07. Masquerade

"Here" Damon said, handing Caroline a glass of blood, which she gladly took.

"I'm still shaking" Caroline confessed.

"Care" Aria said, running into the Salvatore's living room with Stefan right behind her.

Aria knew she shouldn't be here, but after Caroline called her, scared out of her mind, Aria had to come and see her, she planned to comfort her best friend while at the same time avoiding a certain Salvatore.

"Aria" Caroline said, getting up and hugging her best friend, "Oh, I'm so glad your here".

"What happened?" Stefan asked.

Caroline broke the hug and sighed, "Go ahead, tell them, you guys are gonna love this" Damon said, his eyes landing on the young Connor witch, who was doing everything in her power to not look towards him, despite how much she wanted to.

"I saw Katherine today" Caroline revealed, shocking both Stefan and Aria.

"What" Aria said shocked.

"Where?" Stefan asked.

"At the Grill, I just stopped by to just gawk and quasi stalk Matt" Caroline explained.

"Skip the teen drama, get to it" Damon snapped.

"Matt saw me so I had to lie and pretend to use the bathroom, even though I didn't really have to go, because I'm a doofus" Caroline said, "That's when Katherine came over to me, saying she had a message".

"What message?" Aria asked.

"She wants the moonstone" Caroline revealed, "And if she doesn't get it, she's going to go on a killing spree".

"Great" Aria whispered, really getting tired of Katherine's threats.

"Tell them the rest of it" Damon encouraged.

"She wants it tonight, at the masquerade ball" Caroline explained.

"She wants to do it public" Stefan realised, "Killing Mason threw her off guard".

"She's running scared" Damon said, "What she did to Jenna was desperate, she's out of tricks".

"Underestimating her will make us an idiot" Aria said, "We already did that once, look where that landed us".

"Aria's right, we have to play this smarter then her" Stefan said.

"Can't we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?" Caroline asked.

"Absolutely not" Aria replied.

"Yeah, Katherine's not getting dick, I've had it" Damon snapped, still very angry at Katherine for causing him and Aria to break up, "I'm gonna go to the masquerade ball, and I'm gonna kill her, tonight".

"I'm coming with you" Aria said, Damon went to speak but Aria interrupted him, "Don't try to talk me out of this Damon, I'm killing Katherine, she killed my parents, she tried to kill Jenna, you're delusional if you think I'm going to let her live".

Damon sighed, he could see the hatred Aria held for Katherine in her eyes, he knew no matter what he said, Aria wouldn't rest until Katherine is dead, so he just nodded.

"You guys aren't gonna kill her" Stefan said.

"Don't give us that goody goody crap" Damon snapped.

"You're not gonna kill her" Stefan repeated.

"And whose going to stop us?" Aria challenged.

"Because I am" Stefan clarified.

***

Caroline opened the front door and let Bonnie in, "Hey, come on in".

"I got Stefan's message" Bonnie said, entering the Boarding House.

"Hey, you brought the Grimoire, thank you" Stefan said.

Bonnie looked to the side to see Alaric and Damon messing with a bunch of weapons, "What's going on?" Bonnie asked confused.

"We're killing Katherine" Aria explained, entering the living room with Jeremy.

"I can explain" Stefan said, as Jeremy left Aria's side and went over to Damon and Alaric.

"Please" Bonnie said, confused out of her mind.

"We're gonna kill Katherine" Stefan repeated, realising that was the best explanation.

Aria and Stefan walked over to Alaric, who was explaining how to work the various weapons he had, leaving behind a still confused Bonnie.

"Now, this works with compressed air" Alaric explained, "Trigger mechanism here, I've got two of these in different size, now, for you, I recommend this" Alaric told Stefan, "Fits nicely under a jacket sleeve, here's the trigger, and when you're ready", Alaric pressed the trigger, causing the stake to fall but before it could hurt anyone, Alaric caught it, shocking the others, "You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire".

***

"I know you both love Elena and Damon, and you wanna be with them, but it's risky" Bonnie said, expressing her doubts, "Too many people can get hurt".

"Bonnie, yes I want to be with Damon, but this isn't just about that" Aria said, "She killed my parents Bon, she needs to die".

"What?" Bonnie asked shocked, having no clue about this, "Katherine's the vampire who killed your parents?", Aria nodded.

"And not only that, what Katherine did to Jenna, it crossed a line, she has to be stopped before it happens again" Stefan said.

"And one witch isn't going to be enough for that" Aria said.

"I don't know guys" Bonnie said, still a bit apprehensive, though her doubts were slowly disappearing since she heard that Katherine had killed her best friend's parents.

"Look, Katherine knows me, right" Stefan said, "She knows that I'm not gonna try something in a crowd full of innocent people, so that gives me an edge, I can catch her by surprise".

"If I channel Aria, then both of us together, can do a spell to trap her, like the tomb spell" Bonnie said, finally giving in.

"That's perfect" Aria said, "That way, we can isolate her from others and make sure no one gets hurt".

"Please, Bonnie" Stefan pleaded.

Bonnie looked towards her best friend, to see her standing there with a hopeful expression on her face, these past few days Bonnie has let Aria down immensely, and she knew how much killing Katherine meant to her, and she didn't want to let Aria down this time, so just for her, she nodded, "Okay".

***

"Are you sure you guys don't want me there tonight?" Alaric asked.

"No, I need you to stay with Elena, I don't want her to know about this" Stefan replied.

"Okay, well, I'll make sure she doesn't leave my sight" Alaric assured.

"All right, if anybody wants to back out, I'll understand" Stefan said, looking at the group.

"Yeah, cold feet, speak now, I don't want this going wrong because someone chickens out, Caroline?" Damon asked, giving the blonde a pointed look.

"I won't, look, she killed me" Caroline said, "Fair's fair, as long as there are no werewolves running around".

"Oh, I took care of Mason" Damon assured.

"As long as Tyler doesn't kill anyone, he won't turn" Jeremy informed.

"Aria?" Damon asked, though he already knew her answer.

"She killed my parents" Aria said, "Katherine's dying, even if that's the last thing I do".

Stefan nodded, he then turned to the apprehensive Bennet witch, "Bonnie, you with us?".

Bonnie hesitated, but after sparing Aria one look, she nodded, "But no one gets hurt".

"Except Katherine" Damon replied, "Tonight, Katherine gets a stake through her heart".

***

It was finally night time, finally time for the masquerade ball, the ball the gang planned to end Katherine Pierce's story once and for all.

Aria entered the masquerade ball with Stefan by her side, she was wearing a short red dress, paired with a black masquerade mask, her long hair was down and was very neatly placed on her back.

Stefan and Aria stood by the stairs outside and tried to find any sign of Katherine.

"You see her?" Damon asked, walking towards the duo.

"No" Aria replied, avoiding looking towards the older Salvatore.

Damon looked at Aria and for a second he froze, she looked beautiful, and he hated the fact that she came to this party as his brother's date and not his.

"Sure you can do this?" Stefan asked Damon, taking his attention off of Aria.

"Pfft, who are you talking to?" Damon asked, "I've wanted this bitch dead for 145 years".

"I had the chance to kill her, and I hesitated" Stefan explained.

"Well, that is the fork in the road between you and me, my friend" Damon said, "I don't hesitate".

"I mean, I know you've spent 145 years hating her, but everyone hesitates at least once" Stefan said.

"I won't hesitate" Damon repeated, his eyes then landed on Aria, "Not after everything she's done".

***

Aria stood to the side watching various couples happily dance with their respective partners, Aria felt extremely jealous that all these people could freely be with the people they love while she couldn't.

"What's a beautiful girl like you doing here all alone?" Damon asked, walking over to Aria, "Where's your date?".

Aria pointed towards the dance floor where Stefan was dancing with Katherine.

"Katherine?" Damon asked, Aria nodded, "Are you seriously not going to talk to me?".

Aria sighed, "Damon you know we shouldn't be talking to each other, specially not infront of Katherine".

"I'm talking to you, not kissing you, as much as I want to" Damon said, "So Katherine shouldn't have any problem".

Aria shook her head at Damon, she then turned back to Stefan and Katherine, just in time to see Katherine snap a girl's spine in half.

"Oh my god" Aria said shocked, "Katherine just killed someone".

***

Damon and Aria were in the Lockwood's office, waiting for Stefan to come back after taking care of the body.

"I put the body in the trunk for now" Stefan said, entering the room.

"We'll dump her when we get back" Damon said.

Stefan sighed in frustration, "This is exactly what I didn't want guys".

"Stefan, it's collateral damage" Damon answered.

"Right" Stefan said, "Which is why we need to call it off".

"What?" Damon asked, not sure if he heard his brother right.

"Absolutely not Stefan" Aria snapped, "You're hesitating again, don't back down, not now, not when we are so close to ending her".

"This women ruined our lives Stefan, she destroyed us, tonight it ends" Damon stated, "We can do it together, I've got your back, so does Aria".

Stefan looked towards Aria, who in turn gave him a nod, "I've always got both of your backs".

"All right?" Damon asked.

After a pause, Stefan nodded, "All right".

***

After sealing the room with Bonnie and informing Caroline it was her turn to lure Katherine upstairs, Aria started walking downstairs, when suddenly a pissed off Elena came infront of her.

"Elena?" Aria asked confused, "What are you doing here?".

Elena didn't say anything, she just grabbed Aria's wrist and dragged her outside where Jeremy and Bonnie were.

"You guys are trying to kill Katherine here?" Elena asked the trio, having been caught up on everything.

"We saw an opportunity and we knew we had to take it" Jeremy defended.

"Okay, stop with the we, are you guys crazy?" Elena snapped, "You're gonna get yourselves killed".

"Relax Elena" Aria said, "We know what we are doing, this plan is full proof, nothing can go wrong".

"And how am I supposed to feel if one of you guys get hurt because of me?" Elena asked.

"Not everything's about you Elena" Aria snapped, shocking Elena, "Katherine's messed with all of us, if you think I'm going to let her live after knowing she separated me from my parents, you really don't know me at all".

Elena looked towards Bonnie, hoping she will say something, instead Bonnie nodded at Aria's statement, Katherine needed to be stopped, this was no longer just about Elena, it was about all of them.

***

"Why do you keep dragging me into this? I don't want any part of it" Caroline cried, as Katherine dragged her upstairs.

"Shut up" Katherine snapped, "Which room is it?".

"It's that one" Caroline said, pointing to the room infront of her.

Katherine went into the room, while Caroline stayed outside.

"Where is she?" Katherine asked, looking around but finding no sign of Bonnie.

Katherine turned around in confusion when she heard Caroline laughing, "I did it" Caroline said happily, "I really didn't think that I'd be able to fool you, but I did it".

Katherine went to charge at Caroline, but the spell Aria and Bonnie did caused her to be trapped inside the room.

"What the" Katherine said shocked, Caroline gave her a smug look, realising what was happening Katherine sighed, "Stefan?".

"Hello, Katherine" Stefan said, coming behind Katherine.

"Goodbye, Katherine" Caroline said, walking away, happy that she is finally free of Katherine and her threats.

"You don't really think that you can kill me with that, now, do you?" Katherine asked, pointing to the stake in Stefan's hand.

"No" Stefan replied, as Damon came out from the closet behind Katherine, "But he can".

Before Katherine could register what Stefan was talking about, Damon shot her in the back.

Outside, Aria let out a huge scream and fell to the ground, paining shooting through her back.

"Aria!" Jeremy yelled.

"Aria!" Elena yelled, kneeling besides her best friend.

"What is it?" Bonnie asked, extremely worried for her friend, "What is it?".

Elena looked at Aria's back, to see immense amount of blood pooling in her dress.

"Ahh!" Aria yelled, the pain slowly becoming to much for her.

"Hey, what's happening?" Jeremy asked, worried for the young witch.

Suddenly, Aria let out another huge scream when her arm started bleeding as well.

"Aria, what's going on?" Elena asked, not knowing how to help her friend.

"Guys, it's Katherine" Bonnie realised, "She's linked to Katherine, Jeremy get them to stop, now!".

Jeremy quickly ran towards the Salvatore brothers while Bonnie and Elena tried to help their best friend, who was losing more and more blood as time went on.

Upstairs, Stefan went to stake Katherine, but she quickly pushed him on to the table, Damon came behind Katherine and took the stake out of her back and tried to stake her, but Katherine shoved him to the wall, Stefan stood up and rapidly started throwing stakes at Katherine, who kept dodging them successfully, Damon tired again, but Katherine held his hand and started twisting the stake around to Damon's heart, before Katherine could stake Damon, Stefan held her in a headlock and both of them fell to the floor, and just as Damon was about to stake Katherine, Jeremy came.

"Stop! You're hurting Aria!" Jeremy yelled, "Everything you're doing to her is hurting Aria".

Katherine smirked and got up from the floor, "You think you two are the only ones with witches on your side? Wrong, and something tells me that my witch is better then both your witches".

"Jeremy, go check on Aria, make sure she's okay, go" Stefan ordered.

"Let's all make sure poor Aria's okay" Katherine mocked, as Jeremy ran downstairs, "Tell me Stefan, doesn't Elena get jealous seeing your care of Aria, I know I do", Katherine grabbed a stake from the ground and started digging it into her palm, "Just a little bit more pressure, and--".

Aria cried in pain when another cut started forming in her hand.

Damon quickly slapped the stake away from Katherine's hand, not wanting Aria to feel anymore pain.

"Guys, it hurts" Aria cried.

"I can't break the spell Aria, I'm sorry" Bonnie apologised, tears pooling her eyes seeing her best friend in pain, "But I can try to take some of the pain away, okay?", Aria nodded, "Okay".

Bonnie grabbed Aria's hand and started chanting.

Katherine grabbed another stake, "This is really gonna hurt".

Katherine went to stab herself in the stomach, but Damon stopped her, "Wait".

Katherine looked towards both the brothers, to see both of them on edge, the thought of Aria hurting, made both of them very anxious, "Okay, so how about that moonstone?".

Jeremy ran downstairs to see Bonnie still chanting, "Are you okay?" Jeremy asked Aria.

"Damon and Stefan" Aria breathed out, having trouble talking with the amount of pain she was feeling, "Are they okay?".

"They're stuck in there with her, you were right" Jeremy told Bonnie, "Katherine had a witch link Aria to her".

"That girl I saw" Bonnie realised, "The one inside, both of you stay with her, keep pressure on her shoulder".

"Bonnie, where are you going?" Elena asked, keeping pressure on Aria's shoulder.

"There's another witch here, I'm gonna find her" Bonnie replied, running away.

Jeremy kneeled infront of Aria and took out his Gilbert ring.

"No" Aria protested.

"Take this" Jeremy said, placing the ring in Aria's hand.

"Aria, please wear it" Elena pleaded, knowing right now Aria needed it more then Jeremy.

"No" Aria repeated, "Put it back on Jeremy, please".

"Aria, listen" Jeremy said, "Listen to me, you need this more then I do".

"It won't work on me" Aria cried, "I'm a witch, a supernatural being, the Gilbert ring is made for humans, it's not going to work on me".

Jeremy and Elena looked at each other in worry, both of them were scared they were about to lose another family member, if they lost Aria, they didn't know what they will do or how they will survive.

***

"The three of us together, just like old times" Katherine mocked, "The brother who didn't love me enough, and the brother who never loved me at all".

"And the evil slut vampire who only loved herself" Damon taunted.

"What happened to you, Damon? You used to be so sweet and polite" Katherine asked.

"Oh, that Damon died a long time ago" Damon replied.

"Good, he was a bore" Katherine said.

"Oh, why don't you two stop antagonising each other?" Stefan asked, fed up with being stuck in a room with Katherine.

"Where's the moonstone?" Katherine asked.

"What do you want with it?" Stefan asked.

Katherine smirked, "Does Aria enjoy having both of you worship at her alter?".

"That was really desperate, Katherine" Stefan replied, "Don't you think that we could see right through you?".

Katherine turned to Damon, "So it doesn't bother you that Stefan's in love with your girlfriend? Oh wait, ex girlfriend".

"Oh, stop it" Stefan snapped.

"Or what?" Katherine challenged, "You'll hurt me? Come on Stefan, everything that I feel, Aria feels, so go ahead, or better yet, kiss me Stefan, she'll feel that too".

Damon glared at Katherine, he knew she was doing this on purpose, she was trying to get under his skin, but that doesn't mean Damon liked being reminded of the fact that his brother is in love with his girl.

"You know, this whole Mason thing has me a bit confused, why a werewolf?" Stefan asked, changing the topic, "The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires, so, what's in that for you?"

"Sorry about your pet wolf" Damon taunted, "Probably should've kept him on a tighter leash".

"I'll have to remember that for next time, he's not the only wolf in town" Katherine reminded.

***

"Damn it, where's that witch?" Damon snapped, wanting to get to Aria as soon as possible.

"We could play charades" Katherine suggested.

"You bargained the moonstone" Stefan realised.

"What are you mumbling about over there?" Damon asked.

"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" Stefan recalled, "It was the moonstone, wasn't it?".

"Good for you Stefan, two plus two" Katherine said, "And it would've worked, except people found out that I wasn't in the tomb", Katherine turned to Damon, "Thanks to you, by the way, have I mentioned how inconvenient your obsession for revenge has been for me?".

"You and me both, honey" Damon said.

"But why do you--? Why do you need it back?" Stefan asked confused.

"I love you in a suit, so dashing" Katherine complimented, in an attempt to divert Stefan's attention.

"What were you doing with it in the first place?" Stefan asked.

"You're wasting your breath, Stefan" Damon said.

"Unless it wasn't yours to begin with" Stefan said, ignoring Damon, "In 1864, you faked your death, who were you running from, Katherine?".

"In 1987, you were in Chicago, at a concert of all places, with that wench Lexi" Katherine said, ignoring Stefan's question, "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".

"Who were you running from?" Stefan asked again.

"I love you" Katherine mouthed to Stefan, not even trying to acknowledge his question.

***

"We're missing the party" Katherine complained, as Damon poured himself a drink, "I'll have one of those".

"Right away, Miss Katherine" Damon said, pouring Katherine a drink and handing the drink over to her.

"Thank you" Katherine said, taking a sip of the drink.

Suddenly Damon slammed Katherine to the wall, with a stake in his hand, "No, no, no, Damon, don't" Stefan said, holding Damon back.

"Yes, Damon, please" Katherine mocked.

"The second the spell's lifted, I'm gonna drive this stake right through your heart" Damon threatened.

"God, you're hot, when did you get so hot?" Katherine asked.

"Katherine" Lucy, the witch who linked Aria and Katherine, said, entering the spelled room, with the moonstone in her hand, "The spell in this room has been broken, you're free to leave".

"Thank god" Katherine said, walking over to Lucy.

"When I hand this over, my debt to you is over" Lucy said.

"Done" Katherine said.

"I owe you nothing" Lucy said.

"I said done, give it" Katherine said, getting annoyed.

"I wouldn't do that" Damon warned.

Lucy ignored Damon and handed Katherine the moonstone, which as soon as Katherine touched she started choking and fell to the floor.

"You should've told me two another witches were involved" Lucy said, "The girl you made me link you to, she's a Connor witch Katherine, the most powerful witch, but I'm sure you knew that".

"Wait, Aria--".

"Aria's fine" Lucy assured the brothers, making both of them breathe a sigh of relief, "The spell is broken, she'll heal quickly, Bonnie's with her, I apologise for my involvement".

Lucy walked out the door, leaving the Salvatore brothers with a now unconscious Katherine.

***

Aria stood near the Lockwood's lake, with Jeremy's jacket wrapped around her shoulders.

"Aria" Damon said, running towards the Connor witch.

As soon as the spell was lifted from the room, the first Damon wanted to do was check on Aria, so that's exactly what he did.

"Damon" Aria whispered, giving the older Salvatore a small smile.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked, extremely worried for the witch.

Aria nodded, "I'm okay, Bonnie took away some of the pain, and she said I'll slowly heal".

"Yeah Bonnie told me, but you should still see a doctor" Damon said.

"But I hate doctors" Aria complained.

Damon chuckled, "Yeah I know, but still, better safe then sorry".

"Yeah, yeah" Aria said, "Stefan told me about Katherine, about what Lucy did to her, what are you gonna do with her now?".

"I'm going to place her where she should have been this whole time, the tomb" Damon answered.

"But the tomb spell is down, how are you going to keep her there?" Aria asked confused.

"Bonnie's going to put the spell back up" Damon explained.

"Do you need my help?" Aria asked.

"No" Damon denied, "What I want you to do is rest, you've been through a lot tonight".

Aria nodded, "Can I see you tomorrow?", knowing right it was more important to put Katherine away then to talk about their relationship.

Damon smiled, "Of course".

Damon turned to leave, but Aria grabbed his wrist and stopped him, "Please be safe".

"I'm just dumping Katherine into the tomb Ria, I'll be fine" Damon answered.

Aria smiled, "So you will come back to me?".

Damon stepped forward and placed a kiss on Aria's forehead, "I'll always come back to you Ria, plus we have a lot to talk about".

"Yeah" Aria whispered, "We do".

***

Katherine woke up with a gasp, she looked around her surroundings in confusion, she realised she was in the tomb, with the moonstone right beside her.

Katherine grabbed the moonstone and slowly stood up, and started walking towards the exist, when she reached the exist, she realised she couldn't get out, as a invisible barrier was stopping her.

"Hello, Katherine" Damon said.

"Where am I?" Katherine asked confused.

"Where you should've been all along" Damon answered, "I thought you would've learned your lesson, messing with Connor and Bennett witches".

"You should've killed me" Katherine said.

"Death would've been too kind after what you did to Natalie and Aria" Damon said, stepping forward to close the tomb.

"No, Damon, don't" Katherine pleaded, "Damon, don't, you need me, Aria and Elena are in danger".

Hearing Katherine's words, Damon stopped in his step, "From who?", Katherine didn't reply, making Damon assume she's lying, "You're lying, you're always lying".

"Why do you think I haven't killed Aria yet?" Katherine asked, "I've been dying to end the Connor bloodline but I haven't cause she's the last Connor witch alive, and Elena, she's the doppelganger, both of them need to be protected".

"I will protect Aria" Damon said.

"No" Katherine cried.

"While you rot in hell" Damon said.

"No, Damon, don't" Katherine pleaded, "I'll do anything, please, Damon, you need me".

Damon simply ignored all of Katherine's yelling and closed the tomb door.

"Damon, you need me! You need me!" Katherine yelled, banging on the rock, but failing to open it.

***

"Yeah Jer, don't worry, Elena has her car, she's driving me home" Aria assured, a worried Jeremy, "Also, tell Bonnie, that spell she did, it's definitely working, I'm starting to feel much better" Aria paused, waiting for Jeremy's reply, "Oh yeah, you should definitely drive her home, as soon I reach home, I'm crashing, okay, bye".

"Jeremy still worried?" Elena asked, after Aria hanged up.

"Yeah" Aria answered, "He was making sure I had a ride home".

Before Elena could say anything, two masked people came up behind them, and before the two girls could realise what was happening, they were knocked out.

***

Thank you for the number ones in the Forbes and Elena Gilbert tags!!

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