CHAPTER 7 – THE SPAT

"Rhiannon, I need to tell you something else," Elijah started after they finished the movie. "I feel like you should know that there are more werewolves in this town."

"I know," she interrupted him, and after she saw he was baffled by this, she continued: "Elena told me that another wolf broke into Salvatore boarding house and got Rose. That woman. Jules."

"Right," he said pensively. "Well there is another one."

"Who?" Rhiannon asked.

"Tyler Lockwood," Elijah said making Rhiannon jump from her bed. "Your friend Caroline was helping him last night. I crossed paths with her in the woods and I compelled her to tell me what she was doing there."

"So Caroline was helping Tyler Lockwood of all people and nobody bothered to tell me anything?!" she snarled at no one in particular. She was getting tired of constantly being left out of the loop. "I mean when did he even trigger the curse?"

"From what I gathered, it happened on the masquerade party the night before you were taken. The reason why nobody told you is that they don't want Tyler know too much of anything," Elijah said, trying to reason with her. "He only knows that Caroline's a vampire, he doesn't know anything else and they want to keep it that way."

"That's all very nice," she snapped plopping back on her bed with an angry huff. "They could've at least told me. I can keep a goddamn secret. They still don't trust me."

"Look I know it's not nice to be left out of things," Elijah started sitting on bed next to her. "But your friends just wanted to protect you and themselves."

"I know," she said playing with the sleeve of her hoodie. "It's just frustrating."

"Well, it would appear that you have an unexpected house guest," Elijah said, not looking particularly pleased.

"What are you talking about?" Rhiannon asked.

"Elena's uncle John," he explained. "I should go anyway. It's getting late and you have school tomorrow."

"Gee, thanks dad," she murmured making him snort at her inelegantly.

"Good night Rhiannon," he said walking towards the window and sitting on the sill he added "Thank you for a wonderful evening."

"Wonderful evening?" she asked arching her left eyebrow. "All we did was watching a movie."

"True, but I don't remember the last time I did something so mundane and enjoyed every single minute of it," he retorted. "Perhaps it had something to do with the company."

She blinked rapidly in reaction to what he just said, but before she could say anything else, he was gone. She fell asleep with a smile on her face that night.

"We need to talk," Stefan said in a very serious tone of voice when Rhiannon answered her phone that morning. "Can you meet me at Caroline's?"

"Yea, I can be there in ten," she said sipping at her coffee before pouring it into a travel mug. She was happy she had a reason to leave the house earlier, actually. Earlier that morning she ran into Elena having a heated argument with her uncle slash father – Jeremy filler her in on remaining parts of the story – before they were all interrupted by Jenna and Alaric. To say things were awkward would be an understatement.

She was parking before Caroline's when Stefan knocked at her window.

"So before we go inside, I should fill you in on couple of things," he started but Rhiannon already knew what those things would be. She decided to go along and play dumb.

"Tyler was so upset," Caroline said. "The look on his face… He was so betrayed."

"Wow, this is bad," Rhiannon chimed in.

"You're not gonna tell Damon, are you?" Caroline turned around abruptly.

"No," he retorted. "He already wants to kill him. He thinks all werewolves should die."

"Well that's lovely," Rhiannon murmured.

"Well he's not wrong to think that," Stefan continued.

"Seriously?" Rhiannon snarled. "Did you bring me here to help or to announce Damon's plans for Mystic Falls werewolf genocide?!"

"No, no one is talking about werewolf genocide, don't be melodramatic," Stefan said apologizing. "But what if Tyler tries to retaliate? He has every right to. He can get himself killed."

"We're not gonna let that happen," Caroline said firmly. "We have to get to him and reason with him before he does something stupid. You have to talk to him. Just try to explain you know? You always know the right things to say."

Stefan looked more than a little reluctant, but Caroline just pushed on, pleading some more. "Look, he and I… we're friends."

"I can come with you," Rhiannon offered. "Maybe he'll listen. I can help persuade him, you and Damon are not the enemies."

"YES! Yes, Rhiannon you're a lifesaver," Caroline cried out, hugging her. "Thank you so much."

Moments later, they were sneaking inside the Lockwood mansion trying to find Tyler when Stefan heard him in the office. They entered through one of the glass doors without Tyler noticing them but Rhiannon knew exactly when he realized he wasn't alone by the way he tensed. He almost fooled them, but Stefan was faster, blocking the doorway.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," Stefan said. "I just wanna talk."

"Then why did you break in?" Tyler asked.

"Would you've let me in otherwise?" Stefan retorted.

"Tyler?!" Mayor Lockwood's voice hollered down the hallway announcing that she was leaving for the memorial. Tyler, being Tyler, tried to make a run for it, but he was no match for Stefan, who threw him against the wall whispering: "Not a word."

"Seriously Tyler, we're not here to hurt you," Rhiannon urged after his mom left. She really didn't want anyone else to get hurt.

"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot here," Stefan said releasing his grip on him.

"What are you doing here?" Tyler barked at Rhiannon.

"Right, I guess your friend Jules forgot to mention that I'm a werewolf too," she said struggling to keep her sarcasm in check. "Or maybe she doesn't know."

"Yea right," Tyler retorted not believing her. "Did they put you up to this?"

"And why the hell would I lie about being a werewolf?" Rhiannon snapped at him. "It's not exactly a picnic being one around here, which I'm sure you're beginning to realize."

"Your eyes," Tyler murmured. They must've turned color without her realizing it. "So you're with them?"

"Them?" Rhiannon asked incredulously. "There is no us or them. They are my friends."

"But they're vampires! I thought vampires hated werewolves," Tyler countered.

"That's some sort of leftover idea from another time," Stefan retorted. "It doesn't have to be that way anymore. We go to the same school, we have the same friends, we keep the same secret. This can work Tyler. It's your home, it's my home too. I want this to work."

"Yea, plus you're not the only werewolf in town, we can help each other," she added. "We can only benefit from this."

Rhiannon thought they at least got them thinking but that went to hell when Tyler's phone started ringing and he answered it crying for help before Stefan could stop him.

"Whose number was that?" he asked sternly throwing the phone on a table.

"Dammit, Tyler!" Rhiannon yelled exasperated.

"I'm trying to save your life here," Stefan joined. "Can't you see that?!"

It'd been couple more hours, during which they'd been trying to convince Tyler that they're not his or anybody else's enemies, when Stefan's phone rang. It was that other werewolf, Jules. She had Caroline and she was going to kill her unless they brought Tyler over to a clearing by Wickery Falls.

"You're happy now?!" Rhiannon barked at Tyler before she could stop herself. "I'm gonna go get Damon, I'll call you."

She made it to the Grill in record time, calling Elijah to let him know what's happening, and ten minutes later they were parking Damon's car on an empty road sideway, making their way towards the clearing.

"So what's the plan?" Rhiannon asked, nervous and excited at the same time.

"Well Stefan and Tyler went there ahead. He said they're keeping Caroline in an RV. I'm going to catch up with them and distract Jules and whoever's with her while you go and free Caroline," Damon elaborated.

"Okay," she murmured. "When it inevitably comes to a bloodbath, will you please try and leave Tyler out of it?"

"Ugh, not you too," Damon said exasperatedly. "The guy's a toolbag."

"Yea, but he's also my friend, and Elena's and Caroline's," she countered.

"Is that supposed to matter to me?" he retorted.

"Yea right, I forgot you don't care," Rhiannon murmured. "The all werewolves must die thing and all."

"Oh c'mon, you know I wouldn't hurt you," Damon said casually. "I didn't mean that. I'm on the edge lately."

"No shit Sherlock," she murmured in response. "Plus, Elena would never forgive you, am I right?"

"No, Rhiannon, because I actually like you," Damon snapped. "But keep nagging me about Elena and I'm sure that'll change quickly."

"Ha-ha," she said punching him in his arm playfully. Damon gave her one last smirk and disappeared into the dark.

"Douchebag," she muttered to herself sneaking towards the small light of the fire on the clearing when she noticed about a dozen men lurking in the darkness. She dunked behind the nearest tree listening closely. She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a sharp whistle. The men started moving from the woods to the clearing and she slowly made her way towards the RV.

"Give us Tyler!" the woman, presumably Jules, requested in a stern voice. Rhiannon peeked from behind the RV and saw Damon encouraging Tyler to go over to her.

"Which one of you killed Mason?" one of the men asked.

"Um, that'd be me," Damon said with his typical nonchalance.

"Boys, make sure that one suffers," the man retorted. God this is going to get ugly. But she had no chance of sneaking into the RV until the actual fight started. Oh here we go! she thought to herself as she saw Damon blur towards Jules.

She managed to sneak into the RV only to see Tyler standing over Caroline locked in a freaking cage.

"What the hell are you waiting for?!" Rhiannon yelled, shoving him aside and getting Caroline out of there. "Oh my god, are you okay?!"

"Yea, just get me out of here," Caroline cried. Rhiannon tried to pull up the cage door but it was too heavy. Surely it was made so it could keep a werewolf from getting out.

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me save our friend?!" she snapped at him. The boy really needed to work out his priorities. He shook himself and helped her lift the door long enough for Caroline to crawl out of there. Oh god was that a shot?

Caroline ran out of the RV and was immediately grabbed by Jules, who shoved her against the RV pointing a gun at her head.

"Let her go!" Rhiannon snarled, her eyes turning yellow again, and catching Jules by surprise momentarily. She jumped at her, but she was stronger and she hit Rhiannon in the face with her gun, making her see stars and fall on the ground. Tyler came out of the RV second later looking around, then on Caroline who looked back at him pleadingly, but it seemed like he picked this shabby pack of wolves over his friends.

From the corner of her eye she noticed that one of the werewolves kneeled over Damon with a stake in his hand.

"No!" she screamed and tried to move towards them, but before anything happened, everybody on the clearing except her, Stefan, Damon, Caroline and Tyler started screaming in pain and holding their heads in their hands, one by one they slumped to the ground, unconscious. Only then she noticed Jonas Martin walking towards them.

"Elijah made a promise to Elena," Martin said to Stefan. "I'm here to see it's upheld. You need to go."

He didn't have to tell them twice. They all gathered up and started walking past him, when he grabbed Rhiannon's arm saying: "Elijah's waiting for you at the Wickery Bridge."

"Is he now?" she snapped at Martin and freed her arm from his grip. She was pissed. Martin is working for Elijah? That means the moonstone had likely never been destroyed and, in spite all his talk about nobility and honesty, he lied to her. She didn't even remember how she got to the bridge, but there he was standing propped against his car with his arms crossed looking… pissed?

"I got a message from your little witch minion," she deadpanned.

"I can see that," Elijah replied nonchalantly. "What the hell were you doing on the clearing? I told you I'll take care of it and to stay out of it."

"I… what?!" she stuttered taken aback by his reaction. Did he just swear? Technically it was way less horrible than anything that came out of her sailor mouth, but still. "I was helping my friend! And since when am I supposed to obey your orders?!"

Elijah's patience was wearing thin at that point. Not only he was worrying himself sick when Martin located her and found out she went to the clearing anyway, it took every ounce of restraint for him not to run to the clearing and kill every last one of the werewolf pack. And now she was there, yelling at him, looking beautiful in spite of the drying blood on her face that came from a small semi-healed wound on the bridge of her nose.

"Please calm down," he said handing her his handkerchief. "What happened to you?"

"Jules got me with her gun when I jumped her," she murmured matter-of-factedly. "Bitch is fast."

"Indeed," he deadpanned. "It would serve you well to remember not to pick a fight with older and stronger werewolves."

"Don't patronize me," she snarled at him. "So Martin witches are working for you. Am I correct to assume that the moonstone is still in one piece?"

"Yes," he said. She didn't need to hear anything else. She handed him his handkerchief back, giving him the most hateful look she could muster considering the tears that were welling up in her eyes at that point and started walking away. She didn't walk far before he grabbed her by her arm making her turn around and shove him in his chest yelling: "Leave me alone!"

"Rhiannon, wait!" he pleaded but she was having none of it.

"You say you want to be my friend, say how you're gonna protect everybody, yet you lied to me about the moonstone and working with Martins!" she yelled at him with her arms crossed across her chest. "You still want to let Elena get sacrificed over that stupid curse, don't you?!"

"Let me explain," he said and started approaching her but she backed up with a determined expression on her face.

"Why would I listen to you?!" she countered. She hated the way her face always betrayed her every emotion. She realized that deep down she wanted him to explain everything, to make her understand his motives, but she knew there was still so much he hadn't told her, and he probably never would.

"You don't have to talk to me anymore if you don't want to, but I want you to trust me when I say that if everything goes according to my plan, Klaus will be gone and not one of your friends will come to harm. Not even Elena." he said

"I want to believe you, but you gotta give me at least something!" she said, throwing up her hands in the air in frustration. "Are you going to tell me your plan?" she asked but she knew the answer before he given it. He wouldn't tell her. He shook his head and muttered: "I can't."

"Right," she muttered and started walking away again. This time, he didn't stop her.