Review responses:

Guest: Thank you for the review! And yes, the bond between Sarah and Elena will definitely continue to grow as time goes on. As for when Sarah gets out the tomb...

And now I finish the, 'dinner party,' episode at last. First three parter for an episode..and it probably won't be the last consider what I've got planned, but we'll see. And see what I mean about accidentally making it longer? Anyway, I like the way it turned out and I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it.

And since I won't be uploading again before the New Year, I'll just wish you all happy holidays. Enjoy the time off work and school and remember that it should be a time for love and kindness – cheesy I know, but I love cheese this time of year! Plus I was rewatching Doctor Who and as 12 says, "Be kind."

Chapter 31: The Bitch

They'd been far too confident. Amelia realised that now. When she and Elijah had first entered the Salvatore house that night, they had both known something was likely going to happen. But they let it play out, believing full well that these young, impulsive, vampires and their friends could do nothing to harm them. Normally that would have been completely true, and any confrontation would have ended in them all being dead for such impolite – and frankly rude – actions. But they had had one thing the two Originals had not seen coming. Something they would only have been concerned about when around the their brother.

A pair of silver daggers. Specially made and having been dipped in white ash. The white ash of the one thing in the entire world that could kill an Original. They may have had the foresight to burn it down, but the ash that remained had allowed a weapon to be created, one that could put them down so long as it remained in their hearts.

They had been fortunate, in that the fools using the daggers hadn't known this. But even once they awoke, Amelia had recognised that feeling, known she had been dead, suspended in that state, much like she had been before. True she hadn't suffered at the daggers hands as much as some of her other siblings, but it was still an experience she remembered, and one she dreaded.

That was why, in a brief moment of fear and shock – one that she was now very ashamed off – when she and Elijah had awoken, rather than let him murder every single person in that house, she had made them run.

It had been a momentary laps in judgement, but perhaps in the future it would turn out to be for the better. She was trying to be optimistic when she thought about that, as they opened the door to Jonas' apartment. As fortune would have it, he was already in the front room when Elijah pushed open the door. He turned, frowning at the sight of the blood that stained the area of clothing around our hearts. "What happened?"

"Never mind that," Amelia almost growled. It wasn't Jonas she was angry with however. It was the Salvatores, for their dirty and underhanded trick, though she should hardly be surprised. In truth she was more annoyed with herself for becoming so laid back and confident. Because of that she and Elijah had almost been permanently put under. They'd almost lost their one chance at getting their vengeance. And neither of them would stand for that, no matter what the deal was.

"We need you to find, Elena," Amelia ordered.

"Now," Elijah added, the same almost growl to his voice. Jonas hadn't asked anymore questions after that. He was smart enough to know not to. He just complied with the Originals order and located Elena. As it turned out she was near Dunham Lake, in a summer house, which was some drive from Mystic Falls. With that information, Amelia then told Jonas to pack his bags and be ready to move with his son if needed. They would need to come back to Mystic Falls in order to continue with their plan regarding the dead witches, but since the priority was now keeping Elena under their watchful eyes and away from the Salvatores, they would leave if they had too. And with their opponents forcing their hand, that possibility was looking more likely by the second.

The drive to the lake house was quite, both Originals infuriated with how the night had transpired. One dagger they would have been able to handle between them, but for the Salvatores to have had two daggers in their position. Amelia wasn't a fan of using the word luck, but it seemed appropriate here, no matter how much it annoyed her. And once they secured Elena, they would be securing those daggers as well.

As far as they could calculate, Klaus only had one dagger in his possession. That meant that even if he got one of them, the other could continue the fight. But if Klaus were to get his hands on either of the two daggers now in the Salvatores' possession, then he could put both Amelia and Elijah down, before doing to them what he'd done to the rest of their family. And against him, they would need every advantage they could get.

Pulling to a stop at the end of the driveway to the lake house, Amelia spotted Stefan Salvatore's red Porsche out front from her passenger seat. She quickly talked strategy with Elijah, both surmising that just because Stefan's car was here, didn't mean that Elena and he still were. However, a quick listen to those talking inside the house, confirmed that the two were in fact still inside and aware of the Originals arrival.

"Let's get this over with," Elijah grumbled as he climbed out of the car, picking up a handful of gravel as he walked towards the house with Amelia at his side. "May I assume you have no issue with my dramatics?" Elijah asked, though there was little humour in his voice as he made the remark.

"By all means," Amelia added, equally as stoic. In this instance, she felt the dramatics were warranted, and frankly, she just wanted to conclude this business as quickly as possible.

"Thank goodness for that," Elijah said before flicking his wrist and sending the gravel flying towards the front door, blasting it straight off its hinges.

After the reaction of the door being blown down, Elena said to Stefan from inside the house, "You have to go. I need to talk to them alone."

"Elena–" Stefan began in protest.

"Stefan, I'm okay. They can't come in the house," she reminded him, all of which, the two Originals overheard.

"You're correct, Elena," Amelia spoke up as she and her brother began to methodically step towards the lake house's porch. "We can't enter the house… But we are more than willing to wait you and you boyfriend out."

"And don't think he's safe after what just happened either," Elijah added as they came to a stop on the front porch. "Your friends broke our deal, which means they're no longer under our protection. And we probably should have made this clear earlier, but we don't like it when people break their deals with us. It tends to make us a little…vengeful?" Elijah offered up while he patiently waited with his sister for Elena to appear before them.

And soon enough she did. Arms folded as she cautiously stepped towards the front door, being very careful to remain inside.

"They shouldn't have done what they did," Elena said.

"Is that meant to be an apology?" Amelia questioned, eye brow raising ever so slightly above the other, and clearly not amused.

"No, but I am sorry," Elena replied, and it was sincere, Amelia knew that. But it was too late, she and her brother couldn't risk something like that happening again.

"It doesn't matter," Elijah said bluntly. "The deal is off."

"I'm renegotiating," Elena said almost hopefully, trying to reason with the Originals.

"You have nothing left to negotiate with," Elijah pointed out, before Elena unfolded her arms, revealing the knife in her hand.

"I'd like to see you lure Klaus into Mystic Falls after the doppelgänger bleeds to death," Elena argued knowingly.

And while she did have a point, Amelia couldn't help but roll her eyes at the dramatics before her. Because whether Elena realised it or not, she was effectively bluffing, and both Amelia and her brother saw right through it. "Stefan won't let you die," she pointed out with a bored sigh, wishing for the conversation to reach its inevitable conclusion.

"No, he won't," Elena agreed. "He'll feed me his blood to heal me, and then I'll kill myself and become a vampire, just like Katherine did." At that Amelia had to try to keep her emotions from her face. The idea was a tricky one. On the one hand, she didn't think Elena would go through with it. If she did, then she and everyone she was trying so hard to protect would die at Amelia and Elijah's hand – that was if Klaus didn't find out and do it first. But then Amelia had seen Katherine do the same thing, all those centuries ago. So it was effectively a lose lose for Elena, but the Originals could only win so long as Elena remained alive and human. And that was what gave her the ability to bargain.

"So unless you want that to happen again, promise me the same as before. Promise me…you won't harm anyone that I love. Even if they've harmed you." However, the problem with Elena's bargaining ability, was that neither Original had yet seen how far she was willing to go. They knew she was willing to sacrifice herself to save her family. But giving yourself up to the slaughter, and killing yourself are two very different things, and require different levels of courage and self-sacrifice. They'd seen her try to sacrifice herself. They were yet to see her try and kill herself. And that was were the flaw was in her bargaining chip. Because in killing herself she risked everything she was trying to protect, but that was the only way to force the Originals to agree to her terms. Which meant there was only one way this could continue.

"Sorry, Elena," Amelia said, with at least a little sincerity in her voice, after sharing a look with Elijah.

"But we're going to have to call your bluff," Elijah agreed, both smiling patiently as they watched Elena to see what she would do next.

She stared back at them, waiting to see if they would suddenly back down. They wouldn't, and she quickly worked that out. It was do or die now. Commit or surrender. Everything or nothing. All on the line. So taking in a deep breath, Elena firmly grasped the knife in both hands, before then meeting the Original's eyes one last time. Still no sign of wavering. So Elena braced herself, and then thrusted the knife into her our chest, gasping in pain as she was hit with the shock of her own boldness.

Both the Originals screamed out, rushing towards the door only to be blocked by the cursed invisible wall. Elijah banged his hands against it, but Amelia knew Elena wouldn't let them in, not until they'd agreed to the deal. They still had time though, or at least she thought that until Elena carelessly discarded the knife, allowing even more blood to pour out.

She looked in, waiting for Stefan to rush over and save her. But seconds past and still he didn't appear. Elena was dying.

In a sudden panic for the second time that night, Amelia and her brother quickly gave in to Elena's demands. "You win, Elena," Amelia declared.

"You can have your deal," Elijah added hurriedly. "Now let me heal you."

"Give me your word! Both of you! Give me your word!" Elena shouted, grimacing as she fought the pain, both hands clutching her side as more blood poured out. She must have done something serious because the amount of blood pouring out of her would leave her dead in a matter of minutes.

"I give you my word," Elijah and Amelia both repeated.

Elena took in their words, running through them to make sure there was no way they find a loop hole in their agreement. Once satisfied, she practically clasped out onto the porch where Elijah caught her. And that was when Amelia heard something pierce the skin, followed by her brother's gasp of pain.

She stepped back, and that was when she saw it. The tip of the silver dagger that was sticking out her brother's back. He'd been killed with the dagger, right through the heart. Already his skin was greying, veins popping up all over his dead skin. He had seconds. Amelia had to get the dagger out of him and she had to capture Elena. It would have been easy, had it not been for the second dagger that then penetrated her own heart from behind.

Screaming, she collapsed her knees, unable to fight the darkness that was swallowing her up so quickly. The last thing she managed to do before dying, was look back, and see Jeremy Gilbert stood over her. Adrenaline rushing through his eyes, hands held out after using the dagger on the Original. And his girlfriend, Scarlett, stood behind him. She had been how he'd been able to get up behind her without being detected. She'd ran up when she was distracted, getting Jeremy – the human – close enough to use the dagger. And despite how angry she was in that moment, how heart broken she was by the turn of events. She had to concede. That she and her brother, had been out played.

After having raced over to the Jeremy's summer Lake House in Damon's car with both the daggers, it had been a short wait before the Originals showed up. After that, Scarlett had waited for her window, hands firmly placed on Jeremy's hips before she then speed herself and Jeremy up behind Amelia, right as Elena stabbed Elijah with the first dagger. Then after that, Jeremy had done the rest, killing Amelia before Stefan then saved Elena with his blood, and Damon concluded the whole thing with the line, "Little tip. Don't pull the dagger out."

With that stressful business finally concluded with, Scarlett wasn't given long to catch her breath. In fact none of them were, as Stefan and Damon hurried then along. Apparently Elena had already packed up most of hers and Stefan's things, so they dealt with loading their things into Stefan's car while Damon, Scarlett and Jeremy stuffed Elijah into the boot of his car and then laid Amelia across the back seat.

That had then lead to an argument about Jeremy not wanting to sit next to the dead Original. Damon had of course respected this, by offering up the idea that Jeremy walk back on his own. Scarlett whacked him for that, before it was then decided that she would sit in the back with the dead body while Jeremy sat up front with Damon. If she had known that was how it was going to go, she might have kept her opinions to herself.

Nevertheless they all got back without any further drama, and then they all carried the Originals down into the cellar were they were to be stored until further notice. After dropping the bodies down, Stefan moved to stand next to Elena, Scarlett and Jeremy by the door, while Damon began searching Elijah's pockets, until he found what he was after. "What do we have here?" he asked, pulling out the moonstone and showing it to them all. "A little moonstone bar of soap. I'll hold on to this."

"So, that's it. I mean, as long as we keep the daggers in them, then they'll stay dead?" Elena asked uneasily from in between Stefan and Scarlett.

"Pretty much," Damon answered.

"Anyone else feel like it's a little anticlimactic?" Scarlett asked, something along the lines of disappointment on her face.

"They're dead aren't they," Damon pointed out.

"Yeah, but only because with shoved the pause button through their hearts," argued Scarlett, folding her arms. "It just doesn't feel like we've accomplished all that much."

"Speak for yourself. I took down an Original," Jeremy said with a tad cockiness to his voice.

"Which I'm not happy about," Elena added in a big sister tone, before allowing herself to smile at her baby brother. "But thank you."

"Well, I think we've gone through enough for one night. Want me to give you and Jeremy a lift home?' Stefan offered his girlfriend.

"Not yet," Elena answered, clearly having something to say as everyone turned towards her. "Look, if you guys want me to fight, fine, I'll fight. But if we're gonna do this, you can't keep anything from me anymore. From this moment on, we're doing it my way," Elena explained, folding her arms as she looked between the two Salvatore brothers, waiting for their answer. And even if they disagreed, she knew there was at least one person that would still have her back.

"Seems fair," Damon said nonchalantly, after sharing a look with Stefan.

"Okay," Stefan agreed, with a nod of the head, before Elena then looked towards Scarlett and Jeremy.

"Yeah, I'm cool with that," Scarlett added, surprised to be asked more than anything else.

"And you boss me around anyway, I'll just have to listen to you now," Jeremy added with a grin to his sister as she began to smirk a little.

"Okay," she said happily, before then going serious again. "Now, where's Sarah?"

"Yeah, Damon, a deals a deal. Time to let her out of whatever coffin you stuffed her in," Scarlett pointed out, as everyone turned on Damon.

Damon rolled his eyes at the werewolf, before then answering casually – though not meeting anybodies eyes as he did – said, "She's in the Salvatore family crypt. We've each got a slot reserved for us so I figured I'd just put her in there. That way I couldn't possibly lose her."

"Funny," Scarlett said sarcastically before she and Elena walked out with Jeremy, Stefan and Damon bringing up the rear. It was time to bring Sarah back into the fold.

Walking through the camp, the aroma of blood was unmissable. Sarah had known it was going to be a struggle to remain in control of her urges, but she hadn't imagined that it would be this hard. So much blood, in one place, and all so easy for her to take. It was all around her, all she had to do was pick out one and end him swiftly. No one would even notice.

However, as she tried to approach one of the many injured soldiers, someone caught her arm. She turned, finding Lexi holding her with a pointed look in her brown eyes. With a sigh, Sarah dispelled any thoughts of feeding and turned to follow the blonde vampire along with her brother, each of them on either side of Lexi as they walked.

"All of these men are dead or dying. What does that make you both feel?" Lexi asked as they made their way through the camp that had been set up in the middle of the woods outside Mystic Falls.

"Nothing. I feel nothing," Stefan answered, hugging himself as he fought the urge to feed. He seemed to be struggling with it even more than Sarah was.

"And you Sarah?" Lexi asked, turning to her other companion.

"I'm not sure," Sarah answered, looking around at the injured all around her. At one point in her life this would have been a tragic and horrific thing for her to see. But since becoming a vampire, death and blood were just another normal part of her life. She'd come accustom to them both after just a few short days. This was what a vampire was. "I guess I feel hungry." From the look she got from Lexi, Sarah knew that wasn't an answer she'd be accepting.

She went back to looking at the injured soldiers, focusing on one who was clutching a picture of someone. Sarah stopped, eyes focusing on the photograph as her sight enhanced the imagine, even in the dark. It was a photograph of the injured man, with what Sarah presumed to be his family. A wife, and three children. Two boys and a girl. Just like her own family. And that was when she felt, "Sad," as she then said.

"That's good," Lexi said, placing a gentle hand on Sarah's shoulder, before guiding her on, not wanting her to linger and start crying. The last thing any of them wanted was extra attention right now. For one thing, Stefan and Sarah were supposed to be dead, and if the town found out that vampires were still around, they'd end up burning like the rest of them.

"Feelings are important for us," Lexi continued before looking over to Stefan. "But you don't feel them now because you've shut off the part of you that was human. The part that lets you feel like Sarah and I do."

"But isn't that the point?" Sarah asked. "To be detached so we can be what we're supposed to, so that we can feed and kill without remorse?"

"None of us are supposed to do anything, we chose what to do with our lives and how to live them. Becoming a vampire doesn't change that," Lexi explained to Sarah with honesty in her eyes that made Sarah begin to believe her. "You can be that detached monster if you chose it, and it's probably the easier choice, but that doesn't make it the best choice."

Lexi then went back to looking to Stefan before she continued. "There is another way, a better way. You simply have to want it."

"Is it the better choice though?" Stefan asked critically as they walked towards the edge of the camp.

"Not at first," Lexi conceded. "You can't choose what you feel. That's what's happening with your sister at the moment. Because she hasn't shut off her humanity, she keeps drastically switching between emotions. The tiniest thing, or even a memory, can bring on an intense emotional response, and then just as easily it can stop. But because you've had yours switched off, you'll feel everything you should have been feeling up to this point, and all at once. You'll have to let it all back in. The pain. The look in their eyes when you took their life. The cries of their loved ones," Lexi explained in dramatic detail, letting Stefan know what he would be in for soon.

"Why would I want to do that?" Stefan snapped, suddenly stopping and turning to Lexi. "Why would I want to put myself through everything you've just described.

"Because once you can hurt, you can love," Lexi said harshly, making her point clear. "Love, Stefan. That's the point. Everything is intensified when you're a vampire. When we hurt, we really hurt," Lexi said, sending Sarah yet another sympathetic look as she spoke about pain. "But when we love, when we care about something…" She trailed off then, simply smiling at them both as if it answered everything.

"You can't describe it," Sarah said quietly to herself, not realising she'd said it aloud until Lexi nodded.

"Exactly," Lexi agreed, glad to see that Sarah was following along.

"Doesn't sound worth it to me," Stefan grumbled.

"It won't now, but it will later," Lexi said with a look to Stefan who shook his head.

"No. Sarah's right, we're meant to be like this, it's you whose wrong," Stefan said, jamming a finger towards Lexi before he stormed off.

"Stefan," Sarah called after him, prepared to follow until Lexi pulled her back.

"Leave him for now, he won't go far," Lexi said confidently. "And besides, we're not done here yet," Lexi added before guiding Sarah back towards the injured man from before. The one with the family photograph of him and his children.

"I have to show you something," Lexi said as she sat herself and Sarah down by the soldier's bedside. He was unconscious, presumably from the pain of his intensive wound. "I can understand why you think all vampires are evil. But there is good in our abilities too, it's just about how you use them. For example our blood."

"It's how we turn humans into vampires" Sarah answered, thinking she had it.

"Yes, our blood can be used to turn someone into a vampire. But in order for that to happen they have to die with our blood in their body. Before that though, our blood does something else," Lexi explained, before picking up a small knife and holding it out to Sarah. "I want you to give this man your blood."

"No. Lexi, no, I can't do that, I can't force this on–"

"It's okay," Lexi stressed, silencing Sarah with a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I promise he won't become a vampire. Just do as I tell you," Lexi said reassuringly as she pressed the knife into Sarah's hand. Reluctantly, she took it, looking it over before going back to Lexi and awaiting her instructions. "Cut your wrist open," Lexi instructed, to which Sarah did as told, wincing a little at the pain she wasn't completely used to yet.

"All right, now before it heals, feed him your blood," Lexi then ordered. Sarah hesitated but then gradually moved her bleeding wrist to the man's mouth. The blood fell in with ease, and he swallowed it all until nothing more came, Sarah's wrist having healed.

"Now what?" Sarah asked, moving her hand back onto her lap as she looked to Lexi.

The older vampire just smiled, before nodding towards the soldier's bandaged wound and saying, "Remove his bandages." Frowning, Sarah did as told, reaching over and removing the white layers of bandages around his right shoulder. Once it was all lifted, Sarah saw the bullet wound, a nasty and clearly infected thing. But then her eyes widened as she watched in disbelief. The infection was beginning to shrink, receding in towards the hole in his shoulder which in turn then shrunk, closing over until it was completely healed.

Looking back to Lexi, Sarah was in awe as the blonde smiled happily back at her. "How do you feel now?" Lexi asked as she reached over and placed the bandaged back over the healed wound, concealing it from sight.

Sarah knew her answer, but even so she didn't say it right away. Instead she took a moment to look at the man, the man she'd helped, and at the photograph he held tightly in his hand. Hopefully, thanks to her, those children would have a better life than her and her brothers. Hopefully they would remain a family. And that thought made her, "Happy," as she so rightly said.

"You see," Lexi said eagerly, seeing Sarah's smile. "Not all vampires are evil. You can be good if you want to be. No one says you have to be like the Bitch."

Sarah frowned at that, turning to Lexi with a confused smile. "The who?" Sarah asked with a chuckle.

"The Bitch," Lexi repeated, as if it were obvious.

"Whose the Bitch?" Sarah asked, still just as confused.

"The Bitch is the one who turned you, remember?" Lexi explained, and even then it took a second for it to click in Sarah's head.

"Oh, you mean Kath–" Lexi's hand shot out, clamping down on Sarah's mouth to stop her from saying anything more.

"No, I mean, the Bitch," Lexi clarified as she slowly lowered her hand from Sarah's mouth. "You were right before, that's what she is, and that's what we're calling her from now on. I'll not have anyone bringing up that name around you ever again," Lexi promised as she stroked Sarah's cheek. "She's done enough damage, and her name is only a reminder of that. So from hence forth, she shall only be known as, the Bitch," Lexi declared with a grin.

"The Bitch," Sarah agreed with a grin to match Lexis.

When she heard the the scratching for stone against stone, Sarah jumped, quickly bracing herself against the tomb she was in. Still there was only blackness, but the sound had definitely come from above her. Was it Damon, coming to let her out? Scarlett who had finally sniffed her out? Or was she finally somehow moving it with just her mind? All those thoughts raced through Sarah's head before light blinded her. Realistically it probably wasn't that bright, but it had felt like someone had shone a flashlight right into Sarah's eyes when the stone slab above her finally opened.

"Oh, thank God. I finally found you," came the voice of a relieved Elena. Shortly after, Sarah's eyes finished adjusting to the light. It was night, which thankfully made her adjustment all the easier, as she peered up through the gap Elena had created by pushing the stone slab aside. Part of it still covered the tomb Sarah was in, but with Elena's help Sarah then shoved it aside so that she could finally sit up.

"Here, let me help you," Elena said softly, taking Sarah's hands and helping her out of the tomb. Once out, Sarah leaned back against the tomb, taking in deep breaths as she steadied herself. The sudden rush of getting up wasn't helping her body, and to pile that on with the lack of blood and the vervain recently used on her, Sarah felt like she was about to either throw up or fall over – maybe both.

"Thanks," Sarah breathed out as Elena soothingly rubbed her back, a tender smile on her lips. "How'd you find me?" she then asked, in between heavy breaths, not having realised the lack of oxygen she'd been exposed to while in the tomb.

"Damon told me. I'm sorry he put you through all of this because of me, I never wanted any of this to happen. To you of all people," Elena apologised sincerely. And Sarah was just about to shrug it off, when Elena placed her hand on her cheek, turning Sarah towards her – making her look into her gentle and worried brown eyes. Her thumb then ran over Sarah's cheek, and she said in a sad little voice, "You've been crying."

Sarah was a little startled to hear Elena say that. It had felt like hours ago, when she'd been crying over Lexi. Maybe it hadn't been as long ago as she thought, or maybe it just showed on her face. She could almost imagine her red puffy cheeks, dry and aching from all the crying.

"Why were you crying?" Elena asked, a sweet concern to her voice.

Sarah wasn't sure she wanted to say, as saying it again might bring up the memories. The nasty thoughts that Katherine had managed to put inside her head. She sniffed, but then realised she needed to talk to someone about it, to hear someone tell her it was nonsense and that Lexi could never do something like that, not to her and Stefan. Her brother would have been ideal, but Elena had known Lexi too, if only briefly. But it had been long enough to get a feel for who Lexi was, and that was all Sarah needed right now.

"It…It was Katherine," Sarah finally said with a sigh, rubbing at her eyes when she thought tears might return. "She got inside my head."

"How?" Elena asked gently, not understanding.

"When she said Lexi was working for her, like Ronnie was. I know it can't be true and that it's silly to even consider believing her…but recently it's been hard not to think about it when I'm remembering Lexi," Sarah explained with a few sniffs here and there, eyes lowered as if ashamed for even thinking her best friend was capable of such a thing.

"Oh, Sarah," Elena said, once again gently rubbing her back in loving comfort. "It's true."

Those words shocked Sarah to her very core, as she turned towards Elena. Her face and body so numb that she didn't even feel the tears begin to fall, or the quiver that had entered her voice. "What?" she breathed out, so quietly she herself almost didn't realise she'd said it.

"I'm sorry," Elena apologised, still trying to console her love. "But I have to tell you. It's the right thing." Sarah began to shake her head, but couldn't find the voice to beg Elena to stop. She didn't want to hear this, didn't want to lose hope that Lexi really had been her friend and not just another of Katherine's little spies.

"Lexi was working for Katherine."

"No," Sarah said silently, and yet with such horror in her voice.

"They met before either of them met you," Elena continued. "During the turn of the nineteenth century, in London. They became good friends, and spent the next decade together, moving across the world before arriving in America. There they went their separate ways, until Katherine met your family. After her escape and your turn to vampirism, she knew she couldn't be there for you, so she asked Lexi to be there in her place. To care for you, to guide you." While saying this, Elena had moved directly in front of Sarah, and had begun closing the gap between them.

"Why…Why are you telling me this?" Sarah snapped, so scared by this knowledge, this heart breaking knowledge that she didn't realise how close Elena had gotten. Or that she was now pressed right up against the tomb she'd just been in. "How – How could you even know any of…" As Sarah's voice trailed of, her thoughts clearing, she realised who it was now right in front of her. And with a her entire being shaking, her tears hitting pause – though her eyes still watery – Sarah turned her gaze to meet those eyes. Those eyes that had been so gentle and caring a moment ago, but now revealing their true colours, of selfishness and manipulation.

"Katherine." And at the sound of her name, the Elena imposter perked up with a smirk. A smirk that confirmed what Sarah had realised. There was no doubt about it, this was indeed Katherine, the same Katherine she'd thought herself rid of. "How…How did you–"

"Escape?" Katherine finished, grin broadening. "Sarah, it's me," she said as if Sarah should already know the answer. "No one can keep Katherine Pierce trapped for long."

"But…you were compelled. By an Original," Sarah said slowly, voice still shaking out of fear, while her brain tried to play catch up with what information Katherine was giving her.

"I was, but with your brother's help, I managed to rectify that little issue," Katherine explained gleefully.

"Damon would never help you," Sarah said definitely, though it was undermined by the shakiness of her voice.

"Not knowingly," agreed Katherine with her signature smirk. "That's why I gave him a subtle nudge in the right direction. And he definitely helped me by telling me what he'd done with you. I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not at first, but then, here you are," Katherine said with such satisfaction, Sarah was almost certain she saw the shiver of pleasure pass up her body. "And to think, your own brother did this to you. The same brother you let decide my fate, even after everything I'd done to you – and this was how he repaid you." Katherine let out a series of tuts. "You could have said no to him, and I'd be dead right now. But we both know that was never going to happen–"

With Katherine reaching the end of her monologue, Sarah tried to make a run for it, dashing past her and towards the exit of the crypt. But Katherine was fast, and grabbed her arm before she could get out of reach, dragging her back across the room before shoving her against the far wall. The wall in which behind lay her dead parents.

Sarah struggled, but it was futile as always, with Katherine pressing her arm against Sarah's neck, holding her in place with such ease. There was the added factor of blood too. Katherine had most likely been out for a while, having disguised herself like Elena and had enough time to refill on blood. That put her at an immediate advantage to Sarah, even more so than usual. So Sarah knew she was beat the second she was grabbed, but even so, the fight or flight in her refused to let her stop struggling.

"You know, it's rude to run out on someone in the middle of a date," Katherine teased, showing minimal effort in holding Sarah up against the wall. "Now were was I… Oh, yes, you're useful big brother. Well it wasn't very hard to manipulate him into doing what I wanted. Just bat my eyes, act all worried and then he'll do the exactly the opposite of what I say. So when I said he couldn't kill Amelia because it would leave me trapped in the tomb, I knew I could count on him to get the job done."

"How does that work?" Sarah croaked, needing to understand how Katherine had yet again bested her family.

"Just like when you kill a normal vampire, their previous compulsions on humans don't break. That bits the same for Originals, but it's different when they compel a vampire, such as ourselves. You see, any direct commands they give, such as compelling me to stay in the tomb, those get washed away upon their death. We get our freedom back," Katherine explained in pure delight, as she grinned away at a defeated Sarah.

"What do you want," Sarah asked in a tiny voice, feeling utterly hopeless as her eyes lowered in defeat.

"The same thing I've always wanted," Katherine answered, as she lowered Sarah back down to her feet, allowing her to stand on her own as she closed in. Sarah didn't have the will to fight anymore, simply standing with her head lowered, until Katherine lifted her chin with her finger. Katherine's answer then came in the form of a kiss to Sarah's lips, a kiss that Sarah suddenly didn't dare fight, for fear of enraging the monster before her. She just wanted it to be over, and would give Katherine whatever she wanted to make that so. If one kiss was all that she asked for, then Sarah couldn't work up the strength to deny her. She did however, begin to cry once more, feeling those uncomfortable lips on her own, making her whole body squirm as Katherine – in a polar opposite – savoured the rush that ran through her.

The kiss lasted far too long for Sarah, but for Katherine it was perfect, as she pulled away, grinning flirtatiously at the terrified rave haired vampire before her. This was what she wanted, to be in control of everything, and have what she wanted, when she wanted it. "I'll see you soon, lover," Katherine said, resisting the urge to give Sarah another peck on the lips, before vanishing from the crypt altogether. And leaving Sarah breathlessly afraid as she pressed herself back against the wall.

She'd thought she'd never feel those lips on her again, thought that she'd never feel so violated again. And right then, all she could do was stand there and take it. She hadn't even fought back. She just accepted it, too terrified to fight back, to deny her for fear that something even worse might happen – not physically, but mentally. From inside her own head, Katherine had torn down her memories of Lexi, turned them into twisted visions so that Sarah didn't know what was real anymore. Lexi might have died months ago, but it was now that Sarah felt she'd truly lost her friend – if she'd ever been that. And if Katherine could make her mistrust and doubt her best friend to such a degree, what else could she make her think about the rest of the people she loved in her life.

"Sarah?" came that evil voice again, and Sarah's head snapped towards the entrance to the crypt, seeing Katherine once more.

"Just leave me alone!" Sarah cried out, before charging at Katherine, grabbing her and shoving her against the wall. "Why?! Why do you keep doing this to me?! Why do you keep tormenting me?! Why?! Why?! WHY?!" Sarah screamed, throwing Katherine again the wall over and over until she was yanked back. But even then she continued to scream at the devil incarnate before her. The same devil who had dropped to the floor, curling in on herself in a sudden rush of panic and fear.

"Sarah! Sarah, stop!" Stefan shouted from behind her, as both he and Damon tried to hull her away from Katherine. The woman who persistently ruined their lives at every turn.

"No! No! I just want it to stop!" Sarah cried out uncontrollably. "Make her stop! Please, I don't want this anymore! I never wanted this! Make it stop!" Then suddenly she found herself in Stefan's chest, crying against him as he wrapped his caring and protective arms around her. One hand soothingly stroking her hair over and over.

"It's okay. It's over now. It's okay. Your out of the tomb, you're with us and you're safe," Stefan said soothingly, repeating himself over and over until he finally stopped to glare at Damon, stood next to them. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"Nothing," Damon said with a defensive shrug. "I just vervained her and threw her in there," Damon said with a gesture towards the tomb Sarah had been a prisoner in. "It wasn't like I was playing mind games with her or anything."

"Is she all right?" Katherine asked, still pretending to be Elena as she approached them.

"Stay away from us!" Sarah snapped, glaring through teary eyes at Katherine, while pushing Stefan a step away from her.

"Sarah?" Katherine said in a voice full of hurt.

"Just leave us alone! Run off to some tropical island, torture some another family, just stay the hell away from me and my family!"

"Sarah, why are you saying this?" Katherine asked, still hurt and now confused.

"Stop the games, Katherine! I can't take these stupid games anymore!" Sarah cried, tears flying as she hurried herself in Stefan's chest once more, hiding away from Katherine and everything else she feared about this world.

"Sarah, that's Elena. Not Katherine," Stefan said softly, trying to turn his sister back to towards Elena, but she fought him, twisting and turning to keep her face hidden.

"No, you're wrong. It is Katherine,' Sarah mumbled into Stefan's chest.

"It's not, Sarah, I promise you, just look," Stefan insisted, once again turning Sarah around to look at Elena. She still fought, but in the end gave in and turned to see Katherine stood before her and her brothers.

"It's me, Sarah. It's Elena, not Katherine," she said, and finally Sarah began to see it. The straightness of her hair, the length, the slight change in shade – even in this light. The cloths, the way she stood. The soft caring nature in those brown eyes, the friendship in her timid uneasy smile. These were not the things of the devil, these were the things that made up her friend.

"Elena?" Sarah said slowly, still not convinced it wasn't another of Katherine's tricks – that she'd somehow gotten her brothers to go along with.

The girl nodded frantically, desperate to get Sarah to believe her. "Yes, Sarah. It's me."

"I'm sorry," Sarah said, finally pulling away from Stefan, but still not comfortable enough to approach Elena.

"It's all right, just so long as your not hurt," Elena said in that caring manner of hers, confirming to Sarah that this wasn't Katherine, but her friend. However, her friend then began to frown as she then asked, "But, why would you think I'm Katherine. She's trapped in the tomb."

"For good now that the Originals are on ice," added Damon positively, hoping to make his sister feel better. He was obviously feeling a little guilty, thinking whatever had happened to his sister was because of his actions. Well, he wasn't entirely wrong on that front.

Sarah just shook her head in disagreement, but thankfully she didn't have to say the words aloud, because someone else did.

"No, she's not," came Scarlett's voice form the entrance, Jeremy at her side.

"What are you talking about, Scrappy?" Damon asked, frowning along with the others as they looked to the werewolf.

"Katherine's scent. It's all over this place," Scarlett explained soberly, before everyone looked to the trembling Sarah, as she pressed herself against Stefan's chest once more, taking comfort in her brother's protective arms that found their way around her body.