Savior | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 6

Maddy wasn't happy.

Despite the fact that past her (the person she was before arriving in Mystic Falls) would have been thrilled to know that Elena and Stefan had now broken up, she certainly wasn't pleased with the sight of her younger brother looking so distraught all the time.

"Are you finally going to understand what I've been telling you?" she told Damon a few days later. "This weird little arrangement is going to get everyone torn apart. Katherine could kill us all in seconds if we keep making her angry. She wants Stefan alive for herself. She's leaving you alive because she knows how much conflict there is between you, Stefan, and Elena. She wants you available so that Elena can go to you and then she'll have Stefan without any problems. That poor girl's life is never going to be normal now that she got caught up in this. Maybe we should all just leave."

"We're not leaving until we find out what this bitch wants," said Damon. "I feel bad for what happened to Jenna, okay, I do. But I'm still curious. Why the moonstone? Why turn Caroline? Why did she seem okay with letting you live? Katherine hates you. You hate her. She can't be letting you live just to stay on our good side, that doesn't make sense. I have to know."

Maddy shook her head. "Curiosity killed the cat."

"Good thing I'm not a cat, then," said Damon as she walked back upstairs.

"Hey," she told Stefan, finding that he was waiting for her in her room. "Need something?"

"Just wondering the same thing he is," said Stefan, implying that he heard them. "I wanted to ask if you have any theories. You've been awfully quiet this past week."

"Jenna nearly died," said Maddy. "I only talked to her a few times, but I like her, she's nice. I don't know what Katherine's endgame is but I think the smart thing to do is skedaddle before we end up as her lunch. You know she could kill us if she wanted to. We're nothing against a five hundred year old vampire."

They heard the door opening downstairs, but ignored it, figuring Damon was just leaving. "I feel bad," said Stefan. "I do. But Katherine shouldn't get to have this much control over us. We have to stop her."

"And we will," she promised, sitting beside him. "Just... maybe not this soon. I hate seeing you so downcast, fratellino, but we have to play it smart. She's relishing in the pain you feel now that you and Elena are... you know. We have an out right now, maybe we should take it."

Stefan didn't respond. "Is that Caroline downstairs?"

Maddy frowned, listening. "Um, seems like it."

They both scurried to where Damon was offering a glass of blood to the trembling blonde.

"What happened?" asked Stefan.

"Go ahead, tell them," said Damon. "You're gonna love this."

Caroline drew a deep breath. "I saw Katherine today."

"Where?" asked Maddy.

"At the Grill. I just stopped by to gawk and... quasi-stalk Matt."

"Skip the teen drama and get to it," urged Damon.

Caroline sighed. "Then I had to pretend to use the bathroom even though I didn't really have to go because I'm a doofus. So I went into the bathroom, and I thought I saw Elena, but it was Katherine, and she told me she needed me to deliver a message."

Stefan urged her to continue. "What was the message?"

"She wants the moonstone," said Caroline. "Or she'll rip the town apart until it rains blood. Her words, not mine. She says she wants the exchange to happen tonight at the Masquerade Ball."