Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries / The Originals, or any of the characters, plot-lines, dialogues from the shows or books

However, I do own Catherine Matthews/ my very own Katherine Peirce, her backstory, the storyline, and any additional characters that do not belong to The Vampire Diaries or The Originals. Characters in this story may not have the same opinion as you. These characters are all fictional.

"Our deal was that you help me kill Klaus," Elijah responded. It took about an hour for Damon to answer all the questions. Actually, Rose answered them as Damon was ready to snap at people after 4 questions.

"Well, I never agreed with it. Although I don't have any problem with that either. We can do that once we get the elixir from him," Damon said.

"We can't. Bonnie dies if she uses that amount of power," Jeremy, butted in.

"Jeremy..." Bonnie started, but the Gilbert boy cut her off.

"No, Bonnie! I agreed to your sacrifice as it was an ultimatum. Either you or Elena. And you asked me to respect your wish, as it's your best friend's neck on the line. But now...it's not. Both Elena and Katherine will come out of this alive, even if we don't kill the Psycho Hybrid," Jeremy spoke in a no-nonsense tone.

"What are you talking about, Jeremy?" Elena asked, confused.

"To kill an Original, Bonnie should access the power of all the 100 witches. And one can't do that unless they want to die," Jeremy stated.

"And you didn't think we have to know about this?" Caroline asked angrily, looking at the witch.

"Just because a bunch of dead witches gave me a warning doesn't mean I will die. Have a little faith in me," Bonnie announced.

"Bonnie, you just had these powers since yesterday. You are not used to handling that amount of power, much less use it. There is a little to no chance for you to come out alive of this," Stefan said, shaking his head.

"You dying is not an option Bonnie. If it means I have to be a living, breathing, and moving, blood bag for the rest of my life...I am okay with it," Elena replied.

"And, you are okay with Niklaus siring his own bloodline? Building his own race? Endangering, not just vampires, but everyone?" Elijah asked, looking at the human doppelganger.

"I am not risking the lives of my loved ones for anything," Elena stated. "I don't really care if it's selfish at this point. Maybe I will make a deal with Klaus myself. My blood, for protection."

"Elena, did you think this through?" Stefan asked softly, "This is not a decision you can take lightly."

"What other choice do I have, Stefan?" The latest doppelganger said with a sigh. "I am going for the lesser of two evils."

"So...we are not going to kill Klaus," Damon said, a doubting edge in his voice.

"No," Elena said, looking at Elijah.

"Good decision, Love," A voice hollered from outside the main door.

"What the..." Damon was already at the door before he could complete the sentence. And everyone followed after him at their own pace.

"Hmm, Blue eyes, British accent. You must be Klaus," Caroline said, looking over the figure of Original Vampire on the other side of the door.

"In the flesh. Good to know Katherine mentioned me in detail," Klaus said with a smirk. He then looked past her and said, "Hello, Elijah. Rose-Marie."

"Niklaus," his brother greeted back, while Rose stared at him wide-eyed.

"Where's Alaric?" Damon questioned, his eyes narrowed.

"Hmm. He is sleeping like a baby. I will send him on his way once he wakes up," Klaus said. "Anyway, it's good to know you have a backup plan as well," he said, looking towards Bonnie Bennett.

"Ah, how long have you been eavesdropping on us for?" Caroline asked him, with a hand on her waist.

"Hard to say, Love," was Kalus's answer. "Am I going to be invited in?"

"No," Elena said, finally recovering from the shock.

"I heard you want to make a deal," Klaus said, scowling at the human's impudence.

"And we can make it, with you, still, on the other side of the door," Elena retorted.

"Fiesty. Must be a family thing," Klaus mused and looked over Damon, saying, "Still, I think it's rude of Katherine for not mentioning that you lot met behind my back."

"You stay the hell away from her," Damon said, scowling. Klaus just smirked at it, which pissed off the younger vampire a bit more.

"What are you doing here, Klaus?" Stefan asked with a sigh before the argument could turn into blows.

"As you already know, a certain doppelganger turned vampire, mentioned a few kinks in my plans. And, after contacting my most trusted witches...I have decided to go along with the new plan. And as a part of the plan, I wanted to give dear Elena this," He said, taking out the elixir from the hands that were resting behind him this whole time. "I made sure that it's still effective. All you have do is, drink the elixir, sacrifice yourself on the altar, and come back to life while your other friends sit-tight and try not to screw anything. I will also need your blood once in a while and for you to remain human. And in return, I will leave your loved ones alone and set Katerina free."

Klaus glanced over everyone's face to check if they took him seriously. And once he was satisfied that his message was received, he extended his hand towards the doppelganger.

"And what's to say you won't go back on your word?" Stefan questioned him before Elena could shake his hand. "Why should we believe you?"

"The same way I am believing, that this sacrifice will work with Elena staying alive," Klaus retorted.

Elena let out a sigh and did the only thing she could, she shook his hand.

"Feels like a good start for our partnership," Klaus mused.

The Original Hybrid turned to walk out of there, but then he saw Elijah's face. He knows his brother very well. Though Elijah is known as 'The Noble Stag,' his brother is nothing short of a monster, if it comes to their family. And, now that Elijah thinks Klaus daggered his siblings and dumped their coffins at the bottom of the ocean, Elijah didn't hesitate to try and kill Klaus. His eldest brother went as far as allying himself with a group of newbie vampires and witches. Furthermore, Klaus knew what Elijah would do when all the doors for his revenge are closed. He would resort to drastic measures.

Klaus's best guess is that Elijah would kill the lot of Mystic Falls gang, including the doppelganger, or at least turn Elena into a Vampire just to get back at him. And, Klaus doesn't need another doppelganger fiasco on his hands anytime soon. He definitely didn't want Elijah going rouge in the last minutes. So, what exactly would keep Elijah from doing anything idiotic in the meantime? How would he keep his older brother on his toes until the sacrifice?

"Elijah, brother, would you care for a walk?" Klaus asked, mustering the most innocent face. However, his brother just stared at him with his eyes narrowed.

"What if I say, it's about our family?" Klaus tried.

"Which one? The ones you daggered and dropped at the bottom of the ocean?" Elijah snarked back.

"The ones whom I lied to you about?" Klaus retorted.

"What?" Elijah questioned sharply.

"I didn't bury our siblings at sea. Their bodies are safe," Klaus explained and turned back from the house.

Klaus wasn't going to say anything more than that, where everyone can listen in. He knew Elijah would follow him to learn more. Family is his brother's weakness, after all.

"I suggest you not to fool about this, Niklaus," Elijah said, following after him as the Hybrid expected.

"I am not," Klaus said. "I am surprised you think I would kill our annoying siblings when all I wanted to be was for us to be together. Always and Forever, Elijah."

"Tell that to Finn," Elijah reposted. "I am not going to belive you unless you show them to me."

"As you wish. Even though you tried to kill me," Klaus said, nonchalantly. But both the brothers know Klaus was angry concerning the feat Elijah tried to pull. "This way," The wannabe Hybrid said and vamped to the warehouse where he kept his siblings, with Elijah following on his heel.

There in the abandoned warehouse were 4 coffins, guarded by two compelled Vampires.

"Go on," Klaus said, motioning to the caskets.

Elijah warily made his way towards them and opened the first coffin. He first came face to face with the body of Finn Mikaelson, his eldest brother, who was locked in the same god-forsaken coffin for 900 years. Elijah immediately moved to the second one and was faced with the grey figure of his youngest brother, Kol Mikaelson, who was daggered for over a century. And the one in the last coffin was Rebekah, his sister. Elijah wasn't there when she was daggered, but from the dress, she was wearing, he knew Rebekah was locked in there for a long time.

Elijah's eyes then moved to the last casket. He hasn't looked at it carefully beforehand, as his mind was somewhere else. But now that he observed it, he knew clearly whom the coffin belonged to. It was his. The realization turned his eyes black with anger, understanding what his brother was about to do. However, before the Original could turn around completely to react, he felt the silver dagger pierce his heart, and before he knew it, he was being greeted by the familiar pain and darkness.

"I suppose, brother, you have been reunited with our family," Klaus said, slightly bitter that Elijah believed him to be a monster.

"Put him with the others," Klaus said, after placing Elijah in his coffin. And after giving a few other instructions, he left the place.

By the time Klaus went back to Alaric's flat, around 3 in the morning, he was met with a rather peculiar scene.

"What's happening here?" The to-be Hybrid asked.

"Ah..."

"We were waiting for you, so you can tell us what to do with him?" Greta said, pointing towards Alaric.

"And you decided to have a debate on Hogwarts houses meanwhile?" Klaus examined, with a raised eyebrow.

"You know what, since Klaus is already here, we might as well ask him," Katherine stated, "I am clearly a Slytherin material. Greta is a Ravenclaw, cause obviously, she is around you for more knowledge. Alaric's a Gryffindor. I mean, he is Damon's friend, and everyone knows Damon's reckless, and Alaric follows him around even though he knows they will end up dead. Maddox is a Hufflepuff, you know, since he is loyal to you," Katherine started explaining. "But these death eater's of yours are not agreeing with my assessment. And now that you are here, you do the sorting. Tell me if I am wrong?"

Klaus just glared at them for a moment. He pointed his finger towards his witch and warlock and started ordering, "You both start preparing for the ritual tomorrow. I will be needing a werewolf and a Vampire. Someone that is not on Elena Gilbert's loved one's list." With that Maddox, and Greta scurried away.

The Original then turned towards Alaric, and said, "You! Get out of here," but Alaric stared at Katherine with concern, instead of leaving immediately, however, once he saw the girl in the question nod her head in assurance, he decided to leave the flat with a stiff nod.

Just when Katherine decided to slip away to her assigned bedroom alongside others, Klaus ordered her to stay put.

"It seems you have been keeping a few things from me," The Original Vampire spoke and watched as the Petrova doppelganger gulped nervously. "First, let us talk about why you haven't mentioned that Damon and Rose were here, shall we?"

"You didn't ask," replied the doppelganger.

"And, what other things have you talked about, other than the changes in ritual?" Klaus prodded. "About how Bonnie now owns the power of 100 dead witches? Or perhaps how Elijah is back from the dead?"

"Nothing. I know you will compel me to tell you everything. So, I asked Damon not to talk about their plans," Katherine said, shaking her head.

"Hmm, clever," Klaus agreed. He leaned a bit closer to see if he could smell the vervain, but when he didn't sense anything, Klaus accepted it. Also, if everything goes as expected, she would be free from his wrath from the next day.

"Just so you know, we are following the ritual. I have already given the elixir to Elena. And if everything goes as expected, you will have your freedom," He said, going towards his bedroom.

"And Elijah?" The doppelganger couldn't help but a question. The younger vampire didn't want Elijah to do something stupid and destroy all her plans to gain freedom from canon Katherine's immortal enemy. Nor she wants someone to kill Klaus, which will indirectly kill her.

"Just because I will grant you your freedom, doesn't mean you can get back with my brother, Katerina," Klaus said, turning towards the younger vampire.

"I am not trying to get back with someone who decided to use my feelings just so they can sacrifice me on an altar," The girl in the question retorted back. "I just don't want your brother's need for revenge screwing up my chance at freedom."

This surprised Klaus a little. The Hybrid really thought the doppelganger would want to restart a relationship with his brother. The Katherine he knew would do it. But, apparently, not this one. The one who lived as a vampire for over 500 years. And had been elusive ever since.

"This is new. The hate you hold for my brother, I didn't expect it," Klaus said, genuinely interested. "What exactly turned your love for my brother to hate? Or, should I say, when. Don't tell me it has something to do with the Salvatore brothers."

"Why does it matter? Just so we are clear, if tomorrows ritual doesn't work, just because someone decided to screw up, I am not taking the responsibility for that. I get my freedom either way," Katherine said, changing the subject to more important ones.

"No one is going to botch this up. If they do, then I will massacre every last one of the people in this bloody town," Klaus said. "And you don't worry about my brother. Elijah is, precisely, where I want him to be."

Katherine just nodded her head stiffly. "I will leave you to it then," she said and made her way to the adjacent bedroom, closing the door on the way.

Salvatore Boarding House:

Everyone just stared among themselves, as they watched Elijah leave right after Klaus.

"Well, I guess, that went all right," Caroline said after a moment, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. I guess so," Damon said, nodding his head.

"I just felt like I sold my soul to the devil," Elena said light-heartedly.

"You are just lending it for time to time," Caroline comforted the girl, in Caroline-ish way.

"Are you okay, though?" Bonnie asked Elena with a sigh.

"Yeah. I will be," The human doppelganger said, nodding her head.

Stefan still hasn't said a single thing about it. He didn't know what to feel about the whole situation at this point, really.

"Hey, can I crash here tonight? It's already late," Caroline asked, to no one in particular.

"Actually, Katherine asked you to stay in your home until the sacrifice is done," Damon said.

"She also asked us to kindly remind you about how good Katherine is at killing people if you decide not to follow the order," Rose added.

"But Klaus said he won't kill anyone, right?" Caroline said.

"I don't care. I made a promise to her, so I am gonna keep it," Damon said, "Come on, I will drop you home myself."

"Fine..." the blonde vampire groaned and followed her sire outside.

Both vampires were soon out of the door, bickering about petty things along the way.

Everyone else decided to crash at the boarding house as it was almost midnight. Elena turned to her aunt Jenna after everyone went to their respective rooms. The doppelganger assured Stefan, she will come to bed, after settling her aunt in.

"Hey, Jenna," Elena said softly to her aunt, "I am sorry you had to see a whole lot of crazy in a single day."

"It's just...all the things I thought were a part of fiction, came to life in one second. Seeing Bonnie do magic, was just something else. Caroline just came into the house in a blink of an eye and freaked out when she saw me. And, Mason? He was my college friend, and now I got to know that he is a werewolf, along with Tyler. And you are a doppelganger? I don't even know what it means anymore," Jenna rambled to her niece.

"I know. I am sorry. I know I should've told you about this. But, I thought, I am protecting you from the real world," Elena said, comforting Jenna by caressing her shoulder.

"How is Alaric involved in this?" Jenna asked a moment later. And Elena told her as much as she could to put her aunt at ease.

"This vampire...your doppelganger, she is not going to kill Caroline for coming out of her house, is she?" Jenna questioned, after a few more inquiries.

"Oh, No! Katherine is her friend. She has this weird friendship with Jeremy and Caroline. I don't even know how it came to be, to be honest," Elena said, shaking her head.

"That's good. I guess," Jenna mumbled. "Did I ever meet Katherine and mistook her for you?"

"Well, the day when you saw Damon kissing me, it was actually Katherine. She just came into the town, and cut off John's fingers," Elena explained, and Jenna gasped.

"Why?" She asked mortified.

"John tried to kill Damon and Stefan..." Elena explained as much as she knows, keeping judgment to a minimum. She also explained why Katherine was protective of the Salvatore brothers.

"So, she loved both of them, and left because of the Klaus guy, who came here just now?" Jenna rehashed.

"Well, that's what everyone says. At first, I really thought Katherine was a bitch, that played two brothers until they hated each other, but then I saw her. I heard how she used to play video games with Jeremy and saw how committed she is to help the people she loves. Katherine has been searching for her daughter, Nadia, all these years when she heard, the girl turned into a vampire just to search for her mother. She also gave a few ideas that would help me come back to life after the sacrifice even though she hates me and the plans involved with people dying. And I guess, I kinda got used to her," Elena said, shrugging her shoulders. "I suppose, I need to thank my ancestor for negotiating with her immortal enemy on our behalf."

"Hmm. She feels like a whole package deal," Jenna mused.

"Katherine was the one at the Historical Tea party, and the one who accompanied you to your tour with Elijah, when I was staying at the lake house with Stefan," Elena said, after a moment of silence.

"What? Really?" Jenna asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah. Elijah dragged her along, so she kept up with the act," Elena responded.

"So, a 500-year-old vampire made me breakfast after seeing my burnt toast?" Her aunt gaped.

"She did that?" Elena asked astonished.

"Yeah. I mean, she just stared at my breakfast with distaste and made me a nice sandwich. I later blackmailed her with my puppy dog eyes, so she could come to the tour, and she agreed just like that," Jenna said with a chuckle, remembering the day very clearly. "You had been distant lately, and when she agreed to make up for it, I decided to drag her along. It was also for Elijah. I liked the nice pair they made during the tea party."

"Anyway, how are you feeling? Getting sacrificed on an altar is not something easy to accept," Jenna asked.

"It's the best for everyone, Jenna. Everyone gets to live. And if I try to run, Klaus is gonna resort to more violent methods. Katherine's whole family died for that. If it wasn't for Nadia being born in secret, the Petrova bloodline would have long ceased to exist."

"But donating your blood every now and then...what if, this Klaus dude suddenly snaps and decides to drain every last drop of your blood?" Jenna asked.

"We will think of something then," Elena said, "Anyways, it's getting late. We are going to have a long day. Get some rest. Everything is gonna be alright."