CHAPTER SEVENTEEN | THE LAST DANCE

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IF ONE THING WAS FOR CERTAIN, IT WAS THAT KLAUS WAS COMING. In another attempt to keep Elena and Riley safe, the Salvatore's had signed the deed to their house over to Elena the Salvatore house could become her only personal safe house; safe from anyone that needed an invitation to get inside the residence. Riley did often wonder why they hadn't made the decision to place the house in somebody else's name sooner.

Shortly after Elena had said goodbye to the lawyer, she stood at the threshold of the house. Her eyes lingered on her boyfriend as a smirk moved on her lips. "Stefan. Would you like to come inside my house?"

"I would love to. Thank you." He grinned as he sauntered back inside his house.

Damon rolled his eyes at the fact Elena had purposefully not invited him back inside the house. "What are we, twelve?"

"One of us is," The doppelganger countered with a pointed look on her face whilst Damon exhaled deeply. "If I let you in, do you promise to obey the owner of this house?"

"No."

"Uh. Not to nit-pick, Damon. But you did promise we'd do things Elena's way from now on. You know, no lies, so secrets whatsoever." The Evans witch appeared beside Elena, her arms crossed over her chest as she smirked.

"You really are annoying, aren't you?" Damon glared harshly toward Riley before he turned his attention back to Elena. "Yes, Elena. Sure."

"Wait, where are you going?" Stefan suddenly turned to face the trio of females with a confused look on his face.

"Uh. School." Riley told him with a duh look on her face. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not letting Klaus get in the way of us getting an education."

"Nerd," Damon muttered underneath his breath as he smirked toward the strawberry-blonde. "We didn't create a safe house for you two to leave it."

"Yeah, guys, Klaus is out there. We know that."

"Right. But where? No one knows." Elena shrugged. "Look, I really appreciate what you guys are doing. And, I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that I'll be safe here, but I'm not going to be a prisoner, and neither is Riley."

"Your way, Elena." Damon shrugged as he held his hands up in surrender. He had agreed to let Elena call the shots, so he was just holding up his end of the agreement.

"Don't worry, I'm ready. If he shows his face, I can take him." Bonnie confidently nodded toward the two vampires in an attempt to prove Riley and Elena would be safe with her. "I know how."

"Being with Bonnie is probably the safest place on Earth for Elena and I right now." Riley smiled innocently with a light shrug. "You two worry far too much. If anything happens, I'll call you guys. Okay?"

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Unsurprisingly, school was not the safest place. Klaus had compelled a student to tell Elena and Riley to save him a dance at the decade dance, which coincidentally was being held that evening. The trio of females headed back to the Salvatores to explain what happened, which resulted in them forming a plan of attack against Klaus.

"So, we go to the dance and find him," The eldest Salvatore told the group as if finding Klaus were an easy task.

"Really?" A small scoff of disbelief left Stefan's lips as he rolled his eyes. "How are we going to do that? We don't even know what he looks like?"

Damon narrowed his gaze toward his little brother. "Something tells me he's not gonna be sixteen and pimply."

"He could be anywhere at any time. He compelled somebody at school." Stefan rolled his eyes, then turned his attention to the three females who were completely silent. "I guess it's not as safe as you guys though, huh?"

"Stop, okay. We get it, you guys were right." Riley irritably answered back. "So, what the hell are we gonna do about it?"

The was a sudden knock at the door, then Alaric stepped inside just as Damon's gaze turned toward the teacher. "There you are. Hey, I need you to put me down as a chaperone at the dance tonight. Klaus made his first move."

Elena, who was leaned against the wall with an anxious look on her face, let out a small sigh. "Okay, so we find him. And then what, hm? What's our plan of attack?"

"Me." Bonnie simply stated in a confident tone of voice. "I'm the plan. He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him."

"That's not gonna be that easy. I mean, he's the biggest, baddest vampire around." Alaric scoffed in disbelief. Riley raised an eyebrow at how quick Alaric was to discredit Bonnie, he usually had every faith in her abilities.

"Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he—" Damon caught Bonnie off guard and attempted to rush at her, but the witch simply ended her hand and sent him flying across the room.

"Damn," Riley blinked with a smirk on her face as she watched Damon slowly peel himself from the ground. "I should probably learn to do that when he pisses me off."

"Well, I was impressed." Stefan nodded, approvingly.

"It doesn't matter if he's an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me." Bonnie told the rest of the group before she turned her gaze toward her best friend. "I can kill him, Elena. I know I can."

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It was the sixties dance and the group all entered the gymnasium as music from the decade blared through the speakers. Riley wore a floral print dress with her strawberry-blonde hair parted neatly to the side.

"Thank you for being here everybody." Dana took to the stage and spoke through the microphone once she noticed that she had everyone's attention. "We have a special shout-out tonight. This is for Elena and Riley. From Klaus."

"What the hell," Riley muttered to herself as Dedicated To The One I Love reverberated through the speakers. Riley froze as she listened to every word of the song, and Damon could see how spooked she was.

"Hey," Damon grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her towards him. "It was a lame, cheap shot. He's just trying to bait us."

Elena however continued to frantically look through the crowd as if she were desperate to not recognize someone so Klaus' identity would be easier to figure out. "I know everyone here."

"Maybe he's not here. He just wants us to believe that he is." Stefan carried on from Elena's comment.

"It's a party, people. Blend." Damon ordered as he grabbed Riley's hand and pulled her into the middle of the dance floor. It was clear that the witch didn't want to dance, she was too scared to. "Riley, just focus on me. That's all I'm asking."

"I just don't understand." She whispered fearfully as she moved her arms around his neck and swayed her body gently to the music.

"There's nothing to understand. Right now, we know nothing. He just wants to scare us. So, don't let him." Damon told her seriously. Just by the way that he spoke to her with such conviction, she thought it was easier to believe him. "I've said it before and I'll say it again until you believe me, I'm not gonna let him hurt you."

Damon extended his hand and let Riley twirl outwards before he yanked her back into his hold. Her eyes widened immediately as a smile crept onto her face. "Wow. You're actually pretty good at this."

"I've got moves you've never seen." The Salvatore whispered into her ear as he twirled the witch around once more.

"Come here, come here," Stefan's irritated voice immediately caught the two off guard as he yanked Damon and Riley away from any surrounding people. "Please tell me you didn't know Bonnie was on a suicide mission."

"What?!" Riley yelled out in disbelief as her gaze turned to the eldest Salvatore. She knew that Bonnie was determined to kill Klaus, what she didn't know is that it would result in her death.

"Oh, great." Damon rolled his eyes as an exasperated sigh left his lips. "Jeremy told you and of course, you told Elena."

"Yeah, I told her. You promised her no more secrets."

"Are you kidding me? Bonnie is not dying, that's not an option." Riley shook her head and headed out of the door. "I need to find her and talk some damn sense into her." Riley headed off outside the high school, where she knew Elena and Bonnie were talking about the Bennett witch's plan to sacrifice herself in order to kill Klaus. "Tell me it's not true. Tell me you're not planning on killing yourself?" Riley yelled out toward the Bennett witch, as she and Elena turned to Riley. "My, God. It's true, isn't it?"

"I can do this, Riley. It's the only way to save you both." Bonnie continued to protest, whilst a scoff left Elena's lips.

"No. There's got to be something else. You're not dying for us."

"Elena!" Alaric called out to the trio of females who stood just a short distance from the high school. He was out of breath and seemed panicked. "He has Jeremy. Klaus has Jeremy. Come on."

Without a moment of hesitation, Elena grabbed hold of Bonnie's hand and ran toward the back entrance of the school, just where Alaric had led them.

"Okay, so where are you taking us?" Elena panted breathlessly as she followed her history teacher's lead.

A soft hum escaped Alaric's lips. "Just a little further."

"No. Something's not right. I just—" Riley furrowed her brows as she glanced around the empty corridor. Clearly, Bonnie and Elena were just as confused as she was.

"Where's Jeremy?" The Bennett girl yelled out in demand.

Alaric paused. A sudden chuckle fell from his lips once he finally turned on his heels to face the girls. "I just had to get away from that dance. The sixties. Ugh. Not my decade. I mean, who's call was that, anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz."

"Alaric?" Elena took a cautious step toward the man, who appeared to be acting out of character. "Are you on vervain?"

"Now, why would you ask me that question, Elena?"

"He's being compelled." The doppelganger whispered softly toward the two witches beside her, though Alaric shook his head.

"Nope! Try again." He yelled.

"What's going on!" Riley demanded with a hint of determination in her voice once she and Bonnie moved Elena behind them.

Alaric let an irritated sigh leave his lips and he rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll give you a hint. I am not Alaric."

"Oh my, God." The Evans witch's eyes suddenly widened as the realization fell upon her. "Klaus. You're Klaus."

"Surprise!"

"No. No, it's not possible." Elena began to stumble over her words fearfully whilst she tried to piece together what was happening in front of her.

"Just relax, Elena. I'm not here to hurt you. You're not on my hit list tonight." His eyes then turned to Riley, a smirk on his lips. "Neither are you, my sweet, Riley." However, his gaze hardened when he focused on the Bennett witch. "But you are." He attempted to rush at Bonnie, though the two witches grabbed hold of each other's hands and sent Klaus flying down the end of the corridor. A chuckle escaped his lips as he slowly dragged himself back upright. "Now, did I mention that I know a witch? You're gonna have to hit me a lot harder than that."

Bonnie and Riley used their magic to send Klaus flying down the corridor once more before they tried on their heels and ran down the other end of the corridor. The Evans girl slammed every door she could until eventually, they saw Damon.

"What happened?" He breathlessly called out, his eyes scanned Elena and Riley who looked absolutely petrified.

"Klaus— Klaus is in Alaric's body." Elena vaguely explained, stumbling over her words again.

"What?" The Salvatore's mouth gaped open in disbelief.

"Like he's possessing it or something."

"Go find Stefan. Now." Damon ordered in Riley and Elena's direction as the two vigorously nodded, grabbed each other's hands, and ran back toward the gymnasium where the dance was being held.

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Whilst Elena and Riley had been busy trying to find Stefan to warn him about Klaus, Bonnie had sacrificed herself in an attempt to kill Klaus. But, it seemed the magic had overwhelmed her— Bonnie was dead. Riley and Elena could barely get any words out, instead, they remained silent in front of the fireplace at the Salvatore house.

"This is my fault." Elena cried softly, her head on Riley's shoulder whilst the Evans girl scared into the roaring fire in front of her.

"No, no, no. This was Klaus." Stefan comfortingly stepped forwards and grabbed Elena's hand, whilst he looked between the two girls. "Listen to me. Klaus did this."

The door swung open to reveal Damon, who declared that he would take care of Bonnie's body. The minute he walked in with an unreadable expression on his face, Riley lifted herself to her feet. "Why? Why the hell would you let her go through with that!" She immediately snapped.

"Riley." Damon snapped, an almost sympathetic look on his face once he gazed upon her tear-stained cheeks. "I need you and Elena to calm down."

"You knew, didn't you? You knew that if she harnessed all that power, she would die, didn't you?" Elena snapped. She lifted herself up from her seat and strode in front of the Salvatore vampire.

"Yes. Yes, I knew." Damon deadpanned just as the doppelganger struck him across the face out of pure anger. "You both need to listen to me and prepare for what I'm about to say. Bonnie had to die. Klaus using Alaric's body was a total surprise. She wasn't prepared for that. And he wasn't going to stop. And, we weren't going to be able to stop him until he knew she was dead. He had to believe it."

Riley's brows knitted together out of confusion as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. "What're you— what're you saying, Damon?"

"She cast a spell. Bonnie's okay." The eldest Salvatore simply revealed as he walked straight out of the room and up the staircase.

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After Elena and Bonnie had shared a video call with the Bennett witch, who explained that the plan to make Klaus think she was dead was also her idea, Riley figured she owed Damon an apology.

As Damon wandered back into his bedroom from his bathroom, he rolled his eyes. "Riley. If you're coming to argue with me again, I—"

"I'm not here to argue. I'm here to tell you that I understand why you did it." The Evans witch simply breathed out as the Salvatore raised an eyebrow. "We're now one step ahead of Klaus."

"Here's to duplicity."

"But, Bonnie's safety is one of my main concerns," Riley stated as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Elena and I have already told you that Bonnie is not dying for us."

"We need to kill Klaus, Riley. Real Klaus. Who will probably be coming to pay you and Elena a visit soon now that he knows Bonnie is dead." Damon explained as he watched Riley sigh. "She's the only one who can do it."

The Evans witch vigorously shook her head as she took a step closer to Damon. "No. No, we'll find another way."

"I hope so." He pursed his lips as his gaze darkened. "But, let's me be clear about something. If it comes down to you and Bonnie again, I will gladly let her die. I will always choose you. Goodnight, Riley."

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