Opposites Attract

Mystic Falls was having a huge masquerade. I’d always enjoyed dressing up for it, but I was still a little in shock over Mason even after over a week. I was planning on staying in bed all day- again- when my phone went off. “Margaret? It’s Caroline.” I couldn’t help but notice how shaken she sounded. I instantly sat up in bed to listen to what she had to say.
“Caroline. What’s wrong?”
She cleared her throat before she started to speak. “Well, I was at the Grill this morning and I ran into Katherine. She told me to tell Stefan and Damon that she wanted to moonstone or else she’d go on a rampage.”
I groaned. “Just give me a little time to figure something out.”
“Margaret, she wants it tonight. At the masquerade.”
My jaw snapped shut and I closed my eyes tightly. “Well damn, that doesn’t give us a whole lot of time, does it? Okay, are you at the Salvatores’ place? Give me thirty minutes and I’ll be there.”
“Yeah, I’m here. Damon was just on his way to get you.”
I glanced down at myself still in nothing more than a pair of lime green boxers and my black sports bra, my red curls hanging in a mess around my head. I hopped out of bed and ran into bathroom and into the shower. I quickly washed and then dried. I put on some jeans and a light blue V-neck with a black sweater over it. I went back to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. My hair was a wild mess of curls and I would have straightened it if I’d had the time. Instead, I combed it out and pinned it back with my thin, straight bangs hanging over my eyes. The doorbell rang impatiently at that moment and I ran down the stairs.
“Thanks for the warning, Damon,” I said sarcastically as I opened the door. Only, it wasn’t Damon. The woman that stood in front of me had chestnut brown hair, wide-set, hazel eyes, a sharp nose, and a full pink mouth in a heart-shaped face. Her almond eyes, which were more green than brown at the moment, narrowed dangerously at me.
“Margaret Joanne McCullough, would you care to explain why my key won’t work and what you’re doing here?”
“No, not really,” I said evenly. I started to close the door but she pushed it open.
“What are you doing back in Mystic Falls?” she snapped.
My own vivid eyes hardened. “I could ask you the same thing, Mother,” I spat her title like a curse right when Damon’s sleek car drove up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.”
She grabbed my arm before I could go anywhere. “Margaret, are you hunting? We had an agreement. You were supposed to be at Harvard finishing up your law degree.”
I yanked my arm from her grasp. “No, Mother, you had an agreement. Which, by the way, I have already held up. And yes, I am going hunting. I’m 23 and I’m not a child that you can boss around. I’ve got to go. Lock up the door when you leave and don’t invite anyone in,” I said icily as I climbed into Damon’s car.
“Well that was… interesting,” he smirked. After the fight with my mom, I didn’t have the energy to fight back with him. Even he noticed. “Hey, I was kidding.”
I smiled lightly. “Yeah, I know. My mother and I haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye since my dad died when I was 16. She wanted me to give up hunting but it’s who I am and…” I trailed off and cleared my throat awkwardly. “Anyway, what’s going on with Katherine?”
“Call Jeremy, but don’t let Elena know that anything’s going on. We’ve got a plan.”
The phone rang twice. “Jeremy? What’s going on? How’s Elena?” She and Stefan had apparently broken up for real when Jenna had stabbed herself. I could tell that it wasn’t easy for Stefan and it certainly wasn’t easy for Elena. At least Jenna was going home today so she’d have a nice little distraction.
“She’s being naïve. She doesn’t want to get revenge on Katherine and she thinks that Katherine’s done playing games because she broke up with Stefan.”
I let out a huge sigh. “Understandable. Listen, meet us over at the boarding house as soon as you can. But don’t make your sister suspicious.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard; Jenna just got home so she’s taking care of her.”
Jeremy arrived at the same time that I was getting out of Damon’s car. Caroline and Rick were already inside going through Rick’s weapons. Alaric was explaining some of the more high-tech stuff when the doorbell rang again. Caroline went to open it and I could hear Bonnie on the other side. “Hey, I got Stefan’s message. What’s going on?”
“We’re gonna kill Katherine,” Jeremy said easily as he passed by her. Her dark brown eyes widened a little.
“I can explain,” Stefan said diplomatically. Although, he really didn’t have a better explanation than, “We’re gonna kill Katherine.”
Bonnie definitely didn’t seem to be on board with the plan. She watched us for a little while before she and Stefan went to talk in private, probably so that she could try to convince him out of it. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked like he got her to help.
A few hours before the party, our plan was set. Alaric was starting to leave when he asked for what seemed like the millionth time if we wanted him at the party. He was going to stay with Jenna and Elena and keep an eye on them, which Stefan reminded him again.
“All right, if anyone wants to back out, I’ll understand.”
“Yeah, ‘cause chickening out’s a big no-no, Caroline,” Damon added, sarcastic as ever.
“I won’t,” she answered. “Look, she killed me. Fair is fair. As long as there’s no werewolves around.”
“Oh, I took care of Mason.” I couldn’t help the way that my stomach tightened when Damon said that. I guess I still had a guilty conscience, but I really needed it to go away so that I’d be at the top of my game.
“As long as Tyler doesn’t kill anyone, he won’t trigger the curse.” I hated having Jeremy there, but he was useful when it came to Tyler Lockwood.
Damon’s gaze then moved to me. “Margaret?”
I held his look steadily. “I’m not letting Katherine get away after everything that she’s done,” I said, my voice dripping venom.
Everyone was in, except for Bonnie. “Bonnie? You with us?”
She glanced around our little circle before she stepped toward Stefan. “No one gets hurt,” she demanded.
“Except Katherine.” Okay, did Damon really have to put in his two-cents all the time? “Tonight Katherine gets a stake through her heart.”
Like all parties in Mystic Falls, the masquerade was at the Lockwood mansion. I wore a short, strapless lilac dress that hugged my curves with some dark purple flats. My mask was feathered with gold and orange feathers and a string that tied underneath my straightened scarlet hair. The only thing that was missing was a date, but I guess when I was going to kill Katherine, a date wasn’t a good idea.
I was the first of my group to arrive at the party. I grabbed myself a drink and went to hang out by the grand staircase. I was acting as the lookout so that when Jeremy and Bonnie arrived, they were able to sneak right upstairs to set things up without anyone noticing. Once they were safely upstairs, I went off to look for Katherine.
I’d just finished my first cocktail when Damon found me. “I haven’t seen her yet,” I said deadpan.
“I haven’t, either. I was just making sure that you’re still okay with this.”
I flipped my hair back over my shoulder and shot a glance around. “This killing, I’m okay with. Katherine has made my life a living hell for the past seven years. It’s time that bitch pays. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a vampire to find.”
I started to walk away but he grabbed my arm and gently held me back. “You’ve found one. Let Stefan look for Katherine. Something’s wrong with you, Margaret. You’re not being your amazingly bitchy self. Is it something with your mom?”
My green eyes narrowed and my voice turned just as hard. “That’s none of your business, Damon,” I snapped with fire in my purple eyes.
“Is it Katherine? Why are you so hell-bent on killing her?”
“You won’t let this drop, will you?” He continued to stare at me until I sighed. “If you must know, then yeah, it has to do with my mom and Katherine. You know that thing you do with the crow? Compel it, or whatever? Katherine has the same affinity with dogs. Only, hers don’t spy on people, they rip Hunters to shreds while their 16-year-old daughter stands by and watches helplessly. I couldn’t stop her from killing my dad, but I’ll be damned if I don’t drive a stake through her heart. And of course, my mother couldn’t have picked a worse time to decide to return to Mystic Falls and fight with me. Please, just promise me that she dies tonight, Damon.” I hated the stupid tears that pricked at my eyes.
He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and gave me an awkward hug. “I promise. I’m going to go see what Stefan’s doing and I’ll text you when it’s time.”
I nodded once as he disappeared into the crowd. My eyes started searching behind the mask once again and I felt out with my Hunter’s senses. I was feeling ready for what was coming after my little talk with Damon.
I sat awkwardly at the bar tapping my phone on the glass counter waiting for the text from Jeremy. My cell started buzzing and I quickly flipped it open. She’s with Caroline. You’re up.
I easily slid off my stool and headed upstairs to where to Salvatore brothers were waiting. The seemed agitated and it didn’t take long to figure out that they were talking about the girl that Katherine had murdered minutes before. I gritted my teeth and leaned against the wall, yanking out a couple of stakes from their hiding spots under my dress- something I noticed that Damon was watching me do.
My phone started buzzing again and I quickly pulled it out from my bra. Be quick. Elena’s here, Jeremy’s text announced. My eyes widened and I swore under my breath. On top of that, I was starting to get slightly queasy.
“Shit. Elena’s here. And Katherine’s on her way up.”
No sooner than I’d finished talking did Katherine enter the spelled room. Caroline gave a little laugh of surprise that she’d actually tricked the older vampire. It was easy to tell how pissed Katherine was but there was nothing she could do trapped by Bonnie’s spell.
“Stefan,” she greeted. From my hiding spot I could see her eyes glance at the stake in his hands. “You don’t really think that you can kill me with that, now do you?”
He let out a sigh. “No, but he can.”
I’ll admit that I felt a wave of smug satisfaction when Damon stepped out from the walk-in closet and shot Katherine in the back with a stake from a crossbow. Both brothers quickly attacked by she was stronger than them and able to defend herself.
I stepped into her direct line of sight and expertly twirled the stake in my fingers. “My turn,” I smirked. I stabbed at her but she quickly grabbed my wrist and twisted it until it snapped and the wood clattered to the ground. I cried out in pain but that didn’t stop me. I landed a punch on her jaw with my left hand. I got a few more hits in before her nails raked across my cheek, drawing blood, and she shoved me to the other side of the room. Damon and Stefan were up by then and it wasn’t long before they had her pinned, poised for the kill.
“Stop!” Jeremy demanded. “You’re hurting Elena. Everything you’re doing to her is hurting Elena.”
We were in shock while Katherine was much too smug for my taste. “Do you think you’re the only one with a witch on your side? And something tells me that my witch is better than your witch.” Stefan sent Jeremy to check on Elena, which honestly pissed off Katherine. She hated that the concern was on Elena so she racked the stake across her palm and both vampires and I freaked out. She could stand the pain but Elena couldn’t.
She was winning and I hated it.
She started running off her mouth and I snapped my jaw shut as she tried to antagonize the boys. “I’m bored. We’re missing the party,” she whined.
She was getting on my last nerve. I rolled my eyes. “You’re right, Katherine. You are missing the party and I am so done sitting here and listening to you bitch about it. Ciao.”
I turned and started out the door but she grabbed my throat before I could leave the room. “Oh no you don’t, little girl. You wanted to play with the big boys and now you’re stuck as long as I am.”
I coughed. It was getting hard to breathe. “You won’t do it. You always have others do your dirty work. You won’t kill me here.”
“Wanna bet?” Her eyes became bloodshot and the veins turned dark. She opened her mouth, exposing her razor sharp teeth.
Before she could actually bite me Damon shocked me by grabbing me away from her deadly clutch. He tossed me unceremoniously onto the ground but I was outside of the spelled room. Wait. Did Damon Salvatore just save my life?
“Sorry about your pet wolf,” he said, pulling her attention from me.
She smirked devilishly. “You don’t think that I don’t have a plan B. And if that goes wrong, a plan C and then D. Well, you know how the alphabet works.”
My eyes widened. “Tyler,” I muttered. Bonnie’s spell only trapped vampires and I was already out. I ran through the giant mansion but I found Caroline easily.
“Caroline, I need you to do one more thing.”
Her blond brows scrunched down in confusion. “Of course,” she said quickly. “What is it?”
“Katherine doesn’t care that Mason’s dead. She wants to make Tyler trigger the Lockwood curse. I need you to make sure he doesn’t kill anyone.” Her slim hands immediately flew to her mouth but she nodded. “Good. I have to get back to keep an eye on things. Please be careful, Caroline.”
She went to look for Tyler and I went back up to where the three vampires were stuck. Damon looked bored. Stefan was trying to figure out Katherine’s motives and it looked like he was onto something. “What were you running from?” Instead of answering, she started complaining again about missing the party.
Damon snapped, attacking Katherine. Normally, I would have loved to see her suffer but- “Elena. Damon, she’s still connected to Elena,” I hissed safely in the hallway.
Stefan stopped him from driving a stake through her heart. None of us were too happy that Katherine was clearly getting her way. Damon seemed more pissed than Stefan and me. “When the spell is lifted I’m going to drive a stake right through your heart.”
A dark skinned woman suddenly entered the room with the moonstone in her hand. “Katherine. The spell on this room has been broken. You’re free to leave.”
My eyes widened in horror and I quickly withdrew another one of my stakes from under my short dress. “When I hand this over my debt to you has been paid.”
“No, don’t. You can’t give her that moonstone.”
The woman handed over the smooth white rock despite the warnings from Damon and myself. Katherine’s face scrunched up and she slowly fell to the ground, gasping. “You should have told me another witch was involved.”
“Wait, Elena,” Stephan said.
“Elena’s fine,” the woman said easily.
“Maggie, go check on Elena,” Damon said.
My eyes flickered between him and Katherine before I nodded once, barely noticing his use of my nickname. I sprinted down the stairs and found Jeremy holding Elena to himself. Her breathing was shallow but the bloody wounds that we’d unknowingly inflicted on her were slowly starting to heal. “Elena? Jeremy, how’s Elena?”
He glanced down at her and she sat up carefully. “I’m fine,” Elena reassured us. “I’ll be okay.”
I gave her a small smile. “The spell that was connecting you was lifted. The witch said that you should be fine soon. Just do me a favor and take it easy for a while, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
I rubbed my tired eyes and I didn’t care when my eyeliner smudged. “I think the Salvatore brothers have Katherine under control. Look, I have to get home, do some damage control with my mom. Call me in the morning, yeah? Jeremy, you too.”
They both promised that they would and I got into my car and headed to my own personal hell that awaited me at home.