CAROLINE HAD JUST GOTTEN OFF THE PHONE WITH TYLER. Apparently, he had been called to Klaus' house to help him pack up since he was apparently leaving town. Eleanor was a bit upset that Laurence didn't come let her know, but she was happy to soon be rid of Klaus. They walked into the cafeteria to see Rebekah there, all alone and cleaning. The Forbes girl furrowed her eyebrows. "Where's Matt?"

"He bailed," the Original breathed out angrily, and the brunette was a little shocked that she knew more about Matt's whereabouts than they did. "Got called into work at the last minute."

"Are you kidding me? So, it's just us?" Caroline exclaimed, and Eleanor shot her a look to tell her that this would not be a pleasant experience if she continued to be mean to Rebekah.

Rebekah nodded. "Yes, and you two are late. Clean up committee started at eight o'clock."

"It's like 8:02," Caroline scoffed since she got on the phone with Tyler at exactly eight o'clock, and they had been on the phone for, like, thirty seconds.

"Exactly," the other blonde responded before pushing past them to empty the trash. "I managed to turn up on time and I didn't even get to attend the dance that I organized."

Caroline paused for a second before taking Eleanor's advice and acting sympathetic since the girl's mother died along with Alaric. "I'm sorry about your mom. I mean I know you like, hated her and everything, but still...I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry about your teacher. He seemed like a nice guy," Rebekah responded, and the Chetwood girl smiled since they were finally making some progress on being nice to each other.

Eleanor nodded. "Yeah. He was."

"I'm gonna get started on the gym," the Mikaelson informed them before walking out into the hallway. About thirty seconds after she left, they heard a loud crash in the hallway. Both girls ran into the hallway to see a man standing above Rebekah with a white oak stake in his hand. He was about to stab her when Eleanor rushed over and knocked him off his feet. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

Alaric.

Caroline pinned him to the lockers, and Rebekah grabbed the stake and stabbed the teacher with it. They all looked at each other as he took the stake out with ease. They quickly rushed out of the building, Eleanor and Caroline running to the blonde girl's car while the Mikaelson just disappeared.

The Forbes girl fumbled with the keys, and she froze when she looked up and saw a shocked look on the hybrid's face. She muttered, "Caroline..."

It was too late. The blonde girl's eyes widened when she saw Alaric standing right behind her, and before they knew it, both of their necks were snapped.

Eleanor woke up in immense pain. She had something in her mouth, and as she woke up more, she became aware that it was a cloth gag. It was also clear that it was soaked in vervain, judging by the feeling that her mouth and face was on fire. She also felt pain in her hands, and she looked down to see two pencils stabbed through her hands and the table. Her eyes widened as all of the pain grew more immense, and she could not help the tears that prickled in her eyes. She heard crying, and she turned to see Caroline in the same situation as she was.

Alaric was sitting at his desk, and Eleanor tried to get up, but she was in so much pain that she could not move. It was obvious that he was a vampire now, and she had no freaking clue how it happened. Then, he smirked. "Right on time."

"Caroline. Eleanor," a worried voice called, and they looked up to see Elena standing in the doorway. "Let them go, Alaric!"

He pointed to the girls. "Free them yourself." The two stared at each other before the girl cautiously walked over to Caroline. She stroked the girl's arm soothingly before gently starting to pull the pencil out of her hand. Alaric sped over to them and slammed the pencil back down, causing Caroline to scream and Eleanor to wince.

"You said that you would let her go!" Elena yelled, standing up.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Elena?" he questioned as he leaned toward her. "Stop trusting vampires!" He removed the cloth from Caroline's mouth and dipped it into a beaker of vervain as the blonde begged, "No, no more, please, no more!" The Chetwood struggled, trying to get up and get to her, but the pain was too much. "This keeps the vervain in their systems. It's like inhaling razorblades with every breath."

He put the cloth back in her mouth, and her skin started to smoke and burn. She cried and screamed in pain, but the Chetwood girl could do nothing to stop it. Elena questioned, "Why are you doing this?"

"To make it easier on you when you put them out of their misery," he answered, picking up the white oak stake and walking over to her once again.

The Gilbert exclaimed in shock, "What? No!"

"Isn't this what you wanted, Elena? For me to teach you how to kill a vampire?" he questioned before holding the stake out towards her. "Well, here's two vampires, Elena. Kill them. Now, the older one's going to be a bit more difficult, so let's warm up."

"This isn't what I want," she answered, shaking her head. She was not going to stake and cut off the head of her best friends.

"Of course it is. All those hours you spent training, getting stronger, you could be a hunter, Elena. But you've never actually staked a vampire through the heart."

《❂》

RIC WAS STILL TRYING TO GET THE HUMAN GIRL to kill them, and Eleanor wondered why he was doing this. It was obvious that Elena would not kill her friends. She was Elena Gilbert, for God's sake. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you need me," Alaric answered, "Because you're an eighteen-year-old girl without parents or guidance or any sense of right and wrong anymore."

"Look at you. How is this right?" she scoffed, gesturing to him and the stake and his murdering expression. It was not Alaric. It was Evilaric.

"She's a murderer. She told me she killed someone and liked it," he said, pointing to Caroline with the stake before moving onto Eleanor. "She's probably killed hundreds of people. Listen, Elena, your parents led the council. It was their life's mission to keep this town safe. They weren't dead six months before you undid it all."

Elena shook her head. "You don't know anything about them."

"Why, am I wrong? Do you actually think that they'd be proud of you?" He kneeled down in front of her. "If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them. Now kill her." He put the stake in her hands. "Or I'll do it for you and I'll make it hurt. Get up!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her seat. He placed her in front of Caroline and pulled away. The Gilbert girl stood there with a stake in her hand, but then, she whipped around and tried to stab Alaric. He grabbed her wrist before she could. "I thought I taught you better than that."

"You did," she responded, and she grabbed the beaker full of vervain and dumped it over his head. He screamed in pain, and that gave her enough time to release Caroline who then freed Eleanor. "Get help!"

The two vampires rushed out with Elena right behind them, but when they got out to the hallway, they realized that the human was not with them. Caroline gasped, and Eleanor whipped around to see Klaus holding Caroline with his hand over her mouth. "You two go straight home. We'll get Elena."

Damn him for rescuing them and looking cool in front of Caroline.

He released her and they nodded before following his orders. The Chetwood stayed at Caroline's house until they got the text from Damon that told them that they had successfully rescued everyone and, as an added bonus, they had subdued Klaus as well. Apparently, he had tried to drain Elena of all her blood, but Bonnie had been able to do a spell that made him unable to move.

"What are you guys doing here?" Elena asked as she walked into her kitchen. Caroline had organized a little party for them since they had finally done something.

The blonde girl yelled, "Welcome to our victory party!"

"What victory?" the Gilbert questioned as she looked around at all of them. They had not managed to defeat Alaric, who was their biggest problem at that moment. "We failed. Alaric's still out there."

"We know, but we've been trying to get rid of Klaus forever and Caroline convinced us to enjoy it for a night," Bonnie explained, and they all shot a grateful glance toward the Forbes girl.

Matt punched Tyler in the arm with a grin. "You know, to be honest, I'm a little pissed none of you let me help you take down Original brother number two."

"Yeah, he would have taken you right down to the hospital, bro," Tyler joked, causing them all to chuckle since it was kind of true.

"Please, I'm more stealth than that," the Donovan boy scoffed, rolling his eyes jokingly. He made a move like a karate chop, and they all giggled. "I'm like a ninja."

Jeremy laughed out, "Yeah, you wish."

"All right, let's drink!" Caroline shouted after she handed Elena a shot of tequila. She held up her own glass as the rest of them did the same, toasting their victory.

"Hang on. Do you guys hear that?" Tyler asked, and they all stopped and fell quiet to listen to what he was talking about. Then, he smiled. "That is the sound of a Klaus-free life."

Elena then raised her glass, and the others followed her lead. "To a Klaus free life. And to all of you. My family. Cheers!"