[2x06; Plan B]

"…and I wasn't sure whether or not to believe her so I asked Elena to find something on Katherine's family when she went to Duke with Damon and Alaric and she brought me back a book that detailed the Petrova family up until the end of the fifteenth century," Lucy babbled to Stefan as she parked her car in the Lockwood's driveway. "So I did some digging and I found an entry. Lucia Petrova was born on December 15, 1475."

Now that she finally found something that gave some substance to what Katherine told her, she decided to tell Stefan about Lucia and how she might be connected to her. It was all so confusing for her and she thought that Stefan might know of something—like if Katherine ever mentioned her sister before now.

"December fifteenth?" Stefan furrowed his eyebrows at her. "That's your—"

"My birthday, yeah," Lucy nodded and parked, turning off the car.

They both climbed out of the vehicle and started walking past the cars of other volunteers, heading up to the house. The place was packed with people setting up for the party but it was for a good cause—for some reason Mayor Lockwood thought a masquerade party would be the best option for raising funds for children with cancer.

"So you have the same birthday and a variation of her name," Stefan shrugged. "It could be a coincidence and nothing more."

Lucy shook her head; she didn't think it was a coincidence. The name, the birthday, and the fact that she had two visions when she came face-to-face with Katherine and some more while she slept was more than enough to think that she had some kind of connection to Lucia Petrova.

"I don't think it's a coincidence, Stefan," she sighed. "I had some visions that centered around Lucia and Katherine and they were more like memories than anything…I was Lucia in them."

Stefan thoughtfully pursed his lips; if something was going on with Lucy and Katherine's dead sister, they needed to find out what it was. Katherine would obviously be the best source but she was a liar, she'd never tell them what the actual truth was.

"We'll figure it out, Luce," Stefan smiled comfortingly at her. "I promise."

"Thank you," Lucy said appreciatively. "So…are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Mason Lockwood is gonna be walking around and he tried to kill you and Damon."

"I'll be fine, don't worry about it," Stefan said as they stopped just inside the house. "What were you assigned to do?"

"Nothing, I can come and go as I please," Lucy sighed; as she looked around at the many volunteers, she noticed Bonnie walking up to Elena. "But I'm going to try to avoid Bonnie, so…what are you signed up for?"

"Well, you can help me at the bar."

Lucy and Stefan walked through the house, occasionally stopping to say hello. As Lucy made sure to touch base with Mrs. Lockwood and the new head of the planning committee, Olivia Fell, Stefan spoke to Jenna about how he and Elena were no longer together. Jenna immediately called bullshit on him, having heard Stefan and Elena having sex that morning.

Stefan was embarrassed but also worried that Jenna heard them; who knew where Katherine had her spies? If Katherine found out that they were faking their break up, all hell would break loose.

Stefan swallowed his worry, though, and met back up with Lucy, heading outside to the bar area.

"Why are you avoiding Bonnie anyway?" he asked Lucy, setting down a heavy crate of recently-washed wine glasses for them to dry together and set up.

Lucy handed him a clean wash cloth. "Because she's being a bitch about Caroline," she huffed. "It's not as though Caroline chose to be turned."

"But Bonnie's a witch," Stefan gently reminded her. He had to be neutral in this situation but he didn't want Lucy to ruin the long friendship she had with Bonnie. "It's in a witch's nature to hate vampires. And with her grams dying…"

"But this is Caroline," Lucy said stubbornly. "We've all known each other since kindergarten."

Stefan hummed and picked up a glass, quickly drying it and setting it down on the bar. "I know the way that Bonnie's treated Caroline isn't the best, but I think you should put yourself in her shoes. If you didn't have relationships with me and Joel and even Damon, how would you feel about vampires? And when you add the fact that Sheila died doing a spell for vampires…"

"Okay, I get it," Lucy sighed, knowing that Stefan was right. When Grams died, Lucy said that Bonnie had a right to hate vampires and she still did, she just didn't want Caroline to get the brunt of Bonnie's hate. "I'm just being protective."

"Well, your protectiveness is one of the things me and everyone else adore about you," Stefan grinned and gently nudged her in the bicep with his elbow. "Hey, hand me that glass."

Lucy's heart fluttered in her chest at Stefan's words as she handed him the glass he was pointing to. As he set it down, Lucy spotted Mason Lockwood walking by them, a box of masquerade masks in his hands.

"Stefan," she hissed, getting his attention and gesturing to Mason.

Stefan looked up and gave Mason a casual smile, silently rubbing in the fact that he wasn't dead like the werewolf planned.

Mason's eyes gave away his confusion but he ultimately smiled back at Stefan. "Hey, Stefan."

Stefan grabbed a newly-dried glass from Lucy and set it down next to him. "Hey, Mason."

Mason set his box down on a table a couple of feet away and turned back to them. "I wasn't expecting you here," he admitted; Stefan gave him an amused smile that Lucy thought was adorable. "Or anywhere."

"Yeah, I had this little accident," Stefan said nonchalantly; Mason nodded uneasily. "But I'm fine now."

The nervous smile dropped from Mason's face as he walked toward the bar. "What did you do to Sheriff Forbes?" he demanded.

Lucy rolled her eyes; between Caroline and Lucy—and surprisingly Damon—nothing would be happening to Liz anytime soon.

"Oh, she's fine, too, but for now on, you'll have to do your own dirty work," Stefan raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest.

Mason nodded and smiled pleasantly. "Not a problem."

He turned and walked away from Lucy and Stefan, only to bump into Bonnie. Bonnie gasped in surprised and Mason made his excuses, briskly making his way to the house.

Lucy studied Bonnie, noticing the blank look on her face that started as soon as she ran into Mason. Taking this as an opportunity to play nice with the witch, she left the bar to ask if she was okay.

"What's the matter?" she asked Bonnie, slightly stiff. She didn't know how Bonnie would react to her. "Are you okay?"

Bonnie snapped out of her daze and looked at Lucy with a thoughtful expression. "When I touched him, I saw something."

"What do you mean, like a vision?" Stefan, who had followed Lucy over to Bonnie, asked.

Bonnie nodded. "I saw Elena."

"You saw Elena?"

"He was kissing her," Bonnie informed them.

"No, Bonnie, Elena wouldn't kiss…" Stefan trailed off, trying to get his thoughts together. Elena wouldn't kiss anyone while they were together, let alone Mason Lockwood. But Katherine… "You didn't see Elena," he said finally. "You saw Katherine."

"Gross," Lucy groaned. "Is that even legal? You know, a vampire and a werewolf?"

Stefan gave her a slightly exasperated look; he couldn't believe that was what she was focusing on. "Lucy, stay with Bonnie while I go get Damon," he nodded at both of the girls. "I'll be right back."

"Fine," Lucy sighed as Stefan walked away to go locate Damon. "Twilight would never."

Bonnie smiled nervously and Lucy gave her one right back. Their relationship was rocky at the moment but maybe if Lucy could get over how Bonnie was treating Caroline—especially since Caroline wasn't all that focused on Bonnie right now—maybe they could get their friendship back.

Summoning her courage, she asked Bonnie, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Bonnie said, glad that Lucy wasn't being hostile. "I'm been going through my grimoire. How are you?"

"I'm tired of drama," Lucy said truthfully. "Werewolves…who would have thought?"

"Stephenie Meyer?" Bonnie shrugged with a laugh.

Lucy giggled and pointed at her. "True."

The two chatted idly about non-important things that wouldn't cause an argument to break out. So, naturally, they avoided talks about Caroline and vampires. Lucy asked Bonnie how her training was going with the grimoire and Bonnie seemed a bit hesitant to talk to her about it, but ultimately spilled.

Lucy didn't have her own magic, but she was still a witch—a different type, yes, but a witch nonetheless.

Bonnie told Lucy how she was only halfway through Emily's grimoire but she was making progress with the spells she had seen. Lucy listened intently, wishing that she could train like Bonnie. She read through the grimoire Grams had given her about three times a week but she wasn't able to practice much except the theory. She wanted to save the magic she collected in her locket in case something bad happened.

"Witch, Twitch," Damon greeted, approaching them with Stefan at his side. "We need to talk. Preferably somewhere else."

Bonnie started to object, "No, I don't think—"

Damon didn't let her finish as he grabbed her upper arm and started to walk, taking her with him. Lucy rolled her eyes and walked behind them, Stefan at her side with his phone in his hands. They got as far as the edge of the party's setup when Bonnie stopped.

"Okay, this is as far as I go," she declared stubbornly, digging her heels into the ground.

Damon sighed and let go of her arm. "Okay."

"What do you want?" she asked, looking between Damon, Stefan, and Lucy.

"A favor."

"That's not gonna happen," Bonnie looked at Damon in disbelief.

Damon sighed. "So predictable," he gestured to Stefan and Lucy. "That's why I brought them."

Lucy pressed her lips together, exasperated. She had no idea what the brothers were up to.

"I know how you feel about helping us out," Stefan said to Bonnie seriously. "But since you're the one that linked Mason with Katherine, we finally have an opportunity to get an upper hand on both of them. So, just hear us out."

"Please, Bon," Lucy gave her a pleading look; Mason tried to kill Stefan and Damon and Katherine was a threat to everyone.

"Pretty please," Damon added nicely.

Stefan's phone rang as Bonnie nodded, "I'm listening."

Stefan pulled out his phone and checked the screen before looking back at Bonnie. "I have to fill Elena in on what's going on," he turned to Damon. "Can you play nice, please?"

"I guess."

Stefan gave Lucy a look. "You're on babysitting duty."

Lucy nodded and mockingly smirked at Damon as Stefan walked away. "Hear that, Dracula?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Shut up," he snapped and then turned to Bonnie. "All you have to do is touch Mason Lockwood again to see if he gave Katherine the moonstone."

"My visions don't work like that," Bonnie said honestly. "I don't get to ask questions."

"How inconvenient," Damon pressed his lips together. Bonnie raised her eyebrows at him and he continued, "Although, let's talk about that little witchy juju thing you do to me. You know, the fun one where my brain bursts into flames? What is that?"

Lucy smirked; that was one of the first spells she learned to do because she knew its usefulness against anyone that could heal quickly—also known as vampires.

"That's me giving you an aneurysm," Bonnie informed him. "Your blood vessels go pop but you heal quickly so I do it over and over again."

"Is it vampire-specific?" Damon wondered, pursing his lips.

"It would work on anyone with a supernatural healing ability," Lucy spoke up.

"Good," Damon nodded. "Good, good."

"Damon," Bonnie went to burst his bubble. "I'm not gonna help you hurt him."

Damon narrowed his eyes at Bonnie. "Mason Lockwood's a werewolf," he stated coldly. "Katherine's evil. They're the bad guys. Really, you're going to play morality police with me right now?"

Bonnie raised her eyebrows at him, wondering if he actually thought she was going to give in.

"Let me explain this to you another way," Damon continued. "They're a threat to Elena. So you, witch, are going to get over yourself and help us."

Lucy sighed loudly and nudged Damon in the side with her elbow; he nudged her back just as Stefan walked up to them, finished with talking to Elena on the phone.

"Yeah, he meant that as a question with a please at the end," Stefan looked beseechingly at Bonnie.

"Absolutely," Damon agreed with his brother.

Bonnie sighed and looked at Lucy. "Can't you do it? You know the spell."

"I'm saving the rest of the magic I have stored," Lucy gestured to her locket. "And Mason knows I'm with them. He'll see me coming."

Bonnie pursed her lips.

"Please, Bonnie."

Bonnie sighed and nodded, giving in. If this would help Elena, she would do what they wanted. "Fine," she said. "What exactly is the plan?"

While Bonnie gave Mason an aneurysm and Damon loaded him into his truck to take him to the Boarding House, Lucy joined Elena and Matt in the house to sort out masquerade masks. Stefan wanted her to make sure that Elena stayed out of trouble, so she agreed, though reluctantly. Since when did she become a babysitter? First Damon and now Elena?

Still, she hadn't seen Matt for a while, outside of school, so it wasn't too bad.

"So, where's Caroline?" Matt asked Lucy and Elena eventually, setting a mask to the side. "This is, like, her thing. I can't believe she's not here."

Elena shrugged. "She had something else to do."

"I think Liz is sick," Lucy added, knowing that was the story Damon, Caroline, and Liz fabricated for her absence.

Matt nodded and went back to sorting masks for a brief moment before speaking up again, "Is she seeing someone?"

Lucy gave him an amused look; Caroline absolutely adored Matt. She'd never cheat on him. "Matty, come on," she chuckled. When Matt gave her a serious look, she sobered up. "No, she's not."

"She wouldn't do that to you," Elena assured Matt.

Quiet rustling next to her caught Lucy's attention and when she turned to look, Stefan had joined them in their task. She gave him a short smile and went back to work, placing the mask in her hands into the men's' pile.

"Hey, has anyone seen Mason?" Tyler called out as he walked into the room.

Lucy looked at Stefan, wondering what they should say, but Stefan had it covered.

He turned to Tyler and said, "He, uh, he took off. He said he wasn't sure when he'd be back."

Tyler shook his head, bewildered. "So weird."

Lucy inaudibly sighed in relief as Tyler left the room. It wasn't even a second later that Stefan was grabbing her wrist, and whispering, "Come with me."

Lucy nodded and turned to Matt and Elena. "I'll be right back."

As Lucy and Stefan left together, Elena watched them with narrowed eyes. She knew logically that she and Stefan couldn't be seen together, but why was Lucy allowed to be with him? It set her on edge and made her a little irritated that she was being left out of things.

"What's with that?" Matt asked, nodding to where Stefan and Lucy had been.

Elena sighed, aggravated. "I don't know. I'll be right back."

Lucy and Stefan were already in the woods when Elena left Matt. As soon as they hit the tree line, Stefan threw Lucy on his back and used his vampire speed to get to the well on the old Lockwood property that Bonnie messaged him about. Once they arrived, he set Lucy down and grabbed her arms, steadying her.

"What are we doing here?" Lucy said once she gained her balance back. She noticed the well and smiled. "Oh, we used to play at this well growing up."

"Bonnie got the location of the moonstone out of Mason," Stefan told her, walking up to the well and examining it. "And it's down there."

"That's why you brought the heavy-duty flashlight," Lucy gestured to the large flashlight in Stefan's hand.

"That's why I brought the heavy-duty flashlight."

"Okay, so, what's the plan?" Lucy stood next to him and bent over the grate covering the well, trying to see through the small holes. "Maybe I can—"

"Don't even think about it," Stefan cut her off, shaking his head. "I'll be going down there."

Lucy rolled her eyes but conceded. "Yeah, yeah."

"What's going on?"

Lucy gasped loudly at the sound of her sister's voice, frightened. She didn't even hear Elena coming toward them. "God, Elena!"

Stefan turned around, not effected like Lucy, and scolded his girlfriend, "You shouldn't be here."

"I know but I am," Elena squeezed between Stefan and Lucy. "What's going on?"

"Bonnie thinks the moonstone is down here," Stefan explained, looking at the well.

He picked up the padlock on the grate and easily pulled it off, the metal groaning as it broke. The grate came off next, Stefan throwing it a few feet away from the well. He turned the flashlight on and aimed it down into the well, getting a feel on how deep it went, before climbing onto the edge in order to jump down.

"Hey," Elena touched his arm. "Be careful."

"I'll only be down there for a minute," Stefan assured them both, noticing that Lucy was worriedly biting her bottom lip.

He jumped down into the well, splashing into the water only a second later. A burning sensation started throughout his body almost immediately and when Stefan looked around, he noticed numerous sprigs of vervain in the water.

Stefan groaned loudly as his skin burned and turned raw from the vervain, backing up against the wall of the well. He had to get out of there, he hurt so bad.

"Elena," he shouted desperately. "Lucy!"

Lucy and Elena frantically looked into the well. "Stefan?"

"Help!"

"Stefan, what's happening?" Elena called down to him. "What's going on in there?"

"Vervain!" Stefan screamed painfully. "Oh, my God, help!"

"Oh, God," Lucy breathed; she looked around desperately, trying to find anything to help get Stefan out of the well.

She spotted a pile of chains on the other side of Elena and ran to them, trying to pick them up. They were rusted, though, and very heavy. "Elena, help me pick these up!"

Just as Elena went to help her, Caroline sped into view, stopping at their side.

"Elena!"

Lucy stood up, giving up on the chains, and turned to her best friend. "Caroline, Stefan's down there and the chain is rusted—"

Caroline went to climb onto the well, ready to jump in to save Stefan.

"—no, no, no!" Lucy stopped her while Elena grabbed her arm.

"You can't," Elena explained quickly. "It's full of vervain. Caroline, we've got to get him out!"

Caroline faltered, wondering what she was supposed to do. "Well—"

"Now!"

At Elena's shout, Lucy went back to the chains. "Caroline, help me."

Caroline was much stronger than Lucy, though, so she was able to pull the chains off the ground easily. She and Lucy quickly hooked up a rig so that Elena could use the chains to propel down the well and get Stefan to safety.

"Here, put this around you there," Lucy instructed Elena, handing her the end of the chain where the clasp was.

Caroline held the other side of the chain, ready to slowly lower Elena into the well. "I've got you, okay?" she assured Elena; Elena nodded.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked through heavy breaths as she ran up to the well. "You took off in a blur."

"I heard Elena screaming," Caroline explained. "Both of you help her," she ordered Lucy and Bonnie before looking back at Elena. "Are you ready?"

Lucy and Bonnie took a hold of Elena's free hand and arm, carefully helping her off the edge of the well. Elena gripped her makeshift harness and nodded at Caroline.

"Yeah."

Once Elena had put all of her weight on the harness, Caroline slowly let go of the chain in her hand, a little bit at a time. Elena was steadily moving down but when her weight caused the chain to slip from Caroline's hands, she gasped loudly when she fell ten feet. Caroline caught the chain within a second, apologizing loudly.

"It's okay, keep it going!" Elena encouraged. "Come on!"

Caroline continued to slowly lower Elena while Lucy watched on worriedly. Stefan had stopped making his various noises of pain and it concerned the crap out of her.

Finally, Elena made it to the bottom of the well where Stefan was. Lucy couldn't see much of anything in the well but the slight glow of the flashlight Stefan brought with him and it made her anxious.

"Elena, what's going on down there?" she called as precious seconds ticked by.

There were a few seconds of splashing before Elena shouted, "Pull him up!"

Caroline immediately started pulling on the chain, heaving Stefan up the length of the well. It wasn't long before Stefan's head popped out, every inch of his face raw and bloody.

"Stefan!" Lucy breathed and reached for him, pulling him off the well while Bonnie and Caroline unhooked him from the chain. Caroline hurriedly grabbed his legs and the two of them carefully placed him on the ground.

Lucy knelt by Stefan's head, her eyes blurring with tears, while Caroline and Bonnie went back to the well to fetch Elena. Caroline called down to Elena but Lucy didn't catch what she said.

"Oh, my God," she panicked, looking at the burns all over Stefan's body. "Okay, okay, okay…"

He wasn't healing and it worried her; she had to do something.

She looked around and found a sharp rock, cutting her palm. She knew that her blood wasn't the same as Elena's and that's what Stefan was drinking to get used to human blood, but it was going to have to do for now. She pressed her bloody palm against Stefan's mouth and cradled his head, lifting it slightly so he could drink.

Stefan didn't need much encouragement; he began drinking from Lucy, groaning softly in delight.

"It's okay," Lucy whispered, stroking his hair. Surprisingly, Stefan drinking her blood didn't cause the pain she thought it would—just a weird sucking sensation and the slight ache of the cut itself. "It's gonna be okay, Stefan."

"Oh, my God!"

Lucy looked up when Elena gasped at the sight of Stefan. Lucy gave her a sad smile but kept her palm against Stefan's lips while he drank. As long as he didn't drain her, she'd be okay.

Elena threw herself at Stefan's other side and kissed his forehead. "I got the stone, Stefan," she said, trying to comfort him. "It's gonna be okay, everything's gonna be okay."

Stefan groggily opened his eyes and took another pull of Lucy's blood.

Two hours later, after Stefan was all healed up and at home at the Boarding House and she had eaten a couple of chocolate chip cookies so she wouldn't pass out from blood loss, Lucy went downstairs, hoping to help Jenna with the dinner she was cooking up.

Jenna was a notoriously bad cook, just like Elena and Jeremy, so if Lucy wanted to eat that night, she was going to have to volunteer to at least be her aunt's sous chef.

However, when she entered the kitchen she was met with something no one wanted to see.

"My eyes!" she shouted, covering her eyes and turning away from Jenna and Alaric's make out session. "Jenna! Alaric!"

"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry, Luce," Jenna said hurriedly, horrified that her niece just caught her making out with said niece's biological father.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Alaric winced, embarrassed.

Lucy turned back around, glad that they stopped kissing for the moment. "I don't care that you're kissing. I care that you're kissing in the kitchen where we cook! The kitchen is not for romantic exchanges!"

"Well…" Jenna smirked.

"Jenna!" Alaric hissed at her, though he was clearly amused.

"Ugh," Lucy groaned and playfully stomped over to the island. "Just give me something to do."

Jenna grinned at her and handed her the bowl of salad and some caesar dressing. "Mix this please. I have to cut the bread."

Lucy took the salad and dressing, surprised. "That's all that's left?"

"Yep," Jenna looked over at Alaric, who went to set the table. "Alaric helped me."

"Wow," Lucy smiled; she was impressed that Alaric could cook. Most men couldn't.

"I know," Jenna said happily. The home phone rang then and Jenna answered it, "Hello?"

Lucy mixed up the salad as Jenna spoke to whoever called; Elena came in a minute later and started helping Alaric set the rest of the table.

"Where's Jeremy?" Elena asked, placing a plate at the head of the table.

"Oh, he went straight to his room," Alaric answered with a shrug. "He said he's not hungry."

Elena hummed and looked at Lucy. "Who's Jenna talking to?"

"No idea," Lucy sighed and finished off the salad with some cheese.

"Of course, I understand," Jenna said into the phone a moment later; she walked over to Elena and held the phone to her. "Elena, it's for you."

Elena took the phone and gave Jenna a confused look. "Who is it?"

Jenna shrugged and walked back to Lucy's side, picking up the bread knife to slice into the loaf of bread that Alaric made.

"Who was that, Jenna?" Lucy asked curiously.

"I don't know," Jenna said blankly, focusing on the bread.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, barely looking up when Elena gasped. How would Jenna not know who Elena was talking to when she was talking to the person for a minute or so. She was acting weird, too. Before she was normal and happy with Alaric's presence but now, it was like she was despondent.

"Jenna—"

Jenna abruptly pulled the knife out of the bread and lunged toward Lucy; Lucy was so surprised by the action that she didn't move in time. Lucy screamed as the knife was stabbed into the left side of her stomach, white hot pain causing her to crumple to the floor.

Alaric and Elena looked back at the kitchen as they heard Lucy scream, their eyes widening in horror as she fell to the floor from Jenna's assault.

"Lucy!"

"Jenna, no!" Elena shouted as Jenna pulled the bloody knife from Lucy's stomach and aimed it at herself. She dropped the phone where Katherine was still monologuing as Jenna stabbed herself with a grunt.

It felt like ages before Elena arrived in the kitchen; Alaric was already kneeling by Jenna, hands pressed against her stomach to stop her from bleeding out so Elena dropped next to Lucy, gasping when she saw that her sister was unconscious.

"Oh, my God!" Elena cried, tears dripping from her eyes.

"Stop the bleeding," Alaric advised her, trying to stay calm. Elena didn't move, still shocked. "Elena, come on!"

Elena pressed her hands on Lucy's wound, wincing at how fast her hands were stained red. Lucy already lost a lost of blood from Stefan today, how much more could she survive?

"Jeremy!" she shouted, trying to get her brother's attention; she couldn't call for an ambulance and neither could Alaric. "Jeremy, please!"

Jeremy, however, was already on his way down the stairs, having heard the screams a moment earlier. He quickened his pace as he heard Elena and paled when he walked into the kitchen where his sister and aunt were bleeding out on the floor.

"What the hell?"

"Call an ambulance!" Elena urged. "Hurry!"

Jeremy scrambled for the phone and dialed for emergency services, sighing in relief when his call was answered.

Joel paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room, Jeremy and Caroline sitting a few feet away as they all waited for news about Lucy and Jenna. He had rushed home from Whitmore as soon as Elena called him and now, as he wondered if his sister and aunt were alive, his blood boiled.

Jeremy filled him in when he got to the hospital; it was Katherine who did this. She switched Jenna's vervain perfume out and compelled her to spy on Elena and Stefan and when they didn't follow Katherine's instructions, she had Jenna stab Lucy and herself. Now all Joel wanted to do once he had found out what was happening was kill Katherine. He didn't care what it took.

The sound of the automatic doors opening caught everyone's attention. They all looked up as Elena walked out of the emergency care ward, her face still damp with tears. Jeremy and Caroline stood up and joined Joel as she walked over to them.

"Are they okay?" Jeremy asked immediately.

"The doctors told Alaric that Jenna got lucky," Elena explained tearfully. "She didn't hit anything major, she's gonna be okay."

"And Lucy?" Caroline spoke up weakly.

"She's in surgery," Elena revealed sadly. "Jenna got her spleen and the doctors said they needed to take it out."

Joel almost cried he was so relieved. "She can live without her spleen."

Jeremy turned to Joel, hopeful. "She can?"

"She's gonna make it," Elena confirmed. Like Joel, she was relieved that Lucy was going to be okay. Lucy and Jenna were safe for now and Elena would continue to make sure they would be.

"Thank God," Caroline sighed, placing her hand against her heart.

"Did Jenna remember what happened?" Jeremy asked Elena.

"No, nothing," Elena shook her head. "It's all part of Katherine's mind compulsion."

"Why would Katherine hurt Lucy and Aunt Jenna?"

"Because she's trying to send a message that she could get to anybody," Elena answered Jeremy, feeling her guilt starting to weigh her down. If she and Stefan took Katherine's threat seriously, Jenna and Lucy wouldn't be in the hospital.

A sob broke through her chest and she covered her face with her hands to hide her cries. Joel wrapped his arms around her and held her head against his chest. "It's gonna be okay," he consoled her.

"No, it's not, Joel," Elena cried into his jacket. "This is all my fault."

"No, it isn't," Joel rubbed her back. "It's Katherine's and she's going to pay, Elena. She's gonna pay."