Klaus was right, the forest was beautiful. The leaves were bright bursts of yellow, orange, and red, and Elena could hear as if the forest were alive. But no matter how pretty it was, knowing that she'd never get to see it as a human again put a damper on its beauty. After walking for an hour filled with small talk, she finally got up the courage to ask the question that had been on her mind since she'd heard about Klaus.
"Why do you want to break the curse? I mean, you can walk in the sun, and it's not like a werewolf could hurt you if it bites you. So why do you care? I can't bring myself to believe that it's for the good of 'vampire-kind'."
Klaus shot a puzzled look her way before he chuckled. "You think I'm breaking the curse so that I can walk in the sun? I'd have thought my brother would have told you the truth before he brought you here. The curse of the sun and the moon doesn't exist. My mother cheated on my father thousands of years ago with a werewolf, so when I turned into a vampire they had to bind my werewolf side so that I couldn't hurt as many people. The sacrifice undoes the binding and allows me to reach my full potential as a hybrid born of both werewolf and vampire bloodlines."
Elena stopped walking and stared at him in shock for a moment before shaking her head and continuing. "How does it work?" Elena asked him timidly as they walked along the forest floor.
"How does the sacrifice work?" Klaus asked, laughing until he realized that the young doppelganger really had no clue, "You really haven't had anyone explain all of this to you, have you?"
"Well, everyone that could is either dead or not talking. So no, I haven't. I know that you need a witch, a vampire, a werewolf, and me, but other than that I have no clue."
"Obviously the curse has to be broken on a full moon. What very few people would be able to tell you, though, is that it must be in the birthplace of the doppelganger—so Virginia", Klaus stated, pointing at Elena. When he saw that Elena had digested that information he continued, "The sacrifice needs a witch to channel the power of the full moon through the moonstone, and a lot of chanting is involved until I kill the werewolf. Then, I sacrifice the vampire and, when the full moon reaches its apex, you."
Elena glanced down at the ground and then looked him in the eyes, whispering, "How?"
"I drain your blood to the point of your death", he replied, and when he heard her quiet intake of breath he reassured her. "Not that I particularly care how you feel, but I've heard that it feels quite like falling asleep."
Elena looked up with tears glistening in her eyes and nodded. Quietly, she said, "Can we go back now? I'm kind of thirsty."
Klaus agreed and the two walked back in the direction of the cabin. What Klaus didn't know was that Elena was plotting. And she was thirsty. Thirsty for revenge.
"I bet I know what you're here for." Katherine smirked from the tomb entrance. Stefan and Damon were in no laughing mood, and they could already tell that she was planning something. Stefan looked around and caught an odd scent.
"Somebody's been here lately."
"Ahh, good job Stefan. You just missed John by about an hour. And like I said, I'm taking a wild guess that you're here for the exact same reason that he was."
Damon rolled his eyes at Katherine's manipulation and glared. "Look, we know you know where Klaus is camping out. So just tell us and we'll be on our way. No harm done."
"Please, Damon. You know that I never do anything without getting something in return. And frankly, you two have nothing to offer me", Katherine griped.
"Oh really? Peter took Elena—but I'm sure John told you that since John seems to know everything. But what he probably couldn't tell you is that Peter gave Elena his blood—which means that when Klaus kills her you'll have to compete with her for me for the rest of eternity. Does that sound fun?" Stefan asked, knowing that Katherine would cave in as soon as he mentioned the two of them together. Sure enough, Katherine glowered at him and started talking.
"He's in the mountains. Last house in Cabin Creekwood."
"How far away is that?"
"What the hell do I look like? A GPS?" Katherine complained.
"Okay, okay. I guess you just want to fight with Elena forever. We'll get our own directions."
Katherine growled, and then yelled, "Stop! It's 3 hours away, okay? You probably won't get there in time at this rate, anyways. And if you do, Klaus will kill you if you try to stop him from breaking that curse."
Damon smirked. "See, now was that so hard? Thank you, Katherine, for the information and advice. Enjoy an eternity alone."
"We've got water, blood and orange juice. Take your pick," Maddox offered once Elena and Klaus had returned.
"Do you have anything…stronger?" Elena asked, only to be faced with scrutiny, "If you're going to kill me tonight, you might as well let me get buzzed beforehand."
Klaus nodded, so Maddox reached into the cabinet. Pulling out a plane-sized bottle of whiskey, he brought it to Elena.
"Jack Daniels? Good choice", Elena smiled, and quickly twisted off the cap—downing the entire bottle in one swallow. She set the tiny plastic container back on the table, and watched Klaus as he stood up.
"I must go retrieve the werewolf and vampire for the sacrifice. Maddox, if you could replace Miss Gilbert in her room until I get back, that would be wonderful", Klaus said with dignity as he grabbed his coat and sped out of the cabin. While Maddox was facing the door, Elena quickly grabbed the empty bottle and shoved it in her pocket, just seconds before Maddox was leading her back to the dungeon.
Thankfully, the warlock forgot to chain her up when he left, giving her full movement around the room—which she needed to get ready. She pulled the whiskey bottle out of her pocket and twisted the cap off again. Searching the room, she quickly found a small rock sharp enough to break through her skin, and pulled her pant leg up. She took the rock and cut a small gash right behind her knee—large enough to get a good amount of blood into the bottle, but small enough to let Peter's blood heal it before Klaus noticed.
Elena wasn't one for revenge. But Klaus and Peter had pushed her too far-Jenna and Aria were dead, and she was soon to follow them. But vengeance wasn't her only reason for her kamikaze mission-she couldn't let another innocent girl go through this in the future or let thousands of people die because of her. Apparently, Klaus was going to turn into a hybrid, so he would inevitably make more hybrids that could in-turn kill more people. So here she was-preparing for her own transition in an original vampire's dingy basement. She hoped that she would still transition whether it was her blood or somebody else's, because she obviously had no other person to choose from.
Vampire. Elena had never wanted that. She had barely survived a year without her parents-how was she supposed to live forever without them? She didn't want to live for an eternity with the guilt and pain she'd been feeling since her parents' deaths. She loved Stefan, but she couldn't watch every person she cared about die while she lived-the sorrow would cripple her. As the bottle filled to the top with her blood, she twisted the cap back on and sealed her fate. She knew that she was going to die no matter what-either by Klaus's hand or by her own. So why not go out with a bang?
Hey everybody! I know I normally have a note at the beginning, but I just couldn't find anything to write-so I didn't! Oh, and did you see the season 2 episode references I threw in there? :) Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter and that it gave some insight into what Elena's thinking and feeling at this point. I loved writing Katherine, too-she's so much fun! Feedback is love, people! So read and review!
-kiki :)
ps: I'd give this week's episode a B-. It was good, but not up to par with the Vampire Diaries's normal craziness :P I don't know-it's just that Bonnie has been starting to bug me a little bit lately, so I wasn't totally thrilled about a Bonnie-centric episode-but it made me a little less annoyed with her. Oh, and Stefan and Elena's scenes made me sad again. Jeesh, when did everything get so screwed up between them? I miss the lovey-dovey opening scenes they used to have :( But on a different note, THE ENDING! Guess who's back? I'm not going to say-spoilers aren't fun when they ruin the episode. But let's just say I was screaming at the tv the whole time! :)