Turn off all emotions and feelings. That was easy for a vampire.
She kept telling herself that, and no matter how many times she tried it, it still felt like everything was being torn apart inside of her.
She felt Stefan's arm around her shoulders, but only faintly, because she was too devastated to truly feel anything.
She came closer to the grave, holding the messy letter that she tried writing for hours.
The ink was all blurred by the tears that she shed on it, but she wanted to have a few words to properly say goodbye to her mother.
Thankfully, she had avoided the council members and the entire Mystic Falls police force, by hosting a private service, and only her family was here.
She looked down on the paper filled with sentiments that she wrote about her mother, but none of it made much sense, because it was impossible to put down on paper what she really felt.
Painfully, Caroline prepared to start her small, yet emotional speech, when a windy sound cut through air, followed by a sudden sharp pain that lodged in her heart.
She crashed against the ground and before she blinked, she felt Stefan next to her, calling her name worried, she tried to speak but the effort made her entire chest throb in pain.
Bonnie caught her hand when she tried to touch her wound. "Don't move, Care… it's too close to your heart."
Caroline looked at Stefan in pain.
"Hold your breath…" He urged her to be still.
"Stef…" Bonnie said wary.
He didn't look at her. "I'm about to pull out a stake that is touching Caroline's heart."
"I'll shush now…" She apologized for the distraction.
Stefan nodded at Caroline, preparing her for the pain.
24 hours earlier
Caroline was desperately running along the long hospital corridor.
Her agony was leaving her shaky, as she pushed the door open.
Meredith was waiting for her inside of the room. "She was still fighting when I got here, but she had massive internal bleeding and… there was nothing I could do for her."
Caroline didn't talk, she shook her head while touching her mother's cold face, she started stroking her bruised cheek and she was crying when she bent down to kiss her cheek.
Damon slammed his front door raging, and he was going straight for a drink when he heard her come in. "Turn right back around and leave Rebekah."
"You would never understand, if I told you the truth." She closed the door behind her.
"It was up to me to decide if I wanted to be part of your crazy plan to become Salem Queen."
"As usual, you're overreacting." Rebekah said softly.
He lessened his eyes at her. "When you asked me to stay, didn't I make it clear for you that I wasn't going to?" He turned his back on her.
Rebekah smiled as she came closer to him, sweetly she moved her palm across the line of his shoulders. "I'm not ready to lose you without a fight."
He swallowed a shot in one take. "Why did you have to lie, Rebekah?"
"Damon, I had my personal reasons to do this. My family will always come first, but I wouldn't be here if you weren't important to me." She moved her hand to his chest, wishing that he would turn and face her.
Damon kept his head low. "You really had me fooled, the night you asked me to turn you."
When he faced her, Rebekah stroked his face. "I meant what I said that night, Damon. I didn't belong as a human, but now I'm in my element."
"You're deceiving and conniving."
She smiled artfully. "I'm perfect for you."
"I honestly hate witches."
"I have a lifetime to ease you into it."
"I miss your freckles…" He still tried to stay on top, reclaiming the only fault he could find in her.
She caressed his neck already onto him. "I can't do much about that, but I can tell you how badly I want this to work."
She leaned over to kiss him, it was a soft kiss, but he didn't really engage, so she looked at him with a sulk.
"Are you going to make me work hard for it?"
He parted his lips with a naughty smirk. "It's one way to go…"
She leaned over again and this time he kissed her with will, the kiss had the right amount of fire but also of honesty, and Rebekah knew that what they had was worth fighting for.
There was a small break between kisses and Rebekah smiled happily at him.
Damon had every intention of turning this conversation into a pillow talk, but abruptly Rebekah gasped and plummeted to the floor unconscious.
Damon's eyes drifted from the dart sticking from her back to the door, where he found Jeremy.
"It's witch-poison and it should knock her out for at least a few hours." Jeremy switched weapons and pointed a crossbow at Damon.
With a flash Damon hid behind the sofa while Jeremy started launching stake after stake.
"When did you lose your mind altogether?" Damon snarled at him mad.
Jeremy neared Rebekah's body and pointed the next stake at her heart. "I'm going to make my sister proud." He darkly said and prepared to kill her.
Rebekah opened her eyes and grabbed the crossbow. "Not tonight, Gilbert…"
They started a fight that ended with Jeremy being tossed in the air, he hit the wall hard but picked himself up, he reached for a concealed knife before Damon easily tackled him to the floor.
He pinned Jeremy down and hauled that blade high in the air with determination, Jeremy waited for it bravely, but Damon threw the knife away and punched him instead.
Jeremy rolled on his side to spit the blood pooling in his mouth and gave Damon a look, as the other started to walk away. "Why didn't you do it?"
Emotionally spent, Damon sat on the floor against the back of the sofa. "Elena would never forgive me for it…"
Jeremy sat up facing him. "She's dead… what difference does it make?"
"She loved you more than anything. She would have killed and died for you, and I owe her as much."
Unconvinced, Jeremy looked at Rebekah.
"I love her." Damon told Jeremy. "But I loved Elena as well and I will never forget her, Jer… it's impossible to forget all that Elena was, but the best way to remember her is by honoring the compassion and the big heart that she had. She would be sad to know that you still have all of this hatred inside of you."
"Everyone forgot about her, it's like she never existed."
Rebekah neared Jeremy slowly. "Then make sure that they remember her." She went down on her knees. "When I lost my brother Elijah, I felt empty as well but it's harder for you, because you are actually alone…"
Jeremy looked away, trying to be strong.
"This town needs someone to defend them." Damon said. "And by the looks of it, you are already a Batman in the makings, so use that to help people. She would have liked that. Help them against others like us, so that there isn't another vampire taking advantage of another Caroline or killing another Vickie… and use that anger for something good. Keep this town safe from creeps like me."
"You sound like Stefan."
"He is a terrible influence on me, I've said it all along." Damon smiled.
"Elena liked helping others and she would be happy if I did the same…" He said, finally finding some peace, at the same time that he saw her.
"What is it?" Damon asked, noticing how Jeremy's expression changed.
"She's happy that you're finally happy."
"Elena is here?" Damon asked with a glance around, he would've liked to see her again. "Tell her that I'm sorry, Jer… for not protecting her enough."
"She knows, Damon, and she just wants you and Stefan to be happy now." Jeremy smiled, looking at his sister. "She's at peace."
Damon smiled, finding some peace as well.
"We should go to the hospital…" Bonnie said with a sniffle.
Kol stroked her cheek. "Elijah is there with her."
"Who would do this to Liz? Ansel?" She asked him, afraid of his answer.
"He didn't have a reason to go after Caroline's mother." Klaus quietly said from across the room.
"He would, as long as it has some kind of direct effect, he's willing to do anything." Katherine said from her corner, from where she was standing with Stefan.
Klaus squinted at her.
"Can we go home now?" She asked Stefan.
He nodded, but they didn't make it far, as Kol and Klaus cut their way.
Katherine looked at the two brothers, defying them with answers that she utterly refused to give.
"What exactly do you know?" Kol asked her coldly.
"I just used my brain… you should try it sometime, it's fun."
Her dry answer didn't amuse Klaus, and he gripped her neck hard.
Stefan tried to help her, but Kol easily had him pinned against a wall with a hand on his throat.
Klaus changed his eyes to yellow. "Tell me what you know."
"I already told Kol all that I knew." She pushed his hand away.
Still, he wasn't taking any of this and snarled at her to keep her in place. "I'll compel you to kill Stefan, if you don't tell me what you're hiding."
She laughed coldly at him. "You want me to kill your best friend?"
Klaus smiled, nonchalantly. "I'm not feeling particularly nostalgic tonight, besides my wife is mourning her mother's death, so tell me what you know or I will put an end to this love story of yours with Stefan, by killing the protagonist."
"What's going on here?" Rebekah arrived just then, accompanied by Damon.
"Apparently, Katherine has been holding back on her tongue…" Klaus closed in on her.
Damon had a silent battle with Kol and only relaxed when Caroline arrived, knowing that she would calm down Klaus and save his brother in the process.
Only that the devastated blonde ignored everyone in the room and headed straight upstairs.
"I'm waiting, Katherine… with feeble patience." Klaus pressed.
"They came looking for me because they knew about our creepy history together, and they knew that I would turn on you without a blink."
"How very predictable of you."
"Believe it or not, all that he wants is a son… he is demented, he spent centuries looking for you while you were hiding from Mikael. He knows you by reputation but that's not enough for him. And my guess is that you really pissed him off when you rejected him, so he's acting out of spite."
"Has he tried to get Niklaus' attention before?" Elijah asked.
"You know that he has…" Katherine frowned at him. "Ansel's reach goes way past recent events."
Caroline returned to the room with something wrapped in a sheet.
Katherine clasped her hands slowly. "You didn't think that good old reliable puppy Matt was smart enough to come up with that mammoth plan… did you?"
"My mother was his accomplice." Rebekah said slower than she intended, because Matt was like an open wound that she never seemed to be able to close properly.
Katherine sighed. "I directed Matt to Esther. He had the right rage, and she had the right craziness to come up with a plan. Everyone knows that the easiest way to get to Klaus is to use the family." She looked at Rebekah. "Your pathetic urge to live a human life, was the perfect way to get him inside of this house."
"And you reported all back to Ansel." Elijah understood it now.
"When Klaus came looking for me, to keep an eye on Elena… it was almost too good to be true." She shrugged easily.
"And my mom?" Bonnie asked, looking for answers as well.
Katherine looked at her without a smile. "That was, all Esther. She turned her human, because she needed access to the Bennett line."
"And Tatia?" It was Caroline's turn to inquire.
"That was Ansel." Katherine lifted her hands. "But I might have suggested that Klaus could use a visit from the past, to shake things up between the sheets…"
"Elena is dead because of you." Stefan realized.
"I didn't know that they were going to kill her, I thought that it would be like Finn."
She defended herself but Stefan couldn't even look at her, right now.
"At first, I agreed to spy on everyone and to be part of the plan because he did kill my entire family." She pointed at Klaus. "But then things started to change… you started changing…" She spoke directly to him. "You and Caroline just exploded and everyone around you was affected by it. All our lives changed because of it, like a huge domino effect and I couldn't be indifferent to that…" She looked at Stefan. "And I finally had you back, which was all that I ever wanted."
"When Rebekah was attacked at that school dance..." Kol wondered.
"The list goes on and on, and he's not going to stop."
"Can we stop him with magic?" Rebekah spoke up.
"Good old decapitation and dismembering works as well." Klaus followed her lead.
"So, we've settled on how we will kill him. How can we find him?" Kol joined the killing squad.
"I don't know, I haven't heard from him." Katherine said. "And with Eric dead, I really don't know."
"He went from wanting to impress me, to simple torture. He's desperate to single me out, so that I take the reins of his empire. If that's the only thing that I have left..." Klaus looked at Elijah.
His brother smiled, following his thought. "He does have an army scattered around the world, waiting for you to lead them."
"I just don't have to lead them into a civil war between werewolves and vampires."
Elijah nodded in support. "Send him a message, so that he knows that you are willing to accept the role he has envisioned for you. What you do with this army is ultimately up to you and I do trust your judgment."
Klaus gave him a signal with his head, before he looked at Caroline, he needed the support from his queen as well.
She handed him the item that she had been holding for the last minutes. "Whatever you decide, I will follow."
Klaus unwrapped the sword and seized it in his hand.
The power it held was almost too overwhelming.
"Now is the time to leave, if that's what you wish." He took a long look around the room.
"I could never leave you, Niklaus… death itself wasn't enough to keep me away from you." Elijah took Klaus's side.
Klaus smiled. "Thank you, brother."
Elijah looked at Caroline with a small encouraging smile.
Klaus looked at his rebel sister, the one who once turned human for the love of a boy.
"Forever and always…" Rebekah simply said.
He turned to Kol, expecting him to derail for some reason.
"The sword supposedly kills the vampire side but leaves the other supernatural aspect intact…" Kol looked at Bonnie. "I'll respect your choice."
She shook her head with a smile. "It's so you, Kol Mikaelson, to propose to me and then suggest that I turn human, just to avoid going down that aisle. All in the same night."
"You know me too well." He kissed her, as she neared him.
"I will take that as a no…" Klaus said, looking lastly for an answer from the woman next to him.
Caroline took his hand. "My vows stated that this was forever."
"Forever it is then." He pulled her closer for a kiss.
"Thanks for ignoring us…" Damon mumbled.
Stefan couldn't even think, he was too shaken up by how deep Katherine was in on all of this conspiracy.
Klaus met with Filiz and Dani a few feet away from another campsite.
"These ones are more restless. Word got out of what happened in the other campsite." Dani explained.
"I'll soon release them from their uncomfortable feelings." Klaus left with a smirk.
"Do you think that he's going to kill them, like he did with the others?" Dani asked Filiz.
"Huh?" Filiz was leisurely looking at Klaus's ass.
Dani slapped her arm hard. "Focus, Filiz!"
The girl chuckled nervously. "He is hot, like sizzling hot."
"He is also married to a gorgeous model, so snap out of it, girl."
Filiz and Dani tried to see anything of what was happening ahead but all that they heard were screams.
When Klaus reappeared, his face was smeared with blood.
"Send the word out, those who want to follow my orders are safe, the rest will be hunted down and killed without any mercy." He told Dani.
She nodded with a smile. "I think that I already know the answer of the majority."
Klaus liked the spunk and bravery of his hybrid. "I like you, Dani, and I have another special assignment for you, and for your pretty friend."
"Anything for you, Alpha." She said flustered.
As for Filiz, she was just smiling, because he called her pretty.
Rudy pointed at the empty chair in front of him and both men opened their suits as they sat down, facing each other.
"Is this another warning?" Rudy asked Elijah, suspicious of his visit.
"I know where the sword is." Elijah delivered calmly.
Rudy tensed in his chair. "What sword?"
"Spare me the poor theatrical aptitudes, mayor Hopkins."
He licked his lips, apprehensive. "Where is the sword?"
Elijah smiled, running his finger through the dusty chair's arm. "I want the same as you. I never wanted any of this for Bonnie. She deserves better than what destiny handed her."
"You may be older than I am, but I know a deal when I see one."
"I want you to take Bonnie away from here, once we turned her human, and to never bring her back here."
Rudy was hesitant to believe Elijah. "How do I know that you are speaking the truth?"
"My brother Niklaus just went to kill a pack of werewolves that didn't support him as the new leader of The Luna. He's planning on taking over and there's nothing any of us can do to change his mind."
"It's going to rain blood, I suppose…" Rudy leaned back on his chair. "So, if I take Bonnie away… what will you do?"
"I will do everything in my power to destroy the sword, there has to be a way to destroy that kind of power."
Rudy parted his arms slowly. "I might know a way…"
It was Elijah's turn to be suspicious. "How do I know that I can trust you?"
"I can put in a good word for you… you seem to like my daughter and your brother doesn't seem right for her. She needs someone who can see the clear path, when everything is foggy around us."
"There are many shades of black." Elijah smiled, knowing that they had reached an understanding.
"Bring me the sword, and I'll turn Bonnie human, and then make the sword disappear for good."
Elijah knew a liar when he saw one, and he fought not to fly across the table and kill the man who only wanted the sword for his own profit.
Hayley paced around the room, she checked her phone every two seconds, but it was of no use, he wasn't going to call her, she knew that she couldn't trust that Rudy guy, or even Connor.
Finally, someone arrived, and she turned to the door. "Where have you been?" She asked Connor.
"I was introducing myself and doing business with the family." He replied with a smug smile.
"Stupid… you were supposed to wait for orders. What did the mayor want with you?"
Connor mocked her words openly. "Wake up and smell the coffee, Hayley. Eric was killed without even putting up a fight and half the werewolves have lost their faith in the all-mighty Ansel. Especially now that he's missing. I spoke to a few of my friends in the North and they want to show loyalty to the winning side."
"What?"
"You didn't kill Rebekah, they killed Eric like he was a simple defenseless human and chances are that Klaus already killed the old man the same way. Times are changing, and everyone is picking a side." He smiled. "I'd hurry, if I were you."
"I will never pick Klaus's side, and neither should you."
Connor laughed and pulled the sword from his black bag, Hayley stumbled back as he started walking up to her, she was no match to him.
"The mayor made a deal. I'm taking the sword and selling it to the highest bidder, but I'm keeping the money to myself." He plunged the sword into her heart.
Hayley fell to her knees, wheezing out her last breath.
Connor removed the sword and crouched in front of her. "I'm picking my side and I'm having fun with it. You should have stayed in whatever country you fled to…" He stroked her hair away from her pale face. "I was only part of the Luna for the money. I trained the kid well, so he will put up a decent fight and die feeling accomplished. As for you…" He closed her eyes. "The Mikaelson family paid me well to kill you."
He stood up to come near the money, he stroked the insanely huge amount of green bills that filled his bag and picked the bag with a smile. Mexico was a cliché but it was such a nice one.
The only problem with it was finding Kol waiting for him at the door.
Connor's head ended up on the other side of the porch, while Kol took back the bag with the money along with the sword and quietly left.
From a distance, Rebekah was watching Stefan and Katherine trying to have a conversation. Well, at least Katherine was trying, while he was ignoring her.
After a few more explanations that fell on deaf ears, Stefan left alone in his car, while Katherine had no other choice but to follow on foot.
During her shameful exit, she crossed paths with the arriving car.
It was Damon and Elijah returning from an errand, and Elijah quickly made his way inside of the house while Damon joined Rebekah in the garden.
"How did it go?" Rebekah asked him as he sat down next to her on the marble seat.
"Kol insisted on making sure personally that everything went as planned." Damon informed her, while taking his jacket to cover her shoulders.
She chuckled softly.
"What?"
"That just took me back to that crazy road trip when I first turned human… I was in such a dark place, over losing Matt and you were trying to figure out why Elena was different…"
"Bex…" He shook his head.
"You have been here in my darkest moments, and in my happiest and you never walked away."
"I did it earlier tonight." He playfully lowered his voice.
She smiled. "So did Stefan just now with Katherine but I can tell that they are meant to be and that they will end up snuggling close in bed tonight."
"Is there any chance of that happening to us tonight?" He took her hand. "Or should I say early morning?"
She entwined her fingers with his. "I would love to share my bed with you this dawn, Damon."
Bonnie was looking for Elijah, but he wasn't in the library, so she turned around to leave.
"Bonnie." He walked in at the precise moment when she was about to leave.
She laughed at the silly moment. "I was looking for you."
"I had a meeting with your father."
"So, the plan is going smoothly." She smiled.
He nodded but his eyes landed on her sparkling hand.
Instead of addressing the big elephant in the room, he decided to walk over to the oval table in the library and to reminisce.
"I recall the night when we all gathered around this table, plotting to defeat my mother and Finn. You used to spend your days and nights here…"
"I will always cherish the long conversations that we had." She softly said.
Her tone was definitely of someone ready to file all of those memories in the past.
"I see that my brother has finally done the honorable thing and asked you to marry him." He said, without facing her.
She needed him to do it, though. "Elijah, please look at me."
He kept his eyes on the table that he touched with his finger, building up the courage to tackle yet another hard trial in his life.
"Please…" She asked him, regretful that she had to cause pain to one brother so that she could be happy with the other.
"I love you, Bonnie." He finally started to turn around to face her. "I have loved you for a very long time, while having to watch you with my brother. They all say that I'm the honorable one but there is nothing honorable about expecting Kol to do something wrong, so that you would pick me instead."
"I'm sorry…" She whispered.
"Still, Kol keeps surprising everyone and today he did the most selfless thing by granting you free will to choose your own fate. That shows tremendous growth from my brother, so I suppose that he is ready to properly court you now." He said with a smile.
"I love him, Elijah. I tried to fight it but he just… burns inside of me. I can't explain it, but I can't be without him. Even if I have feelings for you, which you know that I have."
"This is how it's supposed to be. I will always love you, I will always be here for you, if and when you need me, but your heart is with my brother, and I accept that."
"Why are you so perfect?" She asked him with a smile.
He brushed her cheek with his hand. "You are an extraordinary woman with a great gift, Bonnie. Kol knows how lucky he is. I'm happy for you both, and congratulations on the engagement."
Her green eyes were glistening, and his thumb caressed her soft inviting skin, he missed listening to her heart that seemed to set his own alive and beating along with hers.
Bonnie would always be that woman that he could never have, but he loved her with all of his heart.
He smiled and broke away from her, before he ended up kissing her and left the library quickly.
Kol didn't move from where he was, he was resting against the wall covered in darkness and listening to everything that had been said inside of the library.
Klaus arrived quietly to his bedroom, Caroline was lying in bed over the covers and facing the wall.
She turned to him. "She transitioned already, and Meredith is with her."
"I know, sweetheart." He headed straight to the bathroom.
Caroline flashed and stopped by the door, she looked for the light switch in the bathroom, wondering what he was trying to hide from her.
The light revealed Klaus covered in blood stains, and Caroline stared at him speechless.
There wasn't much that he could say either, so for the longest minute, they just stood there looking at each other silently.
When Caroline finally moved, she melted against him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
Klaus followed her motion, which left her covered in blood as well because he was holding her pressed against him.