36; Kill or be Killed | Part One
The next morning, Marissa walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see that her mother was still there. She was usually long gone by the time she woke up.
She mumbled out a greeting, then shuffled over to the refrigerator. She opened the door and glanced inside to try to figure out what she wanted to eat.
She knew what she really wanted, she wanted a big cup full of blood, but since her mother was home she couldn't sneak any in somehow.
Giving up on finding anything, she grabbed a bottle of water, then slammed the refrigerator door shut.
"Are you feeling okay this morning?" her mother questioned her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Marissa answered with a sigh.
In all honesty, she was so far away from 'fine', she was a freaking vampire for crying out loud and she just broke up with her boyfriend- whose family may or may not be werewolves, and she was being threatened by a friend's doppelgänger.
So, no she was not okay, but she couldn't tell her mother any of that.
Liz nodded her head at her daughter's answer, then asked, "What was Elena doing here so late last night?"
She had seen the younger girl leaving the house late when she arrived home from work and knew she had to be there for Marissa since Caroline was staying the night at Bonnie's at the time.
"What? Elena wasn't here last night..." Marissa began to say as she lowered her eyebrows in confusion. She had not talked to Elena since overhearing her and Stefan breaking up at the Grill- meaning, the person her mother saw was Katherine.
The doppelgänger had shown up the night before to explain what she needed her to do next. She needed her to get something called a moonstone from the Lockwood house.
Marissa had no idea how she was going to do that since she and Tyler were broken up; thanks to Mason's threat.
Realizing her mother was still waiting on an answer, she stuttered a few times, then added, "Oh, right, Elena! Yeah, she uh, she just needed my help with something."
"Are you sure you're okay, Marissa?" Liz questioned her when she saw a flash of worry appear on her face. If she didn't know any better she would say that her daughter was scared of something or someone.
"I'm fine," Marissa stated as she began to walk out of the kitchen until something crossed her mind. There was something she needed her mom's help with; something that she felt like she was ready to do.
"Actually, there is something," she added as she turned back to face her mother.
"What is it?"
"I was wondering if you could take me to try for my licenses today?"
Marissa was tired of having to ask for rides or race around town to get to where she needed to. She knew for a fact that Caroline got her licenses at her age. In her mind, it was only fair.
"Are you ready for the test?" Liz questioned. She knew she had never taken Marissa driving.
"I am," Marissa said confidently. If she didn't do a good job, she would just compel the instructor. Either way, she would get her licenses before the day was over.
"Okay, we'll go," Liz said, causing Marissa to smile, until she continued, "And afterward I'll even let you drive us to the park."
"The park? Why?" Marissa asked confused.
"For the Historical Society Volunteer Day," Liz said. "Remember, Caroline wanted us all to do it together?"
"Oh, right," Marissa said.
She had forgotten all about it. With everything else going on lately it was hard to remember other stuff- especially stuff she didn't want to do.
The event was for a good case, but it was hard being around Caroline now. She would never forget the look on her sister's face that night in the woods when she saw her face vamp out.
Thankfully, Stefan compelled Caroline to forget, but she didn't forget that moment and she never would.
"You forgot," Liz stated.
"Little bit," Marissa admitted. "I got something to do today, but I'll swing by later."
When a thought hit her, she snapped her fingers and suggested, "I can drop you off, then borrow your car and come back later."
"Okay," Liz said, after a few minutes of thinking about it. "But, first, you'll have to get those license."
"Don't worry. I'll get them," Marissa said with a secret smile.
•••
Several minutes later, Marissa was driving down the road with the windows down and a huge grin on her face.
Everyone was right, she was a terrible driver, but none of that mattered now, because she got her license. Even if she did cheat to get them.
Her happy mood didn't last long though once she remembered what she had to do. She had to talk to Tyler and hope she could get the moonstone from him so she could get Katherine off of her back. She hoped after doing this job, the doppelgänger wouldn't need her anymore and would stop threatening the ones she loves.
She parked the car in the Lockwood driveway, then made her way to the front door. She rang the doorbell, then slipped her hands into her front pants pockets as she waited for someone to answer the door.
When she heard the door swing open, she turned her head and groaned when she saw Mason in front of her.
"What are you doing here?" Mason questioned her.
"None of your business," Marissa snapped.
"I hope you're not here to make a huge mistake...like talking to my nephew."
"Like I said, it's none of your business," Marissa repeated.
She went to take a step inside- as she did often back when she and Tyler use to date- but as she went to step over the threshold she was stopped by an invisible wall keeping her from entering.
Mason smirked. "You need to be invited in."
"I've been in this house numerous of times," Marissa pointed out.
"Apparently not since you've been turned," Mason said back. "Guess whatever you had planned will have to wait because you're not coming in."
Marissa opened her mouth to argue with him, but before she could say a word, she heard Carol calling out a greeting as she walked over to the door to smile at the young blonde.
"Hello, dear, come on in," Carol said with a smile.
Marissa shot Mason a smug grin as she stepped across the threshold and walked into the house.
She turned her head to look at Carol and flashed her a genuine smile. "Hey, Carol, how are you?"
"I'm good, dear. We were just about to leave for the Historical Society Volunteer Day," Carol said, referring to herself and Mason. "Aren't you suppose to be there with your mom and Caroline?"
"Yeah, well, I had some stuff I needed to do first," Marissa said vaguely. "I'm going to meet up with them later."
"Maybe you should meet them now. You should keep your word," Mason stated, reminding her of their deal of her staying away from Tyler or he'll spill her secret.
"I'll be there soon, but this is kinda important," Marissa said to him. She turned back to look at Carol and asked, "Is Tyler here?"
"No, he left a while ago," Carol answered. "Were you two supposed to meet? Did you try to call him?" As far as she knew the two were still together, she did not know about the breakup.
"No, we uh, we-we were supposed to meet but I don't remember where," Marissa lied with an uncomfortable chuckle. "Do you, uh, did he mention where he was going when he left?"
"No, he didn't," Mason answered, causing her to shoot him a quick look. She wasn't even asking him. She was trying to pretend he wasn't standing there.
"I'm sorry, dear, I don't know where he was headed," Carol added with an apologetic smile.
"It's okay," Marissa softly said, trying to think where he could be. All she knew was she needed that moonstone or else.
She turned to leave, her eyes glancing around as she wondered where the moonstone could be hiding. She reached out to open the door, until Carol spoke up, "Oh, no, wait, I remember now. He mentioned grabbing lunch at the Grill. Maybe he's still there."
"Thanks," Marissa said as she smiled at Carol and saw Mason roll his eyes out of the corner of her eye.
She spoke to Carol for a few minutes later, then walked out of the house. She got behind the wheel of the car and began to drive down the road.
She knew she needed to go to the Grill to talk to Tyler, but first, she needed to make another stop. She needed someone who would have her back in this- she needed her best friend.
Minutes later, she parked the car in front of the Gilbert house and walked to the front door.
She rang the doorbell, then smiled when Jeremy opened the door.
"Hey, Rissa. I didn't know you were dropping by today."
"I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I would stop by," Marissa said, walking past him and going into the house.
"Hey, I'm not complaining. You know I'm always up for hanging out," Jeremy stated as he walked over to the stairs and began to climb them to go back to his room.
Marissa followed along behind him and asked, "So what are you up to?"
"Since I have the house to myself with no distractions, I was just drawing," he answered as he walked over to his desk and sat down.
"Can I see?" she asked.
He shook his head and closed the sketchbook. "I'm not finished."
"You're so weird when it comes to your art," she joked as she playfully rolled her eyes at him and sat down on the edge of his bed.
"You're just mad 'cause I won't let you look," he pointed out with a laugh.
"Perhaps," she said, laughing with him. "So, what do you think about taking a break and grabbing some lunch?"
"Sounds good," he said, standing up and slipping his sketchbook in his book bag.
He slipped on some shoes, then the two made their way downstairs and out of the house.
When he saw her heading toward the car, he came to a quick stop and said, "Whoa, wait, you're driving now? When the hell did that happened?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, he added, "No wait, better question; how the hell did that happen? There's no way you could have passed a test."
"Obviously I did or I wouldn't be driving," Marissa lied as she opened the driver side door.
When he shot her a look, she rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, fine! I compelled the instructor."
"Ha! I knew it! I knew you could never pass the test," he said with a laugh.
"Bite me, Jer," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Just get in the car," she added as she slid behind the wheel.
When she heard the back door open, she turned her head in surprise, which quickly turned to confusion when she saw him get in the back seat.
"What the hell are you doing?" she questioned.
"Sitting back here, where it's safer."
"You're really mean sometimes, you know that, right?" she stated as she shot him a look, even though they both knew she was kidding.
"I'm mean?" he questioned.
Before she could answer, he added, "I'm the mean one, even after getting in a car with someone who- if human- would have failed their driving test, I think that puts me in the running for best friend of the year."
"You know what, Jer, you're right," she said. "You are best friend of the year and you know what your prize is?"
"What?"
"You get to buy your own lunch," she added with a laugh as she cranked the car then pulled out onto the road to head for the Grill.
•••
"Thank God, we made it here in one piece," Jeremy stated, minutes later as the two friends walked across the parking lot together.
"It wasn't that bad," Marissa argued. "The drive would have been better if someone wasn't yelling at me every two seconds."
"That's because you were about to hit that mailbox!" he pointed out.
"I was not about to hit the mailbox." She thought about it for a moment, then added, "Wait, which mailbox?"
"My point exactly," he said, opening the door to the restaurant and letting her go in first before walking in behind her.
The two friends laughed back and forth until they saw Tyler sitting on the other side of the room, causing them both to come to a quick stop.
She never knew until this moment how much she actually missed him. She didn't know how she was going to be able to push her feelings aside and walk over to him to ask about the moonstone, but she knew she had to- she couldn't risk pissing off Katherine again.
"We can go somewhere else," Jeremy suggested as he lightly grabbed her arm. Tyler had not seen them yet and he knew they could make a quick escape. It was clear from the hurt look on her face that it was hard for her to face her ex.
"No, it's okay," she quietly said. "I knew he would be here."
"What?" he asked confused.
Turning to look at him, she explained, "We need to know what he knows, Jer. Find out what we can about his family line and the whole werewolf thing."
She glanced at her ex-boyfriend for a moment, silently hoping he wasn't really a werewolf. She didn't want him involved with this world. He deserved to have a nice, normal life.
"You're right, we do need to find out," Jeremy said. They knew Mason was a werewolf but wasn't sure about the rest of the Lockwoods. "But I'll talk to him, you stay here."
Turning to look at her best friend, Marissa let out a small chuckle, then said, "Thanks, but you should know by now, I'm not some damsel in distress. I can do it."
"I know you can, Ris," Jeremy said. "But you two just broke up and the look on your face says this is going to be harder than you thought."
When he saw her face fall, he softly said, "Let me help you, Ris. I've got your back, remember?"
Marissa gave him a nod, agreeing with his words, before saying back, "And I got yours."
"I'll be back," he said, giving her a quick kiss on the side of the head before making his way over to Tyler.
Marissa took a few steps aside and reached the booth closest to her. She sank down in the seat as she watched the two boys talking back and forth. She used her advance hearing to listen in and find out exactly what was being said.
"Hey man, how have you been?" Jeremy asked him.
"Since when?" Tyler asked back.
"I don't know, I haven't seen you much since your father funeral. I just figured maybe you'd want-"
"I'm fine, Gilbert," Tyler interrupted with a hint of attitude, causing Marissa to sigh from across the room. He wasn't going to make this easy on them.
"Yeah, okay," Jeremy said, turning around to leave.
He shot the blonde a look, hating that he let her down, but she gave her him a small smile back to let him know it was okay.
Planning to take over, Marissa stood up and went to take a step toward her ex-boyfriend until he spoke up to stop Jeremy.
"Wait, hold up. I'm sorry. Bad day, bad month." Jeremy turned back around to face him as he added, "Listen, you were cool that day, at the wake. Thanks for that. Felt like kind of a freak show."
"Yeah, I know the feeling well," Jeremy said back as he sat down at the table with him.
Hearing voices near the back of the restaurant, Marissa glanced over in the area where the pool tables were. She saw two girls she went to school with looking at Tyler and Jeremy.
She recognized the look on one of the girl's face as her eyes landed on Jeremy- she was more than looking at him, she was checking him out.
She narrowed her eyes at the girls and listened in as one of the girl's, Sarah, said, "When did Jeremy Gilbert get so cute?"
"Oh no, stay away, that guy is damaged goods," Aimee, the other girl, said.
Marissa scoffed and rolled her eyes at the comment. Jeremy was far from being damaged goods, but she did agree that the other girl needed to stay away from him. In her opinion, they needed to stay away from both boys.
Hearing Jeremy ask Tyler what he was doing, she turned her head back to look at them as Tyler answered, "Distracting myself."
Marissa lowered her eyebrows, wondering what he meant by that comment until she saw the two girls walk over to the table. She tried not to groan out loud when she heard Aimee thank Tyler for the text message.
"Unbelievable," Marissa mumbled to herself as she listened in to her ex making plans to hang out with those two girls.
She had to resist the urge to rush across the room and rip their heads off when he suggested they go to his house and drink. She didn't think it could get worse until he invited Jeremy to tag along.
She cut her eyes over to Jeremy, waiting to see what he would say and was surprised when he said, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm in."
Marissa folded her arms across her chest and lowered her eyebrows in anger as she watched the four walk out the door together.
Minutes later, she heard her cell phone go off and saw she had a text message from Jeremy; promising her he would find out as much as he could and text her back.
When he sent her another text to tell her to stay put, she blew out an annoyed breath as she quietly said, "Yeah, like that's going to happen."
Then as if knowing what she said, he texted her one more time - 'I mean it, Ris. Stay there.'
•••
Marissa tried to stay out of it and let Jeremy handle this on his own, but she couldn't do it. She spent the first half hour at the Grill, trying to force some food down, but her stomach was in knots.
She can't help but wonder what was going on between Jeremy, Tyler and those two girls. How long did it really take to question Tyler anyways?
After not hearing from Jeremy, she tossed some money down on the table, then stood up and walked outside.
She drove to the Lockwood house, then parked the car in the driveway again for the second time that day.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she exited the car and rushed to the front door. Instead of ringing the doorbell and being patient, she began to beat on the door with her fist.
Seconds later, Tyler swung the door open with an annoyed look on his face.
"Rissa, what the hell?" he asked when he saw it was her.
He had no idea who was beating on the door, but he never thought it would be his ex-girlfriend. He wasn't drunk enough to deal with this at the moment.
"What do you want?" he added.
"We need to talk," she stated as she walked into the house, thankful that Carol invited her in earlier.
"I'm kinda busy at the moment," Tyler said, taking a sip of his drink.
Marissa glanced over his shoulders, seeing Sarah and Aimee drunkenly dancing around while talking with Jeremy.
"Yeah, I see you've made some new friends. Didn't take long at all," she said with a hurt look on her face.
"Yeah, well, I have to move on," Tyler said.
Marissa gave him a short nod, remembering that's what she compelled him to do. She knew it was for the best, but it still hurt.
"Right," she mumbled. "I just didn't think it would happen so fast," she said so quietly he almost didn't hear it, but he did.
He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say a word, they heard a drunken Sarah call out to him, telling him to come back to the party.
"I'll be there in a second," Tyler said back to her.
Turning his attention back to Marissa, he asked, "So, what do we need to talk about?" He figured the quicker they talked, the sooner she would leave. Even though he understood about the breakup, it was still hard to be around her.
She knew she should just ask her questions then leave, but she couldn't. She didn't like the thought of two drunk girls being around him. She knew she was crashing their little party uninvited, but she didn't care. She wasn't leaving anytime soon.
Folding her arms across her chest, she asked, "Shouldn't you offer me a drink first?"
Tyler blew out a breath and slightly rolled his eyes as he nodded his head off to the side, telling her to follow him.
He walked over to the small bar and made her a mixed drink. He knew she wasn't a big drinker so he went light on the liquor.
He walked back over to her, handing her the drink as he said, "Here you go."
She nodded her head in thanks, then took a big swallow as she nervously glanced around the room. As much as she was over there while they were dating, she never went into many of the rooms in the house, and the room she was standing in now was one of them.
She walked away from him and admired all the artwork hanging on the wall. He watched her closely and saw the look on her face as she took in everything in the room.
He missed the little things about her; the smile on her face when she discovered something new, the way her eyes lit up when she was excited, the looks she used to give him that told him exactly what she was feeling, and seeing it all now was like a punch in the gut.
"Rissa..." He softly said, taking a step toward her.
He didn't know what he was going to say next. He just wanted her to know that this wasn't easy on him, it's not what he wanted and it wasn't as easy moving on as it looked, but before he could say a word, Aimee walked into the room.
"Where's mine?" she asked, referring to a drink.
As Tyler walked back over to the bar with Aimee to make her a drink, she added, "Thanks for having us over. I think Sarah's got a thing for Jeremy."
Marissa rolled her eyes and kept her back toward them. She took a sip of her drink and continued to look at the painting in front of her while she listened in to their quiet conversation.
"Well, good for Sarah," Tyler said, handing her a drink.
Aimee took a sip, then glanced over where Marissa was standing. Rumor had it they were broken up, but it was clear to see from the looks on both of their faces, neither one had moved on.
She looked back at Tyler and took a step toward him to quietly say, "Look, I'm sorry if coming here caused any problems with you two."
Tyler looked over at his blonde ex for a moment, then looked back at Aimee as he said, "Don't be. We're broken up and moving on."
"Doesn't look like it," Aimee softly said, looking between the two again.
At her comment, he looked over at Marissa and tried to see what she saw. Was his ex giving off some kind of vibe that he wasn't getting? Was it just as hard for her as it was for him?
Aimee raised her eyebrows at him, as if telling him to go for it, then turned and left the room to join her friend and Jeremy.
Tyler took a sip of his drink for courage, then walked over to stand behind Marissa as she continued to look at the painting in front of her. She heard everything between Tyler and Aimee but had to act like she heard nothing.
"Hey," Tyler said, getting her attention as he stepped aside to stand beside her.
"Hey," Marissa said back as she turned her head to look at him for a moment. "I like this," she added, referring to the painting.
It was a painting of a lone woman standing in the middle of a field of wild weeds with dark woods surrounding her. She didn't know what the woman's story was, but in a way, she could relate to her. Even with no one by her side, the woman didn't look sad or even scared, there was a look of acceptance- like she had accepted her fate of being alone.
Growing up, she had always had Jeremy on her side, she had never known what it felt like to battle something alone, but since being turned that feeling has changed. She knew it was only a matter of time before she had to cut everyone out of her life- even Jeremy- like she had to do with Tyler. She needed to do whatever it took to protect the ones she loved. She needed to be like the woman in the painting, she needed to accept her fate.
"Yeah, it's nice," he agreed. "It's not like you haven't seen it before though."
"I haven't seen it before," she argued.
"It's been in this room since before I was born," he pointed out.
"But I've never been in this room," she said back. "You know, there are some rooms in this house I still haven't seen."
"That's not true," he said, shaking his head. He thought about it for a minute, then added, "Is it?"
"Yeah it is true," she said. "You always plan to give me the full tour, but somehow, we always just ended up in your bedroom," she added with a laugh as she turned her head to look at him. "You are the worst tour guide ever, Ty."
"I never heard you complaining when you were in my room," he joked.
"And I never said ending up in your room was a bad thing," she said back as she flashed him a teasing smile.
The two looked at each other for a moment as several memories hit them both at once. It wasn't just bedroom memories; it was dates at the Grill and sharing fries, walking hand and hand down the halls and sneaking kisses in empty classrooms, cuddles on the couch while watching her favorite romantic comedy movies or hiding her face in his shoulder while watching his favorite horror movies- they had a lot of great memories in the short time they dated.
She had no doubt there would have been more, she would always believe they were meant to be and they brought out the best in each other, but she had to protect him even if it broke both of their hearts.
They were quiet for a moment until Tyler cleared his throat and they both turned back to look at the painting.
Leaning toward her, he softly said, "Hey, just so you know, I didn't invite them over here to hurt you or anything."
When she turned her head to look at him, he added, "You broke up with me and it sucks. I don't like it, but I understand, and I would never purposely hurt you."
"I know," she quietly said back.
She blew out a breath, happy to see the compulsion was still working. She hated to compel him, just as much as she hated breaking up with him, but in the long run she knew it was for the best. Even if Mason didn't threaten to out her, she knew her life was too dangerous now. She couldn't risk him getting hurt.
"So you're not planning on asking Aimee out?" she questioned. She knew it wasn't any of her business, but she couldn't stop herself from asking.
"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "I'm still trying to get over the last girl I dated," he said honestly as he looked at her from the corner of his eye to see what her reaction was.
Marissa lowered her head and smiled at his words. She knew she should say something to push him to move on and forget her, but a part of her was happy to hear his words. Even if it made her feel selfish for loving it.
The two went into another comfortable silence until she remembered something Aimee said earlier. She told herself to keep her mouth shut, but the words still tumbled out before she could stop herself.
"Do you think it's true? That Sarah has this big crush on Jeremy all of a sudden?"
Hearing a scoff, she looked at Tyler and saw him shake his head, causing her to ask him what was wrong.
He couldn't hide the hurt in his eyes as he said, "So that's why you're here. For Jeremy."
"What-No!" she stated. "That's not-"
"Actions speak louder than words, Ris," he interrupted. "From the moment you walked in this house, I saw it, you were jealous about them being here," he added, referring to the girls. "And it seems like you're more jealous about the fact that a girl is interested in Jeremy, than if one was interested in me."
"That's not true-"
"Plus that's the reason you gave for dumping me, right? Because you love Jeremy?"
She lowered her head as the lie she told him crossed her mind. She did feel something for Jeremy, but the truth is she was still very much in love with Tyler. But that was a truth she couldn't tell him, it would only confuse things.
"You know, when you first gave me that excuse, I thought you were lying...I thought you were just making it up, but now I see that maybe it is true. Maybe one of us has already moved on," he said, before taking a sip of his drink, hoping he didn't sound as hurt as he felt.
Even if he was doing a good job hiding it, she could feel the sadness coming off of him and she hated that she was hurting him over and over again. When did she become this person? She thought becoming a vampire was what made her a monster, but it seemed lately it was more her actions that made her one.
Raising her head to look at him, she softly said his name, but he cut her off with a hint of annoyance, "Why don't you just ask what you need to ask, so I can get back to my guests."
Clearing her throat, she opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. There were other things she wanted to say to make things better, but she could tell he had closed himself off and nothing she said would make a difference now.
"Okay," she breathed out, deciding to do what he said. "What we needed to talk about was-"
Before she could finish speaking, Sarah spied Jeremy's sketchbook inside his book bag on the couch and came into the room to ask if she could look at it.
Initially, Jeremy said no, but when Sarah grabbed the sketchbook, he remembered the werewolf drawings he had done and figured it was a good chance to start a conversation about it later with Tyler. At the time he didn't even think about what else could be in the book.
As everyone crowded around the sketchbook, Marissa let out an annoyed sigh, realizing her talk with Tyler was over now, causing her to walk over to join the others.
Sarah flipped through the book and came across a few random drawings, then came across one he drew of Marissa. When she passed by several more of the blonde, the two girls looked over at her for a moment while Tyler and Jeremy avoided looking at anyone. Both boys were in love with the same girl and they couldn't think of anything more awkward than that.
"I'm surprised there are so many of you in here," Sarah stated as she looked over at Marissa.
"I'm not," Tyler bitterly said as he took a big swallow of his drink, finishing it.
"I just draw what I know and I know my best friend," Jeremy said, trying to downplay it. He wasn't going to point out that he drew her because he's in love with her. That would just make the situation even more awkward.
Marissa smiled at the comment, until Sarah spoke up, "Maybe you can draw me sometime." She shot him a flirty smile as she added, "After you get to know me more of course."
"Uh, yeah, maybe," Jeremy said, unsure what else to say back. He glanced over at Marissa for a moment, seeing the annoyed look on her face and could swear she almost looked jealous as well, which surprised the hell out of him.
He turned his attention back to Sarah when she came across his werewolf drawings and commented on them. He saw how uncomfortable Tyler looked as he took the notebook from Sarah and asked Jeremy what the pictures were about.
Marissa and Jeremy were watching him closely now, as the latter said, "Just some sketches. You still draw, Tyler?"
"A little, but not much," Tyler answered as he flipped through a few more pages. Stopping on a picture of a wolf Jeremy had drawn. His finger lightly tracing the wolf outline.
"You know, I have something that I'm actually working on." He nodded his head toward the other room as he added, "Come on, I'll show you."
Jeremy and Marissa looked at each other again, both wondering what Tyler wanted to show him. He looked back at Tyler and said, "Yeah. Okay, sure."
"I want to see too," Marissa stated.
"I dunno if that's a good idea-"
"I'm going too," she said, interrupting Tyler. Whatever he was planning she was going to be there.
Knowing he couldn't talk her out of it, he nodded his head and led both of them toward his father's office, while Sarah and Aimee went back to drinking.
As they walked into the room, Tyler instructed Jeremy to look on the desk, then told Marissa he had more up in his room and asked her to go get them to get her out of the room so he could question Jeremy privately.
She nodded her head, then left the room and walked over to the staircase until she heard the sound of someone being slammed against the wall, followed by someone being choked. She rushed back into the office and saw that Tyler had Jeremy pinned against the wall with his hand around his throat.
"Tyler!" Marissa called out, but he ignored her as he called out to Jeremy, "Answer me! Why? Why wolf pictures?"
Marissa rushed over to them and grabbed Tyler's shoulder to pull him away from Jeremy. He bent over for a moment, trying to catch his breath, before he said, "Because...Because I know, Tyler."
"You know what? You know what, Jeremy?" Tyler snapped as he tried to take a step toward him until Marissa stepped in the way to stop him. He was too anger at the moment to even question how the hell she was able to hold him back. At the moment, he just wanted to know what Jeremy knew.
Jeremy glanced over at Marissa and wondered if he should say what he was about to say. When she gave him a nod, telling him to go on, he looked back at Tyler and said, "I know what you are."
"What?" Tyler breathed out, trying to act like he had no idea what he meant by the comment.
"I know," Jeremy repeated.
"We both do," Marissa quietly added as she glanced over at her ex and saw the look in his eyes; a mixture of fear and confusion. From that look she realized whatever was going on with his family, he didn't know much and the little he did know terrified him.
Tyler took a few steps back to put some distance between himself and them. "How do you two know about all this?"
Marissa cut her eyes at Jeremy and shook her head, begging him not to give away her secret. He nodded his head back in understanding, he knew another way he could admit things.
"My uncle John left this old diary lying around. It was written by a crazy Gilbert ancestor who wrote about this curse that runs in your family."
"A curse about what?" Tyler questioned, even though he had an idea what the answer was.
"Werewolves," Marissa answered as she looked over at Tyler with a concerned look on her face. Whatever supernatural drama was involved in his family- she hated seeing him in the middle of it.
"You believe this too?" Tyler asked Marissa as the two locked eyes.
"I do," she softly said.
"It's crazy, right?" Jeremy added.
They saw Tyler slightly roll his eyes before turning his back to them, but that didn't stop Jeremy from continuing, "But then, Caroline and Matt was attacked by a wolf under a full moon and your uncle had just gotten back to town. It was too weird."
Tyler poured himself a fresh drink and sat down on the couch. Marissa and Jeremy walked toward him as he took a sip from the glass. The blonde kept her eyes on her ex as she asked, "Is it true?"
"About my uncle?" Tyler questioned as he turned his head to look at them. He paused for a moment, before finally nodding his head as he said, "Yeah."
Marissa took a step closer to him and sat down beside him on the couch. "But, Ty, are you- you're not-"
"A wolf?" Tyler interrupted her. "I'm sorry, a werewolf?" he added, still finding all of this hard to believe.
He closely watched her for a moment and could see how worried she was for him. She was just as scared for him as he was for himself. He couldn't stop himself as he reached out to take her hand, he needed that comfort from her.
Running his other hand through his hair, he said, "No. I mean, not yet." Realizing what he said, he shook his head and added, "You know, hell, just- just saying that out loud, I sound insane."
"No, you don't," Marissa softly said, catching his eye. She intertwined their fingers and added, "I promise you, you're not insane, Ty."
"How does it happened?" Jeremy questioned, interrupting the moment between them and getting their attention. "I mean, how do you become a werewolf?"
"According to my uncle, you have to trigger the curse," Tyler explained, "Somebody has to die at your hands, like a murder or an accident. I basically have to cause death and then, boom; next full moon, I'm howling on all fours."
Marissa squeezed his hand and blew out a breath. She couldn't let him trigger that curse and become a werewolf. She didn't know what all that entailed, but she assumed it wasn't good- especially if it happened after killing someone. She had caused death before, because of her someone died and she had to live with that guilt every day. She didn't want any of that for Tyler.
"Is that why he came back? To tell you all this?" Jeremy questioned, wondering if that was the real reason for Mason's return to town.
"Yeah, right," Tyler said with a bitter chuckle. "He had to tell me. I caught him. He's not here from me."
He removed his hand from Marissa's, then reached into his pocket to pull out a stone. Holding it up for Marissa and Jeremy to see, he added, "He's here for this."
Marissa's eyes widen when she realized what it was. It was the moonstone Katherine wanted. That stone was why she was sent there and handing over that stone to Katherine would cause her to leave her loved ones alone. She needed that moonstone.
"Can I see it?" Marissa asked, hoping Tyler would just give it over to her.
"Yeah, sure," Tyler said, placing it in her hand.
Standing up from the couch, she looked at it closely and wondered to herself why it was so important to Katherine. What did she need it for so bad that she would threaten her loved ones over it?
"What is it?" Jeremy questioned.
"It's a moonstone," Marissa softly said as she continued to look at it.
Feeling eyes on her, she looked up and saw both boys staring at her with a shocked look on their faces as they wondered how she knew that. Giving them a shrug, she added, "What? I know things."
Tyler shook his head and gave a small chuckle at her comment, before saying, "I looked it up online. It's a natural rock but there supposed to have all sorts of supernatural legends attached to them."
"Why didn't you give it to him?" Jeremy questioned.
"Because he wants it. I'm a dick that way," Tyler stated, causing Jeremy to chuckle while Marissa looked over at him and shook her head to disagree. He might like for people to believe he's a dick, but she knew better than that. She knew the real Tyler.
"It's important to him for some reason but I don't trust the guy so I'm not just gonna hand it to him," Tyler continued to explain to them.
Marissa looked down at the stone in her hand. She ran her thumb over the smooth surface and wondered if she asked for it, if he would give it to her or if she should just try to leave with it. Either way, she knew she had to get it because if she couldn't give it to Katherine she couldn't imagine what the vampire would do to punish her.
Before anyone could say anything else, the door open and Aimee and Sarah walked into the room to join them. Sarah made her way over toward Jeremy as she called out, "Found you."
"Hey, you three are missing all the drinking," Aimee added as she stood beside her friend.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you three having a moment?" Sarah asked, seeing how serious they looked. "A little ménage à trois?" she joked.
As Marissa rolled her eyes at the comment, Tyler said, "No, we're good."
"Hey, hey, what is that?" Sarah asked, spying the moonstone in Marissa's hand. Before the blonde even knew what was happening, Aimee jerked the stone from her hand.
"Give that back!" Marissa snapped as she went to go after the girl before Jeremy quickly stood up to hold her back.
The last thing they needed was for her to vamp out and hurt someone, and he could tell from the look on his friend's face that is exactly what she wanted to do to Aimee.
"Pretty," Aimee commented as she looked at the stone.
"Okay, let's not play with the rock," Tyler said, standing up and walking toward Aimee, needing her to give it back.
"Well, come and get it," Aimee teased as she brushed past her friend while taking several steps back, forcing Tyler to follow her.
"Look, I'll play along for a little bit, but seriously, give it back," Tyler said, already feeling annoyed by this little game, but was trying not to lose his cool.
Aimee removed her hand from behind her back, showing that she didn't have the moonstone anymore as her friend Sarah spoke up, "Lookie here."
When the other three turned their heads, they saw that Sarah had the stone now.
"You snooze, you lose," Sarah said, before turning around and running from the room.
As the others chased after her, Marissa rolled her eyes as she mumbled to herself, "This is why you don't party with stupid, drunk girls."
She left the room to catch up with the others and saw that Sarah had begun to climb up the stairs. When Tyler told her to give him the moonstone, she replied that she wanted Jeremy to come get it.
"Just give it to him," Marissa said with an annoyed tone. "This whole, flirty, drunk act is not cute."
"Yeah, Sarah, don't be a bad drunk," her friend, Aimee, added.
"Jeremy, come upstairs with me. See how bad of a drunk I can be," Sarah teased as she shot him a flirty smile and ignored Tyler, who was walking up the stairs toward her.
Jeremy glanced over at Marissa and saw the same jealous look on her face as before. He kept his eyes on her as he called out to Sarah, "I'm good, thanks."
Sarah's face fell as she saw the way Jeremy and Marissa were looking at each other, but before she could dwell on it too much, Tyler tried to grab the stone from her hand.
The two went back and forth a few times until Tyler jerked it from her. During the struggle, Sarah lost her balanced and rolled down the stairs, landing on the floor with a loud thud.
"Oh, my God," Marissa breathed out as she placed her hands over her mouth. With wide eyes, she looked up and saw the look of panic that came over Tyler's face before he ran down the stairs.
The other three rushed over to Sarah to check on her. Marissa came to a stop beside Tyler and grabbed his hand. She wanted to let him know no matter what happened, she was there for him. She would help him through everything.
While Jeremy and Aimee tried to wake Sarah up, Tyler turned his head to look at the blonde beside him. He was relieved she was there for him, but he couldn't help but feel like his life was over. He couldn't help but think of the worst case scenario, that he had just caused someone's death and would be a freaking werewolf now.
Marissa and Tyler kept their eyes on each other for a moment longer, then turned back to look at Sarah with bated breath, wondering what was going to happen.
They didn't have to wait long when Sarah's eyes popped open and she laughed. "Fooled you."
Marissa blew out a relieved breath, then wrapped her arms around Tyler's middle and buried her head in his chest. Out of habit, he pulled her closer to him and rested his chin on top of her head, feeling like he could finally breathe.
Jeremy looked up at them and felt just as relieved, then felt his face fall when he saw Tyler holding Marissa. He quickly looked away and lowered his head to look at Sarah to make sure she was okay and tried to ignore the hurt he felt. Just because they were broken up didn't mean they would move on from each other or that he even had a shot with her.
Marissa raised her head to look up at Tyler and felt that familiar flutter as he watched her intently. As much as she enjoyed being in his arms, she knew it wasn't right. Things like this would just confuse them both, causing her to regrettably take a step back from him.
No matter what, she had to keep her distance from him. She would be there as a friend to help, but she couldn't be with him. There was too much at stake.
Tyler looked away from her and tried not to feel rejected. He turned his attention to the fallen girl as Sarah said, "You pushed me on the stairs!"
"Look, he didn't mean it, okay?" Jeremy stated, knowing it was all just an accident, but luckily it didn't turn out worse than it did.
As Aimee helped her friend up, then took her to another room to double check she was okay, Marissa made her way over to Jeremy to tell him she had to go and asked him to get a ride from Tyler. He nodded his head and told her okay, then watched as she quickly slipped out of the house.
After everything that just happened; the almost unfortunate accident and all the closeness with Tyler, she had to get out of there. It was all just too much for her to take at the moment.
She walked over to her car and reached out to grab the door handle until she heard Tyler call out for her as he walked out of the house and chased after her.
"Where are you going?" he questioned when he caught up to her.
"I promised I'll help out with the Historical Society Volunteer Day. I should have been there hours ago," she stated. She was glad she had that as an excuse to leave. "I probably should have just went there instead of here," she quietly said.
"Why did you come here, Rissa? Was it because of Jeremy?" Taking a step closer to her, he softly added, "Or was it because of me?"
Marissa shook her head and said, "I honestly don't know anymore."
She knew she had to get the moonstone from him- that was the original mission- but that could have taken mere minutes to do; so why did she have to stay longer? Was it jealousy or something more?
The two silently looked at each other before Tyler leaned forward until his lips were inches from her. He waited a moment to see if she would pull back or not, but when he saw her eyes flutter shut he laid a hand on the side of her face to cup her cheek.
He paused to give her another chance to back away, then closed the gap and pressed his lips against hers for a gentle kiss.
She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms around his neck and melting into the kiss. He ran his other hand down her side before wrapping it around her waist and pulling her closer. He let out a groan when she nibbled on his bottom lip, before capturing his lips for another kiss.
As the two rested their foreheads together to catch their breath, he quietly said, "I know I'm supposed to be moving on, but I can't walk away from you, Ris."
Marissa smiled as she remembered when he told her that the night they first kissed, but as much as she loved him, they couldn't be together. Which meant as much as she hated to do it, she would have to walk away from him.
A pained look appeared on her face as she pulled back and whispered out, "We can't do this, Ty." She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. "And trust me, this kills me just as much as it does you, but it's for the best."
Tyler scoffed and took a step back from her. "I just don't get you, Rissa."
"I know and I'm sorry for that. You just have to trust me on this," she said, turning around to open the car door until his comment made her stop.
"I don't know if I do anymore."
She turned her head to look at him with watery eyes. As much as she hated to hear that, she didn't blame him. She had not been truthful with him in awhile- ever since she was turned- she had to keep him in the dark about a lot of things and he didn't deserve that.
She nodded her head, accepting the comment, then opened the car door and slid behind the wheel.
Tyler stood still and watched as she crank the car and drove away from his house. She turned down a couple of roads to put as much distance as she could between them, then pulled off the side of the road and laid her hands on the wheel. She rested her head against her hands with a pained sigh as tears rained down her face.
The day had already taken a turn for the worst; Tyler was almost seconds away from becoming a werewolf, but thankfully it didn't happen. She'll never get that look of panic that came across his face from her mind. He was terrified of becoming one and she didn't blame him. She never wanted to be brought into this world and turned into a vampire.
Nothing was going according to plan, she was screwing up left and right and couldn't do the one thing she was supposed to do- get the moonstone. She hoped she could talk Katherine into giving her another day because it wasn't going to happen today.
Blowing out a breath, she wiped the tears from her face and pulled out onto the road. Now, she had to join her mother and sister while she pretended like everything was fine. She had to go act like the perfect, normal, sister and daughter while she volunteered at the park.
What more could go wrong?
•••
A/N; Thank you to everyone reading and/or adding the story. Also a big thank you to hellraiserphoenix, TheInsaneDuckkie, RHatch89, ArtemisLuna85, Ain'tEasyBeingBreezy, winxgirl1997, Guest, Guest, jessica. orr .1884, LunaEvanna Longbottom, 2lip123456789, Lucy Greenill, Bilbo Baggins Is My Hobbit, xxlisagalloverxx, Juliaesther, RoniCullen, lijahsgirl, awesome pichu, SarcasticEnigma, marceltheshellwithshoeson, TeamComrade11, harronhermy and thatwritersdream for reviewing.
Happy reading!
xx