"So another ball approaches-"
"Again?" Athena quirked an eyebrow, she and Elijah were walking through the gardens late at night, "Your brother enjoys having them, does he not?"
Elijah chuckled and brought her slightly closer to him, they had linked their arms; he was walking her back to the large manor. "Yes, my sweet Athena he does"
"Do I have to attend?" she asked a shiver wracked through her body, Elijah halted her and shed his overcoat and brought it around her shoulders.
"Elijah I cannot, are you not cold?" she asked attempting to back away but he easily dropped the thick overcoat on her shoulders.
"No, I am not. And do not even think about refusing" Artemis smiled at the Lord.
"Ever the gentleman my Lord-"
"For you I am" Elijah smirked, the breeze blew over them he was hit with an onslaught of her intoxicating scent.
"Elijah are you ok? Your face-" he turned away from her face.
"It is nothing" he assured her, managing to gain control over himself. "So the ball? Would you accept my offer for me being your escort?"
Athena bit down on her bottom lip, she liked the man she did but she felt as if he was hiding something. "Katerina will be there" he added on.
A slow smile spread across her face "I accept" she uttered; Elijah smiled at her and cupped her cheek.
"Thank you" his lips were mere inches away from her own ones, before their lips could meet however there was a throat clearance.
Athena attempted to cool down her face whilst Elijah glared at one of the many vampires that his brother had employed,
"What is it?" he asked harshly. The vampire gulped and looked at the more powerful creature.
"Lord Niklaus is waiting for you in his study" with that the vampire hurried away. Elijah sighed and turned back to face Athena.
"I-"
"You must leave, thank you for this evening" Athena smiled; she knew that for some reason Elijah always followed his brother orders.
"I enjoyed myself as well, I'll see you in the morning" he gave her a swift kiss on the cheek and left. Athena smiled and went to climb up the staircase to enter her room, when she realised that she was still wearing Elijah's overcoat. She hastily followed after him to give it back, thinking he would need it more than her.
Athena rounded the corner and was about to make her presence known when she saw Elijah closing the oak door, her curiosity won out, she tip-toed forward and pressed her ear against the door.
"Is there no other way for-"
"How many times I have told you Elijah that both the Petrova girl and your Athena have to die for the ritual to happen-"Niklaus shouted.
"I know but is there not a way we can spare them? The-"there was a cold laughter. She cringed her heart was racing a mile a minute thinking what were they speaking about.
"You love her don't you?" Niklaus spat "you love sweet Athena, I told you-"
"She means nothing to me" Elijah uttered his voice emotionless, her heart ached at that "she's a means to an end and-"
"When she and the Petrova doppelganger die I'll be free" Niklaus said. Athena licked her lips as her eyes welled up she thought that she meant something to him. She knew she had feelings for him. "I must say brother you have done a wonderful job of gaining her trust, I can see that she loves you, do-"
"I have no such feelings for her" Elijah uttered,.
"Marvellous let's drink on this, after tomorrows ball I will be a true hybrid and Katarina's and Athena's deaths, will ensure that" Niklaus smirked. Athena backed away from the door, tears streaming down her face; she meant nothing to the Lord? Was he playing with her the whole time? And now they were speaking about ending hers and Katarina's girl. She wouldn't let that happen, she would make sure the younger girl was safe and no harm would come to her. They needed to run.
Artemis's body jolted forward when she heard the shrill sound of the alarm clock ringing, she slammed her hand down on the device and swung her legs out of bed, she groaned feeling the remnants of her dream fading away. All she could recall was running, someone was running, but she wasn't sure if whoever was fleeing was running towards danger or away.
Artemis shook her head to clear it and got up onto her feet; she yawned and stretched her stiff arms above her head. She glanced at the calendar that she had nailed to her wall and groaned realising that she had to help out at the Lockwood charity ball, she was after all a member of one of the founding families, and Carole Lockwood had insisted that they all helped out.
Artemis padded barefooted down to the bathroom and did her usual morning routine. She stripped out of her clothes and turned the shower faucet on. Artemis stepped under the warm water and let it wash over her; she sighed and leant head against the cold tile walls. After a moment she reached out and grabbed her washcloth and lathered it in her strawberry scented shampoo. After she had done that Artemis washed her hair and hurriedly dried herself off. She pulled on her robe and exited the bathroom, bumping into Jeremy on the way.
"Hey, where are you going?" Artemis asked seeing her younger brother clutching onto the strap of his bag, "Jeremy?"
"Erm….I'm meeting some friends at the grill" he lied. She canted her head to the side and studied him, he was edgy.
"You're not lying to me are you?" Artemis questioned quirking an eyebrow, Jeremy chuckled nervously.
"Now why would you think that?" he kissed her cheek, "Bye Art" and he ran off. Artemis frowned and shook her head.
"Weird kid" she muttered under her breath made her way back to the bedroom. She had just walked pass Elena's room and could hear muffled sounds. She paused and blanched realising that Elena and Stefan were making out, now this confused her she thought that the teens were having a fight, she didn't want to linger on that and hurried back to her room.
Artemis pulled open the dresser drawers she pulled out a black lace bra and matching panties she slipped them on, and then proceeded to move over to her closer. She rummaged through it and opted to wear a pair of dark maroon skinny jeans. Artemis paired it off with a black top, she spotted her black flats and brushed her hair. She put it into a high pony tail and left a few curls out to frame her face.
Artemis hurried down the stairs and entered the kitchen, she started to make a pot of coffee and started to make breakfast.
"Morning Art" Jenna smiled coming into the kitchen and helped herself to a cup of coffee. "So Arty are you coming to-"
"Yes, Jen I am going to be helping out at the charity ball" she cut her off and bit into her toast "how did Carol Lockwood got you in anyway?" she asked. Jenna chuckled
"She asked and I said yes…-"
"There's more" Artemis uttered gesturing Jenna to go on. The older woman sighed knowing it was near impossible to hide anything from her.
"She made me feel guilty so yeah- I caved-"
Artemis snorted "Glad to know how strong willed you are"
"Shut up" Jenna swatted at her, "so is Elena coming with us or-"
"I think she'll meet us there" Artemis downed the rest of her coffee and finished off her coffee "come on let's get a move on, I wouldn't put it pass Carole Lockwood to come around here and to check up on us"
"True" Jenna uttered and followed her out of the kitchen, Artemis grabbed her car keys and opened to the front door gesturing for Jenna to go ahead she slammed the car door behind her and walked down the gravel driveway towards her rusty yellow bug.
Artemis whistled pulling up to Lockwood Manor, "It looks like she's got the whole town helping out" she said shutting the car off
"I wouldn't put it pass her to go around town and hunting people" Jenna said as they climbed out of the car, Artemis laughed and shook her head, they entered the manor and saw that it was buzzing with activity.
"Artemis Jenna, glad you two could make it" Carole said "Artemis I was hoping you'd help out with decorating the tables and all of that"
Artemis smiled at her "No problem I'll get started-"with that she left the two women to talk. The weather was warm; Artemis hoped it would stay like that for the masquerade balls,
"Peter-"she yelled spotting the blond teen, she jogged over to him "are those the candles for the tables?" she asked.
"Yep, I was looking for you the mayor said to give them to you" Peter handed her the box and was gone. Artemis walked over to the centre of the round tables and saw there were several more boxes laid out on the grass; she opened them up and saw various items. From table cloths to place mats, "Damn she's going all out" she muttered under her breath. She grabbed the pocket knife and started to open up the packaging of the table cloths. Artemis was currently laying them out of the table when she felt someone coming to stand beside her.
"Hey Lena, finally, I thought you'd never come" Artemis uttered as she started to unpack the candles and placed them in the holder.
"I'd said I would show up and I did-"
"Hmm, I had my doubts though, I thought you wouldn't manage to tear yourself away from Stefan" she drawled, Elena's eyes widened.
"What?" the younger girl asked startled "me and Stefan-"
"Were making out, honestly you had to be deaf not to here you two going-"Elena slammed the palm of her hand over the older girl's mouth, Artemis cocked an eyebrow Elena raised her finger to her lips gesturing for the older girl to be quiet.
Artemis nodded and mouthed "What's going on?"
Elena pulled out her cell phone and started to type something into her cell, she handed the device over to her Artemis looked down and read it.
'Me and Stefan are pretending to fight because of Katherine, she doesn't want us to be together so the whole thing was faked, I want to be with him Artemis and this was the only way'
Artemis sighed and handed her back the phone "Whatever makes you happy Lena, just don't get hurt" she said quietly.
"Thanks Art" Elena smiled
"No problem now move your ass and start to help me" she ordered her with a grin on her face. Artemis and Elena spent the next fifteen minutes laying down table clothes and candle holders. "So Jeremy left early, he was blatantly lying to my face, do you have any clue what he's up to?" Artemis asked as she placed another candle in the holder. She looked up when Elena didn't reply and saw that her attention was elsewhere.
"Go and talk to her" Artemis told Elena seeing that she was gazing at Bonnie.
"But-"
"I got it from here" she smiled at her and gestured for her to go ahead, Elena smiled and heeded her advice. Artemis went back to work and was about to open another box when her cell beeped, indicating she had a message. She pulled out her cell from her pocket and saw that she had a message from Damon.
"I have something that belongs to you, come over and pick it up, it's annoying"
"Bloody cryptic vampire" she muttered under her breath and decided to go to the Boarding House since she wanted to know what Damon had.
Artemis pulled up to the large Boarding House and didn't bother knocking since she knew the door was as always unlocked. She headed down the hallway and frowned hearing a very familiar voice. She entered the parlour and immediately frowned seeing who was there.
"Seeing friends at the Grill?" she snapped making Jeremy jump. "You little liar-"
"Arty? Who told you-"his eyes snapped over to Damon who merely smirked at him. "You told her-"
"Damn right he did" she marched up to him with a glare on her face,
"Why-"
"Because I rather don't care if I'm on your bad side but with her I do" Damon downed his drink, Artemis was stunned at that claim but her mind didn't linger on it too long,
"Why the hell are you here?" she asked him.
"Because-"his eyes darted to the left and his nostrils flared slightly a tell-tale sign that he was about to lie, she saw him open his mouth and boxed his ear.
"Oww-"
"No shitty excuses. Tell me" she demanded.
"Ok, ok, I wanted to help" Jeremy exclaimed through gritted teeth, her grip was relentless "I know that the Moonstone-"
"Moonstone-"
"Ric, will be here-"Damon's explanation was cut off when the door opened and in walked in Alaric, carrying a box.
"What are you doing here?" Alaric asked seeing both Gilbert siblings here.
"He's getting his ass handed to him on a platter" Damon snorted, Jeremy glared at him but Artemis tug his ear. "I'm the one who found out about the moonstone-"
"Doesn't matter you're grounded" Artemis scowled.
"What? Why-"
"For lying" she cut off his whine "but since you're here you might as well stay to see what Ric found-"
"How do-"
"He's got a cardboard box so obviously he has something" Artemis folded her arms across her chest.
"So what'd you got?" Damon asked walking over to the box, Artemis didn't miss Jeremy edging away from her. She rolled her eyes and walked over to the box and saw stacks of papers inside it.
"It's Isobel's research from Duke" Alaric said "her assistant sent it to me"
"Hmm, Vanessa" Damon uttered picking up one of the pieces of paper, the history teacher snatched it away from him.
"Yes, do you remember the Aztec curse she told us about?" Alaric asked.
"The sun and the moon curse, blah, blah, blah" Damon uttered causing Artemis to roll her eyes.
"An old Aztec curse? Cool" Jeremy stated standing beside Artemis.
"Yes supposedly vampires and werewolves use to roam freely, until a shaman put a curse on them, to limit their power. And since then werewolves can only turn on the full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun."
Damon flashed his ring, "Most of them anyway-"
"Well they don't have a magic ring now do they?" Artemis commented shifting her weight onto her other leg.
"Well, according to the legend the werewolf part of the curse it's sealed with the moonstone-"
"Wait" Artemis frowned "you're saying a moonstone is what is keeping the werewolves from turning whenever they want?" Alaric nodded, she looked at the piece of parchment that the history teacher was holding up and was showing Jeremy "that's amazing"
"But sealed as in-"Jeremy started but was cut off by the vampire.
"It's a witch thing" Damon said "it's seals the curse, it's the key to unsealing the curse"
"So maybe Mason Lockwood thinks he can use the moonstone to break the curse"
"Tyler said that he kept asking about it" Jeremy commented. Artemis looked at him.
"Since when did you become so friendly with Tyler? You couldn't stand him"
"Erm…people change?" he offered her weakly, she inwardly sighed.
"We start believing in some supernatural witchy woo legend and a picture book, then we're a bunch of legends-"
"Speak for yourself" Artemis scoffed taking the piece of parchment her eyes were roaming all over the cream coloured sheet, "you're a vampire, proof that anything is possible, including some witchy woo legend" she handed the page back to the hunter.
"Fine if this is true where's the stone now?" the vampire asked.
"Tyler" Jeremy replied.
"Can you get it?" he asked.
"Yeah" Jeremy answered, Artemis eyes widened.
"See your life has now has a purpose" Damon stated. Artemis shot him a glare.
"No-"
"Art-"
"You're not going near Tyler Lockwood" she said firmly "this is dangerous"
"I can do this" Jeremy pleaded-
"I am not taking the risk of you getting hurt" Artemis uttered staring him down. Alaric and Damon watched on letting the siblings have their moment, the history teacher could see that the elder Gilbert teen deeply cared for the younger one, and was determined to keep both Elena and Jeremy safe.
"Don't you trust me?" Jeremy blurted out, making her frown.
"Of course I do"
"Well then let me do this. I can do this Artemis please, just…I'm not a baby and I can take care of myself" Jeremy said seriously, she sighed and ran her hand down her face.
"Fine" she relented, "by the way you'll always be my baby bro no matter how old you get. But if you end up hurt I'm going to kick his ass and then yours…" she saw the brief look of amusement "no joke" that wiped the smile off his face.
"Really Art, threatening your brother?" Damon smirked waltzing over to her and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"It's nothing you haven't done before to your own" she countered patting his cheek and then slapped it hard, instantly removing him.
Both Jeremy and Alaric snickered at that. Damon rubbed his cheek
"I love it when you're rough" the vampire purred in her ear.
"Eww, can you not?" Jeremy blanched at the sight, of someone flirting with his sister. "So do you believe in the curse?" he asked,
"It's from the same book where it says a werewolf bite can kill a vampire" Damon shrugged his shoulders. "Ignoring it would make me a bigger idiot-"
"Which is impossible to do-"she was cut off when her cell rang. "Hello? Jenna-yeah I'm…behind a-tree?" she glared at all three males when they guffawed loudly "no I'm not lying-"
"She's so not going to by that" Jeremy scoffed.
A smirk made its way across her face, the younger teen got nervous seeing that particular look on her face.
"Art-"
"What's wrong?" Alaric asked.
"She's going to do something evil" Damon grinned seeing the mischievous look on her face.
"I was lying Jenna, I'm not hiding behind a tree. You see I'm back at the house had to go back with Jeremy-"Jeremy's eyes widened he went to snatch the phone off of her but she dodged him "I scared him and-"Artemis dove out of the way when he charged at her "he had a little accident Jen, if you get what I mean-" she jumped on to the couch- "he had to change his trousers-"
"NO I DIDN'T" Jeremy shouted literally tackling the older girl down on to the ground.
"We'll be there in a couple of minute-oww Jeremy your elbow is in my stomach-"she yelped,
"You want to break it up or me?" Alaric asked amusement laced in his tone/
"I'll do it, can't have my girl all bruise now" Damon easily pulled Jeremy off of her but grabbing the collar of his shirt and dumped him in the couch. Artemis hanged up and groaned "Serious cut down on the snacking you weigh a ton" she huffed.
"You deserve it" he muttered, Damon grabbed her around the waist and hauled her onto her feet.
"I have to get back to the Lockwoods, I'll see you there" Artemis said.
Artemis was back at the Lockwood manor and was pulling some of the wine glasses out of the crate, "Do you think the mayor would notice if there's a smudge on it?" she muttered to Stefan.
"I think she would notice if there was a water-spot on it" Stefan shook his head. It hadn't escape his notice that Artemis's attitude had soften towards him.
"Hmm-"
"Arty" she tensed seeing Mason smiling at her "Stefan"
"H-hi" Artemis stammered, the vampire didn't blame her the last time that she had seen Mason he had attempted to snap her neck.
"What's wrong Art, scared?" the werewolf sneered "You should be."
Stefan growled "Back off" he snapped pulling her slightly behind him. Artemis glared at Mason.
"Jeesh, when did you turn into such a dick?" she sniped. "Oh wait I think you was always one though right-"
"Probably, but you didn't notice since you had that major crush on me" Mason smirked.
"Ergh I had terrible taste then didn't I?" she countered and simply went back to cleaning the wine glasses.
"So Mason" Stefan said "How was your evening last night?" he brought that attention back to himself.
"I wasn't expecting you here" Mason said. Artemis was pleased to see that he was actually frightened of the vampire. "Or anywhere"
"Yeah I had an accident, but I'm fine now" Stefan was playing with him, she could see that and was inwardly amused at that.
"What did you do to Sheriff Forbes?" Mason asked walking up to Stefan, the vampire shifted slightly so that he was in front of Artemis; she rolled her eyes when he did that.
"Damon ate her" she said with a straight face, she burst into laughter when she saw the look of horror on Mason's face.
"She's fine" Stefan's lips twitched into a smile "but from now on you need to do your own dirty work."
"No problem" he walked away.
"I can't believe I liked him" Artemis muttered watching him leave, Stefan dropped his arm around her shoulders giving her a small squeeze. She looked over to Mason and saw him bumping into Bonnie who jolted. "Do you think she knows what he is?" she asked Stefan quietly.
"Most likely, she knows when there are vampires" Stefan replied, his gaze like hers were focused on the witch.
"Bonnie" Artemis called seeing the glazed over look on the younger girl's face "Is everything alright?"
"It's…when I touched him I saw something" she revealed
"What did you see?" Stefan asked crossing his arms in front of his chest "like a vision?"
"I saw Elena" Artemis's eyebrows shot to her hairline "he was kissing her-"
"What?" Artemis blurted out "No, no way. She hasn't even been in the same room as Mason Lockwood on her own for long."
"No it can't be. Elena wouldn't-" Stefan paused realisation hitting him. "You didn't see Elena you saw…-"
"Katherine" Artemis finished off knowing where he was leading to. "Does that mean she wants the moonstone as well?"
Artemis groaned as she was attempting to heft out another large round table from the back of the truck since Carole decided to add another one. She had just managed to pull it out and when she felt an arm wrap around her waist, she yelped when she was slammed against the side of the truck.
"What the hell are you doing?" Mason snarled, "There vampires and you-"
"I know what they are" Artemis snapped back glaring at him. "And I know what you are-"she winced when his grip on her upper arms tightened "What are you doing hanging around with Katherine? What does she want-"
"It's none of your business-"
"When the vampire looks like my sister then it is" Artemis attempted to elbow him but he slammed her harder against the trunk causing her head to bounce.
"No it doesn't-"
"Mason let go" she whimpered and felt her heart lurch when his eyes flash gold "you're hurting me-"
"Tell me what the Salvatores are up to, I-"
"Why don't you just ask them yourselves?" Bonnie commented and glared at the werewolf, before Artemis could fully comprehend what was happening she was dropped to the ground where she landed in a heap. And Mason was screaming whilst clutching his head.
"Hmm but you can't" Damon kneed him in the face knocking the werewolf out. He rushed to Artemis's side where the teen groaned and rubbed the back of her head. "What happened?" Damon asked, anger laced in his tone
"He wanted to know what you and Stef-Damon" she yelped when he pushed aside her hair and inspected the back of her head "It's nothing-"
"Not nothing, dick can't keep his hands to himself" the vampire snarled and saw that she hadn't got a mark on her.
"I'm fine, you go help Stefan" she assured him, Damon tilted her chin upwards
"Stay safe" he whispered into her ear.
"Look at all these feathers" Artemis muttered looking through the boxes; she was with Matt and Elena inside the manor sorting through numerous items. "Damn these are ugly, who would wear this?" she asked then both holding up a neon orange masquerade mask.
"Someone who didn't plan" Elena chuckled "Have you-"
"I got my outfit and mask sorted, Carol said I had to attend since I'm the eldest Gilbert, she said a bunch of stuff-"
"And I bet you didn't even listen" Matt snickered, she playfully swatted him and carried on pulling out some more masks, "So Matt how's it going?" she asked interested.
"Same old, same old, have you heard from Caroline?" he asked both Elena and Artemis, the elder Gilbert girl remained quiet letting Elena take this one.
"She has something else to do" Elena replied casually, whilst Artemis started to set the masks out.
"Is she seeing someone?" Matt asked making Artemis's eyes snapped up to meet his.
"No, she wouldn't do that, she's just taking care of her mom" Artemis assured him "Liz came down with a stomach bug I think" that was the excuse that was going around about the Sheriff. From the corner of her eye she could Stefan approaching them, but before he could say anything Tyler appeared,
"Has anyone seen Mason?" he asked.
"He said he had to take off, not sure when he would be back" Stefan replied. Artemis let out a relieved breath, she felt like she was hiding something from everyone today. She was brought out of her musings hearing Stefan's cell buzzing, he looked at the message, Elena was about to approach him but he shook his head and left.
"I'm not even going to ask" Matt said seeing Elena's face.
"Me too, there's trouble in paradise" Artemis added on, Elena bit her lip
"I'll be back" she ran after Stefan. Artemis inwardly groaned and dropped the masks onto the table.
"I'm—yeah I'm just going to leave" the brunette called over her shoulder and hurriedly followed after Elena.
"Arty-"
"You think I'm going to let you go on your own, I already got one sibling who's on his own little mission and you're not doing the same" Artemis cut her off. Elena sighed knowing that Artemis wouldn't cave.
"Fine, well something's up with Stefan and I'm-"Artemis cleared her throat making the younger girl roll her eyes "Fine we're following him-"
"Alright but make sure you keep up" Artemis smirked and avoided the swat Elena dished out, they both followed Stefan into the woods. "Ok well we should keep-and that's gone out of the window" she muttered the last part when Elena ran towards Stefan who was leaning against what looked like a well.
"What's going on?" Elena asked. Artemis stood down and peered down into the well she could see nothing since it was pitch black down there.
"You both shouldn't be here-"
"Huh, good idea, but this one was going to follow you anyway" Artemis nodded towards Elena "So Stef, answer the question"
The vampire sighed knowing how stubborn both Gilbert girls were.
"Bonnie thinks the moonstone is down here" Stefan replied,
"It's a good hiding place" Artemis commented grabbing the lock "But it's locked so-"
"Super strength Art" Stefan smirked and tore the lock off he removed the metal grate.
"Stupid vamp" she muttered under her breath. "You sure about this?" she asked when he jumped on to the ledge.
"Yeah, I'll be down there for a minute" he handed her his torch and was about to jump when Elena grabbed his arm.
"Be careful Stefan" she said worried for him. He nodded and dove into the well. Artemis and Elena both leant over hearing a loud splash.
"I don't hear anything" Artemis muttered she jumped when there was a loud scream from below.
"ELENA. ELENA." Stefan screamed in pain "ARTY-"
"STEFAN WHAT'S GOING ON?" Elena screamed back. She leant over further but Artemis grabbed the back of her top
"VERVAINE, VERVAINE-"
"WE'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE" Artemis shouted and looked frantically around.
"Arty we got to get him out" Elena said beginning to panic, she saw the older teen attempting to lift the chains but it was too heavy.
"Fucks sake" Artemis swiped her sweaty brow by the back of her hand and looked around for another way to get the vampire out.
"Elena, Arty what's going on?" Caroline asked appearing next to them.
"It's Stefan his stuck down there" Elena explained, the blond vampire went to leap forward but Artemis pulled the back of her top.
"You can't it's filled with vervaine" she told the younger girl.
"We have to get him out" Elena cried.
"The chains use the chains" Artemis said her eyes meeting the vampire's; Caroline nodded and grabbed hold of it.
"I can go-"
"You're not going down there" Artemis snapped at Elena
"What-"
"No, you're not, it's too dangerous-"
"We have to get him out-"
"I'll get him out-"
"Arty-"
"I swear to god Elena, don't test me" Artemis hissed grabbing the younger girl's arm "You didn't listen to me yesterday and nearly ended up shot in the face. So listen to me now, you are not going down there" she said firmly, Elena's jaw ticked but she nodded knowing it wasn't a good idea to push her.
"I'll go down and Caroline you pull him up when I yell ok?" Artemis asked, Caroline nodded and helped Artemis put the chains around the waist.
"Is it secure?" Elena asked as Artemis stood on the ledge of the well.
"It's fine-"
"Be careful Artemis" Elena said, Artemis sent her a small smile and nodded.
"I got you ok?" Caroline asked.
"I trust Care" Artemis nodded and was about to go in but Bonnie ran up to them, the witch took in the scene.
"What's going on here?"
"Can you fill her in? Let's get a move on" Artemis uttered, Elena nodded as Caroline gently lowered Artemis into the dark well. The brunette used her feet to aid her in climbing down. She could hear Elena explaining to Bonnie what had happened.
Artemis gasped when she felt herself falling,
"Caroline-"
"Sorry" Caroline shouted grabbing the chain jolting Artemis upwards.
"It's fine, keep going" she yelled and licked her lips, this place was cold and dank. She glanced down and could make out a figure.
Artemis let out a small squeal when she was enveloped in to cold water, she gasped and shuddered feeling the sloshy water washing over, she grabbed Stefan's arm and pulled him so that he was facing her.
"Crap" she muttered seeing his burnt skin, she hurriedly unknotted the chain around her waist and wrapped it around the unconscious vampire.
"Arty what's going on?" Elena yelled.
"Pull him up Caroline" Artemis shouted and let go off Stefan, she watched as he was tugged upwards.
Artemis spotted the flashlight floating in the water and grabbed it, since she was down there she might as well see if she could find what Stefan was looking for. She jumped when the chain was dropped down in to the water.
"Art, your turn" Caroline shouted.
"Wait, I'm looking for the stone" she plunged her hand into the ricks and fumbled around seeing if she could feel it. Artemis swore and plunged her hand down into the water seeing if it was there.
"HURRY UP" Caroline screeched.
Artemis felt something in the palm of her hand and pulled up a wooden box, she was marvelled at the sight of the carvings on the box.
"ARTY?"
"YEAH I GOT-"she screamed when a snake slid up her arm.
"ARTEMIS" this time it was Elena who shouted. She could hear the panic screams coming from her sister and the sound of a lot of splashing.
"Son of a bitch" Artemis shouted and grabbed one of the snakes and threw it against the stone walls, "PULL ME UP" she screamed grabbing the chain and wrapped it around her wrist. And felt herself being lifted.
Just as she got out of the well she felt arms wrap around her waist and pull her back on the ledge,
"Here" she handed the box to Bonnie as Caroline unchained her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Elena tending to Stefan by offering the vampire her wrist. Artemis dropped down beside her worry sister.
"Arty, are you-"
"I'm fine-"
"But I heard screaming" Elena protested giving her a once over.
"Nothing, I just hate snakes" Artemis shuddered and could tell that she was worried about her boyfriend "everything is going to be fine, we've got the stone though."
Artemis pulled up to the house, Elena was with Stefan at the Boarding Hose and she didn't blame the girl, the vampire was still slightly out of it. She let out a yawn and climbed out of her car. She fumbled for her keys and shoved it into the lock and stepped into the house. She slammed the door shut behind her and entered the kitchen
"Oops" Artemis immediately turned around. Jenna and Alaric were making out against the kitchen counter.
"We're only kissing Art, not having-"
"Blah. Blah. Blah" she put her fingers into her ears "I can't hear you" she shouted "call me when dinner is ready" she ran up the stairs, leaving behind a pair of amused adults.
Artemis was grateful that she had dried off from the sun, she walked pass Jeremy's room and paused. She raised her fist and knocked on her brother's door.
"Come in" she heard him call. Artemis pushed open the door and saw Jeremy sprawled out on his bed.
"Hey Jere" Artemis dropped down on the bed beside him. He opened his eyes and turned to face her.
"Hey Art-"he smiled. She quirked an eyebrow
"Are you ok?"
"It's just that I-
"You got involved didn't you?" she asked and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him towards her side.
"Yes-"
"And you've proven you can handle it Jere, I'm proud of you" she said sincerely. A wide smile spread across his face.
"Thank you" she kissed his temple and laid her head down on the pillow "you look tired Art" he commented.
"I am, try jumping into a well filled with snakes, not the most pleasant feeling" Artemis uttered, Jeremy's eyes widened
"What?"
"It's a long story. But we've got the moonstone" Artemis told him. There was a moment of content silence.
"Hey Art?" she hummed her eyes were staring up at his white ceiling,
"Hmm?"
"Can you un-ground me?" he asked, Artemis snorted.
"Not a chance in hell" she swung her legs out of the bed "but nice try, I'm going to see if Jenna and Ric need help making dinner."
Artemis made her way back downstairs towards the kitchen. "Hey Ric" she smiled as she started to lay the plates down on the table; she saw Jenna was on the phone. "Who's she talking to?" she asked.
"I don't know" Alaric shrugged his shoulders, he studied the teen in front of him "Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, everything is fine" she smiled.
"No she's not in" Jenna told the person on the phone, causing Artemis to look at her, "Yeah she's here. Of course I understand-"she handed the phone to a confused Artemis.
"Who is it?" she whispered, Jenna shrugged in response. Artemis raised the phone up to her ear. "Hi?"
"Hello Artemis"
Artemis eyes widened at the voice on the other end "Katherine?" she questioned ignoring the baffled look on Alaric's face.
"Surprised you knew it was me, after-"
"Elena's doesn't sound as snarky compared to you" Artemis cut her off.
"Hmm, you're still as smart as I recall, anyway speaking of your sister, I heard of her and Stefan's rendezvous in the morning-" Artemis breath hitched slightly, "I will always know Artemis-"
"You sound like a psycho stalker" Artemis hissed, she felt her cheeks growing hot.
"I've been called a lot worst" Katherine countered "Beside I will always be one step ahead of you, you know how easy it was to get inside your house. "To replace Aunt Jenna's vervaine perfume-"Artemis spun around on her heel and stared at a completely oblivious Jenna "To convince her to stop drinking her special tea-"
"You bitch" Artemis snarled
"Play nice Arty, Jenna's been my little spy for days now. But unlike Elena and you I gather, she actually listens to me, so what if I suggest if Jena-"
"Jenna NO" Artemis shouted seeing her aunt raise a knife to her stomach and stabbed herself in the gut. She dropped the phone, both her and Alaric rushed to her side.
"Oh my god, Jenna" Artemis cried dropping to her knees she grabbed the dishtowel and pressed it against the older woman's wound. "We need to call an ambulance."
Both Elena and Jeremy looked up when Artemis entered the waiting room.
"How is she?" Elena asked worriedly.
"The doctor said she got lucky" she told her younger siblings. "She got lucky, she will be ok" Artemis said
"Will she remember anything?" Jeremy asked.
"I don't think so" Artemis shook her head "Part of Katherine's compulsion I think. Katherine wants to send us a message"
"Message?" Jeremy questioned, before Artemis could reply, Elena did.
"The message is that she could get to anyone at any-time" the younger girl cried, Artemis hugged her and Jeremy wrapped his arms around both her sisters pulling them close.
"She will pay" he told them.
After a moment they pulled back, Elena looked at Artemis "Could you drive me to the Boarding House?"
"Erm sure, Jere stay here" she said and followed after her sister.
Artemis pulled up to the Boarding House, there was a moment of silence in the car.
"You sure?" she asked Elena what felt like the millionth time.
"I am" Elena said determinedly, "I don't want anyone else to get hurt"
"If you say so" Artemis uttered
"Can you come with me? Moral support" Elena looked at her, Artemis nodded and they both got out of the car. They walked up to the Boarding House and entered the grand house.
"I'll wait here" Artemis said waiting by the door. Elena nodded and went to find Stefan.
When she was gone Artemis ran her hands down her face and sighed.
"You don't look too good" Damon commented.
Artemis looked up at him "I'm not in the mood Damon, please" she uttered, Damon frowned and placed his hands on her shoulder, he surprised her by pulling her into an embrace.
"I'm sorry about Jenna, it was my fault, I riled Katherine up-"
"I don't blame you" she whispered "it's not your fault your ex is a crazy bitch" Damon chuckled rested his chin atop the crown of her head.
"True, but I am-"
"Elena's breaking up with Stefan, she's scared of who Katherine might hurt next" Artemis muttered, "Look after him will you? No snarky comments-"
"What do you take me for-"
"You're Damon" Artemis mumbled tiredly resting her head against his shoulder, her arms came around his waist, she felt his hands stroking up and down her back.
"You sound tired Artemis" he pulled back slightly so he could look at her face, his thumb stroked across her skin "and look it"
"I am" she admitted, and breathed in his cologne.
"Don't tire yourself out Artemis" he murmured and kissed her on her temple, "I don't want you to end up hurt."
Just then Elena walked out of the parlour tears travelling down her face.
"I want to go home Arty" Elena sniffed, Artemis pulled away from Damon, the vampire opened the door Elena exited first, Artemis walked pass him but he grasped her hand.
"Artemis-"
"Damon I have to look after my sister, so not now" Artemis uttered; Damon nodded and raised her hand and pressed a kiss on the back of her hand.
Artemis smiled and followed after Elena.
She got into her car and looked over to a crying Elena. "Lena" she said softly
"It's over Arty. Me and Stefan"
"I know" Artemis pulled her into a hug, she felt Elena's tears dampening her top "but everything will be ok" she assured her. "I promise."
AN: Apologies for any grammar or spelling mistakes.
So in this chap, at the beginning Athena finds out about a ritual and flees. Artemis helps out at the Lockwood Manor setting things up for the Ball, Damon text Arty and tells her about Jeremy, where Jeremy ends up tackling Arty to the ground. Mason confronts Artemis. Then Arty ends up going down a well and saves Stefan. She gets a call from Katherine and Jenna stabs herself. It ends with a Darty moment.
Next Chap-Masquerade Ball. (outfit link on profile)
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