Paris, France
November 7, 2010

Connor sometimes hated when he was right almost as much as he hated to personally be indebted to Elder Gale for his expedient authorization and the technical support Cortney as well as the asset she recommended he use for the physical data recovery. Sometimes these debts, he learned the hard way, could cost you more than you were willing to give. After a little digging thanks to Cortney, it wasn't difficult to see that Renée had been planning this for quite some time, perhaps even before he'd been assigned to mentor her. That alone was troubling, but to read the texts had implied as such and that she shared them between the very monster connected to her parents' death had been devastating. The one neighbor family friend that was a hunter like himself, who had killed the bloodsucker, never realized he was being played. The same deceased vampire had actually been the younger brother of the two hundred year old vampire that Renée Tremblay was in a physical relationship with for almost a year. Apparently, the brothers seldom got along, but the offer to his now deceased brother was to receive a sizable portion of the Tremblay estate for the deed of killing her parents. It had proved too big of a temptation not to take. This made him physically ill, he didn't hate all vampires; it had taken him several years to come to terms that not every bloodsucker that crossed his path deserved to be immediately staked on the spot. Andre was a prime example of someone who just wanted to give back to human society and live in relative peace. Which reminded Connor that he would need to tell his vampire friend some rather unsettling news Cortney had recovered in the process of giving him this hostel address.

He counted thirteen bodies so far all but one of them drained of their blood. Thanks to the information gleaned from the data recovery effort. Fortunately, Conner had found where Renée Tremblay had completed her transition into a vampire. Unfortunately, she had long since departed, but that was only the beginning of his growing list of problems. Based on the repeated bite marks on the latter of the corpses and the bandages he had found covering relatively older wounds, she was already on her way towards mastering her bloodlust. Which would have been impressive after only being just turned, but he wasn't about to congratulate her on it. His new mission was clear; find her and stake her for her crimes against humanity.

He should have suspected that she would have come here. Fleur De la Croix was a notorious witch that operated on the fringes of the supernatural community. Before now, he only suspected that her hostel was nothing more than a cover for her more nefarious undertakings and now he had confirmation. Not that it mattered anymore.

Maybe it was karmic payback but one of the last bodies he'd found was of the former Fleur De la Croix herself; like the others she'd been bitten but the awkward angle of her head suggested she was murdered, perhaps to silence her, much to his chagrin. Still, he wasn't going to stop looking for possible clues related to his quarry.

Checking the bedrooms, he didn't find anything of practical use. He did find a bloodied shirt which he suspected was one of Renée's earliest feeding attempts but nothing that gave any indication where she planned to move onto next.

Connor almost had a heart attack when Fleur abruptly sat up right laying in the middle of the room. He readied a stake and cautiously kept the distance open between them. Hearing movement behind her, Fleur twisted at the waist to find himself waiting for her first move.

"Figures you of all people would show up Hunter. You're a little late to the party, but I guess Renée grew bored with my hospitality too so who am I to judge? Still, I didn't think she'd kill me after doing her a solid favor. I hope you stake her when you finally catch up to her," Fleur said conversationally, picking herself up off the floor.

Connor frowned he was old enough as a hunter that he should be able to pick up a vampire or a newly risen one fairly close nearby but instead he felt nothing and they were the only ones upright and talking for the time being.

"Connor Jordan, don't you think after all these years of dealing with vampires that I wouldn't have a fail safe plan for myself? Trust me this isn't the first time nor will it be the last where one of them decides to clear their financial debt to me by killing me." The witch sighed in resignation, dusting off her pants legs. "I should have asked for all of my fee upfront instead of half, but that's on me I guess."

"What solid favor did you do for her? You didn't make her a daylight amulet did you?" Conner demanded. Taking an intimidating step closer, the witch didn't seem all that impressed with his swagger.

"And what if I did? The Brotherhood might have its rules, but so do I. And do stop trying to intimate me," Fleur stated, surveying the room with a sigh.

"Fleur De la Croix, the Brotherhood of the Five doesn't only hunt vampires as you are more than aware. So if you don't want me to recommend that you be added to our Top Hunting List I strongly suggest you comply," Connor threatened.

"You Americans are all alike, always throwing your weight around. Here, you need this to find her?" The witch said, holding up what looked like a pocket watch. After taking it from her, Connor realized that it wasn't a pocket watch, but instead it looked like a compass. The needle was pointing west.

"Why did you make this?" he asked curiously.

"You're former initiate shouldn't have killed me just to get out of paying what was due to me. If she hadn't, the curse I put on her daylight ring wouldn't have been activated. But since she did, the moment I came back to life it triggered the locator spell I'd embedded in her ring. This charmed compass will give you a means of finding her."

Connor turned the compass and confirmed that yes indeed the needle was pointing the same way no matter how he turned the device around in his hand. Still, he was furious that the witch had given her a place to stay and crafted a daylight ring.

"If you think this excuses your actions Fleur De la Croix, you are sorely mistaken. You allowed her to kill twelve innocent people," he informed her but his anger only grew when she started to laugh before pointing at one of Renée's victims.

"Innocent you say? I guess you hunters don't ever look at the Interpol Wanted List every one of the supposed innocent victims were wanted for one crime or another. Consider this my civic duty to mundane society; besides their deaths proved useful for me as well," Fleur said whilst picking up items off a nearby table.

Connor felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Why hadn't he made the connection of the total number of bodies? He readied his dagger in his jacket sleeve. He was immune to witches' offensive magic but there were other things they could do that caused his need to be careful.

"Why are you performing expression magic Fleur? I didn't think you were into that sort of thing," Connor said in his best neutral tone.

"Normally I wouldn't, but things are changing hunter. She has finally awakened and the Supernatural world is about to change. One more thing before I go. You can find your friend in America eventually; it seems her vampire lover has taken up with some self appointed Vampire King and Renée Tremblay will be leaving for there once she has settled her business here in France," the witch said, still keeping her back to him. Connor, despite his training, took a few steps closer to the witch.

"What are you talking about? Who is this 'She' you mentioned and what do you mean she has awakened?"

"So many questions, hunter, but alas, I have to get going. So much to do, so much to prepare," Fleur spun on her heel so she was facing him. He braced himself, expecting a weapon of some sort, but instead she held out her palm upright with a small pile of black powder in the center. His eyes widened in alarm knowing what was coming. He couldn't stop it. The witch blew the powder into the air directly in his face. He didn't need to breathe it in; he knew from the Hunter archives it only needed to touch exposed skin to be effective. The sleeping powder was a passive potion, so his hunter immunity to magic wasn't applicable in this circumstance.

Connor almost immediately felt unsteady before he collapsed to his knees, feeling the need to sleep growing more insistent. The still lucid side of his brain was surprised to find that the witch had caught him before he could have fallen flat on to his face before easing him onto his back.

"Why?" he managed to slur as darkness started to encroach on his field of vision.

"Goodbye Connor Jordan. I will be long gone before you recover from the affects of my powder and for what it's worth, I hope you do catch her. Our world is about to get more complicated as it is."

Struggling to remain awake while also wanting to know what she meant, he tried to ask, but it was becoming too difficult to think let alone form a coherent question. He resisted as best he could, but eventually the need to sleep over took him in the end and the resulting dreams he had were disturbing indeed. When he regained consciousness several hours later, the witch, Fleur De la Croix, and her belongings were gone as she had promised. He highly doubted she left anything for the Brotherhood to use its own coven contacts to track her down, but still he had to follow protocol.


Salvatore Boarding House
November 6, 2010

After promising Tatia that she would come back for them, Elena carefully crept down the hallway from the room she managed to escape from. Bonnie was good in setting up the barrier but Elena had almost by luck spotted a weak point in the spell structure. If she had pushed against it with her magic, it would have shattered the spell but it would have also alerted Bonnie that someone had brought her barrier down by brute forcing it. It had taken longer than expected, but she managed to bend the wards away enough to let her slip through undetected.

Now she was wandering through the boarding house. Each of her footsteps was carefully placed to avoid stepping on part of the wood floor that could threaten to make a sound alerting the others to her presence. There were times like this that she regretted not putting up more of a fight when Ayana had taken back the silver bracelet all those centuries ago. Having a means of turning herself invisible would be rather useful right about now. She could cast a spell given enough time, but she would have to do it on the fly and it wouldn't be difficult to let her mind slip, considering how much of her attention would be focused on just maintaining the illusion. Losing focus at the wrong time would reveal her to anyone looking in her direction even for a split second.

Being an Original did give her a huge advantage, being that her senses were far more sensitive than either of the Salvatore brothers and the newest vampire to their number named Enzo. She didn't know his entire background story, but something told her that she would find it rather informative. Based on their respective heartbeats Elena could sense that two vampires were downstairs in the room they had been sitting in when they drugged her. Elena had to fight just to calm down her anger. She was trying very hard to give them the benefit of the doubt, but then trapping her in the room with her children was really pushing her against limits she didn't want to cross.

Disregarding Tatia and Elena's children, there were three other humans in the boarding house which was surprising. She could only assume that the single heartbeat was of her brother Jeremy and despite the noise canceling headphones he was most likely using he was busy with one of his video games he must have brought with him. The two other faint heartbeats coming from what Elena suspected was in the cellar would most likely be Bonnie and her step brother Jamie. She had only met him briefly when he had come back up stairs for a glass of water and they practically bumped into each other.

From what she could faintly hear, only catching part of the conversation, Bonnie was furious towards Elena being the one that both fed off their mother but thanks to her giving Abby her blood, her mother was now a vampire. It pained her to think that this revelation might be the very thing that tore their friendship apart. Only time would tell.

To her surprise she hadn't heard Damon inside the boarding house, but did that mean all the vampires, not just Caroline, could leave? But then she'd forgotten that her own husband had pulled Damon past the salt line as if it wasn't an issue. That did open a possible loophole getting her family out of here but first she had to find Ric's photographs and destroy them all before leaving. She hated that she couldn't simply tell them her reasoning but Elena was not only doing this to protect her family but some of her friends as well, especially those that were vampires. Knowing Damon, he wouldn't believe her, which more often than naught had frustrated her to no end.

"So mate, would you care to share with me exactly why Damon wants us to locate a bunch of photographs of some cave drawings one of your friends snapped recently?" Enzo asked. His statement froze Elena to the spot. How had Damon found out about Ric's photos?

Elena cursed herself sub-vocally when it became all too obvious to her. She should have realized the moment she realized it was missing. Whatever they wanted to do to her wouldn't get very far if she had reached out to her family, so it made logical sense that when she couldn't find her new cellphone one of them must have taken it. This should teach her next time to set up the lock mechanism.

"I don't know, but he said there is something we missed the first time we, or I should say they, were going through them. I was still acting under Klaus's compulsion at the time," Stefan answered. Elena could hear the sounds of papers being shuffled through and her heart sank. Had they already found them before her? It had been over a thousand years since she last remembered handling any of them.

"Where is Damon anyway? I thought he went to your friend's house to recover some of her personal things for some spell? Why isn't he here helping us to find these bloody photographs?"

"I have no idea. He said he was making a short stop before coming back here."

Time was running out and Elena knew it, so she really needed to prioritize things. Even if they found the pictures then somehow deduced the importance of the Great White Oak they still needed to find it. So that left her finding a way of getting her friend and the twins away from here. There might be a way but it would require a sample of blood from at least one of the vampires that could come and go as they please. However, she only was aware of at least two of them that did exhibit the ability to pass through the barrier. She would have to incapacitate Damon somewhere outside and then take a sample of his blood then collect Tatia and her babies.

Changing course, Elena decided the best place to catch Damon was right before he entered the boarding house. Moving as fast and as stealthy as she could, Elena made it to the front door without being detected. Opening the door, to her surprise she found Caroline standing on the other side as if she was just about to use the door for herself.

"El-" Caroline started, but Elena quickly silenced her friend before motioning for her to follow herself outside and only once they were out of earshot for Stefan did Elena nod for her friend to continue.

"Elena, where are you going? You should know that we need Bonnie to let you through the barrier."

"I know but- Hold on, you wouldn't have known would you?"

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked, looking confused, and Elena briefly explained what they had done to her. Caroline's expression changed from shock to anger to the point that she looked ready to tear strips of flesh from Damon.

"Lena! I… I had no idea they'd do something so stupid! When I see Damon I will- Forget it. First, we need to convince Bonnie to lower the barrier so you guys can escape."

Elena looked around half expecting Damon to suddenly make an appearance, but for now they were still alone outside the boarding house.

"I think I know how to go about doing that myself. It will drain me but I can do it; but I need one thing from you and two favors."

"Okay, but what do you need from me?" Caroline responded without hesitation and Elena felt guilty that before now she never fully appreciated how much her friendship with Caroline Forbes meant to her.

"I will need a vial of your blood to help get Tatia and the twins past the barrier."

Caroline nodded thoughtfully and before Elena could ask where she was heading off to her friend disappeared into the parked RV before reemerging with a glass vial filled with what she assumed was her blood.

"Okay, now what?"

"How did you-? Never mind." Elena started even before she accepted the offered vial. "I will need your help to get Tatia out to the salt line. I will get Eirik and Astrid. But before that I really need for you to call Elijah so he can pick us up. He must be worried that I haven't called him."

"Already one step ahead of you Lena. I had a hunch something wasn't right, so I called him on the way over and he should be here soon. He didn't sound very pleased either. Both he and Rebekah, well mostly his sister, thought it was strange that you'd only been able to communicate with them via text."

"I believe Damon must have taken my phone. Probably about the time they shanghaied me."

"Lena, I know we are pressed for time, but what are you going to do? I can't imagine how you're feeling right about now. They only were doing what they thought was best for you," Caroline asked gently.

Elena's breath hitched, and she had to look away to collect herself before returning her attention to her friend.

"I'm feeling rather pissed off right now, Care! But you're right. Intellectually I understand, but it still hurts that they don't trust me enough. Do you know what I'm really concerned about now?"

"How your family will react when they find out what our mutual friends did to you?" Caroline asked first. Elena smiled weakly at her friend. Everyone had always treated Caroline Forbes as if she didn't have a single brain cell to her name. Yet she was an honors student who somehow always managed to get her assignments done or study for exams even with all the supernatural nonsense that plagued their hometown in the few recent years.

"That's what I'm worried about. I know you know some of what I told you about what life was like back when they were still human, but I left out so much. I've spent the last five hundred years watching them unseen and fervently wished I could help them more, but even I had my limitations."

Caroline reached out and pulled her friend into a tight hug. If Elena had been human she would have several broken ribs but she wasn't and hadn't been for a very long time.

"Come on let's get this started," Caroline said after she'd released her friend.

Elena and Caroline managed to sneak back into the boarding house without being detected. Caroline stood as a lookout just outside the door where Elena's family was being kept while Elena repeated the process she used to exit the room, but this time in reverse.

"Elena? Can we leave now?" Tatia asked, putting Astrid down onto the bed with a new diaper. Elena smiled at her friend and then daughter. She owed Tatia so much for taking care of her children. Shaking herself, she quickly explained to her ancestor what they were about to do. Tatia gathered up a few things she wanted to take with her, not that she had much to begin with since only recently returning to consciousness in this century.

"Tatia, I'm going to help you exit the room when I do. Stay as quiet as you can and my friend here will get you outside. Wait for us and keep out of sight. Do you understand?" Elena asked as they stepped closer to the still open door. Caroline inexplicably chose that moment to wave at Tatia who, after an awkward pause returned the gesture. Ignoring their non verbal interaction Elena felt the magical barrier with her mind and repeated the process, but this time wrapping Tatia in a bubble of magic that mimicked her own magical signature. The second time around she had, for all intents and purposes, created a magical skeleton key that helped to bypass all of Bonnie's wards without detection.

Once on the other side, Caroline stealthily whisked Tatia away to safety. Alone, Elena started to gather things she was going to need to take along with her children. Her children. They had been separated for so long but not once since regaining consciousness had they ever strayed far from her mind. There was so much she wanted to do with them and watch them grow into adulthood. She prayed that their dysfunctional family wouldn't have too much of an adverse effect on them as they got older. But family above all was another of their family mottos and it was something both Elijah and herself fully intend to instill in their children.

Picking up her children together was awkward enough, and she was momentarily confused that they felt bigger only to realize that they are still growing so her former sense of balance would need to be adjusted. Swaying herself to rock them back to sleep, Elena repeated the process again, this time extending her magical signature to cover all three of them as she slipped through without issue once again. Taking her time mainly to keep from waking her children unintentionally, she almost made it to the front door when she sensed the presence of a vampire standing directly behind her.

Slowly turning around half expecting to see either Damon or Stefan to her own surprise she found Enzo watching her with a thoughtful expression. Suddenly feeling the need to justify her actions she prepared herself to say that to him when to her growing surprise he held up a finger to his pressed lips pointing towards where she sensed what had to be Stefan Salvatore before he opened the door for her.

Mouthing thank you towards him, she went off in search of her two friends. Gently rocking her sleeping infants, Elena looked nervously about for Caroline and Tatia. But she couldn't sense anyone around. Her mind whirled as she considered if they had been discovered but if they had, wouldn't she hear evidence of that before leaving the boarding house? It was a possibility the silencing spell on the guest room they'd once been detained in might have prevented her from hearing that they had been discovered. It might explain why Enzo had allowed her to escape, because he already assumed the outcome of her escape attempt would prove unfruitful.

These thoughts almost plague her into indecision, which thankfully didn't get too far when suddenly the door of the parked RV opened revealing her two friends. With a burst of speed, Elena was with her friends.

"Come on, I need both of you to hold Eirik and Astrid while I get the spell ready. It's crude and thrown together but I should be able to fool Bonnie's spell into letting all of us go," Elena explained as they moved to the very edge of the barrier. As gently as she could, Elena handed over her precious cargo to her friends before bending to her task.

Standing in a tight group, Elena uncorked the vial of Caroline's blood and carefully upended the vial, so some of her friend's blood coated her index finger. Not explaining what she was about to do, she drew a runic symbol out of blood on Tatia's forehead while muttering aloud.

"Per hanc sanguinis oblationem ambo tibi coniungo."

She then repeated the same process and linking spell with each of her children. She cringed when little Eirik's eyes snapped open when she touched his tiny forehead with a very wet and bloody finger. His face crinkled into an angry expression and he looked ready to start crying but she couldn't take time to console him and knowing that hurt her. How could she tell him that she was trying to reunite their family? Elijah and her siblings desperately wanted to have their family back; safe and intact.

Before she forgot, she upended the vial one final time before drawing the same runic symbol on her own forehead while muttering a slightly different linking spell.

"Per hanc sanguinis oblationem ambos nos coniungo."

"I'm not going to ask what you're doing, but you better hurry." Caroline said suddenly, which momentarily made Elena lose her place. Cursing softly under her breath Elena looked up and noted that they weren't alone but instead of being upset her heart swelled when she realized who it was or more accurately whom when she saw her brother in law step out of the passenger side of their SUV.

"Tatia!" Klaus cried out, looking as if he saw a ghost. Thanks to enhanced senses she tracked him all the way from the side of the SUV to standing opposite of Tatia still holding little Astrid. Not once had his gaze shifted from his lock on Tatia's now crying face.

"Nik! I… I thought I wouldn't-" Tatia started but Klaus pressed himself into the barrier only nodding his head in understanding.

"I know, my love… I-" Klaus got out before his demeanor shifted to a more controlled apparition. "We will get you out of here. My witches are on their way."

"I don't think that will be necessary. I have everything I need to get us out of here; just let me concentrate."


Salvatore Boarding House
November 6, 2010

Elijah was beside himself for not figuring out sooner that something was wrong. Rebekah had been the first to suspect something wasn't right; he had the growing feeling as well, but it wasn't until his sister had mentioned it in passing to everyone back at the mansion he wouldn't have made the connection. He shook his head in anger directed towards himself. He should have put the pieces together.

The fact that Caroline had called him when he was putting everything together in his mind, her worth as Elena's friend and as a vampire went up remarkably.

"You know we want to get there in one piece, brother?" Klaus said from the passenger seat Elijah slowed slightly knowing his brother was trying to distract him and he was thankful for the slight diversion.

"I'm well aware of that, Niklaus. How are things going on your end?" Elijah found himself asking Klaus had been on his phone even before they climbed into the nearest SUV in the Mansion's underground garage.

"My witches are en route and should meet us there, but we are going to get there before they do."

Keeping his eyes on the road, Elijah sighed and sped up slightly, passing a slower vehicle on their way to the Salvatore Boarding House. Depending on the state he found his wife in, he more than once toyed with the idea of burning the place down with the two upstart vampires trapped inside. The fact they were Elena's friends was the only reason that kept him from doing so. Still, even he had allowed the fantasy to play out in his head more than once. Ironically, that particular idyllic dream had formed the day after a certain human Doppelgänger had renegotiated their alliance back to when he was still out to kill his own brother for perceived crimes against their family. Considering that unknown to both of them, his own wife was in one of those coffins resting at the bottom of the ocean.

"What happened to the witches we had at the house?"

"They needed to leave and gather some ingredients for some spell of theirs, I should have refused their plans to depart."

"We had no idea that this would be the outcome," Elijah said, not entirely sure why he felt he needed to say that.

"I know, but brother I swear if they have hurt Elena or my Tatia in any way-"

"I don't think that will be a problem." Elijah answered glancing over at his brother who he realized was still peering down at his phone. "Klaus, look up for once."

"What are you- Tatia!"

Elijah's stoic expression barely faltered, but inside he was feeling the same. He slowed the car down and even as he was unbuckling his seatbelt, his brother was already out of the car.

"Tatia!"

Elijah could have rushed over like his half brother did, but his attention was fully focused on his wife and children who were safe in the arms of Tatia and Caroline Forbes. His steps were deliberate as he made his way over to join them. He drank in the sight of her and he so much wanted to pull her tight to his chest, fully intent on never letting her out of his sight ever again.

"Nik! I… I thought I wouldn't-" Tatia started, but Elijah only out of his periphery noted that his brother had pressed himself into the barrier as if daring it to falter.

"I know, my love… I-" Klaus cried out before his voice became more reserved. "We will get you out of here. My witches are on their way."

Elijah was about to ask him how far out they were when Elena interrupted his unspoken question.

"I don't think that will be necessary. I have everything I need to get us out of here. Just let me concentrate," she said. Hope welled in his chest when she started to chant aloud. She looked tired to him and his worry for her only grew. Was she pushing herself, he wondered.

Two things happened as she started her spell. First, a large fiery ring suddenly appeared around their small group. Then another vehicle, Damon's if he remembered correctly, sped past him into the safety of the salt line granted them. Elijah diverted his attention between watching his wife and the ever growing number of people. Damon was already out of the car, standing on his side just on the outer edge of the fire ring. His brother and Bonnie Bennett having joined them and a woman that shared the Bennett's witch features. Was this Bonnie's formerly missing mother?

"What the hell are you doing Elena? And you too Caroline!" Damon said, his voice rising above the sound of Elena's increasing chanting.

"She… She… No, this is impossible. How can Elena do magic!?" Bonnie cried. Before she started to chant herself, which caused a visible grimace to appear on his wife's face before she started to chant harder herself.

Elijah looked hopefully over at his brother only to find him already shaking his head. They needed to have a coven of witches on hand, something he resolved to address later with his family.

"Elena, we are only trying to help you!" Stefan said over the cacophony of chanting and counter chanting.

His heart sank when he saw the blood coming from around his wife's eyes and yet she continued to chant before taking in a gasp of air.

"Tatia now!" Elena cried out and Tatia bolted over the salt line into Klaus' embrace. Tatia was crying tears of grief or joy. Elijah had no idea; he was waiting for what he already knew was coming.

"Caroline now!"

Elena's friend didn't even hesitate; she bolted over the salt line almost straight into Elijah. He easily caught the young vampire. She muttered an apology before handing over his son to him. He looked into a face he hadn't seen in over a thousand years. The fact that he was now roaring like a viking warrior didn't diminish the moment.

"Elena, please come over now!" Tatia cried. Stunning the Salvatores.

"She can talk?"

Elena, still busy, was swaying on her feet as she kept chanting. Bonnie was swaying on her feet as well, blood leaking from her nose, but she didn't look willing to stop.

"You goddamn freaks of nature! What have you done to Elena?" Damon yelled. Elena took a faltering step and nearly went to her knees before righting herself.

"You will never learn your place, Damon Salvatore." Elijah heard a voice say only to realize that he had said those words. They were true enough. Fully expecting the older Salvatore to continue his tirade, it surprised him to hear Stefan speak up once again. Elijah frowned; he noticed that he held a stack of pictures in his hand and he felt his stomach clench involuntarily.

"When we find out what is so important in these pictures, we will make you pay for what you've done to her!"

He watched as Elena's eyes snapped open, still chanting. His poor wife looked exhausted. She flicked a hand toward Stefan's hand with the offending pictures.

"ignis ardeat!" she screamed and all the pictures caught flame, forcing the young vampire to drop them. They burned quickly forever, destroying their contents.

"NO!" Damon roared.

To everyone's surprise Bonnie's mother who seemed to have remained a mere spectator raised up her hands and started to chant along with her daughter. Her actions earned her a surprised but appreciative look from her daughter as the fire ring around them started to falter.

He heard Elena gulping for air as the fire barrier dropped suddenly. She had turned to face Stefan so he could only see her from behind. It was this way when Elijah watched in utter horror as Damon launched himself over the rapidly fading ring and he made contact with Elena. He forced her to face him and before she could even react his hand thrust something familiar into her chest.

"NO!" Elijah roared in anguish, but it was already too late. Already aware it was a futile display he still pressed himself into the barrier. As if he could force his way through but the irrational side wouldn't accept it. His wife and mother of his children was trapped on the other side. Both Astrid and Eirik chose that moment to start crying in unison as if in protest.

Elena gasped before remarkably turning to face her family, her lovely brown eyes seeking out his own. Her features started to immediately gray as the Obsidian Dagger he once had, with reservations, plunged into his wife's chest nearly a century and quarter before.

"NO!"