An Elemental Difference - FIRE - Book 2 (Stefan Salvatore)

Chapter 15 - Those Aussies do live upside down...

MYSTIC FALLS

Caroline and Tyler awkwardly walked through the woods, Anna trailing them as they followed her mom and the deputies carrying Damon's body.

"Where are they taking him?" Caroline spoke to Tyler for the first time since their kiss. Thankfully, before either of them could talk about the awkward kiss that, somehow, felt nice, Anna had dropped next to them with a sly grin on her face.

Tyler's eyes looked around him as he assessed where they were in the woods until he realized where Mason had directed them. "They're taking him to the old Lockwood Cellar. It's what Mason uses when he transforms."

Anna, who had been keeping an eye out behind them, in case anyone was following, let out a loud snort. "So he's happy to reveal our species, but his true identity, he's happy to keep to himself."

Tyler's mouth twitched at the vampire's truth as Caroline glanced over it, their eyes meeting since their kiss. "She's right, you know. Mason is being incredibly hypocritical right now."

"Mason is also agitated that a 17-year-old humiliated him, and a vampire mocked him," Tyler defended his uncle; he looked at the two girls. "He's messed up, I know that. But this is not the Mason, I know, the Mason, Aella knows."

"That's Katherine's M.O," Anna pointed out. "She did the same with Damon; that's what she's doing with Mason."

"It doesn't matter what Mason's gone through," Caroline's face twisted as she thought of the consequences of Mason's actions. "Mason broke the number one unofficial rule we all have; he revealed our species to the actual enemy. What happens next is anyone's guess."

Tyler hesitantly nodded; Mason had opened up a big can of angry worms and had no idea what he'd really done. Tyler saw the group approaching the cellar and signaled the girls to stop. They crouched down to watch them.

"-Careful," Liz told the deputies as they entered the cellar. "The wooden bullets and vervain won't keep him down for long."

Once they all entered the cellar, the three carefully made their way over. It was quiet until a shot echoed around them, making all three jump.

For the first time since she'd become a vampire, Caroline wished she didn't have advanced hearing as she heard Damon plead with her mom, and her mom completely ignored him. Damn was a jackass, but he didn't need to be tortured.

"-This is how it's gonna work. Answer me, and you don't get shot, understand? How many of you are there?"

"-Liz, please."

Another shot echoed around the air, causing Tyler to only jump this time; the vampires had heard the clicking of the following bullet being loaded. "What's happening?"

Caroline couldn't answer, hearing the malice and sadness in her mom's voice. So, Anna replied, her stomach turning at Damon's cries, "She's torturing him."

"-How did you fool us? How do you walk in the sun?"

When Liz shot again, Caroline moved to enter the cellar, but Anna stopped her. "If you go in, it's all over."

"-I will drag this out painfully."

"-But you're my friend."

Caroline had only heard Damon use that same tone with Aella and knew that Damon's friendship with Liz was real, and he didn't deserve this. Caroline removed Anna's hand from her arm, turning to face her, and Caroline proclaimed, "It may not be best for me, but he's my friend."

"-He's not gonna tell us anything. Kill him."

The two vampires heard the order, and Caroline wasted no time before running into the cellar. Anna groaned to herself before she followed because while Damon wasn't her favorite person, Caroline was her friend. She wasn't going to abandon her.