❛ ACT I ❜
-ˋˏ chapter eight ˎˊ-

"TYLER KNOWS about you, Sofie and Damon. He knows Damon killed Mason but I didn't say a word!" Caroline confessed to the Salvatore and Gilbert in the foyer of the Forbes household.

"How on earth would Tyler find out?" Sofia asked before it clicked. "It's that werewolf Damon mentioned."

Stefan nodded in agreement. "Yeah Jules, she had a run in with Damon."

Caroline covered her face with her hands, pacing the length from the front door to where Sofia and Stefan stood. "Tyler was so upset. The look on his face, he was so betrayed."

"Wow, this is bad." Stefan groaned.

Sofia rubbed comforting circles on Caroline's back in hopes to calm her. "We need to fix this. Stefan, you need to talk to him about keeping his mouth shut and not blabbing about stuff we need to keep secret to whatever werewolves Jules brought with her. I'll stay with Caroline." She said, taking charge.

Stefan nodded and turned to leave but Caroline sped to stand in front of the door. "You're not going to tell Damon, are you?" She asked in fear.

Sofia cringed at the mention of her best friend. If this information got to Damon, he'd kill Tyler without a second thought. As heartless as it sounds, Sofia didn't care much for the Lockwood werewolf. He had always been an asshole since he was a kid and now that he's a werewolf he can kill them on a full moon. The only reason Sofia wasn't encouraging Damon was because Caroline obviously cares deeply for him and Elena and Bonnie have known him since forever.

"No, he already wants to kill him. He thinks all werewolves should die and he's not wrong to think that, Caroline. I mean, what if Tyler tries to retaliate? He'll get himself killed." Stefan explained.

Caroline nodded and moved away from the door. "Just - just be gentle. He and I are friends."

Stefan sighed and nodded before leaving.

Caroline turned to the brunette with a sad look and Sofia swiftly brought her into a hug. "It's good you called us Care, everything will be fine. Stefan and I will make sure Damon doesn't do anything."

Caroline nodded and pulled away. "Thanks Sof. Always looking out for me." She nudged Sofia with a smile.

She rolled her eyes. "If I don't, who will?"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Caroline and Sofia sat in the same booth as the last time, the brunette with a coke in front of her and the blonde with a milkshake. Caroline wanted to go to The Grill to try and move her mind from the Tyler situation.

Sofia knows something is going on between them but she won't say anything until Caroline admits it. And she can't continue to avoid Matt either.

"Jeez, slow down or you'll get a brain freeze Care." Sofia advised the blonde who was drinking the pink colored drink like it was the last milkshake on earth.

Caroline groaned. "I know, I just can't stop thinking about Tyler."

Sofia sipped her drink and raised a knowing eyebrow at Caroline. The girl rolled her eyes at Sofia. "Shush, you talk please."

Sofia knew that she needed to tell Caroline about her morning with Elijah if she really wanted her friend to forget about Tyler.

"Well, I was with Elijah this morning when you called." She said and pulled a face at the pure excitement that came from nowhere on Caroline's face.

"Oh my God! And you didn't say anything sooner?! Tell me everything." Caroline exclaimed, her full attention on the brunette across from her.

Sofia smiled slightly, trying not to show how fond she was of their walk. "Well it turns out I'm clumsy around him. He saved me from walking into a tree, I stepped in a hole and to add to my embarrassment I nearly tripped over a rock and bumped into an old guy." She rolled her eyes before taking a sip from her drink.

Caroline looked at her in disbelief. "You're never clumsy. "

"I know but I swear my brain goes blank whenever I'm talking to him."

Caroline snorted. "He seems to have an effect on you Sof."

Sofia threw a napkin towards Caroline and the blonde giggled "Shush."

"Just be careful Sof." Caroline's expression dropped to a worried one. "We don't know Elijah well or his true intentions. Bonnie is suspicious about the whole thing and she's psychic." She said pointingly.

Caroline loved that Sofia was finally getting back into the game after a year of not dating, she just doesn't want her dreams to be crushed if Elijah turns out to really be the bad guy. Caroline prays that is not the case.

Sofia nodded slowly. She already thought about if Elijah had hidden intentions and this conversation made her realize that she let her guard down for too long around him today. Sofia couldn't help it, she's never felt this giddy about someone before but she has to remember that not everyone is what they say.

"I know, you're right. I got carried away." Sofia shook her head at herself.

"It's not a bad thing to feel like this towards Elijah Sof, I'm just saying that until we know for sure that Elijah isn't hiding anything, just be careful."

"It seems we're sitting on the wrong sides of this table." Sofia chuckled. "Thanks Care."

"Anytime Sof." Caroline beamed, happy to give her advice for a change. "Now, what do you think about me going brunette?"

Sofia's eyes drifted behind Caroline and her face scrunched up in revulsion, lips forming a line.

"It was just an idea, jeez." Caroline rolled her eyes, offended.

Sofia snapped her eyes back to the blonde. "What? No, I just saw someone I need to talk too. But blonde looks better on you - I'll be back, bye!"

The Gilbert got up and walked over to table on the other side of the room where Jenna sat with Alaric. But they didn't bother her, it was the man standing next to them

"What the hell are you doing back here John?" Sofia snapped at her uncle as she stood behind Jenna's chair, not understanding why he's here. Hell, she didn't even know he was back in town.

The last time he was in Mystic Falls he tried to not only kill the Salvatores, but her too because they were vampires. John was never a good uncle - scratch that, never a good person. Her father was nothing like him. John never liked Sofia and his distaste for her only grew when he discovered what she became after the crash.

She put her hand on Jenna's shoulder but the women shrugged it off and glared up at her.

"Did you know too?" Jenna asked her in anger, everyone noticing the amused smirk on John's face as he sat down next to Alaric, who glared at him.

"What are you talking about Jenna?" Sofia asked, confused by her aunt's sudden anger towards her.

"Did you know that John is Elena's birth father and that Isobel is her birth mother?" Jenna asked, eyes staring into her own.

Sofia's eyes widen. Yes, she did know that Elena was actually her and Jeremy's cousin but she didn't know that Jenna knew. "Jenna let me explain pl-"

She tried to defend her actions of keeping the secret but Jenna grabbed her jacket from her chair and left before Sofia could carry on. Sofia went to follow her but Alaric stopped her.

"I don't think she needs to see family right now, sorry Sof." Alaric have her a sympathetic look before following his girlfriend.

Sofia looked in the direction Jenna left in sadness. Jenna has never been mad at her before and it hurt. But that sadness vanished and was replaced by vexation when John opened his stupid mouth.

He tutted "Ah, you really shouldn't have kept such an important secret from your aunt. You should thank me actually, I did it for you -"

Sofia swung her fist with all her strength and punched John in his nose, a satisfying snap following right after. She pulled back with a glare at the man whose nose had a waterfall of blood and was definitely broken.

"Stay the hell away from Jenna and stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong." Sofia hissed, ignoring the few stares she got from the scene she made.

John grunted in pain as he held his broken nose. "You know your father would be so disappointed in you. Look what you've become, everything he hated." he retorted bitterly.

Caroline was talking to Matt, trying to make up for her strange behavior but she spotted Sofia, looking like she was ready to rip John's arms off his body. The blonde quickly made her way over and pulled Sofia away before half the town witnessed the murder of John Gilbert.

"Sofia, please don't. Not in front of everybody." Caroline pleaded with the brunette as she pulled her out The Grill.

"I'm going to kill him."

Sofia's sudden aggressiveness took Caroline by surprise, her eyes widening as the veins started to appear under Sofia's darkening eyes. She pulled Sofia further into the parking lot where no one could see them.

"I get that but you can't do this out in public." Caroline said and sighed in relief when Sofia calmed down.

"Sorry." The Gilbert looked down in annoyance, thinking of ways to get her aunt to talk to her.

Caroline gently grabbed her arm and pulled her towards Sofia's car a few meters away. She didn't say anything, giving the older girl time to think.

Sofia lifted her head and caught the small but meaningful glance Caroline gave Matt Donavan who was wiping down the outside tables of The Grill.

"Go finish talking to him." Sofia encouraged, feeling bad that she distracted Caroline while she was talking to Matt.

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I don't want to leave you alone. "

Sofia looked at her playfully and took her car keys from Caroline's hands. "I'm a big girl Caroline, I can walk myself. I'll be in the car, don't worry."

Caroline nodded and gave her friend a smile before walking across the parking lot towards the blue-eyed boy.

Sofia pulled her coat tighter around her body, regretting wearing a dress as she made her way to her car and unlocked it. She gripped the car handle before a voice spoke from behind her and Sofia turned around.

"Excuse me." A blonde women smiled at her and Sofia instantly got a bad feeling. Maybe it was the clear force in her smile or the fact that she smelled like a wet dog. "Sofia Gilbert, right?"

Werewolf

Her guard went up. "Depends, who's asking?"

Jules ignored her question, her tone becoming sweeter. "I'm looking for Tyler, have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't." Sofia responded and opened her door to step in. "Sorry."

"I know you're lying." Jules bluntly said, taking a threatening step closer to the vampire.

Sofia sighed in annoyance and shut the car door, stepping closer so that she was in Jules's face. She was not in the mood for this, she just wanted to go home. "How? Did you sniff that out?"

"Yeah actually."

Before Sofia could register what was happening, Jules sprayed her eyes with vervain making the brunette scream and hold her face.

Sofia stumbled into her car and groaned, blinking quickly as her wounds healed. She looked up with a glare, ready to attack but Brady, another werewolf, shot a bullet into her forehead, watching the vampire collapse on the road with a smile.

"Put her in the truck." Jules told him once she reappeared to his side.

"Sofia?!" Caroline ran into view and looked at her friend in panic. She heard Sofia scream and a gunshot go off.

Her hands shook in shock as she looked at the two werewolves before speeding towards them. Unfortunately, just as Caroline stopped in front of them, Brady shot her too.

"Good, now if we kill the one, the other is our back up leverage." Brady smirked, neither werewolf noticing how the mark on Sofia's chest glowed dimly.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Sofia gasped and sat up, immediately feeling the worst headache take over. Her head felt terrible and any movement made her eyes water. Her eyes were blurry and they adjusted to see metal bars around her. She was in a small space and couldn't think straight until memories flashed through her brain.

Caroline, Jules, black.

Sofia whimpered as she carefully brushed her fingers over her forehead, feeling the bullet lodged deep into her head. She let out a cry of pure agony as she dug through her flesh and ripped the wooden pullet out, panting in relief when her wound healed. She threw the bullet against the metal bars, coming to the realization she was in a cage.

"I see you got the bullet out."

Sofia jumped at the sudden voice, pressing herself against the cage. A man - werewolf - sat comfortably in a chair a few feet away from the cage she was in, watching her in amusement. It seemed her pain entertained him.

"That was nasty. I got lots of wooden bullets and other toys. It's going to be a long night sweet pea." He smiled. "At least you got company." He nodded next to her.

Sofia's dead heart dropped to her stomach at the sight of Caroline unconscious next to her, a bullet in the same place hers was.

"Oh no, no no no!" Sofia felt herself start to cry, crawling towards her friend and laying her head in her lap, looking at Caroline's bullet wound.

Brady smirked. "Let's wake her up, shall we?"

He lifted his gun and shot a wooden bullet covered in vervain into Sofia's breast and the brunette screamed. Caroline shot awake at the noise and looked horrified.

"Sofia?" Caroline whimpered as she felt the bullet in her head, eyes trained on her friend who crawled into a ball and held back her noises of pain.

"Caroline - I'm sorry -" Sofia looked at her with regretful eyes, letting out another pain filled scream as Brady shot a bullet into her arm, not giving Sofia the chance to remove the bullet in her chest.

"Stop! Stop hurting her!" Caroline begged, trying to go towards Sofia but Brady shot a stake into her leg.

Caroline cried as she fell on her back and Sofia had never felt more scared. She felt pathetic - sitting there while her friend was in pain. But she was too and Sofia hated how weak she was at that very moment.

"We're going to have fun ladies." He laughed before shooting them both in the head again.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Stefan and Tyler were in the Lockwood office, the vampire trying to convince the werewolf to co-operate with him like Sofia suggested it.

"You want to be friends? Great, we're friends, will you go now?" Tyler asked, wanting Stefan to leave.

The Salvatore sighed, running his hands over his face. "I don't know what else to say to you, Tyler. I came back to town because I wanted a life, I wanted to exist where I could have friends and where I could build a family. I have that here; we can both have that."

Tyler avoided eye contact, soaking in what Stefan said but before he could reply, Stefan's phone rang.

Stefan looked at the caller ID and saw Sofia's name come up. He didn't hesitate to accept and put the phone to his ear. "Hey Sof, is everything okay?"

He expected to hear his friend's teasing voice saying something, but it was someone else's making alarm bells go off in his head.

"That depends, how badly to you want to keep the girl alive?" Jules said.

"Who is this?" Stefan demanded.

"Ask your brother, where's Tyler?"

"Jules? Where's Sofia?"

"You made a mistake Stefan, I'm going to give you a chance to fix it."

"Where is she?" Stefan said more forcibly

Jules rolled her eyes and stepped in the RV where her boyfriend sat in front of the cage Sofia and Caroline were in. The older vampire was holding Caroline protectively with her back towards them so Brady couldn't get a shot towards Caroline.

Both girls looked shaken up and with good reason.

"Right here, want proof?" She looked at Brady. "He wants proof."

He raised his gun and shot two vervain soaked iron bullets into Sofia's hip making her scream and let go of Caroline, her voice raw and full of agony.

Stefan tensed up at her scream, gripping the phone so hard Tyler could hear a crack.

"What's happening?" Tyler asked

"Hurt her again and you're dead." Stefan threatened. Not only would they need to worry about him but if Damon knew, the wolves wouldn't get to see their next full moon because their body parts would be sent back to their homes.

Jules smiled. "Well Brady is having his fun, who knows if he shoots too close to her heart. Besides we got a backup."

On cue, Brady leaned closer and sprayed vervain into Caroline's face making her scream too.

Stefan recognized it. "Is that Caroline?"

"Yeah, blondie couldn't stay away, I guess. Bring Tyler to me, the clearing by Wickery Falls. You have 20 minutes until the Gilbert dies. Then Caroline is next." She hung up.

Sofia panted as she repeated the agonizing process of digging through her flesh to retrieve the vervain covered bullets that burned her skin.

Wooden bullets, iron bullets, stakes and knives littered the area around the cage, covered with their blood.

Sofia's entire body hurt, despite her healing abilities, the burn of the vervain in her system made her skin crawl with fire. Caroline was in a similar state but it was clear Sofia took the most hits.

"Sof." Caroline cried, scared. She was only seventeen and Sofia's heart broke every time Brady did something to her.

With the little energy she had, Sofia hugged the blonde the same way as before, with her back to Brady and her head on top of Caroline's, softly reassuring her that Stefan was coming. They have tried already to escape but the cage was made of something not even two vampires could break.

"So, how many vampires are in this town?" Brady asked but neither girls replied so he took out his blowgun and shot three wooden darts in Sofia's back.

The brunette's voice was weak from screaming so much but still, her screams made Caroline cry harder.

"Why are you doing this to us? Why are you doing this? Why?" Caroline screamed at him, kicking the bars.

Sofia was face down on the ground, grunting in pain as she removed the darts but didn't make any move to get up.

"You're vampires, why not?" He squirted vervain into Caroline's eyes and she screamed again.

"I'm sorry what was that?" He taunted.

"Let us out!" She yelled.

"Excuse me? What was that?"

Caroline screamed in frustration and kicked the bars again and Brady smirked one last time before leaving to talk to Jules.

Sofia sighed and sat up, catching her friend's attention.

"How are you holding up?" Caroline asked but there was no humor in her voice, feeling as shitty as Sofia.

"Only thing keeping me from blacking out is the satisfying thought of ripping him apart." Sofia clenched her jaw, itching to get her hands on the man torturing them, she'll leave Jules to Damon.

"I'm sorry." Caroline apologized, looking in Sofia's eyes.

"For what? Running to check on me?" Sofia shook her head.

"No, for being the reason we went to The Grill in the first place. I called you."

"No Care, I was the one who lost my temper with John and had you take me outside to calm down." Sofia said and hugged Caroline from the side, the blonde laying her head on her shoulder, both girls taking relief in Brady' absence.

"That's not your fault, John's a dick."

Sofia managed a tiny smile at Caroline's words. "So it's settled, it's John's fault?"

"Yep." Caroline sighed, hugging Sofia closer. "You know, out of everyone I know, I'm happy you're the one I'm being tortured with."

Sofia closed her eyes in exhaustion, head on Caroline's. "Same here Caroline."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Night fell, the darkness suffocating the woods and the only source of light was the lamps surrounding the RV and the light of the crescent moon. Jules listened closely, waiting, until she could hear Tyler's breathing.

"I know you're out there." She claimed, calm.

Stefan stepped out of the shadows with Tyler, arm gripping the Lockwood's to ensure he doesn't escape.

"Where's my friends?" Stefan demanded, his tone suggesting he wasn't in any mood for any funny business.

"Locked up tight." Jules stepped closer but kept a good distance.

"Let them both go and I'll release Tyler. It doesn't have to get messier than it already has. I'm not your enemy Jules."

Jules scoffed. "It's a little late to be waving the white flag, don't you think?"

Stefan had enough. "You need to leave town. No one else has to get hurt."

Damon stepped out from behind Stefan, voice playful but the look in his eyes was murderous. "Except the dogs that hurt Sofia." Stefan have him a look. "And Barbie."

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked his brother, never having told him about the situation.

"I haven't heard from Sofia all day and she's usually on my ass about something. I knew something was wrong, no thanks to you." He glared at Stefan before looking at Jules. "My brother's a bit of a peacemaker but since Stefan got here before me, I'm gonna let him try his way before I resort to my way, which is a little bloodier. Give us the girls."

"Let go of Tyler!" Jules said, not phased.

"Give us Sofia and Caroline. Without a full moon it's not an even fight and you know it. We will take you." Damon threatened, not playing 'nice' anymore. He really wanted Sofia back at home, safe. He couldn't believe he let her get kidnapped.

"I'm not so sure about that tough guy." Jules smirked and whistled.

The rest of her pack came out of their hiding places, all holding weapons like flame-throwers, stakes and crossbows. Some were twice the size of Damon.

Jules crossed her arms, smug. "Let's try this again. Give us Tyler."

Damon looked at the Lockwood, having underestimated how much back-up Jules had. "You heard her. Go. Get over there."

Tyler rolled his eyes and walked over to Jules, standing behind her. Brady, who stood with a crossbow, stepped forward. "Which one of you killed Mason?"

Damon smiled and raised his hand innocently. "Uh, that'd be me."

Brady's eyes narrowed at the oldest Salvatore. "Boys, make sure this one suffers."

Damon and Stefan shared a look. "We can take them."

"I don't know about that."

"Well then..." Damon ran towards Jules but she flipped him on top of the RV with a thud.

Sofia and Caroline heard it inside the RV, having listened to the conversation whilst simultaneously trying to pick the lock and break the bars.

"That was definitely Damon." Sofia voiced before kicking the bars with all her might, denting them slightly.

"How do you know?" Caroline asked, trying to pick the lock with her hair clip.

"His head is just that big."

Suddenly, Tyler entered the RV and his eyes widened at the sight of Sofia and Caroline in a dog cage that they barely fitted into, bloody and frantic.

Caroline and Sofia looked relieved. "Tyler! There's a key on the chair, you need to unlock the cage!" Caroline begged, believing that Tyler would help his friends.

Sofia's look of relief dropped when Tyler hesitated, still standing by the door, avoiding eye contact. Is he serious?

"Tyler please." Caroline begged; voice weak.

The werewolf still made no move to help them and Sofia could feel Caroline's heart break. Her temper spiked as she gripped the bars and glared angrily at Tyler.

"Stop being a coward, Tyler! Caroline helped you with your first full moon, she risked her life to help you! Are you actually going to leave us here? Leave her here? She's the only person in this town who can look past your asshole personality so grow some fucking balls and unlock us!" Sofia yelled.

After everything she's been through today, Sofia didn't care if she hurt Tyler's ego. She never curses like that, but Tyler was on thin ice.

"Please" Caroline pleaded one last time and Tyler, avoiding Sofia's heated gaze, gave in and let them out the cage. The moment Sofia was standing, she pushed Tyler up against the wall of the RV with the scariest look the wolf has ever seen.

"Treat Caroline like you did just now again and I will kill you regardless of your importance to my sister." She threatened before letting him go and running out the RV with Caroline behind her.

It was chaos and bloodshed everywhere, Stefan and Damon fighting the wolves. With the pent-up anger and aggression Sofia had, she ran towards a wolf who was about to stake Damon from behind and tore his head off his body.

Damon turned around and smirked. "Good to see you're alive." He quickly hugged her, more relieved than he let show, before pulling away to kill the man behind her.

Sofia effortlessly bent backwards as a man swung his flame thrower at her, the heat of the fire scorching her skin momentarily making her hiss.

"You took your sweet time." She said towards her best friend before kicking the man away from her and then ripping his heart out. The warm organ in her grasp made her stomach churn so she threw it behind her.

"Hey, I only found out like half an hour ago. If I knew before, I would have killed the mutts before they could have done anything."

Damon and Sofia stood back-to-back, four werewolves circling them. "I'll forgive you if you take the bigger ones?" She suggested.

"Deal." He smirked before speeding towards the larger two.

The other two ran towards Sofia with stakes, the brunette being able to break one of the guy's spine before the other stabbed a stake in her back making Sofia fall to her knees.

The man laughed at her. "Not so badass now, huh bloodsucker?" He punched her down to the ground and pushed the stake further into her back making her groan into the ground.

Suddenly the weight of the man vanished followed by a yell then a thud. Sofia tried to pull herself up but she was suddenly picked up and everything become a blur.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Hey guys! I hope you guys liked the chapter, ik there's not much Elijah but that's next chapter ;)

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Little shout out to CancerHeretic for the cool graphics made for the book, check them out in the graphic gallery!

And I'm off again to go update my other book and pre write drafts but I'll try my best to update soon!

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