Hey guys! So this chapter is a little short, but the next one is super long lol.

This story is drawing closer to a finale though.

I think you guys will be surprised with the events that unfold! ;)

Present Day

Elena's stomach was in a pit of nerves as Stefan pulled up to Sheila Bennett's house.

If everything really was true, she was the last one the elder witch would want to help.

But if Damon had Bonnie, something she was not yet one hundred percent sure of, then she had to try.

Especially since Damon wasn't answering her calls to put her mind at ease.

She jumped from the car as Stefan put it in park, praying that they were wrong.

That they would find Bonnie inside, safe and sound.

She walked up the steps, Stefan directly behind her.

It took three knocks for the door to be answered.

Sheila Bennett, the woman Elena had seen a million times, stared back at her, coldly.

"Elena."

She decided to cut to the chase, "Is Bonnie here?"

"No," Sheila stated icily, "But I expect you knew that."

Then, against her will, Elena was pulled into the house, Stefan with her.

The door slammed shut and they found themselves pinned against the wall.

"Please," Elena begged, "I just want to find Bonnie!"

"So do I," the woman hissed, "I know that you're involved Elena. You're here with a creature of the night, and your blood smells of magic. I don't know what you've done, child, but if Bonnie is hurt-"

"We are not responsible," Stefan reasoned, straining against the invisible hands that held them, "My brother is here. Damon Salvatore. He's a Shadowcaster; the same one that killed your ancestor Emily Bennett."

"That's impossible," Sheila shot.

"It's not," Stefan reasoned, "He did a spell to preserve himself, and Elena."

Sheila's eyes shot to her.

"She doesn't remember any of it," Stefan spoke quickly, "She is innocent in this life, but we must stop my brother. If he has Bonnie, he will kill her. He wants-"

"Her blood," Sheila realized.

Stefan nodded, "We want to help, please."

"Why should I believe you?" She prodded.

"Because you know me," Elena jumped in, "Ms. Bennett, you know who I am. Bonnie is my best friend. I would never let anything happen to her."

Grams considered this.

"How do you know you can save her? That this Shadowcaster hasn't already killed her."

Elena bit her lip, "He wouldn't. He loves me. And he knows what Bonnie means to me."

"Then why would he even take her?" Stefan speculated.

Elena thought it through.

What did Damon gain from using Bonnie?

The Bennett blood, of course, but he'd have to know Elena wouldn't let him go through with killing her best friend.

Unless.

Maybe it wasn't Bonnie he was after.

"You," she gasped, "He wants you. Bonnie is the trap to get you. He knows you'd look for her, I'm sure of it!"

Sheila swallowed, "Then I will go to him."

Her hold on the two of them released, and Elena peeled herself from the wall.

"You can't," she insisted, "He'll kill you."

"He'll try," Sheila smirked.

"No, Elena is right," Stefan insisted, "Damon is powerful. Too powerful. You'd be dead before you even had the chance to fight back. Your magic would only fuel him, and we can't let him get any stronger."

"I'll talk to him," Elena offered, "He'll listen to me."

"He might," Stefan interjected, "But he might not, and I can't take that risk."

"Well I'm not going to just let the two of you go after him!" Elena insisted, "You'll kill him!"

"Is that not the point?" Sheila noted.

Elena hissed, "No. No one is dying! Not Bonnie, not you, and not Damon!"

"We may not have a choice," Stefan told her, "If Damon refuses to stand down-"

"He'll do it for me," Elena promised, "Please Stefan, I know he will."

Stefan considered this, trading a look with Sheila.

"On one condition then," he offered, "You tell us what his plan is."

Elena swallowed, "Fine."

Bonnie was all out of tears when the silence of the room was finally broken again.

Her captor had returned.

"Up," he commanded, pulling her arm.

Suddenly her binds were gone, and she was sitting straight.

Her blindfold was removed.

She blinked herself into focus, the same man from before, standing in front of her.

She exhaled, "What are we doing?"

"You're going to come with me," he smiled at her, "You're going to be quiet and do exactly as I say. Or you're going to die. Understand?"

She nodded slowly.

"Good," the man backed away, "Oh, and don't bother trying to run. It'll only make things worse."

He then pulled down a set of stairs, and Bonnie realized she'd been in some sort of basement.

She hesitated to follow him, but knew from before the magic that he possessed.

Maybe she should just do as she was told.

Climbing up behind him, she came to stand in a little cabin.

He motioned to the front door, leading her out of it.

It was late in the day now, almost sun down.

He opened up the door to a blue camaro.

"Get in."

He didn't wait to see if she listened, before walking around to the driver's side.

She looked around.

The cabin was in the middle of the woods.

She'd never seen it before, and saw no paths leading out.

He was right.

Running would be pointless.

With a deep breath, she got in the car, shutting the door behind her.

Stefan's eyes had hardened with each word Elena spoke, until he was seething.

"He wants to raise Aurelia? Here?! Do you understand what that would mean?!"

She wished she did, "He just wants his home back, Stefan."

"He wants to rule!" Stefan corrected, "Elena this is bad! Damon has been unaware for half a century. Times have changed! To accomplish something like this, to bring back everything, he'd have to enslave the whole town! Curse the entirety of the land! You will lose everything as you know it!"

"Then give me the chance to reason with him!" She begged.

Stefan's words scared her.

She loved Damon, so much, but she couldn't condemn everyone to sedate her curiosity.

She would really lose herself then.

"Give me a moment to think," Stefan huffed, running a hand through his hair.

He seemed to deliberate a million things in the next ten seconds.

He took a breath.

"Alright," he began, "If Damon didn't tell you that he was taking Bonnie, he clearly didn't want you to know. He hasn't answered your calls either, so he knows that you'd disapprove."

"What's your point," Sheila urged him.

"That you should follow through. Go to Damon. We can find out exactly what he wants, and where he has Bonnie. Elena and I can protect you, then we'll deal with Damon."

Sheila nodded, "Whatever it takes to make my granddaughter safe."

Elena grabbed Stefan's arm, "Just promise you'll let me talk to him, before you start an unnecessary fight."

Stefan eyed her, "I'll do whatever I have to to save the innocent people in this town, Elena. They shouldn't suffer for this."

She sighed.

He was right.

But she still had faith that Damon could be compromised with.

And she'd hold on to that until she no longer could.

But she wouldn't let Stefan hurt Damon.

As much as it scared her, she knew she'd kill him first.

Bonnie wanted to ask where they were going so many times, but she held her tongue, not wanting to risk angering him.

Eventually though, they turned into familiar roads, into Mystic Falls, toward the school.

Her curiosity peaked over her fear, "We're going to the game?"

It seemed ridiculous, but he'd pulled into the parking lot next to the football field.

"Don't be naive," he sighed, stopping the car. He was at her door before she'd even unhooked her buckle.

He pulled her from the car, holding painfully to her arm.

"We are going this way," he motioned to the trees in the distance.

She swallowed, "Why?"

"Because," he explained, "This is where it all began."

She wasn't sure what he meant, but didn't ask, as he drug her to the woods.

The faint sound of the band cheered in the background, and part of her wondered for her friends, and if she'd ever see them again.

Sheila had left.

She'd done a tracking spell, locating Bonnie in the middle of the woods outside of town, Damon's cabin, and had left to meet him there.

Elena prayed that Damon wouldn't kill her.

Stefan had been silent since the plan was laid out, and she looked at him now.

He stood frozen, his eyes glazed.

"Stefan?" She called quietly.

Slowly, he came back, and looked up at her.

"We should go now, right?" She questioned, "We don't want Bonnie's Gram getting there too soon before us."

He only swallowed.

"Stefan?" Elena pressed.

His eyes looked sad. And empty.

"You're scaring me," she admitted.

He sighed, "I can't let him do this, Elena."

"I know," she agreed, "But I'll talk to him. We'll stop this."

"It's too late for talking," Stefan murmured, "He'll kill everyone, like before. Thousands...dead upon your father's vengeance. Because of Damon."

"Stefan," Elena grabbed him, "Come on. Snap out of it."

His gaze held hers, "Damon loves you. Damon loves you almost as much as he loves power."

"I know," Elena insisted, "That's why this will work. I'll stop him."

"But he's bringing back your memories," Stefan reasoned, "He's going to corrupt you. He's going to kill. And you'll let him, like before."

"I won't!" She promised, her heart racing, "I'll stop him!"

Stefan stared at her, "I am so sorry, Elena. Truly."

"Stefan?" She stepped back as veins crawled under his eyes.

"This is the only way," he whispered, "He loves you."

Then he lunged at her.

No one was around to hear her scream.

I hopersonally this wasn't too obvious lol.

Please review and let me know what you thought :)