Chapter Text
The stench of sweat and blood greeted Kol as he re-entered the creepy professor's room. He curled his nose in disgust. Well, not his nose - as a vampire, he'd be caught dead before being disgusted at the smell of blood. No, it was Logan Cline's nose who didn't appreciate the scent. Logan's crooked, human nose. The stupid nose of a stupid college student who had chosen to major in the Occult while possessing no magical ability whatsoever. As he'd demonstrated when Kol had struck him unconscious.
He sat down at Shane's desk and crossed Logan's legs, waiting for someone to find the body, and then to find him. The police wouldn't have trouble tracing the creepy professor's death back to Logan - and that was exactly the point. Humans would see a story as clear as the day: a frustrated, low-performing student taking his anger out on a Professor without an apparent motive; just a heat of the moment event, a tragic, youthful error. Supernaturals, on the other hand, would see a different story: a guy compelled to do someone else's deed, and bearing no memory of it. A pawn in a vampire's little game. An injustice.
Apparently, the little Bennett witch hated injustices. Kol's bet was that she would pity poor Logan, and would try to make things right. He was waiting for her, staring at the closed door, Logan's human hearing focused on any auditory cues coming from outside. Two girls exchanging gossip, so loudly they sounded like mating geeses. A janitor talking on the phone. The hurried steps of someone running late for class.
And nothing else. Frustratingly, he couldn't hear anything happening further than the corridor Shane's office was located in, because the body he was inhabiting was nothing like his. Normally, he would have called it useless - too human, too mortal. But in this particular instance, it was the key to his success.
The last remaining key. If he wasted this one too, he'd have to move to plan c. The string of accumulated failures was starting to become embarrassingly long.
The door bursted open, hitting the wall with a bang. From behind it came in the Bennett witch, who shot him a wary glare. The doppelganger - now a vampire - was following close.
"I smell blood-" Elena said. "Oh, hi," she added, noticing Kol-Logan's presence.
Kol didn't answer. He focused on keeping a bland, void expression on Logan's face, trying his best impression at being a compelled, confused human.
"Are you ok?" Bonnie asked, stepping closer. "Oh, God. Oh…" she looked at Logan's shirt, a trail of blood running down the front of it. "Elena…"
"I think he's been compelled," the doppelganger whispered, looking at him at eye level. "What happened?"
"I killed professor Shane," Kol answered monotonically, staring at Elena's brown eyes.
"What?" Bonnie spat out.
"Why?" Elena asked.
"Because… I was asked to, I think."
The girls exchanged a meaningful look, and the witch went pale.
"Bonnie, it's not his fault," Elena said. "We need to find out who did this. We need to help."
Bonnie nodded. "Go outside. Look for Shane- look for his body. Compel the police if needed. I- I'll talk to my dad."
Elena disappeared, too quickly for Logan's eyes to follow.
"Do you remember anything at all?" the witch asked.
Kol-Logan pretended to think for a while. "Yes," he finally said. 'I remember something. A message for you: Kol says "another one bites the dust."