13. Katherine Pierce

About a half hour or so after Damon, Stefan and Rose left, they came back with an unconscious Mason over Damon's shoulders.

"You killed him already?" I asked, eyes widening. Damon shook his head and pulled out a chair before slamming Mason down on it. He grabbed some chains from a bag and began to wrap them round Mason's chest.

"He's unconscious." Damon explained. "He'll wake up in a few minutes or so."

"Hmm." I said, and watched as Elena walked over to Stefan. They slipped into each other's arms and Rose sat down on the couch next to me.

"Damon caught your eye?" She asked in a hushed tone.

I giggled a little but shook my head. "Nah, he's all yours." I lied. If she touched him again then she could burn in hell. Well, ok. Maybe that was a little harsh. Basically, I was upset that Damon had told me he liked me and then kissed Rose. It hurt my feelings. Hey, maybe Elena was right and Damon would hurt me. So as much as I hated it, I decided that I would play it low. If Damon didn't want to be with me, then I wouldn't force anything onto him. Hey, maybe I'd even play it at his own game.

"On the phone he told me that he's into some girl." Rose whispered, making sure Damon couldn't hear.

"Well, it's not me." I said, then raised my voice. "I couldn't care less about Damon. We're just friends."

"Not just friends." Damon shouted from where he chained Mason up. "We're partners in crime."

"Oh yeah." I remembered. "We're called Dinina."

"Yeah. And Dinina needs his Dinina partner to come help him out over here." Damon said. I looked up to him and saw that Mason was starting to wake up. So I nodded and then wandered over. Damon took my wrist, pulled me close to him and lowered his face to my ear.

"Think he'd believe you if you pretended to be Katherine?" He asked me. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Probably not considering he already knows me. He might believe if you pretended to be her though. I mean, come on. No boy can have such girlish feautures." I smiled.

"I am not girllish at the slightest!" He refused.

"Damon, you're not fooling anybody. You look like a girl. End of."

I heard Stefan and Rose laugh a little from behind me, and Damon faked a sarcatsic one before moving forwards. He took a plant of the table and I remembered Tyler telling me once that it was wolfsbane. It hurt the crap outta werewolves.

"Good afternoon sleepy head." Damon joked as Mason's eyes fluttered open. He looked around confused but then sighed.

"You want the moonstone?" He grumbled.

"Yes we do." Damon replied. "We also know that you have it."

Mason shook his head. "I did have it. But now I don't. It's gone."

"Did Katherine take it?" Stefan asked, coming forwards with Elena still in his grip. Mason stiffened and pursed his lips.

"Stefan Salvatore. Katherine spoke about you." He murmured. "She said that she still loves you."

"What?" Stefan and Damon both said at the same time. Mason chuckled before looking at Damon.

"She told me everything Damon. She told me what happened in 1864, what happened when she was running from Klaus. She even told me how she always loved Stefan more than she loved you."

"Shut your mouth, you mutt." Damon hissed, and then scraped the wolfsbane over Mason's cheek. Mason winced and let out a few deep breaths before laughing again.

"Touchy subject?" He grinned. "Anywho, it doesn't matter. She doesn't love either of you now because she loves me."

Suddenly, Damon let out the biggest laugh that I had ever heard. Even Rose seemed to jump back a few steps.

"She sure as hell doesn't!" Damon shrieked. "Katherine said she loved you because she wanted you to give her the moonstone. You gave it to her and where is she now? SHe left! You dumb idiot. Well, at least Katherine's not going to rip your heart out the same way she did mine and my brothers."

Mason sighed. "Katherine put the moonstone in a well."

"The well near Fells Church?" Elena asked. Mason nodded.

"Well, the dog decides to play it our way." Damon cooed. "It doesn't matter though. Because I'm now going to rip your heart out."

"No!" I screamed. I grabbed Damon's hand and he looked at me, clearly angry. "Damon don't. Please don't. He didn't do anything."

"Nina, I respect you but this is something that I have to do." Damon said. "The werewolves will come next week and by killing Mason, they'll see that we're as much as a threat to them as they are to us. It's simple, I kill him and then score 1 to us."

"Step back Nina." Stefan said, wrapping arms around my waist and pulling me away a few steps.

"No, please?!" Mason begged. "I'll tell you anything you want to-"

"You've already told us everything we need." Damon growled. "Stefan, don't let Nina see."

Suddenly, Stefan's arm wrapped around my head and forced my face into his chest and I couldn't see anything. All that I heard was Mason screaming, and then it stopped as soon as it started.

"Clean up the mess." Damon said. "I'm gonna talk to Nina."

Damon pulled me out of Stefan's arms and dragged me along to the stairs, making sure that I still couldn't see Mason. Once we got into the bedroom, Damon sighed and let go of me.

"You didn't need to see that." He said eventually. "Are you ok?"

"I feel like I shouldn't be, but I feel fine." I admitted. "I mean, it's sad. But he wasn't on our side so..."

Damon laughed a little. "Yeah, you're starting to feel the same way I feel."

I nodded. "So what now?"

"Well, you need to get ready."

"Ready?" I questioned.

"Don't ask questions." Damon smirked. "Just go into your room, put on a nice dress, and then meet me downstairs. Stefan took Elena home to get ready just now."

"Um...ok?" I said, unsure. Damon patted my head and then held the door open for me. I gave him a weird look before skipping out and heading into my own room. I opened the wardrobe, found a strapless red dress that my Mom...well adoptive Mom had gotten me and then I put it on. I brushed my hair and let it flow down to my shoulders, then applied a little makeup to freshen up. Once I looked ok, I stepped out and headed downstairs.

Damon was already standing at the end of the staircase in a white shirt with the top 3 buttons open, and a black tie. His black hair was scruffy and his eyes...doing that seductive eye thing again.

"That dress really shows off your waist." Damon complimented.

I nodded. "Thanks. You look nice. But tell me something, what's the occasion?"

"No questions." He reminded me. "Now go get in the car. Shotgun."

"Sure." I said, giving Damon a weird look again. I headed over to the door, but just as I opened it, Damon's hand literally slapped my ass...hard.

"Damon!" I shrieked, hitting his shoulder. He just laughed and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Can't say it doesn't compliment your ass either." He added. "Now go get in the car."

                                                      ***30 minutes later***

"A party?" I asked Damon as he led me up to Founders Court. I'd only been once and even then, I'd had a blonde haired girl call me Elena.

"It's a ball. Not a party." Damon corrected me.

I shrugged. "Ball, party, same thing. Now what are we doing here?"

"We're here because when me, Rose and Stefan were out looking for Mason, we found a little note in his belongings. It said 'meet me at the Founders Ball tonight. Love Katherine.'" Damon explained.

"So we're going to meet up with Katherine?" I asked. Damon nodded and linked his arm in with my own.

"Not only meet with her young Nina. We're going to kill her."

"Oh..." I gasped. "Ok."

5 minutes later me and Damon had met up with Stefan and Elena. They were also with a boy that looked a little younger than Elena, an older women with gold curly hair, a petite tanned girl, an older man with sandy hair and the same blonde haired girl that had called me Elena.

"Wow, she looks exactly like you!" The older women exclaimed. She stepped forward and stuck her hand out. "I'm Jenna, you're sisters Aunt."

"Oh, nice to meet you." I smiled back.

"And you." Jenna said. "I still can't get over the similarities! You look like the same person!"

"I'm Jeremy, Elena's brother." The younger boy said. I shook hands with him and smiled.

"Oh yeah, Elena told me about you." I remembered.

"Really? What did she say?" He asked, smirking.

"Oh well...that she had a brother and that you are her brother." I said, trailing off. Jeremy laughed a little and nodded.

"Yeah that sounds like me." He joked.

"I'm Bonnie." The petite girl said. She seemed more like the bubbly type and I couldn't help but grin at her cuteness.

"Bonnie Bennet's my best friend." Elena explained.

"And will soon be one of yours." Bonnie added.

"I'm sure you will be." I said. I looked at the blond girl and remembered her instantly. "I remember you! You thought I was Elena!"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'm Caroline." She grinned. We shook hands and I immediatley felt the same iciness that I felt when I touched Damon or Stefan. Caroline noticed this and when I mouthed 'Are you a...?' She simply nodded.

"I'm Rick, your sisters History teacher." The older man introduced. We shook hands and after noticing that I'd now met everyone, we enterred the boring topic of small talk. Until of course, Rick and Jenna left and a more focussed subject came to mind.

"So how do we find Katherine?" Jeremy asked. I didn't even bother to double check if everyone knew about vampires, cause it was obvious that they did. So I let it drop.

"Simple. We look for someone that looks exactly like these guys." Caroline replied.

"I'll do a location spell." Bonnie said as a more realistic answer. "But we can't confront her until we have the moonstone."

"And how will we get the moonstone?" I wondered.

"Stefan, Elena and Caroline are going." Damon explained.

"We'll go now." Stefan said, gripped Elena's hand. Then, all 3 of them began walking away.

"Ok Bonnie, do your location spell." Damon urged. Bonnie rolled her eyes and then sat down at the closest table. We all watched intensley as she closed her eyes and then began moving her hands around near the candle on the table. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Bonnie was the descendant of Emily Bennet, the one that Rose had been talking about earlier. Hey, where was Rose? I'd have to ask Damon that later.

"Done." Bonnie said, smiling. She pulled herself up to her feet.

"Where is she?" Damon asked.

"Outside on the steps. She's waiting for Mason."

"Ok." Jeremy said. "I'll go now then?"

"What are you gonna do?" I asked him. Jeremy pulled out a syringe-type of needle and tapped it twice with his finger.

"This is a vervain dart." He explained. "I'm gonna go up to Katherine acting like she's Elena. And then...well you know."

I nodded. "And what are we doing whilst Jeremy is drugging vampires?"

"You're going to pass out." Damon smirked. "Then I'll ask for a room so I can lay you down for a little bit. And then the others will meet us."

"Why can't we just sneak in?" I whined. "I don't want to pass out."

"It'll be more dramatic." He shrugged.

"Compel them to give you a room?" I pleaded.

"Can't. There's vervain in every drink here." He cursed. "Ok. Jeremy, Bonnie go get Katherine. Nina...pass out."

"OH!" I gasped and then fakely, let me knees give out and then collapsed in Damon's arms. I heard Damon and Bonnie laugh a little as Damon scooped me up bridal, and then Damon carried me over to a man by the sounds of it.

"My friend just passed out." Damon said casually. "Don't worry, it's nothing serious. She just needs to lie down for a little and she'll be fine."

"Would you like a room for a little while?" The man asked.

"That would be lovely." Damon replied. I felt myself being carried up various flights of stairs, and then into a bedroom, and then laid down on a courch.

"Don't open your eyes yet." Damon whispered. "The guy is still in here."

"Are you sure she doesn't need medical attention?" The other man asked.

"It's nothing. Really." Damon assured him. "Thankyou."

I wasn't sure why, but I still didn't open my eyes. I was almost positive that the man had left and that it was safe to, but I just kept them closed. Though suddenly, a shaddow leaned over my body and the clouds in my eyes darkened. It was Damon.

I was going to open my eyes again, but still I didn't move. It felt more, as Damon had said, dramatic. And I felt even more dramatic when Damon's breath started to bounce off my forehead. What was he doing? Breathing on my head?

My question was soon answered as within a few more seconds, I felt myself gasp.

Damon's lips pressed off against my forehead.

But as his lips parted from my skin, I shot my eyes open and he was on the other side of the room. I was speechless, but I couldn't say anything anyways. I mean, it wasn't exactly a proper kiss...but it wasn't something I could ignore either. Either way, Damon didn't say anything so neither did I.

"Oh, Stefan stinks!" Damon shrieked.

I sat up on the couch and shot him an evil look; forgetting the fact that he'd just kissed me. "What?" I asked him.

"Stefan jumped into the well and it was full of vervain. Vervain doesn't smell nice, so therefore he stinks." He explained.

"Is Stefan ok?"

"Oh yeah. He's fine." Damon replied. "In the end, Elena had to go in and get the moonstone. But she's fine and so is Stefan. They're coming up now."

"They as in Katherine?"

Damon frowned. "Yes."

Suddenly, the door shot open and in came Jeremy, Bonnie, Stefan, Elena and Caroline. Only, in Jeremy's arms was a still Katherine. Damon's face looked pretty blank and instead of taking notice in Katherine, he grabbed me by my arm and pulled me up off the couch. Jeremy dumped Katherine down and we all stood in silence for a few minutes.

"You ok?" I asked Damon.

Damon shook his head. "Not the slightest."

For reassurance, I grabbed his hand and held it tight. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."

He squeezed my hand back and sighed. "I hope so."

And at just that moment, Katherine's eyes flung open. At first, she seemed confused but then she smiled and let out a playful kind of growl.

"Well, well, well. The Salvatore boys holding me captive." She said in a seductive voice. "Isn't this going to be interesting?"

_______________________________