"Uncle Mason," I grinned, looking up at him. "How was that barbecue you were talking about?"
Mason looked down at his feet, the gears in his brain working. I could practically see the smoke pumping out from his ears. His eyes averted my glares, almost as if he had something terrible to tell me.
"Listen," he paused. "I need to tell you something."
By now, my attention was directed full on him. He could barely keep his glance locked with my own. He kept his glare solemnly pressed against the floor like tiles held by concrete.
"They know," his words came out staggered; his heartbeat throbbed in my ears, calm and steady.
My heart sank; I could taste the blood dribbling off my tongue and saturating my mouth. I knew exactly what he meant by those two words. My mind wracked with the numerous possibilities. They would come for me. They would torture me. They would kill my uncle.
"What are we going to do?" my mouth was dry, my tongue lapping against the roof of my mouth and rubbing like two pieces of grass in a drought.
I felt like my insides were twisted like a coaster, soaring and plummeting towards the depths of torture.
"Well," Mason looked up at me, finally, locking my gaze. "I'm going to try and keep you out of this to the best of my ability. Worse comes to worse, they question me a bit, but they won't touch you."
"They're going to kill you," I cried, gripping numerous strands of my red locks and tugging on them. "Mason, we have to get out of here. They're going to kill us."
Mason paused, holding his head in his hands. His eyebrows knitted together, looking down again at the floor. I could feel his uncertainty weeping from his pores; he didn't know what to do as much as I did. I wanted to stay put and keep watch over my brother, as well as pick up so techniques from Bonnie, but I also wanted to, simply put, stay alive. It didn't take much for me to want to run for the hills, but it also didn't take much for me to defend the ones I loved, like Mason and Tyler.
This whole mess was a jumble of confusion and left my consciousness in a foggy haze.
"I'm going to call a friend, Jules. You'll like her," Mason fumbled, hastily searching in his pockets for his phone.
He took his conversation elsewhere, knowing whole-heartily that I would be ready to do whatever he and his friend Jules decided on. I knew that we would most likely have to take Tyler with us to make sure he would never have to suffer the fate that Mason and I faced once a month. My mother, however, would be a different story. As interim mayor she had no choice but to stick around and keep this town alive somehow. Those things like Caroline and the Salvatore brothers were something I never, ever, could find myself in alliances with.
Tyler came trotting inside, sweat dripping down the sides of his face. He had earphones in, some motivation rock song playing at full blast. With my new found hearing abilities, I could hear the music pounding in my ears and echoing off the walls. The sticky, salty smell emitted from him; it was barely breathable in here.
"Get in the shower you pig!" I pinched the bridge of my nose, remembering what happened last time I had told him to clean himself up.
Tyler grumbled, eyeing me with his wicked eyes. He scoffed, walking up the staircase. As soon as he left, Mason came back in, his feet shuffling echoing through the foyer.
"Have you ever heard of something called a moon stone?" Mason interrogated, sitting down on a sofa in the living room.
"A moon stone?" I questioned, feeling slightly confused.
"It looks like a bar of soap, only smooth and milky white," Mason explained, avoiding my glares once again.
"Haven't seen it," I shrugged.
☾
"Wait, the guy died?" Tyler questioned, dumbfounded. "You killed him?"
"He kept coming at me. He got in his head that I was sleeping with his girlfriend ," Mason sighed.
"Were you?" I questioned.
"No. No. I wouldn't do that, he was my friend. He was drunk and attacked me. It was self-defense," he argued.
"And it triggered the curse," Tyler added.
"On every full moon, I lose control. If I don't sedate myself and chain myself, I'll kill anything in my path. You have to be careful. All it takes is an accident, a car wreck. Any death at your hands and you'll have a lifetime of this. You don't want it Tyler, trust me. Your sister didn't have a choice."
Tyler solemnly paused; I knew he wished to question me about who I killed. The thought of his unlawful death sent shivers down my spine. I felt the familiar surge of emotions run through me again, the bundle of tears swelling in my crystal eyes. My eyes shut, closing off the burning sensation that felt like acid as I held my tears back.
"Abby," Mason came over to me, holding my hands in his own. "Abby!"
I pushed myself off the couch, keeping my eyes shut. If Tyler saw the wild, golden look in my eyes, he would see just how much of a monster I was. My feet found themselves inside my car, my skull pressed firmly against the steering wheel.
"Bonnie," I grinned as she opened the door. "I think I'm ready."
Bonnie paused for a moment. I realized something about her home.
The stench of death warned my senses and sent me in to a mode that I could not control.
"Bon-" her harmonious voice got caught in her throat.
"What's wrong, wolf got your tongue?" I growled, my eyes shining their brilliant yet mad golden color.
"Abby, you need to leave," Bonnie demanded, pushing her hand against my chest. "Abby!"
"You drank me dry, you blood sucker!" I hissed, the familiar feeling of the power surging through me veins sending my senses into overdrive. "And here you are, unfazed by it."
"What the hell is going on here!" a man's voice shouted loudly.
It was Stefan Salvatore, the man who caused me most of my pain and suffering.
"Oh this is just fantastic," I snarled, pushing my way into Bonnie's home.
Stefan sped his way towards me, pushing my head against the wall. His hand coldly wrapped around my throat. The disturbing, deathly smell still pulsated throughout the room.
"Calm down, Abby! I don't want to hurt you," Stefan pressed his fingers even harder against his throat.
All I wanted to do was rip his head off.
"You did this to me!" I choked out. "You're the reason I'm this monster!"
Stefan's eyes softened. He realized my terror; in fact, maybe all of this was caused by my innate fear of how every blood sucker I came across screwed me over, royally. He backed away, slowly releasing my jugular. I could feel the bruises running up and down my neck that were already healing.
"Abby," Stefan sighed. "I think it would be better if you left."
Caroline was still in the room, her hand covering her mouth slightly. I could see a few tears strolling and fanning across her cheek. I could hear her soft sniffles bouncing around the room.
I left before I could see her red, swollen eyes looking into my unforgiving ones.
☾
"You barged in on them!" Mason yelled at me for what seemed like the thousandth time. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"Just stop it! I know it was a dumb move," I sighed.
"A dumb move! Abby, that was the dumbest move you could have ever pulled! You almost got yourself killed!" Mason shouted.
Mason's phone began to ring, blasting itself into my sensitive eardrums.
"I have to take this," he angrily announced before leaving out of my ear range.
Tyler came rustling in behind him, a worried and tense tone filling the room. I could smell the pheromones that made me want to purge. He had his worry wary face on, stressing over something huge. He didn't usually act this way if something wasn't that bad.
"I almost killed a girl today," Tyler blurted, staring down at his shoes.
"What?" I breathed out, looking nervously into his eyes.
"It was an accident. I was being stupid. She's okay though but here I was and just for a moment, for a split second, I hoped she'd die. Look, whatever this is inside me, I don't want any part of it. I don't ever want to feel that way again, I won't, and I can't," Tyler cried, sitting on the other side of my bed.
"I know how it feels," I whispered, placing my hand on his own.
Tyler laid his head against my own, sighing.
"I lost control today," I spilled, lowering my gaze from his own.
Tyler lifted his head up from my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my small, fragile frame. I cried lowly, sobbing into his shoulder.
"He held me-me b-by my throat," I sobbed. "I-I was a-against the w-wall. H-He almost k-killed me."
Tyler looked at me with his pure, innocent eyes. He had no clue who I was talking about and I wished he would never have to find out. He was friends with that group too and knowing him, he'd be out for blood. Tyler was always the one to defend me at times like these, but now I think I assumed that role considering I could snap his neck without even touching him.
"Who did it?" Tyler interrogated, holding my hand firmly.
"Ty you wouldn't want to know," I whispered, barely audible. "I wouldn't let you know anyways."
Tyler grumbled, his eyebrows furrowed at how I was protecting him from the supernatural world. He was too temperamental for it; he would use his abilities for nothing good and Mason and I knew that. He inherited my father's hot head temper and I inherited his snarky comments. Although, lately it seemed that the line between anger and sadness was blurring.
"You won't tell me, will you?" Tyler started up again. "You won't ever tell me how you killed a man and hid from it; how his family is grieving and you can't even muster up the courage to talk about it?"
By now, I could feel the feeling in my stomach swell. It was a mix between hatred for myself as well as my brother. How could he say something like that? God knows what I've done and I can barely live with the fact that I killed someone, never mind openly admit the murder to my brother. He wanted me to share the gory details, but I could barely remember them myself.
"Tyler," Mason warned, dashing into my bedroom. "Tyler! You need to get out, now!"
For the second time today my powers surged through my body. Like a fire spreading among the dry grass, I could feel the power spread and strengthen. Mason came soaring towards me faster than I thought anyone could ever do, and pushed Tyler out of the way. He pressed his chest against mine, attempting to pin me down to my bed.
"Abby! Abby you need to calm down!" Mason shouted.
I could barely concentrate.
"Abby!" Mason yelled again. "Abby! Come on! Think about something else! Get your mind off of it!"
"I," I struggled forming words, "can't!"
Tyler came stumbling into my bedroom, seeing my uncle's turmoil. He pressed his weight onto my arms, pinning me as I struggled with a battle within myself for inner peace.
I was losing miserably.
"Abby, listen to me," Tyler whispered into my ear. "Abby, you're so much stronger than this. I'm sorry for what I said."
"Bullshit."
_____
A/N: Hey y'all so it's been a bit since I updated last. I really am terrible at updating if you by happen to read my other fics, like Digression. I am trying as best as I can, but seeing as this terrible chapter took me like 4 days to write idk when I'll update next. Love you guys
-Katie
[please vote/comment/share it would mean a lot]