Hey, guys! Back with this chapter for the week. This is sad because I haven't finished 2x06 yet (actually, I'm nowhere near finished with it) so I've got to go on an indefinite break until I can get the chapter done and publish it. But enjoy this chapter! Hope it holds everyone over until further notice...
Disclaimer: Refer to the first chapter please :)
Kill or Be Killed
"I can't believe Tyler Lockwood's a werewolf," Jeremy expressed to his sister as he watched her dry her hands in their joined bathroom. Elena peered up at him in the mirror.
"We're not sure about that yet," she condescended. "The only thing we know for sure is that Mason Lockwood is."
"It should be easy enough for us to figure out."
Elena stopped applying her chap stick on her lips and looked up at her brother with pointed eyes. "There is no 'us'. I said that I wouldn't keep things from you anymore; that doesn't mean that I want you involved in it."
The younger Gilbert chuckled. "By definition of being in this family, I'm involved." He showed Elena his ring. Elena tilted her head at it.
"This is dangerous, Jeremy. You have to stay out of it, okay?"
"All right," he conceded. "Just saying."
Elena watched as her brother left the bathroom, and she promptly went inside of her room afterwards to get ready for the Historical Society picnic that she was to attend in an hour or so. She opened her closet door to grab a jacket. When she shut the closet door, she jolted and the door accidentally slammed upon seeing Stefan leaning against her wall. Elena took a moment to recover her breath.
"Sorry." Stefan smiled at her. "I didn't mean to scare you." He moved forward to kiss her, and Elena smiled at him graciously as he gave her a soft, melting kiss on the lips. After the morning kiss, she pulled her boyfriend into her arms in a hug.
"Hi," she greeted him. "Where were you last night? I was worried. I called."
"I know." Stefan pulled away from her and sighed. "Claire and Christopher got into it at the Grill and she just…she needed someone."
Elena gasped, shocked. "Oh, my God. What happened?"
Stefan bit down on his tongue, trying not to give her too much information. He'd agreed to keep his girlfriend out of it, just like they'd agreed to keep his brother out of it. But he couldn't lie straight to her face. Stefan turned around and paced for a moment before sitting down on the bed with an exhale.
"Last night, while Amelia was with me, Katherine was with Christopher. She threatened to hurt Claire unless she and Christopher get a divorce," Stefan explained. Elena sat down on the bed next to him.
"Is it even possible for them to get a divorce? A legal one, anyway?"
Stefan shrugged. "I doubt it. But she gave him back her rings so…that's about as legal as it'll get with them."
The teenage couple stayed silent for a moment. "So…do you think they'll work it out?"
"I don't know, Elena. Katherine's presence has put a strain on all of us. I hope they will."
But despite the somber tone he was saying the words in, Stefan knew that things would work out for the best. He hoped, at least, that they could remove Katherine from their lives and everything would return to normal. Thinking of the time, Stefan sighed and pulled out his phone from his pocket. Upon seeing the hour, he reluctantly rose from his girlfriend's bed, earning the human to look up at him with a cocked eyebrow.
"I have to go," Stefan confessed.
"What? You just got here."
"I know, but…Claire just texted me," he lied. "I'm taking her to the picnic today. Christopher's going too and…well, I doubt it's going to be pretty."
"Is there something I can do to help?" Elena asked hopefully. Stefan pulled her closer and kissed her temple.
"No. I'll handle it. But I'm sure she wouldn't mind having a girl to talk to. Amelia can't really see her out in public because of the whole…" Stefan trailed off and exhaled, "Katherine thing."
She pulled out of Stefan's grasp. "How can we be so sure Amelia isn't double crossing us?"
The vampire scoffed. "She's not double crossing us. Trust me. I've known her since childhood."
"Exactly," the doppelgänger retorted pointedly. "You knew her as a child. She could be different now, you know? It's been over a century and a half, Stefan."
Unamused at Elena's attempt to preach to him about Amelia's faithfulness, Stefan just gently touched her shoulders and tried to explain to her the veracity of Amelia's help.
"Elena, we do not have to worry about Amelia. She would never do anything to betray Claire." He smiled at Elena slowly, but she didn't return the favor. He leaned forward, kissed her cheek, and said goodbye. "I'll see you at the picnic, okay?"
Elena wasn't given the chance to respond. She just nodded and then was left to her empty bedroom after Stefan had fled away to his best friend. For the next few seconds, while Elena was alone to herself, she sat back down on the bed and sighed.
"You mean, she'd never do anything to betray you," Elena grumbled.
201 Claiborne Woods Road.
Claire had read about Jack King's estate—he'd never had any children, he didn't have a spouse, and so the house legally belonged to the bank. But what was the bank to do with a mansion that was more expensive than the Lockwood's mansion? The King family had a very steady streak of wealth over the years, which was why Claire getting married had nothing to do with money, but rather social status. Jack King, however, didn't care about his own social status. He had enough money to sit at home like an old bum and drink top-of-the-line bourbon whiskey every day since he turned 18.
Which, in a nutshell, was exactly what he did.
What was unsurprising to Claire was that her sister decided to use the King residence as her own place of residence while she's in town. What was surprising to her was that the thought never crossed her mind to use the King residence as her own. She imagined it was just because she wanted to stay with Stefan at the more private Salvatore house. Though the King mansion was exceptionally large, it was on one of the most suburban streets in Mystic Falls. It wasn't secluded like the boarding house, it was very much in the center of things. There wasn't a whole lot of room for privacy.
Amelia answered the door immediately upon Claire's arrival, and the two sisters faced each other with a silent understanding that passed between them. It was the first time that they both looked at each other and realized that…well, they weren't sisters.
"Good. You're here. We don't have a lot of time left," Amelia almost chastised, but stepped aside to reveal a human. Claire was mildly confused, but stood silently as Amelia asked the human, "Wanda? Could you please invite my sister inside?"
Wanda was an average-height woman with golden-brown hair and a politely dazed smile. Based upon her sister's question, Claire was sure that Wanda was the owner of the King residence, even though that didn't make much sense since Jack King left the estate to no one. Regardless, Claire saved her questions for later.
"Come on in," Wanda said to Claire softly, and Claire looked around for a moment before stepping into the threshold.
Amelia shut the door behind her, and Claire surveyed the interior aspect of the King house the second she stepped inside. It was much more lavish than the King's residence in 1864, but like Stefan and Damon's home, it had decayed over time and a new one was built in its place in another location. However, Jack King's house was modernly updated, complete with a contemporary-styled theme and artistic features all throughout the house. The house was a little on the older side, sure, but it had sustained the years well.
Claire didn't even notice it, but Wanda disappeared by the time her sister walked in front of her and interrupted her inventory on the King house.
"I wish I would've thought about using this place," Claire admitted. "Guess it slipped my mind."
The younger King scoffed. "It almost slipped my mind, but I needed a safe place away from Katherine and this was the best place I could think of."
"What's with Wanda? I thought Jack didn't leave this place to anyone. It belongs to the bank."
"It belonged to the bank. I compelled Wanda to buy it and she became the owner." Amelia looked towards the door. "I don't really trust Mystic Falls enough to have a house that's a free-for-all for most vampires."
Claire snorted. "Smart girl," she mumbled to herself before sighing. "Sorry I'm late, I just didn't really feel like getting out of bed this morning. It's just something about divorce that makes you not want to…I don't know, go to a picnic, for example."
She said these words pointedly because she distinctly saw the outline of Stefan's hair as he rounded the parlor corner with Christopher by his side and stepped up to greet the two sisters who were still at the door. Stefan leaned against the doorless threshold.
"That's not my fault," Stefan defended himself with a shrug. "You're a Founding Family, it's your duty."
She frowned. "You'd think that 145 years away from this place would strip me of that duty but…"
Her eyes moved over to Christopher, who was waiting by Stefan's side with somewhat of the same expression she wore. Stefan and Amelia caught sight of the two, and so both younger siblings made their—somewhat—silent departure into the parlor to give the falsely broken couple a moment or two of alone time.
When Claire and Christopher were done spending a moment or two lip-locked in the midst of the King foyer, Claire finally pulled away and sighed inwardly, annoyed.
"Is it really necessary for you to stay here?" she asked, practically grumbling the question. She, obviously, was in the worst mood she'd been in for decades. Katherine coming back to destroy her life really had that effect, as expected.
Christopher nodded sadly. "Unfortunately." He brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes and stepped back. "But it'll all be over soon."
"You can't know that."
"We'll think of something to get us out of this." He pulled her towards the parlor. Amelia was right; they didn't have much time left to talk about Katherine's downfall. While Amelia was stowing away at the King's residence during her free time, Katherine was at some bed-and-breakfast. Amelia only had a short while left before Katherine noticed she was gone.
"So you guys know what you need to do today?" Stefan asked they all convened in the parlor, not bothering to sit down. It wasn't entirely Claire's fault for being late, but they were all on edge from Katherine's threats.
"Act divorced," said the husband.
"Fight," Amelia told them pointedly. "A lot. Fight, fight, and fight some more." She looked up at Claire. "Which…no offense, sis, but it should be super easy for you."
Claire shrugged. "I'll just pretend he's Damon, then."
"And…that's another thing. Damon." Stefan crossed his arms. "Putting the whole Katherine thing to the side right now, he pissed off Mason Lockwood last night. We need to put a stop to it before Mason decides to retaliate."
"Okay. You and I can do that when we see him," Claire agreed, nodding at Stefan. "Cleaning up Damon's messes, as usual. So what are we even supposed to fight about when we see Caroline today?"
"It would be helpful if you fought about Katherine," Amelia admitted, leaning back on the couch. "Or…anything, really. It can escalate. But just know that anything you do in front of Caroline will get back to Katherine until we get her on our side, if that's even possible."
"It's possible," Claire promised immediately, wasting no unnecessary time answering the question. Things were silent and unhopeful for a moment before Claire scoffed. "Katherine's gotta be holding something over her! As soon as we figure out what that is, this can all be done with. We can run Katherine out of this goddamn town."
"I don't think it'll be that easy." Christopher looked up at the vampire beside him with apologetic eyes. "She's not just here for this. There's something she's waiting for."
"Well, how do we figure out what she's back for?" asked Stefan.
Almost simultaneously, the group shifted their attention to Amelia, who was thinking quietly to herself. Amelia finally caught onto the stares from her peers and immediately spoke up.
"Stop looking at me! I know just as much as you guys do when it comes to why she's here. She's not very trusting of me—not pleased, either, because I told her that I couldn't get you to turn on Claire," Amelia threw at Stefan. He sighed. "But…I guess I can try to find out."
"That's all we're asking." Claire exhaled impatiently. "The sooner we figure out why she's here, the sooner we can get ourselves out of this mess."
Amelia nodded in agreement and glanced up at the grandfather clock in the corner of the antiquely decorated parlor. "Yep. I'm all for it. But right now, we've got to cut this short. Speaking of Katherine's distrust, I wouldn't put it beneath her to have a tracking device on me. We'll lose any leverage we have against her if she figures out I'm going behind her back."
While Amelia headed for her jacket on the rack near the door, Stefan, Claire, and Christopher formed somewhat of a triangle by the couches. Stefan looked at Claire apologetically.
"You ready to go?"
The blonde grimaced. "I guess. Are you driving?"
"I guess," agreed Stefan, glancing at Christopher. "You can take her car, but don't leave too early."
"Got it." The other vampire nodded curtly and glanced over at his wife, who was not in the mood to be hanging around pretentious humans building a neighborhood park. Like the town wasn't already closely knit. There was something eating at Claire, however: doubt.
"Claire?" Stefan prompted, gesturing towards the door. She turned to him, thinking very briefly of asking for a moment alone with her husband. Instead, she decided that it was a lost cause. There was no use in reiterating what they already had told each other: I'm sorry. It's not real; just remember that.
"Yeah." She gave a faltering smile to her friend and looked over at Christopher with apologetic eyes, foreshadowing the day's events. "I'll…see you later."
He nodded to her, noticing the fear that rested behind her blue orbs. The pair said nothing more but parted ways to continue the façade they were forced to partake in.
"I think he's kind of handsome," Claire admitted as she and Stefan walked up towards Mason, who was taking things out of his truck to help with the picnic. Stefan glanced at her from the side as she shrugged. "If you're into that sort of look."
"What look?"
"You know…the 'surfer dude' look," she replied honestly. The other vampire paused for just a second before scoffing. Claire frowned up at Stefan. "Don't look at me like that! Blame it on this century!"
Instead of responding, Stefan and Claire came up to Mason Lockwood at his car and caught his gaze. As the two vampires approached Mason, he looked up at them in wonder.
"Claire," Mason began, giving a small, yet skeptical smile towards her. He then caught sight of Stefan and immediately dropped the smile. "And…Stefan, right? The other Salvatore?"
"The nice one," Stefan corrected. "The one offering an apology."
Mason shook his head tightly. "Not interested."
"Look, my brother acted impulsively."
"You think?"
Stefan chucked under his breath. "If you and Damon keep at each other's throats, somebody innocent is going to get hurt, and I don't want that."
"We," Claire rectified, throwing a glance towards Stefan and then at Mason. "We don't want that. And I don't just mean me, I mean all of us. There's no point for collateral damage here. Especially with…your family here and everything."
It was a veiled threat, one that Claire was very skilled at keeping disguised. Stefan quickly moved on, trying to get past the threat before Mason realized how oblique it was. "So what do you say we just, uh, quit the whole alpha male fighting thing and just…call it a truce?"
Mason pointed at Stefan accusingly. "I made that same offer to your brother. He turned it down. With a knife," he added.
Claire sighed. "Yeah, well, Damon's a child. Again, our apologies."
"He made a mistake," Stefan reasoned. "We're here to make sure that neither one of you make another one."
Mason grabbed the box that he was leaning on and began to walk away with the ill-conceived threat of, "Tell your brother to watch his back."
"Oh, no you don't," Claire sang as she flashed in front of Mason discreetly and trapped him between herself and Stefan. Mason grimaced at her and looked between the two vampires keeping him in a stationary position. "Listen, let's dial it down with the empty threats here. We all know that vampire trumps werewolf on any night except for the night of the full moon. And, if I'm not mistaking, there are a lot of nights before the next full moon."
"I'm strong enough," Mason propositioned. This time, Stefan stepped in.
"No, or you would've killed Damon by now." The wolf was quiet. "There's one of you, there's three of us. I think you're the one who needs to watch his back."
Claire was impressed with Stefan's threat, thinking off to herself in praise while Mason sighed in defeat. "If he comes at me…"
"He won't," the younger brother assured, sticking out his hand for the werewolf. Mason reluctantly took the teenager's hand and turned. Claire stepped to the side by Stefan and allowed Mason to pass, watching as he walked away from them with the box over his shoulder.
"What are you two doing?" someone asked, and Stefan and Claire didn't even need to turn to see that Damon had blurred behind the both of them in a discreet, quick motion like Claire's earlier maneuvering to prevent Mason from getting away.
"Negotiating peace on your behalf," Stefan responded.
Damon groaned. "Ah, but I don't want peace!"
His brother shrugged. "Oh. Consider it opposite day."
"Stefan." Damon stepped around both Stefan and Claire to face them, and he squinted at the two with curiosity. "Please tell me you don't seriously think that a handshake just solved our problem. Claire, back me up here. You must have some common sense."
Claire scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Mason Lockwood was furious with you, and now he's angry with all of us. Do you want an gold medal or something for your raging stupidity?"
"Yeah, the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he's gonna drive a stake through your heart," Stefan added in a sour tone. "And then through mine, and then through Claire's—all because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him." Stefan shrugged, as did Damon. "So thank you, 'cause we don't have enough problems."
With a hard clap on Damon's shoulder, the angry younger Salvatore brother walked off. Damon stared after him, knowing that what he did with Mason was wrong and that it backfired to the very extreme. However, when Damon realized that he still had a certain blonde vampire in his presence, he turned around and smiled remembering the fight she'd had with her husband at the Grill—or, rather, ex-husband.
"So," Damon slung an arm over her shoulder, "how you doing?"
Claire let out a hard exhale and elbowed Damon in the ribs, causing him to drop his arm. She kept her arms crossed, but didn't leave. Instead, she answered, "Not great, but I'm imagining that you take great pleasure in that."
"Me? Take pleasure in your unhappiness? Absolutely not!" Damon's voice oozed sarcasm, and Claire, but Claire couldn't help it—she laughed, like she always did when Damon used that tone. It was so uplifting and sour that she had no choice but to chuckle, especially after the shitty day that had already begun to unravel.
Damon's smile grew but faltered when he saw her pupils shift as her attention moved with them. He turned his head to the direction she was looking in and saw Christopher in the covered picnic area, his eyes locked with hers. Damon saw something wrong between the two; he saw something that was definitely off. But before he could ask, Claire had glanced over at Damon quickly, capturing his gaze for just a moment, and then turned on her heel to go do something else.
No, Damon realized. Something definitely wasn't right.
"So, suddenly, she's in the running for Mother of the Year. Just when I'm trying to avoid her the most!" Caroline complained to Elena as they walked towards the area they were supposed to help paint for the opening of the park. Elena was deeply distracted by her own life that she was tuning in and out of Caroline's drama. Caroline realized this. "I'm…babbling. You don't want to hear all of this."
"Oh, um…no. I'm sorry," Elena apologized as Caroline started painting the wood structure. Elena walked over to the structure she was supposed to paint, herself. "Then what happened?"
"Well, I was a bitch. Which is par for the course with us," the vampire confessed, but she could tell something was bothering her best friend. "Elena? Are you okay?"
"Hmm?" Elena looked up at Caroline with distracted eyes. Caroline waited as the question sank into Elena's head and the doppelgänger sighed in defeat. "It's…something that's going on with me and Stefan right now. I don't know what's come over me. Damon's kind of gotten in my head about it."
"Wait, Damon got into your head?" She said the sentence like Elena had committed an inexcusable crime, no doubt insinuating that she thought Elena was starting to develop feelings for Damon. This, of course, was completely and utterly incorrect.
"No!" Elena shook her head immediately. "Not like that, Caroline. Not like that. He just kept saying things to me about Amelia—you know, Claire's sister. Apparently, Stefan was in love with her back when they were kids."
Caroline stared at Elena, not understanding the point. "So?"
Elena sighed and resumed painting, trying to avoid Caroline's honest gaze. "I'm just worried, what with all this stuff happening with Claire and Christopher. I mean…Stefan spent all day with Amelia yesterday while I was trying to get a hold of him. I don't know, I think I'm just paranoid."
Caroline shrugged and made her brushstrokes longer. "Well, I'm sure it's nothing. And even if it's something, Stefan would tell you. He's too noble to…cheat or something."
The blonde almost scoffed at the thought, but the mention of Stefan cheating was not a joke to Elena. She turned back and opened her mouth to say something, but she found herself interrupted when Claire came up to the both of them with a hard, heavy sigh.
"So…Damon officially screwed up everything." Her shoulders rose and fell in a careless shrug. "You know, the usual song and dance. I'm starting to wonder; will it ever surprise me?"
"What happened?" asked Elena, looking up at Claire from the side.
"Oh, this whole thing with Mason Lockwood. Guy's out for some serious vengeance—that's obvious. Stefan and I tried to make peace, but…" Claire trailed off, not needing to finish her self-explanatory sentence. Mason Lockwood had become a problem that would inevitably have to be dealt with. "Anyways, what's new with you two?"
"Elena was just telling me—" Caroline's no-filter mouth was shut when Elena gave Caroline a cold, hard stare that immediately told her to shut up. At this, the blonde bit down on her lip and looked up at Claire, who was curious as to why there was a big silence. Quickly, Caroline changed the subject. "Um, never mind. So…how are you and Christopher?"
The other vampire had to admit that she was thrown off by the subject change, but when she saw Elena's interest as well, she realized that it wasn't her time to evade the question. Now was the time to act over grief of the marriage that she had presumably lost, even though it was still there at her fingertips. But she couldn't let Caroline know that—at least, not yet.
"Not good." Claire gave a sour smile to both Caroline and Elena. "You know, after 145 years apart because he was trapped in an underground cave that I had no knowledge of, you would think that this wouldn't be such a big issue. But he's convinced that Katherine's so jealous of me that she'll kill me without blinking."
"It's a logical conclusion," Elena admitted meekly. Claire looked down at her and nodded.
"You're right, but it still doesn't make sense." Claire looked between the two teenagers. "I mean, this woman has had about a century and a half to finish me off and yet…I'm still here. And the fact that I'm fighting about her is making me…sick!"
"Katherine's dangerous, Claire." Caroline tried to help, feeling incredibly guilty that she was part of the reason Claire was so unhappy. "Maybe he's right. Besides, you never know…being divorced can have its perks sometimes."
Claire scoffed. "I spent over a hundred years, essentially divorced, Caroline." The two stared at each other and Claire watched in despair as Caroline's face grew even guiltier. "Its perks only last so long."
There was a silence between the three before Claire sighed and walked up to the table outside of where the two teenagers were painting. She grabbed a paintbrush and returned to Caroline and Elena with a bitterly sweet smile.
"All right, enough of this. Let's just pretend to be good, carefree Samaritans paying out civic duty."
So they did, and it was a while before things got off task. The three had done their work diligently and continued to paint coat after coat on various other things until Claire looked up by accident and found Christopher over by the center covered picnic area, his gaze wandering up until he met hers. Claire straightened and sighed heavily, expressing her distaste. She could feel Caroline's prying eyes on her and she didn't need to wait long until the teenage vampire said anything.
"Uh-oh," Caroline noted. "Longing looks are being exchanged."
Claire's head rolled around to meet Caroline's as her eyes narrowed. "I don't do longing looks, Caroline."
"I beg to differ," Elena interrupted from her own position a little ways away from them. Elena's eyes locked with Claire and she nodded slowly, reassuring her. Her voice was soft as she suggested, "You should go talk to him."
"What?" Caroline practically scoffed. "No. That's a terrible idea."
"Terrible is relative." Claire looked down at her paint bucket and, seeing that it was almost empty, she smiled up at Caroline. "I'm out of paint so…I'm gonna go get some."
She waved her paintbrush in front of them and stormed off in a very Claire-like manner that had neither Elena nor Caroline questioning her intentions. Caroline sighed exasperatedly after trying to get Claire to come back and not pick a fight, but it was no use. Claire's mind was set and there was no changing that.
While she stormed over to Christopher, Caroline felt Damon come up behind her. Elena was surprised by Damon's presence, but she just gasped to herself, recovered, and returned to looking at Claire and Christopher. Damon saw them as well, curious.
"What's her problem?"
"Don't worry about it," said Caroline.
Damon took her comment in stride and tore his gaze from the blonde and her ex-husband to the teenage Barbie. "Why are you being such a bitch to your mom?"
The vampire was hesitant as she looked over at him and eventually nodded before turning away. "Don't worry about it."
"I need to borrow some paint," Claire requested briskly, holding out her paintbrush for the can of paint that Christopher had. The bronze-haired vampire looked up slowly, the annoyance obvious in his movement. He turned back at her, unimpressed with her sour tone.
"Well, I guess when you turned into a vampire, you lost all of your manners," he spat before gesturing to the bucket of paint next to him. Claire dipped her paintbrush into the bucket and didn't even say a word, showcasing her emotions with her pursed lips and peeved expression. "Apparently not when it comes to Damon, though."
Claire turned her head and narrowed her eyes into slits. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Damon? Don't tell me; don't tell me—" Dramatically, Christopher inhaled. "He's absolutely thrilled you're back on the market again, isn't he?"
This just angered Claire to her very core—she dropped the paintbrush and threw an accusing pointing finger at him.
"Don't you dare try and start this fight again! I wasn't the one who started this whole thing, it was you. You know what, why don't you take a break from trying to protect me from the evilness of Katherine and try to protect yourself from her tongue in your mouth." The two were silent until Claire scoffed and smiled bitterly. "That is, unless, you want that to happen."
"You're delusional." Christopher turned back to what he was doing before and shook his head. "And I'm not having this discussion."
"What, so you can accuse me of whatever you think I do with Damon but when I even hint about Katherine—?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Suddenly, Stefan jumped in between the fighting couple and looked between them both. It was all a part of the act, the couple realized, and went along with it. "You two need to calm down. We can't talk about this right now."
"Why the hell not?" Claire barked.
"Because we have ears, Claire." Stefan hissed the words and flashed his eyes towards Damon and Caroline who were anxiously hanging onto every word. Elena watched, not receiving words but fully understanding the situation. Once caught, Damon and Caroline turned and pretended that they weren't watching. Stefan looked at the arguing couple again. "Now's not the time or the place."
Claire leaned forward and grabbed the paint an with the paintbrush hanging off the edge. She gave a sour look towards Christopher and sneered, "Yeah, well, there's never gonna be a time or a place to talk about it. I'm done."
With nothing more, she walked off, and Damon and Caroline both watched as Stefan gave a frustrated sigh to Christopher and apologetically walked off to help his other friend. Instead, Elena, who was deeply concerned, stopped him. She knew something wasn't right about this—the way Stefan intervened and the way Claire and Christopher acted was almost too perfect.
There was something going on that she didn't know about.
"Hey," Elena stopped her boyfriend, grabbing his arm to prevent him from walking off. "What's going on? What's happening?"
Stefan sighed. "They had another fight, I—"
"I know." The teenager nodded slowly. "But…I don't get it Stefan. I know them. They wouldn't fight over something so—"
"Drop it, Elena," the vampire said icily, not knowing the power of his tone until it was too late and he was forced to leave anyway, hoping and preying that Caroline did not realize from Elena's statement that the fight was forged.
Damon found Mason drinking a small amount of lemonade out of a clear plastic cup by a kid's booth. He wasted no time in approaching, finding that he needed to get rid of the problem before it spun out of control.
"Hello, Mason," he greeted. Mason turned, but didn't say anything. "Working hard?"
"Doing my part."
"I heard you talked to Stefan."
"Nice guy."
"Yeah, a lot nicer than me," Damon agreed. Mason laughed bitterly, showing his disapproval.
"Well, nice is overrated."
Damon's eyes widened. "That's what I think!"
After taking another sip of lemonade, Mason gave the vampire an unfriendly smile. "You have a good day, Damon."
As Mason walked away, Damon smiled tightly and tried to mask his hatred of the wolf. When he cleared out, he found Claire replaced the wolf's presence by grabbing a cup of lemonade at the table. She sighed, exhausted.
"Please tell me that was a peace offering." She looked up at him with enticing blue orbs, but Damon just narrowed his eyes at her and avoided the veiled question with an actual one.
"What's up with you and the faux-drama?" Claire stiffened, and Damon tsked at her, disappointed. "Come on, Claire. You don't act that bitchy towards anyone except me. And you certainly wouldn't be rolling over and taking it if your husband was in love with Katherine Pierce."
"Damon—"
"Not to mention the fact that you won't even talk to me for more than five minutes. If you won't even do that, you wouldn't fight over me!"
This time, Claire wasn't so gentle. She looked at him with hard eyes and warned, "Damon, you need to back the hell off. Let it go. Got it?"
Damon's eyes roamed over the blonde's face for a moment, depicting her seriousness, before he finally sighed and shrugged.
"Fine. With pleasure." He watched as Claire gratefully sighed and brought the lemonade up to her mouth to taste, but he swiped it from her hand just before her lips.
"Hey!" Claire shouted, but Damon just gave her a small smirk and drank the lemonade for himself. Just as Claire was about to reach over for another one, Damon gagged and coughed up all of the lemonade, doubling over as he did so. Claire immediately halted all thoughts of getting a lemonade for herself and tried to help Damon as he choked up the lemonade that was sizzling in his mouth. "Damon! Damon, what the hell…?"
Damon kept coughing, his voice becoming weaker while Claire lead him over to the picnic table just a few feet away from him and let him sit down. Damon struggled to breathe, but he eventually choked out, "Vervain. Vervain."
"Oh, sweet Jesus," Claire muttered to herself, knowing that it had everything to do with Mason Lockwood. Damon coughed as quietly as he could to keep attention down, but he could feel the blood in his mouth as a result of the vervain. Desperately, Claire looked around for Stefan and found that her silent prayers for him were answered when the younger Salvatore came up beside her.
"What's going on?" Stefan asked, kneeling down to his brother.
Claire shook her head. "The lemonade. Vervain was in the lemonade—Damon drank it."
Stefan looked around for Mason Lockwood, coming to the same conclusion that Claire had almost instantly. Instead of searching for long, he looked back at his brother who shoved the two other vampires away in anger. Damon stormed over to the side of the picnic platform and grabbed a bottle of water lying on a table, murmuring threats that only he knew the words to. He gurgled and Stefan patted his brother's back to help.
"I'm gonna kill him," the dark-haired vampire snarled as he turned around, ready to pounce. Instead, Stefan kept him back and shoved him on the bench right underneath Damon, even though both vampires put up a fight. Claire stood to the side, anxiously looking around to see if they were being too noticeable. "I'm not listening to any more of your 'give peace a chance' crap! He's dead!"
Stefan restrained his brother, who grunted and finally calmed down from the amount of rage he was feeling. Slowly, Stefan nodded.
"Okay. I don't like it, but he's making threats. He could expose us. We need to put him down." Impressed, Damon nodded.
"All right. Let's do it." He looked up at Claire, who wasn't objecting to the thought. He spotted Mason out of the corner of his eye, trekking up the dirt-covered hill with the trash in his hand. "Woods. Trash duty. Come on."
Complying, Stefan followed his brother to the woods to go find Mason, and Claire was ready to be right behind them. But she looked out into the crowd, trying to find her husband, who she couldn't see at the moment. She was hesitant, but eventually, she took off in the direction that both Salvatore brothers had gone in, and they ended up right in the forest surrounding Mason so that there was no possible way for him to escape any one of them.
"Don't look so surprised," Damon patronized. "You knew this was inevitable."
Mason looked around him, but he was trapped. All three vampires had gained the upper hand. The wheels in his head began to turn to try to find a way out—some way he could run—but there was none. Damon could see this strategic failure in Mason's eyes and stared with icy eyes.
"Go ahead. Run." His voice was emotionless and severely pissed off. "I'll give you a head start."
Instead of doing what Damon thought Mason would do, the wolf ducked, and a bullet hit Damon's shoulder almost instantaneously. More shots fired, and Stefan was taken down easily. Claire was brought to the ground as well, falling flat on her side along with Stefan and Damon, who dropped as well.
Sheriff Forbes and her deputies held their guns, ready to shoot any one of the vampires if need be.
"Thank you, Mason," said Sheriff Forbes graciously. But on the inside, she was deeply disappointed that Damon—her closest friend—was such a liar. And even Claire, who hadn't been as close but was still a member of the council, was one as well.
So with no regret and only discontent, Liz injected a dose of vervain into each of the three vampires, causing them all to fade to unconsciousness and weakness.
To wake Damon, who was the first to come to terms, Sheriff Forbes kicked his leg and it caused the vampire's eyes to flutter open. She aimed at his leg and fired off her gun in Damon's thigh, causing blood to sputter out and a scream to sound in all of their ears from Damon's lips. Liz loaded another bullet.
"This is how it's gonna work," she began just as Claire began to stir beside Damon, groaning as she woke. Regardless, Liz barreled on. "Answer me and you don't get shot. Understand?" Damon didn't say anything. "How many of you are there?"
"Liz, please," a weak Damon groaned.
The gun went off again, this time in Damon's other leg. Claire's eyes fully opened hearing the scream, and she was suddenly very awake. She rolled over from her side, causing the deputies to point their guns at her defensively, awaiting attack. As Damon's screams died, Claire shook her head against the floor of what seemed like an underground cave.
"Liz, stop this!" Claire shouted breathlessly while Sheriff Forbes loaded another bullet. She forced herself up onto her elbows and shook her head again. "We're not your enemies, I promise you."
The deputy beside Claire fired at her, shooting the flesh of skin to the left side of her abdomen. Claire shouted in pain and was forced back onto the floor, writhing in the discomfort.
"How did you fool us?" Liz asked, directing the question to either Claire or Damon. "How do you walk in the sun?"
When no one answered, she fired again. This time, it did not go towards either Damon or Claire—it went to Stefan, who was still out cold over on the other side of his brother because of his dietary choices.
"No." The blonde vampire swallowed. "No, no, no…goddamn it, Liz, stop!"
"Answer the questions," Liz pressed. Neither Damon nor Claire responded to her interrogation tactic. "I will drag this out painfully."
Damon, who had turned his head to see his unconscious younger sibling, finally turned back to Liz and choked out, "But you're my friend."
"Our friendship was a lie." Sheriff Forbes shook her head tightly. "Answer me and I'll kill you fast." The two vampires were too stubborn for their own good. They remained silent, and when Liz realized that they would never give up their trade secrets, she made a rash decision. "They're not gonna tell us anything. Kill them all. Let's do this. Each with a stake in the heart, then burn them."
Liz overlooked her deputies as they bent down to kill the vampires, but there was a creak at the front of the underground Lockwood cellar they had brought the vampires into. Hearing it, Liz nodded to the deputy above Damon.
"Check it out."
As the deputy went to go inspect the noise, Liz came around behind him with her gun held high, ready to shoot any vampire who dared save them. Instead, she saw her deputy get hit with a wooden board and Elena Gilbert rushed out right in front of Liz, stopping short of the gun.
"Elena, what are you doing?" Sheriff Forbes reprimanded.
"You can't kill them, I'm not gonna let you," begged the human. But, after all, she was a human and she could not stand a chance against the deputy that had gotten up from the floor with bravery and shoved her into the cave with his gun raised. Suddenly, there was a gushing wind sound and all the deputies looked at each other.
"What was that?" one asked.
"Who else is with you?" Liz demanded of Elena, who didn't open her mouth at all. The gust of wind came again, and again, and again.
Elena knew exactly who it was, and she still shuddered and it even came as a surprise to her when Caroline attacked the deputy with full-on force, burying her fangs into the deputy's neck. The deputy's partner began to shoot at the vampire blindly, but Caroline was too quick. She used the dead body as a shield and then bit the deputy's partner. Her breathing was ragged and quick from all the blood consumption, but she eventually was able to calm herself. Caroline stepped out into the light to face her mother with a blanket of blood covering her chin.
Liz's face was ghastly as her daughter came into her sights. "Hi, Mom."
Sheriff Forbes sat quietly in a corner, forced to be silent and not harm anyone while she watched all the vampires—including her daughter—try to recover from her attempted homicide. Claire and Damon fed from the deputy's body, since he was still alive enough to have good-tasting, nutritious blood. Quickly, however, the two vampires drained the man of all his blood left and were strong enough to get up and preform normal functions.
Stefan, however, was fighting the urge. Elena was trying to help Stefan as he desperately attempted to accumulate his strength, but nothing except the blood would do that for him; and it was an option he did not have.
Damon crawled over to his weak brother. "You need to drink some deputy blood."
"Oh, no." Stefan groaned. "I'll be fine, it's just going to take a little bit longer."
Caroline disagreed. "Damon's right, you know? If there's ever a time to break your diet—"
Claire rose to her feet, still weak from the vervain injection and wooden bullets that were only starting to heel. She wobbled, but eventually got out, "It's not a good idea. Let him be, it just takes some time."
Just as Claire had, Damon rose to his feet and stumbled from the disadvantage the vervain had on him.
"This is a most unfortunate situation. Two deputies dead." He turned around to Liz. "And you. What am I going to do with you?" Sheriff Forbes stayed quiet, not giving him an answer. Caroline looked up at her mother shamefully.
"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Liz looked at her daughter and then tentatively looked away, repulsed at the sight. "Mom? Mom? Please! I…look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me, but…I'm your daughter and…you'll do this for me, right?" Sheriff Forbes remained looking at the floor. "Mom, please. He will kill you."
Finally, Liz looked up at Damon, her eyes full of tears and disgrace. "Then kill me."
"No!" Caroline protested.
"I can't take this," continued Liz. "Kill me now."
Damon sauntered forward and looked Liz right in the eyes, his sadistic side showing. Claire, Stefan, Elena, and Caroline watched in anticipation as Damon whispered, "But you were gonna drag it out so painfully."
"Damon…" Claire trailed off, sensing the anger that was about to explode. Sure enough, Damon grabbed the Sheriff by her shoulders and yanked her up.
"No!" screamed Caroline out of fear, "No, no, no, no, no!"
"Damon, don't!" shouted Stefan.
"Damon, please!" cried Elena.
Claire flashed up to Damon and was about to tear him away from Liz when he turned from her and snarled, "Relax, guys. No one's killing anybody. You're my friend." He looked back at the dead bodies. "We gotta clean this up."
Damon took care of the cleanup in the cellar, Caroline took the liberty of getting her mother under control until they could bring her back to the boarding house, Stefan focused on getting his health to par with Elena's help, and Claire set out with the doppelgänger and her friend so she could find Christopher in the dwindling Mystic Falls crowd that covered the clearing of the new park. She was a little concerned to why he didn't show up with Caroline and Elena, but it all made sense once he saw him with her sister just as they made their way right out of the woods.
Naturally, this caused unease.
"What's going on?" Claire asked with Stefan and Elena by her side. Amelia and Christopher turned around immediately and both of them were ready to answer, but didn't when they saw the condition the two vampires were in.
"Claire, what happened?" Christopher asked, rushing up to her with alarm in his voice. She had to admit; it was nice hearing concern rather than disdain. Amelia looked at Stefan, shaking her head.
"You, too, Stefan? Jesus, you look like you got mauled over by a truck!" she exclaimed, stepping forward to examine the bloodstains on his grey hoodie. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Stefan promised her, moving his hand on hers to still the concerned King sister. Elena, who was helping Stefan keep upright, caught sight of it and a wave of jealousy overcame her.
She cursed Damon out in her mind, knowing that it was he who was making her think this way. He was wrong; he had to be. There could be no possible way that Stefan could have feelings for someone else. Then again, there was that shred of doubt that played tricks on Elena and made her think the worst. She hated feeling that way—she didn't want to not trust Stefan. She loved him. Love was not about distrust.
"What about you?" Christopher asked, gripping his wife's hands tightly. "Are you okay? Did you feed, are you hu—?"
"Shh," Claire ordered, stopping him mid-sentence. She had a headache and the questions weren't helping. It might've seemed harsh, but Claire had no tolerance when it came to people breathing down her neck at a time of distress. "Relax. I'm fine. I fed and I'm healing. Sheriff Forbes and her deputies ambushed us. Mason told them that we were vampires."
"He did what?" the other vampire snapped, his blue eyes blazing red with anger. "Damn it! I knew something was wrong…just, Amelia came to me and I got distracted and—"
"What happened?" Stefan intervened. He was more troubled about what she had to tell them since it had obviously caused her to risk exposure of playing for an opposite side than she appeared to root for.
"Well, it doesn't seem so important now," the younger King bit, rolling her eyes. "Someone just ambushed you, Stefan, and you can barely stand up. You haven't fed, have—?"
"We're fine. I promise," Claire told her sister curtly, agitated with being interrogated on their physical condition for the umpteenth time. "Why'd you come all the way down here, Amelia? Tell us."
Amelia stared at her sister for a while before finally sighing, admitting defeat. "Fine. I heard Katherine on the phone today talking with someone about getting 'it' at any cost. It wasn't Caroline, it was a man's voice on the other side of the line."
"Did they talk about anything else? Did she say exactly what it was this man needed to get?"
The younger sibling shook her head. "No. It was almost like she was speaking in code. I thought she might've known that I wasn't on her side but…trust me, if Katherine knew that I wasn't faithful to her, I doubt I would still be alive."
After a moment of silence in deep thought, Claire looked up and sighed. "All right, well…we'll figure something out later. Right now, we've got to deal with Liz and Caroline. And Stefan…you need to feed."
"Do you need help getting back to the boarding house—?" Amelia started, but was cut off by Elena, who was urging Stefan in the direction of the crowd.
"I'm handling it. He's fine," the doppelgänger said shortly, causing a spark of defensiveness to rise within Amelia as she watched the teenager help the liming Stefan away. Claire, Christopher, and Amelia were left confounded, staring at the couple that left them.
"What the hell got into her?" Claire muttered, shocked. Nevertheless, the question went unanswered as Claire and Christopher riskily drove back to the boarding house together to figure out the mess between Caroline and her mother.
When Elena brought Stefan to the parking lot so she could drive him back to the boarding house, Stefan had regained enough strength to walk and function on his own, which only created more problems.
"What was that, back there?" Stefan asked, sighing against the trunk of Elena's car as he leaned against it for support. Elena froze. "She was just trying to help." When his girlfriend kept quiet, Stefan sighed. "Come on, Elena, don't—"
"You were lying to me today, weren't you?" Elena said suddenly, changing the subject. Stefan tensed, realizing that he'd been caught. "Claire and Christopher aren't fighting, they're pretending. And you're in on it."
Unable to lie, Stefan nodded. "I am. We did it to protect her from Katherine—to protect everyone from Katherine."
"Amelia, too?" Elena prompted, the bitterness glimmering through a wall of gentleness. The vampire exhaled, admitting guilt. "So you could trust her, but you couldn't trust me."
"No, Elena, this wasn't about trust. We needed to keep it a secret so that it seemed more believable—"
"It doesn't matter, Stefan," she cut him off briskly, holding up her hand. Stefan fell silent and Elena dropped her hand after a while and whispered, "You should've…told me."
It was a long time before Stefan admitted, "I know. And I'm sorry. But I promise you, Amelia's on our side. She won't hurt anyone, she's just trying to help."
"I know." Elena stepped forward, trying to understand where her vampire boyfriend was coming from. But the thought was eating her alive, and Damon's words burned into her memory. She mentally cursed Stefan's elder brother for making this a big deal, but she was left with no choice but to blurt out, "I just…I need to ask you something."
Stefan hesitated, but did not say anything. Elena continued after a moment, trying to come up with the best way she could put the sentence without sounding like a jealous monster. She continued, "This isn't about Damon, but he's been making some points to me lately. Telling me that I need to protect myself because of Amelia coming back."
The younger Salvatore snorted. "Amelia won't hurt you, Elena—"
"That's not what I meant." The two stood in silence before Elena finally purged, "Stefan, do you still have…feelings for her or something?"
The vampire paused. "W-Why would you ask me that?"
"That wasn't an answer," said a deeply disappointed and stubborn Elena. She crossed her arms defensively as Stefan straightened and tried to come out with a response.
"Elena, I…" he trailed off, searching for the right words to say. But what could he tell her? A lie? The truth, maybe? Did he even know the truth? The answer was simple. He admitted defeat. "I don't…I don't know."
Elena's breath shook as she received the confirmation of her doubtful thoughts. Stefan could tell she was biting back words, but he quickly tried to help. "But that doesn't mean I don't love you. I just never thought she'd come back—"
"Is that supposed to be an excuse? You don't know if you love her because you never had to think about it before?" Elena snorted. Stefan remained quiet. "Well, I'm asking you now, Stefan, so you're gonna have to think about it."
"Elena, she was a really big part of my life," he tried to explain. "I grew up with her. Claire was friends with Damon and I was friends with Amelia until she ran away and everything changed. I can't just…forget all of that, even if I tried."
"It's a simple question, Stefan," the girl said softly. "It's either a yes or a no."
And so they stood, in utter silence, when Stefan could not physically come up with an answer to satisfy the both of them. This did not mean that Stefan didn't love Elena—he knew he did. Likewise, she knew it too. But she was not asking him if he loved her, she was asking him if he loved Amelia. And that question did not receive an answer, so she assumed it was a yes.
"I'm gonna go home," said Elena quietly, embarrassed that she had asked a question that had earned no correct answer. "Tell Caroline I'll…call her later."
Stefan didn't stop her as the teenager climbed into her car and left the parking lot, deserting him. He was still weak, but he was strong enough to get home by himself. However, that turned out not to be necessary.
"I didn't mean to cause a problem." Stefan looked to his side to find Amelia walking out of the darkness, her hands awkwardly in her jean pockets with her shoulders tense and stiff. He sighed, exhausted. She came up to face him, and the two stared quietly. "You should've just told her the truth."
Stefan took in a breath. "I did, Amelia."
"Stefan, that was over a century ago," she breathed out, practically laughing. "There's no way you could still have any feelings for me at all." His silence was defining, giving much more than any amount of words ever could. Amelia quickly came to the realization of what his silence meant, and she sucked in a sharp breath. "Okay…well, that got awkward fast."
"I've got to get home," Stefan said abruptly, changing the subject. He turned to walk away, but Amelia stopped him.
"Stefan…" she trailed off, halting him. He turned back at her and she took out an excessive breath and jerked her head back. "Come with me. I'll drive you back."
"Amelia, I can get home on my own. I'm fi—"
"I know you're fine." She cut him off and started to back up towards her car on the other side of the lot. "But I can still give you a ride. Let's go."
He thought about disobeying her, but he'd already screwed up enough in the entire span of one day. So what harm could a ride home do?
"Hey. Sorry that…took forever," Caroline apologized to Claire as she stepped through the threshold of the Salvatore house with a suitcase in her hand. Claire held the door open for the young vampire. "I just didn't know how long my mom was going to be here."
"It'll take three days tops for the vervain to leave her system," Claire responded helpfully. "If we're lucky, it'll be sooner."
From the stairs behind them, Stefan came down and joined the two blondes in the foyer. Things had died down from earlier; Amelia had given Christopher a ride back to the King residence and things had been quieter for the most part. Claire had learned from Stefan about his fight with Elena, and all she could do was try to remain neutral and not think about how weird it was for her sister/not-sister to be dating her best friend. She hoped it would never come to that, but…as Damon had quipped, she remembered Stefan and Amelia's hapless crushes on each other.
"Hey," Caroline greeted Stefan, earning the same response from him. The three began to move down to the cellar where Sheriff Forbes was being kept. "Get some bunny in you?"
Stefan scoffed. "Yeah. I'm feeling much better, thank you."
Down the basement, Damon watched as Liz painstakingly conversed with her co-worker on the phone. "A stomach bug. Yeah, it came on fast. I'll definitely be out tomorrow," lied Liz.
Behind her, Damon clicked his tongue in disagreement. The sheriff turned around at him and expressed a look of distaste before turning around and amending her statement.
"…or longer—I'll text you." The vampire gave a triumphant smile. "Yeah. Goodnight."
The human ended the call and turned around, handing the phone back to Damon. He smiled at her. "Thank you." Liz brushed past him and walked over to the small bed in the corner of her temporarily cell. "It's not exactly The Ritz, but it's secure. I brought you a good thread count. And once the vervain's worked its way out of your system, I will compel you, you will forget everything, and you'll be a free woman."
"Keep Caroline away from me, please. I don't want to see her." Not only did Damon hear the exclaim from the distraught mother, but Caroline, herself, heard the words as she came downstairs with her friends and the suitcase in her hand. She stopped short just before entering the cell hearing the spiteful claim.
Damon eyed Caroline at the threshold and defended her, "She's your daughter, Liz."
"Not anymore," Liz disagreed. "My daughter's gone."
"You have no idea how wrong you are about that."
The hurt Caroline immediately stormed off, fighting off her tears before she could get away from the hovering nature of her new vampire friends. Stefan and Claire watched as she stormed off, and Stefan ultimately decided to go after her. Claire thought it'd be best to go after the teenagers, but instead, she turned around the threshold and walked into the cell to face Liz and Damon. Her presence silenced things for a while, but Claire eyed Liz on the cot.
She spoke softly. "You should give her a chance. She didn't choose this. None of us did."
"She attacked my deputies," Liz argued. "She's every bit a monster as the two of you."
"Your deputies were trying to murder us." The blonde's voice was so harsh, it nearly made Liz flinch. The two locked eyes. "You were trying to murder us, Liz. Talk about the pot calling the kettle—"
"Claire," Damon warned her, murmuring under his breath. The request caused her to tear eye contact with the sheriff and she glanced up to Damon, who was silently hinting for her to leave. Sighing out of frustration, Claire turned on her heel and left the cellar with one long, distasteful look towards Liz, who was acting out of turn on this one. Claire didn't like what she was, but she had a right to—it was her own personal hell at times. For humans, they had no right to hate their species. They didn't know a hardship until they've lived to see a century go by.
When Claire moved to head upstairs and check on Caroline, she stopped short when she saw Stefan hovering over the cooler of blood in the cellar, holding a package in his hand and torturing himself with its presence. Claire blurred over to him and snatched the blood out of his hand, misleading a relapse.
"Oh, no you don't," Claire warned him, making sure the blood was out of reach. "You're not doing this to me today. I don't have enough energy for you to relapse again, got it?"
"I wasn't gonna relapse," said Stefan, eyeing the blood with confusion. "Amelia said something to me in the car when she was driving me home. She told me that Katherine built up a tolerance to vervain and suggested that I could do the same…with blood. To build my strength."
Claire snorted. "My sister only knows the good you. Not the one who drives himself insane over human blood."
"But think about it," Stefan urged, causing her to refocus all of her attention into Stefan's eyes. "I almost died tonight, Claire. Because I was too weak."
"We all almost died!" she snapped, her eyes wide. "That isn't an excuse to go trying new things when we're at the breaking point right now! Stefan, this isn't a good time for me to worry about you falling off the wagon—"
"Now is the perfect time, Claire. Because I told you I would find a way to stop Katherine," he said harshly. "This is it. This is the only way because she's stronger than me. And unless that changes, I can't help protect you from her."
"I don't need protection," the vampire hissed through her teeth, tired of hearing the statement, whether in the midst of a fake argument or a real one. "You all seem to forget that I'm a vampire—that I can protect myself. Katherine can come for me all she wants, I'll be waiting with a stake in my hand. She won't get away with killing me twice."
It was a bold statement, but one that Stefan knew was not deceitful. He wanted to retort, but she was right. But he wasn't willing to give up so easily. Instead, he nodded in agreement. "Fine. Fine, Claire; you don't need protection. But here's the thing: you have been there for me through everything. It's time I'm here to help you for once."
"You help me enough, Stefan," she complained, shaking her head. "If you absolutely want to, we can try it one day. I can help you through it but not right now. Not with everything going on—"
"I have to do this, Claire," he urged, only earning a groan of displeasure from her. In an instant, he caught her off guard and snatched the blood from her hand. Claire gasped at the sudden movement, but she was too shocked that he would make such a move like that to steal the blood back. Before walking away, Stefan added, "With or without your help."
Her hands were clenched into fists when Stefan stormed out of the basement and upstairs. She half expected for Damon to come out and shove it in her face that she and Stefan were having one of their rare, heated friend arguments that had only occurred a few times every decade. Instead, she heard no gloating and was allowed upstairs without the cocky grin of the elder Salvatore. Not really feeling in the mood to be her normal self, she walked into the parlor where Caroline sat and sighed.
"You need a ride home?" asked the older vampire, crossing her arms. Caroline sniffled and shook her head, trying to subdue the tears.
"I can't go home," complained Caroline. Claire frowned.
"Your mom will be fine. I'll keep an eye out for her—"
"It's not that." Caroline dismissed the thought instantly, bowing her head in shame. Claire straightened and watched as the younger vampire took a moment before sniffling again and looking up to meet her gaze. "I can't go home because I'm scared."
Instantly, Claire stepped forward with a worried look on her face. "Caroline, why are you scared?" She said nothing. The King sat down on the coffee table in front of the vampire her blood sired. "Hey. Talk to me."
Caroline shook with fear and anxiety until she finally blurted out, "Katherine's gonna be there. And she's gonna want me to tell her…everything that happened today." Caroline watched as a look of realization crossed her sire's features. "She told me I had to spy on you and report back to her."
"I know," the female vampire confessed, looking up to capture Caroline's green eyes as they widened with bewilderment. "Caroline, one thing that you should know about me is that I can spot bullshit from a mile away. And…well, you were full of bullshit when you tried to keep me away from Christopher."
Caroline sobbed, as if she'd been scolded. Claire leaned forward on her knees and softly reached out to gently touch Caroline's arm. "But listen to me; I don't blame you for what you've done. Because…knowing Katherine…she threatened someone." The other vampire almost broke out in tears, confirming Claire's belief. "Who was it, Caroline?"
"Matt." The teenager sobbed harder. "She threatened Matt. And I am so scared of her, Claire. I am…so scared of her."
"Well, you should be, Caroline," agreed Claire with a snort. Caroline tried to calm her sobs. "I should be scared of her—we all should. Katherine killed me; she's not empty on her threats. That much I know."
"Why is she doing this? What does she want?"
"Katherine…feeds on drama. Her fuel is causing pain to others because she's unhappy with herself." The words were crucial to say, crucial to hear, but true. Claire bit her lip. "And…well, we don't know what she wants. Not yet, anyway. But we will find out." Claire squeezed Caroline's hand reassuringly and nodded. "Trust me. We're going to figure this out—all of us. She's not going to win this time. Okay?"
Claire waited for the other vampire to agree, and eventually Caroline nodded weakly and sobbed again, obviously afraid of what Katherine would do to her and what would come of her telling the truth. Despite the role Caroline played in the break-up between her and her husband, Claire knew that it wasn't her fault, what had happened. She was an unfortunate pawn in Katherine's game.
The new vampire had fallen asleep shortly after their heart-to-heart. The glowing embers of the fire crackled beside her and Claire sighed, exhausted. She moved to the staircase to resign to bed, but Damon cut her off as she tried to exit the parlor. She made a disgruntled sound of disapproval, but then looked back to make sure that Caroline was still asleep. To her pleasure, she was.
"Caroline's asleep," Claire whispered to the brother as she brushed past him, but kept her steps slow so she could talk with Damon, who obviously came to her for a reason. "I would've moved her to one of the beds upstairs, but she was out before I could suggest it."
"I heard," Damon agreed. "And you?"
They locked eyes, but Claire could see something in Damon's that made her pause and study him. There was something on his mind—she could tell. She just really couldn't care.
"I'm going to my own bed. Goodnight." She moved to walk up to the staircase, but Damon's fingers came around her arm and he softly spun her around to face him.
"Hey," he said softly, his voice quiet so only the two of them could hear. She shifted and noticed as he didn't release his hand from her arm. He didn't have a pressure on his hold and it wasn't hurtful, it was gentler than she would've thought. He could see the look of irritation on her face, but he barreled through it regardless. "Stefan didn't drink the blood, if you were curious. But he needs to."
"Damon, I don't want to have this discussion with you," Claire whispered, finding herself calmer than she'd ever been with Damon. Maybe it had something to do with the unconscious Caroline on the parlor couch. "You've said it for years. I know he can function on the blood if he was taught correctly, but now's not the best time for us to be doing this. It has to wait."
"I know you hate to admit this, Clarissa, but you have people who care about whether you live or die," he murmured, his eyes roaming across her features. Claire stiffened. "People who don't want to lose you—especially not to Katherine. Stefan is one of those people. He wants to be strong enough to help."
Sensing her discomfort, Damon let go of her arm and she returned it to her side, avoiding his uncomfortable gaze. He had a point, she realized; but it still made no sense to her. What was the point in Damon, Stefan, Christopher, and anyone else risking their own lives for a battle that was so petty it was almost laughable? If she so desired, Claire believed—completely—that she could handle Katherine Pierce on her own. Not without fear, but she would still be able to defeat her.
She'd be wrong, of course.
"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he went off the rails again," Claire whispered, trying to make Damon understand where she was coming from. "He's fought so hard to get to where he is today, to fight the monster he thinks he is."
"Help him," Damon suggested, for once giving thoughtful insight. "Trust me, you can help him get through it. I've seen you do it before."
She was struggling with words—she'd never had a thoughtful, insightful conversation with Damon about Stefan before. Surprisingly, Damon had a point to his words that she understood. It swayed her, but she was still on the fence about how she felt with Damon.
"W-Why are you being so nice to me?" she stuttered, a little confused. Damon's expression remained blank as she chuckled in disbelief. "I hate you. You hate me. We don't talk about Stefan. Don't you remember how that works?"
For a while, he was silent. Then, he finally opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing else except, "Night, Claire," and walked off to the staircase to go up to his own bedroom, leaving her alone to think about their conversation. She should've been wrapped up as to why he didn't answer her question, but all she could think about was the struggling Stefan. She'd abandoned him in his time of need for advice and help—what kind of a friend would do that?
Stefan was sitting in the study when he watched Claire enter the room, emptying a dose of blood from a blood bag into a crystal glass with a sigh. He straightened, confused, and watched in wonder as she made her way over to him and sat down on the couch. Her eyes met his.
"Tell me, honestly," she urged. "Do you believe that you can control it?"
He stared at her and tried to come up with an answer. Finally, he sighed. "I don't know. But if I don't try…"
"I get it." Claire stopped him, capturing his attention after he'd deferred it. "Stefan, I…love you. You're my best friend and…all the family that I've had for an entire century. We've been through everything together and I get it. I'm just so used to denying you human blood because of what Lexi taught you."
She paused and reached forward to grab the small glass that she'd poured as she walked into the room. Stefan eyed it, catching the level line of the blood. It was only one fourth of the cup's full capacity, but just enough. Claire exhaled.
"But now it's time to try something different." She gave him a sad smile. "And I'm going to help you."
The friends sat in silence, taking in the seriousness of the situation. Stefan eyed the glass of blood in her hand, and she held it out for him to take with confidence. Stefan reached forward after a hesitation and grabbed the cup from her hand, fully aware of her observing gaze. He took in a deep breath and then drank, telling himself to fight the urge to grab the blood bag and drink more. When he finished the blood, the only thing that kept him from ripping apart every human life he came across was the anchor of his best friend.
Claire grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly. "Breathe," she instructed him, watching as the veins kept their hold on Stefan's face. "I'm right here, Stefan. You can do this."
And over the next few, painful seconds, the veins started to disappear as Stefan took in a deep breath, in and out. Claire smiled triumphantly, and when Stefan saw the smile of approval from his best friend, he smiled. The two were smiling at each other, realizing that it had worked. He didn't throw her and rip apart the blood bag. He didn't lose control.
Mason Lockwood kept his eye sharp for any unwanted visitors that dared to roam around at the Lockwood property in this time of night. Way deep in the woods, he made his way up to a parked car with its headlights shining bright, attracting attention to it. Without a hesitation, he opened the door of the nice, modern car and climbed inside to sit next to his vampire companion.
Katherine turned her head and grumbled, "I've been waiting."
Mason looked at her for a moment before leaning forward, preparing to kiss her. Katherine stopped him, holding up her hand in front of his face. "Ah! What was that stunt today that you pulled with Claire King and Damon and Stefan Salvatore?"
Mason knotted his eyebrows. "I thought you'd be happy about that."
"I told you to stay away from them," she chastised.
"Why do you even care?"
"I don't want you to get distracted. I need you to find the moonstone," Katherine pushed. The wolf stared at her for a while, and Katherine studied his face. A smile appeared, and she soon realized what it meant. "You got it!"
"I got it," he agreed.
The vampire chuckled and shook her head incredulously before leaning forward to bring her lips to Mason's in a passionate, relentless kiss.
Thanks for reading! Review, please!
NicoleR85: Thanks for reviewing!
RHatch89: Thanks for reviewing!
SomebodyWhoCares: That's probably what's going on in the back of everyone's minds but...yeah, sadly that won't happen for a while.
SavageKill: No, Christopher isn't working with Katherine. I don't know how I worded it to make you think that way. Basically, the whole gist of it is that Christopher was turned into a vampire by Katherine because she planned to kill Claire in the tomb and take Christopher for herself, but her plan totally backfired because Emily never brought Claire into the tomb in the first place and Christopher's parents found out that he was a vampire and they turned him into the mob, who then brought him to the church to burn. Hope that clears it up. Thanks for reviewing!
grapejuice101: Wow! That's high praise! Thanks so much! Here's the update...I'm going to try to work on 2x06 ASAP.
bigdloveztexaz: Thanks for reviewing!
GetTraught: Your review made me smile :) Yeah, I love Christopher as well, but since this is a Damon/OC I get where all the hate comes from. Stefan and Amelia are cute, aren't they? That's what I was going for. Elena and Stefan need to go on a little break, especially since Katherine's not really getting in between them like she normally does. Amelia and Katherine are close because of both reasons, actually; Katherine feels empathetic towards her because of the child, but Amelia feels almost obligated to her because Katherine saved her at such a low point in her life. Of course, when she found out about Katherine having it out for Claire, she sort of realized that Katherine's not the idealistic role model. As for the rest of your questions about Amelia's baby, I cannot answer them...and will not be answering them for a long time. For right now, all that's said about the child is that she was given away and that Amelia is positive she has died. I completely agree with you about Claire going back and forth, because that's exactly what I wanted her to do. She's not perfect, nor as hardheaded as she thinks she is or wants other people to think she is. But she's also not the weakling Elena, who keeps telling herself that she's not hurting anyone when she really is. The point was that Claire knew exactly what she was doing and did it by her own accord, but she needed to come to a conclusion that she wanted to keep her marriage alive. Which, of course, kind of sparked some resentment in Damon. Anyways, thanks for the lovely review!
Guest: You know, that's an awesome question. One I don't really have an answer for. Thanks for the review! :)
Anna.B: Eh...we'll see about that. The next chapter should have an interesting reaction from everyone that I'm dying to see. "Loved" isn't really the word to use when it comes to Claire but we'll actually see more of Christopher's breaking point in 2x06. I know, telling Amelia wasn't a good decision on Stefan's part, but he was feeling awkward and he thought it was best to tell Amelia since Claire wasn't around. Amelia and Claire didn't really have a moment alone in this chapter, but we'll see their reflection on it in the next. Season 3 is a long ways away but...I already have plans and Klaus and Claire are a part of them. However, this won't be like my other Damon/OC/Klaus triangle, I'm making it as different as I can. Thanks for reviewing!
Bella Lugosi: Thanks! Haha Christopher is a really sweet dude, but...I don't know, don't get too comfortable. It's time for a change. That sounded way more cynical than I wanted it to be...
annie: I'm trying really hard to write chapters faster but my English teacher decided to bombard me with a shitload of work to do and books to read...plus, I'm not gonna lie, I've been rewatching The 100 over and over again for the past week now. But I promise that I'll try! I like your idea about Jenna's place in the sacrifice, but I have something else in mind that I've been planning for since the beginning of Season 2. Again, I'll try to make my updates more frequent. Thanks for reviewing!