Chapter Twenty-two
As soon as Stefan stepped foot inside Elena's house, he said, "Elena, we don't have a choice."
Rebecca had explained to him what Elena had said to her on the phone, and Stefan needed to let Elena know that she couldn't not let them do this.
"Well, what about Klaus?" Elena said.
"We'll find him right after we get the moonstone," Stefan said.
"Is that before or after he kills everyone that I care about, including the three of you."
"What're you talking about?" Rebecca asked. "We'll be fine."
"If we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your life," Stefan said.
"I know. Everybody keeps saying that," Elena snapped. "Katherine said if I try to get away, Klaus will kill everyone I love for revenge."
"When did she say that?" Rebecca asked.
"After you left."
Elena shook her head and turned away. She began telling the story of Katherine losing her family to Klaus all because she'd run away, all because he hadn't gotten what he'd wanted.
Stefan didn't know what to do. He naturally wanted to give Elena free will and let her make her own choices, but what if that meant he'd have to give her up because she wouldn't allow him to help her.
"Elena . . ." Rebecca said. "I don't want our friends to die either. Bonnie and Caroline are like sisters to me, but you're my friend too. I'm going to help protect you. If we're going to disagree then we're going to disagree, but I'm not going to let you get yourself killed because of a stupid rock."
Elena turned back to her and narrowed her eyes. "Quoting Katherine? How convenient."
"Well, I understand choosing vampirism over sacrificial killing. At least you wouldn't be dead."
"I don't wanna die," Elena said softly. "But I don't wanna be a vampire, and I won't let my friends die."
Stefan watched the two friends discuss Elena's fate and then he looked at Damon, who seemed just as interested in the girls' conversation.
"Elena, give us today, okay? Let us attempt to get the moonstone and find a way to save everyone involved, okay? If we fail to get the stone today we can talk some more about ways to keep Klaus from going after everyone else. Please?"
Stefan saw that Rebecca was fighting to stay calm. Rebecca had something to lose here too. If Elena didn't listen to Klaus, Rebecca would be in danger, as would other people Rebecca cared about.
"Today," Elena said. "Just today to get the stone?"
Rebecca nodded. "Until midnight and then we'll try it your way – with a few conditions, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Fine. Today."
Rebecca smiled softly, looking relieved. "Then we should start right away. Come on, guys."
"So your Grams waited until you were in high school to tell you that you are a witch?"
"Mm. She had brought it up before, but I just thought she was drunk."
Bonnie had taken Chelsea to the park, and she had called Luka to see if he wanted to meet her there. He had, so there they were.
She had made him laugh with what she had said, so she began speaking again. "In my defense, she was."
"So then you're, like, new," Luka said.
"New-ish," Bonnie agreed. "I still have some growing pains."
"Like?"
Bonnie pressed her lips together. She knew that her friends would be telling her not to say anything. She'd be giving away her weakness if she told Luka the problems she was having, but she didn't want to just ignore his question. He was one of the two magic users she'd met, and she didn't want to push him away.
They began walking down a gravel path, Chelsea in her stroller, and Bonnie decided she'd give half-truths. Maybe Luka could help. He'd been practicing longer than she had.
"Physically, it's become a lot harder. Uh, I – I have a bad reaction to it sometimes."
"You mean nose bleeds?"
"Yeah. And I pass out sometimes."
"It's because you're trying to do too much on your own. You need help," Luka explained.
"From what?"
"From nature. The elements. Just things that you can draw extra power from. Have you ever channeled another witch before?"
"What is that?"
Bonnie stopped pushing the stroller when they came to the picnic area. The park looked good because everyone had recently helped rebuild some of the older wooden benches. She took Chelsea out of the stroller and placed the girl on her feet. Chelsea seemed excited to be able to run around on her own. Well, technically she was waddling, but to Chelsea it was running.
"Say we put our energy together, we can double our strength," Luka explained what channeling was. "Who are you baby-sitting for?"
"My friend, Rebecca." Bonnie smiled softly. "This channeling . . . is it dangerous? I remember channeling from a friend once. She nearly died."
"Is she a witch?"
"No."
"That's why. It's safer with another magic-user. I'll show you. Watch. Let me see that bracelet."
Bonnie pulled her yellow good-luck bracelet off and handed it to him; he handed her a pair of tags that had been on a chain hanging from his neck.
"Okay. Now I want you to stand very still and concentrate."
"I don't get it. What're we doing?"
"We're channeling. Personal items will work as a talisman. Now concentrate."
Bonnie closed her eyes and immediately felt his energy merge with hers. Chelsea giggled and Bonnie had a feeling the girl could feel this too.
The power grew stronger and the wind suddenly picked up, the leaves on the trees blowing every which way. Bonnie began trembling as Luka's power entered her body, filling her every limb with strength.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Luka asked, and Bonnie giggled.
"That was amazing! I didn't know I could do that."
"Well, now you do."
Bonnie's smile faded as she realized something was missing. Chelsea was no long laughing along with her. Bonnie looked to where the infant had been.
Chelsea was gone.
Elena Gilbert drove up to the entrance of the boardinghouse Damon's car wasn't there so she assumed that meant no one was home. Rose would be there, of course, because she couldn't walk in the daylight, but that was okay. Rose was who she needed, anyway.
Elena wanted to find out more information about Klaus. She had exhausted the source that was Katherine Pierce, so Rose was the only one she knew who could help her.
"It's a bad idea," Rose said when Elena explained her plan to get more information.
"No, it's not. From what Stefan told me, your friend Slater obviously has more information about Klaus. You and Damon just gave up before you got it."
"Because somebody blew up a coffee shop with us in it."
"There's more to learn. We just have to find a way to learn it," Elena said.
"Why are you coming to me with this?"
"Because you owe me. One word from me, and Damon and Stefan could've killed you for kidnapping me."
"Or maybe it's because you know they wouldn't want you doing this, and their moonstone caper gives you a chance to sneak away."
"We're having a disagreement, okay? They're willing to risk everyone that I love, and I'm not."
"They're just trying to protect you. You're not the only one who has someone to lose in all this."
"You've proven you don't care whether I'm protected or not. So we're back to you taking me to Slater."
"What exactly do you hope to achieve by this?" Rose asked seriously.
Elena could tell Rose was considering taking her to Richmond, so Elena knew she couldn't tell her the real reason for wanting to go.
"How would you like to be able to walk during the daylight?"
"I've been a slave to the shadows for five hundred years. What do you think?"
"I think I know a witch who's willing to do whatever it takes to help . . . if you're willing to make a deal."
Rose stared at her. "Are you playing with me?"
"No. You do this for me and I'll get Bonnie to make you a day ring."
Rebecca, Damon, and Stefan were at the store getting some supplies that Bonnie might need for the spell they were going to do to get the moonstone when Rebecca's phone rang. Bonnie's number appeared on the screen.
"Hello?"
"Becca . . . Chelsea's gone!"
"What?" Rebecca stilled and looked at Damon, who had tensed at the words. "What d'you mean, gone? You're supposed to be with her."
"I was! We were at the park and I took her out of the stroller so she could walk around. I turned away for a few seconds and when I looked back she was gone."
"Someone took her?" Rebecca wondered out loud.
Damon snatched the phone away from Rebecca. "Damn it, witch, you were supposed to be watching her!"
"I know. I'm sorry," Bonnie cried. "I'll find her, I promise, but I need a place to do a locator's spell and I'll need some of Robert's blood."
"What about mine?" Rebecca asked, wondering how exactly she was going to work getting her dad's blood. Besides, Chelsea was her sister; they shared blood.
"Tell her it won't work, Damon. She's a vampire now. The blood I use has to be from someone alive."
"We'll get the blood. Just meet us at the boardinghouse," Damon said.
Damon Salvatore wanted to kill Bonnie Bennett! He should've known not to leave the semi-competent witch in charge of Chelsea. Chelsea should've been safe, in theory, but she hadn't been; someone had taken her and Damon had a feeling that they weren't going to have a John Gilbert to bring her back this time.
Tyler was at the high school practicing free throws in the basketball court when Caroline came up to him. He had seen her gawking at Matt earlier and she seemed saddened because Matt wouldn't speak to her.
"You two still on the outs?" he asked.
"Looks like it."
"Don't feel bad. He's not talking to me either," Tyler said, trying to be comforting. "I think he blames himself for Sara."
"Right." Caroline crossed her arms over her chest and smiled gently. "You realize there's almost a full moon?"
"Vampires don't have enough problems? You wanna take on mine?" he teased.
"Have you even thought about it? The whole . . . wolf thing? Do you know what you're gonna do?"
"I have a plan."
Tyler hadn't been able to think of much else. He didn't know what to expect, but he did know that whatever else happened he would be dangerous once he turned, and he didn't want to hurt anyone.
"Well?" Caroline looked at him. "What're you gonna do?"
"Kind of private," he balked.
"I'm student-council vice president, head of the prom committee. Not to mention, I single-handedly organized this town's clean-up campaign. You're really gonna turn down my help?"
Tyler felt a grin spread across his face. This girl was something else. She was so different than he'd thought she was.
"I'll tell you, but you've gotta promise not to let anyone know anything! Not what I'm doing and not where I'll be."
"Duh!" she snapped. "I wouldn't do that."
Stefan met Bonnie at the boardinghouse with Jeremy in tow. Jeremy had wanted to be a part of getting rid of Katherine and Stefan felt that Jeremy deserved to get his way; Katherine had gone after Jenna. Katherine was now stuck in the tomb, but Jeremy was now involved in everything and needed to be kept up to date on things.
Damon and Rebecca had gone to get blood from Robert. Damon was no longer supplying the council with vervain – he'd stopped because he'd been planning on compelling Robert to leave Mystic Falls with Chelsea, but had changed his mind. Still, Robert was vervain-free and compellable; he wouldn't remember anything about today.
"I might be able to lower the tomb spell long enough for you to get in there and grab the moonstone from Katherine."
"How?" Jeremy asked. "It took both you and your Grams last time, and look what happened to her."
"I'm well aware of what happened, but I've learned a few new things. How will you get it?"
"She hasn't been feeding," Stefan said. "She's weaker. We're not."
"You wouldn't be underestimating her, would you?" Bonnie asked.
"It's a plan," Damon's voice came from the front of the house. "Is it perfect? What plan is?"
Stefan watched as Damon entered the room with a devastated Rebecca trailing behind him. Her eyes were red from crying and she didn't seem to be able to meet anyone's eyes.
"Let me do it," Jeremy said eagerly. "I've got my ring. I could get in, get out. No spells necessary."
"Gee, thanks, you sixteen-year-old child," Damon snapped. "Why didn't we think about that? Why are you even here?"
"Maybe I can help better the plan," Bonnie said and then to Stefan she said, "Do you have anything that belongs to Katherine?"
"It doesn't matter," Rebecca said. "Find my sister."
"Rebecca . . ." Stefan said.
"Chelsea is a baby, Stefan. Elena can wait."
Elena had gotten Rose to agree to take her to Richmond, and that's where they were now. Slater lived on the top floor of a nice apartment building, yet Slater didn't answer the door when Rose knocked.
"He's not home. Sorry," Rose said simply.
"We didn't come all the way out here for nothing," Elena said. "I know you can break it open."
Rose made a face at her, but did as she asked anyway. Elena made her way in along with Rose. A few feet inside was Slater. He was laid out on the floor, stake in his heart, and his body had mummified.
"I don't think he's gonna be much help."
Elena moved farther into the apartment and found an office type space with a computer on the desk.
"Looks like whoever blew up the coffee shop found him and killed him for his information," Elena said.
"Yeah. Probably to stop him from helping people like us." Rose sighed. "The guy was a vampire almanac. Knowing too much information just bit him in the butt."
"I'm sorry about Slater," Elena said sincerely.
She began rifling through what was on the desk and found a picture of Slater with some girl. Pale, black hair, red lips. Girlfriend, maybe?
"Any luck?" Rose asked.
"Um . . ." Elena began fiddling with the computer. "It's password-protected. I can't get in."
"Then this is pointless. Let's just go."
Suddenly, a small thud filled the air and both Elena and Rose looked around wondering what the noise had been
"Stay here," Rose said.
Elena waited until she heard crying come from one of the room. Elena followed the sound. The girl from the picture was standing there crying in Rose's arms.
"This belonged to Katherine," Stefan said, coming down the stairs holding a photo of Katherine. "Found it with her things after I thought she was dead, but it was hers."
Bonnie had an ashtray in front of her and she placed the picture in it. She also had a map of Mystic Falls in front of her.
"Give me the blood," Bonnie said. "Chelsea first, right?"
Rebecca gave her a vial, which had been used to capture her dad's blood. All she'd really done was nick his wrist with her fangs and let the blood flow freely.
"What if she's not in Mystic Falls?" Rebecca asked.
"Then we'll widen the search. But I'm willing to bet whoever did this wants to get to you. They'll be here."
Rebecca looked at Damon, who nodded in agreement.
Bonnie poured a drop of the blood on the map and began chanting. Rebecca remembered Bonnie doing the same thing not too long ago to find Elena. The blood began to move toward the middle of Mystic Falls and it stopped near the apartment district. Someone who lived in an apartment had Chelsea. Was it a vampire?
"This is where she is?" Rebecca asked. "Right now?"
Bonnie nodded. "Yes. Chances are this is where she'll stay. We need to find out who has her and I'll do that after I do this thing for Stefan; it won't take but a minute." She looked at Stefan. "I'll need some water for this spell."
Stefan nodded and took off with vampire speed. It took only a few seconds to bring a glass of water back. Bonnie dipped her fingers in it and let the water drip onto the photo of Katherine.
"What will this do?" Damon asked as the photo burst into flames.
"I can turn the picture into ash. Blow the ashes on her and it'll incapacitate her for a minute or two. Long enough for you to get the stone and get out."
Rebecca noticed, however, that Bonnie's nose was already bleeding. Her witch friend wasn't strong enough to do all of this on her own.
"So, Matt's bumming pretty hard," Tyler said.
"I know," Caroline said. "It's better this way."
"I get it," Tyler said.
He and Caroline were walking toward the old slave quarters on the Lockwood property. He had a plan that involved locking himself in there on the full moon.
"You can't be honest with him and it's not fair to be with someone and not let them know who you really are. I get it."
Tyler began leading Caroline deeper into the woods and to the cellar. He was guessing this was where Mason had been heading the night his uncle had turned.
Tyler and Caroline walked through a doorway – the door had bars on them. The room could have been a cage.
"Did Mason tell you about his place?"
"Mason bolted before I triggered the curse," Tyler said, "but I found these."
These ended up being what looked like claw marks on the wall. They were old claw marks, too. Maybe his ancestors had also gone there to change.
"There are bolts and chains, too. I need new chains, but the bolts could still hold. I think that's what this place was used for. Full moons."
The two continued looking around until Caroline found a journal that had been wrapped in white cloth.
"August 31st, My body is changing. I'm edgy, angry, impatient. I get so mad, I black out and forget what I say or do. I'm not myself, not since Jimmy's death. What's happening to me?"
"He chronicled everything."
Tyler skipped around until he found one that was about the full moon. There was nothing written for a full moon, but there was, however, a computer disc. Maybe Mason had made a video after he'd become human again.
Back at the boardinghouse, after the picture of Katherine had turned to ash, Stefan, Damon, Rebecca, Jeremy, and Bonnie each had their own mission.
"So we gotta get the torches," Stefan said.
"Alaric's stake gun is in my trunk," Damon said. "Bonnie?"
"Go ahead," she said, pouring the ash onto the table. She had to make sure that none of the picture fragments remained. Everything had to be completely burned. "I'm almost done."
Damon put extra stakes in a cloth bag he was getting ready for their little excursion, and then he walked out of the room. Rebecca, however, stayed behind.
"Bonnie?" she said, going to stand by her witch friend. "I saw the blood earlier, from your nose. You're not strong enough. You probably shouldn't even do the spell to find the person who has Chelsea. I'll just go to the apartments and check until I find her."
"I'll be fine."
Jeremy looked like he was relieved Rebecca had brought this up. Maybe he had wanted to but had promised he wouldn't or something.
"You could get hurt," Jeremy said.
"And Elena could die," Bonnie countered. "I'll be fine. I promise."
"How will you be fine?" Rebecca asked. "What do you know now that you and your Grams didn't know before?"
"I . . . I learned how to channel another witch today. I've never channeled before; Grams did it for me last time. Now I know what to do."
"A'right," Jeremy said. "Okay, I'll, uh, get everything together. Just go get me something to put this in."
Bonnie smiled and went in search for something.
"There should be some plastic bags in the kitchen," Rebecca suggested, eyeing Jeremy and nodding once. She knew Jeremy wasn't letting Bonnie off that easy. He was up to something.
When Bonnie was far enough away, Jeremy took out a credit card and swiped some of the ash off of the table and into his wallet. Rebecca gave Jeremy a reassuring smile and then went out of the room to go outside but grabbed her car keys on the way.
Outside she went to the garage and opened her car door. Before she could get in the Charger, however, Damon appeared beside her.
"Where're you goin' Becca?" he asked tensely.
"You know where I'm going, Damon," she said. "Elena can wait. Katherine can wait. Everything stops for me until I get Chelsea back."
Rebecca knew that getting the moonstone away from Katherine so they could destroy it, or at least de-spell it was important. No moonstone, no doppelganger sacrifice. In the grand scheme of things, this moonstone thing was probably more important than one little girl, but that girl was Rebecca's sister and she was one of the most important things to Rebecca.
"I'm going with you," Damon said. "I was just waiting for her to say the word."
Rebecca felt relief flow through her and she handed Damon her keys. She didn't feel like driving.
In Richmond, Elena had just finished pouring hot tea into three mugs, and Rose was now sitting at the table with her.
"She found him a few minutes before we did."
"How is she?" Elena asked.
"Overreacting big time."
"Her boyfriend just died. There's no such thing as overwhelming."
"Those tears are for her. She didn't care about Slater," Rose said. "She was only dating him long enough to see if he would turn her."
Elena looked at the situation anew. This Alice girl wanted to be a vampire; her chances of getting what she wanted were slim to none. But the fact that she wasn't upset about Slater made what Elena planned on doing easier.
The brunette picked up a mug of tea and went to the pretending-to-grieve girl in the computer room.
"Thank you," Alice said. "You look really familiar. Did you know Slater?"
"Not personally, no," Elena said, thinking that Alice recognized her because Slater probably had pictures of Katherine in his files. "I just know that he kept detailed records of all of his vampire contacts and I was hoping that he could point me towards Klaus."
"Doubtful. Klaus doesn't want to be pointed out."
"Do you know Slater's computer password?"
"Are you seriously asking me that right now? I just saw my boyfriend with a stake through his heart."
"I understand that. Do you know his password?"
"Who do you think you are?"
Alice began to turn away from Elena, but Elena grabbed her hand.
"What if I could convince Rose to turn you?"
Rose, who was still in the kitchen, glared at her. Elena knew that meant Rose didn't like that idea one bit.
"Would you show us his files then?" Elena asked.
Alice nodded slowly and got up to go to what had been Slater's computer. She messed around a bit until a message popped up.
"Someone's been on here. The hard drive is completely wiped out. Lucky for you, Slater was paranoid. Everything's backed up on our remote server."
Rose walked up behind Elena and whispered, "You know she's not going anywhere near my blood, right?"
"I know. She doesn't," Elena whispered back.
Both Elena and Rose now stood behind Alice, who was sitting in a chair in front of the computer. Alice pulled up the recent history on the computer and a bunch of links popped up.
"Slater was obsessed," Alice said. "Almost as much as me."
"What about that one?" Rose asked, pointing at the screen. "Cody Webber. They exchanged dozens of e-mails about Elijah."
"I could . . . call him," Alice offered.
Elena nodded and picked the phone up off the desk, then handed it to Alice. "Tell him that we're trying to send a message to Klaus. The doppelganger's alive and she's ready to surrender."
"I knew I recognized you," Alice said, staring at Elena with open-mouthed shock.
"Get him the message, please," Elena said and began walking away to the other room. She was terrified now that she'd said what she wanted out loud. She couldn't risk everyone she cared about just to save her own life. She couldn't be that selfish.
"What're you doing?" Rose asked, following her into the room.
"I'm getting Klaus's attention."
"If Klaus knows you're alive, he'll find you and he'll kill you," Rose said. "Which is exactly what you wanted all along."
"It's either me or my family."
"So this whole charade was some suicide mission so that you could sacrifice yourself and save everyone else."
Alice came in the room. "Cody is on his way, and he really wants to meet you."
Back in Mystic Falls, Jeremy had beat everyone else to the tomb, but no one knew because he'd told Stefan and Bonnie that he'd be a little late.
"The youngest Gilbert," Katherine said, standing at the mouth of the tomb. "This is an intriguing surprise."
"I'm here for the moonstone."
"Yeah, yeah, the moonstone. It's very popular today.
"Just give it to me."
"Naïve little Gilbert," Katherine said, sounding disappointed. "If you want it, you're gonna have to come here and get it."
Jeremy hadn't been expecting Katherine to be cooperative; it was against her nature, unless it served her – so he'd taken a few precautions. One being the stake shooter he had strapped to his arm. One stake blasted out and hit Katherine in the stomach. She gasped, bent over, and pulled it out. By that time, however, Jeremy had gotten the ash ready and was now blowing it in her face.
Katherine collapsed, unconscious now, and Jeremy made his way into the tomb. He searched Katherine for the stone first because he wouldn't have put it past her to keep it on her person, but she hadn't. Katherine had put it in the back of the tomb, as far back as the tomb allowed, but he found it.
He began running back toward the entrance, all the while wondering how one little rock could cause so much trouble.
At the entrance, Katherine was getting her bearings and, taken by surprise, Jeremy let her grab him. Just before Katherine sank her teeth into Jeremy's neck he was able to throw the moonstone out of her reach, outside the tomb where Katherine couldn't go.
Then there was nothing but pain.
Since my last chapter was only really a filler chapter, I figured I would let you guys have another chapter now rather than later. I kind of feel that Rebecca should've been more worried than she was, but for the sake of the pace of the story, I had to make it this way.