Peachie X is still here doing Beta for this. Heaven only knows what this would have been without her...
Bonnie was actually fairly impressed. As soon as she heard the windows crash in and felt Elena being carried away, she saw that Sarah had some kind of spell holding three vampires that had come in on one side, while Natalie and Sylvia held the three vampires that had come in on the other side in a similar spell.
What she did not understand was why Sarah seemed to have no trouble with her spell, but both Sylvia and Natalie seemed to be working hard on their spell.
She dared a glance at Alaric and saw that he was pulling darts out of his bag.
When she glanced back at the window, something had changed. Sarah was losing control of her spell.
"Aunt Sylvia!" Sarah cried as the spell broke. Bonnie managed to start chanting as she saw vampires were coming at them.
Natalie was distracted enough by the attacking vampires that she dropped her spell just as Bonnie managed to put a protection spell around her, Sarah and Natalie. She couldn't push it farther and watched in horror as Alaric managed to take down two vampires before a third reached him and snapped his neck.
Bonnie was looking at his hand to make sure the ring was there when she heard Sylvia speak.
"Forget them, we need to get Elena."
The four remaining vampires left the room immediately, followed by Sylvia.
"She broke my spell!" Sarah said to Natalie as Bonnie dropped the protection spell.
Natalie nodded. "She tried to break mine, too."
"We need to help Elena." Bonnie said, pushing her chair back to stand as Natalie moved to check Alaric.
"Dead." Natalie said, shaking her head as she knelt over Alaric.
"Elena!" Bonnie said, moving towards the door.
"What if more vampires come?" Sarah asked.
That made Bonnie hesitate. "She needs help."
"We'll go." Natalie said. "Can you seal this room if more come?"
Bonnie nodded. "Hurry, please."
Natalie and Sarah ran through the door and into the hall, but were blocked before they could enter the living room. Some kind of spell was keeping them in the hall.
"Sylvia!" Natalie cried, but was ignored by the older witch.
Sylvia was standing across the room looking at Elena who, though struggling, was being held by a vampire. The other three vampires were attacking Damon.
At least Sylvia thought she was looking at a struggling Elena. Elena was in a dark corner of the room, as far away from the front door and the hallway as Damon could put her.
When he placed her there and moved to stand next to Katherine, Elena felt anxiety and fear. She was alone in the corner, not knowing what was coming into the house only knowing it was coming after her.
No one told her, but she knew she had to say still, make no sound, no movement. Damon would do whatever needed to take out the threat, her job was to remain undetected.
Elena found her job very difficult. She watched as Damon moved in front of Katherine when four vampires entered the room. She watched one vampire go to Katherine, easily subduing her as she 'struggled'. She watched Damon take hit after hit as he tried to keep three vampires busy enough to not notice her.
It was unbearable.
Which didn't change when she heard Sylvia's voice. Though Katherine stood still and faced Sylvia, Damon tried to continue to keep the other vampires busy. He did, but it hurt to watch. She listened to Sylvia, knowing that, if she could distract her at the right time, they had a chance.
"No help this time, Elena," Sylvia said. "You survived this morning – not again"
"Why?" Katherine asked, her voice breaking.
"Because there is a very, very high price on your head." Sylvia said.
"Someone is paying to kill me?" Katherine asked, struggling again. She knew where Damon was and what was happening to him. She knew she had to keep the vampire holding her, at least, away from him.
"One is paying to kill you, another pays to have you taken to him alive. You'll be much less trouble if you're dead." Elena couldn't see Sylvia's face, but thought she heard a sadistic smile in her voice.
"No, no." Sylvia added unexpectedly as she thought the vampire holding Katherine was moving toward her neck with his mouth. "It must be by a witch for me to receive payment. You'll be paid, but she dies at my hands, or you do."
Katherine tried to act even more upset and continued to struggle. "Who would pay?"
Sylvia laughed. "You'll never know, will you?" She began a low chant.
Elena knew it was time. She knew that when she spoke, one or more would come at her, but knew they would leave Damon to come. She could do that much for him. She walked from the shadow and spoke clearly. "How high a price?"
Sylvia recognized Elena's voice. It startled her enough that she stopped chanting and looked in the direction of the voice.
Sylvia's eyes found Elena at the same time she heard a noise from where she had seen Elena before. When she turned back to the original spot, Elena was gone, the vampire that had been holding her was lying on the floor with his head severed.
Sylvia gasped and did manage to see Katherine, just before she felt her neck bitten at the same time as it was snapped.
Two of the vampires left Damon immediately, one going to Katherine and the other to Elena. The one heading to Katherine found himself outmatched and quickly overpowered.
The one heading for Elena hit an invisible wall before he reached her. Sylvia's death had released the spell which blocked the other witches from the leaving the hallway. Sarah rushed into the protection spell she had cast around Elena as Natalie went to Sylvia's body.
Elena hugged Sarah, trying not to interfere with the spell. "Thank you." she whispered. They could see that Katherine had moved to the vampire that was blocked by the spell. It was over quickly.
"Yeah." Sarah said, just before dropping the spell while watching her mother's reaction as she knelt over Sylvia's body. Damon and Katherine had finished off all of the attacking vampires. Both were next to Elena as soon as the spell was dropped. Elena was relieved that Damon seemed to still have his speed after the beating he had taken.
Sarah shook her head, staring at her aunt's body. "I can't believe she…" she began, before being interrupted.
"A little help please!" Bonnie called from the library. Katherine was there immediately, followed by Sarah. Damon released Elena from the hug he had her in and they followed at a normal pace.
Bonnie was kneeling next to Alaric, who was still out. She was looking nervously at the two downed vampires.
"Can someone take care of those, please?" she asked, pointing as the others entered.
Damon found a stake in Alaric's bag, took it and staked one before pulling the dart out. Katherine went to the other, kicking the dart away from him.
"Take him out," Damon demanded.
Katherine shook her head. "Bring him, we'll chat when he wakes up. Let's see what's happening outside."
Damon grumbled something as picked up the vampire. Elena and Sarah followed Katherine to the front door while Bonnie stayed with Alaric. Isobel was waiting on the doorstep.
"What happened?" Katherine asked from inside.
Isobel looked relieved as she glanced at Elena before speaking to Katherine. "We saw them leaving the house next door. We weren't close enough to intercept them before they made it into here, but no one has left the other house since. How did they get in here?"
"They must have been invited in before." Katherine said, looking at Sarah.
"Not by me!" Sarah defended.
"How many made it in?" Isobel asked.
"Six." Katherine said. "No sign of anyone else out there?"
"No."
"Could you enter next door?" Katherine asked.
"No. We saw who we think is the homeowner, but he was under compulsion. We couldn't get in."
"It'll have to burn," Katherine said without emotion.
"What?" Both Elena and Sarah cried out as Isobel nodded.
Katherine turned to Elena. "We don't know who else is in there."
"Mr. Fredrickson is in there," Sarah said. "He's our friend."
"Not now, he isn't" Katherine said. "We can't take the chance that someone else trying to kill Elena is there. They would be a danger to you as well."
"Don't tell me you can't figure it out," Elena interjected. "I've seen you guys just stand outside a house and listen and know who's inside."
"Not when it's vampires who may be trying to hide." Isobel said. "We would never be able to be sure we could hear them all."
"We can't go in there to take them out even if we knew, Elena" Katherine said, still showing no emotion. "We have to eliminate the house to be sure."
"It's not his fault!" Sarah was pleading now. "You can't just let him die because of what they did."
"I see no other way," Katherine said, looking at Isobel. Isobel was shaking her head.
"Let us go in and at least try to bring him out." Elena suggested.
Katherine's face turned hard. "Out of the question. You may find it amusing to run into buildings full of vampires who want to kill you, but I don't."
"I don't find it 'amusing'!" Elena argued. "It just has to be done sometimes."
"Not by you. Not anymore. You're too valuable to risk like that."
"But…" Elena started to argue again when interrupted by Sarah.
"I'll still go," Sarah said, "with or without Elena."
"Sarah…" Elena began to argue.
"I'll be careful. My mom might know a spell that will expose them or something."
Katherine looked at Natalie who was still crying over Sylvia's body and shook her head. "She's in no shape to help."
"Bonnie would know if there are vampires in there," Elena said. "At least she knows when your guys are around her house."
"Bonnie and I will go then," Sarah said. "No offense, but we can handle anything in there."
"And we can go in there," Bonnie said, entering the room with a tentatively moving Alaric. "Burn in the sun, need invitations – must suck to be you," she added, looking at Damon.
Before she could take a breath, Damon was at Bonnie's side, pushing her head to expose her neck.
Damon froze near her neck and whispered, "But we have fangs…and speed."
"Damon!" Elena yelled as she crossed the room, feeling both angry at him and relieved that he was acting normal. When she reached him, she pulled at his arm, knowing he would have to let her pull him away, but thinking he would. She was right.
Sarah was recovering from the shock of another speed demonstration when Katherine spoke again. "Then the witches will go."
"And me," Elena said. "It's my fault they were here, I'm not leaving Sarah's family to them."
"It is not your fault and it is not your choice." Katherine said to Elena sternly. She was still at the door. Elena and Damon had stopped a few feet away.
Elena looked at Damon, trying to get his help.
"Let her go." Damon said. "You can't tame her, and you wouldn't want to."
Katherine glared at Damon. "She brought you along for you to take her side on everything."
Damon glared back. "You say she is valuable to you. Let her be who she is. We're both still alive because of her, because of who she is. Why would you change that?"
"I'll go as well," Alaric said as he and Bonnie walked to the front door. He was looking better than when he entered the room. "I'm looking for some revenge on these guys."
Katherine still glared at Damon as she spoke to Isobel who was still on the doorstep. "Isobel, go to the door, make sure nothing has changed. Elena and the others will join you shortly."
Isobel left as Katherine turned to Alaric. "You'll stay with Elena? Right next to her?"
"Yeah. I will." Alaric said.
"I'll ask my mom about a spell," Sarah said to Elena, going to where Natalie was sitting now, still next to Sylvia.
"Stay with him, Elena," Katherine instructed. "No more risks."
"I will." Elena promised as she joined Bonnie and Alaric at the door to wait for Sarah.
"Damon and I will move bodies outside for disposal, and interrogation," Katherine said, looking at the vampire Damon had dumped in the room.
"Not your minion." Damon retorted.
Elena pulled him down to kiss him on the cheek. "Just help her."
Sarah had returned. The four were going through the door as they heard Damon complain "She could lift any of those bodies with her pinky."