Chapter 33: Joke's On You
The halls of Mystic Falls High were strangely empty that morning as I stood over my locker, looking in. I wasn't scared of being alone, in fact, I preferred it most days. It helped me think about the past few days.
Without thinking, I banged my head against the locker.
What was I thinking?
I knew Damon was a little unstable with Rose's death but I could've something else. Stupid. Stupid Ava. I was starting to think I was not in fact the smart one in this little group. Maybe I was the hypocrite. I told him I hated him for what he did to my friends and only to go and kiss him.
When I told Caroline, she laughed in my face before telling me how stupid I was. I know, Care. She didn't have to be so blunt but at least I wasn't alone. She was also struggling with the fact that both Matt and Tyler had kissed her. I laughed before I showed my concern—I wasn't really in the place to be laughing.
Maybe I was out of my mind. Ugh. I picked up my head and stared into the mirror attached to my locker, fixing my messy hair. I froze and the few lights above me started to flicker. In the reflection, I saw my eyes turn into a pale gold as the flickering got worse.
"Easy there, sunshine." When I heard Damon's voice, the flickering stopped. "It's me."
I sighed and blinked, my eyes returning to normal as I slammed the locker shut and turned around. "Jeez Damon, give me a warning next time." I lightly punched his arm and walked past him.
"You see I didn't think a living vampire detector needed a warning."
"There's like at least five to six vampires in town so spare me the lecture."
"Point taken." I heard his footsteps quicken as he rushed to keep up with me. I moved quickly, with a bunch of flyers for the photography club's exhibition and stuck on boards. "Listen, we need to talk."
"About? If you say 'us', I will ignore you."
"Oh, we need to talk about that too." Inwardly I cursed myself for being the person who brought it up. Of course, I brought it up—it was all I could think about. I wasn't going to tell him that.
"No, I'd rather we don't."
"But I rather we do. You kissed—"
I dropped the flyers on a nearby table and rushed to cover his mouth. "Don't. Don't say it outloud." I gave him a look of warning and carefully took my hand off his mouth. "It happened, that's all."
"That's all? Ouch. Is this what it feels like to be used?"
"Oh look, you have some self-awareness after all." I said with a bright sarcastic smile and picked up the flyers again.
"Okay, I get it, I'm a dick." I snorted at his comments and busied myself pinning posters. "But I'm trying to be a good person." He said, snaking arm around my waist and pulling me closer.
I looked up at him with a hard look and moved his hands away before taking a step back. "Good people don't advertise their 'goodness'."
"I wouldn't know."
"You would—look into your past and you'll find out."
"How cryptic." Damon took a poster from the pile and read it out loud. "Just how many extracurricular stuff are you involved in?"
I paused and turned my head towards a little, thinking about his question. "Not many actually. There's debate, art, photography, gymnastics, foreign languages and…" I trailed off, trying to remember what else I was involved in. "Oh and chess. I used to be part of the dance club as well back in my school but Mystic Falls High is more focused on cheerleading and I'll choke before I join them."
"And you're also part of the Student Council."
"President of the student body council." I corrected him with a soft smile.
"On top of that you're a vampire hunter-slash-faery. When do you even get the time to breathe."
"I don't." I replied with a sigh. I really didn't have time to breathe much. On weekends, when I wasn't doing my homework, I was running laps around the trail near my family estate or training at the Fort. I didn't really mind, I liked being busy. It kept unwanted thoughts out of my head. "What can I help you with Damon?"
"Getting straight into it."
I nodded and motioned towards the posters. Buried underneath the posters at the bottom of the pile was a clipboard. I took it out carefully and shoved it in Damon's face. It was my schedule for the day. Between classes and student council meetings, I was busy.
"Alright." Damon took one look at the filled schedule and nodded. "John Gilbert's back."
"That's…it?" I took the clipboard away and placed it back where it was. "Damon, this could've been a text."
Damon said nothing and just examined my face. Well at least started to, before his gaze traveled down to my lips. I pursed my lips and looked away. "...You're not surprised. I thought you'd be a…little pissed. I know your uncle would not be happy either."
I shrugged. "Stefan called me after he found John at my aunt's grave instead of Isobel. Seems like the two are working together and Isobel might've sent John.
"Stefan texted you?" He echoed, frowning. He looked as if the thought of me and his brother texting disturbed him. Did he forget that I was actually friends with Stefan and he was the tag along? Maybe. "You two talk to each other?"
"We're friends, Damon." I answered like it was the obvious thing in the world. "And did you skip the whole part about John and Isobel?"
"No, I was listening. Isobel and John are working together which is concerning." He said, looking up at me for confirmation and I nodded. He was playing with my hair. "So maybe you and I could go hit up uncle John…"
"Bad idea. John doesn't seem to have any other motives other than protecting Elena."
"Playing the protective father."
"Hey, can't blame the guy for trying."
"He's doing more than my old man did." I stared at Damon. He really needed therapy. "Anyways, what do you think of the moonstone—do you think it's been unspelled?"
"Obviously no. Bonnie somehow got herself involved with Elijah's warlocks and I don't trust Elijah."
"You and me both. Elijah said he wanted to speak with you."
"In case you haven't noticed, I've been avoiding him."
"Oh I've noticed. Listen…"
I stopped listening when I heard my phone go off. Three messages. One from Caroline and two from Stefan but both of them were telling me the same thing.
'S.O.S. My house.'
- Care
'Tyler knows about Mason.'
- Stef
'Come to Caroline's.'
- Stef
'DO NOT TELL DAMON, NO MATTER WHAT!'
- Stef
"Something wrong?" Damon asked as I read over the messages.
"Nothing." I sputtered out, remembering Stefan's warning. If Damon knew then he'd kill Tyler to shut him up. Even if he said he was trying to be good, I had a hard time believing that. "Girl problems."
Damon stared at me, probably questioning himself if he should believe me or what. "What kind of 'girl problems'? I mean I can help, I'm pretty good with solving girl problems."
I apologized to Caroline, Matt and Tyler before I spoke. "Tyler and Matt kissed Caroline on the same day and she's freaking out."
Damon's eyes widened and he took a step back. "Oh. That type of 'girl problems'. I shouldn't have asked."
"No, now if you excuse me I have to go before Caroline dyes her hair green." I lied.
"I wanna see that."
"No, you don't." I hurried back to my locker and grabbed my bag. Damon was following me. "I have to go. Call me if something major happens." I paused. "And don't threaten John."
Damon threw his hands up but I didn't stick around to listen to him.
I saw Matt on the way out and he quickly rushed over to talk to me. I already knew he was going to ask me for advice. "Ava, I need to–"
"Later Matt, I have an emergency." I waved at him and got into my car.
Caroline was pacing around her living room. Her house was empty, only Stefan and I were there. Her mom had thankfully gone out for work. Stefan and I shared a look, both of us egging the other to tell her the truth about Mason.
Mason wasn't dead.
We let everyone think Mason was dead for his own safety. Mason agreed knowing about the curse and going against Katherine scared him a little so he stayed away. Occasionally, he'd give my uncle some checks for Tyler and ask us to keep an eye on his nephew.
Naturally, telling Caroline about Mason's death slipped our minds. "Caroline…" Stefan called out to her, reaching out to her but she shrugged him off and kept pacing. He glanced over to me and silently asked me to try.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Care, you're going to drill a hole into the floor. Your mom's not going to like that."
Mentioning her mother was the trick. She stopped abruptly and looked at us, eyes wide and dried tears on her face. "What are we going to do? Tyler knows that you guys killed Mason—he thinks I was in on it."
"But you weren't." Stefan reminded her, taking a step closer to me. "I don't know what Jules has been telling him but M—"
"He doesn't care about that Stefan!" She exploded, her eyes turning black. Stefan stood in front of me. Her face softened and she tried to calm down. "He doesn't care." She said in a softer voice. "Mason's dead and we're screwed."
Exasperated, I threw my head back and sighed. "Mason's not dead, Caroline." I slowly revealed and her head snapped towards me.
"Wha-what are you talking about?" Caroline struggled to speak. She glanced between me and Stefan with a confused look. "What's going on? What did you guys not tell me?"
"Mason's not dead." Stefan repeated. He glanced at me and took over where I left off. "We didn't kill him. Ava stopped Damon from killing him."
"Mason left town because Katherine was after him, he betrayed her by telling us where the moonstone is."
"If he stayed, he would be dead."
Caroline stared at us wide-eyed. "You guys!" She cried out. "I can't believe you two didn't tell me—Ava you're supposed to be my best friend."
Stefan nodded and rubbed his forehead. I wondered if vampires could get a headache. If they could then Stefan must've had a perpetual migraine from all of this. "It just…never came up. We were all kinda busy, Caroline."
"Well—" She tried to argue back but I stopped her.
"Let's not waste time by arguing about this. We have bigger problems." I took out my phone and texted my uncle, letting him know and asking him to contact Mason. "I asked him to contact Mason."
"And?" Caroline asked, forgetting that I had just messaged my uncle in front of her and Stefan. "Where's Mason?"
"Caroline, relax." Stefan tried to calm her down. She brushed off his attempts and started to pace around again.
My phone went off and I made a face. "What happened?" Caroline asked.
"Well," I read over uncle Nate's message and frowned. "He's off-the-grid again. He can't be reached."
"Great. Things can't get any worse."
"Okay. Um. Let's think of a plan."
"We can't let Damon find out."
"No, we can't." Stefan and I echoed, sharing a look. "No. He already wants to kill them." Stefan carried on. "Damon thinks all werewolves should die—he's not wrong."
"Stefan." I hissed. "Come on. This is Tyler we're talking about."
Stefan turned to me, momentarily ignoring Caroline. "You saw what happened to Rose, Ava. One bite and we're left to die an excruciating drawn out death."
I know he was right but I just couldn't agree with him. It was surprising. Stefan and I agreed on most things. "Look, we'll figure out a plan."
"Yeah." Caroline cried. "We can't kill Tyler."
"And if he retaliates? Then gets himself killed?" Stefan questioned Caroline and me. Caroline couldn't say anything. She tried to but Stefan shut her down.
"We're not gonna let that happen, okay?" Caroline looked over at me and I nodded in agreement. "We have to get to him and reason with him before he does something stupid and if worse comes to worse…" She trailed off and licked her dry lips before turning to me. "You can erase his memories."
Stefan shook his head. He didn't like her plan. Well, he knew the toll it took on me just to get inside Mason's head. Tyler might've been a newly triggered werewolf but already it was getting hard to read his mind. "Caroline, we can't rely on Ava to do everything—" He began.
"Well she has the ability to do it and I can't and neither can you."
"Caroline, listen I—"
Caroline cut me off. "You know we can't let Tyler die." She pleaded.
And I was almost swayed. When I looked at Stefan, I snapped back. He gave me a look telling me I shouldn't. "No, we're not going through with that. It's not easy for Ava to erase someone's memories let alone get inside their head." Stefan tried to be reasonable.
Caroline's face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you mean?"
I sighed and took over. "He means it's hard for me to get inside the heads of anyone who isn't human. I can't read vampires. Witches are chance based and werewolves take a lot out of me."
"How much?" She was still adamant. Sometimes she reminded me of Elena with how stubborn she could be. Elena if she was a little bit more rational.
"Enough to put her in the hospital." Stefan answered.
Hearing Stefan, Caroline deflated. She didn't bring it up again. I could see Tyler was getting to her so I had no choice. I had to step in.
"Um." I glanced between the two. "Stefan and I'll handle it. Don't worry about it."
Stefan glanced over at me. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it, choosing to stay silent. I know what he was going to say. I was pushing myself a little too much lately. I knew that, I was worried if I didn't, something would go wrong. Maybe I was a control freak.
Caroline took a step towards us. "You guys have to talk to him. Just try to explain. Okay you always know the right things to say." She said to Stefan before turning to me. "He listens to you."
"I don't know Care. He might be blinded with grief."
"Or enraged." Stefan offered and I agreed. There was no telling what Tyler was feeling while thinking his uncle, his family that understood him, was dead. "But we'll give it our best shot."
Caroline nodded and exhaled. She calmed down before pulling me in for a hug. Behind her back, Stefan and I made eye contact. We both knew this wasn't going to be easy. With Mason off-the-grid, it was going to be hard to make him believe us. We just had to hope he would.
"Mrs Lockwood's gone. She's not going to be back for a while. She has a busy day." I said to Stefan after carefully listening to Mrs Lockwood's very loud thoughts.
Next to me from the driver's seat, Stefan nodded and unclipped his seatbelt before getting out. I followed him and locked my car, trailing behind him. I blinked and he was gone, no doubt he was inside already.
Silently I let myself in and navigated my way through the house, trying to find Tyler. "—Not going to hurt you, I just want to talk." I heard Stefan from the study while I was walking past it and I hurried inside.
Tyler looked up at me, wide eyes. "Ava, run!" He yelled out at me.
I held my hand up in surrender. I walked over to Stefan. Tyler's face fell and his eyes trembled with betrayal. "Seriously you could've waited for me."
"You—" Tyler began but he was interrupted when his mom called out for him.
"Tyler?" Stefan and Tyler both turned to sound before Stefan looked over at me.
"She changed her mind?" I sighed and walked towards the door. "Stay here and out of sight."
This was getting really annoying. I closed the door of the study behind me and met Mrs Lockwood. "Ava?" Mrs Lockwood called out, confusedly. "What are you doing here?"
I plastered on a sweet smile and went over to her. "Tyler invited me. He said he needed some help catching up."
"I thought you were taking AP classes."
"We still have history together." I didn't expect Mrs Lockwood to know my classes.
"Oh." She nodded in response. "Well that's nice of you. I know the Lockwoods and Fitzroys haven't always gotten along but it's nice that you two don't let family grudges stand in the way of your friendship."
"Things from the past don't belong in the present." I joked.
Mrs Lockwood chuckled softly, bobbing her head up and down. "I'll be out of your hair."
"Take your time coming back home, Carol and forget you saw me." Mrs Lockwood paused. She only managed to turn her head a little before she nodded numbly and got into her car. Without a single word, she drove off. "Coast's clear!" I said, knowing Stefan could definitely hear me.
I locked the front door and went back to the study only to find Tyler against the wall as Stefan held his arm against his throat. "You're working with him?"
"Stefan!" I hissed out. "Let him go! Mrs Lockwood's gone. She's not coming back for a while."
Stefan pushed him back a little too hard before backing off. Tyler fell to the floor and I went over to him to check. Tiredly, he swatted away my attempts and glared at me.
"You're...working with him." Tyler breathed out, barely catching his breath.
I rolled my eyes and pulled him by his collar. "You bruised his neck, Stef." I noted.
"My mistake." Stefan dryly replied.
I rolled my eyes and placed my hands on Tyler's neck while he struggled against my grip. "How the hell are you so freakishly strong—" His face crumbled. "You're not human."
"Congrats. You do have a brain." I sarcastically said as a soft light emitted from my hand, startling Tyler. He stopped moving and shut his eyes. He probably thought I was going to kill him. "Done. This is a one-off by the way." I pulled away once the bruises were gone. It hardly took time to heal the bruises.
"What'd you do?"
"She healed you." Stefan answered, stepping back inside into the conversation. "Now back to where we left off. We need to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about and you!" Tyler glared at me. "How could you work with someone like him?"
"It's complicated." I answered. "Look Tyler, I need you to calm down."
Tyler's eyes flickered to pale gold for a brief second before he snapped out of it. I tried again and he was really fighting against me.
"What are you?" He asked as he grunted in pain. I didn't realize that I was hurting him.
"That's complicated as well so just calm down and we'll explain everything."
Tyler let out a small scream of pain and a dull ache in my head started to form. He breathed out loudly before he looked up at me without anger in his face.
"He's all yours." I said and backed away. I figured I let Stefan have the first shot before I make my move.
Stefan nodded at me, a little confused why I was letting him go first. Nevertheless he didn't question me. I didn't really expect him to. He trusted me, unlike Damon, he knew to go with my spontaneous plans.
"Maybe we got on the wrong foot here." Stefan began.
But Tyler didn't want small talk. "What happened to Mason?" He asked, sparing me a glance. Betrayal was all I could see whenever I looked at me.
"Tyler, there's a lot for us to talk about." Without waiting for a response, Tyler tried to leave but Stefan grabbed him. I waited by the sides when Tyler tried to attack Stefan who motioned me to stay where I was. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. Without a full moon, you're no match for me. There's also Ava here, you can't take both of us on."
Tyler snarled and tried to bite back. I had to take over. "Ty, just hear us out. It's a long story but Mason's fine."
He scoffed and looked away. "Let me guess, he's in Florida. That's what they told you."
"Actually, Mason was in Alaska last I heard from him." I answered, turning away from him to take out my phone from my pocket and showed it to him. "See, this was what he sent to my uncle last week."
On my phone's small screen, there was a grainy but still very visible picture of Mason holding a fish as he grinned at the camera. He looked slightly different than before with a beard growing and his eyes less weary than before Tyler examined the picture carefully and shook his head.
"You can't expect me to believe this." He threw my phone back at me. I caught it without much difficulty but it was getting a little annoying how he refused to believe me. "I can't believe you're in on this."
I groaned and turned away, trying to call Mason's emergency line. To not my surprise, it was unavailable. God, he had the worst times.
"Just listen okay, Mason's not dead. I know it sounds like an excuse but he really isn't dead. Long story short: your uncle dated a vampire."
"Of course he did. It's all their fault. Lemme guess Caroline."
I made a face of disgust. "Um no. Why would you—gross."
"Then who?"
"Here's the complicated part. She's Damon and Stefan's ex."
"It is their fault."
Oh god. I was getting annoyed. Breathing in and out, I tried to calm myself but I know I wasn't calm. I could feel the silent buzz of magic in the air and I felt like any moment I could accidentally do something I shouldn't.
Stefan placed his hand on my shoulder and I had to calm down or I would seriously burn him.
Calmly I approached my childhood friend. "Tyler." Tyler looked at me. "Can you please shut up for five seconds and let me finish?" I tried my best not to have an outburst and Tyler was really getting on my nerves.
"Fine." He finally relented.
"Thank you." I turned away before carrying on. "Mason's not dead. This was the last voice message he sent to my uncle before he went off-the-grid…again."
"Hey Nate, it's me Mason. There was a snow storm last night so I couldn't pick up your call but I'm fine. I just need to keep moving. I'm gonna trek to the next state or Canada. I heard there's a pack of wolves over there. I'll call you when I get there—"
There was a click and Mason was cut off. "Hear that? He's fine."
"Yeah I don't believe you. Someone told me—"
"You're going to believe some stranger over me and Caroline—she didn't even know."
"You expect me to believe that."
I was about to lose my patience. I glanced over at Stefan for some help and he stepped in. "Yes, we actually do. Caroline's fairly new as a vampire, kinda like you."
"So? Maybe you let her in on your plans."
"We really don't unless we have to." I said.
"You know I'm not listening to anything you two have to say. All of you are the same, even Caroline."
Stefan placed his hand on my shoulder again, knowing I was about to attack Tyler for constantly insulting Caroline. "Look, about Caroline, no matter what her flaws are, when push comes to shove, you're gonna want that girl on your side. She's your friend, stop being a dick to her."
"I thought vampires hated werewolves." Tyler glanced over at Stefan while taking his phone out. He played around with it while watching us.
Stefan and I stared at each other, unsure how to answer him. He was technically right. "That's some sort of leftover idea from another time." Stefan tried to make an excuse before carrying on. "It doesn't have to be that way anymore. We go to the same school, we have the same friends. we keep the same secrets. This can work, Tyler. I mean, it's your home, it's my home too. I want this to work."
"Please Tyler." I added in. "Listen to us. Mason wouldn't want you to be alone and bitter."
Tyler almost believed us until his phone. He slipped past me and Stefan to answer the phone. The moment he did so. He yelled out for help.
In anger, Stefan grabbed his phone and tossed it to me. "Who was that?" Stefan pushed Tyler against the wall again as I rang the number again. The phone rang again before a woman answered it. Without a word, I hung up.
"I think that's her." I said, panic bubbling inside. Stefan tilted his head in confusion. "You know the one Damon pissed off, the one who killed Rose."
"Damn it." Stefan cursed and pushed Tyler against the wall. "Tyler, come on!"
"Stefan!" I yelled. "Don't hurt him."
"Well, I am trying to save his life."
"By hurting him?"
Stefan breathed in and out, trying to see that I was right before he let go and Tyler fell to the floor. "What the hell is wrong with you two?" He tried to catch his breath and stand up.
"No, the hell is wrong with you—you don't know these people, Ty. They're dangerous. Mason knew what he was dealing with but you don't!"
"And you do?" Tyler stood up and came in front of me. He was trying to intimidate me but I wasn't scared of a wolf, let alone one on a non-full moon night. "You know you always pretend like you know everything and I'm tired of that."
"I don't know everything but I know you're making a big mistake. Those people." I held up his phone in my hand and Tyler attempted to grab it, only for me to pull it away. "Those people don't know you. They weren't there for you when you turned but you know who was—"
"Caroline." Tyler answered and I nodded.
"That's right, Caroline." I repeated. "Even though a bite from you could kill her and she already died once, she still put her life on the line for you Ty. Only for you to act like a total dick to her."
"Caroline cares about you. She begged us to talk to you so listen to her." Stefan took Tyler's phone from me and handed it to him.
Tyler looked a little calmer than before. He let my words mull in his head as he turned his phone around in his hands. "...Is uncle Mason really alive?" He asked in a small voice. He wasn't looking at Stefan but at me. He wanted me to answer that.
Hesitantly, I took a step forward, as did Tyler. "I swear on my family name that he is alive and I wouldn't lie about this, Ty." I spoke softly but honestly, probably the most honest I had been in a while. "It's getting late. You should go."
"Tyler…" Stefan began. He had his doubts that Tyler really believed us. He was probably right. "I meant what I said. I want us to be friends."
Tyler glared at Stefan. "You want to be friends, great, we're friends. Will you go now?"
"I don't know what else to say to you Tyler. I came back to this town because I wanted a life, I wanted to exist where I could have friends and where I could build a family. I have that here, we can both have that—" Stefan's phone started to ring and he fished it out of his pocket. Before answering he showed it to me. It was Caroline. That's weird. Caroline would usually call me first instead of Stefan. "Hey. Is everything okay?"
Stefan froze.
"Stefan?"
I was getting concerned and I went closer to listen to the conversation on the other side of the phone.
"Who is this?" Stefan asked.
I could hear the voice of a woman on the other side. "Ask your brother." She said in response and I already knew who it was.
"Rose." Was all I mouthed and Stefan sighed. He knew who it was now. Damon's mistake was haunting us once again.
"Jules." Stefan greeted her icily.
"Where's Tyler?" The woman asked, ignoring Stefan.
"Where's Caroline?" Stefan asked in turn.
"You made a mistake, Stefan. I'm gonna give you a chance to fix it." Jules said in response.
"Ask her about Caroline." I mouthed while keeping an eye on Tyler who looked just as surprised as us. Jules didn't consider letting him in on their stupid plan. Damn it. Tyler's S.O.S call must've set them off. I started pacing, trying to think of ways to get Caroline back safely. This wasn't supposed to be happening. I saved Mason. Tyler was supposed to stay out all of this—so was Caroline but Caroline was a vampire now and Tyler had triggered his curse.
I cursed myself.
Nothing was going as I ever planned.
"Where is Caroline?" Stefan asked again.
"Right here." Jules left it there before her face faded. "Want proof?"
I didn't hear the next part but what I did hear caused my heart to drop. A gun shot followed by Caroline's piercing scream of pain.
Tyler jumped from his seat and grabbed my arm, stopping me. He hissed in pain and drew his hand back as if he had been burnt in seconds after making contact with me. "What's happening?" Tyler asked, still nursing his light burns but they were already healing.
I scoffed at his sudden concern. Before he was so ready to believe Jules against us but now he was concerned about Caroline. God he was getting on my nerves. "Isn't it obvious?" I retorted. "She shot her, Tyler. Your new friend shot Caroline." I hissed out.
Stefan gestured at me to calm down as his phone began to only give off white noise and static. I nodded and tried my best to be calm. "Hurt her again and you're dead." Stefan threatened.
Oh no. Jules would be worse than dead. I'm going to make her wish she was dead for kidnapping and hurting Caroline.
"I hurt her again, and she's dead." Jules retorted while Caroline whimpered in the background. "Bring Tyler to me, the clearing by Wickery Falls. You have 20 minutes until she dies."
Jules hung up. Stefan and I were left to scramble together to form a new plan. "We need to tell Elena and Damon, maybe Bonnie and my uncle as well." I began.
"I'll tell Elena, she's already with Elena." Stefan gave a pointed look to Tyler and I shrugged. The mess was already made, I couldn't play the blame game. My mind was a little clearer now and though I blamed both Damon and Tyler for screwing up, it wasn't going to do anything to bring Caroline back safely.
"Why is Damon with Elena?"
"Isn't it obvious? He's stalking John."
"Damn it, Damon." I murmured under my breath. Could he not listen to me for one day? Who was I kidding thinking he would change. Damon was Damon. He had his tune to march to and I had mine. "I'll keep an eye on Tyler and get in touch with Bonnie and uncle Nate."
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Tyler cut through our conversation, marching towards us.
"Isn't it obvious?" Stefan remarked, taking out his phone and dialing Elena. "Your cry for 'help' put us here—you should've just believed Ava."
"Like she hasn't lied to me before."
"Yeah, to protect you Ty!" I lashed out and turned away from him. "I didn't lie because I wanted to. I had to. Your uncle didn't want you to be dragged into our messes."
"He made us swear not to tell you unless it was absolutely necessary." I heard uncle Nate's voice coming from the entrance of the library and moved to catch a glimpse of him.
"That was quick." Stefan greeted him with a handshake, surprised he came this quickly with just a text.
"Was in the neighborhood when my lovely niece texted me, telling me 'S.O.S Caroline's in trouble' so I just had to come quick. What did you guys do this time?"
Stefan and I pointed towards Tyler as Stefan left the room to talk to Elena. Tyler looked at us with wide eyes. "I didn't do anything!"
Uncle Nate just sighed. "Of course, you didn't." He said sarcastically but I could vaguely hear his thoughts. "Lockwoods are always a handful." He was right. They had a talent for getting themselves involved in the stupidest avoidable messes of all time.
"So what's the plan?" Tyler asked.
"The plan is that you stay out of our way, Tyler and let us handle it." Uncle Nate brushed him off and went to Stefan.
"Damon's going to be here soon." Stefan announced coming back.
Oh god.
I clasped my hands together and looked at the clock on the wall. "Lemme guess he wants to…" Stefan nodded. "This is going great. Maybe I should've done what Caroline suggested."
"You'd be in the hospital."
"But I'd be alive and Caroline would be fine." I pointed out.
"But you'd be in a hospital bed." Stefan reminded me as did uncle Nate.
Damon stood over us with his arms crossed. He was disappointed and annoyed, both at me and Stefan for not letting him into our little plan. Tyler sat between me and my uncle, almost leaning into the seat. For someone who claimed he wasn't afraid of vampires, he sure did act afraid.
"Look, can you save your anti-werewolf speech for later." I got up and grabbed my bag.
Damon was in front of me and I sighed. "I'm sorry, am I annoying you? Sorry for being concerned."
"Werewolves are dangerous—we know." Stefan jumped in to separate us before an argument broke out.
"Oh okay. You two are aware, is that why you thought it'd be a grand idea to take sunshine here and make peace with it—" He pointed at Tyler like he was some dog. "Over there."
"Watch it, Salvatore." Tyler got up to growl at Damon.
"Sit down." I motioned him to sit down and Tyler promptly sat down. "Oh please like you're the one to talk." I turned back to Damon.
"Actually, I am sunshine." Damon ignored his brother and stepped in front of me, taking steps to stand real close to me. I didn't back down. "I know I screwed up back then and it cos—" He swallowed the words he was going to say and took a deep breath. It cost him Rose. His only real friend. That was what he was going to say but he didn't. "I learned a lesson from it. What I didn't expect was my smart heroic brother and you to be this reckless."
"I know Tyler. We grew up together. He wouldn't hurt me—us and if worse comes to worse…I can protect myself." The lights in the room started to flicker as dusts of light appeared on the floor, swimming in the air before gathering around my hands.
"And then what?" Damon softly asked. "Did you miss the part where you end up in hospital every time you go past your limit."
"Did I miss the part where it's your problem?"
Damon's eyes widened as hurt flashed into his deep blue eyes. I already wanted to take back those words the moment I said them but it was too late. "You—"
"Alright, kids. Tyler's getting jittery and it's getting on my nerves." Uncle Nate chose the right moment to interrupt. "Not to mention, there's this weird…tension in the room that's making us all uncomfortable."
"Uncle Nate." I hissed out but he wasn't listening but at least Damon smiled, amused at my uncle's reaction. Oh, he would not be smiling once my uncle found out we kissed and uncle Nate tries to kill him.
"We need a plan." Stefan brought us back to the topic. His concerned gaze flicked to me and Damon. I knew the two of us were going to have a long conversation about this later.
Uncle Nate nodded. "Right. I already have one. You and Damon will attack them from the front while I stay in the shadows and do my magic. I'd my other set of skills but let's be honest here, it's not a full moon and they're not vampires—I'm not really in the mood to commit actual murder even if my brother is a bigshot lawyer."
"What about me?" Tyler asked and we all just remembered he was there.
Damon and I glanced over at each other. He gave me a look that said 'he's your problem' while I shook my head. I wasn't going to babysit Tyler. Stefan didn't want to talk about that duty either and neither did uncle Nate. Guess it was up to me to play the babysitter. I glared at Tyler and sighed. "Fine, I'll look after him." I grumbled.
"Well that's settled, let's go get Caroline back." Damon clapped his hands together. "And kill some werewolves."
"Damon, no."
And everyone sighed. At least, things didn't change too much between us.
….
The woods were dark as I trekked through them with a bow in my hand and quiver of arrows on my back. Leaves crunched beneath my feet and insects buzzed under the cover of darkness. A small dim orb of light hovered in front of me, guiding me forward as Tyler trailed behind me. His gaze transfixed on the floating orb.
Tyler took the silence as an opportunity for some question and answering time. "So what are you exactly? Your family are vampire hunters but your uncle is a warlock and you're a…"
I rolled my eyes. He always had the worst timings. "You know you should be apologizing to us for the mess you put us in instead of playing twenty-one questions with me but since you asked my grandmother on my mother's side was a faery."
"Fairy? Like Tinkerbell."
"No faery from the old myths, not Disney." I retorted, a little tired of being called 'Tinkerbell'. "And no before you ask, I don't have wings or fairy dust—I don't think there is anything called fairy dust."
"Sounds rough."
"Not as rough as babysitting you."
"So where is uncle Mason now?"
"Do I look like a GPS to you, Ty?"
Tyler snickered. "No, you're terrible with directions." I made a face and he shrugged. I was nervous and he was not helping the situation at all.
I sighed, glancing back at him. "You heard his voicemail. He's in Alaska or was supposed to be."
I felt cold for a second and turned around to face Damon as he came behind me. He examined the dim orb of light. He stood next to me, watching Tyler. "Don't push yourself too much." He motioned to the orb. "And stay out of sight like your uncle."
"I can handle myself." I reminded him.
"I know. No harm being careful."
I scoffed. "Is this your attempt at being 'good'?" I folded my arms around myself and took a step forward, leaning my head towards his and he mimicked my movement.
"Maybe or maybe I'm looking out for you." He said, brushing my hair out of my face. "Stay in the shadows and out of sight, sunshine. I mean it." His finger on my lips. I had to pull myself away, reminding myself where I was. "Right, we're in the middle of something."
I nodded, awkwardly smiling. Tyler was still here, though he was distracted. I had to remember Caroline's life was in danger. I had priorities.
"Are you two like…a thing?" Tyler asked.
"No." I said at the same time Damon said something else entirely. "Not yet." My head snapped to look at him incredulously. He couldn't be serious. It was just a single kiss. I wasn't doing it again.
"Let's focus on Caroline." Damon nodded and turned away.
Neither of the three of us spoke as Damon kept an ear out for his younger brother. Then he grabbed Tyler roughly. Before I could even speak, he loosened his grip and gave me a look as if he knew what I was going to say. I shut my mouth and looked away.
I stayed back, for once choosing to listen to Damon. It was like I wanted to listen to him but the more I thought about it, the more he made sense. I wasn't going to expose myself to a group of strangers—let alone, a group of strangers who were werewolves, god when did I become so reckless? Probably when Caroline got kidnapped.
A twig snapped and I froze as I felt a cold chill run down my spine. "...Damon?" I called out quietly, reaching for an arrow and loading it into my bow. The small orb of light floating behind me started to glow brighter for a second before splitting into three.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A calm voice answered as it stepped out of the darkness and in the light I was casting.
I let out a gasp and pulled at the string, taking my aim. "Elijah."
The corners of the vampire's lips went up forming a ghost of a smile. His eyes twinkled with amusement as he examined me head to toe. Seeing him distracted, I let the arrow go and watched it fly through the air. Elijah easily caught it and looked up at me, a little annoyed.
"You must be terrible at following instructions."
"Well," The arrow was just a distraction as one of the orbs of light went flying towards him and crashed onto him. He was on his back, hissing in pain as the orb burned through his flesh on his face. I could smell the putrid stench of flesh burning and I knew so could the werewolves.
Damn it.
I needed to leave this place before one of Mason's former pack members stumbled onto me. I had no choice. I needed to trust Damon and Stefan along with my uncle to get Caroline back. Without looking back at Elijah, I left the woods and tried to hurry back to my car.
Unfortunately, Elijah was faster. "I tried to be nice." Elijah said as he leaned against my car. He stood up straight and I started to back away. "Don't. I'm sure you value the lives of your friends." I stilled. "Good girl. I believe your…best friend, Caroline, was it?" I didn't react. "She was kidnapped by a pack of werewolves and the Salvatore brothers alongside your uncle are attempting a rescue mission."
I narrowed my eyes on Elijah and looked away before dropping my bow. The small orbs of light that had led me out of the woods crashed into each other and the dusts of light dissipated. I looked up. "Just…leave my loved ones alone." Quietly, I said, looking up at him.
"You make it sound like I'm threatening you." He said with a light smirk but sad eyes. I didn't understand why Elijah would be upset at me for being scared of him. He was the oldest vampire in town and possibly the world—a lone vampire hunter with decades of experience would need an army to take him down.
"I don't know, you tell me. You're the one who mentioned my uncle and my friends."
"Hmm." Elijah wasn't listening. "I have a deal with the doppelganger."
"Unfortunately."
He looked amused but he chose not to comment on it. "Well fortunately for you I won't harm you or your friends since you're all protected by her deal that you're clearly not in favor of."
"Can I be honest?" He motioned me to carry on. "I don't trust you. I hardly trust any vampires. It took me a lot to trust the Salvatore brothers—I still have trouble trusting Damon and I almost killed Caroline when she turned so forgive me for not trusting the man who almost kidnapped my best friend and then spent some time stalking me."
His eyes widened as he tilted his face down to my level, taking a step forward. I took a step back and dusts of light swirled around. Damn it. I needed to control my emotions better. "You knew."
"I had a guess, you just confirmed it."
He threw his head back and chuckled. When he looked back down, he seemed almost impressed. "I have to admit, you're good. Perhaps the only one in your little group not running around like headless chickens."
I almost cracked a smile but I bit the bottom of my lip to stifle a laugh. "Flattery rarely gets anyone in my good graces."
"It's flattery if it's honesty." He countered. "I mean what I said. You're a little too…bright for your own good. If you keep at it, you might even find Klaus before he finds you and believe me, you don't want him to find you."
"Why? I'm not a doppelganger or an ingredient needed to break the curse—whatever it may be."
"You don't believe in the curse of the sun and moon."
"It doesn't fit." Elijah raised his brows in confusion and I sighed. "Anyone who actually bothers to look into Native American, Aztec or Mayan mythos will notice the clear signs of hoax—a really good one. The curse itself sounds believable but if you actually look into it. There is no such thing as a vampire or a werewolf in those cultures especially not the ones described being slaves to the moon or sun." I took a step back but didn't look away from him. "That's why I don't believe in it but I know enough to know there is definitely a curse so if you wanna talk—tell me about the curse.
Elijah grinned, a little taken aback by my analysis. "Well, I have to say, I may have underestimated you."
"Great. Now tell me about the curse."
"Perhaps another time. For now, you should get out of this small town before Klaus finds you."
"Why? I'm not a part of the curse."
"The curse is…irrelevant when it comes to you. But you are important."
I rolled my eyes. If I was going to be in a dangerous situation, I might as well get something out of it. "I don't know if you're trying to flatter or something but I need a better reason to get out of town. You and Katherine telling me to leave—it's almost offensive."
His eyes widened for a second as if he was surprised that I had spoken to Katherine. "Katerina–Katherine, you've spoken to Katherine." I nodded and he sighed. "So you know…you know about your grandmother."
"A grandmother I never knew who screwed up my life."
"She was a faery who was in exile. You could hardly blame her."
"Her problems have nothing to do with me so if you're here to settle a score with me because of her—well, I have to let you down and tell you she's dead. She's been dead for over twenty years. Do what you want with that information but my grandmother is dead. I'm sorry she screwed you over or whatever."
Stunned, Elijah didn't know how to react. He must've expected to ask me about her or something because he just stood there. "Kamilah is…dead."
"Bones and all." I answered, walking backwards. I wanted to go check on whatever was going on but unfortunately, Elijah had other plans. I heard a quiet sound of wind moving before I felt someone grab me, their face inches from mine. I gasped and glared up at him. "You can't compel me."
"I'm not trying to." Elijah muttered under his breath. "Leave this town. Pack up and leave." I tried to struggle against his grips but he only tightened. "I'm not playing around with you. The doppelganger doesn't matter and I can promise you your friends will be fine—my friends Dr Martin and his son will deal with the wolves but you need to leave."
I scoffed. "You all—" I pulled against him, he didn't let go. "—keep telling me to leave without any explanation. I just moved back here."
"Then return to where you were before." Elijah said without missing a second. "I am being serious. You don't understand the threat my brother poses to you. Kamilah being dead doesn't absolve you of her sins." My face paled. "You're her granddaughter and most of all, you're the only known faery on Earth."
Nervously, I looked up to meet Elijah's concerned gaze. He didn't look away. I stopped struggling. "Wha-what do you mean by that?"
"Your blood is important and your abilities as well—I suspect you can see into the future and…the past."
How did he—
I wanted to deny it and run away from him. Fear shackled me to the floor and I looked away from his burdensome gaze. He didn't look away. I couldn't even think about asking him how I knew. I could only guess he had been watching me even in moments I didn't know he was. "...Maybe I do."
"Your grandmother couldn't do that. She could only see glimpses of the future and it was sporadic."
"Okay." My mouth was dry and I felt like throwing up. Oh god. She knew. My grandmother really did know about me and she still purposely screwed me over by saving Katherine and stealing the moonstone. I didn't know what to say to Elijah. "So what no?" I asked, trying to swallow back my fear. "Wh-why would Klaus need my abilities?"
"Why wouldn't he?" He countered.
It was a stupid question. I don't know what I was expecting.
"So if he doesn't kill me, he'll use me—even if I don't want him to."
"Unlike your grandmother, you're not strong enough to go against him so," He pulled me close and leaned in, his eyes on mine, unmoving. "Listen to my warning, leave this town, forget all about the curse and the doppelganger and your little friends, put yourself first and run—run as far as you can, little Fae." He stood there for a moment, his words ringing in my ear before he let go.
Then he was gone.
I don't know how long I just stood there thinking, scared out of my mind. The only reason I even snapped out of my thoughts was when I heard Caroline's voice and my uncle's.
"Ava?" Caroline called out before she rushed to engulf me into her warm embrace. It seemed we both needed the hug as we both held for longer than we usually did. She pulled away first and immediately, she noticed something was wrong. "Is everything okay?"
I tried to smile but my smile faltered and all I could do was keep a blank face. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." I said instead after debating with myself whether or not I should tell them what happened.
"Nothing?" Damon echoed. He and his brother didn't look so convinced. "Really?" I nodded. "Well, you wouldn't know anything about Elijah's witches coming out to save the day, now would you?"
I looked blankly at Damon and shook my head. Elijah told me they would but I didn't want to talk about him, at least not yet, not until I had more to go on. "You should ask Elena, she's the one who made the deal." I looked at my uncle who caught that look I gave him. We would talk later.
He nodded, choosing to stay silent. Damon almost pressed me more, he let go, choosing to offer to drive me home instead. I shook my head. "You sure?"
"Stefan and I need to drop off Caroline, anyways." I answered. Stefan and I did come here together. Damon's gaze flicked towards his brother who looked away acting as if he wasn't even there. Caroline, on the other hand, looked too tired to care but she did notice the obvious tension between us so without a word, she got into my car and waited.
April 1st 2010,
First Katherine, now Elijah—two people who I never thought would ever agree on something are telling me to leave town. I might just take their advice but I don't know if I should. There's still a lot I have left to do in Mystic Falls.
I know the reason why I stay here despite everything isn't out of selflessness but maybe because I don't want to lose more people especially not after the incident at Spring Break. My memories might be hazy, still I know I didn't survive without a cause. My survival and those of my few friends wasn't a miracle. There was someone out there with us—Isaac wasn't the only vampire there.
There was someone else.
I just don't know who.
— Ava R. Fitzroy
"Ava! Elena's making popcorn and Caroline's getting worried." Bonnie walked into Caroline's room as I finished writing and shut my journal. I looked up at her and giggled quietly while she rolled her eyes. "Not funny. She's gonna burn down Caroline's house and the Sheriff is gonna be pissed when she comes back."
I shoved my journal into my overnight bag and got up. We were having girls night after the disastrous day we'd all had. Elena being reunited with her biological father, me finding out I'm also in danger, Bonnie being betrayed by the Martins and Caroline being kidnapped. We all had an eventful day.
"Relax, she's not that bad at cooking. It's pre-packaged pop—" I cut myself off when I smelt something burning from the kitchen and it was not the smell of popcorn burning. Bonnie raised her brow and folded her arm. I sighed. "I'm gonna go into the kitchen."
"I'll grab the fire extinguisher." Bonnie left the room to find the fire extinguisher.
I felt a slight chill and looked out the half-open window. Before leaving Caroline's room, I closed her window and drew the curtains, grabbing my light cardigan on the way out of the room.
Author's Note: Stefan, Tyler and uncle Nate casually watching the tense exchange between Damon and Ava—not awkward at all.
Also writing this chapter out just made me realize that Ava's grandmother from her mom's side really hated her or wanted to make her life hard. Anyways, see y'all in the next chapter.
