07. Masquerade

"Here" Damon said, handing Caroline a glass of blood.

"I'm still shaking" Caroline admitted, taking a small sip of the blood.

"Caroline" Brayden said, running into the living room, Stefan right behind him.

"Brayden" Caroline whispered, running into the middle Salvatore's arms.

"Are you okay?" Brayden asked worried, Damon having called him when he was out on a run, saying Caroline needed him and nothing else.

"Go ahead, tell them, you two are gonna love this, specially you Brayden" Damon said.

"I saw Katherine today" Caroline informed, breaking hers and Brayden's hug, but still holding on to his hand.

"What?" Brayden asked shocked.

"Where?" Stefan asked.

"At the Grill, I just stopped by to grab my mom and me some food" Caroline replied, "And while waiting for the food, I needed to use the bathroom, where I saw Katherine, at first she pretended to be Elena, but I figured it was her after seeing her curly hair, you know since Elena has straight hair, so I quickly tried to escape, but she blocked my way, and said that I need to deliver you guys a message".

"What was the message?" Stefan asked curiously.

"She said to tell you three that she wants the moonstone, otherwise she's going to rip this town apart until it rains blood" Caroline replied.

"Tell them the rest of it" Damon urged.

"She wants it tonight" Caroline continued, "At the Lockwood's masquerade ball".

"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".

"We can't underestimate her" Stefan said, "We have to play this smarter than her".

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

"No, Katherine's not getting dick" Damon snapped, he then turned to his awfully quiet twin brother, "You're uncharacteristically quiet".

Brayden looked at Damon, "We're going the masquerade ball tonight".

"And doing what?" Damon asked, "Handing the moonstone over?".

"No" Brayden replied, "We're killing Katherine Pierce".

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

"Oh screw off Stefan!" Brayden snapped, "I am in mood for you goody two shoes shit, the bitch lied about being the tomb, she then killed Caroline, threatened her mother, and then compelled Jenna to stab herself, and let's not forget, it's because of her that Fae left you, what else does she have to do for you to kill her?!".

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

"Are you kidding me?!" Brayden yelled.

"Because I am" Stefan clarified.

***

"The hottest girls in town are here!" Kaitlynn yelled, entering the boarding house, with Fae next to her.

"We got your message" Fae told Stefan, "What was the emergency?".

"We're gonna kill Katherine" Jeremy replied, walking over to Damon, Brayden and Alaric, who were looking at all the weapons.

"What?" Kaitlynn asked shocked.

"I can explain" Stefan replied.

"Please, do" Fae said.

Stefan thought about it for a moment, then realised Jeremy's explanation was the best, "We're gonna kill Katherine" he repeated.

Fae and Kaitlynn exchanged an confused look, while Stefan walked over to his brothers and Alaric.

"Now, this works with compressed air" Alaric explained, "Trigger mechanism here, I've got two of these in a different size, now, for you, I recommend this" he told Stefan, grabbing one of his weapons, "Fits nicely under a jacket sleeve, here's the trigger, and when you're ready", Alaric pressed the trigger, but before the stake could hurt anyone he quickly caught it, and pretended to punch someone.

"Nice" Brayden commented.

"You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire" Alaric said.

***

"You guys are taking a huge risk Stefan" Fae said, as they walked out of the living room, "There's going to be a lot of people at the ball tonight, a lot of people can die if your plan fails".

"Come on Fae, Katherine has crossed a line, with killing Caroline, what she did to Jenna, what she did to us" Stefan said, "She has to be stopped before she does anything else".

"Stefan--".

"Look, Katherine knows me, right" Stefan interrupted, "She knows 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".

Fae thought about it for a moment, "Just to be safe, I'll do a spell on one of the Lockwood's room, a spell that will trap Katherine and every other vampire in there with her until I take the spell down myself".

"Right, we can isolate her away from the others" Stefan realised, "Great idea".

"You better hope this works Stef, because if it doesn't Katherine's not going to stay quiet" Fae said.

"This will work Fae, it has to" Stefan assured.

***

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

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

"Yeah, make sure she doesn't come and ruin our plan" Brayden said.

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

Stefan nodded, "All right, if anybody wants to back out, I'll understand" he said.

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

"I won't, look, she killed me" Caroline replied, "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 said.

"Kaitlynn?" Brayden asked, "You in or not?".

"We get it if you can't do this" Stefan assured, "It's hard killing your own sibling".

Kaitlynn looked at the group, and sighed, "Look, I'll be there and make sure no gets hurt, but I don't think I can help you three actually kill her".

"As long as you don't stop us, we're good" Brayden said.

"I won't stop you" Kaitlynn assured, "Katherine has this coming, but I can't be there when you actually do it".

"Fair enough" Damon said.

"Fae?" Stefan asked, "You with us?".

Fae nodded, "But guys, no one gets hurt" she said.

"Except Katherine" Damon said.

"Tonight, ladies and gentleman, Katherine Pierce is officially going to hell" Brayden said.

***

It was now nighttime, and the Lockwood's masquerade ball was in full swing.

Damon and Brayden, walked down the stairs, in their identical black tuxes and masks, and stood either side of their younger brother.

"You see her?" Damon asked.

"Nope" Stefan replied, he then turned to Damon, "Sure you can do this?".

"Pfft, who are you talking to?" Damon asked.

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

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

"I mean, you spent 145 years loving her, it could happen" Stefan said.

"I won't hesitate" Damon snapped.

"And if either of you do, then rest assured, I will gladly finish the job" Brayden said, "Tonight, my biggest dream is going to come true, I'm going to see Katherine Pierce's dead body, and no one is going to come between my dream, not even you two, now excuse me, I have a girl I have to find and dance with before the murdering happens".

Without hearing anything anything from his brothers, Brayden walked away from his brothers to find his girlfriend.

"I'm going to go find Fae" Stefan said, also walking away.

"Damon Salvatore at a ball without a date" Kaitlynn said, walking over to Damon, "That's first".

Kaitlynn's Look

"Kaitlynn Pierce without a boy toy on her arm" Damon said, looking at Kaitlynn, "That's a first".

"I think you have me confused with my sister" Kaitlynn said, "I don't have boy toys".

"Then what do you have?" Damon asked curiously.

"One night stands" Kaitlynn replied, "I don't like being tied down".

"Yet you didn't mind being tied down with my brother" Damon said.

"And we both know how that turned out" Kaitlynn said, "It made me realise relationship are not my thing".

"You and me both" Damon said.

"Since we're both here without dates, want to dance?" Kaitlynn asked.

"You, dance with me?" Damon asked, "Is the world ending?".

"Shut up" Kaitlynn said, lightly pushing Damon, "I'm bored and at this point I'll dance with anyone, even you".

"Should I be offended?" Damon asked.

"No, you should be grateful" Kaitlynn replied, "Out of all these men, I chose you to dance with me".

"How lucky of me" Damon said sarcastically.

"So are we dancing or am I finding someone else?" Kaitlynn asked.

"I'll dance" Damon replied, holding has hand out for Kaitlynn, "Then you'll remember how generous I am".

Kaitlynn chuckled and put her hand in Damon's, "I'll never forgot the moment the great Damon Salvatore danced with me" she said sarcastically.

"This isn't our first dance" Damon reminded, as he and Kaitlynn walked on to the dance floor, and he wrapped his arm around Kaitlynn's waist, while she put one hand on Damon's shoulder, the other intertwined with Damon's.

"Right, the first founder's ball" Kaitlynn recalled, "Your father called Brayden for something and he told you to give me company".

"It was before I knew what you and Katherine were" Damon said.

"It was quiet a nice dance" Kaitlynn said.

"You still remember it?" Damon asked.

"You don't?" Kaitlynn asked.

"Touché" Damon replied.

Kaitlynn chuckled, and after that, both Damon and Kaitlynn danced in silent, realising they didn't mind each other's company as much as they thought they did.

***

After looking around for a few minutes, Brayden finally found Caroline by the buffet table, eating chocolate cover strawberries.

"Hey" Caroline greeted, seeing her boyfriend walk over to her, "Strawberry?".

"Yes, please" Brayden smiled, as Caroline fed him a chocolate covered strawberry, "If you're done eating these, come dance with me".

"Brayden Salvatore, dance with me?" Caroline teased, "What have I done to have this honour?".

"Just shut up and dance with me, princess" Brayden said, "I'm bored out of my mind".

Caroline chuckled, "Fine".

Brayden grabbed Caroline's hand and led her to the dance floor, where Damon and Kaitlynn were also dancing.

"Damon is dancing with Kaitlynn" Caroline said, as Brayden wrapped his arm around Caroline's waist and pulled her close to him.

"Good for him" Brayden said, not even looking towards them, his full attention only on Caroline Forbes.

"No jealousy?" Caroline asked curiously.

"He's not dancing with you, princess" Brayden replied, "Why should I be jealous?".

"So hypothetically, if Damon and Kaitlynn would to get together, would you mind?" Caroline asked.

"It would be weird, yeah, but if in some weird bizarre universe, they do fall in love, I wouldn't mind" Brayden replied, "I have you, and I would really love for Damon to find love as well, and if it happens to be with Kaitlynn, then so be it".

"Good, cause I totally ship them" Caroline admitted.

"And why's that?" Brayden asked curiously.

"Well, both of them have this weird chemistry between them" Caroline replied, "And I think they might actually be really good for each other, and both you and Stefan have found love, it's only fair that so does Damon, then we can all go on triple dates".

"Ugh, no" Brayden complained, "No triple dates".

"Why not?" Caroline asked, "It will be great".

"It will be a nightmare" Brayden said.

"Come on, sometimes you have to get out of your shell" Caroline said.

"You don't want me to come more out of my shell" Brayden said, "Trust me".

"Officially intrigued" Caroline said.

"Caroline, if you think I'm in my shell still, and I'm so shameless, do you really want to imagine what I'll be like if I fully come out of my shell?" Brayden asked.

"On second thoughts, no I don't" Caroline replied.

Brayden chuckled, he span Caroline around, dipping her down, he pressed his lips on to hers.

"If you want to see me out of shell so much, I can always show you in my bedroom" Brayden whispered into Caroline's ear, after pulling her back up.

"Shut up" Caroline mumbled, her cheeks suddenly turning red.

Brayden chuckled, "I mean it".

"Brayden, stop" Caroline warned.

"The blush on your cheeks indicate you don't want me to stop" Brayden teased.

"I hate you" Caroline mumbled, trying to walk away from Brayden.

Brayden grabbed Caroline's wrist and pulled her to his chest, "No you don't" he said.

"I do when you say stuff like that" Caroline mumbled, "You really need to stop saying stuff like that in public".

Brayden put a finger under Caroline's chin, and made her look at him, "No can do, princess" he said, "The day you decided to fall in love with me, you signed up to deal with everything I say".

"I never read that on the imaginary contract you gave me" Caroline teased.

"I'll give you a new one and this time it will say it" Brayden said, playing along.

"It better" Caroline said.

"Mhmm" Brayden said, pulling Caroline into another kiss.

***

Fae's Look

"Stefan!" Fae yelled, running over to the youngest Salvatore, and nearly tripping over.

"Woah" Stefan said, grabbing Fae before she could fall over, "Careful".

"Sorry" Fae said, "I just had a very important question to ask you".

"What question?" Stefan asked confused.

"Well, currently Kaitlynn's dancing with Damon, and Caroline's dancing with Brayden, and I want to dance as well" Fae replied, "But I have no one to dance with, and I know we are here to kill Katherine, but can you please give me one dance?".

Stefan smiled, "Of course I can".

"Great, let's go" Fae said, grabbing Stefan's hand and dragging him to the dance floor, where his brothers were already dancing with their respective partners.

"You look beautiful, by the way" Stefan said, as the two started dancing together.

Fae smiled, "Thank you" she said, "Could you tell I actually made an effort? I had someone to impress".

"You always look beautiful to me, Fae" Stefan replied.

"Who said anything about you?" Fae teased.

"If not me, then who are you to trying impress?" Stefan asked.

"You're not the only guy in Mystic Falls, Mr. Salvatore" Fae replied.

"Right, my bad" Stefan said, an amused expression on his face.

"So, are you ready for tonight?" Fae asked, "I mean, surely killing your first love is going to be hard on you".

Stefan sighed, "My love for Katherine might have been real at the beginning, but after I found what she was, I didn't feel love, I felt fear, and you once told me that there shouldn't be any fear in love".

"Then why come to this town?" Fae asked, "Why fall in love with Elena? She looks exactly like Katherine".

"I came back to Mystic Falls to remember you" Stefan admitted, "I accidentally met Elena, and the only reason I got in a relationship with her was to forget about you, but we all know how that turned out".

"I think you should give your relationship with Elena another chance" Fae said suddenly.

Stefan stopped dancing and looked at Fae in shock, "What?" he asked shocked.

"Whenever I'm near you Stefan, I've only put you in danger" Fae replied, "And I came back to Mystic Falls, to save you guys from Katherine, not to ruin yours and Elena's relationship".

"Mine and Elena's relationship was ruined before you even came Fae" Stefan said.

"Everyone deserves a second chance" Fae said, "Give Elena and your relationship another chance Stefan, please".

Stefan stepped back from Fae, "So I should give mine and Elena's relationship another chance, but not ours?".

"Our relationship was broken thirty years ago" Fae replied, "You and Elena are a much better fit then me and you".

"I can't believe this" Stefan whispered, "I need to go".

"Stefan--".

"Don't follow me" Stefan warned, walking away from Fae.

***

"Hey" Jeremy greeted, walking over to Fae, who was busy looking for Stefan as he had disappeared somewhere after their conversation at the dance floor.

"Hey, have you seen Stefan anywhere?" Fae asked.

"No" Jeremy replied, "Brayden sent me to tell you that it's time".

"Now?" Fae asked.

Jeremy nodded, "Now" he replied.

"Alright, let's go" Fae said.

Both Jeremy and Fae walked up the Lockwood mansion stairs, trying to find a empty room where they can trap Katherine.

"Thought this room could work" Jeremy said, leading Fae into a room.

"It's pretty far from the party, so it's perfect" Fae said, taking her grimoire out of her bag, while Jeremy took out the weapons.

"Is that the spell book I read about in my family's journal?" Jeremy asked curiously.

"You read about my mother, Emily Bennett's grimoire, this is mine, I don't usually use it, but to do a tomb like spell, I need it" Fae replied.

"Can you do all the stuff that's in there?" Jeremy asked.

"I've been a witch for nearly two hundred years" Fae replied, "Of course I can".

Jeremy chuckled, "Fair enough, so you ready or do you need anything else?".

"I'm ready" Fae assured, starting the spell.

***

"We need to let the brothers know that everything is ready" Fae said, as Jeremy and her joined the party again, suddenly Fae stopped and looked around, "That's not right" she whispered.

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked,

"There's another witch here" Fae replied, looking around but not knowing who it was.

"It's probably Bonnie" Jeremy said, "She's around here somewhere".

"That's probably it" Fae said, "Let's go find the brothers".

Jeremy nodded and with that both of them left to find the brothers, not realising that there was actually another witch present in the party other then Fae and Bonnie.

***

After his and Fae's conversation at the dance floor, Stefan separated himself from her and started looking around for Katherine, not wanting to think about what Fae said to him.

"Dance with me" Katherine said, walking over to Stefan.

"No" Stefan stated, no longer in the mood to dance.

"Fine, then tell me who I should kill" Katherine said, grabbing a strawberry, "Him? Mm, she looks delicious" she said, eating the strawberry.

Stefan sighed, but nonetheless offered his arm to Katherine, not wanting anyone to die.

Katherine smiled and took Stefan's arm, and let him lead her towards the dance floor.

Katherine laughed, "It's a beautiful night" she said, dancing with Stefan.

"Why the charade?" Stefan asked, in no mood for small talk.

"How's Jenna?" Katherine asked, "I certainly didn't except her to survive that, lucky girl, clumsy, how does one stab oneself?".

"Katherine?" Stefan said.

"Mm?" Katherine asked.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt tonight" Stefan replied.

"Okay" Katherine said, "Then give me the moonstone, and nobody will".

"Mm, well, see, I don't have the moonstone on me, Brayden has it, so why don't you go over to him and get it?" Stefan asked.

"I have a better plan" Katherine replied, "You go fetch it from him, and I will try not to kill anyone in the meantime".

Stefan chuckled, "Either you go get it yourself, or you don't get it at all".

"Hey, Stefan, I can't find Matt" Aimee said, walking over to the duo, "Oh, my god, Elena, you look so pretty, I love that dress, you look gorge".

"Thank you, I love your necklace" Katherine complimented.

"Oh, thanks" Aimee said.

"Oh, it's twisted, here" Katherine said, going behind Aimee, "Let me, here we go", without wasting a second, Katherine broke Aimee's spine, "Paralyzed from the waist down", Katherine then broke Aimee's neck, "And dead" she said, throwing the dead body at Stefan, "The moonstone, Stefan, ticktock".

***

"I put the body in the trunk for now" Stefan informed, entering the Lockwood's office where his brothers were.

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

"This is exactly what I didn't want, guys" Stefan said.

"Relax, the girl was collateral damage, don't tell me you were actually excepting this night to end with only Katherine dead?" Brayden asked.

"We need to call it off" Stefan said.

"What?" Damon asked shocked.

"Absolutely not" Brayden snapped.

"Who's hesitating now?" Damon asked, "Hey, don't do this to me and Brayden, this women ruined all of our lives, she destroyed us, tonight it ends, we can do it together, all three of us".

"And if you don't help us, I will rip her heart out infront of everyone" Brayden said, "This was your plan, which is why I agreed to go with it, I don't mind getting exposed, all I care about is making sure Katherine Pierce suffers".

"We got your back Stefan" Damon assured, "All right?".

Stefan hesitated, but then nodded, "All right" he replied.

***

After receiving a message from Jeremy, informing her that it was her turn, Caroline walked into the Lockwood mansion, as she was about to enter a room, Katherine speeded over to her, she twisted her wrist and slammed her to the wall.

"What are Stefan, Damon and Brayden up to?" Katherine asked.

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked, pretending to be oblivious.

"I've got Jeremy Gilbert luring me out to the lake, what's going on?" Katherine asked.

Before Caroline could saying anything, Kaitlynn speeded over to Katherine, she held her neck and slammed her to the wall.

"Hello, sister" Kaitlynn greeted.

"Kaitlynn" Katherine breathed out, "Long time no see".

"I don't appericate you hurting my friend" Kaitlynn said, tightening her hold on Katherine's neck, "If you want to know what the brothers are up to, then let me tell you, they are going to kill you", Kaitlynn let go of Katherine and let her fall to the ground, "The moonstone is in the upstairs room with Fae, take it and leave Katherine, otherwise you will die".

Katherine stood up and stared at Kaitlynn in confusion, "Why are you helping me?".

Kaitlynn shrugged, "Felt like doing charity" she replied, "You better hurry, because as soon as me and Caroline leave, we're telling the brothers you're upstairs, so ticktock sister, your time is running out".

Katherine looked at Kaitlynn, then at Caroline, after a moment of hesitation, rushed to grab the moonstone.

***

Katherine entered the room in which Kaitlynn had directed her towards, entering the room, she saw no sign of Fae or the moonstone.

"For a five hundred plus vampire, you do have your idiotic moments" Kaitlynn said, as her and Caroline stood outside the room.

"We did it" Caroline laughed, confusing Katherine, "I really didn't think that you'd get fooled this easily, but we actually did it".

"You brought this on yourself Katherine" Kaitlynn said, "I don't even have it in myself to feel pity for you".

Katherine tried to attack her sister, but quickly realised she couldn't get out of the room, as the room was sealed.

"What the?" Katherine whispered shocked, suddenly realisation crossed her face, "Stefan?", Katherine turned around to see the youngest Salvatore behind her.

"Hello, Katherine" Stefan greeted, a stake in his hand.

"Goodbye, Katherine" Caroline said.

"I'll see you in hell, sister" Kaitlynn said, walking away with Caroline.

"You don't really think that you can kill me with that, now, do you?" Katherine asked, walking over Stefan.

"No" Stefan replied, as Brayden came out of the closet, a stake gun in his hand, "But he can" Stefan said, as Brayden shot Katherine's back.

Stefan speeded over to Katherine and staked her in the arm, while Damon came and staked her other arm.

Stefan removed the stake from Katherine's arm and went to stake her in the heart, but Katherine shoved him into the wall.

Damon speeded over and took the stake out of Katherine's back, and tried to stake her, but Katherine shoved him into the wall as well.

Brayden shot multiple stakes at Katherine, her managing to dodge all, except one, which hit her right on her shoulder.

Damon speeded over to Katherine and tried once again to stake her, but Katherine grabbed his wrist and started twisting his hand, making the stake point towards Damon's chest, before Katherine could stake Damon, both Stefan and Brayden speeded behind her and grabbed her arm each, and pulled her down to the ground.

"Now!" Brayden yelled to his twin, as he and Stefan held Katherine down.

Damon ran over and just as he was about to stake her, Jeremy yelled, "Stop! You're hurting Elena, everything you're doing to her is hurting Elena" he informed.

"Who cares?!" Brayden yelled, "Stake her!".

"She's my sister Brayden!" Jeremy reminded, "You can't kill her".

Brayden looked at Katherine then at Jeremy, and after a moment, let go of Katherine letting her stand.

"You think you three are the only ones with a witch on your side?" Katherine asked, "Wrong, and something tells me that my witch is better than your witch".

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

"Don't kill her" Jeremy warned Brayden, before running to check on his sister.

"Stupid witches!" Brayden yelled, kicking a table in his anger.

Katherine smirked, "So how about that moonstone?".

***

"The four of us together, just like old times" Katherine said, "The brother who loved me too much, the one that didn't love me enough, and the one that didn't love me at all".

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

"Get me out of here" Brayden snapped, trying to kick the barrier but failing.

"It's Fae's spell, Brayden" Stefan reminded, "It's not going down until she wants it to".

"Then where the hell is your girlfriend?!" Brayden yelled, "If you don't want me to murder that bitch, then I need to get out of here, now!".

"She'll be here" Stefan assured, "Just have some patience".

"That's the problem Stefan" Damon said, pouring himself a drink, "Our brother doesn't have the word patience in his dictionary".

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

Brayden glared at Katherine, "I was never sweet and polite, clearly you never knew me".

"You never let me" Katherine said, "Cause I would have loved to get to know you".

"And I would love to stake you, but clearly we don't all get what we want" Brayden snapped.

"Oh, why don't you two stop antagonizing each other?" Stefan said, getting annoyed.

"Then tell the bitch not to talk to me" Brayden said, "You and me both know I could care less about Elena's life, the only reason I haven't staked her is because of Jeremy, and the more time I'm stuck here, the more less I'm starting to care about Jeremy hating me".

"Here" Damon said, handing his twin a bottle of bourbon, "Drink this and calm yourself down".

Brayden snatched the bottle from his brother, and without wasting a second, he took a swig out of it.

"Where's the moonstone?" Katherine asked.

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

Katherine smirked, "Do Caroline, Fae and Kaitlynn enjoy having the three of you worship at their alter?".

"No one likes a sad, jealous, old hag, Katherine" Brayden said, taking another swig from the bottle.

"So it doesn't bother you that Damon's first love isn't me but Kaitlynn?" Katherine asked.

Brayden looked at Katherine in shock, while Damon glared at her.

"What?" Brayden asked.

"Shut up, Katherine" Damon snapped.

"Come on Damon, I think it's time Brayden finally knows" Katherine said.

"Katherine" Damon warned, walking over to the vampire, but Brayden stopped him.

"Talk" Brayden demanded Katherine.

"Bray--".

"Shut up, Damon" Brayden snapped, "Talk, Katherine".

Katherine smirked, "In 1864, when me and Kaitlynn came to live with you guys, Damon saw Kaitlynn and it was love at first sight for him, but after realising your love her, he stepped back and pretended to hate her, that was easier then admitting that he wanted his brother's girl".

"You're lying" Stefan snapped, "You're trying to great rift between them, it's not going to work Katherine".

"I'm not lying" Katherine said, "Damon told me all this".

"Why would Damon tell you that?" Stefan asked.

"Because I compelled it out of him" Katherine replied, "It was obvious he had eyes for Kaitlynn but was pursing me, and I wanted to know why".

Brayden looked at Damon, who was glaring at Katherine, now Brayden knew what Damon has been hiding from him.

"I knew you were hiding something from me" Brayden mumbled, taking another swig of the bourbon.

"Bray--".

"Not now" Brayden interrupted Damon, "I'd rather not have this talk infront of her".

Damon sighed, "I can explain".

"I know" Brayden said, "But not right now".

"You know, this whole Mason thing has me a bit confused, why a werewolf?" Stefan asked Katherine, taking her attention off his brothers, "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 said, "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 Fae?" Damon complained.

"We could play charades" Katherine suggested.

"Or I could kill you" Brayden said, trying to find more alcohol, having finished the bottle Damon gave him.

"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 yours and Kaitlynn's death, you told me that you gave George something that he needed" Stefan remembered, "It was the moonstone, wasn't it?".

"Good for you, Stefan, two plus two" Katherine replied, confirming Stefan's doubt, "And it would've worked, except that people found out that I wasn't in the tomb", Katherine looked at Damon and Brayden, "Thanks to you two, by the way, have I mentioned how inconvenient you twos obsession with me and my sister has been?".

"You and me both, honey" Damon replied.

"Where's the bloody alcohol?!" Brayden yelled, "Stefan, I'm warning you, I can't take this any longer, your girlfriend has ten more minutes before I lose control and kill both your exes".

"But why do you--? Why do you need it back?" Stefan asked Katherine, ignoring his brother's outburst.

"I love you in a suit, so dashing" Katherine said, hoping 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 realised, "In 1864, you faked yours and Kaitlynn's death, who were you running from, Katherine? Who is that you remember, but Kaitlynn doesn't?".

"In 1987, you and Brayden were in Chicago, at a concert of all places, with that wench Lexi" Katherine replied, not answering Stefan's question, "Come on, Stefan, don't look so surprised, Kaitlynn wasn't the only one who kept an eye on Brayden, I also checked in on you over the years, you and Brayden were standing in the front row, dancing all night, it was one of those rare moments in which you and Brayden seemed like brothers, you were watching Bon Jovi, and I was watching you".

Brayden looked at his twin, to see him staring at the doorframe, anger evident on his face.

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

"I love you" Katherine mouthed, once again ignoring Stefan's question.

***

"We're missing the party" Katherine complained.

"Finally!" Brayden yelled, finally finding more alcohol in the closet, "I found more alcohol".

"I'll have some of that" Katherine said.

Brayden glared at Katherine, he couldn't take it anymore, so he grabbed a stake and went to attack Katherine but Stefan held him back.

"No, no, no, Brayden, don't" Stefan said.

"Let go of me Stefan!" Brayden yelled, trying to stake Katherine, but Stefan refused to let go.

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

"When you got manipulative" Brayden snapped, "Oh wait, you've always been manipulative and a bitch".

Realising his brother had calmed down, Stefan let go of him, just as Katherine's witch, Lucy Bennett entered the room.

"Katherine" Lucy said, 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 stated.

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

"I wouldn't do that" Damon warned.

Lucy ignored Damon and placed the moonstone in Katherine's hand, just as Fae entered the room, as soon as Katherine held the moonstone, she started choking and finding it hard to breathe.

"You should've told me another witch was involved" Lucy said, as Katherine fell to the floor, "She's the first and only Bennett heretic, Katherine, but I'm sure you knew that".

"Wait, Elena--".

"Elena's fine" Lucy assured Stefan, "The spell is broken, she'll heal quickly, Bonnie's with her", Lucy turned to Fae, "I'm sorry for involvement, but I owed her, if I knew you were involved in this, I would have never helped her".

Fae gave Lucy a small smile, "It's all good, but you have to be careful when you make deals with vampires Lucy, sometimes the deal can cost your life".

"We're Bennett witches, Fae" Lucy said, "Even if we tried, we couldn't stay away from vampire business".

"That's, unfortunately true" Fae mumbled.

"I'll see you around" Lucy said.

"See you around, Lucy" Fae said, as Lucy walked out the room.

***

Katherine gasped and opened her eyes, looking around her realised she was in a cave, the moonstone right next to her.

Katherine grabbed the moonstone and slowly stood up, and started walking out the cave, reaching the exist, Katherine realised she couldn't get out as there was a barrier blocking the exist.

"Hello, Katherine" Damon greeted, as he and Brayden walked over.

"Where am I?" Katherine asked confused.

"The place you should have been 145 years ago" Brayden replied.

"I thought you would've learned your lesson, messing with a Bennett witch, that to a heretic" Damon said.

"You should've killed me" Katherine snapped.

"That thought did cross my mind" Brayden admitted, "But then I realised that death would have been too easy on you, after everything you made all of us go through, this is the perfect punishment".

Damon stepped forward to close the tomb.

"No, Damon, don't" Katherine planned, "Damon, don't, you need me, Elena, Caroline and Kaitlynn are in danger".

Damon paused, and both the twins looked at Katherine, "What?" Brayden asked.

"You're lying, you're always lying" Damon said.

"Why do you think I haven't killed Elena yet, why do you think I turned Caroline, why do you think Kaitlynn doesn't remember her past?" Katherine asked, "Elena's the doppelganger, Caroline is the current female soulmate, and Kaitlynn, is the old soulmate".

"We'll protect Caroline and Kaitlynn" Brayden stated, not believing Katherine's words.

"No" Katherine whispered.

"While you rot in hell" Damon finished, closing the door.

"No, Damon, don't" Katherine pleaded, "I'll do anything, please, Damon, Brayden you need me!", both Damon and Brayden ignored Katherine's pleading and shut the tomb door on her face.

"So now that this is over" Brayden said, turning to Damon, "Why?".

"Why, what?" Damon asked, as the brothers started walking out the tomb.

"Why didn't you tell me about you being in love with Kaitlynn?" Brayden asked.

"Because you got to her first" Damon replied, "And I knew if you found out about my love for Kaitlynn, you would have backed away from her, and I didn't want that Bray, I wanted at least one of us to be happy".

Brayden sighed, "You should have told me Damon".

"It wouldn't have changed anything" Damon stated, "I would never go for my twin brother's girl".

"So instead you went for Stefan's girl?" Brayden asked, slightly amused.

"Stefan's not my twin, Brayden" Damon replied, "He's my younger brother, and I love him, but you're my twin, you're the one relationship I can't ruin, under any circumstances".

"Do you still love her?" Brayden asked.

"I don't know" Damon admitted honestly.

"Well, if you do, go for it Damon" Brayden said, "I found an amazing girl, and you deserve to find love as well".

"So you're not angry at me?" Damon asked.

"Angry? No" Brayden replied, "Upset that you did it from me? Yes".

"That's the only secret I hid from you" Damon defended.

"We're not supposed to have any secrets between us" Brayden said.

"Well, now we officially have no secrets" Damon said.

"Good" Brayden stated.

"Bourbon?" Damon asked.

"Obviously" Brayden replied, as the brothers walked to the Mystic Grill, not realising what was happening to the girls they both loved.

***

"Wait, Tyler Lockwood triggered his curse?" Kaitlynn asked Caroline, as the two girls walked in the parking car, walking over to Kaitlynn's car so she can drop Caroline home.

"Yeah" Caroline replied, "He accidentally killed Sarah, after she attacked him, but I think her and Matt were compelled by Katherine to attack Tyler".

"You need to tell the brothers" Kaitlynn said.

"I will" Caroline said, "But we both know Damon and Brayden's first instinct will be to kill Tyler".

"We won't let that happen" Kaitlynn assured, "Unless he decides to attack us, then I'll kill him myself".

Before Caroline could say anything, two mysterious vampires, speeded between the two oblivious girls, and snapped their necks.

***

Presenting 2x07 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on the whole gang planning to kill Katherine at the ball?

Thoughts on what Fae told Stefan at the dance floor? I just realised, I've always had couples get together pretty quickly, but I've never had someone date someone else before they get with the person they are meant to be with, I'm thinking of doing that with Fae and Stefan, tell me your thoughts on it.

Thoughts on the three brothers trapped in the room with Katherine?

Thoughts on someone kidnapping both Caroline and Kaitlynn?

Thank you soooooooo much blooming_amethyst for this amazing aesthetic of our three amazing girls! I'm in bloody love!!