Fighting For A New Future

Chapter 32

"No!" Rebekah screamed and ran to her sister's side. Kol followed, his body still adjusting to the formation of his magical core. He knelt beside his mate, her chest rising and falling shallowly, her eyes closed. "Bianca, please." Rebekah whispered.

"What happened?" Tyler asked.

"She told me this would happen."

"What would happen, Rebekah?" Kol questioned but the blonde vampire just stared at the younger girl. "Rebekah!"

"She was feeling apprehensive, okay." Rebekah confessed. "She said her magic was building up to do both the rituals." Kol turned his attention back to Bianca as he tried to make sense of what he had heard. Her magic had been so strong, so powerful, that it had affected her own body. "She had never done a spell this big before and doing two, one after the other took a toll on her."

"But why didn't she say anything? Why didn't you?" He asked, his voice hoarse with emotion. "We could have waited to do mine." He reached out a shaking hand and touched Bianca's cheek gently.

"She said you and Klaus waited a long time for this and she was so determined to help you." Rebekah wiped a tear from her eye. "And I promised her I would tell anyone until both rituals were done."

Kol looked at her and then back at Bianca. He reached out and took his mate in his arms, holding her close. His body was still wasn't adjusting to the new power, but he didn't care. He would do anything for her. He felt her chest rise and fall against his, and he prayed that she would be okay. He glanced over at the others, their eyes filled with worry and fear. He wished there was something he could do to make this all better, and just as he thought it, and glow showed around them both and when it faded, he released a breath.

"She's okay." He looked at the girl in his arms. "She's going to be okay." His voice was barely a whisper. "It's just the effect of doing two powerful spells for the first time one after the other. Her magic evolved and placed her body in a magical coma so that it can properly adjust." He heard multiple sighs of relief.

"Kol take her home, we'll clean up here."

Meanwhile, Damon, Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie are looking for Elena after she doesn't show up for a date with Stefan. They had been searching for hours now, their worry and fear growing with each passing moment. They split up, each taking a different direction in the hopes of finding her. Damon headed towards the woods, feeling a sense of dread in his gut. Stefan and Caroline searched the streets and alleyways of the town, calling her name, hoping against hope that she would respond. But there was no sign of her anywhere.

Bonnie, however, decided to try a different approach. She closed her eyes and focused on the locator spell her grandmother taught her. After several minutes of concentration, she felt a strange tugging at the back of her mind, like a thread pulling her in one direction but then she was confused. Pulling out her phone she called Caroline.

"Hey Bon, we haven't found Elena yet." Her friend said when she answered the phone.

"I think I just did." She said, her voice shaking. On the other side of the phone, Stefan stopped to look at the phone. "She's at her house."

"What? We checked there." Stefan said. "Who told you that?"

"No one, I did a locator spell and it's telling me she is at home right now." Without another word, Stefan sped off to the Gilbert residents. He pounded on the door hastily and stepped back when Jenna answered.

"Stefan, it's late right now. What are you doing here?" She queried.

"I know, but it's important. May I please speak with Elena?" Stefan demanded, his voice harsh with worry. "She's not with us and we need to make sure she's safe."

Jenna looked at him for a moment. "She's asleep. You know because she has school tomorrow."

"Can I go look?" Stefan pleaded. "Please Jenna, I need to see her."

Jenna hesitated for a moment, then stepped aside. "Alright, but just for a moment. And be quiet, she needs her rest." Stefan nodded gratefully and hurried upstairs, his heart hammering in his chest. He quietly opened Elena's door and peeked inside. She was sound asleep, her dark hair fanned out across her pillow. He let out a shaky breath and tiptoed over to her bed, gently sitting on the edge. He leaned over and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief wash over him when he could hear her breathing, the soft rustle of the sheets as she shifted in her sleep. He wanted nothing more than to stay there with her but he knew he couldn't. He had to get back to the others and tell them she was alright.

As he crept out of the room, he heard a faint whisper. "Stefan?" He paused, wondering if he had imagined it. He stayed a couple of minutes but didn't hear the call again and decided to leave. He said goodbye to Jenna and quickly made his way to the Boarding House, where he saw Damon, Caroline, and Bonnie. They exchanged worried glances when they saw him, and Stefan knew that they had been wondering what had happened.

"Is she alright?" Damon asked immediately. Stefan nodded, relief flooding through him.

"She's fine. She's asleep, but she's okay. I think she just needs rest." They all breathed a sigh of relief at his words. "But how did she appear at her house? I periodically checked there until Jenna came home."

Caroline piped up. "Maybe someone brought her there."

"Maybe but who?" Bonnie asked. The question hung in the air as they all thought about possible explanations. They didn't know anyone who would go so far as to kidnap Elena and bring her back to her own house. It didn't make any sense. As they continued to discuss, a sense of unease began to creep over them. Something was definitely not right.

"Look, I know something isn't right here. Elena shouldn't just be able to appear at her house like that. I mean, something must have happened. But what?" Caroline asked, rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"We need to find out." Damon growled. "Because whatever it is, it can't be good." He downed his drink before refilling it again. He hated not knowing what was happening around him. "I'll ask Alaric about any unusual activities that happened tonight. He might know something." Stefan nodded in agreement.

Caroline took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. "I think we should ask Elena's doppelganger. Maybe she knows something." She didn't want to see the woman who had killed her and turned her into a vampire but it was the only option. Especially when the others nodded in agreement.

"But how do we find her?" Bonnie asked.

Stefan suggested. "Why don't you do another locator spell?" She nodded and they called it a night feeling like they were finally making some progress. Later that night, Damon kept pacing the floor of his room, unable to shake the feeling that there was more to this than they had yet discovered.