He told her everything he'd already said to Elena.

How Klaus was his younger brother. His half-brother. The fourth of seven children his mother had. The son of the Alpha of the werewolf Pack near their village. The real curse was one placed on him by his mother, at the request of Elijah's father. It kept him from being a full hybrid— a creature both vampire and wolf.

"That's so horrible," Maddy whispered. "I... I can't forgive what he's done but... some part of me gets it. My father was really, really awful, too. Not in the same way yours was, but... it left all of us with these really violent tendencies after we turned. I can't imagine being treated like dogshit your whole life just to have a part of you ripped away. A part of him that... well, it was your mother's fault, not his. It's not like he asked her to cheat on your dad."

Elijah seemed curious at her reaction. Seeing her sympathizing, even empathizing a bit for his brother.

"And what you said about your father killing the Alpha and his family," said Maddy. "It means Klaus had half-siblings on his father's side that he... never got to meet. He never got to have anyone walk him through being a werewolf. Jesus christ..." she shook her head. "Why are you telling me this? Why me, why not Stefan and Damon?"

"Well, you'll tell them regardless. You just happen to be more approachable."

"I'm pretty sure Stefan is the most approachable out of the three of us."

"Hmm, perhaps. But I happen to trust you most."

"How is this going to work? The full moon is in a few days. Can't you contact more witches?"

Elijah hesitated. "I am unfortunately not as involved with witches as my brothers are. My youngest brother, he adores witches. Niklaus uses them from time to time, more often than I do. I have no one else to contact. To find another witch, I would need to reach out to Klaus himself and that... would not be wise. We should keep it a secret, that I am awake."

"We can do that. You should probably stay here in the meantime. Better that you don't leave the house unless it's absolutely necessary. We'll have to get you more suits to wear, since you seem to like those. I don't think you fit into anything my brothers own."

"That's alright," he said. "I compelled Carol Lockwood, I'm sure that you could retrieve her husband's suits for me."

Maddy made a face. "You want me to bring you her dead husband's suits? As her wife, I have to say no."

Elijah raised a brow. "Her wife?"

"Inside joke. Stupid of me to say it. Anyway, um, I think it's just better if I get you suits somewhere else. Not from a dead man's closet."

"Very well. Is there anything else that you were curious about?"

"I'm guessing you'll give us all more details on the day of the full moon. So... nothing about that. But I did want to know... isn't there any other way? To kill Klaus?"

"There is," said Elijah. "But it is far more dangerous. It would be very, very unwise to take that route, as it could end in my permanent death and yours as well."

Maddy winced. "Okay, well, I guess we're not doing that. And... something tells me that you're not going to give me more details."

"It's better you not know."

"Why did you really wish to protect me?"

Elijah ran his tongue over his lips. He came to sit beside her, having been standing by the window while she was on the couch. "For selfish reasons," he admitted. "Reasons I would never dare admit in the presence of your brothers."

She blushed. "So you compelled me because you had... a crush on me?"

"I found myself attracted to you. A very odd way of showing it, on my part, I admit. I wished to know more about you. How else would I have kept in contact? I did not expect for them to discover you so soon. I thought all would be well. I'd remove the compulsion once we defeated Klaus, and..."

"Look, you're handsome and noble and I would very much like to be friends in the future, and soon enough I can maybe find it in me to forgive you... but I can't see this becoming a romantic relationship right now. It's going to take time for me to really get to know you. Things might change later on once I find myself able to trust you. Aside from a... well, strong attraction... there's no other feeling there. I'm sorry."

"Thank you for your honesty," said Elijah, who seemed disappointed, but glad that she told him the truth. "You don't need to apologize. It's quite alright."

She got to her feet. "Let me show you to your room for the night so that you can start getting comfortable. We'll all stay indoors as much as we can until the full moon."

She led him to one of the downstairs rooms, giving him a tour and showing him how to work the shower. "In this cupboard," she said, "you'll find towels and everything else you might need for a bath. Anything else you want me to tell you?"

"That'll be all," he said, starting to remove his blazer, tossing it over the nearest chair. "Unless there was something else you wanted to ask me."

"Where will you go once Klaus is dead?"

"I will try to locate my other siblings. In the event that it isn't possible... I'll likely return here. And perhaps then, we can build our friendship."

"I'd like that," she said. "I should get going."

She almost wanted him to ask her to stay. She would have been just fine with him pulling her into his chest, whispering that even if they didn't end up romantically involved, he wanted to know her, just once. She saw no reason why she should deny him. She figured it could be fun.

But whatever he was feeling, he didn't voice it. Maybe he was waiting for Klaus to be dead before he let himself enjoy the finer things in life. Maddy had disappeared from his sight, and even though they'd spoken several times over the next few days, he hadn't told her about his desires. He couldn't lose focus. He had to stick to the plan. If he allowed himself even one night with her, he'd care far too much and it could ruin everything.

"Tonight is the full moon," said Elijah, once the day of the sacrifice had arrived. "We should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse."

"Elena and Maddy said that the Sun and the Moon curse is fake?" asked Stefan for confirmation. "That it's actually just a curse placed on Klaus."

Elijah assented. "Klaus is a vampire born of a werewolf bloodline. The curse has kept his werewolf aspect from manifesting. But if he breaks it... He'll be a true hybrid."

"Then why are we letting him break the curse?" asked Damon. "We can kill him today. With Bonnie."

"No," said Elena. "Bonnie can't use that much power without dying."

Damon shrugged. "I'll write her a great eulogy."

"We're not doing that," said Maddy. "Elijah, how does the ritual work?"

"It's relatively straightforward," he said. "The ingredients, so to speak, you already know."

"The moonstone," offered Stefan.

"A witch will channel the power of the full moon to release the spell that's bound within the stone. After that, Klaus, being both werewolf and vampire, will sacrifice one of each."

"And where do I fit into it?" asked Elena.

"The final part of the ritual." He brought out a wooden box. "Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelgänger... to the point of your death."

Elena gulped. "And that's where you come in."

Elijah popped open the box, revealing a small jar. "This is an elixir that I acquired some five hundred years ago for Katerina. It possesses mystical properties of resuscitation."

"So I'll be dead?" asked Elena.

"And then you won't."

"That's your plan?" snapped Damon. "A magical witch potion with no expiration date?" He looked at Elena. "You want to come back to life, what about John's ring?"

Elijah shook his head. "Those rings only work on humans. The doppelgänger's a supernatural occurrence. Odds are, the ring won't work."

"I'll take those odds over your elixir," said Damon. "What if it doesn't work, Elena?"

She sighed. "Then I guess I'll just be dead."

Damon didn't like hearing this, and with a scoff, walked out of the house.

Elena tried to maintain her composure. "Do we know if Klaus has everything he needs to do this? Does he have a werewolf?"

"Klaus has been waiting to break this curse for over a thousand years. If he doesn't already have a werewolf, my guess is by tonight, he will."

"What about using the ring and the elixir at the same time?" offered Maddy. "One of them is bound to work. If not, maybe... I don't know, a linking spell? Link Elena's life to mine, and then snap my neck so she wakes up?"

"That is a tricky bit of magic in this case," said Elijah. "As her body needs to be drained of blood, her spirit would be very, very weak."

Maddy nodded. "Okay. Let me see if I can try to get Damon on board."

"I'll go with you," offered Stefan, following her outside. Damon was drinking scotch on the porch.

"Breakfast of champions, huh?" said Stefan.

Damon made a face. "I'm surrounded by idiots. I need all the help I can get."

"You're making things more difficult," said Maddy. "This isn't being helpful at all."

"Elijah is an Original vampire. One we tried to kill because he compelled you to be his little spy. You're going to believe this guy?"

Stefan crossed his arms. "What do you want us to do, Damon? Elena made her decision. She's choosing to trust Elijah. I'm going to put my faith in her."

"Why?" said Damon. "She's going to end up dead."

"Because she put her faith in me. She chose to trust me in spite of what I am. I'm going to bet on somebody's instincts, it's going to be hers."

"Well, then, that makes you the biggest idiot of them all."

Stefan raised a brow. "She chose to trust you, too. And Maddy."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be so sure about her instincts." He took another sip from his scotch, then threw the rest on the ground before walking away.

"It's Elena's choice," Maddy muttered. "We can't interfere with that. She's the one with her life on the line, she's the only one that gets to decide how we go about this."

They heard voices near the front door, and quickly moved back into the house, finding Jenna holding a crossbow to Alaric, who was in the doorway.

"Stay away from me!" said Jenna sharply.

"What's going on?" asked Elena as she and Elijah came into the entrance hall.

"It's me, Elena, I swear, okay?" said Alaric. "He let me go. Klaus let me go."

"Prove it," challenged Damon.

Alaric looked sheepishly at Jenna. "Okay, uh, first night you and I spent together, Jeremy walked in right when I was about to..."

"Okay, it's him!" said Jenna quickly, her face red as she lowered the crossbow.

Maddy gestured for Alaric to come inside. "He seriously just let you walk out?"

He nodded. "Yes. He wanted me to deliver a message. The sacrifice happens tonight."

Elena bit her lip, looking at Elijah, who simply assented.

"So," said Stefan once they got Alaric to sit down in the living room. "You don't remember anything that happened?"

"No," said Alaric. "It's like I blacked out and woke up three days later. Katherine was there."

"She's under compulsion," Stefan explained. "Damon snuck her some vervain, but she can't leave until Klaus tells her she can."

"Where is Damon?" asked Elena, realizing he wasn't there.

"In his room," said Maddy. "Sulking, apparently."

Elena trotted upstairs. "So," asked Alaric, "what else did I do?"

Jenna looked at him uncomfortably. "Well, um... you showed up at my house and started cooking and saying all these weird things about vampires."

"That was Klaus," said Maddy. "Not your fault, Ric. How did he even get to you in the first place?"

"Isobel," he said. "I remember the last thing I saw was Isobel."

"She handed you over," Stefan deduced. "She's... she's dead."

Alaric didn't seem sad. He just nodded, and sighed. "Who killed her?"

"She killed herself," said Maddy. "Elena witnessed it. It seems her compulsion kicked in. She was a loose end and she tied it up for Klaus."

There was a thump upstairs, followed by a panicked gasp and a grunt. Immediately, Stefan bolted up, with Maddy behind him. They found Damon forcing his wrist against Elena's mouth, trying to make her drink his blood. Stefan shoved Damon back, while Maddy quickly pulled Elena away, seeing that her lips, teeth, and tongue were stained red. They were too late, she'd ingested some of Damon's blood already.

"What did you do?" spat Stefan as Maddy used her sleeve to clean Elena's mouth.

"I saved her life," said Damon coldly, staring at the doppelgänger, who was shaking so much, she sank to the floor. "You're so bent on dying, at least this way I know you'll come back."

"As a vampire!" growled Stefan. "She'll come back a vampire!"

The eldest Salvatore shrugged. "It's better than nothing else."

"Damon!" said Maddy. "You had no right to do that without her consent, what is wrong with you?!"

"Go ahead," he sneered at Elena, who was crying. "Wish me an eternity of misery. Believe me, you'll get over it." He then faced his brother. "Admit it. You just wish you had the balls to do it yourself."

Maddy was fast enough to keep them from hurting each other this time. "Damon, get the hell out of here, right now," she snapped.

"Gladly," he said, spreading his arms before he left the room, just as Alaric and Jenna made it upstairs.

"What the hell's going on?" asked Alaric.

Maddy shook her head, so angry she didn't even know what to say. She moved downstairs, finding that Elijah was putting the elixir away while Damon watched.

"You won't be needing this anymore," said the Original. "Feeding her vampire blood rendered it useless. Tell Elena I'll be back before nightfall. We'll proceed as planned."

Damon snoted. "We both know that elixir wouldn't have worked anyway."

Elijah cast him a tight-lipped smile. "The problem, Damon: you talk a good game but you don't actually know anything. She'll never forgive you. And never for a vampire... is a very long time."

He walked out of the house, and Damon had the audacity to look offended.

"I don't understand you," said Maddy, trying to keep frustrated tears from springing into her eyes. "You're constantly bitter because Stefan made you turn and you... you'd do the same to someone? You just keep hurting people and keep expecting different outcomes than the ones that end up taking place. Do you enjoy being the bad guy?"

"At least I get stuff done," Damon spat.

Maddy wanted to slap him, but forced herself not to. "I can't be here right now," she said. "I just... I can't and I really don't want to because if I look at you for another second then Giuseppe's spirit is probably gonna possess me."

She stormed out of the house, and took the time driving to the Mystic Grill. She had yet to try their food, and she figured that was the best place to de-stress without murdering anyone.

She devoured two burgers, and transitioned to doing shots once Alaric came to sit beside her.

"You're having a celebratory drink, and I'm having one to dissipate the rage I feel towards my brother," said Maddy as she poured them their shots. "Wonderful. Who should we toast to? To uh... Jenna. For being the only one in the group who is completely good."

"To Jenna," agreed Alaric as they drank. He poured them their next round. "This one's for... Elena. Who's going through hell and somehow manages to stay strong."

"To Elena," said Maddy. "And to... Elijah, who somehow has the strength of mind to not say anything about the tension between us."

"No way," said Alaric. "You and Elijah?"

"There's definitely some lust there on both ends but I haven't made a move cause he doesn't seem to fully want to."

"He's a good looking man. If I wasn't straight, I'd go there. Definitely. Any sane person would."

"He needs to fix his hair a bit," said Maddy, scrunching up her nose. "But otherwise, yeah. The suit thing is cute. So proper all the time."

"Meanwhile, I look like I crawled out of a donation bin," said Alaric, gesturing to his jacket.

"It's okay, you're still Jenna's type. Maybe she likes rugged vampire hunters."

Alaric smirked. "I guess she does. I did want to ask... did Klaus do anything to you?"

"Aside from trying to kiss me and overall just being weird? No. I may have beat you up a bit, sorry about that. Stefan found out, by the way. I kinda told him cause Klaus mentioned something when we were with Jenna..."

"I should probably come clean to her about that."

"It's your choice. In the interest of keeping Damon in the dark about it, I'd say she doesn't need to know 'cause it'll never happen again. But if you want to tell her, you should. I'll deal with the consequences."

"Shit, I kinda forgot about your brother. He might break my jaw if he finds out the truth. It's like an unspoken rule that you're never ever to go for your best friend's sibling. Especially their younger sibling."

"Damon needs to learn that he can't control everyone's lives." She quickly quieted down when she saw Damon's car pulling up outside.

He came in a minute later, joining them at the bar.

"I screwed up," said Damon, sliding into the seat. "I admit it."

"Yeah," agreed Alaric, "yeah, you did."

"Thank you for taking ownership," said Maddy with a cheeky smile. "Now apologize to Elena."

"Fuck no," said Damon. "I'm not apologizing to her."

"Then call Andie and let her go."

Damon cast her an indignant look. "Does everything have to be about that?"

"Yes, it does."

He took the shot glass from her, downing what was left in it. "I hate little sisters."

Maddy snatched the glass back. "And I hate older brothers who have no sense of accountability."

They all jumped when they sensed a presence behind them. "Gentlemen," said a man with a British accent. "And lady. Why so glum?"

Maddy knew it was Klaus. It had to be. Even though he looked nothing like Elijah, the way he stood radiated the sort of energy that the elder brother exhibited. She couldn't help but blush as she looked over his true body. Why did all the villains have to be so attractive? It was honestly a crime. His hair was curled, a dirty-blond that fit him perfectly. His eyes were a darker blue to match a very intense gaze. He must have been turned around the same age as her. She almost wanted to bet that he'd been stuck as a twenty-one-year-old as well.

"Klaus," she said, trying to lace her tone with venom. "I see you're not so cowardly after all. At least, I'm assuming that this is finally your real body."

Klaus's lips twitched. "In the flesh." He then smirked. The kind of smirk that Maddy imagined made many people weak at the knees. She was glad she was sitting down. Klaus acknowledged Alaric as he said, "Thanks for the loaner, mate."

Damon stood up, stepping in front of Klaus when he saw the Original making no attempt to hide how his eyes traced over Maddy's body. "Any reason you stopped by to say hi?"

Klaus seemed pleased to see him so defensive. "I'm told you and your brother fancy my doppelgänger. Just thought I'd remind you to not do anything you'll regret."

"Ha," replied Damon. "Thanks for the advice, perv. I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement, by any chance, huh?"

Klaus was mildly surprised. "You are kidding? He is kidding, right?"

"No, not really," said Alaric.

Klaus tried to ask Maddy, but Damon blocked his path. "I mean, come on, what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?"

Klaus leaned toward him, sneering, "Let me be clear...I have my vampire. I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up."

He brushed past Maddy as he made his way out. "I'll be seeing you around, love."

"Love?" asked Damon, making a gagging sound once Klaus was gone.

"Definitely intimidating," said Maddy. "Elena's day definitely just got worse and she hasn't even met this dude yet."

Damon hummed. "You think if I took his werewolf out of the equation, Elena might... get over the fact that I tried to turn her into a vampire?"

Alaric looked at him as if to say, 'Are you stupid?' "I think it won't matter, because you'll be dead."

"But without the werewolf," said Damon, "he can't perform the ritual tonight, which means I would have bought her one month before the next full moon."

"Damon, be smart about this," said Maddy. "Katherine had all these backup plans to get her way. Who do you thinks he must have learned it from? He's unlocking his werewolf side tonight, he's probably got a whole Pack of backups lined up. As for vampires, he could turn anyone he wants."

Damon, of course, was gonna be stubborn. "Let's find out from Katherine. I gave her vervain, she owes me. She can tell us just where the main wolf and vamp are being kept, and she just might be able to tell us the location of the backups, too. If we ruin the whole parade, he'll have to postpone."

"And then you'll be dead," said Alaric. "How is that not getting through?"

"Because he's an idiot," said Maddy. "We can't risk it, Damon, Klaus could have compelled a whole legion of vampires to guard whoever he's sacrificing."

"Which is why we should talk to Katherine first," said Damon, getting to his feet. "I need you to come with me Ric, you have to invite me in. You coming, Mads? If the going gets tough then I give you permission to smooch with Klaus so that I have a chance to get away."

"Gee, thanks," said Maddy, rolling her eyes as she followed after him. "I'm so glad I have your blessing."