Lives at Stake:
They had been in the tomb for over an hour and they were all pretty giggly. The bottle of tequila Matt brought was probably half gone by now, all of them having a bit too much of it. Beth took another sip and then handed it to Matt who she was sitting next to but as soon as he had it, Elena took it. "Ah-ah. I need it more than you do. Trust me." She said as she took a drink but then looked over at Caroline who was in the corner on her phone. "Caroline, what are you doing?"
"What? Nothing!" She told them quickly as she put up her phone. She was a bad liar and somehow that made Beth laugh, which made Matt laugh.
"Okay, you're a bad sober liar, you're an even worst drunk liar." Elena commented.
Caroline looked at them sheepishly. "I might have texted Tyler."
"Caroline…" Elena said in a disapproving tone.
"What? I'm delicate." Caroline told her.
"Give her a break. It's her birthday she drunk text if she wants to!" Beth agreed and Caroline laughed along with her.
"Yeah, you can't control what everyone does all the time." Bonnie added a bit too harshly. All of her friends looked at her in surprise. That outburst was seriously unexpected, especially from Elena.
"Wow."
"Ouch, Bon." Matt said seriously. Beth kept quiet. She really didn't want to add to the already growing tension between the friends.
"Sorry, I know, it's Caroline's birthday, funeral or whatever, but I just feel it's really wrong that you compelled Jeremy to leave town." Bonnie said accusingly towards Elena.
"I'm doing it to protect him, Bonnie." She defended herself. "I want to give him a chance to have a quiet normal life."
"He should be able to choose how he wants to live it!"
"Bonnie, you can't tell him."
"What? Are you going to compel me not to?"
Beth nudged Matt in the shoulder. He should stop it before it go bad. "You know, you guys are ruining a perfectly good funeral." Matt interjected before it could get too nasty. This was Caroline's birthday and she didn't deserve to spend it with her friends who were fighting.
"I'm sorry. I'm just going to sleep it off or something. Happy Birthday." She said to Caroline as she walked out of the tomb. There was an awkward silence for a moment until Beth grabbed the bottle of tequila from Elena and drank from it.
"Well, I'm still way too sober!" She announced and the rest of them laugh the tension leaving the tomb as she handed it to Caroline who took up lying on her lap giggling. They all sat there like that, laughing about random thing just enjoying the night when they heard the tomb door open. They turned and saw Tyler in the doorway.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to crash the party." He apologized. Beth nodded at him and smiled at her.
"So, don't." Matt suggested. After what he heard that Tyler almost did to Jeremy, he didn't want him near any of them. He saw first hand how he had no control over what he was doing.
"No!" Caroline said quickly. "It's, it's okay. Hi."
"Can I talk to you for sec? It's kind of important." He told her. Matt didn't like Caroline going with him but he couldn't control her. Caroline nodded and left with him.
"Well, I need to get some fresh air. I'm feeling kind of….tipsy." She said as she stood up, wobbling a little.
"You want me to come with you?" Matt offered standing up but Beth waved him down.
"No, I'll be okay." She assured them, as Elena looked worried too. She walked out of the tomb, grabbing her jacket as she did. It was freezing outside and that wouldn't help with her being drunk. She really drank too much. Her brain was feeling foggy and she could barely walk straight. She took a deep breathe of the cool night air as she walked a little bit away from the tomb. Beth put her hands into her pocket and felt the box Damon gave her earlier. Taking it out she opened it to reveal a small ring with an ruby red gemstone. She smiled as she took off her chain that held her pendant and slid in on putting it back on her neck.
Suddenly, Beth heard a noise behind her and she turned to face Stefan. He grabbed her and she moved to speak but before she could get out a word her head was slammed up against the side of the tomb and she was knocked unconscious. Beth woke up to a fast moving vehicle. Her head was throbbing and she touched it to feel a wet sticky substance. It was blood. Luckily, there wasn't a lot of it. She turned to see Stefan in the driver's seat of his car. "What the hell are you doing, Stefan?" She asked. He didn't answer her. "Stefan!"
"I'm making my next move, Beth. He needs hybrids and what's he going to if he can't make hybrids anymore? And he could care less if Elena died cause he has you, so what's going to happen if he doesn't anymore?" He asked her. He was just trying to scare Klaus. He wouldn't really hurt her, would he?
Her phone started ringing. She got it out of her pocket. Surprisingly, it was Damon. As she answered it, Stefan took it away. "Sorry, Damon, Beth's a little busy right now." He continued to talk. "I'm making my move, Damon. You know that Klaus needs Beth to make his hybrids just like Elena. He wouldn't want to lose one of his blood sources." He reminded him and before he could reply he hung up on him.
"What are you going to do, lock me up? He'll still have Elena and he could use her instead." Beth reasoned. They were going fast, too fast. Her head hurt too much from all the alcohol to really think of a way too get out of this. She was starting to get dizzy too.
"No but he cares about you. Let's see how far he's willing to go to save your life, shall we?" He asked as he brought out his phone. Beth got worried. She knew they were headed towards the Wickery Bridge. He called Klaus and started to talk to him. "Tell your hybrids to get out of town Klaus."
"Well, that's not going to happen until I get my coffins back." He said over the speakerphone.
"Well, then I'm going to drive your primary blood source off Wickery Bridge. Guess you'll only be down to one blood bag isn't that right, Beth?" He told her. Beth looked over at him sharply. He wouldn't do that. He couldn't do that. No matter how much Stefan seems unstable, Beth knew there was a part of him that still has his humanity. He wouldn't kill her.
"I don't believe you, Stefan. What would Damon say? You're not going to kill Elizabeth." He knew that. Beth was his friend. Even if Stefan tried to hide it, he saw how he protected her while they were on the road this summer. Stefan bit his wrist.
"Stefan! Don't!" She shouted as Stefan put his wrist to her mouth and force fed her to drink.
"Elizabeth? Stefan, what's going on?" He snapped.
"I just fed her my blood. I don't think you'll be able to make hybrids if she's a vampire." Stefan reminded him. Beth got worried. They were getting closer to the bridge and Stefan was hell-bent on trying to get Klaus to remove his hybrids.
"You won't do that to her." He told him. He sounded slightly less confident now though.
"Really? Try me cause your coffins will be the next thing to go. Say goodbye to your family, Klaus." He told him as he stepped on the gas. They went faster.
"Stefan slow down! Stefan! Stefan, stop!" Beth shouted at him worried. She was starting to see the beginning of the bridge and Stefan showed no signs of slowing down. "Stop! Stefan, stop the car! STEFAN!" She screamed at him, the true fear showing in his voice as he refused to stop.
"Fine, I'll send them away, you win." Klaus agreed.
The fear in Beth's voice was real. Stefan really would do that to her. Stefan refused to slow down though. "Stefan, stop! Stop!"
"Stop the car, Stefan!" Klaus growled into the phone. The tires screeched as he finally stopped.
Beth and Stefan both jostled in the car, the latter breathing heavily. Klaus hung up, assured that he stopped. Beth quickly got out of the car and walked away and heard Stefan get out. "Beth, get back in the car." She didn't reply. "Get in the car!"
He moved towards her and she snapped, "Don't come near me!" There was a look of regret that Beth saw in his eyes before he turned, leaving her. Beth sighed and sat down on the ground as she saw him speeding off into the night.
As Beth started to walk back, a car pulled up. Luckily, it was just Tyler but he looked worried and scared. "Tyler, what happened?" She asked as she got in on the other side of the car.
"I-I accidentally bit Caroline." He admitted shaking. "I didn't mean to. I said no to Klaus but somehow I couldn't stop myself, Beth. I don't know what to do. S-she's going to die."
"Hey, listen to me, Tyler." Beth said facing him and taking his hands. "Listen, she's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. We'll get her help, okay? Just breathe and calm down. I need you to drop me off at her house. She won't want you to come in but I need to get there, ok?" She asked and Tyler finally calmed down enough to nod and start driving again.
Beth called Klaus while they were driving, asking him to meet her at Caroline's house. She didn't have to really say why cause he would know why. They got there soon and Beth jumped out of the car after telling Tyler to go and she'd talk to him later. Beth quickly knocked on the door and Matt answered it. "Beth!" He said in relief. He let her in. "Caroline's in her room. What happened to your head? Is that blood?"
Beth touched her forehead and forgot about it. "Oh yeah. It is. Don't worry about it. I'll be fine. I have to see her." Beth said and she walked into the back rooms where Caroline was. She was lying on her bed, looking deathly ill. It was similar how Damon and Rose looked before when they got bit. Beth just hoped Klaus got here soon. She didn't want to witness it getting any worst. "Hey, Caroline." She greeted her softly as she sat besides her.
"Hey." She coughed out. "What are you doing here? Is that blood?"
"Yeah, it's fine though, I'll be fine." Beth smiled at her. They sat there for a few minutes as Caroline rested her eyes but the pain kept her from getting any sleep. "How are you doing, Care?" Beth asked her concerned. She knew dying by a werewolf bite was probably the worst way for a vampire to go. There was a lot of pain involved and she knew how bad the hallucinations could get.
Caroline let out a bitter chuckle. "I'm dying."
"No… no you're not. You think I'd come here and watch you die. Klaus is coming and he's going to give you his blood. Okay? I promise, he'll be here and then you can continue with your epic vampiric life." Beth assured her and she laughed. Beth squeezed her hand softly. "I'm not going to let you die. You're going to be just fine."
"Well, you're quite right about that one, sweetheart." Beth turned to see Klaus standing in the doorway. He walked into the room, with an unreadable expression. Beth got up after giving Caroline's hand another soft squeeze of encouragement.
"Just give her the blood, please?" She asked, playing with her fingers.
"Of course, love." He assured her and she left him, reluctantly, with Caroline. Beth walked outside to see Matt and the sheriff standing there worried.
"He's giving her the blood. Caroline's going to be okay." They both let out a sigh of relief at that news.
"Thank you." The sheriff said sincerely as she walked up to her. Beth smiled and nodded at her. She knew that it had to be nerve wrecking to see your daughter sick like that and there was nothing you could do. "Thank you so much. Do you need some help with that?" She asked kindly referring to her head.
"It'll be fine. I'll just take care of it at home. Alaric's going to be worried." Beth told her as she moved towards the door. She nodded, obviously concerned about her daughter. Beth turned to Matt. "I'll come back to see her later." She said as she walked out the door. She started her walk back home, gently touching her head. It was throbbing but it stopped bleeding. Her phone rang. It was a text from Damon. She called him.
'Are you okay? Do you need me to pick you up? Did Stefan hurt you?'He asked her concerned. As soon as Stefan answered her phone, he went to Klaus. They both knew that Stefan would really kill her and he was grateful that he had done what he asked. "I'm on my way."
"Don't. It okay. I'll be fine. Stefan didn't hurt me." She told him, though he was unconvinced. No matter how angry they were right now, he needed to make sure that she was okay, but he didn't want to push it either.
"El..."
"I'm fine. I'm on my way home now. He didn't hurt me, just a little headache. I'll be fine." She assured him as she hung up her phone. Suddenly, Beth saw another car pull up besides her. It was Klaus.
"Need a ride, sweetheart?" He asked with a grin and she rolled her eyes.
"Not from you."
"Awe, now is that the thanks I get for saving your best friend. You know she could have died if I didn't give her my blood." He reminded her as he drove at her slow walking pace. Beth scoffed and walked faster away from him, but he was right besides her.
"She almost did die because of you! Or do you not remember how you had Tyler bite her! He was freaking out!"
"Love, I wasn't going to let her die. I was already on my way to cure her when you called me, I promise." He assured her. Klaus wasn't going to have her friend die. He wouldn't do that to her again. All he needed was another message sent to Stefan after he tried to kill her. "Elizabeth, you're being ridiculous. Get in the car."
"No." She said stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest.
Klaus was getting impatient with her stubbornness. He took a deep breath and tried another reproach. "Glenda, will you please get into the car so I can take you home?" He asked calmly. Beth laughed at that. It was so obvious he was restraining himself.
"It doesn't count if it's forced." She told him still walking. He let out a low growl and stopped the car. Before she knew what was happening, Klaus was out of the car, grabbed her and put her in the passenger seat before getting in himself. "Hey! What the hell?" She yelled at him but he was already driving again, with a small smirk on his face. "This is technically kidnapping!"
"I'm taking you home, not out of town, sweetheart." Klaus clarified. Beth rolled her eyes.
"Against my will!" She snapped at him. "You're a jerk."
"That hurts." He said with a sarcastic expression and she scoffed but didn't argue this time. She was too tired and her head hurt too much to walk anymore. "What you said to Caroline, that was nice of you."
"Well she's my best friend and I wasn't going to go home while she was on her deathbed." She told him and he nodded. "Why can't you just leave them alone?" She asked after a few minutes of silence. He looked over at her.
"You know why. Stefan has my family, Elizabeth. I'm going to get them back, no matter what." He told her. It was a warning. It said that he was going to do anything to get them back, even go back on their deal not to hurt her friends. She understood though. That was his family and he wasn't going to just let someone hold them hostage and possibly lose them forever. Someone was going to get hurt or worst, killed, if she didn't get involved. She didn't want to but she needed to protect her friends, especially from Klaus.
