As Bonnie stepped into the crypt the overbearing stench of blood and rot crammed itself into her nostrils. The stony composure of death stilled the air. Remnants of dark magic assaulted her senses and agitated her sorcery. Everywhere she looked carnage and gore painted her field of vision. A man she'd never seen before lay at the base of the altar with his throat sliced open. His frozen fear stricken stare remained fixed on the ceiling, silently conveying the forbidding final moments of his life.

Her gaze readily swung from Esther's unknown victim to Elena. Sympathy and grief fractured Bonnie's rapidly thudding heart. Her once best friend sat a few paces away with a lifeless Alaric cradled in her arms. The entire front of the vintage white flapper dress she wore was saturated in her unofficial guardian's blood. Tears drenched her face as snot ran freely from her nose.

Without rhythm or reason Elena rocked back and forth as her frame shaking sobs entangled themselves with five repeated words, "She promised to save him."

Bonnie closed the distance between them in a couple of hurried steps. Once she towered over Elena and Ric's body, she squatted next to the brunette. Gently, she pushed a few strands of hair that escaped the confines of her coiffure behind her ear.

"Elena," Bonnie uttered as she attempted to push beyond her own conflicting emotions. She arranged her dress as best she could, and then settled on her knees next to her friend.

"She promised she'd help him," Elena sobbed to no one in particular in a fractured whisper.

"Will you sodding lot ever comprehend? Esther is the crowned queen of duplicities and falsehoods. Unless your needs coincide with her goals her word will never be any more than uninspiring fiction." Kol's scrutinizing glare travelled over the havoc left in Esther's wake.

Elena whimpered and shrunk in on herself as she clutched Ric's head even tighter to her chest.

"Babe," Bonnie exhaled with an exaggerated eye roll.

When his chocolate browns found hers she shook her head. Although agitation manipulated his features he pressed his lips together and turned away to regard the contents in the sandstone bowl on the altar.

She gave her mind a mental shake as she resumed comforting Elena. Kol really needed to check his damn pettiness. There was no need for, I told you so's. Everyone knew the fuck up they'd committed by dealing with the likes of his mother. Guilt weighed heavy on them all. Not one among them could be pardoned for their actions, especially her. She was the one who released Esther's nutty ass from her coffin in the first place. And yeah, she could say it's all the Salvatores' doing, but the undeniable truth was it was her magic therefor her responsibility.

"Ric!" Jeremy cried upon entering the crypt. He then rushed over to them, taking the place on the opposite side of Elena. "What's wrong with him? Why isn't he moving?" His questioning stare swung from Elena to her just as realization acquainted itself with his grasping mind. "Is he-,"

"She promised she'd help him, Jer. All she needed was my blood…she promised," Elena repeated as she rested her forehead on Alaric's.

Despite her and Elena's difficulties over the past few weeks, Bonnie's heart outright ached for her estranged friend. The fact she'd suffered another loss was just well…wrong. What did she ever do to deserve all this damn angst? Hell, what did any of them do?

Somehow they'd unknowingly topped Nature's hit list and the smoke was motherfucking real. The thought provoked Bonnie's sorcery to whip at the inner lining of her vessels as the distressing notion continued to hammer the walls of her mind. In undisputable realness, Nature had put a contract on each of their heads. And Death was just petty enough to damn near everyone they cared about before he finally decided to come for them?

The upset in her magic increased, while her brain gave birth to another question. Why the hell did Esther need Elena's blood to save Ric? To her knowledge and the vast information within her grimoire collection, doppelganger blood didn't have healing properties. Though it was potent enough to fuel some pretty nasty spells. A cruddy feeling settled at the bottom of her gut. What the hell was Esther's end game?

"What was the cankerous bitch plotting?" Kol murmured as he dipped two fingers into the ash parlaying at the bottom of the stone bowl.

He brought the ashes to his nose and inhaled. Seconds later her psyche was pulled into his ponderings. The swiftness of his mind as they flipped through different scenarios which fit the current setting, nauseated her. The break neck speed of his thoughts threw her off balance. Unable to adjust to his vampire mentality, she squeezed her eyes shut and attempted to untangle her mind from his. Moments later her thoughts was her own once again. She gave her brain another mental shake. How the hell wasn't he stark raving looney from his real life Beautiful Mind issues?

Damon and Stefan snatched her from her head by hurtling across the expanse of the crypt to tower over them. Stefan squatted so he was eye level with Elena, while Damon stood back to observe them all.

"Everything's gonna be find Elena. Bonnie's going to fix this." Stefan assured, while placing a hand on her shoulder.

The hell?! How the shit was he going to volunteer her for the fuckery? Other than the tonic, she didn't know a got damn thing about necromancy.

At that moment Alaric stirred in Elena's arms, before his eyes snapped open to dart over his surroundings. Seconds later he shoved himself free of the brunette's hold as he snatched his shirt open to glare down at his chest.

"I-I r-remember everything," he stammered when his gaze located Damon. "He was in control b-but I remember. She tried to turn me into one of them…I think," his uncertain stare flicked to Klaus, before recapturing Damon's. "I must've survived, though." He blinked. "But how?"

"So that's the conclusion you've come to, mate? How ambitious of you," Klaus snarked.

"What th-the hell's th-that supposed t-to mean?" Alaric forced through the chattering of his teeth.

"Don't listen to him, Ric. Everything's gonna be fine," Elena assured in a patronizingly soothing tone that couldn't even calm a comatose patient.

The hybrid threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Well fear not, then. If the doppelganger spouts such optimism, then it must be resoundingly true."

"Klaus!" Bonnie hissed. The last thing the situation needed was his dry commentary from the sidelines.

Klaus' brows leaped into his hairline as his signature smirk had its way with his cherry stained mouth. The amusement that glittered his eyes, provoked hers to roll. He thrived on attention and she refused to feed him.

"I could've sworn I was stabbed…no shot…or was it both." Confusion crumpled Alaric's brow as he considered his soiled ripped shirt and unblemished blood stained skin.

"It was both," Elena confirmed, before wrapping him in a snug embrace. "I'm so sorry, Ric."

Jeremy caught Bonnie off guard by lunging across Alaric's body to snatch her up in a body constricting hug. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, inhaled and then whispered, "Thank you, Bonnie."

Kol's thirst for blood slashed at her mind and seared her throat. His need to rip Jeremy a new one motivated her hands to shake. The hell? It was way pass time she go spell book diving. Their bond strengthened with each passing day and she couldn't help but wonder if sex had been the catalyst.

Jeremy's continued whispers of unnecessary praise pulled her focus. "You stay coming through for us, even when we don't always deserve it." He drew her closer, and the added press of his body against hers made her magic churn.

Bonnie didn't know what the hell to say to his misplaced gratitude. She hadn't uttered a spell or lit one damn candle in an attempt to revive Alaric. She shot Kol a pointed look, hoping for an assist, but for the first time since he'd said his name was Leopold, he wasn't running her any attention. The ashes in the sandstone bowl still arrested his notice.

"Oh my god, Ric," Elena rasped in a hoarse thickened tone as she leaned back to capture his face in the cradle of her hands. "I thought for sure you were dead."

Twitchy stares ranging from nervous to paranoid ricocheted about the room. Everyone other than Elena and Jeremy read the tilted situation as if it were covered in compelling sentences and gripping paragraphs. This was not the moment to celebrate. She had to give Esther her props, the unoriginal witch had left them with one hell of a parting shot before she dropped the proverbial mic.

"Don't be daft. He's in transition, love," Klaus said as he wrenched Bonnie from Jeremy's suffocating hold.

Disbelief locked the muscles in Kol's face. "Mother wouldn't…she wouldn't dare cross nature again!"

"Has your vision been impaired along with your senses, Kol?" The hybrid snapped as he helped her stand. Once she found her footing, she couldn't help but notice his hand still remained wrapped around her arm. "Our treacherous mother has gone and fashioned herself another original. Why else would she need the doppelganger's blood?"

"You can't be serious," Stefan said as he angled his head to stare over his shoulder at Klaus.

"He can't be allowed to complete the transition. Knowing our wretchedly departed mother, I wouldn't be shocked to discover she's made a few improvements to her flawed immortal spell," Kol said as his narrow eyed stare fell to Klaus' hand that was still wrapped around her upper arm.

The hybrid released his hold on her to raise an exacting clawed hand to Alaric. "Agreed."

"No!" Elena threw herself in front of Ric and Stefan threw himself over her.

Damon zipped forth and attempted to snap Klaus' neck. The hybrid spun on his heel and counteracted the move with a powerful blow to Damon's chest. Fractions of a second later the younger vampire was airborne. Moments after that his lean body collided with one of the stone walls of the crypt. The shattering of bones sounded on impact.

"They're right, Elena. Once I transition, I'm dead anyway," Alaric said, before resting his cheek on the top of her head. "But, if I stop myself from going through with the change my alter ego will die too. Then you and your brother will be safe…" he glanced from Kol to Klaus, "at least for now."

"Yeah, but how do we know you want be you?" Jeremy questioned. "You could come through transition and be the same as you are now?" Hope glinted his brown eyes.

Klaus scoffed and sent all of Jeremy's hopes straight to hell. "Esther leveraged her final breath on this line of attack. You'd all be blundering fools if you believed she hadn't calculated all variables. Concluding the ever pissed history instructor is the only viable alternative."

Klaus tore Elena from Alaric's arms and gently shoved her to the side. When Stefan attempted to charge him, he snapped his neck. The younger vampire's body crumpled at their feet. Jeremy lunged at the hybrid, but before he could reach his target Kol snatched him back by the nape of the neck. Within the fluttering of her lashes, the hybrid had Ric's head trapped between his palms.

"No!" Elena screeched with outstretched hands. "Please don't kill him, Klaus! I'll do anything…anything damn it!"

"Shut the hell up, Elena." Damon struggled to stand. Once on his feet, he tore a metal spike from the wrought iron door and hurled it at Klaus.

Without one thought skittering across Bonnie's brain, her magic surged to the surface. With ease she reversed the trajectory of the iron spike and flung it back to him. The metal tore through his abdomen and held him captive as it continued on its path. The sheer force of the soaring object snatched him off his feet and impaled him to the far wall of the crypt. Klaus' questioning gaze found hers. She raised and dropped a shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. She'd already put the Scooby Gang on notice about the Mikaelsons. If they wanted to test it, they'd learn tonight. She'd make sure of it.

"Holy shit, Bonnie! You're protecting this dick now," Jeremy accused as betrayal twisted his face into a soft five.

Bonnie skewered Jeremy with an indifferent stare. "I'm doing what I've always done, Jeremy. Protecting who I love. Didn't you do the same for Anna when you stole Elena's necklace?"

"You know for someone who claims to be over me, you sure love revisiting old shit," Jeremy snarled.

"Jeremy, enough." Ric snapped.

"Keep it up, little Gilbert, and I'll gorge myself on the good instructor's vocal chords while you both watch," The hybrid hands left Ric's head to grip his throat.

"Klaus is right, it's for the best, Elena," Alaric managed to rasp despite the hand wrapped around his throat. "Look, I want nothing more than to shove these original fuckers to the other side, but I refuse to allow you and Jeremy to be buried under the fallout. Besides, we still don't know which sire line Caroline and the Salvatore's belong to. I'm okay with this, it has to happen." With that said, Ric then forced his eyes to meet Klaus'. "Get on with it."

"No, wait!" Elena rushed forth to reclaim her place next to Alaric. "I mean it Klaus! I'll do anything if you'll allow Ric to die in peace and with dignity." Tears brimmed her lower lids as her pleading eyes bore into Klaus'. "You want me to leave with you…fine, I will. I won't fight you anymore, I promise. Just give Ric these last few hours to say goodbye."

"Don't listen to her," Damon growled from his place on the cement wall.

Jeremy struggled in Kol's grasp. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Elena?"

Ric shook his head. "I can't allow-,"

"It's not up to you, Ric," she said without sparing him a glance. Instead she continued watching Klaus as wild crazy burned hell fire bright in her Brandywine gaze. "Do we have a deal?"

"Why're you hesitating, Nik. Slay the drunken bastard and let's be done with all of it," Kol said, while grabbing a fist full of Jeremy's hair and yanking his head back to further restrict his movements.

Klaus ignored Kol as his penetrating stare strayed to her. "And what of the witch?"

"What about the witch?" Kol ground out through the slits of his teeth.

Ignoring Kol, Klaus continued to consider her. "What will you have me do, little witch?"

Not only did Klaus' question snatch her brain out of order, but his soul destroying stare slammed brakes on her spinning world in general. What the hell was he up to? He knew damn well he didn't give two Salvatores about her opinion so why pretend he did? Aggravation consumed her whole. Klaus annihilated her nerves with all of his out of character behavior. Yet, Kol and Klaus was right. If Esther's plan was contingent upon Alaric transitioning, then he had to die. Preferably, the sooner the better.

Elena pleaded Alaric's case with one word, "Bon?"

"Klaus, you'll do whatever the hell you want regardless of what I say," she said, while unsuccessfully attempting to avoid Elena's watery brown gaze. The moment their eyes locked years of friendship came hurtling back and she lost her nerve. "But for whatever sway you'd like to pretend I have in your decision making, I think you should…allow Ric this time to say goodbye."

Even as she voiced the request she knew Klaus should've ended Alaric's—in transition—ass. Because if she was running it above a hundred, she knew procrastination would come back to snatch a knot in all of their money makers. By letting Ric die on his own terms, they were presenting the Spirits with opportunity and a shit ton of untold possibilities.

"Interesting." A mocking smirk bursting with condescension and scorn had its way with his ridiculous cherry red lips. "You know your request is a threat to your precious Kol's existence and yet you still ask it of me…why? Could it be you're considering resuming your doomed position of Mystic Falls' Savior?"

"Can we not do twenty-one questions right now, dick?" Jeremy demanded.

"Jeremy, please," Elena begged, while never removing her—woe is me—stare from Klaus.

The hybrid's scrutiny scorched Bonnie a little longer before he inclined his head. "Have it your way then, little witch."

Seconds later Klaus was gone, and Bonnie's overpowering feelings of doom and regret had begun to fester.

Kol lay upon Bonnie's bed at her deceased grandmother's abode staring at the ceiling. His thoughts replayed the night's events. Even with all which had occurred throughout the course of the evening, from him dispatching his mother to the little Gilbert wretch's return, Nik's actions toward his mate is what troubled him most. His first transgression being his offered proposal to whisk her away on a tour of the globe, and then him foregoing a compulsory bloodletting in favor of honoring her wishes. Niklaus' conduct towards Bonnie has always struck him as rather telling, however, his behavior as of late was downright idiosyncratic. The way in which he gazed upon her within the burial chamber, well it was almost as if…

"Babe, where are you right now?" His little love's stunning face looming over his wrenched his consideration from the inconceivable.

He dragged his finger down the smooth valley of skin which travelled between her bosoms. A slight intake of breath disturbed her lovely mouth as an answering smirk toyed with his. "I'm here with you, goddess. Are you not aware of the amorous threat at your glorious gates?" He drove his very attentive cock into the crotch of her dampened undergarments to lend emphasis to his words.

"Oh Bob is very aware of Nessie," she dipped her head to capture his lips in a fleeting kiss, "but I'm also aware that her attempts are nothing more than automatic. The detachment in your eyes tells me your mind isn't in this. What's wrong, Kol? Is it me?"

"What is this blasphemy which slides so readily from your quite appetizing lips, my darling?" He pressed his mouth to hers in a lingering kiss. When he withdrew his lips from hers he arrested her gaze with what hoped was a cogent stare. "You consume every misshapen and perverse part of my mind. Even now my thoughts lie with you…and Nik."

"Klaus?!" She bellowed as she sat upright. "Why? What the hell did he do this time?!"

"I believe he may have fostered somewhat of an infatuation for you," he said as he studied her face for any stray expression that would afford him a bit of insight into her thoughts. If only he could invoke their bond at will then he would know her mind and his own could finally find peace in regards to them.

"Let me shut you down right there." She placed a finger over his lips. "I know exactly what you're referring to, and keep in mind Klaus is a master manipulator. The only reason he's pretending to be interested in me is to make Care jealous. Once he sees his thirst driven stunts aren't working, he'll be on to his next deranged scheme."

Condescension nearly hoisted one of his brows off his face. "Although Nik's attraction to the golden twit is apparent for even the sightless and witless to witness, I believe his interest in you is rather genuine."

"And even if that's true," she placed a palm on the center of his chest, "I don't give two sizzling hot damns. I'm not interested in leveling down to be with your brother. I love you, Kol!"

Her admission set his frozen immortality on fire. She hadn't uttered those words since the night she'd surrendered her innocence for a pleasure filled night of wickedness and sin. And even then the declaration drifted from her lips ensnared in the throes of a slumberous sigh. Days later he'd found himself questioning his original senses. In truth, her utterance of love had become more of a fantasy than an actual memory. So to hear her profess those words with such clarity and conviction, decimated all of the insecurities his doubts had labored into existence.

"Wait," her heart pilfering eyes narrowed to no more than slits of emerald jade. "What's with the face? My feelings for you isn't news, Kol. Or haven't you been paying attention?" She wrenched herself from his embrace and mounted him in a sinuously agile repositioning.

His eyes rolled closed as Bob cradled every stiff inch of him. Hell's glorious bells! Would she ever cease to stir the iniquitous best in him? He thrust upwards. Pleasure jarred him, while it curved her upper body rearwards in an impressive half arch. Days had been squandered since he'd last entered her and within that moment he couldn't conceive why he'd allowed himself to be denied of what she'd so willingly offered.

"Well you've never consciously verbalized the depth of your emotions before now, Goddess," he murmured as he allowed the pad of his thumb to skim across her nipple, and then slide languidly down the valley between her breasts to cross the flat plane of her abdomen. Her corresponding shudder sparked life to the deadest parts of him. "Whom am I to presume to know a witch's mind…or heart?" His thumb slipped into Lord Marley's folds to rediscover the enchanted button the crooner so diligently guarded.

"Ooh, babe…to hell with the presumptions," she shifted the crotch of her undergarments to the side, before positioning his trouser snake at her sodden entrance. She then proceeded to lower herself onto him. "Let me show you what's in my heart and mind."

Lucy Bennett strode through Mystic Falls' Cemetery with heated conviction and a shit ton of obligated purpose. She was pissed way beyond the point of pissivity! Who the hell did Bonnie think she was to stand against the will of their Bennett ancestors? For vampires! Original vampires to boot! When she told her empty headed cousin she needed to be in the middle of it, she meant so she could keep their leeching asses in check.

But no, prodigy baby Bennett, had to twist her intended words of wisdom and fall for an Original vampire, of all fucking vampires! And now because original serial killer #1 had played her so far out of position, she Lucille Bennett, was forced to trudge through a muddy mess in Prada boots at the hoeing hour in an attempt to rectify her baby cousin's atomic bomb of a fuck up.

The hint of sacrificial magic that had called to her soon as she crossed the town's line thickened as she approached a crumbling crypt several feet away. Her stomach rolled as the sting of vomit teased the back of her throat. The stench of unclean magic singed the inner lining of her nostrils and provoked her eyes to water. Damn! She hated struggle magic! If a witch didn't have the juice then she shouldn't cast the fucking spell. Why the hell would her line even be involved with Esther Mikaelson and her gutter sorcery? They should've shredded her soul the moment she crossed the damn veil.

The sound of the door creaking open to the crypt yoked her from her thoughts. "Shit," she cursed under her breath as Damon Salvatore stumbled forth. Of course! A witch couldn't walk two feet in Mystic Falls without tripping over a damn Salvatore.

"Lucy Bennett," he mumbled more to himself than her. "What the…," the narrowing of his eyes told major tales about the inner calculating of his mind. He glanced over his shoulder at the tomb door before his lids flared and veins writhed just beneath surface of the skin under his eyes.

A tiny smile curved her lips. Let's dance, bitch! Before he could make a go for her carotid, she raised a hand and clenched it in a fist. A fraction of a second later, Damon dropped to his knees. Blood gushed from every orifice in his face. After she had her fill of watching him twitch and moan at her feet, she twisted her wrist. The snapping sound of his neck and spine fracturing gave her the tingles.

Stepping over his broken body, she crossed the threshold into the still open door of the crypt. Inside, a passingly attractive semi-conscious middle-aged man propped himself on a stone altar as an almost empty bottle of bourbon rested haphazardly across his lap. Holy hell! She stalked across the crypt, her heeled ankle boots clacking as she went. Once she towered over him she stooped, and snatched the bottle from his lap. She then slammed the glass against the cement base of the altar. It shattered into an assortment of fragments and shards.

The noise roused the half dead drunken man. "H-hey now…," he stammered as his bloodshot eyes fluttered open and snapped to her. His head jerked back. "Who the fuck-," his confused gaze bulged when she used the broken neck of the bottle to drag across her wrist. "No…stop…don't-,"

"Shut the hell up." She yanked his head back and forced her spurting wrist into his mouth. The moment her blood touched his tongue his reluctance fled and his face relinquished its human façade. Once satisfied he'd transitioned, she hit him with a hellified aneurysm. "Satis!"

He released her wrist and growled, while clutching his head. "Agh!"

"Get up. You can lick your wounds on your own damn time, Hunter." Lucy picked up another shard and slashed his arm. She ignored the infant vamps hisses as she brought the bloody glass to her lips, and then licked the dark red fluid from its smooth surface. The wound on her wrist immediately closed. "We have work to do."

"What happened to the original witch?" He gasped as the effects of her magical lobotomy still lingered.

"Forget Esther's tired unoriginal ass," she stood, to retain her position of power, tossing the shard of glass away as she went. "Now you're fucking with an upgrade."

Niklaus swallowed another tumbler full of blended whiskey as he unseeingly stared out the window of his study. Although the view provided a breathtaking view of his estate's landscape, his brain refused to commit to the faultless scene his sight so dispassionately beheld. No his mind chose to fixate on all things Bonnie Bennett. In fact, the little witch beckoned to each one of his senses beyond the point of unreserved distraction.

His eyes ached to see her irritatingly imperfect face just once more, his fingertips itched to press themselves against her surprisingly supple flesh, and his tongue longed to drown itself in the magical elixir which surged through her veins. The little temptress had infiltrated his mind and laid claim to his senses.

If he dared surrender himself to the absolute verity of it all, then he'd admit there's nothing he wouldn't give to possess her. And yet she had the gall to spurn him when he so chivalrously placed the world at her golden T-Straps. His ego and cock ached in the face of her refusal. The tumbler shattered in his punishing grasp. Bloody hell! Why did such irreverent notions of that insufferable she-devil plague him so?

The doors to his study burst open. Unbridled irritation did the Charleston across his already thoroughly assaulted pressure points.

"We have an Original 2.0 sized problem." The sound of Damon Salvatore's voice curdled the purloined blood which nourished his undead vessels. "Not to mention, we have another powerful pissed off Bennett Witch strutting around Mystic Falls." He raised a hand. "And before you ask, the answer's no. She's nowhere near close to being Bon-a-licious."

His eyes closed as his thumb and finger discovered the bridge of his nose. For the undead life of him, he couldn't fathom why he continued to endure the mindless wonder that were the Salvatores?

"Damon, I'd hoped to discover Elena cowering upon my door step this morn. With her essential belongings in hand, of course." Klaus clasped his hands behind his back as he turned to consider the elder Salvatore brother with a forced smirk perched upon his lips. "That was the agreement between her and I, was it not?" He moved over to his desk, while continuing to regard Damon with the unwavering faltering glare of a proper predator. "Perhaps you require a recap of the terms of our arrangement. Why not? I've got time." An indolent shrug raised and lowered his shoulders. "The provisos were as such: I allow the history teacher to drift away in Elena's all-inclusively loving arms in exchange for her delivering herself quite willingly into my care."

"That deal's a fucking no go, Klaus. Ric transitioned thanks to Lucy Bennett!" The feeble minded imbecile hissed, while he stalked further into the study. "What part of, we have a fucking problem, don't you get?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe it's the part about how the transitioned drunkard is now my problem. Explain that bit to me if you must." Klaus seated himself in the high-back cherry wood throne chair positioned behind his desk. He then paused to regard Salvatore with a look of feigned expectancy, before continuing. "After all wasn't it you lot who implored me to permit the splendid reprobate to die in blessed peace, and quite magnanimously did I not agree to your conditions." The younger vampire glowered at him instead of verbalizing a contradiction. He chortled to himself before slapping his hands down on the edge of the desk to emphasize the closing of the topic. "Well now, if you'd be as pertinent as to turnover my doppelgänger. I'm told the jet will be ready within the hour."

Stefan entered the study through the still open door. "Klaus, Alaric wants to end the entire vampire race. So exactly who the hell do you think he's hunting, us or you?" He then spun to regard his brother. "Oh and FYI, Elena's missing."

The hybrid's eyes rolled. It would seem he was infested with incompetent Salvatores.

"Missing? What the fuck do you mean she's missing, Stefan?" Damon blustered, before turning about to face his younger sibling.

"I went downstairs to make her breakfast and when I returned she was gone. I haven't been able to find her anywhere," he said with a shrug inspired by sheer aggravation. "Even Caroline and Bonnie's MIA."

"Damn it, Stefan!" Damon slapped a palm to his forehead, before tilting his head backwards to glare at the ceiling. "You had one fucking job! Watch the got damned doppelganger and don't let her well-meaning suicidal ass out of your sight! What's sooo difficult about that? It's in your fucking skillset, you have experience. Weren't you stalking her for weeks before you grew a pair large enough to approach her?"

Stefan dismissed his brother by swinging his glance back to Klaus. "Alaric may have her. And from what Elena told us, your mother made the last white oak stake indestructible by using the magical properties in the Gilbert ring. Which means-,"

"He now has the means to kill us all." Rebekah bled into existence before their eyes. Dirt smudged her cheek and forehead as leaves and twigs clung to her dust laden tresses. "I've seen him, Nik. Alaric's not like us. He's stronger, faster, and bloody determined. Mother created him for the sole purpose of bringing about our end." She looked to Stefan. "He has Caroline. They're at the school."

"What about Elena?" Damon demanded.

She inclined her head just so. "I'm not sure. I only witnessed him abduct the vapid one." Her turbulent stare returned to him. "He has a white oak stake, Nik."

Rage rocketed across his processes and nearly blasted him through the overhead. He should've known his mother machinations would not be curtailed by something as fleeting as a rendezvous with death. Even from the grave she'd plotted a diabolically brilliant plan of attack with the potential of besting him. Calculating thoughts twisted his mind in on itself in an attempt to conceive a scheme which would outmaneuver Esther's. Yet despite his efforts, the only notion that frolicked through his head was escape. It was imperative that his siblings and he fled to ensure their continued survival. Even as the idea grazed the walls of his brain he knew the outcome of his deliberations were flawed. If they absconded they would do so to what end?

He felt the witch's magic the moment she entered house. His eyes slipped closed. Anticipation rode him hard and fast as he listened to each foot step that brought her closer to his study.

"We have no other option than to flee, Nik," Rebekah insisted.

"Now is not the time to tuck tail and chuck deuces," the sound of Bonnie's voice, silenced and ordered his thoughts. "Ric has Caroline and Elena. He's gonna kill them if I don't turn myself over to him."

Precision arrested fear which in turn relinquished control over his thought process and actions. His gaze greedily sought her out. Once she was confined in his sights, his back teeth clenched to discover her hand in hand with Kol.

"Swine will to the skies before I allow that to happen," he stated to the contrary.

"What?" Damon screeched. "Don't be a fucking idiot, Klaus. Your precious Caroline is dead if Ric doesn't get what he wants. So is Elena."

Stefan zipped forward with bulging eyes to grab the edge of his desk. "Please tell me you get that, Klaus. They'll both die if-,"

"Then so fucking be it!" he roared, momentarily losing his grasp on his human façade. He could feel the writhing of his veins beneath his eyes and the familiar throbbing just beneath the surface of his gums. Bloody red stained his field of vision.

The hollow headed twosome took several steps back, while their stares snapped from him to Kol, before finally settling on Bonnie. "You have to help them, Bonnie. He'll kill them if you don't," Stefan pleaded.

"Then sodding good riddance," Rebekah uttered as she stalked over to the wet bar. "That'll be two butcheries I can cross off my to-do list."

"I'm not gonna let it come to that," Bonnie insisted in a quiet voice which held enough will to have been forged in hell fire and steel. "I plan to turn myself over to Ric."

His very accusing glare swung to his baby brother who'd been aberrantly silent throughout the entire misbegotten exchange. "And what is your say in all of this, Kol. She is your so called mate after all! Have you no opinion on the matter?"

"You're accurate, Nik. Bonnie is indeed my mate," Kol lifted the witch's hand to his mouth, and then pressed a kiss to her knuckles. His beady dung colored stare rediscovered him as his lips boasted a smirk which rivaled his own. "And my clever little mate has a plan."