"I'm going to meet Elijah" I told Damon.

He was on the phone making travel arrangements and nodded to me with a frown. I walked to him and gave him a peck.

"I'll be back soon" I said quietly.

He nodded again, this time with a smile and I walked out of the room. I shrugged on my coat, the wind was strong these days preceding Christmas, and humans were using coats even though the sun was shining. I took Damon's car and drove to the town's square where I had agreed to meet Elijah. This could go very badly. If Elijah didn't set me free, Damon would flip. I parked the car, watching people walking around decorating the streets for the day. Apparently, Carol would throw a charity event with Winter-Wonderland as theme of the party. And of course, in a town as small as Mystic Falls, everyone was participating. I saw Elijah helping a girl hang glittery, handmade snowflakes in a tree and headed his way. The girl thanked him, running to find something else to do. Elijah turned to me and raised an eyebrow with a small smile.

"So?" he asked. "Did you find what you were looking for in New Orleans?"

"Ahn, kinda… Not exactly" I mumbled, looking down at my boots.

"What happened?" he asked frowning.

"Damon had sired a girl a few decades ago, and a witch fooled him into thinking that there was a spell to break the bond" I said and looked up at him. "There isn't"

"So…"

"You were right. A vampire only bonds with her sire when she had feelings for him" he stared at me blankly. "I… I cared for you, you were my friend, I respected you, and I saw you as my protector… All that was heightened. Like the tiny bit of compassion I had for Klaus and Rebekah. And like my love for Damon"

"I imagine this must be bothering him"

"Yeah, you can say that" I chuckled mirthlessly.

"So, is there anything I can do?" he asked frowning.

"Ahn…" I stared into his worried eyes. "Yes"

"Whatever you need, just ask, Bella"

"I… I need you to…" I looked away and back into his hazel eyes. "I need you to promise me you wouldn't use the bond against me… Damon is really worried you might control me, and…"

"Isabella, I would never take your free will" he said seriously. "If I wanted to do that, I would have compelled you"

Right. He could control me already, sire bond or not. I hadn't been taking vervain. The thing burned like a bitch. I opened my mouth to ask him to set me free. But as I looked into his eyes, I didn't see why. He wouldn't. I trusted him, he was my friend. He had the chance and he hadn't done anything…

"Thank you, Elijah" I said quietly.

"Anything, anytime" he said smiling.

I was walking around, watching the kids play in the fake snow and even helping people set up decorations a bit, when I met Rosalie. She was playing with kids, apparently she had been left responsible for them while their parents were put to work. She was enchanted by the children, that was obvious, even though her eyes had a buried sadness in them.

"Rosalie" I said as I approached.

She looked up, her smile faltering a bit, but stood up, a little girl still on her arms.

"Bella, hi" she said.

"Hi" I said looking at the girl.

She smiled shyly, still playing with the handful of fake snow.

"Is your brother around?" I asked Rosalie.

"Jasper was with Alice… I think the mayor asked them to help her out with something…" she said looking around.

"No, Edward"

"Ahn… He's with Bonnie, it's sunny, so… they're enjoying it" she said giving me a pointed look.

"Right, I forgot"

"Is anything wrong? Carlisle was around for lunch time as well…" she frowning.

"I'll look for him then. Thanks, Rose" I said and smiled at the little girl. "Bye"

"Bye" she said smiling shyly.

I turned and had taken a few steps before the handful of snow was thrown on my back. I turned around and Rose and the girl gave me innocent smiles. I narrowed my eyes, crouching to get snow. The girl giggled as Rose ran. My perfect aim enabled me to hit the back of Rose's head. She gave me a fake angry look, but couldn't keep it as the girl giggled wildly, smiling at her.

I could have talked to Carlisle, but I just wanted to get this over it and Edward would be my shortcut. I dialed his number as I crossed the square and he took a bit too long to answer, making me question if I was interrupting something.

"Hello?"

"Edward. I need to talk to you" I said, cutting straight into the subject. "It's about Bonnie"

"Do you want me to meet you?" he asked and I could hear his worried frown.

"No… I was informed you were with her, so this will make my life easier" I said. "In New Orleans I got new information about the sacrifices… It's called Expression. It's unnatural magic. The witch has to draw power drom sacrifices… So… Bonnie has to be very careful with what she reads and practices…"

"Professor Shane was teaching her expression" he said angrily. "He said it was natural, that she wouldn't get energy from the spirits so…"

"What's wrong?" I heard Bonnie say in the background.

"Edward, keep him away from her. Whatever he's planning, it can't be good" I said unlocking the car. "Damon and I are getting out of town, but anything call me, alright?"

"Yes, thank you, Bella. Be safe"

"I will" I smiled. "Keep in touch"

I hung up and reached for the handle when a loud whistle called my attention. Leah was running towards me.

"For God's sake, why Caroline doesn't answer her damn phone!" she said angrily.

"What?" I scowled at her.

"Where's Caroline?"

"I don't know, probably helping out" I said looking around the square.

"We have to stop Tyler. Now" she said tugging on my arm.

"Wow, hold on. What?" I said yanking my arm back. "Start at the beginning"

She sighed and looked around as if worried someone would listen.

"Hayley didn't get out of town" she said.

"Well, she better hide, because if Caroline doesn't kill her, I will. Or maybe Klaus, he probably has some mean ways…"

"No" she interrupted me. "That doesn't matter right now. She went out of town to get a witch. Tyler got all hybrids to break the sire bond and they want to get free. She got the witch, they'll make a spell to put Klaus in Tyler's body"

"Sorry, what?!" I snapped. "What the hell?"

"Then they will bury Tyler's body – Klaus – in cement. This way all the hybrids can leave for good and make sure Klaus won't find them"

"Klaus hunted Katherine down for five centuries, of course he won't give up so easily" I rolled my eyes.

"I thought maybe Caroline could warn Klaus, or even convince Tyler… We can't let him do this" she said desperately.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Why did he tell you?" I asked.

"Because I saw Hayley" she deflected.

"Leah, I think I've made myself pretty clear lately. I don't have many boundaries right now, so if you keep lying to me…" I trailed off. "Tyler wouldn't tell you all of this because of something trivial… What's going on?"

She avoided my eyes and bit her lip.

"Leah! Did you tell him about the imprinting?" I snapped.

"No! He figured out!" she frowned. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…"

She blushed bright red and seemed to be ashamed. I tried to think of why she would be sorry. I glared at her.

"He didn't sleep with Hayley" I hissed.

"No" she mumbled. "I went to the Appalachians to visit him, I… I couldn't stay away and…"

"Ugh! Leah!" I growled. "Try to get him under control. And this better come out… Hayley is in town, and Caroline and Klaus are probably going to rip her apart as soon as their eyes set on her. I will have a backup plan in case you can't convince him to give up of this stupid plan"

"Okay" she nodded.

I got in the car and sped off and went to the Boarding House. When I entered, slamming the door, I could hear Damon's sigh. I met him and Stefan in the parlor, they were having a drink.

"What is it this time?" Damon asked frowning.

"Tyler is planning on getting rid of Klaus" I said.

"So?" he asked confused.

"He intends to trade bodies with Klaus and then bury his body, Klaus, in cement" I said. "And… Klaus has been nice. He helped me, I can't let Tyler do that"

"Klaus has the sword" Stefan muttered.

"What?" I frowned

"The sword to decipher the hunter's tattoo, the map" he said standing up. "He showed it to me this morning, trying to convince me to initiate Jeremy"

"We aren't going to have Jeremy killing anyone" I said.

"No, but if we find another hunter, like Connor found Jeremy, that sword is our only chance to decipher the map" Stefan said. "If we lose the sword, and find a hunter later… It will be in vain"

I looked at Damon.

"Tell me you scheduled our flights for tonight" I said.

"10p.m." he shrugged. "I had a feeling we would need some extra time"

"Really?" Caroline complained. "Why am I always Klaus' bait?"

"Do I have to tell you again?" I said.

"Ugh, fine. I'll distract him, but tell Stefan to be quick, I'm not in the mood and if he figures it out…"

"I'll tell Stefan to be fast, he's already on his way" I said. "I would do it, but… I have bags to pack, Bonnie to talk, and Tyler"

"I would gladly pack your bags and talk to Bonnie if you dealt with Klaus and Tyler"

"Yeah, well, we both know Klaus is more distracted by you" I chuckled. "Care, I gotta go, talk to you later. Good luck"

"Thanks" she muttered and hung up.

I closed the suitcase and looked around at the other clothes I had separated for packing. I sighed and texted Alice, saying she could have fun doing it. I drove to Bonnie's with Damon, and in the way I tried to get some details of our trip. He wouldn't tell me anything, claiming he wanted to surprise me. He was curious about how things went with Elijah, but I deflected claiming he was deflecting me. When he insisted I sighed.

"It was fine. Things went smoothly, as I told you they would" I said.

He parked in front of Bonnie's house, and leaned over for a kiss. He had a happy smile when he pulled back.

"I really can't wait to get out of this town with you" he said.

I nodded, smiling and we got out of the car. Bonnie opened the door and hesitantly invited us in, before leading us to the living room where Edward was. He smiled at me and eyed Damon, chuckling at something.

"If you need help…" he offered.

"No, I got it" Damon said. "Thanks. Now, get out of my head"

"Damon" I scolded softly.

"Edward told me what you found out…" Bonnie said arching an eyebrow at us. "Do I want to know why you got to the subject with an unknown witch?"

"Let's just say I had a fucked-up experience with it, I just didn't know" Damon said frowning.

"So, Shane has been teaching you Expression?" I asked.

"Yes… He told me it was a natural way to practice magic… Not drawing power from the spirits"

"How was that going?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Very well…" she glanced at Edward with hesitancy. "Ahn, it got a bit out of control even"

"She slipped up and didn't realize her own strength" Edward explained. "She knows now and everything is fine"

"Well, I want it to continue to be like this… It's dangerous. So you should stay away from Shane" I said worriedly.

"I would" she said and we all frowned at her, she looked at Edward. "Caroline told me about the cure"

"It's lost, Bonnie" I mumbled.

"For now… We'll get the sword and if we find a hunter, not being Jeremy, we'll get it" Damon said soothingly.

"Shane said he knows where it is" Bonnie interrupted him before he continued. "He told me he almost got it, but… A hunter and a witch was needed"

"The hunter? Why? If He knows where it is, he has deciphered the tattoo?" Damon asked.

"What is the tattoo isn't a map, but a way to get to the cure… He didn't have the hunter, the deciphered tattoo or the witch, so he couldn't get it" Edward mused.

"He said he would help us when we wanted to get it, he would take us there…" Bonnie said.

"But you would have to practice Expression" I said shaking my head. "No, it's too dangerous… We'll find another witch"

"I'm the descendent from Qetsiyah, the witch that gave Silas…"

"Sorry, I got lost a bit. Who?" Damon said, voicing my thoughts.

"Silas?" Edward frowned at her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You heard of him?" she asked frowning.

"Mind filling us in?" I asked.

"There's a myth…" Edward started.

"It's real" Bonnie argued and turned to us. "Over a two thousand years ago, Qetsyah, a witch cast a spell with Silas, a warlock, to make him immortal. She loved him"

"But Silas intended to spend eternity with another woman, so the witch that helped him, she murdered his lover, created a cure for immortality and imprisoned him in a tomb… She killed herself, and waited for him to take the cure, to be stuck on the Other Side with for all eternity, but he didn't out of spite" Edward finished.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" Damon said.

"That's what I thought the myth was about, a bedtime story…" Edward said frowning.

"So, what you're saying is that an immortal being, older than the Originals, exists and has the cure" I said. "But only Bonnie can free him, get access to the cure…"

"Yes" Bonnie said.

"That's sounding more dangerous with each word, Bonnie" I frowned.

"I could help you, Bella! Elena, Caroline!" she turned to Edward. "You. And Esme, and Rosalie….They would be able to have the families they've always wanted… blood-related children…"

"Oh, that's a low blow" Damon commented quietly with a frown.

"Everything would be fine" Bonnie said.

"No, Klaus would want to use Elena as bloodbag" I said.

"We could make him take it" Bonnie said.

"Klaus?" I scoffed. "He would kill us if he knew we were even considering"

"We would have the cure. All of you would be normal again" she argued.

"Not at such high price" I mumbled.

"Edward?" she said softly, turning to him. "I can do it"

He looked torn. He glanced at me and his fingers flexed. He looked down at his hands, evaluating himself.

"We don't even have a hunter" Damon said. "So, this is futile"

"But I have to learn. Shane can teach me" Bonnie said desperately.

"We'll get the information we need from him, and then you should stay away from him, Bonnie. It's… This guy knows too much" I said glancing at Edward, who nodded with a worried frown.

"But…"

"Stop trying to fix us so desperately" Damon said scowling at us. "We are fine, there's nothing wrong with us!"

She seemed ready to argue with that, but as her eyes strayed to Edward, her lips sealed closed and she sighed. I slipped my hand into Damon's and tugged on it, deciding to leave the two alone to talk.

"I'll talk to you later, before we leave" I told them with a small smile.

Bonnie nodded, looking tired and sad, and we left.

I called Leah to know where she was and how things were going as I got ready for the party. Since I was staying in town until later, Carol Lockwood and Caroline asked me to be there. Carol just for the hell of torturing me with her parties, and Caroline so she could take a break from Klaus. Alice had already chosen what I would wear, a off-white dress with matching pumps, and my bags were packed, so I didn't have to worry about anything but saying goodbye and stopping Tyler from screwing things up.

Leah wasn't answering so I left her a message asking her to call me back soon, I needed to know what was going on.

Damon was waiting for me by the door, and the sight of him on a white shirt made me stop. He cocked an eyebrow at me.

"You're wearing white" I said in shock.

"I only have black T-shirts" he shrugged rolling the sleeves up uncomfortably. "And it's Christmas" he muttered.

I smiled, rushing to him and wrapping my arms around his neck.

"You look handsome" I whispered.

"Stop making a big deal of it" he scowled at me.

"The good thing is, Carol probably hired photographers, so this" I said smoothing over the shirt. "Will be forever registered"

"As if your memory wasn't enough" he rolled his eyes at me.

I grabbed the collar of the shirt and pulled him to a passionate kiss.

"You really like this shirt, don't you?" he asked against my lips when he pulled back to breathe.

"I really do" I said huskily. "Will you wear it until we get alone, wherever we're going?"

"I think I might" he smirked.

"Good, because you look…" I eyed him and licked my lips. "Delicious"

He kissed me passionately, pushing me against the wall.

"If you don't stop, we won't go to the party say goodbye and solve this mess" he growled.

"How long will it take to get to wherever you're taking me?" I asked softly.

"A couple hours"

"Then we should get going so we can try to get an earlier flight"

He chuckled at my enthusiasm as I dragged him out the door.

"That is very generous of you, Bella" Carol said smiling as she folded the check.

"Just my goodbye contribution" I said putting away my check book. "I'm leaving town with Damon, tonight"

"Oh, that's a shame!" she said sincerely. "We will miss you"

I saw Caroline by the bar, talking to Klaus over drinks. She saw me as well, and gave me a meaningful look. I walked to them and Klaus smiled at me.

"Bella, nice to see you… I can see you're better" he said.

"Yes, thanks" I said.

"Join us!" Caroline said. "I'm getting a little tipsy so, share my drinks, please"

"Please, do not" Klaus said amusedly.

"Hitting on drunk baby vampires, Klaus? Wow, what a big bad wolf" I mocked.

"Hey!" Caroline said frowning at me. "I'm older than you… on the vampire thing"

"Right" I rolled my eyes.

"So, what was your contribution? Carol seemed very happy about it" Caroline cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Surely not as entertaining as Klaus' paintings… I gave money. I find it more practical" I shrugged.

I reached for the glass of scotch when I saw Leah across the bar, staring at me with nervous eyes.

"I'll be right back" I said.

Caroline shot me a look that could kill me. She was starting to get pissed off for being Klaus' distraction for so long. In my defense, it was working wonderfully. His attention was completely on her.

I reached Leah, and she seemed nervous to talk in a room so full of people, but I gave her a look that made her spill.

"I convinced Tyler to change his plans" she said.

"Thank God" I sighed.

"Change, not cancel"

I frowned at her.

"What?"

"I had an idea. I could call Jake, tell him we got progress on finding the cure, and Klaus was gone… He would bring Rebekah, because she would want to be a part of it. They both would want to help getting the cure. We dagger her and put Klaus in her body… That way Tyler won't have to sacrifice himself" she said smiling triumphantly.

"Yes, you've only forgot one little thing with that imprinting obsession of yours" I snapped. "We can just sacrifice Rebekah. First, she would be pissed off and in Klaus' body. Secondly, I did not save her only for you to use her as it is convenient later. And, no, we are not calling her back, Klaus being cool or not. We will cancel the plans. We won't change anything, only cancel, Leah, do you got it?"

She glared at me and I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I'm not changing the plans back. I can put off calling Jake and Rebekah, until we find a way to stop Tyler, but I'm not going to let him offer himself again, because if something goes wrong, he's the one screwed"

"Didn't cross your mind that you're putting Jake's imprint on danger?" I frowned. "Wasn't a pack code to protect the imprints?"

She clenched her jaw.

"I don't care, Rebekah isn't good for Jacob"

I racked my brain for another solution and glanced at Klaus and Caroline before turning back to give her an answer.

"If we can't convince Tyler to cancel his plans… I'll kill the witch they got"

"So… This has been fun but, curiosity is eating at me" Klaus said and I smiled as I put my drink down.

"What is it?" Caroline chuckled at the serious look he suddenly had.

"I might have heard my sister's name in your conversation" he said narrowing his eyes at me and my smile faltered. "I wouldn't have minded usually, but… The fact that you both have been trying to distract me started to bother me"

"Klaus…"

"Caroline, I do not like being treated as fool" he said angrily cutting her off. "And frankly, it is pathetic how you let them use you as bait"

She shot me a look and I sighed.

"What is going on?" Klaus asked in a low, angry, menacing tone.

We looked at each other, and I looked at the clock. It was almost nine and Leah hadn't told me anything else. Time was running out. Hayley was probably with the witch already and Leah head told me one of the hybrids would lead Klaus into the trap. A hybrid had entered the Grill half an hour earlier, and was watching us, waiting for the best time.

"Tell me" Klaus urged.

"There is a plan against you" I said and he stood up, towering over me. "Not me, you dumbass. Tyler. He unsired all hybrids and they got a witch"

"What?" he hissed.

"They want to put you in someone else's body and get rid of you so they can run" Caroline said quietly.

Klaus clenched his jaw, his temper flaring visibly.

"We're trying to stop them. I'll kill the witch myself if no one convinces Tyler to stop this madness, Klaus" I told him.

"Too late" he growled.

He turned around and walked away. Caroline had a panicked look and I rushed after him. I grabbed his arm and looked around, being careful to not attract too much attention.

"Stop. What are you planning to do?" I frowned at him.

"What I should've done a long time ago" he said.

"You can't kill him, Klaus!" I begged. "Look, I'll fix this, just, don't do anything drastic"

"Drastic" he scoffed.

"Klaus, if you kill Tyler…"

"What are you going to do?" he mocked.

I glared at him.

"I wasn't going to do anything… Caroline will" I said and he scowled. "He hurt her, but she still cares for him. It's not as easy… She can't simply turn her feelings off. And if you do this, you might as well give up. No one will forgive you" I said and smiled. "Besides, all hybrids are unsired and Tyler is Leah's imprint. So, if you keep cool, and don't harm him, you might have the pack's support when needed"

He narrowed his eyes at me and looked at the hybrid who was watching us…

"Tell Tyler I'll give him a head's start. I'll hunt him down after I deal with the hybrids" he said.

I didn't think I would get a better deal from Klaus, so I only nodded.

"Did you talk to them?" Caroline asked quietly.

"Yes… Leah and Tyler left" I mumbled.

"And Hayley?" she sneered.

I frowned and knowing Hayley was still around town, I decided to tell Caroline, before she did something she might regret.

"Care, Tyler didn't have an affair with Hayley" I said softly.

"What? What are you saying?" she frowned. "He… He admitted, he said he was sorry"

"Care…"

"Why did he lie to me? Why would he say that?" she smiled. "He…"

"He didn't cheat on you with Hayley"

She stared at me, her frown deepening as she went over my words.

"Tyler and Leah got out of town?" she said emotionlessly.

"She imprinted on him" I whispered. "I'm sorry. I thought you should know…"

"Thank you" she mumbled.

I hugged her and she wrapped her arms around me tightly.

"I'll miss you" she mumbled. "And even Damon, but just a bit. Don't tell him though, he's a pain in the ass and it would get worse"

I chuckled and squeezed her a bit.

"I'll miss you too, Care. Call me if you want to join me during the summer, alright?"

She nodded against my shoulder and I pulled back with a smile. I turned to the others, and hugged Matt. Even though it hurt to say goodbye to all my friends, I was at peace, knowing I was no longer necessary there, and I needed some time alone with Damon. We both did. Stefan and Elena were one of the last we said goodbye to, and probably the ones I would miss more considering we would avoid seeing each other until we were sure the sire bond had been loosened when Damon told Elena to forget about him. I looked at the front of the Boarding House, all my friends, my family there and smiled. Damon tugged on my arm impatiently and Alice chuckled.

"Have fun" she called out as Damon dragged me to the car.

"I… Love you" I said softly before getting in the car.

Damon smiled teasingly at me for being so emotional and they all waved at us as we drove away from what would always be my home.