Enjoy!

A loud ringing woke me from my deep slumber. I heard Caroline and Bonnie groaning from beside me in unison. We all moaned as it was Elena's phone ringing from the nightstand.

"Go away!" Caroline used all the strength she could muster in her dazed state to push Elena out of the bed.

"Unf…" Elena gasped as she struck the floor with a thud. I couldn't help but laugh and turn over onto my side on the other side of the bed that we all shared last night.

"Hello?" Elena answered the call and we all looked at her, angrily, as she had woken us all up.

"Elena!" Caroline moaned.

"Shhh." Bonnie added.

I however just blanked out the moans and chatter from everyone and pulled the covers up to my neck. I really loved being back. Just for the small things like last night, the slumber parties, my friends, my family. I had missed it all far too much, and I was glad I made the decision to return home when I did. Even though it was nothing like I remembered, I was still happy.

A few hours had passed, Caroline, Bonnie and I were now seated in the Mystic Grill in a booth.

"Okay. So tell us about this big, witchy plan you've been cooking up." Caroline smiled as she took a sip from her glass.

I still can't quite come to terms with the fact that Bonnie is a witch. Magic and all. It was surreal.

As I had no idea what they were talking about, I just listened intently to the rest of the conversation.

"We still don't know the extent of what Elijah's up to."

"No, we don't."

"So, I'm gonna ask Luka to tell me what he knows."

"And he's not gonna tell you anything." Caroline quipped.

"I didn't say he was gonna have a choice." Bonnie smiled.

Caroline never responded. She just stared behind Bonnie and I. I swivelled in my seat and followed her gaze… it was Matt. I heard their conversation on the phone last night, and I knew there was something going on between them. Caroline smiled at him, but he remained stone faced as he passed us by, only stopping to give me a hug and welcome me home.

Awkward.

"What was that about?" Bonnie asked as she picked up on the undeniable tension.

I shrugged, not wanting to get in-between my sisters business.

"Uh, I don't know. I thought that we were… I don't know." Caroline sighed.

I remained in the booth for sometime after Bonnie had gone. I watched as Caroline was trying her hardest to get Matt to talk to her. I kept a close eye on her, she was fragile, even if she refused to admit it.

"Matt!" Caroline called after him as he walked away. He refused to stop, or even acknowledge her existence.

"Caroline." Tyler spoke up, his voice still small.

"You stay away from me." My sister warned him before making a move to pass him by. They connected shoulders and it caused her to drop her bag to the floor, the contents spilling out everywhere.

I remained seated, letting her handle this on her own. I'd intervene when I deemed it fit to. I watched as Tyler kneeled down in front of her, helping her collect the items off the floor.

"Just stop it, Tyler, okay? You're just… you're just making it worse." She sighed.

She placed the fallen items back inside her bag. Tyler picked up her phone and placed it in her back pocket without her noticing.

But I did.

"Please, Caroline. I'm sorry about what happened, okay, but there's so much we need to talk about." He said with a long sigh at the end.

Caroline grabbed her bag as she got off the floor, "I said just leave me alone." Without another word, or space for him to talk anymore, she turned on her heels and stormed out of the grill. I watched on as Tyler finally clocked me sitting in the booth, watching everything that was going on between them. He smiled slightly, and I felt guilt. Sheer guilt. Against my better judgement, I slightly smiled back at him before he left.

I felt like I was becoming a part of the furniture in The Grill. I hadn't left here all day, and night was now beginning to descend over our little town. I was sitting in the same booth with Caroline once more. We were having a laugh about something that I had done when I was younger, something that she, nor anyone else, would let me live down.

"Hey. How's it going?" I was shocked as to who just walked in and approached us.

"Jeremy?" I smiled.

He shook his head as if he'd just seen a ghost.

"Jess? No way, when did you come back!" I jumped out of my seat and into his arms. He was so different from the last time I seen him. I didn't know someone could change that much in months, he looked good, older.

"About three days ago! You look great, Jer." I smiled and he returned it.

"So?" He returned to his previous question.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked as he took a seat beside her.

He shrugged, "Bonnie called. I wanted to help. How's it going?"

Jeremy and Caroline looked over at Luka and Bonnie.

"She's selling it and he's buying it. She's giving him the sex smile."

Jeremy choked a little, "Alright, Caroline. I get it."

Caroline and I looked at him, both taking note of his obvious jealousy. We both looked at each other with a knowing smirk. I had no idea that Jer even liked Bonnie… times do change.

All three of us watched over Bonnie and Luka's interactions, seeing what was happening. It was all going good until Luka lost his balance and braced himself on the pool table for stability. We decided to move in and help with the situation.

"Why don't we go over here?" Bonnie smiled to Luka and he nodded in agreement. She began to guide him around the pool table, but Jeremy approached them first.

"I got him. I got him." He stated as he took a hold of Luka's unsteady frame.

Jeremy took Luka's arms and placed them around his shoulders as he dragged him away from the eyes of the bar patrons.

"What kind if witch roofie was that?" Jeremy asked.

Bonnie smiled, "A strong one." She was clearly satisfied with her work.

Caroline and I followed them outside.

We all arrived back at my house, Bonnie and Jeremy were now kneeling beside Luka's unconscious body in the middle of the living room floor.

Caroline and I walked in with a bundle of candles in our arms for Bonnie.

I have to admit, this was a surreal moment in my life. Bonnie, a witch and Caroline a vampire. I still didn't fully understand everything that happened, even after they told me everything last night in bed, a part of me still didn't want to believe it.

"We only have, like, an hour before our mom gets home, and these are all we could find." Caroline stated.

We placed the candles evenly around the room, per Bonnie's request. Caroline was going to leave and get the matches to light the candles.

"I got it." Bonnie spoke before the full room was lit up with light from the burning candles.

"Wow…" I gasped and did a 360.

"Never gonna get use to that." Jeremy spoke up from beside me.

Caroline smiled and placed her hands on her hips, "Oh, come on. That's pretty hot, and you know it."

Jeremy smiled and Bonnie looked up at him.

"I need a bowl of water." She spoke.

Jeremy snapped out of his thoughts, "Yeah, yeah. I'll- I'll go get it."

Jeremy exited the room, and Bonnie shot Caroline a look before saying, "Okay. What was that? 'It's hot'?"

Caroline smiled and whispered, "He is so crushing on you!"

Bonnie smirked, "So?"

I decided to zone out but was snapped back into reality when Jeremy walked back into the room, a bowl of water in hand.

"Looks like he's starting to wake up." Jeremy pointed out.

I took a seat on the sofa and watched Bonnie in her element. It was… magical. Everything about it was fascinating to me. All of the candles flared up tall as Bonnie began to chant, and Luka began to pant heavily.

"How long will this take?" I asked.

Bonnie shook her head, clearly annoyed, "I don't know. He's fighting me."

Luka's head began to move around, she was right, he was fighting her. Her hands were still placed on either side of the boys head as he cried in pain, "Please stop. Please."

Bonnie closed her eyes and Luka followed in pursuit, finally giving into the spell and letting Bonnie inside.

It was then when things began to take a turn.

"There. All right. Why are you working with Elijah?"

All I got told about Elijah is that he's an Original. Caroline didn't go into much detail about him at all. Either she didn't know any more than she was letting on, or she just didn't want to tell me for some reason.

"Klaus. We both want him dead."

I frowned, "Who's Klaus?" I asked, but no one answered me.

"You want to kill Klaus, too. Why?"

"Because he has her and we need to get her away from him." Luka gasped as he complied with Bonnie's questions.

"Who… who are you talking about?"

"My sister…"

"Sister?" Jeremy spoke up.

"Why does he have her?" Bonnie began to press harder, trying her best to get all the information she needed for the young warlock.

"He's searching for a way to undo the curse without the doppelganger. He's forced generations of witches to help him for centuries."

"Is someone gonna tell me who Klaus is?..." I huffed.

Caroline groaned, "Not now, Jess!"

I rolled my eyes. I wasn't going to drop the subject, there were things that were being held back from me, and I wanted answers.

Bonnie continued bleeding the information from Luka, and I watched on, listening to every word.

"How do we kill Klaus? How do you kill an Original vampire?"

It was then when it all clicked. Original.

He was one of them. He was like the man… Elijah I think they called him. Why would the need to kill him if he was with Elijah? My head was absolutely bursting with all this new information.

I snapped back to the matter at hand as Luka began to fight Bonnie once more.

"He'll kill me if I tell you. Don't make me tell you." He pleaded, and I actually felt sorry for him. He was petrified. But why?

"It's okay, Bonnie. We can find another way." Jeremy tried to talk to Bonnie, but she wasn't having any of it.

"No," She began to put Luka back under, "How will you kill Klaus?" Her tone was more demanding, stronger than before.

"After the sacrifice, Klaus will be vulnerable, weak. It's our only chance."

Caroline edged forward, "After the sacrifice?"

"What do you mean, after?" Bonnie looked at her, slightly confused.

"Klaus will be vulnerable." Luka repeated again.

"But Elena will be dead?"

It felt like my heart had stopped beating.

"Yes. Elena has to die." Luka clarified.

"No…" I whispered.

This was not happening. None of this can happen.

I finally had the answers I needed. Caroline and Bonnie told me everything about the Originals. Everything that was going to happen, and everything that they were going to do to prevent this sacrifice from taking place, to prevent Elena's demise.

Jeremy and Bonnie went home, Caroline was in her bedroom. For all I knew she was sleeping or curing her hair. I didn't understand her attachment to her hair tongs. I laughed whenever I thought about it.

I was about to take a seat on my bed when I heard a noise.

"Mom?"

I looked out of my door into the hallway before walking out. I edged out slowly and peered into Caroline's room, I was right, she was sleeping. I closed her door over quietly so as to not disturb her. Once I shut it over, I made my way to the front door and looked out. There was nothing there, so I proceeded to lock the door before returning to my bedroom to turn in for the night, this day couldn't be over quick enough in my book.

I was sat at the bar in the Grill, slowly nursing my drink in the glass which sat in front of me. I could feel eyes boring into the back of my head. Then the voice hit me… it was Damon.

"Jess, come join us." He instructed.

I shook my head without turning around, "No, thanks for the offer though."

I heard him crack his jaw, "It wasn't up for debate." He replied coldly, and it sent shivers down my spine.

"Fine…" I hopped off the stool and walked over to them and took a seat in the booth beside an older man. "Pleasure as always, Damon." I smirked and took a drink from my glass. He just grinned and locked lips with the woman who sat at his side.

The man to my left and I stare at them in disgust.

"This is too weird." He spoke.

I nodded, "I couldn't agree more." The man laughed at my comment but Damon just frowned with a slightly amused smirk playing on his lips.

"I just need the right opportunity." Damon spoke for the first time since I joined the table. "Ah, there's Jenna and her new boyfriend. Hi."

Jenna and a well-dressed man in a tailored suit approached the table. I hadn't seen Jenna since I came back, so this was a very nervous moment for me.

"Hey, guys. Jess? Elena told me you were back! We've all missed you so much." Jenna leaned down and hugged me gently.

"Hey, Jenna, I've missed you all too," I laughed to hide my anxiousness. I knew that she didn't know about any of this, so it made me uncomfortable. "We'll definitely have to have a catch up soon." I added.

The man in the suit never took his eyes off of me as I gave him the once over. I'd never seen him here before, so I was curious to find out who he was.

"So I hear you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today." Damon cut the silence as he spoke.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Jenna smiled.

The man I now knew as Alaric cleared his throat and stood from the booth, "Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I've got papers to grade."

It clicked, he was Alaric Saltzman, the history teacher at the school. I guess I was going to be seeing him a lot when I return. He seemed nice enough.

He stood out from the booth and threw some money on the table.

I was about to follow when Damon's girl-toy spoke up, "No, you know what? We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party." She beamed.

"Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host. Say tonight. Maybe?" Damon grinned from ear to ear, bearing his gleaming white teeth as he done so.

"It's good for me. Jenna?" Andie asked with a smile.

"I don't know if tonight works.." Alaric began but was cut off from Jenna's response.

"Yeah, I'm free." She replied.

"It'd be a pleasure." The tailored man answered. His heated gaze was still fixed upon me as I swallowed nervously under his gaze.

I was just glad I wasn't Jenna. This whole dinner party sounded like torture.

"Jess, you're coming also." I snapped my head in Damon's direction. I clearly spoke to soon about me being lucky one.

"Sorry, I-"

"Not up for debate." Damon cut me off before I could express my displeasure about being invited to this 'dinner' party. "We know nothing about you, it would be good to get to know you. Plus, now you can catch up with Jenna." He smirked. I just sulked back into my seat, knowing that there was nothing I could say or do to get out of this one.

"Ohh, I don't know, Damon. Jess will have other things to do. Friends to see.

"Nonsense! She'll be back at school soon, so this also gives her time to know Alaric and Stefan."

"Good point." She smiled.

Just when I thought I was going to get out of this. I fell flat on my face.

Damon smirked at me, "Great. See you all tonight."

Yeah… great.

"Are you insane?" I crossed my arms over my chest as I stood in the library with Alaric and Damon. I already knew the answer to my own question, it was more of a statement. Damon sniggered, pouring himself and Alaric a glass of scotch.

"This is a bad idea." Alaric stated and I couldn't agree more.

"There's no such thing as a bad idea. Just poorly executed awesome ones. Here." He held a glass of scotch out for Alaric, one of which he refused.

"No. I don't like the idea of Elijah being in the same house with Jenna, not to mention Jessica."

"I second that." I added, but Damon just shrugged.

"Jenna's perfectly safe and I won't let anything happen to Jessica, don't worry. Besides, it's just a fact-finding mission. It's totally harmless."

"Just a 'fact-finding mission'?" Alaric questioned.

I sighed, "Then why the bloody hell am I here?"

Damon smirked, "Because, Jess-"

I cut him off this time, "Don't call me Jess. It's Jessica." I corrected.

He frowned.

"Only my friends call me Jess." I clarified.

He petted his bottom lip, "I thought we were friends…"

I shook my head, "No. We certainly are not, Damon. We don't know each other, and I don't plan on getting to know you."

He shrugged once more and dropped the subject, for now.

Andie came in and stated that Jenna needed help with some wine, and Alaric was happy to help, so he followed after her.

Damon watched as he left the room before he walked over to a small trunk and opened it. From inside, he retrieved a silver dagger.

"What is that?" I enquired. He twiddled it in his hands before dipping it into some dust-like substance.

"Dessert…" He grinned.

"Damon…" I knew there was an ulterior motive behind his words.

"Elijah's stronger than me. Faster than me. It's all about the element of surprise." He clarified.

The worry was evident on my face, I could tell.

"You just told Alaric that you weren't going to have any surprise attacks and in case you were forgetting, I'm human! I shouldn't be here, Damon."

"I need you to encourage the gentleman to take their after-dinner-drinks in here while you do coffee in the kitchen with the girls, you'll be completely safe, I promise." Damon completely blew off my previous remark.

I shook my head defiantly, "I am taking no part in whatever you have going on, Damon. I shouldn't be here."

Damon placed the dagger with the glasses and the scotch, hiding it from site before approaching me.

"We have to get him out of the game. For all of our sakes, Jessica." He made it a point of saying my full name this time. Knowing that it would catch me off guard "I know Caroline and Bonnie filled you in on our little Klaus problem." I nodded. "We have to do this for Elena."

He was right. As much as this whole situation made me want to barf, I knew he was right. I didn't want any one to get hurt, especially my sister and friends.

His crystal blue eyes gleamed as he looked into my jade green ones.

"This isn't going to go down well…"

I felt it in my gut, something bad was going to happen, it was only a matter of time.

Damon and I turned our heads in the direction of a ringing bell coming from down the hall. Following the ringing, Damon and I exited the library and entered the hallway.

"Who invited him?" I turned to see Jenna, she was standing crossed armed and looking at John.

"John. Surprise. Leave." Damon tried to get rid of him, but he entered the house uninvited.

"When Jenna told me she was coming to a dinner party for Elijah, I decided I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games." John smiled, but that smile slowly faded once he saw me step out from behind Damon.

"Jessie?" He gasped. "What the hell is she doing here!?" he demanded answers. I hadn't seen John in many years, and the altercation in The Grill the other night was awkward to say the least. I can only imagine the shock he felt seeing me here. In a vampire's house with adults. Alone.

Alaric walked into the room, both Damon and John looked at him in sync.

He cleared his throat, "There are not going to be any games tonight, John. It's just a friendly dinner party."

John turned his attention back to Damon, but not before giving me the once over. He was making sure I was unharmed.

"What he said." Damon smirked.

I stood in the hallway with Damon, and since he was the only vampire in the house I didn't have to keep my voice low. "Damon, this is a bad idea. Please, call it off… whatever you have planned." I pleaded with him, but he was having none of it. He placed a hand on my shoulder for reassurance.

Not going to lie, it actually calmed me down slightly.

"Do you not think that it's weird, me, a teen, in the house with all of you?"

"No, you've been gone for months, you wanted to catch up with your best friends' aunt and your new history teacher before you went back to school. Not to mention your new class mate, Stefan."

He really did have an answer for everything.

"Everything will go to plan. I promise." He smiled warmly.

I nodded and jumped a little as the doorbell began to ring.

Damon opened the door quickly with me by his side.

The tailored man I now knew as Elijah stood there, once again in a well-tailored suit.

"Good evening." He greeted us. His sceptical gaze fell upon me as he wavered at the door frame.

I swallowed hard and tried to pull my shit together.

"Thank you for coming. Please, come in." Damon opened the door wider for Elijah to enter, but he never flinched a muscle.

"Just one moment," Elijah's eyes flickered between Damon and I before he continued, "Can I just say that if you have anything less than honourable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider." His tone was cold and threatening .

God! I wanted to reconsider.

Damon smirked, "No, nothing, nothing dishonourable. Just getting to know you," Damon placed his arm around my shoulder, causing my body to shudder, "Isn't that right, Jessie?"

I looked up to Damon who was inches from my face.

Jessie? He was mocking me because John called me that when he saw me. I hated it with a passion.

He was smirking down at me with a cocky half-smirk on his lips. I turned my attention to Elijah whose heated gaze was fixed upon me.

"Yes, that's right. Just a night of good food, good atmosphere and getting to know one another." I went along with Damon's' lie, which, to my surprise, Elijah had bought.

I hope.

"Hmm. Well, that's good." Elijah entered the house before giving Damon and I another passive aggressive threat.

"Because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal, if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house," Elijah looked at me, and my entire body stiffened at his calculating threat. Damon's hand was still rested over my shoulder as he gently squeezed it. He must have felt me tense up at Elijah's words. "Are we clear?" Elijah finished as I relaxed my body again and forced a smile to return to my face.

"Crystal." Damon clarified.

Elijah spotted Jenna and approached her, leaving Damon and I at the door.

I released a breath that I hadn't realised I was holding. Damon released me from his grip and walked over to the door to close it. I quickly grabbed a hold of his arm and spun him around to face me.

"I-I can't do this, Damon." I whispered low so that even Elijah couldn't hear.

"Yes you can." Damon replied, "Just be yourself, remain calm and everything will be alright." The door clicked shut as Damon pushed it. I turned and faced the others who were now taking their place at the table.

Damon placed the palm of his hand against the small of my back and walked me forward.

This was all going to fall apart, I knew it was. We're all dead.

The conversation was flowing all night, most about witches and conspiracies. A subject that I found intriguing. So I decided to take a back seat and just listen to the conversation. Every now and then I'd catch Elijah sneaking glances at me all night. I wanted to know why.

Dinner now over, Jenna and Alaric began to get up from their seats. Damon shot me a glance, letting me know that the plan was now in full swing and it was up to me not to fuck my part up.

Elijah dabbed a handkerchief against his lips, "I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company."

"I like you." Andie smiled.

Elijah never replied.

Jenna handed some plates to John, "Here you are, gentleman, make yourself useful. Hmm?"

John gladly took the plates and walked off in the direction of the kitchen. Alaric walked up behind Jenna eagerly.

"Here, here. Put me to work." He said.

Jenna took a step back, "Um, I got it."

I gave her a knowing look as she made eye contact with me. She was oozing with sexual tension for him Mr Saltzman. She picked up the plates and began to make her way out of the room, but not before Alaric caught up to her, stopping her in her tracks.

I was alone in the dining room for what felt like forever… that forever was cut short when they all returned… including Elijah.

I made eye contact with Damon.

He knew exactly what I wanted to know as he bowed his head slightly. A silent warning for me to play along once more. This night was far from over.

"Sorry, guys, dessert is taking longer than I thought. I usually just un-wrap food." Jenna laughed.

I couldn't help but laugh too. She wasn't lying. Every time I was at Elena's for dinner or a slumber party, Jenna would always order in, or it was either pre-made food from the store. I gave her a warm smile as some of the memories came to mind, and she smiled back at me.

"So… I know this is a social thing, but I…I would really love to ask you some more questions about the work that you're doing here."

Andie was quick to cut in, her hand placed on her left cheek as she stared at Elijah oddly.

"I'd love to answer." Elijah replied.

"Great, that's so great."

I unknowingly sniggered out loud and finished off the remaining water in my glass. As I removed the glass from my lips, Andie was giving me the death stare of all death stares, but, Elijah's lips were tugged at the sides into a small smile as he stared at me also. I just quietly placed my glass on the table and leaned back in my chair as I saw Damon and Alaric enter the room.

Damon took his seat to my left, and glared at John who was seated across from him. Andie asked Ric to grab her notebook from her purse, which he happily agreed to do so. Once he was out of sight, Damon leaned his arms on the table.

"Elijah, did John tell you he's Elena's uncle-slash-father?"

I was still uneasy about learning about this information. I couldn't quite believe it when Caroline told me. But hey, anything goes now, right?

Elijah nodded, "Yes, I'm well aware of that."

"Of course, she hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list."

Damon looked at him, dead in the eye.

Andie got off her chair to help Alaric find her notebook. I remained seated beside Damon, and all I could hear was the beating of my own heart from within my chest. My palms had gone clammy, and the chain around my neck suddenly felt constricting. The quiet in the room was cut short when Andie returned to the table like a spring chicken, full of excitement.

"Okay. My first question is when you got here to Mystic…"

Her question was cut short as Elijah released a bitter scream.

I jumped out of my seat with a gasp. My chair crashed to the floor from the force at which I jumped. A hand clasped around my wrist tightly holding me in place. Damon held on tightly, stopping me from fleeing, which I so desperately wanted to do.

Alaric had come up behind Elijah and pierced the silver dagger through the back of his chair, and straight into the Original's heart. He began to desiccate almost immediately on the table. Alaric pulled the dagger out slowly and placed it on the table.

"Now, get rid of him before Jenna comes back with dessert." Alaric ordered.

"All right." Damon walked round the table and grabbed a hold of Elijah's lifeless body and threw it over his shoulder like he was a piece of meat. "Jess. Come with me." he added as he turned around and began to walk off.

I wavered in the spot, "I-"

"Now!" Damon instructed in a harsh tone.

I nodded and followed him out of the room.

I followed Damon down into the cellar. He opened a large metal door and placed Elijah, not-so-gently onto the concrete floor.

I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm.

"Hey… you alright?" He asked.

I snorted, "Are you serious? What part of this is alright? It might be something you guys do, but it's not me," I snatched my arm from his grasp, "I'm leaving. Do not follow me!" I warned and he backed off. I shook my head at him and took a final glance at Elijah on the ground before leaving.

Once I was back in the safety of my own room. The shock finally began to wear off, and my body relaxed bit-by-bit. I slipped out of my clothes and changed into a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt before I climbed into my bed. The covers were bunched at the bottom of my bed as I lay on my side, staring out of the window at the night sky. It was cluttered with glowing stars and a crescent moon in the centre of my window. I smiled as it shone bright in the black sky. The light in the dark.

It didn't take long for me to finally fall asleep. Letting the events of this evening leave my mind.