Humanity 2 "The Betrayal"

Chapter 7

Ryan was released from the hospital and he’s okay. I had to tell him about Katherine because even though I don’t want him to be a part of this, he is. I don’t want all of the lies to pile up again, because then I could lose him.

I also don’t want to risk Katherine impersonating Elena again and Ryan being oblivious.

“The doctors said that you have to take it easy.” I say to him as he lies on the couch. I hand him a glass of water and help him sit up. “You don’t want to rip your stitches, hemorrhage and die, alright?” I tease and he smiles.

“Yeah, the only thing I’m gonna die from is embarrassment when I tell my friends at work that I walked into a knife. How does somebody do that?” He laughs at our cover story.

“It was a freak accident.” I smile.

“So what are we gonna do about all this?” He asks me as I sit on the couch across from him.

“You’re gonna stay here and get some rest.”

“What about Katherine?” He asks.

“You aren’t going to do anything. Like I said, you’re gonna stay here and rest. I’ll talk to Stefan, but I don’t want you leaving the house.”

“She tried to kill me, Ashley.”

“I know. But going after her will only make things worse.” I try to explain to him.

“And what if she tries something else? What if she goes after you?”

“She won’t.” I try to sound confident but I’m not. “Katherine went after you and Jenna because Elena didn’t do what she said. I talked to Elena last night and she fixed everything. Her and Stefan are over. She wins, the end.” I lie to him because I don’t want him to know what I’m planning.

“Fine. Just promise me you’ll be careful anyway. She’s still around and I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m gonna go out with the girls. Is that okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, of course. Have fun.” He smiles as I stand up and walk out of the room.

I know what I said. I said that this was over. I said that I was done fighting. Katherine won and I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. But there’s a part of me that knows that she won’t stop. After Elena told me about her and Stefan, I called him. He said that he wasn’t giving up and I decided I’m not either.

She went after my brother and I do not plan on letting her get away with that.

This morning Stefan texted me and told me that Caroline came to their house with news on Katherine. She went after Caroline and said, ‘Tell Damon and Stefan that I want the moonstone or I will rip this town apart until it rains blood…tonight, at the masquerade ball.’

***

“She wants to do it in public. Killing Mason threw her off guard.” Stefan explains as I stand in their living room with him, Damon, and Caroline.

Caroline is really shaken up by the whole thing and she’s been quiet since I got here.

“She’s running scared. What she did to Ryan was desperate. She’s out of tricks.” Damon says and I shudder at the thought of her near my brother.

“We can’t underestimate her. We have to play this smarter than her.” Stefan turns to me and I speak up.

“If we just gave her the moonstone, would she just leave?” I ask and Damon stands from the couch.

“No. Katherine’s not getting dick. I’ve had it. I’m gonna go to the masquerade ball and I’m gonna kill her, tonight.” He says and as much as I want that to happen, we’re gonna need a plan.