Ch. 18 – Katerina, The Sacrifice, and By the Light of the Moon 2x09-11

A/N: I'm sorry this is late, but I was a little disappointed by the lack of reviews on the last chapter. I was so excited for you all to read that chapter and I was hoping I could get a bit of your reactions. Don't get me wrong, I love all the 86,000 views, 408 favorites, and 501 follows, and the current 150 reviews, (I really do and I'm really honored to have that much) but I want feedback on what you like and how I can improve. I want all of my readers to get the most out of this story and to enjoy Emilia and her relationships in the story. I can do that by making sure that my writing is a good as it can be, and part of that comes from feedback. If there is something I can do to improve, or if you have questions or comments, please PLEASE drop a review.

Aside from that, I had a great time writing this chapter and if you think that the fun ended with the last chapter, I hope you enjoy this next one.

Disclaimer: I still don't own the Vampire Diaries.

The first day back to school after being kidnapped and nobody is here. I mean, everyone started the day at school. I made sure of that. There's a lot going on and I find that the normalcy of school balances out the insanity of the supernatural. Elena and I got kidnapped. Matt was compelled to get killed by Tyler for him to become a werewolf and Caroline got involved. Bonnie met a distant relative who was working for our enemy. Jeremy is now involved, despite how much I wish he wasn't, and is now officially dependent on a magical family heirloom. Plus, Stefan and Damon are Stefan and Damon. It's been a hectic few days and that's not going to change, because Elena and I were called to the Salvatore house before school.

I am the one to use their knocker. If they are going to drag me here before school, I am going to be a pain in the ass about it. I'm tired. And kind of anxious. And I actually want to go to school unlike my slacker compatriots. Sue me for caring about my education. I also need to feel a bit normal after the clearly deranged moments yesterday. Attacking an Original, what was I thinking? Plus, that note? I swear I'm suffering from some kind of brain damage and I need to feel good at something. School is a great option.

Damon opens the door, "Hello, Elena, Emilia."

"Stefan here?" Elena asks. "He called, said it was important."

Damon opens the doors further to let us in, "Right this way." Elena steps in first. I give a small yawn as I step in. I spent the night researching, so I'm only here because Elena promised me more coffee.

Stefan is in the hallway when we walk in. He greets us with a, "Hey."

"What is this about?" Elena asks as she re-shoulders her bag. I yawn again. Stefan moves to the side to reveal Rose behind him. "You," Elena says recognizing our favorite kidnapper. Which should be a weird thing to call someone but seeing as she is the only one still alive, it makes that decision easier. Plus, frankly I get why she did it. Doesn't make it right but based on Rose awkwardly waving back after her introduction, she's not exactly happy about being here either. Or she just has nowhere to go. Elena looks back to Stefan and questions him with a look. He looks back apologizing but determined. She nods slightly back. Yeah, this might as well happen today.

We move to the living room. Rose is pacing in front of the fire. Elena and I are on the couch and each Salvatore is on a chair: Stefan is sitting on the one on our left, and Damon is standing behind the one on our right. Rose starts her explanation with, "Ok, you have to understand I only know what I've picked up over the years. And I don't know what's true and what's not true. That's the problem with all this vampire crap." This is a great reference to her skill, guys. Real winner in credibility. "But Klaus, I know is real."

"Who is he?" Elena asks.

"He's one of the Originals. He's a legend," Damon says.

"From the first generation of vampires," Stefan continues the explanation.

"Like Elijah?" Elena asks.

"No, Elijah was the Easter Bunny compared to Klaus. He was a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal," Rose says.

"I wouldn't diminish him like that," I comment. "He's more a right hand to Klaus. He's the advisor you have to get through to meet the King. Can be as ruthless but lives by a stricter code, and you don't usually find the bodies he leaves." I see Damon roll his eyes.

"Klaus is known to be the oldest," Stefan continues. Hmmm, sure.

"Ok, so you are saying the oldest in the history of time is coming after me?" Elena asks.

Stefan answers "No" at the same time Rose says "Yes." Rose is right.

Damon moves to stand in front of us, "what they're saying is – I mean, if what she is saying is true,"

"Which it is," Rose and I both say.

"And you are not just saying it so we don't kill you," Damon continues as if uninterrupted.

"Which I'm not," Rose says. I mean she is older than Katherine, as if Damon could kill her.

"Then we are looking at a solid maybe," Damon finishes. Great. Really confidence-building.

Elena looks worried, taking a shaky breath as she processes. Stefan rushes to reassure her, "Look, Elijah is dead, right?" I mean, so you think. "So, no one else even knows you exist."

"Not that you know of," Rose and I again comment at the same time. Mine is more of a mumble than hers.

"That's not helping," Damon says, glancing mainly at Rose with a few eye rolls at me.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who has ever laid eyes on him," Stefan says, sitting on Elena's other side. I mean, he's only like 150 years old, and from my research, Klaus has been hiding for a good portion of that. Plus, people don't usually survive meeting him. I lean my head on my hand on the other side of the couch. "I mean we are talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction. I mean, we don't know what's real. For all we know, he could just be some sort of stupid bedtime story."

"He's real," Rose interjects. "And he doesn't give up. If he wants something, he gets it. If you are not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."

I add the her comment, "I hate to add to the tension and my sister's worry, but Rose is right. As much as I'm sure we don't want to believe it, Klaus is a threat. A big one. He's a legend for a reason. He's known throughout the supernatural world for his ruthlessness and how many bodies he drops. If we don't take him seriously then we are all dead." Sorry to be blunt, but I'm not going to let a threat like this go. Plus, I know I'm right.

"Alright, we are shaking, you've both made your point," Damon comments.

I put my hand on Elena's shoulder. She looks at me and I squeeze her arm as an apology. She nods and tilts her head fondly to show her forgiveness. I nod my head to the door, she nods hers, and we stand up and shoulder our bags at the same time.

We start to walk away when Stefan asks, well, probably just Elena but I'll go with both of us, "Where are you going?"

We turn and I answer, "School." Duh. "As much fun as this was, it's time to go or we'll be late. I know you immortals don't care, but for us humans, education is important."

"Uh, let me– uh, let me grab my stuff, and I'll come with you," Stefan says.

"That's okay. We know where it is," Elena says. Are they together again? I can't keep up. Elena joins me in the doorway, and we are off.

I have to drop Elena off at home, because she forgot something. I told her before I turned into our neighborhood that I wouldn't wait for her. I've got a test first thing for AP Bio, and I'm not missing that because she is forgetful. She laughs and thanks me, walking inside before I drive off. I make it with a few minutes to spare. People are walking around, in the courtyard and in hallways. I don't have enough time to talk, but I do spot Jeremy and Bonnie with someone new, which sets off some worried instincts. This town is small, and we don't normally get new people or see someone who you don't recognize, if not know. I mean, the last new student was Stefan and it's still the same school year. The last new student, before Stefan, joined us back in freshman year.

I push it out of my mind, and I focus on acing my test. Which I do. I spot people over the day, but Elena is gone, and Caroline and Stefan leave quickly after lunch. Caroline lets me know that Elena is sick, but I doubt that. I just don't have time to check until after school, where Elena will get the lecture of her life. This is junior year, which is super crucial to our college applications as it's our last full year of grades before we send the applications next year. Plus, this is the year we start with honors and AP classes here at Mystic High. It's a small school and, as much as I tried, we weren't allowed to take them earlier. We don't even have all the APs available here. I still tried to stuff my schedule as much as I can, which is why I can't leave today to go check on her. But if she is really sick, she is getting the star treatment when I get home. Mom's homemade soup and bad movies all the way.

I spend a bit more time at school in the art room, rather than in the library during free period. With all the stuff that has been going on - the car accident shoulder injury and Caroline, then Mason and Katherine, and now Elijah and Klaus – I haven't spent much time drawing. Today feels like a safe day to do that and decompress a bit with some painting. I spend more time than I mean to, but I make it to the Grille to find the people I'm looking for.

Stefan and Caroline are sitting at a table and I head over to ask the main question of their day, "Hey, where is Elena? You said she was sick, but she was fine this morning?"

Stefan leans back in his chair, "That's what I've been asking Caroline all afternoon. She's been distracting me the whole time."

I turn to my blonde friend, "Caroline? Where is my sister?" She looks away, but I stare her down.

She can't avoid my stare and she breaks, "I can't tell you."

"You can't tell me?" I ask, incredulously.

"Are you kidding me?" Stefan mutters.

"I'm sorry," Caroline apologizes forcefully, she backs down a bit at our faces but sticks with, "but I can't tell you."

"Caroline, Elena was kidnapped, she could've been killed, and you're seriously not going to tell me where she is?" Stefan says, frustrated.

"She's not in any danger," Caroline defends. "I would not have let her put herself in danger."

"Put herself in danger, where?" I say.

"What do you-" Stefan rubs his hand over his face before he asks, "She's with Damon, isn't she?"

"Eww, no," Caroline and I both say.

"Then where- where is she?" Stefan asks. "Listen, if you're my friend, like you've been pretending to be," Ouch. "all day, then you'll tell me where she is."

Caroline look like she is cracking, but she says, "Stefan, I am your friend, but I'm also Elena's friend, and I'm sorry, but I am not going to tell you where she is." Yeah, if you going to guilt Caroline, you need to be better than that Stefan. Luckily, I've gotten to be a pro at this.

"Then tell me, Caroline," I say. "You are my best friend and you are hiding me from my sister. My twin… You need to tell me where she is." See 'best friend' card, 'twin' card, and a heavy undertone of 'protective sibling' and 'how could you do that to someone you've known your entire life'.

Caroline tries to avoid my stare, but she breaks and whispers, "She's with Katherine at the tomb." Hah! Got her! Got 'em both! I look to Stefan and he nods, heading to get my wayward sibling. I turn back to my friend and raise my eyebrows at her. She sighs. "She wanted to learn more about Klaus." Motherfucker.

"And she trusted Katherine for that?" I ask incredulously.

"I don't know. It's Elena in all her 'determined mindset' thing and you know how she gets," Caroline explains, slightly frustrated.

I sigh and sit in the chair Stefan just vacated. "Yeah, I do." I sigh again. "Now, distract me from the fact I have to yell at my sister. Tell me all about this mess with Tyler."

"You just want to yell at me for being stupid? Cause that's what Stefan was doing."

"Hmm, maybe not then. Gotta save my best material for Elena."

"Ok, good. I don't want to go through that again."

"Want me to catch you up on what you missed in English?"

"Ugh, I think I'd rather have you yell at me for being stupid."

"Who says we can't do both?" I ask.

I get home in time to find Elena crying on Stefan's shoulder out on the porch. He releases when I tap his shoulder. I push him away and pull Elena close. We hold each other tight. God, I didn't realize how worried I was until she was here. I've just been focused on being mad that I forgot how scary this is. Klaus is coming and he's coming after Elena. I can't let that happen, but we barely made it through some of the minor situations we've got ourselves into. I've been so focused on researching everything I could about the curse and the Originals that I forgot that we are the last of the Petrova's, the line of the doppelganger. That Elena is the infamous doppelganger. Elena starts blubbering what she learned but it all goes in and out my ears. Nothing stands out to me as new. I had gathered most of it: Trevor and Rose's parts in Katherine's story, the massacre of her family, her deviousness in turning both Caroline and Tyler, as if having all the ingredients for the curse ready for Klaus would give her freedom. Klaus is not a forgiving man, and he is especially not someone who takes kindly to people who stand against him. My sister is going to die and all of us who would die to protect her are likely to go too. It can't happen like that. I'm not letting anything happen to my friends and family. Not if I can do something about it. No one is going to like it, but there is one option.

If it's me vs everyone I care about, I pick everyone I care about.

After everyone goes to bed, I grab a few things and I make my way to the same place my sister hid all day. I find Katherine sitting by a lantern, flipping through the Petrova book, her back to me.

"Ekaterina Radomira Petrova, daughter of Nikolai and Sofija. Supposed end to the Petrova line when she was disowned and exile. Of course, you were disowned and exiled due to having a baby out of wedlock," I say.

"Elena is a blabbermouth. I told her all of this already," Katherine comments.

"Oh, no, I knew this before Elena told me about what she talked about with you," I say. I walk closer to the tomb door, "No, what I want to talk about is something I'm sure few know about."

"Yeah," Katherine says, flipping another page. "What about?"

"Lidiya." Katherine pauses, in the middle of flipping through another page. "She was your sister. Your twin, actually. She died a year before you were exiled."

Katherine pauses, and when she answers, her voice is tight, but she can't hide her emotions in her usual apathetic mask. Not from me. "What about her?" she asks.

"She was the reason you got exiled, wasn't it? I mean, you got pregnant what, 2, 3, months after your sister died?"

"So?" Katherine asks, her voice quiet to hide how choked up she was.

"Your sister died, and you went off the rails. She was the one who stopped your crazy schemes and tempered your daring nature. When she was gone, there was no one there to stop you from doing whatever you want, including playing with boys, above and below your station, and you suffered the consequence. But it didn't matter, did it? She was still gone no matter what you did."

Katherine stays with her back to me, but I can tell that everything I say is accurate. Her shoulders are slumped and in the low light, she almost looks just like the little girl she used to be.

I continue the story, "And then you kept up your game in England, getting yourself involved with more and more dangerous men until you, accidentally, worked your way up to Klaus. The worst of them all. And then, you got your entire family and their household killed." I give a loud fake sigh, "Shame," trying to focus on Katherine's story, rather than the future threat. "And you started running. Running from the guilt. The loss of your sister, and your baby, your parents and their entire household, all in a little more than a year and it was killing you. And when you turned it just got worse. And so, you kept running for 500 years, until you found us," I get closer and lean against the wall of the doorway, opposite from Katherine, just enough to peek at her curled form. My voice stops the clinical storyteller tones and moves to be more dangerous, "and you figured that this is perfect, all the components needed for the sacrifice, here in one tiny town. Maybe I can finally stop running. But guess what, you forgot one thing."

I pause until Katherine asks, "What?"

I lean down to Katherine's level, "That you are doing the same thing that you did back in 1492. And guess, what? It's not going to change anything for you. You know Klaus isn't going to let you go. I bet you would be lucky to just get a quick death when he finds you." I stand, and step closer, to the edge of the doorway. "I will tell you that one thing is different this time around. This time, you are sacrificing my sister. And I won't let you do that."

Katherine turns her head so she can almost see me out the corner of her eye. "And how are you going to stop it."

I walk back to my stuff and find what I'm here for. I stand by my stuff, away from the doorway and the light and I hold up a piece of paper, "Turn around and I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Katherine stands up slowly and turns to face the doorway. She steps towards me. I hold up the piece of paper. She sighs, turns around and picks up the lantern. Oh good, I wasn't sure the lighting would work as I was hoping it would. She lifts it to the doorway, and I step up. The image of her sister in my hand, reflected in my face. She gasps and step back.

"Yeah, you thought it was a hallucination, wasn't it? But no, I'm Emilia Gilbert, daughter of Grayson and Miranda, or John and Isobel if we are talking biologically, twin sister to Elena, and a doppelganger of your deceased twin, Lidiya Tsevta Petrova."

"You want to sacrifice yourself to Klaus?" Katherine asks after a long pause.

"Oh, that's just one plan. You may have been focused on the descendant that looks like you, but I'm the one that you should've been looking out for. I knew who you were before Stefan and Damon showed their faces in this town. I knew you weren't in the tomb before Damon did. I knew what you wanted, and I was the one who planned out how to get you into this tomb here. I've known the Originals would one day come and I have been planning since that moment. You aren't the only one who has Plan A through the rest of the alphabet. But you decided to use your plans to hurt my friends and family, and got Mason killed. So now, none of my plans include saving you. You decided to sacrifice your descendants, and now I'm willing to do the same to you."

I flip the picture to face me and I smirk at Katherine, "Oh, it must be nice to see your sister's face after 500 years. It really is too bad."

Katherine stands against the barrier, trying to lean casually, but her body is too tense, "Why is that?"

"Cause you won't be able to remember it in a minute," I say as I turn back to my stuff, grabbing a few different writing utensils. I start scribbling words and symbols over the paper, using each utensil for the specific purpose needed for what I'm about to do.

Katherine stands straight. All pretense of being casual gone. "Why? What are you doing?" Katherine asks, banging against the barrier.

I ignore her as I focus on drawing the last piece to the ritual. I grab my phone and send a quick text. After a moment, a call comes through. And I am impressed by how magic can improve cell service sometimes.

I answer the call, "Hey, we're good to go."

The person on the other side, immediately starts the chant. A similar spell to the one I used for the moonstone location, only this one is based around magic runes and words on the paper instead of blood. Basically, Katherine won't be able to share my doppelganger secret if she can't remember it, or what her sister looks like enough to make the connection herself. Gotta love secrecy magic.

I take a step back before I say, "Good-bye, Katherine." I hold up the picture, first showing it to Katherine then to back to myself. "I do hope your sister greets you warmly in the afterlife." I hold the picture up one more time before I burn it with the lighter that I brought. I drop the burning image outside the tomb door, where Katherine can't reach it.

She cannot be the one to reveal my status as a doppelganger.

I have another copy to do that myself.

I get back to a house with lights still on, which puts me on edge. I see Jenna and Alaric in the kitchen, and I sneak upstairs, relieved. I make it just in time to hide everything I brought with me to the tomb, grab my laptop, and look busy before Elena walks in. "Hey, what's up?" I ask.

"Do you- Do you feel that?" Elena asks.

And I'm back on edge, "Feel what?"

"I don't know, but there's something…" Elena peters off looking around.

I get up to join her looking through the house. I'm not risking anything with what's been going on. The Originals are known to use powerful witches and they can get in a lot easier than vampires. We leave my room and check her room again, before we creep towards Jeremy's. We see him sleeping in a dark room, with a lamp left on. We hear footsteps behind us, and Elena jumps around gasping.

I turn to see, Alaric, holding a bowl of ice cream in his boxers. Ah, history teacher! Here! In his boxers! Alaric gasps and flinches backwards at Elena's sudden jump turn. They are both breathing heavily from the shock while I stand dumbfounded at this situation.

"Elena, Emilia," he says. He moves his bowl of ice cream to hide the fact that he is just in his boxers. Yeah, that's not helping.

"I, uh, we heard something," Elena explains.

Alaric awkwardly chuckles as Jenna walks up in Alaric's shirt. "Yeah, that was us." Elena and I stand awkwardly for a moment and Jenna, realizing the situation, says, "I'm sorry." Jenna makes a few more apologies and awkward comments.

Alaric just offers his bowl up, "Chunky Monkey?" Elena and I stare at him for a moment, again, dumbfounded. He chuckles again, "Well…I'm naked" Gross. "So, I'm gonna go." He passes us as he walks into Jenna's room.

I nod slowly, and Elena and I start to walk back to our rooms.

Jenna stops us with, "I'm really sorry about this."

Elena speaks for both of us when she says, "It's okay, Jenna. Don't worry about it."

She stops us again, "I know he's been staying over a lot. Are you- Are you sure it's okay?"

Ok, focus on Jenna and the fact that she is happy. "Seems like things are good," I say. Yes, be happy for her and the fact that she is in a good relationship.

Jenna smiles, "They are extremely good."

"Then, we are extremely okay with it," Elena says. I nod my agreement. And with that, we all walk into our respective rooms. Still, something feels off, but I'm tired. It was a long day.

Another day, another morning spent conferring with the Salvatore's. This time it's the fact that they want the moonstone. There's a reason I didn't trust them with it, and they are proving my point with their stupidity. They locked the moonstone in a relatively safe place. That seal is strong and a good deterrent for less powerful vampires like themselves and now they want to break the seal and release Katherine for a small rock. Even if it were the real moonstone, I'd still think it was a stupid plan. They want to risk everything for a hunch from some random vampire about saving Elena by releasing the curse from the rock.

"According to Rose's friend, Slater," Don't know him. Don't trust him. "There's a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break," Stefan explains. Seriously, they are trusting this 80-year-old vampire over me. Okay, so I don't know Slater well, but I know of him. I was over his information years ago. He's too busy collecting degrees and trying to feel alive with human girlfriends instead of doing actual research.

"No spell, no doppelganger sacrifice, ergo, you live," Damon summarizes.

"How do you destroy it?" Elena asks.

Stefan leans his hands on our kitchen island, "By releasing it from the moonstone." I feel my bullshit detector go off. That does not seem like something easily done, let alone something they know how to do.

"How do you know this is going to work?" I ask. I.e. Can you get this to work?

"Cause, we have a crafty witch on our side," Damon says. Is he serious?

Elena sighs, "You discussed it with Bonnie."

"She agreed to do anything she can to help us," Stefan says.

"It's Katherine who has the moonstone," Elena says. I mean, technically, she does. She does have a moonstone. "She's not going to give it to you."

"We're going to get it from her," Stefan says.

"Well, what he means to say," Damon says. "is that we will pry it from her cold, dead hand if we have to."

"Wow, inspiring," I mutter.

"Bonnie just needs to find a way to release the seal long enough for us to get in, get the moonstone, and get out, in time for her to return it," Stefan explains.

"I can tell you now that that is not going to work," I say. But wow, surprise, they ignore me very practical warnings.

"Wow, I mean, it seems like you guys have this all planned out," Elena says. I snort. They have nothing planned out.

"Yup. We are awesome," Damon interjects.

"Except for one thing," Elena says. "I don't want you to do it." Really? That's the only thing wrong with their plan?!

The guys look to each other. I roll my eyes. Stefan turns to my sister, "Elena, what are you talking about. We don't have a choice."

"What about Klaus?" Elena says. Ok, where is she going with that thought?

"We'll find him, but after we get the moonstone," Stefan responds. Yeah, no.

"Is that before or after he kills everyone I care about, including the two of you?" Elena asks.

"That's not going to happen, Lena," I say. I won't let it.

"Elena, if we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your life," Stefan says. I highly doubt that would do anything. In fact, Klaus may kill all of us because you did that.

"I know. Everyone keeps saying that," Elena says as she walks off. That was weird. I roll my eyes at the looks the brothers are sending each other and I grab my stuff before I head out. I've got a study session with some friends. I'll check up on Elena later.

Later somehow comes after another day of school where I don't see her. I finally find Damon outside the tomb. Figures, they are going through with their stupid plan today. They've been rushing things ever since they figured out about Klaus. What annoys me is that they are distracting my family and friends. If they want to be stupid, do it on their own time.

"Damon," I say. He pauses while grabbing his stuff. "Where the hell is everyone?" I ask.

"Well," he drags out the word. "Witchy and your baby bro along with mine are about to open the tomb to get the moonstone from Katherine. Your sister is apparently out in Richmond doing something idiotic and now I have to go save her."

"Wow," I reply. I can't believe they would all go out and do this without consulting me. Well, if Elena is making some sacrifice play, I can see why. But, Jeremy and Bonnie. I get Bonnie being here as our go-to witch, but I am going to kill my little brother for skipping off on some plan and not telling me. Ok, who do I stop first. I quickly try to think through who is more likely to die, and the fact that it's unlikely that Bonnie is going to figure out all the magic necessary to follow their stupid plan (sorry Bon) and hopefully I taught Jeremy enough sense to support her and not get too involved means I have to chase after Elena first. I'll yell at him after I save Elena from own stupidity. "You are not going anywhere without me."

He looks at me and I stare him down. He sighs, "Fine. But I'm driving and we are not making any stops."

"Fine," I follow him back through the woods, "You may want to stop by my house. If I am going to fight someone, I am going to need weapons."

He turns his head to me, "What, you don't have any on you?"

"Not any good ones," I reply, slightly shrugging.

He smirks at me, "Expecting a fight at school?"

"You've met my sister, right?" I ask sarcastically. "Who knows what is going to come after her next." I was planning to deal with a few low levels, but if Elena went off on her own unprotected, then I need more stuff.

"Here's to hoping we get there in time to stop this one." On that note, Damon grabs my arm and we flash off to my house.

I could argue with him, but I run in and grab one of my go bags. It's mostly stakes and vervain, but also a few holsters and a newly-sharpened silver knife, covered in wolfsbane and vervain. You never know who Elena got herself tangled with. I change into my tall, sturdy boots, because I have some asses to kick, starting with Elena's.

I run back to the front of the house, Damon grabs my arm again, and we flash to the Boarding House, where Damon's car is out front. We silently get in our seats and drive out of Mystic Falls.

One four hour drive later, Damon drives us to Richmond, to Slater's apartment. He flashes in without me, I roll my eyes and follow. I catch up right as Damon finds Elena. I hang back towards the entrance.

"What are you doing here?" I hear them ask each other. Rose enters and Elena turns to her.

"You called him?" Elena asks in disbelief. So that's who helped Elena and how Damon knew.

"I'm sorry, Elena" Rose responds.

"You said that you understood," Elena says.

"She lied," Damon replies.

Before I can jump into the conversation, a girl, Slater's most recent girlfriend, I think, walks in. I want to say her name is A-something. "Damon Salvatore," she excitedly states. Alice, maybe. I'm just going with Alice until someone corrects me.

"Get rid of her," Damon tells Rose. She rolls her eyes and grabs the girl's arm.

"No way," the girl, Alice, says as she's dragged away.

"Come on," Damon starts. "We are leaving."

"No," Elena replies.

"I said we are leaving," Damon says more forcefully.

"I am not going with you," Elena responds.

"You do not get to make decisions anymore." Woah, slow down there Damon.

"When have I ever made a decision?" Elena asks. "You and Stefan do that for me now." Well, she's not wrong. They did decide to go through with their stupid plan. "This is my decision." A bad one.

"Who is going to save you while you're out making decisions?" Damon asks. Hello? I will.

"You're not listening to me, Damon?" Of course, he isn't, Elena. When does Damon listen to anyone but himself? "I don't want to be saved." Well, clearly, we need to discuss some things Elena. "Not if it means that Klaus is going to kill every single person that I love," Elena finishes, whispering.

"Get your ass out of the door before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you myself," Damon responds. Oh, real mature.

He grabs her arm; Elena cries out and that's officially my cue to step in.

"Let her go, Damon," I say as I grab his other arm. Elena stops struggling as she sees me. Damon slowly lets Elena go, remaining still as I grab his arm. I lean in to whisper to him, "You grab her again, I rip off your arm." I squeeze and pull his arm to make my point clear. He grimaces and I let him go. He walks off after Rose.

I turn to my sister, "You are in serious trouble, Elena." She looks down, avoiding my gaze. "What was your plan here? Did you even have one?"

That gets her to look up at me, "Yes, I had a plan!"

"Oh, really? One where you skip school, trick Rose into helping you contact Klaus, and sacrifice yourself without even saying goodbye to your family?"

"If I said goodbye, you would've tried to stop me."

"No shit, I would have stopped you. This is a terrible plan! You really think Klaus isn't going to come after us because you gave yourself up? You know nothing about him or how he operates. Just because Katherine told you one story about him, does not mean that you can throw yourself at him because of some idea of protecting us!" I yell at her.

"I know that if we fight back, he will kill everyone, all of our friends and family," Elena replies.

"That doesn't mean that you can give yourself up without telling anyone. What were we supposed to do, Elena, if you did contact Klaus? Just wake up tomorrow with you gone? Never question why you left or if you were going to come back? Keep living our lives with you not in them, and never getting to know what happened to you or why you didn't bother to say goodbye? Is this really worth all that? But, hey, at least we don't have to worry about some supernatural threat because it's not like if this mystical curse we don't understand is broken, then the whole supernatural world isn't going to change. Oh no, Elena's martyrdom prevents all of that."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt," Elena cries.

"And your death wouldn't hurt us?" I cry back. Both of us stand there with tears crawling down our faces. I wipe my face and take a few breaths. "We are leaving. You are coming home, end of discussion." Elena just looks down, tears still coming out of her eyes.

Damon takes that moment to enter, "It's time to go. Alice is soundly sleeping and won't remember a moment of this horribly stupid day."

The doors crash open. I turn to face the door and cover Elena. Damon moves to stand in front of her as well. Three guys walk in, vampires, all dressed in dark colors. One stands in the door, while the other two walk towards us. The slightly shorter one says, "We're here to meet the doppelganger."

"Thank you for coming," Elena starts to greet them, walking out from behind me.

Damon grabs her before she moves past him. "I will break your arm," he says. I move to face Damon. If he thinks that threat is okay, I might as well take his arm. "There's nothing here for you."

"Are you sure about that?" the taller vampire says. He rushed forward and grabs me. No! I struggle but he is older and is strong. "Cause this one seems pretty tasty," he growls. I struggle more, trying to get away, but he just grabs my arms and crushes them against my body, holding my back against his front. I can't reach any of my weapons that I have on me with my arms like this. I try to move my head to bite him, but he just grabs both my wrists in one hand and my face with the other. Crap. "Oooh, this one's feisty." The vampires all laugh. If he wasn't able to snap my neck with a flick of his wrist, I swear.

"Just gives us the doppelganger and we'll let this one go," the first vampire says.

"Not gonna happen," Damon replies. Is he serious? I mean, don't give up Elena, but my life is in the balance.

"We'll just keep this one then for ourselves then," the one holding me says. He moves the hand that was on my face down my body, "We've been looking for a nice treat." I struggle more at his words. I will not be anyone's treat. Not again. I need him to loosen up for me to get my weapons. I need a distraction.

There's a sickening crack from behind us. Everyone turns to face the door where Elijah, looking dashing and alive, is standing over the third vampire's dead body. That'll do.

I take the chance to stomp on my captor's foot, springing my boot to my hand, grabbing one of the stakes I stored in the boot and stabbing him in the stomach. The angle is bad, so I can't get his heart, but it gets him to let go of me.

The other vampire sees this and rushes toward me. I punch him in the solar plexus and his body curls forward in response. I grab his head and knee him in the nose. His head slams back, pulling him back to standing up and pushing his balance to his heels. I side-kick him hard in the stomach and he falls backward.

My captor vampire is up and staggers towards me. I grab his arm, the one that was brushing against my body, whip him around and get him into an armlock. I keep pushing his arm, so his shoulder dislocates, before I push him to the ground, still holding his arm, and now kneeling on his spine.

The vampire whose nose I broke is up and about to rush towards me again, when Elijah rushes in and grabs him by the neck, pushing him against the wall. Rose takes this moment to flash out the door.

"I killed you. You were dead," Damon says to Elijah. 'Really?' I think in disbelief.

I stomp my left hand on my former captor's shoulder while my right holds the dislocated shoulder, making him cry out in pain, and breaking a bone in there, potentially. I think I heard a snap. Fun. The group glances at me. I shrug slightly, move my hands further down the crying vampire's arm and break the humerus bone. Not laughing now are you, bud?

"For centuries now," Elijah responds slowly, shaking off the momentary distraction and the weird looks the group is giving me. "Who are you?" Elijah asks the vampire that is still in his grasp, calmly. His voice and tone empty of anything other than a polite inflection.

"Who are you?" the vampire asks, fearfully.

"I'm Elijah," he responds. The silence is deafening. I break it by breaking the other vampire's radius and ulna (the forearm bones). Whoops.

"We were going to bring her to you," the other vampire, the one whose neck is in Elijah's grip, responds even more terrified. I guess his buddy's screams aren't making the situation easier for this guy. "For Klaus. She's the doppelganger." Elijah's hand squeezes this guy's neck even more. The vampire rushes words out, "I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus will want to see her."

"Does anyone else know that you are here?" Elijah asks, staring at Elena.

"No," the guy responds.

"Well, them, you have been incredibly helpful," Elijah says as he lowers the guy back to the ground, releasing his neck. The guy starts to smile, but then Elijah is ripping out his heart and his body drops to the floor.

My guy screams. Elijah turns and looks at me, kneeling over this other vampire with his shattered arm on the ground. Elijah clears his throat gently, looks to the dead guy, then my guy, then me.

"Oh," I reply, getting what Elijah wants. I stand, stomp on my guy's hand, shattering a few bones there. He screams again. "That'll show you to never touch me again. I'm not your fucking treat." I stomp one more time, grab a stake out of my boot and stab him in the heart. I turn to Elijah who nods at me. I nod back and we both almost smile, but then he turns back to Elena and Damon. Damon looks like he is about to gear up to fight, but then Elijah flashes away.

The three of us left turn to stare at each other in confusion.

…

Did he really almost smile at me? No, stupid brain. I have something seriously wrong with me.

I am out of the car as soon as we get to the house. Damon and Elena walk up to the door slowly behind me. I can hear them conversing, but I don't care. Damon can yell at Elena for me. If I start yelling, I won't stop and that includes yelling at Damon for almost letting those guys take me. Oh, we are going to have words.

Jeremy opens the door before I can. He is covered in dirt and blood with a bandage on his neck.

"Oh my god," I say in response to his appearance. "What the hell did you do, Jeremy?" I ask as I look him over, peeling the bandage of his neck. There is an open bite mark underneath. "Who did this?"

"Stefan," Jeremy struggles out.

"What?" I ask angrily.

"No, I meant that he's in the tomb. Stuck. With Katherine," Jeremy blurts out. Elena immediately rushes out with Damon following her. Seriously? Our brother is bleeding and she's more worried about her stupid vampire boyfriend. I need to take a deep breath before I go on a rampage and forget that she is my twin and I love her despite her bad decisions.

I take a few deep breaths before I turn to Jeremy. "I want the whole story. Now." I push him into the kitchen. He tells me about the idea with the moonstone, Bonnie's plan with the ash, why he chose to go off on his own, and how his plan went wrong, while I fix up his bite mark and other scrapes. "Explain to me again why you thought it would be a good idea for you to do this instead of using Bonnie?"

He shrugs me off, looking away, "Her magic wouldn't have been strong enough and I didn't want… I didn't want to waste her energy when I could get the moonstone myself." I could tell something about that answer was off and that he was hiding something from me, but it's been a long day and I don't want to pry into more of my siblings' stupid decisions. It's been a day chockful of them.

"This is why you should've come to me. I've fought Katherine before and kicked her ass. Well, kind of. I still got her with a good plan," I tell him. He chuckles lightly. I take a deep breath before revealing, "Also, all this was for nothing."

He turns to me, asking, "What do you mean? We got the moonstone."

I sigh before turning to him, "That wasn't the real moonstone. I switched them a long time ago. I didn't trust the Salvatore's to keep it safe, so I bought a fake one, had it spelled, and I switched them."

Jeremy stands to face me, "So you are saying that Stefan got trapped for nothing?"

I stand taller in my defense, "Hey! I didn't intend for that to happen, but it wouldn't have if anyone had bothered to talk to me. Everyone is constantly going off on some wild goose-chase of a plan to save Elena and no one is even considering me as part of it." Jeremy looks away in response. I continue, "I have shown time and time again that I am someone to have on their side when it comes to stuff like this, but they never think about me when it comes to being more proactive and planning, even though my plans are usually what's saving them. Look at what happened with Katherine, today versus the ball. I did that! I saved everyone! And if the Salvatore's hadn't been there, I still would've saved Elena from Elijah. I am the one with practical supernatural experience and information- the only one with any real information about Klaus and yet, no one seems to bother to ask. So, when it came to Klaus being a potential threat, instead of a hypothetical one, I took action to protect Elena. If that backfires on the Salvatore's, so be it for them thinking that they are better protectors for Elena than me. We are her family, everyone else comes after that."

"You're right, Emilia," Jeremy replies after a few moments. "You are always saving Elena, saving all of us, and I didn't think to ask you for help." He sits back on the kitchen stool.

"You're damn right, I'm right," I say, breathless. My anger deflates a bit. He's not the one I am most mad at.

"But Emilia, you need to fix this," Jeremy says. "Trust goes both ways. They won't trust you if you don't trust them. We are all on the same side here, we are all working to keep Elena safe. And we won't be able to do that if we don't all work together. So, you need to fix this."

I stop and breathe, realizing he's right. "When did you get so smart?" I ask.

He chuckles lightly, "You aren't the only smart Gilbert around."

I chuckle to myself. I stop and ask him, "Are we good, Jeremy?"

He nods, "Always."

I pull him into a hug with him in the stool still. One where he is just leaning against me, with his head on my chest and one my hands on the back of his head. He hugs me back. "We are going to be okay, all of us," I say, rubbing his back and his head, like our mom used to do. "Gilbert's are nothing if not stubborn survivors." He breathes out a small laugh and I let him out of the hug. "But first things first, you are getting cleaned up, and then you are making up for skipping school today."

Jeremy laughs and gets up to head upstairs, "Sure, Emilia."

"I mean it, young man," I say, imitating our mom.

He looks at me slightly sadly before continuing up the stairs, "Ok, mom".

I sigh and clean up the remnants from the first aid work I did on Jeremy, "Yeah, we're gonna be okay." I say, partly trying to convince myself. "Everyone will be okay."

I spend the start of the next day on Elena protection duty. Keeping her in the house so she doesn't run off and sacrifice herself. This is honestly a plan of Damon's that I agreed with. It's like grounding her with magic. I spend the day at school and come back with the notes for both of my sibling's classes, because Jeremy volunteered to stay home with Elena all day. Other than Caroline coming in to grab some wolfsbane for Tyler's first full moon and Jenna's announcement of us helping a visiting writer, the day itself pretty quiet.

It starts with Jeremy and I walking into Elena's room while she's discussing stuff with Bonnie. And by discussing, I mean she is arguing that we should be focused on getting Stefan out of the tomb.

Jeremy is the one to ask, "What are you guys arguing about?"

Bonnie waves us off with a, "Not arguing about anything." She puts the moonstone in her bag, making eye contact with Jeremy who then looks to me. I roll my eyes and nod at him. I switched them back last night. It was a lot less work than hiding it in the first place, but just as costly. The lack of security on the moonstone is worrying enough to keep me up later than intended. I could use the downtime just as much as Elena could use the grounding. Bonnie speaks my mind when she says, "I need a coffee." I sigh and follow her, looking at Jeremy and nodding to our sacrificial sister. Watch her. He nods and turns back to the sibling in question who is on the bed. I walk downstairs and into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. And some pancakes while I'm at it.

I am in the kitchen when Elena fails our test and takes the moonstone. I am finishing up the first pancake when Jeremy and Bonnie explain that it's for the best. Elena storms in and throw herself on a stool at the island. I give her a pancake and the maple syrup.

"We are really doing this for you, Elena," I say.

"And I am trying to do something to keep everyone from being killed," she replies, cutting into her pancake.

"Think of this as us keeping you from dying," I say. "Actually, think of this as a grounding. You did something stupid and sacrificial and this is your punishment. We now have to watch you, because we don't trust you. So, enjoy your pancake, because you are going to be stuck here until you prove that you can be trusted to be let outside."

"You're my sister, Emilia, not my mom," she responds.

"And if mom were here, I wouldn't have to do this," I say. "She would be doing the same thing, only you would actually be listening to her when she tells you that what you did was stupid, dangerous, reckless, and ignorant to the rest of us and our feelings. So, I'm sorry, but you forced me to step-up and be the parent. You brought this on yourself." And with that, I turn off the burners and take a pancake for myself and I go to my room.

Omake: Jenna and Alaric are at the Grille.

"So now I'm playing Historical Society hostess to some writer who is doing some book on small-town Virginia," Jenna says.

"That sounds…" Alaric comments.

"Lame. Yeah," Jenna finishes. "But Carol Lockwood played the 'dead husband' card, said she was too busy to deal. Plus, my sister kept most of the archives, and Emilia has an encyclopedic knowledge of the stuff, so there you have it."

"You know the twins might actually be happy to meet a writer. I mean, Emilia is big on history and Elena is a writer. Could be fun for them?" Alaric says as he pops a fry into his mouth.

"Yeah, actually. I mean, I was planning on dragging Emilia with me anyways, but Elena might benefit too."

"I mean it is their junior year, it's kinda the time for them to think about these things."

"I think they are both at home, I'll talk to them about it." Jenna leans over and kisses her boyfriend, "Thank you."

He smiles at the kiss before glancing down at his pile of papers, "Speaking of talking to Emilia, can you get her to stop writing so much in her essays?"

Jenna smirks, "Why? What'd she do this time?"

Alaric digs through his stack of essays before grabbing two neatly stapled, but significantly larger assignments, "She turned in two essays."

Jenna laughs at her boyfriend's astounded face, "Yeah, she can get a little overexcited."

"Overexcited?" Alaric exclaims. He flips through the essays. "This is a whole extra essay on a completely separate topic. This is... Hermione Granger level."

Jenna shrugs, "She was Emilia's favorite character for a reason."

Alaric just gives her a look of annoyance.

Jenna sighs, "Did she do the assignment incorrectly?"

Alaric plops the papers down, "Well, no."

"Ignore any of your instructions?"

"Other than turning in one paper? … No."

"Is it a bad paper?"

"…No. They are actually really well-written and researched. Some of the best I've seen here."

"Then, suck it up," Jenna advises. "You're her favorite teacher, and she wants to impress you."

"What she wants is perfect grades," Alaric remarks, quietly looking through the essay.

"So? She puts in the work and it shows."

"I can't keep letting her get away with thing like this. I have other students and plenty of other essays to grade. I can't have her turning extra thinking that this is okay."

"Well, what are you gonna do? Take off points?" Jenna asks while sipping her drink.

"Maybe. I might have to if she keeps this up," Alaric comments. He looks down at the two essays.

Jenna stares him down for a second and correctly guesses, "No, you won't."

Alaric looks up slowly. He glances to the papers, then back to his girlfriend, the back to the papers. He sighs, "No, probably not."

Jenna tilts her head as she explains, "Her essays are some of your best. She puts in the work; she studies and does her research. She knows her stuff AND she's passionate about your class. It's no wonder that she is your favorite student."

"Yeah, but-" Alaric starts.

"No, buts," Jenna says. "Look, if it really bothers you, I will talk to her. I'm not promising anything. You know how she is about her grades, but I can try."

"Thank you," Alaric sighs. He quickly marks a "A+" on both essays before putting them aside.

Jenna smiles at him. She looks down at her watch, nothing the time. "I gotta go start pulling boxes."

Alaric nods and with a quick kiss, Jenna heads out.

I spend most of my time at home bouncing between sketching and doing research. Caroline comes in the early afternoon for the wolfsbane and she gives me an update about Tyler before she leaves. I think I hear Damon at some point, but I turn up my music louder. Jeremy drags me down for some sibling bonding time in the early evening. Jeremy burns some popcorn and we watch some movies. It's always a big debate between us on what to watch and this time is no different. Jeremy always wants horror. He used to like watching it as inspiration for his art and because it made Elena and I scream. Now, he chose it because he thinks it's funny that our life is scarier than a thousand-dollar movie. Elena and I argue otherwise, but he just laughs every time we try to make another fear-filled argument. We never used to make it through a whole movie without running or turning it off. This time was, surprisingly, no different. We turn it off after the second jump scare, Jeremy cracking up as usual. Elena usually votes for some romantic comedy, whatever the new version of boy-meets-girl, drama, and sappy ending is out. I used to be the same, but after last year, it's her vote alone. I usually like a nice documentary, but I get outvoted really fast. I swear, learning about the fall of Rome is not nearly as boring as they make it out to be. We eventually decide on some new action movie, Clash of the Titans. It's horribly inaccurate about the Greek myths and the characters are flat, but it's got a good cast and decent enough action for our needs. It kept us occupied and it gave us a good moment of sibling bonding over making fun of some the scenes together. Or Jeremy and Elena making fun of me for correcting the movies.

I head back upstairs after a while and back to finish my work from before. I continue with few interruptions through the evening. I do get a text from Jenna about a writer coming, but I was on a good roll of information about the Originals during the late 1800s and forgot. When I switch to painting, that fact is entirely gone from my mind.

Mini Omake:

Elena walks down the stairs to find Jenna pulling boxes, "Hey. What are you doing?" she asks.

Jenna turns, "Oh, perfect timing," and hands Elena a box full of antique books and papers.

"Woah, heavy," Elena comments. She shifts the box so that she has a better grip. "What is this stuff?"

"Your mom's files from the Historical Society. I got roped into helping Mrs. Lockwood and I'm dragging Emilia with me." Jenna pauses and raises her volume to speak behind her, "And by roped, I mean very excited to participate." She turns back to Elena, "Where is Emilia? I texted her and she needs to help me out. This is her thing," and picks up another box and closes the closet door. Revealing a intimidatingly familiar figure behind.

"Hey, I'm Elijah." He says.

Elena knocks frantically on Jeremy's and my doors. I turn off my music and I hear her explain breathlessly to Jeremy, "Um, Jenna was just asking me to… get you and Emilia to help her with some boxes." Oh, right. Jenna texted me about the writer. I should go help. I take off my headphones and put down my sketchpad.

I move to my door and as I open it, I notice how messy my hands are from the graphite and paint I've been using, "Hey, let me clean up first and then I can help. God, I don't know how I got this messy. This is about that writer, right?" I finally look up from my hands and I see Elijah. I pause. And it hits me, "Oh. You are the writer, aren't you?" I ask him.

He nods.

"What name did you give my aunt and Mrs. Lockwood? Smith or something?" I ask. What am I doing? Why am I so casual about this?

"Smith, actually," he answers, trying to hide his surprise.

"Huh," I mutter. "Either I'm good at guess or you are really bad at fake names." God, look at Elena. That's a normal reaction to a suddenly-appeared-in-our-house-which-means-he's-invited-in Original vampire. Why can't I be having that reaction? Why can't I be normal for once?

"A bit of both it would seem," he chuckles lightly. I realize that Elena is staring at us.

I shift so I'm standing taller and I'm back on topic, "Well, I'm gonna wager a couple more guesses. One, you here for a reason other than my mother's research. Two, you're here for the deal."

"Correct on both." He turns to my sister, "I think it's time you and I had a little chat."

Elena leads him into her room while I make my way after quickly washing the most of my art supplies off of me. Well enough that I'm not going to transfer the mess to everything I touch.

Elijah walks in calmly, with all the power and grace of an apex predator. "Forgive the intrusion. I mean your family no harm." He moves some of the pillows on Elena's window-seat.

Elena walks away from her closed hallway door and further into her room. She also situates herself a bit closer to me. "Why did you kill those vampires when they tried to take me?"

Elijah sits on the seat, "Because I didn't want you to be taken." Elena and I stare a bit at him, and he elaborates, "Klaus is the most feared and hated of the Originals, and those that fear him are desperate for his approval. If word gets out that the doppelganger exists…" His eyes flicker to me. Subtle but I still catch it. "…there will be a line of vampires eager to take you to him," He leans against the wall of the seat, "and I can't have that."

"Isn't that exactly what you are trying to do?" Elena asks.

I turn to my sister and say slowly, figuring it out, "No, he's not. Or else, you wouldn't be here." Or either of us. I face him, realizing, "You aren't working for Klaus."

Elijah looks over to me and his eyes narrows slightly. He looks almost amused. He tilts his head slightly and looks back at Elena, "Let's just say that my goal is not to break the curse."

"So what is your goal?" I ask for both of us.

"Klaus's obsession has made him paranoid. He's a recluse. He trusts only those in his immediate circle," Elijah starts. Oh, that's new. He's usually the life of the party. And by life I mean he usually kills everyone else.

"Hmm, the rumors are true then," I interject. "You are no longer in his circle."

Elijah sits up straighter, "Not anymore."

Elena speaks up, "You don't know where he is, do you?"

He shifts. Ahh, I get it now. "You are using the Doppelganger to draw him out," I say.

He tilts his head again, "Well, to do that, I need you to stay put and stop trying to get yourself killed." He shifts so he is leaning against the wall again.

Elena is the one to ask, "How do I know you are telling the truth?"

I turn to her, "If he weren't being truthful, our family and friends would be dead, and he'd be handing us to Klaus."

Elijah looks over to me and nods. I guessed right again. Well, that wasn't so much of a guess. "Instead, I'm here, and I am prepared to offer you a deal," he says. Oh, good.

Elena is about to step forward, when I grab her hand and position myself slightly in front of her, "What kind of deal? Name your terms," I ask.

He stands, "Do nothing." Um, what? He moves to Elena's dresser and starts glancing at the things, "Do nothing and live your life. Stop fighting." I mean fat chance of that with the Salvatore's. "And then, when the time is right, you and I shall draw Klaus out together. And I shall make certain that your friends remained unharmed." Huh.

"And then what?" I ask.

He turns to us. "Then I kill him." Oh. Um?

"Just like that?" Elena asks from behind me.

"Just like that," Elijah replies. Um, that can't be right. "I'm a man of my word, Elena. I make a deal. I keep a deal."

Elena asks one of the questions floating in my mind, "How are you going to be able to keep everybody safe?"

"You know, I notice you have a friend, Bonnie, is it?" he says. Okay, that's a bit of a turn. "She seems to possess the gift of magic." Oh, he has witches. "I have friends with similar gifts." Yup, called it. Also, does that mean he read my note? I think I wrote something about bringing a powerful witch.

Elena nods and crosses her arms across her chest, "You know witches," she comments under her breath.

"Together we can protect everybody that matters to you," he says. He walks closer to us. "Do we have a deal?"

I look at Elena, this deal is directed at her. She looks to me and I nod slightly. It's a good deal, one I would've made myself. Protection for friends and family if they don't do something stupid. I have a few more questions, ones I will be asking him later, but this isn't on me to accept. She's the doppelganger. Elena looks down, pensive before she stands up straight and faces Elijah, "I need you to do one thing for me."

"We're negotiating now?" Elijah asks.

"Apparently," I murmur. This can't be good.

There is a short discussion about releasing Stefan from the tomb in addition to the deal, and finally, Elena accepts. When she does, I move to the door with, "I'll walk him out."

Elijah looks to me as if he is going to negate that. I face him and I raise my eyebrows. He follows me to the door, and I open it, leading him out. I smile at my sister softly before I close her door. I turn and look around for a second. Where am I going to lead him? With Jenna and Jeremy downstairs, I can't sneak a man, no matter who he is, downstairs inconspicuously. My room I guess it is. I gesture to him to follow me silently, with a nod to my room and a finger on my lips. I lead him in, still ambivalent about him being here. I plug my iPod into a speaker and play music to hide our conversation. I turn back to find him leafing through my sketchbooks.

"Really?" I ask him, referring to the snooping. He puts down the book back where it was. Hopefully he didn't get too far in the book, there might be a picture of him in that book. Or is it the blue book. Hard to keep track. But either way, good he stopped. In my defense, I totally always draw my enemies. Is my enemy? I mean he's kind of ally. Well, not the point. Point is that he's one of many mysteriously-attractive-kind-of-dangerous men I've drawn. Crap, is that my type? No! Not a question I'm going to even consider right now. Not in a million years. Back on topic, please, brain.

"My sister is going to die," I say as a start. Well, that's one way to change topics. He pauses. "You said that you will make certain that Elena's friends would be safe. You said nothing about Elena. She's going to die. Actually, you made no comments to the safety of any members of my family, including me." I take a deep breath and keep myself from moving backwards. "And we both know that I am the one most in danger out of the rest of my friends and family."

Elijah sighs and shift. And the elephant in the room is acknowledged.

"Hard to avoid it," I comment. "We both know what I am. And that it's not going to stay a secret once he's here."

Elijah pauses, "Klaus will come for the doppelganger. Nothing is going to stop him."

I sigh. "I know. And he's going to get a doppelganger… Just not the one he thinks."

Elijah looks intensely at me, "You would use yourself for the sacrifice."

"It's my sister," is all I say, "I would do anything for her." Elijah nods in understanding. He looks away, solemnly. "And right now, I want her to be happy and that requires you to fulfill your promise to her."

"You wish for the same deal?" he asks, quietly, still looking away.

"Yes. Well, mostly," I say. He turns to face me as I elaborate, "Stefan out of the tomb, sure. Katherine stays inside, which I assume you want too. My friends and family protected above all. And I will give you a list of people specifically. A different day, I don't have it on me." Am I talking fast, cause I feel like I am. Ok, breathe and calm down. "Also, I want to know your plan for Klaus's death, because as much as I will sacrifice myself for my twin, I want to do everything I can to get back to her."

Elijah goes to answer when we here Jeremy running up the stairs, loudly. We turn to the sound and then back to each other.

"Tomorrow?" Elijah asks.

"Tomorrow sounds good," I agree. "Wickery Bridge?"

"Is 9 am appropriate?"

"Let's try 8. I like an early start."

He smirks, "I will see you there," he says. And he flashes off.

My breath wooshes out quickly and I sink onto my bed.

Things just got incredibly real.

A/N: Oh so much goes down in this chapter! Almost 11,500 words of action and 2 Elijah scenes. You lucky ducks. But just you wait, the next chapter gets even better.

Please let me know what you think! Constructive feedback, your favorite moment, suggestions for the future, a shout out for the next chapter, or a quick hello. I love hearing from people.