BEING A HIGH SCHOOLER AND A CHEERLEADER for the umpteenth time wasn't something Bella really expected when she decided to settle down in her hometown, Mystic Falls. She used to really like it, but as time went on, it all started to bore her. Good thing now she had Rebekah and Caroline on her side (even though they themselves still continued to be hostile towards each other). It turned out the feeling of having friends (real one, not compelled one) was enough to make everything feel better. It felt really good to know that she wasn't alone anymore.
It was a cheerleading practice time and Bella was stretching along with her squadmate (minus Caroline, who wasn't able to join them that day because she had to attend a meeting with the Homecoming Committee) when Rebekah, who wasn't usually late, finally showed up and approached her. The original looked more cheerful than usual as she announced, "Guess who just got a date to the homecoming dance." Then, she turned to the where the football team were and waved her hand at them, to Matt Donovan to be more precise.
"Oh, wow, you're into the quarterback now," Bella responded and stopped stretching. Straightening herself up, she winced as she realized how cliché all this was. "Please don't tell me you watched too many teen drama movies and are trying to recreate them."
"No, actually, I just needed a date," Rebekah replied as she took her place beside the Salvatore girl and began to stretch. "Tyler's taken and Stefan isn't really available right now."
A faint frown appeared on the Bella's forehead. "You still want to be with my brother?"
"Only if he starts treating me better," the original answered nonchalantly.
Bella knew they both had history together in the 20's. The real Stefan was a good guy, and he absolutely knew how to treat a woman right. And as much as she liked Rebekah better than Elena, she knew that her brother's love for the Gilbert girl was too deep to break. That kind of love was irreplaceable. She wasn't even sure if her brother could ever love another girl like that. As a friend, she didn't really want Rebekah to be with someone who didn't love her enough.
"In all honesty... I think you deserve better than my brother."
Rebekah quickly stopped stretching as her ears caught the concern in Bella's voice. She straightened herself up and turned to the other blonde beside her. The sincere smile on her lips showed how much she appreciated it. "In that case... I think you deserve better than my brother too."
Bella returned the smile. She used to think that Rebekah would completely take his side and force her to forgive him, but it turned out she was wrong. And she was really glad about it. The last thing she needed was someone to pressure her into doing something they didn't even understand why she couldn't.
Their moment was ruined when a certain girl with straight long hair approached them. Bella groaned and looked away, suddenly hoping their coach would come soon so the girl had no choice but leave. Meanwhile Rebekah turned to face the girl with a smirk on her face.
"I was hoping we could talk," the girl, also known as Elena Gilbert, uttered.
"About what? Stefan?" Rebekah asked mockingly. "Don't worry. I'm off him until he starts treating me better." The Gilber girl started reaching into her own bag while she continued, "In fact, you should probably take a page out of my book, if I'm being honest."
"Actually, I'd rather talk about this." Elena took out a photo from her bag and held it up next to her face. That resulted in Rebekah's sudden change of expression. "I'm curious why you and Klaus have spent a thousand years running from your father."
The last sentence made Bella quickly turn back to them, surprised. Her gaze shifted from the photo next to Elena's face, which turned out to be a picture of an inscription in a runic alphabet carved into a stone, to Rebekah's face. She didn't know what the picture meant since she had been kicked out from the loop for hanging out with Rebekah. But whatever it was, it must be something vital to Rebekah that the girl reacted like that.
After overcoming the shock, Rebekah quickly turned to Bella. "Hei, I think I need help with some moves from the routine." She forced a chuckle as she looked back at Elena and reasoned, "Homecoming's right around the corner."
She frowned even more as Rebekah quickly walked past her to the other side of the school yard. It was really unusual for the female original to try to escape a conversation.
"Well then, maybe I'll ask Mikael when we wake him."
Rebekah froze for a moment, while Bella seemed thoughtful. It didn't take long for the female Salvatore to put two and two together in her blonde head and finally realize that Mikael, the same vampire hunter she found with Katherine and Jeremy a week ago, was the father of the original siblings that Elena mentioned earlier.
The original turned back to Elena and scoffed, "You're bluffing. You don't know where he is. No one does."
"Why don't you ask your friend here?" Elena turned her face to the female Salvatore as she emphasized the last three words.
Rebekah quickly turned to the friend the Gilbert girl was referring to, a hint of disappointment on her face. "You knew about this?"
"I swear, I was forced to come along by my brother," Bella explained, not wanting her friend to misunderstand. "Then he kicked me out of the loop as soon as we started hanging out."
The female original started shaking her head in disbelief. Her gaze then moved alternately to the two girls nearby as she remarked, "If you wake Mikael, we are all doomed."
"So then tell me," Elena demanded.
Rebekah took a few steps closer to the Gilbert girl with her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why do you want to know?"
"Why don't you want me to wake him?"
When Bella realized it was a sensitive subject Rebekah really didn't want to talk about, she quickly walked over to the girl's side and coldly said to Elena, "I think you need to leave."
But even when Elena left them, and even when their coach came and the practice began, Rebekah's behavior changed drastically. She became more quite than usual. And Bella repeatedly caught the girl looking lost in her own thoughts. It was almost like she was there, but she wasn't really there.
Bella had thought that Rebekah would be mad with her after learning about her involvement in finding Mikael. It turned out she was wrong. In fact, the original acted like usual towards her and even still asked for her company and help to find a new dress for the homecoming dance. But even so, she felt like she still owed her an apology.
As they finally got home after their homecoming dress shopping, Bella finally asked, "Are you okay?"
"Why shouldn't I be?" Rebekah replied cheerfully while putting her shopping bag on the couch. She then pulled her phone out of her pocket and started typing something.
Bella knew better than to buy that I'm-okay-with-everything act. But if Rebekah didn't really want to talk about it, then she wouldn't force her to.
Sitting down on the other couch, she finally apologized, "I'm sorry I didn't mention about that earlier."
"Knowing your brother, I wouldn't put the blame on you," the original vampire responded without taking her eyes off the phone or stop typing.
Bella let out a faint smile, she couldn't describe how glad she was to hear it. But her smile quickly disappeared as Rebekah informed, "I just invited Elena over. I hope you don't mind."
"Actually, I do mind."
"Well, too late." Rebekah turned her phone over to show her the screen. "The text has been sent." She then smiled broadly.
Bella groaned and swayed her head.
It didn't take long for Elena to arrive as if she had been waiting for that. And the first thing she did when she arrived was demand Rebekah to tell her about Mikael right away. That not only annoyed Rebekah, but also Bella. Who did she think she was to demand a 1000 years old vampire like that?
"You do not threaten me," Rebekah warned, eyes looking intimidatingly at the human doppelganger. "You will learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?"
Bella grinned when she caught Elena's terrified face who could only nod her head in response. And as if knowing exactly that Elena's presence alone was enough to annoy her, Rebekah quickly took the Gilbert girl to the other room, to Stefan's to be precise.
Pouring herself a glass of champagne, Bella settled down on the couch in the living room and secretly listened to Rebekah and Elena's conversation. She knew Rebekah was about to tell the Gilbert girl about Mikael. She was also curious about it, but since she was too lazy to be in the same room as Elena, she decided to listen from afar.
For the first few minutes, all Bella could hear was Elena's whining about Rebekah snooping through Stefan's stuff instead of telling the story. And as much as she felt annoyed at her friend for stalling, she found herself even more annoyed by Elena's voice.
When Rebekah finally started telling her story, Bella already knew the first part of it. She knew how their family ended up there and how they lived in peace with the werewolves until their youngest brother's death. The story had to be paused until that very part because Elena's phone suddenly rang.
When Bella didn't hear the next part of the story even after Elena finished receiving the call which turned out to be from Damon, she decided to check up on them. And she came just in time as Rebekah, who was standing with a photo frame in her hand, looked down to Elena, who was sitting on the chair in front of her, and commented, "Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple."
"You and me both, honey," the female Salvatore chimed in as she leaned her shoulders against the door frame of her brother's room with her arms folded across her chest.
Both of them turned to her. Rebekah and her shared a smirk.
"Why would you?" Elena responded defiantly, looking at the two blonde girls in turn. "Neither of you know who he really is."
The last words made the Salvatore girl reflexively straighten herself up. "Say that again, Elena?" she challenged, her tone calm yet tinged with threats.
"No offense, but you weren't really there for him for such a long time," the Gilbert girl stated, trying hard to sound calm as she spoke.
"And you've only known my brother for the past year, yet you already feel like you know everything about him?" the blonde retorted in disbelief, her jaw tightened. "Congratulation, you just made me want to rip you apart even more."
"All right, ladies," Rebekah laughed as she finally interjected, "as much as I would love a demonstration, let's not change this nice evening into a bloody one," her eyes were now on Bella, "for your own sake."
Bella narrowed her eyes sarcastically at Elena who was secretly breathing a sigh of relief. Her gaze then turned to Rebekah as she threw both hands up in the air in a surrender gesture and murmured, "She's all yours."
She quickly went to the study room to find more drink to calm herself down. She really didn't understand how her brothers could endure being around someone as annoying as Elena.
As she took a bottle of wine from her brother's cabinet, she heard Rebekah continuing the story. This time was about the girl's mother, the original witch who turned the girl and the rest of her family into vampires as a form of protection from the werewolves. Bella found herself continue listening to it as she opened the bottle cap and poured it into a glass. She decided to pour it into another glass as she heard Rebekah's voices (along with Elena's who continued asking questions) and their footsteps getting closer. And as they finally arrived there, she handed Rebekah the other glass, knowing that the girl needed it more than anything, in which the girl replied with a faint smile.
Bella brought her own glass with her to the couch. She sat down and took a sip from it while staring blankly at the fireplace. Rebekah stood not far from the fireplace, her eyes also fixed at the fire when she told them the story how they were turned, how the predatory species was born. Elena stood not far behind the female original, listening and asking more questions.
They finally got to the part of the story Bella had been waiting for, the Mikael part. Apparently, Mikael was the one who killed the girl's mother because of the woman's affair with one of the werewolf villagers. And afterwards, he took off in a rage while the rest of the girl's family scattered. Klaus and Elijah stayed to help the girl burried their mother, and that was when the girl finally mention the promise she made with them; always and forever.
Bella froze at that. She suddenly felt like having a déjà vu. It was the exact same promise he made to her over a century ago.
And I will keep loving you, always and forever.
She closed her eyes for second when she suddenly could hear him saying that, but she knew it was only in her head. Some memories of him from that day then started reappearing, and she suddenly could remember exactly how he made her feel that day; the feeling of being the happiest woman in the world, which was immediately crushed by the pain he caused when he turned her against her will.
Trying to get it all out of her head, she took a deep breath and gently shook her head. She then took another sip from her glass, finishing it.
"Always and forever," Elena repetead the words carefully. "Even though he locked you in a coffin for 90 years."
"We're vampires," Rebekah replied as if it was the obvious. "Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik... Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family, we've all made that mistake at least once." She finally turned from the fireplace and shot the other blonde in the room an apologetic glance as she added, "I've made it several times."
Bella remembered that he once told her that even though Rebekah never directly daggered him, the girl had taken part on daggering him several times. And that was probably why Rebekah felt guitly not only to him, but to her as well, because they were friends now, and the girl knew that deep down she still cared about him.
"But you still love him?"
That question caught not only Rebekah's attention, but also Bella's. She turned to the brunette and stared at her in disbelief.
How dare that doppelbitch ask that question in a tone that implied that Rebekah shouldn't still love her own brother? Bella hated that guy as well, but she would never ask Rebekah that question. He was the girl's brother. As someone who loves her own brothers unconditionally, Bella could easily understand why Rebekah still loves Klaus even after everything he did.
"He's my brother and I'm immortal," Rebekah stated the obvious. "Should I spend an eternity alone instead?"
Finally, the most awaited happened. Rebekah kicked Elena out. But Elena, being stupid as usual, instead of just leaving, tried to threaten Rebekah with Mikael for the second time.
"Do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril. But make no mistake. If you come after my brother, I will rip you apart," Rebekah threatened back, emphasizing her every words.
When Rebekah told the Gilbert girl to leave for the second time, Bella got up from the couch. She went to the table to pour more drinks for both her and Rebekah, knowing how exhausting it was to talk to someone like Elena.
"Didn't he ever tell you about that?" Rebekah immediately asked as she joined her at the table after making sure Elena was gone.
Bella, who was sipping her glass at the moment, could only respond, "Hm?"
"You hated Elena, you could just leave when she came, but you didn't." The female original took the other glass on the table that was already filled with red liquid, knowing that it was meant for her. "You were listening too, you were also curious," she observed and took a sip from her glass. "I thought he already told you about it."
Bella sighed and confirmed, "He did." She bit her lips and started walking back towards the couch with her glass in her hand, avoiding Rebekah's gaze. "But he never really mentioned about Mikael's part on your mother's death," she turned her head back to the table and shot the girl a sympathetic gaze, "or that you were all on the run from him for centuries."
He also never referred him as Mikael, only 'my father'. That was why Bella really had no idea who Mikael was when she first heard the name.
Rebeakah seemed thoughful for a while, then muttered, "Makes sense." She took another sip from her glass.
"What makes sense?"
"Why did he left that part out? Why did he take you away from New Orleans, away from us?" Bella's gaze followed Rebekah's movement as the girl walked over to the couch and sat down next to her, her glass was still in her hand. The female original looked straight into her eyes as she told her, "He didn't want you to get caught up in our family drama."
She blinked with surprise. She never thought it that way.
"Our family is an even bigger mess than you think," Rebekah countined, her voice trembled and the bitterness in her tone couldn't be hidden. "And that's why he tried to keep you away from us... to protect you from us."
Bella couldn't bring herself to respond to that, so she just looked away at the fireplace and took another sip from her glass. And for a moment, there was only silence around them.
But the silence had to be broken when Elena rushed back into the room with some pictures in her hand and asked, "How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?"
She continued to stare at the fireplace while Rebekah turned to the Gilbert girl and answered, "Nik was there. He told me."
"He lied to you."
Rebekah got up from the couch and walked towards the table to put her empty glass back. "And how do you know that?"
Elena walked over to Rebekah's side. "The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols, the story of your family..." she started putting the pictures in her hand on the table, "how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this," she stopped for a while at the last picture, "This is the symbol for hybrid. It's the combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother," she put another picture on the table. "And this is the story of her death." She showed her the last picture and explained, "The hybrid killed the original witch. Not Mikael, Klaus."
The last information caught Bella's attention in instant. She got up from the couch and quickly walked closer to them to check out the pictures.
"No." Rebekah shook her head, refusing to believe. "No, he wouldn't."
"She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence. When he turned, all of that was heightened."
The explanation sounded plausible, but that wasn't what had caught Bella's attention. It was Rebekah's expression. The shock and hurt look on the girl's face and her eyes began to tear up. It was clear that the girl was on the verge of tears.
But as if couldn't take the hint, Elena continued, "He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father so that he wouldn't lose you."
Rebekah tried to pull herself together, but failed. "These mean nothing!" she yelled to Elena's face and grabbed all the pictures with her as she rushed to the fireplace and threw them in there, "They're just stupid drawings done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!"
Rebekah might have been physically very strong, but emotionally she was just as fragile as them. The fact that she chose to deny rather than accept the reality and face it had proved that. But Bella couldn't blame her. It was always so much easier to be in denial when things became too much.
"Then why are you so upset?" Again, Elena continued pushing her.
"Why are you doing this to me?" the original retorted, panting. "I've done nothing to you!"
"Klaus killed your mother! He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop!"
Bella couldn't believe her ears. Wasn't Elena supposed to be the human one here? Then why couldn't she showed her humanity and be a little sensitive with Rebekah's feelings?
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Rebekah finally snapped and grabbed Elena by the neck and pushed her against the walls, her vampire's face was out. "Don't talk anymore! Nothing!"
Elena really had gone too far. When Rebekah released her, Bella grabbed the brunette by the back of her hair and started pulling her roughly to the front door. The girl yelped in pain and tried to free her hair from Bella's grip as the youngest Salvatore continued to drag her.
"If you really are her friend, then you should have agreed that she deserved to know the truth!" Elena exclaimed as Bella finally let go of her hair after they arrived on the porch.
"Don't you dare telling me how to be a friend," she hissed through her gritted teeth. Her eyes stared intimidatingly at Elena as she took a few steps closer to her while the brunette took a few steps back and tried to avoid her gaze. "And don't act like you did it because you think she deserved to know the truth. You did it because you wanted to turn her against her own brother, all just for your own selfish gain."
Elena gulped and looked down. She looked like she couldn't even bring herself to deny it.
Bella scoffed, "Now why don't you do everyone a favor and just go to hell?" Without waiting for an answer, she walked back inside and deliberately slammed the door loudly.
When she got back to the study room, she quickly found Rebekah kneeling by the fireplace, sobbing. She gulped as her heart started to ache seeing her friend so crushed like that.
Bella had been in a similar situation before. Her father killed her brothers, then her brother accidentally killed him back, and she had to witness all of that with her own eyes. And to say it was a horrible experience was an understatement. It took years for her to finally over that. But she knew this wasn't the case.
Unlike her, Rebekah had to live with the lie that Klaus made for over a thousand years. And that was the most painfull part of all; the betrayal.
She knelt before her and realized that her heart didn't hurt because all of this reminded her by her own terrible experience. She was hurt for Rebekah. She was hurt because her friend was in so much pain, because she grew to truly care about her, and just seeing her in pain made her feel the pain too.
"I'm not gonna tell you everything will be okay, because we both know it's a lie, but I want you to know that you have me now," Bella said solemly, her voice began to crack and water began to fill her eyelids. "And if you need anythingㅡ"
Her words were cut off as Rebekah suddenly moved closer and put her arms around her neck, hugging her. Without Bella knowing it, tears began to roll down her own cheeks as she returned Rebekah's hug and began rubbing the girl's back soothingly.
The two of them were proof that even the strong ones could break.
AFTER SEVERAL DAYS ARGUING WITH REBEKAH AND CAROLINE ABOUT WHY SHE DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO THE HOMECOMING DANCE, Bella couldn't believe she had finally decided to go. Plans had changed. Mikael, previously declared missing by Katherine, somehow found his way to her brothers and threatened to kill them if they didn't lure Klaus back to Mystic Falls so that he could kill him. Not having much choice, they started making a plan to lure Klaus back. But what was unexpected was Rebekah's willingness to help with their plan.
It must have been hard for Rebekah to do that. That was why Bella decided to go to the homecoming dance with her, so she could be there for her through that difficult night. Even though she knew Rebekah already had a date, she still wanted to be there for her.
Not really having time to shop for a new dress, Bella chose to go through her old stuffs to find her old dresses. Her choice finally fell on a plum satin dress with a sleeveless v-neckline, a double row of sleek spaghetti straps, sleek cross-straps at the back, and a flirty skater silhouette.
When Bella intended to ask Rebekah for her opinion about the dress, she found Damon and Elena sitting on the girl's bed with someone lying on the floor not far from them and covered in a cloth. It didn't take long for her to realize what was going on.
"What have you done?" she hissed to them, her vampire face was out. But before she could charge at them, her brother had already flashed himself towards her and pinned her against the wall with both hands holding her hands on each side of her face.
"Elena, go!" Damon ordered, and Elena quickly left the room.
Feeling even more annoyed, Bella smacked her head against Damon's really hard and made him grunt in pain and finally let go of his grip. She then pushed his chest away roughly, her vampire face was gone.
"This isn't part of the plan," she complained.
"Yeah, well, plans changed," Damon replied in his casual tone. "You're the one who always told me to be smart. This is me being smart. Rebekah was never going to be completely on our side, I think you know that."
"Then ask me to preoccupy her!"
"But what are you gonna do if she has a change of mind? She could easily overstrength you and ruin the plan."
As much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew Damon was right. It was always better safe than sorry.
She sighed. The one time she wanted to stop betraying someone, and the situation just didn't want to let her.
"Bella, I know you feel bad to your friend, but this is only temporary," Damon spoke again, looking straight into his sister's eyes to convince her. "I promise."
But Bella wasn't stupid. Elena was the one who daggered Rebekah, so when the female original come back to life, she definitely would go after Elena. And knowing her brother, there was no way he would let that happen.
She decided to pretend to believe that promise. She knew she needed to play along until everything was over.
Now that Rebekah couldn't go to the dance, she no longer had a reason to go too. But Caroline would be mad at her if she told her that she changed her mind again. And since she also didn't want to be home when Klaus came, she decided to go anyway.
Earlier that day, Bella overheared her brother admitted that he had a secret contingency plan, but he didn't want to elaborate on it. That was why she deliberately lingered in getting ready for the dance. She tried to eavesdrop on Damon and Mikael's conversation to find out about their actual plan, but both of them didn't mention anything about it.
After she finished styling her hair into a low messy bun, she came out of her room and went straight to the study. Damon was about to take a sip from his glass of blood when she entered, so she quickly walked over him and snatched the glass from his hand.
"Looking good, baby sis," Damon commented as Bella nonchalantly drank his glass. She then gave him a cynical smile before slamming the empty glass in his face.
Damon groaned in pain and touched his own forehead. It was a hard strong glass. It didn't break easily, but caused more pain when it hit his head. "I see someone's still a little pissed." Mikael just watched them in silent.
Stefan suddenly rushed into the room and announced, "Change in plans." All eyes fell on him. "Klaus is back. He's at the Lockwood's." His eyes fixed on the original as he added, "And he wants your body delivered to his doorstep."
"I'm afraid he's in for a colossal disappointment," Mikael replied, smiling smugly.
"Well, he's certainly not going to come here," Stefan responded. "I hope your plan didn't depend on that."
Damon chimed in, "Didn't depend on that."
"But you do have a plan, right?"
Bella suddenly could feel Damon's hand moving silently behind her body. She had a bad feeling.
"Oh, yeah. We got a plan, right? It just doesn't involve you."
As Mikael suddenly rushed on Stefan and fed on him, Damon tried to attack her, but she was faster. She managed to catch her brother's hand that was holding a vervain injection just inches from the back of her waist. Her eyes stared sarcastically at her brother as she turned to look at him with her hand still holding his. Damon, who was caught red-handed, could only grimace.
When she heard a thud from Stefan's body hitting the floor from behind, she quickly pushed Damon away and fled using her vampire speed.
She was outnumbered. She knew she could take down Damon, but Mikael? Let's just say she didn't want to find out how it felt like to be fed on.
She couldn't say that she didn't see that coming. Damon had shown that he didn't trust her, or Stefan. She couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or not that he really thought everything through.
The Lockwood Mansion was probably the most unsafe place for her (and everyone) right now, given that was where Damon and Mikael headed and also where Klaus would be killed, but she couldn't help but to go there. She wanted to know how this plan would play out.
Just when she arrived at the wooded area around the Mansion, she ran into Elena. And before she could say anything, the brunette quickly put one hand on her mouth and the other hand on the back on her head, then she knew right away it was actually Katherine.
Bella had no idea that Katherine was part of the plan. And there seemed to be something very important that Katherine wanted to tell her as the girl quickly gave her a signal to follow the girl further into the forest area, further away from the Mansion.
"There's something you have to know," Katherine said, her head was bobbing around to make sure no one was around.
"What?"
"If Klaus gets killed, he's taking Damon down with him."
Bella grunted. "Ugh, clever asshole."
"Stefan has his humanity's off so he couldn't care," Katherine continued. "So it leaves you alone, Bella."
The youngest Salvatore winced. "I take it you don't want to offer a hand?"
"I already risked enough to come all the way here to talk to you," the vampire doppelganger retorted. She then sighed. "Listen, I know you can to do this. I know you can save your brother's life. You're a really smart girl, Bella. And that's high praise coming from me."
That would only mean she needed to come out with a plan, fast.
If Klaus died, Damon would die along with him. So that meant the goal was to save Klaus. But there was only one original that could come out alive tonight. And to achieve the goal, she had to make sure it wasn't Mikael.
She didn't know who else had a part of the plan, or how it would be proceeded, but she was quite sure Damon and Mikael would take the most important part. If only she could distract the two of them for a while, just long enough to give Klaus the upper hand so that the hybrid could kill Mikael once and for all.
It was a good plan but the problem was there were two of them and only one of her. She could distract or even hold Damon for a while, but who would make sure Klaus had the upper hand against Mikael?
She needed help. Stefan. Even with his humanity off, she still felt like he was the only one she could rely on in this very situation.
As soon as she got home, she went to the cellar to grab some blood bag and rushed to the study to wake her brother.
"Bella?" Stefan frowned, still lying on the floor. His hand moved to touch his neck which was now healed again.
The youngest Salvatore threw the blood bag at his stomach and ordered, "Get your ass up, we don't have much time."
He started to get up and looked confusedly at his sister and the blood bag. "What are you talking about?"
"News flash; your master has linked his life to our big brother's," she explained briefly and scoffed. "Apparently if Klaus dies, we'll be the only Salvatores left."
She then left to grab some vervain grenades from Alaric's weapons collection that had been left at her house, giving Stefan time to drink the blood and regain his strength. After that, she went to her room to grab a coat so that she could put the grenades inside the pocket since there were no pockets on her dress.
Just like Bella had expected, Stefan quickly followed her as she left the house. No words needed. With humanity or not, they would continue to fight for each other.
"You take care of Damon, I'll take care of Mikael," she instructed as they were just meters away from the Mansion. There were many hybrids filling the front yard, so they had to use the back door. "Good luck," she muttered to her brother and he nodded. Several hybrids tried to get in their way, but they easily shoved them away and ripped their heart out.
When they finally arrived at the scene, they found Mikael and Klaus standing opposite each other at the door, only the threshold of the door stood between them. Mikael had Elena-Katherine- in his hand with a dagger at her back, her face looked terrified. And after saying his last insult to Klaus, the old man stabbed the dagger into Katherine's back.
Everything happened so fast. Damon suddenly appeared behind Klaus with a white oak stake in his hand. He stabbed Klaus at his stomach, making the hybrid to roar in pain, and tackled him to the ground.
Meanwhile outside, Katherine got up on her feet with a smirk on her face. She then turned to the hybrids on the yard and detonated two wolfsbane grenades towards them. The blast forced them to retreat and caught Mikael's attention for a moment.
Mikael quickly turned his attention back to Klaus at the same time Damon raised the stake and was about to drove it through Klaus' heart. In the blink of eye, Stefan rushed towards them and pushed Damon away from Klaus, making him drop the stake to the floor. Stefan held Damon on the floor by his collar as Bella came out and fired two vervain grenades into Mikael's face before speeding away, leaving the old man groan in pain while the skin on his face burning. And before it healed back, Klaus had already taken his chance. He picked up the stake from the floor, lunged at Mikael and tackled the man into the ground, then drove the stake right into the his heart, making Mikael start screaming in pain for the second time. Klaus then stood back as he watched Mikael, along with the stake in his chest, burst into flames.
Bella, who was also watching everything from inside, let out a sigh of relief. And when she turned her face to her brothers who were still on the floor, she found Damon's angry gaze directed at her too.
"What the hell did you two do?" the oldest Salvatore thundered.
Not feeling like facing her brother's wrath at the moment, she decided to just leave.
That was a hell of a night. Bella felt like she needed to take a walk. But since she didn't know where to go, she just followed where her feet stepped.
When her feet lead her to the dark road, a car came and stopped beside her. It was Katherine, with Stefan on the passenger seat. The two of them gestured for her come with them, so she climbed out to the back seat.
For a while, there was only silence in the car. But that was until Katherine called Damon on her cell phone to say goodbye. Both Stefan and Bella just stared outside the window as they quietly lisetened their conversation.
"He doesn't know where it all wrong," Katherine told them after hanging up, her eyes were on the road. Sighing, she looked over to the siblings in turn.
Stefan turned to her and replied, "He doesn't need to know."
Knowing Damon, he might get even more upset if he found out that he was the real reason why they couldn't kill Klaus. He would probably tell them to stop saving his life.
"Yeah, let him be," Bella agreed, eyes now staring blankly at her knee.
Katherine suddenly stopped the car. "Are two you good from here? I need to put about a million miles between myself and Klaus as soon as possible."
"You know, there's something I don't understand." Bella leaned forward to the front seat to look at Katherine. "You were the only one who knew about Klaus's plan with Damon," she stated while looking straight into her brown eyes. This made Stefan frown and seem to think about that for a moment. "You could just shut your mouth so no one would try anything to stop it, but you didn't. You told me."
"Yeah, you've wanted Klaus dead for 500 years," Stefan quickly chimed in and looked at Katherine in confusion. "Why would you risk all that just to save Damon's life?"
"I wasn't just trying to save Damon's life." Katherine gently shook her head. Her gaze shifted from Bella to Stefan as she continued, "I was trying to save yours, your humanity. Let's just say I like the old you better."
Stefan scoffed and looked away. "Nah. Come on, Katherine," he looked back at her and smiled mockingly, "You don't care about anyone but yourself. You never have."
"You and I both know that that is not true," Katherine denied. "I loved you. I loved Damon too." She then turned to Bella. "As much as it's hard to believe, I've grown to care about you."
Bella would be damned if she believed on Katherine's words after what the woman did to her. But the woman's action tonight, the fact that she was willing to sacrifice her own freedom that she had longed for just to save Damon, had proved that she wasn't lying, that she meant what she said.
"Humanity is a vampire's greatest weakness," Katherine muttered, eyes staring back at the road. She had her elbow on the window ledge and was resting her head on her hand. "No matter how easy it is to turn it off, it keeps trying to fight its way back in." She turned back to the two siblings as she admitted, "Sometimes I let it."
There was a moment of silence before Stefan replied, "I can't let it all back in. I don't want to." He swayed his head a little and leaned it against his seat. "Not after everything I've done."
Bella looked over at her brother with concern. "But, Stef, the longer you spend without your humanity, the longer the list of things you'll regret when you turn it on." Stefan looked back at her and swallowed hard. He knew she was right.
"She's right, you know," Katherine chimed in, eyes fixed on the older Salvatore. "If you don't let yourself feel, you won't be able to do what I need you to do next."
He turned to Katherine again. "What's that?"
"Get mad," Katherine answered in a whisper voice as she leaned closer to him. "Klaus took everything from you, from your sister, from all of us."
It seemed that Katherine's words were enough to motivate Stefan to get mad, just like what the woman asked. The look on his face when he quickly got out from the car showed that he was plotting something at the time, a revenge plan against Klaus.
Before getting out of the car to catch up with her brother, Bella once again leaned closer to Katherine. Her gaze softened as she told her, "The answer for your question the other day is yes. I do think it would be possible." They exchanged sincere smiles for the first time. "Take care, Katherine."
While Bella hurriedly followed her brother after getting out of the car, Katherine drove the car away. It was almost like Stefan didn't want her to come along as he continued to walk away without waiting for her.
"Whatever it is you're scheming right now," she exclaimed to his back as she continued to follow him, "I want in."
Stefan shook his head. Without stopping or turning around, he replied, "Nah, I'm in this alone."
Bella scoffed and flashed herself in front of him, blocking his way and forcing him to stop walking. "What part of 'can't getting rid of me that easily' is hard for you to understand?"
He grunted and looked away for a moment. After taking a deep breath, he finally looked back at her. "Can I trust you?"
She frowned at the question, looking offended. "What kind of question was that?"
"Fine, you're in," he finally decided, giving up. "But it's just me and you."
"Not really a problem for me."
IF ONLY SHE HAD KNOWN EARLIER THAT Stefan's plan involved stealing Klaus'ㅡdaggeredㅡfamily, she would have thought twice before saying she was in. But she couldn't just back out because Stefan would be suspicious. He would definitely ask the reason, and she had yet to find the right lie as the answer.
After discussing their plans further, they agreed to divide up the tasks. Stefan would be in charge of the coffins containing the bodies of Klaus' family, while Bella would be in charge of keeping tabs on Klaus so they could plan their next moves against him. It was her who gave that idea, and was also the one who volunteered to keep an eye on Klaus. Because just being in the same room with the coffins was hard enough for her.
She continued to have inner conflicts. There was part of her that wanted to find out which coffin he was in, since there were four of it, so that she could pull the dagger out of his heart and ended his suffering. But there was also part of her that didn't think she was ready to see him, and she didn't know if she would ever be ready.
In order to ignore her inner conflicts, she tried to keep busy with her task. Klaus had no idea where they were, and they also had no idea where he was. There was one place Klaus was sure to go to in search of his coffins; their house. But they couldn't exactly come home because that would risk getting them caught.
They needed a lookout, an insider, someone who was willing to tell them about anything that was happening in town and at the same time kept their mouth shut.
There were two names that came to her mind that met these criteria; Caroline and Jeremy. But Caroline was her friend now, and she had promised to never do that to her again. Because not only had to playing secret with the Forbes girl, since she had promised Stefan it would be just two of them, but she also had to put the girl in a tough spot. So that left it on Jeremy.
Bella watched from afar as the Gilbert boy walked alone in the woods with a crossbow in his hand, he looked really pissed. Feeling like pissing him even more, she intended to prank him. She sped-up behind his body, grabbed his shoulder by both hands, tackled him to the ground, then bared her fangs out to him.
He gasped and startled, eyes widened and mouth fell open. But it didn't take long for him to control his expression as he claimed, "I'm not afraid of you."
Bella scoffed and her fangs were gone. "And that's exactly what makes you an idiot." She got up from above him and stretched out her hand for him. As he took it, she helped him up on his feet.
When he picked up his crossbow from the ground, she continued, "You know, being afraid when you were supposed to doesn't make you a coward." They started walking side by side through the trees. "Instead it makes you smart, because you would be more careful when you were afraid."
The Gilbert boy sighed. "Thanks for the tip." He then chuckled bitterly. "I think I really need it now that Klaus tried to kill me."
"Wait..." Bella stopped walking and grabbed his arm to make him stop walking too, her head looked up to see his face, "Klaus's back in town?" A frown appeared on her forehead. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Jeremy narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "I told you that I almost got killed and that's all what you care about?"
"Well, shouldn't death be no big deal to you?" she responded, frowning. It was unusual for him to react that way. "I mean, you have a magic ring that can bring you back to life."
"Yeah, well, he made sure I took it off before trying to kill me," he retorted and she blinked with surprise. "But I guess it doesn't really matter to you, right?" He gave her a disappointed look and she gulped. "Since the only reason why you've been so nice to me lately, was because you need someone in town to be on the lookout for Klaus. You were just using me."
She looked down when she couldn't look him in the eye any longer. Everything he just said was true and she wouldn't even try to deny it. It was indeed her intention and she knew it would hurt him. After all it was just something she used to do to a lot of people.
A dry chuckle came out from his mouth. "So I guess you were right, I am an idiot." As she looked up again, she found his hopeful gaze directed at her. He looked heartbroken as he added, "I'm an idiot for hoping it was more than that."
Bella couldn't even bring herself to hold Jeremy as he walked past her and left. What could she possibly say to him? He was right and he had every right to be angry with her and hurt. He hadn't done anything but been nice to her since they knew each other, and this was how she repaid it.
It might not be something she had never done before, but she couldn't help feeling guilty. And she also couldn't help but think of the thing she secretly had for Jeremy.
It was almost 145 years since the last time she was in a relationship. She might have gone on a lot of dates, but she had never been involved in a relationships ever since. Her heart wasn't ready to love again, wasn't ready to feel the pain in case things went wrong. And on top of that, she never really could imagine herself with someone else, because she had never met someone who could make her feel the way she felt when she was with him. And even though he was the only who could make her feel that way, she didn't feel like going back to him, not after what he did to her.
She didn't say that Jeremy had done that, making her feel that way, but he made her feel something else, hope. He accepted her and didn't just give up on her. For the first time in a long time she finally believed that there was still hope for her to find happiness again. Caroline was right. Maybe it was time for her to try to open her heart again.
Bella knew she had screwed up with Jeremy, but she was hoping she still had time to fix it. That was why she decided to sneak into his room that night.
"What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked as he hurriedly took off his headphone and put it back on his desk. He then got up and rushed to the door to close it.
Bella shrugged, still standing near the open window with her arms folded across her chest. "Guilty conscience."
He arched an eyebrow at her. "I thought you said you didn't have any conscience."
"I lied," she confessed lightly and started taking a few steps closer towards him. "It was always there, I just never acted on it."
"And what's changed now?" he asked again and sat on his bed.
She gulped when she found another hopeful gaze from him. It seemed that he hadn't lose hope either, even after what had happened earlier.
"You're a good guy, Jeremy," she admitted and gave him a sincere smile. Her smile then slowly turned into a bitter smile. "And I'm the definition of damaged goods."
"Hei, don't say that," he forbade, getting up on his bed to stand face to face with her.
She gently shook her head. "You deserved so much better than me."
"Well, I have to disagree on that."
"What did you see in me anyway?" She chuckled softly. "I mean, other than my good looks obviously."
He tilted his head to the side as he watched at her in awe. "I see a brilliant, tough, and kind girl who deserves to be loved more than she ever thought." Their gazes met just as he continued, "And I want to be the one to prove her that."
And then their lips crashed, they were kissing. It just happened, her hand was on his face and she stroked his cheeks softly, his hands were on each side of her waist as he pulled her closer. Their eyes were closed as their lips moved in sync on top of each other. It was warm and lovely, it did mean a thing to both of them.
They were interrupted when the door suddenly opened, Elena and Alaric stood in the doorway. Alaric just pretended to look away while Elena looked at them in turn, her eyes widened in shock and her mouth opened. Jeremy scratched the back of his head nervously while Bella just folded her arms across her chest and quietly sucked the inside of her cheeks, keeping her expression calm.
"Well, this is awkward," Alaric commented when no one said anything.
"Bella?" Elena frowned. And the next second, Damon also showed up in the doorway.
"Oh, it's you," Damon said flatly to his sister as he walked into the room. They hadn't seen each other since last week when Bella and Stefan worked together to screw up his plan. But he knew why they did it now, Stefan had told him.
Bella smiled sarcastically at him. "Good evening to you too, brother."
"What's going on?" Jeremy asked confusedly as Damon sat down on his bed and gestured him to sat next to him. Elena also walked into the room while Alaric just stayed at the door frame and watched them. Bella stood still next to the bed with a frown.
"Your sister thinks we should have another one of our talks," the male Salvatore answered, and Jeremy finally sat beside him. "Here's the thing," Jeremy focused on Damon's eyes and his pupil began to dilate, "You're going to go out of town for a little while, a long while."
Bella suddenly realized what they were about to do. "You've got to be kidding me."
"You're going to stay with some nice family friends in Denver."
"Damon, stop," the younger Salvatore spoke through her gritted teeth.
But her brother ignored her. "You're going to be in a new school and meet new girls, living girls. You're going to drink a few beers, take an art class. You can do whatever you want."
Alaric cleared his throat and added, "Tell him he's going to leave Mystic Falls behind and never think twice about it."
Bella scoffed and stormed out of the room as she realized neither of them had some senses and would listen to her.
As she arrived on the porch, she let out a heavy sigh. Of course, it would not be that easy. Just as she allowed herself to hope again, let herself open her heart again, the person she had chosen was quickly snatched away from her. Fabulous.
Someone suddenly caught up with her from inside the house, and she groaned in annoyance when she turned around and found Elena behind her.
"I know you don't like me, and I have no idea about you and my brother," Elena explained, her cheeks covered in tears. "But if you really care about him, then you should understand that I'm doing this to protect him. I want to give him a chance to have a quiet normal live."
Bella narrowed her eyes at the Gilbert girl. "And that's what makes you the biggest hypocrite of all," she remarked through her gritted teeth. "You hated it when my brother tried to make the decision for you, because you felt like it was supposed to be your decision to make." She took one step closer to her. "Now here you are, making a decision for your brother when it's supposed to be his decision to make." She let out a sardonic laugh and shook her head in disbelief. "Honestly, I don't get how anyone can live with you, or how you can live with yourself." And then, she turned around and left.
More than 9k+ words, making this the longest chapter in this book, but maybe it only for now! We still have one more chapter which will contain three episodes.
By the way, sorry about the Jeremy thing. But I needed something to happen between him and Bella before Kol comes back. I mean, don't you want to see Kol working harder to get his Bella back? He screwed up big time with her, so if he really wanted her, he needed to fight and do anything in his power to win her back.