11

—11. The Sacrifice

ALWAYS AND FOREVER

Damon, Stefan and Aurora walk down into the tomb and look at each other.

"Let's do it." Damon said. They grab the stone door; Damon taking the right side, Stefan taking the left as Aurora stood off to the side, assisting if needed.

"1,2,3." They pull the stone door off the entrance of the tomb.

Elena opens the front door. Stefan, Damon and Aurora are standing on the front porch.

"Hey. Uh, can we talk?" Stefan asked the girl.

"Why?"

"We went to see Katherine." Damon cut in.

Elena nodded, "Come on in." She steps aside and Stefan, Damon and Aurora entered the house.

Damon and Stefan successfully remove the stone door from the entrance of the tomb. They place it to the side and approach the entrance. All the Salvatore siblings lean against the frame of the entrance, waiting for Katherine, who comes around the corner, looking hungry.

"Please...come on in. There's plenty of room for all of us." Katherine said with a gravelly tone from the lack of blood.

"I'd rather poke my eyes out." Damon retorted.

"Mmm, they're such pretty eyes."

Aurora rolled her eyes, "We're here for the moonstone." She mentioned.

"Feel like tossing it over?" Damon questioned.

"Tell you what, you get your little witch to hocus pocus me out of here, you can have whatever you want."

"I thought you liked it in here. Nice and safe where Klaus can't get to you." Stefan said, causing Aurora to tense up -no one noticed but Katherine, who smirked.

"I've had time to reconsider." Katherine said, sending a smirk to Aurora.

"Meaning you're hungry." Damon stated.

"I'm starving, Damon. And dirty. But above all, I'm bored." Katherine has progressively gotten closer to the entrance, stumbling and grasping at the wall as she does so. "At least running from Klaus wasn't boring - so here's the deal: you get me out of here, you get the moonstone and I'll disappear from Mystic Falls forever." Stefan and Damon look at each other. Katherine starts to walk away.

"Let me know what you decide." As she says this, she holds up the moonstone and stumbles back into recesses of the cave.

Elena, Damon, Stefan and Aurora stand around the island in the kitchen, talking.

"You don't believe her, do you?" Elena asked, looking between all the Salvatore's.

Damon shook his head, "No, of course not. We just want the moonstone."

"According to Rose's friend Slater, there's a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break." Stefan informed.

"No spell, no doppelgänger sacrifice. Ergo, you live."

Elena narrowed her eyes, "How do you destroy it?"

"By releasing it from the moonstone." Stefan answered. Aurora almost laughed at how ridiculous that sounded.

"How do you guys even know this is gonna work?"

"Cause we have a crafty witch on our side." Damon smirked.

Elena nodded, "You discussed it with Bonnie." She realized.

"She agreed to do anything she could to help us."

"It's Katherine who has the moonstone. She's not gonna give it to you." Elena retorted.

"We're gonna get it from her." Stefan assured the girl.

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

"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."

"Wow. I mean, it sounds like you guys already have it all planned out."

"Yep. We're awesome." Damon said, playing with the fruit on the counter top, causing Aurora to take it from him and put it back down.

"Except for one thing. I don't want you to do it." Stefan and Damon exchange looks.

"What are you talking about? Elena, we don't have a choice."

"What about Klaus?" Elena asked.

"We'll find him right after we get the moonstone."

"Is that before or after he kills everyone that I care about, including the three of you." She points from Stefan to Damon, then Aurora. The idea that Elena cares about them startles Damon and Aurora. Especially since her and Elena only had one conversation, barely that.

Stefan tried to persuade her, "Elena, if we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your life."

"I know. Everybody keeps saying that." Elena gets up and leaves the room. Stefan and Damon exchange a look again.

"Well, that went well." Aurora commented with sarcasm coating her words.

In the parlor, Bonnie speaks to Stefan, Jeremy, Damon  and Aurora about their plan. "I might be able to lower the tomb spell long enough for you to get in there and grab the moonstone from Katherine."

"How? It took both you and your Grams last time, and look what happened to her." Jeremy mentioned.

Bonnie nodded with a sad expression, "I'm well aware of what happened. I've learned a few new things."

"Bonnie..." Bonnie deflects Jeremy's concern and looks over at Stefan.

"How will you get it?"

"She hasn't been feeding. She's weaker. We're not." Stefan informed. Damon raises a glass of blood towards Bonnie.

"You wouldn't be underestimating her, would you?" Bonnie looked between the vampires.

Damon smirked. "It's a plan. Is it perfect?." He scoffs, "What plan is?"

"Let me do it. I've got my ring. I can get in, get out, no spells necessary." Jeremy said.

"Gee, thanks, you 16-year-old child. Why didn't we think about that? Why are you even here?"

"Maybe I can help better the plan. Do you have anything that belongs to Katherine?" Damon looks over at Stefan, significantly.

Stefan re-enters the parlor room where Bonnie, Jeremy, Damon and Aurora were waiting for him. He has the picture of Katherine in his hands.

"This belonged to Katherine. Found it with her things after I thought she was dead, but it was hers." Stefan holds out the portrait of Katherine and Bonnie takes it. Bonnie places the portrait in a ceramic bowl. She dips her fingers in a glass of water and lets the water droplets drip from her fingertips into the bowl. Flames sprout from the bowl. Bonnie shuts her eyes and begins to chant a spell in Latin.

"What will this do?" Aurora questioned. Bonnie opens her eyes, watching the picture burn.

"I can turn the metal into ash. Blow the ashes on her, and it'll incapacitate her for a minute or two. Long enough for you to get the stone and get out." Suddenly, Bonnie's nose starts to bleed. Bonnie raises her hand to her nose and wipes it away before anyone notices.

Bonnie approached Stefan, Damon and Aurora who are waiting in the church ruins by the entrance to the tomb.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to grab the grimoire from home."

"Jeremy couldn't take the pressure, huh?" Damon asked.

"He said he'd be here." Stefan, Bonnie and Aurora descend the stairs to the tomb. Damon starts to follow but stops abruptly when his cell phone rings.

Stefan, Bonnie and Aurora have made it down into the tomb. Stefan drops his bag and starts rummaging through it, while something catches Auroras eye. She sees the moonstone lying nearby.

"What the hell?" Aurora muttered.

"Is that the moonstone?" Bonnie asked. They all rush over to it. Stefan picks it up. Katherine, lips drenched in blood, comes to the entrance of the tomb.

"I hate to interrupt," they all look up at her. "but today has just been full of surprises." Katherine pulls Jeremy out from behind the wall. Jeremy's eyelids flutter and the bite mark on his neck oozes blood. Stefan rushes over to the entrance and Bonnie looks on in horror, while the only thing Aurora could focus on was the amount of blood.

"I'm sorry. I took some powder." Jeremy informed, s dazed from the amount of blood loss.

"Don't worry, I know that he's wearing his ring, so no matter how many times I kill him, he'll just keep coming back for more. So, I'm going to be in the back playing with my new little toy." Katherine shoves Jeremy back into the cave. "And you guys just give me a holler when you've got the tomb open."

Bonnie has set up a circle of torches in the antechamber. She lights them with a flame.]

"Where the hell is Damon?" Stefan asked and Aurora shrugged.

"We can't wait, we have to get him out of there." Bonnie informed.

"She's fed, she has her strength back."

"We still have what's left of the ash." Bonnie hands Stefan an envelope with the ash. "Do you think you can get close enough?"

Stefan takes the envelope from Bonnie. "I don't have a choice."

"It's gonna take me some time."

"How long?" Stefan questioned.

Bonnie shrugged, "I don't know, a while."

"Just get me in there as soon as you can." Stefan walks away.

Bonnie continues to chant the spell and the flames flare up. Katherine, dragging Jeremy behind her, comes back towards the entrance. "Ohhh, something's happening." Stefan and Aurora look back at them.

"Bonnie, no!" Jeremy's eyes widened as he yelled in concern.

Stefan and Aurora look back at Bonnie, a look of alarm on their faces.

"You have to stop her, she's not strong enough!" Jeremy yelled to the Salvatore twins as the flames flared up higher.

"Maybe she is." Katherine said.

Bonnie's nose started bleeding, but she continues to chant the spell. Stefan walks over to her, concerned.

"Bonnie....Bonnie...."

"You gotta stop her!" Katherine elbows Jeremy in the face and he falls to the floor. Stefan looks back at Jeremy and sees he's okay. He looks back at Bonnie and grasps her arm.

"You need to stop. Bonnie!"

Bonnie continues to chant the spell as Stefan tries to persuade her to stop.

Bonnie!" Suddenly, Bonnie faints. Stefan gets down next to her and begins to shake her. "Bonnie. Bonnie, wake up, please. Bonnie, wake up. Bonnie."

"Yes, please because I'm still in here!" Katherine impatiently paces around inside the tomb. Bonnie finally wakes up.

"Are you okay? You all right?" Bonnie, feeling fuzzy, sits up with Stefan's help. Bonnie uses Stefan's arm to stand herself up.

"It didn't work." Bonnie looks into the cave, upset. Stefan holds onto her arms so she won't fall back down.

"I'm not strong enough. Even with help, I can't do it."

"Ahhh, that's too bad, I'm still hungry." "Katherine grabs Jeremy's shirt and pushes him up against the wall. She extends her fangs and prepares to bite Jeremy's neck."

Aurora vamp-speeds into the tomb, grabs Jeremy, throws him out, and restrains Katherine against the wall. "Go!"

Jeremy falls onto the ground and Bonnie kneels down and wraps her arms around him. They both look up at Aurora as Aurora keeps her eyes on Katherine. Katherine looks at her with a smug smile.

"Rory." Stefan said with a sad expression.

Aurora shook her head, "Go, Stefan. I'll be fine."

"Damon, good night, okay?" Elena is about to enter the house but stops when she sees Jeremy and Stefan. Damon looks at them.

"What?" He questioned.

"It's Aurora." Stefan answered with a sad and anxious expression.

Damon and Stefan run down the stairs of the tomb, standing at the entrance of the tomb -debating wether they should go in or not. Hearing the commotion, Aurora walks over to the entrance.

"Of all the idiot plans, Ro." Damon shook his head.

"Yeah." Aurora nodded.

Stefan stepped closer, "We'll find a way to get you out."

"it's alright. I'll handle myself. The witch has the moonstone. Work with her."

"You martyr yourself in a tomb and we get partnered with a semi-competent witch. Wonderful." Damon rolled his eyes.

"Try not to worry about me too much." Aurora smirked, "I know it will be hard."

Damon scoffed, "You wish."

Damon leaves the tomb but Stefan stayed behind, "Rory..."

"Don't, Stef. Worry about Elena. Don't make this a big deal, I'll be fine. Katherine won't do anything." Aurora assured her twin brother.

Stefan nodded, "Be careful." He said before walking out of the tomb.

Katherine emerges from the shadows. "We are going to have so much fun together, Ror." Aurora silently walks past her into the recesses of the cave.

WORD COUNT : 2052