CHAPTER FOURTEEN | THE MURDER OF ONE

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SINCE KLARA HAD KOL HAD SLEPT TOGETHER, SHE HADN'T SEEM HIM SINCE. Part of her felt relieved that he hadn't made any attempt to speak to her, because she didn't know how anyone else would react. She had essentially slept with the enemy.

She tugged her jacket over her for warmth as she walked through the forest to meet the rest of her friends. "You guys got a text from Stefan, too?" She asked Elena, Caroline, and Matt who all stood clueless.

"Where's Bonnie? I texted her, too." Stefan asked as he and Damon walked into view.

"Uh, Bonnie's mom bailed on her. Again. So I think we should leave her out of this one." Caroline explained to the group who all looked sympathetic for the Bennett witch's situation. Caroline was teaching Abby control, but the woman bailed and left Bonnie broken.

Matt rolled his eyes impatiently. "What are we doing here?"

"We found some more White Oak. Long story. Wait for the movie." The eldest of the Salvatore siblings explained as a smirk swept across his lips.

"Hang on." Elena interrupted. "White Oak? You have a weapon that can kill Klaus?"

"Nope. We all have a weapon." Stefan declared as he tossed a duffel bag that contained countless White Oak stakes at their feet.

"Wait. So you took the sign and made these?" Klara bent down and grabbed hold of one of the crafted stakes that had come from the sign on Wickery Bridge that just so happened to be made of White Oak.

"Klaus has always been one step ahead of us, but now we have the advantage. We're all armed, and they are all linked. Meaning we only need to kill one of them. We need to seize the best opportunity, which means we need to prepare for every opportunity." Stefan explained toward the group who all looked ready.

"Scenario number one—" Damon stepped forward and grabbed hold of Elena and moved her beside Stefan. "—You get to play Klaus."

"Rebekah is our target so we distract her and catch her off guard. To do that we need to keep Klaus separate and occupied." Stefan let his eyes fall on the Forbes girl who stood beside Klara. "Caroline."

An abrupt sigh escaped the vampire's plump lips. "Why have I always have to be Klaus bait?"

"Because he's obsessed with you. But for right now, we need you to play Rebekah." Damon answered plainly and then grabbed hold of Caroline and moved her into the center of the group. "We'll use the quarterback to distract her. Just keep her talking."

"How?" Matt furrowed his brows.

"It's not hard, to be fair, Matt. Just act interested in whatever the hell she's saying." Klara shrugged in the human's direction. Rebekah was easy to keep distracted, especially if a male was giving her the right kind of attention.

"She's lonely. Desperate." Damon followed on.

"Clearly. She slept with you." Caroline remarked while Elena couldn't help but cover her snickers but Damon ignored it.

"Beefcake holds bombshell. I come up from behind her. Grab her arms like this—" The eldest Salvatore pulled Caroline's arms back which caused her to yelp. Stefan pretended to stake her.

"—Which gives me time for one shot." Stefan looked around. "Got it? Good. So we all have one stake, we keep it hidden, and we lookout for any opportunity we have."

"No last-minute attacks of pity for any of them."

"Don't worry about me. Not after what happened to Bonnie's mom." The doppelganger spoke back with her arms folded across her chest.

"Goldie-Locks?" Damon asked Klara.

Klara folded her arms across her chest and nodded toward Damon. She was more than prepared to rid them of the Original family by any means. "I lost my entire life because of Klaus. I'm game."

Damon turned his head to the blonde stood beside him. "Barbie?"

"Oh. I'm ready." Caroline nodded in confirmation. "Anything that will free Tyler of his sire bond to Klaus."

"Busboy?"

Matt rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Do I have a choice?"

"We have twelve stakes, twelve shots at killing one Original. We can do this." Stefan looked around the group with a hopeful look on his face. The odds were finally in their favor. "Alright. Let's try another scenario. Klara grab a crossbow. Matt, you play Klaus." At Stefan's request, the blonde picked up the crossbow and aimed it straight at Matt.

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Klara stepped into the Salvatore house and saw Stefan stood in front of the fireplace. She shuffled awkwardly but knew that she couldn't avoid him forever. "Hey." She breathed out, a small smile appeared on his face when she spoke.

"Hey." Stefan smiled. He could barely think of anything to say to the girl and he was worried that his honestly the night of the Mikaelson Ball scared her away from him. "I'm sorry if I—"

"—No." Klara immediately cut him off and he clamped his mouth closed in a second. "Don't apologize, you don't need to. But, I think there's a very real conversation that you and I need to have because I can't seem to understand something."

The Salvatore swallowed hard as he folded his arms across his chest. "Okay. Go for it."

"You said you pushed me away the most because I made you want to turn it back on." Klara trailed off slowly and she saw him visibly squirming. "I guess I just don't understand, why me? I mean, I figured Elena would be that person for you."

"So did I." Stefan hummed and then looked Klara straight in the eyes. "And, I think she was a long time ago. But, something changed. Between us, I mean. I think that when it came down to it, I realized that it wasn't Elena that was constantly there for me—It was you."

Klara exhaled deeply. "What're you—What're you saying, Stefan?"

The Salvatore stepped closer to Klara and pressed his hand against her cheek, his thumb caressed her soft skin. "I'm saying I have feelings for you, Klara." He exhaled as if a weight had been lifted off his chest. "And, I think you feel the same."

"I—I..." Klara trailed off. She could barely get any words out but then she heard a grunt come from the bottom of the staircase. She and Stefan both hurried to the stairs and saw Alaric who had managed to pull himself up to his feet. "Ric? What happened?"

"Rebekah happened." Alaric breathed out as he pressed his palm against an open wound on his forehead. "She took Damon."

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"Hey, how is he?" Elena worried tone echoed as she hurried herself over to Stefan and Klara who were stood outside of the Grill.

"Hey. He's just banged up." Stefan glanced up from his phone, toward Elena. He noticed the awkward look on Klara's face before he pushed his phone into his pocket.

"Caroline's with him and she's gonna stay with him just in case the evil, psychotic Alaric wants to come out to play," Klara explained toward Elena, who just simply nodded.

The Salvatore continued to walk with Klara at his side, though Elena didn't seem to be interested in the plan. "Matt texted me, he said Finn is still in the Grill. We need to plan our next move."

"Wait, wait." She tugged at Stefan's jacket and pulled him backward. "Rebekah has Damon. Our next move should be finding him."

"All due respect, Elena, Damon's proven that he can look after himself just fine." Klara eyed up the doppelganger. She knew that something was brewing between Damon and Elena, and Elena's worry confirmed that for her. "Plus, if we pull this off—Rebekah goes down with the rest of them, and Damon's safe."

"Yeah, Klara, that was the plan before Damon's life was hanging in the balance." Elena's eyes widened instantly at the fact that neither Stefan nor Klara seemed to be as bothered as she was. "

A small scoff left Stefan's lips as he glanced down to her. "Look, Elena, I understand that you're concerned about my brother's life, but if he even knew for one second that we were talking about missing a chance to kill these people, he would lose his mind."

"Yeah, and if the roles were reversed, he would stop everything to save you." Elena moved her eyes toward Klara. "You, too."

Klara knew that Elena was right, but killing Finn while they were all linked was technically saving Damon. Two birds, one stone. "I know what my brother would want." Stefan nodded.

The doppelganger narrowed her eyes toward them. "What he would want and what we should do are two different things."

"Look, Elena, are you gonna help us with this, or not?" The blonde tucked a strand of hair behind her ear but Elena remained silent. "I'll take your silence as a no."

Stefan and Klara took a step past Elena and into the Grill. As they walked in, the blonde vampire noticed Finn, who was one of the Originals and he was sat with a red-head. The red head's name was Sage, the love of his life.

"You know, she kinda had a point, right?" Klara breathed out as she and Stefan sat themselves down at the bar. Stefan glanced toward the blonde with a raised eyebrow. "Elena, I mean. Damon would stop everything to save us."

Stefan exhaled lightly. "So, now you're taking Elena's side."

"I'm not on anyone's side, Stefan. It's not about taking sides, it's about doing what's right." She rolled her eyes and glanced toward Finn and Sage. "We need to get this done, quickly."

Matt suddenly moved in front of Stefan and Klara, and the Salvatore handed him a vial of vervain. Matt poured the contents into the two shot glasses and then filled them up with tequila. As Matt headed over to Finn's booth, Stefan and Klara made an exit.

"Vervain!" Finn growled out as he and Sage immediately choked on the liquid. Their eyes headed toward the exit of the Grill where Stefan gave them a smirk and Klara waved before they headed out.

Stefan grabbed Klara's arm and pulled her behind the corner of the building just before Finn emerged from the Grill with Sage. Klara and Stefan sped out and grabbed hold of Sage in an attempt to snap her neck, but she was much too strong for either of them. She tossed Stefan to the floor and the White Oak stake fell out of his grip.

While Sage was on the ground with Stefan, Finn's eyes turned to Klara. "Finn! She has a stake." Klara sped toward the Original vampire but he just gripped her by the throat and tossed her stake out of her hand.

He hurried down the steps to grab both White Oak stakes but that was when Matt and Elena jumped out of the back exit and shot him straight in the chest with a crossbow. Just as Finn managed to pull the wood from his chest, Matt ran forward and staked him with his White Oak stake.

"No!" Sage immediately released Stefan from her hold just as Elena and Matt rushed back inside the Grill. She ran down the steps and held onto Finn and cried as he began to desiccate.

"Klara." Stefan grabbed hold of the blonde's hand and pulled her to her feet. "We need to get out of here. Come on."

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Klara, Stefan, and Elena all headed back to the Salvatore house with a feeling of slight relief. They had staked Finn and hopefully, the rest of the Original family would go down with him.

"Hey, how's Alaric?" Elena was the first to ask Caroline, who immediately smiled when she saw the trio.

"He'll be okay. I gave him a bottle of Bonnie's herbs, and he went home." Caroline glanced between the three. "Oh, did you guys kill Finn? Did it work?"

Stefan exhaled and placed his hands at his hips. "Nothing worked until I see Klaus's dead body myself." Klara turned around and rolled her eyes at Stefan while Elena answered her phone.

Klara smirked toward Stefan. "You using your revenge voice, relax, would you?"

"Bonnie, where have you been?" The doppelganger exhaled with a smile.

"Klaus has Damon."

Everyone's eyes widened as they listened to what Bonnie had just said. "Kl—Klaus should be dead. They should all be dead. We just killed Finn."

"No, Elena. He forced me to do a spell that unlinked all the siblings." Bonnie spoke and Klara immediately saw the irritation on Stefan's face. "He's still alive."

"Bonnie, where's Damon?"

"At Klaus's mansion. It's bad, Elena. He threatened Jeremy. And my mom..." Bonnie's hysterical crying down the other end of the line was enough to make Klara almost cry. "I have to go, I'm sorry."

"Okay. We need to get Damon, we need to get him out of there." Klara turned to Stefan, but he shook his head as if he were disagreeing with her once again.

He began to walk toward the front door with Klara hot on his trail. "There's no we. You stay with Elena and Caroline, I'll call you when it's over."

"You can't go alone," Klara yelled toward him but the Salvatore didn't stop to listen. "Stefan, you're acting on revenge-mode. Just pause for a minute until we find another plan."

"No, what we need is for Klaus to be dead, Klara!" He grunted through gritted teeth. Eventually, he turned around and stared the blonde straight in the eyes. "Klaus does not get to survive this. Not after everything he took from me." He walked out of the door and slammed it shut.

"Hm. Great talk." The blonde sighed immediately as Caroline and Elena walked into view. Silence befell them for a second, but gasps echoed through the house as Stefan's body was thrown back inside.

"Ding, dong!" Sage yelled as she stepped inside the house after Stefan's body. Caroline went for her, but Sage elbowed her with ease. "I'm not here for you." Sage's eyes turned to Stefan and Klara. "I'm here for them."

Sage sped straight for Klara and pinned her against the wall, but Stefan intervened and threw Sage away from the blonde. "We had to kill him, Sage."

"Oh. You remember me. Good." The red-headed vampire chuckled as she kicked Stefan to the ground. "Then you know I like to go all ten rounds." She instantly started gagging, as well as the other vampire that had followed her into the house. She tried to fight against Stefan, but he blocked her punches with ease. "Troy, help me!" Troy ran toward her, but he began gagging with her. "What is happening to me?"

"Stefan?" Klara raised an eyebrow as she watched Sage and Troy both desiccate in front of them. "What the hell just happened?"

"She just died," Elena confirmed with an unsure look.

Caroline pointedly looked down at both vampires in the hopes that they could find the reason why. "So, Sage and this Troy guy die within an hour of Finn."

"But, why? Were they bitten by a Hybrid, or?"

Klara shook her head as she folded her arms across her chest. "No. Hybrid bites look a lot different to that. That was something else..."

"Maybe Sage was so in love with Finn, she just died of sadness." The Forbes vampire shrugged.

"No. That doesn't explain Troy."

Realization fell across Stefan's face. He looked between Sage and Troy and then up toward his friends. "It's the blood. The bloodline. It has to be, think about it. Finn turned Sage, Sage turned Troy. They're all part of the same vampire bloodline that originated with Finn."

"Wait, so, when an Original dies, every vampire turned in their bloodline dies along with them?" Caroline's eyes widened fearfully. "Because... that would mean..."

Elena got to her feet as she stared at the three vampires who looked unnerved. "If the Originals die, so do all of you. The entire vampire species would just be dead."

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