I instantly tried to jerk away from her and scramble off the bed but her hand tightened on my arm like a vice.
"Hey, hey...calm down." She said. "You can either keep quiet and come with me or I can compel you to." She said eying my necklace...ready to rip it off.
"I thought you were blocked from my room?" I said, remembering Bonnie's spell she had put down on the house.
"I have my ways, Elena. Bonnie's not the only witch." She said dragging me towards the window. She got me out on the small roofed ledge. In one single sweep she managed to land us both on the ground with almost no impact.
"Let's go." She said gripping my arm again as we made it towards the road.
"No cat and mouse games, Katherine? You seem more serious tonight than usual." I said. I wasn't feeling as scared as I should, I just felt angry.
"Yeah well, I'm feeling a little annoyed with you, Elena." She said, her voice just cold and monotone.
"You have feelings?" I asked, feeling too confident for my own good.
She whipped around, squeezing my arm tighter and stared me down in anger.
"Don't be such a hypocrite, Elena." She hissed. "You want to talk about feelings...and your with Damon now right? He's got ice in his veins worse than anyone I know. So where do you find all the judgment? You loved Stefan, you truly did and you stood by him. But somehow you managed to get swept up in Damon Salvatore. You managed to break hearts, even against your own intentions. Sometimes the intensity between them feels overwhelming, sometimes almost too much...so even if you ran away to be away from it, to have some time to get yourself together...it wouldn't change your love for them, right?" She snapped. "I've had enough of you, Elena...you and your judgment. We're not as different as you believe." She said continuing with her dragging me to the road.
We made it to the edge of the when I saw a dark car drive forward. It pulled up to where we were standing. Katherine opened the back door.
"Get in." She ordered.
I just stood staring at her in anger. I didn't want to take another step. She rolled her eyes and slammed my shoulders causing me to fly back into the car. My head struck against the window on the inside of the car. As the tunnel vision closed in pulling me into unconsciousness I saw Katherine shut the door, leaving me alone with who ever was driving and we drove away.
The Boarding House
Stefan watched as Damon came in the front door and walk straight over to the bar and pour a glass of scotch. He turned locking eyes with Stefan from across the room, took a sip and continued to stare.
"What?" Damon asked shrugging. "Ohhhh, that whole thing with Elena." Damon snapped his fingers, acting like he suddenly remembered.
Stefan just stared in fury.
"Stefan, come on. What do you want me to say?" Damon said.
Stefan began walking towards him. "Just tell me this Damon...and if you can manage it...although it may be difficult... tell me the truth." Stefan said.
"Hmm, I will try, but no promises." Damon said raising his brow.
Stefan stopped a couple of feet away from Damon.
"Did you manipulate her?" Stefan asked calmly.
"Manipulate?" Damon said, exaggerating a look of shock.
"Yes, you know...how you do everyone else you have even been around." Stefan said crossing his arms over his chest.
"I did a lot of things to her, but manipulation wasn't one of them." Damon said, a grin stretching across his face.
Stefan flared with fury launching towards Damon and slamming him to the ground. In instant reaction Damon grabbed Stefan and kicked him back with his feet. Stefan hit the wall and instantly ran back towards Damon. Stefan made it back to Damon and swung, striking Damon in the face. Damon turned and pinched his nose in pain.
"Damn it Stefan." Damon groaned.
Stefan raised his chin. But before he realized it Damon, slammed him on the floor, putting one foot on his chest.
"Nice job...you got a good hit in." Damon smiled. He reached down and grabbed Stefan up by his shirt. He got Stefan to his feet and then punched him the stomach so hard Stefan dropped to his knees and doubled over.
"Don't screw with me Stefan. You know I'm stronger than you." Damon said grabbing Stefan by the shoulders and standing him up again. "Now, if your done with this pathetic death match attempt, let me tell you what's really going on." Damon said.
"Then tell me." Stefan said wincing in pain.
"I love Elena. It's one of those...not sure what love really was until now kind of things. I didn't manipulate her, or pull any tricks. It just happened Stefan. Here's the bigger thing though...she's happy Stefan and I know your hurt...and believe it or not..I am sorry for that. But...is this fight really about her? Or is it just about you and I? We're so used to challenging each other, competing. Don't make her feel any worse about what she did to you just because it's me that you can't stand." Damon said.
"You're an asshole." Stefan said turning to walk away from Damon.
"Do you boys ever stop fighting?" They heard Katherine say. They looked over to find her perched on the arm of the chase lounge with a grin on her face. "Oh, this must be because of your steamy little affair with Elena." She nodded.
"What are you doing here?" Damon snapped.
"Just coming to see how Stefan took the news. Not well, I guess." She stood up and walked closer to them. "Well, Stefan this is your lucky night. Mason is pretty pissed of at Damon, maybe even as much as you are...he has a little bone to pick with him."
"What are you getting at Katherine?" Stefan said in a distant voice.
"I was just coming to tell Damon that Mason wants him to meet him at the back west side of the Lockwood territory." She said shrugging and walking towards the door.
"And why should I care what he wants?" Damon asked.
"Because he has Elena." She said as she left.
Elena
Something was squeezing my chest. I could barely breath. I began to come to from being knocked out in the car. I gasped suddenly remembering that I had been taken from the house. My eyes snapped open and I began to take in my surroundings. I realized that I was chained tightly to a tree at the edge of a clearing. I looked down at the thick chain and noticed something mixed in with it. Vervain. They had little spruces of vervain wrapped all into it. I heard a faint murmur not to far away. I peered through the trees at the edge of the clearing and saw a group standing there talking. There was a fire burning in the middle of the clearing casting a gold light and black shadows everywhere. I struggled against the chain pointlessly hoping for it to give enough room for me to slip out...but it was to tight. The sound of my struggling caught the groups attention and they looked at me. A tall thin framed girl with black hair came walking over to me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
She smiled. "A friend of Katherine's."
"Your a witch?" I asked.
"Yeah." She nodded, humored by my guess. The rest of the group headed over. Two broad shouldered guys, who looked in their early twenties like Damon and Mason. They stopped in front of me and crossed their arms. "These are werewolves." She said.
"Is she awake?" I heard a guy ask. He made his way through the group and as he came through I saw that it was Mason.
"What are you doing Mason?" I asked.
"Elena, please forgive me okay...It's nothing against you...it's just that Damon had this coming and he seems to be pretty fond of you so..." He shrugged.
"Where is Damon?" I asked.
"He should be here soon." He said nodding.
Damon
Damon was driving frantically down the road towards the Lockwood's. He reached up and shifted the rear view mirror. Stefan took notice of Damon's hands trembling.
"Damon, calm down okay? You're driving crazy enough to draw some serious attention." Stefan said.
Damon shook his head. "This is my fault, all of it. The threats were made and I just left her anyway. Just walked out and left her unprotected."
Stefan shook his head and looked at Damon gripping the steering wheel in desperation. " She'll forgive you Damon. That's the difference between Elena and Katherine. One of the many differences. For her to love who we are, she's so far from being what we are. I knew
that's why she never wanted to be a vampire, it wasn't about me, it was because
unlike Katherine she loves her humanity, she desires no higher power or eternal youth, none of it. Elena would be happy growing old with someone and having children and grandchildren. That's just her. She's everything that is human. Maybe that's why we draw so close to her." Stefan shrugged.
Damon's face fell to a kind of grief and he pressed even further on the gas causing the car to reach maximum speed.
Elena
Katherine appeared in the clearing. She looked at me, her eyes narrowing.
"They coming?" Mason asked.
"They're about to be here." She answered.
Not too long after that Damon and Stefan charged swiftly into the woods. Damon looked around the circle of the clearing until he spotted me against the tree. He began walking to me, confident in his motion to set me free.
"I wouldn't that." Mason warned coming out of nowhere.
Damon ignored him and kept walking until suddenly Damon dropped to his knees holding his head in agony. He groaned and smashed his palms harder into his temples.
"Stop it! What are you doing?" I screamed. That's when I saw the witch standing a few feet away. She was doing the same thing Bonnie knew how to do to Vampires. Finally Damon grew silent and he stood up and backed away from me.
"Clever." Damon snapped. "You know you're really starting to piss me off Lockwood." Damon said.
I saw one of the guys come out and grab Stefan's shoulders. They drug him back and put a chain around him like they did to me. They knew Stefan wasn't strong enough to break out of it.
Damon was standing by himself in the middle of the clearing near the fire. Everyone was on the sidelines watching him as if he were the spotlight, the main attraction.
Damon laughed suddenly, shaking his head. "What's your plan Mason, what are you doing?"
"My plan is to make you miserable. But mostly too make you realize that you don't have quite the upper hand that you thought. But...since you've gone all soft on me I doubt that's going to be a problem." Mason laughed.
Katherine slinked up to Damon. She reached out and touched her fingertips to his face. He looked down at her in surprise.
"Aww, Damon's always been soft. No one can have as much passion as he does without being soft. Pining after me for all those years." She said shaking her head looking up at Damon like she was enthralled by him. "Soft...or weak. Whatever you want to call it she said dropping her hand suddenly.
Damon snatched Katherine up and threw her a few feet away. She hit the ground and jumped back up in a flash.
"Don't think for a second that I've gone soft, or weak." Damon said glaring at Katherine. I love Elena...but I will still destroy you and anyone else who gets in my way...especially if you hurt her." He said.
"Hmm." Mason put his finger to his head mocking intense thought. "Well...then...bring her out." Mason said. Suddenly the two other guys that had chained up Stefan came from out out of the woods, someone struggling between them. It took me a moment to realize it was Charlotte. They took off whatever was covering her mouth, her eyes were shocked and horribly scared.
"What the hell are you doing?" Damon hissed at Mason without looking away from Charlotte.
Mason stepped up to Charlotte still being held by the guys, she was crying quietly.
She was still wearing her light blue dress from the ball, but her hair was hanging down around her shoulders. Even dirty and crying she was still alarmingly pretty.
"Charlotte, sweetheart. I want you to answer a few questions for me." Mason said.
She didn't respond, she only cried a little harder.
"What are your parent's names?" Mason asked. "You can let her go guys." Mason told the guys holding her there. They released her and left her standing awkwardly there by herself.
"Mason, what the hell is this?" Damon snapped again. But Mason ignored him and looked back at Charlotte.
"What are your parents names?" Mason asked again,
"Sharon and Micheal." She answered through tears.
"Do they love you very much?" Mason asked.
"Yes." She nodded, her voice breaking with a fresh sob.
"Any brothers or sisters?" Mason asked.
"Both...two little brothers and a little sister." She answered.
"Do have a pet?" Mason asked.
"I have a cat named Thomas." She cried.
"Well you seem to be a sweet girl Charlotte. I saw you went to the dance with Damon here. You like him?" Mason asked.
Charlotte looked up at Damon, her eyes pleading. Damon took a few steps toward her but Mason put his hand out.
"Don't come any further or, you know the drill." Mason warned.
Damon's face grew nervous but angry at the same time.
"Charlotte tell me, do you like him?" Mason asked again.
"Yes. I do." Charlotte answered.
"We're you hoping to date him? Be his little girlfriend?" Mason asked.
She nodded. "Yeah..but...I know how he feels about Elena...so I didn't have much hope." She cried her eyes not looking away from Damon. Damon looked to the ground for a moment and then back to her.
"Oh okay. Well...speaking of Elena. Let's see just how serious he is about his softy side." Mason said. He pushed Charlotte so hard she went flying into Damon's arms. She grabbed onto him in fear and shoved her face into his chest as she cried.
"Kill her." Mason said to Damon.
"What?" Damon said, his eyes widening in horror.
"I said...kill her." Mason said again.
"No." Damon said. He put his hand on the back of Charlotte's hair protectively.
Even as I was horrified about what was happening I still couldn't help but to feel a stab of jealousy. I saw Katherine smiling at me off in the distance. She knew how I felt.
Suddenly I felt cool metal rest on my throat and I realized one of Mason werewolf friends were holding a knife to my throat.
"Kill her or Elena will be killed." Mason ordered.
Damon looked over to me and saw the knife being held to me. He left Charlotte standing there as he tried to flash over to me, but he was hit again with the siring pain in his head. He back away again.
"Do it, Damon. It's Charlotte or Elena and you better think fast." Mason said smiling. Damon staggered awkwardly between me and Charlotte. She had just realized what was happening and was looking at Damon with horror written all over her face. He took a couple of steps towards her and stopped.
Suddenly the second werewolf came from behind the one that was holding the knife and struck me across the face so hard I felt blood trickling from my lip.
"Stop it!" Damon screamed.
"Then do it, or Shawn over there will cut her throat. I promise." Mason said.
Damon's face was overwhelmed with staggering bewilderment. Damon was frozen there, his hands lightly lifted.
"Okay fine, have it your way." Mason said and nodded to the Shawn holding the knife. I felt his hand lift up my chin.
"No!" Damon screamed again. He finally snapped and walked quickly to Charlotte.
"No...no please Damon." She cried holding out her hands defensively.
"I am so sorry Charlotte." He whispered. With pain masking his face he reached out to her closing his eyes and snapped her neck.
I gasped in horror as her body fell to the ground. Damon stood for a moment, an expression of grief as he looked at her lifeless body at his feet. Then he took a deep breath and Damon's expression changed from grief to cold, lifeless insensitivity in a mere second. He looked at Mason.
"She was nice...that's a shame." Damon shrugged and in a flat voice he said. "But I told you I'd do what it takes."
Revieeewws :)