CHAPTER EIGHT
❝ THIS IS GONNA HURT ❞

"OUCH!"

    Elektra whirled around to see that someone's hand was clamped tightly around her wrist—the hand belonged to the last person she wanted to see at the Masquerade party.

    "Elena," she groaned and tried to pry her wrist from Elena's vice grip.

    Elena tightened her grasp in response. "What the hell is going on, Elektra?"

    Elektra sighed, a harsh whoosh of air exhaling through her nose. She was not in the mood to deal with Elena's mothering and obsessive need to pry into her life.

    With defiance, Elektra started to walk away from Elena and received resistance as she expected.

    "Let me go," she huffed, stiletto heels sinking into the soft earth as she continued to try and shake off her sister's hand.

    "No," Elena growled and grabbed Elektra's wrist with both hands.

    Elektra halted, realizing that this game of tug-of-war was not going to get them anywhere. She settled herself back into her shoes and turned to properly look at Elena. She looked extremely out of place amongst the glitz and glam in her long-sleeve baby pink shirt and faded jeans with slight panic in her eyes.

    "Why are you here, Elena?"

    Elena finally slackened her grip on her wrist but did not relinquish it completely.

    "I could ask you the same question."

    Elektra stared directly into Elena's eyes. "You know exactly why I'm here and you know that Katherine and Beatrice have to pay."

    "I can't let you do that, Elektra."

    Elektra smiled bitterly. "Let me? Okay, mom."

    With re-found determination and defiance, she started to pull away from Elena once more.

    Elena immediately retook her jaw-like grip on Elektra's wrist. "Stop fighting me!"

    "I'm sorry, did you say something?" Elektra said without looking back.

    This game of Elektra trudging forward and Elena yanking her back was short-lived when Elena let out a sigh of defeat and released Elektra's wrist.

    Elektra knew that she wouldn't follow her—only because she knew that Katherine was there somewhere pretending to be here, and that everyone had seen Katherine—thinking it was Elena.

    She snuck her way through the Lockwood's mansion seemingly unnoticed. Everyone was too busy drinking and dancing and enjoying the festivities to notice Elektra slinking her way up the stairs. Up the stairs and down the hall toward the room that was supposed to end all their struggles.

✥ ✥ ✥

Caroline Forbes sauntered through the mansion, eyes flittering around anxiously. She told Damon and Stefan that she was not going to chicken out—and she meant it—but she couldn't ignore the blooming dread in the pit of her stomach.

            Suddenly, hands grabbed her from behind. She was whirled out of her shoes and her face slammed against the wall.

            "What are Stefan and Damon up to?" asked Katherine, her arm pinned Caroline tightly against the wall.

            Caroline stuttered, "what do you mean?"

            Katherine's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "I've got Jeremy Gilbert trying to lure me out to the lake. What's going on?"

"I don't know. Nothing." Caroline managed out.

Katherine huffed and spun Caroline around so that they were facing one another. Katherine's hand was stark against the pale skin of Caroline's throat.
"Don't lie to me, Caroline. They're up to something. What is it?"

"I—" Caroline started until Katherine gripped her neck tighter. "Wait! No, no, no. They're trying to kill you."

"We figured as much." A second voice emerged from the shadows. "Where's the moonstone?"

Caroline forced her eyes off Katherine and to the side to see Beatrice making her way inside from the second-floor terrace. Katherine and Beatrice couldn't look more different than they did in that moment.

"Bonnie has it."

Katherine could see that Caroline wasn't being completely forthcoming. She was hiding something.
"And where is Bonnie?"

"I don't know," Caroline snapped, with narrowed eyes.

Her attitude was rewarded with Katherine picking Caroline up off her feet by her throat.

"She's upstairs! She's upstairs!"

Without missing a beat, Katherine released Caroline's throat and wrapped her hand in Caroline's blonde locks and forcefully led her up the stairs. Beatrice chuckled and followed suit.

Caroline sobbed. "Why do you keep dragging me into this? I don't want any part of this!"

"Shut up!" Beatrice growled. "Which room is it?"

Caroline was quiet for a moment, looking around at the many rooms of the Lockwood's top floor.
She sighed and nodded toward a large room with glass double doors. "It's that one."

            Katherine muttered under her breath and released Caroline's hair. Beatrice smirked and patted Caroline's shoulder before following Katherine into the room without a second thought.

            It was their first mistake of the night.

            Beatrice spun around the empty room, searching for Bonnie. "Where is she?"

            Caroline began to laugh, smiling through her crocodile tears. This sound caused both women to turn around in confusion and to face a very pleased looking Caroline.

            "I did it," Caroline breathed out with a smile. "I really did it. I didn't think that I would be able to fool—well, either of you—but I did it."

            Katherine ground her teeth together in irritation and charged at Caroline, but just as she was about to step through the door's threshold, she slammed into an invisible barrier.

            "What the...?"

            Beatrice's brows furrowed in confusion, but almost immediately relaxed in irritation when their scent swirled through the room.

            "Stefan."

            Katherine and Beatrice both turned to see Stefan standing at the opposite end of the room.

"Hello, ladies," Stefan greeted.

"Bye, bye," Caroline sung and disappeared back down the hallway.

Beatrice eyed the wooden stake in Stefan's hand. "What are you going to do with that, Stefan?" She asked, taking a seat on one of the white sofas.
"You don't really think you can kill us with that now, do you?"

"No," Stefan admitted, twirling the stake around in his hands. "But he can."

Damon emerged from the closet—cross bow armed and raised to kill—he shot it directly at Katherine. The stake swirled through the air and made a sickening thunk as it found its home right beside her spine.

            Beatrice watched with wide eyes as Katherine gasped, trying to reach the stake with her hands. She straightened up slowly, trying to regain her balance just as Stefan flew forward and drove his own stake into her arm.

            Beatrice stood from the sofa, startled by Stefan's savage attack. She heard a distinct click and looked over just in time to see Damon pull the trigger on the cross bow once more. She watched the stake spiral through the air—too stunned to move—eyes following it until it sunk into her thigh.

✥ ✥ ✥

Elektra's sharp scream pierced the air as she made her way to the staircase. Heat radiated through her right thigh, like fire spreading through a drought-stricken forest.

            The pain was excruciating, she collapsed onto the stairs. The carpet burned at her hands and elbows, but they were flea bites compared to the blood gushing from her leg.

            As she lay on the carpeted stairs—gasping in pain—she began to wonder what was happening to her. The blood was warm against her skin and her stomach turned at the sight of it dripping down onto the carpet beneath her. There would be no hiding this from Mrs. Lockwood, but that was the least of her worries as she heard footsteps bounding toward her.

            A whimper of pain and fear escaped her lips as she tried to get back on her feet; to get up the stairs away from the person approaching.

            "Elektra!"

            She collapsed onto the stairs at the sound of Jeremy's voice.

            "Oh, Jeremy, thank God..." she sighed in relief.

            She grit her teeth as Jeremy pulled her to her feet and rushed over to the doorway at the top of the stairs, where she was headed before the onslaught of pain.

            "Stop!" Jeremy yelled into the room.

            Her eyes and head felt heavy as she tried to survey the room before them. It was trashed—furniture torn to shreds, wooden tables splintered, glass shattered. The four figures were a blur, but she could make out that Stefan had Katherine pinned with a stake hovering over her chest and that Beatrice had flipped Damon onto his back and stood above him ready to strike.

            "You're hurting Elena and Elektra!" Jeremy shouted, panic in his voice. "Everything you're doing is hurting them!"

            Stefan, in a flash, released Katherine and was standing at the entrance of the room. Elektra met his regret filled eyes and nodded to reassure him that she was okay.

            "You think that you two are the only ones with a witch on your side? Wrong." Katherine smirked, moving toward Beatrice, twirling the stake in her hands.

            Beatrice took the stake from Katherine, "And something tells me that our witch is better than you witch." She paused and locked eyes with Elektra. "I am sorry, Elektra, perhaps this is a lesson learned."

            "Jeremy, take Elektra and go find Elena, make sure that she's okay." Stefan said, his eyes not once leaving Elektra's.

            "Let's all make sure poor little Elena's okay," Katherine rolled her eyes. "What about Elektra? Aren't you worried about her?"

            "Yes," the Salvatore brothers snapped.

            Beatrice smirked. "Give her some blood then—heal her from her pain." When neither of them responded, she lifted the stake. "This is really going to hurt."

            Beatrice then began to assault on her forearm and Elektra shouted in pain, feeling every tug and slice from the stake. Blood gushed down her body once more and she could hardly keep herself upright.

            "Get her out of here!" Damon ordered, his eyes raging.

            Jeremy didn't need to be told twice before he scooped her up into his arms and bolted down the stairs. Elektra was so blinded by the pain that she didn't even realize that they were outside until she heard the shuffling of bushes as they pushed through them.

            "I can't break the spell, Elena, I'm sorry." Bonnie's voice sounded and she knew that they were close. "But I can try to take some of the pain away."

            Jeremy set her down on the grass beside them and Elektra tried to sit up on her knees but the gaping wound in her thigh kept brining her down.

            "Elena," she whispered breathlessly and took her sister's hand in her own.

            "The spell is affecting the both of you, so I will try and take some of the pain away." Bonnie explained with sadness in her eyes.

            She nodded and groaned under her breath as another wave of pain washed over her. Bonnie took her free hand and began to mumble a spell.

            Elektra felt the affects almost instantly and found herself slouching in relief.

            "Are you guys okay?" Jeremy asked.

            She nodded her head once with a tight-lipped smile. No matter how badly she gets hurt, she will always push through and hide the pain with a smile.

            "How are they?" Elena asked, referring to Stefan and Damon.

            Jeremy glanced back at the Lockwood mansion before he faced his sisters. "They're stuck in there with them." His eyes then moved to Bonnie. "You were right, Katherine and Beatrice used a witch to link them."

            Bonnie's head popped up. "The girl I saw," she jumped up, letting go of the girls' hands. "Stay with them and keep pressure on their wounds!"

            "Where are you going?" Jeremy asked as Bonnie retreated back into the party.

            "There's another witch here," Bonnie rushed out. "I have to find her."

            Jeremy remained silent, Bonnie was already gone and out of sight. He crouched down in front of them, hands reaching for their wounds and applied pressure. "It's okay," he whispered to them when something caught his eye.

            It was the black and silver ring that Uncle John had given him before he left town. He hurriedly pulled the ring off his finger and held it out to his sisters.

            "No, Jer," Elektra whispered, but tried her hardest to sound strong.

            "Take it," he begged, still offering it to them. "Whichever one of you is worse, just take it."

            Elektra and Elena both took his hand into their own. "No, you need it more than we do."

            "We don't care what happens to us, all we care about is keeping you safe. So put the damn ring back on your finger," Elektra ordered as she fought through the pain.

✥ ✥ ✥

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