A/N: this was initially meant to be the last chapter, but I realized there was too much left to happen so now there will be ONE more chapter after this ;) enjoy!

I.

The sunlight above Caroline dimmed as she swam further into the depths of the lake, the metal chain dragging behind her. She paused for a second, treading water as she impatiently swatted away strands of her hair that had floated into her face, obscuring her already darkened view. Someone on the ground above registered her lack of movement, and gave a tug on the chain. She pursed her lips and irritably yanked on it once—a sign to show that she was still there and hadn't had any luck yet.

Not for the first time, she wished that one of the others had come into the lake with her. It was oddly eerie, being down here all by herself—surrounded by nothing but a vast amount of water. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought that Stefan was here somewhere; that he had been all alone ever since Silas had tossed him over the quarry like a rag doll. What must he have been thinking every time he drowned and came back to life? When will someone find me? When will they realize I'm gone? When will...

Caroline's stream of consciousness cut off abruptly as her eyes alighted on the outline of a box. She swam towards it eagerly, her eyes widening in relief when her hands reached out and touched the safe. "Yes," she breathed out loud, relief coursing through her body even as she accidentally swallowed a mouthful of water. Choking, she hastily grabbed the end of the chain and managed to wrap it around the safe twice before she felt it begin to tauten. Figuring that was the best she was going to get, she fastened it as securely as she could before clambering on top of the safe and giving the chain three sharp tugs.

Then she waited.

"That was the signal," Tyler shouted as he felt the chain move three times in his hand. "She found him! Let's move!"

"Go!" Rebekah yelled over her shoulder at Matt, and he revved the engine of his truck. It roared to life as he began inching forward, the metal chain creaking behind him. Rebekah took her place halfway between the lake and the truck, while Tyler stood at the edge. He turned and gave her a nod, then they both began pulling at the chain, using their combined supernatural abilities to pull the safe (and Caroline) out of the water.

Liz Forbes stood to the side near the truck, directing Matt to continue driving forward until she saw Tyler start waving frantically. "Wait!" she called to Matt as she began running towards the lake, "I think they see the safe!"

Sure enough, Tyler had launched himself into the water. Caroline's head popped up a second later, and she coughed uncontrollably as she spat out water. "Here, here," she gasped, "Help me get this onto the ground." Rebekah dropped the chain and sped forward to help, and together the three of them shoved the safe out of the water.

"Oh god," Caroline wrung her hands as she stared at it in dismay, her emotions finally catching up with her. "All this time, a part of me wanted it not to be true. A part me hoped that Silas was just messing with us, but..."

"But it's true," Rebekah stared down at the safe with almost an identical expression on her face. "He's really been down there this whole time."

"What do we do?" Sheriff Forbes asked in a shaky voice, "We need to...to get the water out of the safe before—"

Matt had gotten out of his truck by this time and joined them with an incredulous look on his face. "Get the water out? Who cares about that? Just open it up and get Stefan out!"

"No!" Caroline said so sharply that everyone turned around to look at her in shock. "We can't," she pointed to the sun, "It's daylight and he doesn't have his ring."

"Silas took Stefan's ring?" Tyler demanded, "Are you sure?"

She closed her eyes, thinking of Damon who had been so sure it hadn't been Stefan, thinking of everyone else who had been fooled so easily. "Yes," she said slowly, "Silas is smart. He would've taken the ring." Before she could begin to voice her plan, she heard the distinct sound of tires approaching and she tensed. "Who could that be?"

After several moments, the car came into sight and Rebekah whistled. "Well, well, well. Who called the good doctor?"

"I did," Sheriff Forbes said, moving forward and ignoring the looks of surprise everyone gave her. "I figured she could help."

"Mom," Caroline began to complain, but stilled when Matt placed a hand on her arm. "What?"

"She knows about all you guys," he said to her in a low voice that no doubt everyone else could hear anyway. "And she's the one who, you know..." He trailed off, but Caroline knew what he had left unsaid. She's the one who saved Elena's life.

Meredith Fell rushed out of her car then, almost tripping in her haste. "So sorry I'm late! I got caught up with a situation in the hospital and—" She broke off suddenly as she caught sight of the safe, and ground to a halt. "Is he..." she gestured uneasily, "In there?"

"He is," Sheriff Forbes told her in a straightforward voice, "We need to figure out a way to get the water out. Then we'll need to take him someplace dark."

Dr. Fell's face lit up with an idea and she hurried to the trunk of her car, rummaging in it for a few moments before returning with a long plastic tube connected to some sort of machine. "A suction," she explained to the group at large, "For the water."

"A suction?" Rebekah echoed, "You mean it'll, like, vacuum the water out?"

"We'll just have to try and see, won't we?" Meredith walked forward hesitatingly and ran her hands along the edges of the safe. "We'll have to open it up just a crack—I swear, only enough for the tube to get in."

Tyler stepped forward, nodding at Caroline to do the same. Together they each took an end of the lid and broke the lock; the lid came apart with a sickening squelch. Dr. Fell hastily slid the tube in and they let the lid fall, careful not to let any sunlight in. "Alright," Matt said apprehensively, "Give it a go."

Meredith turned the machine on, and soon murky water began flowing through the tube and into a plastic container. She moved around the safe in a circle, and Caroline watched with a frown as the lid on the plastic container burst open, unable to hold the continuing flow of water. Apart from everyone jumping out of the way, there was no other reaction from the suddenly subdued group.

"There," the sheriff cut in after a few minutes, "The water is slowing down, you must have gotten nearly all of it out."

Matt reached around Meredith to switch the suction off, and they stood in silence for a long moment. Finally he said in a tentative voice, "I guess this means he's not drowning in there anymore."

Tyler scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, "Should we, I don't know...toss some blood bags in there with him?"

"No," Caroline's voice quivered, "We're taking him somewhere dark first."

"The Salvatore basement," Rebekah suggested when no one said anything. "No sunlight can get down there. There's plenty of room and..." She cleared her throat, "He can recuperate."

"Yes," Meredith agreed quietly, "He hasn't seen sunlight in weeks. It'll take time for his eyes to adjust. A dark environment would be better for him."

"Especially since we'll have to get his ring off Silas somehow," Caroline muttered, pulling out her cell phone to text Klaus. "Let's hope Elijah has gotten to them by now."

II.

"His blood?" Elijah's eyes widened fractionally, "Are you telling me that—"

"Elena!" Damon shouted, running outside and coming to a halt when he saw her. "The cure—Lucy said we're too late—he's already made it, and the power from the sacrifice is going to be enough to complete the spell—"

Sophie Anne was on Damon's heels, her hair billowing wildly behind her. "He's not upstairs anymore, he must've gone somewhere to complete it!"

Elena looked between the two of them, and suddenly realized that the spell keeping them all indoors had been broken. "Lucy broke the spell," she blurted out, "Maybe she can undo what has been done, too!"

"No," Lucy appeared at the doorway, shaking her head and looking scared. "I could undo the spell on the house because it was only meant to keep people in. It was simple. The spell for the cure cannot be undone. It is a tangible object, one that I fear Silas has already gotten his hands on."

Damon whirled around, "What do you mean by that?"

"He's not upstairs, he's not in the basement...t-the vial that we had been brewing it in, it's gone."

"Great," he swore, turning on Elijah angrily. "Why'd you leave him upstairs alone!?"

Elena hastily placed a hand on Elijah's chest, silently begging him not to retaliate. "It's not his fault," she said to Damon, "It's no one's fault. We need to figure out where Silas might have gone. You don't think he took the cure already, do you? He wouldn't do that before a witch lowered the veil, right?"

"Right," Lucy said, though she didn't sound entirely sure. "That was his goal, after all."

"You," Elijah said to her evenly, "You're the only Bennett witch left. You must do something to make this right."

"He's right," Sophie Anne said, turning to Lucy with something akin to respect in her eyes. "You share a bond with the witch that Silas is hiding from. Quetsiyah."

"A bond?" Lucy sputtered, "How exactly did you arrive at that conclusion?"

"You are a descendant," Elijah stepped forward, his eyes flashing. "You can bring her forth."

"We'll help you," Sophie Anne put in, glancing at the witches behind her, all of whom nodded in agreement. "Anything to stop hell from being unleashed."

"The woods behind my house," Lucy said finally with great reluctance, "There's a clearing. We can do the spell there, it's large enough for all of us."

And that was how, an hour later, Elena and Damon stood in the midst of thirteen witches. They had gathered in a circle in the woods, and flames rose from a small fire in the center. Elena's eyes followed the smoke rising into the trees before it disappeared into the darkening sky. "This," she whispered warily to Damon, "Is pretty creepy."

He crossed his arms, his gaze flicking back and forth across the clearing as though he expected Silas to make an appearance at any moment. "What happened to thirteen being an unlucky number?"

Elena ignored him, feeling her teeth begin to chatter. "D-do you think it'll work?"

"I haven't been to too many seances, now that you mention it," Damon muttered back dryly, "We'll just have to wait and see."

"I don't like this," she said back, rubbing her arms against the unnatural chill. "Why am I cold? I never get cold anymore. I thought vampires weren't supposed to—"

"You're feeling the power in the air," he cut off her increasingly hysterical rambling by sliding an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his body. "You haven't experienced much of it after turning into a vampire. This feeling—the one you have right now, that you can sense deep under your skin, in your very bones—that's what true witchcraft feels like."

"What you are feeling is intensified," Lucy told her briefly, "Because of the number of witches you're surrounded by at this moment."

"She's right," Sophie Anne added, "Usually when you meet a witch, you'll feel some sort of charge. It's in our aura. You'll come to identify it with practice."

Elena absorbed the information thoughtfully, and then glanced up at Damon with a raised eyebrow. "So I take it that you've already honed in that skill?"

"Years of practice," he quipped, before his lips curved into a smile. "You'll get there, I promise." He dropped a light kiss onto the top of her head and rubbed his hand back and forth along her shoulder. "Feeling warmer?"

"No," she tilted her head back with a smile, "Feeling loved, though."

He obediently leant forward to kiss her lightly on the lips, keeping it chaste in front of present company. "We have a lot of making up to do when we get out of this mess."

"That's the only thing keeping me going," Elena teased back playfully, nipping at his lips with a hint of something more to come. "I can't wait to get back home."

Almost instantly, though, she sobered up. Damon, as if sensing her mood, pulled her in tighter. Don't worry. Lockwood will get to Stefan, I know he will."

She started to reply, but fell silent as all the witches joined hands and began chanting. They were quiet at first, but then their voices rose in unison, becoming louder and louder until Elena buried her head into Damon's chest against the noise she could feel reverberating in her chest. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the flames in the center began to rise in an almost perfectly shaped column. "QUETSIYAH," Lucy bellowed, "WE CALL UPON YOU." The flames rose higher, beginning to emit bright sparks. "NOS DICO VOS SUPER VOS UT TRANSEO."

The column of fire began to spin now, so fast that Elena felt dizzy just watching it. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't—she felt oddly drawn to it, drawn to the flames, to the warmth, to the very power emanating from it. Then there was suddenly a girl standing in the fire, her being taking form right before Elena's eyes. The girl seemed so familiar that Elena unconsciously took a step towards her, but then Damon was grabbing onto her arm, his voice harsh in her ear, "Elena, don't!"

"But I...I know her..."

"No, no you—"

The flames died away abruptly, seeming to vanish into thin air. The girl remained, however, still standing in the middle of the circle. Her clothes were tattered, her hair long and smoky, her eyes a charcoal black. But there was no mistaking who she was—or who she looked like.

"Bonnie," Elena breathed, and the girl turned to look at her with a sharp gaze. "Quetsiyah is Bonnie's doppelganger."

III.

Klaus knocked on the door only once, then folded his hands behind his back and waited patiently. He didn't have to wait long, however, because the door opened almost immediately. He stared at the empty space at his eye level, then dropped his gaze down to a young boy with a mop of darkish hair and wide hazel eyes. "Hello," Klaus said somewhat stiffly, "And who might you be?"

The boy blinked at him, "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers."

"Skipped the lesson on opening the doors to strangers though, haven't you?"

Jeremy cleared his throat loudly, and Klaus half turned to shoot him a glare. "What? Think you're going to have better luck?"

"Dex? What are you doing? Who's at the..." A girl came to the door, the same dark hair swinging around her shoulders. The boy pointed and the girl looked up, the smile instantly slipping off her face to be replaced with a look of abject fear. "Dex, sweetie, I want you to go inside and stay there, okay?" She moved her body in front of his protectively, "Wh-who are you? What do you want?"

Klaus leered, "Something tells me you know exactly who I am, love."

"I don't, I..."

"Let's not play these games," he interrupted, "I am in somewhat of a rush, and we each know what the other one is, don't we?"

There was a moment of silence, during which the girl's face lost its sweet innocence. She straightened, her expression becoming almost fierce as she spat, "The Original Hybrid on my doorstep, I never thought I'd see the day."

"And you're a witch," he returned with just as much flair, "Davina, is it? The witch who rats out other witches?" He stroked his chin thoughtfully, "My, my. I wonder what the coven will think of that."

Davina's eyes narrowed, "How do you know my name?"

"The how does not matter," Klaus snapped, "It is the why you should be concerned with."

A noise came from within the house and Davina quickly turned, her eyes searching for her brother. "Dex? Are you okay?"

Jeremy stepped forward then, keeping his arms crossed. "I thought your brother was sick."

"He is, that's why—" She broke off, the fear on her face returning for a split second. "How did you know that?"

"We have our sources," Klaus said coldly, impatience trickling into his tone. "Didn't we just finish discussing that you're asking all the wrong questions?"

Davina shifted from foot to foot, looking indecisive. "What do you want?" she asked finally, "Are you going to tell the other witches?"

"She's young," Bonnie said quietly to Jeremy, "She's putting on a front. Look at her closely; she's scared."

Jeremy sighed, "Listen, Davina, it's nothing personal. We just happen to need a favor from the other witches, and you're our key to getting what we want."

"A favor?" She glanced over her shoulder before lowering her voice to a plea, "I'll do it, I'll do whatever you want...Just don't tell anyone what I've been doing—they'll kill me, don't you understand?"

Klaus frowned, "I'm afraid you won't have the power to do what we're asking. What are you, sixteen, seventeen?"

"Sixteen," Davina answered strongly, "And I bet you I can." The challenge was unmistakable in her gaze as she looked over at Jeremy, "Tell me what you wanted those witches to do for you, and I"ll do it better and faster. Mark my words."

"Consider them marked," Klaus snarled, getting as close to the doorway as he could so that he was towering above her. "Open the veil to the Other Side."

"You have to tell her why," Bonnie said impatiently, "Why would she do it without knowing the reason behind it?"

Davina's mouth fell open as she gazed at something behind Jeremy's shoulder, "Who the hell are you?"

"Who?" Klaus turned and then froze, the look on his face becoming incredulous. "Kol?"

"No way," Bonnie breathed, reaching out blindly and grabbing onto Jeremy's arm. Her hand didn't go through him, and she felt the solidness of his wrist underneath her fingertips. "I-I'm here, I'm really here." Then she was running at him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. As soon as the shock wore off, Jeremy was kissing her fiercely, holding onto her as if he'd never let her go.

"Well, brother, can't say that's the greeting I'm going to give you," Kol strolled forward almost leisurely, "So, what's happening here, then?"

For once, Klaus looked speechless. "Someone else must've opened the veil...But who?"

"Yes," Kol said ominously, "And why?"

IV.

"Alright," Caroline said as they all stood in the Salvatore basement, "Here goes nothing." Then she dropped to her knees beside the safe and slowly lifted up the lid, wincing as it creaked loudly in the dead silence.

"Is he..." Dr. Fell inched forward, looking nothing short of terrified as she peered over Caroline's shoulder. "Do you see him?"

"Stay back!" Tyler nearly roared, flinging an arm out in front of Meredith. "In fact, all humans should stay outside of the cell."

"He's right." Rebekah said delicately, "We wouldn't want you to be vampire bait."

Matt nodded, following Sheriff Forbes and Dr. Fell outside of the cell and closing the door so that they were on the other side of the bars. "You think those three coolers are going to be enough?"

"Are you crazy?" a new voice answered indignantly, "Of course it's not going to be enough!"

Caroline spun on her heel, gaping at the new arrival in their midst. "Lexi!?"

V.

"Bonnie is my doppelganger," Quetsiyah corrected Elena, a wicked smile on her lips as she walked around the circle, peering at everyone with interest. "You all want Silas to die, but he can't die as a human or otherwise he won't be trapped on the Other Side with me."

"But he has the cure," Damon interjected, "And now he's run off and we don't know where he is."

"Oh, I can find him," the witch replied, the blackness in her eyes intensifying. "I will always find him."

Elena backed away, completely unnerved. "Wh-what is she doing?"

"The hell if I know," a familiar voice answered from behind her, "Nothing good, I can tell you that much."

Damon stiffened, and he twisted around at the same time that Elena gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth. "Alaric."