There had to be something. Something.
Book lay all around him and Stefan scoured the books one by one. The ritual would be happening soon; it would be happening tonight and he needed to find something, anything, that would allow Elena to live. Just thinking about her face pale and bloodless made goosebump rise all over his skin. Elena did not deserve to die due to the machinations of some megalomaniac vampire that wanted to walk into the sunlight. Elena did not deserve to die at all.
She deserved to live a life one full of joy and happiness and peace. Something that Stefan could ensure. But aren't you the one that drew attention to her? Stefan paused, his fingers stilling over a book. He knew from the moment that he had seen her in the water in that car that there would have been no good in approaching her. He knew from the very first moment that getting close to her, getting to know her, would bring nothing more then pain and suffering to her life.
And in a way he was right. Getting involved with her brought Damon into her life and then Katherine and finally Klaus. Maybe it would have been best to save her and then let her life her life in peace. But then he would have been haunted by the what if. He would have wondered how she was doing and checked in on her and then eventually get involved in her life.
It was only a matter of time that they met.
Stefan went back to looking through the books. Shiela had let it slip that there was one thing that could harm the Originals. That there was something that they could do in order to protect Elena. Stefan jumped on the idea and since the time that he spoke with Shiela on the phone until the sun went down he was searching through the lumber records that the Salvatores have kept for generations.
They needed a chance. Just one chance in order to stop the ritual and save Elena. And this was it. Their only chance. Their one moment to save everything that they have worked so hard for. Stefan turned the page of the book but was met with more numbers about how many oak trees that they had cut down the year before. He sighed and skimmed the page.
There was nothing in this book that was useful. Every time he looked through the books he was simply bombarded with numbers and sales and proof of purchase. Nothing about this mythical tree that could stop the Originals. He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
He thought back to that moment with Damon drunk and upset in the foyer. "Do we have to save Elena?"
Elena was the first person to make the hell of vampirism see bearable. And when he was with her he was not just a monster playing at being a man, but a man. He was human when he was with her. He was the man that he was back in 1864. It felt stupid to say that but it was true. Air fueled in lungs not in a cockamamy reproduction of life but to allow him to breathe. He was alive when he was with Elena.
It was selfish, but he was not ready to give that up. He was not done living yet. And so he turned the page and scoured down the page once more. He would find the tree that could help them if it was the last thing that he would do.
Page after page, book after book, Stefan searched and searched for the one thing that could help them. But nothing stood out to him. What was this tree, this thing, that could help them. Stefan leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
His phone buzzed and he grabbed it, not even looking to see who was calling. "Hello?" he groaned into the phone.
"How's the search going?" Shiela's wisened old voice called out to him.
"I can't find anything about the tree. Are you sure that it was something that was in Mystic Falls?"
"It had to be. My ancestor Ayana said that it was the last defense that they had against the Originals before they burned it down."
"And how did it look again?"
"It was an oak tree, but it was a white-ash color. And there were vervain flowers that bloomed at it's roots. It was in the center of their village."
"Who even knows if something like that still exists. That was a thousand years ago and they burned the only living one to the ground."
"Ayana would not have shown that to me if it was dead. There is still some alive today. We just have to find it first."
Stefan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay. I'll check the records one more time."
"We can save Elena, Stefan. We just have to keep faith."
"See you tonight, Shiela."
The dial tone beeped and Stefan place his phone atop a stack of books. They just needed to keep faith. He nodded his head and then dove back into the books. He read page after page of the book, but then paused when he found something. White Oak, it was rare and special and had to sold to the township of Mystical Falls to make the bridge out of town and the welcome to town signage. Was this it?
It was expensive and something that his family had made a lot of money off of and it was the only one of it's kind. That was why it had such an high price. He had to find out.
Stefan rose and put on his coat. He needed to get to Wickery Bridge and at least try. His car slid smoothly out of the garage and on to the street. It was a matter of moments before he was in front of Wickery Bridge and sign telling people that they were leaving Mystic Falls. He sighed and rubbed his hand together.
He walked over to the sign and looked at it. There was nothing sinister about it. It was simply an innocuous sign and the bridge was old and dilapidated. There was nothing to hint that this could help them with their plans. But still Stefan broke off a small piece of the bridge it was long and sharp. And he nodded his head. It was better than nothing and could make a mean stake.
Anything for Elena, right?
"The ritual will happen tonight." Those are the words that Grams had welcomed Bonnie with and the words had stuck with her all day. She could do nothing but hear those words over and over again. All she could hear was the fact that Elena was slated to die tonight.
It was weird. Throughout the day she had stared at people across the campus wondering if they knew that today could possibly be their last day. That this very moment could be the last one that they experienced. When she got home from Whitmore all she could think about was Elena and how Kol and his crazy family were trying to kill her. She sighed and then slid down the front door and on to the floor.
This was crazy. When did life get like this? They were college students they were supposed to be worrying about finals and guys and other things that college students were supposed to be worrying about. These were supposed to be some of the best years of their lives. And they were stuck worrying about whether of not some guy was going to kill their friend. Bonnie sighed. This was hell.
"Bonnie? Is that you?" Grams called out from the kitchen.
"Yeah it's me!" Bonnie called back. She rose from the ground, grabbing her bag, and walked into the kitchen. Grams sat at the table with a long piece of wood sitting on the table in front of her. It was jagged, splinters and cracks decorating the wood, but Bonnie knew what it was the moment that she laid eyes on it: a stake. "Who is that for?"
"This is for Kol," Grams said, with a knife in her hand. She leaned over the table to begin whittling at the wood and Bonnie felt her stomach turn.
The very mention of his name had Bonnie feeling hot. She had not thought about Kol since the last time that she saw him. She had thrown herself into her work, making sure that every brain cell in her head was dedicated to passing College Algebra and not wondering what Kol was doing. She needed the space and the distance away from him and it had done her some good. She had gotten a 87 on her test and her grades were flourishing but she was tired and alone and some small part of her was always, constantly, thinking about Kol.
"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked as she slid into a seat at the table. Grams spared her not even a look as she whittled away at the stake, breaking off the small parts and making it so that thew wood was strong and it would not bend or buckle. The thought of the stake becoming what it was mean to be, a weapon, made something squeeze in Bonnie's chest.
"We are going to stop the ritual tonight," Grams said with a touch set to her lips. Bonnie nodded her head, but then paused.
"How?"
"We are going to hold Kol hostage and ransom him for Elena's life." Bonnie's body froze and it was like ice water was dripping into her veins. Grams wanted her to kidnap Kol and then use the threat of his death to save Elena. The very thought was crazy. How could they do that? Kol was well over a thousand years old and he knew everything about witches. What could the two of them do that he would not suspect?
Bonnie shook her head. No, it Grams was the one that was suggesting it, then there was something that they could do. There had to be a plan. Bonnie looked to her grandmother with a firm set of her jaw. She nodded her head.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked. Grams smiled at her and then went back to whittling the wood.
"I need you to call Kol and then invite him in."
"Grams invite him in? Then he'd—"
"He'd have access to the house. I know what I am risking. But we need to take this risk if we are going to get him."
Bonnie nodded her head. "Okay, I'll do that. Is there anything else?"
"Start practicing this spell. Make sure that you know all the words. It will help us incapacitate him." Grams handed over a slip of paper with words written on it. Bonnie looked down at the words and from her rudimentary understanding of Latin she understood it to be some binding spell. She gripped the paper close to her chest.
Grams was trusting her. She was teaching her magic. Bonnie almost felt tears rise to her eyes. She wanted this so badly and now she was finally getting her. She was being a witch and making it so that there was balance in nature. She smiled and nodded her head once again.
"I'll go practice now," Bonnie said.
"Good. I'll finish with this stake soon enough. Then I'll set everything up," Grams said.
And that was how Bonnie ended up where she was now. Standing in the living room with the makings of a spell. She closed her eyes and gripped her phone in her hands. She needed to call Kol. Grams was hiding in a closet off the foyer and had used some sort of spell to mask her presence. Bonnie sucked in a deep breath and clicked the button.
The phone dialed the number and her hand shook as she held it to her ear. The phone rang, once, twice, and then he picked up.
"Bonnie, darling, I did not expect to hear from you. I thought you hated me?" Kol's smooth voice said from the other end of the line. She sucked in a shaky breath and spoke.
"Kol, I need your help," she said her voice low. "I started doing a spell that I found in Gram's grimoire and something went wrong and—"
"You were doing magic unattended. Bonnie you are still a novice. I told you that you need someone to watch over you when you are doing magic—"
"I know. I know what you said, but I love magic and I want to be good at it. And I just — do you think you can help me. I don't know what I did."
"Okay Bonnie. I am coming right now. Just hold on," Kol said. She could hear him shuffling on his side of the line and then he hung up. Bonnie sighed and dropped her phone. Something in her gut twisted.
She was lying to him. Deceiving him in order to further her own plans. Something about it felt wrong. Kol had never done anything bad to her. He had always treated her like she was made of glass and taught her everything that she knew about magic. He was never malicious or cruel from the moment that they met. The only thing that tore them apart was his intentions for approaching her.
But he wanted to kill one of her closest friends. And Bonnie could not let that slide. She sighed and then sat down at the couch. Scattered across the room were lit candles and on the coffee table was Gram's grimoire that was open to some random page. They needed to make it seem like Bonnie was doing magic without supervision.
She shifted a little in her seat while she waited. Gravel crunching under wheels alerted Bonnie of Kol's arrival. She walked over to the front door and peeked her head out. There jumping out of some ridiculously expensive car was Kol with worry written on his face. He sighed when he saw her and rushed to the door.
"Are you alright darling?" Kol asked looking her over. Bonnie sighed and nodded her head.
"Just come inside and see what happened," Bonnie said pulling him inside. She ushered him into the living room where he inspected the stones and the spells in front of him, his back turned to her. Bonnie knocked twice on the door of the closet and then she began to chant under her breath.
"It appears that this is some type of enchantment, but that doesn't make sense. Bonnie where is the object you were trying to enchant?"
When he turned around both Bonnie and Grams were standing behind him with their hands raised. They chanted hard and Bonnie closed her eyes so that she would not have to see Kol's shocked face. That she would not have to see the betrayal reach his eyes.
They chanted and she felt the power well up inside of her and ooze out. It was strong and flowed like a river out of her. The magic built walls around Kol who shouted as he pressed against the walls. Bonnie opened her eyes and when it was over Kol stood in front of her, trapping in a invisible cage.
Kol looked at her with eyes of hurt, but she could not stand them and looked away.
"I'm sorry Kol. But we have to save Elena," Bonnie said as she looked at Grams who was dialing a number on her phone.
"I understand," Kol said.
That was even worse.
She was in the kitchen feeding from some footballer when Klaus tore into the kitchen in a fury. His face was red and the veins had dropped his eyes colored with blood. Rebekah pulled away from her meal and watched as Klaus tore the room apart his hands cracking the marble and tearing cabinets to pieces.
"You better be careful or else your trollop will be upset you ruined her homemaking," Rebekah said as she wiped her mouth. She sighed and then she dropped the long dead boy, resting back in her chair as her brother seethed.
"Watch your mouth Rebekah. I am not in the mood to deal with you," Klaus said as he picked up his phone and place it to his ear. Rebekah sighed and walked over to her brother, but stopped when she heard a voice.
"You heard me. We have Kol and we have a White Oak stake. Leave this town and never return or else you will lose a brother tonight." The voice was clearly the older Bennet witch, but her words made Rebekah's stomach drop. A White Oak stake? Where had they gotten a hold of one and Kol?
Her eyes darted to Klaus, but his eyes were narrowed and trained on nothing. "You harm my brother and I will rain fire down on this town! I will make it so that you and the Bennett line suffer for eternity."
"If we can make one White Oak stake we can make another and ensure that your family and the rest of vampire kind cease to be," the witch answered. Klaus opened his mouth but the witch interjected. "You have thirty minutes to give me an answer or else." And the line went dead.
Tears had risen into Rebekah's eyes and she looked to her older brother. "What are we going to do? They have Kol?"
"You don't think that I know that Bekah?" Klaus growled.
"Well we cannot just let them kill Kol!" She screeched. She knew that her voice was becoming shrill the longer that she talked, but she needed to speak. It was the only way to relieve the knot in her chest. Caroline walked in with a smile on her face, she skated into the room in her nightgown and smiled at them.
Rebekah hated Caroline. She was always so happy and riding on Nik's coattails it was annoying. She turned to Caroline and frowned at her.
"While you were sleeping we have an emergency on our hands. The witches—"
"Yes, yes. I heard from upstairs. The Bennett witches have Kol and they want to use him to get us to leave the doppelgänger alone." Caroline said this all with a smile and she leaned into Klaus, smoothing the furrow in his brow with a soft hand. She nestled into Klaus and he wrapped his arms around her.
"Yes. We have to go and save Kol!" Rebekah shouted.
"Rebekah it is a witch's house. I doubt that they will invite us in," Caroline said.
"And what do you have planned?"
"Call the council and let's make a little video."
Klaus looked down at her and gave her a wicked little grin. "I think I know what you mean by that," he said, pressing a kiss to her temple. Klaus pulled his phone out again and made the calls. Rebekah's foot tapped against the ground as Caroline glided out of the room. She did not know when all the council members entered their house, but they were there in a matter of moments. Each of their cars lined around the front lawn of their home.
They waited in the sitting room and Caroline and Klaus walked into the room arm in arm. "I am sorry to drag you from the comfort of your homes for this. But this meeting was necessary," Klaus said with a grin.
"What did you drag us out here for, Klaus," Sheriff Forbes said with a frown. She was still dressed in her uniform it was obvious that she was still at work when the call came. Klaus smiled at her and then nodded to Caroline who stepped forwards.
"As you all know we have been tasked to deal with our recent animal attacks and we have found the culprit responsible. If you will all follow me to the basement," Caroline said. They all rose and followed Caroline, marching down into the dark of the unfinished basement Klaus smiled as he was the last to enter and twisted the lock closed behind them. Rebekah grinned and pulled out her phone.
"Where is the vampire?" One man asked as her looked around into the lingering dark. "I don't see any?"
"That's because all the monsters are here," Caroline said. And then she let her fangs drop. The crowd gasped and then screamed as Caroline tore into one of the necks of the person closest to her. Some tried to flee up the stairs, but Klaus and Rebekah blocked their path, compelling them to sit and be quiet.
Rebekah held her phone up and then Caroline smiled into the camera.
"You have one of ours and we have several of yours. For every hour that you don't release Kol one of these council members will die. And it will not be an easy death," Caroline said. She smiled with all her teeth and it was a bloody mess and Rebekah laughed. The council members cowered in fear, but that was nothing compared to the fear that Rebekah held in her heart for Kol. They needed to get him back.
It was with that, that Rebekah finished the video and sent it to the Bennett witches. They would learn better than to mess with the Original family. They would get Kol back no matter the cost. With the video sent, Rebekah looked around to the councilmen and women. They cowered all except the Forbes woman whose hand stayed on her gun. Rebekah scoffed.
"Oh, put that away it isn't like it is going to do anything," she said.
"You never know," Sheriff Forbes, grit out.
You never know indeed.
Author's Note: Happy ten year anniversary to this story. It has been ten years to the day since I have started this story and I am just now getting around to finishing it. We only have Part 3 left and we are getting close to the end so hopefully y'all are ready for the conclusion of part two which is coming soon. How you all enjoyed this chapter! Bye!