(act one, chapter fourteen: fool me once)

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As Buffy awoke the next morning to Elena shaking her awake, her hand immediately want towards her head because of the heavy headache she was having. When Buffy wanted to asked Elena what the hell was going on, her sister place a finger on her lips, nodding her head towards something further in the room, almost at the end of the bed Buffy was lying on.

Or rather, someone. Ben was clearly sleeping when Elena nodded her head towards the door. They could make it without waking him up. At least that was what Buffy hoped. It was the only way out of the motel room.

SON OF A LITTLE BITCH

FUCKING BEN?

The two tried as quietly as possible to get to the door without making to much noise as they slid off the bed, and both stepped over Ben's outstretched leg. Buffy unlocked the deadbolt on the door, while Elena kept an eye on Ben's sleeping form. 

However when Buffy tried to turn the lock on the door, Ben suddenly stood behind Buffy and in front of Elena. "I wouldn't." He walked closer to them, looking right into Elena's eyes. "Don't try to escape. Don't even move. Do you understand?" He asked, compelling her.

"I understand." Elena nodded, playing along as he said the same thing to Buffy.

He scoffed at them before he went to the fridge to get a some food or drinks or whatever it was that kidnappers do, Buffy quickly opened the door, prepared to ran as fast as possible out of the motel room, if it wasn't for Anna blocking her and Elena's path. Anna grabbed Buffy and Elena by their hair and pushed them both back into the motel room.

There was absolutely no need to push us that hard. AND my hair!

"Seriously?" Anna asked Ben angrily.

"I told them not to move." He answered as she passed him. "I did that eye thing that you taught me!" 

"And forgot the lesson about vervain! She's dating a vampire, Ben. Duh!" Anna replied, nodding in Elena's direction as she pushed the two against the wall. As Buffy tried to get the door back open, Elena turned on the light, trying to search for an exit of the room.

Buffy looked over to the bathtub and saw Bonnie laying inside of it, unconscious. She quickly abandoned the attempt to find a way out of the bathroom and at the moment she saw her best friend unconscious, Buffy quickly rushed to her side.

"Bonnie?" Buffy asked, making Elena also look in their direction. 

"Oh, my God!"

Buffy wet a cloth in the sink and placed it on Bonnie's forehead and it didn't take long for the Bennett to wake up anymore.

"Bonnie?" Elena and Buffy asked at the same time as their friend's eyes flicker open.

"Elena? Buffy?"

"My head." Bonnie said, groaning at the pain. The two pulled her upright

"Oh, my god! Ben is a-" 

LITTLE BITCH. THAT'S WHAT HE IS

Bonnie had started but Elena cut her off, pointing to her ear as she spoke in a whisper that they could hear them. Buffy stood up and turned on the tap, kneeling back down next to Bonnie when she was done.

"I was so stupid." Bonnie said, angry at herself.

"No, he had all of us fooled." Elena said, trying to make the Bennett feel better.

"What's going on. Why are we here?"

"It must have something to do with the tomb and Emily's spell book." Elena suggested.

"Spell book?" Bonnie asked, confused.

"Damon said that it could open the tomb." Elena explained.

"Why didn't I know about any of this?" Buffy asked.

"I was trying to keep you both out of it, hoping it would never come to this."

"Come to what?" Buffy asked.

"They need a witch. To break the spell an let the vampires out." Elena said, looking back at Bonnie.

"No way."

"I Know." Elena said as Ben bursted through the door and turned the tap back off.

"You're wasting your time. I'm not gonna help you." Bonnie said.

But Ben just smiled at her and grabbed Elena and Buffy. Bonnie reached out for them, trying to pull them back but Ben was stronger than her.

"That's why they're here. Motivation for you to behave. You know, you shouldn't be so desperate. You made it too easy." Ben spoke.

I wanna punch his face

"She wants to talk to you." Ben said as he hold on to Buffy but pushed Elena back into the other room of the motel room.

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The three of them stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes until Anna Knocked on the door of the bathroom. "I'm leaving." She said.

Ben opened the door and let the two girls out.

"Keep them buttoned down. Compulsion won't work. Just use violence."

"Right. I got that." Ben spoke before Anna left and he pushed both the girls back on the bed. "Sit, behave. So you're the key to this. Literally. The one who opens the door. Tell me, how long have you been a witch?"

"Tell me, how long have you been an ass? Oh, that's right you always were." Buffy spoke.

Before Ben could replied Elena spoke up, asking if there was anything to drink.

"Are you offering?" Ben asked, standing up and walking over to Elena all while glaring at Buffy. "There's water on the nightstand."

Elena took the glass. However before she could drink, Bonnie asked something. "Hey. Can I have a sip?" 

Elena looked confused from Bonnie, who started at her like she had a plan, to Ben before handing her glass over to the witch.

Bonnie threw the water on Ben, who looked unamused and angry but the witch, unexpectedly, set his shirt on fire.

He started to panic, trying to dim the fire, which he could. As the three ran over to the door, they hadn't noticed that he did, until he grabbed Buffy. "Come back in and shut the door!" He yelled.

"Don't hurt her." Elena and Bonnie said in unison.

"Don't make me." Bonnie closed the door. "Lock it."

"I'm not sure if all this anger is good for you, Ben." Buffy said, trying to get him to loosen his grip. "It can lead to serious issues for the health."

The vampire threw the girl to the ground in a fit of anger, her head crashing against her head, making blood appear on her head as she passed out, making Elena and Bonnie quickly ran towards her, in worry.

"Witches don't have eternal life, right? So you guys can die." Ben asked as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah, we can die." Bonnie answered, throwing him a glare.

"Ah! That sucks." He said, before the door suddenly opened and Stefan stormed inside, opening all the curtains.

"Stefan!" Elena called, happy that he was there to help them.

"Go outside." He said to the conscious and they quickly made their way out of the motel room. He approached Ben. "When the sun goes down, leave town. If I ever see you again. I will kill you." He spoke, before walking over to Buffy and fed her his blood, picked her up and leaving the motel, Bonnie and Elena right by his side, waiting for the girl to wake up.

"What happened?" She asked when she had finally woken up, to find out that she was in a car, her head on Bonnie's lap.

"Ben pushed you and you fell."

Buffy let out a laugh. "See I told him it. Anger issues."

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"How did you know where we were?" Bonnie asked her Grams, confused.

"Many things can fuel a witches power. Worry. Anger. After Stefan told me they had taken you, I had a lot of both. Simple locater spell was easy after that." Grams answered.

"I'm sorry. About all of this.""Not as sorry as they're gonna be." Grams said with a smirk.

"So what do we do now?" Elena asked as she, Stefan and her sister joined the two Bennett witches.

"For now, you need to stay here." Stefan said.

"A prisoner,in my own home? I don't think so." Grams said.

"I can't protect you if you leave the house."

"We'll protect ourselves."

"We need to let him have Katherine back.He's not going to stop until he gets her.If we help him,maybe that ends it." Elena said, offering a solution.

"No! He doesn't deserve to get what he wants." Bonnie said, shaking her head. That was a terrible idea.

"What other choice do we have?" Elena asked.

"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems. As much as we tried to do to stay out of it.I'll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl, and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will be all over." Sheila said.

"We still have to get Damon to agree."

"He already agreed once."

"Yeah, and then we double cross him. So now he's angry."

"He's hurt. There's a difference. I think I know what we have to do." Elena said.

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Elena had texted Buffy and Stefan that she would come with Damon to the old Fell church in the woods. The three (Bonnie, grams and Buffy) waited outside for Stefan to be done with clearing the debris away and setting the torches.

"We can get down now." He spoke as he made his way over to them.

"What is that?" Bonnie asked looking over to the rest of the stuff Stefan had brought with him. 

"It's everything I need to destroy them." He handed a flashlight to grams.

"Are you sure Damon will come back with her?" Grams asked but at the moment Stefan wanted to answer, Damon whistled, catching their attention.

"Brother, witches, Buffy." Damon greeted, striding past them with the grimoire. Elena was walking behind him as Damon descended the stairs into the tomb. When they were inside the tomb Elena made her way over to Stefan.

"Are we ready?" Elena asked the Bennetts after Stefan had asked her if everything was okay.

A little bit later, sheila was lighting the torches at the tomb. Bonnie was helping her and the other four were watching them from the entrance.

"Air, earth, fire." Grams said.

"Water." Bonnie finished for her grams, holding up a water bottle, which Sheila took, sprinkling it on the floor.

"That's it? Just water from the tap?" Elena asked.

"As opposed to what?"

"I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something." Sheila smirked at Elena and Damon pulled out a blood bag from his jacket, unraveling it.

"What's that?" Stefan asked.

Are you stupid, dude? 

It's an alpaca

WHAT DO YOU THINK 

"It's for Katherine. Gotta have something to get her going. Unless your girl's offering a vein to tap. Admit it. You can't wait to get rid of me." Damon spoke to his brother, but every person in the room was hanging on to every word.

Stefan chuckled. "I can't wait to get rid of you." He admitted.

Bonnie looked at them. "You ready?" She asked. Bonnie and grams were doing the spell they needed to get the tomb open, their eyes shut and their hands interlocked.

"What are they saying?" Damon asked, standing ready to get Katherine out of the tomb.

"It sounds like Latin." Stefan answered.

"I don't think it's Latin." Elena said.

"I don't know. I'm not good with languages." Buffy shrugged.

Suddenly the flames of the torches were getting heavier and heavier. "What's happening?" Elena asked, as she hold on to Stefan.

Suddenly a crack was heard by the tomb door and Buffy knew that the tomb had been opened.

"It worked!" Bonnie said, surprised.

"Of course it worked."

Damon turned to Stefan. 'We have some fires to build."

Stefan looked back at Elena. "I'm gonna go get the gasoline, I'll be right back." Elena nodded at him and as Stefan was gone, Damon turned to Elena.

"You ready?"

"What?" Elena asked confused.

"You think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" Damon asked the two witches as he grabbed Elena.

"Don't take her in. I'll bring the walls down." Sheila said.

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't. You think I trust you?" He snapped.

"As much as I trust you."

I kinda get it. I mean they betrayed him before. That was not nice but you don't have to drag Lena inside that tomb, Damon.

"Enough. Both of you. Look, he needs leverage. He needs to know that you're not going to shut the door when he gets inside. I get it. I'll go."

Damon grabbed one of the torches from the circle. "May I?"

Elena nodded at Bonnie and Buffy before following Damon inside.

Buffy sat down, knowing this could take a while and her legs were getting tired.

Before Stefan came back, Anna suddenly came down.

"Hey, you're not going in there." Bonnie said to her, stopping her.

"You think you can stop me?" Anna asked.

"Bonnie." Grams said and it didn't take long for the youngest Bennett to stand back and let Anna pass her with a flashlight she had found on the ground.

"Why did you let her go in?" Bonnie asked her grandmother, looking a bit angry.

"Because she isn't coming out, baby. None of them are." Sheila said.

"What?" Buffy asked, scared. "My sister is in there, grams."

"Elena can come out, not the vampires."

Damon is gonna kill us all.

"So Damon can't get out?" Buffy asked, worriedly.

"No."

"But he just wanted Katherine back." Buffy said. She couldn't possibly leave him in there, right?He was doing it because he wanted the love of his live back.

Stefan came back through the church entrance. "Where's Elena?" Stefan asked;

"Damon took her inside." Bonnie replied.

"What?" Stefan asked, worriedly, running towards the entrance of the tomb but Sheila grabbed his arm.

"Stefan! If you go in there, you won't come out." 

"What did you do?"

"Opening the door didn't remove the seal. It just opened the door." 

"What's the seal?"

"Some seals keep vampires from entering. This one keeps them from coming out."

"Elena's human. She can leave. Anna and Katherine can't. Damon can't. You were never planning on breaking the spell, were you?" Stefan asked and you could see the betrayal in his eyes. 

"I told you. I will protect my own. Elena can get out. That's all that matters." Sheila said, ending the conversation.

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Stefan stayed right where he was until they heard Elena. The Salvatore ran straight inside. 

"Stefan!" Both Bonnie and Buffy yelled trying to go after him, but grams stopped them both.

"You can't  just leave him in there, grams."

"He made his choice."

"No." The witch went over to the grimoire and picked up, walking back to the older Bennett. "Here. Just show me what to do. I'll do it."

"We are not strong enough." Sheila said. "Even if we were able to bring the seal down. There's no guarantee that we can get it back up again."

"You said it yourself 'Many things can fuel a witch's power'. Help me! Or I'll do it alone."

Sheila, despite knowing that they weren't strong enough, help Bonnie find a spell as Elena came running from out of the tomb.

"Elena, Stefan..." Bonnie said, in an unsure voice, not knowing how to tell her best friend that her boyfriend was probably stuck in the tomb 

"He's right behind me." Elena replied before turning around to see Stefan standing at the entrance of the tomb, not going further than the door. "Stefan what are you doing?"

"It's gonna be okay. We'll fix it."

"What is it?" Elena asked.

"I can't." Stefan answered.

"Can't? Can't what?" Elena asked

"The spell's still up, we can't get them out. Yet."

"You went in there not knowing If you could come back out?" When Stefan didn't answer, Elena knew. "Oh, my God."

"I heard you scream."

"We can't leave him in there. We promised him, both of us."

"I know."

"Even if we're able to break through the seal. We won't be able to hold it for long." Sheila said and Stefan nodded, backing away from the door and going off to look for Damon.

"Are you sure you both can do it?" Buffy asked. She loved Stefan and Damon as her friends and she surely didn't want Elena's boyfriend to be sitting in the tomb, rotting there for all eternity, because it would break the Gilbert, but she also couldn't let Bonnie lose another family member. 

Neither of the witches answered and Buffy hoped that they would be alright as they started to recite the spell to lift the seal. Elena circles around them. The torches flared up when sounds came from the door of the tomb.

"I think it's working." Elena said, relieved but Buffy was watching the two witches in worry, not even noticing that Anna stepped out of the tomb with Pearl, who was still to weak to walk on her own.

"I just wanted my mother back. Jeremy is fine. He's outside. We won't touch him." The vampire said as she took her mother outside but the torches started to falter.

"Bonnie, keep going." Grams spoke and you could see that they both started to feel weaker every second. Grams turned to Elena. "They better hurry."

"Stefan!" Elena screamed in the opening of the tomb. "They can hold it much longer."

"GET YOUR ASSES BACK OVER HERE. BOTH OF YOU, NOW!" Buffy screamed, louder than Elena, not looking in the tomb, her eyes still on the witches. Bonnie looked weak but Sheila looked downright... not good.

And wonder by wonder, they walked out and the witches immediately let go of each others hands.

But Damon didn't have anyone with him as he walked the stairs, to leave the tomb. Buffy looked over to Stefan who shook his head at her.

Buffy glazed at Bonnie and Sheila before running after Damon. When she caught up with him he was staring ahead of him while walking until Buffy place a hand on his arm, before wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry, Damon."

The vampire didn't reply. To much in shock that Katherine was not in the tomb.

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Buffy and Elena were at Sheila's house, to check if both she and Bonnie were alright, which they were. Elena was gone off to the kitchen to call Stefan while Buffy placed herself on the couch and Bonnie was bringing her grams a cup of tea.

Buffy was texting Caroline, who was telling her what had happened at the party with Matt until she suddenly heard Bonnie crying, hysterically.

"Bonnie?" Buffy asked as she stood up.

"Buffy!" Bonnie sobbed. "She's not breathing! Please, wake up!" She said as she tried to wake up grams, both the woman did not move.

"Elena, call 911 now!" Buffy said to Elena who also came walking in and the Gilbert immediately took out her phone as Buffy wrapped her arms around Bonnie, trying to calm her down, and stopping her from getting her grimoire, knowing that it was already to late.

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Words: 3060

Posted: April 10, 2024

Be sure to comment. I love reading them and it keeps me motivated!

x Kat