out, moving to stand up from his bed and Bonnie wakes up at the sound of his voice.
The two hear footsteps coming up the stairs and the exchange looks, rushing out the door and spotting Cherith helping an exhausted Elena up the stairs.
Bonnie and Jeremy let out sighs of relief as Bonnie rushes to her best friend, giving her a big hug and Cherith going back down to grab her bag that she'd been carrying around since her shoot.
"Are you okay?"
Jeremy questioned, a worried look on his face and Elena sighed out, nodding with a smile, relief on her own face as well at being able to see her friends and family again.
"I'm okay. I'm okay. And I got your message Bonnie."
She promised Jeremy and Bonnie stepped back, the two exchanging smiles as Cherith walked back up the stairs with her bag and Jeremy takes Elena into his arms, hugging her.
Cherith doesn't look any of them in the eyes, even as Bonnie rubs a hand on her shoulder to tell her well done.
But as she moves past Jeremy and Elena, Jeremy pulls her into a hug startling the girl.
"Oof!"
She mumbled into his chest.
"Hey! A little warning next time you fucking giant!"
She snarked and Elena pulled back, laughing slightly and she and Jeremy pull Cherith into a 3 way hug, the first one the three had had in over a year.
"Yeah yeah… no need to get all emotional on me now. I'm the hero, I get it."
The other two siblings and Bonnie chuckled and Elena draws her siblings tighter to herself, tears falling from not just her eyes, but Jeremy's and Bonnie's too.
Cherith's eyes pricked slightly as she bit her wobbling lip.
Because at the end of the day… the Gilbert siblings might have a lot of animosity towards each other, but there was no doubt that they would always be there for each other.
Through thick and thin.
After all, On the outside, it may look like they'd fallen apart, but as a family, they always stay together in their hearts.
Always and Forever.
Forbes Residence.
Caroline walks out from her kitchen and into her living room with a bottle of scotch and 2 cups in hand, towards Tyler who sat on the edge of a chair.
"You know, this sounds crazy but alcohol helps or at least it helps me. You know, with all that inside jittery stuff."
She tells him as she pours a cup out for him, and he graciously takes it with a sigh.
"I'm hot. It's like my skin is on fire."
Caroline looks at him weirdly.
"Huh. Really? I never had any of that. I guess wolves are different. At the beginning, I was very, very emotional. Everything was heightened."
Tyler nods.
"I have that."
He looks down as Caroline takes a sip of her drink and he looks at her.
"How can you be a vampire?"
Caroline opened her mouth to say something before she closed it and said another thing instead.
"How can you be a werewolf?"
Tyler sighs, standing up and moving to drop the cup on a table, turning back to her.
"Who else is like you?... Cherith?"
He guessed and Caroline frowned, turning to him.
"Cherry? Why would you mention her?"
He shrugged, slightly frustrated.
"I don't know… she always seems to know things… heck I think she knows something, and I think you know that too."
He gives her a look and she bites her lips slightly and shakes her head.
"Look Tyler, it's just me. It's a really long story we can share another time. How many other werewolves are there?"
Tyler shrugs.
"Just me and my uncle Mason but, as you might have heard, he left town."
Caroline drops her drink and walks closely to the new werewolf.
"Look, Tyler...You can't tell anyone, okay? Not about you, not about me. No one will understand."
"I know."
"No, Tyler, I want to tell you about my mom and yours and the founding families and the council but I need you to promise me no one will find out about us. This is life and death, Tyler."
She looked at him carefully, hoping he understood the gravity of the whole situation and he nods again, a sad look on his face.
"I have no one else to tell. I'm sorry about earlier. It's just, I'm alone with this. It's gonna happen to me. On the next full moon, I'm gonna turn and I won't be able to stop it."
His voice broke slightly and Caroline stared at him, sympathy in her eyes.
"I'm scared."
He scoffs out slightly, a defeated look on his face.
"Tyler...No...It's..."
Caroline embraces him and he hugs her back just as tightly, fear in his eyes.
And Caroline wondered who she could tell.
The Salvatore brothers were both a no go area.
Elena was as well.
She had no idea what Bonnie would say or do and their friendship was still a bit on shaky grounds.
Well, there was Cherith…
And from what she'd noticed, she and Tyler had a sort of friendly yet weird relationship going on between them.
She was the one who stood with Caroline as well during the time when she was newly changed. She'd made Caroline proud of herself.
Cherith was sort of a star amongst the darkness that was the supernatural.
Caroline felt she could trust Cherith in this.
She would trust her.
Salvatore Boarding House.
Stefan heads into the library, moving to pour himself a drink when he hears a noise and a vampire blurs past him as he looks up.
Now cautious, he blurs towards a shelf and grabs a stake, looking around with a focused frown on and he calls out.
"Who's there?"
It's quiet for a minute before Rose slowly walks out from her hiding place, out of the shadows and Stefan's hand tightened against the stake.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
She tells him but he doesn't release his grip on the stake, not believing her one bit.
"Why are you here?"
He demands.
"Lexi once told me that you're one of the good ones."
That stopped him as he looks at her curiously.
"You knew Lexi?"
"Trevor was my best friend. For 500 years I have lived with one person and he's gone."
At that, Stefan was idly reminded of his own best friend.
"And I don't want to run anymore, because I don't have anywhere else to run to."
Stefan shrugs.
"Well, I'm sorry but I can't help you."
Rose scoffs slightly.
"I don't need your help but I think you need mine. Elijah may be dead but this isn't over."
"What do you mean 'it's not over'?"
"It isn't over. The originals, they'll come for her. They have to. They're doing it for him."
"For who?"
She stands straight, looking him in the eye and spitting out a name that had hunted her for over five centuries now.
"Klaus."
Unknown Mansion.
It was dark out already.
Elijah is still impaled to the door, head hung and looking absolutely dead.
But suddenly, his head raises up and his face regains its color and he removes the stake from his chest, throwing it on the ground, his mind on two things only.
The doppelganger.
And the little extraordinary witch.
"Curious…"
He whispers to himself as he remembers the crimson mist that surrounded her.
"So very curious…"
With that, he pats at his slightly ruffled suit, looks around the house one last time, and blurs away to parts unknown.
Hey all!!So, we finally introduced Elijah to the fic, and seems like he's quite curious about Cherith already.Thinks she's distinguished... So, who's going to tell him she's distinguished AND a little shit, lol.And sibling time with the Gilberts!It was to be expected, and especially in a scene like that, not knowing what to expect when one of yours has been taken. Jeremy's anxiety and fear was understandable. Having still not been on talking terms with his youngest sister.The 3 siblings might each clash but they're family no matter what.Just like the Mikaelsons.That was one thing that drew me to the Mikaelsons in the TVD series. They were one of the worst sorts, no doubt about that, but their love for family triumphed any and all disagreement they may have with each other. Even if Finn had been an idiot at first but that was because he was a freaking Mama's boy and he was carrying the secret and guilt of his twin sister.One thing that has always baffled me in some TVD fanfic is when I see a Gilbert sibling hating Elena so much that they don't mind her dying, especially when she hasn't done anything overly bad except maybe be a freaking Mary Sue or some shit.Regardless of what she's done, they grew up together. But it depends on how they grow up I guess, I mean in some stories, Elena deserves the hate she gets, there's no doubt about that. Some stories make her a real bitch that deserves to be wiped off the earth. Lol.But the thing still stands, especially in this story, no matter how much you wish not to like her if she was your sibling, there's a small part of you that will still care, except maybe when you have no emotions.So… wonder what will happen when that comes in play, hm?...The concept of Cherith's emotions getting KO'd.It would be fun to see, don't you think?And just because the siblings had a little sibling time doesn't mean everything is alright in sibling land again, lol.No.Elena is still a freaking Mary Sue. Jeremy is still going to keep making fucked up decisions and Cherith is still going to be a stubborn bratty little shit that carries a ton of powers.Hope you look forward to the next chapter!!!Purple You!!!!And keep being smooth like butter!!!!