Chapter 39: The Last Day

April 28, 2010

After it was time for Elijah and Ellie to leave the boarding house, Ellie had been reluctant to reveal that she'd been staying in his apartment. To her immense relief, he hadn't been upset that she'd taken up residence in his guest bedroom. Though she was sure he could hear her frantic heartbeat for the rest of the night. But she also couldn't help but admit that she'd felt much safer with him there. At least if Klaus somehow managed to find her there, she had an Original to protect her.

She'd also very much enjoyed waking up making breakfast with Elijah. She'd never done stuff like that with someone that wasn't her family or one of her best friends. Once they'd both gotten ready, he'd driven them over to the boarding house. Stefan was the one to open the door, looking relieved that they were there. "Hey, come in." He said as he stepped out of the way. As they stepped inside, Stefan reached out to Ellie. "Is everything ok?" He asked softly. "Elena told me about what happened."

Ellie sighed. "It's complicated, but we don't have time for that." She replied. "We should call Jenna. The full moon is tonight and we need everybody ready."

"Yeah, that's smart. Do you want me to call her?" Stefan asked.

"No, I can do it." Ellie informed him.

The phone only rang a few times before Jenna answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, Jen. I am so sorry that I didn't answer your calls yesterday, my phone had died right before you tried to call." Ellie apologized. "But I just got over to the boarding house. It's a full moon tonight and we have to be ready for Klaus."

There was a pregnant pause before Jenna released a shaky breath. "I'll be there soon. I just have to finish up what I was eating."

"Ok, love you. I'll see you soon." Ellie replied.

"Love you too." Jenna told her before hanging up.

"Jenna's gonna be on the way soon." Ellie said as she stepped into the room. If she intentionally avoided eye contact with Elena, well who could blame her? Elena was sitting on the couch, so Ellie took her spot in the chair next to where Elijah was standing. Anxiety was bubbling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't a nice feeling.

"We should go over the plan." Stefan suggested.

Elijah nodded and said. "Tonight is the full moon. We should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse."

"Elena said that the sun and the moon curse is fake." Stefan said. "That it's actually just a curse placed on Klaus."

"Klaus is a vampire born of a werewolf bloodline. The curse has kept his werewolf aspect from manifesting. But if he breaks it, he'll be a true hybrid." Elijah explained.

"Then why are we letting him break the curse?" Damon asked as he strolled into the room. "We can kill him today. With Bonnie."

"Damon." Stefan said as he held out a hand, trying to get Damon to stop talking.

"No. Bonnie can't use that much power without dying." Elena reminded him.

"I'll write her a great eulogy." Damon popped off. Elijah shot Ellie a look when the fire flickered a little higher in response to her magic. She was on edge, and her magic acted accordingly.

"It's not an option, Damon." Elena insisted.

Stefan interrupted before they could continue going back and forth and asked, "Alright, how do we break this curse?"

"Well, the ritual itself is relatively straightforward. The ingredients, so to speak, you already know." Elijah said as he walked towards the fireplace.

"The moonstone." Stefan said.

"A witch will channel the power of the full moon to release the spell that's bound within the stone. After that, Klaus, being both werewolf and vampire, will sacrifice one of each." Elijah explained.

"And where do we fit into it?" Elena asked.

Elijah turned to face her. "By now, Klaus is aware of Eleanor's status as a witch. Given that we've never come across such a thing, he will most likely find her interesting enough that he'll want to keep her alive. So we have to be prepared for him going after you for the sacrifice."

Damon huffed. "I had made a comment to Alari-Klaus about Bonnie and Ellie working together. He knows she's a witch."

She was certain that he was wishing that he hadn't. She'd expect nothing less than him wanting it to be her that got sacrificed as opposed to Elena. "In that case, that leaves you, Elena, as the final part of the ritual. Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelgänger to the point of your death."

Stefan reached out and took Elena's hand. Ellie could see the stress of the situation finally starting to get to him. "And that's where you come in." Elena supplied.

Ellie watched as Elijah flipped open a fancy looking box. "This is an elixir that I acquired some five hundred years ago for Katerina. It possesses mystical properties of resuscitation."

"So I'll be dead?"

"And then you won't." Elijah told her.

"That's your plan?" Damon scoffed. "A magical witch potion with no expiration date? You know, you want to come back to life, what about John's ring?"

"Those rings only work on humans. The doppelgänger's a supernatural occurrence. Odds are, the ring won't work." Elijah informed him.

"Well, I'll take those odds over your elixir." Damon said sarcastically. "What if it doesn't work, Elena?"

"Then I guess I'll just be dead." Elena said bluntly. Ellie winced. Despite her anger, the thought of Elena dying still left a sick feeling in her stomach.

Damon made a sound that cut off as he looked over to Stefan as if for help. "To be fair, you wear a magical witch ring that seems to not have any expiration date. There's no reason to believe that the elixir would expire." Ellie reminded him. He glared at her before walking off.

"Do we know if Klaus has everything he needs to do this?" Elena asked. "Does he have a werewolf?"

"Klaus has been waiting to break this curse for over a thousand years. If he doesn't already have a werewolf, my guess is by tonight, he will." Elijah told her. With that, they seemed to be done with their meeting, if you could call it that.

When the doorbell rang, Ellie rose in response. "I'll get it." Ellie assured them. "It's probably just Jenna." Once the door was opened, her assumption was proved correct. "Hey, Jen. Come on in." Ellie told her as she stepped aside. "I'll fill you in on everything we just went through as a group."

"Yeah, ok." Jenna said in agreement as she followed Ellie into another room. Once Ellie had finished explaining, Jenna knew her niece well enough to know that something was bothering her. "What's wrong?"

Ellie couldn't help but scowl. Sometimes Jenna was a bit too observant. "I got into it with Elena."

"And by getting into it you mean…"

"I mean I lost my temper and yelled at her and got so upset I nearly set the curtains on fire." Ellie huffed. "She just had such an attitude and I couldn't help myself."

"So what's getting at you?" Jenna questioned as she sat down on the couch next to her niece.

"I have to remember that there's a chance that the elixir Elijah has won't work. There's no reason why it shouldn't, but there's always a possibility. I didn't want what could be our last moments to be a fight." She felt like she'd gone over this so many times, but now that she had less than twenty four hours, the fear was creeping in. "But at the same time, I'm so angry that I can't help it."

Jenna wrapped a comforting arm around Ellie's shoulders. "Whatever happens, no matter how angry you are, I don't think Elena would ever doubt that you love her. Do you doubt that she loves you?"

"No. She's just an idiot sometimes."

She couldn't help but laugh at the way Ellie was nearly pouting. "See, then that should tell you that she knows you love her. Give it time, maybe she'll come around and properly apologize."

"If we have time." Ellie reminded her.

"You've gotta have faith." Jenna insisted. "Now, come on, I need a drink. My nerves are killing me."

Ellie seemed to remember something and she pulled Jenna to her feet. "That reminds me. I thought you might feel better if you had a bit of protection." Ellie said.

The last thing Jenna had expected was for her niece to pass her a crossbow. "What am I supposed to do with this?" Jenna asked as she took it.

"Channel your inner Buffy, Jen. All you have to do is load, aim, and shoot." Ellie said as she passed over a small thing of arrows. "It's from Ric's collection. I guess he must have left it here at some point." It was Jenna's turn to look upset as she observed the crossbow more closely. "I know you're worried about him, but I think he's gonna be ok."

"How can you be sure?" Jenna asked worriedly.

"He needed Ric to spy on us, Elijah hasn't mentioned anything about Klaus normally killing the people he body jumps into. It would be way too suspicious if there were people constantly dropping dead when he was done with them." Ellie assured her. "Look, why don't you go get a drink to try and relax. Do us both and get something ridiculously expensive. It's the least Damon could do."

Jenna grinned slightly and nodded before they exited the room. While Jenna went in search of alcohol, Ellie made her way back into the room that she'd been in before. Elena and Elijah were both still in there, talking. "I don't want to mislead you." Elijah was saying. Since Elena was holding the elixir, it wasn't hard to assume that he was warning her it might not work.

"I know the chance I'm taking." Elena assured him.

A door slammed and Ellie jolted in surprise. "Get out." Jenna said loudly.

The three of them turned as they heard Alaric's voice. "Jenna, Jenna!"

"Get out!" She repeated.

The twins quickly headed to the front door where the commotion was coming from. "Jenna, put the crossbow down, ok? It's me." Alaric insisted.

"Stay behind me." Stefan told them as the three of them walked towards Jenna and Alaric.

"Stay away from me." Jenna said as she kept the crossbow held up and ready to fire.

"What's going on?" Ellie asked as she stepped in front of Elena.

"It's me, Ellie. I swear, ok?" Alaric told her. "He let me go. Klaus let me go."

Damon had arrived and was eyeing Alaric suspiciously. "Prove it." He demanded. It was clear that the majority of them were ready to attack if it was Klaus still pretending to be Alaric.

Alaric turned to look at Jenna. "Ok, uh, first night you and I spent together, Jeremy walked in right when I was about to-"

"Ok! It's him." Jenna said quickly, cutting off whatever he was about to say. Everyone else's eyebrows rose in curiosity as Jenna and Alaric shared a look.

"Why'd he let you go?" Stefan asked.

Jenna seemed grateful at the change of topic. Ellie would have to ask her about that later. "He wanted me to deliver a message." Alaric told them. "The sacrifice happens tonight."

"Did he say who he planned to use?" Ellie asked nervously.

Alaric looked defeated as he admitted. "He talked about making sure that Elena didn't run."

It wasn't what she wanted to hear, but it was what she expected. "I think we should talk." Stefan said and everyone filed back into the living room, if that was what you were supposed to call it. Jenna and Elena sat next to each other on the couch. Elijah took to propping against the back of the high backed chair Ellie sat in. Damon walked off as Alaric took the couch opposite Jenna and Elena. And Stefan promptly began to pace. After Alaric filled them in on what he knew, Stefan asked,"So you don't remember anything that happened?"

Alaric shook his head and said, "No. It's like I blacked out and woke up three days later." After that sunk in, he added, "Katherine was there."

"She's under compulsion. Damon snuck her some vervain, but she can't leave until Klaus tells her she can." Stefan explained. Ellie felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest as she relaxed into the chair. She'd been so worried about the vampire. At the very least, Katherine was alive and didn't seem to be in too bad of a shape if they hadn't felt the need to mention it.

"Where is Damon?" Elena asked curiously.

"I saw him go upstairs." Jenna supplied.

Elena rose to go to Damon as Alaric asked, "So what else did I do?"

"Technically you didn't do anything. You weren't exactly in the driver's seat." Ellie reminded him.

Alaric gave her a look. "Thanks for trying to be comforting, but really, what happened?"

Ellie looked up at Elijah before looking over at Stefan. "Maybe we should let the two of you talk about it?" Ellie suggested. It wasn't something she really wanted to explain.

Thankfully, both Elijah and Stefan nodded and the three of them walked from the room. "Jenna, what the hell happened?"

The three of them stood in the front hallway for an awkward moment, before both Elijah and Stefan tilted their heads to the side like they were listening intently to something. Suddenly Stefan looked panicked and disappeared. "Elijah, what just happened? What's going on?" Ellie asked.

"I believe Damon just forced your sister to drink vampire blood." He said, sounding somewhat surprised.

"No!" Ellie turned on her heel and ran up the stairs. She didn't think she'd even run this fast at the dance when Klaus was after Bonnie.

She could hear Elena and ran faster as the sound of glass shattered. "Damon, no!" Elena yelled as Ellie slid to a stop in the doorway.

Damon had shoved a broken piece of wood into Stefan's stomach, lifting him off the ground. "What did you do?" Ellie yelled as she saw the blood covering her sister's mouth.

"I don't want to hear it, Sabrina." Damon hissed.

Her magic flung him into the wall with ease. And she did not deny the satisfaction she felt listening to him scream in pain. "You had no right!" Ellie shouted over his cries of pain. "How could you do that to her?" He was all fangs and blood red eyes as he tried to fight against the magic pinning him in place and the magic bursting every blood vessel in his brain. "You will never do that to her again do you understand?" She'd stopped yelling. Instead her voice was like ice. She stopped the magic that was exploding the vessels in his brain, but she did not release him. "If you ever, ever put your hands on Elena again or if you hurt someone I care about again, by the time I'm done with you, you're gonna wish I'd just killed you instead."

Ellie's voice was low and full of threat. For the first time since Stefan had met her, all he could see in the witch before him was Katherine. Even though she hadn't been a witch that long, Stefan knew, even despite the pain that he felt, that Ellie would absolutely keep her word. When it became clear that Damon wasn't going to respond, Ellie snapped his neck with her magic like it was nothing. "Ellie!" Elena yelped in surprise as Damon's body fell unceremoniously to the ground.

"What the hell is going on?" Alaric asked as he and Jenna came running into the room.

"Oh my god." Jenna said as she took in the scene before her.

"I should kill him." Ellie said coldly. If she wanted to, with that rage that was all but pouring out of her, Stefan was certain she could pretend to be Katherine and everyone would believe it. It was honestly terrifying in his opinion. "After everything he's done, he deserves it." Elena looked shocked at her sister's confession. "This is the only warning he gets. Next time will be so much worse than a headache and a snapped neck." Stefan nodded in understanding. "Elena, move back, I can use my magic to get the wood out."

"Ok, Jenna, downstairs in the basement are some blood bags. Go get them, now. Go!" Alaric insisted and Jenna took off running to get them.

Ellie removed the wood with a flick of her hand, and Stefan let out a pained shout as he clutched the wound and collapsed. "It's ok. It's ok. You're going to be ok." Elena assured him.

"I'm so sorry." Stefan apologized tearily.

"Shhhh. It's ok." Elena insisted.

"I'm sorry." Stefan apologized again.

All Ellie felt was anger every time she caught sight of Damon's body, so she quickly exited the room. She found Elijah carefully putting the elixir away and wanted to scream. "His feeding her his blood effectively rendered this useless." He told her.

"I figured it would." She confessed. Any potential for a conversation was cut short as her phone went off. "Hello?" She asked as she answered.

"Ellie, hey."

"Tyler?" She asked in shock as she straightened up. "Ty, where the hell have you been?"

"I'm sorry for disappearing but listen, Ellie, I don't have time for that right now. I'm at the hospital with my mom. She fell down the stairs." Tyler told her.

"What? Is she ok? How did she fall?" Ellie asked the questions in rapid fire.

"I don't know. But Ellie, it's a full moon tonight and I can't stay here. I need to leave. I was wondering if you could come stay with her. If she wakes up after I'm gone I don't want it to be some stranger telling her I've left again."

"Ty…"

"Ellie, please. I know I'm a crap friend for bailing but I was going through a lot and I still don't have everything perfectly under control. Please." It was rare for him to practically beg, and she knew she couldn't say no.

"Will you at least stay long enough for me to get there so I can at least see for myself that you're alright?" Ellie asked.

She could hear Tyler sigh slightly before he said, "Yeah, just get here quick. I can't stay for too much longer, but I had to make sure that she was alright."

"I'm on my way." Ellie told him before hanging up. Elijah wordlessly handed her the keys to her car. "Thank you. I'll be back soon." She told him before quickly rushing out the door. After calling to let Caroline know what had happened, Ellie pulled into the hospital parking lot. Before she knew it, she was standing in the doorway of Mrs. Lockwood's hospital room. "Ty."

She'd launched herself at him before she could help it. Holding him tightly to her because she knew once she'd let him go, he'd disappear again for who knew how long. "Hey, Ellie."

"I've been so worried about you, you jerk." She mumbled into his shoulder. "I've called you a thousand times."

"I know. I'm so sorry. I haven't had the best cell signal where I've been." To his credit, Tyler looked like he felt incredibly guilty. "But I am ok, and I'm slowly getting the hang of things. I'll come back as soon as I can. I promise."

Ellie refused to let him go just yet, taking in that still familiar scent that was always so Tyler. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you." She told him.

He laughed lightly. "Nothing's gonna happen to me, Ellie. Except maybe you choking me to death."

She pulled back just enough to glare at him. "I see that Lockwood humor hasn't improved in the time you've been gone." She sassed.

"I know you don't like it, but I should really go before she wakes back up. It'll be easier this way." Tyler said.

Ellie pulled him back into the hug. "That's a stupid idea and I hate it." She sounded like a petulant child, she was aware, but after all the death that had surrounded her lately, seeing that her best friend was still in one piece was a relief she didn't want to let go of.

He carefully pulled away from her grasp. "I'm really sorry, but I have to go." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and hoped that she understood that he didn't want to go, but he needed to. The people he cared about weren't safe if he was a dangerous animal. "I'll try and keep in contact more, but I have to go."


After a while, Ellie finally left the hospital and made her way to The Grill. She had too much anxious energy for her to sit quietly in a hospital room when so much was happening. When she entered, Matt made his way over to her. "Hey, have you heard from Care? She was supposed to meet me for my lunch break but she hasn't showed." He asked.

Ellie frowned. "The last time I talked to her was letting her know that Mrs. Lockwood was in the hospital, I haven't talked to her since. I thought she was going to swing by the hospital but she never did." Ellie told him, but her thoughts flew out the window as warning bells went off in her head. All it took was one second to sense it, when she felt the energy only an Original could possess, and it sure as hell wasn't Elijah. She turned to see an unfamiliar man approaching Alaric and Damon and said, "Maybe something came up."

With that she left Matt and made her way to the others. There was no way in hell this man was anyone other than Klaus. "Gentlemen." He greeted, his accent obvious. "Why so glum?"

Damon turned to look at him and groaned. "Klaus, I presume."

"In the flesh." Klaus replied. "Thanks for the loaner, mate." He turned his gaze to Ellie. "Hello darling."

Before she could reply, Damon stood from his seat and asked, "Any reason you stopped by to say hi?"

"I'm told you and your brother fancy my doppelgänger. Just thought I'd remind you not to do anything you'll regret."

Ellie scoffed slightly. It was a little late for that. "Thanks for the advice. I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement by any chance, huh?"

Klaus laughed and said, "You are kidding." He turned to look at Ellie. "He is kidding, right?"

"No, not at all honestly." Ellie confessed.

"I mean, come on, what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?" Damon asked.

"Let me be clear, I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. I've even gotten so lucky as to have two doppelgängers to choose from, though it would be a shameful waste to use a witch doppelgänger as anything other than a last resort. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up." Klaus said before he turned and strolled off.

Ellie's blood was rushing in her ears. It was clearer now than ever why Katherine had run like hell. Something about him just screamed danger in a way that Elijah did not. "That was fun." Damon said sarcastically.

"You're gonna screw it up, aren't you?"

"You think if I took his werewolf out of the equation, she might… get over the fact that I tried to turn her into a vampire?" Damon asked. It was almost sad how clear it was that he was in love with her.

"I think it won't matter, because you'll be dead." Alaric said bluntly.

"But without the werewolf, he can't perform the ritual tonight, which means I would have bought her one month before the next full moon."

"But you'll still be dead." Alaric reminded him.

"Are you gonna help me or what?" Damon asked.

"What do you want me to do?" Alaric asked.

Damon turned to her. "What about you Sabrina, you in?" Ellie nodded. She might hate him, but she knew Elena didn't want to be a vampire. "Then let's go. We need to talk to Katherine. If anyone knows where he's keeping the wolf and the vampire, it's her." She took her car and followed them on the way to Alaric's.

They didn't say much on their way up and she stood out of the way as he opened the door. "Look who's dumb enough to come back." Katherine's voice was full of sass and Ellie wasn't ashamed to admit that it was so good to hear it.

"Well, somebody had to invite him in." Alaric sassed right back. "Damon, would you like to, uh, come in?"

Damon strolled inside and Katherine shoved him into the wall. "Are you trying to get me killed?" She asked.

He returned the favor, pinning her to the other wall with his hand around her throat. "I gave you vervain, now I'm here to collect." Damon informed her. "I got it from here, Ric."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, only one of us needs to get blamed for this. Get back to the house." Damon said as Ellie stepped farther into the apartment. "Keep Elena from handing herself over."

"Get blamed for what?" Katherine asked as she shoved Damon away.

"I need to know where Klaus is keeping his werewolf."

"Why? What are you going to do?" Katherine questioned.

"Dead werewolf equals no ritual."

"No." Katherine immediately insisted. "You can't interfere, Damon. Klaus will kill you and everyone you've ever met." She knew Katherine would hate it if she said it aloud, but it sounded like Katherine was actually worried.

"I just need to delay this thing." Damon replied.

"No. No way."

As Katherine started to walk away, he told her, "You should like this. It's going to buy another month of your pathetic life."

"Right. Except that I'm not the vampire he's planning on sacrificing." Katherine said smugly.

"What?"

"Yeah. He's got Caroline Forbes and Tyler Lockwood. Therefore, I'm in the clear."

"And where'd you get that idea from?" Damon asked as he stalked towards her. Internally, Ellie was in full blown freak out mode. That's why Caroline never made it to the hospital or to go see Matt. It was probably why Mrs. Lockwood was in the hospital in the first place.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, I'm just trying to stay alive long enough to get myself out of here." Katherine told him.

Damon seemed frustrated before he said, "What if I told you Elena had vampire blood in her system?"

"What?" Katherine asked sharply.

"Imagine how much fun that'll be competing with Elena for Stefan's love for, I don't know, forever." Damon sassed.

"Katherine, please." Ellie asked softly.

The older vampire turned to her and made a face before sighing and confessing, "The tomb. He's got them in the tomb."

"Thank you." Ellie said sincerely. As Damon started to walk out, Ellie reached out and gave Katherine's hand a squeeze and hoped the other girl understood. Just before she had to let go, Katherine squeezed back. Ellie shot her a small smile before following Damon out. She felt much better knowing that for the most part, Katherine was alright. Despite the girl probably being scared to death, which would make sense since the man that was holding her captive had murdered her entire family, she was hiding it well.

"Let's go. We don't have time to waste." Damon insisted and Ellie had to practically run to keep up. "Get in." Damon told her. If it was literally any other time, she might have snapped his neck again, but Tyler and Caroline's lives were on the line. He sped to the woods and they were quick to hop out of the car when they couldn't drive any further. "You can speed this up, Sabrina."

At this rate, he was going to forget that her name wasn't actually Sabrina. But she rolled her eyes and let her magic do the work and began leading them through the woods as fast as she could. They were almost to Tyler and Caroline when she stopped suddenly. He gave her a look of confusion as she quietly said, "Damon, we're not alone."

He nodded and they continued on at a slower rate as he kept an ear out. She knew it was a witch and it had to be one of Klaus'. "Which one are you trying to save?" A man's voice rang out. "The blonde, or the wolf?" They turned to face him. "Did you really think Klaus would leave them unprotected?"

"Wishful thinking." Damon said sarcastically. Ellie threw up a shield around herself right as Damon launched at the man, tackling him and choking him at the same time. With ease, the man threw Damon away and into the rocks.

She watched as he raised a hand and used the same pain infliction she'd used on Damon earlier. He looked confused however when she didn't react. "Sorry, I'm not that stupid." She scoffed before her own hand raised and she watched as he struggled to defend himself from her attack while also trying to attack her and Damon. A sudden shot rang out and Ellie flinched away, her eyes going from the blood running down the witch's shirt to Matt who was standing a few yards away with a shotgun. "Matt?" Her voice was nearly shrill.

Once he'd snapped the neck of the witch, he looked at Matt in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Where's Caroline?"

"Listen, man. Not a good time to play the hero." Damon said.

Matt cocked the gun as he raised it. "Where is she?" He insisted. "And what'd he do to her?"

"I'm just here to rescue her, ok?" Damon said.

The next thing Ellie knew, Damon had taken the gun and hit Matt across the face with it. "Matt!" She shouted as she dropped next to him, checking for a pulse. "Thank god."

"You're lucky I already screwed up once today, or you'd be dead." Damon said to Matt as he went to unload the gun.

"You're lucky that all he's gonna have is a bruise and a headache otherwise you'd be dead." Ellie reminded him darkly. Her attention was caught by the bullets that had fallen and she made a face as she picked them up. "Damon, these are wooden bullets." She said in surprise. Damon made a face before taking the bullets and pocketing them.

"Let's go." Damon told her as he pulled her to her feet.

They found the door and Damon forced it open and as they approached, Ellie could hear chains rattling. "Damon?" Caroline asked in surprise.

"Your boyfriend's outside with a rifle loaded with wooden bullets. You have some explaining to do." Damon told her.

"What, Matt?"

"Matt knows about you?" Tyler asked in surprise.

"No I-"

"Shh, tomorrow's problem." Damon said. "Let me just get you out of here."

Caroline hugged Ellie tightly but when Damon tried to remove them from the room, both girls pulled back. "Wait, Damon, no. I'm not leaving without him." Caroline insisted.

"And you're already on thin ice with me." Ellie warned.

Damon groaned before turning to Tyler. "It's getting dark soon. How fast can you get the hell away from here?"

"I need to get to my family's cellar." Tyler said. "I can lock myself up."

"I'll help." Caroline offered.

Damon knelt down to rip off the chains. "Don't make me regret this."

When they made it out of the cellar, the moon was already rising. "Matt." Caroline said as he moved to the groaning boy. "Hey! Did you hit him?"

"Did you already forget part about the gun with the wooden bullets?" Damon sassed.

Tyler stumbled and groaned and Ellie turned to watch him. "Tyler?"

He looked up to the sky before telling them, "It's starting."

"Grab boy wonder and let's go." Damon told them.

"Come on." Caroline said as she followed after them. Ellie quickly sent a text to Jenna, telling her to stay inside at all costs until she could get home. They were moving as fast as they could, and Ellie was uttering healing spells under her breath to help Matt out.

"What's happening? Is he ok?" Matt asked worriedly as he kept glancing back at Tyler.

"He better not wolf out on us." Damon said as he pulled his phone from his pocket. "Bad time, little bro. Saving the day. I figured you'd understand. Just tell Elena to stay put." He said. "What?" Ellie turned to see Damon looking like he wanted to curse. "I'll take care of it."

Tyler dropped down and started to scream as they watched in fear. "I don't know if I can hold it off. Get out of here." Tyler told them.

"Tyler, it'll be ok." Caroline tried.

"Go!" Tyler yelled, his voice shifted into something unfamiliar.

"We've got time. We're almost there, just…"

"It's happening, faster." Tyler groaned.

"Tyler, it's ok." She said, but something was off and he lunged at her. Damon tackled him before Ellie could throw up a wall to protect her. The two struggled with Tyler growling at biting at Damon. Ellie used her magic to fling Tyler away. "Damon?" Caroline asked in concern.

"I'm fine."

"Get out of here!" Tyler demanded.

"Get to the Lockwood cellar. If it held him in, it'll keep him out." Damon told them. "If it doesn't, use these." He said as he offered up the wooden bullets. "It'll buy you a couple seconds." Matt loaded the gun before Damon insisted that they go. "Witchy, you come with me."

She didn't hesitate to run with Damon and hoped to whoever was listening that Matt and Caroline were ok. "I need to get to Jenna." Ellie said as they ran to his car. Damon nodded as they made it to his car. She was sure he had to be going close to a hundred with the way her breath was caught in her throat. He didn't even pull into the driveway before she'd hopped out and ran up to the porch. He was gone before she got the door unlocked. "Jenna!" Ellie yelled as she slammed the door shut behind her.

Jenna came racing down the stairs at Ellie's panicked call. "Ellie?"

"He has her. He has Elena." Ellie said.

All the color drained from Jenna's face. "Oh my god."

"Where's Jeremy?" Ellie asked.

"He's with Bonnie."

"And John?"

"I'm right here." John said as he rounded the corner. Before he could say anything, Ellie rushed over to him and hugged him tightly. She was shaking. In the time since Isobel's death, the two of them had bonded over memories of her parents and of Isobel. She didn't hate him, she'd managed to make that abundantly clear. And right now, he was the only father she had. And she really needed a dad right now.

She didn't let go as she explained. "He has Elena. He's going to kill her and she's going to turn."

"What?" John asked in shock.

Had no one told him? "Damon force fed her his blood earlier. When Klaus kills her, she's gonna turn." Ellie confessed. "Unless we can figure something else out." She ripped away from him and nearly tripped from going up the stairs so fast. She pulled out some of the grimoires that she'd been given by Grams. "John!" She called and she could hear them rushing up the stairs.

He was at her door nearly in an instant. "What is it?"

"I need you, I need you to take these to Bonnie. There's a couple of options that I've found in my research that might be a way to save Elena. Right now, Bonnie's got more magic than me. She can do this. She can pick which one she thinks will work best and we can save Elena." Ellie said. It was a desperate, last chance effort and they knew it.

But they couldn't afford to not take it. "Alright, give them to me." Ellie made sure all the spells were marked so Bonnie knew which ones she needed before passing them to John. He hadn't expected her to be a witch. It was something that had caught him by surprise, but he in turn had surprised her by telling her that he was proud that she wanted to protect the people she cared about the way she did.

She cried when he told her that her mom would have been so proud of everything she'd done. Once he had the books, he started to leave, but Ellie stopped him with another hug. She was still shaking. "I love you, John." She told him and she poured as much sincerity into the words. In all honesty, she wasn't sure she'd ever told him before. "Thank you for trying so hard to protect us. It was a really good dad move."

He stiffened at her calling him dad. Neither of the girls ever did that. John hugged her just as tightly and kissed her hair. "I love you too, Ellie. What's brought this on?"

"If something goes wrong and I don't survive. I just wanted you to know that I do love you. Elena loves you too." Ellie promised.

It meant so much to him, to hear that from her. He'd felt like he'd failed them for so long, failed his brother for so long, and here when it mattered the most, his precious daughter made sure to let him know she loved him. "I love you so much." He said softly. "You're not going to die." With one last kiss to her hair and one last squeeze, he pulled away. "I should get these to Bonnie."

With that he was gone, but the anxiety in her stomach was only getting worse as she put her things away. When stuff started moving quickly downstairs, Ellie went down to see what was going on. "Elena, Elena, slow down. It's ok." Jenna was saying. "It's gonna be ok, Elena. I'm coming."

"Whoa, what are you talking about?" Ellie said as she grabbed Jenna's arm.

"That was Elena, she said she got away from him, we need to go-" Jenna slung the door open, but Ellie threw up a barrier that kept her from stepping through the protection of the house. "Ellie what are you-"

Jenna noticed that Ellie wasn't looking at her at all. Instead, Ellie was looking at something outside. "Klaus."


Author's Note:

We're so close to the sacrifice! Are you guys excited? Also, I think FFnet has gotten their stuff together, but please let me know if everything is working right and you guys can see this chapter. For future reference, should something like that happen again, this story is posted at the same time on AO3 under the same name with the same author name, without the space.

To peaxchyhearts: I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

To brigitcharlesmatthew: Elena was definitely being hypocritical. I agree, I like them all too, and I like that they're honest about what they are. I've actually thought about making an AU of this where Kol and Ellie got together. He was who I originally intended for her, but then Elijah happened. Would that be a story you'd want to read?

To Guest: It was a glitch with the whole website, please let me know if you can see the new chapter now.

To Guest(2): Having an account doesn't make a difference, you don't need one to see the story. It was a glitch with the website that was effecting everyone posting new chapters and new stories. I think it's fixed now though.

To PikachuHeather: Please let me know if you were able to see chapters 38 and 39!

To xenocanaan: It means a lot that you were willing to download the app just to be able to read the chapter! It definitely wasn't healthy for her to keep it all bottled up, which was why she hit a breaking point because she couldn't take anymore.

To Oz: Elena's a hypocrite, and a control freak. She doesn't like when people don't do as she says, which is why she got mad at Ellie, because Ellie didn't tell her what she'd done. Elena honestly just got mad because she got a taste of her own medicine and didn't like it. Yeah pretty much, Elena's used to getting her way, and gets mad when that's not what happens. I think she's got things so twisted in that head of hers, she doesn't realize how out of line she's been. Yeah, it just wasn't in the cards for that scene to happen on screen. I know, the upcoming dagger scene is gonna suck, but hopefully everything else that's going to be going on makes it suck a little less.

To Daynesky: It wasn't just you that couldn't read it, it was a lot of people. Please let me know if you can read everything now!

To animefreak112097: Yeah, the website was glitching, I think it's fixed now though.

To afralmazouei: Ok, that's a really fair criticism. I'll probably go back and touch up that scene at some point, but you aren't wrong. Bro, I can't even imagine how the fight about Katherine is going to go, but I bet she's going to love making Elena angry. That could definitely happen. Quite frankly, she does trust Katherine more than she trusts Elena, so it makes sense for her to be honest about it. Your reviews make my day, I couldn't imagine not responding. It makes me wanna cry happy tears knowing you like my story that much! Thank you so much! Love you too!

To RiRi: The website was glitching for everyone, but I'm glad you got to finish it on archive. Lol, it's ok you focused on the fight, it was a big thing. I really don't get why Elena's with them, when you're right she never wanted to be a vampire. Hell, maybe she just likes the attention. Katherine has absolutely done less than they have, honestly so did Klaus. By the time Elena and the rest are actively trying to kill Klaus, all he'd really done was the sacrifice and make hybrids. It had nothing to do with any of them, but they still went after him. I want to have more scenes with them, it just depends on how the plot unfolds. I miss Katherine too. Yes, you will get to see Emily again, though I don't know how much. I do think Elijah has become a type of anchor for her, and I love it.

To Mimi: I'm glad you liked their moments together! Lol, Sheila telling Elena off would be so entertaining. With everything that's going on for them right now, they're not really getting the chance to express how they feel, but there will be a point that they're probably going to take Ellie's side over Elena's. But Elena was just mad at getting a taste of her own medicine. She can honestly just get over it.

To Guest(3): I think that while Elena does, at least at some points, have good intentions, she's got things so twisted in her own head that she doesn't realize how bad she's acting. It hasn't been written, but a Katherine vs Elena is definitely a possibility.

To Guest(4): It did take forever! I'm glad the site is working again and you got to read it! I know it's coming, but hopefully everything else that will be going on will make it suck a little less.

To Syncia: That's good! Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!

-Madame Magic

Posted: 11/7/20