A/N This is a going to be a multi chapter fic - Post As I lay dying. The rating for this chapter is K+ but will change for others.
My Darkest Days:
The first few days of being Klaus 'wingman' was the best and the worst of Stefan's life. The best because he was finally able to release the inner beast inside of himself. He had fought, so hard, all these years to keep that part of him under control. And now to just allow his true nature to take over, was incredibly freeing.
But it was also the worst, because he hated that part of himself and with each passing day, felt his humanity slipping further and further away. After the first few days, He didn't allow himself to think about things in Mystic Falls, that was no longer a part of him and he knew he could never go back.
The only time he had really let himself think of all that he had lost, was right after Elena had text him that Damon was ok and to find out where he was. He thought about how Elena would move on with her life, without him. She had options now, she could stay human and live a normal life, unless of course she got involved with Damon. Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, but they keep bombarding him with images of the two of them together, bodies pressed close, giving into emotions and feelings long suppressed.
He knew she had feelings for Damon, he wasn't blind and lately that they had become more and more obvious to him, but he knew that Elena would never act on them with him around, she was too loyal for that type of betrayal.
But with him gone, who's to say what would happen. He had given her up to save his brother, maybe even to his brother. Stefan also knew that Damon might initially resist but if Elena ever admitted her feelings for him, he would eventually give in to those feelings. Because when Damon loved something, he did it completely. It consumed him, like Katherine had for a century and a half.
Damon might feel a bit of guilt for going after his brothers girl but he wouldn't dwell on it, he was able to compartmentalize his guilt. Something that Stefan had never been able to accomplish. When ever these thoughts would try to creep upon Stefan, he would quickly replace it with blood, that he could do, he could give into the blood. That was his only salvation from the pain of everything he had lost.
Klaus was a surprisingly good companion for such a sadistic vampire. He would tell Stefan of all the places he had been and about the various historical events he had witnessed or had even created over a millennia.
Stefan didn't say much as Klaus talked, just listened and learned everything he could about him, because he knew something he learned might come in handy one day, he owed the bastard a killing and he was going to find his weakness and end him, even if he had to die too while killing him.
He had killed everyone that Klaus had asked him to. He had played the faithful sidekick and went along with all the games that Klaus enjoyed, his main one was seduction as prelude to the kill, Stefan was good at that, but he never took it sexual as Klaus would, he was just after the blood. And even though he knew that he was a killer again, at least in his mind, he wasn't a rapist too.
All Stefan's days seemed to run together, all he could think about was when could he get his next fix, the blood bags were good, but what he really wanted was the hot, flowing blood from his next victim. Klaus controlled the hunt and decided if and when they would kill, but for the past few days, it had just been blood bags. He could feel the craving for one right now and he needed to pull over and retrieve one from the trunk.
As Stefan pulled the car over to the shoulder, Klaus barely acknowledged Stefan's low voice saying that he was getting a drink and had declined his offer to get him one, with a dismissive wave of his hand, as he settled back into peaceful slumber.
The first night they had left Mystic Falls, Klaus had them head north from Virginia, into DC and then into the rural areas of Pennsylvania. Now he had them to heading cross country to California. They took turns driving, it surprised him initially, that Klaus would sleep with him driving, but I guess when you can't die, you really weren't worried about someone killing you. And then there was the deal. The deal he made to save Damon. Klaus knew Stefan wouldn't renege, because Klaus would just kill him, Damon, and maybe everyone in Mystic Falls, too.
He finally asked Klaus why they were heading to California, he told him that he would see. That it was a surprise, just for him.
Somewhere just over the Arizona/Nevada border, Stefan figured out they must be going to Vegas. Klaus, now driving, pulled into an upscale neighborhood in the 'burbs of Vegas. A repo, Vegas was full of those. Klaus informed him of that little economic fact and told Stefan that they would hunt tonight. 'In one of my favorite cites,' Klaus told him, smiling.
Las Vegas, what a hunting ground, if ever there was a city that someone could go missing for days and no one know about it, it was this city. The strip. It was a mass of humanity. Gamblers, whores, strippers and tourists, all there to make money and have a great time in the process. They had found several girls of the evening and invited them back their borrowed house, the drunken girls so impressed, thinking they had hit the jackpot, but little did they know they only had hours, if that, to live.
Stefan had drove the car, his 'date' in the front seat, while Klaus had his two, in the back. They were obviously having a great time, if the moans and grunts coming from there was any indication. The girl in the front seat with Stefan, couldn't keep her hands off of him. She would reach over to stroke his thigh and he would move her hand away. After several attempts to touch him, grope him, he finally compelled her to stop.
A few times lately, Klaus and Stefan, had hunted separately. During those times, Stefan would feed and then compel his victims to forget, always making sure to appear bloody and in ripper mode when he meet up with Klaus.
But mostly, Klaus was right there, watching as Stefan killed, always beaming like a proud Papa.
The bloodlust was for real but having built up a tolerance to human blood, occasionally, Stefan would have moments of clarity. In those moments, he would start to feel compassion for his victims but had to quickly turn it off. For the most part, the drive to kill was just too strong, he would just snap and then they were dead.
As Klaus and his two women, disappeared into the great room, Stefan turned to his 'date' and told her to run up the stairs. Happy with his request, thinking he was finally giving into her demands, she turns to stroke down his body before complying. Stefan is at the top of the stairs before she can even understand with her drunken mind, what is happening. As he stalks her into one of the bedrooms, she finally realizes that she should be scared but before she can scream, he's on her and sucking the life from her neck. As he drops her dead onto the floor, still savoring the kill, he sees himself in the mirror. He smiles.
