Bonnie widened her eyes at Damon's devil may care attitude and once again swept the woods with her eyes. There was still nothing in site to indicate that she was there around them except for the current of negativity in the air. "She's playing with us," she said to him softly even though she knew that Katherine could hear her. Her hand tightened on the axe handle. 'Come on girl, I've got a blade with your name on it.' She thought darkly her eyes blazing with anger. This girl had taken her best friend with her when she died. They might have gone to separate places but Elena would still be the same ole Elena if that she bitch hadn't have shown up in Fell's Church.
"I know." Damon said darkly. He waved the torch in the air, the darkness settling over them completely. The moon was deeply hidden by clouds. Damon himself could force the weather to change, so obviously Katherine could as well. Whether of not she was blocking out the moons rays, or it was just a case of nature giving them bad luck, Damon wasn't sure.
Well, two could play that game. Damon pushed out with his powers. Slowly, yet steadily, the clouds began to part. It seemed as if the moon moved closer to Earth, for the brightness emitting from it was almost as bright as the rising sun. The stars shown brighter as well, and the jet black clearing suddenly lit up brightly.
"We've got fire and an axe for you Katherine. Why not stop hiding," Damon called, *And Come Out And Play...*
Bonnie stared in awe as Damon controlled the weather. 'Damn this guys talented. Not just good looks but the able to control the weather, whew!' She couldn't help the feeling of pride she felt for him. She would have never thought of chasing away the darkness. 'Someone's got to have a good head on their shoulders.' She thought to herself as she looked around. Not that it wasn't so dark the night had gone back to it summertime warm.
Elena continued on her way to find Damon and Bonnie. Her first inclination was to head to the graveyard. Request or no to return to the boarding house, she refused to sit around while knowing that Damon and Bonnie were walking right into mortal danger. "Let them argue among themselves as much as they want," she muttered, quickening her step.
She tucked her blonde hair behind her ears when she finally reached the graveyard scanning it, hoping against hope that Bonnie and Damon hadn't actually made it to the crypt yet and were still wandering around.
No such luck. Elena started towards the crypt, sighing in frustration, when she saw that it was untouched, which meant that there was probably no one down there.
It was getting darker and she shivered in her thin sweater, chewing on her lip, contemplating where to go next. The only other place she could think of was the old well that Katherine had dumped Stefan in the year before.
Elena counted her blessings that the moonlight was bright enough to guide her. She eventually reached the edge of the clearing and she eyed the well distrustfully. She couldn't help looking at *everything* distrustfully. And then she spotted Damon and Bonnie, both of whom appeared to be talking to something. Elena took a step forward, about to call out to them, mashing a twig under her foot, which elicited a loud snap, announcing her arrival.
Damon whirled his head around, and his mouth fell open slightly in surprise. 'Damn it, someone else to look out for.' He scanned the area around Elena sharply. There was nothing that he could see. *Be careful Elena, Katherine is close by*, Damon sent out to her with his powers. He didn't know if Katherine would be able to intersect anything or not. Not that it mattered; she would obviously notice Elena as well.
Bonnie heard the twig snap and her gaze swept the woods again and spotted Elena. Relief and fear warred within her. She was relieved to see the Elena was ok but now Elena was in danger and Bonnie was sure that Katherine's plans involved her best friend too. She wanted to run to her best friends side but didn't want Katherine to attack her in the process. A plan dawned on Bonnie and she wondered if she was brave enough to do it. She looked up at Damon and whispered. "I'm going to go to Elena's side, maybe that'll make Katherine act. Here take this, you're probably better with it than I am anyways." She extended the axe towards him and waited for him to take it.
Damon shook his head and pressed the axe back in her hand. "Keep it, you two will need it more than I will." *Be careful* he added with his mind.
Katherine watched the weather change and thought: *how cute! We can change the weather! Did you do it all by yourself...or did you have help?*
Katherine hopped out of the tree and changed to her "human form." She saw Elena show up and smiled insanely. Still masking he powers, she sent another sarcastic thought to Damon:
*OH! LOOK! My most favorite person in the whole world! What was her name again? Ellen, or Elenor? I forget...I'll have to thank her personally for frying me.*
She let down the power shield. *Damon, dear, look to your left. I'd thought you would've found me by now. Are we not trying any more?*
Damon did so, his eyes widening. "I'll be damned, it really is you." He said as Katherine appeared before him. "How'd you do it this time Katherine?" He asked, referring to her death and 'rebirth.' He stepped to the side, putting himself between Katherine and the girls. He held the torch down by his side, the flames growing hungrily. His arms tensed, ready to smack her upside the head with it if she came too close to him.
Elena watched as Bonnie started towards her, then turned them to Damon. She didn't like the idea of not only staying in the clearing but also separating to opposite sides of the clearing.
She glanced around, scanning the trees, looking out for Katherine, feeling a slight chill at the thought of having to see her. When Katherine leapt from the tree she had been hidden in, Elena's eyes widened, wanting to reach out and grab Bonnie, to do anything to keep her friend from harm. Watching Damon step between them and Katherine she also had to bite her lip from calling out to him, not wanting to make this worse than it already was.
Elena reached out to Bonnie, searching for the girl's hand, as though that would give her extra strength to deal with this. She wasn't immortal anymore; she wasn't a vampire or a ghost. The three of them were no match for Katherine and Elena knew it.
Bonnie gave the back of Damon's head an appreciative look. *Chivalrous yet stupid Salvatore... thought we had a talk about this.* She tried to send to him in her mind as she grabbed Elena's hand and slowly stepped back away from the two vampires. She looked at her friend and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm sure reinforcements will be here any minute... Matt and Meredith wouldn't let us die and neither would Stefan. Caroline's been a little weird lately but, she came through in a pinch didn't she?" Her hands tightened on the axe and she turned a dark look on Katherine. "I suggest you leave, or else." Her voice was full of hatred for the beautiful undead girl. 'There is no way I'm letting her screw with us again.' Bonnie cursed herself for not bringing her new spell book with her. There was probably some type of protection spell in there but it wasn't doing her any good in her car.
Elena squeezed Bonnie's hand in return, unable to resist sending her a half smile at her friend's comment. She had forgotten how much she had missed Bonnie who, especially now, seemed to be able to lighten any situation. Elena nodded in recognition of what her friend said.
She glanced to the axe that Bonnie was holding. *Why is that making me nervous,* she thought, looking back up at Katherine. It was almost like looking into a mirror. Elena took another step forward, closer to Damon as if to back him up, without even realizing that she was doing so.
"This is going to get bad," she murmured to Bonnie under her breath.
Matt had been quite cooperative. He had kept still through the whole procedure and only flinched once in the beginning. Once Stefan had had enough he stood up and wiped his mouth. "How are you feeling?" he said looking at Matt's face. He knew he hadn't taken enough blood for Matt to feel effected too much by it. Matt nodded and held his arm up to stop the bleeding.
"Oh sorry, I forgot." Stefan said as he nipped his fingertip with his tooth and touched a drop of his blood to heal the puncture wounds on Matt's wrist. "Thanks again Matt", he said turning away towards the trapdoor. He gave Matt one more look before dropping back to the room below.
Stefan looked around the room and noticed Elena was gone. "Where is Elena?" he asked. Mary explained that she had taken off in search of Damon and Bonnie. Stefan quickly ran to the window to see if he could sense her. He couldn't. He turned back toward Mary. "Make sure Matt is okay and keep an eye on Caroline", he said looking at Caroline curled up in the corner of the bedroom. "Most importantly though, stay here!!!"
Stefan hoisted himself over the windowsill and jumped down to the ground. He headed toward the cemetery making sure to scan his surroundings as he moved.
As he approached the crypt and saw that the lid was open. Sensing that no one was in there, he jumped in and landed on the ground. On his right he saw the dead girl with her throat-slashed open. 'Damn you Katherine. Where are you? I know you are here', he thought to himself. He looked to the left and saw the gate where he, Damon and Elena had been tied and saw that it was open. Approaching it carefully, he looked down the corridor. 'I wonder where that goes', he thought and started down it. It wasn't too long before he saw a light at the end and listened carefully. He could hear Damon's voice and could sense two other presences with him. 'Must be Elena and Bonnie', he thought.
There was another presence there that he couldn't identify but just from the sheer power of it he knew who it must be. He decided to wait and not show himself until he thought it wise to do so. Instead he just listened and waited.
Bonnie pulled at Elena's arm. "Step back, please, we don't need to get involved yet. I don't want you getting hurt again." Leaning the axe on the ground she kept her grip on it and made sure that Katherine could see it. 'Check mate psycho.' She thought with a smirk as she looked at the girl.
Elena turned partway to Bonnie. "Damon's not strong enough to face her either. None of us are. The only way to put up some kind of a fight is to band together," she said softly but she knew, still not softly enough to keep Katherine from hearing with her supernatural senses.
The axe was still making her uncomfortable. Not even because Bonnie was holding it, although the petite redhead holding an axe was an unsettling picture, but because Elena was scared of what might happen if the axe fell into the wrong hands, mainly Katherine's.
Damon swung the torch lightly, not in a weapon like way, but just so Katherine would see that he did have it. "Shall we dance?" He asked her, his voice full of mockery and hatred. "Just like old times, Katherine. Me and you, and no one else. No Stefan to get in our way, no Elena to take your so well deserved attention."
"How about it?" He asked, stepping towards her, his free hand outstretched.
It was all Katherine could do to keep a straight face when Bonnie made her little 'threat.' "And what could you possibly do against me, you pathetic little girl?"
She glanced down at Damon's outstretched hand. "Oh, Damon, you silly dear. Don't think I haven't forgotten what you told me the last time we had an opportunity to cut a deal. What did you tell me to do again? Hmmm, 'Go to hell' I believe was the term.
Well, darling, I've been there...It's a nice place, full of interesting people," she said aloud, her silvery voice filled with a teasing tone. She took a step forward and made a motion as if she were to take his offer. Instead, too fast for Elena or Bonnie's eyes to see, she used her nails to slice open his palm in one quick motion. A single drop of blood dangled from her finger and she placed it on her lips. "Still tastes good."
Bonnie tensed and stepped forward as Katherine wounded Damon. "You are sooo gonna regret that." She said menacingly as she released Elena's hand and moved to Damon's side, pressing the axe in Damon's hand. "Give her a 'slice' Damon." She told him and stepped back a few feet away from him. "Wouldn't want you to soil your hands touching her." She tossed Elena a smile. 'Better to act brave than not act at all.' She told herself bravely and studied Katherine. 'You're move Damon.' She told him in her mind sure that he knew what his was doing.
Damon jerked his hand back, wiping the small trickle of blood against his black jeans. "What are you doing back, Katherine?" Damon asked her, tapping the axe Bonnie had handed him against the edge of his foot. One swing was all it would take. Level the Bitch's head right off. But Damon couldn't do it. Whether it was Katherine influencing his actions or not, he didn't know. But the muscles in his arm just wouldn't swing the axe or the torch.
Mary had disappeared for almost half an hour and returned with six little pouches on leather strings. 'Someone is going to have to do without one. I guess I will. Just won't tell anyone, they'll just worry.'
She returned to the group and handed everyone a pouch and urged them all to put them on. That was when she realized Elena wasn't among them.
"Where's Elena?"
"Well I have one for her, Damon, and Bonnie also once we find them."
She saw the look of doubt in their eyes. "It's not the amazing answer to everything, but it will help protect you. Like I said, every little bit helps."
"Yeah, ok." Matt agreed with her and went past her down stairs. "I'm calling Meredith and Alaric, see if they can help." He rushed down the stairs to the phone and first dialed the hotel; there was no answer so he tried Meredith's. "Hope they're not too busy." He thought with a smile. After all the two hadn't seen each other in months. It leaned against the wall and waited as the phone rang.
Meredith heard a faint noise in the back of her mind...'Maybe Alaric's just getting better at this!!!' Then, as it the noise happened again, she decided that, just maybe, she was getting better at this. 'Mer, that has to be the dumbest thing you've ever thought. If you were getting better at making out, why would you be hearing the ringing?'
Everything suddenly clicked. "The phone!" she gasped. "Alaric, get up. The phone is ringing." Shoving him gently off of her, she reached over to her nightstand and picked up the receiver. Her voice kinda breathy from shock and lack of air, she said, "Hello."
Matt grinned as Meredith picked up the phone. "Hello Mer, did I interrupt? Sorry if I did but we kind of need your and Alaric's help if he's there with you. Looks like the kitty kat is back and that's not good at all. Damon and Bonnie are off trying to find her and Stefan and Elena are off to find Damon and Bonnie, interesting turn of events..." Matt waited for Meredith to digest all this information and played with the phone cord looking about the bottom half of the boarding. 'Where is that ole lady?'
"Um...Matt? Hi. Yeah, Alaric's here, no, you're not interrupting anything." She gulped as Alaric's hand moved to her thigh. "Much." Finally hearing the words through the buzzing fog in her head, she sat up quickly. "What? Katherine's back? How? When? Why? Bonnie and Damon? Why aren't you with her? If he so much as touches a hair on her head...wait! They went to go find Katherine?? How is Elena going to help them? She's not magical anymore!!" Meredith growled low in her throat. "Where are they? Do you want Alaric and I to come to...wherever it is you are...or do you want us to go get them?"
Alaric rolled over as Meredith picked up the phone and then back over when she had picked it up. He kissed her on the back of the neck as she spoke and put his hand on her thigh, teasing her. Then she sat up and said Katherine's name. Alaric quickly stiffened and sat up as well, listening to her conversation with Matt. "What the hell is going on?" he asked Meredith. "What about Katherine?"
Matt heard Alaric say something in the background. "Me, Mary and Caroline are at the boarding house but if you get here you can go with us. We're going to check out the crypt and if they are not there we'll explore the woods till we find them. I think I might have a good idea of where they are at if they're not the crypt. Remember that place we found Stefan. It's not far from the graveyard." Matt nudged the wall with his sneaker and visions of Bonnie and Elena all tore up passed through his mind. 'If that undead bitch hurts either one of them she'll wish she never came back.' He thought grimly as he said a quick good bye and hung up the phone.
"Um...Alaric...we need to get down to the boarding house. Katherine is back. Damon went to go find her. Bonnie went after him. Elena went after them. And Stefan went after her. I don't know if Stefan is strong enough to protect himself, let alone anyone else." She struggled to get out of bed and to fix her hair and clothing, still talking. "Matt said if they - uh, him, Caro, and Mary - weren't at the house, then we should go by the well..."
Alaric sat up with his mouth open. He wasn't sure what to do at all. He hadn't had time to comprehend what had just transpired. He looked at Meredith and nodded. "Uh, okay. Please explain to me what in the world is going on though? I don't think I truly understand. Are you telling me that yet another dead person has come back from
the dead?"
Meredith turned around to look at Alaric, "If I could tell you what was going on, I would. But, I can't. I'm confused as well. All I know is that, apparently, Katherine is back. And my friends are in trouble." Suddenly angry at having to waste precious time, she snapped, "Now, are you coming with me or not?? If you still need explanations, wait until we find someone who knows what's going on." She turned away, all her anger draining away, leaving a weary _expression. "I'm sorry. It's just I'm scared. We just got Elena back, and I don't want to lose her again. I don't want to lose any of them. So, could we please just go?"
Caroline realized how pathetic she was being and decided to pull herself together... how on earth was she gonna be a mom if she couldn't hold herself together in crisis situations. She was no good to anyone acting like a spoiled weakling, especially if she can use her new strengths to help. She could be some handy muscle if someone tries to get them at the house. She stood up and brushed her jeans off...clutching the bag Mary handed her. She looked around for Mary and matt who seemed to have disappeared. Probably went down to the kitchen or something. She went wandering for them.
"I know." Damon said darkly. He waved the torch in the air, the darkness settling over them completely. The moon was deeply hidden by clouds. Damon himself could force the weather to change, so obviously Katherine could as well. Whether of not she was blocking out the moons rays, or it was just a case of nature giving them bad luck, Damon wasn't sure.
Well, two could play that game. Damon pushed out with his powers. Slowly, yet steadily, the clouds began to part. It seemed as if the moon moved closer to Earth, for the brightness emitting from it was almost as bright as the rising sun. The stars shown brighter as well, and the jet black clearing suddenly lit up brightly.
"We've got fire and an axe for you Katherine. Why not stop hiding," Damon called, *And Come Out And Play...*
Bonnie stared in awe as Damon controlled the weather. 'Damn this guys talented. Not just good looks but the able to control the weather, whew!' She couldn't help the feeling of pride she felt for him. She would have never thought of chasing away the darkness. 'Someone's got to have a good head on their shoulders.' She thought to herself as she looked around. Not that it wasn't so dark the night had gone back to it summertime warm.
Elena continued on her way to find Damon and Bonnie. Her first inclination was to head to the graveyard. Request or no to return to the boarding house, she refused to sit around while knowing that Damon and Bonnie were walking right into mortal danger. "Let them argue among themselves as much as they want," she muttered, quickening her step.
She tucked her blonde hair behind her ears when she finally reached the graveyard scanning it, hoping against hope that Bonnie and Damon hadn't actually made it to the crypt yet and were still wandering around.
No such luck. Elena started towards the crypt, sighing in frustration, when she saw that it was untouched, which meant that there was probably no one down there.
It was getting darker and she shivered in her thin sweater, chewing on her lip, contemplating where to go next. The only other place she could think of was the old well that Katherine had dumped Stefan in the year before.
Elena counted her blessings that the moonlight was bright enough to guide her. She eventually reached the edge of the clearing and she eyed the well distrustfully. She couldn't help looking at *everything* distrustfully. And then she spotted Damon and Bonnie, both of whom appeared to be talking to something. Elena took a step forward, about to call out to them, mashing a twig under her foot, which elicited a loud snap, announcing her arrival.
Damon whirled his head around, and his mouth fell open slightly in surprise. 'Damn it, someone else to look out for.' He scanned the area around Elena sharply. There was nothing that he could see. *Be careful Elena, Katherine is close by*, Damon sent out to her with his powers. He didn't know if Katherine would be able to intersect anything or not. Not that it mattered; she would obviously notice Elena as well.
Bonnie heard the twig snap and her gaze swept the woods again and spotted Elena. Relief and fear warred within her. She was relieved to see the Elena was ok but now Elena was in danger and Bonnie was sure that Katherine's plans involved her best friend too. She wanted to run to her best friends side but didn't want Katherine to attack her in the process. A plan dawned on Bonnie and she wondered if she was brave enough to do it. She looked up at Damon and whispered. "I'm going to go to Elena's side, maybe that'll make Katherine act. Here take this, you're probably better with it than I am anyways." She extended the axe towards him and waited for him to take it.
Damon shook his head and pressed the axe back in her hand. "Keep it, you two will need it more than I will." *Be careful* he added with his mind.
Katherine watched the weather change and thought: *how cute! We can change the weather! Did you do it all by yourself...or did you have help?*
Katherine hopped out of the tree and changed to her "human form." She saw Elena show up and smiled insanely. Still masking he powers, she sent another sarcastic thought to Damon:
*OH! LOOK! My most favorite person in the whole world! What was her name again? Ellen, or Elenor? I forget...I'll have to thank her personally for frying me.*
She let down the power shield. *Damon, dear, look to your left. I'd thought you would've found me by now. Are we not trying any more?*
Damon did so, his eyes widening. "I'll be damned, it really is you." He said as Katherine appeared before him. "How'd you do it this time Katherine?" He asked, referring to her death and 'rebirth.' He stepped to the side, putting himself between Katherine and the girls. He held the torch down by his side, the flames growing hungrily. His arms tensed, ready to smack her upside the head with it if she came too close to him.
Elena watched as Bonnie started towards her, then turned them to Damon. She didn't like the idea of not only staying in the clearing but also separating to opposite sides of the clearing.
She glanced around, scanning the trees, looking out for Katherine, feeling a slight chill at the thought of having to see her. When Katherine leapt from the tree she had been hidden in, Elena's eyes widened, wanting to reach out and grab Bonnie, to do anything to keep her friend from harm. Watching Damon step between them and Katherine she also had to bite her lip from calling out to him, not wanting to make this worse than it already was.
Elena reached out to Bonnie, searching for the girl's hand, as though that would give her extra strength to deal with this. She wasn't immortal anymore; she wasn't a vampire or a ghost. The three of them were no match for Katherine and Elena knew it.
Bonnie gave the back of Damon's head an appreciative look. *Chivalrous yet stupid Salvatore... thought we had a talk about this.* She tried to send to him in her mind as she grabbed Elena's hand and slowly stepped back away from the two vampires. She looked at her friend and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm sure reinforcements will be here any minute... Matt and Meredith wouldn't let us die and neither would Stefan. Caroline's been a little weird lately but, she came through in a pinch didn't she?" Her hands tightened on the axe and she turned a dark look on Katherine. "I suggest you leave, or else." Her voice was full of hatred for the beautiful undead girl. 'There is no way I'm letting her screw with us again.' Bonnie cursed herself for not bringing her new spell book with her. There was probably some type of protection spell in there but it wasn't doing her any good in her car.
Elena squeezed Bonnie's hand in return, unable to resist sending her a half smile at her friend's comment. She had forgotten how much she had missed Bonnie who, especially now, seemed to be able to lighten any situation. Elena nodded in recognition of what her friend said.
She glanced to the axe that Bonnie was holding. *Why is that making me nervous,* she thought, looking back up at Katherine. It was almost like looking into a mirror. Elena took another step forward, closer to Damon as if to back him up, without even realizing that she was doing so.
"This is going to get bad," she murmured to Bonnie under her breath.
Matt had been quite cooperative. He had kept still through the whole procedure and only flinched once in the beginning. Once Stefan had had enough he stood up and wiped his mouth. "How are you feeling?" he said looking at Matt's face. He knew he hadn't taken enough blood for Matt to feel effected too much by it. Matt nodded and held his arm up to stop the bleeding.
"Oh sorry, I forgot." Stefan said as he nipped his fingertip with his tooth and touched a drop of his blood to heal the puncture wounds on Matt's wrist. "Thanks again Matt", he said turning away towards the trapdoor. He gave Matt one more look before dropping back to the room below.
Stefan looked around the room and noticed Elena was gone. "Where is Elena?" he asked. Mary explained that she had taken off in search of Damon and Bonnie. Stefan quickly ran to the window to see if he could sense her. He couldn't. He turned back toward Mary. "Make sure Matt is okay and keep an eye on Caroline", he said looking at Caroline curled up in the corner of the bedroom. "Most importantly though, stay here!!!"
Stefan hoisted himself over the windowsill and jumped down to the ground. He headed toward the cemetery making sure to scan his surroundings as he moved.
As he approached the crypt and saw that the lid was open. Sensing that no one was in there, he jumped in and landed on the ground. On his right he saw the dead girl with her throat-slashed open. 'Damn you Katherine. Where are you? I know you are here', he thought to himself. He looked to the left and saw the gate where he, Damon and Elena had been tied and saw that it was open. Approaching it carefully, he looked down the corridor. 'I wonder where that goes', he thought and started down it. It wasn't too long before he saw a light at the end and listened carefully. He could hear Damon's voice and could sense two other presences with him. 'Must be Elena and Bonnie', he thought.
There was another presence there that he couldn't identify but just from the sheer power of it he knew who it must be. He decided to wait and not show himself until he thought it wise to do so. Instead he just listened and waited.
Bonnie pulled at Elena's arm. "Step back, please, we don't need to get involved yet. I don't want you getting hurt again." Leaning the axe on the ground she kept her grip on it and made sure that Katherine could see it. 'Check mate psycho.' She thought with a smirk as she looked at the girl.
Elena turned partway to Bonnie. "Damon's not strong enough to face her either. None of us are. The only way to put up some kind of a fight is to band together," she said softly but she knew, still not softly enough to keep Katherine from hearing with her supernatural senses.
The axe was still making her uncomfortable. Not even because Bonnie was holding it, although the petite redhead holding an axe was an unsettling picture, but because Elena was scared of what might happen if the axe fell into the wrong hands, mainly Katherine's.
Damon swung the torch lightly, not in a weapon like way, but just so Katherine would see that he did have it. "Shall we dance?" He asked her, his voice full of mockery and hatred. "Just like old times, Katherine. Me and you, and no one else. No Stefan to get in our way, no Elena to take your so well deserved attention."
"How about it?" He asked, stepping towards her, his free hand outstretched.
It was all Katherine could do to keep a straight face when Bonnie made her little 'threat.' "And what could you possibly do against me, you pathetic little girl?"
She glanced down at Damon's outstretched hand. "Oh, Damon, you silly dear. Don't think I haven't forgotten what you told me the last time we had an opportunity to cut a deal. What did you tell me to do again? Hmmm, 'Go to hell' I believe was the term.
Well, darling, I've been there...It's a nice place, full of interesting people," she said aloud, her silvery voice filled with a teasing tone. She took a step forward and made a motion as if she were to take his offer. Instead, too fast for Elena or Bonnie's eyes to see, she used her nails to slice open his palm in one quick motion. A single drop of blood dangled from her finger and she placed it on her lips. "Still tastes good."
Bonnie tensed and stepped forward as Katherine wounded Damon. "You are sooo gonna regret that." She said menacingly as she released Elena's hand and moved to Damon's side, pressing the axe in Damon's hand. "Give her a 'slice' Damon." She told him and stepped back a few feet away from him. "Wouldn't want you to soil your hands touching her." She tossed Elena a smile. 'Better to act brave than not act at all.' She told herself bravely and studied Katherine. 'You're move Damon.' She told him in her mind sure that he knew what his was doing.
Damon jerked his hand back, wiping the small trickle of blood against his black jeans. "What are you doing back, Katherine?" Damon asked her, tapping the axe Bonnie had handed him against the edge of his foot. One swing was all it would take. Level the Bitch's head right off. But Damon couldn't do it. Whether it was Katherine influencing his actions or not, he didn't know. But the muscles in his arm just wouldn't swing the axe or the torch.
Mary had disappeared for almost half an hour and returned with six little pouches on leather strings. 'Someone is going to have to do without one. I guess I will. Just won't tell anyone, they'll just worry.'
She returned to the group and handed everyone a pouch and urged them all to put them on. That was when she realized Elena wasn't among them.
"Where's Elena?"
"Well I have one for her, Damon, and Bonnie also once we find them."
She saw the look of doubt in their eyes. "It's not the amazing answer to everything, but it will help protect you. Like I said, every little bit helps."
"Yeah, ok." Matt agreed with her and went past her down stairs. "I'm calling Meredith and Alaric, see if they can help." He rushed down the stairs to the phone and first dialed the hotel; there was no answer so he tried Meredith's. "Hope they're not too busy." He thought with a smile. After all the two hadn't seen each other in months. It leaned against the wall and waited as the phone rang.
Meredith heard a faint noise in the back of her mind...'Maybe Alaric's just getting better at this!!!' Then, as it the noise happened again, she decided that, just maybe, she was getting better at this. 'Mer, that has to be the dumbest thing you've ever thought. If you were getting better at making out, why would you be hearing the ringing?'
Everything suddenly clicked. "The phone!" she gasped. "Alaric, get up. The phone is ringing." Shoving him gently off of her, she reached over to her nightstand and picked up the receiver. Her voice kinda breathy from shock and lack of air, she said, "Hello."
Matt grinned as Meredith picked up the phone. "Hello Mer, did I interrupt? Sorry if I did but we kind of need your and Alaric's help if he's there with you. Looks like the kitty kat is back and that's not good at all. Damon and Bonnie are off trying to find her and Stefan and Elena are off to find Damon and Bonnie, interesting turn of events..." Matt waited for Meredith to digest all this information and played with the phone cord looking about the bottom half of the boarding. 'Where is that ole lady?'
"Um...Matt? Hi. Yeah, Alaric's here, no, you're not interrupting anything." She gulped as Alaric's hand moved to her thigh. "Much." Finally hearing the words through the buzzing fog in her head, she sat up quickly. "What? Katherine's back? How? When? Why? Bonnie and Damon? Why aren't you with her? If he so much as touches a hair on her head...wait! They went to go find Katherine?? How is Elena going to help them? She's not magical anymore!!" Meredith growled low in her throat. "Where are they? Do you want Alaric and I to come to...wherever it is you are...or do you want us to go get them?"
Alaric rolled over as Meredith picked up the phone and then back over when she had picked it up. He kissed her on the back of the neck as she spoke and put his hand on her thigh, teasing her. Then she sat up and said Katherine's name. Alaric quickly stiffened and sat up as well, listening to her conversation with Matt. "What the hell is going on?" he asked Meredith. "What about Katherine?"
Matt heard Alaric say something in the background. "Me, Mary and Caroline are at the boarding house but if you get here you can go with us. We're going to check out the crypt and if they are not there we'll explore the woods till we find them. I think I might have a good idea of where they are at if they're not the crypt. Remember that place we found Stefan. It's not far from the graveyard." Matt nudged the wall with his sneaker and visions of Bonnie and Elena all tore up passed through his mind. 'If that undead bitch hurts either one of them she'll wish she never came back.' He thought grimly as he said a quick good bye and hung up the phone.
"Um...Alaric...we need to get down to the boarding house. Katherine is back. Damon went to go find her. Bonnie went after him. Elena went after them. And Stefan went after her. I don't know if Stefan is strong enough to protect himself, let alone anyone else." She struggled to get out of bed and to fix her hair and clothing, still talking. "Matt said if they - uh, him, Caro, and Mary - weren't at the house, then we should go by the well..."
Alaric sat up with his mouth open. He wasn't sure what to do at all. He hadn't had time to comprehend what had just transpired. He looked at Meredith and nodded. "Uh, okay. Please explain to me what in the world is going on though? I don't think I truly understand. Are you telling me that yet another dead person has come back from
the dead?"
Meredith turned around to look at Alaric, "If I could tell you what was going on, I would. But, I can't. I'm confused as well. All I know is that, apparently, Katherine is back. And my friends are in trouble." Suddenly angry at having to waste precious time, she snapped, "Now, are you coming with me or not?? If you still need explanations, wait until we find someone who knows what's going on." She turned away, all her anger draining away, leaving a weary _expression. "I'm sorry. It's just I'm scared. We just got Elena back, and I don't want to lose her again. I don't want to lose any of them. So, could we please just go?"
Caroline realized how pathetic she was being and decided to pull herself together... how on earth was she gonna be a mom if she couldn't hold herself together in crisis situations. She was no good to anyone acting like a spoiled weakling, especially if she can use her new strengths to help. She could be some handy muscle if someone tries to get them at the house. She stood up and brushed her jeans off...clutching the bag Mary handed her. She looked around for Mary and matt who seemed to have disappeared. Probably went down to the kitchen or something. She went wandering for them.
