Damon's decision to kill Mason caused more harm than good. When Katherine learned about Mason's demise, she activated her backup plan, which involved Jenna. Katherine had compelled Jenna some time earlier to prove that she could be a dangerous enemy and it led to Jenna stabbing herself with a knife. Jenna survived the attack yet it taught Riley and the others a valuable lesson that they needed to get rid of Katherine before she killed more people in Mystic Falls. They decided to keep Elena out of any of their plans. While they figured out a way to kill Katherine, Riley was slowly repairing her relationship with her parents. They promised no more secrets from her, ensuring her that the council meetings would never mention her again. She was now the one keeping secrets from them, not telling anyone about what happened with the fire. After a night of playing with the lighter, moving flames onto her hand but experiencing no pain, she could not be in denial for long, knowing that she had caused the flames in the fireplace to hurt Mason.
When she looked back at the notes from the council records, she was able to remember that during some of those incidents, she had been feeling very angry or upset, whether with a person or a situation. Her first thought was that she could be a witch like Bonnie. That theory got torn apart by the fact that she had no witch descendants on either side of her family. She resorted to spending time in the school library during lunch, researching for any possible explanations.
Riley was in her chemistry class, doing an experiment with Jayden. Most people were not paying attention to the lesson, their minds on the masquerade ball tonight at the Lockwood mansion. Since it had been announced, she was frequently asked by guys to be their date. She turned down all of their offers, something that Caroline yelled at her for earlier in the day. Caroline did not understand how Riley could reject them. In all honesty, Riley liked the guys in Mystic Falls as friends but felt no other attraction. Most of them were too stupid to tell left from right and treated a date with a girl as some sort of game. In the few short weeks she had been in Mystic Falls, she learned that some guys in her grade had a competition to hook up with girls, gaining points based on the girl's looks. She had been dreading the day when Cameron would ask her to the ball. To avoid the inevitable conversation, she had mapped out his daily routine and purposely made sure that they never crossed paths. During school, it was difficult since they shared every class together but she used Jayden as a shield.
She wrote down her observations of the chemical reaction in the beaker. Jayden faced her, not wanting to make eye contact with Alison who made it her personal mission to get him as her date. Alison, along with her lapdogs, had been asking him every day. Similar to Cameron, her annoying stepbrother, she did not understand the meaning of rejection. Alison was staring at him intently, waiting for him to look at her.
"Is she looking?"
"She's been staring at you the entire class, Jay"
"This is all your fault. Once you left, no one was there to keep her away from me. How many times does she have to hear no?"
"Maybe you need to learn to speak dog first so you speak the same language"
With ten minutes left in class, Mr. Barton, the chemistry teacher, asked them to pour the solution into the disposal container and clean up all of the materials. Riley grabbed the beaker and moved to the end of the line, behind Bonnie. As they waited to dump out the beakers, they talked about the masquerade ball. Bonnie was perfectly fine that, like Riley, she had no date. An arm wrapped around her waist and she groaned, immediately knowing it belonged to Cameron.
"Here's my girl"
"I don't see her anywhere. Is she imaginary like your other friends?"
"You're funny, Ri. So the masquerade ball is tonight. I hear you don't have a date. It's obvious that you've just been waiting for me to ask you"
"I'm sure that makes perfect sense in your delusional mind"
"Cameron, can you go bother someone else? Riley has no interest in you" said Bonnie, annoyed.
He ignored Bonnie, all of his attention on Riley. She pushed him off of her and dumped the contents of her beaker, quickly returning to her desk. Jayden was placing her notebook into her bag.
"We would have a lot of fun together, Ri. Be my date"
"Not even if you were the last guy on Earth"
"So you'd rather go alone? That's sad"
Before she could retort, Jayden interrupted her, grabbing her hand. She hid her surprise when he claimed that they would be going together to the ball. Anger flashed through Cameron's eyes. Even when they were younger, he was envious of Jayden and Riley's close friendship. Like many others, he suspected that they had secret crushes on each other.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Cam"
"Why would you take her? You told me that you weren't into her"
"We're going as friends. Back off"
Cameron glared slightly and returned to his desk. His anger was nothing compared to Alison's. She seemed to have overheard their conversation and was now shooting death glares at Riley. A small part of her expected Alison to run at her and snap her in half like a twig. Instead of physical violence, Alison resorted to trashing Riley to her friends.
"Jay, why did you say that?"
"It solved both of our problems. Cameron will leave you alone and Alison will stop asking me. Besides, it's not like a real date. Like I said, it's us as friends"
Riley hugged him. "You're sweet. Thanks"
"What the hell does he see in that pipsqueak rat?" she heard Alison say at the desk next to them.
"Ignore her, Ri"
"I bet Jayden just pities her. Who would ever want to date a loser like her?"
Her fists clenched. Suddenly, Alison and Emma's beaker exploded, sending glass everywhere. Jayden and Riley ducked to the floor and he covered her with his jacket. The gas burner was emitting a large flame. Mr. Barton rushed over to their desk and became confused when the burner had been off the entire time. He doused the flame and checked both girls for any injuries. They had minor scratches from the glass but acted as though they had been stabbed a hundred times. He brought them down to the nurse's office.
"I'm not surprised the burner was faulty. The equipment here was used when our parents were in school" explained Jayden.
They made a short stop at their lockers and left the school. Once Jayden dropped her off at her house, he promised to meet her before the masquerade ball. She entered her house, finding her father in the kitchen. He was reading a newspaper.
"You're out of work early"
"Meredith wanted a few extra hours. We'll be a little late to the Lockwoods. Your mother has a meeting to attend at the college"
"It's okay. I'm going with Jayden. I'll see you there"
Her father looked at her, shocked. "I didn't realize you and Jayden were"
"Dad, we're not dating. That's—we're going together as friends, nothing more. I should get started on my homework"
"I've been meaning to ask you something. You don't seem very hurt for someone who was stabbed multiple times. I'm an excellent doctor but I can't make your injuries heal that fast"
Riley struggled to come up with a cover story. She admitted to her father that Damon had healed her with his blood. Her father was about to lecture her until she explained that it was for her own protection. She lied that Damon did not want Mason to attack her again while she was still recovering from her injuries. The truth was that he wanted her to be able to protect herself from Katherine. She hurried up to her room to avoid another lecture from him about trusting vampires like Damon. Halfway through her homework, Damon sent her an urgent text, telling her to come to the boardinghouse. She arrived at the boardinghouse within a few minutes. Caroline, Jeremy, Bonnie, Alaric, Stefan, and Damon were in the living room. Alaric was showing them some of his vampire hunting weapons.
"Finally, shorty. Get over here" said Damon.
He caught her up on what happened after school. Caroline went to the grill and had a run-in with Katherine. Cornering Caroline, Katherine threatened that if she did not get the moonstone tonight at the masquerade ball, she would tear the town apart, killing everyone in sight. They planned to kill her by Bonnie trapping her in a room with a spell. Alaric was going to stay with Elena at her house to keep her away from the party. She listened as Alaric showed off a device that ejected multiple stakes.
"Now you want to make sure you get her right in the heart"
"I've had this training talk, Ric. I killed my first vampire when I was nine. I think I'm good"
Damon ruffled her hair. "See, that's the confidence all of you need tonight. That is exactly why Riley is going to help me and Stefan kill her"
"Whoa, wait. How is that safe? Riley's not like you. She can't heal super fast. One neck snap and she's dead" said Caroline, worried.
"Then I won't let her near my neck" replied Riley.
Only Damon seemed comfortable with the idea of Riley helping to stake Katherine. She ignored everyone else's concerns. Katherine was one of the oldest vampires she had met but she had fought with enough of them to know how to handle herself. Stefan made her promise that if things got too rough, she would get out of the room as fast as possible. They spent the next hour, discussing the plan. Caroline assured them that she would not chicken out, wanting revenge for Katherine turning her into a vampire. Bonnie was the only one who appeared to be reluctant.
"Bonnie, you with this?"
Riley gave her a reassuring look. Sighing to herself, Bonnie agreed to help, with the condition that no one else would be harmed tonight. After going over the plan a couple more times, Riley left the boardinghouse with Jeremy, Alaric, Caroline, and Bonnie. Jeremy followed her to her car.
"Ri, are you sure you want to be involved? You could help Ric watch over Elena"
"Jer, I will be fine. Have I ever been the damsel in distress type?"
"No, but Katherine is really dangerous"
"I know that. I'll keep my promise to Stefan. If things get too rough, I'm out of there and I'll meet up with you. I'll see you at the party"
Riley returned to her house. She searched her closet for an outfit, settling on a dark green mini dress that had a layer of black lace over it, a sweetheart neckline, and a satin sash tied around the waist, accentuating her curves. To give her some height, she put on a pair of black heels. As she checked her hair and swiped on lip gloss, she heard a knock at the door. She grabbed her black lace mask and went downstairs. Her father was talking with Jayden, who was dressed in a nice black suit.
"You two have fun. We'll meet you at the party, Riley. Your mother should be home soon" said her father, hugging her.
She left the house with Jayden. They headed towards the Lockwood mansion.
"You uh look great tonight, Ri. N—not that you don't always look…I just meant..."
She giggled. "Thanks, Jay. You look pretty good yourself"
Mrs. Lockwood had spared no expense on the masquerade ball. She even hired performers to juggle and twirl sticks covered with fire. The mansion was already packed and she waved at her friends from school. Jayden offered to get her a drink. She waited for him near the doorway, keeping an eye out for Damon or Stefan. Matt was leading Tyler, Aimee, and Sarah towards Mr. Lockwood's old study.
"Don't you look pretty tonight"
Turning around, she saw Katherine in a black mini dress. She looked exactly like Elena with her straightened hair but Riley could easily tell the difference between them.
"I'd say the same about you but even the best makeup doesn't hide what a psychotic bitch you are"
Katherine smiled. "You amuse me, mini Gilbert. If we weren't on opposing sides, I think we'd be very good friends"
Jayden walked over to them with drinks. "Oh, hey Elena. I didn't think you were coming tonight"
"I decided that I couldn't miss it. I need to go find Stefan. Don't have too much fun"
Katherine gave Riley a subtle wink and disappeared into the crowd. Jayden questioned if Elena and Stefan were back together as a couple. Riley lied like they were working out their problems. For a while, she could enjoy her time at the party. She and Jayden shared a couple dances, having to deal with a few glares from people like Cameron and Alison. He spun her around, nearly knocking her into an elderly couple. Damon interrupted their fun.
"Hey Riley's friend"
"My name's Jayden"
"Cool but I don't care. I need to steal your date for a bit. Is that okay?"
"Um"
"Elena's crying over Stefan upstairs. She needs her cousin to comfort her. Go hang out with your little jock buddies"
Riley told Jayden that she would meet with him after dealing with Elena. She followed Damon up the staircase. Checking her phone, she noticed that Elena left her over a hundred text messages. She had figured out that something was happening at the ball and was driving over to the mansion. Damon informed her that Katherine started her deadly rampage, killing Aimee outside. Stefan had to hide Aimee's body in the trunk of their car. They walked into the parlor room where Stefan was strapping one of the stake devices to his wrist. Riley grabbed a couple stakes and hid her vervain spray in her dress. She received another text from Caroline. Jeremy had just told Katherine that Stefan and Damon wanted to meet her by the lake and Caroline was waiting for Katherine to come to her, asking for the truth. Damon and Riley hid in the closet. He was holding a stake gun.
"You sure that's all you need?" he asked.
"It's all I had when I fought her last time. Don't chicken out on me"
"Not going to happen"
She heard Caroline crying outside the room. The doors burst open and Katherine questioned her about Bonnie. Caroline giggled, dropping her act. Peeking through a crack in the door, Riley saw Katherine get repelled by the invisible shield created by Bonnie's spell. Stefan stepped out from his hiding place.
"You don't really think you can kill me, do you?" she asked him, curiously.
"No"
Riley quietly pushed the door. Damon raised the stake gun.
"But he can"
He shot Katherine in the back. She stumbled forward, holding her hand to the wound. Stefan staked her in the arm but Katherine regained her strength and shoved him. A vicious fight ensued between the four of them. Despite not being a vampire, Riley was able to hold her own against Katherine. Stefan had just dodged a stake thrown by her. Riley kicked her from behind and sprayed the vervain at her eyes. Katherine snarled and lifted her up by her neck.
"That won't work twice, little girl"
She threw Riley across the room. Riley crashed into the wooden table, rolling onto the floor. She held her side, leaning against the broken table for support. There were deep cuts along her arms and legs. Katherine was about to stab Damon with his own stake. Riley jumped onto her back, tugging on her hair. She pressed a stake against Katherine's chest. Katherine grabbed her arm in an attempt to throw Riley off of her. Riley kept her legs wrapped around Katherine's waist, causing both of them to crash to the floor. Riley sprayed her again and kept the stake pressed against her throat. Stefan helped to hold her down. Damon raised his stake to finish her off until Jeremy ran over to the room, telling them to stop because Katherine and Elena had been linked by a spell. The spell caused Elena to get the same injuries. Katherine pushed Riley off of her and stood up, smirking smugly.
"You think you're the only ones with a witch on your side? Wrong. Something tells me that my witch is better than your witch"
"Jeremy, go make sure Elena is okay"
Jeremy nodded and went back downstairs. Katherine pouted.
"Let's all make sure poor Elena is okay"
She dragged a stake across the palm, creating a deep gash. Glaring, Stefan knocked the stake from her hand. Riley sat on the couch, frustrated that Katherine had been one step ahead of them. Katherine took a seat next to her. She did not mind being trapped in the room, using their love for Elena to mock Damon and Stefan.
"What are you going to do, hurt me? Come on, Stefan, everything I feel, Elena feels. Better yet, why don't you kiss me, Damon? I bet she'd feel that too"
"I don't think he'd want the hundreds of STDs crawling in your mouth" replied Riley.
Katherine giggled. "Isn't she adorable?" she asked, poking Riley's nose.
"Just so you know, fingers can be reattached. If you poke me again, I'll bite off that finger with my bare teeth"
"Riley" said Stefan, giving her a warning look.
She crossed her arms, resisting the urge to stake Katherine. Once that spell lifted, nothing would hold her back from completing their plan. Stefan questioned Katherine about her alliance with Mason. Damon sarcastically apologized for Mason's death.
"I'll have to remember that for next time. He's not the only werewolf in town"
"What does that mean?" asked Riley.
"I think you know, mini Gilbert"
Her thoughts immediately went to Tyler. She worried that Katherine planned to get him to activate his werewolf curse. It still made no sense why she needed a werewolf and the moonstone. Riley and Damon were getting impatient, waiting for Bonnie to reverse the linking spell. Stefan continued to ask Katherine about the moonstone. He mentioned that in 1864,she had gave it to Tyler's ancestor George Lockwood in exchange for her freedom. Katherine chastised Damon for ruining her plan to stay hidden because he had been the reason that people learned she was not with the other tomb vampires. Stefan believed that the moonstone was not originally hers. She deflected his questions, flirting with him and telling him that she watched him over the years. Riley scrunched her nose in disgust. Damon decided to pour glasses of whiskey.
"I'll have one of those" said Katherine.
"Right away, Miss Katherine" he replied in a mocking tone.
He handed a glass to Katherine. Riley noticed a stake hidden under his sleeve. A split second later, he had Katherine pressed against the wall, holding the stake inches from her chest. Riley and Stefan rushed over, grabbing onto his arm.
"Damon, don't. The spell isn't lifted yet"
"The second the spell is lifted, I'm going to drive this stake right through your heart"
Katherine smirked, twirling his tie around her hand. "God, you're hot. When did you get so hot?"
Riley kicked him in the shin. He stepped away from Katherine, holding his leg.
"What the hell was that for?"
"Stop being stupid. Go sit down"
"I'm not"
"Did I stutter? Sit"
They were interrupted by a dark-skinned girl in her 20s, who Riley assumed was the other witch. She was holding the moonstone. The last time she saw the moonstone, it had been with Bonnie.
"What did you do to Bonnie?" she asked, angrily.
"Nothing"
Damon held Riley back from hitting her. She did not believe that Bonnie would hand over the moonstone willingly to some stranger. The girl told them that the spell on the room had been lifted.
"When I hand this over, my debt to you is over" she said to Katherine.
"Done"
"I owe you nothing"
"I said done. Give it to me"
When Katherine grabbed the moonstone, she clutched her throat and began to choke. Riley watched as she crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The girl assured them that the linking spell had been lifted and apologized for her involvement tonight. Damon picked up Katherine, deciding to trap her in the tomb under the church. While Stefan looked for Elena outside, Riley walked around the mansion. She spotted Jayden with his football friends.
"Here you are. Is Elena doing okay?"
"No, she's still really upset. I'm sorry that I left earlier. I am a terrible date"
"You're not, Ri. I know that you and Elena are—did you get in a fight? Where did all these cuts and bruises come from?"
"I uh tripped outside"
He looked at her, strangely. "You tripped and got cut this badly?"
"Yea. I should go check on her. I'll see you at school tomorrow, Jay"
Riley pecked him on the cheek and left the mansion. Elena was walking down the driveway. When she caught up to her, Elena hugged her tightly.
"Ri, I was so worried. I can't believe you—don't ever do something like this again"
"I think you got it worse than me, Ellie. Let me drive you home. I think this is a good time for one of our sleepovers"
"We both definitely need it"
As they headed towards Elena's car, a cloth covered Riley's mouth. Riley struggled against the attacker's grip, feeling her vision get blurrier with each passing second. She continued to fight until they banged her head against one of the cars, knocking her out.
Riley woke up on a couch, her vision still a bit blurry. Elena was beside her, unconscious. Both of them had their arms and legs tied with ropes. They were inside of an abandoned, disheveled house. It looked like it had not been inhabited for years. There was dust and grime all over the floor and walls and wooden boards had been placed over the windows. She heard two people arguing in another room. One of them, a man, said that both girls were brought here accidentally but he wanted the small one as a pet. Riley did not to think hard about who he meant by the small one. Seeing a glass shard on the floor, she quietly sat on the floor and reached for the shard. She used it to cut the ropes around her hands and legs. Elena was slowly waking up and Riley started to untie the ropes around her legs.
"I see sleeping beauty is awake"
A man with nearly shoulder-length dark brown hair entered the room. He moved in front of her within a second and Riley was sure that he was a vampire. She tensed up, realizing that she had no stake to use against him.
"You smell very good. Just a taste"
His fangs emerged and he leaned towards her. Riley headbutted him hard. The impact made her fall back on the couch and he held his nose,stumbling backwards. She rubbed her head, wincing in pain. Elena had woken up and looked very nervous. A woman with short, choppy dark brown hair and light green eyes hurried to his side. She told the man, who she called Trevor, to control himself. His hand brushed against Riley's cheek.
"I'll get a taste later"
Riley glared as he left the room. The woman was completely focused on Elena.
"My god, you look just like her"
"B—but I'm not. Please just let us"
"Be quiet"
"But I'm not Katherine. My name is Elena Gilbert. You don't need to do this" she explained, standing up.
"I know who you are. I said be quiet"
"Elena, just shut up" said Riley, not wanting to anger two vampires.
"What do you want?" asked Elena, confused.
The woman backhanded her, knocking her onto the couch. "I want you to be quiet"
She looked at Riley, who raised her hands as a sign of peace. Once the woman left the room, Riley tried to shake Elena out of her unconscious state. She gave up after a few attempts and walked around the room. The area surrounding the house did not look familiar to her. She was only certain that the vampires had taken them outside of Mystic Falls. Taking a chance, she pressed her hand against one of the wooden boards.
"If there was any time for fire to just magically appear, this is it. Come on"
There was no fire, not even a tiny flame. She sighed, leaning her head against the board.
"Of course not. Why would it work when I really need it to?"
It took hours for Elena to wake up again. Riley removed the ropes around her hands and suggested that they try to get some answers from their captors. Quietly, they walked around the house. She could hear the two vampires arguing about someone named Elijah. Trevor seemed to be worried about Elijah coming to see them. The woman spotted Riley and Elena eavesdropping on their conversation. She threatened them that there was nothing around the house for miles and they would not be leaving anytime soon. Elena questioned her about Elijah.
"He's your worst nightmare"
"You've clearly never seen me when I'm in a really bad mood. I'm getting to that point" countered Riley.
The woman went into another room. Riley pulled Elena along, not satisfied with that answer. She was putting up more wooden boards on the windows to block sunlight. After some pestering, the woman began to answer some questions. She told Elena that she was acting as a delivery service.
"Who's Elijah? I'm guessing he's a vampire"
"He's one of the vampires, the Originals"
Riley remembered her mother's research on the Original vampire family. Elena did not understand what she meant by an Original. The woman mocked her for not learning much from the Salvatores. She admitted that a friend of hers tried to set her up with Stefan. Turning towards them, she explained how she and Trevor had been running for 500 years and Elena was going to gain their freedom.
"Why me?"
"Because you're a Petrova doppelganger. You're the key to breaking the curse"
"The sun and moon curse? The moonstone breaks it" said Riley.
"No, the moonstone binds the curse. The sacrifice breaks it…the blood of the doppelganger and your friend here is a doppelganger. To break the curse, she needs to die"
Elena's eyes widened. Riley stared at the floor. She had learned from her parents that the blood of a doppelganger was involved with the curse. At the time, she did not know about Elena being one of them. She kept that part of the curse to herself, not wanting to scare her cousin. Elena asked for more information. Trevor entered the room and picked up a wooden board.
"Who are you running from?"
"The Originals"
"You're talking about the first family of vampires" said Riley.
He smiled. "Beauty and brains, I see. Two points to the little one for knowing her history. Rose and I pissed them off…well, I did and Rose had my back. For over half a millenium, they've been after us"
"And we won't make the same mistake again" said Rose.
Elena was still dealing with this new information about the curse. Riley found Rose and Trevor in an old study. Rose was flipping through some dusty books. Riley snatched a book from her.
"Okay, let's be honest with each other. I know a lot about vampire history. I know about the Originals and the curse. Why do the Originals want to break it? They're not as affected by sunlight and they wear daylight rings anyway. What does breaking it do for them?"
"That's not my concern"
"Meaning you know nothing"
"You're quite pushy"
"I can also be punchy and scratchy. If you don't know that, tell me about Elijah"
"Like I said, he's one of the Originals. You should be very afraid of him. I suggest you stay with your little friend. He'll be here soon"
"I don't care that you've been running from them for centuries. I am not letting you trade my cousin just because your friend made the mistake of trusting Katherine. He'll have to kill me to get to her"
"You think he won't?"
She returned to the room where she and Elena were first held captive. Elena was sitting on the couch, holding a note. The note had been sent by Bonnie through a spell. Damon and Stefan were on their way to the house. She stayed with Elena on the couch, comforting her.
"Do you think that's really true? My blood breaks the curse?"
"Let's not worry about it right now. The important thing is to get out of here. As soon as we're back in Mystic Falls, we'll go to my parents. They have tons of vampire research"
"You already knew about the Originals?"
"Not much. My mom had a few papers. She said they're over 1,000 years old and it's hard to get concrete facts about them. It's always changing. He's not going to hurt you, Elena. We're family and we stick together"
Elena leaned her head on her shoulder. Rose packed her belongings into a duffel bag. There was a knock on the door and Trevor entered the room, panicking. He worried that Elijah would kill him instead of forgiving him. Rose calmed him down, telling him that Elena was more important. Riley felt slightly bad, seeing that they were incredibly close. It reminded her of her friendship with Jayden. If he ever found himself in such a bad situation, she would do anything to help him. Rose left to answer the door while Trevor waited in the room. He was pacing back and forth, holding his head in his hands.
"So how fast do you think he'll kill you? You think it'll be right away or slow and painful?"
Elena nudged her side. "Riley" she hissed.
"What? He tried to bite me. Let's talk about it, Trevor. How is he going to kill you? Just snap your neck or will he leave you to bleed to death? We can take bets"
"Be quiet" he snapped.
As he continued to pace around the room, Riley grabbed a broken piece of wood from a chair leg near the wall. She hid it in the back of her dress, tucking it in the sash around her waist. Rose returned with a man in his late 20s. He was very handsome with styled dark brown hair, hazel brown eyes, high cheekbones, and a muscular build. The dark suit he was wearing made him look sophisticated. Riley did not realize how much he towered over her until he moved in front of Elena. She was holding onto Elena's hand and felt her grip tighten as he stepped closer to her. He sniffed her neck. Elena was breathing shakily, doing a poor job at keeping calm.
"It's human. It's impossible…hello there"
He sniffed the air again, turning his attention to Riley. She showed no signs of fear. Dressed like some Armani suit model, he did not scare her.
"And who are you?"
"Riley"
"P—please don't hurt her. She's my cousin. S—she has n—nothing to do with this" stuttered Elena.
"We have a long journey ahead of us. We should be going. One last piece of business then we're done" he replied, his eyes still on Riley.
He broke his gaze, walking over to Trevor. Immediately, Trevor apologized for his past actions and begged for forgiveness. Riley watched Elijah circle him like a lion about to attack its prey. She was unsure if he would honestly forgive Trevor.
"I beg for your forgiveness"
"Granted"
Elena jumped when Elijah swiped at Trevor, knocking his head off of his body. Rose had tears in her eyes. She started to walk towards Elijah, upset. He did not look the least bit worried and casually wiped the blood from his hand.
"Don't, Rose…now that you are free"
Rose simply stood on the staircase, sniffling. Elena gripped Riley's arm even tighter, nearly cutting off all circulation. Elijah extended his hand towards her. Riley smacked it away and moved Elena behind her, protectively. He looked at her, surprised.
"Screw off. She's not going anywhere with you"
"I politely disagree"
"Well I rudely say that you're out of your mind if you think I'm letting you take her"
"Wait, w—what about the moonstone?"
If they were in any other situation, she would be smacking Elena upside the head. Elena had a tendency to just blurt out things without thinking. It was the worst possible time to mention the moonstone.
"I know where it is and I know where you can get it"
"Tell me where it is"
"It doesn't work that way"
"Are you negotiating with me?"
Rose told him that she never heard them mention its location. Riley stamped on Elena's foot.
"Say nothing" she mouthed.
Elijah stepped towards them. She did not let Elena move even an inch.
"Perhaps your cousin can tell me where it is"
Riley scoffed. 'You've got a better chance of finding out from a talking frog. We're not telling you anything"
He grabbed her chin, resorting to compulsion. Riley had been prepared for this strategy. When she was fourteen, she learned how to resist it. It took a lot of effort and mind power. He gazed deep into her eyes, his pupils dilating.
"Tell me where it is"
"Joke's on you. That doesn't work on me. My father taught me how to fight it"
"How intriguing"
Riley glared. "Here's what is going to happen next, grandpa. We get the keys to whatever car brought us here, we go home, and you stay the hell away from Elena. If you so much as step foot in Mystic Falls, I'll kill you"
"Is that a threat?"
Elena was shaking from head to toe. Riley reached for the hidden stake.
"It's a promise. You might be like a zillion years old but you're not immortal. Anyone can be killed"
"Aren't you quite confident?" he asked with a small smile.
She tried to stab him in the side as a distraction. He caught her hand, taking the stake.
"You need to be quicker than that. Even for a so-called grandpa, my reflexes are very good. Do you think I didn't anticipate that?"
Riley kicked him hard in the groin. She sprayed vervain at him and swiped his leg, knocking him to the floor. Holding Elena's hand, she hurried up the staircase.
"Guess he didn't anticipate that, huh?"
"Riley, we have nowhere to go"
As they reached the doorway, Riley was lifted into the air. Elijah had his arm around her waist. She kicked her legs. Elena moved down the staircase, scared to be near him.
"You better put me down. I'll stab you with my heel"
"I will personally take you home but I'm afraid your dear cousin shall stay with me"
He ripped off Elena's necklace, which contained vervain, and easily compelled her. She told him that the moonstone was with Katherine in the tomb under the church. Riley was able to get one of her heels. Elijah grabbed it, preventing it from hitting his eye.
"You're very protective of your family. I admire that"
"The next thing you'll admire is my fist connecting with your face. Put me down"
"Please don't hurt her" pleaded Elena.
"I have no intention of doing that" he replied.
She heard glass breaking somewhere in the house. He grabbed Elena and forced her out of the room. Putting down Riley, he lightly pushed her and Elena over to Rose. Blurs kept moving around them. Rose insisted that she did not know who could be in the house.
"Up here"
Elijah zoomed up the staircase.
"Down here"
A stake pierced his palm. One of the blurs passed by Riley, grabbing her and pulling her into another room. She was leaning against the wall with Rose and felt relieved, seeing Damon. He kept his hand over Rose's mouth.
"Stefan has Elena. We'll get out of here. Stay quiet" he mouthed.
"To whom it may concern, you're making a grave mistake if you think you can beat me. You can't. I repeat, you cannot beat me. I want the girl by the count of three or heads will roll" said Elijah, referring to Elena.
Riley heard Elena talking to him. Elena promised to come with Elijah, pleading for him not to hurt anyone. There was an explosion and Damon grabbed a coat rack. He ran out of the room, followed by Riley. Piercing Elijah in the chest with the coat rack, he pinned him against the wall. Elijah's skin turned an ashy grey and his head fell forward. She felt a slight pain in her chest. Rose vanished from the house. Riley stopped him from going after her.
"Leave her alone. She's not a problem"
"You okay, Riley?"
"Yea. I didn't really need your help but it was nice of you to come"
He smirked, messing with her hair. Elena was hugging Stefan. Riley could practically see the pain on Damon's face. They left the house and Elena and Riley sat in the backseat. Stefan told them to get some rest during the long drive. Riley continued to feel a small amount of pain.
"What's wrong?" asked Elena.
"Nothing. Probably just from Katherine chucking me into a table"
Ignoring the pain, she fell asleep as Damon drove back to Mystic Falls…
A/N: Thanks for reading and all reviews are appreciated. I've been re-watching season 2 episodes and I noticed that Elijah doesn't really do much in them until episode 14 since he's more behind the scenes or only there for a couple scenes. I definitely want to develop the relationship between Riley and Elijah more so upcoming chapters will deviate slightly from the episodes they cover to give them scenes together. I want to establish their relationship before Klaus shows up in the story.