A.N.: Hi everyone, this is my first attempt at updating through OneDrive and iPad as a dry-run..


Dangerous Beauty

20

Masquerade


"Pictures!" Caroline crowed delightedly, and they all groaned.

"C'mon, Car, live in the moment," Giulia coaxed.

"I'll live in the moment once I've documented it," Caroline said blithely, drawing out her little purple camera. "Come on, we all look too hot not to take pictures, and I want evidence so in sixty years I can prove we didn't always drool. Now smile."

"Have you considered a career in the Army?" Giulia asked. "You give orders with more authority than a General."

"Thank you," Caroline smiled. "Elena, stop pouting! Your misery is self-inflicted, and you're bringing the party down."

"I'm sorry if my break-up with Stefan is affecting your party-spirit, Caroline. I didn't even want to come," Elena sighed. Giulia shot her a perplexed look, then glanced at Caroline for explanation. Caroline rolled her eyes slightly behind her beautiful, elaborate silver swan filigree mask, tied with an ice-blue ribbon around her head, and sighed, giving Giulia a look partially-concealed by her mask but saying it all; that she'd explain later. Giulia knew she had been out of the loop with classes in Richmond and her insatiable appetite for Elijah, but this was ridiculous – then again, Damon wasn't exactly one to sit gossiping on the phone catching her up on everything she'd missed in the last episode of The Real Mystic Falls.

"You can't sleep your way through your life, Elena," Caroline chided.

"Unless it's with a hot guy," Giulia amended, and Elena gave her a withering look, "and you dumped yours, ergo… Come on, grab some champagne and pull the stick out of your ass. You're running things for the rest of us." On a Debbie Downer scale, Elena was pushing a Bonnie Bennett.

"What is this, Gang-Up-on-Elena Night?" Matt asked, smiling easily. Well past due, Giulia thought, pulling a face.

"We just want to enjoy the party and make sure Elena does too," Caroline said fairly. "Even Bonnie's having a good time. I spent too long on your outfit and accessories to let you pout in the corner, Elena. Grab a guy and dance, forget about Stefan for one night!"

"Pretty hard," Bonnie said ominously, glaring across the room, simmering. "He's here…with Damon."

"Tone down the loathing, Bonnie," Giulia said coolly, taking a flute of champagne from a passing waiter.

"Why didn't you tell me they'd be here?" Elena rounded on her, her beautiful gold filigree butterfly mask flashing in the candlelight.

"Because…a. I didn't know you'd dumped Stefan, 2. I knew you wouldn't come if you knew they'd be making an appearance and d. – oh, look, we're already here!" Giulia smiled. Truth be told she wouldn't have minded one bit letting Elena and Bonnie stay home with an O.C. box-set and bad pizza; half the fun of parties like this was always getting ready with Caroline, listening to bad music, sneaking tequila from the bottle under her bed and just generally being seventeen-year-olds, and she was perfectly happy to stride out onto the dance-floor on her own while Caroline mauled Aimee for flirting with Matt as soon as she'd seen him in his suit. She knew why Stefan was at the party; and Damon would always come for the open bar and a chance to bask in the smug glow he got from everyone fawning over him.

"Plus, they're Founders," Caroline said, giving Elena a look. "Of course they'd be invited. And so what that Stefan's here? You called things off with him; he's the one who's supposed to be crying under the comforter listening to every sad song on his iPod on repeat and bingeing on ice-cream because you ruined his life, crushed his soul and made him give up on love. You're perfectly entitled to have a good time."

Giulia stared at Caroline incredulously. She didn't want to remind her, in front of everyone, how Caroline had handled manipulating Matt into dumping her by playing up her neuroses-fuelled territorial behaviour over Matt, clever enough to know her being a raging jealous bitch would only push Matt away – to Aimee, perhaps, but also to safety.

Elena was frowning across the room at Stefan, who was ordering drinks at the bar, looking handsome and shady in a Hugo Boss suit and nondescript black mask. "Stefan hates these sort of things, he only ever came to parties to make me happy."

"You see how whipped he is?" Giulia sighed, gesturing helplessly at Stefan as she shook her head. It was true, Stefan was whipped; but Stefan's presence had everything to do with his dread that Katherine might use the opportunity of the Masquerade Ball to cause mischief. Most likely with a body-count – Stefan would do anything to prevent Elena being among the dearly departed.

Giulia had kept it absolutely secret, only telling Elijah, about Katherine's entombment. The best way to get away with murder was to tell no-one. At worst, tell one person. Elijah could not be compelled, he could not be tortured by the pain of his loved-ones to reveal secrets – because his loved-ones were already in an interminable mystical coma – but he had proven he was clever enough to realise the benefits of compelling rather than outright punishing Katherine for past behaviour.

"Anyway, it's only Sober Stefan who doesn't like parties," Giulia mued. "Ripper Stefan – he revels in hedonism. Sort of a Dorian Gray."

"Who?"

Giulia sighed.

"He's probably just here to keep an eye on you," Giulia said honestly. Stefan wouldn't trust that Katherine wouldn't make a move; and Giulia didn't trust that the Wonder Twins super-duo wouldn't royally fuck things up if they knew Katherine was in the tomb. They were bound to do something ridiculous that made her bang her head on her granite kitchen-counter, thoroughly alarming Firenze and making Elijah arch an eyebrow as he glanced up from the piano. Elena stared at her, disconcerted and most likely very touched. Loathe as she was to admit it, Giulia had to say Elena actually looked quite pretty tonight. Of course, Caroline hadn't given any of them any option, the Masquerade was the one party of the year where they got to be completely OTT. It was the first Masquerade they were old enough to dress up, the first they were all single, and Caroline had wanted to party like Marie-Antoinette. Caroline looked glorious, hair piled up, a dainty Queen Victoria crown sparkling, her filigree mask flashing in the candlelight; Bonnie had received a mask at the door, unprepared; so the silver filigree harlequin design didn't match her earth-toned floral mini-dress. Elena's emerald dress was very flattering on her, her hair had been curled softly and pinned away from her face, and she had actually been forced into wearing a little more makeup than usual. It was odd, the correlation between Elena making an effort and Stefan no longer being her boyfriend. Giulia supposed that without the threat of the supernatural Elena had time to accessorise. She didn't just throw on the clean Henley on the top of the ironing pile.

"Why?" Caroline blurted, sounding almost annoyed.

"He's worried," Elena sighed, gazing so longingly across the room Giulia wondered how Stefan didn't feel the stroke against his cheek. "He thinks Katherine might do something."

"And ruin a good party?" Giulia tutted.

"Yeah, and come on, we haven't heard a peep from the Ghost of Girlfriends Past since Mason Lockwood left town," Caroline said imploringly. "You know, we should celebrate – you are not allowed to sulk tonight."

"I don't sulk."

"You sulk – you're a sulker!" Caroline exclaimed. "And tonight we're gonna dance and drink champagne and have an awesome time and not think about ex-boyfriends or their psycho ex-girlfriends. We are going to have fun."

"I love how she says that, and it sounds like a threat," Tyler chuckled to Matt. Caroline shot them a look, but continued to flash her camera, documenting their night. It was a Founders' party like any other; the difference was masks concealed their faces, allowing for easier access to the bar, and relative anonymity, shielding them from scathing looks of adults shaming their behaviour. With the stash Jeremy hadn't touched in months and Caroline's compulsion on the bartender they acquired enough contraband to spend a good hour in the privacy of the Mayor's study, standing in the private porch-balcony sharing a joint, passing around a swiped bottle of tequila, and clambering all over the leather sofa and armchairs to play a game of I Never – Spin-the-Bottle was vehemently rejected.

But it got them all suitably giggly and chilled-out, surprised by each other's openness, brought on by shots. Aimee and Sarah, whom Giulia had never had much to do with beyond Sarah being on the cheerleading squad, had joined them; they had hung out with Jeremy and Tyler before, and it looked like bad history might repeat itself as Sarah flitted between Tyler and Jeremy. The only difference was, though Sarah couldn't hold her drink any better than Vicki could, Sarah was actually a pretty decent enough girl. She always stretched her hamstrings, her braids were always perfect, her mother was really fun and bought them all Jamba Juice, and she usually had an encouraging thing to say that boosted someone's confidence. Jeremy blushed at her attention, and over shots Giulia snuck him, he admitted he'd been texting Ashlyn all day, and had wanted nothing more than to stay home chatting with her, planning his summer in New York City – permission from Jenna to attend the Academy of Art programme pending.

Every time Elena's dark eyes narrowed disapprovingly at Jeremy, Giulia shot her a jaunty smile; it was a party. And Giulia hated when Elena tried to be the mom, cutting Jeremy off or not condoning his behaviour, generally putting a damper on the great atmosphere. They were having fun. Being irresponsible teenagers – for a lot of them, for the first time in months, forgetting the awful stuff going on beyond that door. Matt seemed to be getting into it, more than he ever normally did; he'd been going through it just as the rest of them had, only unlike the rest of Matt was on his own. Maybe he had just decided that enough was enough, and he needed to let loose… But Giulia worried he'd regret it, he was too conscientious to act out the way his mother and sister were known for – he wasn't that guy. But he was laughing and flirting with Aimee, and Giulia couldn't remember when she'd seen Matt this…happy.

They soaked up some of the booze, feeding the beast that was the Munchies, at the hot buffet laid out for everyone, and sobered up a little before heading out to the dance-floor. Caroline's camera flashed continuously, and they watched the fire-eater, the contortionists, they danced and sipped champagne, and a familiar voice made her blink away the delicious haze of champagne-delight as a hand was offered to her.

"May I have this dance?" a gentle voice asked politely, and Giulia didn't hesitate. She placed her hand in the proffered palm and followed Elijah to the dance-floor, feeling light as air as they took a position among swaying couples, the familiar weight of his arm around her waist, keeping her close; this dance-floor was not meant for sweeping Viennese waltzes, for fiery, domineering paso dobles. But they were pressed together, and Giulia smiled almost shyly into the dark eyes shadowed by a nondescript black leather mask, the hand-tooled swirls embossed in the leather flickering in the warm candlelight that flattered every angle and made the natural highlights in his hair shine.

"You look delightful," Elijah said softly, leading a gentle dance through the crowd. Giulia smiled bashfully.

"You said that earlier," she said softly, blushing, flattered but a little embarrassed. She didn't like things tied over her face; as a compromise to Caroline, she had created a beguiling, distracting 'mask' out of makeup. Chocolat had called the finished look 'Techno Butterfly'; before heading over to Caroline's to finish getting ready, Giulia had used silvers, glacial lavenders and warm lilac eye-shadows to create exaggerated winged-eyes, using tiny diamanté crystals in palest pea-greens, silvers and orange-flashing coppery pinks on her eyelids and temples to create a mask she didn't have to tie on, or worry about holding in place all night. She had worn the beautiful plain black Moschino dress Caroline had compelled for her during their Lost Weekend, and while at Caroline's, had styled her hair in soft, glamorous 1920s waves around her shoulders. It had taken her nearly all afternoon and Elijah had been at the house smiling to himself, reading, while she sighed and grumbled and tried to figure out how to use the damned cosmetic glue.

"And I mean it still," Elijah said softly. She wasn't surprised Elijah was here; with so many guests it was no wonder he had been given an invitation into the house. Now he had access to the interim Mayor. They danced, slow and relaxed, murmuring to each other, the noise concealing their conversation, just…flirting. Talking. Enjoying an illicit night of dancing with each other, sharing kisses, in full view of everyone, absolutely – relatively – anonymous. It was wonderful, and she couldn't help sharing a smirk with Elijah, the only two who knew the secret. They danced for over an hour, and Elijah procured two flutes of Prosecco when they sidled off the dance-floor; Giulia sipped, smiling, feeling deliciously bright and relaxed, happy.

She caught his eye, and they exchanged a breathless grin, before slipping through the crowd. The door clicked locked and Giulia groaned as Elijah lifted the hem of her dress and entered her in one swift push, sharing a breathless, dainty kiss as he filled her to the hilt. There was that familiar second's pause of mingled disbelief and savouring relief, that they were here again, as Elijah nuzzled her nose affectionately, placing a tender, searing kiss against her lips. In her high heels, she pushed her hands down the back of his dress-pants, an arm looped around her shoulders drawing her close for a deep, possessive kiss, lost in the sensation of his almost frantic thrusts, moans muffled against his lips. He cut off her yell before it could bubble up, biting her lip as he made her orgasm violently, working her G-spot with a smug smile half-concealed by his mask as she raked her fingernails across his ass, writhing and panting, annoyed and on fire, until he groaned softly against her lips, coming. She sagged in his arms, relieved, floating, and smiled breathlessly.

Elijah kissed her tenderly, both of them moaning softly as he withdrew from her; his hands seemed steady as he smoothed her dress down her thighs. Hers weren't, as she zipped him up, clasping his belt-buckle. He dove in for another searing kiss, catching her off-guard, and she sighed into it as he held her close. Releasing her, he flicked her nose affectionately with his fingertip, before unlocking the door. He gestured for her to exit, and she smiled, sauntering out of the little room, down the corridor; he intertwined his fingers with hers as they walked, but Elijah paused, even with the mask she could tell he was frowning, and despite the blood pumping deliciously through her body, drunk on the high from her orgasm, she shivered.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Something is happening," he said softly. "Your friends in the study…"

That was all she needed: Giulia had already forgotten their exquisite little rendezvous, striding to the Mayor's study. She slipped into the room and had luckily just shut the door behind her when Caroline smacked a belligerent Matt. He dropped to the ground like a rock at Giulia's feet, blood already pooling from his nostrils, and everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath, the tension almost glacial. Giulia glanced from Caroline to Matt to Tyler, who was stood wild-eyed and blinking dazedly, staring at his friend on the floor at Giulia's feet.

"Matt?" Caroline said softly, concern flickering across her face, and Giulia glanced at Jeremy, his stunned, confused expression evident, at Sarah dandling on his knee in her pretty dress, looking quite drunk, quietened by the sight of Matt on the floor and whatever had been going on, whatever Elijah had heard – what Giulia hadn't been a part of because she'd been fucking in the bathroom with her secret thousand-year-old Viking vampire boy-toy.

"What's going on?" she asked, glancing at Jeremy as Caroline knelt by Matt's side, her expression so gentle. In the corner of her eye she was aware of Tyler, looking concerned and bewildered; of Sarah, rising from Jeremy's knee, lingering by the desk.

"Matt?" Caroline said softly, gently trying to rouse him. She glanced up at Giulia, who squatted down as elegantly as she could in her dress, trying not to topple over. Caroline gave her an odd look, eyeing her, before turning back to Matt; remembering what Tyler had said to her the other day, she imagined Caroline could smell sex on her and couldn't figure out why.

"How did you–?" Tyler asked, gasping. His clothes were rumpled, Matt's too; there was the scent of tequila in the air, and a damp patch on the desk. Matt and Tyler had been fighting – something none of them had seen since Tyler admittedly had made out with Matt's mom.

"I think he'll be okay," Giulia said, checking Matt's pulse. It was steady; the blood from his nose was most likely just from a bloody-nose. Being clobbered by a vampire, even Vampire Barbie, would do that to a person.

"Matt failed…" a soft voice said distractedly. "If Matt fails…I can't."

"Look out - !"

"Argh!"

There was a loud crunch, and Sarah fell to the antique carpet with a decisive thunk.

They were all a heartbeat too late.

Caroline had shot to her feet with unearthly grace; Jeremy had lurched from his armchair, eyes wide; Giulia was half-sprawled across the floor on her hands and knees, reaching for Sarah, as Tyler, hunched over and grimacing, pulled a bloody letter-opener from his pectoral, gasping in shock.

Before they had even realised what was happening, it was over. They all froze, in shock, minds catching up with their senses.

"No, no, no! C'mon, wake up!" Tyler gasped shakily, his hand trembling as he pressed it over his shoulder, the bloody knife dropped to the floor. "Sarah! Sarah, open your eyes, wake up!" Giulia stared at Tyler as he crouched over Sarah, trying to shake her awake. Her stomach evaporated unpleasantly, leaving the heart-breaking realisation behind… "This can't happen – this can't happen… This can't be happening – Sarah. Get up. Sarah! Open your eyes!" Giulia glanced at Caroline, whose expression leached of everything but deep compassion and regret as she caught Giulia's eye. They both knew what this meant – they all did. Her, Caroline, Jeremy, and Tyler. Tyler knew what this meant.

"This can't – this can't be happening!" Tyler panted, jumping to his feet, striding away, shoving his hands through his hair, panicked. White-faced, he started to pace sketchily. Giulia glanced at Caroline, and they approached Sarah. Their friend on the cheerleading squad, with her perfect braids and fun mom and her crush on Jeremy Gilbert. It was the first time Giulia had hesitated, but she had to force herself to touch her fingers to Sarah's neck, trying to find a pulse; she glanced at Caroline, whose curls twitched as she gave a minute shake of the head. She couldn't hear a pulse; Giulia couldn't feel one.

Sarah was dead.

Accidentally, Tyler had killed her.

And as they exchanged another look, Tyler gave a strained groan of pain, falling to his knees. He punched the floor, grunting.

"Tyler?" Caroline said quietly. "Tyler, what's happening?"

"Get away," Tyler panted.

"What's happening?"

"Get away!" Tyler shouted, lifting his face to them, and Caroline gasped, Giulia's body went lax, filled with sorrow at the sight of the black bleeding into the whites of Tyler's eyes, his golden irises shimmering in the lamplight. Giulia's eyes rested on Tyler's wrists, his cuffs revealing his bare skin as he raised his clenched fists to his temples, battling some internal struggle he could not define, had never wanted, was terrified of.

They all lingered in a sort of suspended shock. The grief of what Tyler would have to endure struck her, Giulia felt her eyes burn and she pressed her palm over her eyes, startled when she felt the alien diamanté crystals scratch against her skin. She clenched her eyes shut, counting, thinking, and just…morbidly depressed at what Tyler was about to go through. For a moment, she allowed the emotions to drench every cell in her body.

"Tyler… Where's your bracelet?" she asked quietly. Even to her own ears, her voice sounded faraway, hollow, devastated. Barely a week had passed since she had given Tyler that braided leather cord bracelet. The one that would have protected him from this. Panting, confused, Tyler blinked and stared at his wrists; dawning realisation made shock and devastation stand out on his pale features, and he raised normal black eyes to her face.

"I…forgot to put it on after I showered," he half-whispered. Giulia closed her eyes, feeling a hot wetness pooling between her lashes, devastated. Grief seemed to settle on her like a weight, unexpected and totally bowling her over. He had forgotten to put it on…

Tyler had triggered his curse.

Even she didn't know fully what that meant.

Mason had given her something to hold on to just in case Tyler ever triggered his curse. A precaution – he had hoped Tyler would never need it. Giulia had asked Sheila for her help – preventing someone from becoming supernatural by killing someone, Miss Sheila was game for it…

Elijah never crossed her mind: he was locked away back in the cloakroom, still…still separate.

This was Katherine. She sniffed, pulled herself together, and exhaled slowly.

Pitting innocent children against each other… It had Katherine written all over it, and Giulia regretted she hadn't been quick enough dealing with Katerina to ensure Sarah's safety against Katherine's compulsion – and Tyler's safety from Sarah.

But she would not blame herself for Tyler triggering his curse. She had done all she could. Locked away Katherine, asked Miss Sheila to spell the bracelet… She would not blame herself for Tyler not wearing it.

"It's gonna be okay, Tyler," Caroline said, her tone so gentle, reassuring. Giulia stared at Sarah. Her eyes closed, she looked like she was sleeping. She had seen one person like that before; her dad. Sarah was the second human Giulia had ever seen dead. And there was something horrifically real about it. About realising she'd missed out on chats with Sarah at the door to their AP English class by attending UV. That her fun mother would be…destroyed. The little-sister Giulia was helping coach on the spring Little League 'Lupins' soccer team whose hair Sarah braided for her before each game. The atmosphere on the cheer bus when they headed to the Classic in a couple weeks, one of their friends…gone.

"You don't know what this means," Tyler said softly.

"Yes…I do," Caroline sighed.

"No… You don't."

"Has your wound healed?"

Giulia rose to her feet, glancing at Jeremy, who was staring at Sarah's body, shocked, at Caroline, whose expression was calm and reassuring as Tyler reached under his shirt to feel the wound Sarah had inflicted with the letter-opener…finding no wound at all; triggering his curse had gifted Tyler with supernatural healing. To get him through every full-moon transformation, so he could relive the horror of it every month.

"Jeremy…please go and grab the hand-towels from the cloakroom. Caroline…could you put Matt in your car, and go and find Damon?" Giulia said softly, taking charge of the situation. She glanced at Matt; he was out cold.

"We – I need to tell my mom, I – she attacked me, I didn't mean–!"

"Tyler, we know," Giulia said gently, reaching for the bloody letter-opener and tucking it behind some encyclopaedias in the bookcase, for now.

"Giulia, I – should we get my mom?" Caroline asked under her breath. Giulia glanced at her, then down at Sarah.

"She wouldn't be okay with this," Giulia said. Liz would do what she could to protect her daughter, and Tyler too, as her friend Carol's son; but Giulia wouldn't have Liz complicit in actively moving a dead body from a crime-scene to stage a teenage-girl's death where it wouldn't implicate anyone. She wouldn't do that to Liz, to make her cross that boundary. It was one thing to protect the supernatural; it was quite another to actively help them.

But Tyler – all of them – being implicated in the death of Sarah wouldn't help anyone. Too many questions would need answering, there would be too many people looking into their lives. To discover things too impossible to explain away. No-one could know their involvement in Sarah's death, accidental as it had been. People watched far too much CSI not to come up with their own theories about how a teenage girl ended up dead in a private room where her friends were partying around her.

Jeremy returned first, smuggling the towels into the room; Giulia quickly wiped down the desk, had Tyler throw the towels in the laundry for the housekeeper to deal with. The desk was set to rights, the room tidied, and once Damon had gathered up Sarah with a roll of his eyes and a sigh, the study looked completely undisturbed.

"Make it look like an accident," Giulia said, as Damon carried Sarah away. "And – not on her parents' front-step, please." Damon gave her a look, but she returned it; she did have to clarify. Damon had enough experience to know how to pose a body. But he also had a warped sense of humour. And they were all becoming too desensitised to dead-bodies. To death.

"We're gonna have to tell Liz," Damon said quietly, glancing at Caroline.

"Not until Sarah's been found," Giulia said. Damon shrugged, and carried Sarah away. Without Sarah's body on the floor, the room looked like it always did, functional and perfect. Once Sarah's body had been found, they could tell Liz what she needed to know: that Sarah had died because Katherine had compelled her to attack Tyler, attempting to trigger the werewolf curse latent in Tyler's DNA. That Tyler was now a werewolf, and on the full-moon he would turn into a wolf. What Giulia had read of Isobel Fleming's research was that werewolf-bites were fatal to vampires. That werewolves could tear through humans like a blade through butter, and on full-moon nights there was no controlling their rage, the aggression, the instinct to hunt. To kill.

Tyler was panting, overwhelmed; Giulia went to him, reaching up to loosen his tie, undo his top-button. She found herself hugging Tyler before she knew what she was doing. This wasn't supposed to happen. She had locked Katherine away. Given Tyler the bracelet. He was supposed to be safe.

But he was never going to be okay again.

Just like Caroline, he had been dragged against his will into the world of the supernatural.

Her best-friend was a vampire. So were her only surviving relatives. Her ex-boyfriend was a werewolf. One of her friends was a doppelganger, another a witch. Possibly Jeremy would reveal himself as the Abominable Snowman. The man she was fucking was a thousand-year-old Viking in a perfectly-tailored vampire suit.

How had they come to this?

Six months ago she had had a father. Her best-friend had been a bitchy, insecure little girl. Her ex-boyfriend had been a tool. Elena hadn't known the secret. There had been no such thing as werewolves. She had never imagined a man like Elijah Mikaelson existed.


"Today was a crap day," she said hollowly in the dark. She had scratched the crystals off her face, scrubbed it until it stung; she was curled up in her comfiest slob clothes, hair pulled into a braid, her eyes burning as she pressed her face into her pillow. Elijah's arm was heavy around her waist, comforting in the dark, his hard body wrapped around hers, cocooning her, thigh wedged between hers, and she felt him sigh against her back, his breath feathering down the neck of her t-shirt. Tyler had triggered his curse.

She heard Elijah sigh softly, and she shivered when he pressed a kiss against her neck. "Tomorrow may be better."

"It will be," she murmured disconsolately. Tomorrow is a new day, as Scarlett said. Now, in this moment, vulnerable and open in Elijah's arms, she would allow herself a few moments of sheer devastation – for her friends; for the ever-increasing danger they were all in. Of all of them, Giulia herself was in the least amount of danger. Oh, she was sure had Elijah not closed the loopholes in his compulsion, the moment Katherine escaped the tomb she would have Giulia's voice-box for a charm to add to her bracelet. She was a lower-risk, but she had more knowledge than any of the others combined, and she had to use that. She couldn't mope; when she woke up tomorrow she would be ruthless and devoted, composed and her usual self. A workaholic insomniac who drank too much, was in a complicated battle of wills with a thousand-year-old Viking, used her intelligence as an emotional wall and was building it so high she was getting nosebleeds. But someone absolutely devoted to protecting her friends by all the means at her disposal.

Tomorrow she would visit Slater in Richmond. He'd called, asked her over to his apartment for a coffee. He said to discuss her theses he had been proofreading for her – she respected his opinion, after reading his dissertations. She would get up, she would put on a nice top and some mascara, she would drive to Richmond and have coffee with her new friend. She would discover what he had learned, and see what she could do with it.

Tomorrow would be better.

She and Caroline would tag-team to help Tyler through this transition, though neither of them had any idea what to expect.

None of them had felt like sticking around after Damon confirmed via text to Giulia that the job was done. Jeremy had driven tipsy Jenna and Ric home, the couple enjoying the benefits of an underage designated-driver so they could both enjoy some free champagne. Stefan had disappeared early on, wheedled by Damon about stalking his ex, staying long enough to confirm Elena was safe…happy dancing with Bonnie and picking at the dessert buffet, teasing a tipsy Jenna. Caroline had managed to get Tyler home; Giulia had stayed late with Tyler. While Mrs Lockwood had staggered upstairs, very late; she had smiled blearily at them, hanging out on the sofa in the study, Giulia's heels kicked off, Tyler's tie thrown across the room. Just like old times.

Except, unlike old times, Giulia was now indoctrinating Tyler into the world of the supernatural. Her world.

Coming from her, he hadn't taken it badly at all; he'd kind of chuckled sadly, shaking his head, and sighed. Figured it explained a lot about her; and that if anyone could kick supernatural ass, it was her.

She'd explained everything over bourbon, helping dull Tyler's new supernatural senses that continued to overwhelm him, his body struggling to adjust. But he would. If he wanted to survive, Tyler would adjust. It was up to her and Caroline to ensure he thrived.

Emotionally exhausted, Giulia hugged Elijah's arm closer to her, wriggling against his body until she found a comfortable spot, and dozed, her phone within reach in case she got any more texts from Tyler.

"You did all you could," Elijah said softly, pressing his lips to the back of her neck. "No-one could ever ask you to do more… Your friend will survive this…you will ensure that."

Despite her best efforts, she had lost this bout.

Now Sarah was dead, and Tyler's life was irrevocably altered. She sighed, reflecting on the story Elijah had told her about Rollo. The werewolf his mother had gifted a ring… The biological father of Willem, she suspected…and Klaus.

If she could find one, she could learn about the other.

She drifted off to sleep in Elijah's arms, thinking about his brothers. Her plans. Her suspicions, oddly excited to learn their secrets. To reshape, polish, refine her plans…thinking…longer-term. What Elijah had told her, she would not be content to just ensure her friends' safety. From what she had learned, there was too much to do… This Klaus was supposedly a scintillating villain, an enemy no-one dared cross, no-one could outwit.

Well, she wanted to outmanoeuvre him.

She needed a few breadcrumbs, that was all; Slater could help her source those. And then she was perfectly capable of following the trail herself.


Elijah woke her with a cup of coffee, resting fully-dressed beside her on the bed. He leaned down, stroking a lock of hair away from her face and groaned, trying to burrow deeper under the sheets. He chuckled softly, leaning down to kiss her temple.

"It's a new day," he said softly, and she mumbled something distractedly, drawn back into sleep, the rich scent of the coffee drawing her to consciousness after she had forgotten Elijah had spoken to her. She yawned, preening, and dropped out of bed. Her phone rang as she pottered about, sorting out the house, reorganising her books.

"Hey, Car," she yawned. "What's up?"

"What's up?" Caroline all but screeched. "Tyler is totally freaking out and he can't get ahold of Mason and all that stuff you told him last night is just bouncing around inside his head."

"It's too early for you to be this exasperated with me," Giulia said, then frowned. "Where are you?"

"At the diner," Caroline sighed. "I'm trying to teach Tyler to sublimate the kill-innocent-people cravings with carbs. D'you know, he's like, really hot."

"Um, Caroline…"

"Not like that," Caroline blurted, and Giulia could practically feel her blushing. "Like his body's like on fire."

"Heightened temperature could have something to do with his metamorphosis," Giulia mused. The werewolf transformation was different to that of a vampire due to one indisputable fact: werewolves were still alive. Their bodies had to be able to handle the change, to exert a lot of strength and power… "Make sure he does eat a tonne of protein and carbs, I'm sure there's a link to the change and his metabolism. I'll come and meet you guys."

"Thank you! Maybe you can help calm him down," Caroline sighed. "You're like, the only person he ever listened to."

"What?" Giulia laughed. "He walked all over me. And I let him."

"Well, we've all grown as people," Caroline said fairly. "Just hurry, okay, he's getting fidgety and eyeing up the family with three screaming toddlers like he wants to rip their throats out."

"I can hear you, Caroline," Giulia heard Tyler's dry voice in the background. "Don't tell me you're not thinking about it too, if your senses are more heightened even than mine."

"Just eat your waffle – hurry up and get here, Giulia, so I can be mad at you for Damon stopping by my house this morning," Caroline ordered, hanging up. Giulia sighed. She had a hundred things she needed to do today, and babysitting a newborn werewolf was not one of the things on her list – but Tyler was her friend, ish, and she valued her friendships. Twenty minutes later she was tucked in a booth at the most popular diner in town, a short-stack waiting for her with a coffee and a quart of Diet Coke and a bowl of fruit. The entire table was laden with dishes – Tyler had ordered the biggest breakfast on the menu, due to Caroline's urging he needed to chow-down on carbs not children.

It was probably surreal for Tyler, being thrown into the deep-end of the supernatural and realising his ex-girlfriend and all the people he probably considered casual friends at best, schoolmates at worst, old rivals for the girl he was into, the guy who'd joined the football team for one game and should have led them to State but quit, so casually talking about him triggering his curse, talking about his uncle, generally knowing worlds more than he did about his own life, his family. But at least he had them to talk to. He wasn't alone, as Mason had feared. And Giulia had made sure Mason knew; Tyler wasn't going through this alone. They may not be a pack of werewolves, but in their own twisted way they were sort of like a pack.

Listening to Tyler describe how his body felt was very interesting: they compared it to Caroline's experience, waking up in transition, heightened senses, intoxicated by the smell of blood, the side-effects of drinking that blood – growing fangs, burning in the sunlight, able to compel humans, remembering things she had been compelled to forget by vampires. Tyler had none of that – he had never been compelled. His emotions were heightened, he sat shocked in that booth by the violence of his reactions to the slightest things; he had almost ripped his mother's head off earlier when she had told him off for his dad's desk smelling like tequila, asking if anyone had been in the study. His guilt and shock at Sarah's death were magnified unbearably. But he didn't have fangs. His body was on fire, Giulia placed her hand on his arm and was surprised by just how hot he was; if her senses had been heightened, she was sure she would have heard her skin sizzle against his. And he had consumed not one but three of the diner's most enormous breakfasts, though he told her what he really craved was meat. And rare. Giulia was pleased; he'd always been a well-done guy, she couldn't stand her steaks any more done than medium-rare.

The one change Tyler himself had noticed immediately was that his usual aggression, the antsy, fidgety kind of frustration and annoyance, had gone. He was an angry guy by nature, quick to jump down people's throats, unable to walk a way from a fight, his skin had always felt tight on his body, uncomfortable. Jittery, nervous. But despite the mental repercussions of triggering his curse, physically Tyler said he felt…calmer. Like he had shed something, he…felt relieved.

"Maybe that's not the right word," Tyler sighed, frowning at the fresh plate of scrambled-eggs that had been carried over by their waitress, who had to take away several empty dishes while Caroline consumed fruit and pancakes and Giulia enjoyed a waffle with fresh berries. "Like…settled. I don't know, I feel more like myself. You know, I used to get so angry all the time, I wouldn't even know what to do with it, why it was happening… Now I'm just…me."

"Until the full-moon," Caroline remarked, and Giulia rolled her eyes, smiling as the waitress refilled their coffees.

"Yeah…" Tyler said softly. " I…don't even know what that really means."

"Did you try Mason?"

"Yeah, I left a bunch of messages on all the numbers my mom had for him in Florida," Tyler sighed. "Nothing. His cell voicemail is full."

"He left it behind," Giulia said, something gnawing in the pit of her stomach.

"How do you know that?" Tyler asked.

"Mason told me," Giulia sighed. She had called Mason as soon as she had left Tyler last night. "I let him know what's going on."

"You've got his number?" Tyler frowned. "Why would you give it to me – or my mom?"

"Because he needs to stay hidden," Giulia said. "Mason ran because Katherine will kill him for betraying her. He may have only removed himself from the situation but she'll even see that as a reason to rip his heart out of his chest. I know how to get in contact with him, that's all anybody needs to know. He knows what happened. He's gonna try and get back, but he's tied up wherever he is, and he doesn't want to be travelling around the full-moon, it's too unpredictable he'll be able to find somewhere private to turn."

"But what about Katherine?" Caroline asked in an undertone. "Is it safe for Mason to come back?"

"Better question would be to ask if Katherine is safe from Mason's bite on a full-moon since she just went out and triggered Tyler's curse," Giulia mused. She wasn't giving anything away about Katherine, not yet. She didn't want them all getting complacent in her absence. Especially with what she knew was coming.

Constant vigilance, Mad-Eye had taught them. And she was first-generation Harry Potter. Damon had sent her the first-edition books from London when he'd found them in a bookstore, way before the hype had started. All her copies were the English versions.

"I thought you guys said this was all like super top-secret, like death if I told anyone," Tyler said, frowning bemusedly between them. They had been casually talking about the supernatural and Tyler's upcoming transformation into a wolf in the middle of a crowded diner. But Giulia had learned from Harry Potter; Sirius had advised Hermione that the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army would have been less-likely to be overheard in the crowded Three Broomsticks than the deserted Hog's Head. And in her mind, Pippin spoke up, "The closer you are to danger, the farther you are from harm."

"Yeah, we convinced Damon not to murder you," Caroline sighed. "He's kind of got a hair-trigger."

"Especially where his life's concerned," Giulia said drily.

"Hey, how long do we have until the full-moon, anyway?" Caroline asked, her curls bouncing. "Hang on, let me get my phone, I'll check. We can figure it out."

"Um…we? Vampires don't have enough problems, you wanna take on mine?"

"You know Car-Bear, she just can't help herself," Giulia smiled fondly at her best-friend. If there was anyone you wanted on your team, it was Caroline Forbes.

"Have you thought about it, the whole…wolf thing? Do you know what you're going to do?"

"I have a plan," Tyler said, glancing around the diner as if everyone was eavesdropping. He gave Caroline a weird look when she didn't look away. "It's kind of…private."

"I'm head of the prom committee. Not to mention I single-handedly organised the town's Go Green campaign, and you're seriously gonna turn down my help?" Caroline said, raising her eyebrows.

Whatever he feared from the full-moon was obviously bad enough he didn't want anyone to see it – but he didn't want to be alone during it, either. Last night before Giulia had left, she had warned him against telling anyone on pain of death; Tyler had choked quietly that he didn't have anyone else to tell.

Tyler's only friends.

And he was scared.

Caroline couldn't help it; Giulia was in this wholeheartedly. She had made a promise to herself to protect the people she cared about, and she may have wished painful STDs on Tyler, but this…this was something different altogether. And especially, as it had not been his fault. For the first time in his life Tyler had not caused the fight that had ended in a girl's death. Giulia didn't know where she stood with Tyler; they had been making overtures towards friendship, rebuilding a bond like they had before…before they had started dating. When they had been…friends. Best-friends. But they had a long way to go before that; they had had a few civil conversations. But Giulia did remember their friendship, their bond. She remembered the boy he used to be when he didn't think people were looking… She had sensed enough from Mason to know she didn't want this for Tyler. She had tried to prevent it. That failing, she didn't want Tyler to go through it alone. She…wanted him to know she was there, she and Caroline both were, that they were going to get him through this.

That he wasn't alone. And if he was scared, they were, too.

This was new territory, and no-one really knew what to expect. She didn't want this happening to him. But it was.

Just like the sacrifice would inevitably happen. It was just a question of how soon.

With Tyler at least they knew definitively that it would happen on the full-moon and be over by sunrise the next morning. He'd still be alive. Altered irrevocably, but alive. They could plan for it. Caroline was an excellent organiser. Any plan others made, she could usually better.

Giulia smiled sadly, saying, "Accept it; we're in this with you."


A.N.: So, Tyler still triggers his curse, unfortunately. But it'll be the making of him, I promise.