Ayla couldn't believe that she was dressed for the Masquerade Ball. She knew that her uncle was in danger or dead, and yet her step-mother had practically forced her to be there. Carol claimed that it was her father's favorite charity event and guilted her into going, even though Ayla was visibly saddened by the abrupt departure of her uncle.

So she stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom and stared, barely recognizing the person that stared back at her. She remembered when she was younger; how happy and full of light she was. In the years since her mother's passing, the light had slowly but surely continued seeping out of her. It took her a moment to work up the courage to finally go down to the party, even though she was already nearly an hour late. So she took one more glance in the mirror and sighed before putting the mask over her eyes.

She would be wearing two masks tonight. The one that hid her identity and the one that hid her immeasurable loneliness.

Before she even had a chance to walk over towards the stairs, she heard familiar voices from the upstairs sitting room. She heard Elena's voice, but the Salvatore brothers were both calling her Katherine, for some reason. She almost continued walking, instead of listening in on their vampire drama, but when her Uncle Mason was mentioned, her eyebrows furrowed and she felt like she was trapped in place, like her feet glued to the ground.

"You know, this whole Mason thing has me a bit confused." Stefan spoke up, causing Ayla's eyebrows to furrow as she slowed her breathing, listening in from outside the door. "Why a werewolf? The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires. So, what's in that for you?"

Katherine was silent for a second before Damon spoke up this time.

"Sorry about your pet wolf. You should have kept him on a tighter leash." Damon says without a hint of remorse. It takes everything in Ayla not to set the whole house ablaze, burning him and everyone he cared about in her path. The one person who she relied on, who truly cared for her, who helped her was probably murdered by Damon, and yet she could that he felt no remorse. She bit her lip to control the tears and to stay quiet.

"I'll have to remember that for next time. He's not the only wolf in town."

"Ayla?" Stefan asked, with a scoff. "She won't fall for your little vampy charm."

"Ah, the werewolf who also happens to be a witch." Elena's doppelgänger laughed. "Yeah, you're right. She won't fall for my charms. But, I always have a back up plan. And you two should not underestimate her. She'll come looking for her uncle. Maybe I'll lead her straight to your house. A werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire, you know?"

Ayla's lip twitched in anger as she walked away from the conversation, her fingertips burning to the point where it physically hurt her. Tears nearly fell from her eyes as she saw Caroline speed over to her looking as if she was completely distressed.

"Tyler and Matt are fighting!" They both ran to where they now heard the fighting in her dad's office. While Caroline immediately pulled Matt away from Tyler, Ayla went to Tyler's side to try and calm him down.

"Stop!" Caroline yelled, holding Matt back.

"I can't. Let me go. I have to finish!"

"Tyler." Ayla spoke calmly to him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Tyler called out to his best friend.

"Let me go!"

"You need to get Matt away from here. I think someone compelled him." She told Caroline, the vampire just nodded slightly before she elbowed the human in the face and knocked him out. "Holy shit." Ayla said with wide eyes, looking at the the teenager who was out cold on the floor. Caroline ran over to him, as did Ayla, trying to make sure he was okay.

"Matt?" Caroline called out to him. "Matt."

"Caroline, he'll be okay." Ayla tried to comfort her.

"How did you..." Tyler started when Sarah cut him off.

"Matt failed. If Matt fails, I can't." The girl spoke strangely, almost robotically.

"Tyler!" She called out to her brother, seeing him being stabbed in the chest. Tyler groaned in pain before he pushed Sarah away roughly. She watched Sarah hit her head on the edge of the table and as the body fell to the ground, immediately Ayla knew she was dead.

"Tyler..."

"This can't be happening." Tyler grunted, falling to the the ground.

"Oh no." She teared up, seeing her brother grunting in pain on the ground as his eyes turned amber.

"Ayla..." Caroline called out to her. "Ayla, what's happening?"

"He triggered the curse." Ayla held her brothers hand. "I didn't want this for you, Ty." Carol came upstairs after Caroline told her what happened.

"Ayla, you need to find Mason. He can help."

"Ty..."

"Please." She just nodded, not wanting to tell him that their uncle, the only person who could help them, was dead. Ayla left the room and went to her bedroom, she leaned up against the door and slammed her eyes shut. But this time she couldn't control the tears that fell, and as she sobbed all she could think about was everything that she had lost. Her mom was dead. Her uncle was dead. Her brother was a werewolf. She had no friends left. No one she could trust. She had no one. She had nothing.

She quickly changed into jeans and a hoodie before she went to the closet and threw a bunch of random articles of clothing into a duffel bag, not caring what exactly she packed. She took a deep breath, the bag hanging off of her shoulder as she walked over to Tyler's room.

"Where are you going?" Tyler asked, noticing the bag. He was scared that she was leaving for good and that he would be stuck to face the curse alone.

"I'll be back before the next full moon, I promise." He nodded before he hugged her goodbye. "You need to be careful. And you need to watch your back, Tyler."

He just nodded before he handed her the keys to his car. She jumped in it and left, making her way back down to Florida to find someone who could help them out of this very dangerous situation.