A.N.: I'm watching Hot Uncle Mason, and Taylor Kinney is actually a very subtle, great actor. His facial-expressions when he's talking to Tyler about him almost killing Sarah were just… I wish they'd done more with him.
Dangerous Beauty
12
Drama
"So, Stefan and Elena are fighting," Caroline informed her, her tone making the statement seem absurd. Giulia frowned.
"Those two don't fight; it's nauseating," she murmured, frowning at a particularly resilient patch of wall she was splattering paint on. She had been at the new park since eight a.m., helping to assemble the purpose-designed visitors' centre,a small building with a fully-equipped kitchen that people could hire out for events. The Fells – and the Founders, of course – had made contingencies for the use of the land, ensuring it wasn't developed into a business centre or a chain-hotel; it was a public park but could also be hired out for weddings and private parties. The Fells would of course cash in on those occasions. But it was a beautiful venue for a wedding, with the creek trickling romantically into the clear lake. Now, Giulia had to paint the damn building; soft, dove-grey blue. And she was keeping an eye on half a troupe of Girl Scouts dumping compost over the primroses they were supposed to be planting in window-boxes.
There was something fundamentally wrong with eight-year-olds.
"I'm serious," Caroline said earnestly, eyes wide. "Stefan's all moody and Elena almost went into full bitch-mode." Giulia raised her eyebrows, glancing pointedly at the uniform-clad Girl Scouts. Caroline grimaced guiltily. "Sorry," she said, waving awkwardly, her eyes lighting on the compost-drowned primroses. "You guys are doing really well. Have you had any food yet? There's burgers and lemonade." As soon as the gang of children had rushed away, trailing compost and shrieking, Caroline zoomed to the window-boxes. Giulia shook her head, smirking.
"What were they 'fighting' about?" Giulia asked, using air-quotes. She was being honest; except for the one time Stefan forgot to tell Elena he was a vampire, those two didn't fight. They were united in their self-righteous superiority over all. But of all of them, their relationship had weathered the new year, while Caroline's had fizzled off, and Giulia, well…that was something different altogether and she wasn't sure now, painting the visitors' centre getting her nose sunburnt, sweating through her t-shirt and really wishing she could add some Long Island to the sweating bottle of raspberry Arizona Iced Tea, was the right place to let her mind wander into Elijah territory.
"About Stefan spending all day with Katherine," Caroline sighed, tenderly shaking the compost off the buttery-yellow flowers, nestling the roots into wells in the soil and tamping it down. Giulia could remember Liz sitting with them on the porch, showing them how to plant bulbs – assuring them with a little patience, in a few weeks they'd see vibrant green shoots, beautiful bright flowers. Caroline had always been impatient, for the flowers as much as for everything else – to grow up, to go to high-school, to learn to drive and to fall in love, impatient, as if she'd never have the time for all of it.
The irony hit Giulia as she watched her diligent, optimist-to-her-core best-friend salvaging the primroses, beautiful blonde curls shining in the sun.
"Elena's annoyed Stefan spent the day torturing his ex?" Giulia asked, smiling; Damon had filled her in when he arrived this morning, wearing his customary uniform of black jeans and a sharp black shirt with the top button undone, to trim trees and rake leaves and grill burgers. Amongst everyone in their summer finest, he looked superbly incongruous – and utterly indifferent about it. But that was the benefit of being cold-blooded; he'd never feel uncomfortable. Stefan had spent the day yesterday with Katherine; after they'd had a little run-in at The Grill, he had managed to track her down to a quaint B&B on Third Street, where he had seduced her, dosed her with vervain, and compelled the staff to ignore any and all screams and smashing noises.
He'd wanted answers. Giulia could have told him everything Katherine had deigned to tell him, without all the fuss and drama. But it seemed Katherine had threatened everyone Elena loved – she thought Damon's exact words were "She'll kill everyone Elena loves while she watches and then kill Elena while Stefan watches if the two of them don't break things off".
Points for dramatic flair, she'd thought, when Damon had told her how Katherine had merely snapped her shackles (legit; they kept a set in the basement) and informed Stefan quite casually, before stabbing him with a stake through the kneecap, that she had been sipping vervain every day for a hundred and fifty years. It didn't hurt her. But it had to have given Stefan some form of release while he'd thought he was hurting her. Stefan = 0, Katherine = 1. She supposed turning Caroline made 2.
"I know, I don't get it," Caroline frowned. "There's being a clingy girlfriend, and then there's that." Giulia chuckled, painting industriously. Her mind flashed on to her ex – Tyler – and the idea of Elijah – her sex-toy – torturing him.
She and Tyler had been hanging out at the gym sometimes, they often boxed together if the ring was free. He knew she wouldn't pull punches, and she wouldn't whimper and bitch if he didn't. She might be a little bit annoyed Elijah had tortured Tyler. Not because she hadn't been invited, but because, well, she wouldn't want to see him hurt.
There was absolutely no sense in Elena's argument against Stefan. He was doing what he thought he had to, to protect her. "He is patient, I'll give him that," Giulia said fairly, and Caroline raised her eyebrows, unused to her dolloping praise on her lesser-liked 'uncle'. "Not as patient as Damon–"
"Damon - patient?!" Caroline blurted.
"He waited a hundred and fifty years for his girlfriend," Giulia said, smiling. Proud. She snorted, "They may not have been a celibate century and a half, but he was committed. I think that's admirable." She gave Caroline a sidelong glance as her best-friend finished arranging the primroses, sifting compost through her fingers to fill in areas that needed more. "Have you thought about it? In a hundred and fifty years, you'll be painting the third replacement of the visitors' centre."
Caroline blinked, glancing up. She stared at Giulia, lips slightly parted. Giulia smiled, as Caroline whispered, "Wow… I didn't even think of that." Then she beamed, "Yeah, I'll be here – with your great-granddaughter." She huffed and rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "I know you're freaked out by pregnancy and childbirth but I promise you, it is natural, Giulia! Anyway, you can adopt! You're not really the marrying type."
"Whereas you will look as stunning on your hundredth wedding-day as your first," Giulia grinned mischievously, a laugh gurgling from her, dodging out of the way of a wayward handful of dirt Caroline flung at her. She threatened Caroline with the paintbrush and a dark shadow fell across them.
"Barbie's getting married? Who's the poor bastard?"
"You, if you don't behave yourself," Caroline threatened, pushing to her feet and dusting off her hands.
"Yeah, you'll get married here, in a hundred and fifty years," Giulia smirked, gesturing around the park with her paintbrush.
Damon quirked an eyebrow, glancing at Caroline. "Keep dreaming, Blondie."
"Hey, tell Giulia that Elena and Stefan were fighting, she doesn't believe me!" Caroline said, taking the cup of lemonade Damon offered her.
"It's true. Bitching each other out – and dragging my name through the dirt too, I'll have you know," Damon tutted, shaking his head.
"What's this?" Giulia asked, perplexed, as Damon offered her a sturdy paper-plate loaded with ribs, corn, coleslaw and cowboy baked-beans.
"Don't ever say I forget to feed my pets," Damon said, handing her the plate and the second cup of lemonade, patting Giulia on the head as she narrowed her eyes lethally.
"No fruit?" she asked, gazing forlornly down at the loaded plate.
"There's peach fritters if you're a good girl and eat everything on your plate," Damon cooed.
She bestowed Damon with a charming, childlike beam, "Thank you, Damon."
"Ugh. So what is this, like a thing? Stefan and Elena are fighting so you're like besties again?" Caroline frowned disapprovingly, glancing from Giulia to Damon with a glare.
"You know, Blondie, you really don't have to be jealous of our bond," Damon said, pointing a finger threateningly at Caroline as he linked an arm around Giulia's shoulders, pressing a kiss to her temple, making her crinkle her nose. "I promise you can play with my dark goddess here any time you want, as long as you remember to feed her, give her regular shots of bourbon and ensure she stays away from those god-awful hi-low mullet-skirts."
"Uh, done!" Caroline blurted, grimacing.
"I'm going to eat my ribs and ignore you," Giulia sniffed, settling cross-legged on the ground with her plate, gulping down her lemonade, not realising how thirsty she was – or how hot; her skin felt like it was burning, unused to the harsh sun that had Caroline crinkling her nose about the number of sweaty guys. Damon chuckled softly to himself, wandering away. Caroline skipped off, reappearing with a plate of her own, and they sat eating their lunch together. For a brief moment, it felt like old times – the two of them, working themselves to the point of collapse, feasting on a lunch provided by the Founders, in the sun, gossiping and bouncing ideas off each other for their summer vacation.
"Hi girls," a familiar voice said, and Giulia grinned as she glanced up. "Look at this, it's just like old times. Caroline, honey, smile!" Liz had appeared, toting Caroline's little purple digital-camera – the one that hopefully bore no evidence of their Lost Weekend in Manhattan; Caroline had assured her no photographs would ever make it to Facebook, and she had hidden away her scrapbook pages, but still – Liz was Sheriff for a reason. She wasn't clueless. She knew her daughter. Liz snapped a picture of the two of them, smiling fondly at the little screen on the camera. "Aw!" She sighed, smiling wistfully, glancing from Giulia to Caroline. "My little girls are growing up! You left this over by the grill."
"Thanks," Caroline smiled, accepting her camera back, examining the little screen. "Aw, we look cute! This is going in my scrapbook!" Liz chuckled, shaking her head and smiling indulgently.
"I'm glad the two of you are taking a break – all the other volunteers are glad for the reprieve," Liz said, with a smirk at Caroline, who smoothed out her features and tossed her loose curls over her shoulder. "I've been guilted into helping the Girl Scouts – just promise me you'll keep putting on sunscreen and stay hydrated."
"We will," Caroline said, avoiding her mother's eyes. She came across as impatient, almost embarrassed; Giulia grinned at Liz, nodding, and the Sheriff walked away, a slight dip to her shoulders as she approached the gaggle of eight-year-old girls. She glanced at Caroline.
"Did I miss something? Your mom's here – that's the be-all and end-all for you," Giulia said, frowning at her best-friend. Caroline lived for the days she got to do mother-daughter bonding. Because they were so rare; Liz was devoted to her job as Sheriff, and Giulia knew sometimes Caroline felt second-place. Much like she felt about most aspects of her life; she might have hoped Caroline would shed that chip on her shoulder with her transformation.
"Yeah, she's trying to be Mother of the Year, just when I'm trying to avoid her most," Caroline sighed.
"Why?" Giulia asked, perplexed. Caroline raised her eyebrows at her, staring.
"Um, because I turned into a vampire," she hissed under her breath, glancing around.
"Oh. That," Giulia said, waving a half-gnawed rib idly. "You think she's going to notice your vicious mood-swings and excessive eating and guess you're a vampire? She'd probably just think you're in early stages of pregnancy."
"Gee, that makes me feel better," Caroline huffed. "Just jump right to the 'my-daughter's-a-slut' assumption."
"She's going to find out eventually, Caroline," Giulia said softly. "Unless you want to move in with your dad until college, sever all ties with both your parents so they never realise you haven't aged a day…"
"No, I don't want that," Caroline mumbled sadly. "But I just – from what you told me about the Council I don't think my mom is going to take it well. Like at all."
"You have," Giulia said quietly, gazing at her best-friend. "And you're more like your mother than you realise." Caroline looked perplexed; no-one had ever told girly little Caroline that she was like her strong, independent Sheriff mother. But Giulia saw it; it was the strength and earnestness shining through Caroline since her transformation that came entirely from Liz. Truthfully, Giulia had worried about when Liz finally did learn about Caroline's little secret – at least if Car was pregnant something could be done about it; something wonderful would come out of it. Trying to look at it from the perspective of someone heading the Founders' Council, who had been raised to hate and distrust vampires, who wanted only to protect people, especially her beautiful daughter, well… Giulia could see how Liz's heart might break into a million pieces. Hers had too.
But if proximity to Liz as her surrogate Mommy had taught Giulia anything, it was to not give up. Especially on the people you loved. Brush off the bad stuff, keep your chin up and work hard. There was an innate grace to Liz, a sense of perseverance despite all odds that she had passed to Caroline, whether Caroline realised it or not.
Caroline sighed, dusting off her hands, and offered to take Giulia's empty plate to the trash so she could continue painting. "Uh-oh. Longing looks are being exchanged," Caroline said, amusement in her tone as she glanced across the park at Elena, who was serving potato salad and corn at the lunch station, and Stefan, who was helping to build the custom-designed wooden jungle-gym. "I'd better go, we are on a schedule and I do not want their drama holding everything up!"
"You tell 'em," Giulia nodded, her last rib clamped between her teeth as Caroline took her empty plate away. She picked up her paintbrush and had switched to the roller to paint the wall, the trim already drying in the sun, when her phone started to buzz. She set the roller down in the palette of paint, stooping to pick up her now-warm lemonade, and pulled her phone out of the back-pocket of her tiny denim shorts. Quirking an eyebrow, she glanced around as she hit 'Accept'. "Are we sneaking off to do shots?"
"Uh, hardly," Caroline said tersely, and Giulia's senses prickled.
"What's wrong?"
"You remember how to get to the old Lockwood cellar?" Caroline asked.
"Yeah."
"I need you to grab the icebox out of my car and meet us there."
"Us, who?" Giulia frowned. "Caroline, what's going on?"
"Mason tried to get Stefan and Damon killed," Caroline said, her voice small. "He put vervain in the lemonade and Damon drank it in front of my mom, she got her vampire Deputies to come and – well… They're dead. The Deputies, I mean, not Stefan and Damon… Giulia…my mom knows." Giulia blinked quickly.
"Okay. Where are your keys?" she asked, abandoning her station to another volunteer.
"My car's unlocked," Caroline said. "Just…hurry. Stefan was shot a bunch of times…"
"Well, did you get the bullets out?" she asked, legs aching as she ran up the hill toward the packed parking-lot.
"Yeah, but, he's just such a mess I don't know if there are more," Caroline said, sighing. Giulia dipped into Caroline's new Ford, pressing the button for the trunk, and hung up the call so she could lift the medium-sized Igloo from the trunk. A flash of purple twenty yards away made her look up, and she stilled, watching Mason Lockwood unlock his truck. Damon had threatened; Stefan had tried to cajole; she would be brutally honest. She closed the trunk without latching it, aware Mason might be able to scent the blood in the icebox, and instead picked up one of the warm Gatorades Caroline kept in her car for after cheer-practice, snapping the cap off as she strode across the lot.
"Hey, Mason," she said brightly, smiling as he jumped, startled. He eyed her suspiciously, slamming his trunk shut.
"Hey, Giulia. You having a good time?" he asked.
"The sun makes me frisky," Giulia shrugged, smiling. "Anyway, Caroline's taken a break so everyone else seems to be relaxing. Are you heading off already?"
"Ice-run for the snack-stand," Mason smiled.
"You can never have too much," Giulia sighed. "Here I thought there was a little too much community spirit around here for your taste."
"Something like that," Mason chuckled. Giulia nodded. "I noticed Tyler's not here."
"Yeah, well, Tyler likes to limit the number of times per year the Mayor can truss him up and show him off," Giulia smiled. "Although he might've been useful putting together that jungle-gym."
"Yeah, well, I'm guessing he's got some pretty girls at home; Carol restocked the bar," Mason smirked, flicking his eyes over her. "How'd he ever screw up with you?"
"It's a mystery," Giulia said lightly, rolling her eyes. "Not really; he was sleeping around. Anyway… I have to get back, but can we talk?" Mason glanced at her, suspicious.
"Oh, I get it; it's your turn, huh?" he asked, dropping the pretext.
"Yep," she said, smiling gently. "The difference is, you're going to listen to me."
"Uh-huh," Mason said, unimpressed.
"I can't do tonight, or tomorrow… How about Tuesday morning? We can go for a run; I know a really good route," Giulia suggested. Mason sighed, eyeing her suspiciously. "I promise, I'll keep my wandering hands to myself."
"How do your friends handle you?" Mason asked, laughing despite himself.
"Roughly," she smirked.
Mason chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright. I'll see you later, Giulia." Well, he didn't rub it in her face, at least, she thought, glancing over her shoulder to watch him climb into his truck, reversing rather aggressively and driving off. He wasn't boasting to her that he had killed Stefan and Damon; she didn't think he had it in him to brag, be an asshole. From what she remembered of Mason, he was a pretty decent guy. This was just a kill-or-be-killed situation and nobody wanted to be the dead body in the ditch.
She wondered, lifting the Igloo out of Caroline's trunk, how Katherine would react to Mason trying to kill her One True Love. Damon, she wouldn't give two figs about.
He'd made a mess for them, though.
Caroline met her halfway as she hiked through the woods, sweat sticking her long braid to the back of her neck, making her sunglasses slide down her nose, and she regretted not pausing to put sunscreen on her ears when she'd felt them sizzle. In the dappled sunlight under the trees, a gentle breeze cooled her, but she was glad when Caroline showed up using vamp-speed, curls bouncing into place, mouth smeared with blood.
"Thank god," she gasped, taking the icebox from her. "What took you so long?"
"I was arranging a date with Mason Lockwood," Giulia grunted, climbing over a felled tree-trunk.
"What?"
"Yeah, he drove off, apparently to get ice," Giulia said. "He needs to be dealt with."
"Stefan and Damon both want to kill him," Caroline said quietly, giving Giulia an earnest look. Giulia shook her head.
"Can't do that."
"They will. Once Damon stops draining the dead Deputies, they're going after him," Caroline said, all but swinging the loaded Igloo like it was a basket of daisies.
"Leave them to me," Giulia sighed, relaxing in the darkness as the cool of the natural caves and the hewn chambers of the old Lockwood cellar lowered her body-temperature considerably. It was delicious, cool and quiet. Except for Stefan's pained groans.
"Finally," Damon exclaimed from a dead Deputy's neck, glancing up briefly. Giulia glanced around. Damon feeding off of the Deputy; Stefan groaning in pain with Elena fluttering uselessly but concernedly around him; and Liz, hands clasped loosely in her lap, eyes wide, sat on a rocky outcrop, dazed and nauseated, eyes fixed on Damon feeding. Caroline perched by the entrance, eyes flicking constantly to her mother, and Giulia took the icebox from her, flipping open the lid.
"Alright, drink up," Giulia said, handing Stefan a large recycled Gatorade Sport bottle full of rich dark liquid. "Now, it's not strawberry-kiwi, so don't sue for false-advertising, but it is Grade-A Bambi blood." Elena's jaw popped open, looking appalled. Stefan, grimacing, eyed the bottle, the veins beneath his eyes flickering ominously.
"Where did you get deer blood?"
"This is semi-rural wooded Virginia," Giulia chuckled indulgently. "And it's the tail-end of deer season. You'll usually find some guy willing to give you the blood when he's hung his kills. What else is he gonna do with it?"
"Yeah, and there are a bunch of cattle-ranches around here," Caroline said happily. "I don't know why you don't compel the owners to supply you the blood when they slaughter the cows." Stefan blinked, as if the idea had never even occurred to him. It probably hadn't, Giulia thought fairly.
"I thought you don't like animal-blood," he said, glancing at Caroline, a tiny smile on his lips.
"Oh, I don't," Caroline wrinkled her nose, but she beamed. "That's for you – Be prepared! Girl Scout motto! Anyway, it was Giulia's idea to look into getting the blood from hunters and cattle-ranchers. I can't just go nibbling on people between blood-drives at the clinic."
"Although some soccer-mommy bitch cut me off this morning," Giulia said, narrowing her eyes. "Almost caused an accident with another oncoming vehicle, then she tries to reverse out of the T-junction and almost clips my front-end and had to lay on the brakes when she realised there was traffic coming up behind her! So you can take a chunk out of her, if you want. Teach her a lesson – bad driving equals death."
"That's usually the case even without bringing vampires into it," Caroline said drily.
"Not often enough," Giulia mused, glowering. She had laid on the horn so hard this morning, something she never did; almost dying in a fiery crash wasn't how she'd wanted to start her morning. "It's the bad drivers who walk away. Anyway – drink your medicine, Stefan."
"Drink it all, Stef," Damon sighed, finally crawling away from the Deputy, clambering to his feet, unsteady, favouring one leg. Giulia frowned at his jeans; they were torn and bloody at the knee, the thigh. He'd been riddled with bullets. Not to kill – it looked strategic, almost like torture. Pain, without the finality of death. She tried not to look at Liz.
"This is the most unfortunate situation," Damon sighed, leaning against Giulia, wiping his mouth on the collar of his ruined shirt. "Two deputies dead…and you." He sighed, hopping and turning to stare down at Liz. "What am I gonna do with you?"
Giulia glanced at Liz. Since Damon's arrival in Mystic Falls, Liz had been instrumental in him ingratiating himself with the Founders, infiltrating the Council, building a life for himself here, where he could be safe. It would be very easy for him to snap Liz's neck right here and now; but Giulia knew, well, that Damon liked Liz… They were friends, whether she was now realising it was on the surface a farce, but Giulia believed Damon saw in Liz what she did in Caroline. That strength, the earnestness. Damon couldn't help liking Liz. He teased her, complimented her, cared when she was upset by Caroline bitching her out, might have felt a niggling guilt at lying to her, because he respected her. Liz was a woman who earned people's respect and admiration. And she had Damon's, whether he had intended to let her get to him or not.
"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Caroline asked softly, fear dripping from her voice. "Mom? …Mom? …Please. 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?" Silence lingered in the air, tangible and awkward. Giulia glanced at Caroline; this was a lot for anyone to process. This was the woman who had given birth to Caroline, kissed every booboo, taught her how to ride her bike, took her shopping for that dress she wished Caroline didn't want to wear to Homecoming, supported her overachiever daughter while protecting the entire town. "Mom, please. He will kill you."
With a stubborn tilt of her chin, eyes bright, Liz said tearfully, "Then kill me."
"No!" Caroline exclaimed.
"I can't take this," Liz said, evident in her tone how upset she was. Bewildered. In shock. "Kill me. Now."
Damon lowered his head, gazing into Liz's emotional face, the too-bright eyes, barely holding it together. Her daughter was a vampire; Giulia reached out and grasped Caroline's shoulder comfortingly.
"But you were gonna drag it out so painfully," Damon whispered tauntingly, and everyone in the underground chamber jumped, reacting viscerally to Damon grabbing Liz, pulling her to her feet.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Caroline blurted tearfully, darting forward.
"Damon, don't!" Stefan shouted, eyes wide.
"Damon, please!" Elena blurted.
"Relax guys," Damon scoffed impatiently. "No-one is killing anybody…" He sighed, glancing at Liz, hopping about so he was using her as a crutch, an arm wrapped around her shoulders. "You're my friend… We have to clean this up." He glanced at the two dead deputies, drained of blood to refill Damon's coffers. Giulia wondered how Stefan could sip deer blood in front of Elena, and she wasn't put off… She wondered if Elena would kiss him… Giulia couldn't remember ever tasting blood on Elijah's lips. The fact of the matter was, she often forgot Elijah was a vampire. He didn't tell her how he fed, and she didn't ask. He didn't keep blood-bags in her refrigerator, but he was also keeping a low-profile and wouldn't be snacking on the locals. But she had noted that Caroline had to drink more blood than Damon, who was far older; but she had to hunt less than Stefan. Animal blood wasn't what vampires were designed to live off; she had laughingly compared it to Caroline as trying to charge an iPod with a hamster-wheel.
How much blood did a thousand-year-old vampire have to drink? How often? She didn't even ask whether Elijah was always hungry; if he was, he kept it hidden, locked away tight. Over a thousand years, he had learned to control his appetite… Watching Stefan drain the Gatorade bottle, Giulia sighed; Stefan could learn a thing or two from him.
The 'clean-up' wasn't hard. With a litre of Bambi blood running through his veins, Stefan started to heal; disposing of dead bodies taking less out of him than making sure a fully-trained human under immense pressure, in shock, Stefan was given the duty of disposing of the two dead deputies. They were young; the Council had made contingencies for any unexplainable deaths of those people associated with them. Damon, being a member of the Council himself, knew that. He also knew that the jurisdiction of the Council, like the Sheriff's Department and the Mayor's Office, ended at the county line. What happened five feet over it was not their concern.
It was Damon who took care of Liz. The basement in the Boarding House was bleak but secure, and Damon wanted to ensure she couldn't be tempted to communicate with anyone while the vervain left her system.
Giulia didn't necessarily agree with Damon that compelling Liz to forget was the right course of action, but she wouldn't look her daughter in the face let alone protect them all on their secret. Yet, Giulia thought. This was still Liz; Caroline was still her daughter. And whatever their differences, the two were also very similar. And loved each other far too much. But Liz had found out an hour ago that her daughter had been turned into the one thing she had dedicated her life to fighting against.
It was almost Shakespearean.
"Hey, Jeremy's gonna meet us at the Boarding House; we're supposed to go out for dinner with Jenna and Ric," Elena sighed, putting her phone away. "Apparently Jeremy's got some information on Mason…"
"Like where he is, so I can rip his spine out and present it to him as a gift?" Damon asked, missing Liz's flinch, shocked by his crassness. He tucked Liz into his Camaro, where Giulia was aware of her hands shaking before she clasped them in her lap, seatbelt on, looking stunned.
"You're not going to kill Mason," Giulia said quietly, giving Damon a look.
"Why? Is this temperance day? No killing allowed, even if they tried to kill me?"
"Mason will have information on Katherine," Giulia said sternly, enunciating. "He may not know why she's here but he'll know more than we do about what she's been up to… Besides, might be a good idea to have an attack-dog on call. Anybody comes to this town we don't want…"
"And by anyone you mean uninvited vampires and by 'an attack-dog on call' you mean unleashing him on the full-moon if they piss us off," Damon sniffed, nodding.
"There are more ways of killing a cat than skinning it," Giulia said, and Damon rolled his eyes. She had mixed metaphors, but she knew it worked. "Look, just leave Mason to me, okay – leave him alone. And I'll see if I can fix the mess you made."
"I didn't make any messes! See this, this is Armani Privé. And it's now riddled with bullet-holes because your little pet wolf-crush decided to try and get me killed using my own secret vampire-hating council against me!" Damon blurted indignantly. "Guy needs to be put down!"
"No. Just neutered," Giulia disagreed. "You and Stefan deal with the deputies, Caroline can take care of her mom, and I'll handle Mason Lockwood. After I find out what Jeremy learned from Tyler."
"That's gonna be a short conversation," Damon smirked, slinging himself into the driver's seat of his Camaro. Liz bristled beside him, eyes widening.
"Stop being such an ass; you haven't fed as well in weeks, you should be in a better mood," Giulia said, shaking her head. "I'll meet you at the Boarding House later."
"What do you mean, later?"
"The picnic is still going strong," Giulia said. It was reaching late-afternoon and most people had filtered off, believing they had done their part, eaten their free burger, and seen some friends, enjoying the heat in a family-friendly social event funded by the Historical Society. There were always big turnouts for town events where free food was on offer. And with the heat-wave it had turned out to be an exceptional day.
She sighed, walking back to the jungle-gym, ready to pick up a hammer and hit things. Exceptional was one way of putting it.
Caroline had disappeared an hour before she left, after a call "from her mom" that she thought she had food-poisoning, but they'd both stayed at their posts, doing everything they could to do their part. The new park did look beautiful, with the gentle waterfall glittering in the sun, the rowboats and gleaming lifeguard's station, the three brightly-painted mini beach-huts tucked behind the trees that could be hired out, the visitors' centre Giulia had built and painted, primroses glowing in the sun, the huge wooden jungle-gym and swing set with natural springy bark chips. She sighed, glancing out at the water. It was a shame such a beautiful day had been interrupted by supernatural shit.
She half-wished Stefan and Elena's fake drama had been the worst of it.
A.N.: Hi everyone! So, I'm slipping some hints and clues into the story that won't really be important until a few sequels in! But they should hopefully add a little bit of flavour to the chapters.
