𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐈𝐕
⏤ The Confrontation ⏤
❝Besides, he's Katherine's ex.❞
𝐓𝐇𝐄 early morning sun shafted scattered rays of light across the woodland in beautiful shapes and patterns as Damon, rather sharply, trudged through the trees with Stefan following shortly behind. The elder Salvatore decided to get some answers from Olivia regarding Mason and Stefan, upon seeing Damon's current rage epidemic, decided to accompany his brother to see Olivia. Whilst he too wanted answers, he was more so concerned with preventing Damon from killing her, or, more accurately, attempt to prevent her from killing him in self-defence.
So they wandered the woods surrounding the Boarding House, drifting deeper into the woodland where the trees were clustered closer together, blocking out most of the sunlight and creating an eerie atmosphere. Eventually, the two managed to locate the tribrid's house and Damon, without a shred of hesitation, opened the unlocked door ⏤ despite having every intention of breaking the lock if it wasn't.
They didn't need an invitation due to the girl being a vampire and the house currently being in her ownership but that didn't do much to ease the uncomfortable feeling the younger Salvatore felt from entering her home uninvited, much less her bedroom where Damon was carelessly heading towards.
Entering the decent sized room, they noticed the blonde sleeping seamlessly under the thick white covers of her bed. Streaks of light poured into the room through the blinds, giving a certain glow to her pale skin. Much like the first time Damon had seen Olivia asleep in the hospital, she once more looked innocent and tranquil. She seemed to be a completely different person despite remaining just as beautiful ⏤ even Stefan who was madly in love with Elena couldn't deny her beauty.
"Could you guys come back in like an hour? I'm not done sleeping away my problems yet." Olivia murmured through her pillow. She had felt the presence of the two in her room for several minutes and even without opening her eyes or getting up from the comfort of her bed she knew it was the Salvatore brothers.
"I suggest you start talking. Now." Damon said with a dangerously low voice as he narrowed his eyes at the blonde, already feeling his patience slip away from him.
"About?" Olivia asked, finally fluttering her eyes open and later pulling herself up so she was seated in her bed, leaning against the back headboard and giving both of the Salvatores a questionable look.
Damon clenched his teeth together for a moment before his jaw loosened and he managed to respond. "Mason Lockwood. Where is he?"
"He's gone." The tribrid answered simply, noticing Stefan frown in confusion resulting in the blonde sighing inwardly before she reluctantly pulled herself out of bed, walking across the room past the pair towards a set of draws in which she'd placed a glass of water on top of the previous night.
Stefan flustered for a moment upon seeing the girl in her sleepwear, feeling vaguely intrusive for invading her personal space like this whereas Damon admired the girl's body: her long smooth legs, her overall slim build, curves that complimented her perfectly. He couldn't help but admit that her beauty surpassed Elena's. Though, appearance aside, there was still simply something about the girl. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"What do you mean gone?" Stefan then asked, pulling from his momentary sense of discomfort and averting his attention back to the current situation.
"He left town yesterday and he's not coming back," Liv answered, sipping on her water before placing it back on the set of draws beside her.
"You're lying." Damon returned; his voice leaving traces of bitterness as he appeared in front of the girl in a matter of seconds.
"I'm not lying, Damon." She countered, feeling his body which seemed to radiate heat in his current state of anger, brush lightly against her own at their current close proximity in which they stared at one another, challenging the other silently by their intense stares.
"Why would he leave? Is he going back to Katherine?" Stefan asked, trying to defuse some tension and bring a sense of calmness back to their conversation.
"He's not working for Katherine anymore and I can assure you that he won't bother either of you again, nor is he going to return to town anytime soon so you can hold back on attempting to track him down and kill him." She responded, keeping her voice calm despite letting in bitter undertones in response to their... Damon's... incessant need to still hunt him down and kill him.
"How do we know he won't come back?" Damon asked, still feeling a strong urge to tear the wolf apart limb from limb before burning the remains to ashes.
"He has no reason to," Olivia deflected, not exactly wanting to get into the specifics.
"Care to expand on that?" Stefan asked, tried with everything she was keeping from them.
Olivia paused before replying with the best form of a response she could. "I told him about how Katherine was using him and he believed me. Then after hiding the moonstone I gave to him in the well ⏤" she began only for Damon to cut her off abruptly.
"Hold up. You gave him the moonstone?" He asked her in disbelief.
"Yes, Damon, I did." She replied.
"Why the hell would you do something so stupid?" He asked back in irritation. He couldn't believe that she would fall for his lies so easily.
"Because I trusted him a lot more than I trusted you." She blurted out in return, tearing her gaze from him and whilst the Salvatore never showed it in his eyes, he couldn't help but be annoyed, hurt even, that she'd trust the Lockwood more than himself.
"Look," the girl sighed, "he doesn't even remember meeting you or Katherine." She decided to tell them, realising they wouldn't leave without a decent answer and she supposed the truth ⏤ well partial truth ⏤ wouldn't be catastrophic to reveal to them.
"I'm sorry, what?" Stefan asked, left utterly confused by her words.
"I... know this witch and... she agreed to help me by erasing his memories." She paused, letting her words sink in before she continued. "He doesn't remember meeting either of you or me or Katherine even. He doesn't remember what happened here only that he stopped by to pay his respects and see Tyler before leaving again."
"I'm sorry." Stefan then said, feeling as though it was the only thing he could say.
He now completely understood why she did what she did to save Mason. The werewolf was supposedly helping her, going against Katherine in the process. He had never given the moonstone to her, nor had he intended to kill them. Stefan couldn't help but feel guilty for his part in Mason's capture and torture. He even felt bad for not trusting Olivia for the girl had essentially aided them in relinquishing them from all of their troubles.
Stefan also knew that Damon felt similarly despite knowing his brother would never truly show it in his expression or put to words how apologetic or guilty he was. It simply wasn't him.
"Why are you apologising?" Olivia frowned back, her brows drawn together in confusion.
"I saw the two of you together and I understand how you must be feeling right now," he began, understanding what she must be experiencing at this given moment.
Olivia smiled appreciatively at his kindness whilst Damon glared at his brother in response to his comment. He didn't care if Mason was on their side or not, he still hated the wolf and it angered him to even think about the possibility of him being with Olivia.
"It never would've worked anyway. A vampire, a werewolf... Besides he was Katherine's ex." She said back with a slight smile which Stefan returned. Damon, however, couldn't help but be annoyed and even pained by her comment, though he was unaware as to why her words cut him so deeply.
After a slight nod from Stefan, who soon drifted out of her room before leaving her house completely, figuring he'd invaded her space enough already. Damon began to do the same, drifting to the doorway before he paused, deciding against leaving just yet.
"You're still here?" She asked him with a slight smirk as she turned to face Damon who took several paces towards her. Initially, he returned the expression but it soon shifted to a more serious one.
"I thought I'd let you know Katherine's planning something against you." He told her, remembering the phone call from last night and feeling almost guilty for provoking the vampire as now she would surely take her anger out on Olivia as she'd previously done with Elena.
"Of course she is," Olivia responded with a small smile before she unintentionally rubbed her wrist where she'd been burnt from the wolfbane the other night. There were still faint marks there which usually would've healed instantly but since she used her energy to heal Mason and erase his memories, it prolonged her own healing.
Damon glanced down to where she was holding her wrist and briefly noticed the marks. He was oblivious to the fact she was affected by the wolfsbane and so his only reasoning for the marks was because of how tightly he gripped her wrist the other day. He was certain it should've healed by now but felt guilty despite his confusion.
Guilty ⏤ something Damon Salvatore never felt as whilst he had killed, murdered and tortured innocent people, he never once felt a flicker of guilt for any of it. Yet now for some strange reason he did.
"You should probably get going," Olivia said pulling her arm behind her back at seeing him notice it. He simply nodded hesitantly in response before disappearing from her house which led Liv to release a heavy breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.
⏤⏤⏤⏤
A while had passed since Damon and Stefan had both left her residence and the tribrid was currently located in the front room on the lower level of her house, standing in front of the few bookshelves which clustered the room containing various things ⏤ sketchbooks, spellbooks, sparse items of magically importance, art supplies in some cases...
Currently, her eyes were loitering over a specific shelf, one littered with spellbooks ⏤ some of the more powerful ones, not including the deadly ones consisting of darker magic spells which were too dangerous to hide. They were hidden somewhere else: beneath one of the floorboards in the stairs.
Oliva pushed the two centre books on the middle shelf aside to see a small oak box hidden behind them. She pulled the box out and then carefully opened the lid to see the moonstone delicately resting inside. She admired the strange stone for several moments before grabbing several of the books from the bottom shelf and placing them onto the carpeted floor.
She then began flicking through each of them, one by one, in hopes to find something about the moonstone and its use and origin. Stefan and Damon currently had the fake replica she had created and so thankfully no one knew she had the real one. Yet that didn't change the fact the stone seemed practically useless. She knew it was part of some sort of ritual that could release all werewolves from being bound to the curse of the moon or release vampires from being bound to the sun but what Katherine wanted the stone for was a mystery ⏤ considering she already had a daylight ring.
After around an hour in which she evidently found nothing she grabbed her sketchbook and began to draw an image of the stone out of boredom. Once her drawing was completed, she looked at it for a moment before picking up the actual stone itself. She looked at it sceptically before seeing a strange glow began to emit for it. Olivia brought the stone closer to her face, studying the details of it before she was abruptly brought into utter blackness.
Everything was completely black and there was nothing in sight and whilst for a moment it was silent, seconds later screams and cries began erupting from the distance. The voice sounded familiar and though she could see nothing, she knew the yells belonged to Elena. After a moment the blackness was suddenly engulfed by flames and though Liv attempted to convince herself it was some sort of vision, she couldn't help the feeling that it was real. She could smell the smoke and felt it entering her lungs, suffocating her slowly and more importantly she could feel the heat radiating off the ember flames and burning her skin.
Olivia coughed heavily in between her breathing as she returned to the colour and shapes of the real world. She didn't know exactly what happened but at that moment all she could focus on was a strange burning feeling that spread throughout her body. Though after a few moments of the pain dying down, her confusion overpowered her discomfort. She couldn't quite grasp why she has seen what she did after touching the moonstone. And was even more so confused as to why she was continuously having the same vision.
Either way, she had decided she'd had enough of strange witch stones and visions for now and so decided to see what was going on at the Boarding House with Stefan and Damon and to make sure they weren't still planning to do anything stupid concerning Mason.
During this time, almost everyone besides Elena was gathered in the Boarding House preparing for what they were going to go through with at the Masquerade Ball tonight. Caroline had originally learned that Katherine was going to be there and told Stefan and Damon of her threats who decided they needed to get rid of the vampire once and for all. And so, soon later, Alaric, Jeremy and even Bonnie were all with them in the main room, gathering weapons and creating a plan for tonight.
Jeremy was currently standing by a table Alaric had filled with different weapons; the history teacher explaining to Jeremy how most of them worked despite the Gilbert mostly consumed in his own thoughts; curiously picking up the array of weapons, absent-mindedly listening to the hunter as he spoke. After a moment, he picked up one of the large crossbows on the table, having to use both his hands to fully hold the mechanism due to there being three different slots for the stakes to be placed, able to fire all of them simultaneously at a chosen target.
Jeremy after scarcely analysing it, angled it sideways, attempting to figure out how it worked as he pointed it towards the doorway. "How does this thing work again?" He questioned Alaric who was standing beside him, but before the hunter could answer Jeremy, who wasn't paying attention, accidentally pulled down on the trigger, releasing all three stakes which happened to hurtle towards Bonnie.
Luckily, Olivia arrived at the Boarding House at the right moment and managed to appear in front of the young witch, catching two of the stakes ⏤ one which was aimed at her head and the other at her lower neck. However, she couldn't stop the final one from being thrust into her upper stomach.
She groaned slightly in pain, dropping the two pieces of wood to the ground before stumbling back a couple of steps. Damon seeing the commotion unfold, instantly appeared beside Liv, holding onto her upper arm so that she wouldn't fall.
"You okay?" He asked her, feeling a twinge of concern whilst everyone else was both worried for Liv yet even more so confused as to why Damon would even care to approach her, seeing how he usually is around people.
Damon's eyes searched her expression for any pain and Olivia only nodded briefly in response before reaching down and pulling the stake from her stomach, biting back on her tongue slightly. Damon in response instinctively gripped her arm slightly tighter. Seconds later he let go of her though, pulling himself away upon remembering how he'd unintentionally hurt her the previous day.
Meanwhile, everyone else in the room was watching Liv. Bonnie was unable to move for a moment, feeling not only startled but surprised by Olivia's actions and even thankful that she had saved her.
Jeremy, however, immediately felt a rush of guilt due to his careless actions. "I'm so sorry, I ⏤" Jeremy began unsure of what to say.
"It's fine, just please put the crossbow down." She replied, and in response, Jeremy instantly dropped the weapon to the table. "Thanks." She murmured before glancing down to the hole in her shirt and the bloodstains that now covered it. After doing so her eyes soon drifted to the others, her brows furrowing upon glancing around the room and seeing all the spellbooks, weapons and general communication currently occurring between people she thought hated one another.
"What's going on in here?" She asked as her eyes drifted across all of them, fully absorbing the current scene. Initially, no one responded however and so her eyes finally rested on Caroline as Olivia knew she would break the easiest.
Before the vampire could reply however, it was Stefan who was the one to speak up. "We're going to kill Katherine." He said bluntly to which Olivia released a confused smile on the verge of laughing at his words.
"You guys are kidding, right?" She asked, though seeing their expressions was enough to inform her it was, in fact, the opposite.
"Look I know you probably think we sound crazy right now but ⏤"
"Crazy?" She repeated, a small laugh leaving her lips. "No you guys are either mentally insane or just plain stupid." She told them all bluntly. "I mean how is it possible that I'm in the same room as the most idiotic beings on earth?" She then announced, resulting in a smirk from Damon.
"Well, at least you're also in the same room as the most attractive." He said, his smirk remaining as he leaned closer to her.
Olivia surprised him by smiling in amusement. "Yeah, you're right." She paused. "Stefan is extremely attractive." Olivia finished, causing Damon's smirk to drop and Stefan to release a small smile of his own at seeing how easily Olivia was able to get under Damon's skin.
"So what's your big plan to kill her then?" Olivia then asked them all.
"Vampire Barbie over here lures her into an isolated room, witchy traps her in there with a spell and then Stefan and I kill her. Simple." Damon responded as he moved over to the liquor cabinet by the couch and began pouring himself a glass of bourbon.
"Good luck with that," Olivia said before deciding to turn and head for the door. Seeing as they weren't planning anything with Mason, she supposed there was no point in her being here ⏤ it wasn't like she'd involve herself in their plans willingly, considering she was doubtful it would even work. Olivia had no desire of messing with Katherine anymore, though that being said, if there was an opportunity to find out what grand scheme she was attempting to set up for, Olivia wouldn't be able to resist to involve herself, Until then, however, she wanted to be as far away from the brunette as possible.
Though once more that wouldn't particularly work out in her further considering she was practically being blackmailed into attending the Masquerade Ball tonight which Katherine was apparently intending to make an appearance at.
"Aren't you going to help us?" Caroline asked her, stopping in front of her.
"You more than anyone have a reason to want to get rid of her." Stefan then added.
"I'd rather just stay out of it," Olivia said as she turned back to them briefly before proceeding to make her way out, though seconds after she was engulfed in the quiet serenity of the woodlands, she was joined by Caroline who rushed to keep up with her.
"Olivia, wait up." She called out to Liv as she hurried to match the tribrid's pace.
"Shouldn't you be in there finalising your plan?" Olivia asked as she continued walking.
"I've already been in there all day and I need a break from Damon." She returned before a smile swept across her face, shortly followed by the girl stopping in front of Liv and blocking her path. "And so I thought we could go find dresses for the Masquerade Ball together. If you don't already have one."
"Right, I forgot about that." She returned with a light sigh. "I think I may have something that will work though." She then added, remembering a specific dress she had buried in one of her unpacked boxes.
"Well, I don't and I need your help finding something Matt will like," Caroline told the girl in response, making the tribrid sigh as she tugged on her arm, leading her a different direction through the trees, towards the town where most of the stores were located.
"How is that going by the way?" Olivia asked after a moment, making conversation.
"Terribly." She sighed back blandly before continuing to expand. "Ever since I became a vampire I've been avoiding him so that I don't have the urge to kill him but now that I'm more comfortable around him, everything's different."
Olivia turned to Caroline calculatingly, observing the aura that surrounded her and feeling the vibes of jealousy that washed over her, making the tribrid smile as she shook her head to herself. "Matt is completely in love with you, you don't need to be jealous of..."
"Aimee Bradley," Caroline interrupted in distaste making Liv nod back in amusement. "Anyway..." she proceeded to drift off, clearly aiming to change the subject of discussion. "...I heard you're going with Tyler."
"Where did you hear that from?" She asked, not knowing that anyone else knew. Not that she cared particularly, she just found it strange that Caroline found out somehow. The new vampire only shrugged her shoulders in response making the tribrid roll her eyes despite a small smile being present on her lips.
"So," Caroline began, turning to Liv with a suggestive expression that made Liv frown in confusion. "Are you guys ⏤" Caroline began but Liv cut her off in realisation before she could go any further.
"No, we're just friends." She said with certainty.
"Does he know that?" Caroline asked Olivia in return making the tribrid throw her a quick glare. "I was just asking." Caroline defended herself making Olivia laugh as they continued heading towards the town.