Caroline was sitting at the Grill waiting for Elena. She'd gotten there about forty-five minutes earlier, but Elena hadn't arrived yet. It was unlike Elena to be this late. Caroline was usually the late one.

Caroline soon felt another presence approach her. She thought it was Elena, but when she looked up, she saw Bonnie there instead. "Hey, Bonnie."

"Hi. Can we talk for a few minutes?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm meeting Elena. She should be here any minute, and she's not allowed to talk to you right now," Caroline said.

"I know. Actually, I did speak to her earlier. We sort of cleared the air," Bonnie said. She knew that she still had steps to take with Elena, but her friend was at least willing to talk to her again.

"Really?" Caroline asked a bit skeptically.

"Yeah. We talked, and I finally listened to her. Caroline, I owe you an apology. I never meant for you or Elena to think that I thought less of you because of your transition or Elena's origins. I never knew you guys felt that way until today. I should've though. I should've realized exactly how my feelings would make you feel. I'm so sorry. I've been really angry since my grandmother died. I'm honestly still really angry, but I know now that it's something I have to deal with. I don't want my anger to cost me your friendship. Can you forgive me?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline immediately stood up and pulled her friend into a tight hug. "Of course, I can forgive you. I love you. I've missed you so much!"

"I missed you guys too. I'm sorry," Bonnie said.

Caroline sat back down and gestured to the other chair for Bonnie to sit in. "Sit. Tell me what happened with Elena. You said you sort of cleared the air."

Bonnie smiled and sat across from her friend. "Yeah. There are some things I have to do before she'll really talk to me again. I have to stop plotting with Stefan to 'rescue' her, and I have to apologize to Elijah."

"Both those things seem reasonable. You know, I spend at a lot of time with Elena at their house. Elijah's a nice guy, albeit kind of strict. He only wants what's best for Elena. He treats her the same way my mom does me and your dad treats you. It's a little strange because he's also a vampire, but he's just a dad," Caroline said.

"I still don't really trust him, but I also don't know him. Elena does, and she trusts him. I should've respected that. I should've been here to support her, like you were," Bonnie said.

"You can be now. Elena's been learning magic. She really wants to share that with you," Caroline said.

"I want that too. I guess I have to make things right first though," Bonnie said.

Caroline nodded and then looked at the time. "Okay, Elena is almost an hour late. We're supposed to have dinner and brainstorm ideas for our science project."

"That's not like her. She hasn't called?" Bonnie asked.

"No," Caroline said before taking out her phone and calling her friend. It rang a few times before going to voicemail. She started to get slightly worried. Bonnie was right. It wasn't like Elena to be this late. "She's not picking up."

"Are you sure you guys didn't get your wires crossed or something. Maybe she thought you were meeting at a different time," Bonnie said.

"No, we agreed to meet at six. It's after seven now," Caroline said.

"Are you guys looking for Elena?" Matt asked as he walked by them. He heard part of their conversation.

"Yeah, we were meeting for dinner," Caroline said.

"She left over an hour ago," Matt said.

"She was here?" Caroline asked surprised.

"Yeah. She sat down by herself for a while and then Mr. Saltzman came and talked to her for a little while. Then they left," Matt explained.

"They left together?" Bonnie asked.

Matt nodded.

"Where would Ric be taking Elena? You think they went to Jenna's?" Bonnie asked Caroline.

"It's possible, but I still don't get why she'd leave when we were supposed to meet. And why isn't she answering her phone?" Caroline asked.

"Maybe there was an emergency. Matt, did Elena seem upset?" Bonnie asked.

"No. She seemed like she was having a good time actually. She was smiling most of the time. Mr. Saltzman was acting a little weird though. His body language was just off, and I think I heard him call Elena 'doppelganger," Matt said.

That sent alarm bells to both girls' brains. There was no good reason whatsoever for Ric to call Elena that. He wouldn't call her that. "You're sure he called her that, Matt?" Bonnie asked.

"Pretty sure. Anyway, I have to get back to work," he said before walking away.

"Ric would never call Elena that. He knows she's not a doppelganger, and he wouldn't call her that even if she was," Bonnie said.

"I'm going to call him," Caroline said before dialing Ric's number. Like with Elena, it went to voicemail after several rings. "He's not picking up. Something's off here. Matt said Ric wasn't acting like himself, and him calling Elena that is not like him. Elena told me that Elijah told her that Klaus has the ability to swap bodies with a witch's help."

"You think Klaus took over Alaric's body?" Bonnie asked skeptically. That seemed kind of farfetched.

"I don't know. I don't have a better explanation for Ric calling her 'doppelganger'. Klaus is the only one who wouldn't know she's not one," Caroline said.

"But if he called her 'doppelganger', she would know it wasn't Ric. She wouldn't have gone with him," Bonnie said.

"Alright, either way, something is wrong. I have to get to Elena's and talk to Elijah," Caroline said before standing up.

"I'm coming with you," Bonnie said before getting up and racing after her friend.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Elijah was standing in his kitchen with Caroline Forbes and Bonnie Bennett. Jeremy was also there, as he was spending the night with him. Elijah was more than a little concerned about the news the two girls brought. His daughter was missing and had apparently gone off with Alaric Saltzman. She wouldn't have done that without telling him. She knew she had to let him know where she was at all times. She had not once broken that rule.

Elijah immediately called his daughter. She didn't answer his call either, but he left her a message. "Elena, you need to call me back immediately. I need to know where you are."

"You guys really think Ric was taken over by Klaus?" Jeremy asked with fear in his voice.

"It's just a theory. We don't know anything right now, Jeremy," Bonnie said. She was trying to be reassuring, but she knew she failed.

"Jeremy, do me a favor and call Jenna. Maybe she knows where Alaric is," Elijah said.

Jeremy nodded before going into the other room to make the call.

"When is the last time someone saw or spoke to Elena before she was seen leaving with Alaric Saltzman?" Elijah asked the two girls.

"I saw her in the school parking lot. I approached her. She tried to walk away, but I insisted we talk," Bonnie told him. She didn't want her friend to get in trouble for talking to her.

Elijah waved the young girl's comments off. "I'm not concerned about that right now. Did she tell you she planned to meet with Alaric at any time."

"No. We didn't really talk about that. I didn't even know she was going to the Grill," Bonnie said.

"As far as I know, she wasn't going to see Ric at all. We were supposed to have dinner. After that, she said she was going to come home so she could hang out with Jeremy for the night," Caroline said.

Just then, Jeremy came back into the room. "Jenna said that Ric was supposed to take her to dinner tonight. He never showed up.

Elijah nodded. He was afraid that something like that was the case. He was beginning to think Caroline's theory was accurate. Niklaus had his daughter. "Do any of you have the number for Alaric Saltzman?"

"Yeah, use my phone," Caroline said. She hit the number for Ric and gave the phone to Elijah. "I don't think he's going to answer though."

"I don't expect he will either," Elijah said. Unsurprisingly, he was right. The phone went to voicemail soon afterwards. "Niklaus, you have just declared war! I do not know where you have taken my daughter, but I will use every resource at my disposal to hunt you down. I will find you, and if you have so much as lifted a finger to my daughter, brother or not, immortal or not, I will decimate you!"

Bonnie unconsciously took a step back at the sound of Elijah's calm, but terrifying tone. She had been right, at least to an extent. Elijah was definitely dangerous, but he was dangerous to Elena's benefit, and Bonnie found it hard to be upset about that.

Elijah gave Caroline back her phone and picked up his own once more. His next call was to Jonas. He meant what he said. He was going to use every resource at his disposal, and that started with his witch contact.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Elena was starting to second guess the choice she made, as she sat in a car with her uncle and they drove past the state line. She wasn't afraid of Klaus or anything. No, it was the repercussions she was going to face when she got home that concerned her. It was one thing to make this plan when she was at home studying her grandmother's grimoire. It was quite another to start putting it in motion and break almost every rule her father had put into place for her. She would be lucky if she ever saw the outside of her bedroom once this was over.

Elena sighed. It was too late to back out now. Well, she supposed it wasn't completely too late. She could tell Klaus the truth now, and the consequences would probably be minimal, but she'd already committed to this. She wanted to do this. Klaus deserved to be free of the curse his mother had put on him. She just wasn't looking forward to the hefty grounding she was sure to face. "Where are we going?"

Klaus smirked. "Now, why would you need to know that?"

"Curiosity, I guess. What's the point of taking me out of the state anyway? Doesn't the sacrifice have to take place in Mystic Falls?" Elena asked. Of course, there would be no sacrifice, but Klaus didn't know that yet, so she figured she'd play along.

Klaus chuckled. "I guess my brother has told you quite a bit. I need you away from my Elijah until I'm ready. I won't have him ruining this."

"You realize he's going to hunt you down, right?" Elena asked.

"I can handle my brother. Besides, you're just a means to an end for him, Doppelganger," Klaus said with a smirk. He hoped to see some trace of fear from the girl, but there was nothing. Her face was completely impassive. What was wrong with her? Did she have no concern for her life? She was the exact opposite of Katerina. Or perhaps she still believed that Elijah would rescue her.

"Whatever you say, Hybrid," Elena countered.

Klaus scowled at her.

"What? Aren't we addressing each other by our magical species?" Elena asked dryly.

Klaus huffed and went back to driving in silence.