Ch. 16 - 2x07 Masquerade
A/N: Welcome to the last chapter before the all anticipated meeting between Emilia and Elijah. Warning, this does feel like a bit of a shorter filler chapter. I had planned for Emilia to be this awesome badass in the fight scene with Katherine, but rewatching the episode, I couldn't fit her in for a good reason. Especially, because Damon and Stefan did not fight Katherine well. I thought it would be weird if a human Emilia did more damage than the two 150-year-old vampires. So, in this we see a different take than I imagined. It's still a bit more filler-y, especially after that last chapter, so be warned.
I hope you enjoy!
Trigger Free Summary of Previous chapter's potential trigger scenes: After settling Sheriff Forbes in Boarding House basement, Caroline overhears her mom asking Damon to keep her away and that Caroline is no longer her daughter due to her vampire status. This causes Caroline to have a breakdown as this was the straw that broke the camel's back of her mounting stress and fear from Katherine's threats against Matt, her new vampire status, and her previously compelled-away memories of her human relationship with Damon. Emilia's experience allows her to help calm Caroline while finding out about the threats and memory-nightmares. She threatens Damon for Caroline's sake, but Caroline is forgiving of Damon for Stefan's. Emilia decides to confront both Damon and Liz Forbes in both very intense moments that take a toll on her personally as she remembers and is impacted by her hinted at similar experiences. With Damon, she heals herself with vampire blood, and attacks him. But she leaves him injured, but alive, and with Emilia's harsh (and truthful) words on his mind and his life hanging in the hands of Caroline. If Caroline were to decide that Damon is too much, then Emilia will come and kill him. Emilia, even though impacted from this initial confrontation, takes the chance and visits the Sheriff. It is explained that the Sheriff and Emilia have a secret history that involves Emilia being saved from something terrible by the Sheriff. Emilia explains that they both failed at keeping Caroline safe and that she died. She continues explaining that the only reason Caroline is alive is because Emilia was the one who made the decision to give Caroline vampire blood due to her lethal injuries. She also leaves the Sheriff with harsh but truthful words. Emilia has a breakdown in her car with hints to previous unhealthy coping habits but she turns that stress into whittling stakes.
Edit: 1/9/22
Matt, being the friend he is, helped us get Jenna home. It's been a week since Jenna stabbed herself and, after a round of surgery to repair some of the damage, Jenna is home with stitches and a pharmacy of new drugs. He and Jeremy are holding Jenna upright, helping her through the doors. "Easy," he says. Elena is carrying Jenna's flowers, while I hold the keys and her bag of stuff. I close the door behind the group.
"Stop fussing," Jenna says.
"The doctor says you have to take it easy," I say, rubbing Jenna's arm.
"Yeah, you don't want to rip your stitches," Elena continues.
"Yeah, you could hemorrhage and die," Jeremy finishes. I smack him on the arm.
"The only thing I'm gonna die from is embarrassment," Jenna groans.
"No…" Matt says.
"I walked into a knife," Jenna continues. "How does somebody do that?" Me and my siblings just look at each other. Well… it wasn't walked so much as compelled to stab yourself.
"It was a freak accident," Elena says.
"Yeah, it happens," Jeremy adds.
I shrug and jokes, "Maybe you are just that bad at cooking.".
"Yeah, I've done it like 20 times at the Grille," Matt adds. Jenna laughs and grimaces. "Ok, I'm just being nice." Matt sets Jenna down on the couch in the living room with an "Alright, easy." She is down with a few gasps, but no damage. Matt holds up a brown bag of food from the Grille that he brought, "What should I do with this?"
Elena takes it with an "I've got it" and she puts it on the island in the kitchen.
I give Matt a side-hug and a kiss on the cheek, "You are a star, Matt Donovan." He and I sit down to keep Jenna company, when I notice my siblings are in the kitchen, chatting. Based on Jeremy's tense posture and Elena's avoidance of eye contact, it's not chatting, it's a discussion.
It ends with Jeremy grabbing his jacket, and shouting to us, "I'll be back." We make eye contact and I send him a look. He nods. He's going to the Boarding House to plan for the Masquerade Ball. He's going to keep me updated.
We're going to kill Katherine.
Matt hangs for a bit. We watch a bit of daytime TV, mocking the overdramatic faces and storylines. We sit with Matt while he checks on the games scores. He tries to explain some of his favorite players, but Jenna and I trick him with fake confused looks. I grew up with him and he still tries to explain sports to me. It's never been my thing as much as it's been his, but I keep up enough to keep up with him. We also look through some of the books on the shelves, trying to find the best ones: the weirdest, the oldest, the oddest picture. These books used to be our parents and I'm sure they didn't even know of all of them. Jenna gets settled in with one of her own books and Elena and I walk Matt out.
"You know, you are welcome to hang out tonight. Alaric's coming over. It's gonna be pizza and more bad TV," Elena says.
"Uh, I'd love to but I'm going to the Masquerade party at the Lockwood's. Aren't you?" He responds.
"Uh, no," Elena says. "Not with what's going on with me and Stefan."
"But I will be there," I add.
Matt nods, "I've got to go. There's something I've got to do." Um, vague.
"What?" Elena asks.
"Just something. I can't talk about it. But I've gotta go," Matt cagily says. That's really weird. Matt is usually very honest. What's up with suspicious plans?
"Ok, well, uh, have fun," Elena encourages.
"Yeah, me in a suit," Matt says. He grimaces.
"You look good in a suit," Elena responds, tilting her head slightly.
"And I'll be there to hang out if it gets too much," I say. Ok, I don't know that for a fact, but I could hang for a bit.
Matt smiles at me before turning back to my sister, "You and Stefan will work it out."
"Um, I don't think so, Matt," Elena says, looking down at her hands. "There's so much about me and Stefan that will never work." Really? Now is when she wants to pull that excuse out! It's a little late for that now! They are desperately in love with each other and our lives are completely intertwined. Katherine just has some fabulous timing.
Matt places a hand on Elena's shoulder, "You know I'm here for you. Always." Elena nods and they hug. Then, Matt leaves.
I put my hand on Elena's shoulder when he's gone. "I'm going to grab some stuff and then head to Caroline's to get ready. Are you going to be alright?" Elena nods, so I squeeze her shoulder and head upstairs to my room to grab my stuff. And I have plenty for tonight.
I make it the Boarding House right as the group in the sitting room reaffirms their dedication to the cause.
"Alright, if anybody wants to back out, I'll understand," Stefan says.
"Yeah, cold feet speak now. I don't want this going wrong because someone chickens out" Damon snarks. "Caroline?"
"I won't. She killed me. Fair's fair," she responds. "As long as there are no werewolves running around." Right, Mason attacked her in wolf form during the full moon while we were at Duke.
"Oh, I took care of Mason," Damon says, smugly. Ouch. That comment hurt more than I thought it would... It's been a week, Emilia. Get over it.
"And as long as Tyler doesn't kill anyone, he won't turn," Jeremy finishes.
There's a momentary silence as they turn to Bonnie, the last member and the one most hesitant. "Bonnie? Are you with us?" Stefan asks.
She is holding the moonstone. Interesting. She walks forward, closer to the group, and says, "But no one gets hurt." Fair stipulation.
"Except Katherine," Damon says. "Tonight she gets a stake through her heart."
There is a tension filled pause as everyone looks around the group. And that's when I make my entrance. I drop my bag full of weapons. All heads whip to me. "I hope you weren't planning on doing this without me." Smiles appear all around and everyone looks a little more confident. Oh, that feels good. "Good, let's get to work."
I'm not saying it's my plan, but it's my plan. Stefan came up with the idea to isolate Katherine to take her down using some of Alaric's weapons, which I agree with, but I plan the nitty-gritty. I am the one who knows the house the best, so I pick the room that is to be spelled. I help Bonnie get to the correct spell and I help her collect the ingredients she needs. I am the one who plans teams. Obviously, Stefan and Damon are going to be on Katherine take down, but I decide Jeremy's and Caroline's exact roles and the details they are expected to complete. Caroline is also on Matt lookout. Something about his weird comments from earlier are rubbing me the wrong way and I am not one to ignore my instincts. The instincts are the same ones that tell me not to fight Katherine with Damon and Stefan. I'm best at being an ace up the sleeve rather than a true hard hitter, especially with fighting a 500-year-old crafty bitch like Katherine. Plus, I have a few secrets pertaining to Katherine that make it perfect for me to be hidden from her, especially because she has never actually seen me.
We separate to get ready. Bonnie and Jeremy both head home, with Jeremy taking the chance to check on Elena.
Bonnie sends pictures of her outfits, which is this one shoulder dark leopard print dress and black diamond mask. The strap is almost ruffled and the neckline is diagonal from that strap. Her top is ruched until the waist and then it falls pretty straight downwards. Her hair is just left down in curls.
Caroline and I get ready together at her house. She also wears a one shoulder number, but it is more of a red strapless number with a layer of fabric draped over her left shoulder. Her waist at the right side is bejeweled with silver rhinestones. And then her skirt is also draped from that point and flows straight down as well. She leaves her hair in bouncy curls, because her mask is handheld; its right side is a matching red and the other half is pink, all on a gold stick.
My dress is a white to grey ombre dress. It has a white lace top with a silver sparkly belt at my waist that matches my shoes and my white feather and silver mask. The skirt is a white to light grey chiffon flowy skirt. The dress has matching ombre, flowy sleeves, which are perfect for hiding weapons. My hair is softly curled and put in a loose, low bun. I also strap some weapons to me, just in case. And I finally get rid of the sling and cast. There's no point in hiding that I'm healed.
We all arrive separately and when we see each other, we acknowledge the other with a nod as we make our ways to our separate tasks.
First things first, Damon and Stefan are on Katherine lookout while Jeremy, Bonnie, and I go set up the room. I lead them upstairs to a guest bedroom that has a sitting room that is perfect. Plenty of space, minimal antiques compared to some other rooms, wood furniture that is easily breakable for back up and a fireplace if they are really feeling creative. It's upstairs, but not off the main stairways, it's close to a smaller staircase further in the house, which makes it easy to escape up there. It also has French doors to mark the entrance to the sitting room, which makes it easy to have a clear barrier for Bonnie, but something inconspicuous to Katherine.
Jeremy brings the bag of weapons and is storing them around the room, such as storing the sleeve stake-launcher in the closet. Bonnie pulls out her grimoire. "Is the spellbook I read about in my ancestor's old journal?" Hey, respect that journal. That's part of the reason you got into this mess.
Bonnie nods, "It was my ancestor's. The spell I'm doing here is similar to the one that sealed the vampires into the tomb." She sits down on one of the couches to start flipping through to find the spell. I help her locate it before I start setting up my part, pulling out wires, electric tape, microphones, mounted video cameras, and a laptop. I figure this is something people may want memorialized. Or for proof of death. Plus, microphones to keep us wary of the situation. Tonight, I am command central. I do wish we started planning earlier, because then I could've used Damon's credit cards to buy some earpieces for everyone. But with Jenna in the hospital and the initial planning being done by the Salvatore's, we have to settle for only me being able to hear what's going on when I am on my laptop and everyone else communicating through their phones.
Jeremy and I are working around each other with me occasionally giving him suggestions for better places to hide weapons. He is interacting with Bonnie while he does it. "Can you do all the stuff that's in there?"
"It takes practice. I've worked on some small spells. Spells that only do good. I don't want to know too much," Bonnie replies.
"That's stupid," I mutter from my place on my chair, screwing in the camera in the corner above the door. I see the damage I made in the wall and murmur, "Sorry Mrs. Lockwood," before I screw in the camera and turn it on.
"I don't particularly enjoy all of this, in case you haven't noticed," Bonnie finishes.
"Yeah, but you are 100% witch. That's is so cool," Jeremy says. I agree with Jeremy to myself as I move my chair to set up the other camera. Witches are badasses and so helpful sometimes. A little self-serving at best and diabolical - with lots of strings and a tendency to backfire - at worst with their help, but I've managed to make a few really good connections to witches with all kinds of awesome powers.
"It's anything but cool," Bonnie replies, annoyed. "Did your family journal tell you what happened to Emily? Or what about my Grams? It never ends well for people like me." Well, people like you tend to have a coven or protection from powerful vampires. You are currently blocking yourself off from both.
"If you feel that way, then why help?" Jeremy asks.
"Because I don't want anyone else getting hurt," Bonnie replies. Oooh, fair. And that is why she is my friend. It's good to see this part of her again. "And… I don't know how to stay out of it." Oh, so true. That's Bonnie in a nutshell. Never one to keep her opinions to herself. Always getting in the middle of drama and arguments to fix things. She and I were close with Caroline because she used to cause a lot of damage with her bluntness and we were there to fix things (Bonnie) and laugh and apologize (me). With that, Jeremy continues storing weapons and I finish setting up the camera, placing the microphone, and connecting everything to my laptop. Bonnie calls me when she is ready, and I hold her hand the whole time she does the spell. It's the first big spell and one that is similar to the one that killed Grams, so I'm there as a means of support.
After the spell is done, we pack up and leave, heading downstairs to the party. Bonnie is the one to get us to the next part of plan by saying, "We need to let Stefan and Damon know the room is ready." I am texting them that and am about to tell her when she stops, "Do you feel that?"
That sets my instincts off and I can almost feel something. Could be wishful thinking. Jeremy clearly does not feel anything because he asks, "What's the matter? You cold?" It's not that.
"No," Bonnie says. She turns around and finds a woman who she goes over to tap on the shoulder. "Excuse me? Do I know you?"
The woman is wearing a gold mask and a black dress which seems an odd choice, but she looks stunning. She says, "Nope. I'm a plus one. I know no one." She phrased that oddly. Or just said it in a weird tone. Something is off. "It's a great party though." She toasts her glass of wine at us and walks past us. I step back and look away to hide a bit when she walks by. I can feel her glance at me for a moment before she heads to the party in the backyard. Hmm.
Bonnie walks back to us and Jeremy asks her, "You okay?"
"Just got a weird vibe," Bonnie answers, starting to follow her to the backyard. That's where they are going to chill when our party moves inside. It's also where most of the circus themed entertainment is. Also, you and me both, Bonnie. "Let's find Damon." She walks away determined. I am about to call for her to tell her that I told him, but she is gone. Jeremy shrugs at me and follows her, while I make my way into the Mayor's study. It's where I am going to chill during the party. It's supposed to stay locked and quiet and it has Wi-Fi so I can stay connected to the room.
It's quiet for the most part. I spend my time researching to keep myself busy as I wait for updates. I get texts when Stefan finds Katherine. Their dance apparently leads to this girl, Aimee, dying at Katherine's hand. Poor girl. She was nice, a party girl, but not someone who deserved to die like that. At least it was fast, with a punch shattering her spinal cord paralyzing her and then another one immediately after, killing her. That means Stefan gets derailed with dealing with her body, but Jeremy is up next anyways. His Katherine task is to throw her off by sending her to the lake. Of course, she is not supposed to take the bait and that is where Caroline comes in. Jeremy sends a note to me that he found Katherine talking with our mystery woman from before. This woman is setting off more flags the more she is spotted. He also tells me that Elena is here. Nice going, Alaric. He was supposed to keep her at home, but I'm guessing he cracked under the pressure. Damn his need to be nice and Elena's stubbornness.
I am debating whether or not to leave my position when the decision is made for me. Tyler, Matt, and Sarah walk in, holding glasses and bottles of alcohol. Crap.
"Oh, hey, no one is supposed to be in here," Tyler says when he notices me. Oh, right, mask.
I remove my mask before I ask, "Then what are you doing in here?"
Tyler chuckles and sigh, "I should've known it would be you in here, Emilia."
I shrug and close my laptop, "What can I say, your dad has the best books and the Internet connection." I can't let him see that I bugged his house. Or what I am researching. The three of them move into the room and close the door behind them. I give Matt a hug that's drunkenly big on his side. It's more of a lean on me than a real hug. "Matty, you clean up so good and you ruin it by being so bad at holding your drinks" I say as I push him off me into a chair. Matt and Sarah drunkenly chuckle.
Tyler leans against his father desk. "You know I never thought I would see you hiding at a Founder's Party." Bullshit.
I push his arm, "One, you have found me hiding at this party plenty of times. And two, this isn't my kind of Founder's Event." And three, I missed the last one of these.
"Yeah, yeah. You know you could probably beat my mom with all your history knowledge," Tyler says, taking a sip of his drink.
"Probably? I definitely could. I made it my mission to do so after she yelled at me" I start to do an impression of Carol, "saying 'Ladies should be seen and not heard.'" Matt and Tyler laugh "I wanted to prove that she was stupid for saying that and there were a lot of awesome ladies that did the exact opposite of that." My mom's dedication to history and her willingness to fight Carol with me only helped.
"Oh, right. I remember that," Tyler laughs.
"I do too," Matt says, slurring a bit from his chair. "What were we, like, eight? And we had just come in with Mason, covered in, what was it?"
"I think it was pond water," Tyler says.
"I'm pretty sure, that time it was mud," I say.
"Oh yeah," Matt agrees, laughing. "Was that the time we tried to sneak in a frog?"
"I think it was," Tyler chuckles. "We fell in the mud trying to catch it."
I nod, "I think Mason was the one who caught it, but we were already covered head to toe."
"And we slipped on the marble floors, trying to get the bathroom," Tyler says. "God, I had that bruise on my elbow for weeks."
"Yeah and Carol came downstairs, shrieking about the floors," I add. "She was freaking out and I was trying to come up with something to explain all this nicely. And she interrupted our stunted explanation with that line and finished it with 'And right now, you are too disgusting to be seen'".
"And then the frog ribbits" Tyler and Matt shout, cackling.
"And Mason tried to pretend it was a burp," Tyler finishes, chuckling into his drink.
Mat lounges on the couch trying to catch his breath, "God, I swear she was about to kill us all."
"But Mason just took us away to the bathrooms and explained everything to her and I think all we had to do was release the frog and promise never to do it again," I say.
"Yeah," Matt sighs. Tyler nods.
I turn to Tyler, "I'm really sorry about Mason."
"Yeah, well, he just ditched us for Florida. Not the first time he's done it," Tyler says, throwing back the rest of his drink. Wait, Florida? I told Damon… Damon didn't tell him about Mason's death. Ugh, damn him. And speaking of him…
"I'm still sorry. Family sucks. And right now, I have to deal with mine," I say. Getting back to the mission. "Apparently Elena showed up out of nowhere, even though she said she wasn't going to come, so I have to hide her from Carol, lest she be spotted in improper clothing."
"Oh yeah, I saw Elena earlier. She was wearing a nice dress," Matt says. Oh no, Matt saw Katherine. Crap, he could've been compelled. I'll have to tell Caroline to keep an eye out. Once I can get set up and check in with her.
"Yeah, well, still gotta check. You know me," I reply, quickly packing and heading out. "I'll see you guys later." Please be safe. I put my mask back on as I step outside.
I check my phone messages to make my way to where Jeremy says they are. I hear them before I see them, which is good. There's at least some visibility protection with them mostly staying behind tall bushed in the side and in the dark.
Elena is speaking, saying, "Are you guys crazy? You could get yourself killed." Well, the plan is trying to prevent that, and you are getting in the way of that.
"We know what we are doing, Elena," Bonnie says.
Elena just continues on her tirade, "And how am I supposed to feel if one of you gets hurt because of me?"
"It's not just you anymore, Elena," I say as I walk up, pulling up my mask again.
"She's messed with all of us," Jeremy continues my point, "She has to be stopped." Elena looks at all three of our determined faces and she backs up, looking a little bit less shaky on her high horse.
I get a text from Caroline and I open my laptop, making my way closer to the house to try to find some connection to the house internet. I move the group to a better spot at the side of the house, further from the party, but closer to the back entrance in case something goes wrong. I mean, you have to shimmy around tables and decorations, and it may take even more time, but it keeps us hidden and I have somewhat of a connection. The video quality is absolute shit, but it works to at least see that Caroline did it and Katherine is stuck in the room. With Stefan and Damon.
I see Caroline wave and I send her a text about Matt. I look back to the video just in time to see Damon shoot a stake in Katherine's back.
From behind me, Elena screams.
I place the laptop on the ground to go over to help. Elena is leaning forward touching her back. Bonnie and Jeremy are freaking out, asking her what is wrong. I go behind her to find her bleeding with no discernible reason why. She screams again when another wound appears in her right arm. Oh god. I run over and check my laptop. Katherine has two stakes and in the exact same place as Elena is bleeding from.
"Guys, it's Katherine. They are linked," I say.
Elena is panting in pain and Jeremy turns from comforting her to ask loudly, "What, Emilia?"
"They are linked. All the wounds that Katherine gets, Elena does too. We need to stop them."
Bonnie gets it before Jeremy does, "Jeremy, you have to stop them! Go!" And he takes off running. Bonnie sits Elena down at an empty, forgotten table that's by us. I sit my laptop down to keep informed about the status of the fight and be prepared for any other injuries that may occur. Luckily, all I see is the Salvatore's getting their asses kicked. Both guys are thrown, and their shots are getting blocked or dodged.
Until Stefan gets Katherine in a chokehold and falls onto the ground on top of him. Damon is raising his stake, prepared to strike when Jeremy runs in. The news causes the guys to relax and Katherine pushes them away, standing up. I don't think I set up the microphones correctly because I can't hear anything. That or my connection is complete crap. I mean my picture is so awful on the videos. I can just make out bodies and that's it. I see Jeremy rush off. I also see Katherine hold a stake to her hand and Elena starts screaming next to me. Based on the cut on Elena's hand and the screaming, Katherine cut herself to torture the boys with the knowledge that she can hurt Elena. Stefan knocks the stake out of her hand.
"Bonnie, it hurts," Elena whimpers.
"I can't break the spell, Elena, I'm sorry," Bonnie says. "But I can try to take some of the pain away. Okay?" Elena nods, biting her lip to keep from screaming. I grab Elena's other hand and put my other one on Bonnie's shoulder while she starts chanting, "Ascinda mulaf hinto ascinda…"
She keeps chanting when Jeremy runs up behind us. He leans over me towards Elena, placing one hand on my shoulder. He asks Elena, "Are you okay?"
"Are they?" she gasps out.
"Yeah," Jeremy replies. "They're stuck in there with her." He turns to me. "You were right. Katherine had witch link Elena to her."
Bonnie stops chanting, "That girl I saw. The one inside." Damn, I knew she was suspicious. She turns to Jeremy, "Stay with her. Keep pressure on her shoulder." I run over to do exactly that. Elena screams when I press my hand on the wound. My heart drops. I'm so sorry.
"Where are you going?" Jeremy asks.
"There's another witch here, I'm going to find her," Bonnie says as she rushes off.
Jeremy turns back to Elena and removes his ring. He hands it to my twin with a "Here. Take this."
Elena and I immediately turn it down.
"Elena, listen to me," Jeremy says. "You need this more than I do."
"No, Jeremy," Elena gasps out in pain.
"We both need you to be safe," I finish for her.
Jeremy nods and slides the ring back on. We spend a few minutes flipping between comforting Elena and watching the video of the room.
Omake: Katherine and the Salvatore's are stuck in the room.
Damon is standing in the sealed doorway. "Damn it. Where's that witch?"
"We could play charades," Katherine suggests brightly.
"You bargained the moonstone," Stefan figures out.
Damon paces, "What are you mumbling about over there?"
"When you struck a deal with George Lockwood to help you fake your death, you told me that you gave George something he needed. It was the moonstone, wasn't it?" Stefan realizes.
"Good for you, Stefan. Two plus two…" Katherine says.
"I bet Emilia would have figured that out faster," Damon mumbles into his drink. "And then maybe we wouldn't be stuck here."
"And it would have worked, except people found out that I wasn't in the tomb," Katherine continues. She turns to Damon. "Thanks to you." Damon raises his glass. "By the way, have I mentioned how inconvenient your obsession with me has been?"
"You and me both, honey," Damon says, toasting her with his drink. "Also, I don't think you were as subtle about your fake death as you thought you were."
"What are you talking about?" Katherine asks Damon.
"It's just we've got a little friend. Great researcher. Very feisty." Stefan nods when he figures out who Damon is talking about "And she knew all about you. Apparently, your name, Ekaterina Radomira, meant 'happy little peace'? Yikes. Well, she figured out you weren't in the tomb long before I did. And I'm guessing, she was the one who spread the word, not me."
Katherine looks ready to attack Damon when Stefan intervenes, changing the subject, "Why do you need it back?"
Katherine turns, "I love you in a suit. So dashing."
"And what were you doing with it in the first place?" Stefan continues.
"You're wasting your breath, Stefan," Damon says.
Stefan figures out the main secret, "Unless it wasn't yours to begin with." Katherine just looks down, fondling the stake she was about to use on Damon. "In 1864, you faked your death. Who were you running from, Katherine?"
She changes the subject as she stalks towards him, "In 1987, you were in Chicago. At a concert, of all places, with that wench, Lexi. C'mon Stefan don't look so surprised. Of course, I checked in on you over the years."
"That's why people knew you weren't in the tomb," Damon mutters.
Katherine continues, ignoring Damon, "You were standing in the front row, dancing all night. You were watching Bon Jovi and I was watching you."
Damon turns to face a camera mouthing, 'Help me' before he takes another sip of his drink.
End Omake
When Bonnie comes back, I switch and head in. It's my turn. I follow the woman, Lucy, according to Bonnie, up the stairs, staying far enough behind her and with my mask on. Bonnie also mentioned that Lucy has the moonstone and she spelled it to get back at Katherine. Perfect. That works even better for what I have planned.
I hear her greet Katherine from my position on the stairs. I am crouched low enough for none of the group upstairs to see me, but high enough to be inconspicuous to the people downstairs. "Katherine," Lucy greets. "The spell on the room has been broken. You're free to leave."
"Thank God," Katherine says.
"When I hand this over," Lucy says, "my debt to you is over."
"Done."
"I owe you nothing." Gotta love a thorough girl.
"I said 'Done' give it."
"I wouldn't do that," Damon comments.
I hear Katherine start choking and I'm ready to move when Lucy says, "You should have told me there was another witch was involved. She's a Bennett witch, Katherine. But I'm sure you knew that."
"Wait, Elena-" Stefan interrupts.
"Elena is fine," Lucy replies. And that is my cue.
"na veshtitsite ne mozhe da se vyarva*," I say walking up. Katherine's eyes go wide and stills. I stop in front of her, she is still choking but the shock is keeping her focused on me. "Zdraveĭ Ekaterina. Lipsvashe li mi**?"
Katerina chokes out a name. The guys wouldn't be able to understand, but I do.
I lift my mask up, "No, but you had so much playing as my sister, I thought I would do the same as yours…Hello, Katherine." Katherine falls to the ground, her body heaving and still choking silently. I lean over her, pulling out a knife I strapped to my arm quickly. "This is for Jenna." And I stab her with the vervain-dipped knife in the stomach. She gasps out in pain. I smirk at her shaking and I lean to her ear and I whisper as soft as possible, revealing one last secret to her alone, "Wouldn't it hurt to know you did all this just for a fake stone?"
As soon as I saw the stone, I knew I would have to do something to keep it safe. It was not safe in the hands of the Salvatore's. Bigger things are coming, and they aren't prepared. I needed to do something drastic. Something that was going to take all my resources.
First things first, I buy a fake moonstone online. It's the same size and shape and a real moonstone. It's not the same clarity of the cursed one, but it's part one and it works for part two.
I send it to a witch friend in Oklahoma. She had some information and she is good with glamour spells. I send the picture I have of the moonstone and for a price she spells the stone to match the cursed one. Her price was information and a decorated stake. Luckily, I'm willing to sell out Katherine for nothing. And I have a few stakes that I just made.
The next part was to buy a spell. I have a friend in the Canadian Rockies who specializes in secrecy. I don't know their name or their face, but I know their price. You'd be surprised what blood can buy. And a little horrified. When they found out who I was, that's all they've ever asked for. Which now makes sense. They sent a spell that they could perform on a phone call that fits my exact specifications.
The main part of the plan goes down the day of the ball. I switch the stone - which look exactly the same - during the planning part of the day. Bonnie put the stone down for a minute to look at the spell I point out in the grimoire and that's all it took. Talented hands are usually an artist thing, I've just applied that to a new part of my life.
I volunteered to grab some herbs that Bonnie would need for the spell from Gram's garden. I had the herbs already. I just needed the time alone to hide the stone. I buried it under a tree in the woods in the same box Mason hid it in. I called my contact's number, something blocked but somehow worked and they performed the spell. They already had my blood and used some of it to complete the spell. On a piece of paper, I had written the location of the stone and with the spell, the instructions are completely illegible to anyone but me. The spell also erased the information from my head. So, when the spell is over, I hide the paper in a locked small prayer box, which I hid in a loose floorboard in my room and the key is hidden on a chain in my jewelry box. It looks just like any other necklace in there.
I make it to Caroline's decently on time. And I get dressed there.
The last part of my plan is to learn a few Bulgarian phrases, for the dramatic moment.
Her eyes widen when she says that and flash towards the stone in her hand. I close her hand over it. "Things are coming, Katerina. You know that better than anyone. You should have never messed with my family." And with that I stab her with a vervain-filled syringe, and she passes out. I stand up and nod to the boys as Damon takes her body to the planned location, which Damon decided. The same tomb she was supposed to be stuck in back in 1864. Sometimes he has good ideas.
I take a deep breath before I do my part of the cleanup: breaking down the room. Removing the weapons and the cameras and whatever stuff is left. There are some stakes in the wall, which I am not be able to do anything to fix, but I rearrange some of the pictures to at least try. I also remove the knife strapped to my arm and put it back in there too. I'm not a fan of having a knife that close to my arms. I get everything into the bags, and I am almost at the car when Elena joins me. She is on the phone with Jeremy.
"Yeah, Jeremy, I'm with Emilia and she has the car. Tell Bonnie that whatever she did, I'm starting to feel better." Well, that's good. I start throwing the stuff in the trunk. "Yeah. You can drive her home." Oh, interesting. Is something going on with Jeremy and Bonnie now? They were together for most of the night. Ok. Keys, purse, Elena. All with me. Laptop, cameras, and weapons are in the bags in the trunk. I think we are good to go. "I'm just going to go straight to bed. Ok, bye."
I am about to unlock the door for us to when all goes black.
A/N: So that was it! Like I said, shorter. I also did more than I anticipated. I had no intention of writing the scene with Matt, Tyler, and Emilia, but it came out and I had a great time with it. I hope you did too. I just wanted to show a little moment of the childhood friendship I imagined for them when I was writing about Mason. I also debated retyping all of the dialogue between Stefan, Damon, and Katherine, but I figured it wasn't worth it. The omake was enough and it didn't actually occur to me to do that until I was finished with the rest of the chapter. Again, still playing around with how I do these. I hoped you like the devious aspect of Emilia's plan. I did this with the next chapter in mind. Hint, hint. It will make sense and it will have some consequences in future chapters.
Also, the Bulgarian was Google Translate so I'm sorry about that. But this is what I had translated:
*Witches cannot be trusted.
**Hello Ekaterina. Have you missed me?