Damon and I were standing outside of the cellar in the basement of the boarding house to visit Stefan, who was still chained up with his humanity off.

"Update from the outside world," I told him in a sing song voice.

"Don't. care," Stefan told us.

"But I do," Damon told him. "I care so much it hurts. But it's a good kind of hurt, because my lovely humanity is back on, and I am seeing the world through rose colored glasses."

Damon smiled.

"But my humanity is still on the down low, so when you say things like that, it really makes me want to turn it all the way off," I told him.

"Really, Kaylin?" Stefan asked. "Because it makes me regret not destroying Mystic Falls with Hellfire. Maybe Seline will ring that bell again and put me out of my misery."

"Don't hold your breath, brother," I told him. "The psycho sisters are MIA. It's almost as if all is right with the world."

"Yeah, except for the fact that we made a deal with the Devil," Stefan told us. "You two should be out dropping bodies and keeping our numbers up."

"Stefan Salvatore, dropping bodies is not part of a balanced humanity-on lifestyle," Damon told him.

I pretended to nod off. "Sorry, I fell asleep."

"That's okay," Damon told me. "I forgive you. I am all about redemption these days. I am going to set things right. Starting with both of your humanity switches. Like you said, Kaylin, your switch is on the dimmer down, and you are very dangerous when you have your emotions all the way on to your enemies, but when it's on the dimmer down, you are dangerous to everyone, so we should focus on dimmering that switch back up."

"I'm in complete control," I told him.

"Good," Damon told me. "Then turn it all the way on. But Stefan is a different story."

"When did you become such a nag?" Stefan asked. "Maybe you've been hanging out with my ex-fiance too much. I'm surprised she's not here with you right now, telling you all the things you're doing wrong."

"She had other obligations today," I told him. "Contrary to your personal belief, it's not all about you."

"You look hungry," Damon told us. "I'm gonna make pancakes."

Damon walked away.

Stefan sighed, leaning his head back against the wall.

I smirked, walking away.

********

I walked toward the cell with food. "Second chances, coming up. I dare you to have one of these and tell me they are not the best pancakes you've ever..." I stopped walking when I noticed that the cellar door was open, curious and cautious. "Had. Hey, Damon!"

I walked into the cell, seeing ash on the floor nearby the chair that Stefan had used to be chained to, but Stefan was gone now.

Damon walked in to see what I saw.

We both turned to see Cade standing by the door.

"Where the hell is our brother?" Damon asked.

"Making up for your disappointing work ethics," Cade answered. "I sent him on a task. You're wondering if I'm a hallucination. Well, I assure you, I am very real."

Cade took the tray from me, putting it down.

"Noted," I told him. "What brings you into town?"

"Upon the Maxwell bell's eleventh ring, the boundary broke down for a moment," Cade told us. "I took the opportunity to step through and take up residence here, since my disciples seem to require... additional motivation."

Damon looked at the ash on the floor. "I don't think I want to know what you did to motivate Stefan."

Cade chuckled. "Fire is only one of the tools at my disposal. But he hardly needed prompting to go back to work. Now it's your turn to make up for the deficit. By sundown tonight, you will kill 100 people--"

"Here's the thing," Damon told him. "I don't really feel like being your Terminator anymore."

"Your 'feelings' are not an issue," Cade told us. "Our arrangement is very clear. You do as I say, and you won't go to Hell. You disobey me, and I send you there to stay." He looked at me. "Not to mention the other family that you are trying to save could very well need help from more than just you." Damon and I exchanged a look, sighing. "So here's your second option. If you object to quantity, I will accept quality instead."

"Quality, like the Queen of England quality?" I asked.

"Quality like... Caroline Forbes," Cade answered.

I looked down. "Oh. Well, she's a bit of a no-fly zone. You know what I mean?"

"It's completely up to you," Cade told us. "Before the sun goes down, kill 100 evil strangers, or kill the love of your brother's life."

********

Damon and I went to the high school outside where there was a town gathering, finding Caroline.

Caroline gave us a look. "You are supposed to be on Stefan duty."

"There's no point now," I told her. "Cade's in town. He set our boy free."

"What?" Caroline asked incredulously.

"He also told us to kill you," Damon told her.

"Damon--" Caroline started.

"Of course we have a plan B, Blondie," Damon told her.

"Hold on, back up," Caroline told us. "Where is Stefan now?"

"I don't know," I told them. "Wherever he is, he's not answering his phone." Caroline sighed, taking out her phone to call Stefan, only to get his voicemail. "Points for optimism."

Caroline sighed, hanging up. "Voicemail."

I nodded in agreement. "Mm-hmm."

"How is this even possible?" Caroline asked. "I thought Cade was supposed to live in some kind of psychic dimension."

"You mean his realm of pain and fire?" Damon asked. "No, that's just his vacation home. He's here to stay."

"Does your plan B account for that?" Caroline asked.

"Of course it does," I answered. "This may come as a surprise to you, but you are not the only optimist in town." I looked around at the crowd. "Now, let's get these people somewhere safe." I turned to Caroline. "Stay clear yourself. Cade gave us until sundown to kill a hundred of these people, or kill you instead. And we don't want to be tempted by either."

"Well, where are you going?" Caroline asked.

"The less you know, the better," Damon told her. "We're up against a mind reader who's also a pyromaniac. But I'm sure it will all be fine."

Damon and I walked away.

********

I was the only one outside of the high school, now that Damon, Caroline and Matt had moved everyone to the Grill, prepping for a confrontation with Cade.

Cade walked toward me. "I expected to find you busier."

"I am busy," I told him. "Just staying out of trouble."

"Well, that's contrary to your task," Cade told me.

"Yeah?" I asked. "But Damon's on a redemption road, and he's nagging at me to get my switch turned all the way on."

"Which is one of the reasons for my visit," Cade told me. "The deal was that you turned it all the way off."

"Yeah, well, I didn't really trust you, and I didn't feel like going all the way and hating myself for the rest of eternity for it, so..." I trailed off.

"And yet you understand the downside of disobeying me," Cade told me. "Not only do I leave the Mikaelsons to rot, you will go to Hell. You're not doing this just for your lover's family, but for your own, even if the family of the man that you still love are devils themselves. Maybe you feel connected to them because your past, your similarities. Not to mention that if you hadn't been beaten as a human, you would have a child of your own, like Hope. I believe you would have called him or her Rae/Ray. Isn't that right?"

I glared at him in annoyance for bringing that up. "If I didn't like you using the Mikaelsons to get to me, you know sure as hell that I hate it when you use my unborn child to get to me. So unless you're telling me that you can fix every bad thing that has happened to me in my life, why don't we just focus on what the problem is? Hmm? You're nagging me for renegotiating our deal, when you throwing in Caroline or the '100 by sundown' of it all into the mix really changes the rules."

Cade smirked in amusement. "You think I'm being unfair."

"Nope," I told him. "I just think you're being you."

"I could say the same of you," Cade told me. "How very Kaylin Salvatore, to contemplate murdering the Devil, like you promised me you would if I broke our deal. You did warn me that you would find a way." I nodded, tilting my head, shrugging. "Even now, you're gauging where my beating heart might lie, triggered by my attempt to get under your skin using your unborn child and lover's family. Asking yourself if you can best my reflexes." 

Cade grabbed my wrist, making me hallucinate and flash back to when Julian beat my child out of me, me having to watch the downfall of the Mikaelsons, Klaus' compulsion, every single time that I had lost Stefan and Damon to death or otherwise. 

I pushed his hand off of me, getting angry, nodding curiously, looking around. "Question answered."

"And now you're wondering if fire can kill me," Cade told me. "Let's find out." He set himself on fire with nothing but his mind. "Or were you going for something more like this?" Fire spread over his body, diminishing and fading into nothing. He pulled his own heart out of his chest. "Or detaching my heart from my body. Seen enough?"

I glared at him, startled to find that this whole thing was just a hallucination, made clear when Cade was nowhere to be seen. I looked around, stunned, and feeling more emotions since he had jarred more of my humanity with the hallucinations, using Klaus and his family, my family, even my unborn child to get to me.

********

Damon and I walked into the Grill to talk to Caroline, finding her sitting at a table, walking closer, sitting down.

"Plan B didn't work," Damon told her. "We need a plan C."

"What was wrong with plan B?" Caroline asked.

"Well, apparently, the Devil can't be killed," I told her. "At least, not if you rip his heart out. Or set him on fire."

"Kaylin, I thought you said you weren't going to try anything stupid," Caroline told me.

"When did I ever promise that?" I asked. Caroline put her hands to her head. "Listen, in my defense, he did both of those things to himself. Bastard's tougher than he looks. I guess after 4,000 years, he's learned a trick or two."

"He's immortal," Caroline told us. "He cannot be killed. So, we just need to change the equation."

"How?" Damon asked.

Caroline sighed. "There's one thing that can turn immortals mortal."

I realized what she was getting at. "The Cure."

"No," Damon told us. "No, no, no, no. The Cure is off the table. I'm not risking my future with Elena."

"What is the bigger risk?" I asked. "Making the Devil mortal so that we can kill him, or letting him stay immortal or just waiting for him to kill us?"

"Look, all we need to do is capture Cade," Caroline told us.

"You're talking about the Devil here," I told her.

"We give him the Cure, he becomes mortal," Caroline told us. "Then someone else will take his blood, and that'll make him age 4,000 years and shrivel into dust."

"You realize that if you take the Cure out of Elena's body, that little vial is our one and only dose, and we're not even sure it'll work on Cade?" Damon asked.

"This is our best chance to get Stefan back," Caroline told us. "Isn't that what you want?"

"No, it's what you want," Damon told her. "You know what I want? I want to fix my brother, I want to get rid of the Devil, and I want my future with Elena. But I am not becoming human while she sleeps for decades."

"You won't have to take the Cure right away," Caroline told him. "Enzo will take it from Cade, and years from now, you can take it from Enzo."

"Enzo?" I repeated. Caroline sighed, looking down. "Enzo? What?"

"Bonnie asked him, and he said yes," Caroline told us. "They were going to tell you."

"Before or after they stole it from me?" Damon asked.

I gave him a look. "It doesn't belong to you. It is in Elena's blood. She would want to save all of us, and you know it. If Bonnie and Enzo do live out nice, happy, normal human lives, when Enzo is old and dying right before Elena wakes up, you can take the Cure from him, and then become human just in time for her to wake up. Anyway, that's the math. It can work."

"How can you be so sure?" Damon asked.

"It's not about being sure," I told them. "It's about using what we've got. Unless you have a plan D."

Damon sighed. "No. I don't. Bonnie's not gonna like this."

********

Damon was standing outside the Grill, calling Bonnie. "Just hear me out, okay? Cade as an immortal, disturbingly indestructible. Cade as mortal, total question mark. Therefore if we give Cade the Cure, thus turning him mortal, it might be the only shot that we have to get rid of him."

"'Might be' isn't very convincing."

"If you have better ideas about how to defeat the Devil, Bonnie, I'm all ears."

"I finally have Enzo. Minus all the insanity. We're gonna start a life together. We need the Cure to do that. And we know it will work on him exactly as intended, no question marks. Besides, what if you're wrong?"

"Then I lose everything, too. But there's more at stake here than just you or me or Enzo."

"You understand what you're asking me to do?"

"Well, at least I'm asking. You were just gonna give Enzo the cure without telling me."

"Sorry, I just wanted to put myself first, for once. I just wanted to be happy."

"You know what I want us to both be? Alive. But we're all out of options."

"There has to be a loophole."

"This is the loophole. I hate it, too, Bonnie. I'm gonna get us out. You still with me, Bon?"

"Yeah."

"Is that a 'Yes, I'm with you. We'll take down Cade together'?"

"I said yes, okay? We'll do it. We'll rescue everyone but ourselves, again."

I saw Caroline and a guy from the Armory, Dorian, talking at the bar.

"Find any secret messages?" Caroline asked.

"Uh, kind of," Dorian answered. "There's different styles of handwriting, which indicates some sort of back and forth between two people, likely in secret. The messages are meaningless. 'Today was a cold day. The crops are bountiful.'" Caroline carried over a glass. "It's like there's a code inside the code."

"Well, if anyone can figure it out, my money's on you," Caroline told him. Dorian chuckled. Caroline slid over the glass. "And, um, in case you want to take me up on my prior offer."

"This come with a special ingredient?" Dorian asked.

Caroline nodded. "Lime juice hides the taste."

Dorian looked over the glass. "Huh. It is an intriguing insurance plan."

"You are surprisingly low-key about the existence of the supernatural," Caroline told him.

"Are you kidding me?" Dorian asked. "I'm getting a degree in occult studies here. I live for this stuff."

"Yeah, but how does one even pick that as a major?" Caroline asked.

"Kind of because of my family," Dorian answered. "For generations, we thought we were cursed. Bankruptcy, depression, health problems. You name it, we dealt with it. My parents were the first to break the mold. Great marriage, successful careers, two good kids. And then my, um my dad and my little sister died in a house fire. It was like we were cursed all over again."

"God, I'm so sorry," Caroline told him.

"I hid at the library to cope," Dorian told her. "I just wanted to find some sort of proof that they were at peace. And then one day I had the strangest dream. I was playing baseball, center field, like I did in high school. My sister was in the stands. She was wearing this ugly Christmas sweater I always teased her about. She smiled, and she waved at me. And I knew it was somehow okay. And then, of course, I wanted to know what it all meant. You know, how was it possible I felt her spirit? What other supernatural or mystical forces there were in the world. Hence, occult studies."

"Um, have any advice on how to deal with the Devil?" Caroline asked.

"Well, make sure he stays in Hell would be a good place to start," Dorian told her.

Caroline laughed.

We heard patrons shrieking and screaming, jumping.

I turned around, seeing Cade.

Patrons were dying on the floor, bleeding.

I looked at Cade in annoyance.

"Stay where you are," Cade told me. Matt knelt next to dying patrons. "He was stealing from his employees. The other one was a philanderer."

Dorian looked at Cade in realization. "Arcadius."

Caroline looked at Cade. "Nobody else has to die."

Cade smirked in amusement. "I beg to differ." He looked at a nearby man. "Here's another thief."

Cade used his powers to set the man on fire, making him scream in agony.

Caroline and Matt watched in horror.

Cade smirked.

Matt picked up a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, but it as too late. He glared at Cade. "Stop!"

Cade looked at the other patrons. "Those of you who feel yourselves to be good people, free of evildoing, you may be excused."

"Everyone come with me," Matt told them, leading everyone out of the Grill.

Dorian looked at the drink from Caroline.

Cade looked at me. "Where's my other reluctant envoy?"

I looked behind Cade.

Damon walked in. "You said we had until sundown, micromanager."

"You should be thanking me," Cade told us. "I'm doing your work for you. I assumed your choice was the hundred. Unless I'm wrong. You can end this here and now with one particular soul."

"Why do you want me dead?" Caroline asked. "Have I offended you somehow?"

"No," Cade answered. "But you're important because you're Stefan's girl." He looked at Damon and me. "Your brother understood the choice right away."

"It's not up to Stefan," I told him.

"Your choice was not," Cade told us. "His choice was."

"What do you mean, 'his choice'?" I asked.

"Your lover's downfall gave me an idea," Cade told me. "Losing your significant other. The task I give to Stefan and Damon is kill 100 people, or their brother's girl, and since your man is in New Orleans with a dagger in his chest but otherwise unkillable, Stefan could also choose to kill your ex-boyfriend, lover, and current best friend. Lorenzo St. John. Stefan chose option B. Which is to kill Enzo and Elena."

"Stefan would never hurt them," Caroline told us.

"You underestimate him," Cade told us. "Stefan headed to New York without blinking an eye. He jumped at the chance to murder them."

Dorian picked up his drink.

Damon looked furious, noticing that a woman was in hiding nearby a table. "Okay, fine."

Damon rushed toward the woman, biting her on the neck, feeding until she died. 

Dorian was so horrified that he dropped the glass, making it shatter and the contents spill over the floor. 

Damon let the woman's body fall to the floor, turning to face Caroline and Dorian. 

Caroline rushed toward Dorian, rushing him out of the Grill.

I sighed in annoyance, looking at Cade. "Happy?"

"Yes, and no," Cade answered. "She doesn't count. She was essentially a good woman, and her soul is of no use to me. But I quite enjoyed watching you work." I rolled my eyes, sighing. "I gave you three worthy kills. You still have 97 to go."

I glared at him. "And then you send Stefan home?"

"Oh, you misunderstand me," Cade told us. "Your quota is separate from his task. You made your choice, he made his."

Damon was horrified. "No. No, no, no. No, no, no. I'll do anything you want. You stop him!"

"The time for bargains is over," Cade told us. "Now get back to work."

********

Damon and I were walking outside.

Caroline followed us. "Wait, I'm coming with you."

"Sorry, Blondie," Damon told her. "You'll only slow us down if we have to hurt him." 

Damon and I got into his car, driving away.

******** 

Damon was driving as fast as he could.

I called Stefan. 

"Now, unless you're in a hovercraft, you're not gonna catch me in time."

"Matt called in some favors," I told him. "NYPD's headed to the warehouse right now."

"Well, I'm not on my way to Brooklyn. Elena is in upstate New York."

"What?" Damon asked. "What how is that even possible?"

"That's where Bonnie hid her."

"Where Bonnie hid her?" Damon repeated. "How would you even know that?"

"Damon, we work for a psychic. Did you forget? Cade told me he met Bonnie this morning at a coffee shop and read her mind. That's where he saw the address of the safe house. It wasn't too difficult to track down her realtor. Although, that title deed paperwork did take forever."

"Stefan, listen to me," I told him.

"Let me guess. You're gonna appeal to my humanity and my family bond. 'Think about Elena.' Blah, blah, blah."

"You don't have to think about anything, just turn around," I told him. "We'll meet you wherever you want."

"Yeah? And then what?"

"Then, whatever anger you're working through, man, you can just take it out on us," Damon told him.

"I am taking it out on you. I'm on my way to murder Elena, Damon's girlfriend, and Enzo, Kaylin's best friend."

"Stefan," I told him.

"In fact, Waze says I'll be there in five minutes."

"You don't have to do this for Cade," Damon told him.

"I'm not doing this for Cade. I'm doing this for me."

"What?" I asked.

"When Cade first suggested this idea, I was like, 'God, why didn't I think of that?' Oh, I know why. Because I've been too busy taking care of my brother and sister."

"You don't have to take care of us ever again," I told him. "We're fine. I'll take care of all of us, Stefan."

"I know that you will try your hardest to take care of all of us and more, Kaylin, and soon, once you feel all of that emotion, the way it will overwhelm you will crush you, and I'm looking forward to watching you break, but you'll keep trying to interfere with everything as long as we're connected."

"I swear to God, Stefan, if you hurt Elena, you are dead to me," Damon told him.

"That's exactly my point. I want to cause Elena and Enzo's deaths so both of you can blame me for it because then you will finally stop trying to save me and I will be free of you forever."

"This is not the answer, Stefan," I told him. "Leave them out of this."

"I am begging you, brother," Damon told him.

"Listen to yourself, Damon. You are pathetic. Elena's the root of all your problems, and therefore, mine. I mean, she's still coming between us, which is insane if you really think about it because, to be honest with you, in the grand scheme of things, she's really not that special. She's just a stupid girl. She's a stupid human girl who will be so easy to kill. Just like Enzo is a murderer that remained psychotic even when he was with you, Kaylin, but only turned good for Bonnie. I guess you have a type for guys with accents who turn good for their girls."

I rolled my eyes, starting to feel more and more worry as I felt more and more humanity flood back in. "Stefan..."

"Kaylin, remember when I wanted to kill Enzo after he killed Ivy because I wanted you to give up on me, after Damon died because I couldn't handle the guilt and pain over it? I had the right idea then, Kay, and I am going to fulfill it now. I'm thinking something symbolic. Maybe rip out Enzo's heart the way you did when Lily forced you to leave Mystic Falls to save his life, when you didn't try to stay for him because you wanted to protect him. Maybe find a bathtub to drown Elena in. Full circle kind of thing."

"You can't do that," Damon told him. "You won't."

"Oh, yes, I can, and I will, and I can't wait."

"Stefan," I told him. Stefan hung up. "Stefan!" 

I hung up. 

Damon drove as fast as he could, but it wasn't going to be fast enough.

Whatever happened...

We weren't going to be fast enough to get there. 

Wherever there was.

We knew that we wouldn't be there in time to stop him.