- Fool Me Once -

Emma was suddenly jolted awake, the first thing in her line of sight was her sister hovering over her. She opened her mouth to speak when Elena held her finger up, as a 'shh' signal, and pointed behind her to a guy sleeping on a chair in front of the bed that Emma was laying in. Her eyes widened, realizing the girls were in some musty old motel room instead of Elena's bedroom. Elena mouthed 'It's okay' to her and helped guide the young girl off the bed while making as little noise as possible. Elena grabbed her hand, and they tiptoed closer to the guy.

Emma reenacted Elena's movements, quietly stepping over the guy's out stretched leg. It was then when she recognized the guy. She had met him the day before at the Grill when she had reunited with Bonnie. What was his name? Max? Jacob? She discarded her attempts to remember the guy's name and followed Elena to the door of the room.

Elena brought her index and middle finger up to her own eyes and then pointed to the guy, indirectly telling Emma to watch him.

The girl nodded in response and did as she was told while Elena tried to move the chain on the door. Elena was able to get it unhooked and moved to unlock the door. Emma glanced over to see the progress her sister made, and at that split second when she looked away, there was a voice behind them.

"I wouldn't."

The girls spun around to see the guy standing in front of them. He walked up to Elena, pinning her against the door, and stared into her eyes.

"Don't try to escape. Don't even move. Do you understand?"

Elena looked up at the guy with blank face. "I understand." she said in a monotone voice.

Emma couldn't help but look to her sister in disbelief. How could her sister go from trying to escape to willingly obeying what the guy told her? What was going on?

The guy smirked and walked over to the dresser. In the blink of an eye, Elena snatched Emma's arm and opened the door, freedom at their fingertips. Their shot at escaping was stopped when Anna appeared and grabbed onto their arms and shoved them back inside.

As the short girl pushed the sisters towards the bathroom, she gave the guy a disappointed look. "Seriously?" she said, gesturing to the girls.

"I told her not to move! I did that eye thing you taught me." he said, waving his arms in the air as he defended himself.

"You forgot the lesson on vervain. She dates a vampire, Ben, duh!"

That was right. His name was Ben. Emma thought back to Anna's last sentence and clung to the word that rattled her brain. Vampire. There was no such thing as vampires.

Anna opened the door of the bathroom as Emma and Elena tried their best to get away. It was no use.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Elena demanded.

"Doesn't matter." Anna said, and pushed them inside, locking the door behind them.

It was dark inside, and Emma groped the wall in search of the light switch. When she found it, the small, dirtied ceiling light illumined the tiny bathroom. The oldest Gilbert turned and tried to take a picture off the wall but it was glued to the wall. Emma looked around, seeing a sink and a toilet all on one side of the bathroom. Her gaze fell upon the tub, seeing someone passed out inside. The person out cold was Bonnie.

"Elena." she breathed out, pointing toward the sleeping Bennett.

Elena gasped and quickly went to her side. She tried to shake her best friend awake.

"Is she dead?" Emma asked, tears starting to form in her eyes when Bonnie's eyes didn't open.

Elena pressed two fingers on Bonnie's neck, checking for a pulse. She sighed in relief.

"No, she's okay." She nodded her head towards the towel rack next to the bathroom door. "Go get that towel and get some water on it."

Emma nodded, grabbing a towel off the rack, and went to the sink, getting it wet. She returned and used the towel to dab Bonnie's forehead. At the touch of the towel, Bonnie's eyes began to open.

She looked between Elena and Emma. "Elena, Emma?"

"You're okay." Elena smiled.

The Bennett groaned, grabbing her head. "My head."

Elena helped Bonnie sit up in the tub. "Come here."

"Oh my god, Ben is a-!"

Elena shushed her.

"Shh. They can hear." Elena whispered, pointing to her ears. She got up and turned the faucet.

Bonnie adjusted her position in the tub as Emma gently rubbed her shoulders. "Are you okay?" she asked the younger girl. Emma nodded just as Elena joined them. "I'm so stupid."

"He had all of us fooled." Elena said, moving a piece of hair on her forehead.

"What's going on? Why are we here?" Bonnie said, gesturing to the three of them.

Elena sighed. "It must have something to do with the tomb and Emily's spell book."

Emma sat quietly, listening to the conversation between the two friends. It was clear to her that what happened wasn't a mere kidnapping. There was more to the situation than her sister was letting on, at least to her. The two of them were close, almost inseparable before she left. At the current moment, she felt as though she didn't know her sister. There was so much she didn't know after such a short amount of time.

"Spell book?" Bonnie asked.

"Damon said that it can be used to open the tomb."

"Why didn't I know about any of this?"

"I was trying to keep you out of it, hoping it would never come to this."

"Come to what?"

"They need a witch to break the spell and let the vampires out."

Witches? Vampires? Emma was now beyond confused. There were no such things as witches, vampires, and spell books. Those were myths, only told in stories on Halloween and at campfires to scare little kids and sometimes grown adults. Who in their right mind would believe that stuff?

"No way." Bonnie said, shocked by the news.

Elena nodded. "I know-"

Bonnie had glanced at Emma, catching sight of her baffled expression and looked back at Elena. "El," She nodded her head towards the young girl.

Elena looked at Emma and saw the lost look on her face. Realization dawned on her.

"Emma," She reached out and put a hand on Emma's shoulder. "I know you're really confused right now, but I promise, when we get home-"

The door swung open, and Ben walking through it. Emma felt Elena tug her closer and held out her arm in front of Bonnie in a protective manner. Ben leered at the girls and went to the sink's faucet, cutting off the flow of water.

"You're wasting your time." Bonnie said, glaring up at the vampire. "I'm not going to help you."

Ben smiled and grabbed the Gilbert sisters by the arms. "That's why they're here. Motivation for you to behave."

With Ben's hands on her, shivers ran down the young girl's body as flashbacks entered her mind to the night before, when Damon was holding her in the cemetery. She'd be stupid to assume the current situation wouldn't lead to the same sort of ending.

"You know. You shouldn't be so desperate. You made it too easy." he said, dragging the other two girl's with him out of the bathroom and into the main room.

"She wants to talk to you." Ben said to Elena, letting go of the two and slamming the door shut behind them. He stayed in the bathroom with Bonnie.

Emma was brought into a side hug by her sister.

"Well, well, Elena Gilbert."

They turned around and spotted Anna leaning against a small dining table.

"You really are Katherine's doppelganger." she noted, smiling at the eldest. "You must have to Salvatore boys reeling."

Elena narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Anna. Your brother may have mentioned me." Anna looked at Emma, giving her a little wave. "Hey, Emma. Nice to see you again."

Elena turned her body to shield Emma from Anna's view.

"Don't worry, we're friends. We met last night thanks to Jeremy. I mean, we're piratically dating so why not introduce his little sister?" She gestured to one of the beds. "Sit."

Elena hesitated, but walked over to a bed and sat down, Emma next to her.

"Bonnie's not going to open the tomb." Elena said.

Anna walked to the window and peered between the curtains. "Oh, I think she will."

"Do you want Katherine out that bad?"

Anna stared at her. "Trust me. No one I know wants to see that girl again." She crossed her arms. "Except Damon, the lovestruck idiot." Her gaze went back out the window.

"I-if it's not this Kathrine person, then who is it?" Emma asked, earning looks from the older girls.

She didn't know what made her asked the question, but she thought that finding out Anna's true motives would get them home faster.

Anna posture straightened at the question. "My mother's in there." She paced back and forth in front of them, starting to get a little angry. "Kathrine couldn't help herself. She just had to toy around with both the Salvatore brothers." She put one arm on the table, using it to lean again it. "And when she got caught, so did my mother. I watched Jonathan Gilbert take her away."

Elena shook her head a little. "I'm sorry."

"You really mean that, don't you?" Elena nodded, and Anna let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I think we'll skip the dead mom bonding so you two can start serving a purpose."

"As what?" Emma asked, tightening her arm around Elena's waist.

"Leverage."

"Anna, just let Emma go. It's me you want, not her. Please." Elena pleaded.

Anna shrugged. "I don't even know why she's here in the first place. The idiot in there probably thought she'd add onto the leverage. Which, I guess, is a good idea. So, to answer your question, no." Anna grabbed a phone that was on the table and held it out. "Is this yours?" Elena reached out to grab it, only for Anna to pull it away. "Ah, ah." She walked away and opened the phone, dialing a number.

"Elena, what's going on? I'm scared." Emma whispered, finally acknowledging the soreness of her arm from being tugged around so much.

Elena rubbed her back. "Don't worry, we're going to get out of here." she said.

Anna scoffed. "Yeah right." Elena glared at the vampire. The line answered.

"Elena, are you guys okay?" Stefan asked, his voice filling the room.

"They're fine, for now." Anna answered. "Tell me you have the grimoire, and they'll stay fine."

He took a moment to reply.

"I can get it."

"Which means your brother has it. And I have the witch so one of you had better meet me in the very public town square in 30 minutes so we can safely discuss how fun it's going to be to work together." Anna pulled the phone away from her ear and closed the phone. Anna went to the bathroom door and pounded on it. "I'm leaving."

The bathroom door opened, Ben walking out of it with Bonnie in his grasp.

"Keep them buttoned down. Compulsion won't work. Just use violence." Anna demanded, grabbing her side bag from the table.

"Right, got it."

And Anna left. Ben shoved Bonnie towards the second bed in the room.

"Sit. Behave." He pulled off his jacket and hung it on the chair he was previously sleeping on.

"So you're the key to this. Literally. The one who opens the door." he said to Bonnie, sitting on the chair. "Tell me, how long have you been a witch?" he asked Bonnie.

Elena interrupted him by asking, "Is there anything to drink here?"

Ben shot up from his seat towards Elena. "Are you offering?" he said, a smirk plastered on his face. He looked at Emma. "Maybe I should have a sip from her, she looks good."

She shrunk back, hiding behind Elena's arm. Ben seemed to be a bit older than Elena and Bonnie, probably 18 or 19. He seemed like the type of college guy who would hang around his high school and get with girls younger than him since he's already dated the ones his own age. She didn't blame Bonnie for falling for his charm, his smile was pretty cute. 

With the smirk still on his face, Ben gestured behind the older Gilbert. "There's water on the nightstand."

Elena turned and reached for the cup and brought it to her mouth only to stop when Bonnie said, "Hey. Can I have a sip?"

Elena stared at her confused. Bonnie nodded her head a little, and Elena handed the cup to Bonnie. The Bennett eyed Ben and threw the water at his arm. She focused hard on his arm, and suddenly, it caught on fire, making Ben gasp. Without asking the buring questions she had, Emma followed the other two and made a run for the door while Ben tried to pat the fire away. Bonnie made it to the door first and managed to get it open. They almost were out the door when Ben reached out and grabbed Emma.

"No! Elena! Bonnie!" she cried.

Elena and Bonnie halted and saw her struggling against Ben.

"Come back in, shut the door!" Ben said, keeping a firm grip around Emma's waist using both his arms.

Elena and Bonnie came back inside slowly. "Don't hurt her." Elena begged.

"Don't make me." Ben said, staring at the two friends with narrowed eyes. Bonnie shut the door. "Lock it." Bonnie did so. "Now sit your asses down or I'm going to drain ever last drop of blood from her body." Ben threatened.

The girls nodded and made their ways back to the beds. Once they sat down, Ben sat in his chair, not letting go of Emma and pulling her into his lap.

"You said you weren't going to hurt her." Bonnie said, staring at him intensely.

Ben smiled. "I'm not, but I'm gonna have her right here just in case you have anymore ideas about escaping." He looked at Emma. "So, how does it feel to know that vampires and witches are real?"

Emma, not sure what to do, remained silent and stared at the ugly red carpet. When she didn't say anything, he laughed.

"Come on, you can talk. I won't bite." She eyed him, tilting her head lightly towards him. "I already had lunch."

He revealed his fangs and made his eyes go red, veins appearing under his eyes. Emma let out frightened gasp and tried to get away from Ben, but he held her there on his lap as if she was a doll while he laughed.

She attempted to tell herself that what she saw was just a figment of her imagination; her sister's strange talk before getting to her head. But she knew it was real. Seeing was believing, and her eyes confirmed a feared legend. Vampires were real, and she was trapped in a room with one.

"Stop it." Elena said as glared at him from her spot on the bed.

Ben ignored her, moving onto Bonnie. "Witches don't have eternal life, right?" he questioned. "So, you guys can die."

Bonnie looked down. "Yeah, we can die."

"Ah," Ben said, patting Emma's arm lightly. "That sucks."

All of a sudden, the motel door was kicked open, and Stefan entered the room. Ben shoved Emma off of his lap and stood up from the chair. She rushed to Elena as Ben made the move to fight Stefan. He stopped his advance, walking into a sliver of sun light made by the open door that burned some of his face. Stefan went to the window and ripped the curtains off the hooks, letting more light in. That forced to Ben jump in between the beds for cover.

"Stefan." Elena said, arms around Emma.

"Get outside."

Bonnie, Emma, and Elena ran out of the room, happy to finally be free. Stefan joined them a minute later, guiding the girls away from the motel.

"Where are we going?" Emma asked.

Even though they were out of the hands of a vampire, there was still no sense of safety. She could easily be snatched again for the third time in 24 hours.

"Bonnie's grandmother's house." Stefan replied, earning a look from Bonnie.

When they made it to the house, the older woman had already been waiting for them and ushered them inside.

"Sit, sit." she said, and they sat at the dinning table. The woman saw Emma and wrapped her arms around her. "Oh, you poor child. Having to go through that. I'll get you some hot chocolate."

Emma nodded, and the woman, Grams as she liked to be called, went into the kitchen.

Elena watched her as she sat down. "Emma, are you hurt?"

"Uh, I don't know." the young Gilbert said.

She lifted the sleeve on her left arm and didn't see anything wrong with it. When she lifted the other sleeve, a bruise was forming due to how many times she'd been grabbed there. She stared at the table, not wanting to see Elena's devastated look, and slowly recovered her arm. After a moment of silence, Emma glanced at Bonnie, who was sitting at the end of the dinning table.

Vampires and witches; mythical beings who have most likely been roaming the Earth for years, undetected and living amongst humans. The news alone of them being real was one thing, but to find out someone she grew up know was one of them, was another. 

"So, Bon," Emma stared at Bonnie. "you're a witch?"

Bonnie gave the girl a small smile. "Yeah, I am. It's all still pretty new to me."

"So you just found out?" The nod in response put her a bit at ease. It seemed as though she wasn't the only one who was left in the dark for a long time. "Oh. Uh, that's nice." she said afterwards. If there was a guide out there for how to have conversations like this, she would love a copy as of right now. She looked at her sister. "Elena, are you-"

Elena shook her head, letting out a laugh. "No, no, no. I'm not a witch or a vampire."

Emma then glanced over at Stefan, watching him shift uncomfortably next to Elena. "Are you..." she trailed off, her question being answered when he looked down at the table.

"I'm a vampire."

Emma thought back to the night before.

"Give me the book, Stefan. Or I'm snapping her neck and your girlfriend will have a vampire sister."

Damon brought her to that grave site without her even knowing. She was home one second and the next, outside at a cemetary. He then threatened Stefan and Elena that he'd turn her into a vampire. What normal person would do that?

"Does that make Damon one, too?" she asked.

"Don't worry," Stefan reassured upon seeing her terrified face. "I'm nothing like my brother and the other ones. I will never hurt you."

The girl stared at him, a million things swirling around in her mind. Stefan saved Bonnie, Elena, and herself that day from Ben and Anna and also from Damon. That's twice in a short amount of time.

"Well, we haven't been properly introduced." He held his hand out. "I'm Stefan."

Emma didn't do anything for a while, just playing with her hands. Then, she slowly lifted a hand up and shook his hand. "Emma." When they let go of each other, Emma said, "I like you a lot more than Damon."

Stefan chuckled at the comment. "Good to know." He turned to Elena. "Can we talk?" The couple left the room.

Seconds later, Grams came back from the kitchen with a mug and set it in front of Emma.

"Here ya go, darling." She took a seat next to the young girl, across from Bonnie.

"Thank you." Emma took a sip, sighing when the chocolate liquid hit her tongue.

"How did you know where we were?" Bonnie asked.

Grams lifted her hand and rested her chin in the palm of it. "Many things fuel a witch's power. Worry. Anger. After Stefan told me that they had taken you, I had a lot of both. Simple locator spell was easy after that."

"I'm sorry." Bonnie looked down. "About all of this."

Grams smiled. "Not as sorry as they're gonna be."

Emma was already half done with her hot chocolate when she spoke. "Is it, I don't know, fun being a witch?" she asked, glancing at both Bennett witches.

Grams put her arm around her shoulders. "Dear, being a witch has it's benefits, but also it's takes great strength and responsibility to be able to control the power you have."

Emma stared at Grams in fascination. "I think I want to be a witch." The Bennett's laughed.

"Oh, it doesn't work like that, but if it did, you'd make an amazing witch, Emma." Grams said as Elena and Stefan entered the room, hand in hand.

"So what do we do now?" Bonnie questioned.

"For now, you need to stay here." Stefan said to the witches.

Grams raised her eyebrows. "A prisoner in my own home? I don't think so."

Stefan shook his head. "I can't protect you if you leave the house."

"We'll protect ourselves." the older woman said firmly.

Stefan bowed his head in defeat. "We need to let him have Katherine back."

"Damon?" Emma asked, gripping the mug tightly at just thinking about him. She didn't want anything to do with him.

Elena nodded. "He's not going to stop until he gets her. If we help him, maybe that ends it."

Bonnie stared at Elena in disbelief. "No! He doesn't deserve to get what he wants."

The eldest Gilbert lifted her shoulders. "What other choice do we have? I mean he almost turned Emma. I'm not letting her get hurt again."

Grams' brow creased. "Witches being pulled down by vampire problems. As much as we tried to do to stay out of it." There was a small silence before she spoke again. "I'll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will be all over."

"We still have to get Damon to agree." Stefan injected.

"He already agreed once."

"Yeah, and then we double crossed him. So now he's angry." Stefan countered.

"He's hurt, there's a difference." Elena stared at Stefan. "I think I know what I have to do."

Stefan nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Everyone got up, but Emma was stopped by Elena.

"Where do you think you're going?" she said, pointing at her.

"Going with you?"

Elena shook her head. "No, no. You're not going, okay? You are going to stay here, where it's safe, and wait for us to get back." Emma's mouth fell open.

"What? But we have to stop-." she said.

"No, we are going," Elena said, gesturing to the others. "And that's final."

Emma sat down, looking at the mug angrily while her sister and vampire took their leave.

The new Bennett witch came around and stood next to her. "She's right, Em. You could get hurt." She walked to help Grams gather everything for the spell.

She was a part of the whole situation, whether her sister wanted to admit it or not. She had to see it done and taken care of. She knew if roles were reversed, Elena would do everything she could to help out.

Back in the motel and even there at the house, everyone kept mentioning some tomb. Where in town could there be one? Well, the only logical place would be the cemetery, but Emma couldn't remember ever seeing one the few times she's been there. Though, it was the only thing she could go on. So, after Grams and Bonnie left the house, Emma waited a good 5 minutes and followed them. Her destination: the cemetery.

~♡~

Emma walked through the forest, hugging herself due to the cold. She jumped at any sound she heard. It made her nervous being out there alone. Anything or anyone could easily snatch her up, and there'd be no one to help her. But she couldn't think about that.

If she as being honest, she had no clue where she was going. She had lost the general direction of where Bonnie and her grandmother went, so she'd been walking aimlessly. She only hoped it was the right way.

Off in the distance, she heard the chatter and the soft orange glow of a bonfire. Must have been a late night, teenage party. Emma kept walking but caught sight of two figures conversing a little ways from the main gathering. As she got closer, the fires light illuminated the people, and she was able to get a good look at who they were. It was Jeremy and Anna.

She dashed behind a tree and peered around it, watching them. It hit her that Jeremy didn't know anything about the supernatural in Mystic Falls, because if he did, he wouldn't have been locking lips with her kidnapper.

She eyed the two. As Anna pulled away from Jeremy, Emma spotted Ben come up and hit Jeremy in the head with a branch, her brother dropping to the floor unconscious. She covered her mouth to muffle her gasp and slowly stepped backward. But, as she did so, her foot slipped on the tree root, causing it to kick up some dead leaves. She knew they heard. She turned around to make a run for it, but Ben was there to block her way.

"Well, hello there." he said, seizing her arm and dragging her over to Anna. Even though she was aware of the super strength vampires had, it didn't stop her from trying to break free. "Look who was hiding behind a tree." He held her out in front of him.

Anna sighed and dropped Jeremy's arm. "Great, she just makes things worse."

The black haired girl walked to them and gaze directly in Emma's eyes. Up close, the young girl was able to see Anna's eyes dilate and contract.

"Don't move, and don't scream." she compelled.

"No way! Someon-" Emma to scream, but Anna was quick to cover her mouth.

"Damn it. We can't leave her here. She'll draw attention." Anna looked down at the knocked out Jeremy then at Ben. "We'll have to take her with us. Come on."

Ben nodded, and Anna picked up Jeremy, tossing him over her shoulder. Emma kept trying to throw herself to the side.

"Stop it." Ben hissed, squeezing her arm harder.

Emma yelped. He just had to grab her right arm. In a flash, her vision blurred, and she found herself standing before an opening in the ground that had a staircase leading down. Anna dropped Jeremy as if he was a sack of potatoes and went over to Ben and Emma.

"She's coming with me. You know the plan." she said, and the two vampires traded the Gilbert.

Again, the scenery changed, and now she and Anna were hidden behind a tree, the vampire's hand over the girl's mouth. From their location, she saw Stefan come up the staircase and bent down near a small pile on the floor, unaware of Ben standing close to him.

"Dark down there?" Ben called out.

Stefan rose to his feet, his focus on Jeremy. "I thought I told you to leave."

Ben shrugged, hands in his jean pockets. "I considered it. Then thought, screw you."

Anna dragged Emma out from behind the tree. "Hey, hero." Stefan whipped around. "I'm going down there to get my mother."

Stefan stared at Emma and slowly began to walk towards them. "I can't let you do that."

"I don't know about that. Ben's about to make a main course out of Elena's little brother." Stefan glanced back to see Ben lift Jeremy, bringing his neck to his mouth.

Stefan turned back to Anna. "What about her?" He pointed at Emma.

"Her?" Anna patted Emma's head. "Oh, she's going to be my mother's snack." She stared at Stefan. "So, you can stop me or him. Your choice."

Stefan seemed conflicted with himself. He stole a look back at Jeremy, and Anna took the opportunity to flash Emma and herself to the middle of the staircase.

"Let go of me!" Emma said, attempting to go back up the stairs.

"Shut up." Anna said, lugging the young girl down.

The two made it to the open area where torches were placed around in a circle. In that circle stood Bonnie and Grams. Bonnie stepped out and in front of a cave entrance.

"Hey, you're not going in there, especially not with her." Bonnie said.

Anna glared at the young witch. "You think you can stop me?" she threatened.

Grams looked to her granddaughter. "Bonnie. . ."

"Grams!" Bonnie turned to her in disbelief.

Grams just shook her head again, and Bonnie stepped away, leaving a path. Anna, pulling Emma with her, grabbed a flashlight that was on the floor and entered the tomb with the young Gilbert.

"Please just let me go." Emma whispered as they were walking in the dark tomb.

"I said shut up." Anna said, flashing the light around. As they walked, Emma heard groans echoing off the walls. "They sense you." Anna said.

The girl shivered in fright. They continued walking, Anna directing the light around. Not a moment later, they came across Elena by herself.

"You must have a taste for it." Anna said, scaring the eldest Gilbert.

Elena shone her flashlight at the two, gasping when she saw Emma. "Emma!"

"You scream and shriek and even bother to escape, but then you just come right back to it."

Anna advanced toward Elena, forcing her to step back. But as she did so, she ended up bumping into something.

Elena directed the ray of light down, illuminating a gray, frail body dressed in colonial style clothing. Anna immediately went to its side, forcing Emma to go along with her.

"Mother!" she called, brushing aside the person's, her mother, hair. She glanced over at Elena, eyes narrowed to slits. "Your boyfriend did this, you know."

"His father did." Elena said.

"And Johnathan Gilbert." Anna stood and brought Emma to stand between her and her mother. "Made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life. I had Jeremy all ready to go but. . ." The vampire held Emma's wrist in front of her. "little Emma here will work just fine."

Anna opened her mouth, showcasing her fangs and digging them into the girl's wrist.

Emma screamed, the pain being nothing she's ever felt before. It kept throbbing even after the the vampire's fangs retracted.

"No!" Elena tried to go over to them, but Anna shoved her to the opposite wall.

Anna made Emma kneel and raised her wrist up to Anna's mother. The old vampire leaned forward and began to drink the blood oozing out of the two puncture wounds.

She screamed again, and Stefan came running in.

"Let her go." He grabbed Anna and tossed her aside, grabbing Emma and lifting her up on her feet. "Go with Elena, I'll be right behind you." he instructed, watching as the sisters embraced and made their way back to the opening of the tomb.

The girls ran as fast as they could. Once they were out, they saw Grams and Bonnie with what Emma remembered was called the grimoire.

"Elena..." Bonnie began.

"He's right behind us." Elena said, turning around with Emma to the entrance to see Stefan standing there but not making the move to join them.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" Emma asked, holding her bleeding wrist.

"It's going to be okay. We'll fix it." Bonnie said, turning the pages of the grimoire fast.

Elena turned to the witches. "What is it?"

Stefan sighed. "I can't."

"Can't, can't what?" Elena asked, getting more worried.

"The spell's still up, we can't get them out." Bonnie said. "Yet."

Elena looked at Stefan. "So you went in there not knowing if you could come back out?" Stefan looked down and didn't say anything, confirming Elena's thoughts. "Oh, my god."

"Elena," Emma said, tears falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry. If I never came, Anna wouldn't have gotten me and Stefan wouldn't be in there. I'm sorry. Stefan, I'm sorry." she apologized, her shoulders weighed down by guilt.

Stefan shook his head. "It's not your fault, Emma. If you didn't come, it could have been Elena instead of you." (A/N: Guys, he's saying he would be in the same situation if Emma wasn't there)

"We can't just leave him in there. We promised him." Elena said, probably referring to Damon.

"I know." Stefan disappeared within the darkness.

"Even if we get the seal down, we won't be able to hold it for long," Grams called out. Nevertheless, Bonnie and Grams began chanting the spell, hand in hand.

Elena was pacing back and forth, watching the door, and Emma was sitting against the wall.

"I think it's working!" Emma said, seeing movement from within.

But it was Anna and her weak mother that came through the door.

"I just wanted my mother." she said, guiding her mom and herself away.

The Bennett witches continued chant, the torches inflaming even more. But Bonnie swayed, almost falling to the ground.

"Keep goin." Grams said, catching her granddaughter. She looked at Elena. "You better hurry."

Elena looked at one of the torches that went out and ran inside the tomb. Emma scrambled to her feet and watch her sister go inside. The chanting kept going, and Bonnie kept getting weaker. And just as she was about to give up, Damon came through the door with Elena and Stefan behind him. The door slammed shut.

Emma ran up to the couple and hugged them both. "Oh, I'm glad you're okay." she said.

Stefan and Elena wrapped their arms around Emma, bringing her closer to them. Emma suddenly pulled apart. "Jer," Then she ran up the stairs and to where Jeremy was on the floor.

He seemed to have been waking up.

"He's okay." Stefan said, checking the middle child when he and Elena joined Emma.

She let out a sigh of relief. She accidentally spotted Damon off on his own, a dazed look on his face.

"What happened to him?"

"Kathrine wasn't in there." Elena replied.

Emma stared at Damon, suddenly feeling sorry for him. Everything he did was for the person he loved, even if he did threaten to kill her. He just wanted to be with the person he loved. She walked over to the vampire, and he gave her a weird look.

"What?" he said, glaring.

Emma said nothing and hugged Damon, sending shock through everyone.

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

She pulled away and walked to Elena. Elena wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leading her away from the tomb, mumbling, 'come on.'

Soon the Gilbert siblings made it to their home, and Jeremy was taken to his room. Emma rubbed his back as Elena went to the to get aspirin and water.

"How's your head?" Elena asked, handing the stuff to him.

"Ah, it's alright. I just, wish I knew how I passed out. I didn't drink that much, I swear." he said, taking the items.

"And you don't remember anything?" Emma asked, quickly looking at Elena who avoided her gaze.

Jeremy shook his head. "The whole thing is pretty cloudy. I know how this looks, I'm sorry."

"No, you have nothing to be sorry about." Elena said. "I have to go to Bonnie's, but is there anything you need?" she asked her brother.

"Nah, I'm just going to rest."

Emma and Elena nodded and left his room, letting him have time alone.

The girls walked up to a closed door that no one entered for a while. Emma grabbed the door handle and opened it, revealing pink bedroom with matching white furniture. They walked inside, looking around. Emma saw one of the pictures that was on her nightstand, a picture of her and her parents.

"Hey, Em, are you okay?" Elena said, taking a seat on the young girl's bed.

The girl shrugged. "I guess." She sat next to her.

Elena grabbed her sister's arm and ran her fingers over the bandages around her wrist. "You know, there's a way for you to forget all of this." she said, not looking up.

Emma frowned "There is?"

The older sister nodded. "Yeah, and by forgetting you don't have to worry about the whole vampire stuff."

The young Gilbert thought about this. If she were to forget, then she wouldn't worry about glancing over her shoulder for evil vampires. But then again, she wouldn't know who to stay away from. "No, I don't want to." Elena looked at her surprised. "I want to remember. Elena, there are vampires in Mystic Falls. I don't want to be a sitting duck if I know I can get away."

Elena looked back at the bedroom door, revealing that Stefan had been standing there the entire time. They shared a silent conversation together. "Emma, I don't think you should remember this. It's the only way to protect you from this." She stood up and let Stefan walk past her, towards the younger girl.

Emma scooted down her bed as he got closer. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." he said, sitting where Elena was. He leaned his head a little bit closer.

The girl watched as Stefan's eyes began to dialate, much like Anna's and Ben's did before.

"You're going to forget any of this happened."

Emma stood up. "Like hell. What are you trying to do? Use some vampire voodoo on me?"

"Shh," Elena hushed, closing the door quickly. "Stefan, are you compelling her?"

Stefan nodded with furrowed eyebrows. "I am."

"You're trying to force me to forget." Emma concluded.

She looked at Elena, feeling a bit in her stomach. Was this the kind of person her sister turned into while she was away? Someone who would just throw her aside and force something like this? This wasn't the Elena she knew. 

"I want you out. Now."

"E-"

Emma lowered her gaze to the ground and refused to look up. "No. Get out of my room."

She heard her bed creak and two sets of footsteps make their way to the door. When the door closed, her legs gave out, and she sank to the floor. The events of the past day weighed on her. She grasped at her shirt, frantically pulling it off and throwing it across the room. She felt gross from not having had a chance to shower since being back but couldn't find the energy or the drive to shower.

Emma took off her pants and socks and crawled to her dresser, grabbing a pair of pajamas to put on. She reached up and turned off her lamp and slipped into bed.

Vampires were real.

Witches were real.

Her entire life and everything she believed was a lie. For all she knew, the Easter Bunny could be real as well. All of this showed her how much she didn't know, and how humans and wild animals weren't the only creatures she had to be worried about.

~♡~

Edited on 5/26/19: Edited and could probably be edited again in the future.