Before Sunset
The following morning, Alaric sits alone at his desk in his classroom, his feet propped up on the desk. He twirls the fake White Oak and takes his feet off the desk. He leans forward and looks at the stake, admiring how his old ring encircles the supposedly indestructible stake. He turns to look out the door, hearing Caroline and Blake enter the school for the clean-up over the weekend. Caroline is on the phone with Bobby, walking through the school halls as Blake texts Stefan, both boys at the Pack Den. "What do you mean you're ditching my clean-up committee?" Caroline asks, frowning.
"Klaus called. He's apparently leaving town and wants some of us to help pack up his house while he has a meeting with the Alphas about moving," Bobby explains, standing in the Pack Den's front garden.
"Well, since when does sire bond equal mover slave?" She wonders, growing a little scared of Bobby leaving her.
"Not sired," he argues. "I got conned into doing it because of my big sister." Blake walks ahead, too busy texting Stefan, walking straight past Alaric's classroom as Caroline stops as she talks with Bobby.
"I love your sister, Stella needs to teach me how to do that," the blond Vampire chuckles.
"Yeah, she needs to stop it. I don't actually know how she did it, Daniel laughed the whole time," the gloomy Hybrid grumbles.
"Well, I forgive you for being conned into helping Klaus pack up, though I'm a little worried about you leaving," Caroline confesses, and Bobby stops.
"I'm not moving," Bobby tells her, making her stop.
"Really?" She questions, smiling.
"Yeah, a few of us like it here, I know Phoebe's staying for Tyler, but I thought of it first," he replies, and Caroline giggles.
"I'm sure you did," the young Vampire jokes. "I'll see you later."
"See ya later," the grumpy Hybrid says, both hanging up. Caroline hears a noise and turns around. Behind her, Alaric stands before rushing past, making Caroline turn back around.
"Hello?" Caroline calls but shrugs it off, walking into the cafeteria to see Rebekah, Blake, and Alexis cleaning up the mess from the dance. "Where's Matt and Jeremy?"
"Matt bailed," Rebekah informs her. "Got called into work at the last minute."
"Jeremy's mourning Alaric, I let him stay at home and babysit Edward. He's hungover from all the spiked punch," Alexis tells them.
"Are you kidding me? So, it's just us?" Caroline groans.
"Yes, and you're late. Clean up committee started at eight o'clock," Rebekah snaps, wishing she could have gone to the dance, but her mother possessed her body.
"It's like 8:02," she argues, looking at the time.
"Exactly. I managed to turn up on time and I didn't even get to attend the dance that I organised," the blond Original retorts, walking past Caroline and emptying the trash.
"I'm sorry about your mum. I mean I know you like, hated her and everything, but still... I'm sorry," the young Vampire remarks, looking at Rebekah.
"I'm sorry about your teacher. He seemed like a nice guy," Rebekah replies, looking at her.
"Yeah. He was," Caroline mutters.
"I'm gonna get started on the gym," Alexis announces, walking out into the hallway.
"I'll join you," Rebekah says, joining Alexis and leaving Blake and Caroline. Alaric comes around the corner, making Rebekah stop dead in her tracks, and Alexis hides behind the blond Original. "You're supposed to be dead."
"I am!" Alaric exclaims, and Rebekah rushes at Alaric, but he throws her against the locker.
"Bekah!" Alexis yells, and as he's about to stab the Original Vampire with the fake White Oak stake, Caroline and Blake rush out of the cafeteria and pin Alaric to the locker. Rebekah takes the fake stake and stabs Alaric with it. The girls glance at each other as nothing happens, and Alaric takes the stake out. When he finally gets it out, he realises that they are all gone, though he runs towards the only exit of the school, having locked all of them except for one as part of his plan.
Outside, Caroline rushes to her car and pulls out her keys, fumbling with them. She notices Alaric's reflection in her car window and drops her keys. Alaric snaps Caroline's neck, and she falls to the ground. Alaric drags the unconscious Caroline back towards the school as his flesh starts smoking and burning off because of the sunlight. Rebekah watches him enter the school, seeing Alexis banging on the classroom window when Blake grabs her, and Alaric locks the last entrance behind him.
Elena drapes a white cover over an armchair before pouring paint into a paint trough and begins painting the room when Matt walks in, checking on his ex-girlfriend. "Going darker, huh?" Matt asks, and Elena looks around.
"It's the only colour I had," Elena replies. "But that's what happens when you decide to paint your dead guardian's room in the middle of the night."
"I don't suppose anyone tried to talk you out of doing this so soon," he questions, looking at her.
"I have to keep moving. Otherwise I'll start thinking and I don't want to think," she argues.
"Want a hand?" The blond quarterback wonders.
"I don't see why not," the Doppelganger replies, shrugging, and Matt grabs a paintbrush and begins helping Elena.
Meanwhile, Jeremy sits at home with Edward lying on the sofa with a cloth over his eyes. He is still extremely hungover from last night, which is worrying as Edward seems to be struggling a lot more lately. "How are you feeling?" Jermey asks, putting down a bottle of medicine and a glass of water.
"Awesome," Edward groans, taking off the cloth and shielding his eyes from the bright sunlight.
"Take this and it might help," he tells him, holding out the bottle.
"Yeah, if I have all of it, maybe," the older McKnight twin jokes, but Jeremy glares at him.
"This isn't funny," the younger Gilbert snaps. "You've been going down a weird spiral, we've all noticed. What's going on?"
"I-I don't know," Edward confesses, quickly taking a pill and gulping down the glass of water. "I think it was that spell I used to save Lorilei. She warned me about the effects, but I didn't listen."
Lorilei and Klaus are packing their things around the house, planning to move away from Mystic Falls, when Rebekah storms inside, spotting them in the living room. "Alaric Saltzman just tried to kill me," Rebekah announces, making them stop.
"Alaric Saltzman is supposed to be dead," Klaus questions, frowning at his little sister.
"Well, he's not and he's a Vampire thanks to mother's spell with the fake White Oak stake that can't kill him. He's strong, Nik. Too strong," she informs him, looking at Lorilei, who groans.
"Where is he now?" Lorilei asks her.
"He's stuck at the school without a daylight ring, but as soon as night falls he'll come after us. We need to leave now," the blond Original informs them. "He has Blake and Alexis."
"Wait? Alexis?" She questions, looking at the teen Original.
"Yes, I saw her stuck in the school before I could get them out, he's locked them inside," Rebekah explains.
"Fine, we'll rescue Alexis and Blake then collect Elena before being on our way," Klaus announces, handing a book to Lorilei, who rolls her eyes at his decision.
"Forget Elena! You don't need any more stupid Hybrids!" She snaps at her older brother.
"What we need is protection from Esther's continued assaults against us," he argues.
"We'll protect each other, like we always have. Always and forever, Nik," the blond Original retorts.
"I'm not leaving without her," the Original Hybrid snaps.
"I'm leaving now. You can either walk out that door with me or you are on your own," Rebekah suggests. Klaus looks at her and Lorilei but says nothing. "Fine. Trust your Hybrids over your family. Let your spite be the death of you. See if I care." Rebekah walks out of the room.
"You need to talk to her about your plan," Lorilei tells him, making Klaus look at her.
"I can't, she wouldn't understand," Klaus argues, and she smiles.
"But having Elena's blood is the key to the spell," she retorts, looking at her fiancé, who smiles. "If you tell her about it, she would understand why you're so protective of the Doppelganger."
"Not now, maybe later once she's calmed down," he suggests. "Let's go get your sister and Blake." Klaus walks towards the door, but Lorilei stops him.
"Get Elena, I'll get my sister," the Siphon tells him, making Klaus look at her confused. "Once we get Elena, we'll need to leave immediately."
"Hey, where do you want me to put your paintings, Klaus?" Bobby asks, holding two large boxes full of books, and Klaus and Lorilei turn to him. "What's wrong?"
"Wasn't Caroline supposed to be at the school today?" Lorilei questions, making him frown.
"Yeah, why?" He questions, and Lorilei steps towards him.
"We need to get to the school," she replies, not answering him.
Bonnie and Damon arrive at the Gilbert house, and Matt stands with them in the kitchen, bringing her a wet towel to cover her neck wound. "What do you mean he turned? I thought you were standing guard!" Matt snaps, glaring at the older Salvatore brother.
"Don't blame me. Blame Bonnie the blood bank. She fed him," Damon retorts, glaring at the Bennett Witch.
"I had no idea what was happening. Okay, the Witches led me there. They wanted him to feed so he turned," Bonnie explains.
"So, where's the stake now?" Matt asks them.
"Oh, you mean the fake White Oak one? The one that supposedly kills an Original. Yeah, I don't care about that, but we don't know what Esther did to it, and it could possibly wipe out an entire line of Vampires? We don't know," Damon informs the human.
"If you are so upset with me, why did you feed me your blood to save my life?" Bonnie questions, ignoring the glare coming from him.
"Because I do stupid things, Bonnie. I do things, like let my friend die with dignity when I should have just killed him," he snaps.
"Alright, so how do we kill him now?" Matt wonders, looking between them.
"I've been trying to figure that out," Bonnie informs them. "A Witch can't truly make an immortal creature, there is always a way to undo a spell."
"So, what's the Witchy work around?" Damon asks her.
"That's the problem. I don't know," she confesses. Elena is still upstairs in Alaric's old room when her phone rings. She picks it up and sees that Alaric is calling her. The Doppelganger frowns, answering it.
"Whoever this is, it's not funny," Elena snaps, glaring through the phone.
"Well, who else would it be?" Alaric questions.
"Ric?" She asks, eyes widening in surprise, never thinking she'd hear his voice again.
"Listen closely, I'm at the school, I have Caroline, and if you want to keep her alive, I need you to get in your car and come down here right away. If you tell anyone where you are going, I will kill her," he warns her, hanging up the phone.
Alaric hangs up the phone with Caroline, Blake, and Alexis staked down on a desk with pencils in their hands and a cloth dipped with vervain in Blake and Caroline's mouths. Alexis has a cloth around her mouth. All three teenage girls are terrified as they watch the immortal Vampire Hunter.
The doorbell rings at the Gilbert house, and Matt walks away from Damon and Bonnie, answering the door to see Klaus standing outside. "What the hell do you want?" Matt snaps, glaring at the Original Hybrid, feeling a little brave.
"Now is that any way to treat a guest?" Klaus muses, smirking. Damon walks over to the door, moving in front of Matt.
"Why don't you go upstairs?" Damon suggests, looking at Matt. "Now." Matt sighs, walking upstairs.
"Hm, poor lad. Getting bossed around by you, that must be hard for him, considering how questionable you can be," he retorts, and Damon glares at him.
"Yeah, about that. Something happened," the blue-eyed Salvatore informs him.
"Oh, I know all about my mother's invulnerable little creation and that's why I'm here. I'm leaving town, just need to pick up a few road trip necessities. Spare tire, flashlight, Doppelganger," the Original Hybrid jokes.
"Can't help you there," Damon replies, slamming the door in Klaus' face, moving into the living room and looking out the window to see a few Hybrids flanking the front garden, and he rushes to the bottom of the stairs. "Elena!" Meanwhile, Klaus paces the front porch outside before picking up the newspaper by the front door. Damon runs upstairs and goes into Alaric's old room, finding Matt in there, continuing to paint, but Elena is nowhere in sight. "Where is she?"
"I don't know, she was just here a few minutes ago," Matt replies, and Damon walks downstairs, meeting up with Bonnie, who looks out the window.
"Where is she?" Bonnie asks her.
"She's not here," Damon tells her.
"What do you mean she's not here? Where did she go?" She snaps, and Damon looks out the blinds, seeing Klaus pacing with the newspaper still in his hands.
"Klaus wants in, we have to keep him out," he tells her, seeing Klaus pull back his arm and throw the newspaper with Vampire strength. "Ah, duck!" The newspaper smashes through the window and flies into the living room, and Damon grabs Bonnie, who is ducking down as glass flies everywhere.
Meanwhile, Alaric sits at his desk with Caroline, Blake, and Alexis still staked down to the desks spotted around the classroom when he hears Elena enter the school. "Right on time," Alaric grins, and Elena walks down the hallway, looking around. She hears Caroline and Alexis crying and runs towards the noise. She enters Alaric's classroom and sees Caroline, Alexis, and Blake.
"Caroline…" Elena mutters, looking at her former friend before turning to Alaric. "Let her go, Alaric!" The immortal Vampire Hunter points towards Caroline, knowing the Doppelganger only cares about the blond Vampire.
"Free her yourself," he challenges her, and they stare at each other for a second before the Doppelganger cautiously walks over to Caroline. Elena crouches beside her, stroking Caroline's arm soothingly, who flinches at the contact, scared. She gently starts pulling the pencil out of one of Caroline's hands, but Alaric comes up, slamming the pencil back down into her hand, making her scream. Alexis whimpers, scared and wishing her boyfriend and family were there to save her instead of the Doppelganger. Elena stands up, facing her former guardian.
"You said that you would let her go!" She snaps bravely.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Elena? Stop trusting Vampires!" The immortal Vampire Hunter shouts, making Elena jump.
Klaus stands outside of the Gilbert house, still waiting. "I think you're probably gonna want to let me in!" Klaus shouts, walking over to a neighbour's house with a white picket fence and passing his loyal Hybrids. He places his hands on the wall and looks around. The Original Hybrid spots a soccer ball and smiles. While inside the house, Bonnie, Matt, and Damon stand in the kitchen, waiting for the next strike.
"Elena's car is gone," Matt announces.
"Why wouldn't she tell anyone where she was going?" Bonnie wonders when suddenly, the front door bursts open, and the soccer ball flies inside as Klaus walks up the porch with two fence pickets in his hands. He hurls one of the pickets into the house, narrowly missing Damon's head and gets stuck in the wall behind the blue-eyed Salvatore. Matt grabs Bonnie and pulls her down.
"Get down!" He yelps, clinging to Bonnie.
"Missed me!" Damon shouts, antagonising the Original Hybrid outside. He pulls the picket out of the wall and throws it back at Klaus, which barely grazes over his shoulder. Klaus breaks the other picket in two and throws one half of it at Damon again, but instead, he hits a picture, breaking it. "Missed me again!" Klaus aims the other half into the house, and Matt's phone rings, and he answers it.
"Alaric," the blond quarterback answers, and Klaus comes back up to the house with a propane tank and a newspaper torch. Matt plucks up the courage and walks up to the front door. "Put it out."
"Come outside and make me," Klaus snaps, glaring at the human, who stops outside.
"Elena's not here," Matt informs him. "Alaric has her, Caroline, Alexis, and Blake, and he's gonna kill them unless you turn yourself over to him." Klaus looks at him briefly before throwing down the newspaper torch and dropping the propane tank.
"Now, I know you're not asking me to walk into a certain death," he retorts, glaring at him.
"I really wish we could. But unfortunately, if Alaric kills you there's a one in four chance that others die too," the blond quarterback argues, and Damon walks out with a picket over his shoulder.
"I'll take those odds," Damon reasons, and Matt looks at Damon.
"And a hundred percent chance that Tyler dies," Matt snaps, thinking of his best friend.
"I'm good with that too," he replies.
"Why don't we just figure out a way to put Alaric down?" The blond human questions, pacing with Klaus as Damon leans against the picket. Klaus stops, turning around.
"Okay, how about Damon sneaks in and distracts Alaric, while Matt grabs Elena and carries her to safety?" Klaus suggests, looking at them.
"Huh, that's a great idea. What's to stop me from getting killed instantly?" Damon wonders.
"Nothing," he replies.
"Alexis is in there. Isn't that your little girlfriend's sister? Or do you just not care about her and one of your Hybrid lackeys?" The older Salvatore teases him.
"This isn't really helping too much," Matt argues, looking at them, and Bonnie walks out of the house.
"I might have an idea. My mum used a desiccation spell on Mikael that immobilised him for over 15 years. If I can get it, I might be able to use it on Alaric," Bonnie suggests.
"If and might? Your words inspire such confidence," Klaus sneers, glaring at the Bennett Witch.
"I'll get it. But even with the spell, we'll need a lot of Vampire muscle to take him down. Including yours," she argues, and Klaus turns around.
"Just so we're clear, the sun sets in about eight hours. If we don't succeed before then, Elena will be dead, I'll be gone, and the rest of you will be left to fend for yourselves," he warns them, walking towards his loyal Hybrids, who move with him away from the Gilbert house.
Alaric dips the cloth in Caroline's mouth into a beaker of vervain, having already done Blake's. The skin around the Vampire's and Hybrid's mouths is very red and appears to be peeling away. Alaric walks back to her, holding it as Caroline whimpers and tries to break away from the pencils in the middle of her hands. "No, no more, please, no more!" Caroline groans, trying to move away from him, and Elena gets up.
"Alaric stop!" Elena shouts, but Alaric pushes Elena back into the chair behind her.
"Sit down!" Alaric snaps. "This keeps the vervain in her and Blake's system. It's like inhaling razor blades with every breath." Alaric puts the cloth back in Caroline's mouth as her skin smokes and burns. She cries and screams in pain, and Elena touches her arm, trying to comfort her.
"Why are you doing this?" She asks him.
"To make it easier on you when you put her out of her misery," he replies, picking up the fake White Oak stake and walking towards Elena.
"What?! No!" The Doppelganger cries.
"Isn't this what you wanted, Elena? For me to teach you how to kill a Vampire?" The immortal Vampire Hunter questions, holding out the stake towards her. "Well, here's a Vampire, Elena. Kill her."
"This isn't what I want," Elena argues.
"Of course it is. All those hours you spent training, getting stronger, you could be a hunter, Elena. But you've never actually staked a Vampire through the heart," Alaric retorts, persistently holding out the stake, and Elena stares at it.
Damon and Bonnie are waiting in the parlour of the Salvatore Boarding House for Abby; the Bennett Witch paces nervously while Damon is sitting on the couch. He glances at the clock, seeing it's almost midday. "Well, this is promising," Damon remarks, growing bored.
"Relax, Abby will be here," Bonnie assures him.
"I'm sorry, I forgot about her stellar track record in the dependability department," he retorts.
"Jamie said she was coming, okay? Just give her time," she tells him. The bell rings, and she walks over to answer the door.
"Don't get your hopes up! Might be a Girl Scout," the older Salvatore brother warns her, and Bonnie opens the door to see Abby standing outside.
"Hello Bonnie," Abby greets her daughter.
"Thanks for coming," Bonnie replies, looking at her mother, who abandoned her again.
"Jamie's worried about you. He said it was urgent. I just didn't think you'd ever want to see me again," she retorts, looking at her daughter.
"Like Jamie said, it's urgent," the inexperienced Witch tells her, walking back into the house with Abby following her.
In Klaus' car, Stefan, Matt, and Klaus pull up to the school's parking lot. The former Ripper arrives after getting a call from Lorilei, who is at the McKnight house now talking to Jeremy and Edward with Bobby. They get out, and Stefan receives a text from his brother. "Abby just showed up," Stefan informs them.
"Good. Perhaps this plan won't be an epic failure after all," Klaus retorts, rolling his eyes. "You know, if this does go off and we drop the history teacher in the Atlantic, I'm still leaving with Elena."
"I'll go with you," Matt announces, making Stefan and Klaus look at him.
"Really? What's the catch?" He questions, frowning at the human.
"There's no catch. I'd turn my back on everything here to make sure Elena's safe," the blond quarterback argues.
"And that is what makes you her better option. It's a shame it's not easier for Elena to see that, I mean, personally, I think she's wasting her time with Damon," the Original Hybrid remarks, making Stefan chuckle.
"Okay, can we please just get on with this?" Matt asks, getting out of the car. Stefan turns to Klaus.
"He does realise that he's human, right?" Stefan wonders, and Klaus laughs.
"I don't think he does, spending too much time with your brother," Klaus chuckles, getting out of the car.
"I can hear you," Matt grumbles, walking away.
Abby and Bonnie are in the parlour, alone without Damon, standing awkwardly together. "Why didn't I have to be invited in?" Abby wonders, looking at her daughter.
"Only Vampires live here," Bonnie replies, and Damon enters the parlour with a glass of blood.
"We had signed over the deed to Elena, but she died. The seal broke, very long story," Damon explains, holding out the glass of blood towards Abby. "Blood?" Abby just stares at the glass. "Ah, come on. Think of it as a peace offering." Abby continues to stare and say nothing. "Fine. More for me." Damon looks at Bonnie, gesturing that she proceeds while he sits beside her.
"We called you here because I need help with a spell," she informs her, getting up and walking towards Abby. "Esther created a Vampire that can't be killed. I want to desiccate him like you did to Mikael."
"Bonnie, it's too dangerous. Your magic comes from the Earth. It's pure. This spell asks you to tap into dark places. Places of temptation, places you can't handle," Abby warns her.
"You turned your back on me for sixteen years; you have no idea what I can handle, " the Bennett Witch snaps.
"Gotta say I'm team Bonnie on this one. How hard can it be to parch a Vampire?" Damon questions.
"The spell allows you to stop a Vampire's heart. The blood will stop flowing and his body will desiccate," Abby tells them.
"That's exactly what we want to do," Bonnie argues.
"To stop a Vampire's heart, you need to find a balance among the living. Can you handle that?" She asks her, and Bonnie stares at her blankly.
"What? What does that mean? Bonnie, I don't speak Witch," Damon voices, looking between them.
"I have to stop a human heart," Bonnie tells him.
Jeremy, Lorilei, and Bobby sit at a picnic table outside, looking at his Gilbert ring, when Bonnie and Damon walk over to him. Damon shows Bonnie something on her phone. "I just got this," Bonnie informs him. "It connects me to Caroline and Elena through our phones." Bonnie turns on the app, and it locates Caroline and Elena. "They're in Alaric's classroom. You should go in from the south entrance."
"Digital locator spell. Why the hell do we need you then?" Damon questions, and they walk over to Jeremy, and Damon holds out his hand. "Hand it over."
"I'm not giving you my ring. Let me do this," Jeremy snaps, glaring at him.
"By my math, you've already bit it once, this will be twice, wearing that thing and if for some reason, Bonnie can't restart your heart and you do indeed die, then before you know it, we have another psycho alter ego case on our hands, which is bad so give me the ring." He argues.
"This is my ring, Alexis' my girlfriend. No one's gonna fight harder for her than me," the younger Gilbert retorts, glancing at Lorilei. "Or her sister."
"Fine. Be stubborn," the blue-eyed Salvatore grumbles, looking at Bonnie. "Try not to kill him, will you?"
"Leave him alone, Damon, you're not running the rescue mission, got it?" Lorilei snaps, glaring at him.
"You seem awfully authoritarian today," Damon jokes, and Klaus, Stefan, and Matt walk up to them.
"Look at this, one big, happy family," Klaus teases, and Bonnie pulls out a small vial with her blood inside.
"Drink this. It's my blood. It bridges us all together so that when I stop Jeremy's heart, you'll have the power to stop Alaric's. You need to make a physical connection to his bloodstream; a vein, artery, something connected to his heart," Bonnie informs them, and Damon drinks some blood out of the vial and hands it to Stefan.
"If one of us gets a clean shot, take it, the other two: hold him down," Stefan suggests, taking a swig of the blood and passing it to Klaus.
"Before we all walk through these doors, let's get on the same page, shall we? I was the one who created your Vampire bloodline, therefore I am responsible for your lives and Tyler's life, Caroline's life, and of course, Abby's life, should anything go wrong." Klaus warns them, mainly Damon and Bonnie.
"Or you're just lying to save your ass," Damon snaps.
"I'm not lying. But go ahead, call my bluff, let the teacher try and kill me. You'll all be dead soon thereafter," he retorts, passing the last of the blood to Bobby, who drinks the remainder of the blood.
"Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Stefan asks, wanting his girlfriend back. The Salvatore brothers, Bobby and Klaus, walk to the school, leaving Jeremy, Matt, Lorilei, and Bonnie behind.
In the classroom, Caroline, Blake, and Alexis are still staked down to desks, and Elena is sitting at a desk beside the blond Vampire as Alaric paces in front of the classroom. "Why are you doing this?" Elena asks him.
"Because you need me. Because you're an eighteen-year-old girl without parents or guidance or any sense of right and wrong anymore." Alaric argues.
"Look at you. How is this right?!" She shouts, and Alaric points to Caroline with the stake.
"She's a murderer. Bonnie told me she killed someone and liked it. Now how is that right?" He questions. "Listen, Elena, your parents led the council. It was their life's mission to keep this town safe. They weren't dead six months before you undid it all."
"You don't know anything about them," the Doppelganger argues.
"Why am I wrong? Do you actually think that they'd be proud of you?" The immortal Vampire Hunter wonders, kneeling in front of Elena. "If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them. Now kill her." Alaric hands her the stake. "Or I'll do it for you and I'll make it hurt. Get up!" Alaric harshly grabs Elena's arm and pulls her out of her seat, placing her in front of Caroline and forcing the stake into her hand. He pulls away, and Elena stands there with the stake in her hand for a moment, then turns around and tries stabbing Alaric. Alaric grabs her wrist before she can. "I thought I taught you better than that."
"You did," Elena sneers, breaking the beaker filled with vervain over Alaric's head, making him scream in pain, and his flesh starts burning. Elena releases Caroline, who rushes to Blake, yanking the pencils out of her hands. Elena urges the blond Vampire to leave, but she ignores her. "Get help!"
"Not yet!" Caroline snaps, and Blake looks at her.
"I've got Alexis; go get help!" Blake assures her, and Caroline nods before rushing out of the room. Blake pulls the pencils out of her hand, making Alexis cry out in pain, and the red-haired Hybrid grabs her as the young Witch has lost a lot of blood. Caroline rushes out of the room, with Elena right behind her. Blake drags a barely conscious Alexis out the other door, but Alaric blocks Elena from leaving.
"Not so fast," Alaric snaps, and Caroline escapes into the hallway, turning around and realising Elena isn't with her. She continues walking backwards when suddenly Bobby grabs her from behind, covering her mouth so no one can hear her scream.
"Shhh. It's okay, it's okay. It's me," Bobby whispers, taking his hand off her mouth. "It's okay, you're safe. We'll save Elena. You go straight home. You stay inside, do you understand?" He turns Caroline around so that she's facing him. "Do you understand me?"
"Thank you," Caroline mutters, nodding. They look at each other for a moment, then Bobby rushes away, and Caroline stands in the hallway for a second and then runs out. Further down the hallway, Alaric throws Elena into a locker and grabs her by the throat, holding her up against it.
"I should kill you. I should gut you like Brian Walters, Bill Forbes, and all the other cowards I plan on ripping apart," Alaric sneers, glaring at the Doppelganger. "You're the worst offender of them all, Elena. You don't deserve to live."
"So then, why am I still alive?" Elena questions. "There's obviously no humanity left in you, so what's stopping you, Alaric? If you want me dead then kill me." Alaric's eyes start to become red and veiny. "Do it! Kill me!" Alaric's eyes return to normal again before releasing Elena from his grasp. Suddenly, Stefan and Damon rush up to him and grab him by his arms.
"Do it now!" Damon shouts; Alaric pushes the brothers off him and breaks Stefan's back. The younger Salvatore falls to the ground, temporarily dead, and Damon rushes towards Alaric and places his hand into Alaric's chest.
Meanwhile, Bonnie, Matt, Lorilei, and Jeremy are in the woods together. Jeremy lies on the ground while Bonnie kneels beside him. Bonnie feels the moment Klaus makes contact with Alaric's heart. "They made contact. It's happening," Bonnie announces, looking at Jeremy before placing her hands above Jeremy and beginning to start the chant for the spell. However, Lorilei doesn't trust her.
"Don't mess this up, Bennett," Lorilei warns her, earning a glare from the inexperienced Witch.
"Ocoros Mecante, Aleora Subsitos. Ocoros Mecante, Aleora Subsitos. Ocoros Mecante, Aleora Subsitos." She chants.
Inside the school, Alaric manages to pull Klaus' hands out of his chest and throws him to the ground.
Bonnie suddenly feels the break in the connection and stops chanting. "What's wrong?" Matt asks her.
"Something happened. The connection broke," Bonnie informs them.
"It must be because Alaric is stronger than them," Lorilei mutters. "Do you have a picture of Alaric?"
"What are you gonna do?" Jeremy asks her, sitting up.
"If I can weaken him enough for them to stop him and then let him die, what's the issue?" She questions, and Jeremy gives the Siphon a funny look. "Just a thought…"
Alaric grabs Bobby and throws him against the lockers, flipping him over. He is about to stake him with the fake White Oak stake, but Bobby fights back. A struggle ensues where Alaric continues to try to push the stake towards his heart, and Klaus tries pushing it away. Suddenly, Elena yells at him. "Stop!" Alaric looks up at the Doppelganger, who has a knife at her throat. "Let him go or I'll kill myself."
"Put it down, Elena," Alaric demands.
"Why? Because you still need me alive?" She questions. "There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal, so she tied your life to a human one. Mine. That way you have only one life span to kill all Vampires and then you'll be gone. So, when I die, you die too. That's it, it has to be!"
"You're wrong," he argues.
"Am I?" The Doppelganger asks, beginning to cut her throat open.
"Stop! STOP! STOP! STOP!" The immortal Vampire Hunter shouts, momentarily panicking. Bobby seizes the chance, throwing Alaric off of him. Klaus rushes towards Elena, grabs her, and leaves with Bobby. Alaric gets up and realises that they're all gone.
Elena wakes up, feeling a small prick in her arm, gasps and looks down to see a nurse inserting a needle into her arm. "Be careful. Moving only makes it hurt more," the nurse warns her, and Elena's blood starts to run through the tubing out of her body.
"What are you doing?" Elena questions, frowning.
"Draining you of all your blood," Klaus informs her, stepping into the room, and Elena realises she's tied down in a chair. The blood bag begins to fill up when Lorilei walks into the room with a box of their stuff and stops dead in her tracks when she sees Elena.
"Elena?" Lorilei questions, frowning, putting the box down, and walking towards the Doppelganger. "You did it?"
"What? What's going on?" Elena asks, looking between them.
"Why did you bring her here?" She wonders, looking at her fiancé, who shrugs.
"It was spur of the moment," Klaus argues.
"Fair enough, but don't you think it's a bad idea since Damon is a crazy lunatic?" The Siphon remarks, stepping towards Elena and Klaus.
"Hey, I have a big problem!" Edward yells, storming into the room and stopping when he sees Elena tied to a chair with a blood bag attached to her. "What have I walked into?"
"Eddie, what's your big problem?" Lorilei asks her little brother, who can't stop staring at Elena and the blood.
"Is it really bad that I want to see if I can stick more needles in her?" He questions, making Lorilei's eyes widen and step towards him.
"What the hell is going on?" She asks him, holding his arms as Klaus watches, and Elena tries to escape him.
"I think I'm feeling the effects of that spell you warned me about," the older McKnight twin confesses, and Lorilei pulls him out of the room, leaving Klaus and Elena.
Damon lies on the hallway floor, his phone beside him starting to ring. He groggily wakes up, grabbing it as Bonnie calls him. "Why am I still alive?" Damon questions and Alaric walks up to him and Stefan.
"Get up," Alaric orders, and Stefan awakens too and groans. "I said get up. Klaus is gonna kill Elena."
"What?" He questions, sitting up.
"What are you talking about?" Stefan asks, standing up.
"Klaus needs Elena's blood to make Hybrids. She's the last person that he'd kill," the blue-eyed Salvatore argues.
"The Witch bound my life to Elena's. If she dies, I die. Klaus figured that out and now he's taken her. Now, I'm trapped here until the sun goes down, so you two better get doing what you do best. Saving Elena's life," Alaric informs them before walking between them, knocking them both out of the way.
As Elena becomes weaker, the nurse switches out the filled blood bag for a fresh one. "What about your Hybrids?" Elena asks groggily. "You'll need more than this to create your army." Klaus takes one of the blood bags from the nurse.
"These last few liters will have to suffice. You see, by attempting to kill us, my mother strengthened the bond between my siblings and I. I don't need Hybrids. I have my family," Klaus argues, smirking. "And well, since I returned, Lorilei had you secretly donate your blood." Elena looks at him in shock.
"That's not possible, I would remember," she argues, shaking her head and feeling a little dizzy.
"Not if you're Lorilei, a powerful Siphon," he retorts, smirking.
"If you believe that, then why take my blood at all? You want a backup family. You know that your siblings will never trust you again," the Doppelganger sneers.
"You know Damon blames me for trying to tear him from his brother, but I think we both know who really came between them. You. That's why you won't choose. You know once you pick a Salvatore, you'll destroy their bond," the Original Hybrid retorts. "Thought, I mean, Stefan is completely over you." Klaus moves closer towards Elena. "Consider this me doing you a favour. Once you're dead, you won't have to choose. No broken hearts. Their family stays intact. But just between us girls, who would you have picked?"
"Rot in hell," Elena growls, glaring at him.
"You're welcome. Sweet dreams, Elena. It's been fun," Klaus replies, walking past Elena, grazing her neck with his fingers and leaving the room. Elena struggles to get out of the chair as she grows weaker and weaker from the loss of blood, beginning to fade away. Matt quietly enters the room, following Lorilei from the woods to Klaus' mansion, and undoes the ropes, tying Elena to the chair.
"What are you doing?" She asks too loudly.
"Shhh," Matt whispers, untying Elena from the chair, and Elena spots Klaus standing in the doorway.
"Matt," the Doppelganger mutters, and he turns around, standing up.
"So much for human preservation," Klaus comments.
"I'm braver than you thought," Matt argues, and Klaus smiles, walking towards him.
"Interesting, seems the little Doppelganger has another contender," he jokes.
"Shut up," Elena grumbles.
"Quiet," the Original Hybrid snaps.
"Don't talk to her like that," Matt growls, walking up to Klaus. "Elena maybe my ex-girlfriend, but she is my friend, and I will stand up for her no matter what."
"Very moving. You'll be dead soon, so I would run away before you get in too deep," Klaus warns him.
"I'm not backing down," he snaps, standing his ground and walking back towards Elena, helping her up. "Come on." Klaus rushes towards Elena and pushes her down, making her head hit a platform step and knocking her unconscious. Klaus then grabs Matt by the throat and pushes him against the wall.
"Goodbye, Matt," the Original Hybrid growls, attempting to grab Matt's heart out of his chest, but Matt kicks him when Damon bursts into the room. Matt grabs Klaus' arm, and Damon puts his hand into Klaus' chest, causing Bonnie to feel the connection again.
Bonnie begins the chant again: "...Aleora Subsitos. Ocoros Mecante, Aleora Subsitos. Olo Santire, Dis Et Brav. Ocoros Mecante, Aleora Subsitos. Ocoros Mecante." Jeremy dies, and dark, black veins start creeping up Bonnie's arms and move towards her face.
Klaus's heartbeat begins slowing down as he begins desiccating, and Matt moves away from him and goes towards Elena, who is waking up. He grabs her gently. "Hey, are you okay?" Matt asks her, and she nods, still feeling weak from the blood loss. Come on." Matt helps Elena up as Klaus continues to become more decrepit-looking.
The veins on Bonnie's face, which look similar to the desiccation ones appearing on Klaus, start to creep away. Bonnie breathes for a moment, clearly feeling the effect of the dark magic. She then places her hands above Jeremy and recites a spell to revive him. "En Dugas, Tuas, Animos!" Bonnie chants, but he doesn't awaken, making her start to panic, and she shakes him. "Oh my God! Jeremy!" Bonnie begins pounding on his chest haphazardly. "Jeremy! Jeremy!" Jeremy suddenly wakes up and props himself up on his elbows.
"Alexis…" Jeremy mutters, breaking Bonnie's heart a little as she realises she and Jeremy are officially done.
Klaus has been completely neutralised, and Damon takes his hand out of his chest, laying the Original Hybrid down on the floor. "We should get her home before the sun sets," Damon states. Matt takes Elena's hand and walks her out of the house, with Damon following after staring at Klaus' body for a moment and then walking out. Once they leave, Lorilei and Edward return from her study, not having heard the commotion downstairs, and Lorilei screams, finding Klaus on the floor.
"Klaus!" Lorilei runs over to him, cradling him in her arms as she cries, when Damon returns after making sure Elena is safe at her home. Damon throws Edward across the room, and he slides across the floor, hitting his head against the wall. Lorilei looks up and tries to defend herself against him, but he's too fast as he punches the Siphon across the face, knocking her unconscious.
"I've been wanting to do that for a long time," Damon mutters, stalking towards Klaus' desiccated body.
Matt and Elena get out of the car and walk towards the Doppelganger's house, leaving Damon to deal with Klaus' desiccated body. "Huh, you're really gonna walk me all the way to the door, aren't you?" Elena asks her ex-boyfriend.
"You lost a lot of blood today," Matt argues.
"Yeah, I know, but I told you I'm fine, I just – I have a little headache," she assures him.
"Yeah, but the sun's about to go down and Ric's gonna be able to terrorise the streets any minute." He warns her.
"Yeah, but he can't hurt me. It's you and Damon that we should be worrying about," the Doppelganger reasons.
"Nah, he won't be able to find us," the blond quarterback assures her, and Elena opens the front door and enters. We'll uh—We'll call you when we get back." Damon arrives, gets out, and walks over to them, looking at Matt, who nods back at him and starts to leave.
"I know it's selfish," Elena states, making them stop and turn around. "I – I know that it seems like I'm stringing you both along. But I don't – I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I mean, if I choose one of you, then I lose the other, and I've lost so many people. I just – I can't bear the thought of losing one of you." Feeling bad, she looks at her ex and Damon, and Elena thinks about Stefan, still wishing they could get back together.
"It's um – it's been a long day," Matt states.
"We'll call you from the road, after we dump Klaus' body in the Atlantic," Damon tells her.
"Just...be careful. Both of you," Elena replies, watching them leave before walking back inside and closing the door behind her. When she enters the kitchen, she hears laughter and sees Bonnie and Abby sitting at the table. "What are you two doing here?"
"Welcome to our victory party!" Bonnie exclaims, happy to see her friend safe and sound and to receive a text from Damon about capturing Klaus.
"What victory? We failed. Alaric's still out there," she argues.
"We know, but we've been trying to get rid of Klaus forever and my mum convinced me to enjoy it for a night." The Bennett Witch argues, looking at her best friend.
Lorilei groans as she wakes up, feeling herself lying on the couch; when she opens her eyes, she sees her siblings, Stefan, Blake, and Jeremy, standing over her. "What happened?" Lorilei groans, holding her face and feeling a little bump.
"Bonnie desiccated Klaus instead of Alaric," Alexis informs her, her hands bandaged from the pencils plunged into them.
"Yeah, I remember that," she mutters, sitting up. "Where is that stupid Vampire?"
"Damon is probably running," Stefan suggests, looking at her and holding out an ice pack.
"I'm gonna kill your brother," the Siphon announces, getting up, but grows woozy and clings onto Edward, who helps her back onto the couch.
"Yeah, you can do it when you don't see double," Edward argues.
"What are we gonna do next?" Blake wonders, growing scared about what will happen now that Damon has Klaus.
"I don't know," Lorilei mutters, hanging her head. "Bonnie must have already cloaked him and moved him somewhere." Rebekah returns, looking around and finding the others in the parlour.
"What's going on?" Rebekah asks, and Lorilei tries talking, but she can only cry. "Where's Nik?"
"Damon and Matt, they have him," Stefan informs her, and Rebekah looks at them in shock.
"I need to call Elijah," she announces, storming out of the room.
"Good idea, Lori is a mess," Edward remarks, earning a slap from his sister. "Ow!"
"Shut up," Lorilei grumbles, holding the ice pack to her face, feeling a big bruise starting to form along with a headache. "We need to come up with an idea on how to get Klaus back and alive. I say we kill Elena and Alaric." Everyone looks at Jeremy, who shrugs.
"I think it's a good idea," Jeremy voices, looking at them and pulling his girlfriend into his side. "He tortured my girlfriend, and she let it happen. All bets off."
"Elijah and Jenna are on their way," Rebekah announces, walking into the room. "He is not happy about Lorilei getting a black eye. Again."
"He met me with a black eye," Lorilei mutters, rolling her eyes before cringing.
"Another story to hear another time," Stefan jokes, earning a look from everyone.
"We need to call the Alphas, too," Blake tells them, and Lorilei gets out her phone but stops.
"I can't talk to them," Lorilei replies, and Blake nods, getting out her phone and beginning to call the Alphas.
"It's gonna be okay," Alexis assures her big sister, sitting beside her and wrapping her arm around her as Lorilei tries not to cry.
Meanwhile, night falls over Mystic Falls as Damon and Matt drive out of town, and the Pack and Lorilei plan to get Klaus back while at the Lockwood manor with the moon barely in the sky. Carol opens the front door and lets Liz inside, seeming fearful, which alerts the Sheriff. "Carol, what's so urgent that you called an emergency council meeting at this hour?" Liz asks her.
"I didn't call the meeting, Liz," Carol informs her, leading her towards the living room. "He did." Alaric stands in the room with all the other council members who aren't Supernatural.
"Join us, Sheriff. I was just telling the council about our Vampire problem. Or should I say your problem," Alaric remarks, glancing at the Sheriff.
"What do you think you're doing?" Liz demands, glaring at Alaric as she thinks of her daughter.
"Well, perhaps you and the Mayor can enlighten the group on the strides you've taken to eliminate the issue. Oh, that's right, you haven't. You see the Sheriff, a woman we elected to keep our families safe and town secure, has a Vampire for a daughter." He informs the other council members, who gasp and look at her. "And our lovely Mayor, a son who is half-Vampire, half-Werewolf."
"Why are you doing this?" Carol asks him, scared for her son.
"These women are hypocrites. They claim to spearhead our defense against the Supernatural presence, then cover up the violent attacks committed by their children." The immortal Vampire Hunter snaps.
"That's enough. We're done here. It's time to go," Liz states, starting to leave, but Alaric rushes to the doorway and blocks her way out. The Council Members look surprised by Alaric's show of Vampire speed.
"Sit down, Liz. We're just getting started," Alaric growls, making Liz take a step back.
Matt and Damon drive away from Mystic Falls, needing to drop off Klaus' body, and Damon looks back at the casket, patting it. "Yeah…" Damon muses, smirking.
"What?" Matt asks, looking at him as he drives.
"How many desiccated Hybrids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?" He jokes.
"You're in a good mood," the blond quarterback comments, wishing he wasn't in the car with the older Salvatore brother.
"Yeah I'm in a good mood. Klaus is dead, my chances with Elena are…better. Give or take an immortal hunter who wants to kill us, we won, Matty. Come on say it. Say it," the blue-eyed Salvatore muses, grinning.
"We won," Matt agrees, smiling slightly.
"Once more with feeling," Damon encourages him.
"We. Won," he repeats.
"Thank you," the older Salvatore brother replies.
"Nah, you know what, thank you. Turns out we make a pretty good team, huh?" The blond human comments.
"It only took a century and a half," Damon jokes.
"What happens when, uh—Elena makes a decision?" Matt wonders. Even if he doesn't stand a chance, he knows Elena still loves Stefan.
"You know how these things pan out, Matt. She'll probably make a list of pros and cons and then at the end of the day dump both of our asses and run off to Stefan, again." He replies, thinking of Elena.
"What if she doesn't?" The blond quarterback questions, glancing at him.
"Then she'll pick one of us," the older Salvatore brother argues.
"Well, if she chooses you, I'll leave and let you two be happy and not be bothered by me." Matt assures him.
"And in sixty years, I'll come back to town and pretend nothing happened and none of this will have mattered. Right?" Damon questions.
"Yeah," he mutters.
"Fine, if she chooses you, I'll leave town too. All this over one girl," the blue-eyed Salvatore grumbles.
"She's a pretty special girl," the blond human argues, thinking of Elena, who he's been in love with since they were children.
"Yeah, she is," Damon agrees, thinking of Elena.
When Elena enters, Bonnie stays behind for Elena and finishes painting Alaric's old room. She watches him paint the window frame. "Hey. Has Abby gone?" she asks.
"It's just us," Elena replies.
"I hate this room," Bonnie comments, looking around.
"Me too. My mum and Dad were right. Alaric should just kill all the Vampires and put an end to all of this," she tells her best friend. "But then that means that Caroline dies and Bonnie loses her mum, the Mayor loses her son, and I lose Stefan and Damon. So, if it makes me the bad guy for wanting to keep those people alive, then fine, I'll be the bad guy."
"You forget that Alaric never wanted any of this," the Bennett Witch argues. "Once he carries out his plans, what if he decides he doesn't want to live anymore and he kills his human connection to end his life? That would mean I would lose you. I'm not gonna let that happen." Elena smiles at her. "I'm gonna go home and shower and get some sleep. Good night, Elena."
"Good night," the Doppelganger replies. Bonnie looks at her before leaving the room, and Elena stays in the room, grabbing a paintbrush and continuing to paint the window frame, bending down to dip the paintbrush into the paint. Suddenly, Elena holds her head in pain and falls to the ground, unconscious. Her nose starts bleeding profusely.