The Devil's Dance
Chapter Three - Katherine's Demise
"The four of us together, just like I always imagined," Katherine sneered mockingly at each of us, "The brother who loved me too much, the one who didn't love me enough and the little sister I always wanted."
"And the evil, slut vampire who only loved herself," Damon sneered back as he continued to pace a short space of our new prison.
"What happened to you, Damon? You used to be so sweet and polite," Katherine responded with a patronising smirk.
"Oh, that Damon died a long time ago," he answered.
"Good. He was a bore." Katherine quipped back and I just rolled my eyes dramatically as Damon's smirk was wiped from his face.
"Oh, why don't you two stop antagonizing each other," Stefan moaned.
"Where is the moonstone?" Katherine asked again, stupidly believing we would have had a change of heart and would give it up to her.
"What do you want with it?" was Stefan's reply.
"Does Elena enjoy having you two worship at her alter?" Katherine supplied, a knowing glint in her eyes.
The awkward tension in the room that had suddenly sprung up was too much for me so I chided Katherine with, "Wow, that was really desperate, Katherine."
"Don't you think that we can see right through you?" Stefan continued.
"So, it doesn't bother you that Damon's in love with your girlfriend?" Katherine tried again, sounding just as pathetic and desperate as before.
"Oh, stop it," I sighed.
"Or what, Mia?" Katherine asked, and I noted the deliberate use of Tyler's nickname for me, something she was very aware of, as she finally turned on me, "You'll hurt me? We all know you can't do that without hurting Elena, and I know you don't have any troubles about that, but I'm sure your brothers do."
I just growled at her. She smirked.
"Come on, Stefan," Katherine challenged, getting up from her seat on the couch, "Everything that I feel, Elena feels. So go ahead." Her gaze shifted over to my twin brother and she continued, "Or better yet, kiss me Damon. She'll feel that too."
"You know," Stefan piped up, trying to diffuse the tension in the gaze Katherine and Damon were sharing, I didn't know if it was sexual or awkward or just plain hatred, "This whole Mason thing has me a bit confused. Why a werewolf? The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires, so what's in it for you?"
When Katherine appeared to be making no move to answer Stefan's question, Damon piped up, teasing and challenging Katherine, playing with her at her own game, "Sorry about your pet wolf. You should have been sure to keep him on a tighter leash."
"I'll have to remember that for next time," Katherine responded, giving no signs that Damon's teasing had had any effect on her, "He's not the only wolf in town. Isn't that right, Mia?"
"You keep the hell away from Tyler," I threatened, taking an aggressive step towards Katherine as Stefan reached forwards and put a comforting and warning hand on my shoulder.
Katherine just laughed that irritating, melodic giggle of hers as she studied me, "How do the overprotective brothers feel about that? Last night Mia was banging a werewolf, I mean, if he were to turn he could kill her with one bite. You didn't get too kinky last night, did you, Mia?"
The only response I could think of was to grind my teeth together, Stefan's hand had involuntarily tightened on my shoulder and Damon was all of a sudden looking alarmingly pale. Again, Katherine laughed as she took in everyone's response
"So, how was he, Mia?" Katherine continued, her smirk growing wider and wider, "A passionate lover? Gentle? Rough and kinky?"
"Yeah, he screwed me right into the mattress, all night," I mumbled a reply, knowing she would hear, willing to play along with her sick little game.
"Damn it! Where is that witch?" Damon grumbled and groaned, desperate to move on from the topic of his younger twin sister's sex life.
"We could play charades," Katherine suggested teasingly.
"You bargained the moonstone," Stefan mumbled to himself, averting the conversation back to the goddamn rock.
"What did you murmur over there?" Damon asked, obviously having heard him, he just wanted Stefan to explain.
"When you made a deal with George Lockwood, to help fake your own death, you told me that you gave George something he needed," Stefan realised, "It was the moonstone, wasn't it?"
I let my mind wander to George Lockwood, who had been Julien's oldest brother, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, I could hardly imagine him plotting with Katherine.
"Good for you, Stefan," Katherine smirked, "Two plus two. And it would've worked, except that people found out I wasn't in the tomb." Her gaze then shifted to Damon, "Thanks to you, by the way. Have I mentioned how inconvenient your little obsession over me has been?"
"You and me both, honey," Damon replied.
"Why do you need it back?" Stefan asked.
"I love you in a suit," Katherine responded, teasingly avoiding the question, "So dashing."
"What were you doing with it in the first place?" Stefan continued.
"You're wasting your breath, Stefan," Damon warned our brother with a sigh.
"Unless it wasn't yours to begin with," Stefan carried on, ignoring Damon's warnings, "In 1864, you faked your death. Who were you running from, Katherine?"
I watched as Katherine looked over at me quickly and said, "Why don't you ask, sweet, little Amelia."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I deadpanned back.
"Who were you running from, Katherine?" Stefan repeated, a smirk on his face because he knew he had guessed right.
"In 1987, you were in Chicago," Katherine said, turning her attention back to my younger brother, "At a concert of all places, with that wench Lexi. Come on, Stefan, don't look so surprised. Of course I checked in on you over the years. You were standing in the front row, dancing all night. You were watching Bon Jovi, and I was watching you."
"Who were you running from?" Stefan asked yet again but Katherine's only response was to mouth the words 'I love you' at him.
Who was she running from? And more importantly, why did that have anything to do with me? I didn't have the foggiest idea who Katherine could possibly be afraid of, and as far as I was aware Katherine had never told me who she had been running from.
"Is that why you always had an entourage of vampires with you?" I piped up and all eyes turned to me, "Why you had us constantly on the move? You thought that if the big baddie who was chasing you come a-knocking you could use a couple of us as diversions while you scarpered?"
Katherine smirked at me, a knowing look in her eyes, as if she knew something that I didn't know, something that concerned me alone, "I suppose, in hindsight, that was everyone's sole purpose."
"So, you turned us all because you wanted to throw us into the lion's mouth if your precious life was threatened?" I asked, "After all that crap you spouted about us being a family."
"Amelia, you know me better than anyone in this room," Katherine answered, for once her face stoic and free of her infuriating, patronising smirk, "Hell, you may know me better than most people on this Earth. You should know by now that I always look after number one over anyone else. But I turned you because I wanted a little sister. You were my little sister. But that didn't mean I wouldn't throw you to 'the big baddie' if I had to."
And then she giggled to herself at some private joke that only she was in on and I heard her mumble, "How ironic." Before she continued, "You know, we're missing the party. I'll have one of those."
As Katherine and I had been conversing, Damon had made his way over to the drinks table and was pouring himself a scotch, "Right away, Miss Katherine," was his reply.
We watched as Damon handed Katherine the newly poured scotch and she raised it to her lips, and suddenly Damon had her pressed up against the wall, a stake in hand. Stefan and I both jumped in surprise and stared wide-eyed as Damon lowered the stake, daringly.
"No, no!" Stefan called, panic apparent in his voice and eyes, "Damon, don't!"
"Yes, Damon, please," Katherine giggled as if there wasn't a stake an inch away from her heart.
"The second the spell is lifted, I'm gonna drive a stake right through your heart," Damon threatened down at Katherine who only continued to smile.
"God, you're hot," Katherine sighed, "When did you get so hot?"
And then we weren't alone anymore. In the doorway stood a dark-skinned, dark-haired woman who I could only guess was Katherine's witch. But the most alarming thing about this picture was that the witch had the moonstone in hand. Dammit, Bonnie, you had one job.
"Katherine," the witch greeted, her voice sounding oddly ethereal, "The spell on this room has been broken. You're free to leave."
"Thank God," Katherine muttered, pushing Damon away from her with next to no effort.
"When I hand this over," the witch gestured to the moonstone she held in her palm, "My debt to you is over."
"Done," Katherine answered without hesitation.
"I owe you nothing," the witch continued, wanting assurance.
"I said done. Give it." Katherine demanded, harshly.
"I wouldn't do that," Damon warned the witch.
We all watched with her hearts in our throats as the witch slowly pressed the white rock into Katherine's outstretched palm. But the second the cool surface of the rock made contact with Katherine's hand, the older vampire began to choke, as if all air had been stolen from her lungs. We watched, frozen in shock, as Katherine struggled for breath, strangled, desperate attempts for breath ripping from her throat.
"Wait, Elena!" Stefan was the first to regain the power of speech, as he stepped forward, panicked.
"Elena's fine," the witch answered coolly, her eyes fixed on the choking vampire as she fell to the floor, and I couldn't help but admire how much of a complete bad-ass she was, "The spell is broken. She'll heal quickly, Bonnie's with her."
So Sabrina and Broom-Hilda had met, I didn't even want to think about what those two could do if they got together. One witch was bad enough, thank you.
"I apologise for my involvement," Broom-Hilda finished, and with a flick of her long dark hair, she turned and walked away, leaving us in silent awe of her.
I turned to look at my brothers in surprise and somewhat relief as Katherine finally slipped into unconsciousness.
"What do we do with her?" I asked, my voice sounding oddly weak.
There she was. The woman who had ruined all of our lives and had torn our family apart was lying unconscious and incredibly vulnerable and helpless at our feet. I had imagined it would have felt better.
"We put her where she belongs," Damon supplied, "Where she should've been for the past one hundred and fifty years. The tomb."
I nodded once and looked towards Stefan who appeared to not have any disagreements as he stared down at the woman who had caused him such grief, who had made his life hell. He didn't look any happier or relieved than I felt myself.
I had planned to help Damon put Katherine in the tomb, wanting to finally lay her to rest, say goodbye to the vampire who had haunted me for the past century and a half, but the text alert sound on my phone ruined all plans I may have had:
'Tyler's dad's study. Come ASAP'
Closing the text I had received from Caroline, I turned tail and more or less flew out of the room we had been confined to for the past... I didn't even know how long (time flies when you're forced into the presence of the person you hate most in this world). I tore along the corridors of the Lockwood mansion, panic rising within me. I had no idea what could have possibly happen but I had the strongest idea that it was about Tyler, and that something terrible had happened. Call it instinct.
When I made it to the corridor outside Tyler's dad's study, Carol was just leaving the room with a solemn expression on her usually painfully smiling face. My worst fears had been realised, it had to be about Tyler, but I knew nothing seriously bad had happened to him, that was at least something.
"Amelia, maybe you shouldn't..." she warned as I came to a stop in front of her, I watched her glance unsurely back into whatever lay waiting for me in the study of her late husband.
"I have to see him," I countered, my voice sounding sure and for the first time I didn't use my teenage girl imitation toward her.
If she was shocked by the sudden change in my persona and voice she didn't show it as she studied my concerned face knowingly before she muttered an "okay".
Without another word I hurried past her and stopped at what I found in the study. A girl who I vaguely recognised (I'm sure I had seen her around town, maybe at The Grill or at one of the town events I had been attendance at) was lying stone cold dead on the floor, with Tyler standing with his back to her, his head in his hands. I wasn't stupid, I could put two and two together, and the conclusion I came to was definitely not good.
"Tyler?" I voiced hesitantly, my voice soft and small.
Tyler spun around as quick as humanly possible (although I guess he wasn't entirely human anymore) and then breathed out my name as he hurried towards me, his body hitting mine hard as he almost burrowed himself into my arms, his breaths coming out shaky as if he was sobbing without tears.
"It's okay, shh, it's going to be okay," I soothed as I cocooned his large body as best as I could in my thin arms and stroked the hair at the nape of his neck.
"It was an accident, Mia," Tyler breathed into my neck, his voice coming out desperate and panicked, "She came at me with a knife, I didn't mean it, but then she was dead and oh my god-"
"Tyler. Please. It's going to be alright, okay?" I answered, trying my best to sound and look comforting as I pulled away and rested my forehead against his, looking into his almost wild eyes, "It was an accident. We'll figure it all out, okay? Everything's going to be fine."
"It's not, Mia," Tyler replied in a small voice as he screwed up his eyes, his forehead still pressed hard and desperately up against mine, "You wouldn't understand. I'm so scared."
I knew exactly what he was talking about, but he didn't know that so the best I could do was to place a soft kiss against his forehead before pulling him flush against me again. I didn't want to understand how scared he was, I guess the emotions he was feeling were similar to that of when I had been turned into a vampire, killing someone in the process. It was a feeling I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy (okay, maybe Katherine).
"Matt's in the car, sleeping things off," a new voice interrupted the silence (bar Tyler's shaky, sob-like breaths) that I immediately recognised as Caroline's, "Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?"
"No, it's fine," I pulled away from Tyler to smile at my blonde friend. I couldn't help but notice Tyler had completely sobered and was now wearing a 'tough-guy' façade.
"Anyway, as I was saying, Matt's in the car, sleeping it off," Caroline explained, "I'll deal with him; I don't want him involved in any of this."
"What are you doing?" Tyler asked dubiously, staring at Caroline as if she had grown another head.
"I'm fixing a very bad situation," Caroline responded, "That's why I text you, Mia - well, apart from y'know being here for Tyler - but I need your help, I don't know what I'm doing, and if what I'm doing is right or-"
"You're doing great, Care," I answered, interrupting before she went full-blown panic attack, "Thanks for, y'know, letting me know."
"Don't drag Mia into this, please, Caroline," Tyler piped up, "I don't see why you're helping me. I did this. I killed her."
"No, you didn't mean it. I know you didn't," I tried to calm him, "I think it'll be best if..."
"But she's dead!" Tyler cut me off, "You don't understand what that means, neither of you do."
"Actually, Ty," I replied, keeping my voice as soft as was possible, "I think we do."
"No, you don't," Tyler disagreed again, "Maybe you should leave, Mia. I don't want you involved in this. Maybe you should both just leave-"
"How's your wound?" Caroline supplied and my gaze snapped to the blonde.
"Wound?" I asked.
"Sarah stabbed his shoulder," Caroline explained, her voice sad. I assumed Sarah was the dead girl.
"It's fine," Tyler gasped out in disbelief, his hand on his shoulder under the fabric of his shirt, "Actually, it's..."
"Healed?" I cut in, looking at Tyler expectantly.
"Y-yeah..." Tyler stammered, confusion etched deep into his face, "How did you...?"
Caroline and I just exchanged a solemn glance before we both looked back to Tyler. Things had just got a helluva lot more complicated...
Later that night, after Caroline and I had ensured Tyler got to his bed safely and that Matt had been dropped off at his house, the two of us headed back to Caroline's, both completely and utterly wrecked.
"Well, today turned out very different to how I imagined it would be when I woke up this morning," Caroline laughed lowly without much humour as we both sat down in Caroline's car again after letting Matt into his house.
"I thought by the end of the night Katherine would've been dead and Tyler would've still been human," I muttered, staring out the window as Caroline drove us down the road towards her house.
"Well, Katherine will be locked away in the tomb and we'll sort this thing out with Tyler," Caroline assured me, "It'll be hard, but we'll help him. I can't imagine how he must be feeling right now..."
"Me neither," I murmured, "I imagine similar to how we felt when we first turned."
"Yeah..." Caroline agreed with a sigh and the rest of the drive was silent as we both pondered what would become of Tyler now that he was a fully fledged werewolf.
When we got back to Caroline's house and had hurried up to her room (Caroline's mother was still out dealing with Sarah's death, I assume letting her parents know) Caroline passed me pyjama short shorts and a matching tank top as she changed into her own pair, they were a little big for me but they were cute as I studied the little pattern of bows on the shorts.
"What was Sarah like?" I asked as I climbed into the right hand side of Caroline's bed, pulling my hair up into a messy bun at the top of my head.
"She was a nice girl," Caroline supplied, as she pulled the covers back and hopped into the left hand side of her double bed, "She could be a bitch when she wanted to be but then again so can most girls. I can't imagine her wanting to hurt Tyler, I mean she was drunk, but she wouldn't stab someone."
I sat silently and pondered this before I added, "And Matt attacked Tyler as well. Now he may have been drunk, but who actually attacks their best friend for no reason?"
"Matt wouldn't have attacked Tyler!" Caroline defended her ex-boyfriend, her voice sounding almost manic, "He wouldn't have! Matt's nothing like that, no amount of alcohol in the world would make Matt attack someone for no reason."
"Maybe it wasn't alcohol..." I murmured thoughtfully to myself.
"What do you mean?" Caroline asked, "Like LSD or something?"
"No, no!" I replied, giggling slightly at Caroline's comment before I quickly sobered, "I mean, when Damon, Stef and I were in the room with Katherine she mentioned something about Mason not being the only werewolf in town. And what was Katherine doing with a werewolf anyway? What I'm getting at is, maybe Katherine needed a werewolf for something and after Mason was killed she turned to Plan B and decided to make herself a new one?"
"Oh my god," Caroline muttered, "That totally makes sense! Katherine compelled Matt to attack Tyler!"
"And she's Katherine, she will always have a back-up plan, and that back-up plan will have a back-up plan," I told the blonde, an unexplainable excitement rising in my voice, "So Katherine somehow got to Matt and compelled him to attack Tyler, maybe she told him not to stop until he kills him. And then as a precaution compelled this Sarah chick to do the same, but only attack Tyler if Matt doesn't do the job."
"Wow," Caroline muttered, "That explains a lot. I wonder how many people Katherine got to, it's scary what she can do."
"Well, she'll be locked away in the tomb by now," I told her, "I hope she rots for all eternity. Serves her right."
"You were really brave today," Caroline said.
"Huh?"
"Remember you told me that you weren't sure if you would be able to kill Katherine if the time came," Caroline explained.
"Yeah, but I didn't kill her."
"No, but you were prepared to," Caroline responded, "And you would have had there not been that stupid spell on Elena. Oh my god, I completely forgot about Elena! I hope she's alright."
"The witch, the other Bennett witch, said she would heal quickly," I assured a now frantic Caroline, "She'll be with Bonnie or Stefan or someone."
"I should call her to see if she's alright," Caroline murmured, picking her phone up from where she had it charging on the nightstand.
I stayed silent as I watched Caroline click to call Elena and placed the phone to her ear, listening as it rang out.
"She might be asleep," I supplied, as Caroline's face became dismayed as it went through to voicemail, "She went through a lot tonight, she's probably sleeping it off."
"Maybe," Caroline murmured, and then beamed at me, "Okay, I say we watch a movie. The Notebook is a definite for a girly sleepover."
"The Notebook?" I asked, "I've never seen it."
"Oh, you haven't lived!" Caroline cried as she hopped off her bed and hurried over to her shelf full of DVDs, it was like rom-com central over there (The Princess Diaries, Pretty Women and When Harry Met Sally were just a couple of the titles I could read with my heightened vision).
"I'll need to get tissues!" Caroline cried, her excitement reminding me of a puppy's, "It's so sad!"
"Caroline, I won't cry," I told her, "I just don't cry at movies. I prefer books, I guess."
"That's because you're an old lady and movies weren't around when you were a human," Caroline quipped back and I rolled my eyes, "I promise you that you will cry at this movie."
"I promise you I won't."
I was wrong. "If you're a bird, I'm a bird", that line killed me.
AUTHOR'S NOTE.
Aw Amelia at her first sleepover, how cute. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I'm sorry once again for the ridiculous wait but I promise, no matter how long the wait between chapters I will always come back to this story, I'll always update!
Thanks for the reviews I received for last chapter! I am so grateful for all your comments!
I wonder if any of you picked up on the little hints I left for future plot twists in this chapter?
THANKS AGAIN!