The next morning, Jeremy noticed that Elena was taking a long time getting ready. He knocked on her bedroom door. "Elena?" When he didn't hear her answer, he went into her room. It was empty. She'd said on the phone she was coming straight there. Realizing something was wrong, he left the house immediately.
At Caroline's, Damon was talking with her about last night. Apparently, Tyler's curse got triggered. "So Sarah attacks Tyler and he pushed her away and she tripped and she fell and she hit her head." Caroline explained.
"Does Matt remember anything?" He asked her, concerned.
"Hmm, he thinks he blacked out but I think they were both compelled by Katherine. That's why I covered for Tyler and said it was an accident." Caroline said.
"That's what I don't get. Why'd you cover for him?"
"Well, if he gets blamed for her death, it opens up a lot of questions that he can't answer. Besides, you think it's a good idea for him to tell his mom he's a werewolf?" Caroline asked. "I mean, I can't even tell my own mom the truth about me."
"Okay, point taken."
"Besides, that werewolf road leads straight to Vampire Boulevard! I thought I was thinking fast on my feet."
"Speaking of your mom, where is she?" Damon asked.
"Leading the search party for Aimee Bradley. They haven't found her body yet." Caroline said.
"Where did you leave her anyway?"
"I dragged her into the woods nearby. It was all I could think of." Caroline told him. "So, does this mean Tyler can turn into a wolf now?"
"Only on a full moon." Damon told her. "but now he has strength and who knows what else. I wonder how much Mason told him."
"Well, I didn't tell him anything." Caroline said. "In fact, he seemed really scared about it and I feel kinda bad for him."
"I know you guys are classmates and all, but remember a werewolf bite can kill a vampire. Better be careful around him."
"Got it." Caroline said. She glanced at the time. "And now I'm late for school." She walked out of the room.
Jeremy found Stefan by the lockers at school. "Stef?"
"Hey, Jeremy."
"Please tell me that Elena was with you last night." Jeremy said.
Stefan frowned. "No, last I talked to her, she said she was headed home."
"Well, she wasn't there this morning. Her bed hadn't been slept in." Jeremy told him. "Also, Mrs. Lockwood called, her car's still in the driveway."
"So if she never came home and she wasn't with any of us, where could she be?" Stefan wondered. They looked at each other, realizing something must've happened to her.
When Elena woke up, she found herself in a room she didn't recognize. She felt something heavy around her shoulders and noticed she was still wearing the jacket Jeremy had given her the other night. She felt that she wasn't alone and turned around. She saw a guy standing there.
She knew he had to be a vampire. "What do you want?" She asked him.
"Quiet." He moved closer to her, but she pushed him away with her strength.
"Trevor!" She heard a woman's voice call. She turned and saw a girl with short, brunette hair and green eyes. "What were you thinking?"
"How was I supposed to know she turned?" The guy-Trevor, Elena reminded herself,-told her. The girl walked over to Elena.
"What do you want?" Elena asked her.
"You really do look like her."
"I'm not Katherine."
"I know that." Elena hadn't been expecting that answer.
"Then why did you…" She began to ask why they kidnapped her, when the girl cut her off.
"I'll explain later." The girl said. "I have other things to take care of at the moment." She walked out of the room, leaving Elena sitting on the couch.
At the school, Stefan was outside when Damon finally pulled up. "About time you got here."
"Give it a rest. I know you like her, but why would someone kidnap a vampire?"
"I have no idea." Stefan said. "But I hope she's okay." He could sense Elena was scared, though. He wanted to try to reach her, but he had no idea how far she was or if their telepathy could reach over far distances.
"Well, it's not Katherine." Damon told him. "Bonnie and I locked her in the tomb last night." He thought about what Katherine had told him about Elena being in danger. "I thought she was lying about it."
"About what?" Stefan asked him.
"She said Elena was in danger before I shut the door."
"And you didn't think it was important to tell the rest of us?"
"It's Katherine! She always lies. How was I supposed to know she was telling the truth for once?" Damon pointed out. Stefan sighed.
"Maybe we should talk to her. She might know who took Elena."
"No way. Look, I know I messed up here, but how do we know that we can trust her?"
"How else are we supposed to find her?" Stefan pointed out. Then he noticed the truth ring on his hand, the one Elena had given to him. He headed back into the school.
Elena had been sitting in the room for what felt like hours. She got up and heard Trevor talking with the girl. "How is she?"
"Well, she was resting last time I checked. She sure punches hard, though. Did you call him?"
"No, I called one of his contacts. You know how this works."
"Did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?"
"they say he got it." The girl told him. Elena walked out of the room and saw them talking.
"So now what?"
"So that's it Trevor. He either got it or he didn't. We just have to wait."
"Look, it's not too late. We can leave it here. We don't have to go through with this." Trevor said.
"I'm sick of running!"
"It's better than dying, Rose."
"Elijah's old school. If he accepts our deal, we're free." At that moment, she turned around and saw Elena.
"There's nothing around here from miles. If you think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong. Understand?"
"Who's Elijah?" Elena asked.
"Our biggest mistake." Rose told her, barely even looking at her when she passed by.
In the hallway, Stefan was talking with Bonnie. "You want me to track Elena?" She seemed surprised. "I'm not even sure if those spells work on vampires."
"We have to at least try, though." Stefan pointed out.
"I think I have an idea." Bonnie said.
In the classroom, Jeremy met with Bonnie. "So, why do you need me for this spell?"
"You and Elena are blood related. It should make the connection stronger…at least strong enough to tell us where she is." Bonnie explained.
Stefan walked in. "The next class starts in ten minutes, we better hurry."
"Ready?" Bonnie asked. Jeremy nodded. He barely felt her cut his wrist. Bonnie closed her eyes and did the spell. The blood merged and traveled to Elena's location.
"That's where she is." Bonnie said.
"That's three hundred miles outside of town." Jeremy said. He noticed Stefan rubbing his temple, as though he had a headache. "You okay?"
"Yeah." He told him. He glanced back at the map. "I think that's the right location."
"We could try to map it, it'll help us find the area." Bonnie suggested.
"Okay, call me when you find something."
"Whoa, there's no way I'm staying here. That's my sister in trouble, and last I checked, neither of you two could take down one older than a hundred and fifty."
Stefan hesitated. He knew Jeremy was right, that they were going to need their help, but if he got caught in the crossfire, it would hurt her, too.
"Then come on." The group turned and saw Damon in the doorway. "We have a friend to save."
"I'll call you guys." Bonnie told Jeremy. "Whatever I find, I'll make sure you know about it."
"Thanks, Bonnie." Jeremy left with the guys, leaving her in the classroom.
The group had piled into Damon's car and were on their way to find Elena. "Alaric really knows how to handle these weapons." Stefan was looking at a bottle of vervain. "What is that, anyway?"
"I think it's a vervain bomb or grenade." Stefan told him. "Who do you think took her?"
"Someone from Katherine's past." Damon said. "You said she was running from someone. They pick out the wrong girl."
"They're not completely identical, though." Jeremy said from the backseat. "Elena's eyes are slightly lighter and her skin is a little darker than Katherine's."
"Not to mention she gets highlights when the sun's out." The guys looked at Stefan. "Did I say that out loud?"
"Yeah, you did." Damon said.
Just then, Jeremy's phone rang. "Saved by the Bennett witch." He answered the phone.
"Okay, I pulled up the map. I found what looked like an old house." Bonnie told him. "I'm sending it to your phone."
"Thanks, Bonnie."
"I hope she's okay." Bonnie said.
"Hey, she'll be fine." Jeremy tried to reassure her. Suddenly, the line went dead. "Bonnie? Bonnie!"
"What happened?"
"I think she passed out." Jeremy said. "Now I'm really worried."
"She'll be okay, Jeremy." Stefan told him. He hoped she would be, anyway.
In the house, Elena followed Rose into a room. "So, why am I here?" She didn't answer. "It's not like I can go anywhere else." Elena pointed out. "So what do you guys want with me?"
"I personally want nothing, I'm just a delivery service." Rose told her.
"Delivery to whom? Elijah?"
"So you were eavesdropping."
"Who is he? Is he a vampire?"
"He's one of the vampires, the originals."
Elena didn't know what she meant. "Who are the Originals?"
"I take it you don't know much about vampire history." Rose said.
"I've only been a vampire for a year."
"That explains things." Rose said. "Still, you'd think with all the Founders in your town, you'd have learned something."
"Which brings us back to, who are the Originals?" Elena asked.
"Trevor and I've been running from them for the past five years. We're tired, we want it over. We're using you to negotiate ourselves out of an old mess."
"But why me?" Elena asked.
"Because you're descended from the Petrova bloodline. You're the key into breaking the curse." Rose explained.
"You meant the sun and moon curse?" Elena asked, surprised. "I thought the moonstone is what breaks the curse."
"No, the moonstone is what binds the curse. The sacrifice is what breaks it." Rose said.
"What?"
"Well, at least until you turned. Doppelganger blood was required to break it, but there could be another way to end the curse. Either way, you're the key to it." Rose told her. Elena seemed surprised.
"So, can you tell me more about this mess you're in?" She asked. She found herself wanting to help them.
"What do you want to know?" Trevor asked, entering the room.
"Like, what are the Originals, exactly?" Elena asked.
"They're like, the first vampires in existence. Date all the way back to the old world." Trevor explained. "Rose and I pissed them off." Rose cleared her throat. "I pissed them off. Rose had my back for the past few years. They wanted us dead."
"What did you do?"
"He made the same mistake others did. He trusted Katerina Petrova."
"Katherine." Elena realized. Should've known. She thought to herself.
"Who else?" Rose said.
"I helped her escape her fate, and we've been running ever since." Trevor explained.
"We're not making that mistake again." Rose said. "But at the same time, we kind of need to keep you alive."
"Okay."
Back in the car, Jeremy was trying to get Bonnie back on the line. "Hello? Bonnie, pick up! Come on!"
"Is she okay?" Stefan asked from the front seat.
"I don't know." Jeremy said. "I think I heard her faint after she texted us the map to that house." He heard a small moan from the other end of the line. "Bonnie?"
"Yeah, I'm here." Bonnie said. "Sorry about that."
"What happened?"
"I'm fine, really." Bonnie told him. "Could you put Stefan on the line? I want to talk to him."
"She wants to talk to you." Jeremy said, handing Stefan his cell phone.
"Are you okay?" Stefan asked her.
"Yeah, I've just been doing a lot of magic lately. It kind of drains me sometimes." She said. Unknown to either of them, Jeremy was using his hearing to listen in.
"What do you mean?"
"Magic has limits sometimes. If I use too much of it, it pushes back." Bonnie told him. "I don't want Jeremy to know this. He's one of my closest friends, I don't want him or Elena to worry."
"Don't worry, this will be our secret." Stefan told her. "Promise."
"It's hard dealing with the witch thing alone sometimes."
"Well, you always have us, you know that." Stefan pointed out. "Okay. Jeremy, your turn again." He passed the phone back to him.
"Hey, what happened back there?"
"I was doing a spell." Bonnie said. "Trying to get a message to Elena."
"Did it work?" Jeremy asked.
"I don't know." Bonnie said.
Back in the house, Elena sat down on the couch, trying to figure a way out of this mess, when she noticed a note in the corner. She picked it up and opened it. She recognized Bonnie's handwriting. It read:
The guys are on the way. Hang in there.
Elena folded the note and put it in her pocket, relieved to know back up was on the way.
Meanwhile, the guys were still on the road. "We're getting close." Jeremy said, looking at the map on his phone. "There's an access road just past this marker over here."
"Are you sure you're reading that thing right?" Damon asked, making the turn.
"I'm positive. At least it's more reliable than a GPS." Jeremy said.
"He's right." Stefan said. "I can tell that we're headed in the right direction."
"Why? Because of your blood bond?" Damon asked. Stefan looked at him in shock.
"How did you know about that?"
"I saw her feed off you that time those tomb vamps held her hostage. That, and the way you've both been acting around each other. She's been more jumpy than usual."
"Really? We were that obvious?" Stefan asked.
"Pretty much."
Back in the house, Elena was still sitting when Trevor got up. "He's here! This was a mistake!"
"No, I told you I would get us out of this. You have to trust me." Rose told him.
"No! He wants me dead, Rose!"
"Look, I need your help with this. As much as I want out, I also don't want her to get hurt." Rose said.
"I can't do this. Even if you do manage to talk to him, he'll let you leave but I need to get out of here." Trevor said.
"Hey! What are we?"
"We're family, forever." Just then there was a knock on the door. They all tensed up.
"Please keep an eye on her and neither of you make a sound." Rose said. "I'll deal with this." Elena nodded, not trusting her voice. She heard voices talking from the other room, but couldn't hear what they were saying, so she concentrated. From the way Trevor looked, it seemed he was doing the same thing.
"Katerina Petrova." Rose said.
"I'm listening." An unfamiliar voice replied. Elena knew it had to be Elijah.
"She wasn't destroyed during the ambush that killed her friends." Rose told him.
"Where is she?"
"you don't seem surprised by this."
"When you invited me here, I guessed it had something to do with Katerina. Do you have her new position?"
"No, but I found someone that might know her whereabouts. I have her doppelganger." Rose told him.
"How is that possible?" Rose shrugged. "Katerina didn't have any family."
"Well, I don't know how, but she's here."
"Well, show her to me." At that point, Elena got up and walked out, with Trevor following behind her.
"There's no need. I'm right here." She said. She saw Rose glare at Trevor, but she was more focused on Elijah. He stepped closer to her. She almost took a step back, but she didn't even flinch.
"How do I know you're not her?" That caught Elena off guard. She shot a quick glance at Rose for help. Rose seemed to get the message.
"Maybe you should ask her something personal, something only Katerina would know." She suggested.
Elijah glanced at her, but he must've thought it was a good idea. "Where were you on the night of October 5, 2006?"
"I was fourteen back then. I think I was at movie night with my friends. My parents made me swear to be back before nine." Elena had no idea why she'd mentioned everything, but she figured she was just nervous.
"You're telling the truth." He realized, surprised.
"Why would I have any reason to lie?" Elena asked.
"Very good point." She heard Trevor whisper.
Meanwhile, the guys had parked a far way from the house. "The house should be behind those trees." Jeremy said. "Are you sure you two want to do this?"
"What are you getting at, kid?" Damon asked.
"Look, whoever took her is probably the person Katherine was running from." Stefan said, figuring it out. "And that means they've probably been after her for a while."
"Exactly. We've never faced anyone this strong before." Jeremy said. "So if either of you want to back out, now's your chance."
"I know all the risks, Jer. I've trained for this kind of stuff." Damon told him. They both turned to Stefan.
"If Elena's in trouble, you already know what my answer is." Stefan said.
"Well, let's go, then." Jeremy said. They headed toward the house.
"We should be going." Elena looked at Rose. "One last piece of business and we're done." They both seemed surprised as Elijah walked over to Trevor.
"I've waited so long for this day, Elijah. I'm truly, very sorry."
"Oh no, your apology isn't necessary." He told him.
"Yes, yes it is. You trusted me with Katerina and I failed you." Trevor said.
"Oh yes you are the guilty one and Rose helped you because she was loyal to you and that now I honor. Where was your loyalty?"
"I beg your forgiveness." Trevor said.
"So granted." Elena was horrified by what happened next. Elijah had managed to literally knock Trevor's head off. She covered her eyes with her arm, unable to look at the gruesome scene.
A hand caught her shoulder. Elena almost screamed, when she heard Rose whisper to her. "I heard your friends pull up. Keep him occupied until they get in." Elena turned to look at her, surprised at the help. She noticed she had tears in her eyes.
"Sorry about your friend." Elena told her.
"I'll be okay, somehow…" Rose said, quickly brushing the tears away.
"Well, we should be going." Elijah said, turning to the girls.
"Hang on." Elena said, trying to stall for time. "What about the moonstone?"
"What do you know about the moonstone?" Elijah asked her.
"I know that you need it and I know where it is." Elena said.
"Can you tell me where it is?"
"It'd be easier to show you." Elena said.
"Are you negotiating with me?" He turned to Rose.
"Don't look at me, I don't know anything about the moonstone." She said, putting her hands up in protest.
"I suppose I'll have to do it the hard way, then." Before Elena ask, he looked directly at her. "Tell me where the moonstone is."
Without thinking, she spoke. "In the tomb, under the church ruins." Elena clasped her hand over her mouth, not knowing why she'd said it. Then she remembered the way he'd looked at her.
He can compel vampires? We are screwed. She thought.
"What's it doing there?" Elena knew she had no choice but to answer.
"It's with Katherine."
"Interesting." Suddenly, they all heard something. "What is that?"
"I don't know." Rose said.
"Who else is in this house?" Elijah asked.
"I don't know!" Rose said. Elijah caught Elena's arm and they headed into another room.
Elena, it's us. She heard Stefan's thoughts and knew she'd be fine. I'm upstairs.
I'll be there, but we need someone to catch these two off-guard. She thought. As if on cue, an arrow was fired into the hallway, stunning everyone. Elena used the opportunity to speed upstairs. Sure enough, Stefan was waiting for her.
Are you okay? He looked really concerned.
I'm fine.
Meanwhile, Jeremy had Rose downstairs. He motioned for her to be quiet. She nodded, still slightly surprised that he'd found her. Damon was sitting nearby.
Elena was still talking with Stefan when they heard Elijah's voice. "Excuse me. To who may be concern, you're making a great mistake if you think that you can beat me. You can't. Do you hear that?"
Use this. Stefan handed Elena a vervain grenade. But be careful. She nodded, understanding.
"I repeat, you cannot beat me. So I want the girl, I'm gonna count to 3 or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?" Elena chose that moment to show herself.
"Enough. I'll go with you, but leave my friends out of this." Elena told him. "They were just trying to help me."
He approached her. "What game are you playing with me?"
Elena threw the vervain grenade at him, then jumped back as it exploded, not wanting to burn herself. Elijah got up, to her surprise. Before she could move, Stefan stepped out of hiding and tried to shoot a stake out of the sleeve, but it jammed. Elena ran to his side to help.
"I've got it." He insisted.
"No, you don't. You'll shoot yourself in the foot." Elena pointed out. After a couple seconds of struggling with each other, she ripped it off him and handed him a stake. He ran toward Elijah, but he got flung to the ground instead.
Jeremy rushed out of hiding and staked him from behind. Damon and Rose came upstairs in time to see him fall to the floor. Rose turned to Elena and smiled before heading out the door. Damon and Jeremy got ready to follow her.
"Let her go." Elena told them. "She tried to help me." She heard Stefan groan and rushed down the stairs at vampire speed. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. He was pretty strong, though." Stefan said. Elena held him in her arms. Damon and Jeremy watched them, smiling.
A few hours later, the group dropped Elena and Jeremy off at home. "Thanks for everything, guys." Elena said.
"You know we'd do anything to help you guys." Damon pointed out.
"Besides, there's no way we were going to let you be taken from us." Jeremy said..
"What you did was incredibly dangerous, though." Elena said.
"Well, I wasn't going to let you get kidnapped again." Stefan pointed out. They looked at each other for a moment.
"Jenna's probably wondering where we are." Jeremy said. "We better go in."
"I'll call you later." Stefan told Elena. "Good night."
"Good night." Elena kissed him on the cheek before heading inside.
"Elena, you're back!" Bonnie said, hugging her.
"Take it easy, Bon. It's been kind of a rough day." Elena said..
"Sorry." Bonnie let go. "I'm just so glad you're okay."
"We would've never gotten there if you hadn't showed us the location." Jeremy pointed out.
"Speaking of which, I got your note." Elena said.
"What's going on?" The group turned in surprise.
"Vick? What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked.
"Bonnie asked me to come over." Vicki told him. "She told me she crashed here early in the afternoon and I wanted to make sure she was okay. She seemed kind of sick."
"Well, I'm okay now." Bonnie said. "But thanks for staying with me."
"Just trying to help out." Vicki left the house then.
"You guys have to tell me everything." Bonnie said the second she was sure Vicki was gone.
"It's kind of a long story." Elena told her.
"Well, it's been a long day."
"I'll fill you in tomorrow." Jeremy told Bonnie.
"Okay."
Back at the Salvatore's house, the guys were talking in the living room. "Look, about what Rose told Elena about the curse…" Stefan began.
"I know. We'll have to keep her safe." Damon said. Elena had explained everything to the guys on the ride home.
"To be honest, I'm surprised your okay with this."
"Well, she and her brother helped me see things differently. Besides, last I checked, you don't leave your friends for dead." Stefan started to leave the room. "Hey, I'm sorry about the whole Katherine thing."
"That was almost four years ago, Damon." Stefan pointed out.
"Still, I never would've gone out with her if I'd known you were with her."
"Yeah, she always was good at keeping secrets to herself. I'm just glad we're back to being brothers again."
A few hours later, Stefan was in the library. He heard a sound and got up. It took a few seconds for him to realize that someone was knocking at the front door. He picked up a stake, just to be on the safe side.
He headed opened the door to find Rose standing in front of him. "I'm not here to hurt you." She told him.
"Why are you here?" Stefan asked cautiously.
"Your friend Lexi gave me directions, said I could find you here." Rose told him.
"You know Lexi?" Stefan was surprised.
"She let me stay with her for a few months before I got word about Elena." Rose explained. "And now I've lost Trevor. I have nowhere else to run anymore."
"I don't know if I can help you." Stefan said, stepping onto the front porch and closing the door behind him.
"I don't need your help, but you might need mine." Concern crossed her face. "Elijah may be dead but this isn't over. There are other Originals, they'll still come for her. They're doing it for him."
"Who?" Stefan asked. "Who is it they want to bring her to?"
"Klaus." Rose said.
Elena had finished getting ready for bed when she noticed a shape nearby. "Who's there?" She asked.
"It's just me. Sorry if I scared you." Damon told her. She was relieved it was just him, but she was still slightly freaked out.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"When you said that the Originals can somehow compel vampires, I got worried." He told her. "So I came by to drop this off." He held up a bracelet. It was silver and had a single charm hanging off the side.
Elena touched the charm and felt her skin tingle slightly. "A vervain bracelet?"
"In case there are any others out there." Damon told her. He helped her fasten it to her wrist. "The last thing we need is for the other vampires around here to get compelled into helping them."
"Jer and I will call the others tomorrow, let them know what happened." Elena said. "Hopefully Caroline will pick up by then."
"Yeah, I haven't been able to reach her either." He left the room. Elena glanced back down at her bracelet and smiled. At least now they had a slight advantage if any other Originals showed up.