Mystic Falls hasn't been the same since Aella Bennett arrived. She's changed the lives of her friends, family, and even the town itself-but the arrival of Katherine Pierce and the Originals is about to bring her toughest challenge yet.
With a new po...
A/N: Please see my instagram artful_becca in the next few hours for an update on everything going on. Enjoy xoxo
GILBERT HOUSEHOLD
"Are you sure you can go through with this?" Caroline asked her best friend, watching as she tied on her embellished gold mask.
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Aella turned to look at her, back straight and tense as she contemplated Caroline's question. Even with the amount of makeup Caroline had tried to hide Aella's unusual paleness, the sadness of Mason's death still shone in Aella's bright emerald eyes. Caroline thought back to that moment when she arrived at the Gilbert house after Katherine's latest power play.
THE PREVIOUS DAY
Caroline ran into the house, eyes wide as she saw Stefan soothingly rocking Aella. Still, the teen only stared numbingly at the floor. Meanwhile, Jenna held a sobbing Tyler in her arms, and Caroline had to stop breathing at the blood that covered him. Then, when she heard footsteps, she saw Damon walking out of the kitchen, drying his hands. "What the hell happened, Damon?"
Damon purposely ignored Stefan and Jenna's soothing words that they repeated to the teen they held. Then, turning his back to them, he looked at Caroline, "Katherine showed how much she really cared for Mason. How did you know?"
"Elena called me sobbing," Caroline shook her head in disbelief. "I came straight here." She looked out the door she'd left open, "Elena said it happened outside, but-"
"We cleaned it up pretty quick," Damon interrupted, her confusion at the lack of blood and body outside. "Jenna and Stefan got Tyler and Aella inside, me and Ric got Mason in the backyard while Anna and Jeremy cleaned up the mess outside." He smirked grimly, "I would make a joke about teamwork, but that's too dark even for me."
Caroline glanced over at Aella, hating how pale the usually tanned teen looked, "This isn't right, Damon." She stepped closer to the vampire and lowered her voice, "I know Katherine is a complete psycho, but this seems...."
"Like Katherine's lost control completely?" Damon finished for her, and at her nod, he agreed with her. "Mason realized he'd been playing with the devil and played her at her own game. Katherine wasn't expecting that; she thought she had him wrapped around her deadly finger. Instead, he'd given Aella the moonstone and happily told her all he knew about Katherine. It threw her off guard, so she killed him."
They heard a door closing, and when they turned to the kitchen, they saw a dirty Anna and Jeremy walking towards them. Caroline pulled the two close, noticing the dried tear marks on Jeremy's face, "Are you okay?"
Jeremy nodded against her shoulder before pulling away, briefly noticing Anna still stood close to Caroline. He looked over his shoulder at Tyler; he had stopped crying but was sitting stoically as Jenna stroked his back. "We buried him under the oak tree; it's a nice place, and i-"
