We stayed in Freya's room for a while, carefully bagging the powder. When we finished, we headed out into the hallway. Elijah was coming out of the living room. His white shirt was now a deep crimson colour. I blinked. I'd never really seen Elijah as the murderous monster I knew that Klaus and Kol could be… it was unnerving to say the least.

"Is she dead?" I asked.

"Not yet. Klaus is trying to drag it out."

"I hope he finishes up soon. I don't feel comfortable with that woman in here…"

"You'd rather she be a spirit who can go anywhere?"

"I don't think she'll be going anywhere at all. They were more than a bit mad at her…" I looked down. "Is this where you lecture me for not telling you I was communing with the ghosts?"

"No lectures tonight. I'm just relieved you're all alright. Ask tomorrow, I might be able to do one then." He smiled slightly. "Are you and Freya all done?"

"Yes, we're ready. Tomorrow morning I'll put everything into motion."

"You should go to bed. You've got a lot to do tomorrow, we all have."

"I know… I'm just on edge. I'm not sure I could sleep."

"You need to try. If it makes you feel more comfortable, you can go sleep in my room. I've got a busy night ahead… burying dead witches."

"You got more that I don't know about?" I teased. I gave him a kiss on his cheek and hugged him. "I'll see you tomorrow… at least soon this nightmare will all be over… one way or another."

I went down the corridor towards Elijah's room. I paused outside my own room. There was a hole in the door. I remembered what he'd said about the wolf… Ansel… eating his way out. But the hole wasn't big enough for an animal to get through… I pushed open the door and peeked inside. The bathroom door was undamaged and had been opened. It was just… a bit off.

I checked the room thoroughly, fearful Dahlia or one of her minions might be lurking. I found nothing so I went to the nursery. Rebekah was situated there, on guard and I gave her a grateful smile before heading to Elijah's room. I curled up in his bed, wrapping the blankets around me and burrowing down underneath them. Tomorrow I had to get everything ready and then we'd finally finish this. I just hoped everything went to plan.

The next morning, I woke up bright and early. I went down to the courtyard where everyone was having a tense breakfast, trying to maintain some semblance of normality. There was a faint smell of burning in the air. I wondered if that was anything to do with Esther… I decided not to think about it too hard. I was happier not knowing.

"Is everyone ready for today?" I asked softly. The conversation died and the siblings exchanged glances, nodding slowly. I knew today was not going to be easy and it struck me that this might be the last breakfast we'd have today as a family. There were so many things I wanted to say… but I didn't say any of them. Instead I finished my breakfast in silence and got to my feet.

"We haven't really talked about this part, but some of you are going to need to stay here."

"What…?" said Kol. "But we want to help."

"And you already have. But this whole thing hinges on Dahlia thinking I'm running. If I was truly running, I'd leave a distraction to hold her off and make it seem like I've not gone anywhere. That's the people here."

"Okay, so Klaus and I will come with you," suggested Elijah.

"Klaus can't go," said Freya. "Dahlia took control of him once, she could do it again."

"Okay, so I'll go and Kol can come with me?"

"I think… she'd know that I'd want you to come Elijah, and she's more likely to go where you are, thinking I'd bring you. And we need to keep her away for at least a while. Finn, Kol, you're with us. Finn comes with me now, Kol you go with one of the twins. I'm sorry Elijah, Klaus… I'll see you when this is over." They stared at me and I wasn't entirely sure what they were feeling. I expected Klaus to argue the most vocally. He never liked when he didn't get his way after all, but he stayed quiet. I guess he saw the danger his presence could bring.

I kissed them both softly on the lips, got my bag and left the house.

The first part of the plan was simple. I knew Dahlia would be watching us and I needed to make it seem like I was running. But at the same time, I couldn't let her find our location until the full moon had risen. I left the house first with Finn in tow, taking the backstreets and making a visible effort to avoid being seen. If Dahlia was watching, she'd see that I was trying to stay hidden and make the guess I was running for cover.

I went to the church. Father Kieran had agreed to let us use it, albeit it somewhat reluctantly and once I got there, I found a small package from him which I tucked in my pocket. I hid myself away in the attic and I texted Freya. She then left with Blair and, after waiting tensely for twenty minutes, she arrived at the church as well, having taken an equally convoluted route to get there without detection. Kol was with her, which I figured made sense since Freya only had magic to defend her and if they were attacked, at least Kol could speed away with Blair and get her to safety. I texted Rebekah and after about half an hour, she arrived with Lilah and a bag of supplies. I'd not liked the idea of the twins being here and being put at risk but Freya had insisted that there was no way that Dahlia would come if we didn't have the girls. She'd said that we might be able to trick her with one of the girls but that repeating the same trick for both of them would been seen through. After she said this, I made sure that one of the witches would go to the compound and perform the spell to make it seem like the twins were there. This would only strengthen the illusion I was trying to create.

The next step was to prepare. Freya and I spread the mortality compound around the church and the attic, creating a space that would render Dahlia mortal. Throughout the city, witches began to cast spells. There were several layers of protection placed over the church. The most obvious was a cloaking spell, simple, designed to be broken. Underneath this, another more complicated cloaking spell was put in place, one that would mask all but a few notable people. This one was far stronger and would stop Dahlia from realising just how much she was up against. The last few layers were an intricate net of boundary spells, sealing the attic from the rest of the church and preventing people from leaving the church itself, so that Dahlia couldn't just run. The attic was also spelled with a mixture of disruption spells that would stop Dahlia from using magic while she was inside of it. That was our last line of defence. We hadn't placed a spell to prevent magic on the rest of the church, because we knew that Dahlia would likely sense it and it would stop her from entering the church until she'd stripped all the magic away from the building.

The vampires of the quarter, at least the ones with daylight rings had gathered near the church. If Dahlia came too soon, their job was to hold her off for as long as they could.

When everything was in place, all we could do was wait. Dahlia wasn't supposed to come for the twins until the next day but I wanted to be ready in case she changed her mind and came early. If she did, it was going to make things a lot more complicated. She'd still be mortal but I wasn't sure if Finn, Kol and Rebekah's vampire abilities combined with Freya's powers would be enough to end her. If we were lucky, we wouldn't have to find out.

The five of us sat in the attic in silence. There was no way of knowing if the witches spells were in place, we just had to hope they were. None of us really wanted to talk and even if we had, we wouldn't have known what to say. These weren't talking circumstances. I contented myself with holding my children, knowing that if things turned out badly, I would never get to hold them again.

When night fell, the werewolves arrived. I gave Jackson a hug as his wolves sat down on the dusty floorboards to wait. I divided them into two groups. The first and largest group would ambush Dahlia. The second and smaller group would remain in the attic with Freya and the twins. If Dahlia defeated us, there was probably not much chance of the last wolves being able to protect her but at least this gave them an extra chance to survive.

We stayed there, watching the sky through the gaps in the window slats. We dozed on and off, without any real sense of time. Night turned to day and still we waited, sitting next to one another in the dust and the cobwebs. The sun faded again, giving way to twilight. Everyone was tense, waiting for the moon to rise.

My phone rang, the shrill noise impossibly loud in the silence. I answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey…" It was Klaus.

"Klaus, you shouldn't be calling…"

"I wanted to… to say goodbye. I mean, officially. I didn't get a chance before."

"Don't say it Klaus… this isn't the end, we're going to beat this…"

"Maybe. But if I didn't get to say these things… I wouldn't forgive myself. So, I'm going to say it. Elena Gilbert, you are without a doubt, the craziest, most infuriatingly stubborn young woman I have ever met. And you have made me a better man. You brought our family together in a way that I never could."

"Klaus…" I felt tears in my eyes. "Please…" I couldn't hear this right now. I needed to focus, I couldn't let myself get distracted…

"I'm sorry. I'm selfish, I need to say the words. I love you Elena Gilbert. And I want you to fight for our children. I want you to win and come back. I want to hold you in my arms and never let go."

The phone went dead. I didn't know if Klaus had disconnected or if something had happened but I was on edge. Freya stiffened suddenly beside me.

"What is it?"

"It's Dahlia. I can feel her magic. She's breaking the cloaking spell." I looked over at the window. The sun was still clinging to life, refusing to set and there was no sign of the moon. Oh god…

I got to my feet and crept over to the window, peeking out. I could see bodies in the street, the vampires who had been guarding the church. Unconscious I hoped…

"Everyone," I said, keeping my voice soft. "She's coming. I know the moon isn't up yet. I'm going to go down and try to stall her as best I can. As soon as you shift, you get to your positions. Freya, Finn, Kol, Rebekah…" I looked at each of them in turn, trying to work out how to sum up all my feelings. "I love you guys. Let's protect our family."

They nodded. Freya took the twins and moved them into a protective circle she'd drawn to ensure that the werewolves didn't harm them by accident. I took a deep breath and left the attic with the other siblings at my side. We descended the stairs slowly to the main church. It was empty but from outside came the sound of fighting, cries of pain. The guards, trying to buy us just as a bit of extra time.

Gradually the sounds died down. We waited, hardly daring to breathe. The doors blew open and banged against the wall. Dahlia, a figure in black silhouetted against the dying light of the day, stepped forward.

"Well now, Miss Gilbert. You've led me on quite the wild goose chase today. I applaud your efforts. The fake children were a nice touch but you underestimated me."

"Did you hurt them? Klaus? Elijah?"

"Nothing that they won't recover from after a good night's sleep. But if you were hoping for them to rescue you, you are out of luck. Now, hand over the children and we can forget this whole business. You can all get back on with your little mediocre lives, you'll never have to see me again."

"They're not here." She shook her head and gave me a patronizing smile.

"I can sense their power. Along with that of Freya. Did you think that she would be able to help you? Now, I will ask you one last time and after that, I will not be so nice. Fetch what is mine. Now."

"You are not taking my children Dahlia. We will not let you touch them." The sun had to be almost set by now. Surely… I just had to hold out for a little bit longer.

"You think you can defeat me?" She laughed. "You are just a child. I can destroy you with just a sample of my power."

"Go on then," said Kol. "Because you are not getting anywhere near those girls."

Beside me, the siblings faces contorted, their fangs sliding out and their eyes turning red. Finn moved first, speeding forward. Dahlia sent him flying with a wave of her hand. Kol attacked before she had time to recognize his movement and managed to knock her legs out from under her. He went to plunge his hand into her heart but she flicked her wrist and all of the siblings doubled over, clutching their heads.

"You will not keep me from claiming what is mine!" She raised her hand and the three of them were propelled into the walls and pinned there. Blood bubbled up out of their mouths, running down their chins. "They will drown on the blood that they have consumed. And while they suffer, they will be forced to watch me end your pathetic life."

She advanced on me, arm outstretched. I felt a tightening in my throat, like I was being strangled. I clawed at my throat, trying to free myself from the invisible bonds. I was forced to the floor, sprawled on the steps of the altar. My eyes roamed the hall desperately and landed on the thin beam of light coming in through the open door. Everything outside was dark and a silver hue had filled the church. The moon…

From the attic came the sound of howling. First one, then many. Dahlia's head shot up and her magic faltered.

"What is this…? What trickery have you placed here?"

"No trickery… It's a full moon… and the wolves are hungry…" I rubbed my throat, my voice raspy. I heard the soft pad of many feet coming down the stairs. Dahlia looked to the door that concealed the stairs and I saw her resolve harden once again. The wolves poured out from behind the door, a blur of grey, black and brown fur. They wasted no time, instead they lunged straight for Dahlia, swarming around her. She waved her arms, using her powers as best she could to fend them off. I ran over to where the siblings were sprawled, having dropped from the walls when her power had faltered. I checked them over and they all seemed to be alright. Kol was unconscious and Rebekah was somewhere between awake and knocked out, groaning softly. Finn was the only one who seemed fit to fight and when I came over to him, he held out a hand. I helped him to his feet and he took a few breaths before darting forward to join the fray.

Even with the numbers, it was clear that Dahlia was winning. The wolves tore at her skin but the injuries didn't seem to be slowing her down. For every wolf that attacked, she dislodged two with her magic.

I grabbed a candle stick from the altar and hurled it at her. I clipped her head and she stumbled back a little. If we could damage her in a more impactful way we'd have a chance.

My hand found the package in my pocket. I pulled it out and slipped the item from the envelope it had been placed in. It was a metal throwing star. I didn't know why it had been left for me but Kieran clearly thought it would help. I could see that Dahlia was beating off the wolves. More were lying on the floor, barely moving, than were fighting her. Finn was on the floor as well, clutching his head. I threw the star as hard as I could. It buried itself in Dahlia's shoulder. I cursed my poor throw but a second later she let out an earpiercing shriek. Cuts began to appear all over her body, bleeding heavily. She staggered away from the fight, trying to heal herself with her magic. She retreated to the door, the cuts growing and multiplying.

She reached the door before she collapsed. Her hand slid down the invisible barrier. The wolves surrounded her, growling. I stepped forward until I was stood a few feet from her. She was still fighting, waving her hands over her injuries to try and heal herself. The wolves looked at me.

"Kill her."

The wolves fell on her, tearing into her. She screamed at first, but before long, it faded to nothing but the crunching of bones and the tearing of flesh.