Mystic Falls, 2010.
ANOTHER FULL MOON FINALLY CAME, which only meant that they were running out of time. Klaus was in town and most likely already had everything he needed to break the hybrid curse that was placed on him over a thousand years ago. But he just didn't know what actually awaits him in the end of the day.
Elijah finally explained to them how the ritual would happened. He also explained how he planned to save Elena's life the same way he was going to save Katherine's life five hundreds years ago; with an elixir that possesses mystical properties of resuscitation. But Damon became skeptical as usual. He quickly refused to believe that it would work, and tried to bringing up the other options to save Elena's life including the one that would get Bonnie killed, an idea that quickly rejected by both Elena and Stefan.
"What if it doesn't work, Elena?" Damon said, still trying to make the Gilbert girl change her mind.
As if she already knew the chance she was taking, Elena casually answered, "Then I guess I'll just be dead."
"Wha...?" Damon choke on his words, his eyes quickly darted at Stefan for backup. But all Stefan did was bite his own lip and look down, as if he was already giving up himself.
"Don't worry, Damon," Bella muttered as she walked to her oldest brother's side, her face was filled with fake sympathy. "I'll prepare a great funeral for her."
Damon quickly turned to her, glaring. "You're not helping."
"Considering helping equals getting myself killed, I don't intend so." Bella then turned to the doppelganger. "No offense, Elena, but I will never choose anyone's life over my own," she stated, her eyes glanced sarcastically at her two brothers.
Elena just nodded lightly, as if she excepted nothing more from the youngest Salvatore.
Damon scoffed at his little sister, his hands on his hips. "You know, Bell, for someone who hates Katherine so much... you sound just like her." Then, he just stormed off from the room, leaving his sister choke in disbelief.
That was the worst insult Bella had ever received since Katherine was basically one of the worst person she could ever think of. She really couldn't believe it, how dare he compared her to that bitch?
Suddenly feeling a little bit moody, Bella stormed off from the room and went to the cellar. At times like this, blood was one of the most effective way to light up her mood. The other one would be the hunt, but she knew it wasn't really the right time to do so.
When Bella enjoyed her second blood bag, a loud slam suddenly echoed around the house, followed by Jenna's stern voice yelling at someone to get out from the house. She frowned and decided to stay where she was and listen to everything from there when the next thing she heard was Alaric's voice. It was unlikely for Klaus to stay at Alaric's body after his disguise had been caught by almost everyone, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful.
After the others confirmed that it was really Alaric, Bella finally got out from the cellar and joined them. She came right in time when the history teacher announced the big message from Klaus, "Sacrifice happens tonight."
Everyone suddenly became uneasy and shared wary look. And in unison, they turned to the emotionless Elijah.
While the others moved to the living room and started interrogating Alaric, Bella went out alone. To be honest, now that she got her freedom back, she didn't really want to kill Klaus anymore. There was always a chance their plans would fail. And in case it did, there was no way Klaus would just let them go. She couldn't imagine what kind of torment Klaus would inflict on them. And the only was she could avoid it was by running. But, was all of this really worth the risk of spending another century running?
"You know, you remind me of my own sister."
A frown appeared on her forehead as she heard Elijah's voice along with his approaching footsteps from behind. Without turning around, she retorted, "Why? Because we both blonde?"
"Because you both wouldn't just let anything comes between your family," Elijah exclaimed and finally stopped walking as he got close enough to her. "You both understand the sacred bond of family."
Bella just glanced at him over her shoulder, but didn't say anything. It was getting harder to look at him with all his physical resemblance with one of his brother. And not just that, she also found it hard to talk about his family, since it would only bring back some painful memories, the one that she had been trying to forget.
"I'll be leaving town as soon as this is over," he suddenly informed, taking another step to her side so he could see her face. "Would you like to join me for a walk? I just realized that I've never really tried to get to know you."
His offer made her look to the other side, making her blonde hair fall and cover her face from his sight. There was a part of her that wanted to just decline, not wanting to deal with him or his family more than she already did. But there was also another part of her that wanted to go, the part that secretly missed him and wanted to connect with him again, the part that she denied ever exist.
"Yeah, why not?"
And as she finally agreed to that, she tried to convince herself that it was all because she wanted get away from her older brothers who were likely to mess up today since their subject of adoration was about to be sacrificed at night.
Their attention was diverted when a sudden commotion could be heard from inside the house. Exchanging glances, they both quickly went in. But while Elijah chose to stay in the living room, listening to what was happening from there, realizing that wasn't his place to interfere. Bella quickly ran towards Damon's room, realizing that another fight between her brothers just happened there.
She entered the room at the same time as Ric and Jenna. They quickly found Stefan kneeling on the ground, a wodden stick stuck in his stomatch. Elena was kneeling right beside him, her eyes were teary and there was blood around her mouth. Damon knelt right in front them, looking incredulous at what he had just done.
Bella didn't even need to be told what the fight was about. She knew exactly what. Her old memories of a similar incident suddenly flashed back into her head and mixed up her emotions. And for the first time since she knew Elena, she actually felt sorry for her.
"Get him out of here!" Elena yelled, eyes glaring angrily at Damon.
Taking angry steps towards her oldest brother, she grabbed his arm and started forcing him to get up and leave. But he shook off her hand roughly and left on his own.
"What the hell were you thinking?" she scolded as she followed him to the study room. "Feeding her your blood? Did you even ask for her consent?"
"Oh, don't even act like you give a shit about her," he retorted sharply.
"You're right, I don't," she admitted. "But that doesn't mean I can't scold you for that."
Elijah, who was already in the room, packed back his elixir to its box. "Sounds like you won't be needing this anymore," he stated in his usual calm voice. "Feeding her vampire blood rendered it useless. Tell Elena we'll be back before nightfall."
Damon, who was pouring himself a drink at the moment, frowned at the word 'we' the original used.
"We'll proceed as planned." Elijah then walked towards the youngest Salvatore. "Shall we?"
Bella didn't answer right away and just stared at Damon, her eyes filled with disappointment. She might not the same naive person like she used to, but she still couldn't believe that her own brother was capable to do something like that to the woman he claimed to love.
Damon took a glance at them over his shoulder. "We both know that elixir wouldn't have worked anyway," he murmured in a flat tone, then took a sip from his glass.
This made Elijah turn around and walk back to him. "Your problem, Damon... you talk a good game, but you don't actually know anything."
Even Bella had to agree with that. She couldn't agree more as the original continued, "She'll never forgive you. And never for a vampire... it's a very long time."
"He's right, you know," she quickly chimed in, speaking from her own experience. "You might think she'll get over it... but she won't."
Now Bella knew she made the right decision by accepting Elijah's invitation. She couldn't stay in the house or around Damon at the time like this. Not when one of the worst memories she had kept popping out into her head.
Elijah apparently took her to the town square. And as they walked side by side to one of the empty bench, Bella finally admitted, "I actually don't really like talking about myself."
"Why so?" the original questioned, turning his face to her with his hands behind his body.
"Because there's not much to tell," she answered, and once again refused to look at him. "I'm just a girl trying to survive from the pursuit of your two brothers for over a century."
"What about the girl I met back then in 1864?" he asked again, they finally stopped walking. "I felt like there's more to her than meets the eye."
"Well, isn't it obvious?" she replied as she sat herself on the bench, trying to sound nonchalant as she spoke. "She died."
For a moment, Elijah just stared at the girl's face, studying her. It was clear that there were so much to talk about her, but she just didn't want to. He knew she choose to keep everything to herself for a reason, so he chose to not push her any further. "Very well then." He gave her an understanding look and sat himself beside her. "If you don't want to talk about yourself, than I will."
Leaning back on the chair, he spoke again, "Has he ever told you about the origins of our family?"
She didn't need to be told who he was referring to.
"More or less."
"What do you know?"
Bella hummed as she tried to recall everything he ever told her back then. There were too much information and she didn't know where to begin.
"I know that your mother was one of the most powerful witches in history," she began and finally took a glance at him. Bitting her lower lip, she looked away again as she added, "And after your youngest brother was killed by a werewolf, she turned all of you into vampires with black magic."
He confirmed the information with a light nod. Taking a deep breath, the original began, "As you might already know, being the child of a witch gave us opportunity to become a witch ourselves. We could choose to tap into our magical ability. And between all of us, he was the only one to tap into his power and awaken his magic."
She wasn't even surprised to hear the conversation immediately turn into about him. After all he was the one who introduced her to him, and also his other siblings. And their former relationship wasn't really a secret from them, so she guessed they must have thought she only expected them to talk about him.
"He was quite talented at it actually," Elijah admitted, eyes stared blankly as he reminisced about his own brother. "He described himself as something of a child prodigy. He always told us how much he loved the rush and thrill that magic gave him." There was a barely noticable smile on the original's face as he spoke.
"However, when we were turned into vampires, he lost his power and these thrills was no doubt dismayed." Bella watched as Elijah suddenly straighten himself, his whole gestures changed. "Slowly, as a vampire, he turned to violence and mayhem. He somehow found child-like enjoyment in his acts of violence. There were even times where his violent, reckless, and impulsive nature became too far and could't be tolerated anymore."
"So you chose to dagger him," Bella replied as she already knew how that story played out. "Because it's easier that way, isn't it?" She finally turned to him and looked straight into his eyes. Without even bother to hide the judgmental tone in her voice, she continued, "Because it's easier to just shut him down, rather than try to help him through everything... even though you knew exactly how hard it was to become a vampire with all the blood lust and heightened emotions."
She looked away again and let out a sardonic laugh. "Now I wish I have a dagger that can temporary kill my brothers." And when she looked back at him, there was a glint of anger in her eyes that she had been trying to keep for herself for too long. "I mean, how easy my life would be if every time they became too hard to deal with, all I had to do was just stake a dagger into their heart?"
It was Elijah's turn to look away.
"I wouldn't have to deal with their stupidities anymore," she spoke again as she recalled every stupid things her brothers had done since she arrived there. "Whenever they went too far, I wouldn't have to be there to pull them back." The memories of her brothers' fight from yesterday and this morning flashed through her head. "I wouldn't have to provide them any support, neither emotional nor physical." She smiled bitterly when she remembered how Damon refused outright her emotional support when Rose died.
"But what's that gonna make me?" Bella suddenly wondered, eyes staring blankly to the grass under her feet. "Do I still deserve to call myself their family when I don't even act like one?"
She used to be with him long enough to understand how he felt about his family. She knew exactly how hurt he was everytime his family chose to just dagger him because they didn't want to deal with him. And it secretly hurt her too. There were times when she wanted to give his family a piece of her mind about how badly they had been treated him, and she finally did.
There was a part of her that felt relieved, and there was also a part of her that felt guilty for saying all that. Their relationship had ended since over a century ago. Not only she didn't have any right to say anything about that, but she also shouldn't care about all that anymore.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't..." she hurriedly apologized when she found Elijah just staring sadly at the ground, guilt all over his face.
"No, it's quite alright," he responded, and smiled bitterly. "You are free to voice your opinion."
She shook her head disapprovingly. "It's your family. It isn't my place to say anything."
"You know your boundaries," Elijah commented, nodding approvingly at her. "I respect that."
For a moment, there was just silence between them. Bella returned to look around their surroundings, refusing to look at Elijah once again.
"Has anyone ever told you how much you two look alike?" she finally asked the question she had been holding on to for a while. Glancing back at him, she added, "I mean, physically."
"Just those who have met us both," he answered while adjusting his collar.
"I don't want to see him again, ever," she suddenly exclaimed, the pain in her eyes was as obvious as the tone of her voice. "So maybe you were wrong after all. I didn't have any vengeful mission for him. I just wanted to live in peace with my brothers."
Elijah narrowed his eyes at the girl. Just few minutes ago she showed how deeply she cared about his brother, and now all of sudden she tried to tell him that she actually didn't.
"What did he do to you?"
But Bella just looked away, showing her reluctant to answer the question.
IT WAS ALREADY DARK WHEN THEY GOT BACK TO HER HOUSE. Only Alaric and the panicked Stefan was there. Apparently, Klaus had came and took Elena. And Damon said he would take care of it, but he hadn't come back until that moment.
Bella decided to come along with Stefan, Alaric and Elijah to the Old Witch House, a forsaken lodge that rests upon the location of where a hundred witches were brutally burned to death. Even though she actually didn't want to take part in their plan anymore, but she still wanted to make sure her brothers wouldn't do anything stupid that could get themselves killed. And it turned out one of them already did. But they weren't the one who got to pay the price, instead it was Jenna.
While they were trying to figure out a way to save Jenna, Bella just waited besides Elijah's car with her hands folded across her chest. It wasn't that she didn't want to help, but what else could they do? It was already too late. The only way to save Jenna was to offer another vampire as her replacement, but how could they find another vampire to sacrifice in such a small amount of time?
"We're gonna offer another vampire, one that he'll want more, me."
"Wait, what?!" Bella exclaimed in disbelief as she heard her brother's words. With angry steps, she quickly walked closer, her eyes glaring at him. "There's no way in hell I'm gonna let you do that."
Both Bonnie and Elijah quickly went inside, knowing that the two siblings need a moment.
"Bella, I need you to understandㅡ"
"Understand what, Stefan?" she interjected angrily. "That you just can't stop playing hero? That you secretly have a death wish?" She shook her head in disbelief and gave him a disappointed look. "I just got back here. After all this years, I was finally able to come home and lived a life with my big brothers again... but all you wanna do is getting yourself killed?" Feeling tears starting to well up in her eyes, she looked away. "This is so not fair."
"Hey, look at me." Stefan tried to grab his sister's head and make her look at him, but she pushed his hands away. "I'm really glad you're back, you have no idea how grateful I am to get to see you again," he admitted, eyes looking at her with affection. "And to know that you and Damon have each other now..."
"Don't you dare to say a goodbye!" she quickly warned as she already could guess where he was going with that.
"But I have to do this."
"No, you don't have to do shit!"
"I need to do this," he insisted. "I've already lived for 162 years now, while Jenna's live barely begun. I'm hoping you can understand that."
"I don't and I don't want to," she replied through her gritted teeth.
"I want you to know that if it were you... I would do it in a heartbeat."
"Even if it were me, Stefan, I still wouldn't let you do that."
Stefan sighed, realizing that no matter what he said, Bella would still refuse to understand. He was grateful with the sibling love she gave him, but right now he really needed her to understand. "Take care of yourself," he spoke again, his tone indicated that it was his final decision. He then pulled her into a goodbye hug.
It was an awkward hug because Bella just stood there stiffly. She neither returned the hug nor rejected it. Her mind was blank at the possibility that it was the last time she would see him.
"Bonnie did a locator spell," Elijah informed as he came back outside. "They're at Steven's quarry."
Stefan let go of his sister and turned his face to the original. "I'll head over there first and you'll follow with Bonnie when it's time."
"Let me come with you," Bella asked with a heavy heart.
"No, you've watched me die once," Stefan refused the idea, shaking his head in disagree. "I don't want you to watch it again for the second time."
And here Bella thought she no longer had any emotional side. Even though she always had her humanity on, but sometimes she felt it wouldn't make much difference if she turned it off.
"You're very honorable," Elijah said to the Salvatore boy, his eyes filled with respect.
"Are you?" Stefan replied back to him. "Because this whole plan is, um, it's contingent upon your honor, Elijah."
Bella just listened to them talking about honor, family, and revenge. Her mind was secretly wandering around, trying to think of a way to save her brother. And she did find one. She knew no one would like it, but she just didn't care.
When she heard her brother started walking away, she waited for a while until it was safe to follow him. Her plan was to attack him from behind and snapped his neck. That would leave him in a death-like state for a while, long enough for the ritual to be over without him being the one to sacrifice. However, just as she was about to carry out her plan, Elijah suddenly caught her arm. This made her raise an eyebrow to the original.
"If you really love your brother, the best thing you can do right now is to respect his decision."
Respect someone's decision. That was one thing she always wanted others to do to her. That was one thing she wanted him to do to her, before he chose to take matters into his own hands. Now when she was supposed to respect her brother's decision, and all she wanted to do was to take matters into her own hands, just like what he did.
But if she didn't take matters into her own hands, she would lose her brother forever. She felt like it was just the same with giving up, and she would never give up on her brothers. So which one should she choose now?
Couldn't decided it for herself, Bella chose to wait for her oldest brother. And apparently, Damon really preferred Elena over their brother, since instead of immediately tried to do something to stop Stefan, he was wasting time by helping the others find a way to keep Elena from becoming a vampire. This made Bella scoff, so much for family.
In the end, they proceeded as the original plan. Elijah, Damon, Bella, and Bonnie went to the Steven's quarry just as the moon hit its final phase. They arrived just in time when Klaus started his transformation. Elena and Jenna were lying on the ground, unconscious and lifeless. Stefan was lying on the ground nearby, alive but injured.
When Bonnie began chanting the spell, Damon snuck up behind Klaus's witch and snapped her neck, leaving her dead on the ground. Bella flashed herself towards Stefan and quickly removed the stake on his back. She then helped Stefan to get up and Damon finally joined them with Elena's body on his arms.
"Elena... I need you to get her out of here."
"What about you?"
"I'm not leaving until he's dead."
She heard her brothers' conversation but her focus was now on Bonnie and Klaus. She watched as the hybrid began writhing in pain while Bonnie's chanting got louder and louder. Fire began to erupt everywhere. The sound of strong winds, thunder, and Klaus's groaning of pain all competed to become the loudest.
"Bella, go with him!" Stefan ordered.
With eyes glued on Klaus who was in unimaginable pain, Bella answered, "No, I think I'm staying."
Just a few moments after Damon left with Elena, Bonnie finally stopped chanting. Klaus was on the ground, hurting and in his most vulnerable moment. Elijah casually walked towards him. Bella and Stefan quickly joined Bonnie, and together they waited for everything to be really over.
"Elijah?" Klaus gasped as he said his name.
"Hello, brother," Elijah greeted him lightly, as if he wasn't about to end his own brother's life. Then, without further ado, he punched his fist into Klaus' chest and grasped his heart tightly. "In the name of our family, Niklaus..."
"I didn't bury them at sea!" Klaus quickly rasped out. This made Elijah hesitate, his grasp started loosening and his face turned skeptical. "Their bodies are safe. If you kill me, you'll never find them."
Bella froze at the information. She didn't know if Klaus was telling the truth or if he just said that so Elijah wouldn't kill him. But whatever it was, she could immediately feel a tremendous sensation of relief in her heart.
Everything happened so fast. While Stefan and Bonnie warned Elijah not to listen to Klaus and just kill him already, Klaus tried to persuade him with a promise to reunite him with their family. And in the end, Elijah chose something that he always valued the most; his family.
Before anyone could do anything, the two original jumped over the wall of fire besides them and disappeared.
To be honest, Bella didn't know how to feel about all of this. She shouldn't feel relieved knowing there was a chance Elijah would undaggered him, since that would only mean she had to start running again. But then again she was always against the idea of him being daggered, knowing how much he suffered for spending times in the coffin. She really wanted to stop running, and also didn't want him to continue being daggered. However, those two couldn't happened at the same time. She couldn't choose which one she wanted the most. It was really confusing, to say the least.
But aside from her confusing feelings, she knew she had more serious issue upcomingㅡKlaus. Now that he was still alive, being a true hybrid, and knowing that they were plotting against him, it was more likely that he would seek revenge and make their life like a living hell.
The others decided to take a day off from the issues and held a funeral for the two member from Gilbert family; Jenna and John. Bella was planning to just skip that, not only because she didn't really know the two of them, but also because she already decided that mourning was useless.
During the 160 years of her life, Bella had met a lot of people. And some of them used to be really close to her, but she had lost almost all of them now. She had lost too many, cried too many, mourned too many, to the point where she decided it was all useless. Death was just a part of life, and the dead didn't need their tears. It might not make the pain any less, but there was nothing she could do other than to suck it all up and move on.
But even with all her claim about it, Bella found herself leaving the house in a black dress with a red rose in her hand, and slowly made her way to the cemetery. In her defense, there was nothing wrong with being a little bit sensitive or to pay her last respects even for someone she didn't really know.
By the time she arrived to the funeral, the others had already gone and left only one person thereㅡJeremy. The Gilbert boy just stood still in front of the two new tomb, his eyes fixed on the headstone. There were no sign of tears on his face, but the sadness was still there.
"I didn't expect you to come," he expressed as she stood by his side.
With eyes also fixed on the tomb, she confessed, "I didn't expect myself to come either." And as her eyes caught the name on the first headstone, she tried to remember anything she knew about her. "Your aunt seemed like a great person."
"She was."
She turned to the second headstone. "Your uncle, on the other hand..."
"I know, he tried to kill your brother twice," he finished, knowing exactly what she was about to say. A bitter smile appeared on his face. "He even killed my girlfriend once."
She finally turned to him, looking very sympathetic. "It doesn't make this any less suck, does it?"
"No, it doesn't."
There was a brief silent for a while. Bella looked down to the only rose in her hand, then to the two new tomb in turn.
Sighing, she turned her body to his side and took one step closer to him. Her sudden move made him turn to look at her with a frown.
"I should have done this in the first place."
"Done what?"
"Because of you, I'm still alive..." She handed him the rose. And for the first time since they knew each other, she gave him her genuine smile. "Thank you," she added as he finally took the rose. Then, unexpectedly, Bella pulled him into a hug.
ONE DAY HER BROTHER TRIED TO OFFER HIMSELF UP FOR SACRIFICE, and the next day her other brother was dying from a werewolf bite. Was this just her feeling or was the universe really trying to punish her with another great loss?
She hated herself for not realizing it any sooner. Damon had been showing the sign since yesterday, and she was too preoccupied with her thought to notice that. And now they had to race against time to find a cure that they didn't even know existed. The only clue they got from the dead witches about the cure was Klaus. As much as Bella just wanted to get away from the hybrid, she knew she couldn't. Not when her brother's life depended on him.
The first place Bella and Stefan went to was Alaric's apartment, they were kind of hoping Klaus would be here, but instead there was just Katherine, sitting all alone in the bed like she was waiting for something.
"Hello, Katherine," Stefan greeted.
Katherine's gaze shifted from Stefan to the girl beside him. Her eyes shot a glare to the girl. "Goodbye, Bella," she retorted, her tone repelling.
Bella scoffed, "Nice try, but I'm not leaving until I get what I'm looking for."
Katherine groaned and got up from the bed. "Two days, I've been waiting." She started grumbling, "I'm supposed to be free of Klaus' compulsion by now. He's supposed to be dead."
"We ran into complications," Stefan explained simply.
"Complications?" Katherine repeated, demanding further explanation.
"Doesn't really matter. We just need to find him."
Meanwhile Stefan did the talk with Katherine, Bella looked around the room.
"Do you have any idea where he might be?"
Suddenly, Katherine grabbed Stefan and pinned him against the wall. Bella reflexively sped up to them, shoving her off from her brother, throwing her skiny body across the room.
Katherine got up again just in time when the front door suddenly opened. "Klaus, you're back," she exclaimed, eyes fixed on the Salvatore siblings. And as Klaus walked in with Elijah, the Petrova girl made a gestures with her hands at Stefan and Bella as if she was presenting them. "Look who decided to come for a visit."
Klaus looked at the siblings in turn while Elijah closed the front door behind them. "You Salvatores just keep popping up, don't you?"
"We need your help..." Stefan stated as he took a few steps forwards to Klaus. "For our brother."
"Well, whatever it is, he's gonna have to wait a tick," Klaus replied, smiling mischievously. "You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention."
When Klaus walked past them, Elijah took a few steps closer to them and tried to explain his previous decision, "You understand how important family is, or you wouldn't be here."
But Bella didn't pay attention at all to the older original. Her eyes fixed on Klaus who was silently taking out a silver dagger and dipping it into some ashes. Noticing her gaze was watching his movement, Klaus turned to her. He smirked and put his forefinger in front of his lips, signaling her to silent.
She knew what Klaus was going to do and there was still time to warn Elijah about it. But then again she was in the need of the hybrid's help, and spoiling his plan would likely make him refuse to help.
"My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own." Elijah was too distracted with his talking to Stefan that he didn't even realize Klaus was already snuck up behind him.
"And so I shall."
Hearing Klaus's voice behind him, Elijah finally turned around. But before he could do anything, Klaus had stabbed the dagger through his heart.
Bella hurriedly looked away, couldn't bear to watch the cruelity on that scene. And it wasn't the stabbing part she was referring to, but the family betrayal part. After all this years, she finally watched it for herself what he had been through over centuries. No wonder he was always so broken.
Stefan suddenly grabbed her arm, and when she turned to him, he mouthed, "Go!" His eyes filled with concern, he worried for her now he realized how cruel Klaus really was.
Bella shook her head as an answer. They were family, therefore they were in this together. There was no way she would just leave him.
After letting Elijah's desiccated body fall to the floor, Klaus turned to the two siblings. And as the hybrid started walking towards them, Stefan quickly pulled his little sister behind his body, covering her from Klaus. "Now, what am I gonna do with the two of you?" the hybrid pretended to consider. And in the blink of eyes, he pinned the older one of the two against the wall.
Grabbing a small wodden stake from the side table, he stuck it into Stefan's chest, causing him to gasp out in pain. "Do you feel that? It's scraping against your heart." He let him lean on his body as he informed, "The slightest little movement, and you're dead."
There was no way Bella would just let Klaus kill her brother. But she knew better than to attack him directly since he was more than ten times stronger than her. Her eyes started wandering around the room, looking for anything she could use to save her brother. And when her eyes caught Elijah's body lying on the floor, she quickly rushed to him and grabbed the holds of the dagger in his heart. "Let my brother go or I'll take this dagger out of him," she threatened, eyes staring boldly at the hybrid.
Klaus looked at her over his shoulder, and let out a contemptuous chuckle. His gaze then shifted to Katherine who was just watching everything silently. And within a flash, Kathetine rushed to Bella and pushed her away from Elijah's body. Bella fought back and pinned her against the wall, but since Katherine was four times older, she easily turned things around. In the end, Katherine held Bella's arms behind her body, restrain the blonde's movements. And when Bella tried to break free, Katherine whispered to her ears, "It's for your own good."
"Careful, Isabella," Klaus warned and sent a lopsided smile to the Salvatore girl. "I just granted you back your freedom. I can always take it back."
"Screw you," Bella cursed through her gritted teeth. At this point, she didn't really care anymore. She was so done being afraid of this guy.
Surprisingly, Kathetine jumped up to the siblings' defense, "They're just trying to help their brother."
"The witches said you had a cure," Stefan finally spoke between the pain. "Make us a deal. Just give us the cure, and I'll do whatever you want."
Hearing that, Klaus finally took out the stake from Stefan's body and left him crumple on the floor. Katherine immediately let go of Bella. Without wasting any time, the Salvatore girl rushed towards her brother to check his condition and help him stand on his feet.
Klaus walked towards the kitchen counter and picked up a blood bag that was left on there. "Trouble is I don't know if either of you would be any good to me the way you are now," he muttered as he pouted half of the blood bag into a glass and took a sip from it. "You are just shy of useless."
The hybrid bought his glass with him as he walked back towards them. "But I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades." He was eyeing at Stefan as he complimented, "When he was off, he was magnificent." He then took another sip from his glass. "1917, he went into Monterey and wiped out an entire migrant village... a true ripper. Sound familiar?"
Bella knew Klaus was talking about Stefan. She also knew about their first encounter back in the 1920s. But right now wasn't really the right time to walk down memory lane because Damon's condition had likely gotten worse as they spoke. "Can't you just get straight to the point?" she retorted impatiently. "It's a matter of life and death. Every minutes counts."
"Well, the problem is, I can only make a deal with that kind of vampire I just described," the hybrid stated. "That is the kind of talent that I can use when I leave this town."
This made the two siblings exchange glances.
"Katerina, come here," Klaus suddenly ordered, his hand stretched out to the side. Katherine reluctantly walked to his side and put her hand on his. And unexpectedly, he bought her hand to his mouth and bit it.
Katherine screamed in shock. "No. No... No. No. No." She repeated the word over and over again as she stared panickly at the bitting wound in her wrist, knowing that it was fatal for her.
Klaus then bit his own wrist. He then shoved his own bloody wrist into Katherine's mouth, forcing her to drink his blood. They watched as Katherine's wound quickly healed.
"You want your cure?" Klaus tilted his head to the Katherine's side, his eyes glanced at her wrist. "There it is."
"Your blood is the cure," Stefan concluded.
"Gotta love Mother Nature," Klaus exclaimed proudly, smirking.
It was hard to decide whether to be happy or not about that. Sure it was good to know there was still hope to save her brother. But Klaus was the one who had it. And something told Bella that he would put the price as high as possible.
"Now, let's talk." Klaus then guided the two siblings to the kitchen counter.
The Salvatore siblings stood side by side near the kitchen counter, they watched in silent as Klaus put some of his blood into a vial. Katherine sat not far from them, also watching.
"There it is." Klaus held up the vial when it was half filled. "You want to save your brother?" He turned to the two siblings. His eyes then fixed on Stefan as he offered, "How 'bout a decade-long bender? I have big plans for you when we leave this town."
There were complications on Stefan's face as he refused, "I'm not like that anymore."
"Well, that's too bad." Klaus pretended to deplore. "You would have made a hell of a wingman." He then started pouring some of blood in the sink.
Bella understood why Stefan couldn't just say yes. She knew exactly how hard it was for him to stop once he started being a ripper again. While she, on the other hand, always had a good control over herself. It wouldn't really be a big problem for her to go on and off as a monster. She sighed and finally volunteered, "Just let me take his place."
Klaus stopped pouring the blood in the sink and turned to her, smirking.
Stefan quickly exclaimed, "No, I'll do it!" After shooting a disapproving glace at his little sister, he turned back to Klaus. "But leave her alone."
Klaus stared at the siblings in turn. "Now that's more like it," he muttered, a victorious smirk on his face. "I want you to join me for a drink." He picked up another blood bag and slid it across the kitchen counter to Stefan.
Bella watched as Stefan caught it and rip the cap off the blood bag. He took a sip from it at the same time Klaus took another sip from his glass.
"Finish it," Klaus ordered to him. "All of it." He then put his glass back to the table. "You do everything I say, and I save your brother. That's the deal."
Bella stared worriedly at her brother as he started to finish the blood. And the fact that Klaus kept throwing him another blood bag after he finished the previous one wasn't helping at all.
The last thing she wanted was Stefan to come back as a ripper. That wasn't him at all. And he would hate himself so much when he returned to his true self later.
Between Stefan who was starting to embrace his darkest side again and Damon who was dying in their home, Bella could feel her head spinning. How much time did she have left until things got worse?
"No more," Stefan finally refused to the umpteenth blood bag that Klaus offered to him. He was panting for breath as he was trying to resist the temptation from the blood in front of him. "Not until you give me the cure."
"Not until we make a deal," Klaus retorted. "It's your choice, Stefan. You can either remain here living your life in Mystic Falls, or you can embrace what you truly are, leave town with me, and save your brother's life."
Stefan took the blood bag harshly, sealing their deal. But the more blood he drank, the more he started losing himself and turned the monster he hated the most.
"That's the spirit," Klaus exclaimed. He looked at Katherine and adressed her, "Sweetheart..." Taking the vial of his blood in his hand, he walked towards Katherine and grabbed her by her throat, forcing her to stand. Showing the vial in front of her face, he started compelling her, "Take this over to Damon and come right back."
"You want me to leave?" Katherine asked for certain.
"No!" Stefan yelled in horror.
"Yes and if I were you..." before Klaus could finish his sentence, Katherine already took the vial and disappeared. "I'd hurry," he still finished it even though she wasn't there anymore.
"What don't you just let Bella take it to him?" Stefan growled at the hybrid.
"Because your sister doesn't seems like she wants to go," Klaus answered casually and turned to the only female in the room. "Isn't that right, love?"
Bella narrowed her eyes at the hybrid. She really didn't expect him to notice her dilemma right now.
"No, no, no. That's not a part of the deal." Stefan quickly disagreed. "Let her go, Klaus."
"Don't worry, Stefan. She's more than free to choose." Klaus seemed to be enjoying the little family drama in front of him. Turning back to look at Bella, he smiled mischievously and asked, "So what will it be, love?"
"Bella, just go!" Stefan shouted, eyes looking pleadingly at her. "Make sure she really take it to Damon."
Bella swore she loved her brothers equally. Unlike the others, she would never prefer one over another, no matter how annyoing they could be. And now both of them needed her more than ever.
She really didn't want to leave Stefan alone with the kind of monster like Klaus. However, Damon was the one who dying. There was a hugh chance she would lose her oldest brother forever if she didn't go and make sure Katherine really took the cure to him.
Finally making her decision, she took a few step towards the hybrid. And as she finally right in front of him, she whispered right to his face, "I hope you rot in hell." Before she really left, she slammed the front door loudly.
Bella sighed in relief when the first thing she heard after she walked into her house was Katherine's voice that came from Damon's room. It turned out she was trying to explain to her doppelganger about the deal Stefan made with Klaus.
"Goodbye, Elena."
Katherine was about to leave when Bella entered the room. She couldn't help but stare warily at Katherine as the Petrova girl noticed her presence.
She was the one who helped Klaus caught her. And Katherine didn't strike her as someone who wouldn't hold a grudge. She felt like the only reason why Katherine didn't try to attack her earlier was because Stefan wouldn't let that happened. But now Stefan wasn't there and Damon was still too weak to move, Katherine didn't have any reason to not try to attack her.
"Relax, Little Bell," Katherine mocked as she realized the look on Bella's face. "I understand you just wanted us to be even. But now you have nothing to be mad at me about." She walked past Bella to the door, but then she stopped again as she remembered something. "Oh, Elena," she adressed the Gilbert girl as she turned back to her. "It's okay to love them both." She then casually admitted, "I did."
Bella narrowed her eyes at the two doppelgangerㅡthe overconfident Katherine and the speechless Elena. She really hated how easy they talked about toying with her brothers' heart. She couldn't help but retort, "You two are disgusting."
While Katherine quickly disappeared after throwing the vial in her hand to Elena, Bella rushed towards Damon who was trying to get up from bed.
The first thing Bella did was to check his bite wound. It was starting to heal. But Damon was still looked pale and his eyes was only half-open.
"Do you see me clearly?" Bella asked, hands grabbing Damon's head to look at her.
"Yeah, you look exactly like my sister."
"Do you feel like throwing up?"
"What am I, pregnant?"
Those answers were enough to let her know that her brother was going to be okay. But since he was trying to piss her off with it, Bella decided to piss him back. "At mother's funeral, you wrote her a great eulogy that got me cry for days." She gave him a lopsided smile when she asked, "What was that about again?"
"Oh, screw you, Bell."
She chuckled and finally let out her relieved smile.
"Glad to know you'll live."
A/n : I'm really glad I finally finished season two. Now I can focus on season three where we get to see more of the Mikaelsons!