"But—but Klaus isn't here," said Stefan. "T-that's impossible. Vampires can't—uh oh." Stefan paused, lost in thought.
Damon shook his head. "He's the one who stole Elena. He probably did it. Unless he got his millions of vamp-minions to do it for him. I mean—no one else could've done it.
"I don't know…" Stefan looked out the window. He remembered Elena's words from just the week before… "It's you and me, Stefan, forever." If he reminded her now, she'd just accuse him of lying. "So much can change within a week, eh? Week one: Elena's in love with me. Week two: Elena's still in love with me. Week three: Elena's still in love with me. Week four: She loves you. She won't deny it."
There was a knock at the door. "Hello? Damon, are you there?"
"It's Elena, isn't it?" Stefan grumbled angrily. He went to the mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of human blood.
The oldest Salvatore brother narrowed his eyes. "Nope, not even close. Elena would be like"—he changed his voice to a high, girly voice—"Oh, Damon, where are you? I missed you, baby!" He glanced towards the door. He sniffed. "Ugh, I smell witch. Bonnie's here." He walked out of the room, heading for his bedroom. "If she asks for me, tell her I'm in the bathtub."
Bonnie repeated, "Hello?" She added, "It's urgent. I need to talk to you, Damon. Stefan can join if he wants." She sighed. "Just open the door!" She pounded on it. She was about to throw herself at the door when Stefan opened it, sending her flying into his arms. She giggled, but let go. "Sorry," she muttered, her cheeks burning.
"Damon's, uh, in the bathtub," Stefan said, feeling stupider as he said each word. He tried to nudge her out, but when her hand touched his, they both moved away from each other. "You aren't going in the bathroom, are you?"
She shook her head. "Well—maybe," she admitted. "But not out of my own pleasure or anything, because it's about Elena."
"Elena? What's wrong? What happened? Is she okay?" Stefan rushed through is words, asking a bunch of questions that meant the same thing—'Will she come back for me?'
Bonnie walked upstairs. She knocked on the bathroom door, hearing the water running. She opened the door, and stepped in. Damon was sitting in the empty bathtub with the tap from the sink running. She was lucky that he had his clothes on.
"Oh…hi, Bonnie…" He sighed. "What do you want?" he asked her, looking flustered.
She closed her eyes for a minute. When she opened them back up, she looked less annoyed. "It's about Elena. She is…well, she's gone again."
Damon leaped out of the bathtub and growled, "Was Klaus there? What about Elijah?"
"No—you're all wrong. It was Katherine." She took a deep breath, squinting at Damon.
Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Isn't she in the tomb?"
"Uh-huh," Damon replied.
Bonnie looked at them with wide eyes. "D-didn't you say there was another doppelganger? Maybe that was—"
"I don't know," Damon said. "Katherine could've gotten out somehow."
Stefan shook his head. "Impossible. She has no 'crafty witch' on her side." He looked from Damon to Bonnie.
"Crafty witch…?" Bonnie repeated, glancing at both brothers before looking at the ground. "I hope this isn't a…uh…nickname or anything."
Damon brushed his hair a bit. "Yeah, it is. Not in a good or bad way. Crafty as in…cunning…sneaky, maybe? Everyone has a nickname"
"List them, then." Bonnie seemed weird, like she could start crying at any moment. Her eyes were red like she'd been crying, and whenever Stefan looked at her she blushed.
He began. "Well, Stefan is either Little Brother or Saint Stefan. You are either Crafty Witch or Snappy Pants…"—Bonnie gave him a sharp look—"Caroline is Barbie or Rosie-Posy. Tyler is usually Stinker. Matt is Ken…you know, Barbie's boyfriend? And…Katherine is Crazy Ex. Elijah is Brownie. Klaus is Dino-Man. And Elena is Hottie."
"Um…cool." Bonnie turned to Stefan. "Anyways, Elena is stolen and we're not doing anything about it!"
"Hurts…so…much," Elena whined.
A girl that looked just like Elena snapped, "Oh, be quiet. Klaus? She's here!"
"Good." Klaus said it like he finally got his five-million dollars. "Ah, Elena…Meet my best friend, Elizabeth. You know, you two look alike!" He clapped his hands together, like he was reading to little kids.
That girl—Elizabeth—growled at Elena. "Klaus, I want my snack. Let me bite her!" She grabbed Elena's wrist and twisted it around.
"OUCH!" Elena screamed. She started wailing.
Klaus shook his head. "No, Liz. She's my snack, not yours."
"Let's just give her all her memory back, then." Elizabeth snapped her fingers and Elena blinked.
Elena gasped. "Where are Damon and Stefan? If you hurt them, I swear I will—"
"Do nothing?" Klaus offered. He turned to Elizabeth, who was brushing her brown hair out until it was silky. "And you—that 'complete memory loss' stuff only works once per person!" He grabbed her wrist, and she bit him.
They threw each other around the room until they were both bleeding and their arms were scratched up. Elena was able to untie herself and run up the stairs. Klaus was following her. Elizabeth was screaming, "Come back here you little human punk! Come back! I'll kill you! No, I'm not kidding, I will!"
Elena kept running, and running, and running, and running…right into Damon. She got knocked backwards and almost fell down the stairs to where Klaus stood, waiting. "Shh! We have to go! Klaus and Liz are d-down there!" whispered Elena.
"Okay," responded Damon. "Now, hop on my back. Let's go!"
She followed his orders and then he ran, making sure she didn't fall off. "Oh, I got my memory back!" she whispered.
"You love Stefan now?" Damon asked, feeling mad.
She shook her head, "Are you nuts? You are the only one I'll ever love. And I hope you remember that." She tried to shriek. "H-h-h…" She couldn't finish. She just pointed behind her, to where Klaus was, speeding after them. "H-he's...t-t-there! Run!"
Damon ran like crazy, making zigzags along the way. He made sure Elena was on tight enough and then sped off at top speed. Damon wanted this all to end. All the doppelganger stuff, all the chasing… "Hold on tight," he warned, and went even faster, making his legs work a mile a minute.
"No," Elena said. "Damon, stop. You're going too fast. You'll get too tired and we'll get caught. Let's just…hide." She thought for a moment. "The tomb!"
Damon hastily replied, "But Katherine's in there."
"Who is worse, Katherine or Klaus?" Elena asked him, hugging his neck tightly as she saw Klaus and Elizabeth gaining on them.
He sighed. "Klaus," he muttered, speeding into the tomb.
"Hello, Elena." Katherine turned to Damon. "I thought I'd never see your face again. Come to party? There are already three others." She gestured to Bonnie and Caroline tied up and Stefan with a guilty look on his face. "Come on, it'll get you two away from Klaus…"
Elena ran in, hugging Bonnie. "Please—she won't escape. She's too scared of Klaus, like me. Klaus is coming with Elizabeth."
"The Elizabeth?" asked Katherine, raising her eyebrows. "Elizabeth as in…the girl who looks exactly like us?" She batted her eyelashes to Stefan, then Damon.
No one made a sound. They all hid behind another stone wall while Klaus called, "Elena? Dear, dear, Elena, where are you? Have you hidden?"
"Shh, the Originals can't come in here, just like we can't come out," Bonnie whispered. "We're safe. Since Elizabeth is an Original, too, she can't come in, either."
Stefan nodded. "Yeah, s-she's right." He stared at Bonnie and she blushed. Elena rolled her eyes and Damon pecked her on the cheek. Caroline and Katherine were just staring at them like they were weird.
"I'm tired," Damon wailed. "I want to leave…"
Elizabeth was standing outside of the tomb, waiting for someone to leave. "Hello? Is anyone there?" She waited. "I guess not." She shrugged and left.
"Oh, Stefan," Bonnie flirted, looking like an idiot. "You're so strong." She looked at Elena and then sighed dramatically.
Elena shot back, "Oh, I love you Damon."
He got down on one knee. "Elena…" He pulled out a little box. He heard Stefan gasp. "…will you marry me?"
"Oh…my…goodness…" She was speechless. All she could mumble was, "Okay." She had tears running down her cheeks as Damon put the ring on her finger. "Oh, Damon," she finally said. "I'm going to be Mrs. Damon Salvatore!" She threw her hands up and hugged Caroline.
"You better treat her like a princess," Caroline snapped at Damon. "You better bring her breakfast in bed, kiss her when she's sad…wait, kiss her whenever you see her, and do whatever she wants, and—"
Damon laughed. "I got it." He pulled Elena in a tight hug. "Hm…what a place to propose: stuck in a tomb when the man has little to no chance of surviving without blood." He grinned and kissed her.
Stefan moaned. "Ugh, I can't take it anymore! Elena—I want you back."
"Sorry," Elena said truthfully, "too late. You should've proposed when I loved you."
Bonnie gave Stefan a hug as he untied her. She gave him a kiss on the lips then quickly let go, realizing her mistake. She shouldn't like Stefan. He was a vampire, she was a witch. "I—I…"
"It's okay. I…I'm sorry." Stefan turned the other way.
Katherine walked over to Elena. "I think you are making a bad decision. I mean—Stefan is hot, right? Why Damon, then? Elena, listen to me: Stefan will stay with you forever."
"No, he won't." Elena pulled her bag over her shoulder. "He didn't stay with you forever, did he?"
Everyone was silent.
"You're right," Katherine admitted. "He didn't. You…you have every right to…to me mad at him. Just like…like…" She turned the other way and sat down. "Now that I think of it, we're stuck here forever. And forever is…as long as we live. We will eventually die without blood and there's nothing we can do to turn human again."
Elena shook her head. "No—no, please. There must be another way…" She grabbed a rock and cut her arm. "Everyone, drink as much as you want. Please, don't get mad at me or anything, just…drink." She waited. Everyone just stayed still.
"You can't do this," pleaded Damon. "Elena, please."
All she could do was stare as he tried to change her mind. "…Damon, I know…" She didn't want to talk. She sat down beside Katherine and let her blood fall onto the ground.
Katherine reached out, put a finger down, got a bit of blood, and tasted it. She cringed at the taste of dirt but wanted more blood. "Elena…you said to drink as much as we want…" Her dark eyes turned childish with excitement.
"Okay, here." Elena gave Katherine her arm. She didn't like having her blood taken from a vampire—especially one that she hated—but put up with it. "Bonnie, come on. Give some of your blood."
Bonnie grabbed her own arm in fear. "Elena, all of these creatures with us are vampires, monsters…We can't let them take our blood…!"
"Yes, we can. If we don't, we could die." Elena gave Bonnie a firm look. "If you disagree…fine. Go, then."
Bonnie shook her head, making her dark curls bounce. "I can't leave Stefan. I…"
"If you say 'love him', I will kill you so fast you won't even live to see the sunlight again," Caroline cut in, throwing threats to Bonnie whenever she could.
Stefan hugged Bonnie. "It's okay." He turned to Caroline. "If you kill her, I'll kill you."
"I have Damon, Elena, and Katherine on my side. They beat animal lovers." She snickered.
Stefan fell quiet. So did Bonnie.
"Stefan, I think we should just…not love each other," Bonnie whispered, feeling depressed.
He grumbled, "Again with the heartbreak? That's, what, three girls now?"
"Two," Katherine corrected, "because I never broke up with you." She flirtatiously smiled at him.
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You're such a flirt!"
After having Katherine and Caroline drink her blood, Elena moved over to Damon. "And you," she murmured, "can drink as much as you like." She held up her bloody wrist and let him drink her blood.
"Thank you," said Damon, looking flustered. "For…everything…" He stared at Elena's ring in awe, watching the tiny lapis lazuli sparkle. "Will we get married in here?" He laughed; Elena sighed.
Elena didn't want to start a fight between the brothers, again, but she said, "Uh, w-we could wait until we get out…If it's alright with you. I don't want them at the wedding." She pointed to Bonnie and Stefan, who were gazing into each other's eyes.
"Okay. So, when we get out." Damon nodded. "Just to let you know, you just basically said we won't get married at all. You know—we won't get out…ever…?"
She shook her head. "Bonnie will do something. She's our crafty witch, remember?"
"Mm, sure," Damon mumbled. He kissed Elena, wrapping his arms around her waist. He touched the top of her tank-top and she jumped back. "What is it?" he asked her. "Did I hurt you?"
Elena almost gasped. "Damon, I…we can't…you can't touch me like that."
"I went to fix your shirt because the tag was sticking out. Gosh." He turned away, and then snorted. "Did you actually think that I would…wow, Elena. I know I can be pretty stupid sometimes but I'd never do that to you. Don't have such dirty thoughts." He laughed.
Elena blushed and looked at the ground, kicking her feet in the dirt. "I didn't mean it like that, Damon. I just assumed…"
"Yay, they're fighting!" Stefan muttered to Caroline and Bonnie. Caroline slapped him. "What?" he demanded.
Caroline pushed a clump of blonde hair behind her shoulder. "You shouldn't say that," she insisted. "You got two girls, you know."
"And who would that be?"
"Bonnie and Katherine, duh…"
Stefan gave her a rude look.
"Don't assume, then," was all Damon said before Elena slapped him. "What was that for?"
Elena went to slap him again, but he caught her wrist. "I thought we were getting married," she said, using the fact as an innocent excuse.
"Whatever." Damon sat in the corner. "The thing is, we're stuck here and I am tired…and…and…" He just slumped. He made a soft snoring noise.
Katherine stood up. "I want to get out of here. I've been here for, what, two weeks?"
"Five days, you dimwit," snapped Caroline.
The two girls snarled at each other.
"Girls, stop," Elena warned. "We need to work together on this. Damon is…sleeping. Stefan is just not in this, and Bonnie won't be a good friend. It's up to us three."
Caroline shook her head. "No, Elena. I'm sorry. I can't do this. Maybe you and Katherine…"
"You are NOT leaving us on our own!" Elena demanded, fighting back tears as she gulped. "We might not get out of here, especially if we don't even bother to try."
"Yeah, lazy-butt," Katherine teased.
Elena shot her a dark look. "Not now, Katherine. What we need is…a plan." She found a stick and wrote, Girl's Plan. "Hm…we could try and run through it."
"Ugh, Elena, you can get out! Didn't you realize that already?" Katherine growled.
Caroline moaned, "Stop it, Katherine!"
"I'm doing this for you," Elena said calmly, trying not to snap. "And Caroline, don't make matters worse." She wrote, Stick together no matter what. "That is that."
"This is going to be impossible," groaned Caroline after an hour of planning. "If we didn't get it right no the first try, we won't get it right now."
Elena managed to choke out, "Keep…working." She dug her nails into the dirt, feeling the coolness of the chunks slide up between her fingertips and nails, some sharp pieces cutting her skin. She didn't care anymore. She could get out any moment and just continue living her life, but since she was oh-so-goody-two-shoes Elena, she stayed with her friends. Well, Katherine and Stefan weren't exactly friends, and neither was Bonnie, but Elena could live with them. Stefan had stopped pestering her about her engagement—which she was still freaking out over—and Bonnie stopped snapping at random moments. Even Katherine was beginning to be kind to Elena. "Just…work…together." She slumped down onto the ground and ran her fingers through her hair. After about twelve strokes, someone else ran their fingers through her knotted hair.
"You got dirt all in it," complained Damon, smirking slightly. "Let me get it out." He picked her up and sat her on his lap. He picked out all the dirt gently and kissed the top of her head.
Elena blushed, feeling like an idiot. "I think we should get back to work."
"What? No kiss for me?" He smirked again, pulling her closer.
She kissed him on the cheek then stood up. "This—well, once we are out, we will get married right away, and I don't care what Jenna says about it."
"That was random." Damon smiled and sped towards the tomb door with Caroline and Katherine, trying to somehow break the seal. "D**n it!"
Elena giggled. "Harsh much?" she asked, tucking a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear. She patted her fuzzy sweater and ran through the seal. "Oops." She walked back in.
"Don't rub it in," Katherine said, panting between the words. "It hurts when we run into the seal, you know…a lot. And I don't see you breaking a sweat, but we're here, working our a***s off, while you act like a s**t in front of Damon!"
Damon grabbed Katherine and whipped her into the seal. She let out a high pitched scream. "Do NOT talk to her like that or I will rip your d**n head off."
"Stop swearing," Bonnie demanded, making everyone jump. Katherine threw a rock at Bonnie, hitting her head. "Ouch!" she snapped.
Elena shook her head a mumbled, "Why can't she leave?"
"I don't want to," Bonnie said. "I'd rather be here, with Stefan." She kissed Stefan on the cheek.
Katherine managed to break a little hole in the seal. Or so she thought. "Here, a hole! We can…never mind." She narrowed her eyes and sat against the wall.
Elena wanted to die. She had almost half her blood drained—thanks for Katherine—and her neck was burning. She rubbed it and found a lot of blood, some wet and some dry. She patted down her hair and cried out as Katherine ran towards her and drank some more. Her eyes bulged out and her face went pink. "Kat-her-in-e!" she wailed while panting wildly. "St-stop h-hurting me!"
"I can do what I want," Katherine said, rolling her eyes. "And there's nothing—nothing at all—that you can do to stop me." She laughed and drank even more, making Elena feel sick.
Damon sped over. "Katherine, stop it!" he growled. "If you want to kill someone, kill Bonnie!"
"No. No, no, no, no, NO!" Bonnie cried. "Never…will you ever use me!"
It was too late. Katherine was prowling towards Bonnie with a sly look on her face. "Bonnie, can I see your necklace?"
"Sure." Bonnie—who usually wasn't that smart—took off the necklace and handed it to Katherine. It was smart for a second, but Katherine grabbed Bonnie's hand, pulled her over, and bit her. She sucked out a lot of blood and left Bonnie, unconscious.
Stefan leaped back. "Get out. Get Bonnie and Elena out."
"Okay, Saint Stefan. Must follow Saint Stefan's orders," Damon said, acting like a robot.
Elena got Bonnie out fast enough, but Katherine sprang at the brunette desperately trying to escape. "Help me, Damon! Help me!"
"Katherine…"
"Yes, Damon?"
He motioned for her to come closer. "Katherine…"
"Yes, Damon?" she repeated, more annoyed.
He smirked. "Go to h**l."
"You…" She snapped at him. Her fangs extended and she began to fight him. She glanced at Stefan and shrieked, "This is your entire faults! You stupid Salvatore brothers ruined my life!" After realizing her mistake, she corrected herself with a lie. "I mean my plans…"
Elena screamed. "Get away from him!"
"Make me!"
"Aha, so that's it," Caroline said, speaking for the first time in three days. "Stefan and Damon ruined your life, so you want revenge. So what you did was try and kill the girl that was most special to them—Elena."
Stefan added, "You loved me most, so you wanted me to suffer more than Damon, because you really wanted nothing to do with him."
"Except break my heart," Damon muttered with a weird look on his face. It was a mix of guilt and anger.
Katherine widened her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do," Stefan said slowly.
She smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about," she repeated. Katherine added, "I wouldn't do something that kind. If I wanted revenge, I would've killed them right away. If I wanted to break Damon's heart, I'd break it literally, not that stupid emotion stuff. Vampires don't feel, remember?"
"You're wrong," Caroline murmured. "I feel pain all the time. I cry, I get mad, I feel happy, I get confused, everything." She turned towards Damon. "Damon feels things, too. He just doesn't show it. You feel, too, Katherine. Trust me."
Katherine sneered, "Why would I trust you?"
"Uh…because I'm your friend, Katherine."
She gasped. "I—I have no friends, Caroline. Why would you think that we—uh—were friends?"
"You've had friends before, so why not now?" asked Damon. "You were so sweet and precious…"
Stefan finished for his brother. "Now you're a heartless monster who needs to learn her lesson."
"Just—stop," Katherine pleaded. "We can't start all over again. This is who—"
Damon cut in. "If you say 'This is who I am now' you are terribly mistaken. Katerina Petrova is not a heartless monster!"
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Katherine said quickly, avoiding everyone's gazes.
Elena sniffed twice. "Have you all forgotten about someone?"
"Bonnie!" Stefan cried. "Oh, Bonnie, wake up, please!"
Damon grabbed Stefan by the neck and smashed him into the seal, making Stefan cry out in pain. "She means herself, Edward Cullen."
"Ha, Eddie Cullen is here!" Caroline joked.
Elena joined in. "Watch out—he might sparkle!"
Everyone laughed except for Stefan and Bonnie, but Bonnie couldn't do anything because she was unconscious.
"That's not funny," Stefan said, managing a growl.
Caroline was laughing too hard. "But—it's—you—uh—ha!" she spluttered. "E-Edward—Cullen—is—so…!"
"Can I leave?" Katherine asked. "I can't stand being with you guys."
Elena made a 'pff' sound. "Join the club." She rolled her eyes at Stefan, who was desperately trying to get out. Suddenly, she screamed. "I—I know how to get out!"
"How?" everyone asked.
She spoke clearly. "We need to dig a tunnel under the seal and we'll be able to get out!"
"But what if the seal goes under there, too?" asked Damon.
Elena shrugged. "We'll stay here, then. Idea lost. Too bad, so sad…"
"No, no. We can try." Damon hugged Elena and gave Caroline a half-smile. "Tomorrow, we'll try our best. I promise."
Elena was dreaming about her and Damon. It was their wedding. Elena walked down the aisle with Alaric in a gorgeous white dress and sparkling necklace. Damon was dressed like a true gentleman—almost how he had looked back in 1864. The wedding was beautiful, like everything Elena'd ever imagined. As Damon kissed her, sparks went through her body. Wow, she thought, if only this dream were real. But we'll have to wait until we get out of this stupid tomb.
Damon dreamed about 1864. Instead of meeting Katherine, the evil vampire, the situation was reversed. Two vampire brothers—Stefan and Damon—met a young human girl named Katherine Pierce. She fell in love with both of them, and they just played with her for their amusement. Then, they turned her into a vampire. She hated it, and she was always depressed. But in the dream, they didn't meet Elena. They just continued their life without Elena and Katherine. I can't believe I'm saying this, thought Damon, but I'm actually glad that's not what really happened.
Katherine dreamt about—of course—killing. She grabbed Elena by the neck and snapped her head off. "That's what you get for taking by boys!" the dream-Katherine yelled. She went to Bonnie next. She killed Bonnie quickly by ripping her heart out and throwing it away. She moved on to Damon. Killing him was easy; all she had to do was drive a stake through his heart. Next, she went to Stefan. "This is what you get for breaking my heart, you stupid piece of trash," dream-Katherine spat. She drove a steak through his heart multiple times and left him, dead. Oh, if only this were real, she though happily.
Stefan didn't want to go to sleep. He stayed awake, watching Bonnie's every move. He loved her. He lover her just as much as he loved Elena. It was wrong, and Stefan knew that, but he couldn't control his love. If she woke up, he'd be right there, comforting her. One day he'd roam freely out of the tomb, arm-in-arm.
Elijah crept into the tomb. He looked at Katherine's innocent face and sighed. He silently walked into the tomb, ignoring the seal since it didn't work on Originals, and kissed Katherine. When she stirred, he sped away, hoping to free his fellow vampire friends once he found out how.