Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

47. Lethal Weapon

Riley knocked on the door of Ric's apartment. There was a shuffle inside, and then the door opened slowly and Damon peeked out. When he saw that it was Riley standing there, he relaxed, pulling her into the room.

"What's going on?" she asked him suspiciously. "You're acting...freaky."

Inside the room, Ric was sawing through a wooden 'Wickery Bridge' sign while Stefan hand whittled some stakes.

"You worry too much," Damon said as Riley picked up a stake, admiring Stefan's handiwork.

"Why are we making stakes?" she asked. "Aren't we supposed to be limiting the amount of weapons that Klaus could use to kill you?"

Stefan looked up, catching Damon's eye, who gave him a frown. Stefan returned with a shrug.

"You're in a fight with your boyfriend, yes?" Damon asked, his lips twitching slightly at the word 'boyfriend'.

Riley scoffed. "He tried to sacrifice Bonnie and Elena, and got Bonnie's mom turned into a vampire. He's not my boyfriend, he's not my anything," she lied. She didn't want to admit that they were back together, or that she could understand why Elijah had gone to those lengths.

"Good," Stefan said. "Because these aren't ordinary stakes." He gestured to the one in her hand. "They're made of white oak."

"As in-" Riley started, eyes wide.

"As in white oak from the white oak tree that can kill an Original," Ric said, finishing his sawing.

"So... you're killing them?" she asked, trying to stop her voice from wavering.

"We're killing them," Damon corrected. "You're in, right?"

"Uh, of course I'm in," she blurted enthusiastically. "But seriously, you're not expecting me to whittle a stake by hand are you?"

"That depends," Stefan said. "Can you whittle?"

She frowned. "I can try."

Then she grabbed a stake and sat opposite the younger Salvatore, sharpening its point. Not that she knew what she was doing, but it was never too late to learn how to turn a piece of wood into a deadly weapon.

***

Later in the woods, Stefan had summoned the whole group, minus Bonnie, who had been abandoned by her newly-turned vampire mother for the second time in her life.

"What are we doing here?" Matt asked.

"We found some more white oak. Long story, wait for the movie," Damon said.

"What are you saying?" Elena asked, almost in disbelief. "You have a weapon that can kill Klaus?"

"Actually," Riley said, throwing down the duffel bag that she'd insisted on carrying. "We all have a weapon."

"This is the first time since Klaus came to town that we have the advantage," Stefan reminded them. "We're all armed, and they're all still linked. So we only need to kill one of them – we need to seize every opportunity and be ready to attack."

"Which means that you all need to know your roles," Damon said with a smirk. He pointed at Caroline. "Klaus bait."

"Why do I always have to be Klaus bait?" she asked, exasperated, rolling her eyes.

"Because he's obsessed with you," Damon reminded her, then pointed at Matt. "Rebekah bait." As Matt seemed completely fine with his designated role, Damon pointed at Riley. "Elijah bait."

Riley scoffed. "I'm probably never gonna see Elijah again."

"Yeah right," Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Last time he betrayed you, he did everything to get you to forgive him. And that's what he'll do this time."