Okay, everybody! We're getting into the sacrifice. Are you ready for this? No? Oh well! Here we go :)

Hours passed before anyone came to retrieve Elena. She could only guess that it was around 10 at night, but that was because she had a lot of time to guesstimate. Finally, the doppelganger heard a set of footsteps pounding down the stairs outside of her cell. Sure enough, Klaus's head came into view milliseconds later. Slowly opening the door, Klaus waltzed into the damp room and Elena pulled herself to her feet.

"Are you ready, darling?" he drawled, stretching out his hand with an excited glint in his eyes. Elena took a deep breath, and set her palm in his.

"You have the vampire and the werewolf?" Elena questioned, and Klaus nodded curtly.

"Then yes. I'm ready."

And with that, the two walked hand in hand to Elena's death.

Silence filled the car as Stefan and Damon sped down the interstate towards the neighborhood Katherine had told them of. After 2 ½ hours of driving, Stefan finally spotted a sign that said "Cabin Creekwood—Next Exit".

"Since when do we listen to Katherine?" Damon griped as Stefan steered the car off the ramp and onto a deserted road that looked like it didn't even have a gas station for miles, let alone an entire neighborhood.

"Since she was our only choice," Stefan replied, only to be met by scrutiny. "Let's face it, Bonnie's spell couldn't work. Katherine was our last resort—and why would she lie? We threatened her with Elena's eternal life."

Damon sighed, and Stefan could tell that he was successfully hiding his worry and anger—the opposite of what Stefan had been doing for the past few hours. Normally the peaceful, "brooding" brother, Stefan had been on-edge and angry since Peter had left with Elena.

As the car flew down the godforsaken highway at speeds twice as high as the speed limit, Stefan grew thankful that there were no other cars in the desolate forest. After twenty more minutes of driving, the brothers saw the first sign of civilization since exiting the interstate: a small sign with the words "Cabin Creekwood" in bold lettering.

Stefan had worried that there would be dozens of roads to the back of the neighborhood, but as he drove down the lane he realized there was one road. Granted, there were only driveways every 5 minutes or so, but there was still only one road to choose from. As the duo got to the final cul-de-saq, they saw the last driveway on the road. Unsurprisingly, there John's car was parked in the circle.

Damon looked over at Stefan, and could practically see the moment his emotions had switched from worry and fear to pure determination. With a nod of the head, Stefan turned the car off and wrenched the keys out of the ignition. The brothers stepped out of the car, and with a slam of doors, they set off into the woods—in search of the love of their lives.

Elena could vaguely see the entrance to a clearing. The closer they got to the clearing, the more she could make out, and the first thing she saw was flames—lots and lots of flames.

"Fire?" Elena quietly asked.

"Earth, water, and fire—all necessary elements to break the curse," Klaus replied, and seconds later the two walked into the large circle of trees.

Elena nodded and sighed. "Too many requirements, if you ask me," she mumbled.

"I'd have to agree," Klaus chuckled, but quickly realized that Elena's attention had been redirected to the three other beings. Sparing Maddox a glance at the stone vessel, she looked towards the first fire ring housing the werewolf. Looking closer, it was a woman—Jules, maybe? Yes. And it looked like she was in a lot of pain. "Maddox has postponed her transformation in order to break the curse," Klaus explained when he noticed her confusion.

Slowly, Elena turned her head towards the second ring of fire that supposedly held the vampire, and gasped. It was John. Wrenching herself out of Klaus's grasp, she ran over to her uncle and choked as his eyes developed the tell-tale veins and red-hue of a vampire. "Get away from me, Elena," John growled as he struggled to maintain his control. Granted, the circle was likely spelled so that he couldn't hurt her even if he wanted, but it still frightened her into taking a few steps back—only to be encircled by flames like the others.

Spinning on her heel, she turned to face the now-smirking Klaus. "Why?" she yelled with tears dripping out of the corners of her eyes, "I did everything you asked. I walked willingly to this stupid ritual!"

"My dear, I believe I emphasized the fact that I don't give a damn about your feelings. He was coming to rescue you, and just happened to be the closest turnable person in the vicinity. Besides, Maddox was a voluntary blood source, so why waste a perfectly good vampire when I could create one that wanted to die, anyways," Klaus replied, but by the look eyes Elena could tell that he'd done it specifically to hurt her. Successfully ending the conversation, Klaus turned to Maddox and the two spoke in hushed voices. Elena returned her attention to John.

"John, you're going to be okay, do you understand? Stefan and Damon are probably on their way right now, and they'll get us both out of here!"

John looked into his daughter's eyes and laughed. "Do you really think the Salvatore brothers can save us from this? They couldn't hurt a fly, let alone the most powerful vampire in the world. And besides, I'd rather die than be a monster for the rest of eternity."

Elena stared, dumbfounded, at her uncle—shocked at his outright statement—and the tears began to flow more freely. "You can't really believe that. I mean…Sure, being a vampire isn't ideal, but it's better than being dead!

"No it's not, Elena. And I know you agree with me—no matter how much you want to deny it. I just wish that you didn't have to go through this. I should have been able to stop him, and then you could live the rest of your life in peace."

"This isn't your fault, John," Elena assured him as tears ran down her face, "There's nothing you could have done to stop this. It's my destiny to die in this sacrifice."

"None of this is destined, Elena. You couldn't have been destined to go through all of this at such a young age. I refuse to believe that."

Suddenly, Klaus was beside the father-daughter pair. The tears Elena was crying stopped flowing as she glared at the original, her breaths coming in pants and her fists clenched at her sides—but Klaus barely seemed to notice.

"It is time."

Okay, so the sacrifice is pretty much the same as in the show so far, but we're going to change it up a little bit :) Obviously, I replaced Jenna with John, though! I really wanted to keep it true to the show because I know that we'd get pretty freaked out if it were different. Plus, I LOVED the sacrifice last season, so why would I want to change it? (I think it goes without saying since I'm writing on fanfiction, but I don't own any of the characters, scenes, lines, etc. from the vampire diaries.) ANYWAYS, I hope you liked it, next chapter we're really getting down to the sacrifice...and a BIG surprise! Any guesses what it's going to be? Anybody? Okay, as always feedback is love, people! So read and review :)

-kiki :)

ps: Elijah+Stefan+Damon+Klaus all in the same room=HEAVEN! I still hate Klaus, but he's pretty freaking hot! Caroline broke my heart :( And of course, Elena's breakdown was awesome! Why is Nina Dobrev so good at crying? I was in tears! On another note, the Original family is insane! This week's episode is going to be kick A**! I'M SO EXCITED! :D