Dark Side.
Chapter 11: The Return. Part I.
"Isn't it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone.
Tear me to pieces, skin and bone.
Hello, welcome home."
—Lovely. Billie Eilish.
Life is funny. Cassandra spent most of the Founder's Day parade and celebration with Caroline and Matt, and yet, during the half hour in which the world went to hell, the two humans never crossed her mind. After all, they're human, which automatically put them in the 'safe' category of her brain.
She is proven wrong by an anxious call from Matt, telling her that he, Caroline, and Tyler got on 'a freaky car accident', and that Caroline apparently has 'a brain bleed or something'. She can't help but be shocked by it, until Matt tells her where they were—barely a mile away from town—and who was driving—Tyler, AKA Junior Werewolf. AKA a supernatural creature—and her shock melts into slight irritation, but almost wicked satisfaction, because now Bonnie will truly feel guilt. This is Bonnie's fault, once more the witch's prejudice and hatred has jeopardized her friends' wellbeing.
Still, Cassandra rushes to the hospital, partly because it is expected of her, but mostly because she's surprised to find she feels real worry for Caroline, her over-eager and slightly obnoxious human friend, who lacks something vital her vampire friends have: a superior ability for healing. Entering the hospital, she wastes no time going up to the third floor, where the big index board tells her the ICU is located. According to Matt, Caroline is still in surgery, but she'll be put in the ICU once she gets out of the OR.
Elena and Bonnie are standing right next to the main desk. Elena, still wearing the clothes from earlier that day, hair tumbling over her shoulder in soft curls, looks down at Bonnie with a concerned frown dipping her mouth and eyebrows down. Clearly, she has already forgotten about the tense argument she had with Bonnie earlier.
Cassandra has more trouble with that particular feat. Which is why she walks past both teenagers and straight to the main desk, hoping to get some sort of information on Caroline before having to talk to Elena. The last thing she wants to do is look Bonnie in the eye.
"Hello," the nurse behind the desk gives her a well-practiced, polite smile.
She's on her late twenties, African-America, with a curly mane of chestnut hair pulled back into a tight bun. Cassandra wastes no time taking a deep breath in, hoping to find no trace of vervain in her scent. Bingo, she thinks, nearly smiling when the pesky herb isn't mixed with the woman's natural scent.
"How may I help you?" the nurse continues.
Cassandra sends her an innocent smile, leaning on the desk's surface slightly so she can maintain eye contact. Unfortunately, Elena interrupts her before Cassandra can compel every single bit of information this woman has on Caroline out of her. Sighing, she turns to the right.
"Elena." Cass acknowledges the human girl's presence.
Her eyes jump to Bonnie, who is awkwardly standing in the sidelines. She fights the urge to growl. Biting her tongue, she walks away from the desk, noticing a couple of people stand behind them, mistaking the two girls for a queue. Elena follows her, until they are in the middle of the hallway, still a safe distance from the treacherous witch Cassandra made the terrible mistake of calling a friend.
"Caroline is still in surgery." Elena lets her know softly.
Cassandra frowns. That's not good. It's been a while, she should be out and in recovery already.
"Have they said anything?" Cass asks, deciding to allow her distaste of Bonnie to filter to the back of her mind. "About how she's doing?"
"Sheriff Forbes said—well, she said—" Elena struggles with the words. A tight knot forms in Cass's chest, twisting and turning in the most painful way. After a deep breath in, Elena regains composure. "They're doing everything they can, but it doesn't look good."
In front of them, Bonnie lets out a squeak. Cassandra shoots her an exasperated look. Caroline is probably going to die. By the sound of it, she won't even wake up for a moment when family and friends can say goodbye. They're waiting for terrible news in the most depressing floor of a sacred building, and Bonnie is too busy eavesdropping and pretending she isn't afraid of Cass.
"If you're going to eavesdrop," Cassandra calls out to the witch. "You might as well join us."
Elena turns to Bonnie as well. The witch's heartbeat reaches an even higher peak. She does not, however, show how startled she is by the vampire's words. Clearly, Bonnie's knowledge about vampires isn't as extensive as she would like to believe, and the witch has no idea that Cassandra knows how tense and scared Bonnie really is.
"This is my fault." Bonnie admits once she reaches them, hands tightly wound around her torso.
"Wow, you're finally right about something." Cass rolls her eyes. Her tone of voice is acidic enough to erode through metal.
"At least I don't hurt innocent people just because I can." Bonnie snaps back.
Cassandra realizes the girl is looking at her with the same amount of anger she uses when talking to Damon. The hatred the witch feels for the oldest Salvatore isn't there, but Cass thinks it won't be long until it is. She briefly wonders if Bonnie researched her, and what she found is the reason for her sudden odium. Or maybe she's been pretending all this time.
"Guys, stop." Elena admonishes with a shake of her head. Her curled hair bounces with the motion, one strand of chocolate brown hair swaying in front of her face. "This isn't the time for you to argue. We need to be there for Caroline."
Cass keeps her unrelenting stare on Bonnie, refusing to step back first. When the witch eventually sighs, and turns to look at Elena, Cassandra allows her shoulders to relax. She decides to look at this rationally. Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline have been best friends forever. This situation cannot be easy for either girl, and Cass's bitterness will only add on to the grief-ridden energy crackling around them. So, she will bite her tongue and be polite.
"Is there anything either of you can do?" Elena asks hesitantly. "Like a… spell or something?"
In theory, yes. In practice, no. Lady Penelope Cambridge, Cassandra's favorite aunt, had a penchant for healing magic. She was… well, for lack of a better term, amazing. Cass had seen her heal wounds that looked beyond irreparable, leaving barely a scar as a reminder that said wounds had once been there. Her aunt had spent years trying to teach her how to do what she did, after all, it had been her father's wish that Cassandra specialized in healing magic, their coven lacked healers, and they were in great need of them.
Sadly, Cass sucked at it. She understood the concept, which is why in theory, she should be great at it. Except her magic, as always, had a mind of its own, and refused to cooperate. Lady Cambridge said it was because it clashed against Cassandra's natural gift and had instead altered her training to accommodate her natural abilities. Cassandra's father, Duke of Surrey, and, most importantly, Coven Leader, had not been content with that decision.
"I could brew a potion that would accelerate Caroline's natural healing process." Cass suggests.
Potion-making is basically chemistry. Cassandra excels in chemistry. While her healing spells never came to much, she knows a couple of potions that have remedial properties. Elena immediately perks up at the idea. A hopeful spark returns to her chocolate brown eyes. Even Bonnie seems to look at her with less anger. Except there's a little downside to it.
"It'll take about three days to make, though." She warns.
"That's too long!" Elena sighs. The light in her eyes dims. "Bonnie?"
Bonnie's widened dark green eyes jump to Elena. Her lips part slightly, clearly at a loss for words. Cassandra knows the answer before the girl even says it: NO. She's not sure whether Sheila Bennett knew anything about healing magic, but she knows Emily didn't. Cassandra sighs, looking down the hallway and immediately locking eyes with one Damon Salvatore, who is curiously eavesdropping into their conversation. She sends him a warning look, which, of course, he promptly ignores.
"She doesn't know how." Damon announces, positioning himself close to Elena. One might argue too close. Cassandra isn't sure, but she thinks he sounds almost proud at calling Bonnie out. "Do you?" he asks Bonnie.
Cassandra fights the urge to let out another sigh. This one, however, comes from irritation, not concern. This is not the best moment for Damon to be Damon.
"No, I don't." Bonnie admits.
"No, you don't." Damon repeats. "Because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that." Elena shakes her head, one hand going up to her forehead. Damon notices. His half-snarl softens into a sympathetic look that blurs the line into pleading. "I can give Caroline some blood."
The effect is immediate. Elena shakes her head, Bonnie's eyes narrow into a glare, and Cassandra simply lifts an eyebrow at the offer that clearly comes from just Damon trying to get in Elena's good graces… or maybe not. Could he care for Caroline? Cass doesn't know much about Caroline and Damon, just that they briefly dated for a while—during which he manipulated her and compelled her in such a cruel way Cassandra felt near sick—and that he and Sheriff Forbes are apparently friends.
"No, no way." Elena denies, defensive.
"No, just enough to heal her." Damon rectifies, hands up between him and Elena. "She will be safe in the hospital and it will be out of her system in a day."
"A lot can happen in a day." Cassandra interrupts. Elena finally looks away from the Salvatore brother and turns to her, worry and fear mixing in her face. "She will be better, but—I don't know, what if she slips and breaks her neck?"
It's a viable question. Caroline Forbes is the worst candidate for vampirism. She's controlling, over-sensitive, insecure, and feels her emotions strongly. If that's her as a human, as a vampire she might not be able to deal with the force of it all.
"We'll tie her to the bed." Damon rolls his eyes, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Sarcasm doesn't help." Cassandra narrows her eyes. Damon simply looks at her, unphased. "Give me three days. The potion will help her!"
"Caroline may not have three days, Cassie." Damon hisses at her, blue eyes jumping to Elena for a second.
Elena takes a sharp intake of breath. Cassandra glances at her, sympathy knotting on her stomach. She shakes her head. This is a bad idea, bad, bad, bad. But Damon's right, Caroline probably doesn't have the three days it will take Cassandra to brew the healing potion. And even then, the potion will only enhance Caroline's natural rate of healing, give it a kick. Caroline could still die while taking the potion, the only thing is, if she dies with the potion in her system she won't come back as a creature of the night. If they give her vampire blood, even if it's a little, she'll be fine within minutes, but there are dire consequences. Judas, this is worse than Sophie's Choice, she thinks.
"Fine." She relents.
"Cassandra." Elena protests with another shake of her head.
"Do it," Bonnie says. Elena sends her an apprehensive frown. Cassandra raises both her eyebrows, slightly surprised. Bonnie is the last person she thought would agree with Damon slipping his blood into Caroline's system. "This is Caroline, you guys."
"If I do this," Damon starts, leveling his eyes with Bonnie's, eyebrows tilting. "You and I, call it a truce?"
"No." Bonnie scoffs slightly, looking at him with disbelief. "But you'll do it anyway, for Elena."
Wow, Bonnie has no filter whatsoever. Damon doesn't react, but Elena seems strangely confused. Before anyone can say anything else, and probably worsen an incredibly awkward situation, Cassandra's phone goes off. She fishes it out of her leather jacket's pocket, staring at the screen with clear confusion. After all, no one's at her house, so there's no reason why HOME should be flashing across her phone's screen.
"Excuse me." She sends Damon and Elena a polite smile before walking away, not sparing Bonnie a glance.
Briskly, she turns the corner into the next hallway, trying to walk at a pace that would not raise suspicion. Not that it matters, as Bonnie has already left the corridor, and neither Damon nor Elena are paying attention to her. Still, she walks through fluorescently lighted hallways and faded-tile floors until she is far away than no vampire will be able to listen into this conversation.
"Hello?" Cassandra answers, tone of voice bored.
She has a pretty good idea of who is on the other side. She figures it's either Katherine, or Isobel. Right now, she has no time to deal with either vampire. Her suspicions are confirmed when a giggle reaches her from the other line, voice low and throaty. She immediately knows it isn't the newbie vampire, but her oldest friend in the world.
"Where are you?" Katherine whines on the other line.
Cassandra rolls her eyes, turning on her spot until her back hits the wall. Overheard, a slow-speaking, perfectly enunciated woman lets everyone know that Dr. Robbins is required at the E.R. for an emergency consult through the P.A. system. In front of her, the glass doors to one of the CICU rooms slides open, and a doctor dressed in dark blue scrubs and a disposable surgical mask around his face walks out quietly. Cassandra watches as he takes the surgical face mask off, revealing a brunet five-o-clock shadow, and thin pink lips.
"Seriously?" Cassandra snaps. "Katherine, you're out of control."
The doctor in front of her, Dr. Eriksen, M.D. Ph.D., sends her a warning look. She smiles apologetically, mouthing a sorry. The man shakes his head disapprovingly but walks away without any other warning.
"What do you mean?" Katherine asks. Her curious tone is fake, Cassandra knows this, and it is even more vexing.
"I don't know," Cassandra trails off, nonchalant. "The name John Gilbert mean anything to you?"
"Oh." Katherine giggles. "I was bored!"
"You were supposed to get rid off him, Kat!" Cassandra hisses quietly. "Not rearrange his insides and remove a couple of digits."
When Stefan sent her the quick text about John having been attacked—shortly after she got home after tonight's events—Cass nearly cheered out loud. Until she realized the youngest Salvatore had used the word attacked and not grisly-murdered. Sadly. She understands why Katherine did it. John Gilbert is officially a loose end. Both Katherine and Cassandra like theirs tied-up. Loose Ends talk, Loose Ends blackmail, and, if bothered enough, Loose Ends threaten and sell intel to the highest bidder. Long story short, Loose Ends betray and need to be taken care of effectively. Severing three fingers and stabbing him through the stomach is not taking care of a Loose End. At this stage, Katherine should know that.
"I would have, but my stupid doppelgänger got home early." Katherine protests.
"Right." Cass drawls. Absentmindedly, her hand reaches for a strand of her hair, index finger twirling around a curl and softly tugging at it. "Well, you better come back to finish the job before Damon and Stefan start asking questions I don't want answered."
The last thing she needs right now is the Salvatore brothers realizing that Stefan's theory doesn't really add up. If they storm into John's room, in typical Salvatore glory, and John blabs? Cassandra is done for.
"What do you mean?" Katherine wonders. Cass can practically see her frowning in her mind.
"Stefan thinks one of the tomb vampires hurt John. He says whoever it was probably wanted revenge." She explains, practically quoting Stefan's text verbatim. "Honestly, it's a pretty good theory, considering. So, I say we leave it like that. Case closed."
Her words are a warning, not a request. Katherine will have to accept it and keep in the shadows. Cassandra, however, will simply sneak into John's room late at night and inject him with a syringe full of air. If the man dies of an air embolism… well, that could be considered an accident, could it not? Some freaky side effect of surgery.
"Where's the fun in that?" Katherine pouts.
"Katherine, Damon and Stefan cannot find out you're here, okay?" Cassandra sighs, exasperated. Sometimes that trademark Petrova stubbornness can be a real pain in the behind. "Just stay there, don't do anything reckless."
"Mmm," Katherine ponders with a would-be-cute giggle. "Too late."
"What did you do?" Cassandra demands.
The only answer that Katherine deems necessary is a loud, cheery laugh.
"This isn't funny!" she admonishes. "What else did you fucking do?"
Her magic, located deep in her core, bubbles angrily. Cassandra knows it is as irritated as she is. Breathing in deeply, she prepares herself for whatever insensible thing Katherine has done at the same time she reinforces her magic's cage door.
"I may or may not have kissed Damon." Katherine explains. "He's gonna be so mad when he finds out it was me. Enjoy him; he's in a real good place emotionally."
"Real considerate, Kat." Cassandra hisses at her, not missing the way Katherine's tone turned teasing at the end.
"Oh, c'mon! I didn't plan it!" Katherine defends herself on the other side of the line. "He thought I was Elena."
The words hurt, more than she thinks they would. More than she knows they should.
"You didn't stop it, either." Cassandra grumbles, not trying to mask her discomfort.
Katherine might be a psychotic, manipulative bitch, but she's her psychotic, manipulative bitch. Cassandra trusts her with quite a lot, and vice versa, so she fails to see the point of masking her feelings.
"Red—"
"I must go." She interrupts. "Just—please, stay at the house."
"No promises."
With that, the line disconnects. Cassandra sighs, leaning back on the wall, eyes closed. Things were looking up! The only problems she had were John being alive and Caroline being hurt! And even then, she's already figured out a solution for both issues. She was free! She could finally leave Mystic Falls. And, yet!
She doesn't get why Katherine would mess around with Damon and Elena like that, but she knows, she knows, this is just the beginning. God, and here she has been thinking she'd be able to be in Greece by next Tuesday.
The drive to Elena's home is one filled with tension. Cassandra had only been back on Caroline's hallway for a minute, nails drumming against the smooth surface of the front desk as she waited for anyone she knew to reappear, when Damon and Elena rounded up on her and announced—quite theatrically, if Cass is completely honest—that Katherine had tricked Damon earlier that night, which could only mean that Katherine was the one who hurt John, not a random vampire like they (all? Please.) thought!
Cassandra didn't fake surprise. What she did, however, was let out a long sigh and fight the urge to look out into an invisible video camera like she was in an episode of The Office. Of bloody course she forgot about Damon's big mouth. The first thing she should have done when finding out that Katherine had kissed Damon was find him and somehow convince him not to say anything. But, no, she figured he'd be too wrapped up in the fact that he'd supposedly kissed his little brother's girlfriend to go around trying to converse about said kiss with said girlfriend.
"Let's go." She said, pushing herself from the front desk. When she was only received with puzzled stares, she added: "We need a contingency plan."
And that's how they're here, with her driving, Damon annoyingly tapping the car door at random intervals, and Elena yapping in the backseat about what's gonna happen now and how did this happen and Cass, did you know? the human girl doesn't even breathe between questions, doesn't even let one of the vampires answer. She keeps her voice at a low tone that would eerily remind Cassandra of Katherine if it weren't for the almost horror that clings to it, and the redheaded vampire assumes Elena is simply speaking with herself.
When she parallel parks next to the Gilbert residence's driveway, the engine hasn't stopped running entirely before Elena is out of the car, striding towards the house's porch. Damon is close behind, not a single word past his lips.
"Okay, then." Cassandra mutters, taking her car keys and climbing out of the car.
Elena waits until Cassandra joins the two of them on the porch to ram her key into the lock. Cass doesn't miss the way Damon's eyes travel around the front yard and down the seemingly deserted street. She wonders if he's too young still, or too distracted, to not hear the clear clamor coming from inside the house. Her answer comes when, instead of letting Elena push the door open herself, Damon takes a swift step forward, positioning himself right in-between Elena and the door, and opens the door with a nonchalant, yet careful, smirk on his face. Huh, she thinks unwillingly that maybe she underestimated Damon's capability at duplicity.
The view that receives them is only shocking to Elena. The landscape oil painting—which is, at least in Cass's opinion, a little out of place in a home like the Gilbert's—is askew and barely holding on to the nail on the wall. The couch cushions are either misplaced or on the floor, and the handknitted throw is on the floor behind the couch. The coffee table is situated in a left-bound direction, instead of its usual horizontal, straight one. Stefan is in the midst of rising to his feet, chest heaving up and down.
"Stefan!" Elena gasps, rushing to Stefan's side. "What happened?"
"Katherine happened." Damon answers immediately, eyes still roaming around the messy home in which a clear struggle of some sort has taken place.
Cassandra briefly wonders if maybe Katherine got to the youngest Salvatore brother in the same way she got to Damon. After all, why are the couch cushions in disarray? She dismisses the thought as soon as it forms in her mind.
In front of her, Elena turns to Damon, fear clouding her eyes. When it becomes clear to her that Damon is, in fact, not kidding, she rushes up the stairs. Stefan sighs, pivoting to the kitchen's general area as his arms cross. Damon and Cass follow, the latter not looking forward to the awkward conversation that's about to take place.
"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon asks his brother.
"No," says Stefan.
He leans on the counter next to the kitchen sink at the same time Cassandra sits on the Fiddleback chair by the kitchen table.
"Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance." Damon frowns, copying his brother and crossing his arms as well.
"That's not news." Cassandra scoffs lightly.
So, here is the moment where she either lies her head off when these two bombard her with questions, or finally comes clean. She knows what she'll do before that trail of thought is finished.
"She said she'd at least managed to fool on of us." Stefan thinks aloud, ignoring Cassandra's comment. "What did she mean by that?"
Cassandra physically witnesses Damon's mind panic at the question. It'd be funny, if it weren't for the tense atmosphere around them. His blue eyes widen slightly as he tries truly hard not to show how tense he suddenly is. Stefan notices. His eyes narrow with suspicion.
"She pretended to be Elena too when I showed up earlier tonight." Damon shrugs offhandedly.
Before Stefan can say anything, ask further as to how exactly Katherine fooled Damon into believe she was Elena—an awkward conversation that Cassandra wishes she won't have the bad luck of witnessing—Elena walks into the kitchen.
"I told Jeremy." Elena announces with a shake of her head. "I can't lie to him anymore."
She sounds tired, like this day has lasted a month. In reality, they're still in hour twenty-three. Stefan approaches his girlfriend, hands brushing her shoulders in comfort. Cass risks a glance back at Damon, who is the epitome of worry and sympathy, even if he doesn't move.
"Are you alright?" Stefan asks Elena.
"No, I'm not alright!" she sighs, lowering her eyes for a moment. "I thought that with all the tomb vampires gone things would get better."
This is directed at everyone else as well, not just Stefan. When Elena's brown eyes meet Cassandra's, the vampire manages a small reassuring smile. One that holds no real sentiment. Cassandra is done with this. She has no patience for this bully of a day. But Elena doesn't deserve her anger, so she swallows the urge to scream and hurt something down and smiles softly and comfortingly.
"Katherine has been invited in." Elena adds, front teeth worrying her bottom lip. "What are we gonna do?"
Stefan shakes his head slightly, hand rubbing down Elena's arm. He has no answer that would help her, no answer that would stomp down the panic running through Elena, the fear they can all smell. Cass remains quiet.
"Move." Damon chirps in with a too-light tone.
Both Elena and Cassandra turn to look at him at the same time, so coordinated that, were Cassandra not to be one of them, she'd think it uncanny.
"Very helpful, Damon." Elena snaps, tone dripping with bitterness. "Thank you."
Cass's green eyes narrow, she can feel the fire burning behind them, feel the message she sends him with every molecule in her body. Damon's eyes go down to her and immediately back to his brother and Elena. It happens so quickly that to the unaware beholder it looks like Damon's dismissed her completely. After all, nothing in his posture has changed. He's still leaning on the kitchen counter, still has a loose would-be smirk tugging at his lips. She knows different. She saw the quick flash of recognition in his eyes, saw the emotion she'd mistake as fear if he had any reason to actually be afraid of her. When he speaks next, the mocking tone in his voice is dialled down.
"If Katherine wants you dead, there's nothing you can do about it." Damon shrugs slightly, tilting his weight from one hand to the other. "You'd be dead. But you're not."
"Katherine doesn't want Elena dead." Cassandra rectifies, turning back in her seat.
When she does, she comes face to face with a seated Elena on the other side of the table. The brunette's reaction to the vampire's words is a mere parting of lips. The Salvatores, however, speak their mind at the same moment, in true brother fashion.
"What?" Stefan questions.
"Finally ready to spill the beans, huh?" Damon digs at her.
She takes a sharp breath in through her nose to stop herself from sighing exasperatedly. She refuses to give him the satisfaction of seeing her lose control.
"Do you know what a Doppelgänger really is?" Cassandra asks instead of sending a plate flying at Damon's head. Stefan frowns at her, while Elena simply blinks. "It is a supernatural entity destined to torment the person whom they're a shadow-self to."
Of course, in Elena and Katherine's instance the purpose of their doppelgänger status is quite different. Katherine is not attached to Elena; they are literally an occurrence made so nature will find a balance, at least according to magical history. Cass is still a little sceptical about that. After all, history is written by the survivors, and said occurrence happened so long ago, there's no way of backing up the story and figuring out what's fact and what isn't. She does know, however, that thanks to whatever happened eons ago which triggered these Doppelgängers into existence, said Doppelgängers have been used as ingredients to spells constantly. Much like the one Katherine killed herself over.
"But Katherine didn't come to be at the same time as Elena." Stefan points out. "She's centuries older."
"The point remains." Cassandra shrugs. "Elena has what Katherine wants. This is just… a game."
She's partially lying through her teeth and they're believing her! These people either value her too much or they're too naïve for their own good. Her mouth dries up, her heart beats harder. She doesn't know why. All she did was omit the part in which Katherine came to Mystic Falls to deliver Elena in a silver platter to Niklaus. Everything else was true. Katherine can't kill Elena, it'd be counterproductive. Something swirls in the pit of her stomach at that thought, heavy and hot and plunging.
"A game." Damon interjects. "So she has other plans."
Cassandra doesn't turn around to face him, worried he may be able to see the lie all over her face. Because while Stefan and Elena might mistake it for something else, Damon will definitely be able to tell. Get a grip, she admonishes herself, you've done worse things than this. Guilt has no business here. The statement feels empty.
"Right, and we need to figure out what those plans are and not provoke her in the process," Stefan says, green eyes digging daggers into Damon's. "What happened earlier, when you thought she was Elena?"
Cassandra straightens in her seat. The only sign that she might know something, might be hiding something, is an action that can easily pass as her seeking a more comfortable position in what can only be considered a highly uncomfortable chair, and a subtle swallow as she attempts to console her drying throat.
The moments after Stefan's words are stretched, covered by a thin layer of distrust the redhead can feel on her like a second skin. In that second, she realizes Katherine was right, she's compromised.
"To risk another frown line encroaching on a very crowded forehead…" Damon finally starts with a tone that is all joke. Cassandra's eyes meet Elena's. "We kissed."
"What do you mean you kissed?"
"Oh, you know, Stefan, when two lips pucker up and…"
It happens in a fraction of a second. Stefan growls and lunges at his brother, actions fuelled by rage and jealousy and nothing else. Damon avoids him at the last minute, flashing to the other side of the room until he stands by Elena's side.
"Don't be obvious, Stefan," Damon says, one finger up in the air.
Stefan follows after him. Damon repeats the same process, flashing away. Good grief, I am a side-character in a novel about a love triangle, Cassandra thinks bitterly. She takes the split second in which he speeds past her to her advantage. Her hand reaches out and holds onto his wrist. Her hold is strong enough that Damon has no choice but to halt in his step, if he wants to keep his arm, that is. The oldest Salvatore shoots her an annoyed look that borders on a disappointed pout.
"That's quite enough foolishness for one day, don't you think?" She shakes her head.
"She's right!" Elena jumps in. "Stefan, he kissed Katherine. Not me." She reminds her boyfriend kindly. "We don't have time for this."
The brothers regard each other for a moment. They both nod, eyes narrowed with a promise of what's to come, when they're in private without the two women to stop their quarrel. They're being stupid, throwing away what was starting to look like a relationship in the mends for one human girl. A lovely, kind human girl, but a human girl nonetheless.
"John must know something." Elena adds. "There must be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him."
Cassandra remains impassive, this time ensuring she does not move, not even a single inch. Elena seems to be the only one who isn't blinded by anger in this moment, the only one who has a clear enough mind to realize the only reason John was attacked is so he'd keep his mouth shut. In this moment, Elena is the dangerous one.
"She's Katherine. She loves to play games," Damon shrugs, once more speaking as if this matter has no importance. "You're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's been up to before she wants you to know." He adds, strutting towards the exit.
Okay, Damon is too preoccupied with his own problems to believe Elena. This is good. Things might just start looking up.
"No, actually Elena's right, John could know something through Isobel." Stefan interjects, probably just for the sake of arguing. Or, at least, Cassandra hopes. Those hopes are crashed at his following words: "she was in touch with Katherine. So, maybe we can go to the hospital and get him to talk."
Elena nods eagerly. Who can blame her? Any information they can get on their supposed enemy would go a long way. Except that said information will implicate Cassandra as well. Sure, she didn't come here because of Katherine, didn't kill anyone for her, but she was aware of everything, and Stefan and Elena already know she mysteriously wanted the tomb vampires dead. Now, Cassandra can only count on John being too afraid to give out anything.
"I have a better idea." Damon announces, happily sauntering towards the kitchen's door once more.
"What's that?" Elena asks, perking up from her crouched position.
"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch." Damon smirks, turning away once more. Clearly, there's some imaginary urgency that requires his immediate attention. "See you."
"Is that wise?" Elena goes on, rising to her feet in some feeble attempt to capture Damon's attention.
"If Katherine thinks she's been ignored it will lure her out." Damon sighs, hands lifting up slightly as he turns to face them. "She'll make a move."
For the first time in a while, his icy blue eyes level with her currently-dark-green ones in a challenge. She's not sure why he's looking for a fight but is slightly embarrassed at the fact that she's already lost. Damon's right.
"Oh, yeah?" Stefan is the one who, unsurprisingly, takes on the challenge. "And then what?"
Damon has a rebuttal within a heartbeat.
"Stake her, set her on fire." He gives them a pseudo-smile. "Something poetic."
"You are not killing her." Cassandra slowly rises to her feet, certain and demanding.
"The hell I'm not." Damon scoffs.
He takes a step closer to the table, which really isn't far at all, chest out in the stereotypical gesture that lets one know an alpha male is here and ready to go. But it's been five centuries since she last bowed down to a King, and she refuses to do so again. Not when it comes to this, her best friend's life. Better you die than I applies to neither Cass nor Katherine.
"Damon, she's my friend." She warns.
The air within the room turns tense in the same way nature quietens down before a natural disaster strikes. Their unrelenting stares don't stray from the other's.
"Stop me, then." He quips, smooth as silk.
There's a beat of silence, in which not even Elena breathes. Cassandra's lips stretch into a close-lipped smile, iniquitous and promising, as sharp as a knife, with the same capability to kill as a bullet. Slowly, she takes a step towards him, and another, never breaking eye contact, secretly enjoying the way his resolve slowly begins to dissolve.
"Careful, Damon." She stops when she's close enough she can feel his breath on her forehead. "This is not a fight you will win."
And, thus, Damon Salvatore is rendered speechless. She witnesses her words sinking into him like an anchor reaching ocean soil and knows that the message has been received loud and clear. Swiftly, she walks toward the door, fighting the urge to allow the mischievous smile threatening her lips.
Cassandra, 2. Damon, 0.
UPDATED: 16/01/2020