Previously, in "Pages in Between," Liam comforts Carrie after she has a nightmare, Klaus treats Caroline to a night on the town, and Maria returns home after a fight with Gavin.

Chapter Thirteen

Damon & Elena's House…

Damon slowly opened his eyes as a knock at the front door woke him out of a sound sleep. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, wondering who could be coming by this early. Elena heard the knocking as well and sat up, looking at her husband. "Who's at the door, Damon?"

"Don't know, but I'm going to find out." He got up out of bed, pulled his boxers on, as well as a T-shirt and his favorite black silk robe before extending his hand to her. "Come on, let's go see."

Elena nodded, quickly threw something on, and took his hand, following him out of their bedroom. The knocking got louder as they approached the door and Damon was surprised that the neighbors hadn't started complaining yet. When they got to the door, he peeked out of the peep hole, saying, "Who is it?"

"Damon, its Stefan, can I come in?"

Puzzled by his brother's sudden visit, Damon unlocked the door and let him in, closing it behind him as soon as he was in the house. "What's going on, Stefan? Why the sudden urge to visit me?"

"I need to talk to you." He looked at Elena. "I'd prefer to do it in private, though. I know that you don't want Elena to think you're excluding her, but this is something I need my brother for."

Damon nodded. "Okay." He looked at Elena. "Go on back to bed, baby. Stefan and I have some things we need to discuss in private."

Elena nodded as well. "It's all right, Damon, you don't have to explain. I understand." She kissed him softly. "Don't take too long." Before she left, she said to Stefan, "It's always good to see you, Stefan. Tell Rebekah I said hi."

She kissed her brother-in-law on the cheek and then went back upstairs, leaving Stefan and Damon to their business.

Stefan waited until Damon had gestured for him to go ahead of him to his private office, waiting until Damon had closed the doors to give them further privacy before Damon turned to his brother. "So, what's up?" the dark-haired Salvatore asked as he rubbed more sleep out of his eyes.

Stefan bit his lip. "She's back, Damon."

"Who's back?"

"The con artist who wormed her way into our lives, pretending to be our sister," Stefan said. "I don't know how, but she's escaped." He took an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Damon. "I got this last night. I opened it and when I saw the handwriting, I knew right away who it was."

Damon took the envelope from Stefan, opened it and saw the letter, his blue eyes widening. "This isn't good, not at all."

"I know it's not," Stefan said. "What's worse, she's gotten Luke out as well." He ran a hand through his hair. "We have to warn Carrie. Luke might go after her again, maybe even kill her, the baby, and, possibly even Liam."

Reaching out, Damon let his hand grab onto the back of a chair until his knuckles turned white. "Safety," he finally said. "We need to put Carrie, Elena, anyone they might get a hold of in a safe place. And I think it should be at the summer house in Italy."

Stefan nodded in agreement. "I agree. We've seen how dangerous she is and we need to protect our family."

"Yes, that's a definite. We'll have to arrange a family meeting later," Damon said and his brother nodded again.

Stefan then heard his cell phone ring. Checking the ID, he saw Rebekah's number. Looking at Damon, he answered it. "Yes, my love?"

"Did you tell Damon about the letter you got last night?"

Stefan nodded. "I did. In fact, we're just discussing the best course of action."

"Really," Rebekah said. "And what did you come up with?"

"Using the summer house in Italy," Stefan said. "I know that it sounds like I'm being vague, but everything will be explained in more detail at the family meeting later."

"Fair enough," Rebekah said. "I thought I'd call and see how you're making out."

"I appreciate that," Stefan said. "I'll see you at home, babe. I love you, you know that."

"I do, Stefan, and I love you too," Rebekah said. "Send my regards to everyone and I'll see you soon."

Stefan nodded again. "I will." He hung up and placed his phone in his pocket.

"So, we are going with the summer house for sure?" Damon asked his brother, who nodded in reply.

"We can't let her destroy us," Stefan said. "We worked too hard to build it."

"She won't destroy us, Stefan," Damon said. "Not as long as I live and breathe."

His brother nodded in agreement once more. "Call Carrie & Liam as well as Caroline and Klaus; they'll all want to be here for the meeting," he said before leaving the house.

Damon sighed and reached for the phone and called Carrie. Several rings passed before Carrie said, "Daddy?"

"Hi, sweetheart, is Liam around? I need to talk to both of you," he said, trying not to break down in tears for his little girl's sake.

"Yes, he's here, hold on," Carrie replied quickly, shaking Liam awake on her end of the line.

Liam woke up as Carrie was shaking him, looking at her. "Who's on the phone, love?"

"My father," she replied. "He wants to talk to us."

Liam then took the phone from her, his curiosity piquing. Clearing his throat, he said, "Damon. To what do we owe the pleasure of hearing your voice this early?"

"I know it's early, but this is important," Damon said. "I'm afraid that the con artist who pretended to be Carrie's aunt has escaped from jail, along with your old friend, Luke Garrison."

Liam looked at Carrie. "How did that happen?"

"That I don't know," Damon said. "What I do know is that you, Carrie and the baby are in danger if you stay where you are."

"What do you want us to do?" Liam asked as he opened his arm to Carrie when he saw tears gather in her eyes. She quickly nestled against his side and he stroked her back softly, patting it every few seconds to keep her calm.

"Get dressed and come to the house," Damon said. "I'm going to be holding a family meeting and I think you and Carrie should be there."

Liam nodded. "We'll be there." He looked at Carrie and kissed her forehead. "Don't start anything until we get there, okay?"

"I don't plan to," Damon said. "I'm going to call Caroline and Klaus now and let them know as well."

"Good idea," Liam said. "They're going to want to know about this."

Meanwhile…

Finn and Sage had just begun to relax in each other's arms after the massages they'd gotten as part of their second 'honeymoon' package that had come with the promotion he'd gotten when her cell phone rang.

Sage groaned when she heard her cell phone ring. "Oh, why is it that when we're about to relax that someone tries to interrupt us?"

Finn nodded. "Did you want me to answer it or did you want to ignore it?"

"If we ignore it, whoever it is will try calling again," Sage said. "Answer it and see who it is."

Reaching over, Finn picked up the phone, pressing SEND and bringing it up to his ear. "Hello, this is Sage Mikaelson's phone," he said with a grin at his wife, who giggled quietly into the soft cotton material of his robe.

"Finn, it's your sister," Rebekah said from the other end, in a sort of clipped, unreadable tone.

Finn heard Rebekah's tone, his grin disappearing. "Rebekah, what's wrong?"

"It's the family, Finn, we're in trouble," Rebekah said. "The con artist who wormed her way into our lives, pretending to be my sister-in-law has escaped from jail, along with the boy she was in league with."

"What?" Finn asked. "Why, and how?"

"I'm not sure on the how, but as far as the why, I'd say she wants revenge."

Back in New York…

Sabrina had just come down for breakfast, a grin on her face, when the doorbell rings. She heads in that direction instead of going to the kitchen like she'd intended, her eyes going wide at the sight of the gun being held up against her niece Ruby. "Get inside. Now," the feminine voice demanded and Sabrina did as she asked, trembling with fear while the female brought Ruby inside, still holding the gun to Ruby.

Sabrina felt her heart hammer as she looked at the woman that had Ruby at gun point. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Lydia McDermott," the woman replied, pushing Ruby forward and into Sabrina's arms. "Your little friends knew me by my alias, Arietta Salvatore. That plan was working perfectly until Damon became wise to my trick, which led to my arrest, as if any jail could hold me. To answer your second question, I'm here for revenge."

"But why target me, and my family?" Sabrina demanded. Behind her back, her fingers were sending out a quick text message to her sister.

Lydia scoffed. "Oh, why not target you and your family? You're related to the Salvatore family through your sister's marriage to Stefan." She grinned. "And my friend has a personal score to settle with Damon's oldest daughter. He'll make short work of her, I can tell you that, and it won't matter if she's with that nephew of yours. He'll be dealt with."

"You leave Liam alone, got it, bitch?" Sabrina growled at the other woman.

Lydia scowled at Sabrina. "You're in no position to be threatening anyone, little girl. As for leaving 'Liam' alone, I'm afraid we can't do that. Luke sees him as a target, just like Carrie and that baby in her belly."

"Are you threatening my sister, bitch?" Rebekah demanded from behind Lydia. "Because no one threatens Sabrina, and it's time that you understand why!" She jumped on the other woman's back and grabbed her in a choke-hold, while yelling, "Sabrina, get Ruby out of here, NOW!"

Sabrina did as she was told, guiding her blind niece out the front door, where they were met by Mikael and Eleanor, who had just pulled up to the house.

Sabrina was nearly out of breath when she arrived at her parents' car, her hand in Ruby's. Eleanor hugged them both, relieved that they were unharmed. Mikael was just as relieved. "I'm glad you're both all right, Sabrina. When Rebekah told us about your ordeal, we were worried sick."

"You're not the only one, Father," Sabrina said. You should've heard the things she said to me."

"It doesn't matter now," Eleanor said. "What matters now is that you and Ruby are safe."

From behind the group, tires squealing in protest could be heard coming up the long driveway, and they all turned to see that Elijah was driving, with Katherine in the passenger seat. Her lips were moving, and Eleanor shook her head with a smile, knowing her daughter in law was yelling at her husband for his reckless driving.

Mikael watched as Eleanor, Ruby, and Sabrina got into the car and then, hearing the fight in the house, went inside to see Rebekah and Lydia locked in a fierce fight. He then got out his cell phone and dialed the police. He had every intention of stopping the threat before it escalated beyond their control.

In Elijah's car, Katherine was yelling at him rapidly in two different languages, and although he understood some, he didn't know it all. "Katherine. Please, let me concentrate on the road," he finally commanded through gritted teeth.

Damon & Elena's House – That Same Moment…

Liam pulled into the driveway of Carrie's childhood home and helped her out, leading her to the front door. Before he could knock, Damon opened the door. "Were you followed?"

"No," he replied. "I did look in my rearview mirror every few seconds just to be safe." He heard another car pulling in and when he saw his parents' Suburban, he relaxed. "I see you called them."

Damon nodded. "Yes. I called them after I hung up with you."

Liam nodded as well and escorted Carrie inside. Klaus and Caroline climbed out of their car, along with Ana, Lily, Christian and Sebastian. Damon was about to wonder why, but then again, he knew that they wanted to make sure that their other children were safe as well.

Back at Mikaelson Manor…

Rebekah and Lydia were still struggling to get the gun away from the other person and Eleanor watched in horror when Mikael got in the middle of it and the ricochet of a gunshot went off. "MIKAEL!" she screamed, running toward the house, falling down onto her knees beside him. "Mikael, baby, please, don't leave me!"

"I love you, my darling Eleanor," he said, fighting with every breath to stay awake.

Rebekah saw her father get shot. "FATHER, NO!" She growled at Lydia. "YOU ARE A MONSTER! THAT WAS MY FATHER YOU SHOT!"

"And what are you going to do about it, Blondie?" Lydia said with a smirk. Rebekah didn't answer with words, preparing to tackle her to the floor when Eleanor stopped her.

"No, Rebekah, violence isn't going to bring him back," her stepmother scolded softly. Rebekah looked to Eleanor for confirmation and the older blonde nodded. "He's gone."

Rebekah felt tears sting her eyes. She heard Lydia laughing at her and, despite Eleanor's advice about no violence; she still knocked her out with a single punch.

Author's Note: I know that this had a sad ending, but I had to make a few sacrifices to make this chapter flow the way Erin and I wanted it to. We hope you enjoyed this update and that you'll come back for more!