A few days later, Lexi appeared in the Boarding House. The others had asked her to be there so they could figure out how to lure Klaus back to town. "Hey, guys."
"Hey." Elena said. "You made it."
"So, any ideas on how we're going to get Klaus to town?" Damon asked.
"Well, according to the ghostly hotline, Mikael had been hunting Klaus for centuries." Lexi said. "If he knows Mikael is here, there's no way he'll show up…"
"Unless we make him believe that Mikael's dead." Stefan finished.
"Right, so how are we going to make it convincing?" Elena asked. The four of them spent the next few minutes going over different ideas.
They walked into the living room, still going over the plan. "Okay, let`s say that Mikael followed Elena in here. He tried to grab her, so he could use her as bait." Stefan said.
"And you what? Vervained him?" Elena asked.
"No! We vervained him! The guy is an Original. Try to make it realistic." Damon said.
"He's got a point. It'd take more than one ordinary vampire to restrain an Original vampire." Lexi agreed.
"Okay, fine. We vervained him, and in the process discovered that he had a dagger." Stefan said.
"Which he planned to use on Rebekah," Elena continued. "But instead..."
"We drove it through his heart."
"And what happens when he asks to see Mikael´s body?" Elena asked.
"Good point. You, my brother, have been compelled to do what Klaus says. So the idea is to lure him back here and kill him. The last thing we need is you getting tripped up and tongue-tied."
"Well, don't look at me I am just in charge of getting him back here." Stefan pointed out.
"Klaus is smart, If we tell him that Mikael is dead, he'll want proof." Elena said.
"Then I shall be dead." Everyone turned as Mikael entered the room. Lexi got in front of the group.
"What if he wants to see you in person?" Elena asked.
"Well that means our plan is working. Klaus will absolutely want to see my body. You lure him here and I will kill him."
"With what? Those daggers won`t work on him." Stefan pointed out.
"Well, I´m in possession of a stake fashioned from the wood of the ancient white oak tree." Mikael said. Lexi looked suspicious. She'd heard all about the ancient oak tree from Anna and Pearl. "The one that left these ashes when it burned."
"Where is it?" Stefan asked. Apparently she wasn't the only one with suspicions.
"Not here. The knowing of its location is my insurance policy."
"Against what?"
"You leaving this in my heart! You see, a vampire can´t dagger an original without dying. So, it falls to you." Mikael said, handing the dagger to Elena.
"You want me to actually dagger you?"
"Klaus will leave nothing to chance, especially when it comes to trust." He pointed out.
Lexi nodded. "Go for it." Elena stabbed him with the dagger and he fell to the ground immediately. Everyone watched. "Better make that phone call now." She told Stefan.
He had already dialed the number. Lexi sat next to him. "Your father is dead."
"What did you say to me?" She heard Klaus say on the other end of the line. It was weird how even though she was a ghost, she still had some of her vampire powers, though they did come in handy for eavesdropping on phone calls.
"Oh, my mistake. Not your actual father and not dead. Mikael. Daggered. What do you want me to do with the body?" Stefan asked him.
"Well, first I want you to explain to me exactly what happened." Just like they'd planned, Stefan went with the story they'd come up with.
"I want to see him. I want to see his rotting body for myself."
"Well, he is here. Come by whenever."
"If you are lying to me Stefan, your compulsion will expose you. So, answer with your life: Is what you are saying the truth?"
"It´s true. I saw it with my own eyes."
"He's suspicious, but I think he believes us." Lexi told the others. She noticed that Rebekah had joined the group.
"That´s not a problem. She is right here." Stefan handed the phone to her.
"Hello Nik." There was a pause. "It´s true. He´s finally out of our lives for good. I miss you. I´m miserable here. Good. I'll see you then. Bye-bye." She hung up and turned to the rest of the group. "He bought it. He´s coming home."
"Now- was that easy or what?"
"Way to jinx it, Damon." Lexi said.
"Let´s just get this over with." Elena pulled the dagger out of Mikael and set it on the table.
"Well, now that the plan's in motion, I'm going to see if I can get some back-up. I'll see you soon." Lexi said. She disappeared.
A few hours later, Elena stopped by her house to pick out a dress for the dance. After glancing in the closet, she sighed. "I hate everything in my closet. I have nothing to wear to Homecoming."
"So, don't go." Bonnie told her. "Let's stay home, order takeout and overanalyze ancient hieroglyphic thingies with Alaric."
"We have to go. Caroline will kill us." Elena pointed out.
"Caroline actually has a date..." Bonnie added, letting the photos fall to the bed.
"You know that you can talk to me about Jeremy, right?" Elena told her.
"I don't need to talk about it." Bonnie said. "It's just too weird to talk about…and besides, I'm the one who broke up with him."
"Yeah, what was that about anyway?"
"I just needed some space, okay?" Bonnie told her. "Things just felt awkward between us. And at least I have more time to figure out what to do about this Klaus mess, looking up new protection spells and everything."
"Well, you might want to tell Anna that." Elena said. "I know your break up had nothing to do with her, but she doesn't know that and she thinks you're mad at her."
"That's ridiculous."
"Given everything that's happened, not really. When was the last time you've seen her?" Elena pointed out.
"I don't know. I tried to call her the other night, but she never showed up." Bonnie said. "I got Pearl instead."
"You should try and talk with her soon." Elena said. Little did she know, Anna was listening to them from inside the closet.
Lexi entered Damon's bathroom, bringing in a few more supplies. "Here, I managed to get these from the basement."
"Thanks." Elena said, setting them on the counter. She and Damon were filling bottles with wolvesbane. Lexi had brought a couple jars of vervain, hoping they'd work just as effective on the hybrids.
"There are too many things, that can go wrong with this plan. Too many people that can make it go wrong." Elena sighed.
"Well, I am formulating a secret contingency plan." Damon said.
"Really? What is it?"
"Well, if I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret."
"It can't be a bad thing if you've got the other ghosts helping you." Lexi said.
That's when Stefan chose to interrupt him. "I need to borrow a tie."
"You have your own ties!" Damon pointed out.
"I'm a 162 years old and I'm going to a Homecoming Dance. I need better ties."
"You could not go." Elena told him.
"I'm compelled to protect you. And if I look your track record at high school Dances- it's pretty tragic. My luck you go and get yourself murdered by the Homecoming Queen..."
"I'm pretty sure we can keep her just as safe." Lexi pointed out. "Besides, in case you've forgotten, this plan is supposed to save you." She heard Damon and Elena argue behind her.
"Elena, if this thing blows up in our faces, just remember: only one of us heals quickly." Damon said.
"please tell me that you have a better plan than wolvesbane grenades." Stefan said.
"Never you mind, brother. Less you know the better."
"My freedom from Klaus rests entirely upon you two as skidding your plan perfectly. So, excuse me if I'm a bit cynical." Stefan pointed out.
"You're the one we should be worried about. If Klaus asks you one wrong question- whole thing falls apart." Elena said.
"You probably won't have to worry about that. I'll be there in case something goes wrong." Lexi reassured her.
"If I look back in our history of epic plan failures, it's usually because one of us let our humanity get in the way." Stefan told them. "Upon taking odds on how this thing goes down, it's certainly not gonna be me who screws it up. I'll see you at Homecoming. I can't wait."
"Wow. He's a real pain in the ass, isn't he?" Damon said.
"Yeah, we get it."
"Well, Klaus' compulsion is strong, but you'd be surprised how strong a ghost's influence can be." Lexi told them. They both seemed surprised. "If it comes down to it, I'll use my powers to help him."
"Why haven't you done that before?" Damon asked.
"I can't break Klaus' compulsion." Lexi explained. "But I can help with other things." She started to leave the room. "Oh, and you might want to be careful with that vervain. It's pretty strong."
A few hours later, Elena had gotten a call from Caroline saying they moved Homecoming to Tyler's due to the gym flooding. Lexi knew it was no coincidence. Elena walked to the door and found Matt.
"Matt."
"Hey."
"Well, that's not awkward." Lexi said. Anna appeared next to her.
"Well, she did just dagger his date."
"Are you okay on your part of the plan?" Lexi asked her.
"Don't worry about it. I'll make sure she stays safe." Anna said. "I just hope we can pull this off."
"You're lucky. You're one of the few she can actually see." Lexi pointed out.
Meanwhile, Caroline and Bonnie were already at the Lockwood house. It was packed. "How did he plan a better party than me so fast?" Caroline asked. "Is that a band outside?"
"Who are all these people?" Bonnie asked.
"If I had to guess, the Homecoming parade." The girls jumped. Mason was leaning against a wall.
"What are you doing here?"
"The same thing as you. You're not the only one worried about Tyler, Care." Mason told her.
"Where is he, anyway?"
"Probably outside. You should both be careful, though. He's not himself." Bonnie and Caroline nodded, then went to look for him.
A few minutes later, Elena, Matt, and Anna showed up at the party. "So much for Homecoming."
"This doesn't look anything like the Homecoming dances I've seen." Anna added.
"This is weird." Matt told Elena. "Us being here together..." Elena noticed Caroline.
"There's Caroline. She doesn't know anything. Act normal!"
"Hey, Klaus is here!" Caroline told them.
"What?"
"Yeah! Apparently our sired hybrid-friend Tyler thought it'd be okay to let his master throw a party!" Caroline said. They all turned to each other. "I expected more surprise."
"I've learned to not be surprised by anything Klaus does." Elena told her. "I'm gonna go find Bonnie." Anna followed her outside.
"Nice, but as awkward as it is, you might want to handle this more like she actually would, Kat." She said.
"I'm trying, but it's not every day you come face to face with the psycho who killed your family." Katherine told her.
"Just do us all a favor and don't get killed. I might not like you very much, but we all hate Klaus." Anna told her.
"Don't worry, I know exactly what I'm doing."
"For everyone's sake, you'd better."
Meanwhile, Lexi was listening in on Stefan and Klaus. "Seems the Homecoming Queen still walks among the living, which leads me to believe Rebekah isn't here... Where is she?"
"I have no idea. I thought she was coming with Matt." Stefan told him. Lexi frowned. She'd noticed Rebekah wasn't there, either. She wondered where the blonde Original was.
"Oh, be honest now, Stefan! Where is my sister?"
"I said I have no idea." He pointed out. "How would you like me to take you to your father?"
"Well, it wouldn't be a party without the guest of honor, would it? Bring him to me."
"All right! Perhaps there's something in it for me?" They'd all gone over this part of the plan. "My freedom from your compulsion?"
"Oh, you want your freedom." Klaus seemed to be considering it. "Well, once he is dead and his weapon destroyed you'll have your freedom. It'll be my pleasure to give it back."
Lexi popped back into the Salvatore house. "How's it going?" Damon asked.
"I think he could be onto us, but it's too hard to tell. Either way, I'm not going to let this plan blow up in our faces." Lexi told him. Mikael entered the room. She involuntarily stepped back.
"Did my daughter go to the dance?"
"Yep- you missed the photo op. Did you get the stake?" Damon asked him.
"I did."
"May I take your word for it? No offence to your honor at all..."
Mikael showed him an elaborately-carved stake. "Fancy! May I?"
"It's the only weapon on this earth that can kill an Original. So I think I'll hold on to it. No offense..."
"I'd offer you a drink, but Katherine tells me you're more of a "vampire on the rocks" kind of guy." Damon said.
"Ew, he feeds on vampires? Isn't that like some kind of cannibalism?" Lexi asked, completely disgusted with the idea. Damon glanced back at her. From his expression, it didn't seem like it sat too well with him either.
"Why feed on vampires? Don't tell me it's for the smooth aftertaste."
"I had a hand in creating vampires, but bloodlust was never my intention. Over the centuries I learnt to feed from the predator, not the innocent."
"That's wrong on so many levels." Lexi said as Stefan entered the room
"Change of plans. Klaus is back. He is out at the Lockwood's and he wants your body delivered to his doorstep." Stefan told him.
"I'm afraid he is in for a colossal disappointment." Mikael said.
"Well, he's certainly not gonna come here. I hope your plan didn't depend on that." Stefan said.
"Didn't depend on that."
"But you do have a plan, right?" Stefan asked.
"Oh, yeah. We have a plan, right. Just doesn't involve you." Damon said.
Lexi quickly moved behind Stefan and knocked him out with her powers. "That oughta keep him down for a couple hours." She said.
Back at the Lockwood place, Anna was near the door when she saw Klaus approach Katherine. "Where`s your date?"
"Getting me a drink." She said.
"Well, seems I have you to thank for Mikael`s demise." Klaus said.
"He came at me. I didn`t have a choice."
"Still I´m impressed. It`s not easy for a human to dagger an Original."
"It wasn`t the first time." Katherine pointed out.
"Right. Elijah. You seem nervous."
"I´m not nervous. I just don`t like you."
"Let`s get straight to the point then ,shall I, my love? People have been after me for 1,000 years. And I am always one step ahead." Klaus told her. "So whatever it is you`re thinking of trying, go for it, give it your best shot. You won`t succeed."
Outside, Lexi arrived with Damon. "Sure you shouldn't be watching my brother?" Damon asked her.
"I'm only here to cover you until Anna comes. Then, I can go back and check on him." Lexi told him.
They headed toward the house. "Invite only, vampire." One of the hybrids said.
"Here`s my RSVP, Hybrid." Damon said, tearing it's heart out. Lexi cringed.
"Not exactly subtle, D." They went inside. Tyler was there.
"As the host you should know these hybrids don`t make the best first impression." Damon told him.
"Whatever move you`re making, Klaus is gonna be ready for you." Tyler told him. "He`ll kill anyone at this party if he has to."
"Tell someone who cares." The next thing Lexi knew, they were fighting each other.
"I was afraid of this." Mason said, appearing next to her.
"Shouldn't we stop them?"
"I told you before, he won't listen to me." Mason pointed out.
"So, use your ghostly abilities to stage an intervention or something!" Lexi pointed out. She noticed Tyler was about to bite Damon, but he pushed him away.
"Oh, no! We are not going through that again!" Lexi got in front of Damon and Mason held Tyler from behind. Suddenly, all four of them fell to the floor, Lexi and Mason on their knees. Tyler was knocked out. Bonnie entered the room.
"Thanks a lot." Mason told her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring you two down with them." Bonnie told the ghosts.
"I'm impressed. You're powers are getting stronger." Lexi said.
"You weren`t supposed to witchy migraine me!" Damon told Bonnie.
"You weren`t supposed to kill Tyler!" Bonnie pointed out.
"He tried to bite me!"
"Did you really think I'd let him kill my nephew?" Mason asked Bonnie. Now she looked embarrassed. Then she noticed something in Damon's jacket.
"What is this?"
"Nothing."
"Oh my god is that the..."
"Shh! They`re everywhere!"
"Why do you have it?" Bonnie asked.
"Because I`m the only one who can get inside the house!" Damon told her.
"And the only one of us who can actually use it." Lexi added. "I can't even touch it without getting zapped."
"Well, it is a magic weapon." Mason pointed out. "You guys get going. I'll take care of Tyler." Lexi nodded and left with the others.
A few minutes later, Anna saw the hybrids drag Katherine away. Now she was standing outside the bushes, waiting to jump in if things started to go wrong. She could sense a dark aura around Mikael. Anna, you there? Anna jumped, hearing Lexi's voice. The whole telepathy thing was still new to them, after all. Ghosts rarely used it to keep in touch with each other, but it came in handy sometimes.
Lexi, where are you?
With Damon. Someone's got to back him up.
Lexi, there's something you should know. "If she dies, this lot will be last of your abominations." Anna's concentration broke when she heard Mikeal's voice.
"I don`t need them. I just need to be rid of you." Klaus countered.
"To what end, Niklaus? So you can live forever, with no one at your side? Nobody cares about you anymore, boy! What do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced?" Anna hated to admit it, but she was actually starting to feel sorry for Klaus, even if he was the bad guy.
"I`m calling your bluff, father. Kill her."
"Come outside and face me, you little coward. And I won`t have to." Katherine struggled slightly, signaling Anna.
"Your impulse, Niklaus. It has and will forever be the one thing that keeps you from truly being great." That's when Mikeal stabbed her. She fell to the ground. Anna ran over to her and put an invisible barrier around them, pushing four of the hybrids near them, plus Mikael, back.
Damon rushed out and staked Klaus with the white oak from behind, but missed the heart when he turned around. Lexi helped him by pushing Klaus to the ground with her powers.
On the ground, Katherine opened her eyes. "Come on, we need you to get in the game here!" Anna told her. Katherine got up, surprising Mikael.
"Katherine..." All the hybrids started to close in.
"Kaboom." She threw the wolvesbane grenades at them, hurting them. Anna used her powers to push several others away, knocking them out. They high-fived each other.
Inside, things weren't going so well. Lexi's power had given out, so Damon had to pin Klaus to the ground. That's when things went wrong. Stefan showed up and pushed Damon off of him. "What are you doing?!" Klaus took advantage of the distraction to take the white oak stake and kill Mikael with it. Anna and Katherine jumped out of the way.
"What the hell did you do?" Damon asked Stefan.
"He`s earned his freedom." They all looked at Klaus in shock. "Thank you my friend. You no longer have to do as I say. You`re free."
"Stefan." Lexi walked over to him. He nearly collapsed. "I've got you. Come on, let's go."
At the Salvatore's house, Lexi appeared. She had just gotten back from helping Stefan. She'd had to use her powers to calm him down after the incident. "We thought of everything, Elena! Klaus having hybrids. Mikael turning on us." Damon was telling her. "We brought in Katherine so you weren`t in danger. Anything that could have gone wrong we were prepared!"
"I don`t understand. Stefan wanted Klaus dead! More than anything! That`s what we were counting on." Elena said.
"Unless Klaus did something to threaten Damon's life." Lexi said, getting their attention.
"Are you sure?"
"It's the only reason he would've blown the plan." Lexi pointed out. "Trust me, I've known Stefan a long time and even with his humanity off, he could never let his brother die."
"Where`s Katherine?" Elena asked.
"She ran for the hills as usual, the minute things got bad!" Damon told her. "And who blames her? Klaus would`ve crushed her."
"I know we were really close this time." Lexi said. "Tonight may have been a disaster, but that doesn't mean we can't find another way to put an end to Klaus. I promise, I'll do whatever I can to help you two stop him."
"Thank you, Lexi." Elena said. She turned to Damon. "We'll survive this. We always survive."
"I know." He said. He turned to Lexi. "You really think we can do this?"
"I know your brother as much as you do, Damon. It might take some time, but I know we can bring the real Stefan back and end Klaus for good."
Damon's phone started ringing. He answered it. "Not interested in the play by play of our failure right now, Katherine." He said. There was a slight pause. "That`s not very comforting at the moment. You`re going back in the hiding?"
Lexi walked over to Elena. "Are you sure about this, Lexi?"
"I've never been more sure in my life." Lexi told her. "Or…whatever."
Back in Katherine's car, Anna was in the backseat. "I really don't feel good about doing that. I hate lying to them."
"We had no choice, Anna." Katherine said. "It was either that, or watch Damon get killed and you know that."
"I don't know what I hate more, the fact we blew it on purpose or that you're right." Anna said.
Katherine pulled over. "Are you good from here? I need to put a million miles between myself and Klaus as soon as possible." She told Stefan. He was looking out the window. "Stefan?"
"How did you know that I would stop Damon?" Stefan asked her.
"I didn't. I was just hoping that you would want to..." Katherine said.
"And you were the only one who could stop him." Anna added. "If I had intervened, I could've been seriously hurt."
"I thought nothing could hurt spirits."
"That's not true, even ghosts have weaknesses." Anna told him. "You know that."
Stefan turned to Katherine. "You wanted Klaus dead for five hundred years. Why would you risk all that, just to safe Damon's life?" He asked.
"I wasn't just trying to safe Damon's life, Stefan. I was trying to safe yours!" Katherine said. "Your humanity. Let's just say I liked the old you better."
"That's what we've all been trying to do." Anna said. "But I'm glad you came to help us."
"Well, I have to go back into hiding." Katherine said. "But let me know when you guys finally take Klaus down."
"Of course." Anna told her, smiling.
"Come on, Katherine! You don't care about anybody but yourself. You never have." Stefan said.
"How can you…" Anna began, but Katherine spoke first.
"You and I both know that's not true! I loved you. I've loved Damon, too." Katherine sighed. "Humanity is a vampire's greatest weakness. No matter how easy it is to turn it off- it just keeps trying to fight it's way back in. Sometimes I let it..."
"I don't want to. Not after everything I've done..." Stefan said.
"Of course you don't want to. But if you don't let yourself feel, you won't be able to do what I need you to do next." Katherine told him.
"What`s that?"
"Get mad."
"Stefan, I know what you're going through. I didn't want to turn mine back on at first either." Anna said. "I was afraid to."
"When did you ever shut yours off?"
"After they captured my mother the first time." Anna said. "I spent a few decades not caring about it, then I ran into an old friend who gave me a reason to try and save her. I couldn't do that without my humanity, though."
"Yeah, but after everything I did to hurt them…" He was surprised to feel Anna touch his hand.
"Damon's your brother and the others are still concerned." Anna pointed out. "Sure, they'll be mad, but they're all worried about you. Trust me on this one."
"Okay."
"What were you thinking?" Anna asked the next morning.
"This was Katherine's idea, remember?"
"Yes, but I didn't think you'd actually go through with it!" Anna said. "Do you have any idea how pissed he's going to be? He'll kill all our friends, well those of our friends that aren't already dead!"
"Calm down, Anna. This is part of my plan." Anna shook her head. Sitting in front of her were four coffins. She disappeared the second Stefan wasn't looking. This was a really bad idea and she was so not getting involved in the crossfire.