Journey To The Past [Sequel to At The Beginning]

Chapter 42

Lockwood Mansion

When Tyler didn't receive an answer from Cassie, he began searching online about the moonstone. About a minute after searching Mason walked through the front door. "How was that barbecue?" Tyler asked nicely. "Not great. Are you still pissed?" Mason asked him. "Are you still keeping secrets?" Tyler shot back. "Yep." Mason answered. "Then I'm still pissed. Hey, you know I was thinking about that stone you were looking for. I might know a couple places it could be." Tyler said; trying to bait him. "Do you think this is a joke? If you know where it is then tell me." Mason demanded. "Tell me how the curse's trigger." Tyler tried to negotiate. "If I tell you, you won't be able to think about anything else. I don't want that for you." Mason explained to him. "I think I can handle knowing." Tyler said bravely. "You think that you can handle it, tough guy? You have no idea." Mason said knowingly. "You want your stupid rock or not?!" Tyler asked; raising his voice at him. Mason lost his temper and pushed Tyler against the wall. "Tell me where it is!" Mason said through gritted teeth. "Tell me what triggers the curse!" Tyler yelled at him. "You have to kill somebody! Human blood! You take another person's life away from them and then the curse is yours forever! Can you handle that?" Mason asked him and released him from the wall. Tyler was speechless. Mason began to walk away but stopped and turned. "Another thing, I don't know what's going on with you and Cassie but she was there today and from what I saw you got competition." Mason said with sadness in his eyes. "What do you mean?" Tyler asked confused. Mason let out a sigh. "Damon Salvatore. I saw enough today to know they have feelings for each other. He's dangerous Tyler. So you better figure out if she's worth it." Mason said and went upstairs; leaving Tyler to contemplate his next move.

Mystic Grill

After talking, Damon and Cassie decided to go back to the Grill and get coffee. They were sat at the bar while Caroline was sitting alone at a table. About ten minutes later Cassie saw Elena and Stefan walk in, looking distraught. They weren't holding hands, which Cassie always knew wasn't a good sign. They walked passed Caroline as they entered. "Elena." She called her. Elena stopped and turned to her friend. "Hey." Elena replied quietly. Stefan went to a table while Elena stayed to talk with Caroline. "Oh my god. I am so sorry about earlier today. I don't know what came over me." Caroline explained herself but Cassie could see she was being fake. She knew exactly what she was doing earlier. "It's okay, Caroline. Everything that you were saying was right. It's just hard for me to hear, you know?" Elena said with sadness in her voice. "So...you're not mad at me?" Caroline asked confused. "You were just being a good friend...in your own way." Elena said with a small smile. "My own head case, horrible way. Elena, I really am sorry." Caroline said again. Elena smiled and walked away.

Cassie could see the tension between them. She turned to Damon. "Can you hear them?" Cassie asked him. Damon nodded. Elena rejoined Stefan at a table. "I'm starving." Stefan said solemnly. "Well, spending the day with your jealous ex will do that to you." Elena said with sarcasm. "Listen, I know you're upset but we have to take her seriously. Today, was all about the lengths she would go to." Stefan warned Elena. "If she was going to hurt me, she would have. I was standing right in front of her." Elena said knowingly. "Elena, you caught her off guard. It doesn't mean that you're safe." Stefan explained to her. "I'm not afraid of her." Elena said bravely. "Well, you should be." Stefan told her bluntly. "If Katherine had her way, we'd be breaking up right now." Elena said with sadness in her voice. "If today taught me anything, is that Katherine is used to getting her way." Stefan told her. "You're not actually saying that we should what she says?" Elena asked him with disbelief. "Listen, she's sadistic, okay? She threatened you, she threatened everyone." Stefan told her; getting louder with her. "Yeah, no, I get it. She's dangerous. But every day that we are together, it's dangerous. Why are you giving her so much power over our relationship?" Elena questioned him angrily. "This is the reality of our situation." Stefan said bluntly. "Well, reality sucks." Elena said holding back tears. "This is what she wants. She wants us to fight. She wants to get between us." Elena said as she was choking back her tears. "She already has, Elena." Stefan said sadly. They looked at each other and Elena left.

Cassie saw Elena leave and was bout to chase after her but Damon pulled her back down into her chair. "Don't." He said simply and quietly. "Elena just left crying Damon." Cassie whispered back. "Caroline." He said with a head nod. Caroline was listening to their whole conversation as well as Damon. Cassie realized what he meant. She looked over to Stefan and he saw them talking. Cassie sent him a sympathetic smile and mouthed "are you okay?" to him. He gave her a broken smile and shrugged.