CHAPTER FOUR | MASQUERADE

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KLARA'S HANDS SHOOK HAS SHE HELD A GLASS OF BOURBON IN HER HAND. To her surprise, Damon was actually being sympathetic to her current state, rather than running his mouth about how she should've been more careful in the first place. She didn't know if she was more scared of that than Katherine's threat.

In the past few days, they had done a number of things that fuelled Katherine's rage and they knew she was bound to retaliate at some point. After Stefan and Elena pretended to break up, Katherine compelled Jenna to stab herself because they didn't listen to her. Damon also took it upon himself to kill Mason Lockwood, Katherine's werewolf boyfriend who was also helping her locate the moonstone. 

"Are you alright?" Was the first question that fell from her best friend's lips as he hurried into the parlor once Damon had called him. "What happened?"

"Go ahead, tell him." Damon gently encouraged the blonde after she had taken a sip of her drink. The oldest of the two brothers gazed toward Stefan, with a smirk. "You're gonna love this."

Klara looked up to Stefan, who's eyed contained nothing but worry for the state of his friend. "Katherine cornered me today." 

"Where?" Stefan immediately retorted. 

"The Grill. I went into the bathroom, obviously to pee and then when I got out of the stall, she was there." Klara explained slowly. "I obviously thought that she was Elena at first, but then when I tried to leave, she stopped me. She wanted me to deliver you guys a message. She wants the moonstone tonight at the masquerade ball or she's gonna rip this town apart until it rains blood." 

Stefan's fury had risen the moment that he learned about Katherine cornering his best friend. "She wants to do it in public. Killing Mason threw her off guard."

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

"We can't underestimate her." Stefan sighed once he looked toward Damon, who clearly didn't care. "We have to play this smarter than her."

"If the moonstone is what she wants, why can't we just give it to her?" Klara offered up the suggestion but immediately shut her mouth when she heard Damon scoff.

"No. Katherine's not getting dick." The raven-haired Salvatore instantly snapped. "I've had it. I'm gonna go to the masquerade ball, and I'm gonna kill her. Tonight."

Stefan pondered for a moment as if he were thinking about his options. He let a sigh finally escape his lips. "You're not gonna kill her."

"Oh, don't give me that goody-goody crap."

"You're not going to kill her." Stefan stepped closer to Damon once more. "Because I am."

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They were waiting for the arrival of Bonnie, who was supposed to play a rather large part in their plan. Alaric was also called to attend and when he entered, a few eyebrows were raised at the fact that Jeremy Gilbert had entered with him. The boy was insistent that he was there to help rid their lives of Katherine Pierce once and for all, and there was nothing they could do to stop him.

"This works with compressed air. The trigger mechanism is up here. I have two of these in a different size. And for you, I recommend this." Alaric pulled a band out from a duffle bag, loaded with stakes. "It fits nicely under the jacket sleeve. You use the trigger when you're ready." Stefan and Damon eyed him up while Klara and Caroline watched anxiously. "You— you wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire, so."

Stefan excused himself to greet Bonnie, who stood at the threshold with a grimoire in hand. She was clearly skeptical about what was taking place as she watched her friends all gathered around Alaric.

"You're pretty stocked up, aren't you?" Klara's eye cast over the selection of vampire-killing weapons that laid on the table in front of her.

"High school teacher by day." Damon picked up a stake from the table and began to mimic staking a vampire, while the girls groaned. "Vampire slayer by night."

"Put the stake down, Buffy." Klara rolled her eyes. 

"Are you sure you guys don't want me there tonight?" Alaric asked. He glanced straight toward Elena's boyfriend, who didn't want her having anything to do with the plan.

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

"Okay." The man sighed. "Well, I'll make sure she doesn't leave my sight."

"Alright." Stefan stepped into the middle of the room with his arms crossed over his chest while he addressed everyone. "If anybody wants to back out, I'll understand."

"Yeah. Cold feet, speak now. I don't want this going wrong if someone chicken's out." Damon continued, letting his eyes fall on the blonde vampire. "Caroline..."

"I won't. Look, she killed me. Fair's fair." Caroline defended herself as she stood beside Klara. "As long as there are no werewolves running around."

"Fortunately not." Klara spoke up. "Damon dealt with Mason, and as long as Tyler hasn't triggered his curse, he won't turn either."

"Bonnie?" Stefan asked. His eyes fell on the young Bennett witch. "Are you with us?"

Bonnie was clearly hesitant. She waited a moment before finally answering back. "But no one gets hurt."

"Except Katherine." Damon called out. "Tonight Katherine gets a stake through her heart."

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The masquerade ball was a sea of guests with whom their identity was hard to work out. The majority of the party-goers wore masks, covering either half or all of their face. Klara Adams had taken herself over to the bar, where she lightly sipped on a vodka-orange. She wore a short gold dress and a similar coloured mask that covered all of her face. 

"Figured I'd find you here." Stefan called out from beside her. He rested his back against the bar, looking in the same direction as she did until Klara finally clapped eyes on him. 

"Well, I heard alcohol was a good stress-relief." She lifted her half-empty glass into the air and then placed the straw back into her mouth.

Stefan cleared his throat and let his hand move to the back of his neck once he had removed the red mask from his eyes. "So, we've got a problem. Katherine killed Aimee Bradley."

"What?" Klara's eyes widened immediately. "But, how? I mean, there's all these people here?"

"She's going to do whatever the hell she can to get the moonstone." Stefan stated. "We need to get her upstairs. Think you can manage that?"

"I can definitely try." Klara nodded. She downed her drink and set the empty glass onto the bar before she walked back up the steps and toward the Lockwood mansion. 

Let it be known that Klara was terrified of Katherine. But, she wanted to prove that she was an asset to her friends, that she was capable of helping. As she walked their the party and down into a virtually empty hallway, she felt her entire body be pushed against the wall. 

Once Klara's vision finally readjusted itself, Katherine stood in front of her with her hand around her neck. "What are Stefan and Damon up to?" She asked, her head tilted. "I saw you talking to Stefan."

"I—I don't know what you're talking about." Klara croaked out from the immense pressure that the vampire had placed upon her windpipe. 

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Klara, lying isn't very lady like. I've got Jeremy Gilbert luring me out to the lake. What's going on?"

"I just told you that I have absolutely—" Klara spoke out again, but in true Katherine fashion, she'd had enough of the games. The five-hundred-year-old vampire began to lift Klara up against the wall, the pressure on her throat tightening the higher she got.

"You realize that I could snap this pretty little neck of yours right here, right now?" Katherine asked with a twisted smile across her blood-red lips. "They're up to something. What is it?"

Klara began to breathe heavily, grasping onto what little air she could. Her hand clasped over Katherine's in an attempt to peel it off her, but it was no use. "Okay! Okay." The blonde's voice was strained. "They're planning on killing you."

"I figured as much." Katherine rolled her eyes. She didn't even seem phased by Klara's admission. "Where's the moonstone?"

"Bonnie has it." 

"And where is Bonnie right now?"

Klara stopped for a second, but Katherine grabbed her by the hair once more. "Upstairs! She's upstairs." 

"Let's see, shall we?" Katherine grunted. She pulled the girl by her blonde locks all the way up the staircase. The vampire looked around at the several doors she was met with when she headed upstairs. "Which room is it?"

"This one." Klara cried out in agony as Katherine readjusted her grip and dragged her toward the room.

Once Katherine pushed herself through the double doors as instructed by Klara, she dropped her grip on the blonde who brushed her tears away from her eyes once Katherine was inside the room. "Where is she?"

Katherine turned around to see the smirk that has instantly formed on Klara's face. The doppelganger was confused, to say the least. "Wow. Guess all those years in drama class actually paid off, huh? Who's useless now, Katherine."

The doppelganger attempted to lunge at her but was immediately stopped by the boundary spell placed around the room. "What the—" Klara's eyes moved to Stefan, who appeared in the room behind Katherine. "Stefan?"

"Hello, Katherine." Stefan walked out of the closet and into the room with a stake in his hand. He turned his attention to his best friend, who stood just outside the room. "Great job, Klara. Thank you."

"Goodbye, Katherine." Klara waved sarcastically and headed off downstairs in search of Bonnie and Jeremy, who kept the moonstone on them. 

Once Klara had found Jeremy and Bonnie outside, she saw that Elena was standing with them. Elena, who was supposed to be at home under Alaric's supervision. As the blonde approached, ready with a witty comment about how the doppelganger couldn't stay away from trouble, Elena immediately cried out in pain.

"Elena!" Jeremy yelled as he watched his sister stumble into his hold. The doppelganger immediately had a pool of blood appear on the back of her baby-pink shirt, almost like she had been stabbed.

"Oh, my God!" Klara pointed to the blood as soon as she rushed over to her friends. "What's happening to her?!"

Suddenly another bloodspot appeared on the upper of her right arm. Elena's eyes widened, screams of agony left her lips as the blood spot began to get bigger. 

Jeremy immediately turned his eyes to Bonnie, hoping she would have an answer to the problem. "Bonnie, what's going on?!" 

"Jeremy, it's Katherine! She's linked to Katherine, get them to stop, now!" Bonnie yelled and the Gilbert boy sprinted straight back into the house to, ironically, stop the Salvatore's from harming Katherine.

"Elena, you're going to be okay, I promise." Klara breathed out as she held the doppelganger close to her. She listened to Elena's quiet cries of pain as her wounds continued to bleed out. A cut appeared on the palm of the girl's hand, causing her to flip her hand over to show both Bonnie and Klara. 

"It hurts." Elena cried once Bonnie examined the wound. 

"I can't break the spell, Elena. I'm sorry." The Bennett witch helplessly spoke while Elena rested her head against Klara's chest. "But I can try to take some of the pain away, okay? Okay." Bonnie whispered an enchantment that would hopefully ease Elena's pain. 

Jeremy ran back over to the group, his eyes on his sister. "Are you okay?" He breathlessly asked.

"Are they?" Elena retorted.

"They're stuck in there with her." Jeremy turned his attention to Bonnie. "You were right. Katherine had a witch link Elena to her."

"What're you talking about? What witch?" Klara furrowed her brows.

The Bennett witch stopped chanting and lifted her head up. "That girl I saw. The one inside." Bonine lifted herself up to her feet and began to run toward the house. "Stay with her! Keep pressure on her shoulder."

Klara gently caressed Elena's head, hoping to ease her pain as Jeremy took Bonnie's place. "Bon, where the hell are you going?"

"There's another witch here. I'm gonna find her."

"Here." Jeremy pulled the Gilbert immortality ring from his finger and held it out for his sister to take, however she was adamant she didn't want it. "Take this. Elena, listen. Listen to me. You need this more than I do." He pressed his hand against her cheek carefully.

"No, Jeremy, what I need is for you to be safe." Elena cried out.

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After the ball, Stefan returned home a little after Damon. Klara remained sitting on the couch, staring into the fire with her dress still on. Her hair was taken down and flowed into loose curls over her shoulder, while she had a blanket covering her lap.

"Katherine's gone," Stefan concluded as he sauntered into the room and headed straight for the liquor. He poured himself a glass of bourbon, though he seemed to be displeased still.

"Okay? Then why do you look like a kid who's mom just told them there's food at home?" Klara tilted her head. She moved her eyes away from the fire and scanned the face of her best friend. He looked heartbroken, and there was only one explanation. "Elena still wants to be apart?"

"She said that she needs to know that everyone she loves is safe. She needs to feel safe." Stefan recited her words exactly as he dropped himself down on the couch beside Klara. "Can you blame her? I mean, I'm ruining her life. I keep putting her in danger." He sighed to himself. "This is all because of me."

"No. No, it's not." Klara exhaled. She let her coffee cup rest against the table in front of them before she looked toward him. "You really should do something about that martyr complex you've got going on. It's very aggravating." Stefan eventually let a chuckle escape his lips. He couldn't help it. "She loves you. She'll come back to you when she's ready. As she said, she just needs a little time to feel safe. Her life would be like this, with or without you. So stop beating yourself up over it, okay?"

The Salvatore hummed, nodding toward his friend. "You did a good job today, you know? Luring Katherine into the room. A-plus-acting kills." 

"Is it weird not to feel afraid of her anymore?" Klara asked. "Sure, she's a vampire but I just don't feel scared. Who knows, maybe I'm just becoming numb to all this crap."

"It's the adrenalin. That sink or swim emotion." Stefan explained carefully for the girl who kept her eyes on him the entire time. "I happen to think you're one of the bravest people I have ever met."

"Ditto."

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