CHAPTER NINETEEN | THE LAST DAY

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RILEY AND ELENA HAD AGREED TO TRUST ELIJAH, THOUGH DAMON WAS NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE NEW ALLIANCE. The eldest Salvatore did not want to even consider the possibility that Elijah would be able to help them against Klaus. Instead, he refused to have any part in the whole thing because he knew that sooner or later, they would live to regret it.

"Tonight is the full moon," Elijah told the group of supernaturals as he paced up and down the parlor. "We should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse."

"Elena and Riley said that the sun and the moon curse is fake?" Stefan raised an eyebrow. He glanced at the two girls that sat across from him, then back to the Original vampire. "That it's actually just a curse placed on Klaus."

"Klaus is a vampire born of a werewolf bloodline. The curse has kept his werewolf aspect from manifesting. But if he breaks it— he'll be a true Hybrid."

"Then why are we letting him break the curse?" Damon's voice immediately boomed as he begrudgingly stepped into the room after listening in. "We can kill him today. With Bonnie."

"No. Elena and I already told you that Bonnie dying is not happening, Damon." Riley immediately shook her head, almost irritated that Damon had brought up the idea of Bonnie sacrificing herself once more.

Damon rolled his eyes as a sigh escaped his lips. "I'll write her a great eulogy."

"It's not an option." The doppelganger snapped again.

Stefan cleared his throat in an attempt to defuse the tension. "Alright, how do we break this curse?"

"Well, the ritual itself is relatively straightforward. The ingredients, so to speak, you already know."

"The moonstone."

"A witch will channel the power of the full moon to release the spell that's bound within the stone. After that, Klaus, being both werewolf and vampire, will sacrifice one of each." Elijah tried his best to explain the general idea of the sacrifice ritual. "Then, once the sacrifices of the vampire and werewolf are done, Klaus will need the blood of the Evans witch."

"Well, that's a little vague," Damon grumbled, though he felt a rush of fear run through his body. "Is he gonna have to drink from her. Give me a little more info, please."

"No. In order for Riley's blood to work, she'll need to be very much alive in order for the sacrifice to work." A small gasp of relief left Damon's lips, his eyes were drawn to Riley and he knew that he could not let anything happening to her at Klaus' hand.

Elena furrowed her brows. "And, where do I fit into it?"

"The final part of the ritual. Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelganger to the point of your death." Elijah told the group as he pulled a small jar from a wooden box. "This is an elixir that I acquired some five-hundred years ago for Katerina. It possesses mystical properties of resuscitation."

"So, I'll be dead?" The doppelganger nervously trailed off.

"And, then she won't be."

A sudden scoffed left Damon's lips. "That's your plan? A magical witch potion with no expiration date? You want to come back to life? What about John's ring?"

"Those rings only work on humans. The doppelganger's a supernatural occurrence." Elijah rolled his eyes at Damon's suggestion. "Odds are, the ring won't work."

Riley cleared her throat, then she turned her attention to her best friend. "Elena. What if this doesn't work?"

"Then, I guess I'll just be dead." Elena plainly responded with a shrug.

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Damon hated the idea of Elena and Riley being pawns in Klaus' deranged sacrifice to unleash his werewolf side. The Salvatore also hated the idea of Elena dying, so he fed her vampire blood to ensure that she lived no matter the outcome. In hindsight, he realized that it may have been a stupid decision, but he thought he was doing the right thing. Elena and Stefan were furious that Damon had fed the doppelganger vampire blood, so Riley decided to take Damon to the Grill in order to completely remove him from the situation.

"Why the hell would you do it?" Riley took a deep breath as she let her index finger dance around the rim of her glass.

"I just— Look, I don't trust Elijah, okay? You and Elena are both idiots for putting your trust in him." Damon sternly spoke once his eyes flickered up to hers. "Giving Elena vampire blood would mean that she wouldn't die, Riley. I thought I was doing the right thing."

"You took of choice away, Damon." The Evans witch sighed.

"Don't you think I know that?"

"I'll have the same as these two, please," Alaric told the bartender as he wandered over to the pair that were seated just at the bar. He rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to Damon. "You screwed up, Damon."

"Ric, please. Riley has already given me the talk about how I've taken Elena's choice away. I do not need it from you, too." Damon huffed

"Gentlemen? Oh, and of course, my precious Evans witch." A man with a strong British accent called out as he stood beside Riley. "Why so glum?"

"Ugh. Klaus, I presume." Damon groaned out. He lowered his head against the bar once he realized who he was talking to.

"In the flesh." The Original smirked, then turned his gaze to Alaric. "Thanks for the loaner, mate."

"What the hell are you doing here, Klaus? Come to brag about your crappy little sacrifice?" Riley spoke up out of nowhere, though she was terrified of the creature she masked her fear well.

"Merely came to meet the lovely first-born witch that's going to help me break my curse." Klaus grinned innocently toward the Evans girl. "Thank you, sweetheart." Then, he turned back to Damon. "I also came to remind you not to do anything you'll regret."

"Ha. Thanks for your advice." Damon shrugged with a smirk. "I don't suppose to could talk you into a postponement, by any chance?"

"You are kidding?" His eyes pushed past Damon, onto both Riley and Alaric. "He is kidding, right?"

"No, not really." Alaric shook his head simply.

"I mean, come on, what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?"

"Let me be clear. I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have my first-born witch. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight, so if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up." Klaus spared one final vicious glance for the trio before he headed out of the Grill.

Damon exhaled loudly as he took his place back on the barstool, while Riley rolled her eyes. "So, what's the plan? I mean, obviously, you're going to screw it up."

"Maybe if we took his werewolf out of the equation she'll forget the fact that I tried to turn her into a vampire." Damon raised an eyebrow as if he were thinking his options over.

"It won't matter because you'll both be dead." The male stated bluntly.

Damon rolled his eyes toward his best friend. "Are you gonna help us, or what?"

"What do you want me to do?"

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"Look who's dumb enough to come back." Katherine rolled her eyes as Alaric pushed his apartment door open to see Katherine stood in the center of the room. "Oh. And you've brought company. Hello, Riley."

"Well, somebody had to invite him in," Alaric stated, whilst Katherine raised an eyebrow. Alaric turned behind him, just as Damon sauntered into view. "Damon, would you like to, uh— come in?"

The minute that Damon stepped into Alaric's apartment, Katherine sped forward and shoved him against the wall. "Are you trying to get me killed?"

Damon simply grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against another wall. "I gave you Vervain, now I'm here to collect." The Salvatore snapped as he glared over his shoulder, to Alaric." I got it from here, Ric. Riley stays."

"You sure?" Alaric called from the doorway.

"It's fine, Ric. We'll be okay." The little witch vigorously nodded with a light smile on her face. "Just head back to the house, make sure Elena doesn't do anything stupid."

"We need to know where Klaus is keeping his werewolf," Damon stated shortly before he removed his grip upon the doppelganger's throat.

"Why?" Katherine raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you gonna do?"

Riley exhaled deeply as she tilted her head to the side. "If we remove Klaus' werewolf from the equation, that means the sacrifice can't happen."

"No." The doppelganger snapped. "You can't interfere, Klaus will kill you both and everyone you've ever met."

"I just need to delay this thing."

"No. No way."

Damon groaned out as Katherine once again shook her head. "You should like this. It's gonna buy another month of your pathetic life."

"Right. Except that I'm not the vampire he's planning on sacrificing." Katherine turned back to the couple with a smirk on her lips once she noticed the two seemed completely baffled. "He's got Caroline Forbes and Tyler Lockwood. Therefore, I'm in the clear." Katherine clapped.

"Where the hell did he get that idea from, Katherine?" Riley viciously spoke as Damon strode toward her, almost as if he were about to harm her.

"Hey, hey, hey." The vampire held her hands up in surrender as Damon stepped forward. "I'm just trying to stay alive long enough to get myself out of here."

"I guess there's probably something you should know. Well, uh— Elena now has vampire blood in her system. So, if the sacrifice happens tonight and she dies, well—" Riley trailed off as Katherine's smirk quickly fell. "I'm sure you know how that's gonna go down."

"What?!"

"Imagine how much fun that will be competing with Elena for Stefan's love for, I don't know, forever,"

"The tomb. He's got them in the tomb." Katherine finally cracked at the thought of competing with Elena for the rest of eternity.

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Damon and Riley headed to the tomb that was being protected by one of Klaus' witches. The couple had a hard time taking down Klaus' witch but were assisted by none other than Matt Donovan. He had a rifle loaded with wooden bullets, but Damon knocked him out before he could do any damage.

"Tyler? Care?!" Riley's voice yelled as she and Damon strode through the tunnel, desperate to locate the vampire and werewolf. Eventually, they came to a clearing in the tunnel and saw Tyler and Caroline chained to the wall.

"Your boyfriend's outside with a rifle loaded with wooden bullets." Damon vaguely explained toward the blonde vampire as he stepped over and released her chains. "You have some explaining to do."

"What, Matt?" The Forbes vampire's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Matt knows about you?" Tyler echoed from the other side of the tomb, almost as surprised as Caroline was.

"Caroline, calm down. Okay? That's a situation for another day. Right now, we need to get you out of here." Riley nodded and smiled at the blonde out of comfort before whilst she headed over toward Tyler to release him.

"Riley wait." Damon turned his eyes from Riley and then to the werewolf. "It's a full moon, and he's a werewolf."

"Damon. No. I'm not leaving without him." The Forbes vampire quickly protested.

An exasperated sigh left Damon's lips. He glanced over to Riley, who nodded in agreement with Caroline before he turned his attention to Tyler. "It's getting dark soon. How fast can you get the hell away from here?"

"I need to get to my family's cellar. I can lock myself up." Tyler nodded.

"I'll help." Caroline confidently answered back.

Damon stepped over to Tyler and yanked his chains with ease. "Don't make me regret this."

Once they hurried out of the tomb, night had already fallen and it made Riley nervous as hell. At the sound of Matt regaining consciousness, Caroline rushed over to his aid. "Did you hit him?!" Caroline viciously yelled toward Damon.

"Did you already forget the part about the gun with wooden bullets?" A small scoff left the Salvatore's lips.

"I knocked him out," Riley told her best friend, who rolled her eyes. "Better that than have Damon chomp into his neck." Tyler Lockwood suddenly dropped to the floor as a loud gasp left his lips. The strawberry-blonde witch glanced up at the moon, perfectly lit in the sky above. "It's starting."

"Ugh," Damon grunted softly as he led the group through the forest. "Grab boy wonder. Let's go." Just as they started running, Damon's phone began to vibrate in his pocket. "Bad time, little bro."

"What the hell are you doing?" Stefan snapped with an impatient tone of voice.

"Saving the day. I figured you'd understand, just tell Elena to stay put. Riley and I have got this." Damon spoke down the phone, slightly out of breath from the running.

"She's already gone, Damon."

The Salvatore came to a halt as his eyes widened with irritation. "What?!"

"Klaus came. He took her. He's looking for Riley."

"I'll take care of it." Damon groaned out quietly just as he yanked his phone from his ear and slid it back into his pocket.

"I don't know if I can hold it off." Tyler cried out once more as he dropped down onto his knees. His transformation was growing quicker. "Get out of here!"

"Tyler, it'll be okay. We've got time. We're almost there, just—" Caroline continued to protest.

"It's happening faster." Tyler looked up and his face changed into something unrecognizable before he sped at Damon and took him down to the floor.

"Riley! He's gonna kill me, Riley?!" Damon yelled out from underneath the werewolf that continued to attempt to bite him.

The little witch took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and used her magic to toss Tyler's entire body off of Damon and against the nearby tree. The witch ran straight over to Damon and helped him from the ground. "You good?"

"I'm fine. You two get to the Lockwood cellar, if it held him in it'll keep him out." Damon ordered in Matt and Caroline's direction. "If it doesn't, use these." He handed Caroline the wooden bullets from Matt's rifle. "It'll buy you a couple of seconds."

Caroline and Matt swiftly nodded to Damon's instructions and the blonde vampire sped away with Matt, which left Riley and Damon alone in the woods. "Damon?" The witch blinked, almost fearful of what was about to happen. "He's taken Elena, hasn't he? I'm next."

"I'm sorry. I thought— Look, I can fix this but I need you to trust me, okay?" Damon grabbed the female by the shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. "None of this matters unless you trust me.

Riley could tell just by looking at Damon that he was scared. She had never seen Damon so shaken, and tears began to form in her eyes. "Of course. Of course, I do."

"No tears." Damon lifted his hand up and gently caressed her cheek as he brushed away the tears that threatened to fall. "I love you, Riley." And, with that, he was gone.

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