TYLER TOLD HER EVERYTHING ABOUT HIS WEREWOLF SIDE. At least, he told her what he knew. He knew that killing someone would activate his curse, and he knew that the transformation would be awful. "I know you think I'm crazy," he had said, but Eleanor tried to act with the perfect balance of skepticism and comfort.

Once he left, it was almost morning, so she only got about two hours of sleep before someone else knocked on her door. It was Caroline, and she had news about something that had happened with Katherine.

"She wants to do it in public," Stefan sighed when Eleanor brought Caroline to the Boarding House to relay all of this information to the brothers.

Damon nodded. "She's running scared. What she did to Jenna was desperate. She's out of tricks."

"We can't underestimate her. We have to play this smarter than her," Eleanor reminded them. She had spent four hundred years of her life watching Katherine manipulate people who underestimated her. There was no way that she was going to let herself fall into that trap.

Caroline groaned, and it was clear that she was really done with Katherine using her against her friends. "Can we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?"

"No, Katherine's not getting dick. I've had it," Damon said, and for once, Eleanor actually agreed with him on something. Giving Katherine the moonstone would only add to the idea that she could get everything she wanted from them. She would keep coming back every time she needed something. "I'm gonna go to the masquerade ball and I'm gonna kill her, tonight."

"You're not gonna kill her," Stefan sighed, shaking his head.

Damon scoffed, and Eleanor hated herself for how much she had been agreeing with him lately. "Don't give me that goody-goody crap." There was no time for goody-goody crap. Katherine wasn't leaving any time soon, so they were going to have to take matters into their own hands.

Eleanor loved that woman for most of her life, and the entire time, she was mistreated and used by her. Katherine never gave a crap about her, and she wasn't going to let past feelings get in the way of making sure that the Pierce woman got her justice.

"Because I am," Stefan finished, and he looked over at the Chetwood woman, "And you're gonna help me."

So, Eleanor headed home, grabbed some supplies, and headed back. If she was being honest, she had not hunted in a really long time. So, when she got there, she wasn't too surprised that Alaric had been called as well. She was slightly offended, though. Stefan shrugged at her raised eyebrows, "Can't hurt to have more than one hunter."

"And you're a little rusty, if you catch my drift," Damon added, and she glared at him. They got started, and the Saltzman's weapons and tools were a lot more modern and advanced than hers were. She just had a bag of stakes, crossbows and bows. She was being shown up by a lot.

Later, there was a knock on the door, and Caroline opened it, letting Bonnie inside. "Hey, come on in."

"I got Stefan's message," Bonnie replied, looking around the room in confusion. Alaric was sitting and explaining one of his weapons to Eleanor and Damon, and everyone else seemed to be doing something different. "What's going on?"

"We're gonna kill Katherine," Jeremy announced, walking in the door behind the Bennett girl and heading over to stand next to Eleanor.

"I can explain," Stefan said to Bonnie, holding his hands up in defence. She gestured for him to start explaining, but the Salvatore man did not seem to have a better answer. "We're gonna kill Katherine."

"This works with compressed air. The trigger mechanism is up here. I have two of these in a different size. For you I recommend this. It fits nicely under the jacket sleeve. You use the trigger when you're ready," Ric explained, and he faked killing a vampire.

Eleanor picked up another one of the gadgets, staring down at it in awe. Her father might have died on the spot if he ever saw these inventions. "That's so cool."

"You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire."

《❂》

ELEANOR WAS ON CAROLINE WATCH DUTY. The Forbes girl was in charge of luring Katherine to the room, and the Chetwood girl would follow them as inconspicuously as possible to make sure that Caroline didn't end up getting hurt. So, she lingered at the end of an empty hall, hiding behind crowds of people.

Caroline walked down the hall and went to open the door at the end when Katherine appeared and pushed her against the wall. Eleanor tensed up, but she knew that she couldn't do anything yet. The Pierce woman asked, "What are Stefan and Damon up to? I've got Jeremy Gilbert luring me out to the lake. What's going on?"

"I don't know...nothing," the blonde girl responded with a shaky voice.

Katherine began choking her, and Eleanor took a step forward, her hand hovering over the stake tied to her leg under her dress. She might not be able to kill Katherine, but she could sure as hell do some damage. "Don't lie to me, Caroline. They're up to something, what is it?"

"I..." Caroline started, but then, Katherine started choking harder. "Wait, no, no, no! Okay. They're trying to kill you."

"I figured as much. Where is the moonstone?" the Pierce woman questioned, and Eleanor grinned when she realized that Katherine had fallen right into their trap. Caroline informed her that Bonnie had it, and she was starting to cry. "And where is Bonnie right now?"

"I don't know," Caroline muttered, pretending like she was trying to protect her friend. This time, Katherine lifted her off the ground by her neck, and Eleanor felt her blood boil. "Okay. She's upstairs, she's upstairs!" Katherine released her before grabbing her arm and dragging the sobbing girl upstairs. Eleanor followed, and it was easy to get up and hide when the Pierce woman was so distracted. Caroline complained, "Why do you keep dragging me into this? I don't want any part of it."

Instead of answering, Katherine asked, "Which room is it?"

The Forbes girl pointed to the one that Bonnie had spelled, shaking like she was terrified. "It's that one." The older vampire wasted no time in stepping into the room while Caroline stayed outside.

"Where is she?" Katherine asked, searching the empty room, and Caroline's sobbing turned into proud giggles.

"I did it! I really didn't think that I'd be able to fool you but I did it!" she exclaimed, grinning. Katherine rushed over to her, but she hit an invisible barrier that stopped her from leaving the room.

Stefan stepped out of a room that was off to the side, and he grinned, "Hello, Katherine."

"Goodbye, Katherine," Caroline told her, offering a small wave. Eleanor made sure she stuck her head in and flipped the woman off before they headed back downstairs, leaving her with Stefan and Damon. "Now, what?"

Eleanor sighed, and she grabbed a glass of champagne as someone walked by with a tray. "Now, we go get drunk and dance and forget about the fact that my best friend of five hundred years is about to die."

So, they did just that, hanging out and enjoying the party, and Eleanor tried not to think about what was happening right above them. However, she furrowed her eyebrows when she heard crashed in Mr. Lockwood's office. She turned around and slowly walked into the room, Caroline on her heels.

"What is it? What's wrong?" the Forbes girl asked, but her question was answered as soon as they stepped inside. Tyler was on the ground, and Matt was standing above him. There was a girl watching with a weirdly entranced expression, not doing anything. The Lockwood boy jumped to his feet and slammed his fist into his friend's face. Caroline looked horrified, and she yelled, "What is going on? Stop!"

They both rushed in between the two boys, and Eleanor grabbed Tyler and pulled him back while Caroline pushed Matt to the floor. He jumped up again and just continued trying to get at Tyler while screaming, "I can't! Let me go, I have to finish!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? He just started attacking me!" the Lockwood boy shouted, directing the last part at Eleanor, who was still holding him.

Since he continued to struggle and fight, Caroline ended up elbowing him hard in the face. He fell to the ground, and she crouched down to check on him. She let go of Tyler and sighed, running a hand through her hair until Caroline shouted, "Tyler, look out!"

Eleanor whipped her head up just in time to see the girl that was standing there with a paper knife in her hand. She was diving toward Tyler, and she just stabbed him in the chest when he shoved her. Eleanor rushed toward her, but she couldn't get there before the girl hit her head on the table and fell to the floor. One listen to her heart told the Chetwood girl that she was head.

Tyler looked down at his wound, then to Eleanor, then to the girl. The brunette stared down in shock, knowing what this meant as he ran to try and wake her up. "No, no, no! Come on, wake up! Sarah, open your eyes, wake up! This can't happen, oh no, this can't happen. This can't be happening! Sarah! Sarah, get up! Sarah! Open your eyes! This can't be happening! Not like this!"

"Tyler? Tyler?! Tyler, what's happening?" Caroline asked, scared. Tyler raised his head, and his eyes were amber.

Eleanor's eyes widened, and she turned back to Caroline, gesturing to Matt. "Caroline, get him out of here and stop Mrs. Lockwood if she tries to come in."

"What's happening?" she asked again, but she picked up the Donovan boy nonetheless. Eleanor told her to just go before turning back to Tyler, crouching in front of him and putting her hands on his shoulders to try and calm him down. She glanced between him and the dead girl, and she wanted to bang her head against the wall. This was exactly what he told her he was terrified of, and she couldn't stop it.

He was a werewolf.