Chapter 20

Elena pulled up to her house and cut the ignition, seeing Matt and Bonnie were already waiting for her. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw Alaric pull up with Meredith, hoping this worked. This entire plan was revolved around Bonnie's ability to find Jessenia and the Salvatore brothers keeping Katherine and Kassandra occupied. Elena wasn't going to think about how Stefan planned on killing Katherine, knowing it would have to be intimate before turning deadly.

"Sorry I'm late." Elena apologized, walking toward Matt and Bonnie, her eyes locking with her ex-best friend. "Thank you for doing this, Bonnie."

"I'm not doing it for you." Bonnie stated, wanting to make that clear. "Did you bring the blood?"

"I have it." Meredith stated, walking up slowly with Alaric's arm firmly wrapped around her waist. "Jessenia will be forever in your debt for this."

Bonnie just nodded, taking the vial of blood and followed Elena up the stairs to her house. "We don't have much time. I'll need a bunch of candles to do this." She stated, heading straight for the dining room and began clearing the set dishes off it with Matt and Alaric's help.

"I'm here!" Came Caroline's voice moments later as she rushed inside the house, closing the door behind her. "What'd I miss?"

"You can help me gather the candles." Elena said, dragging Caroline with her away from Bonnie and headed upstairs, needing to fill her friend in on what was going on.

~!~

At seven o'clock sharp, the doorbell rang and the brothers were ready for this, especially Damon. They couldn't say anything about Jessenia or the plan would be foiled, unless one of the sisters brought it up first. Straightening his collar again, Damon answered the door with Stefan, both of them plastering on smiles at the sight of Katherine and Kassandra.

"Right on time." Damon murmured, extending his hand to Kassandra and kissed the back of it lovingly, guiding her inside toward the parlor.

"Hello Stefan." Katherine greeted, wearing an old fashioned baby blue dress, her brown hair in tons of spiral curls that flowed down her back and over her shoulders.

"Hello Katherine." Stefan smiled, extending his hand to her and did the same thing Damon did, following his big brother's footsteps so to speak.

"Can we interest either of you ladies in a drink?" Damon gestured to the two women he'd picked up at the grill earlier, both in a trance so they had to stay perfectly still and not utter a sound. "Kassandra?"

"Mmm don't mind if I do." Kassandra headed over to the dark haired woman and sat beside her, looking up at Damon with smoldering grey eyes. "Join me."

Damon smirked, unbuttoning his shirt slowly and could feel Kassandra devouring him whole. "Don't mind if I do." He rumbled, sitting on the other side of the woman and took her wrist while Kassandra moved her hair out of the way.

Stefan looked over at Katherine, both of them deciding to do the same thing with the other blonde woman, hoping Bonnie was working as fast as she could.

~!~

Once the candles were fully lit throughout the room, Bonnie placed a map of Mystic Falls on top of the table that she'd used several times to find people. "We're ready." She murmured, everyone staying silent with bated breath as Bonnie took the vial of blood and poured it on top of the map.

Elena held both Meredith and Caroline's hands, incredibly nervous about both this locator spell and Stefan being alone with Katherine. She didn't know if she'd be able to feel anything if Stefan had to take things a bit too far, trying not to think about it. No matter what, she would love him because he was doing this to save Jessenia. For once, Elena thought Damon had full control of the situation while Stefan could pose as a problem since he hadn't killed Katherine when he had the chance a few days ago.

"What are you thinking about?" Caroline whispered, not wanting to distract Bonnie from her spell.

"Stefan." Elena answered honestly, keeping her voice quiet and felt Caroline squeeze her hand reassuringly.

"Everything is going to be fine." Caroline wasn't angry that Elena had kept her in the dark about Jessenia's disappearance, just thankful she could be here for Bonnie. "We'll find Jessenia, Bonnie will do it, Elena."

"I know, that's not what concerns me." Elena said, watching as Bonnie closed her eyes and began chanting the spell out. "Stefan has to be alone with Katherine."

"What?" Caroline cringed when Bonnie jumped, breaking her focus and swallowed hard. "Sorry!"

"If you two are going to talk, please do so in the kitchen or I'll never find her." Bonnie stated heatedly, not appreciating being interrupted before turning back to the map, needing to be relaxed completely before trying again.

Caroline dragged Elena with her in the kitchen away from Bonnie's area, sighing. "So much for being Bonnie's support." She muttered, needing a drink and pulled the bottle of Vodka from on top of the refrigerator. "Want one?"

Elena nodded, really needing one because she was two seconds away from calling Stefan and completely blowing the plan. "Yeah, I need you to do something for me, Caroline."

"What?" Caroline asked, pouring each of them a glass of Vodka and grabbed the juice out of the fridge to mix it with. "Anything Elena."

Dropping her cell on the counter by Caroline, Elena took the glass of Vodka and downed it in one gulp. "I need you to keep that as far away from me as possible until we know for sure where Jessenia is. Because the way I'm feeling right now, I'm going to screw this up."

Caroline nodded in understanding and took the cell phone, slipping it into her back pocket. "You'll have to fight me for it now." She half-joked, refilling Elena's glass and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, downing half of her own. "Have faith in Stefan, he won't let you down."

"I know, it's not Stefan I'm worried about."

~!~

After feeding, Damon knew he had Kassandra right in the palm of his hand and pulled her away from the human, letting the woman slump to the floor in a heap. "Come here." He whispered, bringing her into his arms and began slowly dancing with her, both of them gazing into each other's eyes.

Damon looked over at Stefan, locking eyes with him briefly, just making sure his little brother went through with the plan. If they didn't kill Katherine, she would keep haunting them for the rest of their existence and Damon refused to let that happen. Kassandra was under her sister's thumb so she had to be disposed of, there was no chance saving her, especially after that note stunt she pulled.

"How about we move this party someplace else?" Damon suggested, running his hands down her sides, his mouth right by her ear. "Someplace alone."

"Mmm where did you have in mind?" Kassandra purred, pulling back to stare in his aquamarine eyes and kissed him before he could answer her, pouring every single feeling she had for him into it.

"Bedroom now." He ordered, taking both of her hands and backtracked up the stairs with her following, their eyes never leaving each other.

"Well it seems as though they're getting reacquainted famously." Katherine observed, her brown eyes moving back to stare into Stefan's jade stones, running her finger down his shirt covered chest. "I think Damon had a fabulous idea, don't you?"

Stefan plastered on a smile and knew he couldn't let Damon or anyone else down, nodding. "Absolutely."

He didn't need to ask Katherine if she wanted to go to his room and lead her from the parlor upstairs, trying to get through this without losing his nerve. Katherine slammed him against the door, effectively shutting it and ripped Stefan's dress shirt open, buttons flying, raking her nails down his flesh. How she loved the feeling of his muscles rippling beneath her touch.

Katherine sorely missed him and wasn't about to waste time with talking, letting her actions speak louder than words. Stefan kissed her back reluctantly, moving her back to the bed and guided her down on it. All Stefan had to do was keep this up a little longer, having a shot of vervain under his pillow ready to inject into Katherine's neck.

It would weaken her to where he could stake her without much of a fight. Damon had come up with the idea at the last second because of how strong the sisters were. They were much older, wiser and they wouldn't go down without a fight unless immobilized. While he was out procuring the two women for their meal, Stefan busied filling two syringes with vervain.

~!~

"Elena!"

Both Caroline and Elena rushed into the dining room, watching as Bonnie slowly turned around, their hands clasped together. "I found her." Bonnie said, moving aside as Elena walked over to stare down at the map.

"Oh my god."

Bonnie nodded, wiping tears from her eyes since the spell had taken quite a bit out of her. "She's in a crypt in the old cemetery." She confirmed Elena's suspicions, watching as her friend pulled her jacket on. "It's over by the high school, I think."

"We have to find her now. She's been locked up in there this whole time with no food or water." Elena wasn't waiting, blinking when Alaric stopped her from flying out the door. "Anyone can come with me, I don't care. I need to send Stefan a text message. Caroline, I need my phone."

Caroline hesitated, chewing her bottom lip. "I'm sorry Elena, but…I think it would be best if we just let Stefan deal with Katherine on his own while we find Jessenia."

"WHAT?" Elena gaped, not believing what she was hearing. "Damon wants to be there when we find her! They're supposed to kill Katherine and Kassandra and meet us at the spot where Jesse is!"

"Then let me send the text message." Caroline didn't trust Elena since she was emotionally unstable with this situation. "Cooler heads prevail, honey."

Elena knew Caroline was right and hated her for it, scowling. "Fine, send the damn text to both of them and then we'll take off."

Caroline nodded, doing what Elena said and a few minutes later, everyone had filed out to their vehicles, following Elena to the destination.

~!~

Damon felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and knew they'd found Jessenia's whereabouts, continuing his assault on Kassandra's neck. Bonnie had come through for them, the witch was good for something after all. He didn't pull back and very carefully slid his hand under the pillow, knowing Kassandra was too dazed to notice. Having this effect on her was making this a little too easy, but Damon wasn't overthinking or analyzing it right now, feeling the point of the needle against his flesh.

"Damon, I love you." Kassandra whispered, arching her neck into his mouth, completely melted.

"Mmm then it's fortunate for you," Damon paused, slowly pulling his hand from beneath the pillow and pulled away, locking deadly aquamarine on startled grey. "I don't!" Before Kassandra could stop him, Damon plunged the needle right in the side of her neck and pressed down, filling her body with enough vervain to immobilize her.

Kassandra gasped for air and tried pushing him away, but she was already weakening against the substance, tears in her eyes. "Vervain…" She croaked out, rolling over to try getting away from Damon, but it didn't help any. "Damon…"

Yanking Kassandra roughly to lay on her back, Damon straddled her with the wooden stake in his hand, gritting his teeth. "You'll never stop going after Jessenia. You asked for this, remember that. Goodbye Kassandra." Without preamble, Damon plunged the wooden stake right into her heart as hard as he could, watching as she desiccated right before his eyes.

Snorting, Damon pushed her carcass off of his bed, letting her hit the floor with a hard thud. He looked up at the ceiling, hearing some commotion and frowned, wondering what the hell was going on. If Stefan failed to do his part, Damon was going to follow through on his promise to stake him. Rushing out of the room, Damon stopped at the stairs and could hear shouting above, crossing his eyes.

"Damn it, Stefan." He growled, flying up the stairs and stood right outside of Stefan's room.

Stefan was having a little trouble with Katherine because she refused to let him get the upper hand in what was supposed to be their reconciliation. She always had to be in control, some things truly never changed. So now Katherine was against the wall in the room pouting while Stefan was trying to kill her without her knowing it. He went toward her, but Katherine moved to the other side of the room, causing Stefan to pinch the bridge of his nose.

He'd already received the text from Elena and they were on their way to where Jessenia was being kept. There was no time to waste and Damon was counting on him to do this, but Katherine was a lot more cunning than her sister. Katherine kept berating him for undermining what she wanted in the bathroom and turned her back, which gave Stefan the perfect opportunity to strike.

Launching the needle, Stefan took what was granted to him and plunged it right in her lower back, the way to a vampire's heart. Katherine struggled and scratched at the window, coughing out in pain while trying to dislodge the needle. It was too late, the vervain was already in her system and now the only thing Stefan had left to do was stake her.

"Stefan...Stefan, please don't…" Katherine pleaded in a raspy voice, the vervain flowing through her veins that would eventually stop her heart if Stefan didn't stake her. "Please don't kill me…"

"Do it already, Stefan! We have to go NOW!" Damon shouted, barging into the room and shot ice daggers at his little brother. "DO IT!"

Stefan was struggling, knowing once he did this, there was no turning back. He had the wooden stake in his hand and couldn't understand why killing Katherine was so hard for him to do. Then it clicked in his head. She was related to Elena, so in truth he was killing a member of Elena's family, something that didn't settle well with him.

"I can't." Stefan whispered through gritted teeth. "She's part of Elena, I can't kill that part…"

Damon couldn't believe what he was hearing and snatched the stake from Stefan, lowering himself as he pressed his fist right against Katherine's cold dead heart. "After everything you've done to us, you deserve this just as much as your sister did. In your next lifetime, don't be such a conniving bitch." The stake plunged right into Katherine's chest and the brothers watched as their worst nightmare, and the woman who had changed them into vampires, died before their very eyes.

"Let's go." Damon ordered, shoving Stefan out of the room, rushing to Jessenia as fast as they could.