Book Three: Ineffable (A. Saltzman)

Chapter Eighteen

At the high school, after the sun has fallen and before the bonfire begins, Diana, Alaric, Damon, Derek, Elena, and Caroline are in Alaric's classroom.

"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. Then when he's distracted..." Elena explains.

"I'll shoot him." Alaric finishes.

"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" Damon asks them.

"I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her." Elena then looks at Diana. "Bad enough you are here..." Diana pulls a face. "I just meant....with your situation, if Stefan was to hurt you...It's not just you, is it, Di? And I don't think I could live with myself if anything happened to them because of me" Diana gives her a sad smile. "Ric shouldn't have told you"

"Ric's my partner" Diana defends, Alaric nods in agreement. "We have no secrets....any more"

"Are you covered?" Elena asks her, Diana nods.

"Yes. Caroline, Derek, and I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready." Diana answers.

"We're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blonde ponytail tends to follow." Damon counters.

"Which is why it's your job to keep her away." Elena points out.

"How?! She's an Original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers."

"So then preoccupy her with your charm."

"Might have better luck finding the dagger." Alaric mumbles to Diana who smiles up at him, he shrugs a little.

"Are you ever not going to be mad at me for a day?" Damon asks Alaric.

"Doubtful." Alaric mumbles, Diana smirks a little as Tyler walks into the classroom.

"Sorry I'm late. What's going on?" Tyler asks them.

"We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while." Elena answers.

"You can't do that to Stefan." Tyler counters.

"Why not?"

"Trust me, Tyler, it's in his best interest."

"Yeah. It's not in Klaus's." Tyler argues.

"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler." Caroline scolds him. "You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion."

"Uh-oh." Diana whispers as she looks suspiciously at Tyler.

"What?" Derek asks her.

"Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything."

"Oh, boy" Diana mumbles.

"Okay, can we cool it on the commentary, please." Caroline scolds Diana.

"What is going on?" Elena asks Diana, Diana takes a vervain dart off the teacher's desk.

"I'm just going to go." Tyler turns around and starts walking to the door. Diana rushes over behind him and injects him with the vervain dart. Tyler collapses.

"What are you doing?!" Caroline scolds.

"He's been sired." Diana answers, Damon snaps his head to her.

"What?" he asks her.

"Sired." She draws out. "You know...He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus's blood created him." She adds and motions with her hand at Tyler.

"Loyal how?" Elena asks her.

"He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare." Diana answers and looks down at Tyler. "But maybe not so much in hybrids."

"So how do I fix him?" Caroline asks her.

"Get a new boyfriend." Diana answers with a smirk, Caroline shoots her a look.

..............

Much later, Elena is lying on the bleachers and looking at the sky. Stefan arrives. She's drunk.

"I used to know every constellation. How did I forget them all?" Elena asks herself.

"You're drunk. You need to go home." Stefan scolds her. She gets up.

"Fine. Unh. Let me find my car." Elena tells him.

"You're joking, right?"

"Uh-oh. It's the fun police. I thought that ripper Stefan was supposed to be the life of the party."

"Well, all right, I'm driving you home. Come on." She climbs over the railing. "What are you, five? Get down."

"Why? Are you afraid that I'm going to..." She pretends to almost fall. "Oh. Ha. That was close. Klaus would not be happy with you." Elena points out.

"You're hilarious."

"Look, Stefan, no hands." She removes her hands and starts falling back but catches the railing just in time. Stefan's not amused anymore. She laughs but finally falls. She screams but Stefan rushes beneath her and catches her. "I knew you'd catch me." They look at each other. He releases her gently. Suddenly two projectiles hit Stefan in the back. Elena looks over Stefan's shoulder and sees Alaric pointing a vervain dart gun at him. Stefan falls on the ground unconscious. Alaric walks over to Elena.

"You okay?" Alaric asks her.

"Yeah. I'm...Fine."

"You look, uh, not sober." Alaric points out.

"The plan worked. That's all that matters. Let's just get him out of here." Elena opens Alaric's trunk. He puts Stefan in it. Elena goes in the car. Vicki, whose smoking looks at them. She looks at the floor and at the joint. Alaric closes the trunk and as he's walking around the side of the car his foot hits a gas can on the ground.

"I see all the geniuses came out to the bonfire tonight." Vicki throws the joint on the ground. Gas on the ground starts burning and the flames make toward the car. Alaric's car burns too, with Elena in it. Alaric tries to open the door but he can't. "Elena! Elena! Open the door!" Alaric orders of her. She tries but it won't open.

"I can't! It won't open! What the hell?" Elena admits. Vicki appears in the car seat next to her but she can't see her. Alaric rushes to another car to try to find something. He find a lacrosse stick.

"I'm sorry, Elena." Vicki tells her. Alaric returns and tries to break the door window with it but it doesn't work. Elena tries to break it with her feet but it doesn't work either. The fire is getting stronger. Elena coughs, the smoke making it difficult for her to breathe. She turns her head and sees Stefan.

"Stefan!" He wakes up just as Elena almost collapses. He breaks the trunk with his feet. Alaric helps Elena out as she crawls over the back of the seats to the trunk.

"Hurry up before it blows!" Alaric warns.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Elena grabs Stefan. Alaric helps her get him out. A bubble suddenly appears around the car, a vibrating bubble pushing the fire back away from them, keeping it from hurting them. Alaric snaps his head around to find Diana with her hands out, the vibrations erupting from her hand.

"Move" she warns them, Alaric helps Elena with Stefan and they pull him away from the car. The car explodes against Diana's bubble and she cries out with the effort of holding it off, to stop it from really exploding. She pushes on her powers, closing the bubble in on the car, putting out the flames before they are gone, she releases her powers and falls to her knees in exhaustion.

"Diana" Alaric hurries toward her as she catches her breath.

"I'm okay" She assures him. "It was just a lot" he helps her up to her feet, his hand soft on her cheek as he checks over her.

"How did you know?" He asks her.

"Elena" She answers and leans into his side. "She was being very....telepathically loud"

"I'm sorry" Elena tells them. "I was scared and panicking and....."

"I know" Diana whispers. "It's okay....no one got hurt...." Alaric looks down at her and kisses her head.