The Apprentice (The Originals/The Vampire Diaries)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

 Needless to say, Mystic Falls soon fell into chaos.

 Matt Donovan had called for a town evacuation, due to another 'gas leak'.

 "Are you sure you know what you have to do to stop this from happening?" Annette asked him.

 "Pretty sure," he answered. "Where's Mikael?"

 "I think he's helping Caroline. She and Saltzman want their daughters out of town." 

 She heard her phone buzz, and pulled it out. She had one new text from Stefan. 

 Are you still in town? I think your hybrid skills might come in handy against K.

 "You know what?" she said. "Donovan, if Mikael comes around looking for me, can you tell him I'm off helping out with the situation?"

 "What are you going to do?"

 "Well, nothing that's going to get me killed." She sighed. "At least I hope not. And Donovan? Tell Mikael I said to just get the hell out of this town."

 Where shall I meet you? she texted Stefan.

 I'm at the high school.

~~~~~~

 What a drab and dreary place, Annette thought as she entered the school. "I'm here, Stefan."

 "Great. I'm here, too." Stefan came down the hallway. "Katherine took Elena's body. She's down in the boiler room, but there's a boundary spell, and I can't get to her."

 "What do we do, then?"

 He sighed. "I really don't know. Stop Katherine first, I guess. Then save Elena."

~~~~~~

 Mikael walked down the main street, keeping an eye out for any redheads. Bonnie, Alaric and the girls were safely out of town, but he lost Annette in the midst of the chaos. Caroline had insisted on staying behind to look for Stefan, but he seemed to have lost her as well.

 "Donovan," he said when he saw the young policeman. "Have you seen Annette? I can't find her."

 "Yeah, I actually saw her a little while ago," he answered. "She said that if you came around looking for her, to tell you that she was helping out with the situation."

 "That's all?"

 "No. She also said to tell you to just get the hell out of here."

 Then where would she be? Caroline hadn't seen her, and the others had gotten out of town.

 But the Salvatore brothers hadn't. 

 Why would she run off with the Salvatore brothers, of all the people?

~~~~~~

 "Was that hard?" Annette asked Stefan. "Having to say goodbye to her?"

 He nodded. "You have no idea." He phone buzzed. "Hold on. It's Bonnie."

 Annette looked around the school while Stefan spoke with Bonnie. This scene, this setting, it was so...ordinary. Completely and perfectly ordinary. It didn't seem right for all of the insanity this was currently happening, like it was completely out of place in the story.

 "I just spoke with Bonnie," Stefan said. "I know what we have to do, but it's going to be hard."

~~~~~~

 Mikael looked up at the clock when he heard the bell. It was getting closer to ten, and there still seemed to be no clear plan.

 "Mikael!"

 When he heard his name, he jumped up from the sidewalk, thinking it was Annette. But it was Caroline.

 "Have you seen Annette?" he asked her.

 She shook her head. "No. But I'm leaving. I promised Stefan I would stay safe. I think you should go, too. There's really nothing else you can do."

 He shook his head. "No. I haven't found Annette yet."

 "Mikael, Annette is a tough woman. You taught her to fight yourself. Plus she's a hybrid."

 "Was she with Stefan when you saw him?"

 "I...I don't know. I didn't see her there, but she could have been there. Look, Mikael, would you just come with me?"

 He looked up at the tower again. It was getting closer to ten. He and Annette had been separated before. She had even saved him a more than once before. No wonder she wanted him to get out of there.

 He looked back at Caroline. "All right. Lead the way."

~~~~~~

 As they walked through the tunnels, Annette could hear voices, two of them.

 "I think she can send it straight back to hell, where you and I will be waiting patiently for it. I've gotta say, I look forward to dying by your side, KP."

 "You're bluffing."

 "No, he's not," Stefan said, entering the room. "And neither am I."

 "I've got this handled, bro," Damon said. "You need to get out of these tunnels."

 "I'm not the one who's going to get out of here, Damon. You are."

 "Bad time to be a martyr, Stefan."

 "Said the martyr."

 Annette had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at them.

 "I'm going to let you to figure this out amongst yourselves," Katherine said.

 Damon stopped her by throwing a dagger at her, and she collapsed.

 "Fine," Damon said. "Then we'll both go."

 "Somebody needs to stay here and make sure she's actually in hell when we destroy it," said Stefan.

 That just started the arguing over again. While they were at it, Annette looked down at the body. It was definitely Katherine Pierce. It was true that she was the one who had awoken her and Mikael in that mausoleum. They had already lost seventeen years, and if Katherine hadn't come it could have been longer. Still, it was difficult to feel gratitude when she was currently attempting to destroy Mystic Falls.

 "No, Damon, don't."

 Annette looked up to see Damon was compelling Stefan.

 "You walk out of these tunnels," he said, "And you are not going to stop until my death breaks the compulsion, because I am the big brother. I'm sorry I wasn't better at it until now. I said go. GO!"

 Annette watched as her friend, now compelled, walked out of the tunnels.

 Damon looked over at her, and blinked in surprise. "When the hell did you get here?"

 "I have been here. While I don't like you, I think you just did the right thing there. Perhaps you're not as bad as I thought."

 "Oh, believe me, I am. I guess I can't compel you out of here, huh?"

 "Of course not. If I stick around, I'll be able to say I got to see Katherine Pierce destroyed by hellfire."

 Damon smiled. "You know, you might just be my kind of person after all. Look, stay in here, okay? I've got a job to do."

~~~~~~

 Alaric pulled the car over, and Caroline jumped out, dialing Stefan's number.

 "Mystic Falls is about to burn down, isn't it?" Mikael asked Alaric.

 "Possibly," he answered. "Stefan is apparently planning to sacrifice himself."

 And I don't know if Annette is still there, Mikael thought.

 He quickly tried to call Annette, but she didn't pick up.

 "Annette," he began, "I don't know where you are, or what you're even trying to do, but do not get yourself killed. Call me when you get the chance. I'm serious. If you get yourself killed, I will never forgive you, ever."

~~~~~~

 "Not long now, demon spawn," Damon said to Katherine, holding her tight. He looked over to where Annette stood, and asked, "Hey, of you see Stefan and Elena, tell them both that I love them?" 

 She nodded. "A reasonable last wish."

 When they were least expecting, Stefan appeared out of nowhere and injected Damon with a syringe, and pushed him into the little room where Annette was standing.

 "What are you doing?" she asked Stefan. "Damon compelled you."

 "Didn't do a good enough job," he said. "Just tell him I'll miss him."

 On the ground, Damon soon began to stir.

 "Goodbye, brother," Stefan said softly, looking down at him.

 Annette got down, ducking her head as a burst of fire came through the tunnel.

 "Well, I can say that I saw Katherine Pierce consumed by hellfire," she whispered.

 Damon sat up, looked down at himself, looked at Annette, and the at the tunnel. He put his head in his hands and groaned.

 "I told him," he said in a muffled voice. "I told him I would do it. He was too good, too good."

 Stefan Salvatore was indeed dead.