The Salvatore Sister

Chapter Thirty-Three

Once she is far away from Katherine, Arabella begins to stumble through the woods. It feels like she is just going in circles. Hours pass by as she wanders aimlessly through the woods. Then, she finally comes across the ledge of a cliff.

Praying that this is part of the pathway to the cure, Arabella nearly trips as she enters the clearing. Her head feels like it's swimming, meaning that Katherine probably drugged her to keep her out for so long. Of course she did, it's Katherine Pierce.

"Ari!" Elena's voice calls out.

Arabella freezes for a second, unsure if the person she is speaking to is actually Elena or if its Katherine. Typically, Katherine has her hair curled, but she had it straightened as a precaution for when she might have to pretend to be Elena.

"Elena," Arabella murmurs. She leans against a tree, pretending to look relieved. If it is truly Elena, she has to pretend like nothing is wrong.

Elena walks up to her, eyeing her with concern. "Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you!" She glances behind her for a moment as though she is in search of someone else. "Is Damon with you?"

Shaking her head, Arabella looks confusedly at Elena. Damon is missing too? Katherine had failed to mention that in their chat. "No, I was by myself." She gestures back toward the woods. "One of the locals kidnapped me while I was out by myself and when they realized I didn't know anything they snapped my neck." She winces a little, trying to hold herself upright. "They thought I was just a werewolf because my eyes glowed gold when I fought them, so they thought they killed me."

Snaking an arm around her waist, Elena leads Arabella to Stefan, who is sitting on the ground. She hands the hybrid Stefan's half finished blood bag. "Here, you're going to need some blood."

The blood is cold as it goes down her throat. She's not really a fan of the taste, but it's better than nothing.

"What happened?" She asks the pair. Rebekah is missing from what would be the trio since Shane has Bonnie and Jeremy and Elena mentioned that Damon is missing. Obviously something happened to the group.

Casting a glare to the ground, Elena shakes her head. "Jeremy went missing in the middle of the night, then Bonnie, Shane, and Damon went missing this morning." A loud sigh leaves the girl's lips. "And Rebekah betrayed us after she found out that there's only one dose to the cure."

A mask of shock grows across Arabella's features. She feels bad for betraying her friend, but even if Arabella gave them an alternative solution to the Klaus problem no one would listen. It's the sacrifice that she is going to have to make to save the people that she loves. "There's only one dose?" She asks.

"Yeah," Elena says quietly. "It's over."

Stefan stares at the ground in defeat. "I'm sorry," he murmurs.

The doppelgänger shakes her head. There is disappointment written all over her face. "Don't be," she responds. "Maybe it's a blessing in disguise."

Both of the Salvatore siblings with her stare at Elena with curiosity. Arabella never expected Elena to find the disappearing cure to be a blessing. Elena has hated vampirism since she first turned. She has struggled the most with becoming a vampire and how she has a sire bond to Damon.

"How so?" Stefan asks.

"Things changed the minute I went off that bridge, Stefan," Elena elaborates. "Even if I could be human again, I wouldn't be the person that I was."

Before Arabella was forced into becoming a hybrid, she wouldn't have understood that. Since then, though, Arabella has understood how freeing it is to be a vampire. She hated immortality before because she was forced to shift every full moon. She hated immortality because she thought she outlived all of her family members because if she made friends she would one day outlive them, too.