Disclaimer: I only own my OCs

A/N: A bit later in the day but I have spent a lovely time playing with my dog at my parents, but here we are! This one gets interesting as we finally get into the nitty gritty drama of the sacrifice, even if we don't know that yet. And we get some lovely Alexa/Katherine interactions, which are always fun to write. After what happened the previous chapter, I hope it follows on okay!

XXX

I should hate him.

I should.

There was no doubt about it.

A good person would. A decent person.

After finding out what he did to...

But I don't. I don't know whats wrong with me, but I just can't force myself to hate him for that.

Damon killed Mason.

No. Damon did not kill Mason.

It's like what I told my vampire when he revealed what he had done. I told him the truth. That he did not kill Mason Lockwood. Damon did not kill Mason Lockwood. Yeah, ok, he may have ripped his heart out of his chest. After torturing him for several hours.

But he didn't kill him.

Katherine did that.

Katherine killed Mason the moment she met him. The moment that he first laid eyes upon her. The moment that he fell in love with her. My Mason had been dead for a long time. The Mason Lockwood that I grew up with. The Mason Lockwood that I adopted as my uncle, he was dead before he even returned to Mystic Falls.

And Katherine will pay for that.

She will most definitely pay.

Oh, and let's not forget the fact that she killed my baby brother. She snapped his neck and dumped his body on our back porch. She made him go through the same pain that I have been going through. And I will kill her for that.

You don't mess with my family and get away with it.

"Alexa, what are you doing?"

I looked to my left to see Jeremy slump down on my bed beside me. He stared at me for a moment before lying down on his side. Turning onto my side, I mirrored his posture, minus the concerned head tilt.

Looking into his eyes, I replied with a simple, "Thinking angry thoughts."

Because, really, that is the only way to simplify what I was thinking about.

"About Katherine," Jer sighed, and damn, it wasn't even a question. But then again, I have been thinking a lot of angry thoughts about Bitch Who Shall Not Be Named.

And it was hard not to.

I just had to see the dark circles under my baby brother's eyes for the anger to take over. He had been having nightmares ever since he woke up after dying. And it killed me. My baby brother shouldn't have to deal with those nightmares. The dreams of snaps, of the darkness, the fear.

The others tried to help him through his nightmares. Jenna made him hot chocolate every night and Ellie frequently shared his bed. But I was the one he turned to. Unfortunately, I had let slip that Katherine had killed me too. Jenna had pried the story out of me the next day. It hurt to explain it all, to think back on what happened. But in a way, it was also a relief. There were no more secrets.

That day, Jenna had asked Damon to compel a doctor into taking off my cast. Thank god. I really hated the damn thing and it was such a relief to get rid of it. Damon had hovered by my side the whole time. He had even insisted on taking me to the hospital. It was when he told me about Mason.

That did hurt, learning that he had killed someone so dear to me. But my Mason was already dead. The werewolf had proved that the day he threatened to snap my twin's neck. The hardest part was helping Tyler deal with Mason's apparent abandonment of him so soon after learning how the curse was triggered. Every time he mentioned Mason's name, my stomach churned with guilt. But I couldn't tell him. I had to protect him from that information. Ty didn't deserve to lose someone else, especially so soon after losing his dad.

On the way home from the hospital, I made Damon stop by the mall. I knew that I would need some stuff to help me get through Jeremy's nightmares. And I knew that he would have them. So I picked up some crappy movies from the store and a lot of comfy blankets. I even grabbed a couple of board games that I knew Jeremy loved from when he was younger.

Damon was so patient while I wandered from store to store. I could feel him watching me the entire time and I knew he was waiting for me to break. I had mainly gotten by through ignoring that I had died. But now I had to confront it to help my brother. And I knew that I would break at some point. But I just couldn't do it now. Of course, that didn't stop me from holding Damon's hand on the way home.

The first night was the hardest really. I think the nightmares caught Jer by surprise. I know they did for me. It wasn't the fact that we had them, not really, it was how vicious they were. The way you jolted awake, shaking, heart pounding, feeling sick to your stomach. And then you don't want to go back to sleep, as you don't want another nightmare. But avoiding sleep just wasn't possible.

I refused to let my baby brother suffer with the amount of nightmares that I did. I had suffered in silence for far too long and then the nightmares were unable to stop. Maybe if I had someone looking after me from the beginning, I would be able to cope better with it now.

It was too late to help me, but I would help my brother.

I was ready, that first night. I knew that he wouldn't immediately accept my help, he was a stubborn little shit like that. But I would be there regardless. So I stayed awake, avoiding nightmares of my own, ready to go in and help him. It didn't take long. It was the early hours of the morning when I heard him gasp awake. And then I was there.

I had gone into his room. And his sweaty, scared face just broke my heart. In a move from his childhood, my brother took one look at me and opened his arms for a hug. I was over there in a flash, gathering him in my arms and pulling him close.

I knew that the silence was hard after a nightmare. You were waiting for any noise that indicated that your nightmare was reality. So I talked. I told him what happened to me and how to deal with it. I told him about what stupid thing I had done that day and how Jenna had accidentally poured coffee in her tea because she was running on too little sleep. I told him about how I threw Damon under the bus when Caroline confronted me about her missing barbie.

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep while I spoke. And I kept on going, even when his breathing evened out. It helped me too, really. Just speaking out loud while I felt my brother's heartbeat in his chest. He only woke up once more that night, which was a win.

From then on, if I didn't go in to see him first, Jeremy came to me after his nightmares. Depending on the time, we either watched TV or went downstairs and did some baking. I taught Jeremy how to make biscuits and bread. We made cakes and practiced our piping skills. I even let Jeremy lose with melting chocolate. If someone had made a comment about our late-night baking, then we stayed in my room. We watched our old Disney movies, the Simpsons, the episode with Hank Scorpio was watched many times. We even did a few of the crappier movies, including Snakes on a Plane. I nearly cried when Jeremy laughed himself into tears at the part where the lights went out and someone yelled 'It's the snakes!'. It was good to see him laugh after what happened. And it was a real laugh.

If he woke up early in the morning, when the sun was just peaking out, then we went out jogging. We did circuits of the neighbourhood, keeping the streets and avoiding the trees. If we were feeling particularly adventurous, then we went to the 24-hour gym and took advantage of the weights and pool. Stefan had agreed to paying for our memberships after I beat him at beer pong before Christmas. Of course, I was still convinced that he let me win. But eh, I got what I wanted out it.

Ric also helped.

It was so easy to forget that he had been through the same thing. Because it just didn't affect him visibly. His drinking probably picked up but that was the only visible sign of it. But Ric took Jeremy out for dinners and had talks with him. He settled the kid down in a different way than I did.

It had been a couple of weeks, but it was definitely obvious that Jeremy was coping with his death a lot better than I dealt with mine.

I was drawn from my thoughts by my kid bro poking my thigh. Rolling my eyes, I glanced up at him. His eyes held a worried look even though his expression was cheeky.

"What's going on in there?" Jeremy asked, gently rapping his knuckles against my forehead.

I didn't want to tell him what I was really thinking about. I didn't want those thoughts back in his head. So I deflected, in a way that only I could.

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, "I was just thinking about the time I deflected a tricky question about my emotional state by pretending that I was mad because Tyler stole my hair styling cream and Damon stole my eyelash curlers."

That actually happened, to be fair. Elena had confronted me, before she knew about my death, about why I wasn't acting like myself. Luckily, I was going through an anger phase instead of a sad one. So I came out with that. Still don't know why I said that, but it worked.

But shhhh, they don't know that I said that, yet.

Although, the fact that she believed it says a lot about the stories that I tell about my friendships. And my friendships in general. I probably should be worried about that.

Jeremy laughed and it warmed my heart, "That was funny, really. Although don't try and deflect, Lexa. I know that you were planning on the different ways to kill Katherine. Your angry thoughts gave you away, idiot."

I couldn't deny that, "Well, yeah. Of course. And besides, who else would I be thinking angry thoughts about?"

"Damon? For stealing your eyelash curlers?"

"Oh shut up! I had to say something!" I had to resist the urge to laugh as I punched Jeremy on the shoulder, causing him to fall onto his back. Jer clutched his shoulder in exaggerated mock pain before letting out a squeak as I jabbed him in the side. I knew that I would regret bringing up that excuse.

Once he had calmed down, he looked me and in the eye with one of the most patronising looks that I have ever got from him, "Lexa, you don't own any eyelash curlers."

... What are you talking about, child?

"... What...? The hell are you talking about...? Of course I own eyelash..." I trailed off as I realised that I did not, in fact, own any eyelash curlers. But... but... what... damn.

The brat's right.

Ah shit, I hate it when that happens. And I can swear that Damon has been teaching Jeremy how to smirk because dayum, that kid did not used to smirk like that.

I stuck my tongue out at my baby bro as he smirked up at me. I ignored the little shit as I wracked my brain, trying to piece together the mystery of the eyelash curlers.

"I could've sworn that I owned a set," I mumbled to myself as I attempted to remember.

"You did," Jer shrugged, enjoying the opportunity to be a little shit and not get hit for it. "Until you and Jazz broke it while drunkenly trying to give Tyler and Luke a makeover."

I giggled as the memory flashed through my mind. Oh the boys were not happy. Capital N, capital H. It was so worth it though. And so were the pictures.

But of course, those three were involved.

I shifted my body so that my head was resting on my brother's shoulder, an arm slung over his waist. Jeremy placed his hand on my back and rested his head against mine. We laid there, a comfortable silence settling in the air between us, and listened to the noises around us.

The hum of my TV.

The steady tick tock's of my clock.

The distant sound of someone mowing their lawn.

Elena being noisy in the kitchen.

A brat down the road swearing at his friend.

His friend swearing back.

"We need to go to the Boarding House later," Jer sighed, just as the argument was getting good.

I sighed and remembered the plan that had begun to form. Damon had texted me a couple of days ago, ordering us to visit the Boarding House the day of the Masquerade Ball. Of course, I had demanded why only to find out that we were finally going to make our move on the brother killing bitch.

I flicked Jeremy's shaking thigh as I asked, "We finally planning the Kill Katherine Plan?"

"Yeah, something like that, Stefan was a bit vague on the details when he called earlier to confirm the time. And to make sure that Elena didn't tag along."

I slowly stretched out my body, "Well, as long as I get to stake the bitch, I don't really care."

Jeremy laughed softly, "You really do have anger problems when it comes to her, don't you?"

"Well yeah, she fucked with my family and no one is allowed to do that."

"No, no, no, those problems started way before that happened."

Do I smack that 'Cat that caught the canary' look off his face or just casually pretend that I have no idea as to what he is talking about? I should probably do the second option. Just in case Jeremy decided to be a little snitch.

"Are you alright, baby brother?" I asked, feigning concern as I pressed a hand against his forehead. "You seem to be hallucinating crap that never happened."

"You've had incredibly bad issues with Katherine ever since..." The smirk that appeared on his face had me instantly worried. "Ever since she kissed Damon on our porch."

... Damn, that kid is a clever little brat.

I floundered around for an answer. But could I find one? No, I could not.

"So, what time is 'later'?" I asked, deciding that I couldn't actually come up with a decent answer for Jeremy's observation. "And lose that infernal smirk. Who do you think you are? Damon?"

"You wish that Damon was here."

With that said, I pushed my smirking baby brother off of the end of the bed.

XXX

In order to pretend that everything was fine, and we weren't helping to plot the assassination of a murderous little doppelganger, we decided to join the rest of the family for lunch instead of grabbing something on the way to the Boarding House. Ric had texted Jeremy earlier, letting us know that he would pick us up after lunch.

As we all settled around the kitchen, leftover pasta in hand, Jenna decided that she wanted to throw a wrench in our plans.

"So what do you all have planned this afternoon? Before the Masquerade Ball?" she asked, looking around us all.

Jeremy and I exchanged glances.

Ric had made it quite clear that he didn't want Jenna involved in the plan. Which Stefan had backed up as he didn't want Elena involved either. Of course, as the ones actually related to the pair, Jeremy and I should have had the right to argue that. But the two adults decided that it was their choice to make.

I knew that Jeremy had grudgingly agreed, as he shared the same fear that Katherine could hurt them. And neither Jenna nor Elena had a magic ring to bring them back to life. Myself, on the other hand, disagreed completely. They had the right to know what was happening and to get involved if they wished. But I kept my disagreement silent, just in case I could work up a plan of my own to get them safely involved.

"Jeremy and I are going shopping," I blurted out as the silence got to me. "I need tampons and Jeremy wants some new nail polish."

I ignored Jeremy's dirty look as my aunt raised an eyebrow, "Tampons and nail polish?"

"Yep," I nodded, sticking to my story, even if it was crap.

"And nothing else?"

I knew that Jenna was hinting at. All of our little gang had been acting suspiciously around her for the past week. Discreet, they were not. It was obvious that Jenna had picked up on something. And she had chosen the worst person to ask about it. I did not do well under pressure, especially when my aunt gave me that look. The 'do not disappoint me and I'll share my special chocolate with you' look.

Elena looked over suspiciously as Jeremy and I exchanged another look. We needed to get out of here before one of us broke. So we started scoffing down our pasta, trying to be discreet about it.

"Well it better be nothing," my idiot twin stated in an even tone. "Because we are not going to risk angering Katherine again."

Elena had a determined look on her face as she looked between me and Jeremy. It took me a moment to register what she said. And when it did, I could not believe that she could say something so stupid.

"Say what?" I just couldn't keep my mouth shut at that.

"Katherine, we're not going to do anything to make her mad," Elena repeated sternly, sharing a look with Jenna. "So don't even think about trying to get revenge on her."

"Bullshit we're not," I snapped, shoving my empty plate at Jeremy to put away. "That bitch killed Jeremy. She killed me. We cannot let her get away with that. And if the opportunity presents itself to drive a stake through her cold heart, then I am going to take it."

"Yes, we can let her get away with it," Elena argued fiercely, taking a step forward. "If it keeps us safe and alive, then we can."

"Safe? Safe? Do you honestly believe that?" I asked incredulously, throwing my hands in the air. "We will never be safe while she is alive. I mean, we don't know why she killed me. What if she decides to randomly kill again? What's to stop her from sneaking in here and trying something just because one of us sneezed in a way she doesn't like?"

"She won't," my oh so clever twin tried to disagree. "Katherine hurt Jeremy because I didn't do what she said. I'm not doing it now, me and Stefan are over. She wins. The end."

"You can't seriously believe that," I frowned, leaning over the kitchen counter. "Let's think back to the recent past. When Katherine snapped my neck. You remember that, yeah? Well, she had no motive, no reason and absolutely nothing to gain. And yet she still tried to kill me. So I repeat; what's to stop it from happening again? And this time being permanent."

"That is not the point, Alexa."

I had to resist the urge to slam my fist onto the table, "That most definitely is the point! You just don't want to see it. You just want to believe that everything is alright now that you've given that bitch what she wants. And that is so far from true."

"She's won, Alexa. That's it. The end."

"Unbelievable," I scoffed, turning my back on her and sharing a look with Jeremy. When did she give up? At what point did she decide that giving into that bitch's demands was ok? She was so determined to believe that everything would be ok that she was blinding herself to the truth of the situation. And we needed to stop that from happening.

"You are being naïve and you know it," Jeremy sighed, shaking his head as he gathered our jackets and my handbag. I could hear Jenna and Elena muttering behind us, clearly trying to hatch a plan to stop us from leaving. I rolled my eyes at them as Jeremy looked at me and nodded.

"Let's roll out," I muttered as we walked towards the door, shrugging on our coats.

"Where are you going?" Elena called after us as the whispering stopped.

"Out," our brother replied without looking back. "We'll be back."

"Later peeps."

Salvatore Boarding House here we come.

XXX

As previously arranged, Ric met us a few streets away and drove us to the home of the Salvatore's.

"How's Jenna?" Ric asked, glancing over at me as I climbed into the front seat, having called shotgun as we ran over to the car.

"She's fine," I reassured him from my position in the passenger seat. "Looking forward to you going round later. Which is surprising, as I would have thought that going to the Masquerade would be more her thing, especially since it won't be an empty house with Elena around."

"She is?"

"Totes yeah."

Ric raised an eyebrow, "Totes?"

I smirked as Jeremy kicked the back of my seat, "Baby bro hates the word."

"It's an awful word!"

"Oh please, you're just moody because I sat here first."

"Alexa, you pushed me out of the way so that you could sit there first. I didn't even get a chance to properly call shotgun."

I gasped in mock offense, "I would never."

"You would," the two males in the car agreed in unison, ignoring my dirty look.

I pouted and crossed my arms, "To be frank, I am completely and utterly offended by your low opinion of me."

"Meh, you'll get over it," my little brat of a brother smirked at me as I turned in my seat to glare at him.

"Oh I'll get over it alright," I muttered, shaking my fist at the little punk. "Right after I've kicked your ass."

"That's not very nice."

I shrugged casually, examining my nails as I went for an intimidating look, "What can I say? I'm not a nice person."

"Oh really? Then why do you always claim that you are?"

... Damn... He may have me there.

"What can I say? I've been spending too much time around Damon."

"That you have, sister, that you have."

XXX

"Watch out peeps, awesome person be entering here!" I called out as I walked into the Salvatore Boarding House. The thought of finally being able to kill Katherine had put a pep in my step. When you combine that with the fact that my baby bro was laughing freely, I felt a lot better than I did a couple of hours ago.

"So Ric is here then?"

I turned my head to see Damon smirking at me from down the hallway.

"So Ric is here then," I repeated mockingly before sticking my tongue out at the vampire. "You're a dick."

"So you've told me," Damon shot back, sauntering down the hall with one of his more roguish smirks fixed firmly on his face. "Multiple times."

"Awww you love it," I smirked, jutting my hip out to the side and acting as cool as I could. That smirk was one that could make panties drop.

"You disgust me," Jeremy muttered, pushing past me and rolling his eyes. Well that's just rude.

"And you're a brat," I rolled my eyes and gave my brother a shove. He turned around and gave me one of his more pathetic kicked puppy looks. It didn't affect me. I taught the kid this look, it did nothing.

"That's not very nice," Jeremy pouted, pretending to be hurt, as he looked around for Ric. The little shit was clearly trying to get me into trouble. But the joke was on him as Ric had gone straight to the parlour, mumbling something about needing a pick me up.

"You told me that I disgust you!" I shot back before the kid could actually go chasing after the history teacher. You could just see the 'oh damn' moment form on Jer's face as he realised that he didn't have a leg to stand on.

"Ok, ok, I concede that point to you," baby brother reluctantly relented with an annoyed look. "That was a good point."

"Of course it was," I sniggered, enjoying the easy win. "I made it."

"Ah, Alexa," Damon sighed as he returned with a bourbon in hand, slinging his arm over my shoulder and using it to pull me against him. "Your ginormous ego is shining through again."

Ginormous ego? Whatever does he mean by that?

"I have no idea as to what you are talking about," I shrugged innocently, giving my brother a look to warn him to keep his cheeky mouth shut.

"Sure you don't," my vampire whispered in my ear. His breath tickled the side of my neck and I resisted the urge to squirm. Whether it was to squirm closer to him or further away, I do not know. Nor do I care... Much.

Damon and I had become much more... touchy-feely recently. If we were both in the same room, chances were, we would move so that we were standing next to each other. And then, either he would wrap his arm around me and pull me against him, or I would lean my body against his. It just felt... natural.

And I liked it.

XXX

While we waited for the rest of the 'kill Katherine' gang to arrive, Alaric spent his time arranging all of his super cool weapons on the dining table at the end of the parlour. From what I had deduced, one (or both) of the Salvatore's had asked Mr Expect Vampire Hunter Saltzman to give us all a crash course in the art of vampire killing.

Thinking about it, it's actually a rather good idea. My main vampire killing method consisted of repeatedly stabbing a stake in the air and hoping that it went through a vampire heart. Admittedly, it wasn't the most effective method, but it was the only one that I could come up with. I was just lucky that I had been building up my strength recently. Jeremy's dumbbells were finally being put to good use.

Caroline had arrived not long after we did.

The blonde was determined to make Bitcherine pay for threatening Matt. Good on her I say. Of course, I had to remind her that she also owed Katherine for acting killing her. Despite vampirism being one of the best things to happen to Caroline, I will forever be mad that she had to go through it. My friend didn't deserve to die, not like that. So I made sure that she remembered all of the reasons why Katherine deserved to pay.

To be honest though, I don't really care much for her reasoning, I just wanted her help to kill the Bitch Who Shall Not Be Named.

"So, who are waiting for?" I asked, slumping down on one of the chairs at the dining table. And if it just happened to be the one that Damon was standing behind, well, there was no reason to it...

"Bonnie," Stefan replied as he examined the various weapons. "She's bringing her grimoire."

"Oh of course, because there is no way in hell that we can do this without our resident Bennett Witch," I nodded, glad that we would have witchy help. Because our chances of success would have been a lot lower without it. Katherine was older than both Stefan and Damon combined. Hell, she was probably older than everyone in this room combined. And vampires grew stronger the longer that lived. So, in all honesty, we really did need witchy help to do this.

Silence fell. For the most part.

Ric and Jeremy exchanged a few words while Ric worked. While I couldn't hear what they were saying, I knew that he was checking in on the kid. Caroline spent her time on her phone, from the frown on her face, I just knew that she was stalking Matt on social media again. She had also roped Tyler in to giving her regular updates on what Matt was up to. I just stared into space, diligently ignoring Stefan's attempts at catching my attention.

A strong hand settled on my shoulder and a thumb started working away the tension in my muscles. The other hand joined it not long after. Relaxing, because dayum that felt good, I closed my eyes and just let time pass by. It really did help, as I felt the tension ease from my body. While I had mainly been focussing on helping Jeremy through his nightmares, I was still battling my own. I just ignored them as much as I could. My focus had to be on my brother and if I didn't get much sleep because of it, then shit happens.

A knock on the front door jolted me from my dosing.

Opening my eyes, I watched Caroline make her way towards the front door. I'm gonna take a guess and say that Bonnie Witchy Bennett has finally arrived. She had texted Caroline to let us know that she was running slightly late. But late was better than never.

"Hey, come on in," Caroline greeted the witch as she opened the front door, letting in the sun.

"I got Stefan's message," Bonnie replied in lieu of a proper greeting as she stepped inside. I could see the grimoire in her arms as the sun illuminated her lovely face.

And cue Stefan walking over to the door.

"Hey, you brought the grimoire," he smiled, gesturing towards the old book. "Thank you."

I could tell the exact moment that Bonnie looked over at us and saw all the weapons laying around.

"What's going on?" she asked, her eyes wide as her gaze swung back to Caroline and Stefan.

"We're gonna kill Katherine," Jeremy answered on his way back from the kitchen, coffee and biscuits in hand. I properly took the second mug from his hands while he focussed on protecting the biscuits.

Bonnie had a laughably confused look on her face, which prompted Stefan to say, "I can explain."

"Please," Bon-Bon begged in her own Bennett way as she looked a second away from just bolting from the crazy house.

"We're gonna put a bitch down," I shouted over, making my presence known to the other teen, lifting my mug up in a salute. It was a testimony to the amount of times that I've called Katherine a bitch that she immediately knew who I was talking about.

"So, you're gonna kill Katherine?" Bon repeated slowly, stepping forward, a sceptical look on her face as our words sunk in.

"Damn straight," I nodded, embracing the gleeful feeling that enveloped me. Is it really bad that I had to resist the urge to smirk when it came to talking about that evil bitch's death? Meh, don't particularly care.

She had royally screwed over a lot of the people that I cared about. She killed Jeremy. She killed and turned Caroline. She tried to kill John. She manipulated Jenna. Hell, she turned Mason into some unrecognisable. And that wasn't the whole list of her sins. She needed to go and the only way that would happen was if we killed her.

I think Bonnie realised that as she nodded slowly, walking forward into the parlour. Katherine had mostly left Bonnie alone, having recognised how much of a threat that she could be. But that didn't mean that our darling friend hadn't been affected by what happened. Once she had learnt what Katherine had done to Jeremy, Bonnie had come straight round with more of her magic herbs. They had definitely helped with Jer's nightmares. And I would forever be grateful to Bonnie for her help.

A tap on the top of my head had me focussing my attention back on the weapons lesson.

"Right, this works with compressed air," Ric was saying, holding up a crossbow like weapon, an intense look on his face. "The trigger mechanism is up here. I have two of these in a different size."

All I could think about was how cool they looked. I didn't particularly care how they worked, as long as they did and as long as they did what I wanted them to.

"Now, for you," the hunter said to the two male vampires at the table as he picked up some sort of arm guard with two stakes attached. "I recommend this. It fits nicely under the jacket sleeve. You use the trigger when you're ready."

He used the trigger to shoot one of the stakes down into his hand and simulated the forward thrust of driving it into a vampire's heart. The intense look on his face had gotten slightly unnerving. I mean, it was great that he was on our side, but it was a scary thought that he could have wrecked us. The vampires in the room must have thought the same thing as they shifted uncomfortably. The most worrying thing from my perspective was the look of concentration on Jeremy's face. He wanted to know how to defend himself, that was fair. But he was looking a bit too eager. I made a mental note to have words with the kid later.

The two Salvatore's exchanged looks before looking at the hunter.

"You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire," he said defensively, looking uncomfortable.

Well, the man had a point.

XXX

"So, what weapon do I get?"

At my question, I got one incredulous look, one terrified look, one amused look and one 'nuh uh not dealing with this look'.

"Alexa, what makes you think that you're getting a weapon?" Ric asked, pausing his movements of putting all of the weapons in a bag. In a movement that amused me greatly, he even pulled the bag closer to him slightly, like he was thinking that I would jump across the table and grab it and run.

"Because I'm going to the masquerade ball and I need something to kill Katherine with if I see her," I responded casually, trying to keep my tone even. If I pushed too hard right now, then I wouldn't get my way.

"You're going to the masquerade ball?" Ric frowned, exchanging a look with Stefan.

"Yup, got my dress and everything," I could tell where this was going but I played along. I knew that nothing would be able to change my mind about attending. People were expecting to see me there. And there was no way in hell that I would pass up my chance to kill Katherine.

"You're not going to the masquerade," Damon cut in, a stern look on his face.

I glanced up with a challenging look of my own, "Yes, I am."

"Fine. You're not taking a weapon."

"Yeah I am."

"No, you're not."

"This may take a while," I heard Jeremy mutter in the background as I refused to take my gaze away from Damon's.

"Look, Damon, it's the logical thing to do. If Katherine goes after me, and we all know that she will make the effort to at least threaten me, then I will have something to protect myself with. And who knows, I may even get lucky enough to kill the bitch."

Damon, the dick, didn't look convinced.

I sighed, aggravated, "Look, dearie, either you give me a weapon or I'll find some way of taking one. And you know that I will. Because I refuse to go unarmed and I refuse to not go."

It took a while, but Damon eventually relented.

"Fine, you can take a stake," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yes! Thank you," I smiled up at my vampire as I won that battle.

Watch out Katherine, Alexa the Awesome has a stake. And she's not afraid to stick it through your cold dead heart.

XXX

I was, once again, sitting with Damon. Well, I was leaning against the leg that he had resting on the table. I sat on the coffee table, playing with the small stake that I had been given. I twirled it around my fingers, occasionally checking the tip to make sure it was still sharp enough.

We had all gathered in the living room and were ironing out the fine details in the plan.

"Are you sure you guys don't want me there tonight?" Ric asked, setting his big bag of weapons down on the floor. He had organised the bag so that Jeremy knew exactly what he had available to stash around the room.

"No," Stefan answered, shaking his head with a sigh. "I need you to stay with Elena. I don't want her to know about this."

And I don't think that you have the right to dictate what Elena does and does need to know about anymore. You're not her boyfriend anymore, Stefan, so you've lost that right.

"Ok, well, I'll make sure that she doesn't leave my sight," the history teacher slash hunter promised, probably thinking the same thing about Jenna. Oh Ric, we all know that when Elena has set her mind on something, there is no stopping her. And if she wants to go, then she will go.

"Alright," the younger vampire addressed the entire room. "If anybody wants to back out, I'll understand."

"Yeah, cold feet speak now," Damon agreed, his tone of voice taking on a smirking quality. "I don't want this going wrong if someone chicken's out. Caroline."

We all looked at the blonde vampire as she swore, "I won't. Look, she killed me. Fair's fair. As long as there's no werewolf running around."

"Oh, I took care of Mason," and there's the evil smirk tone of voice. I pushed away all thoughts of Mason. I needed to be focussed. And that wouldn't happen if I was distracted by my conflicted thoughts on the werewolf.

"As long as Tyler doesn't kill anyone, he won't turn," Jer piped up, still looking slightly giddy at being involved in the plan.

"Then he won't turn. Because, believe me on this, he does not want to activate that curse," I added, backing up Jeremy's point.

"I suppose we don't even have to ask if you're committed to this, do we Alexa?" Stefan smirked as he looked over at me.

"Course not. That bitch has fucked over my family far too much. She got Mason killed. And she actually killed me. I want her head on a stick," I smirked a smirk of my own as I imagined the look on her face when we beat her.

Stefan turned to the last one in the room who could pull out, "Bonnie? Are you with us?"

We all looked at the witch in the room.

She took a long moment to consider her answer. Looking at Damon, she took a step forward, "But no one gets hurt."

"Except Katherine," Damon corrected her, resting a hand on my shoulder. "Tonight Katherine gets a stake through her heart."

Amen to that.

XXX

I took the time to admire myself in the mirror. The dark purple, strapless dress that I wore fit my body like a glove. The bottom of the dress went down to about mid-thigh, with the bottom flaring out slightly. I had picked it out with Caroline's help. She was determined to end my dry run with a quickie at the ball. Of course, I knew that would never happen but I allowed her to have her fun.

The only thing that was bothering me was my hair. I couldn't get it the way that I wanted it. But there was someone who could...

"Elena!" I barged through the door to my twin's bedroom. "I know that we're having a disagreement at the moment and that we're not talking to each other properly. But I need help with my hair and you know how to do what I want to do."

My twin leapt up from where she was sitting down on her bed. The shocked look was soon replaced with a faint smile.

"Of course, Alexa," she shook her head and gestured to the bed in front of her. "Sit down and I'll help." As I sat down, Elena plugged in her straighteners and made a start on my hair. "Y'know, one day, you're gonna have to learn how to do this yourself."

"Ah, but not this day."

"Of course."

"This day we fight!"

Twin paused in her movements and I could see the odd look that she was giving me in the mirror, "Have you been watching Lord of the Rings again?"

I shrugged, a small smile dancing on my lips, "Me and Damon watched the trilogy together last week."

"You and Damon seem to be watching a lot of things together."

I cast my mind back and realised that that was indeed true. It had started with me bullying the vampire into watching Supernatural with me and it just sort of... escalated. I enjoyed watching stuff with him. He let me talk about my random trivia and theories while we watched. And even when he put up a token protest, he always let me put on what I wanted.

"Well, sometimes I get lonely when I watch stuff and he always comes when I ask him to, so..."

I couldn't help the full blown smile that appeared on my lips.

There was always cuddling when we had movie time together. Well, if you counted me sprawling out over Damon as cuddling. And even if he did make snarky, rude remarks, he let me be all emotional all over him.

I sat there, thinking, while my twin did my hair.

I wanted to tell her. She had a right to know what was happening. And damnit, Stefan had no right to ask that she be kept out of the loop. If anyone had that right, it would be me. And I want her to know that crapstorm that would be occurring this evening.

"Look... there was another reason as to why I came in here," I spoke haltingly before explaining the plan that we had concocted earlier. In detail. I had to admit, I was unsure of my actions. They had so desperately not wanted her to know the plan for this evening. But I knew that she needed to know. It wasn't fair to keep her out of the loop. And it wasn't safe either.

Huh, I think I've shocked my twin into speechlessness. Wow.

"And you all agreed on this?" she asked a few minutes later once she had time to absorb it all.

"Well, the others did. The only thing that I contributed was my desire to see the bitch bite the dust."

"I want in."

"Stefan wants you to keep out of it. In fact, he didn't even want you to know that this was all takin' place. Same with Ric about Jenna. So if you want to clue her in, please do. I don't know if I will get the opportunity before I leave."

"I don't care. Katherine is my problem too."

"Well," I drawled, pleased that my twin had given up on the passiveness that she had been displaying earlier. "If you happen to show up at the masquerade, well, I'm sure that will be able to get yourself involved."

"And let me guess, don't tell anyone that you told me the plan?"

"Got it in one. The secret twin informer needs to be kept in the loop so that she can inform her twin."

"And you need me to be convincing."

"Of course, just pretend that you got suspicious or something like that. Oh, toss in a bit where you don't want anyone to get involved in this and that she's your problem."

A tolerable silence filled the room as my twin worked on making my hair nice for the ball.

"Alexa..." Elena broke the silence as she finished with my hair. "I just... I really wanted to... Can I just say... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for not trusting you."

I wanted to instantly forgive her. To hug and apologize myself for being such a bitch recently. But I couldn't, her not trusting me with this could have had some huge consequences and I refused to allow that to happen again. Because it hurt.

"I know that you're sorry."

"Will you forgive me?"

"I'll think about it."

All I wanted to do was forgive her. But I couldn't. Not yet.

XXX

Dayum.

Mrs Lockwood certainly went all out on this masquerade ball. It was actually rather... impressive and pretty. Alexa was happy. It was probably the best one yet. I knew that she was doing it as a tribute to her late husband. The Masquerade Ball had always been one of Mr Lockwood's favourite events.

Jeremy had dropped me off and after a quick 'see you later', he disappeared off to find Bonnie. I went in search of my Salvatore. I knew that he would be with Stefan... well, I hoped that he would be. He would most certainly be easier to find if that were the case. If I couldn't find him with his brother, then I would have to try and find the bar.

I adjusted my purple lace mask and made my way through the crowd. I took my time, scanning the area for Salvatore's and doppelgangers. Of course, it didn't help that I had no idea as to what they were all wearing. The suit would be easy to guess but with all the men wearing suits, the masks were my only way of finding them.

"I knew that I was looking for a Petrova," a silky smooth voice whispered in my ear as his breath tickled my neck. "But I never imagined that I would find one as delicious as you."

I bit my lip and turned my head so that I could look my vampire in the eyes. His beautiful ice blue eyes that were perfectly framed by the black mask that he wore. His suit was of the finest quality and it only enhanced this looks. All in all, he was breath-taking.

"But you knew that I was coming."

"I figured that you would stay with the kid."

Damon's arm wrapped around my waist and I was pulled up against his firm body. My body moulded to his as I allowed myself to enjoy it. His scent engulfed me as I enjoyed the warmth of his body. The expensive fabric of his suit brushed against my skin as I wrapped my arm around his waist.

"I'm joining him later. Once he's set up the room with Bonnie and gotten himself somewhere safe."

While Damon surveyed the crowd, I just closed my eyes and soaked up the comfort that his presence provided me.

"I spy Stefan."

"That's nice," I mumbled into his chest, uncaring of what Stefan was up to. While I was close to forgiving my twin, Stefan had a bit longer to go before he earnt my forgiveness.

"He may know where Katherine is."

"Doubt it."

Fortunately, I didn't have to make much effort to walk over to the bunny eater as Damon practically carried me. He knew that I was reluctant to speak to his brother. He probably also guessed that I was reluctant to relinquish my hold on him. So he compromised. He guided me over and allowed me to hide on his other side as he questioned his brother.

"Do you see her?" the older vampire asked as he slid up to stand next to his brother.

"Nope," Stefan replied before glancing at his brother. "You're sure that you can do this?"

"Who are you talking to?" Damon scoffed, his arm tightening around me as I let out a questioning noise.

"Oh, I had the chance to kill her and I hesitated," Stefan shook his head.

"Well, that is the fork in the road between you and me, my friend," Damon smirked, a vicious edge to his expression. "I don't hesitate."

"You spent 145 years loving her," the younger vampire pointed out, hoping that his brother would share his weakness. "It could happen."

"I won't hesitate," Damon swore, a dark look crossing over his face. "After what she did, I won't hesitate."

"Ok."

XXX

"You know, I don't think that we've ever actually danced together before."

I glanced up at Stefan and casually shrugged my shoulders. Well, as casually as one can shrug their shoulders when they are in the dancing position.

"That's because you're always dancing with Elena," I responded evenly, keeping my tone neutral as I prayed for the song to end. "And I'm always dancing with one of my boys."

The 'with your brother' was unspoken, but clearly heard.

Our bodies were pressed closer together by the crowd surrounding us. The dance floor was a popular spot tonight. The bars scattered around the grounds had put the crowd in a dancing mood. The atmosphere created by the entertainers keep people drinking and dancing.

"Shouldn't you be looking for Katherine?" I asked, desperately trying to keep my voice neutral.

If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I would have been delighted to be given an opportunity to dance with Stefan. He was like the brother that I never knew that I wanted. If Tyler was the bad influence, twin brother, then Stefan was the older brother. But since that day, when I realised that Stefan and Elena didn't trust me with their secret, things between us had been... strained.

"I wanted to talk to you," the vampire admitted, slowly, unsurely.

"About what?" I almost didn't want to know the answer.

"Alexa... I'm sorry. For not trusting you... And I'm sorry for the hurt that that caused you. I never wanted to hurt you. I was just trying to protect you."

I bit my lip.

Stefan's apology had completely thrown me. The emotion in his voice. The way his hands gripped me tighter. I wanted to forgive him. So so desperately wanted to. Forgive and forget. Go back to the way things were. But he hurt me. I trusted him, with my friendship, with my sister. I gave him my trust and when it mattered, he didn't give me his. And I couldn't forgive him for that easily. In a time where I needed the trust of my loved ones the most, he betrayed that trust. And it would take time to build it back up again.

"Stefan, I can't," I shook my head, choosing my words as carefully as I could. "It hurt, Stefan. You hurt me. You didn't trust me. I know that I have a big mouth but you should have trusted me that I can keep it shut when it's important. The fact that you didn't hurt me a lot. And it came at the worst possible time. I..." I trailed off, blinking back tears. "You're like a brother to me and the fact that you didn't trust me... I can't just forgive that."

Get a grip, Alexa, don't let those tears fall.

"If I may so bold as to interrupt?"

The next thing that I knew, I was out of Stefan's arms and into Damon's. The younger vampire didn't even get a chance to open his mouth before Damon had me pushing through the crowd. I desperately clung to his strong arms as I tried to get myself under control again.

"Thanks," I whispered into Damon's chest as he settled us at the other end of the dance floor.

"You were getting upset," my Damon replied with a simple shrug as his arms wrapped around me and we swayed to the music.

And he saved me from that, just like he saves me from everything else.

XXX

Stefan's POV

I slowly walked around the edge of the dance floor, keeping my eyes open for Katherine. But my gaze was constantly drawn to be the dancing couples. One couple in particular.

Alexa's smile could only be described as content as Damon held her in his arms. Their bodies were molded together and only a blind person could fail to see the love between them. If you didn't know them, then you would think that they were together. But those two were blind, unable to see the love that the other has for them.

The look on my brother's face, I had never seen him look like that before. Even when he was with Katherine. Speaking of...

I spotted the female vampire descending the stone steps to the dance floor. Her sharp gaze scanning the area. The moment that she spotted me, she disappeared.

A second later, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned to see Katherine standing behind me, a smirk on her face and her hand held out.

"Dance with me," she demanded, her sharp tone clashing with the sweet smile on her face.

I stared her in the eye and uttered a single, "No," before turning my back on her.

"Aww, but you danced with my doppelgangers brat of a sister," Katherine mock pouted, a vicious glint in her eye as her gaze was drawn in Alexa's direction.

"Her name is Alexa."

"You think that I care what she's called?"

"Just leave, Katherine."

"Fine, but first, tell me; who should I kill?" Katherine smirked at me as she picked a strawberry off of a passing tray. "Him? Hmm, she looks delicious. Or maybe I should just skip to the little brat herself, I'm sure that that will make you dance with me."

She slowly slid the strawberry in her mouth, a wicked gleam in her gaze as she bit down on the sweet fruit.

I had to fight for control as a rush of anger flooded through me at her words. Hasn't she done enough to that family? But once I had full control, I did what my brother could not; I considered the situation with my brain and not my emotions.

While I knew that she was not stupid enough to do something that would risk exposing us, I thought it would be for the best that I agreed to her demands. One dance, afterall, would not be too painful an experience.

I offered her my arm and led her to the dance floor, making sure to keep far away from Damon and Alexa.

Spinning her into my arms, I kept as much distance between our bodies as possible.

"It's a beautiful night," Katherine laughed softly, looking up into the night sky as she closed the distance between us. Looking like that, she almost reminded me of the girl that I fell in love back in 1864. But I didn't buy it for a second, it was simply another mask.

"Why the charade?" I asked, looking her straight in the eye.

"How's Jeremy?" she asked, looking away as she changed the subject. "He certainly was a lucky boy with that ring. Seems to run in the family. I wonder if they will be so lucky next time."

And there was the smug tone that I was so accustomed to since she returned.

"Katherine?" I asked, my tone serious, in an attempt to catch her attention.

"Hmm?"

"I don't want anyone to get hurt tonight."

That was the last thing that we needed, even if Damon wanted her head on a silver platter, no matter what the cost. We couldn't let any innocents get hurt tonight even if that meant allowing Katherine to survive.

"Ok," Katherine shrugged dismissively. "Then give me the moonstone and nobody will."

Sorry Katherine, but that's not the way that this is going to happen, "Well, you see, I don't have the moonstone on me. So, you and I will have to go and get it together."

Let's hope that this will work, otherwise it's all down to Caroline. But I don't really expect her to take the bait, she's far too clever for that. She would be expecting us to try something. But she wouldn't expect Caroline to be able to trick her.

"Hmmm, I have a better plan. You go fetch it and I will try not to kill anyone in the meantime." A familiar giggle drew our attention to the other end of the dance floor. The end that Alexa was in. "Or I could just skip straight to killing the little non-doppelganger. And of course, I shall take her ring off before I do."

Anger filled me. She dared to once again threaten Alexa? Sweet, little, naive, in-love-with-my-brother Alexa? Hadn't she hurt that girl enough already?

Narrowing my eyes, I growled, "My way or you don't get it."

Before the situation could get any messier than it already was, one of the Mystic Falls teens walked over. Aimee, I believe her name was. Aimee Bradley.

"Hey Stefan," she smiled at me, completely oblivious to the danger she had walked into. "I can't find Matt."

Just as I was about to reply that I hadn't seen him and shoo her away from the volatile vampire, the girl caught sight of said volatile vampire, "Oh my god, Elena! You look so pretty. I love that dress. You look gorge."

It was a testament to Katherine's ability to play her doppelganger that no one realised that she wasn't actually Elena.

"Thank you," she smiled sweetly, taking pleasure in the compliment. "I love your necklace."

A pit of dread formed in my stomach. I did not like where this was going...

"Oh, thanks," Aimee beamed, looking ecstatic with the compliment as her hand came up to play with the necklace.

"Oh, it's twisted. Here, let me," Katherine moved so that she was standing behind the teenager. "Here we go."

There was a sickening snap and Aimee's face contorted in pain. My eyes widened as I stared at the girl.

"Paralyzed from the waist down."

Snap.

"And dead."

Katherine was pushed the limp body into my arms. I barely managed to catch her, shock dulling my senses.

"The moonstone, Stefan, tick tock."

XXX

Alexa's POV

Damon left me on the edge of the dance floor with a kiss on my cheek and a smile on my face. And doesn't that sound ridiculously corny?

It had been... nice... dancing with my vampire. The feel of his strong arms around me, it made me feel... safe. And lord knows that that is exactly what I need when Katherine's hanging around like a bad penny.

I watched as Damon smoothly slid his way through the crowd. Hmmmm, look at him go...

Anyways, if I was to take a guess, I'd say that he was on his way to set up the Last Room That Katherine Will Ever See room. And then he would drive a stake through her cold, dead, black heart. If I was totally honest, I wished that I was the one who had the honour of killing her. Maybe if I did, then that feeling would go away. Maybe I would be able to walk outside of my front door without that tiny spark of terror zinging deep down. And maybe I would be able to sleep in my bed, by myself.

But I also knew that I couldn't do it. I've never killed anyone, vampire or not. And I just... I don't know if I'm capable of doing so, even when it comes to Katherine.

Sighing, I shook my head, banishing those thoughts from my mind. I couldn't think like that, not tonight. Tonight I needed to have a clear mind. I needed to be focused.

I set off in search of my baby bro, who would be my partner in Katherine-Baiting crime.

XXX

I found Jeremy sitting down next to Bonnie, talking about her witchy juju.

"So, can you do like a hocus pocus to ace a test?" Jer was asking the witch, a curious look on his face. Why are you asking this, little brother? hmm? Thinking of cheating at school, are you?

... Because, damn, that would be a great idea.

"I don't know that spell," Bon-Bon admitted, an amused look on her face as she glanced over at my brother.

And there goes that idea. Darn it.

"It'd be like the first one I'd learn or maybe like a sex spell or something," Jer commented thoughtfully, clearly not paying attention to his words. "I don't know."

... Seriously? Jeremy, honey, I did not want to hear that. There are some things that your big sister just does not want to hear. Does anyone have any brain bleach?

"Do you want to dance or something while we're waiting?"

Bonnie's frantic "No!" caused a disappointed pout to appear on my brother's face.

Oh honey. I knew that Jeremy was forming some sort of crush on the beautiful witch. The signs were painfully obvious. But he wasn't ready to admit it to himself yet. So I would reserve the teasing for when he actually acknowledged it.

"I mean no thank you," Bon corrected herself as she caught sight of Jeremy's expression

Annnnnnnnd there's my cue.

"Hello children," I smiled as I sat myself down on Jeremy's lap. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Waiting for Damon to give us the signal," Jeremy replied, making an effort to not look at the witch.

"Shouldn't be too long now," I patted the top of his head, smirking when he batted my hand away. "Awww look at you, all grown up and handsome."

"Alexa, shut up," Jer groaned, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks as he couldn't help but glance over at our friend.

I just beamed at Bonnie, who hid a smile behind her hand. She knew exactly what I was doing. Jeremy was becoming a bit obvious in his crush, even if he was yet to admit to it. And it was my duty as his older sister to embarrass him.

"My handsome little baby," I cooed mockingly, wrapping my arms around my brother and stroking his hair.

Before Jeremy could use some naughty words to make me stop, the phone on the table vibrated. We all stared at it for a moment before Jer picked it up and read the text.

"It's from Damon," he said, the mood turning serious. "It's time."

I stood up, taking a deep breath, scooping up the clutch bag on the table.

Right, come on Alexa, show no fear.

XXX

We pushed our way through the crowd to see Bitcherine talking to some lady that we do not know.

"Ready, little brother?" I asked as we walked towards them.

"Are you?" he countered sharply, forming fists with his hands to stop them from shaking.

"Let's hope so."

3.

2.

1.

"Elena," Jeremy said, catching the pair's attention. Huh, Jeremy's a better actor than I am. I can't even bring myself to think of that bitch as Elena. Maybe it was a good thing that I allowed him to be involved in this part of the plan. I had been tempted to forbid him to interact with Katherine. But I knew he needed it. He was too much like me. He needed to look the bitch in the eye and prove that he wasn't scared of her.

"Hey, girl," I beamed at Katherine as I put my acting shoes on. "Can we talk to you for a minute?" I glanced at Katherine's... friend, "You don't mind, do ya?"

"Course not."

We watched as she walked away. From the way that she was talking to Katherine, she had to know her well. And that worried me, because it meant that Katherine had back up. A back up that we knew absolutely nothing about. And that could throw a wrench in our plan.

"What is it, Alexa, Jeremy?" Katherine asked, turning to face us, an annoyed look on her face. That made me anger. And I tried to embrace that anger.

Ok then, Alexa, hide your fear. You can do this.

"We, my dear, have a message from darling Stefan," I spoke up, taking a small step forward so that I was between her and my brother.

The surprise on her face was clear to see.

Good.

That meant that she had no idea as to what was coming.

"Oh?"

"He and Damon want you to meet them at the edge of the lake by the woods," Jeremy told her as he allowed me to shield him from the evil vampire. "They brought the moonstone."

"And why are you two their little messengers?"

"Because they know that we are not afraid of a bitch like you," I narrowed my eyes at the bitch as she smirked.

"You sure about that, Alexa?"

"Oh, just try me bitch," I growled, gripping the small clutch bag tightly. The small clutch bag which happened to contain the stake Damon had grudgingly gave me.

She laughed at me before looking up at Jer, "What about you, Jeremy?"

He gave no verbal reply, instead choosing to glare at the she-vamp.

"Hmm, you Gilbert men," her smirk deepened as she stepped forward. "So courageous. How's John, by the way? Were they able to sew his fingers back on?"

She laughed at the identical glares on our faces before walking away.

"I'm gonna kill that bitch," I growled as Jeremy pulled out his phone to text the next person in the plan.

"I know you will, Lexa," he muttered as we walked away from the main dance floor and onto one of the paths.

Seriously though, she dares to bring up what she did to my father. And the way that she looked at my brother. Grrr, it makes the blood boil.

"What the hell is going on?!"

And guess who's joined the party.

XXX

"You guys are trying to kill her here?"

Oh great acting, Elena. And there is not sarcasm intended there. The perfect blend of anger and fear. Great job.

I lingered in the background, trying to keep the smug look off of my face as Jeremy and Bonnie tried to calm Elena down.

"We saw an opportunity and we knew that we had to take it," Jeremy said, exchanging a look with Bonnie as my sister put on her best 'I am uber not happy and you are going to find out just unhappy that is' face.

"Ok, stop with the 'we', are you guys crazy?" my twin snapped, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well, we all know that I am," I piped up, gaining a not impressed look from Jer as he tried to calm our sister down.

"Not helping, Alexa," he muttered as he gave me push.

"You're gonna get yourselves killed," Elena cut in before I could give a retort. So I settled for giving him a shove. Oh bravo, twin, bravo. I was really proud of Elena's acting. She knew exactly what was going on and yet, I only knew that because I was the one who told her.

"We know what we're doing, Elena," Bonnie said, going for confident and kind of getting there.

"And how am I supposed to feel if one of you guys gets hurt because of me?"

Oh honey, we're not just doing this for me. Even if her continued existence is a threat to you.

"It's not just you anymore, Elena," Jeremy said, agreeing with my silent thoughts. "She's messed with all of us, she has to be stopped."

"He's got a point there, Ellie," I looked my twin in the eye. "With what she did to Jeremy, she practically signed her own death warrant and I am all too happy to see that it comes true."

Elena stared hopelessly between the three of us.

XXX

We had just calmed Elena down when she let out a pain filled scream. She clutched her back and her knees gave out.

"Ellie!" I cried out, leaping forward, catching my twin and easing her to ground. Jeremy and I supported her while Bonnie knelt in front. Placing my hand on her back, I felt a peculiar wetness. Pulling my hand back, I saw the one thing that I didn't want to see.

Blood.

A lot of blood.

Too much blood.

"Guys, she's bleeding," I gasped as I put pressure on the wound. "Why is she bleeding?!"

Elena screamed again as another patch of blood formed on her arm.

"What's going on?" Jeremy asked Bonnie, breathless from panic as our sister sobbed in my arms.

"It's gonna be ok, Ellie, just breath," I murmured into Elena's hair, pushing my own panic back as o tried to soothe hers. She needed me to be strong. My twin needed me to be strong. Don't panic, Alexa, no panicking.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

"It's... it's Katherine," Bonnie gasped with realisation, her wide eyes locking with mine. "She's linked to Katherine. Get them to stop! Now!"

I didn't need to hear another word. I was on my feet and sprinting away before Bonnie even finished speaking.

Through the crowd.

Through the door.

Up the stairs.

The scene that I saw through the door was Stefan holding Katherine from behind, and on the ground, while Damon prepared to stake her.

"Damon, stop!" I shrieked, gaining everyone's attention. Damon paused, looking back at me, ice blue eyes locking gazes with my own panic filled ones.

"You're hurting Elena!" Jeremy explained from behind me as I lost the words in my panic. "Everything that you're doing to her is hurting Elena!"

The bitch smirked smugly as Stefan released her and she climbed to her feet.

"You think you two are the only ones with a witch on your side?" she gloated smugly as strutted away. "Wrong and something tells me that my witch is better than your witch."

"Does that same something tell you that once the connection is broken a stake is going to end up through your miserable excuse for a heart?" I snarled viciously as Katherine gave me challenging look. The only thing that kept me from leaping on the bitch was Jeremy's grip on my arm.

She snatched the stake from Damon and waved it mockingly.

"Alexa, Jeremy, go check on Elena," Stefan ordered as both the boys kept an eye on the older vampire. "Make sure that she's ok. Go!"

When Jeremy hesitated and looked at me, I rolled my eyes and gave him a push. I wanted to keep an eye on the situation up here, see if I could stop the bitch from hurting Elena even more. While Stefan and Damon didn't notice my staying, Katherine certainly did.

"Let's all make sure that poor Elena is ok," the bitch mocked before smirking, looking me dead in the eye. "Just a little more pressure."

She placed the tip of the stake on her palm and pushed down. A long cut formed and I could just see it happening to Elena too. I hear her scream in my mind as blood slowly dripped from the wound as it healed.

Stefan snarled and smacked the stake out of her hand. Anger clouded my vision and sense abandoned me. As Katherine bent down to pick it back up, I took a step forward and snarled, "Don't you dare."

Mistake.

A second later, an arm was wrapped around my neck and there was a sharp pain in my finger. My ring, my Gilbert ring, went flying across the room, landing in Damon's hands. I didn't even need to guess the identity of the person threatening my life, Katherine was the only person who was no longer in my field of vision.

My life depended on Katherine's non-existent mercy.

But instead of feeling terrified, my fear simply fuelled my anger. I should have been quaking in my stilettos and while I did feel the urge to do just that, I didn't act on it. Because I was fed up with being afraid of her. But that didn't stop the sickening feeling forming in my gut. If I survived this, then I was a very lucky person indeed.

I could just feel Katherine smirking above me, "Now, I want the moonstone and I want it now."

"Well, you're not gonna get it, bitch," I wheezed, wrapping my hands around Katherine's arm. I barely resisted the urge to tug on her arm, but I knew that it wouldn't make any difference; she was simply too strong. And she would enjoy my struggling far too much.

"And if I don't get it," Bitcherine tightened her grip on my neck, causing me to wince. "I will snap Alexa's neck and this time, she won't be waking up a few hours later."

Damon's eyes flickered down to the ring in his hand. Ah yes, the ring that saved me last time. The ring that I was no longer wearing.

Oh fuck.

I locked eyes with my vampire, taking comfort in the familiar gaze. Damon would save me. He always saved me. And as much as I hate being the 'damsel in distress', there was nothing else that I could do. Because, let's face it, I'm a 17 year old teenage human facing a 500 odd year old vampire. The odds were not exactly in my favour.

"Katherine, be reasonable about this," Stefan inched forward, arms raised in the universal surrender position. Sure, like the bitch is capable of being reasonable.

"I want the moonstone, Stefan."

Yeah, you've said.

"Oh, change the frigging record," I rolled my eyes, ignoring the blurriness of my vision. Albeit, with great difficulty. I was reminded quite strongly of the last time I was being strangled. At least this time it wasn't as bad. I mean, I was struggling to breath but I knew that she wasn't looking to kill me yet.

"But, we could do this in a more civilised way."

The next thing that I knew, I was being dragged over to the sofa in the middle of the room. Katherine elegantly settled herself upon the seat while I just sort of... flopped down. Hey, it's hard to be elegant when the person who has you in a neck-hold sits down.

"The three of us together, just like old times," Katherine smiled at the brothers. Oh yes, forget about the human hostage in the room. Thank you very much. Hang on a minute, why am I complaining about that? Please, continue ignoring me vampire lady bitch. "The brother who loved me too much and the one that didn't love me enough."

It was easy to see that the Salvatore's were put off guard by Katherine's sudden mood swing from 'kill Alexa' to 'reminisce about the past'. Stupid psychotic bitches. Why did they have to be so confusing?

"And the evil slut vampire who only loved herself," Damon finished for her, smirking sharply as his hands clenched into fists. There was a glint in his eye, one that I had not seen since he had come to town. And is it bad that it somehow turned me on?

"What happened to you, Damon?" Bitcherine pouted dramatically as he refused to play her game. "You used to be so sweet and polite."

"Oh that Damon died a long time ago," Damon said, a hint of a smirk appearing on his face as the veins beneath his eyes rippled. Is it really bad to say that I like the not sweet and polite Damon? I mean, I like it when Damon is sweet and polite, but when he lets his snarky, naughty attitude out to play... well, let's just say that I get tingles.

"Good. He was a bore."

Oooh Katherine you bitch.

"And you're a-" I started only for Stefan to interrupt.

"Oh, why don't you three stop antagonising each other?"

But Stefan, where's the fun in that? Besides, if we don't antagonise Katherine, who will? And let's face it, if anyone deserves to be antagonised, it's that bitch.

I was forced to shift positions as Katherine tightened her grip on my neck. While I could still breath reasonably easily, it still hurt. And it forced me to be pressed up against Katherine's body. Which was not something that I wanted, I would rather be on the opposite side of the room, in Damon's arms.

"Where is the moonstone?" the female vamp once again asked, sounding like she was losing her patience. I forced myself to not roll my eyes. Seriously? We were back to this? Change the friggin record, Kathy, dear, no one here is gonna tell ya.

"What do you want with it?" Stefan countered, a serious look on his face as he tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Katherine paused for a moment before smirking, "Do the Gilbert twins enjoy having the two of you worship at their alters?"

... Seriously?

That's your new tactic?

I have to say, Katherine, that is pretty poor.

And slightly awkward. For me, at least. Thanks, Katherine, for basically highlighting my crush for Damon. Thank you so much. But fortunately for me, both the boys ignored it.

Stefan looked at his brother before looking back at his ex.

"That was really desperate, Katherine," he said, shaking his head. "Don't you think that we can see right through you?"

"So it doesn't bother you that Damon's in love with your girlfriend's twin?" the bitch knew that she was onto something when she finished with a "The sister who's trust you have lost?"

"Don't listen to her, Stefan!" I choked out, locking gazes with him. While Stefan may have lost my complete trust, I would not let Katherine use that as a weapon against him. On some level, I still trusted him. I trusted him with my life. I trusted him with Elena. And I trusted him with her happiness.

"Oh, stop it," Stef ordered her, barely keeping a glare off of his face as Katherine delighted in her teasing.

"Or what? You'll hurt me?" Bitcherine scoffed, knowing that she was untouchable for the moment.

The grip on my neck suddenly disappeared. I gasped and chocked, the sudden influx of air catching me by surprise. I choked on the air, coughing loudly in the silence of the room. I tried to muffle them but it was hard.

I watched through wide eyes as Katherine sauntered over to stand in front of the youngest vampire in the room. Damon stood near the doorway, a few feet behind them. With Damon, I'd be safe... Slowly, I stood up and, keeping an eye on the female vampire the entire time, wobbled over to my vampire.

Almost there.

Almost there.

Damon wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close against his body. Clutching his jacket, I closed my eyes and rested my head against his chest. While I could never be safe whilst in the same room as Katherine, I knew that I was safe right now. Damon, my Damon, wouldn't let anything happen to me now.

"Come on, Stefan," Katherine was saying, trying to be seductive. "Everything that I feel, Elena feels, so go ahead." Opening my eyes, I saw Katherine staring straight at me. She had a wicked look on her face as she added, "Or perhaps I should have connected myself to Alexa, that way she would feel it if we kissed, Damon."

I glared at her through narrowed eyes. Ooh that bitch is dancing over a line that she should not be crossing. I really wanted her dead. More than I did before.

"You know," Stefan started, drawing Katherine's attention away from me. "This whole Mason thing has me a bit confused. Why a werewolf? The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires. So what's in that for you?"

That's a very good point, Stefan. I too, would like to know the answer to that. While Stefan tried to get answers, Damon gently took my hand and slid my ring back on it. As much as I hated the damn thing, I felt a sense of security settle on me as it was back on my hand.

"Sorry about your pet wolf," Damon smirked, his hand gently stroking my hip. "Probably should have kept him on a tighter leash."

Ok, Lexa, deep breaths. Ignore what was just said. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

"I'll have to remember that for next time. He's not the only wolf in town."

Oh hello, sickening feeling in gut. I was wondering as to when you would get worse.

XXX

"Damn it!" Damon cursed as he paced back and forth. "Where is that witch?"

"Patience, dear, patience," I sighed from my seat on the landing floor. Damon was blocking the doorway, so I couldn't see what was going on in the room, but I could just imagine Katherine making some mocking face. She hadn't stopped speaking since she was trapped in there. The bitch had delighted in winding up the two brothers.

"We could play charades," Kathie suggested from her position on the sofa. Oh, well, listen to that. Guess I was right. Stupid bitch.

I closed my eyes and rested my head back against the railings. Damon had gotten me out of the room rather quickly. He had wanted me to go outside and far away from Katherine. But of course, me being me, I refused and took a seat on the floor outside the room. And unfortunately for Damon, he couldn't make me do anything since he was trapped inside the room. I won that round of arguments.

"What are you mumbling about over there?" Damon called over to his brother as he paused in his pacing.

"Stefan was talking?" I muttered to myself as I tried to peer around the doorway. Curses. Damn my human hearing.

"When you struck a deal with George Lockwood, to help you fake your death, you told me that you gave George something that he needed," Stefan explained slowly, the pieces coming together. "It was the moonstone, wasn't it?"

"Good for you, Stefan," Katherine sneered, sounding annoyed that he had worked it out. "2+2... And it would have worked except that people found out that I wasn't in the tomb."

I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddlin kids... hehe. Sorry, ignore the immature child. I could just imagine the stinkeye that Katherine was giving Damon right now.

"Thanks to you, by the way," she shot at him with a sharp tone. "Have I mentioned how inconvenient your obsession with me has been?"

"You and me both, honey," Damon sighed, shaking his head as he leant against the doorframe. I eyed him for a moment before standing up and walking over to him. Being careful to keep most of my body out of the room, I placed my hand on his arm. My vampire glanced back at me and rested his hand on top of mine.

"Why do you need it back?" Stefan questioned, still focussing on the new revelation.

My, my, you are curious today.

"I love you in a suit," Katherine tried to change the subject. "So dashing."

But Stefan was not to be distracted, "What were you doing with it in the first place?"

"You're wasting your breath, Stefan," Damon told his brother as I rested my head against his shoulder.

Realisation hit the bunny eater like a tonne of bricks, "Unless it wasn't yours to begin with. In 1864 you faked your death. Who were you running from, Katherine?"

"In 1987, you were in Chicago, at a concert of all places with that wench, Lexi." Ok, uh, stalker much, Katherine? Jesus, talk about creepy. "Come on, Stefan, don't look so surprised. Of course I checked in on you over the years. You were standing in the front row, dancing all right. You were watching Bon Jovi and I was watching you."

Seriously, Katherine, that is just disturbing.

"Who were you running from?" Stefan tried to change the subject. Well, he probably just wanted Katherine to stop talking about him.

"She's not gonna tell you anything, Stefan," I sighed, drawing his gaze. "So you might as well stop asking."

XXX

I've been so so good recently. Surprising, considering everything that has happened. Surely I deserve a treat. Especially after I was nearly killed. Again.

Damon slowly poured the beautiful scotch into the glass.

But I knew better than to ask. Besides, I really had been good. And I didn't want to ruin that. I had promised too many people to stop drinking. And I couldn't break those promises.

"We're missing the party," Katherine pouted as she pushed herself off of the sofa. "So I'll have one of those."

"Right away Miss Katherine," my Damon mimicked the voice of, what I guessed to be, a servant boy.

"Thank you," she smiled, taking the glass from his hand. The moment her fingers brushed against the glass; Damon slammed her into the wall. The only thing that stopped him from driving a stake through her chest was his brother pulling him away.

"No! Damon, don't!" he shouted as Damon fought against his grip.

"Yes, Damon, please," Katherine smirked, egging him on, eager to hurt my sister even more than she had already.

"The second the spell is lifted, I'm gonna drive a stake right through your heart," he snarled at her, getting right in her face.

"God, you're hot. When did you get so hot?"

"Hey!" I snapped from my place in the doorway. "Hands off bitch."

I glared at the vampire. While Damon may be hot, smoking hot, when he's being all threateny, she was not allowed to notice that. He wasn't hers to notice. Especially after everything that she had done to him. He's mine.

A voice from behind made me jump, jolting me from my Damon appreciative thoughts.

"Katherine, the spell on this room has been broken, you're free to leave."

I turned around to see the woman from earlier standing there, moonstone in hand.

"Thank god," Katherine sighed, walking forwards, her hand held out expectantly. As she stood next to me, I dodged to the side. Damon's arms soon wrapped around me, pulling me back against his chest.

"When I had this over to you, my debt to you is over," witchy was very clear to point that out.

"Done," Katherine waved her off, her gaze transfixed by the moonstone.

"I owe you nothing."

"I said done. Give it."

Tut tut, Katherine, so rude.

"I wouldn't do that," Damon started, only to be interrupted by witchy giving vampy the moonstone.

Katherine stood there for a moment before she started choking. Huh. I watched as Katherine fell to her knees, a panicked look on her face.

"You should have told me another witch was involved," witchy spat, glaring down at Katherine. "She's a Bennet witch, Katherine, but I'm sure you knew that."

Katherine in pain... Katherine... in... pain...

"Elena!" I gasped, looking at the witch with wide, panicked eyes.

"Elena's fine," the witch told me, her gaze briefly flicking up before focussing back on the vampire on the floor. "The spell is broken. She'll heal quickly. Bonnie's with her."

"Oh thank god," I sighed, resting my head against Damon's chest in relief.

"I apologise for my involvement," witchy nodded at us before leaving.

We all stared at the unconcious Katherine on the floor. Seeing her like that, it made me feel... free.

XXX

The first thing that I did upon reuniting with my twin was to pull her into my arms and hug her. With everything that had happened tonight, I had realised how... petty our argument was. Sure, it was an issue we had to sort out. But we shouldn't be fighting over it. We needed each other. It was as simple as that.

We walked through the car park, Elena walking slightly behind me. While she spoke on the phone with Jeremy, I tucked the vial of liquid vervain that Damon had given me into my bra. Before he had left to take Katherine to her final resting place, he had made sure to give it to me. Something about extra protection for when he's not around. Today had only proven his theory that I was a trouble magnet.

"Yeah, Jeremy, I've got my car," Ellie said into the phone as I searched for the familiar vehicle. "Tell Bonnie that whatever she did, I'm starting to feel better. You can ask Alexa if you don't believe me. Yeah, you can drive her home. Alexa and I are just gonna go straight to sleep when we get home. Ok."

"Jer taking Bonnie home then?" I asked as I adjusted my ring on my finger.

But I got no answer.

"Ellie?"

A muffled scream made me spin around.

"Ellie!"

A masked man stood behind her, hand over my twin's mouth and nose. No. No. No. No.

I darted forward; my main thought was to get that man away from my sister.

I never saw the fist coming.

Darkness.

XXX

A/N: Thank you for the one review, but my lovelies, please give me more. I'm still hoping to get to 500 before the end of season 2, help me get there darlings! Next chapter is a big one! Looking forward to posting. Keep reviewing darlings and I hope you enjoyed xoxo