CHAPTER FIVE
❝KILL OR BE KILLED❞

EMERALD COAST, FLORIDA
ONE YEAR AGO

Mason Lockwood sat at the bar, gulping down his beer. He was just there to have a few beers and to watch whatever game was playing on the television. It wasn't unusual that he was there, but little did Mason know that later that night, his life would be changed forever.

    "That's it for me." Mason said to the bartender who he was somewhat familiar with; he held out his hand and they shook across the waxed wooden bar.

    The bartender nodded, pulling his hand back. "Goodnight."

    Mason stood from the bar stool, turned and walked toward the red sign that read EXIT. His friend, who was sitting at the end of the bar, threw back a shot and followed Mason out. Mason was a few paces ahead, so the man ran up behind him and pushed him.

    Mason immediately whirled around.

    "Mason."

    Mason's face broke out into a wide smile. "Whoa, hey there, Jimmy. Easy. Let's get you home."

    "Screw you!" Jimmy shouted, pushing Mason again. Anger was evident in his hazel eyes. "I know about you and Marla."

    "What are you talking about?" Mason asked, confused and frustrated. "You've had too much to drink, let's—"

    His throat was then snatched up by Jimmy; he gritted his teeth together and ripped Jimmy's arm away from his neck, and shoved his drunk friend back.   

    "What's up?" Mason hollered. "It's me. It's me, Mason. I'm not messing with Marla, you know that!"

    Jimmy lunged forward again and swung his fist, landing a solid blow to Mason's left cheek causing him to stumble backwards and fall. Mason got back up on his feet quickly and grabbed his friend's shoulders holding him back to keep him from coming after him again.

    "You don't want to do this buddy." Mason warned.

    "I'll kill you!" Jimmy seethed.

    Thrown to the ground, Mason received a kick to the face. He hollered out in pain, the impact of hitting the asphalt making his back burn, he was repeatedly kicked until finally Jimmy straddled him and started raining punches down on him.

    Meanwhile, Mason's anger was rising. He had been holding back because the man attacking him was his long-term friend and he didn't want to hurt him. But Mason being a Lockwood-had a very short fuse.

    Mason pushed his friend off of him, causing him to fly back onto the ground. Jimmy got back up; Mason lifted him up and slammed him down onto the asphalt, only forgetting that doing such a thing could easily crack his skull.

    That's exactly what happened.

    Jimmy lied on the cold asphalt with blood pooling around his head. His eyes were wide open—pale and lifeless—glazed over with certain death. Mason, almost immediately, realized what he'd just done and crouched down next to Jimmy and grabbed his friend's still face.

    "Jimmy. Jimmy." Mason repeated, turning and lightly hitting his face. Trying to get a response out of his once lively friend. He backed away and stood up, horrified by what he'd done.

    He just killed his friend.

    The werewolf curse was triggered.

    Someone dies by your hand, the curse is yours forever.

    Mason Lockwood's eyes suddenly turned an unnatural amber-gold color. He gasped. Falling to his knees, he knew exactly what was happening. And he had always feared that this day would come.

MYSTIC FALLS, VIRGINIA
PRESENT

"This is all part of the Historical Society's continuing efforts to give back to the community. Thanks to the generation donation of the Fell family, we are now standing on the site of our newest public park. Thank you to everyone who has shown up today to lend a helping hand."

    Elektra rolled her eyes as Mrs. Lockwood's voice bellowed around her.

    The Historical Society Volunteer Picnic was today and Elektra Gilbert, of course, somehow got herself roped into helping. There were people buzzing around everywhere and she narrowly tried to avoid all of them. The last thing she wanted was to be engaged in a conversation with a Founding Family member who thought they knew everything about her. She really hated historical functions.

    Being polite to people you knew were secretly talking about you behind your back was a chore. And their condescending smiles were wearing on Elektra—chafing against the raw; it was unnerving to feel like everyone's eyes were watching her every move.

    Elektra was frustrated and annoyed, especially after having her first "fake fight" with Stefan last night. The two thought it best to appear as though they were no longer dating—wait, are we even dating? she thought, who knows—so Katherine and Beatrice doesn't hurt anyone. And side-note, Caroline has been spying on Elena and Elektra for Katherine and Beatrice ever since she turned into a vampire, no big deal or anything.

    Stefan and Elektra made a pact—keeping Elena unaware of their plans—to act like they were in a fight, so, that meant no talking, no talking, and no being near one another until Beatrice and Katherine were taken care of. Which, at first, didn't sound too bad or hard; that was until this morning when Stefan appeared in her room while she was getting ready. It was then that Elektra realized that every atom in her body was screaming at her to be with Stefan—like some ancient prophecy forcing them together.

    Today is going to be a long day, she thought.

    She turned and instantly locked eyes with Stefan; and out of the corner of her eyes she saw Caroline and Damon. It was the perfect opportunity for her and Stefan to have another "fake fight" and for Caroline to feed information back to the Pierce twins.

    Slamming the can of wood stain down on the table, Elektra childishly stomped toward him, instantly feeling Caroline's and Damon's eyes on her. The younger Salvatore looked away from his woodwork, watching as she approached him.

    "Do you still care about Katherine and, or Beatrice?" Elektra asked, trying to stick to something that would draw Caroline's attention.

    Stefan gawked at her. "Don't do this. Please, don't turn this into something that it's not."

    "So this isn't up for discussion. That's what you're saying?"

    Leaning in, Stefan said. "No, I'm saying that this isn't up for discussion right now because we have ears on us."

    Looking over, Damon and Caroline quickly became disinterested in listening to Stefan and Elektra's conversation. Amateurs. They can't even pretend not to eavesdrop.

    Elektra sighed. "Okay. When?"

    "I don't know." Stefan said, folding his arms over his chest.

    "I saw Katherine, Stefan. With my own two eyes and I'm pretty damn sure that Beatrice looks exactly like her. It's like the four of us are all the same person! How can you hate them and have feelings for me?"

    "You're reaching. I'm not—I'm not Damon."

    "Again with Damon. How about we don't bring him into this right now?"

    "You know what? I can't. I can't do this anymore, Elektra."

    "Fine, Stefan. Whatever. It wasn't like we were actually dating anyways."

    And with that, she walked away with her heart aching.

     About half an hour after he fight with Stefan, a warm breeze blew around Elektra as she looked over at a wooden gazebo and saw Elena and Caroline. They appeared to be in the middle of a deep conversation and it seemed like an argument was just waiting to break out between the two. And even though Elektra and Elena were on the outs, it didn't mean she wanted her sister and their best friend to start fighting.

    So, wanting to find out what was going on, Elektra quickly made her way over to them.

    "Hey, what's going on here?"

    The two girls instantly smiled falsely at Elektra.

    "Hey, Elektra." Caroline greeted cheerfully.

    Elena tried to manage a genuine smile, but failed. "Yeah, what's up?"

    "Nothing much." Elektra murmured, shrugging her shoulders. "I just saw that you guys' conversation was getting pretty heated and I just wanted to know what's going on between you two."

    "Everything's fine, right Elena?" Caroline lied smoothly, nodding toward Elena who mimicked Caroline. "Except my mother. She's trying to be Mother of the Year, or something. And it just so happens to be when I'm trying to avoid her the most."

    Elektra furrowed her eyebrows at the distastefulness in Caroline's voice. Why was she so upset that her mother was at least trying to mend things between them? At least she still had a mom. "Well, that's a good thing, right? I mean, at least you get to see her."

    "Not really. Especially if she might start noticing that I'm a...you know?"   

    "What happened?"

    "Well, I was a bitch, which is par for the course with us."

    Elektra nodded solemnly. "I see."

    Caroline's cat-eyes floated between the twins, gauging on what topic she could bring up that would intensify the rift between the sisters. Stefan. She turned to Elektra, hope in her eyes. "So, how are you and Stefan?"

    Elektra crossed her arms, knowing that Caroline was fishing for information. "No, not since the fight." What else to say? Come on, Elektra, think on your feet. "He's been pushing me away because he thinks that Katherine and Beatrice might get jealous enough to hurt me and Elena. I just don't know how to change his mind."

    "Well, you said that Beatrice and Katherine are dangerous, and maybe he's got a point."

    Elena cut in. "Yeah, we know that they're dangerous."

    "Okay, so off the depressing topic," Caroline muttered, twirling her daylight ring around her finger. "Elektra, have you and Stefan finally decided to put a label on what you guys are? You know, are you a couple or just sex buddies?"

    "Caroline!" Elena exclaimed, obviously more angered about the question than Elektra, which is exactly what Caroline wanted.

    "Seriously, Caroline?" Elektra said, standing straight. "We're gonna do this again? Just because your relationship with Matt went to shit, doesn't mean you get to berate mine. So, when the two of you actually decide to tell me the truth about what's going on, I guess I'm going to find Damon or something."

After about twenty minutes of mentally kicking Caroline in the head and walking around aimlessly, she'd accidentally found Damon. He was by a few young girls—probably thirteen—setting up a lemonade stand. More importantly, he was talking to Mason. The two of them talking meant trouble.

    "You have a good day, Damon." Mason said, walking away from Damon which caused Elektra to move forward.

    Elektra rolled her eyes at him. "What are we going to do with you, Damon?"

    He smiled once he saw her, and slung his arm across her shoulders which she tried to shrug off, but he wouldn't budge. She rolled her eyes once more.

    "Whip me?"

    "You disgust me."

    "Please tell me you two were just bonding." Stefan's voice flittered into Elektra's ears and instantly made her heart jump into her throat. Him walking towards them meant that she would have to act like she was mad at Stefan in front of Damon, which wouldn't be easy because Damon could practically see right through her. It was infuriating.

    Damon glanced between Elektra and Stefan. "So, what's up with this, um, faux drama in y'all's relationship?"

    "Faux drama?" Elektra repeated.

    "What are you talking about, Damon?" Stefan asked, furrowing his brows.

    "Oh, come on, guys." Damon said with a knowing smile. "You two don't fight. Especially not over me."

    Elektra seethed. Immediately, she shoved Damon's arm off her shoulders and refused to meet Stefan's eyes. "You really need to learn not to eavesdrop. It's rude."

    "Drop it, Damon." Stefan growled.

    "My pleasure."

    One of the young girls from the lemonade stand approached them. "Would you like some lemonade?"

    "Thank you, sweetie." Damon said, giving the poor pre-teen girl a breath taking smile as she handed a cup of lemonade to him and Elektra.

    Elektra was just about to take a sip, but Damon's didn't even make it down his throat. He coughed, sending the yellow drink flying right out of his mouth and onto the ground. Stefan and Elektra shared a confused look before glancing down at the plastic cup in her hands. She threw out the cup with her untouched lemonade and came to Damon's side, patting his back.

    "What's wrong with you?" Stefan demanded, easing Damon down to sit on the bench.

    "Vervain." Damon chocked out. "Vervain."

    Alerted, Stefan picked up the plastic cup that Damon had thrown down and brought it up to his nose. His nose crinkled in disgust before, he as well, threw it down.

    And none of them were aware that Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes had seen the entire thing.

Elektra's right knee bobbed up and down anxiously as she nibbled on her bottom lip furiously. A few moments after Damon drank the vervained lemonade, she decided it was best if she sat down before she did something irrational. Stefan was standing beside her, his hand on her shoulder as his foot tapped irritably on the concrete. Damon angrily pacing back and forth.

    "Damon, you need to calm down before you draw even more attention to yourself."

    He ignored her. Instead of listening to her, he grabbed a bottle of water and opened it. "Oh, it burns," he grunted. Filling is mouth full of water, swishing it back and forth in his mouth and spitting the water out on the ground.

    "I'm gonna kill him." Damon seethed, taking a step in a certain direction before Stefan jumped in front of him, grabbing his brother's shoulders to try and hold him back. Keeping him from doing something stupid.

    "No." Stefan ordered, trying to push Damon to sit down.

    Damon struggled and tried to swipe Stefan's hands off him. "No more Mr. Nice Guy."

    "Sit, sit, sit."

    Elektra stood from the bench she was perched on and moved towards them.

    Damon growled. "I'm not listening to more of your give peace a chance crap. He's dead."

    "Okay." Stefan agreed while Damon panted. "Okay. I don't like it, but he's making threats. He could expose us. We need to put him down."

    "All right. Let's do it." Damon said without hesitation.

    Elektra shook her head, already hating their plan. "You two don't get it, do you? Mason isn't stupid, like Tyler. He's smart, which means that he's probably already informed someone on the Council. Probably Sheriff Forbes. This won't end well...for either of you."

    Damon's panting suddenly ceased at her words. Every words she said before the last four went in one ear and out the other. But the last four, those meant something. They may not have meant to her what they meant to him, but he didn't care. She cared about him.

    Stefan glanced back at Elektra. "We can't just sit here and do nothing, Elektra."

    Damon stood up and nodded towards the woods. "Woods. Trash duty. Come on."

    She looked over to see that Mason was lugging around two trash cans, climbing up a small hill at the edge of the woods. The Salvatore brothers started to head that way. Elektra was quick on her feet, jumping in front of Damon—knowing that Stefan would be easier to coax out of this plan than Damon—she put her hands on his chest. Stopping him.

    "Damon, if you act on impulse alone, you're going to get yourself and your brother killed!" She shouted, attempting to push him back, but he pushed passed her. "Are you either of you even listening to me? Stefan!"

    Damon then looked to Stefan. "Hey, did you hear that? It sounded like someone talking."

    Elektra clenched her jaw.

    "You're not funny."

    Stefan walked back over to her, having to force himself from kissing her, grabbed her biceps and held her there. Even though she was upset with him, she couldn't help but melt in his hands.

    "We'll—I'll be fine, okay?"

Elektra was running around the site like a crazy person. She'd been bumping and stumbling over people for a good ten minutes before she saw Elena and Caroline. They both had their arms crossed, staring at the woods questionably.

    "Guys," she called, out of breath. They both turned to face her. "Stefan and Damon are going after Mason and I think Mason got your mom involved, Caroline."

    "So, that's why she left."

    "We've got to go. Care, you can use your heightened hearing to find them."

    "Yeah, that'll work."

    Eventually, Caroline heard something and they ran a little ways through the woods with the blond in the lead. Elektra was grateful, if they didn't have her, they would've never been able to find them.

    Caroline stopped suddenly, causing Elena to run into Elektra's back.

    "What is it?"

    Caroline's eyes surveyed the area around them. "They've been here." She dropped down on one knee and gently brushed her fingers across a bright green leaf on a plant, getting something dark red on her finger.

    Blood. Elektra's breath instantly got caught in her throat. If Stefan and Damon were hurt, Stefan would be in worse condition than Damon because his appetite only consisted of animal blood. He wasn't as strong as Damon which meant, that whatever they had done to them, might actually kill Stefan if they don't find them fast enough.

    "What are you guys doing out here?" Mason's voice came from behind Elektra and Elena, causing the twins to turn around to face the werewolf.

    "Have you seen Stefan?" Elektra practically snarled.

    Mason tilted his head at her. "Yeah, Elektra, I've seen him. Seen Damon too."

    "Where are they?"

    "You don't need me for that. I'll let your friend here sniff them out." Mason instructed, looking over their shoulders to Caroline. "Does your mother know what you are? I'd be happy to tell her."

    Caroline took a step toward Mason and was about to attack when Mason lunged forward, grabbing Elena. He held her in a choke hold—sort of—except, with the way he was holding her, it gave him easy access to snap her neck.

    "Don't be stupid." Mason threatened, watching as Elektra took a step closer while he took one back. "Necks snap easy around here."

    "I can take you." Caroline said, determined.

    Mason smirked. "Wanna bet?"

    "Yeah, I do." Caroline said right before rushing forward and grabbing Mason by his neck, pinning him against a tree. Elena dropped out of his grasp, so Elektra ran toward her, and helped her up. "Told you." The blond smiled and kneed him in the stomach, pushed him down to his knees and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying into a tree.

    Caroline grinned at the twins. "Come on."

    They ran and ran, following after Caroline all the way through the woods until they made it to the old Lockwood cellar where, back in the old days, was used to quarter slaves. The blond stopped suddenly, again, looking around.

    "Where are they?" Elektra asked softly, running hand through her hair in exasperation. She was panicking. What if they didn't find them in time and they both die? Elektra didn't think she could live with herself if Stefan and Damon both died because she wasn't fast enough.

    "Caroline." Elena urged. "Caroline, what is it?"

    "My mom." Caroline said, horrified. "She's killing them."

    "What? And we've just been standing here while your mother kills them?" Elektra was just about to bolt descend the stairs leading down into the slave quarters, when Caroline grabbed her and pulled her back.

    "We have to stop her, Caroline. Let Elektra go." Elena said in a hushed whispered, yanking Caroline's hand off her sister.

    "No, I can't. She's gonna find out about me."

    Elektra and Elena looked at each other, and ran down the stairs, leaving Caroline behind. Elektra, for the moment, honestly didn't care if Sheriff Forbes found out about her daughter being a vampire. It was bound to happen eventually; it's not something someone is able to keep a secret forever. Even Elektra found out about Stefan—and Damon—no matter how hard he tried to hide it from her.

    They opened the metal gate, hearing Liz tell someone to go and check it out. She rolled her eyes, hiding behind a stone wall as Elena did the same. Once the man came into view, she waited until he walked past her before she brought her elbow back and delivered a harsh blow to the back of his head.

    He fell to the floor, momentarily discombobulated. She and Elena ran into the room where they heard the Sheriff's voice. And as soon as they got to the doorway, her gun was aimed at them, ready to shoot.

    "Elena, Elektra! What are you doing?" She demanded, lowering her gun slightly.

    "You're not going to kill them." Elektra said, glaring at the gun. "We're not gonna let you."

    The deputy Elektra had assaulted, came up behind them and pushed the two girls into the center of the room. She heard the gate slam and an unnatural gust of wind.

    "Who's that?"

    "Who else is with you?"

    Neither of them answered. A blurred figure ran through the quarters at a supernatural speed. Elektra looked up at the deputy and saw a mane of blond hair resting on his neck. He screamed out, the sound of slurping filled the air.

    The other deputy started shooting at Caroline. She simply just held the man who she'd fed on, in front of her to act as a shield. She then tossed the guy down and charged for the one who was firing at her. She knocked his gun out of his hand and threw him to the ground as well.

    Caroline hissed. Her fangs were bared and blood covered her mouth.

    She stepped into the light, allowing her mom to get a good look at her face before her fangs retracted. The Sheriff's face went blank as she stared at her vampire daughter.

    "Hi, mom."

✥ ✥ ✥

not edited.