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Anna is lying in a motel bed, her phone to her ear, as she leaves a message for Jeremy, "Hey, it's me again. Anna. Stalker chick and Foosball champion. I'll be at the Grill later, if you want, you know, a rematch, or whatever." Ben exits the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He looks over at Anna as he dries his hair with another towel, "Who are you calling?" Anna hangs up her phone, "Jeremy Gilbert." Ben raised a brow, "You're not, like, into him, are you?" Anna rolled her eyes, "I need him for something. Get over it." She turned her head to the other bed where Cordelia's unconscious body lay still, "Dude, you gotta stop doing that."

She turned to Ben who had pulled the window back burning his skin in the sunlight. "I know. I just-I keep forgetting," Ben replied to her. "You're new. You'll get it," Anna responded to him. Ben sees an open journal lying next to Anna and picks it up. He lies in the bed next to her as he examines the contents, "You found the Gilbert journal?" Anna scoffed, "Does that look like the Gilbert journal?" Ben shrugged as he looked over at her, "Well, it's old and musty, and how am I supposed to know the difference?" Anna frowned, "I don't know, I figured maybe, just maybe, you've been paying a little bit of attention since we met." Ben scoffed at her words, "You know, you don't have to talk down to me. I'm not stupid."

Anna gets up and walks over to the mini fridge. She extracts a bottle of blood and walks back over to Ben, sitting down on the edge of the bed, and handing him the blood, "Here. Drink. I don't want you getting itchy around the witch. She can sense if you're weak." Ben uncaps the bottle and gulps down the blood. He scrunches his face up as he examines the bottle, "When can we go hunting again? This tastes old. I want fresh blood. Or perhaps the blonde laying there?" Anna glared at Ben, "She's off limits. And when we get that tomb open, you can kill anyone you want. For now, just stay focused on Bonnie while I try to get the journal back from Jeremy's teacher."

Ben looked down for a moment before looking at Anna, "Why did you choose me?" Anna looked up at him and placed her hand on the side of his face, "I needed someone in a position to be my eyes and ears. Small town bartender fit the bill." Ben raised a brow at her words, "There are plenty of bartenders to choose from. Why me?" Anna huffed and stepped back from him, "You were sad, Ben. You lacked purpose. You needed me." A groan from the bed alerted the two, Anna was quick to grab the syringe, she turned back to Cordelia who began blinking her eyes open, "W-what's h-happening?" Anna took in a cautious breath before stabbing the needle into Cordelia's neck, emptying the syringe knocking her out again. "And now we're out of nightshade," Anna told Ben who was uneased by that.

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After collecting the Gilbert journal from Alaric, Anna was looking through it while Ben was preparing for his date with Bonnie where he would take her hostage so they had a Bennett witch to do the spell with Cordelia. "Anything?" Ben asked Anna. "Not yet. Just a lot of gibberish. Yeah, some people just shouldn't journal," Anna replied to him with a sigh. "I thought this Gilbert was the brains," Ben told her as he leans over to look at the journal. Anna looks up at him, "Don't you have a date?" He smirked, "Yep. Wish me luck." Ben moves in to kiss Anna, but Anna pushes him away, not taking her eyes off the journal. Anna continues to read on as Ben walks out of the room. However, Cordelia seemed to stir slightly as a blurry image appeared in her mind.

"I felt the pain. So tell me, is she alive?" An accented voice asked angrily, "I can't feel her right now and I demand you TELL ME!" The shout caused a shiver of delight down Cordelia's back. "As far as I can see, she is alive," A woman replied with a shaky voice, "If she was dead, you would have felt it in your heart. Pain like that is hard to miss." The man growled under his breath and let the woman go, he turned away from her and ran his fingers through his hair. "We need to move this along. I want to get this ritual done so I can have my Hybrids. My love and I will need the protection," The man spoke with a purr-like tone that Cordelia wished to hear again.

The image changed to show a blonde with blue eyes, "Cordelia Beth, listen to my warning. You can't rely on those around you. Petrova's are always prioritised, you need to stand on your own and show them that you won't sit around bowing to them. I made that mistake with Katerina, don't do what I did." Cordelia frowned as she looked up at the woman before her when she continued speaking, "The tomb... you'll find the real answers you need. And remember, Cordelia Beth Forbes, you're so much more powerful than they know. You don't need a man to rescue you all the time. And you certainly don't need to rely on those friends of yours."

"Who are you?" Cordelia asked her, the woman moved closer to her and cupped Cordelia's face in her hands. "My name is Clara Delilah Forbes. And you are my great granddaughter," Clara informed her, "And I made the mistake of thinking the Salvatore's would protect me from Katherine but I was wrong, Cordelia. No matter what kind of person Elena Gilbert may be, her bloodline ties to Katherine Pierce and she cannot be fully trusted. You ain't no damsel, Cordelia. Prove that to all of them. Look out for yourself no matter how selfish it may be 'cause you've got hell coming your way and you need to be prepared for that." Cordelia was confused but she trusted the words of her ancestor.

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Apothecary 1864

Katherine is whiffing various perfumes as Pearl speaks to her, "Have you thought any more of what I've said?" Katherine hummed as she turned to look at Pearl, "We'll leave soon, Pearl, I promise. I need to take care of a few things first." Pearl was hesitant on her words, "You're going to turn both of them, aren't you?" Katherine looks at Pearl mischievously. "Katherine, please. Be careful," Pearl pleaded. "We'll all be safe, I promise," Katherine assured her before her eyes turned towards a blonde woman standing by the words, her eyes wide with wonder and awe as a butterfly landed on her hand. "You need to keep away from the Forbes girl, Katherine," Pearl warned harshly. "She's a sweet girl, don't you think?" Katherine asked Pearl.

"And very, very powerful," Pearl added with a warning. "Clara Forbes is one of the most powerful witches in existence." Katherine simply smirked at the words admiring the blonde with blue eyes that captivated those who came near her, she turned to reply to Pearl but spotted Johnathan Gilbert walking towards the two. "Mr Gilbert's coming. Quick, your cheeks," Katherine pinched Pearl's cheeks to make them rosy, "Perfectly rosy." Johnathan stands in the doorway and Pearl turns to look at him as he spoke, "Miss Pearl. May I have a moment?" Pearl smiled at him, "Yes, Mr Gilbert. I'm still waiting for you to explain that comet in the sky." Johnathan and Pearl leave together.

Katherine turned to Anna, Pearl's daughter and smiled as she spoke, "Your mother has an admirer." Anna and Emily smiled while Katherine turned her attention back to Clara Forbes, even she had been taken by the woman's beauty. "She was seen talking to Damon Salvatore earlier today," Emily informed Katherine who raised a brow at that. "My guess is that Giuseppe plans to arrange a marriage between Damon and Clara," Emily added causing Katherine to sneer at the thought of it. "Well, we must do something to prevent that," Katherine replied before noticing Stefan approaching Clara with a smile on his face.

"Clara!!" Stefan called out to the blonde, she turned to Stefan and grinned upon seeing him, she always loved seeing her best friend. "Stefan!" Clara called back as she rushed up and hugged him. "How are you?" Stefan asked Clara. "I am well. My brother has been a right pain but Damon was quick to ease those troubles for me," Clara told him while Katherine listened to the two. "And guess what!?" Clara added as she linked her arm with Stefan's. "What?" Stefan asked her, she turned to look at him with a sweet smile. "Nothing. Just want you to know that I am honoured to have a friend such as yourself," Clara told him, the two laughing while Katherine watched in jealousy.

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"Wake up," A soft voice called, "Please wake up!" Cordelia stirred hearing the voice, she groaned and tried to move her hand but found that she couldn't, her eyes flew open and she looked around to see that she was indeed tied down to a chair. She turned her head to see Bonnie and Elena in the room with her while Ben stood protectively by the door, Cordelia raised a brow before stretching her neck and groaning from the stiff pain she was in. "Oh, I am so pissed," Cordelia growled out catching Ben's attention, he turned to look at her and the two other girls took quick notice of the fear in Ben's eyes.

Cordelia's eyes went white as the ropes holding her seemed to burn off, she then nudged her head forcing Ben against the wall with her telekinesis. "Drugging and kidnapping... very illegal," Cordelia told him as she glared at Ben ignoring the other two in the room. "Cori, don't do it!" Bonnie shouted with wide eyes. "Sorry Bon, I'm not letting him get away only to come back for us," Cordelia told her, she held out her hand and focused her energy into creating a piece of wood in her hand that was sharpened and had vines carved into it, the wood was white. "Please... I'll let you go and-- and I won't come back," Ben pleaded with Cordelia who smirked and stepped closer to him. "I don't trust you," Cordelia told him before digging the stake into his heart.

The door beside her opened to reveal Stefan standing there, he looked at the scene as Ben seemed to combust into flames and turn to ash with the stake. "Cordelia..." Stefan breathed at the realisation that this whole time, Anna had Cordelia and no one stopped to search for her. The blonde turned to Stefan with her white eyes, she smirked as she stepped closer to him despite Elena and Bonnie watching her closely. Cordelia brushed her fingers along Stefan's jaw, "Friends, huh? Where were you when they took me? You only noticed Elena missing... It tells me all I need to know, Stefan Salvatore." Cordelia turned her head to Elena, "She'll always matter more. Good thing I didn't need a man to rescue me."

Cordelia made her way out of the motel and with every step, her mind strengthened further as she accepted the magic into her veins; her eyes returned to their nature green. She knew the woman's words were right, she didn't need to rely on them all the time when she was perfectly capable of handling things on her own. Cordelia finally reached her house and saw Jeremy out the front pacing back and forth, he looked up to see Cordelia approaching. "Where have you been? I've been calling and I asked everyone where you were and no one had answers and then Damon told me he'd deal with it and yet nothing was done," Jeremy rambled in a panic that made Cordelia hug him.

"I was kidnapped by Ben and Anna, Jeremy," Cordelia told him truthfully, he looked up at her and instantly became angry with Anna. "I knew she was playing me," Jeremy replied before shaking his head and looking back at Cordelia, "Are you okay? Anything I can do? Sorry that I couldn't do anything more for you." Cordelia smiled at her best friend and grabbed his hand dragging him into her home, "You can watch movies with me until Damon inevitably shows up demanding my help in opening this damn tomb." Jeremy sighed, "I guess you were right when you said things were only beginning, huh?" Cordelia nodded at Jeremy's words before the two settled down with movies and snacks.

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Rosemary Speaks

Cordelia ain't no damsel, that's for sure.
Honestly, if you don't like people hating on Elena, you may want to leave now 'cause I am making her the "Bad Guy" in my book so yeah...

And I've introduced a new character, Clara Forbes.
NO, she is not a doppelganger. They do not look the same.

Lily James as Clara Forbes

How do we feel about Cordelia's actions?

The tomb opens in the next chapter!

See you there!