Elena was sitting with Rebekah for lunch in the cafeteria. Her day had gotten a little better, although she was still really irritated from this morning. She would give anything for a silver dagger, so she could stab Finn in the chest with it. She contemplated asking Klaus for one of his. It would almost be worth whatever punishment Esther came up with for her, if not for the fact that she'd wake the asshole up right after.
"Are you okay?" Rebekah asked her sister.
"Oh, yeah. I'm just daydreaming about murdering our brother," Elena said.
"Ah, yes, I have those fantasies on a daily basis. Usually it's Nik, sometimes Kol. I'm guessing the target of your murderous imagination is Finn," Rebekah said. She knew her sister was still pissed about that morning. Nik almost certainly was too.
Elena nodded. "That was a private conversation between me and Klaus. It was personal and meant for no one else's ears. Now, I realize I live in a house with four vampires who will hear every word, but they should damn well pretend they don't."
"Agreed. Most of us do follow that rule, but Finn will do whatever Mother asks. He's always been like that. I'm starting to understand why Nik kept him daggered for so long," Rebekah said.
"I wanna get back at him. I can't do anything about Esther, but I intend to do something about him. Want in?" Elena asked.
"Now that's a ridiculous questing, Elena. Obviously, I do," Rebekah said with a smirk. She was aways ready for revenge against a sibling. The fact that Finn was getting on all their nerves made it that much more appealing. "What do you have in mind?"
"I don't know yet, but I plan to make sure he thinks twice before spreading my private business again," Elena said.
Rebekah chuckled. "Oh, you are obviously one of us, Elena. We will make Finn pay interfering in your life."
Just then, Caroline walked over to them, and she didn't look happy.
"Hey, Care. We're plotting revenge against our brother. Wanna help?" Elena asked.
"Absolutely, but not now. Dumb and dumber are at it again," Caroline said with a huff before sitting down next to Elena.
"You'll have to be more specific. That could literally describe any of your friends," Rebekah said.
This was usually when Caroline would glare at Rebekah and defend her friends, but the original was right. Most of her friends were incredibly stupid nowadays. Today was no exception.
"I'm guessing she's talking about Stefan and Damon," Elena said.
"Yes, but you can probably lump Bonnie in with them now! I overheard them talking in our last class. Honestly, you would think Stefan would remember that I'm a vampire too and just as capable of hearing him make stupid plans!" Caroline huffed.
"What's going on?" Elena asked nervously. Whatever it was, she was certain it had to do with her, and that it would make her life even more hellish than it already was.
"Stefan, Damon, and Bonnie plan to 'save' you today. Damon is supposed to show up to whisk you away before Finn can show up. Stefan supposed to somehow deal with Rebekah," Caroline said.
"Someone please tell me how the Salvatores' have lived over a hundred years? It doesn't seem possible with how stupid they are!" Rebekah fumed. She did know they wouldn't live much longer if they went through with this idiotic plan. She would see to that.
Elena was silent. She was busy picturing exactly how this would go down if this idiotic plan was allowed to happen. They'd get as far as the boarding house before Esther showed up and forced her back to the mansion. She would most definitely be pulled out of school and probably punished harshly. She had been locked in her room all night for having a bad reaction to learning she wasn't who she thought she was. She could only imagine what Esther would do to her for this. It wouldn't matter that it wasn't her doing.
Elena stood up from the table and started walking towards where Bonnie and Stefan were sitting.
Rebekah and Caroline got up and followed her.
Elena made her way over before putting her hands on the table and leaning over Stefan. "If I even see Damon's face this afternoon, I will scream bloody murder and tell the who school that he's trying to kidnap me!"
"What?" Stefan asked in surprise.
"Is my life not horrible enough for you? Have you not screwed it up enough? You wanna make it worse?" Elena asked heatedly.
"Elena, what are you talking about?" Bonnie asked.
"Caroline heard your plan. She told us everything," Elena said.
Bonnie looked at Caroline in disbelief. How could she do that? They were trying to save Elena before something worse happened to her. Didn't she understand how much danger Elena was in? She was living with Klaus and his crazy family.
"Don't look at me like that, Bonnie. Your plan was stupid and bound to fail, and the consequences would've been severe," Caroline said.
"We're trying to get Elena out of that house. She shouldn't be there," Stefan said.
"Were you dropped on your head one too many times as a child? Because excessive brain damage is the only explanation, I have for you being this stupid! How did I not see how dumb you were when we were going out?" Elena asked. She was seriously pissed. How had she overlooked Stefan's obvious stupidity? She must have just been blinded because she loved him.
"To be fair, I didn't see it either. Maybe he was smarter without his humanity," Rebekah theorized.
"Elena, we're trying to help you," Bonnie said.
Elena rounded on her friend next. "Bonnie, I don't even know what kind of explanation I can come up for you getting involved in this. Is stupidity contagious?"
"Elena!" Bonnie exclaimed.
Caroline had to stifle a chuckle. This situation wasn't remotely funny, but watching Elena let their friends have it was. Elena was usually so kind and understanding, but she was clearly super done with everyone interfering in her life. Caroline couldn't blame her. Her life was hell right now. It was everything she could do to navigate it, and Stefan, Damon, and Bonnie were about to make it worse.
"Explain to me how you were going to help me, Bonnie, because all I can see is how my world is about to go from awful to torturous," Elena said.
"That's why we're doing this. To get you out of that house," Stefan said.
"Then what, Stefan?" Elena asked before taking a seat across from him. "What's your plan after Damon gets me back to the boarding house, assuming we even make it far? What's your plan when my control freak of a mother shows up with at least one original vampire in tow to drag me back to the mansion?" Elena asked.
"We'll figure that out then," Stefan said. He had no plan for that at the moment, but they would find a solution. They always did. What mattered was getting Elena away from the originals and their mother.
Elena laughed bitterly. "Oh, yeah, you'll figure it out later. That's what you always do, figure it out later. Wait, except you don't. I figure it out, or I deal with the consequences. You dagger Elijah, it backfires in your face, and I unknowingly have to stick a dagger in my brother's heart! You steal a bunch of coffins and I have to stop Klaus from destroying the damned town! This will be no different. You kidnap me, I'll have to deal with the consequences, not you. I'll be the one still in that house paying for your actions."
"Oh, no, they would definitely pay for it. We would see to that," Rebekah said dangerously while glaring at Stefan.
"Elena, we have to do something. I could put up a boundary spell to keep everyone out, if necessary," Bonnie said.
Elena looked at Bonnie as though she grew another head. "Are you serious? We're talking about the original witch. You really think you can take her on after a few months of practicing magic? She created vampirism for God's sake! You wanna help me, Bonnie? Back off! The three of you have done enough damage. I do not want anymore 'help' from you."
"You don't mean that," Bonnie said.
"Bonnie, if you make this situation worse for me, I will never forgive you," Elena said in the most powerful tone she had before standing up and walking away with Caroline and Rebekah.
"We need to leave now. I don't trust these idiots not to attempt their stupid plan anyway," Rebekah said to Elena as they walked.
"If we leave, Esther will want to know why," Elena said.
"You have to tell her. It's the only option. It will do you some good in the long run. She will start trusting you more," Rebekah said.
"She'll pull me out of school," Elena said. School had become her sanctuary. It was the only place where she was able to be herself. At the mansion, she couldn't even speak her mind without Finn reporting to Mommy about it.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but we don't have a choice. It's not safe for you to come back here right now. Even with me here, there's too much of a risk that these idiots will try something," Rebekah said.
"I never thought I'd say these words, but Rebekah's right. I'm afraid that the others are going to make things worse for you. I don't want to see that happen. If you're going to get through this, you're going to have to stay on Esther's good side," Caroline said.
Elena shuddered and her eyes began to tear up. "Getting through this seems impossible."
Rebekah put an arm around her sister. "It's not. You'll be okay. It won't be like this forever."
Elena had a hard time believing that at the moment. She didn't see any way out of this, and that depressed her a little more each day. "Alright, call Finn."
Rebekah nodded. "Let's go sign out. The good thing about you being eighteen is that you can do that yourself."
They went down to the office and signed out while Rebekah called for a ride. She didn't get ahold of Finn, so she called Nik next. He answered and agreed to come get them.
Rebekha and Elena were waiting outside when Klaus showed up. Elena was visibly upset at this point. Stefan, Damon, and Bonnie didn't even get a chance to go through with their plan, and her life was already worse than it was that morning.
Klaus got out and glared at no one in particular when he saw how upset his little sister was. "Who do I kill?"
"We'll explain later in the car. Is Mother home?" Rebekah asked.
"No. It was just me and Elijah," Klaus said before turning to Elena. "Are you alright, sweetheart?"
Elena shook her head.
Klaus tentatively pulled her into his arms. He half expected her to pull away, but she didn't.
Elena was upset enough that she let herself forget momentarily that she hated Klaus. Instead, she leaned into his arms and let him comfort her. "I can't do this much longer."
Klaus was extremely tempted to assure her that she wouldn't have to, but he was reminded of Elijah's words about not getting her hopes up. He didn't want to promise her something that wasn't even close to happening yet. "It's alright, love. Let's get you home."
Elena let Klaus guide her into the passenger seat. Rebekah and Klaus got in as well, and they drove off.