Be my winter in this living hell
Be my one last dying wishing well
"Me?" she barked. "They suspect me? How?" Caroline was shaking. "I walk in the sun!" She said it in a harsh whisper. Stefan led her to his desk chair to sit her down. He motioned for her to breath in and out, and she did.
"Did Damon tell you that?" she asked, still attempting to calm her breathing. After a moment, she stood and began to pace.
"Well," Stefan said nervously, everything started after you and Liz came to town.
Caroline raised her eyebrows. "True," she sighed and continued to pace.
"And Liz was asked to join the council and she never responded," Stefan said and Caroline rolled her neck back in frustration.
"Of course she didn't."
"But, they know Liz isn't because they did a vervain test on her," Stefan explained. "And now the whole household has to drink vervain..."
Caroline stopped in her tracks. "What type of vervain test are they going to do on me?" she asked, suddenly in tears. Everything seemed to be going so well and now everything is falling apart.
"Hey, hey," Stefan whispered. "It'll be okay." He went to her, and stroked her hair as she fell into him. She could be completely vunerable with him. Completely and totally Caroline. And that felt amazing. But, this was so much to handle. She swallowed and parted from him.
"Mason," she said, softly. "He's... something else."
Stefan tilted his head in confusion. "He's not a vampire... but he's something. Something supernatural. If we figure out what that is, maybe we can be allies. Maybe he can help us."
Stefan squinted and nodded his head. "I can get close to him. Through Tyler."
Caroline chewed on her lip and grabbed her phone. "I need to call Kai and tell him everything. We need him for this."
Stefan curled up his lip. "I hate that we need him so much."
Kai walked into the library with Bonnie's fingers intertwined with his. Caroline and Stefan both tilted their head in unision.
"What the fuck is this?" Caroline said in sheer and utter confusion.
"Little sister!" Kai scolded in a teasing voice. "Language."
Stefan and Caroline rolled their eyes, also in unison. "You two spend too much time together," Kai said. "And anyway," he looked at Bonnie with a wide grin. "She knows everything, so I thought I'd bring her so we could all brainstorm together."
"What?!" Caroline said loudly. An irritated librarian shot the group a glare and Caroline lowered her voice. "So, we're just telling everyone now?"
"You started it!" Kai said in a snarky tone.
"I figured it out," Bonnie interrupted. "I am a witch you know."
Caroline's face softened with recognition. "A Bennett witch..."
Bonnie lifted an eyebrow proudly. She bit her lip and looked around. She spotted a corner of the library and smiled widely. "Come one!" she said softly and they hurried over to the corner. Caroline eyed her skeptically as she stacked five books on the floor. She positioned each person around the books strategically and took Kai's hand and closed her eyes.
Moments later, the five books were floating, and then they were circling. They spun around in a spiral, slowly swirling. Caroline looked at Stefan who stared at the site in awe. Caroline smiled widely as the books spun up and then stacked back down in the exact order.
"I'm teaching her a few things," Kai said proudly.
"And you're not siphoning," Caroline noted with pride.
Bonnie looked up at Caroline confused. "What's that?"
Caroline and Kai exchanged a look. "Magic thing," she said, attempting to brush it off. "It's more advanced."
"It's not a skill you have, I'm afraid," Kai said and brushed her hair out of her hair. "But, you're pretty strong without it."
Stefan looked at Kai skeptically. "To the matter at hand," Stefan said, with irritation.
"Oh, yeah..."
Bonnie, Caroline, Kai, and Stefan sat around a table in the library, books strewn about. Each talking to each other in rushed whispers. So many theories being tossed around and different objectives being thrown out.
"We need to figure out who Mason is, what Mason is!" Caroline said, semi-furiously.
"No! We need to infiltrate the council! We need to tell Damon everything," Kai said. "He's our in."
"That is the worst plan," Stefan said. "I have no idea where his head's at. Plus, he's off vervain!"
"I can't believe no one thinks we should include Elena in this. Katherine is her doppelganger after all. This is affecting her too."
They argued back and forth until Bonnie got a call from her grandmother that she needed her to pick up a couple things from the store on her way home.
"Come on, Kai. We can't fight about this forever."
Kai licked his lips and thought for a moment. "We need to talk to Liz. And, she and I need to join the council."
"I wasn't expecting that one at all," Stefan said with a laugh.
Kai sighed. "Listen, if we can get Liz on our side and get her to realize it's not me... it's Katherine. She'll want to fight with us. Not against us. She'll want to help. She hates Katherine too."
Caroline chewed on her lip for a moment. She looked at Stefan and he moved his hand to hers and squeezed hers softly. "Okay," she finally said. She looked at Bonnie. "I'm glad you're in this with us."
Caroline stood up and hugged Bonnie quickly. They laughed a little as they embraced and as they parted Caroline saw Kai's smile. "What's your deal, nerd?" she asked.
"It's been so long since we've been together on anything," he said softly. "I think I forgot what it was like."
Caroline smiled and nudged him softly. "Get out of here," she said softly.
As Caroline and Stefan walked out of the library, a figure walked in their path. Caroline looked up. "Mason," she said. He grinned and tilted his head. "Hi," she said softly.
"You know, Zach's been looking for you, Steffy." Mason said and Caroline and Stefan both curled up their lip at the name.
"I'm headed home now."
Mason nodded. "And you? Where are you headed?"
Caroline shrugged. "Probably should be getting home."
"Well," Mason said softly, "Why don't I give you a ride?"
Stefan shook his head. "I can give her one."
"You should be going home," he said it like a reminder.
Caroline and Stefan exchanged a look and Caroline gave him a soft nod. "It's okay, I'll be fine. Call me later."
Stefan stood in place, not wanting to leave her with Mason. "I think I should-"
"Go!" Mason said the words like they were a warning.
Caroline gritted her teeth, moved to Stefan and kissed his cheek. "Go," she said, her voice chirpy and encouraging. "I'll see you in the morning."
Stefan nodded and walked to his car and Caroline turned to Mason, her arms crossed. "I'm not getting in your car with you," she said.
"Wouldn't want to engage with a dog?" Mason asked.
"What exactly does that mean?" Caroline asked, her eyebrows raised.
Mason laughed a hard chuckle. "You know exactly what that means. Listen to me when I say this: you don't out me to the council, I'll steer clear of you."
Caroline shook her hair. "Not enough. I want them off my scent." Caroline laughed, sniffed the air, and smiled an evil grin. "No pun intended."
Mason rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in anticipation. "What do you want, exactly?"
"I want you to say I'm not a vampire. Confirm it!"
"How?"
"Give me lemonade with vervain in it and I'll pretend to drink it. Or better yet, give me lemonade without vervain in it, I really will drink it but they'll think it's vervain and they'll leave me alone. You dig?"
Mason sighed. "Does your mom know what you are?"
Caroline beamed. "You mean Liz? Yes. She does. Spoil alert, she's not my mom."
Mason squinted his eyes and looked her up and down. "How old are you?"
Caroline looked him up and down as she chewed on her lip. "What are you?"
Mason laughed. "You really don't know."
"I know you're something, but I don't know what..."
Mason moved to her, his breath in her face, she backed away slightly. "I will be your worst nightmare if you even try one single thing on me or on my girlfriend."
Caroline's eyebrows raised. "And who's your girlfriend?" her voice was full of teen angst that should could pull out at any time.
Mason smiled. "I think you might know her. Cute little brunette. Looks a lot like the Gilbert girl. Katherine. Katherine Pierce."
And with that, he was gone and Caroline's stomach had dropped through the ground and into another realm.
a/n: sorry. I should have told y'all that I was taking a hiatus with the show. but, I'm back. Tell me your thoughts and if you like where this story is going!
