Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

25. Monster's Masquerade Ball

Riley sat in the hospital waiting room, her feet tapping rhythmically. She hadn't stopped crying since she'd first seen her mother lying in the bed with the knife sticking out of her stomach. An image that she couldn't get out of her mind.

"Hey," a voice said softly above her. Bonnie sat down next to her, gently wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "How is she?"

Riley shrugged. "Dad's with her. I don't know."

Bonnie shook her head, as if her brain wouldn't allow her to process any information. "I'm so sorry this happened," she said.

Riley sighed. "It's our fault. Katherine gave strict instructions, and we tried to trick her. We should have known that this would happen."

"This isn't your fault," Bonnie insisted. "We had no idea what Katherine would do."

"Well, we knew what she wouldn't do," Riley said, blaming herself. "She wouldn't just let it go if we ignored her. And now my mom's paid the price."

Chris walked into the waiting room.

"Hi Bonnie," he greeted, sitting opposite the girls with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"How is she?" Bonnie asked again. "Is she gonna be OK?"

Chris nodded, rubbing a hand over his greying beard. "They say she should be fine. Then again, they can't predict when the next doppelganger attack will take place."

Riley closed her eyes and put her head in her hands.

"Honey, you should go home," her dad said to her. "You've been up all night."

"I'm fine," she lied.

"Seriously, I can stay here and wait for news if you want me to. Go home and get some rest," Bonnie insisted, placing a soft hand on her friend's knee.

Riley wanted to say that she couldn't sleep, because every time she closed her eyes, she could see Katherine Pierce standing over her mother's body, threatening the lives of everyone that she cared about.

But then she had another idea – one that definitely didn't involve sleep.

***

She used her key for the first time, letting herself into the Salvatore house to find Stefan, Damon and Caroline talking.

"Hey Riley," Caroline said sympathetically. "How's your mom?"

Riley ignored her, walking to the middle of the room with heavy steps. "We have to kill Katherine," she said angrily.

"What?" Stefan asked, eyebrows raised.

"I don't care that she's a doppelganger, or a vampire, or the girl that Damon used to love. That bitch crossed a line, and she has to pay. If you don't help me, I'll do it alone."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "You'll get yourself killed," he warned.

"She tried to kill my mom!" Riley reminded them, her tired eyes beginning to fill with tears. "I'm not just gonna sit back and do nothing."

There was silence for a moment, then Stefan stood up. "Call Bonnie and Ric," he said to Caroline and Damon.

"Why?" Caroline asked, confused.

Stefan looked at Riley. "Because we're gonna kill Katherine."

Less than an hour later, Ric was showing off his stash of vampire-killing weapons. Knowing the history of Mystic Falls, he had come to town prepared to face whatever came his way.

"This works with compressed air," he said, debuting a weapon. "The trigger mechanism is up here. You use the trigger when you're ready and, boom, dead vampire."