Chapter 27: Unmasked
"You know I'm fine, Nate." Jenna complained as uncle Nate along with Elena and Jeremy helped Jenna into the Gilbert house. "I swear. Anyone would think I nearly died or something."
After Mason's 'death', Katherine compelled Jenna to stab herself, almost killing her. I don't know what Jenna had to do with Mason but maybe she was feeling extra spiteful towards Elena.
As a result, my uncle was not only pissed but upset that both of his best friends were almost killed because of Katherine. I knew that he was already planning to kill Katherine. He had even gone as far as to formally ask for permission to hunt and kill from my dad and the rest of the family. They approved, obviously. Why wouldn't they?
Despite my wish to stay out of any mess in this town, I decided to just get involved. Staying passive was hurting the people around me. Yes, I was fine but the people I cared about were not.
Uncle Nate looked pale and dark circles hung around his eyes. He looked weaker and tired, which should've been a surprise to me, given that he spent the past few days alternating between taking care of Mason and then Jenna. At least, Mason was lucky enough that I could heal him a little and he had supernatural healing. Jenna, on the other hand, was stuck with regular medicine but she had Alaric and the Gilbert siblings at her side.
"Honestly, have you not been taking that tea I gave you?"
Jenna looked away from him and looked at Mason who gave Jenna a sympathetic look. He too knew what it was like to be the object of my uncle's coddling. "I ran out. You were busy and besides, I'm sure I didn't walk into a knife because I was stressed."
"I'm just surprised you were in the kitchen…cooking too." Mason commented with a small smile on his face. His injuries had mostly healed by now.
Elena and Jeremy glanced at me. The two knew that I had been helping Mason recover.
"I was just making some salad, Ric and Elena were there." Jenna groaned as uncle Nate helped her onto the couch. "I don't know what happened after that—oh wait. I think Elena picked up the phone."
"You had a phone call?" I asked Elena, she stiffened and nodded.
"It was…um…Kath…Katie." She answered. Katherine called Elena to threaten her, that meant she had compelled Jenna before.
"Whose Katie?" Jenna questioned.
Elena traded nervous glances with me, making me wonder how she hadn't spilled to Jenna or anyone, she was just so obvious.
I plastered a calm smile on my face and went over to Jenna. "It's this girl from one of our classes. Here." I handed her the package I brought from home to Jenna. "This is more of that tea uncle Nate gives you and my mom made some cookies as well, flavored with that tea, my mom made these and aunt Diana made these—hand creams. It's supposed to be super relaxing. Lastly, uncle Nate found these cute earrings. It's just glass amber."
"Oh wow. A care package. You guys went all out. Thanks."
"It was his idea." I pointed to my uncle who waved while Elena grabbed a plate. "He told my parents about your accident and mom jumped at making these cookies, aunt Diana heard and then she made those. You know how my family is."
"Well we're very grateful for your help." Elena placed the plate with the vervain cookies on the coffee table, handing one to Jenna. "It's a hard time for us."
"I can imagine. It's a shame this had to happen before the masquerade ball."
"I was really looking forward to that." Jenna complained.
"Just focus on getting better. If you want I can throw a masquerade ball at one of our other estates—it'll be bigger than what the Lockwoods planned." Uncle Nate handed Jenna a steaming cup of tea and poured another two cups for Elena and Jeremy.
"Now why do I feel offended?" Mason lightly questioned. He wasn't offended at all.
"Cause Lockwood events are too stiff."
"That's not what you said at the Halloween Ball of '98."
"Oh god." Jenna put down her tea and started to laugh. "You just had to bring that up. Nate was so—"
"Okay. I thought we all agreed we wouldn't talk about that event." Uncle Nate got up and glared at Mason but there was a small smile gracing his lips that made his look less menacing. "I was going through a phase."
"Right a 'phase', you heard that Mason. A 'phase', not 'I got turned down by Meredith Fell and tried to forget', it was a 'phase'." She giggled while talking. The painkillers must've been taking an effect.
I left the trio there and followed Elena and Jeremy to the kitchen. Elena was leaning over the kitchen sink while Jeremy was nearby getting more snacks for Jenna before he left the kitchen, leaving me and Elena alone.
"You okay?" I asked, folding my arms around myself and walking up to Elena. She had a tough few days after Katherine's retaliation.
"I want to say I'm fine. I really do. It's just—"
"You're not. It's understandable, I mean I don't get why she went after Jenna. You had nothing to do with Mason's supposed 'death'."
"Well, I guess I'm Katherine's punching bag."
"I saw her today."
"At school?"
I nodded, turning away from her to take out her notes. "Here I had Aimee take notes for you for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English Language, Math and History."
"They're not your notes?"
"Nope. My mom was worried that I was underachieving so she made me meet the guidance counselor and then take AP Biology, Chemistry, English language and Spanish."
"Half-way through the year?" I nodded. "Wow, I forget how strict your mom could be."
"Yeah well perks of having an overachieving family. Anyways back to Katherine."
"Did she try to hurt you?"
"No, it's weird, it's like she's trying to avoid hurting me but she has no problem antagonizing me. Anyways, she asked if Mason was really dead."
"She doesn't believe he's dead. Oh god." She stumbled back and cupped her face with her hands.
"I obviously lied and put on an Oscar-worthy performance pretending I just found out about Mason's 'death'."
Elena stared at me, anxious. My attempts to lighten up the mood for her wasn't really working. She seemed even more anxious than before. I heard from Stefan that their relationship was put on ice after the whole thing which I guess made Elena even more anxious. First Caroline then Jenna. Katherine was slowly going after everyone she cared about.
"Just be careful around her. She did try to kill you before."
"Yeah and then I left before she could."
"Ava, I worry about you. I get you've been dealing with this whole thing since we were kids but—"
"Thank you." It was the first time someone had even noticed that I had it hard even though I pretended I didn't care. All my life I've been pretending like I wasn't scared or hurt. "I mean it, means a lot. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury to just stand aside and watch. Not anymore, not when people I care about are getting hurt."
"Katherine already hurt Jenna, killed Caroline, threatened to kill Bonnie and planned to kill you."
"I know. I know. She's going through our friends like…oh my god. Wait."
"What?" Elena peered at me with wide eyes which were dripping with concern.
I couldn't tell her what I realized. If Katherine was going around hurting our friends then that left Tyler and Matt. I couldn't tell her that, not when she was worrying about Jenna. I should've, I really should've but Elena was someone who was reckless.
So I pretended like nothing happened. "Nothing. I just remembered I was supposed to tell Matt about my classes, I usually give him my notes."
For a second, she didn't believe me and just stared at me blankly. It was like she was trying to read my mind. "You can him tell him now." She finally spoke after a while and pointed to the living room.
Matt walked into the kitchen carrying some bags of food from the grill he had picked up on his way to the hospital. He waved at me after placing down the bags and started to unpack them. "I heard my name."
"Oh I was just telling Elena that I'm taking AP classes now."
"Seriously? Please tell me we still have History together."
"And Physics."
"Okay. I can deal with that." Matt unpacked containers of food and passed it to Elena who started to plate them to reheat.
"You guys wanna hang out? I could break out the old board games?" Elena offered while dumping a container of chicken stir fry onto a plate before putting it into the microwave. "Or we could watch a movie?"
"Would love to." Her face brightened up when I said that. "But unfortunately, my uncle promised Mrs—Mayor Lockwood that our family would be there. Since my parents are clearly not here that leaves me and my uncle to attend. Sorry."
"No worries. We'll plan a sleepover at Caroline with you, me and Bonnie later?" Matt flinched a little hearing Caroline's name and I tried to tell Elena to not mention her for now. "What about you?"
"I have to be at the masquerade ball." Was all Matt said.
I found it a little funny the way he answered. I looked up at him but my smile fell. There was a blank look on his face, his eyes were unfocused a little. "I guess I'll see you there." I said, noting that he still had that faraway look in his eye.
I left the kitchen without another word and went back into the living room where Mason was saying his goodbyes. "So you're leaving?" Mason nodded as Jenna questioned him. "Today?" He nodded again. "Aw just when we were all getting used to having you around."
"I'll drop by when I can." He said, going for the door.
Uncle Nate was waiting by the half-open door. Jenna was still on the couch sipping her tea and having some of the vervain tea that Elena had brewed earlier. On her ears were the rose gold amber vervain earrings that I gave her earlier. For now, she'd be a little more protected.
When uncle Nate saw me, he motioned me to hurry. I quickly bid goodbye to Elena and got into my uncle's car with Jeremy tagging along. We were going to the Salvatore Boarding House first before uncle Nate left to drop off Mason at the airport. He was really keen on him leaving as soon as possible especially since Katherine was on the move.
"Surprised to see you here." Damon opened the door and stared at Mason who barged past him and walked inside. Stefan apologetically greeted him before welcoming him inside. "So you're actually going to talk."
"That was the idea." Mason bit back. He rolled his eyes and glanced at my uncle, the two silently communicating, probably talking about what a dick Damon could be. "Anyways, I'm just gonna give you guys a heads up before I leave."
"Have you decided where you're going?"
"Why? So you can hunt me down?" Stefan looked uncomfortable and moved to diffuse the tension but I motioned him not to. Despite the hostile interactions, I knew that Damon didn't mean what he said and neither did Mason. The two already moved past that incident, to my surprise. "Sticking to sunny areas." Mason answered after a moment.
"Most vampires can't walk in the sun anyway." I commented. "Vampires need daylight amulets to walk in the sun and for that, they need witches and witches—"
"Hate vampires." Uncle Nate finished, glancing at Damon and Stefan. Jeremy stayed in the back watching the exchange alongside Alaric.
"Though there are exceptions." Damon held up his daylight ring for Mason to see.
"Makes sense." Mason stared at the ground, hard thinking about something. I didn't bother to read his mind. Reading his mind made my mind hurt last time. I had to use a lot of effort to even get a few sentences out of his mind. "I think Katherine had a witch friend."
Katherine trusted Mason a little bit but at the same time, she didn't. Though she did make him believe that she was breaking a curse for him. One of the ways she did that was to make him believe the components she was searching for were for him including a witch to break the curse. Truly genius. I had to give it to her. She was smart, smarter than Elena and the Salvatore brothers.
"That's all I got from her. I was so stupid." Mason let out a sad laugh. "I should've seen it coming."
"You should've." Uncle Nate agreed, patting his friend on the back. "But at least you learned something from it. The hotter someone is, the more scheming they are—words I live by."
"Don't we know it." Damon chimed in. "Welcome to the Katherine'ed club Mason, an exclusive club for those people whose lives were ruined by Katherine Pierce. Barbie over here was the last victim before you." He pointed towards Caroline who rolled her eyes and pretended like he wasn't there.
I expected Mason to make a sarcastic comment or something but instead he actually took Damon's outstretched hand and shook it. I was so confused. Stefan patted Mason's shoulder then walked away. "You guys need major therapy…" I muttered under my breath which I knew was heard by all three of the guys.
"I'll let you know that killing Katherine will be very therapeutic for me."
"Killing people that caused your problems is not therapy."
"Have you tried it?"
"No, because I'm normal." Damon gave me a look and I sighed. "Somewhat normal." I corrected myself.
"You know, I've actually thought about it, maybe I'll take some time and go to therapy." Mason interjected.
"Would you look at that, someone who actually cares about themselves and the people that they love." Damon made a face and turned away from us.
"Guess I have to go." Mason checked the watch on his wrist and nodded at us.
"Remember to be safe and not go on dates with psychotic attractive vampires." Uncle Nate reminded him and I had to hold myself back from laughing.
"Seriously?"
"Hey, I'm not the one who fell head first for psychotic chic who happened to be a vampire, not to mention you knew she was a vampire and looked eerily similar to someone we witnessed growing up."
"That makes me sound like a creep."
"You kinda are." Caroline and I said at the same time. "I mean that with no offense but it was pretty weird how you dated Katherine who looked just like Elena." I added.
"See, they agree." Uncle Nate tilted his head towards me and grinned at his friend.
"It was creepy." Caroline repeated, shuddering a little before giving Mason a disgusted look and turning away.
"Lesson learned." Mason picked up a bag and started to follow me to the door. I looked around before following the two outside to where my uncle's car was parked. The trunk was open. Mason put his luggage away and turned to me. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around. Thanks for everything."
"No worries. I couldn't just let you die, especially since Tyler needs you—speaking of, did you end up calling him?" I was hoping he did let Tyler know that he was going away rather than have him believe he abandoned his nephew.
"I did." Mason took out his phone and turned the screen towards me and showed the text messages between the two. "He said he'd come to the airport to say goodbye…but that was like two hours ago. He doesn't want to see me."
"You're overreacting. Tyler was probably caught up in traffic or something." Uncle Nate tried his best to reassure him until he looked at him with a dead serious look. There was hardly ever any traffic in this town especially on the roads which led to the mayor's residence, the Salvatore boarding house and our manor. "Okay, maybe not traffic."
"It's fine, Nate. I had it coming. He knows that I only came back for the moonstone. I wish I didn't. I wish I actually came back for Ty."
"You can be here for him now—even if you're not in the country."
I glanced at my watch on my wrist and at them. I wasn't the only one about to run late. "As much as I love sappy bonding moments between friends, you guys are about to run late for Mason's flight."
The two stopped immediately and started to put Mason's luggage away in uncle Nate's car before the two got in. Mason paused to take a glance at our house before sucking in a breath and turning around, getting into the car. Uncle Nate waved at me then he drove off, leaving me alone.
Elena didn't want anything to do with Katherine anymore. I understood that, why wouldn't I? Katherine hurt Jenna and anything Elena did would only hurt her family. She had no choice but to back down.
That wasn't the only thing Stefan had changed since Jenna's hospitalization. He'd become more determined lately about going against Katherine, to protect Elena or maybe it was to protect his peace. I didn't know, either way, I was back being involved.
Jenna was hurt and Mason almost died.
Whether I liked it or not, vampires were affecting the people in my life. Katherine was like a hurricane wrecking things and hurting people. Maybe the storm she was talking about was herself, I'd like to believe it was. The last thing I needed was a bigger threat than Katherine looming over us.
Uncle Nate returned after a few hours, he and Alaric were now gathered around a table with various weapons displayed. Different types of stakes, mini-crossbows, modified guns with wooden bullets along with UV bombs. Those I assumed were for emergencies only.
"UV grenades are a bit too much don't you think?" I turned around in my seat to look at Alaric tinkering around with the weapons. I could easily tell which ones he brought and which ones were from my family.
"Contingency plan—in case she tries to make a run for it." Damon answered, tossing a grenade in the air with a light grin. I motioned him to put it down before he accidentally blew himself, his brother and Caroline apart. "Anyways, I'm surprised you're actually here. Thought you'd bail."
"I almost did but then I got Stefan's message and I saw Katherine earlier at school."
"You saw Katherine?" Damon and Caroline asked at the same time. Caroline was next to me in an instant, checking me over. I had to stop her before she started fussing around me too much.
"I did. Stefan and Elena witnessed the whole thing."
Stefan came around to us with Bonnie and Jeremy in tow. He had his arm folded around him. "You're really good at lying and acting." He commented, reminding of my 'performance' earlier which I admit was a little overboard especially the part where I acted like Mason was dead. At least, I know I could turn to acting if being a lawyer or an artist doesn't work out.
"Thank you. Thank you. All those times being forced to be part of a drama club at my old school really came into service—anyways, Katherine wanted the moonstone but I just think something like a moonstone is just so cheap for me so I've never seen it and I don't where it is, which is half true."
"You do where the moonstone is."
"Yeah but I haven't seen it yet."
Damon disappeared and reappeared with a clear gem that was the size of a bar of soap. It looked like soap as well, until I looked a little closely. It was foggy and milky in color but nothing out of the ordinary. He held it up and carefully handed it to me.
The moment my flesh touched the cold stone, a series of images flashed into my head and I flinched, almost dropping the stone. Caroline quickly caught it but I took it from her again. I could feel a quiet hum from the stone.
"What is it?" Bonnie curiously asked, leaning over me. "Did you see something?" I nodded. I did something, unfortunately I wasn't able to catch anything that would help us.
"It's not an ordinary moonstone. That much I can say." I answered, turning the stone in my hands. "Feel it." I handed it to Bonnie who held in her grips. "Do you feel that?"
"It feels weird."
"I think it's magic."
"Maybe we can focus on the moonstone later." Stefan offered, taking back the moonstone and pointed towards the weapons.
"We all know the plan don't we?" Damon asked, looking around the room. He looked a little too happy for someone who was planning to kill their ex but I made no comment. I get why he was happy, at the same time, I was a little concerned. Damon was someone who was a little too trigger-happy at times and Katherine was older, stronger and smarter than a lot of people in this group. "We have a witch, a warlock-slash-vampire hunter, three vampires, whatever Ava is and Jeremy."
"We're gonna kill Katherine Pierce." Stefan finished for him. I glanced at him and gave him a look, in response he mouthed that he was fine. I could tell he was not. Unlike Damon, Stefan was still thinking that maybe Katherine could be changed. Even I believed that, well a small part anyway. "We just need to be careful and remember, no one but Katherine dies tonight."
"Why does that feel like a jinx?" Bonnie muttered to me as I gave her hand and Caroline's a squeeze.
"Kinda does." Caroline agreed. "So Elena's at home with Jenna, Katherine said she'd be at the masquerade ball. Elena not being there makes things easier."
Uncle Nate nodded before taking over from her. "I placed a mini-barrier spell to make sure, Katherine or any other vampires don't get in the Gilbert house until I lift the spell—that doesn't mean Jenna and Elena can't get out by the way, which leaves Ric to watch over the two."
"You sure you guys don't want me to help?" Alaric offered. Jenna's near death experience had put him on the edge and he must've remembered losing Isobel as he kept cautiously watching Jenna with an eagle eye in fear that she might die and also become a vampire.
"I think it's best if you stay and watch over Elena and Jenna." Stefan grabbed a stake from the collection of weapons my uncle had brought. Unlike the ones we used, these ones didn't have our family crest but instead were carved with the date it was finished being made.
Damon nodded and came over to my uncle. "Besides we've got a warlock-slash-vampire hunter."
"Damon." Stefan lightly warned him to calm down before carrying on. "Thanks Ric but Nate's better trained and equipped to handle something like this."
"A little harsh, don't ya think?" Jeremy questioned. "Ric is just as useful as Nate."
"Just being honest." Damon said with a shrug. "Nate has more experience and a supernatural edge."
"Are we done here?" We needed to get ready for the ball which was in a few hours. I needed to go home and grab my stuff before heading to Bonnie's. "We need to go get ready."
"Yeah we're done here. We'll all meet up at the ball and remember—"
"Katherine Pierce dies tonight." We all echoed.
"We know." I said and then grabbed Bonnie's hand, leaving. Caroline stayed behind, afraid that Katherine would watch her every move and hurt us. It made me sad to see her so afraid but we couldn't do anything without Katherine being dead.
The Lockwood mansion had been turned upside down for the ball. Dark curtains covered the windows and black and blue ribbons decorated the ceiling. All the chandeliers were lit for once and crystal lights decorated corners of the room but they were sparsely lit, giving the ballroom a dark and eerie feeling.
Almost everyone was dressed to the nines and most people were dressed in blacks or whites, Bonnie included. I had to force her to borrow one of my dresses for the ball instead of wearing the chiffon black and white dress she had originally picked. She still went with another monochrome piece but this one had a gray base with black laced vines and flowers from the top to the middle of the dress. I guess she picked black and white was to match with her mask.
Caroline wore a cherry red one-shoulder dress with a black and red mask. I, on the other hand, went for something brighter and now as a result stood out sharply in the sea of black, whites, blues, greens and reds. My rose-gold beaded short dress stood out a lot. Even my metal painted silver gold ornate mask was a bit too eye-catching. Great, if Katherine came after me, she'd know just where to find me.
"Caroline's splitting up from us." Bonnie announced, looping her arms around mine. "I think she's gonna look out for Katherine."
"Tell her to be careful, she might be a vampire, she's still weaker than Stefan and Damon, not to mention younger." I replied, looking around for a sign of our target. "Do you see her?"
"No, I do see Stefan looking anxious and Damon might be checking you out."
"I will pretend I never heard that last bit."
Bonnie grinned at me and grabbed a drink from a nearby tray. "Where's your uncle? I'm surprised he didn't stay with Jenna or go with Mason."
"Looking for Katherine's witch and he's overly honest with Jenna so he'll spill the beans the moment Jenna asks him anything, as for Mason, he insisted on going alone."
"Oh. That makes sense." Bonnie grabbed my arms and stood on her heels, craning her neck to try and get a better view of the ballroom. "You sure Katherine won't walk in with her witch?"
"No, she's smart, she'll probably not bring her in with her or if she does, she'll split with them before meeting Stefan and Damon."
Just as I finished speaking, Dana along with Aimee and the student council approached me. Seeing them, Bonnie gave me a look and quickly left the scene.
"Can I just say you look great?" Rei gushed, Will had his arm around her and nodded in agreement.
"You guys look great too." I complimented them. Rei had a green velvet dress with a halter neck while Dana had a similar one in blue. The rest seemed to adhere sharply to the black, white, blue, green and red unofficial colors of the masquerade.
"Hey, have you seen Matt?" Aimee asked, looking around. "Usually, you two are together."
"Oh my god. Aimee." Dana lightly punched her friend's arm. "You need to let him go, he's probably still hung up over Caroline."
"So? They broke up."
I rolled my eyes hearing this. "Doesn't mean he's over her, unless you want to be the rebound then be my guest. Word of warning, rebounds don't last long."
Aimee stood still hearing my words. She looked like she was going to cry for a second or even insult me but instead she took a step back and lightly tapped her under eyes before leaving. Dana watched her leave and tried to grab her arm while Chad whispered something to Dana.
"She's overreacting." Chad stated, watching Aimee disappear in the crowd. "I mean you weren't wrong."
"No but Ava could've been nicer." Dana complained. "I'm gonna go get a drink. Chad." She pouted and left, Chad and the rest following soon after but not before Rei mouthed a quick thanks. I guess even she was getting tired of Aimee's relentless pursuit of Matt. He was clearly just being nice to him and not into her at all.
I was left alone on the dance floor. I sighed and quickly started to walk away when I felt the dreaded chill. At first, I thought it was Katherine until I looked up. Damon stood in front of me with his hand outstretched.
I looked up and gave him a dead look. He wasn't being serious was he? I swatted his hand away and moved to get off the dance floor. There he was again, in front of me.
"Seriously?" I looked around. "You're not actually asking me to dance are you?"
"I see a pretty girl alone on the dance floor, I'm just doing my part." I rolled my eyes and took his hand. He led me to the center and put an arm around my waist, pulling me in. "You know you're sticking out a lot."
"I've noticed." I bit back, meeting his gaze before looking away. "How long is this going to last?"
"What is?"
"This." I looked around and then back at him. "You being a 'hero', the 'good guy' or whatever. How long is this going to last? Until you get bored or…"
"Or…" He tightened his arm around my waist before he spun me around. "Or what?"
"Or until Elena finally picks Stefan for good." I finished, glancing up and meeting his quivering gaze. "I guess then you'll revert back to old Damon."
"What makes you think I have feelings for her?"
I chuckled, shaking my head. It was obvious he did, those longing glances and the way he was acting lately. It was so obvious. "You know I don't need to read your mind to know you're thinking. You don't have to lie to me but if I were you I would just move on, unless you want to pick your brother and a girl you barely know—don't want another Katherine situation."
For a while Damon said nothing, he just stared at me while swaying me on the dance floor. I thought about stopping the dance and leaving him there but for some reason I didn't. "...I'll admit I do have feelings for Elena but I—"
"Oh my god!" I gasped and clasped a hand over my mouth when I saw Aimee in the arms of Stefan. My heart dropped, despite my attempts to prevent anymore deaths, I failed. Aimee looked lifeless. Her eyes were shut as Stefan carried her, acting as if she had fainted.
Damon and I stopped, I let go and as normally as I could, I walked over to them. "Is she…"
Stefan nodded, not waiting for me to finish. "We have to get her out of here." Damon nodded at his brother and snaked his arm around my waist before the three of us left, pretending that everything was fine.
Nobody had noticed us. I reluctantly looked around and the eyes of the people surrounding us flickered to a pale gold. No one would remember seeing Aimee tonight, let alone seeing her corpse. I felt guilt eating me alive when I did that but I didn't have a choice. People would question how and why Aimee died, I couldn't answer that.
Sucking in a painful breath, I led him out into the parking lot where we met Damon. I brushed past him and hurried out into the night. My chest felt heavy and my lungs were constricting. I couldn't breathe.
"Ava, I'm so sorry." Stefan came up to me after hiding Aimee's body in the trunk of Damon's car. "This wasn't what we planned or wanted."
"No it wasn't." I forced myself to answer as I held onto the bloodstone pendant around my neck.
"Well, casualties were a given when it comes to Katherine." Damon tried to justify but even he didn't believe what he was saying. When I turned my gaze on him, his face dropped and he quickly tried to make things right. "But this was something that shouldn't have happened. Katherine will pay for this."
"She will." I agreed. "We need to hurry, Bonnie's already got everything set up, my uncle is looking for Katherine's witch, Jeremy is on the lookout and I'll keep everyone on the dance floor away from that room."
"Ava…" Stefan began, taking a step towards me. He always tried his best to think about my feelings, even ignoring the fact that I wasn't hurt, no, I just felt terrible watching people I know die for no reason. "Are you going to be okay?"
I scoffed. It would've been easy for me to keep turning my eyes away, acting like I didn't know anything but I was different from my friends. I was trained to prevent this kind of thing. My uncle was clearly involved in this. "I have to be."
"You don't." Damon retorted, reminding me he was not only still there but his arm was wrapped around my waist. I moved away from him and put some distance between us. "We'll dump her body later."
"Or I don't know we could call this off." I breathed on.
"I think we should, Katherine might start killing everyone if we don't." Stefan agreed with me. He was also having second thoughts on this whole plan like me.
Damon scoffed, glancing between me and his brother. He was getting annoyed at mine and Stefan's constant need to protect everyone which apparently got in the way of his plans all the time. "Stefan, it's collateral damage."
"Right, which is why we need to call it off." Stefan looked at me for support and I nodded. I was on board as long as no one got hurt but Aimee was dead. Unlike Vicki's death, the guilt I felt was not consuming my thoughts but nevertheless it still hurt. I don't know how I'd face Dana and Aimee's family.
"What?" But Damon wouldn't let it go. He was hellbent on killing Katherine. "Who's hesitating now? Hey! Don't do this to me! This woman ruined our lives, she destroyed us! Tonight it ends. We can do it together. I got your back. All right?"
"All right."
Damon nodded as I looked away and folded my arms across my chest, looking around anywhere but at him. If anyone else died because of this plan, I don't know if I would be able to forgive myself.
Just then my phone buzzed. I groaned quietly and walked away from the two but still keeping them in my vision. Damon and Stefan carefully watched me as I stood a few feet away from them, rummaging through my wristlet for my phone. I froze when I turned it on. Elena had flooded my phone with missed calls and messages.
Quickly I opened the messages from Elena and started to read them. With each message, my heart dropped. Elena was suspicious.
'Where are you?'
- Lena
'Pick up my phone'
- Lena
'I need to talk to you.'
- Lena
'What's going on?'
- Lena
'Jeremy's not picking up my phone, neither are you Bonnie, Caroline or even Stefan. What the hell is going on?'
- Lena
'Is everyone ignoring me?'
- Lena
'Please tell me you guys are not planning something behind my back.'
- Lena
'Call me'
- Lena
'Ric is hiding something. I know you guys are doing something.'
- Lena
'Ava, pick up your phone.'
- Lena
'I need to talk to you.'
- Lena
'On my way to the Lockwood Mansion.'
- Lena
'Just pulled up to the Lockwood Mansion since you guys won't tell me anything, I'll come and find out for myself.'
- Lena
"Shit." I muttered under my breath, reading the last of Elena's messages, the very last one was sent ten minutes ago.
Stefan was in front of me within seconds. "What?" He and Damon asked at the same time. I stared at them with wide eyes and turned my phone towards them.
"Elena's here."
"That's not good. She should be home right now."
The two brothers shared a look as Stefan started to back away, Damon grabbed his arm. "No. You said you're not backing out of this. I'll give Ric a call to come and pick Elena up." He took out his phone and started to dial Alaric's number. "Should've left Nate there instead."
"Or I could go and get Elena myself." I offered.
"No. Blondie's on lookout with baby Gilbert but you have an important job of being crowd control, making sure no one stumbles upon our secret."
"I can do both."
"Yeah, we know exactly how good of a multi-tasker you are."
I was getting really annoyed by Damon's attitude. I understood his feelings towards Katherine. He was bitter, hurt and jaded. I understood that. Who wouldn't be? But the way he had been acting since we all decided on killing Katherine was getting on my nerves. Stefan had also been hurt by Katherine but he wasn't putting the lives of others at risk here.
I was starting to think that maybe the reason Damon suddenly despised Katherine was because he despised what she made him become and she made him act. His self-hatred was having negative effects on innocents. That was something I couldn't have, especially when it came to my friends. I already almost lost Caroline, I was not losing Elena too.
"Damon—"
"Get Elena." Stefan interrupted. He stared at his older brother down and repeated what he said before. "Go. Get Elena and stay safe."
I nodded at him and turned around, running back into the mansion while dialing Elena's number. I needed to find her before Katherine or her witch did.
I hurried through the outdoor ballroom and found no sign of Elena at all. I did, however, find Katherine staring curiously at me. I pretended I didn't see her and looked away but she was in front of me within seconds.
"Hello." Katherine grabbed my arm, pressed on it, making it ache. I hissed in pain and glared at her. "What's got you in a hurry?"
"I'm looking for my friends." I retorted, taking my arm back from her.
"Bonnie and Caroline?"
"I have other friends too, you know."
"Right, the human ones. Well I think you'll find one missing."
"Excuse me?" Was she taunting me about Aimee's death, right now of all times. "Katherine, word of advice; don't let your confidence get to your head."
"Is that a threat?"
"A warning." I answered, backing away when I spotted Caroline. She was ready for her part. I acted like I didn't see her and instead turned around, heading for Dana and the student council members.
I pretended to talk to the student council members while in the background Caroline was doing her part in luring Katherine. She didn't suspect anything so far and I guess still believed Caroline to be so afraid that she wouldn't lie to her. I was a little afraid that she'd catch on to me instead, luckily she didn't.
Will must've noticed that I was on the edge because he handed me a drink from a nearby tray. I smiled at him thanks, drinking it all before putting it down on another nearby tray with half-empty drinks. I still needed to find Elena.
I found Elena in the parking lot surrounded by Jeremy and Bonnie. When she noticed me, she trembled with betrayal, shaking her head. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked me.
"This is why. You'd get yourself into the middle, unprepared and get yourself hurt."
"But Jeremy—"
"Yeah. I know. I didn't want him here but apparently he managed to gain the trust of my uncle…and Damon." Jeremy looked away from me and acted as if he hadn't heard me. "I think you should calm down and go home, Elena."
Elena shook her head and pulled away from me. "No, I'm not going home just so everyone can continue to lie to me."
"Come on, it's not like you haven't lied to each and everyone one of us before."
Bonnie and Elena both gasped at my words while Jeremy nodded. He actually didn't seem so scandalized by my words and instead was happy someone was calling his sister out for her lies. I know it was a low blow but Elena had lied to each and every one of us about different things. Things would be different if people lied to her, I guess.
"Guys let's not fight." Bonnie glanced between us and reached out for both of us. "Please."
"She has a point." Jeremy muttered under his breath.
"Jeremy." Bonnie hissed. "Not helping. Look, we know what we're doing Elena." She glanced at me to play along and I nodded. "We actually have support from Ava's family as well so we got it covered."
"And how am I supposed to feel if one of you guys gets hurt because of me?" Elena retorted.
I wanted to scream a little hearing her speak because killing Katherine wasn't all about her. It was about Damon and Stefan paying her back for ruining her life along with the attempts on Bonnie, Jeremy and my life. Not to mention, Katherine did kill Caroline and almost got Mason killed.
Luckily Jeremy was the one who decided to remind her exactly what we all were thinking. "It's not just you anymore, Elena. She's messed with all of us, she has to be stopped."
"She killed Caroline, almost killed Jeremy, Bonnie and me. Did get Damon and Stefan killed and I feel like I'm missing something." I started to list. "Oh right. She just killed Aimee." Elena's eyes widened in shock and horror but I carried on, I already fast forwarded through the five stages of grief over Aimee's death. I'll carry on mourning her after this was all done and over. "This isn't about you at all. Jenna was the last straw so you don't have to carry the guilt of us getting hurt."
She still didn't feel convinced and only looked even more anxious about something going wrong. Still when she glanced at me, I could tell that my words had deeply affected her. I wouldn't lie and say she wasn't sometimes a little self-centered. She had a good heart but sometimes, she had a tendency to make things about herself, still I honestly believed she was coming from a good place.
Yes, Katherine screwed with her but half of the things Katherine had been doing seemed a little too calculated to screw her descendent over. I mean if she really wanted to make Elena so miserable, why didn't she just do it. She could've left Caroline for dead, she didn't. She could've killed Bonnie and me, she didn't. Then she went after Mason. Something was not adding up. She also returned to Mystic Falls right after Isobel. Something was definitely not right.
"What's wrong?" Elena asked when she noticed that I had grown quiet while my mind was wandering. "Ava."
"Something's not right." I replied. There was this odd buzzing sound I heard in my ears like something bad was going to happen. "Something's not right." I repeated.
"You're not making sense—your eyes—Ah!" Elena let out a piercing scream and hunched over. Bonnie towards her and I broke out of my trance, noticing the sudden bloodstain on her back.
I wasn't the only one who noticed this. Jeremy and I shared a look. "What's going on?"
"Katherine's witch." I breathed out.
Bonnie turned around and looked at Jeremy. "She's linked to Katherine, get them to stop! Now!" She barked out while helping Elena up to sit on a bench. Jeremy hurriedly nodded and ran to stop Damon and Stefan. "Any updates from your uncle on the witch."
"Wait. Let me check." I took out my phone and started going through it. "No luck." Elena let out another scream of pain while the wounds multiplied. "Move."
"It's fine, I can try and break the spell." Bonnie offered, bringing out her grimoire and flicking through the pages, trying her best to find something.
With a deep breath, I placed my hands over Elena's wounds. The wounds healed, the blood disappeared in thin air, leaving no stains behind but as soon as one wound disappeared another opened. Her screams continued to ring through my ears and I nervously glanced at her. She had tears in her eyes, her cheeks were red.
"Anything?" I peered over my shoulder to look at Bonnie who shook her head.
"Guys, it hurts." Elena cried out.
"I can't break the spell, Elena. I'm sorry but Ava can do something to take the pain away. Okay?" She glanced at me and I had no choice but to agree. "Okay?"
"I'm sorry about this." I quietly apologized, knowing that what I was about to do was not something I wanted to do to my friends but I had no choice. "Elena, I need you to focus on my voice and forget the pain you're feeling right now."
Elena's body stilled for a second, I noticed her eyes flickered to a pale gold as she nodded. Another stab wound appeared on her hand with blood gushing out, I quickly placed my hand over it and the wound closed up with blood disappearing. She didn't scream at all this time.
"I didn't feel that." Elena breathed out. "Is that—I heard you in my head and then…" Bonnie and Elena both looked at me and I couldn't meet their gaze. I actually didn't really like using that a lot, in fact it was more taxing than healing people sometimes especially when I was mentally exhausted.
"Elena, breathe. I need you to breathe. Focus on me."
I didn't use my magic to calm her down, thinking it would be going overboard. I wasn't sure if Elena would follow my instructions and thankfully she did. She started to regulate her breathing, following my words before she relaxed a bit.
Letting go of her, I moved away a little. My movements were slow and tired and my mind was buzzing a little but not too much where I wouldn't be able to stand. Bonnie came to help steady me, I held my hand out motioning her to keep her distance from me. I was afraid that I might hurt her by accident, like how one of my maids took on my tiredness the moment I touched her. I didn't know if the same could happen to Bonnie or even Elena so I distanced myself from them.
"Are you okay?" Jeremy came back and crouched in front of his sister, checking him and turned to Bonnie and me.
"She's fine." I answered. "I healed her and made sure she wouldn't feel the pain—don't ask me for details."
Even though she almost died, she was thinking about others rather than herself. "How are they?" Elena in turn questioned.
"They're stuck in there with her." He turned to Bonnie and sighed. "You were right, she had her witch link Elena and Katherine."
"The girl I saw, the one inside!" Bonnie gasped out, looking at us like we would know what she was saying. Unfortunately I wasn't there. "Stay with her." She said to Jeremy before turning to me. "Ava, call your uncle and tell him to meet me inside."
I got up and did just that. Leaving Elena for a second while telling Jeremy to shout if Elena got injured again. I still felt a little tired but it was getting better. My uncle's phone rang a few times before he picked up.
"Bonnie knows who the witch is." I said without any greetings.
"Awkward but I'm actually talking to her…right now." He whispered back.
"Please tell me you're trying to negotiate with her."
"Yeah and it's not going well."
Behind him I heard another voice speak up. "Nothing personal but I owe Katherine and a witch always pays her debts."
"Tell her that an innocent died and another could've died." I hissed into the phone, slightly angered by the attitude of the witch. "If that doesn't work out, just wait for Bonnie to show up and the two of you can jump this witch together."
"Ava!" He hissed at me. "Bonnie's here." He cut me off and hung up, leaving me to return to Jeremy and Elena.
Elena looked a little better, she had a glass of water in her hand that I guess Jeremy went to get for her. When she saw me coming back, she hobbled over to me and engulfed me into a hug. "I'm sorry and thank you." Her voice was a little muffled as she laid her head on my shoulder, having to bend down a bit. I patted her head and smiled.
The three of us stood there in the parking lot just talking with me, leaving every few minutes to go check inside to see if everyone was still there. I didn't want to force my way into their minds to get them to avoid the room with Katherine and the Salvatore brothers or not come to the parking lot so instead I made my own life difficult.
"Bonnie?"
"The spell, it's broken." She announced but it looked like she was in a trance. My uncle was behind her trailing behind.
"Is everyone okay?" My uncle scanned the small group before he settled his gaze on Elena who was still breathing heavily. "Elena?"
"A little better. Ava healed me." She answered.
Bonnie looked a little shaken up while Caroline still hadn't met us. She'd practically disappeared after the whole plan started and her phone was off, I was getting a little worried. "Hey, you guys wanna have a sleepover at my place. I was trying to get to Caroline so we could do it at her place but no luck."
"I'm down." Bonnie quickly agreed.
"I need to pick up some of my stuff from my place and I'll be at yours later." Elena answered just as Stefan and Damon came back.
"We'll give you some space." Uncle Nate glanced between the two and motioned to me and Bonnie to leave. We nodded and started walking away from them with Bonnie going to talk to Jeremy about something. "Something's not right."
"You realized too, huh?" I folded my arms around myself and looked up at my uncle.
"A witch, a vampire, a werewolf and a moonstone. Katherine was gathering them."
"What do you mean gathering?"
"I mean, she approached Mason, the werewolf, approached Lucy, the witch—she told me how they met and she turned Caroline instead of killing her, a vampire. Last but not least, the moonstone—she was desperate to get it."
"There's something else." I added. "Elena is somehow related."
"They're doppelgängers." Uncle Nate pointed out.
"I know but get this, so far Katherine has gone out of her way to hurt Elena—most of it was indirect. I'm sure that Caroline was deliberate and not related to Elena, I guess she was two birds with one stone-type of deal. Anyways, I'm rambling but notice how she hasn't hurt Elena herself or killed her—"
"When she easily could. She had more reason to."
I nodded. "Right? Elena is currently loved by Stefan whose the boy she supposedly loves-slash-loved and Elena has a stable life in Mystic Falls, something she didn't have back in 1864."
"She didn't kill her." He just realized what I had been going on about. Katherine could've easily killed Elena and called it a day but she didn't.
"Something's not right. Wouldn't it have been easier to kill and turn Elena than Caroline or just kill her? I'm not saying Katherine should do it, she shouldn't. It's not adding up."
"No. It's not." He agreed, his face scrunched up with concern. "You know, everything we listed so far, a werewolf, a vampire, a moonstone and a witch—you know what it sounds like to me? It sounds like ingredients for a spell—more precisely a curse, considering Katherine was looking for a specific moonstone, not just any old moonstone."
"The curse of the sun and moon." I remembered from Isobel's research.
He nodded but he didn't say anything for a moment. "...I don't think it's real. Diana and I went over it along with some reluctant help from your aunt Eve. It doesn't appear in any other folklore from the Aztec region, doesn't connect to any existing folklore but there were another few similar myths I found in Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Persian, Japanese, Chinese and Indian folklore. All of them had the exact same details."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Exactly. It didn't make sense at all. Folklores are never the exact same even Roman and Greek myths despite some claiming them to be the exact same aren't the same."
"The details are different."
"The details are different." He echoed back. "You know your aunt Evelyn has a theory that maybe this particular folklore is…fiction. She thinks that it's highly plausible that it was made up because it's factually impossible for these different groups of people to have the exact same folklore especially since it doesn't match up with other existing folklore—heck, Indian folklore vampires are more like demons and Japan has no native vampire folklore that come close to what's described in the so-called curse."
"That's a lot of effort to go through to fake an entire curse."
"Exactly. Funny thing is while I was researching this with your dad and aunts with Vanessa helping me as well, we noticed that these folklores appeared very randomly and out of nowhere but the earliest one was actually found in America."
"So it started here. I think that this 'curse' was started by a vampire."
"Makes sense, they're the only things that are immortal unless fairies exist."
"Highly unlikely, I'm probably just a special type of witch."
"Ava…"
I waved him off and carried on. "You know that just leaves us with more questions than answers."
"Like how Elena and Katherine fit into this. I mean the curse is obviously fake, I think there might be a real one, you know, to make vampires and werewolves alike from all over the world search for these exact same components and break the curse. We just don't know why or what the curse is."
I didn't know if I wanted to know. "You know Katherine told me I should get out of town before I can." I repeated the words Katherine had said that still lingered on my mind, I couldn't forget them even if I tried.
"So she was warning you." I nodded. "That doesn't sound so good. Do you think we should get out?"
Before I could answer I noticed Damon standing in front of us. My uncle and I stood up and stopped leaning on the car to look at him. He ignored my uncle, keeping his gaze on me.
"Damon, can we help you?" Uncle Nate asked.
"Katherine's knocked out, I was thinking of putting her in the tomb. Can you and Bonnie spell the tomb?" He motioned to his car where I could see Katherine tied up in the passenger seat. I was a little surprised that he didn't put her in the trunk. "I was gonna put her in the trunk but it's kind…occupied." That's when I remembered Aimee was dead.
"Okay. I'll take Bonnie and head to the tomb after dropping Ava off."
"And if Katherine wakes up?"
Uncle Nate pursed his lips and looked disdainfully at Damon before nodding. "I'll go get Bonnie." He replied, leaving me with Damon.
I guess I should just call a cab instead. I didn't look at Damon and took out my phone, searching through the contact list. He didn't leave, just standing there, casting a shadow on me. I let a sigh and carried on ignoring him. "You're leaving Mystic Falls?" He asked out of nowhere.
"What?" I frowned and looked up to meet his dark gaze. He looked a little sad or maybe I was tired and a little upset. "No. I'm not. Eavesdropping is very rude Damon."
"Vampire. Can't help it." His mood seemed to have improved with a few words.
"Well, try not to and fyi, I was telling my uncle what Katherine said to me that I should leave town."
"So she threatened you?"
"Not exactly. It's almost like she…warned me." She had no reason to warn so I don't get why she did it. "I was just considering it, leaving. It would be easy but I'll just be running to the place I was running f—nevermind. It's getting late. I'm going home. Sorry you didn't get to kill Katherine."
I felt a tug on my hand and found Damon holding my wrist, stopping me from leaving. "Ava." He softly called out my name. "I—uh–I…don't leave."
There was a strange feeling in my chest when Damon said this and I had to blink twice to check if I was actually awake. Suddenly, I felt warm but at the same time I couldn't breathe.
Oh no.
No.
I pulled my wrist back and forced myself to smile. "I'm not leaving, I still have to kill you don't I?" I didn't want to kill him anymore.
Damon stared at his hand where my wrist was for a few seconds before he forced himself to laugh. "Whatever you say Buffy." He joked back.
"Ava. Here." My uncle came back and tossed me his keys. "I'm driving Bonnie's car to the tomb. I'll meet you at home later."
I nodded and waved goodbye to Elena and Stefan before turning to Damon who didn't react to my goodbye. Bonnie was nowhere to be found, neither was Jeremy. The two had disappeared along with my uncle.
Thinking about leaving town always made me anxious for some reason, I don't know why. I had returned to Havensbrook before but only for short periods of time, I just didn't see myself returning to my old life anymore. It was hard, I kept thinking I'd hear Hanna's laugh in the school hallways or see Isaac. I didn't think I could go back there again and live there as before.
At the same time, I knew I wouldn't stay at Mystic Falls forever. I had plans to leave for college, either out of state or out of country if I could. It was a few years away but Damon or anyone else didn't need to know that. Maybe one day, I could go off the grid, live on an island or maybe run a Bed and Breakfast away from Mystic Falls and Havensbrook, just be at peace by myself.
Wishful thinking.
I headed back inside to say my goodbyes to Mayor Lockwood and my student council friends. Mayor Lockwood was nowhere to be found so I just said goodbye to my friends and went out again but paused when I felt that cold bitter chill.
Slowly, I turned around and noticed a black robed figure in a venetian mask staring at me. I pretended I didn't see that person and started hurrying to the car park while playing with the bloodstone necklace.
"Excuse me." I nearly jumped at the voice of the man who called out to me. "Is this the way to the parking lot?"
I breathed out, a little nervous. That man was clearly a vampire. "Yes, it is. You're not from around here?"
The man didn't respond. He simply stared at me. "You have very unique eyes. They're pretty." Was all he said before he rushed past me, leaving me confused.
What the hell was that?
I brushed it off and went to find my uncle's car but paused on the way. My eyes, they weren't the usual honey-brown. They were a mix of pale gold and violet. I blinked and they were back to their usual color.
Author's Note: Sometimes, I feel a little stumped on how to write this story, planning is one thing but writing is another. I'm not going to lie but I wish my ideas would just automatically get typed because writing is hard.
Anyways, enough of that, here's another chapter. Feel free to critique. Honestly I like it when people give me positives and negatives of my work.
