CHAPTER FIVE | THE KILLER

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THE HUNTER PROBLEM HAD GROWN TREMENDOUSLY. Connor Jordan had taken hostages in the Grill and texted every single vampire in town to make them aware. Either they gave themselves up, or the hostages died. They hadn't yet identified all the hostages, but they knew that one of them was Jeremy Gilbert.

Evelyn wandered into the Lockwood Mansion and saw the rest of the group all listening to Damon, who seemed to be reciting the plan. "So we each take a different entrance, hit him at the same time." Damon's eyes drifted to the brunette vampire. "Ah, so glad you could pull yourself from your bed to help, Eve."

"I like to do what I can for the neighborhood." The Austin vampire shrugged nonchalantly as she wandered in.

"Stefan!" Elena immediately lifted herself up from the couch as soon as she saw the arrival of her radio-silent boyfriend.

Damon turned his attention to his younger brother. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Coming up with a plan." Stefan retorted, his arms wrapped tightly around Elena, who hurried into his hold.

"Apparently, Damon's already made a plan: Rip that dick's heart out and then feed it to him." Evelyn listed off as Damon nodded encouragingly. "Sounds promising, right?"

"That's not a plan." Stefan rolled his eyes then pulled himself away from the doppelganger. "We need to be careful. Connor has Jeremy and who knows how many other hostages."

The older of the two Salvatore's shrugged with furrowed brows. "Hence the open-heart surgery."

"Damon's right." Elena nodded in agreement with the Salvatore and then turned back to her boyfriend, hoping he felt the same as she did. "Connor's strong, but he's not going to be able to take all of us." She pointed out with furrowed brows.

"I called in the Hybrids to help, too." Tyler Lockwood, Klaus' first sired Hybrid told them with a confident nod.

"My Mom put squad cars blocking the streets." Caroline Forbes ran into the room as she slipped her cellphone back into her pocket. "They're saying it's a faulty gas main. We're good to go."

"Alright, well if there are no cops that means there are no witnesses. We all should be good to go, right?" Evelyn shrugged. She was eager to rid the town of the hunter once and for all.

Stefan looked around the room as he held his hand up, trying to stop the rest of the group from rushing off and to the Grill. "Alright, hold on. You're not all going."

"He shot me like nine times. If we're killing him, I want in." Tyler voiced.

"He's got, Jeremy." Elena seemed almost irritated that Stefan had suggested she stayed behind, especially since her brother was in danger. "I'm going."

"Listen, nobody is going anywhere until I figure out what we're walking into."

"Until you figure it out?" Damon repeated with furrowed brows as he took a few steps toward his brother. "Is that where you've been all morning, out buying bossy pants?"

"This guy's known for setting traps, right?" The younger of the two shrugged. "We'd be pretty dumb to walk into one, especially if he has werewolf venom."

Evelyn's eyes widened. "Does he?"

"He's had it before."

"Fine." Damon bit. "Fine. You want to take some time to do recon, you get one hour. But we're going to need some extra help, so where the hell's the wicked witch of the west?" He looked around in search of Bonnie Bennett, who was nowhere to be seen.

Caroline furrowed her brows with a shrug. "She can't do magic."

"Really? Well, call her, tell her Jeremy's life is in danger. Maybe that'll bring her out of retirement."

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They had chosen to use Alaric's old apartment to stake out the Grill, while Stefan wandered around outside to try and get a sense of how many hostages there were. It was fair to say that Stefan was acting strange—shady. Evelyn could feel it.

Elena stepped over to the window and pulled on the blinds, her eyes fell to Stefan who was on the phone to someone. "Who's he talking to?" She asked with furrowed brows as she glanced at Evelyn who stood beside her.

"Don't know, but whoever it is, it's probably the reason he's acting so damn shady right now." Evelyn hummed as she stepped away from the window. "I don't see why we can't just go in, grab the hostages, snap Connor's neck, and get it. Boom. Done job."

Damon rolled his eyes. "It's probably Bonnie, hopefully. Maybe she's decided to make herself useful again." He began to unroll a map onto the table as the girls headed over. "This is our way in. Courtesy of Alaric Saltzman's interest in Mystic Falls' underground railroad."

"The tunnels." Elena focused her attention on the map as she slowly nodded. "Like the ones in the Lockwood cellar."

"Yup," Damon muttered as he pulled his cellphone from his pocket and took a picture of the tunnels.

Evelyn's phone began to vibrate in her pocket so she pulled it out and placed it on the table in front of them. "Go on, Stef. Just how many damsels are in distress?"

"Three," Stefan announced. "But, Elena, It's Matt and April Young."

"Those two idiots." Damon sighed in clear exasperation for the fact that Matt and April both seemed to constantly be in trouble. "They're like danger magnets."

"We have to get them out of there." Elena voiced in a worried tone, leaning nearest Evelyn's cellphone.

"Yeah, I just need a little more time."

Evelyn gritted her teeth as she rolled her eyes. "Stefan, come on. You said an hour, we gave you an hour. The clocks ticking" With that, Stefan ended the call.

Elena started to head out of the room, but Damon immediately grabbed her arm in an attempt to stop her. "I'm going in these tunnels."

"No, you're not. This guy doesn't know that you're a vampire. Let's keep it that way." The Salvatore narrowed his eyes to Elena, but she continued to attempt to break from his hold.

The doppelganger looked between Damon and Evelyn, who both seemed insistent on keeping her inside the apartment complex. "But, I can offer myself in exchange for the hostages."

"Oh, sure, because that'll work." Evelyn sarcastically rolled her eyes. "Either, you end up as a hostage, or he figures out your a vampire and stakes you within seconds."

"Will you both stop treating me like I can't handle myself? Alaric trained me. And, I've been practicing with Stefan."

Before Elena could say anything more, Evelyn sped forward and pinned the doppelganger to the wall by her throat. "Just stop it. As Damon and I said, you're going to get yourself killed if you're not careful. You've been a vampire for, what? Five days? You're too weak to take this guy on yourself. Just wait for Stefan and we can all do this, together." Evelyn snapped viciously. "If you try and leave this apartment, I will snap your neck, Elena."

As soon as Evelyn released Elena from her grip, Stefan stepped through the apartment door. "Did you find the tunnel map?"

Damon's eyes drifted to his brother. He held his phone up and nodded. "Got it. It was in his weapons drawer with seven stakes, a weird MacGyver crossbow, and the last remaining vervain in Mystic Falls."

"Okay, enough chatter. I think we've spent enough time talking. How about we go and blow that dicks head off?" Evelyn gave the vampires a devilish grin.

"Not yet. Klaus is sending one of his men. He'll take the front and you, Evelyn, and I can take the tunnels."

Damon furrowed his brows. "Since when do we team up with Klaus and the lollipop guild?"

"Well, I already told you, Connor has werewolf venom," Stefan stated as if it were obvious. "We need someone to draw his fire. The Hybrids are immune to it, so they're our best bet."

"Which brings me to my next question, Stef." Evelyn folded her arms across her chest as she set her sights on the youngest Salvatore brother. "How'd you know Connor's got werewolf venom?"

"Start telling the truth, Stefan." Damon echoed in agreement with the brunette. "Why is Klaus involved? Did he compel you?"

"I am telling you the truth. This is the best way to get everyone out." Stefan turned back around the face the two vampires with an irritated look on his face.

"Okay, what is with you three? We're wasting time!" Elena immediately yelled. The longer the three vampires argued, the less chance they had of saving everyone.

"You know, what? I agree with the doppelganger." Evelyn gave Stefan a fake smile. "I've had enough of your damn plan. We'll get in there and kill Connor ourselves."

Damon and Evelyn started to walk past Stefan, but he grabbed them and jabbed a vervain dart into their necks. Evelyn felt her entire body go weak as she tried desperately to fight the vervain. It was no use. Her vision went dark.

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Once Evelyn and Damon woke after their vervain induced nap; Elena was nowhere to be seen, Stefan was gone and so were their daylight rings. They needed to find Stefan but they couldn't do that without their rings, so they punched a hole in the boiler room wall and entered the tunnels that way.

Damon stood beside Evelyn as he watched Stefan push Connor through the tunnels. The Salvatore crossed his arms over his chest as he smirked. "Good work, brother."

Stefan applied a little more pressure onto Connor's hands, making sure they remained behind his back whilst he glared at Damon and Evelyn. "It's over. I've got him."

"Over? You've got to be kidding me, it's just getting started." Evelyn rolled her eyes toward Stefan. "Speaking of; I didn't really think my jewelry was your taste but then again you're up to some very questionable things lately."

"We had to punch through a boiler room basement into a septic tank to get into this stupid tunnel." Damon gritted his teeth, irritation in his voice as he explained their journey since they didn't have their daylight rings. "But, it'll be worth it."

"I'm taking him with me." Stefan snapped.

"That's the thing— you're not. I don't know what you're up to or what Klaus has over you but even if we have to go through you, one of us is going to kill him." Damon gestured between himself and Evelyn before their eyes darted back to Connor.

"Better back off." Stefan shuffled backward a little as the two vampires edged closer.

"Why?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "Because your new bestie wants the damn hunter alive?"

"This has nothing to do with Klaus, you're just going to have to trust me on that." Stefan moved backward while the pair just kept Connor in their sights.

"Don't want to. Don't have to. Not gonna. You can give him to me, brother."

"Run—as fast as you can." Stefan pushed the hunter out of the tunnels before she sped straight to Damon and Evelyn. He pinned the pair against the wall viciously. "You're not going to kill him, either of you!"

Damon threw Stefan off of them and pinned him against the wall, while Evelyn dusted off her jacket. "Why are you protecting him? Tell me. Tell me!" The eldest Salvatore shoved his hand through Stefan's chest and gripped his throat.

Evelyn's eyes widened as she watched the display silently. "Klaus will kill anyone who knows— Connor's tattoo is the key to a cure."

"A cure to for what, Stefan?" The brunette stepped forward.

"For her! For Elena!"

"Klaus told you there's a cure for vampirism?"

"And if Connor dies, then we'll lose it forever." Stefan breathlessly spoke whilst Damon's grip upon his heart suddenly released. "I know it's crazy, but it's hope. Do you two understand me? It's her only hope!"

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The three vampires had managed to find Elena, but the outcome wasn't what they had expected. They saw her digging a shallow grave in the middle of the forest, bloodstains on her chin whilst Connor's body laid dead on the ground.

"Elena." Stefan called. Startled, she dropped the shovel and turned around the face them with a tear stained face.

"I need to bury him." The doppelganger's eyes dropped to Connor's body again as she picked up the shovel. "I killed him. I should— I should bury him."

She started to dig again, a little more furiously as the vampires all exchanged looks. Stefan was the first to step forward in a comforting manner. "Hey. Hey, come on."

"Don't!" Elena twirled around and shoved Stefan from her. "I heard you talking to him. Making some secret deal with Klaus? You said you were going to protect Jeremy! Keep me from— this." She glanced down to Connor's body. "You said that I could trust you, Stefan."

"Elena, it's, uh— trust me, this situation right now is so complicated." Evelyn lifted her eyes up to the hysterical vampire. The brunette remembered her first kill, what it was like. She could sympathise. "It's so complicated."

"No, it's not complicated, Evelyn! You want to know why? Because he's dead now." Elena's eyes finally drifted to Damon. "You told me to kill him. So I did. I killed— I killed someone." She dropped to her knees, sobbing in anguish as she realised what she had done.

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