A large black SUV pulls up to meet another car in the middle of nowhere and stops. A man gets out of the smaller car and goes up to the window of the SUV. "Where are they?" The man inside the SUV asked. "In the trunk, I did exactly what you said." The other replied.
"Good, put them in the back." The man ordered. The other man nodded and walked around to the trunk of his car opening it to reveal an unconscious Erin and Elena lying down, he picked Elena up carefully and places her in the back of the SUV, and then he does the same to Erin.
"Thank you for your help." The man in the car said. "Is there anything else?" The other guy asked, and the man in black urged him to come closer. When he did, the man bit and drained the guy, smirking as he fell to the ground.
Jeremy was a little annoyed as he got ready for school, Elena didn't wake him up. He knocked on Erin's door knowing that she was probably still sleeping, "Yo, Erin! Get up, it's time for school!" When he heard no response, Jeremy checked Erin's room and found that her bed was made, and his sister was nowhere to be found.
At school, Jeremy talked to Stefan about it. "Look, Elena's got to let me know if I'm supposed to cover for her. I mean Aunt Jenna's cool with it, but you guys are pushing it." Jeremy explained, and Stefan grew confused. "What are you talking about? Elena and I aren't back together." He told him.
"Wait, she didn't stay at your place last night?" Jeremy questioned, and Stefan shook his head, "No, I mean I saw her at the party with Erin, but that was it." Jeremy then panicked a little, "Because she wasn't home, and she and Erin's beds hadn't been slept in. Mrs. Lockwood said their car was still in the driveway, where are they then?" Stefan then started panicking, Erin was involved.
The SUV pulled up next to an old house. The man in back carried the twins in, and Elena whimpered, "No, please." He then dropped both of them on a sofa in another room. Elena looked over to her sister who was still unconscious, and she said, " What do you want?" The man shushed her, and she added, "Please, my sister and I are hurt." The man undid the ropes that bound their hands and feet and flashed his fangs, "I know, just a taste." He then went in to bite Erin, and Elena screamed, "No!"
Then, some lady snapped, "Trevor! Control yourself." The man got away from Erin and spoke, "Buzz kill." The woman marveled at Erin and Elena and said, "You two look just like her, your sister even more." She pointed to Erin, and Elena protested, "But we're not. Please whatever you-"The woman then interrupted her and growled, "Be quiet."
Elena then got up from the couch and argued, "But neither of us are Katherine. My name is Elena Gilbert, and that's my sister Erin. You don't have to do this." "I know who you are. I said be quiet." She started to raise her voice. "What do you want?" Elena asked in a small voice, and the woman just back handed her, sending her flying and leaving her unconscious. "I want you to be quiet." She told.
Stefan called his brother, and Damon showed up to the school. "This has Katherine written all over it." Stefan stated. "Katherine's in the tomb, trust me, I'm the one who shut her in." Damon drawled, and Stefan got in his brother's face. "Did you?" He questioned. "Did I what, Stefan?" Damon asked. "Well, I know the hold that Katherine has on you." Stefan stated. "Katherine's in the tomb, end of story." Damon snapped, and added, "But she did say something to me right before I shut her in. I thought she was lying."
This got Stefan's attention, "What'd she say?" "Erin and Elena are in danger, or one of them is." Damon told his brother. "What, and you didn't think to ask her to elaborate?" Stefan asked, mad that his brother didn't do anything. "Everything she says is a lie! How am I supposed to know that she would start spouting out the truth?" Damon defended himself.
"We have to go talk to her." Stefan told, and Damon disagreed. "No, no. I'll tell you how that's gonna go. We're gonna ask her for help, she's gonna negotiate a release that we're gonna be dumb enough to give her, and then she's gonna get out and kill us. That's exactly what she wants."
"I don't really care." Stefan started walking away from his brother to find Bonnie. "It's a bad idea, Stefan." Damon scolded his brother, but Stefan pointed at Damon and argued, "It's Erin." Stefan was done pretending that he didn't love her, he would tell her soon.
Erin woke up and saw Elena beginning to stir. She heard voices from the room above. "How's the girls?" A woman asked. "Still passed out." A man answered. "You didn't touch her, did you? The one with the curly hair that looks exactly like her?" The woman asked, and the man scoffed, "Give me some credit." Erin poked Elena and nodded for her to follow, and the two carefully walked up the stairs to eavesdrop.
"So you called him?" The man asked, and the woman declined, "No, I called one of his contacts. You know how this works." "Did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?" The man demanded, and the woman said, "They say he got it." "Wonderful, and?" The man questioned. "And that's it, Trevor. He either got it or didn't. We just have to wait." She explained.
"Look, it's not too late. We can leave them here, we don't have to go through with this." The man, Trevor, sounded scared. "I'm sick of running." You could hear the frustration in her voice as she spoke. "Yeah? Well running keeps us from dying." Trevor argued. "Elijah's old school, if he accepts our deal, we're free."
Suddenly, Elena stepped on a creaking board and gave away the twin's location. "You two!" The woman snapped, making the girls' heads snap up. "There's nothing around here for miles. If you think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong, understand?" She threatened. Erin spoke up, "Who's Elijah?" The woman looked at her and said sternly, "You're worst nightmare." That comment made Elena scared and Erin snorted as the woman brushed past them.
"Wow, scary." Erin said sarcastically.
"I can't undo the tomb spell, Stefan even if I wanted too. It took both me and my Grams to do it the first time." Bonnie explained. "But I can open the door, right? I can talk to her?" Stefan questioned. "Yeah, but Damon's right she's not going to tell you anything. Not without something in return." The witch argued, and Stefan sighed, "But, Bonnie I have to do something. I have no idea who has Erin and Elena, and I have no idea where they are."
Bonnie looked at him hesitantly, "What if there was another way to find her?" Bonnie told Stefan to fetch Jeremy and get a private space for her to do a spell. Jeremy laid out a map on one of the desks with a candle next to it. "How does this work?" He asked.
"I'll use your blood to draw energy for the tracking spell. You're blood related, it'll make the connection stronger." She explained. Stefan then walked into the room and shut the door behind him. "Ok, Alaric said we have to clear out of here in 10 minutes. I got weapons, he stocked me up." He told them as Bonnie got prepared for the spell.
Bonnie then took the knife and cut Jeremy's palm. As the blood dripped onto the map, Stefan had to look away in discomfort. Bonnie started chanting in her head, and the blood moved to a town 300 miles away. Bonnie pointed to the spot and said, "There. They are there." "That's 300 miles away." Jeremy commented.
"No, Bonnie we need a more exact location than that." Stefan pleaded. "That's as close as I can get." She said, but Jeremy added. "We can map it, aerial view, it'll show us what's around there, help us narrow down the area." Stefan nodded, "Perfect, call me with what you find." He started to walk away, but Jeremy protested, "Wait no, I'm coming with you." "No, Jeremy, you're not." Stefan told him. "I'm not gonna just sit here, what if they're hurt? Or worse what if they're-" Jeremy started, but Stefan stated, "No, Jeremy they're not. You two go back to your house just in case, I'm gonna call you the minute I find it."
"Wait, you can't go there alone." Jeremy stopped when Damon came through the door. "He's not. Let's go." Damon stated. "You're coming with me?" Stefan asked. "It's Erin." Damon repeated what Stefan said to him.
Stefan and Damon were in the car for a while, "How much further is it?" Stefan asked, and his brother answered, "About 80 miles." "Who do you think took them?" Stefan questioned. Damon kept his eyes on the road and replied, "Someone from Katherine's past, Erin did figure out that she was running from someone. Maybe they got the wrong girl. But that doesn't explain why Elena was taken as well, whatever."
"Thank you, for helping me." Stefan said and Damon groaned, "Can we not do the whole 'road trip bonding' thing. The cliché of it all makes me itch." "Oh, c'mon Damon, we both know that you being in this car has nothing to do with me anyways." Stefan responded.
Damon raised his eyebrows, "And the elephant in the room lets out a mighty roar." "It doesn't have to be an elephant. You know, let's talk about it." Stefan urged him. "There's nothing to talk about." Damon denied, but Stefan saw right through it.
"That's not true, sure there is. Get it out, I mean are you in this car because you want to help your little brother save the girl that he loves, or is it because you love her too?" Stefan asked and looked at his brother for his reaction. Damon just smirked and Stefan added, "C'mon, express yourself. I happen to like road trip bonding."
"Keep it up, Stefan. I could step out of helping as easy as I stepped in." Damon drawled, and Stefan argued, "Nope, that's the beauty of it, you can't."
The woman turned on a lamp in the study. "Why are we here?" Elena asked with Erin at her side. "You keep asking these questions like I'm going to answer them." She replied. "Why won't you?" Erin countered. "That's another one." The woman answered. "Look, you got us. Okay, it's not like we can go anywhere, the least you can do is tell us what you want with us." Erin spoke.
"I personally want nothing, I'm just a delivery service." She told, and Erin picked up on the conversation. "Delivery to who? Elijah?" Erin asked. The woman chuckled, "Two points to the eavesdropper." "Who is he? Is he a vampire?" Elena questioned the vampire, and she uttered, "One of the vampires, The Originals."
Erin thought they sounded super important, like the first vampires? "What do you mean, The Originals?" Elena asked. "Again with the questions, haven't the Salvatores been teaching you vampire history?" The woman asked as she looked through a book. "You know Stefan and Damon?" Erin questioned. "I know of them. A hundred years back, a friend tried to set me up with Stefan, said he was one of the good ones. I'm more of a sucker for the bad boys, though, but I digress." She told them.
"Who are The Originals?" Elena repeated, trying to get back on track. "Trevor and I have been running for over 500 years, we're tired. We want it over, so we're using one of you to get ourselves out of an old mess." She explained, which made the girls look at each other. "One of us? But why one of us?" Erin asked with a desperate tone.
"Because one of you is a Petrova doppelgänger, the other is just a twin. Elijah will be able to figure it out when he gets here, apparently there is a certain aura around her, like the one around the original. The doppelgänger is the key to breaking the curse." She explained. "Curse… the sun and the moon curse?" Erin asked, confusion filling her. The woman nodded at her, "So you do know your history." "What do you mean one of us is the key? The moonstone is what breaks the curse." Erin stated. "No, the moonstone is what binds the curse, sacrifice is what breaks it." She told. "Sacrifice?" Elena questioned. "The blood of the doppelgänger. One of you is the doppelgänger. Which means in order to break the curse, one of you is the one that has to die." She said.
"Tell us more." Elena demanded, and Trevor came up behind Erin and played with her hair, " Captivity has made her pushy, eh? What do you want to know, dopplicious?" "Who are you running from?" Erin asked and faced Trevor. "The Originals." Trevor answered, and Elena snapped, "Yeah, she said that, what does that mean?"
Trevor kicked a book and responded, "The first family, the Old World. Rose and I pissed them off. Correction, I pissed them off, Rose had my back, and for over half a millennium they wanted us dead." "What did you do?" Erin asked, Trevor looked at Rose to give the girls the answer. "He made the same mistake countless others did, he trusted Katerina Petrova." "Katherine." Erin stated, and Rose hummed in response.
"The one and only, the first Petrova doppelgänger." Rose walked behind the girls, and Trevor explained more. "I helped her escape her fate and now I've, I'm sorry, we've been marked ever since." "Which is why we're not going to make the same mistake again." Rose called over to Trevor who looked at Erin oddly. Then, both of the vampires walked out, leaving the twins alone.
The girls walked back to where they were seated on the couch before and talked. "Erin, I need to tell you something. One of us is probably going to be sacrificed, so I think now is the best time to get things off my chest." Elena started, making Erin nod confusedly.
"Stefan loves you. I've known this for so long, and I know that a part of you likes him. Be with Stefan, he makes you happy. I got greedy when Stefan came to town, and I took him even though you're the one that needed somebody the most. You still haven't gotten over mom and dad, and I am so sorry. I got caught up in all of the supernatural drama, and I liked it. I liked the feeling of danger at first, but now I don't want it in my life. I want to be normal, with a normal life, and I want to have a future with a husband and kids. Just do what makes you happy." Elena finished off her speech, and Erin hugged her.
Erin heard a crinkling under her bottom, so she got up and saw a piece of crinkled paper. She opened it up and read a note from Bonnie that said.
Stefan and Damon are coming for you two.
-B
Erin showed Elena who smiled and sighed in relief. Erin crinkled the paper back up and held it like a lifeline.
Meanwhile, Damon and Stefan were nearing the location. "We're getting close, Jeremy said that there was an access road right by mile marker 6." Stefan stated. Damon nodded and reached behind him, grabbing a blood bag. When Damon started sipping it, he saw Stefan eyeing it and said, "You know, if you want some just ask."
"I want some." Stefan said. "Aww, that's so sweet! You want to be all big and strong to save your girl, don't worry I got your back, you'll be fine." Damon responded. "I'm not joking. I've been drinking a little bit every day. I'm slowly increasing my intake and building up my strength." Stefan then took the blood bag from Damon and sipped it.
"Does Erin know you're drinking blood?" Damon asked. Stefan looked at his brother and decided to tell the truth, "I've been drinking hers." Damon looked hurt, but he covered it up by saying, "How romantic." "Since we're road trip bonding, remember the day where all you would live for was blood? You were the guy who would rip someone apart just for the fun of it." Damon said, and Stefan replied, "You mean when I was more like you." "Yes Stefan, exactly! Back to when you put blood into me, so I would be a big bad vampire. I wonder if Erin would be so quick to open her veins to that guy." Damon exclaimed.
"Well, she's friends with you, isn't she?" Stefan sassed his brother who just replied, "By the way what happened to that guy, he was a hoot." Damon took another sip of the blood as his brother said, "I guess he just found something else to live for."
Rose picked up things from the ground when Trevor rushed down, "He's here. This was a mistake." "No, I told you I would get us out of this, you have to trust me." She told him. "No! He wants me dead, Rose!" Trevor argued. "He wants one of them more!" Rose countered and pointed at the twins. "I can't do this. You give her to him, he'll have mercy on you, but I need to get out of here." Trevor said.
"Hey! What are we?" Rose asked, and Trevor answered, "We're family. Forever." The two looked at each other and Rose nodded. This made the twins look at each other, and the girls linked hands. Erin was frantic, it was either her or her sister, and she knew who she would choose. She needed to protect her sister, even if it was the last thing she did. When there was a knock on the door, they both started shaking. "You're scared." Erin stated, seeing the looks on their faces. "Stay here with them, and don't make a sound." Rose said and ran up the stairs.
Erin paced the floor with the note in her hand. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought of the possibilities. She heard footsteps from the hall, and some tears made their way down her cheeks. Elena just seemed rattled, Erin was her source of courage, but she was scared.
Elijah walked into the room and saw Elena on the couch. Elena stood up with wide eyes, which made Erin turn around. Elijah stood there, shocked, as he locked eyes with Erin. Elena grabbed onto the back of Erin's shirt as Elijah sped right in front of them, making Erin gasp. Elijah inched his face towards Erin's and smelled her neck. "Human, both of them. It's impossible." He muttered, and looked into her eyes.
"Why are there two?" Elijah asked, and Rose answered, "One of them is the real doppelgänger, the other is her twin. We didn't know which one was which." "Now, now, don't cry." Elijah wiped the tears off of Erin's face and when he saw the sudden fire in her eyes, he knew it was her. He smirked, "Hello there."
Damon and Stefan got out of the car, and Damon spoke, "The house should be just beyond those trees. Wait, now I've got a little bit more experience than you do with this sort of thing." "So? What's your point?" Stefan snapped, wanting to just go inside the house and retrieve the girl he loved. "My point is the person who has Erin and Elena is probably the person who was after Katherine in 1864 and before that." Damon pointed out. "And?" Stefan asked impatiently. "And that puts them at 500 years and strong. You sure you want to do this?"
Stefan shrugged and replied, "Yeah I'm certain I want to do it." "Because if we go in that house, there's a chance we may not come back out." Damon told him. "Alright then I won't come out." Stefan stated. "So noble, Stefan." Damon uttered, and Stefan scoffed, "I can't think of a better reason to die. But, if you want to stay here, I'll totally understand." Stefan started to walk away, and then Damon thought of Erin's scared face, and he walked behind his little brother.
Elijah pointed to Erin and said, "You. You're my doppelgänger, now we have a long journey ahead of us. We should be going." Elena clutched onto her sister's arm, looked to Rose and pleaded, "Please, don't let him take her." "One last piece of business, and then we're done." Elijah stated and he walked to Trevor. "I've waited so long for this day, Elijah. I'm truly very sorry."
"You're apology is not necessary." Elijah stated. "Yes, yes it is. You trusted me with Katerina, and I failed you." Trevor spoke, and Elijah remained calm, "Yes, you are the guilty one. Rose aided you because she was loyal to you, that I honor. Where was your loyalty?" "Elijah, I beg your forgiveness." Trevor pleaded. "So granted." Elijah stated, and Trevor smiled. Elijah then proceeded to smack Trevor's head off with his hand.
Erin put her hand over her mouth, and Elena gasped. Elijah scolded Rose before holding his hand out for Erin. Erin started to walk over to him, but Elena clutched onto her sister's arm. "What about the moonstone!" Elena yelled, not wanting her sister to go. "Elena!" Erin hissed at her sister. "What do you know about the moonstone?" Elijah asked calmly even though he just wanted to take his doppelgänger and leave.
"I know that you need it and I know where it is." Elena stuttered. Elijah looked at her to continue, and Elena said, "I can help you get it." "Tell me where it is." Elijah spoke, and Erin shook her head and stated, "It doesn't work that way." Elijah smirked, amused at them. The bond of family is sacred. "Are you negotiating with me?" Elijah asked and looked at Rose who said, "It's the first I've heard of it."
Elijah tried compelling Elena when he noticed her necklace. "What is that vervain doing around your neck?" He then grew angry and tried grabbing her, but then Erin cried out, "I'll tell you, just don't touch her." Elijah then gazed at Erin who locked eyes with him, "The moonstone is in the tomb underneath the church ruins." "What is it doing there?" He asked her, and she replied, "It's with Katherine." "Interesting," He stated before hearing a crash coming from the other room.
"What is that?" He asked. "I don't know." Rose responded. "Who else is in this house?" He asked again, and she pressed, "I don't know." Elijah then grabbed Erin's hand and Elena's arm and dragged them with him. "Move." He ordered Rose. They made their way into the entrance way of the house. Suddenly Stefan ran past them at super speed, they turned to look, then Damon did, Stefan ran back up the stairs and Elijah threw Elena towards Rose who caught her, but he still kept a firm hold on Erin. "Rose." Elijah growled and Rose responded, "I don't know who it is." Erin and Elena knew that it was the Salvatore brothers coming to their rescue.
"Up here." Stefan's voice uttered, and Elijah pulled Erin with him to the top of the stairs. "Down here." Damon's voice taunted. All of a sudden, a stake was shot into the hand Elijah wasn't holding Erin's with. He quickly pulled it out and kept a firm grip on Erin. Elijah looked down the stairs to find the no one was there, not Rose, and not Elena. He really didn't care.
"Excuse me, to whom it may concern. You're making a grave mistake if you think that you can beat me, you can't. Now, I have the girl I need, you hear that?" Elijah trudged down the stairs without Erin, who saw Stefan in the corner of her eye. She silently made her way up a few stairs and held onto the grenade Stefan handed to her. Elijah distractedly broke a wooden coat rack and made it into a stake.
"I repeat you cannot beat me. Now, if you try to get her from me, heads will roll. Do we understand each other?" Elijah spoke, and Erin begged, "I'll go with you, just please don't hurt my friends. They were just trying to help me out." Elijah turned to look at her, and then he flashed right in front of her, "What game are you playing with me?" She then pulled the pin out of the grenade and threw it at Elijah.
He growled as his skin began to burn but he healed very quickly, stepping forward towards her. Stefan jumped out and began to shoot him with wooden bullets. When the younger vampire realized it was doing nothing he pounced on him, knocking them both down the stairs. Elijah quickly got up and was ready to kill Stefan when Damon staked him with the coat rack.
Rose then caught Damon's eye, but she flashed away. Damon was going to go after her, but Erin's voice stopped him. "Just let her go." She said, and he looked up to the top of the stairs. She smiled down at him, and she and Elena ran down the stairs. Erin was going to run and hug Damon, but Stefan stepped out. "Hey, come here. You hurt? You okay?" Erin smiled and nodded and embraced him.
Seeing the disappointed look on Damon's face, Elena threw him an understanding look and spoke up, "Thank you Stefan." Stefan and Erin pulled away from each other and Stefan smiled. Erin then used her chance to hug Damon, it was quick and she said, "Thank you, both of you. But, we all need to talk on the drive home."
They did just that, and Erin and Elena told the brothers about the sacrifice. The twins got dropped off at home, seeing as they wanted to be with Jeremy. Erin opened the door to the Gilbert house, and she heard Jeremy call her name. She told Elena to go up first, and she did. Erin slowly made her way up the stairs to see Elena and Jeremy hugging, and Bonnie watching from the sidelines. "We got your message." Erin spoke, and Jeremy and Bonnie's heads snapped up.
Jeremy then practically threw Elena into Bonnie and tightly embraced Erin, spinning her around. "You okay? I was worried so much, I thought you guys were goners and we would never have another movie night together. You're my best friend, Erin, I don't say it often enough." Jeremy babbled, and Erin laughed as Elena playfully said, "And what am I, chopped liver?"
Bonnie told Elena, "You're my best friend." We all laughed, and they just watched Jeremy and I hug it out.
Damon poured himself some bourbon and skulked it down. He heard Stefan's footsteps coming towards him, "Where's Erin?" "She's home." Stefan answered, and Damon shot back, "And you're here, why?" Stefan replied, "Because she wanted to be with Jeremy." Damon handed his brother a glass, and he took it. "Listen, what Rose told Erin and Elena about the curse-" "I know, we'll keep her safe."
"You know the only way we're gonna be able to do that is if we're not fighting each other. We let Katherine come between us, and if we do the same with Erin, we're not gonna be able to protect her." Stefan said. Damon looked at his brother and spoke, "Yes, Stefan. Heard it all before." Damon started to walk away, but his brother's voice stopped him.
"I'm sorry." Stefan apologized. "For what?" Damon asked, frustrated. "For being the guy that made you turn 145 years ago." "Enough, Stefan. It's late, no need to rehash that." Damon shrugged it off. "You know, I've never said it out loud. I just need to say it, and you need to hear it. I'm sorry, I guess I just needed my brother." Stefan told him.
Erin walked out of her bathroom to find Damon sitting on her window seat, "Cute pj's." Erin smiled and sighed, "I'm tired, Damon." He then stood up from the window seat walked over to her. "I just have to say something." Damon told her, and Erin looked at him curiously. "Why are you acting weird?" She asked him. "Because what I'm about to say is probably the most selfish thing I have ever said in my life." Damon muttered.
"Damon, don't go there." She pleaded, but he shrugged it off. "I just have to say it once, you just have to hear it. I love you, Erin, and it's because I love you that I can't be selfish with you. Why you can't know this, I don't deserve you, but my brother does." Damon then kissed Erin with as much emotion as he could muster. Erin kissed back, but she could sense that there was something else going on. Damon looked into Erin's eyes and unclasped the vervain bracelet that rested on her wrist.
Damon cupped her cheek and looked her in the eyes, "God, I wish you didn't have to forget this, but you do." Erin's mind went blank for a second before she opened her eyes and found herself standing in her bedroom all alone with her bracelet on her wrist.