2 x 05 - Kill or Be Killed
"Are you sure he'll even want to listen to you?" Rosalie questioned Stefan as they walked towards Mason Lockwood. "I mean, our brother did stab him yesterday."
Stefan sighed at the mention of Damon's foolish act of violence towards the werewolf. "It's worth the try."
Today was the Mystic Falls Historical Society Volunteer Day, and the park was buzzing with residents of the city who were ready to help the community. Mason Lockwood was taking boxes out of the trunk of his Jeep when he noticed Stefan approaching him, followed closely by Rosalie. "Stefan, right? The youngest Salvatore?"
"The nice one," Stefan said, making Rosalie scoff amusingly. He wasn't wrong, she and Damon could be mean, but he didn't have to say it. "The one offering an apology."
"Not interested." Mason frowned and shook his head slightly.
"Look, my brother acted impulsively." Stefan tried, but the man wouldn't hear it.
Mason scoffed. "You think?"
Stefan kept his composure. "If you and Damon keep at each other's throats, somebody innocent is going to get hurt and I don't want that. You have family here so I can imagine you wouldn't want that either. So what do you say we just quit, uh, the whole alpha male fighting thing and call a truce?"
"I made that same offer to your brother. He turned it down with a knife." He raised a finger accusingly.
Stefan acquiesced. "He made a mistake. I'm here to make sure that neither one of you makes another one."
Mason's gaze hardened as he decided he had had enough. He grabbed one of the boxes he had just been unloading and walked past Stefan. "Tell your brother to watch his back." He snapped.
Right before the werewolf passed by Rosalie, she grabbed his arm. His eyes met her cold and menacing ones. "Well, I assume he only has to worry about that on a full moon. Otherwise, you're not as strong, am I right? Or you would have killed Damon by now." The woman retorted.
Mason's frown deepened, and his heartbeat picked up its speed. Every time he had seen or interacted with Rosalie Salvatore, she had been so enthralling, calm, and collected. However, as she stared up at him now, she was frighteningly intimidating without even having to raise her voice.
"You're a lone wolf, Mason, and you're up against two vampires and a witch." She declared. "I don't think Damon is the one that needs to watch his back."
The man's jaw clenched at her words, and he looked down to evade her piercing stare. Mason knew she was right: he had no chance against the Salvatore siblings, especially in his human form. He hesitated slightly before speaking once more. "If he comes at me..."
"He won't," Stefan assured, extending his hand for a handshake. Mason looked at his hand for a split second before he agreed to shake it. The men gave each other a nod, and Mason walked off.
Stefan and Rosalie watched as the man walked away. She doubted this conversation would stop the conflict, especially since Damon would never back down once he had a goal in mind. At least Mason was warned of what he would face if he dared to lay a hand on her older brother, and it was up to him to take that threat seriously or ignore it.
"What are you doing?" Damon spoke from behind Stefan. The witch jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. She hadn't noticed he had approached them.
"Negotiating peace on your behalf," Stefan answered calmly.
Damon clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I don't want peace!" He whined.
"Oh, well, consider it opposite day." His younger brother quipped.
Damon stepped forward to face his siblings and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Guys, please tell me you don't seriously think a handshake just solved our problem."
"No, actually I think that the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he's gonna drive a stake through your heart, then through mine, and then through Rosalie's, all because you took it upon yourself to try to kill him," Stefan retorted, mirroring Damon's action by placing his hand on his shoulder as well. "So thank you because we don't have enough problems."
Stefan then walked away, leaving behind a frowning Damon and a smug-looking Rosalie. The raven-haired man glanced down at his sister and rolled his eyes at her expression. "Don't tell me he's right. I don't want to hear it right now."
"Fine, I won't." She replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Can I say he's not wrong, though?"
Damon groaned and walked away, and Rosalie's smile widened even more. "Hey, come back!" She called out, following after him.
"You can really be a smart-ass sometimes you know that?" He huffed, walking through the crowd of people. Rosalie stepped in front of him, making him stop in his tracks.
"That's so mean. I'm gonna start to cry." She replied, looking at him with a fake expression of sadness. It was something she'd do to him constantly when they were younger, and it would always get her what she wanted.
"No, absolutely not. Stop it!" He ordered and covered her eyes with his hands. Damon knew exactly what she was doing, and didn't want to fall for her tricks.
Rosalie held back a chuckle and ultimately complied. "Fine." She huffed.
Liz Forbes was setting up the catering table when she was approached by Mason Lockwood. The wolf had a plan in mind. It was a last-minute and risky plan, but Mason had no other choice.
"Hey, Sheriff, you've got a second?" He asked.
The blonde woman gave him a small smile. "I'm out of uniform. Let's go with Liz."
"Alright, Liz. I was hoping to talk to you about the council," Mason queried.
Liz was surprised at the mention of the council, but she hid it well. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Mason knew she was lying and insisted. "I know you and the other founding families have a secret council."
"If that were true, then you'd know it's secret and isn't discussed with non-council members," The sheriff retaliated.
"I know I rejected all that, but it's only because I wanted a life outside of this town, not because I was a non-believer," Mason added. "Look, I know vampires exist, and you have two of them living right under your nose."
Liz looked up, a surprised look in her eyes. She gave in to the temptation and asked, "Really?"
"Yeah," The wolf confirmed.
"Who would they be?"
It was now or never. Mason had to reveal the Salvatore siblings' secret. He knew the risk, but he foolishly believed the council, and even Katherine, would protect him when the time came. "Damon and Stefan Salvatore."
Liz almost scoffed at his words, leaning away slightly. She almost felt like a fool to have indulged in Mason's accusations but still felt dread filling her stomach. "That's impossible. I know Damon Salvatore. Do you know what he's done for this town?"
Mason maintained his position. "I know it's a lot to digest."
"No. I watched him kill vampires. He's an ally; he's part of the Council." Liz refuted with conviction.
"Think about it. When did the vampire attacks begin? When Damon and Stefan Salvatore moved to town?" He pointed out.
"They walk in the sun, Mason." The woman persisted.
"They've evolved; it's not 1864. They've got witches who made it possible for them to be in the sunlight and not burn. Witches like their sister." Mason revealed.
Liz was confused by this. She had never heard of witches before, but it made sense. If vampires existed, why wouldn't other supernatural creatures?
"Rosalie Salvatore is not a vampire?" She wondered.
Mason shook his head. "No, she's still human... but believe me when I say this; she's dangerous. Don't underestimate her."
"This doesn't make sense at all, Mason," Liz denied. "No. Damon Salvatore is my friend."
Mason did not let her doubt affect him or his plan. "What if I can prove it to you?"
Rosalie and her brothers eventually spread across the park, completing different tasks to help. Stefan painted some wooden posts, Rosalie planted flowers, and Damon... Well, Damon walked around.
The witch eventually found her eldest brother near the lemonade stand where he talked with Mason Lockwood. Their conversation didn't last long as Mason left just a few seconds after Rosalie had noticed them.
Rosalie let out an exasperated sigh and walked toward her older brother. It seemed like Stefan's sixth sense had also told him to check on Damon as he arrived at the same time Rosalie did.
"Please tell me that you were just bonding." Stefan pleaded, and the other vampire ignored his statement.
"So what's up with this faux drama in your relationship?"
Rosalie was quick to put a stop to their impending argument about Elena by raising her hand sharply. "No. Don't even start."
The brothers looked down guiltily, as they knew their sister hated it when they'd fight over a girl. Especially when it was a Petrova woman. This habit of falling in love with the same woman had once caused their doom, and Rosalie dead set on not letting that happen again.
"Would you like some lemonade?" The little girl in charge of the lemonade stand spoke to Damon.
Damon smiled at the girl and took the cup she was handing him. "Thank you, sweetie."
The eldest Salvatore took a sip of the bitter drink but immediately spat it out and started to cough violently. Rosalie and Stefan immediately grew worried for their brother. The woman reached forward to steady him by holding his shoulders. Damon grabbed her arm tightly whilst his other hand clawed at his throat. He slumped down on the bench behind him.
"What's wrong?" She pressed. Her eyes widened at the sight of her brother being in so much pain.
Damon gasped but managed to croak out, "Vervain, vervain!"
Stefan reached for the cup his brother had dropped and sniffed the content. Effectively, it was spiked with vervain. He then reached for an unopened water bottle and handed it to his brother who drank it haphazardly. Damon stood up and rinsed his mouth with water, then he angrily spat it out over a nearby barricade when he was done.
"I'm gonna kill him," Damon fumed and abruptly turned to go find Mason. He knew the werewolf had been the one to lace the lemonade with vervain.
Stefan stopped his brother by grabbing his shoulders. "Listen to me! Sit! Sit!" He almost shouted.
Damon complied, but his anger did not falter. "I'm not listening anymore of your 'give peace a chance' crap. He's dead!"
"He's right Stef," Rosalie agreed with her older brother. If she hadn't been so concerned for Damon's well-being, she probably would've already put Mason's head on a stick.
Stefan looked around and nodded, removing his hand from his brother's shoulders. "Okay. I don't like it. He's making threats. He could expose us. We need to put him down."
"Alright. Let's do it." Damon stood up. He took a few steps forward, followed by his brother, until Rosalie interrupted their quest for revenge.
"Shit! Wait!" Rosalie stopped her brothers. She had just remembered that she hadn't shared the information she had learned yesterday. "We can't kill him yet."
Damon was surprised by Rosalie's sudden change of heart. "Why the hell not?"
"Yesterday, when I shook Mason's hand, I had a vision." She started.
"And?" Damon pressed.
"He's with Katherine." She revealed. "She's probably using him for something, I don't know, but he must have information we could use."
Stefan placed his hand on his hips. "How do you know if your vision is real?"
"It just is," Rosalie replied, but her brothers didn't seem convinced. "Just trust me okay? We get information from him about Katherine and then we kill him."
Damon pursed his lips, slightly angry at the fact he wouldn't get to rip out Mason Lockwood's heart just yet, but at least that meant torture was an option. "Fine."
The Salvatore siblings then faced the opposite direction, noticing Mason heading into the woods.
"Come on," Stefan said, and they followed after their enemy.
They crossed the park and followed the same path the wolf had taken. Mason was picking up broken tree branches and sorting them into a pile or a bin. He never noticed the three of them creeping up on him until they stepped from behind the tall trees.
Mason turned his head slowly and faced the vengeful siblings. He first noticed an extremely pissed Damon on his left, then a calmer Stefan on his right.
What worried him the most, however, was the witch standing directly in front of him. She had this wild look in her eyes, almost as if she was excited about his pending demise. Mason knew that if the council didn't intervene soon, he'd live a painful death.
"Don't look so surprised. You knew this was inevitable," Damon was the one to break the silence. "Go ahead, run. I'll give you a head start."
Mason looked at the lined-up siblings before him and then he suddenly dropped to the ground.
Rosalie heard a sharp sound and her brother's pained gasp, and before either of them could comprehend what was happening, the three of them fell. Their attackers had shot the vampires as many times as they could and since Rosalie stood in the middle, she received a few wooden bullets as well. They had the advantage of surprise, and they used it wisely.
The witch felt her breath cut short from the pain emitting from her right collarbone and left thigh. She brought a hand to her chest and felt something warm and liquid against her fingers. Rosalie removed her hand and looked at her fingers which were now covered in her blood.
Her breath staggered and her hands trembled due to the sight of blood as well as the pain she felt. She barely heard Damon call out her name worriedly before the sheriff shot him again, rendering him unconscious.
Rosalie looked at their assailants through bleary eyes and shot them the strongest glare she could muster. She watched as Liz Forbes injected something into her brothers, she assumed it must be vervain, and tried to get up but the pain was too strong.
Mason said something to Liz that the witch couldn't make out through the buzzing noise in her ears. He hurriedly approached the wounded woman and raised his foot over her head.
"You son of a b—" Rosalie spat before Mason kicked her in the face, knocking her out cold.
When Rosalie awoke again, her brothers were gone. She groaned and slowly got up on her knees, noticing how blood covered the right side of her torso as well as her left leg. The woman then reached upwards to touch her temple where Mason had struck her and also felt blood coating her temple and cheek.
"Don't move or, or, I'm gonna shoot!" A panicked voice rang out.
Rosalie glanced back to see one of the deputies who had shot her and her siblings was holding a gun to her head. His hands were shaking, and Rosalie didn't feel threatened anymore. She had the upper hand.
"Yeah?" She dared the man. Then, she removed the two wooden bullets lodged in her body and used magic to heal the wounds. "Go ahead."
The deputy went to pull the trigger but he suddenly couldn't move his hands. His heartbeat picked up, and he officially started to panic. "What did you do to me, freak?"
"I don't have time for this." Rosalie winced as she got up on her wobbly feet. She reached the man and put all her weight forward so that he'd be trapped in between her and the tree behind him. "You're gonna tell me exactly where they went or I swear to god, I'll shove this bullet so deep into your eye socket you'll feel it coming out the back of your skull, now speak!"
Rosalie looked terrifying. Her left hand was wrapped around his throat and the other was raising the wooden bullet he had shot her with toward his face. She raised an eyebrow, expecting an answer from the man, but he just looked at her as if she were the devil incarnate. The enraged witch then slowly started to insert the sharp bullet into his eye, making him cry out in pain.
"No, please! That way! They went that way!" He shrieked.
She pulled out the bullet and slammed him against the tree. "What fucking way?" Rosalie spat.
"The Lockwood cellars! That's where she wants to kill them." The deputy sobbed and pointed in the direction of the cellars
Rosalie let out a breath, and a small smirk appeared on her face. "Wasn't so hard now was it?"
She pushed away from him and started towards the cellars where her siblings were held. The deputy sighed in relief, thinking that he was saved from death, but the witch wasn't one to show mercy when someone went against her brothers.
In a whisper, she spoke the incantation "Suurentaa" to snap his neck, and the man fell to the ground dead.
Rosalie picked up her speed, ignoring the pain coming from her leg, and was now almost running. When she reached her destination, Caroline was standing outside the cellars at the top of the staircase.
"Oh my god, Rosalie!" Caroline exclaimed worriedly at the sight of her friend, who ignored her and rushed down the stairs. "Wait!"
The witch didn't spare her any glance and continued down the stairs. Caroline called out for her to stop, but she was once again ignored. The blonde vampire followed after her friend worried that she'd kill Liz in her murder spree.
The two women didn't have to come up with a plan to work in harmony. Caroline rushed in first, catching the attention of the police officers. Then Rosalie walked through the gate and shut it with her mind.
Liz stared at the bloody woman and froze completely. In her opinion, Rosalie could without a doubt pass for a character in a horror movie. Another woosh of air and Caroline grabbed one of the deputies, biting into his neck and draining his body of blood.
Rosalie raised her hand and the second deputy started to float in the air. "Ossox," She spoke. The man shouted as his bones snapped, but his pained screams were cut short as he was slammed back onto the ground. The strength of the impact killed him immediately.
The sheriff looked back at the other deputy being attacked by a vampire, and her heart dropped as she realized who it was.
Caroline pushed the dead deputy away from her, revealing her bloody face to her mother. "Hi, Mom."
Elena, who had entered the cells before Rosalie and Caroline, knelt beside an unconscious Stefan and removed the bullets from his body.
Rosalie rushed to her older brother, skidding her knees against the concrete below her. Damon had so many bullets in him, that she didn't even waste time to try and count how many there were. She hovered a hand over his torso and closed her eyes in concentration. In just a few seconds, the bullets all raised in the air and she shot them across the room.
She hurriedly looked around for a sharp object to cut her skin and eventually found a small rock. Rosalie sliced her wrist with the rock without a second thought and placed it over Damon's mouth.
A few crimson drops fell beneath his lips and that was enough to wake him up. Rosalie released a breath she didn't know she had been holding and placed a hand under her brother's head to support him.
"Come on, there you go," Rosalie whispered and Damon latched onto her arm, his canines sinking into her skin. He took a few gulps and felt all of his wounds close and his strength coming back to him in its entirety.
He pulled away with difficulty, as her blood tasted divine, but it was important for him to not hurt her more than he had already done. Damon blinked a few times before his eyes settled on his sister kneeling beside him.
His eyes widened at her devilish state and he sat up abruptly. "Rosalie!" He exclaimed, reaching for her bloody temple. His heart flooded with guilt as he felt like he had failed to protect her.
"I'm fine, I need to check on Stefan," She ignored Damon's worry and headed to her younger brother who had just opened his eyes.
Since Elena had removed the bullets, his wounds had started to heal slowly, but the pain remained. He sat up, and as Rosalie approached him, he immediately smelled the sweet perfume of her blood.
"Stop!" He yelled, holding out his hand weakly.
Rosalie immediately understood; Stefan was scared of hurting her. He was scared he'd lose control as he had done all those years ago. The others in the room watched with anticipation for how this would play out.
The witch slowly kneeled before her brother, grabbing his hands in hers. Stefan flinched at the contact, soon after feeling a sense of calm wash over him. He assumed Rosalie used her magic on him to get him to relax.
"Stef... you need blood," Rosalie spoke carefully.
"No! Absolutely not." The vampire croaked out with conviction.
Rosalie frowned slightly and squeezed his hands once. "It's okay, my blood heals faster than regular human blood. Just a small sip and you'll be fine."
"You don't understand, I—" Stefan cut himself short, not daring to speak out the words he wanted to say. He couldn't bear the thought of hurting her again.
The woman felt her heart clench at the sight of her brother. Not only was he in pain, but the guilt and dread were eating him alive. She wished he'd take a bit of blood, but she respected his decision.
"Okay." She breathed out and stepped away from him.
The witch stared at Stefan as he was being comforted by Elena and she wished she could help him more than she had.
Damon noticed the distress growing on his sister's face and grabbed her arm softly. "Let me heal you, Rosie."
"No, I'm alright. I healed the wounds already, it's just dried blood." She replied, trying to reassure him. Rosalie didn't think she could say anything that would completely erase Damon's worry for her safety, but this was enough for now. Damon raised an eyebrow, not convinced. Rosalie gave him a small smile and whispered, "I'm okay."
That seemed to convince him, as he turned his attention to Caroline's mother who was sitting defeatedly against the wall. She had tears in her eyes, but Rosalie didn't feel sorry for her. Quite the contrary, she wanted her dead.
"This is a most unfortunate situation. Two deputies dead and you." He stepped closer to Liz. "What am I gonna do with you?"
Caroline spoke up from her place on the steps. "You won't tell anyone, will you? Mom? Mom?"
Liz ignored her daughter, but Caroline persisted. "Please. Look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right? Mom, please. He will kill you."
"Then kill me," She immediately answered. Everyone in the room was shocked by this reaction and looked at the woman in disbelief.
Caroline cried out, "No!"
The sheriff looked at Damon almost as if she was begging. "I can't take this. Kill me now."
Damon bent down to look her in the eyes which made the woman shudder in fear. Rosalie hoped her brother would take his revenge on Liz as she had been the one leading the attack. A voice in the back of her head reminded her that the woman was the mother of one of her closest friends, but the desire for revenge overpowered that thought.
"But you were gonna drag it out so painfully." He retaliated, repeating her own words back to her. He suddenly grabbed her and pulled her up sharply.
Caroline, Stefan, and Elena all shouted for him to stop, their panicked voices ringing out through the cellar. Rosalie watched with a subtle pleasing smile at the idea of Liz paying the consequences of her actions.
Damon rolled his eyes at the cacophony. "Relax guys. No one is killing anybody."
"Why not?" Rosalie protested, crossing her arms over her chest.
The eldest Salvatore looked down at the frightened human. "Because she's my friend."
That night, Liz Forbes had been brought to the Salvatore boarding house and locked up in the cellars. Damon had planned to keep her there until the vervain would be out of her system and he would then compel her to forget about what had happened. At first, Rosalie didn't agree with her brother's idea, but she complied for Caroline's sake.
The blonde vampire had also revealed to the group that Katherine had been forcing her to act as a spy which didn't come as much of a surprise. Rosalie immediately proposed to Caroline that she'd stay at the boarding house so that Katherine couldn't get to her. A proposition that she accepted immediately.
Things were slightly getting out of control, and Rosalie didn't feel like it would get better any time soon.