CAN'T EVEN KILL YOURSELF CORRECTLY.

Three days had passed since the resurrection of Clementine Donovan, and the full moon had arrived along with the sacrifice to break Klaus Mikaelson's curse. Elena sat in a ring of fire, shaking and terrified out of her mind.

She had no idea who the poor vampire was in the ring of fire next to her, but she recognized Jules, the werewolf that'd been helping Tyler. And she assumed Greta was the sister and daughter of the now-dead Martin witches.

Elena knew she was going to die and all she could think about was not getting to tell Clementine goodbye. She was still on her way back from seeing Shiela Bennett. A lone tear slipped down Elena's cheek, wishing more than anything that she'd seen the girl one last time.

But that wasn't in the cards as Klaus arrived, walking through the quarry and toward the three sacrifices. He had a pleased smile on his handsome face, appraising his victims.

"Hello, my lovelies. Are we ready?" he asked.

"I know I am," a new voice said.

Everyone turned to see who had arrived, and Klaus' eyes went wide at the sight of the blonde he was certain was dead. And from the tree line where he was hiding with Bonnie Bennett, Elijah was just as shocked. Not trusting him, they'd let him believe Clem was still dead.

"Clem," Elena breathed out, walking forward only for the fire to stop her.

"Hey, Lena," Clem said, smiling softly at her. There were tears in both their eyes. "I'm gonna get you out of this."

Klaus laughed at that. "It's cute, really, that a little human thinks she can do anything to stop this."

"I don't wanna stop this, Klaus. And neither do you," she told him. "But you don't want Elena dead."

"Maybe dying has rid you of some brain cells. Her being dead is the whole point. Now, if you'll forgive me, I'm going to kill you again and get on with the—"

"You can't make your hybrids unless she's alive," Clementine cut him off. "They have to drink her blood."

Klaus glared at her, not trusting his voice to ask how she knew that.

"What are you talking about, Clem?" Elena asked, her eyes wide. No, she wasn't thrilled by the idea of being a blood bag, but it was better than being dead.

"The Original witch couldn't make it easy — you know how fond of you she was," she went on. "So, by killing Elena, you're ensuring that you're the only of your kind."

Klaus hesitated and looked at Greta, who could only shrug. It sounded quite plausible to her if she was being honest. Then he looked back at Clem with a glare on his face.

"And how do you suggest we remedy this situation?"

"Simple. I have a plan to keep her alive," Clementine said before walking closer to Elena. "If you trust me, that is. I know this is a lot."

Elena gazed at her softly and shook her head. "I trust you with my life, Clemmy. More than I trust it with Damon and Stefan."

She couldn't help but smirk. "Oh, can you please tell that to their faces so I can rub it in?" she asked, giggling a bit. And both Klaus and Elena thought the sound was music to their ears — as did Elijah, who was still shocked from the hiding spot.

"Sure," Elena said with a weak smile. "When we all make it out of this."

Taking in a deep breath, Clementine turned back to Klaus and Greta. "There's a spell, Greta. In your family's grimoire. It binds a soul to another. Perform it on me. Elena dies, and then I take her place. She comes back at the end of it all."

"NO!" Elena shouted, her voice cracking. "No, Clem! I won't let you."

Clem smiled sadly at Elena, wishing she could explain everything. Explain why she wouldn't stay dead. But she didn't have the time, and it was none of Klaus' business.

"Don't let Demon bury me so quickly this time," was all she said before walking up to Greta and Klaus. "Do we have a deal?"

Klaus smirked, running his eyes over her features, searching for any hint of a lie. "How do you know all this, love? How do you know it'll work?"

"Because I'm a Seer," she told him. "I've seen it, obviously. Now, deal?"

Ignoring Elena, who was shouting in the background, Klaus nodded before letting Greta take over. She began muttering in Latin, and if Clem was expecting anything to happen, she was disappointed. One minute and a nosebleed later, Greta was opening her eyes and taking her hand off Clementine.

"It's done," she said, glancing at Elena, who was shaking her head in horror. "And it's time to start the ritual."

Klaus nodded as Clem stepped to the side, taking the moonstone from his pocket. "I've got the moonstone. I spent 500 years looking for this. I hate to part with it," he said before handing it over.

Greta took the stone and looked up to the sky. And as she did so, Clem walked to Elena, pulling her attention from the werewolf and vampire who were about to be murdered. As she got closer, Elena shook her head, tears falling down her face.

"No. No, Clem. I can't let you do this," she cried.

"It's already done, Elena," she said softly, the fire keeping her from hugging her friend. In the background, she could hear Jules screaming. "I'll be okay."

"Is that what you told Enzo before he snapped your neck?" she asked, both girls flinching a bit.

Clementine looked at her feet. "Has he come back yet?"

"No," she whispered. Then she wiped her eyes. "Why don't you want Klaus dead? What did you see to change everything?"

Clementine took in a deep breath, deciding to share with her, knowing that all the other vampires lurking around could hear. "If an Original dies, their entire sire line dies. Caroline is from Klaus'. So are Stefan and Damon."

Elena's mouth fell open in disbelief, unable to believe how many lives would be lost if they killed Klaus. And she didn't think she could cope with being responsible for that.

In the tree line, Elijah recounted what Clementine said to Bonnie, who suddenly knew she couldn't use the spell to kill Klaus anymore. Not with Caroline's life on the line. It was all for nothing.

"Oh, my god," Elena murmured. "God, Clem. B - but what about you? You'll die."

As the vampire screamed, Clem took the chance to whisper to her so that only she would hear. "I'll be back."

Uncertainty flashed in Elena's eyes, but she had no choice but to believe it. She had to cling on to the hope that she'd see Clem again.

A moment later, the circle of fire disappeared from around Elena, who launched herself into Clementine's arms. Though Elena was taller, Clem still kissed the top of her head before Klaus joined them, extending a hand to Elena.

She ignored him and walked past him, making Clem smile at the ground. Elena made her way to the altar and kept her eyes on Clementine, who had as an encouraging smile as she could manage on her lips.

Klaus followed her up to the altar and grabbed Elena's face, making her look at him.

"Thank you, Elena."

"Go to hell," she spat, a glare on her face.

He just smirked. "I'll be seeing you soon, love."

Then Klaus sank his fangs into her neck and began draining her of all her blood. Though Elena wanted to cry out, she bit her lip hard, keeping her eyes on Clementine, who was glossy-eyed. All too soon, her brown eyes rolled back into her head as she slowly died.

Klaus dropped her body hard, blood dripping from his mouth as the flames at the altar extinguished. The newly made hybrid took in a deep breath and stepped down from the altar toward Clem.

"I can feel it. It's happening," he said, looking up at the full moon. Then his bones began to crack as he started to transform, his eyes glowing yellow. "Yes, yes!"

Clem watched with a smile before beginning to grow dizzy. Her eyes fluttered shut and she swayed on her feet. And just as she began to tip over, Elijah rushed out from the trees, going for her instead of Klaus, catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Elijah?" Klaus asked, unable to concentrate much because of the pain of his shift.

Elijah looked up from Clem's pale face to his younger brother, a stern expression on his face. "Hello, brother," he greeted. "The Seer tells me you didn't bury them at sea. Is that true?"

Klaus groaned as another bone broke before nodding. "Their bodies are safe. I can take you to them. I give you my word, brother."

Elijah looked from Clementine to Elena to his brother before gently setting Clem on the grass. Before anyone could intervene, Elijah rushed to Klaus' side, dragging him off to a safer, more secluded place to complete his transition.

Not knowing what to do now, Bonnie, Stefan, and Damon all came out of their hiding places. Damon and Stefan went to Elena while Bonnie checked on Clem, whose pulse was weakening by the second. She couldn't help but tear up at the sight of the nearly-dead girl.

What were the odds she managed to come back twice?

☽︎

"You're back!" Kai said brightly as Clementine materialized in front of him.

It took her a second to realize where she was. In someone's backyard, Kai was in a pair of swim trunks, soaking up the sun as he floated around on a blow-up bed in the water.

"Well, I died again," she said flatly, coming to sit at the edge of the pool.

"Again? Already?" he asked, not impressed with her survival skills. "Who did it this time?"

"Me," she said, shrugging. She pulled off her shoes and stuck her feet into the water, wiggling her toes as she did so.

"Damn. Can't even kill yourself correctly."

Clementine knew she shouldn't have, but she laughed, throwing her head back. And Kai snickered a little too.

"There was this sacrifice thing. Saved a friend," she explained, leaving out all the details.

"You can't just say there was a sacrifice then not go into detail. A freak like me loves a good sacrifice."

☽︎

Everyone sat around the Salvatore Boarding House. Everyone.

Elena, Damon, Stefan, Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline, Tyler — who was back in town — Alaric, Jenna, John, as well as Elijah, who abandoned his brother in wolf form to check on the human. Even Matt was there, who'd gotten caught up during Tyler's transition during the full moon.

Damon was staying away from everyone, trying to keep the werewolf bite on his arm a secret.

Elena had been awake for a few hours now, and she had been clinging onto Jeremy the whole time. Matt was in tears, both Caroline and Tyler trying to comfort him. And Elijah was asking Stefan every detail he could recall about Clem dying and coming back to life.

Yeah, Matt hadn't reacted well when he found out Clem already died once that week.

It was Elijah who first heard her heart beginning to beat again. And as he announced it to the room, everyone was scrambling up to go and see her even if she wasn't awake yet. They didn't want her to wake up alone.

Elijah touched Stefan on the arm, letting him know he was taking his leave. He just wanted to know for himself that Clementine would come back to life but knew it wasn't his place to visit her. Besides, he had to clean up after his brother.

Another ten minutes passed before Clementine began to come around. Her eyes fluttered open, and the first thing she saw was Caroline leaning over her, their faces impossibly close. Clem flinched, and Caroline backed up with a sheepish smile.

"You're awake!" Caroline sight brightly. "Thank god! How do you feel?"

"Like I died," she said hoarsely. "But at least I wasn't buried alive."

"Not funny, Clemmy," Matt muttered before hugging her tightly. She was a bit stunned that her brother was there but smiled nonetheless, hugging him back. "I can't lose you. I just got you back."

"Matt knows now," Tyler also told Clementine.

She felt a little relieved at that, hoping she and her brother could get closer once more now that everything was out in the open — and he didn't think she was crazy.

As soon as Matt was done hugging her, he was replaced by Elena, who didn't want to let go. "Don't ever scare me like that again," she whispered, her words muffled by Clem's shoulder.

"No promises," she said teasingly. "But you're good? You're okay?"

Elena pulled back but then climbed into the bed next to her, continuing to hold her. "I'm perfect now that you're awake."

"Although Elijah's already taken a blood donation," Damon said, rolling his eyes. "Looks like they're gonna be in our lives every few months for a resupply."

"I'm sorry, Lena," Clem said softly. "But I had to tell him about the hybrids and your blood or you would've just been dead. And I couldn't let Bonnie kill him — not if it'd kill Care, Stefan, and Damon."

"And we thank you for that," Stefan told her softly. "It just..."

"Sucks," Damon muttered. "We lost."

"But we're all alive," Clem said, looking at Jenna and John specifically. "That's what matters."

Jenna felt uneasy under her gaze. "That bad thing you made me stay on campus for? I died, didn't I?"

She nodded her head. "As the vampire in the sacrifice."

"Jesus," Jenna muttered, sitting on the edge of the bed as she processed it all. Alaric came up beside her and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "Well, thank you, Clem. I think I'll be thanking you my whole life."

"You being in my life is thanks enough."