Know Thy Enemy

LOLA POV:

Surprisingly I never had to force myself out of bed today. I got up pretty early, had a shower and I'm already dressed.

It's such a nice day today, I walk over to my balcony and open up the doors, I lean against the railings enjoying the only peace I'm going to get today. Don't ask me how I know but I just have a feeling that today is going to be like a regular day in Mystic Falls; dramatic.

My peace has been interrupted in record time as Stefan and Damon storm into my bedroom. Christ, what have I done now?

I sigh as I have my backs to them, "I thought we all finally learnt how to knock?"

Stefan sighs at my attitude, "We need to talk."

I turn to face both of my brothers and I look at them confused, "What's going on?"

Damon rolls his eyes, "Isobel is here."

"Jenna knows she's alive." Stefan adds.

I look at them both, looking even more confused than I was about 30 seconds ago. My lips are parted as though I'm going to reply but I honestly don't know what to say. That's a lot of information this early on a morning.

Damon gestures us to leave my room, "Come on."

I follow both of my brothers downstairs, "How did this happen?" I ask as we all walk downstairs.

Stefan shrugs, "I don't know, Isobel just showed up at their front doorstep."

"What's she doing here?" Damon asks.

"I don't know. That's what I'm gonna go find out." Stefan says as he walks towards the front door.

Katherine appears, great, "I don't think that you should tell her that I'm here."

I frown at her, "What? Why?"

Katherine shrugs, "It's better if she and John not know that I stayed in town after I got out of the tomb."

Damon glares at Katherine, "You're the one in cahoots with them. You made a deal with John that almost got me killed."

"I did what I had to get out of the tomb." Katherine boldly states, "Now I'm reconsidering my alliance."

Katherine turns to walk away but Stefan interrupts her, "What do you know?"

Katherine turns to face us all again, "I know that I want Klaus dead, which puts me squarely on team you. Besides, if you three ever need me to swap places with Elena again, the less people know that I'm here, the better. Think about it, Stefan. Come on. Be smart."

Stefan looks away and thinks for a second, he runs his hand through his hair and points to Damon, "Tell you what. Why don't you, uh...Call Alaric and let him know that his wife just showed up on his girlfriend's doorstep."

Stefan walks out the house, leaving the three of us looking at each other not really knowing what to do next. Katherine walks away, Damon nudges me and gestures me to follow him outside. I grab my jacket and follow him out and get into his car with him.

"Where are we going?" I ask once we have driven off so Katherine can't hear us.

"We're going to meet Bonnie at the Martin's." Damon replies.

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We arrive at the Martin's place with Bonnie who has a new pet; Jeremy.

Damon opens the door leading into the apartment, he waves his hand through the threshold to make sure he can get in, "Yep." He takes a large stride into the room, "Everybody's dead."

We all enter the apartment and look around. We all notice Luka's burnt corpse laying in the living room.

"We should pack up the grimoires. They spent years collecting them. I wanna make sure they're safe." Bonnie says as she walks towards a pile of grimoires.

Damon looks down at Luka's corpse, "You know, we could just get another match and cremate him."

I laugh as I walk to stand next to Damon, "Oh yeah and toast marshmallows."

Bonnie glares at both of us, "Don't be disrespectful. Not to him."

Damon puts his hands up in surrender, "Fine. I'll bury him."

I grab a blanket and throw it over to Damon, we both grab different ends and place it down onto Luka.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Jeremy asks looking round the apartment.

Bonnie kneels down to look through some grimoires, "According to Luka's dad, one of these contains a spell that'll let me harness the energy that's left behind when a witch dies violently."

Damon smirks over to Bonnie, "I didn't know you and father witch were so close."

"We weren't but when he gave me my powers back, he gave me a message." Bonnie explains, "If I can find the spot in town, where the old Salem witches were burned, I can harness their energy to use when I need it." Bonnie walks towards the bookshelf.

"Great. We'll have to put that on our list of things to do today. Harness ancient dead-witch power." Damon says sarcastically as he smirks over to me.

Bonnie turns to face us both, "You know where the witches were burned?"

I look up to Bonnie and pretend to play dumb, "Did we forget to mention that?"

Jeremy is reading one of the grimoires, he looks over to us, "Are we gonna have to read through every one of these books till we find the right spell?"

"Not exactly." Bonnie looks over at the book shelf, she closes her eyes and raises her hands.

All of the books fall and one of them opens right in front of her revealing the spell she needs. Bonnie kneels down and grabs it, "It's this one."

I stand up and clap my hands together, "Nice work, Sabrina."

"Great. Grab the rest. Let's go." Damon says.

We all grab the grimoires and leave the apartment.

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Damon & I agree with Bonnie that we will meet her at the old witches house later on. We both get back to the house and speak to Elena and Stefan.

"Do you really think that Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the doppelgänger?" Elena asks us all as we all sit in the library.

Damon is laying across one of the chairs, Stefan is sat in the chair opposite him and Elena and I are both sat on the couch.

Stefan sighs, "Look, I don't trust a word that she says, but I think we'd be stupid to ignore the warning."

"You know, you should just stay here. It's better for us to keep an eye on you." Damon suggests.

I look over to him with a raised brow, "What, in the house that any vampire can enter?"

Stefan shakes his head, "No. Her house is safer."

Damon shrugs, "Well, then we'll stay there."

"So is that the plan?" Elena asks looking between us all, "None of you will let me out of your sight again?"

I purse my lips, "Well..."

Damon glares over to me, "Shut up, Lola." He then looks over to Elena, "Let me know when you come up with a better one."

Elena shrugs, "Fine. Then one of you 3 bodyguards is gonna have to come with me to the Lockwood luncheon."

Stefan smiles over to Elena, "That'd be me."

"That's a no from me." I mumble as I take a sip of my bourbon.

"Not me either." Damon says, he gestures his hand between him and I, "We have witch stuff to attend to with Bonnie."

Elena looks over to Damon and then to me, "Does that mean that you're taking her to the..."

I can feel Katherine's presence in the house, I grab a cushion and throw it at Elena. She glares over to me and I glare back with my finger to my lips, "Shh."

Katherine walks in and smirks at us all, "Don't get quiet on my account. If you have a plan to combat the impending vampire doom, please do tell."

No one answers her. We all glance between each other.

Katherine scoffs, "Seriously, what is the plan to get us out of this mess, hmm? I delivered you a moonstone, a werewolf, and the dagger to lure and kill Klaus, and right now all you have is a moonstone. Or so you tell me."

Damon smugly smiles over to Katherine, "No, we have it."

"Where is it?" Katherine asks.

Damon smirks, "It's in a very safe place."

"I've been honest with you." Katherine snaps, "Time to return the favour."

I stand up from the couch and turn to face Katherine with my arms crossed against my chest, "Let me be honest with you. Don't mistake the fact that we haven't set you on fire in your sleep for trust."

Elena smiles up at me and then turns to face Katherine and smiles at her.

Katherine glares at me, "Fine. Be that way." She then walks out of the library.

I gesture for Damon to come with me, it's time to go and meet Bonnie at the witches house.

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Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy and I are all walking through the woods to get to the witches house.

"Is this the spot Emily Bennett was killed, too?" Jeremy asks.

Damon nods, "Founders thought it was poetic burning her where the other witches burned."

"How do you know where the witches were burned?" Bonnie asks.

I scoff, "'Cause dumbass over here tried to save her."

Damon shrugs, "Emily was just my key to getting Katherine back before I knew what a nasty little bitch Katherine was."

Jeremy laughs at Damon's comment. We stop in front of an abandoned and run-down house where the witches used to live.

"You sure it's the right place?" Jeremy asks unsure that we have found what we need.

I nod, "Yep, this is the place."

We walk further towards the house and walk in. We look around as we walk further into the house, Jeremy stands on a loose floorboard causing it to crack, making him jump.

Damon and I both turn to face him with a raised brow, he looks between us both and looks embarrassed, "Come on." He mumbles.

I laugh slightly at Little Gilbert getting a bit freaked being in here. Damon and I look around a room we are in, we turn to face Bonnie and we both are stuck and can't move.

Damon laughs slightly and glares over at Bonnie, "Whatever witchy prank you're playing, don't. It's not funny."

Bonnie is trying to hide her smug smile, "I'm not doing anything."

"We can't move." I say through gritted teeth.

Something happens to both of our daylight rings and our skin starts to burn, I groan out in pain, "Son of a bitch. Are you serious right now, Emily?!" She is still clearly pissed at Damon for leaving her to die and is also taking it out on me too.

Damon also groans in pain, "Oh, our ring's aren't working. Do something."

Bonnie concentrates and closes her eyes and starts to perform a spell. We can both move again, we step out of the daylight and catch our breath.

Bonnie smugly smiles at us, "I don't think the witches like you being here."

Jeremy laughs, "I guess this is the right place."

I flash a sarcastic smile towards them both, "I'm gonna go wait outside."

Damon nods and points over to me walking away, "What she said." He follows me outside.

I take a seat on the stairs leading up to the house and wait for Bonnie to do her juju so we can leave.

Damon sits besides me, "How you doing?"

I sigh and grow impatient towards Damon always checking up on me, "Damon, I'm fine. Why do you constantly keep asking if I'm okay?"

Damon shrugs, "Well it's obvious that Klaus is either on his way or he will be very shortly. You obviously have history with the guy and it ended badly. Sorry for wanting to make sure you were feeling okay about being in the same place as him again."

I look over to him and smile, I feel bad for snapping at him, I know he keeps asking because he does actually care. I shuffle closer to him and put my head on his shoulder, "I'm sorry. I just don't know how to feel about it all I guess."

Damon puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in for a hug. We both pull away from the hug and just sit there in a comfortable silence for a bit. But I quickly grow impatient.

I walk towards the front door and shout out for Bonnie to hear me, "Wanna hurry it up in there?"

The door slams itself in my face, I groan in frustration, "Screw you too, Emily."

Damon stands beside me and faces the door, "You know, you're all on your own in there." We don't hear anyone respond, he looks over to me, "Come on."

We both walk back into the woods and leave.

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As we were driving back home, Damon gets a phone call from Sheriff Forbes. Turns out something has happened to John at the Lockwood's luncheon and he's dead; or so they think.

We both arrive at the Lockwood's and walk in.

"Hey. How is he?" Damon says as we both walk in and look down at John dead on the floor.

"He's dead." Sheriff Forbes responds.

I walk over to John's body and crouch down. I pick up his arm with his ring on, I look up to Damon who also see's the ring, he nods. I then casually throw his hand back down landing on his body.

Damon turns to face Liz and Carol, "He'll be fine in a couple hours."

Carol looks at us both confused, "What are you talking about? Damon, he's dead."

I look over to them and smile awkwardly at them, "Well...Here's the thing. John's ring, it's an old Gilbert family heirloom that protects its owner from death by a supernatural entity."

Carol looks at us both still confused, "But he's not breathing. He has no pulse."

Damon grabs John by his arms and starts dragging him away, "He will be. Trust me. We're gonna need a cover story...epileptic fit, alcohol binge, banana peel, whatever works. But right now I just have to get him out of here."

We both leave with John's body and dump him at the boarding house.

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Damon walks in carrying John's body over his shoulder. He dumps him on the floor.

I look over to Damon and shrug, "Hm, subtle."

Damon rolls his eyes at me, he looks down at his shirt and sees he is covered in John's blood. He walks upstairs to change his shirt.

I walk into the living room and pour myself a drink. Before I can even take a sip I can hear Damon shouting me frantically, "LOLA?!"

I put my glass down and vamp speed up to his bedroom, "What is it?" I look around the bathroom and all his fancy soaps are on the floor, I look up to Damon and sigh, "Please tell me you didn't hide the moonstone in your fucking soap bucket?!"

Damon not responding to me is a clear indiction that he did and Katherine has took it. We both rush out of the house and meet Stefan at a foreclosure in town we think Isobel is staying at.

"Think this is the house?" Stefan asks as we get out of the car and walk up to the house.

Damon scoffs, "Better be. It's the nicest foreclosure in town."

"Swear to God if she's not here..." Stefan says as he walks towards the house.

I scoff,  "Don't be such a pessimist, Stefan."

We all enter the house, it seems empty; no one is here.

Stefan starts to walk upstairs to check, "I got upstairs."

Damon looks round one side of the house and I look through the other. Nobody's there. Damon and I both walk out of opposite rooms and meet in the foyer.

"Anything?" Stefan asks as he walks back down the stairs.

"Nope." I respond popping the P.

Damon looks down at a bunch of luggage at the side of the door, "This is Isobel's stuff. It's definitely the right place."

"Where are they?" Stefan asks growing impatient.

"I don't know, Stefan." Damon snaps back.

We all then leave the house and head back in the car and continue to search for Elena. After a while, Stefan gets a phone call from her and tells him she is at a graveyard and Isobel has just killed herself right in front of Elena. We pick her up and all head back to the boarding house.

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We leave Elena in the living room who is still in shock at what she has just witnessed. We all head into the library to chat.

"We need to hand over the deeds to this place to Elena. That way no vampires can get in who aren't invited." Stefan says as he grabs the deeds to the house.

Damon nods, "This is the best option we've got." He looks over to me, "Are you okay with this?"

I look over to them both confused, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Stefan shrugs, "Well it's no secret that you aren't Elena's biggest fan."

I cross my arms against my chest, "I've been trying my hardest to be nice to her."

Damon looks over to me with a "Really?" look on his face, as does Stefan.

I look at them both, I scoff as I unfold my arms and throw them up in the air, "Okay fine, I'll try harder. I don't have anything against this plan, it's the best plan we have to keep her safe from Klaus. I just better be invited back into my own home."

They both smile over to me, Stefan hands Damon the deeds to the house and he goes to check on Elena.

Stefan walks in to see Elena staring down at a necklace, presumably Isobel's, "Is that Isobel's?"

Elena nods, "I never thought I would feel bad about her being dead, and yet..."

Stefan sits besides Elena and sighs, "She was your mother."

Elena looks over to Stefan distressed, "Why did they let me go?"

Stefan shrugs, "Well, anything John told Isobel, we have to assume that Klaus knows, right? So he knows that you're not gonna turn yourself into a vampire. He knows that you have us keeping you safe."

"He knows I'm not gonna run."

Damon and I both walk into the living room.

"Which is why we need to take some precautions, 'cause we got played, all of us." Damon says as he walks towards Elena and places the deeds to the house in her lap.

Elena looks up at us both confused, "What's this?"

"It's the deed to our house." I say as I step further into the room, "It's in Zach's name. As soon as you sign it, it'll be in your name."

Elena stills looks confused but also shocked as she glances between me and my brothers, "You're giving me your house?"

Stefan nods, "Isobel had the right idea with the safe house. You'll just stay here till it's all over. That way, you can control who gets invited and who doesn't."

"Although I'll be super pissed if you lock me out." Damon says jokingly towards Elena.

I cross my arms against my chest and smirk towards Elena, "Me too."

She smiles up innocently at me. Maybe I can try harder to be nice to her, I guess. I mean, my brothers both love her and I want to support them so that means trying harder to be nice to Elena.

John suddenly gasps for air and sits up. Damon rushes over to him and lifts him up by his collar.

"I swear I had no idea what she was gonna do. I'm sorry." John pleads, he looks over to Elena, "I'm so, so sorry."

Elena stands up and walks towards them both, "Damon, let him go. He and I need to talk."

Damon, Stefan and I leave Elena and John to speak. We all head back into the library.

"Hey, Bonnie said the spell worked." Damon says looking at a text from Bonnie, "She's locked and loaded."

"At least something went right today." I say as I hand both of my brothers a glass of bourbon. I turn away from them to pour myself a glass.

"Hm, Katherine has no idea that Bonnie got her powers back." Stefan states.

Damon smirks, "Mhm."

"And Isobel had no idea what you and Jeremy took Bonnie to do today." Stefan continues.

I turn to face them both again now with my own glass, "Yup."

Stefan glances between us all, "We're the only ones who know."

"That literally makes Bonnie our secret weapon." Damon says smirking.

We all raise our glasses of bourbon and clink them together and take a drink.

I walk over to my brothers and match Damon's smirk, "Let the games begin."

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{{A/N: I was only going to publish chapter 16 today but figured I would also do chapter 17. Because after this chapter, it starts getting more exciting now that Klaus has arrived into Mystic Falls, just in Ric's body....for now ;) Thank you so so much for reading my story, it honestly means the world to me!! I hope you are enjoying it so far!}}