Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: This was a painful chapter to both watch and write, poor Ric :( and poor everyone else :( There are a couple of little surprises for Alexa in this chapter, as well as some interesting character moments and some emotional ones!

XXX

There was a warm body pressed against my back. I just snuggled back against the body behind me, breathing in Damon's comforting scent. He had appeared in my bedroom just before I went to sleep last night. Stefan had told him everything that had happened with Ric, including the location of the stake. Klaus had sent Rebekah with him to go get it. And that was the last that we had heard.

So Damon had come to be with me. Stefan would let him know if he heard anything. And there was no point in everyone just sitting around alone. Especially since I knew that Damon was thinking about the fact that Kol had hurt me, and there was nothing that he could have done to stop it. My boyfriend had refused to let me go all night. I didn't mind as I couldn't switch my mind off. All I could think about was the fact that my loved ones were in danger. We couldn't get rid of any of the Original family, not yet. Not until we knew who started out vampires' sire lines.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, keeping my eyes closed. I was warm and comfortable, and I really didn't want to get out of bed if I didn't need to. After everything that had happened over the past few days, well, few weeks really, I just wanted to relax.

"Close to lunch time," Damon replied, his fingers stroking my stomach.

"Hm, I'm surprised that Elena let me sleep this long," I stretched my body, pressing back against my vampire's. I could feel every inch of him against me and I hummed happily as I turned around to look at him. I wrapped my leg around his hips as he rested a hand on my waist.

"I didn't give her much of a choice," my vampire shrugged and I rolled my eyes at the look on his face. It had been far too long since we last got to enjoy being alone like this. Recently, so many things had been urgent and needed dealing with. And when it wasn't like that, then I was close to just having a bit of a breakdown. Thank you, dumbass Gilbert ring.

"You're terrible," I laughed, leaning in for a kiss. One that was greedily returned. Damon devoured my mouth, shifting a leg between mine. My head was tilted back and my boyfriend immediately turned his attention to my neck. He sucked and nibbled, his fingers stroking my sensitive skin.

"You love it," Damon purred, his fingers carefully dipping beneath my sleep shorts, gripping my ass. I ground down against his thigh as his mouth wandered down to my cleavage. He sucked on my skin, ignoring my nipples. I could feel his breath on them as he deliberately teased me and I just knew that he was smirking. So I moved my hand to his crotch, cupping his cock through his jeans. He groaned against my skin and it was my turn to smirk.

Naturally, Damon didn't like to be beaten. He rolled me onto my back, hovering over me as I wrapped my legs around his hips. He ground against me, teasing me through my shorts as I felt his erection. His lips returned to my boobs, this time paying attention to my nipples. He sucked and licked and pinched, keeping me on my toes as I didn't know what was coming next.

"Day, please," I breathed when I couldn't take the teasing anymore. "I need more."

"Hm, do you?" my vampire smirked, lifting his head to look down at me. The blue of his eyes could barely seen around the black of his pupils. Despite the teasing smirk on his face, I could see that he was barely holding himself back.

"Yes," I nodded, my hands struggling with the button on his jeans. "Please, give me more."

"Your wish is my command," Damon purred into my ear, his hands replacing mine. He got rid of his knees in no time, pulling off his top at the same time. I barely had a chance to start pulling off my own clothes before Damon's hands were on mine. He squeezed my boobs through my top before pulling it off, replacing his hands with his mouth as he slowly slid my shorts down my legs.

I could feel his hard cock against my thigh and I was desperate for more. It had been too long. And Damon's mouth had wound me up to the point where I was practically throbbing. He knew all of my sensitive areas, the best places to pay attention to in order to get me begging for more. He played my body like a fiddle. And he enjoyed it.

So when he did slid into me, going far too slowly, I moaned into his mouth, unable to stay silent at the feeling. Damon's fingers tangled with mine, holding my arms above my head, as he slowly slid in all the way. When he was fully sheathed, he paused for a moment, giving me a second to adjust as he licked into my mouth.

His thrusts were short and sharp, dragging against every inch of me, brushing against that amazing spot. I whimpered into his mouth as I felt so full, so sensitive, so good. One hand continued to pin my mine while the other slid between our bodies. His fingers pressed against that sensitive nub, stroking and pinching and playing with it. I whimpered and groaned into Damon's mouth as I felt my pleasure grow, coiling in my stomach.

I bit my lip as I felt Damon's fangs scrap against the skin between my neck and shoulder. I was right on the edge, so desperate to fall over. To feel that pleasure just overcome me. I jerked my head in a nod and Damon took the hint. His fangs sank into my skin as his fingers pressed against me just right, matching the rhythm of his hips.

With a muffled groan, I felt that tension release, sending waves of pleasure throughout my body. Damon's hips continued to thrust, keeping my orgasm growing as he sought his own. I wrapped my legs around him even tighter, holding him against me. And it didn't take long for my vampire to find his own release.

When he was done, he retracted his fangs, licking away the drops of blood that were left behind. Damon released my hands and I immediately wrapped my arms around him, holding him close. I was a cuddler after sex and my boyfriend was always kind enough to indulge me.

Eventually, Damon moved so that he was laying on his back, holding me against his chest. I was content to just lay there, cuddled against him while I got my breath back. Even when Damon's phone rang, I didn't move. I closed my eyes, resting my head against his bare chest while he answered the call.

"Where've you been?" my vampire answered, his fingers stroking the line of my spine. "I've been trying to get a hold of you all morning."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Ric's voice came from the phone. Even with my eyes closed, I frowned and paid more attention. "I just needed to get my head together."

"So I take it Rebekah got the stake?" Damon asked, holding me tighter against him. If she did have it, then at least we didn't need to worry about Evil Alaric potentially wiping out the wrong sire line. But the downside would be that we no longer had a weapon that could be used as a threat, as a warning, against the Original family.

"I don't know," the hunter sighed. "I woke up alone. There's no sign of it."

"Lovely," my vampire rolled his eyes, annoyed that he had lost his trump card. "What now?"

"Well, I think I might need to get out of town. Somewhere secluded," Ric answered and I frowned. Ric couldn't leave town. We needed him. Jenna needed him. "I keep blacking out which means that I'm still a threat to everyone."

"I don't know if right now is the best time for you to be going on a spirit quest, Ric," Damon shook his head. But my mind was distracted by something else. Ric had still been blacking out? That shouldn't be happening. Not if he had been taking the herbs. I had been taking them and I hadn't suffered any blackouts since Bonnie did the spell.

"It's just for a couple of days. I'm stocked up on Bonnie's herbs, so I should be fine. I gotta go," Ric hung up the call and Damon glanced down at me. I opened my eyes and frowned.

"He shouldn't be blacking out still, should be?" Damon asked, sounding as though he really didn't want the answer. I knew that he already knew what I would say. And I didn't really want to say it. But I think we both needed to hear the truth.

"No, he shouldn't be."

XXX

While Damon went to go track down what was happening with Ric, I decided to go check in on Jenna. Despite the brave face that she had been putting on, I knew that she was struggling. It was hard, seeing someone you love going through this. Damon had been a bit vague on the details of what Stefan had done to get Ric's evil side to admit where he hid the stake, but that was a clue in itself. It meant that it wasn't pretty. And I prayed that Jenna hadn't seen any of that.

"Hey, Jenna," I gave her a smile as I sat down next to her on the sofa. Behind me, I could hear Elena and Jeremy in the kitchen. From the sound of it, they were ordering stuff for Larry while getting lunch sorted. Well, it would be more of a brunch. But since we had agreed to help finish setting up the decade dance for tonight, a brunch would have to do. "How's it going?"

"As good as it can be," my aunt shrugged, smiling slightly. Despite her stern words last night, Larry was curled up next to her, his head resting on her lap. Jenna's fingers gently stroked his head, scratching behind his ears. "How's your head?"

"Eh, it's fine," I replied, sitting down on the other side of Larry. "Doesn't hurt anymore and I'll be able to hide it so that no one can see it at the dance."

"I'm surprised you're going to that," Jenna remarked, raising an eyebrow. "Especially since you don't have much luck with the dances. I don't even know if I'm going yet."

"You have a choice," I rolled my eyes teasingly, accepting the bottled herbs from Elena. I wrinkled my nose as I drank them, but I knew that I had to. "Caroline would kill me if I didn't show up. Especially since she took the liberty of ordering a dress for me while I was out of town getting Jeremy."

"I saw what she picked," my aunt nodded. "She has good taste."

"It does benefit me," I laughed with a shrug, putting my empty bottle on the table. "And Bonnie agreed to lend me some jewellery for it."

"You're normally a lot more organised for a decade dance," Jenna gave me a look and I winced.

"Well, I kinda was, except Rebekah changed the decade and I didn't have a chance to get myself an outfit when she did," I rolled my eyes as I added, "For a girl who is supposed to be my friend, she didn't give me a heads up that she was doing that. Bit rude, if you ask me."

"I saw her yesterday," my aunt hesitated for a moment before sighing, "She wanted me to tell you that she's sorry that she hurt you. And that she wants to meet up at the dance."

"Did she look okay?"

"A bit sad," Jenna had a thoughtful look on her face as she spoke. "A bit down. I think you should see her."

"You do?" I asked, a surprised look on my face at my aunt's words.

"Yeah, I do," she replied with a nod. "I know you don't like fighting with your friends. And… I could see why you liked her so much. She has this aura about her, that makes you want to look after her."

"Yeah," I agreed with a sigh. "Despite being a thousand years old, there is still something so vulnerable about her." I thought for a moment before nodding, "I'll try and speak to her at school later. If not, I'll grab her at the dance."

"It'll make you feel better," Jenna's face was soft as she reached out to pat my hand.

"Well, it can't make me feel any worse," I shrugged casually, shaking my head at my aunt's look. "Jenna, don't look at me like that. I'm supposed to be making sure that you are okay. Especially after yesterday."

"I'm fine, Alexa," Jenna sighed, keeping her gaze on the dog in her lap. "Stefan made me leave before his methods got more extreme. It's just… Ric should be home by now. I haven't even heard from him."

"He called Damon not that long ago," I frowned, trying to ignore that worried feeling turning my stomach. Ric would have called Jenna. If he spoke to Damon, then he would have spoken to Jenna too. Especially if he was talking about leaving town. He wouldn't do that without speaking to his girlfriend first. "He'll probably call you soon. I think he hadn't long woken up from being controlled by his evil self. In fact, he might even be on his way here to speak to you in person."

"Do you think he's okay?" my aunt's voice was quiet. I didn't know if I should tell her that Ric said that he was still having blackouts. That I was genuinely worried that something was wrong. I didn't want to worry Jenna. And there was chance that I was just being paranoid. Ric had been taking his herbs. I knew that his drinking had increased. So maybe he was just blacking out because of that. It wasn't enough to worry Jenna over.

"I think he's as okay as he can be," I answered carefully, glancing down at Larry. "It's not easy, knowing that you have an evil alter ego, just lurking in the back of your mind. It exhausts you and worries you and its hard to think of anything else. I'm lucky, I can ignore mine. But Ric wasn't able to do that while we needed the last white oak stake. Now that we have it, then he can take his herbs and go down the ignorance is bliss route."

Jenna nodded, a wary look on her face before she asked, "Have you been taking your herbs?"

I snorted as I felt Ellie stand next to me, "As if Elena and Damon could let me get away with not taking them. Elena even has an alert in her phone to remind her to make them for me."

XXX

Jenna had stayed at home while me and my siblings went to the school to help set up the decade dance. If it wasn't for Caroline, then I wouldn't have gone. But she had texted us this morning, demanding that we come and help since Rebekah was MIA. It was clear that the blonde was not happy at being put in charge of a dance that she didn't even want but she was too proud to let the dance fail. And so, all of her friends were forced to help out.

I trudged behind Elena and Caroline, wondering if I could sneak away to pretend to help Jeremy and Matt. It all depended on how Caroline was feeling. Elena had been updating her on what had happened in Denver, our little detour to Mary's house and what I had relayed from Ric's conversation with Damon.

"So, Alaric is trying to pull himself together," the blonde frowned, checking her clipboard before glancing at my sister. "Why is that a bad thing?"

"I just…" my twin sighed and shook her head. "I wish that there was something that I could do." I winced and patted Elena's shoulder as she walked around the table. Ellie gave me a thankful smile before picking up a garish looking chandelier. "Where do you want me to hang this thing?"

The look that Care gave the chandelier was just hilarious. It was one of pure disgust as she shook her head, "You know what, if Rebekah wanted to hang this monstrosity, she should have shown up to do it herself." She took the offending item from my sister and passed to Cara, who was walking past. "Take this outside and throw it away. It's just… ugh, no." Cara nodded and laughed, taking the chandelier and walking to the exit. Caroline then turned her attention to Jeremy and Matt. The boys were on ladders, handing shiny stars from the ceiling. She rolled her eyes and called over, "What are you doing? You can't just hang them! They're supposed to trickle down."

Matt snickered and glanced over at Jer, "Trickle, duh!"

My brother rolled his eyes and repeated his words mockingly. The two boys then laughed a started swinging the stars at each other. I shook my head at them, hiding a smile. I knew that they were happy to be reunited. When we arrived at the school earlier, they had given each other 'bro' hugs. And not gonna lie, it was actually adorable.

Caroline must have shared my thoughts as she smiled, "Look at them, all bromancy."

Elena glanced up from where she was sorting beaded decorations, "Yeah, I asked Matt to help Jeremy readjust. He got him his old job back at the Grill."

"Aw, that was nice of him," the blonde cooed, glancing over to the boys, who were laughing with each other. It was nice of Matt. But he had always had a soft spot for our brother. He had known Jeremy his entire life and was there to help him through difficult situations when he could. Even after he broke up with my sister, he was still there for Jeremy.

"Jeremy has got a lot on his mind," Ellie sighed, glancing over at me. "The whole thing with Alaric and Alexa has got him really stressed out."

I winced slightly as I looked over at my brother. I knew that he was worried about me. He felt guilty that we had been going through this and that he hadn't been able to help us. I also knew that he was worried that I wasn't wearing my ring. I knew why he was worried. I tended to get myself into dangerous situations and that stupid ring ensured that I would come back to him. But I just couldn't wear it. Not anymore. Just the thought of it made me feel sick.

"You sure that it has nothing to do with witnessing Alexa and Damon making out by a motel ice machine?" our vampire friend teased, nudging me gently. I rolled my eyes and gave my sister a look.

"Ellie, did you have to tell her?" I grumbled playfully, giving a dramatic sigh. "It's so not cool. And neither is torturing me over it."

"Oh please, if I was really mean, I would be teasing you over the bite mark that you're trying to hide," Care snorted as my hand shot up to my neck. She shook her head at me before turning to Elena. "So, who are you bringing to the dance?"

Ellie giggled at the disgruntled look on my face, as I adjusted my scarf, and wrapped a feather boa around her neck. The black feathers framed her face as she teased me by gently brushing it against my face.

"What do you mean?" my sister smiled as I brushed away the feathers, unable to hide the smile that wanted to form. "I thought you, Bonnie and I were going as girl dates."

"Hm, Bonnie has a date," the blonde shrugged, not giving anything away.

"What?" Ellie raised an eyebrow in surprise as I nodded.

"Damn, go Bon, who is it?" I ignored the look that my sister gave me, but it was harder to ignore the feathers that she tried to tickle my face with.

"Jamie called," Caroline answered, a small smile on her face. "And wanted to see her, so she asked him."

"Aww, that's so cute," I smiled. "Damn, now I need to give him a shovel talk."

I also silently wondered if anyone had told Jeremy yet. I made a note to ask Care after. I would have asked now, but she had a look on her fact that indicated that she was planning something. And I was very curious as to what that was.

Ellie pursed her lips, thinking deeply. But she was jolted from her thoughts when the vampire asked, "So, here's a thought, why don't you ask Stefan?"

My sister immediately shook her head, "I can't ask him on a date. I don't even know how I feel about him right now."

"All the more reason!" Caroline contradicted, a determined look on her face. I just sighed and adjusted my sister's hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. "Look, you're supposed to be figuring what you want, that's what Stefan wants you to do, right?"

"Yeah, but..." Elena nodded slowly, glancing over at me. I just shrugged helplessly as the blonde leapt on the opportunity.

"But nothing," she immediately interrupted, grabbing Elena's hand. "Look, distance obviously didn't help you work it out. So maybe spending some time with him will help you."

"Caroline," my twin sighed but the vampire wouldn't let her continue.

"Look, I'm sorry, but Stefan is your epic love, you just need to realise that again," the look on the blonde's face turned soft. "And I'm not going down without a fight."

"Looks like I'm giving another shovel talk," I sighed, wrapping an arm around my twin's waist.

XXX

I managed to sneak away when Caroline got distracted by the abysmal trickling skills of Jeremy and Matt. It was quite fun really, the way that she stalked over to them and started lecturing them on the proper method for trickling stars. Ellie got distracted by a phone call and I used that opportunity to just leave. I wasn't being very helpful and I wanted to go check on Jenna.

My aunt was in bed when I got home. The aspirin bottle was on the side and the kettle was out. When I crept upstairs to check on Jenna, I saw that she was curled around a hot water bottle. The poor thing was knockout and I let her sleep. She had been through a lot recently and I knew that she had been sleeping a lot.

So I went into the bathroom, wrinkling my nose at the smell of too much air freshener, and got her some more aspirin with some water. I was guessing that she was suffering from a headache. So I got her something for when she woke up, just in case she was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep.

I was just settling on the sofa, my copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in hand, when someone knocked on the door. I rolled my eyes, placing my camomile tea to the side and got up to the answer the door. I wanted to make sure that Jenna wouldn't be disturbed, which meant that I had to actually move quickly. But I never expected the person that was on the other side of the door.

"Hey stranger," Tyler grinned, holding out his arms. I stood there in shock for a moment, unable to believe my eyes, before a broad smile formed on my face.

"Oh my god, Ty," I laughed, darting forward to jump into his arms. I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing tight as he held me close. "Oh my god, it's so good to see you. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, Alex," my adopted bro smiled into my hair. "I hate that it's been so long."

"Far too long," I rolled my eyes as I reluctantly stepped back. But I kept my hand on his arm. "Come on in, we can catch up over tea."

Tyler followed me in before wrinkling his nose, "Camomile tea? That's not like you."

"Oh honey," I said dryly, shaking my head. "Calming camomile tea is much needed right now. But don't worry, I'll give you the normal one."

I got Ty settled on the sofa next to the kitchen, a blanket over his legs, while I did his tea. I sipped at my camomile tea while I waited. I didn't know how much I should tell Ty about what happened. I didn't want him to worry about me. But he deserved to know about everything that was going on. And I just hated lying to him.

When the tea was ready, I carried it over to him, a packet of ginger snaps tucked under my arm. I sat down next to my brother, resting back against the arm so that I was facing him. If you glanced at him, he looked the same as before. But if you really examined him, then you could see that there was less tension around his shoulders. He looked freer and that was why I asked, "Did it work? Did you manage to break the sire bond?"

Tyler looked at me with a soft smile, "Yeah, or at least, I think I did. I must have turned, like, a hundred times. And I do feel different. I feel lighter, different to before. All I have to do now is test it."

"Just make sure that you aren't alone when I do," I sighed before smiling. "I'm so happy for you, Ty. I'm so glad that you feel better. It sucks that you had to go through that though."

Ty smiled and rested a hand on my knee, "Thanks, Alex. It wasn't easy, but I had to do it. I couldn't let him control me anymore."

I was silent for a moment before I placed my hand on his, "You do know, that even if you hadn't tried to break the bond, that I would have supported you anyway, right? You didn't have to go through that unless you truly wanted to do it for yourself."

"I know," he nodded. "And I appreciate that. I did do it for myself. I didn't want to be controlled anymore. Especially not by him. I just wanted to be free."

"And now you are," I grinned. "Which is awesome."

"It really is," Tyler grinned back before he noticed something that I really didn't want him to notice. "Alexa, why aren't you wearing your ring?"

I winced before sighing, "I really need to find a fake ring to wear instead." When Tyler raised an eyebrow at me, I carefully explained why I was no longer wearing it, "So, I don't know if you remember, but before town, the medical examiner was killed. And the Bill Forbes was killed. Ric was attacked in our house. And there were a couple of other low level council member deaths."

"Yeah, I remember that," Ty nodded, a wary look on his face and I wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to know where the story ended.

"Well, due to Meredith's amazing detective skills and the old Founding Families journals, we found out that Ric and I were prime suspects because our magic Gilbert rings, that had brought us back to life like five times each. Apparently each death had allowed the darkness to chip away at our psyche's or something like that. But since we were both likely to be psycho killers, Bonnie cast some kind of spell to basically make it go away. And now I need to drink some disgusting herbs twice a day until Bonnie says I can stop."

Tyler was silent for a moment before letting out a deep breath, "Oh. Wow."

"Tell me about it," I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "And that is on top of the whole Original sire line drama and Mommy Original practicing filicide."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, Alexa," Tyler's voice was soft and I gave him a smile.

"It's cool, Ty, I'm used to dealing with that kind of bullshit in this town," I gave his hand a squeeze. "The most annoying thing has actually been Klaus' pathetic attempts to 'be my friend'."

"Seriously?" Ty frowned and I snorted.

"I know right," I nodded. "It's so weird. He's all 'I wanna be your friend' and then he's like 'I'ma torture your boyfriend and threaten your friends'. I just want him to leave me alone. To be honest, I'm just gutted that I can't kill him cos that will mean you dying too."

"At least someone seems bothered by that," my brother muttered and I frowned. I shuffled forward and cupped his face.

"Hey, Ty, all of us are bothered by that," I reassured him softly, forcing him to look me in the eye. "Damon is sending enquires through his witchy contacts, trying to find out how to break the bloodline. Vanessa and Andie are currently travelling, meeting all of the occult people that they can find. We're looking for a way to save you from this. I promise."

XXX

Jenna had woken up mid-afternoon and insisted on helping me get ready. I already had my dress on. It was an emerald green, matching my eyes. It was decorated with black beads and sequins, creating fancy patterns on the bodice and up towards the neck. The sleeves ended at the top of my shoulders and it had a modest level v cut. While the dress went down to mid-thigh, a black fringe hung down to my knees, making it less scandalous.

"Looking good," Jenna smiled from behind me, resting on the doorframe. I glanced at her in the mirror and smiled back, slipping on my black gloves.

"Thanks, Jenna," I added the finishing touches, including a three-layer pearl necklace that would cover the bite on my neck. The beaded bracelet on my wrist contained some vervain as did the dangly earrings that I was wearing. "How are you doing?"

"A lot better," she nodded, stepping forward and grabbing my brush. "Sleeping helped."

"It often does," I agreed while my aunt brushed my hair, getting ready to pin it up. "Make sure you get some more rest when we leave, yeah? Gotta look after you innit."

"Thanks, Lexa," Jenna playfully rolled her eyes. "Elena has already told me the same. I'll just go back to bed, try to read something, maybe."

"And call us if you need anything," I added, giving her a serious look in the mirror. "No matter what, we will come home to be there for you."

"Lexa, you're sweet, but seriously, I'm fine," my aunt avoided my gaze, keeping her eyes on my hair. "I'm just feeling a bit sick and I have a headache. It's probably just stress."

"Still, please just call us if you need anything," I persisted and Jenna sighed. I knew that she felt guilty for worrying us. But we needed to worry about her. We loved our aunt, she was family. Hell, she was our parent in all the ways that mattered. I would literally rip apart an Original vampire to keep her safe. I hated the thought of Jenna being hurt, even if it was just a normal sickness bug, so I would do everything I could to look after her and protect her.

"I promise," she glanced at the mirror, meeting my gaze and I smiled. Jenna's stubbornness could outweigh ours sometimes. I sometimes joked that she inherited the stubborn Gilbert gene through marriage. Sometimes I said that it was through John cooties. But my aunt was not someone to be messed with when she put her mind to something.

"Thank you," I reached backwards to pat her hip. "Now, make me look pretty."

I wiggled my eyebrows, enjoying the laugh that I got. It wasn't often that we laughed these days. Despite how the fall had started, how happy we all were, things had gotten bad again. It might not have been as bad as those days leading up to the sacrifice, but it was hard again. There was always something wrong, always a loved one in danger. Sometimes it seemed that a quiet life was just not possible.

Once my hair was pined up, giving it volume by tucking under the ends, I clipped on my headband. It had a black feather on it, sticking straight up. Bonnie had found it for me, saying that it was cute. My friend had a matching feather tucked into her headpiece and I liked the fact that we would be matching.

I picked up my makeup kit, grabbing the foundation to touch up what was already covering my bruise. I had managed to hide the cut under my headband but some of the bruise was still visible. And I couldn't be bothered to deal with any questions asking what happened, so I did my best to hide it.

Before I could start, Jenna gently took it from my hands. She crouched down in front of me, touching up the bruise with a look of intense concentration. I watched her carefully, noting the slight trembling in her hands. The dark circle beneath her eyes. The sad look in her eyes.

When she was done, I grabbed Jenna's wrist before she could move away, "Jenna, do you need me to stay home with you? Because I will if you need me to. I'll gladly stay with you."

"No, it's fine," she faked a smile before sighing. "I just worry every time one of you leaves the house. I mean, you got hurt yesterday when you went to go get Jeremy from Denver. It feels like every time one of you kids leave home, you get hurt. And it's just hard to let you go."

"I know it seems like that," I agreed, using my grip on my aunt's hand to move her onto the stool with me. "I feel like that when it comes to Ellie and Jer. And I have seriously contemplated getting Bonnie to spell them into the house at times. But I promise that we will always come home to you, Jenna. We won't leave you alone. You can't get rid of us that easily." Jenna rolled her eyes at my gentle teasing and I added, "There's a bit of time until I leave. So if you want me to stay, just tell me. I'll look after you and ignore Caroline's phone calls."

"It's fine, Lexa," my aunt, my amazing aunt, took a deep breath and nodded. "You go and enjoy yourself. After everything that we've been through recently, you deserve it. I'll probably get an early night anyway."

"You still feeling tired," I frowned, brushing her hair away from her face with a worried look.

"A little bit," Jenna admitted before resting her head against my shoulder. "I haven't been sleeping well recently. But I'll be fine."

"Say that enough times and you might eventually believe it," I teased gently, resting my chin against Jenna's head. "I'll get Damon to check in on you before he comes to the dance."

I also made a mental note to get Meredith to check in on Jenna too. Just in case.

XXX

When I got to the dance, I looked for a familiar face in the crowd. I knew that neither Stefan and Elena nor Caroline and Matt were here yet. Ellie was still waiting at her home for her date when Maddy came to pick me up. I had invited Maddy to come spend some time with me before the dance. The redhead was missing Dana and since I had failed to save the other girl, I felt guilty enough that I would spend time with Maddy.

So we got takeaway coffees from the Grill before heading to the dance. I had cheered Maddy up enough that she was laughing when I dropped her off with the rest of the cheer squad. Once I was content that she was okay, I went looking for any of my friendship gang.

I didn't have to look long before I spied a certain witchy friend through the crowd. Bonnie was in a lovely black dress, a string of pearls around her neck, laughing at something that Jamie had said. It was cute, that they were spending this time together. Both of them had been abandoned by Abby. And hopefully, by spending time together, they could help each other heal.

"Lookin' good, Bon-Bon," I smiled as I reached their side. My friend glanced over, a wide smile on her face as she reached out to pull me into a hug. "And its good to see you again, Jamie."

"Hey Alexa," Bon greeted me, hugging me tight. "Nice dress."

"Caroline has to take all of the credit for that," I shrugged, keeping an arm wrapped around my friend's shoulders. "She picked it out for me, without even showing it to me first."

"That sounds like Caroline," Bonnie laughed, shaking her head. "Where's Damon?"

"He said that he'll be here soon," I answered, seeing the way that Jamie's jaw clenched at the mention of my boyfriend. "He has something to do first." My heart clenched in sympathy and I reached out to pat the man's shoulder, "Jamie, looking dashing. If you keep up looking this good, then Bonnie might have competition."

I wiggled my eyebrows and my friend rolled her eyes, giving me a gentle shove, "Ignore her. She's in one of those moods."

"And until I spy one of my siblings, then you get to enjoy that delightful mood," I smirked, ignoring Bonnie shaking her head to speak to Jamie. "Hey, where are you staying, by the way? Cos if you're feeling lonely, then we can find a room for you here in Mystic Falls. I hate the thought of you living all by yourself on that big piece of land."

"Uh," the adorable boy glanced over at Bonnie before shrugging. "I'm still at my old place but it does get lonely up there. I just… I haven't thought about moving out yet."

"Well, if you ever do think about it, then just let me know," I softened my smile, not wanting to scare him off. "You're important to Bonnie, which means that you're important to me."

"Thanks, Alexa, that's kind of you to say," Jamie's smile was sweet and I couldn't stop myself from beaming back.

"Aw, Bonnie, isn't he so sweet?" I nudged my friend gently. "Seriously, he's a keeper."

"Alexa," Bonnie had an embarrassed look on her face as she nudged me back. "Shut up."

"Nope, I shan't," I shrugged, my smile turning cheeky. "This, my dear, is revenge. It seems as though all of you have forgotten that I always get my revenge, even if it takes a while."

"I don't think anyone could forget that," Bon rolled her eyes and I repeated her words mockingly.

With a dramatic sigh, I turned to Jamie who was watching this with an amused look, "You are much nicer than she is. Would you like to be my friend? Cos I might need to replace this one."

"You could never replace me, Lexa," my witchy friend laughed and I shrugged.

"You're probably right," I enjoyed the happiness in her eyes. It had been far too long since I had seen Bonnie smiling like that. She had been through a lot, what with her mom being turned and Klaus threatening her into doing the unlinking spell. I knew that that had been hard on my friend and I had done by best to get her through it, even while in Denver. "I love you far too much."

"Who do we love far too much?" a new voice joined the conversation and we glanced to see Matt and Caroline joining us.

"Clearly we're talking about Matthew," I laughed, replying to Care's words while hugging the new comers. But I kept my arm wrapped around Bonnie while I did so. "He's obviously the most loved here. With Bonnie coming in at a close second."

"What can I do to come first?" Bonnie shook her head at me, playing along.

"Hmm, now that is a good question," I put on my most dramatic thinking face and Caroline laughed.

"This is Alexa's way of getting something out of us," she said to Jamie, who was watching everything with a awkward kind of amusement. You know what I mean, when you're new to a friendship group and haven't learnt all the little jokes yet.

"So rude," I rolled my eyes at her before grinning at Bonnie. "Matt gets top spot because he gives me the leftover food from the Grill in secret. The only way you can top that, my dear Bon-Bon, is to bake me your gingerbread men. It has been far too long."

"I should have known," my witch laughed, shaking her head. "Alright, Alexa, you have a deal. I'll bake you gingerbread men and then you'll review the most loved list."

"Sounds like a good deal to me," I nodded before glancing at Bonnie. "And there's plenty of time for Jamie to swoop in and steal it from all of you."

"What do I have to do to get this title?" Caroline rolled her eyes as she wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Hmm, I'm sure you'll think of something, my lovely Caroline Forbes," I smiled up at her, gently bumping my head against hers. "Ah, I love this. All of you clamouring to be my favourite. Its good for the soul."

XXX

It didn't take long for me to find my new victim in the crowd. Jeremy had arrived, wearing a very dashing suit. A part of me hadn't expected him to come. He normally didn't, unless he was being forced by someone. And he must have heard by now that Bonnie had brought a date with her.

"Hey kiddo," I gave his shoulder a gently fistbump as I reached his side. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Jenna had Meredith over and it was getting a bit… emotional," the kid scrunched his face up at the word and I couldn't stop myself from snorting in laughter. "And I already had a suit that would work, so I figured that I would come."

"Well, I'm happy to see you," I smiled, resting my head against his shoulder. "So, what do I need to do to get you to dance with me?"

"Would you like to know," Jer smirked at me and I pouted.

"Don't be mean, kiddo," I poked his tummy, enjoying the way that he tried to get away from my fingers. "I helped to persuade Jenna to let you keep Larry. You owe me."

"Ugh, fine," Jeremy groaned in that special way that teenage boys could do. Not gonna lie, it was quite hilarious. He had such an attitude at times, but it never occurred to him that I could out attitude him. "One dance."

"Yay, thank you, kiddo," I beamed brightly, ignoring the way that Jeremy rolled his eyes, an embarrassed blush on his cheeks. I leant up to press a kiss to his cheek, quickly wiping away that lipstick mark when he grumbled. Before the kid could change his mind, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him onto the dance floor.

An upbeat song was being played by the band and I pulled out my best dance moves. Of course, judging from the way that Jeremy laughed at me, they weren't very good. But it got a smile on his face and that was all that mattered. Especially since he had been glancing at Bonnie and Jamie with a despondent look on his face. It was quite cute really, the tiny hint of jealousy in his expression. I knew that he still had a crush on Bonnie and I also knew that Bonnie also felt something for him still. But it would take something special for them to get past what happened.

"Don't worry about Jamie," I said, swivelling my hips to the music as I forced Jer to do jazz hands. "She doesn't like him like that. He's a connection to her mother and he's sweet and kind. They're better off as friends, it won't take long for them to realise that."

"You really think that?" my brother looked at me with those big brown eyes and I smiled, reaching out to pat his cheek.

"I really do," I reassured him, messing up his hair before I grabbed his hands to keep him dancing. "I know Bonnie well and she'll figure it out soon. But Jamie is a nice guy, don't be too hard on him before that happens."

Jeremy was silent for a few seconds, content to just let me control his dance moves, before he gave a nod, "I won't be hard on him. I don't want Bonnie to lose anyone else."

"Aww, kiddo," I spun him around, moving so that I could kiss his cheek, not bothering to remove the lipstick stain this time. "You're so sweet. Why don't you show this side more often? Instead of the moody teenager that I get most of the time?"

Jer rolled his eyes, "I don't act like a moody teenager."

"Oh really?" I snorted, poking his side. "Do you really believe that? Because, darling, I have proof to say that you are moodier than bunny eating Stefan."

"Ugh, Lexa, you're so mean," he pouted at me, scrubbing at his cheek when he realised that he had lipstick there. "I take it back; I didn't miss you when I was in Denver."

"Nope, no take backsies," I smirked, letting him drag me back to his moody corner when the song changed. "I know you missed me. Your life was so empty without me with you."

"Well, I guess I did miss your cooking," the kid admitted, an adorable grin on his face as I let him have my punch. "Louise definitely wasn't as good as you at cooking."

"Aw, there's my sweet brother," I cooed, enjoying the way that he blushed into his drink. "Well, you no longer have to miss it. I'm gonna cook you all your favourites. And all your favourite sweet treats." I cleared my throat before admitting, "I missed spoiling you with food, Jer. And… I'm glad you're home."

"Where was this emotion earlier when I came home?" an amused voice asked from the side. We glanced over to see Tyler smirking at us, nudging the hat on his head.

"You didn't bring a dog home with you," I rolled my eyes before pulling him into a hug. "So you don't get emotion."

"Alexa, you're so mean," Jeremy smirked, a wicked look on his face. One that I had taught him and damn, I was so proud of it. "He did bring a dog home…"

"Don't you dare," Ty pointed a finger at him, guessing what the kid would say next. Of course, that only spurred Jeremy on and his smirk got even more wicked.

"He brought himself home," Jer cackled, and I couldn't stop myself from cracking up. We high-fived each other while the hybrid rolled his eyes.

"You Gilberts are the worst," he sighed but I could see the amused look on his eyes.

"Ah, but you love us anyway," I smirked, grabbing his hat and rested it on my head, making sure not to crush my feather.

"Yeah, for some reason, I do," Tyler laughed, shaking his head at us. "Even when you're driving me insane.

"Part of the charm, Tyler, dear, part of the charm."

XXX

Tyler had gone to dance with his girlfriend and I had sent Jeremy off to get us more drinks. Despite his pouting over his ex dancing with something else, I had managed to get him laughing. Which was something that I had missed while he was in Denver. I was shaking my head at Tyler's poor dance moves when I felt someone stand next to me.

I glanced to the side and let out a loud groan, "Why do you always appear when I'm having a good time? Do you have some sort of sensor? 'Alexa is having fun, must go ruin it'."

"Its good to see you too, Alexa," Klaus smirked down at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh do shut up," I scoffed, going to leave. But a strong hand caught my arm and I was forced to pause. I looked down at the offending hand before looking back up. "Uh, do you mind?"

"No, I don't," Klaus' eyes were dark and I couldn't bring myself to care. So what if I was annoying him, he was annoying me. The last time that I saw him, he was threatening my boyfriend. And he had sent his psycho brother after mine. And, just to top it all off, he had snapped Ric's neck yesterday. Which was probably not a good thing for Bonnie's spell.

"Let go of me, Klaus," I frowned but before I could start tugging on my arm, we were joined by the other hybrid in the room. He stood in front of us with wide eyes, looking at the Original. Caroline stood next to him; her eyes narrowed as she glared at Klaus.

Tyler's arrival had distracted Klaus, but not enough that he had let go of my wrist. The Original hybrid looked at the baby hybrid, "Where've you been, mate?"

"I just got back in town," my Ty answered, his gaze darting down to look at the hand wrapped firmly around my wrist.

"That's funny," Klaus narrowed his eyes in displeasure. "I don't recall giving you permission to leave in the first place."

"Oh shove of, Klaus," I rolled my eyes, drawing his hard gaze away from my adopted brother. "He doesn't need your permission to go anywhere."

"I think you'll find that he does," the Original Hybrid looked even more annoyed than he did before.

"Ugh, no he don't," I snapped back, quickly backed up by Caroline.

"Why do you always have to prove that you're the alpha male?!" my blond vampire snapped, grabbing Tyler's hand and dragging him back to the dance floor. And even though that I hated being alone with the douche, I refused to let Klaus follow them.

"She's right," I snorted, rolling my eyes as he glared down at me. "You do go out of way to try to prove that. It's a bit sad, really."

"Oh, I don't have to prove anything, love, I am the alpha male," Klaus sneered at me before replacing his expression with a more charming one. "I don't suppose that I can convince you to have a dance with me."

"Uh, no way in hell am I dancing with you," I shook my head, resting my free arm on the table next to me. "If you want to spend time in my company, then you have to do so right here. And that includes no touching."

Klaus took the hint and finally let go of my arm. I quickly pulled it close, crossing my arms in case he got any more ideas. I really hoped that he didn't, because I really didn't want to yell at him in the middle of the dance.

Eventually, the Original Hybrid broke the silence, looking out at the dancing students as he said quietly, "You would have loved the 1920s, Alexa. The girls were reckless, sexy, fun. They literally used to dance until they dropped."

"They probably dropped so that they could get away from the annoying men like you," I snorted, keeping my gaze on the crowd, making sure to avoid making eye contact the with the hybrid next to me.

Klaus' gaze was dark as he moved so that he was standing in front of me. He stared down at me and I couldn't quite place his expression, "You should be nicer to me."

He ignored my muttered, "I'll be nice when you are."

"I'm leaving town tomorrow," he revealed and I frowned, an unpleasant feeling forming in my stomach.

"You better not be having any dodgy thoughts," I spoke slowly, hoping that my bad feeling was wrong. "Cos neither me nor my sister are going with you. We're staying in Mystic Falls and that is not going to change any time soon. Especially not for you."

The look in the Original's eyes had me trembling slightly. Klaus leaving town should have been a good thing. But I knew that he wouldn't want to leave without guaranteeing some way of making more hybrids. And that way was currently my sister's blood. I made a mental note to warn the Salvatore brothers. And to lock my sister in the house. Klaus hadn't been invited in. Elijah was the only Original who had been. And he was out of town.

"Well, we'll see about that," he chuckled darkly and I narrowed my eyes.

"Actually, no, we want," I clenched my hands into fists to hide the slightly tremble in them. "We aren't going with you. End of story. So stop thinking about it and just leave us alone."

Klaus leant forward, breathing into my ear, sending shivers throughout my entire body, "As long as your sister is the key to making more hybrids, I will never leave her alone. She is mine. As are you. The sooner you accept that, the easier life will be for you."

With those chilling words, the Original Hybrid turned on his heel and walked away. I watched him go with wide eyes and just two words on my mind.

Oh fuck.

XXX

I pushed my way through the crowd, eager to find my sister. I knew that Klaus wouldn't make his move now. Not after threatening me so clearly. He would wait for a bit longer, content to let us be afraid before he did anything. Which was a dick move, but it gave me time to make my own plans.

I saw my twin in the crowd, dancing with Stefan, a happy look on her face. I felt bad, knowing that my words would ruin that happiness. But she had to know what Klaus was planning. And so did Stefan. If he knew, then he would be able to keep her safe. It was so much easier keeping Elena out of trouble when I had multiple people keeping an eye on her.

I reached their side just as Damon appeared behind them. He glanced at me, nodding once and reaching out his hand. I gladly took it, letting him tug me close. My vampire wrapped an arm around my waist as he looked at his brother and my sister. They had unhappy looks on their faces at being interrupted. Of course, Damon's next words made them unhappy for a different reason.

"We four need to talk."

He gave the other two a serious look before turning around. He led me towards the exit of the room, glancing over his shoulder. I was content to let him lead me, wondering what else had gone wrong. I knew that Damon didn't want to talk because something amazing had happened. It was obviously bad news. I just hoped that it wasn't too bad.

When we got out into the hall, standing far away from the dance, Damon pressed me back against the lockers. The look in his eyes had my heart clenching as he leant forward, resting his forehead against mine. One hand reached up to cup my cheek while the other rested against the lockers by my head.

It was the apologetic look in his eyes that worried me the most. Damon sighed deeply, pressing a kiss to my lips before whispering, "I'm so sorry for this. I didn't want you to find out, but its important that you know."

"Know what?" I asked, my stomach twisting at his words. My vampire didn't reply, he just pressed another kiss to my lips before stepping back. He switched his grip back to what it was before, an arm wrapped around my waist. But he kept me pressed against him, almost as though he was drawing on my strength.

Elena and Stefan joined us, a worried look on my twin's face, a wary one on the vampire's. None of us wanted to find out what the bad news was. And we were quickly proved right when Damon spoke. He told us his suspicious about Ric, the ones that I had done my best to ignore this morning. He hadn't been taking his herbs. Like, the jar was nearly full. And no one had seen him all day. And I just knew that this was bad. Like really bad.

"If Alaric is sick, then we need to find a cure," Ellie said desperately, reaching out to grab my hand. She glanced between the two vampires as I gave her hand a squeeze. "Something."

"We tried medicine," Damon's voice was quiet, like he had had all these thoughts earlier. "We tried magic."

Stefan had one of his broodier looks on his face as he thought. All of us needed to think. We had to find a way to help Ric. To save him. We could lose Ric. Jenna couldn't lose Ric. There had to be something. There was always something.

"Why don't we get him off vervain, compel him?" Stefan suggested, glancing over at my sister. She was taking it harder than I was. But that was probably because I was feeling numb. I should have made sure that Ric was taking his herbs. We were supposed to be in it together. We had agreed that after Bonnie had cast her spell. And I had failed to look out for him.

"What? To pretend to be Alaric?" Damon scoffed, shaking his head. "The guy that we know is gone. We're talking about someone who not only hates vampires, but vampire sympathizers. Which makes two of his most obvious targets; oh, I don't know, you two!"

He gestured between me and Elena, and I winced. I didn't even know if the fact that I also had a murderous alter ego would protect me if Ric had gone full on dark side. I had managed to subdue mine, would that anger Evil Ric? Would that make me a traitor?

"What you think he'd go after the twins?" the younger vampire frowned, but before my vampire could answer him, my sister interrupted.

Ellie glanced between the two vampires, a worried look on her face as she squeezed my hand, "So wait, what are you suggesting?"

"That we lock him up," Damon's answer had me glancing up at him in shock. "We lock him up somewhere that he can't get out of until we find a way to fix him."

"You can't just lock him up, Damon!" my sister protested, glaring at my boyfriend. "He's a human being."

Elena glanced over at me, looking for support. But I remained quiet. Because it was the right thing to do. We couldn't let Ric hurt anyone, let alone kill anyone. When we managed to fix him, the guilt would consume him. And… I just couldn't help but think that if I was in that position, then I would want to be locked up too. And it was quite likely that I could end up in that position. There was no guarantee that the herbs would work forever. And my alter ego could take over again.

"He's right, Elena," I spoke quietly, interrupting my twin, who had been berating my vampire. "And… he isn't the only one who might need locking up." I took a deep breath, ignoring the eyes on me as I clenched the hand that ring had sat on for so long. "This could happen to me soon. And if… when… it does, then I would want you to lock me up too."

Before my twin could voice her horrified thoughts, someone else did instead. Jeremy stormed down the corridor, a frustrated and upset look on his face, "No, no way in hell!"

"It's what he would want," Damon argued, his strong arm supporting me, keeping my close to him. I knew that he hated the thought of me going through this. But it was likely to happen. And that thought terrified me so much that I tried not to give it too much time in my head. "He wouldn't want to hurt anyone."

"It's not fair!" my brother shook his head and his pain filled eyes had my heart clenching. "He didn't ask for this! Neither of them did!"

"Jeremy!" my sister called as the kid turned around, quickly running away. I nodded when she glanced over at me, tilting my head back to press a kiss to Damon's jaw line. He understood what I meant, and let go of me, even if it was reluctant. I gave him a small smile before joining my sister in chasing after our brother.

XXX

We followed the kid outside, managing to stop him just by the entrance to the gym. I reached out to grab his arm, turning him around, "Hey, Je, stop. Talk to us."

And that was what the kid did. He spun around, an upset look on his face as he shook his head, "This is Alaric that we're talking about! He looked out for us, he looked out for Jenna, now we need to do the same for him."

"And that is exactly what we are doing," I exchanged a glance with Elena before resting a hand on Jeremy's cheek. "We're going to find him somewhere nice, with all the creature comforts, and he can relax there while we find a way to fix this. We'll keep him safe, both physically and mentally."

"No one is gonna hurt him, Jer," Ellie added, keeping a hand on my arm as she spoke. I knew that my earlier words had unnerved her, just as they had Jer, and that she would be speaking to me about them at some point. But not now. We had to look after our brother first. Jeremy shook his head, turning to walk away again. But Elena managed to grab his arm a split second before I did. She gently tugged him back over to us and my twin spoke softly, "Hey, look at me, I promise. Ric will be fine. And so will Alexa."

I winced as she brought me back into this. I didn't want to remind my brother of the fact that I could be going through this at some point. As far as I was concerned, ignorance was bliss until it became a reality. Especially where my siblings were concerned. They had enough to worry about, my murderous alter ego should not be one of them right now.

Before we could say anything else, a new voice spoke. One that had me spinning around, pushing my siblings behind me. I kept a tight grip on my twin, as I narrowed my eyes at the Original Bitch. Esther met my glare, an amused look in her eyes, before she looked back at my sister, "If you wish to help your friend Alaric, I suggest you come with me."

I snorted, keeping a firm grip on my twin before she could do something stupid like agree to go with the witch, "Uh, no way in hell. Why don't you go haunt someone else, you hateful bitch?"

I could practically feel my sister roll her eyes at me. But she didn't say anything to me about it, instead, she glanced over to our brother, her voice stern, "Jeremy, go inside and get Stefan and Damon." When the kid didn't immediately move, she raised her voice, "Now!"

Our brother glanced over at us before nodding, turning on his heel. I watched him run and felt my body relax slightly. That was one of my siblings that was safe. Now I just had to worry about my reckless twin. Who, let's face it, was more likely to get herself into trouble when it came to the Original Mommy.

"I mean you no harm," Esther's voice was stern and she glared at me. "But willingly or not, you will come, Elena."

I opened my mouth to snap at her but before I could, Esther held up her hand. And my head erupted in pain. I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out, but that didn't stop me from falling to my knees. Gravel bit into my knees through the red carpet that had been rolled out. My sister's worried voice called out my name as she crouched down next to me. She rested a hand on my back as she glared up at the witch, "Stop it! Leave her alone!"

"The pain will stop when you come with me," she replied, looking down at us. "Make you choice, Elena. Either come now or I will make it worse for your sister."

Elena narrowed her eyes but she stood up, "I'll come with you. Just please, stop her hurting her."

Despite the pain in my head, making me feel like I was going to pass out and throw up, I reached out and grabbed my twin's wrist, rasping out, "Ellie, no, don't!"

"I have to, Lexa," my twin soothed, reaching down to stroke my cheek, wiping away the tears that I didn't know had been falling. "It'll be okay."

Ellie gave me a soft smile before gently pulling her wrist away, following Esther away from the school and into the darkness. As much as I wanted to get up and follow her, to drag her back to safety, the pain in my head stopped me from moving.

I groaned in pain, biting my lip to not be too loud, when I heard footsteps behind me. Worried voices called out my name before a gentle hand rested on my back. I glanced to the side and saw Damon staring at me with worried eyes. He gathered me up into his arms, pressing my face against his chest.

"Ally, are you okay?" he asked into my hair, holding my trembling body.

"Fucking Esther," I winced, but I could feel the pain slowly dissipating. I was able to shift further into Damon's body without wanting to throw up. I watched through blurry eyes as Jeremy continued walking away from the school, determined to go after our sister. But Stefan paused.

I frowned as he frowned, looking down at the floor. It was then that the rest of us noticed the thick line of salt going around the school. Jeremy glanced down at it before asking, "What's happening? Why are you moving?"

"The salt," Stefan replied, exchanging a glance with his brother as I beckoned mine back over the barrier. "It's the binding agent for her spell."

"We're trapped here," Damon sighed, holding me tighter against him.

Unable to think of anything else to say, I repeated my previous words, "Fucking Esther."

XXX

Elena's POV

I glared at Esther as I followed her through the old cemetery. I couldn't forget the pain on my sister's face, pain that the Original Witch had caused. But the witch didn't notice as she led me towards the Salvatore tomb. The journey to the old cemetery had been quiet. I hadn't wanted to speak to her, even if I wanted reassurance that my twin was okay. But I refused to give Esther the satisfaction of winning. She may have forced my hand to bring me here, but I wouldn't let her get away with anything else.

"You'll have to forgive me for taking you for the dance this evening," Esther's voice was as soft as usual as she glanced back at me. "That's the burden of being the doppelganger, I'm afraid. Your blood is a potent binding agent for a witch's spell."

"Is my sister okay?" I spoke for the first time, asking the only question that had been on my mind since I reluctantly left her side at the school. It was only because I knew that Damon and the others were on his way that I left her side. Otherwise I wouldn't have left her while she was in so much pain.

"Alexandria will be fine now," the witch replied, a frustrated look in her eyes as she mentioned my sister. "You don't need to worry anymore."

I nodded, my body relaxing. I knew that there was a chance that she could be lying to me, but I had to believe that she wasn't. That my twin was okay.

"Just please don't hurt her again," I couldn't stop myself from begging. "And don't hurt Alaric either. Just… leave my loved ones alone."

Out of the darkness, a voice spoke, "She's not hurting me."

I glanced to the side to see Ric emerging from the darkness, a hard look on his face, one that I didn't immediately notice, since I was too relieved to see him after the news that Damon had given us earlier, "Ric!" I stepped forward but before I got too close, I noticed something off about him. There was something different, something cold. I stared at him with wide eyes before spinning around to ask Esther, "What's going on? What are you doing with him?"

"I'm going to remake him," Esther replied, looking at Ric with pride in her eyes. It was an unnerving expression, one that I didn't want to see again. Esther never struck me as someone who could be proud of a person, not after what I had heard from her children. Not after what I had seen.

It took me a second to realise what she meant, and I repeated, "Remake him?"

"Make him strong, fast, like my children," the witch elaborated, each word sending fear into my heart. "Indestructible. For one final time, I'm going to tap into the dark magic that I used a thousand years ago. Like my husband, Mikael, before him, I will make Alaric into a true hunter, a vampire to end all vampires."

I shook my head as I protested fiercely, desperately, "You can't create another Original. What if he turns out to be an even bigger monster than your children?"

"He won't, now that he has embraced his darkest aspect, his hatred for them will become more pure and uncompromising," the Original Witch looked over at Ric, her expression sending shivers down my spine. "In death, that hatred will be magnified."

"You don't know that," I snapped, narrowing my eyes as the witch sprouted out lies about someone that I loved so dearly. "You don't know anything about him."

Esther looked over at me with cold eyes, "That is where you're wrong. Each time he died with that ring, during his brief journey into death, I was there on the Other Side. I spoke to him, I nurtured him, knowing that every death brought him closer to his true self. Vampires took everything from him. Now he's getting his vengeance."

I froze as the implications behind her words hit me. She had been there when he died. She had manipulated him and planted lies in his head. She had created that darkness in his mind. But there was something worse, there was someone else that had died with the ring. Someone else that this was happening to.

My next words had Esther pausing, "Did you to do that to my sister too? Did you get in her head while she was on the Other Side? Did you manipulate her too?"

My voice had grown louder with each word and I felt Ric take as step forward, as though he would protect the witch from my accusations. But she held out a hand, halting the hunter before he could get too close. Esther studied my face carefully, before speaking, "Alexandria took a bit more persuasion. Her loyalty, while an admirable trait, meant that she wouldn't hear any bad words against the vampires that she was close to. It took her fifth death for my words to finally get a grip in her mind. But even now, she fights me. She doesn't want to embrace the darkness."

"And she never will," I snapped, clenching my fists. "She's stronger than you. Alexa won't let your darkness take over. And I will support her. I won't let you corrupt her. I won't let you do to her what you have done to Ric."

"You won't have much of a choice in the matter," the witch's smile was unnerving, especially when she looked over at Ric. "When Alaric becomes his true self, he might require assistance in his task. Alexandria has already proven to be a useful asset and Bonnie's spell won't survive several new deaths. She will do what I want her to do, one way or another."

I shook my head, "No, she won't. I'll keep her safe from you. And I won't let you turn Ric into a monster either. You won't win, Esther, I won't let you."

XXX

Alexa's POV

After realising that Esther had spelled our vampires into the school, our first move had been to get Bonnie. I felt so bad, interrupting her good time. But Esther had my sister and we had no idea as to what she was up to. The only thing that we knew was that it wouldn't be good. Esther had a shitty track record, especially when she involved my twin, so we had to get there and stop it.

Unfortunately, in the time that Bonnie had managed to work out what spell Esther had cast to keep the vampires trapped, Klaus had also found out what had happened. And the grumpy little shit just had to get himself involved. Which meant that I couldn't focus on worrying about my sister, as I had to focus on making sure that my witchy friend was okay.

She had lit several candles, scattering them around Ric's classroom. It was far enough from the dance that no one should bother us. Which was good because the last thing that we needed was to involve anyone else. Most of the vampires that had attended the dance were gathered in the room, watching the witch.

I had Damon on one side, holding my hand tightly, with Jamie on the other. My vampire had refused to let go of me after I managed to recover from Esther's little spell. Ugh, the little bitch. I let him motherhen me, I knew that he needed it. And I kind of needed it too. What she had done to me was horrible, and I just needed a comforting touch.

I kept Jamie between me and my brother. This was a big thing for him to be involved in, and I just wanted to keep an eye on the boy. I had asked him if he wanted to wait elsewhere, but Jamie refused to leave Bonnie. It was sweet and I admired him for that.

"She does this all the time, right?" he leant over to asked quietly. There was an undercurrent of worry in his voice and I gave him the most reassuring smile that I could.

"Oh yeah, this is easy for her, nothing to worry about," I used my free had to pat him on the arm, exchanging a look with Jeremy. I was right in a way; Bonnie was used to dealing with spells like this. But this particular spell had been cast by Esther, who was powerful in a scary kind of way. And while I knew that Bon could kick her ass, I also knew that her worry for my sister wouldn't make this easy for her.

"What's taking so long?!" the hybrid douche in the room groused and I rolled my eyes at him. I had protested him being in here, telling him to fuck off to a different room so that he didn't put Bonnie off. But the Original had refused to leave, instead making threatening remarks until he bullied his way into staying. "All boundary spells have a loop hole."

I was just about to make a comment that would probably get me in trouble when Matt walked in. He glanced around the room, before closing the door behind him and saying, "People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier."

I looked over at Jeremy and he realised the implication just when I did, "We can leave, Matt, Alexa and me, we can stop Esther ourselves. We just gotta find out where she is."

I gave a pleased nod when he included me in that. There was a chance that my brother would have tried to insist that I stay here. But I knew that he had realised that there was no way that I would stay behind when it was my twin in trouble. Hell, if anyone had been in Elena's position, I would have done the same. And, not to brag, but I was pretty badass now. I was capable of fighting, thanks to Ric and Damon's training, and Esther looked like someone who relied on her magic to fight. A good punch would definitely take her out.

Stefan, noble, sensible Stefan, shook his head, "It's suicide, Jeremy."

Of course, Klaus then decided to make a scene. Clearly he had been ignored for too long. So like a petulant child, he threw a tantrum. He sped over to Jamie, who had walked over to Bonnie. Klaus grabbed the boy by the throat, lifting him up and starting to choke him. The hybrid glared around the room, "Suicide would be disappointing me! Now work your magic, witch, or I'll start killing people you fancy."

"Let him go!" Bonnie snapped, narrowing her eyes as I added my voice to the mix.

"Klaus, stop it!" I went to step forward, but Damon pulled me back. I rolled my eyes at his overprotectiveness but I let him keep holding onto me. I could still shout at the Original. I could still support Bonnie in getting Klaus to let go of Jamie.

"Not until you get us out of here," the hybrid growled, staring at the witch as he kept his hold on her date. Jamie grabbed at the hand holding him up, making little choking noises as he stared at the Original with fear-filled eyes.

"Ah, don't be stupid, Klaus," Stefan stepped forward cautiously. "Bonnie doesn't give a damn about us. The only reason that she's helping us right now is to save Caroline and Tyler. You start killing the people she cares about; she'll tell us all to go to hell."

For a few seconds, the only noise that we could hear was Jamie choking. But Stefan's words must have made sense to the Original as he rolled his eyes and let Jamie go. At Bonnie's urging, he stumbled back over to us, where Matt and Jeremy grabbed him, hiding him behind them.

"You're such a fucking asshole, Klaus," I snapped, getting vicious now that Jamie was safe. "Threatening people isn't always going to get you what you want. If the circumstances were different, I would tell Bonnie to leave your dumbass trapped."

"You'd best watch your tone," Klaus glared at me and I felt Damon tightened his grip.

"And you'd best play nice," I immediately retorted, not backing down, despite Stefan gesturing for me to shut up. But I couldn't shut up. If I didn't argue with Klaus, then I would just be thinking about the danger that my twin was in. And that thought just made me feel sick.

XXX

Elena's POV

Esther had gone into the old Salvatore tomb to set up everything for her spell. She had taken to ignoring me for now. She hadn't liked my words and had decided not to speak to me. I didn't mind too much. I knew that I couldn't stop her spell, but I could try to get Ric to not wanting to go through with it. There had to be something left within him that I could appeal to.

"Ric, this isn't what you want," I pleaded with him quietly, ignoring the Original Witch behind me as I looked at Ric. My aunt's boyfriend was leaning against the wall, his gaze fixed upon the bowl that was being used for the spell. "It's not who you are."

Ric's voice was sharp when he contradicted me, "You don't know who I am, Elena. You only know the weakest parts of me, the man who lost his way, befriending vampires instead of killing them."

I shook my head, swallowing hard as I whispered, "You don't mean that."

"They're all monsters," the hunter spat and I took a step back, feeling scared of him for the first time. "The blood of their victims is on my hands. The blood of the Nolan's is on my hands. John's blood. So many people have died because I didn't do what I was supposed to do."

"That's not true," I tried to protest, saying anything that came into my mind. "Not all vampires are evil. Just because they need blood to survive doesn't make them evil. Some humans are just as evil as vampires. And those deaths… they aren't your fault. The Nolan's didn't die because of you, the tomb vampires killed them. You weren't involved in any of that. John died because of Klaus, who you tried to stop." I shook my head as I tried to stop the tears from forming in my eyes. "Don't listen to Esther. She's poisoned your mind with these lies. You have to push past them."

Ric sneered at me, "Esther opened my eyes to the truth. And I won't be deceived again."

The witch's voice behind me stopped me from saying anything else, "When you are ready."

I glanced over my shoulder to see her watching us with cold eyes, her hand resting on the edge of the bowl. I realised what she needed and I shook my head, taking a step back and looking back at Alaric, "No, Ric, please, don't. Don't do this." When he ignored my pleading, I turned back to Esther, "I won't help you. I'm not gonna give you my blood, you're gonna have to kill me!"

Esther's smile was chilling as she remarked, "That won't be necessary."

The witch gestured at me, a hard look in her eyes, and suddenly I couldn't control my body. I could feel it but there was some kind of block. It would do what I wanted it to do. I screamed at it to run, to get away from Esther. To find someone that could help me save Ric. But I just couldn't move.

Esther crooked her finger and my body took a step closer towards her. I tried to fight it. I tried not to move. But there was nothing that I could do. I couldn't stop it. There was nothing that I could do to stop my body from walking over to her. I screamed inside my head, wanting so desperately to get control of my body back. But I couldn't even speak. I couldn't plead with her to stop. There was nothing that I could do.

When I was close enough, the witch glanced down at my hand. There was a sharp pain, one that had me gasping. I looked down to see a long cut forming on my palm, immediately leaking blood. I tried to clench my fist but I couldn't. Esther's magic kept my hand out flat. She grabbed my wrist and held it above the bowl. Esther squeezed my hand, ignoring my whimper of pain, causing more blood to pour in.

Once she was happy with the amount of blood that had been added to the bowl, Esther released my wrist. I pulled it closer to me. Control of my body had been given back to me now that the witch had taken what she wanted. I glared at her through teary eyes, frustration warring with fear in my mind. I didn't know how to stop this from happening. I didn't know what to do to stop Ric from doing this. To stop Esther from manipulating him into do it.

Esther swirled the bowl, a pleased look on her face as she passed it over to Ric, "Drink. And let it be done."

I tried to reach out to snatch the bowl away from him, desperately begging him, "No, Ric, please, don't! No!"

Alaric gave me a hard look, stepping back to stop me from taking the bowl. He took a deep breath before drinking the liquid inside. I couldn't stop myself from begging him to stop, even though it was too late. I had to do something.

Ric placed the bowl down, his eyes closing for a moment before looking at Esther. He raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Is it finished?"

The witch shook her head, "Not just yet."

We both frowned, wondering what she meant. Of course, we had forgotten one key part of turning someone into a vampire. Something that we shouldn't have forgotten. It shouldn't have been a surprise when Esther produced a stake out of nowhere and stabbed Ric with it. He let out a grunt of surprise as he first fell to his knees before collapsing to the floor.

I screamed at the sight of him lying dead, the stake sticking out of him. I had failed. Esther had managed to turn him. Now, there were only two choices: transition or die. Oh god, how would I explain this to the others? How would I explain this to Jenna?

XXX

Alexa's POV

While the others went to go make plans, and Matt took Jamie to go sit with Caroline and Tyler, I stayed behind. I was reluctant to leave Bonnie's side. I felt bad for her. All I wanted was for her to enjoy the dance tonight. To have a good time. And instead that had been ruined by Esther and her drama.

"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked softly as I watched her get ready to do a location spell. She had paused in trying to break the boundary spell for now. If we could get to Elena, then we could try and stop Esther from doing anything nefarious. And while we did that, Bonnie could release the vampires to give us some back up.

"Well, I can't say that this is what I wanted to spend my time doing tonight," my friend sighed, shaking her head as she grabbed a map from the wall. I helped her clear the desk and placed the map down. It was a local one of the town, which would make it easier to track down my sister. Of course, that was assuming that Esther had led her somewhere close. But that was an easy assumption to make. I was willing to bet that the Original Witch wanted to get whatever spell she had in mind done quickly. Before the rest of us broke free from her little barrier spell and interfered.

"I know," I winced sympathetically before patting her hand. "Look, Bon, as soon as these spells are done. Go home. Actually, no, go somewhere with Jamie. Like an all-night diner or something. Just relax and try to forget about the supernatural bullshit for just a few minutes."

"Is that what you do?" Bonnie asked, glancing up at me as she paused in placing the candles next to the map. "Do you go somewhere and try to forget about it all?"

"Yeah, it is," I nodded, slipping off one of my gloves. "Depending on how shitty the situation has been, Damon will take me somewhere and I'll either eat or drink my feelings away. I can give you a list of good places to go to if you want. I know a lot of the good ones in the area."

"Yeah, send that over," my friend smiled softly as the door to the classroom opened. We glanced over to see Damon and Klaus enter. It was weird, seeing them play nice. But considering the situation, it was the sensible thing to do. We could go back to fighting each other when we were no longer in danger of all dying.

"You ready?" Damon asked, glancing between me and the witch. I took a deep breath and nodded, holding out my hand. Bonnie gave me a sympathetic look as she took my hand. Holding my palm out over the map, she made a small slice in my palm with a knife produced by Klaus. I really shouldn't have been surprised that he kept knives on him. He was definitely the type. The ass.

Once there was enough blood on the map, Bonnie released my hand. It was immediately taken by Damon who carefully wrapped it with a bandage. He pressed a kiss to the back of my hand before pulling me close to him. He wrapped an arm around my waist as he glanced over at Bonnie.

The witch glanced between him and Klaus, rolling her eyes, "I have to do this with you two lurking over me?"

Aww, she was so sweet. She didn't mind me watching her do the spell. But she did have a point. The two supernatural beings knew better than to loom over her while she tried to do this spell. Especially Damon. It was clear that Bonnie had issues with my vampire and I would let her work through them in her own time. And now really wasn't that time.

"You're still mad at me for what happened to Abby," Damon nodded, his voice softer than I expected. "Look, I'm sorry for what happened. If I had another choice, then I wouldn't have turned your mother. But Elijah forced us to do so, to save Elena's life. And we couldn't let her die. I'm sorry that you were the one to suffer the consequences."

Bonnie stared at him, surprise in her eyes but she slowly nodded, "I appreciate that. And I'll think on your words, when Elena is safe and we've stopped Esther."

Before more words could be spoken, Klaus interrupted with an impatient roll of the eyes, "This is very sweet and all, but can you do that bloody spell? The sooner my mother has been stopped, the happier I'll be."

"And we all have to bend over backwards to make you happy," I muttered, shaking my head. I ignored the dirty look that the hybrid shot me. He knew that I would do anything to save my sister. Including asking Bonnie to carry out the spell as she soon as she could.

My witchy friend took a deep breath and closed her eyes, starting to cast the spell. My blood on the map gathered into a circle in the middle of the map. But it didn't move like I expected it to. It was supposed to move across the map to the right location. But it wasn't doing that. And I quickly learnt why.

Bonnie frowned, her eyes closing further, "Esther is fighting me."

Oh wow, was Mommy Original that powerful? I hadn't heard of a witch fighting a location spell before. She was definitely up to something dodgy if she didn't want to be found. I just prayed that Bonnie was able to fight her on this one. Fighting against the boundary spell had taken out of her earlier.

Klaus shook his head, "Esther couldn't possibly have this much power. Unless she's channelling something."

Bon opened her eyes to glance over at him, "A hotspot?"

The hybrid was silent for a moment before pushing away from the desk, his voice stern, "Get the humans ready. I know where she is."

XXX

Elena's POV

I had moved Ric's head so that it was resting on my lap. Despite everything, he had a peaceful look on his face. And that broke my heart even more. I should have found a way to save him from this. But I had failed. And now Ric was paying the price.

I grabbed the stake that still stuck out of his chest and pulled. I recognised wood; it was a white oak stake. Probably the one that Evil Ric had hidden. I didn't know what was wrapped around it but I knew that it wouldn't be good for us. But for now, I didn't even want to think about that. I dropped the stake to the side and rested my hand on Ric's chest.

"He'll wake soon," Esther spoke from above me. She had been ignoring me for a while, casting another couple of spells, but I didn't know which ones. But now she was looking down at me. "When he does, he may for a time be his old self. If so, you can say your goodbyes before his transition is complete."

I glared up at her through teary eyes, spitting out, "You said that you wanted to undo the evil that you created, but this… this is just as evil!"

The witch nodded, a confident look on her face, "Alaric will never be what my children became. I have granted him enough power to complete his task. Then, when the time is right, he will die."

I frowned, shaking my head, "How, if he's immortal?"

Esther's jaw tightened slightly, "All you need to know is that when this is over, we will have rid the earth of vampires, once and for all."

"Yeah, but you'll be killing the good along with the bad," I snapped, slowly easing Ric's head to the floor before standing up. "You're no better than Klaus!"

"Am I not?" Esther immediately shot back, looking truly annoyed for the first time. "I desire a world where you and your loved ones will not suffer at the hands of vampires. Like your birth parents did."

"Don't you dare use them as an excuse for what you've done," I snapped, shaking my head. "Isobel and John made their choices; they did not suffer."

"They would still be alive, if not for vampires," the witch looked like she was pitying me. "And if not for vampires, your sister would not be sharing the same fate as Alaric. They were the ones that killed her, not me."

"No, you're just the one that manipulated her when she was at her most vulnerable!" I spat, my emotions getting the better of me. I had seen her in pain tonight and it was the final straw for me. The fact that she was also suffering with an alter ego haunted me. I had failed in protecting her and now she was in danger of losing herself. And then I had seen Ric, someone that I loved so much, someone that had made my family happy, get killed right in front of me, after Esther gave him blood that would turn him into a vampire.

Luckily, Esther heard something before she could retaliate. I frowned, not hearing what she did. The witch sighed and turned, leaving the tomb. I didn't immediately follow her. instead, I glanced over at Ric. I hoped that he didn't wake up while I was gone. I didn't want him to wake up alone. I wanted to be there with him. But then I heard my brother's voice, asking where I was.

The moment I stepped outside; my heart froze in my chest. Jeremy was there, pointing a crossbow at the Original Witch. Matt was on the opposite side of the clearing, holding a rifle. Both of them had hard looks on their faces as they stared at the witch.

"Jeremy!" I called out, unable to stop myself. I didn't want anything to happen to my brother, not because of me. We had lost Ric; we couldn't lose Jeremy too.

"Let her go," my brother ignored my call, instead directing his stern words towards the witch in front of me. I stepped forward but Esther held up her hand. I paused, not sure what she would do next.

"How foolish of you," the witch sighed, shaking her head. "To risk your lives in defence of those who will kill you. But if that is your choice."

She held up her hands, a hard look on her face. In front of us, Jeremy and Matt slowly turned, pointing their weapons at each other. I could see their arms shaking and I just knew that Esther was causing this. She was making them aim at each other. And I knew that she would make them kill each other if she needed to.

"Matt!" my brother called out urgently, unable to hide the fear in his voice. "Matt, drop your gun!"

"I can't," he called back as I tried to step forward again. "I'm not controlling it."

Esther held my body in place again, but she didn't stop me from speaking this time. I called out to her, begging her, pleading with her, "Esther, stop it."

I could see the boys' hands tensing and I knew that they were seconds away from pulling the trigger. And there was nothing that I could do to stop it. I screamed out their names, hoping that someone would come in to save them.

A gunshot echoed around the clearing, freezing everyone where they stood. I glanced between Matt and Jeremy desperately, looking for any injuries. But they were fine. I was distracted by Esther dropping to the floor. She held a hand to her heart, covering the leaking bullet wound. There was a surprised look on her face as she stared out in front of her. I followed her gaze, unable to stop myself from gasping in surprise as I saw my twin sister walking out from the darkness.

She still held the pistol out in front of her, her hand strong as she glowered down at the dead witch. I couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that Alexa had killed her. That my baby sister had shot her dead.

My knees gave out but before I could fall to the floor, a strong arm wrapped around my waist. A familiar aftershave enveloped me and I glanced up to see Ric staring around the clearing, a shocked look on his face.

"Oh my god," he gasped, staring from Esther's body to Alexa holding the gun to the boys lowering their weapons. "Where's my ring? Tell me what happened."

XXX

Alexa's POV

I leant against the small table that Esther had used to do her spell. The pistol laid in front of me, looking innocent in the candle light. But I had just used it to kill someone. I had actually killed someone. Yeah, Esther was threatening my brother and my friend and my twin. But I didn't think that I was capable of killing her. But I just felt so angry. I needed to save them and I just did what my instincts screamed at me to do.

I knew that things were happening outside the tomb. Things were happening inside the tomb too. Ric had told Elena that he wasn't going to complete the transition. That he would let himself die as a human. As soon as he said those words, I called Meredith, telling her to bring Jenna. I knew that this would break my aunt, but I had to give her a chance to say goodbye.

"Damon's here," Jeremy spoke softly as he walked into the tomb. He had been dealing with things outside, namely Esther's body. The body that I created. Fuck, Alexa, think of something else. Think about Ric. Actually, that wasn't a good distraction. What was happening to Ric was awful and Esther did deserve to die for what she did to him. Elena had explained what had happened, how Esther had manipulated us each time that we died and went to the Other Side. What she had done to the stake. And what she was planning to do to Ric. "And Klaus took Esther's body."

"Does he know about the stake?" Ric asked, clearing his throat.

"No, only that she tried to turn you into a weapon and failed," Jer replied, before pausing. He must have sensed the miserable atmosphere. It was tense and it was horrible and I was trying so hard not to cry. The kid shook his head before slowly asking, "What's going on?"

"Listen, Jeremy," Ric sighed, stepping forward to rest a hand on my brother's shoulder. He took a deep breath before saying, "I'm not gonna complete the transition. My dark side was dangerous enough as a human. I can't be a vampire."

I winced and closed my eyes. I knew that he was doing the right thing, but it was just so painful to hear. I didn't want Ric to do. I would rather him be a psycho, evil vampire that we could find a way to cure. If he was dead, then that was it. He would be gone forever.

"So, what, we're just gonna lock you in here and let you die?" my brother frowned deeply, shaking his head as though the words hurt him to say. I could sympathise. They hurt me to hear. I knew that that was what Ric was planning. To spend his last few hours in here, waiting to just fade away.

Ric's wince deepened when a new voice spoke up, one full of pain and shock and misery, "Ric, no, you can't do that."

We turned to the entrance of the crypt to see Jenna standing there. Her skin was pale, tears staining her cheeks as she shook her head. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun as her trembling hands gripped the door to the crypt.

Her boyfriend's face softened as he stepped forward, drawing her into the crypt and into his arms. He pressed her face to his chest as he sighed, "Jenna, baby, it's the right thing to do, okay? After everything that's happened, after all that I have done. Maybe I had it come."

Our aunt sobbed as Jeremy shook his head, "You can't do this. I won't let you."

"It's the right thing, Jer," Ric looked at him and my brother's face crumpled in tears before he turned to leave. I reached out to stop him while my sister glanced between the two.

"Hey, wait, Jer," I tugged my brother into my arms as Ellie grabbed his hand. She gave it a squeeze before looking at Ric. "Alaric, this isn't your fault. None of it is."

"Please, you guys," Ric sighed, shaking his head as he held his girlfriend close. "Let's not make this any harder than it already is. You all should go. Damon's here. He'll make sure that it'll all go down the right way." Jeremy shook his head in frustration, even as he tried to wipe away the tears. He moved out of my arms, trying to leave again. But he was stopped by Ric's voice, a gentle call, trying to break through my brother's grief, "Hey, hey…"

Jer held up a hand, cutting him off, "Don't. Don't give me some crap speech about how I need to be the man of the house."

Alaric nodded gently as he shifted Jenna to the side. I took my aunt in my arms while Ric hugged Jeremy, cupping the back of his head as he gently whispered, "Okay, I won't."

He held my brother tight, giving him all the strength that he could. I could see Ric fighting the tears that he waned to fall. I knew that he wouldn't let them, not while we were all here. He gave Jeremy a gentle pat on the back before letting him leave the crypt. I watched my brother go, desperate to comfort him. But I couldn't leave, not just yet.

My gaze was drawn over to my twin when she sobbed, shaking her head, "This is all my fault. I should have done something to stop Esther. I shouldn't have let this happen. I gave you back the ring, I forced you to get more involved in all of this."

"Hey, no, don't do that," Ric pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on her head as she gripped onto the back of his shirt. "Taking care of you and Jeremy and Alexa, being with Jenna, it has been… it has been the closest I've ever come to the life that I've always wanted. And I wouldn't have given up any of it."

It was his words that broken me. I never really thought that I would be saying goodbye to Ric. He had always been there, ever since he arrived in town, he had been there for us. A pillar of strength. Someone for us to go to for advice, for support, when we needed someone to lean on. He was family. And now we were going to lose him.

Ric's eyes met mine and acceptance in his gaze made my tears fall. I shook my head, unable to articulate what I was feeling. Just that it was wrong. It was all wrong. I should have done something more. I should have made sure that he was taking his herbs. We were supposed to be in this together.

I hadn't realised that I was whispering, "I'm sorry," over and over until I was in his arms. Elena was gripping onto Jenna, both of them crying. I huddled in his arms, gripping on tightly, as he held me against his chest. It felt like I was being hugged by my dad, back before he died. And that just made me cry even more.

Jenna replaced me while I held onto my sister. I could see that we didn't have much more time. It was the weary look on Ric's face, the way his body hunched over slightly, the way that he rested more of his weight against Jenna. I hugged my sister tightly as Ric whispered into Jenna's ear. It didn't feel right, intruding on their goodbye like this. But I didn't want to leave their side. Not until I had to.

Eventually, Ric pulled back, cupping Jenna's face, pressing a soft kiss to her lips before sighing, "You should go."

I nodded and took Jenna's hand, gently pulling her from the crypt. I felt my twin follow me, Ric behind her. I froze when we got outside, unable to believe what I was seeing. The old tombstones were decorated with candles, the flames flickering in the darkness.

I wrapped my arms around Jenna as her breath hitched. Behind me, Ric smiled softly as he saw everyone standing in front of us, giving their goodbyes. Elena walked over to stand with Stefan, who was lurking closest to the door. He immediately wrapped his arms around her, giving her his strength. I led Jenna over to Damon, who was leaning against a tree, his sharp eyes staring regretfully at his friend. He wrapped an arm around me and my aunt when we stood next to him.

The rest of our gang stood around the clearing, Caroline with Tyler, Matt standing next to Jeremy and Bonnie, his arms around them both, Meredith with her medical bag, a watery smile on her face. All of them gave their silent goodbyes and in the candlelight, I saw Ric's tears start to fall. He nodded at everyone, his eyes looking at Jenna last. He stared at her with such longing that my heart ached in my chest. And then he was gone.

The door to the crypt closed behind him. And Jenna's sobs were the only noise left in the darkness.

XXX

I took Jenna home.

The rest of the group had scattered. I didn't know where they had gone, and in that moment, I didn't really care. My only focus was on Jenna. My aunt was inconsolable and all I wanted to do was to get her somewhere where she could break down. Damon had offered to take us home, but I told him to stay with Ric. To get him through this. Then to come to me.

My boyfriend understood. I had to look after Jenna. I would be useless to her if I processed what was happening. Once Jenna was as okay as she could be, I would allow myself to break. But not until then.

I couldn't tell you how I managed to get us both home nor how I managed to get Jenna up to her bed. But she curled up against her pillow, holding one to her chest, while I ran my fingers through her hair. Jenna's sobs had slowed down, but the tears kept falling. My heart ached at the pain in her eyes, at the way her breath hitched. The raw grief that I saw on her face, it just about killed me. Jenna didn't deserve this. Ric didn't deserve it. They should have been happy together. And now he was dying. All because of the insanity of our lives.

"Is there anything that I can do?" I asked softly, laying down next to my aunt.

She looked at me with watery eyes as she shook her head, "Just don't leave me alone."

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised, the sight of her tears causing my own to form. "I'm never going to leave you alone, Jenna, I promise. I'll always be there for you."

Jenna nodded before her face crumpled, she pulled me into her arms, wrapping herself around me as she sobbed, "I loved him. I loved him so much and now he's gone. I've lost him. And I don't know what to do. What do I do?"

I shook my head, unable to find the words to comfort her, "I don't know. I'm so sorry, I don't know. Just… let it out. Don't hold it in."

Jenna's sobs grew, sounding painful and wretched and heart-breaking, making my heart hurt as I held her close. I knew that she just needed to cry, to release the pain that was burning her up inside. And all I could do was hold her through it all. While I cried tears of my own.

XXX

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, my darlings, only 5 away from 500! I really wanna get there before the end of season 3, so please keep them coming! I've started writing season 4 and it is going slow! So any thoughts or requests would definitely help! I hope you all enjoyed, until next time xoxo