[This is definitely my favourite chapter so far. Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it] - Rubaiyat

Chapter 9

"This is a bad idea, Bonnie." Jeremy muttered nervously as she continued to pour over the old grimoire on the kitchen table.

"Relax, Jer. The spell won't hurt her permanently."

"Then why is it so complicated?"

"It takes a bit of time. As well as some...other things."

"What other things?"

"Nevermind, Jeremy. Leave the magic to me. Have you figured out how we separate her from Stefan and Damon?"

"Sort of. You're sure you can't melt more than one brain at a time? It would make it all much easier."

"I'm sure. It doesn't work that way. We can't capture her when she's with either of them. If you can get her alone, I can put her down, and we'll take her somewhere safe to perform the spell."

"In that case, the only plan I can think of is that we go to the Boarding House, say we want to apologise and then jump her."

"It'll have to do."

"Whose grimoire is that anyway?"

"Emily's strangely enough. It turns out another witch did once try to change a vampire. Katherine."

"What?"

"Yeah. Emily managed to prevent it, so she documented the spell here. It's pretty close to the beginning of the grimoire, so I'd guess it happened quite a while before she came to Mystic Falls."

"Will it work this time?"

"I certainly hope so."

I'd been trying to hide it from Stefan, but I was starving. Not only did the animal blood taste terrible, but it only managed to take the edge off the hunger. I'd choked down the first bottle, but even with the deer blood I'd had fresh this morning, the lack of human blood was starting to affect me.

Just go find a blood bag and end this torture, Elena. It's pointless.

We can't. What would Stefan think?

He doesn't have to know.

I respect him, unlike you.

Fine, dessicate if you want, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Damon had gone out, leaving Stefan and I with the house to ourselves. I felt guilty though, knowing I was lying to Stefan by not telling him about Katherine, not to mention how much I disliked his diet.

Where is Stefan. Why don't we go have some fun with him?

Fun?

Have you two never played "Stefan meets Katherine in 1864?" It's one of my favourites.

What's wrong with you?

Trust me, he loves it too.

I doubt that.

How about we go find him and ask?

No thanks.

"The Night Katherine was Captured" is also lots of fun, especially the bedroom part before the townsmen come.

Don't you mean "The Night Katherine Abandoned the Men She Supposedly Loved?"

I needed some alone time. They were smothering me.

So you let them die, vanished for 150 years and now want Stefan to love you again?

I never vanished entirely. I was keeping an eye on him, but he was often too close to Klaus for me to risk anything. Besides, he'd turned his emotions off.

And Damon?

No idea. So are we going to go find Stefan or not?

No Katherine, we are not.

You're absolutely no fun at all. Why'd I get stuck with the boring doppelgänger?

I ignored her and went downstairs. I poured myself a shallow drink and carelessly threw back my head. A large quantity missed my mouth and soaked my face and shirt.

Smooth move, Elena.

I sighed, and went back upstairs to change. I quickly rinsed my face and removed the wet garments. Most of my nicer clothes were at home, so I settled with a dark pair of jeans and purple shirt, before going downstairs again. This time I swallowed the alcohol instead of pouring it over myself.

The hunger gnawing at me receded slightly, but I still felt a bit restless, and couldn't help but pace about the room, not knowing what to do with myself.

I'm bored.

Shut up.

Don't act like you aren't too. Look at you, you're pacing about and drinking like Damon. You need entertainment.

Fine, I'll read then.

Check if they have Wuthering Heights. I always liked that book.

You like to read?

I'm not a barbarian, Elena.

I just can't imagine you sitting still and reading a book.

Find one and sit down in front of a mirror. That'll help.

Funny.

If you think about it, now that you're a vampire, there'd be only two people to tell us apart were I still alive.

Who?

You and me, of course. You have to admit, it would have been hilarious pretending to be me. We could have switched places every other week.

I would have made sure to embarrass you as much as possible.

Oh really? To who?

Anyone. I'd pretend to break down, begging Stefan to take you back, weeping and pleading. His face would be priceless.

It'd be interesting to see whether he would take me back.

Not likely.

If you say so. I could always pull the old classic "Kiss Damon on porch" move. Worked a charm last time.

You're cruel. You completely broke his heart when he realised it wasn't me.

Poor Damon.

There was a knock at the door, and I opened it gladly, happy to have something to distract me from my boredom.

"Jeremy?"

"Elena...I-I came to apologise. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like that."

Give the brat a piece of your mind.

"Jeremy...I'm so happy to...see you." I managed. The anger I'd felt when he slammed the door in my face had returned. If I wasn't careful, I might lose control and hurt him.

"Elena...I really am sorry." I saw the truth in his eyes. He was ashamed of what he'd done, but there was something else. Guilt and nervousness.

"It's...it's okay Jer, I forgive you. Don't worry about it." He smiled, but the nervous look didn't leave his face. "Are you feeling okay?" I asked.

"Y-Yeah. Where's Stefan and Damon?"

"Damon went out. Stefan's in his room. Why?"

"Bonnie also wanted to see you, but she...didn't want to run into them." A definite surge of anger flowed through me at the mention of Bonnie. Despite her good intent at keeping me out the house, I couldn't help feeling betrayed.

"Where's she now?" I said, rather coldly.

"I'm right here, Elena." I heard her say, from behind Jeremy. He stepped aside long enough for me to see her raise one hand towards me before pain exploded behind my eyes and the world went dark.

I could feel the vibrations of a car beneath me as I slowly woke up. The pain in my head was gone, but I felt terribly weak, and every limb in my body burned faintly.

Vervain. Bonnie and Jeremy injected me with vervain! Katherine?

Hmm? Elena? What the hell happened?

You passed out too?

Apparently so.

Bonnie and Jeremy have kidnapped us.

You can't be serious. That witch is seriously starting to piss me off.

I didn't reply, but couldn't help but agree. Tricking me into thinking they wanted to apologise only to betray me again? This was going too far.

"Oh shit!" I heard Jeremy say, and struggled to sit up. Out of the window, I recognised the familiar street our family house was on.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked from behind the wheel.

"Look, it's Damon." My heart leapt at Jeremy's words. Surely Damon would save me.

"Act normal." Bonnie hissed, slowing down slightly. Neither had noticed I was sitting up in the back of the car. As we drove past our house, I saw Damon walking up towards the front door. He turned when he heard the car, his eyes widening when he saw me pressing weakly against the window silently mouthing "Help me!"

He began walking down back to the road, looking worried and concerned.

"I think he saw us." Jeremy hissed. "He's following. Step on it!"

"There are too many people about, he won't risk going too fast."

"This is Damon we're talking about, Bonnie. Who knows what he'll do if he suspects we have her." I felt a small smile touch my lips at the thought. Bonnie sped up, and ripped around a corner into a different street. I looked out the back, hoping to see Damon tear around the corner after us and catch the car in seconds. After several agonising seconds, I saw him, sprinting at human speed to reach us. The car came to a screeching halt, and Bonnie and Jeremy jumped out hurriedly. Damon was still relatively far away.

They pulled me out the back as I groaned faintly against the effect of the vervain. Jeremy began hauling me towards the house, which I recognised as Bonnie's Grams' old one. Their plan dawned on me, and I began struggling futilely to slow them down so Damon could catch up.

"You can come inside, Elena." Bonnie said quickly as we reached the front door. Damon had made it to the front lawn. I tried to grip the door frame, but was too weak. With an anguished cry I was hauled into the house against my will as Damon raced onto the porch and hit the invisible barrier in the doorway.

"Bonnie!" He bellowed.

"Leave, Damon. You can't come in."She replied, shutting the door. Outside, his curses went ignored.

"Quickly, get her in here." Bonnie said, motioning for Jeremy to follow her to the living room. "We have to hurry. Damon will tear the house apart unless I complete the spell right away.

"Coming." Jeremy replied, dragging me in after her. Candles were already set up around the room. With a wave of her finger, Bonnie lit them all, and fetched a jar filled with salt. She began pouring it on the floor, forming the shape of a pentacle, which she then stood at the centre of.

"What are you doing?" I said softly.

"Making things right." She replied.

"We're helping you, Elena." Jeremy tried to sound reassuring. I rose to a sitting position, feeling slightly stronger. If I could stall for a moment longer, the vervain might wear off enough for me to escape.

"Help? By kidnapping me?"

"Yes."

"What are you, partners in crime? Bonnie and Clyde? You're supposed to be my brother and my best friend." Jeremy looked uncomfortable, but Bonnie was ignoring me. As she examined a spell book. She laid it down, and picked up a kitchen knife.

"Bonnie, what the hell are you doing?" Jeremy cried.

"It's part of the spell. It needs blood. Don't worry, Jer."

The spell needs blood? That doesn't sound good.

What do you mean?

In my experience, only the more sinister and unnatural sort of spells have to draw on blood magic for power. Ask her what the spell is.

"What are you trying to do?" I asked Bonnie desperately. She ignored me, cutting her palm so that blood dripped onto the salt at her feet. Around us, the candles began to burn more violently.

"What's she trying to do?" I pleaded to Jeremy. "This isn't right!" He looked stuck. After some hesitation, he stuttered in reply.

"Sh-She's trying to change you. The s-spell will stop your craving for human blood."

Stop her right now!

What?

Don't let her cast the spell. I know it. It doesn't work. A witch almost killed me with it in 1803.

How? What do I do?

Anything!

Bonnie was chanting now, raising her arms on either side of herself. Her hair was billowing out behind her.

"Bonnie no!" I screamed, standing. "It doesn't work, it doesn't work!"

"How do you know?" Jeremy asked, but I ignored him. I could still feel the vervain, but it was weaker than before. I ran at Bonnie, not knowing what else to do, tackling her out of the pentacle in a blur. The candles went out suddenly, and a deathly silence fell.

"What have you done?" Bonnie hissed violently at me. Her eyes were half crazed.

"It wouldn't have worked. The spell never worked. You were going to kill me." She stood, looking down at me with suspicion.

"How did you know? How could you even know the spell existed?"

I panicked. They'd caught me out. How could I explain it? Either I told them the truth or...a crazy idea materialised in my mind. It was reckless. It was wild. It was only way of keeping the Petrova Legacy a secret.

I stood up, letting a cold smile play across my lips.

"You took the wrong person, Bonnie. It's me, Katherine."