The night of the Ritual comes with a whirlwind of preparation. Eloise sends Damon out to find a suitably despicable human being to act as Elena's lifeline - none of them ask what the man Damon drags home has done, it's better not to know - and while they wait the dark haired with carefully prepares the things she'll need for tonight. Klaus contacts her several times during the day, to ensure she's not backing out of the Ritual or as a way to release nervous energy Eloise isn't sure, but she allows the numerous calls and subtle threats for no other reason than she just doesn't care enough to tell Klaus to get bent. Her care is more directed at the hybrid's brother, who messages her multiple times asking when she and Elena would like to be picked up and if she needs anything throughout the day. It's sweet. Eloise smiles widely as she shoves her phone back into her pocket, pointedly ignoring the look Damon is giving her.

Considering he's been making late night kissy-calls to a five-hundred-and-something-year-old vampire hiding out in Nebraska he doesn't have a whole lot of room to be making comments.

Thankfully, Damon seems to be getting along with the two Originals well enough. The occasional snarky remark and biting sarcasm doesn't seem to be angering Klaus as much as Eloise thought it might have and Elena's ensured survival seems to have taken some of the edge off of Damon. They aren't friends in the sense that she and Damon are, but Eloise thinks that maybe the three vampires have a sort of understanding. If nothing else Klaus and Damon are well suited for each other.

With nothing to do until Elijah comes, Eloise makes her way to the study where she grabs a book and settles down on Damon's ridiculously expensive leather couch. The vampire in question pokes his head into the study to see what she's doing before leaving. Eloise is willing to put money on him going off in search of either Elena or Stefan. Probably Elena. But that's not really any of her business is it? Eloise rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the battered First Edition copy of The Great Gatsby.

Daisy Buchanan is a total hoe.

Eloise doesn't mean that in a nice way either. Daisy Buchanan is the worst character in the entire book for the simple fact that she's passive. It's even stated in the book that she's careless. What is it Nick says? Eloise couldn't tell you word-for-word despite her avid love for the book, but she thinks it goes something along the lines of; They were careless people, Tom and Daisy, they smashed things up and left the mess for someone else to bother with while they fell back into their wealth and their comforts. Tom and Gatsby? Eloise understands them. She might not agree with them fully, but she gets them. Daisy? Eloise understands Daisy too. She's a woman too dependent on her Old-Money status to ever leave it behind for a man she could never love more than the bright lights and silks and lavish livings that she's accustomed to. So she spends the rest of the book despising Daisy and pitying Gatsby and aching with the whole Shakespearean tragedy-ness of it all. She hopes that when Tom and Daisy run off to live their picturesque life at the end of the book that karma sucker punches both of them as hard as it can.

"Hey, Eloise?"

The witch snaps the book shut and gives her full attention to Elena, who stands just inside the door looking nervous and scared. She's got on this ratty t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans that look like they've honestly seen better days, her hair is up in a bun. Not exactly her Sunday best but definitely easier to get rid of if Klaus ends up staining it with her blood. Eloise smiles at the younger girl.

"What can I do for you Elena?" She asks, swinging her legs over the side of the couch so she can sit up properly and pat the now empty space beside her.

The doppelganger shuffles over, sits down, and spoke, "I'm scared."

"About the ritual?"

"About not coming back."

"Oh," Eloise puts the book on the short table beside the couch, "don't worry about that, sweetheart, I'm done this plenty of times."

"Bonnie said it's dangerous." Whimpers the pretty doppelganger.

Of course she did, Eloise thinks as she presses her fingers against the inner corners of her eyes.

Turning to face Elena better, Eloise takes both of the younger girl's hands in her own and leans in close to say, "Elena. I promise you that this is going to work. Ok? Bonnie's never done this spell, and without someone important on the line I doubt she'll ever willingly attempt it. I've done this enough times that it doesn't scare me. I've done it for money, because I've been asked, and even sometimes because I'm a selfish asshole and can't leave well enough alone. You're going to be fine."

Elena bites her lips and nods. The older girl decides that when she and Bonnie have a spare minute they'll be discussing what not to say to a clearly terrified teen about to sacrifice herself for the greater good of her whole town. Sure, she isn't wrong! Sometimes witches lose focus and the spell unravels, leaving two dead bodies and no revived family or friends. So while Eloise respects Bonnie for trying to warn her friend about the potential dangers, maybe she should've kept her mouth shut. Because Elena isn't dying. Eloise isn't going to let that happen.

So she smiles and reassures Elena with gentle words and a light hand rubbing small circles against her back, all the while cursing Klaus Mikaelson's hellbitch of a mother for making the Hybrid curse that even lead up to this specific incident. Eloise isn't a comforter. She's not comfortable being the person other people turn to for emotional comforting and gentility. She's more the egg-your-cheating-ex's-house type as opposed to the ice-cream-and-rom-coms-while-letting-you-cry-into-her-hair type. Totally different category of comforting. One involves physical action and therapeutic aggression venting while the other involves tears and the fear of saying the wrong thing. Getting away with egging a toxic ex's house is so much easier than alleviating fear.

The two fall into quiet discussion about the sacrifice and how long it'll take for Elena to revive. Soon enough darkness settles over Mystic Falls, a heavy blanket that keeps most of the town's inhabitants well within their homes. When her phone chimes with a message from Elijah telling them he's on his way, Eloise gently coaxes Elena up and out of the study. Damon and Stefan are waiting by the front door. Elena is quick to go to Stefan while Eloise allows the dark haired brother to help her into her coat. She'll never get enough of that old Southern Boy charm. You just don't see it as much in Chicago... but Damon's also a vampire who was raised when it was expected of you to take care of your female companion's coat problems or something like that. Eloise isn't a Southern Bells by any means and social etiquette - the old kind where women were expected to curtsy and not show up without a chaperone - is lost on her.

So she can excuse the awkward shuffling that happens when Elijah pulls up and she goes to pull open the front passenger door just as he appears to do the same. Obviously because of the vampire thing he gets to the door and opens it before Eloise even manages to get halfway there but instead of just aborting the mission and saving face, the young witch proceeds to swipe at an invisible door handle and then trips over herself as she scrambles for the car. Damon's mocking snort earns him a glare but Eloise can't exactly crawl over the seat and beat him to death now can she?

"Are you ready?" Elijah inquires after he's settled into the driver's seat.

Elena just presses her lips together and nods, clearly nervous.

"Does your brother have everything ready at the Quarry?" Eloise asks, taking it upon herself to ease the awkward silence.

"He's transporting the werewolf and vampire as we speak."

"Seems a bit dangerous, doesn't it? One against two? Hardly seems fair." Damon drawls out from his seat in the back.

Elijah's smile is sharp and not kind, "I assure you, my brother is too excited to play with his food tonight."

Elena pales.

No one says much after that for the obvious reason of the atmosphere in the car being really weird. Stefan and Elena end up huddling close, Damon mutters to himself as he turns his body to face the window, and Eloise is left in the front seat without any distractions... if you don't count the amazingly well dressed vampire with the bad hair sitting beside her.

"Who does your hair? Because I really think they may be overcharging..." Eloise finds herself wondering aloud, and then quickly realizes how offensive that was and promptly shuts the fuck up.

Behind her Damon is trying to cover his amusement with low, rumbling not-coughing.

I'm dead, she realizes, so dead.

So she tries to cover her ass.

"Maybe it's just the way it's parted." She then proceeds to reach across the space between her and Elijah, fingers touching ridiculously soft hair, and carefully combs it so the part is no longer just off of a middle part. The coughing behind her intensifies.

Eloise wants to throw herself out of the car, but she can't, because she's committed. So she plays with Elijah's hair, too aware of his eyes on her and the way he's gone still, still, still under her touch. When an acceptable amount of time has passed Eloise snatches her hair away and takes a minute to check over her work. Because commitment. The new side part would definitely look better professionally styled but it's nicer now than it had been with the middle part. Before Elijah had looked off. Less put together. Like he was going through that awkward stage when one tries to grow out short hair. Now, well, he doesn't look perfect - that awkward stage of hair growth aspect is still there - but now he looks a little more messily suave instead of like a wannabe hippie version of Alfalfa.

"... it looks good..." Eloise manages to spit out despite her dry tongue.

And thank God for Elena because the doppelganger leans forward from the backseat and wonders, "Are we driving all the way to the sight or do we have to pull over somewhere?"

"We'll have to pull over won't we?" Stefan adds in.

Elijah blinks slowly before replying with a soft, "I believe we'll have to pull over and walk. The ritual site won't be too far off from where I'll be stopping so you won't have to worry about that."

Reminded, Eloise digs into her coat pocket, produces a little red vial of liquid and passes it to Elena.

"It's just a bunch of herbs and some other stuff. Drink up." She commands and smiles when Elena pulls the stopper out of the vial to tip the contents into her mouth.

Satisfied, Eloise takes back the vial, slips it back into her coat pocket, and begins explaining to Elena that sometimes spirits get lost in transition. Like getting lost in a crowd of people who don't realize you're even there. It's easy for them to slip off and get lost, which will make it harder for the witch trying to revive the person to do their job. So a little linking spell makes it possible for Eloise to safely and easily exchange Elena's life force for the man in the cellar when the time comes. Elena pales a little, likely because they're discussing murder like they'd discuss the weather over lunch, but manages to keep her cool. Good for her! Eloise wonders if she sounds as stuttery as she feels. Because she can practically feel the looks Elijah keeps shooting her from the driver's seat but she refuses to look at him anymore during the drive. She's an idiot, not a dumbass. She knows better than to continue poking the bear. One poke was enough. She'll be lucky if he doesn't have something to say about the whole situation.

Finally after what feels like an eternity, Elijah guides the car to the side of the road and parks. Eloise is out first, followed by Damon - who waggles his eyebrows at her - and the others. Stefan is quick to scoop up Elena when Elijah indicates they'll be walking from here. Thinking Damon will live up to his title as best friend, Eloise turns expecting to find Damon and dies a little inside when she finds Elijah. Damon - the prick - has already fucked off to who knows where, which leaves her with two option. Either let Elijah cart her around or walk. Her ability to choose - she was going to walk - is taken from her when Elijah leans to fit his arm behind her knees and swing her up into his arms when his momentum knocks her feet out from under her, leaving Eloise tucked against his chest.

"Shall we?" The Original asks.

Then they're moving.

Eloise is forced to turn her face into Elijah's neck to keep the wind from stinging her eyes. Thankfully the tugging winds stop the moment they crest the hill overlooking the ritual site where Klaus is dutifully guarding his vampire and his werewolf. Eloise is quick to hop out of Elijah's arms and make her way over to Klaus.

"Do you have the spell?" She inquires, shucking her jacket and tossing it off behind the rock she'll be using as the alter.

Klaus produces a worn sheet of paper with an impish little grin and passes it over to Eloise, who looks it over before turning her attention to Elena. They'd gone over the proceedings of the ritual the day before so Elena knows it's time to make her way into her circle. The same circle Eloise had marked with spray paint the day before. Look, the ritual never called for virgin earth or anything as ridiculous. It just needs a massive amount of dead witch power and death offerings. Some spray paint isn't going to hurt anything... Besides... it keeps Elena from getting burnt when Eloise channels her magic and lights the carefully drawn lines up.

Jules, who Eloise hadn't been paying any attention to, begins screaming.

"Our other friend should be waking up soon." Klaus tells her to which Eloise shrugs.

"Awake or not, it doesn't matter. Do you have the moonstone?" She asks, hand outstretched.

Klaus digs into his jacket pocket as he says, "I've spent five hundred years looking for this... I hate to part with it."

Eloise smiles at his lie before snatching up the stone and tossing it into the bowl that's been carved into the makeshift alter over years and years of erosion and magic usage. Something charges the air seconds before the moonstone bursts into flames. She isn't going to ask him if he knows the steps or if he's sure. The man's been waiting for this moment the majority of his life. Eloise isn't ignorant enough to treat him like an indecisive twelve-year-old.

Chanting the words etched into the page helps drown out the sounds of Jules' screaming and the now awake vampires snarling or Elena's ragged breathing. The push and pull of magic in her veins calls to the dangerous thing living in her head, the thing that thrives on blood and rituals and the thrum of power that always fills her veins during rituals like this. A familiar feeling. One Eloise takes comfort in as she picks apart the knots keeping Klaus bound up tight in his own body.

The first circle drops, fire sputtering out as Jules attempts to flee. She makes it all of two steps before Klaus has his hand around her heart and tugs it free of her chest. There's no love lost between them. Eloise drops the next circle. Watches passively as the vampire dies. She can feel the threads of magic unraveling, her fingers tingling with the sensation of it. Then the time comes for Elena's death. Eloise continues to chant but nods at the doppelganger to show that she's ready. Hopefully Klaus will be as gentle with her as possible, caught up in his exhilaration as he is Eloise isn't certain he will... but they discussed it in length the evening before so she hopes that he'll take into consideration Elena's willingness to complete the ritual.

He does.

Eloise watches as Klaus wraps one hand around the back of Elena' neck and uses the other to guide her closer, fangs piercing through her flesh so fast that she wouldn't have had time to process the pain that she might be feeling if no one bothered compelling her - God, Eloise hopes someone compelled her - and then Elena's body goes limp. But instead of dropping her, Klaus lowers her to the ground with a wide smile.

Elena dies and the spell unravels, gone like it had never been there to begin with.

Easy enough ritual.

Kind of dumb on their mother's part.

With the ritual done and Klaus falling victim to his first transition, Eloise shoots across the clearing to where Elena is laying and gathers the young woman up into her arms. She pulls Elena up against her body so that the doppelganger is practically sitting in her lap, head leaning back against Eloise's shoulder. The witch begins muttering in rapid fire Old High German. She trembles as the lines between life and death begin to blur out, fingers tangle in her hair and around her arms, people begin to whisper and scream, but beyond all of that is a man begging and Elena's warmth flickering in her arms. So despite the discomfort of those grasping fingers and begging, Eloise guides Elena's soul back into her body.

A shaky breath escaped Elena's body but the doppelganger doesn't move.

Eloise quickly passes the now unconscious young woman to Stefan and tells him to take her home. He's gone before she's even risen to her full height, swaying unsteadily on her feet.

"You alright there?" Damon calls, careful to keep his voice low in case the screaming Original decides to take a chomp out of them.

"We should go." Eloise tells him, to which Damon nods and gathers her up before shooting off into the darkness away from Klaus' transitioning form and Elijah's silent brooding.

Within a matter of minutes they're inside the boarding house.

Damon sets Eloise on the couch before going off to lock up the front door and to check on the dead man in the cellar. Eloise doesn't bother stopping him and instead kicks off her shoes. Frozen toes aside Eloise feels pretty damn good for someone who just performed two rituals back-to-back. Smiling, Eloise tucks her toes between the couch cushions and sprawls backwards on the couch. Moments later, Damon appears with a pair of fuzzy socks and a cup of steaming coffee. Eloise takes both with a grin and motions for Damon to take a seat.

"Well that was anticlimactic." Damon mutters after a while.

"Oh?"

"For all the fuss over the sacrifices and the moonstone I was expecting... more blood and theatrics."

"Would you like to go back and I'll recite something Shakespearean about death and rot and eternal guilt?" Eloise runs her fingers through his dark locks.

"No... that's a little to pre-reform Stefan for me." Damon remarks to which Eloise laughs.

"Bummer."

Damon shrugs, leans back into her touch, and asks, "Want to watch a movie?"

"Only if it's Scooby-Doo." Eloise says.

"A kid's movie? Really?'

"Fuck off, Damon. It was supposed to be rated R originally. Shit. Scooby and Shaggy are hotboxing on the beach."

"Fair enough."

Damon doesn't say anything else about her choice as he goes over to the entertainment center to dig through the copious amounts of DVDs and VHS tapes that have been put on display in the various drawers and shelves. Eloise knows Damon has the damn dvd somewhere as she mailed him a copy as a gag gift for his last birthday. Isn't she such a great friend? After a handful of minutes spent digging around Damon proudly shows her the movie he's found and pops it into the receiver before snagging up the remote and moving to the couch to lay down beside her.

"It's a good thing I love you." Damon remarks when Eloise snatches up the remote to skip the commercials in favor of the main menu options.

Eloise taps his shin with her foot, says nothing, and settles into the warmth offered by Damon's body as the movie begins playing. With as stressful as the past handful of days have been it's easy for Eloise to doze off as the movie plays on. She'll need to be heading back home soon, get her shop taken care of, spend some time with Miranda, but she needs to do some packing first and make sure everything is set up with Klaus and the others in case something happens. As the Scooby Gang finds themselves switching bodies in the forest Eloise realizes she left her coat back at the ritual site... which means Klaus probably turned it into a mess of fabric when he went full wolf. Sighing, Eloise adjusts to let the tingling work its way out of her arm.

Eventually Damon begins playing with her hair, twisting the ends and gently scraping his nails against her scalp until it becomes too difficult for her to keep her eyes open.

She dreams about butterflies in a forest full of giant flowers, the grass beneath her feet is made of clouds, and she's happier here in this forest of wonder and fantasy than she's been in weeks.