Sorry it took so long! It was very long! Look forward to new characters showing up in the next couple of chapters!

Season 2 here we go

Chapter 7: Founder's Day

It was Founder's Day and I wasn't the least bit excited. It was not my favorite day, over 100 years ago I'd probably say it was. However, things change. I hated that we had to get dressed up in these clothes from when I was 12.

They were for our parade. Caroline, Elena, and all the other pageant girls will be wearing the very best looking dresses from way back then. The rest of us are dressed as normal folks from 1864.

"Cassie! Let's go to school!" I see Stefan leaning against my bedrooms door frame with his infamous smile.

"You just took that out of your closet, didn't you?" His clothes screamed 1864 Stefan.

"I wore this at the first Founder's ball, actually. You look great, considering..." He smirks and I just shake my head. I honestly did not miss these clothes.

"It's weird wearing this. Where's Damon?" I ask getting off topic.

"I think he's already at the school." He says not really sounding interested.

"You're still worried, aren't you?" I could read my brother like a book. He sighs. "I'll always worry. Let's go." I nod and we head for the school.

Only a couple of dozen students were dressed up. Not everyone was in the parade. I still thought we all looked pretty good, considering. I'm not sure if I'd want to of had some of these people with me in 1864.

"Oh my god, Cassie! You look so good! It's like you should of been from the old times." Caroline had no idea... I give her a small smile. She thinks were like best friends or something because me and Matt have been getting closer.

"You look gorgeous too, girl!" Fake it 'till you make it. "Ready for the parade?" I ask and she nods. I chuckle as she runs off. I really do envy her happiness. She is so naive though.

I see the parade was getting set up so I knew I'd have to be in Alaric's room soon. He was making us all meet up in his classroom.

For some reason, I had just gotten an uneasy feeling. I look around and notice Damon talking to Mrs. Lockwood. I was about to listen in when I see Ana walk by. Now I knew she was up to something.

I start to follow her until I'm caught off guard.

"I like the clothes." I see Tyler smirking and I give him a small smile. By the time I look back over for Ana, she was gone.

"I think you could have passed as a soldier in 1860." I say giving my full attention back to Tyler. He looked really hot.

"Let's head to Saltsman's room."

"Sure, so how's the thing with Matt going?" I ask as we head inside the school.

He sighs. "I think you need to talk to him for me." He says and I nod.

"I'll get him and Caroline to come to the Grill tonight, before the big speech." He gives me a warm smile.

"Thanks."

The parade was nice. At the end Jeremy told me about how Ana's mom, Pearl, had been killed. Now I know Ana is up to something.

I was suppose to meet Tyler, Caroline, and Matt at the Grill like right about now but it couldn't wait, I had to find out what that nosey vampire was up to. I followed Ana all the way off to the outskirts of town. I'm guessing to the house she was living in.

I could sense a lot more people here. I tried to concentrate on the conversation happening inside.

"We're doing it tonight, Anna. You can't stop this!" A guy with a deep voice seemed so focused for something.

"What's this suppose to accomplish? Just leave here and never look back!" Ana's strain in her voice made me think there was something bigger happening here.

"We're killing the founding families tonight, during the fireworks. Come on, Ana, no one will ever notice until it's all done. Will leave then..." Oh no, this guy had some serious plans.

I race back into town and look for Stefan and Damon. They were no where to be found! Ugh! I have to get Matt, Tyler, and Caroline to safety then.

I head over to the Grill quickly and see Matt shooting daggers at Tyler, he looked really uncomfortable. At least they were safe. I see Ana walk pass me and walk over to Jeremy who was in a corner. Maybe she did care after all. I could only have faith that she'd keep him safe.

I walk over to my friends with a fake smile. I had to act cool.

"Sorry I'm late!" I say as I make my way between Tyler and Matt.

"Try an hour late!" I ignore Tyler's rudeness.

"It's kind of a dull night here, don't you guys think?" Everyone looks at me weird but then Caroline smiles.

"Cassie, you are totally right! We need some action!" She was enthusiastic, which at this moment, I was thankful for.

"Tyler, you take your friends and head home." I was a little startled by the Mayor saying that out of the blue but I agreed. I also thought he might know something about tonight.

"Don't tell me what to do, dad." Tyler says bluntly and I sigh.

"Son, just take Caroline, Cassie, and Matt and leave. Now." The Mayor knew something. I could see tyler clenching his fists. He had too much anger towards his father.

"Sounds like a good idea. Tyler, let's go." I say as I take his hand to calm him down. He looks at me and slowly gives in.

"Fine, let's go."

"Thank you." By that time, Tyler was dragging me outside with Caroline and Matt close behind. We were in his car in a matter of seconds. I really wanted to go back to find my brothers, but I couldn't leave these guys alone.

"Your dad seemed worried, Tyler." Caroline points out so obviously.

"He thinks he's better than everyone. I'm sure he just didn't want me to embarrass him or something." Tyler sounded aggravated. He starts driving with Caroline riding shot gun and me and Matt in the back.

"So I think this is a good time to bring up the giant elephant in here." I say changing the topic.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asks me and Caroline cuts in.

"She's talking about how messed up your and Tyler's friendship is. You guys are suppose to be best friends! So stop fighting." Thank god for Caroline, I'm starting to realize how much she actually cares about people.

I could hear the fireworks behind us start to go off. I smile right up until the point when I get this sharp pain in my head. It causes me to scream loudly. What was happening?!

"What is that?!" Tyler was getting the same pain as me but I couldn't look up anymore.

"Tyler! The road!" The pain was unbearable. Why could Tyler feel this too?!

oh no...

"Cassie!" Matt tries to hold me but I couldn't...

"Make it stop!" Tyler had let go of the wheel after his last cry for help. His screams were killing me but then it all goes blank.

"Cassie! Wake up!" I slowly open my eyes to see Matt and Tyler standing above me. I was on the ground, in the road. I look back and see the car was against a tree.

I see Caroline with tears in her eyes. What happened?!

"You're going to be okay!" Tyler says coming down to me. I try to give him a small smile but my brain was not strong enough for me to do anything.

I barely see Caroline pass out behind the guys. Then it all goes blank again...

My eyes flutter and the first thing I notice are the beeps.

I felt someone holding my hand so I look up at them. It was Matt.

"Matty?" My voice was so weak, what the hell!?

"Hey! You're gonna be fine. Everything will be okay." He was so calm and caring.

"How's Caroline?!" I ask remembering her passing out.

I see him frown. "She's in surgery." I felt so bad.

"And Tyler? Where is he?!" I remembered he got that same strange pain as me.

"He was with me but then his mom called. His father was killed last night." Oh no... Those vampires, did they get what they wanted after all?

I have to talk to my brothers.

"Can you help me up? I have to go check on my brothers." I say trying to pull myself up.

"Cassie, I'm right here." I look up and see Stefan at the door frame.

I was about to ask Matt to give us a minute but he seemed to get the gist and went to go check in with Sheriff Forbes.

Stefan takes a seat next to me and gives me a weak smile.

"I heal quickly, you know. Let's get out of here!" I say trying to get up again but he stops me immediately.

"I know that but the doctor's don't. Apparently you got hit pretty bad." I sigh.

"What happened last night, Stefan? That pain was awful." I say knowing that he got it too, I'm sure all vampires did.

"It was the device. It went off."

"Which means Bonnie didn't disable it." I was fuming now. That little witch...

"Jonathan Gilbert and his people captured all the vampires that fell to the device. They burned them in a basement." I start to put things together.

"Tyler's dad?" I ask knowing the answer.

He nods. "Elena saved me and then we saved damon at the last minute." I couldn't even imagine the night Stefan had then.

"So they all died?" He nods.

"Including Ana..." Oh no, Jeremy...

"How's Damon holding up then? I ask somewhat worried. He's a dick but he's still my brother.

"Damon is... Damon. He'll be just fine." Figures...

"I'll spend the night here to make sure Caroline is okay. Tell Damon I'm glad he's okay." Stefan gives me a small smile.

"I'll come back in the morning." I'm glad I always have Stefan to lean on. He heads out my room passing Matt who makes his way back to my side.

"Caroline's mom said she is doing okay. She went through surgery pretty well." I nod. I was thankful. Caroline never deserved to be in the cross fires of all of this.

"I'm glad to hear. How are you doing with all oft this Matt?" I asked concerned mostly about him at this time. He's been through a lot.

"I'm freaking out. I don't understand what happened to you and Tyler. I was losing my mind when you and Caroline went into the ambulance. I really just want this all to be over." He was so frustrated and I felt so bad.

I wanted to get up and give him a hug. He has no idea what really went on last night.

"You should head home, Matt. Get some sleep." I try to persuade him but he simply takes a seat in the chair next to my bed and grabs my hand.

"I'll stay here until Caroline is allowed visitors." He gives me a small smile and I squeeze his hand so he knew how much I appreciated this all.

About an hour later Matt falls asleep. I really wanted to go check on Caroline but I knew her mom would be right next to her. I feel the vibration of my phone and look at it. One text from tyler. I hope he's okay.

-There's a wake for my dad tomorrow. 10. please be there. I need someone here.-

I couldn't help but shed a tear. It's like Tyler enhanced my emotions to the limit.

When I woke up I noticed Matt was gone. I check my phone and notice five missed calls from Stefan. I was about to call him when I see the time. I jump out of the bed and run directly into Matt.

"Cassie! Should you be out of bed?!" He asks trying to regain his balance. I notice the bag in his hands, it had to of been from my brother.

"What's that?" I ask curiously.

"Your brother asked me to give it to you." He hands it to me and I raise a brow.

"Why couldn't Stefan of just dropped it off himself?" I ask and Matt gives me a weird look.

"Not Stefan, Damon did." Well that's a surprise. I smile when I check what's inside.

"I'm going to go change real quick then we're going to Tyler's wake for his father." I say heading for the bathroom.

"How'd you know about that? I was gonna go after I checked on you and Caroline." I put on the dress real quick then join him back in the room. I give him a small smile.

"How is Caroline?" I ask wondering myself.

"She's sleeping but she's stable." I take a deep breath and start dragging Matt out of the building. I couldn't stay in this hospital anymore.

It didn't take that long to get to the Lockwood's estate. There were cars and people everywhere.

"What the hell am I suppose to say? I've been a jerk to him lately." Matt was getting nervous as we got closer to the front door where Tyler was greeting people.

"Just pay your respects." I say casually as we get to the door.

Matt walks in front of me.

"I'm sorry about your dad, man." Tyler nods and then they share a very short hug. "Thanks man." Tyler turns his attention to me and I give him a very weak smile.

I wrap my arms around him. He slowly gives into it. I honestly didn't want to let go.

"If you need anything, no matter when, let me know." He lets go and nods his head.

"Thank you. I'll meet up with you guys later." I didn't want to leave him but I knew he had to thank more people for coming.

Me and Matt walk around more into the house.

"I've been in this house over a hundred times, this is the first time it's felt gloomy and dark." Matt states and I couldn't help but I agree.

"YOu know, if you asked me, this house always screamed showy." I turn to Damon and ignore his comment as I wrap my arms around him. So I do care, a lot. Matt glares at Damon then walks over to some other kids giving us privacy.

"I'm glad you're okay. I heard you had a rough night." I say sounding sympathetic. He gives me a face.

"It's going to get rougher, Cass." I question what exactly he was saying.

"Did i miss something?" I ask and he nods.

"Katherine is back in town." I froze. She can't seriously be back. "She scared John away. Pretended to be Elena and I'm pretty sure she's going to be here soon." Damon says like he was expecting nothing from her.

"Good news though, Carol asked me to take over the Vampire Committee." I roll my eyes at him.

"A little sympathy here, Damon."

"Hey, I saw Mayor Lockwood die. Well... actually..." My eyes go wide, Damon didn't even have to say it for me to know where this was going.

"What exactly did you do?" I ask hoping he wouldn't say it.

"He didn't suffer, okay..." Damon killed Tyler's father, what the hell is wrong with him. I was about to say something when he cuts me off. "Who is that guy?"

I turn and look in the direction his eyes were facing. I see the good looking guy talking to Tyler and then all the memories come flooding back into my head and I freeze.

"Mason..." Damon looks at me funny.

"What?" I look back at Mason and I couldn't believe my eyes.

"I'll catch you at the house.." I say walking in a different direction then where he was.

"Get Katherine out of the damn house!" Damon yells at me but I hurry and find Matt. I couldn't let Mason Lockwood see me. I'm such an idiot. How did I not put the pieces all together when I got here?!

"Matt!" I see Matt with Bonnie and I feel out of place.

"Matt, can you give us a minute." He just nods and I'm forced to face Bonnie. It wouldn't be that bad if I decided to run for it.

"I'm sorry." She says but I had a hard time believing her.

"Really? Because you almost got my brother killed. In fact, both of them. Hell, you almost got Caroline killed." I say trying not to scream in her face.

"I helped save Damon and I would never hurt Caroline. You have to understand that I was thinking about keeping the people I loved safe." I scoff.

"Elena? She is safe, Bonnie! She's always been safe with Stefan. The real danger would have been if Stefan couldn't have protected her because he was dead!" I didn't want to make a scene so I try to calm down.

"I hope you'll be able to forgive me at some point." That was the last thing she said before she left. I sigh. She's a witch, Cassie.

Matt comes back over looking worried.

"Everything okay?" I nod.

"We need to get our drink on or something!" I smile because I knew just the right room. I quickly grab a bottle of tequila and then we head to the dining room. IT was separated from the wake.

It looked like Tyler had beat us here though, plus he had some more liquor choices.

"I'm surprised you're still here, don't you have a girlfriend or something to check on?" Tyler was in no mood and it seemed like he didn't want to see Matt at the moment.

Matt didn't look pleased by that comment. tyler grins and takes another large sip from the bottle.

"YOu know, my dad was a dick. A sucky father. How am I suppose to be upset that he's dead?" Tyler was in a pretty bad state of mind. There was nothing we could do about it.

I've had to deal with death for over 150 years. I've never had a problem accepting it, but then again, I've never really had to deal with the people who were affected by the death.

Tyler gets up and leaves. I turn to Matt.

"So the father son relationship was bad?" I ask Matt and he nods.

"One of the worst." I sigh. "I think it's about time I go check on Caroline. Want to come?" He asks but I nod no.

"Tell her I say 'hello" He nods then leaves. I enter the main room and notice most people were leaving. I see a door open that I've never been in. Curiosity takes over as I walk in.

"Tyler?" I see him just staring hard at the big desk in the room. All of a sudden this anger takes a hold of him and he shoves everything off the desk then starts hitting things.

"Tyler!" His mom comes running into the room and then another person. My heart sinks as I try to hide myself. I did not need this right now.

"You should head home, miss." Mason looks at me and all of a sudden I see the startledness in his eyes. He quickly brushes it off and turns his attention back to Tyler.

I just leave right then. I was worried about tyler but I couldn't stay, the whole Mason thing was going to ruin me. Just great.

Katherine, now Mason. Who's next?

I was walking home now, it was almost ten. I had spent a couple of hours just talking to Jeremy about the whole vampire thing after I left the Lockwood's.

With Ana dead, he wasn't just sad, but still very confused. He said that he had read Elena's diary and that it wasn't enough. I almost told him too much however. I honestly couldn't let anyone know what I truly knew, it could change everything.

I have faith that Jeremy will be okay.

I was about half a mile away from the house, basically meaning I was walking in the woods.

I hear some noises and stop immediately. I take a deep breath having a pretty good guess of who it was.

"I'm glad it's not a full moon." I say as i turn around to face the person. I knew it. "It's been a while, Mason. You look great." In reality, he didn't look like the guy I knew a couple years ago. He looked older and maturer and more... dangerous.

"I know everything about you now, just so you know." I nod knowing that he would.

"I figured you'd find a reason." I say and he gets closer to me.

"No Cass, I found THE reason." I look down at my shoes. I wanted him to get passed this. "Why are you here, Cassie?" He asks me and I didn't know what to say.

"Why are you here, Mason?" I ask knowing that was a stupid question. He wouldn't tell me the truth.

"The mayor was my brother, I think that slipped your mind." He was right, but I knew there was more to it.

"My brothers are here. I'm living here with them. I'm going to school." I say finally looking back at him. I could see it now.

"I'm guessing you know what I am." He says seeming confident.

"Mason, I knew since the first day we met. It wasn't until earlier that I realized you triggered it." I wonder what the transformation has done to him.

"It was an accident." It's like he wanted me to believe him. I nod because I did. He gets even closer to me and I look into his eyes again. They are just as pretty as all those years ago.

"You look exactly the same." He says letting a small smile leave his face.

"You look older. Mason, I know who you came here with though, it wasn't hard to put two and two together. And since I know her, I know exactly what you're after." I say standing up straighter, I wasn't going to let him take me over.

"Excuse me? My brother just died, Cassie!" His act wasn't going to get me.

"I'm sorry for what happened. But you should give me a little more credit. SHe may have said things you wanted to hear, but you can't trust her, Mason." Now that I think about it, she could have been a part of his transformation.

"Like I should be taking advice from you..." He says in a quiet yet firm voice.

"I know her better than you, Mason. Her motives are predictable and she'll do whatever she pleases." He shakes his head and then moves one step closer. Too close.

He looks down at me. "I forgive you." His tone was serious but I didn't follow.

"What are you talking about?" I ask and he moves his hand to cup my cheek.

"I forgive you for leaving me. I understand now. But just because I've grown older, doesn't mean I don't feel the same." What? Did he just say...

"After all this time?" I did what I did to you so you could forget me! I couldn't let you trigger the curse because of me. I was a danger magnet." I could feel tears reaching my eyes. I was suppose to be stronger than this.

"It looks like the curse was going to happen no matter what." He was calm now but I couldn't take it.

I step back so I was out of his grasp. "There's a full moon in a couple of days." I say still trying to hold back tears.

"I know." He sighs and I just shake my head.

"I have to go home." I start walking but he stops me one last time.

"Tyler, huh? You have a thing for Lockwood's, I guess."

Finally the tears fall as I continue walking. Did he think he was being funny. God, I missed Mason so much but I didn't ever intend on seeing him again, especially like this. She corrupted him forever. Maybe it's about time she gets a visit.

Once I make it home I hear a loud sound. Was that glass breaking?

I enter the living room and see Damon pull out another glass and some scotch.

"Hey..." I say cautiously as I walk closer to him. He looks at me but continues to drink. What the hell did I miss?

"What the hell happened to you, Damon?"

"Katherine." That one word from his mouth said it all.

I knew if Damon ran into her again something like this would happen. "She tries to break people, Damon. Don't let her." I say sternly.

"She didn't even love me. She didn't even care. It was always Stefan." This depression was going to consume, but i don't know what to do.

I was about to say something when he cuts in. "I kissed Elena tonight." My eyes go wide.

"Why would you do that?!"

"She said the same thing. She will always love Stefan." I was about to go over and give my heart broken brother a hug until he made one last comment.

"She probably hates me now, I killed Jeremy." My mouth drops and he waves me off. "Relax, I noticed he was wearing his ring thingy before I snapped his neck." How could he be okay with this?

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Damon, you were making progress. You were becoming a better person." I was so disappointed.

"I screwed up, okay?" He was so wasted.

"I hadn't forgiven you for what you did to me, but i was coming around. Damon, how could you?" The tears were forming again.

"Well that's what I do, I screw things up. What do you want from me, Cassandra?"

"I expected more." I couldn't look at him anymore. I was so hurt right now from not just this, but everything that happened today. Mason, Katherine, Mason, I feel like the only people keeping me here now are Matt, Tyler, and Jeremy. Not either of my brothers, that's for sure.

"Goodnight, Cassie." I see him take another drink and take a seat. I head to my room.

It's only going to get worse from here.

That was a freaking long chapter!

Please REVIEW so I know I'm writing this for someone.

Look forward to some fun flashbacks involving Cassie and Mason. YAY!