ᴀ ᴍᴀꜱᴄᴀʀᴀᴅᴇ ᴘʀᴏʙʟᴇᴍ
𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓭 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷 𝓟𝓸𝓿
Caroline is sitting on the couch when Damon approaches her, giving her a glass of blood. "Here." Damon says as he holds out the glass for her. She looks up at him before taking the glass.
"I'm still shaking." She says lowly before sipping some blood just as the door opened. Both vampires looked up to see Stefan walking into the parlor.
"What happened?" He asked immediately making Damon look at the blonde vampire who was sitting on the couch.
"Go ahead, tell him." Damon says, nodding his head towards his brother before turning back to Stefan "You're gonna love this." He says, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"I saw Katherine today." Caroline says after a moment of the brothers looking at her.
"Where?"
"At the Grill. I just stopped by to gawk and...quasi-stalk Matt."
*Flashback-Earlier that day*
Caroline enters the Mystic Grill before scanning the place, looking for her ex-boyfriend, Matt. She spots him and after a moment he looks up and sees her, after a moment he walks over to her.
"Do you need a table?" He ask her.
"No," Caroline says with a shake of her head "I'm not staying. I just needed to use the little girls' room." She says as she points there.
"Skip the teen drama and get to it." Damon cuts in impatiently.
"Then I had to pretend to use the bathroom even though I didn't really have to go because I'm a doofus." Caroline says with a frown.
Caroline is in the bathroom, washing her hands when Katherine walks in the bathroom, posing as Elena.
"Elena?"
"Hey, I saw you with Matt, are you okay?" She ask Caroline, acting if she cared like Elena would have done.
"Yeah, you know...whatever." Caroline says with a sigh and Katherine nods. After a moment Caroline tries to vamp speed pass Katherine but the older vampire grabs the blonde and pulls her back.
"You're good." Katherine says with an impressed nod "What gave me away? Was it the hair? Or was it my clothes?" She asked curiously.
"I know Elena is...I know Elena's at home."
"I need you to deliver a message."
"What was the message?" Stefan ask, cutting into the story a bit.
"Tell Damon and Stefan that I want the moonstone or I will rip this town apart until it rains blood." Katherine threatens.
"Tell him the rest of it." Damon pushes.
"Tonight, at the masquerade ball." Katherine adds.
*Flashback Over*
"She wants to do it in public. Killing Mason threw her off guard.
"She's running scared. What she did to Jenna was desperate. She's out of tricks." Damon said, angrily.
"We can't underestimate her." Stefan said, shaking his head "We have to play this smarter than her."
"Can we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?" Caroline asked. She wanted to just go on and live the human life she was supposed to live.
"No, Katherine's not getting dick. I've had it. I'm gonna go to the masquerade ball and I'm gonna kill her, tonight."
"You're not gonna kill her." Stefan argues.
"Don't give me that goody-goody crap." Damon spat out.
"You're not gonna kill her."
"Really?" Damon questioned, letting out a humorless laugh.
"Because I am." Stefan said, looking up at his brother with a determined look.
♥♥♥
"Do you see her?" Damon questioned his brother as they walked up to the entrance of the Lockwood's mansion.
"Nope." Stefan said, shaking his head "You're sure you can do this?" He asked Damon.
"Who are you talking to?" Damon questioned with an raised eyebrow.
"Oh, I had the chance to kill her and I hesitated."
"Well that is the fork in the road between you and me my friend." Damon said, leaning in "I don't hesitate." He kind of whispered.
"You spent 145 years loving her, it could happen." Stefan said with a shrug.
"I won't hesitate." Damon reassured.
❥❥❥
"Dance with me." Katherine said, appearing behind Stefan on the dance floor. He had already seen her walking down the stairs from a long distance.
"No." He refused.
"Fine," she said with a shrug "then tell me who I should kill. Him?" She asked as she looked around "Hmm, she looks delicious." She said, grabbing an apple and eating it. Stefan offered her his arm which she automatically took and followed him. Wrapping his arms around her waist and her arms around his neck they start dancing. "It's a beautiful night." Katherine commented.
"Why the charade?" Stefan questioned, ignoring her comment.
"How's Jenna?" She asked, a smirk playing on her face "I certainly didn't expect her to survive that. Lucky girl. Clumsy. How does one stab oneself?"
"Katherine?" He called, getting a hum in question. "I don't want anyone to get hurt tonight." Stefan told her.
"Okay. Then give me the moonstone and nobody will." Katherine told him simply.
"Well, you see, I don't have the moonstone on me. So, you and I will have to go get it together."
"Hmm. I have a better plan. You go fetch it and I will try not to kill anyone in the meantime." Katherine told him.
"My way or you don't get it." Stefan said right as Aimee arrived.
"Hey Stefan, I can't find Matt." She said, glancing at Katherine and doing a double take "Oh my god Elena! You look so pretty. I love that dress. You look gorge." She complemented.
"Thank you. I love your necklace." Katherine said, looking over the girl.
"Oh, thanks." She said with a smile.
"Oh it's twisted. Here, let me, here we go." Katherine said going behind Aimee and snapping her spine. "Paralyzed from the waist down." Katherine said before snapping her spine again "And dead." She said before throwing the body in Stefan's arms. "The moonstone, Stefan. Tick tock." She said before turning on her heel and leaving Stefan with a dead body.
❥❥❥
After Katherine left Stefan with Aimee's body he put her in his trunk. He soon told Damon after and started having second thoughts. Damon gave him some advice and convinced him to continue with the plan.
After that conversation they gave Jeremy and Bonnie the signal to go on with the plan. Now Jeremy had walked over to Katherine who was posing as Elena for this mascaraed."Elena." Jeremy called, taking his mask before looking at Lucy. "Hey sorry, could I talk to my sister?" He asked getting a nod from the witch before she left.
"What is it Jeremy?" Katherine asked, knowing it Jeremy knew that it wasn't his sister at all, it was her ancestor.
"I have a message from Stefan." Jeremy says, getting a surprise look from Katherine.
"Oh?" She formed an 'o' in question.
"He and Damon want you to meet them at the edge of the lake by the woods. They brought the moonstone." He said.
"And why are you their little messenger?" She questioned with suspicious and narrow eyes.
"Because they know I'm not afraid of you."
"Hmm, you Gilbert men, so courageous. How's John by the way? Were they able to sew his fingers back on?" She teased, stroking his tie before looking at him and leaving.
After Katherine left Jeremy started texting Damon but his arm was grabbed by Elena. "What the hell is going on?" She demanded.
Meanwhile, Caroline is inside the Lockwood's mansion once she sees Matt with Sarah and Tyler. She was waiting for her part in the plan when Tyler stopped and looked at her for a moment before leaving with Matt and Sarah. About 5 seconds after she received a text from Jeremy that read 'Your turn.' So she started walking through an empty of the manor and went to open a door before being slammed against a wall.
"What are Stefan and Damon up to?" Katherine questioned.
"What do you mean?" Caroline asked, afraid.
"I've got Jeremy Gilbert luring me out to the lake. What's going on?" Katherine asked.
"I don't know...nothing." Caroline said but Katherine choked her.
"Don't lie to me, Caroline. They're up to something, what is it?" Katherine questioned again with narrowed eyes.
"I..." Caroline started but got chocked harder by the 500 old vampire. "Wait, no, no, no! Okay. They're trying to kill you." Caroline folded.
"I figured as much. Where is the moonstone?"
"Bonnie has it."
"And where is Bonnie right now?"
"I don't know." Caroline answered before getting chocked hard again and raised off of the ground. "Okay. She's upstairs, she's upstairs!" Caroline cried, getting her neck released but Katherine started dragging Caroline up the stairs before she could run away. Caroline was sobbing as they walked up the stairs "Why do you keep dragging me into this? I don't want any part of it." Caroline sobbed.
"Shut up!" Katherine hissed at the blonde vampire as they arrived in front of a door. "Which room is it?" Katherine demanded.
"It's that one." Caroline said, motioning to the room in front of them. Caroline stayed outside of the room ad Katherine entered it looking for Bonnie.
"Where is she?" Katherine asked Caroline who sobs turned into a chuckle.
"I did it! I really didn't think that I'd be able to fool you but I did it!" Caroline said with a happy smile. Katherine rushed over to Caroline but got stopped by the barrier. She was now trapped.
"What the...?" She trails off before turning around "Stefan?" She questioned as he was in the same room trapped with her. He was twirling a stake in his hand.
"Hello Katherine." Stefan greeted, looking up while still twirling the stake.
"Goodbye Katherine." Caroline waved to the vampire with her grin before leaving.
"You don't really think that you can kill me with that now, do you?" Katherine asked with an raised eyebrow.
"No," Stefan started "but he can." He said, pointing the stake in his hand behind Katherine where Damon had just walked out the closet holding a compressed air weapon. Quickly he shoots Katherine into her back. Stefan rushed over to Katherine and drove a stake through her arm. Katherine takes the stake out and tries to stake Damon but Stefan grabs her from behind making her fall on the floor and choking her from behind making her not able to move.
Suddenly a brunette woman rushes over to Stefan and Katherine with a stake in her hand. Quickly she stabs Katherine in her stomach three times making Katherine gasps and eyes widen in disbelief.
"Scarlett." She chokes out.
"Good to see you too." Scarlett smiled as she lifted the stake, about to kill Katherine only to be stopped by Jeremy.
"Stop! You're hurting Elena! Everything you're doing to her is hurting Elena!" Jeremy yelled out stopping the brothers attacks. Scarlett who wasn't fully aware of who was getting hurt continued with the attacks, the stake in her hand a centimeter away from Katherine's chest. Before she could plunge it into Katherine heart, both Stefan and Damon each grabbed an arm, pulling her off of Katherine.
"Would you let me go!" She said through gritted teeth, ripping her arms away from her brothers.
"She doesn't know." Katherine coughed up, regaining her breath while lifting herself off the ground.
"Know what?" Scarlett narrowed her eyes between her brothers.
"And you think you three are the only ones with a witch on your side? Wrong and something tells me that my witch is better than your witch." She mocked as she took the stake from Damon's hands, a evident smirk on her face.
"Jeremy, go check on Elena. Make sure she's okay."Stefan told Jeremy who just stood there "Go!" Stefan demanded making Jeremy leave.
"Let's all make sure poor Elena is okay." Katherine mocked "Just a little bit more pressure." She said cutting her hand with the stake. Before she could do any more damage Stefan hits the stake out of Katherine's hand so the stake lands on the floor but she agains grabs the stake and points it towards her stomach. "This is really gonna hurt."
"Wait!" Damon yells, stopping Katherine who sits on the couch.
"Okay. So, how about that moonstone?" She questions, holding her hand out.
"How about you guys tell me why we aren't killing this bitch." Scarlett asked, her urge to kill Katherine growing stronger by the minute.
"That's my doppelgänger." Katherine rolled her eyes "Stefan's girlfriend, Elena, she's an exact replica of me." She glanced over at Damon who looked at her with narrowed eyes "Oh yeah, Damon is also in love with her."
Scarlett scoffed, turning to look between her brothers. "It's 1864 all over again." She mumbled in disbelief.
"The four of us together just like old times." Katherine piped up in her own cheerful, Katherine way. She looked at Damon "The brother who loved me too much," then Stefan "the one that didn't love me enough," then Scarlett "and the smart sister, my best friend."
"And the evil slut vampire who only loved herself." Damon added.
"What happened to you Damon?" Katherine asked "You used to be so sweet and polite." Katherine mocked.
"Oh, that Damon died a long time ago." Damon said, rolling his eyes.
"Good. He was a bore." She said bluntly.
"Oh, why don't you two stop antagonizing each other?" Stefan said, annoyed.
"Where is the moonstone?" Katherine questioned.
"What do you want with it?"
"Does Elena enjoy having both of you worship at her alter?"
Stefan glanced at Damon and then looked at Katherine "That was really desperate, Katherine. 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?"
"Oh, stop it."
"Or what? You'll hurt me?" She questioned before standing up. "Come on, Stefan. Everything that I feel, Elena feels, so go ahead." She teased before looking over at Damon. "Or better yet, kiss me Damon. She'll feel that too."
"Katherine."Scarlett called in a warning tone. She had been quiet for most of the exchange but was getting annoyed by the second.
"You know, this whole Mason thing has me a bit confused." Stefan suddenly said "Why a werewolf? The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires so what's in that for you?" He asked only to be ignored.
"Sorry about your pet wolf, probably should have kept him on a tighter leash." Damon said with a smug look.
"I'll have to remember that for next time." Katherine noted out loud "He's not the only wolf in town."
A few minutes of silence passed. Scarlett groaned "Where is a witch or something. I either need to get out of here or be able to kill her."
Katherine spoke, ignoring Scarlett's words "We could play charades."
"You bargained the moonstone." Stefan mumbled to himself.
"What are you mumbling about over there?"
Stefan ignored Damon, looking dead at Katherine "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. It was the moonstone, wasn't it?"
"Good for you, Stefan. Two plus two...And it would have worked except that people found out that I wasn't in the tomb." Her head turned to Damon "Thanks to you, by the way. Have I mentioned how inconvenient your obsession with me has been?"
"You and me both, honey." Damon said as he poured a drink.
"It's your fault though." Scarlett quickly added in before the conversation could end, she wanted to make a point. Both Katherine and Damon looked at her with questioning eyes "It's not his fault for trying to save the woman he loved." She turned her head towards Katherine, looking her in the eyes as she spoke "You just don't leave on your loved ones to die when you can possibly do something. So the next time you don't want something or someone unknowingly stopping you from finishing your shit show if a master plan, don't give them false hope or love."
Katherine just looked at her before turning to look at the wall with a blank face. More time passed in silence before Stefan spoke "Why do you need it back?"
"I love you in a suit, so dashing." She smirked at him.
"What were you doing with it in the first place?" Ignoring her attempts to flirt he continued to question.
"You're wasting your breath, Stefan." Damon warned.
"Unless it wasn't yours to begin with. In 1864 you faked your death. Who were you running from, Katherine?" Stefan continued.
Katherine tilted her her with a faint smile "In 1987 you were in Chicago, at a concert of all places with that wench, Lexi. 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 night. You were watching Bon Jovi and I was watching you."
"Stalking is crazy." Scarlett commented with a laugh.
"Who were you running from?" Instead of answering Katherine mother an 'I love you' to Stefan.
"Gosh this is really depressing." Scarlett sighed.
"If it's so depressing then kill yourself."
Scarlett smiled but just as quickly the smile came, she was on top of Katherine with a hand around her throat just as quickly "I would kill you right now if I could instead but I don't have time to have my brothers holding grudges with me." She took a deep breath "As soon as your link is broken I'm going to rip that pretty little heart right out of your chest."
"That's enough Scar." Stefan sighed. She rolled her eyes and got off of Katherine who started coughing for air when let go.
Damon started pouring him some scotch just as Katherine heaved one last time "We're missing the party." She turned to Damon "I'll have one of those."
"Right away Miss Katherine." Damon mocked, giving her a glass.
"Thank you." She said and drunk some only to be grabbed again by Damon who had a stake in his hand. He pushed her against a wall about to stake her only to be stopped by Stefan.
"No, no! Damon, don't!"
"Yes, Damon, please."
"If you don't do it I'll do it." Scarlett sung loudly with a grin.
"The second the spell is lifted, I'm gonna drive a stake right through your heart."
"God, you're hot. When did you get so hot?" Katherine breathlessly flirted making Scarlett roll her eyes.
"For the love of god stop being a slut in front of me. It's disgusting." She grimaced just as a woman came in, the moonstone in her hand.
"Katherine, the spell on this room has been broken, you're free to leave."
Katherine lifted herself off the wall, sighing out in relief "Thank God."
"When I hand this over my debt to you is over." The witch said, twirling the moonstone in her hand.
"Done."
"I owe you nothing."
"I said done. Give it." Katherine pushed.
"I wouldn't do that." Damon warned just as Katherine touched the moonstone. As soon as she touched it she started gasping for air, heaving.
"You should have told me another witch was involved. She's a Bennett witch, Katherine, but I'm sure you knew that."
"Wait, Elena!"
"Elena's fine." The woman said just as Katherine fell on the floor. "The spell is broken. She'll heal quickly, Bonnie's with her." She looked between all three of them just as Katherine went unconscious "I apologize for my involvement." And with that the witch left leaving the three siblings and an unconscious doppelgänger.