I know this is super short, but bear with me. I'm just getting back into writing this!

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Once Elena made it back to the Lockwood mansion, she texted Rebecca to see where she and Elijah were. They had made their way back inside and were seated in the living room, Elijah on one side and Rebecca on the other.

"So what did I miss?"

"A lot," Rebecca admitted. "Klaus is . . . he's from a werewolf bloodline."

Rebecca continued filling Elena in. Klaus' werewolf side was dormant at the moment, but he wanted to activate it, which would make him basically unkillable. Bonnie was still the most likely thing that could harm him in any way.

It didn't sound good.

"But Elena, I think we can save you. I mean, Elijah was going to save Katherine."

"Unfortunately, Katerina took matters into her own hands first," Elijah said. "I believe you already know how that played out."

The way Elijah talked about Katherine made Elena believe that he had more of a history with the evil vampire than he had explained.

"You cared about her. Didn't you?"

"It's a common mistake, I'm told. It's one I won't make again."

Elijah stood up, straightened up his jacket and gestured for them to follow him out.

They did as he desired.

"Damon wasn't home," Elena said. "I didn't get to tell him you were okay."

"Oh. Wonder where he went."

Elena watched as Rebecca took out her phone and tried to get in touch with Damon. She didn't get an answer. She ended up leaving a message.

"Hey, so let me know when you get this. Elena had to go back to the boardinghouse for a bit and was supposed to tell you everything was fine, but you weren't home, so . . . everything is fine. Where are you?"

And that was it.

"Where are we going?" Elena asked Elijah.

"To talk to your less pleasant boyfriends."

When they arrived at the boardinghouse, Elena invited Elijah in and they immediately sought out Damon and Stefan, who were both in the library. Stefan had been getting ready to sit down and Damon had been seated already, but they both stood at attention when they saw Elijah.

"You invited him in?" Damon asked.

Rebecca could tell how stupid he thought that was.

"Elijah and I have renewed the terms of our deal," Elena explained.

"The two of you will come to no harm from my hands," Elijah said, stepping forward. "I only ask for one thing in return. An apology."

Rebecca knew Stefan would have no problem apologizing if it meant keeping Elena safe, but Damon hardly ever apologized to anyone that wasn't Rebecca. This wasn't going to end well.

"Guys, he can help keep Elena alive. There's a way to kill Klaus and make sure Elena survives," Rebecca said. "This is what we've been looking for."

"And we're just going to believe this?" Damon asked. "Really?"

"Damon, out of everyone in this room, he's the only one who has kept his word. He could've woken up and killed all of us, but he didn't. He could've just taken Elena and gone away with her, but he didn't."

There was a long moment of silence, during which Stefan and Damon shared a look, and then Stefan stepped forward.

"I'm sorry for the part I played in your death. I was protecting Elena. I will always protect Elena."

Elijah had nothing to say against that. "I understand."

Everyone turned to Damon then and he was shaking his head.

"How do we even know whatever this is will work? I mean, has it ever been done before?"

"It will work," Elijah said. "The sacrifice will happen, but I can bring her back, fully human, fully Elena Gilbert."

"Bonnie will be able to kill Klaus without hurting herself," Elena said. "And Elijah can save my life. I told you I'd find another way."

"Is everything she just said true?"

"It is," Elijah confirmed.

"And we're trusting him?"

Rebecca could still tell Damon thought they were making a mistake by letting Elijah in on everything.

"I am," Elena said firmly.

Stefan didn't say anything, but the fact that he'd apologized said enough, and Rebecca didn't move from where she stood with Elijah and Elena.

Damon shook his head and began heading towards the door.

"You can all go to hell."

"Damon!"

"No."

And that was all he said.

Rebecca watched as he left the room. She knew part of the reason he was angry was because they were using Elijah, a guy he didn't trust at all, but another part of it was because she had decided to trust him, decided to do things Elijah's way.

Damon probably saw it as some sort of betrayal on her part because she'd promised to always be on Damon's side. She still was; she just wanted to find a way to save everyone.

If working with Elijah was the way to do that, she was completely willing to.

"Tomorrow night is the full moon," Elijah said. "We should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse."

Elijah had to explain the curse to Stefan, about how the sun and the moon curse had been fake, but that a real curse had been put on Klaus to keep his werewolf side from manifesting.

"If he breaks the curse, he will be a true hybrid."

"Then why are we letting him break the curse?" Damon's voice rang from outside the room. Of course he'd been listening in. "We could kill him today or tomorrow, with Bonnie, before the sacrifice happens."

He came back in the room, storm still in his eyes.

"Damon, Bonnie can't use that much power without dying," Elena reminded him. "It's not an option, Damon."

"A'right, how do we break this curse?" Stefan asked.

While Elijah began talking, Rebecca went to Damon's side and gently placed a hand on his back. She took it as a good sign when he didn't push her away.

Elijah explained everything that needed to happen the next night. Basically, a witch needed the moonstone. She would use the power of the moon to release the spell from the stone. Klaus would then have to sacrifice a werewolf and a vampire because he had both running through his veins. The final part of the ritual was the part that involved Elena.

Rebecca was sorry a werewolf and a vampire would have to die, but she was grateful that it probably wouldn't be Tyler, because he was no longer in town, and that it wouldn't be Caroline because they would watch out for her.

"Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelganger to the point of your death," Elijah explained.

Rebecca clutched at Damon's shirt, but he made no move to comfort her. She watched as Stefan grabbed onto Elena's hand. She realized then how much faith they were putting into Elijah and his plan.

"I acquired an elixir some five hundred years ago for Katerina. It possesses mystical properties of resurrection. So you will be dead for a short while, and then you won't."

"That's your plan? A magical witch potion with no expiration date?" Damon asked. "You wanna come back to life? What about John's ring?"

"Those rings only work on humans. The doppelganger is a supernatural occurrence. Odds are the ring won't work."

"I'll take those odds over your elixir." Then to Elena. "What if it doesn't work?"

"Then I guess I'll just be dead."

That hung there for a second. Everyone realized then that Damon was right. This might not work. Elena might die, and Klaus might become invincible. Rebecca could almost convince herself that using Bonnie to defeat Klaus was the best option.

"Does Klaus have everything he needs to do the ritual?" Elena asked. "A werewolf?"

"Klaus has been waiting to break this curse for over a thousand years. If he doesn't already have a werewolf, my guess is by tomorrow night, he will."

After everyone was done talking Elijah took his leave. He had to go and retrieve the elixir. He would come straight back.

Damon left the room again; this time Rebecca followed him. They went to their room. He remained silent, but she almost immediately started talking.

"I'm glad you came back."

"I still think this is a bad idea."

"I know. I also know that it may not work." She sat down on the bed. "I want this to work."

"You need this to work," Damon corrected. "I know you want to save everybody. I mean, I know you aren't actually okay with Bonnie or Elena dying. I just don't trust Elijah. He's an Original, one we tried to kill."

"To be fair, I told you not to do that. But no, I don't want anyone dying. Elena, Bonnie, whatever vampire and werewolf Klaus decides to use. Before finding out about this, I thought – I thought Bonnie was the only way, and it is her life. And then with Elena, I knew she would have to die, so I just kept trying to focus on how to kill Klaus."

If Elena took the elixir Elijah was going to provide, Bonnie wouldn't have to expend all that energy to kill Klaus, not to save Elena, because Elena would die and then come back to life. Bonnie might be able to take Klaus out when he was completely vulnerable, which would save Bonnie's life.

She was sorry about whoever Klaus chose as the other sacrifices, but they could only save who they could save, which would never be everybody.

Jeremy and Bonnie were settling down for bed when he received a call from Rebecca. He almost dreaded answering. It couldn't be good news, not coming from her this late at night, but he knew it would be important no matter how good or bad the news would be.

"Hey, Becca, what's up?"

"Hey, Jer. Are you still with Bonnie?"

"Yup. Why?"

"Put me on speakerphone."

He did and then gave her the go ahead to talk.

"Elena woke Elijah up."

"What?"

"Yeah, this morning. She and I spent most of the day with him. He is still willing to help us." Jeremy heard some type of movement from the other side as if she were switching the phone to her other ear. "Jer . . . we learned a lot today, so are you guys ready to get up to speed?"

Jeremy looked at Bonnie, who had an expression of determination on her face.

"We need to know," she said.

They learned a lot, Rebecca hadn't been exaggerating about that. The curse of the sun and the moon wasn't real. It wouldn't make vampires able to walk in the sun, and it wouldn't make it possible to control when or if a werewolf turned. There was a curse, though, but it involved turning Klaus into a werewolf-vampire hybrid.

"Uh, how is that possible?"

"According to Elijah, all the originals started out human. Klaus is Elijah's brother. There are more, but Klaus is the one we need to worry about. Apparently, their mom had an affair with a werewolf, so werewolf blood runs in Klaus' veins. Once he became a vampire, he was cursed so his werewolf side couldn't be activated. That's the curse he wants to break. He wants to be both; he wants to be basically invincible. Elijah said he also wants to start his own hybrid race."

"We can't let that happen."

"No, we can't. But the ritual does have to start. Klaus will be vulnerable once it starts. Elijah has a way to keep Elena from dying – or staying dead, anyway."

"What?" both Jeremy and Bonnie said.

"Yeah, an elixir. If she takes it, she can die and come back to life, still human. Like the spell you did, Bonnie."

"Don't lie to them. It might not work."

That had been Damon's voice.

"Becca?" Bonnie said.

"I mean, yeah, there's a chance it might not work. But it's better than nothing."