Disclaimer: As you know by now, I don't TVD. If I did, a great many things would be different. Any recognizable characters, plots and dialogue belong to L.J. Smith and the CW.

A/N: I can't get over the response to this story. Every comment and favorite means the world to me. I do try to respond to them via PM, but if I missed yours, I'm sorry. Another periodic reminder, that I'm over on tumblr at maetowle dot tumblr dot com, and if you have other questions/comments, that's a good way to get in touch with me. There are also occasional posts about other stories I'm working on.

Okay, enough self-promotion. Onto the story! I hope you enjoy. This chapter's been driving me crazy.

Rebekah

The doppelgänger had been sitting on the other side of the tunnel since Rebekah had sent her sprawling. Rebekah couldn't even bring herself to be shocked that Elena had remained quiet for the better part of half an hour. She was too lost in the implications of her hand bleeding exactly as Elena's had. Both wounds had healed almost as quickly as they had opened, which was another concern - the doppelgänger shouldn't heal like that.

But clearly, her mother had left something out when she asked Rebekah to watch Elena for her. Rebekah had been the one to choose the tunnels, hoping to scare Elena even more, but Esther had merely insisted that Elena be kept away from her friends, Elijah, and Kol. Rebekah was starting to think there was truth amongst Elena's words about Esther, but she was so happy to have her mother back that she didn't want to think such things.

"You think I deserve this, I'm sure," Elena said quietly. She was looking up from the stone floor at Rebekah, who glanced at her and away again.

Rebekah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Whatever respite she had from the doppelgänger's self-righteousness was at an end. Rebekah turned the force of her glare back on Elena and thought about hitting her again, but the link meant she would only be hurting herself - and who knew who else.

"I mean," Elena continued, "after what I did to you, I wouldn't be surprised. But I didn't want this. I didn't know your mom wanted to kill all of you. Once I knew what she planned, I tried-"

Rebekah interrupted what she was sure was meant to be an encouraging and sugary sweet speech, but it was the last thing she wanted right now. "If - and it's a big if - you're telling the truth and these are my final hours, do you think I want to spend them listening to the person who literally stabbed me in the back? Of course not. So, do us both a favor and shut up before I kill us both by ripping your throat out."

Elena scowled and looked away, but Rebekah had already tuned her out again. She withdrew the phone Klaus had given her upon waking her - as if that would make up for 90 years of a dagger in her heart - and played with it. There was no service here, but she wished she could talk to her brothers. Whatever their mother was up to, at least one of them must have some plan. But the only thing she could think was that it was 6:18, and her mother said Elena had to be left unharmed until 9:07.

Bonnie

In the living room of Jeremy and Elena's house, chaos had taken over. Kol had brought the pages of Esther's curse with him, but Bonnie hadn't brought her grimoire. Given all the events of the past couple years, she should have anticipated the possibility of being trapped, but the thought hadn't crossed her mind.

"It's not as though your grandmother's book would have the spells we need," Kol said as he watched her pace the length of the room. "I don't know why you're so frantic. You have a witchy encyclopedia right in front of you."

Bonnie frowned. It was true that Grams' book had nothing like the linking spell on Elena and the Originals. There hadn't even been a spell to counter the link that Katherine had put on her and Elena the night of the masquerade ball. Bonnie flashed back to how useless she had felt that night, trying to lessen Elena's pain but unable to do anything more. She was feeling that way again, trapped inside the Gilbert house with numerous threats hanging over all their heads.

And if the grimoire had nothing on the linking magic, there was not even a mention of a curse like what had been placed on Elena and Elijah. Grams would never dabble in magic that dark. Then, there was the translation spell Kol said would help her understand his mother's curse. She didn't think there was anything like that in Grams' grimoire either. Just how old was the magic Kol was proposing? Was it safe? Would she have enough power?

She turned to face Kol just as Caroline reappeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"How are the Salvatores?" Kol asked without turning to look as Caroline approached.

"How did you- Never mind." Caroline turned to face Bonnie. "I think Damon's up to something," she said, moving to stand beside Bonnie. "But hopefully Stefan can talk some sense into him. Stefan said Elijah was just there - like you said he would be," she said, directing her comment at Kol. It was clear that she didn't believe a word that came out of his mouth.

"Don't you trust me, darling?" Kol asked, a winning smile on his face as he gazed up at Caroline from the sofa.

"Not even a little," she said.

Kol shrugged. "And what happened when my big brother went to visit?"

"Stefan said Elijah's making them go find Elena, that Rebekah's with her now-" Bonnie winced at that - of course that's who Elena's jailer would be - but Caroline continued - "and that they have to find her by 9:06, which is super specific-"

"The full moon," Bonnie said. "Esther's going to draw power from the celestial event as well as the entire Bennett line."

"Right, but she already linked them, so what does she need the power for?" Caroline asked.

"To make us vulnerable," Kol said. "We're all linked together, but we still have the abilities that made us into her abominations. She needs to make us human - well, mostly human. We need to keep enough of our vampiric nature to maintain the bloodline link. She wants to end all vampires… It's all very complicated."

"But, if you're linked with Elena," Caroline started to say, but Kol cut her off.

"Like I told these two earlier: for all intents and purposes, Elena is part-Original now. Mother could try to kill her, but it would still take more strength than if she were to cast her spell. But, at least we know what we're working with for a timeline. We need to decide what we're going to do and how to get it done."

"The link needs to be the priority then," Bonnie said. She wanted to uncurse Elena, she really did, but- "If Elena's dead, there's no need to figure out the countercurse," she said.

Both Jeremy and Caroline flinched at the severity of her statement, but it was the truth, and sugarcoating it wasn't going to help any of them.

Stefan

Stefan's phone was ringing. He glanced down, hoping to see Elena's name flashing on the screen even though he knew it was unlikely. It was Bonnie. When he answered, she launched, without greeting, into asking him if he could please, please, please run over to her house and pick up her grimoire.

"If that's what you need, I want to help, Bonnie," Stefan said, "but you've never invited me in."

"Damn," she cursed under her breath.

"You can invite him in over the phone," Kol said. "Should still work. And while you're there, Salvatore, do us a favor and pick up some other things as well." He asked for candles, some herbs, and an athame.

There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the line before Bonnie asked Stefan to please bring those items as well. Then, she wrung a promise from him not to abuse his invitation - or tell Damon about it - before she invited him into her house.

Stefan went as quick as he could. As he was handing the items over the threshold to Caroline, he felt the impossible urge to laugh. Not because Bonnie had taken over the Gilbert living room with every surface in the room covered in candles or dishes of elemental representatives. No, he wanted to laugh because Kol was giving instruction, but he was doing so while tied to one of the wooden dining room chairs. Jeremy was standing over him with one of Alaric's crossbows aimed steadily at Kol's chest, but he didn't seem to notice.

After a moment, the urge to laugh was too great and Stefan chuckled. Kol turned his head at the sound.

"Thought you were helping willingly?" Stefan said, raising an eyebrow at Kol's predicament.

He grinned. "Oh, I am, but they felt they would be more comfortable this way, and who am I to shame someone their urges? I could absolutely get out if I wanted to."

"What?" Bonnie exclaimed, looking up from the page she was scouring. "But you said-"

"I'm an Original, darling," Kol drawled. As he spoke, he yanked his arm upward, and the rope around it hissed faintly before snapping. He rested his chin on his now free hand. "It takes a little more than vervain rope and a crossbow to keep me down."

As if to emphasize Kol's point, Jeremy took that moment to fire a bolt at Kol. It went just wide of Kol's heart. He pulled it out and tossed it away before looking back up at Jeremy.

"That wasn't very friendly, mate," he said.

Jeremy smirked at him. "What? You said, 'shoot me if you feel so inclined, for all the good it will do you.' I felt inclined."

Kol chuckled, and Stefan turned to Caroline.

"What the hell is happening here?" he asked.

She shrugged a shoulder. "I have no idea," she said. "I came back down from our phone call, and it was discussed that we didn't trust Kol. He shrugged that off and asked what would make us more comfortable. Bonnie suggested that," she waved her hand at the ropes wrapped almost completely around Kol and his chair, "he called it kinky, which made Jeremy laugh. That's when Kol said to go ahead and shoot him if it would make Jeremy feel better, and here we are. It's been a weird day."

"When isn't it?" Stefan asked. "I… was honestly expecting more-"

"Bloodshed?" Kol called from the other room.

"Well, yeah," Stefan said. "After what happened at the ball."

"Yes, but the threat of dying, at the hands of one's mother no less, does have a tendency to change one's priorities."

Stefan nodded to that. It was hard to argue that point. When Bonnie and Caroline had reassured him that they had things under control there, Stefan left to work out how he and Damon could find Elena.

However, when he returned to the boarding house, Damon was nowhere to be found. After all of a moment of thought, Stefan ran to where they had stored the dagger and white oak ash. He was entirely unsurprised to find the dagger missing and the jar's stopper slightly out of place.

"Well, shit," he muttered. Like he needed another complication in the day.