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CHAPTER EIGHT
her
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( masquerade, pt. ii )

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A girl comes into view. She's wearing a long silver dress and a glittery masquerade mask, so I can't really see her face. But her other features stand out to me rather quickly. She has blue eyes and wavy light brown hair, similar to mine. "Sorry I was late to the party," the girl apologizes flippantly.

"It can't be," Damon breathes from beside me.

The mystery girl lifts her mask off, revealing her face. Her hair falls back down on her shoulders. "Miss me?" she says.

Shock snaps my eyes wide open and freezes my breath. My mind jams, refusing to acknowledge what is going on, and leaving me helpless, vulnerable, in the face of it. But though rational thought has disappeared, my senses go right on recording mercilessly: I'm staring at my own face. The girl standing at the doorway looks like me, an exact replica of me. And yet I can tell that she's nothing like me at all. In the way she carries herself, she just oozes with confidence.

This is Mary. This is the girl from Damon's past that he was so in love with. But how is she alive? She's supposed to be dead.

A pit of dread forms in my stomach.

Much like the blond girl, Mary struts into the room like she owns the place. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," she says apologetically, but from the tone of her voice, it's obvious that she could care less even if she were interrupting.

Damon is staring at Mary in shock. "You're not real. You can't be real," he says.

"It's me, Damon, in the flesh." She saunters up to him.

He looks down at her. "I watched your body get buried. You were dead."

Mary turns on her heel and starts walking towards Katherine and the other blond vampire. "At least that's what you were supposed to think," she says. "You see, my good friend Ella here." She nods towards the blond vampire. "Paid me a visit at the sanatorium, and gave me an offer I could just not pass up." She sends the blond vampire—Ella—a smile.

Stefan takes a step forward. "So you're a vampire now," he says.

"Oh, look at you, Stefan, all grown up," Mary says with amusement. Her eyes flicker over to Katherine then back at Stefan and Damon. "Katherine, you were right. Both Salvatores grew up to be quite the catch."

It's Damon's turn to take a step towards her. "Where have you been all this time?" he asks. His voice is filled with desperation and—sorrow.

My heart sinks. He really did miss her.

"Ladies," says a new voice. A tall woman with dark brown skin and long dark hair stands at the open doorway. None of us had noticed her arrival. She's holding up what appears to be a small stone made of crystal.

I assume it must be the moonstone they were talking about earlier. But now, who is this woman?

The woman goes on, "The spell on this room has been broken. You're free to leave."

Ohhh, she's the witch Katherine was talking about.

"Thank God," Katherine says exasperatedly. She starts walking towards the tall woman. "I've had enough of these reunions today."

The tall woman holds the stone out in front of Katherine. "When I hand this over, my debt to you is over."

"Done," Katherine says tersely.

"I owe you nothing," the woman makes clear.

"I said 'done.' Give it," Katherine demands. She holds a hand out for the stone.

Finally, the woman hands it over.

All of a sudden, Katherine starts to choke. Both Mary and Ella prepare to rush to her aid when the woman raises her hands at them. They go flying back, slamming into the wall.

The woman returns her focus on Katherine. "You should have told me another witch was involved." The woman pauses. "She's a Bennett witch, Katherine, but I'm sure you knew that."

Bonnie? She's gotta be talking about Bonnie.

As Katherine continues to suffocate, she reaches for her neck and starts to lose her balance. She supports herself against the back of a chair.

"Wait! Elena!" Stefan speaks up.

"Oh my goodness," I gasp, just now realizing that Katherine and Elena are still linked.

"Elena's fine," the woman assures.

We all watch Katherine fall to the floor and roll on her back. Her hold on the moonstone loosens in the process.

The woman continues to explain Elena's situation. "The spell is broken. She'll heal quickly. Bonnie's with her," she says before adding, "I apologize for my involvement."

"You better," says a voice behind us. Without warning, Mary rushes forward, removes a lampshade from a tall lamp, and plunges the pointed end into the woman's stomach.

I gasp and take a couple of steps back. My lookalike is crazy.

Ella soon joins Mary's side. They look down at Katherine's unconscious body on the floor.

"We'll be back for you, Kathy," Mary vows before both she and Ella speed out of the room.

With the two threatening female vampires gone, my mind snaps to attention. "Oh my God!" I exhale loudly before running up to the woman's body on the floor. She's still conscious and is breathing heavily. The lamp pole appears deeply embedded in her abdomen as blood gushes from the wound.

I cringe at the sight as my mind races. Suddenly, a thought comes to mind. I look back at Stefan and Damon. "Give her your blood. It will heal her."

Stefan walks forward. He crouches down beside the woman's body. "I'm sorry about this," he apologizes before yanking the lamp pole out of her stomach.

The woman cries out in agonizing pain.

Quickly, Stefan bites into his wrist and holds it up to the woman's mouth. She drinks from his wrist eagerly and sits up.

"Oh, thank God," I say with relief. It's funny. I don't even know this woman, and yet I just had to help her. I can't stand seeing anyone in pain.

I glance over at Damon.

And I know someone else who's probably in a lot of pain right now.

What the actual heck are we supposed to do about Mary?

*Time Skip*

I'm currently sitting alone in the Lockwood's parlor. Apparently, something bad happened during the party that needed the police's attention, meaning my dad's attention. My mother wouldn't tell me what happened, so I'm just sitting here waiting for them to sort whatever it is out.

Whatever happened, I highly doubt it could be any worse than what I went through today. I don't even know what I'm gonna do. It really isn't even going to be possible to stay out of things anymore, not with an exact replica of me running around, an extremely dangerous replica of me that is.

Oh my God, what am I gonna do?! How is this even my life?

I hear footsteps from outside the parlor, and a man in a jester's suit walks in.

I hope he knows he's probably not supposed to be in here.

An awkward air fills the room, and I try to ignore the jester guy by pulling out my phone and pretending to be busy on it.

He should have left by now, but he doesn't leave. Instead, he clears his throat. "That's a pretty necklace you have on," he says.

I lift my head up from my phone. "Thank you," I respond politely.

"Mind if I see it?"

Before I have a chance to comprehend what's happening, the man closes the distance between us and shoves a wet rag onto my face.

I scream but it comes out muffled because of the rag. And before I know it, my breathing slows, and everything goes completely black.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

( word count: 1.3k )