They had all made it back to the party and everyone seemed happy, the witches, vampires and werewolves had all congregated in small groups and were getting along famously, Elijah's guests were getting to know each other and each of the girls were in a loved up bliss with their respective men, everyone was accounted for, all except one.
And it was always the same one.
"Where's Damon?" Elena suddenly remembered that he had been in attendance tonight, they had been avoiding each other since the night of the family dinner and she couldn't keep tabs on him.
"He'll be around, either that or he's gone back to the hotel," Stefan reassured her.
"Are you sure? Doesn't seem like him to miss a party," she had a lingering feeling of doubt or maybe it was just the guilt she had festering towards him about leaving him and Mystic Falls behind, "I'll be right back, I'm going to see if he's still here."
She placed a soft kiss on Elijah's cheek before entering the plantation once again, she manoeuvred around the groups of people within the main area of the house and glanced around carefully, she even checked upstairs and he was nowhere to be found.
She stood in the centre of the living room, standing on her tip toes and scanning the area again and that's when she seen the flash of his hair out of the corner of her eye; he was outside on the front porch and she quickly moved through the crowd to join him.
She opened the door and saw him staring out at the darkness ahead, inspecting the night as if he was looking for something in the shadows; she stepped beside him and followed his gaze, seeing only the blackness that was the night.
"Everything okay, Damon?" She asked with a hint of concern in her tone of voice.
"Peachy," he said with a sarcastic smirk and turned his gaze onto her momentarily before returning it to the area up ahead.
"What are you looking at?" She flickered her line of sight between him and the darkened fields up ahead several times before fixating on him.
"I've been thinking about the attack at the rehearsal dinner and I can't help but wonder if it was a random attack," he was straight into the conversation and his entire demeanour and voice turned to serious.
"What do you mean?" She was starting to panic and it was slightly obvious by her tone of voice.
"We killed them too easily," he continued to stare out at the fields ahead and looked as far into the night as he could, "think about it, a group of vampires attacking but not killing and a coven of witches with the ability to resurrect Quetsiyah, why aren't we all a puddle of blood on the floor?"
"Damon, you're scaring me," in her paranoid state, she turned to look at the fields and she began inspecting the area.
He turned to look at her, a look of solemn in his facial features as he locked onto her gaze, "I can sense something out there but I don't know what or how many."
And just as he finished whispering those words to her, whatever had been standing in the wooded areas had heard him and took the bait that Elena had now realised that Damon had set and he sent a dagger hurling towards her.
A loud gasp escaped her lips as she saw the glimmer of the steel spin towards her at lightening fast speed and Damon caught it, quickly taking Elena by the waist and speeding her inside the house; a flaming arrow came through the front window and pierced the heart of one of the vampires in the room.
"The barrier protection charm," Elena spoke to Damon before looking up at the ceiling and seeing the crystal had been cracked, "they broke the spell, we need to start getting everyone out of here."
Damon started rallying the vampires in the house and moving them to the garden area whilst Elena rejoined with a now riled up Original Family; she just about joined his side when she felt a wave of energy blast across the entire area and it brought most of the crowds to their feet.
Elijah had held onto her and the Mikaelson's remained on their feet, they were older and stronger and weren't brought down so easily.
"We need to get Cami and the witches out of here, fast," she exclaimed and Kol and Rebekah quickly blurred around the garden and started getting as many of them as they could to safety; Elena could feel the power of a strong group of witches approaching as well as vampires and they started to appear from each corner.
The vampires had weapons in hand, some had knives and daggers, others had baseball bats and bricks and they all surrounded the factions and party guests; a coven of witches approached from the other side and they where completely surrounded.
Both sides of the vampires where growling and hissing at each other as the faction warned them to back off, the werewolves kept a close and careful eye on the witches and Kol and Rebekah had returned unsuccessful in removing all of the witches from the party, some still remained.
Elena could feel the approach of another blast of energy and she threw up her barrier spell just in time for it to deflect the power; she had managed to get it big enough to cover the party of people but she couldn't hold it, it was too big.
She turned and looked at the bonfire and focused her magic, she raised her hand slowly and flicked her hand towards the army of vampires whilst muttering the same word that she did before, "Incendia."
She kept focusing and held the power of the flame in her hand, she directed it towards one side of the enemy vampires and they all set ablaze, each of the screaming out and running panicked as death started to take them.
A surprise jolt of energy had hit them whilst she finished the fire spell and they went hurling to the ground, "Well, that wasn't very nice."
An unfamiliar voice emerged from inside the house and there was a woman stood on the deck, she sped in front of them and a small gasp escaped Elena's lips at the sudden lack of distance between them; Elijah sped to his feet and knocked her back, she flew back towards the house and he helped Elena back onto her feet.
The vampire had black hair that fell in long curls around her, she was was a bit shorter than Elena and she was of a slim build, her skin was pale and she could feel the strength of her magic.
"Is that how you treat past acquaintances, Elijah? Where are your manners?" She said with a heavy British accent and silky smooth voice as she reappeared beside him and grabbed the top of his arms, using her speed and strength to send him flying towards the bonfire.
Just as she went to approach Elena, Klaus instantly sped towards her and grabbed her by the neck, he lifted her feet from the ground, his lips were pursed together from anger and he glared at her with disdain, "Klara."
"Did you miss me, Niklaus?" She gripped at his hands and tried prying them away from her neck but it was futile, she seemed powerless against them.
"Quite the opposite," his eyes shined a golden hue and his fangs extended, just as he was about to plunge them into her neck, she started chanting the aneurism spell and brought him down to his knees.
"No manners at all these days," she twisted her hand more forcefully and Klaus screamed out in pain; Elena quickly held out her hand and focused her mind on the paralysis spell, holding her in a frozen state whilst he returned to his feet and Elijah sped beside her.
Klara was shaking with anger and Elena struggled to hold her, she fought strongly against it and a loud and piercing scream burst threw her lips as she held out her hands and broke through the spell, knocking everyone off their feet once again and winding Elena.
Elijah had wrapped his arm around her and brought her into a kneeling position as she locked her gaze onto his, "she's a siphoner, Elijah."
"She's smart and pretty, I can see why you like her," Klara winked playfully at Elijah before using her magic once again to try and attack Elena but this time, she was prepared. She held her hand out flat and deflected the spell, immediately starting to chant and turning her hand into a balled up fist.
Klara began choking on her own blood, she gagged and coughed as the crimson liquid spewed from her mouth, "get the amulet around her neck."
Just as Elijah tried to speed towards her, the coven became involved and stopped him, when Klaus saw them inflicting the aneurism spell onto him, he attempted to stop Klara but he was also met with a spell strong enough to awaken his werewolf side. His bones broke and the transition was starting.
The vampires kept trying to attack but they where rendered useless, Damon and Caroline had their necks snapped, Stefan was struggling against the pain of every single one of his bones breaking and Bonnie had been sent into a slumber spell.
She looked around at her loved ones, each of them in pain as she held Klara and just as the vampires were about to launch an all out attack, she dropped the choking spell and put up her barrier, the magic broke and they all huddled together, "I can't hold it for long, there's too many of us."
"Channel us," Elijah said as he extended her hand towards her, followed by Klaus and Kol and they all subtly held hands, allowing her the unlimited battery she needed to hold the spell.
Klara stood to her feet, using her sleeve to wipe away the blood that covered her chin and her rage was apparent; she started pacing up and down slightly, holding her head high as she smirked, "I'm not here to hurt you, Elena, even the Mikaelson's get a pass this time."
"So, why are you here, Klara? It's been about 800, nearly 900 years since we betrayed you, perhaps now may be the time to move on?" Rebekah said, her patience thinning.
"What happened to 'us girls stick together', Bex? Or does that not apply anymore after your brother used me and burnt my village to the ground? Killing everyone I hold dear," she spoke through clenched teeth, but she couldn't lose sight of why she was here and it wasn't revenge, she had to remain calm, "Anyway, I digress, I'm here tonight with a message for the pretty Elena."
"From who?" Elijah spoke through gritted teeth, his collected and calculating facade breaking.
"Quetsiyah," she had a malicious smile spread on her lips as she walked as close to the barrier spell as possible, smoothing her hand across it and feeling the push, "all attacks on you and your wedding will stop upon your agreement to meet with me and my coven one year from now."
Elena looked at her with a furrowed brow and impatience, "and what if I refuse?"
"Oh goody, I was so hoping you would say that," Klara said somewhat excitedly as she turned to face the witches and nod her head; they all began chanting and they shattered the barrier spell. In that moment, Elena knew they were channelling Quetsiyah, she was the most powerful witch in history and they were stronger than your average coven.
Once the barrier was down, the enemy vampires had attacked and Marcel's guys reciprocated, along with the wolves and the several witches remaining helped where they could with protection spells and offence spells.
The coven had brought the Mikaelson's into the aneurysm spell once again and she couldn't stop it, her barrier spell was useless and she couldn't fight an entire coven and vampires on her own.
Klara sped towards the group of loved ones before her and stopped in front of the three witches that remained behind to fight; she instantly plunged her hand into Katie's chest and ripped out her heart.
"No!" A loud gasp burst through her lips and her eyes instantly began to well up as she saw the sweet young girl fall dead to the ground; she was in utter shock and a state of disbelief before Klara continued on her rampage.
She pulled a dagger out from her boot and sent it hurling towards Davina, it landed in her stomach and she screamed out, wrapping her hands around the hilt and looking with horror as she saw the blade embedded within her and Elena ran beside her, laying her head on her lap and radiating a healing spell around her, "fine, you win, just stop, I'll be there, one year from now."
Klara could smell the humanity radiating from Jeremy and she started to make his blood boil, the sweat began to pour from his forehead and Elena was starting to break; she stood onto her feet and lay Davina onto the ground gently before darting to Jeremy's side.
"Stop!" She screamed out as she returned to her feet and Klara broke the spell, Jeremy fell to the floor and Rebekah was beside him, ensuring he was alright but he was unconscious; she glanced around at the now dead witch she was fond of, Davina had a knife in her stomach and her anger was in its rawest form and she couldn't contain it.
She sent the elements into a violent frenzy, the wind swept around them at 80mph and made the trees thrash against each other, the skies began to open up and lightening struck down repeatedly onto the ground; she held out her hand towards the vampire siphoner and screamed out in pain as Elena focused her magic onto the desiccation spell.
She made a bolt of lightening come forth and strike her down and the desiccation started to take her, it crept up her legs and onto her stomach, finally reaching her chest and covering her face; Elena turned around and held out both of her hands to the side, encasing the coven in her stasis spell and snapping their necks simultaneously.
The wolves and the vampires held their own against the attack and once the Mikaelson's had joined, the battle ended quite quickly and Elena dropped her magic, she felt weak as she fell to the floor, landing in a sitting position with her hands pressed onto the grass whilst she collected herself.
She forced herself to return to her feet and return to Davina's side, Kol was quick to follow and he fed her his blood; once she had took it, Elena removed the blade from her stomach and the healing process had begun.
"Elijah, heal Jeremy, please?" She was an emotional wreck, her eyes were filled with tears as she looked around once again, the bonfire was still soaring and there was bodies everywhere.
Davina awoke with a gasp and Elena immediately pulled her into a hug, a wave of relief washing over her when she felt her breath on her, "I'm so sorry, Davina, this is all my fault."
"It's okay, 'Lena, it wasn't your fault, it was hers," she nodded her head towards the now dead Klara and Elena turned to look at her, a flash of anger returning.
Kol had agreed to look after Davina whilst she saw to Jeremy, he was back on his feet and without a mark on him, the perks of drinking an Original Vampires blood, it was quick. She slowly walked around the bonfire, seeing Katie's body lifeless on the floor brought a deep pain to her.
She knelt down beside her, gently smoothing her fingers over her open eyes and closing her eyelids; tears began to stream down her face and she held Katie's hands in hers and brought them to her lips, mumbling a small blessing under her breath and offering her peace.
Elijah came to her side and knelt down beside her, taking her by the waist and helping her to her feet, "we need to go inside, my love."
"Katie needs to be taken to the cemetery, she needs to be consecrated," her last bout of tears came and she started wiping away the wetness that covered her face and she buried her head in Elijah's chest, seeking the comfort that he always brought to her.
She walked as if she was in a trance, she passed the bodies of the dead witches she had killed and then Klara's, she had no remorse for them and if she had the energy to stay, she'd watch as there bodies went up in flames in the bonfire.
Elena found herself in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror and seeing the blood that covered her, it was mostly Davina's and Katie's but the blood on her face came from her excessive use of magic.
She switched on the shower and the hot water began to pour, she walked into the bedroom and saw Elijah standing at the window, staring out and watching as the hybrids and vampires cleared the scene of the attack; her Mystic Falls family had returned to the hotel, Davina and Marcel took Katie to the cemetery and his siblings were helping where they could.
"Would you mind?" She spoke weakly as she turned around and pulled her hair away from the zip on the back of her dress; Elijah walked behind her, pulling the zip slowly down her back and spinning her around slowly.
"You mustn't blame yourself, Elena, this was the doing of a deranged coven of witches that sought you out to hurt you," he tried to reassure her but he knew her heart too well.
"I can't talk about this, not now, I'm sorry," she fought back the tears and walked back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and slipping out of her clothes; she stepped into the shower and let the water wash away the blood and dirt that covered her skin.
Once she was done, she returned to the bedroom and saw Elijah had gone; she dried herself off and dressed in a pair of shorts and a black vest top, she slid her feet into a pair of fluffy slippers and sat down on the bed.
She thought for a long moment about the deal she had made with Klara to meet with the coven a year from now and she couldn't help but wonder what she had got herself into or whether the deal was void now that she was dead.
It was unlikely, there would always be more of them.
She broke her contemplative state and exited her bedroom, she descended the staircase and went into the living room; she had glanced around quickly and everything had been returned to normal, even the broken window. The hybrids and vampires worked quick, it took them a couple of hours to reinstate the house to its perfect condition.
She went to the liquor cabinet and poured herself a large bourbon before taking a seat on the sofa and nursing the glass in her hands, she brought her legs up and placed them underneath her in a crisscross as she stared at the Christmas lights twinkling around the fireplace.
The siblings all began to join her once they heard her arrive in the living room and they all sat around her on the sofa; she didn't have any energy left to cry or talk and they knew all she needed was them. So, they sat in silence, holding her and bringing her the comfort she desperately sought.