"She wants to do it in public," Stefan explained, "Killing Mason threw her off guard."

"She's running scared," Damon pointed out. "What she did to Jenna was desperate. She's out of tricks. I mean, she did the same thing twice."

"We can't underestimate her. We have to play this smarter than her."

"Can we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?" Caroline asked.

"No, Katherine's not getting dick," Damon protested, "I've had it. I'm gonna go to the masquerade ball and I'm gonna kill her. Tonight."

"You're not gonna kill her," Stefan argued.

"Don't give me that goody-goody crap."

"You're not gonna kill her."

"Really?"

"Because I am."

"God," Evelyn spoke up, "You two are absolutely ridiculous. You know that?"

I hopped off the table and made my way over to the group, "Do you even have a plan yet? Or are you just going in guns ablazing?"

"We haven't gotten that far," Stefan said.

"Wow, really? I had no idea," I commented sarcastically.

"You come with me," Damon said before dragging me upstairs.

"What now?" I sighed, "Am I being too mean? Because if you think this has something to do with my heightened emotions then you're wrong. And I wo-"

"Evelyn," he said, cutting my rant short and stopping us at the top of the stairs.

"What?"

"Relax."

"Right, sorry."

"Now, if you would have let me talk before assuming things, you would know that's not why I pulled you up here."

"So then why?"

"You can't be a part of this."

"What?"

"You aren't coming."

"How are you going to stop me?"

"I'm older, faster, stronger. Need I keep going?"

"Bu-"

"You aren't going. End of story," he snapped before walking back to everyone else.

-

"Hey, come on in," Caroline said after opening the door.

"I got Stefan's message," Bonnie said simply, entering the house.

"Hey, you brought the grimoire, thank you," Stefan said gratefully.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked when she noticed more people were here.

"We're gonna kill Katherine," Jeremy said from behind Bonnie before walking over to Alaric.

"I can explain," Stefan said.

"Please," Bonnie responded, looking alarmed.

"We're gonna kill Katherine."

After Bonnie adjusted to the idea of actually killing Katherine, Alaric began explaining the different functions of the weapons he had.

"This works with compressed air. The trigger mechanism is up here," he pointed to the device, "I have two of these in a different size." He looked at Jeremy, "For you I recommend this. It fits nicely under the jacket sleeve. You use the trigger when you're ready."

He faked killing a vampire and Damon and Stefan looked at each other.

"You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire."

"Are you sure you guys don't want me there tonight?" Alaric asked again.

"No, I need you to stay with Elena," Stefan answered, "I don't want her to know about this."

"Okay. Well, I'll make sure she doesn't leave my sight."

"Alright, if anybody wants to back out, I'll understand."

"Yeah," Damon agreed, "Cold feet speak now. I don't want this going wrong if someone chicken's out."

"Caroline," he added accusingly.

"I won't. Look, she killed me. Fair's fair. As long as there's no werewolf running around."

"Oh, I took care of Mason."

"As long as Tyler doesn't kill anyone, he won't turn," Jeremy assured.

"Bonnie?" Stefan asked, "Are you with us?"

There was a long pause before she answered, "But no one gets hurt."

"Except Katherine," Damon said with confidence, "Tonight Katherine gets a stake through her heart."

As everyone continued getting ready, I pulled Damon to the side.

"Let me come."

"No."

"Oh come on, please," I begged.

"You need to stay here and stay safe," Damon explained, packing up weapons.

"I'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

"I'm not risking it."

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"You don't know Katherine like I do. She gets what she wants when she wants it. As of right now, she wants you dead, she thinks you're dead. We're keeping it that way."

"Dam-"

"Please," he said, looking into my eyes, "for me."

I wanted to argue and tell him that I was going and that was that. But I couldn't.

"Fine, but the second things go south, call me."

"Deal," he answered before picking up his bag and joining everyone else.

I flopped on the couch as soon as everyone left, my paranoid mind taking over.

What if something happens? What if they all die? What if they can't kill Katherine? What if she gets the stone and gets away? What if...

As my mind scrambled to find logical answers for my what if questions, time flew.

Before I knew it, it had been more than a few hours and they should have been back already.

"Elena knows you guys planned something without her and now she's not answering. Nobody's answering. What the hell is going on Damon?" I shouted angrily into the phone, "I swear if you're dead, I will bring your ass back to life and then kill you myself. Call me, pronto."

I continued pacing anxiously back and forth in front of the door. Where the hell is everyone?

I called Damon again and he didn't answer, "Damn it, Salvatore! Why aren't you answering your phone? I swear i-"

The door opened and I was quick to turn around. As he sulked in, I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. He was surprised by this action but he easily relaxed into it.

I pulled back before slapping him across the face. Hard.

"What the hell happened?" I shouted.

"Ow," he said simply, his hand over his cheek.

"Answer me."

"We had her. I had the stake at her heart, ready to ram it in when Jeremy showed up in a frenzy," Damon explained, walking over to the cabinet that held his expensive bourbon, "Katherine had a witch link Elena and her. Everything we did to Katherine happened to Elena."

"So if you killed Katherine, you would have killed Elena?"

"Pretty much."

"Thank you."

"What?" he asked, clearly not understanding my sudden gratitude.

"The old Damon would have just killed Katherine even if it meant Elena died with her. That's why I said thank you. Thank you for not letting my sister die."

"Right," he said plopping down on the couch, raising his glass ever so slightly, "You're welcome."

I furrowed my eyebrows with a sudden thought, "Where is she now?"

"Somewhere she can't ever leave."