40 minutes later, I had managed to get into my pale blue dress and apply some light eye and lip makeup. I had a silver mask and a little purse that I wore crossbody.

As soon as I opened my door, I almost bumped into Damon who was about to knock.

"Damon! You scared me!" I said, clutching my chest.

He smiled lightly as his eyes raked my body slowly.

"You look good Lyn," he whistled, handing me a rose.

"Really?" I laughed, taking the rose.

"Really," he affirmed, and I grinned.

"I love it."

He took the rose out of my hand, and then promptly tucked it behind my ear, stepping closer to me to do so.

I looked up at him through my lashes and flushed. Who knew that I would ever catch the attention of Damon Salvatore?

"So, are you accompanying me to the masquerade ball?" I asked loftily, locking my door and dropping the keys in my bag.

"I am indeed," he answered, and linked his arm with mine. "I even booked us a nice car."

"Did you actually pay for it?" I mused, and he scoffed.

"Of course not Lyn. You know me too well to guess that."

I laughed and let him lead me out of my apartment.

Before we got into the car, Damon stopped me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Look, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry that we have to kill Katherine. Believe me, if there was another way, I would be all for it. She's just too much of a threat. But don't worry, I'll give you time alone with her to say goodbye," he said, and I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"I don't want to talk about this Damon," I muttered, knowing that I would do everything in my power to save Katherine.

"Okay," he said in surrender and then opened one of the car doors open for me.

We arrived when the party was blooming, and I entered the Lockwood house, smiling at the smell of food and thundering music.

As soon as I walked in, I saw a brunette pop a cherry in her mouth, looking confident. Katherine. While everyone else mistook her for Elena, I knew it was her.

As much as she tried to look like her duller doppelgänger, the straight hair, the boring hairstyle, she couldn't get rid of that seductive attraction that practically emitted in waves from her.

There was another woman at her side, with black to brown ombre hair and seemed to be shielding Katherine. This just proved the fact that I had communicated with Katherine earlier that day. She had gotten protection!

I excused myself from Damon to go talk to her, and he told me that he would talk to Stefan.

As I reached her, she was looking deep into Matt's eyes, and saying, "Do you know what you have to do?"

"I'm going to get Tyler Lockwood really drunk," Matt mumbled monotonously. "I'm going to start a fight with him and beat him till he snaps."

"And then?" Katherine smirked.

"I won't stop until he kills me."

"God you're hot," she flirted, before frowning. "Now go away."

I paced over to Katherine in frustration. "Kat! You can't let Matt die! He's my friend!

"Relax! Someone will probably break it up before it gets to that," she uttered nonchalantly.

"You're unbelievable," I hissed, before leaving her.

I didn't have time to keep an eye out for her now. I needed to stop this fight. Besides, it looked like she already had a bodyguard for the moment.

I walked around for a few minutes before I found Matt with Tyler and two other girls in the study.

"We're really not supposed to be in here," Tyler laughed unsteadily.

"Yeah, I know, but we really need to turn this party up," Matt suggested uncharacteristically. "Another shot?"

"Hey I want a shot," one of the girls said, who looked Indian.

"Me too! And then I wanna dance," the other girl said.

"Hey, Matt!" I called, walking into the room. "What are you doing? I thought you didn't like to drink."

"It's a party Katie, lighten up. Let's go Amy" he joked, barely even acknowledging me.

"Yeah," the Indian girl, who I guessed was Amy said irritatedly. "Okay, let's go party!"

They ran out of the room, and I was forced to follow out of concern for my friend.

As I walked past the opening outside, I glimpsed Katherine walking up to Stefan, and her pulling him out on the dance floor. Wow, she must have threatened someone at the party to have accomplished that.

"I'm going to go get some more drinks," Amy told us, giggling drunkenly as she ran out onto the dance floor.

"Hey, let's go back to the study to wait," Matt said after he had his fill of dancing with the other girl.

"Why don't we just stay here?" I asked frantically. "In public," I then whispered to myself.

But they wouldn't listen to me, and Tyler and Matt walked back into the study.

I quickly dashed to Caroline and said under my breath, "Hey, I might need your help here."

She nodded and then walked with me to follow the boys.

When we arrived, they were already in a fistfight, snarling at each other in anger. Caroline quickly whizzed over to them and separated the two.

"Stop!" she yelled, looking both of them in the face.

Matt however wouldn't, and he pushed against Caroline's hand with fury. Unable to do anything else, she elbowed him in the face, knocking him to the floor ad unconscious.

I ran over to Matt and propped him up on my lap, while Caroline put her hands on her hips, waiting for an explanation from Tyler.

Unbeknown to both of them, the other girl had followed us into the room, and clutched a knife in her hand, a glaze over her eyes.

"Matt failed," she said dully. "And if Matt fails, I can't."

"Tyler look out!" Caroline yelled, and I spun around to see the girl stabbing Tyler in the shoulder.

Out of pure instinct, he pushed her away from him, and her head hit the table with a sickening crack before she crumpled to the floor.

Tyler looked at her in horror, before he numbly crouched down next to her and started shaking her. "Hey, I'm sorry! Wake up! Wake up!"

I stepped away from Matt and felt an anxious pit form in my stomach. I knew what would happen to Tyler if she died. He would start turning on every full moon, the curse fully activated.

"Kaitlyn, leave! I've got this!" Caroline demanded, and I staggered out, unable to do anything else. "Go into the upstairs common room. No one will be there."

Matt had regained consciousness and followed me out, oblivious to the dead girl on the ground.

"I have no idea why I just picked that fight," he blubbered after me.

"Matt, it's fine. You didn't have any control over it," I said distractedly looking for Katherine. "I need to go."

"Wait!" he called out. "I feel like we haven't seen each other in ages. Ever since you started hanging to with the Salvatores and Elena, you've been drifting away."

He looked sad and his expression was so downcast that I stopped focusing on the party.

"Matt, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I had been acting that way. Look, I'll find a way to make it up to you, I promise," I told him before he let me leave.

Finally, I found Katherine who had left Stefan in annoyance. I had decided on taking Caroline's advice and asked Katherine to follow me upstairs.

I wanted to be alone with her so that I could beg her to leave.

"Do you know what you just did?" I asked her angrily as I pulled her up the stairs.

She didn't struggle and let me drag her into the hallway. "A girl is dead because of you. I'm just glad it wasn't Matt. Why are you doing this? Is it all just for fun? Or do you have one of those master plans?"

"The latter," she replied. "I'm sorry it had to involve your friends, but I needed to do this."

"Whatever Kat. I need to talk to you in a private setting anyway. Caroline said this room is free," I said and walked into the seemingly empty room.

Katherine followed me and sat down on the couch. All of a sudden, Damon and Stefan stepped out from the corners, startling the both of us.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked them in surprise, while Damon angrily looked at his brother.

"Stefan!" he growled. "You said that the plan would be with Caroline!"

"It wouldn't have worked!" Stefan hissed back, unaware that we could clearly hear them.

"Plan?" I repeated.

Damon looked at me guiltily, and I realized that I had walked right into their trap. And I had just doomed Katherine.

∆ ∆ ∆

Katherine charged for the door, pulling me along with her, but then ricocheted off of an invisible barrier.

Bonnie was a part of this plan?

It seemed like everyone I trusted was. Damon, Bonnie, and even Caroline, who had told me to go into this room.

And I certainly didn't expect it from Stefan, who probably got persuaded by Elena.

Katherine turned around angrily to see Stefan dangling a stake in his hand. She still gripped my hand and pushed me behind her in a protective stance.

"You don't really think you can kill me with that, now do you?" she boasted, striding towards him.

Stefan looked at her deviously. "No, but he can."

Without knowing that Damon had his own weapon, Katherine wasn't prepared for the enormous stake which shot through her back.

Katherine hissed in pain and pulled the stake out furiously. Then she pushed me to the ground behind the couch and charged at Damon. The Salvatore brothers managed to hurt her a few times, but she was centuries older than them, and furthermore much stronger.

Stefan threw a stake at Katherine, but she ducked, and it stuck out of the wall. He attempted to throw another one, but she caught it easily and threw it back at him.

He barely avoided it as Damon tried to lunge at Katherine. She threw him across the room and he landed in a chair, knocking it over.

Then through her distraction, Stefan suddenly had her in a chokehold, and she was in a vulnerable position. Perfect for Damon to stake her through the heart.

I got up in fear, ready to lunge in front of her, but Jeremy skidded towards the door, looking panicked.

"Stop!" he yelled. "You're hurting Elena. Everything you're doing to her is hurting Elena!"

"You think you two are the only ones with a witch on your side," Katherine drawled, getting up from the floor.

She winked at me subtly, and I was glad that none of the others saw, so I smiled a little as well.

To be honest, I didn't care if Elena was hurt in the crossfire. I had really tried to be her friend, but all it had gotten me was a front-row seat to my best friend's near death.

"And something tells me that my witch is better than your witch," she continued confidently.

"Jeremy go check on Elena. Make sure she's okay," Stefan ordered, and the boy left quickly.

"Let's all make sure poor Elena's okay," Katherine drawled loudly. "Let's just put a little pressure on it."

At the same time, she made a long and jagged scratch down her palm with one of the stakes, and Stefan knocked it out of her hands in alarm.

Katherine just took another stake and aimed it for her stomach. "This is really going to hurt."

"Wait!" Damon yelled, and she paused, smirking triumphantly.

"Okay," she purred. "So how about that moonstone."

∆ ∆ ∆

By then, I had crawled out from behind the couch and was comfortably sitting next to Katherine, avoiding Damon's pleading look.

"The four of us together. Just like old times. The brother who loved me too much," at that she gave a pointed look to Damon. "The brother who didn't love me enough. And my darling best friend."

"And the evil slut vampire who only loved herself," Damon ridiculed with his back turned.

"What happened to you Damon? You used to be so sweet," she said tauntingly.

"Oh that Damon died a LONG time ago," he shot back.

"Good, he was a bore."

"Can you guys just stop antagonizing each other?" I finally interrupted, annoyed with their banter.

"Where's the moonstone?" Katherine directed the question at me.

"What do you want with it?" Stefan cut in before I could reply that I didn't know.

Katherine bit the inside of her cheek as she struggled to answer. "Does Elena enjoy having both of you worship at her alter?" she changed the subject craftily.

"That was really desperate Katherine," Stefan sneered.

"You know this Mason thing has me a bit confused. Why a werewolf?" Damon suddenly asked. "The moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires, so what's in it for you?"

"Katherine, please just answer him," I begged Katherine, anxious to get this whole situation over.

Maybe they would let her go if she answered their questions, I thought naïvely, before shaking my head at my stupidity.

Of course, they wouldn't. They were vengeful, and wouldn't stop until she was dead.

"Where's that witch?" Damon muttered under his breath, looking out the room.

"We could play charades," Katherine offered.

"You bargained the moonstone," Stefan muttered smartly, his eyes lighting up.

I drowned out their voices after a while, focusing on the plush design of the couch. The sentence that shook me out of my reverie, was when Stefan asked, "Who were you running from Katherine?"

I looked up eagerly, desperate to know the answer I had been asking myself for decades.

She merely just changed the subject and recounted the times she had watched over Stefan.

My blood boiled at every example she threw his way until finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Why didn't you visit me?" I challenged, and she looked at me in surprise. "If you had just come to see me, ONCE, to let me know you were alive, it would have saved me a lifetime of misery. I spent DECADES grieving you! And now I find out you were prancing around and seeing Stefan?"

Her mouth turned down at my words. "Why wouldn't you think I checked in on you as well Lyn? I made sure you were okay and healthy every few years. Of course, I was surprised that you had stopped aging, and I even took some time off from my run to discover why."

I didn't answer, I was just looking at the ground stubbornly.

"I couldn't see you physically, because I didn't want to tell you that I couldn't stay with you. I live a dangerous life Lynie, I kill people to survive, I lie to escape, I pretend to be someone else. I didn't want you to live that life. If I came to see you, I knew you would come with me willingly, and I couldn't have that. So for once in my life, I decided to be selfless, and let you live your own."

My eyes became moist as I tried to hold back my tears. My bottom lip quivered as I bit it to contain myself.

"I–" my voice was watery, but got interrupted by another voice.

"Katherine. The spell in this room has been broken. You're free to leave."

It was the girl that was accompanying Katherine earlier. She had her mask off now and was holding a shiny white rock in her hand, which I assumed to be the moonstone.

She was the witch Katherine was talking about.

Katherine cleared her throat and absently wiped away a few tears she had in her eyes.

"Thank god," she said irritatedly, walking towards the girl.

"When I hand this over, my debt to you is over," the girl clarified sternly, and Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Done."

"I owe you nothing," the girl repeated firmly.

"I said done. Give it," Katherine said impatiently.

"I wouldn't do that," Damon tried to stop her, but the witch placed the moonstone in Katherine's awaiting hand.

I waited anxiously for something bad to happen, I could basically feel it in my stomach.

Suddenly Katherine's face seized up, and the hollow of her throat caved in as she struggled to breathe.

"What's happening?" I demanded frantically. "What did you do to her?"

It was as if the stone was glued to my friend's hand, and her eyes bulged out as she tried to drop it.

I rushed forwards to help her, but Stefan threw his arms around me to contain me as I struggled fiercely.

"Stop!" I yelled. "Let me help her!"

But Stefan had an iron-like grip, as he asked "What about Elena?"

My heart filled with rage at that wench's name.

"Elena's fine," the witch answered nonchalantly.

I tried to look at Damon for help, but he was just numbly watching as Katherine's body fell to the floor, unconscious.

"I apologize for my involvement," the girl said sincerely before she left.

∆ ∆ ∆

I sat in the emptying room of the Lockwood house as Stefan went to go and check on Elena, and Damon took care of Katherine's body.

I had done everything I could, but I still failed. I guess I could say that it was lucky she wasn't dead. There was still hope to get her out.

And I was more determined than ever once I heard what she said to me.

My brave friend.

All I wanted to do was kill the man who caused her this suffering, so she could stop running and live her life again. If I ever found out who that he was, I swear I would make him pay.

I didn't notice it, but my eyes welled up, and the unconfined tears now freely fell down my cheeks, as I sobbed for my friend, and myself.

"Hey, Kaitlyn," a quiet voice said from the corner, and I turned to see Caroline

I wiped my tears away quickly and glared at her.

"What do you want?" I snapped, and she flinched at my tone.

"When I was human," she began softly. "I was an insecure, jealous, mean girl. I didn't know how to handle my emotions or choose my morals. So when I turned into a vampire, all of those feelings magnified, turning me into a psycho control freak from hell."

"Are you going anywhere with this?" I asked tiredly, trying to pretend as if I didn't like her apology.

"My point is, I was extremely stupid today. And I'm really sorry."

I got up from my rickety chair and walked over to her.

"I'm really glad you said that," I whispered, my eyes glistening before I pulled her into a hug.

"You're a good friend, and I don't want to lose you," she told me, and I smiled.

After we separated, she told me that she had some stuff to take care of with Tyler, so I said bye and walked towards the parking lot.

It was very dark now, and the only person I could see was Elena on the phone.

I bared my teeth in annoyance, and walked towards her, ready to confront her on her part in the plan.

Then, out of the shadows, I saw a tall man with a clown mask walk behind her creepily.

She turned around at the sound of his footsteps, and he clapped his hand over her mouth, dragging her to his car.

"Hey stop!" I yelled, running after them.

As much as I hated Elena at that moment, I couldn't just let her get kidnapped. I grabbed a long stick I found on the ground and whacked the guy on his head.