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𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 - 𝐂𝐡. 14 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 2
"𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥
𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫
𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫."

┗━━━ ━━━┛

                             — LIGHTS FLASHED,
music played and the crowd bustled around them as Stefan and Skyler walked side by side.

"Why do I have to go to this stupid thing again?" She nearly whined. Stefan had practically forced her to come to this carnival the town was throwing with the lure of possibilities of killing Katherine, something he knew she couldn't refuse. Truly unfair.

"To keep an eye out for Katherine, you know that." He rolled his eyes and added, "Two heads are better than one."

She groaned, "So basically, I'm here so you can make out with your little girlfriend without worrying about a copy cat interrupting and stabbing her in the back while you stick your tongue down her throat?" She droned sarcastically. Stefan rolled his eyes and she continued, "Or maybe it's so you know you're kissing the right one?"

"Just keep an eye out for her, Skyler."

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     TYLER Lockwood was engaged in an arm wrestle surrounded by the students of Mystic Falls when the Salvatore twins found their older brother lurking in the corner.

"Wow, you're lurking." Stefan commented as they approached.

"Are you getting paid? Cause you're looking like it's your job." Skyler joked as she stood on Damon's left, Stefan on his right.

"I'm observing." Damon countered.

Skyler scoffed, "More like obsessing." She watched the match closely, her eyes on Tyler. She wondered if he'd triggered it yet. Regardless, his strength was beyond a regular humans.

"He's got strength." Damon commented, too much strength, he didn't say though it proved his earlier point about a Lockwood secret when Tyler won the match with ease.

"He's a triple letter varsity athlete." Stefan chided, shooting down his truth, "Of course he has strength. You're reaching." Skyler looked at him skeptically, but it was clear he refused to give in to Damon's theories.

The Salvatore's went silent and watched on as Tyler's uncle approached and told his nephew, "I bet I can beat you."

"Enter the uncle." The eldest Salvatore narrated.

Skyler smirked. As she watched, she wished she had popcorn to go with this entertainment. "This just got interesting." She commented, her interest piqued as the Lockwood uncle glanced at her and winked. Of course she wasn't going to go after whatever he wanted. Werewolves were so not her type. Also not her type? Anyone that isn't Kol.

Stefan scrunched his nose up in disgust and looked at Damon, "This is ridiculous."

"I know! Skyler's way too good for him." Damon agreed despite knowing that wasn't what his brother meant. Skyler smirked.

The bell rang, drawing their attention back to the Lockwoods as Tyler struggled to beat his uncle who, after a moment, slams Tyler's arm down with ease, winning the match. "Damnit." Tyler muttered, holding his wrist with a look of mixed frustration and confusion.

"Is that it?" Tyler's uncle questioned, hoping for another match with his nephew. Trying to gauge his strength maybe, Skyler guessed.

Tyler inhaled deeply, a knowing look on his face with hidden fear behind it. He knew he couldn't beat his uncle. "Alright, he's the champ. Who wants to go next?"

Curious, Skyler glanced around the room, wondering if anyone would be crazy enough to challenge a werewolf. Of course, with her luck the one crazy enough to do it was standing right next to her. "Stefan wants a go." Her idiot brother called.

Her eyes widened and she locked eyes with Stefan, who seemed exasperated but not entirely surprised. "Thanks." Stefan told Damon in quiet exasperation before he turned to acknowledge the crowd and the Lockwoods who were now all watching him, "Yeah, sure. I'll uh- I'll give it a shot." He entered the makeshift arena as Tyler cheered him on.

"Get him, Stef!" Damon called teasingly.

Beside him, Skyler called, "Beat his ass, Lockwood!" Stefan shot her a glare, she raised her hands, "Kidding!" She laughed and looked at Damon who had an eyebrow quirked in her direction, she shrugged, "What? I want to see an interesting match."

Stefan sighed and looked over at Tyler's uncle who was currently eyeing his siblings, "My brother over there thinks I can beat you." He told him casually, and then chuckled, "My sister thinks you're gonna beat my ass."

The uncle smirked and glanced at Damon and Skyler one last time before he gave Stefan his full attention. He locked eyes with his opponent and said, "Your brothers wrong." Tyler's uncle paused and Stefan gave a shrug before the werewolf continued, "Your sister, well, she's got the brains and the looks." Stefan narrowed his eyes, in the corner Skyler let out a cackle.

The bell rang and the crowd cheered. At first, Stefan puts little effort into it to gauge the uncle's strength. The man eyed him strangely and then, Stefan's arm slammed down. He lost.

"Awww!" Skyler whined, she thought it would last longer. Of course, without her brother putting in his inhuman strength, it was bound to be a short match.

"You didn't put in any effort at all." Damon chided as Stefan approached.

Her twin gave them a strange look, "Yeah, actually, I did." Damon's eyes widened, Skyler for her part, acted surprised.

She looked over at the Lockwoods curiously and hummed, "What are they hiding?" She quietly wondered aloud.

Damon looked at his siblings, "Come with me."

The eldest Salvatore took his younger siblings down the hall, away from anyones earshot, human or otherwise. Damon looked around before he turned to the twins who stood side by side. "Is he...?" He asked, trailing off as he looked at Stefan.

"No, no, no. It wasn't that kind of strength." Stefan responded with a shake of his head. "But it was more than human if that makes sense." He added as he looked back cautiously.

"What is up with that family?" Damon asked in frustration, he didn't like not knowing something. He never had. "If they're not vampires then what the hell are they?"

"Ooh uh maybe they're ninja turtles." Stefan offered.

"Or Kung fu pandas." Skyler added helpfully.

Damon scowled at the two, "You're not funny." He shook his head, "Neither of you are funny."

Skyler looked at Stefan, "I don't know I thought we were." She shrugged.

"Hey, maybe they're zombies. Werewolves." Stefan continued, unknowingly getting closer with every joking guess. Skyler snorted in amusement.

"No comedic timing at all." Damon lectured, Stefan only grinned.

The eldest looked back and Skyler narrowed her eyes skeptically, "What? What are you up to?"

He turned back and responded, "Since this is reality and there's no such thing as werewolves or combat turtles."

"I said ninja turtles." Stefan corrected teasingly as he followed Damon down the hallway.

"Does that mean Kung fu pandas are real?" Skyler asked rhetorically, making Stefan chuckle.

Damon approached a man in the hallway and stopped him, "Hey, you." He called out.

The man scoffed, "I have a name."

"Okay, extra number 3." Skyler snorted, shaking her head. "We don't care."

Damon grabbed his shoulders, staring into his eyes to unlock the compulsion, "I need you to pick a fight with someone, kid named Tyler Lockwood."

"Damon, no don't do this." Stefan protested. He looked at Skyler for help but she only gave a shrug. She kinda wanted to see how this would unfold.

"No, no, it's just an experiment." Damon told them, waving his brother off before he continued, "Get him mad, don't back down no matter what he does, okay?"

"I won't back down." The man repeated, obedient under Damon's compulsion.

Damon smirked smugly, "I know you won't." He said confidently as he let him go.

Stefan watched the man go before he turned and acknowledged his brother, "You do realize someone's gonna get hurt, right?"

"No someone's gonna get mad as in rage." He responded.

"Right and what's that gonna accomplish?" Stefan questioned skeptically.

She shrugged, "It'll give us a show."

Damon glanced at her before he gave his own answer, "That Tyler kid is incapable of walking away from a fight. Let's see who intervenes." He told his brother, "Maybe it's the ambiguously supernatural mystery uncle who's got a thing for our little sister."

Skyler scoffed, "I'm way out of his league."

"Mystery uncle?" Stefan questioned after Damon walked away.

"He's getting old." Skyler shrugged. "And he's an idiot." Stefan made a noise of agreement and she asked, "Hey think I can get some popcorn on the way?" He ignored her making her huff, nonetheless she followed after her brother.

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    QUIETLY, the twins followed Tyler out of the carnival into the parking lot and watched from the shadows as the man Damon had compelled approached Tyler, looking for a fight just as Damon told him to.

"You better back off." Tyler told him sternly, Stefan and Skyler ducked behind a bush to watch it all go down.

"Should've grabbed popcorn." She muttered under her breath, Stefan narrowed his eyes on her.

The twins draw their attention back to the scene as the man shoved him again. "You hit me again, I swear to god." Tyler warned threateningly. The man, unable to back down while under compulsion, pushed him again, slamming the teen into the ground of the parking lot.

This time, the teen didn't bother with words and lunged at the man, wrestling him to the ground. They didn't have to wait long before the uncle appeared, calling out to stop the fight. Just like Damon said. She glanced at Stefan.

The uncle managed to wrestle the pair off each other, placing himself in between the two, he pushed the man back. "What the hell man?" He exclaimed incredulously. The man approached again after only a moment. Under Damon's compulsion, he couldn't back down. The uncle grabbed his throat, shocking the man and making him stumble back. The man got out of his grip and managed to throw a few punches before he slammed him into a nearby car, the car's alarm blared loudly through the parking lot making the twins wince.

The uncle moved forward, pushing back while still holding something back. The man Damon compelled launched him into another car, which seemed to trigger the uncle who caught himself, doing a flip before he jumped impossibly high, going right over the man. He landed in front of his nephew on all fours, his eyes yellow. Tyler stared at his uncle in shock, "Your eyes." He let out in surprise.

Skyler glanced at Stefan. This confirmed Damon's suspicions, the Lockwoods weren't human. Of course she had already known this, but it did make her wonder... was Hadrian a werewolf too? How far back did the Lockwoods supernatural genes go? She held her breath as they watched from behind the bush. The uncle wasn't holding back anymore as he slashed at the man, knocking him to the ground before he picked his nephew off the ground and ushered him away.

Once both the Lockwoods were gone, the twins rushed over to the man on the ground, Stefan helped him up as the compulsion began to fall. "You alright man?"

The man looked at him in confusion, "Why did I just do that?"

"You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Stefan told him with a sigh. Looking up, he glanced at Skyler before he looked to where the Lockwoods disappeared with a dangerous curiosity in his eyes.

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       "WHEN did this happen? Hmm?" Stefan questioned as he, Damon, Elena and Skyler stood in an empty classroom away from the crowds.

"Well, I fed her blood and Katherine obviously killed her, and A plus B equals..."

"My babysitters a vampire. Mystic Falls edition." Skyler commented sarcastically.

Elena looked at Damon in confusion, "But why?"

"Because Katherine is a manipulative nasty little slut." Damon responded bitterly.

"Hey! No slut shaming in this house." Skyler protested, at Damon's narrowed eyes, she shrugged, "You're not wrong, but still."

"Okay, and she said "game on?" Stefan questioned ignoring Skyler's comments, "I mean what does that even mean?"

"It means she's playing dirty, she wants us to know." Damon responded readily, knowing Katherine perhaps better than Stefan, but not better than Skyler. Not anymore.

Elena still seemed confused, not that Skyler blamed her. Katherine was a hard bitch to understand, let alone get ahead of. "But why Caroline?"

"Ah I don't know." He waved off carelessly, looking up.

"Teenage hormones plus vampire equals plenty of ripped out hearts." Skyler commented, "Maybe she wants to see red."

"Caroline must be completely out of her mind, she has no idea what's happening to her." Stefan said, his expression tense with worry.

Skyler hummed, "Except what Katherine told her."

"Oh I think she does." Damon spoke up, "All of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

The youngest Salvatore slid off the desk and approached Damon, "Which means she knows everything because Damon can't keep his fangs in his mouth."

"We have to find her." Stefan told them worried and tense.

"Yep and kill her." Damon agreed.

Elena's eyes widened, fear clouding her expression, "You're not gonna kill Caroline."

He scoffed indignantly, "She knows who we are. She's officially a liability." Elena stood up in disbelief and made her way to Stefan for comfort making Skyler scoff. Damon continued, "We gotta get rid of her."

Stefan narrowed his eyes sternly, "Damon, absolutely not."

"Come on, it's not personal." He groaned, looking to Skyler, "Sky, help me out here?" He asked pleadingly.

She shook her head in response. At the moment she only had one vampire she wanted to kill, and perhaps Caroline could even be beneficial to her own plans if she could get some alone time with her... "I only signed up to kill one vampire."

Damon groaned in disappointment and looked at their brother, "Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan? Yeah, Caroline, of all people, will not make it as a vampire." He scoffed in ironic disbelief, "Her mother is a vampire Hunter." He continued almost pleadingly, "Guys come on, we all know how this story ends. So let's just flip to the last chapter and—"

"It's not an option, Damon." Elena cut him off, clearly tired of listening to reasons why they should kill her best friend.

"No?" He questioned, and looked at Stefan, "Your silence is deafening, Stefan." He glanced at Skyler next, "And what about you Skyler? I thought you were supposed to be on my side."

Skyler shook her head, and opened her mouth to speak when Stefan got to it first, "Wait, wasn't there a carnival the night you staked Vicki?" He asked thoughtfully.

"Of course." Skyler muttered under her breath, she inhaled deeply and sighed.

Damon spoke, his words echoing Skyler's thoughts, "Talk about a town where history repeats itself." He looked at her with a smirk, "You know I'm right."

Skyler waved him off with a glare, "Shut your mouth before I shut it for you, old man." Damon let out a theatric gasp in offense.

Stefan stood up and approached Damon, strategically standing between Skyler and him so that his twin couldn't follow through with her threats. "We're not gonna kill her." He told Damon sternly before he walked out of the room, Elena followed with an angry glare pointed at Damon.

"It's the only way." He told the doppelgänger as she passed. Skyler shook her head and followed her twin, slamming the door closed behind her.

Couldn't they all just stop playing games and kill Katherine already?

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      SKYLER made her way onto the Ferris wheel alone and sat down with a sigh. She watched the horizon with the lights as a figure sat down beside her. She didn't turn to face them or see who they were. She already knew. The gate to the basket closed and they began to rise into the air, her hands slowly came to intertwine with his on the space of the seat between them.

As the Ferris wheel went around, she caught him up on what had happened since they last talked. Under the cold air, he moved to put an arm over her shoulder as they went around for a second time to have more time together. Done catching up, she curled into his side with a sigh, "I'm tired of Katherine's games." She admitted, reliving the past was an exhausting task, even more so when the person she hated most was at the center of it, trying to play puppet master.

"I know my love." Kol spoke, his voice husky and his accent deep from tiredness. It was late, though she was certain the day wasn't over for her yet. She held on tighter as the basket stopped and then pulled herself away. His arm fell from around her shoulder, his hand fell on to hers. Her hand lingered on his and she bit her lip to resist kissing him. "Always?" She whispered. He intertwined their hands and promised, "forever."

Their hands fell from each others grasp and he left the Ferris wheel, disappearing into the shadows. Skyler stepped out of the basket next and stopped to stare at the stars with a tired sigh when she heard a loud scream that sounded almost... familiar.

"You killed me!" Caroline exclaimed loudly, pain flowing freely with her words, dripped with rage. Skyler approached until they finally came into view, and she paused to examine the scene before her. The blonde baby vampire was pushing Elena away while Stefan stopped Damon from killing her with a stake.

"No, no, no, no, Caroline. That wasn't him." Elena pleaded desperately, she didn't want her friend to get hurt, "You know that. That was Katherine."

Caroline's expression clouded with frustrated confusion, "No! Then why does she look like you?" She exclaimed loudly, her voice hoarse, "Why- why did she do this to me?"

Skyler stepped up, making her presence known with four simple words, "Cause she's a bitch." Elena glared at her and she shrugged unbothered, "I'm not wrong." She then sighed and turned to her twin, "Stefan, we gotta get her inside."

Stefan nodded in agreement and released Damon, but kept his eyes on him as he spoke to the young vampire, "It's alright, Caroline, come with me."

"She will die. It's only a matter of time." Damon insisted.

Stefan looked back at him and responded, "Yeah, maybe so, but it's not gonna happen tonight." He grabbed Caroline's hand, his eyes never strayed from Damon.

"Oh yeah it is." Damon refuted. Picking up the stake, he ran at Caroline before anyone could stop him however before he got to her, Elena pushed herself in front of Caroline as Skyler rushed forward and grabbed his hand.

Elena gasped, the stake only inches from her heart, aimed to kill but not to kill her. Damon faltered however he didn't give in, not yet. "Damon, she's my friend." Elena pleaded desperately, her terror shined in her eyes.

"Damon, come on, you're better than this." Skyler told him quietly, her voice stern. She was not asking nor pleading. "You're better than Katherine."

Damon faltered and stared at Elena. Skyler wasn't sure who he was seeing at the moment as he brought the stake back to himself, never letting it go completely. "Whatever happens, it's on you." He told Elena sternly.

Skyler pulled him away, her eyes narrowed as he stepped back with her, stake in hand. "We've gotta get her cleaned up." Elena said nervously, Skyler could hear her heart race without even trying as Damon walked away.

Stefan stared at Skyler questioningly, "Are you staying?" She looked at him, however upon seeing the Bennet witch behind him she went silent.

"Caroline?"

The teen in question looked down in shame, the blood on her face said enough. "It's okay, come on." Stefan said.

"No." Bonnie spoke in disbelief as she stared at her friend, "You're not, you can- you can't be." She ran up, grabbing Caroline's wrist as she stared at her in shock.

"Bonnie." Caroline whispered brokenly as Bonnie shook her head in disbelief. "I-I-" she stuttered, and before she could string even a word together, Bonnie ran, "Oh god, Bonnie." She sobbed.

"Just..." Elena mumbled softly, pushing Caroline towards Stefan who gently took her away. Uncertainly, Skyler followed them.

Caroline sob's rang out as Stefan attempted to clean the blood off her to the best of his abilities. Skyler leaned against the bathroom door and shut her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus however she couldn't stop the way Caroline's cries brought her back to the past, back to when she first turned and she cried in a similar fashion in to her twin's chest, he had held her as Damon cleaned her up. Her hands balled into fists as she inhaled deeply, exhaling the memories away.

"I'm a murderer." Caroline sobbed, unknowingly echoing the words Skyler had said over a hundred years ago, "A monster." Her jaw clenched, the memory tried to force its way past. She wondered if Stefan was thinking of the past as well now as he cleaned Caroline up silently. Unlike Caroline, she didn't have anyone to turn to when she was turned aside from her brothers who had their own struggles with their transitions.

"Why does this keep happening to my face? I'm hideous!" Caroline cried. Skyler clamped her eyes shut, however when the first sob tore its way through, she ran.

Further down the hallway, Skyler fell to the floor as she sobbed.

"I'm a monster! Leave me alone!" Skyler's pats self screamed at her brothers when Stefan forced her hands away from the scalding water she had been running them under to rid herself of the blood on her hands. "Go away!" She had sobbed, Damon had left moments earlier to retrieve fresh clothes for her, and in his absence she was filled the desire for isolation. "Go away, go away!" She sobbed brokenly, Stefan's face filled with hurt, though he refused to leave. Finally, she pushed him out of the room and slammed the door shut with a scream.

Alone, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and promptly collapsed on the floor in a pile of tears and loneliness. "I'm a monster." She sobbed, her hands clawed at her face in an attempt to make the veins that appeared in her distress go away.

She clamped her eyes shut and held herself close in the darkness, outside of the door, Stefan sat down on the floor with her though she had never felt more alone as she cried.

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     EVENTUALLY, Skyler made her way to the bathroom on the opposite side of the school to clean herself up which was what she was doing now when she heard Elena screaming at Bonnie, paired with her brothers screams Skyler didn't hesitate to run towards the sound.

"Bonnie, stop it you're gonna kill him!" Elena cried as Skyler swiftly approached.

"What the hell is going on?!" Skyler exclaimed as she stared at her brother, covered in flames. Recovering from her shock, she moved forward to try and help her brother when Bonnie gave her a dark, dangerous look and whispered, "Don't."

The vampire froze, even with Mikaelsons on her side she knew better than to test a pissed off Bennet witch. Bonnie cried out as Damon desperately tried to escape the flames, however she had no mercy and didn't relent.

"Bonnie!" Elena cried, she ran towards her friend and jumped over the flames. Grabbing Bonnie's shoulders, she shook her and successfully gained the witch's attention. The fire stopped in seconds as Elena managed to break her focus.

"Why did you stop me?" Bonnie asked tearfully as Skyler ran to her brother.

"Because this isn't us!" Elena exclaimed, "Bonnie, this can't be us."

Skyler reached out and grabbed Damon who flinched away from her touch as he gasped for air, "Are you okay?" She asked, "Damon, are you okay?" She repeated once more, he managed to shake his head and her grip on him tightened before she stood, staring at Bonnie with a fire of her own in her eyes.

"Come on." Elena was whispering as she pulled her friend into a hug.

Skyler scowled, "You tried to kill my brother!" She exclaimed angrily. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Elena, "Get her away before I kill her myself." Both the teens eyes widened and Elena quickly pulled the witch away from the vampires.

"I'm gonna kill her." She growled lowly as they disappeared, Damon shook from the pain on the floor.

"D-don't." He gasped painfully. She shook her head and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, Day." She whispered, her eyes softening as she looked at her big brother in pain, "Let's get you home."

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4,142 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬

Y'all this chapter was originally 7,000+ words hence you guys getting two parts - I wrote this all in a day, help 😭😭

Hope you guys enjoyed! I'm gonna try becoming more regular with updates but they'll still only be posted as written so I can't guarantee anything. Until next time, bye weirdos!