It was morning. I knew that because I noticed the sun was shining when Anna woke me up. Today was the day that I had volunteered us to work on cleaning up this park. It was basically yard work on crack. I walked out of the room to get a towel and found Stefan was I closed the door. He greeted me with a kiss.
"Not to interrupt this makeout session, but we don't have time for it." Anna declared. I blushed because I also felt like she would object to it. "Mary promised Mayor Lockwood that we would be there in 45 minutes, so you need to go so you don't distract her."
I just rolled my eyes to that. I did think that Stefan capable of distracting me for that long though. I also wondered why I decided to wake up so late. It wasn't the smartest idea. There was also the issue that we might not be able to do things in public because Caroline was spying on us for Katherine. I needed to find out why she was doing that.
"So do you think we can avoid speaking to each other entirely?" I asked Stefan. That would probably be easier because I wasn't a very good actor. "I mean that's worse than fighting. Fighting can lead to angry sex, but not talking doesn't lead to anything."
"You didn't need to say it like that." Anna remarked. I didn't even know if she still felt things for me or wanted to get back with Elena. "Whatever you decide, you need to get in the shower or I will."
"Yes, we can do that." Stefan stated before I gave him a hug and walked into the bathroom. The only real good news was that Jenna agreed to let Elena share her bathroom, so I was still sharing it with only one girl. At that moment, I had a strangely erotic thought and needed to shake my head. I didn't want to think about that even though I was pretty sure that Anna had probably thought about it at some point as well. Or maybe I was just perverted. I decided to wash those thoughts out of my head by getting in the shower and turning on the water.
Once I was done, I dressed myself in a black tank top and white sweatpants. I even went light on the makeup. I put on my necklace because it was a good idea to have vervain on me. The good news was that my birthday was only a few days away. The bad news was because of Katherine, it didn't look like I would have a chance to spend it with Stefan. We seriously needed to find a way to kill her and quickly, but we had no idea where she was. I couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of locator spell for that. Though, that might have required something or hers, which we did not have.
We got to the park just as Mayor Lockwood was giving her speech. As I predicted, Elena bailed. It was like she was the antisocial one now. I didn't think it had anything to do with her sexuality because there were much worse things to worry about. Maybe she was mad at her friends for not telling her sooner. Or maybe she just hated Anna now. Perhaps I should do something to try to get them back together. I just had to figure out the right way to do it.
"Thanks to a rather generous donation from the Fell family…" The mayor started as I looked over at Tina, the only Fell who bothered to attend. I supposed that they thought their donation meant that they didn't have to do anything, even though it made them look a little bad by not showing up. All I knew was that I was there for some reason. "We are now standing on the location of our newest state park. We would like to thank all of our volunteers for the time and work they're willing to put into it."
I decided that I would do something easy and help Caroline out with finishing some wood. Finishing wood was always easy. I supposed it was something that needed to be done. I also couldn't help but wonder how we were going to get all of this done in a day. Maybe there was going to be more than one day, but I only agreed to come to one. It was essentially painting it. Anna was getting some flowers as I noticed that Stefan was talking to Mason before he went over by the pavilion. I couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. I also couldn't help but wonder what would qualify this patch of land to be a state park. Did she meet with the governor or something? Who even got to decide what is and what isn't eligible? I locked eyes with Stefan, hoping that I properly conveyed all that I wanted to do with him.
"Uh oh, longing looks are being exchanged." Caroline commented. Even if we were broken up, that wouldn't mean the feelings would just disappear.
"Well it's not like they're fighting because they don't love each other." Anna pointed out. "They are fighting because there's a big brunette distraction in the way."
"I think I prefer the term bitch." I remarked as I took my eyes off of him. There was also an Asian distraction, but I was pretty sure that no one caught that.
"Well, if you ask me, I don't think that Stefan slept with her." Caroline stated. Well, he had slept with her, but from what Stefan said it didn't sound like it consensual. "But I don't think it's safe for you to be together as long as she's around."
"All I want to grab her by the neck and strangle her and tell her to stay away from my man." I pointed out. I was pretty sure that that wouldn't even hurt her. It would be a very bad idea. A stake to the heart would definitely work better.
"I don't think that's something that you'll be able to do." Anna pointed out. She was probably right. She might be able to do it though, but we still had no idea where she was.
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Tina asked as she appeared suddenly. She had a glass of lemonade in her hands. I probably should try to be friends with her, but the fact that she didn't really know about vampires made that hard.
"We were just talking about Mary's relationship troubles with Stefan." Caroline explained. She probably didn't need to tell her that, but I supposed that she knew now and we would have to keep talking about it. I just had to be careful.
"You're not going to break up, are you?" Tina asked in concern. "You two are so good together and you're smiling a lot more ever since you got together with him."
I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
"Well his slutty ex is in town." I explained. "It's a long story. So where is the rest of your family?"
"They thought that this would be a good way to finish my community service." Tina responded. "You know I miss when we used to hang out. I hope we can do it some more. If you want drinks, there's plenty over there."
"I'm gonna go get some." Anna replied as she walked off and returned with a cup for me and one for herself. I was a little surprised. Were Tina and I friends at some point in the past in this new perception of reality that everyone seemed to have? "There's nothing like lemonade on a hot day."
She drank it before I noticed that she gulped. She seemed like she was having trouble swallowing it. Finally, she got it to go down. I stared at her, but I had a bit of an idea of what the issue was because she looked like she was in pain a little while she was swallowing.
"Vervain." She stated. Yeah, it was pretty much exactly what I thought it was. I couldn't help but wonder who put vervain in the lemonade.
"I'm surprised that you're able to drink it." I noted.
"Well, the best way to build an immunity to something is exposure." Anna explained. "So, I think that this rift with Stefan will pass and once we're free of Katherine, you'll look back on this and laugh."
"That's oddly sentimental." Caroline commented. I knew that I wouldn't laugh about it unless I was laughing at her suffering…which was not a good thing to do.
"I'm a romantic at heart and I believe in eternal love, even though I've never actually seen it." She admitted. I really wanted her to find that eternal love now. She deserved to be happy.
"So why is there vervain in the lemonade anyway?" I asked as I drank from my cup. I couldn't taste it, but I was pretty sure that humans weren't supposed to.
"It probably has something to do with the council." Anna opined. They were the ones who had the most vervain. Well the Salvatores, probably had the most vervain. I wasn't sure why they were continuing to grow it, but it might have been just to keep up the charade that they wanted to do something. "Speaking of which, how are things going with your mom?"
"Well, she's suddenly hovering a lot." Caroline replied. I didn't know that Caroline was having problems with her mom. She might freak out if she found out Caroline was a vampire. "It's like we've barely spoken since my dad left and now she's suddenly mother of the year. It's especially bad because now is when I want to avoid her the most."
"Yeah, it's too bad that your mom hates vampires so much." I declared. It was ironic because she was good friends with Damon. "According to John, my parents hated them as well. This is basically racism against vampires and it's very wrong and I think I'm so upset because I haven't been with Stefan."
I couldn't help but wonder if I was selling it. I would have to ask Anna sometime that Caroline was away from us. Was I trying to too hard? Of course Caroline might end up believing me because she could be pretty dramatic herself. I also really wondered just what Elena was doing if she wasn't here. She didn't seem at me specifically, but we really weren't talking that much either. I needed to try to put in the effort to become close to her once again but that could wait till later.
"So did you ever think that maybe you and Stefan shouldn't be together?" Caroline asked me. "I just think that if you have to work so hard to make it work, maybe it's not worth it."
"Caroline, you don't understand the things that I have gone through to be with him." I pointed out. I knew that she was just saying that because of Katherine, but it was still frustrating to hear from her. "This isn't something that I can just walk away from. I've literally brought him back from the edge of death."
Maybe I should have told her about more of our history, but I kind of felt like I didn't need to.
At that point, I decided that I didn't want to look at Stefan anymore because it made it too hard to not want to go over and kiss him. I decided to go over by the stream. There really wasn't much to do there but it was a quiet place that allowed me to think. It didn't take long for Anna and Caroline to come join me. I did understand why everyone liked Caroline so much. She definitely had a big heart and she meant because she was probably terrified of Katherine. I took a seat on the rocks as they walked over. I was glad that I was wearing the right clothes even though I kind of thought that I probably should have worn a bra under my tank top.
"You know I'm sorry for things that I said." She apologized. I couldn't help but wonder if she was about to tell me about how Katherine was blackmailing her, and I would be able to stop this charade.
"I know that you're just trying to be a good friend." I stated. I wished that I knew what was going on and who Katherine had threatened. It was obviously someone close to her. I wondered if she had threatened her mom.
"No, I'm not." Caroline replied. She seemed like she was about to tell me before I noticed that her mom was walking a bit suspiciously. "What is she doing here?"
We walked over to her mother who was dressed in plain clothes. She appeared to be on the phone. Something was definitely not right.
"You couldn't even make it to the end of the day." Caroline quipped. It made me feel bad that the two of them didn't get along.
"Something's come up." Sheriff Forbes replied. Yes something was definitely up. I needed to find out what it is. "I'm sorry."
"Something is not right there." Caroline commented. "We should follow her."
We walked out into the woods in the same direction that we saw her go.
After a short amount of walking, Anna and Caroline, stopped, apparently having heard something that I didn't.
"There were just gunshots." Anna told me. They must have been decently far away. I also didn't think that it was a regular murder because we really didn't have those in Mystic Falls. "I think that Stefan and Damon might be in trouble."
"Where did they come from?" I asked. If Stefan and Damon were in trouble we would need to get there quickly. I didn't want to think that we could have been too late.
"It's this way." Anna explained as the two of us followed her. I hoped that we would be able to get there before it was too late. I had to believe that we were.
On the way, Caroline began to sniff to the ground to see if she could find their scents. That would probably work better if she was a werewolf.
"I've been here before." Caroline remarked. I couldn't help but wonder when.
"What are you girls doing here?" Mason asked us. He looked kind of kind of menacing at the moment.
"I'm looking for Stefan." I told him. I wasn't sure if he was a friend or foe. "Have you seen him?"
"Yeah, I've seen him." Mason declared sinisterly as he walked forward. Okay, he was definitely a foe, and he must have been the one who told Sheriff Forbes about Stefan and Damon. I was pretty sure that it was Damon's fault, but that didn't matter because we needed to save them. "I've seen Damon too."
"Where are they?" I asked him, knowing that he was bad news now.
"You don't need me for that. Why don't you ask your friends to sniff them out?" He replied. He then looked at Caroline. "Does your mother know what you are? I could tell her."
Caroline prepared to attack him, but he grabbed me by the neck first. He seemed like he was underestimating my ability to defend myself. I learned it was a good idea to fight dirty against a vampire and that probably applied to evil werewolves as well. I just had to wait for the right moment.
"Careful, necks snap easily around here." He remarked. I bit his hand and stepped on his toe, allowing me to break free which gave Caroline the opportunity to lay the smackdown on him. Anna then grabbed him by his own neck.
"They do, don't they?" She retorted.
"Anna, no!" I responded as she let him go. "We need to focus on saving Stefan and Damon. Everything else can wait."
We began to head deeper into the forest before we noticed that there was a staircase. I knew that I had been there before. It was the old Lockwood property. I had been there as a case. I had heard that it was old slave quarters.
"Are they down there?" I questioned. I was assuming that they were because it was where they had stopped.
"Yes." Anna remarked. "But they're not the only ones."
"It's my mom." Caroline replied in shock. I didn't know why she was so surprised. I pretty much figured that out right away. "She's killing them."
"I'm going to make her stop." I declared adamantly as I prepared to descend the staircase.
"Mary, she's going to find out about me." The blonde whined as she grabbed onto me. That was not the important thing. I quickly got free of her grasp.
"Caroline, they're lives are at stake." I pointed out as I rushed down.
"Mary?" The sheriff questioned as soon as she saw me. She was holding her gun out. I was pretty sure that she wouldn't shoot me. "What are you doing down here?"
"I'm not going to let you hurt them." I explained. One of the deputies tried to grab me, but I refused to go down without a fight. I then heard some running and within a few seconds, Anna and Caroline had both bitten into the deputies' necks. That was definitely unexpected. Sheriff Forbes held her gun up, but she dropped it when she saw who one of the vampires was. I had to admit that it was the first time that I was a little bit scared of Anna, but I was pretty sure that it had to be done.
"Hi Mom." Caroline greeted her with a face covered in blood. Yeah, she was definitely freaking out.
Next Anna and I had to remove the wooden bullets from Stefan and Damon. I was pretty sure that I would need to wash my hands afterwards. Caroline's mom was still in shock at what she had seen. I wasn't sure if she knew what to think.
As soon as the bullets were out, Damon decided to get his strength back by drinking from one of the bodies. I didn't really mind since they were already dead. We were going to have to bury them later anyway.
"That hits the spot." Damon said before he looked at his brother. I hoped he wasn't about to suggest something crazy. "You need some deputy blood."
"I'm good." Stefan replied. I was pretty sure that we did not need that to happen again.
"Damon's right. If there's ever a time to break your diet…" Caroline responded. She must not have known what happened a few weeks ago.
"He said no!" I snapped. I was a little freaked out myself, but I was pretty sure that I was good at hiding it.
"This is a mess." Damon remarked as he looked around the cellar. That was an understatement. "Two deputies dead and you, what are we going to do about you?"
"Mom, you're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Caroline asked. "Mom? He will kill you."
"Then kill me!" The woman shouted with tears in her eyes. "Kill me now and get it over with."
"No." Caroline declared.
"But you were going to drag it out so painfully." Damon remarked as he held her face. I was not going to let him kill her. I knew that he would probably also regret it.
"Damon!" I yelled.
"Relax, no one's killing anybody." Damon assured me. I breathed a sigh of relief. He then said something to her that I couldn't hear. "We've gotta clean this up."
After the bodies were buried, we headed back to the boarding house. We had a definitely bad situation. Apparently Damon was keeping her locked away in the dungeon until the vervain passed from her system. It was better than killing her. I couldn't believe that Damon actually had a good idea for once. I was beginning to regret not letting Anna kill Mason, but it was probably the right decision.
I looked around the house for Stefan. I knew that he wanted to take a shower and change his clothes. Well at least that's what I would want to do if the same thing happened to me. However, I instead found him the garage, looking down.
"What are you doing?" I asked as I saw him huddled over the refrigerator of blood that Damon kept. I hoped that he wasn't thinking about drinking some of it.
"Earlier today, I couldn't move at all." He commented. "I was helpless."
"Do you think that drinking human blood will help that?" I questioned. Would that be worth the risk?
"Maybe. Maybe I can learn to control it." He replied. I supposed if he could, it would help, but we would need to be careful. "Katherine said that she drank a little bit of vervain every day until she built up an immunity to it. Maybe I can do the same with blood."
"Well if you're going to do it, maybe you should drink fresh blood." I suggested. I probably shouldn't have been offering my blood to him but I wanted to help him.
"Mary, no." He stated as he figured out what I was insinuating.
"Stefan, I know that you won't hurt me." I explained. I trusted him and I hoped that it was a good idea to trust him especially since my blood was what started the frenzy the last time. "I know that you need to be stronger to stop Katherine, so you can drink my blood."
I then felt a slight pain as he sank his teeth into my neck. It didn't last very long, but I hoped that it would help. I covered it up before I walked into the living room and answered the door. Caroline was there with a bag. It was then that I realized that the lying had gone on long enough and we would need to talk about it.
"Caroline, we need to talk." I stated. "I know that Katherine asked you to spy on Stefan and me and keep us away from one another."
"I can't even go home because I know that she'll be there." Caroline cried. I figured her mom had invited her in thinking she was Elena. That was a pretty big issue because I was pretty sure that she could basically go anywhere in town. "She threatened to kill Matt if I didn't do what she said."
"We're not going to let her kill Matt." I promised. Yeah, Matt was a little bit bland, but I didn't want him dead and for some reason Caroline liked him. "It's okay for you to be scared of her. Just know that she is not going to win and we are going to kill her."
From there Anna and I went home.
"So you got a little carried away there." I told her.
"I'm sorry but I didn't have a lot of time when you were in danger. I probably shouldn't have tried to kill him. Though, we are still going to have to deal with him." She replied.
"Well, we can deal with him when the time comes." I stated. I did wonder how to kill a werewolf if silver didn't work. "We also need to find a way to deal with Katherine, but right now I just want to watch a movie with you and maybe Elena too."
"I don't think Elena wants to do anything with me." She replied.
"I didn't say that she would have a choice." I quipped with a smile before we went inside.
So Anna nearly killed Mason and Mary helped saved Stefan and Damon. Please don't forget to review.