A/N: Okay guys, here's the last chapter! oh my god thank you all for your reviews/comments and for favoriting this story. I hope you'll like this chapter as much as you did the others.
Enjoy, and I might see you all in my next fanfic!
As Klaus got ready to bite into the Cure's core, a sudden cry of pain coming from his youngest brother surprised him so, that, taken aback, he quickly opened his eyes and swiftly spit the vial out. Apparently their agreement was now irrelevant.
Kol was bent over holding a hand up to his chest; his face was contorted, displaying a mask of intense pain. As he withdrew his hand, they all witnessed fresh blood spread all over it.
"No!" Caroline yelled, grabbing her phone and calling Matt's number.
"Caroline" Matt answered after the first ring in a hushed voice. "I... I think you need to come to the Mayor's house. Now"
"What happened, Matt?" Caroline was ready to head out the door the moment she saw Kol fall, face first, on the ground.
"Kol!" Rebekah cried out. She tried to reach for her brother but her magical prison was keeping her in place. "Let me out witch!"
"I will certainly not" Bonnie replied. "Is this another one of your tricks?"
Elijah had moved to his young brother's body and turned Kol around so he would lay on his back. It was then clear to all of them that Kol was dead once again. This was a certainty not only because of the grey colour his skin had taken, but when Elijah ripped opened the Original's shirt, they all saw the five bullet holes in his chest and the sickening green colour the veins had taken around the wounds. The hole he had himself dug to his heart a few minutes earlier had already been healed before these injuries had occurred, and there was nothing left of it behind.
Klaus moved to Elijah's side and sniffed the air around them. His intuitions were right. The bullet that had killed him had werewolf venom in them. And yet, there were no actual bullets in his brother's body which could only mean one thing; that this death was the consequence of the witch's spell linking the sheriff's – Caroline's mother - life to Kol's.
Elizabeth Forbes was dead, lying somewhere – the Mayor's house according to the busboy – her skin pierced by five poisoned bullets.
He realized how close he had come to giving away his immortality for nothing. Would he have engulfed the Cure a few seconds earlier; he would now be human and Caroline would still be left without a mother.
Although he was relieved by this, he had to ask himself why.
Why would someone not only kill the town's sheriff, but do it with weapons meant for killing vampires?
Caroline seemed to have come to the same conclusion as she raced to the base of the staircase and blurred up the stairs.
Klaus turned to look at Bonnie "Keep them locked down here. Don't desiccate them. Not yet. If Kol comes back from the dead again I want him to be stuck here instead of running around town. Once you're done with them, make your way to your father's house, I believe Caroline will need your support there."
"What? Why?"
"It's important. Just do it."
The seriousness in his voice made her uncomfortable and she nodded not willing to argue with him.
"Klaus don't leave me here" Rebekah called him when she saw he was heading for the stairs. He turned to look at her and noticed her face was bathed with tears. He was instantly brought back to their childhood days when he would have picked up a fight with any boy around their small town who would have made her cry like this.
He walked up to the magical wall's limit and threw the Cure up in her face.
"There, take it, you want it for yourself, now, don't you. So go ahead, be the pathetic human you so desperately want to be. You had never meant for me to take it did you. Deep down you wished to take it and start a new life, this being another one of your impulsive wishes. Then go ahead, take it. But for the record, you and I are through. I will no longer call you my sister. You are a stranger to me, another potential victim. And if our ways ever cross again in the future, you better run because I will make it my goal to make you regret you ever threatened me and Caroline. Do you understand?"
"What about always looking out for me and always be there for me?" she cried between sobs.
Klaus took a step and got so close their noses almost touched.
"After knowing me for all these years, you really believed that?"
He moved back before her hand could make contact with his face "I'm off to find Caroline before she makes it to the Mayor's house" he said to Elijah.
He then looked at Stefan "I could use your help, mate. Caroline trusts you and looks out to you, she might need you there as well."
"What, the almighty Klaus asks for our help?" Damon asked sarcastically.
"Let's just say that I care enough about Caroline to swallow my pride for once" he said before flashing off to the stairs, Stefan following his lead.
Damon gave Rebekah a mocking glare, before turning his attention back to Bonnie, "Well Bonnie, it's time for some hocus pocus again. I think you could probably make their bubbly prisons a little smaller. We wouldn't want them to get too cozy in there while we're out."
Rebekah gave Elijah a pleading look before she sensed the prison around her shift closer to her body. She looked at the Cure in her hand debating if she should take it or not. It was now or never.
Caroline was speeding through the forest making her way back to Mystic Falls as fast as she could. She came out of the edge of the forest and onto a populated street. The night sky made it easy for her to speed by houses and remain undetected.
She had to stop for a few seconds to try and recall what way they had took when they had taken to Stefan and the other's rescue ,what seemed like years ago. So much had happened since then.
She pushed her tears away, trying her best to keep her head focussed on the road ahead. She refused to believe what her heart had already recognized; the indisputable hollowness left only by a loved one's departure.
Caroline heard footsteps coming from behind her and she spun around quickly, ready to attack her stalker, before she realized it was no one other than Klaus.
Klaus stopped in front of her and they both looked at one another, standing in the middle of the road, both out of breath from the run and the overwhelming emotions taking over them.
"Caroline…" he started, taking a step closer to her.
"Don't…" she said, cutting him off. She raised her hands as if it could protect her from his words "She's not dead" she said before she started crying again.
"Sweetheart" he said. He didn't know how to act in these situations. He wasn't good with other people's grief and hers especially as it always made him feel things he'd have preferred stayed hidden in the debts of his heart like compassion and sadness. Her denial was making him uncomfortable "You said yourself that Kol was the one whose life was now linked to your mother's. Mere bullets, even if they had been dipped in werewolf blood, would not have killed him, they don't kill Originals. The only explanation for his death is that the other person's life, to which he was bonded, has ended."
"No! You're wrong!" Caroline cried out before she ran at him and started throwing punches at his chest.
Her attack had no physical effect on him and he let her take her rage out on him. He realized he hadn't used the right words with the blonde vampire and had only triggered an even more violent reaction from her. He grabbed her wrists lightly but firmly and stared into her eyes "Caroline, please calm down…"
He didn't use compulsion on her as he knew that it wouldn't do any good, not in the emotional state she was in.
Caroline looked back at him, her eyes glistening, and finally stopped her rampage. She started shacking and she finally let him pull her to him in a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry, love." He said stroking her hair, as he genuinely was sorry for her loss.
Stefan caught up with them just then. He waited for his blonde friend to calm down before he spoke, extended his hand for her to take: "Let's go find your mom Caroline" he said gently.
She smiled sadly at him and they all sped up to reach Mystic Falls.
They arrived at the Bennett's house and they immediately felt concerned that all the lights in the house were out.
"This is the Mayor's house?" Klaus asked. He had pictured it a much bigger. Mayors were the chiefs of towns – except for the ones he lived in where he was the law – they should have the biggest, most expensive manors of all, not a regular two-story house like this one.
He noticed Caroline making her way to the front door and he ran to stop her from grabbing the door's handle. He swept her off her feet, putting a hand on her mouth to silence her protests and spun her around.
"Shhh. Whomever attached this place is still here" he whispered, his lips close to her ear.
Caroline tensed up. If the people who attacked her mom were still in the house she would make sure to make them suffer.
Stefan looked at the handle attentively "There is something spread on it" he pointed.
"Werewolf venom" Klaus replied keeping a close eye on Caroline. He knew her need for revenge must be overwhelming for her to resist at the moment. He was looking forward to seeing her in action but would be sure to supervise her actions in there so she wouldn't endanger her life.
"I know a way inside the house the assailants would not know of" Caroline said feeling anxious with every second that past. While they were chatting her mom could be in danger. What were they waiting for?
Klaus looked at her as if debating to trust her word or not. He finally nodded for her to lead the way and they walked around the house, hiding in the shadows surrounding the building. Caroline pointed at one of the yard's biggest tree, where a tree house had been built. It had been painted in what was now the ugliest washed up sickening pink colour he had ever seen.
"Nice Barbie house" Klaus pointed, sarcastically.
"We were twelve!" Caroline sighted, nostalgically, for a second there she was brought back to her childhood. "There's a way inside Bonnie's room through the Tree house. We used to sneak out at night on our sleepovers here. We would tell ghost stories and fall asleep on the floor where Bonnie's dad always found us the next morning."
She climbed up the wooden boards leading her up the tree and waited for the boys to meet up with her.
Klaus and Stefan quickly followed her lead and they crunched down inside the house due of the low ceiling. They noticed Caroline was already crawling on a thick branch leading to the Bennett's house lower roof where a window providing access to a small bedroom was visible.
The window was cracked open and Caroline noiselessly jerked it ajar before she sidled inside.
Stefan made his way inside Bonnie's room and joined Caroline at the bedroom's door listening in for any noise coming from other rooms inside the house. The moment Klaus tried to sneak inside as well he was blocked by an invisible barrier.
Stefan and Caroline both turned to look at him quizzically and his frustrated expression reminded them that he had never been invited inside before and wouldn't be able to join them, at least until Bonnie came back from the old Mikaelson's property.
Klaus' blood was boiling. He wanted to call them back, unwilling to let Caroline inside the house while there was still a threat inside, especially when that menace had werewolf venom at hand. Yet her determined expression was proof enough that she would not leave without her mother.
Klaus gave Stefan a warning look. If anything happened to her, the young Salvatore would have him to answer to. The Original Hybrid drew back and jumped down the roof onto the grass before starting to sneak close to the house trying to find were the enemy was hiding within these walls. He would need to wait for Damon and Bonnie to arrive before he could run inside and go about with his ruckus.
Caroline listened closely for any heart beat coming from the second floors' room and quickly picked two up, coming from a room right across from Bonnie's. Stefan and she flashed to the room's door but before she went inside she took out her cellphone and dialled Matt's cellphone number. If he was still inside the house she would know.
No ringing sound came to her ear but she heard Matt`s voice coming from the room they were now facing. He swore when his cellphone started buzzing and closed it, ignoring the call, either because he was under surveillance or because he did not want to be found by the enemy. Either way, Caroline had to get inside that room now.
She opened the door and they cautiously walked in, on the look-out for any possible threats. Seeing as the room seemed empty they walked to the large walk-in where the sound of the two heartbeats were coming from. Stefan went ahead of her and reached for the handle before Matt busted out the door with a baseball bat and tried to hit him with it but Stefan easily dodged the blow. Realizing it was his friends, Matt looked reassured.
Caroline noticed Mr. Hopkins, Bonnie's father, collapsed on the floor, his hand pressing against his rib-cage where blood was gushing out of a nasty-looking wound. The smell of blood and the level of adrenaline pumping through her veins made her vampire features stand out, and she hastily looked away as the black veins around her eyes stood out and her fangs started elongating.
She had quickly realized her mother was not in this room which meant that she was probably on the first floor, just below them. She listened intently and was about to rush out of the room when Stefan caught her arm.
"You are not going down there alone" he said in a hushed voice.
She frowned deeply "I need to find her" she simply replied. She had picked up two other heartbeats coming from below them and her hopes had gone up again. Maybe her mother was down there waiting for Caroline to save her.
"They're dangerous Caroline" Matt intervened. "When I got here your mom was talking with Mr. Hopkins and she started complaining about a huge headache and she had almost backed out when we noticed a big wound on the back of her head. Two seconds later these freaks busted through the front door and attacked Mr. Hopkins and your mother. Your mom was already… There was blood everywhere… I was only able to save Mr. Hopkins but we couldn't get out and we've been hiding in here ever since."
"Who are they?" Caroline growled. Matt's words scared her… her mom was already what? Her head was screaming the word top her and she feared to even think about the possibility...
"Two Hunters and former council members" Matt answered. "They're back from the dead and they are here to get their revenge on everyone. The council members attacked the Mayor and your mom, accusing them of being a disgrace to their functions. That instead of ridding the town of the vampires and werewolves they have embraced their co-habitation with the people of this town. The Council members left a few minutes ago and said they had other people to visit."
"So Pastor Young was the one who attacked my mom?" Caroline asked incredulously. She remembered the old man who had died not long ago, how could a religious man attack an innocent woman?
"It wasn't April's father" Matt said. "I did not recognize them, they were not from this time; one of them was called Johnathan."
"Johnathan? As in Johnathan Gilbert?" Stefan asked, surprised.
"I don't know… You mean that man could have been Elena's ancestor from over a hundred years ago?" Matt asked.
Stefan pondered this for a few seconds but now they were facing an even more pressing problem at the moment.
"You mentioned that there were Hunters with them, which ones were you referring to?" Stefan asked. "I can sense two people downstairs."
"It's that Connor guy and another dude with long black hair" Matt answered. "That one creeps me out. They said they were looking for Silas and Qetsiyah. That they knew that Bonnie was a descendant of the Witch and that she would know how to find Qetsiyah. So they decided to stick around and wait for her to come home. "
Stefan took out his phone and dialled Bonnie's number but got no answer. He then called Klaus.
"What is going on in there?" the Original Hybrid asked, still unhappy to have been left outside.
"We have two Hunters inside that are waiting for Bonnie, we can't have her come back here. Tell her we'll take care of her father and that she needs to hide someplace safe."
"That witch is my only ticket inside this house; I need her to let me in. I will take care of the Hunters" Klaus replied adamantly.
"Don't endanger my friend's life for ours, Klaus" Caroline shot back as she stood next to Stefan.
"Don't worry, love, I'll make sure she gets in and out without a scratch" and he hung up.
"Okay Matt, if you go to Bonnie's room you'll be able to leave with Mr. Hopkins, safely. We'll take it from here."
"But they have weapons that could kill you" Matt insisted "You can't go down there."
"Don't worry about us, just get Bonnie's dad out of here" Caroline said. She walked to the Mayor and crouched down to be at eye level with him "Can you stand up?" she asked him.
"Caroline… Liz, she's…"
"Don't worry about it. Are you able to walk?" Caroline cut him off. She did not want to hear it.
"I… yes."
"Good" She bit into her wrist and coaxed him to drink up so his injuries would heal faster. Once he did, she turned to look at Matt "Then it's settled, you need to leave. Now. Whatever happens, don't come back. And Matt…" she said and he looked at her quizzically, "thank you, for everything."
She ran up to him and fiercely hugged him before planting a kiss on his cheek.
Matt unwillingly left the room with Bonnie's father, giving his friends one last look before he entered Bonnie's room and closed the door behind them.
Klaus was pacing around the garden like a lion stuck in a cage. He was listening for any sign of Damon and Bonnie's arrival. They should have been back here by now.
He heard some noise above him and looked up to see Matt and the new Mayor crawl on the tree branch leading to the Tree House.
As they got back on the ground Matt gave Klaus an uncertain look, not sure if he should trust him or not.
Klaus just looked back at him. He then noticed Caroline's scent hovering in the air and saw the Mayor's bloody shirt.
Concerned, he looked at Matt "Is she okay?"
Matt just looked back at him brows furrowed "You better make it so she comes out of there alive" he replied before heading for his pickup truck. "Tell them we'll go to my place, no one will be looking for us there."
Klaus rushed to them and stood in front of Bonnie`s father "Before you leave gentlemen, I need to get inside this house, and you will help me."
Caroline and Stefan sneakily made their way to the top of the stairs where they could hear the two Hunters walking around in the living room.
"…while we're sitting around here waiting! Silas could be making hundreds of innocent victims. We need to get the Cure and we need to kill him."
"Calm down Alexander" Stefan recognized Connor's voice and he had to restrain himself from running down there to rip his head off. He wasn't sure how he would get rid of the two Hunters without killing them and being stuck with the Hunter's curse afterwards, but he would need to find a way. He knew Connor would seek revenge on Elena at some point, and although it was now clear to him that Elena was in love with Damon, he would always protect her. No matter what.
"We need to strategize our next steps. I've contacted other Hunters that returned from the Other Side and they had nothing to report but they are keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Once the Bennett witch arrives, we'll get the answers to our questions" Connor finished.
There was a pause before Alexander spoke again.
"As you wish, but for now what do we do with the woman's body?"
Caroline flew down the stairs before Stefan even had the chance to react and stop her. She raced to the living room and there, her heart sank.
On the floor, next to the fireplace, her mother's lifeless body was sprawled across the floor, a pool of blood formed beneath her.
Filled with a renewed rage, Caroline tackled the man closest to her mother's body so hard they both slammed into the nearest wall, sending pieces of plaster around them.
Her fangs were so long they almost pierced through her lower lip when she bit down on the man called Alexander's neck, so rapidly he did not have a chance to react.
Stefan rushed to her aid, throwing Connor to the closest wall before the black man had a chance to aim his shotgun at Caroline. All fangs out Stefan pinned Connor down preventing the Hunter from getting back on his feet.
Completely unaware of Stefan's struggle with the other man, Caroline was delighting herself with Alexander's blood. It had been such a long time since she had had a taste of human blood fresh from the veins. It was exhilarating.
She suddenly felt herself being lifted up and pulled away from her victim before she was dragged outside the house and back on the front lawn. She was finally released from her snatcher, as she turned around to find his identity she was face to face with Klaus, his own features reflecting the same rage she felt.
"I'm going back in there to finish him off" she snapped at him.
Stefan ran out the house and met up with them just as Caroline tried to pass by Klaus but was stopped when the Original caught her arm roughly.
"You are not going back in there" he cut her off.
"I don't remember asking your permission" she spat, "and since when are you against someone taking the bloody way to satisfy their needs for revenge?"
"I would have no problem with you killing this whole town if I knew you took pleasure in bloodshed and violence, but this is not you Caroline. And if I understood what your friend Matt said, these Hunters, although they are a nuisance, are not the culprit you should aim your anger at" he growled.
"He's right Caroline" Stefan stepped in, as he noticed she was about to argue.
"I'm not afraid of them" Caroline yelled. "They provided the weapons that killed my mother, they are as guilty as the ones who pulled the trigger."
Just then a faint whooshing sound came from close by and Klaus was quick enough to catch the wooden stake mid-air before it lodged itself in Caroline's heart.
They turned to face the two Hunters who were now standing on the porch.
Connor held a crossbow aimed at Caroline and Klaus recognized the Hunter sword in Alexander's hands, as the street lights glistened off its blade. Luckily the houses around the Bennett's were deserted for the night as the inhabitants must have went out on a trip.
"We meet again vampire" Alexander said looking directly at Klaus.
"You will quickly find out that a lot has changed since our last encounter, mate" Klaus said, before flashing between the two Hunters, smashing Connor's skull against the concrete – rending him unconscious - and braking Alexander's right arm in one swift move.
The Hunter yelled in pain and dropped the sword before Klaus reached through Alexander's chest and squeezed his heart "How many times will I have to kill you, Hunter?"
"The... Hybrid" Alexander moaned before his head was cut off his shoulders and it rolled down to Klaus' feet.
Bewildered, Klaus let go of the man's body and looked at Caroline in shock. She had snatched the Hunter's sword and sneakily made her way behind Alexander. Before Klaus could kill the Hunter himself, she had done what she had said she would. She had finished him off, but with what consequences.
"Caroline..."
Stefan was equally shocked at his friend's bold move.
"He needed to pay" she simply said before dropping the sword to the ground.
"Caroline, love, you realize that you will now face the Hunter's Curse for having killed one of the Five" Klaus said, concerned. He knew how terrible it would be for the young woman.
"You were about to do it yourself" she simply pointed out. She looked at Connor before adding "You almost killed that one."
"Almost, yes. Now he will most likely die from the injury I caused and yet I will not be condemned by the Curse because I did not technically kill him. Alexander on the other hand" he looked at the beheaded body at his feet "well you quite killed him."
"So I'll go crazy" she said matter-of-factly, looking at the street lights. She nodded to herself before entering the house again.
Klaus followed her inside and they made their way to the living room where Caroline kneeled next to her mother and started absentmindedly brushing the short locks of her mother's hair.
A heartbreaking bawl came out of her mouth as she fell forward resting her heart on her mother's stomach like she used to when she was a child and she felt sad or scared. She had always felt comfort in the warmness of her mother's embraces. But now, Liz would never again murmur soothing word to calm her down. Her hands would never braid her hair. She would never again hold Caroline in her arms and tell her everything would be alright, that she would fix it all for her.
"You can't..." she cried. "You can't be dead. Mom... please... you can't leave me."
Her sobs brought back Klaus' own memory of his mother and how he had wished he could cry over Esther's death like this. Caroline's despair made him wish he had a family he could trust with members who loved him for who he was without trying to change him.
He kneeled down to her side and gently grabbed her shoulder bringing her into his arms.
She wept on his shoulder for what seemed like hours before Stefan walked in on them. "The paramedics are coming, I can hear them from a mile away."
"Mr. Hopkins must have called them" Caroline said, wiping tears from her eyes with one hand, the other squeezing one of Klaus' hand.
"Let me take care of this" Stefan said, "you two leave."
"But my mom..." Caroline cried.
"They'll take good care of her, my love" Klaus said, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it lightly. "You can see her later. They will clean her up so the last image you have of her will remain beautiful."
"I can't leave her" she feebly argued, falling back on her knees and grabbing her mom's cold hands in hers.
"Mom, wake up please. Just... come back."
"You don't want that Caroline." Stefan said.
She looked up at him frowning "Why not?"
"Because you want her to be at peace and leave this life behind to embrace the quiescence of the After Life."
Although she couldn't admit it to herself she realized Stefan was right, but the thought of letting her mom go hurt so much, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to live on without her by her side. She summoned enough courage from her heart and looked at her friend with resolution.
"You're right. I can't be selfish, anymore. Not about this" she got back on her feet after closing her mother's eyelids and kissing Liz's forehead.
Klaus took her hand in his and they sped off the backdoor as the paramedic's lights became visible from outside.
Caroline held on to Klaus' hand. She suddenly felt so weak and tired.
"Klaus... stop please..." she pleaded.
The Hybrid slowed the pace and finally came to a stop.
"I can't live without her" she said.
"Yes you can. Listen to me. You are a strong woman Caroline. Your mother would want you to fight."
She looked at him, trying to make him understand.
"I lost her Klaus. I'm all alone now."
She started crying again, lowering her gaze to the ground.
Klaus cupped her face gently and made her look at him, straight in his intense blue eyes.
"I know you feel like this but do not let these dark feelings annihilate the light that surrounds you and makes you who you are. You are stronger than this Caroline."
"I don't know if I can."
"Listen to me. I will not let you go. No matter what, I will not lose you."
She stared at him wide eyed, taken aback by the intensity in his eyes.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, that I love you Caroline Forbes, and that I will stand by your side always and forever. I will help you get through this Curse, wether it takes you ten or a hundred years to do so. You will never be alone."
Klaus had taken a leap of faith in telling her these words. He did not know if this would make her run away or what else, he never really had fallen in love with a woman after Tatia and now he was completely vulnerable, opening his heart to Caroline.
It took Caroline a minute to process his words before she jumped in his arms and kissed him.
She would not be alone. She had just lost her mom, she knew she would soon become crazy but she also knew that no matter what Klaus would be by her side, helping her through it all.
Klaus pulled back from the kiss, his features dark and she suddenly felt scared he was going to kill her.
"I should have known you wouldn't stay hidden much longer" he growled. "Are you enjoying the show, mate?"
Klaus turned around and stepped in front of Caroline shielding her from whatever threat he had sensed. She moved aside to see what was going on and she gasped in shock.
"Tyler?"
Tyler gave her a wicked smile "Hello Caroline" he said to her, then turning his gaze at Klaus "I have a few friends here who would like to say hello."
Then one by one, Klaus' twelve former Hybrids – the very ones he had murdered - stepped away from the trees surrounding them, their expression all showed disgust and hatred towards the couple.
"It's payback time" Tyler said before he rushed towards Klaus.
At the same time, at the Mayor's house...
Stefan had just finished compelling the paramedics to keep the story hushed. As he sat down on the porch he saw the youngest of the two men look at Alexander's chest with surprise.
"Nice tattoos" he said to his colleague.
"What tattoo?"
"Are you kidding me?" the young man said. "It's huge."
"Then call me blind."
Stefan looked the young man with interest. Maybe he could help Caroline get through the curse quickly if he got this young man to become a new Hunter.
As he got up to talk to the guy one on one, he felt a menace coming from behind him.
He turned around quickly, fangs out and almost fell backward.
"You..." he said incredulously.
A man with light-brown hair stepped out of the shadows, holding a shotgun made for Hunters. He gave Stefan a predator smile and Stefan had to fight the urges to get on his knees and let the man kill him.
"It has been quite a long time, son."
"Father..."
Bonnie, Damon and Elijah walked out the house when they were thrown forward, blasted by the explosion of the bungalow they had just exited.
Damon fell face first in the dirt and only with great effort was he able to stand back up.
"Arggghhh" he yelled, pulling at a long piece of glass that had lodged itself in his back, an inch from his heart.
He looked around and spotted Elijah lying on his back.
"Where's Bonnie?" he asked.
Elena was at the Lake House, waiting for Jeremy to come back from getting the wood for the fireplace. She felt nervous without any news from her friends.
Elena had been so happy when Jeremy came back from the trip to free Silas, although he had come back with a haunted look in his eyes.
There was something different about him and she was not sure what it was.
It had been more than ten minutes since her brother had left and she was now concerned for his safety.
She walked to the door and, the moment she opened it, a stake flew through the air and lodged itself into her chest, a mere centimetre away from her heart.
She fell on her back, the last image she saw before losing conscience was Jeremy aiming his gun at her and a man standing beside him, a satisfied smile plastered on his face.
To be continued...