CHAPTER FIVE | KILL OR BE KILLED

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IT WAS THE MYSTIC FALLS HISTORICAL SOCIETY VOLUNTEER DAY, AND PREPARATIONS WERE UNDERWAY. Riley hated the idea of spending the entire day doing something that she wasn't really interested in, but she wanted to be there for her best friend. Stefan and Elena were apparently having relationship problems, and Riley assumed it probably had something to do with Katherine's arrival to Mystic Falls.

Carol Lockwood was stood on the podium giving a speech, whilst Riley and Stefan stood beside each other with their eyes fixed to her. "God. Kill me now." Riley mumbled softly as a scoff left Stefan's lips.

"Try being dead." Stefan retorted with a serious look on his face that soon turned into a smirk. His attention was soon taken by Mason, who was removing boxes from his trunk. "Ah. He's here. I need to fix whatever you and Damon started with him last night."

"Woah. Don't look at me like that, okay?" Riley glared at him the moment he gave her a judging look. "But, you have to admit, there is something really off about him and his whole coming-back-to-town story. It's crap, and you know it."

"Regardless of whether it's crap or not, we can't just go around killing people 'cause their stories are a little off. Now, come on." Stefan rolled his eyes and wandered in Mason's direction with the witch. "Mason."

"You're always with a Salvatore, huh?" Mason lifted his eyes up from his trunk and scoffed before he turned his attention to Stefan. "Stefan, right?"

"The nice one." Stefan nodded slowly as he leaned against Mason's truck. "The one offering you an apology."

"Not interested. Not unless it comes from Damon, or the mouth of your pretty little witch friend, here."

Stefan gave Riley a look as the little witch took a deep breath and nodded, a sympathetic look on her face. "Look, Damon and I acted impulsively, and it was wrong. So, I'm sorry for what happened last night."

"If you and Damon keep at each other's throats, somebody innocent is going to get hurt and I don't want that. You have family here, so I can't imagine you'd want that either. So, what do you say we just, uh— quit the whole alpha-male fighting thing and call a truce?"

Mason scoffed. "I made that same offer to your brother. He turned it down with a knife."

"Yeah, and like I just said, he made a mistake." Riley folded her arms across her chest. "Mason, I just apologized to you, I know that it doesn't do a lot, but Stefan's right. All of this fighting is gonna end up with someone getting hurt."

"Tell your brother to watch his back," Mason told Stefan just as he was about to walk away, but the Salvatore grabbed hold of Mason's arm.

"I'm guessing he only has to worry about that during a full moon. Otherwise, you're not as strong, am I right? Or you would have killed Damon by now. There's one of you. There's three of us, maybe you're the one that needs to watch his back." Stefan spoke in a harsh tone of voice was a stern look on his face.

Mason's face fell. "If he comes at me—"

"—He won't, Mason." Riley finally finished just as the Lockwood held out his hand for Stefan to shake, which he did before he wandered off.

"What're you two doing?" Damon appeared behind Riley and Stefan, whose eyes were focused on Mason.

"Negotiating peace on your behalf. At least one of you can admit that what you did last night was a stupid thing to do." Stefan twirled around to face his brother.

"I don't want peace." Damon snapped.

"Well, we've got it. You're welcome." The little witch sent Damon a small smile, but he didn't seem interested.

"Please tell me you guys don't seriously think a handshake just solved our problem."

"No, actually, I think that the first chance Mason Lockwood gets, he's gonna drive a stake through your heart, then through mine, all because you took it upon yourself to try and kill him. So, your thank you, because we don't have enough problems."

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During the event, Stefan and Elena had broken up whilst Caroline and Damon couldn't help but listen in to their argument. Elena stormed off, clearly upset by what had happened, so Caroline and Riley headed out into the woods to find her.

"There you are. We've been looking everywhere." Riley sighed in relief as she saw the Gilbert girl sat down beside the river bed on a large rock. "You okay?"

"Nope." Elena snapped as she ripped up a few flowers and tossed them into the water.

"You know, maybe it's for the best," Caroline told her in a strange attempt to comfort her friend, only to earn a pointed look from Riley. "

"It's not for the best, Caroline. None of this is for the best." The doppelganger immediately snapped, then realized what she had done. "I'm sorry, okay? I— I don't mean to take it out on you. You're just being a good friend."

Riley's eyes drifted to Caroline, who had an unreadable expression on her face. "Care, what is it?"

"No, I'm not. I'm not being a good friend at all." Caroline trailed off but then her attention was taken by her mother, who appeared to be walking away from the event. "Is she leaving? Where is my Mom going?"

"She's being weird, right?" Riley raised an eyebrow toward Elena, as the two lifted themselves up from the rock to follow after the blonde.

"Yeah, she is. Look, I'll explain everything to you, just not here." Elena told the strawberry-blonde in a hushed tone of voice. Then, she gestured to her mouth then her ears, indicating that people could overhear. "Caroline, what's going on?"

"I don't know. Something's up." The blonde vampire watched her Mom walk away, then she pulled herself up to the top of the hill. "I need to be able to hear better. Something's wrong, guys."

"Caroline, I—"

"Shh." She told the girls as she tucked her hair behind her ears and closed her eyes, almost as if she were concentrating. After a few moments, her eyes jolted open. "Oh. God."

"Caroline, what's wrong? What is it?" Riley's eyes widened fearfully.

"It's Stefan and Damon." Before they knew it, they were running in the direction that Caroline was leading them in. Weaving in and out of the way of trees as though their lives depended on it, but once they arrived Stefan and Damon. "They've been here." She bent down to a plant at her feet and showed there was blood on it

"What are you three doing out here?" Mason's voice boomed from behind them as the three girls immediately jumped in panic

"Have you seen Stefan?" Elena fearfully asked the Lockwood man.

"Yeah, Elena, I've seen him." Mason slowly began to edge forwards, then his gaze turned to Riley. "I've seen Damon, too."

"Where the hell are they, Mason?" Riley gritted her teeth. She didn't know why she was so scared, but she couldn't help thinking the worst.

"You don't need me for that. I'll let your friend here sniff them out." He turned his attention to Caroline. "Does your mother know what you are? I'm happy to tell her."

As Caroline lunged forward in an attempt to attack him, he grabbed Riley and held her by the throat. The strawberry-blonde gasped in horror the moment Elena and Caroline's eyes widened. "Don't be stupid. Necks snap easy around here."

"I can take you." Caroline nodded to herself boldly.

"Wanna bet?" He smirked.

"Yeah, I do." Caroline sped forward, pushed Mason away from Riley, and pinned him to a nearby tree. Riley fearfully ran into Elena's arms as she began to regain her breath. "Told ya." Caroline pushed him to the ground, then kicked his body against a tree. "Come on."

They continued to run, Caroline leading the way until they eventually stopped. Riley glanced to the small tunnel entrance in front of them. "Are they down there? Caroline, what is it?"

As the Forbes vampire held her hand over her mouth, she glanced to Riley and Elena. "My Mom. She's killing them."

"What?! We have to stop her."

"I can't. She's gonna find out about me"

Caroline, are you kidding me right now? There's no way we can just stand out here while your Mom kills them!" Riley yelled in panic, then she turned to the doppelganger. "Elena, come on."

Riley and Elena yanked open the gate that was over the entrance and quickly hurried down until the tunnel just as a deputy pointed his gun at them.

"Riley, Elena! What are you doing?" Liz yelled out as she held the gun at the two girls.

"You can't kill them. We're not gonna let you." Elena panted as she attempted to regain her breath.

"There's no way we're gonna let you do this, Liz." Riley looked at Damon's lifeless body and felt completely overwhelmed, that was until she and Elena were shoved inside further by another deputy.

A sudden loud crash caused the deputies to jump in fright. Riley and Elena looked at each other, hoping that it was Caroline. The loud crashes and bangs echoed through the underground tunnel.

"Who else is with you?" Liz ordered an answer from the two girls but got nothing but silence in return until there was a figure that began to speed around them in circles. There was a flash of blonde as Caroline sped toward one deputy and ripped his throat out, then she lunged for the final one threw him to the ground.

It took Liz a moment to register what had happened, but as Caroline stepped into the light, she saw exactly who it was. Her daughter."Hi, Mom." She appeared, blood dripping from her lips with a guilty expression on her face.

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After the seemingly eventful day, Riley headed back home. Home was where she wanted to be more than anything, especially after the day that she had. As she laid on her bed, there was a part of her that genuinely thought maybe Liz would kill Stefan and Damon. She was terrified that something might happen to the two men that had brought so much meaning to her life. Stefan— he was her best friend. And, Damon— he was complicated. Riley couldn't explain just how she felt about Damon, but the way she felt when she saw him unconscious was unexplainable.

"Knock, knock." Damon's voice boomed from the doorway as he nudged her bedroom door open slowly. "I, uh— I came through the front door before you say anything about me being a stalker."

"Didn't know you were capable of knocking." Riley chuckled softly as she slowly closed her laptop once he entered the room and perched on the edge of her bed.

"Oh, yeah. I mean, your Grandma was utterly thrilled to answer the door to me. But, I think I'm winning her over." He smirked. "Anyway, I came to say thank you. For saving me."

"That wasn't me. That was Caroline. She was the one who worked out what happened, and where you guys were. Without her, you'd probably be dead today." Riley shrugged simply as she looked the vampire in the eyes.

"I've already thanked her, and Elena. I wanted to leave the best until last." Damon chuckled out seeing the smile that shortly drifted upon her lips. "I saw you today, you know. You were genuinely worried about me, weren't you?"

The strawberry-blonde scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Damon."

"Hm." A small hum left the Salvatore's lips as he tilted his head slowly. "Well, look at us. Getting the friendship back on track, huh?"

"Looks that way, doesn't it?" Riley grinned back toward him. "And, I'm glad you're not dead, by the way. I'd hate to have to break in a new stalker."

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