Gabriella Gilbert Three || Vampire Diaries

Chapter Sixteen

Tyler, Caroline, Matt, and I (with Jeremy and Bonnie on call from Whitmore) sit in silence at our failure. Stefan's downstairs with Damon, revealing everything we realized last night.

The tension between Tyler and me isn't as intense as it was the other days. We both recognize we have more serious things to deal with right now.

"So..." Matt starts, having to relearn everything after he was compelled to forget it, "Katherine's alive?"

"Remember when Gregor hitched a ride in your head?" Caroline reminds. "It's like that, but worse because none of us noticed it."

"She was at my house." Tyler scoffs. "How did none of us figure it out?"

"Because it's Katherine, and she's smart, and conniving and sneaky and—" Caroline interrupts herself with a sigh. "We're the worst friends ever."

"And I'm the worst twin." I'm standing beside Caroline with my arms crossed. Of all people to notice, it should have been me. Elena's an empath. Why didn't I realize her lack of intense feelings sooner? Especially after the "break up."

I look up from the floor when Caroline squeezes my shoulder in reassurance.

"Don't," Caroline reassures me. "You couldn't have known."

But I could have. I'm the only person who could have.

"This makes no sense," Jeremy comments from Caroline's phone. "She saved my life. She gave me CPR when Enzo tried to kill me. Katherine would never do that."

"That's what made her so believable," Bonnie explains. "She played Elena to a T. If she let you die, her cover was blown."

"I was sleeping a few feet away from her," Caroline scoffs. "She picked out my Bitter Ball dress and I let her use my toothpaste."

"Yeah, well, did she lure you into a hotel room to make out with you?" Stefan comments, suddenly entering the room. I guess he finished his conversation with Damon.

"She's the reason you guys found out about me biting Gabby," Tyler mumbles. I avoid his gaze while Stefan and Caroline look at the both of us.

"You what?" Jeremy chimes from the phone. I cringe once I remember he's here. "Tyler, what the—"

"We're over it," I interrupt, not wanting to open that wound again. "If you want to vindicate our sister, let's focus on Elena."

"Right," Tyler agrees. "So how do we kill the bitch?"

"Well, passengers can be expelled from the host. We saw it happen with Matt," Stefan explains. "Gregor died and Matt lived. All we have to do is stab her with a traveler knife."

I have no clue when any of this happened, but I trust my friends to know what they're talking about.

"I still have the knife Nadia gave me," Matt offers, leaning back into the chair and crossing his arms.

"Perfect," I comment. "Get your ass up and go get it." I notice my tone and quickly add a "Please."

"Hold on, this is Katherine," Caroline says. "She's going to see a sneak attack coming from a mile away." She sighs. "We gotta get her to come to us. Get her guard down. Corner her."

"Fat chance you'll be seeing her today," Tyler sighs, looking down. "I'm pretty sure I bit Nadia."

How surprising. I roll my eyes.