Veronica walked through the front door of the boarding house and found Elowen, Stefan, Toby, Caroline, Matt, Tyler, Jeremy, Esmeralda and Adriana in the living room. They all ceased their conversation and turned to look at her. Veronica paused and looked at them all warily.
"Uh… why are you all looking at me like that?" She asked. "And will someone please fill me in as to why I'm here? I'm tired of the cryptic text messages."
Caroline sped up to her and tried to compel her.
"Did you know that Katherine was inside Elena's body?"
Veronica stumbled backwards at Caroline's sudden approach.
"Whoa! What the- hang on. What did you just say?"
Caroline narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Like you didn't already know."
"First of all, did you really think I wasn't on a vervain? I knew you were naturally blonde, but I didn't think you were that stupid. Second, I don't know shit, but it would certainly explain a lot. You know, like how she came onto me and kissed me yesterday? I thought Elena was off her rocker. I wouldn't sleep with her in her wildest dreams."
"Okay, if she says she doesn't know, she doesn't know," Angel piped up from over the phone. He was on campus with Bonnie.
Adriana meekly shrugged. "I don't know. She's a good liar."
Veronica rolled her eyes. "We get it, Adri. You hate me, but when I slept with your boyfriend, did I lie to you about it or did I tell you the second it happened?"
Adriana stayed quiet.
"Damon says he doesn't buy it," Stefan said, having heard Damon with his enhanced hearing.
"Damon can suck it," Veronica replied without missing a beat. "I don't like him, and he doesn't like me. Actually, most of you don't like me, which is valid. I'm a bitch."
Veronica tried to walk around Caroline, but she stood in front of her. Veronica rolled her eyes again and reached up to take out her stud earrings. She held them out to Caroline.
"Vervain earrings. Compel away."
Caroline looked down at them before looking over at Elowen and nodding her head at the jewelry.
"Oh, right," Veronica hummed. "You can't touch them. Duh."
Elowen got up and held her hand out, and Veronica let the earrings fall into her palm. Once that was taken care of, Caroline stepped forward to compel Veronica again.
"Did you know Katherine has been inside Elena's body these past couple of weeks?"
"No," Veronica replied in a monotone voice.
Caroline nodded, satisfied with this answer, and Elowen handed Veronica her earrings back. Veronica snatched them from her.
"Happy now?"
Caroline smiled sarcastically. "Yes."
Veronica put her earrings back in. "Whatever."
"I think we should have a failsafe," Veronica said as she watched Katherine get dressed the night before so she could meet up with Nadia. Katherine glanced over at her from the mirror.
"What kind of failsafe?" She asked.
"A failsafe for in case everyone figures it out. They're gonna be confused about Elena kissing me and they're no doubt gonna ask questions, and the first person they're going to interrogate is yours truly. They might try to compel me."
Katherine turned to face Veronica. "But you're on vervain, aren't you?"
"I wear it. I don't ingest it." Veronica got up and started walking towards Katherine, taking her earrings off. "Elowen gave me some and I made it into earrings."
"Vervain earrings? Cute, but subtle and unnoticeable. I like it. Never would've guessed."
Veronica set the earrings down on one of the nightstands and stopped in front of Katherine.
"Compel me to keep your secret a secret. If they ask, I'll say no. A failsafe."
Katherine smirked. "I knew I liked you for a reason." She grabbed Veronica's chin and looked into her eyes to compel her. "If anyone compels you or casts a spell on you to ask questions about me or Elena, the answer will be no. Understood?"
When Veronica nodded, Katherine stepped away, grabbed the earrings from off of the table, where they lightly sizzled her fingers, and put them in Veronica's hand.
"Nice thinking." Katherine leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Veronica's lips. "I have to go. My daughter awaits."
"So, what's the game plan?" Veronica asked after she put her earrings back in and walked further into the living room where everyone else was.
"Passengers can be expelled from the host," Esmeralda explained. "We saw it happen with Matt. Gregor died and Matt lived. All we have to do is stab her with the traveller knife."
"I still have the knife Nadia gave me," Matt said.
"Perfect! Go get it."
"Guys," Elowen deadpanned. "This is Katherine we're talking about. She's going to see a sneak attack from a mile away. We've got to get her to come to us. Get her guard down, corner her."
Tyler snorted. "Fat chance you'll be seeing her today. I'm pretty sure I bit Nadia."
Toby frowned. "What do you mean, you bit her?"
"I mean, she was attacking Caroline and I might've nipped her a little."
"And you're just mentioning this now?"
"Hey, guys!" Caroline interjected. "Focus. Tyler's right. Katherine's not gonna leave Nadia's side, unless not leaving compromises her identity."
Toby made a motion with his hand to keep going. "Which means…?"
"We've got to invite her to something that Elena can't say no to."
xxxx
While Caroline and Bonnie were busy calling Katherine, trying to lure her back to the boarding house, Veronica sat in a corner, typing out a secret text to Katherine so she could warn her.
THEY KNOW.
Just as she pressed send, Adriana came up to her and sat down next to her. Veronica quickly put her phone to sleep and put it on her lap, facedown.
"What do you want, Adri?" Veronica asked, doing her best to sound bored.
Adriana was quiet for a moment.
"... I don't hate you," she mumbled.
Veronica's stance softened, her muscles relaxing and her hand coming up to gently brush some of Adriana's hair from her face.
"I know you don't, Adri, but sometimes you act like you do."
"That's because sometimes you make it hard to love you," Adriana said honestly with a hesitant voice. She always had such a hard time speaking up for herself and it took her awhile to gain the courage to come over and say anything in the first place.
"I used to look up to you," she continued to say in a low tone. "You know? You were my big sister who used to fight my bullies for me. You weren't afraid to stand up for yourself and you risked getting suspended or expelled for me all the time. You were a little loud sometimes, but you were brave, and fearless, and then… you started getting mean, and cold, and rude. I know now it was because of Aiden, but… I wish you would've just told me."
"And then what? I told you, and you would swoop in and save the day, like I used to do with you? It was already done and over with, and he was a dick. He wouldn't have listened to you because you're you. You're soft spoken, and shy, and quiet. You can't even stand up for yourself, let alone anyone else."
"You should've told me so I could've been there for you, like you've been there for me. You didn't have to go through that alone."
"But I did."
Adriana sighed. "You know, ever since we moved, I've been seeing the old you starting to return. It's been really slow, but I think being friends with Elowen is good for you. You haven't had a genuine friend in awhile. I'm glad she was able to get through to you in a way that I couldn't. It upset me a little at first, because I'm your sister, not her, but… I guess I can understand now. Sometimes you need somebody new, not somebody familiar."
Adriana stood up.
"I love you, you know that, right?" Veronica asked before Adriana could walk away. "You'll always be my baby sister."
Adriana looked down at Veronica with a smile. "I know, Ronnie. I love you, too."
Down in the cellar, Stefan was pouring some of his blood into a cup.
"What are you doing?" Damon asked as he watched.
Stefan offered the cup to Damon. "Here you go. Drink."
Damon snatched the cup and downed the blood in one go.
"I need more," he said immediately after he was done.
Stefan shook his head. "Too bad."
"That was nothing!"
"That was exactly four ounces. When you were out killing vampires, you said one vampire kept you good for eight hours. So, our friend Caroline did a little bit of math."
"Caroline?"
"Relax, she had a calculator. So, four ounces, three times a day should be enough to help you manage the hunger."
"Manage me?"
"So you don't rip anyone's head off. We'll deal with your crisis once Katherine's dead. For good this time."
"I'll deal with my own crisis. Listen, you just let me out of here. I'll find Wes, I'll get the antidote."
"And then what, huh? You skip town again and run from your problems? Abandon Elowen after she said she regrets telling you to leave? After she said she doesn't want to give up on you? No. You're staying and you're facing the music with this one."
Damon's eyes flickered from Stefan to something over his shoulder. Stefan turned and saw that Elowen was standing in the open cell doorway. Stefan looked back over at Damon before taking a step backwards towards Elowen.
"I'll, uh… leave you two alone."
Elowen stepped to the side so Stefan could leave, and Stefan closed the cell door behind him. Elowen leaned her back against the door and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor, her legs crossed. A small lapse of silence passed between them before Elowen said something.
"You're an idiot."
Damon sighed, moving to where he was sitting as well.
"Yeah, I know."
"Want to tell me what was going through your head?"
Damon shrugged. "I dunno. I was heartbroken and I felt like all you were seeing was a monster, so I decided to become one. It was stupid."
"Yeah, it was." Elowen paused. "I wasn't seeing a monster. I was just upset that you were killing people behind my back, and I can't be with someone like that. I told you that, and once you showed me it was worth it, I would've given you another chance. Maybe not romantically, but a chance nonetheless. I guess I thought that… it would've been motivation enough for you to want this, but instead, you just… ruined it."
"I know," Damon mumbled. "I'm really good at screwing things up. You were the one thing I was hoping I'd get right."
"And you still can. I still love you, Damon, but… I'm not going to just run back into your arms now that you're back, not after what you did with Enzo. You have to work for it."
Damon waited a beat before replying.
"Why don't we just… start over?" He suggested. "Not a clean slate type of thing, because I know you're not willing to forget everything I've done, but… we start over as friends and figure out things from there."
"That's very… mature of you."
"Ha, ha. Very funny."
Elowen shot Damon a grin. She uncrossed her legs and crawled closer to Damon, putting her hand out.
"I'm Elowen. It's nice to meet you."
Slowly, Damon grinned back at her. He reached out to shake her hand.
"I'm Damon."
The two shook hands when Elowen was sucked into a premonition.
Katherine was standing over Nadia, who was lying down. Her skin was sickly pale, her hair was sticking to her face, she had dark bags under her eyes and she looked very weak. Katherine was helping her take a sip of water when her phone went off with a new text. Katherine pulled it out to check the message.
THEY KNOW.
Just before the premonition ended, Elowen saw the sender name.
Veronica.
Elowen blinked, pulling her hand back from Damon. He looked at her expectantly.
"What? What is it? What did you see?"
Elowen's eyes met Damon's.
"Katherine. She knows."
xxxx
Elowen approached Veronica, who was sitting on the couch in the living room, texting somebody on her phone. When she heard Elowen, she looked up, locked her phone and set it on her lap.
"Hey. What's up?"
"You lied," Elowen accused.
Veronica frowned. "What?"
Caroline, Toby, Esmeralda and Stefan came into the room.
"What's going on?" Caroline asked.
"She tipped Katherine off," Elowen explained without looking over.
Veronica scoffed. "Oh, come on! Everyone saw Caroline compel me. I'm clean."
Elowen stepped forward and grabbed Veronica by the shoulders. She tried to shy away.
"Hey! What the hell are you-"
Elowen cast the compulsion spell and Veronica immediately shut up. Her eyes glossed over as Adriana and Jeremy entered the room.
"Are you in contact with Katherine?" Elowen asked.
"No," Veronica answered in a robotic voice.
"Did you warn her about us?"
"No."
"Has she been compelling you?"
"No."
Veronica's phone buzzed in her lap and Elowen looked down at it.
"Somebody look through her phone."
Stefan walked over and grabbed the phone off of her lap. He pressed the home button to wake it up and saw that it was locked.
"It has a passcode on it," he said.
Elowen turned back to Veronica. "What's your password?"
"0412."
Adriana frowned as Stefan punched in the code. "That's our dad's birthday."
Jeremy looked down at Adriana. "You mean your dad who isn't around much and only visits once or twice a year?"
"That's the one."
"There's a whole text message thread between her and Katherine," Stefan announced a second later. He looked up at Elowen. "You were right. She lied. Katherine must've compelled her to either forget or to not say anything."
Elowen nodded at the phone. "What's the latest text say?"
"Just that Katherine is on the move with Nadia."
"She say where?"
"No."
Caroline scoffed. "Of course. The farther she gets, the worse our chances of ever seeing Elena again. It's bad enough we didn't recognize Katherine, we lost our only advantage."
Elowen let go of Veronica and her eyes came back into focus. She blinked for a moment, shaking her head, before she came back down to earth. She saw Stefan holding her phone and opened her mouth, trying to stand. Elowen pushed her back down.
"You stay here. You've already done enough."
"Now what are we going to do?" Toby asked. "Katherine's as good as gone."
"Locator spell," Esmeralda said as if it were obvious. "When in doubt, use magic."
Elowen nodded. "Good idea. All my witch stuff is back in my dorm. I'll just pop over and get it, and then come back."
"Are you sure me swinging back home won't be faster?"
"Mom, which do you think is faster? A car, or teleportation?"
"Fair point."
"I'll be back."
A second later, a golden light engulfed Elowen, and she was gone.
xxxx
Elowen was stuffing the things she needed inside a bag when there was a knock at her door. She looked over in confusion, but quickly closed the bag to hide her things and went over to answer it. She paused when she saw who was standing on the other side.
"Liv?" She asked. "What are you doing here?"
Liv scoffed. "What am I doing here? My ex girlfriend from high school who disappeared off the face of the earth happens to appear at my college, and you think I'm not going to investigate?"
Liv walked past Elowen and into the dorm. Elowen slowly closed the door behind her and turned around to face Liv. After looking around the dorm, Liv looked at Elowen.
"So, Mystic Falls not treat you well enough?" She asked.
Elowen shrugged. "Honestly? No, not really. My only father figure died and then my brother did a few months after."
Liv's face dropped. "Josiah's dead?"
Elowen nodded solemnly. "Yeah. It's just me now. How's Luke?"
"Luke's good. He's here at Whitmore with me."
Elowen grinned. "No way! It'll be good to see him."
"Yeah, he'll be devastated about Jo, though. He saw him as a little brother."
Elowen's grin faded. "Yeah, he did."
The two of them paused. A second later, Liv rolled her eyes and opened her arms.
"This is depressing. Just hug me already."
The two of them smiled at each other and Elowen crossed the room to hug Liv. When they pulled back, their faces were inches apart. A small spark of electricity pricked their skin and Elowen quickly pulled back before Liv could lean forward. Elowen loudly cleared her throat.
"So, Bonnie told me your locator spell went haywire. What's with that?"
Liv rolled her eyes. "Oh. That." She sighed. "I was under duress. My magic kind of froze. I promise that I still got it."
Elowen raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"
Liv narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to say something?"
Elowen shrugged with a grin. "I don't know, am I?"
Elowen's eyes looked over Liv's shoulder at the bag on her bed and tried to move things along.
"Listen, I have somewhere to be, but I'd love catch up sometime-"
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Liv asked with a playful smirk. "Funny, you couldn't get enough of me in high school."
Elowen narrowed her eyes. "Careful."
"What? It's not my fault you were like, obsessed with me, or something."
"I was obsessed with you? Really?"
"Mm-hm."
Elowen opened her mouth to protest, but her phone rang. She held up an index finger.
"Hold that thought."
Elowen pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw Caroline's name on the screen.
"Hey, Care," Elowen answered.
"Uh, where the hell are you?" Caroline asked immediately. "Our chances of getting Elena back are getting slimmer by the minute! I thought you'd be back by now."
"Sorry, sorry. I got caught up."
"Caught up? Elle! Now is not the time to get caught up!"
"Okay, okay! God, Caroline, I'll be back in a minute. Calm down, alright? See you soon."
"Yeah, I better."
Caroline abruptly hung up. Elowen pulled her phone away from her ear with a sigh and put it back in her pocket. She looked up at Liv.
"I'm serious. I have to go," she said as she walked over to her bed, picked up the bag she packed and swung it over her shoulder. When Elowen turned back around, Liv was standing directly in front of her. Elowen's breath caught in her throat at the close proximity as Liv reached around Elowen and plucked her phone back out of her pocket.
"I'm putting my number in your phone so you can get ahold of me. I'm holding you to your offer of catching up."
Elowen swallowed and nodded. "Uh-huh."
When Liv was done, she grabbed Elowen's hand and slapped her phone into her palm. Elowen felt like she was on fire where Liv touched her. Liv smirked once more.
"Catch ya later."
Elowen didn't say anything as Liv twirled around and left the dorm. The door closed behind her with a soft click and it took Elowen a second to catch up. She slipped her phone into her pocket again and wiped her hands, which were clammy and sweaty, on her jeans. She took a deep breath to try and calm her heartbeat down, and then teleported back to the boarding house.
xxxx
Elowen was spreading everything out on the floor of Stefan's room. She wanted privacy to do the spell and his room was one of the only quiet places in the boarding house currently. Elowen was still trying to calm herself down from her interaction with Liv. Seeing her brought up old feelings that she thought she had gotten over years ago, and as Elowen was setting up the candles around the map, her hands were shaking. Stefan walked into the bedroom at that moment.
"Hey," he said. "How's it going?"
Elowen cleared her throat to try and make sure her voice came out steady.
"Fine. I'm almost ready for the spell."
Stefan came over and sat on the edge of his bed, watching as Elowen lit the candles. He frowned when he noticed her shaking hands.
"Are you doing okay?" He asked.
Elowen spaced out and didn't answer him, causing Stefan's frown to deepen. He stood up and walked over to Elowen, carefully kneeling down on the floor with her. He reached out to touch her shoulder, which caused Elowen to jump. She blinked and looked over at Stefan.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you were okay, but clearly you're not. What's going on?"
Elowen shook her head and forced a smile on her face. "Nothing."
"This isn't nothing. Don't lie to me. Did something happen?"
Elowen sighed deeply, giving in.
"Liv is at Whitmore."
It took Stefan a second to put the pieces together.
"Liv, as in… your ex, Olivia?"
Elowen nodded. "That's the one."
"Oh, wow. That's, uh… what are the odds?"
"Yeah, I know."
"Did something happen between the two of you? Like, was the interaction bad?"
Elowen shook her head. "No, it's just… there's a lot about Liv that I haven't told you about."
Stefan tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Before Elowen could open her mouth, Jeremy came rushing into the room.
"Damon's gone."
Stefan and Elowen shared a look of alarm before turning to Jeremy.
"What do you mean Damon's gone?" Stefan asked.
"He managed to lure Tyler into the cell and he escaped. We think he went after Wes."
"Okay, um." Elowen collected her thoughts. "Let's find Katherine first, then we'll deal with Damon." She held her hand out towards Jeremy. "I'm ready for the locator spell. Come on."
Jeremy nodded and walked over. He took a seat across from Elowen and gave her his hand. Elowen picked up Elena's necklace and held it over the map. She closed her eyes and started mumbling the spell under her breath. Elena's necklace started to go in a circle before getting faster and faster, before finally landing on a location. Elowen opened her eyes and her, Stefan and Jeremy all leaned over the map to see where it landed. They all frowned and looked up at each other. Elowen opened her mouth.
"A church?"
xxxx
Stefan had gone to the church and instead of finding Katherine, he found Nadia. Knowing that Katherine wouldn't leave her behind, he kidnapped her and brought her back to the boarding house. Currently, Nadia was lying on the couch in the living room. Everyone that was present at the house all entered the room, where Matt already was. Veronica carefully approached Nadia and knelt beside her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I feel like this is my fault. If it weren't for me, Katherine would've left with you a long time ago."
Nadia coughed. "It's okay. I want my mother to be happy."
Veronica shook her head. "I'm not worth it, but you? You are." She reached out and brushed some of Nadia's hair off of her sweaty forehead. "You deserved better than this."
Veronica stood up and stepped back. Bonnie moved forward and sat next to Nadia on the couch.
"What's going to happen to me when I die?" Nadia asked.
"I'll take your hand and you'll go to the other side. Just like that," Bonnie replied sadly.
"Will it hurt?"
Bonnie forced herself to smile. "You won't feel any pain."
The front door opened and they all looked over to see Katherine walk in.
"I'm here to see my daughter," she announced loudly. Everyone stepped out of the way and Katherine walked over to Nadia, taking Bonnie's spot on the couch.
"Nadia…" She reached out and grabbed Nadia's hand.
Nadia tried to smile. "You came back for me."
"I won't leave you again."
"Did you find a way to save me?"
"Klaus's blood would've healed you… if I had asked for it."
"But you would've outed yourself."
"But you would have been alive, and now it's too late."
Nadia's eyes unfocused and she started to hallucinate.
"My mother's name is Katherine. I'm looking for her."
Katherine's eyes filled with unshed tears. "You found me. Nadia, I'm right here."
"She's a liar and a murderer. She manipulates, she betrays. She'll do anything to survive."
"Nadia, no. I'm right here. Nadia, look at me. Look at me. I'm here. I'm right here."
"I'm looking for my mother."
Elowen watched on with sad eyes and she reached over to grab Stefan's hand. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. Veronica was standing a few feet away and a lone tear spilled over. She quickly wiped it away before anyone could notice.
Katherine shook her head. "This is not what your life should've been. 500 years of searching for a mother who ended up being me." She reached out and touched Nadia's face. "Let me show you what your life should've been. What a perfect day would look like."
Katherine paused as she gave Nadia a happy dream to have before she died.
"You and I had a little cottage. It was an ordinary summer day. You were playing outside, you were tired and it was time for bed. You told me about the fort you'd built out in the woods by the river, so I asked if I could visit, and you said when the sun came out in the morning, and I said, goodnight, Nadia. Sleep well."
In reality, Katherine was crying as Nadia's skin slowly turned grey. She took her last breath and Katherine swallowed to try and calm herself down.
"Your mother loves you."
A second later, Nadia's ghost appeared next to Bonnie. She was crying as well as she watched Katherine before reaching over and touching Bonnie. Bonnie screamed in pain and Angel reached over to wrap an arm around her to try and comfort her. Katherine closed Nadia's eyes with her hand and covered her with a blanket.
"So, this is it," Katherine said as she stood up. After waiting a beat, she tried to speed out of the house, but Damon was standing on the other side of the door, blocking her way.
Damon smirked. "Hello, Katherine. You didn't think I'd miss this, did you?"
He walked in the house, forcing Katherine back into the foyer. Katherine turned back towards everyone.
"Okay, so… who's got the knife? Which one of you is gonna get to kill the elusive Katherine Pierce once and for all?"
Nobody said anything. Katherine raised an eyebrow.
"What? Suddenly everyone's speechless? When I was on my deathbed, you all had plenty to say." Katherine went over to Tyler. "Is it you, Tyler? Because I triggered the werewolf curse? Gave you an identity and made you matter?"
Tyler scoffed. "You've done nothing for me."
"Oh, please, Tyler. If I hadn't walked into your life, you'd just be a wasted nobody with a boozy mom and a temper problem."
Tyler took a step towards Katherine, but Caroline stopped him.
"Hey, don't. Don't."
Katherine tilted her head towards Caroline. "And you. I'm not worried about you offing me, because we both know I made you better by making you a vampire."
Caroline smiled widely. "Goodbye, Katherine."
"Bye, bye, Caroline."
Katherine walked over to Matt.
"The one girl here who actually appreciates how beautiful you are. You wouldn't stab me in the heart, would you, Matty Blue? No, I don't think so. You will definitely go down as the best night I never had. Oh, well."
Matt shrugged. "Oh, well."
Katherine wandered over to Jeremy, and Adriana grabbed his arm. Katherine glanced at her, but didn't address her.
"Well, little Gilbert, it was nice to have a brother for a second there… when you weren't being so damn annoying."
Katherine turned to Bonnie, who was standing on the other side of Jeremy.
"Bon Bon, no need for goodbyes. I'll see you on the flip side."
Katherine faced Damon this time. "Damon. How you would love nothing more than to drive that blade right through me."
Damon grinned. "We've already done that, Kitty Kat. I've said all I needed to say."
"I know, but I never got to say what I needed to say to you. I'm sorry. You blame me for who you are and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I turned you. I'm sorry that you didn't get to die as a forgotten nobody on a bloody battlefield and your father didn't get to live another day to be disgraced by you. Damon, I'm sorry that I gave your life purpose. Passion, drive, desire. I'm sorry that you are you who are, because I'm the one that taught you how to love."
"I'll see you in hell, Katherine."
Katherine winked before turning to Esmeralda. She sighed.
"You know, I've been meaning to apologize to you. Bringing back your absolutely dreadful ex husband from the dead was one of my more not well thought through plans. He was a bore and didn't use his goddamn head. I had an agenda and he kept trying to ruin it. It's a shame about Alaric... and Josiah. You're one of the few people I know who deserves a happy ending."
Esmeralda sighed. "Surprisingly enough, I forgive you for that. It just made my family stronger." Her eyes flickered over to Nadia's body. "People would disagree with me, but you deserved a life with your daughter. I'm coming from a place as a mom. It really is an unforgettable experience and I'm sorry you didn't get to have it."
"Yeah, well, no big deal, you know? I'll have eternity with her on the other side, won't I?"
"It's not the same, but… I suppose that it's better than nothing. Goodbye, Katherine."
"Toodles!"
With a little wiggle of her fingers, Katherine moved on to Stefan. She sighed.
"Stefan Salvatore. I did love you, you know? I always used to wonder what it would be like to be truly loved by you, and somewhere out of it all, it was real. I know that, and so do you." She glanced at Elowen. "At least I can die peacefully knowing that you have someone to watch over you who can do a better job than I did."
Katherine stepped to the side to stand in front of Elowen and sighed.
"Elowen. We've been through a lot together and at times I think we were almost friends. In another lifetime, we could've been best buddies. We're more alike than you care to admit. Ruthless, cunning, naturally charismatic. We're survivors, you and I. The only difference is, I ran it alone, but you? You made friends and allies who have your back and will fight your battles for you. People who will kill for you, die for you, even. You've manipulated a whole town of people into thinking that you're worth sacrificing themselves for and for that, I applaud you."
"See you on the other side, Katherine," Elowen replied.
Katherine smirked. "Of course you will, Elle."
She left Elowen and went over to Toby, her smirk dropping from her face. She sighed dramatically.
"Tobias, aka Toby, aka wolf boy, aka the better Lockwood cousin, who unfortunately downgraded to my dull, whiny, less impressive doppelganger." She lowered her voice down to a loud whisper. "Don't tell anyone, but I was secretly rooting for you and Elowen." She returned to voice to its normal volume. "Sorry about your dad. A shame, because he was good in bed."
Toby scowled and clenched his jaw, but didn't say anything. Katherine tilted her head.
"Maybe I'll see him on the other side. Who knows? We might rekindle an old flame."
From the corner of her eye, Katherine saw Veronica fidget with her hands as she said this, tugging at the bottom of her shirt as her eyes cast to the ground. Finally, Katherine made her way over to her, reaching out for her face as she approached her. Katherine grabbed her chin and lifted Veronica's face to where she was looking at her.
"You shouldn't have stuck around for me," Veronica mumbled. "You should've just ran."
Katherine sighed, rubbing her thumb against Veronica's jawline.
"Maybe I should have, but staying here and getting to know you was worth it. It was nice to have someone who didn't have all of these preconceived notions about me and got to know me for me, not as Katherine Pierce, but as Katerina Petrova. It's a shame we didn't have more time, because we could've had something epic. Maybe I could've even grown to love you. I suppose now we'll never know."
Veronica smiled sadly. "Yeah, guess so."
Katherine leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Veronica's lips. As she pulled away, she gasped as someone stabbed her with the traveler's knife. She turned and saw that it had been Stefan. Katherine stumbled backwards and fell, where Matt caught her and let her sink to the floor. Everyone watched as Katherine closed her eyes and opened them. They flashed solid black, before she blinked again and they were back to normal. As Elena came back and lost consciousness, Elowen heard the soft click of the front door closing and looked back to see that Veronica was gone.
xxxx
Elowen and Caroline were outside in the driveway, both leaning against Damon's car. Caroline sighed.
"Is it wrong that I feel…" Caroline started to say, trailing off.
"Sad?" Elowen supplied.
Caroline sighed. "Yeah."
"Yeah, me, too. That's our fatal flaw, isn't it? We always see the good in people. Damon, Klaus… we're no better than Veronica. Who are we the judge that she fell for Katherine?"
"I guess… you're right. I wanted to be mad at her for betraying us and giving Katherine a heads up, but… part of me can't help but understand. Sometimes, you can't help who you're attracted to."
"Look at you, being mature and finally admitting that you were attracted to Klaus this whole time after denying it for almost two years."
Caroline reached over and smacked Elowen on the shoulder, who laughed while rubbing her arm where Caroline hit her. Caroline sighed.
"It's just easier now that Jo isn't here. Before, I didn't want to face it because I knew it would hurt him. Now? I won't ever see the look on his face when he found out, and that way… I feel less guilty. Is that bad of me?"
Elowen shook her head. "No, not at all." She paused. "Villains aren't born, they're created. Klaus had a father who neglected him, Katherine was running for her life, Damon was tortured for five years in the 50s… I had an abusive childhood."
Caroline's head snapped over to look at Elowen. "You're not a villain, Elle. You're the exact opposite."
"Aren't I, though? I can kill people without remorse, torture people without blinking an eye… you didn't see the things I had to do the summer I spent with Klaus. Katherine was right. I'm a lot like her in certain ways, right down to toying with two brother's feelings and pitting them against each other. Leading them on, tricking them into believing that sharing them is okay. It's classic Katherine Pierce, a page straight from her book. How am I any better than her?"
"Elowen… that was Katherine just trying to get into your head. Don't let her win."
Elowen shook her head, pushing herself off of Damon's car.
"I need to fix this. I need to let them go."
"Elowen, what are you talking about?"
Elowen didn't answer, instead walking back towards the boarding house.
"Elowen?" Caroline called after her. "Elowen! What are you doing? Elle!"
Elowen ignored her, disappearing into the house. Damon was back in the cellar, locked back up, while Stefan was in his room. Her and Damon had already talked, were already broken up and taken care of, so Elowen made her way up towards Stefan. She found him sitting at his desk, writing in one of his journals, when she entered the room. Stefan looked up at the sound of her coming in, set his pen down and stood up. He smiled and met her halfway.
"Hey-" He started to greet, but Elowen cut him off.
"We need to talk."
Stefan blinked and tilted his head.
"Okay…" He trailed off warily. "What's up?"
Elowen took a deep breath before she started to speak.
"I haven't been fair to you."
Stefan furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you-"
"Let me finish. I haven't been fair to you because I haven't made a choice. This whole time, me picking a brother has never been an option because you two had convinced yourselves that you were okay with me having you both, but in reality, deep down, you know that you aren't, and neither is Damon. Maybe part of me thought that getting mad at Damon and breaking up with him was the easy way out, my discreet way of making my decision without hurting anybody. Having Damon out of the way secretly made you happy, didn't it? I know it did, and so do you, but I'm done doing this, whatever this is. This game that we've got going on where I get to have everything I want like a spoiled brat, with zero repercussions... and you know what? Maybe this is coming at a good time, because remember when I said that there's things about Liv I never told you? If you want the explanation, you can ask Damon, but now that she's back… I have some things that I need to figure out and I can't do that with you still in the picture. I have to let you go, Stefan. I have to, because it's the best thing for the both of us. I don't want to hurt you anymore and in order to stop doing that… we can't be together. I'm sorry, Stefan, but we're over."
Stefan shook his head, trying to wrap everything she just said around his brain.
"Elowen, what are you-"
"Stop. Don't. Just… don't. Goodbye, Stefan."
Elowen turned and started to leave the room. Stefan reached out and tried to go after her, but she was already gone.
Stefan stood there in silence, still processing everything Elowen had told him, before going over to his bed and plopping down on the edge as everything came crashing down on him.
They were over. For good this time.
