AFTER NEARLY DYING, THEY MADE IT TO THE LOCKWOOD MANSION. They had gotten to the cellar, but it quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to hold against Tyler in his wolf form, so Matt shot him so that they could run past him and to the house.

The Donovan boy peered out the window. He had been doing laps of the house, waiting to see something that would confirm that his best friend was alive. "You don't think I killed him, do you?"

"No. It takes a lot more than wooden bullets to kill a werewolf," Eleanor responded from where she sat on the couch with Caroline, who was lying across it with her head in Ellie's lap. They were going to have to hide out there until it was safe to go outside, but the brunette girl was itching to know how killing Klaus was going. "He's still out there somewhere."

"Do you think my mom wants to kill me?" Caroline asked, staring up at the ceiling. Matt had explained everything to them, informing her that her mother had given him vervain before he was compelled to forget everything. They had been working in kahoots ever since.

Eleanor scoffed, "I'd like to see her try."

Caroline just rolled her eyes with a small smile. "I don't think your mom knows what to do with you," Matt answered with a sigh.

"Yeah, well, I don't really know what to do with me, either," the blonde replied, and Eleanor just looked down at her with a frown.

She was about to say something when she heard a noise on the front porch. Caroline must have heard it as well because she shot up. Matt furrowed his eyebrows, following their gaze to the door. "What is it?"

"Wait," Caroline stopped him when he started toward the door. Both of the vampires listened intently and heard more shuffling on the porch.

Matt pointed the gun at the door, but Eleanor just stood up and grabbed it, dropping it on the table. "Calm down, Annie Oakley. Don't shoot."

"What the hell are you doing?" Matt asked as Caroline moved to stand beside him. Eleanor gestured for her to stay back until she made sure the coast was clear. She peered through the glass and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Tyler was lying naked on the front porch. It wasn't a pleasant sight, but at least he was alive, human, and well. She extended her hand toward Matt. "Give me your jacket."

"What?" he questioned in confusion, and she wondered how many times she would have to prove that she had everything handled before he would listen to her.

"Your jacket, take it off," she repeated more firmly. Matt frantically took his jacket off and handed it to her. Once she had it, she opened the front door and placed it down on top of the sleeping boy. The other two approached behind her to see what was going on. She lightly shook him, calling softly, "Tyler. Tyler, wake up."

He awoke with a gasp, sitting up immediately with terror in his eyes until he saw his friends standing there. He breathed out a sigh, "Eleanor?"

"Hey. It's okay. It's okay," she assured him, but now that they were safe, the spell was in the back of her mind. She needed to watch the man that had been chasing her forever die. She just needed to. She turned back and raised her eyebrows at the blonde girl. "Caroline?"

She nodded, understanding immediately. "I got him. Go."

《❂》

WHEN ELEANOR GOT THERE, SHE HAD NO CLUE WHAT WAS HAPPENING. She was behind everything that was happening, and she ducked behind a tree to hide. Stefan was on the ground a bit away from the altar with stakes in his back, and Elena was standing in front of Klaus.

Eleanor's heart broke when she saw Jenna's dead body lying in front of the altar. Elena stared down at it with pain in her eyes. Klaus reached up and took her face in his hand, which was really confusing. The Chetwood girl was about to move closer when a hand grabbed her arm and covered her mouth. She looked up to see Damon, holding a finger to his lips.

She nodded slowly, realizing the plan when he pointed over at Bonnie who was waiting as well. They both then turned to watch. They needed to get him when he was at his weakest. Klaus smiled. "Thank you, Elena."

"Go to hell," she responded bitterly. Stefan continued to struggle up, but fell back to the ground, too weak to move. Elena stared out, blankly, as Klaus sunk his fangs into her neck and started to drain her of her blood. Eleanor watched on, helplessly. It had to be timed correctly, and they had a way to save Elena, supposedly.

Elena's eyelids fluttered closed and her eyes rolled into the back of her head before she hit the ground, dead.

Blood dripped from Klaus' mouth and the flame in the bowl extinguished. Elena's body lay lifeless and Stefan stared at her, sadly, lowering his head to the ground. Klaus breathed heavily and walked down the stone steps.

"I can feel it. It's happening," he announced. He looked up at the full moon, and suddenly, his bones began to crack. He was transforming, which meant that it was almost their time to shine. His eyes glowed amber, but there were veins under them, like a vampire. "Yes, yes!"

And then Bonnie stepped out. He was thrown in the air as the flames in the bowl reignited. Before his witch could react, Eleanor sped down and snapped her neck while Damon went and picked up Elena's body.

"Phasmatos Infero Eseri Gratas, Disasustos Vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te. Victamas Veras. Phasmatos Tribum, Niha Sue Exilum, Disasustos Vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te. Levam, Mina Sue Te, Disasustos Vom, Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te. Phasmatos Veras. Fes Matos Tribum, Mas Pro Tes Unum. Victas Ex Melam, Phasmatos Vanem. Mas Pro Je Ta Sue Te."

"No! You were dead!" Klaus yelled angrily at Bonnie. His body contorted into shapes as he screamed out in pain. Eleanor would be lying if she said that she wasn't really enjoying it. Meanwhile, Damon carried Elena's body toward Stefan and put her down next to him.

Stefan grabbed her arm gently before grunting in pain as Damon ripped the remainder of the stake out of his back. Damon went to help him up, but Stefan just grabbed his arm and stared at him. "I need you to get her out of here!"

"What about you?" the older brother questioned, glancing at the girl's body.

"I'm not leaving until he's dead," Stefan sneered, and the Chetwood girl could not blame him. This was prime entertainment. When Damon seemed hesitant, he pointed out, "Eleanor's here. I'll be fine. Go!"

So, Damon picked up Elena and carried her away. Eleanor moved and helped Stefan up while Bonnie continued to chant the spell. It was so powerful that trees were falling around them, and Klaus screamed in pain. Elijah approached him slowly, and the Bennett girl stopped chanting. The hybrid looked up at his older brother. "Elijah?"

"Hello, brother," Elijah answered, and Eleanor moved to stand in front of Bonnie to protect her from anything that could happen. The well-dressed Mikaelson plunged his arm into Klaus' chest, grabbing a hold of his heart. "In the name of our family, Niklaus..."

"I didn't bury them at sea!" Klaus shouted suddenly just as Elijah was about to rip out his heart, and Eleanor's heart dropped. He must be talking about their siblings. Elijah mentioned that he had taken them away. "Their bodies are safe. If you kill me, you'll never find them."

"No, no, no. Elijah, don't listen to him," the Chetwood girl told him, shaking her head. There was a huge chance that Klaus was just lying to save himself.

Klaus kept going, though, seeing the second thoughts forming in his brother's head. "Elijah. I can take you to them. I give you my word...brother."

"Elijah!" Eleanor shouted, and he glanced at her for just a second.

Bonnie raised her hand again, getting ready to start chanting as she threatened, "Do it and I'll take you both out."

"You'll die," Elijah pointed out. There was no way she would be able to take down two Originals without paying the consequences. Everyone there knew that.

She shrugged. "I don't care." She wanted to protect her friends and family from this evil. If Eleanor could have done anything to help kill Klaus in that moment, she would've even if it meant taking Elijah down as well.

The older brother looked at Klaus and then over to the group waiting for him to do what they had planned for him to do. "I'm sorry."

"No!" Eleanor yelled, and she sped over to the pair without even thinking. They were faster, though, and both of them were gone in the blink of an eye.

《❂》

NOTHING SAID 'WE'VE JUST COMPLETELY LOST' LIKE A MOVIE IN THE TOWN SQUARE. Attendance was mandatory, according to Caroline, so she had dragged Eleanor along with a picnic blanket and two baskets full of food to meet Elena and Bonnie.

"Hey! There you guys are," Caroline exclaimed when they got there. Eleanor was pleased to see Jeremy sitting next to his sister, and she plopped down next to him while Caroline placed the baskets down. "Who's hungry?"

Jeremy sighed, and it was clear that he did not want to be there. Eleanor understood why, considering he had just lost his aunt to an Original vampire. He sighed, "Are we really doing this?"

"Pass the rolls," the Chetwood girl ordered, and he handed her the tupperware containing them.

"Yes, we are really doing this. We are going to take a page from Scarlett. We made it through the war," Caroline responded, kneeling down on the blanket and referencing Gone With the Wind, the movie they were about to watch. "I know you guys went through Hell, and my mom knows I am a vampire. So, basically it's like Atlanta has burned. And yet, in spite of everything, we persevere."

She cheered, holding her arm out, and in solidarity, Eleanor nodded, raising a roll like a toast. "Here here!"

"All right," Jeremy sighed, rolling his eyes at the girls before taking a peek inside the baskets. "What are we eating? I think Eleanor has claimed the rolls."

Caroline smiled, glad that people were joining in with her plan to lift the mood. "Something good," she told him before slapping the Chetwood girl's hand away as she reached for more bread. "Ellie, you are not about to eat sixteen rolls by yourself. Put them down."

About ten minutes into the movie, Elena had abandoned them to go check on Damon and his werewolf bite, but she had been replaced by Bonnie. Eleanor was stuffed with rolls and lying with her head in Caroline's lap and her feet in Jeremy's when the Forbes girl began whispering to her.

"All this waiting around for news is ruining Scarlett for me," she sighed. They were trying to figure out if Damon was going to die or not.

As if on cue, Jeremy's phone rang. People all around them turned toward him, and Eleanor kicked him to get him to pick it up before he embarrassed them more. He answered and brought the phone up to his ear. "Alaric. Hey." There was a short pause, and then he furrowed his eyebrows. "She went to go see Damon. I thought that's where you were?"

"No, he just escaped," Alaric replied. Eleanor had just started listening in, interested. "I think he's looking for her, and the cops are after him. Listen, he's in bad shape, Jeremy, so if you find her, get her somewhere safe, okay? I'm on my way."

He then hung up, and Eleanor raised her eyebrows at him in question to see if he needed her to do anything. "You need help?"

"If Damon is off the rails, there is nothing you can do to stop him. Let us take care of it," Bonnie told him, and people were shooting them death glares for being loud. Caroline tried to get them to speak in more hushed voices, partly for the crowd's sake and partly because announcing their supernatural problems to the town was maybe not the greatest idea.

But Jeremy scoffed, shaking his head at his girlfriend — Eleanor was pretty sure they were dating, but she would have to ask Caroline later — and standing up. "You keep doing this. You left me behind before, and guess what Jenna still died. Now I'm going to find my sister. You go ahead and you try to stop me."

He walked away, and Bonnie stared at him with a dumbfounded expression while Eleanor just nodded in approval. Good for him, standing up for himself, even if it might get him in trouble.

He had a point. They really shouldn't try to stop him from saving his family. There is nothing worse than feeling completely helpless while the people you love are in danger. Eleanor knew that better than anyone, between her family and the people that she had lost over the years.

So, instead of running after him and telling him to stop, she let him go and leaned back into Caroline's lap to continue watching the movie.

《❂》

THE GIRLS DECIDED TO GET SOMETHING TO DRINK FROM THE GRILL. Eleanor was craving either blood or a Diet Coke, so she needed the latter before she grabbed someone off the sidewalk. However, her plan was interrupted when she stepped into the restaurant and immediately smelled blood.

"Jeremy!" Bonnie shouted, and that was when Eleanor saw it. The Gilbert boy was on the ground with a bullet wound in his torso. Sheriff Forbes was standing, holding a gun on the other side of the room.

Bonnie and Ellie ran over to the boy while Caroline stared at her mother in shock for a moment. "Mom. Mom, what did you do?"

"I was aiming for Damon," she defended, but the man was nowhere in sight. He must have been wandering around. Who knew where the hell he was now.

Eleanor checked his pulse. Nothing. She then grabbed the boy's hand and breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw the band around his finger. "He still has his ring." The Gilbert ring would bring him back to life. They were fine.

"He's human. The ring won't work on him," Bonnie corrected in a panic, and the vampire's heart dropped. The Bennett girl looked up at her, knowing there was only one other way. "Eleanor..."

"I got it," she answered, knowing immediately what she wanted her to do. She brought her mouth to her wrist and bit into it before putting it to the boy's mouth. "Come on, Jeremy. Just drink. Go on, Jeremy. Drink," she muttered, but it wasn't working.

Sheriff Forbes stepped forward in confusion and slight anger like they were defaming his body or something. "What are you doing?"

"She's helping him," Caroline told her mother, holding her back before she shot someone else.

Eleanor was shaking in fear now because these people had lost enough. There was no way that she was letting Jeremy die as well. However, no matter how hard she tried and prayed, he remained motionless with his eyes closed. "Jeremy, drink. Please. Please. Please."

"Bonnie, what's going on?" a voice asked, and Alaric had entered The Grill. At the sight of the boy on the ground, he froze. "Oh, my God."

"I know what I need to do," Bonnie muttered, and Eleanor removed her wrist from Jeremy's mouth so that she could do whatever she needed to do. She looked up at Alaric. "I need you to grab him. Take him with us."

"No, no, no, no. You can't move him. This is a crime scene," Sheriff Forbes protested.

Once again, Caroline stopped her, stepping in front of the woman so that she couldn't do anything. This was the only thing that could save Jeremy's life. If anyone could do it, it was Bonnie. "Mom, you let them go."

Eleanor took both of the Forbes women home and let them talk it out while she waited in Caroline's room. She was lying on the bed, but when she felt her phone buzz and saw that it was from Jeremy, she almost fell out of it. She fumbled with the button and answered quickly.

"I'm alive!"

She breathed out a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, and she could finally breathe. "Oh, thank God."

"Aw, were you worried about me?" he mused on the other end of the line after hearing how relieved she had been.

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but grin. She cared about the boy, unfortunately, and she would have been terribly upset if he had died. "No, just scared that I'd have to put up with everyone else being sad."

"Whatever, I just called to let you know," he scoffed playfully, pretending to be offended. "Wanna have lunch tomorrow?"

"Sounds good," she answered before hanging up and putting her phone back down on the nightstand. She leaned back against the wall and looked up when the door opened.

Caroline stepped inside, and she flopped down on the bed beside Eleanor. She didn't give any clues with her expression about how it went with her mother. "Was that Jeremy I heard?"

"Yeah, he's alive," she responded. "How did it go with your mom?"

"It's going to be tough, but I think we're going to make it past it," Caroline sighed with a small smile, and Eleanor grinned, happy for her. "Now, I figured we should watch Gone With the Wind since we never got to finish it. And we can start from the beginning so I can point out all of my favorite parts that we missed..."

And as Caroline continued on, Eleanor couldn't help but just sit there and smile at her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

and that's a wrap on season 2!!! this was a long chapter to make up for the short chapter before. i'll see y'all in the next act!