Seven | You're An Idiot, Cassandra
When I woke, I decided to go and make breakfast to stop my crutical blood craving. I turned on the coffee machine, letting the pot boil. I cut up some strawberries and made some pancake batter. I poured three circles into a pan that was sitting on the stove waiting to be used.
Whilst my head was elsewhere, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my waist, bringing me back to reality. A head buried itself into my neck and I felt kisses being left on the exposed skin. I exhaled a soft moan at the feeling.
Damon pulled away, shoving a strawberry into his mouth, "You're making breakfast?"
"Of course." I smiled, flipping the pancakes over.
"The only reason I'm glad you're back." He smirked at me. I playfully frowned at him and pushed his arm. He let out a laugh, rubbing the area, "I'm joking."
"You better be or you aren't getting any of these." I pointed to the pancakes with the spatula.
"Hm, I love your pancakes."
Before either of us could utter another word, there was a knock on the front door. Damon gave me a curious look before he went to answer it. I took the pancakes from the pan when they were done and poured in some more batter.
Within seconds, Jeremy's voice echoed through the house, "I need to talk to you."
"And why do I need to talk to you?" Damon replied in an arsey tone causing me to roll my eyes.
"Tyler Lockwood has to kill someone to activate his curse." Jeremy told him, "He's not a werewolf yet."
"Wow, fascinating." Damon sarcastically responded before continuing, "Not enough."
"But Mason Lockwood is and he's looking for a moonstone, a special rock connected to the werewolf legend." Jeremy said, "That's why he's here."
My interest piqued at the news. Moonstone?
"A moonstone?" Damon questioned as I had in my head.
"And I know where it is." Jeremy told him.
"What's your sister say about this little discovery?" Damon asked. Jeremy didn't answer, "Oh, you haven't told her, have you?"
"Well, Elena doesn't want me getting involved in all this." Jeremy replied.
"And you're a Gilbert and you just can't help yourself." Damon stated, "Wow. Your search for life's purpose is as obvious as it is tragic."
"You going to let me in or not?"
Then I heard Jeremy walk into the house and Damon slam the door. I piled the pancakes onto a plate and placed them in the middle of the dining table, along with some syrups, whipped cream and strawberries.
I glanced into the other room where Damon and Jeremy were, "Hey, Jeremy, do you want some pancakes?"
"No, I've already had breakfast but thanks." He gave me a grateful smile. I sat down, putting two pancakes onto my empty plate, adding strawberries and syrup.
"You're missing out, Jeremy." Damon told him, making his way over to the table, "Cassie makes the best pancakes."
He took a few from the stack and added toppings to his liking. I grinned at him, shoving a forkful of the delicious concoction into my mouth.
After breakfast I had gone to my room to change. I came back downstairs just as Alaric had walked through the front door carrying a box full of things. Damon turned his head from where he was standing in the living room, "Ric!"
Alaric glared at Jeremy, who was standing next to Damon, "What are you doing here?"
"Helping Damon. I'm the one who found out about the moonstone." Jeremy replied. Alaric gave Damon a look. The Salvatore shrugged. Alaric looked back at Jeremy with sigh as he placed the box down on the table, "Does Elena know you're here?"
"Not exactly." Jeremy responded as I walked over to the three of them.
"What you got?" I asked, digging through the box. Damon, who was curiously watching over me, pulled out a book.
"This is Isobel research's from Duke." Alaric told me, "Her assistant sent it to me."
"Mmm, Vanessa. The hottie." Damon smirked making me roll my eyes. Nobody knew about Damon and I. If there was a Damon and I.
Alaric took the book out of Damon's hands, "Vanessa, yes. Now, do you remember the old Aztec curse she told us about?"
"Sun and the moon, blah blah blah." Damon said.
Jeremy walked over to us, "An Aztec curse? Cool."
"Yeah, supposedly vampires and werewolves used to roam freely until a shaman put a curse on them to limit their power. Since then, werewolves can only turn on a full moon and vampires are weakened by the sun."
Damon looked at his hand with his ring, wiggling his fingers. I looked at the dainty ring on my finger too; my daylight ring.
"Most of them, anyway." Damon stated.
"According to the legend, the werewolf part of the curse is sealed with the moonstone." Alaric opened a page of the book that contained a map.
"What do you mean sealed?" Jeremy asked, taking the book from Alaric. I moved next to Jeremy to look aswell.
"It's a witch thing." Damon said, "Whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse." Damon said.
"Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse." I suggested, looking to Damon.
"If we start believing in some supernatural witchy-woo legend from a picture book, we're idiots." He replied before turning to Jeremy, "Who has the stone now?"
"Tyler." He told him.
Damon cocked an eyebrow, "Can you get it?"
"Yeah." Jeremy nodded.
"See, now your life has purpose." Damon smiled. I was about to roll my eyes again but the amount of times I'd already done it, they would have fallen out.
"So, you do believe it?" Jeremy asked.
"It's the same book that says a werewolf bite kills a vampire. Ignoring it would make me an even bigger idiot. Let's go." Damon drank the rest of the bourbon he had been holding and started to walk towards the door. I placed the book back in the box.
The three of us followed Damon as he unlocked his car. We all climbed in. I was sitting in the back with Jeremy. Damon drove off towards the Lockwood Mansion.
After a few minutes, we arrived and I got out of the vehicle. I headed over to Elena, who seemed to be sorting some stuff out. Apparently Damon had the same idea as he followed after me. My eyes wandered across the path to see Stefan and Bonnie talking.
"Damon, what are you doing here?" Elena asked.
Damon stopped close to her, "Looking for my baby bro. Speaking of, would you tell yours to stop following me around?"
"What's going on?" She furrowed her brows at him.
I decided to leave Damon to it and headed towards Stefan instead. I could hear the two talking behind me as I approached the youngest Salvatore, "Hey, Stef."
"Cassie, hi. I have something to tell you." He replied. His eyes wandered behind me and out the corner of my eye, I saw Damon stand next to me.
"What's up?" I asked Stefan.
Stefan hesitated before he crossed his arms, "Bonnie saw Katherine and Mason kissing."
I frowned and scrunched my nose up, "What?"
"Katherine's with Mason Lockwood?" Damon repeated.
"We missed it." Stefan groaned, "He got into town right after she did. It makes perfect sense."
"I know, but Mason Lockwood?" Damon frowned, "Werewolf thing aside, the guy is a surfer. She's got to be using him. She has to be."
"Using him for what?" Stefan asked.
We stood in silence for a moment before it hit me, "Mason Lockwood's looking for a moonstone that allegedly can break the full moon werewolf curse. Maybe Katherine wants it as well."
"Why?" Stefan questioned.
Damon butted in, "That's the beauty of Katherine, she's always up to something."
"So, how are we gonna find this moonstone?" Stefan asked.
"Jeremy is getting it from Tyler." I told him.
Stefan frowned, "Why would you involve Jeremy?"
"I didn't." I responded defensively. Stefan stared at Damon before he walked away, slapping Damon's arm as he passed him.
"He's playing Indiana Jones." Damon shouted to his brother, "He involved himself."
Stefan just shook his head in response, continuing to walk away from us. I glanced at Damon before following after Stefan. He came to a halt when he saw Tyler and Jeremy talking from afar. I stopped next to him and Damon had managed to catch up aswell.
I could hear Tyler and Jeremy talking about the moonstone. Tyler said he had given it to Mason. Damon frowned at us, once again pissed off. I exhaled an irritated breath at Jeremy's idiocy before we continued walking.
Stefan had hung back behind Damon and I, texting. As we approached Bonnie, Damon picked up his speed, grabbing her arm.
"Don't hurt her, Damon." I shouted as he pulled her further infront of us.
"Okay. This is as far as I go." Bonnie said, stopping. Damon let go of her, "What do you want?"
"A favour." Damon said.
Bonnie let out a bitter laugh, "Like that's gonna happen."
"So predictable." Damon frowned. I stopped beside them and Damon glared at me as if to say 'step in'.
I sighed and faced Bonnie, "Please, Bonnie."
Stefan stopped beside me to help out too, "I know how you feel about helping us out, but since you're the one that linked Mason with Katherine, we finally have an opportunity to get an upper hand on both of them so, just hear us out."
"Pretty please." Damon battered his eyelashes at her.
"I'm listening." She said. Stefan's phone started ringing, his attention turned to the screen.
"I have to fill Elena in on what's going on." He looked to Damon, "Can you play nice, please?"
"Don't worry, Stefan, I've got him under control." I lightly shoved Damon by the shoulder, keeping him a reasonable distance away from Bonnie.
Damon kept focus on Bonnie, "All you have to do is touch Mason Lockwood again to see if he gave Katherine the moonstone."
"My visions don't work like that." She told him, "I don't get to ask questions."
"How inconvenient." Damon grumbled, "Although, lets talk about that little witchy juju thing you do with me. You know, the fun one where my brain bursts into flames? What is that?"
"That's me giving you an aneurysm." Bonnie told him, "Your blood vessels go pop, but you heal quickly, so, I do it over and over again."
"Is it vampire specific?" I asked.
"It'd work on anyone with a supernatural healing ability." Bonnie replied.
"Good. Good, good." Damon said, a vindictive smile appearing on his lips.
Bonnie crossed her arms, knowing his plan, "Damon, I'm not gonna help you hurt him."
"Mason Lockwood's a werewolf, Katherine's evil. They're the bad guys. Really? You're gonna play morality police with me right now? Let me put it to you another way: they're a threat to Elena. So you, witch, are gonna get over yourself and help us."
Damon stepped closer to her in a threatening manner. I frowned and pulled him backwards, away from her, "Yeah, he meant that as a question with a "please" on the end."
"Absolutely." Damon fakely smiled.
We quickly made a plan and then headed back towards the Lockwood mansion. Stefan, Damon and I stayed hidden behind a tree whilst Bonnie did her part. Bonnie pretended to struggle getting a table from the back of a truck. Mason saw her struggling and offered to help her.
When he went to grab the table, Bonnie used the spell that caused him a hell of a lot of pain. He grabbed his head in agony and dropped to his knees.
"I'm sorry." Bonnie apologised to Mason.
Damon headed straight past the witch and kneed Mason in the face causing him to drop to the ground, unconcious. Damon grabbed the car keys from Mason's pocket and opened the door of his truck, motioning for Bonnie and I to get in.
I placed my arm around Bonnie's shoulder and guided her to the truck. I climbed in after her. Stefan and Damon dropped Mason's body in the trunk. Damon climbed into the drivers seat, started the engine and drove off.
▂▂▂▂
Damon carried Mason's unconcious body over his shoulder and into the boarding house. He placed the body down onto a chair as I carried Mason's bag of stuff in and dropped it on the sofa, "Here's his bag. As requested."
"Okay, Bonnie, grab that corner." Damon pointed at a large cream coloured sheet that was sprawled on one of the sofas.
"Why are we doing this?" She asked, walking towards it.
"Because I don't want to stain the carpet." Damon told her.
I slightly chuckled, "I knew you were gonna say something like that."
The two of them worked together for once, pulling the blanket over the rug so that it completely covered it. Damon made his way over to Mason's bag and didn't hesitate to delve inside its contents.
"He's not gonna be out much longer." Bonnie warned.
Damon pulled out a bunch of chains from the bag, "Whoa. Looks like this guys used to being tied up."
Bonnie moved behind Mason and placed her hands on either side of his head. I furrowed my brows at her, "What are you doing?"
"You're looking for a moonstone." She stated, "I'm trying to help you find it."
"Oh, good, yeah. Find out if he gave it to Katherine, and find out where she is." Damon requested, "And find out what they're gonna do with it once they get it."
"I don't think she can get that much information." I told him.
"She can try." He said as more of a demand on her part. Bonnie closed her eyes and concentrated as Damon began to chain Mason down to the chair.
"Somewhere small, dark. There's water." Bonnie said.
"Like a sewer?" Damon asked.
"No. Like a well? That can't be right." Bonnie furrowed her brows, "Yeah. It's a well."
"Why would it be in a well?" I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Bonnie lowered her hands from his head and opened her eyes. She gave us a light shrug, "I only get what I get."
Mason suddenly grunted and grabbed Bonnie by the wrist making her gasp in fright. Damon yanked Mason's hand off of her. She began to hurry towards the door, "That's it. That's all I got."
"Hey, judgey." Damon shouted causing Bonnie to turn around, "Thank you."
And then she left without another word.
"Come on. Wake up, wolf boy." Damon punched him in the face.
"Bloody hell, that's gonna knock him out even more, Damon." I frowned, "I'm gonna go get something to eat."
I decided it was best to leave Damon to it, besides I couldn't watch him being murderous. I walked out of the room and headed down the hallway. I came to a halt when I spotted Bonnie talking on the phone and I hid behind the wall. I thought she'd already left?
"Did you find the moonstone thing?" I heard Caroline's voice on the other end of the phone.
"Not yet. Hey, do you remember that old well where we used to play when we were kids?" Bonnie questioned.
"Yeah." Caroline replied.
"It's in the woods. Do you remember where?" She asked.
"On the edge of the old Lockwood property. Why?"
"I think that's where Mason is keeping the moonstone." Bonnie told her, "I gotta go."
So that's where the moonstone was. I needed to get it before Katherine did.
I watched as Bonnie left the house and I waited a few minutes until I knew she'd be gone from view, then I headed out the front door and vamp ran into the woods.
When I reached the woods, I scanned the area for several minutes trying to find the well Bonnie had spoken about. Eventually, I found it. I hurried towards it and leant over its edge to see how deep it was. It seemed to be a long way down and was full of dirt and leaves.
I turned my head when I felt Stefan's presence. I'd called him for some assistance and to tell him what Bonnie knew.
"It's down there?" He asked, looking down the well with me.
"Apparently." I replied.
Elena suddenly appeared next to us, "What's going on?"
Stefan frowned, facing her, "You shouldn't be here."
"I know, but I am. What's going on?" She repeated.
"Bonnie thinks the moonstone is down here." I told her.
Stefan ripped the lock off of the iron grating. He then took the grating from the top of the well and threw it to the ground. He turned on the flashlight he was carrying and jumped onto the stone wall.
"Woah, no, let me do this." I said. I knew Stefan was a lot weaker than I because he didn't drink human blood, he wouldn't have been able to find the strength to get back up.
"I'm fine." He told me but I didn't believe him.
I sighed, knowing he was lying, "Stefan..."
He hesitated before huffing, "All right."
Stefan jumped off the wall and handed me the flashlight.
Elena became concerned, "Hey. Be careful."
"I will." I replied and climbed onto the wall. I inhaled a deep breath before jumping off the wall and soared down into the well. A few seconds later, I hit the water and instantly screamed in pain as my skin started burning.
"Stefan!" I screamed. I tried to grab onto the walls to pull myself up but it wasn't climbable.
"Cassie?" He shouted down the well.
"Elena!" I yelled her name as loudly as I could. I was in agony.
"Cassie, what's happening?" She asked, "What's going on in there?"
"Vervain. Help. HELP!" I screamed. I tried to climb up again but it wasn't happening, it wasn't possible. I gritted my teeth, the vervain was tearing my skin from my bones, it was pure agony, I could barely breathe.
"Elena!" I heard Caroline shout outside.
"Help!" I whimpered. My vision started to blur.
"Caroline, Cassie's down there and the chain is rusted." Elena told her, "No. You can't climb in, it's filled with vervain. Caroline, we've got to get her out. Now!"
I breathed heavily, trying to keep concious, trying to stay sane but it was too painful. My legs weakened and I was consumed by water, everything around me submerged into darkness.
July 1864
"Mr Salvatore, you're not very good at this game." I teased.
"That's because if I catch you, the game will be over." He smirked causing me to giggle.
I slowly ran backwards, turned on my heels and proceeded to run through his fathers garden. I ran through a small area filled with flowers, some of them breaking off from my stompy feet and large dress. I could hear him chasing after me, laughter escaping his lips.
I came to a halt behind a statue and slowly turned around to see how close he was but he had disappeared. I frowned in confusion and turned back around. I jumped as Damon was standing on the other side of the statue.
"You scared me." I said, pressing a hand to my chest. He grabbed my waist.
"And I caught you." He smiled.
I laughed. I moved from his grasp and stopped by the fountain, watching the water fall from its tip. Damon stood beside me. After a moment, I turned to face him but I managed to lose balance on my heel as it caught in the stone ground. I grabbed him to stop myself falling but instead, I pulled him into the fountain with me.
The water was freezing and I was now soaking wet, but I laughed as I looked over to Damon, who was drenched too.
"You're an idiot Cassandra." He laughed hard, splashing me with some water.
"I know." I giggled, splashing him back.
He pushed himself up, his clothes completely heavy from the water, and held out a hand. I took it and he helped me up. I stood, our bodies inches apart. I wanted to kiss him so badly but I knew he liked Katherine. Even so, I felt him move a little closer.
"What are you two doing? You've ruined your clothes." A voice shouted. We both turned in shock and moved away from each other.
A breath escaped my lips as I regained conciousness. I was awake again but so weak, my eyes unable to open. I could feel my skin feeling as though it was on fire, still burning from the vervain.
"Elena, she needs your blood, please." I heard a voice.
"Of course." I suddenly smelt blood and something shoved into my mouth. I drank from it. I finally gained strength and opened my eyes to see Elena's wrist in my mouth and my head resting on Stefan's lap. I released my fangs from her wrist.
I gasped for oxygen, "Thank you, Elena."
"I got the moonstone." She told me with a small smile. Stefan suddenly picked me up from the ground and carried me bridal style away from the well. I closed my eyes, still feeling so weak from the amount of vervain and burns.
▂▂▂▂
We arrived back at the boarding house. Stefan had carried me all the way. He opened the front door and the first thing I noticed was a heart on the floor, most likely Mason's, hopefully Mason's and not Damon's. My eyes were still a little blurred but I could make out Damon a few metres from the heart, who instantly turned around at our arrival.
He rushed over to us, a concerned look on his face, "What happened?"
"The well had vervain in it. She went in to get the moonstone." Stefan replied. Damon took me out of Stefan's arms and into his own. Stefan pulled the moonstone from his pocket, showing us it.
"All this for that?" Damon asked, staring unamused at the small clear rock.
"Yep. I see you've exercised your usual restraint." Stefan stated, looking to the mess on the floor.
"Had to be done." Damon told him. His eyes shifted down to me before back up to Stefan, "I'm gonna take her upstairs."
"I'll get rid of the body." Stefan said.
Damon carried me up the stairs and into his bedroom. He threw half the duvet over and gently placed me into his bed. He pulled off my shoes, throwing them onto the floor. He did the same with my jacket before placing the duvet over my aching limbs.
I nuzzled my head into the pillow as I stared up at him. He sat on the edge of the bed, his hand comfortingly brushing through the side of my damp hair.
"You're an idiot, Cassie." He said, stroking my cheek.
I smiled weakly, "I know."
"Do you need anything?" He asked, "Bloodbag? Bourbon? Sleep?"
"You."