Disclaimer: I don't own TVD.

So, it's been a month. I know, I know. I hit a funk and I was immersed with other projects over these past few weeks. For that I'm extremely sorry. That being said, I'm editing the final chapter to this story and it should be up tomorrow. I'm planning to post chapters 18 and 19 later on today, so keep an eye out for those. As always, reviews are graciously welcome and enjoy! :)

Caroline's lungs burned with every strangled breath she took. Scrunching her eyes repeatedly, she finally opened them, her vision blurred.

She twisted her wrists, hissing as she felt something thick—rope, probably—against the inside of them.

"You can forget about trying to use magic to free yourself," Garnet said. "I've hexed the ropes so that wouldn't be possible."

"Why are you doing this?" Caroline whispered tiredly. She felt drained. "Aren't you going to kill me either way during your little ritual?"

"Well, yes," she answered. "But without Klaus and his siblings, I won't be able to make it work. The only way to get them to show up to the ritual is if they go to save you."

Caroline laughed breathlessly and swallowed thickly, her body feeling sickly. "They won't do it, you know."

"Of course they will. You're an asset."

"He's got other witches lined up to help him and his siblings couldn't care less about me. I'm just a human. I'm disposable."

Garnet chuckled. "You're so naive, Caroline."

Caroline shut her eyes as Garnet's cold hand grasped her chin and shook it.

"You have no clue how much power you truly have. But once you are dead and your power returns to the earth, you will have served a greater purpose. Your power will fuel the witches here and you will have taken a key part in eradicating the vampire species once and for all."

"You're doing this for revenge, right?" Caroline assessed, feeling as Garnet dropped her grasp.

"Excuse me?"

"Revenge. Mikael killed you. He killed you and your brother—hell, your entire village."

Garnet remained quiet.

"You're doing all of this out of petty revenge. But you're not killing Mikael, Garnet. He's dead. You're killing innocent people—"

"Vampires!" Garnet hissed. "They are vampires. Not innocent people. They murder innocents. They hunt our people, Caroline. They use us and they threaten us. They are the monsters."

"You're wrong," Caroline croaked. "Just because a person is vampire, it doesn't make them a monster. It's what the person does—their actions—that makes them who they are. You can't just label them as monsters because of what one of them did."

Garnet shook her head. "You're not as stupid as you appear," she said.

The corner of Caroline's mouth turned up slightly. "Thanks."

"Nevertheless, I believe in my cause and I believe in the natural balance. A world without vampires is a world revived. Innocents will no longer fall prey to a species that believes they are above the rest of the world."

"You're making a mistake," Caroline tried, her heartbeat increasing. Her breaths came faster and shallower.

"I see you struggling for breath, dear Caroline," Garnet said. "A side effect, I'm afraid. But that means the elixir is working."

"What?" Caroline mumbled. "What did you give me?"

"Don't be alarmed. It's a simple elixir to get you to tell me the truth."

"I'm not saying anything to you," she spat back.

Garnet nodded, stepping forward. She placed her thumb on Caroline's forehead and, using her other hand, yanked Caroline's head back.

There was a burning sensation almost immediately. It was like someone had stuck a hot branding iron inside of Caroline's brain and she couldn't contain the piercing scream that erupted from her. She could feel Garnet invading every scrap of memory she had—she felt violated as the deepest parts of her mind were left in the open for Garnet to read.

"You won't have to," Garnet said.

Wake up.

Klaus dropped the pen on the map, his eyes widening as the whisper drifted in the air. He'd had his fair share of strange witchy moments but this definitely made the top ten.

Wake up.

His brows furrowed, considering the fact that he was awake yet the voice demanded he do it again.

"Wake up."

Klaus looked at the doorway again, seeing Caroline. "You're back," he said, feeling strange. "That took a while. I assume you calmed down your mother?"

Caroline remained still, her eyes watery.

He stood up straighter. "Caroline?"

"Klaus," she said shakily. "Something's happened."

"What is it?" he said, alarmed.

She clenched her hands, her green eyes searching the room. "I'm not really…here."

"I'm afraid I'm not following," he said, stepping closer in her direction.

"Garnet has me—the real me somewhere. She's keeping me there until the ritual."

He reached for her but instead of coming in contact with soft skin, he felt nothing but air, which was ludicrous considering the fact that he could see her there, see his hand meet the distance.

"I'm projecting," Caroline said. "She hasn't found that part of my mind yet, but she will. We don't have much time."

"Do you have any clue where she's keeping you?" he growled, his anger spiking. He was going to find Garnet and he was going to rip her apart.

Caroline shook her head. "Klaus," she began quickly. "Go. Leave me. Save yourself and your siblings. Save Rebekah and Kol and Elijah."

"I'm not leaving you," he stated bluntly.

She looked down, wishing with everything that she was that she could just touch him and reassure him that he should leave her.

"I've seen our future," she whispered, looking up to him and gulping, her eyes watery. "I'll be fine. I'm going to survive this—we're going to survive."

He looked at her and she could see his anger flaming in his eyes; she could definitely feel it through the air. "You're lying to me."

She couldn't breathe. As hard as she tried to, the oxygen just wouldn't make it to her lungs, making it damn near impossible to keep a focus on him. He was dying- not physically, but in every other sense of the word. Why? Because here she was, the biggest hypocrite ever to walk the planet.

Caroline preached about being the good person; about being a better person. So why was she standing in front of the man she loved and lying to him? He had exposed himself to her in ways neither could explain. She had watched him rip himself to broken pieces, raw and real.

She'd been wrong. Their story was the other way around; she wasn't what was best for him or anyone else. She was the demon, the monster who just couldn't be trusted. She was double-crossing them all in order to save them. She was choosing to die for them—people she barely knew but people who were worth being thought of as her family.

Caroline was the biggest deceiver in the room and she didn't have the heart to tell him the truth. So she chose to lie in order to save him. She was no angel—it was time to accept it.

"I love you," she said, looking at him intently with piercing green eyes. His anger shifted into something else, something unreadable but she kept going. "I shouldn't but I do. I care that much about you and what we have is so scary, so undeniably scary. You make me question everything I used to know. And I should be afraid of you—everyone says so—but I'm not. I love you."

He opened his mouth but she shushed him.

"Now why would I lie to someone that I love? Give me a reason."

"Caroline," he said lowly. "You can't. You can't just say that and expect me to believe you."

She smiled sadly, feeling her connection begin to waver. "You don't have to believe me right now and that's okay. But it's the absolute truth."

"I won't let her kill you, Caroline. Not her. Not my mother. Nothing is going to hurt you."

"I've already been hurt, Klaus. It's okay. Keep moving forward. Life goes on—you of all people should know that."

"Caroline…" he said, seeing her figure begin to fade progressively. He became frantic then, desperate for her to stay. "I will find you and I will end her once and for all. I swear to you."

Her green eyes shimmered. "Don't make promises you can't keep. Go."

"Caroline—"

"I'm losing the connection," she rushed. "Please…I don't expect you to listen to me because of one night that we shared, but I expect you to do the right thing by your family."

"You can't just disappear from my life. I refuse to let that happen to you. I will find you. I will end this. I will end her."

Her image disappeared and Klaus shouted, knocking a nearby table over. He ran a hand through his hair, his eyes searching for the map. He retrieved it and saw the markings he had done. If he did this right, he knew where to find Devin.

"Is that it? Is that the grimoire?" Matt asked tentatively.

Rebekah let out a deep breath, dust catching light as it spread into the air. Her lapis lazuli eyes searched the parchments, her forehead crease becoming more prominent.

"Parts of it. These are pages torn out of the book," she said, puzzled.

Matt shifted. "So what does that mean for us?"

Her hands paused briefly at his choice of words. Somehow the mundane syllables brought a sort of comfort to her. It was surprisingly pleasant.

"Nothing, apparently. What we need is right here," she pointed to the markings across the paper. "But there are words missing, pieces gone."

Matt grabbed a corner of a paper. "Do you think that Bonnie's grandmother might know what's missing?"

Rebekah pressed her lips together. She made eye contact with him despite half of herself being distracted by their close proximity. Through her leather jacket she could feel his body heat emanating; hear his steady heartbeat and regulated breathing. He wasn't afraid of her.

"Perhaps."

"I'm afraid," Caroline whispered in the dark. If it weren't for Klaus' steady breathing, she would've thought she was completely alone.

Klaus swallowed thickly. "I know."

"What if I'm not strong enough, or I don't have enough control? I mean you saw what I did to that house."

"You don't give yourself enough credit, love. You're strong. You're full of light," he shifted closer and Caroline sighed as she felt his soft lips on her forehead. "And you're beautiful in every way."

"Did you really just call me beautiful?" she asked lightly. She didn't want to dwell any longer on the subject. The problem would still be there when the sun rose, but for now, right now in this moment of peace, she wanted nothing more than to share the comfort with him. She felt safe. She felt calm. She felt at home.

"Yes, I did," he said, chuckling.

"Is it crazy for us to be doing this? We haven't known each other very long and your reputation isn't exactly what my friends or mom would call clean."

"Ah, my reputation exceeds me," he said, trailing his hand across her bare arm. They were in a strange bliss, in something so fragile…

"Stop that," Caroline seethed, grasping the handles on the chair tighter. Garnet smiled at the memories she was filing through like a cabinet in Caroline's head.

"Such beautiful memories you share with Klaus. What a shame your bliss didn't last very long."

"You're a monster," Caroline strangled. There was another sharp pulse of pain passing through her head and across her spine, causing her to tremble in pain. She felt the beads of sweat trail across her cheek.

"Poor sweet Caroline Forbes. I thought you were supposed to be the almighty witch angel hybrid. What happened to all that power? Where is it?" Garnet tormented. "Will the almighty salvation come out to play?"

Caroline squirmed, the pain becoming increasingly unbearable as she fought against Garnet's intrusive efforts. Garnet's shuffling in Caroline's mind hit a wall and the teasing ceased, her smile becoming unamused.

"I see. There she is," she said, switching hands. The pain pulsed stronger and Caroline let out a yelp, the wall disintegrating.

"Now, I'm going to guide you to that tree but you keep pedaling, okay?" Bill said, grabbing a hold of the bike's seat.

Five-year-old Caroline smiled and nodded, enthusiastic to finally learn how to ride a bicycle properly. Elena and Bonnie didn't need training wheels anymore and Caroline was determined to be the same. She didn't want to stay behind.

Bill did as he said he would, his smile spreading as Caroline pedaled like the wind as her momentum increased. He slowly let loose on his grip and soon she was flying.

"Make sure you avoid the bush—Caroline! The bush!" he shouted too late as she maneuvered straight into the greenery.

Bill ran towards her and laughed, seeing that she was okay. He picked up the bike and stared at Caroline, leaves in her blonde pigtails.

"Did you see how fast I was going?" she exclaimed.

"No!" Caroline said, shaking her head. These memories…they hurt so much.

"Want me to stop?" Garnet said. "Show me exactly what you can do, Caroline."

Caroline heaved.

"What exactly are you capable of?" Garnet raised her voice.

Suddenly Caroline's eyes shot wide open and she gasped, her hands opening. Garnet released her hold on her and watched as Caroline's eyes rolled to the back of her head and flames erupted from all sides. Garnet watched on as the flames surrounded them both.

"Fantastic. You can light fires," Garnet said, unimpressed.

Caroline's body relaxed, her head bowing. She breathed heavily as if she'd just run a marathon.

"No," she rasped. "That's not all."

"I can also do this, bitch."

Garnet swiveled and came face to face with Caroline. Somehow she was outside of the perimeter of the flames—impossible considering the real Caroline was still confined to the chair…

"Astral projecting," Garnet said, awed. "Amazing."

"That's what I thought," Caroline—the one who was outside of the flames—said. She kept eye contact with Garnet, her face angry. "You killed my friend Bonnie, didn't you?"

"Contrary to popular belief, she did that to herself. And unfortunately, so have you," Garnet said, motioning for another one her witch followers to come forward. Caroline looked at the young witch.

"Don't side with her," Caroline said. "You know this isn't right."

"She killed my sister," the young witch said, chocolate eyes sad and blonde hair falling wispily across half of her face. "Nothing about any of this is right, but we do it anyway. It's kill or be killed, right?" She opened her palm to reveal a purple dust. She blew it in Caroline's direction and the next thing she knew, Caroline returned to her real body.

"Nice efforts, by the way," Garnet said. "But I can't just let you leave—you have a job to do, remember?"

"Damn you, Bennett," Kol said, tossing a liquor bottle in the direction of a tree. He watched bitterly as the liquid dripped off of the bark.

He knew he was being entirely too selfish—the fate of his entire family rested on one witch and here he was, acting out like a little insecure teenager.

Well technically, you are still a teenager.

He ran a hand through his hair.

Shut up, brain.

Letting out a huge breath, he looked up at the sky. "Where are you, Bonnie? Did you move on?" he sifted through the trees with his eyes. "Are you still here?"

Bonnie shook her head, crossing her arms. She wanted so much to reach out to him, to have him feel her presence, to speak to him and tell him to get his act together and help Caroline and Klaus. They needed him.

"You're still here, right?" his voice cracked and he seemed so desperate then. Bonnie blinked away tears, licking her lips.

"I'm right here," she said, as if he could ever hear her.

"I love you," he said into the air. "Do you hear me? I love you, Bonnie Bennett."

Bonnie looked down at the ground.

"I wish I didn't," he continued. "I wish I could say that I'm still a heartless son of a bitch. I wish I could say that I still have no remorse—that I can still rip apart anything and anyone and not give a damn."

He swallowed, shaking his head incessantly. "I can't. I can't because of you. Somehow you made me want to be better. And now you're gone—how could you be so selfish?" he recoiled, suddenly, as if that last question hurt him more than it was supposed to hurt her. "How could I be so stupid? Of course it would be a witch that broke my heart."

"They need you," Bonnie said, shaking her head. She got close to him so that they were face to face, even if he couldn't see or hear her. "They need you."

He didn't move and she let out a noise of frustration.

"Get a grip! You are Kol Mikaelson! You are supposed to be put together and you're supposed to always have a plan! So gather your wits and all of that mischievous intellect that you have and get out there and help."

"I can't!" Kol suddenly shouted.

Bonnie stepped back, feeling strange. Could he…? Did he…?

"I can feel you judging me, Bonnie," he said plainly, his eyes sobering up quickly. "I can feel you…Something's up with the Otherside," he deducted. The tense paranoia was quickly replaced with something much more stern. He glanced around Bonnie's general direction. "Are you still here?"

Bonnie nodded, stepping closer once again. "I'm always here, Kol," she said, her throat tightening. She couldn't remember a time where she'd cried over a boy, nevertheless a vampire. "We need to fix this."

"I think we need to fix this," Kol said. "I need to tell Klaus and Rebekah."

Her shoulders slumped and licking her lips, she opened her mouth, eyes watering and distorting her vision. "I love you, too."

Kol's back stiffened and his eyes searched blindly. They remained still for a few more moments before he vamp-sped away.

Klaus looked up at the night sky, his grimace deepening as he took in his surroundings. If he'd calculated the clues correctly, he should've found Devin by now. Rebekah had managed to give him general directions, and Klaus was no fool, he'd asked around. His subtle sleuthing reminded him of past agendas where dead bodies were the solution in an equation.

But no matter that, he was a changed man despite how unwilling he was to show it to anyone else but Caroline. He had a reputation as the merciless and psychopathic original vampire. He'd spent centuries building up his credits and he wasn't about to just throw that away, it might be the only thing keeping other supernaturals from bombarding him.

"Are you seriously trying to surprise attack Devin?" a female voice asked from within the darkness.

Klaus' lips twitched. "Miranda, I assume?"

"You assume correctly," Miranda answered. Klaus turned to face her, her dark hair and skin seemingly reflecting the moonlight. "You're in luck, Klaus."

"And why's that?"

"Because he wants to meet you—he's been waiting over a thousand years to do so," she said, motioning for Klaus to follow her.

He speculated as he followed suit. "How do I know this isn't some kind of trap Garnet set up in order to capture me?"

"You don't," she stated bluntly. She stopped short, raising her hand and shutting her eyes. Klaus watched her shoulders tense before the trees in front of her rippled.

"He's in here," she said, stepping forward and disappearing altogether. Klaus' eyebrows scrunched together before he plunged into nothingness. His view shifted regularly as if he'd walked through a normal door threshold. A quaint room, a burning fireplace, and Devin greeted him.

"Niklaus," Devin said, his eyes landing solely on Klaus. "Finally we have a chance to speak properly."

"I don't have much to say to you," Klaus said bitterly. "I just want to know where your sister is keeping Caroline."

"I'm afraid I don't know exactly," he answered. "Garnet keeps her agendas a secret from me."

"So you're useless," Klaus deducted, clenching his fists.

"I'm just a tool for Garnet's little ritual. She just needs me there because without me, there wouldn't be a her."

There was a pause as Devin poured himself a drink; bourbon, Klaus assessed.

"Just another pawn in a silly game, much like how your mother thought of me," Devin said, downing the entire drink.

"You knew Esther. Were you close?"

There was a spark of humor in Devin's eyes. "You could say that. However by how you're acting, I'm going to take a gander and assume you know who I am and what that means to you, right?"

Klaus remained silent.

"It's true, you know," Devin added. "I'm your father—you are my son; my only son. My only child, no thanks to Mikael. Had he given me enough spare years I could've married a girl, a nice girl—an available girl—not some married woman who was bored with her own life."

"Mikael was less than reasonable," Klaus provided sympathetically.

"Mikael was a prick," Devin tagged, chuckling and pouring another drink. "Do you know how he killed me?"

"Not really something he'd share over dinner," Klaus said. "But I'm sure you're about to tell me anyway…"

"He literally cut my heart out. He did not tear it out with his vampiric strength, Klaus. Mikael barged into my home. He'd said he had just slaughtered my entire village—my people. My family; brothers and sisters. As for my heart…my heart," Devin said. "He took his precious time cutting it out, looking into my eyes and not saying one word as he did so. But I knew. I knew that it had been because of Esther. She had told him—I hadn't even known about you, Klaus."

They made eye contact and Klaus saw how incredibly morose the man in front of him was.

"My boy. My boy," Devin repeated. "Had I known you existed—that you were mine—I would have fought for you. I would have fought to the ends of the earth for you. My son, I can't begin to express how terribly pathetic I feel. I can't tell you how ashamed I am to be called your father, but not because of you, but because of me. I am the shame. I am the mistake. I am the fault."

Klaus swallowed thickly. Mikael had never said such things to him, not even when Klaus had been a child. To see another man—his real father—say those kinds of things to him…it was unreal. Unreal and incredibly unbelievable. Klaus couldn't trust this man because of Mikael's abuse, both physical and mental.

"If you're so ashamed of what you are, why are you helping Garnet? Why?"

Devin sighed. "Because she is family. She is my sister—my unfortunate other half. And to both of our dismay, she needs me and I need her. Without the other, we can't live long, and our power diminishes."

"You're a warlock?"

"No, God no," Devin said. "I'm a wolf. I am one half of the original supernatural tether. Garnet is the witch."

"Witches and wolves. Those were the only two supernatural species that existed," Klaus reiterated. Devin nodded in agreement.

"To complete Garnet's ritual, and to allow my freedom, I must be there."

Klaus shook his head. "Freedom?"

"I can't pass on from the Otherside until my destiny is fulfilled. I need to serve my purpose—helping Garnet—before my job here is complete and I can move on."

"I thought you wanted to stay on this side?"

"No, Garnet does. I want peace. I want to be free of this hell."

"Can't you just say no? Can't you just fight her—oppose her and win?"

Devin shook his head in the same way Klaus did; extremely stubborn. "I can't. She keeps the charm that grants me the access of not shifting into a wolf during the full moon."

"Even in death?"

"You'd be surprised how much pain a sinner can feel after death," Devin said dryly.

Klaus let out a breath of frustration. "We need to end this."

"I agree. Garnet's plan is highly overdone and exaggerated."

"I need to get Caroline back," Klaus said. "We need her."

Devin blinked, scrutinizing Klaus' body language as he said Caroline's name.

"She's the one, isn't she?"

Klaus' eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"She's the one you're different around. She changes you, doesn't she?"

"I'm not really in the place to talk heart to heart with you."

"I'm sorry, Klaus…I'm afraid you won't be getting her back, not alive, at least," Miranda chimed in.

"What are you saying?" Klaus turned to look at Devin, who was entirely too quiet. "What aren't you saying?"

Devin sighed. "Caroline…Your Caroline has to die for the ritual to be complete. She must use her entire magical essence to activate the spell. She can't be brought back to life, Klaus."

"Didn't you know this?" Miranda asked.

Klaus' shoulders tensed. "I assumed we could resuscitate her like Elena Gilbert was when I drained her blood to break the curse."

Miranda's eyes were somber. "She can't—this is different."

"And you," Devin voiced. "You and your siblings have to die as well."

"Then how do we stop this?" Klaus raged. He wasn't going to settle for mediocre attempts at saving Caroline and his siblings.

"We can't delay the ritual anymore," Miranda said. "It's already started. Tomorrow night when the full moon is up and all of the planets are in alignment, Caroline will die and Garnet's spell will be in full motion. She's going to go through with it, there's nothing we can do about that."

"But like all transitions, there will be a window where Garnet is weak and exposed, not to mention mortal. That's when we'll strike and end her once and for all."