CHAPTER SIXTEEN | THE HOUSE GUEST

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RILEY HAD BEEN UP THE ENTIRETY OF THE NIGHT, WORRYING ABOUT THE SACRIFICE. Part of her didn't want to believe what Damon was saying and that Klaus didn't need her blood for the sacrifice, but the further she looked into it, the more she realized that it was true. But, she hoped that since Elijah was daggered, maybe it would put an end to the prospect of the sacrifice even happening.

"Hey, Riley. You ready for school?" Elena's preppy voice echoed as she appeared in Riley's doorway with her usual innocent smile. But, the smile soon faded when she noticed the look on Riley's face. "God. You look awful, are you sick?"

"No. No, sorry. I— I'm fine. Let's just get today over with, alright?" Riley grabbed her handbag and wandered out of her bedroom, whilst Elena led the way. Riley was not prepared for school in the slightest but she wanted to try and move forward.

Riley and Elena stopped in at the front door so that Elena could grab her jacket, but Riley's attention was taken by Damon, who was seated in front of the fireplace with a glass of bourbon. "Morning, little witch. You sleep okay?" He turned his attention to Riley, who literally looked as if she had got no sleep. "Nevermind."

"Morning, Damon." The doppelganger innocently smiled toward him, but after a few moments, Damon sped over to her and pinned her to the wall. "What are you doing here? l told you to leave. You wear her clothes like you think that's gonna work?"

"What is your problem?" Elena panted out as Damon's grip upon her throat tightened.

"Damon! Let go of her." Riley's eyes widened as she tried her best to yank the Salvatore away from Elena, but he glared back at her. "Wait. You think she's Katherine?"

Elena's eyes fearfully widened from in Damon's hold. "Why would you think that? Katherine's in the tomb. Isn't she?"

Just as Damon's grip upon Elena's throat relented, Stefan ran down the staircase at the sound of the commotion. "What the hell's going on here?"

"You tell us." The Evans witch glanced to her best friend, who looked as dumbfounded as she did. "Is Katherine in the tomb, Stefan, or not?"

"What the hell's going on?" Elena appeared behind Stefan, and suddenly the trio didn't know who was who. Which one was Katherine Pierce?

A soft chuckle escaped the lips of the doppelganger that was just in Damon's hold as she turned to Elena. "Oh. It's getting really easy being you."

"What is she doing here?" Elena Gilbert folded her arms across her chest and paced up and down, pondering the arrival of Katherine Pierce.

"I second that." Riley exhaled in disbelief as she sat beside Damon on the couch.

"When we killed Elijah it broke the compulsion, and freed the bitch from the tomb." Damon vaguely answered, though even he was unsure whether the explanation he had given was correct.

"How's that possible?" Stefan raised an eyebrow.

"He's an Original. They have all sorts of special skills." The Pierce vampire answered whilst she rolled her eyes.

"I don't want you here." Elena's eyes shifted from the doppelganger then to her boyfriend. "Get her out of here."

"You need me, Elena. You all do." Katherine folded her arms across her chest.

"Really? And, why's that?" Riley scoffed in disbelief. "First chance you get, you'd hand us all over to Klaus if it secured your freedom."

"Probably. But, right now, we all want the same thing— Klaus dead. Yet here you all are, running around like chickens with their heads cut off." Katherine folded her arms and began to step toward Elena.

"I don't need your help and I don't want it." Elena remained stubborn.

"And, that's incredibly stupid of you. Do you know where Klaus is? When he's coming? What he looks like?" A scoff left Katherine's lips.

"If you know something, say it or get out." Damon took a vicious step toward Katherine.

"Fine. Then, I'll just go to the Grill and have some lunch. Maybe Aunt Jenna's free for a bite." The Pierce vampire smirked, it was at that moment she knew she had the upper hand.

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"Chinese food, or pizza?" Caroline declared as she, Riley, Bonnie, and Elena all gathered in the Gilbert kitchen for girls' night. It was a ritual the females always did, no matter what was happening— and, they needed it.

"Hm. Like you have to ask." Elena hummed with a small grin on her face, whilst Bonnie and Riley chuckled.

"I will look it up now." Caroline grabbed hold of her tablet, but as soon as she unlocked it, she came face-to-face with a picture of her and Matt from the Founder's Day event.

Riley watched Caroline's face drop, so she grabbed the tablet from her hand. "Hey. It's okay, I'll order it."

"Do you believe that Jonas is being sincere?" Elena raised the question. She was referring to the fact that Jonas and his son, Luka, two of Elijah's witches, were working for Elijah because Klaus had his daughter. He agreed to work with them to get his daughter back.

A sigh left Bonnie's lips as she watched Riley tap through the pizza menu."I don't know what to believe. I think he's at a loss. He's not sure who to trust."

"Aren't we all." Riley scoffed quietly.

"Well, what are we going to do about this movie situation? What about The Notebook?" Caroline suggested with a hopeful look on her face despite the fact she had seen The Notebook far too many times to even count.

"Uh—" Elena began, just as her Aunt stepped into the kitchen and halted the moment she saw all the girls gathered in the kitchen. "Hey."

"What's going on?"

"Girls' night." Elena smiled innocently toward her Aunt just as her face fell. "How're you doing?"

Jenna lifted her eyes back up. "You heard about my fight with Ric. Is this some kind of disguised attempt to cheer me up?"

"No." Elena glanced back toward Bonnie, Riley, and Caroline, who all remained quiet. "No, this is about us girls hanging out. And, you know, we'll be here if you happen to want to talk, or—"

"—Because I am a winner when it comes to successful relationships." Caroline sarcastically chuckled as she raised her hand in the air.

"Oh. And, I mean, I've learned to handle rejection pretty well these days." Riley smirked back as a chuckle left Jenna's lips.

"You girls, too, huh?" The Sommers woman raised an eyebrow as she stepped over to the table. "Okay, then. It's this whole Isobel thing. He's hiding something from me."

"To play Devil's advocate, maybe there is a great reason why he's not telling you. Maybe he's just trying to protect you."

"Well, that's not his call to make." Jenna snapped back, though Elena remained silent. "I mean, I deserve the truth. Everybody does."

"I don't know, Jenna. Sometimes the truth— it's a hard pill to swallow, you know?" Riley heavily sighed as she leaned her head in her hands.

"Not if it's somebody you care about, it isn't."

"You know what we need?" Caroline yelled out just as all eyes turned back to her. "Dancing! There is a band at the Grill. I think we should all go there."

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The minute they entered the Grill, the vibe was amazing. The band that was playing was not usually Riley's vibe, but they weren't half bad. Though, the moment was soon interrupted by Jenna, who noticed Alaric and decided to take herself off to the bar.

Then, Caroline saw Matt. "Hey, Matt." She grinned at him, though he walked straight past her as if she didn't exist.

"Things just got real awkward," Bonnie told the three girls that stood beside her as she clenched her jaw.

"Guys." Caroline almost looked as if she were going to cry, then she turned back to her friends. "What the hell do I do about Matt?"

"Did Matt not tell you that the ball was in your court, Care?" Riley raised an eyebrow to the blonde, who immediately shook her head. "All you ever do is talk about him. You obviously care about him, so go get him!"

"Yeah, but I'm still keeping so many secrets." The Forbes girl anxiously spoke again.

"Alaric's in the same boat with Jenna. And, maybe that's our mistake. We're trying to protect the people that we love by keeping them out of it, but in the end, we're hurting them anyway." Elena told Caroline, who nodded slowly.

Once the band stopped playing, Caroline took off her jacket and jumped up onto the stage. "Hey, everybody. Let's hear it for the band. Aren't they awesome?"

"This isn't gonna end well." Jenna simply stated as she downed her shot of tequila.

"So, there's this guy. And, uh— he told me to tell him how I feel about him. Ha, like it's so easy. Um, just because I talk a lot doesn't mean I actually know what I'm talking about. Like now, and I'm feeling loopy and I don't really know how to express myself. I can sing!"

As Riley listened to Caroline sing her heart out on the stage for Matt, all Riley could think about was Damon. Damon Salvatore had consumed every single fiber of Riley's being, and just the fact that she couldn't be with him drove her wild.

Shortly after Caroline had exited the stage, she and Matt headed off into the bathroom and Elena moved outside to take a call from Stefan. Which left Bonnie and Riley at the pool table. "So, you told Elena about you and Jeremy, huh?"

"I mean, I wanted her blessing. I felt weird seeing him without her being cool with it." Bonnie told the strawberry-blonde witch with a soft smile. "How're things with you?"

"Oh. Don't even go there." Riley scoffed in disbelief as her eyes were drawn to Jonas, who entered the Grill with an unreadable expression on his face. "What's he doing here?"

"I— I'm not sure." Bonnie's eyes followed Jonas around the room. He appeared to be looking for someone, but the witches couldn't work out who. "Dr. Martin. You okay?"

"Where is she?" Jonas immediately responded as he turned his gaze toward the two witches.

"Where's who?" Riley scrunched her face up, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"My son is dead." Jonas strode toward Bonnie with darkened eyes. "They killed Elijah, and they killed Luka. And, my only shot at getting my daughter back is if I have Elena."

"No. No, Dr. Martin." Bonnie whispered softly just as Jonas' attention turned to the rest of the Grill. He used his magic to cause all of the lights to shatter and the power to go completely out.

"Where is she?!" Jonas snapped again as Bonnie and Riley's eyes widened in fear.

"We haven't seen her."

Jonas shut his eyes again and caused a few more explosions around the Grill. "Well, no one's getting out of here until I have her."

"Don't do this. Please, don't do this." Bonnie begged just as all of the liquor smashed against the bar, then he caused a fire to rage across the bar. Bonnie rushed to him and attempted to grab him, but he placed his hand on her forehead and rendered her unconscious.

"Bonnie! What the hell have you done to her!" Riley snapped viciously as she attempted to rush toward him, but he did the same to her.

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In a strange turn of events, Katherine Pierce actually saved the day. She and Stefan headed to the Gilbert residence, and Katherine impersonated Elena so that the Gilbert girl would remain out of harm's way. Though, Katherine showed absolutely no restraint and tore through Jonas' neck without blinking.

Riley had eventually made it back to the Salvatore's house after she regained consciousness since Caroline managed to safely get her out of the Grill before the fire consumed her.

"Damn." Damon's eyes fell to the witch as she wandered inside the house. Her hair was messed up and her clothes were ruined due to the fire. "You look how I feel. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sure. Just got knocked out by that damn witch and nearly burned to a crisp, but other than that. I'm great." Riley exhaled deeply as she dropped herself onto the couch beside Damon.

The Salvatore's eyes widened once he heard what Riley had been through. He was prepared to ask if she was okay, but once she snatched the bourbon from his grasp and took a sip, he knew she was fine. "You been thinking about the sacrifice?"

"Of course I have." Riley simply shrugged after she swallowed the liquor. "It's kinda hard not to think about. I just— if this whole thing is really real, and he's really coming. Where the hell is he? Why hasn't he shown himself, yet?"

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps he's biding his time. Plotting his next move. But, you can't live in fear of the unknown, Riley. For all we know, what Elijah told me about Klaus needing your blood might've been a load of crap."

"You want me to be honest with you?" Riley's eyes slowly found their way to Damon's, whilst he nodded. "I'm scared. I'm so, so scared."

Damon gently lifted his hand up to the witch's face. "Don't be scared. I am not going to let anything happen to you."

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