Life never goes without a prize

-Stella-

Dear Diary,

a lot of time has passed since I felt like writing in here. I am not in Mystic Falls anymore, I am now living in New York. Changing scenes felt good and it had helped me a lot. So what's new really? My sire bond with Klaus. Well I never was able to fully break it, but it is a lot weaker now, either because I am so many miles away from him or any other reason, I don't know. I am just happy about it. Elena is still a vampire, and she loves it. And Damon too, the two of them are still together. Bonnie died during the process of bringing Jeremy back to life, which succeeded thank god. Klaus vanished shortly after all the fuss and I haven't seen him since I left home. Elena and Jeremy are now living with Damon at the boarding house and that was one of the main reasons it didn't feel like home for me anymore.

As for Stefan, well, I could fill pages about him in here. He returned from burying Silas, the source of all evil, so it seems, but he wasn't the same anymore. Something was different, and even though no one really could put a finger on it, we all knew something was off. Living some months with him made me think he wasn't even Stefan at all. Around that time I started to think that maybe it wasn't really him. He had changed so many habits about him, it was hard to believe he was still my brother. And his behavior towards the others was just so much more evil, especially towards Elena. He has never been taking this whole breaking up thing easy but he would never really be mean to Elena. He just loves her too much. But asking him about all this would only make him close down, so here's another reason I left and am now here, trying to learn as much as possible. I knew I wouldn't be able to find any answers in Mystic Falls, that's why my search led me here.

There is still one part left I hadn't talked about yet. Sage. As for him, finally, I didn't just leave and left him in the dark, but I sat together with him and talked about everything that went on in my mind and he really understood. He and I both knew that staying at home and always being torn between two guys would never be fulfilling of anyone of us. I don't know if he is still in Mystic Falls, but we had some spare contact over the years, just checking how he was.

This journey isn't just for my search for my brother, but it is too a journey for me, to finally get to know myself and what I really want from life.

Oh, and about the cure. We did find it, and Elena really managed to shove it down Katherine's throat. So yes, Katherine is human, but vanished from all radars ever since. Oh, how I would love to meet her again and talk to her...

I was walking down the street, not even knowing if this meeting would bring me any closer to my brother or not, but at times like that I would take any straw that was handed to me. So when I turned the corner, I didn't really expect anything. That this town was crawling with supernatural beings I quickly learned as soon as I moved here. The past five years I met more vampires and witches than in my former life before. Some helpful, some trying to keep their territory, but I've tried to never really have problems with anyone.

As I reached the door, I grabbed the handle, it was too late to turn back now anyway, and instantly felt the power radiating through me. Powerful protection spells laid on that door, open to only those who were invited. I pushed the door open and stepped into the dimly lit chamber, seeing a small round table standing in front of me. A young woman in her mid-thirties was sitting there, looking at me with big eyes. She was dressed like anyone would imagine a witch, a long, wavy dress, her hair a curly mess and a lot of jewellery. She gestured me to sit down and as I did so, she said, "I was waiting for you."

I nodded once and sat down, waiting for her to continue.

"Your name is Stella. Interesting name thinking as you're a child of the night. As if your parents knew you would only wander through moon and starlight."

I inwardly rolled my eyes, not hearing this for the first time, but I didn't want to anger her so I kept quiet. I needed her.

"But you're not an average vampire. Different blood runs in your veins. You're a hybrid" she more stated than asked. As I nodded, she took my hand and closed her eyes.

"You've seen a lot of death and destruction, and you yourself caused some of it, too. So you are in search for your brother, who isn't really your brother."

I nodded, in awe that she could read that all out of my hand. But maybe the friend who made this appointment had told her about it.

"This will make it difficult, as I can't find him through your blood. But Alicia had told me about it in advance so I already did some spells."

So just as I had thought, she had know everything about me before.

"I didn't find him, but I know that some powerful spells are lying around his whereabouts, so someone doesn't want him to be found. It will take more than one witch to break those protection spells. But I will help you, because you saved Alicia just a fortnight ago. I will gather all my sisters around me and we will try and find your brother."

She looked full of hope, and I wanted to believe her. All the other hints I had found before turned out to be lose ends and was beginning to feel devastated and afraid to never find Stefan again.

She then let go of my hand signalising to me that our time was over. I slowly got up and turned around, when she spoke again.

"There was someone around here looking for you."

I turned back to her swiftly. "Who? Who wanted to find me?" I know I sounded too eager, but I was grabbing every straw.

"A man, similar to you, nevertheless more powerful than any of us can grasp."

For a short second I thought about Sage, and his heritage, he was more powerful than I ever thought possible, but with her next words, all my hope was broken like an old mirror.

"I believe his name was Klaus."

Days after my meeting with the witch I felt myself wandering around the quarter she lived. I had no intention on talking to her again, she had made it clear she would come to me if she had found something, but something had lured me here, maybe the power I had felt radiating from her chambers.

I thought about the meeting as I had just later realised how vague all her sentences had been. I wasn't even sure if Stefan was really gone or just had changed that much and she hadn't helped me with that thought at all. What did she say? 'Powerful spells lay around his whereabouts' that could mean anything.

She would gather her sisters and do some spells, she had said. Well, it didn't seem to work that well or she would have contacted me already. I shook my head and put my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket, hunching my shoulders up.

But what I really couldn't have stopped thinking about had been her last sentence. Klaus. How could it be that he found me? He was said to reside in New Orleans at the present time. Could it be that he was really here? Following me again? I couldn't, I didn't want to believe it. I had closed that topic of my past, difficult as it had been but I had.

I looked up from the dirty street and finally noticed where I was. It was deserted, the streets damp and the smell really bad. I noticed that I was close to the docks of Hudson River, even though I never really been here before.

I looked around, but seeing no one. I wasn't afraid, and it was normal for this time of night that the docks were deserted. I didn't know why I had walked here, until I felt a strangely familiar feeling inside myself. Like I needed to be here...like I belonged here. I looked around again, this time in horror. I knew that feeling, event though I hadn't felt it in over five years.

This pull...like your missing piece was near. I started to retreat my steps from where I had come and rounded the next corner, changing my walk into a jog. I rounded the next street corner, looking behind me swiftly. As I looked in front of me, I came to an aprubt halt, nearly crashing into the figure in front of me.

"You..." was all I could breathe out.