Chapter 24: Kill or Be Killed

March 5, 2010

"Jenna! Come on! Do you have the paint and brushes we were supposed to bring?" Ellie called as she lifted up a box of supplies to take to the car.

Her aunt was making her way down the steps carefully. With the very large and heavy looking box in her hands, it would be very bad if she missed a step and fell down the stairs. "Yes, yes. I have that and everything else we were supposed to bring. Can you get the door?"

Ellie shifted so that she could pull the door open. "Here, let me put this in the trunk and then I'll help you." She said as Jenna stopped on the porch. Once she placed her box inside the car, she helped Jenna. She'd also been right. The box Jenna was carrying was insanely heavy. "Do you think that box is going to break?"

"It should be fine." Jenna assured her. "Can you tell me again why we're bringing all this stuff?"

Laughing, Ellie reminded her, "Because we promised Mrs. Lockwood. Besides, isn't Alaric going to be there?" Ellie asked suggestively.

Jenna blushed at the mention and Ellie grinned as her aunt tried to fight her own smile. "Maybe." Jenna said after a moment. "Ok, that's a good enough reason to go."

Sniffing dramatically, Ellie said, "Ah, the beginnings of such young love. It's a very special thing."

"I'm going to give you so much grief when you get with someone. Just to get you back for this." Jenna warned. "Here, go lock the door." Ellie did as she was told before she slid into the passenger's seat. "There's going to be food right? I don't want to be doing this for hours and there's no food."

Ellie gave her a funny look. "Your inner stoner is showing." She observed. Jenna just rolled her eyes before she pulled out onto the road. "Also, have you seen Elena? I think me and Caroline witnessed Elena having a bad fight with Stefan."

"What?" Jenna didn't seem like she'd seen that one coming. "No, if I see her I'll try and talk to her." Switching topics, Jenna told her. "You should have seen what happened on campus the other day. Apparently this senior had been dating a sophomore but was hooking up with a freshman on the side. I have never seen a college fight get that ugly that fast."

Shocked, Ellie asked, "Wait so how did they find out?"

"Apparently the sophomore's class had moved rooms for the day and ended up next to a class the freshman was in. The dude was picking up the freshman and his girlfriend saw. All hell broke loose. Like I thought that they were gonna kill each other."

"See, this is part of the reason why I don't date. Men suck." Ellie said with a shake of her head.

Jenna went to protest it, but then she shrugged and nodded instead. "You're not wrong." As they pulled up to park, they were both surprised to see how many people had already turned up to help out. "There's way more people here than I expected there to be." Jenna confessed as they moved to get out of the car.

"Hey you guys." Mason greeted brightly as he snatched the box out of Ellie's hands. "You don't need to push it with lifting stuff Ellie. Last thing you want is to be hurt longer." She wanted to protest, to complain that it didn't really weigh anything. In truth the box she held really was just paint brushes and cups and plates, but she just let him take it instead. "Here, Jenna, hand me a few boxes."

"You've been working out, haven't you?" Jenna asked teasingly as she helped him stack boxes into his arms.

He laughed easily as he adjusted his hold. There was no way neither Jenna nor Ellie could have held up that much stuff. "I gotta keep my arm wrestling competition on the ropes." He joked. The last box in the car that wasn't being held by Jenna or Mason was an open box filled with paper towels. "Here, Ellie, you grab that box. That shouldn't be too heavy for you."

She picked up the box as she gave him a look. "'Shouldn't be'? I take offense to that." She huffed as she bumped him with her uninjured shoulder. "Is Tyler here?"

It was Mason's turn to give her a look. "You and I both know he'd rather throw himself off a cliff than do stuff like this. He's probably at The Grill."

"Yeah, I really shouldn't be surprised." Ellie agreed. Once she dropped off the supplies she was carrying, she found herself getting pulled over to the food station. "Hi Sheriff." Ellie said brightly as she started mixing up some lemonade.

"Hi Ellie, I'm glad you could make it." The Sheriff replied.

Grinning, Ellie reminded her, "Well, we both know Caroline would kill me if I didn't show up when I promised her I would." There was a subtle shift in the older woman's expression that caught Ellie's attention. "Is everything alright?"

It was clear that the older woman realized she'd been caught. With a sigh, she confessed, "Nothing really, she was just in a mood I guess." The Sheriff turned and despite trying to keep it under her breath, Ellie caught her saying, "Just my horrible parenting skills."

"You're not a bad parent." Ellie said, a bit sharper than she'd intended to. Sheriff Forbes looked up in surprise and Ellie pushed on. "Really, you're not. I know Caroline can get in her moods sometimes, but you know how much she loves you right?" The older woman looked unsure. "Can I be really honest with you?"

"Of course you can." Sheriff Forbes replied as she set down the stack of cups she'd been holding.

"I know how much you love Caroline and I know how much she loves you, but I think you guys just need to talk. Like really talk. She can be really insecure sometimes, not just with you. I don't know how to help, but I really hope you guys can work it out." Ellie told her. "I know it might not be my place to say anything, but I just want her to be happy."

Sheriff Forbes smiled at Ellie. "I know I haven't been the perfect mother to her, Ellie. You don't have to spare my feelings on that. But I'm very glad that she has a friend like you."

"I'm very glad to have a friend like her." Ellie replied. There was a sharp call for the Sheriff and Ellie laughed lightly. "I guess that's your cue. See you later!" It was a bit odd that she'd gone so long without seeing Caroline or Elena. Did they even show up? It wouldn't be like Caroline to plan to do something and then just totally bail without even giving her a heads up.

"Ellie! Hey!" Matt called out as he moved over to her. "When did you get here?" He asked as he took a glass of lemonade.

"I've been here for a while. I haven't seen anyone else though." She admitted. "Have you been hard at work?" She couldn't help but laugh as she took a napkin to wipe away the paint smeared on his cheek.

When he realized what she'd wiped off, he laughed in embarrassment. "Wow, I have no idea how long this has been there." He said as he took the napkin from her to try and get the rest off.

Mrs. Lockwood's voice suddenly cut through the background noise of everyone working as she announced, "This is all a part of the historical society's continuing efforts to give back to the community. Thanks to the generous donation of the Fell Family, we are now standing on the sight of our newest public park. Thank you to everyone who has shown up today to lend a helping hand. Thanks."

"As much as I enjoy being in the shade and all, I feel kind of useless." Ellie said with a small huff. "I think if Mason caught me trying to do anything that could even possibly hurt my shoulder again that he'd fight me."

"Well, I think painting for a bit should be ok. If he spots you, I'll give you cover and you can run." Matt joked. She took the offer gratefully and moved to follow him. She couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she were to tell him the secret of her being a witch. She had considered the reaction of Elena of course, and Bonnie. Ellie had even considered Caroline's reaction, because there was no way she could tell Elena and Bonnie and not tell Caroline. But how many people would it be safe to tell? Miss Sheila never told her when she could tell them, or who exactly she could trust the information with.

For whatever reason, telling Matt had never crossed her mind until now. Matt had been the only constant since everything had begun to shift. Despite everything, he remained the same as he'd always been. Maybe Emily could offer some advice now that Miss Sheila was gone. As she took a paint brush and began painting down low on a support beam, she looked up at Matt where he worked on a ladder. It almost didn't seem right to tell him. He was too normal to be brought into a world of witches. A revelation as big as her could potentially turn his world upside down. It didn't seem right to do that to him.


She managed to work a good while without getting spotted by Mason or Jenna, though she had hidden herself behind Matt when Mason had been talking with the Sheriff at the food stand. "Mason alert." Matt warned her and she looked up to see him walking away from Damon. She bent down as low as she could and watched as Mason walked by her hiding spot without noticing him. "You're good." Matt said after a moment.

"Thanks." She said gratefully as she moved to pick her brush up again. "This is nice."

"What is?" He asked her.

She gestured around them with her brush. "This. Us hanging out. It feels like we haven't really done it in a while." She told him.

"I've been picking up a lot of extra shifts at The Grill lately, so if it makes you feel any better I haven't spent a lot of time with anyone." Matt said as he opened up another can of paint. "But yeah, I've missed you too." She smiled fondly at him and he returned it as he offered, "Maybe we can have a movie night sometime this week. We can watch Star Wars."

Ellie grinned at the thought. A movie night was exactly what they needed. "That sounds perfect." She agreed. "You know what would be even better?"

"Hmm?"

"If we watched Twilight instead." Ellie told him with a wicked grin. At his disgusted expression, she added, "Come on, you haven't even seen New Moon yet. Jacob got way hotter in this one."

With a scoff, Matt replied, "Oh yes that is most definitely a reason for me to go watch it." His voice was absolutely dripping with sarcasm. "I'll watch it with you when hell freezes over."

She pouted at him before sighing overdramatically. "I see, you hate me." Ellie huffed. He threw a napkin at her in response. "See! This is an act of hate!" Her fake pouting was distracted at the pained sound of choking. She looked up sharply to see Damon Salvatore bent over and gasping for breath as Stefan worriedly tried to help. She watched as Stefan helped his older brother to sit at one of the picnic tables as he tried to breathe. "Is he dying or something?" She asked as she stood up to get a better look. He had moved to get a bottle of water, taking a drink before spitting it out over the edge into the bushes.

"I have no clue." Matt told her. He went back to painting as Ellie continued to watch. Surprisingly, it looked like Damon was really angry. He tried to leave only to be stopped by Stefan and with a brief struggle, Stefan managed to force him to sit. The younger Salvatore managed to say that made Damon stop fighting as he looked up in surprise. Damon stood with purpose before heading off with Stefan following a moment later.

"Weird." She muttered under her breath. After a bit longer, she saw Mason emerge from the woods and she couldn't help but notice that he didn't look ok. "Hey, I'll be back."

"Ok." Matt said as she stood and headed for Mason.

He was in the parking lot by the time she reached him. "Hey, Mason!" He whipped around, faster than she thought he would've. She couldn't tell if he looked panicked or guilty, but his expression was somewhere in that range. "Is everything ok?" Ellie asked as she grabbed his arm.

She thought he might've flinched, but his face turned neutral far too fast for her to be sure. "Yeah, yeah, everything's fine." He assured her, but his look of disbelief must have been too obvious. After her sharp look, he caved and confessed, "I nearly dropped something heavy in the woods. Kinda got hit with a heavy branch to the gut."

"Are you ok?" She asked worriedly.

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, really. I'll probably go home and take some aspirin. It'll be fine." There was something about him that practically radiated guilt. What he had to feel guilty for, she had absolutely no clue. "Stop worrying so much, really, it's nothing major."

"Are you sure?" Ellie pressed. "Do you need to get it checked out or something?"

"Ellie, I promise. It's fine. If I feel worse in the morning I'll go get it checked out, but I know I won't need to." Mason replied. "You look a bit worn out. Do you want a lift home?"

While she hadn't mentioned it before, her shoulder had started to ache at all the movement she'd been doing while she painted. "That would be nice, thanks. I just need to send a text to Jenna to let her know." Ellie said as she pulled out her phone and sent a text to both Jenna and to Matt to let them know. With that done, she climbed into the passenger seat of Mason's car and tried to not wince when she moved her shoulder too much. A visit to Emily and the other's would definitely be necessary.

"So, I see Elena has a new boyfriend, what happened to her and Matt?" Mason asked. Ellie's eyebrow quirked up in surprise. She had expected small talk on the ride home, but she definitely didn't expect that to be the topic he picked.

"Uh, they broke up after mom and dad died. Really she'd wanted to break up with him before that, but she didn't want to hurt him." Ellie admitted.

Mason nodded before asking, "And she's got a new boyfriend now."

"Yeah, Stefan Salvatore. He's new. He moved here around the beginning of the school year." Ellie supplied.

"At the barbecue, you mentioned you pretty much hate Damon Salvatore, that's his older brother I'm guessing." Mason said.

"Mmhmm, he is. And yes, I do."

"So what do you think about Stefan then?" Mason inquired.

She tried to not let her confusion be so obvious. Why on earth did he even care? After a moment of hesitation she finally said, "Stefan's nice. I mean, I haven't exactly spent a whole lot of time with him, but he's a pretty cool guy. He's a million times better than his brother though." She watched as Mason drummed a pattern on the steering wheel as he drove. "Why do you ask?" It was bothering her too much to not ask. In all the years she'd known him, he had never cared in the slightest what any of her and Tyler's friends did. He especially didn't care who they were dating.

The drumming stopped the moment she asked, and if she didn't know any better she'd say that he was nervous. "No reason, the two of them are just new, and Mystic Falls doesn't really get new people all that often." Mason replied. She supposed that it was a fair statement, given that she really couldn't remember someone new moving here before Stefan and Damon did. Well, did Anna count? The thought of Anna also made her wonder where the other girl had been. She hadn't been by the house in a while.

However, Ellie couldn't shake the feeling that Mason was lying to her. It wouldn't make sense though, he had no reason to lie to her. The rest of the ride home went by quickly with Ellie lost in her thoughts. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't being honest. She also couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something very important. By the time Mason pulled into the driveway, Ellie had decided that she most definitely needed to go to get answers from Emily. "Thanks for the ride, Mason." She told him sincerely.

"Anytime." He replied. She quickly made her way into the house and could hear the sound of his car fading as she locked the door. Ellie walked quietly through the house as she checked to make sure that no one else was home. Once she was sure she hadn't been seen, she slipped out of the house and got to her car and took the familiar route to Emily.

As she walked into the familiar room the candles shot to life. "Hello, it has been a while." Emily greeted as Ellie dropped down onto the floor with a groan.

"Yeah, Jenna's been kinda hovering lately. Not much of a chance to come over here." Ellie confessed.

"Your shoulder is causing you pain." Emily said matter of factly. "Let us help you." Before Ellie could have even thought to respond, she felt the familiar energy surround her as the pain let up. She sighed in relief and waited as they worked. "Better?"

"Much." Ellie confirmed. She was silent for a moment before speaking up again. "Emily, can I ask you something?" Once Emily agreed, Ellie said, "Before Miss Sheila passed away, she told me that I needed to wait before I told anyone anything about me being a witch. How do I know who to tell?"

The rest of the witches seemed to be talking amongst themselves at her question. She could faintly hear them, but no one was loud enough for her to understand. "Revealing your secret to anyone can be dangerous, and it is best to try and limit the amount of people who know. It is especially important to limit the number of people that know when they are not already involved in the supernatural world. Some people do not handle it well when they find out a secret like yours." Emily advised.

It made sense. If the witch hunts from history were any indication, people didn't always react well to the knowledge that magic was real. "Would telling Bonnie and Elena be ok?" She asked curiously. "Bonnie already told Elena that she's a witch and Elena seems to have handled it pretty well."

"If you trust them with your secret, then that decision is yours to make. I do believe that you have enough control and knowledge of your powers for you to not be at risk of accidentally hurting them." Emily informed her.

"I feel like they're going to be upset that I've kept it a secret for so long." Ellie confessed.

"You were only trying to protect them. If they do not understand that, it is not your fault." Emily replied. "There is something else bothering you."

Between the relief of her shoulder no longer hurting and asking about revealing her secret, she'd completely forgotten the feeling she'd gotten when she was with Mason. "I don't know. I just feel like there's something going on and I don't know about it. Really, I've been feeling that way for a while but every now and again someone will say something or do something out of the ordinary and really sets off the warning bells in my head." She said truthfully.

"I'm sure all will be revealed in time." Emily offered. That was an incredibly vague response. "No matter what happens, I believe that you have learned enough to be prepared." Prepared for what? The question was on the tip of Ellie's tongue, but she was sure that if she asked, Emily would give her a frustratingly vague response to that as well.

But at the same time, it almost felt like a confirmation that something was in fact going on that Ellie didn't know about. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." Ellie said, but she had been left feeling clueless way longer than she was alright with. It was time for her to do some digging. She was going to find out the truth one way or another.


Author's Note:

I want to say thank you guys so much for over 20,000 views on this story. I never expected to have so many people read this! Thank you so much! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave a review to let me know what you thought and if you have any questions!

To RiRi: I mean, you're really not wrong. If Jenna dies, or even if she doesn't Elena going to get called out for stuff. Alaric definitely does need to man up. In a hot mess of a way, he's Elena and Ellie's step-father since he was married to their biological mother. But Elena's kind of a brat that can't handle it when things don't go her way. Especially when you look at how she acted over Katherine when she turned her humanity back on and blaming Katherine for all of her problems. But Silas would have never risen if Elena had been able to handle being a vampire and Jeremy wouldn't have died.

To Daynesky: Thank you! I know it might seem like a lot of foundation laying, but siblings can take a lot of crap before they snap. It won't be much longer before she knows!

To Pattou59: More has been given.

To Muskan Jain: Thank you so much! I hope you liked this chapter.

To the3littlewords: She passed out because of the crash, Bonnie wasn't channeling her. Also, I really like your reasoning and I agree with it. Elijah can be so serious and tense sometimes. It would be nice to see him get a break from that. And yes, Caroline is miserable with not being able to tell Ellie, but she wants to keep her safe.

-Madame Magic

Posted: 7/25/20