"Enzo didn't get into town in time and Damon killed a bunch of people last night," Elijah said, his expression grim, as he drove with Elena. They'd decided that a drive would be better to talk in case anyone wanted to listen in.
"And Kelly Beach?"
"I'm afraid she's dead. Her body was found in the woods not far from the school. Enzo sends his deepest regrets."
"Vickie's still missing, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is."
"Which means she's most likely with Damon and he'll be focused on her for as long as it takes for him to get bored with her."
"I've turned people I planned to use later, but I can honestly say that I've never turned anyone because I was bored. It never ends well." The judgment in Elijah's voice was clear.
Not wanting to talk about her ex-husband who would never actually be her husband this time, Elena braced her elbow on the car door and rested her chin against her fingers, making it clear she wasn't willing to continue this conversation. Instead, she focused on the problem that faced her with Klaus.
There had to be something else she could do to make Klaus willing to cooperate with what she wanted.
The moonstone. She could get the moonstone, so she could provide Klaus with three of the four required elements to break his curse.
"You seem deep in thought," Elijah murmured.
"Tell Enzo to find Isobel as soon as he can. He can torment Damon later. If we have things in place before Damon realizes that there's something else going on, he won't have time to notice we're doing anything else if Enzo's around."
"What do you want him to say to her?"
I want to get a message to Katherine."
"What about?"
"The moonstone. I want it in our possession and you can trade clemency to her for it. She'd do just about anything to get into your good graces again."
"What brought this on?"
"We can't keep putting things off because Damon's throwing a tantrum. I asked you here to help me get things into position to save people, not to babysit a brat, and we need to make sure we're ready for whatever Klaus decides to throw our way."
"Niklaus is unpredictable at the best of times," Elijah mused.
"Which is why we need to get the pieces together now. So he'd be less likely to try to wipe out the entire town."
"Do you think getting Isobel involved is a good idea? She seems to be modeling herself after Katerina enough to be dangerous in her own right."
Elena cringed at hearing him call her predecessor by her given name as she said, "Isobel's got connections to Katherine and Katherine trusts her enough to work with her sometimes. So Katherine may be willing to listen to make a deal if it comes through her."
"And considering it is Katerina we're talking about, that's saying something."
"I hate it when you call her that," Elena mumbled without thinking.
"My apologies. It's what I've called her since I met her, but I will try to be more careful now that I know you dislike it."
"I didn't even realize it bothered me until today, but thank you."
"While I do think your plan is a little impulsive, perhaps that is what it will take to handle Klaus, so let's see how this goes."
Elijah pulled out his phone and sent the text to Enzo, then waited for Enzo to reply.
"What did he say?" Elena asked.
"He's not happy, but I promised him that once he gets the message to Katherine, he can mess with Damon as much as he pleases. Because Damon doesn't need to see Katherine until we've got the moonstone in our hands."
"The compass!" Elena gasped. "They have the compass now. Logan Fell was at the house and I crashed before I could stop him from taking it! If they're using it and you're around, it could mean trouble for you."
"I suppose I'll just have to be more careful from here on out. Not that they will actually be able to kill me." Elijah smirked. "I'd love to see the looks on their faces if they try."
"But a stake through the heart could hurt a bit and it will knock you out for a few hours and around here, a lot can happen in that amount of time."
They pulled into the drive to find Matt's truck in the drive way.
"Is this what I think it is?" Elena climbed out of the car.
"If you're referring to Vickie, I believe so. She's come here because it's the one place where she feels safe."
"Why is Damon doing this again? I'm not involved with his brother this time around, so why does he keep messing with the people I care about?" Elena asked as she hurried towards the house, Elijah on her heels.
"He's still obsessed with you, so of course he'd act out against you, especially since he attacked you on accident and knows it will take a very long time for you to let him get close."
"So he's lashing out at me by doing the same things he did to screw with his brother in my other life?"
"Something like that."
"All he's doing is solidifying my decision to not let him in this time." Elena opened the door and stepped into the foyer.
"Vickie! Calm down!" Matt was saying when they came through the door.
"What's going on?" Elena asked, trying to act as though she didn't know what was happening.
Jeremy and Matt glanced at them, but turned back to the girl curled in on herself and shuddering. Tears streaked down her cheeks and she whimpered, covering her ears with her hands as she muttered to herself.
"Vickie's really messed up." Matt looked at them, then turned his attention back to his sister. He reached towards her and she flinched away.
Elena exchanged glances with Elijah and asked, "Can you help her?"
"I'll do what I can for her."
Approaching Vickie slowly, Elijah knelt down and cupped her jaw. "Focus on the sound of my voice. Listen to me. Shut everyone else out. Let me be the only thing you hear."
Vickie nodded and stared at Elijah.
"That's it, breathe, you're going to be okay. You just have to trust me."
"What do we do?" Matt asked.
"Get her upstairs, shut the blinds. She'll be fine. Just keep her calm as best you can while I see what I can do about helping her come down."
Jeremy and Matt led her up the stairs and she clung to them both.
"This is playing out exactly the same way as it did last time," Elena murmured. "And last time, my brother got so hurt because of what I did to try to protect him."
"We'll figure something out to see if we can save her and keep your brother from feeling you worked behind his back."
A few minutes later, Vickie bolted down the stairs and outside.
"I'll find her," Elijah murmured and darted away.
As he vanished around the corner Elena sighed. This was happening exactly as had happened the first time around and that meant that if they didn't do something, Vickie was going to die, all over again.
Grabbing Jeremy's arm, she led him inside.
"I want to help them!" Jeremy resisted her, but Elena pushed him inside.
"She'll come looking for you eventually and you need to be where she can find you."
Pulling out her phone, Elena texted Bonnie.
Are you okay?
Yeah. I'm great. Grams is teaching me so much already.
Good. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
Thank you so much, Elena.
Elena selected Caroline's name.
Are you okay?
Just trying to get back to normal and then someone else from school dies.
You wanna talk about it?
Not right now. Maybe later.
Elijah found Vickie sitting next to a tree, but Stefan was there already, talking to her. If this was how it was meant to be, he would just let it play. Then a gunshot rang out and Logan Fell entered the clearing, gun raised and stake at the ready. Before he could make the final shot, Damon got there, tearing into his throat.
Vickie stared at the fallen man transfixed by the blood and then launched herself at his throat, completing the transition, and ran off, the Salvatores following closely at her heels.
Elijah walked over to the dead man and picked up the stake prepared to shove it through his heart. One less insane vampire running amok. But as he lowered the weapon, he found his aim thrown off, and it ended up in his lung.
Shocked, Elijah stared at the stake. He never missed!
Unless Logan was supposed to be a vampire and make a mess of things.
Vickie was one thing, because there was something in her eyes that spoke to him, something desperate and broken, but longing to be made whole. He could work with that. But from Elena's memories of Logan, there was no way this one could be taught to be anything other than a self-serving creature. He'd just have to be on his guard for him.
Before he could figure out if there was another vampire around, the one who'd obviously turned Logan, voices caught his attention and he hid behind a tree.
Caroline's mother, Liz, as well as a few deputies entered the clearing.
"It got him. With his own weapon too," Liz commented. "It fed from him too, which means he wasn't drinking vervain! I thought he said he was ready! Where's the watch? Someone find it!"
Damn it. Why hadn't he thought to look for it when he'd stabbed him? It could have saved them all a lot of trouble. Annoyed that there was nothing else to do, Elijah darted away, back towards Elena, to report what he'd seen.
"She did it again?" Elena asked when she walked into her room and saw Elijah sitting in the window seat. "I mean, it happened the same way?"
"Stefan Salvatore found her before I got there. She is a vampire now, though I think she can be saved. I'm not sure what to do exactly, but she's broken in ways that I believe can be healed with the proper guidance."
"What is it?"
"When I tried to stake Logan, I missed."
"Seriously? So he's meant to run around and try to screw everything up?"
"It looks that way. So we'll have two volatile neophytes running around, one of whom you want spared and the other who was spared by the spirits of nature."
"What about Rose?" she asked after a moment's pause.
Memories of how Rose died played through her thoughts, those tortured final hours, and Elena wished she could spare the other vampire that pain. Rose had been used by Katherine and deserved a chance to live her life without the Mikaelsons threatening her at every turn.
"Rose-Marie?"
"She was looking for a way to get back into your good graces last time and since you already know about me, she's lost once chance. Offer her forgiveness in exchange for taking on the task of teaching Vickie how to be a vampire. Vickie's a drug addict, so it will not be easy and should be worth it, at least a little. Slater knows where to find her."
"That might take time. Which means, I'd better leave now, so I can be back here before she has a chance to really do anything and can watch her until Rose arrives."
"And to stop the Salvatores from killing her."
"Exactly." He stood up. "Sleep well, Elena. Don't invite anyone in while I'm gone."
"You're the only vampire with an invitation."
"Unless Vickie comes back and your brother lets her in. Speaking of, what will you tell your brother about Vickie when she leaves?"
"That she went to rehab and she's trying to get her life on track. If you wouldn't mind compelling him just a little to do the same?"
"Of course."
"And if he sees anything, make him forget that it was supernatural."
"I will do what I can. Now, I'd best be off."
"Right." Elena caught his arm, then hugged him. If this worked, they would be saving Jeremy so much pain. "Hurry back."
"I will be back as soon as I can." With one last smile over his shoulder, he jumped from her window and vanished into the night.
Elena curled up on her bed with a stuffed animal. Without him around to hear her if she screamed, she felt extremely vulnerable. This had been the first time since she'd contacted him that he wasn't a few minutes away should things go wrong, and she was frightened.
She decided to take a long shot and text Stefan.
I hope you don't mind me texting, but something's wrong with Vickie. She mentioned something about Damon, so whatever it is, it has to do with him, I'm sure of it. Elijah promised to make sure she was okay, but he had to leave town to get things ready. Could you keep an eye on her until he gets back? He'll be majorly upset if she got hurt or worse.
Of course.
Thank you so much. Matt's my best friend and Jeremy's in love with her, so I'd hate for anything bad to happen
Anytime.