CHAPTER 4 – THE SACRIFICE
Rhiannon's head was pounding as she laid in her bed, replaying the conversation between her, Elena, Stefan, Damon and Rose that morning in the Salvatore boarding house.
"Okay, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years, and I don't know what's true and what's not true," Rose started. "That's the problem with all this vampire crap, but Klaus, I know is real."
"Who is he?" Elena asked.
"He's one of the Originals," Damon chimed in. "He's a legend."
"From the first generation of vampires," Stefan added.
"Like Elijah?" Rhiannon asked.
"No, Elijah was the Easter Bunny compared to Klaus," Rose said exasperatedly.
"Just yesterday you were saying he was our worst nightmare," Elena murmured under her breath making Rose smirk at her own melodramatics yesterday.
"Yeah, well I wanted to scare you so…" she retaliated.
"Well it worked," Rhiannon added.
"Anyways, Elijah was a foot soldier," Rose continued. "Klaus is the real deal."
"Klaus is known to be the oldest," Stefan explained.
"Okay, so you're saying that the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asked incredulously.
"Yes."
"No."
"What they're saying. I mean if what she's saying is true—"
"Which it is."
"And you're not just saying it so we don't kill you—"
"Which I'm not."
"Than we're looking at solid maybe," Damon finished.
Well that's just perfect, Rhiannon thought to herself. It seemed like killing Elijah didn't solve anything and their problems just kept piling on. Not to mention her own problems. She kept replaying events of the previous day and could not understand Elijah's sudden fascination with her. Like Rose said, she was just a mild inconvenience and nothing more. It also seemed that nobody else was concerned with that and the only person who could shine some light on the matter was staked to a door three hundred miles away. Considering the shitload of problems that managed to crash on her head within the stretch of few days, she decided a day spent sulking in her bed was in order.
Later, she decided to meet up with Bonnie and Jeremy at the Grill and shoot some pool, so she got in the shower, then threw her shoulder-length auburn hair in a messy bun, deciding to keep her make-up minimal. She dressed in dark blue skinny jeans and paired them with a simple white wife-beater and green flannel shirt. Half hour later she was walking into Grill. She had lunch, played some pool and met the new guy, Luca.
It was about eight in the evening and she was walking back to her car, but she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. She stopped and looked around but no one was there. Okay, if she'd been paranoid before, she was losing her mind now. Although technically, after the week she'd had, her paranoia wasn't all that surprising. She managed to get home in a record time, locking the door and all the windows, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that made the hair on her neck stand. She put the pepper spray under her pillow, just in case, but knew that it wouldn't be much help given all the supernatural crap that'd been happening around her. She had no idea of a dark figure in a suit that was watching her fall asleep through the window.
It was another busy day for Elijah. He didn't sleep much after he got back to his rental apartment replaying the vents of that day over and over in his head, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the image of her face out of his head. It was like it had imprinted itself on his eyelids. He decided to get up early and proceed with the plan, adding one more task to the already crowded folder in his head – find out everything he could about the girl.
He wasn't one for unnecessary displays of violence, that had always been Niklaus' domain, but blowing up the coffee shop with Damon, Rose and Slater inside, he felt like was justified. He also made sure to find Slater afterwards and make him deliver the message that would convince Rose and everybody else in Mystic Falls that finding and destroying the moonstone would help. Then he embarked on a little fact finding mission to town and was rather dismayed when he found out that anyone who could give him any valid information about both girls was on vervain. That would have to change, starting on the very top.
He was headed back to his apartment when he saw her leaving the local restaurant and he couldn't help but follow her home where he watched her sleep while waiting for Jonas to collect everything he needed for his shadow spell, if a need for such spell shall arise.
"You don't believe her, do you?" Elena asked the Salvatore brothers in the kitchen the following morning.
"No, of course not, we just want the moonstone," Damon said.
"Whatever for?" Rhiannon asked perched on a kitchen counter and sipping on her coffee.
"According to Rose's friend Slater there's a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break," Stefan elaborated.
"No spell, no doppelganger sacrifice, ergo you live," Damon said smugly.
"How do you destroy it?" Elena asked dispassionately.
"By releasing it from the moonstone," Stefan explained.
"Okay, but where would the spell go? What, it will just vanish into thin air?" Rhiannon asked frowning.
"Yeah, how do you guys even know this is gonna work?" Elena asked, clearly just as much skeptical as Rhiannon.
"Cause we have a crafty witch on our side," Damon said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"You discussed it with Bonnie," Elena said starting to look pissed.
"She agreed to do anything she can to help us," Stefan said.
"Guys, I don't mean to piss in your cornflakes, but it's Katherine who has the moonstone, and I seriously doubt she's gonna hand it over without anything in return," Rhiannon said.
"We're gonna get it from her," Stefan retorted confidently.
"Well, what he means to say is that we will pry it from her cold dead hands if we have to," Damon explained making Rhiannon snort out lout.
"Bonnie just needs to find a way to release the seal long enough for us to get in, get the moonstone and get out in time for her to return it," Stefan elaborated further.
"Wow, I mean it sounds like you guys have it already planned out," Elena quipped.
"Yep, we're awesome," Damon joked.
"Well count me in," Rhiannon said happily. "Anything I can do to help."
"There's one thing," Elena started and Rhiannon instantly knew what she was going to say. "I don't want you to do it," – here we go, she thought.
"What are you talking about Elena?" Stefan asked incredulously. "We don't have a choice."
"What about Klaus?" she asked.
"We'll find him, right after we get the moonstone," Stefan retorted.
"Wait so your plan is to find the oldest vampire on Earth and tell him you ruined his only chance at breaking the spell he's been trying to break for ages?" Rhiannon asked incredulously.
"Is that before or after he kills everyone that I care about including the three of you?" Elena chimed in.
"Elena, we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your life," Stefan explained as if she didn't understand.
"I know, everybody keeps saying that," Elena murmured getting up from her seat and leaving the kitchen.
"That went well," Rhiannon murmured.
"Thanks for the running commentary," Damon bit back. "You still wanna help or not?"
"What kind of a stupid question is that?" she said. "Of course I do."
"Well then go put some pants on, we've got a busy day ahead of us," Damon ordered snatching her unfinished coffee mug from her hands and walking away to the living room.
"Seriously?!" she yelled at him. "How'd you managed to live with him for 162 years and not kill him?" she turned around at Stefan who looked mildly amused.
"Oh, believe me, I've lost the count of time I wanted to," he joked.
Half hour later they were all gathered at the Salvatore house library discussing the actual plan.
"I might be able to lower the tomb spell long enough for you to get in there and grab the moonstone from Katherine," Bonnie said.
"How?" Jeremy cut her off. "It took both you and your grams last time and look what's happened to her."
"I'm well aware of what happened," Bonnie bit back. "I've learned a few new things."
"Bonnie," Jeremy said looking at her pointedly. There's something we don't know, Rhiannon thought to herself, but decided against pointing it out.
"How'll you get it?" Bonnie asked clearly done discussing whether she was able to do it or not.
"She hasn't been feeding, she's weaker. We're not," Stefan said pointing at Damon sipping blood from a fancy whiskey cup.
"You won't be underestimating her, would you?" Rhiannon asked skeptically. "Like at the masquerade?"
"It's a plan," Damon retorted. "Is it perfect? Pfft. What plan is?"
That's reassuring, Rhiannon thought. She liked their optimism though. At least they're trying to do something instead of sitting around and moping, like Elena decided to.
"Let me do it," Jeremy cut in. "I've got my ring; I can get in and out. No spell is necessary."
"Gee, thanks you sixteen years old child," Damon shot him down. "Why didn't we think about that? Why are you even here?"
"He's trying to help his sister and friends," Rhiannon bit back at Damon. "Could you please stop being such a dick for a moment?"
"Aww, is this about your coffee?" he teased making a pouty face.
"No it's not, but since you brought it up, touch my coffee again and vampire or not, you're dead," she joked faking a death serious expression on her face making Damon smirk at her devilishly. The two got along pretty well and she liked the way he was teasing her. Sort of like an older brother would. If she happened to have one.
"Will the two of you stop it?" Stefan begged, exasperated. "Focus, please."
"Maybe I can help better the plan," Bonnie joined. Alright, back to business. "Do you have anything that belongs to Katherine?"
After Bonnie was done burning a metal picture of Katherine into ash that could incapacitate her for a moment, getting Stefan and Damon more time to find the moonstone, they were all headed to the tomb. Rhiannon had never actually been there and she was both scared and excited. They were about to follow Stefan down the stairs when Damon's phone rang.
"It's Rose," he announced dispassionately. "Here, tell her I'm busy and find out what she wants," he said throwing his phone to Rhiannon.
"And since when am I you freakin' personal assistant?" she yelled at him answering the phone.
"Hey Rose, it's Rhiannon, Damon is actually bus—wait she did what?" she practically yelled into the phone grabbing Damon by his shoulder before he could climb down the rest of the stairs.
"Um, Damon? We need to get to Richmond, ASAP," she said giving him a pointed look.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Damon murmured throwing the shovel on the ground, grabbing Rhiannon and blurred towards the car.
"Okay, I know that you're worried and pissed and all that but next time, could you give me a little warning before you do that?" Rhiannon asked leaning against the car trying hard not to throw up.
"We don't have time for this," Damon said rolling his eyes already sitting behind the wheel. "C'mon, get in or I'm leaving you here."
"A road trip with pissed off Damon, lucky me," Rhiannon mumbled getting into a passenger's seat.
An hour later, they sneaked into Slater's apartment, Damon scaring the hell out of Elena.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, no trace of humor left in his voice.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him instead of answer. "You called him?" she asked Rose incredulously.
"I'm sorry, Elena," she said.
"You said you understood!"
"She lied," Damon said.
"Seriously Elena, what were you thinking?" Rhiannon asked.
"C'mon, we're leaving," Damon said.
"No," Elena bit back.
"I said we're leaving," Damon repeated.
"I'm not going with you," god was she stubborn.
"You do not get to make decisions anymore," Damon retorted.
"When have I ever made a decision? You and Stefan do that for me. Now this, this is my decision."
"Who's gonna save your life while you're out making decisions?" Damon bit back, sarcasm oozing out of his words.
"You're not listening to me Damon, I don't want to be saved!" Elena finally said. "Not if it means Klaus is gonna kill every single person I love."
The argument continued for a while and at one point it got so heated when Elena tried to punch Damon, which Rhiannon would find hilarious under different circumstances. But there was nothing funny about the situation they were currently in.
"So you're just planning to stay wait for this guy to come and take you away forever? What about Jeremy? And Jenna? What are we supposed to tell them while you go play a martyr and get yourself killed over some stupid curse?" Rhiannon was yelling at this point, not sure what exactly got her so riled up, but her emotions were all over the place ever since she supposedly triggered her werewolf curse.
"Yeah, what she said," Damon said. "And calm down feisty pants or you're gonna wake the whole damned building up. I'm gonna compel that girl not to remember a moment of this horribly stupid day."
Moments later, Damon was walking out of the bedroom gesturing for us to get up when three men barged into the apartment.
"We're here to meet the doppelganger," the leader announced.
"Thank you for coming," Elena said walking past Damon who stopped her threatening to break her arms if she speaks again.
"There's nothing here for you," he addressed the men. Second later, the one blocking the door dropped dead revealing a very alive Elijah, making Rhiannon grab onto Elena and Rose flee for her life, again.
"I killed you," Damon barked at him. "You were dead."
"For centuries now," Elijah retorted dispassionately and addressed the two remaining men: "Who are you?
"Who are you?"
"I'm Elijah," the two men instantly back up a bit, clearly knowing who he was.
"We were gonna bring her to you," he said. "For Klaus. She's the doppelganger. I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus will wanna see her."
"Does anyone else know that you're here? "Elijah asked, without showing any kind of emotion and not for a moment letting go of his sight of Rhiannon.
"No," the man replied.
"Well then you have been incredibly helpful," Elijah said and with a slight smirk ripped their hearts out, making both girls gasp in horror, then threw them on the ground theatrically.
Rhiannon was holding onto Elena for dear life watching Damon standing in front of them protectively; ready to fight the stronger vampire to the last minute. Then, even before she realized what was happening, she felt Elijah's hands grabbing her around her waist whisking her up in the air and the rest blurred into the cold night air.