They split up once they got to the Lockwood Mansion.

Damon and Jeremy went off in one direction, while Maddy went in another. They weren't sure where Stefan was, but one of them was bound to find him.

Maddy got to him first.

"Hi there," she said, popping up behind him while he was in the middle of a conversation with Bonnie Bennett. "We need to talk."

"Yeah, we do," said Stefan, turning to face her. "Where's Damon? There's something he needs to hear."

"Follow me," said Maddy, though she didn't really let Stefan follow her. She practically dragged him closer to the house where she could hear Damon talking to Elena. They found their elder brother exiting, and quickly pulled him over to the forest.

"Saw Mason already," said Stefan. "He was shocked that I was still in one piece. Then, get this, Bonnie accidentally bumps into him, and she tells me that she saw a vision of Mason and Elena kissing. Which can only mean..."

Damon groaned. "Ugh, Katherine's with Mason Lockwood?"

"Oh, crap," said Maddy. "That means she's his backup."

"We missed it," said Stefan. "He got into town right after she did. It makes perfect sense."

"I know, but Mason Lockwood?" said Damon. "Werewolf thing aside, the guy is a surfer. She's got to be using him. She has to be."

"He's not ugly," said Maddy. "But he's probably just another victim."

Stefan furrowed his brows. "Why would Katherine be using him, though?"

Damon answered, "Mason Lockwood's looking for a moonstone that allegedly can break the full moon werewolf curse. Maybe Katherine wants it as well."

"I'm guessing she wants it as some sort of leverage," said Maddy. "She has a daylight ring, and she's a loner, she doesn't have any desire to break the curse. There's no way she cares about Mason enough to be doing it for him. My guess is she needs a favor from a witch."

"That's the beauty of Katherine," muttered Damon. "She's always up to something."

"So, how are we gonna find this moonstone?" asked Stefan.

"Jeremy can get it," said Maddy. "He learned about it from Tyler."

Stefan stared at them incredulously, smacking each of them in the arm. "Why would you involve Jeremy?"

"Hey!" said Maddy defensively. "He's the one that showed up at our house telling us what he knew."

Stefan ignored them, beginning to walk away. Damon called after him, "He was playing Indiana Jones, Stef, he involved himself!"

"Stefan!" said Maddy loudly before he could get too far. "Get over here!"

He turned on his heels. "Why?"

"So we can all go together to spy on them!" she hissed. "Jeremy will be approaching Tyler any second now."

The youngest Salvatore reluctantly moved back toward his siblings, who walked over to where a large canopy had been set up to help with the preparations. They could see Jeremy was just walking up to Tyler, who had been with Matt.

"What did it say?" asked Tyler when Jeremy got him alone.

"Well," said Jeremy, "it turns out that it's part of this Aztec legend but I want to make sure it's the same kind of stone. You think I could check it out again?"

"Nope," said Tyler. "I gave it to my uncle."

Jeremy looked alarmed. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I'm done with legends and curses. I don't want anything to do with it, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," said Jeremy casually. "It's probably... just, uh, stupid folklore anyways. Forget it."

The three siblings shared a look. "My guess is we need to involve the witch now," said Maddy, nodding to where she could see Bonnie opening a few boxes of decorations.

Her brothers followed after her as she approached the young girl. Once they reached her side, Damon grabbed Bonnie's arm, making her walk with them until they reached the backyard, where the Bennett witch skidded to a halt.

"Okay, this is as far as I go," she said sharply. "What do you want?"

"A favor," said Damon.

Bonnie scoffed. "Like that's gonna happen."

Damon rolled his eyes. "So predictable. That's why I brought him." He nudged his younger brother.

"I know how you feel about helping us out," said Stefan, "but since you're the one that linked Mason with Katherine, we finally have an opportunity to get an upper hand on both of them so, just hear us out."

"Pretty please," said Damon and Maddy at the same time, which made Bonnie sigh, figuring she might as well do it.

"I'm listening," she replied just as Stefan's phone started to ring.

"I have to fill Elena in on what's going on," he told them. "Can you play nice, please?"

"We're not toddlers," said Maddy in a sing-song voice as Stefan walked away. "Anyway, Stefan said last time you bumped into Mason and saw him kissing Katherine. So, do you think you could bump into him again and find out if he already gave the moonstone to Katherine?"

Bonnie shook her head. "My visions don't work like that. I don't get to ask questions."

Damon groaned. "How inconvenient. Although, let's talk about that little witchy juju thing you do with me. You know, the fun one where my brain bursts into flames? What is that?"

Maddy knew what he meant even if Bonnie hadn't done it to her.

"That's me giving you an aneurysm," the witch said. "Your blood vessels go pop, but you heal quickly; so, I do it over and over again."

"Is it vampire specific?"

"It'd work on anyone with a supernatural healing ability."

"Wonderful," said Maddy. "Mason has a healing factor. I'm not sure if it's slower or faster than a vampire's but we'll just have to see, won't we?"

"Hold on," said Bonnie. "I'm not gonna help you hurt him."

"We're not murdering him, okay?" said Maddy. "Just getting information. Besides, he's the reason we almost got outed. Katherine has done nothing but cause problems since she's been here. We may not be your favorite people in the world, Bonnie, but I imagine that Katherine is planning something major, and that could end up in Elena getting hurt. I don't think you want that, so help us."

"Or we'll make you help us," said Damon. "Get over yourself, Bonnie."

"Hey," snapped Maddy. "We're convincing her, not threatening her."

"You're telling me your mini speech wasn't the least bit manipulative?"

"I'm just being realistic, so how about you—"

"Hey," said Stefan, coming back into the group. "What they mean, Bonnie, is please help us out."

The witch relented. "Fine." She looked over to where Mason had just entered the mansion.

"My guess is he's coming back out," Maddy said, noticing that the engine of Mason's car was running, as if he was letting it heat up while he went to get something. Her eyes flickered to a truck. "Okay, Bonnie, you're going to play damsel in distress over there. When he comes out, start lifting some heavy stuff and he'll want to help you."

Bonnie didn't object. While the three Salvatores went to hide behind the car, Bonnie started to try and pull out a table that was in the truck. When Mason came back out, he saw her, and rushed to help her.

"Hey, how did you get stuck doing that by yourself?" he asked.

"All the guys bailed," said Bonnie, straining to keep the table from falling. "Something about draft picks. I don't know, I don't speak that language."

"Here, let me give you a hand." Mason took the table from her, and once her hands were free, Bonnie stared at him, beginning her spell.

"Impressive," muttered Maddy as Mason let out a groan of pain, holding his head and sinking to his knees.

"I'm sorry," said Bonnie softly as Damon rushed forward, kicking Mason in the face to knock him out. Maddy reached down, helping Stefan pick Mason up as Damon went to open the trunk of Mason's car. The two younger vampires put the body in as Bonnie climbed into the passenger's seat. Maddy crawled up to sit with Mason before Stefan closed the trunk, and she leaned back against the window as Damon started to drive to the Salvatore House.

"We've got him," said Damon once they parked in front. "Bonnie, get his bag, it should have chains in it."

The witch did as she was told while the Salvatores carried the body inside. Maddy went to fetch a nearby tarp, rolling it onto the carpet and bringing a chair over for Damon to set Mason down.

"Here's his bag, as requested," said Bonnie as she came in, setting the chains on a different chair.

"Okay, grab that corner," said Damon as Maddy started to unroll one side of the tarp.

"Why are we doing this?" asked Bonnie.

"Because I don't want to stain the carpet," said Damon smugly.

Maddy snickered, but Bonnie replied, "I knew you were gonna say something like that."

"You are so judgy," mentioned the other woman. "My goodness, I think my conscience might take on your voice, Saint Bonnie."

Damon gave her a high five before getting the chains and starting to wrap them around Mason.

"Think you can get into his head now?" asked Maddy. "He'll be waking up pretty soon."

Bonnie nodded, and let her hand hover on either side of Mason's head. "I can sense the moonstone," she murmured. "It's somewhere small... dark... there's water..."

"Like a sewer?" asked Damon.

"No... like a well? That can't be right... yeah, it's a well."

"Why a well?" asked Maddy. "Who in their right mind would toss an important magical object down a well? That's not exactly making for an easy retrieval."

Bonnie let out an exasperated sigh, dropping her hands. "I told you, I only get what I get." She suddenly gasped as Mason woke up, grabbing her by the wrist. Maddy quickly swatted his hand away, and Bonnie took the opportunity to leave.

"That's it, that's all I got," she said.

"Hey, judgy!" said Damon before she could disappear. "Thank you."

Maddy raised a brow. "Thank you?" she repeated. "Damon, please, stop going after high school girls."

"I didn't mean it that way," he said irritably. "Come on, wake up, wolf boy." He punched him across the face, and Mason opened his eyes.

"Hi there Mason," said Maddy, leaning on the back of the chair and reaching her hand around to scrape her nails over Mason's jaw as Damon lit the logs already waiting in the chimney, before starting to heat up one of the fire pokers.

"What do you want with me?" he spat.

"Information," she crooned. "You were such a naughty boy yesterday, outing us like that. I thought we had a connection. But I guess backstabbing bitches are more your type, huh?"

Damon brought out the poker once it was sufficiently heated. Mason tried to get out of the chair, but Maddy held it firm as Damon stuck the poker into Mason's chest, on the opposite side as his heart. The wolf yelled out in pain.

"You can hurt, good to know," said Damon. "I was afraid you were gonna be some beast mass with no affinity for pain." He pulled down the collar of Mason's shirt, observing the wound. "Oh, but you heal quickly. Not good. Guess I'll just have to keep applying pain."

"Answer our questions and this will go a lot easier," said Maddy, watching as Damon started to heat up the poker again. "Damon will just continue to stab you if you're quiet. But I'm here to be the... good cop with a few sadistic leanings. I'll make sure that poker stays out of your body if you tell us what we want to know."

She grabbed his chin, tilting his head up and forcing him to look at her. "Are you going to comply, or do you need another taste of pain?"

He said nothing, and Maddy snapped her fingers. Damon brought out the poker, stabbing it into Mason's stomach. He yelled even louder than before, but still didn't say anything.

"Come on, Romulus," said Maddy. "You've got to know why you're here. Maybe we should jog your memory? Katherine Pierce. Tell me, how did you two start hooking up? How did you meet? At what point did she mention the moonstone?"

Mason simply gritted his teeth. Maddy stepped away from the back of the chair, taking the poker from Damon, before pressing it against Mason's cheek, right against the edge of his mouth.

"Poor thing, he has no idea he's just another one of her toys," said Maddy sympathetically, giving the poker to her brother. "When did she tell you that she loved you? Was it before or after she told you what she needed you to do? Are you helping her of your own volition? Is the sex really that good? I never sampled her, but..."

"He's supernatural, she couldn't have compelled him," said Damon. "I'm sure she used all those charms of hers to get her way."

The two vampires snapped their heads up as Jeremy entered the room. "I thought I told you to leave," said Damon.

"I found something in Ric's box of stuff," he reported.

"Ooh," said Damon. "What is it?"

"I did a search on my phone," said Jeremy, bringing out a handkerchief, which had a plant wrapped inside of it. "It's a plant. Aconitum Vulparia. It grows in the mountainous areas of the northern hemisphere. Commonly known as aconite, blue rocket, and wolfsbane."

"Wolfsbane," said Maddy. "Sounds to me like it just might be what vervain is to vampires. Care to say anything about that, Mason?"

He only grunted. "Let's test out that theory, shall we?" she said.

Damon half of the mound of plants, and went over to Mason. "What's Katherine doing in Mystic Falls?"

Mason didn't answer, so Damon brushed the wolfsbane across Damon's cheek, where Maddy had burned him before. Immediately, his skin started to redden, and he groaned. The Salvatores caught sight of an uncomfortable look on Jeremy's face, but he didn't dare turn away.

"Why is she here?" inquired Damon.

"She's here with me," sneered Mason. "Why do you ask, you jealous?"

"How rude of me," said Damon. "You know, I just realized, I didn't offer you anything to eat." He shoved the wolfsbane right into Mason's mouth, eliciting several wheezes. "Yummy!"

Maddy shoved her hand over Mason's mouth, forcing him to keep the wolfsbane inside. "That's what you get for giving my brother lemonade spiked with vervain," she whispered, looking into his tear-filled eyes. She could tell that Mason was almost horrified with how different she was, now that he was in this position. "Shocked? Most people are. You know, I tried to be nicer, I tried to be just like how my baby bro would have been if he'd been the one to give you the heads-up about Damon's plan to hurt you. And it wasn't my fault that Damon went after you anyway. But still, you put us in a position where we were almost murdered. All of us. And... I can't forgive you for that. So... now you're going to get to know the Maddy that's a lot more like her big bro. And you're not going to like that Maddy very much. I can already sense that you don't."

She withdrew her hand, allowing him to spit out the wolfsbane. Her eyes were full of contempt as she watched him starting to heal.

"Next question, Mr. Lockwood," she said as Damon retrieved the rest of the wolfsbane. "Why is the moonstone so important to you?"

"Screw you!" spat Mason.

"Oh, I would have let you if you hadn't jeopardized my family's safety," said Maddy. "Alas—" she gestured for Damon to burn Mason again, but Jeremy quickly burst out, "If he was gonna say anything, he would have already!"

Damon ignored him, bringing the wolfsbane further up. "I'm taking your eyes now."

"The well!" Mason cried. "You can find it there."

"We know that already sweetheart," said Maddy. "The question is, why do you want it? Why does Katherine want it?"

"She's gonna use it to lift the curse," panted Mason.

"Of the moon?" asked Damon. "Now, why would a vampire help a werewolf break a curse that keeps them from turning whenever they want?"

A tear moved down Mason's face. "So I wouldn't have to turn anymore. She loves me."

"She doesn't love you!" said Maddy as Damon started to laugh. "She manipulated you just like she did to my brothers. She turned you into another victim and... jeez, I can't even blame you, it seems everyone is blind to her true motivations when she's with them. Katherine would have killed you the instant you gave her the moonstone. There would be no breaking the curse. She'd never do that for you or for anyone else. Because Katherine is a selfish brat."

Mason's lips trembled. "I'm done talking."

"Yes, you are," said Damon, who finally had stopped laughing. "It's time to take a walk, Jeremy."

"Hold on," said Maddy. "I never agreed to kill him. The only way we'll get him to turn against her is if he realizes how much of a bitch she is. Maybe if I let him into my mind—"

"Are you stupid?" snapped Damon. "No. We're not going to leave him alive, Lils. Jeremy, I told you to take a walk—"

"I'm staying, Damon," said the youngest Gilbert. "He's had enough."

"Just help Tyler," Mason pleaded, turning to look at Jeremy. "Don't let this happen to him."

Jeremy looked guiltily at Damon, who sped to him, grabbing him by the throat. "You wanted to be a part of this? Well, here it is! Kill or be killed! The guy is a werewolf; he'd kill us the first chance he got! So, you suck it up or leave."

"Let him go, Damon," Maddy snapped.

Damon released Jeremy, who started to cough. "We can't just kill him," she insisted. "He's a victim, he doesn't even know what she needs the moonstone for. He's been fooled into thinking he's not in a toxic relationship. We have to show him that he has an out."

"Oh, I'll give him an out," said Damon as Jeremy left. "You want me to kill you, don't you, Mason? It really is a curse, isn't it? You know, I look at you and I see myself. A less dashing, less intelligent version."

"I love her!" Mason said desperately.

"Oh, I know," said Damon. "I've been where you are. But Katherine will only rip your heart out. Let me do it for her."

"Damon, no!" cried Maddy. But she wasn't fast enough. Damon shoved his hand into Mason's chest, ripping his heart out and tossing it to the floor.

He showed no remorse, even when his sister stared at the dead body, horrified.

"Make up your damn mind," he told her. "First you like him, then you're willing to help me torture him, but after all that, you wanted to spare him?"

"You don't get it," Maddy said. "You don't know what it's like to watch someone you care about be hurt. I was so stupid back then, I wasn't able to stop her, Damon! We could have done something more for him, knocked some proper sense into his head so that he could see the truth!"

"What you don't understand," said Damon, getting right in her face, "is what it's like to actually be a victim, Madeleine. So don't tell me what to do."

"Like I said, Damon," she muttered shakily, "there are certain lines even I won't cross. He had a chance to be free. And you ripped it away the second you tore out his heart."

Damon stared down at her. "Get out if you're not gonna help me get rid of the body."

The moonstone was a simple, small, and stupid slab of rock.

They learned that when, while wrapping Mason's body in the tarp, Stefan arrived holding it in his hand. They'd received a text not long before, informing them that Stefan had retrieved it from the well, which was actually full of vervain water.

"All this for that?" asked Damon, looking at the moonstone.

"Yep," said Stefan. "I see you two exercised your usual restraint."

"I didn't want to kill him," muttered Maddy. "Damon here took creative freedom."

"Had to be done," said Damon, opening Mason's phone and beginning to type, "'Carol, big opportunity in Florida, I'm gonna be gone for a long time. Will send for my things once I get settled. Much love, Mason.'"

Maddy rolled her eyes. "I sure hope he actually talks to her like that. So, where are we burying the body?"

Damon didn't hear her. "Oh, last number dialed. I wonder who that could possibly be?"

"No!" cried Stefan and Maddy at the same time. "No— no, don't provoke her!"

Damon managed to jump away from them, dialing the number. Katherine answered immediately.

"Mason," she said, "you should have been here an hour ago."

"Wrong boy toy," said Damon, swatting Stefan and Maddy away as they tried to take the phone from him.

"Damon," said Katherine coldly. "For once you've surprised me. I assume Mason is with you?"

"He's right beside me! Although, his heart's across the room."

Maddy smacked her own forehead as Katherine said, with a strangely level voice, "You shouldn't have."

"I've had a very busy day today," said Damon happily. "I killed a werewolf, found a moonstone. Hey, did you know that he hid the moonstone in the bottom of a well full of vervain? I guess he didn't trust you very much. Although, he did love you. Poor guy. Hey, where are you? Because, you know, I could bring him over. Last goodbyes and all that."

"You have no idea what you've just done," Katherine said. Maddy could hear a scuffling on the other side, as if she was already on the move.

"Aww, did I put a kink in your master plan?" asked Damon. "I'm so sorry. Speaking of kink, Mads was wondering if he uses— well, used to use— the chains during sex?"

Katherine ignored his last statement. "Tell me, Damon, do you honestly believe that I don't have a plan B?" Damon's face fell as she continued, "And if that fails, a plan C, then a plan D, and... you know how the alphabet works, don't you? Send my love to Stefan and Madeleine."

She hung up, and Maddy stared at Damon in disbelief.

"Who's the stupid one now?" she said. "For fuck's sake, you don't listen when I tell you to get out of Elena's life to keep her safe, and now, you go and kick a hornet's nest? It's only a matter of time before Katherine does something. She's been invited into the Gilbert House! What if she goes after Elena right now?"

Damon didn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation until Elena called minutes later to tell them that Jenna was en route to the hospital after Katherine compelled her to try and kill herself.