A/N: So here's some of the background information that we've missed out on through my limited POV system. *shrug* We are doing our best here, people. But really, I hope I am keeping the quality of the story up.

Songs for this chapter:

"as long as you care" by Ruel

"All Good People" by Delta Rae, Vocal Rush

Chapter Seventeen: What Does a Moonstone Have to Do With the Aztecs?

-O-

"So Tim's done, huh?" Sabrina said as Miriam finished her last ward around the thresholds and windows, brushing bundles of herbs across the wood finishings.

"Yeah. What gave it away?" Reyna said, sitting cross-legged on the dining table.

Caroline watched curiously from a distance. "Probably when he went and threw up in Sabrina's bathroom,"

Reyna chomped on a apple slice. "That was a good indicator, wasn't it?"

Sabrina frowned, "Can you not remind me of that? The misophonia is real. Also, can you not get along?" She turned back to Miriam, who inhaled the last of the smoke. "It's freaking me out," she murmured.

Sabrina's own voice echoed through her mind. No control, no control, no control. How can you fix it when you've already messed up? Shut up, please! It's not helping to freak out. What has it ever gotten you this far? Thrown into the ocean with a bonus personality, dead cousin, intense desire to murder other people. Oh, and don't forget that building sense of impending—

Sabrina jumped when Miriam laid a hand on her shoulder. Miriam shook her head, "The ward's are up, but the tracking spell didn't work. Unless she's in four different corners of the map at one time. I'm sorry, Sabrina,"

Sabrina hoped her eyes didn't look glassy. "No, no. It's ok. As long as she can't get in here again,"

"You girls always wanted to be a detective gang." Miriam sat down at the table, pushing the hair underneath purple silk next to the silver bowls and candles. She patted Reyna once on the knee. Sabrina sat down in front of her friend while Caroline followed on the opposite side of the table. "Why would someone like Katherine Pierce come here for Caroline?"

"Nothing's ever spontaneous," Reyna said. "Everything's a calculation,"

"She wanted something only Caroline could give her,"

Caroline scoffed, digging dirt from underneath her fingernails. "Like I have that much to offer. Wanna know the prime qualities I offer at this point?" She counted on her fingers. "Insecurity, neurotic, control freak…on crack,"

Reyna hummed, "They seem to be family qualities if that helps,"

Sabrina pinched her side, "Can you be serious, please?"

"I will never and would rather die. Ow!" Her mother flicked the side of her head. "I dunno! Blame it on my absentee father. Ow! Ma, quit!"

"Did she say anything else, Caroline?" Sabrina asked. "You said you'd think about it while we were gone,"

Caroline stared down at the table before taking a deep breath, saying in a strong voice, "She told me we were going to have so much fun together. And what's even lamer, I was so scared I couldn't even say anything. Me. I couldn't say anything, not a word,"

"Caroline," Sabrina said softly, reaching and taking her hand. "You were facing the person who murdered you. Not hyperbolically. Literally murdered you. No one expects you to be getting over that amount of trauma as this exact moment,"

Caroline leaned forward, still grasping Sabrina's hand but propping her head on her other palm. "She needed my help,"

"With what?" Miriam asked, peering around Reyna.

"She tried to tell me what I was going to do. With Elena and Stefan. To come between them or whatever. For me to be as bitchy as possible I guess. I don't know. I don't know,"

Miriam lifted a brow, "The obsession is…interesting,"

"What obsession?"

"With Stefan Salvatore. Katherine has a reputation of cut and run, but everyone also knows there's always a plan,"

Caroline frowned, "And you think she's like obsessed with him?"

Miriam shrugged. "What else did she say?"

Sabrina felt Caroline's hand sweating. She squeezed her fingers more tightly. "Think, Care. You can remember,"

"Not much else happened before you came up the stairs." Something close to awe mixed with teenaged disgust rose in Caroline's expression. "How did you even get your face to look like that? Your eyes…It wasn't even you anymore,"

Because it wasn't me anymore, Sabrina thought.

You say it like we're so different— you and I. I assure you, you enjoyed it as much as I did. Perhaps even more. This body is inexperienced. That's the only way she escaped our grasp. Next time—…

She cleared her throat. "What did she say? Anything else?"

"She said something about a rock?"

"A rock?" Reyna said dubiously. "Like a gravel?"

Caroline snapped, "No. She said it like it was special. Sky something. Sunstone,"

"Moonstone?" Miriam offered.

Caroline pointed at Miriam. "Yes! That's it. She said we were going to find it and not to bother remembering anything about it." Caroline bobbed her head back and forth. "Which, y'know, obviously. Didn't have its intended effect,"

"Moonstone?" Sabrina asked. "What's that mean?"

"It means this may be a bit more serious than we originally thought. That's what this means," Miriam reached into her bag, taking out a pen, tossing it to Sabrina. "First things first though. Why don't we make it official? Caroline, dear. I would suggest standing outside for this. I've heard it can be very unpleasant to be stuck in a house where you haven't been invited,"

-O-

Tim shot to stand from the porch swing when Caroline opened the front door.

"Hi, Caroline,"

Caroline, speaking to Miriam, acknowledged with an eyebrow quirk but little else.

"Here, stand still," Sabrina told Reyna, signing the deed with the papers against Reyna's back. "My neighbors think I'm nuts. You know, the one down the street?"

"The one who thinks she's from Minnesota? Hey, don't forget to initial the last page too,"

"That's the one. Do I need to date this?"

"Nah. It should be ok." Reyna turned her head. "She still want you to go out with her son?" She asked, grinning.

"Ugh, yes." She groaned, pulling the papers away.

"You might have led him on by making eye contact once in the eighth grade,"

Sabrina punched her arm with a laugh. "Oh, c'mon,"

Tim stood with his arms pin straight so as not to brush against Caroline. Sabrina winced with second-hand embarrassment.

"It's painful, isn't it?" Reyna whispered, propping her head on Sabrina's shoulder.

Sabrina's hum was an octave higher. "Mmm. It's…it's a phase. It'll be fine,"

Tim cleared his throat. "Are we done with the wig-making business?"

Reyna retorted, "Are you done acting like a seven-year-old girl?"

Tim gave a bitchy look, "Screw off, Reyna,"

Miriam stepped in between them, reprimanding them both. Sabrina stepped around the argument.

"Wanna try it out?" She asked Caroline. "I signed the deed. You are officially kicked out,"

Sabrina wanted her to smile, wanted to be the cause of it. The memories of Caroline in tears and wracking sobs echoed too frequently these days. With Matt gone from Caroline for now, Caroline hid away the grief underneath layers of control and neuroticism, like a crack in the corner of bulletproof glass.

Caroline scoffed, "Doubtful,"

Sabrina nodded, "Oh, ok. So you wouldn't have trouble following me into the house?" Stepping back over the threshold, she smiled teasingly. "You wanna try?"

Caroline clicked her tongue. "Fine. I will." She cracked her knuckles, stretching out her arms like a track star before a race, staring in determination at her cousin, who leaned against the wall just inside the door.

"I'm waiting, hot stuff,"

Sabrina howled with laughter when Caroline immediately bounced off the invisible barrier. Bent over, Sabrina held her stomach as she cackled. Caroline frowned, taking on her best impression of a mime, running her hands.

"What—?" Caroline pounded against the barrier. The Weinburgs stopped arguing to watch. With all her strength, Caroline rammed against the field with her fist. She pushed until her feet slid back. Panting, she finally allowed, "Well? Are you gonna let me in?"

Sabrina grinned, humming, "Mm. Maybe. I dunno, I kinda like this. I feel pretty empowered right now,"

Tim snorted, and Caroline whirled around to glare. Tim sucked all his joy directly back into his body. Caroline turned back to Sabrina, tucking her lips to hide a smile. She griped, "You're not funny, and megalomania doesn't suit you,"

"How do you know? This could be a new part of my personality,"

Miriam smothered a laugh behind her hand, attempting seriousness, saying, "Oh, don't be so mean to her, Sabrina,"

Caroline stomped, "Yeah. Don't be so mean to me,"

Sabrina and Miriam shared a smile over Caroline's shoulder.

"Fine." She shoved a grave somberness over her visage. "Ok, Caroline Rose Forbes…will you please…" she paused.

Caroline whined, running fingers through her hair, laughing, "Sabrina!"

"Fine," Sabrina grinned. "Please come inside,"

Caroline rushed inside, playfully shoving Sabrina, "Just for that, I am telling the delivery guy to push the bed frame back off,"

Sabrina gasped, "You wouldn't!" She laughed. "I have the back of a ninety-year-old,"

Miriam brushed past the two of them, returning to her grimoires at the table. "Don't wish for old age. It gets here soon enough. Trust me,"

Caroline bumped Sabrina's shoulder as she went past, throwing a mischievous half-smile over her shoulder. Her eyes crinkled in fondness.

Reyna stood next to Sabrina with a quirked brow. "If I'm ever that adorable, please, feel free to kill me,"

Sabrina sat at the table while Miriam opened a new book. Sabrina asked, "Ok, so, what's a moonstone?"

-O-

Now Miriam, Sabrina, Caroline, Reyna, and Tim sat around the breakfast table. Miriam held an orange and an apple in each hand.

"The sun and the moon curse," she began. "The story's an old one. It probably goes back at least eight or nine centuries,"

Reyna waggled her eyebrows, "Still not as old as ours,"

"So," Caroline said skeptically. "The apple and orange are stand-ins for the sun and moon?"

"No, vampires and werewolves,"

"Vampires? Fine. But werewolves?" Sabrina laughed in disbelief. "Really? I mean, come on. Are they even real?"

Reyna and Caroline whirled to stare at her.

"Really, Flipper?" Reyna asked in askance.

At the same time, Caroline said, "Don't be such a doubty pants,"

"Unfortunately, werewolves are very, very real, Sabrina. I have the scars to prove it from hunting days," Miriam pulled down the collar of her loose t-shirt. Dull red lines ran across her left shoulder.

Caroline leaned back, swallowing, "Hunting days?"

"Money was tight in college," Miriam said as her only explanation.

"So the whole schtick? Turning in the sight of the full moon? Werewolf packs with a silver allergy?" Sabrina said in disbelief and a hint of doubt. Miriam gave a half-shrug, and Sabrina leaned forward, her expression dropping. "Woah, wait. Really?"

Miriam grabbed the grimoire at the bottom of her stack. "I found this book while I was at the University of Miami. There was a little shop with great Cuban espresso. An old grandma recognized me,"

Tim frowned. "How'd she know you?"

"Well, not me. What I was, I suppose. Called me a Shedim and everything,"

Reyna's voice was unusually thoughtful. "I've never heard you talk about this, ma,"

"I didn't think it was important,"

Caroline asked, "Who was she?"

"A witch doctor. She practiced Santeria. Although I always thought she had a little Palo Mayombe going on the side,"

Caroline shook her head. "Yeah, those words mean nothing to me,"

"Witches, Caroline. Dark and light magic. Difference between a newly renovated mid-century modern and an old Gothic house getting ready to fall into the ground," Reyna said, taking the orange when her mom laid it on the table. She began peeling, releasing a sharp citrus tang in the air. "Just witches,"

Caroline looked at Miriam. "Like Bonnie?"

Miriam nodded, giving Caroline a merciful smile. "They're both ancestral so it's a good comparison, Caroline,"

"Back to the apples and oranges," Sabrina prompted.

"Ah. Right. Tonartsliitsii Metslii, which roughly translates into the "curse of the sun and the moon." She turned the book, pointing to the various illustrations. "Aztec. It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia."

"An Aztec myth that moves through Virginia?"

"Well, it's called the Land of Northern Darkness here, but the shape of the map denotes the location as well as the pictography. The short story: 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, who's ever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

"That's very melodramatic but what does that have to do with what's going on here?" Sabrina asked.

Reyna continued, "It doesn't follow Katherine's tenacity. And willingness to get partially scalped,"

Sabrina scowled.

"What? I didn't say it like it was a bad thing,"

Tim ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe it has to do with the origin story,"

Everyone whirled around to look at the youngest Weinburg. His mom spoke first then Sabrina.

"What do you mean, Tim?"

"Yeah, how does an origin myth translate to reality in this instance?"

Tim tipped his chair forward so all four legs touched the ground. "Well, y'know, like in video games,"

Reyna scoffed. "Oh, this'll be good,"

Tim ignored her, "In video games, the origin story is important because there's a clue on how to defeat the bad guy,"

Sabrina's fingers tapped against the table while Caroline and Reyna argued with Tim. She held up a hand. "No, wait. He could be right,"

Tim, Caroline, and Reyna all had the same question:

"What?"

"Well, maybe. About the origin story at least. There's a reason Katherine is after the moonstone,"

"And you think it has something to do with her past?" Miriam said.

"I'm positive it does. But Tim's right that it's related to the moonstone too. Could someone use the moonstone to undo something, Miriam?"

"Like what?"

"Since self-preservation seems high on Pierce's list, I doubt it's to undo vampirism." Reyna swallowed two orange slices. "I've heard that's slightly permanent,"

Sabrina raised her hands. "I dunno. I really don't. Maybe it has something to do with werewolves." She scrubbed her hands over her face. "I have some serious reading to do. Do you guys have any—?"

Miriam interrupted. "I'll have Reyna bring them by the library on Monday,"

"Can the werewolves control their transformation?" Sabrina asked.

"It wouldn't really be a curse if they could control it," Miriam rejoined. "Werewolves will attack humans but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice: vampires."

Caroline snarled her nose. "Someone would've told me if there were rampant vampire killers on the loose. I feel like that would be a more top priority in conversation,"

Miriam bobbed her head, "Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive. Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction. They could've made a great National Geographic documentary about it, I'm sure,"

"Why would they?" Caroline trailed behind Miriam. "Hunt them like that?"

Miriam looked away from sorting the papers in her books, meeting Caroline's gaze. "To protect themselves. Legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires,"

Caroline didn't shrink away. Caroline never faltered. But Sabrina noticed the way her shoulders stiffened, her hackles rising. She simply said, "Oh,"

Reyna moved back to the living room, collapsing into one of the leather armchairs, curling her legs underneath her. "Just don't get bitten, Caroline,"

Caroline mocked under her breath. "Just don't get bitten, Caroline,"

Caroline's phone dinged. Reyna and Sabrina exchanged a look.

Sabrina cleared her throat. "Care?"

Caroline didn't stop looking for her phone. "Yeah?"

"Despite the fact that I want you nowhere near this supernatural BS,"

Caroline scoffed. "A little late for that,"

"I know," she said, her tone sharp with impatience. "I know, that's what I'm trying to say. I want Pierce gone."

Her head on a spike, the voice helpfully supplied.

Reyna side-eyed her when Sabrina forcefully jerked her head, clenching her eyes shut. Sabrina continued, "We know one reason why she could be here. Well, two technically. The moonstone and Mason Lockwood,"

Reyna counted on her fingers before nodding. Caroline stopped searching for her phone, looking up with a thoughtful frown. "Like Tyler Lockwood's uncle? Or cousin or whatever?" She shook her head, returning to her bag. "I dunno,"

"We need to find out if he's a werewolf,"

Caroline's hands slowed but didn't still. "Mason… Lockwood, a werewolf? OK… And you propose to do this how?"

"Elena." She said. "She's having him over with a hunter and probably Salvatore."

"It's what the message says too." Caroline snapped her phone shut. Sabrina held her breath.

Caroline looked over. "You're not going like that, are you?" She asked as if embarrassment would be worse than possibly dying from a werewolf bite. Sabrina's face dropped, her brain stalling, much like an engine that still had to be turned at the hood to start.

She looked down. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" A blue sundress and sandals with a long French braid. "You bought this for me?"

"Yeah, like three years ago," she said, slipping her phone into her capris pocket. "Little House on the Prairie isn't something I want to match with." Caroline began walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"To find an outfit for you that's not hideous." She disappeared into Sabrina's room before calling. "You need to make a side dish!"