Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries and never will, but I do own Charlene Davis and Megan Swann and any other characters I come up with.
Author's Note: Hope you love the updated version! :D
Caroline entered the basement where her mother still was, and Liz sat up in the cot but didn't meet her daughter in the eye. She didn't say anything about that as she went over to Liz and sat down next to her on the cot, but kept her distance as much as she could. Caroline took notice to Liz's tray of food that she had brought down here hours ago but it looked like nothing was eaten off of it.
"You didn't eat much." She commented. There was no response, and an awkward silence filled the air and Caroline tried to brush past it as she made a smile appear on her face. "Good news: Doctor Damon said the vervain is almost out of your system. So, with any luck, you'll be freshly compelled and back in your bed by tonight." Liz said nothing again and the blonde sighed, looking at her mom sadly. "Are you really just gonna pretend like I don't exist?"
"Yes." Liz responded shortly, not looking at her. "So please, go."
Caroline stood up as she grabbed the tray and started walking away, scoffing at her mom's reaction. "As usual, you don't care. Got it. Just like before I was a vampire. It's not like I died or anything." She opened the door and would have left if it wasn't for Liz stopping her.
"Are you…are you really dead?"
Caroline glanced over at her mom and saw the unshed tears in her eyes. "Yes and no."
"How is it possible?"
The blonde stared at her for a moment, hesitating on staying to explain, but in the end, she decided to take the chance and she walked back in the room, closing the door behind her.
It was probably a bad idea allowing Jeremy to get involved in this, but it was too late now. Elena definitely wouldn't be happy about this development at all. Charlene sighed, leaning back against the couch she was sitting in as they waited for Alaric to come in.
Wanting to be here when he did, Charlene had forgotten why she had came here in the first place.
The door finally opened, and Alaric came inside, his arms holding a box of stuff.
"Ric!" Damon greeted.
Then Alaric took notice to Jeremy. "What are you doing here?" he asked bewithered.
"Helping Damon. I was the one who found out about the moonstone." Jeremy explained.
Alaric glanced at Damon, earning a shrug. "And you're okay with this?" He questioned as he turned his head to look at Charlene.
"Not really." Charlene told him. "I don't have much a choice though, not my fault Jer has the annoying Gilbert stubbornness." She gave Jeremy a look and her brother smiled sheepishly. "Elena won't like it but what can you do."
"Right…"
Damon went up to Alaric. "What you got?" He took the box of him and started to dig through the box, taking out a book from it.
"This is Isobel's research from Duke." Alaric said, "Her assistant sent it."
"Mmm, Vanessa. The hottie."
Charlene frowned at Damon. "She wasn't that attractive…" she mumbled, a little bit of jealousy in her voice. If he heard it, which she probably did, he didn't make any comment about it surprisingly.
Alaric rolled his eyes. "Vanessa, yes." He said, taking the book from Damon. "Now, do you remember the Aztec curse?"
"Sun and the moon, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." At this point, Charlene was standing next to Damon and nudged him hard in the side for being rude, getting the side eyed from him. She shrugged innocently.
"An Aztec curse? Cool." Jeremy said, walking over to them.
"Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power." Alaric explained. "Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun."
Damon wiggled his fingers, showing off his daylight ring. "Most of them, anyway." He said, and Charlene couldn't help but a giggle a little. She earned a small grin out of him.
"According to legend, the werewolf part of the curse is sealed with the moonstone." Alaric opened the book, going to a page showing a map.
Charlene and Jeremy looked over Alaric's shoulders to look at the pictures. It told the story of the curse and what it all entailed.
"What do you mean sealed?" Jeremy questioned, glancing at Alaric.
"It's a witch thing." Damon was the one to answer. "Whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse."
"Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse." Alaric suggested.
Charlene nodded, her face pulling a thoughtful look. "That sounds like something he would think." She agreed with Ric's suggestion.
Damon didn't seem to though as he shook his head, scoffing and grabbing his drink of bourbon from the table nearby. "If we start believing some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we're idiots. Who has the stone now?"
"Tyler."
"Can you get it?"
"Yeah."
Damon smirked. "See, now your life as purpose." This statement made Charlene roll her eyes.
"Don't listen to him, he's just joking." She gave Damon a look.
"Yeah, let's go with that." He said with a smirk, not wanting to argue with her, which was very smart.
"So, you do believe it?" Jeremy inquired.
"It's the same book that says a werewolf bites kills a vampire. Ignoring it would make me a bigger idiot." Damon rolled his eyes. "Let's go." He finished off his drink and walked past Alaric and Jeremy.
Charlene was quick to follow him, bumping into his shoulder playfully. "Are you sure that's the only thing that would make you a bigger idiot?" she asked, teasingly.
"Haha you got jokes now, huh?" Damon asked, giving her a look but it was an amused one.
"I've always had jokes; it's just now I think you deserve to hear 'em." Charlene said, shrugging as she grinned over at him.
He laughed as he shook his head at her. Her grin turned into a smile in response, happy they were starting to become friends and could banter like this again.
Megan finished catching Bonnie up on everything as they walked across the lawn with their arms locked together.
"I can't believe this." Bonnie said, and Megan gave her small smile.
"Yeah I know that it's a lot to take in, and hard to believe. I still can't believe it myself, but yeah, Demetria is trying to do everything in her power to get Stefan and I away from each other, and Caroline is just trapped in the middle of it all." She shook her head sadly.
They sat down on a nearby bench.
"It's not that you and Stefan are pretending to fight." Bonnie told her quietly. "It's that I didn't even know you guys were pretending in the first place."
"I would have told you, Bon, I really would have." Megan tried to assure her. "But I didn't think you wanted to know. You have made it perfectly clear you don't want anything to do with vampires, and I wanted to respect that."
Bonnie looked frustrated. "So that makes me the odd man out."
"Of course not, Bonnie…" Megan shook her head in denial. "That's not true at all."
Her sister looked like she didn't believe her. "I know where I stand, Megan." She told her. "And I know where you stand. But where do we stand?"
"I'm still your sister, but I'm not gonna say I agree with how your treating Caroline because I don't." Megan informed her. "You're acting like her turning into a vampire is her fault. She didn't ask to be turned. She was turned against her will. She's still the same Caroline and you would know that if you would just talk to her." Megan just wanted things to go back to normal with her sister and Caroline.
"Not yet." Bonnie shook her head, and Megan's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "I just…she's a vampire, I can't."
"Yes you can." Megan pressed. "You just want to be stubborn about it."
Her sister ignored that, looking away from her. "I think we should get back."
Megan watched her sister leave and she groaned, tossing her head back in frustration. She sighed heavily as she followed her sister.
Mason Lockwood had been carrying a box when he noticed Stefan Salvatore helping out. He was shocked to say the least to see him.
"Hey Stefan…" Mason said slowly.
He smiled at him as if nothing had happened. "Hey Mason."
Mason placed the box down at a table and looked at Stefan silently for a moment. "Wasn't expecting to see you here." He finally said. "Or anywhere."
"Yeah, I had this little accident." Stefan shrugged, putting an emphasis on the word 'accident.' "But I'm fine now." He smiled again.
"What did you do with Sheriff Forbes?"
"Oh, she's fine too, but from now on, you'll have to do your own dirty work." Stefan stared at him intently until he looked away.
Mason nodded. "Not a problem." He mumbled and walked off only to bump into Bonnie. "Excuse me." He moved by her, but she turned around to watch him leave with a weirded out look on her face.
Stefan noticed with a frown and went over to her. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"
Bonnie bit her bottom lip for a moment. "When I touched him, I saw something."
"What do you mean? Like a vision?" Stefan questioned, confused.
"I saw Charlene."
This made him even more confused. "You saw Charlene?"
"He was kissing her."
Normally he would have said it couldn't have been her, but she had been flirting with Mason… However, he shook his head at the thought because Charlene wouldn't do that, not after what Mason did to him and Damon, especially Damon.
"No, Bonnie." Stefan finally said. "Charlene wouldn't kiss…" He stopped when he realized who it really was. "You didn't see Charlene, you saw…Abigail."
Bonnie looked at him wide eyed.
Megan was back inside the mansion sorting out masks, looking completely bored out of her mind. Elena was there helping but she was too focused on getting the mask sorting done and over with, so she wasn't speaking much.
Sighing, she looked outside the window and couldn't help but notice Stefan talking to Bonnie. She frowned at the sight. Whatever they were talking about, it looked intense.
"That's weird." Megan commented, getting Elena's attention.
"What?"
She nodded towards Stefan and Bonnie. "That. Stefan and Bonnie never talk."
Elena shrugged. "Maybe it's something important."
"Yeah it has to be, but what is the question." Megan said, returning her gaze to her boyfriend and sister.
"Damon?"
Megan looked away immediately at the sound of his name, spotting Damon heading their way with Charlene close to his side.
"What are you doing here?" Elena questioned, confused as they stopped in front of them.
"Looking for my baby bro. Speaking of, would you tell yours to stop following me around?" Damon gave a look to Charlene before taking off to find Stefan.
Elena turned to Charlene immediately. "What is he talking about?"
"You can blame Megan on this one." Charlene said, glowering at her.
Megan was confused for a moment until Jeremy showed up. "Ohh yeah." She laughed nervously. "In my defense, I told him to do what he wanted."
"That's your defense." Charlene looked at her in disbelief and Megan shrugged weakly.
"Will someone please explain what is going on?!" Elena demanded. "What were you doing with Damon?" She asked Jeremy. "What is he making you do?"
"He's not making me do anything." Jeremy protested. "Damon and I…"
Elena's eyes went wide. "Uh, no, no way." She shook her head. "There is 'no Damon and you.' There's Damon and whoever Damon is using, and those people wind up dead. Whatever is going on Jeremy, I want you to stay out of it."
"I don't really care what you want, Elena." Jeremy told her. "Besides Charlene said it was okay."
"She said what?!" Elena's glare turned over to Charlene.
The blonde quickly pointed over at Megan. "She was the one to say it was okay first!"
Megan fake gasped in response. "Charlene!"
Seeing that this was his chance to flee, Jeremy took off running as Elena continued to glare at both Charlene and Megan, earning gulps from the both of them. Time to face the wrath of an angry Elena Gilbert.
Stefan had just finished telling Damon about what Bonnie had seen and now he was watching his older brother pace back and forth.
"Abigail's with Mason Lockwood." Damon stated in disbelief.
Stefan nodded. "We missed it." He sighed, crossing his arms. "He got into town right after she and her sisters did. It makes perfect sense."
"I know, but Mason Lockwood?!" Damon was clearly flabbergasted. "Werewolf thing aside, the guy is a surfer. She's got to be using him. She has to be."
"Using him for what?" Stefan asked.
"Mason Lockwood's looking for a moonstone that allegedly can break the full moon werewolf curse. Maybe Abigail wants it as well."
Stefan frowned. "Why?"
Damon thought about it for a moment, stopping in his pacing, then he frowned as well. "Well…no idea. That's the beauty of Abigail; she's always up to something." Rolling his eyes, he shook his head.
"So, how are we gonna find this moonstone?"
Damon couldn't help but smirk. "Jeremy is getting it from Tyler."
At this, Stefan looked at him in disbelief. "Why would you involve Jeremy?" He walked past Damon and slapped him in the arm, continuing to walk by him.
"He's playing Indiana Jones." Damon protested. "He involved himself!" Stefan looked back at him and shook his head, waving him off. "It's not my fault! Blame Charlene and Megan!" Stefan was already long gone, and he scoffed.
Elsewhere, Matt Donavan stood on a ladder putting up lanterns outside while Tyler Lockwood stood beside him, keeping a tight hold on the ladder so it wouldn't fall. As he put them up, Matt talked to Tyler about Caroline, telling him how weird she had been acting around him.
"She's this amazing girl one minute and then this raging, jealous freak the next." He sighed.
"Look, you know how I feel about Caroline Forbes." Tyler said, "She's an insecure, bitchy little twit."
Matt shot his friend a look. "Hey!"
"But the girl's got heart." Tyler added. "She means well. You just got to take the good with the bad sometimes."
Matt sighed again. "Yeah." He climbed down the ladder. "I'm gonna go get the extension cord. I'll be right back." He left, leaving Tyler alone, but he wasn't alone for long as Jeremy came up to him seconds later.
"Hey man." He greeted.
"Hey!" Tyler said back. He turned around to get something while Jeremy continued to talk to him.
"Hey, so I did a little research on that stone you showed me."
Tyler turned back, looking at Jeremy surprised. "What? Why?"
Jeremy shrugged. "I don't know. Curiosity. Boredom."
"What did it say?"
"Well, it turns out that it's part of this Aztec legend, but I want to make sure it's the same kind of stone. You think I could check it out again?"
Tyler shook his head. "Nope. I gave it to my uncle." He told Jeremy, and the young Gilbert looked at him, startled.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because I'm done with legends and curses." Tyler answered with an 'I'm over it' expression. "I don't want anything to do with it, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Jeremy said, pretending not to be bothered by this. "It's probably…just uh, stupid folklore anyway. Forget it."
Further away, Damon and Stefan were listening in on the conversation as Jeremy walked away from Tyler, and they looked at one another. Damon looked pissed while Stefan just shrugged it off before they both walked away.
Luckily, Charlene and Megan managed to calm Elena down, which Megan couldn't help but be relieved over. It was touch and go for a bit but it worked out in the end.
Despite giving Jeremy the go ahead to get involved, Megan couldn't help but feel bad and worried. What exactly was Damon having Jeremy do? Charlene said it had something do with the moonstone and the fact that Tyler Lockwood had the stone and Jeremy was trying to get it from him. That was all the blonde knew about it.
Stefan hadn't said anything to her lately for good reason, of course, but Megan hated being out of the loop. Sure, she didn't expect to be told everything that was happening, but if it had something to do with one of her family members, she felt like she had the right to know about it. Megan walked outside and sat down on the stone steps, pulling out her phone to text Stefan again.
What's going on? Is everything okay?
She got a response seconds later.
With Bonnie and Damon. Fill you in later.
Megan frowned at his response and typed a reply back, No. Tell me what's going on now. Why are you with Damon and Bonnie? She wasn't surprised he was with Damon but her sister. It was little frustrating they were bringing Bonnie into whatever they were planning because she didn't want to get her sister involved anymore because clearly Bonnie didn't want to.
She sat there, waiting for a reply. It didn't come as quickly as she would like and when there was still none five minutes later, she was getting tired of waiting. So, Megan frustratingly pressed the call button on Stefan's number and brought the phone to her ear.
Seconds later, he answered. "Hey, what are you doing? You shouldn't be calling me."
"I really don't care at the moment." Megan told him in her frustration. "What's going on Stefan? What is Jeremy getting involved in? Why are you with Bonnie? She doesn't want to get involved with the vampire stuff and it's not fair to bring her into something against her will. Not only that, but it's also frustrating that you guys are getting to have all the fun and I'm just stuck inside sorting masks for Mrs. Lockwood!"
He did explain what was going on, but he didn't go into big detail about it and told her to stay out of it and that they got it handled. Megan had opened her mouth to protest, but Stefan had already hung up the phone before she could.
Megan looked down at her phone, and growled under her breath. So rude!
Stefan finished talking with Megan and headed back over to Damon and Bonnie. He felt bad for hanging up on his girlfriend the way he did, but she didn't need to get involved in this, not when Demetria could be poking around at every corner.
"So, you, little witch, are gonna get over yourself and help us." Damon said as Stefan returned, clearly finishing up with a threat.
Bonnie glared at him, and Stefan quickly intervened before she could do anything. "Yeah, he meant that as a question with a 'please' on the end."
Damon stared at the Bennett witch, not bothered at all by her glare. "Absolutely."
A little bit later, Mason walked down the front steps, keys in hand as he headed over to his jeep. "Hey, can you move your van?" he asked one of the workers. "I'm blocked in." It was then he noticed Bonnie struggling to remove a table from the back of the truck and ran over to help her. "Hey, how did you get stuck doing that by yourself?"
"All the guys bailed." Bonnie answered. "Something about draft picks, I don't know." She laughed. "I don't speak that language."
Mason smiled. "Here, let me give you a hand."
He grabbed the table and started to pull it out as Bonnie stepped off the side. She looked around for a moment, making sure no one was around, before she turned her head to look at Mason again. She concentrated and gave Mason a brain aneurysm. He grabbed his head and yelled out in pain as he fell down to his knees.
"I'm sorry." Bonnie said, looking down at Mason apologetically.
"What's going on?" A familiar voice demanded, and Bonnie looked to find Charlene heading her way with a worried look on her face.
She didn't have time to respond as Damon came and he heard Charlene's question.
"No time to explain." He told her, walking past Bonnie and over to Mason only to knee him in the face.
Mason fell unconscious, and Damon opened the passenger door and the back one, gesturing for Bonnie and Charlene to get inside the jeep.
"You better explain." Charlene said with a stern look towards him. He waved her off and she made a face.
Stefan appeared and went over to Mason, taking his keys out of his pocket and tossing them over to Damon. Bonnie got into the jeep, but Charlene stayed behind to help Damon and Stefan put Mason in the back seat. Even though the blonde had no idea what was going on because whatever it was, it was probably for a good reason.
Damon grabbed Charlene by the hand and led her over to the jeep, helping her get into the back seat even as she swiped his hands away, not needing the help. Then, he got into the jeep and drove off quickly.
Damon did explain what was going on, and Charlene didn't think it was really the best idea. Anything that involved probably provoking either of the Pierce sisters was never a good one.
"This isn't going to go well." Charlene mumbled to herself, frowning as Damon carried Mason into the living room over his shoulder. She looked over at Bonnie. "I'm surprised you're actually going along with this."
"It's not like I had a choice." Bonnie said, scowling as she dropped Mason's bag in a nearby chair. "With Damon threatening me and all."
"Damon." Charlene scolded. "Really?"
He shrugged, used to her scolding him about threatening people. "It was the only way to get her to help."
"You could have asked nicely." Charlene reminded him.
"Then she wouldn't have done it." Damon said, making Charlene huff, as he placed Mason into a chair.
"Here's his bag. As requested."
Damon went over and grabbed a blanket off the nearby couch, spreading it on the floor underneath the chair Mason was in. "Okay, grab that corner. You too Charlie."
"I still say we shouldn't doing this." Charlene said, but went over to help fix the blanket with Bonnie's help. "I don't think it's a good idea to this to Mason when he's involved with Abigail."
"You worry too much." Damon told her with a smirk. "Trust me, this is a good idea."
Charlene rolled her eyes. "If I don't worry, who will?" she pointed out.
"Why are we even doing this?" Bonnie wondered.
"Because I don't want to stain the carpet."
Bonnie gave him a judgy look for that statement. "I knew you were going to say something like that."
"Judging again."
"Maybe you shouldn't have asked then." Charlene suggested, this time she got a look from Bonnie, but she only shrugged at it. "I'm just saying."
They finished up with blanket, and Damon went over to his bag, looking through it.
"He's not going to be out for much longer." Bonnie reminded as Damon pulled out chains from Mason's bag.
"Whoa. Looks like this guy's used to being tied up." Damon smirked at his joke.
"Kinky." Charlene commented, making his smirk widen.
Bonnie rolled her eyes at their antics as she went over to Mason and grasped his head in her hands, closing her eyes. Damon looked at her in confusion while he started to chain up Mason in the chair.
"What are you doing?" he asked her.
"You're looking for a moonstone. I'm trying to help you find it."
"Oh, good, yeah. Find out if he gave it to Abigail, and find out where she is. And find out what they're going to do once they get it."
Seeing they had everything covered and feeling bored, Charlene left them and walked into the main area of the boarding house. Suddenly, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She thought it was Megan as she took her phone out and looked down at the screen. It was a text message, but it wasn't from her best friend. It was from an unknown number.
Charlene frowned as she read the message. The moonstone is in the well on the edge of the old Lockwood property.
Instantly, she knew what well the message was talking about. Her, Charlene, Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline played around that well when they were younger. Why was it there and who was this mysterious person who texted her? Obviously it was someone who knew about the moonstone.
She didn't have time to think much about it as she heard footsteps and she looked to see it was Caroline.
"Care." Charlene said. Seeing her made her realize why she had come to the boarding house earlier. "Caroline, how's your mom?"
Caroline gave a small smile. "She's doing fine. The vervain is out of her system now."
"Oh good. At least now you can compel her to forget now."
The other blonde looked like she was about to say something, but she didn't have time to as Bonnie entered the room, looking like she was in a rush. "Hey!" Caroline beamed at the sight of her friend.
Bonnie glanced at her awkwardly. "Hi. How's your mom? Megan filled me in on everything."
"I'm gonna take her home tonight." Caroline told her.
There was silence from Bonnie for a moment. "Caroline…" she started to say but trailed off, shaking her head. "Nevermind, I've got to go."
Charlene wanted to say something, but she kept her mouth shut, knowing they had deal with their issues on their own.
"Did you find the moonstone yet?" Caroline suddenly asked, stopping Bonnie from leaving.
"Not yet." Caroline nodded, and Bonnie bit her bottom lip. "Hey, do you remember the well we used to play on when we were kids."
Hearing this, Charlene thought about the text message she received. Now she knew that the message wasn't a trick. The moonstone was there.
"Yeah."
"It's in the woods. Do you remember where?"
"It's on the edge of the old Lockwood property." Charlene answered before Caroline, causing both of them to look at her. "I think that might be where Mason has been hiding the moonstone."
"Why do you think that?" Bonnie asked.
Charlene hesitated, not sure if she should tell them about the random text message she got. In the end, she decided to keep it to herself.
"I mean, that's where I would hide it." Charlene finally said. "You know if I was evil."
Bonnie didn't know what to say to that, so she didn't as she took out her phone to text Stefan. "I'm texting Stefan to let him that's where we think it's at. Let's go check it out." She looked at Charlene and the blonde nodded in agreement.
"I can come with you too." Caroline suggested.
"No, it's okay." Bonnie said quickly, causing her friend to look at her with a hurt and disappointed look on her face. She glanced at Charlene, who gave her a look, and then she turned to face Caroline with a small smile. "Sure."
"Okay." Caroline smiled back and they left together.
Charlene stayed behind to watch them for a moment with a smile on her face. This was a start. Charlene followed after them.
Back at the Lockwood mansion, Megan was still pretty peeved at Stefan for hanging up on her and for keeping her out of the loop. She went back to sorting out masks and costumes with Matt and Elena, who both could tell something was up with her, but both of them didn't say anything about it at the moment.
"So, where's Caroline?" Matt asked Elena. "This is like her thing. I can't believe she's not here."
Elena looked over at Megan, but she wasn't paying attention to the conversation, so she turned her head back to Matt. "She had something else to do." She lied.
Matt was silent. "Is she seeing someone?" he asked quietly after a moment.
"Matt, come on, no she's not." Elena turned to look at Megan, looking for her help on this.
Megan noticed the look but said nothing as Stefan walked in with a box of masks in his arms. She stared at him, hoping he would notice her looking at him and finally tell her what was happening.
Tyler entered, looking around. "Anyone seen Mason?"
"He, uh, took off." Stefan answered, looking awkward. Megan frowned at his reaction. "He said he wasn't sure when he'd be back."
"So weird." Tyler mumbled as he walked back out of the room.
Stefan finally looked over at Megan. The look on his face clearly said something was up. She had known Stefan long enough to know this. Megan went to walk over to him, but stopped when he shook his head at her and walked away. She growled at her frustration as she went back to what she had been doing, but she started doing it more roughly than she had been. Megan didn't have to look at Matt and Elena to know they were wondering what that was about.
"Don't ask." She grumbled.
"Wasn't going to." Matt said, sharing a look with Elena.
"Good." Megan stood there as she looked at all the masks and costumes, realizing she didn't have to wait around to get some answers. That realization in mind, she put down the masks she was holding. "I'll be right back guys." She told Matt and Elena before she took off after Stefan.
She found Stefan at the old well that was on the edge of the old Lockwood property and ran up to him. "Okay! Enough with the all the secrecy. What's going on?" she demanded.
Stefan looked over at her frustrated. "You shouldn't be here."
"Well too bad." Megan said stubbornly. "Now, what's up?"
He stared at her for a moment, seeing the 'I'm not moving until you tell me' look on her face before the sighed as he turned his gaze back to the well. "Bonnie thinks the moonstone is down here."
Megan didn't believe that for a moment, then she nodded. "Makes sense." Putting it in a deep well would be something someone evil would do.
Not commenting that, Stefan pulled off the lock with his super strength and then he took of the iron gating on top of the well. He turned on the flashlight, pointing it inside the well.
Megan peered inside, gulping a bit. That was definitely going to be a long drop. She glanced over at Stefan nervously as he sighed and looked over at her, handing her flashlight. Megan gripped it tightly while Stefan jumped onto the edge of the well. Biting her bottom lip, she handed the flashlight back over to her boyfriend.
"You be careful down there." Megan told him worriedly.
He nodded. "I'll only be down there for a minute."
He jumped into the well and she quickly looked over the well to watch him, sucking in a breath that she held until hearing Stefan splash safely at the bottom. She sighed in relief, but that relief didn't last long at all as she suddenly heard Stefan scream out her name in pain. It was the most horrifying sound in the world.
"Megan!"
"Stefan?! What's going on?!" Megan yelled down into the well, her breathing quickening in worry.
"Vervain!" Her eyes widened, horrified to hear that. "Oh, God! Help!"
The pure agony in his voice made tears immediately prickle in Megan's eyes. "Stefan, hold on!" she cried out, literally about to jump into the well herself but she stopped herself.
There was no point of going in there if she couldn't get her and Stefan out of there. Quickly thinking, Megan went down to the ground only to try and get the heavy chains up, but it was no use. She didn't have enough strength to hoist them up. The tears were streaming down her face now. What was she going to do?!
"Megan!"
She whirled around as Charlene and Caroline appeared beside her. "Charlie, Care!" she exclaimed in relief, the tears still falling.
"What's happening? We heard you scream!"
"It's Stefan! He jumped into the well and can't get out and I tried to get the chain up, but it's rusted and I…" Megan let out a shaky breath as she choked back a sob. Charlene tried to comfort her while Caroline tried to climb into the well, but Megan stopped her. "Wait, don't! There's vervain down there. We have to get him out of there!"
"We will, we'll get him out." Charlene tried to reassure her, but Megan was still shaking.
Caroline quickly grabbed the chains from the ground and lifted them up with ease.
Megan knew she had to pull herself together. She had to stay calm. Stefan would be okay. He had to be.
At the boarding house, Damon was still torturing Mason for answers. The mutt wasn't saying much so he knew he had to up his game. So, he had grabbed the fire poker and used the fire he had made to heat it up.
As he did so, Damon continued to talk to Mason, still asking his questions, "When did you two meet? Did she seduce you, tell you she loved you? You're supernatural so can't compel you. I'm sure she used her other charms. Abigail's good that way. Actually, all her sisters are."
He glanced back at Mason, waiting for a response from him. It never came though. Damon frowned and would have went on if it wasn't for Jeremy coming into the room with a box in his hands. The young boy put it down on a table, and his frown deepened.
"I thought I told you to leave."
"I found something in Ric's box of stuff."
This intrigued Damon enough to stand up and stop what he was doing. "Ooh. What is it?" He walked over to Jeremy.
Jeremy took out a plant wrapped up in a cloth and showed it to Damon. "I was doing research on my phone." He started to explain. "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 uncovered the plant to look at it more closely. "What else did you read?"
As he talked, Jeremy showed him his phone. "Well, every source says something different. One myth says it causes lycanthropy, which sounds bogus. Another one says that it protects people and another one says, well, it's toxic."
Mason groaned at the last thing, and Damon looked over at him, smirking at his reaction. "I'm guessing toxic." He took the plant from Jeremy and went over to his hostage. "What's Abigail doing in Mystic Falls?"
When he didn't answer, Damon brushed the end of the wolfsbane across Mason's cheek. It immediately began to burn him, and he screamed out in pain. Seeing this, Jeremy gulped, looking uncomfortable with this form of torture.
Damon pulled the wolfsbane away. "Why are they here?"
"She's here with me." Mason spat. "Why do you ask, you jealous? If you are, why? When your busy screwing her look-alike?"
Jeremy's eyes went wide at that as Damon's face darkened at the comment. Big mistake mentioning Charlene. A devious smirk appeared as a thought crossed his mind.
"How rude of me?" Damon mocked. "You know, I just realized, I didn't offer you anything to eat." He shoved the wolfsbane into Mason's mouth, earning a grunt as he groaned in pain. "Yummy!" He stopped when he figured Mason had enough.
The werewolf spat out the wolfsbane and coughed, his face screwing up in pain.
Maybe now Mason would answer his questions.
After she calmed down, Megan let Charlene and Caroline wrap her up in the chains. She had the bright of idea of going down there herself to get Stefan out of the well, which thinking about it now, she was nervous about doing it, thinking the worse. However, Megan tried not to think about it much. She just needed to focus on getting Stefan out.
"I got you, okay?" Caroline told her, trying to reassure her.
"We both do." Charlene added. "We won't let you fall. Promise."
Megan nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay." She looked down inside the well worriedly. It was too quiet down there.
"What's going on?!" The familiar voices of Bonnie and Elena as they ran up to the three of them.
"You took off in a blur." Bonnie said.
"Yeah." Elena panted from the running. "What happened?"
"We heard Megan scream." Caroline explained. "Help her, now!"
Bonnie and Elena quickly nodded, grabbing onto each of Megan's hands help her into the well. At first, Megan took a hold of the edge of the well, about to change her mind about this whole thing.
"Are you ready?" Charlene asked her.
"As ready as I can be." Megan managed to say in her nervousness.
She took a deep breath and let Charlene and Caroline lower her into the well, slowing reeling her down. Megan nearly let out a scream when she suddenly felt like she was falling, but it stopped before she fell all the way down. One of them must have lost grip of the chains.
"Sorry!" Caroline yelled down at her.
"Thanks for nearly giving me a heart attack, Care." Megan groaned, then sighed in relief. "Forget about it, it's okay! Just keep going!"
They continued to lower her down until she hit the water. She found Stefan face down in the water, so she couldn't see the damage at first. Megan quickly unhooked the chains off from around her and put them on Stefan, turning him around so she could get them completely around him. She gasped in horror, seeing how burnt his face was and everything else in between.
"Oh no, Stefan." Megan's bottom lip wobbled for a moment, feeling the need to cry again at the sight of seeing him like this.
"Meg, what's going on down there?"
She ignored Charlene's question and forced back the tears as she called up to her friends, "You can pull him up now! And hurry!" She watched as he started to get pull up and when he was completely out, she grabbed the flashlight she had brought down with her and turned it on.
The chains splashed into the water. "Megan? We're ready for you!" Caroline's voice sounded.
"Give me a second! I need to find the moonstone." Megan called up. Stefan coming down here wasn't going to be a waste.
She felt around the cracks in the well for the stone. It had to be in here somewhere!
"Hurry!"
Megan continued to search in the water for it. Despite the flashlight being on, it wasn't much help as the water was too dark. After a moment, she felt a wooden box and pulled it out of the water.
"Guys, I think I found it!" Megan held the box close to her and was about to grab the chains to finally get out of here, but she let out a scream when she saw a snake inching over to her. "Eek, snakes!" One got onto her arm, causing her to screech in fear. She hated snakes! "Oh god!"
"Megan!"
She barely heard Charlene call her name as she hurriedly tossed the snake off her arm. The other snake crawled up her other arm. Of course, she still screamed, knocking that one off as well, before quickly putting on the chains before another snake could come at her.
"Get me out, get me out!" Megan cried up to her friends.
She was pulled up quickly and she dropped the flashlight into the water, not caring to leave it there. Finally, she was completely out of the well, and Charlene helped her get back onto the ground. Breathing heavily, Megan's eyes immediately found Stefan and ran over to him, falling on her knees beside him.
"No…" she whispered as tears creeped up again. She cradled his head under her arm while her friends ran up to her, however, she was more focused on Stefan. "Stefan, come on! You have to wake up!"
There was no response and Megan frantically looked around. She spotted a nearby rock and used it to cut into her hand. Caroline looked away. Megan put her bleeding hand against Stefan's mouth. The smell of her blood made his eyes open, making him start drinking from her cut.
Her hand went up to his hair and ran her fingers through it soothingly as Stefan drank from her. "I got the stone, Stefan. I got it. Everything's going to be okay now. We got it."
"Why do you want the moonstone?!" Damon demanded, tired of Mason's stubbornness.
"Screw you!" Mason spat out; his mouth wet with drool from when Damon made him eat the wolfsbane.
"Ahh! Wrong answer!" Damon started towards him threateningly.
Jeremy rushed forward, done with standing in the background. "If he was gonna say anything, he would have already!"
Damon ignored him. "I'm taking your eyes now." He held up the wolfsbane and moved the plant towards him.
Mason flinched and jerked his head back. "The well!" he blurted out. "You can find it there."
"I know where it is." Damon snapped. "I want to know what it does and why you want it?"
"I'm getting it for Abigail, so she can give it to Katherine."
"Why?"
"She's gonna use it to lift the curse."
Damon scoffed at him, shaking his head in disbelief. "Of the moon? Now why would a vampire help a werewolf to break a curse that keeps them from turning whenever they want?"
Mason's eyes went down to his lap. "So, I wouldn't have to turn anymore."
"Why?"
"Because she loves me."
At this, Damon stepped back and dropped his arm. After a moment, he started laughing.
"Now…now I get it." Damon said through his laughs. "You're just stupid. Abigail doesn't love you. She's using you, you moron."
Mason immediately looked away. "I'm done talking."
"Yes, you are." Damon told him darkly. He handed Jeremy the wolfsbane without breaking his gaze from Mason. "It's time to take a walk Jeremy."
"I'm staying."
"No, you should go."
Jeremy stood his ground. "I'm staying, Damon. He's had enough."
Mason glanced over at him, his eyes welling with tears. "Just help Tyler." He pleaded with a sob. "Don't let this happen to him."
"Damon…"
He didn't let Jeremy finish, tired of this bullshit. Damon super speeded over to Charlene's brother and choked him. Jeremy tried to pull his hand away, but he only tightened his grip on his neck. He wasn't going to kill him this time. The last thing he needed was to get back on Charlene's bad side.
"You wanted to be apart of this? Well, here is it!" Damon growled angrily. "Kill or be killed! This guy is a werewolf; he'd kill me the second chance he got! So, you either suck it up or leave." He let go and Jeremy coughed, trying to catch his breath, as he moved back over to Mason. "He wants me to kill him anyway. Don't you, Mason? It really is a curse, isn't it?"
Glaring at Damon, Jeremy stood up and left the room.
"You know, I look at you, and I see myself." Damon said before pulling a smirk. "A less dashing, less intelligent version."
"I love her!" Mason whispered, but loud enough where Damon could hear him.
"Oh, I know! I've been where you are. But Abigail will only rip your heart out." Damon leaned towards Mason, looking him right in the eye. "Let me do it for her."
Keeping his eyes on him, Damon slammed his hand into Mason's chest and pulled out his heart in one quick swipe. Immediately, the werewolf's eyes went lifeless, his head falling down against his chest.
Megan had never been more relieved to go to Charlene and Elena's house. After how today went, she was ready to relax and eat a good dinner with her second family, but first she desperately needed a bath to get rid of the icky smell she had gotten from being in the well. Spotting Alaric in the kitchen with Jenna, Megan managed to give him a brief smile as he mouthed are you okay to her, probably seeing the tired on hers, Charlene, and Elena's faces. She shrugged in response before she followed Charlene and Elena up the stairs.
After taking her shower, Megan stepped into Charlene's room where the blonde was laying in her bed with her eyes closed.
"Hey, it's okay if I borrow your clothes, right?" she asked her friend.
Not opening her eyes, Charlene responded, "Yeah, of course. You know you don't have to ask."
Megan shrugged. "Still wanted to ask anyway." She said as she went over to Charlene's closet. "I'm glad Stefan's okay. I was so mad at him earlier for keeping me out of the loop, but I probably shouldn't have gotten so mad about it now that I think about it."
"Probably not, but I don't blame you for being mad." Charlene said, opening her eyes.
"Yeah." Megan found some clothes and put them on. "I hope dinner's ready soon. I'm starving." She flopped down on the bed and lay down next to Charlene, reaching down to grab onto her hand, interlacing their fingers together like she always did when they laid together like this.
"Tell me about it. Feels like I haven't eaten all day. Food wise, at least."
Megan laughed. They rested there for awhile before getting up to head downstairs, hands still together. Megan entered the kitchen, the scent of the amazing food going up her nose.
"It smells amazing down here, Jenna!" She complimented.
"Thanks Megan!" Jenna beamed at her before the home phone rang and she went to go get it.
Charlene went over to the table to help Alaric put the rest of the plates on the table. She looked around.
"Where's Jeremy?" Charlene asked Alaric. "I don't see him anywhere."
"Oh, he went straight up to his room. He said he wasn't hungry."
"Don't know how that's possible. I'm starving to death." Megan groaned dramatically.
Charlene looked at her, amused. "Don't be so dramatic."
"Not possible." Megan grinned over at her best friend as Elena entered the room, seeing Jenna on the phone.
"Who is she talking to?" She asked.
"I don't know." Alaric responded with shrug before looking between Megan, Charlene, and Elena. "Everything go okay today?"
"Eh, could have been better." Megan shrugged, and it really could have.
Jenna started to walk back over to them. "Of course, I understand." She said into the phone. "Megan, it's for you."
Megan looked at her confused, wondering who would be calling her over here. "Really? Who is it?" she asked as she took the phone from Jenna.
She shrugged and went back into the kitchen area. That was a little weird… Shaking her head, Megan put the phone to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Hello Meggy."
Megan froze at the sound of Demetria's voice. Shit… The people around her saw her pale she went and looked at her questioningly. Ignoring the looks, Megan walked out of the room.
"What do you want?" Megan demanded quietly into the phone. She could hear the smirk in Demetria's voice when her doppelganger answered.
"I was just calling to ask how you enjoyed sneaking around with Stefan this morning." Demetria said casually, but her tone was mocking. "That was stupid of you, you know? I'm always going to one step ahead of you and I have eyes and ears all around this place. And thank god for getting invited into the Gilbert house when me and Katherine came here. It made it so easy to get inside and switch Aunt Jenna's perfume, to convince her to stop drinking her special tea."
"No, you didn't…" Megan breathed, glancing over at Jenna. From the corner of her eye, she saw Charlene's entire body was tense, obviously overhearing what Demetria. Elena and Alaric, however, had no idea what was happening, and they each opened their mouths to ask but Megan held up her hand instantly, telling them to hold on.
"I did!" Demetria exclaimed gleefully. "I switched it out, but Katherine was the one to compel her. Jenna's been my accomplice for days now. Difference is, she actually listens, so when Katherine suggested that the world would be a much better place if she were to just…"
"Jenna, no!" Elena's horrified scream made Megan whirl around, her eyes at the sight of Jenna on the ground with a knife lodged in her stomach, blood pooling around on the floor.
Megan was rooted to her spot, horrified, and she felt sick to her stomach. She barely heard Demetria on the other line as her doppelganger finished the call.
"I told you to stay away from Stefan and if Jenna dies, it's gonna be all your fault… Toddles!"
Charlene stepped into the waiting room where Jeremy and Megan were waiting for her and Elena to update them on Jenna. She had a tight grip on Elena's hand, trying to keep it together for everyone, even though she wanted to break down crying.
When they saw them, Megan and Jeremy hurried up to them.
"How is she?" Her best friend was the first one to ask, her make up completely ruined from crying.
Elena sniffed as Charlene tightened her grip on her sister's hand even tighter. The blonde took a breath and let it out, then looked at Megan and Jeremy.
"She's doing okay for the most part." Charlene answered quietly. "The doctor told Alaric that she's lucky to be alive. When she stabbed herself, she missed one of her vital organs that kept her from bleeding out…"
"Does she remember what happened?" Jeremy asked softly.
Charlene shook her head. "Thankfully, no, but that's part of Demetria's mind compulsion."
"Why would Demetria want to hurt Jenna?"
"This is all my fault." Megan whispered emotionally, making everyone look at her. Fresh tears began streaming down her face. "I should have stayed away from Stefan…I should have stayed away…I'm so sorry!" She broke down into sobs.
Charlene immediately embraced her best friend, and Megan sobbed into her shoulder.
Elena started to cry too as she joined in on the hug. Even Jeremy joined in.
Charlene tightened her grip on her family members and closed her eyes tightly, letting her own tears fall.
"It's going to be okay." Jeremy said, his voice deathly quiet. "She's gonna pay, you three. I don't know how but she's going to pay. All of them will."
Yes, they would. If it wasn't for all three of the sisters coming to Mystic Falls, none of this would have happened.
After leaving the hospital, Megan went to the boarding house, her stomach in knots, knowing what she had to do now. Even though it killed her to do so.
She went into the library and spotted Stefan standing in front of the burning fireplace. His back was to her, but he knew that she was here. Seeing the love of her life, Megan could feel the tears coming again. She didn't want to do this. She couldn't…but she had to. She had to stop being selfish.
Stefan finally turned around to face her, and he was in tears as he stared at her tear streaked face. "I'm so sorry." He whispered emotionally.
"It's both of our faults." Megan said quietly. "We were so stupid sneaking around the way that we did. We should have known Demetria would find out. But of course, she did and Jenna…Jenna had to pay for it and who knows who is gonna be next. It could be Jeremy…it could be Elena…it could be Charlene…and all because we decided not to listen. Because we're still together." Tears welled up in her eyes again as she stepped closer to her boyfriend. "Stefan…I…"
"I know what you're gonna say to me." He cut her off, his own eyes gathering up with more tears.
Megan choked back a sob. "Then let me say it before…before I change my mind…" she breathed, her arms wrapping around her stomach, feeling like her insides were being ripped out of her. "You know that I love you…so, so, much…and I know that you love me but…we can't be together anymore. I'm done being selfish…it has to be over…"
"Megan, I…"
She shook her head and grabbed his face, her hands cupping his cheeks as her thumbs brushed against his skin. "Please Stefan…don't…it has to be this way. No matter how much it hurts." And it did. It hurt so much.
Stefan took her hands off his face and held them in his. The look on his face made her want to break down. He looked so heartbroken. Maybe… no, she couldn't change her mind. She had to do this.
Megan let a few more tears slip down her face as she leaned in to kiss him. The kiss was salty from their tears, but she didn't care. She needed to give him one last kiss. It didn't last long, and Megan broke the kiss before turning around and hightailing it out of the room, finally letting the sobs escape her. She raced out of the boarding house, not even stopping to talk to Damon who tried to talk to her. He couldn't say anything to make this better.
Nothing would fix this…
Over in her and Demetria's room at Mrs. Flowers bed and breakfast, Katherine Pierce paced back and forth as she talked to the person who was sitting on her bed.
"I apologize if I seemed frazzled." She sighed heavily, still pacing. "Circumstances have changed suddenly, and I had to adjust." She stopped pacing and looked at the person on the bed. "You see, I need a werewolf, and I've lost the one that I had. Now, tell me what you're going to do to help me get a new one." She smirked at the blank face of Matt Donavan.
"I'm going to go after Tyler Lockwood," he said in monotone.
Looking him right in the eye, her eyes dilated and a blanker look appeared on his face. "And you're not going to stop."
"And I'm not gonna stop," Matt repeated.
"Until?" Katherine pressed.
"Until he kills me."
Katherine smirked. Things were finally looking up again.
TBC...
In...
Masquerade, Part 1
So excited to be onto this next episode because after Masquerade we're onto one of my favorite episodes this season, Rose! I'm so excited to write that one especially with Elijah coming in and the fact Damon and Charlene finally get together in that episode. So yay! Anyway please leave reviews and let me know what you thought. Until next time! :D