Katherine had packed a few items in the trunk before they left. They parked the car in a small commuter lot and walked through the woods to another street. Damon idly noted the foreclosure sign on the front lawn. The drapes and shades were drawn, but there were lights on in the house. Katherine, carrying a large canvass bag, had led then into the backyard and they quietly slipped into the house through the open door. They followed her into a family room in the back of the house.
There was a weird smell in the room and smoke spiraling up from an ash tray on a long, low coffee table. Sitting behind the table was a tall lean man. At least it looked like a tall thin man. He wore an all encompassing hoodie that covered the upper part of his face and fell down his hands so only the short clean fingernails showed.
"Katherine, me dear." The man greeted her. "On time as usual."
Damon and Stefan stood just inside the room, but Katherine sauntered over to a sofa set at right angles to his chair. She nodded at the smoke swirl. "I gather it's safe to talk?"
"Yes," he confirmed. "I did a silence spell."
"Won't the neighbors question the lights?" Damon asked.
"No," the man replied. His voice had a lilt to it, like English might not be his birth language. "The lights are on a timer, so as long as no one makes a shadow on the drapes in the front of the house we'll be fine." You couldn't really see his facial expressions because of the hood, but the mouth betrayed amusement. "Katherine found the house. That's why I like working with the darling girl. She thinks of everything."
He gestured as he issued an invitation. "But please, gentleman. Sit."
Damon took the chair opposite the man leaving Stefan to sit next to Katherine on the sofa.
"No introductions?" Damon asked.
Katherine started. "This is—"
"Oh, no need." The man interrupted. He pointed to Damon. "That would be Mr. Damon Salvatore, the elder, and the gentleman next to you would be Stefan the younger."
"And you are?" Damon inquired.
"Ah, I prefer to keep my name out of this." The man steepled his fingers, totally at ease.
"It's better that way," Katherine confirmed.
"So, you get to see our faces and know our names, but we don't get your name. I should at least be able to see your face."
The man shrugged. "Not fair I suppose, but that's the way it is."
One moment Damon rushed him, and the next moment he was pinned to the wall, spread-eagled, his shoes at least two feet off the floor.
The man turned to Stefan who was sitting back relaxed.
"Mr. Salvatore, the younger, you don't want to give it a shot?" the man inquired. Katherine had also never moved, just throwing an impatient look at Damon.
Stefan calmly replied, "No. The last time I thought I could rush a witch it ended very badly for me. I'll just sit this out."
Katherine snickered while the hooded witch laughed. He addressed his next words to Katherine. "Well my dear, you did predict the hotheaded Damon would try something like this. Do you think now that I've demonstrated my power he'll behave himself or do I need to hurt him?"
Before Katherine had a chance to respond, Damon spoke up. "I believe I got it out of my system."
Damon immediately crashed to the floor. Trying to preserve his dignity as much as possible, he got up and sat back in his chair.
"Now that the formalities have been taken care of let's compare notes, me dear." He ignored the two men speaking directly to Katherine.
Katherine spoke clearly and succinctly. "All my sources confirm three vampires. Lee and James, both under one hundred years. Jeremiah is about three hundred and seventy five years plus or minus five. He'll be the biggest threat from the vampires."
The man was completely serious now, also. "Agreed. I received the same information."
Damon's eyebrows rose. "And you got this information how?"
He was totally ignored as Katherine resumed talking. "Only two witches are coming from out-of-town. Bree's close friends, Darcy and Kimme. The word is that they're not that powerful." She raised an eyebrow at the hood seeking confirmation.
The man snorted. "Quite correct. Darcy and Kimme. Two second rate witches. I'm actually surprised they were capable of mastering the simple art of giving a vampire an aneurysm. They're from family lines famous for their mediocrity." He paused, turning his head towards Damon, and added, "As was their dear friend Bree of course. Can't believe you actually thought she could break the tomb curse." His voice turned taunting. "But then from what I understand you realized that quick enough and dumped her."
Damon's eyes narrowed angrily, but he didn't comment which drew a little chuckle from under the hood.
Katherine impatiently broke in. "And now we come to Lilibet McShane Smith. She owns the house. Husband is deceased and the children, grown now and not living at home, did not inherit her talent, but she is a force to be reckoned with."
The hood nodded. "She is indeed. She will be the problem. She has accumulated quite a collection of grimmoires and paraphernalia and is powerful enough to easily handle all three of you. But that's why I'm here, right me darling?"
Damon couldn't help himself. "You have a brogue . . must be Irish. So how did a McShane, which must be her maiden name, end up married to a Smith?"
"Long story me lad, but that English blood is probably why her children are nulls." He turned back towards Katherine. "You're quite right. The children have no talent."
Stefan quietly asked, "Is there a plan on how to attack or do we improvise?"
Both Katherine and the hood turned to him. Katherine looked at him, her expression clearly indicating his question was stupid, while the hood exclaimed, "Are you crazy, man? We are working with Katherine Pierce. It's why I love the dear girl. Everything is scripted like this is a play."
Damon and Stefan exchanged glances, and Damon just shrugged.
"Have you got it?" the hooded man asked.
Katherine gave a little pout. "Did you doubt me?" She dug out a little pouch from her pocket and placed it on the table in front of him.
He held his hands over it, not touching the pouch. "Of course not! I felt it as soon as you entered the house." He gently upended the pouch and an amulet on a rawhide leather string slipped out.
The man reached down to the floor on the side of the chair and pulled up a gleaming short sword, laying it on the table.
Both Damon and Stefan, curious now, leaned forward.
Katherine spoke, emphasizing each word. "This has to go exactly as my friend here says. No deviations. No hesitations." She looked hard at Stefan. "No mercy, do you understand? Lee will be there tonight. If he escapes, we will be hunted down and killed. You follow instructions exactly, or we will lose."
Stefan nodded reluctantly. "I understand."
She didn't bother to caution Damon. She knew he would go for the kill.
The hooded man spoke again. "Katherine speaks the truth. If you try to intervene and save someone, I'll take you down myself."
Stefan's head came up. "I understand. We're committed. No backing out. I'll do what has to be done."
The hooded man stared at him, seeming to search his face, because after a moment he nodded satisfied.
He issued instructions. "You stand at the door until all of you are invited in. Let me stress that again. . . all of you. Under no circumstances should one of you enter alone. Insist, and she will let you all in. She will be confident that she can handle you." He looked to all three faces and got nods of agreement. "Go in as quickly as possible. You'll be in her living room and stay in a group. She will do an aneurysm spell almost immediately. You will pretend to succumb."
Damon interrupted. "Pretend?"
The hood pointed to the amulet on the table. "You will be protected with a spell."
"Let her talk until the other five are in the same room." The hood seemed to think for a moment. "We'll let Mr. Salvatore the Younger handle the two incompetent witches. You'll know who Lilibet is so just go for the other two women. Snap their necks as quickly as possible. They'll be easy pickings. They'll have so much confidence in Lilibet they'll be totally unprepared." He shrugged. "Actually Lilibet is that good, and if it wasn't for me you'd be mush brains sprawled on the floor. Once you kill them, head for the other vampires and keep them off Katherine." The hood turned towards Stefan.
Stefan interpreted that as a request to confirm he understood his job. "Will do."
The hood nodded and turned to Katherine. "Do you know who this Jeremiah is?"
"I've seen him from a distance, so I'll be able to recognize him."
"Go straight for him. He'll be the strongest, of course, but you should be a match. Try to not get staked until Stefan can come help you."
Katherine's smile was devilish as she pulled up the loose bag she had brought with her and placed it on the table. She took out some very familiar looking gadgets that shot wooden stakes.
"Did you steal these from Alaric?" Stefan accused.
"Of course I did," Katherine said archly. "They were awesome. Besides he's dead. Doesn't need them anymore." She passed a set to Stefan and one to Damon, then strapped one on her arm, covering it with a jacket she pulled out of the case.
The hood chuckled appreciatively. "Now, those look lethal for a vampire."
Damon, strapping his on, and adjusting it, said, "If you know how to use them, they can definitely accomplish the job."
"You never cease to amaze me, Katherine." The witch's voice expressed sincere admiration.
Katherine preened at his tone.
The man witch now turned to Damon. "Mr. Salvatore, the Elder. I've assigned you the hardest job. Lilibet."
Damon nodded, listening carefully.
"Follow my instructions exactly. You'll have this short sword inside your jacket. Pull it out, ripping off this covering and go for the neck. It won't work of course, but it will distract her."
Damon saw a patch on the sword and asked, "Why is that there?"
"It blocks a magical sign. As soon as you pull it off she'll feel it, and it will grab her attention."
The hooded man leaned forward. "Do . . NOT . . go . . for . . her . . heart!" He emphasized each word with a jab of his finger. "You cannot get her there, and she will have you, and you will die. Plunge your hand into her belly and pull out a string of her intestines. Then go help Katherine."
"Shouldn't I finish her off?" Damon protested.
"Absolutely not! The shock will block her power. Do not kill her. It is important that she survives for awhile."
Damon couldn't see his eyes, but he could feel the intensity of his gaze through the hood material.
The witch's voice was low and dangerous. "Do you understand me? If you kill her, I'll kill you."
Damon's eyebrows rose, but he just said, "Got it."
Katherine who had remained quiet for awhile now spoke up. "When they're, ah shall we say, neutralized, you and I head upstairs, and we split what we discussed previously.
The hood sighed deeply and reluctantly said, "A deal is a deal."
"And the amulet comes back to me until you—" she stopped and rephrased her words, "—until we settle up completely."
"Yes, me dear. Have you no trust?" He was clearly amused.
"I just like to make sure there are no misunderstandings."
Stefan, speaking for the first time since acknowledging his instructions, asked, "What do we do now?"
Katherine answered him. "We wait until we have our appointment with one Lilibet McShane Smith."
