CHAPTER THIRTEEN | ALL MY CHILDREN

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RILEY'S EYES FLUTTERED OPEN AS THE SUNLIGHT BEGAN TO POUR INTO THE BEDROOM FROM THE LARGE WINDOWS. The strawberry-blonde yanked the blankets up over her body and rolled over with the intention of going back to sleep, instead, she saw Damon. He was laid completely naked, with one arm rested underneath his head whilst his eyes lingered on her.

"Something I can help you with, Damon?" Riley muttered softly, her eyes closed whilst the vampire awkwardly cleared his throat.

"What're you talking about?" The Salvatore immediately answered.

"You're staring." The witch chuckled softly. Eventually, she let her eyes open again and she rolled over to lay on his chest whilst she looked up at him. "Are you and I gonna have to revert back to the time when I thought you were nothing more than a stalker?"

"We could. But, that would also mean going back to the times before you and I slept together." Damon countered with a pointed look on his voice. He watched her lick the inside of her lip and he smirked, knowing he had the upper hand. "But, hey, if that's something you want, I can—"

"Okay! You made your point. There's no need to carry on." Riley rolled her eyes.

"No, no. It's absolutely fine. I'm more than happy to accommodate your needs, Riles. No sweat." Damon chuckled softly and made every attempt to roll over, but Riley grabbed hold of his arms and straddled him.

"I hate you." The witch narrowed her eyes toward him.

A smile grew upon Damon's lips as he lifted his hand up to her cheek and gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Hate is such an ugly word for someone so beautiful."

"Sh." Riley gently placed a kiss on his lips before she jumped off of the bed and headed over to the dresser. "I had a text from Elena last night. She's having second thoughts about the whole linking the Originals together."

"What?" Damon scoffed. "Why?"

"She said not all of them deserve to die— by all I'm assuming she means Elijah." Riley noticed Damon roll his eyes and she raised an eyebrow toward him whilst she tugged her shirt over her head. "What's with the look?"

"Elijah is just as bad as all of them. Besides, it's a little too late for Elena to be having second thoughts. They're linked."

"He wanted me to tell him about what Esther wanted with Elena." Riley attempted as she turned around once more, noticing Damon's eyes were wide with intrigue. "I just— God, I've never felt so awful."

"Careful, Riley. Your Elena's showing." The Salvatore pouted.

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The group was concerned about what Elena was planning since she made it obvious that she was having second thoughts about the Originals being blissfully unaware that their mother had linked them all together. Nobody had seen her or spoke to her all morning. Though, their questions were answered when Elijah entered the Salvatore house and disclosed that he had taken Elena as leverage against them.

"I can't find her anywhere." Stefan frantically called out to the couple as he strode back into the house from his search. Fear instantly washed over him when he saw Damon and Riley stood opposite Elijah who was seated on a chair nearest the fireplace.

"Hello, Stefan." Elijah hummed when he saw the younger Salvatore walk beside Riley, though his confident demeanor did not fade.

"He has Elena." Damon vaguely revealed to his brother whilst his attention didn't leave the Original vampire for a second.

"Actually, she's with Rebekah. As you can imagine, my sister's just dying to tear her throat out. So, if you want to save Elena's life I need you to help me stop my mother." Elijah explained the terms of the agreement.

"What the hell makes you think that we'll be any use against your psycho-case of a mother?" Riley wasn't a fool, she knew that it would be nearly impossible to take Esther down. The woman was a thousand-year-old witch.

"I'm a little embarrassed to admit, but when it comes to killing thousand-year-old resurrect witches, I'm a little rusty." Damon sarcastically countered with a tight-lipped smile.

"Yes, unfortunately, even when killed my mother doesn't want to stay dead, not with the spirits of nature on her side."

The youngest Salvatore shook his head and gruffly took a step forward. "So, what are we suppose to do?"

"The witches that released my mother. She's drawing her power from their bloodline. That line needs to be broken." Elijah's voice echoed with determination.

"Broken?" Stefan echoed with confusion. He then glanced back toward Riley for clarification.

"In order to end a bloodline, you need to—" Riley cleared her throat and then narrowed her eyes back to Elijah himself. "Basically, he wants us to kill them."

"You know, I'd do it myself but I have absolutely no idea where they are. Besides, seeing me they'd immediately know my intent. They won't expect to be harmed by the likes of you. In any case, you have until six minutes after nine to find them."

"Oh, how super-specific of you." Damon sarcastically rolled his eyes.

"Hang on, why six minutes past nine?" Riley asked, she knew that Elijah would probably give her a straight answer rather than the two Salvatore's beside her.

"By seven minutes past, the moon will be full and my mother will have the power she needs to kill me and my family. If you do not stop her before then Rebekah will kill Elena. So, we all have our timeline, I suggest you get started."

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"Stefan, we—" Riley began as she entered the basement only to see Stefan with a blood bag in his hand and the fridge door wide open. He looked like he was having some sort of crisis of conscience. Like he was deciding whether or not to feed. "What are you doing?"

"Clock's ticking. You gonna help us brainstorm a plan, or you too busy fixing a snack?" Damon snickered as he came into the room after Riley.

"We need to call Bonnie," Stefan suggested once he finally shoved the blood bag back into the fridge and slammed the lid. "Maybe she and Riley could stop Esther from channeling all that power."

"A—what if she's with Esther? B—what if they can't cut her off? C—I don't want Riley going up against a thousand-year-old witch, and D—neither of us knows how this stuff works." Damon listed while Stefan rolled his eyes.

The Salvatore rolled his eyes at Damon's attempt to keep Riley out of danger. "You got a better plan?"

"Worst case scenario, simple mechanics. Can't draw power from a dead battery." Damon shrugged.

"No. No, absolutely not." Riley's eyes frantically darted between Stefan and Damon. "We're not doing that. Please, tell me you've got something better?"

"Riley's right. There's gotta be another way." Stefan exhaled as he began to pace up and down the basement.

"Well, what if I told you I had a less diabolical plan?" Damon smirked as he held up a dagger in his hand whilst Riley and Stefan both glanced between each other then fixed their gaze to the dagger.

"The daggers." Riley breathed softly. "You wanna dagger them?"

"They're all linked. One goes down, they all go down. The witches live. Elena's safe. Problem solved."

Stefan swallowed thickly and tilted his head with a skeptical look on his face. "We don't know how that'll affect Klaus."

"Ironically, Klaus isn't our current problem." Damon scoffed.

"Daggers lethal to any vampire who uses it."

"That just so happens that I know someone crazy enough to give it a shot," Damon smirked just as he pulled his phone out from his pocket and placed it up to his ear. "Ric. The Addams family still at the Grill?"

"Yeah, they're here," Alaric confirmed as a grin appeared on Damon's face. "They've drank their way through half the Grill's liquor supply."

"Good, it'll be easier if they're wasted," Damon commented.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Divide and conquer. First, we'll need a little blonde distraction." Damon smugly responded, referring to Caroline. He knew Klaus had a soft spot for the female vampire and she would make a perfect distraction for the Hybrid.

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Riley and Damon waited patiently in the back alley behind the Grill while Alaric dragged Kol's daggered body out of the back door with the help of Stefan. "Here, grab him!"

"Tell your sexy doctor, good work," Damon smirked out of gratitude while he continued to help move the Original. Riley silently glared at him, but their moment was short-lived.

Klaus suddenly sped straight over to them, undaggered his brother, and knocked Alaric out. Riley gasped in horror and tried to use her magic to throw him backward, but Klaus tossed her against the wall with ease.

Stefan went to lunge at Klaus, but he just tossed him away with ease and then set his sights on Damon with a vicious glare. "I should have killed you months ago."

"Do it." Damon challenged with a pointed look on his face. He knew that Klaus had bigger problems than him. "It's not going to stop Esther from killing you."

Klaus sauntered toward him with furrowed brows. "What did you say about my mother?"

"You didn't know I was friends with your mommy?" Damon teased with his icy blue eyes locked onto Klaus' dark ones. "Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do." Damon grabbed hold of Riley and helped her back up to her feet. He held a hand around her waist to ensure that she remained beside him.

Klaus was about to lunge forward to attack Riley but was suddenly stopped by Elijah's sudden yell. "Leave them, brother! We still need them, Niklaus."

Klaus turned around to face his brother with a look of confusion. "What did mother do?" Elijah remained silent, which only infuriated Klaus more. "What did she do, Elijah?"

Elijah ignored his brother and walked down the stairs. He headed straight toward Damon and pulled his phone up to his ear. "You tell me where the witches are, or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now."

Riley looked up at the clock noticing it was only half-past eight. "What happened until after nine, huh?"

"I'm sure Rebekah will be more than happy to start her work early."

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Riley rested her head on the back of the bathtub, her attention completely taken on the bubbles that surrounded her. Damon and Stefan had gone to stop Esther from channeling the power from Bonnie and her Mom, but Damon suggested that Riley hang back. She knew that the Salvatores would do whatever meant necessary, she just hated it.

The Evans witch heard her phone ringing from the cabinet beside her and slid it to the right to answer the call. "Grandma. Hey, I'm so sorry. I was meant to call you back sooner."

"You were. But, I'll forgive you since you're my favorite grandchild." Gwen chuckled softly.

"I'm your only grandchild." The strawberry-blonde scoffed quietly whilst a small smile drifted across her lips.

"Tomatoe, tomato." Riley's grandmother let a laugh escape her lips and then she exhaled. "I just wanted to call and see how you were getting on, sweetheart. How's that boyfriend of yours?"

"Damon? Oh, yeah. He's— Damon." The Evans witch chuckled. "How're you doing? I miss you like crazy."

"Oh, you know me, causing all sorts of mayhem. Perhaps I'll come back to Mystic Falls and visit. The only problem is that since I sold the house— Uh, perhaps those Salvatore boys of yours could lend your dear old grandmother a room for a night or two?"

Alarm bells rang in Riley's mind at the thought of letting her grandmother come back to town, especially since Original vampires and everything in between was still causing a problem. "I— uh, I can definitely ask. I might have to get back to you on that one. Or, I could just come down to you for a weekend."

"Whatever works best for you, sweetheart," Gwen spoke wholeheartedly. "I'm just about to have dinner, Riley. But, I can give you a call after?"

"Sure." Riley smiled. "I'll speak to you, soon."

The witch ended the call with her grandmother, then pulled herself upright from the bath. She stepped out onto the cold bathroom floor and grabbed a towel to wrap around her body. Then, once she headed back into her bedroom, she noticed a small envelope laid on the bed with her name written in cursive across it.

Riley,

Today I did things I abhor to protect the one thing I value most: My family. If anyone can understand my reasoning behind that, it's you. Keeping your family safe is just as important to you, and I've come to understand that. I understand that my actions today were unforgivable. I was ruthless and I was coldhearted and for that, I am truly ashamed. However, I hope you understand the reasoning behind what I did. 
In order to leverage your friends, I needed to use violence to get what I wanted. I knew it had to either be you or Elena. However, using you would never be an option to me, Riley. Never would I have placed you in any kind of danger. I know that one day you will forgive me because you're compassionate beyond a fault. But I will regret my actions always and forever.

— Elijah

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