Sdtk:

Closer: Kings of Leon

Deep South: Cartel

Izzo: Jay Z

A/N: I dk why but my song list makes no sense lol. It helped me write but they were all so random. My muse def has a sense of humor. I like this chapter a bit better than the last one.

A wonderful reader said something that made me want to post an explanation. If you were thinking last chapter Stefan isn't the type of man who would have hooked up with Zoe while Elena was still in the house I totally get where you're coming from. But I always saw him as a different person when he's with Zoe. I don't think Stef was always the vamp he is now. In my head he had his "Dark" period and she is a reminder and kind of an encourager for him to fall back into that pattern. I think that's why they are a bit of a tragic couple. There's a lot of love and loyalty between them, but it doesn't necessarily make them go together better. I hope that explained things: Hope you guys like the newest chapter.

XX

"You're running out of time!" Emily said drawing her back to the forest.

"What more can I do?" She snapped irritated. She'd faced her fears, invoked the ancestors and forced a vision. What else was left?

"You have to find the spell to-"She said image wavering slightly as she grimaced seemingly in pain.

"They know I'm not where I should be, I have to go," She said fading into nothing.

"Damn it!" She cried instantly awake.

"What's wrong?" Stefan asked pulling her body against his.

"Emily was trying to tell me something, but we got interrupted," She said sighing.

"Interrupted?"

"Yea she said they know when she's trying to communicate, she's connected to them somehow."

"It's Katherine," Stefan said making her pull away to meet his gaze over her shoulder.

"How can you be so sure?"

"She was more than Katherine's hand maiden, she was like a best friend, and you yourself know they were connected, blood bonds are powerful things when mixed with spells."

"Wait! You think it's continued through death?"

"That's exactly what I think."

"Then it must've been an eternal bond, and until the spell is undone or over ridden..."she said trailing off as he nodded agreeing with her train of thought.

"She'll continue to be able to block her, but how could she exercise power over Emily? She's just a vampire. "

"The spell, it would make sure she couldn't betray her," Zoe said tossing the covers aside as she dressed quickly making Stefan sigh. That hadn't lasted nearly as long as he'd like.

"I have to break the bond," she said tossing him his clothes as she moved to the books she'd been browsing earlier.

"Here help me," She said tossing him the other book after he donned his clothing.

"What am I looking for?"

"Anything at all that mentions an Eternal bond," She said using her vamp speed to rifle through the book.

"I've got something!" She cried stopping at the page that said Eternal Bonding.

Eternal Bonding.

An Eternal Bond will bind two people for as long as they shall live and beyond. It is the ultimate show of loyalty and not to be taken lightly. These spells will not allow either party to do something that would harm the other. Be it by look or deed.

Ingredients:

Blood

Black Cat Oil

Powdered Sulfur

Spider Webs

Hair

"Does it say anything about undoing it?" He asked as she shook her head.

"No, but I can use a bond breaking spell with the same ingredients, but that's the problem, how can I get the blood when Emily is gone, and Katherine certainly isn't volunteering-"

"Bloodlines!" She said hopping up.

"Bloodlines?" Stefan asked eyeing her as if he thought she'd gone off her rocker.

"They aren't here, but their bloodlines are!" She said seeing the understanding don in his eyes.

"You and Elena," he whispered wincing slightly at the thought of her asking the girl for a favor now.

"You'll have to be the one to ask her." He said as she shrugged.

"I hope you aren't expecting me to feel bad about what happened earlier," she said looking pointedly in at the mused bed.

"No," he said shaking his head as he took in her indifferent expression. He could always count on he and Damon to do what needed to be done without feeling.

"I'll go talk to Damon, and then we'll gather the ingredients," She said leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He had that look that said he needed space. This was what they had become, rare poignant moments followed by long bouts of uncertainty. Maybe they'd get it right one day, but she knew now was not that time.

"I'm going to kill Stefan," Damon muttered throwing on a pair of pants and answering the door.

"Zoe?"

"Tell Bonnie to get dressed, I'm going to need her help with a spell. I know how to lessen Katherine's power."

"How?"

"By going back to the source."

"The source? You mean her maker?"

"No, Emily."

"But how?"

"Meet me in the library; I'll explain it to everyone at once."

"You might want to get rid of the stench of Stefan if you plan on asking Elena for a favor," he said eyeing her pointedly as she smiled and tilted her head to concede his point.

"Ditto D," She said laughing as she headed back to her room to change.

Breezing into her room she found Stefan standing with his back towards her at the window.

"Stef rally now, brood later," She said swiftly changing into a pair of fresh blue jeans and a black top.

"Rally?"

"For the big meeting in the study," She said pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

"When?"

"Let's say twenty minutes," She said relaying the same information to Damon mentally before heading in search of Elena.

She found the forlorn girl sitting in front of a fire in the library. If she still had a conscious she would feel bad approaching her after what she and Stef had just done; but luckily being a vampire provided her with immunity to feelings she didn't want.

Making sure to make noise like a human would as she entered the room she watched an expression of anger fade to admiration as the girl took her in.

"You really should not be grateful to me," She thought.

"You- You saved me," She whispered breaking the awkward silence that had fallen.

"I broke a spell," She said shrugging. She did not do the whole bonding over good deeds thing .

"Thank you for that," She whispered clearing her throat as she sat up tucking her hair behind her ears nervously.

"I'm sure Stef filled you in on everything that's been going on, so I'm just going to cut to the chase, we need your help."

"Me?"

"I need the blood and hair of one of Katherine's descendants for a spell," She said making her arch an eyebrow.

"What kind of spell?" She asked listening carefully as Zoe explained her plan.

"Of course I'll provide you with as much as you need," She said nodding her head as she quickly agreed.

"Now I see it, such a good girl so quick to jump up and lend a hand. Probably has a case of rose colored glasses too," She thought easily picturing Stef being drawn to her like a bee to honey.

"Thank you," She said grateful when she heard the others approaching. She'd had more than enough quality time.

Diverting her attention from the girl's reunion she locked eyes with Damon.

"You two looked mighty cozy," he teased mentally.

"Fuck off," She sent back smirking when he hid his laugh in a cup of strong whiskey.

"Emily's been coming to me for weeks now in dreams," Zoe said as they all sat.

"What did she say?" Bonnie asked quietly. Her past experiences with her ancestor hadn't been good; and as much as she trusted Zoelle a part of her didn't want anything more to do with Emily.

"That danger was coming and we needed to present a united front to even stand a chance of winning, " She said giving them a quick run-down of the dreams and the spell she wanted to do.

"So this will break their connection?" Stefan asked.

"I think it will, and that'll leave Katherine a lot more susceptible to being taken down.

"You only say that because you don't know her, she's always got another ace up her sleeve." Damon said bitterly.

"This time so do we, she has no idea how powerful the Bennett witches have become."

"I hope you're right," Stefan whispered knowing how much damage the vampire could inflect.

"With Emily's help I will be," She replied

"Well let's get started, who knows when Katherine will decide to slink back here," Damon said spurring them into action.

"I'll need to get the ingredients from Grams," Zoe said as a look of understanding passed between her and Bonnie.

"I'll go with you, I know where everything is," She said ignoring the frown that marred Damon's face.

"I'll take good care of her," Zoe promised smirking. She liked seeing D off kilter.

"Aren't you going to say, so you and Damon?" Bonnnie asked breaking the silence that had fallen in the SUV.

"I'm not Elena Bonnie, I saw what was there the whole time."

"What do you mean? We hated each other!"

"Maybe, but that didn't mean there was potential for something great."

"You think so?" She asked not sure she'd made the best choice becoming involved with a man she'd hated a few weeks earlier.

"Damon doesn't do casual, he does toy, food, and forever," she said dryly.

"Forever is a long time," Bonnie said growing nervous. When you put someone up on a pedestal they were bound to fall off.

"You might drive each other crazy at times, but I think you'll be happy." She said flashing her small smile.

"Elena said Stefan broke things off."

"So he said."

"You don't think it's permanent?" She asked giving her a sideways look that said she knew what had occurred between them.

"No."

"Then how could you have been with him?"

"Because I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow and if I die I want my last memories to be filled with the one person I loved most."

"How can you be so nonchalant?" Bonnie asked shaking her head.

"Because I have to be, and once you've died once, the rest is just stolen time. Our numbers have to be up sometime."

"You don't think you're coming back from this do you?" She whispered.

"I never said that," She said pulling up into the driveway without answering.

Entering the house almost solemnly they made their way to the cellar that held all the ingredients.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Damon asked arching his eyebrows at the two women who meant the most to him.

"Mostly," Bonnie answered lips twitching at his rolled eyes.

"Seriously D, it'll work, "Zoe said noticing the curious look Elena was sending their way. The floor of her world had fallen from beneath her in a matter of hours.

"Let's cast the circle," Zoe said as they moved to the land just behind the manor.

Drawing the circle they called to the powers that be and closed the circle behind them gathering around the cauldron they'd brought over as they began the spell in unison.

"With blood, candle and scent times three, No longer shall this binding be, Free to live and free to soar, Let her leave this place once more," They chanted pausing to place the blood inside the cauldron placed at their feet.

"As I burn this hair a part of thee, let her heart and soul be free, "They continued dropping in their hair along with Elena's.

The cauldron bubbled turning from a murky brown to a bright red as the wind began to roar making them raise their voices.

"And for those who doth cast despair, Binding her with sightless hair, I send to them this well- earned curse, Let their bonding spell reverse," Hands intertwined and raised above their heads the girls chanted eyes wide as lighting flashes and thunder rolled in the distance.

"As in my will so mot it be." They completed as a wall of fire rose swiftly around the circle that buzzed with the energy built imploded. A bright light flashed as what appeared to be lighting struck the cauldron sending red sparks flying.

"Did it work?"

"Not yet," Zoe whispered watching in awe as the red sparks formed a stream of light that escaped from the cauldron and shot up and out of the circle.

"We need to break the circle," Zoe said hurriedly beginning the process to the left and Bonnie complied starting from the right to meet her in the middle.

"We don't want my sister riding that power back after it reaches Katherine," She explained letting out a sigh of relief as the circle was disbanded.

"She could do that?" Bonnie.

"And more, she was powerful then, and I imagined her bond with Katherine made her even more so, but now that's gone," She whispered smirking.

"Because we've cut the binding with Emily?"

"Exactly, Katherine isn't the vamp she once was," She with an evil grin.

"Did it work?"Stefan asked as they all gathered around them.

"Only one way to find out, we've got to contact her" she said heading inside.

"How do we do that?"

"Séance."

"Something's wrong," Katherine thought frowning as a chill ran down her spine. She knew when magic was being worked on her.

"I was going to wait until tomorrow, but since you want to fight dirt we will," She growled.

Zoelle Bennett made her skin crawl. She wanted to spill her blood and see her head on a platter. You did not disrespect her and live to tell the tale. She'd given the silly little girl a chance to make things write and she'd tossed it in her face.

"We move tonight," She hissed tossing aside her snack to gather her troops.

A/n: So what do you guys think? do you think about the direction the story is taking? Is it what you expected? Better Worse? Are your questions being answered as I begin to wrap things up? Thanks again for sticking with me you guys! Hit the R button and let me hear your opinions good and bad.