Alexandria Gilbert

by JChavz95

Vampires, witches, werewolves and doppelgangers, oh my! All Alexa Gilbert wanted was a quiet life, a free drink and to party the night away with her friends without being nagged by her twin sister Elena, but the arrival of the mysterious Salvatore brothers may just ruin those plans... Starts Season 1, Episode 1, Slowburn Damon/OC, Now on Season 5!

101. The Devil Inside

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: An update? A miracle! I had intended to wait until I finished my next backlog chapter but that hasn't happened lol as I haven't had much writing time but the football season restarts on Monday so hopefully I will have more writing time then! And hey, the website is working again which is great! But onto this chapter... oh boy, this is one cruel chapter (although not the cruelest one, those are still to come!) I do treat you to some Dalexa time but then it gets savage. We get Katherine being Katherine, some important plot points and the start of the most evil chapter arch that I have ever written!

XXX

After Katherine finally bit the bullet, don't rest in peace, bitch, the others slowly trickled out, until only the Salvatore brothers and I remained. When Stefan disappeared upstairs to check on Elena, who had watched her tormenter die, Damon took me into the library. I let him tug me along, a gentle hand gripping my wrist, snagging the open bottle of bourbon on my way. As a group, we had put away an impressive amount. But I wasn't ready to stop drinking yet. As the sky grew darker outside, the hours ticking away, it became harder to fight the memories of the day before. Something that my boyfriend had definitely noticed.

Damon sighed as he saw the bottle in my hand, before sitting on the leather sofa, his back resting against the arm of the couch. He carefully took the bottle from me, placing it on the floor next to him, before tugging me down. I curled up against his chest, my head tucked under his chin, as I stared at the fire. Seconds later, my favourite blanket was covering me, the warmth helping me to relax as Damon's fingers traced the line of my spine. I could feel my body growing heavier, sleep creeping across my mind, and I knew that I had to fight it. I couldn't fall asleep, I couldn't let the nightmares in.

"Someone needs to dump Katherine's body in the woods," I muttered, ignoring the heaviness of my eyes to stare into the fire. My boyfriend's fingers continued to stroke my back, while his other hand gently eased through my hair, teasing out any tangles that he found. I knew that if I let it, the feel of his hands would have me relaxing enough that sleep would take me.

"Stefan will sort that out," Damon sighed, his hand moving from my hair to grip the back of my neck, keeping my head pressed against his chest. I curled my fingers into his top, clutching him closer. Even though I absolutely refused to go to sleep, I also didn't want to move away from my boyfriend's comforting warmth. It was a frustrating conundrum. But in the end, the comfort from his arms was something that I just couldn't deny myself. "Just focus on yourself, Ally."

"I'm not going to sleep," I grumbled, blinking quickly to fight back the sudden heaviness. "I'm not tired."

There was an indulgent tone in his voice, one that had me narrowing my eyes, as he shook his head, "Of course you aren't."

"I'm not tired," I repeated, more to convince myself than him.

"When was the last time that you slept?" Damon asked, his lips brushing against my forehead and I actually had to pause to think. Which was not a good sign. Because I knew what kind of mood my boyfriend was in and if it had been a while since I slept, he would force me to take a nap. Whether I wanted one or not.

"Erm, can I pass on that one?" I winced and I quickly winced again at the sound of my boyfriend's sigh. When he repeated my name, I muttered, "Yeah, okay, it was the night before Bonnie's welcome home party."

"So before the Whitmore debacle," Damon nodded, giving me a squeeze when I flinched. "Yeah, you're going to have a nap."

"I knew that you would say that," I pouted as he tugged my blanket up so that it covered my shoulders. "Is there any way that I can persuade you that I really don't need to go to sleep right now?"

"If you can go five minutes without yawning, then I'll let you run away from going to sleep."

"I've been yawning?" I paused to frown, only to yawn. It wasn't until my jaw clicked that I realised that I had been yawning. A lot. And fuck me, I was definitely going to lose in my battle to avoid sleep. I felt more than heard my boyfriend's chuckle and I pouted again. "Don't laugh at me."

"Stop being adorable then," my beloved shook his head, his fingers stroking my cheek. His other hand settled on my hip, giving it a squeeze, as he held me close.

I didn't realise that my eyes had closed until I was blinking them open again. I glanced around the room, seeing just how dark it was outside, before whispering, "I don't want to have nightmares."

Damon was silent for a moment, and I could sense his frown, before he offered, his voice soft, "I can keep them away if you want me to." I let out a confused hum and he elaborated, fingers brushing against my temple. "I can go into your mind, like we did to Katherine earlier, and I can stop the nightmares before they happen."

I was silent as I considered that offer. I knew that I needed to sleep, I couldn't fight it anymore, not now that I was comfortable. I could feel it weighing down my body, clouding my mind. The only thing stopping me from sleeping for the next month were the nightmares that I knew were waiting for me. But if Damon could protect me from them, then surely, I should accept his offer. I trusted him in my head. Fuck, he was probably the only one that I trusted in my head. I only had one concern and it wasn't even for me.

"But wouldn't that mean that you see them before you can make them go away?" I asked, my voice small, as my grip on his top grew tighter. I didn't want my boyfriend to suffer to protect me. I knew that he was using me to run away from his trauma, from acknowledging the fact that he had become an Augustine prisoner for the second time. And while I knew that I couldn't make him confront his trauma until I had somehow managed to deal with my own, I refused to hurt him further by subjecting him to images that haunted my mind.

"I'll be able to stop the nightmares before they happen, baby, that means that I won't see anything. You don't need to worry about me."

"I'd rather worry about you," I mumbled, my eyes slipping shut and this time, I didn't have the energy to open them again. "It stops me from thinking about what happened."

Damon's fingers settled against my temple, a comforting weight, as he murmured, "We'll deal with that tomorrow, for now, just sleep, Ally. I'll look after you."

XXX

I woke up on the couch in the library, still in Damon's arms. The sun was just starting to rise, chasing away the darkness. I stared at the shadows as they moved across the floor, running away from a brand-new day. One that would be better. One that had to be better. I needed a good day. Fuck, I definitely needed a good day. After the past month, I needed a day where I didn't get hurt, where someone I loved didn't get hurt. It couldn't be too much to ask, right? Just one day.

Damon's fingers brushed against my skin and I pressed my head against his chest as I felt him waking up too. He had done as he had promised, and kept my nightmares away. Instead of the lab, I dreamed of our summer. Of the good days, before life went to shit again. Those few months of peace, before Silas returned and Elena went to Whitmore. When all I had to worry about was my two missing friends, when my mind whispered that they were just avoiding my calls, wanting to escape me after my humanityless period.

"Thank you," I whispered when my boyfriend's fingers moved to stroke my cheek, the arm that was wrapped around my hips giving me a squeeze.

"Anything for you, Alexa," Damon whispered into my hair and I smiled into his chest. God, I loved this man so much. Something that I must have said out loud, as I felt his lips curl up into a smile. "I love you too."

As the sun continued to climb high into the sky, just about visible through the thick curtains, I sighed, "Do we have to move?"

"Unfortunately, we do," my boyfriend reluctantly nodding, before brushing his lips against my forehead. "We need to talk, Ally. I can't let you run away from what happened for much longer."

"Yeah, you can," I immediately countered, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to stop the memories from clawing their way back into my mind. "We can definitely just not talk about it and pretend that it never happened."

"As much as I want to spare you pain of reliving it, baby," Damon gave me a squeeze before nudging my chin, encouraging me to look up at him. "I can't let you bury this one away. But we don't have to do it here."

"Here in the library or here in Mystic Falls?"

"Mystic Falls," my boyfriend's fingers continued to stroke my cheek, a comforting weight as we discussed something that I really didn't want to discuss. "I'm going to take you out of town, while you heal from this. Stefan is almost back to normal. He and Ric can look after the others. It's time for me to look after you."

"I guess a road trip with you wouldn't be the worst thing," I tried to smile and it felt genuine enough that Damon smiled back. "Okay, I'll bite. I'll let you bully me into dealing with what happened. But before we go, can I have some of the good coffee?"

"You and that coffee," Damon muttered, shaking his head, but I could still see that sweet smile dancing around his lips. "Okay, I'll go get you some."

"And that is why you are my favourite," I shifted onto my knees to wrap my arms around his neck. Damon's arms immediately wrapped around me, holding me close before pulling back, gently gripping my chin and pressing his lips against mine. My eyes fluttered close as I tangled my fingers in his hair, focusing only on his lips. I knew that dealing with what happened to me in Wes' lab would fucking suck. It would hurt. But as much as I wanted to run away from it, I knew that I couldn't. Damon was right when he said that I couldn't run away from this one. It was too horrible, too extreme, too cruel. I had to learn to move on from it properly, otherwise it would continue to haunt me.

"Stay here, I'll bring your coffee to you," my boyfriend whispered against my lips, giving me one final kiss before easing me away. I grabbed the edges of the blanket, wrapping it around my shoulders, as he stood up. Damon looked down at me for a moment, a conflicted look in his eyes, before he disappeared from the room to get me my requested coffee.

I stared at the empty spot where he stood before sighing and shaking my head. I could feel my body tensing up at his absence and cursed myself. Yeah, I definitely had to find a way to heal from Wes' bullshit. Because I knew that even though I really fucking wanted to, I couldn't live the rest of my life in my boyfriend's arms. I had to find a way to cope with being in a room without him.

I glanced up at the sound of heels on the steps leading down from the upper level, twisting in my seat to see who had entered. And Elena smiled down at me, "Hey, Lexa."

I went to greet her in return before frowning. There was something wrong. I didn't know what, but there was something very fucking wrong. It was this feeling deep inside of me, as I watched my sister walk towards me, still smiling widely. I tried to smile back, but there was clearly something wrong with my smile as Ellie's faded away.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" my twin stood in front of me and I carefully eased myself to my feet. I scanned her face, trying to put my finger on what was bothering me. Katherine was dead. Wes was in hiding. In theory, everything was fine. So why did every instinct in my body scream at me that something was seriously fucking wrong as I stared at my Elena.

"Els, are you okay?" I whispered, still staring at her intently.

Elena's smile faded and she rolled her eyes, an annoyed expression on her face, before she clicked her fingers, "I really should have known."

Before I could ask what she was talking about, cold hands grabbed my neck and all I knew was darkness.

XXX

Nadia looked down at the body on the sofa, a frown on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, to ask why she had to put the younger Gilbert twin on a snapped neck timeout. But before she could speak, Katherine held up her finger shaking her head. She gestured for her daughter to pick up Alexa's body, dropping a piece of paper onto the coffee table, before walking over to the other exit in the room, making sure to give the kitchen a wide berth. Katherine knew that if Damon heard them, then it was game over. She wouldn't be able to make this change permanent. The annoying children in town would find a way to kill her again. And she wasn't going to let that happen. Katherine Pierce, Katerina Petrova, was a survivor. No matter what.

Nadia placed Alexa's body into the trunk of her car before driving away from the Salvatore Boarding House. As they left, Damon entered his library, the 'good' coffee in hand, before pausing. He frowned at the empty sofa, wondering where his girl had disappeared off to. Damon knew that Alexa wouldn't have gone anywhere without telling him first. She had barely stopped clinging on to him since she was rescued from Wes' lab and he had seen just how tense she got when he wasn't around. So, for her to disappear without speaking to him first was very unnerving. Especially since the younger Gilbert twin knew that her boyfriend was bringing her the good coffee, as requested. That girl loved her coffee and she would never miss an opportunity to have some. Damon placed the mugs down on the coffee table, before noticing the piece of paper. He picked it up, quick eyes scanning the written words.

'Damon.

After what happened to Alexa, I need to talk to her. I need to make sure that she is okay. Don't worry, I haven't taken her far. Just to somewhere that we can talk in private. Once I've made sure that she is fine, I'll bring her back to the Boarding House.

Elena.'

Damon tucked the note into his pocket before picking up his phone, immediately calling his girl, cursing as it rang through to voicemail, hanging up after listening to her sweet voice requesting the caller to leave a message. He knew that she wouldn't have left without telling him first, even if she was going with her sister. No, the vampire knew that something was wrong. He just didn't know what it was.

While Damon worried about Alexa, Katherine was staring down at a photo of the twins on Elena's phone. The foolish girl hadn't been very creative with her passcode and it was easy to guess it. While the older woman scanned through the phone, looking for anything of interest, her daughter asked, "So, why did I have to take out Alexa? You don't need her for your plan, she won't help you make this permanent."

"I had to get rid of the foolish brat," Katherine rolled her eyes as she changed the passcode to the phone. If Elena did manage to take back control of her body, she wouldn't be able to call for help and alert the others to what had happened. "Because she always knew when I was pretending to be Elena. No matter what I did, Alexa always knew that I wasn't her sister. It was very tedious. I had hoped that she wouldn't have noticed it this time, since I was actually in her sister's body. But no, the annoying girl noticed that something was wrong. If I left her alone, she probably would have figured it out. Especially since there was no way of me actually avoiding her."

"Then why not just kill her permanently?" Nadia frowned, glancing over her shoulder at the trunk of the car. She held no fondness for the younger twin and her big mouth. She had heard the way she spoke of her mother, the foul words and hateful stares. If it were up to her, she would have just killed Alexa before fleeing town. The girl's death would have been the perfect distraction. While everyone else mourned her, Nadia and her mother could have disappeared forever.

"Because she could be useful," the older woman shrugged, tapping her nails on the phone. "Alexa knows Elena better than anyone, she can help me fool the others."

"She won't help you," the vampire frowned. Even she, who barely knew the girl, realised that Alexa would never help Katherine. Especially since it put her beloved sister at risk.

"Not willingly," Katherine agreed, sounding like she didn't particularly care about that snag in her plan. "But I can find ways to persuade the brat. Besides, she is vulnerable right now. I can use that."

"And then you will kill her? Before we leave town?" Nadia pushed, needing that confirmation. She hadn't fought so hard for her mother to survive, only to remain in Mystic Falls. It wouldn't be safe for them to remain in town. There were too many enemies, too many people who could work out the truth and take Katherine from her again.

"I don't know what I will do," the vampire's mother shook her head, glancing over her shoulder towards the trunk and the girl that laid within. "I may give her the mercy of a quick death or I might make her suffer. It depends on how I am feeling at the time."

"Katherine, she isn't important. Just kill her when you are done with her. Or better, kill her now. Alexa won't help you. So don't take any risks with her."

Katherine ignored her daughter's words, too caught up in her thoughts of revenge. She had been looking for ways to punish the insolent girl since she shoved the cure down her throat. Well, if she was being honest, since she ruined her relationship with Elijah in Willoughby. And now, Katherine had Alexa in her grasp, vulnerable and hurting. She could finally take her frustrations out on her. And the older woman was not going to give up that opportunity.

XXX

I woke up on a random bed in an unfamiliar room. I blinked before frowning, moving to push myself up into a sitting position. But my body wouldn't obey my commands. I switched my frown to my body, only to blink in confusion. There were chains around my wrists. There were fucking chains around my wrists. Why were there chains around my wrists?

"What the fuck?" I mumbled, glancing over at my other wrist. I gripped the chain, giving it a tug. But nothing happened. I had no strength in my body and I fucking knew why. But who had vervained me? The last thing that I remembered was speaking to Elena in the library. There was… there was something wrong with my sister. I couldn't remember what it was, but something had sent a shiver down my spine. And then, fuck, and then someone snapped my fucking neck.

"Finally, you're awake," a familiar voice spoke from beside me. I glanced to my left, looking at the other bed. Ellie sat on brown and white covers, her legs crossed, an expectant look on her face. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at her. That feeling of wrongness was back. But I just didn't know what it was. All I could tell was that my sister wasn't herself.

"Ellie, what's happening?" I used my grip on the chains to pull myself up, my body protesting at the movements. I hid my pants as I rested against the pillows behind me. God, vervain was the fucking worst. "What's wrong?"

"What makes you think that something is wrong?" my twin looked at me with wide eyes, leaning forward. But there was something unnerving about the look. Despite the worry on her face, I couldn't see it in her eyes.

"I… I don't know," I frowned, speaking slowly as I wondered if I had finally gone insane. If Wes' fuckery had finally messed up my mind. "Something just doesn't feel right. And it's worrying me. Els, I can't let anything bad happen to you."

"Alexa, I'm fine, I promise," Elena reached out to grab my hand giving it a squeeze. I followed her movements, narrowing my eyes as she just moved differently. It was little things, small enough that I felt like I was going insane.

"Then why aren't you freaking the fuck out about me being tied up?" I whispered and Elena's face changed. She quickly let go of my hand, sitting back on the bed and rolling her eyes. She crossed her arms before giving me an annoyed look.

"You really are a thorn in my side," the girl who was pretending to be my sister sneered. But this was definitely Ellie's body. I would recognise it anywhere. But she wasn't acting like Ellie. She was acting like someone else. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at her, clenching my fists. Elena wasn't acting like Elena. But it was close. If I didn't know my sister so well, I wouldn't have realised. But I always noticed. I noticed when Katherine did her nonsense and pretended to be my twin. I always noticed. No matter what the bitch did. Hell, if I didn't know better, I would say that Katherine was up to her usual tricks. But the menace was dead. She was gone… wasn't she?

I swallowed hard, licking my lips, before making my guess, breathing out, "Katherine?"

"How do you always know?" the bitch who wasn't fucking dead demanded, narrowing her eyes and leaning forward again. "What gave me away? I'm in her body."

"You just… you weren't her," I answered, even as that voice in my head screamed at me to shut the fuck up. "You didn't act like her and you didn't walk like her. I don't know how to describe it, but there was just a difference. And then, of course, you were far too calm when I was lying here, vervained and chained to the bed."

"Well," the other woman sniffed, looking put out by my words. "At least I know that the others will be easier to fool."

"Katherine, why the fuck are you in my sister's body?" I spat out as I realised what had happened. My twin was being possessed. Like, fucking possessed. This was some kind of shit that I would see in Supernatural. Not in real life. No one possessed people, it just didn't happen. So why the actual fuck was Katherine in Ellie's body? It was enough to have my hands twitching as I fought against the vervain weakening my body. I needed to break free, so I could rescue my sister.

"What was I supposed to do?" the bitch scoffed, shaking her head. "Die? I'm Katherine Pierce. I'm a survivor."

"You aren't going to survive me," I snapped, tugging on the chains around my wrists. All I managed to do was knock them against the wooden bed frame. But I didn't care. My twin was being fucking possessed. By our worst fucking enemy. I could feel that familiar toxic mix of panic and fear and anger swirling around me. It was threatening to consume me. But I couldn't let it. If I was to save my twin from this, from being possessed by fucking Katherine, then I had to remain strong. I had to fight against my panic and my fear. "I'm going to make you pay for this, Bitcherine."

"That's what you think," Katherine sneered, reaching forward to tangle a hand in my hair, yanking my head back. I narrowed my eyes at the bitch, baring my teeth. "But I am going to make this change permanent. I will take control of Elena's body and there is nothing that you can do to stop me."

"That's what you think," I repeated her words, spitting out my frustrations. "But every spell can be reversed. Even if you do find a way to make this 'permanent', I will find a way to reverse it. So, enjoy it while you can, because I'll be sending you back to hell soon enough."

XXX

While Katherine didn't appreciate my words, there wasn't really a lot that she could to make me take them back. It wasn't like normal; she couldn't threaten anyone. Until she made her possession permanent, she had to avoid everyone else. And she couldn't threaten Ellie, since she was actually in her body. So instead, the bitch just sneered at me before turning her back.

We were sitting in silence when her spawn arrived, looking as bitchy as her mother. Her sharp eyes glanced over at me, before she looked at Katherine, "Mia says that she needs your corpse."

"My corpse?" the older woman repeated, a distasteful look on her face. It was a look that I could also feel forming on my face. Honestly, the Travelers were the fucking worst. "Could the Travelers be any creepier?"

"Be nice," Nadia rolled her eyes, joining Katherine at the table by the window, putting down the bag in her hand. It let out a clink and I narrowed my eyes at it. I swear, if they were going to put more chains on me, I would start kicking people. I was so fucking done with being tied up. "Without Mia, you wouldn't be alive, or inside Elena's body, right now."

Ah, so this Mia bitch was to blame for my sister's predicament. Sweet, I'll add her name to my list of people to rip apart. She can go above Wes, taking second spot. The bitch's daughter was at the top, since she was the one to orchestrated this. Of course, if Katherine had a body of her own, she would be at the top. But I wasn't going to hurt my sister and I assumed that once I kicked her out of Ellie's body, she would die again. Ugh, I really wished that happened soon.

"I know, I'd be dead… in my corpse," Katherine shook her head, taking a peek inside the bag, raising an eyebrow at its contents. "A corpse that some Traveler says they need. Yeah, you can see how that's creepy."

"Do you want to take control of Elena's body or not?" the devil's spawn snapped, sounding just as frustrated as I was. At least someone else was as bothered by the situation as I was, even if it was for different reasons. Everyone deserved to be bothered by the shitty fucking situation that we were in.

"Look, I get it, okay," Bitcherine sighed dramatically, sounding completely unbothered by the situation and it had me narrowing my eyes at her. God, I really just wanted to punch her in the face. "We have no idea when Elena's consciousness is going to pop out. Now, do you want to tell me what you're planning on doing with those chains? Alexa is tied up, she isn't breaking free, not with the vervain in her body."

"They're for you," Nadia replied, picking up the chains before gesturing over at the bed next to mine. "So, get on the bed."

"You're going to tie me up?" the oldest in the room sneered, crossing her arms and not getting on the bed.

"It's just in case Elena decides to show up while I'm out getting your body," the other vampire's voice lost its sharp edge. "We can't risk her taking back control and calling for help."

"So, I'm just going to be stuck in some hotel room, on a bed, with the most annoying girl on the planet, while Damon Salvatore is leaving me voicemails?" Katherine rolled her eyes, holding up her phone and giving it a shake. "Why is he leaving me voicemails?"

"Probably because I'm not answering my phone," I shrugged, unable to help myself. Because fuck that bitch, I hoped that she was suffering. "And since you told me that you left a note saying that I was with 'Elena', he's going to be calling you too. Fucker."

If I was being honest, I had no fucking clue as to where my phone was. Knowing my luck, it was probably at the Boarding House. Ah fuck, I hoped that it was. I had lost track of it during the day, too distracted by Katherine dying and the Original family popping back to say hi. Hopefully it was in Stefan's room. That was the last time that I remembered having it.

The bitch shot me poisonous glare for my words before narrowing her eyes at her daughter, "Remind me again how this is better than being dead."

"Because once Mia does the spell, Elena will be gone forever and that body will be yours for good," Nadia replied, still sounding remarkedly patient. Katherine paused to ponder that point for a moment before rolling her eyes and walking over to the bed. It was so weird, even though she was actually possessing my sister, she wasn't walking like Elena. It was different. And thank God, it was those little differences that helped me work out that it wasn't Ellie. And that meant that I could save her from this. I could stop Katherine from possessing her permanently, from stealing her body from her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the bitch perch on the bed, before scooting into the middle, mimicking my position. Nadia chained her arms to the bed and Katherine gave them a tug before snorting, "With this annoying human body, Elena won't be escaping these if she wakes up." She paused before rolling eyes and scoffing, "Ugh, I'm going to have to fix that too. I won't be remaining human."

I narrowed my eyes at her but before I could say something that could end up with me getting hurt, the spawn shook her head, "That can wait. The important thing is making this permanent."

"Yeah, you've said," the bitch possessing my sister groaned, crossing her legs as she tried to get comfortable. "Now go, find my body and take it to Mia. The sooner I'm permanently in control, the quicker I can carry out my plans."

Nadia didn't look impressed with her dismissal. But she gave the chains one more tug before leaving, closing the door with a snap, leaving Katherine and I alone in the room. How fucking joyful.

XXX

"This is so tedious," Katherine grumbled, her chains rattling as she shifted on the bed. Honestly, the fucking woman hadn't stopped talking and moving since her daughter left. It was so annoying. She didn't even like me, why was she talking? Unless she was just talking for the sake of it, which wouldn't surprise me.

"You're tedious," I muttered, rolling my eyes as I deliberately knocked my own chains against the bed posts. The noise had her shoulder twitching and I got an unhealthy amount of pleasure at the reaction. At the dirty look I got, I just sighed, "Can't you just shut up for five minutes? This fucked up situation really doesn't need your snotty commentary."

"I really should have made Nadia vervain you before she left," the bitch scoffed, looking over at me with narrowed eyes. I just shrugged, wondering how much I should push her. I mean, she was tied up and her brat would be gone for a while. There was no way for her to punish me for any snarky words. But at the same time, I wouldn't put it past the bitch to find a way to make me pay.

"That's your problem," I snorted, leaning my head back against the headboard and closing my eyes. "You know, Damon was going to take me out of town." My lips quirked up into a mockery of a smile. "If you hadn't come to see me, we would have been gone in a couple of hours. So, the fact that I am here, is kinda all your fault." I paused before opening my eyes and glancing over at the other woman. "Why did you come and see me? Was it arrogance, to see if your trick had worked?"

"I," Katherine went to answer before pausing and frowning. "I don't know why I came to see you. I was going to leave, after speaking to Stefan. But then I heard your voice and I just couldn't help myself."

"Let me guess, you're after revenge for shoving the cure down your throat and feeding your blood to Silas," I rolled my eyes, looking away from the bitch next to me. "Shocker."

"Not just for that," Bitcherine snapped, narrowing her eyes at me and I could feel her glaring at the side of my head. "You have continuously ruined my life. You destroyed my relationship with Elijah, thus ruining my opportunity to finally get Klaus off of my back. You stole Damon from me and if you had your way, you would have taken Stefan from me too."

"Oh good lord," I sighed dramatically, shaking my head. "It's like you claiming that Ellie stole your happiness all over again. Woman, you have serious issues and I don't know if I have the energy to talk through all of your bullshit claims right now."

"You and your sister destroyed my life."

"You destroyed your own life," I immediately shot back, wondering if I should be shutting up. But after everything that had happened over the past few days, fuck, the past few months, shutting up really wasn't possible. Especially since I was chained to a fucking bed by the worst woman on the planet, who was currently possessing my twin sister. Yeah, I was never going to be able to control my mouth. "You destroyed it with the choices that you made. Okay, Klaus killing your family wasn't your fault. But everything that you have done since then, all the people that you have killed and betrayed, that is your fault. Your choices over the past 500 years are the reason why you aren't happy, why people were fucking celebrating the fact that you were going to die. You have no one to blame but yourself, Katherine."

The other woman was silent for a moment, staring hard at the side of my head. I knew that she was finding a way to ignore my words. She didn't want to believe them, that she was the reason for her own destruction. And knowing her capacity for delusion, Katherine would find a way to ignore them. I mean, she was accusing Elena of stealing her happiness a few months back. Which was fucking insane. Ellie was born like 500 years after Katherine, there was no way that my sister stole the bitch's happiness. It was just her way of running away from the consequences of her actions.

"It doesn't matter what you think," the older woman eventually said, finally looking away from me. "I've won. Elena's body will be mine and no one will try to kill or hurt me again."

"You won't get away with this, Bitcherine," I snorted, closing my eyes as I relaxed back against the pillows. "I'll find a way to stop you, to rescue my sister from your evil clutches."

"Once this is permanent, there is no stopping me," Katherine sneered, giving her own chains a distasteful look as the clanked against the wooden headboard. It was kinda hilarious, just how much she hated being tied up like this. Good, I hoped she suffered. The bitch deserved it.

"I disrespectfully disagree," I shrugged, deliberately clanking my own chains, just to piss her off. "Like I said before, all spells will have a loophole. Even Traveler spells. And I'll find that loophole and I'll save Elena while making sure that you suffer. Because fuck you."

"You've already said that," the older woman rolled her eyes as I clanked my chains again. Her shoulder twitched at the move. It didn't help that Ellie's phone continued to buzz on the table, as people left messages and calls went unanswered. The number of times that phone buzzed had a small bubble of hope growing in my chest. Because surely it meant that people had noticed our absence. We were never out of contact for this long. It just didn't happen. With the fucked up lives that we led, we had learnt to keep our phones close and reply quickly. Phone calls weren't ignored for long, if at all. So if people were realising that we were MIA, then it meant that they would come looking for us. And then I could save my sister from the bitch possessing her.

XXX

As the phone buzzed on the table again, Katherine groaned, "Ugh, does that thing ever shut up?"

"Nope, just like you don't," I muttered, closing my eyes again. I had absolutely no idea how long it had been since Nadia had fucked off, but I was actually wishing that she would come back. Because then, at least, there would be something to distract her mother from her moaning. The older woman was fucking incapable of shutting up and it was driving me up the fucking wall.

I kept my eyes closed as the room went silent. I was suspicious for a moment, because the bitch on the bed next to me just didn't do shutting up. But then I decided to just enjoy it. I knew that it wouldn't be long until she started talking again and then I would just get wound up all over again. So, yeah, I was definitely going to enjoy the peace while it lasted. But it wasn't Katherine's voice that broke the silence. Instead, it was someone else's, "Where am I?"

I would never be sure as to how I knew that it was my sister. How I knew that she had taken back control of her body. Maybe it was the way she spoke, the way she pronounced words every so slightly differently. Or maybe it was just because I knew Elena better than I knew myself. It was that reason that had me gasping out her name, pulling myself up into a proper seated position.

My twin glanced over at me, a confused frown on her face, before her eyes widened dramatically. She looked at the chains around my wrists, keeping me tied to the bed, before shifting to move to my side. But she was halted by her own chains. Ellie glared at them, only just hiding the fear on her face, before she looked at me, "Where am I? What's going on?"

I just sighed, shaking my head, "Katherine did what she does best."

"Oh my god," my twin gasped, a look of helpless realisation forming on her face as she looked around the room. "Katherine. She's in my head. How?"

"Her spawn had something to do with it," I replied with a frown as Ellie started tugging on her chains. But with her human strength, she had no hope of breaking free. "She took me from the Boarding House when I realised that something was wrong. Guess I know you too well, Els."

"You always have, Lexa," my sister gave me a weak smile as her phone gave a buzz. The sound was loud in the quiet room and it immediately drew her gaze. "I don't suppose you're able to break free?"

"Unfortunately not," I grumbled, giving my chains a quick tug. "Nadia vervained me while I was on my timeout. But…" my voice trailed off as I examined the gap between the beds. If I twisted my body just right, then I could stretch my leg across. "I might be able to help you escape. Your phone hasn't stopped buzzing, hopefully I can get you free and you can call for help."

Ellie gave me a determined nod, "Let's do it."

I gave her the most reassuring smile that I could muster, although I don't think it was too pleasant, judging from the wince that she only just hid. Despite the weakness in my body, I forced myself to move. I dragged myself to the side, my feet hitting the ground with a thud. I could feel my muscles trembling from the vervain but I gritted my teeth and kept going. I lifted a leg and stretched as far as I could, until my toes touched the wood of the bed frame. My sister's voice guided me, letting me know how far I had to reach, whether I was touching the right post.

Once I was in the right position, I took a deep breath, pulling my leg back before I kicked. The wood let out an unhappy groan and I frowned as it didn't immediately break. Honestly, vervain was the fucking worst. I could feel my entire body trembling from the effort of moving, from the effort it took to keep me held up, with my arms tied up. My shoulders ached as one arm was pulled to its limits, but I had to keep going. I had to save my twin and this was the best way to do that.

"Come on," I muttered, before kicking again and again. I could hear the wood groaning its protests before it slowly started to break. It took longer than I would have liked but eventually the wood broke. I jolted in shock as it gave way under my foot, before pushing the broken halves apart, allowing Elena to slip the chain free. I collapsed against the bed, my feet on the floor, watching as my sister leapt forward. While one arm was still chained to the bed, Ellie was still able to reach the table. But the phone was just out of arms reach. She huffed out her frustration as she was unable to grab the buzzing phone. I breathed out encouraging words, my undead heart hammering away as we were so close to freedom. With a sharp inhale, my twin pushed down on the table, tilting it towards her. The phone slid down the table and, luckily, Elena caught it. She let out a triumphant noise and my body relaxed.

But Lady Life decided that she really fucking hated us. Because before Elena could press the button to answer the call, and I could see Damon's name on the screen, there was the sound of vampire speed. The phone was thrown back on the table and the devil's spawn was stood in front of my twin.

I shouted out her name, drawing Nadia's attention, before she smirked at my sister, "Hello, Elena."

"You," Ellie narrowed her eyes, taking a deep breath and standing up tall, showing no fear. "You put Katherine inside of me, instead of you."

Nadia gave an unrepentant shrug before speaking a strange word. I closed my eyes, despair creeping across my mind, as Ellie's body tensed before slumping down onto the bed. She sat there for a moment, before Katherine asked, "What happened?"

"Elena Gilbert happened," her daughter replied while the bitch examined the broken bed, before glancing over her shoulder at me. I was still lying across the bed, my feet on the floor, arms stretched out uncomfortably.

She gave me a dirty look before rolling her eyes, "Wonderful. She's fighting. It's only a matter of time before she comes out again. Did you get my body?"

Nadia just gave her a guilty and frustrated look.

XXX

Damon's POV

Stefan was such a bother. And no matter where I went, he was right there. Bothering me. I stood by the entrance to the Grill, frowning as I looked around the room. This was the third place that I had looked and yet, no Alexa. She wasn't at home, she wasn't at her favourite coffee shop, she wasn't here. Ever since Elena had taken her from the Boarding House, she had been out of contact. Not a single reply to my messages. It wasn't like Alexa. At all. And I was definitely well passed worried. Something was wrong and no one would believe me.

My brother hadn't stopped following me, sighing and giving me pious looks, because I refused to give Katherine's body back to her daughter. The bitch didn't deserve to be buried somewhere nice; she didn't deserve the funeral that Nadia wanted to give her. After everything she had done, the woman deserved to rot. And I was determined to make that happen.

"Katherine is exactly where she always belonged, Stefan," I muttered, walking further into the room, looking around. I knew that my girl wasn't here, but I had to make sure. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her, if I failed to save her. She had suffered so much already; I couldn't let anything else happen, I couldn't let her suffer any more. "I'm not giving the body back. Quit giving me that damn pouty face."

"I'm not giving you the 'pouty face'," my brother was quick to shoot back, following me and my fingers twitched as I resisted the urge to shove him away. "This is my 'you're being a dick' face. Just give Katherine back to her daughter, Damon."

"Nope," I shook my head, giving up with the Grill. It was empty enough that I could see across the room and Alexa definitely wasn't here. My list of places to search was growing shorter and I pushed away the panic that I could feel bubbling. Until I had searched every possible location, I refused to let myself panic. Alexa was with her sister, she had to be fine. Despite their tendency to get into trouble, the twins were fine. They had to be fine. My girl had to be fine.

I turned around to leave, but before I could take more than a step, Stefan grabbed my arm with a frown, studying my face, "You're worried about Alexa."

"Has anyone told you just how smart you are?" I smirked sharply, pulling my arm out of his grasp. But before I could leave, my brother dodged in front of me. Maybe I dropped him on his head one too many times when we were children, because he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Of course I was worried about my girl. And considering he had followed me around during my search, it was an obvious thing to realise.

"Damon," Stefan's favourite frown formed on his face and I rolled my eyes. "Alexa's fine. She's with Elena, you don't need to worry about her."

For a moment, I debated whether I should actually talk to him. To list all of the reasons why I worried about my girl. It would waste time, delaying my search, but I got the feeling that he wouldn't let me leave until I spoke to him. So with an aggravated sigh, I revealed my reasons, "Alexa never ignores my calls and messages. Even if she was with her sister, she would find the time to respond to me. The fact that she disappeared from the Boarding House, before she could get her coffee, and she hasn't reached out to me since, is why I am worrying, brother. So I suggest you stop getting in my way and start being helpful."

My brother stared at me, opening his mouth to reply, before glancing behind me. I rolled my eyes before turning around. Blondie and her wolf-boy stood behind us, worried looks on their faces. Caroline took a deep breath before revealing, "Elena isn't answering any of our messages either."

"We haven't heard from either of the twins since yesterday," Tyler added, his fists clenching and unclenching as he fought to control his werewolf anger. "I've spoken to Matt and Jamie; they haven't heard from them."

The younger vampire took back over, glancing between us with wide eyes as her words came out in a frantic rush, "Bonnie took Jeremy to visit her mom at the farm, but they haven't spoken to Alexa or Elena either. I've messaged everyone that I can think of but no one has heard from the twins in forever."

At their words, I looked over at Stefan, "Still think I'm overreacting?"

My brother was still frowning, but he sighed, "I'm sure that they are fine. A lot has happened over the past few weeks and they have a lot to talk about, but let's start looking for them." He glanced between me and blondie, "Can you get a hold of that witch from the other day and see if she can do a locator spell? We can call Jeremy back to town if she wants to use a blood relative."

"I'll give it a go," Caroline immediately nodded, pulling out her phone. "Hopefully she can help, Alexa said that she can be a bit hit and miss."

"That's one way of describing it," I rolled my eyes. Carmen, while helpful, could be very annoying at times. She wouldn't always agree to help and even when she did agree, there was normally a high price. "I'm going to continue searching the town. Message if you do hear anything from either of the twins."

When everyone nodded, I turned and left the Grill, calling in reinforcements of my own. While I didn't want to worry Jenna, she deserved to know that her nieces were currently out of contact, and potentially missing. And she would help search for them, sending Ric out where needed. For the second time in a week, we were searching for Alexa. At this point, I wasn't going to let her out of my bed once she was found.

XXX

Alexa's POV

After being vervained, again, by Nadia, I was shoved back onto the bed. My arms were twisted at slightly awkward angles but I just glared up at the two women. Katherine glared back before she was distracted by the phone buzzing on the table. Her lip curled up into a disgusted look as she strode over, snatching it up. Nadia just continued to give me dirty looks, ones that I returned, as I tried to fight the vervain in my system. It, surprisingly, wasn't enough to knock me out. But it had definitely weakened me. And I did my best to push away all of the panic bubbling away inside of me. The memories of what happened last time I was this weak were threatening to take over. But I couldn't let them. I wouldn't be able to save my sister if I was drowning in my PTSD, thanks to fucking Wes.

"Seriously, I've never met a group of needier people," the oldest in the room grumbled, drawing our attention. I watched as the bitch scroll through the messages that my friends had left, looking at the numerous missed call notifications. They had to find us soon. They were obviously worried. I just hoped that they found us before Katherine took permanent control. I had to save my sister from that. "If it's not bad enough that Damon's constantly asking me about the brat, I'm also getting 'where are you?', 'I'm worried about you', 'call me', 'are you going to Tyler's party?', 'have you heard from Alexa?' 'are you both okay?'. It's a wonder that this thing still has a battery. Ugh, I almost wish that it didn't have any."

"They're getting suspicious," her spawn replied, walking around to stand next to her. Katherine continued to flick through the messages with a frustrated look, but she did let out a hum of agreement. "We need to find your body."

"It's just like Damon to ruin my plans," Bitcherine rolled her eyes, chucking her phone on the empty bed before turning to face her daughter. "And he didn't give any clues as to where he put me?"

"He was too busy worrying about Alexa," Nadia shook her head, glancing back over at me. I stuck my tongue out at her, deciding that being mature really wasn't worth it. I wasn't happy with this situation, fuck, that was an understatement. I was so fucking pissed off with this situation and I would do my best to make the other two miserable too.

"Typical," the oldest muttered, giving me a dirty look before her eyes lit up with an idea. She turned to face her daughter, a horribly familiar smirk on her face. "Stefan texted and asked if I was going to Tyler's party. Maybe I do go… convince everyone that Elena is alive and well, make up some lie about Alexa, before I casually ask him where Damon buried me. Then I would be solving all of our problems."

"No," the spawn immediately disagreed, a fiercely unhappy look on her face. She had been adamant, ever since I woke up, that they should just leave town. All that Nadia wanted to do was to make this change permanent and disappear into the sunset with her mother. Something that Katherine seemed determined to ruin. It would have been hilarious, if it wasn't my twin sister in danger. "No way! You said it yourself, it's just a matter of time until Elena shows up again."

"So come with me," Katherine shrugged, brushing away the other woman's concerns. Now that she had an idea in her head, one that was Stefan related, there would be no changing her mind. When it came to her ex-lover, the woman seemed to have a one-track mind. Not gonna lie, it was kinda gross. But hopefully it would be her downfall, this need to make him love her again. It was something that I sometimes admired, her single-minded determination, but right now, it just pissed me off. I just had to cling onto the hope that if she interacted with our loved ones, they would realise that something was wrong, that Elena wasn't acting like Elena. Considering the past, it was a doomed hope. But I had to believe that they would notice this time. "Shove her back in if that happens."

"That is not the right place for you to be!" Nadia snapped, sounding like she was properly fed up with her mother's bullshit. It was a feeling that I shared. I was thoroughly fed up with Katherine and her bullshit. It was a feeling that I often had. And I longed for the time when Katherine didn't dare step foot in Mystic Falls, thanks to Klaus. Ugh, now I'm missing Klaus. Great. "You shouldn't be around her friends and family!"

"I've impersonated Elena a thousand times," Bitcherine continued to disagree. "I can mimic everything about her. And the one person who could call me out is out of the picture."

"Other people can call you out, bitch," I muttered, wondering if it was worth wasting my energy to get comfortable. My neck was at an awkward angle from the pillows and I could feel the links in the chain digging into my skin. But everything felt heavy and I knew that I would need to remain alert, I wouldn't be able to rescue my sister if I passed out.

Katherine glared at me and went to speak, but before she could the other vampire interrupted in a loud voice, "This is different. You're not impersonating Elena, you are Elena. When is her birthday? What grade did her and Caroline meet? Where did she kiss Stefan for the first time? What does she want to major in at college? How does she interact with her family?"

"Okay!" Katherine held up her hand, stopping the flow of questions that Nadia was spitting out. "I get your point. I'm gonna have to brush up on a few fun facts."

As she looked over at me, I snorted and shook my head, "Don't even think about it, bitch."

XXX

Katherine did think about it. And she definitely tried her luck with getting answers. Of course, I just decided that being stubborn was the best thing that I could do. Because helping the bitch meant hurting my sister. And I would never do that. I had to save Ellie from this. But I couldn't do that if I gave Bitcherine the information that she needed to blend in as my sister. Right now, our only hope was that someone else noticed that Elena wasn't acting like Elena, that someone asked the right questions and found out Katherine's scheme.

So with each question that the devil and her spawn asked, I either refused to answer or I spat out a sarcastic phrase of my choosing. Most of the time, it depended on the question. And there were quite a few of them. Some of the questions were obvious, probably traps to see if I would have given truthful answers, and some were asked by Nadia, who was determined to make sure that her mother was as prepared as possible, before she entered the lion's den.

"Okay, let's start with something simple," the oldest in the room started, pacing back and forth. I watched her for a moment, focusing on those key differences between the bitch and my sister. Differences that were still there, even when the menace was possessing my twin. "When is Jeremy's birthday?"

"Never, Jeremy doesn't exist, he's a figment of your imagination," I muttered, my head slumping back against the pillows, closing my eyes as I resisted the urge to scream. It wouldn't get me anywhere, no one would hear and I would probably just end up with a broken bone. Which was something that I really wanted to avoid.

I could practically sense the frustration from the other women, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to make this easy for them. Because fuck those annoying, twin possessing bitches.

"Well, when is Elena's birthday?" Katherine forced out through gritted teeth, narrowing her eyes. It gave me an unholy amount of pleasure, especially when her shoulder twitched as the phone started buzzing on the table again. It hadn't stopped buzzing and I loved just how much it pissed the bitch off.

"December 25th, Christmas Day," I smirked, opening my eyes to give her a wink. "We're Christmas babies."

"Take this seriously," Nadia snapped and I rolled my eyes before switching my gaze to her. The other vampire had her arms crossed; body tensed as I unknowingly proved her right. She had argued against me being used for answers. The devil's spawn had known that I would be unhelpful and deliberately waste time. And guess what I was doing, oh yes, I was being unhelpful and deliberately wasting time.

"Why should I?" I shot back, giving her a challenging look while silently praying that she didn't decide to start breaking bones. "Why should I help Katherine when she is possessing my twin sister? Honestly, you're just as dumb as your mother." And that was when she decided to start breaking bones. I bit my lip, hissing out curses as she snapped my ankle. I squeezed my eyes shut as I used my other foot to nudge my fucked-up ankle into the right position, to make sure that it healed correctly. "Oh you goddamn bitch!"

"Start taking this seriously then," the spawn narrowed her eyes at me and I stuck my tongue out as my ankle throbbed, slowly healing. "What does Elena want to do when she leaves college?"

"She wants to be a hunter," I spat out, not caring about the consequences of my words. Who cares if she broke more bones, helping Elena was more important. "So she can kill you and your worthless mother."

Before Nadia could break more bones, and fuck me, she definitely looked like she was going to, Katherine held up a hand, staring at me intently. I met her stare, doing my best to hide my pain. I refused to give in and show any weakness. Not to this woman, who had tormented me for so long. She stared at me for a moment longer before shaking her head, "Stop, Nadia, she isn't going to help us. The brat is probably wasting time until one of her annoying little friends can find a witch to a location spell."

Oh shit, that never occurred to me. Maybe they were looking for a witch who could do a location spell. Hopefully Caroline and Damon had reached out to Carmen. She had helped us a couple of days back, hopefully she was still feeling helpful. Fuck, I needed her to. That way, our loved ones could find us and help get Katherine out of my sister's head.

"Then what do you suggest?" her daughter asked, moving around the bed to stand by the bitch's side. Bitcherine continued to stare at me and I narrowed my eyes at her while my ankle continued to throb. I had a nasty feeling that it hadn't healed properly, but until I was alone, I wasn't going to look to make sure. Because if it had healed in a fucked-up way, there was nothing that I could do about it. My hands were chained up and neither of the two bitches would sort it out for me, nor would they release me so that I could fix my ankle. No, it would have to wait until the rescue party arrived.

"We need to find someone who knows Elena well enough," the older bitch replied, finally turning her gaze away from me, to look at the other vampire. "But they need to be compellable." I didn't like the way that her lips curled up into a satisfied smirk, when the spawn asked who she had in mind. It had me tensing as she looked over at me, a triumphant gleam in her eyes. "Well, out of the two people that fit that description in Elena's little gang, there is only one possible option. The lovely Mattie Blue-Eyes."

"Leave him alone!" I immediately snapped, glaring at the bitch in front of me. "Don't you fucking dare go near him!"

XXX

Matthew Donovan sat on the park bench in the centre of town, glancing around the town square, waiting for his friend to appear. Elena had messaged him, asking to meet up, after being radio silent all day. It was something that had worried the Mystic Falls gang, so the fact that she had reached out was a huge relief. He was just messaging Caroline, letting her know that he was still waiting for the older Gilbert twin to appear, when manicured hands covered his eyes and an amused voice giggled, "Guess who?"

"Hmm, I wonder," Matt hid his smile, playing along. "Elena Gilbert?"

"Yep," Katherine beamed when she realised that her ruse had worked. Despite Elena's silence all day, no one had realised that something was wrong with the oldest Gilbert. She would be able to play this role without worry. With a delighted look on her face, the woman removed her hands from Matt's eyes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The boy playfully rolled his eyes as the girl who he thought was his friend laughed and walked around to sit next to him.

"You're in a good mood!" Matt looked over at the doppelganger, a wide smile on his face, feeling relieved that his friend was okay.

"Well, it's a good day!" Katherine shrugged, allowing herself to relax, now that she was confident that she had fooled the blue-eyed cutie. "We're alive."

"Yes, we are and we're partying tonight," the boy nodded, glancing around the square. "Speaking of partying, where is Alexa?"

"Oh, she's busy," the older woman waved away his concern. "I'll explain everything later, but you don't need to worry about her."

Matt didn't look convinced, but he didn't push the point. After what Alexa had been through recently, it wasn't surprising that she wanted to keep busy and hide away. So instead, he asked, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Katherine hid a sigh of relief as he didn't push for more information on Alexa, and replied with a question of her own, "Are you still drinking vervain?"

The cutie gave her playful look as he held up his bracelet, "No, I wear this bracelet. In case anyone needs my blood, remember?"

"That makes things so much easier," the woman nodded, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that her daughter was nearby, before grabbing the bracelet. Quick fingers undid the clasp before she threw the vervain bracelet to the side.

Matt watched her with wide eyes, protesting as his bracelet soon disappeared, "What are you doing? I need that."

Katherine placed her hand on his shoulder as she rolled her eyes, "Long story short, I'm Katherine. Not Elena."

"Katherine is dead," the cutie frowned, staring at the woman who he thought was his friend with suspicion. She had to be making some kind of joke, a bad joke, but she couldn't be serious. There was no way that Katherine was still alive, they had been there when she died. Not even Katherine Peirce could have survived her own heart stopping.

"Not exactly," the older woman shook her head, keeping her hand on his shoulder. "While you guys were all playing drinking games and toasting to what a horrible person I am, I was plotting a way to passenger myself into Elena's cute little head."

"Oh my god," Matt breathed out, finally realising the truth. His friend was being possessed by her evil doppelganger and no one else knew. He had to tell someone, he had to save Elena from this. He went to stand up but before he could, Katherine grabbed his arm with her free hand, tugging him back down.

"Anyway," the doppelganger kept her grip on the boy but she didn't feel too worried. She knew that Nadia would stop him from running away, if it came to that. "I need someone to give me a crash course on all things Elena Gilbert. She's in college now, all grown up. And I figured, who knows her better than her compellable best friend?"

"Alexa," the cutie immediately pointed out before frowning as a thought hit him. "Where is Alexa? What did you do to her?"

"Relax," Katherine rolled her eyes as her least favourite person was mentioned again. "The brat is fine; I haven't done anything to her. I just needed her out of the way for a little while. So on to more important things," the woman stood up and gave a twirl, her black dress swishing around her legs. "So, what do you think? How's my dress? It screams 'safe and predictable'. Am I right or am I right?"

But Matt just shook his head, "I'm not doing this."

He stood up from the bench, taking advantage of the older woman's distraction, but before he could walk away, strong hands landed on his shoulders. Nadia forced him to sit back down, a displeased look on her face, "Just let me compel him already."

"Take the fun right out of it, why don't you?" her mother rolled her eyes before waving her hand. "Tell Matty Pants to play along with my secret." Once her daughter had compelled the boy, she asked, "Would Elena wear this dress to the party?"

Matt still looked unhappy, but he couldn't fight the compulsion. So he glanced the older woman up and down, looking at the dress, at the shoes, before sighing, "No to the dress, yes to the shoes."

Katherine smirked as he finally played along before flicking her hair, "Now, let's talk honestly about the red thing that's happening in my hair."

Instead of answering the question, the boy instead frowned, "So, you're dead and hitching a ride in her brain?"

"For now," Nadia answered for her mother, keeping her hands pressed down on his shoulders. "Until I make it permanent."

Matt glanced between the two, a horrible feeling in his stomach, "Permanent how?"

But before Nadia could answer, Katherine snapped, clearly fed up with her question being ignored, "Hello! The hair! Why did she dye it?"

"She did it during the summer before college," Matt replied, unable to fight the compulsion, much to his annoyance. "She said she needed a change after looking at her dead body, so she changed her hair and added the red streaks." Once he finished speaking, Matt couldn't stop himself from glaring at the older woman. She had killed his friend and now she was possessing her. Why couldn't she leave Elena alone?

"But her 'murderer' is 'dead' now," the doppelganger nodded before sitting back down next to the boy. "Perfect, it's gone. Okay, so, when is Jeremy's birthday?"

"October 13th," he replied, a hopeless feeling in his heart. He didn't know how to escape, not with the vampire behind him determined to protect her mother. He didn't know how to save Elena, how to save Alexa, how to stop any of this from happening.

"When is Elena's birthday?"

"June 22nd."

"What's my address?"

"2104 Maple Street."

"I love compulsion," Katherine sighed happily. "Who do I like better, Bonnie or Caroline?" Under her breath, she whispered, "Please say Caroline."

Matt gave her a look before replying, "You love them both equally."

"Well, that's a shocker," the doppelganger rolled her eyes. "Now, Mattie Blue-Eyes, I need you to tell me exactly what Alexa went through when she was Wes' prisoner and how Elena reacted to it. And make sure you tell me everything, it's very important because I'm going to need it later."

XXX

After the two annoying women left, I closed my eyes and let my head slump back against the pillows. It took all of my effort not to scream out my frustration. There was absolutely nothing that I could do to stop this from happening to my sister. I couldn't save her. And I didn't know if anyone else could either. Especially since she was going use her daughter to compel Matt into giving her the answers that she needed to blend in.

Fuck, maybe I should just scream. Maybe there would be someone nearby who could hear me. I highly doubted it, since they had stuck me in a room right at the end of the motel complex. And I knew that hardly anyone used this motel. Just out of towners and people who were getting up to naughty stuff. No, screaming wouldn't prompt a rescue party. Screaming would just waste energy. Which was something that I couldn't afford. Especially since I didn't know how fucked up my ankle was.

I knew that I should check on my ankle, especially since it was still throbbing. But even if it had healed in a fucked-up way, what could I do? There would be no way to fix it, not with my arms still chained to the bed. No, checking on my ankle would only add to the helplessness that I could feel bubbling away.

Fuck, I couldn't just sit here, feeling helpless and sorry for myself. I had to do something to help my twin, to save her from Katherine. I had to find a way to escape. So I opened my eyes and looked at the chains tying me to the headboard. The metal was thick and I knew that they wouldn't be easy to break, especially with my body still weak from the vervain. Fuck you, Nadia.

My brain was buzzing with ideas, desperately thinking of ways to break free, when I glanced to the side. I froze as I stared at the broken post on the bed next to me. The one that I had broken when trying to free Elena earlier. I couldn't break the chains, but maybe I could break the posts that they were tied to. I didn't know how long I would be left alone for, but I had to try.

I used the chains to pull myself up in a proper sitting position, my shoulders letting their discomfort be known as my arms were pulled behind me. But I didn't care, I had to try something. I winced as I moved my legs, my ankle letting out a vicious fucking protest as it moved. But I didn't look down at it. Instead, I just crossed my legs beneath me and took a deep breath. I clenched my fists as I pulled my arms forward. The links in the chains dug into my skin, leaving deep marks, but I ignored the pain.

I kept pulling, pushing aside all thoughts of pain and worry and helplessness. Instead, I focused on my need to save my twin from Katherine. I thought only of my Ellie, who needed me to save her, who was being possessed by her evil doppelganger. It was enough to keep me pulling, using all of my vampire strength. The desire, the need to stop Katherine helped me to ignore the pain from my arms, my shoulders, my ankle.

I was so focused on pulling that my body fell forward in shock when the posts gave way. My face hit the bed with an "oomph" and it took me a second to realise what had happened. It wasn't until I pushed myself up that it clicked. I stared at the chains as they laid innocently on the bed, still wrapped around my wrists, before whispering, "Holy shit, it worked."

I shook my head, pushing away the surprise, before pushing myself all the way up. I moved my legs, gritting my teeth at the throbbing coming from my ankle, before shifting to the edge of the bed. It was then that I finally got a look at how well it had healed. And, well, it hadn't healed well at all. Despite my best efforts earlier, the bone hadn't healed properly. Which was a serious fucking issue. Especially since it would hinder my escape attempts. All I could do was hope that it held my weight.

It was a hope that was soon dashed because the moment I stood up; it gave way beneath me. I fell to the floor with a frustrated groan before giving my ankle a dirty look. FML guess I was doing this the hard way. I carefully pulled my leg closer, until my bad ankle was resting on my other leg. My hands shook as they hovered over the disfigured lump that was supposed to be my ankle. My brain was screaming at me not to do this, to not put myself through this pain. But I had to do it. It was the only way to save Elena.

So with gritted teeth, I gripped my ankle, the pain increasing at the movement, before I twisted my wrists. My ankle broke, again, and I slumped back against the chest of drawers behind me as I tried not to pass out from the pain. The edges of my vision darkened and I knew that if I had anything in my stomach, I would have thrown up.

It took far too long for the pain to fade to a dull throbbing and when it did, I looked back down at my ankle. Thank fuck, it had healed properly. I actually would have cried if it had healed in a fucked-up way again. Fuck me, I was lucky that it hadn't.

After waiting a couple more minutes for it to heal, I carefully pushed myself to my feet. Fuck, yeah, it definitely hadn't healed enough. But I had wasted far too much time and I had to get out of here. So I hobbled to the door, gritting my teeth as I fought through the pain. A little voice in the back of my head whispered that things were going far too well. I told it to fuck off before opening the door and of course, that annoying little voice was proved right.

"Oh, come on," I whined as I saw Nadia standing in front of me. She gave me an unimpressed look before pushing me back into the room.

XXX

Katherine approached the Lockwood Manor, listening to the music that was pounding away. She didn't care that she was taking a huge risk by being here, especially since Nadia wasn't around to force Elena back in if she emerged. All Katherine cared about was getting the location of her body so that she could make this change permanent. She wanted this body; she wanted this life. She wanted Stefan Salvatore and Katherine was not going to take no for an answer. There had to be a way for her to win and she was going to find that way.

She entered the building, looking around for either of the Salvatore brothers. While she would happily talk with Stefan, there was no guarantee that he knew where her body was. And she needed her body. And if getting it back meant playing nice with Damon, then she would do so.

It took only a few minutes before the doppelganger saw Stefan through the crowd, drinking in the adjoining room, looking down at his phone. She smirked, ruffling her hair and tugging on her dress to show a bit more cleavage. While she knew that she couldn't start anything with Stefan right now, she could get him interested in her. It was something that she had been after for a while, and the younger Salvatore's recent kindness had only made her realise that something could happen between them.

With an easy smile on her face, Katherine approached Stefan, resting her hand on his arm, "Hey!"

"Elena, you're alive," the vampire gave her a cheeky smile, although the worry in his eyes was obvious to anyone who looked. He had been looking for her and her sister all day, but neither twin had been answering their phone. So the fact that Elena had approached him, without warning, at Tyler's party was a surprise. And the fact that she was alone worried him. There was no sign of Alexa and even the fact that Elena looked relaxed failed to reassure him.

"Of course I'm alive," the doppelganger laughed back, but she could see the unconvinced looked on his face. Stefan knew that something was wrong, even if he couldn't tell what. So she did her best to distract him, not wanting to answer any difficult questions. "Wow, Stefan Salvatore is drinking beer from a cup. Do you want me to show you where Tyler keeps the bourbon?"

"No," Stefan shook his head, glancing around the room, looking for the younger Gilbert twin, wondering where she was, hoping that she was okay. "I'm trying to keep off the hard stuff. So where have you been? No one has heard from you or Alexa all day. Caroline was about to send out a search party for you and keeping Damon distracted has been difficult. You're lucky that he isn't here, otherwise he would be shaking some answers out of you."

"We've been around," Katherine answered slowly, trying to think what Elena would say. While she had been practicing her excuses, since they needed to be perfect if they were to be convincing, she was suddenly unsure. What if she said the wrong thing? "Alexa went through something… difficult. And she's been having trouble processing it all, especially the Damon part of it. So we just needed some time away from everyone."

The vampire nodded, a sympathetic look in his eyes, "She does know that she doesn't need to hide away, right? We can help her through this."

"She knows," the doppelganger smiled slightly, despite the grimace fighting its way through, before quickly changing the subject. "How are you, Stefan? How are you dealing with the whole Katherine dying thing? I know you two grew close before she passed."

"I'm okay," Stefan shrugged, placing his empty cup to the side, quickly checking his phone as he did so.

Katherine hid a frown. He wasn't supposed to be okay. He was supposed to be upset that she had died. She thought that they were building something before she 'died'. But here he was, drinking cheap beer and worrying about Alexa, of all people.

"Stefan, you don't need to hide your feelings," she said softly, placing her hand on his arm again.

"No, honestly, I'm okay," the vampire gave her a kind smile. "You know, we had a thing, it ended and she died and I'm fine."

"You knew her for, like, 150 years," Katherine knew that she shouldn't be pushing like this, but the fact that he had moved on from her soon, it hurt. And she wanted to see some kind of pain or heartbreak in his eyes. "You're not even a little heartbroken? I mean, even I feel a little bit bad." Suspicion flashed in Stefan's eyes and she quickly asked, "Maybe we should give her, like, a funeral or something?"

"A funeral?" Stefan repeated, raising an eyebrow in surprise. He definitely didn't expect Elena to speak about a funeral. Not for a woman who had tormented her family so much. It was something that Alexa definitely wouldn't approve of.

"Where is she buried?" the doppelganger asked, realising that she needed to get that information and get out of here. Once this change was permanent, she could find a way to get Stefan to remember his love for her and then they could leave town and spend eternity together, without the others getting in the way. "I should at least drop off flowers or something."

"I have no idea," the younger Salvatore shook his head. "Damon said that he put her where she was always meant to be."

It took Katherine less than a second to work out where her body was. And she found that she wasn't surprised. Damon could be so petty and vindictive, but by placing her in the tomb, of all places, he was actually helping her. She didn't need to get the Travelers to dig up her body, it would be easy to access. She gave Stefan an exaggerated sigh and a tight smile, "Classic Damon."

XXX

Nadia kept me in the room for a couple more hours. After my failed escape attempt, she had tied my arms to the bed that Katherine had previously occupied. And then, despite my telling her to back the fuck off, she had tied my legs to the bed too. My still-healing ankle was vicious in its protests and in return, I was vicious in my cursing. The devil's spawn just rolled her eyes at me before squeezing the dodgy ankle. She was just lucky that my other foot was tied down at the time otherwise I would have kicked her in the face.

"Tell me, did you inherit your bitchiness from your mother or is it just your natural personality?" I grumbled once I had failed to find a way out of this new predicament. I knew that I was probably asking for trouble with my words, but I was thoroughly pissed off. I was so close to escaping, to warning the others so that they could save Elena from the bitch possessing her. And the woman in front of me had ruined all of it. So I was not going to be able to control my frustration and annoyance and panic.

Nadia gave me a filthy look before spitting out, "Don't talk about my mother like that. You know nothing about her."

"Woman," I snorted, ignoring that little voice that was now hissing at me to shut the fuck up. "I've known your bitch of a mother for nearly three years and you know what I have learnt? She is a grade A bitch who gets her jollies off by hurting people, by taking away their happiness and then turns around and plays the victim. Okay, she might not have been born a bitch, but fuck me, she has spent 500 years turning into an amazing one." The spawn glared at me and I swear, if looks could kill, I would be so fucking dead, before standing up. As she approached me, I tried to pull my feet towards me, but the chains stopped me. In my panic, I hissed, "Don't you fucking dare break another bone."

She didn't try to break any more bones, instead, she just loomed over me, "My mother had her child ripped out of her arms when she was just seventeen years old, before being banished from her home. She survived Klaus' attempts to sacrifice her in a stupid ritual before turning herself in a vampire. She returned home, only to find that Klaus had murdered her entire family. My mother has known more pain and grief than anyone else I know."

"You clearly don't know a lot of people," I muttered, rolling my eyes, before raising my voice. "Look, spawn, you're never going to get me to feel sorry for the bitch. Because yeah, those awful things happened to her back in the day. But then she spent 500 years betraying and hurting and killing people. She chose to become like that. I will never feel sorry for her. Especially since she is now possessing my twin sister, trying to permanently steal her body. So if I were you, I wouldn't waste my breath. Now begone, your face is annoying me."

Nadia did back off, although she did give me one of the most vicious glares that I had ever seen before doing so. Everything was silent after that and I just closed my eyes, head slumping back against the pillows. That helpless feeling was taking over again and I was struggling to fight it. There was no way of me escaping from these chains. I couldn't try what I did before, not with the devil's spawn in the room. And I got the feeling that she wasn't going anywhere any time soon, especially not after my escape attempt earlier.

I spent my time praying to every deity that I could think of to save my sister. It didn't work, but it helped to keep the panic at bay. It was only when Nadia stood up, phone in hand, that I stopped my frantic praying. I watched her through wary eyes as she tapped away on her phone before tucking it into the pocket of her leather jacket. She reached down to grab the chain around my tender ankle before muttering, "Come, we need to leave now."

"Erm, do I get to find out where we are going?" I asked, watching as she unchained my other foot. Silence was my only answer as she bagged up the chains before undoing the ones tying my arms to the bedframe. But instead of completely removing them, she just tied them together, keeping my arms trapped. "Well, I don't appreciate this. Why are you keeping me tied up?"

"To stop you from running away," Nadia answered and I blinked in surprise at the sound of her voice. I was full on not expecting her to answer me. "Stop asking questions. We need to leave now."

"Rude, what if I don't want to leave?" I muttered petulantly as I was manhandled off the bed. The spawn was showing a weird amount of patience as I just grumbled to myself, while she grabbed the bag of chains and my arm, before pulling me from the room. My ankle let out a protest as the other vampire forced me to move and I had to grit my teeth. "I happen to like this motel room now and I want to stay here. Its decorated so tastefully and the beds are just so comfortable. So why don't you just leave me here and go do your dodgy, evil shit by yourself?"

The other vampire pulled me to a stop at the edge of the carpark and narrowed her eyes at me, "If you don't stop talking, then I will break your jaw."

"Erm, I've never experienced a broken jaw," I frowned, trying to tug on the thick chains tying my wrists together. But they just made a loud noise and refused to budge. "And I would prefer to keep it that way. So fine, I'll stop talking. But I want it known that I am not happy about it."

"Like I care," Nadia muttered under her breath before pulling me behind her, refusing to go slow to accommodate my dodgy ankle. I glanced around as she pulled me into the woods before praying that someone had finally realised that something was wrong.

XXX

We were in the fucking tomb. The fucking tomb, of all places. Why were we here, I hear you ask. Well, this was where my boyfriend, my adorable petty boyfriend, had dumped Katherine's body. He probably thought that, since she was supposed to be here for 145 years and wasn't, it felt like some kind of perfect karma. I wasn't going to disagree. I just didn't want to be here.

The tomb was empty when we arrived, with the bitch's body just laying on the floor. I barely hid my snort of laughter at the sight, but Nadia still heard it, as she gave my arm a vicious tug. I winced before glaring at the devil's spawn. It was a glare that she returned before chaining my arms to the railings. I looked at the flimsy railing before raising an eyebrow. Well, fuck, I could definitely free myself from this. What was Nadia thinking? The dumbass. Of course, that was when she stabbed me with one of her annoying little vervain needles.

I let out a grunt before dropping to my knees. It wasn't enough to knock me out, but fuck me, it weakened me. I spat out a curse as I slumped back against the railings behind me. The chains got stuck at the top of the railing, keeping my arms above me. I rested my head against my arm before resuming my glaring. But this time, Nadia was content to ignore me.

Instead, she carefully picked up her mother's body and placed it on the alter at the end of the room. And as tempted as I was to make a shitty comment, the sad look on her face stopped me. A part of me felt sorry for the older woman. She had spent her entire life looking for her mother and she found Katherine fucking Pierce. Who had then died not long after. Yeah, she was possessing Ellie, but it wasn't the same as actually having her mother. And she knew that is anyone found out about the possession, she would lose her mother again. So, I stayed silent, watching as she covered Katherine's body with her jacket before disappearing from the tomb.

I blinked before sitting up in shock. Well, I attempted to sit up, the vervain weakening my body stopped me from moving too much. And I cursed that fucking vervain because without it, I would have been able to escape. Ripping the chains free from these rails wouldn't have taken much effort and then I would have been home free. But I could barely move my head right now, let alone escape. And it wasn't just the vervain weakening me. I hadn't fed since yesterday and really, when I thought about it, I hadn't fed properly over the past few days, thanks to fucking Wes. So it was no wonder that my body was feeling weak.

All I could do was sit there until Nadia returned. But she wasn't alone. No, there was a young woman with her. She had long brown hair and a face that slightly scared me. I didn't know who this woman was, but I knew that she was bad news. And that was the only thing that kept me quiet.

I watched as the two women set up the tomb, placing candles on the various ledges in the room and covering the body with a blanket. The increased light just reinforced my desire to keep silent. This woman gave me the fucking creeps, especially when she kept glancing over at me. It took her longer than I thought to ask who I was.

"She is Elena's twin, Mia," Nadia replied, not even bothering to glance over at me. "She is aware of what is happening and Katherine wants her kept out of the way."

"So you brought her here, instead of just killing her?" the creepy woman who was apparently called Mia asked, raising an eyebrow as she pulled out a wicked looking knife. I stared at it with wide eyes as I wondered if it was going to be used on me. Because vervain or not, I would start causing trouble.

"Katherine wants her alive," the spawn shrugged, pulling out her phone and looking at it. "I need to go make sure that everything is okay. Stay here with the body and make sure that she doesn't do anything stupid."

"Fuck you too," I muttered under my breath as I shifted so that I could see more of the room. The last thing that I wanted was to have my back exposed. It wouldn't help with the panic that I could feel building. After such a long day, and after an even longer week, I was struggling to keep control of it. The fact that I definitely wasn't over my Augustine ordeal made dealing with all of this even harder. I could feel my entire body tensing as I was left alone with creepy Traveler Mia and I bit my lip to force myself to stay silent.

Not that it helped.

The moment that Nadia left, the Traveler was walking over to me, that knife still in her hand. I gave it a wary glance before looking at the woman crouched down in front of me. She stared at me, a hard look in her eyes, before spitting out, "You killed two of my friends."

"Wait, what?" I frowned before that knife was stabbed deep into my shoulder. I shouted out a curse, squeezing my eyes shut. "What the fuck are you talking about, you crazy bitch?"

"In New Jersey, you killed two of my friends," Mia repeated, twisting her knife. I let out a pained wheeze before shaking my head.

"If we're getting technical, I only killed one of them," I tried to pull myself back, to get away from the knife, but the chains around my wrists stopped me from moving too far. "And I only killed him cos he was trying to kill me first."

"It doesn't matter," the Traveler shook her head, digging the knife in deeper. "Once I have my payment, I will be asking for your head."

"And as soon as I break out of here, I'm taking yours," I spat back, glaring at the bitch through my tears. She just gave me a smirk before yanking out the knife and walking away. I continued to spit out curses as my shoulder slowly started to heal.

XXX

Things were silent until Katherine arrived. Even when Nadia returned, it was quiet. The two women were content to just finish setting up for their spell. I prayed, I prayed so desperately, that Ellie had managed to take control again, that she had ran away and told someone that Katherine was possessing her. But the devil's spawn was too relaxed and I knew that my prayers were in vain. But I had to try.

When she arrived, Nadia had glanced at my still healing shoulder and the blood staining my clothes. But she hadn't asked and Mia hadn't answered. They were content to ignore me and I was content to ignore them. Instead, I worked on fighting the vervain in my body, trying to get some strength back. I could now move without wanting to pass out afterwards. Which was a huge fucking positive.

"Took you long enough," Mia sneered as Katherine sauntered into the tomb, giving the dirt and grime a distasteful look. As she looked at her body, a sad look flashed across her face but it was quickly pushed away. Instead, she just rolled her eyes.

"I was pretending to care," the bitch's voice had me narrowing my eyes. She better not have hurt any of my loved ones while she was gone. I knew that she was human, but I knew that she could still be dangerous. "It was very time consuming."

Before the Traveler could retort, and there was a look full of attitude on her face, Nadia sighed, "Let's get it over with."

The three gathered around the body on the alter. The creepy bitch had her back to me while the two Petrova's were facing me. Katherine glanced over at me, noting the blood on my shoulder, but she just shrugged and looked away. Good. I didn't particularly want to deal with her either.

"In order to seal Katherine's spirit inside Elena's body, I'll need some of your blood," Mia gave her instructions before picking up her knife. She had wiped my blood off of it earlier, not wanting it to interfere with the spell. The doppelganger didn't look too thrilled at the thought of being bled, but she dutifully held out her hand, wincing as the Traveler cut it. My entire body twitched but I just about managed to keep my mouth shut, even if I wasn't particularly impressed with my sister's body being damaged. It was something that I would make Mia pay for and, as soon as I figured out a way to hurt Katherine but not Ellie, I would make Bitcherine pay too. "And then…"

Mia's voice trailed off as she jammed the knife right into the middle of Katherine's dead body. Even I winced at the noise. Of course, it got worse as she yanked the knife down, right through the ribcage. I had to look away and instead focused on trying to slip my hand out of the chains. I could feel the cold metal digging into my skin but I didn't care about the pain. I just needed to escape. I needed to get out of this fucking tomb and get help. In an ideal world, I would take Katherine with me, so that we could find a way to kick her out of Elena's body.

Behind me, I heard Katherine mutter, "You mutilate my body… lovely."

"Travelers don't have access to traditional magic," Mia rolled her eyes, knife pausing as she looked at Bitcherine. "So we improvise. Now shut up. I have to concentrate."

The look on the bitch's face after she was told to shut up was actually fucking hilarious. And even in this shitty situation, I could appreciate it. To be fair, I needed to appreciate it. I needed something to battle the helplessness and panic and fear, I needed something to help me fight it. Because it was getting harder and harder to remain in control. And fuck me, I needed to remain in control.

The Traveler pulled the knife out of the body before stabbing it again. I had no idea what she was doing but it was creepy and gross. So I focused my attention on the other two women. Nadia had her back to us, arms crossed, body tense. I knew that she was hoping that this would work, that the Traveler wouldn't betray her.

When Mia started chanting, I turned my attention to Katherine. She was staring at her mutilated body but then something interesting happened. Her eyes turned black for a moment and a panicked look appeared on her face. I frowned and forced my body to sit up, my chains clinking against the railing. The other two women ignored the noise but it drew Katherine's attention. But it wasn't Katherine.

"Lexa?" my sister mouthed, her eyes wide as she looked around, seeing the Traveler cutting into Katherine's body, Nadia with her back to the room. She looked at the chains around my wrists and I shook my head. I couldn't quite believe that she had taken back control at such a vital moment. But fuck me, I was so fucking relieved. I could save her; I could stop Katherine from taking back control and get rid of her permanently. God, I was just so relieved that Ellie was back.

"Play along, Els," I mouthed back, nodding over at Nadia. "I'll get you out of here."

Elena twitched her lips into a quick smile, just as the spawn turned back around. I resumed my efforts to escape, yanking my arms down. The metal scraped against my skin as the chains refused to release me. I knew what I had to do, even if I really fucking hated the thought of doing it.

"So, what's happening now?" Ellie asked, doing her best Katherine impression, while I grabbed my thumb and yanked it to the side. I bit the inside of my cheek as it broke and I will never quite know how I managed to stifle my pained moan.

"Katherine," Mia snapped, sounding so very fucking fed up. "If you want to say goodbye to Elena forever, I need silence."

Unfortunately, Nadia must have noticed something off as she shuffled closer to Elena, "Are you okay?"

"Save your daughterly concern," my twin did a beautiful impression of Katherine's sneer. "I'm fine."

XXX

I carefully slipped my broken thumb out of the chains, doing my best to keep quiet. Fortunately, Mia was distracted by her spell, still chanting and cutting away. But unfortunately, Nadia was busy staring at my sister. She had noticed something and I was cursing her in my head. Why, why did she choose now to start being observant? God, she was just as annoying as her fucking mother. Mate, I really wanted to rip this bitch apart. I'll have to add it to my to do list, just under saving my sister.

Even though she was asking very awkward questions, I couldn't do anything to interfere, not yet. I had to free my other hand before I could do anything. And I needed my first thumb to heal a little bit more before I could break the other one. Because I couldn't take anymore immediate pain, not after today, not after Wes' lab. I just needed this to heal, even a little bit more. God, I wasn't going to get my healing time, was I? I just knew that something was going to happen to ruin it.

"You never told me where you want to go," the devil's spawn shuffled closer to my twin and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from saying anything. Ellie glanced up, looking lost for a millisecond before frowning. There were times when I appreciated my sister's intelligence, but in this moment in time, I fucking adored it. Thank god she was able to pick things up. Even when she was panicking, even after she woke up in the tomb with Katherine's body being cut open in front of her, she was able to think on her feet. God, I loved my sister so much.

"Where, uh, where I wanted to go?" she questioned, needing a moment to sound like Katherine. I glanced between the two anxiously before I decided to just give up waiting for the first thumb to heal. I could do this with a broken thumb. All it took was a harsh yank. I didn't care how many broken bones I had; Ellie was more important. She needed saving and fuck me; I was going to save her. So I grabbed my other thumb and yanked. The sharp pain had me biting my lip as I waited for the throbbing to fade before I carefully pulled my thumb out of the chains. At this point, it was just my fingers in them, giving the illusion of still being chained up. Just in case the spawn glanced over at me.

But fortunately, fuck, no, that should be unfortunately, she was more focused on my twin, "Once we complete the spell. Where should we start our world tour? Or…"

Before she could continue questioning Elena, she was interrupted by Mia, "Let me finish before you start discussing your plans. Just give me a few more seconds."

I could see my sister start to panic as she glanced over at me. And I knew I had to act. Elena was relying on me to get her out of this and fuck everything, I would get her out of this. I would not let my twin down. So even though the vervain was still weighing down my body and even though my thumbs were definitely still broken, I tugged my hands free from the chains. The sudden rattling drew everyone's attention and I shoved myself to my feet, ignoring the way my head was spinning.

I darted forward before grabbing Mia's shoulder. I spun her around, my face vamping out for a second, before I shoved her forward. She hit a nearby stone ledge with a thud before collapsing to the ground, going still. I could smell the blood from her head wound and it only reminded me of the fact that I hadn't fed in almost a day. I stumbled to the side, resting against alter for a moment, as my legs threatened to give way. But it was enough to worry my sister and she shouted out my name, revealing the fact that she was no longer Katherine.

"Elena!" Nadia narrowed her eyes and I knew what she was going to do before she did it. So even though my body really didn't want to do anything, I staggered to the side, ripping out one of the rails. Well, it was nice to know that I was strong enough to do that. And I was proved right. These things were so pathetic and why were they even here?

I spun around, just as the spawn started to speak that phrase to summon Katherine back to the front. But this time, I was able to stop her. I shoved the metal deep into her body, feeling ridiculously satisfied at her pained grunt. I used the rail to shove her to the floor, rolling my eyes at Elena's, "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you."

"Gloat later, Els," I grunted, grabbing her arm and pulling her from the tomb. I knew that we weren't safe yet. Katherine was still in her head and Nadia was still alive. As much as I wanted to go back and kill her, I had to get Ellie to safety first. Besides, even with a metal rail stuck in her body, I couldn't guarantee that I could beat Nadia. My body was too weak and it had been through too much. So no, despite my desire to rip the bitch apart, I couldn't do that now. All I could do was hope that the headwound was enough to kill her little Traveler friend, which would stop her from making this change permanent. And in the time that it took her to find another Traveler to do the spell, we could find a way to kick Katherine out of Elena's body. Fuck, so many hopes but not enough guarantees.

I staggered to the side as we reached the giant stone that used to block the entrance, the vervain sapping my strength, and I could sense my twin's worried look as she wrapped her arm around my waist, helping me up the stairs to the woods.

XXX

We paused a few feet away from the entrance to the tomb when my legs threatened to give way beneath me. Elena carefully placed me against a nearby tree, keeping her arm wrapped around my shoulders while she pulled her phone out of her pocket. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment, as I told my body to behave. But it wasn't happy with me and the healing bones were sapping a lot of my non-existent strength.

"Oh no," Ellie breathed out, drawing my attention and I saw her tapping in her passcode. But it wasn't working. Katherine must have changed it. Fuck. That was not good. Not good at all. "No. No. No. No. You've gotta be kidding me."

"We need to go, Els," I shook my head as the phone refused to be unlocked. And I was cursing the fact that I didn't have mine. We couldn't call for help so we would have to go and get help ourselves. "I don't know how long we have until Nadia does something stupid. I want to get you somewhere safe before that happens."

My sister glanced over at me, quick eyes glancing over my weak body, before nodding, "Do you know where we can go?"

Ellie carefully eased me away from the tree, arm still wrapped around my shoulders, and urged me to move. I took a moment to think, trying to remember what I had picked up from eavesdropping on the Petrova bitches during the day, "Tyler was having a party, everyone should be there. It isn't far."

"Thank god," my twin muttered under her breath as we moved through the trees as quick as we could. I knew that I was slowing us down. But despite my urging, Elena refused to leave me behind. She just tightened her grip on me, keeping me moving.

We were making good progress until Ellie let out a shout, clutching her head as she came to a sudden pause. I glanced around, wondering what had happened. There was no one around, so why was my sister whimpering in pain? Why the fuck was my sister whimpering in pain?

I carefully nudged her chin up, forcing my sister to meet my frantic gaze as I asked, unable to hide the panic in my voice, "Els, what's wrong?"

"It's Katherine," she panted, shaking her head, the pain in her eyes making my heart clench. "I'm seeing her memories. Her life."

"Fuck," I wrapped my arm around her waist, as I forced my body to move. This was not good. Not good at all. Fuck. Maybe I should have snapped that Traveler bitch's neck. I should never have relied on my non-existent strength to kill her. The damage to her head just wasn't enough. And now she was going to take my sister away from me. "We need to go. Oh fuck, I need to get you to someone who can stop this."

"That woman is doing the spell, isn't she? I'm going to lose my body to her," Elena asked, her voice filled with fear and I cursed. I couldn't move any quicker, not while I was supporting my twin's weight. The pain in her head was too great, it was stopping her from moving by herself. Fuck, if it wasn't for the vervain, I could have sped her away. But no, I was stuck at human speed. And I was so fucking scared that it wasn't enough.

"I'll save you, Elena," I muttered, giving her a squeeze as I strained my hearing, hoping that we were close to the Lockwood manor. God, I needed us to be close. I didn't know how much longer I could run for. I could feel my legs trembling beneath me but I refused to give up. Ellie's life depended on it and I refused to let her down. "I won't let Katherine take you away from me. Especially not like this."

I felt my sister nod before she let out another cry of pain, cursing as she did so, "Katherine, get out of my head!"

"Come on, Ellie, hold on," I dragged us forward, just about able to see the lights through the trees, as the memories continued to bombard my sister. She gasped out each one, telling me what she was seeing, so she didn't have to go through it alone. But the scary part was the fact that they were approaching the present day. And I knew, I fucking knew, what would happen once we got to today. I couldn't let that happen. Someone at that party could help us. Even if it was just locking up Katherine until we found a way to get her out of Elena's body. I couldn't let Katherine take over while it was just me and her. No one would know and my twin would be doomed. And I refused to let that happen.

"Lexa," my twin sister whimpered and I could hear the music from the party. We were so close, so fucking close. "Help me."

"I'm going to save you, Els," I promised her, focusing only on the signs of the party, on getting Ellie there, where someone could help her. I refused to believe otherwise. I would get my twin to that party and Damon or Stefan or Caroline could help me save her.

But just as we reached the edge of the trees, I felt a sharp pain in my side. I came to a stop before glancing down. A needle was stuck in me and I followed the hand holding it, looking up at my sister. But it was no longer my sister.

"Ellie," I whispered as the vervain took over. My already weak body couldn't fight it, even with my mind screaming. As the edges of my vision darkened, all I could see was Katherine's smirk. She stared down at me as my legs gave way and I dropped to the floor.

The last thing that I heard was Katherine's vicious, "Goodbye, Gilberts."

XXX

Katherine looked down at Alexa's body, curling her lip in disgust, before crouching down and taking her hand. She carefully eased off the ring on her finger, the pale blue stone glinting in the lights from the party. The doppelganger quickly messaged her daughter, telling her where Alexa's body was and ordering her to take it back to the tomb, before striding out from the woods and towards the back entrance to the Lockwood manor.

She had only taken a few steps before Damon was standing in front of her. Katherine jolted back in shock for a second before quickly placing a tired look on her face. The vampire was staring down at her with worried eyes, occasionally glancing behind her, clearly looking for someone in particular, "Elena, where's Alexa?"

"She's not here, Damon," Katherine replied, repeating the words that she had been practicing all day. The woman had been preparing for this moment, ever since she took over Elena's body. She knew that Damon would be a thorn in her side, especially since she had to take Alexa out of the picture. But she knew the older Salvatore and she knew exactly how to get rid of him. And, even better, it would hurt Alexa too. She could just imagine the look on the brat's face when she told her that Damon wouldn't come and save her. When she told her that she had destroyed their relationship. A relationship that the brat never deserved. She had stolen Damon from her and now she was paying for that.

"Then where is she?" he demanded, eyes narrowed, his body tense. It was obvious that he had spent the entire day worrying about the younger Gilbert twin. She was his weakness and Katherine was about to exploit that weakness. Honestly, he was making it far too easy. Deep down, a part of Katherine wished that someone loved her like that. That someone would worry and stress like that for her. But it was a feeling that she pushed away. Once Alexa and Damon were dealt with, she would make Stefan hers and they would spend eternity together.

"She's gone, Damon, Alexa's gone," the woman sighed deeply, shaking her head, adding the right amount of weariness to her voice. The right amount of sympathy and sadness. "And she isn't coming back."

"What do you mean?" Damon's eyes widened in shock as he took a step back. He couldn't believe her words; he didn't want to believe them. Surely his girl wouldn't leave without telling him first, she wouldn't leave him behind like that. Alexa had promised him that she would never leave him and she had kept that promise, even when her humanity was off. So it didn't make sense to him that she would leave him now, especially after clinging onto to him when she was rescued from Augustine.

"After what she went through in Wes' lab, we talked," Katherine had to hide her smirk. Her plan was working perfectly, she could see the worry and pain in Damon's eyes. And it wouldn't take much to break him. "We talked about everything. What she went experienced down there, what she's been through in the past few years. And all of it, it is because of you. Wes never would have targeted her if it wasn't for you. She suffered because of your past and because of you. And I refuse to let that happen anymore. I refuse to let you ruin her anymore."

The vampire shook his head, unable to believe the words that he was hearing, "Where is Alexa? If she feels that way then she should be the one to tell me that."

The woman glanced down before holding out her hand and Damon's eyes immediately locked onto the ring on her palm. It was the one that he had given Alexa on her 18th birthday. He had had it made for her, even if he didn't know that she returned his love at the time. It had become a symbol of them, of their love. It was a little piece of him that she would forever have with her. And now it was sat on Elena's hand.

"She doesn't want to speak to you, Damon," Katherine deliberately softened her voice, playing her part perfectly. It was almost too easy and she was delighted at the heartbreak in his eyes. "She told me to give you this. It's over. You need to respect her decision and leave her alone now."

Damon flinched at her words before a shaking hand slowly reached out to take the ring. He stared down at it, the stones glinting in the lights behind him. He almost didn't believe that this was happening, but this ring was real. He was holding the ring that he gave his girl. He was listening to her sister saying that their relationship was over. He could feel his heart breaking in his chest but he refused to believe her words.

He knew Alexa. He knew that she wouldn't end their relationship, not like this. If she didn't want to be with him anymore, she would have broken up with him herself. She wouldn't use her sister to do that.

"You're lying," Damon whispered, still staring down at the ring in his hand. He could sense someone standing behind him but he didn't turn around. All he could do was look at the ring that symbolised his relationship with Alexa, with the girl that he loved.

Katherine glanced at Stefan as he approached, a sad look on her face as she sighed, "I'm sorry, Damon."

With that said, the doppelganger turned around and walked away, finally allowing the smirk to form on her face. She knew that Damon wouldn't be a threat any longer. Even if he did remain in town, which she highly doubted, he would be too heartbroken to realise that something was wrong with 'Elena'. No, Katherine was now free to live the life that she had always wanted. And nothing was going to get in her way.

XXX

Damon's POV

It was far too easy tracking down Aaron Whitmore's car. The idiot boy had dawdled for far too long before leaving his life behind. And because of that, we were able to find him.

I watched with amusement as the kid's car approached Enzo, who was laying in the middle of the road. It was my favourite trick and I had taught it to my friend. It had helped him get over his anger from me snapping his neck. Once I had explained my motivation, he had understood and quickly forgiven me. My girl had definitely done a good job at charming him and it was a shame that they hadn't met while both free. Well, that was a problem that I would soon fix.

Aaron's car came to a stop and he quickly got out, his voice shaking, "Hey. You alright?" Enzo remained still and silent but I could see the amused curl to his lip. This was my favourite part, when you could hear the panic and worry in their voice, before they approached you. It had been far too long since I had last done this. And while a part of me missed it, I was able to ignore it. But now Alexa was taken from me and I would use whatever methods I could to get her back. "You alright, man?"

The kid jolted back in shock as the body suddenly sat up and my friend smirked, "Never better. We've been waiting for you." Enzo's gaze flickered to me and I sped over so that I was standing behind the Whitmore kid. He spun around with a gasp before shifting back when Enzo stood up and approached us. "Damon's been teaching me a little game. See, he assured me that you'd be on this road, heading out of town. And lo and behold, here you are."

"You said that you were gonna let me go," Aaron's voice shook as he stared at me with accusing eyes. It almost would have bothered me, but I was numb to everything. Oh, I hadn't turned it off. But my heart was in too much pain to care that this kid, who was descended from a family of vampire torturers, was accusing me of betraying him.

"I did," I nodded, sounding as uncaring as I felt. The boy hid a wince at my words, probably hoping that his pathetic, sad, little face would help him get out of trouble, like it probably had dozens of times before. But when I looked at him, all I could see was him pointing a gun at Alexa, all I could see was Wes and the blood that covered my girl's skin. No, Aaron represented nothing but pain. "And I probably would have done if circumstances hadn't forced my hand."

"Does Alexa know that you're here?" the kid frowned, showing a bit of bravery. I had to hold in my snort of amusement as he thought that he could play with the big boys. He had failed down in those cells, his shaking hands giving me the bullet that I needed to escape. And he was going to fail now.

"See, she's the reason why I'm here," I reached out to grip Aaron's shoulder, giving it a hard squeeze while Enzo walked around to stand at my side. I could hear the kid's heart pounding as he glanced between us. While he might be lacking a few brain cells, he knew that it would be pointless to run. He had no option but to try and talk me down. But what the boy didn't know was that nothing would save him from me tonight. He wouldn't be escaping to a new life any time soon.

"What do you want, Damon?" Aaron asked, frantic eyes glancing around, looking for someone to save him. But it was late at night, no one would be around and even if they were, I would just get rid of them. No one would stop me from taking the Whitmore kid tonight.

"You know, just a few hours ago, Elena was telling me that Alexa had left town, that she was breaking up with me," I sighed dramatically, my hand coming up to rest on my pocket where Alexa's ring sat, ready for me to return to her. "But I know my girl better than anyone, even Elena, apparently. If Alexa was going to break my heart, she would do it herself. She wouldn't use her sister. Which got me thinking, maybe Alexa was in danger. Maybe someone had taken her and blackmailed Elena into keeping quiet. And do you know who the biggest threat in town is right now?" Aaron's already pale face went stark white at my words. "While you might have cut off Wes' little money train, he still cares about you. Which makes you useful."

"What are you going to do to me?" the kid's voice shook as I tightened my grip on his shoulder. His panic was adorable and if I didn't need him, then I would have been tempted to let him escape and prolong the chase. But I couldn't risk him getting away. If I was going to save Alexa from Wes, then I needed this kid.

"I'm going to use you as leverage," I replied, letting my fangs descend, the veins beneath my eyes rippling. The boy took one look at my vampire face before passing out. We stared down at his body, smelling the blood from the graze on his forehead before Enzo sighed.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," he grumbled as I bent down to pick the kid up. I hefted him onto my shoulder before carrying him over to my car, hidden along the side of the road. My friend followed, still moaning about how easy it was. I knew that he wanted to hurt the boy more, to make him bleed like he had been bled. But I didn't want to risk hurting Aaron just yet, not until I could use him as leverage. The kid had been useful in helping me save my girl once before, he would be useful again. Otherwise I would be sending bits of him back to his guardian.

XXX

Alexa's POV

I woke up to pain, to searing pain, to overwhelming pain. I wanted to pass out again, but a hand slapping my face kept me awake. I opened my eyes with a groan and saw Katherine's vindictive smirk. She stared down at me, her expression full of victory and loathing, before glancing to the side. I followed her gaze and bit my lip to hold in a scream.

There was a bear trap gripping my wrist. Blood dripped down my skin, my wrist throbbing as the metal spikes digging into my skin stopped me from healing. I didn't need to look at my other arm to know that it was in the same position. The rocky wall of the tomb was cold against my back, biting painfully into my skin through the thin fabric of my tank top. Tears dripped down my cheeks and I couldn't fight them. I had lost too much blood to be able to fight them. I had no energy, no will power. The pain was almost overwhelming and it took Katherine repeating my name for me to look back at her.

The expression in her eyes was vicious and she twirled a knife in her hand, "This is revenge. You stole Elijah from me in Willoughby, you put doubts about me in his head and because you, I lost my chance at freedom and a relationship with him. You shoved that cure down my throat, making me weak and I almost died because of it. Then you fed my blood to Silas, after considering feeding me directly to him. I'm going to make you pay for everything that you've done to me."

"You won't get away with this," I rasped, my chest tightening as panic set in. I didn't know how I would escape this. All I could do was hope that someone came looking for me. That they realised that something was wrong and tracked me down. God, it was my only hope. I needed someone to rescue me. I couldn't be left to Katherine's non-existent mercy.

"See, I already have," the bitch smirked, pointing at my hand. I followed her gaze and stared at my empty fingers. My ring was missing. My birthday ring was missing. Where was my ring? What had she done with it? "Poor Damon thinks that you've broken his heart and left town. It won't take long before everyone that you love thinks that you've just up and left. They won't come looking for you, Alexa. No one is going to save you from me."

She stabbed the knife deep into my thigh and I screamed.

XXX

A/N: Darlings, thank you for the reviews! I love you all haha please do keep them coming! It helps with the writers block and keep me going when I can't get time to write! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I do feel obligated to say that it does get super dark for a few chapters now and I hope you can stick with me! I know I keep saying this but I'm hoping to update after I finish the next chapter in my backlog, which isn't too far away. Until next time, I hope you enjoyed xoxo