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Chapter 18: Plan B (part 2)

Damon unceremoniously drops Mason's limp, unconscious body onto the chair he'd placed in the center of the room for interrogation purposes.

The plan had gone off without a hitch. Bonnie had played her part as the damsel in distress, pretending that she was trying to pull a table from the back of an open van, and Mason had taken the bait.

Before he'd had time to figure out that it was a trap, the witch had worked her mojo and had him on the ground, clutching his head as if he was afraid it might explode.

Having been on the receiving end of that little spell, Damon almost felt bad for him. But then he'd remembered that just a few days ago Mason had tried to kill both him and his brother and he'd involved Liz, which just added insult to injury!

So while Mason was writhing on the ground, Damon had decided to simultaneously put him out of his misery and pay him back by kneeing him in the face; rendering him unconscious.

Together he and Stefan had hauled him into the back of his truck, after which he had Bonnie climb into the passenger seat and they drove back to the boarding house in relative silence.

Bonnie had only made ONE judgey comment when she'd asked if he really had to knee Mason in the face, to which Damon had shrugged and responded with a simple "nope", as if it didn't matter one way or the other.

Sure, it had been a dick move, but Damon was well aware that he sometimes did things he didn't have to do. Also, Mason was a dick.

"Here's his bag," Bonnie says, dropping it on a chair. "As requested."

"Okay." Damon crouches down to spread out the drop cloth he'd placed beneath Mason's chair. "Grab that corner."

Bonnie does as asked, but looks up at Damon questioningly.

"Why are we doing this?"

Damon rolls his eyes.

"Because I don't want to get blood on the carpet," he says, as if that answer was obvious.

"I knew you were gonna say something like that," she frowns.

"Judging again."

With the rug sufficiently protected, Damon walks over to Mason's duffel bag, riffling through it until he finds the chains he'd suspected might be in there.

"Woah," he says, pulling them out and admiring the handiwork. "Looks like this guy's used to being tied up."

Bonnie doesn't even smirk at his comment, which means she's either all-business or hadn't picked up on the innuendo, or doesn't care. She is thoroughly focused, closing her eyes and cupping her hands around Mason's head.

"What are you doing?"

"You're looking for a moonstone," Bonnie says simply. "I'm trying to help you find it."

"Oh, good, yeah! Find out if he gave it to Katherine."

He wraps the chains around Mason, securing him to the chair.

"And find out where she is!" he adds thoughtfully.

"And find out what they're gonna do with it when they get it."

"Somewhere small. Dark," Bonnie murmurs. "There's water."

"Like a sewer?" Damon wonders out loud, thankful that he is the one in charge of 'entertaining' their houseguest and not Stefan. No way in hell does he want to muck around in the sewers; he'll leave that bit of dirty work to his baby bro.

Bonnie shakes her head.

"No," she says, still concentrating hard on whatever it is she's able to see in Mason's head.

"Like a well? That can't be right." She frowns.

"Yeah," she confirms. "It's a well."

"Why would it be in a well?" Damon asks, skeptically.

Out of all the dumb places to hide the thing, a well is at the top of his list. But then again, at least it isn't a sewer.

Bonnie lowers her hands, her eyes popping open again.

"I told you," she says, a bit testily, "I only get what I get."

Mason lets out a low grunt, starting to regain consciousness.

Bonnie gasps, startled when his hand shoots out and grips her wrist.

Damon quickly spurs into action, grabbing Mason's hand and prying it off Bonnie with ease.

He must have grabbed her reflexively, Damon assumes, because he isn't actually awake yet. Still, there's no need for the witch to stick around if they know where the stone is, and besides, she probably won't like what's going to happen next anyway.

"That's it," she says, standing up. "That's all I got."

She makes her way toward the hall.

"I'm going to head back; let Stefan know what we found out."

"Hey, Judgey," Damon calls after her.

She turns to look at him.

"Thank you," he says, sincere for once.

She walks out of the room without a word.

Whether it's because she's still not sure whether or not he had actually made an effort to be nice, or if it's because his thanks had done little in her mind to redeem him, he doesn't know; and he doesn't really care, either.

As long as she doesn't attempt to fry his brain or burn him alive, she can go on pretending he doesn't exist. Besides, he has more important things to worry about than whether or not Elena's friends like him.

"Come on, Wolf Boy," Damon says, getting impatient. "Wake up."

No response.

Damon shrugs. Well, if kneeing him in the face was enough to render him unconscious, maybe a fist to the face would be just the thing to wake him up again.

Bonnie had puzzled over the possible location of the moonstone during her short walk back to the Lockwood manor, but so far only one place had stood out in her mind.

Unfortunately it had been so long since she'd been there, and the only other two people who knew about it were Elena and Caroline.

Considering that she isn't on speaking terms with the latter of the two, she is now debating whether or not to shoot a quick text to Elena and possibly arouse her suspicions or bite the bullet and just ask Caroline.

Truthfully, Bonnie's a little tired of the freeze-out as well; she misses her best friend more than she cares to admit to anyone else, but how can she trust her when she has seen first-hand what Caroline is capable of doing to people when she loses control?

All she has to do is picture the blood smeared all over her that night of the carnival to remind herself that her friend is a different person now.

"Hey," Caroline's cheerful voice greets her.

Bonnie hadn't even heard her approach, or maybe she just hadn't been paying attention.

"Hey," Bonnie replies awkwardly.

"I thought you were helping Elena with the costumes," Caroline says. "I was going to say hi earlier, but you know, with everything with Elena right now, things are a little awkward."

"Yeah," Bonnie agrees. "I was, earlier, but then I had to go take care of something. I'm actually looking for Stefan though, have you seen him?"

Caroline shakes her head.

"No, he's avoiding me right now, too."

Bonnie can't help but notice the pointed look when she says 'too' and manages an apologetic smile.

"He probably just has a lot on his mind," she suggests.

"Probably," Caroline agrees. "Plus the whole being around Elena thing, maybe it's just awkward..."

"Yeah," Bonnie nods, trying to be polite.

She really doesn't want to get into yet another discussion over Elena walking in on Caroline and Stefan; she'd had enough of that last night, thank you very much.

"Anyway," she says, trying to change the subject, "I wanted to talk to you, too."

"Really?" Caroline brightens.

"It's about the moonstone," Bonnie explains. "I think I might have an idea where it is. You remember the well we used to play around when we were kids?"

"Yeah," Caroline says, confused.

"It's in the woods. Do you remember where?"

"On the edge of the old Lockwood property," Caroline replies. "Why?"

Bonnie pulls out her phone, sending a quick text to Stefan.

"I think that's where Mason's keeping the stone. I just sent a text to Stefan and told him to meet me there."

"I can come with you," Caroline offeres.

"No, it's okay."

The words came out before Bonnie could stop herself, and she immediately feels terrible when she sees the hurt in Caroline's expression.

She knows she's being unfair; Caroline can't help what she is, after all.

As for the whole sticky Elena situation, that hardly matters at the moment. Katherine is still on the loose, and who knows how long it might take Stefan to see her text about the well.

"Sure," she says, offering an olive branch to her friend.

Elena is right; Caroline needs her friends if she's to maintain any semblance of her humanity, and Bonnie needs her too.

"So, what happened to Caroline," Matt asks.

He and Elena are both sorting through the costumes and masks as Elena tries (unsuccessfully) to get her mind off of whatever it is Damon's doing that he feels he has to keep from her.

She has given up on him calling her back or answering her many texts, and while it annoys the hell out of her, she knows why he's doing it.

She can't really blame him for dodging her questions; he wants to keep her safe.

She supposes she should be happy that he cares so much, but at the same time all this waiting around for news is driving her crazy.

She'd seen him leave with both Stefan and Bonnie over an hour ago, and only Stefan had come back shortly afterward. And since she couldn't exactly ask him what was going on (he'd probably just lie to her anyway) she was stuck on costume duty, trying to pretend that everything was okay.

Damon would call when they found the moonstone, she reminds herself.

But that didn't explain the disappearance of Caroline or Bonnie, and the longer she went without so much as a text the more concerned she became that things weren't as simple as Damon had said they were.

"She had something else to do," Elena shrugs.

Matt frowns. "Is she seeing someone?" he blurts out.

Stefan chooses that exact moment to set down another box of masks in front of Matt, deliberately avoiding Elena's gaze. She bites back the urge to say "I don't know; ask Stefan" and instead replies "If Caroline was seeing someone I think I'd know about it."

It wasn't a complete lie, and the way that Stefan seemed to visibly squirm without being too obvious is almost as satisfying as if she'd called him outright on his little indiscretion.

"Has anyone seen Mason?" Tyler asks loudly, suddenly walking into the room.

"He uh...he took off," Stefan says, doing his best to look nonchalant. "He said he wasn't sure when he'd be back."

"So weird," Tyler shrugs, walking back out of the room as quickly as he'd entered it.

Elena's mind, however, is reeling; if Mason is missing, that means that the other plan had somehow failed and they are proceeding with what Damon has dubbed "Plan B".

She tries not to think about it; she doesn't want to picture Damon back at the boarding house and she certainly doesn't want to know just what he is doing.

She knows what Plan B means; Mason might not be coming back. Ever.

Just then, Stefan's phone starts buzzing in his pocket. He pulls it out, looks at the screen, and makes a quick exit without a word.

She knows she should stay here with Matt.

The sensible part of her mind is already arguing that there's nothing she can really do; but she can't quiet the other voice in her head that tells her to follow him.

Something is up, and if Damon isn't going to tell her, then she will find out on her own.

She looks apologetically at Matt and he shrugs as if he isn't the least bit surprised.

"I'm not even gonna ask," he says.

Damon twirls the end of the fire poker in the flames, watching as the metal turns a menacing shade of reddish orange.

Mason rattles the chains furiously, trying to break free.

"Someone's feisty," Damon taunts.

Mason growls and struggles harder against his restraints, but for all his efforts all he manages to do is topple the chair backwards.

Damon might have laughed at the comical scene if the situation had warranted it, but if he's to pull this off then he has to remain focused.

As a soldier he'd learned that you couldn't show any sign of weakness to the enemy, and Mason was definitely the enemy. So instead of a sarcastic quip, Damon simply walks over to him, still holding the poker in his hands; his face blank of all expression.

"What?" Mason asks, trying to look tough even as he stares up from the floor, completely helpless.

Without a word, Damon thrusts the poker into Mason's chest, causing him to let out a scream.

"You can hurt." Damon says it as casually as if he's discussing the weather outside.

"Good to know. I was afraid you were gonna be some beast mass with no affinity for pain."

He pulls down the collar of Mason's shirt to get a better look at his handiwork.

The wound is ugly and raw from the second degree burns, but it's already starting to close up.

Damon frowns.

"Oh, but you heal quickly. Not good. Guess I'll just have to keep applying pain."

He grabs the back of the chair and effortlessly pulls it upright, then walks over to stick the poker back into the fire.

"So," he says conversationally. "Katherine. How do you know her? What is she up to?"

Mason glares at him and spits on the floor, refusing to say a word.

Damon had expected this, of course. Too bad for Mason, he isn't the type to ask nicely twice.

"I have all day."

He punctuates the statement by thrusting the poker into Mason's stomach, causing him to let out another scream through gritted teeth. Damon twists it deeper, and then pulls it back out again.

"When did you two meet?" he continues his line of questioning, heating the poker in the flames in direct view of Mason.

"Did she seduce you, tell you she loved you? You're supernatural, so she can't compel you. I'm sure she used her other charms," he adds sardonically.

"Katherine's good that way."

He looks up when he hears footsteps approaching from the hall and rolls his eyes. Jeremy Gilbert is standing in the doorway carrying a box full of Ric's research.

"I thought I told you to leave," Damon growls, annoyed at the interruption. The last thing he needs is for Elena's little brother to witness his interrogation.

"I found something in Ric's box of stuff."

"Ooh, "Damon says, more than a little curious. "What is it?"

Jeremy pulls out a folded handkerchief.

"I did some research on my phone," Jeremy explains. "It's a plant. Aconitum Vulparia. It grows in the mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. Commonly known as aconite, blue rocket, and wolfsbane."

Damon pulls back the corner of the cloth. Nestled inside are a few sprigs of a plant very similar to vervain.

"What else did you read?" he asks, studying the plant curiously.

"Well every source says something different," Jeremy replies. "One myth says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus. Another one says it protects people, and another one says, well, it's toxic."

Mason groans audibly, giving Damon a pretty good idea which one is true.

"I'm guessing toxic," he says, looking over at Mason.

He takes the plant from Jeremy and stalks toward him, brandishing the weed like he had the hot poker.

"What's Katherine doing in Mystic Falls?" he asks, dangling the wolfsbane mere inches from Mason's face.

He doesn't answer.

Damon brushes it across Mason's cheek in retaliation; Mason screams as his skin burns everywhere the plant touches.

Jeremy looks away, visibly uncomfortable. Damon pulls it away.

"Why is she here?" Damon tries again.

"She's here with me!" Mason shouts contemptuously. "Why? Are you jealous?"

Damon glares. He is getting more than a little fed up with Mason's lack of cooperation, but implying that Damon is actually jealous, well that was the wrong thing to say.

"How rude of me," he says in mock apology. " You know, I just realized, I didn't offer you anything to eat."

He shoves the wolfsbane into Mason's mouth, effectively shutting him up.

"Yummy!" Damon says, just a little bit pleased with himself.

Mason coughs, spitting it up along with some of his blood from where the weed is no doubt burning holes in his mouth and tongue.

"Why do you want the moonstone?" Damon continues, unaffected by Mason's cries of pain.

"Screw you!" Mason spits.

"Ahhh!" Damon warns, ready to up the ante as far as torture went. "Wrong answer!"

"If he was gonna say anything he would have already," Jeremy points out.

Damon ignores him, still focused on Mason.

"I'm taking your eyes now," he warns.

"The well!" Mason blurts out. "You can find it there."

Damon rolls his eyes and holds up the wolfsbane over Mason's face again, circling around his eyes.

"I know where it is," he says. "I want to know what it does and why you want it."

"I'm getting it for Katherine!"

The threat of burning his eyeballs has made him more eager to talk.

"Why?" Damon presses.

"She's gonna use it to lift the curse."

"Of the moon?" Damon scoffs. "Now why would a vampire help a werewolf break a curse that keeps them from turning whenever they want?"

"So I wouldn't have to turn anymore," Mason admits, looking down as if he's exposing a great weakness.

"Why?" Damon asks again.

"Because she loves me."

Damon hasn't given Mason much credit when it came to intelligence, but he's never considered he'd be that dense.

The admission is so ridiculous that he laughs.

"Now I get it," he smirks, amused at the cosmic joke that's being played out. The similarities between his human self and Mason are becoming clearer by the moment, and Damon almost pities him.

"You're just stupid! Katherine doesn't love you. She's using you, you moron!"

"I'm done talking," Mason says.

"Yes, you are," Damon replies grimly.

"It's time to take a walk, Jeremy."

He hands him the wolfsbane, then turns back to Mason.

"I'm staying," Jeremy insists, proving to be as stubborn as his sister.

"No," Damon says firmly. "You should go."

"I'm staying, Damon. He's had enough!"

Mason turns his head to look at the younger boy.

"Just help Tyler," he pleads. "Don't let this happen to him."

Jeremy nods his head, but makes no indication that he's going to leave.

Damon curses the gods that continuously like to test him at the worst possible moments.

He'd promised Elena he wouldn't involve Jeremy in anything too dangerous or traumatizing, and so far he'd witnessed much more than Elena would have liked him to had she been here to see it. He would be damned if he's going to let him hang around for this though.

In an instant he has Jeremy by the throat.

"You wanted to be a part of this?" he growls menacingly. "Well, here it is! Kill or be killed! The guy is a werewolf; he'd kill me the first chance he got! So, you suck it up, or leave!"

He releases his hold causing Jeremy to stumble backward, coughing.

"He wants me to kill him, anyway." Damon rationalizes. "Don't you, Mason? It really is a curse, isn't it?"

He makes his way back to his captive, taking note of Jeremy's hurried footsteps racing down the hall and the slam of the door that signals he has finally gotten the message and left.

"You know," Damon sighs, "I look at you and I see myself. A less dashing, less intelligent version."

"I love her," Mason says, pleadingly.

"Oh, I know!" Damon says, empathizing. "I've been where you are. But Katherine will just rip your heart out. Let me do it for her."

With that he plunges his hand deep into Mason's chest.

This time Mason doesn't scream; he simply lets out a grunt just before his face goes blank and his heart ceases beating in Damon's clenched fist.

Stefan approaches the well and peers down into its depths.

It's deep, and too dark to really see anything even with his enhanced vision.

Bonnie hasn't arrived yet, but considering she's human and Stefan had raced here as quickly as he could, he isn't surprised.

He thankfully doesn't have long to wait; a few minutes later she comes into the clearing with Caroline following close behind.

Stefan frowns; he had really done his best to avoid her all day, still unsure of where exactly things stood. He'd admitted he had feelings for her last night, but things were still far too complicated, not to mention he'd just broken up with Elena.

It doesn't seem right to move on so quickly, and Caroline isn't the type of girl to sit around and wait for a decision; she would want answers.

So Stefan had made the decision to avoid seeing her until he had those answers.

He doesn't want to lead her on, and he certainly doesn't want to say the wrong thing and screw up any real chance at happiness with her either. And then there's the fact that now might not be the best time to make any major life altering decisions; after all, he's technically on the rebound.

He'd been growing closer to Caroline specifically because of the wall that had been between him and Elena ever since she'd started developing feelings for Damon.

He'd known it for months; had tried his best to ignore it even as she continued to deny she felt anything but friendship toward his brother, but every look in his direction, every soft smile or embrace between them, it had been a slow torture for him to witness.

Stefan knew that Damon was right; it was partly his fault and he couldn't exactly blame Damon for falling in love with her, nor could he blame her for opening her heart to him in the first place.

Elena often saw the good in people even when they didn't see it in themselves; it was one of the many reasons why he'd fallen for her. He couldn't begrudge Damon that; not when loving Elena meant that he had finally begun to let himself feel again.

But did his acceptance of Damon's relationship with Elena mean that he was ready to move on with Caroline, or that they would actually work as a couple?

He really doesn't have a concrete answer for that; at least not right now.

That was another thing that Damon had been annoyingly quick to point out; he would be the biggest jerk in the world if he continued to act like there was something between them before he knew for a fact that he was able to explore that something.

And then there was the fact that his crazy ex girlfriend/sire had decided that he belonged to her and her alone; she'd killed Caroline once before simply to send a message to him and Damon (and possibly Elena as well).

She could just as easily do it again if she felt that she was competition and had outlived her usefulness. That in itself was reason enough to keep his distance from her; if Katherine somehow figured out where the stone was hidden or learned that Caroline helped them retrieve it, she would retaliate against her.

She'd become dangerously close to doing so already, when she'd shown up at the boarding house yesterday.

"You shouldn't be here," Stefan says.

Caroline shrugs. "I know, but I am."

"I told her she could help," Bonnie says, looking a little apologetic. "With Damon back at the house with Mason, I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a little bit more backup, just in case."

"Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" Caroline points out. "Nobody knows the stone is out here except us, and Bonnie can't hear as well as I can; I can at least be a lookout to make sure nobody's coming."

Stefan knows it's pointless to argue with her.

He nods his head, motioning for Caroline and Bonnie to come closer, and Caroline stands back while he lifts the grate and peers down the well.

"Do you see it?" she asks.

Stefan shakes his head.

"No, it's too far down, and pitch black."

He climbs up onto the ledge, ready to jump when he feels a soft, tentative hand on his arm. Caroline licks her lips nervously, her eyes meet his.

"Hey," she says. "Be careful."

"I'll only be down there for a minute," he assures her.

In one fell swoop he leaps off the edge of the well and splashes into the icy water; it may as well have been acid.

Stefan can do nothing more than scream as the pain hits him instantly; the sprigs of vervain coiling around his arms and legs and searing into his skin.

"Stefan?" Caroline calls down to him, suddenly alarmed. "What happened? I'm coming down."

He looks up in time to see her about to climb down the well and shouts back to her in warning.

"No!" he cries, still hissing in pain. "Vervain."

"Oh my god," she says, her voice trembling with panic. "Get out of there! NOW!"

If only it were that simple.

Stefan can hardly move; the vervain is weakening him by the second.

Mason must have anticipated that he or Damon would have tried to get the stone and had set a trap for them. Or he didn't trust Katherine as implicitly as they'd thought.

"Oh god," he cries as the vervain burns through his second layer of skin.

If he stays down here much longer he could wind up with third degree burns, or worse.

"Help!"

"Stefan!" Caroline cries again, frantic.

"What do I do? How do I get you out?"

She is close to tears now, so scared that he might die down there. Bonnie notices a chain nearby and calls to her.

"Here, help me move this."

Caroline rushes over, lifting the rusted chain easily and tosses one end down the well.

"Grab it," she calls down to him.

Stefan doesn't reply.

Caroline calls down to him again, unable to see.

"Stefan? Stefan!" she screams. "Can you hear me?"

No answer.

Oh god…

She bites her lip, trying her best not to lose it right then and there. Stefan needs her to be strong right now; she will not fall apart.

"He's not answering," she cries. "Someone needs to go down there!"

Bonnie bites her lip, glancing toward the well nervously. It's so dark and narrow, and what if Caroline has trouble pulling them both up? But if she doesn't go then Stefan will surely die down there, and they need to get the stone.

Bonnie shakes her head.

"I can't," she protests. "I'm sorry, Care, but I'm not the best climber, and you know I'm claustrophobic."

"Well I can't do it," Caroline cries. "The well is full of vervain! Please, Bonnie!"

"I'll do it."

Caroline turns to see Elena standing a few feet away.

"Are you sure?" she asks, surprised that she would volunteer at all, considering everything that has happened.

Elena looks at her seriously.

"I'm not just going to let him die down there!"

She grabs the chain and secures it around her waist.

Caroline holds the other end of the chain as Bonnie helps Elena climb up onto the ledge of the well.

"I got you, okay?" she assures her.

"Are you ready?" Bonnie asks.

"Yeah," Elena nods.

Bonnie helps Elena into the opening of the well as Caroline grips the chain tight to keep her from falling too fast. She lets it slip only once, but luckily with her quick reflexes she's able to grasp it just in time.

"Sorry," she calls down to her to let Elena know it wasn't intentional.

"It's okay," Elena calls back. "Keep going."

Caroline lowers the chain the rest of the way and soon Elena finds herself in pitch blackness.

With one hand still gripping the chain to keep herself upright, Elena grasps the flashlight and turns it on. She shines it down like a searchlight, immediately spotting Stefan.

"Oh my god," she gasps in horror.

His skin is blistered and red, his eyes closed, and he isn't moving. It nearly stops her heart with the shock of seeing him in such a state; she has to get him out now. She hurriedly unwraps the chain from around her waist, drops into the icy water with a loud splash, and wades toward Stefan's unconscious body.

"Elena," Caroline's terrified voice echoes down the well. "What's going on down there?"

Elena wraps the chain around Stefan, securing him as best she can.

"He's hurt bad," she replies. "Pull him up!"

Caroline reels the chain up as quickly as she can, her eyes filling with tears as Stefan's head emerges from the well.

She immediately pulls him to her, nearly toppling over backwards as she scrambles to drag his limp body down to the ground.

"Oh god, Stefan," she cries.

He is in such bad shape she can barely recognize him.

The vervain has eaten away most of the skin on his hands and there are angry red burns all over his face from where he must have fallen unconscious and touched the water. She strokes his hair, calling his name desperately to try to wake him up.

Bonnie unwraps the chain from around his torso as Caroline continues to call to him.

"We still have to get Elena out of there," she reminds her.

Caroline bites her lip, but nods.

There isn't much she can do for Stefan right now; he needs blood to heal, and they won't be able to get him the help he needs until they're all safely back at the boarding house.

She stands up and helps Bonnie lower the chain down the well.

"Okay, Elena," she says. "We're ready for you.""

Hold on," Elena shouts back. "I need to find the stone."

She shines her flashlight over the walls of the well, peering into every small crevice she can find.

The stone has to be down here, she reasons with herself. Why else would Mason have gone to so much trouble to fill the well with vervain if it isn't?

She can't give up; not when Stefan had almost died in his attempt to get it.

"Hurry," Caroline cries.

Elena feels around in the water, blindly searching for something, anything resembling a stone or a box.

She's not disappointed.

Her hand comes into contact with something hard and box-like, and she grips hold of it.

"I think I found it!" she cries in triumph.

Unfortunately something else finds her at that exact moment.

She screams as something long and wriggling coils around her wrist, causing her to drop the flashlight she had been holding.

She shakes her wrist furiously, backing up against the wall of the well and away from the snake.

The box is still in the crevice, wedged tightly between the cracks.

She pulls at it, managing to dislodge it just as another snake slithers up her arm. She shakes it off, grasps the chain and frantically wraps it around her waist.

"Elena," Caroline calls down to her, alerted by the screams. "What's going on?"

"I got it!" She shouts, tugging at the chain. "Come on. Bring me up!"

Another snake attempts to coil around her ankle as she's lifted out of the water, but thankfully it just misses her.

Elena breathes a sigh of relief as she rises higher and further away from the snakes and stagnant water. She'll probably have nightmares about it for weeks; not to mention she'll have to shower about a million times to feel clean again.

Her relief at being out of the well fades instantly when she sees Stefan lying on the ground, still unconscious.

"Oh god, Stefan," she gasps, rushing to him.

It's as if everything that had happened in the last few days no longer matters; Stefan is hurt, and he needs her help.

She doesn't have time to think about the implications of what she's doing; she simply grabs the sharpest rock she can find and slices into her hand, barely registering the pain as she brings her wrist to Stefan's lips.