Disclaimer: If I owned The Vampire Diaries then I would have rated it M for Mature, it would be on HBO, and there would have been so many gratuitous nude scenes with Ian Somerhalder in the shower. That being said, the plot bunnies that come to me and the sexy scenes are all mine. It's my own creative genius and naughty imagination, and my readers will recognize these scenes instantly if they pop up in someone else's story. While imitation is a form of flattery, outright stealing and plagiarism are of the lowest vibrational energy and Karma is a bitch who is firmly on my side. Don't steal this and try to pass it off as your own, is what I'm getting at. People have done this before, and they always get called out.

Chapter 22: Masquerade Pt 1

Something felt...off. Elena couldn't quite put her finger on it, but ever since she reluctantly dragged herself from her bed to face the world and bring Jenna home from the hospital, she could sense that something was going on.

Something she wasn't supposed to know.

It had started after Caroline had forgotten to bring back lunch from the Mystic Grille, instead texting Bonnie that something had come up. Bonnie had then reminded Elena that she couldn't actually stay in bed all day anyway, because Jenna still needed to be driven home.

So she'd texted Matt, who had been more than happy to help out, and then Bonnie had stayed with her for a little bit, just to make sure she was okay. Still, she'd been so preoccupied, and since Elena hadn't felt like discussing her trip, or Damon, or the breakup, or Stefan, or anything else that had happened in the last seventy-two hours, they had mostly sat in silence.

That was when Bonnie had received a text too.

She'd looked alarmed, made up an excuse about her father needing her home, and then taken off.

That was when Jeremy had come in and asked if she was ready to go yet, to pick up Jenna.

Matt arrived soon after, and they'd headed to the hospital. Elena had sensed immediately, from the way that Jenna remembered nothing about her attempted suicide and murder by Katherine, that someone had compelled her into thinking she'd walked into a knife.

She suspected that it was Damon, and then her heart ached all over again.

Of course Damon had been there. She didn't know when exactly he had gone to see Jenna, but knowing Damon, he had probably gone to fix things as soon as he'd broken up with her last night, and then he'd gone back home to drink his weight in bourbon, scotch, and anything else he could get his hands on.

This thought should have been comforting for her, knowing that he was probably just as destroyed by breaking up with her as she was for being broken up with, but it hadn't been.

Instead, it had made her feel worse because if Damon was torn up about this breakup then that meant that he'd broken up with her while still being deeply in love with her, and it would be even harder to get him back if he had left her for what he felt were the right reasons.

Damon could be incredibly stubborn, but one thing that she knew was that when it came to her life, Damon would put her safety above everything else. Katherine's threat had done more damage than simply putting Jenna's life in danger; it had reminded Damon that Elena was not safe with him, or anyone close to Katherine for that matter.

As long as Katherine was around, Damon's sole focus would be on making sure that she didn't get anywhere near Elena, and as far as he was concerned his involvement with her had put the target on her back, same as it had with Stefan.

Elena wasn't sure how she knew this was what was behind the breakup, but when Alaric had failed to arrive at the hospital and instead texted that he would be over later, and then Bonnie and Caroline had been unreachable all afternoon, she had started to put the pieces together.

Jeremy had said something to her as well.

"What are we going to do about Katherine?" he'd asked.

"We're not going to do anything," had been her reply.

Jeremy hadn't accepted that. He'd gotten a look in his eyes, and Elena had gotten that feeling right away that Jeremy wanted revenge. Looking back, she might have asked him to stay out of it, or kept a better watch on him, but she'd been so preoccupied with caring for Jenna that she hadn't noticed when he'd slipped out of the house.

Matt had been odd, too. He'd mentioned he needed to do something and that he was going to the masquerade ball tonight, but when she'd questioned him about what it was that he had to do he'd brushed her off.

Everyone was acting so weird around her, and she was starting to get irritated because she had suspicions that one or both Salvatore brothers had something to do with all this secrecy.

Alaric had arrived later into the afternoon to hang out with Jenna, though he kept looking over at her as if he was somehow...babysitting came to mind. Of course, if her suspicions were true and Damon was trying to keep something from her, then it would make sense to have his best friend on girlfriend watch.

Ex girlfriend. Elena reminds herself bitterly.

She sighs, making her way back downstairs to join everyone in the living room. Alaric is in the kitchen, texting someone, and Jenna is lying on the couch where they left her earlier to rest.

The doorbell rings and Jenna calls out "Pizza". Noticing that everyone else seems to be elsewhere or otherwise occupied, Elena quickly grabs the pizza and tips the delivery guy before bringing the box inside. She grabs Jenna's cup of water, refilling it, and then sets it and the pizza box down on the table.

"I feel like an invalid," Jenna complains.

Elena sits down next to her. "That's because you are an invalid," she replies.

Alaric is still in the kitchen, engrossed in his phone. Elena frowns, noticing that Jeremy is also not here. Something is going on, and she doesn't like it.

"Where's Jeremy?" she asks, dishing out the pizza onto a plate for Jenna. "Isn't he hungry?"

"He already left for the Lockwood party," Jenna replies.

Elena stares at her, puzzled. Then she turns to watch Alaric again, and frowns. Jeremy's earlier words ring in her head. Suddenly, it's starting to make sense. The silence, the lack of communication from everyone all day, Alaric's sudden hovering behavior and the way he keeps getting texts on his phone...and now Jeremy.

"He went to that?" she asks.

"Yeah," Jenna says casually. "I'm glad. He needs to have more fun. Lose some of that emo thing."

Elena looks back toward the kitchen where Alaric is texting again. Something is definitely up, and she suspects that Alaric isn't just here to play the role of the doting boyfriend.

"I'm gonna go get some napkins," Elena murmurs under her breath, getting up from the couch. It's time to get some answers.

She approaches Alaric, watching as he tries to avert his eyes and focus on the wine bottle in front of him. Yep, she was right. He's trying to avoid her.

"What's going on?" she asks pointedly.

"What do you mean?" Alaric asks, feigning ignorance. It's all over his face though. He's hiding something…and it's big.

"I haven't heard from anyone all day," Elena presses. "It's like everyone's been avoiding me and now Jeremy's supposedly at the party? He hates stuff like that!"

Alaric shrugs, still averting her eyes. "I don't know what to tell you, Elena…"

Just then his phone buzzes on the counter. Elena glances down to look at it but Alaric quickly snatches it away before she can see anything and puts it in his pocket.

She narrows her eyes suspiciously and decides to try a different tactic.

"So then it'll be okay if I just head down, try to meet up with everyone…"

Alaric blocks her path. "Wait, wait, wait," he says.

"What are you hiding, Rick?" Elena demands.

"Damon asked me to keep an eye on you," he says quietly. "Just in case Katherine showed up while he was at the party."

"So Damon's at the party too? That doesn't make any sense! Why would he…"

Alaric sighs. His eyes stare into hers, almost like he's asking her to just drop the subject.

"Just let this one go. Okay, Elena?" he pleads.

She frowns, but simply nods her head. Her mind is reeling.

Damon is at the party. Possibly Stefan, Bonnie, and Caroline too. Actually, she would bet anything that the only people not at the party right now are her, Jenna, and Alaric. And the only reason Alaric is here and not part of whatever her friends and ex boyfriends are up to right now is because he's been appointed as her personal bodyguard and prison warden for tonight.

Well, if Damon thinks he can keep this from her, he's wrong!

The first question on her mind is…how will she get Alaric to let his guard down and relax with Jenna enough that she can sneak out unnoticed?

Stefan stares out into the crowd. As usual, Carol Lockwood has gone all out. There's fire dancers, jugglers…it's almost like a circus. A very expensive, high-brow circus with way too many unwitting victims in masks who had no idea what horrible fate could befall any one of them.

He frowns. It's too crowded and he can't spot Katherine anywhere among them. For all he knows, she's not here yet.

Damon approaches behind him, dancing his way through the crowd.

"Do you see her?" he asks, sounding a little too eager.

"Nope," Stefan says. "You're sure you can do this?"

Damon scoffs. "Who are you talking to?"

"Well, I had the chance to kill her and I hesitated," Stefan replies.

"Well that is the fork in the road between you and me, my friend," Damon says smugly. "I don't hesitate."

"You spent 145 years loving her," Stefan says defensively. "It could happen."

"I won't hesitate," Damon repeats with conviction.

"Okay," Stefan says, frowning.

Damon leaves to search the crowd, but Stefan remains behind. He doesn't want to admit it, even to himself, but what Damon had said…it stung his pride just a little bit. After all, he had hesitated. There was something about Katherine that he almost…pitied. Sure, she was evil now and had done a lot of horrible things. But once she had been a seventeen year old girl, innocent of the world and undoubtedly thrown into a life and fate that she hadn't deserved. He had never asked her what had happened, but there were those moments when he almost wondered if maybe Katherine was acting out of desperation. Maybe the reason she had faked her death had been because she was running from something…or someone.

He shakes his head to try to clear those thoughts. He can't think about that right now. He needs to have a clear head and focus. Katherine needs to die. There's no redeeming her. The last time he'd hesitated, she'd gone after Jenna. Now that Elena wasn't with either him or Damon, there could be a target on her back. To keep Elena safe, they had to eliminate the threat that Katherine posed to her.

Then, and only then, could they rest easy.

He scans the crowd again as lilting music plays in the background and couples take to the dance floor. He wanders aimlessly at the edge of the dance floor, still searching.

That's when he spots her heading down the stairs. She's dressed from head to toe in black and while he knows she's trying to impersonate Elena right now, it's unmistakably her. No one else could exude so much of a devil may care attitude and act like she owns everything and everyone in the room…or in this case, the sprawling grounds of the Lockwood manor.

Damn! He can't see her anymore. She's disappeared into the crowd.

He's about to go search for her, but there's no need. He senses her presence behind him.

"Dance with me," she all but commands him.

Stefan stares her down. "No," he says firmly, shooting her down.

"Fine," Katherine says, reaching for a strawberry from the bowl on the table in front of them. "Then tell me who I should kill…" She motions toward the crowd. "Him?" she points to a random man dancing with his date. Katherine takes a bite of the strawberry, a self-satisfied smirk across her lips. "She looks delicious…"

Stefan presses his lips together and gives a thin smile in return, knowing when he's been pushed into a corner. The last thing he needs right now is for their entire plan to go to hell and if it takes dancing with Katherine to keep her from massacring the party guests to prove some sort of point, then it's a relatively small price to pay.

He offers her his arm and she takes it immediately. Together they walk onto the dance floor and he can tell by the way she carries herself that she considers this a triumph on her part to have him bending to her whims again.

Her hand rests up over his shoulder and she presses closer into him, purring seductively.

"It's a beautiful night…"

"Why all the charade?" Stefan replies, refusing to play along.

"How's Jenna?" Katherine asks, sounding more than a little irritated that he's not playing along. "I certainly didn't expect her to survive that. Lucky girl. Clumsy…How does one stab oneself?"

Stefan can pick up the threat in her tone.

"Katherine…" he says calmly.

"Hmm?" she murmurs in response.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt tonight," he finishes.

"Okay," Katherine agrees, "then give me the moonstone and nobody will."

"Well, you see, I don't have the moonstone on me. So, you and I will have to go get it together."

Katherine's eyes narrow and her grip tightens on Stefan's hand just enough for him to feel the threat in her words.

"I have a better plan," she counters. "You go fetch it, and I will try not to kill anyone in the meantime."

Stefan chuckles at her attempt to negotiate. "My way, or you don't get it," he says firmly.

Katherine glares, and for a moment Stefan thinks he has her right where he wants her. She'll have to follow him if she wants her prize.

Of course, that's what could have happened, had it not been for the fact that one of the girls Tyler had been with earlier has just approached.

"Hey, Stefan, I can't find Matt…" Aimee trails off, noticing "Elena" is with him. "Oh my god, Elena! You look so pretty. I love that dress! You look gorge."

Stefan feels a cold sense of dread, because of course Aimee doesn't realize that she's not talking to Elena, but Katherine's eyes gleam with triumph.

"Thank you," Katherine grins. "I love your necklace."

Aimee clutches it and smiles. "Oh, thanks," she says.

Stefan still has that feeling that he should tell Aimee to leave, but before he can say anything, Katherine lets go of her hold on him and turns to Aimee. "Oh, it's twisted," she says. "Let me…"

Katherine looks up at him, still with that saccharine smile as she moves behind Aimee to adjust the necklace. "Here we go…"

Stefan can only watch in horror as the fire in Katherine's eyes returns and she glares at him menacingly, snapping Aimee's back and causing the girl to look at him in shock and surprise.

"Paralyzed from the waist down…" she growls.

Aimee continues to gasp, unable to even cry out with the pain, her eyes wide in horror and confusion. Before Stefan can even say anything, Katherine snaps her neck.

"And dead," she says, shoving the girl's lifeless body into his arms.

Stefan can only stare in horror.

"The moonstone, Stefan," Katherine says, the threat in her tone clear. "Tick tock…"

And then she walks off, leaving him there with Aimee's corpse.

Shit. What are they going to do now?

Shifting Aimee into the crook of his arm and trying to drape her over him like she's had too much to drink, Stefan moves off the dance floor and pulls out his phone, dialing Damon's number.

Damon picks up immediately.

"Find her yet?" he asks.

"Lost her," Stefan sighs.

"How the hell did that happen?"

Stefan can picture the incredulous look on Damon's face as he says it.

"I underestimated her, okay?" Stefan replies. "But we've got bigger problems now…she just killed Aimee."

"Who's Aimee?" Damon asks. "Never mind. Look…we don't have time for this, so whatever guilt you have or mourning you need to do…it's going to have to wait. Just hide the body and we'll deal with it later. Bonnie's ready for us."

"How do I…"

Damon cuts him off. "Look, normally I would be happy to take this off your hands. I mean, getting rid of the evidence is definitely more my area of expertise than yours…but that's a little impossible at the moment given that Phase 2 is underway. So dump the body somewhere fast and get up here."

The phone goes dead. Damon has hung up.

Stefan frowns. He knows his brother is right; Aimee is the least of their worries. Katherine wasn't playing around and to kill the girl so casually…Stefan knows she could do it again.

They have to work fast and trap her now, before she gets impatient and kills someone else tonight.

Alaric is still standing, watching her. Elena sighs.

Ever since their talk in the kitchen he's been very obvious about the fact that he is essentially the appointed bodyguard of the night, and he hasn't let her out of his sight.

She had thought that he would relax once they had dinner, but even then, he was on high alert.

Jenna has taken up the entire sofa too, and since she's injured it's not likely that she would be able to seduce him to distraction at the moment.

Ugh!

She knows this is all Damon's doing. Stefan's style was more to just not tell her what he was up to, but of course she always figured it out anyway. But with Damon…well, he knew she would have figured this out, which is exactly why he didn't take any chances.

Besides that, if it was anyone else asking Alaric wouldn't be here right now. He'd be taking revenge on Katherine for putting Jenna in danger, just like everyone else is currently doing right now…

If only he would relax so she could sneak out…she can't possibly stay home all night waiting. This is fucking ridiculous! They should have told her.

Why? So you could talk me out of it?

She can practically hear his voice in her mind.

Of course he knew she would try to stop him. Of course he planned for her to defy all logic and reason and rush into danger. And of course he would do everything in his power to keep her safe anyway. But he should have also known that it wouldn't stop her.

She watches Alaric through the mirror, her back toward the living room.

"Hey, um, I'm going to go to bed," she lies easily.

"Goodnight," Jenna calls to her.

Elena watches as Alaric immediately relaxes his posture and sits down. His attention is now completely focused on Jenna, just as she suspected it would be.

Her hand wraps around the concealed car keys, and before anyone notices she's not headed for the stairs, she quietly slips out the door.

.