The Beginning of a Long Night:

Damon opened the door to Elijah and Beth. He had a smirk on his face as always. "Good evening." Elijah greeted him. Damon's eyes flickered over to Beth's and she smiled, to show that she was all right.

"Thank you for coming. Please, come in." He opened the door a little wider for them. Beth went to go in but Elijah gently pulled her a back.

"Just a moment." He said looking at Damon. "Can I just say that if you have less than honorable intentions on how this evening is to proceed, I suggest you reconsider." He told him politely but beneath his voice was a warning tone. Beth felt a chill go up her back.

"No, nothing dishonorable. Just a getting to know you." He smiled at him and Beth hoped her was telling the truth. He told her he just wanted to know more about the plan but Damon was unpredictable. He could do something on a whim.

Elijah took this into consideration. "Hmm, well that's good. Because, you know, although, Elena and I have this deal, if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house, besides, dear Elizabeth, of course. Are we clear?" He asked Damon. Damon spared a look at Beth. Beth swore she saw a glint of worry in his eyes but he shook it off.

"Crystal." He agreed. Elijah smiled pleasantly and then he saw Jenna and walked towards her, leaving Beth with Damon.

"Jenna! Wonderful to see you again, how are you?" He asked politely as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. Beth finally felt relaxed when Damon took her aside.

"Are you okay?" He asked her concerned. He was having second thoughts. He knew that he wouldn't hurt Beth but he could see how worried she was about the night. He tried to take Beth once, he couldn't let him try and take her again. "I can call it off."

She shook her head. "No, I'll be fine." She smiled at him. They needed to know more about what Elijah's plan was. If having to endure a dinner party was the only way to get the information then that's what she'd do. She knew deep inside that he wouldn't hurt her anyways. She just hoped Damon wouldn't do anything to make him angry. Elijah was too close to warn him about that though. "Let's go." She said.

They all finally sat down for dinner. John had apparently made an unwelcome appearance before she arrived with Elijah. From what she knew, no one really wanted him here. Beth took her seat next to Elijah and on the left side of Damon. Alaric looked a bit nervous with her being here, but he didn't say anything. Jenna who was seated on the other side of the Damon, poured him wine. "I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town."

"Hmm, do tell." He inquired of Elijah. Beth's eyes flickered over to Elijah's as he began talking.

"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a fraction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690's." He explained calmly as he took a sip of his wine. "Over the next hundred years they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution."

"Hmm, because they were witches." Jenna added to Damon. He was surprisingly interested in what Elijah was saying.

"Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem." Damon's girlfriend said to them all.

"Andie's a journalist. Big on facts." Damon told him.

"Well, the lore says that there was a wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in neighboring settlements, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned." It wasn't exactly desire for a witch to hear about other witches being tortured and killed for practicing. It actually made Beth sick to think about, especially if that could happen again. "Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire." Elijah trailed off. He saw how unnerved Beth looked talking about it. He felt horrible; he spoke without thinking of how she would feel. "Could you pass the bread?" Damon passed him the basket with a glare directed towards him.

There was a certain air of discomfort at the table. Alaric cleared his throat as Jenna spoke up. "I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society." Jenna joked as the others laughed. Beth felt Damon gently bump her leg and she looked up. He gave her a knowing look. He was worried about how she would take all of this but she just smiled and gave her a short nod, to show she was ok.

"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me." John said interested. Beth got a weird vibe off of him.

"So, why would you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon questioned him.

"You know…a healthy historian's curiosity of course." He smiled taking a sip of his wine. Damon glanced at Beth. They both knew that had something to do with the sun and moon curse. It must be something that was used in the ritual to break the curse.

"Of course."

Soon after everyone had finished eating. They stood up to have drinks and coffee. Beth saw Damon give Andie a look. "The gentleman should take their drinks in the study." She suggested politely. Beth raised her eyes in suspicion.

"I have to say the food was almost as lovely as the company." Elijah complimented them all.

"I like you." Andie smiled pointing to him. Elijah smiled at her and then lifted up Beth's hand to kiss her knuckle. She had a forced smile on her face as she let him. Elijah still wasn't used to Elizabeth's uneasiness towards him. There was a time where he would be one of the people she could go to when she was uncomfortable or scared. It was odd for him not to have any physical contact at all towards her and he was the one she feared. Damon and he walked out of the room to the study.

Beth walked into the kitchen with the dirty plates and set them in the dishwasher. She eyed the alcohol near the fridge. The wine was just sitting there, on the counter but it was too risky. Alaric was cool about most things but she was pretty sure he'd freak if he saw her. She ignored it as she hurried back into the room where Alaric was and John and Jenna passed her. Alaric was on the edge as he looked for something to write on. He finally found a pencil and paper. He wrote quickly then handed it to her. 'Dagger will kill Damon! Stop him!'

Beth didn't have time to be angry with Damon for lying. She rushed back into the study where Elijah and Damon were talking. She saw Damon quickly put something back on the bar. Alaric was right behind her as he walked down the stairs. "Hey, sorry, we forgot about dessert." She gave them an apologetic smile. Damon could see right through it, though. Something was going on. "Elijah." Beth held out her hand for Elijah to take, with hopeful eyes and wide smile.

"Of course." Elijah could never refuse her when she smiled at him like that. He took her hand and gave her a little spin that made her smile wider as they left the room. He wrapped an arm around her waist as she led him into the dining room, where Andie, and Jenna were. Soon, Damon and Alaric followed. Damon sat at his seat, glaring daggers at John.

"Sorry, guys, dessert is taking longer than I thought. I usually just unwrap food." Jenna joked as she left and Beth stood up to go help her in the kitchen. Jenna gave her a small smile and told her to go ahead and sit down, she would be fine.

Beth nodded and walked back into the dining room. She gasped loudly as she saw Elijah's desiccated body in his chair. He was dead. Damon moved to help her but he had to grab the body. Alaric quickly went over to her and grabbed her arm. "Shhh. It's okay." He said putting a finger to his mouth and she nodded. "I'm going to help get him downstairs. Don't let Jenna know."

A half hour later, they had made an excuse for why Elijah had to leave and Alaric took Jenna home. Damon and her were now cleaning up the rest of dinner while, Andie was somewhere in the house. "Well, I think that went excellent." Damon smiled at her as he handed her the last plate.

"Yeah, I mean other than, Jenna almost finding out and John almost tricking you to kill yourself, it was awesome!" She agreed sarcastically with an eye roll. Before he could respond, his phone rang.

"Hello?" He answered. His sudden cheerful demeanor left his face. He ran out of the kitchen. Beth followed him into the cellar. He opened the door and saw Elijah gone. "Oh, no."

"Oh no? Oh no!" She shouted. "What happened, Damon?" She asked as they raced up the stairs. He grabbed his car keys and threw her, her bag that she brought.

"Long story short, Elijah's alive and since he didn't come after you first, he's most likely going for Elena cause we didn't keep up the deal." He said as he grabbed his jacket and pushed her out the door. "We have to get there before he does."

A took almost an hour to get to Elena's family's lake house. Damon had snuck her, them in the back even though, there was no sign of Elijah yet. Beth walked ahead to the front of the house, where she saw Stefan and Elena near the front of the door. "Are you okay?" Elena asked her quietly as she walked closer to them and Beth nodded.

"He's here." Stefan said suddenly. Beth looked out the small window on the side. Elijah was rotating small rocks in his hands. He threw them at the house and the force of the rocks made the door break and come off its hinges. Stefan pulled Beth and Elena back before they got too close.

"You guys have to go. I need to talk to him alone." Beth told them and Elena shook her head, fiercely. Stefan was reluctant too. Elijah was here for both of them.

"Beth…" Stefan said in a warning tone. "It's too dangerous."

"I'm okay. He can't come in the house." She assured them both.

"You know, I might not be able to enter this house…But I'm a very patient man. I'll wait you out." Elijah told them.

She went to move but Stefan put hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Be careful." He mouthed and she nodded.

Beth wrapped her arms, around herself and walked to the entrance of the door. Elijah stood there, patiently waiting for her. "They shouldn't have done what they did." She said apologetically. She was very calm as she spoke, though she wasn't on the inside.

"Tell Elena that the deal is off." He told her. He couldn't blame her for what Damon and Alaric did but he wasn't going to just let them off. The deal was broken. He had warned them what he would do if the deal were broken. It was only fair.

"Negotiate with me. Make a deal with me." She pleaded with him. He looked into her eyes and felt his heart break just slightly. She would do anything to keep her loved ones safe. His tone was just as indifferent though.

"You have nothing to negotiate with." He told her. She had to think quickly. Beth dropped her hands from her torso to reveal a sharp cutting knife. She held it firmly in her hands.

"How are you going to lure Klaus to Mystic Falls after the doppelganger is no longer human?" She challenged him, though she didn't feel as confident as she came off as. Stefan wasn't worried. He knew she was trying to trick him. "I'll stab her and Stefan will heal her and then I'll kill her and she'll become a vampire. Just like Katherine did. She'll be safe from Klaus." Elijah listened to her as she continued. "But I won't touch her if you make me the deal, you made her. Promise me, you won't harm anyone we love. Even if they've harmed you." She asked him, the desperation was apparent in her tone.

"You're not going to force your friend to turn." He knew her well. She would never want to force that on Elena. Beth could never hurt her friend like that. One of the things he loved most about her was her never-ending loyalty and devotion towards her loved ones. She would protect them no matter what. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I'm going to have to call your bluff."

She let out a sigh of defeat. She suddenly had an idea. She looked at the knife and then at him. He cared about her. She knew that, even Damon thought he loved her. "You're right." She agreed.

This was really going to hurt. Before anyone could stop her, she plunged the knife into her stomach. She saw Elena gasp and cover her mouth, out of the corner of her eye. Warm blood, immediately ran down her body. "No!" Elijah rushed to get to her side but he wasn't invited in. The pain that she felt was almost unbearable. The knife slid out of her grip as she pressed tightly on her wound. She was doing her best to keep standing. "Yes! You can have your deal. Elizabeth, please let me heal you." He begged her. He could let her die, not again. It killed him to see her in this much pain.

"Give me your word!"

"I give you my word." He agreed. Beth leaned forward and fell into his arms. He gently embraced her before he felt a piercing pain in his chest and he felt himself start to die. Beth felt horrible, seeing the look of confusion and betrayal on his face as he fell, with the dagger in his chest. Beth felt herself, slipping away as she lost the will to stand. Before she could close her eyes, Damon was right by her side, feeding her his blood.

"Come on, El." He encouraged her, trying to get her to drink. Beth finally managed to drink the blood and he dropped his wrist from her lips as her wound healed. Stefan and Elena walked out, looking at the dead original. "Little tip. Don't pull the dagger out." He advised them.

xxxxx

"How you holding up?" Damon asked her as they drove back. He laid his jacket on her. She was trying to keep her eyes open, but it was hard. They put Elijah into the car with Elena and Stefan. He would meet them at the house after he took her home Beth felt better than she had when she stabbed herself but a bit guilty. She knew that it was necessary though, to protect Alaric and Damon and her friends.

"Could be worst." She shrugged as he kept his eyes on the road. She looked out the window before remembering what she wanted to tell him. "Let's um, not tell Alaric about the stabbing thing, ok?"

"Why not?" He asked her. "He would want to know, El."

"Yeah, I know and then he'd feel guilty about not being there to protect me and he'd blame himself. Just don't, please." She asked him. She didn't want Alaric to worry anymore than he already does.

She could still see the reluctantly on Damon's face. She gave him a small pout when he glanced at her. He groaned. "Fine, I won't say anything to him."

"Good, besides you owe me for lying to me. By the way, don't do that again." She told him and he nodded, unconvincingly. "I mean it, Damon. Tonight could have been way worst. You have to trust me."

"I do trust you." He assured her.

"Then, promise me, no more lies." She told him. He looked at her.

"No more lies." He promised her. Beth smiled, accepting it. She leaned on his arm as she let herself fall asleep. She was happy that, they were safe, for now. Klaus was still coming but Elijah wouldn't go after Alaric or her friends. Damon smiled down at her as he drove her back home.