[Thank you to everyone for the support and reviews. Please keep the feedback coming! This is for you, you have the right to comment on it.] -Rubaiyat
Chapter 13
Stefan's mind was racing as he sped through the trees towards the clearing. Possibilities, fears and suspicion ran riot.
Rebekah? No, she's more careful than this. Klaus is dead, which leaves Elijah and Kol. What if they came back for revenge? Revenge on partying school students? No ways. Caroline? She was usually so controlled. Damon? He's shown no signs of going off the rails. Elena? Of course not. That leaves has to be her.
He gritted his teeth at the mere thought of Katherine. The trees cleared suddenly, and he found himself at the party, filled with drunk teenagers and smoke from the bonfire. Stefan strained his ears for clues to where Katherine might be, but the thumping music was too loud. He scanned the pulsating crowd, but the crush of people was too thick. Grabbing a drink from the hand of a passing teen, he began circling the party, searching for her.
No matter how hard Caroline tried to forget about it, thoughts of Klaus and Tyler kept popping back into her head.
Come on! She thought violently. Don't think about it. One twitching eyelid and Stefan or Damon will know something's wrong.
She downed her plastic cup of beer, and re-entered the crowd to dance some more. Behind her, the light of the bonfire made shadows dance erratically against the trees at the edge of the clearing.
Dance, or writhe in pain? She couldn't tell. Damn it! Stop being so depressive! What's wrong with me?
She placed her palms against her forehead and shut her eyes tightly, struggling to control her emotions.
Focus! Focus Caroline! I'm supposed to be finding Bonnie. The sooner I do, the sooner Tyler is freed.
She didn't feel too good. Images of Klaus' grin spreading over Tyler's features kept returning. Wild emotions like this hadn't affected her since her transition. Klaus in Tyler's body shouldn't have this effect on her. She needed peace. Control. A party wasn't the best place for that.
"More." I whispered, staring into Damon's eyes. He looked back, a drop of blood running down his chin. I wiped it away and sucked on my finger. Beside us, a pair of identical twin girls each had blood seeping from their necks, and glazed eyes. The crowd surrounding us ignored the scene. Most had already been compelled. We'd gotten tired of sending them away, so we simply told them to keep calm, and continue enjoying the music. Besides, all still had more blood to offer.
Damon grabbed a passing boy without ceremony and pulled him in close, compelling him and biting down on the poor fellow's neck instantly. I smirked, and did likewise on the other side. The more blood we drank, the more we wanted. Somewhere deep down I knew we'd given in. Any semblance of control had crumpled after the fourth victim. It felt good though. So good. To let it take control, to let it wash over me.
Damon roughly shoved the boy aside, and grabbed my hands.
"Let's dance." His voice was husky, his eyes glowing with the euphoria. We began to jump and sway with the rest of the crowd to the music. The firelight played across Damon's face, hypnotising me. My head pulsed, blood roaring in my ears. My body burned. I felt alive. I felt the fire.
"Matt? What the hell are you doing here?" Stefan said, seeing him leaning weakly against a tree.
"Stefan?" Matt's face was pale. His shirt was stained with blood.
"What the fuck happened?" Stefan replied.
"Hmm? I-I don't know. I got released from the w-ward. I just wanted to unwind. To get back to the real world."
"Who did this to you?"
"D-did what?" Matt lost his balance against the tree and fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Attacked you. Where is Katherine?"
"Katherine? I don't know. I-I can't remember."
"Listen to me, Matt. This is serious. She could-" He stopped when he saw Matt's eyes suddenly focus in horror at something over Stefan's shoulder. He turned, and saw them.
It took the sight of Elena and Damon to jolt Caroline back to reality. Her overwhelming sense of hopelessness was cut away instantly when she saw them dancing together, their clothes bloodstained and their expressions blissful.
What are they doing?
She was flabbergasted. Elena would never do that, even if she was a vampire now.
Has she changed? I don't know. I've hardly seen her since the accident. Too wrapped up in my own stupid misery.
A pang of guilt crawled up Caroline's spine. She'd been a terrible friend. She hadn't supported Elena at all, and look what had happened.
Damon. This is his fault.
Caroline was about to march over and tear the two apart when Stefan took the chance from her. Suddenly appearing out of the swirling crowd, Stefan grabbed Elena, throwing her to the ground before she had a chance to react.
Stefan? Why'd he do that? It's Damon he should be roughing up.
Damon snapped out of his trance, and anger flashed in his eyes. He turned on Stefan, but Caroline intervened just in time. She grabbed Damon from behind, holding him back while Stefan looked up in surprise.
"Caroline?" He said.
"Yeah...no time to explain. Why'd you do that to Elena?" She huffed, while Damon struggled with savage strength.
"It's not Elena. It's-" Stefan looked down to where he'd tossed Elena. She was gone. "...Katherine." He finished. As if on cue, someone behind him slapped him across the face with a ringing crack, and people around them began to notice the commotion. Stefan stumbled back, bumping into Caroline and giving Damon the chance to snatch her forearm, twist with all his might and send her spinning off. He laughed bitterly and stood next to Katherine.
"Caroline!" Stefan yelled. Around them, kids were starting to scream. The music was still pumping, but it sounded distant amid the chaos now.
"I'm okay." She replied, leaping to her feet. "I thought you said Katherine was dead."
"I thought so too. Apparently Damon didn't finish the job." Caroline looked at the pair in front of them. Both had blood running down their chins, and stains covering their clothes. The light glinted off two pairs of sharp, grinning teeth.
"I'm right here, you know." Katherine said coolly, ignoring the panic around her. "Don't talk about me like I'm not."
"What are you doing? Killing children? Is this your master plan, you heartless bitch?" Stefan spat venomously.
"Look at you, Stefan. All grown up and responsible. And so judgemental. Point out the dead children to me." Stefan glanced about quickly, but she was right. Many of the teenagers had bloodstained necks, but none were dead.
"See?" Katherine continued. "We were just having some fun. God knows it's hard to come by with you around all the time." Her tone was mocking, but accusing at the same time. Caroline could see she wanted Stefan to feel guilt.
"Don't listen to her, Stefan." She piped up. "She's trying to manipulate you."
"Caroline." Katherine turned her serpentine gaze to her now. "You've finally come out of the gutter. How's Elena doing? Oh...wait. You don't know, do you? You haven't even seen her since she turned. Do you even care about her?"
"I-"
"Did you hear about Bonnie? She tried to kill Elena. And you abandoned her. Looks like she sure picked the wrong friends, didn't she?"
"Shut up!"
"Am I lying?"
"Don't listen, Caroline." Stefan said, before turning on Damon. "What are you doing, Damon? You've joined her now? It's going to be 1864 all over again?"
"Don't push me, Stefan. You have no idea what's going on." Damon hissed. Katherine turned and gave him a warning look.
"I forced him to be here." She said. "I've realised that hunting's more fun with a team mate. Since you're too busy abusing animal rights, Damon was the obvious choice."
"Where's Elena? She was at the house when I left."
"She got bored. You're suffocating her, Stefan."
"Why would I listen to you, Katherine? I know you hate me being with her. Everything you say is to try split us apart." Katherine actually laughed at this. A cold, humourless laugh.
"Why don't you try look at it from her perspective, Stefan? She was turned against her will. She was struggling with the change, with her emotions, and what were you worried about? Getting rid of Damon, her friend. Bonnie turned on her, almost killing her. Caroline abandoned her. What was your biggest concern? Making sure she drank animal blood."
"And what about you, Katherine? How do you fit into this?"
"Yes, I turned her. Yes I put the janitor there. I was the injury, but all of you," She glared at Caroline. "Were the insult."
"Don't act as if you care about Elena. Everything you're doing is making life harder for her. You think the council won't notice dozens of kids running about with bite marks on their necks?"
"You don't get to decide what's best for her, Stefan!" Katherine sounded almost hysterical. Damon shot a worried glance at her. "It's not your choice what's good or bad for her!"
"What are you talking-"
"She's allowed to make mistakes! She's allowed to go off the rails?" Damon put a hand on her shoulder and said,
"Calm down...Katherine, relax."
"Let go of me Damon!" She brushed his hand off violently. "Stop trying to calm me down!"
"What's going on Damon?" Stefan asked suspiciously. Caroline stared at Katherine, who appeared to have tears running down her face. Something wasn't right.
Katherine? Crying. What act is this now? What's she playing at?
"I don't know what you're trying to do, Katherine," Stefan said. "But people are being hurt. Matt was hurt." It was as if cold water had been poured over Katherine. Her eyes focused with a dangerous glint on Stefan. Her voice was as cold and soft as falling snow.
"What did you say?"
I wasn't sure I'd heard him right. It sounded almost as if he'd said Matt had been hurt. By us.
No ways. I never hurt Matt. He isn't even here. Stefan's lying.
He's telling the truth.
Katherine sounded almost subdued. For a split second, the briefest of moments, it sounded like pity.
"What did you say?" I repeated. I could feel Damon standing tense beside me. He was looking at Stefan with a face as confused as my own.
"Matt. I saw Matt. You two drank his blood. He was leaning against a tree, half dead."
"We never attacked Matt." I said simply. "He's not even here."
"Yes he is. Yes you did. What's wrong with you?"
What are you talking about? We never touched Matt!
You...you did. Maybe you didn't notice, but you did.
How could I have hurt Matt without even recognising him?
You were high on blood. It was a blur. It happened suddenly, out of the blue.
And you didn't warn me?
I only saw it was him afterwards. You were already moving onto the next one.
"Oh shit. Oh crap. No. No no no." I began to stutter and tremble. "This wasn't supposed to happen. No."
"K-Katherine?" Damon said softly, looking at me for instruction.
"No Damon. Why-Why did you let this happen. How could you hurt him?"
"I-I didn't. I swear. I'm so sorry."
"How could we be so stupid?" Tears started to roll down my face. "This is all my fault. I caused all of this."
"E-Elena?" Stefan gasped, realisation dawning on his face. Beside him, Caroline covered her mouth with her hand, shock clear in her features. None of them could believe it.
Don't you dare. Katherine's sympathy was gone, replaced by rock hard conviction.
I'm sorry.
"Yes." I sobbed miserably. "It's me. It's always been me. Katherine really did d-die."
"But...but why?" Stefan asked incredulously.
"Because I was stupid! I was reckless. I was about to be killed. I was hungry. It's all my fault. I hurt Matt and didn't even notice. What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing." Damon said sternly. "It was me. I was supposed to look after you. I let...I let the blood get the better of me."
"You knew?" Stefan shot an accusing look at Damon.
"Yes. She told me after we killed that girl in the Grill. She made me swear not to tell anyone."
"Why?"
"Because you won't understand!" I interjected. "None of you will understand!"
"Understand what?" Stefan's eyes were pained.
I will make your life a living hell, I swear it.
It already is.
"She's in my head, Stefan!" I shouted, violently putting my palms against my scalp. "She's in here with me, muttering, laughing, all the time!"
"Who? Katherine?"
"Yes! I'm a Petrova. I'm a doppelgänger! She is my legacy!"
"Please, Elena. Control, you need to control your emotions!" Damon hissed.
"No! I don't want to control them. I hurt Matt! I lied to everyone! I've killed innocent people! I don't want to have to control them!"
"Elena, breathe." Caroline said to me. I hardly heard her. Panic was coursing through me like a burst dam. I felt frenzied, uncontrollable.
"Elena?" Someone said. I looked up, someone was lying against a tree at the edge of the clearing. Matt, his shirt soaked in his own blood.
I switched it off.